Should NFL teams overpay for running backs?

Episode Transcript
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We are farmers. Well. We thought we'd be talking more
and more about Russell Westbrook, where will he go next?
Or maybe continued reaction to the Lakers and the Clippers
lining up in a duel for the ages. But oh
football knocked on the door and said, I remember mus Yes, Actually,

(01:10):
the country's most popular sport has stepped up and now
we're at another impass. We Last year we had it
with Levy on Bell. This year we have it with
Melvin Gordon. And as much as Melvin Gordon's agent, Melvin
Gordon and frankly the whispers in men's ear, I want
to tell you that he's the same guy, it's the

(01:31):
same situation. It's actually not. It's not. Look, there's a
bunch of differences. Levyan Bell actually benefited from something that
could have hurt him out of the gate. Levyan Bell
was in a first round pick, so he was already
on his second contract, and then his contract had expired,
which allowed him to sit out all of last season.

(01:54):
There's a difference there, Jeany and Melvin Gordon. Who's still
Melvin Gordon still in his rookie contract and as it's
said to expire at the end of this year. There
is a lot less leverage when you aren't under contract.
There aren't fines that a team can levy on you.
When you are under contract. Guess what, there are fines

(02:15):
that a team can leve young. Here's the ironic part.
If you woke up today and you're like, oh, Melvin Gordon,
Chargers will hold out, may not play unless he gets
new new new deal. You're sitting there going like, man, Chargers,
why do I care? Stop and take your breath for

(02:37):
a second. Here's an elite level Pro Bowl running back.
Who's the star running back? They got a good running
back crew, but he's the best for the team that
tied for the best record in the a f C
last year. Right, this is a this is a super
Bowl contender, maybe super Bowl favorite. We consider what you

(02:59):
won't have Tyreek Hill for a portion the season, and
you know the the Kancie Chiefs are trying to rework
their defense, but we don't know to what ends and
they will play a first place schedule if you if
you think the Chiefs are gonna beat him, like okay,
but they along with the Patriots they lost to and

(03:21):
the Chiefs are the favorites to come out of the
a f C. And the Patriots don't have Rob Gronkowski
from last year. And I know Stephen A. Smith knows this.
Hunter Henry is back for the Chargers this year. They
didn't have Joey Bosa for a portion of last year.

(03:42):
And if they have Melvin Gordon, if they have Joey
Bosa with Melvin Ingram, and and and they had Durwin James,
probably the most impactful rookie on the defensive side of
the football in the nash Football League. They have themselves
a squad. Here's the crazy part to it. You're familiar
with the expression the grass is always greener, and this

(04:05):
feels like a grass is always greener thing. Because Levian
Gal Levian Bell got paid, everybody wants to it, because
Todd Gurley got paid. But here's the thing that may
be precedent from some people's mind. But how badly would
the Rams like to get out of that Todd Gurley deal,
who wasn't healthy enough to be the primary back late

(04:27):
in the season and in the Super Bowl they had
to go away from him? Is the Levian Bell contract
that good? Not so much? Apparently it's so bad. The
general manager who offered and that deal was accepted got
fired shortly thereafter, like a contract for a guy in
his mid to late twenties. And let's also keep in
mind that Melvin Gordon, no matter how good, no matter

(04:48):
how productive, how many thousand yards seasons do you think
he has? Ryan music? You want to take guests? How
many times I don't look it up? How many thousand
yards seasons do you think Melvin Gordon has. I'm gonna
go with one. You're actually right. How did you do this? Well?
I figured it couldn't have been several otherwise that wasn't

(05:11):
the area you were alluding to, And I had to
imagine he had at least one. So that's how I
arrived at the number. He had one thousand yards season
one one. Now, granted, last year he was a Pro
Bowl running back. He only played twelve games, had eight
hundred eighty five yards and average five point one yards

(05:31):
to carry. Melvin Gordon hasn't been healthy three of theft
three of his four seasons in the NFL hasn't been healthy.
Has only played sixteen games once, and that was the
one year he had over a thousand yards. He does
score touchdowns, didn't score one in his rookie year. In
his last three combined, he has twenty eight touchdowns. He's productive,
he's good, but he is never gonna come upon a

(05:52):
situation ever in his life where one he's already been
offered a contract extension, two he has a former running
back and former running backs coach as a head coach,
and three he's playing on a super Bowl contender, who
values him not just because he's productive, but because they
drafted him. They want to pay him. They pelled me

(06:14):
Melvin Ingram two years ago. They paid Joey Bosa last year.
They want to pay him. They want to get ahead
of it. They just don't want to break the bank.
Melvin Gordon is actually is actually taking terrible advice instead
of instead of taking what would be viewed as slightly

(06:35):
under valued contract, considering he hasn't been healthy as one
thousand yards seasons, far less accomplished than Levan Bell. He
cannot set out this year otherwise he'll cost himself fines
and he has to play six games this year just
to just to accrew a year to get him make
himself into a free agent. And oh yeah, by the way,
they can sell franchise tag him if they want next year.

(06:58):
This is the grass is always greener, and somebody needs
to tap him on the shoulder and go, hey, dude,
you're at a position where there is high risk and
low reward. You're at a position of diminishing value. You're
a position which now people break up into two or
three guys, and you're at the one team that only
values you drafted you has a head coach that formerly

(07:20):
was a running back and running back coach. But there's
other guys around you who can take some of the
burden off so they don't beat the crap out of
you throughout your next contract. Sure the president has been
set for by Levian Bell's contract. Sure the president has
been set by Todd Gurley's contract. But those are both
bad deals. The Rams would like to get out of theirs,

(07:42):
and the Jets have already fired their general manager who
who gave him that contract. So forgive me if I'm
not sympathetic. Even though I like Melvin, I'm a Charger fan.
I think he's good. They're better with them than there
without him, but not worthy of breaking the bank and
ruining the rest of the franchise. The the structure of
the rest of the franchise, players, agents, and pundits, we

(08:08):
all seem to pay attention to trends, But this is
this is DeMarcus Cousins man. Granted he hasn't suffered to
kill his tenant injury, but DeMarcus Cousins, based upon his reputation,
should have been in for a payday this year. But
if he does, if Melvin Gordon doesn't play but six

(08:29):
games this year as a twenty seven year old running
back who has been oft injured. Do you really think
they're gonna break the bank for him like the Rams
did for Todd Gurley, one of their own, or like
the Jets did for Levian Bell. The answer is probably
not take that deal. Any show up for training camp

(08:49):
or not doesn't really matter. Take that deal. It's it's
going to be fascinating on how it's like people don't
What do you think we're not up on the times?
Do you think we not see that? A diminishing value
of the position, one that can be split up into specialists,
third down back, blocking, running back, in between the tackles, back,

(09:13):
maybe a scat back. They have a little bit everything there.
They got Austin Ekeler. Uh, they got the the the
Jackson kid from Northwestern, Justin Jackson, who is a stud
as replacement. They're not as good as Melvin Gordon. They
don't score twenty eight touchdowns in three seasons. But whatever
they're offering you, it's probably not the thirteen million a

(09:34):
year that levy On Bell wants. Is probably north of
the it's ellly north of the five vers through the
whatever the six or so million he'd make this year.
Somewhere in between what you think you're worth and what
they're willing to offer you is the landing spot. And

(09:54):
uh like, look this is the Chargers are actually a
really well run, smart franchise that have been willing to
sign their own guys to slightly more than they want
to sign them to, but not not in their minds,
not worth breaking the bank and breaking their salary structure.
They want an entire team. That's how they've managed to

(10:17):
win so many games the past two years. Like they have,
they still gotta find their next quarterback. They have all
those wide receivers, they have the offensive line, they have
of solid defense. They gotta worried about paying everybody else.
It's not that that what they don't. They're probably gonna
offer overpay Melvin Cordon. But this is getting advice from

(10:41):
non football people, because football guys will tell you, don't
try and emulate bad contracts. Try and emulate really good ones.
And really good ones are not levy on Bell and
Todd Gurley don't believe me asked the Jets asked the
Rams how they feel about their deals for their uh,
their running backs we'll go from football to baseball. Coming

(11:01):
up next. Nick Swisher, who makes coffee Nervous, joins the show.
All asked him about the juice baseball conversation. Plus, are
we headed to a Yankees Dodgers World Series? And as
we're gonna see the Dodgers take on the Red Sox,
can the Red Sox crank it up into gear to
get into this conversation. Be sure to catch live editions

(11:22):
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 Leaves Show here on Fox
Sports Radio. It's going to be fascinating to see, uh
this NFL season, Levi on bell how he plays because
you know, last offseason. Look last offseason, Sammy Watkins huge

(11:45):
deal kan City Chiefs didn't live up to the contract,
but that didn't stop other agents and other players from
seeking Sammy Watky. Like, hey, Sammy Watkins is like the
third or fourth most important receiver for the Kanci Chiefs.
What am I worth? And even though Levy on bell Um,
there's there's a lot of things you can you don't

(12:05):
compare to other star running backs. It is for some
people a litmus test over over sitting out a year
and what it looks like the teams to pay that
much for running back. So I think the whole thing
is frankly fascinating, I mean, really really interesting. We do
have some baseball to get to Nick swisherl join us
in moments. There's also some basketball. Kawhi Leonard signed a

(12:30):
shorter three year deal with the l A Clippers. It's
it's like everything that we were told about Kawhi Leonard,
all the different leagues, none of them were a hunter
pers inaccurate. And I would tell you I think that's purposeful.
I know we have a tendency to come out and
lash out towards towards people who reported what they're hearing.

(12:51):
And it's one of those things where you never heard
me say where I thought he was going. I only
said where I thought he should go. And I did
think that, you know, for his own happiness, his own style.
If l A was important to him, it should have
been the Clippers. If just winning was important to him
then and happiness, why move if if you truly are happy?
But I had no Everyone who knew Kauai told me

(13:13):
like I got no idea, but there was talk of
a one plus one in Toronto and apparently that was
never broached, nor was he ever locked in on four
years with the Clippers. I just think sometimes guys do
their own thing, and they do purposely leak information in

(13:37):
order to make sure they know who Sometimes you use
leak information to know who's leaking information. Who's leaking information?
Uh there's one weird story in baseball. You guys saw this?
Saw this? Uh? Um this Jake mrs Nick collision with
Jonathan Lucroix Lucroise, the catcher for the Angels. It was

(13:58):
right before the All Star break. It was a nasty
head to shoulder collision. But if you watch the video,
Lucroix it did. The ball did take him in the
path of the runner and moristic it looked like he
tried to I thought he tried to avoid Lucroix and
moved to his left, which only took him right into
Lucroix instead of if he would have slid and head

(14:18):
to his right. Let's let's ask a guy who's uh
won a World Series part of MLB on Fox's All
Star Game and World Series coverage and throughout the regular season,
Nick Swisher joins us is that was that really worthy
of his suspension? My guess it feels like more of
a result or a suspension than a process orient suspension

(14:39):
because I don't know. I watched the video and I
thought he tried to avoid Lucroix. Yeah I did too. Um,
I think you have to look at the player himself, right,
I feel like Jack morrisnik is one of those blue
collar guys, does what he needs to do to help
his team. Uh, and those plays happened so split second.

(15:01):
It's it's it's such a reaction, you don't normally go
to the inside. But I think when he saw lu
Croix come up the line, he thought he was gonna
be able to get around him and last minute, full
collision and that just goes to show you, you know
why we have that rule, because guys can really really
get hurt. So I think there was a bad intention
behind Mariisnek absolutely not. That's not his style of play.

(15:24):
And you know, and then I saw a lot of
the stuff that Yadier Molina wrote, which rightfully so, I mean,
you know, catchers are trying to protect catchers. You know,
this is these guys careers out there there's a you know,
a lot of money, a lot of passion, a lot
of pride on the line. Uh, and we don't want
to be taking our guys out. And I don't then,
and I don't think that a guy like Jake marisnik
Uh is that type of player. That's just not his style.

(15:48):
Let's let's get to the series which starts tomorrow at Fenway,
Dodgers taking down the Red Sox rematch of the World Series,
and the Red Sox have played better as of late.
They have won five over the last six. Granted the
three games sweet before the break was against the Tigers,
who are an elite level team. Their bullpen has given
them issues. They have not been the same team. Is

(16:09):
this is this World Series hangover? Or is there something
missing with this club? Um? You know, I think every
year is different, man, you know, I mean you watch basketball.
I mean not every team is the same regardless difference,
the same guys are not. There are different battles to
be fought every single year. I think this is a
year that the Red Sox it's a little different. I

(16:31):
think the back end of their bullpen has has been
a little different, not having that shutdown guy and also
to you haven't gotten me, you know all star are
you haven't gotten the m v P type seasons out
of guys like Mookie Betts yet. I mean he's still
getting ready to get hot. J D. Martinez is hovering around.
I tell you, he's been really good for the Boston
Red Sox. It needs to get a lot of credit.

(16:52):
Is Rashie l'devs. He's having a tremendous season right now,
as well as Zander Bogart's. Uh and you know me,
bro I mean, I'm a Yankee guy man, but this
Boston Red Sox lineup is dangerous. And if you have
guys like David Price and Chris Sale do what they're
supposed to do in the second half, then that means
that wild card is extremely attainable. These guys are legit.

(17:14):
They know how to win. They just did it last year.
It's just all about getting themselves back to where they
need to be. The Dodgers had five straight walk off
wins and then right before the break they get they
lose the last three to to the Padres And look,
I mean that the record is still stellar. How sustainable
is what they were able to do in the first

(17:35):
half of the year. Let me tell you the coolest
thing about the Los Angeles Dodgers right now. I got
to spend a little bit of time with Cody Bellinger. Bro,
this cat is like so cool, he's so smooth, he's
got it together. And if the m v P of
the league, in my opinion right now and the m
v P of your team is putting off that sort
of vibe, I always thought like the last two years

(17:58):
of them going to the World Series and losing would
just chip away at you a little bit. You know,
it's just kind of like, Wow, we've gotten there year
after year and then it just hasn't worked out for us.
Is it ever gonna work out for us? And then
I go to the All Star Game and I'm interviewing
Cody Bellinger and just the vibe that he gave to me,
it was like, No, we don't ever take about that stuff.
We know the type of squad we have, we know

(18:20):
we've got ballers everywhere, and I think it's just all
about getting themselves. I mean, come on, what are the
sixty and thirty two something like that. I mean, that's ridiculous.
I mean, Max Mounty is having an unbelievable season. The
young guys they got coming in and out of there
have been great. I tell you what needs to happen
for the Los Angeles Dodgers to be epic is the

(18:40):
back end of their bullpen needs to solid themselves up. Right.
They got a couple of guys this offseason. You know,
Joe Kelly came over from the Boston Red Sox. You
know Kenley Jansen. He's he's got to get himself back
to what he knows how to do. But at the
end of the day, man, I mean, let's be honest,
who else can challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers in the
National League? Now, I don't think anybody. Yeah that that

(19:02):
that I guess is my question. Okay, but if they
were to make one addition before before the run for
the playoffs, what would it be? Same thing? Everybody wants
a starter, number one starter. Yeah, you know, the Yankees
are looking for that guy. You know, the Red Sox
are talking about Addie pitching. I feel like there's a

(19:22):
lot of contending teams that could use another starter. The
problem is, Doug, there ain't nobody to be God, There's
nobody out there that's your number one guy that you
can say, hey, here's your here's the ball game one.
I need you to go Game one, Game four, Game seven.
The one guy that comes to mind is Madison Bumgardner.
But you know, I mean he's pitching to a four

(19:43):
right now. I understand his his postseason career is tremendous.
But when I'm thinking about number one, I'm thinking like
a Jacob deGrom, a Matt Scherzer, you know, like a
Justin Verlander, somebody like that. And none of those guys
are out there. So I think what teams are doing
are saying, all right, well, if I can't get that
number one stud that, I'm gonna go knock down and
I'm gonna get a flamethrowing bullpen guy to shut the

(20:05):
gate to shorten the game. I think we saw the
Kansas City Worlds, dude, I think back in two thousand
and fourteen, I think fourteen and fifteen, and and I
think teams have learned a lot from that. Analytics are
are are so huge in the game, man, and they've
helped out team so much. Guys know that those flamethrowing
guys that can come in and gives you one inn
and go through the lineup maybe one time, you know,

(20:26):
four or five guys. Those guys are valuable. Doug Gotlin
show here on Fox Sports Radier. That's the voice of
Nick Swisher MLB on Fox major League Baseball analysts, former
World Series champion. You know it is, it's fascinating. He
mentioned Verlander. Um, how he he did take it to
a whole other level going after Rob Manfred. He did, Man,

(20:46):
He's there some jabs, right he I don't think those
are jabs, right, Those weren't jabs. Those were those are
straight loves and straight ris and hooks and hooks. Um.
But like, look, man Fred did kind of admit to it.
Then he walked it back a little bit. I like
you mentioned the Yankees that with without their two most
prodigious home run hitters, they're on a record pace. Plus

(21:10):
they play in a ballpark where if you can lift
the ball in the right center field, it's it's going out.
And you have a baseball which, by everyone's estimation seems
to be flying differently. Uh. It feels like maybe we're
talking around it, but aren't the Yankees kind of built
for this thing, for this this new style of baseball. Oh, Bro,
I mean I I hide, no, I hide nothing about

(21:35):
my love for the New York Yankee bro like, this
team has what it takes. I think, you know, I
think the one thing that they are missing is that
that either that that good starter, that one more that
that one guy that can come over there and give
me any I don't know if he's out there, And
maybe that bullpen is the way to go, but they
need to add one, maybe two more arms to really

(21:56):
solidify themselves, especially with Luis Sevareino being injured and Dylan
Betanzas at the back end of the bullpen. You gotta
remember what this team has done with who they've had
to do it with. Guys like Luke Boyd and DJ
Lemayhew are saviors. Those guys have been absolutely tremendous this year.
And the cool thing about it was I was able
to travel with them to London and kind of be,

(22:18):
you know, an ambassador and and and just really kind
of just be along for the ride. When Aaron Boone
sets the tone at the top, Guys like Aaron Boone,
Aaron Judge, the Leader, c C Sebastia, Brett Gardner, guys
did have been around it, buy into that Yankee life,
the Yankee way. He's guys got it too. Man, It's

(22:38):
unbelievable because you know us at Fox and we have
the World Series, and could you imagine a New York
Yankee Los Angeles Dodger World Series. I mean, that's just
like that just screams epic to me on all fronts.
So I think that's what everybody wants. Obviously, looking ahead
with where the you know, with where the teams are.
I think there's two teams in the American League, the

(22:59):
Houston Astros New York Thanking. And I think there's one
team in the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers, that
I think are not necessarily far and away better, but
better than everyone else at this point in time. Yeah, yeah,
I tend to agree with you. You mentioned uh, you
mentioned Cody Bellinger, and I like, look good looking, left

(23:19):
handed dude hitting. Girls are running out of this, girls
are running out of the stands to just give him,
give him a hug him. What has he changed anything from?
You know last year Dave Roberts was on him about
his his hustle. Obviously last year there was a dip
in production, although I think those guys didn't want to

(23:39):
split time, Like, what what has what has changed last
I know the home runs are down from the start
of the year. Nobody's keeping up that pace. But what
about it? What is he doing better this year? Oh?
I think a lot of great things have happened over
there for the Los Angeles Dodgers. I think number one,
I think they uh they got rid of some players
and really opened up a lot of personalities base in

(24:00):
that locker room, right, I think that you've got it's
not always about talent. It's really about, you know, formulating
a great puzzle. And that has a lot to do
with personalities. When you're together as much as these guys are.
In any sports, you've got to get along with each
other man because at the end of the day, that's
gonna be your family. Spend more time with them than
your family. So that locker room chemistry has a lot

(24:22):
to do with it. And I think that was where
analytics were with the Dodgers last year. I think it
might have been uh maybe um a little differently than
it is now. I think they're trusting their guys. Now,
they have a formula who plays win against two and
and it's really working out for them. Guys know their
roles over there, you know, Doc Roberts man, he's a leader.
Being able to spend time with him over the All

(24:44):
Star Game too, that's a guy you just want to follow. Uh.
He's a guy that, in my opinion, is is what
a manager should be is the respect of all of
his guys. He buys into the analytics, he's open to
all of that stuff, and at the end of the day,
all he wants to do is win. He loves his
guys and he wants to win. I mean, what more
can you ask for from a from a manager, especially
your leaders. So just those guys over there, man, I

(25:06):
think they have everything that takes. But on the Bellinger
front um, you know, he's been able to kind of
spread himself around. He's not only playing first base, he's
playing outfield a lot, really showing off his athleticism, uh,
and and really kind of opening himself up to just
knowing he's going to be in the lineup every day
exactly where he's gonna be. And and as a player,
that feels good. You know. The routines are amazing. Athletes

(25:28):
jump into these routines and and even in life, I
feel like when you're at your best, you're really in
your routine, you know, exactly when you're when you're gonna
do things. And I think for him, uh, he's growing up.
I think physically what he's done in the batter's boxes,
he slowed his legs down a lot. It just seems
like not everything is violent this year. And I think
he's really realizing that in the power age of baseball

(25:48):
that we have today, that you don't have to swing
out of your shoes. You just have to make solid contact.
And by the way, this kid isn't stud bro like
you said. He's a good lookie kid. He's six to
six three, the wide shoulders. He loves the game. And
I'm telling you, man, I mean, come on, let's be
honest as like fathers, even for myself, Like you want

(26:09):
your like your kids to look up to a guy
like that, you know, you want your kids to be
like that. He's doing it in a huge market, and
I think he's doing it the right way. Man. His
parents have to be like super proud of him. All right.
The other dude who does it the right way? Who?
I actually think it's the opposite. Like people like, well,
nobody knows Mike Trout, but like everybody actually knows who
Mike Trout is. It's just his team is not good

(26:29):
enough to really kind of celebrate. Trout is what's second,
and War's third? NOPs, Uh, he's third. I thinking slugging,
He's first. An no b P. I mean, just an
outright stud um. You've played this thing a long time,
you studied it as a kid, you study it now.
Is there better? Can you remember a better baseball player

(26:50):
than Mike Trout? It's hard for me because it's so
hard for me to uh, you know, put Mike Trout
up against the other generations. It's hard, man. I think
every generation has that player that they look at to say, wow,
this guy right here was the guy. The thing about
is that he's leading the American League at home runs
and no one even knows it. It's like this guy

(27:13):
does things the right way every single day. Did you
see when he came out in Tyler's Staggses number forty
five jerseys? How classy was that man? Just you know,
for everything at the Anaheim Angels have gone through and
for the class that he's gone about it, I mean,
come on, behind closed doors, he has to be frustrated
he's not in the playoffs every year. But what more
is he's supposed to do. He signed a four hundred

(27:34):
thirty million dollar contract, and in our standards, no one
can live up to that. You know who's living up
to it? Yeah, Mike Trout. Right, Like, there's Mike Trout
and then there's everyone else. And that's not to knock
on anybody else in the game, but with the consistency
that he's done this year in and year out. And
by the way, no one even knows where he's had hashtoton.

(27:57):
Could you imagine if Mike Trout was in New York City? Bro?
Could you imagine where where he would be in the
stratosphere of fame? But you know what that's actually think
you're right. I think he's in the perfect place. You
know it's not Yeah, and I do, and and like, look,
I'm in all fairness, I'm an angel fan, but I'm

(28:17):
also realist. Like their signings they made in the offseason,
you know, Matt Harvey an example, like not good, but
I can see the idea of show hey next year
if he's pitching anywhere near he was pitching before he
got hurt. Trout obviously losing skags Is death is not
only traumatic but also hurts him. He's a young left

(28:38):
hander for the great a great curveball and a great athlete.
But I I can see a way in which there
is a long term plan, there a long term solution. Um,
some things are gonna have to go their way. And
you got Houston who's in their division, who's just dominant
and just nasty and has stud young players as well.
But yeah, the child thing is, it's amazing how a

(28:58):
guy can be so insistently at the very top of
his field, and you would think you signed basically a
lifetime contract and most guys would dial it back a
little bit. And he's been better, better than ever. And
it's so funny, man, It's like I'm just even thinking,
like a little story. So my second year in the
big leagues, I pop thirty five, I hit thirty five jacks,

(29:22):
and I I came back into that two thousand and
seven years the next year, and I'm like, bro, I'm
gonna do this every year. Do you know how hard
it is to repeat at that level year in and
year out. I couldn't even imagine the skill that it
takes to do something like that. Mike Trout is a
once in a lifetime player, and I think we need
to really really start to appreciate it. He's gone through

(29:44):
this thing injury free. He's been a class act on
and off the field. Right. He loves sports. He's got
a passion for the game. Mike Child, Cody Bellinger, Christian yelling.
These young kids we have in the game, it's so
great for us because we have such good products to
give our youth. And and I think that's huge, man,
because if you want to grow the games, you gotta

(30:05):
you gotta get the youth excited about it. And I
think in our game right now, hobby by is I mean,
we got guys to do things the right way, great
role models right now. Man. No, it's a it's an
unbelievable game. And it will be interesting to see how
how how you know? And it's very provincial. People root
for their own teams naturally, it's hard sometimes to talk about.

(30:27):
I do think that in game battling, in game gambling
is gonna help it with kind of our generation. Non
families go into games. But it'll be fasting because there's
so much, so much young talent, swish, great stuff. Still
looking for that first tennis match. I have hit the ball.
I've hit the ball a little bit recently. I gotta
get a couple more lessons in before I'm ready for
for for you and your phonetic pace. But I'm getting close.

(30:50):
I love you, man. Good talking to your brother. Talk
to you soon. That's Swish, uh boy, He's Nick Swisher.
Dude makes coffee. Nervous, but in a good way, in
a good way. Who's best player in the NBA right now?
The answer will surprise you and I'll share it with
you next. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Doug dot Leap Show weekdays at noon Eastern three pm
Pacific Doug Got Leave Show, Fox Sports Radio. It was

(31:13):
brought to you by Little Caesar's, where you can get
a large extra most bestest stuff crust Pepperoni pizza for
only nine dollars only Little Caesar's plus tax. Replicable available
participating locations. Let's get to a game. Okay, this is
game time time on the Doug gott Leap Show. Isaac

(31:35):
Loan Crow, my friend, good to talk with you. What's
our game today? Let's take a guess. Guess who? Guess who?
Question is? Who is the most brilliant anchor around? Even
though Twitter's down? Guess who is the latest NBA star.
What is that? Right? It's not exactly a all Gone

(31:59):
quin round table in this room, and we do our best.
Guess who's the latest NBA star to proclaim that they're
the best player in the world right now? The guy
who proclaims it not exactly Mohammad Ali esque in this case, Uh,

(32:20):
who proclaims it? Who would proclaim it's just the thing?
Isn't it? Yes, you gotta you gotta, you gotta proclaim
it first? Can I give you a hint? New has
to be a guy who proclaim it. It may raise
eyebrow Ah Anthony Davis, he said to Sports Illustrated, and

(32:44):
it's amazing. I could see this with all the Poppa
Poppa bads. But that's another story. I'm the best in
the world. I think I do a lot of things
that a lot of players can't do. As far as
playing a complete game. I can play on the block,
the perimeter, defense on both ends, switch one to five guards,
score the basketball all. I want to be the most
dominant player in the game, and I'm going to continue
to do that, said a d Well. I will tell

(33:07):
you that NBA people I talked to would I don't
know if they would say he's the best in the game,
but they would say he's in the conversation, he's top five.
It's just been we haven't seen it because he hasn't
been surrounded with the supporting cast, although there have been
times where he's been a disappearing act in the playoffs.
So we'll see. I prefer when other people say that
about you and you just simply go like, hey, look,
I try and play both ends. I try and do

(33:28):
everything on the floor. I'm gonna keep trying to get
better and improve people. Right. But you know, he's feeling
himself now that he's in l A and he's with
Lebron James fitting right in. Guess who in the NBA
thinks they are a hundred percent healthy and ready to
play all eighty two despite injuries and back to back
seasons and the fact that this player has never played

(33:50):
eighty two games in their entire career. Load management? What
load management? Uh? Kawhi Leonard uh of good Guess load management? First? First?
Guess you got the New City? Right? Oh? Paul George

(34:12):
related Anthony Davis former teammate of Anthony Davis. Alright, DeMarcus Cousins.
He says he looked in. He said, I'm working my
tail off every single day. My quad is a hundred
percent healed. I'm getting stronger. My plan is to come
into camp in tip top shape. My goal is to

(34:32):
play eighty two games this season. Admirable but not necessarily.
Why is this day and age? But we'll see. I
mean like it just because he says the goal. He's
clearly bent out of shape that he didn't get the
contract he thought he deserved. That's two years a row
where he's gonna make kind of combine, like eleven million dollars.
He thought he'd be making billion dollars. That ship has

(34:53):
probably sailed, although we'll see see what his production is.
I do think kind of one of the untold stories
about this off sne school going to be Lebron's gonna
come in twenty five pounds lighter. I would guess that
DeMarcus Cousin is gonna come out in twenty pounds lighter.
The question is have they have They had so much
wear and tear in their body that it doesn't matter now.
Is Lebron looked like a thirty five year old or
does it losing weight stay off because he's lost weight

(35:14):
before and offseason has not kept it off. In related
basketball conditioning news, perhaps this might be my favorite item.
Guess who, according to the one and only Nick Young
Swaggy p himself, who rolls the best blunts in the NBA. Hint? Surprisingly,

(35:35):
it is not Mike Breen the best blunts in the NBA.
Um he never played with Chris Cliff Robinson, Right, D'Angelo Russian. No,

(35:56):
I'll give you a hint. I was gonna call a play,
but then I got high. I was gonna tell Draymond
to get out of the way, but then I got high.
Raymond Green, k d Lely, And I know why. It's
not a player golden state, not a player free spirited.

(36:16):
Who is it? I'll let Nick tell you, Nick who
rolls in the NBA? Who can twist it up better
on anyone? Oh? No, you know that's that's snitching. I
retired player. Yeah, that's that That would be the correct answer.

(36:36):
I guess that's why dinner was just so exciting. It's
not just the wine that's the game. This is game time.
On the Duck Gottlieb Show, he said that in front
of an open mike, it's it's snitching to tell it
on a player but not on a coach in a

(37:00):
studying development. This is one of those it's not really taboo,
but it kind of is taboo. Is it's an amazing
The weird thing isn't like it's actually legal in California
and there's no drug testing of coaches. Is Lebron James
the point guard? Doesn't even matter? We discussed next the
Doug Gotlip Show. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports

(37:22):
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.
What uf got Leave Show. Fox Sports Radio brought to
you by Farmers and Farmers. We've seen almost everything, so
we know how to cover almost anything. When it's game time,
have an experienced player help you stand in the game,

(37:42):
put their experience into play. At Farmers dot com, we
are farmers. There are poorly kept secrets in all sports
with all great teams, right, and usually they only come
out after the fact, after the fact. Uh. But with

(38:03):
Lebron James, it's it's almost as if they're trying to,
I don't know, in some ways appease the king and
on the other hand, create an image of exactly what
they feel like it's gonna look like for the Lakers
this year, Like what is really going to change. Well,

(38:23):
they have the Anthony Davis. They added Danny Green. Danny
Green is an absolutely and upgraded over a wing over
over uh over, you know, Brandon Ingram, even though Ingram
is a better all around player, he's not the shooters
who doesn't create the space. But they did lose their
point guard in Lonzo Ball, who, no matter what anybody

(38:44):
else says, they really liked him and they thought he
had a chance to be special because of his defensive capabilities,
his passing, and he was only going to improve as
a shooter. I found it to be fascinating this discussion,
like it was kind of a breakthrough that that Lebron
James was named the starting point guard. Here's Lakers head

(39:05):
coach Frank Vogel kind of backpedaling a little bit on
Lebron James being the team's point guard. I saw that
record is sort of out of out of nowhere. First
of all, nothing has been decided in terms of starting
lineups at all. It's entirely a way too early for that.
And Lebron James is gonna be a primary ball handler,
as has been the case his entire career. You know,

(39:25):
that's that's how to put him in the best position
to succeed, and it to use his talents. But there's
no imminent plans to start him at point guard at
the beginning. To see it's yes and no, right, there's
there's no imminent plans, but this is in fact their plan.
They just the Lakers just can't help themselves. They can't

(39:47):
even if they're all aligned with how they think it
should look. When you underwhelm people with your ability to
gain a quality point guard, Rondo being over the hill,
Quinn Cook really a backup the third point guard. Um,
you sit there and go all right, I mean I

(40:07):
guess I get it, and I guess I get it.
I guess I know what the Lakers are going to
look like. Then they signed Avery Bradley, and they're basically saying,
if you thought Lebron James was gonna bring the ball
up to court and every bed he was gonna play
off the basketball, you are correct. Lebron James is ever

(40:28):
bit the point guard as Kevin Durant was the point
guard for the Warriors. When I say point guard, Jason
McIntyre would lead you to believe that that Steph Curry
was the point guard last year for the Warriors. He wasn't.
Technically he may have been in terms of how you
would list a player, but in reality not really. K

(40:49):
D initiated the offense, just like was Chris Paul the
point guard for the Houston Rockets or was James Harden
the point guard for the Houston Rockets. We've gotten to
a point of what we call positionless basketball. But what
we're trying to do is explain to the layman why
some players play different positions. Lebrono initiate the offense, bring

(41:13):
the ball up, probably won't guard the other team's point guard.
If that makes him a point guard, do you fine?
If it doesn't make him a point guard, do you
also fine? But I like what Frank Vogel said, like
it's kind of what he's done his whole career. If
you want to give him position, yes he's a point guard.
Yes he's a power forward. If you have to pick
between the two, you can't because he's a little bit

(41:36):
of both. He's a point guard built like a power
forward who plays both inside and out. So I think
the whole thing is interesting in how we disseminate the
information that we're given. If you couldn't look at their
roster and think, oh, well, Lebron James gna be the
point guard, then I can't help you. You didn't see

(41:57):
it to begin with. But you look of their roster
and you go, all right, now, I kind of get
it right. Alice Caruso is a guy who I mean, look,
if you look at Alex Caruso and his listing on websites,
he's listed as a shooting guard. Alex s Cruso is
not a shooting guard. Alex Cruso is a point guard,
and by the way, the thing that's kept him from

(42:20):
sticking in the NBA has been his inability to consistently
shoot the basketball. He may be the size of a
traditional uh shooting guard, but he's a point guard who's
coming off a year in which he finally shot nearly
from three, through a ton of hard work, through a
lot of reps. Granted only in twenty five games, but

(42:43):
he's improved as a shooter. But Alex Cruso is a
point guard, So you have to list guy. I guess
you gotta. I guess I gotta left him. I guess
I got left list him as a position. So I
don't know when we got to this place where you
had to list Lebron James as a position. But whoever
asked like, yeah, it's our point guard. Lebron's our point guard.

(43:03):
That's not breaking news. Although Frank Vogel is smartly dialing back,
going like, look, we ain't even gotten together, we haven't
even had a practice. Anthony d Ables to bring the
ball up some You don't want Danny Green bringing it up.
You don't want Kyle Kuzman really bringing it up. Avery
Bradley can bring it up. I actually think the paucity

(43:26):
of ball handlers, of guys that can break down a defense,
will ultimately be the downfall of the Lakers. But Lebron
James has been a point guard, a major ball handler,
the primary ball handler for every team he's played with,
which honestly was the flaw to the idea of him
playing with Kawhi Leonard. Not that Kauai has been a
point guard, but he's been a dominant ball handler, and

(43:48):
had he played with the Lakers, it wouldn't have worked
that way. And I think he knows that, and I
think that's why ultimately, ultimately he decided to go to
the Clippers. I think he thought the Lakers were the
best option unless the Clippers got another guy, and it

(44:08):
forced the Clippers to go get another guy, and they
pulled off the middle of the night, huge move in
which they were willing to move mountains. But I don't
think it's crazy to think that while Kauai may not
have loved a lot of things about the Lakers, it
did make sense from the perspective of eventually lebron knew
he was gonna have to facilitate, and this was the
best of the three options. If the options stayed as

(44:30):
they were personnel wise, we got a lot of things
to get to. There's also this really interesting sound from
Chauncey Phillips remarking on why Carmelo Anthony isn't in the
league scoring thirty mint too much. To Melo, he could
have games where he had two, we win the game
and he's mad. He might have thirty six and he's

(44:51):
in there and you know, we lose the game and
he's in there picking everybody up. He hasn't mentally taken
that step back to say, Okay, I'll come in and
play against backups. I know I might not be able
to close, but I just want to help. It was
a fast name piece. It's the downfall of Karmelo Anthony.
Is the downfall of Allen Iverson? Is that was the
downfall really of maybe a little bit of Kobe Bryant. Right.

(45:16):
What makes these guys great scores is their ability and
desire to get the ball and think I can score
on anybody. And even when coaches like, look, we're gonna
play you a fewer minutes, give you the ball, probably
a higher percentage of the time. You're playing to play
against inferior competition. You may not finish the game, but
if you played twenty minutes, you can still get twenty points.

(45:38):
You're playing against backups. It's the ego of it, and
it's not It's not just a basketball thing. There are
baseball guys. Derek Jeter wouldn't move from shortstop even though
he should have. But the ego of it is what's
keeping him out of the league. And that's what kept Alan.

(46:01):
Why was Alan iversound Lake? Sure there was off the
court stuff, and I'm sure that's what limited him, but
it's also remember, Allen Iverson, I don't know any m
v P they come off the bench. Hey, dude, if
you want to play, if you want to stick in
this league, you're gonna have to evolve. And maybe evolving
makes you into a bench player fewer minutes, plenty of
shots inferior competition, but you're gonna have to sacrifice your

(46:23):
ego and wave a towel for somebody else at the
end of games. And some guys just can't do that.
The Carmelo thing reminds me of remember when they asked
Es Bryant. This is before he was cut by the
Dallas Cowboys. This is like a year and a couple
of months ago. He was asked by the Dallas media

(46:45):
about Hey, would you think about taking a pay cut
to stay with the Dallas Cowboys. They come with it.
I haven't had no I haven't heard no talks about that.
But if it comes, if it comes, well I don't know,
probably not. He no, man, I'll believe in me. Mhm.
I I get we all get that. You believe in

(47:06):
you and other people believe in you as well, but
they believe in you as a secondary or tertiary option. Hey, look,
it happens in my profession too. Like we all think
we're gonna we're killing it and we're in our prime.
But if you if the if the prospects are don't
have a job, or have a job that's slightly less
important and slightly less paid than the job you want,

(47:28):
that's a decision you gotta make. This is not part
and partial. Basketball happens in broadcasting. I'm sure it happens
in your sales job, happens in in other sports. Everybody
wants to be a star, and sometimes that that ship
has sailed. Sometimes you're the you're the filling guy. Sometimes
you're the everybody wants to be the lead off hit

(47:50):
of the clean up hitter. Sometimes it can't be. Would
you prefer to stay employed longer, even at a lesser role,
or will you stand your ground and do your thing
and make it your way? That's the decision. Karmen Anthony's
make interesting stuff from Johnson Phillips who so many times
guys in that position, and Chauncey wants to be in

(48:10):
the front office in the NBA. So many times guys
will offer no opinion that was on Serious x M
NBA Radio NBA Inside of Rick Buker joins the show
coming next, can the NBA office do anything about player
to player tampering? Plus where does he think Russell Westbrook
ends up right out? Next on The Doug Gotlip Show.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug dot

(48:30):
Leap Show weekdays at noon Eastern three pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. Let's
get to Rick Buker from Bleacher Report and Fox Sports One.
He joins us here in The Doug Gotlip Show on
Fox Sports Radio. Um, we're almost a week removed from Friday,
a day where it feels like the NBA shook off

(48:53):
its access. I know you've spoken to probably just about
all of your guys around the NBA now that we've
had a chance to catch our breath. Should we have
seen this coming? That's a great question. As far as
Kauai going to the Clippers. Should we have seen this
coming before? I mean, I guess, well, there's a bunch

(49:17):
of things that Actually it's a good point you bring up.
It is kind of loaded where I I really asked
it open ended. I mean, I think the surprising thing
was not that Kauai went to the Clippers. It's that
Paul George, a year removed from Free agency was able
to walk in and get traded uh to l a
where he said he wanted to be a year after

(49:38):
he didn't even meet with the Lakers, Right, that's the
more surprising part element of it. Yeah, I would say
that there's two parts to this. Number one. No, we
could not have anticipated this with Paul George because it
really was a matter of Kauai Leonard taking the proverbial
bull by the horns and saying, I want to get
somebody to come to the Clippers with me, and and

(50:00):
k D wants to stay in New York, and so
who else can I get? Let me see if I
can get Paul George, and Paul George not necessarily looking
to leave Oklahoma City, but seeing an opportunity to play
with another great player in the place that he lived
or grew up, and let's face it, in a market

(50:22):
that's better than Oklahoma City. I mean, I was. Ultimately,
a lot of people are using this as a referendum
on Russ Westbrook, and obviously here is another guy who
wanted to leave and not play with him. And I
think it's really a matter of Uh, it's in no
offense to the people in Oklahoma City, but when you
are a young millionaire and you can have your choice

(50:42):
of living in l A or living in Oklahoma City
and everything else appears to be equal. Uh, and you
have the opportunity to do that. I think you're gonna
do that. And I think the other part is Oklahoma
City may say, hey, look, you know Paul wanted to
do this, and we didn't want to do this. I'm
not so convinced to that. I think that they were
looking at a huge luxury tax in a small market

(51:05):
and with no guarantee that they were going to come
anywhere close to playing for a title, and said, let's
get off the money, let's hit the restart button. Uh.
And and here's an opportunity to do it where it
doesn't look like we're just making a financial decision. It's
it's a great point. Um, it is a great point.

(51:29):
Like and they and they probably saw their own ceiling
there right Like they tried to move Steven Adams, they
tried to move probably Dennis Shrewder and they're sitting there
going like, man, we can't move these assets. We're we're
probably not gonna win a title, and we're gonna play
a huge luxury tax bill and Um, but I also
think I likened it a little bit. And maybe this

(51:50):
what happens is you say this and people freak out
because they they think, like the Civil War wasn't just
wasn't really about slavery, right, like a byproduct of it,
and a good one, as Abraham Lincoln did away with slavery,
But it was really about the two economies in the
United States, right, the industrial economy and the rural economy.
And of course the Southern States weren't paying for their
labor because they had had slave labor, and it was

(52:14):
it was two very different economies. And I just wonder
if we're working ourselves into that place in the NBA
where you see in New Orleans and yeah, they have
Zion and they're gonna be able to make some money
on Zion, but the reality is New Orleans, Oklahoma City.
I would throw Charlotte into there. Um, we'll see what happens.
In India, they've been able to survive, but these the

(52:37):
non major markets, all their stars are like, man, I
want out of here. I want to I want to
be in the place where people want to be. When
you when you're a multi multimillionaire and they're left with
drafting what will soon be high school kids, and they'll
almost be a farm system for the big clubs. And
I wonder if that leads to a to an economic

(52:57):
break between those two the halves and the have nots. Yeah, yeah,
and well, and the other contributing factor here is something
that the owners really wanted, which was they didn't want
guaranteed long term contracts. They wanted shorter and shorter contracts. Well,
in order to get that, you're gonna have to allow
that to kind of cut both ways. And so as

(53:20):
a result, you have these teams that are constantly in flux,
and when you get a superstar player, you're not able
to lock them up even if you get him to
agree to that first big contract. The way they're being structured,
the guy has the wherewithal to move and and still
control his fate and go someplace else when and where

(53:42):
he wants, and and so it it saves owners from
making huge, colossal mistakes and feeling like they've got an
albatross in some of the in some of the bad decisions,
but it also takes away more of their ability to
keep guys in place for a certain period of time.

(54:02):
So there's a yin and yang to all of this,
But look at the owners once again, the owners have
done this to themselves. They have given more control and
power to the superstar players. They've drawn closer to the
superstar players and said, this began with the Lebron Summer
of Lebron where it became the the power structure shifted

(54:27):
from owner to GM to best player to coach to
now its owner, best player and everybody else. And we're
seeing the byproduct of that, which is players making as
a big decisions and franchise changing decisions as the owners themselves. Yeah,

(54:52):
I don't know if the owners, like I think the
idea was they they thought the fifth year and the
extra year would hold players in place. But the money
has been so big now that like, yeah, maybe you're
taking a financial hit. It's like Kawhi Leonard, Like he's
taking a financial hit, Like okay, but he's still making
thirty million dollars a year, So does he technically lose

(55:13):
some of the back end maybe, but he's gonna sign
another contract and he's gonna make thirty forty million dollars anyway,
Like the money is so big now that it's just
monopoly money. And these guys are smart enough to go
and go, like, I know, I'm not gonna starve. It's
not like if you're if you're if you only make
a million, I say, only only make a million, and
you're turning down the prospects of making three. No one

(55:34):
in the right mind would do that. But if you're
making a hundred million dollars, a hundred fifty million dollars, Like,
that's fifty million dollars, you're not gonna see anyway. No,
it's it's it's fair, but it's still the structure has
shifted as far as who's making the decisions and how
these teams are shaped. Uh, and and there's just been

(55:55):
there's yes, the money gives the players more where wherewithal
to make those decisions, but it comes down to this,
like players are making decisions based on the the quality
of the franchise. How well is the franchise run? I mean, honestly, Uh.
Part of the the hesitation to go to the Lakers

(56:16):
are questions still, even though I think they've salvaged everything,
but there's still questions about that infrastructure. The Clippers made
gain because Doc Rivers is there, it is respected, because
they built a team that was a playoff team this
past year, and the feeling is is like, hey, these
guys might know what they're doing that that players are

(56:37):
smart enough to take that into account. They're not just
looking at strictly the money. Uh, They're they're they're taking
into account all the all of the elements. And I
would say one last thing. I mean part of this
too is You're right, it's the money, but it's it's
also like it or not. These decisions are being made
by twenty somethings and they're making decisions that are changing

(57:02):
franchises and entire organizations. And I don't know about you, Doug,
but I don't know that I would want me as
a CEO of of of of anything in my twenties,
not with the decisions that I was having a hard
time figuring out what shirt I was gonna wear on
any given day, much less running an entire enterprise. No,
I I think it's listen, it's a really smart discussion

(57:23):
than not. And and then I think some of the
people advising them, you know, there there's there's interesting and
what were their motives? Like what motives or what is
there or what is or what is their background? You know,
it's like, um, I think, you know, everyone has their
own biases that are built in based upon the decisions
they made in their childhood and their twenties or whatever.

(57:45):
Some people haven't seen the world and they want to
through somebody else's eyes. Some people always dreamed of living
in New York and they want to are living in
l A. And you know, and and look, I actually
think Paul George as much as I don't like it,
like I really don't like the Paul George thing, like, wait, dude,
you just signed a long term contract and then you
walk in a year later after you were having a
great year and you get hurt and it doesn't end

(58:06):
the way and and your knee jerk reaction is I'm out.
I think it's awful. Like my reaction should be like, hey,
I'm gonna get back healthy, We're gonna get back to
where we were at the start of the year, and
I would be an m v P of this league.
But on the other hand, I actually respect the fact
that he was in two years in Oklahoma and at
first he was like, man, I really like it, and
he was like, you know, it's cool, it's fine, but

(58:28):
it's it's not the ending place for me um Russell Westbrook,
where's he go? I would expect that he winds up
in Miami, just because there's a mutual interest there and
that you know, people are saying that the contract end
in and will they give up the picks, you know,
first round picks at a point in which the the

(58:49):
heat would potentially be rebuilding. And I'm like, yeah, pat
Riley will, without question, We'll give up. We'll give up
a pick or two beyond because he's probably not gonna
be running that and he wants another shot at being
relevant and and making some noise, even if it's only
in the Eastern Conference. I know Houston is trying to

(59:10):
do everything to put something together. You know, Darryl Moray
has pulled off these things before. But I would just
say that the uh, the ability to do it is
far more challenging for the Rockets. Never mind that I
don't even like to look at that team if they
if they managed to do it. But but everything from

(59:33):
what look, Miami's at the top of Russ's list from
what's being said, and I believe that to be true.
Both sides have a reason to get it done. So
that would be my expected destination. What about New York
for for Russ. I don't see I I really don't
see that happening. I don't I don't see that as
the plan for them, because, uh, they've decided, they made

(59:58):
a decided turn that at we're going to develop our
young guys. Um, we're gonna build depth at multiple positions,
and we want to see who's gonna be there and
available one and not necessarily just guys that are going
to be free agents. But let's see what falls out,

(01:00:18):
and let's see if a little bit like they what
the Clippers did, which is, let's build a solid infrastructure.
Let's show people that we're not the typical New York Knicks,
that we don't run ourselves the way the typical New
York Knicks have in the past. And then you add
that with the allure of our market. Now you have
something as opposed to trying to make a quick hit

(01:00:42):
and say, well, hey, we didn't get k d and
we didn't get Kauai, but we got the next best thing.
We got Russ Westbrook. I'm not convinced that Russ Westbrook
is the next best thing anymore than I was convinced
to Kemba Walker, Tobias Harris or Jimmy Butler would be
the next best thing for the X Doug Gotlie Show
here on Fox Sports Radio. Um, what are your thoughts

(01:01:06):
on the roster the Lakers that put together. I think
they did an admirable job under the circumstances, pivoting away
from not getting Kauai. I think the names are more
attractive than I need to see how this works. I
need to see how they fit. I have questions about

(01:01:28):
how well they're gonna play defensively. I'm not sold on
the on the idea of Lebron James being a full
time point guard. I know he's a point forward. I
know that you're gonna run a lot of stuff through him,
but it's a question of is he going to defend
the one? Is he going to do that all game long?
If he's not, who is? And uh? And when you
have cross matches like that, a lot of times you

(01:01:50):
can get into trouble. Look, are they going to be better? Absolutely,
they're going to be better. Are these pieces that fit
better with what Lebron you usually excels with? Absolutely they are.
But do I think that they're better than the Clippers?
H No, I think that the Clippers have are working
off of a better group. Ultimately, we need to see

(01:02:14):
how the chemistry works. But if you're asking me which
which roster I like better, I like the Clippers roster
better as right now I do too, And I'll tell
you the other part that you mentioned defending, Um, they like.
I like Avery Bradley, I really do. I like that addition,
I think that makes a ton of sense. Um I

(01:02:35):
like Danny Green because he can shoot and he can defend,
but um, I don't. And and the idea of de
Marcus Cousins kind of shopping in the bargain in the
in the bargain bin, especially if he's lost some weight
and he's motivated like that, that's not a crazy signing.
I just I don't love the fact that they don't
they have one guy who can create shots for everybody else.

(01:02:57):
It feels like and that's Lebron James, like mad Anthony Davis,
but that this has become a guards league league where
you play downhill, creating shots for yourself and for others,
And they have one guy. And that one guy is
thirty five years old, right, He's not He's not even
as athletic as he used to be. That doesn't feel
like the modern NBA. That feels like a little bit

(01:03:18):
of a dated philosophy. Well, the other part is you've
got guys like Danny Green and Avery Bradley, both of
whom I respect, but they haven't played. I mean, they
look like guys who have taken a turn for the
worst UH career wise, can Lebron elevate them? Or is
Lebron at a point now where he needs the pieces

(01:03:41):
around him to elevate his games if that makes sense,
like where he could make you know, anybody better? Does
he need now guys that allow him to be at
his best? And are guys like Danny Green and Rojon
Rondo and UH and Avery Bradley are they at a
point in their careers where they're capable of doing that?

(01:04:02):
Or are they are? Are they the ones that need help?
And so you you have this mix of Lebron needs
needs help, He needs the right guys doing the right
things all the time and and put playing defense and
knocking down shots or is it you know, the other
way around? And and I don't know. And that's that's
the question that I have. Is I feel as if

(01:04:25):
we are measuring all of these guys on their best
years and not all of them are at the best
points in their career. No question, we we do. We
have a we have a tendency to backdate our analysis
instead of uh, instead of looking ahead as to as
to what they will they will actually look like, Um, okay,

(01:04:48):
here's here's the last thing. And maybe the most interesting
thing is what's left of the East? Like did the
did the Bucks get better? Are they just different? And
then the seventies six years I look I like Josh
Richardson a lot. I like Al Horford a lot. I'm
not sure if Josh Richerton Al Horford were what the
seventies sixers needed to take that next step. What do

(01:05:11):
you think about what's happened in the East. I still
wonder who the go to guy is for Philadelphia with
the game on the line, I don't know who that is.
And anytime somebody says, well, it's by committee or it
will be you know, whoever's open, and I'm saying, okay,
so you don't have that go to guy, and that
for me for where they're expected to go, which is
beyond the second round, that's a vital element. Jimmy Butler

(01:05:32):
was the closest thing they had to it last year,
and even he was not enough to get them to
where they ultimately wanted to go. Milwaukee is their improvement
is going to be all about Jani Sanza Tkompo. Can
he take the next step? Anybody who tells me, well,
he's doing enough you needed from other places, you don't
understand basketball, and you don't understand what the best player

(01:05:52):
on the team needs to do or what Janice is
and isn't capable of. At this point, losing Malcolm Brogden
only underscores the need for Yannice to become a true
playmaker and a true playmaker in crunch time physically and
work wise. I have no reason to believe that he
can't get there, but he needs to get there. And

(01:06:15):
we've seen great players who aren't able to take that
that last step, and so we'll see, but that that
is going to be incumbent upon on Janice to take that.
And so I look at the East and I agree
with you, it's wide open. I've picked the Bucks as
the favorite going in by default, not because I'm a

(01:06:37):
big believer that they're a juggernaut, but I look around
and there's nobody else that I would hand that too
ahead of them. Yeah, be interesting. See if what happens
with Miami, if they get Rusk and they put the
shooters around him, what happens to Boston if they have
better chemistry? And if Jayson Tatum uh takes takes another
step kind of felt like he took a little bit

(01:06:57):
of a step back, But some of that it was
that the kind of chemical and balanced of that team uh,
And then you know the rest of that. The rest
of the East does feel I feel like we're kind
of yearning for somebody else to make themselves. Can Brooklyn?
How how competitivele Brooklyn will be? When will Kevin Durant return?
You know, if you look at DeMarcus Cousins, would it
be nine months? Could he make a return for the
stretch run? What wild he look like? There's a lot

(01:07:19):
of very interesting questions that we won't have answered in
the in the near term. Be great stuff, Thanks so
much your perspective and joining us. Look forward to seeing
on the TV side and FS one Howard Russell westbrook
fit alongside Jimmy Butler, one NBA champion, thinks quite well.
Find out next be sure to catch live editions of
The Doug dot Leap Show weekdays at noon Eastern three

(01:07:41):
pm Pacific. Doug Gotlic Show rolls on Fox Sports Radio
every day at this time, every day, at this time.
We trying to get you caught up on a TV
show from Fox Sports one that precedes us, or a
radio show from Fox Sports Radier that precedes us. So
many good ones, so much good stuff to choose to.
Let's see what we got Fox say? What does the
Fox say? Brought to you by Little Caesar's. We can

(01:08:03):
get a large, extra most bestest stuffed crust Pepperoni pizza
for only nine dollars and only a Little Caesar's plus
tax re applicable available participating locations. This is NBA champion
Stephen Jackson, undisputed, explaining why west Russell Westbrook would be
a great fit in Miami. I think it's the right fit.
I'm not sure if it's gonna happen. It might be
the only fit. Um I'm I'm hearing that they're trying

(01:08:24):
to get the the deal done. UM. I know Jimmy
wants him as a teammate. He does. Jimmy would love
to have Russ. Seriously wonder why he went there solo
and then all of a sudden he'd say, I'm open arms.
Where you gotta start somewhere. You know, that's his whole thing.
He got some young guys that they want to play.
He loves being under pat Riley. I like Russe and
Jimmy together. I think Russ being under pat Riley being

(01:08:45):
they're being held accountable by Pat and being held accountable
by Jimmy. But he's never been held accountable before, right,
so this is something that he needs. I think, having
pat Riley and having Jimmy there, I think, and and
being in a different environment, been in a different type
of a position where from the jump when he got
to Okay, see, he was never held accountable. He went
there running things and nobody gonna change it. Well, he's

(01:09:08):
we're gonna go to Miami. He not running that in Miami,
and Pat and pet Rod's gonna make that clear. You
running the point guard spot and that's all you're running.
And I think that's a type of position that he
needs to be and what guys are more than one
guy's holding him account I think it's a great point.
It's a great point that when Billy Donovan came in,
Billy Donovan is an incredible coach, but the fact is

(01:09:28):
that he's never probably had the leverage to be able
to really hold any of his players accountable. Just not
the way it rolls and and the what you need
is a player, a coach who's won a championship and
have front office completely behind it. You have that in Miami.

(01:09:48):
The the other positive would be for being in Miami
is he be coming off of um an off season
where he's had a long offseason. He's also been healthy
in this offseason, and so I would guess he'd be
motivated to fix his shooting woes. I don't know if
you can fix the free throw line. That feels more
mental than physical, but physically there was something limiting his shot,

(01:10:09):
and a lot of people think, well, it's that he
couldn't work on in the off season last year because
he was hurt. Um would it ultimately work. Look, I've
never thought that Russell Westbrook was the best player in
the NBA, even when he won the m v P.
I thought the stats were in fact deceiving. But I
do think he could still be. He could be an

(01:10:30):
incredible weapon, and he's still an incredible player. It's just
a question of can they put the team around him,
can his body hold up? And would he buy? And
everyone says they want to be coached until the first
time they're actually coached, Right, Hey, tell me when it's
a bad shot, all right, now it's a bad shot. No,
no, no no, take me out when it's a bad shot.
I just took you. What would you take me out for?

(01:10:51):
Because a bad shot told me you want to be coached.
So in theory, this could be if he gets done
a very ann outstay ending fit. The problem is what
goes back in return. Like if you think Oklahoma City's
just gonna give him up, go like, hey, where are
you gonna give him up? And dump Sally? Like, that's
not what they did for Paul George. That's not what
they're doing for Russell Westbrook, their signature player. But I

(01:11:15):
do think you could get done. I just wonder what
price and what's left and if what's left could end
up winning them a championship. Say, I gotta bring this up.
Have you guys seen the Josh Norman video? Have you
seen it? So there's the running of the bulls in Pamplona,

(01:11:37):
and he's not running with the bulls or at least,
that's not the video that we've seen. Instead, the video
is of Josh Norman leapfrogging the entire bull twice once
the bull is in the arena. It's it's nothing short
of remarkable. He looks like an X man as what
it looks like jumping over a live bull, and so

(01:12:01):
of course social media will love it. Can you imagine
if you're with the Washington Redskins? Can you imagine? I mean,
think about it. They Josh Norman at the time that
he signed with the Redskins was the highest paid defensive
back in the National Football Uh. Next year he makes

(01:12:24):
eleven point five million dollars. Eleven point five million dollars,
Actually more than that, he's got three million dollars signing bonus,
five dollar roster bonus, his base salaries eleven, So it's
actually more fourteen point five fourteen point five million dollars.
And while it's fun and he didn't get hurt, he

(01:12:46):
could have, like the Washington Residence gotta be sitting there,
Are you kidding me? We just lost Alex Smith probably
for the rest of his career. Cole McCoy got hurt
the very next game. Well, hell, this thing together by
duct tape, and our signature defensive back is jumping over
a bull in a live bull in Pamplow, Ina, Spain. Well, like,

(01:13:09):
what next, He's gonna be the guy jumping over a
moving vehicle vehicle and like that Kobe Bryant commercial, like
what are you doing? And while nothing happened and he's fine,
they're very fortunate that he's fine. They're still on the
hook another year of his contract. Like this is one
of those deals where it may look cool, it may

(01:13:32):
look fun, and he is a remarkable as that he
should be. He's a cornerback in the nash Football League.
Those guys are freaks of nature. I don't think superheroes exist,
but if they do, they probably playing defensive back in
the Nashal Football League. But what if he was gored?
What if he just slipped? What if he tores achilles

(01:13:55):
or is a c l doing some dumbass stuff like
jumping over a bull in Pamplow on a spa What
then they I mean y again? Social media will love it.
That's so cool. But the rest of the world is
sitting there going dude, you're in the contract with the Redskins.

(01:14:17):
You can't do those things. Melvin Gordon thinks that he's
an elite running back. He's right, but why he won't
be paid like one. Next in the Doug Gotlip Show,
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Search f s R to listen live. What Up Doug

(01:14:40):
Gotlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio, Man, I hope you're having
a great day. We shuts heck are Doug got Lip
Show is brought to you by Farmers and Farmers We've
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I can't help it, but I have to point out

(01:15:02):
that times do, in fact change, They just do. And um,
people aren't reading less Like anytime a newspaper goes under
or newspaper gets people fired. There's like, man, I just
can't believe journalism is dead. Like, Okay, I feel bad

(01:15:24):
when anybody lose their job, but I'm also not blind
to the fact that there's people are still reading just
as much they're actually watching it. More on video because
we're lazy about reading. But there's still the ability to
have online periodicals. It's just changing, you know. Instead of
having the old newsprint on your hands. Now you go
to social media, you click on something, or you go

(01:15:46):
to your favorite website and you read something or even
more importantly now like people moved to video did. I
don't know if you guys know this. Local news ratings
are up, not because more people are watching the news
at night, but they watch the news on their phone.
Digital numbers are spiking. The idea is this, people are

(01:16:07):
watching less of their TV. They're watching less TV on
their TV. They're not getting less of the news, they
getting more of it. They're just getting it from different
places than they used to get it before. I've said
this before about Friends. Friends is very popular on Netflix,
and this is the last year that Friends will be
available on Netflix. And it's interesting. My daughters are thirteen,

(01:16:32):
one of whom I've shared with you were before she
went to summer camp, were binge watching The Office and
she's probably a little young for the content on Friends,
but a lot of stuff goes over her head. Anyway.
I think we'll probably watch Friends next Why because we
can watch it for free on Netflix or what our
our monthly FeAs and she can watch it in a

(01:16:53):
short period time so that she has that inner database.
It just does. But I've said this about Friends before.
I don't believe there will ever be a network sitcom
like it ever. Again, it's not a big bold statement,
but network sitcoms now. Network television shows now. The ones

(01:17:15):
that work well, the reality based shows The Bachelor, the Bachelorette,
those still skew female and younger. But the sitcoms or
the dramas, those are all almost all fifty plus. Like.
The reason CBS has done so well is they skew older.
Why old people still watch traditional TV, young people do not.

(01:17:37):
But it doesn't mean that young people are watching fewer shows.
They still watch Thrones. They watch all these shows. Everybody's
got their favorite show, but they watched them digitally Amazon, Prime,
Hulu or on Netflix. Economies change, they just do. Uh.

(01:18:00):
Millennials are buying fewer houses. They're renting houses. So instead
of people making money of selling their homes, although they
still do it and real estate prices are still going up.
Now the way to make money is to have rental
units because there's more renters than there are rent houses
or rental units available. I bring that up because it's

(01:18:22):
no different in sports. By my estimation, the starter is
soon to be devalued in Major League Baseball. It just
is like the idea of paying million dollars a year
for a starter who's gonna start once every five days
and may or may not start thirty times for you
a year, but is very likely to get hurt and

(01:18:44):
will and can get hot, or can get hurt and
can fade off into the sunset like there's still playing.
What's happening is middle relievers, long relievers, guys that can
be spots starters. They have more value. They're making more
money and playing more games, and they ever used to
starters less. So in the NBA, you see the value

(01:19:06):
of DeMarcus Cousins, you see the value of DeAndre Jordan's.
They're not making the thirty or forty million dollars. No,
no, no no, no. It's generally two way players that are
wings that can guard and play any position. In the
National Football League, quarterbacks huge money. Why they touched the
football every play, defensive ends, defensive facts, wide receivers. But

(01:19:33):
with one side going up, what's gonna go down? Running
back used to be the signature player on every team.
Go back and think of your childhood or my childhood.
The Bears, Walter Payton, the Rams, Eric Dickerson, the Cowboys
were Tony Dorsett, and then they were Emmett Smith, right.
I mean the only teams that didn't the ones that

(01:19:54):
were ahead of the curve really were the were the
Miami Dolphins. They never running back. The Niners, Roger Craig
never got the credit he was due. But that's because
they were They two were ahead of the curve. I
would say that the Broncos were a little bit ahead
of it with John Elway, who was a great runner,
great thrower, and he had a bunch of But after that,

(01:20:14):
you remember the Broncos at seven straight years with thousand
yard running backs, different names, different faces, and now the
signature players almost all the quarterbacks, almost all the quarterbacks,
Drew Brees, the signature guy for the Saints, Aaron Rodgers,
Matt Stafford, Carson wentz Um, I guess still Eli Manning

(01:20:38):
for now just kind of go through it, and all
the teams are known based upon their quarterbacks. The running
back has become the network sitcom. Network sitcoms still exists.
They still have people that watch. It's just not the
way I mean, like, look, we just had the finish
to the end of what's the one, oh man, what's

(01:21:01):
the one about the scientists? The Big Bang theory? A
right Big Bang theory? Like I guess Big Bang theory
was the closest thing to Friends. Like it's very very
similar to friends. Apartments that are right across from each other. Right,
you had a couple of roommates that became couples. You
had love and lust and all that other stuff sexual innuendo.

(01:21:25):
But the fact is that you know, fewer people watch
that then watch Friends. But now it'll still be popular digitally,
Gonna be hard to get the next version of it.
So Melvin Gordon released today, although in fairness, people I've
talked to you said the charger has been aware of
this for a couple of weeks. His agent has said

(01:21:47):
Melvin's not showing up for training camp, won't play unless
he gets an appropriate contract extension offer. I've been told
he's gotten a contract extension offer which pays him but
well above and beyond what he's set to make. The
difference to Melvin Gordon and Levyan Bell, who are sent
to the same ages or age. Melvin Gordon be the
same age next year that the Levyan is this year.
Is Levian wasn't under contract last year, so when he

(01:22:10):
sat out, there were no fine s accrued. So you
have you have Melvin Gordon who looks around and says, hey,
look at all the money being paid to Todd Gurley.
Look at all the money being paid two um hm,

(01:22:32):
look at all money being paid to Levyan Bell, who
sat out all of last year. That's the kind of
money I want to make. Regardless of the fact that
levy On Bell and Todd Gurley were more accomplished than
he was and healthier than he was. He's looking at
it just like you look at quarterback contracts. If that's
what that guy gets, that's what I should get. Is

(01:22:55):
that right? Probably not? Is that fair? Probably? Is is
that appropriate? Don't think so, because it's a market of
declining value. That's it a market of declining value. And
so while he may be making complete sense in the
long time landscape of the National Football League, I get

(01:23:16):
as much or more as the next guy, even compared
him to levy On Bell. Levy On Bell has had
three thousand yards seasons as opposed to Gordon only having
one and Levan didn't even play last year. Now, Melvin
Gordon finds the end zone more consistently, but he's not

(01:23:37):
the receiver that levy On Bell is, in addition to
which he would have to find the perfect situation in
scenario the way that levy On Bell did. With the
Jets having a bunch of money to spend, and oh yeah,
by the way, if you think those are good deals,
good luck. How much would the Rams love to get
out of their constructor Todd Gurley? And it's been stated

(01:23:59):
that Adam Gay hated the contract that Leviyan Bell got
and the Jets management liked it so much they promptly
fired the general manager. Additionally, they have quarterbacks under rookie
contracts and so there is some extra money to be
spread around as opposed to the Chargers who do not.

(01:24:22):
Melvin Gordon might not make thirteen million dollars, I'm guessing
it's closer to nine to ten somewhere that the Chargers offer.
But he's got a head coach who's a former running
back and former running backs coach. He's got a good
offensive line, he's got a team that values him willing
to extend him. He's got a quarterback that can help
lead them to a super Bowl. They tied for the

(01:24:43):
best record in the n f C last year and
they weren't even healthy. If healthy this year, they could
get to the super Bowl. But instead he wants to
compare himself to guys that are the exception, not the
Norman contracts. The rest of the world is adjusting their
running back contracts in Melvin Gordon or whoever is advising him,
wants you to think otherwise. I don't think he plays

(01:25:07):
but six games this season, and I don't think he
makes the money he thinks he's gonna make. I think
the Chargers reevaluate at the end of the year, and
maybe they franchise Taging or maybe they do not. But
I think this is a bad play because he's evaluating
himself at the value of the outliers, not the median

(01:25:28):
or the mean. Stuck got lip show Here on Fox
Sports Radio, we'll talk some hoops scup coming next. Eddie
House joins us. Can you win a championship with Russell Westbrook?
Would he fit in with a guy like Jimmy Butler
who struggled to fit in himself and what does he
think of the Clippers and the Lakers rosters By now next,

(01:25:51):
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 your app
Doug Out the Show, Fox Sport TRADEO. Let's talk some hope.
NBA champion Eddie House joins the show. Eddie Um, Let's
start with the decision which kind of shook the landscape
of the NBA. What's your reaction to Kawhi Leonard joined

(01:26:14):
the l a Clippers and bringing Paul George with him. Well,
bringing Paul George was surprising. Uh, joining the Clippers wasn't
Wasn't that surprising? I was? I was more so thinking
Clippers had a shot or he was signed back with
with Toronto. The Laker thing didn't make sense to me
because when when when you are at the top of
your game, and it's different for a guy who's the

(01:26:35):
top five player to join you win, y'all are into
the same position like a d joining Lebron James. But
when you want to start jockeying yourself and be known
as the best player. I think that's why Paul George
opted not to play with Lebron because that's the guy
he's chased. And I think Kawhi Leonard doesn't want to
go join up with Lebron because that's the guy that
he's chasing. Um. So that wasn't surprising at all. Just

(01:26:59):
the way that the Rippers we're not we're silent, not
about Kauai, but about the move that they were making
to acquire Paul George. That's the thing that I was
surprised that, and I mean they pulled that offense. I
mean that just changed the landscape of not only the NBA,
but let's talk about just the city of l a

(01:27:19):
and moving forward. Because if they're able to do something,
if they're able to win championships with the Clippers, these
aren't the old Lakers. You know, God's kids. Kids are
growing up, the millennials. They're starting to attach theirself with
teams that are winning. The Lakers aren't winning. The Lakers
have a history of winning, but they haven't been winning lately.
If the Clippers are able to start winning, the town

(01:27:42):
might possibly change fifty years from now. If they win championships,
it could be a different type of town. It could
be it could be, but we've you know, like how
many times have we seen this? Never win the Clippers,
Never Clippers. This is like, you know, Arizona State and basketball,
like where you now, I don't don't do that. No, no, no, no,
no no. Like look it's Oklahoma State and football, same way, right,

(01:28:04):
Like there's the state has been dominated by Arizona basketball.
And there's been times which Arizona State frankly like this
last year, right, Arizona is a mess and see investigations
or whatever. And you got them down, you beat you know,
you beat him, and you feel good. You gotta you
gotta keep them down and then you gotta kind of
take that next step. You gotta get to a final four,
win a national championship in order to become the team

(01:28:27):
in the states of people. Forget about it. Oklahoma State
has been there in football ahead of Oklahoma. They couldn't
keep them down. Oklahoma was back. I think had Lebron
not landed Anthony Davis, they would have had a chance.
I like a lot of I don't love the Lakers
roster because there's not there's only really one shot creator
and he's thirty five years old on that team. But

(01:28:47):
I do like a lot of this rosters opposed to
last year's roster. Yeah, well, this is the thing you
talk about. Only one shot creator will tell me how
many shot makers they have, because when Lebron dominating the basketball,
who's gonna knock down open shots? And that's the question.
Who was the knockdown shoot? We got Danny Green, he's
the guy. Who else? Well, I mean I think, I

(01:29:10):
mean you still, I mean, like you still have the
brown and stuff, Anthony Davis, you have Kyle Kuzma, Like
those are three big time scores. Um. Yeah, I don't
know how how Avery Bradley will shoot, but I do
think and he's not a great shooter, but he's not terrible.
I think he's a really good player. And then you
know they have the long laundry list of Troy Davis,

(01:29:31):
k CPS, etcetera. To throw in Like that's that's actually
a pretty good amount of offense if you think about it.
You're throwing Kuzma, you know, Like, let's say Kuzma is
an eighteen a game guy and you get twenty five
out of a D and minimum twenty five to seven
out of Lebron, like and you get twelve out of

(01:29:51):
out of Green like that's enough, isn't it. That's all
it does. I'll hear you with that. But that's all
best case scenario. Let's just say what could be the
scenario where those cous must say, for whatever reason, he
takes a step back, say his game suffers a little
bit because a D is there. A D is getting
more of the touches that he was getting last year,
and he's not getting eighteen a night. He's getting fourteen

(01:30:14):
a night. And you expect Danny Green to come in
and give you twelve, but he's only giving you eight.
So then what happens then, because that's the real, realistic reality.
Because you talked about Troy Daniels, But who is Troy
Daniels gonna play in front of? I think he's probably
one of the better shooters that's gonna be on the team,
no doubt. But who does he get medicine front of?
I think that's where the quandary is, and that's where

(01:30:36):
I think Frank Vogel is gonna have a problem trying
to find the perfect matchups because it's really if you
look at the team, yeah, it's a lot of a
lot of guys that you're like, Oh, these are proven veterans.
These guys can play, but they were playing on certain
teams that needed those specific specific skills that they brought
to the table. Here, they're guys are gonna just need

(01:30:58):
to be spacing the floor for lebron A d to
go to work and knock down open shots. Are is
not saying that guys aren't capable, but consistently is Avery
Radley gonna be consistently able to knock down the wide
open shot? Is Rondo gonna be consistently able to knock
down that open shot? Because if not, they're gonna pack
the paint and they're gonna dare these guys to shoot.

(01:31:19):
So when when I look at it, I look at
it on paper and it looks great. There's a lot
of talent out there. Not gonna take away from the talent,
But when you bring that talent together, doesn't mess. Does
it come together the right way where that can be successful?
That remains to be seen. That's the only question I have.
Because it looks great on paper, but it's a lot
of things we've seen that look good on paper and
it just doesn't come to fuition. How would Russell Westbrook

(01:31:40):
look in a Miami heat uniform. I will I I
think that would look put it like this, it would
it definitely gonna put butts in the seats right. And
then I think you've got two fierce competitors. I think
it will actually be good for the growth of his
gang because now you're going to a guy like pat
Riley exposure. There's a it's the Miami Way. It's not

(01:32:03):
the your way, it's the Miami Way. And everybody has
always conformed to that. I mean, going back to when
I got dropped, they had Tim Hardaway, Alonzo Mourning. I mean,
we had Anthony Mason, and pat Riley held everybody accountable
the same way. One day he'll get on Zoe, he'll
rise though are next day he'll get on me. But
then at the same time he keeps you off balanced.

(01:32:23):
But make sure to let you know that, hey man,
this is how we do it here. And you are
gonna be professional, You're gonna be hard working, which Russ
is already. I think you've got two dogs in the
backcourt in and that's a great starting spot. I I agree.
I kind of like it. I mean I've heard people go, well,
you know, they wouldn't get along as two guys that
couldn't get along. Yes, but you do. You have a
coaches won a championship, um, a president who won a championship,

(01:32:47):
and a coach who has the backing of it, so
you can now The big question to USS is does
he actually want to be everybody thinks they want to
be coached. Let's Seev actually does want to be coached,
right right? Yeah, that is the great I think you
know what. I think he does want to be coached.
It's like this, we all can all the players since
a fraud coach or a weak minded coach, and you

(01:33:09):
if you feel that whatever his messages is getting overlooked,
it like, man, he doesn't really mean it. But when
you have a coach that stands on it, that's held
everybody accountable, it doesn't matter who it was, what kind
of player, if he was in his prime, or if
he was a rookie, or if he's the first player,
if he's the star player, of the last player of
the bench, they all getting held accountable. I think at
that point, when if Russy does end up in Miami,

(01:33:31):
he understands that there's ways to do things and he'll
start seeing that I'm actually getting coached the way I
should have been getting coach when I first came in
this league. Look At how much growth I'm gonna have
this one year. When if I would have known this
at the beginning of my career, where would I be at? Now?
You know? That's how I think that if if he
wants to be basically not prove everybody wrong about he

(01:33:54):
can't be coached, that has to be his approach because
and I think that's exactly what he would see because
Miami is about detail, it's about being professional, and it's
a first class organization. So he's gonna see that firsthand.
And I think that that's gonna It's gonna do one
or two things. It's gonna either expose that he never
can get coached, or it's gonna expose that he never

(01:34:14):
had a guy that challenged him like this. It's a
great point, and I completely completely agree with you. Um okay,
So now you have the Clippers and the Lakers. Who
mentioned the Lakers roster, and again we don't know injuries,
we don't know how the chemistry forms. But in July,

(01:34:34):
who you like better? I like the Clippers for this reason.
One reason is defense. Doc is a defensive minded coach.
You've got Patrick Beverley, you've got Kauai Leonard, and you
have Paul George. And one thing we know about defense
is that true. You know this does Your jump shot
might not travel from game to game. Your your offensive game,

(01:34:56):
it can be there, it can be hit or miss right,
they say a maker misleague. But your defense travels. Your
defense is something that you can rely on night in
and night out. And I know by playing with Doc
that's something that was stressed. We we preach defense. You know,
defense first and everything else comes second. You're gonna get
easier opportunity if you are playing defense, and you'll get
more opportunity because you're getting stopped, you're getting rebounds, you're

(01:35:20):
not giving up off as a rebounds. I think they're
gonna be one of the toughest defensive teams as far
as in the backcourt. I mean almost history wise. If
you think about it, the way that Patrick Beverley is
a dog on the point, the way that Paul George
was an m VP candidate, and we know what Kauai
can do, I think it's gonna be very, very difficult
for teams to score on them. Um and for that

(01:35:44):
reason I'll give the Clippers and not because they you know,
the the old saying is defense wins championships. Great stuff, Eddie, Eddie,
I'm I'm with you. I'm excited as well. I wish
it was the NBA season. I guess the the The
only issue I have now is what about those small
market teams like Oklahoma City, I mean New Orleans. Granted
they got good young players, but it feels like they're

(01:36:05):
all gonna have to draft their next player and then
run the run, the run the risk of losing them.
Do you think there's ever a point where these smaller franchise,
small market franchises, like hey, we we can't have this
right right they try to do in the last c
b A, with the last two cbas and the extra year,
how do you think they handle the fact that they're

(01:36:26):
almost a minor league system for the for the for
the teams on the coast. Well, I have to look
at the San Antonio Spurs and say they are particular.
They are a small market team and they found a
way to do it. I think it starts up top,
which are with the owner, trickles down to your front
office and then you have to draft right and get people,
get stars that want to stay and and the only
way that stars want to stay is if you are

(01:36:48):
winning and showing them that you guys are moving into
direction to try to win. Otherwise you'll say, hey man,
this is not working here. I'm trying to go somewhere
else where they are trying to win. Even if we've
seen it with this free agency, I even leave millions
and millions and millions dollars on the table to go
do so. So I think it starts up top number one,
and we we've seen it with the Spurs. The Spurs

(01:37:10):
have been they showed that that that it doesn't You
don't have to be a big market team to win.
So I think again it just it starts up top
and you have to keep your superstars, that's the main thing.
But you have to show them that you're trying to
you you are trying to build a winner. Yep, yep, Eddie,
great stuff, man, talk to you soon. Appreciate join us.
Thank you, man, I appreciate it. That's that's Eddie House.

(01:37:31):
Good dude. Be sure to catch live editions so the
Doug Dot Leaps show weekdays at noon eastern three pm
Pacific eight seven seven nine on the Fox is the
phone number. UM, I got a quick question for you,
Isaac this this is a colation for you, Ramos for you,
Ryan Music for you. Have you guys seen this Albert
Haynesworth story. Oh yeah, terrible. So Albert Haynesworth, who people

(01:37:56):
forget before he was before he signed as a free
agent with the Washington Redskins to sign thing that goes
down and infamy as one of the all time worst.
He was a dominant defensive line in the nash Football League. Um,
he had weight problems, conditioning problems, attitude problems. And he's
been retired now what for eight seasons, and he's had

(01:38:16):
all kinds of health issues. He had a brain aneurysm
and now apparently his his kidneys have shut down. And
he took the Instagram to post that to bear anyone
who could get tested potentially give him a kidney. Now,
I'm I'll just tell you right now, I'm probably not
a match. But I ain't given Alviret haynes for the kidney.

(01:38:37):
And it's nothing personal. I just know that as much
as kidney transplants almost generally work for the person who's
giving one away, it still would lead me with just
one kidney. End, I'm gonna hold onto both for now
in case there's a family member that needs one. But
I just I wonder, in all honesty, is there anyone
outside of family you would give you to give a

(01:39:00):
kidney to Isaac? No, just my kids and my wife
and family. Only as much as I as much as liked,
as much as I'd like to help. Yeah, Like there's no.
There's some athletes I love out there, like I love
Mike trout right, Like I think Mike Trouty is what
what sports is supposed to be about. Do your job,

(01:39:21):
be a great dude, be a good teammate, keep getting better,
you know, negotiating private, not in public, and just be
an absolute killer and do it with a smile in
your face. Like, man, that guy's awesome. But Mike trout
came out and said, like, hey, I need a kidney.
I like, Mike, don't you have some family members you
can ask? Like you can really ask me music? Am
I being too cold, too callous, too honest? What do

(01:39:43):
you think? No? I think I'm right there with you.
It would be there's only one other person outside of
absolute blood relation that I can think of, he's been
my best friends since uh seventh grade, and he did
already have to have a kidney transplant that he got
he had he got one from his brother. It was

(01:40:04):
when we were in high school. So in the event
that something went wrong and he needed another kidney transplant,
I would That's the only thing that I would have
to think very long and very hard about. Other than that,
it's got to be direct blood relationship. Rama's about you. Yes,

(01:40:24):
I I agree with both with Isaac said and with
Ryan said. There's nobody you can think of, not a
family besides us, anybody at work, anybody at work. Um,
I think you have to have a really really close
relationship with Sony more than just like two or three
years working with them. You know, it has to be

(01:40:45):
more and more than that. I think to give your
kidney up. Yeah, I mean that's kind of if your
boss is like, if my man, mom, man, you're a match,
can I get your kidney? I mean, there's a reason
the Good Lord gave you to my man, I'd start

(01:41:07):
touching up that resume. That would actually it would actually
be a really strong play, right. You're like, hey, He's like, hey, listen, Uh,
I don't know like, dude, I gave you a kidney.
You're like, you're right, You're right. You become completely unfire able. Leverage. Yes,
that's some leverage. I tell he takes a job somewhere else,
then what do you do go? I gave up a

(01:41:30):
kidney for this company, My man, I'm sorry, thank you
for the kidney, but I'm gonna go down the street
and work for it. What have you done for me lately?
My man? Oh man? Uh, we're not trying to make Yeah,
we are trying to make light of something that's really sad. Well.
I did just see a story that, um this is
from the Knoxville News Sentinel that when he put out

(01:41:52):
that Instagram post. Since then, this is according to the
Vanderbilt University Medical Chief Communications Officer John Howser, they have
received hundreds of calls and offers for oregan donations. UM,
so hopefully will have a good ending for Albert Hainsworth.

(01:42:17):
I just like, there are you know what? You know
what I can my conclusion on that is there are
better people than me out there. Oh totally, Like I
really believe I'm a good human being. I don't care
what anybody wants to say about me. And I've ever
done in the you know, I've I've done something wrong
in the past. I've been accountable for whatever. I know.
I'm a good human being. I know have a good heart,

(01:42:37):
right Like I was up at nine this morning in Friedburg, Maine,
uh teaching some young girls basketball at their camp, running
a clinic, and I got nothing financially out of it.
It's I don't need an out of boy like I
will do things for people just because they asked, just
because the right thing to do. But I have a

(01:42:58):
limit to how good a person I am, and there
are better people out there to me. And if you're
willing to give a football player that you don't know
a kidney, better person. And let's put it this way,
I think it's it's the reason that it's kind of
no for us is just because we have family, we
have kids, and you never know why they might need it.

(01:43:20):
But like if I, someone like me or someone like
you guys were all single, not a lot of family,
then you know, hey, why not. That's actually a great
point I didn't even think about. If you give one up,
then you have no more to even possibly hold onto
for another family member. That I actually mentioned that when
we start, did I mention that? Didn't? I say, I
mean I need to not just for me, need and too,

(01:43:41):
but what if somebody I know needs to enough? I
was just like, I don't want to. I don't want
to give it up, period and the story let alone.
You know, Isaac's like, well, just in case my wife.
I mean, you don't when you once you have a
wife and you have kids, and you'd be like, look,
I would do anything for of course, that's that's pretty
What about have you ever seen those like videos of like, hey,

(01:44:04):
someone needed a bone marrow transplant and I just gave
it to him. And you're a bone marrow transplant though painful,
it's supposed to be really painful. That I would do that,
I would do for stranger, I would do I would
do bone riso. I think that's I don't think that's
a because you you you do produce more bone marrow.

(01:44:25):
It hurts. But like, look, if you can save somebody's
life by just something that you know you don't need
or you can grow back, cool, I got that. I'm
fine with. But you do you only get two kidneys,
they do not grow back. You do, in fact need
at least one to function, and really you need two
are are optimal and you might have a kid that

(01:44:47):
night need one like that one. I'm gonna hold onto.
I'm gonna hold onto. So I don't think it's not
that the pain of it isn't wasn't the limiting factor.
It's how it affects my own future. Okay, I got
two things I want to get you next. First, I
want to get to the press, but also there's a
story out there about the over use in overplaying of

(01:45:08):
of young athletes. I'm gonna talk about my podcast, but
also want to talk about it next on the Doug
Gotlip Show. 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 Doug
Gotlip Show, Fox Sports Radio. Did you guys go to

(01:45:29):
summer campus? Kids like sleep away summer camp music? You
grew up in southern California? Do you ever go away
for summer camp? I did not know ramos that would
that would be a negative there, Doug Loewen Crown, where
did you grow up? I grew up right here in
southern California and Irvine. Did you ever you grew up
in Irvine? I did school the University of School. We
used to be We were a Sevie League rivals. E

(01:45:52):
A guy, Dmitrius Ziegler, Demetrius Niggler. He was a senior
when I was a freshman. Absolutely okay, So Detrier used
to they used to play fast, used to try and
press and run and that was that was. It was
a good stat night when we played Uni High School
University High School, and Irvine, for people don't know, is
one of the elite academic high schools public schools in
all the country until the uh in spite of the

(01:46:14):
fact that you went that you went there seventeen perfect
scores in the s A t last year from University
High School. True story, true story. Um anyway, so I,
uh hi, look, and it's funny. My kids would go
to sleepaway camp in the middle of nowhere in Maine.

(01:46:36):
And so yesterday I took a day off, and as
you guys know, I rarely, if ever take days off,
and so I coached basketball all morning and like in
the afternoon, I kind of had nothing to do, and
it was the cool like I'm just I climbed a
rock wall. They have like a ninja, like an American
ninja warrior type thing. I did that. I played pickleball,

(01:46:58):
I played some tennis. I went for a swim in
the river. I was like, this is amazing, this is amazing. Um,
I did not get bit by bugs, and I was
a pretty pretty cool thing. So I have I've become
a summer camp. So if you if I end up
bailing out on shows the rest of the summer, you know,
it's because I left for summer camp. But I'd be

(01:47:19):
a good bunk bait. I feel like Rambos would be
a good bunk bait, laughing all the jokes, right, he
would laughing. I do. Can I just say right now,
really quick? I do snore, so I think that might
so we're okay. Then did you music? Do you not snore?

(01:47:39):
I not that I've been told now. I think you're
too young. I don't think I snored all my I
don't think I snore when I was a kid. I
don't know what what What is the age when you
start snoring? It's probably the age when you start getting
hair kind of out of your ears and you lose that. Yes, yeah,
that's what I'm not saying. I have big long, like
party favorite hairs out my ears, but I have seen
some hairs and they I have a really good story

(01:48:01):
about snoring, but it's not enough time right now. Maybe
like another show or something, I can kind of throw
it out there. But it's really funny, kind of there's
a tease for you. That's what we call teas in
the business. There is, there's a tease in the business.
Let's get to the press, the press, alright, Isaac Lowen

(01:48:22):
Crown of University High School in Irvine, California. What do
you got? Thank you? Former Tustin Tiller Doug Godly will
start with Jimmy Garoppolo saying that there are a lot
of similarities between his forty Niners tight end George Kittle
and retired Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. Garoppolo telling the
Sporting News the energy he brings every day, how he

(01:48:45):
goes about his business. He's always having fun while he's
doing it, very similar to Gronk. They both enjoy what
they do. There are a lot of similarities on the
field and a little bit off the field. To most
telling line, perhaps the last one there m off the field.
What do you think that means? Like when you hear
off the field, what that means TMZ. Yeah, yeah, I

(01:49:08):
think it just means goofy, don't you? Yeah? Sure? Why not? Both? Yeah?
I mean I I do think that person, like what
Gronk has tried to create a fictional character that I
don't know if it's really like, do I think he's
when you touch you guys like, no, ruly, let me

(01:49:28):
just break down the database here and and when and think. No,
I do think he's kind of a meat head, but
he's he's dumb like a fox, right, He's clever, he's cunning,
and he's built this image. And so the off the
field means fun, loving, doesn't care, doesn't take himself too seriously,
and I don't think it's see see the negatives in it,
even though some people would. He's turned that into a

(01:49:50):
brand and he's taking us all the way to the bank.
Speaking of another former Patriot, Richard Seymour, it turns out
is a fantastic poker player. He just got I'm competing
in the main event of the World Series of Poker
and he made her all the way out of the
fifth day of action. To put that into perspective, there
are eight thousand five hundred and sixty nine entrants and

(01:50:12):
Seymour outlasted more than nine percent of that field. It
actually doesn't surprise me. And I'll tell you why we've
always always held in high regard the level of intelligence
of New England Patriots. Correct, Richard Seymour is no different.
Why should we not think that he's bright if we

(01:50:33):
believe that New England Patriots only draft right guys? And finally,
thank you Bill. Finally, police in gut Three, Oklahoma, say
that during a routine traffic stop last month, they found
in the vehicle a rattlesnake, a canister of radioactive powdered uranium,

(01:51:00):
and an open bottle of Kentucky Deluxe whiskey. Must have
been quite a party, that's the driver. Party driver was
charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, transporting an open
container of liquor, and driving with a suspended license. Apparently
the radioactive uranium was fine. Wait, there's there's no penalty

(01:51:21):
for driving around your radioactive uranium? Apparently not. You can
get it on Amazon right Prime like it used to
be used to not be able to take Coors beer
east of the Mississippi. But apparently you're okay with Uranium,
Amazon really prime back, get out there and pressed the press.
We're gonna talk about this sum tomorrow. But there's an

(01:51:41):
excerpt from some excerpts from this Baxtor home piece on
the threat of youth basketball and the idea that these
guys played too much ball and it's a it's a
hard thing. When is too much of a good thing
actually a bad thing? It takes in discussions over NBA
trainers and what former stars did in the off season.

(01:52:01):
We'll discuss a bunch of plus will be on my
All Ball podcast. I struggled with this myself. I talked
about summer camp. It's one of the reasons that I
tell my kid he plays sports at summer camp, but
he plays everything. Played hockey yesterday. Um, are we doing
too much? Are we having our kids play too much
ball to become too athletic, too refined at a young age? Alright,

(01:52:22):
we'll talk about that plus with Sam Amick tomorrow. This
is the Doug Gottlieb Show. I've been camping on Fox
Sports Radio.

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