March 4, 2021 • 39 mins
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon react to the biggest storylines in the NBA on Wednesday night, including Joel Embiid solidifying his MVP campaign and officiating issues taking center-stage. No way that Trevor Bauer really would have chosen the Mets out of guilt. The Nets are proving they can dominate the regular season, but what does that really mean? Plus, more details come out on Tiger Woods' accident.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
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(00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Greetings and welcome inside
our three of The Jason Smith Show with my base
friend Mike Harmon. Love from the Farmers Insurance Studio Studio Studios,
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It's a lot of money for a quick phone call,
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July to December. We are Farmers well, six minutes to
go in the fourth quarter and the Lakers without bron
James kind of wilting a bit. It was a close game.
The Kings are up by eight as the Lakers playing
(01:06):
their final game before the break. One oh eight, one hundred.
Buddy Heal's got twenty seven for the Kings. Meanwhile, off
the bench, Montrez Harald's got twenty two. Kyle Kuzma, starting
for the Lakers tonight, had swalled forward. He's got twenty
two and ten, but still not enough, as the Lakers
down by eight with about six minutes left to go.
And there's many teams where where I can say, you know,
(01:30):
where's the All Star break coming? Right? Is it coming
in a good time? Our our teams blowing through other
teams and winning. Sometimes it comes at a bad time.
Look for the vast majority of teams in the NBA,
this break is coming at a good time, all right,
because it's not a normal NBA All Star break in which, okay,
now we get to sit back and boy, it's too
bad we had that month and by that week and
a half break because we were playing so well. Every
(01:53):
team needs it, that the mental hurdles that they had
to go through last year with COVID and coming back
and playing and then having a short offseason, everybody is
ready for the break. I don't think there is any
team more ready for the All Star break than the Lakers.
With Anthony Davis dinged up, Lebron James playing a lot
of minutes, there is no team that needs and desires
(02:14):
and needs this break more than the Lakers do. Yeah,
I mean Sureder just comes back from being off because
Saul has been hurt. I mean, you've got all the
guys and look, it's been some of the narrative in
the here in Los Angeles, some would call an excuse
making the reality is just facts. Right, Guys are missing games,
guys are banged up, and Lebron James is playing thirty
(02:35):
five minutes a night. He needs arrest all the overtime games. Yes,
and I know we've talked about it with Rebuker among others,
talking about where you might be able to find some
rest where the clock is still moving, so you're still
playing minutes but longer possessions holding the ball for the
you know, two seconds on the shot clock kind of
(02:57):
situations in the NBA that may be you can do
some metrics to say, all right, he's playing a hard
twenty eight minutes either way, final minutes of a close
game in the fourth or overtime minutes, those are all
what you'd call stressful minutes, which are in different animal right.
I mean, look, we're making up metrics all along, So
why don't we have someone start charting all that stuff too.
(03:19):
When did he look like he had a furrowed brow.
That's what we call a stressful minute of NBA action. Uh,
And when we're talking about his age and and what
they're gonna need to do right if they're going to repeat,
it's going to be an aggressive second half of the season.
We're talking from now until May sixteenth, with the next
(03:39):
week being off. So get the rest that you can
play the whatever minutes in the All Star Game, draft
your squad, handshakes, kissing babies, whatever the All Star breaking tails,
signing basketballs or or whatever it is. And then you've
got to be judicious with the minutes in the second
half because you're gonna have a law road in the
(04:01):
playoffs and there. While we may say there's separation between
the three best teams in either conference, there's still a
lot of good teams that are going to tax them right. Well,
I don't see any real walkovers for the most part.
You know, in the Western Conference, even as you get
to the the finals, seeds, right, whoever battles and and
(04:22):
gets into the back end of the bracket is still one.
They'll have one a few games, so they'll have a
little bit of momentum, but two and they can push
the series and extra minutes, extra stress, and with Anthony
Davis being a huge wild card to all this, you've
got to find the rest and maximize your opportunities where
you can twitter at how about a fresca might get
(04:44):
swollen on the Jason Smith Show with my bass friend
Mike Harmon. Uh So, again, still just under five minutes
left to go, the Lakers down by three. Again playing
tonight without Lebron James, without Anthony Davis, no Kareem, no Magic,
no Worthy, Tonight Worthy's doing the post game adds Tonight's
a tough one for the Lakers. Meanwhile, so many different
(05:05):
big games tonight and big stories. And we got into
the Donovan Mitchell aspect of the Jazz loss to the
sixer tonight because look, clearly, what could be an NBA
Finals preview and and you know, yeah it's an NBA
Finals preview, doesn't involve the Lakers. Wait a minute, Yeah,
these are two terrific teams. You're talking about the best
team in each conference, right, that's what we have. Uh
Utah loses in overtime. We got into the Donovan Mitchell
(05:27):
aspect of it a few minutes ago, a ridiculous double
technical on him that got him ejected from the game. Apparently,
now you can't argue calls at all. The NBA is
not physical, and the NBA is gonna have a lot
of explaining to do this weekend and about officiating in general,
because the players have had it, and I can't blame them.
I get it. The NBA has been one way for
(05:48):
a while. Everything has been good. Now suddenly things are
changing how they're officiating games. I get the players being upset,
but this conversation is going to be a little bit
different because this is about the team that won the game,
and more specifically, the guy who brought them the win,
because Philadelphia is the number one team in the East
thanks to the first half. NBA m v P. Who oh,
(06:10):
by the way, did this tonight? Tobias Harris to embead
and beat is pushed by Bogdanovitch nine seconds ago, goobles
beyond the arc, fate to three, shoot the three. It's
up head good five point nine ago and beat us
tied in at one. Eight Sixers are gonna win this game.
Tobias Harris. He missed two games in a row, he
has eleven points in overtime and the Sixers beat the
(06:30):
Utah Jazz. Final score here tonight in Philadelphia one thirty
one to one three Sixers Radio Network on the call,
Joel embiid with that three at the ends of regulation
to tie it forty points tonight, nineteen rebounds, hit a
couple of threes. He's the m v P of the
(06:50):
NBA so far, and it's not even close with other people.
All Right, there's nobody who has been as consistent as
mbad from the big ginning of the season until now, right,
you've had other players have great runs. Right, Lebron was
great for a while. It was, hey, Lebron could win
the m v P. Then what happened. The Lakers lost
four in a row. Lebron didn't play that well without
(07:11):
Anthony Davis, and suddenly there goes Lebron's MVP candidacy. James
Harden was awfrom the beginning. He quit with the Rockets
and and and barged his way out of town and
bullied the Rockets into a trade. And since he's been
with the Nets, he's been terrific. But there's that beginning
of the season that James Harden was not just not
playing well. He was a bad teammate and a bad guy. Right,
(07:31):
So you have that going on. You had about ten
days where Steph Curry was scoring thirty five points late
at night and it was all off. Steph could get
the Warrior to the playoffs. Sure that was potential, but
that has kind of come and gone. Nobody has been
as consistent as Joel Embiid. This is a guy who
was gone through this year in his career and had
that Shaquille O'Neil moment of Okay, I've had fun for
(07:55):
the first half of my twenties. Now I gotta get
serious about winning. And what happened with Shaquille O'Neil. He
left the Magic went to the Lakers. He was still fun,
but he was fun with an edge. He wins three
NBA titles with the Lakers, NBA Finals, M v P
and them. He goes and wins another one with the
Heat and he walks off saying, there's my NBA legacy.
It's secure. Joel Embiid had that moment in this offseason.
(08:19):
Whether it was him realizing it, Doc Rivers bringing out
of him, but he has become that monster that we
all thought he was going to be. I said, remember
the last couple of years, you know me with the Sixers,
when are Joel Embiad and Ben Simmons gonna go from Hey,
we're having fun, we're star players, we play well every
night into hey, it's time for us to really lock
down and and get into winning and understand what it
(08:40):
takes to win and win titles in this league because
our legacy is not going to be great. And you've
seen em Bead take that to heart this year. I mean, look,
the guy's averaging thirty points a game, all right, and
Beat is gone from hey he's a dangerous guy to
now he's giving you thirty and twelve every night. Right.
His player efficiency rating is second in the NBA. The
(09:01):
Sixers are at the top of the Eastern Conference. There's
nobody else that I could say deserves the m v
P so far then Joel and Beating. He's a guy
not getting any of the run because it's been Lebron
and then a little bit of Staff and a little
bit of Harden. But they have all had big gaps
on their resume so far, and em Beat has been
great from opening night till tonight. Yeah, I think part
(09:22):
of it is reputation. Right, We've been waiting for that breakthrough.
So people are saying, hey, let's finish the job. What
are we doing when we're talking about the contenders going
towards the title. It's the alright, Doc Rivers get you push.
But we've also seen bad Doc Rivers in playoffs. Right.
We had all the talk after the Clippers got bounced
(09:44):
of what was wrong in the coaching aspect. Again, you
take it with a grain of salt because you've got
a bunch of guys looking to pass the buck. But
the reality is the same. It failed and you blew
a three one series lead again something that it seems
to be unique to Doc Rivers. Okay, so, and also
Ben Simmons the billion to one shot of hitting a
(10:08):
three point shot. Right, It's the if you were shooting
for a car, would you rather have the guy coming
out of the back of the three hundred level or
Ben Simmons shooting to win that car for you? Probably
the guy that's sitting in the three level just calling
it what it is. That's not I don't I don't
want Ben Simmons taking that shot for me. I'd rather
(10:30):
have some dude that's drinking a beer all the way
up there. Hey, come on down, you look like you
can hit a nice three. You got a nice, big
shooting stroke, nice smoothly, and go ahead take that shot
for me. I'm only half kidding, but but that that's
the thing that that comes down to it. Can you
take him away from what his game is right and
force him to work outside and and not get the
dribble drive that makes him so effective. We've seen that
(10:52):
erased in the past, So I think with Joel embiid
a lot of why he's not on that you know, Hey,
let's talk about him while he's a big man and
to it's just history. We've been expecting it and it
hasn't come. So at some point you finally just move
on saying, you know what, it's not gonna happen, right,
it's you and your jets waiting for them to get over,
(11:13):
or what whichever analogy you want to use for all
the teams that we've watched through the years and guys
that you've cheered for, saying this is gonna be the breakthrough.
Look they got him an extra wide receiver, or look,
they got him the point guard he needed, so they
can have a great two man game. And now this
is the year that you know, this guy changes his
attitude from being I need to score first to being
(11:34):
a team player and a a winner. You can insert any
Hollywood movie, uh for that. So it's just that I
think that's why Joel Embiide loses. Right, He's not He's
not the the sexy candidate, Right, Steph Curry, you're gonna
keep what keep showing. Hey, there is with his pregame
ritual of this jump shot from the middle of nowhere
(11:55):
and then here's a couple of pull up threes from
thirty five cool Lebron James. Watch him barrel over guys
or put back dunk or whatever and finding the open
man for an easy lay in all of those things
that we've come to expect with Joel Embiid. You're trying
to get that highlight package today and get him over.
He's got forty and nineteen. But we're talking about Donovan
(12:16):
Mitchell getting tossed more than we are about how much
you know mbid affects the stat line and right now
is affecting the game. Unfortunately, while I agree with you
he should be the lead guy, the others have better stories.
Look even James Harden, everybody forgot he forced his way out,
at least for the moment when they vote. Will they
feel the same, m I'll tell you it's it's going
(12:39):
to be tough. But the NBA knows one thing and
what they like to do is they'd like to anoint
new superstars. Sure, right, So if if they give James
Harden m v P. I mean, look, this isn't how
they do it, but it's how the It's how the
NBA does it. The NBA and the oscars are kind
of the same where they both want to reward somebody
for the career they've had. Right, you can't tell me that, oh, well,
here the year so and so was so great in
(13:01):
this movie and it's probably like their fifth best movie.
But they've had a great career. They've made Hollywood money,
so we can anoint them by giving them an oscar. Right.
The NBA likes to create new stars and and giving
hard and m v P. Does that help them? No?
Giving Lebron the m v P does that help them? No?
Does it help Steph Curry if they get No? But
does Joel Embi become a superstar if he walks away
(13:23):
with the m v P. Damn right he does, Joel
Embiid becomes Hey, he's a now guy we can market
and can be a big deal and he can be
the next Janice. Uh and and now because now Janice
has become a superstar winning a couple of m v
ps and doing that, because if Janice doesn't have the
m v P, s, boy, we are just relentless on
Janice about how he hasn't been able to achieve and
do things and lead the bucks. But you win the
(13:45):
m v P, it's a pretty big deal. So Janice
becomes a star. A little bit polarizing, but hey, he's
another one the NBA created with by giving him the
m v P. So Joel Embiid, they can create another
superstar by giving it two mbat And that's why I
like his chances even more. I like the way you
you laid that out. Try to find the the new
marketing and if you can market Philly right, and that
(14:09):
means they won't hate you. Sorry cheap joke, had to
do it. Uh So you Philly is a place you
can still go to if I think you're Detroit. Privileges
got revoked. No no, no, no no no, I said
I liked the trade for Jared Goff. They got draft Pa. No,
I said, I like that trade. I'm okay, I can
go to Detroit. Okay. I was trying to give you
(14:30):
an out. No, no, no, I listen. The first place
we're going when we can travel again is to Detroit.
I already know this right, like, there's no getting out
of it. Right. Detroit is where we're going all these
exotic Where are you gonna go for a case. You're
gonna go to Kabo, Saint Lucas, Puerto Fireta, You're gonna
go to banf You're gonna go to Amsterdam. No, I'm
gonna go to Detroit. I already know it. Detroit's happening.
(14:51):
That's where it's gonna be the first place I'm looking
for something better. Uh, well, you want a trade with me?
I mean the thing is, that's that's the family I
married into. I married into a family where she's from Detroit.
I mean it'll make you tough. You go back to
Detroit for vacations. Man from the South side of Chicago,
I'm good tough. No, no, no, it's that's like the
junior varsity compared to Detroit. You have to try you're
(15:13):
tough man. Yeah, you're tough. You try. You try going
up to a Winchells in Detroit at one o'clock in
the morning and getting getting the right order on donuts
and not getting into a fight with a guy. Not
saying I ever did that, not saying that ever happened.
But I'm just saying, you know things like you gotta
watch out for me. You gotta. It's gonna be on
your guard there. I'll do you one better. White Castle
near Midway Airport, three am, post bars on a Friday night.
(15:40):
Good luck Twitter at how about a frescup? Mike gets
swollen down The Jason Smith Show with my best friend
Mike Harbon live from the Farmer's Insurance Studios called one
Triple eight Farmers to switch, you could save a bundle
on your auto insurance. Well, coming up next, a crazy
story involving Dodgers star Trevor Bauer and how the tiniest
(16:01):
thing nearly flipped him from signing with the Dodgers to
signing with another team. We got that coming up next
right here. Fox. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm.
Eastern seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
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(16:22):
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(16:42):
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man live from the Farmer's Insurance Studios. H Kings and Lakers.
(17:26):
Oh boy, is this one fun. Down to the wire.
We'll have an update on it coming up in about
five minutes. But a crazy story today out of Major
League Baseball. Uh courtesy of Trevor Bower's agent, Rachel Luba,
who was appearing on the Barstool Sports podcast starting nine,
and she told a story about how well, according to
(17:48):
Rachel Luba, that Trevor Bauer nearly signed with the Mets
over a merchandise snaff foo. Now, if you remember the
day that Trevor Bauer made his decision to sign with
the Dodgers over the Mets, uh, it mistakenly some merchandise
went out that Trevor Bauer autographed the Mets hat and
it had the hashtag lf GM on it, which is
(18:08):
the Mets hashtag Let's Blanket, Go Mets, which was coined
by Pete Alonso. And when this got out there, Trevor
Bauer was really concerned about it. According to Rachel Luba
on the podcast, she said, I was getting screenshots. I
didn't know what was going on. I called Trevor, you know,
that's marketing, It's not me. Uh. Trevor was very upset
that this got out and he just said, you know what,
(18:30):
it's the Mets. I'm gonna go to the Mets. I
can't disappoint the fan base. I can't do this. I
have to go to the Mets. And Rachel Luba said,
why don't you take some time? Why don't you you know,
I understand it's a big decision. Why do you take
some time? Why don't you go out and go for
a walk and come back and tell me about it
and then give me your decision. And Trevor Bauer said, nope, sorry,
it's done. I can't do this. It's the Mets. I'm
(18:52):
gonna go play there. And then she again said to him,
listen how you reacted. Just now you know you have
to think this through more. It's a life changing decision.
And then Rachel Lubis said that Trevor Bauer returned and
told her I want to go to the Dodgers. And
this is how Trevor Bauer wound up going to the Dodges.
So this, this, uh, this leak of of Mets merchandise
(19:15):
with Bowers name on it associated with him, nearly caused
Trevor Bauer to go to the Mets. Like about that,
let me think if I first of all, let me think,
if I really believe that story. I really want to
go to the Dodgers, my lifelong dream. Look at the
money they're giving me. Oh it got out that that
I autographed the hat for the Mets. Oh all that
(19:35):
I should go to the Mets. Really? Really was that? Really?
I mean, Trevor Bauer is that kind of guy going, well,
they got out, I'll take the next three years of
my life in New York. I guess even though I
really want to go to the Dodgers. Now then autograph
hat got out, I'm gonna go to the Mets. Really,
I mean, look, do I think for a second there
was some kind of conversation about this. Of course there was,
But really, Trevor Bauers, you know, for the next three years,
(19:57):
because this gets out somehow, I'm gonna go play with
the Mets. My second choice is none of the Dodgers
my first choice. No way, no, I don't. I don't
believe this part of the story at all, that that
almost caused him to go to the Mets instead of
the Dodgers, that he twice told his agent, Nope, it's
the Mets. The decisions done it's that it was made
for me. The snaff food that came out, it was
made for me. I can't got, can't do it. I
(20:18):
can't go to the Mets. I'm going to the Mets.
I'm gonna do it, even like don't want to go there.
And I used the Dodgers, use the metsas leverage the
entire time, so I could get this off from the Dodgers.
No, no no, no, I will go to the Mets. Yeah. Yeah,
I'm believing that it's brilliant. I I enjoy it immensely,
and I believe every word. Now you're you're coming up
with no, no, it's fairy tales. Uh. As we go
(20:41):
through this, Uh, it's it's done. Why why do you
need to keep talking about it any spin? I mean,
do you really want to keep pushing this. It's just
starting to look silly the more you talk about it.
It's take nothing away from whatever the negotiations were, whatever
the final pieces were to get him to l A.
(21:04):
But the it's it's a done deal. Don't don't belabor it,
because I think you're starting to cheapen. Uh. The act
of what Trevor Bauer accomplished last year and the contract
you were able to negotiate. I mean, what what's gonna
be the next fairy tale that they go out? He
had a dream. He saw it while he was in
a sauna or a sweat lodge. I mean, you know,
(21:28):
he sat outside, had a nice fire going. He saw
one of those videos on Instagram where you learn how
to cook a steak over the open firefights, you know,
random logs in the in the field, and there it
is the you know, basically an endorsement of cast iron
skillets always being in the back of your truck with
a piece of meat and a cleaver. I mean, I
(21:49):
I don't know, it's just you know, for I saw
this earlier and immediately texted you go here you got
more fairy tales about how this came to pass. I mean, really,
I can understand where maybe there was that moment of Okay,
now I get down to this decision. It's really tough
and there's waffling, right, I get that. I get the decisions.
(22:12):
It's a big decision to make, but I'm not making
the decision. Nobody makes decision based on well, fate intervened
and because that lf GM had got out there with
my autograph on it. I I gotta go there. No, No,
that's not that's not happening. I think that's a fun
story and it's something that clearly, you know, cut through
because it's been picked up by a lot of places.
(22:32):
But there there's not a second I believe that. I mean,
for a guy that's his calculating, as Trevor Bauer is,
because that's the one thing the guy is calculating. He
knows everything about what he wants to do with his brand.
And this is why he has Rachel Luba as his agent. Right,
She's she's new. You know, she's next level what it
means to be able to market yourself in a social
media age. This is why he's That's that's why they're together, right,
(22:55):
this is why she's the next Scott Boris. There's no
way that this is. Oh well, that's too bad that
I wud love to play for the Dodgers too, man,
that would have been great. But well now that that
autographed hat got out, so alright, three years in Flushing, yay,
I'm gonna go do it. I mean, I mean, I really,
there's just no one but but I want to be
(23:17):
a man of my word. Look, we teased it with merch.
You could have just said you got out. I'm sorry,
you have to go now the merch got out. Yes,
we pushed a mock up page. Who hasn't heard that
from a million websites and whatever through the years, Right,
something that has a button a bunch of Latin on it,
(23:39):
because you want to see how it renders in different browsers.
And obviously this is now very particular and specific, being
a Mets hat that's autographed. But you can just say, hey,
we had a bunch of these prepared, and unfortunately we
pushed that one. Sorry, here's a big virtual hug, and
if you need to, hey, we'll do an all action
(24:00):
for ten other hats. I'll send and sign more Mets
hats for you and you can you can wear them
or you want Dodger hats or baseballs or or cleats
or whatever it is, and you can do some good
for the community. Right. He still came up with a
bunch of money that's gonna and and greetings and good
tidings for one day next play at City Field. So
(24:23):
I mean there's some good that came out of it
that way. But yeah, this story just became a alright,
just just stop just slept adding it. Oh he really
almost did that. Okay, because I know about embellishing stories,
I'll do that once. So like if I'm telling a
story in in mixed company, like off the like off
the Air, and I'm telling the stories, oh the story
(24:44):
would go better. Or if I'm telling a story to
my team, you know, and I want to tell him
an analogy soccer or base can't work blue ball that works?
And if I'm working blue hey, you all your twelve
year olds get around me. All right? Did you have
to say some words here that you guys are gonna like?
But you know what, blank all of you, Okay, this
is what I got to say. So I always, you know,
(25:04):
I'll find a way if I want to give them
you know, that's that's basically when it happens sometimes, like
all right, I want to basically tell them a good
story and give them an analogy, and okay, well I
embellish stuff. Yeah, sure, I'll do that. And I always
get caught by Zoe because she's the cop and she
says me, Dad, that story didn't happen that way. I'm like, shoot,
you stop him, buddy shopthing. Uh So it's kind of funny,
and I'll go, well here's and she goes, oh, okay,
(25:28):
I get it. I'm like, yeah, don't, don't. Don't sit
there and go Dad, that story didn't happen that way.
It's so kaya lies. Just it's all right, this is
how it goes. All right, this is what happens. I'm
telling a great story, and our team is gonna play
better because I'm telling this story just so we all know. So. Yeah,
(25:49):
but I mean to to the point where it's gonna
change lot. I mean no, I mean really. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific.
Well Tonight was James Harden's triumphant return to Houston, the
day after the Rockets owners said, hey, we're gonna retire
your number, James hard Remember how you quit on us
(26:09):
and forced to trade and really just through the city
and the team in the trash. Hey, it's okay, it's
been a month and a half. All's forgiven. Man. Harden
has a big night for the Nets as the Nets
roll to victory over the Rockets, and look, the Rockets
aren't having a good season. Surprise surprise, and when it
one thirty two to one fourteen and Harden clearly showing
(26:32):
the Rockets. Hey, this is what you're missing with twenty
nine and fourteen assays. Remember the Nets still playing without
Kevin Durant, who was out through the All Star break.
Now look as the Nets get to the break. Here
they are twenty four and thirteen. They started out a
little rough, and now they have played as well as
anybody in the NBA the past couple of weeks. Who
are the Nets? The Nets have proven. They'll tell you
(26:53):
what they've proven. The Nets are regular season tough. Like
they have proven to be regular season good. Right with
the talent they have, they can just show up on
any given night and beat a team by twenty. This
is mainly because there are only six good teams in
the NBA. Right. You have the top three teams in
the East, which are the Nets and the Sixers and
the Bucks, and the top three teams in the West,
(27:15):
which are the Jazz, the Lakers, and the Clippers. And
then you have everybody else. Everybody else's five hundred. Everybody
else is the nixt Okay, everybody else is just a
team going out there. Hey, we're playing the three Stars.
All Right, we'll go out there, we'll give it a shot,
but who knows. They have proven to be regular season dominant.
But this is not a NETS team that's gonna be
(27:35):
judged on the regular season. You're gonna have to find
me and you're gonna have to wake me up in
the Conference semis, when the NETS are clearly at risk
of being bumped out of the playoffs, because this is
when the pressure gets big. And as you know, guys
like k D and even though they've won championships, Durant
and you want and and Kyrie and Harden aren't the
(27:56):
most mentally tough of players when it comes to handling pressure.
K D can handle pressure. Kyrie who knows what pressure
does to him, because who knows how he's gonna show
up during the regular season, let alone in the playoffs
with all the pressure in the world on him. And
this is when teams are gonna take advantage of out
poor they are defensively. Okay, tonight, you watch the backcourt
(28:16):
for the Rockets go for sixty nine points, Wall went
for thirty six, Oladipo goes for thirty three, and they're
both really good players, but really sixty nine points out
of the starting backcourt. That's what kept the Rockets hanging
around in this game. So this is really what it
is for me, Mike, is that they've proven their good
in the regular season. Right, regular season tough. Yes, they'll
roll through. They'll probably be the first or second sea
when it gets the playoffs. But that second round, when
(28:38):
you start playing a team that's pretty decent that defensively,
that that that can cause you problems because you're bad
defensively and how you handle the pressure. That's to me
when the season really starts for the Nets. It doesn't
start now, it's just gonna be practice until we get
to that part in the season because that's when they
get vulnerable. Yeah, I think when when we look at it,
this is a team in progress, right, Kevin Durant's and
(28:59):
even laying at this point he's on his long hiatus,
which is moderately concerning. Again, we're still only at a
handful of games really, uh that you've been able to
see this team play together, so that that remains uh
an issue. But I think part of it you look
at defensively, how much of that comes into into play
(29:22):
because while they're putting up a hundred thirty points in
a lot of these games, and the offensive efficiency needs
to be noted as well. Right when we see teams
in other sports that pile up runs or or points
right baseball, football, respectively, there's always a little bit of
(29:42):
a gift. Well, well, why they give up twenty eight points, Oh,
they they scored forty five and they started playing a
prevent defense. Or in baseball, well they were up ten
nothing against the Mets, and so they pulled their starter
in the sixth and now it was all right. They
gave up a couple of on is meaningless. But guys,
e r A has got got tattooed a little bit
(30:04):
towards the back end of that game, and you know
their bullpen e r A looks worse for it. Again,
that's just an example, I mean, not speaking anything into existence,
but just just that idea. With with the Nets, I think, uh,
they'll be ready when it comes down to it, and
they'll make an addition or two here in the short
term that will again make them battle tested and ready
(30:28):
for the Eastern Conference, which again is flittered with teams
with questions all over. You trust Janie and the Bucks, No,
do we trust the m v P candidate Joel Embiid
in the sixers, maybe a little more, but still they've
got no track record to say, you know what, they've
been there, they've done that. Now they've collapsed or they've
been hurt. So you know, I'll take my chances with
(30:51):
a guy like Durant and with Kyrie Irving and his
sage brush that they'll be ready to go, oh look
at you with the sage brush. And hey know I
have to I have to clear the court of all
these uh bad spirits getting into the second round of
the playoffs. Why well, because boy, because our defense is
terrible and and and these guards could just go for
all kinds of points against this sole. Let me clear
(31:12):
the court of all of these angry spirits. Can you
clear the court of guys making threes because you can't
get out on the arc to defend it. If you
could clear the court of that, that would be pretty cool.
I mean that's how I would heckle if I was
like playoffs, Twitter, And how about a frescop Mike gets
swollen down the Jason Smith Show with my base friend
Mike harmon uh Fox Sports Radio. Coming up next, an
(31:35):
update on the Tiger Wood story that absolutely had to happen.
We we called for it last week and it's happening. Now.
What is it? We'll tell you next right here Fox.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
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(31:58):
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Jason Smith Show with my bast friend Mike Harmen live
from the Farmers Insurance Studios, where we just watch Montrez
(32:20):
Harold miss a layup. Lakers lose minus Lebron James to
the King's three to one twenty. Uh So the Lakers
kind of limp into the All Star break, and we
talked about it earlier this hour. No team needs the
All Star break as bad as the Lakers do. Uh. Clearly, look,
everything is fine. Uh you want to avoid being second
(32:43):
or third, you know, with the the when you have
to play either the Clippers. Uh, you know you have
to play the Clippers probably or the Jazz in the
in the second round. Uh, you want to finish first,
so you don't have to play either the Jazz or
the Clippers. But uh, I don't know that the Lakers
can make a run at that number one overall seed
because it they just don't look like they're a team
(33:05):
that's had that kind of impetus to wanting to succeed
this season and get that number one seed. I would say,
you know, look, Utah's that team. They want it, they
want the number one seed, and they're clearly been playing
the best so far in this season. And they got
a three game lead over the Suns and the Clippers,
and now it's four the loss column over the Lakers.
That's gonna be a tough four games to overcome there. Yeah,
(33:28):
you know, I feel about these things, especially when we
don't really have I'm not optimistic that you necessarily have
fans in the stands by the playoffs, as much as
you may get a little bit from governmental officials to say, yeah,
we're working hard to get people in by baseball opening day.
I still have my I still have my reservations on
(33:50):
saying yes, I have no doubt that they will get
this right, UH, and that they will be able to
make that happen. I'm sorry my cynicism. Look, that's why
I'm a sports talk radio host. I have to take
everything with a giant pile of salt. As our friend
Rick Buker has said in the past, UH is so
(34:11):
pushing for the number one seed here in Los Angeles.
I don't think it has the same push. And you
know that when your backs against the wall, when there's
all sorts, you know, every euphemism that we can throw
out there, how you want in the bubble, the you're
you're a team that that can rally. Now you just
need to get Anthony Davis sound. That's your That's gold
(34:33):
number one by May sixteen. Everything else is so far
down the list it doesn't even matter right now. Twitter
at how about a Fresco Mike at Swollen Dome me
smile elsewhere? Meanwhile elsewhere is what I meant to say.
He's coming, done, done that that. Meanwhile, Uh, something we
(34:57):
thought needed to happen last week is happening. When the
l A County Sheriff's Department UH announced that Tiger Woods
is not going to face charges for his car accident.
This was uh announced by Sheriff Alex Lonueva. We told
you it was really early for that. It was weird,
not that, not that I was looking for Tiger Woods
(35:17):
to be punished for anything, Not that I was looking
for Tiger Woods. Ah ha, you gotta catch him. He
did something illegal. But to suddenly just say right after
the accident that, hey, you know, Tiger wasn't drunk. You know,
he didn't seem like he was under the influence of
anything else. So he's not going to be charging this.
What about reckless driving? Well, we could pull his phone
records if we have to, but there there there's no
(35:38):
crime here. That was really early to say that, because
you need to do your due diligence and make sure
that you know nothing untoward happened. Was Tiger Woods texting
while it happened, Was he on the phone? Was he speeding?
These are all things that fall into the category of
reckless driving. And these are not felonies. And I don't
want to see Tiger Woods put behind bars, But dude,
(36:00):
diligence is supposed to be done by police officers and Villaneueva.
I felt at the time wanted to be the guy
to stand up and say I'm protecting Tiger Woods. Yes,
I am standing up and standing in front of all
of you, and I am going to protect Tiger Woods.
That's not your job, man, You're the sheriff. You're the
job is to Your job is to find out exactly
why this accident happened, okay, And you can't sit here
(36:22):
and tell me, oh, we can clear somebody from it
when you have no idea what occurred. You just don't.
And then today finally we get a statement from the
deputy sheriff, which you know doesn't make Villanueva feel great
that they are going after the black box in the
suv the Tiger Woods was driving, so they can find
out if a crime was committed. According to John schlogal quote,
(36:45):
if somebody's involved in a traffic collision, we've got to
reconstruct a collision, if there was reckless driving, if there
was on their cell phone or something like that, we
determine if there was a crime. So now apparently either
cool or heads prevailed or they realized boy, we kind
of lew it by standing up and saying no charges
for Tiger Woods. This is what's supposed to be done,
and it really does fall under the category of due
(37:07):
diligence because this is what happens in a situation like this,
because the last thing you want is for something like
this to get hushed up, and you feel at all
Tiger Woods a celebrity, this pushed it. Look, I feel
awful for the guy, right. I want the guy to
walk normal again. I want him to have a normal
life as he possibly couldn't want to see him on
the golf course again. But it's it's about doing things
the way you're supposed to do them, and it really
(37:29):
just struck me is wrong the way that the l
A County Sheriff's Department went after it last week. Now
today feels like the correction and they're doing the right
thing and whatever they find, they find and if it's
a misdemeanor, it's a misdemeanor. If they find nothing, they
find nothing. But at least now I feel like, Okay,
this is how they're supposed to do things. Yeah, I
think when you go through what the black box supposed
to be, I think for many this is a revelation
(37:51):
that they're they're in your car Uh, as if it's
a newer car, they're in there. Uh because they always
thought it was just in planes and trains and well
now automobiles. Uh. That joke was not intended, but that
you know, you always hear about it when there is
a uh something aerial that you got to find it.
Try to find all the recordings that you can to
(38:14):
see in this case, talking about how when how you're driving,
you're breaking all the different elements of the electrical system, etcetera.
That can be logged right and speeds all the way through,
So perhaps you you can recreate that area if nothing
else from the civic side of things, been a lot
of discussion about how you handle that stretch of road
(38:39):
because you do have the so many tales of Hey,
you go from eighty I've been there, I I've driven
that with great regularity. So maybe just from a hey,
we need more data to make our case of how
we need to change up the the area, how it's patrolled, etcetera.
May maybe this helps push it because it became an
(39:00):
international story Twitter at how about a Fresco Mike gets
swollen dome The Jason Smith Show with my bast friend
Mike Harmon, Hey, Coming up next, a quarterback story that
has changed the offseason in the NFL. This is Fox
Sports Radio.
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
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(00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Greetings and welcome inside
our three of The Jason Smith Show with my base
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(00:45):
It's a lot of money for a quick phone call,
don't you think average nationwide annual savings survey dat of
July to December. We are Farmers well, six minutes to
go in the fourth quarter and the Lakers without bron
James kind of wilting a bit. It was a close game.
The Kings are up by eight as the Lakers playing
(01:06):
their final game before the break. One oh eight, one hundred.
Buddy Heal's got twenty seven for the Kings. Meanwhile, off
the bench, Montrez Harald's got twenty two. Kyle Kuzma, starting
for the Lakers tonight, had swalled forward. He's got twenty
two and ten, but still not enough, as the Lakers
down by eight with about six minutes left to go.
And there's many teams where where I can say, you know,
(01:30):
where's the All Star break coming? Right? Is it coming
in a good time? Our our teams blowing through other
teams and winning. Sometimes it comes at a bad time.
Look for the vast majority of teams in the NBA,
this break is coming at a good time, all right,
because it's not a normal NBA All Star break in which, okay,
now we get to sit back and boy, it's too
bad we had that month and by that week and
a half break because we were playing so well. Every
(01:53):
team needs it, that the mental hurdles that they had
to go through last year with COVID and coming back
and playing and then having a short offseason, everybody is
ready for the break. I don't think there is any
team more ready for the All Star break than the Lakers.
With Anthony Davis dinged up, Lebron James playing a lot
of minutes, there is no team that needs and desires
(02:14):
and needs this break more than the Lakers do. Yeah,
I mean Sureder just comes back from being off because
Saul has been hurt. I mean, you've got all the
guys and look, it's been some of the narrative in
the here in Los Angeles, some would call an excuse
making the reality is just facts. Right, Guys are missing games,
guys are banged up, and Lebron James is playing thirty
(02:35):
five minutes a night. He needs arrest all the overtime games. Yes,
and I know we've talked about it with Rebuker among others,
talking about where you might be able to find some
rest where the clock is still moving, so you're still
playing minutes but longer possessions holding the ball for the
you know, two seconds on the shot clock kind of
(02:57):
situations in the NBA that may be you can do
some metrics to say, all right, he's playing a hard
twenty eight minutes either way, final minutes of a close
game in the fourth or overtime minutes, those are all
what you'd call stressful minutes, which are in different animal right.
I mean, look, we're making up metrics all along, So
why don't we have someone start charting all that stuff too.
(03:19):
When did he look like he had a furrowed brow.
That's what we call a stressful minute of NBA action. Uh,
And when we're talking about his age and and what
they're gonna need to do right if they're going to repeat,
it's going to be an aggressive second half of the season.
We're talking from now until May sixteenth, with the next
(03:39):
week being off. So get the rest that you can
play the whatever minutes in the All Star Game, draft
your squad, handshakes, kissing babies, whatever the All Star breaking tails,
signing basketballs or or whatever it is. And then you've
got to be judicious with the minutes in the second
half because you're gonna have a law road in the
(04:01):
playoffs and there. While we may say there's separation between
the three best teams in either conference, there's still a
lot of good teams that are going to tax them right. Well,
I don't see any real walkovers for the most part.
You know, in the Western Conference, even as you get
to the the finals, seeds, right, whoever battles and and
(04:22):
gets into the back end of the bracket is still one.
They'll have one a few games, so they'll have a
little bit of momentum, but two and they can push
the series and extra minutes, extra stress, and with Anthony
Davis being a huge wild card to all this, you've
got to find the rest and maximize your opportunities where
you can twitter at how about a fresca might get
(04:44):
swollen on the Jason Smith Show with my bass friend
Mike Harmon. Uh So, again, still just under five minutes
left to go, the Lakers down by three. Again playing
tonight without Lebron James, without Anthony Davis, no Kareem, no Magic,
no Worthy, Tonight Worthy's doing the post game adds Tonight's
a tough one for the Lakers. Meanwhile, so many different
(05:05):
big games tonight and big stories. And we got into
the Donovan Mitchell aspect of the Jazz loss to the
sixer tonight because look, clearly, what could be an NBA
Finals preview and and you know, yeah it's an NBA
Finals preview, doesn't involve the Lakers. Wait a minute, Yeah,
these are two terrific teams. You're talking about the best
team in each conference, right, that's what we have. Uh
Utah loses in overtime. We got into the Donovan Mitchell
(05:27):
aspect of it a few minutes ago, a ridiculous double
technical on him that got him ejected from the game. Apparently,
now you can't argue calls at all. The NBA is
not physical, and the NBA is gonna have a lot
of explaining to do this weekend and about officiating in general,
because the players have had it, and I can't blame them.
I get it. The NBA has been one way for
(05:48):
a while. Everything has been good. Now suddenly things are
changing how they're officiating games. I get the players being upset,
but this conversation is going to be a little bit
different because this is about the team that won the game,
and more specifically, the guy who brought them the win,
because Philadelphia is the number one team in the East
thanks to the first half. NBA m v P. Who oh,
(06:10):
by the way, did this tonight? Tobias Harris to embead
and beat is pushed by Bogdanovitch nine seconds ago, goobles
beyond the arc, fate to three, shoot the three. It's
up head good five point nine ago and beat us
tied in at one. Eight Sixers are gonna win this game.
Tobias Harris. He missed two games in a row, he
has eleven points in overtime and the Sixers beat the
(06:30):
Utah Jazz. Final score here tonight in Philadelphia one thirty
one to one three Sixers Radio Network on the call,
Joel embiid with that three at the ends of regulation
to tie it forty points tonight, nineteen rebounds, hit a
couple of threes. He's the m v P of the
(06:50):
NBA so far, and it's not even close with other people.
All Right, there's nobody who has been as consistent as
mbad from the big ginning of the season until now, right,
you've had other players have great runs. Right, Lebron was
great for a while. It was, hey, Lebron could win
the m v P. Then what happened. The Lakers lost
four in a row. Lebron didn't play that well without
(07:11):
Anthony Davis, and suddenly there goes Lebron's MVP candidacy. James
Harden was awfrom the beginning. He quit with the Rockets
and and and barged his way out of town and
bullied the Rockets into a trade. And since he's been
with the Nets, he's been terrific. But there's that beginning
of the season that James Harden was not just not
playing well. He was a bad teammate and a bad guy. Right,
(07:31):
So you have that going on. You had about ten
days where Steph Curry was scoring thirty five points late
at night and it was all off. Steph could get
the Warrior to the playoffs. Sure that was potential, but
that has kind of come and gone. Nobody has been
as consistent as Joel Embiid. This is a guy who
was gone through this year in his career and had
that Shaquille O'Neil moment of Okay, I've had fun for
(07:55):
the first half of my twenties. Now I gotta get
serious about winning. And what happened with Shaquille O'Neil. He
left the Magic went to the Lakers. He was still fun,
but he was fun with an edge. He wins three
NBA titles with the Lakers, NBA Finals, M v P
and them. He goes and wins another one with the
Heat and he walks off saying, there's my NBA legacy.
It's secure. Joel Embiid had that moment in this offseason.
(08:19):
Whether it was him realizing it, Doc Rivers bringing out
of him, but he has become that monster that we
all thought he was going to be. I said, remember
the last couple of years, you know me with the Sixers,
when are Joel Embiad and Ben Simmons gonna go from Hey,
we're having fun, we're star players, we play well every
night into hey, it's time for us to really lock
down and and get into winning and understand what it
(08:40):
takes to win and win titles in this league because
our legacy is not going to be great. And you've
seen em Bead take that to heart this year. I mean, look,
the guy's averaging thirty points a game, all right, and
Beat is gone from hey he's a dangerous guy to
now he's giving you thirty and twelve every night. Right.
His player efficiency rating is second in the NBA. The
(09:01):
Sixers are at the top of the Eastern Conference. There's
nobody else that I could say deserves the m v
P so far then Joel and Beating. He's a guy
not getting any of the run because it's been Lebron
and then a little bit of Staff and a little
bit of Harden. But they have all had big gaps
on their resume so far, and em Beat has been
great from opening night till tonight. Yeah, I think part
(09:22):
of it is reputation. Right, We've been waiting for that breakthrough.
So people are saying, hey, let's finish the job. What
are we doing when we're talking about the contenders going
towards the title. It's the alright, Doc Rivers get you push.
But we've also seen bad Doc Rivers in playoffs. Right.
We had all the talk after the Clippers got bounced
(09:44):
of what was wrong in the coaching aspect. Again, you
take it with a grain of salt because you've got
a bunch of guys looking to pass the buck. But
the reality is the same. It failed and you blew
a three one series lead again something that it seems
to be unique to Doc Rivers. Okay, so, and also
Ben Simmons the billion to one shot of hitting a
(10:08):
three point shot. Right, It's the if you were shooting
for a car, would you rather have the guy coming
out of the back of the three hundred level or
Ben Simmons shooting to win that car for you? Probably
the guy that's sitting in the three level just calling
it what it is. That's not I don't I don't
want Ben Simmons taking that shot for me. I'd rather
(10:30):
have some dude that's drinking a beer all the way
up there. Hey, come on down, you look like you
can hit a nice three. You got a nice, big
shooting stroke, nice smoothly, and go ahead take that shot
for me. I'm only half kidding, but but that that's
the thing that that comes down to it. Can you
take him away from what his game is right and
force him to work outside and and not get the
dribble drive that makes him so effective. We've seen that
(10:52):
erased in the past, So I think with Joel embiid
a lot of why he's not on that you know, Hey,
let's talk about him while he's a big man and
to it's just history. We've been expecting it and it
hasn't come. So at some point you finally just move
on saying, you know what, it's not gonna happen, right,
it's you and your jets waiting for them to get over,
(11:13):
or what whichever analogy you want to use for all
the teams that we've watched through the years and guys
that you've cheered for, saying this is gonna be the breakthrough.
Look they got him an extra wide receiver, or look,
they got him the point guard he needed, so they
can have a great two man game. And now this
is the year that you know, this guy changes his
attitude from being I need to score first to being
(11:34):
a team player and a a winner. You can insert any
Hollywood movie, uh for that. So it's just that I
think that's why Joel Embiide loses. Right, He's not He's
not the the sexy candidate, Right, Steph Curry, you're gonna
keep what keep showing. Hey, there is with his pregame
ritual of this jump shot from the middle of nowhere
(11:55):
and then here's a couple of pull up threes from
thirty five cool Lebron James. Watch him barrel over guys
or put back dunk or whatever and finding the open
man for an easy lay in all of those things
that we've come to expect with Joel Embiid. You're trying
to get that highlight package today and get him over.
He's got forty and nineteen. But we're talking about Donovan
(12:16):
Mitchell getting tossed more than we are about how much
you know mbid affects the stat line and right now
is affecting the game. Unfortunately, while I agree with you
he should be the lead guy, the others have better stories.
Look even James Harden, everybody forgot he forced his way out,
at least for the moment when they vote. Will they
feel the same, m I'll tell you it's it's going
(12:39):
to be tough. But the NBA knows one thing and
what they like to do is they'd like to anoint
new superstars. Sure, right, So if if they give James
Harden m v P. I mean, look, this isn't how
they do it, but it's how the It's how the
NBA does it. The NBA and the oscars are kind
of the same where they both want to reward somebody
for the career they've had. Right, you can't tell me that, oh, well,
here the year so and so was so great in
(13:01):
this movie and it's probably like their fifth best movie.
But they've had a great career. They've made Hollywood money,
so we can anoint them by giving them an oscar. Right.
The NBA likes to create new stars and and giving
hard and m v P. Does that help them? No?
Giving Lebron the m v P does that help them? No?
Does it help Steph Curry if they get No? But
does Joel Embi become a superstar if he walks away
(13:23):
with the m v P. Damn right he does, Joel
Embiid becomes Hey, he's a now guy we can market
and can be a big deal and he can be
the next Janice. Uh and and now because now Janice
has become a superstar winning a couple of m v
ps and doing that, because if Janice doesn't have the
m v P, s, boy, we are just relentless on
Janice about how he hasn't been able to achieve and
do things and lead the bucks. But you win the
(13:45):
m v P, it's a pretty big deal. So Janice
becomes a star. A little bit polarizing, but hey, he's
another one the NBA created with by giving him the
m v P. So Joel Embiid, they can create another
superstar by giving it two mbat And that's why I
like his chances even more. I like the way you
you laid that out. Try to find the the new
marketing and if you can market Philly right, and that
(14:09):
means they won't hate you. Sorry cheap joke, had to
do it. Uh So you Philly is a place you
can still go to if I think you're Detroit. Privileges
got revoked. No no, no, no no no, I said
I liked the trade for Jared Goff. They got draft Pa. No,
I said, I like that trade. I'm okay, I can
go to Detroit. Okay. I was trying to give you
(14:30):
an out. No, no, no, I listen. The first place
we're going when we can travel again is to Detroit.
I already know this right, like, there's no getting out
of it. Right. Detroit is where we're going all these
exotic Where are you gonna go for a case. You're
gonna go to Kabo, Saint Lucas, Puerto Fireta, You're gonna
go to banf You're gonna go to Amsterdam. No, I'm
gonna go to Detroit. I already know it. Detroit's happening.
(14:51):
That's where it's gonna be the first place I'm looking
for something better. Uh, well, you want a trade with me?
I mean the thing is, that's that's the family I
married into. I married into a family where she's from Detroit.
I mean it'll make you tough. You go back to
Detroit for vacations. Man from the South side of Chicago,
I'm good tough. No, no, no, it's that's like the
junior varsity compared to Detroit. You have to try you're
(15:13):
tough man. Yeah, you're tough. You try. You try going
up to a Winchells in Detroit at one o'clock in
the morning and getting getting the right order on donuts
and not getting into a fight with a guy. Not
saying I ever did that, not saying that ever happened.
But I'm just saying, you know things like you gotta
watch out for me. You gotta. It's gonna be on
your guard there. I'll do you one better. White Castle
near Midway Airport, three am, post bars on a Friday night.
(15:40):
Good luck Twitter at how about a frescup? Mike gets
swollen down The Jason Smith Show with my best friend
Mike Harbon live from the Farmer's Insurance Studios called one
Triple eight Farmers to switch, you could save a bundle
on your auto insurance. Well, coming up next, a crazy
story involving Dodgers star Trevor Bauer and how the tiniest
(16:01):
thing nearly flipped him from signing with the Dodgers to
signing with another team. We got that coming up next
right here. Fox. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm.
Eastern seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio app. Hey, what's up everybody? It's me
(16:22):
three time pro bowler Lavarrington and I couldn't be more
excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game?
What is Up on Game? You asked, along with my
fellow pro bowler t J. Hushman's Otta and Super Bowl champion.
That's right, Plexico Burds. You can only name a show
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(16:42):
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(17:03):
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Show with my bast friend Mike Harm I'm an as
man live from the Farmer's Insurance Studios. H Kings and Lakers.
(17:26):
Oh boy, is this one fun. Down to the wire.
We'll have an update on it coming up in about
five minutes. But a crazy story today out of Major
League Baseball. Uh courtesy of Trevor Bower's agent, Rachel Luba,
who was appearing on the Barstool Sports podcast starting nine,
and she told a story about how well, according to
(17:48):
Rachel Luba, that Trevor Bauer nearly signed with the Mets
over a merchandise snaff foo. Now, if you remember the
day that Trevor Bauer made his decision to sign with
the Dodgers over the Mets, uh, it mistakenly some merchandise
went out that Trevor Bauer autographed the Mets hat and
it had the hashtag lf GM on it, which is
(18:08):
the Mets hashtag Let's Blanket, Go Mets, which was coined
by Pete Alonso. And when this got out there, Trevor
Bauer was really concerned about it. According to Rachel Luba
on the podcast, she said, I was getting screenshots. I
didn't know what was going on. I called Trevor, you know,
that's marketing, It's not me. Uh. Trevor was very upset
that this got out and he just said, you know what,
(18:30):
it's the Mets. I'm gonna go to the Mets. I
can't disappoint the fan base. I can't do this. I
have to go to the Mets. And Rachel Luba said,
why don't you take some time? Why don't you you know,
I understand it's a big decision. Why do you take
some time? Why don't you go out and go for
a walk and come back and tell me about it
and then give me your decision. And Trevor Bauer said, nope, sorry,
it's done. I can't do this. It's the Mets. I'm
(18:52):
gonna go play there. And then she again said to him,
listen how you reacted. Just now you know you have
to think this through more. It's a life changing decision.
And then Rachel Lubis said that Trevor Bauer returned and
told her I want to go to the Dodgers. And
this is how Trevor Bauer wound up going to the Dodges.
So this, this, uh, this leak of of Mets merchandise
(19:15):
with Bowers name on it associated with him, nearly caused
Trevor Bauer to go to the Mets. Like about that,
let me think if I first of all, let me think,
if I really believe that story. I really want to
go to the Dodgers, my lifelong dream. Look at the
money they're giving me. Oh it got out that that
I autographed the hat for the Mets. Oh all that
(19:35):
I should go to the Mets. Really? Really was that? Really?
I mean, Trevor Bauer is that kind of guy going, well,
they got out, I'll take the next three years of
my life in New York. I guess even though I
really want to go to the Dodgers. Now then autograph
hat got out, I'm gonna go to the Mets. Really,
I mean, look, do I think for a second there
was some kind of conversation about this. Of course there was,
But really, Trevor Bauers, you know, for the next three years,
(19:57):
because this gets out somehow, I'm gonna go play with
the Mets. My second choice is none of the Dodgers
my first choice. No way, no, I don't. I don't
believe this part of the story at all, that that
almost caused him to go to the Mets instead of
the Dodgers, that he twice told his agent, Nope, it's
the Mets. The decisions done it's that it was made
for me. The snaff food that came out, it was
made for me. I can't got, can't do it. I
(20:18):
can't go to the Mets. I'm going to the Mets.
I'm gonna do it, even like don't want to go there.
And I used the Dodgers, use the metsas leverage the
entire time, so I could get this off from the Dodgers.
No, no no, no, I will go to the Mets. Yeah. Yeah,
I'm believing that it's brilliant. I I enjoy it immensely,
and I believe every word. Now you're you're coming up
with no, no, it's fairy tales. Uh. As we go
(20:41):
through this, Uh, it's it's done. Why why do you
need to keep talking about it any spin? I mean,
do you really want to keep pushing this. It's just
starting to look silly the more you talk about it.
It's take nothing away from whatever the negotiations were, whatever
the final pieces were to get him to l A.
(21:04):
But the it's it's a done deal. Don't don't belabor it,
because I think you're starting to cheapen. Uh. The act
of what Trevor Bauer accomplished last year and the contract
you were able to negotiate. I mean, what what's gonna
be the next fairy tale that they go out? He
had a dream. He saw it while he was in
a sauna or a sweat lodge. I mean, you know,
(21:28):
he sat outside, had a nice fire going. He saw
one of those videos on Instagram where you learn how
to cook a steak over the open firefights, you know,
random logs in the in the field, and there it
is the you know, basically an endorsement of cast iron
skillets always being in the back of your truck with
a piece of meat and a cleaver. I mean, I
(21:49):
I don't know, it's just you know, for I saw
this earlier and immediately texted you go here you got
more fairy tales about how this came to pass. I mean, really,
I can understand where maybe there was that moment of Okay,
now I get down to this decision. It's really tough
and there's waffling, right, I get that. I get the decisions.
(22:12):
It's a big decision to make, but I'm not making
the decision. Nobody makes decision based on well, fate intervened
and because that lf GM had got out there with
my autograph on it. I I gotta go there. No, No,
that's not that's not happening. I think that's a fun
story and it's something that clearly, you know, cut through
because it's been picked up by a lot of places.
(22:32):
But there there's not a second I believe that. I mean,
for a guy that's his calculating, as Trevor Bauer is,
because that's the one thing the guy is calculating. He
knows everything about what he wants to do with his brand.
And this is why he has Rachel Luba as his agent. Right,
She's she's new. You know, she's next level what it
means to be able to market yourself in a social
media age. This is why he's That's that's why they're together, right,
(22:55):
this is why she's the next Scott Boris. There's no
way that this is. Oh well, that's too bad that
I wud love to play for the Dodgers too, man,
that would have been great. But well now that that
autographed hat got out, so alright, three years in Flushing, yay,
I'm gonna go do it. I mean, I mean, I really,
there's just no one but but I want to be
(23:17):
a man of my word. Look, we teased it with merch.
You could have just said you got out. I'm sorry,
you have to go now the merch got out. Yes,
we pushed a mock up page. Who hasn't heard that
from a million websites and whatever through the years, Right,
something that has a button a bunch of Latin on it,
(23:39):
because you want to see how it renders in different browsers.
And obviously this is now very particular and specific, being
a Mets hat that's autographed. But you can just say, hey,
we had a bunch of these prepared, and unfortunately we
pushed that one. Sorry, here's a big virtual hug, and
if you need to, hey, we'll do an all action
(24:00):
for ten other hats. I'll send and sign more Mets
hats for you and you can you can wear them
or you want Dodger hats or baseballs or or cleats
or whatever it is, and you can do some good
for the community. Right. He still came up with a
bunch of money that's gonna and and greetings and good
tidings for one day next play at City Field. So
(24:23):
I mean there's some good that came out of it
that way. But yeah, this story just became a alright,
just just stop just slept adding it. Oh he really
almost did that. Okay, because I know about embellishing stories,
I'll do that once. So like if I'm telling a
story in in mixed company, like off the like off
the Air, and I'm telling the stories, oh the story
(24:44):
would go better. Or if I'm telling a story to
my team, you know, and I want to tell him
an analogy soccer or base can't work blue ball that works?
And if I'm working blue hey, you all your twelve
year olds get around me. All right? Did you have
to say some words here that you guys are gonna like?
But you know what, blank all of you, Okay, this
is what I got to say. So I always, you know,
(25:04):
I'll find a way if I want to give them
you know, that's that's basically when it happens sometimes, like
all right, I want to basically tell them a good
story and give them an analogy, and okay, well I
embellish stuff. Yeah, sure, I'll do that. And I always
get caught by Zoe because she's the cop and she
says me, Dad, that story didn't happen that way. I'm like, shoot,
you stop him, buddy shopthing. Uh So it's kind of funny,
and I'll go, well here's and she goes, oh, okay,
(25:28):
I get it. I'm like, yeah, don't, don't. Don't sit
there and go Dad, that story didn't happen that way.
It's so kaya lies. Just it's all right, this is
how it goes. All right, this is what happens. I'm
telling a great story, and our team is gonna play
better because I'm telling this story just so we all know. So. Yeah,
(25:49):
but I mean to to the point where it's gonna
change lot. I mean no, I mean really. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific.
Well Tonight was James Harden's triumphant return to Houston, the
day after the Rockets owners said, hey, we're gonna retire
your number, James hard Remember how you quit on us
(26:09):
and forced to trade and really just through the city
and the team in the trash. Hey, it's okay, it's
been a month and a half. All's forgiven. Man. Harden
has a big night for the Nets as the Nets
roll to victory over the Rockets, and look, the Rockets
aren't having a good season. Surprise surprise, and when it
one thirty two to one fourteen and Harden clearly showing
(26:32):
the Rockets. Hey, this is what you're missing with twenty
nine and fourteen assays. Remember the Nets still playing without
Kevin Durant, who was out through the All Star break.
Now look as the Nets get to the break. Here
they are twenty four and thirteen. They started out a
little rough, and now they have played as well as
anybody in the NBA the past couple of weeks. Who
are the Nets? The Nets have proven. They'll tell you
(26:53):
what they've proven. The Nets are regular season tough. Like
they have proven to be regular season good. Right with
the talent they have, they can just show up on
any given night and beat a team by twenty. This
is mainly because there are only six good teams in
the NBA. Right. You have the top three teams in
the East, which are the Nets and the Sixers and
the Bucks, and the top three teams in the West,
(27:15):
which are the Jazz, the Lakers, and the Clippers. And
then you have everybody else. Everybody else's five hundred. Everybody
else is the nixt Okay, everybody else is just a
team going out there. Hey, we're playing the three Stars.
All Right, we'll go out there, we'll give it a shot,
but who knows. They have proven to be regular season dominant.
But this is not a NETS team that's gonna be
(27:35):
judged on the regular season. You're gonna have to find
me and you're gonna have to wake me up in
the Conference semis, when the NETS are clearly at risk
of being bumped out of the playoffs, because this is
when the pressure gets big. And as you know, guys
like k D and even though they've won championships, Durant
and you want and and Kyrie and Harden aren't the
(27:56):
most mentally tough of players when it comes to handling pressure.
K D can handle pressure. Kyrie who knows what pressure
does to him, because who knows how he's gonna show
up during the regular season, let alone in the playoffs
with all the pressure in the world on him. And
this is when teams are gonna take advantage of out
poor they are defensively. Okay, tonight, you watch the backcourt
(28:16):
for the Rockets go for sixty nine points, Wall went
for thirty six, Oladipo goes for thirty three, and they're
both really good players, but really sixty nine points out
of the starting backcourt. That's what kept the Rockets hanging
around in this game. So this is really what it
is for me, Mike, is that they've proven their good
in the regular season. Right, regular season tough. Yes, they'll
roll through. They'll probably be the first or second sea
when it gets the playoffs. But that second round, when
(28:38):
you start playing a team that's pretty decent that defensively,
that that that can cause you problems because you're bad
defensively and how you handle the pressure. That's to me
when the season really starts for the Nets. It doesn't
start now, it's just gonna be practice until we get
to that part in the season because that's when they
get vulnerable. Yeah, I think when when we look at it,
this is a team in progress, right, Kevin Durant's and
(28:59):
even laying at this point he's on his long hiatus,
which is moderately concerning. Again, we're still only at a
handful of games really, uh that you've been able to
see this team play together, so that that remains uh
an issue. But I think part of it you look
at defensively, how much of that comes into into play
(29:22):
because while they're putting up a hundred thirty points in
a lot of these games, and the offensive efficiency needs
to be noted as well. Right when we see teams
in other sports that pile up runs or or points
right baseball, football, respectively, there's always a little bit of
(29:42):
a gift. Well, well, why they give up twenty eight points, Oh,
they they scored forty five and they started playing a
prevent defense. Or in baseball, well they were up ten
nothing against the Mets, and so they pulled their starter
in the sixth and now it was all right. They
gave up a couple of on is meaningless. But guys,
e r A has got got tattooed a little bit
(30:04):
towards the back end of that game, and you know
their bullpen e r A looks worse for it. Again,
that's just an example, I mean, not speaking anything into existence,
but just just that idea. With with the Nets, I think, uh,
they'll be ready when it comes down to it, and
they'll make an addition or two here in the short
term that will again make them battle tested and ready
(30:28):
for the Eastern Conference, which again is flittered with teams
with questions all over. You trust Janie and the Bucks, No,
do we trust the m v P candidate Joel Embiid
in the sixers, maybe a little more, but still they've
got no track record to say, you know what, they've
been there, they've done that. Now they've collapsed or they've
been hurt. So you know, I'll take my chances with
(30:51):
a guy like Durant and with Kyrie Irving and his
sage brush that they'll be ready to go, oh look
at you with the sage brush. And hey know I
have to I have to clear the court of all
these uh bad spirits getting into the second round of
the playoffs. Why well, because boy, because our defense is
terrible and and and these guards could just go for
all kinds of points against this sole. Let me clear
(31:12):
the court of all of these angry spirits. Can you
clear the court of guys making threes because you can't
get out on the arc to defend it. If you
could clear the court of that, that would be pretty cool.
I mean that's how I would heckle if I was
like playoffs, Twitter, And how about a frescop Mike gets
swollen down the Jason Smith Show with my base friend
Mike harmon uh Fox Sports Radio. Coming up next, an
(31:35):
update on the Tiger Wood story that absolutely had to happen.
We we called for it last week and it's happening. Now.
What is it? We'll tell you next right here Fox.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
Radio app. Called Farmers, and you could save on your
(31:58):
auto insurance? What else are you gonna do with your
own in the next few minutes? Look at photos of
things other people eight Call one eight eight eight Farmers
to get a quote. We are Farmers, written by Farmers
Refinesurance changes on available every state Fox Sports Radio. The
Jason Smith Show with my bast friend Mike Harmen live
from the Farmers Insurance Studios, where we just watch Montrez
(32:20):
Harold miss a layup. Lakers lose minus Lebron James to
the King's three to one twenty. Uh So the Lakers
kind of limp into the All Star break, and we
talked about it earlier this hour. No team needs the
All Star break as bad as the Lakers do. Uh. Clearly, look,
everything is fine. Uh you want to avoid being second
(32:43):
or third, you know, with the the when you have
to play either the Clippers. Uh, you know you have
to play the Clippers probably or the Jazz in the
in the second round. Uh, you want to finish first,
so you don't have to play either the Jazz or
the Clippers. But uh, I don't know that the Lakers
can make a run at that number one overall seed
because it they just don't look like they're a team
(33:05):
that's had that kind of impetus to wanting to succeed
this season and get that number one seed. I would say,
you know, look, Utah's that team. They want it, they
want the number one seed, and they're clearly been playing
the best so far in this season. And they got
a three game lead over the Suns and the Clippers,
and now it's four the loss column over the Lakers.
That's gonna be a tough four games to overcome there. Yeah,
(33:28):
you know, I feel about these things, especially when we
don't really have I'm not optimistic that you necessarily have
fans in the stands by the playoffs, as much as
you may get a little bit from governmental officials to say, yeah,
we're working hard to get people in by baseball opening day.
I still have my I still have my reservations on
(33:50):
saying yes, I have no doubt that they will get
this right, UH, and that they will be able to
make that happen. I'm sorry my cynicism. Look, that's why
I'm a sports talk radio host. I have to take
everything with a giant pile of salt. As our friend
Rick Buker has said in the past, UH is so
(34:11):
pushing for the number one seed here in Los Angeles.
I don't think it has the same push. And you
know that when your backs against the wall, when there's
all sorts, you know, every euphemism that we can throw
out there, how you want in the bubble, the you're
you're a team that that can rally. Now you just
need to get Anthony Davis sound. That's your That's gold
(34:33):
number one by May sixteen. Everything else is so far
down the list it doesn't even matter right now. Twitter
at how about a Fresco Mike at Swollen Dome me
smile elsewhere? Meanwhile elsewhere is what I meant to say.
He's coming, done, done that that. Meanwhile, Uh, something we
(34:57):
thought needed to happen last week is happening. When the
l A County Sheriff's Department UH announced that Tiger Woods
is not going to face charges for his car accident.
This was uh announced by Sheriff Alex Lonueva. We told
you it was really early for that. It was weird,
not that, not that I was looking for Tiger Woods
(35:17):
to be punished for anything, Not that I was looking
for Tiger Woods. Ah ha, you gotta catch him. He
did something illegal. But to suddenly just say right after
the accident that, hey, you know, Tiger wasn't drunk. You know,
he didn't seem like he was under the influence of
anything else. So he's not going to be charging this.
What about reckless driving? Well, we could pull his phone
records if we have to, but there there there's no
(35:38):
crime here. That was really early to say that, because
you need to do your due diligence and make sure
that you know nothing untoward happened. Was Tiger Woods texting
while it happened, Was he on the phone? Was he speeding?
These are all things that fall into the category of
reckless driving. And these are not felonies. And I don't
want to see Tiger Woods put behind bars, But dude,
(36:00):
diligence is supposed to be done by police officers and Villaneueva.
I felt at the time wanted to be the guy
to stand up and say I'm protecting Tiger Woods. Yes,
I am standing up and standing in front of all
of you, and I am going to protect Tiger Woods.
That's not your job, man, You're the sheriff. You're the
job is to Your job is to find out exactly
why this accident happened, okay, And you can't sit here
(36:22):
and tell me, oh, we can clear somebody from it
when you have no idea what occurred. You just don't.
And then today finally we get a statement from the
deputy sheriff, which you know doesn't make Villanueva feel great
that they are going after the black box in the
suv the Tiger Woods was driving, so they can find
out if a crime was committed. According to John schlogal quote,
(36:45):
if somebody's involved in a traffic collision, we've got to
reconstruct a collision, if there was reckless driving, if there
was on their cell phone or something like that, we
determine if there was a crime. So now apparently either
cool or heads prevailed or they realized boy, we kind
of lew it by standing up and saying no charges
for Tiger Woods. This is what's supposed to be done,
and it really does fall under the category of due
(37:07):
diligence because this is what happens in a situation like this,
because the last thing you want is for something like
this to get hushed up, and you feel at all
Tiger Woods a celebrity, this pushed it. Look, I feel
awful for the guy, right. I want the guy to
walk normal again. I want him to have a normal
life as he possibly couldn't want to see him on
the golf course again. But it's it's about doing things
the way you're supposed to do them, and it really
(37:29):
just struck me is wrong the way that the l
A County Sheriff's Department went after it last week. Now
today feels like the correction and they're doing the right
thing and whatever they find, they find and if it's
a misdemeanor, it's a misdemeanor. If they find nothing, they
find nothing. But at least now I feel like, Okay,
this is how they're supposed to do things. Yeah, I
think when you go through what the black box supposed
to be, I think for many this is a revelation
(37:51):
that they're they're in your car Uh, as if it's
a newer car, they're in there. Uh because they always
thought it was just in planes and trains and well
now automobiles. Uh. That joke was not intended, but that
you know, you always hear about it when there is
a uh something aerial that you got to find it.
Try to find all the recordings that you can to
(38:14):
see in this case, talking about how when how you're driving,
you're breaking all the different elements of the electrical system, etcetera.
That can be logged right and speeds all the way through,
So perhaps you you can recreate that area if nothing
else from the civic side of things, been a lot
of discussion about how you handle that stretch of road
(38:39):
because you do have the so many tales of Hey,
you go from eighty I've been there, I I've driven
that with great regularity. So maybe just from a hey,
we need more data to make our case of how
we need to change up the the area, how it's patrolled, etcetera.
May maybe this helps push it because it became an
(39:00):
international story Twitter at how about a Fresco Mike gets
swollen dome The Jason Smith Show with my bast friend
Mike Harmon, Hey, Coming up next, a quarterback story that
has changed the offseason in the NFL. This is Fox
Sports Radio.
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Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.