June 21, 2024 • 38 mins
Former NFL offensive lineman and FOX Sports Radio Weekend host Ephraim Salaam is in for Rob, and he and Chris discuss why the low number of Black players in Major League Baseball can be traced back to the youth level and share their thoughts on Rich Paul doing everything he can to steer Bronny James to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Plus, Locked on Lakers host Andy Kamenetzky swings by to discuss what has to happen for JJ Redick to succeed as the Los Angeles Lakers’ head coach, the pressure to win – and win early – for Redick, what roster moves the team can make alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis to get the team back in contention and much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 3 (00:24):
Let's get this PUNI you're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yes, indeed, I'm Chris Bruce R. He's e from Salam
and we are live from the tire rack dot Com studios.
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(00:53):
com is the way tirebine should be. In The Odd
Couple is the way sports talk radio should be. Andy
can Minisky, co host of the Locked On Lakers podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Will join us at the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
We'll speak with him more about the JJ Reddick Higher.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
But if I want to go.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Back to the topic we were talking about, we know
a lot of callers want to weigh in as well.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
You'll get that chance. But as to like the the dearth.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Of African American players in baseball, and as we said,
the Major League Opening night or opening Day, only six
percent of the players in the major leagues were African
American with the high point it was never close to
like baseball or basketball. In football, the high point was
(01:43):
eighteen point seven percent in nineteen eighty one. That was
the most the highest percentage of African Americans in baseball.
And I remember eve from once I was speaking with
my uncle about blacks, you know, this topic not why
aren't they playing? This was probably close to ten years ago.
(02:05):
I said, you know, blacks aren't playing baseball anymore? Or
why aren't they? He said they are. He said, they
just blacks from the Caribbean, you know. And that's true,
you know what I mean. I mean, you do act.
There's a lot of color in the league, a lot
of brown and black color.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
And so a lot of those guys, you know, back
in the day, even Roberto Guerrera a day of conception
on Tony Perez, guys that were you know, Hispanic, but
were you know, have African blood in them, obviously, And
so I think some of the reasons for that. I'm
(02:45):
gonna run down a few of the reasons that I
think there are.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
You gave some.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Plenty as to just the lack of interest or even
African American kids just growing out of baseball and playing
other sports.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
But I'm gonna rundown a few things.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
One, I do think the expenses of the of baseball
and someone you even talked about how expensive bats are,
gloves and things like that.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
But also.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
As you get into high school, these high school kids,
and you probably know this, on the weekends they're going
to these so called showcases where college coaches are at
the showcases to see what these you know, recruit these players.
And those showcases are like five hundred dollars a weekend
(03:35):
or one thousand dollars a weekend, if not more. We
heard the one caller say he had friends spending four
to seven thousand dollars a summer on their kids playing baseball.
So I think that is a part of it, and
it's unfortunate when a sport prices other people out, and
I think that is a part of what's happening. I
(03:57):
also think that more and more kids today are specializing
obviously in sports.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
So you know this.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I mean, I if I were growing up today, I'm
not sure i'd play baseball, I.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Might try to play football in basketball, which as I
got older became my favorite sports more year round. You
and to if you want to play at the ultra
high level, unless you're just a Lebron James Kyler Murray,
you know, you want these super duper athletes that can
just excel in all three sports and go season the season.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
But a lot of times kids.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Are specializing in basketball and or football kind of year.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Round, so that takes you out. I think.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Also obviously there's almost maybe a roughly thirty percent of
the players are Caribbean, and you know they have the
the camps if you will, or training centers, academies down
in the Caribbean, and it's cheaper to get those players,
you know, than to develop them and put everything in
(05:03):
place here in America in some of the African American
neighborhoods and things like that. We mentioned father you know,
the lack of fathers in the African American community as
far as living in the home with their children, it's
less than thirty percent. And so the fathers are a
(05:25):
lot of times the ones that introduce children to baseball,
coach them. And as I said, I can go outside
and play basketball by myself or with my friends and
get a nice handle, get a good jump shot. Developed
in the game football similar but baseball you can't do that.
(05:45):
You have to somebody has to teach you. How to
judge fly ball.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Everybody got to have the glove, right.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Everybody gonna have a glove.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
You gotta be taught how to judge fly balls, how
to field grounders, how to hit the baseball, how to
throw it. You throw it with the two fingers. You
don't put all you you know, like all these little things.
They aren't they don't sound too complicated, but I'm saying
you have to be.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Taught these things.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
And a lot of times a father is teaching you
that because it's a game of skill. You can't just
play baseball based on athleticism.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Just a game of skill. And then you went to it.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
A lot of African American kids just aren't that interested
in baseball anymore. It's not a glamour sport And also
it's a slow sport. Ef very football is you know,
every play is something's happening. Basketball is just constant, and
baseball it's very slow. I think that's why it isn't
(06:45):
quite as popular on TV because it's a lot slower.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
You can watch a game and very little happens.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
And so I think those are a combination of reasons
as to why, you know, there aren't as many black
players as they used to be. And I'll say this
before we go on, and I want your thoughts. Look,
I would love to see more African Americans playing baseball.
It's a great opportunity for you, for your family. And
(07:15):
obviously African Americans are many of us are great athletes,
and so I would love to see more plane baseball.
But if Blacks just don't want to play Ephraim, then
it is what it is. Nobody's clamoring to get us
to play hockey or tennis, you know, or or golf.
(07:35):
There was a little bit of that with Tiger Woods.
But if we don't want to play a sport, then
so be it. I don't want road blocks to us.
I don't want things that limit us from playing the sport.
But if we decide, for whatever reason, you're just not interested,
then it is what it is.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
I also think that the avenue for success has opened, uh,
you know, not just for African Americans but for all people.
When you know, growing up there was a time where
it's very few tangible avenues for someone to become popular, famous,
(08:15):
well known.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Social media has has lent itself to a whole lane
of of of success and popularity. So like earlier I
talked about high school and that currency being popularity. So
there are different things now that you can do to
(08:40):
garner that feeling that you want right to be special,
to be something, to be heard of, to have something
not to have an above average life. Right. I we
were growing up, my brother and I we were just
we shared at full sized waterbed and we would just
stare at the ceiling and name all the stuff we
(09:02):
wanted to do when we made it right like, so,
we were hell bent on making it professional. He played
basketball overseas for about five or six years, got paid
well for it. I played obviously in the NBA, I
mean in the NFL and got paid well for it.
And so it just unlocked an unlimited set of dreams
(09:26):
that we had that we were able to participate in.
But those were the building blocks to continue our life
and continue our success even off the field and off
the hardwood. I think sport is paramount to build resilience
and in kids, which turns into resilient adults how to
(09:50):
deal with disappointment. No matter how good you are, there's
no such thing as a perfect athlete. In the context
of I think that helps build out some emotional things
that we deal with as adults. That sport can help
(10:10):
you see past, right, you win a big game, dealing
with my nine about to be ten year old now
about every single loss can't be like you lost Game
seven of the NBA Finals, right Like it can't so
him learning how to regulate his emotions because it spills
(10:33):
over into him not getting the perfect score on the
test and him not you know, doing something like his
chores perfectly. And you have to teach kids how to
deal with failure. It's important that they don't understand that
lesson and sports is one of the best ways to
(10:55):
hit that home because it's also about being a good teammate.
And you can who's a game and you've had a
great game. You can win a game and you not
have a good like Those dynamics are very hard to
find in everyday life outside of a sport, right Like,
if you wake up and you have a terrible day,
and and and and you work at you know, an
(11:17):
office or something that you have a terrible dead work.
You just have a terrible dead work. It's not you
know what I mean, Like you can't come in and
and and and and be horrible at your job and
y'all still get the account right, like.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Right, so so I also thank you and you you.
It was disheartening because I you know, I had girls
that played field hockey, so I didn't coach them.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
All right.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
There, I would have loved even though you know, I
didn't have boys, but I would. I often thought, man,
I would love to coach like high school basketball, but
I just with my job, you know, particularly even now
you got to particularly when I was just get one
or two great jobs.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Let's somebody else get a job, mane.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Back in the.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Day, I was covering the teams in the NBA traveling.
You know, I didn't have time to do it. But
it was disheartening to hear you and even the caller
as well, say like parents in some case, I guess,
won't allow you to coach their kids jumping on you
when you jump with the kids like and look, I
had coaches that a couple maybe one or two that
(12:24):
went overboard with the yelling and you know, stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
But I also I'm thankful.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
That I was coach hard in a lot of ways
because it did. It taught me respect for authority. It
taught me, like you said, everything doesn't always go your way.
It taught me resiliency, how to have to come back
from a disappointment when you've disappointed your coach or whatever,
you know what I mean, Like all of that stuff,
(12:51):
and my parents, my father, when the coach jumped on me,
my father didn't get mad at the coach. No, he
was kind of, well, you got to do better. You
gotta do better, boy, you know, like stuff like that.
He was right, the coach was right. You didn't do
this or that, you know. And so I just think
it's unfortunate if today's kids aren't getting that type of coach.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
You know what I teach my kids effort. I'll never
be upset if you give effort. I don't coach wins
and losses. I coach effort. If you can give your best,
your all, we have a higher chance of winning. It
(13:38):
may not always work out, yep, But if you've given
everything you've had, then you can walk out of here
with your head high. If you haven't, then that's when
you have to look inside of yourself and see what
type of teammates you are and what type of player
you are. So I coach effort. Now, that's the listening
(14:01):
being a good teammate and effort, because if you show up,
even if your shot is not going in, if your
effort right. Case in point, my son dribbl him down
the court, tries to cross somebody over, they steal the ball. Right,
he turns, looks dejected. Right, call a time out. Hey, man,
(14:24):
get back on defense. I said, hey, you made a mistake.
You made the mistake worse right because you had gave
no effort. Right, similar situation happens. Right shoots the ball,
goes up for a rebound, has the rebound, getting ready
to shoot it again. Guy rips it out of his hand,
takes off, He chases him down. Guy goes up from
(14:45):
a layup. He blocks the ball out of chase down. Block.
That's his specialty too. He loved watching Lebron do that,
so that's his specialty. He's long and he's fast.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
And so awesome. That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
We going halftime. I say, that's what I'm talking about.
If you as a team to moment if you can
do that, I don't care about the misshot, you lost,
the rebound, It doesn't matter. None of that matters.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
And all right, let's go, let's go, Let's go to
the callers on this eight seven, seven ninety nine On Fox,
we're talking about why African Americans aren't playing baseball as
much as they used to.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Is it a big deal? What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 1 (15:28):
And our as I kind of broached this last hour,
are some of the better white athletes.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Looking at baseball as a sport.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
They have a better chance of getting to the majors
in than say, football or basketball.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Eight seven, seven ninety nine On Fox, It's Chris and
Ephraim The Odd Couple Fox Sports Radio.
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Be sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple
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Hey it's me Parker.
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to find your location. That's Expresspros dot Com eight seven
seven ninety nine on Fox. Why aren't more African Americans
playing baseball like they used to?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
What are your thoughts on this subject?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
All right, we got Greg in North Carolina. You only
Aye couple with Chris and ethrom what you got.
Speaker 5 (17:10):
Yeah, I just want to chime in. I'm I've been teaching.
It's my thirtieth year be teaching coach of high school football, basketball, baseball, track.
But what I've seen over the last ten years, you
would say, is just specialization. I mean, kids seven eight
year olds are going either straight basketball, straight football, or
(17:30):
and nobody plays multiple sports anymore. And that's that's kind
of discoured me. I got three boys myself, and they
didn't like baseball. You know, you know what they tell me,
it's boring.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Yeah, you know, no specialization. I don't like this. I mean, look,
I get it at some point, I guess, but.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I think if we've even had ex athletes baseball. John
Smoltz was a fantastic basketball player in high school, you know,
and we've had him and other pictures talk about they
think some of the reasons pictures are getting hurt so
often now is because they never relax their arms. They're
throwing year round, whereas when you played two or three sports,
(18:17):
when you're playing basketball, your arms resting, you're working other muscles,
and it's also just enjoyable. I think sometimes not all
the kids, but for some of them that are specializing,
it can become like a job.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
Oh yeah, right, where it's like.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
They trying to get to the NBA at seven eight
years old, and it can really become burdensome rather than enjoyable.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Probably, Yeah, you're absolutely right. We got Andre in Massachusetts.
You're in the eye couple with Chris and e from
what you got.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
How you doing?
Speaker 4 (18:47):
Thanks?
Speaker 7 (18:47):
For taking the call. I'm going to concur with the
previous callers. Specialization does play a factor in athletes not
playing baseball, and I just think, Frank, it's also a
lack of perspective. What do we have have like three
hundred and fifty opportunities in the NBA and millions and
millions and millions of young people, specifically, you know, young
(19:08):
people of color, you know, want those three hundred and
fifty said opportunities. My point is with baseball, there's more players,
there's more spots, and then there's greater longevity in baseball.
So you see a lot of times I just don't
you know, you want to play those quote unquote glory sports.
But take a look at the overall revenue and that
sports generate. Baseball is right up there close to basketball.
(19:32):
So I do think there's a perception that the way
that the NBA has been marketed successfully under leadership with
Davis Star and Adam Silver and that it's about stars
and baseball does an absolute pitch, poor, pathetic job of
highlighting their stars. You just get reaciated in basketball at
a young age and that becomes the dream vision and
you really don't see anything else whereas written large, you
(19:54):
have a much greater chance in baseball and then the
longevity of your career your overall earnings. So I think
a lot of athletes, as in the previous generation, should
at least consider baseball because only the one percent of
the one percent are ever going to honestly make it
to the NBA. Thanks for taking the.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Call, absolutely, man, good points there. We got asa in
Michigan on the couple with Chris and e from what
you got.
Speaker 8 (20:16):
Hello, it's a sorry.
Speaker 7 (20:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (20:21):
I think that.
Speaker 8 (20:24):
They're not choosing baseball because the commitments to sports are
being made at younger and younger ages, and baseball isn't
as flash as a football or basketball, so it doesn't
appear to appeal to kids as much.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
That's a good point. It's it's a slow more. I mean,
you can you know, zero zero, one zero, not a
lot of action there, right, Not everybody can hit like
you can stand out and left field for a whole
game and never one time touch a ball, right you perious.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Even baseball was really fun to play, and I got
admit as a kid, I did enjoy watching it and
I still watch it now, particularly during the playoffs. But
it's just much. There's just far less action. Let's just
keep you real. There's no way around that, right, as
far less action than their youth there is in other sports.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Yeah, you're you're right. We got a couple more Damon
in Virginia. You on the odd couple with Chris and
e from what you Got?
Speaker 10 (21:28):
What are they doing? First time? Long time?
Speaker 9 (21:31):
Loved the content, But I would like.
Speaker 10 (21:33):
To say what I was gonna say is I believe
I was born in seventy two, so by the time
I understood baseball, like Willie Stargio.
Speaker 9 (21:44):
We are family. I'm already not from Philly, yeah, so
and everybody like dad and I'm from Philly. But then
my favorite player became Daryl Strawberry. I know, Bobby, but
Niah blah blah blah. I believe is because more in
the inner city, it's not much grass y'all know that.
(22:07):
So unless you really at high school or everything like that,
it's not really No neighborhood league baseball team is going
to be a basketball team or a football team at
the most.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Yeah, the leagues.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, it's just not as much opportunity to play, that's
for darn sure.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
It's not in the inner cities.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yes, and baseball has tried RBI programs and things like
that and nothing's really worked.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
We got one more, we got rich in Texas. You
only our couple Christ and e from what you got.
Speaker 5 (22:38):
How you guys doing.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Yep.
Speaker 11 (22:42):
So I coached a little high school baseball here in
Texas and Houston area, and it was just frustrating to
me that, you know, baseball has become more and more
like a country club sport because of the expense of
the equipment things like that. And you know, I coached
at a lower socioeconomic school and it was frustrating because
(23:02):
you know, the teams that were good were the schools
that were the upper socioeconomic because they could afford to
send their kids to camps and have the best equipment
and everything like that. And then also what some of
the other guys have said, like the NBA did such
a great job of marketing, you know, the NBA and basketball,
and plus you can it's almost kind of like the
(23:24):
soccer effect, like hey, for basketball, you just need a
ball in some tennis shoes.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
Right, you know, and a hoop, so it's just cheaper.
Speaker 11 (23:30):
It's a socioeconomics thing to me, and that's unfortunate because
there's a lot of opportunity in baseball, for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
No, I think that's a great case.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
I think all the callers hit it on the head
and these all these points are valid and they're conspiring,
you know, to where you do have a dearth of
African Americans in the sport.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
We'll see if that ever turns around. There have been
some signs of a little I don't.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Know if it's growth because the percentage in the major
leagues keeps dropping. Between twenty twelve and twenty twenty one,
he from seventeen percent of the first round picks in
the draft were African American. It was thirty percent in
twenty twenty two, and then in twenty twenty three, ten
(24:17):
of the first fifty draft picks were African American. So
I look, I think you're always gonna have some African
American stars, you know what I mean. And that's really
you're talking about. I mean, Mookie Betts is one of
the best players in.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
The world right also a great basketball player, great football player.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
And he chose baseball.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
You're right, But I think more it's where the average players,
you know what I mean, the ones that are pretty good,
but you tend to see the black players that are
in the league.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
A lot of them are stars, and you don't see
as many of them.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
They got be great average players, right like at twenty
fourth man, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
And I don't know we gone to Steve, but I
will say baseball I was doing a poor job of
marketing the sport in general. Oh so much of it
is geared to the old the old ways and the
gentleman sport. You don't flip the bad you know, it's
no excitement.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
And they've tried, you know, they've started allowing some of that,
but his.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Effort is so yes, like there's no excitement. There's not
one time with everybody, but we gotta watch this game.
It's gonna be crazy so and so going against So
it's just not You got a little bit of that
with show Hey because he was doing something nobody was doing.
But outside of that, it's just like, okay, what we're doing.
(25:37):
Even the commercials are boring. I'm like, what are y'all doing.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
We're live from the tirereck dot Com studios.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Our next guest, we we're late and get into him,
but he's a locked on Lakers podcast co host Andy Kaminski, Andy, welcome,
how you doing?
Speaker 4 (26:04):
Hey?
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Okay, hey man, Yeah, we got we got you now.
Welcome all right. The news of the day, obviously, JJ
Reddicks hired by the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
How do you like this hire?
Speaker 12 (26:16):
First of all, at this point, it doesn't even feel
like new news. It feels like old news recycled fifteen
different times.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
It's been the most right, crazy.
Speaker 12 (26:29):
Strange path getting to where everybody thought we were getting
to in like mid May. You know, the Lakers just
don't make hiring a coach ever look easy. And here
we are right now.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Well, I mean, I guess being rejected openly by you know,
Dan Hurley, uh kind of stepped on, you know, because
it was JJ Reddick first, right, it was he was
the favorite. He was the Dan Hurley jumps out of
the sky and then turns it down. So it's kind
(27:06):
of like you have ago in your face, Like it's like,
what do you do now?
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Like?
Speaker 4 (27:09):
Were there any other options outside of early on hearing
about JJ Reddick and then all of a sudden Dan Hurley.
Speaker 12 (27:18):
In all honesty, I think it was a pretty shallow
field as far as really either exciting or viable candidates.
You know, JJ Redick was considered the early clubhouse leader,
but here about James Brego. Charles Lee could have, I
supposed been a candidate, but he got scooped up pretty
quickly by Charlotte. You know, you heard about Mike and
(27:39):
Nori with Minnesota, David Adelman with Denver, but there were
not a lot of very established or sexy names in
terms of experience. Like JJ, Reddick has a lot of
star power and a lot of visibility. I think a
lot of charisma, but he's never coached anybody older than twelve.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Funny, No, But when you say it sounds hilarious, I mean, well.
Speaker 12 (28:10):
Chris, it's a bizarre thing to say, but it's true.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
It sounds like a disaster man's And as a Laker fan,
Oh my gosh, I can't mean taking it. I can't.
I need something more than mediocrity.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Andy, We've seen coaches that have no experience be successful,
but what is success for Reddick in the next two years?
And realistically, because I feel like the Lakers and the
fan base is thinking championship or bust, but I don't
see that happening.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
So what is successful Reddick?
Speaker 12 (28:42):
I think this is actually Chris the most important question
for the Lakers with his higher whether it have been
JJ Reddick, whether it have been Dan Hurley, whether it
had been James Brego, whether it been you know, behind
or four. The Lakers need to treat whoever they bring
(29:02):
in as the coach now Reddick, with a degree of
job security, with a degree of patients, with the idea
that they are legitimately trying to build culture and that
they are willing to grade you against reasonable expectations like
the idea of championship or bust. It's a great branding
(29:24):
ethos and it's something that gets fans excited. And I
get the idea of I am a Laker fan beyond
the fact that I cover this team, like I was
a Laker fan well before I started doing this for
a living, Like I understand that pride, but at the
same time, the way the real world works, you not
only don't win a championship every year, you're not realistically
(29:45):
equipped to win one every single year, and it should
always be the goal. But if it's the standard, then
you're never going to be enabling JJ Reddick or whoever
to essentially be graded in a way where it's fair,
whether it feels like you're growing towards something, whether it
(30:05):
feels like you're actually moving in the right direction, like
the goal should always be, are we getting ourselves closer
to a championship? Or if we're not, are we building
a foundation that can eventually turn into a championship. If
it's simply championship or bust, more likely than not, JJ
(30:26):
Reddick is getting set up to fail in a way
that really aren't about him.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
True, that's a great point, but that is a fantastic point.
So I ask you this currently at with the roster
they have, what moves can they make this offseason to
give JJ Reddick a better chance of getting better?
Speaker 12 (30:49):
It's not going to be easy. I mean, they don't
have a ton in the way of assets. Like they
do have a few first round picks that they can
bundle together if they want, whether the draft, like a
draft day deal or you know, future picks down the line.
You know, they've got a couple reasonably tradable contracts in
really hots and Moora or you know, if D'Angelo Russell
(31:12):
opted in DLO. But the truth is they're not. These
are guys that are some of their best players. Like
in theory, you want to be adding pieces to you know,
lebron Ada, Dilo Reeves, Ruey, you know, you want to
make sure that you're not making moves that are incrementally
(31:32):
incremental improvements but look splashy like you only have so
many shots to get yourself better. And we've seen how
like one trade, the Russell Westbrook trade, set the organization
back in ways that they're still dealing with now. You
have to make sure that you're doing this in a
way that is grounded. It makes sense.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Let me before you go in. We got about a
minute for your answer.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Your answer about at his success, I mean, I thought
it was very strong and great judging by that, do
you think they did the right thing?
Speaker 2 (32:08):
And I know he's looking back, but with Darvin Ham.
Speaker 12 (32:12):
Yes, ultimately, because I think Darvin lost the locker room, yep.
And there were there were a lot of players that
I think it went beyond not agreeing with Darvin's decisions
and rotations and lineups. It was that they didn't understand
why it was happening. And I feel like, once you
lose the locker room in that way, there's no going backwards.
And look, I thought Darvin at the time was a
(32:34):
terrific higher. I mean, he's he's put in his time
as an assistant. I think he's going to get another opportunity.
I hope he does. But ultimately I thought it was
untenable with Darvin, and I understand the decision.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
All right, Andy Kaminiski check him out on the Locked
On Lakers podcast.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Great stuff, man, have a good night.
Speaker 12 (32:53):
Yeah you guys as well. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Yeah more. I Couple coming your way.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Video has the best sports
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
at foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Search FSR to listen live.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
All right, it is the I Couple.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Chris Bruce r E from Salim is filled in for
Rob Parker. Done an outstanding job, so let's end on
a strong note.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
He from uh looks like the Bronnie James.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
He has worked out for two teams and two teams only,
and that's by design from Rich Paul, his agent, Phoenix
Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, the sons I
know have had interest in Bronni in large part because
they thought maybe it could get them Lebron, but Rich
(33:49):
shut that down, said, Lebron's not going there for the minimum.
So what are your thoughts on if the Lakers drive Brianni?
Do you think it's kind of too much appeasing of Lebron?
I personally don't think this higher of jj Reddick was
about Lebron. I think Lebron has stayed out of stuff
(34:10):
like this. People don't believe it, and I get it
because they had a podcast together and Lebron has a
lot of power, so I understand that I just from
talking to people. I don't think he orchestrated this, but
that's the perception. And do you think if they draft
Bronnie James that that is obviously going to be more
(34:31):
of the perception. And do you think that's a problem.
Speaker 4 (34:34):
Well, I think if they draft him with the seventeenth
pig in the draft, it's a problem. But if they
take them with their fifty fifth pig in the draft,
then no, it's not a problem. I think at that
spot in the draft there are very few difference makers. Ever,
on an NBA team. Most of the guys are on
(34:54):
two A contracts and you know, playing for the wich
Ital Glasses uh and moving up and down and right
and uh, you know on two way contracts.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
He won't be on that.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
They just they put the Kebash on that one, which
I get And as an agent, that's what you're supposed
to do. You're supposed to work in the best interests
of your client. They just wanted to get him, get
him in the league and develop. I think it fits
if he's there with his dad. I think that's the dream.
Lebron James is going down as one of the greatest
players to ever play. Uh. And on the flip side
(35:34):
of that, this is the twilight of his career. We
know Lebron James, even though he had a phenomenal year
last year, it's not enough to carry a team UH
and be a championship contenders anymore. So what do the
Lakers do? They draft him, develop him, but also try
(35:55):
to make moves in terms of bringing in pieces, are
getting healthy? I mean they just the health outside of
Lebron and and and a d was awful.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
For the Lakers where it was never.
Speaker 4 (36:09):
Where is Gary Vedy when you need him Cam Reddish.
Uh the whole year. He played the first game and
didn didn't play again to the playoffs. So I'm I'm like,
if if you if you can roll into the season
and stay health, it's a it's a war of attrition.
Look who won the championship. Look who won the championship.
(36:33):
The team that was as whole as can be outside
of Porzingis who had an injury in the playoffs. But
they dominated the year because they stayed healthy.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
And OKC was the number one seed in the West.
Speaker 4 (36:46):
Right, we're the healthiest and and so you you you
look at those those situations where health plays a huge role.
I don't know how healthy they'll be going through this season,
especially their top two players playing in the Olympics. Uh,
that's a concern for me as a Laker fan. I
get it. I know Lebron wants the last go around
(37:06):
at the Olympics and all of that. I think it's
phenomenal for US. I think we need them on this team.
You know, similar to when Kobe came back and helped
the US and led them and really taught them and
showed them how to compete at that level and not
just go off individual talent.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Well and that redeem Team two thousand and eight, you
remember it, I mean, Spain gave them all they want.
I can't remember what the final score was, but you know,
I think it was single digits. And that's what makes
me wonder if we're I mean again, I think we
should be the favorite. But that was a better version
(37:46):
of Lebron and I mean not a smarter version, but
a better version. You had Kobe like you had all
time greats in their primes, and Spain gave us all
we wanted.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
Well, that's the gap. That's the gap of closing. It's
it's pretty much.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
Yeah, the fact that the thing is no one country,
you know, has as many players as up now combined
to all the international countries. Sure they would beat us
in the Olympics, you know if they were Yeah, yeah,
oh yeah, No, I don't want to see that. I
used to want to see that as all. I see tomorrow. Brother,
(38:29):
all right, man, great job. More odd couple tomorrow. Right now,
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon, keep it locked.
Thanks for listening to The Odd Couple podcasts. Be sure
to catch us live every weekday from seven pm to
ten pm Eastern four to seven pm Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd Couple
at Foxsports Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Dot com, or stream us live.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Let's get this PUNI you're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yes, indeed, I'm Chris Bruce R. He's e from Salam
and we are live from the tire rack dot Com studios.
Tireg dot com will help you get there. They got
an unmatched selection, fast free shipping, free row hazard protection,
and more than ten thousand recommend it installers. Tiereg dot
(00:53):
com is the way tirebine should be. In The Odd
Couple is the way sports talk radio should be. Andy
can Minisky, co host of the Locked On Lakers podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Will join us at the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
We'll speak with him more about the JJ Reddick Higher.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
But if I want to go.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Back to the topic we were talking about, we know
a lot of callers want to weigh in as well.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
You'll get that chance. But as to like the the dearth.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Of African American players in baseball, and as we said,
the Major League Opening night or opening Day, only six
percent of the players in the major leagues were African
American with the high point it was never close to
like baseball or basketball. In football, the high point was
(01:43):
eighteen point seven percent in nineteen eighty one. That was
the most the highest percentage of African Americans in baseball.
And I remember eve from once I was speaking with
my uncle about blacks, you know, this topic not why
aren't they playing? This was probably close to ten years ago.
(02:05):
I said, you know, blacks aren't playing baseball anymore? Or
why aren't they? He said they are. He said, they
just blacks from the Caribbean, you know. And that's true,
you know what I mean. I mean, you do act.
There's a lot of color in the league, a lot
of brown and black color.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
And so a lot of those guys, you know, back
in the day, even Roberto Guerrera a day of conception
on Tony Perez, guys that were you know, Hispanic, but
were you know, have African blood in them, obviously, And
so I think some of the reasons for that. I'm
(02:45):
gonna run down a few of the reasons that I
think there are.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
You gave some.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Plenty as to just the lack of interest or even
African American kids just growing out of baseball and playing
other sports.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
But I'm gonna rundown a few things.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
One, I do think the expenses of the of baseball
and someone you even talked about how expensive bats are,
gloves and things like that.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
But also.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
As you get into high school, these high school kids,
and you probably know this, on the weekends they're going
to these so called showcases where college coaches are at
the showcases to see what these you know, recruit these players.
And those showcases are like five hundred dollars a weekend
(03:35):
or one thousand dollars a weekend, if not more. We
heard the one caller say he had friends spending four
to seven thousand dollars a summer on their kids playing baseball.
So I think that is a part of it, and
it's unfortunate when a sport prices other people out, and
I think that is a part of what's happening. I
(03:57):
also think that more and more kids today are specializing
obviously in sports.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
So you know this.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I mean, I if I were growing up today, I'm
not sure i'd play baseball, I.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Might try to play football in basketball, which as I
got older became my favorite sports more year round. You
and to if you want to play at the ultra
high level, unless you're just a Lebron James Kyler Murray,
you know, you want these super duper athletes that can
just excel in all three sports and go season the season.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
But a lot of times kids.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Are specializing in basketball and or football kind of year.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Round, so that takes you out. I think.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Also obviously there's almost maybe a roughly thirty percent of
the players are Caribbean, and you know they have the
the camps if you will, or training centers, academies down
in the Caribbean, and it's cheaper to get those players,
you know, than to develop them and put everything in
(05:03):
place here in America in some of the African American
neighborhoods and things like that. We mentioned father you know,
the lack of fathers in the African American community as
far as living in the home with their children, it's
less than thirty percent. And so the fathers are a
(05:25):
lot of times the ones that introduce children to baseball,
coach them. And as I said, I can go outside
and play basketball by myself or with my friends and
get a nice handle, get a good jump shot. Developed
in the game football similar but baseball you can't do that.
(05:45):
You have to somebody has to teach you. How to
judge fly ball.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Everybody got to have the glove, right.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Everybody gonna have a glove.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
You gotta be taught how to judge fly balls, how
to field grounders, how to hit the baseball, how to
throw it. You throw it with the two fingers. You
don't put all you you know, like all these little things.
They aren't they don't sound too complicated, but I'm saying
you have to be.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Taught these things.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
And a lot of times a father is teaching you
that because it's a game of skill. You can't just
play baseball based on athleticism.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Just a game of skill. And then you went to it.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
A lot of African American kids just aren't that interested
in baseball anymore. It's not a glamour sport And also
it's a slow sport. Ef very football is you know,
every play is something's happening. Basketball is just constant, and
baseball it's very slow. I think that's why it isn't
(06:45):
quite as popular on TV because it's a lot slower.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
You can watch a game and very little happens.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
And so I think those are a combination of reasons
as to why, you know, there aren't as many black
players as they used to be. And I'll say this
before we go on, and I want your thoughts. Look,
I would love to see more African Americans playing baseball.
It's a great opportunity for you, for your family. And
(07:15):
obviously African Americans are many of us are great athletes,
and so I would love to see more plane baseball.
But if Blacks just don't want to play Ephraim, then
it is what it is. Nobody's clamoring to get us
to play hockey or tennis, you know, or or golf.
(07:35):
There was a little bit of that with Tiger Woods.
But if we don't want to play a sport, then
so be it. I don't want road blocks to us.
I don't want things that limit us from playing the sport.
But if we decide, for whatever reason, you're just not interested,
then it is what it is.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
I also think that the avenue for success has opened, uh,
you know, not just for African Americans but for all people.
When you know, growing up there was a time where
it's very few tangible avenues for someone to become popular, famous,
(08:15):
well known.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Social media has has lent itself to a whole lane
of of of success and popularity. So like earlier I
talked about high school and that currency being popularity. So
there are different things now that you can do to
(08:40):
garner that feeling that you want right to be special,
to be something, to be heard of, to have something
not to have an above average life. Right. I we
were growing up, my brother and I we were just
we shared at full sized waterbed and we would just
stare at the ceiling and name all the stuff we
(09:02):
wanted to do when we made it right like, so,
we were hell bent on making it professional. He played
basketball overseas for about five or six years, got paid
well for it. I played obviously in the NBA, I
mean in the NFL and got paid well for it.
And so it just unlocked an unlimited set of dreams
(09:26):
that we had that we were able to participate in.
But those were the building blocks to continue our life
and continue our success even off the field and off
the hardwood. I think sport is paramount to build resilience
and in kids, which turns into resilient adults how to
(09:50):
deal with disappointment. No matter how good you are, there's
no such thing as a perfect athlete. In the context
of I think that helps build out some emotional things
that we deal with as adults. That sport can help
(10:10):
you see past, right, you win a big game, dealing
with my nine about to be ten year old now
about every single loss can't be like you lost Game
seven of the NBA Finals, right Like it can't so
him learning how to regulate his emotions because it spills
(10:33):
over into him not getting the perfect score on the
test and him not you know, doing something like his
chores perfectly. And you have to teach kids how to
deal with failure. It's important that they don't understand that
lesson and sports is one of the best ways to
(10:55):
hit that home because it's also about being a good teammate.
And you can who's a game and you've had a
great game. You can win a game and you not
have a good like Those dynamics are very hard to
find in everyday life outside of a sport, right Like,
if you wake up and you have a terrible day,
and and and and you work at you know, an
(11:17):
office or something that you have a terrible dead work.
You just have a terrible dead work. It's not you
know what I mean, Like you can't come in and
and and and and be horrible at your job and
y'all still get the account right, like.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Right, so so I also thank you and you you.
It was disheartening because I you know, I had girls
that played field hockey, so I didn't coach them.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
All right.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
There, I would have loved even though you know, I
didn't have boys, but I would. I often thought, man,
I would love to coach like high school basketball, but
I just with my job, you know, particularly even now
you got to particularly when I was just get one
or two great jobs.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Let's somebody else get a job, mane.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Back in the.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Day, I was covering the teams in the NBA traveling.
You know, I didn't have time to do it. But
it was disheartening to hear you and even the caller
as well, say like parents in some case, I guess,
won't allow you to coach their kids jumping on you
when you jump with the kids like and look, I
had coaches that a couple maybe one or two that
(12:24):
went overboard with the yelling and you know, stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
But I also I'm thankful.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
That I was coach hard in a lot of ways
because it did. It taught me respect for authority. It
taught me, like you said, everything doesn't always go your way.
It taught me resiliency, how to have to come back
from a disappointment when you've disappointed your coach or whatever,
you know what I mean, Like all of that stuff,
(12:51):
and my parents, my father, when the coach jumped on me,
my father didn't get mad at the coach. No, he
was kind of, well, you got to do better. You
gotta do better, boy, you know, like stuff like that.
He was right, the coach was right. You didn't do
this or that, you know. And so I just think
it's unfortunate if today's kids aren't getting that type of coach.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
You know what I teach my kids effort. I'll never
be upset if you give effort. I don't coach wins
and losses. I coach effort. If you can give your best,
your all, we have a higher chance of winning. It
(13:38):
may not always work out, yep, But if you've given
everything you've had, then you can walk out of here
with your head high. If you haven't, then that's when
you have to look inside of yourself and see what
type of teammates you are and what type of player
you are. So I coach effort. Now, that's the listening
(14:01):
being a good teammate and effort, because if you show up,
even if your shot is not going in, if your
effort right. Case in point, my son dribbl him down
the court, tries to cross somebody over, they steal the ball. Right,
he turns, looks dejected. Right, call a time out. Hey, man,
(14:24):
get back on defense. I said, hey, you made a mistake.
You made the mistake worse right because you had gave
no effort. Right, similar situation happens. Right shoots the ball,
goes up for a rebound, has the rebound, getting ready
to shoot it again. Guy rips it out of his hand,
takes off, He chases him down. Guy goes up from
(14:45):
a layup. He blocks the ball out of chase down. Block.
That's his specialty too. He loved watching Lebron do that,
so that's his specialty. He's long and he's fast.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
And so awesome. That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
We going halftime. I say, that's what I'm talking about.
If you as a team to moment if you can
do that, I don't care about the misshot, you lost,
the rebound, It doesn't matter. None of that matters.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
And all right, let's go, let's go, Let's go to
the callers on this eight seven, seven ninety nine On Fox,
we're talking about why African Americans aren't playing baseball as
much as they used to.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Is it a big deal? What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 1 (15:28):
And our as I kind of broached this last hour,
are some of the better white athletes.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Looking at baseball as a sport.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
They have a better chance of getting to the majors
in than say, football or basketball.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Eight seven, seven ninety nine On Fox, It's Chris and
Ephraim The Odd Couple Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple
with Chris Brussard and Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm
Eastern four pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Hey it's me Parker.
Speaker 6 (16:01):
Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for
twenty two minutes of piping hot baseball talk, featuring the
biggest names of newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe
in analytics or the I test. We've got all the
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(16:24):
Parker on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
All right, it's the Eye Couple live from Thetirereck dot
Com studios. If you're ready for a new job, let
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(16:50):
to find your location. That's Expresspros dot Com eight seven
seven ninety nine on Fox. Why aren't more African Americans
playing baseball like they used to?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
What are your thoughts on this subject?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
All right, we got Greg in North Carolina. You only
Aye couple with Chris and ethrom what you got.
Speaker 5 (17:10):
Yeah, I just want to chime in. I'm I've been teaching.
It's my thirtieth year be teaching coach of high school football, basketball, baseball, track.
But what I've seen over the last ten years, you
would say, is just specialization. I mean, kids seven eight
year olds are going either straight basketball, straight football, or
(17:30):
and nobody plays multiple sports anymore. And that's that's kind
of discoured me. I got three boys myself, and they
didn't like baseball. You know, you know what they tell me,
it's boring.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Yeah, you know, no specialization. I don't like this. I mean, look,
I get it at some point, I guess, but.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I think if we've even had ex athletes baseball. John
Smoltz was a fantastic basketball player in high school, you know,
and we've had him and other pictures talk about they
think some of the reasons pictures are getting hurt so
often now is because they never relax their arms. They're
throwing year round, whereas when you played two or three sports,
(18:17):
when you're playing basketball, your arms resting, you're working other muscles,
and it's also just enjoyable. I think sometimes not all
the kids, but for some of them that are specializing,
it can become like a job.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
Oh yeah, right, where it's like.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
They trying to get to the NBA at seven eight
years old, and it can really become burdensome rather than enjoyable.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Probably, Yeah, you're absolutely right. We got Andre in Massachusetts.
You're in the eye couple with Chris and e from
what you got.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
How you doing?
Speaker 4 (18:47):
Thanks?
Speaker 7 (18:47):
For taking the call. I'm going to concur with the
previous callers. Specialization does play a factor in athletes not
playing baseball, and I just think, Frank, it's also a
lack of perspective. What do we have have like three
hundred and fifty opportunities in the NBA and millions and
millions and millions of young people, specifically, you know, young
(19:08):
people of color, you know, want those three hundred and
fifty said opportunities. My point is with baseball, there's more players,
there's more spots, and then there's greater longevity in baseball.
So you see a lot of times I just don't
you know, you want to play those quote unquote glory sports.
But take a look at the overall revenue and that
sports generate. Baseball is right up there close to basketball.
(19:32):
So I do think there's a perception that the way
that the NBA has been marketed successfully under leadership with
Davis Star and Adam Silver and that it's about stars
and baseball does an absolute pitch, poor, pathetic job of
highlighting their stars. You just get reaciated in basketball at
a young age and that becomes the dream vision and
you really don't see anything else whereas written large, you
(19:54):
have a much greater chance in baseball and then the
longevity of your career your overall earnings. So I think
a lot of athletes, as in the previous generation, should
at least consider baseball because only the one percent of
the one percent are ever going to honestly make it
to the NBA. Thanks for taking the.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Call, absolutely, man, good points there. We got asa in
Michigan on the couple with Chris and e from what
you got.
Speaker 8 (20:16):
Hello, it's a sorry.
Speaker 7 (20:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (20:21):
I think that.
Speaker 8 (20:24):
They're not choosing baseball because the commitments to sports are
being made at younger and younger ages, and baseball isn't
as flash as a football or basketball, so it doesn't
appear to appeal to kids as much.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
That's a good point. It's it's a slow more. I mean,
you can you know, zero zero, one zero, not a
lot of action there, right, Not everybody can hit like
you can stand out and left field for a whole
game and never one time touch a ball, right you perious.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Even baseball was really fun to play, and I got
admit as a kid, I did enjoy watching it and
I still watch it now, particularly during the playoffs. But
it's just much. There's just far less action. Let's just
keep you real. There's no way around that, right, as
far less action than their youth there is in other sports.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Yeah, you're you're right. We got a couple more Damon
in Virginia. You on the odd couple with Chris and
e from what you Got?
Speaker 10 (21:28):
What are they doing? First time? Long time?
Speaker 9 (21:31):
Loved the content, But I would like.
Speaker 10 (21:33):
To say what I was gonna say is I believe
I was born in seventy two, so by the time
I understood baseball, like Willie Stargio.
Speaker 9 (21:44):
We are family. I'm already not from Philly, yeah, so
and everybody like dad and I'm from Philly. But then
my favorite player became Daryl Strawberry. I know, Bobby, but
Niah blah blah blah. I believe is because more in
the inner city, it's not much grass y'all know that.
(22:07):
So unless you really at high school or everything like that,
it's not really No neighborhood league baseball team is going
to be a basketball team or a football team at
the most.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Yeah, the leagues.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, it's just not as much opportunity to play, that's
for darn sure.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
It's not in the inner cities.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yes, and baseball has tried RBI programs and things like
that and nothing's really worked.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
We got one more, we got rich in Texas. You
only our couple Christ and e from what you got.
Speaker 5 (22:38):
How you guys doing.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Yep.
Speaker 11 (22:42):
So I coached a little high school baseball here in
Texas and Houston area, and it was just frustrating to
me that, you know, baseball has become more and more
like a country club sport because of the expense of
the equipment things like that. And you know, I coached
at a lower socioeconomic school and it was frustrating because
(23:02):
you know, the teams that were good were the schools
that were the upper socioeconomic because they could afford to
send their kids to camps and have the best equipment
and everything like that. And then also what some of
the other guys have said, like the NBA did such
a great job of marketing, you know, the NBA and basketball,
and plus you can it's almost kind of like the
(23:24):
soccer effect, like hey, for basketball, you just need a
ball in some tennis shoes.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
Right, you know, and a hoop, so it's just cheaper.
Speaker 11 (23:30):
It's a socioeconomics thing to me, and that's unfortunate because
there's a lot of opportunity in baseball, for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
No, I think that's a great case.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
I think all the callers hit it on the head
and these all these points are valid and they're conspiring,
you know, to where you do have a dearth of
African Americans in the sport.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
We'll see if that ever turns around. There have been
some signs of a little I don't.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Know if it's growth because the percentage in the major
leagues keeps dropping. Between twenty twelve and twenty twenty one,
he from seventeen percent of the first round picks in
the draft were African American. It was thirty percent in
twenty twenty two, and then in twenty twenty three, ten
(24:17):
of the first fifty draft picks were African American. So
I look, I think you're always gonna have some African
American stars, you know what I mean. And that's really
you're talking about. I mean, Mookie Betts is one of
the best players in.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
The world right also a great basketball player, great football player.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
And he chose baseball.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
You're right, But I think more it's where the average players,
you know what I mean, the ones that are pretty good,
but you tend to see the black players that are
in the league.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
A lot of them are stars, and you don't see
as many of them.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
They got be great average players, right like at twenty
fourth man, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
And I don't know we gone to Steve, but I
will say baseball I was doing a poor job of
marketing the sport in general. Oh so much of it
is geared to the old the old ways and the
gentleman sport. You don't flip the bad you know, it's
no excitement.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
And they've tried, you know, they've started allowing some of that,
but his.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Effort is so yes, like there's no excitement. There's not
one time with everybody, but we gotta watch this game.
It's gonna be crazy so and so going against So
it's just not You got a little bit of that
with show Hey because he was doing something nobody was doing.
But outside of that, it's just like, okay, what we're doing.
(25:37):
Even the commercials are boring. I'm like, what are y'all doing.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
We're live from the tirereck dot Com studios.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Our next guest, we we're late and get into him,
but he's a locked on Lakers podcast co host Andy Kaminski, Andy, welcome,
how you doing?
Speaker 4 (26:04):
Hey?
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Okay, hey man, Yeah, we got we got you now.
Welcome all right. The news of the day, obviously, JJ
Reddicks hired by the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
How do you like this hire?
Speaker 12 (26:16):
First of all, at this point, it doesn't even feel
like new news. It feels like old news recycled fifteen
different times.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
It's been the most right, crazy.
Speaker 12 (26:29):
Strange path getting to where everybody thought we were getting
to in like mid May. You know, the Lakers just
don't make hiring a coach ever look easy. And here
we are right now.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Well, I mean, I guess being rejected openly by you know,
Dan Hurley, uh kind of stepped on, you know, because
it was JJ Reddick first, right, it was he was
the favorite. He was the Dan Hurley jumps out of
the sky and then turns it down. So it's kind
(27:06):
of like you have ago in your face, Like it's like,
what do you do now?
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Like?
Speaker 4 (27:09):
Were there any other options outside of early on hearing
about JJ Reddick and then all of a sudden Dan Hurley.
Speaker 12 (27:18):
In all honesty, I think it was a pretty shallow
field as far as really either exciting or viable candidates.
You know, JJ Redick was considered the early clubhouse leader,
but here about James Brego. Charles Lee could have, I
supposed been a candidate, but he got scooped up pretty
quickly by Charlotte. You know, you heard about Mike and
(27:39):
Nori with Minnesota, David Adelman with Denver, but there were
not a lot of very established or sexy names in
terms of experience. Like JJ, Reddick has a lot of
star power and a lot of visibility. I think a
lot of charisma, but he's never coached anybody older than twelve.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Funny, No, But when you say it sounds hilarious, I mean, well.
Speaker 12 (28:10):
Chris, it's a bizarre thing to say, but it's true.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
It sounds like a disaster man's And as a Laker fan,
Oh my gosh, I can't mean taking it. I can't.
I need something more than mediocrity.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Andy, We've seen coaches that have no experience be successful,
but what is success for Reddick in the next two years?
And realistically, because I feel like the Lakers and the
fan base is thinking championship or bust, but I don't
see that happening.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
So what is successful Reddick?
Speaker 12 (28:42):
I think this is actually Chris the most important question
for the Lakers with his higher whether it have been
JJ Reddick, whether it have been Dan Hurley, whether it
had been James Brego, whether it been you know, behind
or four. The Lakers need to treat whoever they bring
(29:02):
in as the coach now Reddick, with a degree of
job security, with a degree of patients, with the idea
that they are legitimately trying to build culture and that
they are willing to grade you against reasonable expectations like
the idea of championship or bust. It's a great branding
(29:24):
ethos and it's something that gets fans excited. And I
get the idea of I am a Laker fan beyond
the fact that I cover this team, like I was
a Laker fan well before I started doing this for
a living, Like I understand that pride, but at the
same time, the way the real world works, you not
only don't win a championship every year, you're not realistically
(29:45):
equipped to win one every single year, and it should
always be the goal. But if it's the standard, then
you're never going to be enabling JJ Reddick or whoever
to essentially be graded in a way where it's fair,
whether it feels like you're growing towards something, whether it
(30:05):
feels like you're actually moving in the right direction, like
the goal should always be, are we getting ourselves closer
to a championship? Or if we're not, are we building
a foundation that can eventually turn into a championship. If
it's simply championship or bust, more likely than not, JJ
(30:26):
Reddick is getting set up to fail in a way
that really aren't about him.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
True, that's a great point, but that is a fantastic point.
So I ask you this currently at with the roster
they have, what moves can they make this offseason to
give JJ Reddick a better chance of getting better?
Speaker 12 (30:49):
It's not going to be easy. I mean, they don't
have a ton in the way of assets. Like they
do have a few first round picks that they can
bundle together if they want, whether the draft, like a
draft day deal or you know, future picks down the line.
You know, they've got a couple reasonably tradable contracts in
really hots and Moora or you know, if D'Angelo Russell
(31:12):
opted in DLO. But the truth is they're not. These
are guys that are some of their best players. Like
in theory, you want to be adding pieces to you know,
lebron Ada, Dilo Reeves, Ruey, you know, you want to
make sure that you're not making moves that are incrementally
(31:32):
incremental improvements but look splashy like you only have so
many shots to get yourself better. And we've seen how
like one trade, the Russell Westbrook trade, set the organization
back in ways that they're still dealing with now. You
have to make sure that you're doing this in a
way that is grounded. It makes sense.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Let me before you go in. We got about a
minute for your answer.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Your answer about at his success, I mean, I thought
it was very strong and great judging by that, do
you think they did the right thing?
Speaker 2 (32:08):
And I know he's looking back, but with Darvin Ham.
Speaker 12 (32:12):
Yes, ultimately, because I think Darvin lost the locker room, yep.
And there were there were a lot of players that
I think it went beyond not agreeing with Darvin's decisions
and rotations and lineups. It was that they didn't understand
why it was happening. And I feel like, once you
lose the locker room in that way, there's no going backwards.
And look, I thought Darvin at the time was a
(32:34):
terrific higher. I mean, he's he's put in his time
as an assistant. I think he's going to get another opportunity.
I hope he does. But ultimately I thought it was
untenable with Darvin, and I understand the decision.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
All right, Andy Kaminiski check him out on the Locked
On Lakers podcast.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Great stuff, man, have a good night.
Speaker 12 (32:53):
Yeah you guys as well. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Yeah more. I Couple coming your way.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Video has the best sports
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
at foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Search FSR to listen live.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
All right, it is the I Couple.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Chris Bruce r E from Salim is filled in for
Rob Parker. Done an outstanding job, so let's end on
a strong note.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
He from uh looks like the Bronnie James.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
He has worked out for two teams and two teams only,
and that's by design from Rich Paul, his agent, Phoenix
Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, the sons I
know have had interest in Bronni in large part because
they thought maybe it could get them Lebron, but Rich
(33:49):
shut that down, said, Lebron's not going there for the minimum.
So what are your thoughts on if the Lakers drive Brianni?
Do you think it's kind of too much appeasing of Lebron?
I personally don't think this higher of jj Reddick was
about Lebron. I think Lebron has stayed out of stuff
(34:10):
like this. People don't believe it, and I get it
because they had a podcast together and Lebron has a
lot of power, so I understand that I just from
talking to people. I don't think he orchestrated this, but
that's the perception. And do you think if they draft
Bronnie James that that is obviously going to be more
(34:31):
of the perception. And do you think that's a problem.
Speaker 4 (34:34):
Well, I think if they draft him with the seventeenth
pig in the draft, it's a problem. But if they
take them with their fifty fifth pig in the draft,
then no, it's not a problem. I think at that
spot in the draft there are very few difference makers. Ever,
on an NBA team. Most of the guys are on
(34:54):
two A contracts and you know, playing for the wich
Ital Glasses uh and moving up and down and right
and uh, you know on two way contracts.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
He won't be on that.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
They just they put the Kebash on that one, which
I get And as an agent, that's what you're supposed
to do. You're supposed to work in the best interests
of your client. They just wanted to get him, get
him in the league and develop. I think it fits
if he's there with his dad. I think that's the dream.
Lebron James is going down as one of the greatest
players to ever play. Uh. And on the flip side
(35:34):
of that, this is the twilight of his career. We
know Lebron James, even though he had a phenomenal year
last year, it's not enough to carry a team UH
and be a championship contenders anymore. So what do the
Lakers do? They draft him, develop him, but also try
(35:55):
to make moves in terms of bringing in pieces, are
getting healthy? I mean they just the health outside of
Lebron and and and a d was awful.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
For the Lakers where it was never.
Speaker 4 (36:09):
Where is Gary Vedy when you need him Cam Reddish.
Uh the whole year. He played the first game and
didn didn't play again to the playoffs. So I'm I'm like,
if if you if you can roll into the season
and stay health, it's a it's a war of attrition.
Look who won the championship. Look who won the championship.
(36:33):
The team that was as whole as can be outside
of Porzingis who had an injury in the playoffs. But
they dominated the year because they stayed healthy.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
And OKC was the number one seed in the West.
Speaker 4 (36:46):
Right, we're the healthiest and and so you you you
look at those those situations where health plays a huge role.
I don't know how healthy they'll be going through this season,
especially their top two players playing in the Olympics. Uh,
that's a concern for me as a Laker fan. I
get it. I know Lebron wants the last go around
(37:06):
at the Olympics and all of that. I think it's
phenomenal for US. I think we need them on this team.
You know, similar to when Kobe came back and helped
the US and led them and really taught them and
showed them how to compete at that level and not
just go off individual talent.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Well and that redeem Team two thousand and eight, you
remember it, I mean, Spain gave them all they want.
I can't remember what the final score was, but you know,
I think it was single digits. And that's what makes
me wonder if we're I mean again, I think we
should be the favorite. But that was a better version
(37:46):
of Lebron and I mean not a smarter version, but
a better version. You had Kobe like you had all
time greats in their primes, and Spain gave us all
we wanted.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
Well, that's the gap. That's the gap of closing. It's
it's pretty much.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
Yeah, the fact that the thing is no one country,
you know, has as many players as up now combined
to all the international countries. Sure they would beat us
in the Olympics, you know if they were Yeah, yeah,
oh yeah, No, I don't want to see that. I
used to want to see that as all. I see tomorrow. Brother,
(38:29):
all right, man, great job. More odd couple tomorrow. Right now,
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon, keep it locked.
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