August 20, 2021 • 38 mins
Rob Parker and Martin Weiss, in for Chris Broussard, think LeBron is too sensitive about every perceived slight including the execs poll that had Giannis and KD as the best players in the league. Tom Brady's son being the ball-boy for the Bucs is another example of the NFL's problem with nepotism and the guys debate whether or not Kevin Durant should admit to smoking marijuana if he wants to end the stigma against it.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
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(00:22):
You're listening to the Best of the Odd Couple with
Chris Brussa and Ron Harker Martin. Let's start here. There
was a ESPN story survey basically asking who's the best
(00:42):
player in the league, and it was asked to ten
scouts and executives. Of course they didn't put their names
to it, but ten of them in this survey, and
five picked Jannis and five picked Kde. That was it.
Five and five. Lebron did not get one single vote,
(01:04):
even though this is coming up on year nineteen, even
though he's been hurt too in the last three years,
even though when Anthony Davis went down in that Phoenix series,
they got run out of the gym when they were
relying on Lebron to come turn back the clock, all
that stuff. Jannis, of course, one of the NBA Finals,
when everybody said he couldn't and he also escaped, also
(01:25):
shook off one of his bug A booze, which was
free throws, making nineteen out of seventeen in a closeout
game to beat the Suns, and Kevin Durant played great
in the playoffs. If he wore sized fourteen instead of seventeen,
the Nets would have knocked off the Bucks and probably
would have won the NBA title. Martin Lebron pushed back,
(01:47):
not happy about it. You know, he's always you know,
flexing his social media muscles, especially when things up, people
didn't like the moves that they made the older players,
he had something to say. And when he didn't get
voted MVP in twenty twenty, he was not happy. And
now he's not happy about this. What's your take? Should
(02:09):
Lebron have gotten some votes? Well, you know this is
always This is the time of year right in between
you know, right around training camp, when Lebron starts to
work out on Instagram and you're seeing all his workouts
and you're seeing all his washed King tweets and you know,
all the motivational tweets, like you can almost set your
watch by it. At this time. It's always around my
birthday Lebron really starts to ramp up the social media posting,
(02:32):
so you know, as I appreciate that, but I say this,
it's always kind of like contrived, Like when he didn't
get the MVP votes, Well, you probably shouldn't have been
the MVP that year, Lebron. That's part of the problem.
And last season Lebron James wasn't the best player in
the NBA. And the thing about it, the thing about
it that's it's almost disingenuous because like Lebron talking about
(02:53):
these washes, this he's that if you read the article,
if you read the list, there were only three players
mentioned in the conversation who the best player in the
league was Yannis unto the KOOPO, Kevin Durant, Lebron James,
now Yannis and Kate. He's split five votes, but it's
still he's in the conversation. And that's honestly where in
my opinion he has been since Kevin Durant went to
(03:14):
Golden State. Because to me, he's been Kate, he's been
the best player in the league. And I did it
really if he has any beef and I know this
may be controversial because they just won the finals, but
I would think that Yannis maybe needed to give some
of those some of those back, because I just never
I get the Bucks just won the finals and this
and that, but simply because they did, I'm not ready
to crown Jannis as the best player in the world
(03:37):
right now. Well, I think you're misguided from the standpoint
that you think it's just because he won the finals.
He also won back to back MVPs and he also
won two Defensive Player of the Year while nobody was
talking about how Yannis was the best player in the
league at all, but he added a championship and the
one thing he could was make free throws, and he
(03:59):
did it. And that's why I think Jannis went up.
You're looking for players, Martin, to get better, to improve,
to improve on things. Everybody counted them out. Everybody said
he made a mistakes staying in Milwaukee that they would
never win, and it's hard to go back on that
with the hardware, with the championship at twenty six years old.
(04:19):
I think Jannie isn't that conversation. I think, you know,
I think he's in the conversation for sure, But I
just have never thought. I don't like the idea that
if Kevin Durant shoe was a size smaller, if he
took a step behind, and this and that, Jannis would
have been sent home. And now to him, because if
Yannis had gotten sent home, if Kevin Durant warre size
fourteen shoe, no one would be calling him the best
player in the world. Not. I just don't think that's
(04:41):
the case. Like you said, he had two MVPs to
all of that, and after he flamed out in the playoffs,
everybody he did the same thing. If you look at
his numbers in the last three years, they're identical. He
didn't take a step back. The only difference is this
year they had a better team around him, and in
three of the finals games he shot over fifty percent
from the free throw right. So, like I'm not saying
and I'm not trying to knock him like that may
(05:03):
sound dismissive. I think Yannis is an incredible player who
has shortcomings, but still an incredible player. But it's just
Kevin Durant and Lebron James to me are better at
basketball than Yannie's. Yeah, I don't think Lebron at this
stage is better than Yannis. I think I don't think
Lebron's in this conversation entering year nineteen. He was that guy.
(05:25):
He's not that guy. When a D went down. You
remember that game, it was all over for the Lakers.
Nobody thought Lebron was going to be able to lead
them without a D. I mean, it just it just
wasn't gonna happen. And I think Jannis, because he had
the two back to back MVPs and then to add
in that third year a championship in an NBA Finals
(05:46):
Title Championship trophy, I should say when you add those
three things together, he should be in the conversation. And
we know what Kevin Durant has done and still does
and still did you know, even when two of his
stars went down, and still it took Milwaukee seven games.
And so I understand why people I think Kevin Durant
(06:07):
is the best player in the league. I would take
him because for me, it all comes down to this,
who do you want to give the ball? And you
need a bucket at the end of the game. I mean,
if it's not Kevin Durant, I don't know who else
you're picking, right, It's nobody. There's a couple of different
there's a couple of different guys. I'm talking about three.
I'm talking about out of these three, is Kevin Durant
(06:29):
without a doubt? I mean, hell, in the league, it's
Kevin Durant almost without a doubt. Like there's a very
short conversation of who you want with the rock, right like,
But out of these three, is Kevin Durant without a
doubt And especially because I mean easy money sniper, right
he's one of the best shooters in the league. And
that's you know, it's one of the things that he
does great that these two guys, I mean, Janis especially doesn't.
(06:51):
But Lebron, you know, shooting has comes and goes, and
you know, he's more of a power player where Kevin
Durant can can get you however you need to get got. Yeah,
I think I think Lebron is just just a little
too sensitive about, you know, not being included in everything.
I think the the twenty twenty Martin where he was
(07:13):
upset about the voting, remember because it was a landslide,
but then people got to look at it. It's not
like the entire day he won the championship or whatever,
but it's it's a vote up until the end of
the regular season, and Yannis had a better year of
statistically than he had the year prior when he won
the MVP and his team, the Bucks, Martin had the
(07:35):
best record in the NBA. Well, I mean, what would
have been the argument? And then Lebron didn't even have
the best numbers on his team, Anthony Davis did. The
only category that Lebron led the Lakers in was assist
in twenty twenty. So I just don't understand. It's not
a lifetime achievement award. It was for the twenty twenty season.
(07:57):
That's all it was for. Yann has deserved did and
I think Martin him getting a championship, him fending off
his demons, the free throws in that manner, imagine if
he missed half those free throws, there would have been
a Game seven of the NBA Finals, you know. I
mean they were very, very crucial and important. Yeah. I
just I think Lebron is right exactly where he should be.
(08:20):
It's in the conversation for best player in the league,
and which I mean can change. I'm not somebody I
think I think that thing can I think it can change.
I think it can be static and it can change
from a week to week period, Who's playing the best
right now? Right? I think if you ask overarchingly over
the last few years, it's been Kevin Durant. But Lebron
James deserves to be in the conversation. He is in
the conversation. They asked ten people, they split five votes
(08:43):
and there was only three people mentioned. I think that's
an appropriate level of conversation for what it is. And
I understand like Lebron tweeting I'm washed up this and
that the washed King. I love that the Washed King.
I mean, we see athletes day in day out. I
mean I watched the documentary last summer about how Michael
Jordan was manufacturing these these these demons, or manufacturing these
(09:06):
chips on their shoulders, so to speak, to just try
to motivate them to do something more. So, if that's
what's going on, then I get it. But you know,
I assume that's what Lebron is doing. I can't imagine
Lebron is is really going out and thinking, you know,
I'm gonna go pound these dudes heads in because you know,
ten guys thought they were better than me. Yeah, and
it's ten. It's a small sample size and It's fine.
(09:29):
I don't I don't. You know. Sure, you've been in
the league a long time. You know, you've been in
the finals a million times. When you want to be uh,
you don't want to be disrespected. But I really just
don't think Yan has come on off a championship and
what Kevin Durant did that you could really if you're Lebron,
feel kind of funky about it. Mark, And I really
(09:50):
feel like that's where you're being a little sensitive, right, yeah,
I mean, you got knocked out in the first round,
a D got hurt, and your season was over. What
what what's the argument if Broun would have won without
a D and got them in the second round, didn't
you didn't you look at it a little different, dude.
Let's not forget that Lebron did get nick this year,
right Sulivan Hill dove into the ankle and all of
(10:11):
a sudden, you know, and he had he missed a
twenty gun twenty some games and he wasn't and he
came back. He didn't necessarily look like himself in that post.
I don't remember that, everybody. I'm sure that you don't remember.
I remember that's that's the same way, you never remember
a bet that you lost because when he because when
they won Game two, they said that the Lakers were
fine and them had a clear path to the championship.
(10:32):
Do you remember that when they won game and then
when they lost, wasn't the player that he was he
came back. It was to me it seemed evident that
the ankle was bothering him. But you know, you you
watched the different games than I did. But and at
the end of the day, I don't have fan goggles on.
I'm just I just I just have the you know,
mine comes in cable. That's the problem. Everything he watches
(10:52):
in black and white, because you know everything is from
forever and years ago. But I just don't think that
Lebron in this omen is the best player in the NBA.
But I also think, like I said, he's right in
the right place where he needs to be. He's in
the conversation and you can point to specifically, there's some
things to where you probably did not deserve to be
the leading vote getter here when you can sit. But
(11:13):
I also because of those things that you can point to,
is exactly why he deserves to be in that conversation
and don't necessarily. I feel like if you had pulled,
you know, pull three times the amount of people pull,
thirty teams are thirty executives. He's gonna get some votes.
I would be shocked if he was fifteen, fifteen, Yannis
kd and Lebron receiving zero. Be sure to catch live
(11:35):
editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob
Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern four pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. I wrote a
column today for Dead Spend. If you get a chance,
take a look at it, please read it because a
lot of people, they see the headline, they already make
up their mind about the column, and the first thing
(11:55):
they would think about is that, basically, Martin the I'm
ripping Tom Brady's son for being a ball boy with
the Tampa Bay Bucks. Now what you got? I did
read the column. In the first line says tom Brady's
son is a ball boy for the Buccaneers and that's
the problem with the NFL. So I don't necessarily disagree
(12:16):
with those who may have had that opinion. But you
did read this. I read the rest of it. I
read the rest of it. But you know that you
put the most important things at the top, right, Well, absolutely,
I mean you want to put it out there, let
people know. And the reason I say this, and I
want people to understand, is that the NFL has a
(12:37):
huge problem, Martin, and it has for a long time,
and it's nepotism. And that has stopped a lot of
black people, minorities others from getting opportunities in this league
that is seventy five or so percent black on the field, right,
(12:59):
but when it comes to the front office and head
coaches and all that. And the problem is, and this
is why I wrote about it, is it looks innocent.
Tom Brady's the star quarterback of the Bucks. They just
won a Super Bowl. He has a thirteen year old son. Yeah, son,
come on, beat the ball boy, and no problem. Nope, nope, foul,
(13:20):
no harm. The only problem is this is going on
and guys like Tom Brady's son have gone on to
be NFL head coaches because their dad's in the right spot.
Todd Haley's the guy I highlighted into column. Martin. When
you read about Todd Haley, did you know all that information? No,
(13:41):
I'd already knew it. But the thing that the thing
that's different about Brady in my estimation is that almost overarchingly,
almost all of the examples that you had in your column,
these guys were coaches putting other coaches in positions, whereas
and percent agree nepotism is a huge problem in the NFL. Nick,
you highlighted job with Rod Marinelli, and he hired you
(14:03):
know several people who's sitting around his Thanksgiving dinner table.
His son in law was a defensive coordinator, his son
in law's father was the assistant offensive line coach, and
then there were other people in the organization as well.
That's Marinelli higher and inherently, I don't think there's anything
wrong with hiring somebody that you know or maybe related to.
(14:24):
Oh no, most companies wanton do not go for nepotism. Well,
but I'm gonna say inherently, but the reason why you
have that is because the reason why you have the
idea that nepotism is wrong or this is a bad
idea is because you're not going through inveting everybody. You're
not going through invetting as many candidates as possible, and
you and then end up on your cousin who happens
to be the best choice. Right, that's not what's happening here.
(14:48):
But in terms of tom Brady's kid being a ball boy,
and I don't have a super big problem with it,
but I understand the premise that tom Brady's son is
a ball boy at thirteen, he sticks around like it's
essentially the Kyle Shanahan story. Know that he was in
Denver with his dad while Mike was coaching, and he
was there and watched his dad and learned watch film
with them, down the film and so then at a
(15:12):
thirty five years old, he's got twenty years of NFL
experience legitimately, right, But it's because he was able to
circumvent some of the other factors that are because of
who his father was. So let me go ahead. I
want to get into the Todd Haley and so I
don't know who don't know. So the thing that I say,
I don't I'm not sure if you would have that
(15:33):
same level of Like, I don't think that tom Brady's
son going and watching him at football practicer being a
ball boy is gonna make tom brady son a better
football player. It may make it may build him to
be a football coach one day, right, But I don't
know if it works in the same way as like
coach to coach, player to player. But I agree with
the overarching point that nepotism is a huge problem in
the NFL. And so Todd Haley's dad was the was
(15:56):
he wants to director a personnel for the Steelers and
the he was a former NFL cornerback. And as a kid,
Todd Haley was a ball boy just like Brady's son
for the Steelers and attended training camps with his father.
And Haley didn't follow in his father's footsteps because he
didn't play college football. He didn't play football after the
(16:16):
youth level. He played golf in college instead Martin And
yet it didn't like stop him from having a career
in the NFL as a coach and getting a plum
coaching job. Two thousand and nine, he got hired by
the Kansas City Chiefs as their head coach. And how
did he get started in the NFL ladder His father
(16:38):
hired him with the Jets in nineteen ninety five, So
there was another one of those opportunities. And then there
was Kyle Shanahan. Do you remember the quote that was
famous during the Black Lives Matter movement Martin where Kyle
Shanahan got up and said, hey, quote, how the heck
are there only four black coaches out of thirty two
(16:59):
head coaches? How are there only two black gms? I
mean we're in a predominantly, you know, black league. He
was talking about the majority of all players are black.
So the fact that there there's that few that's not debatable.
And quote, you know, yeah, I'm sorry, go ahead, and
I'm gonna say you're right, Kyle, it's not. But the
(17:23):
black guys don't have the hook up like you had
when your dad hired you down in DC with Washington
and he was the offensive coordinator for his dad and
then three of US first and the three of US
first four years, Washington's offense ranked twenty five, twenty six,
twenty third. Did he get fired, No, because dad was
running the show. But to that point, it drives me
(17:46):
nuts how we always look at things like like somebody's
the first black to do something, or we look at
them the the outliers. Right, there's four head coaches and
two gms. Why don't we look at how is there
twenty eight of thirty two teams are run by white people, right, right,
Like a thirty of of of thirty two teams are
run by white people, just white men, period stopped right.
(18:08):
So Like, I'm just why we never look at it
from that perspective. I think if you did, you can
answer a lot of your questions. Right. So, like, Kyle Shanahan,
how do we how are we in this position because
of guys like you? Because the guy's like Sean like
man when your dad exactly that that's why, uh, black
former players have a hard time going up. Let me
(18:29):
give you this, Martin, quick, real quick. I'm not trying
to say that Shanahan is even a bad coach in
this moment. Like I think Shanahan is one of the
better coaches in the We're talking about opportunity. Idea that
he was able to even get the chance. You told
me a long time ago it ain't necessarily what you know,
it's who you know then what you know, right, So
he was able to say, Shanahan was able to to
(18:49):
to to get into the job and do the job
well once he got the head coaching position. But the
idea is like he shouldn't have had that opportunity in
the first place. At such a young age. All right,
tell me what, what's the same on this list, because
hiring is a family hustle in the NFL. Okay, his
father and son coaches Dick and Mike Nolan, the Jim Morris,
(19:13):
Marty and Brian Schottenheimer, Don Dave and Mike Schuler, Bum
and Wade Phillips, Mike and Kyle Shanahan, Buddy and Rex
and Rob Ryan in New England. Belichick has two of
his kids on his staff, Stephen Bryant. And then there's
Andy Read in Kansas City, who hired his kids despite
(19:36):
all the problems that they've had, drug arrests, all kinds
of stuff, and in fact, his son Britt was being
charged with a d U y. You remember Martin in
a car crash days before the Super Bowl and his
alcohol level was point one three. You know what the
above the legal limit of point zero eight? All right,
(19:59):
and there's not one black coach or son on that list.
So to me, this is what I'm talking about. It's
not just as innocent as people make it. I know
Tom Brady and the Bucks didn't think anything of it,
but this is how this is business as usual in
the NFL. This is the stuff that has to be
stopped where it's all about people hiring their relatives and
(20:24):
their kids, because I don't think that the same is
afforded Martin. If you're a black coach and you can
bring in your cousin and your uncle and your two kids,
I don't think that they'll have the same. Look at right,
just look at it. Just look at them, at the
minority coaches, because they open it up to you know,
everybody says, you know, black coaches plus Ron Rivera, right
(20:45):
because he's Hispanic. But that's really and now uh Soli
in New York right right, there's very you know, there's
several there's several examples of black coaches that didn't do that,
just didn't feel their staffs in the same way. Like
I I just think that I think that the black
coaches know that that they can't do that. Am I
wrong or not? That they can't load it up with
(21:07):
their family. Been with you. I think that it's like
they don't have the same they don't have the same
length of length of rope, right, they don't have the
same they don't have the same Like urban moder can
go down to do whatever the hell he wants to
right now, right. I don't think that any black coach
walks into the room feels that way, even a guy
like Mike Tomlin, who by all accounts, should have, in
my opinion, some of the best job security in the NFL.
(21:28):
But you know, let the Steelers start three and three
this year, they're gonna talk about his Tomlin seat hide
and all he does is win, Like his biggest crime
is that he couldn't beat the Patriots in the playoffs.
And it's like, well, you know a lot of people can. Well,
this is this is the issue that I have with this.
I think it's worth talking about. I don't. I don't.
Do you think nepotism Do you think it's different in sports?
(21:51):
In corporate America, they don't do it because it limits
the opportunity from all people having access to jobs. If
it's always you're hiring somebody you know or family member,
there's a good chance people who don't look like you
are in your circle. You know, Martin, They're not those
aren't the people that are you're hooking up with? Gigs?
(22:13):
In Detroit we mentioned a Marinelli. He had a number
of family members, a part of the front office and
the coaching staff. And I think this is something that
the NFL has to look at, has to start saying, like,
we can't do this. This is the same league that
had to add the Rooney Rule to force white owners
(22:37):
to interview black people to interview them because they wouldn't
interview them. They wouldn't they wouldn't give they wouldn't even
interview them. There were times, Martin and years gone by
where there were eight coaching opportunities open around the league
and not one black assistant was interviewed for eight openings.
I mean, it was that blatant and that they had
(22:58):
to come up with a rule, and then they wanted
to a mended. Hey, you want to get free cookies
and a large diet coke extra if you hire a
black person or what you know, they were adding even
a centims in. It's like, if it's just the simplest
answerest to, why is something not happening is because people
aren't doing it right. So, Kyle Shanahan, you want to
ask why there are only four black coaches in the
(23:18):
NFL because owners aren't hiring black coaches right, Like, no
matter how you how you shake it, or how you
incentivise it, that's that's the end of the day. That's
what's happening. They have different rules and they're not and
why they're not hiring black coaches and an apart, it's
because they're hiring people that they know and they're related to.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
(23:39):
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LeVar Arrington, t J. Hushman's Outa and Plexico Birds on
(24:21):
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your
podcast from. We are going to talk about Kevin Durant
and we you know Stephen A. Used alway, what was
that famous line? He'd always say, stay off the we, right, Martin,
(24:43):
you let it wrong? It's we we. You know what
we do at USC. And Martin, you know that because
you have a master's degree from USC, which is amazing
because when you came to LA five years ago you
didn't have one, but now he has one. And what
we tell our students at USC is whenever they're doing
(25:04):
like commentary and whatnot. You know, it's hard for the
kids not to say us or we, because you know,
they go to USC, right and you and you're not
supposed to say that, and you gotta be objective. So
you know what we tell them, stay off the we.
Oh man, that's pretty good right there. Right, there's a
(25:26):
perfect opportunity for the Joe West You're out. It's a
perfect chance. I need to swing in three. I think
that's a great thing to tell the kids, stay off
the wei, you know, because it's not about we. We're
not a weed all right. Anyway, So Kevin Durant has
(25:46):
partnered with something called weed Maps. Does that get you
to the destination while you're high? Is that? What that is?
Is that I'm trying to figure it out, but the
I'll produce a lead with something called weed Maps. Everyone
under thirty five in America is looking at you like, wow,
I don't know if this don't well I don't I
(26:06):
don't smoke weed, and I don't know you don't smoke
weeds and know what weed maps is. I'm just saying,
all right, So so lead to lap our. Uh, producer
Lee kind of give us a little more on this
story and then Martin and I can get into a
knockdown drag out. Yeah. Well, for one, weed maps doesn't,
you know, directly sell any pot, but it does direct
(26:27):
you to dispensaries for medical marijuana. Wow, that's what it is.
I got it now, that makes sense, Okay, I mean
the name should have gave it away. Rob No, I
was thinking that you you know, like when you're high,
it tells you what route to take, all right, Rob
So Kevin Durant, he did announce this partnership and sponsorship
(26:50):
deal with weed Maps, and it's uh, in his mind,
a way for him to destigmatize the marijuana use among athletes.
He actually told this to ESPN. I think it's far
PA has time to address the stigmas about cannabis that
still existence in the sports world as well as globally.
This partnership is going to help us continue to normalize
those conversations as well as create content, events, and a
(27:11):
lot more through Boardroom Media Network. This is just the
beginning for us, and in fact, Kevin Durant has invested
in other cannabis related businesses and to you know, further
this along. It's because he wants to you know, possibly
get to what's at hand in the NBA, where marijuana
still remains banned, but they did during the Orlando bubble
(27:32):
for temporarily ban the random drug testing now right. Basically
they said, you guys could get high all you want.
Don't worry about it that they said. They say, the
random drug testing, yes, but that tells you that you
could smoke. I've been coming this league since nineteen eighty seven.
Guys smoke weed. Guys don't get busted because most of
(27:53):
the time they know when the test to come and felt,
and they know when they're supposed to do it. Not
my point. Seo Show, by the way, was the last
person to be disciplined by the NBA in And how
long ago was that eighteen? Yes, it's been years. They
basically they've turned their heads to three years ago. Okay,
here's my point. He's been years. You're making it sound
like it's been in the eighties. Three years. Here's my point. League.
(28:15):
When Kevin Durand was asked if he partakes in the weed,
he declined to answer. He's the one who wants to
get rid of the stigma. But no, mar let me
make my point first, and then you go, okay, if
he wants to get rid of the stigma, why is
(28:36):
he afraid to say that he partakes in weed which
he could smoke in the offseason or whenever, and there's
no there's no test, and you could do whatever you want.
He's a star player who obviously can function and do
whatever he does. And for people say, well, just because
he's involved in in cannabis and he invested it doesn't
(28:59):
mean he smokes it. Yeah. Right. My point is, if
it's okay and you want to get rid of the stigma,
you gotta stand up and be counted. And if the
ten or twenty best NBA players stood up and said,
we smoke weed and we don't think it's a bad thing,
and here's the regions why and we need to stop,
(29:20):
you know, marking people would have would a check mark
if they if we find out that they smoke weed
or whatever. That's how you make changes. For him to
say that he didn't want to discuss it just sounds
weird to me, Like he's ashamed, Like he's afraid that
people look at him differently, Like I don't know they
won't sign him to some deals. He's got to fifty
(29:43):
million dollars a year. He doesn't need any deals. They
can sign a cannabis deal. First of all, if we're
gonna make the point that, like if if you can
go up and say you're vaccination status is a personal choice,
then yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and be perfectly fine
with Kevin Durant not disclosing with the night he wants
to whether or not he wants to tell people no, no, no,
He says he wants to. He wants to not to
(30:05):
be a stigma. Right, how do you get to that
point if we allow, if we're allowing people like literally
a public health crisis to be a personal choice, I'll
let this one go ahead and rock as a personal choice.
Kevin Durdne once say he gets hot, that's fine, but
it's not a secret. It's not a secret that he's
out smoking weed in general, Like it's not a crazy secret.
But the thing is when you look at all these
(30:25):
sponsorships that he has on the deck, and then also too,
this is temporarily banned. It's not up yet, it's not
gone yet. It's not the idea that weed. I understand
the picture. Do you just paint it? But it's not
true like that. At any point in time, the NBA
could come back down and say, can't do it tomorrow,
they would have their game playing. How they cannot easily
(30:49):
they can't because because they can't just tomorrow, okay, we're
testing to starting tomorrow, they would have to give the
players a chance to get off the weed, to get
get it out of this system and then get back
to then it were doing. And they could bring it
back though, right, that's the whole point of what you
were back coming back, and they're not going back, Martin.
(31:10):
There's the other point. There's no evidence that they want
you to give me one question, answer one question for me.
How do you stop it from being a stigma? Can
you explain to me how do you stop it? If
you're not willing to stand up and raise your hand
and say, but and you promote it, what do you
know you got? You gotta do more than that. Enough
(31:31):
is you don't because he's that you gotta target on
your back. That's ridiculous. No, you gotta show other people
in a league that this is this that is successful,
that successful people who function in this society can smoke weed.
It's not just about the munches. It's not just about
zoning out and you can't drive, or you can't do this,
(31:54):
or you can't do that, or you're gonna fall asleep
after you have a joint or whatever it is. I'm
not against people smoking weed, but I don't understand why
people are so afraid to stand up. They love it,
they see every day to stand up. He get an
interview with PN that HELI entire impetus of this topic.
(32:15):
Is Kevin Durant not being afraid to stand up for
using marijuana? Nolin, And he used, that's the only reason
we're having this conversation. Otherwise, like you makeing same like
Kevin Durant was asked a postgame interview do you smoke weed? No?
And g smoke weed yes? And now I was sudden
we have to address his post No he invested in
a weed company, like literally, that's what. We didn't invest
(32:36):
in the weed company because he's not interested in weed
mark company because he sees his opportunity to make money. No,
that's because he likes to smoke weed as well. I mean,
and here's my thing. So you so, so you do Robbie?
Are you do you invest in things? Do you have?
Do you have? Do you have stock? Do you hold stocks?
Do you use every single company that you hold stock in?
(32:58):
But what do we cruises? I will never step on
a cruise ship. I think cruises is ridiculous. I don't
like it. But everybody else in America hopps on a
cruise as soon as they get the opportunity to. So
I have sucking them. So I've invested in them cruises. No,
are you telling me that most people who are involved,
I'm not saying all, but most people you don't think
(33:19):
indulge in weed? Who buy? Who buy? Who back the weed?
And he that okay, he's the one who said he
wanted to to not have it be a stigma. That
is my my biggest point. So when people call up
here today at eight seven seven ninety nine on Fox,
I want you if you're a proud weed smoker. I
(33:41):
want you to announce it. I want you to say
it with your chest stuck out. If that's what you
enjoy and you don't have a problem with it, say it.
That's all I'm saying to not make if we get
five calls and everybody telling you he smokes weed, do
for you. That's what I need to say. They should
do nothing, Like why don't your life? Because the more
the more people come out who are successful and doing
(34:05):
well in society. And it's not just some burnout or
some guy just getting high who wants to play video
games all days all day. Like, this is not nineteen
sixty five, this isness anymore, Like there were plenty of
guys who still to get high at lunch. Bunch has
been retired, Buddy, that's not true. There are guys who
(34:26):
smoke weed all day, play video games and don't put
on socks. I mean, sure, but why that's not the
stigma of the current marijuana smoker. I'm sorry that you
will still watch black and white TV. But we live
in California. You can buy an ounce of weed within
the three miles seven times in this area. Like, that's
(34:47):
not this is not like, no one is making this
big of a deal about it but you. But I
don't understand why you need him to go up there
and say he smoked weed. Went All of the things
that potentially could happen to him would be negative. You know,
when you go to alcoholic anonymous, you know what you
do Martin, You say, Hi, I'm rob you drink problem,
not a weed problem. OK, no problem. No, I'm just
(35:10):
trying to say so in this case, if if he
said I made an investment and he didn't bring up
the idea of trying to uh desensitize people to weed
and say like he said, so that people don't look
at it as a stigma, it would be good if
he leaves the charge to say I'm a hold on
(35:34):
you people. Likely I'm not leading it oppositely because I
don't have a steak in it. I've never smoked a joint.
I'm not interested in weed. But I don't care if
other people do it. That's their business. My only business.
Then no, no, because he was asking an interview about
his weeds and he said it was and he didn't
(35:54):
say he didn't do it. He just said he don't
want to divulge it, and my point is that's just
stopping from being a stigma. People need to speak up.
We want to hear from you. Eight seven seven ninety
nine off Fox. This is gonna be very interesting. I
want to hear, Hey, if you're call up, if you
smoke weed, I want you to say, hey, I'm Bill
(36:15):
and I'm a weed smoker, and then give me your
I'm tiring that I'm not away kid. There. At the
end of the day, Kevin the Right had sponsors he
has to answer to. He has just contract in the
NBA the SUP whole in which it is still not
off the band substances list. Because you're asking him to
admit that he uses something that was on the band.
Don't get if you don't test positive. It doesn't matter
(36:36):
if you say twenty four months ago it was on
the band SUP and you want him to stand on
the SBA camera and say, hell, yeah, I get high.
That's ridiculous and it's absurd. It's not absurd because you
don't You don't get the suspended if you don't test positive.
So what are you talking about? You don't get you
don't get banned if you if you don't test positive.
(36:58):
Just by saying it doesn't mean you gonna be suspended.
It doesn't make any sense. So by saying it, you're
meaning telling me that the NBA would just you know,
you know, let's say the NBA goes back on the weed.
Y's say they come out, but they would have to
test him and he got so you'll think he would test.
You don't think he would be No, he would be
smart enough to know not to test. You don't think.
What do you mean, smart enough to know not to test?
You don't get the step of test now we're talking
(37:21):
about him, is that they will let him know when
they're testing him. Eight seven, seven ninety nine on Fox
eight seven seven nine nine six sixty three sixty nine. Man,
I can't wait to hear from callers. All right, Does
Kevin Durant need to admit to smoking weed in order
to push them that forward the narrative. That's what I'm
asking If if guys like him stand up, does it
(37:43):
change their perspective of it or not? If you're gonna,
if you're gonna be a supportive it, speak up. He's
already stood up. He put his money, but he put
his money literally where his mouth is. He put his
money there. It is the odd couple on a funky
flashback Friday, roll up and call it in. I got
try to put his rob he said, Kevin Duran put
(38:06):
his money where his joint would be. That would be
pretty good
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd
Couple at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching fs R.
(00:22):
You're listening to the Best of the Odd Couple with
Chris Brussa and Ron Harker Martin. Let's start here. There
was a ESPN story survey basically asking who's the best
(00:42):
player in the league, and it was asked to ten
scouts and executives. Of course they didn't put their names
to it, but ten of them in this survey, and
five picked Jannis and five picked Kde. That was it.
Five and five. Lebron did not get one single vote,
(01:04):
even though this is coming up on year nineteen, even
though he's been hurt too in the last three years,
even though when Anthony Davis went down in that Phoenix series,
they got run out of the gym when they were
relying on Lebron to come turn back the clock, all
that stuff. Jannis, of course, one of the NBA Finals,
when everybody said he couldn't and he also escaped, also
(01:25):
shook off one of his bug A booze, which was
free throws, making nineteen out of seventeen in a closeout
game to beat the Suns, and Kevin Durant played great
in the playoffs. If he wore sized fourteen instead of seventeen,
the Nets would have knocked off the Bucks and probably
would have won the NBA title. Martin Lebron pushed back,
(01:47):
not happy about it. You know, he's always you know,
flexing his social media muscles, especially when things up, people
didn't like the moves that they made the older players,
he had something to say. And when he didn't get
voted MVP in twenty twenty, he was not happy. And
now he's not happy about this. What's your take? Should
(02:09):
Lebron have gotten some votes? Well, you know this is
always This is the time of year right in between
you know, right around training camp, when Lebron starts to
work out on Instagram and you're seeing all his workouts
and you're seeing all his washed King tweets and you know,
all the motivational tweets, like you can almost set your
watch by it. At this time. It's always around my
birthday Lebron really starts to ramp up the social media posting,
(02:32):
so you know, as I appreciate that, but I say this,
it's always kind of like contrived, Like when he didn't
get the MVP votes, Well, you probably shouldn't have been
the MVP that year, Lebron. That's part of the problem.
And last season Lebron James wasn't the best player in
the NBA. And the thing about it, the thing about
it that's it's almost disingenuous because like Lebron talking about
(02:53):
these washes, this he's that if you read the article,
if you read the list, there were only three players
mentioned in the conversation who the best player in the
league was Yannis unto the KOOPO, Kevin Durant, Lebron James,
now Yannis and Kate. He's split five votes, but it's
still he's in the conversation. And that's honestly where in
my opinion he has been since Kevin Durant went to
(03:14):
Golden State. Because to me, he's been Kate, he's been
the best player in the league. And I did it
really if he has any beef and I know this
may be controversial because they just won the finals, but
I would think that Yannis maybe needed to give some
of those some of those back, because I just never
I get the Bucks just won the finals and this
and that, but simply because they did, I'm not ready
to crown Jannis as the best player in the world
(03:37):
right now. Well, I think you're misguided from the standpoint
that you think it's just because he won the finals.
He also won back to back MVPs and he also
won two Defensive Player of the Year while nobody was
talking about how Yannis was the best player in the
league at all, but he added a championship and the
one thing he could was make free throws, and he
(03:59):
did it. And that's why I think Jannis went up.
You're looking for players, Martin, to get better, to improve,
to improve on things. Everybody counted them out. Everybody said
he made a mistakes staying in Milwaukee that they would
never win, and it's hard to go back on that
with the hardware, with the championship at twenty six years old.
(04:19):
I think Jannie isn't that conversation. I think, you know,
I think he's in the conversation for sure, But I
just have never thought. I don't like the idea that
if Kevin Durant shoe was a size smaller, if he
took a step behind, and this and that, Jannis would
have been sent home. And now to him, because if
Yannis had gotten sent home, if Kevin Durant warre size
fourteen shoe, no one would be calling him the best
player in the world. Not. I just don't think that's
(04:41):
the case. Like you said, he had two MVPs to
all of that, and after he flamed out in the playoffs,
everybody he did the same thing. If you look at
his numbers in the last three years, they're identical. He
didn't take a step back. The only difference is this
year they had a better team around him, and in
three of the finals games he shot over fifty percent
from the free throw right. So, like I'm not saying
and I'm not trying to knock him like that may
(05:03):
sound dismissive. I think Yannis is an incredible player who
has shortcomings, but still an incredible player. But it's just
Kevin Durant and Lebron James to me are better at
basketball than Yannie's. Yeah, I don't think Lebron at this
stage is better than Yannis. I think I don't think
Lebron's in this conversation entering year nineteen. He was that guy.
(05:25):
He's not that guy. When a D went down. You
remember that game, it was all over for the Lakers.
Nobody thought Lebron was going to be able to lead
them without a D. I mean, it just it just
wasn't gonna happen. And I think Jannis, because he had
the two back to back MVPs and then to add
in that third year a championship in an NBA Finals
(05:46):
Title Championship trophy, I should say when you add those
three things together, he should be in the conversation. And
we know what Kevin Durant has done and still does
and still did you know, even when two of his
stars went down, and still it took Milwaukee seven games.
And so I understand why people I think Kevin Durant
(06:07):
is the best player in the league. I would take
him because for me, it all comes down to this,
who do you want to give the ball? And you
need a bucket at the end of the game. I mean,
if it's not Kevin Durant, I don't know who else
you're picking, right, It's nobody. There's a couple of different
there's a couple of different guys. I'm talking about three.
I'm talking about out of these three, is Kevin Durant
(06:29):
without a doubt? I mean, hell, in the league, it's
Kevin Durant almost without a doubt. Like there's a very
short conversation of who you want with the rock, right like,
But out of these three, is Kevin Durant without a
doubt And especially because I mean easy money sniper, right
he's one of the best shooters in the league. And
that's you know, it's one of the things that he
does great that these two guys, I mean, Janis especially doesn't.
(06:51):
But Lebron, you know, shooting has comes and goes, and
you know, he's more of a power player where Kevin
Durant can can get you however you need to get got. Yeah,
I think I think Lebron is just just a little
too sensitive about, you know, not being included in everything.
I think the the twenty twenty Martin where he was
(07:13):
upset about the voting, remember because it was a landslide,
but then people got to look at it. It's not
like the entire day he won the championship or whatever,
but it's it's a vote up until the end of
the regular season, and Yannis had a better year of
statistically than he had the year prior when he won
the MVP and his team, the Bucks, Martin had the
(07:35):
best record in the NBA. Well, I mean, what would
have been the argument? And then Lebron didn't even have
the best numbers on his team, Anthony Davis did. The
only category that Lebron led the Lakers in was assist
in twenty twenty. So I just don't understand. It's not
a lifetime achievement award. It was for the twenty twenty season.
(07:57):
That's all it was for. Yann has deserved did and
I think Martin him getting a championship, him fending off
his demons, the free throws in that manner, imagine if
he missed half those free throws, there would have been
a Game seven of the NBA Finals, you know. I
mean they were very, very crucial and important. Yeah. I
just I think Lebron is right exactly where he should be.
(08:20):
It's in the conversation for best player in the league,
and which I mean can change. I'm not somebody I
think I think that thing can I think it can change.
I think it can be static and it can change
from a week to week period, Who's playing the best
right now? Right? I think if you ask overarchingly over
the last few years, it's been Kevin Durant. But Lebron
James deserves to be in the conversation. He is in
the conversation. They asked ten people, they split five votes
(08:43):
and there was only three people mentioned. I think that's
an appropriate level of conversation for what it is. And
I understand like Lebron tweeting I'm washed up this and
that the washed King. I love that the Washed King.
I mean, we see athletes day in day out. I
mean I watched the documentary last summer about how Michael
Jordan was manufacturing these these these demons, or manufacturing these
(09:06):
chips on their shoulders, so to speak, to just try
to motivate them to do something more. So, if that's
what's going on, then I get it. But you know,
I assume that's what Lebron is doing. I can't imagine
Lebron is is really going out and thinking, you know,
I'm gonna go pound these dudes heads in because you know,
ten guys thought they were better than me. Yeah, and
it's ten. It's a small sample size and It's fine.
(09:29):
I don't I don't. You know. Sure, you've been in
the league a long time. You know, you've been in
the finals a million times. When you want to be uh,
you don't want to be disrespected. But I really just
don't think Yan has come on off a championship and
what Kevin Durant did that you could really if you're Lebron,
feel kind of funky about it. Mark, And I really
(09:50):
feel like that's where you're being a little sensitive, right, yeah,
I mean, you got knocked out in the first round,
a D got hurt, and your season was over. What
what what's the argument if Broun would have won without
a D and got them in the second round, didn't
you didn't you look at it a little different, dude.
Let's not forget that Lebron did get nick this year,
right Sulivan Hill dove into the ankle and all of
(10:11):
a sudden, you know, and he had he missed a
twenty gun twenty some games and he wasn't and he
came back. He didn't necessarily look like himself in that post.
I don't remember that, everybody. I'm sure that you don't remember.
I remember that's that's the same way, you never remember
a bet that you lost because when he because when
they won Game two, they said that the Lakers were
fine and them had a clear path to the championship.
(10:32):
Do you remember that when they won game and then
when they lost, wasn't the player that he was he
came back. It was to me it seemed evident that
the ankle was bothering him. But you know, you you
watched the different games than I did. But and at
the end of the day, I don't have fan goggles on.
I'm just I just I just have the you know,
mine comes in cable. That's the problem. Everything he watches
(10:52):
in black and white, because you know everything is from
forever and years ago. But I just don't think that
Lebron in this omen is the best player in the NBA.
But I also think, like I said, he's right in
the right place where he needs to be. He's in
the conversation and you can point to specifically, there's some
things to where you probably did not deserve to be
the leading vote getter here when you can sit. But
(11:13):
I also because of those things that you can point to,
is exactly why he deserves to be in that conversation
and don't necessarily. I feel like if you had pulled,
you know, pull three times the amount of people pull,
thirty teams are thirty executives. He's gonna get some votes.
I would be shocked if he was fifteen, fifteen, Yannis
kd and Lebron receiving zero. Be sure to catch live
(11:35):
editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob
Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern four pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. I wrote a
column today for Dead Spend. If you get a chance,
take a look at it, please read it because a
lot of people, they see the headline, they already make
up their mind about the column, and the first thing
(11:55):
they would think about is that, basically, Martin the I'm
ripping Tom Brady's son for being a ball boy with
the Tampa Bay Bucks. Now what you got? I did
read the column. In the first line says tom Brady's
son is a ball boy for the Buccaneers and that's
the problem with the NFL. So I don't necessarily disagree
(12:16):
with those who may have had that opinion. But you
did read this. I read the rest of it. I
read the rest of it. But you know that you
put the most important things at the top, right, Well, absolutely,
I mean you want to put it out there, let
people know. And the reason I say this, and I
want people to understand, is that the NFL has a
(12:37):
huge problem, Martin, and it has for a long time,
and it's nepotism. And that has stopped a lot of
black people, minorities others from getting opportunities in this league
that is seventy five or so percent black on the field, right,
(12:59):
but when it comes to the front office and head
coaches and all that. And the problem is, and this
is why I wrote about it, is it looks innocent.
Tom Brady's the star quarterback of the Bucks. They just
won a Super Bowl. He has a thirteen year old son. Yeah, son,
come on, beat the ball boy, and no problem. Nope, nope, foul,
(13:20):
no harm. The only problem is this is going on
and guys like Tom Brady's son have gone on to
be NFL head coaches because their dad's in the right spot.
Todd Haley's the guy I highlighted into column. Martin. When
you read about Todd Haley, did you know all that information? No,
(13:41):
I'd already knew it. But the thing that the thing
that's different about Brady in my estimation is that almost overarchingly,
almost all of the examples that you had in your column,
these guys were coaches putting other coaches in positions, whereas
and percent agree nepotism is a huge problem in the NFL. Nick,
you highlighted job with Rod Marinelli, and he hired you
(14:03):
know several people who's sitting around his Thanksgiving dinner table.
His son in law was a defensive coordinator, his son
in law's father was the assistant offensive line coach, and
then there were other people in the organization as well.
That's Marinelli higher and inherently, I don't think there's anything
wrong with hiring somebody that you know or maybe related to.
(14:24):
Oh no, most companies wanton do not go for nepotism. Well,
but I'm gonna say inherently, but the reason why you
have that is because the reason why you have the
idea that nepotism is wrong or this is a bad
idea is because you're not going through inveting everybody. You're
not going through invetting as many candidates as possible, and
you and then end up on your cousin who happens
to be the best choice. Right, that's not what's happening here.
(14:48):
But in terms of tom Brady's kid being a ball boy,
and I don't have a super big problem with it,
but I understand the premise that tom Brady's son is
a ball boy at thirteen, he sticks around like it's
essentially the Kyle Shanahan story. Know that he was in
Denver with his dad while Mike was coaching, and he
was there and watched his dad and learned watch film
with them, down the film and so then at a
(15:12):
thirty five years old, he's got twenty years of NFL
experience legitimately, right, But it's because he was able to
circumvent some of the other factors that are because of
who his father was. So let me go ahead. I
want to get into the Todd Haley and so I
don't know who don't know. So the thing that I say,
I don't I'm not sure if you would have that
(15:33):
same level of Like, I don't think that tom Brady's
son going and watching him at football practicer being a
ball boy is gonna make tom brady son a better
football player. It may make it may build him to
be a football coach one day, right, But I don't
know if it works in the same way as like
coach to coach, player to player. But I agree with
the overarching point that nepotism is a huge problem in
the NFL. And so Todd Haley's dad was the was
(15:56):
he wants to director a personnel for the Steelers and
the he was a former NFL cornerback. And as a kid,
Todd Haley was a ball boy just like Brady's son
for the Steelers and attended training camps with his father.
And Haley didn't follow in his father's footsteps because he
didn't play college football. He didn't play football after the
(16:16):
youth level. He played golf in college instead Martin And
yet it didn't like stop him from having a career
in the NFL as a coach and getting a plum
coaching job. Two thousand and nine, he got hired by
the Kansas City Chiefs as their head coach. And how
did he get started in the NFL ladder His father
(16:38):
hired him with the Jets in nineteen ninety five, So
there was another one of those opportunities. And then there
was Kyle Shanahan. Do you remember the quote that was
famous during the Black Lives Matter movement Martin where Kyle
Shanahan got up and said, hey, quote, how the heck
are there only four black coaches out of thirty two
(16:59):
head coaches? How are there only two black gms? I
mean we're in a predominantly, you know, black league. He
was talking about the majority of all players are black.
So the fact that there there's that few that's not debatable.
And quote, you know, yeah, I'm sorry, go ahead, and
I'm gonna say you're right, Kyle, it's not. But the
(17:23):
black guys don't have the hook up like you had
when your dad hired you down in DC with Washington
and he was the offensive coordinator for his dad and
then three of US first and the three of US
first four years, Washington's offense ranked twenty five, twenty six,
twenty third. Did he get fired, No, because dad was
running the show. But to that point, it drives me
(17:46):
nuts how we always look at things like like somebody's
the first black to do something, or we look at
them the the outliers. Right, there's four head coaches and
two gms. Why don't we look at how is there
twenty eight of thirty two teams are run by white people, right, right,
Like a thirty of of of thirty two teams are
run by white people, just white men, period stopped right.
(18:08):
So Like, I'm just why we never look at it
from that perspective. I think if you did, you can
answer a lot of your questions. Right. So, like, Kyle Shanahan,
how do we how are we in this position because
of guys like you? Because the guy's like Sean like
man when your dad exactly that that's why, uh, black
former players have a hard time going up. Let me
(18:29):
give you this, Martin, quick, real quick. I'm not trying
to say that Shanahan is even a bad coach in
this moment. Like I think Shanahan is one of the
better coaches in the We're talking about opportunity. Idea that
he was able to even get the chance. You told
me a long time ago it ain't necessarily what you know,
it's who you know then what you know, right, So
he was able to say, Shanahan was able to to
(18:49):
to to get into the job and do the job
well once he got the head coaching position. But the
idea is like he shouldn't have had that opportunity in
the first place. At such a young age. All right,
tell me what, what's the same on this list, because
hiring is a family hustle in the NFL. Okay, his
father and son coaches Dick and Mike Nolan, the Jim Morris,
(19:13):
Marty and Brian Schottenheimer, Don Dave and Mike Schuler, Bum
and Wade Phillips, Mike and Kyle Shanahan, Buddy and Rex
and Rob Ryan in New England. Belichick has two of
his kids on his staff, Stephen Bryant. And then there's
Andy Read in Kansas City, who hired his kids despite
(19:36):
all the problems that they've had, drug arrests, all kinds
of stuff, and in fact, his son Britt was being
charged with a d U y. You remember Martin in
a car crash days before the Super Bowl and his
alcohol level was point one three. You know what the
above the legal limit of point zero eight? All right,
(19:59):
and there's not one black coach or son on that list.
So to me, this is what I'm talking about. It's
not just as innocent as people make it. I know
Tom Brady and the Bucks didn't think anything of it,
but this is how this is business as usual in
the NFL. This is the stuff that has to be
stopped where it's all about people hiring their relatives and
(20:24):
their kids, because I don't think that the same is
afforded Martin. If you're a black coach and you can
bring in your cousin and your uncle and your two kids,
I don't think that they'll have the same. Look at right,
just look at it. Just look at them, at the
minority coaches, because they open it up to you know,
everybody says, you know, black coaches plus Ron Rivera, right
(20:45):
because he's Hispanic. But that's really and now uh Soli
in New York right right, there's very you know, there's
several there's several examples of black coaches that didn't do that,
just didn't feel their staffs in the same way. Like
I I just think that I think that the black
coaches know that that they can't do that. Am I
wrong or not? That they can't load it up with
(21:07):
their family. Been with you. I think that it's like
they don't have the same they don't have the same
length of length of rope, right, they don't have the
same they don't have the same Like urban moder can
go down to do whatever the hell he wants to
right now, right. I don't think that any black coach
walks into the room feels that way, even a guy
like Mike Tomlin, who by all accounts, should have, in
my opinion, some of the best job security in the NFL.
(21:28):
But you know, let the Steelers start three and three
this year, they're gonna talk about his Tomlin seat hide
and all he does is win, Like his biggest crime
is that he couldn't beat the Patriots in the playoffs.
And it's like, well, you know a lot of people can. Well,
this is this is the issue that I have with this.
I think it's worth talking about. I don't. I don't.
Do you think nepotism Do you think it's different in sports?
(21:51):
In corporate America, they don't do it because it limits
the opportunity from all people having access to jobs. If
it's always you're hiring somebody you know or family member,
there's a good chance people who don't look like you
are in your circle. You know, Martin, They're not those
aren't the people that are you're hooking up with? Gigs?
(22:13):
In Detroit we mentioned a Marinelli. He had a number
of family members, a part of the front office and
the coaching staff. And I think this is something that
the NFL has to look at, has to start saying, like,
we can't do this. This is the same league that
had to add the Rooney Rule to force white owners
(22:37):
to interview black people to interview them because they wouldn't
interview them. They wouldn't they wouldn't give they wouldn't even
interview them. There were times, Martin and years gone by
where there were eight coaching opportunities open around the league
and not one black assistant was interviewed for eight openings.
I mean, it was that blatant and that they had
(22:58):
to come up with a rule, and then they wanted
to a mended. Hey, you want to get free cookies
and a large diet coke extra if you hire a
black person or what you know, they were adding even
a centims in. It's like, if it's just the simplest
answerest to, why is something not happening is because people
aren't doing it right. So, Kyle Shanahan, you want to
ask why there are only four black coaches in the
(23:18):
NFL because owners aren't hiring black coaches right, Like, no
matter how you how you shake it, or how you
incentivise it, that's that's the end of the day. That's
what's happening. They have different rules and they're not and
why they're not hiring black coaches and an apart, it's
because they're hiring people that they know and they're related to.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
(23:39):
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search f SR
to listen live. Hey, what's up everybody? It's me three
time Pro Bowlert Barrington 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
(24:00):
Pro bowler t J. Hushman's Outa and Super Bowl Champion. Yep,
that's right, Plexico Birds. You can only name a show
with that type of talent on it. Up on Game.
We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded
with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with me
LeVar Arrington, t J. Hushman's Outa and Plexico Birds on
(24:21):
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your
podcast from. We are going to talk about Kevin Durant
and we you know Stephen A. Used alway, what was
that famous line? He'd always say, stay off the we, right, Martin,
(24:43):
you let it wrong? It's we we. You know what
we do at USC. And Martin, you know that because
you have a master's degree from USC, which is amazing
because when you came to LA five years ago you
didn't have one, but now he has one. And what
we tell our students at USC is whenever they're doing
(25:04):
like commentary and whatnot. You know, it's hard for the
kids not to say us or we, because you know,
they go to USC, right and you and you're not
supposed to say that, and you gotta be objective. So
you know what we tell them, stay off the we.
Oh man, that's pretty good right there. Right, there's a
(25:26):
perfect opportunity for the Joe West You're out. It's a
perfect chance. I need to swing in three. I think
that's a great thing to tell the kids, stay off
the wei, you know, because it's not about we. We're
not a weed all right. Anyway, So Kevin Durant has
(25:46):
partnered with something called weed Maps. Does that get you
to the destination while you're high? Is that? What that is?
Is that I'm trying to figure it out, but the
I'll produce a lead with something called weed Maps. Everyone
under thirty five in America is looking at you like, wow,
I don't know if this don't well I don't I
(26:06):
don't smoke weed, and I don't know you don't smoke
weeds and know what weed maps is. I'm just saying,
all right, So so lead to lap our. Uh, producer
Lee kind of give us a little more on this
story and then Martin and I can get into a
knockdown drag out. Yeah. Well, for one, weed maps doesn't,
you know, directly sell any pot, but it does direct
(26:27):
you to dispensaries for medical marijuana. Wow, that's what it is.
I got it now, that makes sense, Okay, I mean
the name should have gave it away. Rob No, I
was thinking that you you know, like when you're high,
it tells you what route to take, all right, Rob
So Kevin Durant, he did announce this partnership and sponsorship
(26:50):
deal with weed Maps, and it's uh, in his mind,
a way for him to destigmatize the marijuana use among athletes.
He actually told this to ESPN. I think it's far
PA has time to address the stigmas about cannabis that
still existence in the sports world as well as globally.
This partnership is going to help us continue to normalize
those conversations as well as create content, events, and a
(27:11):
lot more through Boardroom Media Network. This is just the
beginning for us, and in fact, Kevin Durant has invested
in other cannabis related businesses and to you know, further
this along. It's because he wants to you know, possibly
get to what's at hand in the NBA, where marijuana
still remains banned, but they did during the Orlando bubble
(27:32):
for temporarily ban the random drug testing now right. Basically
they said, you guys could get high all you want.
Don't worry about it that they said. They say, the
random drug testing, yes, but that tells you that you
could smoke. I've been coming this league since nineteen eighty seven.
Guys smoke weed. Guys don't get busted because most of
(27:53):
the time they know when the test to come and felt,
and they know when they're supposed to do it. Not
my point. Seo Show, by the way, was the last
person to be disciplined by the NBA in And how
long ago was that eighteen? Yes, it's been years. They
basically they've turned their heads to three years ago. Okay,
here's my point. He's been years. You're making it sound
like it's been in the eighties. Three years. Here's my point. League.
(28:15):
When Kevin Durand was asked if he partakes in the weed,
he declined to answer. He's the one who wants to
get rid of the stigma. But no, mar let me
make my point first, and then you go, okay, if
he wants to get rid of the stigma, why is
(28:36):
he afraid to say that he partakes in weed which
he could smoke in the offseason or whenever, and there's
no there's no test, and you could do whatever you want.
He's a star player who obviously can function and do
whatever he does. And for people say, well, just because
he's involved in in cannabis and he invested it doesn't
(28:59):
mean he smokes it. Yeah. Right. My point is, if
it's okay and you want to get rid of the stigma,
you gotta stand up and be counted. And if the
ten or twenty best NBA players stood up and said,
we smoke weed and we don't think it's a bad thing,
and here's the regions why and we need to stop,
(29:20):
you know, marking people would have would a check mark
if they if we find out that they smoke weed
or whatever. That's how you make changes. For him to
say that he didn't want to discuss it just sounds
weird to me, Like he's ashamed, Like he's afraid that
people look at him differently, Like I don't know they
won't sign him to some deals. He's got to fifty
(29:43):
million dollars a year. He doesn't need any deals. They
can sign a cannabis deal. First of all, if we're
gonna make the point that, like if if you can
go up and say you're vaccination status is a personal choice,
then yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and be perfectly fine
with Kevin Durant not disclosing with the night he wants
to whether or not he wants to tell people no, no, no,
He says he wants to. He wants to not to
(30:05):
be a stigma. Right, how do you get to that
point if we allow, if we're allowing people like literally
a public health crisis to be a personal choice, I'll
let this one go ahead and rock as a personal choice.
Kevin Durdne once say he gets hot, that's fine, but
it's not a secret. It's not a secret that he's
out smoking weed in general, Like it's not a crazy secret.
But the thing is when you look at all these
(30:25):
sponsorships that he has on the deck, and then also too,
this is temporarily banned. It's not up yet, it's not
gone yet. It's not the idea that weed. I understand
the picture. Do you just paint it? But it's not
true like that. At any point in time, the NBA
could come back down and say, can't do it tomorrow,
they would have their game playing. How they cannot easily
(30:49):
they can't because because they can't just tomorrow, okay, we're
testing to starting tomorrow, they would have to give the
players a chance to get off the weed, to get
get it out of this system and then get back
to then it were doing. And they could bring it
back though, right, that's the whole point of what you
were back coming back, and they're not going back, Martin.
(31:10):
There's the other point. There's no evidence that they want
you to give me one question, answer one question for me.
How do you stop it from being a stigma? Can
you explain to me how do you stop it? If
you're not willing to stand up and raise your hand
and say, but and you promote it, what do you
know you got? You gotta do more than that. Enough
(31:31):
is you don't because he's that you gotta target on
your back. That's ridiculous. No, you gotta show other people
in a league that this is this that is successful,
that successful people who function in this society can smoke weed.
It's not just about the munches. It's not just about
zoning out and you can't drive, or you can't do this,
(31:54):
or you can't do that, or you're gonna fall asleep
after you have a joint or whatever it is. I'm
not against people smoking weed, but I don't understand why
people are so afraid to stand up. They love it,
they see every day to stand up. He get an
interview with PN that HELI entire impetus of this topic.
(32:15):
Is Kevin Durant not being afraid to stand up for
using marijuana? Nolin, And he used, that's the only reason
we're having this conversation. Otherwise, like you makeing same like
Kevin Durant was asked a postgame interview do you smoke weed? No?
And g smoke weed yes? And now I was sudden
we have to address his post No he invested in
a weed company, like literally, that's what. We didn't invest
(32:36):
in the weed company because he's not interested in weed
mark company because he sees his opportunity to make money. No,
that's because he likes to smoke weed as well. I mean,
and here's my thing. So you so, so you do Robbie?
Are you do you invest in things? Do you have?
Do you have? Do you have stock? Do you hold stocks?
Do you use every single company that you hold stock in?
(32:58):
But what do we cruises? I will never step on
a cruise ship. I think cruises is ridiculous. I don't
like it. But everybody else in America hopps on a
cruise as soon as they get the opportunity to. So
I have sucking them. So I've invested in them cruises. No,
are you telling me that most people who are involved,
I'm not saying all, but most people you don't think
(33:19):
indulge in weed? Who buy? Who buy? Who back the weed?
And he that okay, he's the one who said he
wanted to to not have it be a stigma. That
is my my biggest point. So when people call up
here today at eight seven seven ninety nine on Fox,
I want you if you're a proud weed smoker. I
(33:41):
want you to announce it. I want you to say
it with your chest stuck out. If that's what you
enjoy and you don't have a problem with it, say it.
That's all I'm saying to not make if we get
five calls and everybody telling you he smokes weed, do
for you. That's what I need to say. They should
do nothing, Like why don't your life? Because the more
the more people come out who are successful and doing
(34:05):
well in society. And it's not just some burnout or
some guy just getting high who wants to play video
games all days all day. Like, this is not nineteen
sixty five, this isness anymore, Like there were plenty of
guys who still to get high at lunch. Bunch has
been retired, Buddy, that's not true. There are guys who
(34:26):
smoke weed all day, play video games and don't put
on socks. I mean, sure, but why that's not the
stigma of the current marijuana smoker. I'm sorry that you
will still watch black and white TV. But we live
in California. You can buy an ounce of weed within
the three miles seven times in this area. Like, that's
(34:47):
not this is not like, no one is making this
big of a deal about it but you. But I
don't understand why you need him to go up there
and say he smoked weed. Went All of the things
that potentially could happen to him would be negative. You know,
when you go to alcoholic anonymous, you know what you
do Martin, You say, Hi, I'm rob you drink problem,
not a weed problem. OK, no problem. No, I'm just
(35:10):
trying to say so in this case, if if he
said I made an investment and he didn't bring up
the idea of trying to uh desensitize people to weed
and say like he said, so that people don't look
at it as a stigma, it would be good if
he leaves the charge to say I'm a hold on
(35:34):
you people. Likely I'm not leading it oppositely because I
don't have a steak in it. I've never smoked a joint.
I'm not interested in weed. But I don't care if
other people do it. That's their business. My only business.
Then no, no, because he was asking an interview about
his weeds and he said it was and he didn't
(35:54):
say he didn't do it. He just said he don't
want to divulge it, and my point is that's just
stopping from being a stigma. People need to speak up.
We want to hear from you. Eight seven seven ninety
nine off Fox. This is gonna be very interesting. I
want to hear, Hey, if you're call up, if you
smoke weed, I want you to say, hey, I'm Bill
(36:15):
and I'm a weed smoker, and then give me your
I'm tiring that I'm not away kid. There. At the
end of the day, Kevin the Right had sponsors he
has to answer to. He has just contract in the
NBA the SUP whole in which it is still not
off the band substances list. Because you're asking him to
admit that he uses something that was on the band.
Don't get if you don't test positive. It doesn't matter
(36:36):
if you say twenty four months ago it was on
the band SUP and you want him to stand on
the SBA camera and say, hell, yeah, I get high.
That's ridiculous and it's absurd. It's not absurd because you
don't You don't get the suspended if you don't test positive.
So what are you talking about? You don't get you
don't get banned if you if you don't test positive.
(36:58):
Just by saying it doesn't mean you gonna be suspended.
It doesn't make any sense. So by saying it, you're
meaning telling me that the NBA would just you know,
you know, let's say the NBA goes back on the weed.
Y's say they come out, but they would have to
test him and he got so you'll think he would test.
You don't think he would be No, he would be
smart enough to know not to test. You don't think.
What do you mean, smart enough to know not to test?
You don't get the step of test now we're talking
(37:21):
about him, is that they will let him know when
they're testing him. Eight seven, seven ninety nine on Fox
eight seven seven nine nine six sixty three sixty nine. Man,
I can't wait to hear from callers. All right, Does
Kevin Durant need to admit to smoking weed in order
to push them that forward the narrative. That's what I'm
asking If if guys like him stand up, does it
(37:43):
change their perspective of it or not? If you're gonna,
if you're gonna be a supportive it, speak up. He's
already stood up. He put his money, but he put
his money literally where his mouth is. He put his
money there. It is the odd couple on a funky
flashback Friday, roll up and call it in. I got
try to put his rob he said, Kevin Duran put
(38:06):
his money where his joint would be. That would be
pretty good
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