May 20, 2022 • 40 mins
Chris Broussard believes that the Heat vs Celtics series is pretty much over after the events of last night’s game, however, Rob Parker says he’s dead wrong. Chris and Rob react to J.J. Redick’s comments about Bob Cousy, and Cousy’s follow-up response. Is it fair to compare certain players who played in different eras? Suns color analyst Eddie Johnson joins the show, and dives into what went wrong with the Phoenix Suns, Chris Paul’s future and much more!
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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
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 Bruso and Rod Harker. All yeah, it is the
I Couple. I'm Chris Brusard alongside my partner Rob Parker,
(00:44):
and we're coming in you live from the Fox Sports
Radio studios. Good live, and of course it is a
funky flashback Friday, and we have a great one plan
for you tonight. We got plenty of NBA Baseball and
all types of stuff, college basketball, all types of stuff
(01:06):
to get into, even some old school hoop. So you
want to keep it locked right here on Fox Sports Radio,
the iHeartRadio app or Serious XM channel eighty three. However
you may be listening, do yourself a favor and don't
touch that dial. Let me welcome in my partner, the
Hall of Famer Rob Parker. What's up that it's so weird. Wow. Well,
(01:37):
I'm getting ready. I'm getting ready for the weekend and
heading tonight, Chris, to Detroit first to stop over, and
then on to New York. So you'll be in New
York all next week all next week. Yep. I might
come in and do lunch with you. Take you to
lunch for your induction. Well, let's do that, or maybe
do Dutch because I'm a Hall of Famer too, But
what's that right? Okay, if you're a Hall of Fame,
(02:00):
we'll have to do that. Monday programming note, I'll be
on MLB Network MLB now two to three Eastern, so
look forward to that. When I'm in New York, Chris,
and Wednesday's a big ceremony. I will be on the
show Wednesday night. Thursday night, I will not be on
the show. I'm going to Broadway, Chris. They have a
(02:20):
baseball play and I'm it's about baseball, and I'm gonna
be a part of a panel discussion after the play
on Broadway Thursday. Take me out as the name of
the Broadway show. So I'll be doing that and then
the big party Saturday night. I'll hope you and Christal
(02:41):
will be there. If you're gonna come yep Saturday night,
We're gonna celebrate family, friends, and the whole experience has
been somewhat humbling, but I'm looking forward to this week.
It don't sound humbling. It is humbling. It sounds like
get right to boost the j ain't going even more.
I'll come on. You know, you know Rob, this is
(03:04):
a no spin zone. The I come up is a
no spin zone. We ain't let you get away with that.
You notice that I got my chest stuck out now,
I don't know. Every time I turn on social media,
I see Rob Barker Hall of Favor. That's all I'm
talking about. No, man, We're proud of you, and we're
happy for you, and I look forward to celebrating it
(03:25):
with you next week. But um, let's introduce see I
a couple of crew and get this party started on
the ones and twos and unbelievably making a back to
back appearance, don't you j Alex tyshon Alex. I can't
wait to hear what you come up without it in
the Q. It's a funky flashback Friday, one of his
(03:46):
favorite days. That's another thing. You'll be here right, Very true,
very true, you're you ready to go with I am ready.
It's just I don't know about Monday, Tuesday next week. Yeah,
I know, I know, I know you don't know. You
ain't you ain't telling No, I can't into the future. CB.
All right here, just don't let Colin call. If Colin
calls is over all right, you know when you see
(04:08):
his number, just ignore like you do the women that
hit you up and Rob G. Speaking of those who
are out, rob G is out. And we have our
man Brandon trufa In as the super producer of Tonight
Show and up and he is the truth, I mean
the truth right and on the updates. Understand you heard
(04:33):
it Steve this say all right, Rob, let's get into it. Um.
I understand before I say this, I understand that Dallas
was down to oh to the Phoenix Suns and that
the Phoenix Suns had beaten him eleven straight times. I
(04:54):
understand that a year ago the Phoenix Suns were down
to oh to the Milwaukee Breaking all my material is
not confused me before I ever get started, my god, right,
I'm going on the offensive. They were down up to
oh De Phoenix up to on the Milwaukee Bucks last
(05:17):
year in the finals. But Rob Parker, this is not
prisoner of the moment. This is not all just based
on one game. This is not something I've come to haphazardly.
This is something I believe wholeheartedly, and I believed it
(05:38):
before the series, and that's why I picked the Celtics
in six. I do think the Heat may win another game.
I got respect for them, But Rob, the better team
is clear, and that's when you say it's over. I
know there may be a series here there where the
best team doesn't win, but this one, the best team
(05:59):
is evident. It's the Boston Celtics. And if they stay
healthier and they are not besieged with injuries, it's over. Rop.
It's over six games, five games, whatever. I'd be shocked
if it goes seven. The Miami Heat are going down
(06:21):
because they're facing a better squad in the Boston Celtics.
And I'll give y'all the reasons why a little later.
But I'm just putting that out there. I'm just putting
that out there, all right, No way, no how, Chris Broussar,
this is a classic case of premature analysis. Is that
(06:44):
it can I say that analysis, Okay, say something else. No, no, no,
I'm not gonna do that. I'm trying to hold on
to my job at Hall of Fact that I'm not
gonna blow it between tonight and when Chris, I promise you, no,
I hear what you're saying. On paper, Boston is the
(07:07):
better team. I'll give you all of that, but it's
just not played like that. The Marriage were a classic example.
You just talked about the numbers and how they were
owned by the Sons up to Oh man, it doesn't
matter that they're going to Dallas. You know what, big deal.
They'll win one, will be up three to one and
(07:27):
close this thing out. We're on the revenge tour. We're
going back to the finals. We're going to claim what
was ours and that we didn't take last year right.
And in the case of the Celtics, here's why I
put up a red flag and I put my hand
up and I cautioned you. Can you see my hand, Chris,
I'm caution in you. We've seen this team gag, not
(07:53):
three years ago, Chris, Yes, we see, we've seen this
team gag in the last series. You can't forget that
they had a chance to beat the Bucks at home
and let me give you some little information, Chris. In
that game, the Celtics had a ninety seven point one
(08:16):
chance of winning the game with one forty one left
in the game. It dropped down the eighty four, which
is still high when Yanna stepped to the line at
the end of the game, and then you know what
the Bucks wanted anyway, behind some legendary defense that we
saw from Drew Holliday and the rest is history. Now,
they came back and they won the series. And I
(08:38):
get that, Chris, but my point is they blew a
fourteen point lead, We're in control of the game the
entire way, and then disintegrated in the fourth quarter. That's
what scares me about these Boston Celtics is that it
can happen. It's it's if you're Miami, you know that
(09:01):
this team can melt down, not to give up, not
to like say, oh we're down. We can't come back
against this team because we've seen him and I know
they split him in Miami, which is the gold and
the dream. But I'm just not ready. I don't believe
in the Celtics all the way, not yet. So I
hear what you're saying. You can stick your chests out
(09:23):
feel good about what they did last night when they
got their guys back. But there's a little piece of me,
and I'm talking about brain wise that Alex. Don't Alex.
Don't have that, dude, Maybee, thanks Rod Alex. No, Alex.
(09:49):
The tape is flubbed right there. There's something mistake. I'm
glad I roll on multiple windows now. God. Anyway, a
little birdie in the back of my brain is saying,
won't fall for it. Don't pre premature on this. It
can turn around. We've seen it, Chris. We saw it
with the Dallas Mavericks in that series. We saw it
(10:11):
last year in the finals. We saw it when Milwaukee
took on Brooklyn and was up too oh and got
run out of the gym in Brooklyn in Game two.
They lost by like thirty five points. Oh my god,
this is no series. And guess what, the Bucks came
back and won that series in a game seven. So
(10:31):
I'm just saying I'm not buying into your Celtics, who
are still to me untested. All right, here's the thing.
All of our long time listeners out there, they know
the deal. Rob. Now, the new listeners might be fooled,
but I'm gonna bring them up to speed right now.
(10:52):
If Rob Parker truly believed what he had just said,
he would have been like Chris Bruce soon stopping you
a prisoner rum the moment. This is what you do
when a't you gonna learn? Oh, last year you were
(11:15):
like on the Chris Ball bandwagon. You are up five
of all time and what happened? And now here you
go again. That is the Rob Parker who believes what
he said is that we got I understand what you're saying.
(11:38):
Oh wow, there's a little piece, a little, tiny, small,
real small piece that believes you know that the Celtics
are aren't for sure for certain. He didn't even use
his favorite word for gaisy because he knows they're not.
(12:00):
Who gaze. Have you ever heard of shrink? Oh that's
another story and he knows that. Look, you said it
robbed on paper, and you know you covered the league
long enough as did I, and you've talked to coaches
who will say, look, there are plenty of high lottery picks,
Rob that don't pan out right. But when you are drafted,
(12:23):
in most cases, when you are drafted that high in
the lottery, it says something about your talent. You might
not pan out for various reasons, but you do have
talent that stands out, and if that talent can be
tapped into, then you can blossom. And that I heard
(12:47):
coaches say that about Rashid Rob who obviously went on
had a very good career. But what was Rashid the
two pick? He was a high lottery pick and he
wasn't like the guy to necessarily lead his team to
the championship. So some people look down at that. But Rashid,
you knew had world class talent because of his game,
(13:10):
but also he deserved to be picked as high as
he was. There's something about the guys Chauncey Billups who
ended up blossomy. But even when he was looking like
a bus his first five six years in the league,
he had that high level talent that was evidenced by
his lottery pick status. Rob. The Celtics start four lottery
(13:34):
high lottery picks. Three of them, Jason Tatum, Marcus Smart,
and Al Horford, were picked in the top three of
their drafts. Marcus Smart was the number six pick. The
heat meanwhile, are starting two undrafted guards, PJ. Tucker, a
second rounder, Jimmy Butler, who obviously is a great player,
(13:57):
but was the thirtieth pick in the draft and vam
out to buy you a low lottery pick fourteenth, and
so on paper, the Celtics are better. They've outplayed the
Heat for all but twelve minutes of this series and
that is without two of their starters, Smart and Horror
for the first game, and Rob both games being played
(14:20):
in the Heats gym. Now, you're right, anything that can happen.
We've seen some crazy stuff and maybe I'll be forced
to eat these words, but I don't think so. So
I'm willing to go out on a limb and say
it's over. Are you my chest? If you want exclusive
(14:40):
insight from the biggest names in the sports game, what's good?
This is national champion the former pro baller Chris Johnson.
Let me tell you a little bit about my new series.
kJ J Live is the only show featuring me going
one on one with the brightest basketball minds on the
planet to get the real And when I say real,
I mean that real. I got legend ry Hall of famers,
(15:01):
elite coaches, in the top basketball insiders bringing you a
unique perspective on all things Hoop's culture, that you will
not find anywhere helps to make your next move your
best move. Can tap in with me from kJ live
wherever you get your podcast from. Fox Sports Radio has
(15:21):
the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
of our shows at foxsports Radio dot com and within
the iHeart Radio app. Search FSR to listen live. All right,
it is the Eye Couple. I am Chris. Here is Rob.
You can follow us or social media. I'm at Chris
Underscore Bruce Art on Twitter, Chris Bruce R sixty eight
(15:42):
on Instagram. Rob is at Rob Parker FS one on
Twitter at Rob Parker FSR on the Gram and right
now we're both live from the Fox Sports Radio studios
and with prices soaring at the bump, I just got
some gas today and it was like, my goodness, this
is killing me. It wasn't La Gas six nineteen a gallon.
(16:04):
I'll tell you that, right, You're right, You're right about that, Rob,
it is. I can't. I can't complain. I guess compared
to California, that's for sure. But Discover wants to help you.
They got your back, and here's how it works. They've
got this uh five percent cash back program. So you
use your Discover card and you'll earn five percent cash
(16:26):
back when you're use it at gas stations and Target stores.
That's now through June on up to fifteen hundred dollars
in purchases. That's good when you activate. All right, learn
more Discover dot com Slash rewards limitations do apply. Eddie
Johnson will join us Rob at the bottom of the hour.
And I know you want to take him the task
(16:46):
about his sons. You know I'm to him, so I
just want you to know. And also you gave my
Twitter and Instagram handles. I'm thinking about changing it now
for good. Well can you though? I mean, you said
it was taking so alone. Well, but now I gotta
I'm thinking about changing it to Rob Parker. Everything's not funny.
(17:08):
I told y'all. Every time I pick up my phone,
oh I see some type of reference to Rob making
the Martin Van Buren High School Hall of Fame. Alex, Alex,
Have I overdone it or not? Have over time? Say no,
you're still within your realm Okay, really, you know it's
kind of like hear me out so, you know, like
New Year's right, so you give people like a couple
(17:28):
of weeks because you haven't seen them for New Year's right,
the same thing as Rob hasn't become it yet. So
once he's becoming, and say a week or two has
gone by, we're like, all right, Rob, we get it now, right,
let me ask both. Can I get there? I want
to get God, I didn't even know y'all didn't even
know I was the Hall of Famer? No, what school?
What whom? Are you a Hall of fame? Holy Name
high School? Really it was back yeah, I mean, but
(17:50):
that's my point. Real bad boys moving silence? What did
little Waite say? Real gangsters? Movement side? When did when
did they put you in the Hall of Fame? When?
When it was? When? Twenty sixteen? I believe it twenty
It was either twenty sixteen or twenty seventeen. And I'm
in the Holy Name of High School Athletic Call of Fame. Oh,
(18:11):
Athletic Hall of Fame. I got you? Yes, yes, nice.
Listen to it. Listen to how he put a little thing.
You know what I'm saying, what I do. It's actually
a special It was combination of my sports prowess at
high school and my achievements after I like he said, oh, athletics. Okay, okay,
(18:35):
I'm gonna tell y'all something I don't know. Rob, you
might be able to match this. I'm saying it's in
all seriousness. This volume youngsters out there, are you parents too?
Can encourage your kids. I made the honor roll every
quarter of my high school career. Wow, And I was valedictorian.
Rob as the only black kid in my eighth grade class,
(18:59):
I was valedictory into the class. And you know, I'll
be busting up stereotypes. Boy, and you had all that
time to study since you weren't getting much peaked t.
So that's cool. I was just I mean, our team
was bad, but I wasn't star of the basketball. I'm
just saying I had I told you already. I had
my best sports years in Syracuse, New York as an
(19:20):
eighth grade. It was ridiculous, unbelievable. We signed up late
for baseball, right, we just moved there. We had to
sign up late for baseball, so they had to put
me in the miners. I was twelve years old, Rob,
You know, majors was eleven and twelve years old, really good,
ten years old, ten year olds. Miners was like nine
(19:44):
and ten year olds. Right, So for some reason they
had to put me in the made miners as a
twelve year old. I was pretty good baseball player, Rob,
No lie, this is absolutely no lie. All right. My
batting average was ninety five. I believe it. No, I
believe it. I hit sixteen homers in sixteen games. And
(20:08):
then we won the championship six to five, and I
hit two three run homers in that game. Unbelievable. It
was ridiculous. Man. If I was a parent, I'd say
take that kid out of the league. They were right,
it was bad. And the next year I stepped up
to the senior league. You know that you're playing on
(20:31):
a real field too, You're playing on like a major
league you know, sixty foot six and six exactly. It
was a total shot. I mean I did all right,
but you know it was it was a definitely a
big shot, all right. Um, Rob, Let's get to some
stuff that went on over the last couple of weeks
two weeks ago, roughly, JJ RERADI who look, I'm gonna createit.
(20:53):
Jj h. He done it. I think he's good, Rob.
I think he gives really good analysis. I think he
uh can debate goes at it with Stephen A. I
think he's doing a good job and has the future
if he wants it in this in this broadcasting business.
He's even called some games. Or you think he's yeah,
I mean he's pretty good. I think he is more
(21:15):
like a prisoner of the prisoner of the moment kind
of guy moment in this era. But like last night, Yeah,
like he's one of those guys, like everything that happened
yesterday is the greatest thing that ever happened. And I
think you just have to have some context. He's a
young guy. I get it, But just because you didn't
(21:37):
see the videotape or you don't know the story, if
you really want to be well rounded and balanced, you
just have to because we talk about it all the time.
We didn't see Babe Ruth play, but we know that
he's one of the greatest baseball players who ever played.
You see what I'm saying, Like, you have to have
that no matter what goes on in there. You just
can't totally dismiss him because he played in the twenties.
(22:00):
You can't. Well, I think you're referring to what he
said about Bobe Cozy and I present the context he
was going at it with Chris mad Dog Russo on
first take on ESPN, and he was Crusso was Russo
was saying Bobe Couzy was better than Chris Paul and JJ.
(22:21):
Redick was like, first of all, don't even bring me
anybody before nineteen eighties. I mean, I can bring you
a few, I can bring you will I can bring
your Russell like you can't totallybody, you know, right right right.
But anyway, and he ended it. He got frustrated, I
guess with Russo's argument, and he said Couzy was playing
(22:42):
against plumbers and firemen. Obviously, rob a reference to how
back then a lot of NBA players worked the second
job every A lot of people did, and a lot
of great players, Chris, baseball players had winner jobs. They
weren't making a gazillion dollars they had and you only
got paid during the season. So a lot of these
(23:02):
guys had jobs. So I remember Richie Hevener was a
was a grave digger, Chris. I don't know if you
remember him. He's a first baseman, played for the first
Richie he he did Doug Grays in the off season. Wow. Wow,
So anyway, that's what Reddick said, and Bob Couzy, robbed
ninety three years old, sounds like he's in great shape,
(23:22):
he answered, yesterday or the day before, or in serious
NBA radio, here he is. But I will defend the
fireman and the plumbers. So I see who that fringished?
How about Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, a guy named el
Jin Baylor, Oscar Robinson, Jelly West wasn't too shabby, And
(23:46):
we must have had the best fireman and plumbers on
the planet of the time. I love the answer from Couzy.
Sounds great, he sounds ninety three. My goodness, yeah, he
sounds awesome. Here's what I'll say, and I said it before, Rod,
but it bears repeating. This is my saying, and this
is my real belief in philosophy. The superstars of any
(24:13):
era would be at least stars, if not superstars of
every era. The superstars of any era would be at
least stars of every era, and some of them would
be superstars. And I say that because, yeah, well, maybe
if you take Bob Couzy as he was and throw
(24:35):
him in the day just as he was in nineteen
sixty one, but put him in the day to day,
then yeah, Okay, he struggled, But like you said, give
him the benefits that today's players have, the weight training,
the nutrition, the diet, the better trainers, the better coaching
(24:57):
staffs and bigger coaching staffs, the charter flights, the better sneakers,
the year round play, being able to work on your
game year round, not even just as an NBA player,
but as a high school kid. If you want, give
him all of that, and don't tell me he couldn't
be at least at least as good as Chris Paul,
(25:20):
Johnna Stockton, Steve Nash. It were robbed, that's the thing,
and the same goals for will Bill Russell Elgin Baylor.
Give him all the benefits before you start comparing them,
or just say, look, they dominated their era and there
was nobody else for that, right And Chris, here's the
(25:41):
other thing. There were only ten teams. There weren't thirty teams, right,
Like a lot of players who who to only the
Krem de La Krem. All the players who were playing
basketball play there were less spots. The biggest argument robbed
against that era, and maybe JJ didn't want to bring
(26:02):
it up, but was the unwritten rule that you know
you might only have a hand for the black players
per team. That's the biggest argument for the against that
there's no I get it. And that's the argument. It's
the argument against Babe Ruth that he never brought against
black or brown players his entire career. And we already know, Chris,
when you look at the record books, black and brown
(26:24):
and I mean Latino or Hispanic players are as great
as anybody. And they're all the pepper throughout the record books.
And they weren't allowed to play until nineteen forty seven
and they and they own the record book, so that
says speaks volumes, But it still doesn't mean that baby
couldn't play. And I'm with you, given the right, uh circumstances,
(26:46):
Chris not taking train rides instead of charging flights. They
take the train to games, and it was a different dynamic,
and those guys were still the best of the best.
And I think we gotta be careful because I was
mad at I think we had talked about this before
when the NBA had his top seventy five. Excuse me, well,
(27:07):
they did keep the top fifty as it was, because
remember we said that much right you can't take you
can't do it. Chris, because it's not fair to those
guys who started the league and played under those circumstances
that they played in and excelled, And it's just not
fair to just go, oh, yeah, well we're not going
back that far. We're gonna start in nineteen eighty. That
just because you played reachly don't mean you were better
(27:29):
than those other guys. So I think, um, I think
that's where JJ you can make it, Chris. If you
want to make a case against Bob Couzy, make that case,
but don't try to nullify him because he played after
nineteen before nineteen eighty. I think that's you can make
a case, right right. And I'm gonna say this, Rob.
We showed we talked about this on First Things First
(27:51):
this morning, and we showed some highlights of Couzy and
Rob and I've seen something here and there, but he
made six passes in a one and a half minute,
one minute highlight reel that today's players don't make. I'm
(28:12):
talking about passes that I've only seen Magic Johnson mate consistent.
While I'm not lying over that, like no look behind
the head, I mean ridiculous stuff. And remember he was
at least in the NBA the first player you saw
doing the behind the back dribbles and the fancy pad
(28:34):
passing and things like that. And I'm saying, look, guys
today are passing like this. Go to YouTube, go look
up some Bob Coouzy highlights and look at the passages.
I'm telling you you're not seeing players today make a
lot of things he passed he made. But also, Rob,
I'm gonna say this because I've always said, look, Bill
Russell was about six nine, six ten and really couldn't shoot. Rob.
(29:00):
He was a forty four percent shooter from the field
for his career, and you know, obviously he was playing
close to the basket. And some people would say, well,
come on, what would Bill Russell doing today's NBA and
all that blah blah. But I'm gonna say this, And
obviously he'd get the benefits of all we talked about earlier,
and I think he'd be great if he played today.
(29:21):
But Rob, before all you youngsters say as he was,
there's no way he could play today. Rob, what is
Robert Williams the third doing right now in the twenty
twenty two NBA playoffs as a six eight center who
(29:43):
can't shoot a lick reeking havoc. What did Ben Wallace
due in Detroit as a six nine if that center?
He was like what four time defensive Player of the
Year or something like that coach and helped him win
a championship? Right, and Draymond greenplay center at six six?
(30:03):
I mean not all the time, but enough can't shoot.
So we are saying, if you give them the benefit
of the doubt, you know all the benefits of today,
I should say they'd be better. But Rob even taking
some of them as they were, like their strength, their
athleticism was top notch, and we got guys today that
(30:27):
lacks some of the skills you think they lack and
are excelling. So be careful. As Rob said, before you
pooh pooh the superstars of the past. Be sure to
catch live 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 iHeart Radio app.
(30:48):
All right, here we go, our man, Eddie Johnson, Eddie,
thank you? Where all right? Rob? Rob's just where is it?
I've been waiting to talk to him. I'm sucked you
even because let us call you. What's going on, Eddie?
What's happening? Hey? Row wow, let me let let me
let you know. I don't know how many games I
(31:09):
lost as a player. Okay, I went the four Western
Conference finals and lost them. And I didn't hide. You
know why, rob You know why Roby used to call me.
They used to call me a killer. Hey, I feel
(31:32):
you and that Eddie, Eddie, too bad, don't let him
jump bad? Too bad? Too bad. You weren't playing for
the Suns this time because they were no shows in
game seven. I told you last year they were for
Gayzy with that run to the championship, and they were
for Gayzy and fraudulent and they bamboozoo you. That bamboozoo
(31:53):
the city of Phoenix, that bamboozoo the NBA. And they're
thinking that they were contenders. They were no contenders. That
performance was as bad as it gets. The Harlem Globetrotters
wanted to pour confetti on their head. That's how bad
it was. I'm taking it. Dn't. I didn't even interrupt you, okay,
(32:17):
but what hapschback? I'm a pushback on you, and I
know you would agree with this, you know, and men
tell you something, Man, if the Suns played the Mavericks
eight times in a game seven, they had to beating
them seven of them. You know, it was just one
of them games. Man. I'm sitting there watching it, right
and I'm saying to myself. I turned to my wife
(32:38):
about maybe halfway through the first quarter, I said, we're
in trouble because the rhythm of that game just had
negativity all over it. And the Suns, to that credit,
was trying. Man, it just nothing went. It was just
like a thunderstorm. It was like a tornado, and theenis
It's just like one of those occurrences that rarely happened.
(33:01):
It happened, man, and that's why you never let it
get to a game seven. Let me mean, if anything
the Stars are at fault is it is allowing it
to get to a game seven, man, and that's what
costs him. Let me ask you about Chris Paul who
had what did Chris the last five games? He had
five straights bad games? What's happened down or And we've
(33:24):
seen Chris have bad moments, bad games in big playoff moments,
but never like a stretch like that happen. I know, man,
and I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you all this, and
this is what I do respect about Chris. If he
doesn't divulge. If something's wrong with him, he does not
(33:44):
divulge it. And you know some players do, some don't,
and he's one of those guys. Something was wrong with him,
but nobody knew. Well he mentioned it. I mean, there's
a choir that came out. He didn't. He didn't mention it.
He didn't think that. You think that was true without
(34:05):
a doubt. I think he was compromised because this is
the way I look at it, if that Chris Paul
to go five games like that, because the Chris fault
we have seen over the last few years and close
out games has been dynamic. So what is he afraid of?
He got afraid of anything, So something was up. I mean,
(34:27):
you you give a guy credit like that. Now, it's
unfortunate and he has to live with it, and he
is living with it. He's not trying to get any excuses.
He's said he should have been better, you know, but
and that's all you have to live with. But I
believe that he was extremely compromised. But he's not gonna
talk about it. But here's my issue. I don't think
(34:47):
you're a good teammate if you're playing compromise and you
can't perform. I really don't. I know it sounds good,
you good, you want to give it old college try.
You can't play five games compromise when you can't do
what you're supposed to do and think that's gonna help
the team. Sometimes you gotta say I can't do it,
Like Eddie, Am I wrong? I mean at five bad games, Rob,
(35:12):
You're not wrong? But who did we have? Like campaign
was not campaign? We don't know what was wrong with him,
Like you know, he Monty took him out of the rotation. Now,
I would have liked for him to have given maybe
Aaron Holliday a shot to see what he could do,
but he went with Landry Shammond, and Landry Shammond didn't
(35:34):
play poorly. But Chris has been so dominant guys with
this offense and how it's executed. Anybody that would have
gotten out there would have had a struggle. And I
think that's something the Suns have to show up next
year because Chris will be back. Forget about this all
this retirement. Okay, that's what That's what I wanted to
(35:55):
ask you, like, so you think Chris will definitely be back,
and what about the DeAndre? Chris loves the game. Man,
I just cannot see him going away like that at all.
I just couldn't. I mean, I've gotten the normal a
little bit over the last few years. The guy loved basketball,
one of the first the jim want to last to leave,
always working with his teammate, and you all saw it.
(36:18):
He reconstructed his body, he took care of himself. So
that's the guy that loves the game. And also Lebron's
one of his best friends. And I'm sure they both
have a private bet who's gonna Blo's gonna last the longer? Okay,
So I don't I truly believe that's not gonna happen.
But after a tough game like that in the tough series, yeah,
I think you tend to want to walk away. But
(36:40):
after a few weeks he'll be back to normal with DeAndre. Guys, look,
the Suns obviously didn't mix, okay, And I'm just gonna
get in the mind of DeAndre. Okay, he didn't. They
didn't mix them. Uh, and Luca and Trey Young goat Mack.
But yet DeAndre was on a team that went to
the final. So I'm gonna put you in the mind
(37:01):
of a twenty three year old and how he's thinking, Like,
hold up now, is it about winning or is it
about stat Because it's about winning. I was on the
team that got us to the finals. Oh, by the way,
I played well against Nicola Yokis last year in the
semifinal round, played well against the Clippers, and I don't
get max. I was the number one pick and they did. Okay,
(37:24):
that's his argument. What argument is we want to see
you mature more, We want to see you get better
in that category. You want to be able to count
it on you and get to your full potential. Okay,
we're not satisfied with nineteen and ten. We believe you're
twenty five and thirteen and fourteen guys, And I believe
he is as well if he put himself to it.
(37:45):
But what I will say, and I try to caution people,
he's twenty three. Like when I was twenty three, I
couldn't still walk into dumb okay at the same time,
and so sometimes you just have to wait and see
when that maturity seats in. We're seeing it with Dason
Tatum right now, and so we it. With a big man,
(38:07):
it tends to drag on a little bit longer. So
you seem to have no doubt that they'll match whatever
offer a team puts out there for him. No, I
think I think they want him back, but I think
they have their mindset on what they want him for.
So I mean, I think it's up to de Andre
I do. I think it's up to him where he sits,
(38:28):
where he stands, and and and really the conversation that
he's gonna have with the Suns in regard to if
they do pay him, you know, is he gonna be
committed and and a part of the team. And well
that's it. Wouldn't be shocked in thirty seconds. I mean,
there was a story about him him kind of going
at it with Mine Williams on the sideline, only playing
(38:51):
seventeen minutes in Game seven. What can you tell us
about that is that, yeah, don't I don't know much
about it at all. A lot of that stuff was
always handled internally, as Monty said, And this team got
along for the most part, and DeAndre got along with
everybody for the most part. He wasn't a kid that
sawts this year, even though he didn't get mac. He
(39:13):
was very energized. He was very charismatic, more charismatic than
I've ever seen him. Really. So I just think, you know,
everybody's gonna go off. I mean, Chris Paul had words
with Monty during the course of the playoffs. I mean,
it's just so, It's just it's natural. Man. I wouldn't
put too much into that at all, but I would
just love to see DeAndre come back, but I don't
(39:34):
think it's one hundred percent that he will. All right,
that's our man, Eddie Johnson, former Sons player and now
color endless man. And you're band from the show until
the Sons win a championship. That means you'll never be
on the show again. You're done here, Eddie. Good with
(39:59):
you the best, You're the best, all right,
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 Bruso and Rod Harker. All yeah, it is the
I Couple. I'm Chris Brusard alongside my partner Rob Parker,
(00:44):
and we're coming in you live from the Fox Sports
Radio studios. Good live, and of course it is a
funky flashback Friday, and we have a great one plan
for you tonight. We got plenty of NBA Baseball and
all types of stuff, college basketball, all types of stuff
(01:06):
to get into, even some old school hoop. So you
want to keep it locked right here on Fox Sports Radio,
the iHeartRadio app or Serious XM channel eighty three. However
you may be listening, do yourself a favor and don't
touch that dial. Let me welcome in my partner, the
Hall of Famer Rob Parker. What's up that it's so weird. Wow. Well,
(01:37):
I'm getting ready. I'm getting ready for the weekend and
heading tonight, Chris, to Detroit first to stop over, and
then on to New York. So you'll be in New
York all next week all next week. Yep. I might
come in and do lunch with you. Take you to
lunch for your induction. Well, let's do that, or maybe
do Dutch because I'm a Hall of Famer too, But
what's that right? Okay, if you're a Hall of Fame,
(02:00):
we'll have to do that. Monday programming note, I'll be
on MLB Network MLB now two to three Eastern, so
look forward to that. When I'm in New York, Chris,
and Wednesday's a big ceremony. I will be on the
show Wednesday night. Thursday night, I will not be on
the show. I'm going to Broadway, Chris. They have a
(02:20):
baseball play and I'm it's about baseball, and I'm gonna
be a part of a panel discussion after the play
on Broadway Thursday. Take me out as the name of
the Broadway show. So I'll be doing that and then
the big party Saturday night. I'll hope you and Christal
(02:41):
will be there. If you're gonna come yep Saturday night,
We're gonna celebrate family, friends, and the whole experience has
been somewhat humbling, but I'm looking forward to this week.
It don't sound humbling. It is humbling. It sounds like
get right to boost the j ain't going even more.
I'll come on. You know, you know Rob, this is
(03:04):
a no spin zone. The I come up is a
no spin zone. We ain't let you get away with that.
You notice that I got my chest stuck out now,
I don't know. Every time I turn on social media,
I see Rob Barker Hall of Favor. That's all I'm
talking about. No, man, We're proud of you, and we're
happy for you, and I look forward to celebrating it
(03:25):
with you next week. But um, let's introduce see I
a couple of crew and get this party started on
the ones and twos and unbelievably making a back to
back appearance, don't you j Alex tyshon Alex. I can't
wait to hear what you come up without it in
the Q. It's a funky flashback Friday, one of his
(03:46):
favorite days. That's another thing. You'll be here right, Very true,
very true, you're you ready to go with I am ready.
It's just I don't know about Monday, Tuesday next week. Yeah,
I know, I know, I know you don't know. You
ain't you ain't telling No, I can't into the future. CB.
All right here, just don't let Colin call. If Colin
calls is over all right, you know when you see
(04:08):
his number, just ignore like you do the women that
hit you up and Rob G. Speaking of those who
are out, rob G is out. And we have our
man Brandon trufa In as the super producer of Tonight
Show and up and he is the truth, I mean
the truth right and on the updates. Understand you heard
(04:33):
it Steve this say all right, Rob, let's get into it. Um.
I understand before I say this, I understand that Dallas
was down to oh to the Phoenix Suns and that
the Phoenix Suns had beaten him eleven straight times. I
(04:54):
understand that a year ago the Phoenix Suns were down
to oh to the Milwaukee Breaking all my material is
not confused me before I ever get started, my god, right,
I'm going on the offensive. They were down up to
oh De Phoenix up to on the Milwaukee Bucks last
(05:17):
year in the finals. But Rob Parker, this is not
prisoner of the moment. This is not all just based
on one game. This is not something I've come to haphazardly.
This is something I believe wholeheartedly, and I believed it
(05:38):
before the series, and that's why I picked the Celtics
in six. I do think the Heat may win another game.
I got respect for them, But Rob, the better team
is clear, and that's when you say it's over. I
know there may be a series here there where the
best team doesn't win, but this one, the best team
(05:59):
is evident. It's the Boston Celtics. And if they stay
healthier and they are not besieged with injuries, it's over. Rop.
It's over six games, five games, whatever. I'd be shocked
if it goes seven. The Miami Heat are going down
(06:21):
because they're facing a better squad in the Boston Celtics.
And I'll give y'all the reasons why a little later.
But I'm just putting that out there. I'm just putting
that out there, all right, No way, no how, Chris Broussar,
this is a classic case of premature analysis. Is that
(06:44):
it can I say that analysis, Okay, say something else. No, no, no,
I'm not gonna do that. I'm trying to hold on
to my job at Hall of Fact that I'm not
gonna blow it between tonight and when Chris, I promise you, no,
I hear what you're saying. On paper, Boston is the
(07:07):
better team. I'll give you all of that, but it's
just not played like that. The Marriage were a classic example.
You just talked about the numbers and how they were
owned by the Sons up to Oh man, it doesn't
matter that they're going to Dallas. You know what, big deal.
They'll win one, will be up three to one and
(07:27):
close this thing out. We're on the revenge tour. We're
going back to the finals. We're going to claim what
was ours and that we didn't take last year right.
And in the case of the Celtics, here's why I
put up a red flag and I put my hand
up and I cautioned you. Can you see my hand, Chris,
I'm caution in you. We've seen this team gag, not
(07:53):
three years ago, Chris, Yes, we see, we've seen this
team gag in the last series. You can't forget that
they had a chance to beat the Bucks at home
and let me give you some little information, Chris. In
that game, the Celtics had a ninety seven point one
(08:16):
chance of winning the game with one forty one left
in the game. It dropped down the eighty four, which
is still high when Yanna stepped to the line at
the end of the game, and then you know what
the Bucks wanted anyway, behind some legendary defense that we
saw from Drew Holliday and the rest is history. Now,
they came back and they won the series. And I
(08:38):
get that, Chris, but my point is they blew a
fourteen point lead, We're in control of the game the
entire way, and then disintegrated in the fourth quarter. That's
what scares me about these Boston Celtics is that it
can happen. It's it's if you're Miami, you know that
(09:01):
this team can melt down, not to give up, not
to like say, oh we're down. We can't come back
against this team because we've seen him and I know
they split him in Miami, which is the gold and
the dream. But I'm just not ready. I don't believe
in the Celtics all the way, not yet. So I
hear what you're saying. You can stick your chests out
(09:23):
feel good about what they did last night when they
got their guys back. But there's a little piece of me,
and I'm talking about brain wise that Alex. Don't Alex.
Don't have that, dude, Maybee, thanks Rod Alex. No, Alex.
(09:49):
The tape is flubbed right there. There's something mistake. I'm
glad I roll on multiple windows now. God. Anyway, a
little birdie in the back of my brain is saying,
won't fall for it. Don't pre premature on this. It
can turn around. We've seen it, Chris. We saw it
with the Dallas Mavericks in that series. We saw it
(10:11):
last year in the finals. We saw it when Milwaukee
took on Brooklyn and was up too oh and got
run out of the gym in Brooklyn in Game two.
They lost by like thirty five points. Oh my god,
this is no series. And guess what, the Bucks came
back and won that series in a game seven. So
(10:31):
I'm just saying I'm not buying into your Celtics, who
are still to me untested. All right, here's the thing.
All of our long time listeners out there, they know
the deal. Rob. Now, the new listeners might be fooled,
but I'm gonna bring them up to speed right now.
(10:52):
If Rob Parker truly believed what he had just said,
he would have been like Chris Bruce soon stopping you
a prisoner rum the moment. This is what you do
when a't you gonna learn? Oh, last year you were
(11:15):
like on the Chris Ball bandwagon. You are up five
of all time and what happened? And now here you
go again. That is the Rob Parker who believes what
he said is that we got I understand what you're saying.
(11:38):
Oh wow, there's a little piece, a little, tiny, small,
real small piece that believes you know that the Celtics
are aren't for sure for certain. He didn't even use
his favorite word for gaisy because he knows they're not.
(12:00):
Who gaze. Have you ever heard of shrink? Oh that's
another story and he knows that. Look, you said it
robbed on paper, and you know you covered the league
long enough as did I, and you've talked to coaches
who will say, look, there are plenty of high lottery picks,
Rob that don't pan out right. But when you are drafted,
(12:23):
in most cases, when you are drafted that high in
the lottery, it says something about your talent. You might
not pan out for various reasons, but you do have
talent that stands out, and if that talent can be
tapped into, then you can blossom. And that I heard
(12:47):
coaches say that about Rashid Rob who obviously went on
had a very good career. But what was Rashid the
two pick? He was a high lottery pick and he
wasn't like the guy to necessarily lead his team to
the championship. So some people look down at that. But Rashid,
you knew had world class talent because of his game,
(13:10):
but also he deserved to be picked as high as
he was. There's something about the guys Chauncey Billups who
ended up blossomy. But even when he was looking like
a bus his first five six years in the league,
he had that high level talent that was evidenced by
his lottery pick status. Rob. The Celtics start four lottery
(13:34):
high lottery picks. Three of them, Jason Tatum, Marcus Smart,
and Al Horford, were picked in the top three of
their drafts. Marcus Smart was the number six pick. The
heat meanwhile, are starting two undrafted guards, PJ. Tucker, a
second rounder, Jimmy Butler, who obviously is a great player,
(13:57):
but was the thirtieth pick in the draft and vam
out to buy you a low lottery pick fourteenth, and
so on paper, the Celtics are better. They've outplayed the
Heat for all but twelve minutes of this series and
that is without two of their starters, Smart and Horror
for the first game, and Rob both games being played
(14:20):
in the Heats gym. Now, you're right, anything that can happen.
We've seen some crazy stuff and maybe I'll be forced
to eat these words, but I don't think so. So
I'm willing to go out on a limb and say
it's over. Are you my chest? If you want exclusive
(14:40):
insight from the biggest names in the sports game, what's good?
This is national champion the former pro baller Chris Johnson.
Let me tell you a little bit about my new series.
kJ J Live is the only show featuring me going
one on one with the brightest basketball minds on the
planet to get the real And when I say real,
I mean that real. I got legend ry Hall of famers,
(15:01):
elite coaches, in the top basketball insiders bringing you a
unique perspective on all things Hoop's culture, that you will
not find anywhere helps to make your next move your
best move. Can tap in with me from kJ live
wherever you get your podcast from. Fox Sports Radio has
(15:21):
the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
of our shows at foxsports Radio dot com and within
the iHeart Radio app. Search FSR to listen live. All right,
it is the Eye Couple. I am Chris. Here is Rob.
You can follow us or social media. I'm at Chris
Underscore Bruce Art on Twitter, Chris Bruce R sixty eight
(15:42):
on Instagram. Rob is at Rob Parker FS one on
Twitter at Rob Parker FSR on the Gram and right
now we're both live from the Fox Sports Radio studios
and with prices soaring at the bump, I just got
some gas today and it was like, my goodness, this
is killing me. It wasn't La Gas six nineteen a gallon.
(16:04):
I'll tell you that, right, You're right, You're right about that, Rob,
it is. I can't. I can't complain. I guess compared
to California, that's for sure. But Discover wants to help you.
They got your back, and here's how it works. They've
got this uh five percent cash back program. So you
use your Discover card and you'll earn five percent cash
(16:26):
back when you're use it at gas stations and Target stores.
That's now through June on up to fifteen hundred dollars
in purchases. That's good when you activate. All right, learn
more Discover dot com Slash rewards limitations do apply. Eddie
Johnson will join us Rob at the bottom of the hour.
And I know you want to take him the task
(16:46):
about his sons. You know I'm to him, so I
just want you to know. And also you gave my
Twitter and Instagram handles. I'm thinking about changing it now
for good. Well can you though? I mean, you said
it was taking so alone. Well, but now I gotta
I'm thinking about changing it to Rob Parker. Everything's not funny.
(17:08):
I told y'all. Every time I pick up my phone,
oh I see some type of reference to Rob making
the Martin Van Buren High School Hall of Fame. Alex, Alex,
Have I overdone it or not? Have over time? Say no,
you're still within your realm Okay, really, you know it's
kind of like hear me out so, you know, like
New Year's right, so you give people like a couple
(17:28):
of weeks because you haven't seen them for New Year's right,
the same thing as Rob hasn't become it yet. So
once he's becoming, and say a week or two has
gone by, we're like, all right, Rob, we get it now, right,
let me ask both. Can I get there? I want
to get God, I didn't even know y'all didn't even
know I was the Hall of Famer? No, what school?
What whom? Are you a Hall of fame? Holy Name
high School? Really it was back yeah, I mean, but
(17:50):
that's my point. Real bad boys moving silence? What did
little Waite say? Real gangsters? Movement side? When did when
did they put you in the Hall of Fame? When?
When it was? When? Twenty sixteen? I believe it twenty
It was either twenty sixteen or twenty seventeen. And I'm
in the Holy Name of High School Athletic Call of Fame. Oh,
(18:11):
Athletic Hall of Fame. I got you? Yes, yes, nice.
Listen to it. Listen to how he put a little thing.
You know what I'm saying, what I do. It's actually
a special It was combination of my sports prowess at
high school and my achievements after I like he said, oh, athletics. Okay, okay,
(18:35):
I'm gonna tell y'all something I don't know. Rob, you
might be able to match this. I'm saying it's in
all seriousness. This volume youngsters out there, are you parents too?
Can encourage your kids. I made the honor roll every
quarter of my high school career. Wow, And I was valedictorian.
Rob as the only black kid in my eighth grade class,
(18:59):
I was valedictory into the class. And you know, I'll
be busting up stereotypes. Boy, and you had all that
time to study since you weren't getting much peaked t.
So that's cool. I was just I mean, our team
was bad, but I wasn't star of the basketball. I'm
just saying I had I told you already. I had
my best sports years in Syracuse, New York as an
(19:20):
eighth grade. It was ridiculous, unbelievable. We signed up late
for baseball, right, we just moved there. We had to
sign up late for baseball, so they had to put
me in the miners. I was twelve years old, Rob,
You know, majors was eleven and twelve years old, really good,
ten years old, ten year olds. Miners was like nine
(19:44):
and ten year olds. Right, So for some reason they
had to put me in the made miners as a
twelve year old. I was pretty good baseball player, Rob,
No lie, this is absolutely no lie. All right. My
batting average was ninety five. I believe it. No, I
believe it. I hit sixteen homers in sixteen games. And
(20:08):
then we won the championship six to five, and I
hit two three run homers in that game. Unbelievable. It
was ridiculous. Man. If I was a parent, I'd say
take that kid out of the league. They were right,
it was bad. And the next year I stepped up
to the senior league. You know that you're playing on
(20:31):
a real field too, You're playing on like a major
league you know, sixty foot six and six exactly. It
was a total shot. I mean I did all right,
but you know it was it was a definitely a
big shot, all right. Um, Rob, Let's get to some
stuff that went on over the last couple of weeks
two weeks ago, roughly, JJ RERADI who look, I'm gonna createit.
(20:53):
Jj h. He done it. I think he's good, Rob.
I think he gives really good analysis. I think he
uh can debate goes at it with Stephen A. I
think he's doing a good job and has the future
if he wants it in this in this broadcasting business.
He's even called some games. Or you think he's yeah,
I mean he's pretty good. I think he is more
(21:15):
like a prisoner of the prisoner of the moment kind
of guy moment in this era. But like last night, Yeah,
like he's one of those guys, like everything that happened
yesterday is the greatest thing that ever happened. And I
think you just have to have some context. He's a
young guy. I get it, But just because you didn't
(21:37):
see the videotape or you don't know the story, if
you really want to be well rounded and balanced, you
just have to because we talk about it all the time.
We didn't see Babe Ruth play, but we know that
he's one of the greatest baseball players who ever played.
You see what I'm saying, Like, you have to have
that no matter what goes on in there. You just
can't totally dismiss him because he played in the twenties.
(22:00):
You can't. Well, I think you're referring to what he
said about Bobe Cozy and I present the context he
was going at it with Chris mad Dog Russo on
first take on ESPN, and he was Crusso was Russo
was saying Bobe Couzy was better than Chris Paul and JJ.
(22:21):
Redick was like, first of all, don't even bring me
anybody before nineteen eighties. I mean, I can bring you
a few, I can bring you will I can bring
your Russell like you can't totallybody, you know, right right right.
But anyway, and he ended it. He got frustrated, I
guess with Russo's argument, and he said Couzy was playing
(22:42):
against plumbers and firemen. Obviously, rob a reference to how
back then a lot of NBA players worked the second
job every A lot of people did, and a lot
of great players, Chris, baseball players had winner jobs. They
weren't making a gazillion dollars they had and you only
got paid during the season. So a lot of these
(23:02):
guys had jobs. So I remember Richie Hevener was a
was a grave digger, Chris. I don't know if you
remember him. He's a first baseman, played for the first
Richie he he did Doug Grays in the off season. Wow. Wow,
So anyway, that's what Reddick said, and Bob Couzy, robbed
ninety three years old, sounds like he's in great shape,
(23:22):
he answered, yesterday or the day before, or in serious
NBA radio, here he is. But I will defend the
fireman and the plumbers. So I see who that fringished?
How about Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, a guy named el
Jin Baylor, Oscar Robinson, Jelly West wasn't too shabby, And
(23:46):
we must have had the best fireman and plumbers on
the planet of the time. I love the answer from Couzy.
Sounds great, he sounds ninety three. My goodness, yeah, he
sounds awesome. Here's what I'll say, and I said it before, Rod,
but it bears repeating. This is my saying, and this
is my real belief in philosophy. The superstars of any
(24:13):
era would be at least stars, if not superstars of
every era. The superstars of any era would be at
least stars of every era, and some of them would
be superstars. And I say that because, yeah, well, maybe
if you take Bob Couzy as he was and throw
(24:35):
him in the day just as he was in nineteen
sixty one, but put him in the day to day,
then yeah, Okay, he struggled, But like you said, give
him the benefits that today's players have, the weight training,
the nutrition, the diet, the better trainers, the better coaching
(24:57):
staffs and bigger coaching staffs, the charter flights, the better sneakers,
the year round play, being able to work on your
game year round, not even just as an NBA player,
but as a high school kid. If you want, give
him all of that, and don't tell me he couldn't
be at least at least as good as Chris Paul,
(25:20):
Johnna Stockton, Steve Nash. It were robbed, that's the thing,
and the same goals for will Bill Russell Elgin Baylor.
Give him all the benefits before you start comparing them,
or just say, look, they dominated their era and there
was nobody else for that, right And Chris, here's the
(25:41):
other thing. There were only ten teams. There weren't thirty teams, right,
Like a lot of players who who to only the
Krem de La Krem. All the players who were playing
basketball play there were less spots. The biggest argument robbed
against that era, and maybe JJ didn't want to bring
(26:02):
it up, but was the unwritten rule that you know
you might only have a hand for the black players
per team. That's the biggest argument for the against that
there's no I get it. And that's the argument. It's
the argument against Babe Ruth that he never brought against
black or brown players his entire career. And we already know, Chris,
when you look at the record books, black and brown
(26:24):
and I mean Latino or Hispanic players are as great
as anybody. And they're all the pepper throughout the record books.
And they weren't allowed to play until nineteen forty seven
and they and they own the record book, so that
says speaks volumes, But it still doesn't mean that baby
couldn't play. And I'm with you, given the right, uh circumstances,
(26:46):
Chris not taking train rides instead of charging flights. They
take the train to games, and it was a different dynamic,
and those guys were still the best of the best.
And I think we gotta be careful because I was
mad at I think we had talked about this before
when the NBA had his top seventy five. Excuse me, well,
(27:07):
they did keep the top fifty as it was, because
remember we said that much right you can't take you
can't do it. Chris, because it's not fair to those
guys who started the league and played under those circumstances
that they played in and excelled, And it's just not
fair to just go, oh, yeah, well we're not going
back that far. We're gonna start in nineteen eighty. That
just because you played reachly don't mean you were better
(27:29):
than those other guys. So I think, um, I think
that's where JJ you can make it, Chris. If you
want to make a case against Bob Couzy, make that case,
but don't try to nullify him because he played after
nineteen before nineteen eighty. I think that's you can make
a case, right right. And I'm gonna say this, Rob.
We showed we talked about this on First Things First
(27:51):
this morning, and we showed some highlights of Couzy and
Rob and I've seen something here and there, but he
made six passes in a one and a half minute,
one minute highlight reel that today's players don't make. I'm
(28:12):
talking about passes that I've only seen Magic Johnson mate consistent.
While I'm not lying over that, like no look behind
the head, I mean ridiculous stuff. And remember he was
at least in the NBA the first player you saw
doing the behind the back dribbles and the fancy pad
(28:34):
passing and things like that. And I'm saying, look, guys
today are passing like this. Go to YouTube, go look
up some Bob Coouzy highlights and look at the passages.
I'm telling you you're not seeing players today make a
lot of things he passed he made. But also, Rob,
I'm gonna say this because I've always said, look, Bill
Russell was about six nine, six ten and really couldn't shoot. Rob.
(29:00):
He was a forty four percent shooter from the field
for his career, and you know, obviously he was playing
close to the basket. And some people would say, well,
come on, what would Bill Russell doing today's NBA and
all that blah blah. But I'm gonna say this, And
obviously he'd get the benefits of all we talked about earlier,
and I think he'd be great if he played today.
(29:21):
But Rob, before all you youngsters say as he was,
there's no way he could play today. Rob, what is
Robert Williams the third doing right now in the twenty
twenty two NBA playoffs as a six eight center who
(29:43):
can't shoot a lick reeking havoc. What did Ben Wallace
due in Detroit as a six nine if that center?
He was like what four time defensive Player of the
Year or something like that coach and helped him win
a championship? Right, and Draymond greenplay center at six six?
(30:03):
I mean not all the time, but enough can't shoot.
So we are saying, if you give them the benefit
of the doubt, you know all the benefits of today,
I should say they'd be better. But Rob even taking
some of them as they were, like their strength, their
athleticism was top notch, and we got guys today that
(30:27):
lacks some of the skills you think they lack and
are excelling. So be careful. As Rob said, before you
pooh pooh the superstars of the past. Be sure to
catch live 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 iHeart Radio app.
(30:48):
All right, here we go, our man, Eddie Johnson, Eddie,
thank you? Where all right? Rob? Rob's just where is it?
I've been waiting to talk to him. I'm sucked you
even because let us call you. What's going on, Eddie?
What's happening? Hey? Row wow, let me let let me
let you know. I don't know how many games I
(31:09):
lost as a player. Okay, I went the four Western
Conference finals and lost them. And I didn't hide. You
know why, rob You know why Roby used to call me.
They used to call me a killer. Hey, I feel
(31:32):
you and that Eddie, Eddie, too bad, don't let him
jump bad? Too bad? Too bad. You weren't playing for
the Suns this time because they were no shows in
game seven. I told you last year they were for
Gayzy with that run to the championship, and they were
for Gayzy and fraudulent and they bamboozoo you. That bamboozoo
(31:53):
the city of Phoenix, that bamboozoo the NBA. And they're
thinking that they were contenders. They were no contenders. That
performance was as bad as it gets. The Harlem Globetrotters
wanted to pour confetti on their head. That's how bad
it was. I'm taking it. Dn't. I didn't even interrupt you, okay,
(32:17):
but what hapschback? I'm a pushback on you, and I
know you would agree with this, you know, and men
tell you something, Man, if the Suns played the Mavericks
eight times in a game seven, they had to beating
them seven of them. You know, it was just one
of them games. Man. I'm sitting there watching it, right
and I'm saying to myself. I turned to my wife
(32:38):
about maybe halfway through the first quarter, I said, we're
in trouble because the rhythm of that game just had
negativity all over it. And the Suns, to that credit,
was trying. Man, it just nothing went. It was just
like a thunderstorm. It was like a tornado, and theenis
It's just like one of those occurrences that rarely happened.
(33:01):
It happened, man, and that's why you never let it
get to a game seven. Let me mean, if anything
the Stars are at fault is it is allowing it
to get to a game seven, man, and that's what
costs him. Let me ask you about Chris Paul who
had what did Chris the last five games? He had
five straights bad games? What's happened down or And we've
(33:24):
seen Chris have bad moments, bad games in big playoff moments,
but never like a stretch like that happen. I know, man,
and I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you all this, and
this is what I do respect about Chris. If he
doesn't divulge. If something's wrong with him, he does not
(33:44):
divulge it. And you know some players do, some don't,
and he's one of those guys. Something was wrong with him,
but nobody knew. Well he mentioned it. I mean, there's
a choir that came out. He didn't. He didn't mention it.
He didn't think that. You think that was true without
(34:05):
a doubt. I think he was compromised because this is
the way I look at it, if that Chris Paul
to go five games like that, because the Chris fault
we have seen over the last few years and close
out games has been dynamic. So what is he afraid of?
He got afraid of anything, So something was up. I mean,
(34:27):
you you give a guy credit like that. Now, it's
unfortunate and he has to live with it, and he
is living with it. He's not trying to get any excuses.
He's said he should have been better, you know, but
and that's all you have to live with. But I
believe that he was extremely compromised. But he's not gonna
talk about it. But here's my issue. I don't think
(34:47):
you're a good teammate if you're playing compromise and you
can't perform. I really don't. I know it sounds good,
you good, you want to give it old college try.
You can't play five games compromise when you can't do
what you're supposed to do and think that's gonna help
the team. Sometimes you gotta say I can't do it,
Like Eddie, Am I wrong? I mean at five bad games, Rob,
(35:12):
You're not wrong? But who did we have? Like campaign
was not campaign? We don't know what was wrong with him,
Like you know, he Monty took him out of the rotation. Now,
I would have liked for him to have given maybe
Aaron Holliday a shot to see what he could do,
but he went with Landry Shammond, and Landry Shammond didn't
(35:34):
play poorly. But Chris has been so dominant guys with
this offense and how it's executed. Anybody that would have
gotten out there would have had a struggle. And I
think that's something the Suns have to show up next
year because Chris will be back. Forget about this all
this retirement. Okay, that's what That's what I wanted to
(35:55):
ask you, like, so you think Chris will definitely be back,
and what about the DeAndre? Chris loves the game. Man,
I just cannot see him going away like that at all.
I just couldn't. I mean, I've gotten the normal a
little bit over the last few years. The guy loved basketball,
one of the first the jim want to last to leave,
always working with his teammate, and you all saw it.
(36:18):
He reconstructed his body, he took care of himself. So
that's the guy that loves the game. And also Lebron's
one of his best friends. And I'm sure they both
have a private bet who's gonna Blo's gonna last the longer? Okay,
So I don't I truly believe that's not gonna happen.
But after a tough game like that in the tough series, yeah,
I think you tend to want to walk away. But
(36:40):
after a few weeks he'll be back to normal with DeAndre. Guys, look,
the Suns obviously didn't mix, okay, And I'm just gonna
get in the mind of DeAndre. Okay, he didn't. They
didn't mix them. Uh, and Luca and Trey Young goat Mack.
But yet DeAndre was on a team that went to
the final. So I'm gonna put you in the mind
(37:01):
of a twenty three year old and how he's thinking, Like,
hold up now, is it about winning or is it
about stat Because it's about winning. I was on the
team that got us to the finals. Oh, by the way,
I played well against Nicola Yokis last year in the
semifinal round, played well against the Clippers, and I don't
get max. I was the number one pick and they did. Okay,
(37:24):
that's his argument. What argument is we want to see
you mature more, We want to see you get better
in that category. You want to be able to count
it on you and get to your full potential. Okay,
we're not satisfied with nineteen and ten. We believe you're
twenty five and thirteen and fourteen guys, And I believe
he is as well if he put himself to it.
(37:45):
But what I will say, and I try to caution people,
he's twenty three. Like when I was twenty three, I
couldn't still walk into dumb okay at the same time,
and so sometimes you just have to wait and see
when that maturity seats in. We're seeing it with Dason
Tatum right now, and so we it. With a big man,
(38:07):
it tends to drag on a little bit longer. So
you seem to have no doubt that they'll match whatever
offer a team puts out there for him. No, I
think I think they want him back, but I think
they have their mindset on what they want him for.
So I mean, I think it's up to de Andre
I do. I think it's up to him where he sits,
(38:28):
where he stands, and and and really the conversation that
he's gonna have with the Suns in regard to if
they do pay him, you know, is he gonna be
committed and and a part of the team. And well
that's it. Wouldn't be shocked in thirty seconds. I mean,
there was a story about him him kind of going
at it with Mine Williams on the sideline, only playing
(38:51):
seventeen minutes in Game seven. What can you tell us
about that is that, yeah, don't I don't know much
about it at all. A lot of that stuff was
always handled internally, as Monty said, And this team got
along for the most part, and DeAndre got along with
everybody for the most part. He wasn't a kid that
sawts this year, even though he didn't get mac. He
(39:13):
was very energized. He was very charismatic, more charismatic than
I've ever seen him. Really. So I just think, you know,
everybody's gonna go off. I mean, Chris Paul had words
with Monty during the course of the playoffs. I mean,
it's just so, It's just it's natural. Man. I wouldn't
put too much into that at all, but I would
just love to see DeAndre come back, but I don't
(39:34):
think it's one hundred percent that he will. All right,
that's our man, Eddie Johnson, former Sons player and now
color endless man. And you're band from the show until
the Sons win a championship. That means you'll never be
on the show again. You're done here, Eddie. Good with
(39:59):
you the best, You're the best, all right,
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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