September 10, 2020 • 37 mins
It's The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker! Chris and Rob explain why winning a title this season would elevate Kawhi Leonard's legacy amongst the all-time greats and tell us why the Los Angeles Lakers dismantling of the Houston Rockets in Game 3 shows they were trying to send a message to the Clippers. Plus, 3x NBA championship BJ Armstrong swings by to share his thoughts on Kawhi, LeBron and much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:26):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. It is The Odd Couple.
I'm Chrissy's Robert coming to you live from the Geico
Fox Sports Radio studios. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen
percent more on your car insurance. Visit Geico dot com
for a free rate quote. We got b J. Armstrong,
three time NBA champion, co host of the new podcast
(00:49):
Pushing Through. It's called the Pushing Through Podcast, and he
will join us at the bottom of the hour. Obviously
a teammate of Michael Jordan Scottie Pippen. All Right, we
rob The Lakers are just as gas Man told us,
just destroying Houston. Houston's defeated both of them, and the
Clippers about to be up three one in their series,
(01:14):
just en route to a Western Conference finals. That is
everybody's dream matchup. And Kawhi Leonard is carrying the Clippers.
Paul George did it the previous game. Kawhi Leonard carried
them last night and really has carried them throughout the playoffs.
And so now people are starting to talk about him
(01:35):
and kind of trying to put him in historical context.
So our colleague here at FS one or FSR Fox
Sports Radio, you can actually hear his show, Jason Smith
and Mike Harmon coming up right after us. But Jason
Smith has weighed in last night and he said, Kawhi,
(01:57):
it's not in all time great Colin Cowherd, our colleague
here at Fox Sports Radio and at FS one, he
is said, and he doubled down on it today, said
it before, doubled down on it today that if and
in his mind win the LA Clippers win the championship
this year, Kawhi Leonard will be a top five player
(02:24):
of all time along with Michael Jordan, Lebron, James Kareem
Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Kawhi Leonard. And then Ben
A roar Back from Yahoo Sports wrote today that or
yesterday that Kawhi is still is the best closer in
(02:45):
the NBA. So a lot of different opinions about Kawhi Leonard,
I want to ask you, and you said the other
day you think he's the best player in the world.
I think you were a prisoner of the moment, but
maybe he'll prove that. Where are you at historically on Kauai,
I'm closer to Colin than I am to Jason. I
(03:09):
think Jason can say that now. I'm obviously he's in
the midst of a playoff, but if he is to
win his third championship and third finals MVP, and I
know he doesn't have any regular season MVPs. I bet
you if you talk to anybody, they'd rather have three
championships and finals MVPs than be Steve Nash with two
(03:32):
championships and never got to the finals. I think goes
to the leader of the team, right, do you know
what I mean? Like to me that that that doesn't
hold nearly as much weight to me then winning and
not just winning ones because you happen to be in
the right place at the right time, but you keep
moving around or going to different places and they keep winning.
(03:54):
I think that that's a sign of greatness. I don't
have him in Collins over the top. You know sixteen
to know for the Ravens and he's a top five player.
I don't have him there, but do I think that
he is one of the all time greats. And if
he were to win again and win the finals MVP
Chris and take the also don downtrodden Lakers and win it,
(04:19):
I mean the Clippers and win a championship. Oh, he's
en route to being a top ten player. And obviously
he's got many years to play. And if he were
to put together Chris some other numbers, maybe win a final,
maybe win an MVP, you know what I mean. If
his knees good, if he added all that together, then
I think it would be hard to keep him out
(04:41):
of that conversation. Well, part of part of Jason Smith's
argument on Kawhi was that look at the Raptors. He
felt like Kawhi was just kind of that missing piece
to the Raptors. Obviously, he won his first title in
San Antonio. Yes, he was the finals MVP. He wasn't
the best on that team. He wasn't. It wasn't his team.
(05:03):
It was Tim Duncan, Minu Genobli and Tony Parker's team.
But and he averaged twelve points that year, so he
you know, it wasn't the same as these last this
last year's title and this year's if they win it.
But he said, look at Toronto and even without Kauai,
they're still a great team and may even depended on
(05:24):
tomorrow's Game seven against Boston. But but but maybe get
to the Eastern cover. I know, this isn't you talking,
this is Jason. The only problem with that is that
they were good before he got there. They just couldn't
get to the to the get to the championship, you know,
like they used to changes though sixty somebody change. Yeah,
I'm just saying, but they were winning a lot of
(05:45):
games before that, so that that they that they continued
to win this year isn't shocking, right, Um, I don't
hold that against Kauai. If we held that against Kauai,
we'd have to hold it against Michael Jordan because when
the Bulls, you know, when he left the Bulls robe
after his first three peat, they went from fifty seven
games and his you know last year of that championship year,
(06:08):
that third championship, to fifty five wins without Jordan, and
as you know, they were very close to knocking off
the Knicks in the second round and maybe and getting
to the conference finals, and maybe they would have gone
on beyond that. So I just think, and he talked
about Lebron when he leaves teams, they fall completely off.
(06:32):
I do agree. I do believe that Lebron James has
the ability to lift a team more than any other
player I've ever seen, including Michael Jordan. Like, you can
put Lebron virtually anywhere and he can make that team
really good, like a playoff team or a contender. Now,
(06:54):
he hasn't been able to get them all the way
over the hump like Michael Jordan, but he and some
of that is because Lebron is the system, and when
he's in a place, everybody plays off of him. And
so when he leaves and you have to start all
over again and have a whole new system, and guys
have to play completely differently. And in a lot of
(07:16):
cases you brought in players to fit around Lebron that
really can't play any of you know, do stuff on
their own. So there's a reason for that. But I
do give that up to Lebron. He's able to do that,
and being able to do that, I think greater than
any other player I've ever seen, but I don't hold
that against Kauai. So to get where Kauhi is if
(07:38):
he wins this championship, rob and I'm not taking anything
away from from Kd's two rings, but these last two
rings last year's Toronto, this year's Clippers, if they do it,
they would be more impressive to me than the two
rings Durant got. And Durant is a more graceful player,
He's a more naturally gifted player, so we tend to,
(08:02):
you know, just put him above Kauai because he's a prodigy.
You know, we knew Durant was awesome in high school.
But I would have to say Kauhi, if he wins
it this year, he's right there with Durant, right in
that fifteen to twenty range of all time great players.
I mean, I don't know how you deny him. A
(08:24):
phenomenal defender. And now he's getting better. He's still getting better.
Robbed his mid range game and his passing now almost unstoppable.
Right the midrange is ridiculous. It's it's jordan esque, darn
near jordan esque. And then he's passing the ball well,
I think he's gonna keep improving on that finger the
(08:48):
other night, it didn't look like an et finger. That's
a good call on that, But yeah, that's where if
they win it this year, Rob, I would I would
say he's in that fifteen to twenty range and he's
still got a ways to go. And I think Rob
a lot of people are hesitant a guy that wasn't,
you know, tremendous in college, you know, not not like
(09:11):
something like a Zion or a Michael Jordan or somebody
like that, wasn't expected to be a star. And look
at his first three seasons eight points, twelve points, thirteen points,
it's fourth season sixteen and a half points. So I
think a lot of that works against him with people
when they want to rank him, because you just, like
(09:33):
I said, Lebron was great right away, Durant was great
right away. But a guy that develops over time, you
tend to maybe you know, not give him his props
as easily, but you're gonna have to. And the thing is, right,
like I said, he's twenty eight, twenty nine years old,
he's got plenty of more work to do. So when
(09:55):
it this year, I'm in the fifteen to twenty range
and he could keep Yeah, I just think he'll have
if he does, which I expect him to win the championship.
I just think people will look at him differently because
it to elevate you talk about elevating players, or to
take two championships and then just the little golden nugget
(10:18):
whether people I'm not saying on the statue you might
talk about it. But he could have gone and joined
Lebron and a d and decided not to do that
the easy street Chris right, the Durant way. How many
championships with those three of one if they were together
for the next four years, it wouldn't have been fun.
But I know, but I'm just think that would have
(10:40):
been even that may have been even more lopsided than
the Warriors, right, But I'm just saying, but it was
presented to him, he had a chance. He would have
still been playing in LA. He still would have been.
But but he still would have been in LA. He
still would have played in the same arena. Do you
know what I mean? Oh yeah, yeah, No, he rather
(11:03):
than join Lebron, he wants to go against him, exactly.
That's what I'm saying. Yeah, that's gonna make this matchup.
This is a delicious matchup this absolutely delicious coming up
and Kauhi, I think it's going to guard Lebron rob
like a lot, you know, and you don't see matchups
(11:25):
like that anymore. Lebron has shown that when he when necessary,
he can shut down or make it very tough on
the Harden, make it very tough on the Kauhi. The
question is how much is he gonna do that? And
I think for them to beat the Clippers, he's gonna
have to do it a lot, and I don't know
(11:46):
if he's up to that at age thirty five. And
so this is going This team is just to me.
To me, it's just it's just the Clippers are so
deep and you gotta pick your poison. This four guys
who could close the game, Chris. It's just different from
anything the Lakers. And we've seen them before. We've seen
the Clippers beat the Lakers without their full squad. We've
(12:07):
seen the Lakers beat the Clippers. But I really believe,
and I'm not saying like a piece of cake on
anybody's side, but I believe the Clippers will win. I
really do. And then when I got the Clippers and
I think right now, I'm like fifty five percent, Clippers
forty five percent Lakers. I think it's a close series.
I mean the Lakers. I think you would agree they
(12:28):
got two of the best three players in the series.
Paul George, as good as he is, is not as
good as those three. Lebron kept Kawhi and Anthony Davis.
But the Clippers do have the depth. They both are
playing good defense. They're better on the perimeter defense. It's
gonna be a heck of a matchup. And then, like
you said, you have the storyline that Kauai could have
(12:50):
joined Lebron and instead wanted to beat him. So that's
gonna be, as I said, absolutely delicious. All right, eight seven,
seven ninety nine on Fox eight seven, seven, nine nine
six sixty three sixty nine. What would an NBA title
this season due for the legacy of Kawhi Leonard? What
(13:11):
would an NBA title do for the legacy of Kawhi
Leonard this year? You're turning away in with christ and
Rob the Eye Couple. We will continue the conversation with
you next Fox Sports Radio. 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 iHeartRadio app. I think this
(13:35):
song actually brings a tier to Rod Parker's eye. I
grew up this is how I became a sportswriters because
of Oscar Batterson. It's a true story. I watched that
show growing up, and I was like, he has the
best job in the world. He was a sportswriter. And
I was like, if I can make it as a
baseball player playing first base for the Mets, I'm gonna
(13:57):
have my own newspaper column. Can you believe that? And
I swear to you right here, right now, the picture
I have over my desk is the same exact painting,
not not the exact one, but the you know, same
duplicate of of this boxer getting knocked out of the ring.
(14:19):
It's a famous boxing uh picture. You've seen it, Chris.
I don't remember who the boxes are, but I have
the same exact picture that he has over his desk. Well,
I remember you had the magazine for a minute called
Oscar yep I wrote wrote about I wrote a column.
You wrote it or you did? Yeah, at least started
I started a sports writer. I paint had checked in Bounce.
(14:44):
It was a small check, but it was something that
was like, No, I don't remember. It was in the nineties, Chris,
nineteen nineties. Right now, we're the eye couple brought you
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(15:07):
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Get in the zone AutoZone. All right, eight seven, seven
ninety nine on Fox, we threw it out to you.
What would in the NBA Championship this year for Kawhi
Leonard and the LA Clippers me for his legacy? All right,
let's kick it off with Phil in Texas. You're on
the odd couple Fox Sports Radio. What's up Phil? Hey,
(15:30):
Good afternoon, guys. Good talking to you again. Hey. So,
my idea with him with Leonards would be that he
would be considered a miracle worker because he started out
with one of the greatest coaches teammates he could have
asked for in San Antonio, got a great foundation. Then
from there it goes and then goes from there to Toronto.
(15:53):
That was having a good team, but just same thing.
They just couldn't get over the hump. And with the
skills that he had and he'd learned, got a championship
for them for the very first time. And now going
to La that has been dry this whole time. It's
always been the Lakers, and now for the Clippers to
be able to do it, to me, I would be
considered he'd be a considered a miracle worker. All right,
(16:15):
you're called to argue with that. And remember if the
if the Clippers win the next game, their Frenchise have
never even been to the Western Conference finals. Forget about
the championship, Chris, They've never been to the Western Conference finals,
which is incredible. And here's the thing, right we talked
about Jason Smith saying, wow, look at the Raptors. They're
still a great team, not as good, but really good
(16:37):
without Kauai. Let's just keep it real. The Clippers take
Kauai off this team, they're not in the Western They're
not in the Western Conference finals. There's no, there's no
it's still it might have won the playoff series or
so but they never Yeah, they're battling with Denver. Maybe
lose to Denver, you know, but there's no way they're
there in the conference finals. Marty in Kentucky are the
(16:58):
odd couple of Fox Sports Radio. What's Uprty? What's up? Bells?
How you done? Good? Mary? Chris Marty's listening to uh
Ben Mallard as well? I heard him one Ben Mallars.
I'm I didn't really thought. I thought Marty was all ours,
but hey, it's a it's all five shorts radio, so
(17:19):
it's all I got. I got a shift change on
the way home. He's done and Rob Rob like him,
so I called in and apparently I'm far too coherent
and uber right the most don't get in and the
Mallard malayia. I tell you what Mallard his show is
for those who if you haven't heard it, Ben Mallard
is tremendous. You can attest to it. Marty and he's
(17:42):
a he's a great hold. He's a smart guy, one
of our favorites. And Chris when he filled in for you,
I had so much fun, I really did. He does
a great job and that flot he does, he does
a faintastic job with it. Yep. Now on this says it. Guys.
You know, Kauaid's got a couple of Defensive Player of
(18:04):
the Year awards. He's got these two finals MVPs. If
he gets a third one with a third team and
two consecutive ones, he's really just an MVP award, which
is gonna be hard to do with. If he low manages,
he's gonna get it right. If he continues the low manners,
that's gonna be hardy. But he says that's the only
thing between him and being in a ghost conversation. Well, remember,
(18:29):
I mean, I don't know that they're in the Gold conversation,
but Shock and Kobe only have one MVP apiece. Yeah,
and I think the context too with Kauai would probably be, well,
he would have won a few, but he does he
only played sixty games a year, you know, so I
think people would put that into context. Now, good if
(18:50):
he gets this winning in and then he zeros down
on a season to go after an MP for his
you know, overall status career wise. But I'm not sure
if he cares about that stuff. You know, he's a
different dude. He don't care about it, you know, he
don't care about it. And here's the other part. I
just want to add real quickly. Uh, Marty and Chris,
(19:11):
what if Okay, they win, he still got eight or
nine years ago, right, what if they win? What if
he wins two more? I'm just what if he wins
with his low management, his body might like right wrong?
Because he looks great like he remember last year during
the playoffs he was hampered at times. Yeah, no, he
looks looks healthy. You haven't seen any one more thing. Guys,
(19:32):
take a look at his All American rankings. You'll laugh.
It just shows you how much a kid can develop
high school. Yeah, they had him all wrong. They had
a kid up the roads. It was ranked two slots
in ahead of him, John Hood, I mean it's fun.
And Marty another one. Go take a look at the
scouting report on Willie Mays and they had fifteen years
(19:54):
old A scouts said, don't sign him. He can't hit
a curveball. Fifteen Imagine that all. I appreciate it. Let's
squeeze and Rafael in Brazil Chiefs. Rob just scored it
to go ahead touchdown there up four. We're about to
go up fourteen seven on Houston second all right, you're
in the odd couple of Fox Sports Radio. What's up
even here? Everybody? How are you? I'm fine. Last time
(20:20):
I call, it didn't express myself correctly, so you guys
thought I was calling from the US, But I'm calling
from Brazil. Really, I'm talking from great from Brazil. Wow.
Tell everybody in Brazil the I couple loves him. Okay,
and to listen. Well, and it's been a lot, but
I have to give props to Rod for his stand
(20:41):
up coming to routine. It was great, very funny. Oh
thank you, man, don't overdo it. Which joke? Which joke
joke did you like the best? Now? The New York
the New York one, New York Victims. It was fun,
it was great. It was great. Job was coming down
in Brazil. They do he don't come on him exactly
(21:09):
thing No One l rapl and the girl from Epanima
laughed very hard. What you got man? What you add
on this about? Another title would mean a lot for
his legacy because the first one was a collective title.
(21:30):
He won the MVP, but Lebron Lebron was a better
player right in that series. The second one, the Raptors won,
but the Wars was word Bang Da No without KD
and Clig got hurt. So it was really good for
him for his legacy. But but this time could be
the most meaningful title for him. That's a great that's
(21:52):
a good point. That's a good point. Ro thank you,
thank you titles and no, you gotta play with who's there,
though you play there. There's no doubt this one, though,
would be his most meaningful. I think would you agree
with that? Yeah? I think it for a lot of
I mean, assuming the other teams are healthy, but for
a lot of reasons too. I think like that, like
(22:13):
to do to three three different places, to also, you know,
go up against Lebron knock him out, you know what
I mean, when he could have been with him. I
think that shows you a little something. There's a couple
of things working. And then to turn like the laughable
Clippers into winners in Los Angeles would be amazing, right
all right? The hoops conversation will continue with three time
(22:37):
NBA champion our man bj Armstrong. He joins US next.
But first, Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk
lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at
Fox sports radio dot com and within the iHeart radio
app search f SR to listen live. Three time NBA champion.
He's done everything in basketball. He's played, he he's been
(23:00):
an agent, he's been in the front office. Now he's
in the media. He's here to take trying to take
me and Rob's job. He's got a new podcast called
Pushing Through. He's a co host on that. I was
just on it this week. Great podcast. You gotta check
it out. It is our man, b j Armstrong. What's up, brother?
What's up? BJ? Now that's an intro. You didn't intro
(23:23):
me like that on the podcast. You're like, you didn't
win the chap, so well, you know, I'm inspired to
catch up with you guys. And you know what BJ,
all you had to say was a Rob Parker's sidekick,
Chris Brusaw. That was it. That's a perfect intro. BJ.
(23:44):
We were just talking about Kawhi Leonard and I'm gonna look,
he's not as graceful. His game isn't as pretty as
Michael Jordan's. And I'm not saying he's as good as Jordan's,
but his game reminds me of Jordan's both ends of
the floor. Plays, doesn't over dribble, too much mid range assassin?
(24:05):
Is that fair? You played with Jordan, obviously, you know
him as well as anybody. Do you think that Kawhi's
game is similar to Jordan's. Well, you know that's a
big order, but I will say this Kawhi Leonard game
really reminds me of Jordan in this regard. You know,
when Kawhi first came into the league, he played in
the system, and you know the system down there in
(24:29):
San Antonio where it was predicated on ball movement player movement,
and you really had to figure out how to play
and implement your individual talents into the system. Jordan, you know,
playing in the triangle offense was a system that was
predicated on the same principles ball movement equals player movement,
and you had to be very efficient. You know, Kawhi
(24:50):
Leonard doesn't waste a lot of dribbles, and that's the
one thing that I always admired about playing with Michael.
You know, he didn't waste a lot of dribbles. You know,
he did everything in three dribble or less. When you
watch him play one dribble, pull up two dribbles at
the basket, dunking, and very rarely you know, other than
when it was total isolation that he would utilize three
Award dribbles because he was very efficient as a player,
(25:12):
because his game was always predicated on the following. He
was a very, very fundamentally sound basketball player. When you
break Kawhi Leonards game down, I mean, fundamentally speaking, he
is very very solid. He's not really flashy, but he
gets to his spots. You know, Jordan was going to
get to his spots. He was going to fight for
position where he was going to catch the ball. And
(25:36):
you know, most of his damage, just like Kawhi Leonard
has done when he doesn't have the ball in his hand.
I mean, Kawhi Leonard catches the ball in an operating
area probably sixty seventy percent at a time. And when
you watch Michael Jordans Michael Jordan at the especially in
the second half of his career, he basically became a
six sixth center. He was always catching the ball below
the fifth are I'm ready to play, ready to score
(25:57):
and operate from that area. So I regard they both
had a tremendous understanding of the team concept, how to
implement their skills to really dictate and take over a
game without utilizing a lot of wasted energy. How about
and talking about what Kawhi can possibly do here, BJ,
(26:19):
it would be three different championships with three different teams.
Say he wins the MVP finals, that would be three.
He would do something nobody had ever done as far
as leading three different teams. Does that Does that make
you look at him a little differently? And he passed
up a chance to play with Lebron and ad to
go to the Clippers. Does he get any extra credit
(26:41):
for that as well? Well? I think you have to
give him credit. And you know, Robert, I've never seen
anything like this, and I think everyone, myself included, what
he was able to accomplish in one year in Toronto
speaks for itself. I mean I didn't think they had
a chance to win the championship. And you know who
(27:01):
knew that, Kauhi? You know, I knew he was really good.
I didn't know he was this type of player we
could carry this load. And being an ex player, knowing
how difficult it is to get traded, get to a
new city, take over the team, and then not only
take old team perform in that type of environment. You know,
I've only seen one other player turned down an opportunity
(27:24):
to play with another top five player. And I remember
the summer when Tim Duncan and Grant Hill and all
those guys were free agent, and I remember Tracy. I remember,
you know, Tim Duncan saying to the effect that, you
know what, if you guys want to come play with me,
that's cool, but I'm not leaving here. And I thought, man,
(27:44):
that's a very confident kid, you know. I just remember
him saying that. I thought, Now, that's confidence. You know.
He wasn't cocky about it. It was just having confidence
in your ability. But it said something about what he
thought about himself and that he felt confident enough that
he could win. He had in a when if the
other guys wanted to come play, yeah that's fine, but
I'm not coming to play with you guys. And I
(28:04):
thought that was kind of kind of unique in itself,
and I never forgot that, and uh, you know, Kawhi
kind of did the same. And Church let me just
follow real quick. And the thing about Tim Duncan, people
don't even think about b J. If Kawhi makes one
of those two free throws before that Ray Allen three, right,
he might have gone six and oz and NBA Finals.
(28:27):
That's the only finals he lost. A Yeah, yeah, Chris
and I talked about it. I don't think people give
Tim Duncan enough credits. That's what I mean. Yes, dunk is, Uh,
yeah he is. He's one of the all time you know,
everyone say the all time great power forwards or what
have you know, he's one of the all time great players.
(28:48):
And uh if he you know, maybe Pop doesn't take
him out, maybe he gets that rebound. Who knows, I
don't know, but he he's five and one, and uh,
I get him credit. He was a phenomenal, phenomenal player.
And I think what he did and overall what he
achieved of his career speaks for it. To BJ. Let
me ask you this, um, and I know you guys
(29:10):
went through Patrick Ewing, Alonzo mourning some of these guys, Um,
what do you think? And I guess you'll probably say
you guys would have won, But try to be as
honest as you can. What do you think would have
happened had those Bulls teams played the Rockets teams with
a team Alijuan or even remember the year Jordan, I
know you weren't still on the team. But the year
(29:32):
Jordan left retired the first the second time, that's when
San Antonio won the championship with Duncan and Robinson. How
do you think those great Bulls teams would have fared
against some of those Western you know, Elijuan and Duncan,
Robinson with the Spurs. Man, Well, you know, Chris Man,
you guys always smarted the way to put me on
(29:53):
the spot. That's a tough question. I wish you answer.
You know you in the media now man you yeah, no,
I have to be honest. You know, I think you
and I are discussed a little bit yesterday on the podcast.
You know, there's a couple of players that really that
made me nervous, right Tim Duncan was one and the
other player was a team of Lague. And the reason
(30:18):
Alijuan made me nervous from a technical standpoint is that
he played from different spots on the floor. You know,
for the most part, centers always catch the ball on
the on the box and you can figure out how
to you know, take away something front him, double him,
double them from the weak side the strong side. So
for a team of LaJuan, you couldn't do that. He
(30:39):
was he was a different type of player, and he
could effect the game on the defensive end. He could
steal the ball, he could intimidate you, and most importantly,
he was a problem as far as scoring the ball.
How do I think we would I really don't know
because I really don't know. Because he was a good
enough athlete. No, I take that back, he was a
(31:01):
great enough athlete to where that was one player that
Michael Jordan couldn't finish over the top up at the
basketball and Michael could overwhelm almost any player. But the
Chemo LaJuan was fast enough, he was strong enough, he
was big enough, and the most important, he was skilled enough.
And I really don't know. Because a dominant center has
(31:22):
always had an incredible impact on the game. I think
it would have been a great matchup. But to be
honest with you, you know those two guys, Tim Duncan
and a Chemo Lajing, you know they're always going to
be seven feet or you know a team he was
six ten or so, but he played so big. I
really don't know. I think it would have been a
(31:43):
great matchup, but those were two players I don't think
we really had an answer for, and a smaller player
can't dominate them because they are too big, too skilled,
too athletic. And it would have made for great theater,
that's for sure. But I really don't know, Chris, and
I'm glad I didn't have to find out. So tough nights,
(32:05):
Bill Winnington would have some tough nights A great great stuff.
We gotta run, man, you know it works, man, great BJ.
We'll talk soon, brother, Okay, thanks guys, appreciate it. All right, Yeah,
more I couple coming your way. Fox Sports Radio. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
(32:25):
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
com and within the iHeart Radio app search f s
R to listen live. All right, That of course is
night Rider, and that that's night Rider yep. On a
TV theme show Thursday, you're joining into the eye couple,
Chris and Robe. We're about to buy Blue EMU Maximum
(32:47):
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All right, Rob the Chiefs are up seventeen to seven
in the debut of the NFL twenty twenty against the
(33:11):
Houston Texans, and Patrick Mahomes has taken off where he
left off. I mean, the dude is bad and he
is showing it right now. He has got sixteen robs,
sixteen for twenty one, one hundred and thirty three yards,
two touchdowns, no no hyants. So he's off to a
(33:32):
good start. And you know, I told you my pick
for Rookie of the Year offensively was Clyde Edwards Hilaire.
He's off to a great start. Ten carry sixty four
yards and uh, I like that young man out of LSU.
But good game. And on the NBA side, the Lakers
dismissed the Houston Rockets. Now they're up three one, I
(33:55):
really feel yeah, off the gas. Yeah, that was just
just a bad look. Can't Why are you letting them?
I know they're fighting for their lives. Houston seventeen to two.
Run got it to within about seven, Chris or They
were blown about the entire game. Yeah, like, I think
it was seven or eight at some point, but then
(34:15):
they wound up with a couple of baskets at the end.
To win it. Yeah, I mean, I don't hold that
against the Lakers. I'm just saying run through them. Yet
the whole game, I just the gas. I think the
Lakers and the Clippers are looking at each other right,
and I think they're like, like when the Lakers went
(34:36):
up to one, I think the Clippers were like, Okay,
we're gonna go up through you know, like I mean,
maybe I'm wrong, but I don't know. I think it's
the competition. They should do what they've done to both.
I thought it would be sick, I know what I'm saying. Yeah,
I think I think they're like, I think the Lakers
are like, Okay, we we're you know, we saw what
(34:57):
the Clippers did. Let's go out there. Like I think
it's a it's a child. It's a healthy competition that
they're feeling from each other. And so, and you don't
want going into this series. We know how important it's
gonna be Lakers Clippers Western Conference Finals. You don't want
to have to go seven or maybe even six if
the other team goes five and gets that extra rest.
(35:20):
And so I think this is lining up for a
great series. But let me ask you this, Rob because
James Harden. He had another tough goal of it. Rob.
I mean, I know at the end of the day
what he ended up with nineteen points. Maybe he would
make free throws. Couldn't make a bad him not to
make free throws. So here's his line. Yeah, he was
(35:41):
missing free throws. His Lebron didn't even ball out. Lebron
has sixteen points. Now you have fifteen boards, nine assists.
I mean, obviously that's good for normal people, but little
low for him. But James Harden twenty one points, okay,
ten assists, five turnovers, sixteen for twenty Okay, that's not
bad from the line, but two of eleven from the field.
(36:04):
I'm a James Harden fan, I really am. I was
talking with Robs you earlier. I know everybody criticized this game.
They don't like the way it looks. I actually like
watching him. I love the handle. I think he's a
very underrated passer. And I understand, not that I was
(36:25):
some great player, but I understand how difficult it is
to shake somebody up in one spot like that which
a handle and create space or go buy him and
so I'm I'm impressed with him. But Rob, this happens
time and time again with him in big playoff games.
I just think that it diminishes you somewhat. You know,
(36:50):
doesn't take away everything, all your shot, but it diminishes you.
People look at it and go seeing this movie before
you know what I mean. I just it's happened to
many times. Yeah, And it doesn't mean that you could
have your day in the sun, you know what I mean?
And one at least one time pushed through. When people say, man,
I remember how great he was in twenty twelve or
(37:10):
twenty fifteen or whatever year you want to pick, but
you can't say that, right, there's no year and they
and you know what, last year would have been the
year because Kevin Durant got hurt, right, that was the chief,
the prime opportunity, and they didn't get it done. All right,
It's the Eye Couple, Christ and Rob. Three great hours.
(37:32):
We hope you enjoyed it. We'll see you guys tomorrow
right here on Fox Sports Radio. Perce
Thanks for listening to The Odd Couple podcast. Be sure
to catch us live every weekday from seven pm to
ten pm Eastern four to seven pm Pacific, or Fox
Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd Couple
at Fox Sports Radio dot com or stream us live
every day or the iHeartRadio app by searching f s R.
(00:26):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. It is The Odd Couple.
I'm Chrissy's Robert coming to you live from the Geico
Fox Sports Radio studios. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen
percent more on your car insurance. Visit Geico dot com
for a free rate quote. We got b J. Armstrong,
three time NBA champion, co host of the new podcast
(00:49):
Pushing Through. It's called the Pushing Through Podcast, and he
will join us at the bottom of the hour. Obviously
a teammate of Michael Jordan Scottie Pippen. All Right, we
rob The Lakers are just as gas Man told us,
just destroying Houston. Houston's defeated both of them, and the
Clippers about to be up three one in their series,
(01:14):
just en route to a Western Conference finals. That is
everybody's dream matchup. And Kawhi Leonard is carrying the Clippers.
Paul George did it the previous game. Kawhi Leonard carried
them last night and really has carried them throughout the playoffs.
And so now people are starting to talk about him
(01:35):
and kind of trying to put him in historical context.
So our colleague here at FS one or FSR Fox
Sports Radio, you can actually hear his show, Jason Smith
and Mike Harmon coming up right after us. But Jason
Smith has weighed in last night and he said, Kawhi,
(01:57):
it's not in all time great Colin Cowherd, our colleague
here at Fox Sports Radio and at FS one, he
is said, and he doubled down on it today, said
it before, doubled down on it today that if and
in his mind win the LA Clippers win the championship
this year, Kawhi Leonard will be a top five player
(02:24):
of all time along with Michael Jordan, Lebron, James Kareem
Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Kawhi Leonard. And then Ben
A roar Back from Yahoo Sports wrote today that or
yesterday that Kawhi is still is the best closer in
(02:45):
the NBA. So a lot of different opinions about Kawhi Leonard,
I want to ask you, and you said the other
day you think he's the best player in the world.
I think you were a prisoner of the moment, but
maybe he'll prove that. Where are you at historically on Kauai,
I'm closer to Colin than I am to Jason. I
(03:09):
think Jason can say that now. I'm obviously he's in
the midst of a playoff, but if he is to
win his third championship and third finals MVP, and I
know he doesn't have any regular season MVPs. I bet
you if you talk to anybody, they'd rather have three
championships and finals MVPs than be Steve Nash with two
(03:32):
championships and never got to the finals. I think goes
to the leader of the team, right, do you know
what I mean? Like to me that that that doesn't
hold nearly as much weight to me then winning and
not just winning ones because you happen to be in
the right place at the right time, but you keep
moving around or going to different places and they keep winning.
(03:54):
I think that that's a sign of greatness. I don't
have him in Collins over the top. You know sixteen
to know for the Ravens and he's a top five player.
I don't have him there, but do I think that
he is one of the all time greats. And if
he were to win again and win the finals MVP
Chris and take the also don downtrodden Lakers and win it,
(04:19):
I mean the Clippers and win a championship. Oh, he's
en route to being a top ten player. And obviously
he's got many years to play. And if he were
to put together Chris some other numbers, maybe win a final,
maybe win an MVP, you know what I mean. If
his knees good, if he added all that together, then
I think it would be hard to keep him out
(04:41):
of that conversation. Well, part of part of Jason Smith's
argument on Kawhi was that look at the Raptors. He
felt like Kawhi was just kind of that missing piece
to the Raptors. Obviously, he won his first title in
San Antonio. Yes, he was the finals MVP. He wasn't
the best on that team. He wasn't. It wasn't his team.
(05:03):
It was Tim Duncan, Minu Genobli and Tony Parker's team.
But and he averaged twelve points that year, so he
you know, it wasn't the same as these last this
last year's title and this year's if they win it.
But he said, look at Toronto and even without Kauai,
they're still a great team and may even depended on
(05:24):
tomorrow's Game seven against Boston. But but but maybe get
to the Eastern cover. I know, this isn't you talking,
this is Jason. The only problem with that is that
they were good before he got there. They just couldn't
get to the to the get to the championship, you know,
like they used to changes though sixty somebody change. Yeah,
I'm just saying, but they were winning a lot of
(05:45):
games before that, so that that they that they continued
to win this year isn't shocking, right, Um, I don't
hold that against Kauai. If we held that against Kauai,
we'd have to hold it against Michael Jordan because when
the Bulls, you know, when he left the Bulls robe
after his first three peat, they went from fifty seven
games and his you know last year of that championship year,
(06:08):
that third championship, to fifty five wins without Jordan, and
as you know, they were very close to knocking off
the Knicks in the second round and maybe and getting
to the conference finals, and maybe they would have gone
on beyond that. So I just think, and he talked
about Lebron when he leaves teams, they fall completely off.
(06:32):
I do agree. I do believe that Lebron James has
the ability to lift a team more than any other
player I've ever seen, including Michael Jordan. Like, you can
put Lebron virtually anywhere and he can make that team
really good, like a playoff team or a contender. Now,
(06:54):
he hasn't been able to get them all the way
over the hump like Michael Jordan, but he and some
of that is because Lebron is the system, and when
he's in a place, everybody plays off of him. And
so when he leaves and you have to start all
over again and have a whole new system, and guys
have to play completely differently. And in a lot of
(07:16):
cases you brought in players to fit around Lebron that
really can't play any of you know, do stuff on
their own. So there's a reason for that. But I
do give that up to Lebron. He's able to do that,
and being able to do that, I think greater than
any other player I've ever seen, but I don't hold
that against Kauai. So to get where Kauhi is if
(07:38):
he wins this championship, rob and I'm not taking anything
away from from Kd's two rings, but these last two
rings last year's Toronto, this year's Clippers, if they do it,
they would be more impressive to me than the two
rings Durant got. And Durant is a more graceful player,
He's a more naturally gifted player, so we tend to,
(08:02):
you know, just put him above Kauai because he's a prodigy.
You know, we knew Durant was awesome in high school.
But I would have to say Kauhi, if he wins
it this year, he's right there with Durant, right in
that fifteen to twenty range of all time great players.
I mean, I don't know how you deny him. A
(08:24):
phenomenal defender. And now he's getting better. He's still getting better.
Robbed his mid range game and his passing now almost unstoppable.
Right the midrange is ridiculous. It's it's jordan esque, darn
near jordan esque. And then he's passing the ball well,
I think he's gonna keep improving on that finger the
(08:48):
other night, it didn't look like an et finger. That's
a good call on that, But yeah, that's where if
they win it this year, Rob, I would I would
say he's in that fifteen to twenty range and he's
still got a ways to go. And I think Rob
a lot of people are hesitant a guy that wasn't,
you know, tremendous in college, you know, not not like
(09:11):
something like a Zion or a Michael Jordan or somebody
like that, wasn't expected to be a star. And look
at his first three seasons eight points, twelve points, thirteen points,
it's fourth season sixteen and a half points. So I
think a lot of that works against him with people
when they want to rank him, because you just, like
(09:33):
I said, Lebron was great right away, Durant was great
right away. But a guy that develops over time, you
tend to maybe you know, not give him his props
as easily, but you're gonna have to. And the thing is, right,
like I said, he's twenty eight, twenty nine years old,
he's got plenty of more work to do. So when
(09:55):
it this year, I'm in the fifteen to twenty range
and he could keep Yeah, I just think he'll have
if he does, which I expect him to win the championship.
I just think people will look at him differently because
it to elevate you talk about elevating players, or to
take two championships and then just the little golden nugget
(10:18):
whether people I'm not saying on the statue you might
talk about it. But he could have gone and joined
Lebron and a d and decided not to do that
the easy street Chris right, the Durant way. How many
championships with those three of one if they were together
for the next four years, it wouldn't have been fun.
But I know, but I'm just think that would have
(10:40):
been even that may have been even more lopsided than
the Warriors, right, But I'm just saying, but it was
presented to him, he had a chance. He would have
still been playing in LA. He still would have been.
But but he still would have been in LA. He
still would have played in the same arena. Do you
know what I mean? Oh yeah, yeah, No, he rather
(11:03):
than join Lebron, he wants to go against him, exactly.
That's what I'm saying. Yeah, that's gonna make this matchup.
This is a delicious matchup this absolutely delicious coming up
and Kauhi, I think it's going to guard Lebron rob
like a lot, you know, and you don't see matchups
(11:25):
like that anymore. Lebron has shown that when he when necessary,
he can shut down or make it very tough on
the Harden, make it very tough on the Kauhi. The
question is how much is he gonna do that? And
I think for them to beat the Clippers, he's gonna
have to do it a lot, and I don't know
(11:46):
if he's up to that at age thirty five. And
so this is going This team is just to me.
To me, it's just it's just the Clippers are so
deep and you gotta pick your poison. This four guys
who could close the game, Chris. It's just different from
anything the Lakers. And we've seen them before. We've seen
the Clippers beat the Lakers without their full squad. We've
(12:07):
seen the Lakers beat the Clippers. But I really believe,
and I'm not saying like a piece of cake on
anybody's side, but I believe the Clippers will win. I
really do. And then when I got the Clippers and
I think right now, I'm like fifty five percent, Clippers
forty five percent Lakers. I think it's a close series.
I mean the Lakers. I think you would agree they
(12:28):
got two of the best three players in the series.
Paul George, as good as he is, is not as
good as those three. Lebron kept Kawhi and Anthony Davis.
But the Clippers do have the depth. They both are
playing good defense. They're better on the perimeter defense. It's
gonna be a heck of a matchup. And then, like
you said, you have the storyline that Kauai could have
(12:50):
joined Lebron and instead wanted to beat him. So that's
gonna be, as I said, absolutely delicious. All right, eight seven,
seven ninety nine on Fox eight seven, seven, nine nine
six sixty three sixty nine. What would an NBA title
this season due for the legacy of Kawhi Leonard? What
(13:11):
would an NBA title do for the legacy of Kawhi
Leonard this year? You're turning away in with christ and
Rob the Eye Couple. We will continue the conversation with
you next Fox Sports Radio. 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 iHeartRadio app. I think this
(13:35):
song actually brings a tier to Rod Parker's eye. I
grew up this is how I became a sportswriters because
of Oscar Batterson. It's a true story. I watched that
show growing up, and I was like, he has the
best job in the world. He was a sportswriter. And
I was like, if I can make it as a
baseball player playing first base for the Mets, I'm gonna
(13:57):
have my own newspaper column. Can you believe that? And
I swear to you right here, right now, the picture
I have over my desk is the same exact painting,
not not the exact one, but the you know, same
duplicate of of this boxer getting knocked out of the ring.
(14:19):
It's a famous boxing uh picture. You've seen it, Chris.
I don't remember who the boxes are, but I have
the same exact picture that he has over his desk. Well,
I remember you had the magazine for a minute called
Oscar yep I wrote wrote about I wrote a column.
You wrote it or you did? Yeah, at least started
I started a sports writer. I paint had checked in Bounce.
(14:44):
It was a small check, but it was something that
was like, No, I don't remember. It was in the nineties, Chris,
nineteen nineties. Right now, we're the eye couple brought you
about AutoZone. Auto Zones got more ways for you to
get what you need when you need it. With their
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(15:07):
Visit autoswn dot com today to start your job fast.
Get in the zone AutoZone. All right, eight seven, seven
ninety nine on Fox, we threw it out to you.
What would in the NBA Championship this year for Kawhi
Leonard and the LA Clippers me for his legacy? All right,
let's kick it off with Phil in Texas. You're on
the odd couple Fox Sports Radio. What's up Phil? Hey,
(15:30):
Good afternoon, guys. Good talking to you again. Hey. So,
my idea with him with Leonards would be that he
would be considered a miracle worker because he started out
with one of the greatest coaches teammates he could have
asked for in San Antonio, got a great foundation. Then
from there it goes and then goes from there to Toronto.
(15:53):
That was having a good team, but just same thing.
They just couldn't get over the hump. And with the
skills that he had and he'd learned, got a championship
for them for the very first time. And now going
to La that has been dry this whole time. It's
always been the Lakers, and now for the Clippers to
be able to do it, to me, I would be
considered he'd be a considered a miracle worker. All right,
(16:15):
you're called to argue with that. And remember if the
if the Clippers win the next game, their Frenchise have
never even been to the Western Conference finals. Forget about
the championship, Chris, They've never been to the Western Conference finals,
which is incredible. And here's the thing, right we talked
about Jason Smith saying, wow, look at the Raptors. They're
still a great team, not as good, but really good
(16:37):
without Kauai. Let's just keep it real. The Clippers take
Kauai off this team, they're not in the Western They're
not in the Western Conference finals. There's no, there's no
it's still it might have won the playoff series or
so but they never Yeah, they're battling with Denver. Maybe
lose to Denver, you know, but there's no way they're
there in the conference finals. Marty in Kentucky are the
(16:58):
odd couple of Fox Sports Radio. What's Uprty? What's up? Bells?
How you done? Good? Mary? Chris Marty's listening to uh
Ben Mallard as well? I heard him one Ben Mallars.
I'm I didn't really thought. I thought Marty was all ours,
but hey, it's a it's all five shorts radio, so
(17:19):
it's all I got. I got a shift change on
the way home. He's done and Rob Rob like him,
so I called in and apparently I'm far too coherent
and uber right the most don't get in and the
Mallard malayia. I tell you what Mallard his show is
for those who if you haven't heard it, Ben Mallard
is tremendous. You can attest to it. Marty and he's
(17:42):
a he's a great hold. He's a smart guy, one
of our favorites. And Chris when he filled in for you,
I had so much fun, I really did. He does
a great job and that flot he does, he does
a faintastic job with it. Yep. Now on this says it. Guys.
You know, Kauaid's got a couple of Defensive Player of
(18:04):
the Year awards. He's got these two finals MVPs. If
he gets a third one with a third team and
two consecutive ones, he's really just an MVP award, which
is gonna be hard to do with. If he low manages,
he's gonna get it right. If he continues the low manners,
that's gonna be hardy. But he says that's the only
thing between him and being in a ghost conversation. Well, remember,
(18:29):
I mean, I don't know that they're in the Gold conversation,
but Shock and Kobe only have one MVP apiece. Yeah,
and I think the context too with Kauai would probably be, well,
he would have won a few, but he does he
only played sixty games a year, you know, so I
think people would put that into context. Now, good if
(18:50):
he gets this winning in and then he zeros down
on a season to go after an MP for his
you know, overall status career wise. But I'm not sure
if he cares about that stuff. You know, he's a
different dude. He don't care about it, you know, he
don't care about it. And here's the other part. I
just want to add real quickly. Uh, Marty and Chris,
(19:11):
what if Okay, they win, he still got eight or
nine years ago, right, what if they win? What if
he wins two more? I'm just what if he wins
with his low management, his body might like right wrong?
Because he looks great like he remember last year during
the playoffs he was hampered at times. Yeah, no, he
looks looks healthy. You haven't seen any one more thing. Guys,
(19:32):
take a look at his All American rankings. You'll laugh.
It just shows you how much a kid can develop
high school. Yeah, they had him all wrong. They had
a kid up the roads. It was ranked two slots
in ahead of him, John Hood, I mean it's fun.
And Marty another one. Go take a look at the
scouting report on Willie Mays and they had fifteen years
(19:54):
old A scouts said, don't sign him. He can't hit
a curveball. Fifteen Imagine that all. I appreciate it. Let's
squeeze and Rafael in Brazil Chiefs. Rob just scored it
to go ahead touchdown there up four. We're about to
go up fourteen seven on Houston second all right, you're
in the odd couple of Fox Sports Radio. What's up
even here? Everybody? How are you? I'm fine. Last time
(20:20):
I call, it didn't express myself correctly, so you guys
thought I was calling from the US, But I'm calling
from Brazil. Really, I'm talking from great from Brazil. Wow.
Tell everybody in Brazil the I couple loves him. Okay,
and to listen. Well, and it's been a lot, but
I have to give props to Rod for his stand
(20:41):
up coming to routine. It was great, very funny. Oh
thank you, man, don't overdo it. Which joke? Which joke
joke did you like the best? Now? The New York
the New York one, New York Victims. It was fun,
it was great. It was great. Job was coming down
in Brazil. They do he don't come on him exactly
(21:09):
thing No One l rapl and the girl from Epanima
laughed very hard. What you got man? What you add
on this about? Another title would mean a lot for
his legacy because the first one was a collective title.
(21:30):
He won the MVP, but Lebron Lebron was a better
player right in that series. The second one, the Raptors won,
but the Wars was word Bang Da No without KD
and Clig got hurt. So it was really good for
him for his legacy. But but this time could be
the most meaningful title for him. That's a great that's
(21:52):
a good point. That's a good point. Ro thank you,
thank you titles and no, you gotta play with who's there,
though you play there. There's no doubt this one, though,
would be his most meaningful. I think would you agree
with that? Yeah? I think it for a lot of
I mean, assuming the other teams are healthy, but for
a lot of reasons too. I think like that, like
(22:13):
to do to three three different places, to also, you know,
go up against Lebron knock him out, you know what
I mean, when he could have been with him. I
think that shows you a little something. There's a couple
of things working. And then to turn like the laughable
Clippers into winners in Los Angeles would be amazing, right
all right? The hoops conversation will continue with three time
(22:37):
NBA champion our man bj Armstrong. He joins US next.
But first, Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk
lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at
Fox sports radio dot com and within the iHeart radio
app search f SR to listen live. Three time NBA champion.
He's done everything in basketball. He's played, he he's been
(23:00):
an agent, he's been in the front office. Now he's
in the media. He's here to take trying to take
me and Rob's job. He's got a new podcast called
Pushing Through. He's a co host on that. I was
just on it this week. Great podcast. You gotta check
it out. It is our man, b j Armstrong. What's up, brother?
What's up? BJ? Now that's an intro. You didn't intro
(23:23):
me like that on the podcast. You're like, you didn't
win the chap, so well, you know, I'm inspired to
catch up with you guys. And you know what BJ,
all you had to say was a Rob Parker's sidekick,
Chris Brusaw. That was it. That's a perfect intro. BJ.
(23:44):
We were just talking about Kawhi Leonard and I'm gonna look,
he's not as graceful. His game isn't as pretty as
Michael Jordan's. And I'm not saying he's as good as Jordan's,
but his game reminds me of Jordan's both ends of
the floor. Plays, doesn't over dribble, too much mid range assassin?
(24:05):
Is that fair? You played with Jordan, obviously, you know
him as well as anybody. Do you think that Kawhi's
game is similar to Jordan's. Well, you know that's a
big order, but I will say this Kawhi Leonard game
really reminds me of Jordan in this regard. You know,
when Kawhi first came into the league, he played in
the system, and you know the system down there in
(24:29):
San Antonio where it was predicated on ball movement player movement,
and you really had to figure out how to play
and implement your individual talents into the system. Jordan, you know,
playing in the triangle offense was a system that was
predicated on the same principles ball movement equals player movement,
and you had to be very efficient. You know, Kawhi
(24:50):
Leonard doesn't waste a lot of dribbles, and that's the
one thing that I always admired about playing with Michael.
You know, he didn't waste a lot of dribbles. You know,
he did everything in three dribble or less. When you
watch him play one dribble, pull up two dribbles at
the basket, dunking, and very rarely you know, other than
when it was total isolation that he would utilize three
Award dribbles because he was very efficient as a player,
(25:12):
because his game was always predicated on the following. He
was a very, very fundamentally sound basketball player. When you
break Kawhi Leonards game down, I mean, fundamentally speaking, he
is very very solid. He's not really flashy, but he
gets to his spots. You know, Jordan was going to
get to his spots. He was going to fight for
position where he was going to catch the ball. And
(25:36):
you know, most of his damage, just like Kawhi Leonard
has done when he doesn't have the ball in his hand.
I mean, Kawhi Leonard catches the ball in an operating
area probably sixty seventy percent at a time. And when
you watch Michael Jordans Michael Jordan at the especially in
the second half of his career, he basically became a
six sixth center. He was always catching the ball below
the fifth are I'm ready to play, ready to score
(25:57):
and operate from that area. So I regard they both
had a tremendous understanding of the team concept, how to
implement their skills to really dictate and take over a
game without utilizing a lot of wasted energy. How about
and talking about what Kawhi can possibly do here, BJ,
(26:19):
it would be three different championships with three different teams.
Say he wins the MVP finals, that would be three.
He would do something nobody had ever done as far
as leading three different teams. Does that Does that make
you look at him a little differently? And he passed
up a chance to play with Lebron and ad to
go to the Clippers. Does he get any extra credit
(26:41):
for that as well? Well? I think you have to
give him credit. And you know, Robert, I've never seen
anything like this, and I think everyone, myself included, what
he was able to accomplish in one year in Toronto
speaks for itself. I mean I didn't think they had
a chance to win the championship. And you know who
(27:01):
knew that, Kauhi? You know, I knew he was really good.
I didn't know he was this type of player we
could carry this load. And being an ex player, knowing
how difficult it is to get traded, get to a
new city, take over the team, and then not only
take old team perform in that type of environment. You know,
I've only seen one other player turned down an opportunity
(27:24):
to play with another top five player. And I remember
the summer when Tim Duncan and Grant Hill and all
those guys were free agent, and I remember Tracy. I remember,
you know, Tim Duncan saying to the effect that, you
know what, if you guys want to come play with me,
that's cool, but I'm not leaving here. And I thought, man,
(27:44):
that's a very confident kid, you know. I just remember
him saying that. I thought, Now, that's confidence. You know.
He wasn't cocky about it. It was just having confidence
in your ability. But it said something about what he
thought about himself and that he felt confident enough that
he could win. He had in a when if the
other guys wanted to come play, yeah that's fine, but
I'm not coming to play with you guys. And I
(28:04):
thought that was kind of kind of unique in itself,
and I never forgot that, and uh, you know, Kawhi
kind of did the same. And Church let me just
follow real quick. And the thing about Tim Duncan, people
don't even think about b J. If Kawhi makes one
of those two free throws before that Ray Allen three, right,
he might have gone six and oz and NBA Finals.
(28:27):
That's the only finals he lost. A Yeah, yeah, Chris
and I talked about it. I don't think people give
Tim Duncan enough credits. That's what I mean. Yes, dunk is, Uh,
yeah he is. He's one of the all time you know,
everyone say the all time great power forwards or what
have you know, he's one of the all time great players.
(28:48):
And uh if he you know, maybe Pop doesn't take
him out, maybe he gets that rebound. Who knows, I
don't know, but he he's five and one, and uh,
I get him credit. He was a phenomenal, phenomenal player.
And I think what he did and overall what he
achieved of his career speaks for it. To BJ. Let
me ask you this, um, and I know you guys
(29:10):
went through Patrick Ewing, Alonzo mourning some of these guys, Um,
what do you think? And I guess you'll probably say
you guys would have won, But try to be as
honest as you can. What do you think would have
happened had those Bulls teams played the Rockets teams with
a team Alijuan or even remember the year Jordan, I
know you weren't still on the team. But the year
(29:32):
Jordan left retired the first the second time, that's when
San Antonio won the championship with Duncan and Robinson. How
do you think those great Bulls teams would have fared
against some of those Western you know, Elijuan and Duncan,
Robinson with the Spurs. Man, Well, you know, Chris Man,
you guys always smarted the way to put me on
(29:53):
the spot. That's a tough question. I wish you answer.
You know you in the media now man you yeah, no,
I have to be honest. You know, I think you
and I are discussed a little bit yesterday on the podcast.
You know, there's a couple of players that really that
made me nervous, right Tim Duncan was one and the
other player was a team of Lague. And the reason
(30:18):
Alijuan made me nervous from a technical standpoint is that
he played from different spots on the floor. You know,
for the most part, centers always catch the ball on
the on the box and you can figure out how
to you know, take away something front him, double him,
double them from the weak side the strong side. So
for a team of LaJuan, you couldn't do that. He
(30:39):
was he was a different type of player, and he
could effect the game on the defensive end. He could
steal the ball, he could intimidate you, and most importantly,
he was a problem as far as scoring the ball.
How do I think we would I really don't know
because I really don't know. Because he was a good
enough athlete. No, I take that back, he was a
(31:01):
great enough athlete to where that was one player that
Michael Jordan couldn't finish over the top up at the
basketball and Michael could overwhelm almost any player. But the
Chemo LaJuan was fast enough, he was strong enough, he
was big enough, and the most important, he was skilled enough.
And I really don't know. Because a dominant center has
(31:22):
always had an incredible impact on the game. I think
it would have been a great matchup. But to be
honest with you, you know those two guys, Tim Duncan
and a Chemo Lajing, you know they're always going to
be seven feet or you know a team he was
six ten or so, but he played so big. I
really don't know. I think it would have been a
(31:43):
great matchup, but those were two players I don't think
we really had an answer for, and a smaller player
can't dominate them because they are too big, too skilled,
too athletic. And it would have made for great theater,
that's for sure. But I really don't know, Chris, and
I'm glad I didn't have to find out. So tough nights,
(32:05):
Bill Winnington would have some tough nights A great great stuff.
We gotta run, man, you know it works, man, great BJ.
We'll talk soon, brother, Okay, thanks guys, appreciate it. All right, Yeah,
more I couple coming your way. Fox Sports Radio. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
(32:25):
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
com and within the iHeart Radio app search f s
R to listen live. All right, That of course is
night Rider, and that that's night Rider yep. On a
TV theme show Thursday, you're joining into the eye couple,
Chris and Robe. We're about to buy Blue EMU Maximum
(32:47):
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All right, Rob the Chiefs are up seventeen to seven
in the debut of the NFL twenty twenty against the
(33:11):
Houston Texans, and Patrick Mahomes has taken off where he
left off. I mean, the dude is bad and he
is showing it right now. He has got sixteen robs,
sixteen for twenty one, one hundred and thirty three yards,
two touchdowns, no no hyants. So he's off to a
(33:32):
good start. And you know, I told you my pick
for Rookie of the Year offensively was Clyde Edwards Hilaire.
He's off to a great start. Ten carry sixty four
yards and uh, I like that young man out of LSU.
But good game. And on the NBA side, the Lakers
dismissed the Houston Rockets. Now they're up three one, I
(33:55):
really feel yeah, off the gas. Yeah, that was just
just a bad look. Can't Why are you letting them?
I know they're fighting for their lives. Houston seventeen to two.
Run got it to within about seven, Chris or They
were blown about the entire game. Yeah, like, I think
it was seven or eight at some point, but then
(34:15):
they wound up with a couple of baskets at the end.
To win it. Yeah, I mean, I don't hold that
against the Lakers. I'm just saying run through them. Yet
the whole game, I just the gas. I think the
Lakers and the Clippers are looking at each other right,
and I think they're like, like when the Lakers went
(34:36):
up to one, I think the Clippers were like, Okay,
we're gonna go up through you know, like I mean,
maybe I'm wrong, but I don't know. I think it's
the competition. They should do what they've done to both.
I thought it would be sick, I know what I'm saying. Yeah,
I think I think they're like, I think the Lakers
are like, Okay, we we're you know, we saw what
(34:57):
the Clippers did. Let's go out there. Like I think
it's a it's a child. It's a healthy competition that
they're feeling from each other. And so, and you don't
want going into this series. We know how important it's
gonna be Lakers Clippers Western Conference Finals. You don't want
to have to go seven or maybe even six if
the other team goes five and gets that extra rest.
(35:20):
And so I think this is lining up for a
great series. But let me ask you this, Rob because
James Harden. He had another tough goal of it. Rob.
I mean, I know at the end of the day
what he ended up with nineteen points. Maybe he would
make free throws. Couldn't make a bad him not to
make free throws. So here's his line. Yeah, he was
(35:41):
missing free throws. His Lebron didn't even ball out. Lebron
has sixteen points. Now you have fifteen boards, nine assists.
I mean, obviously that's good for normal people, but little
low for him. But James Harden twenty one points, okay,
ten assists, five turnovers, sixteen for twenty Okay, that's not
bad from the line, but two of eleven from the field.
(36:04):
I'm a James Harden fan, I really am. I was
talking with Robs you earlier. I know everybody criticized this game.
They don't like the way it looks. I actually like
watching him. I love the handle. I think he's a
very underrated passer. And I understand, not that I was
(36:25):
some great player, but I understand how difficult it is
to shake somebody up in one spot like that which
a handle and create space or go buy him and
so I'm I'm impressed with him. But Rob, this happens
time and time again with him in big playoff games.
I just think that it diminishes you somewhat. You know,
(36:50):
doesn't take away everything, all your shot, but it diminishes you.
People look at it and go seeing this movie before
you know what I mean. I just it's happened to
many times. Yeah, And it doesn't mean that you could
have your day in the sun, you know what I mean?
And one at least one time pushed through. When people say, man,
I remember how great he was in twenty twelve or
(37:10):
twenty fifteen or whatever year you want to pick, but
you can't say that, right, there's no year and they
and you know what, last year would have been the
year because Kevin Durant got hurt, right, that was the chief,
the prime opportunity, and they didn't get it done. All right,
It's the Eye Couple, Christ and Rob. Three great hours.
(37:32):
We hope you enjoyed it. We'll see you guys tomorrow
right here on Fox Sports Radio. Perce
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