Mark Willard & Aaron Torres React To The Start of NBA Free Agency, Paul George's Whereabouts, LeBron's Nepotism, and More!!

Mark Willard and Aaron Torres react to the start of NBA Free Agency with a lukewarm reception of signings happening within the first few hours. Mark and Aaron also begin to ponder about where Paul George is going to head to for his new home after leaving the Clippers. Plus, the guys discuss the LeBron James nepotism angle, Klay Thompson leaving the Warriors, and so much more!!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Oh hey, welcome to lying seasoned ladies and gentlemen. You
are already on a ride that you don't even know
you're on. Keep your hands tucked close to your sides,
keep them inside because this ride can get a little
hot and heavy. Just a little word of the wise.
Here's a little trick, especially you ladies out there. But guys,
you two. When people answer a question with another question,

(00:28):
it's because they're trying to buy time with their answer. Hey,
where were you tonight? Where was I tonight? That means
you're trying to buy time. That means you know you're
being lied to. Now let's transfer it, Aaron Torres over
to NBA free agency. Have you noticed that none of
the things that we've been told are about to happen

(00:50):
for two weeks have happened. Like for me, this has
become the new key if I see it on Twitter
a week before. I mean here in the Bay Area,
we've been hearing Klay Thompson to the Orlando Magic for
two months, two months, and that's why they just signed
Kentavious Caldwell Pope. Because if it's out there, that just

(01:12):
means somebody's trying to twist somebody else's arm, not that
it's actually about to happen.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
Good evening, and welcome to lying season.

Speaker 4 (01:21):
So two things.

Speaker 5 (01:22):
One, I was actually gonna lead the show by talking
about the thing that I respect in life more than
anything is a man or woman of their word. And
Mark Willard promised America last week that at some point
in the future Aaron Torres would be lucky enough to
do another show with him. So thank you Mark Willard

(01:43):
for putting it out into the universe, for making that happen. Yeah,
my word, Yes, unlikely. You know, No, you are unlike
a lot of these NBA gms. And I'll tell you
it's it's it's crazy because we've been doing this for
so long. It's like you just you can just he
through some stuff, you know, and we're going to talk

(02:04):
about you know, Bronnie James, Oh, you know, don't don't
pick my guy, Rich Paul Says or or you know
Rob Pualink and no, he's got all this upside is
it's like, no, let's just get to the real you
know what do they say the brass tacks of what
the real story is? And I think that's absolutely the case.
In free agency as well. As you said, there's a
lot of stuff that gets floated out generally it is

(02:27):
to it's to benefit somebody specifically in free agency.

Speaker 4 (02:32):
You gotta be careful what you believe.

Speaker 5 (02:35):
And we are obviously just getting started to hear a
couple hours into the free agency period.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Well, and we're going to be all over it as
the breaking news, no doubt comes down and and so
you know kind of the headlines of the day. You've
already heard some of it from Steve right there. James
Harden is going to stay or waiting for for bigger stuff.
There's been the report at least that Zach Lavine in
the first round pick were offered to the Warriors for

(03:00):
Chris Paul and Andrew Wiggins. The Warriors reportedly turned it down.
Chris Paul has been released, so the Warriors getting nothing
for that contract. More to come throughout the next three hours,
for sure. Listen, I get it. It takes me a
minute too, it absolutely does. We spent the whole week
here in San Francisco talking about the possibility of Paul George,

(03:23):
and the Athletic has reported that at times yesterday morning,
the Warriors thought they were on the verge of acquiring
Paul George in a sign and trade. But in the end,
Paul just ends up opting out of his contract, becoming
a free agent.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Now he's only talking to salary cap teams.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
And it dawned on me yesterday on the way to
my show, I go, why on earth are.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
We being told?

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Why are we being told every step of the way,
Like Paul George is gonna opt in he want to
join the Warriors, here's who the Warriors would have to
go back in trade. I'm like, while we're discussing all that,
de Jontay Murray goes from the Hawks to the Pelicans,

(04:10):
and everyone went, WHOA Where'd that come from? And I thought, exactly,
that's how that's how people in big business operate. You
don't call everybody first and let everybody know what you're
about to do. That simply means that someone's trying to
put pressure on someone else. And I just think that

(04:30):
the whole Paul George Clippers thing was a game of chicken,
and each side is calling each other's bluff, and it
arrived at uh at yesterday and and and Paul did
the next calling of the bluff, and the game of
poker continues, and and there's a real good chance it
ends up right back with the Clippers.

Speaker 5 (04:51):
Would be my bet, is Paul George you're talking about yes,
well you know, let me let's we don't have to
start there. But since you brought them up, I find
that whole situation weird. And maybe it just is a
big game of chicken, because you know, listen, Paul George
thirty four years old, this is probably the last big
bite at an apple that you're gonna get in his career.

(05:13):
I found it weird though, that they're so they being
the Clippers are being so weird about the fourth year,
and this is according to all the reporting. Why you know,
why Paul George has opted out of the contract and
you know, wanted to at least see what else is
out there. Is Like I just feel like when you

(05:34):
give Kawhi the extension that you gave him whatever it
was a few months ago, I think in January, it
just feels like those two guys are kind of tied
at the hip. And it also just feels like if
you're committing to Paul or to Kawhi Leonard for this window,
I don't understand why you wantn't be with Paul George
as well.

Speaker 4 (05:52):
But maybe to your point.

Speaker 5 (05:53):
Willard, it is just kind of a ploy to whatever,
whether it's for Paul George to see what else is
out there, for Paul George to force the Clippers to
give him that extra year, whatever it is, I don't know.
I just find the Paul George one specifically very interesting.
I also find him interesting because, well, I don't think
he's a quote unquote superstar. I do think he can
obviously help some of those teams that he has reportedly

(06:14):
been interested in speaking with, including the Philadelphia seventy six ers,
et cetera. But I just find his situation specifically very interesting.

Speaker 3 (06:21):
Yeah, look, all all of it is.

Speaker 2 (06:24):
But I'm just sitting here at a point where I
keep an eye on everything that Twitter wants to tell
us and then try to put it through a filter. Like,
for instance, you've also heard a lot about like you've
heard that the Bulls are trying to give Zach Lavine away. Okay,

(06:44):
why is that out there? Who would say that? Who
wants that out there? At the same time, you've heard
Klay Thompson's definitely leaving.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
I can confirm.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
That that's real but I'll give you a piece of
that that I don't believe, and I guarantee you it
leads to something that you'd love to comment on. Let
me actually form it in a question. Do you Aaron
Torres believe, especially after the week that we've had, do
you believe that quote Lebron James opted out because he's

(07:16):
willing to take less money in.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
Order to acquire another player to the Lakers.

Speaker 5 (07:24):
So that listen, I mean listen, I believe it, but
only because Rich Paul literally went on the record with
Adrian Wodronowski yesterday and said that obviously, look, you know
there was two schools of thought when that decision was made.
One is it to set up a new contract where

(07:46):
he does have a no trade clause where he actually
has a.

Speaker 4 (07:48):
Little bit more power.

Speaker 5 (07:49):
The only reason that I do believe it's at least possible,
Rich Paul told ESPN on Saturday, he being Lebron is
prioritizing a roster improvement. He's been adamant about zooing all
efforts to improve the roster. He had a couple other
quotes there that doesn't directly say that he's willing to
take less money, but it seems like it's at least on.

Speaker 4 (08:09):
The table willing.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, I hear a crazy Okay, you're not You're not
You're not crazy.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
But I would argue that at least a piece of
that is is is pr sure and and and Rich Paul.
That's part of what Rich Paul does. Of course, it's
pr like in other words, and this is what I
do every time I see something on Twitter. Why do
we get to know that, Yep, Lebron wants to take

(08:40):
less money, Lebron wants Klay Thompson or Valentiunis or whoever
Lebron wants? Right, is that what I'm supposed to understand?
Why do we get to know that?

Speaker 3 (08:53):
So?

Speaker 5 (08:53):
And this is an important point, and I think a
lot of fans understand that, but I I think also
there are a lot of fans that still don't understand that,
that take things at face value. And you have to
be able to kind of put the puzzle pieces together.
I'm not saying everybody has to figure out the truth
behind every story, but again, in general, as you said,

(09:15):
when people put stuff out there, they want it out there.
I'll be quick. I've used this example a million times
on these airwaves. So forgive me if you heard me
this before. Dan Hurley to the Lakers, okape. On the surface,
it's like, well, I mean you just you don't turn
down the Lakers if they call. But then you start
peeling back the layers and it's like, well, wait a second,
he hasn't gotten his deal done the Lakers. You know,

(09:37):
they're getting a little bit of pushback because Sham's just
a day or two before has reported that JJ Reddick
is going to accept this job when the finals are over.
JJ Reddick won't comment on his future, and I said
all along, it's like, well, if there was nothing to
comment on, then you would say there's nothing to comment on,
But he said, I'll address my future after the final.
So I just use that as a very baseline example

(09:57):
of exactly what you said. Now, maybe that one's a
little bit different because Dan Hurley flew to La met
with the Lakers. How serious with he was either side?
Only the two respective sides. No, But when you peel
back the layers, it's like, there's probably not quite as
much to this as people want you to believe. And
it's probably the same with a Klay Thompson, with a

(10:18):
Paul George with whoever, Paul you know, Klay Thompson, it's oh,
you know, Dallas is almost done. Then it was a
report yesterday that the Lakers could be a factor. Now
obviously we have an expanded list of teams. So I
guess the point that I am trying to make, Willard
is I'm just you know, solidifying and confirming what you're saying,
which is when something gets out, especially to your point,

(10:39):
weeks in advance of anything being able to happen, you
as a fan, me, you as a a commentator, got
you gotta sit back and say, wait a second. Now,
to your point, there has to be a reason this
is getting out as early as it is.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
Well, and I would argue that every time the world
starts going way too far and by the way, you're
not but way too far for his taste down the
road of well, Lebron runs the team that he plays for.

Speaker 3 (11:09):
Whenever that opinion gets really hot.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
And this week it's been really hot, yes, sir, whenever
that happens. Oh, there's some sort of story that comes
out that makes it look like Lebron has had a
softer stance within the organization. And boy, he's there to
just be a good teammate and kind of get out
of the way.

Speaker 3 (11:31):
It's like, it's like clockwork.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
And so I'm not even saying that it's wrong or
you're wrong. Maybe he does take a restructuring that helps
the team out. Maybe he does do that. But why
were we told that before it was even reality? Why
does Aaron Torres and Mark Willard need to know that
we have no effect on this whatsoever? Why do we

(11:55):
need to know that because you wanted the world to
calm down. Yes, the idea that you're running the Lakers?
Why because you are well?

Speaker 3 (12:05):
And this goes far.

Speaker 5 (12:06):
This goes back to the Hurley Reddick point from a
minute ago. Oh, Dan Hurley's been the favorite all along,
So why did you wait five weeks to interview him?
Then you know and it's like and so again it
goes back to the temperature started building for here we go,
Lebron's buddy gonna be the next head coach. It's coming
down the pike. It's been this way since the day
Darvin Ham got fired. And so that is a great, great,

(12:29):
great point to bring it full circle with Lebron is maybe,
by the way, credit to you, because maybe I'm the
naive one that red Rich Paul's quote last night while
I was doing my show, And well, I mean, if
Rich Paul says that, I mean there must at least
be something truth to it.

Speaker 4 (12:43):
And you're exactly right. Is that this week?

Speaker 5 (12:46):
And there's plenty of time to talk about everything that's
happened this week. I don't think anyone has ever talked
about the fifty fifth pick in an NBA draft, more
than you know has ever been discussed this week. But
I bring it up because this week it did feel like,
even though we knew these moves were coming the last
week or two, it did feel like once they happened,
there was a lot of real hostility. And so to

(13:09):
your point, maybe Lebron puts at least puts it out
there to cool down the temperature, then in a week
of course, ops back in or signs the extension for
the most possible money. So, like I said, maybe even
I got taken to town, taken to school a little
bit on this one.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
Well, I mean, look, we'll see how it plays out.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
I just think even if it does play out that way,
there's some pr involved in this on some level. We
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(13:49):
to fifth pick in the NBA Draft, Yeah, let's discuss
that next.

Speaker 3 (13:54):
On Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 4 (14:08):
Hey, what's up everybody?

Speaker 6 (14:09):
It's me three time pro bowler LeVar Arrington and I
couldn't be more excited to announce a podcast called Up
on Game?

Speaker 3 (14:16):
What is Up on Game?

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Speaker 3 (14:50):
Okay, Aaron, let's go ahead.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
Let's express ourselves to our full capabilities right here in
these tyrack dot com studios. You just said a text
to our show thread here during the break.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
Would you like to share with everybody what's in the text? See?

Speaker 4 (15:09):
I like this.

Speaker 5 (15:09):
You know, we're turning into a sports version of the
Hardy Boys here at eight pm Eastern, eight twenty three Eastern.
We're trying to figure out it's not really about what
the news that's being put out is. It is what
is the news that's being put out really mean? And
so this did come right as we went off air.
We were just talking about Paul George right before the break,

(15:31):
and this from Adrian Wodronowski. Now, just about ten minutes ago,
about five eleven Pacific, eight eleven Eastern. ESPN sources Paul
George's agent, Aaron Mints and the Clippers president Lawrence Frake
had a conversation a short time ago that resulted in
no new movement on a deal and an acknowledgment by

(15:51):
both that George is unlikely to return to the Clippers.

Speaker 4 (15:55):
Don't know, don't what does it main?

Speaker 3 (15:57):
Mark?

Speaker 4 (15:57):
Well, what does it mean?

Speaker 3 (15:58):
Okay? I know exactly what it means.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
It means that the Clippers are not telling Aaron Mints
of Cia what he wants to hear. They are not
budging on said contract offer at this point. And the
leverage play that Paul George and his side have been
trying to run all week, which is we'll go to Philly,
will go to Philly. You better up that offer, or

(16:23):
we'll go to Philly. The Clippers have looked at them
and said, we don't think you're going to Philly.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
And that's right. And the Clippers were right because Aaron
Mince did not go to Philly. You know where he went.
He went to Woje and so there it is. He
went to woj.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
He went to woj He called Woje and he said, hey, woj,
I want you to write this. I want you to
write that we talked to the Clippers and after there
was no movement, we are out, brother, we are gone,
and Paul George is gonna take his very capable services elsewhere.

(17:05):
We don't know where, but I can tell you it
won't be with the Clippers. The part that's left out
of this tweet is dot dot dot unless they change
their mind, Unless they change their mind, this is what
Twitter has become. Two things.

Speaker 3 (17:25):
It's my nudes in bio and people and right.

Speaker 4 (17:29):
Not mine, and I haven't checked your bio on a minute, but.

Speaker 3 (17:31):
Yeah, like I mean that.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
Do you get the same thing now since the Elon Musk. Yeah,
Like every other tweet is like weird videos of like
people support like AI videos of people dying or whatever.

Speaker 3 (17:46):
It's just ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (17:47):
And then the other thing that's on there is people
negotiating with each other.

Speaker 3 (17:51):
Sure, and that's what this is. People are just negotiating.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
The Clippers and Paul George are negotiating, And this tweet
might end up being true very much so Paul may
end up playing somewhere else. But that's how I read
every one of these. Why are you telling me? Why
does the NBA public need to know? Oh and by

(18:15):
the way, peep the most important word in this whole tweet,
the most important word, and I'll read it again. Paul
George's agent, Aaron mintsim Cia, and Clippers president Lawrence Frank
had a conversation a short time ago that resulted in
no new movement on a deal and an acknowledgment by
both that George is unlikely to return to the Clippers.

Speaker 3 (18:38):
What's the most important word?

Speaker 5 (18:40):
Well, it is unlikely. There you go, you got it?
Does this change your perspective? WOJ has sensent a follow
up that says, and this is literally verbatim more than
just quote, unlikely. The Clippers and Paul George are moving
on from.

Speaker 4 (18:53):
Each other's sources to ESPN M.

Speaker 3 (18:57):
Until they're not less unless somebody it's just offer.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
Yeah, I mean, if you really go into the the
first tweet, it's technically not even a report, YEP, sources
reporting that something probably won't happen.

Speaker 3 (19:16):
Yes, well, what does that mean? It does? It doesn't
mean anything.

Speaker 5 (19:20):
And I also find it weird that you know and
correct me if I'm wrong, because I know there's a
legal tampering period. It was there a reason that Paul
George's agent and Lawrence Frank needed to speak right as
free agency open? Have they not been having some sort
of open line of communication probably for weeks.

Speaker 4 (19:39):
Now, like like what was it?

Speaker 5 (19:41):
Like, we're really not sure, but we're gonna wait until
free agency becomes official before we make it sure.

Speaker 4 (19:45):
You know what, doesn't you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 3 (19:47):
Does that make sense?

Speaker 2 (19:47):
Totally? Absolutely? Of course it does. Of course it does
so look free agency. It's so funny too, the way
the whole thing happens free agency is technical, been going
for two hours and twenty.

Speaker 3 (20:02):
Seven minutes, that's it.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
And look how much information air quotes we've already gotten
in those two hours and twenty seven minutes. A. It
suggests that now it's just right that negotiating period is open,
but be it also suggests that behind closed doors, that
negotiating period has been open for a number of days.

(20:28):
All these deals that get signed two minutes after the
negotiating period opens, that I think confirms that they've they've
all been talking for weeks.

Speaker 5 (20:39):
Now, they have been and that's you know, And again
you just have to parse through the nuance of all this.
And yeah, I mean, you know, and I know we're
gonna get to Klay Thompson later in the show. Right,
Like the decision on both sides to probably move on
from each other, almost certainly move on from each other,
that wasn't made at six pm Eastern today, that was
made weeks ago, even if it did.

Speaker 4 (20:59):
Just become efficial.

Speaker 3 (21:00):
Yeah, exactly, right.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
So those are the things that that we're that we're
looking at and uh and watching right now, And yeah,
we'll get to the Klay Thompson situation. I think that
that has been, uh, that's been going on for a
lot longer than than we realize. And you know, I
think everybody was sort of waiting as opposed to negotiating

(21:24):
with money, that one has been negotiating with emotions. And
what everyone was waiting for this week was are these
two going to circle back? Like are the Warriors going
to get sentimental and it? And is Clay going to
get cold feet?

Speaker 1 (21:42):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (21:44):
And those are the only questions.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
And I think we got all the way to the
end and essentially got the answers.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
No, the Warriors are not going to.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
Get sentimental and and they're not going to open their pocketbooks.
And I'm pretty sure that Klay Thompson is not going
to get cold feet. He's been mad at the Warriors
off and on for a year and a half.

Speaker 5 (22:05):
So it feels like, Yeah, I don't cover it every
day like you do, but that is absolutely what it
feels like.

Speaker 2 (22:09):
So, all right, the fifty fifth thick in the NBA Draft,
we will get to that in just a matter of minutes.
But I hate even previewing the second round of anything
as we get ready for a true first rounder that
would be Steve Desager. Everybody, let's go ahead, and let's
go ahead and say hi, Hi, Steve.

Speaker 6 (22:30):
Hello.

Speaker 4 (22:30):
Good to hear you both.

Speaker 7 (22:31):
And by the way, as we continue the NBA News,
Sham Sharania the Athletics saying the Detroit Pistons plan to
give Caid Cunningham a five year max rookie extension which
would be worth two hundred and twenty six million dollars.
And you can officially say the Clippers are parting ways
with Paul George because the Clippers themselves have now come

(22:52):
out with a statement. We feel fortunate for the five
years we spent with him. We traded a lot to
pair Paul and Kawhi. Heading into this offseason, our roster
was constructed with three great players thirty three and over.
We will miss Paul. At the same time, we're excited
by the opportunity we've now been afforded, including greater flexibility

(23:13):
under the new CBA. Eric Gordon has agreed to a
deal with the Philadelphia seventy six ers. Also from Philly News,
they're going to be signing Andre Drummond. As far as
the Clippers earlier Today, it was announced James Harden will
be resigning two years seventy mil now. Paul George opted
out of his contract. He's to be a free agent.

(23:33):
He's not resigning with the Clippers. He is due to
talk to Philly tonight. Golden State Wave Chris Paul Orlando
agreed to a three year deal with Contavious Caldwell Pope.
The Pacers are resigning Obi Topp into a four year contract.
Miami resigned Kevin Love. The new salary cap, by the way,
about one hundred and forty million dollars per team. The
NBA free agency negotiating windows started today. The new league

(23:56):
year opens this Saturday, and the Summer league starts July
twelfth in Las Vegas. It's July tomorrow, people. The Pistons
new head coach, Yeah, that is crazy. The new head
coach of Detroit will be JB. Bickerstaff on a reported
five year contract. He had just been let co by
Cleveland and the WNBA. Among the three games, Indiana won
at Phoenix eighty eight to eighty two, and as far

(24:18):
as MLB action, the Texas Rangers are trying to end
a six game losing streak. They are leading at Baltimore
five to two in the top of the fifth. Orioles
have one four to one in a row. Amazing stat.
As we end the month of June, fifteen guys on
the Orioles have had played appearances this month. All of
them have homered. You added up it's sixty home runs

(24:39):
in the month of June for Baltimore. Atlanta apparently had
sixty one as a team a year ago in June,
the record for any month. The Yankees in twenty nineteen
had seventy four homers in a calendar month. August of
twenty nineteen, San Francisco pounded the Dodgers ten to four.
Houston in eleven innings, beat the Mets in New York

(25:00):
ten to five. Detroit got a win in Anaheim seven
to six over the Angels, Minnesota a five to three
victory at Seattle, Arizona over Oakland five to one. MLB
changed the rules for this month's home Run Derby. For example,
the first round or first round matchups will not be
head to head. They'll just have the eight guys go
and take the top five. It is official that Gunner

(25:21):
Henderson of the Orioles has been announced as the first
guy going into the home run Derby, which is only
a couple of weeks away here.

Speaker 3 (25:27):
As we head toward July.

Speaker 7 (25:28):
In Copa America, Mexico is playing Ecuador right now on
Fox in Arizona. It is scoreless through thirty two minutes.
Mexico must win to advance. Brazil's group finale is Tuesday.
The US plays Monday night and will likely need to beat,
not tie, first place Uruguay to advance. That'll be Monday
night on FS one from Kansas City. The US and

(25:49):
Panama in that group are tied for second place each
with one win and one loss, but Panama gets to
play last place Bolivia on Monday in Orlando. Bolivia has
lost fourteen straight Copa America matches dating back to twenty fifteen.
Even if the US advances, its quarterfinal would likely be
against Brazil or Columbia Saturday in Arizona.

Speaker 4 (26:10):
So Mark as.

Speaker 7 (26:10):
Our that's our evening co host during the week. Jason
Smith said there are some US men's soccer fans who
we'll be hate watching the game tomorrow because although they
might be crashing out early from this tournament, perhaps US
Soccer will finally wise up and get rid of coach
Greg Burholter, while there's still some time to do something
about it, because the US is going to be co

(26:32):
hosting the World Cup in a couple of years.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
Back to you, yeah, yeah, don't do not do not
have a repeat performance then, But then again, I always
we could take two minutes on this. I always laugh
at this. I know that soccer is the biggest sport
in the world. I know that it's growing in America
at an unprecedented pace. And I know how many of

(26:54):
you listening to my voice right now care.

Speaker 3 (26:57):
I know, but also we don't care.

Speaker 2 (27:01):
Like compare this experience to if this were to happen
in any of these other nations.

Speaker 7 (27:09):
Almost like England almost eliminated today, right.

Speaker 2 (27:14):
Like it's just funny to me, Like we get we
get super into it when the tournaments come, when the
big tournaments come, we get super into it. And I
know a lot of you no no, no, I'll watch
every week, but the national teams, we get very into it.
And then when they lose in disappointing fashion, we eat.

Speaker 3 (27:34):
That That's what we do.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
We just we go get food and we don't we
don't riot, we don't cry. We eat and and so
that's why We're different and and always will be, quite frankly.

Speaker 7 (27:47):
And to have a variety of sports in your life,
I would say is healthy. And then you don't live
or die, especially the latter with one team.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
Absolutely, that's the beauty of Philadelphia sports fans is whenever
a season starts to go bad, they start chanting the
name of the next team to play right there in
the ballpark or on the ice or wherever they are.

Speaker 3 (28:13):
So anyway, great stuff.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
Steve appreciates you, Live tyreck dot com Studios, Mark Weather,
Aaron Torres here on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (28:22):
So for some reason, my friend.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
The NBA draft situation where a bunch of players were
taken that no one's heard of, and then with the
fifty to fifth pick in the middle of the afternoon,
in the middle of the week, the name Bronnie James
was uttered and finally we had something that we could
sink our teeth into. And it turned into a national

(28:48):
conversation about nepotism. And I thought that was interesting because
I thought nepotism was like fifth or sixth on my topeboard.
Sure in terms of what matter and what well actually
took place.

Speaker 5 (29:02):
Well, it goes back to what do we leave the
show with what is the message that Lebron's camp wants
out and is going to get delivered through the media
that covers the NBA draft. Well, I mean, if you're
gonna get mad at Bronnie, you better get mad at
every NBA owner that has inherited the team from their father.
It's like, Okay, I sort of get it, but they

(29:25):
really aren't the same. But I do think that's you know, listen,
I'm maybe I'm dead wrong. I don't think Woje would
come up with that, uh you know, that dictation, whatever
it was, that that monologue that he came up with,
if somebody hadn't planted that bug in his ears. So
I think it all goes back to what we've been

(29:46):
talking about with free agency. Somebody wanted that message out there, Hey,
you can't get Bye. By the way, don't be mad at Bronnie,
And I agree with that. I'm not mad at Bronnie.
Brownie's just a nineteen year old kid who has a
famous father and his father pulled some strings for him.
That happens every walk of life. Does it mean that
we can't be upset at nepotism? Doesn't mean we can't
be upset at the Lakers in using what I still

(30:08):
believe is a valuable asset on a player that cannot
help them next year. And of course we also know
what it's going to lead to, which is a you know,
whatever you want to call what it's going to be
when when those two.

Speaker 4 (30:19):
Actually take the court, you know, is it going to
be cool? Is it not going to be cool?

Speaker 5 (30:22):
I don't know, but you are going to have a
non NBA caliber player likely playing at least a handful
of minutes next year for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Speaker 2 (30:30):
There is news of another signing. We'll pass it along
here in just a second, but first I want to
thank you for something. I want to thank you for
doing something I don't think I've heard anybody else do
across the nation. When it comes to the Bronni James pick.
You just referred to the fifty to fifth pick in
the draft as a quote valuable asset.

Speaker 4 (30:51):
Or asset maybe not, maybe not super valuable.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
It's not at stay right where you are. I think
you're doing great. Thank you, valuable asset.

Speaker 2 (31:02):
I have reached the point of frustration with how many
people are.

Speaker 3 (31:06):
Like, ah, fifty fifth pick, who cares? Why does that
even matter?

Speaker 2 (31:12):
First of all, I could give you a ton of
second round picks who matter in the NBA. But secondly,
even if I couldn't, even if it was only a
one in one hundred shot, aren't you supposed to take
that shot. Aren't you supposed to try to find a player,

(31:34):
like try to find a player as opposed to kicking
the whole thing and acting like second round picks don't matter.
And I'd argue, if that was the truth, why did
teams even show up for that day? Why are they there?
It's a bad draft already and now we're late in

(31:55):
the second round.

Speaker 3 (31:57):
Boy, we wasted a lot of people's time.

Speaker 5 (32:00):
So I and that's that is something that that was
I think to me, probably my biggest takeaway from Thursday was.

Speaker 4 (32:08):
Lebron.

Speaker 5 (32:09):
You know, if you want to do something to help
your child move along in life, that's fine. There's thousands
of parents that do it across the country every single day.
But to the conversation that we sort of had a
minute ago with with his contract, you also just can't
say you're about winning at the highest level. You're about winning,
but it's on your terms. Well, we gotta draft my

(32:30):
son and we gotta take my buddy as the head
coach and whatever, and that's what it is is. You know,
this isn't the Brooklyn Nets that are clear. Listen, I
don't think bronni is go ever going to be a
valuable NBA player, but it's not out of the realm
of possibility. But I think even Lebron James and his
camp will say it's probably not next season. Well, the

(32:50):
issue becomes, you have a forty year old star, if
you still want to call him that, who obviously has
a very limited shelf life left, and every decision should
be based on what can we do to maximize the
next year to two while we still have this guy.
And so that's pretty much my biggest takeaway is like,
do what you want, Lakers, Lebron, whatever, It's not my pick.

(33:14):
But again, you can't say you're about winning at the
highest level. Went to your point, Willard, there are guys
in the history of the draft that are that that
are taken late in the second round. I believe Fred
van Vliet was the last pick of the draft the
year that he came out, just as an example that
can provide value, and I think even the James camp
would admit that Bronni probably won't provide all that much

(33:35):
next year.

Speaker 3 (33:36):
Yeah we can.

Speaker 2 (33:37):
We can bounce around the league to the Jalen Brunsons
and the Draymond Greens and and uh and then Nicola
Jokic's and we heard he can do this. Yeah, all right, yeah,
it's okay. Yeah, So we're in the tie rack dot
com studios. All right, more on this coming up next
with regard to the pick, who made the pick, who

(33:58):
is the pick good for? And much much more with
Aaron Torres Mark Willard. This is Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
Okay live tyrag dot com studios. Before we go any
deeper into the Bronni and lebron situation, a couple signings
to pass along. Chris Paul, after being waived by the
Warriors earlier today, has agreed to a one year, eleven
million plus dollar deal with the San Antonio Spurs.

Speaker 4 (34:40):
What do you think that sy Well.

Speaker 2 (34:45):
I make of that that the Spurs are so young
have a lot of interesting pieces. We all know the
main one, and now they need then they need a mentor. Yep,
they need somebody who can control things for them on
the court. They have a lot of talent, but they're

(35:06):
totally like they're basketball games.

Speaker 3 (35:09):
I don't know if you watched any of them, more
just like chaotic.

Speaker 2 (35:14):
It looked like scenes from an action movie a lot
of the time, and so they need someone to come
in and calm that down and show the guys the ropes.

Speaker 4 (35:23):
That was my takeaway as well.

Speaker 5 (35:24):
Yeah, yeah, I mean he then Yeah, all I was
gonna say was, you know, he people forget like before
he first of all went to the Suns. I still
believe should have won MVP that year, the year that
they went from completely irrelevant to the they ended up
in the NBA Finals. Obviously, the MVP's the regular season award,
but even before that, it was like that weird year
where he wasn't on the on the the Clippers and

(35:48):
they traded them to the Rockets, but the Rockets didn't
want them, and he took okay see to the playoffs
like they were trying to rebuild, and Chris Paul's like no, no, no,
get on my back. Shake Gil just Alexander and whoever
else was on that team that point, we're winning a
bunch of games.

Speaker 4 (36:02):
So I give him credit.

Speaker 5 (36:04):
Man, he clearly loves the game, and he's clearly respected
as a veteran guy that, as you said, can kind
of step into a step into an organization and make
a difference with young people.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
Free agent center Jonas Fallon Tunis has agreed to a
three year, thirty million dollar deal.

Speaker 3 (36:24):
With the Washington Wizards. That's interesting.

Speaker 4 (36:29):
I'll say this.

Speaker 5 (36:30):
You know, I am far from a Washington Wizards expert,
but I bring it up because if you and I know,
we were talking about the draft a minute ago, and
it is kind of irrelevant, but the kid Alex Sar
who went number two to Washington refused to work out
for anyone other than Washington, so and people said that

(36:53):
maybe on upside he has the chance to be the
best player in the draft.

Speaker 4 (36:55):
So I thought that was.

Speaker 3 (36:57):
Kind of weird, but interesting.

Speaker 5 (36:59):
Now you get valance, So maybe things are just starting
to finally just a tiny bit, not going to oversell it,
but maybe just a little bit break the way of
the Washington Wizards.

Speaker 2 (37:09):
Now, well it's interesting right now because they've also that
Malcolm Brogden on the way, Valentna's on the way.

Speaker 3 (37:16):
You like their draft? I've heard lightly.

Speaker 2 (37:19):
And this is kind of this is one of the
things I would look for if I were a big
NBA fan, and by the way, I am. But that's
a lot of money now coming in for a team
that is sort of in a reboot process. They were
the conduit in the Chris Paul and Jordan Poole trade

(37:41):
last year.

Speaker 3 (37:42):
What are they doing with Kyle Kuzma?

Speaker 2 (37:45):
Yeah, And is that the kind of player who's about
to be on the move, because why we haven't heard
a peep that one's quiet And I brogged in in
Valentnis in that's a lot of in in in and
and that's a lot of money, And so I don't

(38:06):
know that Kyle Kuzma fits in their future plans.

Speaker 4 (38:11):
Fair fair, No, I just I thought it was interesting.

Speaker 5 (38:15):
I don't know that I've ever like Usually when team
when players kind of tank to get to a team
in the draft, it's for somebody that hasn't been the
worst organization in the league for like, you know, probably
the last seven eight years. So I just I just
find it interesting that maybe things are starting to tick up.
But to your point, obviously a lot of moves to
be made, and Kyle Kusmas obviously not a guy that

(38:36):
you're going to build around in the bigger pictures.

Speaker 2 (38:38):
So yeah, absolutely, all right, mark with it, d Aaron
Torres cloud that you're with us. The number one thing
I want to say about all the Bronni James stuff
is this, because I do get this response almost every
time we talk about Bronni, and we just got it again.
I want to say hi to Brendan Brody who's listening
to us, and he says, guys, please give Bronnie a

(38:59):
chance to show what he can do on the court.
He almost died last July. He had to take it
easy last season. That explains his low stats. I think
he has the potential to be a solid role player
in the NBA. The hard part about talking about Bronnie James, Aaron,
is all of the things that are going on here

(39:20):
that actually have nothing to do with projecting him as
a player. I have no clue what Bronnie James is
going to do in the NBA, and I have no
interest in trying to say that he's going to be awful.
I don't think that that's what this is about. I

(39:41):
think that this is about the way the Lakers are behaving.
And I also think this is about asking the real question,
which is, did Lebron just do right by his kid.

Speaker 4 (39:55):
At the sake of the organization or.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
Did he do by himself? Mm hmm in this it
to me that's the question.

Speaker 4 (40:04):
Yeah, No, I think that's absolutely the question. I think
it's okay.

Speaker 5 (40:07):
It's okay to not blame the kid for being a
pawn in his father's game while also acknowledging you could say, oh,
you know, the listen, the hard thing was obviously very scary.
Nobody's denying that. But let's just call a spade a spade.
If he had any other name than Lebron James Junior
Bronnie James, he would not have been selected with that pick.

(40:30):
You could deny, you could debate it whatever, And I
know we'll talk about it more throughout the show, but
that's just the simple fact of it. No matter what
happened at USC this past.

Speaker 2 (40:38):
Year, absolutely like like no one else was looking to
make that pick, and and and that's fine, uh, but
it absolutely leaves a lot of questions on the table,
which we will continue to deal with coming up next
on Fox. Sports Radio. Okay, brother, you said it, you

(40:59):
said it. I'm about to get you credit again because
you texted me something earlier that I think is the
big takeaway here when it comes to Bronnie James and
lebron we're broadcasting a lot from the tyrack dot com studios.
Tyrac dot com will help you get there, an unmatched selection,
fast free shipping, free roadhousard protection, and over ten thousand

(41:19):
recommended installers. Tyrack dot com the way tire buying should be.
All right, there was Ken Griffy and Ken Griffy Junior.
That was amazing. Now we're going to get the NBA
version right. Well, here's the thing about that. You said
to me. What everybody loved about the Griffy situation years

(41:40):
ago was that it was organic. It came together on
its own. Nobody was the puppeteer. It simply came together
because people were making baseball moves. Young player was coming
up through the system. He was clearly a generation talent.

(42:01):
And did his father hang on in his career with
that as a goal. Maybe I don't know, but I
do know that nobody, nobody started moving chess pieces around
a board a year and a half ahead of time,
you're sure.

Speaker 3 (42:19):
Yeah, well yeah, your point, fair point.

Speaker 2 (42:22):
But like I'm trying to be nice over here, like whatever,
five years maybe from the moment he was born, I
don't know, but nobody did that in order to ensure
that they were both going to be on the Seattle
Mariners at the exact same time. That's what happened here.
So whenever somebody goes, oh my god, this is such

(42:42):
a great story, I'm sorry. I'm like, no, it's really not.
It really isn't. It's the story of one of the
greatest basketball players of all time pushing every leverage button
alive to make this happen, whether it should have or not.

Speaker 3 (43:04):
Sorry, not a great story.

Speaker 5 (43:06):
Yeah, what I really think it is I keep people
I keep hearing hearing people say exactly, Oh, this is
gonna it's just gonna be an incredible moment, and we
have to celebrate this. You know what this is, what
this really is is a celebration of Lebron's longevity. It
is that he is still good enough to be in
the league at the point that his son enters. Has

(43:27):
nothing to do with his son, his merit how good
he is. And then there is the you know, the
the variable of like it was all orchestrated, Like you know,
I was going back and thinking about it. Ken Gurvy
junior went to high school in Cincinnati. Okay, uh, there
was a Ken Griffy senior. Wasn't sitting there when when

(43:47):
his son was a junior or a sophomore in high
school in Cincinnati figuring out a way to make sure
that he was on the Seattle Mariners five years down
the road. Because it's like, that's not how it happened.
And so again, and I look at what will inevitably
be the moment, what it will ultimately be is another
celebration of Lebron. And listen, whatever we think of Lebron,

(44:09):
he's one of the greatest players of all time. Where
you think he's the best, the second best, whatever, doesn't
really matter. He is by definition, one of the greatest
players of all time any statistical category.

Speaker 4 (44:18):
But he's had a lot of celebration.

Speaker 5 (44:19):
I mean, we celebrated him when he passed Kareem, We
celebrated him, you know, when he passed Kobe, which obviously
unfortunately happened, you know, right before Kobe passed away. But
the point I'm trying to make We've had plenty of
celebrations of Lebron, and when JJ Reddick love him or
hate him, is forced essentially to or he's forced.

Speaker 4 (44:37):
It won't be maybe said out loud, but it'll be
uninto it.

Speaker 5 (44:40):
It's it's implied that he's forced to put in BRONI
to appease Lebron's ego.

Speaker 4 (44:46):
That's all it is.

Speaker 5 (44:47):
It's appeasing Lebron's ego. And it is a situation where
we will it will be a celebration of Lebron's longevity.
But I don't think it's gonna maybe I'm dead wrong.
I don't think it's going to be just this amazing,
feel good moment of Oh what these two have done
for the sport of basketball. It's like, no, Lebron pulled

(45:09):
some strings. He's old, you know, he's good enough to
still be in the league at this point. But it's
not going to be the same as Kangrafree Junior and
King Grave Senior.

Speaker 2 (45:18):
The glitz and glamour of the organization and the city
are what's driving this, and I can prove it that's it.
This is not because it's a great story and it's
cool because Lebron will play with Bronny because by the way,
we still don't even know that. We don't even know
if Bronni can earn his way into the NBA. But
Giannis's brother has been on his team for years. Nobody cares,

(45:40):
and everyone thinks it's ludicrous. Yes, nobody can. Why is
that not a great story?

Speaker 4 (45:46):
Well, and that was, you know, and that's what cracks
me up.

Speaker 5 (45:48):
Well, I mean, Giannis's brother is on a team, and
it's like yeah, and he's a punchline and we all
make fun of it. We don't pretend like it's anything
else other than it is, you know what I mean,
like absolutely sweet, Like is anybody like, you know, Thanasis
that guy? I mean, you have to what it's like, No,
Jannis wants him there, okay. And by the way, every

(46:11):
superstar has guys that they want in their foxhole with him,
whether it's a veteran college teammate, uh whatever. But when
a guy like Thanasis is on the bucks, nobody is
trying to protect like like you know, uh, Doc Rivers
isn't going to the podium and like, well, you know,
I mean Fanastas, I mean, it's just his work ethic
is this and he's a this and he's a that.

(46:32):
And that was what Rob Polinka did after the draft.
He tried to sell us that no, it's yeah, I
mean you don't understand Brownie works. He works really hard
and he's a great teammate and no, no, And I've
heard our colleague Doug Gottlieb had a rant during one
of the commercial breaks where he's like, yeah, literally everybody
has to work hard to get to the NBA. You
have to be a good teammate if you're drafted in
the second round. And so if it was, and I

(46:54):
don't know how Rob Polinka could perfectly frame it. But again,
when we talk about fanasis nobody, as of course Giannis's
brother for anybody doesn't know, Nobody pretends like it is
anything other than exactly what it is. And I just
don't know why we're pretending that that Bronni has to
be something other than what we know that this situation.

Speaker 3 (47:12):
Is because we've heard of him.

Speaker 2 (47:15):
And why have we heard of him Because Lebron James,
as you pointed out, has been pushing on this lever
for years and so we've been told about him and
he was in LA and we knew his AAU team
and then we knew that he was going to be
at USC. I'll put it to you a different way
because I don't want this to sound like sour grapes.

Speaker 3 (47:34):
I don't care.

Speaker 2 (47:35):
I do not care what the Lakers do with their
fifty fifth overall pick. But I think there's a lot
of hidden messaging here. Chris Paul is about as old
as Lebron. Okay, what if Chris Paul's son, Chris Paul's
son was a prospect, would we be making this big

(47:57):
of a deal out of it or would we stop
and go, well, is he a player?

Speaker 3 (48:04):
Yes? You would.

Speaker 2 (48:05):
Now why do we not do that for Lebron's kid?
Because we were told starting at age fourteen, this is
an NBA prospect. At no point did he look like one. Nope,
but we were told that he was. So that makes
it okay. And that's my issue with it. This is

(48:26):
not saying that who knows, maybe we're wrong, maybe Bronny
is going to be a great rotational piece. But when
the team you just said it, when the team that
actually uses one.

Speaker 3 (48:38):
Of their assets to get him.

Speaker 2 (48:40):
I've never heard a team make a pick then hold
the press conference and say.

Speaker 3 (48:46):
Well, hard worker, good teammate.

Speaker 2 (48:50):
Nobody says that about their pick unless they know he
can't play.

Speaker 4 (48:57):
Joe's got such a great personality, though, you got.

Speaker 3 (48:59):
To thank you.

Speaker 2 (49:01):
Nobody holds the press conference, well, what did you see
in this player? Well, he sweats a lot, Yes, he sweats,
and he's really He high fives the other guys, so
we thought, yeah.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
Let's put him on a team. It's absolute insanity.

Speaker 2 (49:19):
What has happened with this story that people can't see
through it?

Speaker 3 (49:24):
And I hope that the that the.

Speaker 2 (49:26):
Kid does well, and the reason I hope he does
well is without knowing him. I don't know Lebron, I
don't know the family dynamic, so I can't speak on this.
But if it were me, if I had a high
school athlete who I thought was really, really a prospect
but was having a hard time early in the college process,

(49:46):
the first thing that would go through my head is
you need more development.

Speaker 3 (49:50):
Yes, not, I'm gonna find a way to.

Speaker 2 (49:53):
Grab someone's arm and twist it until you can be
a pro even when you're not ready to be.

Speaker 5 (50:00):
Two things on that one, and I mentioned this on
my show last night. Obviously, me being a little bit
of a college hoops guy, whatever. I bring it up
because because I've seen a lot of this well I
mean tours, I mean, I mean, he was a top
projected a top ten pick a year ago, and then
the heart situation happened. Okay, listen, the heart situation was
obviously terrifying.

Speaker 4 (50:18):
We get that.

Speaker 5 (50:19):
But what I can tell you is when he was
projected as a top ten pick, first of all, there
was only one outlet that.

Speaker 4 (50:25):
Even did it. It was ESPN and whatever.

Speaker 5 (50:28):
And what I will tell you is to use a
very bad pun when that came out, it was mocked
in the basketball community. I had a a I'm not
a high school basketball evaluator. I don't see all these
kids twenty times while they're coming up as a sophomore.

Speaker 4 (50:44):
Junior, and senior.

Speaker 5 (50:44):
But I had people who did that were like, this
is a joke, Like and all it was ultimately doing
was setting this kid up to fail because he was
never that prospect and he was never going to be
that prospect in one year. And so to your point, Willard,
it's like, yeah, no, I think probably staying at a

(51:05):
level where he could develop. I mean people even talked
about after the USC thing, transfer down to where you
can play more where you can potentially be a star
grow into that role. So there's a lot of things
wrong with this and whatever, but I think one thing that, like,
let's make it clear, just because you read something online
doesn't mean it was accurate. And there was never a

(51:28):
moment at any point that actual real basketball evaluators thought
Bronni was a top ten prospect in this draft.

Speaker 2 (51:36):
There you go, there you go. And if he was,
that would have been a great story. That would have
been a great story. I I like, I'm sorry if
this sounds fuddy duddy boomer, no heart, I'm sorry.

Speaker 3 (51:53):
If it sounds this way.

Speaker 2 (51:55):
I just don't see this as a great story at all.

Speaker 3 (51:58):
I'm with you.

Speaker 2 (51:59):
I see it that there's a relative out there and
the older of the two relatives has just a.

Speaker 3 (52:06):
Crap ton of power.

Speaker 2 (52:07):
Yes, because he's one of the most phenomenal things we've
ever seen in American sports, and he used it great.

Speaker 3 (52:18):
I don't find that to be a great story.

Speaker 2 (52:20):
Like, to me, somebody having wonderful power and flexing it.

Speaker 3 (52:24):
Is not a great story.

Speaker 2 (52:27):
It's actually what's really ailing our country right now.

Speaker 3 (52:34):
I don't want to get political.

Speaker 2 (52:36):
You know this, this feels better because at least, this
is an African American man who's flexing his power. And
that feels a lot better to a lot of us
today than what has gotten this. I mean, I don't whoever,
anybody raise your hand. Did you enjoy the debate the
other night?

Speaker 3 (52:53):
Now?

Speaker 2 (52:53):
That is people with power who flex it unnecessarily, and
you end up up with two people. One is eighty
something and the other one's almost eighty and these are
the two best people running for president in our country.
That's what happens when people have too much power and
flex it. And I just see this as the much

(53:16):
easier basketball version of it.

Speaker 4 (53:18):
Well, and I was thinking about this.

Speaker 5 (53:19):
Imagine he used the example of your son if he
wasn't ready for whatever his vocation was. Imagine if whatever,
you had a son, a brother, a daughter, a best
friend or whatever that always wanted to host sports talk radio,
and for whatever reason, they're they're you know, if they're older,
if they're your brother, they're your best friend. The career

(53:40):
path didn't take them there, or you know whatever, or
you know, your daughters, whatever, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 4 (53:46):
The point I'm trying to make.

Speaker 5 (53:47):
If Scott Shapiro or our boss said, hey, Willard next Sunday.
You know, it's it's a holiday weekend. You know, a
lot of our our guys are available. Tours isn't available.
Ephraim's not available. Whatever, who do you want? He said, well,
you know my older brothers. You know, he always wanted
to get into sports talk. He never had a chance.
And Scott was like, all right, bring him on and

(54:08):
let him host. It's a weird analogy. But nobody would
be like, that's an incredible story. They'd be like, oh,
Willard did his buddy a solid. That's cool. But nobody
would be like, oh, that's such a great story. They
grew up wanting to host radio together. Now it's July
seventh and they're they're doing it. Look at Willard and
his buddy. Let those wings spread, fly, baby fly. Nobody

(54:31):
would say that. They'd be like, Okay, that's that's that's different.
That's interesting. It's not an amazing story though, because because
you had a little bit of because you know, by definition,
he had a little bit of power, boss and said, hey,
do what you want. Whoever you want is fine. And
he gave your buddy a shot. You gave your brother
a shot. By the way, does it make you a
bad person for giving him a shot over you know,

(54:51):
the local guy that's been trying to get on the
national airwaves for twenty years. It doesn't make it a
great story, though, because you pulled your buddy out of,
you know, out of his accounting job to host Fox
Sports Radio on a Sunday night.

Speaker 4 (55:03):
I know it's a weird analogy, but it is no.

Speaker 3 (55:04):
But I'm with you. I'm with you. And then what
about the team.

Speaker 2 (55:07):
Let's talk about both LA basketball teams coming up next,
because the front offices.

Speaker 3 (55:12):
For both are really.

Speaker 2 (55:16):
Both have created a really interesting little pocket for themselves
right here this week. We'll get to that coming up
next with Aaron Torres, Mark Willard.

Speaker 3 (55:25):
This is Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (55:28):
Okay, y'all, Tyreck dot Com Studios, Mark willerd Aeron Torres.
We'll get back to the Clippers in a little bit.
I don't understand, but as far as the Lakers are concerned,
from the team angle, I do understand. I wouldn't have
done it, but at least I understand. I understand the

(55:50):
situation you're in. I understand the power of Lebron James.
Sometimes you look at situations in sports and you see
someone do something You're like, why the hell did you
just do that? And then you think about it and
you're like, well, what was the alternative where the Lakers
really just going to not equiesce to Lebron James, where

(56:10):
they going to let him walk to a different team.

Speaker 3 (56:14):
That doesn't feel right. But at the same time.

Speaker 2 (56:18):
Even though we may understand the situation they're in, Aaron,
I gotta think that's somewhere inside those hollowed hallways filled
with O'Brien trophies, somebody looked at somebody and went, my god,
we've lost our soul. They're sitting back there going, Okay,

(56:42):
we've been in the playing tournament now two years in
a row. The guy's now forty, D'Angelo Russell went and
opted in, and we're just going to let him hire
a brand new coach and use one of our two

(57:06):
draft assets to pick a player that we don't think
is ever going to help us.

Speaker 3 (57:13):
We're gonna let him do all that.

Speaker 2 (57:15):
We'll also going to let him opt out and potentially
sign him to multiple years at age forty in the
hopes that that's gonna do. What Because the Lakers that
I've known for years have always claimed to be about
one thing I know that they do their one thing

(57:35):
in an entertaining way. And so that's a lot of
Laker fans response, Hey man, Lakers understand entertainment well, as
you just detailed really well a few minutes ago. I
don't think this is going to entertain you. This is
a quirky little last name on the back of jerseys.

(57:55):
Maybe this is not going to sell tickets. And so
you handed all that over to a forty year old
basketball player and for what.

Speaker 3 (58:13):
Tough spot.

Speaker 5 (58:14):
Well, and but the counter to that, and this is
the crazy part, because I think the most important part
you hit is as a franchise, they're woe begone. Is
you could say Lebron at forty years old doesn't deserve
this much power. But as crazy as it sounds, what
was the organization before he got there. They were in
a four or five year rebuild already.

Speaker 4 (58:34):
When he got there.

Speaker 5 (58:36):
And you know, I'm not breaking news here, but if
Lebron James didn't decide that, you know, off the court
interests at that point in his career.

Speaker 4 (58:48):
Where as important as on the court interests, they.

Speaker 5 (58:51):
Probably are still in some form of a rebuild right now,
you know. And so that's what makes it tough. So
to be clear, I agree, it's like he's forty years old.
You got to ring this back. He is clearly he
has a complete power, power to pick the coach, power
to pick the players, whatever. But the counter to that
is like, as so, where does it sound? Where would

(59:12):
they be without them? Would they be in the play in?
Because again it's just easy to forget. What was it
five six years in a row they had lottery picks,
which is was unprecedented in its own right.

Speaker 4 (59:23):
Uh, and it wasn't really seemingly going anywhere.

Speaker 5 (59:27):
And then again, all of a sudden, Lebron decided, you
know what, I want to go to La, make some movies,
live where I want to live.

Speaker 2 (59:32):
And here we are, here we are no I And
that's why I say what I say in that I
get it, like I understand it.

Speaker 3 (59:43):
But if it sure is different.

Speaker 2 (59:46):
Like I wonder if this only because I know so
many Laker fans, only because I spend so much time
in that market, I would ask it this way, this
is what I think.

Speaker 3 (01:00:00):
I think we'll speak to Laker fans because.

Speaker 2 (01:00:04):
They know the entertainment bug and right now, in this moment,
they are all about Lebron James because they have no
choice but to be all about Lebron James. But those
of you who are not in that market, you may
not know that. When Lebron first came to LA a
lot of Laker fans had a hard time with it
because because Kobe Bryant, damn it, Kobe Bryant. There's a

(01:00:28):
mural and these are two very different players, and this
organization is not about like the hired gun type of
a thing. You come here, you stay here if you
weren't here to begin with. This was difficult for some
Laker fans. Now they've gotten over it a little bit.
Bubble chip good playoff performances feels like they're at least

(01:00:52):
adjacent to competitiveness at a high level. I want you,
Laker fan to ask yourself, this, would Kobe have done this?

Speaker 3 (01:01:05):
What do you think? No?

Speaker 5 (01:01:07):
I mean, you know, And that was, you know, the
the unfortunate, but the tragic part about everything that was
going on was was Gigi was on her way to
earning everything. You know, again, who knows what would have been,
but yeah, she was on her way to earning everything.
And I think that's what's interesting about it. And by
the way, I would actually, as weird as it sounds,
i'd push back a little bit because I think there's

(01:01:28):
a lot of Lakers fans that maybe, you know, when
they did win that twenty twenty Bubble title, when they
did win that twenty twenty Bubble title, where like, okay,
it's worth it, But now are like, was selling the
soul of the organization worth it for that title in
the Bubble? And many would say, yes, he played to

(01:01:48):
win the game, he played to win championships. But I
think there's a lot of people in LA that were like,
I'm over this. I mean, I've said this before, is
like living here. I could tell you half a dozen
people that I speak with on a regular basis that
used to Lakers fans that are like, I just have
no interest in supporting this organization at this point. And yeah,
and I do think I think what you said is
really important. There's something there about the idea of this

(01:02:12):
isn't a hired gun franchise. This isn't you know, the
franchise itself has never been bigger than one player, or
the has never been one player has never been bigger
than that franchise, whether it was Kobe, whether it was magic,
whether it was whatever. And it was funny because I
remember when the Lakers won the Bubble title and then
of course a few weeks later a lot of people

(01:02:33):
would forget this, But the Dodgers won the Bubble World Series,
and I remember saying at the time, and I got
a lot, you know, I put it on social media,
and I didn't really think much of it, but what
I said was and some people got it, some people didn't.
I said, Mookie Betts, who of course was the missing
piece for a core that included Justin Turner and Clayton

(01:02:53):
Ta Kersha on all those guys, Mookie Bets is what
Lebron James.

Speaker 4 (01:02:58):
Wants to be in LA will never be. And I
got crushed for that.

Speaker 5 (01:03:03):
I mean, it was mostly people that were Lebron fans
that had no idea what I was talking about. But
it was like, because the Dodgers were that team that
had been on the doorstep five six years in a row,
that had, you know, guys that had been there from
the beginning Kershaw as I said, Justin Turner, etc. And
then you bring in Mookie Betts in that year. He
was the difference as opposed to Lebron, who comes in tears,

(01:03:27):
the whole thing down, demands that all the young guys
be traded, brings in all his own guys and wins
a title a year or two later. I still think there,
I think you're under selling a little bit. I think
some of the anger that a lot of Lakers fans
do still have for Lebron even after all these years.

Speaker 2 (01:03:43):
Maybe No, I'm not gonna argue with you on that
one at all. More to say on that the Clippers situation, however,
I don't understand that's coming up as well.

Speaker 3 (01:03:53):
But I always.

Speaker 2 (01:03:53):
Understand when Steve di Sego talks because just he makes
a lot of sense, very easy to listen to, ladies
and them and Steve de.

Speaker 7 (01:04:00):
Sager, Hello, gentlemen, And you were not kidding about Mookie
Betts's influence, because I Dodger fanball will remember they were
down three games to one in the NLCS and then
he had three phenomenal games in a row and he
was the guy that won them the clinching game of
the World Series. When he's on, it's a completely different lineup,
as talented as it is, and as far as Lebron's

(01:04:23):
six years with the Lakers, you know, Goby's first six
eight years were pretty good. That's an understatement. Lebron six
eight years, whatever it's going to be as a Laker.
One good season so far, literally one Lebron's first year
as a Laker. They finished under five hundred. Then you
call it the Bubble Championship because it was one in

(01:04:45):
under those circumstances. They were a very good team that
they were. They were to be fifty two and nineteen
that year they were first out West wound up winning
the title. They haven't had a season like that before
or since with him. I know they made a run
through the playoffs one year ago, but they were about
a five hundred team a year ago.

Speaker 5 (01:05:03):
Yeah, we wouldn't call the Indiana Pacers this year a
great team. They went on a great run in the playoffs,
and it was the same with the Lakers now.

Speaker 7 (01:05:09):
And when they've had decent regular seasons, they're out first
round like this year, our first round of Phoenix a
few years ago. They've had one good year with Lebron,
James and the Lakers, and it was the one title year.
James harden Will resigned with the LA Clippers two year,
seventy million dollars including a player option. Paul George opted
out of his contract, and George was due to talk

(01:05:30):
to Philadelphia tonight. He will not resign with the Clippers.
Philadelphia is signing Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon, Golden State
Wave Chris Paul, and he intends to sign with the
Spurs one year for about eleven million dollars. Detroit plans
to give Kay Cunningham a five year max rookie extension
and the Pistons new head coach will be JB. Bickerstaff
on a reported five year contract. Three WNBA games wins

(01:05:54):
for New York, Minnesota and Indiana, which wanted Phoenix today
eighty eight eighty two. Caitlin Clark fifteen points, nine rebounds,
twelve assists. She had six turnovers as well. Seventy five
minutes in and Mexico still has not scored. It might
be out of Copa America. Tonight in Arizona, they're scoreless
against Ecuador. Mexico needing a win to advance. US is

(01:06:14):
playing Monday nights and likely needs a win to advance,
and they're facing first place Uruguay on FS one from
Kansas City tomorrow night at the Euros, the round of
sixteen started this week in England. In overtime, defeated Slovakia
two to one. They got a goal in the final
minute of regulation and then a goal in the opening
minute of extra time. Spain beat Georgia four to one.

(01:06:35):
That's the Republic of NASCAR win for Joey Logano in
overtime tonight at Nashville Sidney McLaughlin. Lavon has broken the
world record again in the four hundred meter hurdles to
end the US Olympic Trials. She won her final by
two seconds. To Major League Baseball, a youngster has hit
for the cycle for the Texas Rangers tonight. Now Texas

(01:06:55):
is ahead eleven to two at Baltimore, starting the bottom
of the eight. Looks like Tech will end a six
game losing streak. Wyatt Langford has homered. He also has
a single, double and triple four for five four RBIs
Houston in eleven innings beat the Mets ten to five,
San Francisco over the Dodgers ten to four, Colorado in
fourteen innings, beat the White Sox in Chicago five to four.

(01:07:19):
And as far as golf, Cam Davis was the winner
in Detroit at the PGA event and This guy had
not had a top ten finish all season, but he
wins by one stroke today and makes more money in
one weekend in Detroit than he made his previous sixteen
starts on the PGA Tour this season. The winner gets
about one point six million dollars, so he about doubles

(01:07:42):
his season earnings with these four days in Detroit. How
is it that he won without a playoff because there
were a few guys right behind him on the leader board. Well,
he won by one stroke when Akshay Batilla, aged twenty two,
missed a short putt. Batilla hadn't missed but inside six
feet all weekend. This is just his second bogie of

(01:08:04):
the week, and so he finishes in a tie for second.
What's the difference between the first place check this weekend
in Detroit and the tie for second? First place over
one point six million dollars. Tie for second six hundred
and sixteen thousand dollars. In other words, by not getting
into a playoff and winning the misput at the end

(01:08:25):
costs him over one million dollars. The next live golf event,
by the way, is in two weeks in Spain. The
British Open in three weeks back to you.

Speaker 2 (01:08:35):
Okay, Steve love that as always. Aaron may not know this.
This is a tradition on Sunday nights where Steve talks
about the quirks of how things came down the stretch
in golf and then talks about the money, and then
we make fun of Live, but then we're actually making
fun of the PGA Tour for having the golfers not
make as much as Live, except for now they are

(01:08:56):
making pretty close or a lot more because of Live.

Speaker 3 (01:08:59):
Did that all make sense? Yeah?

Speaker 7 (01:09:00):
This is the greatness of Americas. You actually have competition
and it kicks people in the backside to make him
do something. It's, as you might put it, it's a
tradition unlike any other on this show.

Speaker 4 (01:09:13):
Do they still call Saturday moving day?

Speaker 6 (01:09:14):
Though?

Speaker 4 (01:09:15):
Or has that changed his last week?

Speaker 2 (01:09:17):
Unfortunately, I don't believe that we we moved the needle
enough just last week alone.

Speaker 3 (01:09:24):
So we're gonna we're going to need to keep our
put on the gas.

Speaker 4 (01:09:26):
When you're the commissioner of sports, you're gonna get on.

Speaker 2 (01:09:29):
That, remember president of sports. Sorry, Yeah, Like I want
to make sure everyone knows like I'm in charge of everything,
Like set bladder back in the day with FIFA, who
said he was the president of everything.

Speaker 3 (01:09:45):
That's right. That's the best quote of all time.

Speaker 4 (01:09:47):
By the way, he wasn't wrong.

Speaker 7 (01:09:50):
He had all the cash coming from his hands.

Speaker 2 (01:09:53):
No, if anybody's ever been to Brazil to see them,
millions upon millions of dollars that have been spent on
that were for one tournament and they are now just
bird poop sanctuaries.

Speaker 7 (01:10:05):
One of them was a rainforest and was getting grown over.

Speaker 2 (01:10:09):
That's that's faithful, ladies and gentlemen. But keep playing your xbox.
It's a wonderful game.

Speaker 4 (01:10:15):
Real quick. I'm talking about fun things. You don't know.

Speaker 5 (01:10:18):
Yes, you know, this is a uh the Clippers breaking
up with Paul George's is very uh you know, emotional
for me. So Paul George got traded to the Clippers,
which was obviously the same night that Kawhi Leonard got
signed the night of my wedding, so whoa, there are pictures.
It was a super late night thing. It was like

(01:10:40):
eleven thirty Pacific time, and there are pictures from my
wedding of every you know, all the guys, especially just
standing around a phone like what the heck is going
on because it because it was obviously if you remember,
it was like, well, where's Kawhi gonna go? Is he
gonna be a Laker? Is he gonna be a Clipper?
Is he gonna this? Is he gonna that?

Speaker 4 (01:11:00):
And the Paul.

Speaker 5 (01:11:00):
George element came absolutely out of nowhere, and my buddy
just I remember, my buddy literally pulled me aside on
the dance for a huge NBA fan.

Speaker 4 (01:11:07):
He's like, uh, Paul George just he goes.

Speaker 5 (01:11:11):
Kawhi just signed with the Clippers, and Paul George got
traded to the Clippers, and we were like, what what what?
And there's pictures from my wedding of everybody standing around
their phone staring.

Speaker 4 (01:11:24):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (01:11:24):
So sad to see it come to an end. I mean,
we always assume that hopefully my marriage would last longer
than Kawhi and PG and with the Clippers, but yeah,
I was hoping that they'd last a little longer than
they did and they'd bring a little bit more success
to the Clippers.

Speaker 4 (01:11:39):
But yeah, that that actually did happen.

Speaker 5 (01:11:41):
So it's kind of a little bit of a sad
moment for me because I remember exactly where I was
when I found out Paul George got traded to the Clippers.

Speaker 2 (01:11:47):
Although congrats on winning dot, I think I may not
be as convinced as you that Paul George and the
Clippers have actually just broken up. I'll explain it a second,
we'll get to it. That's Aaron Toryres. I'm Mark Willard.
We're live in the tire rack dot Com Studios on
Fox Sports Radio. Mark willerderon Torres Live tire rack dot

(01:12:12):
Com Studios.

Speaker 3 (01:12:13):
Does this make sense to you? Uh?

Speaker 4 (01:12:17):
Uh oh? What is it?

Speaker 2 (01:12:19):
I don't understand all right, So so let me understand
what we've been told. The Clippers offered Paul George a
three year deal.

Speaker 3 (01:12:31):
He wants four, okay.

Speaker 2 (01:12:35):
The Clippers who will open a new arena, The Clippers
who just re signed James Harden, the Clippers who remain
committed to Kawhi Leonard, who seems to skip half the games.
Those same Clippers are now going to let Paul George

(01:12:58):
walk for nothing because they don't want to give him
the fourth year. They want to give him three, they
don't want to give him four. And then the secondary
piece of it is similar to what you and I
started the show talking about, which is whenever you see
news come down, ask yourself, why do we get to

(01:13:19):
know that unless it's something final. Paul George is on
the sixers. Now that's a report. But Paul George and
his agent hitting WOJE to say, hey, we are very

(01:13:39):
unlikely to sign with the Clippers, and then wait for it.

Speaker 3 (01:13:43):
What did it take? Felt like about a half hour.
Then the Clippers actually released a.

Speaker 2 (01:13:50):
Statement, so you could take the unlikely right out of that.
Paul has informed us that he's out. Why are the
two sides doing this? Why I haven't seen the Golden
State Warriors release a statement. We would like to let

(01:14:11):
everybody publicly know that Clay Thompson will not be back.
Clay has informed us that he would like to be
a Maverick, so that's that we want to thank him
for his great contributions, including four championship rings.

Speaker 3 (01:14:28):
I haven't seen that statement.

Speaker 2 (01:14:31):
Paul George and the Clippers are screaming at one another
on Twitter. That's what's happening right now, and we've reached
a point where they're screaming loud enough where they may
indeed break up. But I'm trying to figure out why
we're getting this information now, and as just a basketball evaluator,

(01:14:54):
I have no idea why the Clippers are doing this, Like,
of those three players, when I factor in availability, Paul
George is the best player of the three.

Speaker 5 (01:15:06):
Well, and that was how that was. We led the show,
not we didn't really lead the show with Paul George,
but it was a conversation pretty early. And that's what
I said is I don't understand. I just feel like,
if you're committing to Kawhi Leonard, then in turn, you
kind of have to commit to Paul George because they're
on the same time frame to whatever. And oh, by

(01:15:27):
the way, on top of that, of course, you know,
Kawhi is just never available. So that that was the
part that confused me. And I also just don't understand
what difference does the extra year make. I mean, all
these guys are now in their early to mid thirties.
I think Kawhi is the youngest, at like thirty three.
You know, we're talking about real. If you believe such

(01:15:49):
a window exists with these three, which I don't know
that I do, then it's year one. You know, you
probably got two years maybe. By the way, James Harden
is only gonna under contract for two years. So that's
the part of the confuses me. What is it about
the fourth year that the Clipper Clippers like, oh, well,
commit to you for three, but that fourth year, it's like,
who really cares? Like this is the NBA. You can

(01:16:10):
always find somebody to take a bad contract to make
a trade work down the road, you know. I just
that's the part that kind of confuses me. Is I
just if it was just, Hey, he's just not part
of our future plans for whatever reason, We're pursuing another
guy at his position. We're rebuilding, we're tanking, we're tearing

(01:16:30):
it all down. That's fine, but he kind of fits
the timeframe that the entire organization is on right now
with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden as your stars.

Speaker 2 (01:16:42):
I don't get it unless what we're actually seeing, and
there is some evidence of this, what we're actually seeing
right now in free agency, is that this whole thing
is going to be a little bit of a bust
because you're watching NBA teams with new collective Bargaining agreement
rules that quite frankly, very very few of us understand

(01:17:04):
and could explain to another person.

Speaker 3 (01:17:07):
Luxury tax penalties.

Speaker 2 (01:17:08):
Second apron the draft penalties, the ability to acquire players
becomes very, very difficult. The penalties are out of control.
So what you're seeing is teams saying they're going after players.
The Warriors went after Paul George, and the Clippers, boy,
they want Paul George. But oh, neither one of them's

(01:17:31):
gonna have Paul George. And oh, by the way, we
just happened to be well below the apron. Now, like Valanchunis,
who I think is a pretty interesting center, gets ten
million dollars per year.

Speaker 3 (01:17:47):
It's kind of been a tradition the last few years.

Speaker 2 (01:17:50):
Aaron in NBA Free agency that by this time, four
hours into the experience, you're like, what recession.

Speaker 3 (01:17:59):
Holy crap.

Speaker 2 (01:18:01):
NBA owners have spent a billion dollars already in the
first four hours this year.

Speaker 3 (01:18:07):
Yeah, like what have they spent forty eight?

Speaker 2 (01:18:11):
I mean, like, I think that that's what's going on
here is is the league finally made this so punitive
that teams are acting like they want players maybe a
little bit more than they do.

Speaker 5 (01:18:26):
That could be it, And I just I do think
it's been a little bit quiet, But I also don't
think it's been a little bit quiet because most of
these guys that could be on the move, like they
do have decisions to make, and and you know, you
go back to I remember there was that one year
where Katie and Kyrie signed within the first you know,

(01:18:48):
hour of free agency. It's like, well, we kind of
knew they were teammate, they were gonna be teammates, and
that was in some way, shape or form done. Now
did all of us believe it was gonna be the
Brooklyn Nets, I don't know, but I just bring up
because you kind of knew that was gonna be on.
But Paul George, it's clear there is some sort of friction,
if you will, with the Clippers, and so he is
going to at least see what else is out there. Uh, Lebron,

(01:19:11):
we knew yesterday was going to opt out. So that's
gonna be a little bit of a process. Klay Thompson,
we know that he's probably almost certainly not going to
be back with Golden State, and so that means that
that's going to be a process. He's going to meet
with two or three other teams. So I'm a little
surprised that people are surprised that it's been a quieter
free agency to start, But I just think that's the

(01:19:33):
nature of how things were well.

Speaker 2 (01:19:34):
And I mean that a little bit less about the
frequency of news and more about the dollars that I'm.

Speaker 3 (01:19:41):
Seeing coming in.

Speaker 2 (01:19:42):
If you had asked me a month ago what I
thought was going to happen with Malik Monk, I thought
Malik would be on a different basketball team, and Malik
would be making thirty million a year, and we didn't
even get to free agency and he re signed with
the Sacramento Kings for less than twenty a year. I
just think money is much harder for these guys to

(01:20:04):
find than it has been the last few years.

Speaker 5 (01:20:06):
It could be, yeah, and it's because again of the
salary cap things that we don't all fully understand, but
it does feel like it is changing a little bit
how teams are operating, for sure, there's.

Speaker 3 (01:20:18):
No question about it. All right.

Speaker 2 (01:20:20):
You've mentioned, and I've mentioned a couple of times in
this conversation today, the name Klay Thompson, and we are
all moving forward with the idea that he is going
to be on a new team come tomorrow, the day after,
maybe even tonight, maybe who knows. By the time Steve's
done with his conversation coming up who played this right?

(01:20:41):
Who played it wrong? Between Clay and the Warriors. We'll
get to that coming up next. Look, I can't get
into anybody else's fight right like our emotions aren't in it.
I don't know who's right who's wrong. If you're upset,
you're upset. I can't really talk you out of it.
But the best we can do is kind of lay

(01:21:03):
everything that we know out on the table and analyze
it to our best ability.

Speaker 3 (01:21:08):
Let's do that with Klay Thompson.

Speaker 2 (01:21:09):
And the Warriors, who, by the way, have not officially
parted ways yet, but they're going to. And the insiders
say so I can share a little bit of I
don't want to call it reporting. Let's just say Klay
Thompson's gonna play somewhere else next year.

Speaker 3 (01:21:27):
I know this.

Speaker 2 (01:21:28):
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Speaker 3 (01:21:39):
The way tire buying should be.

Speaker 2 (01:21:41):
Aaron, I wonder sort of how you see it, And
here's here's the background. Here are the bullet points that
people bring up Klay Thompson tears his acl years ago.

Speaker 3 (01:21:53):
Against the Toronto Raptors in the finals.

Speaker 2 (01:21:56):
The Warriors show up in his hospital with a max
contract extension. He would have gotten it elsewhere if they
didn't give it to him. Still a tremendous player, and
he hurt himself trying to win another title. That's one
way to look at it. Other people say, dude, you
ended up getting paid eighty million to not play basketball
because in his rehab he then tore his achilles the

(01:22:18):
following year in a pickup game and missed two full years,
and then the third one came back but only played
part time in a year that the Warriors.

Speaker 3 (01:22:27):
Ended up winning another championship.

Speaker 2 (01:22:30):
Ring Since that time, there have been numerous conversations about
Clay's shot selection, about whether or not Clay would be
better suited coming off the bench. He did come off
the bench at times last year. Clay is somebody who

(01:22:53):
is very internal with his mental side. He's a thinker,
and he hears everything and he takes it to heart
a sensitive being, and so whenever he heard the it's
over or whenever he heard the you're washed up, even

(01:23:14):
when he didn't hear it, sometimes he would hear it,
if you know what I mean, and that played into
a relationship that through time, really really soured. All that said,
if the reports are to be believed, the Warriors offered
this guy two years and forty eight million dollars before
the season started, he said no and now stands to

(01:23:38):
make considerably less as he leaves. So which side kind
of makes more sense to you?

Speaker 5 (01:23:48):
Which side makes more sense to me in terms of
Clay's perspective or the Warriors.

Speaker 2 (01:23:53):
Person I yeah, And I also think, just to add
in that the Golden State Warriors themselves, like the thought
has been for a while that there would be a
true sentimentality there that they were very activated by the
idea of the Big three being career Warriors, And I

(01:24:14):
don't think that that sentimentality is there. Like, I think
there are hurt feelings on both sides, if you will, so,
I just wonder, from your and my outsider standpoint, which
hurt feelings or which position kind of makes more sense
to you?

Speaker 4 (01:24:32):
This is such a cop out. I think both sides
make sense.

Speaker 5 (01:24:35):
I mean, listen, you know from the Warriors perspective, you
know Clay is obviously a diminished player. That's not even debatable.
I think even Clay would say that, and like, listen,
it sounds great that you're going to all three of
them are going to retire as Warriors, But that's just
not how things work in sports in general, especially as

(01:24:59):
you get older. Guys don't Guys that have done it
at a certain level don't often fully understand that they
might not be at that level anymore. And so, yeah,
it sounds great that they're all gonna retire warriors. That
probably wasn't realistic, by the way, sounds great your first
you know, your first girlfriend when you're sixteen, Oh, we're
soulmates and we're gonna get married. That generally doesn't happen,

(01:25:22):
and that's okay. And so I don't think either side
is to blame. Clay thinks he has something to give,
maybe more than the Warriors believe. He has the opportunity
to make more money. And I'm never gonna blame anybody
for taking the most possible money. Even we just talked
a minute ago about Lebron James, Like, if he does
end up coming back for the max possible he can get,
I don't blame him for that either, And I don't

(01:25:43):
blame Clay and so I think he feels a little
bit disrespected. I think the Warriors have an organization to run.
It's not a charity. They don't I don't want to
say they don't owe him anything, but they don't owe
him paying the most amount of money or giving him
the best possible role. He is who he is at
this point. He's in his mid thirties. It's not twenty sixteen.

(01:26:07):
Things have changed and he's not the same player anymore.
I really do understand it from both sides.

Speaker 2 (01:26:12):
The Golden State Warriors are staring at a pr disaster
right now, whether it's fair or not. And we're so
early in the free agency period. I don't know what
moves we don't know about, but if you just kind
of follow the timeline, one of their franchise legends is
about to leave for less money than he was offered

(01:26:34):
by the team. Again, this is leaving out some key context,
but that's true. They flirted with the idea of Paul
George all week, didn't get him. Chris Paul's contractual situation
was delayed because it was thought that he could be

(01:26:54):
in a trade. They end up just waiving him. That's
what they received last year. For Joan and Poole. So
essentially it tells the fans, we just took Jordan Poole's
salary and dumped it. A year later and the exact
same team remains in place, just minus Clay Thompson and

(01:27:16):
Chris Paul, and it's a team that didn't even make the.

Speaker 3 (01:27:18):
Playoffs last year.

Speaker 2 (01:27:22):
I don't know what they're about to do, but I
know Monday morning is coming quick, and that's not gonna
sound good from the local fan base once they're on
their way to work tomorrow.

Speaker 5 (01:27:32):
Well, and you definitely have the much better perspective on,
you know, on the state of the fan base and
what they think needs to be done and what.

Speaker 4 (01:27:39):
Frankly does need to be done.

Speaker 5 (01:27:42):
The way that I kind of look at it is
it does feel like for I don't know how long,
because they just want to title you know, three springs ago,
two calendar years ago. But you know, the Chris Paul thing,
even last year, it felt kind of like trying to
put a band aid over something. And oh, he could
play with the second team, but he and it's like,

(01:28:03):
you know, trying to find a plug and play guy
for this era in this moment in time, right now,
and so this just feels like a pseudo clean break
of Okay, we still have Steph and he's still elite.
Draymond serves his role when he's actually on the court,
but we have to start getting younger and we have
to start getting more dynamic.

Speaker 4 (01:28:23):
Now.

Speaker 5 (01:28:24):
Again, I think to your point, this is an organization
that is used to winning at very, very very high levels.
And I don't think a complete teardown will work it,
nor should it, because you still have Steph Curry and
Draymond Green. But yeah, that's what this feels like to me,
is kind of an acknowledgment. We have to get younger,
we have to get more dynamic. But again, I don't
know what that piece is out there that puts them

(01:28:47):
back in the mix because and I think this is
a lot of the stuff that we talked about with
the Lakers earlier. Is you know, this league, even in
the last two years, two and a half years, three years,
it has changed quite a bit, and it feels like
a ver league, a Boston league, maybe a Knicks league
with the move that they made this week, and it
just feels like, you know, the Warriors and the Lakers

(01:29:08):
both you know, biggest stars but I don't know that
either as really a contender as they're currently constructed.

Speaker 3 (01:29:14):
Well, let me ask you this, what is it franchise?

Speaker 2 (01:29:18):
Oh, it's Lifetime Superstar as that Superstar ages.

Speaker 4 (01:29:25):
Well let me jump in.

Speaker 5 (01:29:27):
I there is a mutual oh you know, like like
Klay Thompson is, and I don't.

Speaker 4 (01:29:33):
Know exactly what he's asked for.

Speaker 5 (01:29:34):
And again, you live in the Bay Area, maybe you
know a little bit more on exactly what he expects,
whether it's salary, role, whatever. But I just bring it
up because what is the franchise? Oh, the player, but
what is the player also the franchise. And I'm not saying, oh,
you know, I'm always pro management and pro ownership and
screw the players. That's not what I'm saying at all.
But what I am saying is, if you know, maybe

(01:29:57):
he doesn't know, but you're not the same player you
were pre injury four five, six years ago. To your point,
they gave him a MAX extension following the first injury,
and like, you know, how much does the organization owe him?
I don't know, but how much does he owe the organization?
And again it's why I understand the stance of both

(01:30:19):
sides but I also understand the stance of and this
gets into again a little bit of what we just
talked about with Paul George a minute ago, is that
at some point you have to.

Speaker 4 (01:30:28):
Meet in the middle.

Speaker 5 (01:30:29):
It can't be all in favor of Klay Thompson or
all in favor of the Warriors, or one side feels
like they're getting screwed. Same with Paul George and the Clippers.
By the way, this is the problem with Lebron and
the Lakers. It feels like Lebron at this point is
taking a lot more than he's giving an organization that
lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (01:30:46):
So if you're not.

Speaker 5 (01:30:47):
Gonna meet in the middle, I don't think you can
sit here and say the organization owes Clay XYZ if
Clay isn't willing to give up a little bit of
X y Z as.

Speaker 2 (01:30:56):
Well, okay, fair enough, But let me transfer it to
a differ from Star And this is where I think
teams at right there are teams that I think have
different behaviors here, and that is the Stars that are staying.
In other words, Steph Curry, thirty six years old, what

(01:31:17):
the fan base has been told for a while now
is that the organization feels as if it owes Steph
Curry every effort to win now, even though it may
or may not be the smartest thing. Would they give
up any young assets to try to win now even

(01:31:38):
though their core is in their mid thirties and usually
teams don't do well in that situation. And what we've
been told is that the organization firmly believes that it
owes Steph Curry everything, absolutely every effort. Now, compare it
to what the Lakers just did. A non lifetime star,

(01:31:59):
one who who is very different than the franchise legends
that actually lead the Laker brand. And the Lakers have
clearly similar to almost every Lebron James stop. They've bent
over backwards and done everything that he's asked. Like this offseason,
maybe more than ever before. What happened this offseason the

(01:32:22):
Lakers hired his co host to coach and drafted his son.
They are literally saying, Lebron, you tell us what you
want and we'll do it now. Is the same thing
owed to a Steph Curry type? And if so, I
would argue that the first line of what the Warriors

(01:32:44):
have said, they're trying to do. They very much did
not do it. I could see Steph Curry being a
little stressed out today.

Speaker 5 (01:32:54):
So are you I guess what I would ask you?
Are you implying? Because I think there's two contradictory things.
If you're really and again again it kind of goes
to the Lakers. If you're really about winning at the
highest level right now with Steph Curry, is Klay Thompson
really one of those pieces? But then the counter to
that is, if you also want to make Steph Curry happy,

(01:33:16):
you probably figure out a way to keep it. So
it's clear they're they're leaning more towards A than B.
But is that unfair for me to say what I
kind of the way I just laid it out right there.

Speaker 4 (01:33:27):
Absolutely, it's unfair. It's not unfair.

Speaker 2 (01:33:31):
Well, no, you're meaning to Uh no, it's well, we're
not done yet. We're not done yet. And and and
look when when uh, when you try to trade, the
other team has to want to trade back. So I
don't put this entire situation on on the doorstep of
one team.

Speaker 3 (01:33:52):
You have to have willing partners.

Speaker 2 (01:33:54):
And we're just getting started, we're only four hours in.
But the sto art that some of these teams, and
the Warriors are one of them. The start that these
teams are off to suggest to me that at least
it's fair to ask, are you saying.

Speaker 3 (01:34:12):
One thing and doing another in an effort to save money?

Speaker 5 (01:34:16):
Well, maybe we come back and talk about that, because
I'd be curious from your perspective. I don't know that
they are, but again, you cover this team, You're around
this team every day, and I would actually be genuinely
curious for your perspective on that exact question.

Speaker 3 (01:34:29):
Well, then let's do that.

Speaker 2 (01:34:30):
Coming up next, Mark whelerd Aaron Tois Fox Sports Radio
Okay with Aaron Toyis.

Speaker 3 (01:34:35):
I'm Mark Whelerlive tyrech dot com Studios. Hey.

Speaker 2 (01:34:38):
Shortly after the show, the podcast goes up. If you
missed any of the show, be sure to check out
the podcast. Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get
your podcasts. Be sure to also follow rate and review,
and again just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get
your podcast and you'll see this show posted Right after
we get off the air at a about Paul George

(01:35:01):
Lebron James, about the way James are reported Lebron, Yeah,
Bronni James Klay Thompson. All of it still relevant because
free agency is moving slower than it used to. Almost
no free agents have actually changed teams. There have been

(01:35:23):
a couple, and and we're talking like C level players.
But one thing's very very clear to me, and that
is these new rules of the CBA. If you don't
want to take the time or the entire month to
read everything and understand what it's all about, just know this.
It It has It has slowed movement, and it has

(01:35:46):
slowed money for sure.

Speaker 3 (01:35:48):
Zero does yep yep.

Speaker 2 (01:35:51):
So what's the what's the what's the question in the
way that you want to phrase it that we were
just talking about?

Speaker 5 (01:35:56):
Oh man, well, I don't even remember exactly how it
was framed going out, but we were kind of talking
the Warriors being fully committed to taking advantage of the
final couple years of Steph Curry's prime. If you want
to call it that. Maybe you know him as a
as an elite player. And I think the question was

(01:36:17):
about should that not will it because it appears as
though it will not, But should it include Klay Thompson?
And if you are all in, is Klay Thompson a
missing piece? I forget exactly how you framed it right
before the break, But I thought it was a really
good framing, and so I wanted your opinion on it
because obviously you're a guy who's around that organization three

(01:36:37):
or sixty five days a year.

Speaker 2 (01:36:39):
Yeah, I think it could have included Klay Thompson. Didn't
necessarily hop to include Klay Thompson. The Clay part is
much more emotional than it is X's and O's.

Speaker 3 (01:36:51):
And here's the bottom line.

Speaker 2 (01:36:54):
Brian Windhorse, a couple of years ago, when the Warriors
won a championship, he referred to it as a checkbook championship,
and that's stuck. That's something that still gets talked about
in the Bay Area of that comment, largely because I
think it was a little bit dismissive of some certain
people on the court. But the other side to it
is there was some truth to it, at least in

(01:37:17):
terms of dollars and cents. They have been championship, yes,
but I mean since then they have been the most
expensive roster in basketball and it has not been close.
And so when you do that, when Joe Lacup and
the others do that and you win a championship, you're fine.
When you do that and you go to seven games

(01:37:38):
with the Sacramento Kings and you win, and then you
go to six more with the Lakers and you lose,
you look at that and go, well, I was disappointing,
but okay, thirteen playoff games and right like felt like
a little bit of a run.

Speaker 3 (01:37:57):
When you're the ten seed and you.

Speaker 2 (01:38:01):
Drive an hour and a half north to play your
supposed little brother and get blown off the court by
thirty points and don't even make the playoffs, you know
that check gets ripped in half. Sure, and so the
ownership is like, we are completely willing to spend, but

(01:38:22):
only if it's realistically going to be something that competes.
And so the Warriors, I thought the issue here was
just timing. That's really all it was. Did they want
Clay back? Of course they they want Clay back. But
could they offer to their fans and to the roster

(01:38:42):
itself the exact same group again, No.

Speaker 3 (01:38:47):
No, of course they can't.

Speaker 2 (01:38:50):
Quite frankly, for the same reason that they can't trade
Steph Curry for those who want them to just go
into full rebuild mode. Like there's a business office aspect
to all of this. It's one thing to be like
the standings and are they are you a top four
seed and can you win the whole thing?

Speaker 3 (01:39:07):
You also have to be a product.

Speaker 2 (01:39:09):
You have to be interesting, You have to get excitement
about your team. And uh and the Warriors bringing back
the same group would have been in a lot of trouble.
And it's the same reason I made the comment moments
ago they might be in trouble this time because right
now that's exactly what they are. They're the same group,
except for even worse because they've lost a couple of
that same group.

Speaker 5 (01:39:31):
No, it's it's you know, And I think that that
that is the most interesting part of a situation like
Klay Thompson, which is that essentially you have to make
that tough decision between the sentimentality of all those championships
won together, all those NBA Finals appearances, but it is still, ultimately,

(01:39:53):
at the end of the day, a business decision. And
that's why it goes back to what we talked about
before the break, which is that I don't think either
side is wrong. I think Clay thinks that he still
has something left in the tank. Some of us might disagree,
but if somebody is willing to pay him what he
believes is market value. Is it's hard for me to criticize.
I'll give you a very random example, but when John Caliperry,

(01:40:15):
and I know everything goes back to college basketball.

Speaker 3 (01:40:17):
But whatever, damn no.

Speaker 5 (01:40:18):
But when John cal Perry left Kentucky for Arkansas, I
kind of sat there and said, you know what, dude,
you just lost to Oakland. You're in your sixties, you
had what most people deem to be the first, second,
third best job in the sport. Why you leave it
to just retire? Dude, you're sixty five, you have more
money than you'll ever spend.

Speaker 3 (01:40:37):
Whatever.

Speaker 4 (01:40:38):
Then he kind of gave a speech afterward. He gave
a little going going away video.

Speaker 5 (01:40:43):
After he accepted the Arkansas job, and he said, listen,
I think it's time for this this this program to
have a new voice, a new leader. I think my
voice got a little bit stale. But I love being
in the gym and coaching kids, and you know, I
think my voice still will carry away somewhere. And I
hope that this program has great whatever years and I
have great whatever years whatever. And when he made that speech,

(01:41:06):
it really struck me. Who am I to say that
this guy should If somebody is willing to pay him
to do the job, who am I to say that
he should retire? And I kind of feel the same
way with Klay Thompson. Is yes, I wish in a
fairytale world where you know, it's all rainbows and sunshines
and con candy, that Clay could retire a Golden State Warrior.

(01:41:29):
But the Warriors have a business decision to make. There's
a business element to what they're doing, and you know,
you can't just completely dismiss all those business elements because again,
then you maybe get rid of staff, maybe you get
rid of Draymond, maybe you just completely start from scratch.
But they have a business to run. But if somebody
still wants to pay Klay Thompson more money than the

(01:41:50):
Golden State Warriors are willing to offer him because they
believe he has more left in the tank than the
Golden State Warriors do, then I don't think, and I
don't necessarily even think that Golden State Warrior fans feel
a certain way about it. But I don't think anybody
should feel a certain way about it. If the Orlando
Magic or the Dallas Mavericks, or whoever it is, the
Los Angeles Lakers believe that there's a bigger role for

(01:42:10):
Clay to play and a bigger salary than he can
get in Golden State. We shouldn't begrudge either side, the
Golden State side or the Clay Thompson side for deciding
that we wish we could have made it work, but
we just can't.

Speaker 3 (01:42:25):
I'm with you. I'm with you one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (01:42:26):
I think the corek here is that he may end
up making less than what he was offered at Golden State,
and that's what brings kind of the emotion into it.

Speaker 3 (01:42:36):
But I've learned this three years.

Speaker 2 (01:42:38):
I know a lot of us look at NBA players
and we're like, oh my gosh, You're like Clay, You've
made a quarter of a billion dollars. Like, what's the
difference next year between making twenty five million and making
seventeen million. I've learned this, Aaron, the answer from a
rich person, what's the difference between seventeen and twenty five
million dollars? The answer is eight million dollars. On the answer,

(01:43:02):
that's the answer.

Speaker 5 (01:43:07):
No I was gonna say, was you know, I'm I'm
not quite at my fortieth birthday, yet I still got
a little bit of time.

Speaker 3 (01:43:12):
God, are you still that young?

Speaker 5 (01:43:15):
I'm still on my my you know, I'm on the
back half of my thirties. But I bring it up
to say, and all my time on uh, on this earth,
I have yet to hear one person say, you know what,
I got enough money.

Speaker 3 (01:43:26):
I'm good. So we're good. We're we're all good on money.

Speaker 2 (01:43:30):
Speaking of people who haven't reached their fortieth birthday, let's
go live to Steve to Sager.

Speaker 3 (01:43:34):
Ladies and gentlemen, Hello Steve, good afternoon, bless you. Yeah
to the NBA news. It's free.

Speaker 7 (01:43:41):
Agency's negotiating windows started today.

Speaker 4 (01:43:45):
Uh and Mark Stein, longtime.

Speaker 7 (01:43:46):
NBA writer, said this that the Dallas Mavericks, for one,
I had a hope earlier today that they had a
path to somehow land Clay Thompson and keep Derek Jones,
but Dallas pivoted in citing Naji Marshl's his league. So
Horses say after unexpectedly conceding tonight, that they would likely
not have the wherewithal to retain Jones while the MAVs

(01:44:08):
focus on the sign and trade pursuit of Clay Thompson.
His sources say the Dallas MAVs are still focused on
securing a commitment from Clay completing a sign in trade
that would land Thompson into Dallas's looming trade exception from
Tim Hardaway Junior. As for James Harden and the Clippers,
he's resigning with them two years, seventy million dollars, including

(01:44:31):
a player option. Paul George opted out of his contract,
and George was due to talk to Philadelphia tonight. He
will not resign with the Clippers. The team says. Philadelphia
is signing Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon. Golden State waived
Chris Paul and he intends to sign with the Spurs
one year about eleven million dollars. The Wizards get center
Jonas Valen Schuniz three years thirty million. Or Lando agreed

(01:44:53):
to a deal with Contavious Caldwell Pope three years sixty
six million dollars, including a player option. The Pacers are
resign Obi Toppin four years sixty million dollars. Miami re
signed Kevin Love. The new league year opens this Saturday.
The new salary cap is about one hundred and forty
million dollars per team. Detroit plans to give Cad Cunningham

(01:45:14):
a five year max rookie extension worth two hundred twenty
six million dollars. The Pistons new head coach will be JB.
Bickerstaff on a reported five year contract. He had just
been let go by Cleveland. Monty Williams was let go
after one season in Detroit by new management there. The
Pistons just went fourteen and sixty eight three WNBA games

(01:45:34):
New York Sabrina Yenescu was three of seventeen shooting from
the floor, but they still beat Atlanta eighty one seventy five.
Minnesota was a winner at Chicago seventy to sixty two
despite sixteen more rebounds from Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark
in an Indiana win at fifteen points, nine rebounds, twelve
assists and six turnovers, but her team won at Phoenix

(01:45:55):
eighty eight eighty two. They said on the telecast that's
the first time Indiana has beaten a F five hundred
club or better on their schedule so far this year.
In Copa America, tonight on Fox TV, attendance in Arizona
sixty two thousand to watch Mexico not score again. Mexico
is out it tied Ecuador zero zero. Mexico needed a
win to advance. They outshot their opponent nineteen to nine,

(01:46:18):
but they're done, scoring just one goal in three games,
and yeah eliminated due to gold differential. So it'll be
Ecuador against Argentina Thursday, July fourth in a quarterfinal. Venezuela
surprising three to zero beat last place Jamaica three to nine.

Speaker 3 (01:46:33):
Thing tonight.

Speaker 7 (01:46:34):
The US plays Monday night and will likely need to
beat not tie first place Uruguay and its group to advance.
That game from Kansas City tomorrow is on FS one.
At the Euros in the round of sixteen, England came
back for an overtime win over Slovakia two to one.
Spain beat Georgia four to one. NASCAR win tonight in
overtime at Nashville for Joey Logano. Simone Biles has won

(01:46:54):
the gymnastics all around at the US Trials Sidney McLoughlin.
Laveron won the only won the four entimeter hurdles, broke
the world record again in her event, and the US
Olympic Trials in Oregon. She won her final by two seconds.
Cam Davis took the PGA event in Detroit in baseball
at Baltimore tonight, Texas ended a six game losing streak
with an eleven to two final against the Orioles. Wyatt

(01:47:17):
Langford hit for the cycle, had four hits, four RBIs.
Houston in eleven innings, beat the Mets in New York
ten to five. Colorado in fourteen innings won five to
four at the White Sox. This is iraqis team that had
lost five straight on the road. It was eleven and
thirty one. But perhaps you've not heard. The White Sox
are not good this year. The guy who took the
loss going four innings in relief in the extra innings,

(01:47:40):
Mike Soroka is zero to eight now this season, and
the White Sox offense with runners in scoring position won
for eighteen. Today they lose in fourteen innings. Back to you,
eighteen chances that light right. Life's always a matter of perspective.
They got eighteen hit This is it that it was

(01:48:01):
very similar to Mexico's game tonight. Chances and not coming
through a.

Speaker 2 (01:48:06):
Lot of chances. Hey, Steve, do you have all the
soccer matches in front of you? Do you know who
played today? Did did Cameroon play today Cameroon.

Speaker 3 (01:48:16):
Did they play? You will tell you why I'm asking.

Speaker 7 (01:48:19):
There are other games around the world if you're asking,
But yeah, most of the as far as national teams,
all the attention is on Europe and Copa America.

Speaker 3 (01:48:30):
Correct.

Speaker 2 (01:48:30):
Okay, So the reason I'm asking is because, at let's say,
seven hours ago, so shortly after noon Pacific, Joe l
Embiid tweeted in all caps, here we go with like
five exclamation points. So I was thinking, either, okay, not Cameroon.

(01:48:58):
Either he knows something we don't, like Paul George Clay
Thompson or something like that, or maybe Cameroon game was starting.

Speaker 3 (01:49:06):
I didn't know which, but maybe maybe so you're thinking.

Speaker 4 (01:49:11):
Maybe it was Maybe it was Cameron, wouldn't it before?

Speaker 3 (01:49:13):
I just right like, maybe I'm like what here? Here
we go? Where? Or what? What? What are you doing? Joel?
But maybe he knows something. Philly is in the home due.

Speaker 5 (01:49:24):
To report to Vegas with the That's what I was thinking.
I thought maybe it was like an Olympics reference.

Speaker 2 (01:49:28):
Maybe he got on a flight by the way, Maybe
that's it.

Speaker 3 (01:49:32):
Here we go.

Speaker 5 (01:49:33):
Speaking of Klay Thompson, it used to be a thing
that once you played for one national team, you couldn't
play for another. But I see Klay Thompson with the
Bohemian national team this year. I just find that and
I think MB maybe played for Cameron at some point
in his career. That's what makes me think of it.
But that used to be a thing like once you
played a single minute of international ball for one, uh

(01:49:56):
you know, federation, you couldn't play for another.

Speaker 4 (01:49:58):
But I see Klay Thompson with the Bohemian But.

Speaker 5 (01:50:00):
He me a national team preparing for I'm assuming it's
an Olympic qualifier.

Speaker 2 (01:50:04):
But well, and I would argue probably four years from
now he's going to be too old to play for anyone.

Speaker 5 (01:50:13):
But I just it used to not even be legal,
That's what I'm saying. And now he does appear or
maybe he was just a practice player. I'm looking at
their roster right now and he doesn't appear to be
on it. I swear I've seen him in a and
obviously we know his father is from the Bahamas. You
you probably have some sort of you probably know Michael
a little bit, just a little bit, if you.

Speaker 4 (01:50:33):
Guys hosted together. I'm sorry, I don't know your hotel.
I don't have your home Wikipedia.

Speaker 2 (01:50:36):
But you don't have to know my Yeah, I don't
even have one, so yeah, you don't have to know
my whole resume. But yes, Michael and I did a
show together in LA for for about three years, and
so yeah, I have a little bit of a line
to the family.

Speaker 4 (01:50:51):
But gets the bottom of that.

Speaker 5 (01:50:53):
If you could, by the Eye show, hit up Michael
and just say, hey, no secrets on Dallas or l
or whatever. I think I know where Michael probably wants
them to end up. I never worked with them for
three years. But yeah, you should get to the bottom
of this. I swear I see. I've seen pictures of
him like with the team. Very just just very interesting.

Speaker 7 (01:51:13):
And I'm not sing as far as the soccer that
apparently this Africa tournament is only Southern African nations, so
Cameroon would not be in it. So I hope he's
talking about US basketball.

Speaker 2 (01:51:24):
Or Paul George. Yeah, maybe it's just excited about Paul George.
And yes, Aaron, I know that that your dad or
his dad probably would love for Clay to end up
on the Lakers, and and maybe maybe all the players
on the Lakers could just have their dad present from
all the games next year. Maybe that just be a thing.

(01:51:47):
Maybe that's what they're trying to do this offseason. That's
a good idea.

Speaker 5 (01:51:50):
Are you saying, Dalton Connect's dad is the only reason
that he got picked seventeenth overall?

Speaker 4 (01:51:54):
Is that?

Speaker 3 (01:51:54):
What I think? You just signed a ten day is
what I think?

Speaker 1 (01:51:58):
Is that?

Speaker 5 (01:51:59):
So he's got connections? You might say, did you see
you see he's taking number four? By the way, Connect four,
he's taking the jersey he's is he really?

Speaker 2 (01:52:09):
God, the whole organization is just turning this whole thing
into a big like barbecue. You're just like, yeah, we
got we got face painting over here in the corner.

Speaker 3 (01:52:20):
Connect four.

Speaker 2 (01:52:21):
We got a dad and his son is seriously all right.
We'll be back here with with some some final thoughts
on all that is ongoing, including what I think is
just another social media leverage play.

Speaker 3 (01:52:37):
Tell you what we're talking about.

Speaker 2 (01:52:38):
Next, we're live in thee tire Rack dot Com Studios
with Aaron Torres, Mark Willard, Fox Sports Radio Okay, Live
ti Rack dot Com Studios, Mark willerd Aeron Torres, I
mean I must say it again. I bet we'll I
bet we'll do it again sometime soon.

Speaker 5 (01:52:57):
Okay, all right, well I'll be here. I you know,
I am going away for my wife's fortieth in a
couple of weekends, but I'll be around for most of
the summer.

Speaker 3 (01:53:06):
So just be real with me. How far are you from? Forty?
What are your thirty seven?

Speaker 5 (01:53:12):
So come on, man, this coming Saturday, July sixth, I
will be thirty nine years old July sixth eighty five.

Speaker 2 (01:53:21):
Yeah, well, happy early birthday.

Speaker 4 (01:53:25):
Thank you, yes, thank you tim much.

Speaker 3 (01:53:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:53:28):
Time to get started on plans for what you want
to do for your fortieth birthday?

Speaker 3 (01:53:32):
Yeah, got a year.

Speaker 5 (01:53:33):
We've had some talks. Okay, I'm a pretty simple guy.
I do love to go to Vegas. I'm not a
huge gambler, but I just love the energy. So I
and I have a buddy who actually will turn forty,
probably about two weeks before me, So we're thinking about
wives Vegas. A couple of good dinners sit in the
sports book, you know, recklessly bet on whatever is going

(01:53:55):
on in you know, July of twenty twenty five, maybe
some WNBA who knows what'll be going on at that
time next year.

Speaker 4 (01:54:01):
So there's been some conversations. But yeah, I still got a.

Speaker 5 (01:54:04):
Year and six days a year and six days, just
three hundred and sixty one days to soak it all in.

Speaker 3 (01:54:11):
I am.

Speaker 2 (01:54:11):
I'm always you know, kind of side eyed at people
who are like, love Vegas, don't like to gamble, Like
what do you do there?

Speaker 3 (01:54:19):
Then I like the energy? What does that mean?

Speaker 5 (01:54:22):
Well, I go to the pool in generally drink a lot,
and then pool is good. And I also, I really
like my version of like I love, I really do,
and I think most people that work on this network
genuinely love sports. I genuinely love sports, and so I
do love to just go and just sit in the
sports book and grab a beer and throw a couple

(01:54:43):
bucks on a game, whatever it is. And that's just
like my version of relaxations. Like I always say, like,
you know, a lot of guys golf, I don't really golf.
A lot of guys ski, I don't really ski. A
lot of guys fish. I don't really fish. But you know,
give me even just thirty six hours and Vegas sit
by the pool during the day, find a game to
watch at night, Like I'm good walking And I'm not

(01:55:05):
saying I don't gamble at all, but I'm just not
a like sixteen hours a day at the blackjack table
kind of guy. I'm like two hours a night at
the blackjack table, and I either win everything or I
am up and I'm good at you know, I'm not
one that if I'm up x amount, I have too
much pride and I'm having too much fun.

Speaker 4 (01:55:24):
I'll just walk away.

Speaker 5 (01:55:25):
I'm that kind of corny gambler that's like, no, yeah, no,
I'll just you know, if i'm you know, if i'm
up or if i'm even or whatever, I'm happy to
walk away and do whatever.

Speaker 3 (01:55:32):
So no wonder you like Vegas.

Speaker 2 (01:55:34):
You're able to get in and out of there without
losing all your money.

Speaker 3 (01:55:36):
That sounds pretty smart. Oh, thank you well.

Speaker 5 (01:55:38):
And the other thing two is and you know this
being in La whether it's La San fran whatever, you know,
like like, I don't think it would be as much
fun if I live down the East coast and I
grew up on the East coast, but like if it
was like a year's worth of planning and then you
gotta stay for five days because Vegas really, you know,
if you're having a good time, sometimes t i'mes thirty

(01:56:01):
six hours to forty eight is more than enough, and
so that's probably part of why I enjoy it as
well as because I can kind of get in and
get out and have fun without it being like a
five day thing where by day three I'm down all
my money and I already lost it and I'm miserable
and whatever. So that's probably part of it too, is
being able to get in and get out really quick.
And for us here that are lucky enough to live

(01:56:22):
on the West Coast, it's it's an easy trip and
you can can get out and do what you need
to do.

Speaker 2 (01:56:26):
So yep, absolutely, and that trip in is way more
fun out that that.

Speaker 3 (01:56:32):
Is for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:56:33):
A bench Well, you like the energy of Vegas, you
do not like the energy on the plane that's leaving Vegas.
That is called depression. Okay, Mark watherderon Toys. I was
just this has kind of been the theme that's in
my mind all week, which is trying to sort of
ascertain like when we see something, when we see a report,

(01:56:55):
what does it mean?

Speaker 3 (01:56:56):
Why are we seeing it?

Speaker 2 (01:56:58):
So this is completely away from basketball entirely and over
to football, where the wide receiver market has been going
crazy and one of the crazier offseason NFL negotiations.

Speaker 3 (01:57:10):
I've ever watched is that of forty nine Ers wide.

Speaker 2 (01:57:13):
Receiver Brendan Ayuk, who it's been known that he wanted
a new deal. The forty nine Ers are negotiating with
him the same way they did with Nick Mosa last
year and Deebo Samuel the year before that, and sometimes
it can get tense and uncomfortable. I don't know in
recent memory if I've seen an NFL player go on
an offensive on social media the way Brandon has.

Speaker 3 (01:57:36):
It started out as like Instagram.

Speaker 2 (01:57:39):
Posts, and then it was family members, and then there
was a little nuals. Yeah, then it was going on
podcasts and bringing other quarterbacks with you. He was on
TMZ this morning at the LA Airport like, yeah, I
still want to be at Niner. And it's just funny

(01:57:59):
because there's been so much of it that people sort
of believe like, oh, he's gonna be on a new team,
and it's like.

Speaker 3 (01:58:08):
He's under contract.

Speaker 2 (01:58:10):
Yes, he's under contract, and the forty nine Ers hold
the franchise tag for another year after that if they
want so. Again, I look at like Brandon is all
over the place, and I go And that's why, because
right now the only leverage point he has is to

(01:58:32):
create chaos and create that feeling like.

Speaker 3 (01:58:36):
Something is gonna go wrong if they don't get this done.

Speaker 2 (01:58:39):
Like there's a clock that's ticking, and it's like, I
think the Niners will be mindful of that. But at
the same time, Brandon, you gotta show up or else
you're gonna forfeit fourteen million dollars in a year of service.

Speaker 5 (01:58:54):
Yeah, it was really funny because you know, during the week,
I don't host daily, so it isn't something that was
on the forefront of my mind. But obviously last night
on our show Saturday Night Fox Sports Radio, you know,
Jason Martin and I were on eleven pm Eastern time
on Saturdays. I started doing the digging into this, like
waiting to find more, and I was like, I guess,

(01:59:17):
And the only conclusion I could come to is exactly
what you just said was it's a big story because
Brandon Ayuk is making it a big story. But again,
a year more under contract, you know, the forty nine ers. Obviously,
again another situation where you would know the cap and
the day to day details better than I do. But
obviously a lot of higher paid, older guys that you know,

(01:59:40):
have been taken care of in the last couple of years,
and I just kept waiting to find the thing and
then it's I go by the way, they can franchise
tag them in the future if they can't whatever. So
it's an interesting story. Again what we've talked about all show.
You want to do right by guys when you can,
but it doesn't mean that you're obligated to.

Speaker 4 (01:59:57):
And that's just one that feels kind of that way.

Speaker 2 (02:00:00):
Yeah, I do think something might happen there pretty soon,
but again we're seeing videos. There's a reason why my
friend always great to have you again, and like I said,
I look forward to the.

Speaker 5 (02:00:13):
Next Thank you for having me. I truly appreciate it,
look forward to doing it again.

Speaker 2 (02:00:17):
All right, So we're going to see more NBA news
coming in throughout the evening, So stay with Plank and
Span your four Aaron Torres, I'm Mark Willard, keep it
locked on Fox Sports Radio.