November 11, 2024 • 36 mins
Bernie Fratto talks about a recent hit piece on Bronny James by Jason Whitlock, he's also joined by Mark Medina to break down the current state of the NBA, and much more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, that's right, you heard the man. The Ben Malor
Show keeps rolling right along. Bernie Fraddles sitting in for Ben.
Coming to you live here from the tairak dot com
studios in Las Vegas, Fox Sports Radio tyraq dot com.
We'll help you get there don match selection, fast free shipping,
free Ronazer protection, and over ten thousand recommending installers tyraq
(00:20):
dot com the way tire buying should be. Well, the
NBA season is raging, and of course there's always news
fifty two weeks out of the air, but the first
three weeks have been particularly similating, and that's exactly why
we bring in our Fox Sports Radio NBA guru. You
(00:40):
hear them all around the network, and you certainly hear
him on the Bernie Frattle Show Saturday nights at midnight
Pacific time. Say hello to Mark Medina, Mark, how you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Bud always should talking to you? That man's thank you
for the applause by the what.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
The fans out there? Mark?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
I guess so, I don't know if they are real
claps or fake ones, But oh no.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
No, there's not a fake about this. Big fellows. Check
your mailbox around probably lots of cards and letters. Let's
start with the Lakers. A couple things right on cue,
Poor Anthony Davis has already missed a couple of games
and they're only ten games in or nine games in.
What's the situation with his eye? How serious is it?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, the Lakers don't know. He was poked in the eye.
It looked pretty painful, and we have to keep in
mind that this is something that he dealt with last season.
But I don't We don't know, but I would be
surprised if it's a long term injury. But I think
for the encouraging part with the Lakers is, you know,
prior to that point, they're really struggling on the glass,
(01:48):
and without ad obviously lose one of your best defensive players.
He had made kind of a defensive player to the
year type block on Yatick Perdle before he got hurt
because Purdle poked him in the eye. They really rallied
with Lebron James taking over the game, Austin Reeves sitting
some shots, Jackson Hayes gained some rebounds. So I think
from that standpoint, the Lakers were encouraged. But we'll stam
(02:11):
pattle with this injury news comes on probably tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Well, the good news is tonight iron Man Brownie James
comes fresh off his debut at South Bay Lakers logs
one minute Sunday night and only committed one file. So
maybe Brownie James can pick up the slack if Anthony Davis.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Is I can tell you this, Laker fans would love it.
They give them like a stating innovation when he tucks
into the game. There's so many times that when there's
a blowout that fans are yelling at J. J. Rich
to put him in. Sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn't.
So it might not win basketball games, but the fans
will like it. At least.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
That just feels like when student manager of the high
school basketball game gets in because he's been he's been
a great soldier all year and you wanted to shoot
at least one three in the crowd goes bananas. But
that's a story for a different day. I want to
talk a little Clippers because my good buddy Ben Mallory
is a Clipper guy, and if the sports gods would
just have a heart one time, maybe the Clippers could,
(03:12):
you know, get to the NBA Finals. I don't ask
for much, do I, But if I'm being honest. After
ten games, listen, there's six and four, the same record
as the Lakers, And as you pointed out, Norman Powell
would be a force for the Clippers, and so far
he has thirty one points twelve rebounds they beat the Kings.
Do you think the Clippers could finally make some noise?
(03:34):
The vibe feels pretty good around this team.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I think it could make some noise, think or makes
the playoffs. I don't think that they are a championship
contend in team because there's just so many question marks
on when or if Kawhi Leonard's gonna play and when
he returns, can he stay healthy. But I think what
we've seen is taiwou be his master for self as
a head coach. You know, James Harden is comfortable being
(03:57):
that number one guy like he was in Houston, and
the Clippers' depth is real. You mentioned Norman Powell. Avita
zubots is another player, but I think it really starts
with Tylou. But I think Norman Pale is kind of
a secondary storyline here because this season is the first
time with the Clippers that he's been able to be
a full time starter. And he is a great two
(04:19):
way player, and they're talking to him during the free
season for sports key to Q and A. He is
someone that put in a lot of offseason work on
his conditioning. He studies film a lot. He talks to
you know, a mindfulness type coach to help him get
through the peaks and valleys, ups and downs of the
game so that he's resilient and doesn't you know, falter
(04:42):
when things don't go your way. And I think that
that's all coming to full bloom. He is a player
that plays the right way, but he is productive. He
is on a contract here, but when he told me
that he's not worried about money. Yes, all professional athletes
want to get paid, obviously, we all do. But but
I sincerely believe his overall sentiment that he's about trying
(05:04):
to play the right way and help the team win
because he knows everything will take care of itself.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Sat with Mark Medina Medina Magic every Saturday night on
the Bernie Frider Shield we catch in the night of
the Ben Mallord Show. Ever so quickly is the Intuit
Dome now starting to become less of a home court
disadvantage or the fans swarming up.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Well, I mean the Clippers finally got to win it
into a dome and atalie you know, the quality of
opponents is the Toronto Raptors. What does that really mean?
The Philadelphia seventy six ers didn't mean much because Joel
Embiid isn't there, Kyteres Maxley got hurt, Paula George is
on a mini's restriction. But you got to start somewhere.
And even though it wasn't a home court advanced from
(05:46):
a results standpoint, I know that. Well, that is like
a student section of the college bastional venues. Players like
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have said that it is
challenging to shoot free throw while facing that section. So
that is something that later on down the line could
be pivotal. Now it starts with ten Kawhi Leonard come back,
(06:10):
But if he does come back and play and there's
a type basketball game, I think that that could be
an X factor.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Well, let's see. I mean, obviously that's technologically maybe the
nicest arena ever built. You're never gonna have to wait
in line for a bathroom.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Right, I'll have to wait in line for a bathroom.
How about this you can get food without having to
wait at the cash register because everything's done through your phone.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
You know, it's a great arena. The only problem right
now is the Clippers playing it, and what that means is,
you know, it's not always a home court advantage because
they don't have their star talent. They face other teams,
and you know, because La is such a Laker centric town,
the buzz in the arena hasn't really been as high
as it could be, hasn't even been filled to capacity.
(06:59):
I think it's telling that Paula George you know who,
kind of took a parting shot at the fact that
it wasn't full after hearing some booze from the wall section.
And it also doesn't help that they charge seventy bucks
to part. But I guess that's par for the course
in professional sports and how much it goes to a
game a cost to go to a game. But if
(07:19):
the Clippers take Kawhi back and they're able to stay
competitive into it, then will be a heavier drawl.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Well, because Ben Maller is such a good guy and
I consider him such a great friend, I've got rope
burns and my rosary hoping that the Clippers will make
some noise in the playoffs this year. I think it'd
be a great story. Ched Holmgren goes down. You always
worry about these young guys and their availability. He misses
his first full season as a rookie. This pelvic injury
does not look it. He's got to be out a
(07:46):
couple months. What happened there?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, I mean he's suffered what the Oklahoma said He's
Thunder called a pelvic fracture. I mean he was going
up when he was trying to challenge Andrew Wiggins on
a drive and he having a collision. He fell on
his right side. And it's really just tough because it
is a fluid injury as far as winning exactly he's
(08:08):
going to come back, but the Thunder already have provided
an estimate that he's going to be out for at
least eight to ten weeks, so they project he will
play at some point the season. Just don't know when.
Eight to ten weeks is a lot. And you really
feel for chedd Holmern because, as you mentioned, he dealt
with injuries' rookie season. He's one of the amazing young
(08:29):
talents in this league. And the Oklahoma City Thunder are
a team that is seriously considered a playoff not only
a playoff contenting team, a championship contending team. They were
a team when I talked to assistant coaches and executives
around the league before the season started, tenseled In is
the favorite to get to the NBA Finals. They still
thought the Celics would win the championship, but they thought
(08:51):
the Thunder most likely would be the ones to meet
them in that championship series. And now he can't help
but wonder if that's I don't want to say evaporate
because it is a long season, but as far as
seating goes, it could really make a challenging But the
thing I'm impressed with the Thunder Shay gojis Alexander is
a heavy MVP favor because of how the great of
(09:12):
a leader he is, how great of a score he is.
And they do have a lot of depth, good perimeter
defenders with lou Dort, Alex Caruso, Jalen Williams, a lot
of two way talent and a really good head coach,
so you know they will be able to still be competitive.
But check Holmgren is such a great rim protector that's
going to be a challenge.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
He's been really good, he's impressed me. But man, a
couple of times like this you start to wonder if
the poor guys a China doll based on his body type.
He's heightened and waiting and things of that nature. Real quickly,
any updates on Paul on Greg Popovich.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
No updates. I think it's part for the course of
what we are discussing last night on your show that
the Spurs expect him to be back soon. They think
that he's getting better. It's all relative because we don't
know the exact illness of what it is, and he's
seventy five years old. But you know, Victor wan Minamo
was saying recently this week that he's expecting him to
(10:13):
come back soon. We just don't have an official timetable yet,
because that's how the Spurs are, and I think they're
specially a figurative without out of respect for pomp and
his privacy.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
All right, So, last thing Mark I was told heading
into the season, the two most pissed off players in
the history of the NBA were Jalen Brown for being
left off the Olympic team, and of course Jason Tatum
because he was the invisible man during the Olympics Boston
looking to repeat. And you can understand that's understandable. They're human, right,
(10:45):
But Giannis, who likes to be a little playful, did
the old stick his hand out to Jalen Brown in
the middle of the game on a fake handshake, and
when Jalen Brown reached his hand out, Giannis, you know,
pull pulled there. He pulled his hand back and rubbed
it through his hair. I don't think if people have
seen that since Steve Martin on Saturday Night Life for
crying out loud.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Yeah, I last it all that. I think when I
was in middle.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
School exactly something like that. And Brown did not take
it and strive. He shook his head and said, quote,
Jannis is a child. I'm just focused on helping my
team get a win. That's what we did tonight. Yeah,
these are not bitter about it. Listen, is there some
bad blood there or is Jalen Brown just that uptight?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Honestly? I mean he can call me up tod. I'd
react the same way Joan Brown would. I mean, I'd
roll my eyes if don't you.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Consider the source. So, because Giannis is kind of playful.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Well, hear me out, I would roll my eyes and think, yeah,
Jahant to the kumpo, he's being goofy again. He watch
telling corny jokes at his press conferences. But I think
in the in the context of this is in the
middle of the game, he got called for an offensive foul,
and so you know there's competitive juices flowing, so for
him to do that, that's why why Jalen Brown felt
(12:02):
like it rubbed him the wrong way. So look, you know,
maybe I'm being petty too, but I would have reacted
the same way Jalen would have.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
One last thing, ever so quickly, could you envision a
universe where KD Kevin Durant is traded and Yannis is
no longer with the Bucks after this season's good thoughts.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Don't think Kevin Durant is traded now, he's out with
his own injury, a left half's training, it's going to
be evaluating tweets. But the Sons have gotten off to
a really good start. I think the Sons have been
committed with that payroll and that Mike Bludenhozer, I don't
think that's going to happen now with the Anatanzukumbo. I
don't think the Bucks will trade him unless Janice asked
him to, and if the struggles continue, I want to
(12:46):
be surprised if that happens. All the talkers were very real,
but in fairness, Jannis hasn't gotten to that point. But
if it gets to that point, he's going to have
to be the one that does it. The Bucks won't
pull the trigger unless they feel the pressure.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Mark, thanks a lot, but we'll talk to you next
Saturday night on my show.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Appreciate you looking forward to breaking down Bronnie's the Last
Highway real.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Oh can't wait, My god, I won't sleep tonight. All right,
you're the rest of your weekend. Mark, thanks him more.
Mark Medina, he's our Fox Sports Radio NBA guru. You
hear him all around the network, actually.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Do.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Gottlieb has him a lot among other shows, and clearly
you can see he's got his finger on the pulse.
Speaking of on the pulse, all right, I want to
talk about Bronnie James and coming up after the bottom
of the hour and EDI's update, I want to bring
in the crew and I'll have a very specific question,
but I would like to say this, how about if
we just take a second to look at the facts.
(13:40):
I got no problem that lebron wants to do his
son a favor. This is all about Lebron, not Bronnie.
Bronnie is a good kid, respectful, works hard. He's not
an NBA player. I got no problem because of the
sweat equity that Lebron has, you know, contributed to the
National Basketball Association into the billions of dollars he's made
(14:02):
the Lakers. Okay, he wants to do his son a solid.
They've done it. He wanted to be the father son.
This is not Griffy Junior and Griffy Senior. They could
both actually play. I just throw a flag when you're
trying to force feed me that Lebronni Li Bronni Bronni
is actually an NBA player. If you want to have
(14:22):
a charade, fine, don't try to force feed me the
here's an NBA player, And I'll make my case coming up,
or that he's ever going to develop into one, just
not in the cards. Okay. Now, you may have seen
what Jason Whitlock said, and I'll tell you what that
was coming up. That's a bit extreme for me, but
it's part of the conversation.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maler
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio apps.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
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Speaker 6 (14:57):
How do you do it?
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Tag malor related content head on all social media networks.
You are the missing jigsaw puzzle piece to unlock the
Ben Mahler Show to new compatriots and how live from
the tyrack dot Com, Fox Sports Radio Studios in for
Ben Maller, It's Bernie Fratto.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
All right, thanks Eddie? All right, so let's dive into this.
The legend known as Bronnie James made his G League
debut for The Sad Nightmare Saturday Night. Where to begin?
All right? So I was an intern at the Fabulous
Forum for many many years. Loved it. I think, you know,
(15:37):
part of a lot of great events as an observer,
had full access everywhere, forum, club, you name it. No
one likes the name droppers, so it won't start dropping names.
But I will say this. There were a lot of
acts that you know you may say I pay two
hundred dollars to see I'm just fortunate and blessed that
I got to work there. Would you pay two hundred
dollars to see Bronnie James? Some people did. Brownie James
(16:04):
made his debut with the other team on Saturday. That
would be the G League South Bay Lakers. It was
their season opener, yes, and it was in front of
a sold out crowd, including his father, lebron his teammate
Anthony Davis, his mom. The home of Spooka were there.
(16:25):
As far as Brownie James on floor production against the
Salt Lake City Stars killed it man. He was two
to nine, two to nine, shooting six points, missed all
four shots from buying the three point arc, did have
four assists and also had five turnovers. His plus minus
(16:47):
ratio minus one. Even though South Bay beat Salt Lake
one ten to ninety six. And see, this is where
it gets a little silly for me, because there were
a couple of other undrafted free agents. God with they
am a Quincy OLIVERI I bet a Nickel you'd never
(17:07):
heard of him. He had twenty eight points, ten rebounds,
fix assists, and another guy, I bet you never heard
of Maxwell Lewis confused with Maxwell Smart. He had twenty
seven points. Now that was the first and many games
Brownie James will play for South Bay. He doesn't have
(17:29):
to travel though he's going to play home games only
he'll be shuffling back and forth between the NBA and
the G League. Yeah, you can't get a gas for
a much better gig than that. And you know, sometimes
it pays to be in the right stomach at the
right time. And that's why he's there. And see, I
(17:51):
got no problem with that part of it. But why
do you got a pee on my shoes? And tell
me it's raining? Brownie is not an NBA player, And
if he develops into one, one, you know I do.
I do one hundred and twenty shows a year on
this network. I'll eat my cro I got nothing against
the candidayin't personal. I mean, if you want to hear
somebody who's really been about this, listen to Jason Whitlock
(18:15):
a Blaze TV. He just won't stop mocking lebron James
and his son, Bronnie James. And this is these are
Jason Whitlock's words, not mine. But you need to hear
this because it's part of the narrative. Jason Whitlock is
now referencing Bronnie James as someone who his father is
turning into quote wait for it, a Make a Wish kid.
(18:39):
Those Laker games have basically turned into a spring football game,
you know, where they bring out the Make a Wish
kid and they let him score a touchdown where everybody
clears the path spot to lie. Is he wrong? Jason
Whitlock went on to say, and now you know when
Bronnie came in night one in the second quarter, which
we all know is planning, are they? Jj Reddick has
(19:00):
managed through this brilliantly. I really believe that. I'm like, okay,
I got no problem with this man. But it's crazy.
It's crazy how you know you have a situation where
they're trying to sell us something that's not there. And
this was Jason Whitlock's quote last night with the Lakers
(19:23):
getting blown out and Bronnie James coming in, this is
reality TV, but this is in competition. This is Make
a Swish Kid. Lebron has turned his son into Make
a Swish Kid, and they're celebrating it. They get their
butt kicked. But after the game lebron has this quote
moment with Bronnie and Cleveland. They're in Cleveland. Let's bring
out little make a Swish kid and have him run
around Cleveland on the basketball court like he's done something
(19:44):
and like people in Cleveland give a damn about Bronnie
James the program, the Box. The people who've been brainwashed
showed up at the arena and felt like they had
some sort of special moment. But it's all an illusion.
Jason Whitlock's words. Hard to take umbrage with it. I'm
not that upset about it. Let's go out to the phones.
The legend known as Manuel joins us tonight, Manuell, thanks
(20:08):
for checking in. How's everything on Guardina, Bernie.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
I just want to celebrate now you're doing.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
I'm doing great. I want to hear what you got
to see about Bronnie, because if there's one thing I
know about you, Manuel, you're not gonna pull.
Speaker 7 (20:26):
Punches, okay, man, So you know, hey got to give
respect to wivock Man. He's calling it how he sees it.
You know, Tonight, I give you respect. You brought in
the old all about the Benjamin theme songs. So I
don't know if you're aware. But nowadays old Benny goes
(20:47):
with the yacketty sacks and that's exactly what the Lakers
should be doing. Man, every time that they run out
Bronnie jeans, have the bit of yackety sacks going on
out of heat and just let him run out there
and you know, try to rebound. Look five inches of
shorter than everybody on the court. But I mean, the
(21:10):
thing that pains me the most burden as a Laker fan,
not that it's a circuit, not that it's a beat up,
not that it's Lebron bring your son to work day
every day over there. The thing that gets to me
is like Whitlock saying, man, is that they're acting like
it's not I mean, come on, man, anybody with a
(21:33):
brain knows that this thing is nothing but a publicity
soun like you said, a feel good moment for Lebron,
Like anybody else really gives a damn about him and
the Sun having a moment, you know. I mean, like
if it was a grippy thing and it was reality
(21:53):
where both of them deserved to be in the league,
there'll be a whole other story. But that's the one
thing that I feel sorry for you, and everybody has shit.
He's a class kid man, you know. Agree, It's like
he didn't ask for this, and yet he's been pushed
right into the fire because he's gassing a.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Manuel. You never feel to bring it, my man. You
enjoy the rest of your weekend what's left of it,
and we'll talk to you next Friday. Nut of the
Midnight Hour is a legend Manuel in Guardina, the comedic
stylings of Manuel and Guardina, and a legend I understand
around Paco's Tacos. But that's a story for a different day.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Eddie, let's keep it here. Obviously, we have two very
disparate ends of the spectrum. One side telling us no,
Brownie's going to be a future NBA player, we're developing him.
And then you got the Jason Whitlock version. Where are
you weigh in on this? Setie?
Speaker 5 (22:59):
Well, Bernie, I'll be honest with you, I would rather
talk about the Saints interim head coach plugging his toilet
before the win over the Falcons. I'm not making that up,
by the way. That was a story that he relayed
in his postgame Prescott.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Darren Rizzy's quite a character after one game, doffing his
cap as he walks off the field with a team
that's done. He continue, Eddie.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
I would say that is more relevant than anything Bronnie
James has done or will ever do in professional basketball.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I'm not in disagreement, but you have people paying two
hundred dollars a ticket to go to a G League game.
It's sold out. You heard Mark Mendina. They give Brownie
a standing oh every time he takes the floor in
Los Angeles. What am I missing?
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Eddie?
Speaker 1 (23:40):
I'm not down with this. What am I missing? It's
not relevant, but they're making it relevant.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
Well, I would tell all those people that they're morons,
and if that's what they want to do with their money,
they're more than welcome to do it.
Speaker 6 (23:54):
But I will.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
I mean, I know you're gonna ask Coop about this,
and he is a Laker fan and so he might
be more qualified to answer why anyone cares about this
that I am, Because well.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
I will ask you one question, set aside everything we've
talked about, and just answer one simple question. You're an
observing guy. You've seen him play. Do you believe you're
looking at an NBA player or a future NBA player?
Speaker 6 (24:19):
Of course not.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Thank you, Thank you, God, bless you the Lord keep you. Coop.
You are a Laker fan. Let's hear from you. Coop.
Speaker 8 (24:30):
Come on, now, I don't really care that much.
Speaker 6 (24:39):
One way or the other.
Speaker 8 (24:40):
I'm not super offended like Jason Whitlock that that he's
playing like that. He's getting two minutes every other game
in blowouts when I'm doing it.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
I mean, what's the Lakers goal this year? To win
a championship or be part of the Wringling Brothers circus.
Speaker 6 (25:00):
I don't, I don't, I don't.
Speaker 8 (25:01):
I don't think that they are uh incongruent those two things, because,
like I said, he gets like two minutes during blowouts.
Speaker 6 (25:10):
They're not sticking them in there.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
What would be their motivation?
Speaker 8 (25:14):
I hear it, what would be their motivation? Yes, uh,
you've already said it. People are eating it up. That's
it's way more uh profitable, uh marketable.
Speaker 6 (25:29):
Than throwing in.
Speaker 8 (25:32):
Some guy who none of us will ever remember and
probably won't be in the NBA a year from now.
Speaker 6 (25:41):
So that might be the same thing with Bronnie James.
But we all know who.
Speaker 8 (25:45):
Bronnie James is. There's still something cool and I don't know,
like and it's not just it's not just Lakers fans.
He went to Cleveland and people were chanting Bronnie's name.
I mean, so it's you know, there's a nostalgia thing.
There's the Cleveland fans watched lebron James. He's from Ohio.
(26:05):
They watched Bronnie as a child out there on the court.
Speaker 6 (26:10):
And now he's playing in a game with his dad.
Speaker 8 (26:13):
It's a cool novelty and I don't think it's a
big deal to get worked up about.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
It's okay, fair, and I think both you and Eddie
have made the same overarching point, maybe saying it and
using different verbiage. And there's an old saying, right, if
two people are on an elevator and one of them farts,
everybody knows who did it without saying a word. You're
basically saying you can do this. Knock yourself out. I'm
(26:40):
not gonna, you know, take a second at all to
work my blood pressure up over it. But we get it,
We really get what's going on here, So we don't
really have to talk about it fair enough. Both guys
make their point succinctly. Laurana, you've got the last word
on this.
Speaker 9 (26:56):
Well, you know, Bernie, when I saw it, don't laugh
at me. When I saw that Bronnie was being put
on the G League, I was like, duh.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
You don't even know what the G league.
Speaker 9 (27:11):
Gee League is like the F League.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
Right, it's it's for the losers.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
I stands for Gator.
Speaker 9 (27:18):
I used to work for the hockey people at Ducks. Right,
they have their their quackers as well, right, the people
who aren't as good who play, who play to play,
and then maybe one day they'll move up to ranks.
But that's where Bronnie should have been if he was
going to be pulled from any college team. Yeah, he
didn't need to be in the NBA. I think it's
all just a grab at money. It's a money grab
(27:40):
and it's working because people are lovely. Because people are
lovely and they love to spend money.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Maybe maybe it's as simple as that. I'm not trying
to make it more than it is, trying to add
some semblance of context as to what's happening here.
Speaker 9 (27:54):
But see once it's one of those things like Eddie's like,
why are we talking about this? Fuels flames have We
don't even want to talk favorite boy doesn't deserve the
time of day. There are athletes out here who really
do deserve to be talked to.
Speaker 6 (28:09):
James.
Speaker 9 (28:09):
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you did. I don't know a
lot of them, but yeah, no, Bronnie James is just like,
why are we why?
Speaker 6 (28:18):
Why?
Speaker 9 (28:19):
He's just another player? We should talk about random high
school players. If that's the case, Well.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
He is a random high school player. Well he's random
in my book. He just happens to have been on
the right stomach at the right time, and he has
the right last name. And we'll leave it there, and
let's get Poppy in here. Who's been patiently waiting. Poppy,
Let's let's hear what you got to say about lebron
or not Bronni.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Yes, I got a lot to say, but first of all,
I want to say graduate.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
All right, stop, Poppy, I'm gonna cut you off. We're
talking Bronnie to night, big fella. Yeah, yeah, I just
wanted to you know, the malord militia, you know, wants
to string me up for allowing you on the air.
But see I'm a nice guy, not a hater.
Speaker 6 (29:04):
So don't don't.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
I got plenty to say you about it.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
We'll get to it now. That would be a good time.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
I'm the only one that when the man of Militia,
I saw Brownie and the Summer League. So like all
this stuff, all these people that are saying doesn't matter.
It's a narrative. What they're putting down. They're shoving it
down people's strove. Especially. We know who's running this. It's
that Genie Buss. There's a bron James whatever, you know, Labronceas.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
I think he's an NBA player. Am I missing something?
I'm just too stupid to see talent staring me in
the face.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
Look, I saw him on the Summer League and he
played lots of mony and you get more bang for
your money if you saw him in the Summer League
and your hometown Bernie in Las Vegas. But look, eventually,
he's not an NBA player, you know, like not like
Max Christy. He came out of nowhere. He's a roster
spot and he deserves that roster.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
I got it, but you didn't pay. You didn't pay
two hundred bucks to go see the South Lakers. But
then you're not dedicated.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Man, No, it's not worth it. I'm not paying two
hundred dollars, Bernie. I'll save my money to you know,
do some other stuff and for the family or whatever
I gotta do. I'm not gonna pay this. I'm not
gonna donate part of the millions of Brownie all the
circus show that Lebron's doing and all you got my son.
Nobody cares Lebron. I know if you're hearing this, Lebron,
(30:21):
you're a joke. And when you're doing your son, he
doesn't deserve it. He's a good person. I thought it
the summer League and he was focusing. He was nice
and humble. He was just focusing on his game. And
he's too bad for his son. And he's going to
be traumatized, Bernie. And I don't like that because in
the future he's going to be traumatized because his dad
and that circus show he's doing.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Thank you, Bernie, doctor Poppy with the clinical diagnosis, He's
got about seven million reasons not to be traumatized. He's
making his father's dream come true. And he only by
the way for what it's worth. And I think it's
worthy of spending, you know, seven minutes on a topic
that listen, if you're selling out an arena and people
(31:02):
are paying two hundred ticket dollars a ticket and you
can't even play, Okay, Somewhere on the line, there's a
narrative here. The only plausible explanation I have heard as
to why the Lakers continue to engage in this year
eight and they're going to continue to is apparently somewhere
along the way, J. J. Reddick has made the determination.
(31:23):
He's deductively reasoned that this keeps Lebron fired up and
engaged at forty years old, and for the Lakers to
be relevant at all this year, they really need a
healthy Lebron, and Lebron's playing well. I'm not a Lebron fan.
Everybody who's listened to me knows that I can hold
two thoughts. Concurrently, I respect his body at work in
his twenty years in the NBA, and I was covering
the Pistons back, you know, two thousand and six, two
(31:45):
thousand and seven, when Lebron was a thord on their
side in Cleveland and Lebron came, I actually went down
to St. Vincent, Saint Mary High school in two thousand
and three, when Lebron was a senior. It's two hour
drift from Cleveland. I wanted to see what this looks like.
I heard about the hype. The cover of Sports illustrated
the Second Coming, and I walked, went on the floor,
(32:06):
or went to the game. I watched Lebron come out,
and I had three quick observations. One, Holy mackere, this
guy's got an NBA body and he's only eighteen. Secondly,
he had guard handles and he legitimately looked the part.
And third, he was unselfish. He was dished to his teammates.
(32:26):
He was playing the game. And I said to myself, Yeah,
you could put this guy in an NBA game tomorrow
and he'd be okay. And I meant, that doesn't mean
I like Lebron, but I can hold two thoughts concurrently.
Fast forward twenty years later. Ahh okay, don't piss on
my shoes. Tell me it's raining. I got nothing against Brownie,
but this whole charade is getting to be a bit much.
(32:49):
I'm not in Jason Whitlock's territory, but I don't think
he's going to be an NBA player, and that will
conclude for the rest of the evening, any talk on
Bronnie James unless someone wants to call it and say,
berniere idiot, can't you see the guys amazing? Yeah, feel
free to call in and let's have that debate coming up.
You know, we're eight days away from the anniversary of
(33:12):
the Mouse at the Palace. Why would I bring that
up now? Because there's been a pattern of behavior in
the past forty five days. It starts to make you
wonder could this happen again? We'll set it up. I'm
Bernie Fratto sitting in for Ben Maler Comedy live from
the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Tiret dot com studios.
Keep it locked. You're listening to the Ben Maler Show
(33:34):
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 4 (33:35):
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 5 (33:47):
The Ben Mahler shows archived in the Audio Vault for posterity,
say giving those working the dreaditation of the chance to
consume the audio, butthey follow us. Both The Ben Mahler
Show and Fifth Hour with Ben Maler podcasts are always
free with fun for every man, woman and child, and
at live from the tyrack dot com Fox Sports Radio
Studios in for Ben Mallar.
Speaker 6 (34:06):
It's Bernie Fratto, Thanks Eddie.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
November nineteenth, twenty oh four. I'll never forget it. I
was in Detroit covering the Pistons. We were doing a
radio remote. I was with ninety seven to one WKRK
at the time, still in the throes of my Detroit
Lions ten year tenure. See what I did there? And
I walked out onto the floor with about nine minutes
to go to the eleven o'clock hour, and precisely that moment,
(34:32):
Ben Wallace is going in for a layup Run our
Test falls from behind and all hell broke loose. Ben
pushed him. I thought he knocked him in the next
month and oh, by the way, round our Test flies
around like a whirling dervish, goes and lays on the
scores table, and just a second later, someone you never
(34:52):
heard of by the name of John Green in Detroit,
there's an empty beer cup comes flying out of the
stands lands right on run our Test, and the next
thing that happened was pure pandemonium. And you already know
twenty years later, coming up in eight days. Could it
happen again? Well, I'm gonna bring him the crew at
(35:13):
the top of the hour and we're gonna chop this up.
Could it happen again? When you look at the multiple
odd ball fan incidents just in the last forty five days,
about Beavis and butt Head at Yankee Stadium trying to
give Mooki Bets an arm transplant, Jason Kelsey just broke
a guy's cell phone. James Franklin Penn State confronts a fan.
(35:34):
Nick Sirianni confronts a fan. Trey Young yether Night, Atlanta said,
take your ass home to the fans. I'm telling you, man,
it's brewing. Am I predicting it? No? But am I
saying could it happen? Yeah? I think it could. How
the hell they gonna stop it? We'll chop it up,
coming up at the top of the hour. Meantime, keep
(35:54):
it locked. Bernie Fratto in for Ben Maller. You're listening
to the Ben Maller Show on Fox Sports Radio.
Well, that's right, you heard the man. The Ben Malor
Show keeps rolling right along. Bernie Fraddles sitting in for Ben.
Coming to you live here from the tairak dot com
studios in Las Vegas, Fox Sports Radio tyraq dot com.
We'll help you get there don match selection, fast free shipping,
free Ronazer protection, and over ten thousand recommending installers tyraq
(00:20):
dot com the way tire buying should be. Well, the
NBA season is raging, and of course there's always news
fifty two weeks out of the air, but the first
three weeks have been particularly similating, and that's exactly why
we bring in our Fox Sports Radio NBA guru. You
(00:40):
hear them all around the network, and you certainly hear
him on the Bernie Frattle Show Saturday nights at midnight
Pacific time. Say hello to Mark Medina, Mark, how you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Bud always should talking to you? That man's thank you
for the applause by the what.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
The fans out there? Mark?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
I guess so, I don't know if they are real
claps or fake ones, But oh no.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
No, there's not a fake about this. Big fellows. Check
your mailbox around probably lots of cards and letters. Let's
start with the Lakers. A couple things right on cue,
Poor Anthony Davis has already missed a couple of games
and they're only ten games in or nine games in.
What's the situation with his eye? How serious is it?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, the Lakers don't know. He was poked in the eye.
It looked pretty painful, and we have to keep in
mind that this is something that he dealt with last season.
But I don't We don't know, but I would be
surprised if it's a long term injury. But I think
for the encouraging part with the Lakers is, you know,
prior to that point, they're really struggling on the glass,
(01:48):
and without ad obviously lose one of your best defensive players.
He had made kind of a defensive player to the
year type block on Yatick Perdle before he got hurt
because Purdle poked him in the eye. They really rallied
with Lebron James taking over the game, Austin Reeves sitting
some shots, Jackson Hayes gained some rebounds. So I think
from that standpoint, the Lakers were encouraged. But we'll stam
(02:11):
pattle with this injury news comes on probably tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Well, the good news is tonight iron Man Brownie James
comes fresh off his debut at South Bay Lakers logs
one minute Sunday night and only committed one file. So
maybe Brownie James can pick up the slack if Anthony Davis.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Is I can tell you this, Laker fans would love it.
They give them like a stating innovation when he tucks
into the game. There's so many times that when there's
a blowout that fans are yelling at J. J. Rich
to put him in. Sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn't.
So it might not win basketball games, but the fans
will like it. At least.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
That just feels like when student manager of the high
school basketball game gets in because he's been he's been
a great soldier all year and you wanted to shoot
at least one three in the crowd goes bananas. But
that's a story for a different day. I want to
talk a little Clippers because my good buddy Ben Mallory
is a Clipper guy, and if the sports gods would
just have a heart one time, maybe the Clippers could,
(03:12):
you know, get to the NBA Finals. I don't ask
for much, do I, But if I'm being honest. After
ten games, listen, there's six and four, the same record
as the Lakers, And as you pointed out, Norman Powell
would be a force for the Clippers, and so far
he has thirty one points twelve rebounds they beat the Kings.
Do you think the Clippers could finally make some noise?
(03:34):
The vibe feels pretty good around this team.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I think it could make some noise, think or makes
the playoffs. I don't think that they are a championship
contend in team because there's just so many question marks
on when or if Kawhi Leonard's gonna play and when
he returns, can he stay healthy. But I think what
we've seen is taiwou be his master for self as
a head coach. You know, James Harden is comfortable being
(03:57):
that number one guy like he was in Houston, and
the Clippers' depth is real. You mentioned Norman Powell. Avita
zubots is another player, but I think it really starts
with Tylou. But I think Norman Pale is kind of
a secondary storyline here because this season is the first
time with the Clippers that he's been able to be
a full time starter. And he is a great two
(04:19):
way player, and they're talking to him during the free
season for sports key to Q and A. He is
someone that put in a lot of offseason work on
his conditioning. He studies film a lot. He talks to
you know, a mindfulness type coach to help him get
through the peaks and valleys, ups and downs of the
game so that he's resilient and doesn't you know, falter
(04:42):
when things don't go your way. And I think that
that's all coming to full bloom. He is a player
that plays the right way, but he is productive. He
is on a contract here, but when he told me
that he's not worried about money. Yes, all professional athletes
want to get paid, obviously, we all do. But but
I sincerely believe his overall sentiment that he's about trying
(05:04):
to play the right way and help the team win
because he knows everything will take care of itself.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Sat with Mark Medina Medina Magic every Saturday night on
the Bernie Frider Shield we catch in the night of
the Ben Mallord Show. Ever so quickly is the Intuit
Dome now starting to become less of a home court
disadvantage or the fans swarming up.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Well, I mean the Clippers finally got to win it
into a dome and atalie you know, the quality of
opponents is the Toronto Raptors. What does that really mean?
The Philadelphia seventy six ers didn't mean much because Joel
Embiid isn't there, Kyteres Maxley got hurt, Paula George is
on a mini's restriction. But you got to start somewhere.
And even though it wasn't a home court advanced from
(05:46):
a results standpoint, I know that. Well, that is like
a student section of the college bastional venues. Players like
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have said that it is
challenging to shoot free throw while facing that section. So
that is something that later on down the line could
be pivotal. Now it starts with ten Kawhi Leonard come back,
(06:10):
But if he does come back and play and there's
a type basketball game, I think that that could be
an X factor.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Well, let's see. I mean, obviously that's technologically maybe the
nicest arena ever built. You're never gonna have to wait
in line for a bathroom.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Right, I'll have to wait in line for a bathroom.
How about this you can get food without having to
wait at the cash register because everything's done through your phone.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
You know, it's a great arena. The only problem right
now is the Clippers playing it, and what that means is,
you know, it's not always a home court advantage because
they don't have their star talent. They face other teams,
and you know, because La is such a Laker centric town,
the buzz in the arena hasn't really been as high
as it could be, hasn't even been filled to capacity.
(06:59):
I think it's telling that Paula George you know who,
kind of took a parting shot at the fact that
it wasn't full after hearing some booze from the wall section.
And it also doesn't help that they charge seventy bucks
to part. But I guess that's par for the course
in professional sports and how much it goes to a
game a cost to go to a game. But if
(07:19):
the Clippers take Kawhi back and they're able to stay
competitive into it, then will be a heavier drawl.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Well, because Ben Maller is such a good guy and
I consider him such a great friend, I've got rope
burns and my rosary hoping that the Clippers will make
some noise in the playoffs this year. I think it'd
be a great story. Ched Holmgren goes down. You always
worry about these young guys and their availability. He misses
his first full season as a rookie. This pelvic injury
does not look it. He's got to be out a
(07:46):
couple months. What happened there?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, I mean he's suffered what the Oklahoma said He's
Thunder called a pelvic fracture. I mean he was going
up when he was trying to challenge Andrew Wiggins on
a drive and he having a collision. He fell on
his right side. And it's really just tough because it
is a fluid injury as far as winning exactly he's
(08:08):
going to come back, but the Thunder already have provided
an estimate that he's going to be out for at
least eight to ten weeks, so they project he will
play at some point the season. Just don't know when.
Eight to ten weeks is a lot. And you really
feel for chedd Holmern because, as you mentioned, he dealt
with injuries' rookie season. He's one of the amazing young
(08:29):
talents in this league. And the Oklahoma City Thunder are
a team that is seriously considered a playoff not only
a playoff contenting team, a championship contending team. They were
a team when I talked to assistant coaches and executives
around the league before the season started, tenseled In is
the favorite to get to the NBA Finals. They still
thought the Celics would win the championship, but they thought
(08:51):
the Thunder most likely would be the ones to meet
them in that championship series. And now he can't help
but wonder if that's I don't want to say evaporate
because it is a long season, but as far as
seating goes, it could really make a challenging But the
thing I'm impressed with the Thunder Shay gojis Alexander is
a heavy MVP favor because of how the great of
(09:12):
a leader he is, how great of a score he is.
And they do have a lot of depth, good perimeter
defenders with lou Dort, Alex Caruso, Jalen Williams, a lot
of two way talent and a really good head coach,
so you know they will be able to still be competitive.
But check Holmgren is such a great rim protector that's
going to be a challenge.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
He's been really good, he's impressed me. But man, a
couple of times like this you start to wonder if
the poor guys a China doll based on his body type.
He's heightened and waiting and things of that nature. Real quickly,
any updates on Paul on Greg Popovich.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
No updates. I think it's part for the course of
what we are discussing last night on your show that
the Spurs expect him to be back soon. They think
that he's getting better. It's all relative because we don't
know the exact illness of what it is, and he's
seventy five years old. But you know, Victor wan Minamo
was saying recently this week that he's expecting him to
(10:13):
come back soon. We just don't have an official timetable yet,
because that's how the Spurs are, and I think they're
specially a figurative without out of respect for pomp and
his privacy.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
All right, So, last thing Mark I was told heading
into the season, the two most pissed off players in
the history of the NBA were Jalen Brown for being
left off the Olympic team, and of course Jason Tatum
because he was the invisible man during the Olympics Boston
looking to repeat. And you can understand that's understandable. They're human, right,
(10:45):
But Giannis, who likes to be a little playful, did
the old stick his hand out to Jalen Brown in
the middle of the game on a fake handshake, and
when Jalen Brown reached his hand out, Giannis, you know,
pull pulled there. He pulled his hand back and rubbed
it through his hair. I don't think if people have
seen that since Steve Martin on Saturday Night Life for
crying out loud.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Yeah, I last it all that. I think when I
was in middle.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
School exactly something like that. And Brown did not take
it and strive. He shook his head and said, quote,
Jannis is a child. I'm just focused on helping my
team get a win. That's what we did tonight. Yeah,
these are not bitter about it. Listen, is there some
bad blood there or is Jalen Brown just that uptight?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Honestly? I mean he can call me up tod. I'd
react the same way Joan Brown would. I mean, I'd
roll my eyes if don't you.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Consider the source. So, because Giannis is kind of playful.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Well, hear me out, I would roll my eyes and think, yeah,
Jahant to the kumpo, he's being goofy again. He watch
telling corny jokes at his press conferences. But I think
in the in the context of this is in the
middle of the game, he got called for an offensive foul,
and so you know there's competitive juices flowing, so for
him to do that, that's why why Jalen Brown felt
(12:02):
like it rubbed him the wrong way. So look, you know,
maybe I'm being petty too, but I would have reacted
the same way Jalen would have.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
One last thing, ever so quickly, could you envision a
universe where KD Kevin Durant is traded and Yannis is
no longer with the Bucks after this season's good thoughts.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Don't think Kevin Durant is traded now, he's out with
his own injury, a left half's training, it's going to
be evaluating tweets. But the Sons have gotten off to
a really good start. I think the Sons have been
committed with that payroll and that Mike Bludenhozer, I don't
think that's going to happen now with the Anatanzukumbo. I
don't think the Bucks will trade him unless Janice asked
him to, and if the struggles continue, I want to
(12:46):
be surprised if that happens. All the talkers were very real,
but in fairness, Jannis hasn't gotten to that point. But
if it gets to that point, he's going to have
to be the one that does it. The Bucks won't
pull the trigger unless they feel the pressure.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Mark, thanks a lot, but we'll talk to you next
Saturday night on my show.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Appreciate you looking forward to breaking down Bronnie's the Last
Highway real.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Oh can't wait, My god, I won't sleep tonight. All right,
you're the rest of your weekend. Mark, thanks him more.
Mark Medina, he's our Fox Sports Radio NBA guru. You
hear him all around the network, actually.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Do.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Gottlieb has him a lot among other shows, and clearly
you can see he's got his finger on the pulse.
Speaking of on the pulse, all right, I want to
talk about Bronnie James and coming up after the bottom
of the hour and EDI's update, I want to bring
in the crew and I'll have a very specific question,
but I would like to say this, how about if
we just take a second to look at the facts.
(13:40):
I got no problem that lebron wants to do his
son a favor. This is all about Lebron, not Bronnie.
Bronnie is a good kid, respectful, works hard. He's not
an NBA player. I got no problem because of the
sweat equity that Lebron has, you know, contributed to the
National Basketball Association into the billions of dollars he's made
(14:02):
the Lakers. Okay, he wants to do his son a solid.
They've done it. He wanted to be the father son.
This is not Griffy Junior and Griffy Senior. They could
both actually play. I just throw a flag when you're
trying to force feed me that Lebronni Li Bronni Bronni
is actually an NBA player. If you want to have
(14:22):
a charade, fine, don't try to force feed me the
here's an NBA player, And I'll make my case coming up,
or that he's ever going to develop into one, just
not in the cards. Okay. Now, you may have seen
what Jason Whitlock said, and I'll tell you what that
was coming up. That's a bit extreme for me, but
it's part of the conversation.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maler
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio apps.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
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Ben Mahler Show to new compatriots and how live from
the tyrack dot Com, Fox Sports Radio Studios in for
Ben Maller, It's Bernie Fratto.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
All right, thanks Eddie? All right, so let's dive into this.
The legend known as Bronnie James made his G League
debut for The Sad Nightmare Saturday Night. Where to begin?
All right? So I was an intern at the Fabulous
Forum for many many years. Loved it. I think, you know,
(15:37):
part of a lot of great events as an observer,
had full access everywhere, forum, club, you name it. No
one likes the name droppers, so it won't start dropping names.
But I will say this. There were a lot of
acts that you know you may say I pay two
hundred dollars to see I'm just fortunate and blessed that
I got to work there. Would you pay two hundred
dollars to see Bronnie James? Some people did. Brownie James
(16:04):
made his debut with the other team on Saturday. That
would be the G League South Bay Lakers. It was
their season opener, yes, and it was in front of
a sold out crowd, including his father, lebron his teammate
Anthony Davis, his mom. The home of Spooka were there.
(16:25):
As far as Brownie James on floor production against the
Salt Lake City Stars killed it man. He was two
to nine, two to nine, shooting six points, missed all
four shots from buying the three point arc, did have
four assists and also had five turnovers. His plus minus
(16:47):
ratio minus one. Even though South Bay beat Salt Lake
one ten to ninety six. And see, this is where
it gets a little silly for me, because there were
a couple of other undrafted free agents. God with they
am a Quincy OLIVERI I bet a Nickel you'd never
(17:07):
heard of him. He had twenty eight points, ten rebounds,
fix assists, and another guy, I bet you never heard
of Maxwell Lewis confused with Maxwell Smart. He had twenty
seven points. Now that was the first and many games
Brownie James will play for South Bay. He doesn't have
(17:29):
to travel though he's going to play home games only
he'll be shuffling back and forth between the NBA and
the G League. Yeah, you can't get a gas for
a much better gig than that. And you know, sometimes
it pays to be in the right stomach at the
right time. And that's why he's there. And see, I
(17:51):
got no problem with that part of it. But why
do you got a pee on my shoes? And tell
me it's raining? Brownie is not an NBA player, And
if he develops into one, one, you know I do.
I do one hundred and twenty shows a year on
this network. I'll eat my cro I got nothing against
the candidayin't personal. I mean, if you want to hear
somebody who's really been about this, listen to Jason Whitlock
(18:15):
a Blaze TV. He just won't stop mocking lebron James
and his son, Bronnie James. And this is these are
Jason Whitlock's words, not mine. But you need to hear
this because it's part of the narrative. Jason Whitlock is
now referencing Bronnie James as someone who his father is
turning into quote wait for it, a Make a Wish kid.
(18:39):
Those Laker games have basically turned into a spring football game,
you know, where they bring out the Make a Wish
kid and they let him score a touchdown where everybody
clears the path spot to lie. Is he wrong? Jason
Whitlock went on to say, and now you know when
Bronnie came in night one in the second quarter, which
we all know is planning, are they? Jj Reddick has
(19:00):
managed through this brilliantly. I really believe that. I'm like, okay,
I got no problem with this man. But it's crazy.
It's crazy how you know you have a situation where
they're trying to sell us something that's not there. And
this was Jason Whitlock's quote last night with the Lakers
(19:23):
getting blown out and Bronnie James coming in, this is
reality TV, but this is in competition. This is Make
a Swish Kid. Lebron has turned his son into Make
a Swish Kid, and they're celebrating it. They get their
butt kicked. But after the game lebron has this quote
moment with Bronnie and Cleveland. They're in Cleveland. Let's bring
out little make a Swish kid and have him run
around Cleveland on the basketball court like he's done something
(19:44):
and like people in Cleveland give a damn about Bronnie
James the program, the Box. The people who've been brainwashed
showed up at the arena and felt like they had
some sort of special moment. But it's all an illusion.
Jason Whitlock's words. Hard to take umbrage with it. I'm
not that upset about it. Let's go out to the phones.
The legend known as Manuel joins us tonight, Manuell, thanks
(20:08):
for checking in. How's everything on Guardina, Bernie.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
I just want to celebrate now you're doing.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
I'm doing great. I want to hear what you got
to see about Bronnie, because if there's one thing I
know about you, Manuel, you're not gonna pull.
Speaker 7 (20:26):
Punches, okay, man, So you know, hey got to give
respect to wivock Man. He's calling it how he sees it.
You know, Tonight, I give you respect. You brought in
the old all about the Benjamin theme songs. So I
don't know if you're aware. But nowadays old Benny goes
(20:47):
with the yacketty sacks and that's exactly what the Lakers
should be doing. Man, every time that they run out
Bronnie jeans, have the bit of yackety sacks going on
out of heat and just let him run out there
and you know, try to rebound. Look five inches of
shorter than everybody on the court. But I mean, the
(21:10):
thing that pains me the most burden as a Laker fan,
not that it's a circuit, not that it's a beat up,
not that it's Lebron bring your son to work day
every day over there. The thing that gets to me
is like Whitlock saying, man, is that they're acting like
it's not I mean, come on, man, anybody with a
(21:33):
brain knows that this thing is nothing but a publicity
soun like you said, a feel good moment for Lebron,
Like anybody else really gives a damn about him and
the Sun having a moment, you know. I mean, like
if it was a grippy thing and it was reality
(21:53):
where both of them deserved to be in the league,
there'll be a whole other story. But that's the one
thing that I feel sorry for you, and everybody has shit.
He's a class kid man, you know. Agree, It's like
he didn't ask for this, and yet he's been pushed
right into the fire because he's gassing a.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Manuel. You never feel to bring it, my man. You
enjoy the rest of your weekend what's left of it,
and we'll talk to you next Friday. Nut of the
Midnight Hour is a legend Manuel in Guardina, the comedic
stylings of Manuel and Guardina, and a legend I understand
around Paco's Tacos. But that's a story for a different day.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Eddie, let's keep it here. Obviously, we have two very
disparate ends of the spectrum. One side telling us no,
Brownie's going to be a future NBA player, we're developing him.
And then you got the Jason Whitlock version. Where are
you weigh in on this? Setie?
Speaker 5 (22:59):
Well, Bernie, I'll be honest with you, I would rather
talk about the Saints interim head coach plugging his toilet
before the win over the Falcons. I'm not making that up,
by the way. That was a story that he relayed
in his postgame Prescott.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Darren Rizzy's quite a character after one game, doffing his
cap as he walks off the field with a team
that's done. He continue, Eddie.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
I would say that is more relevant than anything Bronnie
James has done or will ever do in professional basketball.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I'm not in disagreement, but you have people paying two
hundred dollars a ticket to go to a G League game.
It's sold out. You heard Mark Mendina. They give Brownie
a standing oh every time he takes the floor in
Los Angeles. What am I missing?
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Eddie?
Speaker 1 (23:40):
I'm not down with this. What am I missing? It's
not relevant, but they're making it relevant.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
Well, I would tell all those people that they're morons,
and if that's what they want to do with their money,
they're more than welcome to do it.
Speaker 6 (23:54):
But I will.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
I mean, I know you're gonna ask Coop about this,
and he is a Laker fan and so he might
be more qualified to answer why anyone cares about this
that I am, Because well.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
I will ask you one question, set aside everything we've
talked about, and just answer one simple question. You're an
observing guy. You've seen him play. Do you believe you're
looking at an NBA player or a future NBA player?
Speaker 6 (24:19):
Of course not.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Thank you, Thank you, God, bless you the Lord keep you. Coop.
You are a Laker fan. Let's hear from you. Coop.
Speaker 8 (24:30):
Come on, now, I don't really care that much.
Speaker 6 (24:39):
One way or the other.
Speaker 8 (24:40):
I'm not super offended like Jason Whitlock that that he's
playing like that. He's getting two minutes every other game
in blowouts when I'm doing it.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
I mean, what's the Lakers goal this year? To win
a championship or be part of the Wringling Brothers circus.
Speaker 6 (25:00):
I don't, I don't, I don't.
Speaker 8 (25:01):
I don't think that they are uh incongruent those two things, because,
like I said, he gets like two minutes during blowouts.
Speaker 6 (25:10):
They're not sticking them in there.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
What would be their motivation?
Speaker 8 (25:14):
I hear it, what would be their motivation? Yes, uh,
you've already said it. People are eating it up. That's
it's way more uh profitable, uh marketable.
Speaker 6 (25:29):
Than throwing in.
Speaker 8 (25:32):
Some guy who none of us will ever remember and
probably won't be in the NBA a year from now.
Speaker 6 (25:41):
So that might be the same thing with Bronnie James.
But we all know who.
Speaker 8 (25:45):
Bronnie James is. There's still something cool and I don't know,
like and it's not just it's not just Lakers fans.
He went to Cleveland and people were chanting Bronnie's name.
I mean, so it's you know, there's a nostalgia thing.
There's the Cleveland fans watched lebron James. He's from Ohio.
(26:05):
They watched Bronnie as a child out there on the court.
Speaker 6 (26:10):
And now he's playing in a game with his dad.
Speaker 8 (26:13):
It's a cool novelty and I don't think it's a
big deal to get worked up about.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
It's okay, fair, and I think both you and Eddie
have made the same overarching point, maybe saying it and
using different verbiage. And there's an old saying, right, if
two people are on an elevator and one of them farts,
everybody knows who did it without saying a word. You're
basically saying you can do this. Knock yourself out. I'm
(26:40):
not gonna, you know, take a second at all to
work my blood pressure up over it. But we get it,
We really get what's going on here, So we don't
really have to talk about it fair enough. Both guys
make their point succinctly. Laurana, you've got the last word
on this.
Speaker 9 (26:56):
Well, you know, Bernie, when I saw it, don't laugh
at me. When I saw that Bronnie was being put
on the G League, I was like, duh.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
You don't even know what the G league.
Speaker 9 (27:11):
Gee League is like the F League.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
Right, it's it's for the losers.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
I stands for Gator.
Speaker 9 (27:18):
I used to work for the hockey people at Ducks. Right,
they have their their quackers as well, right, the people
who aren't as good who play, who play to play,
and then maybe one day they'll move up to ranks.
But that's where Bronnie should have been if he was
going to be pulled from any college team. Yeah, he
didn't need to be in the NBA. I think it's
all just a grab at money. It's a money grab
(27:40):
and it's working because people are lovely. Because people are
lovely and they love to spend money.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Maybe maybe it's as simple as that. I'm not trying
to make it more than it is, trying to add
some semblance of context as to what's happening here.
Speaker 9 (27:54):
But see once it's one of those things like Eddie's like,
why are we talking about this? Fuels flames have We
don't even want to talk favorite boy doesn't deserve the
time of day. There are athletes out here who really
do deserve to be talked to.
Speaker 6 (28:09):
James.
Speaker 9 (28:09):
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you did. I don't know a
lot of them, but yeah, no, Bronnie James is just like,
why are we why?
Speaker 6 (28:18):
Why?
Speaker 9 (28:19):
He's just another player? We should talk about random high
school players. If that's the case, Well.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
He is a random high school player. Well he's random
in my book. He just happens to have been on
the right stomach at the right time, and he has
the right last name. And we'll leave it there, and
let's get Poppy in here. Who's been patiently waiting. Poppy,
Let's let's hear what you got to say about lebron
or not Bronni.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Yes, I got a lot to say, but first of all,
I want to say graduate.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
All right, stop, Poppy, I'm gonna cut you off. We're
talking Bronnie to night, big fella. Yeah, yeah, I just
wanted to you know, the malord militia, you know, wants
to string me up for allowing you on the air.
But see I'm a nice guy, not a hater.
Speaker 6 (29:04):
So don't don't.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
I got plenty to say you about it.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
We'll get to it now. That would be a good time.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
I'm the only one that when the man of Militia,
I saw Brownie and the Summer League. So like all
this stuff, all these people that are saying doesn't matter.
It's a narrative. What they're putting down. They're shoving it
down people's strove. Especially. We know who's running this. It's
that Genie Buss. There's a bron James whatever, you know, Labronceas.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
I think he's an NBA player. Am I missing something?
I'm just too stupid to see talent staring me in
the face.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
Look, I saw him on the Summer League and he
played lots of mony and you get more bang for
your money if you saw him in the Summer League
and your hometown Bernie in Las Vegas. But look, eventually,
he's not an NBA player, you know, like not like
Max Christy. He came out of nowhere. He's a roster
spot and he deserves that roster.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
I got it, but you didn't pay. You didn't pay
two hundred bucks to go see the South Lakers. But
then you're not dedicated.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Man, No, it's not worth it. I'm not paying two
hundred dollars, Bernie. I'll save my money to you know,
do some other stuff and for the family or whatever
I gotta do. I'm not gonna pay this. I'm not
gonna donate part of the millions of Brownie all the
circus show that Lebron's doing and all you got my son.
Nobody cares Lebron. I know if you're hearing this, Lebron,
(30:21):
you're a joke. And when you're doing your son, he
doesn't deserve it. He's a good person. I thought it
the summer League and he was focusing. He was nice
and humble. He was just focusing on his game. And
he's too bad for his son. And he's going to
be traumatized, Bernie. And I don't like that because in
the future he's going to be traumatized because his dad
and that circus show he's doing.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Thank you, Bernie, doctor Poppy with the clinical diagnosis, He's
got about seven million reasons not to be traumatized. He's
making his father's dream come true. And he only by
the way for what it's worth. And I think it's
worthy of spending, you know, seven minutes on a topic
that listen, if you're selling out an arena and people
(31:02):
are paying two hundred ticket dollars a ticket and you
can't even play, Okay, Somewhere on the line, there's a
narrative here. The only plausible explanation I have heard as
to why the Lakers continue to engage in this year
eight and they're going to continue to is apparently somewhere
along the way, J. J. Reddick has made the determination.
(31:23):
He's deductively reasoned that this keeps Lebron fired up and
engaged at forty years old, and for the Lakers to
be relevant at all this year, they really need a
healthy Lebron, and Lebron's playing well. I'm not a Lebron fan.
Everybody who's listened to me knows that I can hold
two thoughts. Concurrently, I respect his body at work in
his twenty years in the NBA, and I was covering
the Pistons back, you know, two thousand and six, two
(31:45):
thousand and seven, when Lebron was a thord on their
side in Cleveland and Lebron came, I actually went down
to St. Vincent, Saint Mary High school in two thousand
and three, when Lebron was a senior. It's two hour
drift from Cleveland. I wanted to see what this looks like.
I heard about the hype. The cover of Sports illustrated
the Second Coming, and I walked, went on the floor,
(32:06):
or went to the game. I watched Lebron come out,
and I had three quick observations. One, Holy mackere, this
guy's got an NBA body and he's only eighteen. Secondly,
he had guard handles and he legitimately looked the part.
And third, he was unselfish. He was dished to his teammates.
(32:26):
He was playing the game. And I said to myself, Yeah,
you could put this guy in an NBA game tomorrow
and he'd be okay. And I meant, that doesn't mean
I like Lebron, but I can hold two thoughts concurrently.
Fast forward twenty years later. Ahh okay, don't piss on
my shoes. Tell me it's raining. I got nothing against Brownie,
but this whole charade is getting to be a bit much.
(32:49):
I'm not in Jason Whitlock's territory, but I don't think
he's going to be an NBA player, and that will
conclude for the rest of the evening, any talk on
Bronnie James unless someone wants to call it and say,
berniere idiot, can't you see the guys amazing? Yeah, feel
free to call in and let's have that debate coming up.
You know, we're eight days away from the anniversary of
(33:12):
the Mouse at the Palace. Why would I bring that
up now? Because there's been a pattern of behavior in
the past forty five days. It starts to make you
wonder could this happen again? We'll set it up. I'm
Bernie Fratto sitting in for Ben Maler Comedy live from
the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Tiret dot com studios.
Keep it locked. You're listening to the Ben Maler Show
(33:34):
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 4 (33:35):
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 5 (33:47):
The Ben Mahler shows archived in the Audio Vault for posterity,
say giving those working the dreaditation of the chance to
consume the audio, butthey follow us. Both The Ben Mahler
Show and Fifth Hour with Ben Maler podcasts are always
free with fun for every man, woman and child, and
at live from the tyrack dot com Fox Sports Radio
Studios in for Ben Mallar.
Speaker 6 (34:06):
It's Bernie Fratto, Thanks Eddie.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
November nineteenth, twenty oh four. I'll never forget it. I
was in Detroit covering the Pistons. We were doing a
radio remote. I was with ninety seven to one WKRK
at the time, still in the throes of my Detroit
Lions ten year tenure. See what I did there? And
I walked out onto the floor with about nine minutes
to go to the eleven o'clock hour, and precisely that moment,
(34:32):
Ben Wallace is going in for a layup Run our
Test falls from behind and all hell broke loose. Ben
pushed him. I thought he knocked him in the next
month and oh, by the way, round our Test flies
around like a whirling dervish, goes and lays on the
scores table, and just a second later, someone you never
(34:52):
heard of by the name of John Green in Detroit,
there's an empty beer cup comes flying out of the
stands lands right on run our Test, and the next
thing that happened was pure pandemonium. And you already know
twenty years later, coming up in eight days. Could it
happen again? Well, I'm gonna bring him the crew at
(35:13):
the top of the hour and we're gonna chop this up.
Could it happen again? When you look at the multiple
odd ball fan incidents just in the last forty five days,
about Beavis and butt Head at Yankee Stadium trying to
give Mooki Bets an arm transplant, Jason Kelsey just broke
a guy's cell phone. James Franklin Penn State confronts a fan.
(35:34):
Nick Sirianni confronts a fan. Trey Young yether Night, Atlanta said,
take your ass home to the fans. I'm telling you, man,
it's brewing. Am I predicting it? No? But am I
saying could it happen? Yeah? I think it could. How
the hell they gonna stop it? We'll chop it up,
coming up at the top of the hour. Meantime, keep
(35:54):
it locked. Bernie Fratto in for Ben Maller. You're listening
to the Ben Maller Show on Fox Sports Radio.
Host
Ben Maller
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