March 2, 2023 • 36 mins
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon discuss how this is the point of the NBA season where you get worried about certain teams, two major NBA stars that have the most pressure on them, and NBA Insider Ric Bucher joins the guys!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
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Sports Radio. Greetings and welcome inside our three of The
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(00:47):
dot com the way tire buying should be. We got
Rick Bucher coming up about twenty minutes. All the big
news in the NBA. It was a huge night in
the NBA tonight. We had Kevin Durant's debut with the
Phoenix Suns. We have the Knicks winning again, and well,
we have the Bucks winning again. The Bucks may not
(01:08):
lose again. Make it fifteen in a row four Milwaukee
after they win tonight over Orlando one thirty nine, one, seventeen.
This is where if I am the rest of the NBA,
this is the point of the season where I'm pretty scared,
where I say, oh boy, yeah, the Celtics are pretty
(01:29):
good and the Nuggets are pretty good, and those teams
are going, yeah, we're feeling pretty good. But wow, man,
the Bucks just they just don't lose. They just don't lose.
They get everything they need every single night, and they
have a deep bench, and some nights they get stuff
from Joe Ingles like they did tonight. Some nights no,
but it doesn't matter because Jannis is going to score
thirty or to thirty to forty points, seven to fifteen rebounds,
(01:53):
five to ten assists, and we need he's going to
do all of it. And the Bucks, I mean, they
have just hit a stride where the only thing you
can hope if you're another team right now is that
maybe they're gonna peak. Maybe they're peaking too early. They're
peaking now winning fifteen in a row. Because I'll tell
you there is no team that looks more complete than Milwaukee. Well,
we'll get to the Suns in a couple of minutes,
but there is no team that looks more complete than Milwaukee,
(02:16):
especially in the Eastern Conference that looks better than the
Western Conference, and as good as the Celtics have looked
throughout the course of this season, it's where the champs
we've won before, and this is what we're doing right now.
It's almost like I look at the Bucks the same
way I look at the Chiefs, where every year for
the next five to seven years they're going to be
an overwhelming title favorite because they have Jannis, just like
(02:38):
the Chiefs, because they have Mahomes, and every year is
going to be different, and teams are gonna rise up,
and they're not gonna win the title every year, but
every year they're a team. Every other year, every couple
of years, this could be an NBA title year because
of who they have. The Bucks are really similar in
that to the Chiefs, because it's not just about the start,
even though you can compare Jannis and Mahomes the images
(02:59):
they have, but just how whatever personnel they need to
make changes to our adjustments, they get it right or
they get enough right where they can get by. It's
not where, well, we lost a couple of guys off
our bench, this year, Well what happened? Oh, well, those
decisions we made didn't work out. Now we're getting drugged
because our second unit can't stay in the game. Every
(03:20):
every decision the Bucks seem to make in moving around
and making trades and their support players seems to work out.
And it doesn't mean you can win every year, but
it means you can contend every year, and every couple
of years a championship comes your bark twice if you're
in Milwaukee, Baxter, Baxter, I mean, you bring in holiday
and you look at Middleton, you got your Big Three.
(03:42):
And I know there's been a lot of consternation and
handwringing over super teams hypocrisy from some analyst Charles Barkley
and others commenting on such things when there's not photoshopped
like all of the stuff of who we keep putting
on the Jets to quarterback the twenty twenty three season
alongside Zach Wilson and his family. Uh no, it's legitimate. Hey,
(04:06):
you joined up with these guys, those guys, the other guys.
But they've got a nice deep roster. I mean, look
how many guys they played today. Yeah, it's the Nets
and they're becoming a laughing stock. Uh kind of kind
of squad. Right, you're like with your knicks running over
them and everything else. But the Bucks are and Celtics
(04:30):
they're they're built to win. They're they're built too for sustainability.
It's it's franchises. We have the very few of them
in each league that you just say, okay, try to
try to emulate what they're doing, and you do. Right, Well,
that's why all those Patriots guys got hired coaching away. Right. Wait,
they're gonna bring it in. It's gonna work. No, it's not. No,
(04:50):
it's not. You could try to emulate it, it will
not work. You do not have voodoo powers like Danny
Ainge has always had in trade heads and whatever else.
But now the curiosity is, you know what, what does
the long road of the place, because they're three months long. Man,
that's a lot of stuff that even though right now
as we sit here on March first and say these
(05:10):
two teams, yeah they'll meet, don't meet in the Eastern
Conference finals, let's go, hey, man, lots of injuries, lots
of lots of random things happen along the way that
now and in a series form, yeah they should roll through.
But hey, who knows, maybe your Knicks will be a
team that can go up and create chaos. Well, they're
(05:32):
the only ones, I mean, quite honestly, really, they're the
only ones. I mean, there's no other team, there's no
other threat. No Sixers are there because talent wise, I'll
kill them. Nah, they'll kill the Sixers. Well, it always
just comes down to Doc. They'll kill them. We're gonna
be fine. Tims will out coach Doc. Even though Tims
doesn't drop offensive plays like at all, will still the
(05:53):
only Listen, the Celtics. The Knicks just be the Celtics
by fifteen. We're the new beat. N gonna play and
Larry Burger Bucks, Nick's Eastern Conference Final. Right, I'll tell
you Nuggets, Sons, Western Conference Final, Bucks, Knick's Eastern Conference Final.
Write it down, it's happening. That would be a sweep. Jason,
You're Sons. It might be, but Kevin Durant, you know,
(06:16):
And that's the that's the whole thing is that Jannis
gets a lot of attention. We don't win. We don't
talk enough about the Bucks because because they play in Milwaukee, right,
because they're twice But you can be in Baxter Baxter,
uh right, your season, right, you know they're gonna be there.
It's like last year, right, they sat in the five
seed for most of the season, and they went, what
(06:39):
is the time? All right, that's great, Okay, feeling pretty
good now. But the whole thing with with the Bucks
and to keep it going like this, I mean, look,
Jannis gets a lot of attention, but I mean it
when I talk about the the support players that change
because you because you can sit here and and say,
well you know, no, you you change. You cycle through
guys because as guys hit free agency and guys leave,
(07:01):
and if you don't make the right decisions, you don't compete.
Look at some teams to try to reinvent their bench,
and look what happens when they get it wrong. What
the Warriors, Hey, we're gonna reinvent Well, our support players
are great. Well maybe not, and now we're gonna suddenly
start to right. So so so you start to cycle
through and okay, if that didn't more, there's been no
(07:22):
drop off for the Bucks. Everyone's okay. We make it work.
We make it work with our with with our with
our really delineated strategy and philosophy. Jannis is are one.
Then it's holiday and then and then we're moving on
past that as holiday and and it's Middleton and then
beyond that, these are our support guys. They have it
buttoned down pretty good. This is this is a well
(07:45):
oiled machine. But but beyond those big three, it's you
get different guys every year and you can only keep
them for a couple of years. You have to make
sure it rolls through. And they do it, man, I mean,
it's it's it's a lot like the Chiefs. Chiefs lost
Tyree Hill. What are we gonna do? We can't run
the football, doesn't matter. We're gonna have fifty five running
backs and keep giving them opportunities. And Mahomes are gonna
throw the ball to Kelsey a hundred times a game,
(08:06):
and a couple of Smith Schuster and a couple over here.
That's how we're gonna chase and it's good enough to
win this. So what you're saying is that the refs
are gonna give the Bucks a title. Oh yeah, hundred percent,
Yeah yeah, Yohan is gonna get fund now. I mean,
we have seen seven to ten minute reviews to become
commonplace in the NBA. Lots of time to discuss things
with New York what do we think about this? How's
(08:29):
it going to impast now? Meanwhile, it was the debut
tonight of Kevin Durant with the Suns, and the Suns
like you can only control who you play against, and
it's it's not like the Suns. It's not like the
Suns went up against the Celtics and night won. A boy,
look at what they did. Yeah, you beats on the schedule.
No LaMelo ball, Phoenix beat Charlotte one oh five nine,
(08:54):
mellow ball is broke nobody Now there's no no buck
No he wasn't. There's a guys, were it there? They
win one oh five ninety one and KD with twenty
three points shoots ten out of fifteen his first night,
but Devin Booker the big night with thirty seven thirty seven.
Just why I like the Suns as much as I do.
(09:16):
And this is the beginning of what's going to be
a steady diet of big time beat downs. The Suns
are gonna beat everybody by big time double digits. We're
gonna see a fourteen point game and go, oh was
it close? For a while. Because Kevin Durant fits in
with what the Suns needs so well, This is why
I loved it when it happened, because Number One, you
need to motivated. Kevin Durant right motivated. Kevin Durant's a
(09:36):
great one because when he's not motivated, he's not great,
and he's someone that sits out, doesn't play, and he
doesn't help your team, and you're paying him a lot
of money to be someone that is not advancing your team.
But he's motivated. Why Phoenix is where he wanted to
go to in a trade in the off season. That's
where the Phoenix Sun sent him to. Kevin Durant also
can walk in and knowing full well because it's about
(09:58):
his ego that if we win here in Phoenix, I'm
going to get the credit because this team is really good.
But with Booker and Chris Paul and DeAndre Ayton, they'd
made it to the finals, they haven't won. We get
there and win, I'm getting the credit. So I'm comfortable
with that. I also know I don't need to score
thirty five at night because now being thirty four thirty
five years old, he's not quite that guy that can
(10:21):
do it quite like he did. He's also someone that's
injury prone. But Devin Booker is now someone that the
floor is going to open up so much for him
because of Kevin Durant. And there's gonna be a lot
of Knights like this where Kady has a big night.
But here's Booker with thirty seven, here's Booker with forty.
Katie's got twenty five. He is going to assimilate so
fast with the Sons, and because right away you saw
(10:42):
it with the Nets when he and Kyrie Irving were
on the floor and they were barely on the floor,
there would be teams by fifty points. Wow, it's one
forty five one. How to the Nets win this game? Well,
Katy had forty five and Kyrie had thirty eight. That's
how quickly, and that's how much he can assimilate into
a team that fast. Right, he had to get it
going and now, and they did that again. They only
(11:02):
played a handful of games, but it shows you what
they could do now. The same thing here with this
he can jump into Phoenix. Some Knights all have a
big night, but some nights he lays off and it's
Devin Booker. Some nights it's gonna be eight and the
Phoenix Suns are gonna start steamrolling through teams that we're
gonna want to press fast forward on the button to
get to the Nuggets Sun's Western Conference Finals. It's Yokich
and his three MVPs and now it's it's the Suns
(11:25):
and Katie and can they win? I mean, had the Sons,
they're gonna win games like this and fourteen point wins
are gonna seem like it's close. Yeah, here's what I'd say.
I like it. In theory, we haven't used that one
in a while. So let's go back to the well
and go day and deep, way way down. And the
fact that they had to give up a lot of
their depth to make the trade for Durant is huge.
(11:48):
You got four guys that should help you carry things
in a big way. Devin Booker already missed time for
injury for the year or so. In theory, Yeah, he's
back playing really well, leads them to night fantastic. Chris
Paul had an off game, doesn't matter, still dished out
eleven assists, but we know his injury history. DeAndre eight
and sixteen and sixteen guy who was reportedly unhappy and
(12:13):
having his issues, Well there he is. He's going to
be a pivotal player for them down the road here.
But also you've got some injuries in his past and obviously, well,
I don't even need to belabor the points. It's we're
talking about the fact that it's Durant's first game with
the squad after a lot of TV moving around. It's like, Hey,
(12:33):
is he gonna debut here? Then maybe maybe, But you
get to watch Devin Booker, so enjoy it whether he
shows up or not, and he'll cheer emphatically on the sidelines.
If he's not playing, I'll just worry about health, durability,
and the lack of bench and firepower for them as
well as they have the fourth hardest schedule remaining according
(12:55):
to the good folks at Tankathon, behind Toronto in Philadelphia
on the eastern side, and then Sacramento just percentage points ahead. Yeah,
i'd worry about depth. It wasn't Kevin Durant that's gonna
suck up a lot of that production and play a
bunch of minutes. I'd worry about. But you're right there
that hell, he's got nineteen here and then yeah, a
lot in the playoffs. Now, I know you're not playing
(13:15):
back to backs, and that's the most overused and overblown
thing for analysis of anything in the NBA. Well, it's
because of the back of the back to backs, you know,
in terms of this like no, no no, no, I mean
that they've already pushed a lot of those away schedule wise,
and then the playoffs that won't matter. So in theory
he'll be there, but let's see if he actually is.
(13:37):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
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Fox Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show with my best
friend Mike Harmon live from the tire Rack dot Com studios,
(13:57):
joining us now on the hotline to break down an
incredibly momentous night in the NBA. There is no one
better than Fox Sports One Analyst Insider or check out
the On the Ball podcast as well on Twitter at
Rick Buker Rick who is right now working on a
piece for Fox Sports dot Com about the new MVP rankings.
(14:19):
And I don't know, Rick, do you have Jalen Brunson
ahead of Josh Hart or Josh Hard ahead of Jalen Brunson.
Who do you have? Well, I think the top three
on my ballot right now would be Brunson, Josh Hart,
Julius Randall. Okay, I'm with you on that. I'm I
thought that's a pretty good that's a pretty good top
(14:39):
three right there. There you go. M It would be
the first time in the history of voting where a
voter would have three players from the same sallad would
that get you kicked out? You know? You know what
I run on the internet today? Rick Buker got his
MVP vote taken away. I can't believe that, can you imagine?
(15:01):
Because you know what's funny is I know guys. I
know guys in the media who have given up their
voting rights since they were made public because largely because
they didn't like um They thought it impaired their relationship
with players. Because players obviously have incentive, it's a terrible
(15:23):
reason to give them up, to give them up, But
I know guys who have done it. I'm just thinking
in this case, like I could make you know, I
could make the Knicks like a cottage industry for me,
I just vote vote across the board, put nothing but
nick names. Look, they're the only team that can give
the Bucks trouble in the playoffs right now. I mean
(15:43):
that's kind. You got to give them their due. Um. Yeah,
he's trying really hard to make this happen. Rich. You know,
we were this I think last year. I warned you,
like because I think you were. Was it last year
(16:04):
or the year before? You were very gung ho about
the knick? It's every year and we were good. I'm
gung hooever year. I was gung ho with reason two
years ago, not reason last year. Reason this year? So
reason not reason reason. Um yeah, I mean we know
where this is going to end, right in the Eastern
(16:27):
Conference finals. Yeah. Look, we don't have enough to beat
the Bucks this year, but I'm okay there, you know,
well we'll take the next step a year after it
was No, it was two years ago. It was two
years ago when they were they they they they were
matched up with the Hawks in the and I said,
like this, enjoy it while you can't, because it is
probably as far as it's gonna go. And and you know,
(16:49):
right now, as it stands, they would face the Cleveland
Cavaliers and the Yeah, how good would that be? Thought
serious thought ofan Mitchell? Like well it wasn't his choice,
but Dodovan Mitchell gets to play where he had wanted
to play was in, which was in New York, and
(17:10):
that would be that would be a fun series just
from the that that emotional standpoint. But if that happens,
I dare say we're probably saying Faro to the New
York except the first round. All right. That means Tisher
it's happy because that's the public. I think that. I think,
(17:31):
no joy. All right, so hey, we had the big
long awaited debut for Kevin Durant to Night and the Suns.
He had twenty three, Booker had thirty seven. Rick. I
think the next few weeks in the NBA, we're gonna
watch the Sun's routinely win games by fifteen to twenty
(17:52):
points and it's gonna be Hey Sons in the Nuggets.
Let's fast forward to the Western Conference finals. I think
this is the Kate the impact that Kate de can have,
where it's going to be night after night, just a
demolition after demolition. No that role, please that role. U.
(18:13):
I They did play the Charlotte Hornets, and um, and
I know the Charlotte Charlotte had won like five in
a row or whatever, but I'm just not um. I
think I do. I would agree that during the regular season,
I could see them making hay because the game is
(18:35):
tilted so much toward toward the offensive end of the floor.
I looked this up the other day. We have six
We have six guys last I check, which was yesterday,
we have six guys averaging thirty points or better. It's
the first time in the history of the league there
(18:57):
have been six guys averaging thirty points are better. The
previous high I could find was three, and that was
like one year. It's it's so offense and particularly individually
gifted offensive players. Things are tilting in their direction. But
(19:18):
I can't lose sight of the fact that, um, the
Suns gave up a lot of defense and in getting
Kevin Durant, and I just think that that against the
better teams, that's going to show up. Against the lesser team, UM,
they're they're likely to destroy them during the regular season.
(19:40):
But I just and I'm you know, I'm watching I'm
watching the Lakers game. I'm watching these games, and you
can't play defense against individually gifted players right now. The
whistle blows every time there is any sort of contact.
And what I know about the postseason is that it's
changes dramatically like they don't. You don't get the same
(20:03):
calls in the postseason, which um, I just and I
would expect it that's going to be the same, And
when that does happen, it's kind of a route awakening.
And the teams that are are are better defensively, end up,
are have better individual defenders, I should say, respond to
(20:26):
that better. And that's my great that's my great concern
when it comes to the Phoenix stunts. Now it's wide
open in the West. Um, you know, it's not like
they have to go through a Milwaukee or Boston to
get there, but I still I have my reservations about
their depths and defensively, um face, Okay, so it was
(20:52):
without Kevin Durant, but the Bucks were without the honest
and through holiday locked up Devin Booker. Like, those are
the kind of guys that we're going to see, or
that the Suns are going to see once they get
to the postseason and play some of the better teams.
So I'm not, I am not. I'm not ready to
(21:12):
annoint them as a Western Conference finalist just yet. Well,
on that same token, are the Lakers back? I mean,
do they really need a d Lebron or or d Russ.
I mean it look it looked like everything was ready
to go. I'll tell you what that was A that
was a huge That was a huge win, and a
and a and a tremendous performance by them. That was
(21:35):
and just a big, meaningful game. I mean, it puts
the Oklahoma City Thunder firmly in their rear view mirror.
It moves them up another spot. Um they're now eleventh.
Uh Pelicans beating the Blazers tonight, UH pushes It was
not is not good for the Lakers because it opens up,
(21:59):
you know, full game between them and UH in that
coveted ten spot. But without question, this is a this
is a big they kind of had to have it.
And the fact that they had to go get it
without Anthony Davis, without Angelo Russell, and obviously without Lebron James.
I think it just does a tremendous amount for the
(22:23):
confidence of this team. You you, whatever the Memphis Grizzlies
loss took away from the Dallas come back like this
restores it. I just, you know what, I don't want
to hear anything about like that Anthony Davis and Lebron
James don't have enough, because, um, what what these guys
(22:46):
with the with the Lakers complimentary players did tonight. They
showed out in a game that they had to have
and they did it without any of the stars. And so, um,
the last thing I want to hear is that if
the Lakers don't get there, we will be looking squarely
at Lebron James and Anthony Davison and maybe just because
(23:06):
they like in case of Lebron, like he's just not
one hundred percent and he's not capable of giving you
what you normally expect. But I'm not I'm not putting
this on I'm not putting on the putting this on
their supporting cast because they essentially earned their keep with
this one one performance alone. All Right, I think this
is the biggest win of the year, hands down for
(23:26):
them with everything on the line, a team just ahead
of them. We don't have our stars, how what are
we gonna do? We either we're circling the wagons or
we're not. And here they are the big win. Now.
I know you had a bit earlier in the day.
You were you were on speak for yourself earlier today
and you had a big issue with ad sitting out
the game tonight tremendous. Yeah, I mean, like we didn't
(23:51):
see anything. There was nothing in the game last night
that indicated that he was injured. Now they reported that
there was a foot injury, and I'm like, I'm sorry,
but the history of both Lebron and AD if I'm
skeptical about what is holding them out or I need
(24:13):
a little more explanation or definition of what it is
that's bothering them. That's based on history that they've both
missed a lot of time with injuries that they were
predicted to come back at a certain time, and it's
always taken much, much, much longer for them to return.
(24:37):
And so again, like with Lebron, Lebron finishes the game
and we're told he's okay, and now he's missing weeks.
And I'm not I'm not suggesting that he's not injured,
but I like, I need to know more. I need
(24:58):
to know, Okay, what happen with Ad because and and
everybody's playing hurt like I couldn't help it. And watching
the game, Dennis Shooter goes down and is hobbling on
his ankle and then he comes back and plays and
leaves them essentially to a win at this point of
the season. I'm expecting that from Anthony Davis. With Lebron
(25:23):
James out, I'm expecting Anthony Davis to say, Okay, I
haven't played him back to backs all year, but I
expect him to take a page from from Play Thompson,
who's not one hundred percent. I mean, guys, nobody's one
hundred percent at this point in the season, and say,
you know what, these games are too important for me
to miss it. I am going to shoot up and
I'm going to get out there and try to play.
(25:43):
And um, you know, for whatever reason he's he didn't,
he didn't do that. And I look, this is always
very tricky territory. UM to question an injury. I just
I'm questioning it because of AD's history and because of
(26:04):
the importance of this game and him saying every win
is a every every game we have to play with desperation,
every one of them is we have to approach as
a must win. And next thing we know he and
again had a great performance against the Memphis Grizzlies, very active,
(26:27):
and twenty four hours later, you can't go in a
game that you have to have. I think I have
a right to wonder like, is Anthony Davis truly all
in and in what he says. I mean, he's saying
it's a must win, he's saying we have to play
(26:47):
with desperation. He's saying like we can't leave any stone unturned,
and then he misses he can't suit up. I just
I don't understand. I mean, I actually I kind of do.
I mean, it fits with Anthony's ads profile. It's why
(27:08):
I believe that we no longer talk about him as
a top five or top ten talent, even though physically
he's certainly capable of still being that. He still but
the dn't turned thirty yet, He's about to ben turned
thirty yet, and so I don't put him in the
same category as as Lebron James. Lebron James has all
(27:28):
the reasons in the world at thirty eight if if
he can't play with an injury because he's already compensating
for age. I just want to run this team all
the way through Rick the rest of the season. Last
one for you, really quick troubling more allegations against John
Morant and his guys is that runs with him allegedly
(27:51):
punching a team we've got threats, more more reports of
perhaps guns involved. At what point, I mean, we've now
got a pattern of behavior here. Does the NBA step
in at any point or do you just have to wait,
wait and see while he's on the court. Well, I
would certainly hope that the Memphis Grizzlies are are stepping
(28:14):
into this, because we're talking about a guy who, from
a talent standpoint and from a lot of other ways
in the way that he's carried himself, is a future
face of this league, and considering how dynamic he is,
you'd hate to see that go by the boards because
of I don't know enough about the situation, but if
(28:37):
it's this is in part because of who he's surrounded
with or because of the guys that he came up with,
it's a hard decision that every athlete that rises to
fame faces because you're told, hey, don't forget where you
came from, which certainly is fair, But sometimes you have
(29:00):
to forget the people that you came up with because
you're you're in a different statisphere now and they're not,
and so what they did when nobody knew who you
were doesn't land quite the same way as now when
people do, and when you have, whether you like it
(29:21):
or not, you are a representative of the NBA and
the Memphis Grizzlies and that comes with the same and
the contract and the attention and all of that. You
can say, well, I didn't ask for that. Well, yeah,
you did, because you wanted to be a star in
the NBA and you made yourself into a star in
(29:43):
the NBA, and congratulations, And so I don't know, I
don't you know, I made I don't know if I'll
learn more. One of the stories that I'm that I'm
planning on doing in the next week or so is
why the Memphis Grizzlies have played angry in general, like
they should be one of the feel good stories of
(30:05):
of the season, um and of the league, and they
don't feel that way. And both on the court and
off the court, they're playing with this this anger and
this divisiveness, at least as far as how they're viewed
by fans, and it's not it's not good for them,
(30:27):
and it's not and it's not good for the league.
So I but I think this starts with the Memphis Grizzlies, um,
not not the NBA having to step in. I would.
I would hope if the Memphis Grizzlies aren't afraid to
challenge their star and say, hey, um this this can't continue.
(30:48):
And there are some teams, and there's some organizations, and
there's some management that are afraid of that. They're afraid
of upsetting a star, particularly in a small market. They're
afraid that if they, if they, if they set standards,
that that guy's gonna say, well, screw you, I'll go
someplace else. Um. But that can't prevent them from taking
that action, because it's again, you're you're you're imploding your
(31:14):
own organization by allowing it to happen. He's on Twitter
at Rick Buker. That is at Rick Buker. Always phenomenal stuff. Man,
Thanks so much, Brent, great stuff to give us talking
points to talk about. Man. We'll talk to you next week.
You got it, my pleasure, gentlemen, can't wait. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific.
(31:37):
Oh wow, taking you back to tonight she comes with
the cars nineteen eighty three. Wow, these are not even
ten o'clock yet. I know he's a deep Cut. It's
just just the name of the song. Tell me how
old you are without telling me how old you are.
I remember this song. Yeah, I remember this song. I
have thirty years. Maybe there's a reason. Oh man, ooh,
(32:01):
this is like the this is like the end of
the Cars. Heyday was this song? Fox Sports Radio the
Jason Smith's Show with my best friend Mike Harmon Hobo.
We had great stuff from Rick Buker a few minutes
ago and really eye opening things about Anthony Davison about
how shocked he was that AD wasn't playing tonight, and
(32:22):
it was, well, I'm not so shocked. This is kind
of Anthony Davis and I want to know if he's
all in on what he says. He can say he
wants to win and we need to leave no stone
on tournament. Then he's not in the lineup tonight. This
was plans, bunny look, and that's a really big deal
with the Lakers and Anthony Davis. I you know, I
need to know, you know, these injuries and him and
(32:43):
Lebron like, we need more information on these And I'll
tell you what, there are no two players that have
more pressure on them the rest of this season in
the NBA than Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant because we
talked about ad the other night. If the Lake fall
short in this Lebron James less push for the playoffs
(33:03):
and Anthony Davis doesn't dominate, guess what. Lakers are gonna
try to find a way to move on for him
in the offseason. As you know what, it's not working.
This has not been what it is. You can tell
the relationship between A d and the Lakers, and maybe
Lebron is a little bit strained. Yeah, I'm standing up
when he passes the all time scoring record, so you
know there's something there. If he doesn't stand up and
be the guy they've wanted, it's gonna be We got
(33:24):
four years of stuff on him and he's just never
gonna do it. So now we're going to trade him
because somebody will want him because he's got one year
in an option left on his deal and will remake
the team a different way. And Kevin Durant because if
he gets if he gets hurt again, and that's the
whole thing we talk about guys staying healthy. If he
gets hurt again, no team is ever going to rely
on him to win a championship it's done because when
(33:47):
you can't stay on the floor, you get to the
point in your mid thirties where it's okay, what can
he really give us? And KD is the missing piece
right now for the Suns, and he can help push
his legacy forward and reinvent what people think about him
as being a championship player. But if he gets hurt
and miss his chunk time or misses the playoffs and
the Sun's get knocked out, who's gonna say, yeah, we
gotta go get Kevin Durant. He's win as a championship.
(34:09):
It's gonna be the guy can't stay on the floor.
We've seen it the last few years. There's just too much.
There's just too much at stake to say, yes, we're
gonna go out and get Kevin Durant. Nobody's got more
pressure than a D and k D to deliver the
rest of the season. Yeah, I would say, well, only
one guy truly feels it, though, at least outwardly, Kevin Durant.
I think to some degree he likes the fodder and
(34:29):
he just likes poking the bear, because you see that
in his social media accounts, like where did you read this,
where did you say that, you know, like things about
Lebron or other members of the NBA community get written.
He's like, show me, cite me where that happened. I'm like, wow,
you're aggressive. So he might be starting his own news
organization soon enough as well. But with Anthony Davis, I
(34:50):
think he feels it. I think he bristles at it
like this was a curious game to sit out. Now
it works out because they get the victory, but it
doesn't erase the questions. No matter what the plan may
have been coming into this game that they've established, and
certainly with back to backs over the course of the year,
seemed like this is one where if you're pain free,
and that was the report he was pain free, that
(35:12):
you would have at least tried to go for a
few minutes. But I think long term, yeah, he's the
guy that we already saw. It was the rumors of
potential trades aheaded of the deadline this year, and maybe
that was why he was a little salty and not
really buying in. As they take another l on the
night Lebron passes kareem right, that enthusiasm, that fervor, the
(35:36):
feverish thing that Harbow was talking about before, certainly wasn't
there for KD. He's now the guy just gonna jump
and become what do we call him? In the desert,
we had the the Shactus what it was? Kevin Durant
(35:56):
twitter and out about a fresca. Mike has swallen down
the Jason Smith with Mike Carman, a D and k
D most pressure on them. It's not even closet. We'll
have more from the NBA and Aaron Rodgers speaks. Finally,
Fox
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
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Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at Fox Sports
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(00:25):
Sports Radio. Greetings and welcome inside our three of The
Jason Smith Show with my best friend Mike Harmon, live
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(00:47):
dot com the way tire buying should be. We got
Rick Bucher coming up about twenty minutes. All the big
news in the NBA. It was a huge night in
the NBA tonight. We had Kevin Durant's debut with the
Phoenix Suns. We have the Knicks winning again, and well,
we have the Bucks winning again. The Bucks may not
(01:08):
lose again. Make it fifteen in a row four Milwaukee
after they win tonight over Orlando one thirty nine, one, seventeen.
This is where if I am the rest of the NBA,
this is the point of the season where I'm pretty scared,
where I say, oh boy, yeah, the Celtics are pretty
(01:29):
good and the Nuggets are pretty good, and those teams
are going, yeah, we're feeling pretty good. But wow, man,
the Bucks just they just don't lose. They just don't lose.
They get everything they need every single night, and they
have a deep bench, and some nights they get stuff
from Joe Ingles like they did tonight. Some nights no,
but it doesn't matter because Jannis is going to score
thirty or to thirty to forty points, seven to fifteen rebounds,
(01:53):
five to ten assists, and we need he's going to
do all of it. And the Bucks, I mean, they
have just hit a stride where the only thing you
can hope if you're another team right now is that
maybe they're gonna peak. Maybe they're peaking too early. They're
peaking now winning fifteen in a row. Because I'll tell
you there is no team that looks more complete than Milwaukee. Well,
we'll get to the Suns in a couple of minutes,
but there is no team that looks more complete than Milwaukee,
(02:16):
especially in the Eastern Conference that looks better than the
Western Conference, and as good as the Celtics have looked
throughout the course of this season, it's where the champs
we've won before, and this is what we're doing right now.
It's almost like I look at the Bucks the same
way I look at the Chiefs, where every year for
the next five to seven years they're going to be
an overwhelming title favorite because they have Jannis, just like
(02:38):
the Chiefs, because they have Mahomes, and every year is
going to be different, and teams are gonna rise up,
and they're not gonna win the title every year, but
every year they're a team. Every other year, every couple
of years, this could be an NBA title year because
of who they have. The Bucks are really similar in
that to the Chiefs, because it's not just about the start,
even though you can compare Jannis and Mahomes the images
(02:59):
they have, but just how whatever personnel they need to
make changes to our adjustments, they get it right or
they get enough right where they can get by. It's
not where, well, we lost a couple of guys off
our bench, this year, Well what happened? Oh, well, those
decisions we made didn't work out. Now we're getting drugged
because our second unit can't stay in the game. Every
(03:20):
every decision the Bucks seem to make in moving around
and making trades and their support players seems to work out.
And it doesn't mean you can win every year, but
it means you can contend every year, and every couple
of years a championship comes your bark twice if you're
in Milwaukee, Baxter, Baxter, I mean, you bring in holiday
and you look at Middleton, you got your Big Three.
(03:42):
And I know there's been a lot of consternation and
handwringing over super teams hypocrisy from some analyst Charles Barkley
and others commenting on such things when there's not photoshopped
like all of the stuff of who we keep putting
on the Jets to quarterback the twenty twenty three season
alongside Zach Wilson and his family. Uh no, it's legitimate. Hey,
(04:06):
you joined up with these guys, those guys, the other guys.
But they've got a nice deep roster. I mean, look
how many guys they played today. Yeah, it's the Nets
and they're becoming a laughing stock. Uh kind of kind
of squad. Right, you're like with your knicks running over
them and everything else. But the Bucks are and Celtics
(04:30):
they're they're built to win. They're they're built too for sustainability.
It's it's franchises. We have the very few of them
in each league that you just say, okay, try to
try to emulate what they're doing, and you do. Right, Well,
that's why all those Patriots guys got hired coaching away. Right. Wait,
they're gonna bring it in. It's gonna work. No, it's not. No,
(04:50):
it's not. You could try to emulate it, it will
not work. You do not have voodoo powers like Danny
Ainge has always had in trade heads and whatever else.
But now the curiosity is, you know what, what does
the long road of the place, because they're three months long. Man,
that's a lot of stuff that even though right now
as we sit here on March first and say these
(05:10):
two teams, yeah they'll meet, don't meet in the Eastern
Conference finals, let's go, hey, man, lots of injuries, lots
of lots of random things happen along the way that
now and in a series form, yeah they should roll through.
But hey, who knows, maybe your Knicks will be a
team that can go up and create chaos. Well, they're
(05:32):
the only ones, I mean, quite honestly, really, they're the
only ones. I mean, there's no other team, there's no
other threat. No Sixers are there because talent wise, I'll
kill them. Nah, they'll kill the Sixers. Well, it always
just comes down to Doc. They'll kill them. We're gonna
be fine. Tims will out coach Doc. Even though Tims
doesn't drop offensive plays like at all, will still the
(05:53):
only Listen, the Celtics. The Knicks just be the Celtics
by fifteen. We're the new beat. N gonna play and
Larry Burger Bucks, Nick's Eastern Conference Final. Right, I'll tell
you Nuggets, Sons, Western Conference Final, Bucks, Knick's Eastern Conference Final.
Write it down, it's happening. That would be a sweep. Jason,
You're Sons. It might be, but Kevin Durant, you know,
(06:16):
And that's the that's the whole thing is that Jannis
gets a lot of attention. We don't win. We don't
talk enough about the Bucks because because they play in Milwaukee, right,
because they're twice But you can be in Baxter Baxter,
uh right, your season, right, you know they're gonna be there.
It's like last year, right, they sat in the five
seed for most of the season, and they went, what
(06:39):
is the time? All right, that's great, Okay, feeling pretty
good now. But the whole thing with with the Bucks
and to keep it going like this, I mean, look,
Jannis gets a lot of attention, but I mean it
when I talk about the the support players that change
because you because you can sit here and and say,
well you know, no, you you change. You cycle through
guys because as guys hit free agency and guys leave,
(07:01):
and if you don't make the right decisions, you don't compete.
Look at some teams to try to reinvent their bench,
and look what happens when they get it wrong. What
the Warriors, Hey, we're gonna reinvent Well, our support players
are great. Well maybe not, and now we're gonna suddenly
start to right. So so so you start to cycle
through and okay, if that didn't more, there's been no
(07:22):
drop off for the Bucks. Everyone's okay. We make it work.
We make it work with our with with our with
our really delineated strategy and philosophy. Jannis is are one.
Then it's holiday and then and then we're moving on
past that as holiday and and it's Middleton and then
beyond that, these are our support guys. They have it
buttoned down pretty good. This is this is a well
(07:45):
oiled machine. But but beyond those big three, it's you
get different guys every year and you can only keep
them for a couple of years. You have to make
sure it rolls through. And they do it, man, I mean,
it's it's it's a lot like the Chiefs. Chiefs lost
Tyree Hill. What are we gonna do? We can't run
the football, doesn't matter. We're gonna have fifty five running
backs and keep giving them opportunities. And Mahomes are gonna
throw the ball to Kelsey a hundred times a game,
(08:06):
and a couple of Smith Schuster and a couple over here.
That's how we're gonna chase and it's good enough to
win this. So what you're saying is that the refs
are gonna give the Bucks a title. Oh yeah, hundred percent,
Yeah yeah, Yohan is gonna get fund now. I mean,
we have seen seven to ten minute reviews to become
commonplace in the NBA. Lots of time to discuss things
with New York what do we think about this? How's
(08:29):
it going to impast now? Meanwhile, it was the debut
tonight of Kevin Durant with the Suns, and the Suns
like you can only control who you play against, and
it's it's not like the Suns. It's not like the
Suns went up against the Celtics and night won. A boy,
look at what they did. Yeah, you beats on the schedule.
No LaMelo ball, Phoenix beat Charlotte one oh five nine,
(08:54):
mellow ball is broke nobody Now there's no no buck
No he wasn't. There's a guys, were it there? They
win one oh five ninety one and KD with twenty
three points shoots ten out of fifteen his first night,
but Devin Booker the big night with thirty seven thirty seven.
Just why I like the Suns as much as I do.
(09:16):
And this is the beginning of what's going to be
a steady diet of big time beat downs. The Suns
are gonna beat everybody by big time double digits. We're
gonna see a fourteen point game and go, oh was
it close? For a while. Because Kevin Durant fits in
with what the Suns needs so well, This is why
I loved it when it happened, because Number One, you
need to motivated. Kevin Durant right motivated. Kevin Durant's a
(09:36):
great one because when he's not motivated, he's not great,
and he's someone that sits out, doesn't play, and he
doesn't help your team, and you're paying him a lot
of money to be someone that is not advancing your team.
But he's motivated. Why Phoenix is where he wanted to
go to in a trade in the off season. That's
where the Phoenix Sun sent him to. Kevin Durant also
can walk in and knowing full well because it's about
(09:58):
his ego that if we win here in Phoenix, I'm
going to get the credit because this team is really good.
But with Booker and Chris Paul and DeAndre Ayton, they'd
made it to the finals, they haven't won. We get
there and win, I'm getting the credit. So I'm comfortable
with that. I also know I don't need to score
thirty five at night because now being thirty four thirty
five years old, he's not quite that guy that can
(10:21):
do it quite like he did. He's also someone that's
injury prone. But Devin Booker is now someone that the
floor is going to open up so much for him
because of Kevin Durant. And there's gonna be a lot
of Knights like this where Kady has a big night.
But here's Booker with thirty seven, here's Booker with forty.
Katie's got twenty five. He is going to assimilate so
fast with the Sons, and because right away you saw
(10:42):
it with the Nets when he and Kyrie Irving were
on the floor and they were barely on the floor,
there would be teams by fifty points. Wow, it's one
forty five one. How to the Nets win this game? Well,
Katy had forty five and Kyrie had thirty eight. That's
how quickly, and that's how much he can assimilate into
a team that fast. Right, he had to get it
going and now, and they did that again. They only
(11:02):
played a handful of games, but it shows you what
they could do now. The same thing here with this
he can jump into Phoenix. Some Knights all have a
big night, but some nights he lays off and it's
Devin Booker. Some nights it's gonna be eight and the
Phoenix Suns are gonna start steamrolling through teams that we're
gonna want to press fast forward on the button to
get to the Nuggets Sun's Western Conference Finals. It's Yokich
and his three MVPs and now it's it's the Suns
(11:25):
and Katie and can they win? I mean, had the Sons,
they're gonna win games like this and fourteen point wins
are gonna seem like it's close. Yeah, here's what I'd say.
I like it. In theory, we haven't used that one
in a while. So let's go back to the well
and go day and deep, way way down. And the
fact that they had to give up a lot of
their depth to make the trade for Durant is huge.
(11:48):
You got four guys that should help you carry things
in a big way. Devin Booker already missed time for
injury for the year or so. In theory, Yeah, he's
back playing really well, leads them to night fantastic. Chris
Paul had an off game, doesn't matter, still dished out
eleven assists, but we know his injury history. DeAndre eight
and sixteen and sixteen guy who was reportedly unhappy and
(12:13):
having his issues, Well there he is. He's going to
be a pivotal player for them down the road here.
But also you've got some injuries in his past and obviously, well,
I don't even need to belabor the points. It's we're
talking about the fact that it's Durant's first game with
the squad after a lot of TV moving around. It's like, Hey,
(12:33):
is he gonna debut here? Then maybe maybe, But you
get to watch Devin Booker, so enjoy it whether he
shows up or not, and he'll cheer emphatically on the sidelines.
If he's not playing, I'll just worry about health, durability,
and the lack of bench and firepower for them as
well as they have the fourth hardest schedule remaining according
(12:55):
to the good folks at Tankathon, behind Toronto in Philadelphia
on the eastern side, and then Sacramento just percentage points ahead. Yeah,
i'd worry about depth. It wasn't Kevin Durant that's gonna
suck up a lot of that production and play a
bunch of minutes. I'd worry about. But you're right there
that hell, he's got nineteen here and then yeah, a
lot in the playoffs. Now, I know you're not playing
(13:15):
back to backs, and that's the most overused and overblown
thing for analysis of anything in the NBA. Well, it's
because of the back of the back to backs, you know,
in terms of this like no, no no, no, I mean
that they've already pushed a lot of those away schedule wise,
and then the playoffs that won't matter. So in theory
he'll be there, but let's see if he actually is.
(13:37):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app
Fox Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show with my best
friend Mike Harmon live from the tire Rack dot Com studios,
(13:57):
joining us now on the hotline to break down an
incredibly momentous night in the NBA. There is no one
better than Fox Sports One Analyst Insider or check out
the On the Ball podcast as well on Twitter at
Rick Buker Rick who is right now working on a
piece for Fox Sports dot Com about the new MVP rankings.
(14:19):
And I don't know, Rick, do you have Jalen Brunson
ahead of Josh Hart or Josh Hard ahead of Jalen Brunson.
Who do you have? Well, I think the top three
on my ballot right now would be Brunson, Josh Hart,
Julius Randall. Okay, I'm with you on that. I'm I
thought that's a pretty good that's a pretty good top
(14:39):
three right there. There you go. M It would be
the first time in the history of voting where a
voter would have three players from the same sallad would
that get you kicked out? You know? You know what
I run on the internet today? Rick Buker got his
MVP vote taken away. I can't believe that, can you imagine?
(15:01):
Because you know what's funny is I know guys. I
know guys in the media who have given up their
voting rights since they were made public because largely because
they didn't like um They thought it impaired their relationship
with players. Because players obviously have incentive, it's a terrible
(15:23):
reason to give them up, to give them up, But
I know guys who have done it. I'm just thinking
in this case, like I could make you know, I
could make the Knicks like a cottage industry for me,
I just vote vote across the board, put nothing but
nick names. Look, they're the only team that can give
the Bucks trouble in the playoffs right now. I mean
(15:43):
that's kind. You got to give them their due. Um. Yeah,
he's trying really hard to make this happen. Rich. You know,
we were this I think last year. I warned you,
like because I think you were. Was it last year
(16:04):
or the year before? You were very gung ho about
the knick? It's every year and we were good. I'm
gung hooever year. I was gung ho with reason two
years ago, not reason last year. Reason this year? So
reason not reason reason. Um yeah, I mean we know
where this is going to end, right in the Eastern
(16:27):
Conference finals. Yeah. Look, we don't have enough to beat
the Bucks this year, but I'm okay there, you know,
well we'll take the next step a year after it
was No, it was two years ago. It was two
years ago when they were they they they they were
matched up with the Hawks in the and I said,
like this, enjoy it while you can't, because it is
probably as far as it's gonna go. And and you know,
(16:49):
right now, as it stands, they would face the Cleveland
Cavaliers and the Yeah, how good would that be? Thought
serious thought ofan Mitchell? Like well it wasn't his choice,
but Dodovan Mitchell gets to play where he had wanted
to play was in, which was in New York, and
(17:10):
that would be that would be a fun series just
from the that that emotional standpoint. But if that happens,
I dare say we're probably saying Faro to the New
York except the first round. All right. That means Tisher
it's happy because that's the public. I think that. I think,
(17:31):
no joy. All right, so hey, we had the big
long awaited debut for Kevin Durant to Night and the Suns.
He had twenty three, Booker had thirty seven. Rick. I
think the next few weeks in the NBA, we're gonna
watch the Sun's routinely win games by fifteen to twenty
(17:52):
points and it's gonna be Hey Sons in the Nuggets.
Let's fast forward to the Western Conference finals. I think
this is the Kate the impact that Kate de can have,
where it's going to be night after night, just a
demolition after demolition. No that role, please that role. U.
(18:13):
I They did play the Charlotte Hornets, and um, and
I know the Charlotte Charlotte had won like five in
a row or whatever, but I'm just not um. I
think I do. I would agree that during the regular season,
I could see them making hay because the game is
(18:35):
tilted so much toward toward the offensive end of the floor.
I looked this up the other day. We have six
We have six guys last I check, which was yesterday,
we have six guys averaging thirty points or better. It's
the first time in the history of the league there
(18:57):
have been six guys averaging thirty points are better. The
previous high I could find was three, and that was
like one year. It's it's so offense and particularly individually
gifted offensive players. Things are tilting in their direction. But
(19:18):
I can't lose sight of the fact that, um, the
Suns gave up a lot of defense and in getting
Kevin Durant, and I just think that that against the
better teams, that's going to show up. Against the lesser team, UM,
they're they're likely to destroy them during the regular season.
(19:40):
But I just and I'm you know, I'm watching I'm
watching the Lakers game. I'm watching these games, and you
can't play defense against individually gifted players right now. The
whistle blows every time there is any sort of contact.
And what I know about the postseason is that it's
changes dramatically like they don't. You don't get the same
(20:03):
calls in the postseason, which um, I just and I
would expect it that's going to be the same, And
when that does happen, it's kind of a route awakening.
And the teams that are are are better defensively, end up,
are have better individual defenders, I should say, respond to
(20:26):
that better. And that's my great that's my great concern
when it comes to the Phoenix stunts. Now it's wide
open in the West. Um, you know, it's not like
they have to go through a Milwaukee or Boston to
get there, but I still I have my reservations about
their depths and defensively, um face, Okay, so it was
(20:52):
without Kevin Durant, but the Bucks were without the honest
and through holiday locked up Devin Booker. Like, those are
the kind of guys that we're going to see, or
that the Suns are going to see once they get
to the postseason and play some of the better teams.
So I'm not, I am not. I'm not ready to
(21:12):
annoint them as a Western Conference finalist just yet. Well,
on that same token, are the Lakers back? I mean,
do they really need a d Lebron or or d Russ.
I mean it look it looked like everything was ready
to go. I'll tell you what that was A that
was a huge That was a huge win, and a
and a and a tremendous performance by them. That was
(21:35):
and just a big, meaningful game. I mean, it puts
the Oklahoma City Thunder firmly in their rear view mirror.
It moves them up another spot. Um they're now eleventh.
Uh Pelicans beating the Blazers tonight, UH pushes It was
not is not good for the Lakers because it opens up,
(21:59):
you know, full game between them and UH in that
coveted ten spot. But without question, this is a this
is a big they kind of had to have it.
And the fact that they had to go get it
without Anthony Davis, without Angelo Russell, and obviously without Lebron James.
I think it just does a tremendous amount for the
(22:23):
confidence of this team. You you, whatever the Memphis Grizzlies
loss took away from the Dallas come back like this
restores it. I just, you know what, I don't want
to hear anything about like that Anthony Davis and Lebron
James don't have enough, because, um, what what these guys
(22:46):
with the with the Lakers complimentary players did tonight. They
showed out in a game that they had to have
and they did it without any of the stars. And so, um,
the last thing I want to hear is that if
the Lakers don't get there, we will be looking squarely
at Lebron James and Anthony Davison and maybe just because
(23:06):
they like in case of Lebron, like he's just not
one hundred percent and he's not capable of giving you
what you normally expect. But I'm not I'm not putting
this on I'm not putting on the putting this on
their supporting cast because they essentially earned their keep with
this one one performance alone. All Right, I think this
is the biggest win of the year, hands down for
(23:26):
them with everything on the line, a team just ahead
of them. We don't have our stars, how what are
we gonna do? We either we're circling the wagons or
we're not. And here they are the big win. Now.
I know you had a bit earlier in the day.
You were you were on speak for yourself earlier today
and you had a big issue with ad sitting out
the game tonight tremendous. Yeah, I mean, like we didn't
(23:51):
see anything. There was nothing in the game last night
that indicated that he was injured. Now they reported that
there was a foot injury, and I'm like, I'm sorry,
but the history of both Lebron and AD if I'm
skeptical about what is holding them out or I need
(24:13):
a little more explanation or definition of what it is
that's bothering them. That's based on history that they've both
missed a lot of time with injuries that they were
predicted to come back at a certain time, and it's
always taken much, much, much longer for them to return.
(24:37):
And so again, like with Lebron, Lebron finishes the game
and we're told he's okay, and now he's missing weeks.
And I'm not I'm not suggesting that he's not injured,
but I like, I need to know more. I need
(24:58):
to know, Okay, what happen with Ad because and and
everybody's playing hurt like I couldn't help it. And watching
the game, Dennis Shooter goes down and is hobbling on
his ankle and then he comes back and plays and
leaves them essentially to a win at this point of
the season. I'm expecting that from Anthony Davis. With Lebron
(25:23):
James out, I'm expecting Anthony Davis to say, Okay, I
haven't played him back to backs all year, but I
expect him to take a page from from Play Thompson,
who's not one hundred percent. I mean, guys, nobody's one
hundred percent at this point in the season, and say,
you know what, these games are too important for me
to miss it. I am going to shoot up and
I'm going to get out there and try to play.
(25:43):
And um, you know, for whatever reason he's he didn't,
he didn't do that. And I look, this is always
very tricky territory. UM to question an injury. I just
I'm questioning it because of AD's history and because of
(26:04):
the importance of this game and him saying every win
is a every every game we have to play with desperation,
every one of them is we have to approach as
a must win. And next thing we know he and
again had a great performance against the Memphis Grizzlies, very active,
(26:27):
and twenty four hours later, you can't go in a
game that you have to have. I think I have
a right to wonder like, is Anthony Davis truly all
in and in what he says. I mean, he's saying
it's a must win, he's saying we have to play
(26:47):
with desperation. He's saying like we can't leave any stone unturned,
and then he misses he can't suit up. I just
I don't understand. I mean, I actually I kind of do.
I mean, it fits with Anthony's ads profile. It's why
(27:08):
I believe that we no longer talk about him as
a top five or top ten talent, even though physically
he's certainly capable of still being that. He still but
the dn't turned thirty yet, He's about to ben turned
thirty yet, and so I don't put him in the
same category as as Lebron James. Lebron James has all
(27:28):
the reasons in the world at thirty eight if if
he can't play with an injury because he's already compensating
for age. I just want to run this team all
the way through Rick the rest of the season. Last
one for you, really quick troubling more allegations against John
Morant and his guys is that runs with him allegedly
(27:51):
punching a team we've got threats, more more reports of
perhaps guns involved. At what point, I mean, we've now
got a pattern of behavior here. Does the NBA step
in at any point or do you just have to wait,
wait and see while he's on the court. Well, I
would certainly hope that the Memphis Grizzlies are are stepping
(28:14):
into this, because we're talking about a guy who, from
a talent standpoint and from a lot of other ways
in the way that he's carried himself, is a future
face of this league, and considering how dynamic he is,
you'd hate to see that go by the boards because
of I don't know enough about the situation, but if
(28:37):
it's this is in part because of who he's surrounded
with or because of the guys that he came up with,
it's a hard decision that every athlete that rises to
fame faces because you're told, hey, don't forget where you
came from, which certainly is fair, But sometimes you have
(29:00):
to forget the people that you came up with because
you're you're in a different statisphere now and they're not,
and so what they did when nobody knew who you
were doesn't land quite the same way as now when
people do, and when you have, whether you like it
(29:21):
or not, you are a representative of the NBA and
the Memphis Grizzlies and that comes with the same and
the contract and the attention and all of that. You
can say, well, I didn't ask for that. Well, yeah,
you did, because you wanted to be a star in
the NBA and you made yourself into a star in
(29:43):
the NBA, and congratulations, And so I don't know, I
don't you know, I made I don't know if I'll
learn more. One of the stories that I'm that I'm
planning on doing in the next week or so is
why the Memphis Grizzlies have played angry in general, like
they should be one of the feel good stories of
(30:05):
of the season, um and of the league, and they
don't feel that way. And both on the court and
off the court, they're playing with this this anger and
this divisiveness, at least as far as how they're viewed
by fans, and it's not it's not good for them,
(30:27):
and it's not and it's not good for the league.
So I but I think this starts with the Memphis Grizzlies, um,
not not the NBA having to step in. I would.
I would hope if the Memphis Grizzlies aren't afraid to
challenge their star and say, hey, um this this can't continue.
(30:48):
And there are some teams, and there's some organizations, and
there's some management that are afraid of that. They're afraid
of upsetting a star, particularly in a small market. They're
afraid that if they, if they, if they set standards,
that that guy's gonna say, well, screw you, I'll go
someplace else. Um. But that can't prevent them from taking
that action, because it's again, you're you're you're imploding your
(31:14):
own organization by allowing it to happen. He's on Twitter
at Rick Buker. That is at Rick Buker. Always phenomenal stuff. Man,
Thanks so much, Brent, great stuff to give us talking
points to talk about. Man. We'll talk to you next week.
You got it, my pleasure, gentlemen, can't wait. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific.
(31:37):
Oh wow, taking you back to tonight she comes with
the cars nineteen eighty three. Wow, these are not even
ten o'clock yet. I know he's a deep Cut. It's
just just the name of the song. Tell me how
old you are without telling me how old you are.
I remember this song. Yeah, I remember this song. I
have thirty years. Maybe there's a reason. Oh man, ooh,
(32:01):
this is like the this is like the end of
the Cars. Heyday was this song? Fox Sports Radio the
Jason Smith's Show with my best friend Mike Harmon Hobo.
We had great stuff from Rick Buker a few minutes
ago and really eye opening things about Anthony Davison about
how shocked he was that AD wasn't playing tonight, and
(32:22):
it was, well, I'm not so shocked. This is kind
of Anthony Davis and I want to know if he's
all in on what he says. He can say he
wants to win and we need to leave no stone
on tournament. Then he's not in the lineup tonight. This
was plans, bunny look, and that's a really big deal
with the Lakers and Anthony Davis. I you know, I
need to know, you know, these injuries and him and
(32:43):
Lebron like, we need more information on these And I'll
tell you what, there are no two players that have
more pressure on them the rest of this season in
the NBA than Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant because we
talked about ad the other night. If the Lake fall
short in this Lebron James less push for the playoffs
(33:03):
and Anthony Davis doesn't dominate, guess what. Lakers are gonna
try to find a way to move on for him
in the offseason. As you know what, it's not working.
This has not been what it is. You can tell
the relationship between A d and the Lakers, and maybe
Lebron is a little bit strained. Yeah, I'm standing up
when he passes the all time scoring record, so you
know there's something there. If he doesn't stand up and
be the guy they've wanted, it's gonna be We got
(33:24):
four years of stuff on him and he's just never
gonna do it. So now we're going to trade him
because somebody will want him because he's got one year
in an option left on his deal and will remake
the team a different way. And Kevin Durant because if
he gets if he gets hurt again, and that's the
whole thing we talk about guys staying healthy. If he
gets hurt again, no team is ever going to rely
on him to win a championship it's done because when
(33:47):
you can't stay on the floor, you get to the
point in your mid thirties where it's okay, what can
he really give us? And KD is the missing piece
right now for the Suns, and he can help push
his legacy forward and reinvent what people think about him
as being a championship player. But if he gets hurt
and miss his chunk time or misses the playoffs and
the Sun's get knocked out, who's gonna say, yeah, we
gotta go get Kevin Durant. He's win as a championship.
(34:09):
It's gonna be the guy can't stay on the floor.
We've seen it the last few years. There's just too much.
There's just too much at stake to say, yes, we're
gonna go out and get Kevin Durant. Nobody's got more
pressure than a D and k D to deliver the
rest of the season. Yeah, I would say, well, only
one guy truly feels it, though, at least outwardly, Kevin Durant.
I think to some degree he likes the fodder and
(34:29):
he just likes poking the bear, because you see that
in his social media accounts, like where did you read this,
where did you say that, you know, like things about
Lebron or other members of the NBA community get written.
He's like, show me, cite me where that happened. I'm like, wow,
you're aggressive. So he might be starting his own news
organization soon enough as well. But with Anthony Davis, I
(34:50):
think he feels it. I think he bristles at it
like this was a curious game to sit out. Now
it works out because they get the victory, but it
doesn't erase the questions. No matter what the plan may
have been coming into this game that they've established, and
certainly with back to backs over the course of the year,
seemed like this is one where if you're pain free,
and that was the report he was pain free, that
(35:12):
you would have at least tried to go for a
few minutes. But I think long term, yeah, he's the
guy that we already saw. It was the rumors of
potential trades aheaded of the deadline this year, and maybe
that was why he was a little salty and not
really buying in. As they take another l on the
night Lebron passes kareem right, that enthusiasm, that fervor, the
(35:36):
feverish thing that Harbow was talking about before, certainly wasn't
there for KD. He's now the guy just gonna jump
and become what do we call him? In the desert,
we had the the Shactus what it was? Kevin Durant
(35:56):
twitter and out about a fresca. Mike has swallen down
the Jason Smith with Mike Carman, a D and k
D most pressure on them. It's not even closet. We'll
have more from the NBA and Aaron Rodgers speaks. Finally,
Fox
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