Hour 1 - People Wrong on LeBron Less Lakers?

Jason and Mike discuss the Lakers team that is without LeBron James, and why most people are wrong about their opinions on a post LeBron playoff push.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
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Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
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(00:24):
Sports Radio. Greetings, then welcome inside The Jason Smith Show
with my best friend Mike Harmon live from the ti
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(00:46):
com the way tire buying should be. And Mike Harman
in the vein of that open how well we have
been doing predicting the future the last few years. Here
on the show. You're welcome to everybody else. I have
another big prediction for you now that I know is
going to come true. You're ready, nicely, don't you like this?
That's the way you start a show. That's what I

(01:06):
call a bleak and show. Now I want to watch
from dust till dawn, it'll be on. Give it, give
it enough time. What do you got? Football fans are
very upset about the officiating. No one likes the officiating
in the NFL, no one. How are we going to
fix this problem? How are we going to fix all
these bad calls? What are we going to do? I'll

(01:29):
tell you right now, bold prediction. After today, officiating in
the NFL will be immensely better next season. I already
know the answer. Ask me how, please tell me how?
How could I subscribe to your newsletter? Because today Jerome
Boger retired. Oh whoa, you can't despair it. Actually no,

(01:53):
we talked a lot about him officiating as soon as
he as soon as he even tired, there was there
was bringing people ready with the worst Jerome Boger calls. No,
I look, we knew what was happening, but then it's
it's like anything you get the official notice, right, we
know JJ Watts retiring. But then we had the laugh
when he got the hey, you know, report for drug

(02:14):
tests and he's like, I'm done. You know, Brady sending
in his paperwork all of those things. This one. We
knew what was happening, but until you saw the list
put out with including Walt Coleman. You just didn't believe it.
I'll tell you Jerome Boger at nineteen years as an official,
year in and year out, the crew that throws the

(02:35):
most flags of any crew. Sometimes he gets eclipsed at
number one, but the last like ten years he's been
like one of the top two or three crews all
the time. So immediately there's going to be less flags
being better officiating. What I hate to break it to you,
but he's a semi retiring. He semi retired. Yeah, he's
going to only call the backfield the Jets games and

(02:55):
throw every flag at Sauce for holding. Yeah, I mean
we know, m last year, you're the guy that was
the head official at the Super Bowl. Carl Cheffer's Yeah,
well I'm in. Look, they averaged his crew averaged over
one penalty more per game called than Sean Hockeyley and
we know he was doing it, so he can, you know,

(03:16):
get the the full on flex like the old man.
Um Boger was barely top ten this year. Yeah, no,
he a little bit. Well, he was off the pace
by over three penalties per game. Clearly he was done.
He was like, this is my last year. I don't
care anymore. I'm retiring after this. I'm done. I don't
I don't really care about throwing flags as much as

(03:36):
I'll still throw a bunch of them, but I don't
care like I used to. So I'm just gonna baw.
I'm done. I'm finished. But he did do like no
load management. Some of the other guys only officiated, say
fifteen games, and I don't know full seventeen for for Boger.
But here's the thing. I can't disparage him too much.
I'm trying to get a now that he's retired, a
jersey from my wall. Okay, I have the wall of

(03:56):
mean that I'm gonna work on with all my favorite
defensive tack And then I wanted Jerome Boger. Oh nice?
What do you see when I think this? And you
mentioned Carl Cheffers, And I think you know, when when
the what's the line that the Montreal Canadians have when
when h when one captain, like they say to you,
from failing hands, we pass the torch like you know,

(04:18):
we've had our time. We can't do it now. The
next generation you are carrying the torch for the franchise. Like,
do you think that happening? Like Jerome Boger actually handed
a torch to Carl Cheffers and said, here, I can't
do anymore. Man, this is all you. You be the guy. Now,
you be the guy. Everybody hates you. Keep throwing those
flags the super Bowl, Man, keep doing it, and everybody
loves you. Somebody's got to be the big bad, right.

(04:39):
You always need a good villain. And with film, series,
television show, certainly in sports at and each level, we
try to create a villain. Sometimes, well we don't. We
just had. He's the least likable of these guys. Officials
get to do that. And you you were right there
with the quote to you from failing hands, we throw
the torch, be yours to hold it high. That's it,

(05:00):
Carl Cheffer and set Karl Cheffers holds a penalty flag high.
That's good. In the opposite, do you think you think
Jerome Boger is gonna have like a some kind of
exhibit at the Pro Football Hall of Fame where you
press a button and you see how far you can
make him throw a flag, like, oh, come, I press
a button, I threw it. Oh I threw that flag
fifteen yard, either that flag eight yards. Gonna gotta press

(05:23):
a button a little bit better, press a little bit better. Yes,
I want to see. I wonder if that will happen.
You know, it seems like we could do that as
a new game, because we always laugh at coaches trying
to throw their challenge flags or whether they just drop
it at their feet. Same thing with the penalty flag.
Just gotta be careful. You don't want to do it
around players because sometimes you know it will find the
way into the grade of a face mask. That's not

(05:44):
good for business. Hey, farewell Jerome Boger and and godspeed
in your retirement. You were really something to talk about
for the last few years. He gave us a good run.
There is the point where when you're on the job
as long as he has you know, the legs don't
get you to the spot. You need to be right
to be able to really adjudicate properly. That's just the

(06:06):
way it is. We've talked about this ad nauseum for
our duration here. At the end of your first year,
discover credit cards automatically double all the cash back you've earned.
That's right, everything you earned doubled. Seriously, see terms and
check it out for yourself at discovered dot com slash Match.
So while we will spend tonight in retrospect on some
of Jerome Boger's greatest calls, which I'm sure we'll play

(06:27):
back for you. M Well, I mean great calls, I
mean famous calls, like calls it really screwed some teams.
We got, we got, we gotta playback some big ones
I mean we got, I mean we got. We got
to dedicate the show to Jerome Boger tonight. But you
said that would be a first we dedicated to. You
said you were looking for a villain, Mike Harmon, and

(06:47):
I have found a big villain. Today, reports came out
from the NFL Combine that the Carolina Panthers have called
the Packers to inquire about trading for Aaron Rodgers. Now
this report has been met with uh some dubious, some

(07:08):
resistance from from the Panthers a little bit, which means
its true. It means that's a little bit to keep
it in line with I mean, you're watching of the
Mandalorian and yeah, the Resistance and everything else. Yeah, which
is the best pilot and resistance pool po Damner uh
So Lake Minnetonka. This is now the team that has
become the villain in the NFL because they're gonna screw

(07:31):
it up for so many people, because they're gonna go now,
they're gonna insert themselves into this quarterbackness. And now Aaron
Rodgers has another place to potentially go, and Derek Carr
has another place potentially go, and they're gonna wind up
screw in the Jets or the Raiders because now they
want to get involved, right because now they got and
they have a newish owner. And today look, David Tepper

(07:52):
said some wonderful things about Jerry Richardson, former Panthers owner
who passed away. When you have a new owner, he
wants to make his mark. You just watched the last
year plus war. Sam Donald's our guy. No, Matt Rule
is our guy. No, but he's a quarterback, head coach,
doesn't matter. He's out. Baker Mayfield's our guy. No he's not.
We're back to Sam Donald. He's not our guy. They
have two things that should scare everybody. That's why they're

(08:13):
the villain because now they're screwing it up for everybody else.
We thought, okay, this is pretty good. Aaron Rodgers is
deciding if he wants to be traded, if he wants
to go to the Jets. If not, the Jets will
pivot to Derek Carr or somehow wind up with Geno Smith,
and everybody's everybody's got their place. Now everybody's coming. Now
you're coming the Panthers, because they're the two things that
make everybody scared. They are desperate and they are itchy.
They are desperate to make a move to get a quarterback.

(08:36):
They're sweating and they are itchy. They're itching to pull
the trigger on something to go get a quarterback. And
they're gonna be the team that screws it up and
said here's here's all kinds of guaranteed money for somebody
or someone else. Now they're the villain because now they're
the team involved. When we thought we knew was going on,
everybody's good. Look you said you need a quarterback, and
now the Panthers like, hey, we'll call for Aaron Rodgers.

(08:56):
Now this is gonna screw everything up. They're the villains. Well,
they were in the mix, but the fact that they
could screw up all your plans, I don't know that
they screw up mine. So I worry about you and
you know how you navigate the coming weeks of free
agency and all. But but Tepper makes for a pretty
good villain. He does because he is brash. He is

(09:20):
a guy that is very much a I don't like
this now pivot kind of guy, as he did with
Matt Rule to your point, with the quarterbacks, no next one?
Hey called down there, tell him people the next guy in.
And if Matt Correll would have been an available and
healthy he would have quarterback to a couple of games too.
Just what's behind the next door is seemingly how they

(09:43):
wanted to operate. So yeah, it would make perfect sense
that they're at least trying to figure out what the
market is now. Might they have to pay a premium?
Maybe you got Marshall, you got DJ Moore. I'll always
want to say DJ Moore like I'm Pat Summerroll. I
don't know why that's okay. So certain things sound good

(10:04):
coming out of Patroll's mouth. More sure it would be
one that would he would gravitate to h And then
you have Tremble and Thomas. We'll see what happens there
at the tight end position. And Dante Foreman had himself
a fine year, and defensively you're pretty strong, right. That's
the one appeal to the teams in the uh NFC
South is they all have pretty good defenses when healthy.

(10:27):
The offenses, you got a question how much you like
whether the guy teams long in the tooth or or
whether these young guys more Marshall Chenault Junior gets you excitable.
But it's now what what's the price of poker to play?
And a guy like Tepper certainly elevates the steaks as
it were. I still think you either end up with

(10:50):
Derek Carr or he becomes a Carolina panther. If I
were to uh to etch those in. I still think
Rogers is a packer dud. Dude, listen, let me let
me tell you. Let me tell you trying to voice
Derek Carr on me. And you've been trying to do
this for a long time. Yeah, Carson went, And I've
told you none. None. Listen, you guys, you guys. I
have already come to the fact, and I have come
to grips, and I've accepted that the Jets are going

(11:13):
to get Geno Smiths. What's going on atterback at five,
That's what's gonna happen then unbelievable circumstance by which they
pick fifth. Yeah, and it's it's that's what's going to happen.
I mean that, that's that's hip, typical, perfect, peak totally
Jets is to get Gino Smith back years after. Of

(11:33):
course they had to let him go because he stunk.
It's perfect. Now we get him back a decade later,
and we got to give him forty million dollars a year.
That's peak Jets. Man, I've already come to the mike.
I've already accepted that. Man. You think you can get
to me with your crazy Derek Carr crap and Carson Wentz,
forget it, man, We're getting Gino. I understand this. This
is how it's going to work, because that's peak Jets.

(11:54):
And somehow they're gonna get They're gonna wind up with
Gino Smith and Jamal Adams back. It's gonna be the
same kind of deal. Hey, Gino, we're gonna find a
way to get Jamal Adams out of here too. That's
what's gonna happen. We're gonna wind up with exactly that. Now,
the Jamal Adams is a new wrinkle to it. But
I've already accepted Gino Smith. It's you really kind of
added a one that'll get Get that and put that

(12:16):
on Twitter. See how that gets a response from happens
the second he becomes a Jet again, turns into well
that's really the larger thing was were the years away
enough to learn? And he raised bad habits and misgivings
and the feelings of getting punched in the face go

(12:38):
instantly straight back to Gino done? How many? How many
Jets fans? I still have that Geno Smith jersey kicking around?
So I remember I got that ten years ago. I thought, Wait,
when did I sell that in the yard sale? No?
Nobody would buy it. No, No, so I still haven't time.
I'm gonna I think it's in the garage. I'm gonna
go find that. Oh yeah there. You be sure to

(13:00):
catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeart Radio app. Too early
to hit me with this song? Come on, man, it's
never too early for five song, Jason. We need songs
that people have to be excited. You hit me with
this song. All the time. That's why we're just establishing mood.

(13:21):
It's a reflective not even a major hit from the
eight Man. Take that back. What's next? David Hasselhoff's greatest
We got halfle Off. We can play Hassloff. I mean
I can do that in German? Do we have can
we play it? We can play hassle off where we're good,
I'll do next break? All right, very good? Yeah, let's
get We'll get some Hasselhoff in there. We gotta make

(13:42):
sure he's not eating a burger on the floor while
he's singing. I like that. You got that du Austin
Wizzo thing. That was great, you know, Lizzo doing that.
Ben Maller and I once saw David Hasselhoff at a
pet store. Oh okay, yeah, this is like where you at?
We were? Why are we at a pet store? I think?
And Ben was going there for Ben and I went

(14:02):
to the mall together because we went before we got
married and Ben moved to Orange Guy. So we used
to hang out a lot. But Ben's god. I mean,
Ben and I have been friends for a long time
and we went to meet for lunch and we went
to the um U Wilshire mall, which is a big
mall where you see stars there shopping there a lot,
and we went there for lunch and we go into
a pet store because Ben was looking for something like
somebody his family like needed like a dog toy or

(14:23):
so I forget what it was. And we walk in
there and he's just standing there like looking at the
lizards and stuff, and I'm going, o'hm, my god, David,
it's just this in a mall. It's just this pet
store in a mall. And like we walk in an
Hassle office right there, like this is we should take advent?
What is David hasseleoffice right here looking at the kids.
It was kind of cool, and we didn't say anything
to him, like okay, Hassle office here he's looking at

(14:46):
pets are and so I didn't even talk to him.
It sound like there was a bunch of people. He's
like by himself. It's not like there was a bunch
of people around or you had an entourage or anything else. Now,
It's just it was just David Hasseloff and looking looking
at I don't it was I'm well, I wanted to
see if he would talk to his phone, and maybe
the car would find a way to get all way
up the escalator and stuff, but it didn't work out
that way, or eat a burger laying down. This is

(15:07):
a mess. Was was CJ running slowly behind him? No,
it was someone with a big drum behind him. He
Now that's how he should travel, not with an entourage,
but somebody with a drum making every time he walks
sound like it was, Hey, look at him going to
save somebody here on the beach. That would be pretty cool. No,
but he was fully clothed, like yeah, and he was
dressed very much like I think he had like a

(15:28):
leather jacket on and stuff in jeans, almost like hey,
he's Michael Knight or he's you know, he's in a
movie or something. I thought maybe he could jump in
it's actually a movie. But now we didn't say it
was weird. We just didn't say I don't know. I
know sometimes when I see famous people, I'm like, I
don't know, man, you know they're by themselves. Really you
stock you stock famous people? No? No, no, no, the
guy was most famous, the most famous guy talked to

(15:48):
the last uh company he was at ball No, no, no,
was when Dave Justice was here. The other night, because
you know, Moneyball is such a big famous Dave dude,
Dave Justice is very famous. Come on, man, hey he
did Dave Hallie, they were married, they were Mary married,
he and Halle Berry. Yeah, but Moneyball being such a
big movie in our house, and you know it's a
big quote for Zoe and I All the time, I
wanted to, hey, Dave Josse, dude, I saw you play

(16:11):
back when you I was when when you were in
Richmond and I was at Syracuse. Use Oh man, he's
telling me all stories about when I played with Ronnie
Ghant and Mark Lemk and all this. Oh it was
great talking to Dave Justice. Yeah, I'll tell you I'm
Mark Lemky. Right, Yeah, that's good. I mean the fact
that was like the second guy he mentioned he played with, Yeah,
Ghant and Mark Lemky. I'm like, that's pretty sure. Okay,
not all the other guys, but but now that means

(16:32):
there's probably a good Mark Lemkey story you can get
out of him. That's I got that phase when he
comes back in. I got it when I said and
Sonny Jackson was your manager and he goes, wow, you
remember Sonny, And I was like, did he start backing
off immediately. No. Look, you know he's got to understanding
that people know things, and I know things and I
know things like yeah, but that's that's one. That's that

(16:54):
that's that's a deep cut, man. I mean that's when you're,
you know, a big fan of a band and you
got the folks that know the three or you know
the name three songs, thing that you see on Instagram
or whatever, and people can't do it for big bands,
and then you're naming track number nine of you know,
their third album that was a commercial flop but completed

(17:16):
their first contract. Wow, that's weird. I'm gonna back away
from me now, Okay, get scaring me a little bit.
Scared scared me? You did stalk Zach Morris at them all? No.
I just saw Mark Paul Gossler at the one, happy
but happy, but he was his birthday yesterday, Mark Paul Gossler.
I think I saw that. Um no, No, I just
saw that. We watched you girls, Thank you, No, but

(17:37):
he wasn't in show, Mark Paul gosslog But what's her
name was Lizabeth Berkeley By? I mean, we have had
Mario Lopez on this, we did, we have we have
I mean, what we're gonna have h Mark voorhees onto
and well if we could get Tiffany theason, I mean, well,
and are you friends with Bill? I met her before
I had I probably haven't talked to Uh Dennis in

(17:59):
like probably about five or seven years, but I used to.
I used to talk about for lunch a couple of times.
Call the bar up the street. Just anymore, it's not
Dreokie dimples is gone. Yeah, that was his go to place.
That was lac He might want to call him. How
was his go to place? Man? He might need a
place to party. He might, he might, he might. I'm

(18:21):
now looking up to see of the current whereabouts Dennis
as uh and he and I born on the same day.
We shared this basically brothers. We are? We are? I
mean really, I mean I could, I you know, I should.
How did I not get a part in like one
of those saved by the bell the later years later
later later years that didn't stay on too long. I mean,

(18:44):
but I should, I should have gotten a part And
there I could have been somebody I could have been.
I could have been somebody. I mean, I could have
been a contender. I mean I could have been like
the assistant principle or something, because I could. I could
come off with that and be uh and be pretty
you know, agitated about things all the time. I have
that look. I could have done that, and you could
have been screeched his dad. I could No, no, no,

(19:04):
I'm not. I'm not very tall, So all those could
have been tall. Well, the mom's not in the show.
I'd be in the show. They'd say, how did you
come on? You're five inches taller than your dad. I
got to be believable. His last role came in something
called a Bennett Song Holiday, also starring Corbyn Burnson. Okay,

(19:29):
Burnson's last acting gig tour. That's a good question. He
does have one nets upcoming on the slate, but that's
not nearly as entertaining. Um, let's see Burnson. No, he's
got Left Behind Rise of the Anti Christ. Oh, wow,
that's a movie. I don't think i'll see that's the latest. Yeah, yeah,
I don't think i'll see that. It's got Kevin Sorbo

(19:49):
Wow Kevin No, no, no, the religious movies, hanging out
with Kurk Cameron and company. Yeah, but he can still
be Hercules, right, I think her he was, could be
I think could be anymore? Could have Zena in there too? Sure?
Why don't Jimy get Zena in Yeah? Neil McDonald, Oh yeah, yeah,
I went to I went to college with Neil McDonald.

(20:11):
I didn't know him in college, but he was a
couple of years older than me, but we went to
Syracuse together. Yeah. See he's in Rise of the Anti
Christ too, Is he really? Boy? It's a long way
to go for twice? Okay, all right, you get the
first half. Yeah, it sounds like is that a Black
Sabbath album? Rise of the Anti it's k Diamonds nine
one Lone Star. He is Sergeant Tye O'Brien as well,

(20:32):
Ah loan Star every time the band. Every time I
heard that, I think of Spakes Balls Lone Star because
that was Bill Pullman's name was Lone Star. Why don't
you go come to the Desert? We ain't you know?
There was also a Left Behind with Nick Cage. Oh
you mean you mean he Thompson or the movie got

(20:52):
left Behind? The movie? Oh okay, all right, well Leah Thompson. Wow, okay,
I've been a long time called What's in the Bag? Yeah, Well,
George Smart and Quentin in there about Okay, dude, this
is like now a bad Reddit theory, so let's just
let let's just let's just stop it right now. Let's
right now, all right, we went to the blindside. Let's
get at the end of your first year, discover credit

(21:15):
cards automatically double all the cash back you've earned. That's right,
everything you earned doubled. Seriously see terms and check it
out for yourself at discovered dot com slash match. That's
discovered dot com slash match. Well, bad news for the Lakers,
but is it really the most awful news about We're
back Lebron James with his foot injury that's kept him out.

(21:37):
We heard reports a couple days ago that he was
going to be out at least two weeks and be reevaluated.
Now his injury is going to be checked in three weeks,
which means if he's checked him three weeks, it's going
to be at least a week after that from the
ramp up and get back to basketball. So you are
talking about Lebron missing at least at the least then

(22:00):
next sixty to seventy percent of all the games left,
like like eleven or twelve of the remaining games in
the Lakers season. That's how many in a best case
scenario he's gonna wind up missing. And all I've seen
today is the Lakers are done. They can't do it.
Look at Lebron. They can't do it. They can't do
they can't do it. You know what, that's a load

(22:21):
of crap because two things. I watched them last night.
You watch them, Frostburg watched them. Frostburg still staying. They're
back without Lebron, without a d without DeAngelo Russell. They
beat a team on the road directly in front of
them for a seventh through ten play in spot. All right,
just we're not you're not asking Lebron, James. This is

(22:42):
not the old playoffs where hey, you gotta get in,
get in the top eight. It's gonna be really hard
to know. All you have to do is get in
the seventh through ten. You in the playing round, and
then who knows what can happen. This is what teams
are now looking at. Nobody looks as, oh, we gotta
finish up here this side. Sometimes it's just we gotta
get in the playing round. Players have embraced that very quickly. Hey,
playing round. So we got it because we can win

(23:02):
two games get in the playing round. We're fine. Nobody
that the Lakers are in competition with is good. Right,
They're all teams that are right around five hundred either
a game over, a game or two under, and look
at their rosters. They're not filled with great players. I mean, honestly,
all the teams you're looking at the Lakers competing with
for the final spots in the West, Utah, New Orleans, Portland,

(23:27):
the t Wolves. Okay, all of these teams that they're
fighting with. You got the Pelicans without Zion Williamson who
has not come back yet. When Anthony Davis and D'Angelo
Russell come back, which are going to be in the
next couple of games, right, these are two players that
are just as good, if not better, than anybody currently
playing on those teams. All right, this is where you're
at right now. The talent level of Anthony Davis and

(23:48):
D'Angelo Russell still needs to be enough, and it should
be enough to get the Lakers into the playing round
because all these teams are not going to go on
big runs and start winning games. We made these big
moves in the deadline, they're all treading water as great
as Damian Lillard is, they're still looking up at the
Lakers rights as much as these they're all bad. So

(24:09):
you're not asking the Lakers. You're not ask the Lakers
say hey, you need a huge step up without Lebron.
It's just, hey, beat the teams you're supposed to. And
you know what, watching them win last night without those guys,
I know that that supporting cast is better than we
expected and better than we thought they were going to be.
So to sit here and say, all the Lake now
forget it, they can still, in fact, they should make
it without Lebron as long as their top guys come back.

(24:30):
And even without a d and D'Angelo Russell, this is
not like a roster that all the other everybody is
still so much better. They still have a shot with it.
So to sit and say the Lakers are cooking and
can't get in the top ten, that's just ridiculous. Yes,
missing Lebron makes it more difficult, but they still are
good enough even if those guys don't play that much
to get into the top ten. They're only a half

(24:50):
game out right now, and any one of these teams
can all fall out just as easy as they're in
the playoffs. Right now. My team's on the court, Baby,
my team's on the court. You got the stars. Obviously
Russell a little concerning you'd like him back in the lineup,
but with a D and whatever was scheduled and decided

(25:11):
to take off. Yeah, you got the w that. But
we had a lot of questions last night. You can
listen to the podcast and get the full analysis there
because that just didn't sit right. It didn't sit right
with Rick Buker when he when he joined us. But
you look at the schedule, there's only three teams in
the NBA. I wanted to say, NFL. I've already got
my brain towards strength of schedule for next year. As

(25:31):
you you know, fantasy football season never ends. Smith. We
got titles to defend and stuff. But the the idea
that you only have three teams that have an easier
scheduled the rest of the way, and you watch the
balance and the way they played. If they can keep
the turnovers down and obviously that was a big issue
earlier in a couple of earlier games, but you keep

(25:53):
that at a reasonable level. You got guys that can score.
Shrewder came up huge, hopefully he's you know, fine and
can play his regular minutes. But the guys that you
brought in have fit in really quickly, and defense is
not going to be the strong suit of this squad.
We'd stipulate to that. But if Vanderbilt can do some

(26:16):
work on the boards and you get decent minutes out
of Rui Hachimura, you're sitting with now a rotation that
you can maybe have Lebron and when he comes back
in that final week in theory ahead of the playoffs,
or Anthony Davis more more pressingly, you can maybe work

(26:36):
their minutes a little bit. That's why, you know, for
us talking about it yesterday and the game was over
as we got on air, but like all day, it was, well,
how does he not go out? At least give them
a few minutes? Okay, they got the w I want
to see this team run. I want to see what
they've got here. What do you got, Darvin Ham? Well,
could you put together with this squad where nobody has
to focus and you're not playing iso ball? I dig it.

(27:00):
If this was a case of you're asking too much
of a roster, Hey, it's too much to ask for
them to go and beat these teams that are so
no you That's the thing is that the way the
NBA is now, you have the teams at the top
that are going to be really tough to overcome. Right Like,
if you wanted to say, right now, okay, who's gonna
be in the in the Eastern Conference Finals, Well, it's

(27:20):
hard to not say it's gonna be the Bucks in
the Celtics. I mean maybe the Knicks, maybe the Kicks,
but Bucks in the Celtics. And in the West, Okay,
it's the Nuggets and probably the Suns. Right because the
Sons with Kevin, with Kevin Durant, how far they're they're
coming up. Now, Yeah, it's hard to see teams other
than that. But when you get below those teams, it
could be it's it's anybody. The rosters are not that good,

(27:41):
you know. That's the whole thing is that it's not
like your boy, look at the start. It's not a
star studded, underachieving roster. It's just a roster that looks
like it's gonna tank. But instead they're sitting around five
hundred and potentially are in the mix for the playoffs.
This is what the NBA is. So this whole Laker's funeral. No,
not only are they still good enough to get in
without them, they should get in. What it does tell
you is how much and how badly the Lakers have

(28:04):
underachieved the last couple of years when you look at
it from the roster outwards, Hey, here's the supporting castle. Look,
they can still win a couple of games. They're they're
picking things up. Now. You throw Lebron at a D
on there, and it's like, how they not one more?
That's the real thing. This more is a reflection on
how much they've disciplined two of them have disappointed than
it is anything else, not about they don't have anybody

(28:25):
on the team now. It's like, okay, now you look
with fresh eyes at Lebron and a D and go,
oh wow, if they can stay afloat here without you?
And whoa where are you guys the last couple of years?
Why have we not one more? Why have you not
made the playoffs? Why have we not been a top
seed team? Why have you not been in the Western
Conference finals at all? That's the that's the down part,
not they can't win without these guys, it's what about
the last the last couple of years, they've just been

(28:45):
absolutely awful. There's no excuse for it. Well, and that
goes back to we talk about roster management and the
battles behind the scenes. How much is real and imagined
between Clutch Sports and what the roster has been set at,
how why and all of the permutations of the roster
surrounding Russell Westbrook coming into play, and what that meant

(29:09):
that they could and couldn't do right, Because in your
ideal world, you would have made that move weeks before
you did at the deadline to give yourself a little
more flexibility that when the inevitability of Davis and James
missing game not that you would expect it to this degree,
that you'd have more a little more leniency where a

(29:29):
loss here and there didn't feel like the world because
yesterday we cited all the players that we're talking about
the gravity, you know, the weight of that game coming
in in terms of what they're doing for these final
eighteen to twenty games finishing off the season. So roster wise,
you're feeling pretty good. And I'm curious because, look, maybe

(29:53):
the goal of getting to sixth, like they stated, isn't there,
but getting to ten, come on, let's go Lakers are back. Baby,
they're back. They're back. Looking at me, it's like I
could been bit by Lakers zombies and saying we're back,
We're back, We're back. Now. I'm falling for it now.
I think they're at least interesting again. I'm the guy
on the guy in the zombie movie that's bit but
doesn't want to tell anybody. I don't tell anybody. You're
gonna want to kill me, and I think I'm gonna

(30:14):
get past it. I'm the guy that's gonna get past
the zombie infection flesh wound. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays
at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific, Fox Sports Radio
The Jason Smith Show with My best friend Mike Harmon.
Who is this? Jason? Is this you be forty? You
be guessing wrong? Oh what TJ. You'll be guessing wrong?

(30:37):
Who is this? This is the Hoff Oh this is
David has Oh okay, that's a lot of mixing in post. Yeah,
just wait for the chewing of the burger. It's coming.
It's like where It's like when they did the sweezy
song from Dirty Dancing Boy. He sounded great. He sounded great,
and he sounded great, and post at the end of

(30:58):
your first year, Discover cards automatically double all the cash
back you've her. And that's right, everything you earned doubled.
Seriously see terms and check it out for yourself at
discover dot com. Slash Match. We got a big NFL
topic coming up in a few minutes, an NFL head coach,
and I was behind for a while and now I'm
out on him after what he said in the last

(31:19):
twenty four hours. But I can't believe we're going to
have this conversation Mike about John Morant. Okay, the big
news with him the last three days. He just can't
get out of controversy with the story that he's accused
of repeatedly punching a teenage boy in the head and
threatening with a gun last summer. This according to Memphis
police records that were acquired by The Washington Post. This

(31:40):
came days after another incident in which he was allegedly
threatened ahead of a security at a Memphis mall. And
then we also had the story of last month where
people around him, several of his acquaintances allegedly threatened and
harassed pacers staffers with a red laser. John Morant has
gone and I can't believe in this conversation he has

(32:02):
gone from in the off season, this guy's the new Kobe,
and I've said that man's he and Donovan Mitchell, but boy,
he has separated himself. What he can do. He's the
new Kobe. He's gonna win the MVP. He's gonna announce
himself this year and he's gonna be a guy We're
gonna say, Boy, it's jaw and Zion Williamson for the
next ten years. It's a big new rivalry. He has
gone from that to now or I'm seriously telling you,

(32:25):
I don't know if he's still going to be in
the league in five years. I mean, this is this
is what's happened to him over the course of the
past few months. Which wherever we're at with these stories
where it's still evolving, what happened with this kid in
the with this teenage boy that he was playing pickup
basketball with in a driveway. But you have the stuff
at the mall, you have the stuff with the Pacers,
and I wonder is he even gonna be around, is

(32:47):
even gonna be in the league in five years. Is
he gonna find his way out of the league because
of situations like this? Because he's on a bad path.
I mean, this is a bad path to be. And
whether it's you're surrounded by the wrong people or not,
whatever is he is on a bad path. And you
can say, is he gonna win? If you said to me,
what's more likely that he wins the MVP or he's
out of the league in five years, I got to

(33:08):
think about that. I mean, seriously, that's where now. Yeah,
and I can't believe this is the conversation we're having
regarding John A. Rent right now? How far he has
fallen to that point? And just a span of a
couple of months. Yeah, it's just the when it's one
isolated incident, the stuff with the PACER's like, all right, weird,

(33:29):
but investigated. However deep things went. Everybody had a talking
to and they move on. Now you start seeing there's
multiple instances developing a pattern. Every time you know, there's
any reference to a firearm, the eyebrows, you know, raise,
you start to you know, get it, get that little
chill that runs down your spine, and it's it's tough,

(33:54):
you know, I get it. No matter where you come
from and how you grew up. You've got your people
that you know, you're your guys. You know you joke
about it when it comes to Bayheim and and being
your monster. I certainly have relatives. Maybe I'm that relative
for somebody else. But the idea is that you know
you it's hard to break away to not help when

(34:18):
maybe you're really not helping and maybe they're not helping
when it comes down to it, and it's a hard
conversation that needs to be ad at this point. Remember,
I mean you had the thing with his dad and
Shannon Sharp for crying out loud or that escalated on
a court in front of everybody. Yeah, this this is like,
if this isn't the wake up moment, you don't know

(34:39):
that you don't have another one after this. Considering where
you're at and where things are sitting for you from
a legal aspect or things that you're involved in, there
is no bigger you have to wake up right now
than this or guess what, everything you have you're gonna
find it falling away from You're not gonna have anymore.
This is that moment just because of the things that
have gone on in the last few months. Dude, you're not.

(35:00):
It's not like you said, not isolated incident. This is
you got to wake up right now or who know,
or everything you have worked for your entire life is
at stake, and whether it's saying goodbye to people you
don't need to be around you, whatever it is, this
is your moment. There's not going to be another one
where you say, Okay, now I got no, this is
your moment to get it. Well, that's the thing. On
the court. It's been a lot of the conversation of

(35:22):
the grizz and being the hard guys and whatever the
reality imagination. But now it's drifting into more of these
spaces with your star as the guy whose name that
keeps coming up, and now you're having to decide whether
it's a coincidence or and just money grabs as his

(35:44):
people are saying, Twitter and how about a fresca, Mike,
it's swallen dom. I can't believe we're having that conversation.
Big NFL topic next Fox