March 30, 2023 • 35 mins
Jason and Mike discuss the NBA as season nears its end and react to The Sacramento Kings ending the longest playoff drought in all sports.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Sports Radio. Greetings and welcome inside our three of The
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dot com The way tire buying should be. Well, we
got two big NBA stories to get to here before
we hit you with a big fat dose of NFL
in a few minutes. All right, now, I'm gonna go
out on a limb. There's six minutes ago in the
four quarter. I'm gonna go out on a lin that
the Kings are going to beat the Blazers. WHOA I
(01:05):
mean this is a hot take. Yeah, it's hot. It's hot, dude,
Rashid Wallace is coming in. I'm gonna uh no, Damian
Lillard shut down for the year, Damon stonem I no, no, no, no, no,
none of those guys, no Buck Williams Now they're all gone.
No Cloud directs Ers, They're all gone. The Kings lead
the Blazers one oh seven, two seventy two. So make
(01:29):
it a thirty five point lead for the Kings. Make
it thirty seven points now thirty seven shut up with
just under six minutes left to go. So the Kings
are going to clinch a playoff spot breaking a drought
that dates back to two thousand and six. And when
this happens in another five minutes and thirty seven seconds,
(01:51):
the longest playoff drought among any of the four major
sports will belong to the New York Jets. Congratulations, but
we're getting Aaron Rodgers. So that's okay, Mike. We're going
to celebrate the hell out of that Jets thing. Oh man,
oh absolutely, are you kidding me? And tight Shirt has
been pulling clips for the last couple of weeks, celebrating
fifty years of futility. He had every angle of the butt.
(02:13):
Well it's not quite fifty year I mean we went
to back to back AFC title games. Wow, and last
time we saw the playoffs. Well, what's the most important
part of any of those seasons? Though? Tight shirt? If
you would please morn in Indianapolis. Yeah, no, he didn't
have it read as he's building grunts, he's playing. He's
actually I saw him he's playing Farmville on his actually
healing an orange. I thought that he was just grunting. No,
(02:35):
you keep I keep getting that invitation from you on Facebook.
Please come play Farmville, Please come play Farmville. Trying to
do you a favorite, getting that for a year. Alex
Tiger invited you to like Farmville. You're stuck on TikTok.
It's gonna be gone soon. So I'm gonna help you out.
Wait till he sends you the candy Crush once. I've
inviting to play Farmville. Look, and we talked about this
with Mark Medina, and this is this is not just
(02:57):
a turnaround. This is just not a good season where hey,
one out of every eighteen years is good. You're talking
about two thousand and six drout Mike Brown coming in
in his first year with Sacramento. That usually finishes anywhere
between twelfth and the bottom of the conference. I mean,
this is what it is to be the Sacramento Kings.
And here he is in his first year, and you
(03:18):
heard Mark mded to talk about things that he has done,
shorter practices, he's able to really unite with the team.
The moves they've made personnel wise have all worked out,
even the questionable ones like the Monti sabanis coming in.
He's been great. Murray has been really really good first
round pick from last year. And here are the Kings,
not just in the playoffs, but they're gonna be the
(03:40):
three seed. Isn't that? Hey, we're squeaking in gay we're
background postseason games for the first time in Sacramento and said, no,
this is they're gonna be a three seed. They're really
really good. I don't know that anybody should get a
vote for Coach the Year besides Mike Brown. And we've
had coaches do great things this year. This is not
where hey, the rest of the bottom of the barrel
is know. But hey, look at Boston three games out
(04:02):
of first place after they had to wave goodbye to
their coach beginning of the season. You see some other
teams that are doing extremely well this year that should
get a lot of votes and should get a lot
of attention. But nobody's doing what Mike Brown has done
with Sacramento because all these other teams, they all have really,
really terrific players. I mean, Sacramento's got some nice players,
but nobody the superstar level that teams like Boston and
(04:25):
Milwaukee and Denver and Memphis. A this is Hey, we
got some pretty nice pieces here and we're sitting here
in third place. Mike Brown should get every single vote.
It should be unanimous for him. No. I mean, look,
because you also had a team coming into the year
and even going back to last where you thought those
big component parts, the stars that are leading you to
the number three seed, we're gonna get traded. So everybody
(04:47):
had to swallow egos and recognize, hey, we're still trying
to build something here. Because they could have been angry
about it, right, or I guess you could also just
say none of the insiders actually no anything. Take the
Aaron Rodgers approach. But dearon Fox and everybody, like they
were traded away half that roster this offseason. They were
(05:09):
all supposed to be Lakers, weren't they. Frostberg, all of them,
all of We're gonna be last one of them. Dearon
Fox is going to be a Laker. Vloddy was going
back to the Lakers. Sure, Mike Bibby was going to
the Lakers instead of a left They're all going. Can
you still get Vlody as as uh the voice on
your ways app? Can you still get Lady No? Come on?
(05:32):
Oh yeah you have l Wait wait actually tall this
time stop stop. You have Laddie Divatz's tech. You could
text Lootdi Absolutely you could text him and would you
like me to say? Just give me? I want to
text him. I want to. I want to. I want
to ask him. I want I want to where can
I get cigarettes? Bloody? First? I want to be able
to get some cigarettes. You just want to smoke with?
(05:53):
Watta you? Insessment is? I want to know where I
could get cigarettes. I wouldn't even ton so gas Man
keep a company. But yeah, we've had Bloode on the show.
I was a long time ago though. Yeah, that was
having its time to bring him back? Yeah, oh yeah,
now we'll bring him back. Hey, Congratula, everybody wants to
talk to me? Now what an outstanding night? Look at this?
(06:14):
Should we cold call him in four minutes, call me,
kick up the phone and called Doug Christie anymore that No,
we lost that one. I mean maybe flood he's out
having a heater, so you know he could wind up.
You could have some time for him by heater or
what a cigarette? A cigarette? Heater and buy you're having
(06:36):
a heater. It's a cigarette. Maybe he's out there and
Europe a heaters something else. Jason, No, but this is
in the United States. A heaters a cigarette, so that's
what it is, just from Europe. I didn't know that.
Wait a minute, should I wait? Can I go? I'll
do it on my phone. I have to do it
on my phone. Just no, he's a cigarette. That's what
I always said. It was all right. So that's where
(06:56):
you're at with the Kings again. They are just moments
away from breaking that drought and heading to the playoffs
for the first time since two thousand and six, one
twelve to eighty with two and a half to go
in the fourth quarter. Now they just need to remember
the job's are not done. Man, Oh no, no, but
you have tonight to sell her. You gotta you gotta
get tonight. I mean, you have to get tonight to
(07:17):
celebrate because seventeen years some kind of party, you can
you can, you can get it back. Oh look, you're
in third place in the West. There's nothing that's gonna
happen to you. You're you're not gonna take over second
place from Memphis because they've gotten hot again. John Morant
is back. Yes, you're only two games back. Ten yeah, yeah, yeah.
But the thing is, yeah, you had a chance, but
Morant came back just at the nick of time. And
(07:39):
you're not giving up third place on the Suns because
you have a five game lead on them right now.
So it's not This is not anything where you could
just decide for the next next week and a half.
Hey man, we're all just gonna be hanging out, just partying,
and we're gonna let the bench, bottom of the bench
play and that's kind of how And then we'll see
it for the first game of the playoffs. We'll see
it for that King's Warriors first round of the playoffs
where the Warriors wind up winning and it's suddenly, oh,
(08:02):
the Warriors are bad. Look at this, We're beating the
We beat the Kings. Because you can see that happening,
right and everybody falling back in love with the Warriors. Oh,
they won the three six matchup. Look at them back.
I can see that happening. It's gonna drive me crazy.
But in the Western Conference, as we've talked about, as
much as we can celebrate what Denver has been, we
haven't seen the secondary players beyond Yokis play at a
(08:24):
high level and a winning level in the playoffs yet.
So that's a big wildcard all and we talk about
four through eleven are separated by three and a half games.
It's if if the Warriors do make it through round one.
Now they don't play a whole lot of defense, but
you got a couple of agitators and scores, and Steph
can go off like he did the other night for
(08:45):
his thirty nine, and he's got a little edge to
him these days. I kind of like Steph more these
days where he's angry. Step there's something to that and
wanting to fight everybody. Draymond Green. I mean, look, here's
a technical, we'll resend it. It's all good. So I
think as much as you we want to bemoan the
fact that people will fall in love with him, there
(09:05):
may be reason too, which would say, I guess once again,
once we get to parody another man's word for it
would be mediocriy hey. Once man's celebrations another man's mediocrity,
or it should be one man's mediocrity as an other
man's celebration. That's which something like that. Yeah, I like
the second one better. I think that works better. Workshop
(09:28):
what you got, Frostburg. This game is not over yet,
but one NBA insider that we won't name here, shops
you put out congrats to the Kings for clinching a
playoff spot, and people are destroying him because the game's
not over yet, but it's just thirty five seconds left.
That the Blazers got them right where they want. If
Lillard hits one shot from the logo, it's worth checking in.
(09:50):
It's worth forty point duck Worthy right the duck work
duck Worth, d D Duckworthy is I don't know duckworthy?
Are you duck James Worth and Duckworth together? Well, I mean,
I felt man a whole other episode about being worthy
for something else. Kevin does it a duck Kevin Duckworth
and rhymed with Duck and James Worthy and TJ. You
(10:10):
are duck worthy at that point, DJ hey, and really quick, Frostburg,
why did you scare me? There's no alternate un you know,
crazy meaning for the word heater in Europe? There is.
I looked it up on my phone. Okay, got, I
didn't go on the computer here. God may be afraid.
You may be afraid that I'm gonna google something. Go,
Oh my god. I don't have to apologize for it. Go.
(10:30):
I didn't know. I just looked it up. I did
Europe Heater meeting, and all I get is the energy
transition of revolutionizing the heating of Europe. People also ask,
how do you heat a house in Europe? What are
two types of heaters? How do European radiators work? There
is nothing subversive about anything about that heater is a cigarette. There,
we got you? Good you and rook Well, I don't
know you say something like that. You're the one that
(10:52):
you've seen every horror movie, knowing the man, and yet
I scare you so easy. I don't. I don't know
if Lottie Texas you saying, hey, tell Jason not to
say anything about it to not giving me his number.
So yeah, one choice for unanimous head Coach of the Year,
and now it is official. Watching the game tick down.
(11:14):
The Kings are going to the playoffs for the first
time since two thousand and six. They win it over
the Blazers one twenty to eighty. Big night, Diaron Fox
eighteen and six. Samonis had fifteen and twelve rebounds and
four assays. Everybody on the Kings played. They played everybody.
I mean they played every single person their roster. Malik
(11:35):
Monk plus thirty four for the game with nineteen off
the bench. What about Mike Baby? Wait, where was Malik
Monk last year? Where was he? I tell me, where
was he last? I forget Frostburg. Where was he last
carrying it up for the Lakers? Oh, that's right, that's
where he was. But look at the Kings. We can
have a good two thousand and six game coming up
later on this hour. Let's go, yeah, buddy, Although we
(11:59):
really should play the Jets game now that they're the
big dogs. No, no, let's let's let's how about we
do this. Let's celebrate the Kings tonight and we'll get
to the Jets tomorrow, all right, two thousand and six tonight,
tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight. I will do sleep, done that
tonight because j a funny thing happened on the way
(12:21):
to the playoffs for the Jets in two thousand and ten. TJ.
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 iHeart Radio
app Fox Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show with My
best friend Mike Harmon, where we live in a different
(12:43):
world than we've lived in for the last seventeen years.
The last seventeen years, we have not seen the Sacramento
Kings in the playoffs. That will now change their win
a few moments ago over the Blazers. They squeak out
a one twenty to eighty victor. Means we're the first
time since two thousand and six, the Sacramento Kings are
(13:05):
in the playoffs. How did it sound on the Sacramento
Kings radio network, Tom Moore than it gets hit, the
ball is loose and it's alive. Yeah, I've never seen
that before. Yeah before. Yeah, it's the Jets way into
(13:25):
this because they now the big winners tonight. Well yeah,
because now the team with the longest playoff drought in
the four major sports is the Jets. Congratulations, you did it.
Tell Alan. Now now watch watch how fast we get
Aaron Rodgers. Now wait a minute that let's go No,
let's go get him. Let's get at whatever. We gotta
give up whatever, Let's give up that first round pick.
(13:46):
I don't care, let's do it. Is that gonna be
on the back of the New York Post or whatever,
and then Woody Johnson loses his mind that that exists.
It's gonna say it's just data point true. It's gonna
be true. It's gonna be the the top of the
The New York Posts are gonna say, sack Kings, break drought,
and then low under it is gonna be the Jets
(14:06):
are on the clock. That's exactly how the front page.
And there's gonna be a picture of Aaron Rodgers as
a jet like with one of those Ghostbuster red circle lines.
That's what's coming back there, you go, there's your New
York Posts headline. I can get on board that. I
like that. All right, let's hear the Kings going to
the playoffs with the thirty nine pick in the twenty
thirteen NFL Draft. He's him the New York Jets to
(14:27):
like he's let's making thirty million dollars here. He wasn't
back up. Hey, the Jets were just ahead of their time.
They just they you know, they drafted Geno Smith. They
were ten years ahead of their time. Job is in
ten years? Just watch how good this guy is. That's
a id to do. Guys hampered him. He had to
wait ten years. I had to do is wait ten years?
You guys almost broke him. Uh, you know there was
(14:48):
a bit of a break, all right. So now here
it is Kings in the playoffs. The horn sounds, and
for the first time in seventeen years, sixteen seasons of frustration,
sixteen years of wandering in the desert looking for that oasis,
the Kings have finally found the sparkling waters, the palm trees.
(15:08):
It's not a rage, It's the real deal. Sacramento has
clinched first round home court advantage in the playoffs that
will be starting in a couple of weeks. Tonight's final
score is one twenty to eighty. Watch King's radio network
on the call. I have a feeling he just watched
John Wick three and Why Desert meet halle Berry and
(15:31):
all that. I got a feeling that's where he was,
I gotta watch John Wick and get excited for this.
I can only watch up to three because I haven't
seen four yet. So let me watch The Desert and
halle Berry and I'm going to need a gun. Ah,
let's get ready. I'm ready for John Wick. Was this
guy calling the game from his mom's basement? Well, you
know you do have some team. Wasn't even excited he
was excited. I think he was just incredulous because it
(15:53):
actually happened. He's all actually happened like the less the
last time this happen, hired, this time this happened. I
was a spry man in my twenties. No here I
am seventeen years later as an eighty seven year old man.
This guy should be screaming breaking crap in the background.
That's true. Now bell, where was the cow bell? I'm
(16:14):
telling you, fellas, he really explored the room. You know,
everybody's got different everybody's got a different way. Maybe he's
in a very celebratory mood, because that sounded like he
didn't want to wake his parents. That could be a
too that that could also be part of it. Shum,
the king, the king is just one I gotta be quite.
Let me close the door. To close the door, and okay, okay,
(16:35):
I can talk a little bit louder. Okay, yeah, Kings
Wynn kingswin. We went through the desert and all the
visions that we saw and John Wick cuts his finger off.
Sorry spoiler. He gives the ring back and now now
we're here, we drink deep from the oasis of victory,
and the Kings are back in the playoffs. That's the
hardest call, though, is because it's an inevitability, right. They
weren't going to close out the season losing in all
(16:58):
the convergence of circumstance to keep them out of the playoffs.
So you know, you've been mulling it around in your
brain and then you're still in a point where you're
incredulous that's actually happening. Like, where's the prompter? You forgot
to load the prompter? What are we doing? I forgot
my piece of paper at home. I'm Ron Burgundy. Now
I'm wandering in the desert. A twitter at about a fresca. Mike,
(17:20):
it's swollen. Do them The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Cameron Live in the tirect dot Com Studios. Congratulations to
the King's well deserved after all that break. Now the
other big game tonight, we watch the Lakers win. Lebron
back in the starting lineup. The Lakers beat the Bulls
one twenty one to one ten. They are back at
five hundred. They are a little bit more firmly in
(17:44):
the playing around now, they are tied for they're in
eighth place. They're a game out of seventh and just
a game and a half out of sixth. Whether Lebron
James knew it or not, this is not nearly the
hot take you're thinking it. So we told you a
week and a half ago Lebron's time with the Lakers
coming to an end. It felt like they knew they
got everything they were going to get out of them
(18:04):
already and they weren't going to get anymore. And the
discrepancy he had with the team about how healthy he was, Oh,
don't believe anybody but me, the Lakers alady could come back.
Lebron James says, no, I'm still working, And then very
quickly he was back in the lineup. Well because I
think he read the room that the Lakers were moving
on without him. Anthony Davis was playing incredibly well with
(18:27):
Lebron James out, Austin Reeves and D'Angel Russell proved to
be a pretty good backcourt, and the Lakers, Yeah, this
offseason is going to be really messy because they're on
the verge of moving on from Lebron. James were already
seeing stories Lebron's gonna try to team up with some
other guys, maybe in Dallas other places. He was right
when he said, this is the most important games of
my Lakers career. But these seven games starting with tonight
(18:50):
and the rest of the season are the most important
games in his Lakers career. Because if the Lakers finish well,
and by well, I mean they finished high in the
playing round, they get out of the playing roun or
they get into the top six. Yeah, maybe I could
see the Lakers coming back next year going Okay, the
moves we made worked, and Lebron hopefully he stays healthy,
but we're moving on to the next era at some point.
(19:10):
But we got support guys in that. If Lebron doesn't play,
were good. But if the Lakers falter and they finish
in the bottom of the playing round and they get
knocked out early or they finished out of the playing round,
and they finished behind Dallas or somebody else. Then you
just watch, you watch how messy the offseason gets, and
the Lakers will look to move on from Lebron James
in the offseason. That will happen really quickly and very swiftly,
(19:34):
and both sides will try to say it was their call.
Was there, I'm moving on, I'm going here because it's
not been going well for Lebron and you saw the
Lakers play extremely well without him. They played better without
him then they did with him. Doesn't mean they're a
better team, but to quote the great Jay Glazier, for
whatever reason, the Lakers played better without Lebron then they
(19:54):
had played with him. And both sides have felt like
we're ready to go on right Lebron on past Kareem
Abdul Jabbar. He's not for big time team goals anymore
because he knows the Lakers aren't good enough championship team.
The Lakers know that got everything they kind out of him.
They want to move on to the next iteration of
the team. Maybe it's around Anthony Davis with a couple
of other support players. But you can tell the time
(20:16):
is hastening and coming to an end, and if this
finishes poorly for Lebron James, it's gonna be this offseason
and it's gonna get really messy, really fast. Yeah. I
think part of it, Jason goes back to what we've
been talking about for a couple of weeks, and it
really came to a head last week with the insiders
and all the reports of timetables, expectation and Lebron taking
(20:39):
the page out of the Aaron Rodgers playbook if you
don't know Me, and then all of a sudden he
goes from out too doubtful to questionable to subbing in
and doing the Chalker routine as he subs into a game,
just asinine that here, pomp and circumstances, you're coming off
the bench. You don't get any of that, right, It's
(21:01):
like you get the penny because you're we're on in
second team, like you're on Ted Lasso. You know, you
don't get any extra treatment here. You're just one of
the guys today. So suck it up. But it smoked
him out right because he's looking around and he knows
there's a rat in the building that leaked that to
Shams and over to Woes and everybody else, which got
(21:26):
him all bristled and all angry. It's like, how dare
they question how quickly I'm trying to come back? Look
at I'll show you what I can do. And maybe
it's the great motivator lights the fire under his ass.
They get into the playoffs and all is good. But
it does beg the question. And I asked Mark Medina
when he was on with us last hour the brand
(21:48):
of basketball they were playing without him at It doesn't
mean they're better with it without him. It's a short
sample size of guys just going in and doing the
work and knowing what their roles were and noting around
and deferring to Lebron James. That made for some wins.
The schedule obviously helped. They had a couple of games
where superstars of the opposition didn't play, and strength the
(22:11):
schedule from the tankathon dot com world they've been is
one of the top six or seven easiest schedules remaining
going on about six weeks. So yeah, they were gonna
in theory win their share of those games so long
as Anthony Davis was on. I did see an interesting
stat for the season. They've shot two hundred and eighteen
more free throws than any other team, even with Lebron
(22:32):
and Aide missing all that time. I wouldn't say that
you're missing that time, Bob. I would say, look, it's
It's just it gets to a point where I think
this is a year where fans start to understand everybody
is accountable and nobody gets to call the end of
their career anymore. Right, because you've watched Tom Brady unable
(22:56):
to call the end of his career. Right, what you
think he'd be a Patriot forever. He wasn't yeah to
go to Tampa. He could have gone someplace else. No,
there wasn't a lot of interest he retired. Aaron Rodgers
would be able to play it as a Green Bay
Packer whoever long he wants. To guess what he's gonna
be playing for the Jets this year? Right, everybody doesn't
get a chance to right. Jim Beheim would coach until
he decided I'm done. Nope, Instead he's pushed out. We
(23:17):
told you last hour. Bill Belichick looks like somebody who
this year inadvertently put a clock on his time with
the Patriots with his defiant talk about getting the team
back to being a super Bowl team When you have
a faction of people that are ready to move on
from you. It happens pretty fast, and it could be
a combination of fans, it could be a combination of players, teammates,
(23:38):
front office, coaches. Everybody hits that point right. It's like
the line from Moneyball. At some point, we're all told
we can't play the kids game anymore. Some of us
are told an eighteen, some of us have told it forty,
but we're all told. At some point, everybody, no matter
what kind of icon you are, is told, yeah, thanks,
we don't need you anymore. And Lebron is starting to
realize that that's where he's at now with the Lake.
(24:00):
The Lakers are ready to move on from you. Saw
all the talk the last couple weeks. People wanted Austin
Reeves to stay in the starting lineup and Lebron James
will come off the bench. It's insane, but that shows
you where people are at with where they are for Lebron.
You know, the Lakers front office has had a big
push pull with Lebron's people for the last few years.
They're not winning, it's not getting any better, so you
(24:21):
know that we're ready to move on you tried to
take over the team and suddenly make it the clutch
sports Lakers. We didn't like that, but you're playing well.
All right, we're gonna move on here. But now that okay,
now that it looks like there's a future without him
because you've been able to glimpse it because you can't
stay healthy. Now, the more time that goes on, that
door gets open easier and easier. So right now, that
(24:43):
door for Lebron with the Lakers, it seems an's no,
they don't finish well, they've already seen. Hey, we see
a glimmer of how we're gonna move on. And the
post Lebron James era, it's Anthony Davis that we're going
to try to count on him. We'll bring we'll have money,
so we'll be able to bring in somebody else. Look,
we brought in the point guard D'Angelo Russell, right, we
(25:03):
think Reeves and Russell can work out pretty good. We
have some pretty good pieces. If we bring in a
scorer that's going to help, that's going to really help us,
maybe that's Damian Lillard in a trade, maybe it's somebody else.
But suddenly a scorer and Anthony Davis and the you're
out from under the specter of Lebron hanging over that.
(25:24):
Everything the team does, you're at Lebron's whim. That's very freeing.
It's really freeing. So this is this end is way
closer than you think it's going to be. Right, think
about the players, right Lebron and Ad could tell me, Hey,
we're friends. All we want. Ad doesn't stand up for
Lebron breaking Kareem's record. That's all you need to know
right there, That's all you need to know. How excited
the team seems to be, and how they were playing
(25:44):
for each other without Lebron. It's a little bit different now.
It doesn't mean they're a complete team without him, but
for the first time they can see the future. And
when you can see the future, you want to get
there as fast as possible. Lebron cans postpone it a bit.
If he has great games down the stretched Lakers get
in that nice little playoff run. Okay, one more year,
but if not, watch how fast and watch how messy
(26:06):
this offseason gets. I'm telling you, yeah, I think we
go back to the last offseason Jason, where you had
the reports of blank you where you built this thing
figure it out. The message from Lakers brass and ownership,
Jeanie Buss and Jay Warren company down to Lebron James
and Clutch Sports, this is the roster we have. And
(26:29):
what did they do? They went and still made a
huge move. They were able to offload Russell Westbrook and
maybe create a little more good vibes in the locker
room whatever. Real Again, Westbrook's one of those guys that
there'll be books on sometime later on. Here's all the
good stuff he was doing, and yet you still hated
(26:51):
him because we've seen a lot of that, because because
guys like Dan Woikey and he and all of our
friends have each had their signature Russell Westbrook moment in
the press conference. It's just there. It's reality. But you
bring in some of these ancillary parts who were thrust
into bigger roles, and what did they do. They thrived.
But it wasn't the intention, as we've been led to believe,
(27:15):
to ever really shuffle it. It was all right, we're
gonna watch it, this all burn around. Someone's gonna be
playing the fiddle over there, Charlie Daniels while somebody else dances,
and we look at the end of the Lebron James
era in flames. Instead, he gets hurt and they start
playing some pretty good basketball, and those role players who'd
shown you glimpses were rising up. D'Angelo Russell when he's healthy,
(27:38):
which is now a big hit, big if along the
way Jason Is. He's played some good basketball. He's been
a much more mature, unselfish player, and it took a
number of stops to do that. Is he is that
mean you want to give him the bag in the
long term, Gaga, I don't know, but now you're intrigued.
And for Lebron James, I think there's that moment while
(27:59):
he was sitting out, maybe when he had the sunglasses on,
if you could have peeked behind those I have no
idea what they cost, but let's just say a nice
round thousand dollars sunglasses, you might have gotten a glimpse
into his soul. Of damn, they're playing well without me,
play well without me. I'm becoming irrelevant. It's all about
Austin Reeves because you saw how quick he was to
kiss his ass today after the game. It's like, oh,
(28:21):
I forgive You know he like Kobe more than me,
But that's okay, Like they had this big exchange after
the victory, so let's say that again. Let't towel he
was Wasn't he sitting just in a like a smallest
towel known to man? That's right, I need my square.
(28:41):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific. Who Me the World's Gonna change tomorrow? Fox
Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show with my best friend
Mike Harman tell Alan that the Mets suck. We are
less almost eleven hours away from the first pitch of
(29:04):
opening day in the Major League Baseball season. We'll have
our big predictions coming up next hour on the show.
We got World Series Bowl predictions, we have MVP Bowl predictions.
But the biggest game changer in sports this year is
going to happen tomorrow. Now, whether you are a casual
baseball fan who's watched a little bit of the exhibition games,
you're a big baseball fan, do you watch some of them?
(29:25):
It gets it's hard to watch because they're on early
during the day and sometimes you're just watching highlights. But
the big story of the exhibition season has been the
pitch clock, and the final results came out today that
the MLB pitch clock, which now pitchers have fifteen seconds
to deliver a pitch shave twenty six minutes off of
spring games, which Major League Baseball needs. You need they
(29:48):
need to make the game shorter. So a game coming
in at three fifteen now comes into two forty five.
It's pretty good. They needed to do something. Now, forget
for a second about the pitchers and the batters. They'll
figure it out. They'll be violations, there'll be some pitches
to get upset batters upset, but they'll figure it out.
It's it's not gonna be something that's, oh my goodness,
is breaking the fabric. They'll figure it out. The biggest
(30:10):
game changer is for us watching the game, because as
long as the pitch clock is in the screen, you
are going to watch that every single pitch. You're not
gonna be able to take your eyes off of it.
You're gonna watch that big pitch clock tick down from fifteen.
You're gonna look for a pitch violation. You're gonna look
for a batter violation. You're gonna look for something that's
(30:30):
gonna give your team an extra ball or an extra strike,
You're going to watch it. You can't not watch it.
You can't not watch that clock tickdown to get close
to zero. It's impossible. Just like when you watch the
clock tickdown in a football game when the play clock
is getting towards zero, or the clock is ticking down
towards zero in a final drive in the final two minutes,
(30:51):
final minute of an NBA game, You're going to watch it.
You're gonna watch the pitch clock every single pitch. Won't
be able to take your eyes off it. It's already
made to order for Hey, was this pitch gotten off
in time? That did not get this pitch off in time?
It's gonna be tailor made for blogs the day after
going This three run homers shouldn't have counted. Look, here's
a screen grab of the ball in the pitcher's hand,
(31:13):
and here's where the clock is. This three run homers
should not have counted. It's tailor made for that to happen.
As long as that pitch clock is on the screen
that way, you will never watch a baseball game the
same way. Again. You'll watch the pitch clock. You'll have
another eye in the pitcher pitchclock, pitcher pitch. That's just
how it's going to go because it's impossible to not
look at it. I gotta think at some point they're
going to find a way where you don't see it
(31:35):
as much on screen, but the pitchers can still see
it because it's really really distracting, and you're not gonna
be able to watch a game the same way with that.
Trust me, well, it is truly interesting to watch people's
reaction to it because you've bemoan it and we made
fun of Rob Manford the whole time. But if you're
talking legitimately a half hour shaved off and because of
(31:55):
the shift or whatever I was like, the wholesale changes
to me just still feels odd. But hey, if you're
gonna go in, why why not lean all the way
into it? Like I say, if you're gonna fail, fail spectaculate,
if all of this blows up in your face, so
be it. But you get you force action, you force activity.
I know there's been a lot of chronicling of the
(32:18):
gamesmanship that goes on, both with kind of cheating the
shift and also at the at home plate right Max
Scherzer was assessed the ball because he didn't give quote
reasonable time for the batter to reengage. Like, no, he
stepped out, and as soon as he stepped in one
one thousand, the ball was gone. I don't see a problem.
As soon as you're back in the box, I don't.
(32:38):
Your feet don't have to be set, you don't have
to adjust your cup nine times you're in the box,
you're inside the white. You're ready for play, or you
should be. And so we'll watch those and the spirit
versus letter of the law, Like they give you that
extra beat after the clock goes to zero in the NFL,
do you get the same thing on the mound? Do
(32:59):
you get that grace or do we legitimately have reviews
of you know, and it gone to zero with the
batter's box, we should have stopped it, but that three
run home run hit, No, we're waving it off. We're
taking off the board. Can you imagine the first review
that's going to happen on a three two pitch with
the bases loaded, that's going to force a run in
or become a strike for a strikeout. What that's going
(33:21):
to be like that that's gonna be, That's gonna be insane.
I can't wait for that, but you know what I mean,
in the final innings, all of a sudden, the way
the game has already shifted with the number of um
we're leaf pitchers that we go to U and the
management they're in. Now now we're talking about the strike
zone and pitch counts and guys having to adjust to that. Starters,
(33:45):
I don't think it'll be a problem relievers trying to
find that rhythm early on. You might have a little
bit of chaos. You're gonna have a lot of chaos.
It's gonna and it's going to be more from the
fact you're gonna it's gonna stay alive because the players
will talk about it a little bit and I'll say, yeah,
I didn't like this, but we got to get used
to it. But I'm telling you the fans that when
when you mess with how people watch a game, you're
(34:08):
not gonna be ready for the for the blowback. What
it's gonna feel like. And some people are gonna love it,
some people say I can't stand it, and it's gonna
be really polarizing because there there there's a way to Hey,
you mess with the sport and it's rules. Okay, we
get used to it, But how we all consume a game.
That's a big thing, man, And people are gonna see
this tomorrow, go whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa this. I
can't not look at this and I only watch a
(34:29):
little bit before, but now now I can't keep my
eyes off it. I trust me. That's the real game changer,
not not how it goes with how the not for
it goes with the players, but how the fans are
going to consume it. You know, it's funny, though, Jason.
We use this as an example whatever sports tries to
make a change, and I think it's appropriate. Here is one.
The fox box came into play. It was odd, it
(34:51):
was distracting at first, and now when it's not there,
you cry. Right if it's replaced them the lower third
by an ad for seven seconds, you're mist because your
Jets may have given up another touchdown. You can miss
you Twitter and aw about a fresca. Mike, get swallowed up,
I'm telling you, and get ready because that's gonna change
(35:11):
the way you watch baseball. As long as that pitchclock
is up there, coming up next, how about we tell
you how and when the Lamar Jackson situation is going
to end. Yeah, I keep it right here. Jason and
Mike from the tirect dot Com studios, Fox Cleveland and
Trade
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
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Radio dot com, or stream us live every night on
the iHeartRadio app by searching FSRT. You're listening to Fox
(00:25):
Sports Radio. Greetings and welcome inside our three of The
Jason Smith Show with my bis friend Mike Harmon, live
from the tirerac dot com studios. Tirect dot com will
help you get there an unmatched selection, fast, free shipping,
free road hazard protection, over ten thousand recommended installers tirac
(00:45):
dot com The way tire buying should be. Well, we
got two big NBA stories to get to here before
we hit you with a big fat dose of NFL
in a few minutes. All right, now, I'm gonna go
out on a limb. There's six minutes ago in the
four quarter. I'm gonna go out on a lin that
the Kings are going to beat the Blazers. WHOA I
(01:05):
mean this is a hot take. Yeah, it's hot. It's hot, dude,
Rashid Wallace is coming in. I'm gonna uh no, Damian
Lillard shut down for the year, Damon stonem I no, no, no, no, no,
none of those guys, no Buck Williams Now they're all gone.
No Cloud directs Ers, They're all gone. The Kings lead
the Blazers one oh seven, two seventy two. So make
(01:29):
it a thirty five point lead for the Kings. Make
it thirty seven points now thirty seven shut up with
just under six minutes left to go. So the Kings
are going to clinch a playoff spot breaking a drought
that dates back to two thousand and six. And when
this happens in another five minutes and thirty seven seconds,
(01:51):
the longest playoff drought among any of the four major
sports will belong to the New York Jets. Congratulations, but
we're getting Aaron Rodgers. So that's okay, Mike. We're going
to celebrate the hell out of that Jets thing. Oh man,
oh absolutely, are you kidding me? And tight Shirt has
been pulling clips for the last couple of weeks, celebrating
fifty years of futility. He had every angle of the butt.
(02:13):
Well it's not quite fifty year I mean we went
to back to back AFC title games. Wow, and last
time we saw the playoffs. Well, what's the most important
part of any of those seasons? Though? Tight shirt? If
you would please morn in Indianapolis. Yeah, no, he didn't
have it read as he's building grunts, he's playing. He's
actually I saw him he's playing Farmville on his actually
healing an orange. I thought that he was just grunting. No,
(02:35):
you keep I keep getting that invitation from you on Facebook.
Please come play Farmville, Please come play Farmville. Trying to
do you a favorite, getting that for a year. Alex
Tiger invited you to like Farmville. You're stuck on TikTok.
It's gonna be gone soon. So I'm gonna help you out.
Wait till he sends you the candy Crush once. I've
inviting to play Farmville. Look, and we talked about this
with Mark Medina, and this is this is not just
(02:57):
a turnaround. This is just not a good season where hey,
one out of every eighteen years is good. You're talking
about two thousand and six drout Mike Brown coming in
in his first year with Sacramento. That usually finishes anywhere
between twelfth and the bottom of the conference. I mean,
this is what it is to be the Sacramento Kings.
And here he is in his first year, and you
(03:18):
heard Mark mded to talk about things that he has done,
shorter practices, he's able to really unite with the team.
The moves they've made personnel wise have all worked out,
even the questionable ones like the Monti sabanis coming in.
He's been great. Murray has been really really good first
round pick from last year. And here are the Kings,
not just in the playoffs, but they're gonna be the
(03:40):
three seed. Isn't that? Hey, we're squeaking in gay we're
background postseason games for the first time in Sacramento and said, no,
this is they're gonna be a three seed. They're really
really good. I don't know that anybody should get a
vote for Coach the Year besides Mike Brown. And we've
had coaches do great things this year. This is not
where hey, the rest of the bottom of the barrel
is know. But hey, look at Boston three games out
(04:02):
of first place after they had to wave goodbye to
their coach beginning of the season. You see some other
teams that are doing extremely well this year that should
get a lot of votes and should get a lot
of attention. But nobody's doing what Mike Brown has done
with Sacramento because all these other teams, they all have really,
really terrific players. I mean, Sacramento's got some nice players,
but nobody the superstar level that teams like Boston and
(04:25):
Milwaukee and Denver and Memphis. A this is Hey, we
got some pretty nice pieces here and we're sitting here
in third place. Mike Brown should get every single vote.
It should be unanimous for him. No. I mean, look,
because you also had a team coming into the year
and even going back to last where you thought those
big component parts, the stars that are leading you to
the number three seed, we're gonna get traded. So everybody
(04:47):
had to swallow egos and recognize, hey, we're still trying
to build something here. Because they could have been angry
about it, right, or I guess you could also just
say none of the insiders actually no anything. Take the
Aaron Rodgers approach. But dearon Fox and everybody, like they
were traded away half that roster this offseason. They were
(05:09):
all supposed to be Lakers, weren't they. Frostberg, all of them,
all of We're gonna be last one of them. Dearon
Fox is going to be a Laker. Vloddy was going
back to the Lakers. Sure, Mike Bibby was going to
the Lakers instead of a left They're all going. Can
you still get Vlody as as uh the voice on
your ways app? Can you still get Lady No? Come on?
(05:32):
Oh yeah you have l Wait wait actually tall this
time stop stop. You have Laddie Divatz's tech. You could
text Lootdi Absolutely you could text him and would you
like me to say? Just give me? I want to
text him. I want to. I want to. I want
to ask him. I want I want to where can
I get cigarettes? Bloody? First? I want to be able
to get some cigarettes. You just want to smoke with?
(05:53):
Watta you? Insessment is? I want to know where I
could get cigarettes. I wouldn't even ton so gas Man
keep a company. But yeah, we've had Bloode on the show.
I was a long time ago though. Yeah, that was
having its time to bring him back? Yeah, oh yeah,
now we'll bring him back. Hey, Congratula, everybody wants to
talk to me? Now what an outstanding night? Look at this?
(06:14):
Should we cold call him in four minutes, call me,
kick up the phone and called Doug Christie anymore that No,
we lost that one. I mean maybe flood he's out
having a heater, so you know he could wind up.
You could have some time for him by heater or
what a cigarette? A cigarette? Heater and buy you're having
(06:36):
a heater. It's a cigarette. Maybe he's out there and
Europe a heaters something else. Jason, No, but this is
in the United States. A heaters a cigarette, so that's
what it is, just from Europe. I didn't know that.
Wait a minute, should I wait? Can I go? I'll
do it on my phone. I have to do it
on my phone. Just no, he's a cigarette. That's what
I always said. It was all right. So that's where
(06:56):
you're at with the Kings again. They are just moments
away from breaking that drought and heading to the playoffs
for the first time since two thousand and six, one
twelve to eighty with two and a half to go
in the fourth quarter. Now they just need to remember
the job's are not done. Man, Oh no, no, but
you have tonight to sell her. You gotta you gotta
get tonight. I mean, you have to get tonight to
(07:17):
celebrate because seventeen years some kind of party, you can
you can, you can get it back. Oh look, you're
in third place in the West. There's nothing that's gonna
happen to you. You're you're not gonna take over second
place from Memphis because they've gotten hot again. John Morant
is back. Yes, you're only two games back. Ten yeah, yeah, yeah.
But the thing is, yeah, you had a chance, but
Morant came back just at the nick of time. And
(07:39):
you're not giving up third place on the Suns because
you have a five game lead on them right now.
So it's not This is not anything where you could
just decide for the next next week and a half.
Hey man, we're all just gonna be hanging out, just partying,
and we're gonna let the bench, bottom of the bench
play and that's kind of how And then we'll see
it for the first game of the playoffs. We'll see
it for that King's Warriors first round of the playoffs
where the Warriors wind up winning and it's suddenly, oh,
(08:02):
the Warriors are bad. Look at this, We're beating the
We beat the Kings. Because you can see that happening,
right and everybody falling back in love with the Warriors. Oh,
they won the three six matchup. Look at them back.
I can see that happening. It's gonna drive me crazy.
But in the Western Conference, as we've talked about, as
much as we can celebrate what Denver has been, we
haven't seen the secondary players beyond Yokis play at a
(08:24):
high level and a winning level in the playoffs yet.
So that's a big wildcard all and we talk about
four through eleven are separated by three and a half games.
It's if if the Warriors do make it through round one.
Now they don't play a whole lot of defense, but
you got a couple of agitators and scores, and Steph
can go off like he did the other night for
(08:45):
his thirty nine, and he's got a little edge to
him these days. I kind of like Steph more these
days where he's angry. Step there's something to that and
wanting to fight everybody. Draymond Green. I mean, look, here's
a technical, we'll resend it. It's all good. So I
think as much as you we want to bemoan the
fact that people will fall in love with him, there
(09:05):
may be reason too, which would say, I guess once again,
once we get to parody another man's word for it
would be mediocriy hey. Once man's celebrations another man's mediocrity,
or it should be one man's mediocrity as an other
man's celebration. That's which something like that. Yeah, I like
the second one better. I think that works better. Workshop
(09:28):
what you got, Frostburg. This game is not over yet,
but one NBA insider that we won't name here, shops
you put out congrats to the Kings for clinching a
playoff spot, and people are destroying him because the game's
not over yet, but it's just thirty five seconds left.
That the Blazers got them right where they want. If
Lillard hits one shot from the logo, it's worth checking in.
(09:50):
It's worth forty point duck Worthy right the duck work
duck Worth, d D Duckworthy is I don't know duckworthy?
Are you duck James Worth and Duckworth together? Well, I mean,
I felt man a whole other episode about being worthy
for something else. Kevin does it a duck Kevin Duckworth
and rhymed with Duck and James Worthy and TJ. You
(10:10):
are duck worthy at that point, DJ hey, and really quick, Frostburg,
why did you scare me? There's no alternate un you know,
crazy meaning for the word heater in Europe? There is.
I looked it up on my phone. Okay, got, I
didn't go on the computer here. God may be afraid.
You may be afraid that I'm gonna google something. Go,
Oh my god. I don't have to apologize for it. Go.
(10:30):
I didn't know. I just looked it up. I did
Europe Heater meeting, and all I get is the energy
transition of revolutionizing the heating of Europe. People also ask,
how do you heat a house in Europe? What are
two types of heaters? How do European radiators work? There
is nothing subversive about anything about that heater is a cigarette. There,
we got you? Good you and rook Well, I don't
know you say something like that. You're the one that
(10:52):
you've seen every horror movie, knowing the man, and yet
I scare you so easy. I don't. I don't know
if Lottie Texas you saying, hey, tell Jason not to
say anything about it to not giving me his number.
So yeah, one choice for unanimous head Coach of the Year,
and now it is official. Watching the game tick down.
(11:14):
The Kings are going to the playoffs for the first
time since two thousand and six. They win it over
the Blazers one twenty to eighty. Big night, Diaron Fox
eighteen and six. Samonis had fifteen and twelve rebounds and
four assays. Everybody on the Kings played. They played everybody.
I mean they played every single person their roster. Malik
(11:35):
Monk plus thirty four for the game with nineteen off
the bench. What about Mike Baby? Wait, where was Malik
Monk last year? Where was he? I tell me, where
was he last? I forget Frostburg. Where was he last
carrying it up for the Lakers? Oh, that's right, that's
where he was. But look at the Kings. We can
have a good two thousand and six game coming up
later on this hour. Let's go, yeah, buddy, Although we
(11:59):
really should play the Jets game now that they're the
big dogs. No, no, let's let's let's how about we
do this. Let's celebrate the Kings tonight and we'll get
to the Jets tomorrow, all right, two thousand and six tonight,
tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight. I will do sleep, done that
tonight because j a funny thing happened on the way
(12:21):
to the playoffs for the Jets in two thousand and ten. TJ.
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 iHeart Radio
app Fox Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show with My
best friend Mike Harmon, where we live in a different
(12:43):
world than we've lived in for the last seventeen years.
The last seventeen years, we have not seen the Sacramento
Kings in the playoffs. That will now change their win
a few moments ago over the Blazers. They squeak out
a one twenty to eighty victor. Means we're the first
time since two thousand and six, the Sacramento Kings are
(13:05):
in the playoffs. How did it sound on the Sacramento
Kings radio network, Tom Moore than it gets hit, the
ball is loose and it's alive. Yeah, I've never seen
that before. Yeah before. Yeah, it's the Jets way into
(13:25):
this because they now the big winners tonight. Well yeah,
because now the team with the longest playoff drought in
the four major sports is the Jets. Congratulations, you did it.
Tell Alan. Now now watch watch how fast we get
Aaron Rodgers. Now wait a minute that let's go No,
let's go get him. Let's get at whatever. We gotta
give up whatever, Let's give up that first round pick.
(13:46):
I don't care, let's do it. Is that gonna be
on the back of the New York Post or whatever,
and then Woody Johnson loses his mind that that exists.
It's gonna say it's just data point true. It's gonna
be true. It's gonna be the the top of the
The New York Posts are gonna say, sack Kings, break drought,
and then low under it is gonna be the Jets
(14:06):
are on the clock. That's exactly how the front page.
And there's gonna be a picture of Aaron Rodgers as
a jet like with one of those Ghostbuster red circle lines.
That's what's coming back there, you go, there's your New
York Posts headline. I can get on board that. I
like that. All right, let's hear the Kings going to
the playoffs with the thirty nine pick in the twenty
thirteen NFL Draft. He's him the New York Jets to
(14:27):
like he's let's making thirty million dollars here. He wasn't
back up. Hey, the Jets were just ahead of their time.
They just they you know, they drafted Geno Smith. They
were ten years ahead of their time. Job is in
ten years? Just watch how good this guy is. That's
a id to do. Guys hampered him. He had to
wait ten years. I had to do is wait ten years?
You guys almost broke him. Uh, you know there was
(14:48):
a bit of a break, all right. So now here
it is Kings in the playoffs. The horn sounds, and
for the first time in seventeen years, sixteen seasons of frustration,
sixteen years of wandering in the desert looking for that oasis,
the Kings have finally found the sparkling waters, the palm trees.
(15:08):
It's not a rage, It's the real deal. Sacramento has
clinched first round home court advantage in the playoffs that
will be starting in a couple of weeks. Tonight's final
score is one twenty to eighty. Watch King's radio network
on the call. I have a feeling he just watched
John Wick three and Why Desert meet halle Berry and
(15:31):
all that. I got a feeling that's where he was,
I gotta watch John Wick and get excited for this.
I can only watch up to three because I haven't
seen four yet. So let me watch The Desert and
halle Berry and I'm going to need a gun. Ah,
let's get ready. I'm ready for John Wick. Was this
guy calling the game from his mom's basement? Well, you
know you do have some team. Wasn't even excited he
was excited. I think he was just incredulous because it
(15:53):
actually happened. He's all actually happened like the less the
last time this happen, hired, this time this happened. I
was a spry man in my twenties. No here I
am seventeen years later as an eighty seven year old man.
This guy should be screaming breaking crap in the background.
That's true. Now bell, where was the cow bell? I'm
(16:14):
telling you, fellas, he really explored the room. You know,
everybody's got different everybody's got a different way. Maybe he's
in a very celebratory mood, because that sounded like he
didn't want to wake his parents. That could be a
too that that could also be part of it. Shum,
the king, the king is just one I gotta be quite.
Let me close the door. To close the door, and okay, okay,
(16:35):
I can talk a little bit louder. Okay, yeah, Kings
Wynn kingswin. We went through the desert and all the
visions that we saw and John Wick cuts his finger off.
Sorry spoiler. He gives the ring back and now now
we're here, we drink deep from the oasis of victory,
and the Kings are back in the playoffs. That's the
hardest call, though, is because it's an inevitability, right. They
weren't going to close out the season losing in all
(16:58):
the convergence of circumstance to keep them out of the playoffs.
So you know, you've been mulling it around in your
brain and then you're still in a point where you're
incredulous that's actually happening. Like, where's the prompter? You forgot
to load the prompter? What are we doing? I forgot
my piece of paper at home. I'm Ron Burgundy. Now
I'm wandering in the desert. A twitter at about a fresca. Mike,
(17:20):
it's swollen. Do them The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Cameron Live in the tirect dot Com Studios. Congratulations to
the King's well deserved after all that break. Now the
other big game tonight, we watch the Lakers win. Lebron
back in the starting lineup. The Lakers beat the Bulls
one twenty one to one ten. They are back at
five hundred. They are a little bit more firmly in
(17:44):
the playing around now, they are tied for they're in
eighth place. They're a game out of seventh and just
a game and a half out of sixth. Whether Lebron
James knew it or not, this is not nearly the
hot take you're thinking it. So we told you a
week and a half ago Lebron's time with the Lakers
coming to an end. It felt like they knew they
got everything they were going to get out of them
(18:04):
already and they weren't going to get anymore. And the
discrepancy he had with the team about how healthy he was, Oh,
don't believe anybody but me, the Lakers alady could come back.
Lebron James says, no, I'm still working, And then very
quickly he was back in the lineup. Well because I
think he read the room that the Lakers were moving
on without him. Anthony Davis was playing incredibly well with
(18:27):
Lebron James out, Austin Reeves and D'Angel Russell proved to
be a pretty good backcourt, and the Lakers, Yeah, this
offseason is going to be really messy because they're on
the verge of moving on from Lebron. James were already
seeing stories Lebron's gonna try to team up with some
other guys, maybe in Dallas other places. He was right
when he said, this is the most important games of
my Lakers career. But these seven games starting with tonight
(18:50):
and the rest of the season are the most important
games in his Lakers career. Because if the Lakers finish well,
and by well, I mean they finished high in the
playing round, they get out of the playing roun or
they get into the top six. Yeah, maybe I could
see the Lakers coming back next year going Okay, the
moves we made worked, and Lebron hopefully he stays healthy,
but we're moving on to the next era at some point.
(19:10):
But we got support guys in that. If Lebron doesn't play,
were good. But if the Lakers falter and they finish
in the bottom of the playing round and they get
knocked out early or they finished out of the playing round,
and they finished behind Dallas or somebody else. Then you
just watch, you watch how messy the offseason gets, and
the Lakers will look to move on from Lebron James
in the offseason. That will happen really quickly and very swiftly,
(19:34):
and both sides will try to say it was their call.
Was there, I'm moving on, I'm going here because it's
not been going well for Lebron and you saw the
Lakers play extremely well without him. They played better without
him then they did with him. Doesn't mean they're a
better team, but to quote the great Jay Glazier, for
whatever reason, the Lakers played better without Lebron then they
(19:54):
had played with him. And both sides have felt like
we're ready to go on right Lebron on past Kareem
Abdul Jabbar. He's not for big time team goals anymore
because he knows the Lakers aren't good enough championship team.
The Lakers know that got everything they kind out of him.
They want to move on to the next iteration of
the team. Maybe it's around Anthony Davis with a couple
of other support players. But you can tell the time
(20:16):
is hastening and coming to an end, and if this
finishes poorly for Lebron James, it's gonna be this offseason
and it's gonna get really messy, really fast. Yeah. I
think part of it, Jason goes back to what we've
been talking about for a couple of weeks, and it
really came to a head last week with the insiders
and all the reports of timetables, expectation and Lebron taking
(20:39):
the page out of the Aaron Rodgers playbook if you
don't know Me, and then all of a sudden he
goes from out too doubtful to questionable to subbing in
and doing the Chalker routine as he subs into a game,
just asinine that here, pomp and circumstances, you're coming off
the bench. You don't get any of that, right, It's
(21:01):
like you get the penny because you're we're on in
second team, like you're on Ted Lasso. You know, you
don't get any extra treatment here. You're just one of
the guys today. So suck it up. But it smoked
him out right because he's looking around and he knows
there's a rat in the building that leaked that to
Shams and over to Woes and everybody else, which got
(21:26):
him all bristled and all angry. It's like, how dare
they question how quickly I'm trying to come back? Look
at I'll show you what I can do. And maybe
it's the great motivator lights the fire under his ass.
They get into the playoffs and all is good. But
it does beg the question. And I asked Mark Medina
when he was on with us last hour the brand
(21:48):
of basketball they were playing without him at It doesn't
mean they're better with it without him. It's a short
sample size of guys just going in and doing the
work and knowing what their roles were and noting around
and deferring to Lebron James. That made for some wins.
The schedule obviously helped. They had a couple of games
where superstars of the opposition didn't play, and strength the
(22:11):
schedule from the tankathon dot com world they've been is
one of the top six or seven easiest schedules remaining
going on about six weeks. So yeah, they were gonna
in theory win their share of those games so long
as Anthony Davis was on. I did see an interesting
stat for the season. They've shot two hundred and eighteen
more free throws than any other team, even with Lebron
(22:32):
and Aide missing all that time. I wouldn't say that
you're missing that time, Bob. I would say, look, it's
It's just it gets to a point where I think
this is a year where fans start to understand everybody
is accountable and nobody gets to call the end of
their career anymore. Right, because you've watched Tom Brady unable
(22:56):
to call the end of his career. Right, what you
think he'd be a Patriot forever. He wasn't yeah to
go to Tampa. He could have gone someplace else. No,
there wasn't a lot of interest he retired. Aaron Rodgers
would be able to play it as a Green Bay
Packer whoever long he wants. To guess what he's gonna
be playing for the Jets this year? Right, everybody doesn't
get a chance to right. Jim Beheim would coach until
he decided I'm done. Nope, Instead he's pushed out. We
(23:17):
told you last hour. Bill Belichick looks like somebody who
this year inadvertently put a clock on his time with
the Patriots with his defiant talk about getting the team
back to being a super Bowl team When you have
a faction of people that are ready to move on
from you. It happens pretty fast, and it could be
a combination of fans, it could be a combination of players, teammates,
(23:38):
front office, coaches. Everybody hits that point right. It's like
the line from Moneyball. At some point, we're all told
we can't play the kids game anymore. Some of us
are told an eighteen, some of us have told it forty,
but we're all told. At some point, everybody, no matter
what kind of icon you are, is told, yeah, thanks,
we don't need you anymore. And Lebron is starting to
realize that that's where he's at now with the Lake.
(24:00):
The Lakers are ready to move on from you. Saw
all the talk the last couple weeks. People wanted Austin
Reeves to stay in the starting lineup and Lebron James
will come off the bench. It's insane, but that shows
you where people are at with where they are for Lebron.
You know, the Lakers front office has had a big
push pull with Lebron's people for the last few years.
They're not winning, it's not getting any better, so you
(24:21):
know that we're ready to move on you tried to
take over the team and suddenly make it the clutch
sports Lakers. We didn't like that, but you're playing well.
All right, we're gonna move on here. But now that okay,
now that it looks like there's a future without him
because you've been able to glimpse it because you can't
stay healthy. Now, the more time that goes on, that
door gets open easier and easier. So right now, that
(24:43):
door for Lebron with the Lakers, it seems an's no,
they don't finish well, they've already seen. Hey, we see
a glimmer of how we're gonna move on. And the
post Lebron James era, it's Anthony Davis that we're going
to try to count on him. We'll bring we'll have money,
so we'll be able to bring in somebody else. Look,
we brought in the point guard D'Angelo Russell, right, we
(25:03):
think Reeves and Russell can work out pretty good. We
have some pretty good pieces. If we bring in a
scorer that's going to help, that's going to really help us,
maybe that's Damian Lillard in a trade, maybe it's somebody else.
But suddenly a scorer and Anthony Davis and the you're
out from under the specter of Lebron hanging over that.
(25:24):
Everything the team does, you're at Lebron's whim. That's very freeing.
It's really freeing. So this is this end is way
closer than you think it's going to be. Right, think
about the players, right Lebron and Ad could tell me, Hey,
we're friends. All we want. Ad doesn't stand up for
Lebron breaking Kareem's record. That's all you need to know
right there, That's all you need to know. How excited
the team seems to be, and how they were playing
(25:44):
for each other without Lebron. It's a little bit different now.
It doesn't mean they're a complete team without him, but
for the first time they can see the future. And
when you can see the future, you want to get
there as fast as possible. Lebron cans postpone it a bit.
If he has great games down the stretched Lakers get
in that nice little playoff run. Okay, one more year,
but if not, watch how fast and watch how messy
(26:06):
this offseason gets. I'm telling you, yeah, I think we
go back to the last offseason Jason, where you had
the reports of blank you where you built this thing
figure it out. The message from Lakers brass and ownership,
Jeanie Buss and Jay Warren company down to Lebron James
and Clutch Sports, this is the roster we have. And
(26:29):
what did they do? They went and still made a
huge move. They were able to offload Russell Westbrook and
maybe create a little more good vibes in the locker
room whatever. Real Again, Westbrook's one of those guys that
there'll be books on sometime later on. Here's all the
good stuff he was doing, and yet you still hated
(26:51):
him because we've seen a lot of that, because because
guys like Dan Woikey and he and all of our
friends have each had their signature Russell Westbrook moment in
the press conference. It's just there. It's reality. But you
bring in some of these ancillary parts who were thrust
into bigger roles, and what did they do. They thrived.
But it wasn't the intention, as we've been led to believe,
(27:15):
to ever really shuffle it. It was all right, we're
gonna watch it, this all burn around. Someone's gonna be
playing the fiddle over there, Charlie Daniels while somebody else dances,
and we look at the end of the Lebron James
era in flames. Instead, he gets hurt and they start
playing some pretty good basketball, and those role players who'd
shown you glimpses were rising up. D'Angelo Russell when he's healthy,
(27:38):
which is now a big hit, big if along the
way Jason Is. He's played some good basketball. He's been
a much more mature, unselfish player, and it took a
number of stops to do that. Is he is that
mean you want to give him the bag in the
long term, Gaga, I don't know, but now you're intrigued.
And for Lebron James, I think there's that moment while
(27:59):
he was sitting out, maybe when he had the sunglasses on,
if you could have peeked behind those I have no
idea what they cost, but let's just say a nice
round thousand dollars sunglasses, you might have gotten a glimpse
into his soul. Of damn, they're playing well without me,
play well without me. I'm becoming irrelevant. It's all about
Austin Reeves because you saw how quick he was to
kiss his ass today after the game. It's like, oh,
(28:21):
I forgive You know he like Kobe more than me,
But that's okay, Like they had this big exchange after
the victory, so let's say that again. Let't towel he
was Wasn't he sitting just in a like a smallest
towel known to man? That's right, I need my square.
(28:41):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific. Who Me the World's Gonna change tomorrow? Fox
Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show with my best friend
Mike Harman tell Alan that the Mets suck. We are
less almost eleven hours away from the first pitch of
(29:04):
opening day in the Major League Baseball season. We'll have
our big predictions coming up next hour on the show.
We got World Series Bowl predictions, we have MVP Bowl predictions.
But the biggest game changer in sports this year is
going to happen tomorrow. Now, whether you are a casual
baseball fan who's watched a little bit of the exhibition games,
you're a big baseball fan, do you watch some of them?
(29:25):
It gets it's hard to watch because they're on early
during the day and sometimes you're just watching highlights. But
the big story of the exhibition season has been the
pitch clock, and the final results came out today that
the MLB pitch clock, which now pitchers have fifteen seconds
to deliver a pitch shave twenty six minutes off of
spring games, which Major League Baseball needs. You need they
(29:48):
need to make the game shorter. So a game coming
in at three fifteen now comes into two forty five.
It's pretty good. They needed to do something. Now, forget
for a second about the pitchers and the batters. They'll
figure it out. They'll be violations, there'll be some pitches
to get upset batters upset, but they'll figure it out.
It's it's not gonna be something that's, oh my goodness,
is breaking the fabric. They'll figure it out. The biggest
(30:10):
game changer is for us watching the game, because as
long as the pitch clock is in the screen, you
are going to watch that every single pitch. You're not
gonna be able to take your eyes off of it.
You're gonna watch that big pitch clock tick down from fifteen.
You're gonna look for a pitch violation. You're gonna look
for a batter violation. You're gonna look for something that's
(30:30):
gonna give your team an extra ball or an extra strike,
You're going to watch it. You can't not watch it.
You can't not watch that clock tickdown to get close
to zero. It's impossible. Just like when you watch the
clock tickdown in a football game when the play clock
is getting towards zero, or the clock is ticking down
towards zero in a final drive in the final two minutes,
(30:51):
final minute of an NBA game, You're going to watch it.
You're gonna watch the pitch clock every single pitch. Won't
be able to take your eyes off it. It's already
made to order for Hey, was this pitch gotten off
in time? That did not get this pitch off in time?
It's gonna be tailor made for blogs the day after
going This three run homers shouldn't have counted. Look, here's
a screen grab of the ball in the pitcher's hand,
(31:13):
and here's where the clock is. This three run homers
should not have counted. It's tailor made for that to happen.
As long as that pitch clock is on the screen
that way, you will never watch a baseball game the
same way. Again. You'll watch the pitch clock. You'll have
another eye in the pitcher pitchclock, pitcher pitch. That's just
how it's going to go because it's impossible to not
look at it. I gotta think at some point they're
going to find a way where you don't see it
(31:35):
as much on screen, but the pitchers can still see
it because it's really really distracting, and you're not gonna
be able to watch a game the same way with that.
Trust me, well, it is truly interesting to watch people's
reaction to it because you've bemoan it and we made
fun of Rob Manford the whole time. But if you're
talking legitimately a half hour shaved off and because of
(31:55):
the shift or whatever I was like, the wholesale changes
to me just still feels odd. But hey, if you're
gonna go in, why why not lean all the way
into it? Like I say, if you're gonna fail, fail spectaculate,
if all of this blows up in your face, so
be it. But you get you force action, you force activity.
I know there's been a lot of chronicling of the
(32:18):
gamesmanship that goes on, both with kind of cheating the
shift and also at the at home plate right Max
Scherzer was assessed the ball because he didn't give quote
reasonable time for the batter to reengage. Like, no, he
stepped out, and as soon as he stepped in one
one thousand, the ball was gone. I don't see a problem.
As soon as you're back in the box, I don't.
(32:38):
Your feet don't have to be set, you don't have
to adjust your cup nine times you're in the box,
you're inside the white. You're ready for play, or you
should be. And so we'll watch those and the spirit
versus letter of the law, Like they give you that
extra beat after the clock goes to zero in the NFL,
do you get the same thing on the mound? Do
(32:59):
you get that grace or do we legitimately have reviews
of you know, and it gone to zero with the
batter's box, we should have stopped it, but that three
run home run hit, No, we're waving it off. We're
taking off the board. Can you imagine the first review
that's going to happen on a three two pitch with
the bases loaded, that's going to force a run in
or become a strike for a strikeout. What that's going
(33:21):
to be like that that's gonna be, That's gonna be insane.
I can't wait for that, but you know what I mean,
in the final innings, all of a sudden, the way
the game has already shifted with the number of um
we're leaf pitchers that we go to U and the
management they're in. Now now we're talking about the strike
zone and pitch counts and guys having to adjust to that. Starters,
(33:45):
I don't think it'll be a problem relievers trying to
find that rhythm early on. You might have a little
bit of chaos. You're gonna have a lot of chaos.
It's gonna and it's going to be more from the
fact you're gonna it's gonna stay alive because the players
will talk about it a little bit and I'll say, yeah,
I didn't like this, but we got to get used
to it. But I'm telling you the fans that when
when you mess with how people watch a game, you're
(34:08):
not gonna be ready for the for the blowback. What
it's gonna feel like. And some people are gonna love it,
some people say I can't stand it, and it's gonna
be really polarizing because there there there's a way to Hey,
you mess with the sport and it's rules. Okay, we
get used to it, But how we all consume a game.
That's a big thing, man, And people are gonna see
this tomorrow, go whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa this. I
can't not look at this and I only watch a
(34:29):
little bit before, but now now I can't keep my
eyes off it. I trust me. That's the real game changer,
not not how it goes with how the not for
it goes with the players, but how the fans are
going to consume it. You know, it's funny, though, Jason.
We use this as an example whatever sports tries to
make a change, and I think it's appropriate. Here is one.
The fox box came into play. It was odd, it
(34:51):
was distracting at first, and now when it's not there,
you cry. Right if it's replaced them the lower third
by an ad for seven seconds, you're mist because your
Jets may have given up another touchdown. You can miss
you Twitter and aw about a fresca. Mike, get swallowed up,
I'm telling you, and get ready because that's gonna change
(35:11):
the way you watch baseball. As long as that pitchclock
is up there, coming up next, how about we tell
you how and when the Lamar Jackson situation is going
to end. Yeah, I keep it right here. Jason and
Mike from the tirect dot Com studios, Fox Cleveland and
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