Best of the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon

Jason and Steve have all the latest details on LeBron James agreeing to a new deal to return to the Lakers. How much fun are the Cowboys going to be this season? And Jason explains why the NBA needs a JAG Salary Cap. Plus, NBA Insider Ric Bucher joins the show for all the latest on LeBron, Bronny and free agency!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Carmen podcast. Be sure to catch us
live every weeknight from ten pm to two am Eastern
seven to eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find
your local station for The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every night on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
This is the best of The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Hello, Welcome inside, Happy Wednesday, Happy fourth of July Eve
the Jason Smith Show. It Steve Desager in from Mike Harmon.
We are live from the Tirack dot Com studios tirec
dot com. I hope you get there at unmatched selection, fast,
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recommended installers. Tirect dot com is the way tire buying

(00:51):
should be. Now, Steve, before we start with a big,
big NBA story today, Lebron James staying with the Lakers.
How are you keeping up with the late after hours
negotiation to get Joey Chestnut into the hot dog eating
contest in about fifteen hours?

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yea, Hey, somebody's the odds on favor that we haven't
heard of. That's all you need to know about this contest.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Like, like, shouldn't we be talking about Like, hey, it's
coming down to it. This is an eleventh hour agreement
that's going to allow Joey Chestnut to compete in the
Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, Like should we have something
like that? Hero? We're hours away from it.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
That's right, it's July fourth, is tomorrow. They're still gonna
have the hot dog eating contest with Nathan's. But he
signed with what a rival company? Right, and so he's
taking that sponsor money and not allowed in this contest.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
Well, it's not just that he's taking sponsor money, is
that he's he's promoting. He's taking money from Impossible, which
is an alternative to meat, Yes, which kind of is
the entire thing behind hot dogs, that it's meat. So
like he just didn't go to a competitor. He just said,
I'm just I'm just going completely one hundred and eighty degrees.
I'm not even going to somebody else that makes meat.
I'm going to somebody that makes meat from play. That's

(02:00):
where I'm going.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
You just called hot dogs meat. I'm not sure that's
been securely confirmed. Nathan's quite tasty.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
I will say, sure, oh sure, sure. Look, I mean
it's it's really weird because I wonder what kind of
impact the hot dog eating contest is going to have tomorrow,
because usually, you know, with Joey Chestnut, look, there's some
kind of buzz, there's some kind of looking forward. What's
he gonna do? We love seeing the one guy who's
the carnival barker who says all the accomplishments. Yeah, I

(02:29):
mean he's awesome. He just makes up stuff like every
every year. That's just just fantastic.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
I'm just waiting to hear from him as he introduces
somebody from parts unknown.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Yeah, height unknown, weight unknown, from parts unknown. But usually
there's some that, you know, there's some Oh we gotta
watch Joey Chestnut. How many is he gonna eat? Can
somebody get close to him? Are we going to see
a reversal? And I feel like tonight it's like wow,
like yeah, the hot dog getting contest tomorrow, and I
really wonder what the overall interest in it is going

(02:59):
to be. Is someone gonna win by eating like thirty
five hot dogs? Like you know, Joey chest that's downing
like seventy five is someone gonna win and the average
person watching is gonna go I could make a run
at that, I think if I I think I could
make a run at that. If I if I didn't
eat for like a day, I think I could make
a run at those. I'd get sick after, but I
could make a run at thirty five.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
By the way, it's major league eating that banned him.
Can we just say that out loud? There is such
a thing as major league eating. I know, like our
coworker Ben Mahler is a huge fan of all of this,
but only in America. I'm tended to say, could there
be an actual organization not just Major League Baseball, major
League soccer, major league eating?

Speaker 1 (03:36):
Wait? Did I hear you correctly, Jason? What's that?

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Did you say not eating for a day?

Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah? Like, if I don't eat for a day, could
I eat thirty five hot dogs? And I don't know, No,
that's what I mean. Like, I'd either be just I'd
be like a day without dude, I'd be like one
of those one of those horses getting ready for the
derby in the stall, waiting for the stall to open
and the bell to go off, like, come on, man,
I'm ready, I'm ready to run. I gotta eat. Let's go,

(04:03):
let's go. I mean, that's what I have to do.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
Apparently for a long time, it's been a requirement that
the eaters in this contest not endorse a rival brand.
So even though he says I found out with about
it along with the rest of you, I can assume
that he knew what direction he was going in and
the consequences that were coming.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
This is yeah, this is not just a rival. This
is like I'm going. This is not like I'm going
from Nathan's to cons or Oscar Meyer. You know. No, no,
I'm going. I'm going outside of meat entirely.

Speaker 3 (04:34):
That's impossible.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
Oh, you know, it's funny. I just thought about this
because I've gotten the back of my head. When's the
last time I want to I went a day without
eating for mikel and Oscarby last year.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
And okay, a little much information, but well, because you
have to sposed to eat eat twenty four hours, the
camera's got to see what it's got to see.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, you know. And they complimented me for Hey,
they said, hey, nice job, I said, thank you very much,
and I'm going to have a sandwich. It wasn't as
bad as I thought it was going to be, but
I right right when it was done, all of a sudden,
it was like, okay, like I'm in the desert and
I need water. Like leading up to it, I'm like, okay,
it's fine, it's okay. It's not my favorite and I
got things that take my mind off and all right,

(05:13):
I can still drink water all this. But then like
right after, it's always okay, let's go, it's done, it's over,
let's go. We gotta eat.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
You did an overload, did you?

Speaker 1 (05:20):
No? No, no no, But I had a big ass
sandwich right after. It's all right, this is this is great.
This is the best thing ever. And they were asking
me like when I when, because I'm out of it
when they give you the sedative that just kind of
to to put you to sleep enough, And they were
all left because apparently I was saying really funny stuff
like when because I want to use I went to
UCLA to do it.

Speaker 3 (05:41):
So wait a minute, you're saying, when you're about to
be put under, you're at your funniest.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
Oh well, apparently apparently I was, Well, what they told
me I did was this was the nurse came in
right before to have me sign, Hey, sign this waiver
right here. You gotta sign before they're take an operatorom like,
oh so you give me the sedative. So yeah, and
now you want me to sign away for in case something,
I'm gonna sign okay, fine, So she goes, I said,
she was, you do it on your phone and and

(06:06):
and I'm right outside the operating the operating room, like
the doctor's in there, the nurses are in there, all
in there, and she says, and what you do is
you you you get in here. Here's your in and
your path and the password to to uh to get
in is u c l A. Like she's saying to
me very specifically. She goes, it's u c l A.
And I said, blank s C and like the entire

(06:29):
the all the doctors like game before I got I
got the I think I got the best colonoscope ever,
Like all right, get this guy in here, all right, yeah,
he said, blank gets the I'm like, oh wow, yeah,
I did say that.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
If you are actually at your funniest right before you
go under, perhaps that's an idea for a future show yea.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
And further, the the anesthesiologist like, like, gave me something real,
I said, I said, look, I don't need a lot.
I'm kind of like, wait you drug? Yeah, well they
have to when yeah, no, no, no, they kind of do.
They kind of do they need you relaxed when when
something like that happens. And and the uh, the anethesiologists said,

(07:11):
we were all pointing at each other all during during
your procedure. And I said why and she said, because
right before you went you were talking. We were asking
where you're gonna go eat after you were telling us
you were you were going to go to Bay Cities,
which is a great deli here in l A. You're
gonna get it sandwich and like yeah, and then you
realize that you were just about to go out and
you pointed to me and you said, you just gave
me something and it's really strong. I'm like, okay, all

(07:36):
right then that's it was no no, no, it was
whatever the a sedative they gave me to for the
no no, no, no, come on, come on man, this
is this is this is legitimate. This is this is
not some JJ reddick. You know we're gonna advance the
players holistically. No, this is like you know, U c
l A is legitimate, hospel, legitimate surgeon assistants. They actually

(08:02):
did the operation and JJ Reddick stood behind and said, yeah,
I'm in charge of everything. I'm just not doing anything.

Speaker 3 (08:06):
It's not an operation. It's just a procedure and an outpatient.
Everybody we need to say, everybody, especially guys age forty five,
this is what you should do. I had one. It
was no problem, and I went to a game that night.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
I had one, and they said I should take the
night off from work and I'm like okay, So I
took the night off, and I'm like I really could work,
like I really. Like once I got to like three o'clock,
once I had a sandwich and I was like, okay,
we like I really could work tonight, like I really.
But they just said, just in case you're out, you
know coming anytime you have to be put under and
you have to wake up, no one knows. And yeah,
because they said.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
Because you operating machinery like a tractor, well that's the thing.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
They said, what do you do? And I said, I said, well,
I'm I'm a media personality. I have a radio show,
at night. And they said, oh, wo do you often
go on the air groggy? And I said why, you
think that'd be an improvement and and and they said no,
just you know, maybe you want to take when's your show?
And I at seven o'clock and they said, well, you
put my procedures like at one o'clock. And they said,
you know, you're probably better off getting the day off.

(09:06):
I'm like, okay, that's fine, just in case. It was.
It was tough for me getting out and I was
talking like you know what, no one knew what the
hell was going on. So I took But by the
time it was like three four o'clock, I'm like, you know,
I'm good.

Speaker 3 (09:16):
I could have worked tonight so you could have.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
Yeah, no, I could have. I could have. I was
glad to have the night. Don't get me wrong. I
was glad to have the night off. But it was
I've held.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
I went to Dodger Stadium. I'm not kidding. It was
a normal night.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Wow. Wow did you get there?

Speaker 3 (09:31):
I drove what yes, morning procedure evening ballgame.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
Wow, that's a mantra right there. Put that on a
T shirt. Morning procedure with the picture of a guy
with his with his hand in a rubber glove and
then Chavez ravine on the back. That'll work.

Speaker 3 (09:47):
I don't think that's gonna be given away at this stadium.
Don't take the bobbleheads instead.

Speaker 1 (09:53):
The Jason Smith shoe with Mike Carbag Dude Di Seger
in for Harmon tonight and look a big story today,
not that it wasn't unexpected after Bronnie James gets it. What
was it, Steve, Bronnie James got four years and seventy
five million, has a second round pick hip for like.

Speaker 3 (10:08):
Actually it's three years plus a team option for at
the most less than eight million dollars.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
Yes, I think there's guys in the lottery that didn't
get that contract. But Bronny gets hold on.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
He won the lottery. I think we've grown over this.
Uh ron given this. Let's go ahead and use the word.
I know we talked about this last He was given
this position. This was not an accomplishment.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
He earned it. JJ Redick, who was given the head
coaching job, said lebron said, said Bronny earned it once again.

Speaker 3 (10:33):
He was given that head coaching Jeff. Now he's been
given to assistance.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
So Bronni's in the fold, and now Lebron comes in
staying with the Lakers on a two year, one hundred
and four million dollar contract. Now, the big particular here
is it's a player option for next year and a
no trade clause. Just three players in the NBA have
a no trade clause, not players you would expect. It's
like Lebron, James, Bradley Beal, and I think Isaiah Hartenstein.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
Uh contract is getting worse than I find out about it.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
But it's it's a two year deal. Lebron can opt out,
can retire after this year. He's going a year at
a time. Obviously, you know, being thirty nine to forty
years old. I completely get that way, Yes, I completely
get this. But the first thing I want to say,
is this so much for Hey, I'll take less money
if we can, if it means we can go get

(11:27):
a player. Because we talked about this the other night.
We saw this coming a mile away. Once the Lakers
weren't getting anybody. Was Lebron really gonna take less money? Hey,
I'll still take less so we can go out and
get somebody. No, all the players that he would have wanted.
Klay Thompson they're all gone. And we heard from Mark
Medina last night. I said, look, this is this is
the roster the Lakers are likely going to training camp with.

(11:50):
So there's not gonna be and that they can try
and make some trades everything else, but they're not bringing
in anybody else. So here's Lebron. Okay, but you're still
giving me the maximum. There's no I'll take less. There's
no I'll make it easier for you to get a
free agent. In fact, here's how crazy it is for Lebron.
Rich Paul, his agent, Clutch Sports, is going to have
a conversation with the Lakers about Lebron taking one million

(12:14):
dollars less for a million dollars less. It helps them
with the second apron of the salary cap, and it
can help them get other players to bring.

Speaker 3 (12:24):
It by taking a million dollars.

Speaker 1 (12:28):
It's a conversation. It's not Oh, of course you're so
good to me. You drafted my kid, you gave him
a one way deal. He's gonna be on the Lakers.
You gave him three years guaranteed money. He does not
doesn't have to worry about anything. Oh no, no, I'm
taking every dollar come in my way. When it's in
the fifty millions of dollars and if you need a million,
well we'll have a conversation with my agency.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
Seriously, he got his coach. Seriously, he got his son
on the team, not as a non roster draftee signee,
but as a drafted player, which means contract negotiations, and
got him a guaranteed spot on the roster and resigns
and gets a no trade clause and might talk about

(13:09):
instead of making fifty two million, making fifty one million
to you know, kind of help you out.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
I mean, come on, man, I mean what you know.
There's lots of things about Lebron that come out in
the media that get misconstrued. There's some things that he
gets a bad rap for that's really not on him.
There's certain things that he gets put under the microscope
for when we don't know all of the story. Look,
I firmly believe that because it's not always as simple

(13:35):
as that. But this is one of those stories where
it's really there's a conversation about taking a million dollars less.
Really is that it's not, Hey, here's two years and
a million dollars less than the max. It would help
the team entirely, and it's not a difference from he's
making two million to one million, it's fifty two million
to fifty one million. And there's gonna be a conversation
like Rich Paul is gonna say, Okay, we'll do it,

(13:57):
but you owe us, like what you wonder why the
Lakers don't win because this is how the organization is
being run and Lebron is allowed to run roughshot over
the entire thing, like it is just insane when I
read that. Today, we'll have a conversation like, oh, we
didn't scratch your back enough by drafting Lebron's kid and
giving them that and give them the contract you want.
We didn't do enough. And now it's we're gonna have

(14:19):
a conversation about a million dollars? Are you kidding me?
This is really this is and this is just to
make the team better. This is this is not just hey,
we want a million dollars back because you know, Rob
Polinka needs a salary. This is this million dollars will
help us salary cap wise, and will help us give
us some flexibility to bring players in. And there's gotta
be a conversation about it, like, wow, are you you

(14:39):
wonder why the Lakers don't win, there's your example right there. Hey,
that's Lebron. That's Lebron at work. The Jason Smith Show
with Steve Desager in for Mike Harmon live from the
tairaq dot com studios. We'll have more on this story
throughout the night. Lots of angles to Lebron staying with
the Lakers one hundred and four million dollar contract. But
coming up next, Boy, there is no such thing as

(15:00):
an offseason with one incredibly popular NFL team that continues
to be the gift that keeps giving us controversy. That's
next right here, Jason Smith, Steve de Sager.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 4 (15:21):
Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller.
Would mean a lot to have you join us on
our weekly auditory journey. You're asking, what in God's name
is the Fifth Hour. I'll tell you it's a spin
off of it Ben Mather Show, a Colt hit overnights
on FSR.

Speaker 1 (15:36):
Why should you listen?

Speaker 4 (15:37):
Picture if you will a world where we chat with
captains of industry in media, sports and more every week
explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen
to the Fifth Hour with Ben Maller on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
Fox Sports Radio, The Jason Smith Show with special delivery
Steve to Sager and for Mike Harmon. You know, really,
the more I think about it, Steve, I just can't
believe that everything the Lakers have done bent over backwards
for Lebron, drafting brony, giving him the contract, nor the
second rounders get giving Lebron all the money he wants,

(16:12):
not saying hey, let you take a little bit let no, no, no,
We're gonna give you all money you want. And it's
not an of course, oh of course I'll take a
million dollars less so you can avoid the second tax
apron and also have pretty good roster flexibility to bring
in players to make the team better. That's got to
be a conversation. It's not just automatical, of course we'll
do that. Like, come on, man, like you do you

(16:34):
really care about winning? Do you really care about doing
the right thing? They did so so much for you,
and it's yeah, they still got to do you another favor,
you know.

Speaker 3 (16:42):
Do you notice how it was just a few days
ago when it got leak like Lebron's willing to take
less and some hosts went off like, yeah, Lebron's been
such a team player in the past. Remember that Miami
title he had, on and on and on. Okay, yeah,
now we have the truth out, he's got a chance
to do something because we know how restrictive the cap
rules are now and the aprons the Lakers are going

(17:05):
to they're pretty limited in how they can add and
how different the roster can be. The answer is, at
the moment, not that different.

Speaker 1 (17:11):
No. I mean, look, it's I always go back to this.
I just keep thinking about where the Lakers are and
the deeper they get in with Lebron, it doesn't get
any better, like you would think. Okay, being in the
Lebron business is really where you want to be. But
I look at the Lakers and I go, they're not
going to be back to being the Lakers until he's done,

(17:34):
until he retired. They've decided we're gonna capitulate because we
need a superstar. Right, we don't know that we can
build a team without a superstar. We've always had a superstar.
We went from Kareem and Magic to Shaq and Kobe,
and Kobe to Lebron. We've never not had a star,
and we've really got out like a d is not enough.

(17:55):
Like Ad is a good play. He's a top ten
player of the league, but we really need that star
and we are bending over backwards for him because we
don't We don't know what the reality is going to
be if we don't get him. When the reality is, hey,
maybe players are gonna want to come play for the Lakers.
I don't know, but the Lakers were a destination for
a really long time and Lebron being there is not helping.

(18:19):
How many people come play with Lebron? Nobody. You had
to make the trade. AD wanted to be there. And
I give Rob Polinka all the credit in the world
from making a trade. When when when the Pelicans just
had him over a barrel? Oh you want to we
want everybody you have. Okay, they still made the deal,
they still won the title. Okay, but nobody else is coming,
Like nobody else is case. Lebron hasn't brought anybody else,
and Lebron Brodney Bill say, hey, I want to come

(18:41):
win a champions time.

Speaker 3 (18:42):
They just drafted a second rounder that he knows.

Speaker 1 (18:46):
What are you saying?

Speaker 4 (18:47):
You know?

Speaker 1 (18:47):
I just I just go what are the Lakers really?
What are they getting out of it? Like we talked
about the Clippers last night and how I can't take
the Clippers seriously because the Clippers aren't about winning. They're
just about relevance. They to be relevant. They want to
be part of the conversation, and that's their goal. That's
why they keep giving Kawhi money. That's why they gave
James Harden a ridiculous amount of money for the next

(19:09):
two years. They just want to be part of the conversation.
We want to be a fifty win team. It's nice
we're not one of the laughing stocks of the NBA.
But I can't take the Clippers seriously because that's what
they've built for the last five years. The Lakers are
the same. Are the Lakers really trying to win or
the Lakers are saying we just want to be the
Lakers And Lebron on the Lakers is great for us
because even if we lose, we're still Lebron and the

(19:31):
Lakers like that. That's more. Forget about chasing a title
and making the team better. That's how I look at
The Lakers are the Lakers and the Clippers are the same. Hey,
this is an NBA now where the powers have flexed
out right. It's not not in La, It's not with
us anymore. It's in different parts of the country. We
just watched the Golden State Warriors dynasty from about one

(19:52):
thousand miles north a little bit les maybe seven d
and fifty mileswarth We just watched that. We want to
stay relevant and having Lebron keeps us there whether we
win or not. Hey, winning is great, right, but winning
is not our ultimate goal. Being the Lakers and being
the status of Hey, we are the Lakers is what
we want. And that's what this is. Keeping Lebron and

(20:12):
giving him this money and capitulating anything he wants. This
is the trade off. This is what the Lakers really want,
because if they really were trying to going crazy to
try to win, they wouldn't be this hamstrung every year
with money and players and players not coming. And you
would understand that, Okay, this is the right way to
build a championship team. But instead to get Rob Polinka,
who was Kobe's agent, and now you have JJ Redick.

(20:34):
And I thought he was a great coach, but now, no, no,
we got to bring in better coaches who are head
coaches before to come in on his deff. I thought
he had the answers. No, apparently these guys do. And
and you know, I go from hey, I gotta say
the same thing about the Lakers. I can't take the
Clippers seriously as contenders. I can't take the Lakers seriously
as contenders.

Speaker 3 (20:51):
You talked about the Clippers being content to be a
fifty win team, which made me laugh because the Lakers
haven't been a fifty win team in four years since
they won that title. The six years Lebron has been
in Los Angeles, and he chose this franchise as much
as well because of the city as much as the team.
Let's be honest. They had that very good year twenty twenty,

(21:13):
which was interrupted by the time they continued the playoffs.
The Lakers, who had easily a fifty win season that year,
went on to make the run to the title, but
the couple years before that they didn't even finish five hundred.
And they've also been out in the first round, including
this year in the playoffs. Even when they made that
run to the West Finals and got swept by Denver

(21:36):
a year ago, the Lakers were about a five hundred
team in the regular season, so Lebron hasn't been much
of a GM. They are completely beholden to him, even
up to the literal present day. And in Los Angeles,
when you consider the Lakers and Dodgers are by far
the two most popular things in sports, and this is
a town that's had USC football for decades, Lakers and Dodgers,

(21:59):
in whatever order, are one and two, and for the
past forty years, you could make a really good case
that for the Dodger organization, the Dodgers have been the
star collectively and the team and the brand. For the Lakers,
the star players at the time are the star and
they kind of need for like they needed at the
end of Kobe's career, a star still to sell and

(22:22):
make the Laker tickets, especially the first row tickets, something
to be envious of. And if you don't have Lebron
on the roster, that really takes a hit in that department.
And that's been their concern, not just the on the court.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
Again, We'll have more on this story as it moves
on throughout the night. Really, I can't take the Lakers seriously,
mainly because it's gonna be the same. If it's the
same team coming back as last year, and that was
a team that barely got into the playoffs and lost
the first round, suddenly they're gonna win champion. I mean,
come on, it's not gonna happen. I can't. I really,
the Lakers and the Clippers are the same. I can't
take them seriously.

Speaker 3 (22:58):
We have an update from Dodger Stadium. By the way,
Freddie Freeman a first inning homer. It's three to one
LA over Arizona. I don't know how the Mets did today,
but there's your update on.

Speaker 1 (23:06):
How they canceled. They canceled the Mets game. Oh really, yeah,
you play the Mets games are when the Mets have
to go to the bullpen before the sixth inning, they
canceled the game.

Speaker 3 (23:15):
Okay, so the Met's bullpen is the one that didn't
actually play.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, no, no, they did not play at all. No,
it was it was. It was awful tonight. I just
want to say this really quick, just because I need
to say this. Hey, David Stearns. Don't wait until the
thirtieth to fix the bleeping bullpen. Okay, okay, let's do
something faster than that, faster than the thirtieth. That's all.

Speaker 3 (23:31):
Once again, you're making a Mets reference. This is not
somehow thinking that David stern is in charge of something.

Speaker 1 (23:37):
Hey listen, hey, I have a John Paul Morosi text
with Sternsey all the time. He calls him. There were
roommates in college. He has said to me in the past, Hey, Jason,
when you have something, I sent a message. I'll send
a message to Sternssey for you, like he sends a
message to who he said to aj Hinch, I think
from his dad, Like because John Paul mo Rossi's dad
is a huge Tigers fan. Once in a while he'll send, you, know,

(23:59):
Hinch a message from from his dad. He's a I'll
send you out. I'll send messages to Sternsy from you.
And I'm like, okay, great, I'm like, I'm This is
why I say, if Gottlee makes the tournament and the
Lakers get top six seed, I could manage the Mets
in two years. I mean that could mean me.

Speaker 3 (24:14):
You are referring to the Mets general manager of course,
who I like a lot of the new gms is
younger than we are. Yeah, Buddy's got money bags for
an owner, so this can be fixed.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, no, listen, it's fine. Just don't wait untill the
thirtieth to fix the bulk. And that's just a little
bit soon, Just a little bit sooner, not that. Meanwhile,
you know, it's almost as if the Dallas Cowboys have said, boy,
the Lakers are getting all these crazy controversial headlines. We
got to step in with some. This week in Dallas
has been insane. First, we started off with the reports

(24:46):
that Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy don't quite see eye
to eye, and the coaches and the teams feel like
they get conflicting directives from each of them, like Mike
McCarthy wants to do one thing coaching and Jerry Jones
comes in and say, no, we're gonna do it this way.
So that was a thing. And now you have Hendon
Hooker who goes on his podcast and blast Micah Parsons

(25:08):
for caring more about his pot. Now he goes on
a podcast to say Micah Parsons cares more about his
podcast than he does, about making sure the team is
ready to go, and and and be a better teammate
and and and try to get things to the point
where hey, the Cowboys or we can succeed in this season. Right, this,
this is this is this is great. So this is

(25:30):
what's said on a podcast about Micah Parkson's having too
much to say in a podcast about the Cowboys. Parsons
jumped back and said, dude, I wish you had said
this to my face. I don't know why you said
it on a podcast. I mean me, Look, athletes and podcasts, man,
they just want to have them.

Speaker 3 (25:45):
That is so modern athlete. Absolutely, and in context Micah
Parsons entering his fourth year in the league and awaiting
a contract extension.

Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yeah, and and this is you know, this is so guy.
Do you watch the Bear by any chance? You watch
the Okay?

Speaker 3 (25:59):
Well one a lot of Emmy's one year ago? Is
that is correct?

Speaker 1 (26:02):
Oh? Yeah, and now the third season has just come
out a couple of days ago. And you know, I think.

Speaker 3 (26:06):
This whole season the time, right yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:09):
So I haven't watched it yet because I'm a little
nervous when whenever they drop a whole season at once,
I feel like, ooh, how good can it really be
if you're dropping the whole season?

Speaker 3 (26:17):
Do you like a tell?

Speaker 5 (26:19):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (26:19):
I think it might. I think now it's a tell. Oh,
we're dropping dropping hole theson ones. Really, we're dropping all
these it ones. There's a scene in the pilot episode
where it's a movie about it's a TV show about
a guy who comes back to run the family restaurant
after his brother kills himself and while he's been awake,
he's he's this big famous chef. While he's been away,

(26:40):
his cousin's been running the restaurant. So they come back.
In the entire first episode, they argue about putting spaghetti
on the menu, and and then the new chef who
takes over is like, we're not gonna serve spaghetti. It's
not a money mate, it's not this. We're not gonna
serve spaghetti. We're not doing it. And everybody in the
kitchen's like, okay, no, it spaghetti. And then Richie the
cousin comes in and says, cousin, make the spaghetti go back.

(27:01):
We need the spaghetti. Spaghetti sells. And then so now
in the kitchen they're like, I guess we're making spaghetti.
And that's the entire episode in the in the pilot
is you have a person running the show saying we're
not making spaghetti, and then Richie goes in, Hey, come on,
make spake, cousin, go make the blanket spaghetti. We gotta
make spaghetti. Had the spaghetti. And that's what I feel
like what the cowboys are like, they get want you know,

(27:21):
you know, Jerry Jones comes in and says, no spaghetti,
and then Mike McCarthy says, oh, come on, we gotta
make this spaghetti. We need spaghetti. I said, no spaghetti.
Like this is the cowboys. This is the cowboys every
single day. They can't It's not that it's not that
they can't avoid controversy. Like if controversy was was a
pool of water, and all the cowboys had to do
was walk around the pool of water to not be

(27:43):
in the controversy, there could be all kinds of surefooting
on other side, not like saying it's quicksand or anything.
But you've got a pool of water that's controversy. All
you gotta do is walk around at the other side
and keep going right, That's all you gotta do. And
there's stones to walk on, there's railings to grab onto.
You can you can take a rope and fasten it
to the railing so you don't fall off and move it.

(28:05):
But it's so and you have all kinds, you have
miles and miles of room to walk all into that.
The Cowboys just say nope, and they just take two
steps and jump right in the middle of that water.
Mike Gods the Cowboys do.

Speaker 3 (28:15):
If I were a Cowboys fan, is that people, including
coach Mike McCarthy, think that they've actually accomplished something with
these twelve and five records the last three years, or
winning a couple of division titles with him. Because you
got blasted at home in the playoffs last year. I
mean it was about fifty points, a near fifty burger,
as people say, for Green Bay coming in as the visitor,

(28:36):
the team that barely made the playoffs just rolled you.
And the two years before that you lost back to
back years close games to the forty nine ers and
couldn't advance over them in the NFC. You are the Cowboys.
I thought that was the standard, But since the mid nineties,
I have no idea what the standard is now In Dallas,
because it seems like the priority is I'm running things

(29:00):
or my opinion is bigger, instead of let's look back
at what made us great. And they were great for
decades plus and ever since they're kind of a they're
kind of a punchline. Ever since the mid nineties. It
is like, yeah, you know, who hasn't made the conference
title game? So you know, they're they're an answer to
the trivia question. And they're not doing anything to escape that,

(29:23):
you know.

Speaker 1 (29:24):
And and I get the fact that, you know, here's
Malie Hooker who is trying to trying to try and
let's stend the tidier because Michah Parson's making all kinds
of noise with his podcast. He can tell that, hey,
you know what, if things don't go our way, guess
guess where the first thing we're gonna find out is
gonna go bad. We're gonna find out on his podcast
Michah Parsons is gonna look one of the best defensive

(29:46):
players in the league. But he likes to say whatever
he wants to. And and you know, the worry I
believe I'm Trumlie Cooker. What he's trying to was trying
to do was say, hey, listen, let's just not go
on here and and air our dirty laundry or get
to the point where we're too loose lipped and we
wind up having to defend ourselves against things like let's watch.
And I kind of get that because look, Moly Cooker

(30:06):
has been in the league for why he's twenty eight,
you know, and you know he's a starter at safety,
So I get it. One of the older guys on
the team, So I understand that he had to kind
of walk it back a little bit today because it's
become a controversy. I think he was like, Okay, this
maybe blew up a little bit more on me, but
this is just who the Cowboys are. They can't get
past us and what they also can't get past. This
is a really big thing that nobody else understands. But

(30:28):
we've talked about this from the beginning. This is not
a season where, hey, if the Cowboys don't do well,
they'll spend money next year. This is a season where
if the Cowboys don't play well, and they won't Jerry
Jones has told us big changes are comings. It's gonna
be it's gonna be a new head coach, it's gonna
be a new quarterback. Ceedee Lamb is not gonna get paid.

(30:51):
Maybe Micah Parsons gets paid. He is. He has said, Hey,
twenty twenty four is a big That's why he's all
in because if this season and doesn't go well, and
why should it, because they didn't get better in the offseason.
If this season doesn't go well, there's gonna be all
kinds of changes. And I don't think that people grasp
that that this is what Jerry Jones's meaning is. Hey,

(31:11):
you're gonna see an entirely new Dallas Cowboys. He even
said a couple months ago, Look, I just turned eighty old.
I'm gonna be around a long time, so I can
oversee a lot of this. We're gonna try to and
I'm gonna oversee it. So he's not looking for a
quick fix bringing guys in. He is looking for after
this year, I am gonna rip things down to the
studs and build it back up again. And that's the

(31:32):
big message that people aren't getting about the Cowboys exit
out about a fresco. The Jason Smith Show is Steve
de Sager in for Mike Harmon. But I'll tell you
the cow which is just two two steps, jump right
into that big controversial waterpilot now, not going around it,
Gonna jump right to do it right now. We're jumping
into what's trending with Steve de Sager, who's got everything,
including the Mets game tonight, which got canceled after they

(31:52):
were leading five to nothing in the fifth inning.

Speaker 3 (31:55):
Okay, I'll just get it over with seven five. Washington
is the final and they have a great clothes this year.
Kyle Finnegan with his twenty third save ERA one point
nine eights. I assume I will see him in the
All Star Game. The Midsummer Classic only a couple weeks away.
It's going to be at the Texas Rangers part Globelife Field.
The news from tonight the starting lineups were not the

(32:18):
batting order, but the starting lineups for each league were revealed.
The fan vote ended today. Bryce Harper top vote getter
in the National League. Aaron Judge, of course of the Yankees,
top vote getter in the American and the National League. Infielder.
Infielders are dominated by Phillies because also starting Trey Turner,
who's back in healthy, Alec Baum who's having an incredible

(32:40):
RBI season. He will be a starter of course the
DH and the NL shoheo Tania, the Dodgers, and we
talked about Gunner Henderson of the Orioles last night. He
is officially a first time All Star. Henderson had said
this past weekend he will be in this month's home
run Derby. MLB has changed the rules a bit for
the Home run Derby. For example, now just forty pitches

(33:01):
within each player's thirty minute round. You don't have to
hurry to try and get in extra pitches. Batters have
been averaging forty three swings per round last year. Now
it's going to be a little bit more like batting practice,
and maybe more people are say yes to it instead
of being so exhausted after each round such as in
past years. Let's look at the scoreboard. The Phillies are
leading nine ninth inning. Yeah, going to the bottom of

(33:22):
the ninth five to three Phillies lead at the Cubs.
Padres have taken the lead at Texas sixt' four top
of the eighth, Royals in the bottom of the eighth
lead at home against the Rays four to two. Brewers
in the bottom of the seventh lead at Colorado three
to nothing, and there are few late games. Oriels scoreless
in the third at the Mariners. Dodgers up four to
one after one against Arizona, and the A's lead the

(33:45):
Angels to nothing in the top of the fifth. Pittsburgh
edged Saint Louis five to ten innings with two in
the tenth. Boston and the White Sox with road winds
Cincinnati as well. Reds beat the Yankees in New York
three to two, Atlanta and Houston with victories. Lebron James
will re sign with the Lakers one year plus a
player option that Copa America Argentina starts the quarterfinals tomorrow

(34:07):
night on Fox TV and at Wimbledon Number two se
Coco Goff win our second rounder easily.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
Back to you, Thank you, Steve O The Jason Smith Show,
Steve to sag. You're in from Mike Harmon live from
the tire rack dot Com Studios. Coming up next. You
know there's one big lesson that NBA Free Agency has
taught us this week. What is it? We'll tell you
next right here, This is Fox Sport.

Speaker 2 (34:28):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
Fox Sports Radio, The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon
Steve Desag're in for Harmon tonight live Frothetirack dot com studios.
If you miss any of our show, our best of
podcast goes up right after the show is over. On iTunes,
you can use the iHeartRadio app. Where ever you listen
to podcasts, you get it The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmon, Download raid us, subscribe. We'll love you forever

(34:57):
and ever and ever again. Wherever you listen to podcast as,
you get us The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon iTunes,
iHeartRadio App. Thank you so much for continued support. We
love putting out the content we do for you every
single day. We have a big NBA story coming up
in a second, and maybe it's time Steve to think
someone different was the MVP of the Golden State Warriors

(35:19):
dynasty under the real AI. He was the real Ay
you know, there was a story last week and again
I told you I went back and realized that I
first floated the idea of a quarterback salary cap in
the NFL back in twenty seventeen. Right now, last week
the NFL is talking about maybe doing this because everything

(35:41):
is getting out of control. Okay, I get it watching
NBA free agency. You know, I'm thinking about this and
I go, you know, the NFL needs a quarterback salary cap.
The NBA needs a jag salary cap. Excuse like they
need a jag salary cap for guys that are just guys, right,
Like they need to because this is what's killing free

(36:02):
agency and killing teams from being able to go get
players because you know this is this is such a
big deal that three quarters of the league can't afford
Isaiah Hartenstein. I mean, like, the guy's getting more money
than Jalen Brunson. He's an eight and six guy. He
had a great moment. Look, I'll miss him. He was
a great get for the Thunder. It's awesome. But like

(36:23):
when when when these are guys getting thirty million dollars
a year, Like how many teams come? This is how
you you know, it should be equal footing for teams
to get better in free agency. Yeah. Always, players are
gonna make their own choice, are gonna be able to
pick teams who where they want it. And I understand that,
but here's three quarters of the league that's out already
just because well, we can't afford most teams should be

(36:45):
able to afford Isaiah Hartenstein if they want him, like,
you know, it should be more than just you know,
five teams that could go get Isaiah Hartenstein. I don't know.

Speaker 3 (36:54):
They're one of them rare, rare big men that come along.
So I'm not sure. Jason Smith okay, but he's he's
not concact.

Speaker 1 (37:02):
He's not five years, twelve million John Contact. I mean,
he's not Wendy. But it's not just him. It's other
players too. It's like, oh, yeah, well here's a here's
a here's a two year, fifty five million dollar. We
can't afford this. This is this is a guy that's
gonna come off the bench, play twenty two minutes a night,
and he's getting twenty eight million dollars a year, and

(37:23):
outside of five teams, they can't afford that player. Like
this is where I look, I go, you know what,
these are players who should be available for everyone. I
get that. The stars aren't. I get the look. Stars
are gonna go. If you have money, you get a star,
you get Jason Tatum, you get Lebront What I get
that but you gotta have sith. I mean, if there
was some kind of Jag salary cap where you could say, okay, hey,

(37:45):
this guy's gonna be a free agent, and you could say,
all right, yeah, but look at him. It's Isaiah Hartenstein.
We're capping his money at twelve million dollars a year,
Like that's right. I mean, that's a lot of money
for you. Man, it's life changing money. But we're capping
it at twelve mill because we're not You're not gonna
make more money than Jalen, Right, You're not gonna make
more money than this guy. You're you're an eight and
six player, right, It's it's this is where you're at.

(38:05):
We're capping the Jag salary cap has you at twelve million,
and then okay, other teams can go get him and
say all right, we can give the ia hardstid twelve million. Sorry,
that'll work, and then you pick your destination of fair.
At least these teams have a chance at some of
these guys. But when you can't even get a chance
at at at at guys who are who are rotation players,
Like what does that really mean? Like how long can

(38:26):
this keep going in the NBA, if rotation guys continue
to make thirty million dollars year, I mean, you can't.
It's not feasible.

Speaker 3 (38:33):
Now. I hate to break it to you, but in
the NFL they've had a jag salary cap for a
few decades now and that's the Jacksonville roster every year.
But you know the agents are going to look at
that say, can we get a new name for this please?
I represent a guy who think is the star, and
you're gonna put him on the just a guy salary cap.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
I like.

Speaker 3 (38:55):
I like the idea. It's not gonna float like the
quarterback salary cap, which absolutely needs to be in the NFL.
Like yesterday, for the good of the league, talk about
things skyrocketing. You know we were talking about this with
basketball salaries on one of the shows this week. Is
that we're getting to the point where we're eventually going
to have a guy making a million dollars a game.

(39:17):
Even if Lebron takes less money, he's going to be
making a half million dollars per game. For the upcoming
Laker season. We've got quarterbacks plural making a million dollars
a game. It's crazy. Can we please separate things I
agree with the sentiment, at least with what you're talking
about in the NBA. And the reason another reason I'm
not against it is because the NBA is a salary

(39:40):
cap the league, and therefore it's tied directly to income.
The players aren't getting any crazy money that's not first
coming in to the league and then being spread out
to the teams, and therefore two player salaries. When the
new TV contract goes up, and when it comes in,
it will go up, every team will have more money
to spa end. And what you're talking about with Hartenstein,

(40:03):
that's just gonna be the same thing twice over with
other guys. This is not ending.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
What do you got, Frostburg.

Speaker 3 (40:09):
If there was a jag salary cap in the NBA,
Jason Tatum would be homeless.

Speaker 1 (40:13):
Oh wow, Wow, that's a guy who stole Larry O'Brien trophy.
Hasn't given it back yet. Come on, man, he took,
he took. He's still hugging that thing.

Speaker 3 (40:22):
Well, that's the one trophy he got postgame after clinching
as Juiko.

Speaker 1 (40:27):
You know the thing that gets me. I've been thinking
about this for all ever since back to the year
where JJ Reddick it just so happened they both came
up for new contracts. JJ Reddick got paid more money
in free agency than JJ Watt. And this is back
when JJ Watt was the best defensive player in the
NFL and JJ Reddick got paid more money than JJ Watt.
I mean, it was insane.

Speaker 3 (40:47):
Did nobody bring that up at the press conference?

Speaker 1 (40:50):
Jag salary cap, I'm telling you straight ahead, with what's
going on with Klay Thompson, maybe there's a different person
who should be the MVP of the Warriors dynasty. And
it's not who you think that's Nick.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (41:16):
Fox Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with special delivery
Steve Desager in from Mike Harmon. Tonight, Big day in
the NBA. We watch Lebron James agree to stay with
the Lakers two years and one hundred and four million dollars.
Maybe he'll give back a million so they can sign
some players. Awful nice of them. We're gonna get to

(41:37):
that and much more with our next guest joining US
in advance of his debut at the fourth or July
Hot Dog Eating Contest tomorrow. It is Fox Sports one
NBA insider Extraordinary, Rick Bucker. He is on Twitter at
Rick Buker. Check out His's on the Ball podcast, Rick.
How many hot dogs you gonna eat tomorrow? Like twenty
twenty five?

Speaker 5 (41:55):
How many? I am not a hot guy and I
am working tomorrow, and honestly, I can't even watch that contest.
I don't know about you guys. There's something that turns
my stomach, like what are I know it's a Marana.
I know it's the best of us, right, but I

(42:20):
I don't know. I just I can't like dunking anything
in water and then eating it like I you can
name other than fruit, I can't name single items that
is made better or that is more appetizing if you

(42:41):
dunk it in water. So that's where I am. I
know I'm probably gonna get I'm going to get kicked
out of the country for saying that I'm going to
have my citizenship revoked, but I had to say it.
I just it's that's a that's a tough watch for me, Okay.

Speaker 1 (42:59):
I just go While you were talking food you can
dunk in water and make taste better. And the number
one match that came up is that if you dunk
crackers in water, they taste better.

Speaker 6 (43:10):
No, there's a way.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
That's true.

Speaker 1 (43:17):
I'm just telling you what came up, Brick. I'm not
saying I agree. I'm telling you what came up.

Speaker 5 (43:24):
One more reason by Google can't be trusted.

Speaker 1 (43:27):
Anything on the Internet can't be wrong. Look, we'll get
to Lebron James in a second. But Steve and I
were just having this conversation. Uh, you know, we read
Ramona Shellburn's Big Inside what happened with Clay Thompson the
Warriors and how he wound up heading to Dallas. And
you look at the Warriors the last year and a half,
right in the post Bob Meers era. And we've talked

(43:48):
about how embarrassing it was at the in February when
when it got out that the Warriors called the Lakers
about Lebron James and how Clay Thompson is leaving in
a combative situation, Uh Joe lacub and how awful that is.
And I just look back and I go, man, maybe
the MVP of that dynasty was Bob Myers because he

(44:09):
kept everything running pretty smoothly. There's no way this would
have ended this way, this combative, this badly with Clay
and the Warriors. It wouldn't have gotten out. He would
first of all, he wouldn't have called the Lakers about
Lebron James. But that wouldn't have got out because I
feel like the Warriors have just kind of slitt into
disrepair where they're just kind of a team now. Where
they were at, I mean, they were the shiny example

(44:30):
of what what every organization strove to be. And maybe
Bob Myers was the MVP of that.

Speaker 5 (44:36):
Yeah, completely different take on that. I think. Wow, Okay,
I think Bob Myers, as someone who knows both me
and Mike Dunleavy Junior said to me, he said, Bob
Meyer handed Mike Dunleavy Junior a grenade with the pinpoll
it was. I think Bob knew what was coming. And look,

(44:58):
it's not as if they didn't have issues previously, and
they were they were they were kept in house, but
Bob was still there when the whole Draymond Green Jordan
Poole thing went down and that got out. There were
a couple of other incidents that our incidents, rather that
that got out on Bob. Bob's watch, So I I

(45:19):
think he did a great job of calling the waters.
I think at times because there was stuff going, I
mean going, we're going back to seven eight years. There
were issues within that locker room that that needed to
be handled and were to the point where they didn't
become fodder for the talk shows unlike unlike now. But
I believe that even bigger than Bob, the thing that

(45:42):
kept all that in house was the fact that they
were winning and they were still a championship team, and
nobody lost sight of we needed to keep our house
in order because we've got the opportunity to do something special.
And the reality is now they're just that that's not
where they are and it happens. Look, they had a
great run, and I've said this umpteen times and I

(46:04):
get pushed back on it, like the dynasty of the
of the Warriors ended when Kevin Durant left. Now, yes
they did come back and win one more championship, but
it wasn't as if that was an extension of the
dynasty or by by, and it gave everybody both impression

(46:25):
that hey, we've still got Dre, Steph and Clay, like,
we've still got the same cores. We just want another ring.
We can win a couple more, and the Warriors have.
I think the reason that they are where they are
is because they haven't been willing to let go of that.
And at the same time, you know, their their better
sense is like, yeah, but we need to we really

(46:47):
need to start thinking about the future. And they've tried
to do both, and they've tried to rebuild and maintain
their championship contending status at the same time, and it
just doesn't work. You either turned turn this team over
to the Jonathan Kamingas and the Moses Moody's and uh

(47:07):
and the Jordan Pools, or you say, you know what,
we're gonna try to We're going to ride it out
with H, with Clay, Stephen Dre. And in a case
like that, you're not holding onto Kminga, you're not holding
onto Moody.

Speaker 3 (47:21):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (47:21):
In fact, you're moving. You might be moving Andrew Wiggins
sooner rather than later. So I just think that they've
been across purposes for a while and now you've just
got a bunch of bitter guys that aren't what they
used to be and and now everybody's got the opportunity
to complain, and and so they are. And it's just
but it's it's the reality of any any team, you

(47:44):
go through a cycle. You can't stay on top forever.
And they they are meeting that reality.

Speaker 3 (47:51):
Let's go straight to the Lakers after that comment, therefore,
because these last four years, austin the first round a
couple of times and miss playoffs and anither of those years,
and even when they made the run to get swept
by the Nuggets in the playoffs a couple of years ago,
there were about a five hundred team regular season. I'm
not saying anything about the money Lebron James apparently going

(48:13):
to get as if he doesn't deserve it. He's phenomenal
still at this age. How hamstrung are the Lakers financially,
I mean almost apart from the new rules, as far
as trying to improve a team that lost in the
first round. Yeah, no, the.

Speaker 5 (48:27):
Lakers and the Warriors are in the same boat. They're
in the exact same boat where the names are bigger
than the games right now, and you were paying maximum
salary and there's still a draw like Lebron James is
still a draw, but he's not a championship He's not
a championship player in terms of he can take you

(48:47):
to a championship like you, but he's getting paid like that.

Speaker 1 (48:53):
And that's the rub.

Speaker 5 (48:55):
And the same would be said for Draymond Green and
why there was an issue with Klay Thompson. And you
look at the salaries overall of the Warriors and the Lakers,
and you look at the look like the last five
years of both teams. Both teams won one championships. Both
teams have missed the playoffs in various years. If you

(49:15):
this is my whole point about the Warriors not being
as you know, the dynasty ending with with kd is
because if you take the last five years, definition for
me dynasty is you win three championships in four years.
Warriors did that and they went to the finals five
years in a row. Last five years they've they've been
to the they went to the finals and they won.

(49:36):
I think they've missed the playoffs at least twice. They've
only been No. Three times twice? Right, and the Lakers,
you're in the same boat. Like we look at Lebron
and even staff and we say, well, you know, those
guys are champions and if if you have them, you
should be playing for a championships, not necessarily, not when
they're not what they once were. And Stuff is not

(49:59):
what he once were. He's still a remarkable player, as
is Lebron, but they're at a point now where they
need a lot of help. They need other proven, up
and coming in their prime players to have a chance,
and because of the salary structures and because of the
new salary cap rules, they're just not in that position

(50:22):
as opposed to I mean, just to look at the
array of teams that have in their prime stars that
are now playing for our legitimate and tenders Dallas, Denver, Minnesota,
Oklahoma City. Who knows Memphis might get back there if

(50:42):
John Morant is back. Like, we're talking about two teams
that are six or seven at best in the conference.
So the idea that we're still going to talk about them,
or that there's some like one, there's some one move
that they came up. This is the most hilarious part

(51:03):
for me, is like the Lakers are looking at getting
Jeremy Grant or I'm trying to think some of the
other names that come up, and I'm.

Speaker 6 (51:11):
Like, how how are you gonna get them?

Speaker 5 (51:16):
For Jeremy Grant, what's your next move? One? Shut up?

Speaker 6 (51:22):
Like what do we He's throwing these things out there,
like like the Warriors are gonna get the Clippers are
gonna give them the Warriors Taul George for Andrew Wiggins and.

Speaker 5 (51:35):
Chris Paul and just like why would they do that?
Now they're in the second apron and they're they're worse.
Like just some of the stuff that's thrown out there,
especially with these two teams. I think it's it's hopefulness
from certain media members that like that these guys that
these teams are gonna be relevant or they gonna make
a move and then they're gonna be at the top again.

(51:56):
And it's just that's not We're not dealing in reality
right now. We're dealing in some sort of fictional land
where everything you dunk and water taste good.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
Well, I'll tell you you said that to your favorite
here's my favorite part of the of the Lebron stuff today.
So the Lakers draft Bronny, they give him the contract
that very few people get. They give him everything he wants.
They give lebron fifty two million a year, they give
him the opt out, they give him everything he wants.
But there's got to be a conversation with Rich Paul

(52:33):
about giving back a million dollars, just a million to
so the Lakers can have flexibility to get players and
they can say under that second apron like, that's not
something Lebron. Oh yeah, I'll take one. I'll take fifty
one million dollars and not. It's got like like they
got to do Lebron another favor after all the stuff
they've done for him. Now there's gonna be a conversation
because if Rich Paul's gonna say, if I do this

(52:55):
for you, you know you owe me another one if
I give you this dollars back.

Speaker 5 (52:58):
For Lebron, Yeah, that's your favorite part. I didn't know
how you could take your favorite part. I have so
many favorite parts I have, I mean, Lebron, Lebron for
two years. Yeah. You know what all I want to
do is before I retire, I want to play with
my I want to play with my sons. You know what,
It's really not that important that if I play with
my son not I mean the last in the last

(53:20):
couple of weeks, Ronnie James, Ronnie James. You know what,
I really haven't thought about playing with my dad really
has never never crossed your mind, never came up, never
came up to the dinner table. What kind of social
media are you reading? There are so many lebron having

(53:40):
deep uh conversations, with deep conversations. With Klay Thompson doesn't
have deep conversations, like what are we talking about? It
just I can't begin the number of of And then
we got like nineteen different versions of of what happened
with Klay Thompson and with the Warriors and with the

(54:03):
Lakers and why he wound up with the MAVs. I mean,
the short answer is, with Klay Thompson, Klay Thompson was
always a guy that played with the chip on his shoulder,
and that's what made him great and what we loved
about him is that he was a quiet chip on
his shoulder. And as his after the injuries, his game
fell off, he became more vocal at a time where

(54:26):
his game didn't speak for him and so he had
to speak up. But he always he played with that
chip and it's the same thing that drove him out
of Golden State is no, don't like you, better respect me, well,
we did respect you. We gave you one hundred and
forty million, even though you missed two years, and we

(54:49):
wanted you to stay, and we offered you forty eight
to two years. And the idea that he came back,
you know, with a two year, forty million dollar deal,
and said, well, we can't do that right now, wasn't it.
They didn't want to keep him or possibly do it.
But they're like, we've been trying to move Andrew Wiggins
or trying to get our books straight so that we
can keep you, and we're at a point now where
we can't just find you outright unless we know that

(55:12):
we can make one of these other deals. And Clay
took exception to that, and so he ran to Dallas,
and I wish him all the best. But like all
of these everything that we're seeing, there hasn't been some
dramatic change. Lebron has always painted things, you know, a
certain way and then walked them back, and everybody is

(55:34):
acting as if the way that they've always acted. It's
just that the circumstances and what they're up against has changed.

Speaker 2 (55:41):
And so.

Speaker 5 (55:43):
I don't need like nine different explanations about how Clay
got the Dallas Clay. Clay got the Dallas because he's
Clay and he always has been and the same things
that motivated him when he was with Golden State motivated
him to become a Maverick.

Speaker 3 (55:57):
Rick Before you go, I know we've only got a
minute or two, but in that I'm co hosting with
the Knicks fan, I need you and inject a little
reality into what's coming up in the Eastern Conference because yes,
oh no, oh no, there are other teams.

Speaker 5 (56:11):
Yeah no, this is not I am not the person
to come to I am all NICKI oh, the boss
of Celtics has done what they've done, and I do
have concerns about if Kristap forzingis. He's a huge piece
of what they are, especially with with Al Harford being,

(56:33):
you know, turning the corner of age wise, their front
line suddenly going to be very thin. And I don't
like that Hartenstein is now in Oklahoma City. I would
love the Knicks if they still had Isaiah that they don't.
They end up being a little small too. But look,

(56:54):
I don't think I think Philadelphia is still chasing some
weird big three model that I don't know ever work,
but certainly has worked, not worked the last four or
five years. And what I'm really curious about Boston. With
Boston is they they were so desperate to win a
title and they were just getting over that mountain was

(57:17):
so difficult. And now that they finally did, are they
going to have the hunger to go get another one?
Or if you're going to be man, we we finally
got it. We're good. I don't know. I don't know
which way it's going to go, but they wouldn't be
the first team to get it. And saw it with
Denver this year and kind of take a breath and
and miss a beat. And meanwhile, you got the Knick

(57:39):
and that's a hungry group there. So I hate to
tell you, but I'm I'm kind of like I wish
I could tamp down Jason. Usually I do pretty good
dub that I can't. I can't. I'm I'm all. I'm
all in with the Knicks right now.

Speaker 1 (57:53):
Oh, the greatest NBA insider we have ever spoken to
here on the show. It is Rick. He's on Twitter
at Rick Buker. Rick, you and I In next week
or so, I'm going on vacation. We'll plan the Knicks
parade route. We'll probably start at the Ferry and somehow
finish at MSG. We'll work it out.

Speaker 5 (58:12):
Oh no, no, no, no, no praise. The parade is gonna
be in uh, I don't know about you know that.

Speaker 1 (58:18):
Right, we'll go we'll go by the Palestra. All right,
that's fine, fine, you're fine with all that. Yeah, I'm
fine with all okay, very good, all right, thank you,
see your buddy. I'm fun happy for