February 21, 2025 • 40 mins
On tonight’s edition of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon, Arnie Spanier and Veejay Huskey are in for Jason Smith and Mike Harmon! The guys kick off the hour by looking into the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship! Next, the guys look into the all the hate LeBron James has been getting between the all-star game, media, and personal life and debate whether or not its warranted! Don’t miss all this and more in Hour 1!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
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 (00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Heard the man VJ Husky Arnie Spaniard in for the
guys tonight Jason Smith and his best friend Mike Harmon
right here on Fox Sports Radio. The man with the
biggest biceps in all of sports radio?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Jausky? How you doing? How you're doing? What do you
curl right now? For power light? The ninety ninety fives? Okay,
I do ninety six? Yeah? This kid at the barbeo, Yeah,
I use the barbo individual dumbbells. I like about fifty,
but the Barbelle I used like ninety ninety fives. Man
by steps, my friend, how's it going tonight? Man? What's
(01:06):
happening with my friend? What's going on? Out standing? I'm
blessed to be here, I tell you all the time,
aren't you one of my favorite people on God's Green
Earth to do sports talk radio with me because we flow,
We have a lot of fun. We're both we're both
mindless dolphin fans. You know, you don't like getting out
the car when people are shoving you out because you
got on some flip flops in the snow. Like we
both do wild stuff we probably shouldn't do. So it's
(01:28):
just great to be here. Man, Let's hold it down
for the fellas. Man, keep the fans happy, and let's
rock yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Later on in the show, of course, Todd Furman is
gonna stop on by, especially when the hockey game's over.
He's gonna talk about the game. We'll talk a little
gambling in Vegas. So he's only guess we scheduled today
because I know VJ has a lot to say on
this four hour bonanza. If you want to be part
of the show, real simple, the best way to do
it is through Twitter or x or whatever you want
(01:53):
to call it. At Big Vanilla Funny, I'm a stinking
genius one. I know when I do this show with VJ,
we get a lot of tweets. Will try to keep
up and uh, you know, we'll keep your eye and
that we'll keeping an eye on the game also right now,
less than three minutes left in the second Canada to
USA two.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
I gotta tell you VJ.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
A week ago, I had no idea that this tournament
was even really taking place. I knew that there was
a four nations tournament, but I didn't really know which
four nations were. And I know USA and Canada was
I didn't I didn't know what the feel and the
vibe was going to be. I don't even think the
players knew that the feeling the vibe was going to
be this big. But this has lived up to everything.
(02:37):
What a what a great thing to have right in
the middle of the season. I've loved every moment of
this USA Canada game. Yeah, absolutely, but I gotta disagree
on just two points. Feeling, vibe, No, these players.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Know and and uh you know, special special alert, special
announcement to the NBA players. This is what it looks
like when you kind of have nothing to play for,
but you still kind of have everything to play for.
This is what it looks like, gentlemen, these guys, this
is USA and Canada hockey. And I'll try to act
like I'm the most avid hockey fan but I know
(03:10):
I watch a lot more NHL than most radio guys
and even here right, you know, I watch a lot
of hockey. I love this what I'm a Ranger fan.
I love them watching My Rangers. Grew up around the Capitol,
So I was in the DMV when alas Weavechkin first
got there. From the years they were terrible for like
fifteen twenty straight years they were terrible. They get Alexevetchkin boom,
They're selling out the Capital Center out there, in the
NCI Center, So you get a sense of the country pride.
(03:34):
It's bigger in hockey, man, and I think almost anything
else in sports. Think about it. We don't have football
in the Olympics, right basketball? Is it really? Do they
really still have that prior or kit We've really just
trot the world's best twelve guys out there. Yeah, Spain,
you'll give us a little run. Yeah, Australia, you'll give
us a little run. But at the end of the day,
who's gonna hold the gold medal? It's gonna be USA,
(03:56):
cause we just have the better guys. Hockey's not like that.
You have Russia, Sweden, you have Canada, you have the USA,
You have a lot of different countries in Norway, you
have a lot of different countriesmen that are really really good.
And that's what you get from watching the NHL. So no,
I think they know the field, they know what this
game means tonight, this thing right here, man, listen. There
was a pole question to these guys, what would you
(04:17):
rather have a victory over Canada or USA? Or Stanley Cupp?
Could you imagine that being asked about the super Bowl
or about in the Nbaha. No, they would take the
Super Bowl, they would take the NBA championship. The fact
that it's a thought in hockey. Would you rather be
USA being Canada or Canada being USA? Or win Lord Stanley?
And they go, I think that's what makes this great.
(04:41):
You bring up basketball.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Let me ask you this if you and forget about
what month it is, we're just doing the show today.
If the United States were let's say, playing the Soviet
Union in basketball and the winner takes all and we
had our version of the dream team out there, and
they had some big team and we were battling back
and forth, would we have the vibe that we have
right now? I would think so, right or even bigger.
(05:03):
I would think it'd be a bigger game than that,
right or sounds cute, Arnie, But.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
This isn't. This isn't the eighties. Okay, this isn't This
isn't Doug seventies. This isn't Doug Collins. Okay, this isn't
them being able to throw the ball in bounds and
catch it all the way down the court and get
the game winning layup to steal the gold medal. For
this isn't those times in basketball we can simply try
it out the twelve best players in the world collectively.
Now we don't get you know, Luca, We don't get Yannis. Okay,
(05:32):
there's a lot of guys we don't get. But we
still have enough for you to give us a little run. Yeah,
we got Steph Curry. Okay, who's going to hit three
straight threes in the gold medal game and put you away?
You don't have that. We do hockey. It's just different, man,
in USA. Is Listen, there were time we were getting
all we were getting but handed to us. All right,
now it's kind of turned weird. We're a good program.
(05:53):
They got a good thing going, man, But I think
it means the world and I do not think the
NBA if they're playing rushing a gold medal game, you
know it geinst a little juice, man, But you know
we're gonna win. You did you ever think we're gonna
lose the gold medal game? I last year.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
No, No, it could have happened, but I never really
anticipated it.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
But let me ask you this that, and I've brought
this up before.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
It's could be a tough say, but are hockey players
more patriotic than them than basketball players? Or is it
just the Is this like the perfect storm what we're
doing right now?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
I don't know. I don't I don't know if I
want to go there, because I can't question that's like
that's like trying to judge whether players really hurt or not.
I can't really judge someone's patriotism.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
I do know NBA players that play that come from
another country, they go home and play. I know that
they don't. They don't try to get USA citizen ship
and be h to try to play for the you know,
the the guaranteed gold medal. No, they go home to
their countries and they say, hey, we got a shot.
Every year in the Olympics, there's like six or seven
(06:51):
countries that's got a legitimate shot to win the gold medal.
Every every winner games, it's at the end of the
summer games. For basketball, it's it's not that it's not
that at all. We were going, well, went in the goal.
We're you know, we have the best players where you know,
we're we're the NBA, we're America.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Now.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
You know what's crazy is a regular season hockey game.
And I know the SEGA usually gives me the ratings
when we do the show Sunday night averages about a
million they give or take. Sometimes it's like eight hundred thousand,
sometimes it's one point.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Well, let's just say about the business sabers, you know
against uh, you know, and we against the devils, you
know the Devil's Yeah, you might get low rates on
the game, right, so but let's just say about a million.
We'll just go ahead and move it on up. This
last Saturday had ten point one million viewers.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
That's ten times the attendance, which the viewership, which by
the way, should be higher tonight or at least close
maybe a little bit more. It's just astounding that you
can have so many people and for the most part,
VJA it's a he goes gay. Right, it's just more
like an ex ben shit. This was like the end
(08:01):
place of the All Star Game. They're they're not playing
for the gold medal or.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Anything like that, you know, but it feels like it, right,
it does, and it feels like because it's still Canada
and US say go back and looking even on the
women's side, go back and look at those gold medal
matches in the winner games. Man, they're they're they're down
to you know, down to the last period and down
to the last minute, like this one is gonna be
two to one. USA looks in control. Bennett top shelf,
(08:25):
boom at the six minumrt. Now we're tied up to
too and going into the third period. Who's gonna close
this bad thing? Who's gonna close it off? Who's gonna
who's gonna make the passes? Because on the gold binness score,
we turned the ball the ball, sorry, we turned the
punk over in our own zone. You can't do that
against Canada. They're too fast, they're too skilled, you're too accurate.
And the past pass and then he goes into the
(08:46):
goal top shelf. It was easy. The goalie didn't have
a shot by the time he reacted the puck was
already by him. That that who's gonna make those mistakes?
Who's gonna make those plays? And the third I'm excited
about it. Man, this is better than any Is this
better than any All Star game? You want?
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, ye, Actually I got it. I got it when
I was working Sunday night.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Most of the time I'm kidding around, but I think
mostly I was curious on this. I'm like, you know,
Boston's only three and a half hours from where I live.
I had not known that I was going to be
filling in with you at the time when I was
doing the show Sunday night. So I'm like, you know,
maybe I'll drive down, enjoy some time down in Boston
and go to the game. I'll give myself a ticket
(09:26):
and really, just I mean enjoy this USA Canada game.
When I before USA and Canada were set to be
in the game, tickets were about seven eight hundred dollars
for the best seats after Canada had clinched it, twenty
eight hundred dollars three thousand dollars for the lower tier seats.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
I'm like, are you crazy? Are you that's insane? Hey? Man,
that tells you what kind of game it is. That
tells you what kind of game it is. ARENI right?
This is great, This is great theater, and we need
this right now. Right. If you look with what's going on,
there's football's done right. So these are kind of like
the dog days of if you're not a huge college
basketball head, and if you're not a huge NBA head,
(10:09):
you're really searching for something to watch. I guess this
is where a lot of people start. Football fans start
binge watching, you know, Netflix series, or pick up a
good book and start reading at night when you got
some downtime, instead of sitting on a sofa because there's
nothing that you're really into to watch this, you throw
country flags on a really good sport. Hockey's always good
when you watch it. We just haven't called on to
(10:31):
an American for some reason. I think it's even with
the NBA, I really do. I know the NBA pribab
might still out view them, maybe by a million, even
if half of that I think. I think the average
NBA viewing I think is like one point three million.
So if we're giving them a million, and I'll settle
for a fifty nine hundred, you can have the million,
I'll settle for a fifty nine hundred. But that's close.
The average hockey game being viewed in America in twenty
(10:52):
twenty five versus the average NBA game. It means all
the people on TV, all the talking heads like us
that are talking about the game, and you see the
T and T crew getting killed by everybody because they're
calling out the product and calling out the game. Hockey
just puts the product out there. They know where the
stars are. They market the stars, but they also market
the game of the team. The NBA, to me, got
lost about ten to fifteen years ago when we started
(11:14):
marketing narratives and ifs and what ifs, and he could
have had this, or he could have had that, or
he had that guy or he that has taken over
and Brian went horse this time. I've been saying since
I've been in Fox Sports Radio for nine years. But
Brian Winhorse echoed this on TV the other day, and
someone tweeted it to me and said, man, I've been
here as a guy Fox Sports Radio saying this for
about the last six or seven years. They don't market
(11:35):
the game, so then why do we care about it? Right? Right? Right?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
No, and of course it is about the stars out there.
And I was just about to ask you now that
we're done from the All Star weekend and ratings were
tremendously down.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I think it was terrible.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
It was eighty percent from maybe the one of the
couple of years so much it was just a miserable rating.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
NBA guy, you cover the Lakers, you go to the games,
you see a lot of the teams. What's going on here?
Speaker 3 (12:00):
What you listen to the fans in the crowd, what
are they going there and saying this sucks? I mean,
you're not gonna convince me VJ that someone's like, man,
I really wish they'd pull up and hit those mid
range jumpers.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
That that stuff what they're coming for. Where's the NBA
going wrong?
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Because they got a problem right now and it's only
getting worse.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Here. Here's the thing. You don't hear that at stadiums,
and this is why the average NBA fan that goes
to a game that's probably their only game they're going
to that season. Yes, you have your season ticket holders,
but there are a slew of fans that go to
these games and covering the NBA up close and personal.
Now as I do. I love walking the core, the
(12:43):
concourses and just watching fans. You can tell bro whose
first time it is, you could say. You can see
it in their face, you can see it in their eyes,
whether they're a grown man, a twelve year old kid,
a thirteen year old young girl who plays AAU basketball
who loved Kobe, and those fans of Gigi are Peter,
both of them and the other ones lost on the helicopter.
You see so much going on, it's like wow, and
(13:04):
you hear people, yeah, this is my first I've lived
in La all my life, this is my first Laker game,
and it'll be a forty four year old woman you're
talking to. So the average fan is not gonna go
there first, even second or third game and complain and yell.
Those are the guys that go at least fifteen twenty.
They buy the cheap seats or they got season tickets.
Those are the ones you kind of hear the grumblings from.
But that's not gonna matter. They're still gonna show up.
(13:25):
You're a season ticket holder, You prepaid for this. Unless
you're selling it, you're not wasting it.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Even even the guys watching on TV are not enjoying
the product.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
No, yeah, you're just saying yello, you sting yelling anything
on your sofa. Yeah, and we all do, right, you
can sit yell anything in your sofa. But I'm gonna
go enjoy the game even if the product's bad. If
I drive an hour and fifteen minutes up to the
one oh one to try to get over the crypto park,
five parking walk, get in, get some to eat, get
them to drink, get to my seat, that's two and
(13:56):
a half hours just to start the game. Right, I'm
gonna go and myself, I'm not coming to complain. I
know what the product is, but hey, I came up
with some lake of tickets. Hey you want to go,
and I'm going. Well.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Draymond Green, of course, over the weekend on Sunday really
talking about the NBA All Star Game or and talking
about the product of the NBA saying it's just garbage.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
It's just straight out bad.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Whether he was talking about the new format of the
NBA or just the overall. He said that the product
was boring, is what he said about the game of
the NBA. When did it become boring? What exactly are
we missing? Because the athleticism is better than ever. The
shooting is better than ever. Your bigger, stronger, taller. Like
(14:40):
I said, what do we say?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Gee?
Speaker 3 (14:42):
I missed the old days of the bank shot, the
two end and chess password.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
What do you want? Is what I'm asking VJ. What not?
Speaker 3 (14:50):
You particularly? But what do people want? That there? They
think the product is so bad right now? What are
they missing? I guess I think two things. I call
it the try and care.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
They want guys to actually really try all the time,
and they want you to actually care all the truth.
And we just don't see that now. Lakers just tipped
tonight they up in Portland on the back to back,
surprised to see Lebron out there. I'll tip my hat
to that because this is normally a game. He could
have done a load management and he didn't because Luca's
out tonight on his you know, trying to work him
back in and he didn't play well at all last night,
(15:22):
either one or nine from three. So they want guys
to try all the time, and they want you to
care all the time. Pks whu Bannon? I text you
and shade this the other night. Exactly right? Was that not?
Perfectly said? It was perfectly said. We want you, tan't
you know a lot of heat about that. We want Well,
that's fine because we soft in society, so that don't matter.
Just go ahead and say what you're gonna say. So listen,
(15:42):
if you say what they want to say I want
you to say, they'll get mad. And if you say
what they want you to say over here, the other
side get mad. So you might as well just say
what you want to say because somebody's gonna get mad.
You can't worry about that. But he didn't tell no lies.
He said, we want the Kobe's, we want the Jordan's,
we want the Magics, we want the Garnets, the Duncans,
the ways we want those guys, and you point you
look around Steph, Durant and Lebron. I think that's like
(16:04):
the last in my opinion, that's like the last stuff
that era. Look at all the young guys in the
league and stuff we have now we will cover winby later,
we'll talk about him. But another young player who's gonna
miss the rest of the year could be worse than that.
They're saying, but go ahead, yeah, but it's it's that.
That's what I think the fans won. They want to
try care to your point about the shootings better. I
always have a riff with that because the only reason
(16:26):
why I am opinion the shootings better is because the defense
is far worse. That could be true their teams, Darre Knights,
where we're watching teams score one thirty seven in regulation.
That that's not to say it didn't happen in the eighties.
So all you eighties a bunk growing out there. The
eighties were bad exactly because the Mavericks could score, Golden
State could score, Alex English and them old nugget teams
they'll put up one hundred and thirty, hundred and thirty five,
(16:48):
the old Pistons from eighties piszones, they'll throw one thirty one.
The Bulls, Mike and them Bulls will throw one twenty five,
one thirty And as it was those seventy six seventy
two games, right exactly when defense really bogged down, where
it was a time where early three teams averaged over
one hundred points because guys played defense. I think the
defense in today's game is so atrocious. You go watch
a live game sometimes, Arnie, I watch off the ball.
(17:09):
I want to see who's boxing out. Nobody boxes out anymore.
You could just run free and go get rebounds, and
most guys don't wait for him, I mean don't go
get them. They wait for him. Just watch off the
ball and watch basketball. Jeff Van Gundy commented on that
for like three or four straight telecasts from when he
was calling games for A teen and teen, he's like, no,
I mean for ESPN, he's like, no one boxes out,
there's no boxing out. There's no reason why the guy
(17:30):
like Rudy Gobert shouldn't average like eighteen nineteen boards. Who's
boxing them out? You're the biggest dude of your you know,
multiple time defensive player of the Year, like you should
be getting like eighteen nineteen boards. Dennis Robber was getting
eighteen nineteen seventeen a night dog at six ' nine,
back in the day where he was battling real true
seven to one seven two giants that stayed in the post.
They stayed in the painting guarded, and he was able
(17:52):
to still put up numbers like that.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
You can read just the best way it's through Twitter.
He's at big vanilla fun eight. I'm just thinking genius one.
We're off and running. We got our eye on the game.
We got a lot to get to. I also want
to tell you be sure to check out Fox Sports
Radio YouTube channel, especially this weekend. There's a ton of
great videos from this week alone on Fox Sports Radio
is live from the super.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Bowl in New Orleans.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
That was a lot of fun, So check it on out.
I was looking at the videos. Looks hysterical. All the
videos from the great big name interviews can be found
there on the YouTube page. Just search Fox Sports Radio
on YouTube and you'll see a whole bunch of video
highlights from our shows and from all the other guys
that were down there. Be sure to subscribe so you
can always have instant access out there on Fox Sports
(18:37):
Radio video videos on YouTube. We're gonna come back. VJ
goes to the Laker games. I want to ask him
about Lebron and is the media being too hard on Lebron?
Are the fans being too hard on Lebron. We'll get
to all that coming up next us we'll update you
on the USA Canada game.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Right here on Fox Sports Radio. 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 3 (19:09):
Right, good evening, everybody, v J Husky, Arnie Spaniar in
for the guys to night. Jason Smith and his best
friend Mike Carmon is alive at the tire rack dot
Com studios. J very nervous about this game.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
I don't know why. I'm just like, come on, we
gotta win, we gotta win. Yeah, I'm telling you what
you already felt like this. You ain't felt like this
watching no NBA game, and like, I mean, listen, I'm
not and I'm not trying to sit here and like
bang on the NBA. But listen, I'm glued to this.
It's on two screens in here. I got it up
on my ipass to no commercial break. I can cut
the volume up because I love listening to Sean McDonough
(19:39):
cal hockey. He's great at that, So I you know it. Yeah, man,
I'm on the edge of my seat. I don't want
to lose this game, I say, Bro Clay, I don't
want that. I don't want to lose like I have.
I have a horse in this race, Bro, I don't
want to lose this game tonight. Are you kidding?
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Me before we get to Lebron, you know, because a
lot of people getting us on Twitter. If you want
to get ahold of us, big vanilla funny, I'm at
stinking genius swamp.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Darryl says.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
The shooting is better than ever, and they just take
awful shots nightly. The athleticism if is off the charge,
yet the IQ is lower than ever. They're bigger, stronger
and faster, Yet they miss more games than ever. They
don't play defense. It's just an overall bad product. That's
(20:21):
That's the one thing too. We didn't bring up. They
just missed more games than ever, whether it's load management
or what what Joel Embiad has done.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
He's missed more games. It's a mockery. Yeah, he's missed
more games. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
And Paul George and you know, just some of the
guys out the Kawhi Leonard is what I really meant.
It's just it's horrible and it's just taking advantage. And
if I was an order, i'd try to get back
some of my money. But it's it's just damaged the
game in ways. I don't know how they're ever going
to get that back. People are like, what do you
mean they're not playing tonight. They barely play half the
(20:56):
season nowadays, you know, and real quick.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Cyber a real fastive months. You can hear me right
now because you mentioned Paul George, and you know, she's
a big Clipper guy. And I remember when he left
and then the way he left, and then when he
came back and was kind of like telling on the
Clippers how everything was going down. I remember doing the
show that day and it was like, yeah, it sounds
like the Clippers made the right move man by letting
that guy go and moving on from him, because same
thing going on out there. Fleeced man for two one
(21:20):
hundred plus million cash dollars that he will get Garret
ron t They miss more games, Listen, you want to
talk about missing games. They have a rule now that
if you don't play a certain amount. They were just
at the number two where you can't see these seven.
I don't even know what it is. That's how important
the rule is the game, right, I don't care because
I did the season awards. The end season awards in
(21:41):
the NBA are weird. They're like they're like they're like
the with the NFL voltes now. But it's when you
even look at guys missing games like I'm so far
past that, Like that's just the product now, So you
have a product problem if guys aren't going to show
up and guys are gonna play. That's what I said.
I give Lebron props tonight because played a lot of
minutes last night covering the game with them and the
(22:02):
loss against Charlotte one hundred and ninety seven I expected
on the back to back from probably the cincinnight. And
he suits up, especially coming down the stretch that fight
for playoff position, not trying to fall into the play
So you know, from time to time you'll see guys
lace hm up and go. I just don't think we
see it enough. And he listen, I think guys play
more than they don't unless they're injury prone. But the
load management is just so league wide now. And it's okay,
(22:25):
why is he out foot soreness, elbow sore it Like okay,
you're yeah, you're sore. You've played fifty something basketball games.
You should be sore. Leron made the miraculous come back
after not being yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean just and
listen last night at the game, they introduced the Lakers
and they come running out. He comes sprinting, sprinting out
(22:49):
all the way to lift to the court on purpose,
right up to the front, right to the front row,
so everybody, you know, you can see him. I watched
the whole and I tweet immediately, I said, hey, Laker,
there were reports, you know, him doing air quotes, that
they were expected to possibly sit him these two games
against lower type teams the Hornets and then Portland and
Night on the back to back and then bring him
back in the following game, which would have given him
nine to ten days rest, since he didn't do anything
(23:11):
for All Star and their last game was a back
to back against Utah. On that back to back night
last week on the Tuesday and Wednesday, he comes spreading out.
I tweet, Yeah, reports were and it's why I don't
always believe and listened to all the reports that they were
considering send him for two games. Well, no, they couldn't
been because he's playing the night now. If he didn't
play last night, he played tonight, the considering two games
would have worked for me. But the fact that he
played last night and he played tonight, Yeah, that's that's buckus.
(23:34):
I called Shenan against buke, I'm spreading out and I'm
saying I tweeted, yeah, man, you know ankle sword that
says that's a funny thing. You know, you wake up
and it's gone and you're ready to play. I loved it.
I loved it.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
I'm glad people are exposing him, big vanilla funny.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
I'm it stinking genius one. We're gonna come back.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
We're gonna answer that Lebron question that's going to be
next first though, Let's check him first time tonight. Moncy Bolanos,
who says I'm her favorite host by the way, who.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Secret can't play favorites in this business?
Speaker 2 (24:08):
ARENI? What is treading? Before you get going? Did you
hear my thing about Paul George? Right? And now how I.
Speaker 5 (24:15):
Did not because I'm watching my Clippers lose.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Right.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
I had you guys on real low because I'm watching
the scoopy Clippers lose right now.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Remember the show we did when he came out with
his comments about how the whole contract thing went down
and we both looked at each other like, you guys
dodged amazing a major bullet and that's hony.
Speaker 5 (24:33):
And even like a.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Year before the season when it when it was rumored
that they were going to extend both of them. I
was already against that even before, like the last season,
you know, I was like I heard, I was already
against it. But what what a dodged bullet it was?
Speaker 3 (24:47):
For?
Speaker 5 (24:48):
Yes, I am glad that you want all this money
to be number three.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
I am glad that you want all this and not
have to play and then I have to play you.
But you scored two points in your game right before
the All Star break, but then you went to Cancun
with your girlfriend. I think it was fine, it was fine,
But you scored two points in that last game.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
No, no, a completely dodged bullet.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
But that bullet is hitting the Clippers right now because
we're freaking losing. Officially have lost to the Bucks. I'm
so annoyed. One sixteen to one ten was the final score.
Brook Lopez had a pretty good game, Jannis Optakoupo, Damian Lillard.
They all ended up playing because they were kind of
questionable of Vita Zubots had twenty points, fifteen rebounds, four LA.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
Now, the Bucks did have a story earlier today.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Their forward Bobby Portis has been suspended twenty five games
for testing positive for a banned substance. Then Nicks held
on to defeat the Bulls in overtime one thirteen to
one eleven Karl Anthony Town's thirty two points and eighteen rebounds.
Cavaliers still number one in the East. They took down
the Nets one ten to ninety seven. The Magic and
the Hawks were back and forth. Orlando came out on
(25:44):
top at the end, one fourteen to one Oha, but
it was a show between Palo Bancaro and Trey Young.
Ben Cao thirty six points, ten rebounds, Young thirty eight
point six assists. The Celtics have handed those seventy six
ers their six straight loss. Boston, I know, came out
on top one twenty four to one oh four eight.
In that one, the Pacers defeated the Grizzlies won twenty
seven to one thirteen.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
While three games are going on. Yeah, no, you've mentioned it.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
I think VJ no Luka doncc already for the Lakers
in this game, but they are beating the Trailblazers nineteen
thirteen late in the first quarter. At halftime, the Spurs
are on top of the Sun sixty to fifty four.
The Spurs are shutting down victor Ian Banana Matt for
the rest of the season because of a blood clot
in his shoulder. The Nuggets are on top of the
Hornets at home, ninety two to ninety one.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
Late in the third quarter. Nikola Jokic pretty close.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
To a triple double like any other game, twenty four points,
ten rebounds, and seven assists. We have one ranked men's
college basketball team going on right now, number twenty, Maryland
just on top of USC eighty two to sixty nine
with three minutes to go in the game. And in
hockey Canada, USA still tied at to apiece with about
thirteen minutes to go in the third period. In other
(26:51):
news that happened earlier today, Cowboys guard Zach Martin announced
he's retiring after eleven seasons. It included seven first team
All Pro selections. He started every game that he played
during his career, one hundred and.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
Sixty two games. Seven holding penalty. Yes, that's it, that's it.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
He was good. And that's some Joe Thomas type stuff.
That's some Orlando Pace type stuff. That's Jonathan og Yeah, I.
Speaker 5 (27:14):
Know, I thought it was a type that I had
to go look it up.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
That's Richmond web type stuff right there.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
Stupid, but no, no, no, no jokes on me.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
And lastly, here guys in college football Texas and USC,
well they're joining Nebraska and canceling their spring games for
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
So called it? Did you called it two weeks ago?
Called it? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (27:31):
Up in Adams Show today.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I don't want to hear about the money. Yeah, I
don't want to hear about the money. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
So they have three teams right now. All right back
to you guys.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Thanks BONSI don't like to see that dive in spring
games used to be big.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
We'll get to that later on. I'm sure we'll get
little thoughts on that. Really really just really quick on you.
On Martin and VJ no the Sega. Martin and I
we had a good about six seven minute and they
kept talking about the money and the money. I said, guys,
they will make that money up some way somehow. They're not.
It's affecting the guys wanting to leave transfer Worter block
and I, hey, this is what it is. Buckle up, guys.
More schools are coming.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Right, and it's as shame as it used to be
a big thing. I mean, they used to get to
sell the crowds. But yeah, it's it's always good for
the community. But that's a whole nother story, big vanilla funny.
I'm it's thinking genius. One word for the guy's side,
Jason Smith and his best friend Mike Harmon. I got
(28:23):
to ask him. I know you cover the Lakers, but look,
as much as I think Lebron is egotistical and as
much as I hate the whole you know, the All
Star Game thing, and he didn't play in the last minute,
I'm gonna take pictures and blah blah blah. We can
come up with a million reasons here of j why
you're mad at the guy? You don't like him, He's
very petty, fights with the media all the time on Twitter.
(28:45):
This goes back from him and Doug Gottlieb. We're getting
into all that. That shocked me. I'm not going to
front that. Surprised Lebron. Well, yeah, anyway, go ahead, But
I think is one are we too hard on him?
I mean, it's not like he he's committed any crimes.
He's been a model player for the NBA. He's been
(29:05):
what possibly the one or two best in the history
of the game.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Why are exactly we so mad at him? Are we
a little too hard on MVJ? What do you think?
I don't know if we're too hard on him, and
I don't know if anybody's mad at him. I just
think that we're in the air now in sports coverage
where it's a twenty four to seven news cycle, and
you know, player empowerment I always thought was bad for
(29:31):
any pro league. You don't let the you don't let
the what it was it the inmates run the asylum. Right,
you're done. You can't let players run the league. That's
why they're cbas. That's why there's a player's union. You
try to make it as fair as you can. The
owners make more than everybody, and then and then it
trickles down, right, It's it's just the way it is.
When you start giving power over simple economics, right, yeah,
(29:55):
it's simple economics. But we start letting nigna. Let an
employee have power over the seventh floor, but he can't
control the building that belongs to the guy with the
big office at the top that overlooks the city with
the putt and green and the corner. Excuse me that
that's that's for him. He gets all the shots and
control things. You can control these two floors though, like
(30:15):
you could control your team, you know, player power owners
doing things with Lebron wants to do and stuff. Well,
I mean, the guy's powerful. It just it's the way
power works in America. It always has been this way.
I think what happens is once again coming from PK.
Subn we We we are used to the older generation.
I believe it's just used to a different type of
power and athlete where you're willing it to to to
(30:38):
put the fear of God and your opponents and just
beat everybody and win as much as you can and
take it on the chin when it's meant to be
taking it on the chin, not everybody else's fault, or
throwing people under the bus, you know, coach killer, things
of that nature. So I don't think people are mad
at him, and I don't think people are mean. I
just think that he's either a guy you like or
don't like, and that's just what it is. You either
liked Kobe or didn't like Kobe, either like the Gardenet
(30:59):
or you didn't like Garnett, right, like the media made
sure that we picked sides between Magic and Bird. Remember
when they came in seventy nine. Oh yeah, the media
made sure you picked a side two years ago. I said,
right here in this year and said, the media make
sure you picked the side between Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese. Right,
the media made sure you picked a side. So there's
you either like certain players or you don't. And I
just think he falls into that category. Just that he
(31:21):
may not. He may be at the top of all
time of you either hate the guy or you love
the guy. There is really no middle ground winner. He
might be the top guy of all time that falls
into that category.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Now, you said you were surprised about the whole Godleeb
feud that he had.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
I was shocked. I'm like, yeah, what is going on here? Yeah?
First of all, you're Lebron.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
You're talking about a school that nobody else is really
talking about other than the Godlieb and we wished.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Up the best.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
But I mean, what what exactly is this? And I'm like,
what did exactly the Doug say? Was it because he
said Brodny didn't deserve to be in the NBA?
Speaker 2 (31:52):
I don't. I don't even know, man, I don't.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
It's shocked about that. Should Lebron will be paid attention
and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
You know, well, I mean he's got rabbit as we
know that. This is the guy that once famously said
that he didn't he doesn't see Skip Baylis's tweets. But
then it come to find out he was following them, right,
Like these things, these things happen like we we know,
we know, like like they old just really quick with
lebron d like the old All Star thing. It didn't
bother me. Why because I expect that from him, Like
things only bother you if you still are trying to
(32:20):
figure out the person or are you still trying to
figure out a situation. That's when you get bothered when
you know what it is. What why Andelus said, when
people show you who they are, you what you believe them.
He shown us who he is, right, you know, so
you you believe what he's You know what he's gonna
do and what he's gonna say. So listen, it is
what it is. At this point, I don't know what
(32:41):
God leaves said. I just I just read the back
and forth. So so Bronnie he Doug basically said that
Brownie wouldn't start on his team. Oh that's right. Oh wow, Wow.
See I didn't know that for art. Now all right,
can I reverse real fast?
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Go ahead, go ahead that reverse real yes, yes, good.
I might have said son back too. I ain't gonna lie.
You said that about my son Carrie, he said, by
my son Teddy. I might. I might got a fire
back too. He doesn't. He didn't have to. But I
get it. But Lebrono says, to understand, you literally did
tweet to the world that your son was better than
(33:19):
half the bleeps in this league. Bleep it's lightweight, hilarious,
like you tweeted that. Yes, And I understand pumping your
son up and all and that get it. We were
at the game last night and talking about LaVar Ball,
and I'm I'm a mellow fan. I think this kid
is gonna be really good if he gets out of Charlotte.
He's a really good basketball player. He showed it last night.
He carried him in his stretch in the fourth quarter
(33:39):
and had the game winning uh and one and the
two clinching free throws to win the game last night.
But like LaVar Ball did it too right. He threw,
he protected his sons. He threw his sons out there.
But once they got there, he fell off. You don't
hear from him no more. He's gone. He created generational
wealth for three sons. His son was rapping at the
at the damn All Star thing like he didn't make
the league, but guess where he was still at? Or
(34:01):
the court at the All Star game? Symbolic, right, yeah,
I may not be playing, but I'm still walking on
the court at the All Star Game. Lebron, you got
just sent into the league. We get it. And now
if somebody goes, all right, he's not good at this
or that, I don't think you know. It's like, well, dude,
you did say that he was better than half the league,
and we all know that that's not true. Man. A
radio guy, a radio guy put it out there that
he coaches a college team and said, hey, yes, son
(34:23):
couldn't play for Mike, he couldn't play on my team.
But then you expect the dad. He has the right
to fireback as a dad. He's VJ.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
Husky, Get a hold of him, a big vanilla funny.
I'm Arnie span you'r a midstinking genius one. What's like
to hang out with Lebron? Vj's gonna tell us because
he covers the Lakers. That's coming up next right here
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific. All Right, good evening everyone. Of course some
VJ Husky Arnie Span.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
You're in for the guys tonight Jason Smith and his
best friend Mike Harmon. Right here on Fire Sports Radio.
By the way, we are live from the Tireraq dot
Com studios. Still to two, coming up on the five
minute mark left in the game. If it does and
in a two two tie, well then they'll go in
the overtime. It'll be five on five overtime, twenty minute periods.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
No four and four, no three on three.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
No shootout from what I understand, but it'll be twenty
minute periods. I don't know if it's a double overtime.
What they'll do after that, We'll have to find out
and see and exactly how it should be. I don't
want no shootout.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Keep playing, keep playing it to somebody puts the biscuit
in the basket, and when it hits the back game done.
Throw the gloves up, throw the helmet off, and the
sticks and run on the ice and celebrate, man like,
I hope it go to overtime. I love to see
an overtime finish in his game because that way, you know,
next shot, next goal. When it hits overtime, you know
next goal wins exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Now, VJ. I follow you on social media. I love
when you cover the Lakers. I back in the day
when I did local radio in Los Angeles one year
we follow the Lakers even through the playoffs home and
road games. Also we didn't go on the same flight,
but we went to all the games. It was quite
the experience. I mean it was, you know, being around
(36:11):
Shaq and Kobe and just stuff like that. What do
you love about it most, man, Because it's not so
much about the postgame press conferences.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
It's just you know, seeing their demeanor before a game,
and to me, that.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Was like one of the most interesting things.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
You know.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Yeah, I do like that. I get there early. I
like to get to Crypto at about five thirty and
tips are at seven, right, so right, you get there
early enough. Last night, we'll get there and LaMelo Ball
is out there going through his pre game. I always
like to get there early. For the Warriors to watch stuff,
and that's part of it, watching guys go through their
pre game and seeing okay, so that's just not luck.
He just did that fifty times in the court, you know,
(36:49):
two hours before tip off, So when he does it tonight,
it's not luck. He works on that, and you can
imagine in the offseason how much he works on it. Also,
to the press conference is really really big for me
because I have a very intriguing type of question of
question in my like an inquiring mind. I rarely ask
about the game because I think that that's low hanging fruit.
And I've been complimenting and this isn't a bragger anything.
(37:10):
This is just facts. I've been compliment on certain NFL
and NBA guys as they're leaving and walk by me,
have taped me and say, hey, man, good questions. I
appreciate that. Are Justin Herbert told me you ask good
questions all year long. Man, we talk about you keep
doing your thing, And that was big for me to
hear that from Justin Herbert the last game that I
covered before they went on their two road games to
end this season. So I like to ask mentality type questions,
you know, where you are right now mentally with this
(37:32):
this and this going on, because I think that's what
we really want to know. Like, I know you're a
one for nine tonight, Luca from three, what happened bad?
Didn't go in there? It is like that's like that's
the airs of you're not afraid to bring that up.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Though you're not afraid to, you know, it's when somebody
has a bad game, When Lebron has a bad game,
you do bring that up, don't sure?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Well, the thing is is it depends on what what
kind of responsible type of fight are you looking for? Right,
Like there is a thin line when you're acting in course,
like I am not a fight start. I am not
looking for clickbait. I'm not looking for uh you know,
the the viral moment or I am not in those
press conferences looking for that. And there are people that
do that, like imagine, I'm not there. No, I'm not
(38:13):
there for that at all. Is it bad in the Lakers?
The Lakers? No, No, No, it's very control. It's very controlled.
It's very control. They have the PR person there and
you get the local guys Trudell and and Ireland, and
those guys get to go and then somebody Ramona if
she's there, a great young woman. Love talking to Romolo
Shelbourne if she's there, Christina Peek if she's there, a
great woman that works with the local TV guys. Yep ye,
(38:33):
so yeah, Jimmy, Oh absolutely, Jena. I talked to Jim
Hill last night. Jen was my god. I'm gonna meet
away for lunch coming up in a few weeks here.
But yeah, no, the press conference is it for me? Man?
And then walking the court pregame and then walking to
court after the game. I love to walking the court
and taking pictures. And it's cool to see certain players
like Austin Reeves comes out and he always has his
mother's at all the games, and it's really cool to
(38:55):
see that that she's there all the games supporting them.
And they'll go in the court and walk around talk
and she'll shoots like she'll literally stand out there and
say jumpers and he's he's her ball boy, you know,
he's feeding her the ball. Stuff like that. You get
to see that the cameras don't pick up where you
get to see the normal side of people. Draymond Green
a moment I called with him where it was found
(39:15):
I don't know the foundation, but he took time to
talk to these kids with disabilities and take pictures and
do videos and all this stuff. Before. You don't see
when he's one that you don't see that, and you
you're standing there and you're watching him talking to all
the parents and stuff, and it's a it's a different guy.
You can tell it's not fake. It's just that when
he's on the court, that that's that's a different guy
right there. He's got to turn that on when he
(39:36):
walks off the court, that's probably who he truly is.
And he's been great on TV. So the BA, the
backstory of the players and the press conference, that's my favorite.
Speaker 3 (39:44):
All right, our one just about it in the books.
It just flew on by unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
USA.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Canada is still tied to too with three thirty five
left in the game. Will keep you updated. We're gonna
come back. We'll let you know what happened in the game.
We got to get to the NFL. All rumors out there.
It will make your head spin. We also have the
list of our top ten quarterbacks. We'll get to that
also here on Fox Sports Radio,
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
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 (00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Heard the man VJ Husky Arnie Spaniard in for the
guys tonight Jason Smith and his best friend Mike Harmon
right here on Fox Sports Radio. The man with the
biggest biceps in all of sports radio?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Jausky? How you doing? How you're doing? What do you
curl right now? For power light? The ninety ninety fives? Okay,
I do ninety six? Yeah? This kid at the barbeo, Yeah,
I use the barbo individual dumbbells. I like about fifty,
but the Barbelle I used like ninety ninety fives. Man
by steps, my friend, how's it going tonight? Man? What's
(01:06):
happening with my friend? What's going on? Out standing? I'm
blessed to be here, I tell you all the time,
aren't you one of my favorite people on God's Green
Earth to do sports talk radio with me because we flow,
We have a lot of fun. We're both we're both
mindless dolphin fans. You know, you don't like getting out
the car when people are shoving you out because you
got on some flip flops in the snow. Like we
both do wild stuff we probably shouldn't do. So it's
(01:28):
just great to be here. Man, Let's hold it down
for the fellas. Man, keep the fans happy, and let's
rock yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Later on in the show, of course, Todd Furman is
gonna stop on by, especially when the hockey game's over.
He's gonna talk about the game. We'll talk a little
gambling in Vegas. So he's only guess we scheduled today
because I know VJ has a lot to say on
this four hour bonanza. If you want to be part
of the show, real simple, the best way to do
it is through Twitter or x or whatever you want
(01:53):
to call it. At Big Vanilla Funny, I'm a stinking
genius one. I know when I do this show with VJ,
we get a lot of tweets. Will try to keep
up and uh, you know, we'll keep your eye and
that we'll keeping an eye on the game also right now,
less than three minutes left in the second Canada to
USA two.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
I gotta tell you VJ.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
A week ago, I had no idea that this tournament
was even really taking place. I knew that there was
a four nations tournament, but I didn't really know which
four nations were. And I know USA and Canada was
I didn't I didn't know what the feel and the
vibe was going to be. I don't even think the
players knew that the feeling the vibe was going to
be this big. But this has lived up to everything.
(02:37):
What a what a great thing to have right in
the middle of the season. I've loved every moment of
this USA Canada game. Yeah, absolutely, but I gotta disagree
on just two points. Feeling, vibe, No, these players.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Know and and uh you know, special special alert, special
announcement to the NBA players. This is what it looks
like when you kind of have nothing to play for,
but you still kind of have everything to play for.
This is what it looks like, gentlemen, these guys, this
is USA and Canada hockey. And I'll try to act
like I'm the most avid hockey fan but I know
(03:10):
I watch a lot more NHL than most radio guys
and even here right, you know, I watch a lot
of hockey. I love this what I'm a Ranger fan.
I love them watching My Rangers. Grew up around the Capitol,
So I was in the DMV when alas Weavechkin first
got there. From the years they were terrible for like
fifteen twenty straight years they were terrible. They get Alexevetchkin boom,
They're selling out the Capital Center out there, in the
NCI Center, So you get a sense of the country pride.
(03:34):
It's bigger in hockey, man, and I think almost anything
else in sports. Think about it. We don't have football
in the Olympics, right basketball? Is it really? Do they
really still have that prior or kit We've really just
trot the world's best twelve guys out there. Yeah, Spain,
you'll give us a little run. Yeah, Australia, you'll give
us a little run. But at the end of the day,
who's gonna hold the gold medal? It's gonna be USA,
(03:56):
cause we just have the better guys. Hockey's not like that.
You have Russia, Sweden, you have Canada, you have the USA,
You have a lot of different countries in Norway, you
have a lot of different countriesmen that are really really good.
And that's what you get from watching the NHL. So no,
I think they know the field, they know what this
game means tonight, this thing right here, man, listen. There
was a pole question to these guys, what would you
(04:17):
rather have a victory over Canada or USA? Or Stanley Cupp?
Could you imagine that being asked about the super Bowl
or about in the Nbaha. No, they would take the
Super Bowl, they would take the NBA championship. The fact
that it's a thought in hockey. Would you rather be
USA being Canada or Canada being USA? Or win Lord Stanley?
And they go, I think that's what makes this great.
(04:41):
You bring up basketball.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Let me ask you this if you and forget about
what month it is, we're just doing the show today.
If the United States were let's say, playing the Soviet
Union in basketball and the winner takes all and we
had our version of the dream team out there, and
they had some big team and we were battling back
and forth, would we have the vibe that we have
right now? I would think so, right or even bigger.
(05:03):
I would think it'd be a bigger game than that,
right or sounds cute, Arnie, But.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
This isn't. This isn't the eighties. Okay, this isn't This
isn't Doug seventies. This isn't Doug Collins. Okay, this isn't
them being able to throw the ball in bounds and
catch it all the way down the court and get
the game winning layup to steal the gold medal. For
this isn't those times in basketball we can simply try
it out the twelve best players in the world collectively.
Now we don't get you know, Luca, We don't get Yannis. Okay,
(05:32):
there's a lot of guys we don't get. But we
still have enough for you to give us a little run. Yeah,
we got Steph Curry. Okay, who's going to hit three
straight threes in the gold medal game and put you away?
You don't have that. We do hockey. It's just different, man,
in USA. Is Listen, there were time we were getting
all we were getting but handed to us. All right,
now it's kind of turned weird. We're a good program.
(05:53):
They got a good thing going, man, But I think
it means the world and I do not think the
NBA if they're playing rushing a gold medal game, you
know it geinst a little juice, man, But you know
we're gonna win. You did you ever think we're gonna
lose the gold medal game? I last year.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
No, No, it could have happened, but I never really
anticipated it.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
But let me ask you this that, and I've brought
this up before.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
It's could be a tough say, but are hockey players
more patriotic than them than basketball players? Or is it
just the Is this like the perfect storm what we're
doing right now?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
I don't know. I don't I don't know if I
want to go there, because I can't question that's like
that's like trying to judge whether players really hurt or not.
I can't really judge someone's patriotism.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
I do know NBA players that play that come from
another country, they go home and play. I know that
they don't. They don't try to get USA citizen ship
and be h to try to play for the you know,
the the guaranteed gold medal. No, they go home to
their countries and they say, hey, we got a shot.
Every year in the Olympics, there's like six or seven
(06:51):
countries that's got a legitimate shot to win the gold medal.
Every every winner games, it's at the end of the
summer games. For basketball, it's it's not that it's not
that at all. We were going, well, went in the goal.
We're you know, we have the best players where you know,
we're we're the NBA, we're America.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Now.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
You know what's crazy is a regular season hockey game.
And I know the SEGA usually gives me the ratings
when we do the show Sunday night averages about a
million they give or take. Sometimes it's like eight hundred thousand,
sometimes it's one point.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Well, let's just say about the business sabers, you know
against uh, you know, and we against the devils, you
know the Devil's Yeah, you might get low rates on
the game, right, so but let's just say about a million.
We'll just go ahead and move it on up. This
last Saturday had ten point one million viewers.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
That's ten times the attendance, which the viewership, which by
the way, should be higher tonight or at least close
maybe a little bit more. It's just astounding that you
can have so many people and for the most part,
VJA it's a he goes gay. Right, it's just more
like an ex ben shit. This was like the end
(08:01):
place of the All Star Game. They're they're not playing
for the gold medal or.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Anything like that, you know, but it feels like it, right,
it does, and it feels like because it's still Canada
and US say go back and looking even on the
women's side, go back and look at those gold medal
matches in the winner games. Man, they're they're they're down
to you know, down to the last period and down
to the last minute, like this one is gonna be
two to one. USA looks in control. Bennett top shelf,
(08:25):
boom at the six minumrt. Now we're tied up to
too and going into the third period. Who's gonna close
this bad thing? Who's gonna close it off? Who's gonna
who's gonna make the passes? Because on the gold binness score,
we turned the ball the ball, sorry, we turned the
punk over in our own zone. You can't do that
against Canada. They're too fast, they're too skilled, you're too accurate.
And the past pass and then he goes into the
(08:46):
goal top shelf. It was easy. The goalie didn't have
a shot by the time he reacted the puck was
already by him. That that who's gonna make those mistakes?
Who's gonna make those plays? And the third I'm excited
about it. Man, this is better than any Is this
better than any All Star game? You want?
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, ye, Actually I got it. I got it when
I was working Sunday night.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Most of the time I'm kidding around, but I think
mostly I was curious on this. I'm like, you know,
Boston's only three and a half hours from where I live.
I had not known that I was going to be
filling in with you at the time when I was
doing the show Sunday night. So I'm like, you know,
maybe I'll drive down, enjoy some time down in Boston
and go to the game. I'll give myself a ticket
(09:26):
and really, just I mean enjoy this USA Canada game.
When I before USA and Canada were set to be
in the game, tickets were about seven eight hundred dollars
for the best seats after Canada had clinched it, twenty
eight hundred dollars three thousand dollars for the lower tier seats.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
I'm like, are you crazy? Are you that's insane? Hey? Man,
that tells you what kind of game it is. That
tells you what kind of game it is. ARENI right?
This is great, This is great theater, and we need
this right now. Right. If you look with what's going on,
there's football's done right. So these are kind of like
the dog days of if you're not a huge college
basketball head, and if you're not a huge NBA head,
(10:09):
you're really searching for something to watch. I guess this
is where a lot of people start. Football fans start
binge watching, you know, Netflix series, or pick up a
good book and start reading at night when you got
some downtime, instead of sitting on a sofa because there's
nothing that you're really into to watch this, you throw
country flags on a really good sport. Hockey's always good
when you watch it. We just haven't called on to
(10:31):
an American for some reason. I think it's even with
the NBA, I really do. I know the NBA pribab
might still out view them, maybe by a million, even
if half of that I think. I think the average
NBA viewing I think is like one point three million.
So if we're giving them a million, and I'll settle
for a fifty nine hundred, you can have the million,
I'll settle for a fifty nine hundred. But that's close.
The average hockey game being viewed in America in twenty
(10:52):
twenty five versus the average NBA game. It means all
the people on TV, all the talking heads like us
that are talking about the game, and you see the
T and T crew getting killed by everybody because they're
calling out the product and calling out the game. Hockey
just puts the product out there. They know where the
stars are. They market the stars, but they also market
the game of the team. The NBA, to me, got
lost about ten to fifteen years ago when we started
(11:14):
marketing narratives and ifs and what ifs, and he could
have had this, or he could have had that, or
he had that guy or he that has taken over
and Brian went horse this time. I've been saying since
I've been in Fox Sports Radio for nine years. But
Brian Winhorse echoed this on TV the other day, and
someone tweeted it to me and said, man, I've been
here as a guy Fox Sports Radio saying this for
about the last six or seven years. They don't market
(11:35):
the game, so then why do we care about it? Right? Right? Right?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
No, and of course it is about the stars out there.
And I was just about to ask you now that
we're done from the All Star weekend and ratings were
tremendously down.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I think it was terrible.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
It was eighty percent from maybe the one of the
couple of years so much it was just a miserable rating.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
NBA guy, you cover the Lakers, you go to the games,
you see a lot of the teams. What's going on here?
Speaker 3 (12:00):
What you listen to the fans in the crowd, what
are they going there and saying this sucks? I mean,
you're not gonna convince me VJ that someone's like, man,
I really wish they'd pull up and hit those mid
range jumpers.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
That that stuff what they're coming for. Where's the NBA
going wrong?
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Because they got a problem right now and it's only
getting worse.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Here. Here's the thing. You don't hear that at stadiums,
and this is why the average NBA fan that goes
to a game that's probably their only game they're going
to that season. Yes, you have your season ticket holders,
but there are a slew of fans that go to
these games and covering the NBA up close and personal.
Now as I do. I love walking the core, the
(12:43):
concourses and just watching fans. You can tell bro whose
first time it is, you could say. You can see
it in their face, you can see it in their eyes,
whether they're a grown man, a twelve year old kid,
a thirteen year old young girl who plays AAU basketball
who loved Kobe, and those fans of Gigi are Peter,
both of them and the other ones lost on the helicopter.
You see so much going on, it's like wow, and
(13:04):
you hear people, yeah, this is my first I've lived
in La all my life, this is my first Laker game,
and it'll be a forty four year old woman you're
talking to. So the average fan is not gonna go
there first, even second or third game and complain and yell.
Those are the guys that go at least fifteen twenty.
They buy the cheap seats or they got season tickets.
Those are the ones you kind of hear the grumblings from.
But that's not gonna matter. They're still gonna show up.
(13:25):
You're a season ticket holder, You prepaid for this. Unless
you're selling it, you're not wasting it.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Even even the guys watching on TV are not enjoying
the product.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
No, yeah, you're just saying yello, you sting yelling anything
on your sofa. Yeah, and we all do, right, you
can sit yell anything in your sofa. But I'm gonna
go enjoy the game even if the product's bad. If
I drive an hour and fifteen minutes up to the
one oh one to try to get over the crypto park,
five parking walk, get in, get some to eat, get
them to drink, get to my seat, that's two and
(13:56):
a half hours just to start the game. Right, I'm
gonna go and myself, I'm not coming to complain. I
know what the product is, but hey, I came up
with some lake of tickets. Hey you want to go,
and I'm going. Well.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Draymond Green, of course, over the weekend on Sunday really
talking about the NBA All Star Game or and talking
about the product of the NBA saying it's just garbage.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
It's just straight out bad.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Whether he was talking about the new format of the
NBA or just the overall. He said that the product
was boring, is what he said about the game of
the NBA. When did it become boring? What exactly are
we missing? Because the athleticism is better than ever. The
shooting is better than ever. Your bigger, stronger, taller. Like
(14:40):
I said, what do we say?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Gee?
Speaker 3 (14:42):
I missed the old days of the bank shot, the
two end and chess password.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
What do you want? Is what I'm asking VJ. What not?
Speaker 3 (14:50):
You particularly? But what do people want? That there? They
think the product is so bad right now? What are
they missing? I guess I think two things. I call
it the try and care.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
They want guys to actually really try all the time,
and they want you to actually care all the truth.
And we just don't see that now. Lakers just tipped
tonight they up in Portland on the back to back,
surprised to see Lebron out there. I'll tip my hat
to that because this is normally a game. He could
have done a load management and he didn't because Luca's
out tonight on his you know, trying to work him
back in and he didn't play well at all last night,
(15:22):
either one or nine from three. So they want guys
to try all the time, and they want you to
care all the time. Pks whu Bannon? I text you
and shade this the other night. Exactly right? Was that not?
Perfectly said? It was perfectly said. We want you, tan't
you know a lot of heat about that. We want Well,
that's fine because we soft in society, so that don't matter.
Just go ahead and say what you're gonna say. So listen,
(15:42):
if you say what they want to say I want
you to say, they'll get mad. And if you say
what they want you to say over here, the other
side get mad. So you might as well just say
what you want to say because somebody's gonna get mad.
You can't worry about that. But he didn't tell no lies.
He said, we want the Kobe's, we want the Jordan's,
we want the Magics, we want the Garnets, the Duncans,
the ways we want those guys, and you point you
look around Steph, Durant and Lebron. I think that's like
(16:04):
the last in my opinion, that's like the last stuff
that era. Look at all the young guys in the
league and stuff we have now we will cover winby later,
we'll talk about him. But another young player who's gonna
miss the rest of the year could be worse than that.
They're saying, but go ahead, yeah, but it's it's that.
That's what I think the fans won. They want to
try care to your point about the shootings better. I
always have a riff with that because the only reason
(16:26):
why I am opinion the shootings better is because the defense
is far worse. That could be true their teams, Darre Knights,
where we're watching teams score one thirty seven in regulation.
That that's not to say it didn't happen in the eighties.
So all you eighties a bunk growing out there. The
eighties were bad exactly because the Mavericks could score, Golden
State could score, Alex English and them old nugget teams
they'll put up one hundred and thirty, hundred and thirty five,
(16:48):
the old Pistons from eighties piszones, they'll throw one thirty one.
The Bulls, Mike and them Bulls will throw one twenty five,
one thirty And as it was those seventy six seventy
two games, right exactly when defense really bogged down, where
it was a time where early three teams averaged over
one hundred points because guys played defense. I think the
defense in today's game is so atrocious. You go watch
a live game sometimes, Arnie, I watch off the ball.
(17:09):
I want to see who's boxing out. Nobody boxes out anymore.
You could just run free and go get rebounds, and
most guys don't wait for him, I mean don't go
get them. They wait for him. Just watch off the
ball and watch basketball. Jeff Van Gundy commented on that
for like three or four straight telecasts from when he
was calling games for A teen and teen, he's like, no,
I mean for ESPN, he's like, no one boxes out,
there's no boxing out. There's no reason why the guy
(17:30):
like Rudy Gobert shouldn't average like eighteen nineteen boards. Who's
boxing them out? You're the biggest dude of your you know,
multiple time defensive player of the Year, like you should
be getting like eighteen nineteen boards. Dennis Robber was getting
eighteen nineteen seventeen a night dog at six ' nine,
back in the day where he was battling real true
seven to one seven two giants that stayed in the post.
They stayed in the painting guarded, and he was able
(17:52):
to still put up numbers like that.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
You can read just the best way it's through Twitter.
He's at big vanilla fun eight. I'm just thinking genius one.
We're off and running. We got our eye on the game.
We got a lot to get to. I also want
to tell you be sure to check out Fox Sports
Radio YouTube channel, especially this weekend. There's a ton of
great videos from this week alone on Fox Sports Radio
is live from the super.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Bowl in New Orleans.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
That was a lot of fun, So check it on out.
I was looking at the videos. Looks hysterical. All the
videos from the great big name interviews can be found
there on the YouTube page. Just search Fox Sports Radio
on YouTube and you'll see a whole bunch of video
highlights from our shows and from all the other guys
that were down there. Be sure to subscribe so you
can always have instant access out there on Fox Sports
(18:37):
Radio video videos on YouTube. We're gonna come back. VJ
goes to the Laker games. I want to ask him
about Lebron and is the media being too hard on Lebron?
Are the fans being too hard on Lebron. We'll get
to all that coming up next us we'll update you
on the USA Canada game.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Right here on Fox Sports Radio. 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 3 (19:09):
Right, good evening, everybody, v J Husky, Arnie Spaniar in
for the guys to night. Jason Smith and his best
friend Mike Carmon is alive at the tire rack dot
Com studios. J very nervous about this game.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
I don't know why. I'm just like, come on, we
gotta win, we gotta win. Yeah, I'm telling you what
you already felt like this. You ain't felt like this
watching no NBA game, and like, I mean, listen, I'm
not and I'm not trying to sit here and like
bang on the NBA. But listen, I'm glued to this.
It's on two screens in here. I got it up
on my ipass to no commercial break. I can cut
the volume up because I love listening to Sean McDonough
(19:39):
cal hockey. He's great at that, So I you know it. Yeah, man,
I'm on the edge of my seat. I don't want
to lose this game, I say, Bro Clay, I don't
want that. I don't want to lose like I have.
I have a horse in this race, Bro, I don't
want to lose this game tonight. Are you kidding?
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Me before we get to Lebron, you know, because a
lot of people getting us on Twitter. If you want
to get ahold of us, big vanilla funny, I'm at
stinking genius swamp.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Darryl says.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
The shooting is better than ever, and they just take
awful shots nightly. The athleticism if is off the charge,
yet the IQ is lower than ever. They're bigger, stronger
and faster, Yet they miss more games than ever. They
don't play defense. It's just an overall bad product. That's
(20:21):
That's the one thing too. We didn't bring up. They
just missed more games than ever, whether it's load management
or what what Joel Embiad has done.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
He's missed more games. It's a mockery. Yeah, he's missed
more games. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
And Paul George and you know, just some of the
guys out the Kawhi Leonard is what I really meant.
It's just it's horrible and it's just taking advantage. And
if I was an order, i'd try to get back
some of my money. But it's it's just damaged the
game in ways. I don't know how they're ever going
to get that back. People are like, what do you
mean they're not playing tonight. They barely play half the
(20:56):
season nowadays, you know, and real quick.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Cyber a real fastive months. You can hear me right
now because you mentioned Paul George, and you know, she's
a big Clipper guy. And I remember when he left
and then the way he left, and then when he
came back and was kind of like telling on the
Clippers how everything was going down. I remember doing the
show that day and it was like, yeah, it sounds
like the Clippers made the right move man by letting
that guy go and moving on from him, because same
thing going on out there. Fleeced man for two one
(21:20):
hundred plus million cash dollars that he will get Garret
ron t They miss more games, Listen, you want to
talk about missing games. They have a rule now that
if you don't play a certain amount. They were just
at the number two where you can't see these seven.
I don't even know what it is. That's how important
the rule is the game, right, I don't care because
I did the season awards. The end season awards in
(21:41):
the NBA are weird. They're like they're like they're like
the with the NFL voltes now. But it's when you
even look at guys missing games like I'm so far
past that, Like that's just the product now, So you
have a product problem if guys aren't going to show
up and guys are gonna play. That's what I said.
I give Lebron props tonight because played a lot of
minutes last night covering the game with them and the
(22:02):
loss against Charlotte one hundred and ninety seven I expected
on the back to back from probably the cincinnight. And
he suits up, especially coming down the stretch that fight
for playoff position, not trying to fall into the play
So you know, from time to time you'll see guys
lace hm up and go. I just don't think we
see it enough. And he listen, I think guys play
more than they don't unless they're injury prone. But the
load management is just so league wide now. And it's okay,
(22:25):
why is he out foot soreness, elbow sore it Like okay,
you're yeah, you're sore. You've played fifty something basketball games.
You should be sore. Leron made the miraculous come back
after not being yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean just and
listen last night at the game, they introduced the Lakers
and they come running out. He comes sprinting, sprinting out
(22:49):
all the way to lift to the court on purpose,
right up to the front, right to the front row,
so everybody, you know, you can see him. I watched
the whole and I tweet immediately, I said, hey, Laker,
there were reports, you know, him doing air quotes, that
they were expected to possibly sit him these two games
against lower type teams the Hornets and then Portland and
Night on the back to back and then bring him
back in the following game, which would have given him
nine to ten days rest, since he didn't do anything
(23:11):
for All Star and their last game was a back
to back against Utah. On that back to back night
last week on the Tuesday and Wednesday, he comes spreading out.
I tweet, Yeah, reports were and it's why I don't
always believe and listened to all the reports that they were
considering send him for two games. Well, no, they couldn't
been because he's playing the night now. If he didn't
play last night, he played tonight, the considering two games
would have worked for me. But the fact that he
played last night and he played tonight, Yeah, that's that's buckus.
(23:34):
I called Shenan against buke, I'm spreading out and I'm
saying I tweeted, yeah, man, you know ankle sword that
says that's a funny thing. You know, you wake up
and it's gone and you're ready to play. I loved it.
I loved it.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
I'm glad people are exposing him, big vanilla funny.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
I'm it stinking genius one. We're gonna come back.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
We're gonna answer that Lebron question that's going to be
next first though, Let's check him first time tonight. Moncy Bolanos,
who says I'm her favorite host by the way, who.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Secret can't play favorites in this business?
Speaker 2 (24:08):
ARENI? What is treading? Before you get going? Did you
hear my thing about Paul George? Right? And now how I.
Speaker 5 (24:15):
Did not because I'm watching my Clippers lose.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Right.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
I had you guys on real low because I'm watching
the scoopy Clippers lose right now.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Remember the show we did when he came out with
his comments about how the whole contract thing went down
and we both looked at each other like, you guys
dodged amazing a major bullet and that's hony.
Speaker 5 (24:33):
And even like a.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Year before the season when it when it was rumored
that they were going to extend both of them. I
was already against that even before, like the last season,
you know, I was like I heard, I was already
against it. But what what a dodged bullet it was?
Speaker 3 (24:47):
For?
Speaker 5 (24:48):
Yes, I am glad that you want all this money
to be number three.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
I am glad that you want all this and not
have to play and then I have to play you.
But you scored two points in your game right before
the All Star break, but then you went to Cancun
with your girlfriend. I think it was fine, it was fine,
But you scored two points in that last game.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
No, no, a completely dodged bullet.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
But that bullet is hitting the Clippers right now because
we're freaking losing. Officially have lost to the Bucks. I'm
so annoyed. One sixteen to one ten was the final score.
Brook Lopez had a pretty good game, Jannis Optakoupo, Damian Lillard.
They all ended up playing because they were kind of
questionable of Vita Zubots had twenty points, fifteen rebounds, four LA.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
Now, the Bucks did have a story earlier today.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Their forward Bobby Portis has been suspended twenty five games
for testing positive for a banned substance. Then Nicks held
on to defeat the Bulls in overtime one thirteen to
one eleven Karl Anthony Town's thirty two points and eighteen rebounds.
Cavaliers still number one in the East. They took down
the Nets one ten to ninety seven. The Magic and
the Hawks were back and forth. Orlando came out on
(25:44):
top at the end, one fourteen to one Oha, but
it was a show between Palo Bancaro and Trey Young.
Ben Cao thirty six points, ten rebounds, Young thirty eight
point six assists. The Celtics have handed those seventy six
ers their six straight loss. Boston, I know, came out
on top one twenty four to one oh four eight.
In that one, the Pacers defeated the Grizzlies won twenty
seven to one thirteen.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
While three games are going on. Yeah, no, you've mentioned it.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
I think VJ no Luka doncc already for the Lakers
in this game, but they are beating the Trailblazers nineteen
thirteen late in the first quarter. At halftime, the Spurs
are on top of the Sun sixty to fifty four.
The Spurs are shutting down victor Ian Banana Matt for
the rest of the season because of a blood clot
in his shoulder. The Nuggets are on top of the
Hornets at home, ninety two to ninety one.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
Late in the third quarter. Nikola Jokic pretty close.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
To a triple double like any other game, twenty four points,
ten rebounds, and seven assists. We have one ranked men's
college basketball team going on right now, number twenty, Maryland
just on top of USC eighty two to sixty nine
with three minutes to go in the game. And in
hockey Canada, USA still tied at to apiece with about
thirteen minutes to go in the third period. In other
(26:51):
news that happened earlier today, Cowboys guard Zach Martin announced
he's retiring after eleven seasons. It included seven first team
All Pro selections. He started every game that he played
during his career, one hundred and.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
Sixty two games. Seven holding penalty. Yes, that's it, that's it.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
He was good. And that's some Joe Thomas type stuff.
That's some Orlando Pace type stuff. That's Jonathan og Yeah, I.
Speaker 5 (27:14):
Know, I thought it was a type that I had
to go look it up.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
That's Richmond web type stuff right there.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
Stupid, but no, no, no, no jokes on me.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
And lastly, here guys in college football Texas and USC,
well they're joining Nebraska and canceling their spring games for
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
So called it? Did you called it two weeks ago?
Called it? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (27:31):
Up in Adams Show today.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I don't want to hear about the money. Yeah, I
don't want to hear about the money. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
So they have three teams right now. All right back
to you guys.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Thanks BONSI don't like to see that dive in spring
games used to be big.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
We'll get to that later on. I'm sure we'll get
little thoughts on that. Really really just really quick on you.
On Martin and VJ no the Sega. Martin and I
we had a good about six seven minute and they
kept talking about the money and the money. I said, guys,
they will make that money up some way somehow. They're not.
It's affecting the guys wanting to leave transfer Worter block
and I, hey, this is what it is. Buckle up, guys.
More schools are coming.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Right, and it's as shame as it used to be
a big thing. I mean, they used to get to
sell the crowds. But yeah, it's it's always good for
the community. But that's a whole nother story, big vanilla funny.
I'm it's thinking genius. One word for the guy's side,
Jason Smith and his best friend Mike Harmon. I got
(28:23):
to ask him. I know you cover the Lakers, but look,
as much as I think Lebron is egotistical and as
much as I hate the whole you know, the All
Star Game thing, and he didn't play in the last minute,
I'm gonna take pictures and blah blah blah. We can
come up with a million reasons here of j why
you're mad at the guy? You don't like him, He's
very petty, fights with the media all the time on Twitter.
(28:45):
This goes back from him and Doug Gottlieb. We're getting
into all that. That shocked me. I'm not going to
front that. Surprised Lebron. Well, yeah, anyway, go ahead, But
I think is one are we too hard on him?
I mean, it's not like he he's committed any crimes.
He's been a model player for the NBA. He's been
(29:05):
what possibly the one or two best in the history
of the game.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Why are exactly we so mad at him? Are we
a little too hard on MVJ? What do you think?
I don't know if we're too hard on him, and
I don't know if anybody's mad at him. I just
think that we're in the air now in sports coverage
where it's a twenty four to seven news cycle, and
you know, player empowerment I always thought was bad for
(29:31):
any pro league. You don't let the you don't let
the what it was it the inmates run the asylum. Right,
you're done. You can't let players run the league. That's
why they're cbas. That's why there's a player's union. You
try to make it as fair as you can. The
owners make more than everybody, and then and then it
trickles down, right, It's it's just the way it is.
When you start giving power over simple economics, right, yeah,
(29:55):
it's simple economics. But we start letting nigna. Let an
employee have power over the seventh floor, but he can't
control the building that belongs to the guy with the
big office at the top that overlooks the city with
the putt and green and the corner. Excuse me that
that's that's for him. He gets all the shots and
control things. You can control these two floors though, like
(30:15):
you could control your team, you know, player power owners
doing things with Lebron wants to do and stuff. Well,
I mean, the guy's powerful. It just it's the way
power works in America. It always has been this way.
I think what happens is once again coming from PK.
Subn we We we are used to the older generation.
I believe it's just used to a different type of
power and athlete where you're willing it to to to
(30:38):
put the fear of God and your opponents and just
beat everybody and win as much as you can and
take it on the chin when it's meant to be
taking it on the chin, not everybody else's fault, or
throwing people under the bus, you know, coach killer, things
of that nature. So I don't think people are mad
at him, and I don't think people are mean. I
just think that he's either a guy you like or
don't like, and that's just what it is. You either
liked Kobe or didn't like Kobe, either like the Gardenet
(30:59):
or you didn't like Garnett, right, like the media made
sure that we picked sides between Magic and Bird. Remember
when they came in seventy nine. Oh yeah, the media
made sure you picked a side two years ago. I said,
right here in this year and said, the media make
sure you picked the side between Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese. Right,
the media made sure you picked a side. So there's
you either like certain players or you don't. And I
just think he falls into that category. Just that he
(31:21):
may not. He may be at the top of all
time of you either hate the guy or you love
the guy. There is really no middle ground winner. He
might be the top guy of all time that falls
into that category.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Now, you said you were surprised about the whole Godleeb
feud that he had.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
I was shocked. I'm like, yeah, what is going on here? Yeah?
First of all, you're Lebron.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
You're talking about a school that nobody else is really
talking about other than the Godlieb and we wished.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Up the best.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
But I mean, what what exactly is this? And I'm like,
what did exactly the Doug say? Was it because he
said Brodny didn't deserve to be in the NBA?
Speaker 2 (31:52):
I don't. I don't even know, man, I don't.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
It's shocked about that. Should Lebron will be paid attention
and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
You know, well, I mean he's got rabbit as we
know that. This is the guy that once famously said
that he didn't he doesn't see Skip Baylis's tweets. But
then it come to find out he was following them, right,
Like these things, these things happen like we we know,
we know, like like they old just really quick with
lebron d like the old All Star thing. It didn't
bother me. Why because I expect that from him, Like
things only bother you if you still are trying to
(32:20):
figure out the person or are you still trying to
figure out a situation. That's when you get bothered when
you know what it is. What why Andelus said, when
people show you who they are, you what you believe them.
He shown us who he is, right, you know, so
you you believe what he's You know what he's gonna
do and what he's gonna say. So listen, it is
what it is. At this point, I don't know what
(32:41):
God leaves said. I just I just read the back
and forth. So so Bronnie he Doug basically said that
Brownie wouldn't start on his team. Oh that's right. Oh wow, Wow.
See I didn't know that for art. Now all right,
can I reverse real fast?
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Go ahead, go ahead that reverse real yes, yes, good.
I might have said son back too. I ain't gonna lie.
You said that about my son Carrie, he said, by
my son Teddy. I might. I might got a fire
back too. He doesn't. He didn't have to. But I
get it. But Lebrono says, to understand, you literally did
tweet to the world that your son was better than
(33:19):
half the bleeps in this league. Bleep it's lightweight, hilarious,
like you tweeted that. Yes, And I understand pumping your
son up and all and that get it. We were
at the game last night and talking about LaVar Ball,
and I'm I'm a mellow fan. I think this kid
is gonna be really good if he gets out of Charlotte.
He's a really good basketball player. He showed it last night.
He carried him in his stretch in the fourth quarter
(33:39):
and had the game winning uh and one and the
two clinching free throws to win the game last night.
But like LaVar Ball did it too right. He threw,
he protected his sons. He threw his sons out there.
But once they got there, he fell off. You don't
hear from him no more. He's gone. He created generational
wealth for three sons. His son was rapping at the
at the damn All Star thing like he didn't make
the league, but guess where he was still at? Or
(34:01):
the court at the All Star game? Symbolic, right, yeah,
I may not be playing, but I'm still walking on
the court at the All Star Game. Lebron, you got
just sent into the league. We get it. And now
if somebody goes, all right, he's not good at this
or that, I don't think you know. It's like, well, dude,
you did say that he was better than half the league,
and we all know that that's not true. Man. A
radio guy, a radio guy put it out there that
he coaches a college team and said, hey, yes, son
(34:23):
couldn't play for Mike, he couldn't play on my team.
But then you expect the dad. He has the right
to fireback as a dad. He's VJ.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
Husky, Get a hold of him, a big vanilla funny.
I'm Arnie span you'r a midstinking genius one. What's like
to hang out with Lebron? Vj's gonna tell us because
he covers the Lakers. That's coming up next right here
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific. All Right, good evening everyone. Of course some
VJ Husky Arnie Span.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
You're in for the guys tonight Jason Smith and his
best friend Mike Harmon. Right here on Fire Sports Radio.
By the way, we are live from the Tireraq dot
Com studios. Still to two, coming up on the five
minute mark left in the game. If it does and
in a two two tie, well then they'll go in
the overtime. It'll be five on five overtime, twenty minute periods.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
No four and four, no three on three.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
No shootout from what I understand, but it'll be twenty
minute periods. I don't know if it's a double overtime.
What they'll do after that, We'll have to find out
and see and exactly how it should be. I don't
want no shootout.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Keep playing, keep playing it to somebody puts the biscuit
in the basket, and when it hits the back game done.
Throw the gloves up, throw the helmet off, and the
sticks and run on the ice and celebrate, man like,
I hope it go to overtime. I love to see
an overtime finish in his game because that way, you know,
next shot, next goal. When it hits overtime, you know
next goal wins exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Now, VJ. I follow you on social media. I love
when you cover the Lakers. I back in the day
when I did local radio in Los Angeles one year
we follow the Lakers even through the playoffs home and
road games. Also we didn't go on the same flight,
but we went to all the games. It was quite
the experience. I mean it was, you know, being around
(36:11):
Shaq and Kobe and just stuff like that. What do
you love about it most, man, Because it's not so
much about the postgame press conferences.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
It's just you know, seeing their demeanor before a game,
and to me, that.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Was like one of the most interesting things.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
You know.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Yeah, I do like that. I get there early. I
like to get to Crypto at about five thirty and
tips are at seven, right, so right, you get there
early enough. Last night, we'll get there and LaMelo Ball
is out there going through his pre game. I always
like to get there early. For the Warriors to watch stuff,
and that's part of it, watching guys go through their
pre game and seeing okay, so that's just not luck.
He just did that fifty times in the court, you know,
(36:49):
two hours before tip off, So when he does it tonight,
it's not luck. He works on that, and you can
imagine in the offseason how much he works on it. Also,
to the press conference is really really big for me
because I have a very intriguing type of question of
question in my like an inquiring mind. I rarely ask
about the game because I think that that's low hanging fruit.
And I've been complimenting and this isn't a bragger anything.
(37:10):
This is just facts. I've been compliment on certain NFL
and NBA guys as they're leaving and walk by me,
have taped me and say, hey, man, good questions. I
appreciate that. Are Justin Herbert told me you ask good
questions all year long. Man, we talk about you keep
doing your thing, And that was big for me to
hear that from Justin Herbert the last game that I
covered before they went on their two road games to
end this season. So I like to ask mentality type questions,
you know, where you are right now mentally with this
(37:32):
this and this going on, because I think that's what
we really want to know. Like, I know you're a
one for nine tonight, Luca from three, what happened bad?
Didn't go in there? It is like that's like that's
the airs of you're not afraid to bring that up.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Though you're not afraid to, you know, it's when somebody
has a bad game, When Lebron has a bad game,
you do bring that up, don't sure?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Well, the thing is is it depends on what what
kind of responsible type of fight are you looking for? Right,
Like there is a thin line when you're acting in course,
like I am not a fight start. I am not
looking for clickbait. I'm not looking for uh you know,
the the viral moment or I am not in those
press conferences looking for that. And there are people that
do that, like imagine, I'm not there. No, I'm not
(38:13):
there for that at all. Is it bad in the Lakers?
The Lakers? No, No, No, it's very control. It's very controlled.
It's very control. They have the PR person there and
you get the local guys Trudell and and Ireland, and
those guys get to go and then somebody Ramona if
she's there, a great young woman. Love talking to Romolo
Shelbourne if she's there, Christina Peek if she's there, a
great woman that works with the local TV guys. Yep ye,
(38:33):
so yeah, Jimmy, Oh absolutely, Jena. I talked to Jim
Hill last night. Jen was my god. I'm gonna meet
away for lunch coming up in a few weeks here.
But yeah, no, the press conference is it for me? Man?
And then walking the court pregame and then walking to
court after the game. I love to walking the court
and taking pictures. And it's cool to see certain players
like Austin Reeves comes out and he always has his
mother's at all the games, and it's really cool to
(38:55):
see that that she's there all the games supporting them.
And they'll go in the court and walk around talk
and she'll shoots like she'll literally stand out there and
say jumpers and he's he's her ball boy, you know,
he's feeding her the ball. Stuff like that. You get
to see that the cameras don't pick up where you
get to see the normal side of people. Draymond Green
a moment I called with him where it was found
(39:15):
I don't know the foundation, but he took time to
talk to these kids with disabilities and take pictures and
do videos and all this stuff. Before. You don't see
when he's one that you don't see that, and you
you're standing there and you're watching him talking to all
the parents and stuff, and it's a it's a different guy.
You can tell it's not fake. It's just that when
he's on the court, that that's that's a different guy
right there. He's got to turn that on when he
(39:36):
walks off the court, that's probably who he truly is.
And he's been great on TV. So the BA, the
backstory of the players and the press conference, that's my favorite.
Speaker 3 (39:44):
All right, our one just about it in the books.
It just flew on by unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
USA.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Canada is still tied to too with three thirty five
left in the game. Will keep you updated. We're gonna
come back. We'll let you know what happened in the game.
We got to get to the NFL. All rumors out there.
It will make your head spin. We also have the
list of our top ten quarterbacks. We'll get to that
also here on Fox Sports Radio,
Hosts And Creators
Jason Smith
Mike Harmon
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