The Best of Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon!

Welcome into the Best of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon! Ryan Hollins filling in for Mike Harmon joins Jason and reminisce their glory days playing sports! Dallas wasn't built to win a NBA title, Mike Trout finally speaks on the scandal within his fantasy league, and the Lakers need to tank this upcoming season! Plus, Mark Medina - National Writer & Insider for NBA.com joins the guys!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmen podcast. Be sure to catch us
live every weeknight from ten pm to two a m.
Eastern seven to eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio.
Find your local station for The Jason Smith Show with
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by searching f s R. This is the best of

(00:22):
the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
All the big dogs in with us tonight. Time to
eat Fox Sports Radio. Welcome inside the Jason Smith Show
with Ryan Hollins in from Mike Harmon. Through a valued customer,
you deserve a simple gesture of appreciation from your credit
card company. So why I discover matches all the cash

(00:44):
back you've earned the end of your first year. Discover
exceptionally common sense, learn more. Discover dot com slash match
limitations they do apply. Well, I'll tell you Ryan, we
made We almost made it, man. You know the forty
five day break between the conference finals and the NBA Finals.
We've made it. We're We're on Game one finals. Eve.
I think it's time to get excited. Yeah, I mean,

(01:06):
it's about time, and you know what, we got the
matchup we wanted. Did you want to see the Heat?
Oh no, I want to come on, man, really it
had to be the Celtics and the Warriors. Listen, we
have all due respect for what the Heat have done.
They're grinders, they're hard workers. It's an amazing story. But
they play a very slow style of basketball. I think
this is a season they can be extremely proud of.

(01:27):
But you get more of a box office, more of
a a match up with Warriors and Curry versus the Celtics.
Their tradition, you know, is take them going to be
the next name you got. You got a little bit
more star power with the Celtics. With all due respect,
we love what the Heat did, but you know you
got a little more to watch here. No, no, I
could say it. I mean real outside of Heat fans

(01:48):
who wanted to see the Heat, Right, you can only
make Jimmy Butler so much, Right, you can make Jimmy
Butler's Hey, Jimmy Butler is a great player. He'll score
forty one game, he'll score nine in the next game.
You can only make the Heat happen to a point
and as good as Luca is. Can you imagine it
will be? All right, We're gonna talk about Luca for
the next like ten days and what he's got and
what he's got to improve. I mean, the NBA got

(02:08):
lucky because Warriors Celtics. That's kind of what you wanted
if they had Mavericks and heat. Oh boy, this isn't
Lebron versus Dirk. You know we're not. We're not getting
that matchup again. So this was This was about as
good as the NBA could ope for because I think
more people would watch you and me and Frostburg and Harmon,
you know, getting that because you know we because I

(02:29):
know what our offense is gonna be. It would be
you down low and the four of us hoisting up threes.
That's all it would be, and you and you down low,
and as soon as you got the rebound, I'd be
the one clapping going back out, come on, back out,
back out, back out, back out. And that's what I
would do. Come on, back out, back out, come on,
I got another shot, come on back out to me.
No chance you would take care of you. Let's take
care you get your wide, you're you're open. I'm gonna

(02:50):
get you too, basketball. I don't worry, but just just
hit your open joppers for me. All right? Who is
who is your teammate that would do that? All the
years you played? Who is the one guy that every
time you got the ball if you had to rebo
was always like, hey, back out to me. Who was
who was the guy that did that to you? I
mean like like that verbally you would go back out
or just so you knew wanted the ball back, like
right away, whether verbally or clapping wanting the ball, and

(03:11):
who is that guy wanted it right back? So you're
saying like obnoxious a little bit or like oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah, Like I was just right there like oh,
rebound eight back out, back out, come on, back out,
come on, come on, come on home. You don't do
that in the NBA. It doesn't not like park ball,
and I'm thinking about this is not park ball. It's
it's almost it's like disrespectful. You can't do that. No, no, no, no,

(03:32):
it doesn't happen to the NBA. Even that happens, you're
like Kobe Bryant could get away with that. Kobe, wha
eight plays off, get me the basketball? And you had
to get Kobe the ball. Okay, there's not normally you know, happening.
Kobe can get away with it. Come on, Chris Paul
never did that to you. Come on, man, Chris Paul
never did that. Never, never did that. He give me
the ball back? Well, no, Chris is a great passer,

(03:54):
so you wanted to throw him the ball because he'd
get the ball back to you. You know he's gonna
make the right play. So it's not in the sense
that you're saying anybody who's ever played picked the basketball.
You know that guy who wants to score every point.
He may even airballed or you know, hit three in
a row. He's gonna be clapping for the ball. You know,
he doesn't want anybody else shooting. You know, he's not
the same in the NBA, not the same, not not

(04:14):
quite there. Come on, he checked, man, I need a
heat check. Give me the ball, give me the ball.
I'm gonna do it. Is that's a type of ball
player you are? Uh oh, No, I would have to
I would have to actually get really hot to be
in a heat check. Okay, I would never get that hot.
You're if you're clapping, it's a reason, Okay, yeah, because
some clappers don't need a reason to clap, they're just clappers. Yeah. No, no,

(04:37):
because because when I played, I wasn't one of these,
because you know, I'm only five nine. I couldn't get
my own shot like I had to be able to,
you know, catch and shoot or be away for a
defender where it was a dribble and I could take
a three, Like, there's no way. I was like, you know,
I wasn't doing the Kobe. I got the ball and
I'm gonna you know, head butt you to push you
back and then laid back. And I was not doing that.
That That was not my game. I could not do

(04:59):
that at least you you know who you are. You
know he said he check? Is he checked? You know
who you are as a player, man, That's all I asked. Sometimes.
You know we gonna play pick up ball. You play.
Don't be somebody that you're not. Nobody likes the guy
who's somebody that he's not. You're You're right at any level.
That is a thing. That's why we say Kobe Bryant's
the guy who can clap and you don't get offended.

(05:21):
You know, it's like not get him the ball that's Kobe. Yeah,
it's very anti my personality too, because you know me,
I'm kind of alph I want but on on the
basketball court, I was always, hey, I'm gonna stay in
my lane, right. I know what I do well and
I'm gonna do it and I'm not gonna try to
do something that I can't do. Other sports I played
with playing football or hockey or softball. Oh yeah, man,
I tried to do it all. I could do this,

(05:42):
I could do this, But basketball I always knew. And
that's why people like me being on their team. I
was always I was always a point guard or I
would play shooting guard to be a combo guard if
somebody else when when we when we had teams going,
because they knew that I would make good decisions with
the ball and I wouldn't try to do something I couldn't.
I picked my spots, man, people with people like playing
with me, and I was pretty good. I was like
the Steph Curry of pickup guys in in the Greater

(06:05):
Central New York area when I was at Syracuse. Wow, yeah,
I mean I didn't make those three but people like
playing with me. That's what it was. You're likable you're likeable. Okay, okay, yeah,
oh yeah, I was completely Oh yeah, yeah, I'll take Jason.
Yeah yeah, because you know, when I get in trouble,
here's the ball, I'm not turning it over. I'm gonna
get it to You're gonna do something, gonna working out
football shirt. You're the shirt tackler and football. I remember

(06:28):
to good memory by you do good. I dig that.
I take that about you. You know. As the NBA veteran,
I kind of classify people with their scouting report as
soon as I meet them, Like I'm kind of like,
what type of athletes are you? I kind of size
you up, and that's it's just a natural thing. So
like I'll I may forget a lot of stuff. I
won't forget a scouting report, you know, I gets it's

(06:50):
almost a curse, Like yeah, yeah, Jason Smith, he's right handed. Um,
you know if he's going left, he's going left to pass.
You know, he's got to turn away j from the
left block. Like, I know you're scouting report. Once I
see it, I know it. Other things I may forget,
all right, everything else I've forgotten. Well, that's kind of
why you played in the NBA as long as you
because you remembered stuff like that. Yeah, because I got

(07:12):
a feeling that there's a lot of NBA players that don't,
that don't remember scouting reports and just gyago out and
do my thing. Yeah, and they didn't know, like when
I were in my position, you didn't. That's that was
the difference between me and you. I remember, I remember
the plays and you didn't. Ye, Like when I watched
Russell Westberg play defense, I know, Okay, he has not
looked at the scouting report. He's just kind of standing basketball.

(07:34):
Russell Westbrook's not a role player, man. He doesn't need
the scouting report role players needed. So is that what
the coacher do? We say, all right, and all the
stars over here, all you role players, We're gonna get
to the scouting reports. Over all you guys over here
for film right now, superstars, go do whatever you want
to do. Pretty much, if the play got messed up.

(07:55):
When I was right, I was wrong, And when I
was wrong, I was wrong. And when you come to
accept that, you couldn't be a veteran in the NBA.
That's how you become a veteran. You know, I was
joking earlier about my guy I played with Al Jefferson
and Al Jefferson. We're running the triangle offense, and Al
would he'd get on that left block and his and

(08:16):
his jump hook was unstoppable. And I knew, no matter
what side of the floor was on, what play was running,
the whole team understood he was our guy and whatever
the play was, we were gonna get him to where
he wanted the basketball. It didn't matter when the play was,
You're gonna get him on that left block. So I would.
I would know even if I was the first guy down,
I had adjustin b second so he could get the ball.

(08:38):
Zach Randolph was the same, you know, Zach all he
really cared about We had all these all that cared
about get me the ball. He's a lefty, so he
wanted on the right block. Get him on the right block.
So I, okay, I'll take the other side. I'll know
the other played, get you where you need to go.
Because when I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Okay, when I'm right,
I'm wrong, I knew it. Get him the ball. I'll

(08:58):
be ready on the other side digging that. That's why
people like playing with you. Hey, listen, I can do
whatever I want. Hollands, Will Hollands will make up for it.
It'll hey, all right, all right, So now let's let's
do this here now where we're geting, as you said,
we're getting ready for the finals tomorrow. I made my
pick last night. I went Celtics and six. Uh. The
youth of the Celtics, their defensive prowess. This is gonna

(09:19):
be one of those series where kind of like what
we saw with the Pistons and the Lakers in two
thousand four when the Pistons surprised the Lakers, where the
Lakers look like they got old overnight in the NBA
Finals and the Pistons defense was was was right on there,
and tay Shaun Prince is writing Kobe's face the entire time.
I kind of see a little bit um of a

(09:40):
lesser version of this, where as the as the series
goes on, Boston's youth is able to do what they
need to do defensively and make the Warriors look old,
because you watched the Warriors had a lot of problems
earlier in the playoffs and that Memphis series. Now Memphis
was missing John Ran which is a huge deal. You
can't win in the playoffs without a super for Star,
but you know, Clay had trouble getting his shots and

(10:02):
so did Steph and it wasn't quite the same thing.
But they were able to outlast because they were a
better basketball team, especially with with Memphis being without John Moran.
I kind of see that here. I think Boston's a
little bit too talented and I can see them slowing
the Warriors down, especially Marcus Smart as long as he's healthy.
For for me, he's the key to the series. So
I got Boston in six? What do you got? I

(10:25):
actually have Golden State in six. I think experience wins out.
I think Golden State has matured enough and aware enough
of themselves as we we joked about how we were aware.
We're aware of ourselves and we play. Um. They know
they have to win on the defensive end. They know
they can score, but they know we can't quite score

(10:46):
like we used to. We're we're good, but we're not
well we used to be. And we understand, Hey, we
are going to win with defense, and that is what
they have. And they shocked me. I honestly thought that
Dallas was gonna be able to win that SERI reason
I went out on a limb and defensively, they put
on a clinic against the Mavericks and they are as
good as it gets. And when you get Gary Payton

(11:07):
the second back, you get even better defensively, and you
get even more intriguing, and you get options, and I
think at the end of the day, it comes down
to depth. So I don't think Golden States that same powerhouse.
But I just don't see the experience the game, behind
the scenes, the execution down the stretch. You think back
Boston almost you know, they tried to give a couple
of games away. You know they should have went for

(11:29):
one against Milwaukee. But they're still kind of figuring out
what they are. They played by committee, they defend, they
bought in, but I don't think they can be consistent
enough to beat the Warriors, Uh for more than two games.
I'm sorry. Well, look, I hear you with the Warriors,
and if this is a championship, they're going to win again.
I think Celtics are gonna win. This strikes me more

(11:50):
of a hey, we can we squeaked one out before
the dynasty ended, right, because you can tell that you know,
Clay is not the same guy, and Steph is trying
to stay the same guy. You know. Look, but the
two of them, Draymond their thirty three, thirty four years old.
I don't know if it's gonna be the same Warriors
team next year, especially as teams get younger and hungrier
and and and and talent kind of rises up in

(12:11):
the Western Conference. So if they're gonna do it, I
feel like, boy, they they're able to squeeze one more
out before they have to worry about making changes, whether
that's do we go forward with Clay, do we make
Jordan Pool a starter? Does Clay become our six man?
But in the end, I I don't see them being
able to to do this over over six, Like if
it was a short series, maybe, But I think as

(12:31):
you get past game two, Game three, we see what's
gonna happen to the Warriors. What happened to Chris Paul
last year? They started playing too much basketball, got to
the point he hit the wall and and I like
Marcus Smart dev kind of a Drew Holiday impact on
the series here. So that's why I like the Celtics. Man,
how do you like that we're on the other One
of us is gonna be right, that's the best part.
One of us is gonna be right about it. You know,
you're gonna look like a genius if you're right. That's right,

(12:53):
that's right. You're gonna sing for the mountaintops. And I'll
be the first guy to call you up and go, hey, dude,
you boy, you that man. It will be will be
the first over the last for me. I'll say, hey,
you know what, listen from now on doing the shows.
I'm gonna get Al Jefferson to do the show with me.
Shout out. I'm gonna get Al n z Bo. They're

(13:14):
both gonna come in and do the show right. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show
with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific. Well,
I I love this story because it just won't go away,
and it's such a fun story that I want more
on this every single day. And today, hey, we got
a big wish. Uh. It was last week when Tommy

(13:38):
Fam of the Reds was suspended for three games by
Major League Baseball for slapping Jack Peterson before a game.
The video has come out. You see them in the
outfield and Fam slaps them. You know. Fam has had
a bit of a past and current currency in Major
League Baseball, and Jock Peterson explained after the game that
night that it was over fantasy football and it was

(13:59):
about the in your reserve position in his fantasy league
that he moved a player who was out to I
R and Tommy Fam said, that's not our rules, and
that's kind of where the disagreement took off from. Also,
Jock Peterson sent out ahift everybody in the league on
a big main tech stream that showed Fams Padres buckling

(14:19):
under the weight of weightlift of lifting weights, kind of
correlating to their UH collapsing at the end of last
year after they started out so well. So Fan is
not like Jock Peterson for a while, and the fact
that this continued to UH go on months and months
and months after the end of the fantasy season tells

(14:39):
you how much he was looking forward to getting back
at Peterson. So we get the story and Jock Peterson
explains in great detail about the fantasy angle of this,
and then we're hearing from Jason lock and fora our
CBS Sports NFL Insider that a hundred thousand dollars was
at stake over this story and Fam lost a chance
at a hundred thousand dollars Because of this, he und

(15:00):
up quitting the league and they went on from there. Okay,
we thought the story was kind of over, but then
Tommy Fam talked yesterday and he said that the person
who's fault it is was the commissioner of the league,
Angel Superstar Mike Trout. That Trout could have solved this,
but he didn't, and he was a bad commissioner and
the commissioner. We nobody wanted to be commissioner of the

(15:22):
Fantasy Football League, so but Trout decided to do it.
But he could have fixed this and he didn't. Now,
Fam was kind of joking when he's saying this, but
he talked about how what a bad commissioner Mike Trout was. Uh.
And then today, of course, hey, well now we got
to talk to Mike Trout about this, and Mike Trout
is treating this like this is like a real big scandal,
and uh didn't really want to answer questions on it.

(15:42):
Take a listen, said guy didn't talking about I don't
even know. You know, it's just one thing. It's uh,
you know, everybody's competitive, everybody loves fantasy football, and we've done.
Now he went on to say about five times in
the interview, I'm not talking about out this. I don't
want to talk it's fantasy football. Yollo, I'm not talking

(16:03):
about this. I've not talking about this, big dog. I
love the fact that not only is this story about
fantasy football, but it the depths that it goes to
about the I R position and the commissioner not taking
care of this. This is like the greatest story of
the year. Like, I don't need the NBA Finals. If
we got something new on this every day, I wouldn't

(16:23):
need the Finals. I wouldn't need Steph, I wouldn't need Tatum,
I wouldn't need anything. I would just need a little
bit on this story every single day. Hey man, here's
here's the reality. Stuff like this happens all the time
in professional sports. It's it's guys gambling, guys having dust
steps behind the scenes when you throw, whether it's any

(16:46):
professional sport, the most the cream of the crop, the
alpha of alpha's. You you put you know, thirty alpha's
in the room and then one makes it out in
he goes into another room of the next thirty year.
Going from high school to college to your professional team,

(17:07):
these guys are gonna butt heads, they're gonna get into it,
they're gonna ruffle some feathers. It happens all the time. Now,
in this situation, the slapping was quite public. In fact,
there was video of it, so now it had to
be talked about. But having a dust upper, guys getting
into it with each other, it's very common. And it
sounds like not saying family is okay, sounds like Jack

(17:29):
Peterson broke guy code. In fact, this was just code.
You don't cheat when there's money on the line. And Jason,
you know how cheap me and you are. You know
what cheap we are. And this could be a penny league.
There could be a hundred thousand pennies on the line,
and we're gonna take it personal. Now, we're not slapping anybody,
neither of us. We're not hurting to fly, but but listen,

(17:52):
a hundred thousand pennies, we're furious. Dude. Here's the thing
is that I honestly think it's Mike Trout's fall. I
honestly do, right, because here's why, right, Here's why is that? Okay?
So fam is upset about the injured reserve spot on
fat like, do you play fantasy football play. Okay, so
you know the whole deal is when a player is

(18:13):
marked out, um, if they if you can move them
from out to injured reserve, you're allowed to do that.
And you can pick up a free agent without having
to waive anybody else, right, so you can do that.
And apparently that was allowed on the app, on the
ESPN app they played on, which tells you shouldn't play
on the ESPN. Uh so that was allowed. Now fan
went on to say, yes, we I know it was

(18:35):
allowed on the app, but we had decided you couldn't
do that. You couldn't take a player from out and
put them on i R unless they were injured reserve specific.
So that's a bit of a thing where where okay,
here's Jack Peterson want to do one thing and Tommy
fam is saying this. This is basically a he said,
he said thing. This is where if you are the commissioner,
you've step been tosolve this. You step been dissolve this,

(18:58):
saying okay, well here's the deal you and and either
it's hey, Tommy, I know you're pissed, but the the
app allows us to do it, So we're gonna do it.
If you can put a guy from out to I R.
That's how we're gonna do it. Then Tommy fan can
get all upset, but that's the deal, or it's hey, Jock,
I know you did that, but we did make a
rule that said it's got to be I R. Only
you can't just be out, so you can't move a

(19:20):
guy to I R. And it's and it's done right,
and one person is upset, but you're upset for five
minutes and then you're done and you're moving on right.
All you need to do is have the commissioner get involved.
And the Angels weren't doing anything in September last year,
so Trout had all kinds of time there. They were
long eliminated. He had one job, one job, lad job.
That's all he had to do. Bring this fantasy football league, am,

(19:43):
It's all he had to do. And just make a decision, right,
just make a decision and and say, hey, this is
how we're gonna go. So that's why I think it's
Mike Trout's fault. I mean, dude, I've been commissioned. I
used to be commissioners so many fantasy leagues, right, I
was commissioner of Fantasy Football I commissioned Fantasy Hawk, Fantasy
Golf Um and I always like doing it, and so,

(20:04):
but I got to point in my life I'm like, Okay,
I like doing it for a while, like like ten
years or so. Now I'm not doing it anymore. And
now it's a lot easier because everything is done online. Right.
You don't have to worry about doing the scores yourself
or sending stuffy. It's like everything is is kind of
automatic and you just need to collect the money and
just in troubleshoot any issues that come up over the
course of the year. Right, normally the commissioner plays for

(20:26):
a little bit less money, or you know, you volunteer
and you and you do it right. So you know,
because I'm coming from it from that perspective, I know
how easy that thing would have been to solve its Okay,
it's an email. It's one email to everybody in the league. Hey,
in regards to this, Uh, we're gonna allow if if
you're allowed to do it on the site, you can
do it, or no, you can't do it. They have
to be I R distinct. If I see it on

(20:46):
your roster, I'm gonna I'm gonna take them out and
it's done and it's solved, and it's done and you
move on. But Mike Trout clearly did absolutely nothing, probably
doesn't want to talk about it. So yeah, I think
this is on the commissioner's fault. This is Mike Trout's
fault on this. You right, you're right, and I've I've
been commissioner before. I don't like being commissioner for the
zigact reason. But you're playing with And here's the thing.

(21:09):
People are going, these are millionaires. What's a hundred thousand dollars,
it's the prince. I've seen guys fight over five dollar
bets in the shooting game in the NBA. Okay, it's there.
It's the principle you know across the lights. Guy code,
And yes, guy code is different than the law. It
just happens, and it holds place in the locker room.
But outside of the locker room, guy code is irrelevant.

(21:31):
But in the locker room, got code is real. Okay,
you can't do it, but you're right. The commissioner should
have stepped in and said, hey, man, we okay stashing
players so we don't our personal opinions. Jason, I am
sure you agree with me. It's a cheap move. You
can't do it. You can't stash players for guys hurt.
He's hurt now if he's not hurt. Normally you can
get little air message that comes up in your in

(21:52):
your team and says, you gotta put him back in
the pool. Okay, he's available. You gotta you gotta figure
somebody out. And you know, Peterson was trying to have
the best of both worlds now, he was trying to
make his choices later. So wait, what what were you
What were you a commissioner of? Were you commissioner of
a fantasy football league? When you play? Like? What were
your commissioner of? Yeah, fantasy football? It was really after

(22:15):
after I played, I had more time, and like I
never wanted to be the commissioner. But like you know,
like it's enough of your buddies floating around or everybody
asked you you're a fantasy fantasy league, your fantas league,
and you're like, all right, we'll just make a league.
All right, there's like ten of us, so well we'll
just throw a league that just ten people asking all right,
I'll do it if you, if you must. But it's

(22:35):
irritating because it's like ten o'clock at night, they want
to push a trade through, and you're like, dude, I'm
sitting here watching reruns. Okay, it's going to bed. You
wait to push the trade through. No, you gotta watch
out for the foul play. And you know, I'm the
guy that purposely make sure like I draft last, and
I let you know other people. You know, I don't

(22:55):
take advantage. I'm honest guy. Man, that's good. That's just
that's always good. I'll draft last. But you know, I mean,
you know people walking away going, hey, yeah, Hollands, you
we got a trade. Yeah, he's not gonna get to
it till tomorrow. Man, he's not. Maybe, Man, it's ten o'clock.
He's done. Man, you can send him a text. He's
gonna ghost you. He's not gonna get back to you
until tomorrow at least. So we'll put it through. Maybe

(23:16):
maybe we'll get it for tomorrow, Maybe we'll get it
for next week. I don't know. He's he's not even
supposed to be here today. Just just leg just whenever
he puts it through, he puts it through. So like
you know, like Kobe and Chris Paul must have been
really mad at you in these fantasy leagues. You know,
I played with regular people. Okay, I play regular salary,

(23:39):
you know, either free or very affordable. Okay, I'm a
twenty dollar league guy, dude, all right, okay, just Harrington
and Zebo and those guys. I didn't say twenty million
and twenty thousand, all right. You know you know you
and Ronni urry Aff played on your league. Sure, yeah, yeah,
I get it. That's how I mean, you know, you know, Jason,

(23:59):
how about it, Freski, you know how we get down.
You know, Tom Toilbert played in near league. Yeah no, sure, yeah, no,
I got I got it. I got it. So so
you so you so you did this and you just
did fantasy football for a while. Did you ever have
anything crazy to uh have to uh figure out like
this or no? No, no, nothing like this. No. I wouldn't,
but I would step. I wouldn't let anybody get slapped,

(24:20):
you know, And then it's so atrocious when at a
certain point, Jason, I don't know if you have any
friends like this where they get to the point they're
like you, Next time I see him, I'm slapping him
like you. I don't know if you had that or
you heard. I've heard someone say that, next time I
see him, I'm slapping him. You're like, what like and
then you remained that mad and you do it. He's like, yeah,

(24:41):
next time I said, I'm slapping him and it and
it happened. I've heard guys say that. I mean, I
haven't witnessed this slapping. I've seen arguments, have seen stuff
go down normally, you know, cooler heads prevailed by that time,
but a man fam stayed. He stayed angry long enough
to to follow through. You know, I'm glad it wasn't
and and and I'll say this or I see this.

(25:03):
I felt like it could have been worse. You want
to end it where it is. You don't want things
going on. But do you feel like Jack Peterson knew
he was wrong by allowing the slap. I can't, but yeah,
I can't believe he didn't. He didn't slap him back.
It was okay, But but you know, you know what
I mean, I get that. You know, I know he
didn't want to lose money and it probably cost it
took him by surprise. Was it mature? Was it mature

(25:24):
of him though? Was it mature of him or was
it kind of like dany, I know I did it. Yeah,
you gonna accept that slap all right, I'll take it.
I know I did it. Yeah, you're you're in between
your mixed your mixed emotions. Right. Maybe maybe he walked
up to famly tied look slap me. Okay, I know
I did it. I did it. I shouldn't have done this.

(25:45):
I shouldn't have done it. But that But to carry
that with you for that long, like I know people
that have done that, Like I know people that have
taken fantasy beefs and and and taking it all the
way through, like where they don't talk in the off
season and when it comes back around, you know, a
few months, like I'm not doing that league with that guy. No,
And it's like when you call him about it, like
he was already on the top of his mind and

(26:05):
he was just gonna say it. Like every day he
wakes up. I can't stand that guy. He did this,
He did this. He did this. Now, I know guys
that have had beefs go for it for over the
course of an off season. That's happened. Yeah, and you
know what, we're looking at FAM for the slapping. But
maybe this was a group call he cheated. Oh that scumbag.
What's wrong with him? He's lost his marbles? That guy

(26:28):
right there, boy Ayata and fam steps up and goes,
next time I see him, I'm gonna slap him. And
he did. Maybe he's a man of the people in
the locker room. Maybe he's a man of the people.
Maybe somebody's paying his fines. That's that's it's a Jason series.

(26:48):
It's a quiet thing in the locker room. If you
kind of like, let's say you play with the star.
Let's say like you play with Lebron or something, right, Yeah,
somebody touches Lebron. You you go figure that out, all right,
you go jump in it. Now. The right thing to
do is Lebron plays that fine, young fella, you go
take care of this for me. I'm gonna pay that fine.

(27:09):
Don't worry about then. I got you. That's kind of
how those things go. Maybe someone is paying fans fine.
They wanted him sloped so bad. It was an inside job.
If they had him, they had money going on. I
was like, hey, I got this, like you gotta you
gotta be You're the first guy that's gonna see Peterson
in the year Okay, you gotta talk to him, all right.
We're not gonna see him until he comes to town

(27:29):
in July. We're not gonna see him till September. You're
gonna see him early. You gotta make sure he knows
he did the wrong thing with the I R position
and fantasy and kids. So you know, we're not condoning violence.
We're not saying it's okay. But things happen in the
walls of a locker room. Okay, they spill out, Okay,
that's why sometimes things happen. They get a little out
in the locker room. It's locker room play, but it's

(27:50):
not okay once it gets out the locker room. 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 I Heart Radio app. Hey,
what's up, everybody? It's me three time pro bowler Lavarrington,
and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new
podcast called Up on Game? What is up on Game?

(28:12):
You asked, along with my fellow pro bowler t J.
Hudshman's otta and Super Bowl champion. That's right, Plexico Birds.
You can only name a show with that type of
talent on it. Up on Game We're going to be
sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen
to Up on Game with Me, LaVar Arrington, t J.

(28:34):
Hudgman's Otta and Plexico Birds on the I Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast from. A
couple of things here, big Dog, you know we we
talked to I mentioned a few minutes here. We're to
talk about the Lakers in the situation revolving around them
right now with Darvin Ham becoming the new head coach,
and now this week we found out, according to sources,

(28:57):
he's gonna have much more autonomy over the Lakers and
Frank Vogel that he's gonna be able to make more
decisions bringing more of his assistance than the Lakers are
gonna lay off a little bit. Um, I don't think
it's gonna matter, because you know, the roster is still
gonna be the same, and it's not like he's gonna
make Russell Westbrook change who he is and Lebron James
change you he is. I mean, I I don't know,

(29:19):
short of being able to make you know, trading Westbrook
for Zion. I I don't know what what's going to
be different for the Lakers that you're I mean, Darvin Ham.
Maybe a good head coach, you may have more autonomy,
but in the end, they have no money to spend.
And we saw what happened to this team last year,
and now it's a year later. Everybody's a year older,
everybody's a year less healthier. I just I just see

(29:39):
this as being another year where we watch the Lakers
lose fifty games. Well, it depends how this roster gets
filled out, if they're able to make any moves or not.
But I'm gonna talk about Darvin Ham. I love this
hiring um, and I think there's a couple of factors.
For one, Um, he's a former player. I think that
in this situation you need someone that speaks to players language.

(30:00):
So it's a good call there. Um, when you look
at Darvin Ham, he's a Laker guy. He was already
in this system already, he was an assistant there in
l A for two years. That that's a big plus.
Also as a player and coach, which is a rare
list to come with. And Jason, you may have to
help me out for other guys who were able to

(30:21):
do this. He won a championship. He won a championship
as an assistant in Milwaukee, and he won a championship
with Detroit. And then if you think about Darvin Ham
and you think who he's coming up learned under Bud
look over in Memphis. Who's in Memphis Taylor Jenkins. We'd
all know that Taylor Jenkins is arguably, pound for pound,

(30:41):
one of the best coaches, if not the best coach
in the NBA right now, with what he's been able
to create. Uh, with John Morant and without John Morant,
that's a really good team, even if John Morant doesn't play.
And that boils down to culture. One of the things
that the Lakers are lacking. And I'm not saying Darvin
Ham is Taylor Jenkins, but they're from the same cloth,

(31:01):
is culture. And the Lakers can create culture. Culture can
outlast injuries, Uh, you know, bad play, any question marks.
You're gonna live up to your potential when your culture
is tight. And that's something the Lakers are missing. Now.
Is he the general manager? Can you turn water into wine? No?
But I think you gotta be here stop it. Taston Jason,

(31:22):
stop it happy, turn water. I can't turn water into
water everything you just said now, But but that's my
thing about this Rod You just talked about some of
the coaches, what they were able to, uh to accomplish.
These are all teams that have not come on with
with established superstars that have their one way of doing

(31:43):
things right. You talked about Taylor Jenkins is able to
do in Memphis, and they're great things. But these are
all younger players and morants new into the league. And yeah, okay,
they're more spongy. They will they will absorb things more.
Is Lebron or Lebron and ad really gonna absorb what
even that Lebron says he likes Darvin him, but is
he are gonna absorb what Darvin Ham is gonna teach?
Is he really gonna change that culture or is the

(32:04):
culture just gonna be whatever Lebron and a d and
and it is with Russell Westbrook have. I mean, I
don't know that he can have that being an impact
on the team until those guys are cleared out, right,
So if there's no Westbrook and then if if Anthony
Davis is traded or the end of the year, Lebron's
contract is up and the Lakers let him go, which
I think they should just tank, right, I mean at
this point the Lakers, but they should just tank this

(32:28):
year they're gonna be right, So just tank and then
build the team up again. You're gonna stay. You stunk
with Lebron last year when you needed Lebron the end
of the year. I told you he was going to
be mysteriously injured and miss games if they were in
at the point of of missing the playing tournament, and
as soon as they were on the customas of the
playing tournament, he missed all but two of the last

(32:48):
eleven games. I told you that was gonna happen. You
got one year kind of too, they kind of you're
willing to tank. I'm telling you, I it's not gonna
it's Is it really gonna get better? Do you if
the Lakers can go in I'll let me ask you
this way. If the Lakers going with this being their roster, right,
it's it's Lebron and a D and it's Russell Westbrook

(33:09):
and they try to make it work with whatever else happens,
like Kendrick Nunn comes back. They signed the leak Monk
whatever is. If they go in with the same roster,
what are they gonna do next year? Are they gonna
be anything less than almost a five hundred team when
maybe maybe they maybe they're making the playing tournament, maybe
they're not. So if you're not that gonna be that
good tank, trade guy. You know, trade a d get

(33:31):
get back whatever resources you can for him. Let Lebron
walk after this summer because he's clearly done winning, right
he won his championship with the Lakers. Now he's onto
other things, and then you can rebuild the team in
a year. I think tanking is the way to go
for the Lakers. He you know, the Lakers weren't healthy, right,
I mean they listen Anthony Davis going out as big

(33:54):
Lebron missing the little stint of time where he where
he missed was big, and then Tylor Horton tucky and
not in and out and really not having the ability
to see Kendrick Nunn at all, which was shocking in
a Lakers jersey. That killed them. Those were big minutes
that k CP and Caruso played. Those guys. The best

(34:15):
ability is availability. They were available, So that's what hurt
the Lakers. So you can't just say he didn't play,
you know, I get a Kareem was ding Duff Magic
was in and out of the lineup. But are they
gonna get health That's the thing. It is suddenly Anthony
Davi's gonna get healthier next year, He's to be back
in the lineup all the time. No, he's gonna be
in and out like he was. Is Lebron gonna suddenly
get healthy like, No, he's gonna be in and out

(34:36):
of the lineup like he was. It's not like they're there, Okay,
I got it. Now. A D is going through a
whole bit. I'm redoing what I do and I'm gonna
care about fitness and staying on the court. No, A
D does his own thing. You can't count on these
guys are being on the court and turning it around
next year. I mean, if you if you get forty
games where these guys are both on the court together,
Lebron and A D. I think that that's about That's

(34:58):
about as lucky as you could think they are. I
don't see a way forward for them getting better. So
if if you're not gonna get better, right, it doesn't
And and and in the NBA, it doesn't hurt to me.
It doesn't help to me mediocre, right, because you don't
get the help you get those resources, those early draft picks.
If you're gonna be mediocre or less than mediocre, it
helps to tank. And if if that's you do, if
you're the Lakers, right, if you either ride out Westbrook's

(35:19):
contract for this year and then you move away from it,
you trade Anthony Davis because you will get resources for him.
You let Lebron leave at the end of this year
and don't extend his contract for two years because you're
you're getting a lesser committed Lebron. As times go on,
then a year from now, it's okay, Hey, we had
all kinds of money, we got space, let's get a
couple of stars in here. You can make the Lakers
your own and then suddenly things might be looking a

(35:41):
little bit different for it. But you're just going to
next year going it's gonna be more of the same.
I don't see where. I don't see how it changes.
The only questions we'd have his health now, I can't.
You're trying to properly grade this roster um without seeing
them healthy. I don't. I don't think that you can
do that. In fact, I know you can't do that.

(36:01):
It's not fair to do. Now they're healthy, and Anthony
Davis is let's let's say he's at Let's give a
fair number. How many games that a d missed this year?
The majority, right, Yeah, yeah, eight played half the games
this year, and Lebron Lebron played games. So let's say

(36:22):
you get seventy plus out of both those guys, just
those two players alone, and then your middle class comes
into play with Taylor, Horton, Tucker and none. Now we
can fairly evaluate them, but that's not a five hundred
you know basketball club there. And I think that you
get a better Russell Westbrook too, because he was thrown

(36:44):
into a position where there wasn't stability necessarily around him
or direction, and it was like, well, Russ, just go
out and be Russ, and that didn't work. When the
rest of the team is in flux. You know, Russ
plays well when you got culture, you've got stability, and

(37:04):
then you're like, Russ, we allow you to be wild,
go do what you want I give you. For instance,
you know I play with Tony Allen. Tony Allen defensively
is a monster but the other guys on the court
have to know Tony's gonna gamble, Tony's gonna take a risk,
Tony's you have to allow him to be the best
that he's gonna be on defensive, that makes sense. So

(37:25):
you gotta play safe so that he can take those risks.
And when you play with Westbrook, you gotta have four
safe guys on the floor so that he can take
the risk and bring up Darvin Ham. You gotta give culture,
you gotta give stability. Then you're gonna see a better Westbrook.
You're gonna see a better Lebron. Now, in terms of
le Bron, le Bron is gonna be Lebron no matter
who's on the court. We didn't even we didn't know

(37:45):
what was going on. Lebron is still getting eight and eight,
He's still having great numbers in a great year. That's
just he's he's that darn good. But you have to
understand other players. The rest of the team are gonna
suffer if everybody's not on the same page. All right, well,
well here's the here's the deal with the with when
you talked about getting games played from them right with prices,
sword at the pump discovers got your back with cash back.

(38:07):
He was discovered earned five percent cash back at gas
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rewards limitations they do apply. Uh, you know you talked
about your best ability being availability. The last thing you said.
Let's say you get seventy games from Anthony Davis. Anthony
Davis hasn't played seventy games in the season since eighteen,

(38:30):
when he was twenty four years old. Okay, you're you're
not gonna get that out of you played fifty six,
sixty two, thirty six and forty right. Lebron same way
hasn't played in seventy games at least since eighteen. Now
one of the years. Obviously we're talking about getting cut
short because of COVID, but it doesn't matter. They're still
not trending a playing more than forty fifty games in
a season. So if they're not gonna play that much

(38:53):
in the regular seasons, it takes on less importance as
time goes on, because all right, we want to get
into the playing tournament, and that's why we gotta be
one of the top ten don't go crazy, but it's
still at the same time, you want your guys to
be on the court, right, You want you guys to
be able to play and superstars now, even when they're healthy,
ish don't play more than sixty seven sixty eight games
in the season because you have guys sitting second night

(39:15):
of back to backs or first night of back to backs,
and that's five to seven games right away. Then you
get guys sitting out just because they're tired. You get
a little guys dinged up. You know, guys who playing
sixty five sixty eight games, but you have way less
for Lebron and and for a D. So yeah, I
think you can go into this year and say, all right,
this is what to expect them. Now, is a D
you're gonna play forty alright, maybe you're hoping not that many,

(39:36):
but if he plays fifty five, that's what you can
hope for. Anthony Davis guy doesn't take care of his body.
And Lebron he you know, an iron man who was
playing in seventy more games all the way un till
he was thirty three, doesn't do that anymore. So if
you can't count on the guys being on the court.
They're not gonna get together enough with enough chemistry and
enough enough damage to be able to go and try
to win the games. It's it's just gonna be too tough.

(39:57):
I just I don't see a way forward with that.
If you wanted to talk about health, I'll give you
those two things right away. Yeah, no, no, listen, I
don't think it's going to be this bad. I think
it's better with a D moving forward. He's not just
an old old man. But it is a question mark.
You can't guarantee it. But I don't think it'll be
this bad tank. I'm telling you Lakers should can't take

(40:19):
with three Hall of Favors. Yeah, so you trade Westbrook
then for John Wall. He may never play, but at
least you get rid of Russell Westbrook. You trade Anthony Davis,
all right, you getting in to get resource, and then
you just make the season about Lebron passing Kareem Abdul
Jabbar and we're counting down every day, and that's the
season is about. And that's now it's only one Hall

(40:40):
of Famer. If they don't make the playoffs, at least
you have him passing Kareem Abdul Jabbar as a Laker
to look forward to. I've just solved the problems of
the season. Ryan Hollins, Right there, But I'm a problem solver,
That's what I did. Be sure to catch live editions
of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at
ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific, Fox First Radio The
Jason Smith Show with Ryan Hollands in from Mike Harmon.

(41:04):
With prices soaring at the Pump, Discovers got your Back
with cash Back. He was discovered to earn five percent
cash back at gas stations and the target now through
June on up to dollars in purchases when you activate.
Learn more at discover dot com. Slash rewards limitations they
do apply well. Joining us now on the hotline in
the Bay Area, getting set to cover Game one of

(41:25):
the NBA Finals. He's on Twitter at Mark g Underscore Medina,
a long time NBA insider NBA dot com. What's happened
to Mark? How are you man? You don't need as question.
I'm always show when I'm talking to you, all right,
because I know the last couple of times we we've
had you on you've talked about going through the process
interviewing to be the Lakers head coach, and I know

(41:46):
it didn't go very well for you. I didn't get it.
They chose a better candidate in Darvin Ham. He deserves that.
I I I don't even know I was in the room. Well,
you had the best idea, just get rid of Westbrook.
I thought that would hit you the job right away. Yeah. Yeah,
they didn't listen to me. But you know what, Darvin
him and all seriousness. I love the higher um. You know,

(42:07):
he's respected ever since. You know, he's been an assistant
coach with the Lakers, with Atlanta, with Milwaukee. You know,
he's a former NBA player, Like, he's universally respect among
players and coaches. He knows the game, holds them accountable.
And I think you know, if you're gonna like micro
analyze weaknesses of always hasn't been a head coach before,
I think a all his skills can compensate for that.

(42:30):
And I'm sure that he'll, you know, have some experienced
coaches on the bench to help him out. Mark, who
do you like Golden State or Boston? Jason Smith is
at my neck right now when it comes to that.
I want to know, do you like and why well here,
look it's going seven games, so really flip a coin.

(42:51):
But I'm landing on the Warriors because I think the
primary things they have experience that That's not to say
that the Celics aren't for the moment, They've had their
own experience, but they have so much championship equity with
their stars. They have I think more depth and more depth,
it's healthier, and I they have home court advantage. They've

(43:12):
gone nine and oh so far at Chase Center, and look,
every team's capable and will probably have to win a
road game in the finals series. But you know, the
Warriors have had a much more improvement at Chase Center
in terms of the atmosphere. Not quite Oracle Arena, but
you know that the tech crowd has learned they should
get back in their suites when the second half starts.

(43:33):
So all those things up, I'm going to Warriors in seven.
See Hollands has Warriors in six. I got Celtics in
six because then I'll boil it down to this, the
Celtics youth and defensive prowess greater than the Warriors offensive
prowess in this series. And Scott Foster, don't forget Scott
there's that too. Hey, look in the playoff basketball, you

(43:56):
know sometimes it comes down to a call, right um.
And look, I think there's so many big picture, small
picture things here where when you have a seven game series,
like a bad possession and rotation, a call can be
the thing that turns and decides the game. But I
think there's so many big picture elements here, you know,

(44:18):
from star power and depth, but I think that you know,
if you add all these things, I just think the
Warriors have the advantage because you know, the combination of
Steph Clay and Draymond I think are capable of doing
greater things than Jalen Brown and Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart.

(44:38):
And when you're looking at the Warriors supporting cast Um,
they're kind of mirroring the strength of numbers and it
right now, you know, entering the finals, they're healthier. I mean,
Andre Guadala, Auto Poor Junior Gary pay in the second
they're all listening to questionable technically, but I think there's
optimism they're gonna play in Game one, and you look
at the flip side of the coin, you know, technically

(44:59):
Marcus Art and Robert Williams the third are also assist questionable,
but it sounds like the air injuries are considered to
be more severe. But you know what, you know, flip
a coin, like anything can happen. These two teams are
really good. I think we all have the understanding that
Steph Curry has nothing to lose no matter what happens
in this playoffs unless he just completely lays an egg

(45:20):
and he doesn't look like the stuff that we know,
all right, but I think we all agree that's not
going to happen. What does he had to gain though
he wins this championship? What does he have to gain?
What conversations will he be in if if at all? Well,
what what do you take away from the Warriors potentially
winning the championship this year? Yeah? Well, I think there's
a few things. I mean, again, assuming that he doesn't

(45:41):
like just completely went to bed, I think that he
has a good chance of winning finals MVP because it's
Steph Curry, and you know the way voters vote, some
of them, you know, our narrative based voters, Right, sometimes
that's a good or a bad thing. But you know,
looks that's done so many things in his career. But
that's the one last piece of hard where he hasn't had,
So that's you know, another notch on the belt. But

(46:03):
I think the bigger thing as far as him winning
a championship, you know, now, it's about, you know, can
he you know, match some of the other guys, you know,
Kobe and Magic. Can he get to the fifth ring?
Can he get to the Michael with six um? And
I think that it will also provide clarity that the
Warriors are back in the championship picture and they're capable

(46:24):
of being what the Spurs were of, you know, being
in the mix every year, maybe not the heavy favorites,
but having that core where you always have a fighter chance.
And what's what's really fascinating here is you know, Steph
and Clay and Raymond are veteran players, but they're not
old like Steph is thirty four and Clay is thirty
two and Draymond's thirty um. So I think that they

(46:48):
still have a window of them being in their prime
years while they're seeing you know, their younger teammates developed
and grow before very eyes. So it'll be interesting I
think next season, not to look ahead, but I want
to consider them the favorites. But you know, you would
still have to consider them as a championship worthy team,

(47:09):
and I think if they win, that will provide more
confidence that they can do it again. See I think
I'm Mark Medina with us here covering the finals RINBA
dot Com here on Fox Sports Radio. I think that
the Celtics defense can make the Warriors look old overnight
in the series. Oh well, I think they can make
them as as the series goes on, it's like, Wow,
suddenly Steph and Clay are having trouble getting their shots

(47:30):
because that happened earlier in the playoffs, you know, playing
a good defensive team in Memphis, date Clay was having
trouble getting his shots, Steph wasn't getting all his shots,
and now you're at a completely different animal with the Celtics. Well, look,
I think that that's going to happen. The Celtics have
one of the best defenses. They're great at switching and look,
Clay has shown ups and downs with his play, understandably

(47:54):
so because of his two and a half year absence
and stuff has had you know, off and on nights
as Oh but I think, and this goes back to
my point about the depth. I think that the Warriors
are able to absorb an off night from three of
their core players much better than the Celtics are able

(48:14):
to absorb an off night from three of their best players.
And the reason with the Warriors is, you know Andrew Wiggins.
He may not have been consistent in Minnesota, you never
knew what you were going to get, but I think
for the most part, you know what you're going to
get from him in a complementary role with the Warriors,
where you know he's always going to give you double
digits in scoring. And I think the bigger part on

(48:36):
defense is he's been incredibly consistent on that front. And
I think that's not only you know, relieved fresher from
Kway Thompson and Draymond Green, but you know that's obviously
limited the other team's really good player. And so I
think with that, uh, you're gonna see, you know, any

(48:56):
combination of Jason Tatum or Jalen Brown having at least
one game where you know they're not themselves because of
Andrew Wiggins's defense. I think when you add all these
things up, that's again where I tilt the Warriors, But
I also validate what you say, like those guys could
struggle in this series and it could be a difference. Mark,

(49:16):
you kind of touched on it earlier. What is the
hiring of Darvin Ham say about the Los Angeles Lakers
and what do we expect their roster to look like
next year? Maybe not the actual physical makeup, but what
type of team will it be? Yeah, it's a good question.
I'll take first the hiring of the coach. I mean,

(49:37):
I think you can look at it on two levels here. Um,
you know, look, I know that they were looking at
some of the other playoff head coaches like a Nick Nurse,
Doc Rivers, Quinn Snyder. None of them were available. Um,
but I think even if they were available, Darvin Ham
was the best choice because even if he doesn't have

(49:59):
had coaching experience, I think that he will have the
respect of the locker room, which you know, Frankly, you know,
even though I thought Frank Vogel did a good job
given the circumstances, he didn't have the same presence as
he had his first year as a head coach as
far as having that command. So he checks that box.
But the bottom line is this to what you allude
to with the roster, like that's gonna be their main uh,

(50:23):
level that indicates whether they're successful or not. And I'm
in the camp that you know, I'm very skeptical of
how Russell Westbrook would be in a second season based
off of what I saw last year with twenty one
games and his strengths and weaknesses, and I don't think
more than twenty one games and a new head coach
will dramatically change that. So I know that it takes

(50:45):
you know, another team to agree to a deal, but
I think the Lakers have to be mindful that you're
going to get more of the same with Russ number
one and number two. Trading him is going to be
your main avenue and addressing all the roster needs because
you're going to be able to get role players that
you know fulfill some positional needs. It's well past the

(51:06):
point that it's realistic to think you can get an
All Star caliber player in exchange for Russ, just because
of the salary number as well just worries out in
his career. But I think if they're willing to accept
moving the goalposts so much that I think it's warranted
to trade that first round pick, I think it's worth
it because as long as look Lebron James has question marks.

(51:29):
You know, twentieth season, he's getting up in age, but
he's been effective when he's been on the floor. And
as long as you have Lebron on your team, you
technically have a shot at winning a title. So they
should be the mind of going all in. And going
all in means they need to trade Russ by any
means necessary. So Mark, bringing this full circle before we

(51:50):
let you go, you put out on Twitter a little
bit ago that you got to catch up with andre Iguadala,
who won the first NBA Finals MVP with the Warriors,
and if it's gonna be his final NBA season, he
told you quote, We'll wait until we see how it ends.
It can go either way with wins or losses. I
know my answer, but I don't want to put it
out in the world. So does this mean I'm going

(52:11):
to retire? But I don't want to say anything. I
don't want to jinx anything. I want to go out
with a win and then I'm gonna say I'm gonna retire.
What are you taking away from this? Well, I look,
Andrea Gadala love this being cryptic, especially with the media,
and uh, he knows how to think ahead on things.
But if I'm looking at this, I'm sure that he's
leaning a certain way. And if I had a guess,

(52:32):
you wanted to say, But if I had a guess,
it would be this is his last year because look, uh,
he's had a lot of injuries and you know, even
though the Warriors historic, we always manage him with care,
this was a lot. You know, this was a lot
more than before. But I think Andres also keeping it
open ended based on how healthy he can get, and
you know, if the Warriors can win, and if the

(52:54):
Warriors win, I think that that helps elevate the conversation
of the value of him being there. And to be clear,
even if they lose that there still could be a
value because they want to still develop those young guys.
So I think he just wants to play it out
and be the savvy businessman that he is. So it'll
be an interesting two weeks to see how that tilts

(53:15):
the scale with the final decision. NBA writer and inside
of for NBA dot Com. A former writer for USA Today,
the Warriors, the Lakers. He's on Twitter at mark g
Underscore Medina. That's at mark G Underscore Medina, mark Enjoy
the game tomorrow. We'll talk to you soon, my friend.
Thanks so much, Thanks so much, guys, it's always a
bless