TNCSSP S5 EP 179 - Sports Talk - November 12, 2025

TNCSSP crew discuss the latest in sports news and culture. In this episode we discussed the the behind the scenes business of the NBA, and former professional athlete falling from millionaire to living in the projects.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Yeah, this is still a counter and I wonder what
came you to a sports experience like no other?

Speaker 3 (00:11):
You announce that to the.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Note Capp Sports Show with Sports and Convos Collide, A
city an apologetic no head, No.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Let the cor vote begin, no count.

Speaker 4 (00:37):
Welcome to the No Cat Sports Show podcast with sports
and Convos Colide.

Speaker 5 (00:41):
I'm your host of Cobra.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
I'm your host. More money in what up? Mo? Not much,
big bro? Nothing much?

Speaker 4 (00:49):
Yes sir, Yes, sir. So you rock the polo tonight
like it.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Appreciate it. Man.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
My daughter had a little recital tonight, so I had
to catch that first.

Speaker 5 (00:58):
Oh yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. Yep.

Speaker 4 (01:03):
Shout out to UH coach Milton and his wife. Tonight
is the anniversary, so you know they they out moving
and grooved a little bit as they should know. So
definitely want to salute them, give them a shout out
tay congratulations and wishing them many more anniversaries. Uh and

(01:23):
then also uh get well wishes to to cuz O
o Dog you know your little under tonight. So but
we're gonna hold it down for them, absolutely, yes, sir.
So let's get right into it, man, let's you know,
I want to recapt the NFL. But before we get

(01:44):
into that, I think I think we should, uh, we
should discuss the New York Giants firing their head coach
Brian the ball. You know, the Giants are last in
the nf C East. That that that two and eight
and and the and the Giants decided to go ahead
and make that move and get rid of him. I

(02:06):
think it was a bad move personally, but I wouldn't
get your thoughts first. What did you think about the
Giants going ahead and steparating with the ball?

Speaker 1 (02:16):
I think Brian da bo might have been safe if
he hadn't blown so many leads, you know, in those
games where they were up double digits against the Broncos
and a couple of other teams. If he had closed
those deals, I think he would still have a job. Also,
his divisional record was trash and I understand he went

(02:36):
through some transformations with quarterbacks. But we also have to
remember Sakuon Barkley won a championship with the Eagles last year,
looked like the best player in football. Daniel Jones is
in the running for the Offensive Player of the Year.
Both of those players were underneath his regime. You know,
you had Daniel Jones and you had Saquon Bark and

(03:01):
he didn't do anything with him that next year after
they went to the playoffs. So I think all of
that played into the ownership's mind. I agree with you
that maybe he should have been given another chance with
Jackson Dark, but I think the owners just looked at
him and was like, all right, well, I don't know
what he's gonna do because he's already had a prodigy

(03:21):
and Daniel Jones, Like Daniel Jones had the recipes that
he's showing in Indianapolis, he had that with the Giants
as well.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
I just don't think they took full advantage of it.

Speaker 4 (03:35):
Yeah, and I see what you're saying there, but this
to be my pushback. Yeah, they had Daniel Jones, they
had Sayquime, but the team around him and the organization itself,
for a lack of better words, trash, you know what

(03:56):
I mean, It was no way. I mean for me,
they were wasting sat Quan's talent. You know, I don't
think we had an opportunity to really see what Daniel
Jones really could do because of the talent around him
and because of what that organization was about. I mean,
you saw glimpses every now and again, but you know,

(04:18):
we we see organizations in the past where they have
talented players that move on somewhere else where the where
the organization has it together. They had pieces there already
for them to just plug in and be successful.

Speaker 5 (04:33):
I mean everybody.

Speaker 4 (04:35):
I mean, as soon as that that move happened with
sa Quon going to Philly, everybody knew that was going
to be a great spot for him. We knew what
he was going to do, and we knew what type
of success Philly would have because of having somebody like
sa Kuon Barki. You know, he was the same sat
Quan Boxy at the Giants, but it was entirely different team,

(04:55):
you know. And the same with Daniel Jones. He's going
somewhere where.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (05:01):
The Indianapolis coach is known to be a great organization,
is known to make sure they got pieces in places
in place in order to be successful. The reason why
I don't think they bowl should have been fired was,
you know, he started off with Russell Wilson, you know

(05:21):
which you know Russell Wilson. I think his time is
his is over as an NFL quarterback, especially as a
starting NFL quarterback. And I think he found a spark
with his young quarterback and Jackson Dark and then and
then his ricky running back what's that got injured?

Speaker 5 (05:42):
What's his name?

Speaker 3 (05:43):
Scoat about?

Speaker 4 (05:46):
Even though they wasn't winning games, they brought an excitement
level to New York Giants football to the point where
somebody like myself wanted to see the Giants play because
those two dudes were so exciting. I mean, Scatterbull he
I mean, he's a crash dummy. He's running through people
and you know, not avoiding any contact. And then you

(06:09):
know he's playing with all that energy and toughness something
that you can get behind it. Jackson's dog, you got
the swag, you know what I mean, And he can
throw the thing a little bit.

Speaker 5 (06:20):
He running, you know, he get in the end zone,
he do.

Speaker 4 (06:22):
His little dances like it's something that you can get
behind a chair. So I'm looking at that. Okay, they
got two young pieces, two rookies. That's that's ready to
look like they ready to move the organization forward.

Speaker 5 (06:35):
Now.

Speaker 4 (06:36):
All we need now is to get the pieces around them,
and you can see the next year or the next
two years where the Giants can be a respectable team.
You know, they could, they could be a force in
the NFC East at least challenge for the NFC East.
So I just think, you know, I just didn't understand

(06:57):
firing him right now at this time when you know,
you know, he really don't.

Speaker 5 (07:02):
Have any guys out there. All of his guys are injured.

Speaker 4 (07:04):
I mean, it's quarterback and right it back injured, it's
best receiver injured, you know, I mean, but what is
that guy supposed to do? Who are you going to
bring in there that's going to fix that and make
that and make that team win. I just I just
don't see it. And I know we've been hearing the
Belichick rumors now, you know, yeah, And I don't think
he's the answer either.

Speaker 5 (07:25):
But so so what you think? Who do do you?

Speaker 4 (07:28):
Is it anybody that pops in your head right now
that you say, okay, you can plug them man to
the Giants organization and they'll be a good head coach,
a good leader to to move that organization forward.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
No one can comes to mind, like, well, you know what,
there's two guys, believe it or not. And I hate
using the retreads, but there's two coaches out there that
have a proven track record with young quarterbacks, and that's
Mike McCarthy and that's also Bruce Arians. They've all they've
both taken I don't know about Bruce Arians' health, but

(08:05):
in the past they both taken young quarterbacks, molded the
offensive system. They're bridge coaches what I like to call them.
Bruce Arians more of a proven product than Mike McCart
I know he's won the Super Bowl, but he's a
guy that can come in and galvanize and help your
organization get to the next step so that you can
find that Bill Belichick or whatever the case may be.

(08:28):
I would love to see the coach from Minnesota get
another shot on defensive coordinator, Brian flora Is, that's his name.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
I'd love to see flora Is getting another shot.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
But at the same time, I don't know if he's
right for this team. I think with the offensive talents
they have, they need somebody that can come in and
mold them offensively. I don't think Brian flora has has that.
He would have to get the right type of staff.
But also you got to look at the offense coordinator

(08:59):
and wat I think he got a raw deal.

Speaker 3 (09:03):
What's his name, man, I can't think of his name
right now. Used to be Kyler Murray's coach, Cliff Cliff Kingsbury.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
He's another offensive genions and you look at Kyler Murray's career,
it's gone down ever since Cliff Kingsbury left. So those
are a couple of names that I can think of
off topic, off the top of my head. But I'll
say one last thing about the Brian dave Ball thing.
I think it's an instance where, like you said, it best,

(09:30):
the old regime. You know, they weren't great. That's why
the GM's no longer there. That GM brought Brian Daboll in.
So maybe the new GM and Brian Daboll didn't share
the same vision for the future because under that new
GM is no way that he's supporting Brian dave Ball
one hundred percent. When you take two defensive ends in

(09:53):
the first round and your coach is an offensive coach,
your offensive line is in shambles, and you need enough
the wide receiver to compliment Malik Neighbors. So I just
think from an organizational standpoint, I think it may have
been freed and that's probably why he got fired.

Speaker 4 (10:11):
Yeah, that that that makes that makes perfect sense. But
it's just I think it's a trickle down effect from
like you said, the old virgin making poor decision after another,
and now you're seeing that this this current coaching staff,
you know, taking a fall for for those banded decisions
that was made last year, two years ago, three years ago,

(10:33):
four years ago. And and Brian uh was doughball. He
he's uh he he's taken. He's taking the brunt of
that hit. But uh, well, I mean we'll see, we'll
see what this new GM is going to do. Uh,
we'll see what type of players they drive, see what
what they can do in free agency and all of

(10:55):
that good stuff. But I just don't see this organization
turning the coin anytime soon me either.

Speaker 1 (11:02):
Like you said it best whenever you don't have a
marriage between the organization, the head coach the quarterback, it's
gonna be tough to turn that thing around. I mean,
you can look at Miami right now, and Mike McDaniels
is probably gonna get fired because he married himself the tour.
So that coach head coach quarterback relationship it has to

(11:27):
be symbiaut it has to be great. You can look
at John Harvard and I mean Jim Harball and John Halbard.
Whenever they have franchise quarterbacks, they look like great coaches, right.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
But when they don't, it just is what it is.
You know, they were.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
Talking about fire Harball while Lamar Jackson was hurt. Now
Lamar Jackson back, They're like, oh, he's a genius again.

Speaker 4 (11:49):
Yeah, yeah, I heard somebody I can't remember which show
I was watching, or maybe it was somebody's podcast where
they were saying that Lamar saved this job years ago
before he did.

Speaker 5 (12:05):
You know.

Speaker 4 (12:05):
So, I mean, I like Harball. I think he's a
players coach. I like the energy rings in the locker room.
It seems like all of his players truly like him.
And I think he's genuine in terms of the way
he feels about his his team. I just think the coach.
I don't know if it's hardball or I don't know

(12:27):
if it's Monking, but I just think offensively, if you
got you got this juggernaut on offense right now, you
got weapons. You got you got weapons that receiver, you
got weapons at running back, you got weapons at the
tight end, and we all know that's where their strength
is on the offense, but they play so conservative, man like,

(12:50):
come on, man, unleash that beast man, especially if they
get a league in the third quarter to play calling,
it's awful, like and you know me, run up to
score because it's no reason why that team shouldn't score
forty points every game.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
I agree, especially when you have someone with Lamar Jackson's
skill set and talent. You can't leave a light box
or not have a spy, so that takes one defender
out of coverage. I think it's just a case where
a few years ago, or not even a few years ago,
a while back, Pittsburgh had the same issue, right with

(13:30):
Ben Roethlisberg and Tony o'brown Wallace, I forget the Titiends name,
but it was clear to see that they needed to
transition the organization to a passing offense, and they kept
trying to hit their head on the wall and run
the ball. Sometimes, when you got these historic franchises like
the Ravens, like the Steelers that are known for defense

(13:51):
and running the ball, it's tough for them organizationally sometimes
to turn the page.

Speaker 5 (13:56):
Yeah, and that's exactly Baltimore's problem.

Speaker 4 (13:59):
They still think they the Ray Lewis LD Baltimore defense
where they can just score a couple couple scored a
couple of touchdowns and let the defense handle the rest.
That's not their position right now. Even though the defense
last three four weeks has really come alive, getting some
getting some turn forcing some turnovers, keeping the score down.

(14:22):
I think the first I mean weeks stay I mean games.
They played nine games, so I think the first five
weeks they was giving up thirty five points a game.
But the last four weeks they only been giving up
fourteen points a game, So you know, I mean that's
that's a big turnaround. And they got a lot of
number one draft picks over there on the defensive end.

Speaker 5 (14:43):
I just think it.

Speaker 4 (14:44):
I just think they needed time to kind of mesh
because they have some young guys mixed with some veteran guys,
so just get get that camaraderie.

Speaker 5 (14:52):
And because if.

Speaker 4 (14:54):
They didn't, that defensive coordinator, you know, he on the
fair nice. I mean, even if they don't make the
playoffs this year, I think he won't be that next season.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
Well, the same way that we were talking about day
ball and not being completely fair, I feel like two
defensive coordinators this year that have gotten a bad rap
is the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator and the Dallas Cowboys
defense coordinator. I'll explain why, because when you got seven
of eleven starters hurt, I.

Speaker 3 (15:25):
Don't care who's the defensive coordinator.

Speaker 5 (15:27):
After a while.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
I remember watching one Ravens game, they were like, man,
they're on that fourth corner. Yeah, man, when you're on
your fourth corner, what defensive covers you want me to
run for?

Speaker 3 (15:38):
This guy that's not supposed to be on the.

Speaker 5 (15:39):
Team, right right?

Speaker 4 (15:41):
But I think, but I think the hot water comes
from last season because he started the season off the
scene completely healthy, and then they got it together, you know,
somewhere towards men season. But luckily the offense was healthy
and they was carrying that team and making sure they
kept getting wins week after week. But when you look

(16:04):
at it this season, now you got your offense that's
not completely healthy for many weeks, and you know they.

Speaker 5 (16:12):
Got your old backup quarterback. He's awful.

Speaker 4 (16:18):
Yes, so you got him. I didn't even know we
had Huntley back in the locker room. I'm like, Huntley
should have been started from day one when Lamar Jackson
went down because we have a sample size of Huntley
being successful as a backup quarterback in Baltimore. You can
run the same play sets because he can run the
same thing Lamar run, and he's gonna keep you in

(16:39):
the game. He's gonna keep you competitive, and he's he's
won some games. Shit, he made a Pro Bowl three
four years ago when Lamar was when Lamar was out there,
and he took him to the playoffs. I think they
lost to the Bengals by one point in the wild
card game. So I mean, so they wasted two or
three games messing with that that guy, you know what

(17:03):
I mean. So I just I don't get it, But
it looked like they turned the corner. Now, look they
taking the one game at a time. I think the
Ravens have a very good chance of winning the ALC
North when they're only a game behind the Stiller is
now and that that schedule is favorable and still has

(17:25):
got a rough schedule moving ahead.

Speaker 5 (17:28):
So so you know.

Speaker 4 (17:30):
If they stay focused, and you know that ALC North
could be tricky, even when you play the Browns and
the Bengals, you know, those games still could go either way,
just because those teams so familiar with each other. And
and then from what I'm hearing, Cincinnati is getting Joe
Burrow back by time they play Baltimore that first game,

(17:52):
so you know it's not a cape walk. But at
the same time, I still think the schedule, the way
it's set up, and the way that they're playing now
on both the offense and defensive bend, I think they
can go ahead and get it done.

Speaker 3 (18:07):
Oh for sure.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
I definitely wouldn't counted with For one, when you have
an NFL quarterback the caliber Lamar Jackson. That's what made
me so frustrated a few years ago because I didn't
want him be I didn't want him to get labeled
as this guy that can't throw the that can't read
the defense, that can't be a quarterback, and he's just
a runner. And I felt like at that time, Baltimore

(18:30):
was pigeonholed him.

Speaker 3 (18:31):
Into that category. And I don't think they were taking
his talent serious because y'all are receiving corps.

Speaker 1 (18:37):
A few years ago was trash. Now you know they
surrounded him with better weapons. Now, obviously they went out
and got Dee Hopkins Flowers, He's got two tight ends.
It's a totally different offense now the coordinator, like you
said earlier, that's a different story. But no, whenever you
got Lamar Jackson back there, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow,

(18:58):
you can never count out those teams.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
You know. That's like having a young Anon Rodgers back
in his prime. You know. So Lamar gonna keep you
in the games.

Speaker 1 (19:07):
Like you said, your problem is gonna be can you
stop the run? Can you generate enough pass rush in
some of these games where if Lamar is off just
a little bit, the score doesn't get out of hand?
And and that's that's that's that's gonna be a Baltimore's
challenge going forward, especially when n the BK being gone,

(19:27):
is can we stop the run consistently?

Speaker 5 (19:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (19:31):
Yeah, And I agree, And then I just I just
hope Monkin just sees that. I think he believes that
Lamar goes as Henry goes, but it's actually the opposite.

Speaker 5 (19:46):
Henry goes as Lamargo.

Speaker 4 (19:48):
Like Lamar brings a lot, He opens up a lot
of lanes for Derrick Henry. So like a lot of
those first and second down plays or whatever the case
may be, if you make those passing plays, and then
you and then you know, second down, third down, you
put it in you know, Derrick Henry's stomach and let
him run. It's gonna be a lane wide open because

(20:10):
the defense have to count for Lamar because I mean,
he's throwing it all over the field, but we all
know that he's still a four to three runner and
he can hurt you. You know, he can get a
first down or he can take it to the house.
So those two together, but he got to understand that
Lamar is the one that opens it up for Henry,

(20:32):
and so you got to start with your best player
on the team and let him open it up for
all the players around him.

Speaker 3 (20:39):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
And also he got to understand that Derrick Henry is
thirty years old. He's not a he's not a fourth
quarterback anymore.

Speaker 3 (20:46):
He can give it to you maybe.

Speaker 1 (20:48):
In the first, maybe in the fourth, but it's two
quarters where Derrick Henry just to he just he's lost
his step and it's it's expected. You know, all great
running backs do it. So he's either got to use
Mitchell more often and switch it up, or like you said,
he's got to use the pass to set up to run.
It doesn't have to be the opposite sae way around
and in today's game, by doing it the way he's

(21:10):
doing it, he's actually favoring the defense. He's making the
defense super lazy because, like we were talking about earlier,
when you got those eight guys in the box, because
Baltimore isn't taking enough shots, it doesn't open up lamees
for Lamar Jackson. You know, do run the ball because
there's so many defenders in the box.

Speaker 5 (21:29):
Fact.

Speaker 4 (21:29):
Fact, what are the games that caught you out over
the weekend that that may me surprised you, disappointed you,
or you was like, oh, this was a hell of
a game.

Speaker 3 (21:40):
I'm gonna tell you man, the Monday night game.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
I hear what people keep saying about Jordan Love, and
I get it.

Speaker 3 (21:48):
Defense struggles happen all the time. Man. The Eagles defense
ain't that good.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
They're not that good to hold you to seven points
in four quarter that they're not They're just.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
Not that good.

Speaker 5 (22:00):
Think that's a lot of people on the defensive side.

Speaker 3 (22:03):
Yeah, last yes, they haven't it.

Speaker 1 (22:06):
And what it is is, as I understand, Jordan Love
was missing some pieces out there.

Speaker 3 (22:12):
But it goes back to what you were saying earlier.

Speaker 1 (22:15):
The offense coordinator has to recognize that we we do
have a mismatch out there. They had a mismatch in
the secondary. So Queen y'on Mitchell is a bona fide dude.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
He's a dog.

Speaker 1 (22:27):
Anything opposite him is questionable. And then and the Eagles
been getting targeted on that all year long.

Speaker 3 (22:34):
Also, you know for a fact you.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
Got to move the pocket against the Eagles because they
got two All Pro defensive tackles. So I was just
disappointing between Green Bay's offense coordinator and Jordan Love not
really seeing the field at least from what I saw
in my eyes.

Speaker 3 (22:52):
Let me see.

Speaker 1 (22:53):
Another game that that that kind of that kind of
shocked me a little bit.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
Was I'll be honest, for.

Speaker 1 (23:01):
All the applause and all the appeal that Dan Quinn
got as the offensive coordinator, and now I'm taking a
shot at these commanders. That defense is straight trash. I mean,
I know the Detroit Lions are explosive, but man, they
don't have a pass rush. They don't they can't stop
the run. I don't I don't understand. And I watched

(23:23):
that game pretty much from the beginning to the end,
and that that defense is terrible. And the offense actually
didn't play that bad, but the defense was was was terrible,
will so horrendous.

Speaker 5 (23:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (23:33):
See, they demoted their defensive coordinator and dan Quinn is
going to be taking over the defensive play calling.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
Maybe maybe that might help.

Speaker 1 (23:43):
But I think what happened with the Commanders, in my opinion,
is not the scheme, it's the personnel. In the offseason,
instead of trading for Deebo Samuels, they should have went
out there and tried to trade for.

Speaker 3 (23:57):
A young linebacker, you know. And then I don't know.

Speaker 1 (24:00):
What take they looked at for Marshawn Lattimore because the
Saints knew he was washed.

Speaker 3 (24:04):
Up even though he didn't play last weekend.

Speaker 1 (24:07):
You know, they fell for it, and he's been trashed
all year long, you know, So I don't I don't
know if changing defensive coordinators is gonna matter. Your time
to fix that and adjust that was in the offseason.

Speaker 3 (24:21):
They just don't have a personnel.

Speaker 5 (24:24):
Yeah, yeah, I agree.

Speaker 4 (24:28):
But luckily they did get Debo because he's he's been
the brake spot on their offense since Week one. And
then with Turner mccluorin that, you know, you know, being
injured and you not knowing if he's coming back. He's been,
he's been to shine and star on that offense. Like
without him, I don't know what that offense would look like.

Speaker 1 (24:48):
Somebody got to get the ball, you know, saying somebody
you know.

Speaker 3 (24:53):
But at the end of the day, to me.

Speaker 1 (24:55):
And old Dogs said this this summer, it was either
old Dog and coach. I gotta give one of them
credit that it was their original thought. They said, you
playing with the houses money when you don't pay Terry McLaurin.
Because all these wide receiver skill position players have histories
of hamstrings, quads, growings, all that when you don't come

(25:16):
in and training camp. Because you cannot simulate live action
in any sport without playing the games or getting out
there in training camp, you can't train that kind of
that kind of pressure. And that's what's happening to him.
He's not the first, he won't be the last. You know,
they should have they should have paid him. What's the
difference in paying him in August than paying them in

(25:38):
March or April? Right, you know, you messed up your
chemistry with your young quarterback, you know. And I'm and
I'm far from a commander's fan, But I mean I
saw it from a mile away. Because what happen is
they fell in love with Jayden Daniel's talent and they
put too much on them and they didn't surround them
with enough talent.

Speaker 3 (25:59):
I mean, you gotta set round running back out there
as you're starting running back. That was your savior. Man.
You could win in the draft and got anybody you know.

Speaker 1 (26:09):
And then as far as wide receivers, I do like
Deebo Samuel, but I'm gonna tell you the God on
this truth. I said it this summer. He stunts a
young quarterback's growth. The reason being all you doing is
running five yard hitches. You're running, you're running screens, you're
running drags because he can't run routes. You want that
young quarterback to have to, you know, go through the

(26:30):
progressions with a Mecca, a Booka or a Zay Flowers
type of wide receiver that actually get in and out
of their cuts.

Speaker 3 (26:37):
You want them to develop that type of chemistry. You know.

Speaker 1 (26:40):
I understand you got Terry on one side, But the
reason why Terry had to work so hard and blew
his hamstring out because no defense is disrespecting Deebo.

Speaker 3 (26:48):
They know he can't run routes like that.

Speaker 1 (26:51):
You know, most of his stuff come from five yard
catch and then Deevo's debo. But it ain't like he's
getting down the field and making anything happen.

Speaker 5 (27:00):
Yeah, yeah, a lot.

Speaker 4 (27:01):
Yeah, you're right, a lot of vis yards come from
yards after the cat. So he might catch it three,
four or five yard pass and take it fifteen to
twenty yards or whatever the case may be. But he's
not getting down the field. He's not running the route
tree all that good stuff. You're right about that. Uh,
But that's enough talk about those bulls. I feel you're right,

(27:23):
we talk about that.

Speaker 3 (27:26):
I got forty four reasons to not talk.

Speaker 4 (27:29):
About them, right, Yeah, you can start with the Bills.
I mean, they took a they took a bad loss
to the Dolphins on Sunday. Nobody I don't think anybody
was expecting them to lose that game. But they didn't
only lose, they got their ass whook.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
So the thing about it, and I've been saying this since
no cap been no cap, anytime you got a division opponent,
it can happen. It's a team you played twice a
year every year. They know more about Josh Allen than
Josh Allen knows about Josh Allen because they gotta studium.
Everything that the Dolphins did in the offseason was geared

(28:09):
towards beating the Buffalo Bills, So it was It's never
a shock to me whenever you see a team in
the division beat the top dog in the division, because
you got the everything Miami does, the draft, the way
they call that place, they scheme, they know everything goes
through through Buffalo.

Speaker 3 (28:27):
So no, I'm not really concerned.

Speaker 1 (28:29):
I would have been more concerned if the Miami Dolphins
were in an NFC North team and they were a
bottom feeder, they didn't have that intel, you know, I
would have been concerned. But no, not not a divisional folk.

Speaker 3 (28:42):
That can happen.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
Unfortunately you don't want it to, but it can, and thedn't.
I looked at a little bit of that game. It
just looked like Buffalo was kind of out of source it.
You know, penalties, drop passes, fumbles, things.

Speaker 3 (28:56):
Of that nature.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
And then you know, when you got a weapon like
Jalen Waddle and Devon a Chin, I don't care what
defense it is. If you got one misstackle, they out
the gate and they and they and that's what happened
to Buffalo twice. You know, I think it was a
forty five yard pass to uh Wadle and then fifty
yard run by Devon a Chain.

Speaker 3 (29:16):
So no, I'm not.

Speaker 1 (29:17):
Too I'm not too concerned. We'll see what Buffalo does
this week.

Speaker 5 (29:21):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (29:22):
I think the I would say the game of the
week was probably that Sunday morning game. Who was it
was the Coats and the Falcons. Yeah, Coats had I
mean the Falcons had that game. They probably should have
won it.

Speaker 5 (29:38):
Hey. Sorry, if my O g lee watching this, I'm sorry, man.

Speaker 4 (29:42):
Your your your at aliens many they wet the bed again.
But you know that I was saying, where bad teams
find a way to lose and good teams find a
way to win.

Speaker 5 (29:54):
I just saw what.

Speaker 4 (29:55):
It's one of those things, you know, and they go
over time and and coach made the big play score
to touchdown there and get the victory. But that was
the hell of a game from beginning to end.

Speaker 1 (30:08):
It was man and for all the West Coast Mountain
toime folks, man, that game came on six thirty, seven
thirty in.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
The morning, and it and it definitely and it definitely
was was was a great game. It was worth it.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
To your point, it just seems like to me the
Falcons never learned from their pass mistakes.

Speaker 3 (30:26):
Instead of running the.

Speaker 1 (30:27):
Ball, they turned away from from the run, and they
and they tried to throw their way back and throw
their way into this game.

Speaker 3 (30:34):
And Tyler ale.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
Jear was running, he was getting four to five yards
of carry, and instead of running him and v Jhon Robinson,
you kept putting the ball in Michael Pennick's hand and
that's what let the Coats back into the game.

Speaker 4 (30:47):
Yeah, yeah, facts, facts. Switching up a little bit to
to to the NBA with some big news, some breaking
news on the on the NBA side in terms of
the Dallas Mavericks and the GM Nico Harrison getting fired. Now,
we've been talking about this for a minute since since
since that trade happened last season with Luca Docci going

(31:12):
over to the Lakers and Maveris getting a d and
the other kid, I can't remember his name, but the
shooting guard christ christ yep. I think Nico is getting
a bad rap here. I think he's definitely the fall guy.
I don't personally, I don't think Nico made that call.

(31:37):
I don't think he made that trade. But everybody is
booing him fired Nico. You know, Lucas man at Nico,
starring him down doing games and all and all that stuff.
But if anybody knows anything about the business of the
National Basketball Association a GM, A coach, whoever, cannot get

(32:00):
rid of your franchise player without the owner saying let's
get rid of him. That I believe that decision came
down from Patrick Dumont Dona and Nico Harrison just you know,
he he has to be the face of the trade

(32:21):
and any backlash that came from it, he has to
take it on the check, Sit in the.

Speaker 5 (32:27):
Game, sit at the games.

Speaker 4 (32:29):
Hear the booze here, everybody's you know, trash them and
all that good stuff. Because this is why I think that,
because Nico Harrison been around the game too long, and
he's been around some some some great basketball minds over
the years. He's been around Rob Polinka, you.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
Know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (32:50):
He's been He's been around some some some great guys
that makes make great basketball decisions. So he knows what's
a good trade and bad trade. He know not to
get rid of a generational talent like Luca Dodgy. I
don't think he would ever have made that trade if
he wasn't forced to.

Speaker 5 (33:09):
What's your thoughts on.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
That, well, I mean, at this point, what does Nico
have to lose to not come out and say that,
like you got you have to save your reputation at
this point. But you know, at the time he kind
of doubled down on it. I think what got Dallas
in trouble with that trade. And we said it when
it happened. You you're trying to you're trying to sell

(33:34):
basketball enthusiastsm fans something that wasn't there. You know, you
were talking about Luka, Donc's conditioning, his love of the game.

Speaker 3 (33:42):
You know, the reason why you got rid.

Speaker 1 (33:44):
Of him is was kind of asinine as much as
it was just getting rid of him.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
If they would have just came out of.

Speaker 5 (33:52):
You know, because it came from a suit up top.

Speaker 3 (33:55):
Yep, who who who's.

Speaker 4 (33:58):
Never done anything in terms of basketball as a player,
as a coach.

Speaker 5 (34:05):
Nothing. He he he did it.

Speaker 4 (34:07):
Purely off of analytics, off off of off of financial stuff,
and and and made a case that hey, oh yeah,
and on top of that, he's out of shape. That's
why he keeps getting hurt. We need to get rid
of him now, Nico, do your job. Get rid of him.
And the reason why he's doubling down, the reason why

(34:29):
he's not saying, hey, look I'm firing there. Look it
was this dude who told me to do it is
because he got paid to do that.

Speaker 3 (34:39):
That's true.

Speaker 4 (34:40):
He got he got paid to do he got paid
to take the punches from that trade. And then also
if Nico started talking now and spilling the beans on
everything that took place, he's not getting hired as another
GM from another organization because that owner gonna look at
him say, oh, he don't know how to play ball.
We need you to be a good. Oh boy, do

(35:02):
what you're told. You got paid for it. That was
your job. Now there may be an opportunity for you
to slide into another organization and run that organization as
a gym.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
That's that's all great points, coach. I never looked at
it like that, but I think we missing the point here.

Speaker 3 (35:18):
Man.

Speaker 1 (35:19):
Hey, I don't know who call it was. I'm just
glad Rob Police answer the bone.

Speaker 3 (35:23):
Thank you, Dallas. I appreciate you because.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
I love watching me Luca, and that appreciate I would worry.

Speaker 3 (35:33):
Man.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
I was like, man, what we gonna do with lebron Lee?

Speaker 3 (35:36):
Worry about it?

Speaker 5 (35:38):
I ain't gotta worried about it at all.

Speaker 4 (35:40):
And in the defense of the Mavericks, they got a
hundred million dollars sitting on the bench between Kyrie and
Anthony Davis. You got two superstar players that's not even
available and you and you're putting all the weight on
the back of a rookie who's still trying to figure
it out, find its way. So of course you're going

(36:01):
to be last place in your division or in the West,
you know, because you still trying to figure You don't
have that guy, you know what I mean, You don't
have that leader, you don't have that superstar player. You're
putting all your eggs in one basket, and that basket
is a rookie basket. So you know, you can't I mean,
you can't expect them to to to be in the

(36:23):
top of the standings. You know, with the roster that
they have. They got a rookie that that has potential
to be really good. Then you got a bunch of
role players, you know what I mean, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (36:36):
That were suited to play with Luca.

Speaker 4 (36:38):
That was suited to play with Luca. Absolutely absolutely, but yeah, yeah,
you're you're right about that. But back to the Lakers
right now with their eight and three, I think they
played the night right.

Speaker 5 (36:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (36:56):
Yeah, So so they're eight and three. They're looking pretty
got Luca averging down there forty. You got Ree's Ogne thirty.
The team looks pretty good. They running up and down.
Offense look good. I still think they week defensively, but
offense look really good.

Speaker 5 (37:14):
They scored a lot of points. Is moving.

Speaker 4 (37:20):
And there's a lot of talk about, Okay, Lebron should
be back in the next week or two, a couple
of weeks.

Speaker 5 (37:27):
What does he do?

Speaker 3 (37:28):
Shit?

Speaker 4 (37:28):
Shit, the Lakers move on from Lebron, Does Lebron have
to humble himself and hey, look, I just gotta find
the spot where I fit in and be like the
third option, fourth option. Do you think the way the
Lakers playing now is sustainable, especially when you start playing
against the top teams in the West.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
I think we'll get some of those answers tonight. But
the same thing that we were talking about with Luka Doncics.
Before he makes up for a lot of he puts
deodoran on a lot of the Lakers, you know, deficiencies
because of how prolific of a scorer he is and
how much attention you have to put on him. So

(38:11):
I think certain aspects of what the Lakers are doing
is sustainable because it's not just some run of the
meal guy that's doing this. Luca has a track record.
I'm not saying averaging forty. Maybe he regresses to the
means and average about thirty two thirty five. I believe
Austin Reeves is a guy that can get you anywhere

(38:32):
between twenty to twenty five a night because he's just
that efficient of a score. I think that's what impresses
me the most is when you watch the game, it's
not forced. Every now and then Luca will take a
questionable shot, but when you the type of score he is,
he can make it. I think what people are missing
with the Lakers is not Luca and Austin Reeves.

Speaker 3 (38:54):
I think their proof.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
It's what DeAndre Ayden has given you in the middle
with his double, his consistent double. Jake Laavia averaging almost
forty from three, you know those are and he's a
career thirty five three point shooter. So you know Rob
Polinka just you know, made another move. Then you got
Marcus Smart, who doesn't need to score at all. He

(39:17):
coming in there and doing what he's supposed to do,
which is play defense, being irantant. Jared Vanderbilt is healthy
this year, so he's able to come in and play defense.
When you have those type of scores, those guys scoring
is irrelevant. They have an actual role. So I think
I think it is somewhat sustainable. And when when Lebron

(39:38):
comes back, Lebron's got to be a man in his
word on this one. The whole time Anthony Davis was there,
what he kept.

Speaker 3 (39:44):
Saying, I want to fall back. I know I'm getting older.
I want I want to be the second field. Well,
he's got to show it.

Speaker 5 (39:53):
He's been saying that since the second stand in Cleveland.
He's been trying to give the day the keys for years.

Speaker 4 (40:00):
Actually been able to take the keys, put it in
the nation, and put it in drive, you know. So,
I mean, now you got somebody who shipped. Not only
can he take the key, he got his own fucking whip.

Speaker 3 (40:12):
You know he does.

Speaker 1 (40:15):
And it's gonna be abundantly clear to us as fans
of the game. If Lebron is not playing ball. You
know what what you well, Lebron ain't. Lebron is more
than capable of doing. He's a basketball savont he know
what he needs to do. He know he needed to
get off the ball, cut, run some screen, run.

Speaker 3 (40:33):
Some pick and roll. I don't think anybody's talking about that.

Speaker 1 (40:36):
And with Lebron and Luca in that four to one
pick and roll with that looks like he did it
with Austin Reason for a while ago. That one, it's
I won't say it's unstoppable, but it got a ninety
nine percent chance of working because what you're gonna do.
You know, that's like KD running a four to one
or four to two picking roll. It's it's almost unstoppable,

(40:57):
especially when you have a big like eight that can
act to shoot a three in respectable from three. So
when you're running at four to one, everything is spread.
You got two passes. So yeah, I believe if if
Lebron is bought in on the defensive end, I believe
it can work.

Speaker 3 (41:15):
He got, he got out, he got.

Speaker 5 (41:17):
That's gonna be a deal. I think he.

Speaker 4 (41:21):
Lebron is he's always brought into the defensive end, but
now you're talking about a forty one year old man.
You fourth quarters of defense is just not realistic for
somebody like Lebron. And we've seen it in the last
couple of seasons where Lebron a lock up defensively, but
it's in spurts, like he'll do it like in port

(41:43):
fourth quarter, last five minutes or so like that, when
you really need him to lock down, he will. But
there's gots and moments throughout the course of a game
where he bullshit him, he's gonna rest, he's gonna chill,
he gonna do what he do. But so so you
got to so so you gotta understand that's what's gonna happen.

(42:04):
And it's kind of like, uh, you know, because Reeves
really ain't stopping nobody, you know what I mean, and
you know, Luke and not stopping nobody. So like with
those three being on the court at the same time,
you may only have two like really solid defenders out
there on the court. You know, you may have a
smart out there or you know, Ayton can play a

(42:26):
little defense down low, benje Belt, you know, but see
a lot of those defenses specialists that the Lakers have
when those guys out on the court, they're gonna be
on the bench. So I think JJ Reddick has a
has a challenge ahead of him to see how he
can play those guys and plug him in at the
right time to where he doesn't sacrifice offense, but at

(42:51):
the same time make sure the defense is holding strong.

Speaker 1 (42:55):
Well, you said it best. Is Lebron willing to make
that sacrifice? You know, obviously he should the starter. There's
no way in hell you would ever start Jered Vanderbilt
over Lebron.

Speaker 3 (43:05):
However, when that first.

Speaker 1 (43:07):
Time out is made, it depends on the matchup. A
Lebron conversation has to be had, like, hey, man, tonight,
I need you in the second half. So I'm gonna
space your minutes in the first half and I'm gonna
let Jery Vanderbilt just harass the hell out of this
four tonight. And Lebron has to be mature enough to

(43:28):
handle that, because if you look at it right now,
where I think the Lakers are suffering obviously is when
Austin Reeves and Luca go to the bench, that's prime
time to put Lebron in there, put him in back
into his natural you know, four to one type of deal.
Where he's handling the ball, the offense is running through him,

(43:50):
and he can get his ten to fifteen or shoot
some nights even twenty points in the non Luca Austin
reeves minutes. So, like you said, JJ, Reddick has a very,
very tough job ahead of him to get Lebron to
buy into that role. But if he does, and what
you were talking about on the defensive end, that's what
I meant.

Speaker 3 (44:09):
I don't I'm not expecting Lebron to play four court.

Speaker 1 (44:11):
I just need him, when his crunch time, to be
all the way baught in like he has been and
continue to do that.

Speaker 3 (44:18):
I think the Lakers will be okay. I believe.

Speaker 1 (44:21):
I'm telling you right now. I'm not just saying this
because I'm a Lakers fan. I believe the Lakers can
win a championship this year because of Luca Doncis. I
believe he is that special and he has enough role
players around him.

Speaker 3 (44:34):
They get another five in there, and it's open. It
is a rap. If they get just one more five,
I don't know where they gonna get him from.

Speaker 1 (44:43):
Maybe it's Robert Williams, I don't know, but the Lakers
are definitely a serious threat in the West.

Speaker 3 (44:47):
They were third seed last year.

Speaker 1 (44:49):
I think people forget that, you know, when people came
over they were hot.

Speaker 5 (44:53):
Yeah, yeah, I think.

Speaker 4 (44:54):
I think they absolutely can can compete for the Western
Conference title and making finals run. And I don't have
any concern about when Lebron comes back how that offen
is gonna look, because to me, I saw enough last
year how Luca and Lebron played together and they complimented

(45:16):
each other well, and then both of them to me
sacrifice that times when Okay, Lucy got it going, let me,
let me make some back door cuts, let me scream
for him and roll to the basket. And then there
was times when Lebron, you know, took over a game
and Lucas said, okay, let me stand over here. When

(45:37):
Lebron need me, I'm ready, you know what I'm saying.
So I think both of them are high IQ offensive players,
so I think they'll be fine. And Austin Reeves, I
think he's used to his role. Austin Reeves always been
a bucket. Yeah, of course he's going at a higher
rate now, but he's always been a bucket, so he'll
find a way to do what he do anyway, So

(45:59):
I don't think Lebron coming back is gonna take away
from him. Sure, his scoring might go down, but the
impact of the scoring he'll do will still be the same,
you know what I mean, Because you bringing somebody else
that's gonna average twenty plus. You know Lebron is going
to average twenty but you can't stop him from scoring
twenty plus. And you gotta remember, majority of the game,

(46:21):
he's gonna be playing that power forward rod, not that
point guard and that small forward.

Speaker 5 (46:25):
He's gonna be power forward. He's gonna scream, roll to
the basket.

Speaker 4 (46:29):
Luka, don's gonna find He's gonna get easy buckets, easy layups.
He's gonna run a floor like he always do. He
always find energy to run the floor on the fast breaks.
He don't get his dunks in his layouts and stuff
like that. So I think they'll be fine. I think
they're a dangerous team when Lebron's get back into all
these people out here talking about they need to trade
him or he needs to sit the bench. You guys

(46:52):
are foolish, You are nuts. You off your You're off
your rocket. Because the Los Angeles Legers will not go
deep into the playoffs or compete for a title if
they don't have Lebron James.

Speaker 1 (47:06):
That's that's what's asking nine to me, Kobe is you
have these pundits, right, they pick and choose who they
root for, who they you know, get behind because these
same pundits won't Yeah, they won't say anything about Draymond
Green or Klay Thompson. You know, Klay Thompson is damnar

(47:27):
unplayable on the defensive end at this point in his career.

Speaker 5 (47:32):
Offens this year, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
So if I'm not sitting him, why the hell would
I sit Lebron if nothing else? If nothing else, Lebron
is still six eight two forty can get you a
double double even if he.

Speaker 4 (47:49):
Was just second team on NBA as a forty year old.
What are what are we talking about right now?

Speaker 1 (47:56):
Yeah, we're not talking We're not talking about Lebron being
the initiator, the facilitator in him and Ad running pick
and rolls. We're talking about Lebron being the third option
some nights, second option most nights, And.

Speaker 3 (48:12):
I just I just don't get it. If you go
down the list of fours in the Western Conference, I
guarantee you how Lebron in the top ten easily. Why
would why would you put that on the bench?

Speaker 5 (48:26):
Yeah, yeah, yeah that.

Speaker 4 (48:30):
I don't even want to discuss this no more because
it is fool is just stupid. I mean, and I'm here,
I'm hearing it all over the place, like people talking about, Yeah,
Lebron gonna be in the way, this team is better
off without him.

Speaker 5 (48:44):
No, they're not.

Speaker 4 (48:45):
Everybody's everybody's always a victim of the moment. Nobody looks
at the big picture. Nobody looks down the road, how
the team is going to look and the pieces they
need to get over the hub. They looking at oh man,
the lake. I mean the Lakers eight and three right now.
Reid's thirty, he had fifty one to one game and
Luca Arexe forty. That's all they need. They good because

(49:08):
they playing free. They all Lebron now holding them back.
Come on, Bron, man, Come on man, Lebron gonna come in.
These guys are gonna be playing playoff style basketball when
he comes back, you know. And those guys are too
smart and too great a players not to make it work.
And JJ Reddick, I think he's a hell of a coach.
I didn't know how good of a coach he was

(49:29):
gonna be when he got that job, because everybody say
that was Lebron's higher But JJ Reddick is a hell
of a coach.

Speaker 1 (49:38):
The thing about Lebron James is people gotta understand something. Yeah,
that might be his boy, but I'm Maverick Carter's boy.
He wouldn't advocate for him to be the Lakers coach.
He saw something in JJ Reddick from a basketball standpoint
that made him a savant.

Speaker 3 (49:54):
You know, not all of the moves that Lebron has.

Speaker 1 (49:56):
Suggested that worked out, but if you look at him,
to have Russell Westbrook should have worked, you know what
I mean.

Speaker 3 (50:04):
But it just Ego didn't allow it to.

Speaker 1 (50:08):
Anybody with two eyes could see that JJ Reddick from
the time he played at Duke and throughout his career
understood basketball. It was just the leadership aspect of it.
I think that's what we were, you know, missing, was
how was he gonna get people to buy into him
being a coach. But yeah, it works because I think
as we get older, we forget a lot of these

(50:30):
players look up the JJ Reddick. So it definitely worked. Now,
if it was a team full of Lebronze that that
might have been tough because you know, he played in
that era. But as you as they get younger and younger,
JJ Reddick could be even even better coach because that
buy in was just naturally happen.

Speaker 4 (50:49):
Yeah, JJ Reddick was a Lilga danc at one briefly.

Speaker 3 (50:54):
Yes he was.

Speaker 1 (50:55):
I mean JJ Reddick was must see TV. He definitely
was my CTV.

Speaker 4 (51:01):
Yeah, I've been walking bucket, Yes, sir, I've been watching
him play since high school because he's a Virginia boy,
so he I mean, he been lighting it up for
a very long time.

Speaker 5 (51:11):
He knows the game, and he.

Speaker 4 (51:13):
Played under coach k You played under some great coaches,
so he's he's taking all of those teachings and brought
it with him to the to the Lakers. And then
we saw his mind when they did the little podcast,
you know, when he was breaking their plays. I would
have did this in this situation, so we so we
already know he's a he's a smart guy, knows his basketball.

Speaker 5 (51:35):
So I'm looking forward to see the Lakers gonna do.

Speaker 1 (51:38):
Yeah, I am too, But I mean I wouldn't be
surprised if the Thunder win by ten because you are
missing Lebron James.

Speaker 3 (51:45):
You understand what I mean.

Speaker 1 (51:47):
This is the regular season. You missing Lebron. You can
go out there, give you forty Austin reasons.

Speaker 3 (51:51):
Give you thirty.

Speaker 1 (51:51):
That's seventy where if the thunder are healthy and they
have all their components, they could put up one ten easily,
you know with Skees Alexander.

Speaker 3 (51:59):
So they may still lose, but I want to.

Speaker 1 (52:01):
See a competitive game to where it's close enough to
where I can say, all right, if you inject Lebron
in there with fifteen to twenty points, then it may
be a different.

Speaker 5 (52:11):
Game, right.

Speaker 1 (52:13):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (52:14):
Other other news in the basketball world, Man, what's up
with your guy steven A.

Speaker 5 (52:19):
Smith?

Speaker 4 (52:21):
I mean, he he got beef with everybody. Man, everybody
won't smoke with this dude. I just think, you know,
I know, his jobs for him to talk, you know
what I mean, But sometimes you just want stephen A
to just shut the hell up. I mean, because I
mean some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth.

(52:41):
You know, you just look at him like, man, what
dad are you talking about? You know, he he's criticizing politicians.

Speaker 5 (52:49):
You know, he's trying.

Speaker 4 (52:50):
He's coloring all outside the life outside the lines man,
he's getting in the lanes that doesn't have anything to
do with him, that he really doesn't have any pure knowledge,
but he want to criticize this person. Now he's in
the beef with Michelle Beatle and he's in the Kary
Campion And a year later he's still going on podcasts

(53:11):
talking about Lebron James, like, come on, Bron Man, when
is it going to stop? Like all these people can't
be wrong about you, man, I just you know what
I mean. I have more respect for Jason Whitlock than
I do Steven A.

Speaker 5 (53:26):
Smith.

Speaker 4 (53:27):
And I say that because Jason Whitlock wear it on
his chest.

Speaker 5 (53:32):
We know what he is, we know what he's about.

Speaker 4 (53:35):
We don't like Whitlock, we don't like his takes, but
he stands ten toes down on who he is and
what he believes. Stephen Nane tries to make you believe
he's something that he's not. So to me, he's a
woof in sheep's clothing, Like, oh yeah, he's down down
with the with the culture, and you know, I'm pro

(53:56):
black and all this stuff. But really he's just a
puppet for for his bosses. He does whatever his bosses
telling him to do. He talks about what his bosses
want them to talk about. And that's that's what I
that's what I see him, man, is I think he's passive,
passive aggressive. I think he takes shots at people and

(54:18):
then all of a sudden he plays the victim. Oh yeah,
and that's what I that's what I don't that's what
I don't like about him. And he's talking about all
the stuff he did for Carry Champion and you know,
and how he never spoke out against Terry and stuff
like that. But they say, look, we've heard things that

(54:38):
you said about us, either on air or behind the scenes,
and it's gotten back to them, and he's calling them
a liar. But when he said does the same thing,
he says, well, Lebron never said anything publicly about me,
he doesn't go in interviews and everything, but behind the scenes,
I heard stuff he said about me and it's gotten
back to me.

Speaker 5 (54:59):
So now we're.

Speaker 4 (55:00):
Supposed to believe him that he's getting this behind the
scenes information. But he's wanna he want to call them
girls liars about stuff that he's saying behind the scenes
that's getting back to them. Come on, man, So I
mean make it make sense.

Speaker 3 (55:16):
Most I don't.

Speaker 1 (55:17):
I don't even really watch ESPN or Sports Center like
that anymore because it's turned into as the world turns.
There was a time where, you know, though, they had
real analysts on there and they provided in depth insight,
you know, back in the day when you had a
guy like Chris Carter at one point that was giving

(55:39):
you in depth information on what wide receivers would do,
and some of the other analysts that came along during
that time, but they didn't fit the drama mold that
ESPN is, so they keep getting rid of them, you know,
these these great analysts that were there, you know, and
it's it's hard to watch because if you don't have content,

(56:00):
the next thing that you can sell is drama.

Speaker 3 (56:03):
And that's all it is. It's a whole lot of drama.
And and I don't do drama. I don't.

Speaker 1 (56:08):
I don't turn on Sports Center to watch a drama.
You know, I can watch another channel for that. So yeah,
it's to me, it's it's crazy. And then on top
of that, I know, we get on here, we give
our takes about athletes, but what I'm not gonna do
is ever criticize somebody to the point where it can
define their character or especially African Americans.

Speaker 3 (56:32):
You know, I don't. I don't like that. I don't
condone that.

Speaker 1 (56:36):
I think too much of that goes on and and
and that's what turned me off from Steven Ate Smith.
It's far too many times he assassinated people's character and
it makes you point, like, look at those people in
a different light because you have such a big voice.
So no, I'm not I'm not with it. And I
don't even, like I said, I don't even watch it.
It's unwatchable.

Speaker 4 (56:56):
I haven't watched First Take since Miley left. I only
watch for her.

Speaker 3 (57:01):
With Shannon was there. Shannon, I don't care what nobody said.
He is, he is entertaining.

Speaker 4 (57:08):
But sure now I watched, I watched his other show.
I watched his podcast. Ye I watched. I watched the
show with him at Chad, and I watch his his
his other show. So I mean, you know, Shannon knows
a lot about the game, man, to your point, he
breaks down the game like like what we want to
hear about the game.

Speaker 5 (57:28):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 4 (57:30):
Now, when you look at ESPN, whether it's First Take
or or any of those other shows that they have.
It's a it's just it's a bunch of puppets, you
know what I mean. They have it's almost like it's
scripted with what they need to talk about, you know
what I mean.

Speaker 5 (57:44):
And they can.

Speaker 4 (57:46):
Criticize one side, but certain people are untouchable, so they
can't say stuff about certain people, you know.

Speaker 1 (57:52):
So and to that, to that point, Kobe, I want
I want you to I want people to understand something. Right,
I'm I'm enlightened you right now.

Speaker 3 (58:02):
I'm a Cowboys fan, but I get tired of hearing.

Speaker 1 (58:04):
About the Cowboys. For one, they don't know anything about
the Cowboys. Anybody knows anything about the Cowboys, knows. Jerry
Jones haven't been the general manager of the Dallas Cowboys
an actual day to day operations since two thousand and nine.

Speaker 3 (58:17):
His son has taken over the.

Speaker 1 (58:21):
Day to day like contractual obligations, and they actually hired
a black GM to run it. He's just they call
him the manager of player for his name is Will McLay,
player personnel director.

Speaker 3 (58:35):
So you know, Jerry's old school. He's gonna give up
certain things.

Speaker 5 (58:38):
Right.

Speaker 1 (58:39):
So when certain things go on and we either praise
or we criticize the Cowboy. It's not Jerry Jones, it's
his son and the player of personnel director, which is
Will McClay. Another hypocrisy, right, So the Coats they traded
for Sauce Gardner, they gave up two first round picks,

(58:59):
and everybody it's like, man, look at the Jets get
rid of this expensive defensive player. Well, when the Cowboys
got rid of Michael Parsons, it was hell was just
breaking loose man. The dude getting paid almost fifty million dollars.

Speaker 3 (59:14):
It's the same. It's the same scenario.

Speaker 1 (59:16):
You can't win in the National Football League with a
fifty million dollar defender unless that defender is like Miles
Garrett or a TJ.

Speaker 3 (59:27):
Watt. So you kind of have to move off of.

Speaker 1 (59:30):
But because we like to sensationalize the Cowboys for the
good or bad, they criticized the move. Whether it's gonna
work or not, I don't know, but it's hypocrisy, like
you was saying.

Speaker 4 (59:40):
Yeah, yeah, for sure. And the last thing I would
say about Stephen A. Smith speaking of hypocrisy, I think
he's a hypocrite because he'll go on TV and whine
about what somebody allegedly is doing to him. Behind the scenes,
Like he told Carmelo Anthony that, hey, if it was

(01:00:00):
up to Lebron, he would have never got his money
from ESPN. He was trying to stop his money. But
ain't you the same dude that was on ESPN telling
Kyrie Irving that you need to retire and if he
was the GM, he wouldn't pay him a cent. So
so who's trying to stop whose money? Like, we know

(01:00:22):
Stephen they did this, we saw it, we heard it
first hand. And he's allegedly saying that Lebron is trying
to stop his money. Lebron ain't got no control over
what ESPN is doing and who they give money to.
But I mean, when you talking about Steven A, man's
your ass up, man and go somewhere, man, don't I
just yeah, I'm done with Stephen A Man. I just

(01:00:46):
I can't. I can't. Like anytime I seen him on TV,
I turned the channel. I'm like, I don't want to hear.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
And it was a time that Stephen A was the
reason I watched ESPN for a little while. Know, but
like you said, you know, he let the fame get
to his head, He let the politics get to him,
and he's he's a different person now, you know, and
that's tough, you know, to stephen A's defense a little bit,
you know, when you're not blessed with the athletic ability

(01:01:17):
or the talents of the people you cover.

Speaker 3 (01:01:20):
I don't care what he says. In his mind.

Speaker 1 (01:01:23):
I think he became a little envious, you know, because
I think he wanted some of that fame, and you know,
there used to be an honest respect that was there,
and now it feels like he's better, He's bigger than
the athletes that he covered. Yeah, exactly right. And so
the thing is, you got to understand something. I don't
care if you're a former athlete or a current athlete,

(01:01:47):
the athletes around you or while we watch the game,
So you have to respect the game, your opponents and
the athletes. Without that, we don't we don't watch ESPN.
Is no need to watch it, you see what I mean.
So I think that's what got to Steven. It is
just the ego thinking he was bigger than the stars
that he covered.

Speaker 3 (01:02:05):
And it's it's kind of sad cause you know, I.

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
Don't I don't revel in it, you know, as as
an African American seeing another African American fall, cause it's
gonna be three to five years Steven, they won't be
on TV anymore because people are gonna people gonna get
tired of it, the raidings go go down, and then
who are you now? Because you you kind of messed
up a lot of your relationships with these athletes.

Speaker 3 (01:02:26):
So where you're gonna turn? Who gonna who gonna listen
to your podcast? You're not a politician, So where where
are you gonna where you're gonna go? You know.

Speaker 1 (01:02:33):
So it's it's kind of sad, you know, in a
in a sense that he kind of sold this. You know,
it's kind of dignity to be who he is right now.

Speaker 5 (01:02:41):
Yeah, yeah, I agree, good point. Bro Uh.

Speaker 4 (01:02:45):
Before we get out of here, I want to touch
on one other topic. So former NBA player Sebastian Tailfair
played ten years.

Speaker 5 (01:02:56):
In the league, made over thirty million dollars.

Speaker 4 (01:02:59):
It was just report it that he's gone full circle
and he's back in a place where he started at
in the projects in Brooklyn. So he went broke and
he's back living in the projects. Very sad story, I mean,
especially you know, you played in the league ten years,

(01:03:19):
you should have your pension, you made over thirty million dollars, Like,
what's your thoughts on this story for somebody who mismanages
money so bad? And I guess kind of even his
behavior kind of forced the league to kind of push

(01:03:39):
him out as well, and now you ended up in
the same place that you work so hard to get
out of and make the league, Like, what's your thoughts
on Sebastian's story?

Speaker 1 (01:03:51):
So unfortunately, I think it's happening less now than it
did back in the day. This isn't just a Sebastian
Telfair story.

Speaker 3 (01:04:00):
This is many, many.

Speaker 1 (01:04:01):
Athletes, not even just athletes, but people in general that
don't have a good foundation. You know that people around
you to manage your money, that give you good advice.
I think far too often I'm gonna take it. On
the other side, I think there are so many leaches
out there that exploit young athletes, talents or young talented people, right,

(01:04:22):
and then they don't they get in these positions where
they're just taking from them, taken from taking from them,
and then once they're done with you and they use
you up and you can no longer be useful with
your talents that they're done and everybody turns it back.
So I think that's some of what happened to Sebastian Telfair.

Speaker 3 (01:04:39):
And it's just me.

Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
I'm not a clinical psychiatrist, but I think there's something
there to where.

Speaker 3 (01:04:45):
He needs to sit down with some type of.

Speaker 1 (01:04:49):
Clinical therapists or something to figure out what happened, what's
going on. Marlberry had the same issues and he spoke
about it.

Speaker 3 (01:04:58):
He's with a counselor a life coach, and it turned
them around.

Speaker 1 (01:05:03):
I think that's that's part of Sebastian Tailfairs problem. I mean,
I honestly, that's that's not normal behavior.

Speaker 3 (01:05:10):
You know what I'm saying. To blow through thirty million dollars.

Speaker 1 (01:05:13):
I know the economy bad and thirty million isn't what
it used to be, but it's still thirty million. So
not just Sebastin tail for but real quick, I don't know.
If people saw Antonio O'Brien was charged with attempted murder,
that's another man or another brother that needs to get
help because obviously mentally there's something not there.

Speaker 4 (01:05:38):
Yeah, you know, well said bro. I don't have anything
to add to that. I think I think I think
you hit the nail on the head. And you know,
I just I just hope that these young kids learned
from the Sebastian Telfairs of the world. You know, these
these kids going to college, you're making all this money

(01:05:59):
from in.

Speaker 5 (01:06:01):
They're living large, you know, living their life.

Speaker 4 (01:06:04):
But I hope they see that it can be gone
in the blink of an eye, you know, So start
right now while you're in school, learning how to manage
your money. Start putting the right people around you to
keep you accountable and responsible so that you can have

(01:06:27):
a long, fruitful career. And when you finish and you
hang up your high tops, you still got some money
to take care of yourself and your family.

Speaker 3 (01:06:38):
Yeah, And like I said, it's unfortunate.

Speaker 1 (01:06:41):
I don't I think me personally, and I know it'll
never happen. But if I was commissioning for a day,
or if any of those leads, whether it's nil or
before you touch one dime of this money, you have
to take a financial literacy course. If a young man
is eight ten years old, it should be law that

(01:07:03):
we put at least ten percent of his salary into
some type of four or one k some type of
rocks already, some type of something where they can't touch
it for a certain period of time so.

Speaker 3 (01:07:15):
That that doesn't happen.

Speaker 1 (01:07:17):
You stand what I'm saying, But I mean such as life, Bro,
I mean unfortunately, actors, actresses, the world lives off exportation,
and that's that's it's just unfortunate. Sebastian Telfair is just
the latest example of that happening. But it's it's it's
probably somebody's happening to right now. You know, they take

(01:07:38):
advantage of young, impressionable minds. I mean, the culture set
up for it, if you think about it, right, And
I know I'm wearing name brand now, but growing up,
the only thing we wanted to do was get a
nice car, has some nice clothes, has some nice shoes.
We didn't talk buy I ain't me Kobe and sayd
ain't Kobe. You know what, Bro, I just bought a
new call wash Bro, You know what I mean? Or

(01:08:00):
I mean I just I just I just invest in
S and P today, or I just I put fit
whatever into a rock. I rate that's not popular in
our culture. So the culture kind of does it too,
you know, and they and others see that, so then
they exploit that too.

Speaker 3 (01:08:17):
Think about it.

Speaker 1 (01:08:17):
The first thing somebody buy when they get on is
things that depreciate. A chain, a luxury vehicle that's not
an upper tier luxury vehicle that's gonna you know, grow
in value.

Speaker 3 (01:08:33):
We haven't popularized buying land.

Speaker 1 (01:08:36):
Our house, you know what I mean, So we kind
of we kind of just our culture kind of you know,
puts you in a bad, bad predicament too.

Speaker 3 (01:08:46):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:08:46):
It's it's unfortunately the American school system, I feel like
has feel a little bit being in the course and
I'm in now. We have international students, and one of
the things I'm learning from the international students is financial literal.

Speaker 3 (01:09:00):
See is a part of their curriculum from the fifth grade.

Speaker 1 (01:09:04):
Wow, and it just grows like we first we started
talking about a bank account, then we started talking about investments,
then we started talking about what land ownership.

Speaker 3 (01:09:14):
And not just I'm gonna buy in my country.

Speaker 1 (01:09:16):
No, they learn about the value of land in other countries,
you know, they learn about the value the dollar in
other countries. Because the end goal is to try to
end up in America or to try to acquire wealth,
you know, lifelong wealth. So I think our education system
has failed some of these young athletes as well too,
So it's it's unfortunate.

Speaker 3 (01:09:38):
It's sad.

Speaker 1 (01:09:38):
I pray for them on so many levels, so many
people have failed them.

Speaker 4 (01:09:43):
Yeah, and it's not just the athletes. I think it's
students overall. We were just pushing students, you know, through
the school systems and getting them out of there, you know,
graduation time when really they're not reading at their grade level,
you know, or or or above and stuff like that.
So yeah, so some of the other country countries around

(01:10:07):
the world, they're actually doing it right and and and
their their youth is growing up, you know, with a
good foundation under them. But like like you said, financial literacy,
and then I'm always a big supporter of just having
the right people around you. Just think if Alan Iverson
didn't have that manager around him and put that money

(01:10:31):
away that he couldn't touch until he turned fifty or so,
what what what would have happened with Alan in terms
of his financial situation? Somebody was smart enough to protect
Allen from himself, you know what I'm saying. And so
my boy Lee, I was talking to my boy Lee
earlier and we was talking. He was like, man, what

(01:10:52):
what you think would have happened if things would have
worked out with you in Houston Rockets and they would
have signed you to to you know, million dollar contract
or whatever. And I would say, you know, if I
didn't have the right people around me, off it wasn't
somebody holding me accountable, I probably have thirty for thirty

(01:11:12):
the rise in the fall of the COVID, That's what
it would have been, because I already know, man.

Speaker 1 (01:11:21):
But it's it's the culture, though, bro, it's the coachure man.
And that's why now when you know we talked to
you know, we we thunk status or whatever. You try
to enlighten them on the other things, like yes, the car,
but man, look at me, I own I got this
many acres though, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (01:11:40):
He try to put them on on real game.

Speaker 1 (01:11:43):
And at some point the culture would have done it
to you because you wouldn't.

Speaker 3 (01:11:47):
You wouldn't have got that car just for you. You would
have got it because it was a status.

Speaker 1 (01:11:52):
Yeah what I mean, you would have bought back then
you probably would have had some jabos and mir whatever
you're doing, you would have had it be because that's
what the cultural norm is. You understand what I mean.
And so we just we have to kind of reverse
that a little bit. Because if you put if all
the athletes, all the actresses, everybody would to put their

(01:12:12):
money together, there would be we could redefine what the
educational system is in America. But unfortunately we won't do it. Man,
we will not do it. And so I just feel
very sad. But at the end of the day, reach one,
teach one kids watching this stay in school, protect your

(01:12:34):
money because right now we're living in strange economic times.
The dollar isn't a dollar anymore, and it's only gonna
get worse.

Speaker 3 (01:12:43):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:12:44):
I know we don't really talk too much politics on it,
but the other day President Trump wanted to introduce a
fifty year mortgage, the idea of a fifteen year car loan,
and I want kids to understand, like with a fifty
year mortgage, the idea was to own a home or
multiple homes in America. That is the American dream, to
own land, to own a home. You will never own

(01:13:06):
a home with a fifty year mortgage. Never, because the
average person now has to have at least one hundred
and ten thousand to one hundred and twenty thousand to
even qualify for a home loan.

Speaker 3 (01:13:19):
Right, So that means.

Speaker 1 (01:13:20):
Unless you just blessed out the gate with a six
figure job, it usually takes you ten years to get
to that status most places.

Speaker 3 (01:13:27):
Right right, you are.

Speaker 1 (01:13:30):
Already looking at thirty plus so fifty year mortgage. You're
eighty years old by the time this mortgage is absolved.
And so these are the type of things, like you said,
with financial literacy that we could be taught.

Speaker 3 (01:13:43):
Plus on a fifty year.

Speaker 1 (01:13:45):
Mortgage, you may only be saving one hundred and twenty
dollars versus a thirty year mortgage, and you may only
be saving two hundred and forty dollars versus a fifteen
year mortgage.

Speaker 3 (01:13:57):
But the numbers the way.

Speaker 1 (01:13:58):
They you know, playing it all because the bank make
money off of interest, and you know, they put it
out there.

Speaker 3 (01:14:03):
Like that and people eat it up.

Speaker 1 (01:14:05):
And a fifteen year car loan, bro, you must be
even buying a Rolls Royce because that's the only car
that's gonna be worth something in fifteen years.

Speaker 3 (01:14:18):
You bar Mercedes fifteen years later.

Speaker 1 (01:14:20):
Man, you might well just you know, I don't know
what you're gonna're gonna end up riding school man, cause.

Speaker 3 (01:14:25):
You ain't gonna be able to afford the maintenance. You
see what I'm saying, So you know.

Speaker 1 (01:14:32):
We need to talk about but I mean, to a
certain extent, I think that you know, it's set up
for people to fill.

Speaker 3 (01:14:39):
I think the government kind of exploits ignorance.

Speaker 1 (01:14:43):
You know, the banks exploit ignorance because if you, if you,
if you're dumb enough to sign those those contractual agreements,
and they gonna they're gonna make some good interest off.

Speaker 4 (01:14:52):
You, right fact, great point, bro, I think I'm gonna
leave it right there. Man, I think you couldn't say that.
You better you know what I'm saying. To all our
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(01:15:14):
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