February 26, 2019 • 34 mins
With another disappointing loss, Doug tells you the real reason why the Lakers were panicking before the trade deadline. He also discusses James Harden's scoring streak coming to an end and why this looks bad for another NBA star. Plus, USA Today MLB Insider Bob Nightengale joins the show to share the latest on the Bryce Harper sweepstakes.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug gott
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(00:21):
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(00:42):
ahead of the game. Put their experience in and play
at Farmers dot Com are Farmers. So here we are again. Boys,
Here we are again. The Lakers lose and the blaming begins.
And look, I think we all started with the premise
(01:03):
of Lebron James is great. He'll make everybody else better.
Lebron James is great. He can fix so many of
your flaws. Lebron James is not the problem. Lebron James
is the solution, and the truth is not that Lebron
James is the problem, but the truth is also that
(01:25):
he's not the solution. The truth is not that Lebron
James is no longer great, but the truth is that
Lebron James is no longer the greatest. The Lakers lost
last night to the Memphis Grizzlies. Now for full context,
we have to understand the two teams. Matter of fact,
(01:45):
three of their last four losses were against teams that
have designed their rosters and frankly played in a way
late in the season in which, you know what, I'm
not gonna say their tank king, but they're better off
losing than they are winning. Is that fair? Is that
a fair way to say it? Now? I told you
(02:08):
heading into the season, one of the things that we
could not create a Calculus four was how everyone else
would play, would get up for the Lakers, And I
do think that's something we're not discussing, which is you
become everybody else's biggest game. And with some of the
(02:30):
fingerpoint that Lebron James has done during his time as
a Laker, there is some accuracy to, you know, the
fact that everybody else comes ready to play. They're not
just gonna roll over and die for you. That's what
happened last night in Memphis. The Grizzlies were ready. Even
though the Grizzlies trade away Marcus Ault, even though the
(02:52):
Pelicans didn't play Anthony Davis. Both of their last two teams,
which are, for lack of a better word, tanking, both
came ready. Why Because sometimes it's cool to ruin somebody
else's season. And that's exactly what New Orleans has done.
That's exactly what Memphis has done. But we thought, and
(03:15):
maybe this is conventional wisdom, that Lebron James needed another
superstar to help him ultimately win a championship. The truth
might be that Lebron might need another superstar because he
no longer is one. We deal with dated information all
the time. Don't you hate that? Don't you hate having
(03:38):
to update somebody on something? Right? Like, all of our
memories are not like or not like your computer. They
don't just send an update in the middle of the
night and then you have to restart it and once
you restart it, you're up to date. That's not how
our memories are, especially in sports, we deal with dated
information and and sometimes for good reason. Kansas last night
(04:02):
beat Kansas State. Why because Kansas always seems to find
a way to beat Kansas State in Kansas always finds
a way to win a Big Twelve title. But they're
not close to being the best team in the Big
Twelve this year. But we're dealing with dated information. Lebron
James is thirty four years old. He's listed somewhere in
the two sixty neighborhood. He missed eighteen games, seventeen row
(04:24):
than one game with load management coming off of a
groin injury. It's not an innocuous injury, but it also
isn't an a c L. You know, it wasn't anything
serious with his knee, with his hip, with a sprained ankle. Right,
it's it seemed like something that it took him a
lot longer to come back from the normal. On the
other hand, that's actually normal for thirty four years old.
(04:47):
Maybe that's the problem. Lebron James is an extraordinary which
we use the word extraordinary, extraordinary basketball player and an
extraordinary human being. But he is just a human being
who plays basketball. And suddenly he looks like he's thirty four.
He looks like he's coming off an injury. He looks
(05:07):
like he's played sixteen consecutive years, and he looks like
he's not not only the not the best player in
the world, he's not a top five player in the world.
We thought are the premise of the the The argument
for Lebron James needing another star was you put two
(05:28):
superstars together and Lebron shown he can be with anybody,
at least in the East. But it now appears at
least possible, at least possible, the Lebron James needs, uh
needs another star so that we can hide the fact
(05:49):
that he's no longer Lebron James. He doesn't move the
way he used to, he can't lead the way he
used to, and though he's become a much better shot maker,
his jump shot has always come and gone, especially when
he can't get to the basket and he has to
rely on contested shots because he doesn't get by people
(06:13):
like look all this said, they're one they're one fuzzy
block charge call away from winning on the road in Memphis.
But we thought that Lebron's people panicked to go get
Anthony Davis because the players around him weren't good enough,
when maybe, just maybe the reason the Lakers and Lebron
(06:36):
James team panicked was because they realized Lebron isn't good
enough anymore. This is all normal, This is all par
for the course. You get to a certain place in
life and your body doesn't react as it used to,
especially coming off injuries. Injuries have more often and they
(07:01):
keep you out longer, and they slow you down more
when you come back. This is all ordinary. And the
problem with Lebron James is he's been extraordinary, but he's
been an extraordinary human being. And human beings are oh
and seven billion against father time and and and maybe
(07:28):
here's the thing I'm wondering, how does he get better?
Because we all, like I said, dealing with dated information. Well,
well you know you put Lebron with with that. Yeah,
but okay, next year he's a year older and it's
a lot of harder time. He's still gonna be six
(07:49):
ft eight. He hasn't been able to guard guards in
a long time consistently, and now he has to go
out and guard on the perimeter and he's not gonna
You're not gonna move better. You can do it for
a short period of time. You come out of the box.
The first couple of weeks of the season and take
some time off in between, and you come out and
you can. But the ability to do it for eighty
(08:11):
two nights plus the playoffs, even if he misses ten
next year, you tell me somebody at thirty four who
looks better at thirty five, Well, Lebron will lose ten
fifteen pounds. Well he'll be in better game shape, yes,
but he'll be a year older, and he'll be harder
to hide on defense and less apt to go buy
(08:32):
people on offense. Right, Like, look, he has put off
this downward trajectory longer than anybody else. But his contemporaries
are Dwyane Wade retiring, Carmlo Anthony out of the league,
Chris Bosh retired. There's a reason that all those guys
(08:55):
are retired, and Lebron James is starting to fade because
that's what happens in your mid third eas And just
like sometimes you wake up in the morning and you're like,
wait a second, I have gray hair on my chin.
When did that happen. It's not like you shave off
(09:16):
those gray hairs, like all right, they're gone, They're not
going away. No, next time there's more, and then next
time there's more. I'm like you, I started thinking they
needed better supporting guys to be around Lebron James. There's
a chance Lebron James becomes one of those supporting guys
if he wants to succeed in the future. I'm not
(09:40):
gonna up hold against him. The um the comment that
we're only taking the answer to the question about distraction
with because we'll play for you later. The actual question
which had distraction in it. And I don't think Luke
Walton coached his best game, and I think that that
(10:02):
that Luke's probably gonna get fired and there's gonna be
some massive changes there. But the only thing that anybody
should actually care about is what if Lebron James is
not only not the best player in the world anymore.
I handed that mantle to Kevin Durant going back a
year and a half ago when he destroyed Lebron James
in the first NBA Finals against the Calves. But he's
(10:26):
not even a top five player in the NBA, maybe
not a top ten player in the NBA. That sounds
like blasphemy, but you're dealing with dated information. You're looking
at it at his stats, and if you saw the
stats from last night, be like, wow, you know trouble double.
He wasn't bad. Now he's eight for twenty three and
couldn't guard anybody and didn't move particularly well. Did he
(10:48):
get a fifty fifty call that didn't go his way
on Joe Kim Noah late in the game. Sure, But
if you asked anybody who's actually watching, take the names
off the back of their jersey, and would you take
Janice or Lebron right now? Would you take Kauai or
(11:10):
Lebron right now? Would you take Kyrie or Lebron or
James Harden or Lebron or Paul George or Lebron? Like, really,
we're work. I'm I can keep going if you would like.
It doesn't mean that Lebron hasn't been an all time great.
(11:30):
It doesn't mean that Lebron isn't still in the conversation
as being the greatest of all time. I never believed
he is, and I think some of the ways in
which he's handled some of the other nonsense and and
some other stuff will get to takes him away from
that discussion. But just because you get old doesn't mean
we can't say that when you're young, like Michael Jordan
(11:50):
was old when he came out of retirement in his
late thirties and played with the Wizards. I'm not holding
that against him in the greatest of All Time argument.
But just because you were in the conversation of greatest
of all time time doesn't mean you still are. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Doug Dot Leap
Show weekdays at noon eastern three pm Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. James harden
(12:12):
streak of consecutive thirty point games came to an end.
Only had twenty eight points, but they did win the game,
which is what's important. But what's the narrative been about
James Harden's scoring streak. He's only done it because well,
he had to. It was the only way for his
(12:35):
team to keep their head above water, wasn't It wasn't
that the whole thing. He didn't want to score thirty
at night. But you know, unless somebody can step up
and carry the team when Chris Paul was out and
Clint Capella was out, he had to do it. That
that's an accurate depiction of what everyone who covers and
(12:59):
is in the end BA has said. Not like you know,
even even James Harden. Remember Kobe Bryant came out and said, hey,
you know you can't win a championship that way, and
James Harden said, look, I agree with you, but for
the for the for this particular moment in time, I
have to and you have no dissenting voices. And I'm
(13:19):
not even a dissenting voice. And I'm not a hardened guy.
I respect the game and don't like the way it's played.
But that's okay. Everyone who said, like, look, you know
what I mean without a two starters, without the other star,
like what you got? A guy gotta do right, And
they've succeeded in keeping their head above water, and now
they're getting healthier, and now he doesn't have to score
(13:40):
thirty a night. Granted they beat the Hawks, but still
I get it. Be sure to catch live edition. So
the Doug dot Leaps Show weekdays at noon eastern three
pm Pacific. Dan buyers out. He's playing golf. I know
that because I follow him on Instagram and he's playing golf.
He's like at Pinehurst yesterday, maybe even to a as well.
(14:01):
That Dan loves loves a good game. So Friday he'll
guest host for me. Because I'm guest hosting for Colin
cowherd Uh, He'll have a co host. His name is
Dante Jones. Of course, he was a star at Duke
In College and playing the NBA one NBA Championship alongside
Lebron James and kind of to to to sit in
for me on Friday. Of course, you see him on
(14:21):
all of our Fox one TV shows. Does a great job.
Dante joined just on the Doug Olive Show on Fox
Sports Radio. What do you think of how the Lakers
played last night? I didn't. I thought that they gave
it a good effort. I just um didn't like the
way they finished the game, and obviously they played that
Lebron took off like I just thought that you could
(14:42):
have given more effort in some of those instances. And
I think the lack of defensive team defense has been
because Achilles here this season. Yeah, it's interesting because before
he got hurt, they were like top seven across the
board defensive, and I know some of it was Tyson.
Chandler just seems to be running out of gas from
the time he was treated he was and they don't
(15:02):
have Alonzo ball, right, but but Lebron being different than
he used to be, like has he aged? Is it
coming off of injury, not being in shape? Why isn't
he able to be as active defensively as his reputation
would lead you to believe. It's looking like a combination
of Um coming off the injury and not being in
(15:25):
full shape like he normally is to make the place
that he normally all his teammates and the fans ultimately
with Um, those two put a little bit harder on
him because he takes such an offensive load that with
with rebound the ball and assist and making places with
people with desists and scoring also, So it looked like
his conditioning coming down the line after the injury is
(15:47):
what's spent hampering him and making him seem like he's
looking like he lost the steff or what it happened,
what may have you at that point in time. But
I don't think he's lost anything. I just think he's
in a different type of shape right now according to
where we're in the season, according what he normally looks
like after because he's never had an injury like this before,
is it possible that he's also lost a step? Like
he he is thirty four, he's played a ton of hoop,
(16:09):
like sixteen years in the NBA. I mean, Dante, I
don't know. I don't know how you move, but um,
I played in the NBA Celebrity Game one year and
I remember like Rick Buker was like, man, Tim Hardaway
is coming for you, Mitch Richmond's coming for you. And
I remember watching those guys run. It was painful to
watch them run. And look, they had been out of
the NBA for a couple of years. But the idea
(16:29):
was like, look, when you wear so much tread off
your tires playing the NBA and he's playing eight straight finals,
is it possible there's just some tread worn off. And yes,
the injury is a part of it, but part of
looking slower is thirty four to sixty whatever he weighs
and the tread's worn off. Well, I don't I'm not
thinking that's where it is, because there was a point
(16:50):
in time in the season where he's looking like the
same Bowl le Bron. I think it's going to come
a point time where he played tolls for a little
bit before he starts to fall off. Like, I don't
think it's just a one year. You're doing amazing, can
you just fall off the next year. No, he he
looks like he's been looking like himself at a point
in time before the injury, and I thought he could
get in better shape than what he was at that
point in time. But now he's taken two steps back
(17:11):
with this injury and possibly gained a little weight, and
that could be why he looks a step slower. But
it just is what it is. Sometimes some of these
injuries you cannot bounce back from and be yourself with,
especially in the in the large extremity, like the growing area,
Like that's tough to come back and just be as
athletic or be as fast like. These things are something
he normally doesn't deal with, and now he has to
(17:34):
and adjust and and and fight through it. And that's
normally like not what he's used to doing. Yeah, it's interesting.
I look, I'm I understand that guys live a different
lifestyle than I live. I understand that some guys don't
need sleep. Um, But the to change thing was that
like the night before he was supposed to have the
(17:55):
day off playing against the Golden State Warriors in a
locker room, in a locker room with Lebron James, is
that a bad look, especially when the team is struggling
at this point in time to find an identity and
and and to go on a run. I think it
was a bad look and that just comes then you
just you just chalk that up to experience at this
(18:16):
point in time. Like he may have not looked at
it from a full perspective of how it could affect
his teammates. He probably just living in the moment, probably
got a call and he was like, you know what,
come by the studio and let's let's do this. But
it ultimately has had an effect on how the perception
in the media, his perception to his teammates, especially coming
off injury. It does. It does look bad and and
(18:37):
it looks like a decision that that probably in hindsight,
he may have one another direction. How flexible is this
in the off season? Very flexible because he gets an
opportunity to heal. Let's say he decaid he make the playoffs,
or they don't make the playoffs. They make the playoffs,
they made last a round or two, but he gets
more time for his body to heal. He gets the
first full offseason to heal. I think it to make
(18:59):
some roster adjustment. It and they understand what he needs more.
They understand his personality and what he brings and what
kind of personalities meshed well with him. I get that.
I think they get a chance to build that team
up on another level. And I think they come back fresh,
and they and and whoever's left, they get to understand
expectations of how they need to grow, what they need
to do to be next to him, and I think
(19:19):
it's it moves in a better direction next year. Dante
Jones John Us in the Dug Outlip Show here on
Fox Sports Radio. Um, what about the Celtics. They I
watched him against the Bucks and that looked like a
prize fight, right, I mean back and forth Kyrie and
Janice and obviously the Bucks end up winning. That's going
back to last and that was that last Thursday night,
(19:40):
great basketball game. Um, but there's a struggle with consistency there.
There's a struggle with integrating Kyrie and Hayward, and Hayward
hasn't looked the same with the guys that went to
the Eastern Conference Finals. Do you think they can fix
themselves before the playoffs? I don't think they can. I
think it's a matter of what the you know what
Kyrie might do in the offseason. It's a matter of
(20:02):
those guys and um, the young guys knowing that they're
possibly not going to be there after this playoff run. Um,
they may have too much talent at this point in time,
not enough minutes to go around to so somebody can
have a defined role and know what to expect on
a nightly basis. Like guys sometimes when they don't know
what to expect from their minutes or don't get enough minutes,
(20:24):
their performance can directly be affected. And it can be
tough for a guy because if you could last year
when you were getting twenty five minutes the game and
you guys were winning, and now you may be getting
seventeen and and and and those eight minutes could be
a portion of your time when you got the most
of it done, it could affect you mentally and it
could affect your performance. So it's just a lot of
(20:45):
a lot of variables going on with that team right
now because of just the expectation to win. Dante Jones
joining us on the Dug Outlip Show. So who do
you like in the East? I like Toronto because they've
been through the playoff wars, their roster has been through
playoffs wars um. They've added some nice pieces and market
songs or everyone um, and I think they've they've been
(21:10):
through the grind of this playoffs. Milwaukee seems like an
amazing regular season team. I just don't know how they're
gonna be able to take these bumps in the playoffs.
But they did get shooting um, they have a little
bit of experience. They seem like they have a chip
on their shoulder. I think that would be a great
Conference finals matchup, but I think Toronto ultimately pulling out
with a closer and Kauai and Jana's getting their ability
(21:34):
to see what it takes to get to that next level.
But he's having an MVP season. I think those two
of the teams that look forward and going forth. In
the conference finals, DeMarcus Cousins got a technical which has
since been rescinded, where a shoe was on the court
and he threw it off the court. I thought that
was that was standard operating procedure, right, somebody loses the
shoe and you throw it as far from the court
(21:55):
as possible. You know what. I'd have got the same
tech because I thought that was standard the season two,
like somebody she was out there, I had thrown it
in the crowd and we've got a couple of laughs
off of it. I didn't see that that was necessary.
I didn't see like I just sometimes the rest can
be a little too overcritical on these plays. And it
depends on who the rest is because some some of
them will laugh at it and just let it go
or not pay attention to it at all. So so,
(22:16):
what's what's the craziest technical you've ever gotten? Put my
craziest technical? Yeah, is uh probably the last technical I
got in the playoffs when we were playing Toronto and
I had a dunk and I just told I told
the young fellow, not, you better not jump, and I
gotta check for it. You got a technical. You better
(22:37):
not jump. Yeah, you better not jump after getting the dunk,
after getting dunk because yeah, so it wasn't it wasn't
like it wasn't like a threat because I I know
guys that they were like, you better not jump, thinking
like I'm gonna take out your legs. It was you
better not jump because like you know, he's talking trash.
After you get it done right, right, you better not jump.
Was at the end of the game from just just
in competing, just having fun, like you better not jump,
(23:00):
and then I end to getting to check. I got
kicked out this game for this end up getting a check.
And then one of the other young guys on the
team came up to me, don't talk to my guy
like that and started yapping, and I said, um, I
I didn't even curse. I didn't I got to throw
out the game by not even cursing, Like what or
(23:21):
what you've been talking to my team back like that?
I said, Or what? Yeah, I got said I got
a chech and got kicked out. That happened that fast, Yeah,
and then you've gotten Have you gotten kicked out when
you're in street clothes? Haven't you got an attack er
ban in cities and got kicked out? I got a check.
On the sideline, Kevin Durant was yapping to our bench
(23:41):
and all I got up and said, listen, man, um,
like you must you must have some like protection because
this is not you. Like, this is not you, This
is not how you normally get down. And he walked
up and started talking to me and said something says
something said something crazy and not just I responded back
and now he walked over to me and I got
(24:02):
to Tech because the ref could not see what he
was saying. It's amazing because KD has gone from he
was a guy who early in his career said a
lot of fake tough guys in this league, and now
he's kind of become this one to be guy, Like
when when did that happen? That's what that That was
my and I was at the beginning of it, like
I was like, listen, that's not you. That was my
That was my play to him because I was speaking
(24:24):
to all the words that were being thrown around in
some words you just not can't say to another man.
I was speaking to that if my teammates were't gonna
stick up for Like I was like, listen, this is
getting out of control. Like you gotta watch I talk
to another man on the court because it could it
could turn into something that doesn't have to And now
all of a sudden, you just turned into this enforcer
when this is not you, This is not the guy
(24:45):
that we know. That was where I was going with it,
And I gotta Tech, who's the baddest boy in the
NBA to cover right now? Not not not historically, historically
you'd go, you know, if you want to go Lebron, fine,
but I think we're both are like cover Michael Jordan's historically,
I was saying, well, I in right now, right now,
the hardest cover in basketball right now. Um, it seems
(25:07):
like Janice because he's just he's getting he's so long,
and he's getting wherever he wants to. And then he
has a nerve to be shooting threes right now, and
that is something because people have to give him space
because he can get the basket so well. So he
is he seemed like you really can't stop him from
getting a dunk or getting a layout without having to fail.
(25:29):
It like it's all about his will, his motor, him
being in shape that he can dominate the game in
transition and the half court by his athleticism and his
lemp but in part in the playoffs, you'll be able
to climb into him, right, You'll be able to body him.
And and you know, the hard power, by honest is
if you play off him, he gets a head of
steam and he can just you know, do one of
those high dribbles over you. So you gotta gotta do
(25:50):
the Pja Tucker with Durant and get to his body.
But Durant can make those difficult shots, whereas I don't
think of your honest is at that point, well, well
you're right and you and you cannot count Vin Durant
like like you make a great point. Kevin Durant makes
tough shots. Um, he finishes with the best of him.
He's probably the toughest shot maker we have right now
because he can get to any sports, any any place
(26:12):
on the basketball call and he gets you over basically everybody.
P J is a unique cover for him because PJ
is strong enough to take away his space and pushing
the certain spots on it on on the basketball court.
But he has to ultimately have somebody behind him like
Clint Propella um to be able to protect the basket.
So Kevin Durant is up there like he is probably
he actually probably is number one. I'm sorry, but ye honest.
(26:34):
This is where like the playoffs is gonna come into
playoffs because the physicality goes up another notch every level
that you go. So is he going to be able
to fight through this next level of physicality because it's
not going to be like the regular season. So that's
why I like That's why I said Toronto when you
ask me before, because I want to see how he
fights through contact in the first round, in the second round,
and then the ultimately conference final comes and then like
(26:56):
it's really like no holds barred, So it's going to
get they got plus they got Kauai who you know,
And I mean it's gonna gonna be amazing to watch,
and you can you can listen to Dante Jones is
Friday filling in for me with Dan Buyer. It would
be great stuff. I can't wait to listen as well,
driving home from doing Cowherd. Dante, thanks for filling in,
and even more appreciative if you joining us giving us
your insight. Of course, I can't wait. Guys, all right,
(27:16):
it's Dante Jones joining us on the Doug Gottlip Show.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app
search f s R to listen live. Bob Nightingale, who
on short notice UH was kind enough to pick up
the phone we called MLB Insider for USA Today. That's
(27:37):
because what's normally the hot stove leagues suddenly is now
part of spring training baseball. Bob, this is a weird year.
Weird year. Uh. First, let me just go back to
last week. What was your reaction to Manny Machado in
San Diego. Well, we've been surprised about a month ago,
you know, and then they jumped in at two at
(27:58):
eighty million dollars. You know, they weren't playing games, so
then they came a two team race between them and
the White Sox, and you strictly, I'll bet everybody white
fifty million dollars. Certainly the Potteries were not his first
choice by any means, being so far away from Islam
in Miami, but you know, do one of like that,
and you know, in the same years became a no
(28:20):
brain decision. Um, I guess, I guess. My question is, like,
of all the guys, to give a ten year deal
to Manny Machado seems as risky as anybody who's not
a picture. And then in a place like San Diego,
where you know you're gonna enjoy yourself because it's the
(28:41):
arguably the greatest city on the face of this earth,
and they haven't been competitive, and I know that there
are always a year away from being a year away,
and I've heard all the things about their pharm system
and I want to buy it. I just I don't
know how if you if a guy who showed he
would not give as much effort as you'd like in
the biggest game in baseball, what's he going to give
(29:02):
you in San Diego if you don't have a competitive
team around him. Well, that's the question. I mean, twenty
six years old and he plays a ton, you know,
I want to say he plays her fifty Arcy to
two games every single year, so he's there, I mean,
he plays. But yeah, that's the one worried too, is
that the team's you know, not competitive chifularly for the
first couple of years he's there, you know, not strong
(29:24):
veteran influence there. You know, you don't have a guy
like Adam Jones or J. J. Hardy or Chase Utley,
you know landing on you. Uh you know, you kind
of wonder for lack of days of call uh Citty,
you know, very very hill city. So you wonder if
they'll have some effect. But you know, I do believe
once they start playing good baseball and everything else, and
then that whenever that year comes, you'll see a very
(29:47):
productive player and you know, one of the top young
players in all in baseball, Bob. But I can get
USA today joining US. Okay, So then we're waiting on
Bryce Harper and everyone assumed at some point of the
Philadelphia because their owner comes out says they're gonna spend
stupid money. And then there's rumors of them getting close.
And then then noldan Arnado thing happens earlier today to
(30:07):
five and extension, and you know, like, look, we're in
Los Angeles long rumors that he ends up being either
an Angel or a Dodger to come back home. Do
you think that's would change the Dodgers going back after
Harper or do you think they were always in there
with a shorter term, bigger money deal. I think always
in their short term. You know the fact that he's
(30:28):
still out that so you know what that TV's willing
to go short term, let's go talk to him. But
I think they're not know I mean, I think the
Dodgers knew. He was saying, uh, Yankees doing that too.
The owner, you know, Charlie Moronford, came out early on
in February. He said, we're the almost the fish line here,
We're going to get this done. So I think he's
so comfortable there that teams cannot count him coming out,
(30:52):
Just like night Trout was very comfortable in Orange County.
I think Pile would be shocked and he left the
Angels just because the comfort level. Do you think that
this caused the Angels though? But there's still two years away.
But if you're the Angels, you go in now and
go like, all right, here's the check. You figure out
which it is. Yeah, I mean you know what the
(31:12):
Angels are probably thinking, Okay, we got We'll see what
Harper comes in at. We saw what Eronado is. Can
you go over all that? So you know, if you're
you know, the Angels, you know you're starting at three fifty,
but you know probably you know reality, you're probably starting
at around four million. Uh, you know, for you know,
nine ten years. So what is what is the difference
(31:34):
in what you heard Bob nighton gale Us to today?
What is the difference you've heard in the terms of
the Dodgers and the reported terms of the Phillies as
of now? Well, I think if Harper went to Dodgers,
is going to leave a good hard fifty million dollars
or more on the table. I can't see him doing that.
(31:54):
I think you'd be embarrassing to him since it turned
on three million from the Nationals. Uh, you lending for
the agent, Scott Boris, You know that to take a
short term deal when you number one that granted he
liked Dodgers probably Yankees are probably number one choice, Dodgers
number two. It took you, being close to home a
little tough to leave that kind of money on the table. Uh.
(32:15):
You know for him to pivot and do that, you know,
it's be a you know, a desperation move. Yeah, but
couldn't he couldn't he in his own mind, if he
gets an early opt out clause, put himself right back
on the market and capitalize in the market that we
all think it's gonna level off and it it still hasn't.
Well it could, but there's you know, no guarantee. You know.
Then the the other part of it is like, well,
(32:37):
is he afraid of playing in Philadelphia? You know which
you're you know, citty with an edge, you know, a
passionate band base through one expectation everything else. I mean,
you win there? You know, you're a hero forever. The
one thing about the Dodgers is the Dodgers have won
six straight divisions, you know, two straight nationally pennants to
leave the role in the tenants every single year. So
(32:58):
what are you gonna add? You know, maybe a game
or two. So it's not like he can come there
and say, hey, I got the Dodgers the World Series. Well,
they're already on the brink of it anyway, they've been
in the last two years. You know, if you win it, fine,
but just not that big of a difference. No, it's
it's it's fascinating. Um, there's still a group of unsigned players.
I think. I think Jeff Passon wrote a piece where
(33:19):
it's like, hey, it's not a hundred, it's more fifty.
And now we're creeping down. Um, what about those those
quickly forgotten unsigned veteran players. What ultimately becomes of them? Yeah,
we're only talking about fifteen players now, you know, we're
so you know, at some point, you know, Dallas Cockle
(33:39):
is gonna to design Okay, I mean, not give me
a five have to take a three year deal. Greenbo
wanted six years of a hundred. Maybe it takes a
year or two and here's the market again. Uh, you
know subdery guys. Uh, you know Adam Jones maybe staid
of a two year deal. He hasn't taken a one
year deal. So some guys are just gonna have to
back down from what they wanted. And I hope the
(34:00):
market changes next year. But you know, it's either take
the money that's there or sit out. And nobody's gonna
sit out. No, they're not gonna sit out. And it
stands the reason that this is the market, right. No
middle class? Uh, no middle classes. We saw some of
the veterans get pinched last year, and how some of
these you know, mid level, big money guys getting pinched
this year. Bob, great stuff. It's a fascinating time in baseball.
(34:22):
Can't wait to see where Harper goes and how it
affects the landscape. Thanks so much for joining us.
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug gott
Leave Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every
weekday from three to six pm Eastern Time that's twelve
to three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local
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(00:21):
the best of the Doug got Leave Show on Fox
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(00:42):
ahead of the game. Put their experience in and play
at Farmers dot Com are Farmers. So here we are again. Boys,
Here we are again. The Lakers lose and the blaming begins.
And look, I think we all started with the premise
(01:03):
of Lebron James is great. He'll make everybody else better.
Lebron James is great. He can fix so many of
your flaws. Lebron James is not the problem. Lebron James
is the solution, and the truth is not that Lebron
James is the problem, but the truth is also that
(01:25):
he's not the solution. The truth is not that Lebron
James is no longer great, but the truth is that
Lebron James is no longer the greatest. The Lakers lost
last night to the Memphis Grizzlies. Now for full context,
we have to understand the two teams. Matter of fact,
(01:45):
three of their last four losses were against teams that
have designed their rosters and frankly played in a way
late in the season in which, you know what, I'm
not gonna say their tank king, but they're better off
losing than they are winning. Is that fair? Is that
a fair way to say it? Now? I told you
(02:08):
heading into the season, one of the things that we
could not create a Calculus four was how everyone else
would play, would get up for the Lakers, And I
do think that's something we're not discussing, which is you
become everybody else's biggest game. And with some of the
(02:30):
fingerpoint that Lebron James has done during his time as
a Laker, there is some accuracy to, you know, the
fact that everybody else comes ready to play. They're not
just gonna roll over and die for you. That's what
happened last night in Memphis. The Grizzlies were ready. Even
though the Grizzlies trade away Marcus Ault, even though the
(02:52):
Pelicans didn't play Anthony Davis. Both of their last two teams,
which are, for lack of a better word, tanking, both
came ready. Why Because sometimes it's cool to ruin somebody
else's season. And that's exactly what New Orleans has done.
That's exactly what Memphis has done. But we thought, and
(03:15):
maybe this is conventional wisdom, that Lebron James needed another
superstar to help him ultimately win a championship. The truth
might be that Lebron might need another superstar because he
no longer is one. We deal with dated information all
the time. Don't you hate that? Don't you hate having
(03:38):
to update somebody on something? Right? Like, all of our
memories are not like or not like your computer. They
don't just send an update in the middle of the
night and then you have to restart it and once
you restart it, you're up to date. That's not how
our memories are, especially in sports, we deal with dated
information and and sometimes for good reason. Kansas last night
(04:02):
beat Kansas State. Why because Kansas always seems to find
a way to beat Kansas State in Kansas always finds
a way to win a Big Twelve title. But they're
not close to being the best team in the Big
Twelve this year. But we're dealing with dated information. Lebron
James is thirty four years old. He's listed somewhere in
the two sixty neighborhood. He missed eighteen games, seventeen row
(04:24):
than one game with load management coming off of a
groin injury. It's not an innocuous injury, but it also
isn't an a c L. You know, it wasn't anything
serious with his knee, with his hip, with a sprained ankle. Right,
it's it seemed like something that it took him a
lot longer to come back from the normal. On the
other hand, that's actually normal for thirty four years old.
(04:47):
Maybe that's the problem. Lebron James is an extraordinary which
we use the word extraordinary, extraordinary basketball player and an
extraordinary human being. But he is just a human being
who plays basketball. And suddenly he looks like he's thirty four.
He looks like he's coming off an injury. He looks
(05:07):
like he's played sixteen consecutive years, and he looks like
he's not not only the not the best player in
the world, he's not a top five player in the world.
We thought are the premise of the the The argument
for Lebron James needing another star was you put two
(05:28):
superstars together and Lebron shown he can be with anybody,
at least in the East. But it now appears at
least possible, at least possible, the Lebron James needs, uh
needs another star so that we can hide the fact
(05:49):
that he's no longer Lebron James. He doesn't move the
way he used to, he can't lead the way he
used to, and though he's become a much better shot maker,
his jump shot has always come and gone, especially when
he can't get to the basket and he has to
rely on contested shots because he doesn't get by people
(06:13):
like look all this said, they're one they're one fuzzy
block charge call away from winning on the road in Memphis.
But we thought that Lebron's people panicked to go get
Anthony Davis because the players around him weren't good enough,
when maybe, just maybe the reason the Lakers and Lebron
(06:36):
James team panicked was because they realized Lebron isn't good
enough anymore. This is all normal, This is all par
for the course. You get to a certain place in
life and your body doesn't react as it used to,
especially coming off injuries. Injuries have more often and they
(07:01):
keep you out longer, and they slow you down more
when you come back. This is all ordinary. And the
problem with Lebron James is he's been extraordinary, but he's
been an extraordinary human being. And human beings are oh
and seven billion against father time and and and maybe
(07:28):
here's the thing I'm wondering, how does he get better?
Because we all, like I said, dealing with dated information. Well,
well you know you put Lebron with with that. Yeah,
but okay, next year he's a year older and it's
a lot of harder time. He's still gonna be six
(07:49):
ft eight. He hasn't been able to guard guards in
a long time consistently, and now he has to go
out and guard on the perimeter and he's not gonna
You're not gonna move better. You can do it for
a short period of time. You come out of the box.
The first couple of weeks of the season and take
some time off in between, and you come out and
you can. But the ability to do it for eighty
(08:11):
two nights plus the playoffs, even if he misses ten
next year, you tell me somebody at thirty four who
looks better at thirty five, Well, Lebron will lose ten
fifteen pounds. Well he'll be in better game shape, yes,
but he'll be a year older, and he'll be harder
to hide on defense and less apt to go buy
(08:32):
people on offense. Right, Like, look, he has put off
this downward trajectory longer than anybody else. But his contemporaries
are Dwyane Wade retiring, Carmlo Anthony out of the league,
Chris Bosh retired. There's a reason that all those guys
(08:55):
are retired, and Lebron James is starting to fade because
that's what happens in your mid third eas And just
like sometimes you wake up in the morning and you're like,
wait a second, I have gray hair on my chin.
When did that happen. It's not like you shave off
(09:16):
those gray hairs, like all right, they're gone, They're not
going away. No, next time there's more, and then next
time there's more. I'm like you, I started thinking they
needed better supporting guys to be around Lebron James. There's
a chance Lebron James becomes one of those supporting guys
if he wants to succeed in the future. I'm not
(09:40):
gonna up hold against him. The um the comment that
we're only taking the answer to the question about distraction
with because we'll play for you later. The actual question
which had distraction in it. And I don't think Luke
Walton coached his best game, and I think that that
(10:02):
that Luke's probably gonna get fired and there's gonna be
some massive changes there. But the only thing that anybody
should actually care about is what if Lebron James is
not only not the best player in the world anymore.
I handed that mantle to Kevin Durant going back a
year and a half ago when he destroyed Lebron James
in the first NBA Finals against the Calves. But he's
(10:26):
not even a top five player in the NBA, maybe
not a top ten player in the NBA. That sounds
like blasphemy, but you're dealing with dated information. You're looking
at it at his stats, and if you saw the
stats from last night, be like, wow, you know trouble double.
He wasn't bad. Now he's eight for twenty three and
couldn't guard anybody and didn't move particularly well. Did he
(10:48):
get a fifty fifty call that didn't go his way
on Joe Kim Noah late in the game. Sure, But
if you asked anybody who's actually watching, take the names
off the back of their jersey, and would you take
Janice or Lebron right now? Would you take Kauai or
(11:10):
Lebron right now? Would you take Kyrie or Lebron or
James Harden or Lebron or Paul George or Lebron? Like, really,
we're work. I'm I can keep going if you would like.
It doesn't mean that Lebron hasn't been an all time great.
(11:30):
It doesn't mean that Lebron isn't still in the conversation
as being the greatest of all time. I never believed
he is, and I think some of the ways in
which he's handled some of the other nonsense and and
some other stuff will get to takes him away from
that discussion. But just because you get old doesn't mean
we can't say that when you're young, like Michael Jordan
(11:50):
was old when he came out of retirement in his
late thirties and played with the Wizards. I'm not holding
that against him in the greatest of All Time argument.
But just because you were in the conversation of greatest
of all time time doesn't mean you still are. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Doug Dot Leap
Show weekdays at noon eastern three pm Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. James harden
(12:12):
streak of consecutive thirty point games came to an end.
Only had twenty eight points, but they did win the game,
which is what's important. But what's the narrative been about
James Harden's scoring streak. He's only done it because well,
he had to. It was the only way for his
(12:35):
team to keep their head above water, wasn't It wasn't
that the whole thing. He didn't want to score thirty
at night. But you know, unless somebody can step up
and carry the team when Chris Paul was out and
Clint Capella was out, he had to do it. That
that's an accurate depiction of what everyone who covers and
(12:59):
is in the end BA has said. Not like you know,
even even James Harden. Remember Kobe Bryant came out and said, hey,
you know you can't win a championship that way, and
James Harden said, look, I agree with you, but for
the for the for this particular moment in time, I
have to and you have no dissenting voices. And I'm
(13:19):
not even a dissenting voice. And I'm not a hardened guy.
I respect the game and don't like the way it's played.
But that's okay. Everyone who said, like, look, you know
what I mean without a two starters, without the other star,
like what you got? A guy gotta do right, And
they've succeeded in keeping their head above water, and now
they're getting healthier, and now he doesn't have to score
(13:40):
thirty a night. Granted they beat the Hawks, but still
I get it. Be sure to catch live edition. So
the Doug dot Leaps Show weekdays at noon eastern three
pm Pacific. Dan buyers out. He's playing golf. I know
that because I follow him on Instagram and he's playing golf.
He's like at Pinehurst yesterday, maybe even to a as well.
(14:01):
That Dan loves loves a good game. So Friday he'll
guest host for me. Because I'm guest hosting for Colin
cowherd Uh, He'll have a co host. His name is
Dante Jones. Of course, he was a star at Duke
In College and playing the NBA one NBA Championship alongside
Lebron James and kind of to to to sit in
for me on Friday. Of course, you see him on
(14:21):
all of our Fox one TV shows. Does a great job.
Dante joined just on the Doug Olive Show on Fox
Sports Radio. What do you think of how the Lakers
played last night? I didn't. I thought that they gave
it a good effort. I just um didn't like the
way they finished the game, and obviously they played that
Lebron took off like I just thought that you could
(14:42):
have given more effort in some of those instances. And
I think the lack of defensive team defense has been
because Achilles here this season. Yeah, it's interesting because before
he got hurt, they were like top seven across the
board defensive, and I know some of it was Tyson.
Chandler just seems to be running out of gas from
the time he was treated he was and they don't
(15:02):
have Alonzo ball, right, but but Lebron being different than
he used to be, like has he aged? Is it
coming off of injury, not being in shape? Why isn't
he able to be as active defensively as his reputation
would lead you to believe. It's looking like a combination
of Um coming off the injury and not being in
(15:25):
full shape like he normally is to make the place
that he normally all his teammates and the fans ultimately
with Um, those two put a little bit harder on
him because he takes such an offensive load that with
with rebound the ball and assist and making places with
people with desists and scoring also, So it looked like
his conditioning coming down the line after the injury is
(15:47):
what's spent hampering him and making him seem like he's
looking like he lost the steff or what it happened,
what may have you at that point in time. But
I don't think he's lost anything. I just think he's
in a different type of shape right now according to
where we're in the season, according what he normally looks
like after because he's never had an injury like this before,
is it possible that he's also lost a step? Like
he he is thirty four, he's played a ton of hoop,
(16:09):
like sixteen years in the NBA. I mean, Dante, I
don't know. I don't know how you move, but um,
I played in the NBA Celebrity Game one year and
I remember like Rick Buker was like, man, Tim Hardaway
is coming for you, Mitch Richmond's coming for you. And
I remember watching those guys run. It was painful to
watch them run. And look, they had been out of
the NBA for a couple of years. But the idea
(16:29):
was like, look, when you wear so much tread off
your tires playing the NBA and he's playing eight straight finals,
is it possible there's just some tread worn off. And yes,
the injury is a part of it, but part of
looking slower is thirty four to sixty whatever he weighs
and the tread's worn off. Well, I don't I'm not
thinking that's where it is, because there was a point
(16:50):
in time in the season where he's looking like the
same Bowl le Bron. I think it's going to come
a point time where he played tolls for a little
bit before he starts to fall off. Like, I don't
think it's just a one year. You're doing amazing, can
you just fall off the next year. No, he he
looks like he's been looking like himself at a point
in time before the injury, and I thought he could
get in better shape than what he was at that
point in time. But now he's taken two steps back
(17:11):
with this injury and possibly gained a little weight, and
that could be why he looks a step slower. But
it just is what it is. Sometimes some of these
injuries you cannot bounce back from and be yourself with,
especially in the in the large extremity, like the growing area,
Like that's tough to come back and just be as
athletic or be as fast like. These things are something
he normally doesn't deal with, and now he has to
(17:34):
and adjust and and and fight through it. And that's
normally like not what he's used to doing. Yeah, it's interesting.
I look, I'm I understand that guys live a different
lifestyle than I live. I understand that some guys don't
need sleep. Um, But the to change thing was that
like the night before he was supposed to have the
(17:55):
day off playing against the Golden State Warriors in a
locker room, in a locker room with Lebron James, is
that a bad look, especially when the team is struggling
at this point in time to find an identity and
and and to go on a run. I think it
was a bad look and that just comes then you
just you just chalk that up to experience at this
(18:16):
point in time. Like he may have not looked at
it from a full perspective of how it could affect
his teammates. He probably just living in the moment, probably
got a call and he was like, you know what,
come by the studio and let's let's do this. But
it ultimately has had an effect on how the perception
in the media, his perception to his teammates, especially coming
off injury. It does. It does look bad and and
(18:37):
it looks like a decision that that probably in hindsight,
he may have one another direction. How flexible is this
in the off season? Very flexible because he gets an
opportunity to heal. Let's say he decaid he make the playoffs,
or they don't make the playoffs. They make the playoffs,
they made last a round or two, but he gets
more time for his body to heal. He gets the
first full offseason to heal. I think it to make
(18:59):
some roster adjustment. It and they understand what he needs more.
They understand his personality and what he brings and what
kind of personalities meshed well with him. I get that.
I think they get a chance to build that team
up on another level. And I think they come back fresh,
and they and and whoever's left, they get to understand
expectations of how they need to grow, what they need
to do to be next to him, and I think
(19:19):
it's it moves in a better direction next year. Dante
Jones John Us in the Dug Outlip Show here on
Fox Sports Radio. Um, what about the Celtics. They I
watched him against the Bucks and that looked like a
prize fight, right, I mean back and forth Kyrie and
Janice and obviously the Bucks end up winning. That's going
back to last and that was that last Thursday night,
(19:40):
great basketball game. Um, but there's a struggle with consistency there.
There's a struggle with integrating Kyrie and Hayward, and Hayward
hasn't looked the same with the guys that went to
the Eastern Conference Finals. Do you think they can fix
themselves before the playoffs? I don't think they can. I
think it's a matter of what the you know what
Kyrie might do in the offseason. It's a matter of
(20:02):
those guys and um, the young guys knowing that they're
possibly not going to be there after this playoff run. Um,
they may have too much talent at this point in time,
not enough minutes to go around to so somebody can
have a defined role and know what to expect on
a nightly basis. Like guys sometimes when they don't know
what to expect from their minutes or don't get enough minutes,
(20:24):
their performance can directly be affected. And it can be
tough for a guy because if you could last year
when you were getting twenty five minutes the game and
you guys were winning, and now you may be getting
seventeen and and and and those eight minutes could be
a portion of your time when you got the most
of it done, it could affect you mentally and it
could affect your performance. So it's just a lot of
(20:45):
a lot of variables going on with that team right
now because of just the expectation to win. Dante Jones
joining us on the Dug Outlip Show. So who do
you like in the East? I like Toronto because they've
been through the playoff wars, their roster has been through
playoffs wars um. They've added some nice pieces and market
songs or everyone um, and I think they've they've been
(21:10):
through the grind of this playoffs. Milwaukee seems like an
amazing regular season team. I just don't know how they're
gonna be able to take these bumps in the playoffs.
But they did get shooting um, they have a little
bit of experience. They seem like they have a chip
on their shoulder. I think that would be a great
Conference finals matchup, but I think Toronto ultimately pulling out
with a closer and Kauai and Jana's getting their ability
(21:34):
to see what it takes to get to that next level.
But he's having an MVP season. I think those two
of the teams that look forward and going forth. In
the conference finals, DeMarcus Cousins got a technical which has
since been rescinded, where a shoe was on the court
and he threw it off the court. I thought that
was that was standard operating procedure, right, somebody loses the
shoe and you throw it as far from the court
(21:55):
as possible. You know what. I'd have got the same
tech because I thought that was standard the season two,
like somebody she was out there, I had thrown it
in the crowd and we've got a couple of laughs
off of it. I didn't see that that was necessary.
I didn't see like I just sometimes the rest can
be a little too overcritical on these plays. And it
depends on who the rest is because some some of
them will laugh at it and just let it go
or not pay attention to it at all. So so,
(22:16):
what's what's the craziest technical you've ever gotten? Put my
craziest technical? Yeah, is uh probably the last technical I
got in the playoffs when we were playing Toronto and
I had a dunk and I just told I told
the young fellow, not, you better not jump, and I
gotta check for it. You got a technical. You better
(22:37):
not jump. Yeah, you better not jump after getting the dunk,
after getting dunk because yeah, so it wasn't it wasn't
like it wasn't like a threat because I I know
guys that they were like, you better not jump, thinking
like I'm gonna take out your legs. It was you
better not jump because like you know, he's talking trash.
After you get it done right, right, you better not jump.
Was at the end of the game from just just
in competing, just having fun, like you better not jump,
(23:00):
and then I end to getting to check. I got
kicked out this game for this end up getting a check.
And then one of the other young guys on the
team came up to me, don't talk to my guy
like that and started yapping, and I said, um, I
I didn't even curse. I didn't I got to throw
out the game by not even cursing, Like what or
(23:21):
what you've been talking to my team back like that?
I said, Or what? Yeah, I got said I got
a chech and got kicked out. That happened that fast, Yeah,
and then you've gotten Have you gotten kicked out when
you're in street clothes? Haven't you got an attack er
ban in cities and got kicked out? I got a check.
On the sideline, Kevin Durant was yapping to our bench
(23:41):
and all I got up and said, listen, man, um,
like you must you must have some like protection because
this is not you. Like, this is not you, This
is not how you normally get down. And he walked
up and started talking to me and said something says
something said something crazy and not just I responded back
and now he walked over to me and I got
(24:02):
to Tech because the ref could not see what he
was saying. It's amazing because KD has gone from he
was a guy who early in his career said a
lot of fake tough guys in this league, and now
he's kind of become this one to be guy, Like
when when did that happen? That's what that That was
my and I was at the beginning of it, like
I was like, listen, that's not you. That was my
That was my play to him because I was speaking
(24:24):
to all the words that were being thrown around in
some words you just not can't say to another man.
I was speaking to that if my teammates were't gonna
stick up for Like I was like, listen, this is
getting out of control. Like you gotta watch I talk
to another man on the court because it could it
could turn into something that doesn't have to And now
all of a sudden, you just turned into this enforcer
when this is not you, This is not the guy
(24:45):
that we know. That was where I was going with it,
And I gotta Tech, who's the baddest boy in the
NBA to cover right now? Not not not historically, historically
you'd go, you know, if you want to go Lebron, fine,
but I think we're both are like cover Michael Jordan's historically,
I was saying, well, I in right now, right now,
the hardest cover in basketball right now. Um, it seems
(25:07):
like Janice because he's just he's getting he's so long,
and he's getting wherever he wants to. And then he
has a nerve to be shooting threes right now, and
that is something because people have to give him space
because he can get the basket so well. So he
is he seemed like you really can't stop him from
getting a dunk or getting a layout without having to fail.
(25:29):
It like it's all about his will, his motor, him
being in shape that he can dominate the game in
transition and the half court by his athleticism and his
lemp but in part in the playoffs, you'll be able
to climb into him, right, You'll be able to body him.
And and you know, the hard power, by honest is
if you play off him, he gets a head of
steam and he can just you know, do one of
those high dribbles over you. So you gotta gotta do
(25:50):
the Pja Tucker with Durant and get to his body.
But Durant can make those difficult shots, whereas I don't
think of your honest is at that point, well, well
you're right and you and you cannot count Vin Durant
like like you make a great point. Kevin Durant makes
tough shots. Um, he finishes with the best of him.
He's probably the toughest shot maker we have right now
because he can get to any sports, any any place
(26:12):
on the basketball call and he gets you over basically everybody.
P J is a unique cover for him because PJ
is strong enough to take away his space and pushing
the certain spots on it on on the basketball court.
But he has to ultimately have somebody behind him like
Clint Propella um to be able to protect the basket.
So Kevin Durant is up there like he is probably
he actually probably is number one. I'm sorry, but ye honest.
(26:34):
This is where like the playoffs is gonna come into
playoffs because the physicality goes up another notch every level
that you go. So is he going to be able
to fight through this next level of physicality because it's
not going to be like the regular season. So that's
why I like That's why I said Toronto when you
ask me before, because I want to see how he
fights through contact in the first round, in the second round,
and then the ultimately conference final comes and then like
(26:56):
it's really like no holds barred, So it's going to
get they got plus they got Kauai who you know,
And I mean it's gonna gonna be amazing to watch,
and you can you can listen to Dante Jones is
Friday filling in for me with Dan Buyer. It would
be great stuff. I can't wait to listen as well,
driving home from doing Cowherd. Dante, thanks for filling in,
and even more appreciative if you joining us giving us
your insight. Of course, I can't wait. Guys, all right,
(27:16):
it's Dante Jones joining us on the Doug Gottlip Show.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app
search f s R to listen live. Bob Nightingale, who
on short notice UH was kind enough to pick up
the phone we called MLB Insider for USA Today. That's
(27:37):
because what's normally the hot stove leagues suddenly is now
part of spring training baseball. Bob, this is a weird year.
Weird year. Uh. First, let me just go back to
last week. What was your reaction to Manny Machado in
San Diego. Well, we've been surprised about a month ago,
you know, and then they jumped in at two at
(27:58):
eighty million dollars. You know, they weren't playing games, so
then they came a two team race between them and
the White Sox, and you strictly, I'll bet everybody white
fifty million dollars. Certainly the Potteries were not his first
choice by any means, being so far away from Islam
in Miami, but you know, do one of like that,
and you know, in the same years became a no
(28:20):
brain decision. Um, I guess, I guess. My question is, like,
of all the guys, to give a ten year deal
to Manny Machado seems as risky as anybody who's not
a picture. And then in a place like San Diego,
where you know you're gonna enjoy yourself because it's the
(28:41):
arguably the greatest city on the face of this earth,
and they haven't been competitive, and I know that there
are always a year away from being a year away,
and I've heard all the things about their pharm system
and I want to buy it. I just I don't
know how if you if a guy who showed he
would not give as much effort as you'd like in
the biggest game in baseball, what's he going to give
(29:02):
you in San Diego if you don't have a competitive
team around him. Well, that's the question. I mean, twenty
six years old and he plays a ton, you know,
I want to say he plays her fifty Arcy to
two games every single year, so he's there, I mean,
he plays. But yeah, that's the one worried too, is
that the team's you know, not competitive chifularly for the
first couple of years he's there, you know, not strong
(29:24):
veteran influence there. You know, you don't have a guy
like Adam Jones or J. J. Hardy or Chase Utley,
you know landing on you. Uh you know, you kind
of wonder for lack of days of call uh Citty,
you know, very very hill city. So you wonder if
they'll have some effect. But you know, I do believe
once they start playing good baseball and everything else, and
then that whenever that year comes, you'll see a very
(29:47):
productive player and you know, one of the top young
players in all in baseball, Bob. But I can get
USA today joining US. Okay, So then we're waiting on
Bryce Harper and everyone assumed at some point of the
Philadelphia because their owner comes out says they're gonna spend
stupid money. And then there's rumors of them getting close.
And then then noldan Arnado thing happens earlier today to
(30:07):
five and extension, and you know, like, look, we're in
Los Angeles long rumors that he ends up being either
an Angel or a Dodger to come back home. Do
you think that's would change the Dodgers going back after
Harper or do you think they were always in there
with a shorter term, bigger money deal. I think always
in their short term. You know the fact that he's
(30:28):
still out that so you know what that TV's willing
to go short term, let's go talk to him. But
I think they're not know I mean, I think the
Dodgers knew. He was saying, uh, Yankees doing that too.
The owner, you know, Charlie Moronford, came out early on
in February. He said, we're the almost the fish line here,
We're going to get this done. So I think he's
so comfortable there that teams cannot count him coming out,
(30:52):
Just like night Trout was very comfortable in Orange County.
I think Pile would be shocked and he left the
Angels just because the comfort level. Do you think that
this caused the Angels though? But there's still two years away.
But if you're the Angels, you go in now and
go like, all right, here's the check. You figure out
which it is. Yeah, I mean you know what the
(31:12):
Angels are probably thinking, Okay, we got We'll see what
Harper comes in at. We saw what Eronado is. Can
you go over all that? So you know, if you're
you know, the Angels, you know you're starting at three fifty,
but you know probably you know reality, you're probably starting
at around four million. Uh, you know, for you know,
nine ten years. So what is what is the difference
(31:34):
in what you heard Bob nighton gale Us to today?
What is the difference you've heard in the terms of
the Dodgers and the reported terms of the Phillies as
of now? Well, I think if Harper went to Dodgers,
is going to leave a good hard fifty million dollars
or more on the table. I can't see him doing that.
(31:54):
I think you'd be embarrassing to him since it turned
on three million from the Nationals. Uh, you lending for
the agent, Scott Boris, You know that to take a
short term deal when you number one that granted he
liked Dodgers probably Yankees are probably number one choice, Dodgers
number two. It took you, being close to home a
little tough to leave that kind of money on the table. Uh.
(32:15):
You know for him to pivot and do that, you know,
it's be a you know, a desperation move. Yeah, but
couldn't he couldn't he in his own mind, if he
gets an early opt out clause, put himself right back
on the market and capitalize in the market that we
all think it's gonna level off and it it still hasn't.
Well it could, but there's you know, no guarantee. You know.
Then the the other part of it is like, well,
(32:37):
is he afraid of playing in Philadelphia? You know which
you're you know, citty with an edge, you know, a
passionate band base through one expectation everything else. I mean,
you win there? You know, you're a hero forever. The
one thing about the Dodgers is the Dodgers have won
six straight divisions, you know, two straight nationally pennants to
leave the role in the tenants every single year. So
(32:58):
what are you gonna add? You know, maybe a game
or two. So it's not like he can come there
and say, hey, I got the Dodgers the World Series. Well,
they're already on the brink of it anyway, they've been
in the last two years. You know, if you win it, fine,
but just not that big of a difference. No, it's
it's it's fascinating. Um, there's still a group of unsigned players.
I think. I think Jeff Passon wrote a piece where
(33:19):
it's like, hey, it's not a hundred, it's more fifty.
And now we're creeping down. Um, what about those those
quickly forgotten unsigned veteran players. What ultimately becomes of them? Yeah,
we're only talking about fifteen players now, you know, we're
so you know, at some point, you know, Dallas Cockle
(33:39):
is gonna to design Okay, I mean, not give me
a five have to take a three year deal. Greenbo
wanted six years of a hundred. Maybe it takes a
year or two and here's the market again. Uh, you
know subdery guys. Uh, you know Adam Jones maybe staid
of a two year deal. He hasn't taken a one
year deal. So some guys are just gonna have to
back down from what they wanted. And I hope the
(34:00):
market changes next year. But you know, it's either take
the money that's there or sit out. And nobody's gonna
sit out. No, they're not gonna sit out. And it
stands the reason that this is the market, right. No
middle class? Uh, no middle classes. We saw some of
the veterans get pinched last year, and how some of
these you know, mid level, big money guys getting pinched
this year. Bob, great stuff. It's a fascinating time in baseball.
(34:22):
Can't wait to see where Harper goes and how it
affects the landscape. Thanks so much for joining us.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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