Kawhi to the Lakers would make them the newest NBA villains

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:21):
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(00:41):
it's game time, have an experienced player help you stay
at the game, put their experience in a play at
Farmers dot com. Are farmers all right? So we still
have not heard anything, not a thing from Kawai Leonard?
Have we all right? We're waiting and waiting, waiting and waiting.

(01:02):
Unlike waiting on good ough. I do believe at some
point there will be um uh, there will be an answer.
I let it will show up at somebody's doorstep. We
just don't know where. Can I offer up a couple
of possibilities? I just listen. I don't know if he

(01:24):
chooses the Lakers, the Clippers or the Raptors. I don't know,
but I do think there's something that's possible that happens
if he chooses the Lakers. I've heard people say, anyway,
I even watch, if I even watch the NBA next year,
why even watch? Well, I'll offer up this as a

(01:48):
as a possibility as a discussion when it create villains.
Movies need villains, right the Lion King's coming back out
Scar is a villain. Name me the movie that doesn't
have the bad guy, all right? I mean, remember when

(02:14):
Naka Tony Plaza was taken over and Die Hard you
had the terrorists, right. Think of in Star Wars you
have the Empire, and in the NBA you need villains. Heck,

(02:35):
in the NFL you need villains. We've always needed a
bad guy. It's it's one of the things that Belichick
does a great job of. We're on the Cleveland, We're
on a Cincinnati, right. I don't want to answer any
of your questions. I'm gonna wear a hoodie. You know,
are they cheating? Are the inflating balls or whatever? We
have to create some sort of villainy. And I don't

(02:58):
think you hand the truth, a team that is comprised
of even if they have three of the top five
players in the NBA and Kyle Kuzma one, it's become
a guards game and they won't have guards. It's become
a three point shooting league. And like, look, Lebron has
become a much better three point shooter and Kauai has two.
But it's not like they're three point shooters. It's not

(03:18):
what they do right. And it gives you, it gives
you an empire. Oh, I mean you guys remember Star Wars.
They have the empire has all the cool ships, and
yet somehow the Rebels find a way so offer up

(03:40):
the possibility that the Lakers could become the NBA's villains.
And this discussion we're having about why we even watch
the NBA. I heard the exact same discussions last year
about the Golden State Wars. Five all stars on one team.
I was like, dude, DeMarcus Cousins is coming off at
Achilles and it's the it's a perim the players game.

(04:01):
It's not a it's not a it's not a center's
game anymore. We heard the same discussions last year. Oh,
the best team ever, they didn't have the best record
in the West. So I look at it and I'm
sitting there going, I don't think it's the word end

(04:22):
of the world. Actually, the Golden Stay Words did have
the best record in the West. I apologize. They didn't
have the best record in the NBA. They had the
third best record in the NBA, behind the Raptors, behind
the Milwaukee Bucks, but they didn't win an NBA title. Granted,
they had massive hostale injuries, which could be part of
the story, but I look at it and I think, Okay,
the Lakers. Now here's the other possibility. The offseason story

(04:46):
has been really about the Brooklyn Nets, who have always
they haven't been second fiddle to the Knicks. They've been
second fiddle in the NBA to the Knicks. But they're
like the seventh most popular professional sports franchise in New
York City in the Tri state area. And yet now

(05:10):
the Nets are more the thing than the Knicks are.
And while I don't know the longevity of it, and
I don't know if it will in fact work, I
do know that that you know, even though there there
are historic powers that seem to that that that seemed
to be forever, if the Clippers could get Kauai, Leonard

(05:34):
and Kauai. Stretching this timeline out eliminates much of the
supporting pieces that the Lakers could go after. It could
have a a doubly effective effect. Not only would allow
the Clippers to line out what they want to do
to potentially trade Danila Gatlinari and get them another player
or whatever, but they could also who the Lakers gonna have.

(05:59):
You'd help the Hippers and hurt your competition. It's brilliant, genius, diabolical,
and maybe not the reason and I think likely not
the reason that Kauai is doing this, but it is
an ancillary benefit. So I know that you're like me,

(06:19):
and you do you have no patience for it, or
at least I think you're like me and you have
no patience for it, and you want Kauai to just
make up your mind. But man, do we have a
couple of possibilities here, and it's really really interesting what
he selects. If he takes the Lakers, they become the villains.

(06:41):
And if you want to say that we haven't seen
a franchise like this, probably haven't seen a three players
in the top five. But there was a time when
they had Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy Byron Scott, Michael
Cooper was Defensive Player of the Year, and they had
Magic Johnson, all in the same club, all the same club.

(07:02):
But it would create it would create villainy, bad guy,
somebody the root against you know, you create your negative storylines.
Al Lebron, he can't do it by himself. He's gotta
go at Kauai Leonard. And I'm not sitting here telling
you I love it like I I like the idea
more of having your own team and going and beating

(07:23):
somebody else who has their own team. But I also
know that they are mitigating circumstances here. It is moving home,
and if that's what you want to do, I can't
blame you. I can't blame you. I've moved home twice
in my professional career, and there are great things about
and bad things about. The great thing is like, yeah,

(07:45):
I don't have to reintroduce myself to most people that
I grew up around. I may have to fill them
in on the fifteen years that I was gone, but
isn't then when I was back. I was back. You
can kind of drive places blindfolded, though, where you're going.
There's a vibe to the place that's that's not foreign.
Ill I've liked moving to different places and getting to
know different coffee shops and different people and families, and

(08:08):
but on the other hand, when you don't have equity
with people, it's harder. It's harder for your kids, it's
hard for you, harder socially. So I understand what moving
home means, and I do think that changes it. But
there's three very different choices. Apparently now there's some sizeable
crowd gathered around where Kawhi Leonards having a free agency

(08:31):
meeting with the Toronto Raptors, and we sit and we wait.
And as much as people think the Lakers, if they
get them, will ruin the NBA, I actually think it
will help the NBA. There'll be times in which they
just have too much talent and they overpower a lesser team.

(08:51):
But you'll be rooting for the underdog unless you're a
Laker fan. You will be an anti Laker fan. And
it will be the David versus Goliathe, and it'll be
Guards and three point shooting versus these three mammoth monumental
superstars and and whoever else they bring in or then
he can bring in the Clippers, and in a diabolical way,

(09:13):
take away from any possible chance that the Lakers can
put a team around Lebron James, because in waiting for
Kauai Leonard, they've hurt their own chances of of getting
a supporting cast. It's a fascinating time, fascinating time, all right.

(09:35):
Coming up next, Sam Ammick's gonna join the show. We'll
ask him what he's hearing. Does he believe the Lakers
are in the lead? Does that actually matter? What does
the league look like if Kauai is a Laker, What
does it look like if he's a Clipper, what does
it look like if he's a Raptor? How convinced are
we that the next thing will work? What about the

(09:55):
new look Sixers? And what do we make of the
Warriors trying to remake themselves? Ton to get to might
work at a couple of phone calls or close to
the fourth July, I hope you're having a great summer,
sam Ammick from The Athletic Next in The Doug Gotlip Show.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug Dot
Leap Show weekdays at noon Eastern three pm Pacific on

(10:18):
Fox Sports Radio. And that's the hardest decision you've ever made.
You know. It's one of those things where where we
are getting you know, a little bit of antsy about
Kawaid Leonard and where he's gonna go, and these teams waiting. Um,
I'm interested in, like, what's your You would tweet at
me at gott Leap show with the hardest decision you've

(10:38):
ever made? Sam, Emmy joins us, and yeah, but he
joins us on the Doug Gotlip Show here on Fox Sports. Uh.
Fox Sports Radio, Sam, what's the hardest decision you've ever made? Man,
Doug put me on the spot. Um, I'll share with
you mine. I'll give you mine. It's okay, like put
myself in the spot. Okay, here, here's here's some I

(11:00):
was at ESPN for nine years, nine years in Bristol,
ten years overall. And the way it works at least
in you know, we're in the same business. But I
don't know if yours works this way. At ESPN, six
months before your contracts up, they basically tell you like, hey,
we're gonna offer you a new deal. And then really
there's like a window there where you have three months

(11:24):
or so where they're gonna throw you out an offer
and then you know, within with the last three months
the deal, you can go get another offer to either
counter theirs or think about taking it. So I remember this,
this is two thousand twelve, and I'm up in September
of two thousand twelve, and so it's very early on
in basketball season. I get like an email from my

(11:47):
agent like, hey, just you know, six months out, ESPN
said they're gonna offer you a new deal. So all right,
and it's somewhere in between what you think you're worth
and like the exact amount you're making. That's what you
can write, that's what you can kind of expected to fall.
And as it usually works, they offer you what you
would you know, some very nominal three percent raise, and

(12:10):
you're mad. You're like, dude, I've been here nine years anyway.
So I um fast forward three months later and I
had told my agent, hey, I think I'm worth this much,
Like I think I'm worth more than that, but I
think I can get to this point. There's a specific
dollar figure, and my agent at the time was like,
I think that's a that's a little much. I was like,

(12:31):
all right, but here's here's how the here's how the
calculation works. I get this from TV, and get this
some radio, get this from dot com, I get this
from this and this from this. I was like, all right,
that sounds good, but they have to agree with you,
so I'll never forget. It was maybe May or early June.
I got a call. It's like a Friday. My agents like,

(12:51):
guess what five year offer average of the number you
told me you were going to get. And I was like,
no way. So I I go to Mystic, Connecticut with
some friends. We go to dinner and then we go
to a show, and we go to a concert at
one of the casinos, and I thought I was gonna

(13:12):
take the deal right then and there, and I think
of details, and I was walking around with one of
my buddies and he was like, man, I'll tell you what.
I coach your daughters in soccer this year. It was awesome.
Wish you could have been there. And I was thinking
to myself, like five years there, I was doing four
to seven radio, like I would literally never coach my
kids during the weekend soccer. And then five months have
of the year of doing basketball, I'll never see them,

(13:34):
And so I had had the CBS offer, and the
CBS thing would bring me back to California. The radio
would be as it is now three to sixt Eastern,
twelve to three local, so I get some time at home.
And though they had basketball, with the exception of March
and early April, it wasn't as all encompassing is as
as ESPN was. And it went down to the kind

(13:56):
of the wire and I end up choosing CBS, and
I didn't feel great about and I almost decided because
I I don't know if I thoroughly thought it out,
and um, anyway, I made a decision. It was the
hardest thing I've ever done because I was so happy
where I was, but I knew professionally I wanted to
try something different and I wanted to be a better parent.

(14:17):
So that's my hardest decision. What's yours. Yours is going
to trump mine when it comes to the depth of it.
But I mean professional comes to my first. You know,
I was at the Sacramento b and I was comfortable
and I only knew kind of a newspaper life. And
then this new website, a O L FanHouse, had come along,
and long story short, the trickiness of it was that

(14:38):
it was the first time I had a chance to
cover the entire NBA instead of one team. I was
the King's beat writer back then. But I also, you know,
and ultimately, with good reason, I had concerns about what
was this website? How long was it going to last? Uh?
You know, where what path would this put me on?
And it was it was like money wise, it wasn't

(14:59):
really a question. It was a big time jump for
where I was, but it was more the case of comfort.
And then again, you know, where is this taking you?
And and uh, they let me chew on it for
almost three months, and I remember the offer just kind
of sat there, and then ultimately I took it, and
then that you know that in the end it was
a great move, even though the you know, a O

(15:19):
L didn't end up surviving. You know, that kind of
brought me into a difference for your media wise. I
think the takeaway that we're getting to here is that
it is funny we cover this free agency stuff and
we get selfish, right because like, I've got a Fourth
of July party tomorrow that I'm trying to take part in,
and I just want to lie Leonard to hurry up
and make it, you know, make a choice. And I
mean this is you know, this is forget the money.

(15:41):
This is where he's going to play hoops for the
next you know, at least year, and this is where
his legacy is going to unfold. And that that's not
a small choice. And I think his situation, too, is
different because when you play through mid June and you
win the title, it's not like a Kevin Durant situation
where you've been chewing on this thing for a while,

(16:01):
partly because you got hurt Um and for other reasons.
I think Kauai legitimately, you know, had a lot of
homework to do here at the eleventh hour. Okay, so
let's let's go through. There have been people that say
if he choose the Lakers, it's bad for the league.
Now I heard that. I heard that last year about
the Golden State Warriors and their five All Stars and

(16:24):
now DeMarcus Cousins can't get a contract. And granted that
there was a litany of injuries the likes of which
we rarely see Um at that level in in the NBA,
But I would offer the counter, doesn't it give us
a villain? Um? Doesn't it give us somebody to cheer against.
What what do you think happens to the NBA if
he choose the Lakers, Well, it's not to me. It's

(16:45):
not the kind of villains that the Warriors were durant.
You know, Kevin wasn't easier villain. For one, he had
less on his resume at the time and no championships,
and it was easy to grab that narrative of ring
chaser Kauai is looking at you with two rings on
his hand already saying, now you don't have that two
finals MVPs, you know, on his resume already, you don't

(17:08):
have that. So that the the enemy aspect, though I
do think there would be an element of it toward
their their group, just towards Lakers in general. There's plenty
of you know, plenty of Laker haters, plenty of fans
who can't stand their history and their success and what
comes with them and the glitz and the glamour and
all that. And then Lebron, certainly in a lot of circles,

(17:28):
remains a guy that that fans don't have a hard time,
you know, kind of making putting the black hat on him.
So I think there'd be some of that, And but
I'm not in the camp that. I mean, I'm with you.
I don't think it would be ruining the league. I'd
be lying to you if I didn't admit that there
was part of me that just basketball wise. I I
just I would really enjoy seeing how the three of
those guys co existed. You know, I wrote the other

(17:50):
day about you know everything. I was told Lebron is
willing to take a step back and and make room
for a d and Kauai. And that's fine to say
during the free agency up in time, but is he
really going to do that? What does that end up
looking like? Um? I still don't know what he's gonna
do here. There's a lot of noise about the Lakers.
He's obviously in Toronto right now. But but yeah, I mean,

(18:11):
I think that Laker thing would be pretty intriguing. Yeah,
you mentioned what you that that for for people haven't
read it. Um, it does kind of make sense like
Lebron could become the Magic Johnson type and he has
always wanted the success of teammates. What exactly is he
willing to do in order to make it work? So,

(18:33):
I mean, the line that is stuck in my head.
That you know, I think underscores all of it is
the idea that he's more focused are Doug entering a
parking garage here? More focused on on giving a d
M toy what they need to elevate their games, bring

(18:54):
them to a new level. Then he is his own
individual dominance. Now, Listen, he's a playmaker, you know, by
nature anyway, So that's not a real wrinkle to say
he's going to continue doing that. That I think the
nuance there that I've had other people bring up and
as they pushed back on this idea that he's truly
willing to sacrifice is you could argue that, you know,

(19:14):
that means being off the ball more often, and you
know that last year that was kind of something that
was supposed to be part of the program um with
Luke Waldon his coach and ultimately wasn't really the case.
So you know, he's got some folks and some cynics
who don't think he's gonna follow through on this. But
the I do really believe and truly get the sense
that he's looking in the mirror. He knows the age,

(19:36):
he knows the health stuff last year, and he knows
that he just can't waste any more time and that
he's got to get help right now. And a d
has certainly helped. But you know, ka I would would
obviously take this thing to a whole new place, say
Amy from the Athletic joining us in the Doug oat
Lip Show on Fox Sports Radio. It would it would
be unfair to the Clippers to characterize their pursuit of

(19:57):
Kauai is anything less than fanatical. Right that they they're
focused and you tell me if I'm wrong. They're focused
on Kauai is as in depth as the Rockets focused
on beating the Warriors on the court. Right is that?
Is that a fair? Like? You know they they were
they anybody associated with the team was. You go back

(20:18):
to Bruce Bowen getting fired, like, you don't wanna say
anything that would make Kauai upset. You know you're going higher,
you know you're going to higher. One of the best,
you know, sports writers in the country. I'm not really
you know, for background, like they have, they have done
everything in their power to put themselves in this position.
I guess two fold, what would mean to get him

(20:40):
and what would it mean to strike out? If you're
the Clippers, they would be pretty devastated. Everything you just
kind of chronicle there is. You know, honestly, I forgot
about the Bruce Bowen chapter. I mean that that right there,
you talking about a pre emptive move. Just you know,
if there was anything in this entire process, the decrease
in their odds by you know, point zero zero five,

(21:01):
then they were gonna you know, they weren't going to
do it, and or you know, conversely, anything they could
do to get to help their eyes. They were doing it.
And they've been focused on it all year. They had
additional scouts as you know, you know, tracking Kauaia at
his Raptors games and you know, just figuring out how
to get him to town. They Lee, you know, Jenkins,
and part of his job was to be the guy

(21:22):
who had written you know, deep profiles and features on Kauai.
Knew his story and was going to try to figure
out how to resonate so that it would be devastating.
I mean, all things considered, I think they're in an
okay spot. You know, they have assets, they get Pat
Everley back, they have a roster um by Clippers standards,
not the end of the world, I think, but in

(21:43):
the in the micro kind of look at it because
of what has transpired over the last year. I think
they'd be they'd be pretty crushed because they definitely thought,
you know, they were the leader in the clubhouse. Doug
Otlib show here on Fox Sports Tradeo, that's the voice
of same aiming from the Athletic there's Stephen A. Smith
had uh some interesting things to say today about Kevin Durant.

(22:04):
That Katie apparently wasn't on the same wave link, didn't
love playing for Steve Kerr, that he didn't feel like
that he was treated the same as Steph Curry. How
much of that do you believe is what led to
Kevin Durant leaving? Um, I mean, I personally believe the
list of things that led to Kevin leaving was pretty long,

(22:25):
you know. And so I'm not gonna I'm not gonna
sign too much to that one particular subplot. I'm certainly
not going to refute it either. It's very true. I
think it's the dynamic between them. It's never as simple
to say, at least in my opinion, you know, they
weren't on the same page or they didn't want to
work together, but there was tension and some of that stuff,

(22:46):
you know, we saw unfold in real time. Do you
remember that press conference where Kevin was asked about the
prospect of playing with Joy I'm sorry with Steve, It
said they need to play with more aggressiveness, and he
kind of sarcastically says back to the reporter like, wait,
I thought I thought we played with Joy. I thought
that was our thing. That was to me, the the

(23:06):
symbolic moment of their relationship, because Steve and what he
built with Steph Curry was this culture where it was
really at one time kind of a utopia of basketball
and then honestly they lost that over the past couple
of years for whatever reason. And and I think Kevin
almost felt self conscious about the idea that that he
either just didn't fit into that completely or he just

(23:29):
didn't buy into it and found it to be, you know, uh,
just not as Yeah, a little hokey, that's a good
way of putting it. Um. And so I think that
for sure was was one of the many chapters. Yeah, um,
does it work in Brooklyn? Um? Now? I mean, maybe
like to to a degree. Right now, I feel like

(23:49):
the ceiling is certainly with Kevin recovering an out. You know,
I I agree with others who have said that, you know,
they might wind up, you know, being fourth in the East.
That's very possible to be five. Um, Kyrie's got so
many question marks around him and his wiring and his leadership.
I'm not about to. I mean, it really is a
very similar situation, uh to the one he was in

(24:13):
last year in Boston, and he we have no reason
to think but it's going to be any different because
it's not you know, a thing that he's doing with
Kevin just yet now year after that. I mean, could
they be fantastic, sure, but you're talking about a guy
coming off the Achilles. So first and foremost, what version
of Kevin Durant do we get? You know, we saw,
like with the Marcus Cousins, with a lot of folks

(24:35):
who have Achilles tendon tears, there's been back and then
and then it's like, you know, it takes you like
sometimes a year back ends up being part of the
recovery as well. So I don't know, Uh, I thought
I joked with someone the other day, I said, I'm
not a hot take guy in general. I think you
know that, Doug. But if I was like, if there's

(24:55):
somebody wrote a column right now, you know, predicting that
they don't think Kevin what ever win another championship, Like,
I'm not writing that column, but I'm not gonna sit
there and tell somebody they're nuts. I mean, we just
you know, we have to wait and see how it unfolds.
What do you think about what the Warriors are doing.
I'm starting to get you know, warm up on it,
um that D'Angelo Russell move. I mean, I get the

(25:18):
idea of getting a big time young piece that that
is either going to be part of your program or
if it's not working out, you know, it keeps you
in the game for everything down the road, you know, hypothetically,
and this is where the the listeners in Milwaukee you
know want to drive off the road. But if it
goes sideways with the Bucks, you know, and you want
to get into that game trade wise, then D'Angelo is

(25:40):
a kind of guy that you know, can be part
of the conversation. Um. You know, some of these other
pickups they've had are pretty good in terms of recovery.
Willie Kelly Stein on a minimum, um, you know, things
like that. So they just it's wild to me how
immediately they are exist in a completely different situation. I
was talking to of their assistant coaches the other day,

(26:02):
and he was talking about how their practices all of
a sudden are going to just go from you know,
load management and sophisticated use of the calendar in like,
you know, keeping all these veterans happy to almost like
in a kind of a summer League style developmental you know,
training and hardcore basketball development and practicing. You know, most

(26:24):
of the year, they've got a lot of work to do.
They have young guys, and they got to make this group,
you know, come into something new. Yeah, it's gonna be super,
super interesting. And then and then there's Philly. Uh. Look,
of course you have to max out Ben Simmons um.
But you know, apparently, you know, they make a max
offer to a guy who um who goes to Miami

(26:48):
and they end up making a sign and trade. What
what do you Jimmy Butler's gone in his places, Josh
Richardson and Al Horford. I mean, I like Al Horford.
I don't get the last two years of the alf
Herford contract, and I don't get how Horford is necessarily
needed in the playoffs. He may be needing the regular season,
but the playoffs when you have Joel Embiid, that makes

(27:10):
sense of what Philadelphia is doing. Yeah, I mean, I
think they're one of the only teams, maybe the only
team that because of Joel's health history, like the idea
of having a guy where the regular season matters, you know,
in relation to the playoffs, and a guy like alk
who who can help on those nights when Joel just
doesn't want to play or wants to play twenty minutes

(27:32):
because he's just he's struggled to you know, to keep
himself healthy. That is going to have a ripple effect
on the postseason. Not to say that that that wouldn't
be a major part of every single playoff game, but
if that leads to you getting the best version of
Joel Embiid when it matters most, that's huge, you know.
I mean, we just saw it with the Raptors and
the way that they handled to Hi Leonard all season long,

(27:54):
that you know, in the end, you know that the
ends justified the means. And I remember reading Colin in
Front Toronto about how some Raptors players they weren't mad
at Kauai, but they were confused about you know, is
he gonna play this night? Is he gonna play that night?
Other players would have their routine impacted by the fact that,
you know, they didn't know how this was being handled.

(28:14):
And I think the Al thing, there's an element of
this in relations to Joel. And I think also it's
just it's a leadership thing. It's a locker room thing.
Jimmy Butler was a guy who has been tricky and
every single locker room he has been in to say
the least. And I think they're looking forward to having
a you know, a more kind of simple and I

(28:35):
mean just a rock solid character guy like Al to
be part of their program. The Rockets apparently going to
run it back. Um. You know, necessity is the root
of all invention. I guess that of necessity and the ability,
the inability to move Chris Paul, this is what they're
going to do. And you know, with other other super
teams falling apart, how do you think this Rockets thing

(28:56):
works out? You know, I think it's safe to say
right now that you know, not that they're scrambling, but
I think they're certainly hoping. I don't know what else
they have in it works. You know, the names are
falling off the board, but I think they're disappointed by
you know, swinging and missing on a bunch of guys
that they were hoping to get. And you know, Jimmy Butler.
First of all, that one is puzzling to me because

(29:19):
it was the noise was so loud, and the entire
time I was skeptical of the idea that, you know,
this whole thing hinged on Jimmy saying he wanted to come,
and about a month before all that stuff was public,
you know, I checked on that situation, and my impression
at the time was that, you know, I was kind
of skeptical at best that he did in fact want

(29:41):
to go play for you know what is basically his
hometown team. He grew up in tom Ball, Texas, pretty
close to Houston, and so without Jimmy making that choice,
it just kind of sparked a sequence of events that
that puts the Rockets in a tough spot that it
really does look now like you're talking about running it back.
You have a quick, compelling dynamic that is just tricky
because it's already kind of out there in the media

(30:02):
now that they're pretty frustrated by his performance against the
Warriors in the playoffs, and they shopped the heck out
of him, and they had landing spots for him. And
you know, those players in particular, like p J. Tucker
told me recently that he really like that, they really
understand the business and they know that, you know, you
can be shopped and talked about in trades and then
still feel fine about being part of the Rockets program.

(30:24):
I think that's p J talking for p J. I
think younger players, like we saw with the Lakers last year,
struggle with that more so. I don't know where that
leaves them as a group collectively mentally in light of
all this, because really everybody on that team, including Chris
Paul at one point, was getting shopped and now because
they couldn't find something better, now the message becomes, you know, hey,

(30:47):
we love you guys, and let's do this. By the way,
t J McConnell has signed with the Pacers. That's only
interesting because they now have the the market cornered on
t J's t J Leaf, t J Warren are they
traded for and t Jim McConnell. Um. That's a pretty
impressive roster of t JS. This is absolutely that's the

(31:09):
opposite problem is, you know, other other teams are getting
you know, Lopez brothers on the like I always think
through the sports writers, uh you know filter where you
got to figure out are you dropping first name references
only on the Lopezes? Are you dropping last name references
only on the t js? These are these are a
big problem. I have a funny have a funny Lopez

(31:29):
Brothers story for you. Okay, there's a true story. I was.
I was on a a r C mid Valley. We
we played in Bellevue, Washington for the twelve and under
National championship, and Brooke and Robin we're always with us
with their with their mom and dad who were together
back then, and they're wrestling and everywhere we went they wrestled,

(31:52):
they fought, they were just all over. They were energizer
bunnies all over everything. And I never forget that. At
some point we had all discussed it, and I was
the one who was finally brave enough to ask Alex,
their big brother, hey man, what's up with your brothers?
And he's like, what do you mean? I go, are
they like all there? It's like, what do you mean?

(32:15):
And I was like, well, they you know, they don't
really speak. They're always arguing and crying and fighting, but
they're not actually speaking to each other. Keep in mind,
they're like little giants. And He's like, they're fine, they're
too And I was like, what they looked like seven
or eight year olds there too, and that these huge
afros at the time was really really funny. Anyway, that's

(32:35):
my that's my best brother's brother's Lopez. Um, Yes, understandable story.
A a long way from the Sacramento babe, but you
do a great job. Can't wait. I'm I'm with you.
We all have four July plans. Can we move this
thing along? Kawaid Leonard. In the meantime, thanks so much
for joining us. Yeah, thank you. I appreciate you. Doug

(32:56):
Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio. Um, great stuff from Sam Ammick,
great stuff, I think so. Ralph Irvin coming up next.
Kevin Durant reportedly wasn't too fond of Steve Kerr's that
real news are fake news. Find out next. Be sure
to catch live editions of the Doug dot Leap Show
weekdays at noon Eastern three pm Pacific. Doug Gotlap Show

(33:18):
rolls on here on Fox Sports Radio. It's brought to
you by Little Caesar's, where you can get a large,
extra most bestest stuffed crust Pepperoni pizza for nine dollars
and only Little Caesar's plus tax re applicable available participating
locations every day. This time, we'd like to get you
caught up on a lot of stories. We do so
by letting somebody like Ralph Irvin play game. Okay, this

(33:43):
is game time side on the Doug gott Leap Show. Ralph,
what's today's game? Today's game is real news fake news? Alright,
so that is the game that that is the that
is real news. So our first one. Okay, it's not
surprising that the US might be, you know, selling more

(34:04):
women's soccer jerseys than normal. But did you know that
Fanatics is saying that they're selling more women's soccer jerseys
in compared to when the World Cup was in Canada
four years ago? Is that real news or fake news? Um?
That sounds like fake news. They're real and they're spectacular. Yes,

(34:26):
major increase in jersey sales this year as the game
becomes more and more popular amongst fans. Interesting, they also
had very high midday ratings. They actually track school day
ratings as they call them workday ratings when they're non holidays,
and it was the highest ratings for their game on

(34:46):
Monday or yeah, on Monday since uh fourteens Men's World
Cup played in Rio. Mhmm, what were the men's ratings
in World Cup? You know, I didn't have that number availables.
You're saying that it was the highest sense back then
to that time. Those they were huge numbers. We were

(35:07):
watching while doing the game. UM, so I'm with you.
I do. I think it's it's it's amazing. Um it
should be pointing out that the rating was a five, right,
the men's rating was a fifteen point two, I believe,
so slightly slightly different, But I do like the tracking

(35:30):
of Jersey from four year mark to four year mark. Right.
One of the things that the women, you know, in
their lawsuit to to get equal pay, what they failed
to mention is during like during non World Cup years,
nobody pays attention to the crowds are are not big,
whereas Men's World Cup in non World Cup years and
when they they play the Kunker Calf or the Gold Cup,

(35:50):
whatever they play in, they still very strong crowds and
and decent ratings um in comparison. So there, it's it's
a great story to play without Megan Orpino and had
somebody had all their goals essentially since uh playing in
single elimination play and to still win yesterday against England.

(36:10):
Fantastic and huh it was goodwin, goodwin, very simple goodwin.
Al Right. Next up, we've got real news or fake news,
this one coming from the NBA where Mark Keith Morris
is going to go back to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Real news or fake news Mark Keith Morris, I feel

(36:30):
like that's fake NEWSA. That's right. He has agreed to
go to the Detroit Pistons on a two year deal.
Mm hmm. Now Marcus Morris was previously in Detroit, right, correct?
M Yes, this is the pistons second opportunity to have
a Morris twin. Yeah. And there was a time when
they were in the same team in the NBA and

(36:51):
there was the thought they couldn't be on separate teams.
Now they're on separate teams, but one is going to
where the other twin previously was. I wonder if he'll
occupy his twins previous department. I'm gonna guess not. That's
you don't pay extra for that same apartment like you
do for the same number. Yeah, and I with the
exact same apartment and like the exact same number. What

(37:11):
do we? How do we? How do we know this?
It's not Marcus that goes back like Marcus goes back,
shows up, works out. He's like, look, I just like
the droid. Just call me a Marquis this time. Alright. Finally, Uh,
good news for the Dodgers as rich Hill is gonna
he's coming back very soon from that to Ford left
forearm strain. Um, that's fake news. Yeah, he's been transferred

(37:37):
to the sixty day injured list with that left forearm
strain and it's not going to be back for quite
a while. Yeah. Forearms strain usually means somewhere in the
neighborhood of of the the other t J, the only
t J that is not on the Pacers, which is
Thomas John This is game time on the Duck Gottlieb Show.

(38:04):
Oh Man, oh Man. So there's one name out there
in free agency, which there's never really been a ripple
yet of where he will be, where he will sign.
And I don't believe it's any one reason, but all
of the reasons I'll explain next to the Doug gottlib

(38:24):
Show Fox Sports Radio. 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.
What Up Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio. Come into
you from sunny southern California, where we like most of

(38:46):
the NBA waiting to find out what Kauai Leonard will
do with the next four to five years of his
NBA future, Maybe next two years he remains in Toronto.
The Doug Atli Show is brought to you by Farmers.
At Farmers, we've seen almost everything, so we were not
to cover almost anything when it's game time. Having experienced
player help you stay at the game, put their experience

(39:07):
in play. At Farmers dot Com. Farmers rash Markazi will
join us upcoming in fifteen minutes, he writes for the
l a times, Uh it was? It was. It was
a tale of one city, right, the Lakers and the Clippers.
It could be the best and worst of times in
the same city, depending upon what Kawhi Leonard chooses. We'll

(39:30):
get to that in fifteen minutes. But there's one free
agent that had you gone back a year ago, some
would have been fired up about the possibility of the market.
That is Boogie Cousins. Boogie Cousins remains unsigned, and all
of the most of the discussions around Boogie Cousins is
that there is no discussion around Boogie Cousins. People are interested.

(39:56):
Now We're only a couple of days into free agencies,
so let's be honest. This is not the end all
be all. He will likely sign with a team, albeit
for a small contract. And my guess is somewhere in
between the mL E midlevel exception and a veteran's UH
minimum is what he will make. Until some of you

(40:19):
you sit there and go, wow, it's the Achilles and
you're partially right. My dad used to I used to
say something about the usb L. I played in a
professional league called the United States Basketball League, and it
was a hell of a league. Man. We had some players.

(40:43):
We had a guy named Galen Young who was the
second round pick of the Milwaukee Bucks out of u
NC Charlotte. We had Willie Burton, who was the number
nine pick. I believe the NBA draft scored fifty points
in a game with the Philadelphia seventies six ers. Ormade
with the Miami he will you have been a longtime
NBA player. Bubba Wells had led the country and scoring

(41:05):
at Austin p He had played in the NBA for
the Dallas Mavericks. You kind of uh, you kind of go.
I renewable was became an NBA player. He played in Miami,
Ohio with Wally Serbiac. So we had four or five
six pros. Guys have played in the NBA and we're

(41:26):
playing in Enian, Oklahoma at Mark Price Arena. It was
like a glorified high school Jim in May and in June,
riding on busses, playing in Dodge City, Kansas, Salina, Kansas,
Fort Myers, Florida, Sarasota, Florida, Long Island, Brooklyn, and uh.

(41:48):
The Pennsylvania Valley Dogs were coached by the late Darryl Dawkins.
I mean, here's how here's how rinky dink the league was.
We got I'm gonna say twenty a day per d M,
twenty dollars a day to eat. And we played in
d C the night before and we stayed in d

(42:11):
C because we had a couple of guys like Darren
McClinton and a couple of other dudes that were from
the d C area, And so they're like, hey, can
we just stay in this area and then we'll bust
up in the morning or we're ride driving bands or something.
You know. They're like fine, cool, So we get up
and we get to the game. We get to the
arena at ten o'clock, thinking we gotta shoot around, and

(42:35):
they're like, now the game is at eleven. Like what,
who plays a game in eleven? Well, it's the summer,
it's right about now in the summer. And to fill
up the arena, they got all the local summer camps
to come and they come to see a professional basketball game.
So get suited up. We'll see out there. Games eleven.
You'll be done by one, you know. I think we
flew out of Philadelphia like three thirty to go back home.

(42:58):
So before the game, we had just gotten up and
gotten in cars. And this is before I discovered Starbucks.
This is like in two thousand and we're like, man,
we're hungry. So they bring us some Snickers bars and
I don't usually eat Snickers bar, Stickers bars, hot dogs,
and a coke and I had all three, went out

(43:23):
and played and we're getting ready to go to the
airport and they hand me twelve dollars and fifty cents
and I was like, what is this. I guess your
pretem for the day, My pretty ms twenty dollars. No no,
no, no no no. You had a hot dog, you had
a coke, and you had a Snickers. We took it
out of there. That's a true story right there. Everybody

(43:45):
wants to be a professional basket player. Play. You may
get paid to bake money. You get paid, and they
will do things like that to you in the minor league.
The point of the usb L story was this. I
remember going to practice and training camp and I called
my dad when I said, Dad, we got Willie Burton
on the team. And this guy he's a bucket like

(44:07):
he can score inside, he can shoot jump shots. He's
like six ft eight, long arms, big hands, he's just
smooth like I've never seen anybody makes shots in practice
like this guy. Man, Dad, we have Bubba Wells who's
only about six four but like two fifty and I
he'll dunk on you, he'll jump shots on you. He's
crazy strong and talented, and I start going through the

(44:30):
list of guys and he said, hey, there's always a reason. Look,
what do you mean. There's always a reason why guys
are not in the NBA. So DeMarcus Cousins is out there,
and there's always a reason. Remember, DeMarcus Cousins had a
terrible reputation for being a bad teammate and hard to
coach Relina's NBA career. He's coming off and a Chilles

(44:52):
tendon injury where he was never right during the regular season.
He is playing it a heavier weight and though he's
become more skilled facing the basket, if you watch him
in the NBA Finals, they were with the exception of
one game, there are many times just like that guy
doesn't belong out there. Once you factor in that he

(45:13):
had the injury. He probably wants too much money because
he still views himself as an All Star and wants
to get paid for past performance. The league has gone
away from low post scoring power centers. That just completely
has changed in offense. And where is DeMarcus Cousins been
that they've won. Yeah, I guess they wanted Golden State,

(45:34):
but not because of him. And when he was in
New Orleans. They won more when he got hurt. Sacramento
granted a lot. It feels like a long time ago,
but they didn't win. So instead of being one reason,
there's a litany of reasons off of injury, a little
bit healthy, a little bit heavy, probably wants too much money,

(45:56):
and the league has moved against his style of playing
the position. There's always a reason. And so when I
read today, when I read today that DeMarcus Cousins had
fired his agent and hired a new one, I said
to everybody around me, and I said to to two
others via text and people on the phone, like this

(46:18):
is this is part of the culture of the NBA, right,
this is part of the culture of the NBA. And
I don't blame Kevin Durant for leaving the Thunder and
going to the Warriors and end up working out for him. Now,
he never really felt comfortable, and there's some talk of
him not fitting in with Steve Kerr and not buying

(46:40):
into his style of playing basketball. Whatever, But he did
win two titles that did play for a third one
could if he didn't get hurt, they probably would have
won a third one. Like, it's not the worst move
ever it's not the worst thing ever, but it is
in fact interesting. But one of the reasons that so
many of these guys leave, you know, Kemba walk her Hey,

(47:01):
I want to play uh at a higher level in
the NBA, and I want to win more games like
you can. You don't have to take as much money,
take a little less money, and help recruit some other
good players and have them come you get better. You
don't have to team up with other teams. And look,

(47:21):
Keimba is allowed to go join the Celtics, and I
don't think he's as good as Kyrie, but he might
be a better fit for the Celtics and Kyrie was
and it may end up working out well. But but
but part of the culture in the NBA is epitomized
in DeMarcus Cousins firing his agent. Like, you can't fool
NBA teams. They can see the medicals, they can watch

(47:42):
you play, they know the league. It's not like, you know,
thirty of them got together and said, let's screw DeMarcus
Cousins because back when he's in Sacramento, he was a
jerk and his agent had something to do with it.
He didn't, but he fired agent because well, it's got
to be the agent's fault. You switch teams because it's
got to be everybody else in the team's fault. Or
maybe the problem is you, or maybe the problem is

(48:06):
the era. In the NBA, I gained some weight after
I heard an injury. I had an injury, and in
this NBA, I'm just out as good if I can't
handle the ball in basket and be a better passer,
be a better defender, and be a better pure shooter.
Rash Markazi joins the show. Up coming next Clippers or Lakers?

(48:27):
Who needs Kauai more? My answer might surprise you. Will
see what a rash is? Uh? What what a rash's
uh opinion is up coming next? But first, in sports,
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(48:49):
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(49:35):
can find out how much you can get and trading
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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. At

(50:03):
Farmers Insurance. We have concrete evidence that parking under an
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they enjoy more confident car buying experience. Doug Godling Show,

(50:56):
You're on Fox Boards Radio. Yeah, um, I want to
share some news here. Uh. Jared Lorenzen, you guys know,
do you guys know the name at the hefty Lefty
remember him played at the University Kentucky, of course, and

(51:18):
then he was was famously in the Arena League and
he passed away today's battled health problems and sadly died.
I mean Jared Lorenzen. Wow, that was I was back
in the How Mummy Air Raid offense Mike Leach I believe.
I don't think he was his offensive coordinator, but Mike
Leach was the offensive coordinator there. Jared Lorenzen passes away

(51:41):
earlier today, sad, sad story indeed, um Rasch Markazi is
our guest, sorry, Rashta, to bring you down when we're
trying to talk about Hope and four the July and
Los Angeles and the Clippers and the Lakers. Rash course,
the columnists for the l A Times. What's what's your
sense here? Mean you have any sense of what Kauai

(52:03):
is uh planning to do? I don't. And you know what,
I'm sure you feel the same way. This is a
This is the weirdest story to cover, you know, because
we're supposed to come on and give some kind of
minsight and sub insight or information and there is really
none to give, you know, um, you know, I can
say that the Lakers are not nervous, they're not panicking.

(52:26):
I mean, the one thing that I will say is
a lot of the players that I would have thought
that they would have turned to if they didn't get quiet,
they're all gone. You know, they're planning, B, C and
D are totally done now. So they're all in on Kauai.
And in saying that they're not nervous now, I don't
know if that means that that they think it's going
to happen. But it's a unique story in the sense

(52:49):
that I can't give any more insight into what we
kind of folready know. I think one of the unique
parts to it is, you know, the Rockets on the
court have been completely transparent in their pursuit of the
Golden State Warriors, right, like, we want to beat the Warriors.
They're the best. We want to beat the best. And

(53:11):
one of the things that has led to all of
this dysfunction after is that not just they lost in
the playoffs, but two consecutive years they lost to the
Golden State Warriors, and by the way, lost in deciding
games at home. I mentioned the Rockets and the Warriors
because similarly, the Clippers have pursued Kawai Leonard, right, that

(53:32):
has been their sole focus. They've told everybody we think
we're gonna get him, and we're gonna do everything in
our power to create a culture that he wants Championship coach, championship,
front office, championship advisor, owner who everybody likes, willing to
spend whatever, and the type of culture that he will
enjoy in a city that he wants to live. I

(53:55):
think it would be devastating to the Clippers if he
didn't get him. One said, I mean this goes back
to well over one year. You know, all the moves
that they did in terms of you know, Chris Paul
of Lake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan's it wasn't just a reset
just to resept. They had quite as their target and

(54:15):
they knew they weren't going to get him be a trade.
But once he was available, once he was available to
this summer, they have been planning for that moment, for
that sit down where he's looking across the table and
it's Doc Rivers and it's Jerry West and Steve Walmer,
and it's basically, come home and this is your team.
The wild card was the Manthanie Davis acquisition by the Lakers.

(54:39):
All of a sudden, they were now in position to
be like, listen, you can not only come back home,
you could play for the signature team back home, and
you could join two superstars and Doug. When Mandanie Davis
waved his trade kicker and the Lakers went through the
cap gymnastics that they did, it was so clear to
me that it wasn't just the create Max room, to

(55:01):
create Max room. It was for one guy and one guy,
and it was for Kauai. Now, whether they were told
they have a legitimate chance if they do this, I'm
not sure, but again, they're not nervous and they are
cautiously optimistic that they could get their guy. M what
about the Lakers. If they don't get him, there's a disaster.

(55:23):
I mean, there's no one less. I mean, like like
every day we're looking at names that you know, Okay,
if you don't get Kauai, you're still in good shape
because you've got this guy. You guys the majority of
the guys that they were gonna go after they are gone,
and so you know, if you're trying to read he
leaves like a part of you may be thinking, listen
to Kauai wasn't really interested in coming here and he

(55:47):
didn't want to sign like you know, again, he didn't
have to do this, but he could have basically suggested,
I appreciate the interest, but I'm gonna go back to
Toronto or listen, if I go to Los Angeles, I'm
gonna go to the Clippers. You know, say what you will.
If the Clippers don't get him, they're not a championship team,
but they're rolling back out a fifty win team that

(56:08):
pushed a healthy, a healthy Golden State team to six games.
Toronto is a pretty good team. Again, not a championship team.
The Lakers only have four guys and they're looking at
a pool of players now who are there's really new,
no one there. So despite having to two of the
top five players plus Kyle Kuzma, they're in a tough
spot right now. Um well, they have Jared Dudley now,

(56:32):
and forget I do like Jared Dudley. Like everybody likes
Jared Dudley. I like Jared Dudley. He's a personal friend.
I will point out that I don't think Jared Dudley
can play basketball at a high level anymore, right, Like
it's no, yeah, I mean, listen, that's not what he's
there for you, Like, yes, he actually is. They need
guys that can play well. No, but here's here's the thing.

(56:54):
If you're gonna judge it like this, this, like like
they get Kauai, they can piece together a team that's
gonna be very obviously very good. But I don't think
that if they're successful, they have to stay healthy, as
we saw that with the Warriors, as as if we
season that in the past. If they have to depend
on Jared Dudley to give them quality minutes. They are

(57:16):
in trouble and I hope that. I don't know if
that's I mean, that's the plan right now because they
don't have anybody else, but they had to go out
of society some more people. Yeah, I just don't know
who who they get? What happens if both? What does
it say for Los Angeles sports? If first year it
is Paul George, second year it's Kawhi Leonard. Neither get

(57:37):
a star player to come home. I will say this,
at least Kauai met with them. The whole part of
Paul George thing was always fascinating me because he didn't
even take a meeting with them. He didn't even sit
down with Magic Johnson just to kind of chop it
up and talk a little bit. He left, but that
was always intriguing. And when people say, oh, begin Anthony
Davis trade, they gave too much up, Doug as you

(57:59):
just me they were not getting meetings with some people.
Despite last season they got Lebron, but Lebron was gonna
come here regardless. They were in a position where they
had to make that trade because they were not getting meetings.
Into your point of they don't get Kauai and they
lose them to whether it's Toronto or to the Clippers.
It is so clear why they had to make that trade.

(58:22):
Rash Markazi joining us in the doug Outlives show here
on Fox Sports Radio. Good or bad for the NBA
at the Lakers get a third top five player? I
mean selfishly speaking from Los Angeles, it's good but generally speaking, right,
like it's good when the Yankees are good, when the
Cowboys are good, when like these signature teams are good.
And I will say this, like I know people are saying,

(58:44):
what's the point of watching the league? You just don't
know what's gonna happen. We thought the same thing with
the Warriors last year they lost in the finals. We
thought that when they when uh Dwide and Steve Nash
came to Los Angeles, they barely made the playoffs and
got swept. We thought that when Malone and Harry Payton
came to the Lakers, you just don't know. You don't

(59:05):
know if these guys are gonna stay healthy. You don't
know if they're gonna gel together. So I think it's
good for the leading. Yeah, and I think it creates
a villain, right He creates a team that everybody wants
to see, but everybody wants to see Liz. I like parody,
but it's good. You need that villain, you need that
like a team that people hate. So I totally agree. Um,

(59:27):
what does it say about Lebron James if he can't
get a free to get Anthony Davis? But Anthony Davis
is repped by his guy and it was a trade.
Does it change how we look at him? Not really.
I mean I think it's unique that he's giving his
number twenty three to the new guy on the block
kind of. And I think he's transitioning into this new
phase of his career where he realizes that listen, he's

(59:49):
not going to be the man for much longer or
and and whether he's playing two more years or three
more years, um, he needs the help. And and I'd
be curious what his pitch was two Kauai, but I
think it was something along the lines of, this is
your team, listen, Like I'm gonna be here for the
next couple of years, but like, this is your team
moving forward. This is your team. And so you know,

(01:00:14):
I think he's secure in what he's done in his career.
I don't get this the sense that he's chasing one
last ring. I think he definitely wants one last ring,
but if it happens or not, I think he's secure
with what he's done. M Um, yeah, I think he's
chasing another ring. I think he's he's chasing kind of immortality.

(01:00:35):
I think there's use a lot of things that he's
kind of battling around, right Like, I think him still
wants to play with his son when his son, if
his son can declare right out of high school. So
I'm not sure this is as much as short term
play as some people think it is. No, but I
would be curious when you look at the the influence
Rich Paul and Lebron has, whether how they Pickture, how

(01:00:58):
they uh figure into the long term term plans of
the team. You know, is Lebron getting transition into like
an executive role with the team? I mean they are.
I mean I don't want to take the credit away
from Rob Linca, but this is a really Rich Paul
and Clutch production right now. Yes, But I think what's
interesting about it is, Um, this is fascinating to me

(01:01:22):
because Magic is somehow interjected himself into this. If they
get Kauai, Magic gets credit, Polinka gets very little if any.
If they don't get Kauai, Magic can sit there go
look like I tried to sell Amnia, try to sell money,
but you know, they just don't like him. Like it
does feel like Magic has set himself up to win here,
even though he's taken several els after having walked away.

(01:01:46):
It's a no lose situation if he gets them. He's
put himself out there to the point that like he
is the reason that he would come to Los Angeles,
and if he doesn't, we'll shoot like I don't work
with the team anymore. That that was like Rob's jumped
to close the deal. So that is the power of
Magic and this connection with the media and the cult
of personality, and it's magic, right, Um, So he's really

(01:02:10):
put himself in a really win win, no loose situation.
And conversely, Rob can't win. It's either he didn't threw
it up or he got the player that someone else recruited. Fascinating,
fascinating Ross Markazi, You'll be writing about it in the
l A Times. You'll see him on various TV shows.
Ross Great Stuff, Happy four the July Thanks for joining
us be sure to catch live editions so the Doug

(01:02:33):
Dot Leap Show weekdays at noon eastern three pm Pacific,
Doug at Leap Show, Fox Sports Radio. I do not
watch stephen A Smiths TV show, but some people that have,
and of course the show puts it up on social media,
and I saw it this morning where stephen A tells
this long winding story about how before Kevin Durant left

(01:02:55):
Oklahoma City, he had dinner as had been reported with
Russell Westbrook and with Nick Collinson and said to their
face that he was staying only to fly to the
Hampton's and change his mind and go to the Golden
State Warriors. Apparently k D either watches on social media

(01:03:16):
or was watching, and he texted stephen A to tell
his story. Was b S, that's amazing, Like somebody tells
you a story the first the person, the person who
says firsthand the story is about says that's not true.
You go and contradict your own story after reporting the story.

(01:03:41):
And he also said A was bs on the show
that Kevin durat was wasn't too fond of Steve Kerr. Look,
there's you can be not too fond of Steve Kerr.
You can think you're not treated on the same level
as Steph Curry. You can struggle with the idea of

(01:04:02):
they play a different way. All of these things can
be true, but that doesn't mean that's why you leave
the team. Like I just maybe I've been around basketball
together too long. But you walk away from a game
and most guys are not happy you win a game.

(01:04:22):
You're You're like at the end of the game, like,
at least we won. But most guys aren't happy, they're
not leading scorers that have thirty think they should have
gotten forty. And guys that didn't have thirty think the
guy who got thirty, we ran everything for him, I
should have gotten the basketball. Don't let me get me
starting the guys are on the bench. And yeah, there
can be times in which you push back against the coach,

(01:04:44):
like man, I'm not down for that. Very normal, very normal.
And I think the way in which it's reported and
the people who are doing some of the reporting. And
Steven as played at I think Winston Salem's eight in
college play a little bit so he knows a little
bit more and has a little bit better feel. But

(01:05:06):
like I heard yesterday, I was watching like, oh, Kevin
Durant still mad that Bob Myers was joking with him
at the victory parade last year about not being one
of the Splash brothers, Like or they're just busting each
other's balls, because that's what guys do. You could even
say that Kevin Durant is sensitive. He ain't that sensitive.

(01:05:29):
The problem is people at home are can be. So
I just I don't get it. Don't get it. Um.
I do want to say, you know one thing about
about Jared Jared lorenzen who um who who passed away

(01:05:54):
at thirty eight. He seemed like a delightful dude who
did have some demons, and he obviously was addicted to
eating and that's why he could not shed the weight.
And I don't know what the tail is, but I
would say it is a cautionary tale. Like when you're
thirty eight years old, your form professional athlete, and you

(01:06:15):
die of heart and renal failure. Reno is kidney failure.
You were not healthy, and he was not the picture
of health. And like look tomorrow's fourth July, feel free,
have yourself a cheap day. But I always felt weird
about Champion, a guy who after his college college, Carey

(01:06:37):
struggled with weight and he could never get a hold
of it. Like it's terrible, but he essentially ate himself
to death. Your body, your your body, your heart can't
take It's too much weight, too much pressure. You know.
It's just so I mean, is some of that genetic, yeah,
but some of it is what you eat and how

(01:06:59):
you live in your your lifestyle. And I want to
I want you to understand I'm sympathetic to the fact
that he was a nice guy and a tremendous football
player and people liked him. I liked him. I had
had him on at three different networks. But there comes

(01:07:22):
a point in time where you go like, hey, you're
growing up now. You kind of got to manage yourself better,
or this could happen. We're at thirty eight years old,
where you should be coming in the prime. You're like,
I'm forty three. I'm a little bit heavier than I
was in college, but I can still play basketball. I'm
in good shape. I work out all the time, I

(01:07:43):
watch what I eat, and to the point where sometimes
my wife is like, you're a little fanatical about it, Like, okay,
the opposite side of it where I don't pay any
attention to it or not enough attention to it. Is
you're getting too much weight now you have all kinds
of health issues. No thanks, no thanks. So it's a

(01:08:05):
sad story, but it's a cautionary tale that food, like
drugs themselves, can be a drug and if you become
addicted to it the wrong ones. Thirty eight years old, man,
that's halfway through your life expectancy. That's way way too young,

(01:08:27):
way too young, way too you. Um all right? Coming
up next, what's best for the NBA may not be
best for Kauai. I'll explain next. 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

(01:08:50):
to listen live phone numbers eight seven six three six
nine that stay seven seven nine one On Fox. Ralph
Hervens in for Dan Buyer here from him at the
top of the hour. The Doug Got Leave Show is
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(01:09:11):
Participating locations every day. This time played for your portion
of a previous show Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports One.
We call it and now. This was Nick Wright on
The Herd as he shared his thoughts about Kawhi Leonard's
big decision. I think what is best for the NBA
is for Kawhi Leonard to go to Toronto or the Clippers.

(01:09:32):
If he does that, you have nine teams that incredibly
believe they can win the title. So for the league,
for the entire fan base to give us a feeling
we ever really had in this league since maybe two
thousand five, two thousand six, that would be the best.
But for Kauai, the best thing is to go to
the place he originally asked to be traded to that

(01:09:56):
now also employs the best player ever and the best
big currently in the game. Game. For Kauai, he will
not get the type of blowback Kevin Durant got because
the Lakers didn't just knock his team out of the playoffs.
He's already won a championship. He's not in the same
spot kd is. So as a fan, I think what's
best for the league as he stays in Toronto or

(01:10:17):
goes to the Clippers for Kauai, it's hard to construct
the argument why he wouldn't go to the Lakers and
go win two, three, four championship. It's not a bad argument.
I'd love to sit here and contradict it. Um. I mean, look,
the one with the highest ceiling though, probably is the Clippers. Right,
go to Los Angeles, go opposite Lebron, create that uh,

(01:10:41):
creating building, foster that rivalry, and then vanquished the Beast
with a better team, more likable owner, more likable ownership
group than maybe um most others, or own an entire
country instead of moving back home. I don't think there
are losses here for Kawhi Leonard. I think there are
just different types of wins. And the one thing about

(01:11:02):
going to Lakers is yeah, you have a chance to
be the best player, but it doesn't still not your
team and not your thing, and it it can feel
very foreign. The one thing that's different, the other thing
is different about Kevin rant is it's not just that
that team had won seventy three games before losing in
the playoffs, uh, before losing the playoffs in seven games

(01:11:25):
to the Calves. It's not just that, it's that their
culture was already established whereas the Lakers don't have a
culture that's established, so he could be one of the
uh forming fathers of the new culture of the Lakers.
That that that may drive him more to like it, but
not in a bad argument for for Nick uh the

(01:11:46):
the argument against the parody thing is he talks about,
you know, two thousand six and league wasn't that popular then.
It just wasn't you go to the post Jordan era
and it took a while. It took until we had,
you know, the Celtics that were a superteam, the Lakers

(01:12:06):
that were a superteam, the Heat that were a super
team before we started getting some of the huge numbers back. Say,
I love the DeMarcus Cousins switch agents. That's like the
most NBA thing ever. Something goes wrong, you don't get
the offer you want, must be the agent's fault, like okay, okay,

(01:12:32):
got it understood. Mark Keith Morris is gonna be a Piston.
T J. McConnell is a Pacer and uh and uh,
I think it's I think it's gonna be fascinating to
see what happens here with the Kawhi Leonard situation. Right,

(01:12:59):
there's a wind there and the win is whatever makes
him happy. I think the difference is we don't know
what makes him happy. He's won two championships, and so
though I'm sure he wants to win, does winning ultimately
make him happy? Or is he to the point where
he's like, look, I've seen that kind of happiness. Now
I want to be happy in where I live and
who who's around me? Or is it in terms of

(01:13:20):
adulation and and the amount of attention respect that he
would get which he would get in Toronto. Like all
of these things, it's hard to put down on paper
pro and con because there's a lot of pros to
all of them. There's very few cons. Like what are
the cons of living in Toronto? All right, it's not
home now it's foreign country, But really is it that hard? Well,

(01:13:42):
you know every time you leave you have to get
your passport, like okay, But she also play forty one games,
was playoffs mostly at home. These are not crazy hard problems.
You go to l A and weather better Lakers, better history,
two better teammates talent wise, but maybe not a better team.

(01:14:09):
You're still you're chasing ghosts that you'll never play against.
Even if you win, you become one of the Laker
championship teams. You go to the Clippers, They've never been passed.
There's like they may say they have a great culture,
but at some point you gotta win a couple more
playoff games in order, or a couple of playoff games
period to have a better culture. So there's there's there

(01:14:33):
are several interesting decisions that can be made, and I'm
just not of the belief that there's any negatives here,
just not It hurts the Raptors probably the worst. If
he leaves uh the Clippers, it would be devastating the Lakers.

(01:14:54):
It would hurt. But the idea that the Lakers won't
be able to form a team like that's not true. Central.
What they'll have to do is smartly, get smart contracts
and at some point take on somebody else's problem. That's
what they have to do. I like, they'll put themselves
in the market to maybe get a Brad Bil eventually

(01:15:16):
and try and figure out a way to create the
math in order when somebody's season goes bad, you go
get their player, and that could very well happen. There's
still deals that could be made. The Rockets could still
move up their guy. There's some that believe that the
that ultimately Golden States is gonna move Dangel Russell before
he ever plays a game for Golden State. But I

(01:15:39):
don't think that the Lakers roster is set, nor do
I think they're devastated if they don't get him. I
think they realize whatever wherever they thought they were, they're
in it longer. And so you know they're now they're
kind of pot committed. Yeah, we missed out on some guys,
but all right, maybe take a Quiver. We'll definitely take

(01:16:03):
a uh Andre Goodalla, We'll take a Jr. Smith. We'll
just take guys that have that just want to come in,
be professional and win games. So Romo's, did you see
what happened the end of the Dodger game last night?
I did watch the last ending of the Dodging game
last night, that is correct, and I see so this

(01:16:26):
was a historic thing that happened. This hadn't happened in years. Um,
Cody Bellinger ends up walking as the game winning run,
and in fairness, I was in and out of watching
the game, but I did watch the final inning. Greg
Holland comes in and uh, he's a former All Star closer.

(01:16:49):
He gets the first two batters out. He gets Chris
Taylor to oh and two. The game is for three.
The Dodgers are down to the last strike O T count,
so he walks Chris Taylor, he rocks Russell Martin, he
rocks Alex Verdugo. The last pitch for Dugo looked like

(01:17:09):
it was a strike. Then they go to the bullpen
and they're bringing Matt Beatty, who promptly walks in the
next two Well, excuse me, he he ends up Matt
Baby end up walking. Excuse me, Holland. Holland walked Taylor, Martin, Verdugo, Beatty.
They bring in t J McFarland, who Cody Bellinger could

(01:17:33):
have just reached out his elbow and been hit twice. Instead,
he walks him on four pitches. Excuse me, walked him
on six pitches. I mean, I had never seen anything
like that. The idea of that many walks in that
short period time, I guess, I mean all honesty. That

(01:17:57):
makes me think of, uh, of what we're likely to
see at some point, hopefully not from my kid in
All Star Baseball this weekend. But that was crazy to walk,
that made to walk? Was it five straight batters? Chris
first time in the Live Ball era that a team
has won a game in the bottom of the ninth
getting five straight walks. Live ball era started in nine

(01:18:23):
We're talking about a hundred years. Five straight walks? How
is that even possible? And two of the batters had
two strikes? Um, Kevin Durant left? Why maybe more interesting
than that he left? We discussed next in The Doug
Gotlip Show. Be sure to catch live editions of The

(01:18:46):
Doug got Leap Show weekdays at noon Eastern three pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app.
What Up Doug got Leap Show m M Fox Sports Radio,

(01:19:07):
brought to you by Farmers. At Farmers, we've seen almost everything,
so we know how to cover almost anything. It's game time.
Have an experienced player help you stay at the game,
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Make sure you download my All Ball podcast tomorrow. Today's
is still up. That's last week's. Mike Lewis, assistant coach

(01:19:27):
of u c L A great talk. Tomorrow we'll drop
the one with Pat Garretty, who was the assistant GM
of the Detroit Pistons, as well as Dan Wicky from
the L a times talking about all things Kauai letter.
We're waiting on Kauai, waiting and waiting and waiting, and meanwhile,
while we're waiting, we're getting some word as to why
wasn't given a ran happy And as these stories leak out,

(01:19:52):
Stephen A. Smith, who said he wasn't that fond of
Steve Kerr, actually got to that SPS text from um
Kevin Durant. Look, I think you can roll your eyes
as a coach. You can push back on a coach
of style. You can even talk trash about not loving

(01:20:14):
a coach and honestly like being coached by the guy.
Like I can go through every coach I've ever played
for and tell you there are moments where I didn't
like playing for him, and their moments usually even the
guys I didn't like playing for that I love playing
I loved them, their strengths, their weaknesses. It's it's one

(01:20:35):
of the things about being, you know, an adult, understanding
and reading the psychology of others and knowing their strengths
and their weaknesses and figuring out how to how to
succeed in spite over because of it. Like, I don't
think these things are crazy at all So when I

(01:20:58):
hear Stephen A. Smith go on and like, well, Kevin Durant,
he didn't like the star treatment of Steph Curry, all right,
is that what you left? Because she wanted to start treatment?
He didn't love always how Steve Kerr would coach him,

(01:21:19):
all right, Like, how do you know how Kenny Atkinson
is going to coach you? You don't. I think one
of the things that's fascinating is Kevin Durant had a
team that kind of organically was put together through the
NBA Draft in Oklahoma City. This is one of the
reasons that Kevin Durant divorce from the Golden State Warriors

(01:21:43):
is one of the reasons. It's really hard. It must
be hard for dudes to get remarried, like my life
and I've been married nineteen years next month. For a
long time. She has put up with an incredibly annoying
human being at time. There are things that I do
they are annoying. I snore, This is a fact my store.

(01:22:07):
I don't think it's as problematic as she does. But
part of it is I'm asleep, so who knows. But
I do nice things like I get her chie every morning.
I wait till she goes to bed, so that the
story wouldn't keep her up. I'll even if it's bad,
switch rooms. I like cooking, that cleaning. I like shopping.

(01:22:29):
She doesn't for groceries. It kind of all works together.
And once you're kind of wired a certain way, Like
look when she getting married and Ramos knows this and
they're about to have another baby, Like your wife kind
of trained you. You're kind of trained for that wife, right,
Like the things that you do is like, well, this
is normal in my house. And again, I don't know

(01:22:52):
what it's like at somebody else's house, but I would
think a lot of people feel kind of weird and
awkward once they're either or you know, sometimes cohabitating. Maybe
maybe you end up moving in with living with another woman.
You're like, man, I did it this way for fifteen years,
Like doesn't make it the right way. It's just the
way I've always done it. And that's why, you know,

(01:23:15):
relationships established kind of our identities within that relationship are roles,
the certain things we do, the quirks of our relationship.
Some people go to Vegas and just go, you know,
as a couple, and they're like, look, we go to
Vegas twice a year. We go and see a concert.
We're go and see a show, and then we go

(01:23:36):
and we spend a bunch of money and then we
pass out at the pool all day long. That's what
we do. And there are some couples like you really
go to Vegasy gamble, but it's like, I go and
have a nice meal. I want to be in by ten.
Then I get up early in the morning. I walked
the strip. It's beautiful when it's empty, it's not that hot.
Then I gets the pool time. Then he plays golf.
We almost never gamble. And once you do that for

(01:24:00):
four or five years, ten years, then you go and
try and live somebody else's lifestyle, even in the same
city and the same trip. It's very different. So um yeah,
I fascinated by it. By Kevin Durant, who is now

(01:24:20):
essentially a two time divorce whatever, his his first relationship
with the Thunder felt like it was limiting him. I
wanted to spread his wings. You know. It was like
getting married out of high school. You know, it's kind
of limiting. I'm an adult now, I'm a little bit different.
I want to try something different. I want to try

(01:24:43):
something new. You know, and he did and it worked,
and now he's moving to Brooklyn, which is trying something
different and trying something new, and there's nothing wrong with that,
but creating these narratives of you know, the reason having
Durrant wasn't happy was x y Z Like, look, dude,

(01:25:04):
you have to decide in life. You're gonna wake up
every day and there are things you can be unhappy about,
probably less things than people outside of our country, probably
less things that many people inside of our country, but
the things that you can be unhappy about. Do you
choose the dwell on the things that you're unhappy about,

(01:25:25):
or do you think choose the dwell on the things
that you're happy about. That's your decision. It's a half full,
half empty sort of decision. And now I didn't sleep
very well last night, Okay, but the good news was
I was up at five o'clock so I could catch

(01:25:45):
that six a m. Yoga class, So I got all
my work done and I had a great breakfast. Again,
you can spin anything you want, possibly or man, five am,
that dog crossed the street. And now I'm tired and
I'm cranky, and I can't believe I was up at
five o'clock, and that means I got to shut it
down early to catch up on sleep. And you can

(01:26:06):
determine your own happiness. And I don't know why Kevin
Durant left. I would guess that he wanted to try
something new. I guess he's gotten explorers hard. I would
guess that you're added to an already set team and
you never It takes forever for them to give you
the kind of begrudging respect nationally that you deserve. I
get it. I understand you're a little too much in

(01:26:27):
your feelings for my taste, but get it. The problem
is now you can't go back to how it was
in Oklahoma City where you were young and everybody was
following your lead. You're not having that in Brooklyn. And
by leaving Golden State, you've chosen to not fix Golden State.
Am I going to Brooklyn? You're going to take part
of their culture, which may be great and maybe you

(01:26:49):
can make it kind of Oklahoma City thunder light, but
it will never be the same again. And that's the
thing about decisions. So when I hear stephen A go
through these kind of tedious, little, insecure, insignificant factors that

(01:27:10):
led to Kevin Durant looking outside of the Golden State Warriors.
I sit there and go like, yeah, maybe he's a
searcher or maybe he's just a guy who's constantly gonna
get divorced because his first wife wired him. His second
wife was let him do whatever he wanted. His third
wife's trying to kind of pick up the pieces and
figure it out, and meanwhile he's kind of he's got

(01:27:31):
to go through some some personal rehab. And once you've
gone once, you once you've been divorced twice, now there's
just there's no limit to the number. There's no limit.
Um Antonio Daniels stops by. He's an FS one NBA analyst.
We'll get his thoughts on what Kauai should do. By

(01:27:54):
the way, uh, Antonio Daniels is also gonna go and
work for the Pelicans next year. How long before they
can be competitive? And the team he used to work for,
the Oklahoma City Thunder, they've been trying to move pieces
and have been unable to do so what's their ceiling
we'll discuss next. Be sure to catch live editions of
the Doug Dot Leaps Show week days at noon Eastern

(01:28:15):
three pm Pacific look, I know that Kawhi Leonards uncle said,
don't nobody say nothing to nobody, right, don't nobody say
nothing to nobody. It's kind of like, don't buy anything.
Don't buy anything at all. Right, It's like from that
scene from The Good Fellas. But can we slow down

(01:28:36):
on the if if Kawhi Leonard doesn't pick the Raptors,
it's not because some people geeked out and camped out
outside of a hotel where there was a meeting. You know,
it's gonna take the Raptors. I was gonna stay here
and sign a one plus one, but then I looked
out the window and there were a couple of hundred
people that were excited about the possibility to be signing

(01:28:56):
a one plus one, and I decided to not do so,
Like we got it, don't be leaking stories, got it.
We didn't do so that's that's Uncle Dennis's request. But
we haven't tipped somebody off that we're having a meeting
at this certain hotel, and you know, it's kind of
hard to hide, you know. Kawhi Leonard was like, you know,
kind of famous. She's six foot eight with corn rows

(01:29:19):
and he just won the NBA finals m v P.
Sue me, sue me. Uh boy, there's a lot to
get to today. We told you about the historical significance
of the Dodgers getting five straight walks too to beat
the Diamondbacks. Like, wow, you don't see that very often. Actually,

(01:29:45):
you don't ever see that in the live ball era,
since that had never happened. Five straight walks and Chris
Taylor there was two outs, he was down out two. Uh. Also,
we'll it to this a little bit later on the hour,
but there'll be no discipline for Ezekiel Elliott. So look,

(01:30:06):
Zeke end up kind of big boying security guard. He
had to apologize. But this does feel like is it
a crime? No, but it's one of those that Goodell
probably said, dude, what are you doing? What are you doing?

(01:30:29):
What's Kawaire Leonard doing? What's he gonna do? How does
it shape the NBA? You know who know? Antonio Daniels,
who you can see on Fox Sports one. You can
also now hear him cover the New Orleans Pelicans. So
did David Griffin acquire you as well? Yes, yes he did, Yes,
he did another one of his off season acquisitions. So, um,

(01:30:52):
let's start with Kawhi Leonard, what do you think he
should do? Man? You know, for me, I'm I think
one of the most underrated things in the NBA is
is just comfortability and familiarity. So and you know what
you have in Toronto. You know what you have. You

(01:31:13):
just literally lead this nation, this country to their first
NBA title. You know, Um, he trusted the training staff.
Everything's already um kind of worked in place as far
as his low management is concerned. So he knows how
that's gonna work. Uh. He understands the role of everybody
in that locker room. He knows his role, his impact

(01:31:35):
on everyone there. You have no idea realistically, and this
is what free agency involved. You have no idea what
you're getting into. You go to l a either one
of them, to the Lakers of the Clippers. Obviously you
know what you have in the Lakers. You have Lebron James,
you have Anthony Davis. But you don't know the dynamic
that you're getting into. You don't know the dynamic that
you're getting into with the Clippers, but you do know

(01:31:55):
the dynamic that you would be getting back into with
the Toronto Raptors. Yeah. On the other hand, what if
I made the sale, it's never gonna be as good
as it is right now in Toronto. Right, Like, I'm
not saying they turn on you, like the American sports
fan will turn on you. I don't think that happens.
But it's just yet, Like, look, the first time you
accomplish it, it's amazing, and the way in which you

(01:32:17):
went down was spectacular. But they got a little bit
of luck with Golden State falling apart because of injury,
and you know, he was allowed to take a bunch
of games off because the load management and whatever, and
like it's at some point it's just not as good
it's good. It's always gonna be cold, it's always gonna
be a foreign country, and there's now gonna be expectations

(01:32:38):
of more championships after you've already gotten one. I agree,
you know what you have, but you don't know what
it's like to go back and try and win again
in a place like Toronto. That's very that's very true,
and that's a great sale. I would agree with. It
will never probably be as good in Toronto as it
was this year. It probably won't, but the thing is
at least you know, at least you know what you

(01:33:00):
have there? You know, you don't know, you don't know
the dynamics, You don't know the role that you'll have
with the Los Angeles Lakers, with Lebron James, with Anthony Davis.
What will be your role there? Can you trust your
training staff? And if you go back to Kawhi Leonard
in San Antonio, that's used to him. He has to
be able to trust a training and medical staff wherever
he is, you know, and he obviously accomplished that in Toronto.

(01:33:24):
He trust those, He trust that medical staff, he trust
that training stad, he trust that coaching staff. As far
as load management was concerned, maybe that has something to
do with him being a free agent and they were
doing everything that he asked to to avoid being where
they are today. But I think that carries some weight.
Antonio Daniels joins us Fox Sports one NBA analysts. You

(01:33:46):
can also see him now covered Thunder for years now,
be covering New Orleans Pelicans on a on a daily
basis as there as their studio analysts. You joined us
in the Doug Gotlip Show here on Fox Sports Radio. Um, Doug,
and I'm not the studio analysts anymore. The game bad
my bad. I didn't know. I just do. I just
know you left to do the Pelicans. It wasn't I didn't,

(01:34:08):
I don't. I just I know people in Oklama City
are like devastating, like, man, we lost Antonio Daniels. I
was like, yeah, dude, all Antonio Daniels. Antonio Daniels. I'm
kind of hyped about the Pelicans. Like I don't. I
don't love that. I do think that JJ, Like, you know,
that's a lot of money on j J. And he's

(01:34:30):
a great dude, and he can make shots, and they
have some defensive guys that can that can hide him
a little bit. Um But I mean, you throw out
a lineup of a Lonzo Ball and Drew Holiday, that's
as good a defensive backward as you're gonna find. And
then you have Zion who should be incredible defensively, and
Brandon Ingram is a good long armed verst defender. Like, dude,

(01:34:53):
they get they kind of got a nice little thing
going there, right, and Barre Faber's you know it's probably
your starting center. Yeah, as you right, he's gonna bring
you toughness. And then you have Jackson Hayes coming off
the bench, who's very similar to Jared Allen. It can
bring what Jared Allen brought to Brooklyn. He's he's I'll
warry about Hayes. He's probably as much as Jared Allen

(01:35:16):
was a year away when he got there. I think
Jackson Hayes may have as much or more upside, but
he's a little further behind, like this is all kind
of new to him. So he's gonna be deer in
the headlights for a good half a year to a year.
And that's okay, you know what I mean. That's okay
because realistically, that's what you expect out of a rookie anyway.
You know, you don't expect the rookie to come on

(01:35:38):
the scene like Lebron James or like Kim Duncan. You know,
you expect the rookie to have their struggles a little
bit up and down here and there. So uh and
that's why you go out and you get a der
papers because he gets an opportunity to now mentor someone
like Jackson Hayes. And here's the thing that I like
about what the Pelicans have done and what David Griffin
has done. You know, in this league, do as you

(01:36:00):
you can't be too young and win, and you can't
be too old and win. So you have to have
a mixture and a balance of both a youth and
athleticism mixed with some similance of good locker room guys
and experience. And that's exactly what they have in New
Orleans now. Yeah, and they have some depth as whether
they're establishing some deaths and good some good culture. How
do you think the Kyrie and Kempas thing were? How

(01:36:23):
do I think I mean Kyrie and Katie? I'm sorry,
how do you think the Kyrie and Katie thing works out?
I think it'll be great when when it comes to
you know, like I don't, I don't know why this
is is that big of a deal. I know people
are are saying, you know what if Kevin Durant doesn't
come back, and he's not, Kevin Durant is better of

(01:36:46):
the NBA. So even if it comes back at you
still okay with that. But now you have a guy
like Kyrie Irving, who I've always felt was a better
one beat and now you're not asking Kyrie to be
the locker room leader anymore, which is what he tried
to be Boston. And I think one of the biggest
misconceptions in the NBA is that your best player is
automatically your leader. Your best player does not have to

(01:37:08):
be your leader, because just because you can score the
basketball or you can pass the basketball doesn't mean that
you're geared and built to lead. And Kyrie did an
excellent job in Boston of making shots, great job and
making shots, which is what we all knew he can do,
but now he did not lead. So he this year
in Brooklyn gives him an opportunity, especially without Kevin Durant

(01:37:30):
being there, to work on what he needs to work
on most and that's his leadership. Yeah, can you work
on can you become a leader? I mean, I know,
I think you're born to leader. I think you're born
to leader. But is the difference between becoming a leader
and learning from your mistakes? Like, you don't have to
be a leader, but yet you can. You can learn

(01:37:51):
from from what you've done in the past and and
not bring the same mistakes that you made in Boston
into the locker room in Brooklyn. Look, it's a great point,
especially you know, if you switch teams before, what do
you do the next time you switch teams? Any of
us who switched jobs, you can you do kind of
learn from experience. My question is this Kyrie Irving. He
didn't really lose his job. He got a new guaranteed

(01:38:14):
max contract. So does he actually think he did anything
wrong or does he think it was he was more
product of circumstance, right that those guys won, and you
know he did. You know, they got lucky, They a
little fortunate with with who they played and how it
went down. And he thinks it's more circumstance. Like I'm
not disagreeing with you that you can learn from it,

(01:38:35):
but you have to be willing to admit you made
a mistake. And I don't know if Kyrie Irving thinks
he made a mistake. And you know what this this year,
this year right here, Doug will tell this year, will
tell you the way that he conducted conducts himself in
that Brooklyn locker room, the way he conducts himself with
the media, and now he'll have so much more media
attention on him because of the market. This year will

(01:38:56):
tail if he actually thought that he was wrong. Because
once someone is wrong and they understand that they're wrong,
even if they don't admit it, you can see the
change within them. So we'll see if if we see
a different Kyrie irving not on the floor but off
the floor and in the locker room. It's a it's
a it's a great, great point. Um that does Kimba

(01:39:17):
make the Celtics better? Like I'm willing to conceive that
their chemistry might be better. I don't think he's as
good as Kyrie, but he's a great dude. Uh. They
also lose Al Horford. I want to get your thoughts
on the Sixers in a second. But what happens to
the Celtics now? Well, you know, for me, it's not
even about the Kyrie Kembu switch, because honestly realized that

(01:39:39):
you can have the debate if you're starting a team,
would you rather have Kimba? You'd rather have Kyrie? So
you that's a wash. That's a wash to me. But
outside of that, you also lose uh Marcus Morris. You
also lose our Horford and you also lost Aaron Baines,
so you lost a good amount within that team. But
I'm for you because now the locker room is much healthier.

(01:40:02):
It's a much healthier environment. When you have a healthier environment,
what that does is enable young players and players that
may have lacked confidence here and there to now flourish.
So you may see a different Jason Tatum, you may
see a different Jayden Brown. You may see a different
Gordon Haywards, because that that um that unhealthiness that was

(01:40:24):
within that locker room last year. And they also lost
Terry rose Deer and he wasn't happy last year. So
when you just you know what it's like when you
get certain people out of that situation and now you
can breathe a little easier because now you can look
forward to going to work. That seems like the situation
that it will be in Boston. Yes, they're gonna really
really miss out Horford, and I think they're gonna miss
Terry Rosier as well, um and Marcus Morris. But it's

(01:40:47):
gonna be a different situation. It's gonna be a much
healthier situation in Boston. What what do you think of
Horford with the Sixers? I like it. I like it.
You know, I think him and him and Joel and
b will play great off of each other. Um our
Horror's ability to step out or post up. And then
if you have Joel Embi forced to sit out due

(01:41:09):
to injury, you can actually start our Horford at the
five spot. Um to me, the Philadelphia seventy sixers, everything
is really geared on the evolution of Ben simmons game.
Does he grow or does he stay where he's been,
because if he stays where he's been, this team will stay.
We'll stay where they've been. You know. I like the

(01:41:30):
Tobia terrorist I like the fact that they went with
Tobia terrorists because he seems more of a m of
a good fit with those guys as far as his
personality is concerned. But if Ben Simmons does not take
that leap, does not take that next step, then it's
gonna be really, really tough for the Philadelphia six seventy
six to show some simbilance of significant improvement. How does

(01:41:52):
D'Angelo Russell fit with the Golden State Warriors? Man, Listen,
I'm not gonna lie to you, Doug. That was that
was a a situation as far as chemistry is concerned,
that I really didn't I didn't get you know, and
I know the way certain NBA circles work. You know,
when you lose talent, what you wanna do is you
want to gather as much talent as you possibly can

(01:42:13):
and figure it out. So you lose Kevin Durant and
you lose Andre Iguodala, you know, off your championship team,
and you say, man, who else is out there? The
only real start hath left that we have an opportunity
to acquire is D'Angelo Russell. You know what, Let's go
get it. Let's go get him, and then we'll just
figure it out. You know, I didn't understand it when
it first happened. I thought maybe they had something else

(01:42:36):
in mind, maybe trying to move him a little bit
further down the line. Um. But I know Steve Kerr
is a great basketball mind. I know he knows how
to put guys in a position to be successful. And
I even though I didn't understand it, it'll be interesting
to watch that play out. I think so as well.
You know, a guy who's a ball screen guy in
an offense that doesn't use ball screens, or at least

(01:42:57):
hasn't to this point. Maybe that changes because now they're
gonna play Louney. Now they're gonna have to play big
guys and have to go away from the the Hampton five.
Last thing is this the Rockets. I thought they were
close Uh, didn't get there two years ago, change some things.
I thought they were close, didn't get there this year,
offered up dudes for trades, couldn't seem to pull it

(01:43:18):
off the ones that they wanted, got rid of the
assistant coaching staff, and now they're back. What becomes the
Houston Rockets. They still have James Harden, they still have
Eric Gordon, they still have Chris Paul and Clint Copell.
They still have all these weapons. What happens with the Rockets?
You know, I'm mightna be honest with you. Does I
thought from day one I thought the Rockets overreacted. I

(01:43:38):
thought they overreacted. There is no shame whatsoever. And losing
to one of the best teams ever assembled three out
of four years, you just have to be patient and
wait for your opportunity. And what they did they felt like,
oh man, you know what, we lost the Golden State.
It's over. Let's break this apartment. No, no, no, no.
What you do is you wait for exactly what just
happened this summer? Do you wait for Kevin Durant to leave?

(01:44:00):
You wait for them to trade andre Igodala? And now
if you keep that team together, the chemistry that you
guys have developed and the experience that you have developed
by losing to this team three the last four years.
Now you put yourself in the driver's seat. I thought
they overreacted. You know Bis Deelic leaving and Roy Rogers leaving,
and you know a Roland leaving. You know some of
their coaches leaving and looking to trade this guy and

(01:44:21):
move that guy as opposed to just staying the course
and allowing Golden Stake to fizzle out. UM, I didn't
ask you about the Thunder. You left that that organization.
Now you to play the color analysts game color analysts
for the Pelicans. Um, they were rolling along and then
Paul George got hurt. Russell had this weird year where
all of a sudden he couldn't shoot the basketball consistently.

(01:44:44):
And they've tried to move off. You know, whether it
was Steven Adams contracts or Shrewder tried to package those
two have been unable to make a move. What happens
to the olkcom City Thunder? You know, I think with them, Doug,
everything is based on health. It's based on health. You know,
Russell Westbrook has had five knee surgeries. Um, and started

(01:45:05):
off last year injured. Paul George had two shoulder surgeries
this summer. Andre Robertson didn't play a game last year. Now,
if you're talking about a healthy Russell Westbrook, you're talking
about a healthy Paul George for the entire season, and
healthy Steven Adams and Andre Robertson that can come back
and bring what it is that he brings to the table.

(01:45:26):
His ability to guard multiple positions and his versatility the
thunder are gonna be something to be reckoned with playing
and simple. But if Russell is not healthy and Paul
George's shoulders are bothering him, and Andre has another setback,
you know, as far as his leg is concerned, and
Steven Adams gets beat up throughout the course of the year,
it's a different situation. It's a different case in scenario.

(01:45:49):
And I know you can say that about a lot
of teams in this league. You know, so much is
based on health, But with this team in particular, the
health is one of the if not the most important thing. Yeah,
I'm with you. Um And shooting, you know, like they
they just have to have more shooting than they've had
and they do not have it to this to this point.

(01:46:11):
Great stuff. Congrats on the new gig and k wait
to see what the league looks like if and when
we ever receive word on what Kauai is gonna do.
In the meantime, Happy for July, Antonio, thanks for joining us,
uh youtude, appreciate your brother's Antonio Daniels, who does an
amazing job. He's also not gonna be the color analyst
in games for the New Orleans Pelicans. That'll be exciting,
and he's done a great job for the Thunder the

(01:46:33):
last bunch of years. 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 Doug Olive show Fox Sports Radio. So many great
things going on. UM I do want to bring this

(01:46:55):
Ezekie Elliott thing up. UM So, like Roger Goodell is
supposed to be the worst guy ever, I pointed out
how under his watch the NFL has grown by leaps
and bounds and invented new ways to make money, and
I think they will again when the new Collective Barden
agreement comes down, especially if they can get that those

(01:47:15):
eighteen games he'll create more jobs. You know, they put
five more spots on rosters. That's a hundred and sixty
more jobs, more jobs, more money, more TV, more revenue,
more more, more more. Maybe we'll get that Super Bowl
when we want to get it, which is President's weekend.
And then today he did something that many didn't think

(01:47:38):
it was possible, which is he he took a pass
on what could have been a discipline issue with Ezekiel Elliott.
All right, like Ezekiel Elliott, I don't think what he
did raise to the level of being suspension, of being suspended.

(01:47:58):
But let's be honest, Zeke Ellie, it only twenty three
years old, once again getting called into the principal's office.
Like man, here's the quote. I've I've worked hard to
make better decisions from Zeke, to live up to my
live up to the high standards that expected me. I
failed to do that here and I made a poor decision.
I need to work harder to ensure I do not
put myself in a compromise situation in the future. I'm

(01:48:20):
rededicating myself to use all the resource the league is
made available. But in in the end, it's up to me,
and I'm determined to not be in that position to
get Roger Goodell determined there was no violation and no
further action was warranted. And this is one of those
you know, it's a little bit like US soccer yesterday,

(01:48:43):
Right like US soccer, the English teams scored a goal,
but they were just a little bit off size. Besides,
it ends up evening out when it was fairly borderline.
They used the v A R. They go back and
review and they get a penalty kick. Penalty kick end
up getting stopped by our goalkeeper. But still it ends

(01:49:04):
up evening out in the end. Zeke probably shouldn't have
been suspended six games going back two years ago, though
this didn't rise to the level of suspension because of
his press past transgressions. Maybe it should have. And it
all ends up even now what ends up either now,
But man, that is a if you're the Dallas Cowboys,

(01:49:28):
just a dumb thing, probably had too much to drink,
too much ego, and it gets captured on video. And
it's very very fortunate, very fortunate. Three of the first
four picks the two thousand seventeen NBA Draft have already
been traded. I'll tell you who. The latest is part

(01:49:50):
of the press. Next, 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 Whap Doug ot Leave Show here on Fox
Sports Radio. I want to know what's going on in sports.
This is the best segment we have. I think. Um,

(01:50:12):
we get you as many stories as we can as
short period time as possible, get you on for the day. Uh,
we call it the press. The press. Ralph ever what
he got. But well, we start off, Doug with the

(01:50:32):
fact that there was a trade in the NBA today,
the Memphis Grizzlies trading Kyle Corford and Javon Carter to
Phoenix for d Anthony Melton, Josh Jackson and a couple
of draft picks. What that means is that Josh Jackson's
now the third player of the top four drafted in
to have already been traded. Yeah, Josh jactands off the
court problems and on the court he can't shoot. Um.

(01:50:54):
But yeah, it wasn't a good draft, and I think
that's how you're seeing so many move on. On the
other hand, it should be pointed out that you know,
there's some good players in that two thousand seventeen NBA draft,
just and I think a Lonzo Ball becomes a good player.
Do I think he becomes a superstar? No? You know, uh,
but I still think he's got a ton of opportunities.

(01:51:17):
Jackson seems to be a throw in in this deal.
Remember there's Jason Tatum, who we can kill Ustin Danny
Ainge as much as we want. Jayson Tatum um far
and away the best of those top four players. Daron
Fox is having a good career so far, Laury marketing
as as well. And then you know, Donovan Mitchell went

(01:51:39):
to the to the Jazz, So there's some There are
some dudes that can't play Kyle Kuzman, but there's some
guys that can. Yeah. Another side to that trade though, is,
of course Kyle Corver going to Phoenix will likely release
him and where he'll end up going. But people have
been talking in hypothesizing his Phoenix sop up cap space

(01:52:00):
for Kelly Bray or for Ricky Rubio. Well they're getting Rubio,
but I think it's for both. Is the is the
is the idea um as for Corver? As a week ago,
the Lakers weren't crazy interested. Weren't crazy interested in um
In Corver. Corver is a little bit long in the tooth,

(01:52:22):
can't guard and didn't make shots in the playoffs last
time around, but he can really shoot, and they do
need bodies, alright. So we go to Major League Baseball
inspiring game last night, the Angels playing just a day
after losing their teammate Tyler Scaggs, and not only did
they play at Texas, but they actually come back to win,
Cole Calhoun with a home run and he well, he

(01:52:44):
gestured up to the heavens as he crossed home plate.
This is what he said. We know we got an
angel watching over us now. And he was a guy
that lit up the room, you know, and just like
Trout said, just like everybody's been saying, his his energy
and his positivity and just a person that he was. Uh,
it ran deep and it touched this organization for for

(01:53:06):
a long time and a lot of people around baseball.
And should be pointed out that the Angels got more
good news today, obviously not as devastating against the news
they got two days ago, which is just incredibly sad.
But in fielder Timmy Lostella, who was playing like an
All Star. Yeah, but it was also broke his uh tibia.

(01:53:26):
He's out eight to ten weeks. Brian Goodwin, one of
their outfielders, is also on the on the d L
with a right risk contusion. I mean, and they've actually
been decay, like a game below five with all kinds
of injuries, and you know now you lose Tyler Scags.
The death of Tyler Scags just doesn't wake up one
morning like what awful, awful, terrible. Some good news from baseball.

(01:53:50):
Matt Shuts are taking paternity leave for the birth of
his second child. He will return after the birth, and
he's hoping that would be before his scheduled start on Saturday.
This is good. Is sure taking time for a paternity leave?
I mean, I'm sure there are others around us that
are taking paternity leave. Did you take fraternity leave? I

(01:54:10):
don't have childer, I mean, I just but they haven't
had the kid yet. Well, he's taking time off so
he can be there for the birth and then he
will go back to work and then the road. Right now,
they're at home today. It doesn't make any sense to me.
It doesn't make it. I'm sorry, it doesn't make any
sense to me, like I had we had twins. I

(01:54:36):
took some time off after we had the twins. Obviously
it was I took the day off, but then when
my son was born, I worked that night. Like your
job is done, dude, it was nine months ago, it
was done. I don't. I don't begrutuate from taking time
off once the baby comes. I mean, now, look, I'll

(01:54:59):
offer the us up if his wife is on bed rest.
You know when you get bed rest when and they
already have another little one to where maybe she can't. Okay,
but these are you're on a home stretch. They played Miami. Um,
he's not supposed to start until Saturday. So he just
hanging out at home like they're just home games. He's

(01:55:21):
right down the street. You get a buzz in your
cell phone, You go get in the car and you
go drive home. Hey, like he can't afford to fly
his folks in or have a nanny. I don't. I
don't get this. I'm sorry. John Ramo's both impregnated and
will give birth to his wife, whall live on air.
That's the kind of guy. John Ramos is Romos. You
take him return to the the league. I am after their

(01:55:43):
baby's right now. When is how long you're taken? Uh?
A couple of weeks? Really? Yes, you know what? Good
for you? Thank you, Doug. You do not make Max.
Sure's your money. You have Matt Scherzer's value to us.

(01:56:05):
Get out there and pressed that the press. I mean,
it's not like dearre Hey, we're out in l A
on a road trip. Like man, I gotta get home.
I can't just hop in a flight like right down
the street. That one, I'm sorry that one makes doesn't
make sense to me. We're waiting on Kauai. Make sure
you download the All Ball podcast and discussion with Assistant
GM of the the Pistons, Pat Garrity. I'm Doug Gottli

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