Best of The Doug Gottlieb Show: 06/25/2020

Doug Gottlieb breaks down the latest in the NASCAR scandal that rocked the sports world this week and speaks with New York Daily News’ writer Manish Mehta about dysfunction inside the Jets organization. He weighs in on a star NFL player who refuses to play until the COVID-19 risk is ‘eliminated’ and talks with Howard Beck about the NBA’s plan to return! 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlip
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
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(00:22):
of the Doug got Leave Show on Fox Sports Radio.
All right, let's get to the story of the day,
which is kind of the story of the week. Bubba Watson,
Did I say, Bubba? I did that again? Did I did? I?
All right, I know I did it again. It's Bubba Wallace.

(00:44):
Bubba Wallace is the story of the week. Um, I
mean like, look, the ebbs and flows of the day
of the week are really interesting. So we started the week,
we started the show on Monday. We're getting ready to
do the show, and all of a sudden, there's this
unbelievable show, unbelievable excuse me, display of uh of solidarity

(01:08):
by by all of his uh, his um competitors and
his teammates in NASCAR. Why do they have to show solidarity? Well,
that's because if you go back to Uh. Sunday, there
were reports that there was a noose found in his garage. Okay,
it was the forty three garage. Forty three, of course

(01:31):
is Richard Petty. He he races for Richard Petty Racing.
He's the only black driver full time on the NASCAR circuit.
And so when there's a noose, which of course coincides
with the banning of the Confederate flag and some of
the stereotypes that have fall it that have followed NASCAR,

(01:53):
and of course on Sunday, right before there was set
to be a race, before the rain postponed it, there
was a confess or flag that flew UH on the
back of a little airplane. Like all of these things
like really a noose Monday right now, at this very moment,
and we're only at Thursday, and the old life comes

(02:14):
at you fast Monday, unbelievable show solidarity Tuesday. At about
the same time, the FBI, who sent fifteen investigators, reported
that this was no hate crime and that the rope
pole that was up had been up had been up

(02:35):
for since two thousand nine, with the exact same loop
on it. Excuse me, did I say two My Day's
two thousand nineteen, so almost a year October was the
last race there. When apparently there was some photo or
video evidence that it had not changed. That night, Bubba

(02:59):
wall Us went on CNN UH the next morning, he
went on with Dan Patrick, and he was angry because
people were starting to call the reports of a noose
a hoax. And when you're told something's a noose, and
you said it's absolutely noose, and you're black, and your

(03:20):
reaction is going to be one of of a million
different things. But I think, even though I'm not black
and I can't you know, I can't put myself in
Bubba's shoes, I do know I have a pretty good
feeling what my reaction would be because as a Jewish man,
when I see, you know, signs of of Nazis, I

(03:42):
have a a similar visceral reaction where I'm both angry
and afraid all at the same time. And you wonder,
you wonder who his friend? Who his foe? I mean,
the the the easiest parallel for me. And I'm not
in any way trying to say I un unerstand the
black experience. I do not. You can say like I do,

(04:04):
I have plenty of black friends, but I do not
understand the black experience because if you haven't lived it.
On the other hand, I would also say that they
don't wanted to understand the Jewish experience. Last year at
the local there was a high school party, the local
high school that my daughter will attend this upcoming fall.

(04:26):
There was some kids playing beer pong, which, by the way, like, look,
I'm not gonna tell you I didn't drink in high school.
I had. There was a couple of times when I
did drink, but never to the point of beer pong,
like anyway, not getting the parenting there, but uh, there
were some you know, red solo cups made into the

(04:48):
swastika symbol in a beer pong game in my neighborhood,
you know, which feeds to our high school. So I'm
not gonna tell you I understand the black sperience or
totally know what Bubba Wallace was feeling, but I do
know that feeling of like that's a sign of hatred

(05:09):
right anyway, So uh, Bubba didn't go on the apology tour,
but he did finally put out a statement yesterday which said, essentially, hey,
I'm glad it wasn't a hate crime. But I'm even
happier that NASCAR had my back today. Today the photo

(05:32):
of the noose was released. Now here's the thing. One
noose is a knot, and it's a very useful and
very sturdy type of slip knot. Right, And why is
a noose? Um Like, like, let's just if you have
the real conversation, if you can actually have a conversation,

(05:53):
why is a noose used in hangings? Because it's not
that doesn't it's a slip knot means it will not
slip out of the knot. And it's an extra sure
slip knot. And when you have a rope and you
want to make sure that it goes back, not just
two lynchings in the South bike but in the West
when the bad guys would get hung by the sheriff's.

(06:16):
It can withstand the pressure of the weight of a
human body. It is a very powerful and very substantial kno.
So when I read this, it makes me think of
pretty much any political argument, many sports arguments. When we

(06:37):
watch TV, we're told there's left and there's right, and look,
this comes from political TV. Frankly, I believe the the
creator of it was Fox News. We are Fox sports radio.
We are very loosely affiliated through through through the family
of Fox. But the genius of Fox News, which has

(06:58):
been remarkably success us full in terms of ratings, is
they in in their programming pushed everyone to the fringes
and on TV visually the right was on the right
and the left was on the left, and they were
there were arguments which there was no middle. But the

(07:19):
truth is usually in the middle. Most of us are
more in the middle. The fringes are louder because they're
trying to make their point and draw you to their side,
but most of us are center left, center right. Most
stories are not black and white. Most stories are gray,

(07:39):
and nothing could be nothing could emphasize that more in
my opinion, then what we now have with the Bubba
Wallace story by NASCAR saying that is in fact a
noose and seeing the picture of a noose and the
FBI saying it is the news it did hang from
two thousand nineteen, it just isn't a news design at

(08:02):
least at this point for Bubba Wallace to see. It's
NASCAR saying yes, you got me. I robbed banks, just
not that bank, which is why NASCAR had to make
the statement about the Confederate flag, which is why NASCAR
had to come out and be so emphatic with their

(08:22):
immediate reaction to a noose being found on their property.
Because of their history, and because even if this was
a joke from two thousand nineteen, whether it was for
Bubba or for whoever occupied that garage, there has to
be an added smart sensitivity and understanding that when you

(08:48):
have this, when you have this terrible past and some
of it at least a portion of it in your
fan base, in your presence, anything is going to be
you along racial lines. I I understand, I do. I'm
a white male. I know that anytime I do not

(09:08):
completely agree that something is racist, I am labeled now
a racist, which is not, which couldn't be further from
the truth. It's not fun, okay, it's just not that said.
You also have to understand why Bubba felt the way
Bubba felt, because when you're a black man and you

(09:31):
roll up into a garage and somebody says, dude, I
just wanted to listen a little heads up, there was
a noose hanging in here. How would you react? Again?
My only parallel is as a Jewish guy growing up
in Orange County and the high school my daughter is
gonna go to. And I see some idiot high school

(09:51):
kids playing beer pong with the Nazi swastika on the
ping pong table, I have that same visceral angry and
a little bit scared reaction. This is what I'm sending
my daughter into. This is how they view me, this
is how I'm treated. I know when you watch on TV,

(10:12):
and all of these TV networks have taken we've all
taken on the exact same tact. Sports TV mirrors political TV,
and the most successful of them is Fox News, and
we pit right versus left. The truth in most arguments
is somewhere in the middle. Give me an argument. Gun control. Okay,

(10:34):
we're not going to ever have no guns and we're
not ever gonna have a free for all. Somewhere in
the middle. You can be a gun owner, and most
gun owners like, yeah, they there's got to be some
sort of background checks and the ability, you know, the
ability to you know, there's this thought, well, yeah you can.
If you're feling you can't have a gun, or if

(10:55):
your kid you can't have a gun, Yes, but your
friends can and they're just so readily available right. There's
most responsible gun owners don't think that everyone should have
a gun, and most people who are against guns and
don't want guns understand that. Are you not gonna have
any for hunting? It's not realistic. They can have any

(11:18):
for personal protection, that's not realistic. Abortion, voting rights, all
of these political things. The truth is in the middle,
and that's the story here. Was there a noose? Yes?
Was it? Was it some sort of racial intimidation? Was

(11:40):
it a hate crime? No, at least not this time.
Is there a lack of understanding sensitivity based upon his
the history of NASCAR with the symbols that have been
at racetracks. Yes? Was this the case here? No? Did
some of the media over act in either direction? Yes?

(12:01):
Was it a hoax? Not? Really? It was a misunderstanding
for all of us. And now that we get the story,
we start to realize if we just take a breath
and we just have conversations and we start to evolve

(12:22):
as people will be the better off because of it.
Bubba is not a bad guy. Bubba did a bit
of a victory lab Bubba was feeling himself. He got
a little bit of bad pr But let's be honest,
Bubba was told what he saw, what was seen, and
based upon the picture, it's it's easy to make that

(12:42):
leap and you two would be angry. First news is
not always the best news. Correct news is correct news,
and the truth seemingly is almost always in the middle.
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
gott Leap Show weekdays at three p m. Easter noon
past effic on Fox Sports Radio in the I Heart

(13:02):
Radio a app Doug ot Leave Show, Fox Sports Radio.
So uh, Jamal Adams has made it very very clear
that he wants to be traded and the New York
Jets have some dysfunction within their ranks. Yesterday, there's a

(13:24):
story that Niche meant to had He's gonna join us
in five minutes. Niche meant to New York Daily News,
he's the guy who knows all. Now, does that mean
that he's spoken to every player? No, But his report
yesterday was that not only does Jamal Adams have an
issue with Adam Gaster, head coach and his lack of
respect there, but he's not the only one. He's not

(13:46):
the only one. Uh. There's additional reports, additional reports that
Jamal Adams to the forty Niners is quote picking up
steam all right now, Jamal Adams all Pro strong safety,
All Pro strong safety meaning he was the best strong

(14:09):
safety in football last season, should be pointing out Derwin
Jameston Hurt. He recovered one fum fumbule, scored one touchdown,
recorded six and a half sacks. Of course, you can
play him all over the field. Batted down seven passes,
intercepted a pass, forced two fumbles, the sixth pick of
the two thousand and seventeen drafts, right, and of course

(14:30):
that's three picks after the Fortys took Solomon Thomas, who,
as much as the Niners have killed it, Solomon Thomas
was a bust. Adams has been great, of course. He
played college football at l s U. And there there
seems to be seems to be some steam being picked

(14:53):
up with the possibility of him going to the forty Nights.
We'll we'll ask and that multiple reports uh saying that,
multi reports Doug Galla show, Fox Sports Radio. He is
synonymous with NFL insider in New York, Right, he's miniche
Met the New York Daily News. This guy always has

(15:13):
the good stuff coming from the New York Jets, who
provide plenty of fodder for those of us who do
this for a living. Uh, manich, Let's let's start with
with Jamal Adams because his relationship with his head coach,
his desire for a new contract, uh, seems to be
the tipping point in so many, so many different parts

(15:34):
of this um are they far apart to the Jets?
What is Joe Where is Joe Douglas with Jamal Adams
in regards to his desires to have a lengthy and
and profitable contract extension? Well, publicly, Joe Douglas has said
this offseason that he wants Jamal Adams to be a
Jet for life. Privately, Uh, neither George, Joe Douglas nor

(15:57):
anybody affiliated with the Jets has actually offered Jamal Adams
a contract. So you've got to kind of pick what
you believe. Do you believe that this general manager in
this organization want the player uh for eternity? Or do
you believe what is actually transpired behind the scenes, which
is all that talk is great? But where's the offer?

(16:19):
I mean, you can't really have a productive dialogue when
there is no initial offer. UM. Okay, so what does
Jamal how much does Jamal Adams actually want. I don't
know what Jamal Adams uh. Once I think it'd be
a fair ask to be the highest paid safety. But
I do think that at this point six months really

(16:40):
you know, into this offseason. Of course it's it's about money,
but it's not simply about money that that's a factor. Uh.
This player does not like playing for this head coach
for a number of different reasons. And he's not alone.
Adam Gates is not a respected person in that organization,
in the locker room, uh you among the coaches and

(17:01):
some of the front office. So I think when you
get to this point regarding Jamal Adams, yes, money matters. However,
there's a reason why Jamal Adams is willing to play
for other teams this season without getting a contract extension.
I think he wants some stability from an organizational standpoint,
and he absolutely wants a stable leader, which he does
not feel that he has here. Okay, so yesterday we

(17:24):
discussed some of your report that now he's Jamal Adams
are a lack of respect for Adam Gates, but he's
not alone in that locker room. Um has as has
he lost the locker room or maybe did he ever
have the locker room to lose. Yeah, that's a good question.
I think anyone who's been around Adam Gaze, Uh, the
best sample size would probably be the players that we're

(17:46):
with him in Miami, because that's the only other time
that he was a head coach. I think they will
tell you that Adam gaze m O is that he's
a good salesman initially, and you know, he may lead
you to think that he's got your best interest in mind.
But over time, I think, uh that we should give
players credit. You know, it depends on the person and

(18:09):
the player and their level of experience dealing with coaches.
But my experience has always been that ultimately players find
out if you're a B S, if you're if you're
not authentic. Uh, that's going to shine through. And it
takes a different amount of time for different players. But
you know, a year and a half after Adam Gates
arrived here in New York, I think the prevailing sentiment

(18:30):
in that locker room is that he does not have
their best interests in mind. He's got self preservation in mind,
and he's got a lot of focus and attention on
the quarterback. Rightfully so, But you know, outside of the quarterbacks.
I don't think very many people in that building tolerate
were respective. Okay, so they did finish seven and two
when Donald came back. Uh that wasn't that wasn't enough.

(18:51):
That wasn't enough. Uh No, because I think that players
play for themselves, they play for each other. Uh. This,
you know, notion that they rallied around Adam Gas is
uh faulty. It's not accurate. It's not true at all.
I can tell you for I can tell you that
most of the defensive players, uh you know, I don't
want to say every defensive player because I haven't talked

(19:12):
to every defensive player, but probably in large the defensive
players view Greg Williams as their head coach. So uh,
if anything, they would be playing for Greg Waives. But
I honestly believe that they were playing for each other
more than anything else. You mentioned that they finished, You know,
they finished six and two technically in the back half
of the season. You know, I can make a solid
case they actually finished five and two, and they played
a de facto a preseason game against the Bills backups,

(19:35):
and it took them all four quarters to win that game.
So I know history will say that they were seven
and nine team last year. I think the reality is
that they were six and nine team. If they actually
played the real Buffalo Bills the varsity, they probably would
have finished six. I will tell you, though, that some
of this is not just like this is here. Here's
the mistake, okay. I mean there's a bunch of mistakes
that seemed to be made. Gaye was a curious higher

(19:57):
case was also in the division. So it's tough to
win over guys that saw your team and maybe didn't
didn't didn't respect how your team or end players talk.
And I agree with you, you can't fool players. But
I think having Greg Williams is your defensive coordinator, you
you you better be very you better be very secure
in yourself and with the organization because he can be divisive.

(20:18):
He just keep can he you know? I mean, there's
how things went down in Cleveland are a perfect example
of it. How it went down with the Rams are
a perfect example of it. I'm not in any way
impugning um his his credibility or his success as a
defensive coordinator, but this wouldn't be the first time where

(20:39):
it became the defense versus everybody else in a franchise. Well,
I don't think he's a leader, and I know that
players see that. They're there every day for hours on end. Uh,
he is a glorified quarterbacks coach. I had actually people
saying the organization described him that way. To me, he's
fully invested in try it to get Sam Donald better. Uh.

(21:02):
But you know, he's not just the quarterback teacher. He's
the head coach of the football team. And if anybody
who spent a reasonable amount of time in that building
during the course of the off season in the season,
they will see that Greg Williaves is clearly a more
commanding presence. He clearly has leadership style. Uh. You know,
whether you agree with that style or not is a

(21:23):
different question. But Adam Gates, he's really kind of separated
himself from half the team, which is not good if
you're a head coach. And look, Doug, I mean, this
is a guy who was emboldened by the fact that
he got hired in the same division after getting fired
a week earlier. So it's not as if he were
humbled in any sort of way by being a coordinator

(21:44):
or a position coach for a year or two to
kind of learn from his mistakes in Miami. Uh. As
soon as he got that second contract from the Jets,
he believed that, you know, he was in the right,
the Dolphins were in the wrong. He was gonna win
and try to win with the Jets his way. He
got the money, he got to say and year contract.
He has told people this many times of the course
in the last year and a half. But the second

(22:04):
contract really emboldened him to try to do it his way,
without without worrying, and that's part of the reason why
he got the Mike mccagnan fired, got his own general manager,
Joe Douglas in there. But the reality is in escapable
when you talk about Adam Gates. He has been a
part of seventeen different teams seventeen seasons in the NFL.

(22:26):
Out of those seventeen seasons, he's been a part of
a winning team, a team with a winning record four
of seventeen times, and three of those four times Peyton
Manning was his head was his quarterback. So only once
in his NFL career has he been a part of
a winning team, a winning organization that did not have
Peyton Manning. What do you think, I think that, Uh,

(22:47):
they're not going to pay him this year and less
ownership relaxes the cash flow restrictions that they've given. Uh,
Joe Douglas. That's the number one reason why Joe Jamal
Adams does not have a deal right now. Ownership to
not want to spend cash. If that doesn't change, Jamal
Adams will not get a new deal with the Jets
barring some kind of incredible deal offer from another team.

(23:08):
I don't see him being on another team in I
think he will be with the Jets that you're asking
me now and you know, mid mid June, I think
he will be with the Jets. I don't think he'll
be particularly happy, but I think that's uh the most
likely outcome for this season. Yeah. I talked to some
other people spent to join us New York Daily News,
Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Tradio. If you know anything
about Mini, she totally tied in the NFL, not just

(23:29):
the Jets. Um. I talked to people in the league
and they said, like, look, a lot of these owners
the cash cash is tight, right, and no one knows
what the salary cap is gonna look like. We don't
know if we have fans in the stands, there's like
a lot of questions and even though there are some
other teams who have paid uh, they're they're best player

(23:50):
who's been through three years in the NFL. It is
not a hard and fast rule that you have to
do that. You got him for four years, the you know,
the rookie fifth year contracts spikes up, and then of
course you have the franchise tags. Like there really isn't
any leverage other than if you just decide you don't
want to play if your Jamal Adams. Well, look, I'll
say this about the Jet situation because I don't know

(24:11):
the particulars of other teams finances, but the Jets using
the pandemic uh even privately UH in regards to why
they're not paying Jamal Adams as a red herring, because
they decided long before we were even aware of the pandemic,
back at the end of this past season, that they
were not going to spend a lot this year. That's

(24:31):
why when you look at free agency for the Jets
this offseason, they gave a litany of one year contracts
the second and third third year players for the most part,
because ownership did not want to dole out the cash. Now,
they had a lot of cap space, but there's a
distinct difference between cap and cash. Ownership was not willing
to do that, so they had a fairly strict budget

(24:52):
for Joe Douglas UH this offseason. That's why he saw
all those one year deals. That's why there's no desire
to pay big money UH to Jamal Adams, because you'd
obviously have to give him big cash up front. That's
the reason for the financial constraints for the Jets. Again,
I can't speak to the other teams, but that's why, UH,
they're not paying a lot of people, haven't paid a

(25:12):
lot of people all off season. UH. The other element
to this, Doug, is that Jamal Adams is far and
away their best players. So in theory, technically, you're absolutely right.
From a contractual standpoint, the team has leveraged over the player. However,
this is the best player that they've had since Darrell
Reeves was in his prime. He's an all pro twenty
four year old homegrown talent, who has an incredible work ethic,

(25:35):
who's the the emotional leader of the team, who has
never once gotten in trouble off the field. If the
biggest criticism you have of Jamal Adams is that he
is emotional on social media. I think he's doing pretty
good for himself. If that's the biggest check mark against
Jamal Adams, because he does everything else the right way.
He's comported himself, uh, exemplary on the field Monday through Friday.

(25:58):
In practice, he literally nobody outworks that guy. So he
leads by example. He's He's not relying just on his talent.
There's a reason why Greg Williams today was effusive in
his praise of Jamal Adams, saying that he has coached
Hall of Fame players and if Jamal Adams stays healthy, uh,

(26:18):
Jamal has a legitimate chance of following, you know, down
that same path and look a pro bowler, two time
Pro bowler and All Pro in his first three seasons.
I tend to agree with Greg Williams. Um okay, So
let me ask you this, what about Sam Where is
Sam Donald on Adam Gaze? Well, Sam Donald spends the

(26:39):
most time with Adam Gaze all the quarterbacks do. So
of the returning quarterbacks that Sam Donald and David fails.
And Sam Donald's DNA is such that he wants to
see in good the good in everybody. He wants to
believe that this coach is going to bring the best
out of him, just like he wanted to believe that
Jeremy Bates, the offensive coordinator when he was a rookie,
was going to bring the best out of him. I
think that's just kind of how Sam Donald has has made.

(27:02):
You know, he's not a guy who's going to trash
the coach. I don't think he's the type of guy
who would go to management and say, hey, you know,
I need a better coach, I need a better teacher.
That's just not who he is. He's also only twenty
three years old. There's guys who are older than him, uh,
you know throughout that locker room who have a better
sense and a better handle of what this coach really is.

(27:23):
And again, you know, Donald is never going to throw
anybody under the bus, which is ironic because the guy
that you know he probably would say positive things about
never hesitates to throw people under the bus. Yeah. Yeah,
that's that. That's that that's that's that's fascinating. It's absolutely fascinating.
And now is the kind of the kind of window

(27:44):
all right, Um, we haven't talked about Levian Bell and
one of the curious things that Adam Gates did when
he got the job or when they sign Levian Bell,
and then it comes out that he didn't want to
sign Levian Bell for that much money. Um, there was
talk of them moving Levi on Bell. It's hard to
move that big contract for a running back. Where is
Levian Bell and all this? Well, I think if the

(28:06):
Jets could have traded him at the trade deadline, Uh,
they would have. They obviously couldn't at the time because
that contract is too much of an outbatross. Uh, they
could have trade. If they could have traded him this offseason,
they absolutely would have. But again, the contract class for
about fourteen million do this season. Uh, that's well above
market value for the positions. So the next question becomes

(28:29):
at the trade deadline, if the Jets are not in contention,
if Levian bells not substantially more productive than he was
last year, and the reason he wasn't productive, I fully
believe is that he was deployed in the exact wrong way. Uh.
But if he is not producing at the deadline this year,
they will try to trade him again. Uh. In terms
of Adam Gates not wanting Bell because there's the money. Uh.

(28:50):
That also is a red herring. That's a convenient fabrication
that he came up with after it leaked out that
he never wanted him. And the reason he never wanted
him is because his offenses are about spreading the wealth.
He likes to have four or five different guys who
can threaten the defense. Maybe not one superstar per se,
but you know, a bunch of very good players that

(29:10):
this kind of how his offense has built. He was
not interested in revamping his offense, uh, to make a
tailor made ironically for one of the best dual threat
running backs in the NFL. So it was about Bell
conforming to his system instead of him being flexible and
tailoring a scheme around such a talented player. So that's
the reason he didn't want Levan Bell. When it came

(29:31):
out that he didn't want him, he kind of tried
to do some damage control behind the scenes and say
that he didn't want him because he didn't want to
pay that much money for the position. Last thing, why
is it always this way with the Jets? Yeah, that's
a great question. Uh. You know, look, this is the
same ownership group for the past twenty years and now
general managers and head coaches come and go. We saw
a spike for two years in two thousand and nine

(29:52):
and two thousand and ten when Rex Ryan led them
to the a C Championship game both of those years.
But by and large, uh, there are some inherent issues, uh,
from an organizational standpoint, from a structure standpoint, from an
influence standpoint. Who has influence in that organization? Who doesn't?
Most people, uh, you know don't know these people by name.
I do, but you know, there's there's some obstacles inherently.

(30:16):
But ultimately, uh, people come and go. Players come and go,
Coaches come and go. Uh. For the last two decades, Uh,
we've had the same owner. Manich met to read the
stuff in New York Today of the news, follow him
on social media. Manis great stuffs as always, really appreciate
you being our guest. Thanks appreciate you. Be sure to
catch the live edition of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays

(30:38):
at three p m. Easter noon Pacific. What Up Doug
Gotlip Show? Fox Sports Radio? Mm hmm you know. Um
alberbrierre joined us in an hour, Howard back in an
hour and a half, and I saw this this is

(31:01):
fast day to be um. Just from bleacher Report. One
one source told Tim bow Temps and Andrew Lopez of ESPN.
One source inside the Pelicans, he's gonna shock some people.
He being Zion Williamson. The exact said. Williamson is a

(31:23):
guy who drives eyeballs and attention. The NBA would love
to have a Michael Jordan's versus the eighties six Celtics
moment in the first round. If they could get their
ideal world, that's what they'd want. Zion has been diligent
about taking care of himself. That's David Griffin, said, the
Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations. He's in good

(31:44):
shape physically and mentally. Zion, before before COVID nineteen postponed
the season, was averaging twenty three and a half points
a game, six point eight rebounds a game, two point
to assists a game, and he did so in only
nineteen appearances. He was thirteenth and offensive efficiency. Um. Okay, look,

(32:10):
I think Zi Willimson has a chance to be tremendous.
He's what's called a small ball five, which is essentially
the position that Draymond Green has popularized. Draymond Green's effectiveness
is because he can effectively guard all five positions on
the floor. Now, some of it is that just aren't

(32:31):
a lot of big back to the basket centers. Who
are you know, Shaquille O'Neil, who just I love Draymond Green.
I think he's tremendously guarding a lot of these centers today,
but like he would have no chance against some of
the centers of a previous era. Now, Zion is stronger, heavier, thicker,

(32:53):
um and I think slightly smaller than Draymond Green. He's
obviously a much better athlete terms of vertical athlete. He
like uh, like Draymond, doesn't really have a jump shot.
There's definitely no stop and shoot game. But unlike Draymond,

(33:13):
he's got an extra He's got one he can score
with this back to the basket. That's one of the
underrated things about Zion. He gets in the post. He's
especially if he gets a little guy on him, he's
just too strong and he gets a big guy on him,
he's too quick and athletic, so he actually has a
post game. He can pass, maybe not like Draymond Green pass,
but he can pass, and obviously a crazy first step

(33:34):
and ridiculous explosiveness. But but I have a warning for people.
I have a warning for people. Zion played nineteen games
and then had this substantial break, and I would guess that,
like many players, he stayed in good shape. And I
would guess, like many players, if he's smart, he actually

(33:55):
worked on his game. But Zion has not shown that
his body can hand can handle the con the constant rigor,
whether it's college basketball or of the NBA. Right his
body is broken down, and so I don't know how
much New Orleans is going to use him, and if
they do use him in every game, I, like anybody else,

(34:17):
fear if his body will hold up. But that's only
a portion of why I would be so hesitant, at
least in this his rookie year, to think he'll have
some sort of Jordan versus eighties six Celtics sort of
moment if in fact, the Pelicans get to the NBA playoffs.
Zion can't shoot, okay, That doesn't mean he won't be

(34:38):
able to shoot eventually. That doesn't mean he won't be
able to make enough shots eventually. But as of now,
everything he does is purely on effort, athleticism and speeding quick,
this around the basket, everything, and it's a lot. It's great.
But what we what you haven't been told or you

(35:00):
don't realize, is you got twenty two teams. They're the
only ones that can come in and out of those buildings.
I actually think that basketball is it's there's gonna be
in playoffs. It could be a little bit of a
tough watch. One because of the layoff right too, because
the lack of the crowd. Three because these guys will

(35:22):
be on the road for several weeks together. And I'm
not even talking about once you get deep in the playoffs.
Longer on the road, the more your legs, your chemistry
gets challenged, all of that stuff. But the biggest thing
is everyone is going to have a complete and throw
a scattering report on everybody they play, because you can
walk down to the arena and watch them play, or
they're they're on TV and there's only one game going

(35:43):
on at once, and everyone will watch. There's a reason
that guys in the regular season, in the playoffs, all
of a sudden, their stats change, their shooting percentage changed,
because now you now you lock in on the scattering report.
Now you lock in on the guys and some NBA players.
It doesn't matter, like you can know what Kevin rants doing.

(36:04):
He's just he's seven ft tall with long arms. Um,
he's going to score. Steph Curry. You can do, you
can be physical with and the officiating change in the
NBA playoffs, but he's going to score. Zion because he
has such a gaping hole in his game and because
people will will try different things, We'll figure out how
to guard him this look. It's it's the fear I

(36:27):
have for Lamar Jackson as people have an entire year
to to to watch film and understand Greg Roman's offense
and how they use it. Like if if you don't
have time to repair in the regular season, you know
you get a day or two midweek to put your
game plan. It's hard when they play. They being the Ravens,
played differently than anybody else in the NFL. Nobody runs

(36:49):
the read option the way the Ravens do. No one
is like Zion Williamson. He's just more athletic, and people
didn't have a book on him. He only played nineteen games,
well the eight lead up games they play before the playoffs.
Every scout will have a book on Zion Williamson and
make him, make him do things he doesn't do well period.

(37:15):
You combine that with the fact that that's a lot
of wear and tear on a body which to this
point hasn't shown the ability since leaving high school to
stand up to the rigors of college or pro basketball.
You put those two things together and yeah, he'll have
fresh legs, so will everybody else. And I'd like to

(37:41):
see the weight he comes now. Look if he spent
the last three months losing weight and he comes back
at two fifty, it could be a different story if
you spent the last three months only working on his
jump shot. The problem, even with three months of working
on your jump shot is it's totally different once you
do it in a game, right, you have what's called
game slippage, and all the work you've done doesn't go

(38:03):
out the window, but it does. Your expectations should level
off quite a bit, quite a bit because doing it
in a game is totally different than doing it in practice.
Like this was my friend Colin Cowhard earlier today on
his show. If you look around the NBA today, who's

(38:25):
the next star? It's Zion James Harden doesn't want to
be the face of the league. Russell Westbrook is bad
with a press and too often unhinged and difficult. Kauai
doesn't talk, and he honest is a wonderful kid and
a great player, But like Tim Duncan, who was also

(38:47):
both of those, he doesn't feel like a face of
the league. The best player is not always the face.
Kareem was the best player for years, but he was
kind of aloof and prickly. Wilt scored lots of points,
but he was kind of flaky. Tim Duncan was wonderful
but never really embraced it. If you look at the
faces of the league Dr J Magic, Jordan's shack Lebron Kobe,

(39:13):
you gotta have four or five things. You gotta be
kind of cool, you gotta have charisma, you gotta have
a personality generally a little power mixed with finesse. Folks
Ion is the face of the league. He got a
million people to watch a high school game. Look, I'm
not disputing that he's popular. He's the first YouTube sensation

(39:36):
to become a college sensation. You you pair YouTube and
his popularity in high school with Duke and the fact
and his incredible smile and warm and generous personality, and
unlike R. J. Barrett, his his teammate at Duke, he
doesn't need the ball as much to be effective. You
combined YouTube a sensation with Duke, and then, even though

(40:03):
we got a limited sample size, some unbelievably explosive games
in the n b A and you have yourself a
guy who's wildly popular. But but, but we have to
catch our breath. He is very young, and he is
he is very much a jump shot away and the
number one skill will required in two thousand and twenty

(40:26):
and beyond in the NBA to be successful is to
shoot the ball. It's really really hard to not be
able to shoot the ball. Now, Look, he doesn't have
to be stef Or Clay to be great. Doesn't have
to be Stafford Clay. He just has to make enough
to where you gotta put a hand up if you do.
Now the sudden puts, he had a position for his drive.

(40:47):
He's just not there yet. And he hasn't shown the
ability to play and not get hurt long enough. So
I'm gonna slow my role with calling him the face
of the league. It's like Collins completely forgot about Steph Curry.
We've completely forgot about Kevin Durant. Like those guys are

(41:09):
much more the face of the league. Zion is wildly popular.
He is right, he is must see TV. But the
more and more NBA people get an eye on him,
the better the book will be. And considering how many
games and how short a period of time, and how
good the scatter reports gonna be, I don't think once
you get to the playoffs in Orlando, it's going to
be a good time for Zion Williams. Be sure to

(41:31):
catch the live edition of The Doug gott Leap Show
weekdays at three p m. Easter noon Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. On this side,
you have Clay Travis, who continues to do his internet
shows where he's like, look, you gotta look at deaths,
not positive COVID tests, which I do agree with. Okay,

(41:55):
in general principle, I think yesterday the lowest number of
deaths in a couple of months whatever like that. That
seems to be trending the right way. On the other hand,
there are a lot of concerned areas of the country
as we have had recent spikes in positive COVID tests,
And look, I'm not an idiot. So please don't try

(42:15):
and act like I'm an idiot or any of these
people putting out these stature it is. I understand that
more testing will be more positive tests. But testing has
been readily available for about a month now, and we're
seeing not a leveling off or dropping. We're seeing a
spike of positive results. I don't know if they're asymptomatic
or symptomatic. I don't know about hospitalizations. It does seem

(42:38):
though that to any people like Clay Travis, who I'm
gonna point out is a friend of mine as well
as a colleague. And just so you know, you can
be friends with somebody who you vehemently disagree with, who
you slightly disagree with, or some of you agree with.
I don't want to have all friends where I go, Like,
you know what I think. I think Tom Brady has

(42:59):
done great. I think that too, Me too, Me too,
me too? Okay, you know what I think? I think
Michael Jordan's the great? Me too? Me too? Me too?
Like what is that? If that's who you want to
surround yourself with, good for you. Hey, that's called an
echo chamber. That's what Lebron James has on the shop

(43:22):
you know what I think. Yep, you're right, Like that's
not actually Barbara barbershop conversation is kind of like what
they make fun of in coming to America. Rais Yo
Lewis kicked his ask right, remember that anyway? Um so too,

(43:46):
and like, look, I like Clay he's when they call
Corona bros. Right, people who are like deniers of of
this sort of thing. I'll only point this out. Texas
was one of the states to open back up, right,
and the numbers are so concerning that their governor, who

(44:09):
has been an outspoken critic of the quarantine, who had
previously allowed well previously said they would allow fans at
professional and collegiance sporting events right now in Texas. I
believe it's Governor Abbott today said look, we're not going
to go to phase three just yet because we're we

(44:32):
we don't like the numbers we're seeing. So you have
Texas that always says we're doing our own things, saying, oh,
we may have opened this thing up a little bit
too quickly, which, by the way, is where I said, Okay,
I'm not panicked walking around and it has Matt Suit
welcome to Okay, not I washed my hands, I wear

(44:57):
a mask outside. I've never really understood anti mask person.
Anti mask person reminds me of to my childhood. We
used to and Ramos is old enough. I don't know
if you guys are old enough for this one. We
used to not have a seatbelt law. Right most of
my childhood. You'd stop short, my dad would stick his
arm out like that was gonna stop you from going
through the windshield. And among the ridiculous claims. In addition

(45:22):
to you know, hurting somebody's freedom, you would have people
go before state legislatures and Congress go, well, what happens
to your car gets submerged. It's really hard to get
your seatbelt off. Well, on the infinitesimal percentage of time
that your car gets submerged, it should be pointed out
that as you flew off the bridge like dukes of hazard,

(45:44):
if you didn't have your seatbelt on, you'd probably either
go through or hit the windshield and be unconscious anyway,
So it wouldn't actually matter, but that was the defense.
Would you now look at you like, really, you didn't
have to wear a seatbelt. That's the stupidest thing ever,
which is kind of how all of us look at
those of you who are like I will not wear
a mask in public or a grocery store. Yeah. I

(46:09):
think Jerry Seinfeld said it best. The funny thing about
the helmet law is it's protecting a brain that's that's
operating so poorly it doesn't know it needs to be protected, right,
that's the mask room. Um So I don't care what
if you don't care what side of this you sit on.
I really don't. I'm not super panicked, but I do

(46:31):
wonder if my kids are gonna be able to go
back to actual learning in person. In August in California,
I was optimistic, now cautiously pessimistic. I don't know, but
I can't tell you this that if you're waiting on
a vaccine for COVID nineteen to go back to work,

(46:52):
you're not going back to work in two thousand twenty,
which is exactly what I think. Malcolm J. Linkins, who
resigned with the New Orleans Saints and of course blasted
Drew Brees going back a couple weeks ago, said, going
back to yesterday, the NBA is a lot different than

(47:12):
than the NFL because they can actually quarantine all of
their players or whoever is going to participate where we
have over two thousand players, even more coaches and staff,
we can't do that, and so we will end up
being kind of on this trust system, where the honor system,
where we just have to hope that guys are social
distancing and things like that, and that puts all of
us at risk, not only you know us as players

(47:34):
and who's in the building, but when you go home
to your families. You know, I have parents that I
don't want to get sick. And I think until we
get to the point where we have protocols in place,
and until we get to the place as a country
where we feel safe doing it, we have to understand
our football is a non essential business, uh, and so
we don't need to do it, and so the risk uh,
you know, has to be really eliminated before we before

(47:55):
I would feel comfortable we're going back. Okay, So if
the risk has to be eliminated, you just said, I'm
not playing football and calling your sport a non essential
business like in reality, He's right, it's entertainment. But the
I mean, Malcolm Jacobs doesn't seem to understand any of this,

(48:17):
any of it, any of it, and look, it's Okay,
it's really really hard to really hard to know, like
what are we getting better? We getting worse? Either's so
many difference things like right, I'm not I'm not a
mensum member. All right, I'm up. I know my intelligence,
My level of intelligence is at least above average, or

(48:39):
at least it was when I was a kid, when
it was scored. I don't know. I don't know if
all the small in Los Angeles or or I've I've
been dumbed down based upon TV and my habits and whatever.
I don't know, but I think of myself as having
above average intelligence. I try and absorb all the different
types of media. I have zero real feel for what's

(49:00):
taking place where it's trending. Are we good? Are we bad?
But do you think the Texas slowing down their role
of opening up is that's caught throwing caution and that's
that's being cautious. But I do know this one thing.
If you want risk eliminated, that's a vaccine. That means
you're not gonna play football this year. I mean, he

(49:21):
said several things which are just wrong. Well, we have
two thousand players. You don't have two thousand players on
an individual NFL team. Okay, you have a ninety man
roster that gets cut down to a fifty three man roster. Hey,
that's what you have. And you actually have more control
over things because well, you can wear gloves when you

(49:41):
play football, and you wear a helmet. You can wear
a mask underneath that helmet. Like there's actually more. You
can have protocols in place. Yeah, going home to see
your parents or your grandparents, that's gonna be problematic, but
guess what, it would be problematic even if you're out
in the real world. Let I'm playing football, So I'm

(50:03):
not saying that his concerns aren't real. And Malcolm Jings
is not an idiot, he's like the rest of its
Like I don't want to believe. But Malcolm, if you're
telling us you're not playing unless the risk has been eliminated,
that means you're not playing until there's a vaccine. There's
not going to be a vaccine this calendar year. It's

(50:26):
very very very very very unlikely because even if they
get the vaccine, it has to go through like there's
so much it has to go through before they just
start injecting in people. Yeah, sure, I'll be the first
run no, no, right, you start like twitching. I don't
know what what the side effects are, but just don't

(50:51):
say that unless you mean it. And if you mean it,
we gotta get a replacement. And is football and essential business?
Probably not, But I mean what is an essential business? Right?
Like Starbucks got to stay open? That an essential business?
Hell yeah, I need mccoffee. That was actually the voice

(51:13):
of my wife when she doesn't get her coffee. It's
not an essential business. Like, come on, dude, we fudge
the essential business thing for a long time. Everybody makes
lots of money and it makes people much happier. And
like it affects the gambling industry, it affects UH, TV, radio, print,
all the players, all the staff, all the stadium workers.

(51:36):
And that's even we don't even know if you have
fans in the stands, you got parking, you got restaurants,
you got all the all affected by football. Is it
essential in dictionary definition? No? But is it super important
to the economy? Hell yeah, we gotta get that thing
up and going. It is vital. Sports is a vital

(51:59):
cog in the engine of the American economy. If you're
a denier of that, you're not paying attention a vital
call because I could go through fifteen different different types
of businesses which are directly affected by if they play

(52:23):
or don't play football, especially with fans in the stands.
All of it's not just all of those vendors. The
food that all those vendors sell, right, where is that
food produced in the United States? The security, Hey, parking restaurants, Hey,

(52:44):
the municipality. You know, we're gonna have all of these
different protocols for schools and other events. It's gonna be
really expensive for your city to put on any sort
of events and to protect you, etcetera, etcetera. Plus you know,
like look with with all the pro tests, you're having
cops on overtime, whether you want more police or less

(53:05):
police or smart all this everything costs more money. Where
do you think they get the money? You know? And
by the way, the good cops and some of the
bad cops they can't they can't get over time. They
do so by working security at some of these events,
like are you you shoe companies, apparel companies, television, digital media,

(53:33):
all of your brands that you represent as an athlete
all affected by football? Is it essential? What is essential?
You give me the definition of essential, and I would say,
while it doesn't fit the dictionary definition of kenn our
country function without it, no, but it is essential to

(53:53):
the economy of all of these major cities that professional sports,
especially and legion sports are played. If you're a denier
of that, you don't understand how vital a cog it
is to the to the economy, to the engine of
the economy. And if you say I'm not playing until

(54:14):
I'm completely safe, you're not playing until you have a vaccine,
and that means you're not playing. In two thousand twenty,
be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three p m. Easter noon Pacific.
Let's welcome in, Howard Beck, Howard, how are you? Thank you?
I'm good. Um, what's the real real what's the reaction

(54:38):
within NBA circles? Too? And and Avery Bradley, who an
important part of the l A Lakers, deciding to stay home.
I guess for two reasons. One, uh, you know he's
part of this coalition, Um, and and says you know
it's it's distracting from the protest. And too because I
guess he has a six year old son who's got
some health issues, so he wouldn't be able to say.

(54:59):
What's the real reaction from NBA people. Um, honestly, I
haven't pulled anybody. I don't. I don't know, Like I
can't tell you how how you know any any individual
players decision is gonna be going to be responded to
her in the league? I don't. I don't think most
of the league is going to care one way or
the other. You know, the Lakers may have an opinion
about that. His teammates or coaches or others may have

(55:21):
an opinion about that. I've I've not spoken with anybody
out there, so I couldn't tell you. But listen, whether
it's him or Trevor Areza, who has you know, a
custody issue. Um, whether it's the Davis Burton's with the Wizards,
who is just concerned about his health as he heads
into to the biggest free agency of his career. Um,
whether it's guys who are going to pull out because

(55:42):
their wives or girlfriends are pregnant and expecting sometime in
the next few months and they don't want to be
gone for that. Yeah, there's gonna be any number of
reasons why guys, and it's it's and it's not a
big number yet, So why guys are deciding to opt
out of this? And I you know, look, I think
people just need to respect these are personal choices based
on their own circumstances, their own home lives, um, the

(56:05):
trade offs that they think may or may not be
worth while at a time like this. This is all unprecedented.
It's not what anybody signed up for, it's not what
anybody could have anticipated. And you know, they're they're they're
making a sacrifice in salary to decide to sit it out.
And um, you know that that seems to me a
fair way to approach what is obviously an unprecedented situation.
Howard Back joining us here on the Doug Gottlieb Show

(56:28):
on Fox Sports Radio. Does it, in your mind, as
a guy who's covered this sport for years, does it
change the legitimacy of whoever becomes the champion? It's a
uh A qualified no, it does not change it. But
the qualified part is it depends on who's on, who's

(56:49):
there and who's not. I mean, Lebron is not opting
out of this. If Lebron opted out of it, if
Jana's opted out of it, If Paul George or Kawhi
Leonard d opted out of it, if James Harden opted
out of it, then yeah, it changes the you know,
the the entire landscape because when superstars sit out, it's
just different than if an Avery Bradley or Trevor Rees
stays home. That said, Avery Bradley is really important to

(57:11):
the Lakers, and like, this is not an insignificant defection.
This is not an insignificant absence for them. Um, you know,
they're they're maybe gonna sign j R. Smith and they're
gonna patch it up with you know, Alex Caruso and
maybe j R. And Dion Waiters. Those guys aren't Avery
Bradley and they don't have his defensive chops, and you know,

(57:31):
maybe that's the difference. I mean, we we tend to
think of the MB and simplistic, reductive terms, where the
team with the best stars wins the championship, and yeah,
that's often the case. Talent dictates a lot. But you know,
you can think over the years of how many times
it's been critical defensive stops or a key three pointer,
you know, a Robbert Rory three pointer, for for the

(57:52):
you know, the shack of Kobe Lakers Um Andrea Goodala's
block of Lebron. I mean, how could ends up being
the m v P of those those finals are of Um.
There was Lebron's block of Igodala, but the prior finals
Igodala's defense on Lebron Um that that proved critical. So

(58:12):
do the role guys matter? They matter a lot and
it could change the course of things. But I think
the only way we see that this postseason is being
less legitimate than another will be if it's stars who
pull out or if it's stars who gets felled by
the virus, and and that kind of impact is hard
to overlook. Yeah, the virus part is really interesting. Howard
back our guest in the Doug Gottlieb Show NBA scene,

(58:32):
a writer for Bleacher Report. It it feels to me
like and this is a this is a please bear
with me. It feels like a weird way of saying
it in and almost better if you get it now
right and then you get your two weeks quarantine or whatever,
then you get it out of the way like this.
That part feels that that I mean, like, look that
it just feels like that you're you're you're better off

(58:55):
getting it early rather than getting it late, aren't you.
I mean, look, there, there's there's probably some truth to
that on a on a real pragmatic level of you
don't want to get the virus while you're in the
middle of the playoffs. Of course, of course you don't
want to up in quarantine for a week or two
in the midst of the playoffs. Obviously you don't want
to get this at all. And I would just say

(59:17):
this because it's often overlooked in these discussions when people
talk about young, healthy athletes in the twenties and thirties
and they have nothing to worry about. There's still scientists,
doctors are still learning about this virus and the impacts.
And one of the impacts that has been noted in
the last few months is that otherwise healthy people have
sometimes ended up in I see you with this virus.

(59:38):
Otherwise healthy people have recovered from the virus but had
persistent ongoing issues with their lungs or other organs. Like,
we don't know all the ramifications of this, and so
it's you know, I would never just cavalierly say that
the guys are better just getting it and getting it
out of the way as if it's the seasonal flu.
This is more serious than that. The ramifications of it

(01:00:01):
aren't completely known yet, and there's risk. And listen, if
your livelihood is making you know, very good money to
play this sport at a very high level and you
recover from COVID but end up having reduced lung capacity,
which is a possibility that's going to affect the rest
of your career and your future earnings. So this is
not It's not a small thing. How important is it

(01:00:24):
from Milwaukee to to to at least do well right
like they got They got two shots of this thing.
I know they can offer the supermax to Janice in
this upcoming off season and maybe that becomes, you know,
the moment where we know if he really wants to
stay there the rest of his career. But do do
you feel like this is an important let's just call
it a tournament. This is a heightened uh level of

(01:00:49):
importance in terms of how they do in the tournament
for Milwaukee. Yeah. Um, Look, before the league suspended play
um and before more serious things, you know, became the discussion,
I would say that this was one of the bigger
discussions in NBA circles. You know, how far do the

(01:01:09):
Bucks go? How far do they need to go to
convince the honest to want to stay there long term?
And you know, the honest is is I think built
a little different than a lot of other stars of
of this era. I think that that he does. He
does like the idea of staying there for the duration
of his career and likes the idea of being the
standard bearer for Milwaukee. But the trends are what they

(01:01:32):
are for the last ten years. Every guy who is
an m v P caliber players for certain m VP
in his case, um or or you just high level
all stars, when you reach what you think as a
plateau and you don't see a path forward, you go
and you find a better situation. We've seen it over
and over and over again. And so I'm not predicting
that your honest will or that he should, but I

(01:01:54):
do think that there is a lot at stake, and
it's unfortunate that it's at stake now in these very
strange circumstances. And again it's the least among you know,
people's concerns right now. But yeah, if you're the Bucks,
you have to think that it's really important to get
to the finals and maybe even win the championship to
convincing that it's possible because they don't have, you know,

(01:02:15):
a co star like Paul George. You know, I've got
Paul George. Lebron's got Anthony Davis, Steph Curry had Klay
Thompson and Draymond Green and then Kevin Durant all at once.
Um Lebron and Dwayne Wade had each other. Chris Middleton
is not at that level. He's an All Star, but
he's not that level of All Star. He's not gonna
he can't go anchor team by himself. And they don't

(01:02:36):
have that guy. I don't know if they can get
that guy. Whether that matters to Janice ultimately, you know
that that remains to be seen. Howard back our guest
and the Doug Otlie Show on Fox Sports Radio, best
guess who benefits more from the break and and from
the plans for the bubble Clippers or Lakers? Popular question,

(01:03:01):
and I have an unpopular answer. It's impossible to know. Um,
there's there's just no saying how well anybody's taking care
of themselves during the downtime and which players will come
back a little bit more out of shape, or who
comes back just in better shape? Period? Um, how much
does it matter that, like the Clippers core outside of
Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers returned that whole

(01:03:24):
group that had overachieved in one whatever forty eight games
with no stars. So maybe the fact that they've got
more muscle memory with each other matters than more than
a Laker team that you know, was kind of put
together on the fly and and didn't even have one
full season together. But we're guessing, We're just guessing. We
we have no idea how this long layoff is gonna
affect each taint team or each individuals conditioning, or how

(01:03:45):
it's going to affect their their chemistry. The only thing
we do know is that every Bradley has opted out,
And so at the moment, I'd say that, you know,
maybe the scales just tipped a little bit towards the Clippers.
But if Lou Williams follows and decides he's not playing,
that'd be a huge loss for the Clippers. I would say,
much bigger loss than neighbor Bradley to the Lakers. Um, yeah,
I lose got to decide which one of his two girlfriends.

(01:04:06):
He's gonna get right into a quarantine, right. That's that's
the kidding sort of Um, okay, Howard, we have those
three teams as the likely favorites. Who's who's the sleeper who?
Because it's a smaller sample size, because you take away
essentially home court advantage, give me give me a team

(01:04:27):
like you know what, I wouldn't be crazy if one
of those to these two teams either was in the
finals or one. I'm not going to give you a
single sleeper from the West because I think as long
as health is there, as long as nothing crazy happens.
Um it's Lakers are Clippers. There is no sleeper in
the West. But the East is different because the Bucks
are not a proven contender. They had a pretty big

(01:04:49):
lead in terms of the standings, but there are certain
things that they do really well at work in the
regular season, especially with the way that they use the
honest that may or may not be as important in
playoffs or may not be as as sustainable in the playoffs.
And as I said, they don't have that that that
true second star. So I'll give you two in the
East that I think have a very good chance of

(01:05:09):
making the finals, and that's Toronto and Boston. Toronto's got
the experience as defending champions. Granted they lost Kawhi Leonard,
but Pascal Siakam was, you know, phenomenal before the season
shut down. They've still got you know, Kyle Lowry and Sergibaka, Marcassol,
the rest of this group, Gasol and photos is looking
like like a new man, like in great shape. And

(01:05:31):
Boston just got this really great array of talent and
a bunch of guys who can do stuff with the
ball in their hands, Kimba and tatum Um, you know,
Jalen Brown to an extent, Gordon Hayward to an extent.
So there's just a versatility and kind of a depth
there in the way that their talent is lined up
that I think makes Boston really potent. So if it's
if the Raptors are Celtics somehow came out of the

(01:05:53):
East instead, I don't even think it should be considered
an upset. Are you going to the bubble? No, I'm
u um that's you know, it's it's a small number
that's going to be allowed from the media to go
into the bubble. It requires essentially being there the entire time. Um,
it's a that's a long time to be away from family,

(01:06:13):
and the payoff in terms of access is going to
be minimal, and so there's really to me in my analysis, Uh,
it's it's not worth it, there's not and it's gonna
be horrendously expensive to More details about this will be
coming out soon. I can't share it all, but um,
it's going to be incredibly expensive, and the payoff is
just not there. And it's a long time to be

(01:06:35):
sequestered away from your family and and stuck within that
NBA campus. So uh, it doesn't make much sense. I
you know, if I were twenty thirty years younger and single,
maybe I'd say, yeah, what, what the heck, this is
a fun story to be in in this really weird
uh you know, mini season in the middle of Disney

(01:06:55):
and and and write about just the this, the the
strangeness of it all, the union we caness of it all, um,
but I'll leave that to the you know, the twenty
five year old single people. Yeah, my family doesn't like
me that much, so that that put put me in
the boat for three months would probably work work for
for for my family. But anyway, Howard, great stuff. Look
forward to talking as we're getting closer and closer to hoops.

(01:07:16):
Really appreciate your perspective. Be sure to catch the live
edition of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm
Easter noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I
Heart Radio app