January 13, 2021 • 40 mins
Doug talks to NBA insider Ric Bucher about the blockbuster trade in the NBA and what the arrival of James Harden means for Kyrie Irving's status with the Nets.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Doug Gottlieb Show podcast. Be
sure to catch us live every weekday three to six
Eastern twelve to three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find
your local station for the Doug got Leave Show at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the I Heart Radio app by searching fs R.
(00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. What about Doug Gotlip Show,
Fox Sports Radio. Hope you're having a great day. Okay,
let's try it. That's what the Brooklyn Nets said. What
the hell, what the hell, Let's go for it, Let's
do it. Let's just do it, do it, do it,
(00:43):
do it. Um. There's an expression in sports that goes
a little less, something like this, don't bite the apple,
the talent apple. And that appears to be what Sean
Marks and the Brooklyn Nets have decided to do right
because they are. They are taking talent over character. They
(01:07):
just are. That doesn't mean that Kyrie's a bad human being.
When I say character, I mean basketball character. Doesn't mean
that James Harden is a bad human Being's not right.
But in terms of basketball character, like are you do
you play this sport with one purpose? I think Kevin
(01:29):
Durant does. I think Kevin Durant, he has flaws as
a player, probably flaws a human being. I think, you know,
you got to get out his phone, stop tweeting stuff out.
All of that stuff great, But Kevin Durant, everything he
does seems to be with the mindset of how can
I be the best basketball player ever, the best basset
player in this league, and how can I win this game.
(01:51):
I don't think that's what that's James Harden's uh m O.
I don't think that's how he rolls on a daily basis.
Kyrie Irving the same thing. I think what we found
with Kyrie Irving is he didn't love basketball. He's really
really good at it, and he has practiced it for
a long time. He's got an ammendsum, he's got talent
coming out his ears. But part of basketball, part of
(02:14):
life is working with and for other people. It shouldn't
be a surprise that the reports today are that Kyrie
that Kyrie is not happy about Steve Nash being his
new head coach. Remember this is the same Kyrie Irving
was like, why don't we go start our own league? Hey,
because Kyrie, you can't start your ownly. You don't. You don't.
You don't really actually have the money. Yeah, we do
(02:36):
know you don't. It's a different level of wealth, right,
And maybe maybe if you got everybody to opt out
of contracts that they've already signed, which would be incredibly
costly because you'd be sued out your nose and lose
to go and compete. You have you basically have non
(02:57):
compete clauses in all your contracts. You're not playing for
any league outside of the NBA in the United States period.
You can't actually play anywhere in the world if you
have an NBA contract. That's not how it works. But
that's where Kyrie just completely lost on what the reality is.
What the reality is. Even if all these guys can
(03:19):
put up the money wouldn't matter. They wouldn't have money
because they get sued and lose to the NBA. So
he wasn't starting his own league. He wasn't speaking for
other people. You know, I think he does some really
good works in terms of sharing his money and and
and uh the marketplace of ideas off the court and
(03:40):
being involved in social justice, like all those things are good.
You're all this stuff was based upon you being a
basketball player and won't be a basketbplayer. Get to the gym.
Lebron does all those things and plays basketball. You Yeah,
by the way, Lebron didn't pick the head coach. Matter
of fact, the head coach he wanted now coaches the
Lakers in inner city rival. I mean, another win for Lebron.
(04:08):
But all that risk does have some value. James Harden
can really play and there he has since he played
in Oklahoma City when they were much younger, you know,
with substitute Russell Westbrook and Victor Oladipo for DeAndre Jordan's
and Kyrie Irving. But he hadn't played with this much
(04:31):
talent and there is there are just dudes, dudes. It's
it's a it's going to be amazing to watch. And
the NBA hasn't been a good watch this year. The
games aren't competitive, the teams, the guys don't seem to
totally care. The rookies are able to play. There's no
home court advantage. It's just it's a weird, weird deal.
(04:53):
This gives you something to kind of pay attention to. Now,
it's something that nets have to do in order keep it,
in order to go for it. But I don't know
if it's something they had to do period, but what
the hell? Right? Like you got to kind of loose cannons,
let's go for a third. Does it work? I don't know.
Is it interesting? You better believe it? And I do
like interesting. I like interesting teams that become successful. But
(05:17):
I do like interesting eight seven seven nine nine Foxes
the phone number, Dan Buyer, what do you think of
the new big three in Brooklyn? Well? I any big
three that is Kevin Durant is awesome. Kyrie situation obviously
up in the air. I just I just don't know
if James Harden is the is the missing piece. I
(05:39):
don't know if they even had a missing piece. I
didn't know. I mean, in a season that is is
a early on b we have no idea and how
it's going to play out. What the Nuts had as
a as a team and as um a quote unquote
air quotes being used here a core. I still thought
that they were going to compete in the East. And
I just don't know how James Harden changes what we
(06:04):
think of the Nets in the position that they're going
to be, how they're going to go about it, I
think is even more of a question as well of
the hierarchy. You talked about the lass who's going to
take the shot at the end of the game. Now,
if Kyrie does stick around, now you've got three guys
to do it. Um, you know, it hardens a liability
on defense. And you know Jared Allen was was was
what twenty two years old and is turning into a
(06:26):
really nice piece in the middle. And so now you've
got basically five guys to count on, two of which
you don't know how they're going to act with their attitudes,
um with Kyrie and James Harden and so yeah, I
just I don't I mean, I I just I just
have questions on how much better they really are as
part of this. Even with Doug, even though they even
(06:49):
though they only really gave up Alan and Carris LeVert,
I still think that those are big enough pieces to
question how much it's really worth. Here's the irony to
the whole thing. The League took notice of the Nets
two years ago because Kenny Atkinson had built an incredible culture.
Actually go back to three years ago. Right then they
added in uh Um, D'Angelo Russell and D'Angelo Russell. They
(07:14):
were better with D'Angel Russell on the bench when they
had Spencer, did we need at the point notichis Spencer him?
He was a great player because he just fit. They
played as a team, they shared the ball, they had fun.
Now that team topped out at about five hundred slightly
you know, I think you're slightly below, but about a
five team. That that chemistry and that that only goes
so far. But now they've gone completely away from they've
(07:37):
done with a forget it like Carris Lavert that was
a great fine for them at that point in the
dry He's a good player, um And the same thing
with Alan you know it was a really good shot blocker.
And now you got DeAndre Jordan, who you know, we've
we've seen himfore. Now I know that he's he's supposedly
the friend of Kyrie Irving. But this whole thing, that
(08:00):
whole thing, it is a mess as well. Just even
looking at and I referenced what Allen did a week
ago against Utah nineteen points, eighteen rebounds in that game,
and it was a set of three straight games or
he had double doubles um his average double digit rebounds,
and all but four of his games so far this season.
Scoring has been up over the you know, the last
seven games or so so so, like as you're trying
(08:23):
to figure out how this season goes, and all of
a sudden a player like that is I understand the aldustic.
You have to give up value as part of it,
but it's just the point of was your team good
enough to win it all with what it had as
opposed to now the deal that you've brought in with
James Harden. Obviously they're still good enough. It's just does
hard and ruin the chemistry or alter the chemistry to
to what they had maybe if if it's not just
(08:46):
for this season, but in general, I mean, I feel
as though this situation has made the nuts cautious about
how much longer they think Kyrie Irving's playing basketball at all,
because at last she trying you have him under contract
for a couple more years. Kevin Durant under contract for
a couple more years. So maybe they do one more
(09:06):
year after this or one more year, So I mean,
maybe Kyrie does come back, but maybe they're looking at
this like, hey, now that we have at least James
Harden in addition to Kevin Durant, we can look at
trading Kyrie or if he does end up not wanting
to play basketball anymore, then we're not totally burned by this.
It sort of looks like they're trying to lay the
groundwork to protect themselves from its just being Kevin Durant
(09:28):
and the rest of those young pieces around them. I'm
gonna treat something out here to see if you like it,
you want to you want to read this here? M
Ryan music. Um, that's a good one. I'm pretty pretty
pretty pretty proud of it, as being said, taking a
while asend, that's that's the what they did. Yeah, m anyway, Um,
(09:50):
here we go. You ready, let's here. If only the
nets would sign yellow ball dumpster fire would be complete?
Could that happen? Please? I'd love to hear LaVar's thoughts
on this, you know what the nets would be at
that point? What I do? I would say, ye, should
(10:17):
Jello be option one? You know, if they want to win,
they get the ball to Jello if they want to win.
This is a this is really an amazing thing, you know.
And and I would also say this that because of
the organization, and I know it's different people and it's
different ownership, but because Brooklyn did this one other time
(10:39):
in their history. I think is also a makes it
a very very cautionary tale on how you proceed because
it's kind of like they finally have made it through
that deal and what happened, and then so now you
bring in Kyrie Irving, you are able to have Kevin Durant.
You made it through that era of the the Pierce
(11:02):
and Garnett trade, and now you just do it all
over again. You know what they're doing there, they're Napoleon attacking,
attacking Europe on two fronts, you know, going to fight
Russia in the dead of winter. That's the Germans did
in World War Two. Rights history repeating itself and then
going like no, no, no, this time we're better off.
This time it'll work. Didn't work for the Germans, didn't
(11:25):
work for Napoleon. My guess is, next time, if you
want to go attack Europe and Russia, probably don't fight
a war on two fronts. The brooklyn Nets are not
learning from history now. I think it's quite different. I think, uh,
Garnett and remember it wasn't a big three. He was
Jason Terry was the third one, but Pierce was past
(11:45):
his prime and Kevin Garnett was a shell of his
former self and there was no reale either, So I
think you know, some of those some of those connective
tissue parts like over Genrondo were also left behind. But
it is interesting that that here's the same franchise who
just basically got out of It's like a company that
went through Chapter eleven bankruptcy, right, and they finally get
(12:10):
through of all the bankruptcy filings and then they just
go and do the exact same thing with led them
to be bankrupt to begin with. I totally coming up
next more of the James Harden trade. Rick Bucker is
gonna join us, get us his thoughts. Anybody else gonna
be moved, right, Brad Beale? Now that are coming next.
For first, bet River Sports Book wants to invite you
(12:30):
to discover the complete sports betting experience, the foundations that
experienced a massive, massive number of betting ops on nearly
every regulated sporting event around the world. At on top
of that live streaming of sports every day, there's always
almost almost always a live match to watch on bet
River Sports Book right on your phone. Bet Rivers features
top to your customer service ready to answer your questions
(12:51):
anytime day or night. Plus With unique rush pace system,
bet Rivers Sports Book can authorize most withdrawal requests instantly.
Customer satisfaction is always the number one priority, and bet
Rivers will match your first deposit up to two hundred
and fifty dollars. Unlike some other sports books, pett Rivers
only requires a one time pay through to turn bonuses
into cash. Experience the difference. Go to bet rivers dot
(13:14):
com see for yourself. Must be twenty one, must be
president Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. To play gambling problem
called one Gambler Remember anytime, day or night. Go to
bet Rivers Sports Book at bet rivers dot com. That's
bet rivers dot com. This is the Doug Gottlieb Show
on Fox Sports Radio. Be sure to catch the live
(13:36):
edition of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three p m.
Easter noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio in the I
Heart Radio WAP Doug Gotlieb Show Fox Sports Radio. Discover
matches all the cash back you're in your credit card
at the end of the first year. It's amazing because
discovers accept at nine percent. A place in the US
that take credit cards, lettle More, Discover dot com, slash
Yes two thousand twenty deals from port limitations apply Rick
(13:57):
Buker in five minute. It's five minutes away from Rick Puker.
Get you an update for just joining us. James Harden
has been traded to the Houston Rockets. A ton of
picks go back on return, some pieces, most of them
go elsewhere. Carra Slovert goes to the Pacers and Victor
Oladipo goes to the Rockets. Um fascinating though that you know,
(14:18):
Janice No Drama signs his deal with the Bucks in
this past offseason. Now, it's really hard to tell what
these two, what these teams are, and what they you know,
what they will be the in case you're just following
the league. The Celtics at the best record in the East.
In Chase Sixers Bucks, the Nets are six and six,
but you know, for five games now they haven't had
(14:39):
Kyrie Irving, so who actually knows when they have. I'm
obviously they're pretty damn good. Supposedly he's unhappy with with
not that Steven Nask got the job, but that's part
of it that he wasn't consulted one of the things
about being consulted, which is interesting. It's like a lot
a lot like the Deshaun Watson thing, like if you
want to be involved in a coaching higher now and
(15:00):
the guy says you can be evolved, well then you
know what Shaun Watson can't do is he can't go
on vacations. I mean, like, now I have a pre
planned vacation. Know that respect that we need to make
the coaching higher. Now, the same goes, you know, like,
so who did Kyrie want to play for? He didn't
love playing for tylu or that that that marriage didn't
(15:22):
end well, it wasn't poorly, but it wasn't like they
were close. He goes to play for Brad Stevens and
that started well and then seemed to end poorly. He
goes to Brooklyn. Now he's played for two coaches are
actually three, you know. And my thing is, if you
like Jack Vaughan, you would they would have gone to
Orlando with him. They chose not to. He didn't had
(15:42):
to play in the games to go to Orlando. He
had a big traveling party there. So they hire Steve
Nash and it's like, okay, so who would you have liked?
Who is the person who is out there that would
have changed how you felt Steve Nash the two time
m v P. He's the guy they should be able
to speak your language as that playmaker is a guy
who just all you want to do is win and
(16:02):
get better. Um, but I think this is much more
in line with who the NBA has always been. It
is full of drama, absolutely chock fill of of drama,
and Kyrie is right now the league's biggest drama. You know,
(16:25):
biggest drama queen is Kyrie Irving. Be sure to catch
the live edition of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at
three pm Easter noon Pacific. Brick Buker joins us. You
see him on FS one. He's covered the NBA for years.
Buke Garny an immediate reaction to the trade. I get
why the Brooklyn Nets did it. I don't believe that
(16:46):
it is going to solve their problems. I'm impressed that
the Pacers and Kevin Pritchard slipped into the deal. And
my hat is off to Raphael Stone as the as
the GM of the Rockets. I I think he got
a mother load. I don't think there are any worse
and They've got plenty of draft picks in the future
(17:07):
that put them in good stead. So, um, I understand
why everybody did what they did. But if you're asking
me who I think is going to come out of
this in the best shape, it would be the Houston
Rockets in the Indiana Pacers ahead of the Brooklyn Nets.
I I tend to agree, although there is the I said,
(17:29):
you know, don't buy the apple of all that talent. Okay,
let's let's let's let's dig in first on on the
Kyrie Irving. So is it? What? What? What is the
deal is it? Is it the coaching iron like you know,
three games in, he doesn't like it? What? What? What?
What's really going on there? Now? There's a combination of things.
And I've talked to some people that are close to
Kyrie and and and his family and um and and
(17:53):
they're frustrated because Kyrie has not been clear even with
them about what is driving this it is I mean,
it started with a political protest um a feelings about
feelings about whether it's the tran what happened with Jacob Blake,
or what happened at the Capitol. But wanting to make
(18:14):
a statement of some kind. Uh. He simply has not
learned how to communicate what he's thinking and why he's
doing what he's doing when he does it. And then
you have something like the birthday party and and violating
uh COVID protocol that only adds to the mix. So
(18:35):
I have not gotten the impression that it's being driven
by Steve Nash or the coaching staff. It's it's more
other things that Kyrie Irving wants to represent and be
seen as, and he just hasn't done a very good
job of making that clear or consistent or combining it
(18:58):
with his responsibilities as an NBA player. Yeah, I mean
it's like, look, if you if you want to protest
the idea of protests, so we know what you're protesting exactly,
exactly and when. And this is where it becomes a
mixed bag. And I don't know, I don't know who
is advising Kyrie. I don't know if anybody is advising Kyrie.
(19:20):
But in much the same way when he came out
at the beginning of the year and he took issue
with the um with the peasants of the peons out there,
who are you referring to? He never he still hasn't
made it clear who who he was he was referencing.
And so when when your message is mixed, if you
(19:41):
want to be taken seriously, your message has to be clear,
right or wrong. And and Kyrie simply hasn't done a
very good good job of communicating what it is that
he's that he's thinking, which leaves us all guessing. And
by and large, uh, this is the rule. If you
leave a vacuum, it is going to be fil old
by other people, and it's going to be filled with
(20:02):
the most negative uh, concepts or ideas. People aren't going
to give you the benefit of the doubt in most cases. Yeah,
My thing is I genuinely like him anytime I've interacted
with him, but he does so many unlikable things and
he leaves. You know, he's one of those guys that
he's obviously very bright, but enough people have told him
(20:24):
he's bright. He thinks he's smarter than everybody, and you know,
it's like, yeah, okay, can we just can we just
get back to basketball? I don't know, I'm um, okay,
I just had this. I just had this conversation with
somebody close to him, and I said, look, this is
what bothers me about this is that I love, love,
love Kyrie's game. I believe that all of this overshadows
(20:46):
what an immense talent he is. And you don't become
an immense talent like that unless you are dedicated to
the game on some level. And and he could be.
And I even appreciate that he wants to be an
agent for good. Uh and he could be because of
his abilities as a basketball player, but he's undermining all
of that by the way that he's going about it.
(21:10):
Um okay, so what now, what does this mean for
the East? Well? Look, then that goes back to my
original point, which is why I understand why the Nets
are doing it, because they look at the East and
I go, there's no favorite here, there's nobody. There's nobody
here that's established themselves. Then then the way say the
Lakers have and so let's why not let's go for
(21:34):
it now. Um, we've we've already hitched our wagon to
k D and Kyrie. We had a number of guys
that were unhappy because they had a certain degree of
success before KDE and Kyrie. So let's go ahead and
and mortgage our future and see what we can possibly
accomplish and if nothing else, we have three huge assets
(21:54):
that worst comes to worst that we can we can
move one of them along if we if we have too.
But let's go for it, because it's it's wide open
at this stage. And yes, we gave it. We're not
a very good defensive team and we gave away two
of our best defensive players. But you know what, nobody's
playing defense in the league right now. So maybe the
dynamics simply has changed in the league and that's the
(22:17):
way the game is going to be played this season. Uh,
Doug Otlive Show here on Fox Sports Radio. Yeah, I
agree with you on the East. I agree with you
on the Nets thinking. And I know it goes counter
to what Sean Marks had really built, which is kind
of fat that fascinating in its own right, right is
that is that one of the things that drew Frankly
Carrie Irving there was the chemistry and how they all
seem to like playing together and uh and and they were,
(22:41):
you know, and and now that that chemistry seems to
on some level be be destroyed. I agree with you
on the Pacers. By the way, I love the Carross
Lavert getting Carreross Lavert for Victor Ladivo who they weren't
gonna keep. And I'm not sure carres Vert's not a
better player than Victor Ladipo right now. No, well, he's
first of all, he's much cheaper and to all of
the about just hasn't been the same player since he
(23:02):
came back from the injury. And I honestly, the type
of injury it is, I don't know that at his
size that he that he ever will be And so
it makes all the sense in the world. I mean,
I just watched the Pacers close out the Warriors last night,
and the pick and roll combination of of Malcolm Brogden
and Sabonis Miles Turner being a floor spacer, and Terris
(23:25):
LeVert having demonstrated that um, he's willing to fit in
with other stars coming off the bench this year can
get it himself. I just it makes all the sense
in the world for the Indiana Pacers. So Kevin Pritchard
makes another very shrewd move when nobody saw it coming. Yes,
I agree, Okay, well, Brad Bielby moved. I have not
(23:53):
heard anything to this point, but I can tell you
that executives we're saying to me like, uh okay, So
who's the next superstar to go? Because generally this when
you have one big move like this, it opens the floodgates.
That said, one of the things that I think is
slowing everything down is the fact that nobody is playing
(24:14):
particularly well and no one has been playing particularly poorly.
There's in both conferences. As of last night, I think
the difference between last place in the conference and first
place was a total of five games and both conferences.
So until somebody augurs that it augurs in that that
was expected to do better, or somebody really just falls
(24:38):
off and says we're falling off and we're going into
rebuilding mode, everybody feels like we're kind of in it,
like we don't need to make a move right now. So, um,
you know, does Philadelphia respond? Where did they go? Is
Darryl Moore? How hot is Darryl moorey is one executive
said to me um about the fact that that that
(25:00):
names Harden is off the table. That's the place that
I would look if somebody was going to make a
bonanza deal. Doug Gottlieb Show here on Fox Sports Radio.
You So, we we've talked about the Lakers, obviously, they
are impressive for the most part, but we also like,
look there, there hasn't been a lot of I haven't
been a lot of bad teams. What about the Clippers?
(25:21):
Like what they were team chemistry, dumps fire, dumpster fire
in a in a way. Where are they now? Um?
I don't know that they solved all their problems. There's
still a leadership question there, but they're They're better than
where they were. I honestly, I think everybody looked at
the changes that the Lakers and the Clippers made during
the off season, and I would make a case, having
(25:43):
watched the pieces, that the Clippers had a better off season.
They raised the i Q of their team. The pieces
fit better in terms of allowing Paul George in particular
to be Paul George. I don't think it's any accident
that he's shooting the best that he ever has in
(26:04):
his career. Offensively, they still have some things to work out. Um,
But honestly, I I don't know if they can beat
the Lakers. But having watched this group together, particularly the
switch from Mantras Herald to Sergibaka uh and Uh and
(26:25):
Luke Kennard for Landry Shammitt, I like those pieces better.
I think they're a smarter team. I think it's a
better fit. Yeah, so I those are two best teams
the NBA. Right, we're okay with that with the Lakers
in the in the slippers. Yeah, It's hard for me
to point to another team at this point that that
(26:45):
I would put ahead of him just because of their
their stars being two way players. How many how many
stars can you say that? How many teams can you
say that about? That? They're two best players can impact
the game at both ends of the floor. Now, I
would say the nets three best players are better than
anybody else's and their third best players better than anybody
else's third best player. But one of the best players offensively.
(27:08):
But there's two ends of the court, right and now
you know, now you're depending on DeAndre Jordan to be
getting your full time rim protector. Uh and and you
gotta you gotta hide Joe Harris huh yeah? Who who
you can then leave? Leave? I mean there's there's there
are some issues there. I mean you can leave DeAndre
Jordan's and help out, and DeAndre Jordan can't space the floor,
(27:32):
which then takes away certain things that Kyrie Irving and
James Harden are going to be capable of doing so.
It's the dynamic there is going to be challenging to
figure out how you make the most, even at the
offensive end, how you make the most of those three powerhouses. Yeah,
it's the whole thing is just And don't you love it?
(27:53):
I mean I do love I do love it. But
like that's the only thing anybody's talking about because the
games are awful. The games are awful, and now they're
being postponed and you got guys, you know, George Hill
complaining about stuff like I why can't I go? And
they can't make me stay in a hotel room? Like yeah,
actually they can, dude, actually can. Well yeah, but I
look at the additional protocol that the league is trying
(28:14):
to put into place is just unrealistic. It's not you can't.
You're trying to create the bubble outside of the bubble.
That's not going to happen. You need to find you
need to find the flexibility and maintain the flexibility knowing
that you are going to have to reschedule games, that
you're going to have teams that are going to have
(28:36):
COVID outbreaks. That's just the reality of the world at large,
so adapt to the circumstances, as opposed to thinking that
if you can you force players to what live inside
this artificial bubble that you are going to avoid contact.
It's i mean, the the the no fist bumping or
(28:59):
you know, no handship, it's no fraternizing with the opponents.
I mean, some of it is ridiculous because as soon
as you get on the court, like you're breathing, you're
on top of each other. You can't you're gonna we're
gonna play the game. You're gonna play the game in
proximity closer than you are too, given somebody a handshake
before the game. Some of some of it just is
(29:22):
it no. But but it's a lot like some of
the rules they have in California where they know people
are going to nobody's gonna fall right. But but that's
the problem, Doug. That's that is that is a major
issue when you set, when you create rules, and you're
doing so knowing that they're going to be broken, then
(29:42):
you undermine your authority and and and your ability to
convince people that you're doing the right thing. Then they
begin to question why are we doing this? Is it
for appearances or is it for efficiency and effectiveness? I
got you, I got you, crazy day man, crazy, crazy times,
(30:04):
crazy times, more to more to pay attention to, though.
I mean, look, somebody asked me the other day. They
were like, so, you know, if you're gonna give the
thirty seconds, you're gonna tell people, You're gonna catch them
up on what's happened in the league. You know what
would you tell him? I go, nothing, nothing has happened,
and there's no nothing meaningful has happened in the league
to this point. The Lakers are the best team coming out.
(30:26):
They're still the best team. We still have question marks
about everybody else, and nobody's pulled away from the pack
or established themselves any significant way. And now we at
least have this beautiful, mysterious Brooklyn Nets experiment to pay
attention to. I think it's gonna blow up, But you
know what, even the the experiments that that blow up
(30:49):
are fascinating to watch. Awesome, awesome stuff. Rick Buker, Uh,
Fox Sports one. You check them out, it all our shows.
You appreciate you join us. He is, in fact the best.
He is in fact, Rick Buker, Um call it now,
Call it now Ryan, what do you think? But does
it work? Does it not work? In Brooklyn? I think
(31:09):
it works because extent to what extent I think. I
think they'll make it too, at least the Eastern Conference
Finals this year, because I look, I can easily be
wrong on this. I am not convinced that Kyrie Irving
plays another NBA game this year. There's a there's a
(31:30):
report here from Jason dumas Um. He said he spoke
to someone close to Kyrie Irving who said he's willing
to sit up this entire season for what. I don't know,
But what's he went again, like it's the I don't
somebody's gotta tell me what for? Right, Like, yeah, that's
(31:55):
the big problem is what do you what are you
mad about? Dude? What you know? Like, we can't use
your words? Use your words as you tail kids all
the time, use your words, you know. The timing of it, Dug.
I actually thought it may have been a political thing.
I did too. I think it was the political thing.
I think that's and maybe it's And and you know
one thing about Steve Nash is he has they are
(32:15):
kind of politically aligned, right, yeah, go ahead, I'm sorry. No,
And that's and so so when we found out that
he was going to be out on Thursday, I thought, okay,
from what happened a week ago at the Capitol, maybe
it was him, you know, kind of trying to make
his his stand, and then this other stuff came out
in But I don't understand nonstatement statements. Yeah, I don't either,
(32:35):
right that that's the part that that I struggle with,
Like if you're gonna make a statement like hey, I'm
not gonna play basketball right now because of what happened
the Capitol, and I just like, this is my way
of doing it, Like, okay, that is a protest. You know,
that is a protest. I you know, I'm not sure
I agree with the protest, but I I do. I
understand how I was upset when I was watching. It's
(32:57):
my country to right, it's all of our country. We're
on this together. But I don't I truthfully don't know
if that's what is. No one knows what it is.
My wife can be like this where I have no
idea what's wrong, nothing, nothing's wrong, something's wrong. I'm fine,
I'm fine, No, I'm fine, fine, all right, I'm fine, fine, fine? Fine?
(33:19):
Is fine? Is fine? His fine in relationships is mediocre
in teams, right, mediocre means average, it means fine. But
you don't want to hear anybody say then it was mediocre.
You know what, here's anyways say it's fine? Interesting? Right? Yes, um,
all right, we got a bunch to get too. Still,
huh what a day? What a story? Do you think
(33:42):
it works? Fire? See? You know when Ryan said like
Eastern Conference finals, Like, I don't think that that's even
like their goal. No, this is a finals or bust championships.
So I say no, So I think NBA. I don't
think they they'll make the NBA finals. I think it works. Okay,
I don't think it works next I think I don't
(34:03):
think it'll work next year. I think it worked this year.
If they get Kyrie back. If they get Kyrie back,
I think it. I think it works. Then, Um, you
guys got the Nets, cell Tic the field well not
to win an NBA change. I think finals of the East.
It's not good. Even it's not good. But I don't
know if anybody is that good offensively that it's you know,
(34:25):
it's like, who is our competition? The Bucks, the Celtics.
I can though the chemistry is better with the Celtics.
Is still not great. You know, you know what you're
gonna get with the Celtics. Like the Celtics, they don't
blow me away with how good they are, like those
(34:46):
the young players that we all love and think are
really really good. Um, I don't know, Like it feels
like it's gonna end up with a Jason Tatum contested
perimeter jump shot. You know, I love the Peyton Pritty
your story, but he's playing a lot of minutes right now.
Is they're you know, they're waiting, uh to see what
happens with Kemba Walker in his knee, but like they're
(35:08):
not winning an NBA Like he can't play with Kyrie Irving.
Stop it. He's a He's a really good young draft
pick player. I love him. Um, I mean they have
their issues. You know, Marcus Smart is a tremendous defensive
player and can't shoot. So I mean, you tell me
(35:29):
where they're going to get the offense to keep up
with that team. And there is a certain extent this
is a little bit like the NFL college football where
I'm I do think the defense and that's what the
Lakers want. But the Lakers did not play the best
teams and the league is trending. The way of offense
is a great offensive lineup. I think it works. I
think it's fun. I think there's some crazy stories. I
(35:50):
don't know how they get Kyrie back in the fold.
I think it's just crazy enough to work. James Harden
wasn't the only star moved in the NBA to day.
We'll discuss it 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 to listen live.
(36:10):
Doug a lip show. Fox Sports Radio Discover matches all
the cash back you earn your credit card at the
end of your first year. It's amazing because discovers except
in nine episode in the places in the US to
take credit cards lit mort Discover dot com slash yes
two doesn't twenty report limitations apply that to get to
the press, the press. What do you got, Dan buyer? Doug,
(36:33):
We start out with the big news of the day.
James Harden traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the Houston Rockets.
Rockets getting Dante x and four unprotected first round picks
and four pick swaps to other teams involved in the
trade Cavaliers and the Pacers. Calves are getting Jared Allen
and Torrean Prince while the Pacers are gonna get Caress
Lavert and Victor Oladipo ends up going to Houston. Well,
(36:55):
what we discussed it. I mean, like, look, do I
think that like they're gonna all end up buddies at
the end of the they know, but if they're all healthy,
it's a really talented team. I remember, Yeah, Joe Harris,
DeAndre Jordan not terrible. Um does the rest of their
bench look like it's the rest of the I'm trying
to think now, now they've they've shed even more of
(37:15):
their roster depth, right, Uh, Chris CIO's Jeff Green is
still on that team. He's not bad, right like Jeff Green, Shammont,
Tyler Johnson, Andrew Shamont to Johnson, it's not bad. I mean,
I think they're gonna be good. I think they'll be
the most talented team in the East. That doesn't mean
they win the East, but I think it'll be pretty good.
(37:37):
You know, Rance, really good man. I Also I made
the point I know that they don't have the opportunity
um to play the long game. But it reminds me
a little of when the Rams, you know, tried to
go all in and it was I felt it was
to grab like the City of l a to to
not to bistagram New York. But in a season where
(37:57):
fans aren't allowed to attend of these really actions and
nobody's gotten into the NBA, but it hasn't been like
a regular season. I just wonder on what the what
the whole win, even if they win it, how much
of an impact it will actually have for them as
a franchise. Well, look, they just even even with you know,
even with two of the elite players in the NBA there,
(38:18):
they're They're not more popular than the Knicks. They've been
more successful than the Knicks over the last twenty years,
they're not more popular than the Knicks. So I think
this is them just going for it. I don't think
it's about attention. I think it's like whatever, Like we
got Kyrieen's Kyrie's crazy Kevin Rance aloof but they can
both really play and James Harden wants to play with us,
(38:38):
and they got leveraged a little bit by Philadelphia floating
out their trade details and they had to they had
to unload the kitchen sink. Bears in coach Mattenneggie and
GM Ryan Pace will return next season, but Bears defensive
coordinator Chuck Bagano announcing he's retiring from coaching. Chuck Bagano
interesting career, right, I mean, he had the Chuck Strong
thing in Indy when he's the head coach. He had
(38:59):
the worst fake punt in the history of the NFL.
Is also a very well respected defensive coordinator, not just
for the Bears this year, but previously with the Baltimore Ravens.
But the beginning of the changes in Chicago are interesting,
especially with the McCaskey coming out saying that Ryan Pace
and Matt Neegi impressed him, but not impressed him enough
(39:20):
to give him a contract extension. It's started one horse race,
and when it comes to Urban Meyer, as the NFL
Networks is, the Chargers have also been in contact with
the Meyer about their head coaching vacancy. I think they're
really interested in and and you know, I wouldn't be
surprised if the spanos Is are the type of guys
that went for it, you know, like they they're they're
(39:41):
in that same mode as you said about the Rams
trying to get l A's attention. I don't think that's
how Tom Telesco has run the team, but that is
something that the Spanos family wants, which is it can
they find a way to get people to buy season tickets?
And they have a better roster than the Rams, but
they haven't as much success to the Rams, and maybe
getting rb Meyer does it get out there and pressed
(40:02):
that the press. They also don't have Aaron Donald's Aaron Donald,
I want to do this before the week's up. Like
Aaron Donald is, there's the conversation of the best football
players I've ever seen, right, Like Dion Sanders is that
it can be weird, and now he's a head coach
in the NFL and he said things, but he's the
best cover corner and kick return guy I've ever seen
(40:23):
ever ever and Jerry Rice the best wide receiver I've
ever seen. That's how I feel about Aaron Donald. Wh
I watch him play football all right. James Harden is
a net what's it mean? Keep it here? It's Fox
Sports Radio.
Thanks for listening to the Doug Gottlieb Show podcast. Be
sure to catch us live every weekday three to six
Eastern twelve to three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find
your local station for the Doug got Leave Show at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the I Heart Radio app by searching fs R.
(00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. What about Doug Gotlip Show,
Fox Sports Radio. Hope you're having a great day. Okay,
let's try it. That's what the Brooklyn Nets said. What
the hell, what the hell, Let's go for it, Let's
do it. Let's just do it, do it, do it,
(00:43):
do it. Um. There's an expression in sports that goes
a little less, something like this, don't bite the apple,
the talent apple. And that appears to be what Sean
Marks and the Brooklyn Nets have decided to do right
because they are. They are taking talent over character. They
(01:07):
just are. That doesn't mean that Kyrie's a bad human being.
When I say character, I mean basketball character. Doesn't mean
that James Harden is a bad human Being's not right.
But in terms of basketball character, like are you do
you play this sport with one purpose? I think Kevin
(01:29):
Durant does. I think Kevin Durant, he has flaws as
a player, probably flaws a human being. I think, you know,
you got to get out his phone, stop tweeting stuff out.
All of that stuff great, But Kevin Durant, everything he
does seems to be with the mindset of how can
I be the best basketball player ever, the best basset
player in this league, and how can I win this game.
(01:51):
I don't think that's what that's James Harden's uh m O.
I don't think that's how he rolls on a daily basis.
Kyrie Irving the same thing. I think what we found
with Kyrie Irving is he didn't love basketball. He's really
really good at it, and he has practiced it for
a long time. He's got an ammendsum, he's got talent
coming out his ears. But part of basketball, part of
(02:14):
life is working with and for other people. It shouldn't
be a surprise that the reports today are that Kyrie
that Kyrie is not happy about Steve Nash being his
new head coach. Remember this is the same Kyrie Irving
was like, why don't we go start our own league? Hey,
because Kyrie, you can't start your ownly. You don't. You don't.
You don't really actually have the money. Yeah, we do
(02:36):
know you don't. It's a different level of wealth, right,
And maybe maybe if you got everybody to opt out
of contracts that they've already signed, which would be incredibly
costly because you'd be sued out your nose and lose
to go and compete. You have you basically have non
(02:57):
compete clauses in all your contracts. You're not playing for
any league outside of the NBA in the United States period.
You can't actually play anywhere in the world if you
have an NBA contract. That's not how it works. But
that's where Kyrie just completely lost on what the reality is.
What the reality is. Even if all these guys can
(03:19):
put up the money wouldn't matter. They wouldn't have money
because they get sued and lose to the NBA. So
he wasn't starting his own league. He wasn't speaking for
other people. You know, I think he does some really
good works in terms of sharing his money and and
and uh the marketplace of ideas off the court and
(03:40):
being involved in social justice, like all those things are good.
You're all this stuff was based upon you being a
basketball player and won't be a basketbplayer. Get to the gym.
Lebron does all those things and plays basketball. You Yeah,
by the way, Lebron didn't pick the head coach. Matter
of fact, the head coach he wanted now coaches the
Lakers in inner city rival. I mean, another win for Lebron.
(04:08):
But all that risk does have some value. James Harden
can really play and there he has since he played
in Oklahoma City when they were much younger, you know,
with substitute Russell Westbrook and Victor Oladipo for DeAndre Jordan's
and Kyrie Irving. But he hadn't played with this much
(04:31):
talent and there is there are just dudes, dudes. It's
it's a it's going to be amazing to watch. And
the NBA hasn't been a good watch this year. The
games aren't competitive, the teams, the guys don't seem to
totally care. The rookies are able to play. There's no
home court advantage. It's just it's a weird, weird deal.
(04:53):
This gives you something to kind of pay attention to. Now,
it's something that nets have to do in order keep it,
in order to go for it. But I don't know
if it's something they had to do period, but what
the hell? Right? Like you got to kind of loose cannons,
let's go for a third. Does it work? I don't know.
Is it interesting? You better believe it? And I do
like interesting. I like interesting teams that become successful. But
(05:17):
I do like interesting eight seven seven nine nine Foxes
the phone number, Dan Buyer, what do you think of
the new big three in Brooklyn? Well? I any big
three that is Kevin Durant is awesome. Kyrie situation obviously
up in the air. I just I just don't know
if James Harden is the is the missing piece. I
(05:39):
don't know if they even had a missing piece. I
didn't know. I mean, in a season that is is
a early on b we have no idea and how
it's going to play out. What the Nuts had as
a as a team and as um a quote unquote
air quotes being used here a core. I still thought
that they were going to compete in the East. And
I just don't know how James Harden changes what we
(06:04):
think of the Nets in the position that they're going
to be, how they're going to go about it, I
think is even more of a question as well of
the hierarchy. You talked about the lass who's going to
take the shot at the end of the game. Now,
if Kyrie does stick around, now you've got three guys
to do it. Um, you know, it hardens a liability
on defense. And you know Jared Allen was was was
what twenty two years old and is turning into a
(06:26):
really nice piece in the middle. And so now you've
got basically five guys to count on, two of which
you don't know how they're going to act with their attitudes,
um with Kyrie and James Harden and so yeah, I
just I don't I mean, I I just I just
have questions on how much better they really are as
part of this. Even with Doug, even though they even
(06:49):
though they only really gave up Alan and Carris LeVert,
I still think that those are big enough pieces to
question how much it's really worth. Here's the irony to
the whole thing. The League took notice of the Nets
two years ago because Kenny Atkinson had built an incredible culture.
Actually go back to three years ago. Right then they
added in uh Um, D'Angelo Russell and D'Angelo Russell. They
(07:14):
were better with D'Angel Russell on the bench when they
had Spencer, did we need at the point notichis Spencer him?
He was a great player because he just fit. They
played as a team, they shared the ball, they had fun.
Now that team topped out at about five hundred slightly
you know, I think you're slightly below, but about a
five team. That that chemistry and that that only goes
so far. But now they've gone completely away from they've
(07:37):
done with a forget it like Carris Lavert that was
a great fine for them at that point in the
dry He's a good player, um And the same thing
with Alan you know it was a really good shot blocker.
And now you got DeAndre Jordan, who you know, we've
we've seen himfore. Now I know that he's he's supposedly
the friend of Kyrie Irving. But this whole thing, that
(08:00):
whole thing, it is a mess as well. Just even
looking at and I referenced what Allen did a week
ago against Utah nineteen points, eighteen rebounds in that game,
and it was a set of three straight games or
he had double doubles um his average double digit rebounds,
and all but four of his games so far this season.
Scoring has been up over the you know, the last
seven games or so so so, like as you're trying
(08:23):
to figure out how this season goes, and all of
a sudden a player like that is I understand the aldustic.
You have to give up value as part of it,
but it's just the point of was your team good
enough to win it all with what it had as
opposed to now the deal that you've brought in with
James Harden. Obviously they're still good enough. It's just does
hard and ruin the chemistry or alter the chemistry to
to what they had maybe if if it's not just
(08:46):
for this season, but in general, I mean, I feel
as though this situation has made the nuts cautious about
how much longer they think Kyrie Irving's playing basketball at all,
because at last she trying you have him under contract
for a couple more years. Kevin Durant under contract for
a couple more years. So maybe they do one more
(09:06):
year after this or one more year, So I mean,
maybe Kyrie does come back, but maybe they're looking at
this like, hey, now that we have at least James
Harden in addition to Kevin Durant, we can look at
trading Kyrie or if he does end up not wanting
to play basketball anymore, then we're not totally burned by this.
It sort of looks like they're trying to lay the
groundwork to protect themselves from its just being Kevin Durant
(09:28):
and the rest of those young pieces around them. I'm
gonna treat something out here to see if you like it,
you want to you want to read this here? M
Ryan music. Um, that's a good one. I'm pretty pretty
pretty pretty proud of it, as being said, taking a
while asend, that's that's the what they did. Yeah, m anyway, Um,
(09:50):
here we go. You ready, let's here. If only the
nets would sign yellow ball dumpster fire would be complete?
Could that happen? Please? I'd love to hear LaVar's thoughts
on this, you know what the nets would be at
that point? What I do? I would say, ye, should
(10:17):
Jello be option one? You know, if they want to win,
they get the ball to Jello if they want to win.
This is a this is really an amazing thing, you know.
And and I would also say this that because of
the organization, and I know it's different people and it's
different ownership, but because Brooklyn did this one other time
(10:39):
in their history. I think is also a makes it
a very very cautionary tale on how you proceed because
it's kind of like they finally have made it through
that deal and what happened, and then so now you
bring in Kyrie Irving, you are able to have Kevin Durant.
You made it through that era of the the Pierce
(11:02):
and Garnett trade, and now you just do it all
over again. You know what they're doing there, they're Napoleon attacking,
attacking Europe on two fronts, you know, going to fight
Russia in the dead of winter. That's the Germans did
in World War Two. Rights history repeating itself and then
going like no, no, no, this time we're better off.
This time it'll work. Didn't work for the Germans, didn't
(11:25):
work for Napoleon. My guess is, next time, if you
want to go attack Europe and Russia, probably don't fight
a war on two fronts. The brooklyn Nets are not
learning from history now. I think it's quite different. I think, uh,
Garnett and remember it wasn't a big three. He was
Jason Terry was the third one, but Pierce was past
(11:45):
his prime and Kevin Garnett was a shell of his
former self and there was no reale either, So I
think you know, some of those some of those connective
tissue parts like over Genrondo were also left behind. But
it is interesting that that here's the same franchise who
just basically got out of It's like a company that
went through Chapter eleven bankruptcy, right, and they finally get
(12:10):
through of all the bankruptcy filings and then they just
go and do the exact same thing with led them
to be bankrupt to begin with. I totally coming up
next more of the James Harden trade. Rick Bucker is
gonna join us, get us his thoughts. Anybody else gonna
be moved, right, Brad Beale? Now that are coming next.
For first, bet River Sports Book wants to invite you
(12:30):
to discover the complete sports betting experience, the foundations that
experienced a massive, massive number of betting ops on nearly
every regulated sporting event around the world. At on top
of that live streaming of sports every day, there's always
almost almost always a live match to watch on bet
River Sports Book right on your phone. Bet Rivers features
top to your customer service ready to answer your questions
(12:51):
anytime day or night. Plus With unique rush pace system,
bet Rivers Sports Book can authorize most withdrawal requests instantly.
Customer satisfaction is always the number one priority, and bet
Rivers will match your first deposit up to two hundred
and fifty dollars. Unlike some other sports books, pett Rivers
only requires a one time pay through to turn bonuses
into cash. Experience the difference. Go to bet rivers dot
(13:14):
com see for yourself. Must be twenty one, must be
president Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. To play gambling problem
called one Gambler Remember anytime, day or night. Go to
bet Rivers Sports Book at bet rivers dot com. That's
bet rivers dot com. This is the Doug Gottlieb Show
on Fox Sports Radio. Be sure to catch the live
(13:36):
edition of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three p m.
Easter noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio in the I
Heart Radio WAP Doug Gotlieb Show Fox Sports Radio. Discover
matches all the cash back you're in your credit card
at the end of the first year. It's amazing because
discovers accept at nine percent. A place in the US
that take credit cards, lettle More, Discover dot com, slash
Yes two thousand twenty deals from port limitations apply Rick
(13:57):
Buker in five minute. It's five minutes away from Rick Puker.
Get you an update for just joining us. James Harden
has been traded to the Houston Rockets. A ton of
picks go back on return, some pieces, most of them
go elsewhere. Carra Slovert goes to the Pacers and Victor
Oladipo goes to the Rockets. Um fascinating though that you know,
(14:18):
Janice No Drama signs his deal with the Bucks in
this past offseason. Now, it's really hard to tell what
these two, what these teams are, and what they you know,
what they will be the in case you're just following
the league. The Celtics at the best record in the East.
In Chase Sixers Bucks, the Nets are six and six,
but you know, for five games now they haven't had
(14:39):
Kyrie Irving, so who actually knows when they have. I'm
obviously they're pretty damn good. Supposedly he's unhappy with with
not that Steven Nask got the job, but that's part
of it that he wasn't consulted one of the things
about being consulted, which is interesting. It's like a lot
a lot like the Deshaun Watson thing, like if you
want to be involved in a coaching higher now and
(15:00):
the guy says you can be evolved, well then you
know what Shaun Watson can't do is he can't go
on vacations. I mean, like, now I have a pre
planned vacation. Know that respect that we need to make
the coaching higher. Now, the same goes, you know, like,
so who did Kyrie want to play for? He didn't
love playing for tylu or that that that marriage didn't
(15:22):
end well, it wasn't poorly, but it wasn't like they
were close. He goes to play for Brad Stevens and
that started well and then seemed to end poorly. He
goes to Brooklyn. Now he's played for two coaches are
actually three, you know. And my thing is, if you
like Jack Vaughan, you would they would have gone to
Orlando with him. They chose not to. He didn't had
(15:42):
to play in the games to go to Orlando. He
had a big traveling party there. So they hire Steve
Nash and it's like, okay, so who would you have liked?
Who is the person who is out there that would
have changed how you felt Steve Nash the two time
m v P. He's the guy they should be able
to speak your language as that playmaker is a guy
who just all you want to do is win and
(16:02):
get better. Um, but I think this is much more
in line with who the NBA has always been. It
is full of drama, absolutely chock fill of of drama,
and Kyrie is right now the league's biggest drama. You know,
(16:25):
biggest drama queen is Kyrie Irving. Be sure to catch
the live edition of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at
three pm Easter noon Pacific. Brick Buker joins us. You
see him on FS one. He's covered the NBA for years.
Buke Garny an immediate reaction to the trade. I get
why the Brooklyn Nets did it. I don't believe that
(16:46):
it is going to solve their problems. I'm impressed that
the Pacers and Kevin Pritchard slipped into the deal. And
my hat is off to Raphael Stone as the as
the GM of the Rockets. I I think he got
a mother load. I don't think there are any worse
and They've got plenty of draft picks in the future
(17:07):
that put them in good stead. So, um, I understand
why everybody did what they did. But if you're asking
me who I think is going to come out of
this in the best shape, it would be the Houston
Rockets in the Indiana Pacers ahead of the Brooklyn Nets.
I I tend to agree, although there is the I said,
(17:29):
you know, don't buy the apple of all that talent. Okay,
let's let's let's let's dig in first on on the
Kyrie Irving. So is it? What? What? What is the
deal is it? Is it the coaching iron like you know,
three games in, he doesn't like it? What? What? What?
What's really going on there? Now? There's a combination of things.
And I've talked to some people that are close to
Kyrie and and and his family and um and and
(17:53):
they're frustrated because Kyrie has not been clear even with
them about what is driving this it is I mean,
it started with a political protest um a feelings about
feelings about whether it's the tran what happened with Jacob Blake,
or what happened at the Capitol. But wanting to make
(18:14):
a statement of some kind. Uh. He simply has not
learned how to communicate what he's thinking and why he's
doing what he's doing when he does it. And then
you have something like the birthday party and and violating
uh COVID protocol that only adds to the mix. So
(18:35):
I have not gotten the impression that it's being driven
by Steve Nash or the coaching staff. It's it's more
other things that Kyrie Irving wants to represent and be
seen as, and he just hasn't done a very good
job of making that clear or consistent or combining it
(18:58):
with his responsibilities as an NBA player. Yeah, I mean
it's like, look, if you if you want to protest
the idea of protests, so we know what you're protesting exactly,
exactly and when. And this is where it becomes a
mixed bag. And I don't know, I don't know who
is advising Kyrie. I don't know if anybody is advising Kyrie.
(19:20):
But in much the same way when he came out
at the beginning of the year and he took issue
with the um with the peasants of the peons out there,
who are you referring to? He never he still hasn't
made it clear who who he was he was referencing.
And so when when your message is mixed, if you
(19:41):
want to be taken seriously, your message has to be clear,
right or wrong. And and Kyrie simply hasn't done a
very good good job of communicating what it is that
he's that he's thinking, which leaves us all guessing. And
by and large, uh, this is the rule. If you
leave a vacuum, it is going to be fil old
by other people, and it's going to be filled with
(20:02):
the most negative uh, concepts or ideas. People aren't going
to give you the benefit of the doubt in most cases. Yeah,
My thing is I genuinely like him anytime I've interacted
with him, but he does so many unlikable things and
he leaves. You know, he's one of those guys that
he's obviously very bright, but enough people have told him
(20:24):
he's bright. He thinks he's smarter than everybody, and you know,
it's like, yeah, okay, can we just can we just
get back to basketball? I don't know, I'm um, okay,
I just had this. I just had this conversation with
somebody close to him, and I said, look, this is
what bothers me about this is that I love, love,
love Kyrie's game. I believe that all of this overshadows
(20:46):
what an immense talent he is. And you don't become
an immense talent like that unless you are dedicated to
the game on some level. And and he could be.
And I even appreciate that he wants to be an
agent for good. Uh and he could be because of
his abilities as a basketball player, but he's undermining all
of that by the way that he's going about it.
(21:10):
Um okay, so what now, what does this mean for
the East? Well? Look, then that goes back to my
original point, which is why I understand why the Nets
are doing it, because they look at the East and
I go, there's no favorite here, there's nobody. There's nobody
here that's established themselves. Then then the way say the
Lakers have and so let's why not let's go for
(21:34):
it now. Um, we've we've already hitched our wagon to
k D and Kyrie. We had a number of guys
that were unhappy because they had a certain degree of
success before KDE and Kyrie. So let's go ahead and
and mortgage our future and see what we can possibly
accomplish and if nothing else, we have three huge assets
(21:54):
that worst comes to worst that we can we can
move one of them along if we if we have too.
But let's go for it, because it's it's wide open
at this stage. And yes, we gave it. We're not
a very good defensive team and we gave away two
of our best defensive players. But you know what, nobody's
playing defense in the league right now. So maybe the
dynamics simply has changed in the league and that's the
(22:17):
way the game is going to be played this season. Uh,
Doug Otlive Show here on Fox Sports Radio. Yeah, I
agree with you on the East. I agree with you
on the Nets thinking. And I know it goes counter
to what Sean Marks had really built, which is kind
of fat that fascinating in its own right, right is
that is that one of the things that drew Frankly
Carrie Irving there was the chemistry and how they all
seem to like playing together and uh and and they were,
(22:41):
you know, and and now that that chemistry seems to
on some level be be destroyed. I agree with you
on the Pacers. By the way, I love the Carross
Lavert getting Carreross Lavert for Victor Ladivo who they weren't
gonna keep. And I'm not sure carres Vert's not a
better player than Victor Ladipo right now. No, well, he's
first of all, he's much cheaper and to all of
the about just hasn't been the same player since he
(23:02):
came back from the injury. And I honestly, the type
of injury it is, I don't know that at his
size that he that he ever will be And so
it makes all the sense in the world. I mean,
I just watched the Pacers close out the Warriors last night,
and the pick and roll combination of of Malcolm Brogden
and Sabonis Miles Turner being a floor spacer, and Terris
(23:25):
LeVert having demonstrated that um, he's willing to fit in
with other stars coming off the bench this year can
get it himself. I just it makes all the sense
in the world for the Indiana Pacers. So Kevin Pritchard
makes another very shrewd move when nobody saw it coming. Yes,
I agree, Okay, well, Brad Bielby moved. I have not
(23:53):
heard anything to this point, but I can tell you
that executives we're saying to me like, uh okay, So
who's the next superstar to go? Because generally this when
you have one big move like this, it opens the floodgates.
That said, one of the things that I think is
slowing everything down is the fact that nobody is playing
(24:14):
particularly well and no one has been playing particularly poorly.
There's in both conferences. As of last night, I think
the difference between last place in the conference and first
place was a total of five games and both conferences.
So until somebody augurs that it augurs in that that
was expected to do better, or somebody really just falls
(24:38):
off and says we're falling off and we're going into
rebuilding mode, everybody feels like we're kind of in it,
like we don't need to make a move right now. So, um,
you know, does Philadelphia respond? Where did they go? Is
Darryl Moore? How hot is Darryl moorey is one executive
said to me um about the fact that that that
(25:00):
names Harden is off the table. That's the place that
I would look if somebody was going to make a
bonanza deal. Doug Gottlieb Show here on Fox Sports Radio.
You So, we we've talked about the Lakers, obviously, they
are impressive for the most part, but we also like,
look there, there hasn't been a lot of I haven't
been a lot of bad teams. What about the Clippers?
(25:21):
Like what they were team chemistry, dumps fire, dumpster fire
in a in a way. Where are they now? Um?
I don't know that they solved all their problems. There's
still a leadership question there, but they're They're better than
where they were. I honestly, I think everybody looked at
the changes that the Lakers and the Clippers made during
the off season, and I would make a case, having
(25:43):
watched the pieces, that the Clippers had a better off season.
They raised the i Q of their team. The pieces
fit better in terms of allowing Paul George in particular
to be Paul George. I don't think it's any accident
that he's shooting the best that he ever has in
(26:04):
his career. Offensively, they still have some things to work out. Um,
But honestly, I I don't know if they can beat
the Lakers. But having watched this group together, particularly the
switch from Mantras Herald to Sergibaka uh and Uh and
(26:25):
Luke Kennard for Landry Shammitt, I like those pieces better.
I think they're a smarter team. I think it's a
better fit. Yeah, so I those are two best teams
the NBA. Right, we're okay with that with the Lakers
in the in the slippers. Yeah, It's hard for me
to point to another team at this point that that
(26:45):
I would put ahead of him just because of their
their stars being two way players. How many how many
stars can you say that? How many teams can you
say that about? That? They're two best players can impact
the game at both ends of the floor. Now, I
would say the nets three best players are better than
anybody else's and their third best players better than anybody
else's third best player. But one of the best players offensively.
(27:08):
But there's two ends of the court, right and now
you know, now you're depending on DeAndre Jordan to be
getting your full time rim protector. Uh and and you
gotta you gotta hide Joe Harris huh yeah? Who who
you can then leave? Leave? I mean there's there's there
are some issues there. I mean you can leave DeAndre
Jordan's and help out, and DeAndre Jordan can't space the floor,
(27:32):
which then takes away certain things that Kyrie Irving and
James Harden are going to be capable of doing so.
It's the dynamic there is going to be challenging to
figure out how you make the most, even at the
offensive end, how you make the most of those three powerhouses. Yeah,
it's the whole thing is just And don't you love it?
(27:53):
I mean I do love I do love it. But
like that's the only thing anybody's talking about because the
games are awful. The games are awful, and now they're
being postponed and you got guys, you know, George Hill
complaining about stuff like I why can't I go? And
they can't make me stay in a hotel room? Like yeah,
actually they can, dude, actually can. Well yeah, but I
look at the additional protocol that the league is trying
(28:14):
to put into place is just unrealistic. It's not you can't.
You're trying to create the bubble outside of the bubble.
That's not going to happen. You need to find you
need to find the flexibility and maintain the flexibility knowing
that you are going to have to reschedule games, that
you're going to have teams that are going to have
(28:36):
COVID outbreaks. That's just the reality of the world at large,
so adapt to the circumstances, as opposed to thinking that
if you can you force players to what live inside
this artificial bubble that you are going to avoid contact.
It's i mean, the the the no fist bumping or
(28:59):
you know, no handship, it's no fraternizing with the opponents.
I mean, some of it is ridiculous because as soon
as you get on the court, like you're breathing, you're
on top of each other. You can't you're gonna we're
gonna play the game. You're gonna play the game in
proximity closer than you are too, given somebody a handshake
before the game. Some of some of it just is
(29:22):
it no. But but it's a lot like some of
the rules they have in California where they know people
are going to nobody's gonna fall right. But but that's
the problem, Doug. That's that is that is a major
issue when you set, when you create rules, and you're
doing so knowing that they're going to be broken, then
(29:42):
you undermine your authority and and and your ability to
convince people that you're doing the right thing. Then they
begin to question why are we doing this? Is it
for appearances or is it for efficiency and effectiveness? I
got you, I got you, crazy day man, crazy, crazy times,
(30:04):
crazy times, more to more to pay attention to, though.
I mean, look, somebody asked me the other day. They
were like, so, you know, if you're gonna give the
thirty seconds, you're gonna tell people, You're gonna catch them
up on what's happened in the league. You know what
would you tell him? I go, nothing, nothing has happened,
and there's no nothing meaningful has happened in the league
to this point. The Lakers are the best team coming out.
(30:26):
They're still the best team. We still have question marks
about everybody else, and nobody's pulled away from the pack
or established themselves any significant way. And now we at
least have this beautiful, mysterious Brooklyn Nets experiment to pay
attention to. I think it's gonna blow up, But you
know what, even the the experiments that that blow up
(30:49):
are fascinating to watch. Awesome, awesome stuff. Rick Buker, Uh,
Fox Sports one. You check them out, it all our shows.
You appreciate you join us. He is, in fact the best.
He is in fact, Rick Buker, Um call it now,
Call it now Ryan, what do you think? But does
it work? Does it not work? In Brooklyn? I think
(31:09):
it works because extent to what extent I think. I
think they'll make it too, at least the Eastern Conference
Finals this year, because I look, I can easily be
wrong on this. I am not convinced that Kyrie Irving
plays another NBA game this year. There's a there's a
(31:30):
report here from Jason dumas Um. He said he spoke
to someone close to Kyrie Irving who said he's willing
to sit up this entire season for what. I don't know,
But what's he went again, like it's the I don't
somebody's gotta tell me what for? Right, Like, yeah, that's
(31:55):
the big problem is what do you what are you
mad about? Dude? What you know? Like, we can't use
your words? Use your words as you tail kids all
the time, use your words, you know. The timing of it, Dug.
I actually thought it may have been a political thing.
I did too. I think it was the political thing.
I think that's and maybe it's And and you know
one thing about Steve Nash is he has they are
(32:15):
kind of politically aligned, right, yeah, go ahead, I'm sorry. No,
And that's and so so when we found out that
he was going to be out on Thursday, I thought, okay,
from what happened a week ago at the Capitol, maybe
it was him, you know, kind of trying to make
his his stand, and then this other stuff came out
in But I don't understand nonstatement statements. Yeah, I don't either,
(32:35):
right that that's the part that that I struggle with,
Like if you're gonna make a statement like hey, I'm
not gonna play basketball right now because of what happened
the Capitol, and I just like, this is my way
of doing it, Like, okay, that is a protest. You know,
that is a protest. I you know, I'm not sure
I agree with the protest, but I I do. I
understand how I was upset when I was watching. It's
(32:57):
my country to right, it's all of our country. We're
on this together. But I don't I truthfully don't know
if that's what is. No one knows what it is.
My wife can be like this where I have no
idea what's wrong, nothing, nothing's wrong, something's wrong. I'm fine,
I'm fine, No, I'm fine, fine, all right, I'm fine, fine, fine? Fine?
(33:19):
Is fine? Is fine? His fine in relationships is mediocre
in teams, right, mediocre means average, it means fine. But
you don't want to hear anybody say then it was mediocre.
You know what, here's anyways say it's fine? Interesting? Right? Yes, um,
all right, we got a bunch to get too. Still,
huh what a day? What a story? Do you think
(33:42):
it works? Fire? See? You know when Ryan said like
Eastern Conference finals, Like, I don't think that that's even
like their goal. No, this is a finals or bust championships.
So I say no, So I think NBA. I don't
think they they'll make the NBA finals. I think it works. Okay,
I don't think it works next I think I don't
(34:03):
think it'll work next year. I think it worked this year.
If they get Kyrie back. If they get Kyrie back,
I think it. I think it works. Then, Um, you
guys got the Nets, cell Tic the field well not
to win an NBA change. I think finals of the East.
It's not good. Even it's not good. But I don't
know if anybody is that good offensively that it's you know,
(34:25):
it's like, who is our competition? The Bucks, the Celtics.
I can though the chemistry is better with the Celtics.
Is still not great. You know, you know what you're
gonna get with the Celtics. Like the Celtics, they don't
blow me away with how good they are, like those
(34:46):
the young players that we all love and think are
really really good. Um, I don't know, Like it feels
like it's gonna end up with a Jason Tatum contested
perimeter jump shot. You know, I love the Peyton Pritty
your story, but he's playing a lot of minutes right now.
Is they're you know, they're waiting, uh to see what
happens with Kemba Walker in his knee, but like they're
(35:08):
not winning an NBA Like he can't play with Kyrie Irving.
Stop it. He's a He's a really good young draft
pick player. I love him. Um, I mean they have
their issues. You know, Marcus Smart is a tremendous defensive
player and can't shoot. So I mean, you tell me
(35:29):
where they're going to get the offense to keep up
with that team. And there is a certain extent this
is a little bit like the NFL college football where
I'm I do think the defense and that's what the
Lakers want. But the Lakers did not play the best
teams and the league is trending. The way of offense
is a great offensive lineup. I think it works. I
think it's fun. I think there's some crazy stories. I
(35:50):
don't know how they get Kyrie back in the fold.
I think it's just crazy enough to work. James Harden
wasn't the only star moved in the NBA to day.
We'll discuss it 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 to listen live.
(36:10):
Doug a lip show. Fox Sports Radio Discover matches all
the cash back you earn your credit card at the
end of your first year. It's amazing because discovers except
in nine episode in the places in the US to
take credit cards lit mort Discover dot com slash yes
two doesn't twenty report limitations apply that to get to
the press, the press. What do you got, Dan buyer? Doug,
(36:33):
We start out with the big news of the day.
James Harden traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the Houston Rockets.
Rockets getting Dante x and four unprotected first round picks
and four pick swaps to other teams involved in the
trade Cavaliers and the Pacers. Calves are getting Jared Allen
and Torrean Prince while the Pacers are gonna get Caress
Lavert and Victor Oladipo ends up going to Houston. Well,
(36:55):
what we discussed it. I mean, like, look, do I
think that like they're gonna all end up buddies at
the end of the they know, but if they're all healthy,
it's a really talented team. I remember, Yeah, Joe Harris,
DeAndre Jordan not terrible. Um does the rest of their
bench look like it's the rest of the I'm trying
to think now, now they've they've shed even more of
(37:15):
their roster depth, right, Uh, Chris CIO's Jeff Green is
still on that team. He's not bad, right like Jeff Green, Shammont,
Tyler Johnson, Andrew Shamont to Johnson, it's not bad. I mean,
I think they're gonna be good. I think they'll be
the most talented team in the East. That doesn't mean
they win the East, but I think it'll be pretty good.
(37:37):
You know, Rance, really good man. I Also I made
the point I know that they don't have the opportunity
um to play the long game. But it reminds me
a little of when the Rams, you know, tried to
go all in and it was I felt it was
to grab like the City of l a to to
not to bistagram New York. But in a season where
(37:57):
fans aren't allowed to attend of these really actions and
nobody's gotten into the NBA, but it hasn't been like
a regular season. I just wonder on what the what
the whole win, even if they win it, how much
of an impact it will actually have for them as
a franchise. Well, look, they just even even with you know,
even with two of the elite players in the NBA there,
(38:18):
they're They're not more popular than the Knicks. They've been
more successful than the Knicks over the last twenty years,
they're not more popular than the Knicks. So I think
this is them just going for it. I don't think
it's about attention. I think it's like whatever, Like we
got Kyrieen's Kyrie's crazy Kevin Rance aloof but they can
both really play and James Harden wants to play with us,
(38:38):
and they got leveraged a little bit by Philadelphia floating
out their trade details and they had to they had
to unload the kitchen sink. Bears in coach Mattenneggie and
GM Ryan Pace will return next season, but Bears defensive
coordinator Chuck Bagano announcing he's retiring from coaching. Chuck Bagano
interesting career, right, I mean, he had the Chuck Strong
thing in Indy when he's the head coach. He had
(38:59):
the worst fake punt in the history of the NFL.
Is also a very well respected defensive coordinator, not just
for the Bears this year, but previously with the Baltimore Ravens.
But the beginning of the changes in Chicago are interesting,
especially with the McCaskey coming out saying that Ryan Pace
and Matt Neegi impressed him, but not impressed him enough
(39:20):
to give him a contract extension. It's started one horse race,
and when it comes to Urban Meyer, as the NFL
Networks is, the Chargers have also been in contact with
the Meyer about their head coaching vacancy. I think they're
really interested in and and you know, I wouldn't be
surprised if the spanos Is are the type of guys
that went for it, you know, like they they're they're
(39:41):
in that same mode as you said about the Rams
trying to get l A's attention. I don't think that's
how Tom Telesco has run the team, but that is
something that the Spanos family wants, which is it can
they find a way to get people to buy season tickets?
And they have a better roster than the Rams, but
they haven't as much success to the Rams, and maybe
getting rb Meyer does it get out there and pressed
(40:02):
that the press. They also don't have Aaron Donald's Aaron Donald,
I want to do this before the week's up. Like
Aaron Donald is, there's the conversation of the best football
players I've ever seen, right, Like Dion Sanders is that
it can be weird, and now he's a head coach
in the NFL and he said things, but he's the
best cover corner and kick return guy I've ever seen
(40:23):
ever ever and Jerry Rice the best wide receiver I've
ever seen. That's how I feel about Aaron Donald. Wh
I watch him play football all right. James Harden is
a net what's it mean? Keep it here? It's Fox
Sports Radio.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!