Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Rolling along here on a very busy Wednesday in the
sports world, Steve Harbin Jonas knocks in for Petros and
Money here on a five seventy LA.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Sports and Jonas.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
You know, as we do our shows on weekends, and
of course you're doing your national show all during the week.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
You know, it's been it's been about World Cup.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I mean to be honest with you, and I've been
very honest about my feelings about soccer. I'm just of
that generation where I'm sorry, I've tried. I've tried so
hard over the years to get engage as far as
you know, World Cup every four years, I have to admit,
obviously the numbers don't lie. I mean people have been
watching the World Cup this year as well. Now we
(00:55):
get ready for the weekend, the third place match I
like a third place match actually, and the championship match
coming up on Sunday. But I guess the big question,
even though the United States team seems to be in
a perpetual state of idle in terms of the results,
I mean, we're sort of stuck in that sweet sixteen
and can't seemingly get to the next step. I gotta
(01:17):
wonder whether or not having the World Cup here first
time since nineteen ninety four is actually going to generate
even more interest moving forward on the world.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Stage as far as soccer is concerned.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
For me personally, it's not. But Jonahs, I don't know
how you feel about this.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Well, I think that it's it's popular in the moment,
but we all know how short the memory is of
like you know, it's just the news cycle nowadays is
so quick, and so I think that like the USA
result against Belgium was awful for whatever momentum they had,
because if they would have lost a thriller in PKS
(01:56):
or whatnot, it would have been like man oh man,
But look at the fight they showed, the heart they showed.
Mexico lost to England, but the overwhelming sentiment following that
was but.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Damn did they show some heart like that?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
That was a lot.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
That was a great game, classic matchup, And I think
the Belgian result was just a reminder the US is
nowhere close, Like they're not even it's just not And
that's the part that I guess I struggle with. It's
okay that it's just maybe maybe it's just not our thing,
you know what I mean? Like, and I always equate
it to Like, imagine if all of a sudden, you know,
McDonald's started doing California roles, It's like, hold on, why
(02:33):
can't you just do what you're good at and focus
on that and just be happy with that. Leave that
to Cho Cho San or pick whatever sushi establishment you're
a big fan of in the eight oh five there, Steve.
But I look at it and I go, it's okay
that it's not our thing, But it's also okay to
get in the moment, to get fired up, to get
excited about it, to go out and buy the merch
(02:53):
and the USA gear and the pom poms and paint
your face and all that, with the understanding that once
the this whole thing wraps up a few days from now,
it's football season, right exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I mean, tell us this drives me nuts.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
I mean, look, I remember in nineteen ninety, the United
States qualified for the World Cup. In forty years, forty
years since they had actually participated in the World Cup.
So in nineteen ninety people were like, you know, I
was just getting started in radio.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Oh, the World Cup. You've heard of the World Cup,
Pele and the whole shebank, right, Maridonna.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
I've seen a little the highlights of it, and wow,
it's sort of cool, like the United States is actually
in it first time in forty years, and then four
years later suddenly it's here.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
It's here.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
In nineteen ninety four, and the United States played pretty well,
got to the Sweet sixteen, loses to the eventual World
Cup champion in Brazil one nil in the Sweet sixteen,
and there was really this feeling, you know, because the
MLS was about.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
To be born.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
They had to announce that there was going to be
Major League Soccer prior to the awarding of the World Cup. Otherwise,
if you didn't have a professional league, who couldn't actually
host the World Cup. So even though they announced in
nineteen ninety three there would be MLS, they didn't watch
it till the year after the World Cup. So now
we have Major League Soccer, and so you're thinking, all right,
(04:10):
you know, especially here, you know in LA we had
obviously a team with a galaxy and they were winning.
So there was a lot of anticipation coming up for
nineteen ninety eight with the World Cup, and the United
States loses all three matches in the group stage. They
finished thirty two out of thirty two, like they have
an overall, they go thirty, it's like what happened to
(04:31):
Like we are all psided, like this this was gonna
be it, and then four years later they get to
the quarters, all the right, but they've never gotten back
to that level again. So I don't know how they're
gonna hype it up for twenty thirty. It's gonna be
the centennial. It's gonna be a big celebration. Spain Portugal,
they're gonna be hosting the World Cup.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
And I guess that's my question.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I mean, I get the fact that we're into it
now and it's been great to see all these people
traveling from all over the world and just loving being
in the United States and everything that we don't always
appreciate in our own country, But.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Are we still going to be engaged?
Speaker 1 (05:08):
And how do you sell the US men's team even
if they are you know, I heard someone say, well,
they're taking baby steps. I'm like, baby steps, We're not
into babies?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
How long? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
For?
Speaker 4 (05:17):
How long are you taking babies?
Speaker 2 (05:18):
I mean we've been crawling for thirty two years.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
It's just the people that came out like if you
actually just now take a step back and you go
there were actual human beings, adults in sports media who
were trying to sell you on the idea of the
US being a legitimate contender to win it.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
All that happened. I was here.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
It wasn't that long ago. That is preposterous.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Like, there's nobody I've seen, whether it was you know,
earlier today with Argentina England, or yesterday or last weekend
or the day before that, that I look at and go, oh, yeah,
the US could have beaten them.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
They got stopped out by Belgium.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
It wasn't close.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
And then you've got Balligan who comes out afterwards and says, well,
you know, I could just tell that the vibe was off.
There was all the outside noise. Man, that outside noise
should have been a compliment. People were there, they were
ready to support, and the US team went out and
crapped down their leg and there's.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
No other way to put it.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
And so I look at it goes well, it's baby
steps and it's this and that.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
No, man, we're just not as good as these other
countries at that.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
And the one thing that I've heard from people is
they say, well, the way soccer works out here for
you know, for a lot of people, is that your
kids play soccer when they're young, and then they get
into other sports. Well, so basically soccer's are lego, soccer's legos.
Soccer is bluey, soccer is whatever kids show or whatever
(06:48):
kid fad. Your kid was into monster trucks like whatever,
So bait, that's what soccer is. That's something you do
when you're a little kid, and you advance past that,
all right, then that's what it is. I think as
far as whether not the fever is here to stay,
the World Cup fever and all that, I think the
real benefactor of all of this is a guy like
Holland for Norway, who came out here, embraced the culture,
(07:11):
went home with a stuffed raccoon with a whiskey bottle
on a board and got off.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
The plane with it.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
And my immediately thought was, you remember what they did
with Beckham. You remember what they did with Pirlow, the
Italian star when they brought him to New York. Same
thing they're doing with MESSI. Holland's coming to the MLS
somebody somewhere, and he will be open to it.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I think his star rows.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
I think there's a lot of other international players whose
stars have risen. I just don't know that people look
at the US team and go, oh, that's somebody I
gotta follow.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Moving forward, you mentioned the Beckham situation.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
So when Michael and Vick and I were doing the
midday show here at five p seventy, we did a
one hour simulcast.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Of the BBC.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Now this was you talk about logistics because you know,
I don't know how many hours later it is they
could be because we were doing days. They were late
in the evening or whatever it was. And so they
have to coordinate coming in out.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Of well with the boy Vic the brick. They were
always into Vic, you know, because you know the Vics.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Vic right anyway, So but they were just talking about because.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
They were sort of vicing the bridge exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
They're all with the guys and uh, and they they
were dogging Beckham like you're getting this washed up. You know,
he can't cut it anymore, so he has to come
to your minor league, you know, in the United States.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Are like, what is this?
Speaker 1 (08:29):
I thought we were doing like a friendly here, right,
don't we do friendlies in soccer that kind of thing.
But I mean, the hype you know for the Galaxy.
I mean, to have him in town was so huge.
Remember Tom Cruise, his buddy was out there. There was
all these people, and so you thought, all right, these
are the kind of things that can happen, because you know,
going back to the seventies when Pele was playing with
(08:52):
the Cosmos, I was around, like already in the seventies,
the whole pale thing they were, the Cosmos were packing
them in and York when he first came biggest name
in the world in soccer. And at that point they're
already talking about soccer is going to be so huge
in the United States, blah blah blah. And here we are,
you know, over fifty years later, and I just feel
like we're in a perpetual state of idol.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
And I also think that the rest of the world,
like those you know, British hosts that were busting balls
like that, that's a real thing.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Like it is a.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Retirement tour, for lack of a better term, for a
lot of these guys, these international stars, because they go
play the better competition. Looks, Lawton did it as well too,
and he was entertaining, and he came out here and
everybody embraced him, and he's been tremendous on Fox as
far as an analyst goes that whole crew has. But
I look at it and I go, man, like, it's
the international. I don't like disregard of US soccer and saying, well,
(09:46):
you're taking our washed up players, you're taking our you know,
these guys that are.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
That are that are this and that.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
That's a real thing, And it doesn't mean that it
can't be a success out here.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
It's just limited.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Like when when a guy goes on a rehab assignment
for the Dodgers. Man, if it's a big enough name,
that park is filled out that night because it's an
opportunity for a minor league crowd to see a big star.
And I just think at a certain point people have
to look at US soccer and maybe a little bit
of the MLS is similar to that. It's kind of
a minor league vibe in compared to globally where soccer stands.
(10:20):
So when these stars show up, yeah they're going to
be washed up, but people will come out and the
watch them. I just don't think that anybody's going to
take it as serious as they would some of these
other leagues.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I heard one person sort of put it this one.
I found this an interesting analogy. So we think back
to the Dream Team nineteen ninety two Olympics, right, and
steamrolling the world and our best of the best in basketball,
our sport, the sport that we invented, and we're steamrolling
with our best players.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
It didn't take long for the rule to sort of
catch up with us.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
So if you think that was nineteen ninety two, nineteen ninety.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Four, United States hosting the World Cup, and you know,
we get to the court of you know, get to
the quarterfinals, we lose one nill to Brazil, and you're thinking, wow,
we're we're going to be caught up. Well, we haven't
caught up. Where is the world caught up to us
in basketball?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Where?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
By the way, the last eight NBA MVPs were not
born in the United States.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
How many of those guys you think just wanted to
use their hands eventually? Oh no, this has been going
on way too long. I'm tired of kicking things around.
Can I use my damn hands please?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
It's not gonna happen. The bottom line is, it's not
gonna happen. If you're a soccer fan, enjoy the World Cup.
It's the best of the best, absolutely anything. I love
people that have passion.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Whatever it is. You have a passion, I'm into it.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
And if your passion is soccer, football, whatever you want.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
To call it.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Great. But this idea that.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
You know, somehow, at some point the United States men
are going to be competitive with the best countries in
the world is sport is pure delusion.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
So there was so I follow the Italian national teams,
and of course because I followed them, they haven't made the
last three World Cups. The whole thing's ridiculous. But I
followed the Italian national team. I love the World Cup.
I love the Eurocups. It's just the first of all
the qualifications. How one country can get in but the
other can't. Like to me, if you win the euro Cup,
(12:17):
you should be automatically into the World Cup. Italy won
the euro Cup and then didn't get into the World
Cup because they had to be this team and that team.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
There were tiebreakers and point differentially. The whole thing's ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
But so I love watching the international product.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
I love the euro Cup. I mean, listen, the Gold Cup.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
I'll watch that as well too, because and I understand
these aren't the best of the best, but it is
international soccer, so I love the pageantry.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I love it all.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
I went to at Dodgers Stadium, I think it was
twenty thirteen. They had Juventus, which was the Italian team
playing the Galaxy, and then you had I think Real
Madrid versus you know another team it might have been.
I forget who it was, but Wayne Rooney was on
the team. Ronaldo played, and then you had the Italian
(13:07):
superstars like Pierlo and Buffone, who are legends, won a
World Cup and oh six, and I just remember being.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
There going.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
It's empty, like we're talking about some of the biggest
stars on the planet and whatever numbers they want to
give you about Dodger Stadium at that time, at that night,
for you know, all those big stars.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
I was there.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
There were no lines to get a beer, literally nothing,
and we were sitting in a pretty decent spot and
I just remember looking around, going, man, it's.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Just not going to hit out here.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
And if that were to happen now, maybe they'd fill
it up, maybe they'd fill it up at so far,
but still I just don't think it's going to resonate
to a point that it does in other places, and
that's okay. There's nothing wrong with liking something something a
little bit more than somebody else does. Like, Look, I
love the UFC, I love boxing, I love all that stuff.
(14:00):
I understand though that I'm kind of on a little
bit of an island when it comes to that, because
for most people, it's your you know, meat and potatoes,
your football, your basketball, your baseball, and that's really it
when it comes to the stuff we're into here.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
All right.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
So the bottom line is as far as the United States,
it was a sea grade. Basically, they got where they
were going to go. Had you gotten to the quarterfinals,
maybe be a B grade, but it was a sea grade.
But as far as the World Cup in the United
States and in Canada, Mexico, a plus. I mean, it's
been huge numbers, huge ratings, huge interest.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
So absolutely from that stuff.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
And so my brother, not to interrupt, my brother owns
a bar in Thousand Oaks sunset Terrace and it's the
busiest month, busiest June they had had in the history
of the restaurant, going on almost twenty years, because of
the World Cup.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Because the people were into it.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
And I think that that's really The highlight of it
is that it was a kind of a hey in
the middle of the summer with nothing really else going
on for you know, so from a from a grand scale,
it was an opportunity to rally around the country you
wanted to root for, to support your team, to have
a couple of drinks and go out and have something
(15:14):
to do on a weeknight or during the day watching
matinee soccer game.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
That's fun.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
This whole idea of like, well, now we've got to
capitalize on it, and we've got to compete with you know,
your Francis and your Argentina's and your England's other worlds. Okay,
let's just relax. It's a party for us. It's serious
business for all them all.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Right, coming up, remember Kawhi Leonard anxious to see it back,
but it's Toronto rapped and.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Not so fast? Not so fast?
Speaker 1 (15:40):
What what if you're a Clippers fan? You mean Kawhi
could be staying. We'll give you the latest on that.
Steve Hartman, Jonas Knox with the Infra Petus some money
here on AM five to seventy.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
La Sports petrosend money with La Sports.
Speaker 6 (16:04):
No, it's a Petras of money show here and five
(16:27):
to seventy LA Sports Steve Hartman Jonas knocks in for
the guys here on this Wednesday. Coming up here, we
are going to try and get to whether or not
one of the big names in this town is going
to be a part.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Of this town moving forward.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Okay, whether or not that's gonna happen, we will explain
coming up here a little over fifteen minutes from now
on the blowtwards AM five seventy LA Sports. Now, somebody
who has talked about a lot on AM five seventy
LA Sports over these past several years, Steve Hartman was
the great Kawhi Leonard. All the promise, all the hope,
all the momentum, and I want to say this out
(17:05):
in front. I was openly rooting and campaigning for the
Clippers to turn this thing around. And I thought of
a few special souls. I thought of Adam Ausland, I
thought of Ben Maller, and I can't really think of
anybody else, but there were a couple of people that
I thought about.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
Going.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Man, they've been bullied in this town by the Laker
fans and enough's enough. So all this momentum and yet
here we are what six years later, Seven years later,
and Kawhi Leonard finds himself in Toronto, back with the Raptors.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
Except they're still looking into this whole.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Circumventing of the salary cap issue and his involvement with
the Clippers and what went on behind the scenes. Adam
Silber quoted as saying that he wants to have this
whole thing finished before the season started. And so we
are awaiting whether or not the Kawhi Leonard fiasco will
come to an end. And I don't know about you,
but I hope but end sooner rather than later.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
So Jonas, I had a friend of mine since past
who had four floor seats at the LA Sports Arena
for the Clippers. You know, these are the days when
the Clippers had made the move from San Diego to LA.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
They were the worst.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Team in the league, and they would literally promote, advertise,
come see Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Karl Malone.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Basically they were advertising all the great stars of the NBA,
nothing from their own team, by the way, obviously, And
the idea was you can see these guys for a
lot less than you're paying, you know, first at the
Forum than at Staple Center to see Laker games. It
was actually not bad by Donald Sterling. I got to
know Sterling a little bit in Fight. I actually went
to two parties at his mansions. One you'd have loved
(18:46):
this Jonas, you would have fit him beautifully.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
So he had two places.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
He had a mansion in Malibu and he had a
mansion in Beverly Hills, and he used that because they
were in the draft lottery. Every year, he would literally
a lottery party, like you'd have to dress in white,
and you know, I had an insight so I could
get to this party. I remember we were in the
Malibu and it was like it was it was absolutely hilarious.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
He would bring in.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Like these old Hollywood stars like you see them, like damn, are.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
You still alive? I mean it was like, I mean
it was cool.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Like Chuck Connor's I mean it was like the Rifleman,
I mean, like the Burgess Meredith Robert Conrad knocked the
battery off my shoulder type of thing. He had an
executive secretary, Donald Sterling. He actually came over and introduced
her to me and who I was with at that time,
and this woman was so beautiful.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Like your knees buckle, like literally like.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Okay, And so he did this and then the next
year he'd Alternado would be able as Beverly Hills mansion.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
This is how crazy Clippers basketball was.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
It was absolute insanity, you know, when Steve Bomber took over,
and even you know, I mean, he's just a regular guy,
except that he's one of the ten wealthiest men in
the world. So when this story broke about the Kawhi
Leonards situation, and again in retrospect, the idea of not
only getting Kawhi but pulling off the Paul George deal.
I know, in retrospect it goes down as the worst
(20:18):
trade in the history of the NBA, Shay gild Alexander
and six number ones, you know for Paul George. But
at the time it made sense. You were getting a
proven champion and Kawhi Leonard. He wanted Paul George, who
was coming off a huge year in Okase. He was
third in the MVP voting that year. It made sentence
at the time. It didn't work out. But when I
(20:40):
saw this investigation about this payment and everything, my first thought,
I'm gonn admit I was wrong here, Jonas, because I
thought that this is going to go away, And the
reason it's going to go away is that Steve Baumber
literally has enough money to buy the entire league.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
He could literally rename it the National Bomber Association.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
He can buy every single team in the NBA and
literally own the entire NBA. So the fact that this
is dragged on and they're still investigating the story about
Kawhi Leonard is just ludicrous to me, because again, Bomber
is so important to the NBA paid four times the
face value of the Clippers to secure the franchise at
(21:21):
the time. I don't know why they're messing with Bomber.
He just built them a two billion dollar insane the Antuidome,
you know, arena and everything else. So I'm I'm really
surprised this continues to drag on.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Haven't they been through enough?
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Like I just I look at it, and I don't
say that being a smart ass or sarcastic. Does anybody
really care if the Clippers circumvented the cap to try
and keep Kawhi Leonard happy.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Nobody cares, And.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
If you do care, it's not your money, So stop
pocket watching and worry about something else. And here's here's
the other guy that that I want to know what
he knows that he doesn't want to go down that
road with. And this just falls in line with all
these kiss ass New York Knicks media types that are
out there, and that's what made them so sickening to
watch in the finals.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
So Pablo Torre comes out and does this deep dive.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
You know, if it's not Oh's the mentalist, it's whether
or not Donald Sterling, you know, or not Donald Stirling,
whether or not the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard and the
whole organization was circumventing the cap and Steve Bomber.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
Like all of this stuff that he did.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
And I look at it and I go all right.
But then you allude to the fact that the Jalen
Brunson deal there was some question marks about that. There
were some people. Even Mark Cuban has pointed this out
to where he said, listen, man, they were punished the
first time he came over, and.
Speaker 4 (22:41):
He's still not happy about it.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
And look at it, and I go all right, So
if we're going to do this for Kawhi Leonard, and
we're going to do this for the Clippers, and we're
going to do this for Steve Bomber. Why don't you
look into that, Look into the Knicks, look into the
Jalen Brunson deal, everybody's favorite player, all of a sudden,
look into all these other deals that have gone on.
To me, it's like college football when one coach comes
out and calls out another coach for a legal recruiting
(23:05):
or legal activity. It's almost like, dude, you live in
a glasshouse, don't throw anything, not even a paper airplane.
And I look at this and I go the fact
that the NBA is investigating this, I would be careful
because if you really want to go down this road
for whatever momentum you got and whatever momentum you were building,
I'm sure we could find something dirty. With every single
(23:25):
deal that's been done in the NBA. The idea that
you're just gonna hand pick the Clippers and this being
the one to make an example of is kind of strange.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
It is very strange.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
And of course the trade I think benefits both teams.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Look it run its course.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
With Kawhi Lennard, the fact that they're able to secure
I think a decent hole.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
I mean it's not you know, play for player.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Obviously, with a guy like Kawhi Leonard, but considering how
much time he missed with the Clippers over seven years,
you know, it's amazing. You know, in a year where
he could basically walk, you know, he ends up. You know,
we see this time and again where guys suddenly show
up and play sixty five to seventy games.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
It happens every single time.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Plus he actually averaged his career high scoring for any
season of his NBA career. So was it.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
And it puts the Raptors back on the map. You know,
it's legit. It's good for Toronto to get Kawhi Leonard
back in the mix. So again, this goes back, what
was it June.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Third, you know when they were basically ready to do this,
and you know it's been a bike a month that
this thing. They said, this thing was all going to
be wrapped up, and here we are in mid July
and it just continues to drag on for absolutely no reason.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
And they've already interviewed Kawhi and I think his uncle,
I think they've already gone through that whole process.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
I did, did the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Nobody cares.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
They don't you.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Want to do something? Why don't you get to the
bottom of how many players are gambling on games they're
playing in. Why don't you do that if if you
really want to get to get to the bottom of
something that people give a rip about and want to
know about, like worry about that stuff. I just I
don't think anybody. And when the news does come out, like, hey,
guess what you know the Clippers and Kawhi circummitted the cap?
Speaker 7 (25:01):
Cool?
Speaker 2 (25:02):
I mean take away a second roundy? What is your penalty?
I mean, like, what are we talking about it?
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Like I don't understand, like make him get a new mascot,
Like I don't like what are we doing here? Like
I don't I don't get the whole idea that this
is a big deal. I just think it's something that
goes on. I think there's there's tampering. I think there's
funny business that goes on all the time in sports.
You can't just pick and choose which one you want
to care about just at you know, whenever you decide
(25:30):
because there's a slow time and you want to show
that you're being proactive against you know, shady businesses happening
in your league.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
But again it's coming from Adam Silver who is bent
over for the players almost from the day he was hired. Yes,
you know, remember the whole Don Donald Sterling cell of
the Clippers was a revolt led by Lebron James, like,
if you don't get rid of this guy, we're walking,
you know. And you know, I had the good fortune
of doing many interviews with David Stearn.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Stern was one of those guys. He was hilarious.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Stern was a guy that I remember. You remember when
they changed the dress code. I think this is when
Allen Iverson was doing that thing. And so this one
I was doing the show with Michael Vick. So we
get the commissioner on and I literally I asked him
this question exactly phrase this way because I knew he
would appreciate. I said, Commissioner, I have a question. Are
you drunk with power? I just said, are you drunk
(26:19):
with power? And he goes, you mean if I drunk
with power to do the right thing for the NBA. Yes,
he wouldn't even hesitate. I mean, he was that kind
of a guy. But I mean to see how Silver
is running this league right now as opposed to the
way Stern ran this league.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Spinning in his grave you can't believe it.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
I also think the whole idea, and I'm with you
that we look back on the trade and go, oh,
you know, it's a terrible trade.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
I'm with you, man, every other team.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
In the league would have done the exact same absolutely,
if you were there in real time and knew what
the league was like and what was going on, every
team in the league would have done the exact same thing.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
So just come on.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Yeah, Paul Truce was coming off here where he's third
in the MVP voting, first Team All NBA, first Team
All Defense, in the prime of his career, and you're
getting Kawhi Leonard, the two of them for what a
second year, a guy named Shay Gilgess Alexander.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
And they had that secret meeting at your old spot,
wasn't it the Hyatt and Westlake and that where they
had that little secret meeting. To stick it to Lebron,
they went to the department's high well.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
And that was the other part.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
It was it looked like, you know, Kawhi might be
signing with the Lakers, so Bomber did what he had
to do. I don't blame him for the deal, but no,
it's I think look, ultimately, I think this is all
going to work out.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I don't know what the delay is. I don't think anything.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
You know, Fine, penalize bomber who's worth over one hundred
billion dollars, over one hundred billion dollars.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Fine a million bucks there you go.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
Yeah, yeah, it makes sense to me.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
It is the Petro's Money Show here on the Blowtorch
and five seventy LA Sports. He's Steve Hartman, I'm Jonas
Knox in for the guys up next. All of a sudden,
one of the favorites on this show. You hear Petro's
talk about him, you hear Money talk about him.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
He is close to your hearts.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
But will he be here for law that's yours next
here on a five seventy l A Sports And now we.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Say that we never believe.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
We say, Petro send money available on the free iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (28:20):
Now thim the Scondly it took like a greeting cord.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Rolling on here with the Petro Some Money show, Hartman
and knocks with you here on this beautiful Wednesday. And
you know, it's sort of that time of the year where,
let's face it, Jonas, we're we're we're a little bit
in limbo.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Right, I mean, we're like everybody else. I mean, you know,
you know, unless you want to.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
You know, get into the sb's and we don't, you know,
you know, it's one of those.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Times when well, but the good thing is, I don't mind.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
This time of the year, I'll be honest, Jonas, because
you know, you have these times during you know, like
February is one of those sort of like slow nut
months and stuff like that. Although obviously here with the Dodgers,
you know, we get into spring training and everything else,
but you do have a chance to take some time
and get into a little more depth.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
On certain stories that frankly, you.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Wouldn't have enough time to talk about in the midst
of the NFL season. And one of the stories is
is the Brownie James saga that I don't know even
know where to begin on this. I mean, let's go
all the way back to his senior in high school.
So he was a McDonald's All American, named a McDonald's
(29:58):
All American, and in his senior year he made second
team All League, not.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
All City, not All CIF.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
League team, he made second team All League. He was
probably the third or fourth best player on his high
school team, and then he goes to USC. Obviously he
had the very scary situation with the cardiac situation, tried
to come back did zippo with his one year at USC,
(30:30):
and then Lebron railroaded the Lakers into drafting him in
the second round and by the way, getting him some
guaranteed money.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
So he's two years into the NBA.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
His career field goal percentage is thirty six percent, which
would have been great in the NBA in nineteen forty eight, okay,
but not in twenty twenty six. He is at a
good shooting percentage if you look back like he would
have been. He would have been great with jumping Joe
Fulkes and some of those early NBA stars when they
were shooting around thirty percent, but not in this day.
(31:00):
So if he can knock down jumpers, if you're undersized
at the guard position, you know you have to bring
something to the table, and he doesn't bring anything other
than his last name. And I've got to believe that
the whole Lebron situation is hinging partly on whether or
not the team that Lebron is trying to negotiate a
(31:21):
deal with is willing to take Bronny with him, because
I do not see when.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
I look at how the Lakers have.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Reassembled their roster right now, I don't see any spot
for Bronnie James.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
I don't see where he fits in at all.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Now there's a report from the Athletic that says that
they don't view them as inseparable, that just because lebron
left doesn't mean that Bronny necessarily has to leave. That
he's well liked within the locker room. They love his
work habits. You know, two point three million dollars, you know,
that's you can easy to swallow that salary. So they're
really pushing this as you know, Bronnie James has a
(31:58):
chance here even though his dad out. And I'll be
on it, and look, I don't want to speak on
you know, father son relationship in that dynamic.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
That's not my business.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
I mean, you spent enough time in a little league
field anywhere in southern California and you see some parenting
stuff going on that you go.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
What is that?
Speaker 3 (32:14):
But I look at it, I go, I wonder if
Bronnie James is like, maybe I want to do this
on my own, you know, maybe I do want to
stay here. Maybe I want to give this a go
on my own. Maybe I don't want to just follow
my dad everywhere he goes, because he's always going to
be looked at like that.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
He's always going to be labeled as that. And I
just I know that.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Listen, he's been sort of the butt of a lot
of jokes. I don't think any of that's on him.
I think he got caught up in the tornado that
is Lebron, that that everything that comes with him, and
he's just unfortunately been kind of the victim of all
that stuff. But I don't hear him saying things that
you look at and go, man, what is he doing?
I don't hear him acting a certain way. He seems
(32:56):
like a really really good dude. Yes he does, and
so I I wonder if he's like, man, maybe it
is better for me just to be here. They've picked
up the contract and just kind of try and figure
this thing out on my own. Because how long does
Lebron have? Would you say, like one or two years?
Maybe like one two years.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
It might be zero years, but we'll get into.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Okay, So like if it's one or two years, I
look at it and I go. Look, Brony is probably
thinking to himself, well, I'd like my career to go
longer than that. Why wait until he's gone to try
and establish myself on my own. If I found a
home here and I'm respected with the Lakers, why not
give this a go long term?
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Is he respected by the Laker there's the report.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
I mean, you're again, do you understand how rare like
it never happens the second round picks get this kind
of guaranteed money unless they're obviously a bruntson or you know,
you'll get you know, one of the guys that's actually
you know, developing into an all star level. The idea
of being the end of the bench, you know, part
time g leaguer getting guaranteed money is zero happens. So
(34:00):
this was sort of, you know again, in the Lakers'
effort to get rid of lebron under any condition.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
They know, bye bye bye, bye bye. They threw this
all branch out to him.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Well, fine, we'll give your kid one more guaranteed a
year of money two point three million dollars. Honestly, I
would say that he is on the chopping block. I
think as they continue to put this roster together. And
remember this is no longer the mom and pop operation
of the Bus family. This is Guggenheim, you know, this
is Mark Walter. They they're going to run this business
(34:31):
completely different than it's been run under the Bus family
all these years.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
And one of the things they're going.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
To do because they're facing a salary cap, and when
you have a salary cap, every penny counts, and so
that is the way they're going to operate. Then you know,
right now, Polinka is a figurehead general manager. He's still
there because he has contacts with other gen guns around
the NBA. But as they continue to add layers into
(34:57):
their management and bring in people that will be I'll
put it this way, polic is not gonna make any
final decisions.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
He's gonna have to pass it through other people.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
But what they're trying to figure out right now are
the dynamics of the salary cap, something they don't obviously
have to deal with with the Dodgers, and so they're
gonna they're gonna squeeze every penny they can, and if
they decide there might be a better use for this
two point three million, there's ways to cut loose and
only be on the hook for part of the salary,
even if you're paying out their full salary.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
That's exactly what they're gonna do. So I don't.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
I'm a little surprised. Why is it Bronni out there
with the summer League? I mean, you know the you know,
the Camra car kid.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Look at him?
Speaker 1 (35:35):
How is that Benethan like Camra Carr already is a
much better player, like way better than Bronnie James.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
I ain't after three you know games in Vegas.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
He is like such a different level player than Bronnie James.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
It's insane.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
Let me ask you this, do you find yourself rooting
for Bronnie to work in LA now that lebron is gone.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
My attitude about bron he's the same thing I said
when he first I said, first of all, the Lakers,
can you please be honest on why you picked him?
Come on, I mean the idea that hey, we were
able to steal a McDonald's all American with you know
at the end of the second round.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Come on, we know why you sign him.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
I have nothing against them, I like you said, and
I think you're one hundred percent right here, Jonas.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
He seems like a great kid. He seems like a
really great kid.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
He just doesn't have the talent to play in the NBA,
where again, teams are facing a salary cap where you
have to make every penny cop okay.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
So for that, and I wonder the team that does
eventually bring on Lebron James do they Are they okay
with the fact that, all right, it's a package deal.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
It's me and me and Brownie.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
I just don't think he's got as much poll as
maybe some people think he does these days.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
But oh well, I mean we've talked about it. I mean,
you know, it's no, he doesn't have that kind of pull.
And so whether Brownie wants to or not, he may
have to set on an his own and figure this
all out. All right, We're rolling along here, very busy Wednesday,
and he may be busier than we even anticipated.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Jonahs, So coming up in the.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Next hour, another busy arc coming up here on the
Petros and Money Show as well. We're gonna get into
a little bit of possible doomsday in Major League Baseball. Yeah,
I'm telling you, it could be doomsday in Major League Baseball.
This is Petros of Money here, Steve Harbin, Jonas knocks
(37:29):
with you on M five seventy l A Sports.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
He'd say, I'm gonna be like you, Dad. You know,
I'm gonna be like you.
Speaker 8 (37:40):
And the Cats and the cret Man when you're coming home.
That of don't know, Manday.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
You know they have a beam