April 21, 2025 • 34 mins
Dylan Hernandez from the LA Times hops on to talk about the Lakers taking it on the chin in game 1 vs the T-Wolves and the Dodgers taking 2 of 3 in Texas. Nico Harrison says he wasnt aware of just how popular Luka was with the Dallas fan base. The time has come - for the 4th year in a row the Kings will face the Oilers in the postseason with Game 1 being tonight.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, we continue on Fred Rogan, Rodney Pete, seventy
l A Sports. Uh, Lakers back at it tomorrow night
against Minnesota. Let's bring on our friend Dylan Hernandez from
the La Times. Dylan, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I am great. How are you guys doing?
Speaker 3 (00:18):
We're doing well, doing fantastic. Yeah, better than the Lakers.
Better than the Lakers, Dylan, how about that?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah that was a that was a tough one.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Huh yeah, Well, to me, it looked like they just
got punched in the mouth, and uh, they weren't prepared.
In my mind, A thought JJ Reddick made some mistakes
with the rotation. You wrote they were negligent.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Explain, Yeah, they just I mean you had to they
had to know what was coming, right, I mean, you know,
and you know, kind of the the team that's kind
of in a similar situation as them, I think is
you know, Golden State, right, They're you know, they're playing
a deep Houston Rockets team that is bigger than them
and you know, kind of known to be physical.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
You know, the Larwriers I thought kind of were ready
for what the Rockets through at them. I'm not really
sure the Lakers were, you know, I you know, I
was really kind of struck to kind of before the
game when Reddick addressed the media. You know, I mean,
he's usually a pretty serious guy, but you know, he
makes it in a smile and the joke here and there.
He just seemed really tight, you know, And I and
I think that that might have kind of right the team,
(01:21):
I thought kind of looked tight outside of Luca. We
just obviously just kind of came out gunning, you know.
So you kind of hope, I think if you're if
you're a Lakers fan, that you know, their head maybe
will be a little bit more in the right place
when they come out for this X game here.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
So, so, Dylan, do you think it was just a
matter of being tight or do you believe that it
maybe that they, you know, kind of finished the season
on a roll, and now the expectations are greater than
maybe what they thought it might be. And with Luca
and Lebron and and the trade and all those things
(01:57):
going on, that the pressure now on the Lakers the least,
at the very least get out of the first round.
Do you think that's now a concern for them?
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, I mean it has to be right and you know,
and in fairness, uh, you know, look at the look
at the way the standings finished, right, because there are
only two wins separating the Lakers at the third seed
and and you know the number eight seed, right, so
you know, Minnesota really just you know, won one fewer
game than them and obviously finished.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Dylan, people don't look at that. They just right, okay, right.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
And I think, yeah, yeah, And I think too, you know,
one thing again, an organization like the Lakers, and I'll
you know, I'll throw USC football in that category two
where the expectation, right is championship. And if you kind
of don't win the championship, uh, you know, it kind
of feels like a lost season. And frankly, they've had
some lost seasons here, right, And then you know, kind
of going into the playoffs even a couple of years ago,
(02:55):
you know, when they played in the conference finals against
the Nugget. I don't really think any but he was
looking at that team thinking like, man, they're going to
win the whole thing here, right. I mean, I think
they've kind of that team. It kind of felt like
they went as far as they went, and I think
all the things that you kind of mentioned are very valid.
Right after that trade and how well things started to
go all of a sudden, Now people are thinking like, hey,
they're going to make this run to the championship. I think,
you know, the fans felt good about the way they
(03:16):
finished the season, and I do think, yeah, like you know,
Game one came and all of a sudden, it's kind
of like, hey, this isn't going to be this easy,
you know. I think it was Jared Vanderbilt who kind
of referred to it as a wake up call. You know,
that's not kind of what you want to hear in
a way, because you would hope that a team again
that had the site set on the championship is kind
of ready for that. But yeah, I think you know
(03:37):
what Fred said earlier is right. They just kind of
got punched in them out here.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Yeah, and we have to remember JJ Reddick, who's had
a very good year, is a first year coach, and
for him to say, well, they were just more physical,
they down physical this. You've watched the tape you've played
against the Timberwolves this year, you know, and that tells
me that they weren't prepared and that's a problem, at
(04:03):
least in my mind. Dylan.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yeah, I think so too, you know, and I think
that again they kind of should have known kind of
what to expect here, right again, and then and again,
I'm just kind of going back to the Warriors here.
They faced the same problem, right. It was kind of
you know, they had to protect they knew what they
had to do, They had to protect the ball, they
had to make their shots and just kind of on
the on the boards, just kind of hang on for
dear life, you know, and the Lakers quite weren't able
(04:28):
to you know, to do that. You know, kind of
one thing outside of Reddick's control, I think is you know,
the the Mark Williams trade that that didn't go through, right,
I mean I think you look at that now and
you kind of start wondering, given that the guy didn't
get injured, like the team was, you know, the Lakers
at feared you know, did they kind of need that
that big man there, right, because Jackson Hayes is you know,
he's not great, right, He's you know, and in situations
(04:50):
like this, I'm not sure you know how how much
you want to throw them out on the court, and
it is going to leave them at a sizeist event.
And now that said they knew what the variables were.
I mean, it's not like a very complicated equation here,
you know, they I think they know what they have
to do, and again, the fact that they weren't ready
to do that, I do think it is disconcerting.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yeah, and you pointed out Jackson Hayes. I think he
played five minutes, you know, so you're playing without your center,
You're going small against this gigantic team. That's a problem.
I mean, I don't know how many minutes you have
to play Jackson Hayes, but hell, at least he's tall.
Maybe he should be in there more.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Dylan, Yeah, I mean, you know, and if they start
going south, right, I mean that's the decision. It's almost
kind of pick your poison, right, I mean, I do
think they've shown throughout, you know, the right this season
that's not their preferred option to go to Jackson Hayes. Obviously,
to be put yourself at a huge size of the
disadvantage isn't great either, and it's almost kind of a
(05:47):
pick your poison type of situation. But yeah, at some point,
you know, I think we just again what was coroublesome
to me was just kind of as as Minnesota was
kind of going on this run, you know, starting in
the second quarter into the third, which is kind of
they just kind of stayed small, right, They didn't really
kind of adjust to that at all. They didn't really
change anything up.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
You know it look like, you know, Reddick just kind
of froze on the sidelines a little bit. And you
know that that lack of adjustment to me is kind
of you know, you do kind of wonder kind of
going forward. Look, there is a playoff series. Teams are
you know you're not gonna sweep everybody, right that said
kind of going forward, I think is what you're concerned about.
And you know, again that lack of adjustment to me
with what I found troublesome.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, but you never know that.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
That's the thing, you know, you know, Fred through it
out there, they were out physical and things like that,
and you go into the game. You may have a
game plan going into the game, say they're going to
be physical with us, and and you've got to be
ready for that. But then it happens, and you know,
it takes individuals to be able to adjust to that,
not just the coach but the players on the court
to adjust the physicality, just much as as you got
(06:51):
to adjust how the officials are are calling the game,
and you got to be able to adjust to that.
So I don't put it on on one thing or
even even just you know, JJ is really the players
and in the moment, how do you adjust to a
team that's playing a little bit different than you expected?
But going forward, now Game two, how big does Game
(07:12):
two become for the Lakers? Being that you know it's
a home they've they had home court advantage, and now
does this become a must win for the Lakers?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yeah, I think so. You don't you know, you don't
want to lose two home games and then have to
go to Minnesota where I'm guessing, you know, after the
run that they made last year, guessing the crowd there
is going to be really hyped, you know. I mean
if you're the Lakers too, I mean, this is this
is a tremendous opportunity for them, right, I mean, this
is the first time they've hosted right given that the bubble, right,
(07:44):
you know, the that you're in the bubble, there wasn't
home court advantage that year. This is the first playoff
series where they've had home court advantages. They had Kobe Bryant,
so you know, let's not lose sight of like the
advantage that they have here. I think a lot of
is at stake, you know, for Luka Donsic to kind
of right. I mean, obviously the fans have kind of
taken to them, but you know, this is gonna this
is going to put them into kind of a different
(08:05):
stratosphere if he can do this. Yeah, so absolutely, you know,
they they have to win this thing, you know, and
if frankly, if they lose here and they go down,
you know, they go over to Minnesota down to oh yeah,
I mean, the series at that point I think is
pretty much over.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I want to talk Clippers for a second. They had
a chance in Denver, should have won in Denver Game
two tonight, but they gave that one away.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Dylan, Yeah, they did. Yeah, you can't be blowing fifteen
point leads, you know. And again I think, you know,
I think if you're you know, the LA sports fan
kind of hoping for that, you know, Lakers Clippers thing
in the conference final, I mean, I do think the Clippers,
you know, the one thing is right, they might be
the team with the best I'm not saying they would
beat Oklahoma City, but I think they might be the
(08:48):
team with the best shot at beating Oklahoma City, you know,
so yeah, for them to kind of blow it the
way they did is just you know, I mean they
got to be kicking themselves for that. I mean, just
get again they you know, they closed the regular season
winning eighteen of twenty one. Uh you know, the fact
that Kawhi Leonard is healthy, you know, this kind of
feels like another one of those. And again they've teased
(09:09):
us before right where you then they're playing well when
you're kind of thinking like, hey, they might win a championship. Uh,
you know, this is certainly one of those stretches. And yeah,
you know they they again from their standpoint, you know,
they better win tonight. Yeah you the next game?
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Yeah yeah, yeah, no, that that that definitely is a
is a big one for them, and it would be
bad for laf if both those teams go down.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Oh too.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
But and and looking at at both these teams because
the expectations are are are different for for both of them,
meaning the Lakers and and and the Clippers. What has
to happen for the Clippers, I mean, you know, Kawhi
has obviously been the focal point, and if he's healthy,
everybody believes that the Clippers can can can can win
(09:55):
it and and can go deep in these playoffs. But
we talked about this a couple of weeks ago. It's
like who's got more pressure? Is it James Harden or
is it Luca? In down? Who has more pressure now?
Going forward? Now that both teams are down one? Who
has more pressure on? James Harden or Luca?
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
I think it's definitely got to be Luca, right, I think,
you know, just the I mean it's the Lakers, right,
I mean they're the team everybody's watching. Uh, you know,
and I think with with the Clippers, it's it's still
on Kawhi Leonard, I think, right, And and unfortunately, it's
it's a matter of him staying healthy. You know, there
is kind of this a bit I think of a
kicking time bomb field there. Unfortunately, you know, just because
(10:34):
of again his his health history. You know, we've seen
this before. This isn't the first time where I think
we've seen a Clippers team playing really well and Kawhi
Leonard being healthy and then you know, something inevitably goes wrong.
You know, in recent years it was either Ham or
Paul George, one of them kind of going down.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
And I think.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Until right, frankly, that they get to an NBA Finals,
I'm not really sure people are going to kind of
be like really really believing then that, you know, I
do think in terms of kind of this this era
of Clippers basketball, obviously they've kind of had to wager
everything on Kawhi Leonard, so to me, you know, in
one way, yeah, there is kind of more on him
(11:11):
because he's going to right, he's trying to It's not
just about this season, it's about its entire tenure here
and whether it's going to be a successor and viewed
as a success or a failure. That said, you know, again,
the Lakers are the team everybody's watching and and I think,
you know, the one thing about the Clippers is they
you know, just because of how deep they are, the
way they can do different things, they have kind of
more routes to victory. Right, if the Lakers are going right,
(11:33):
if the Lakers are going to play well, we know
what that looks like. It's it's you know, Luka Doncic
and Lebron James carrying them and you know, kind of
the other guys, right, you know, the d and three
guys is kind of namely shots from the outside, right,
we kind of know what that looks like. But it
does kind of start with you know, Luka Doncic scoring
the basketball and so yeah, I do think absolutely there's
(11:53):
more pressure on him, and you know what, so far,
at least it seems like he's responded pretty well.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
All let's go to the Dodgers quick here. Okay, they
are sixteen and seven, and of course the sky is falling.
The Podreys are sixteen and six. Everything is great, So
if the Padreys lost one more game, apparently their sky
would be falling too, Dylan, Are the Dodgers going exactly
as you thought they would go?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I mean, you know, the previous road trip obviously didn't
go well, right. I think they they played three series,
they lost all of them. I don't think that that
was like ideal that said. I love this this recent series,
you know against the Rangers where they took two or three.
You know, it's just I mean, this could be a
World Series preview, right, and you know they face a
team with good pitching and they just kind of gutted
(12:40):
out these wins. You know, I think the bullpen is
kind of back to where you want it to be.
Kenner Scott obviously is you know, kind of solidified himself
there as a closer. He's done a good job back there,
and you know, they're due. They're hitting it just enough
to win at this point, you know, and I expect
at some point again the Bats are going to kind
of really kind of come to life, and you know,
(13:00):
I think they'll kind of get back to what they
look like during that first week of the season. But
you know, I do think with you know, Yamamoto going well, uh,
you know, and and you know, the glass now scared yesterday,
you kind of thought like, oh man a, they're going
to be short up pitching again. Of you know, fortunately
for them, that turned out to be relatively minor thing
with just being cramps. You know, I think they're in
a pretty good spot right now. And again, I really
(13:22):
like the way they played that Texas series where you know,
those weren't easy games, right and you know, and one
of them they lost and at the end there, but
you know, I think, uh, yeah, you know, I think
that that kind of puts them in kind of in
a good shape going forward here.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Yeah, overreaction is the key, and every everybody wants to
overreact when the Dodgers lose one game, especially or if they,
god forbid, lose too in a row. Talk of Otani
moving down because nobody's getting on base for him, you know,
the eight nine, seven, eight nine hitters and not getting
on base for Otani.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
So as RBIs are down, there's nobody on base.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
They were talk about moving him, you know, you know,
back in the lineup, let Mookie lead off and let
Otani at second or third. Your thoughts on that, do
they need to change anything up right now or just
ride it out?
Speaker 2 (14:11):
I would just at this point, I would just write
it out, you know, and you know, write another one
of those things you kind of heard, you know, a
couple of weeks ago with Max Munsey, and you know,
do they need you know, do they need to make
a deal and move him or something. And you know,
he comes out right the other night and he.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Wins them the game.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
So at this point, it's still too early in the
season of panic, you know, I think what you just
kind of want, at least like on the pitching side,
you know, especially given how dependent they are on the bullpen.
You know, to me, like when when that wasn't going well,
it did kind of make you wonder a little bit,
just because you know, relievers, their performances tend to go
up and down a little bit more from year to year,
(14:45):
you know, compared to other players. So you know, anytime
the bullpen doesn't look good, you do kind of start
to wonder, Okay, this is just going to be one
of those seasons. Obviously they're kind of straightened that out,
and you know, again the starting pitching, you know, it's
going to be good enough, and the bats are definitely
going to come to life. You know, this kind of
offensive role that they're in isn't going to last forever.
And you know, once once the bats picked up, I'm
(15:06):
sure they're going to go back, you know, to one
hundred and twenty one pace or whatever we thought they were.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Going to do. All right, well, Dylan, thanks for coming on.
I appreciate the inside. As always, We'll talk to you
again soon.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
All right, thank you so much for hatting me on.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Perhaps the quote of the year. We have just found
the quote of the year. It's just come in and
we are going to talk about the quote of the
year next. Hello, Happy Monday, Happy Monday.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Hope you guys and everyone had a blessed and beautiful weekend.
And we're back. We're back down the stretch of some
very exciting times in the sports world. NBA playoffs, we've
got Dodgers rolling still on the road, and AHL playoffs.
I mean, it's it's a springtime, Fred, It's a good
(16:10):
time of the year to be a sports fan.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
It is. This is a segment where we're gonna open
the phone lines and ask if you ever heard your
parents having sex and if it traumatized you. I'm not
saying we won't do it later, but this is the segment.
We were going to do that, but something happened in the
last couple of minutes that was so overwhelming that we
cannot do anything but this. It has to be the
(16:35):
quote of the year. Now. When Kevin first sent it
to us, I thought it was from some fake account.
I didn't actually think it was real. Kevin, Oh, it's real.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
This is not for really fugazy.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
This is absolutely real, all right, So this will be
the quote of the year. Why don't we just run
it because we have the audio, and then we'll tell
you who said it.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
I did know that Luca was important to the to
the fan base. I didn't quite know it to the
to what level. But really, the way we looked at
it is, you know, if you're putting on the if
you're putting the team on the floor, that's Kyrie, Clay PJ,
Anthony Davis, uh and Lively. We filled that's a championship
caliber team, and we would have been winning at a
(17:25):
high level. And that would have quieted some of the outrage.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Okay, so let's just run the beginning of it again. Ronnie,
just the top one more time.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
I did know that Luca was important to the to
the fan base.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
That's enough. Those are the comments of Nico Harrison, the
general manager of the Dallas Mavericks. Ronnie, one more time.
Speaker 5 (17:46):
I did know that Luca was important to the to
the fan base.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
There you go.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
I didn't quite know it to the to what level.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
That's good. I didn't know Luca was important to the
fan base. Did he didn't know?
Speaker 4 (18:01):
They just didn't know to what extent?
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Yeah? To what extent? Know? Yeah? To what extent?
Speaker 5 (18:06):
I didn't know that Luca was important to the to
the fan base. I didn't quite know it to what level.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
There you go, to what level? He didn't know to
what level. He's the general manager of the Mavericks. He's
in a business. It's a business, and he didn't understand
the importance of Luca to what level to the Dallas
fan base. I think that tops everything else. He said. Now,
(18:37):
I didn't realize it. I mean, I knew people liked him,
but my god, he's one of the top five players
in the game. I didn't really like them that much. Hell,
I didn't get it.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
I didn't know that Luca was important to the to
the fan base, but.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Not to what level. That was the quote of the year.
That was it? Now, Rodney, I know you think he
didn't and he probably didn't make this decision in a vacuum.
He probably did not do that. That's fair. But man,
when you come out and say I didn't, Hey, that
(19:16):
surprised me. I didn't realize he was that popular. No, Nico,
that's just a bad call. That is a bad call.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
I didn't know that Luca was important to the fan base.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, you did, but to what level? Now, Rodney, when
you hear him say that, what do you think.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
I think he's just being honest. I mean, nothing more,
nothing less. I don't I mean Yeah, I think he's
just being straight up and being honest, like I, you know,
I knew he was important, but I didn't know to
that extent where the whole arena was gonna yell fire
meire me, and that it was going to be uh
(20:03):
you overwhelmingly uh to that extent.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Look, he's not.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
He's not a guy that that brought you three championships.
And and and you look up and your you send
them backing, and and you are blind to the fact
that he brought you three championships, and you like wondering
why people are mad at you know, it's okay, he
(20:31):
got us to the finals, and he's got us to
the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
He's a young superstar.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
But you know, other superstars in the league have been
traded away, and other players have been traded away. I
didn't know the extent that the fans would go crazy
over this. And then on top of that, you know,
you know, you got to look at it going the
Lakers better win this series and go deep, otherwise it's
(21:00):
going to be.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Well, they wouldn't no further than we did.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
So, you know, and behind closed doors and where nobody
is talking about it, NKO is rooting hard rooting extremely
hard for the Minnesota Timberwolves to pull off this series upset,
and that way he can save face and go see
it didn't matter. You know, he's not taking them any
(21:27):
further than what he took us.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
I did. Luca was important to the to the fan base.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
Yeah, so I'm not I'm not shocked by that comment.
It doesn't that to me. It's not the comment of
the year, it's quote of the year or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Oh, to me, it speaks to the fact. But I
just know to what level he's one of the top
players in the game. Can we make the argument now
that that deal was very much like when the Rams
traded Eric Dickerson. Eric Dickerson one of the great players
in the NFL. Dick Enberg, the late dick Enberg, would
(22:05):
always say, you can never ever trade the greats. You
have to embrace that, you have to hold on to it.
That that I didn't know to what level now. Granted Rodney,
he hasn't led him to three titles, and if he had,
you know, maybe different supporting people around him. And I'll
(22:25):
tell you one thing, I suld take him in a
heartbeat one second, wouldn't You wouldn't anybody take him in
one second, you might even stay.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
Yeah, given right, now, given given given what your which
you had to give up. Yeah, absolutely, you take him
knowing that all you got to do is a trade
one for one. And the one for one is, you know,
a guy in his thirties versus a guy in his
twenties that is arguably the you know, top three players
in the league, and I got him for you know,
(22:59):
another ten years where the guy that I'm getting you know,
you know, may not be healthy for a season for
the rest of his career. Yeah, it's a it's a
win for us if you're the Lakers, it's a win
for the other side. But I think the popularity part
of it, because sometimes you're blinded fred Sometimes you're blinded
(23:23):
by inside the building and outside the building. Sometimes you're
blinded by, you know, the way a guy is inside
the building. And I've been in those situations where inside
the building, the guy is a cancer, the guy is terrible,
the guy is you know, something that you're trying to
find ways to get out of here because he is
not good for the organization.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Not saying that Luca was.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
That guy in Dallas, No, I am not saying that,
but what I'm saying is sometimes the internal information is
different than the external information, and what people think or
feel like they know from the outside looking in, it
doesn't match what is going on inside and internally, and
(24:08):
so I think deep down that is what not only he,
but I think others felt. Because again, this did not
happen just on Nico. This happened within the organization, with
multiple people signing off on this.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
What do you think, Well, I'll say this too as
a jumping or too even a lot of that can
be true riding it too, because you know a lot
of athletes public persona is much different than what you
know of them, you know behind the scenes. But even
with that, you have to at least know if you're Nico,
if you're marketing, if your ownership, this guy has a
third highest selling jersey in the entire league, behind Steph
Curry and Lebron James are one, two and three the
(24:48):
last couple of seasons, marketing opportunities and faces all over
the place. To say that you didn't know the way
that he connected with the fan base, How could you
be that close to it and just be totally clueless
about that. That's the part that does that makes sense
to me. You could say the guy's a cancer, he's
out of shape. I don't want to give him for
million dollars. All of that while also acknowledging this is
going to be a really unpopular.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Who knows that he didn't do that?
Speaker 3 (25:09):
To really not throw Luca under the bus even more
than what they perceived that they already did. It's like, listen,
I could come out and this has happened before too.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
I can.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
I can run down a list of things as to
the reason why we got rid of him. I can
run down a list that you guys don't even know
about that we kept under wraps.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
But I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna throw
him under the bus.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
I'll just say that his impact was, you know, different
than what we thought about it. And at that point,
he's falling on the sword for not only just him
and the ownership, but he's also falling the sword from
the marketing folks, because the marketing folks could have came
to him and said, listen, we can't get rid of
this guy. This guy is making it generating another one
(25:58):
hundred million dollars for us. Why are you getting rid
of this guy? And just before you do that, just
understand this is what's happening. I'm saying it was a
company wide decision, not just Nico doing this, and who
knows again, who knows what they are covering up for
what went down in Dallas.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
We don't know that.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
And at the end of the day, it may come
out that there was a reason why they pulled the
trigger when they did, and it may be a different perception.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
But right now he's falling on the sword.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
Yeah, And I don't think anybody's faulting what, you know,
faulting him for not coming out and eviscerating Luca. You
couldn't do that. That's bad pr You look as an
organization look bad. Ripping a player hurts you with agents
and players moving forward. So I don't think anyone was
asking to do that. But for you to say that
you didn't know how popular he was to the fan base,
you just look really really clueless. You can say, you
know what, we know the kind of impact player that
(26:53):
he is. He was a great player for the organization.
This was an unpopular move, but we think this is
what's best for the organization moving forward, and if we're healthy,
we can win without Luco on the team. You could
just say that I know it was unpopular, but we're
standing behind the size of organization. This is the best
chance for us to win. You can think in your
heart of hearts that's a BS. But to come out
and say that you didn't know how popular he was,
(27:14):
you look worse for it, not him.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Or absolutely, which I agree with that. I agree with that,
But I also believe that he is He is falling
on the sword. He is falling because we don't know.
And when it went on behind closed doors, maybe he
even said, you know, this is gonna this is gonna
kill us. From a PR standpoint, I'm sure he did.
If he's worth the assault on anything, anybody would say
(27:38):
we are going to get killed. From a PR standpoint,
just everybody get ready for it. And he could have
done that. I gotta believe that, you know, someone in
that position is not going to be that naive, And
if he is, in shame on him. But I think
I really believe that he is falling on the sword
(27:59):
for a lot of fun folks in that organization and
they're letting him die on that vine.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
So during the playoffs, there's a backup official at every game.
But should that official have to take someone else's jersey
and wear it? Because this happened, it was very odd.
I'll explain next. Come on, Lit'll take cold for you, Ronnie.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
I see you, Rodney Pete, fred Rogan on a beautiful Monday,
beautiful sun shining Monday in southern California. Let's go, Freddi.
We've got a full show today. Man, We've got a
lot to get too, still got.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Any bonds almost done with the NFL Draft coming up
this week, will join us at two o'clock. The NHL
playoffs going on. Minnesota is playing Vegas last night. A lignsman.
So there are four officials in a hockey game. Two
referees they have the orange bands on their sleeves, and
two linesmen and their job is to see who's offside,
(29:05):
breakup fights, call icing things like that. Anyway, one of
the linesmen gets hurt, actually gets hit in the head.
Somebody ran into him unintentional, knock him down. Guy was
woozy and he was done so watching the game and
they say, but there's good news. There is a backup referee,
a backup official at every playoff game. So it'll be
(29:29):
a minute and we'll have somebody out here and continue
the game. Okay, they take a commercial, comeback, and here
comes the replacement for the linesman, wearing the same jersey
as the linesman that was knocked out of the game.
You see, the guy that was there is the backup
was a referee, and he has the orange sleeves. But
(29:51):
because they didn't have a backup linesman and another jersey,
linesman ninety four was knocked out of the game, and
then linesman ninety four return to the game. The injured
guy took off his jersey and gave it to the
other guy to wear. And what is this youth league?
Is this the youth league? Is that how this works?
(30:12):
He just takes off his jersey, gives it to himself,
go back into the game. They didn't have another linesman there,
so the guy had to take off his jersey. Could
that have looked any cheaper? If they're gonna have a
backup crew, have a backup crew, don't take that's like,
take off the jersey and give them somebody in the crowd.
You get down there, go on, you're you're you're alignsman.
(30:35):
Now you're in. Now you're in, go go get them. Yeah,
do you know how to play? It doesn't matter. I thought, God,
NHL be better than that. Yeah, be better than that.
Don't take their jersey every to get your guy's body
and give it to another guy that you wonder like,
how hap is this?
Speaker 3 (30:53):
You're a big time organization, How do you operate like this?
How do you operate? What in the world? You're better
than that? As you mentioned, you're better than that, and.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
The National Hockey League you're in play on you're better
than That's absurd. That'd be like a guy gets hurt
and there's somebody in the locker room to replace him.
They give them that guy's jersey. Just go go in,
just put his jersey on it, go back out there.
We didn't we didn't plan for this. We didn't do
(31:25):
anything by the rules or anything like that. Just go, yeah,
we don't have another jersey. You just go back out there.
That looked cheap, really cheap. But the Kings tonight against Edmonton.
This is game one my senses, the building will be
sold out. It's a seven o'clock start. America's All Star.
(31:45):
Oh not America's All Star, the world's are All Star.
Connor McDavid said they had been waiting for this moment
for one year, this moment because they were knocked out
last year in the final, so they've been waiting for
this moment for one year. To Connor McDavid said that
(32:07):
to begin the quest once again, this moment, okay, okay,
he said, Oh, the Kings are good, they play good defense.
We know.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
How do you feel about that, fred How do you
feel about him saying that? Connor McDavid saying that given
a little bit of that's because that's like a backhand
respect right to the Kings, isn't it a little bit?
Speaker 1 (32:28):
That's no respect for the Kings? What none? I've been
waiting for this month.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
I've been waiting for this for a year, to get
with the Kings. Because that's no. We've had our sights
on the Kings. That's not that's not a little bit
of respect, like we've been looking forward to playing the Kings.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
No, he was waiting for this moment to begin the
quest for the Cup again. He didn't care they played
the Kings, the New York Islanders or the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Oh, Freddy,
that's exactly what he said. He could care the Abbotsford Canucks,
that'd be fine with him. He was waiting this moment
(33:07):
not to play the Kings, and that's what sticks in
my crawl. No respect. You go out. The Kings are fine,
they play good defense. But I think we all know
what this is about. Is that about the Kings. It's
about where we need to be. You know what. I
(33:27):
hope they light him up like a Christmas tree tonight,
I do. I hope they come. What do you mean,
light him up? Light him up out, be specific, be clean,
play a clean game. You better not end up in
that corner. I'll tell you that right now. Play clean,
(33:48):
put a bout it. If you can catch him, put
a body on him. He's the fastest guy out there.
Not checking him a little bit. I'm fred to you owing,
make sure the checks are in, are in, and the
checks cash.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
That's what you really mean, That's what I'm saying. Yeah,
get your moment, get those checks, book out come. I've
been waiting for this moment for a year. Well, Connor,
your moment has arrived. Your moment has arrived, and tonight
is your night.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Yeah. NFL Draft around the corner. Vinnie bon Signor joins
us next
All right, we continue on Fred Rogan, Rodney Pete, seventy
l A Sports. Uh, Lakers back at it tomorrow night
against Minnesota. Let's bring on our friend Dylan Hernandez from
the La Times. Dylan, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I am great. How are you guys doing?
Speaker 3 (00:18):
We're doing well, doing fantastic. Yeah, better than the Lakers.
Better than the Lakers, Dylan, how about that?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah that was a that was a tough one.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Huh yeah, Well, to me, it looked like they just
got punched in the mouth, and uh, they weren't prepared.
In my mind, A thought JJ Reddick made some mistakes
with the rotation. You wrote they were negligent.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Explain, Yeah, they just I mean you had to they
had to know what was coming, right, I mean, you know,
and you know, kind of the the team that's kind
of in a similar situation as them, I think is
you know, Golden State, right, They're you know, they're playing
a deep Houston Rockets team that is bigger than them
and you know, kind of known to be physical.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
You know, the Larwriers I thought kind of were ready
for what the Rockets through at them. I'm not really
sure the Lakers were, you know, I you know, I
was really kind of struck to kind of before the
game when Reddick addressed the media. You know, I mean,
he's usually a pretty serious guy, but you know, he
makes it in a smile and the joke here and there.
He just seemed really tight, you know, And I and
I think that that might have kind of right the team,
(01:21):
I thought kind of looked tight outside of Luca. We
just obviously just kind of came out gunning, you know.
So you kind of hope, I think if you're if
you're a Lakers fan, that you know, their head maybe
will be a little bit more in the right place
when they come out for this X game here.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
So, so, Dylan, do you think it was just a
matter of being tight or do you believe that it
maybe that they, you know, kind of finished the season
on a roll, and now the expectations are greater than
maybe what they thought it might be. And with Luca
and Lebron and and the trade and all those things
(01:57):
going on, that the pressure now on the Lakers the least,
at the very least get out of the first round.
Do you think that's now a concern for them?
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, I mean it has to be right and you know,
and in fairness, uh, you know, look at the look
at the way the standings finished, right, because there are
only two wins separating the Lakers at the third seed
and and you know the number eight seed, right, so
you know, Minnesota really just you know, won one fewer
game than them and obviously finished.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Dylan, people don't look at that. They just right, okay, right.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
And I think, yeah, yeah, And I think too, you know,
one thing again, an organization like the Lakers, and I'll
you know, I'll throw USC football in that category two
where the expectation, right is championship. And if you kind
of don't win the championship, uh, you know, it kind
of feels like a lost season. And frankly, they've had
some lost seasons here, right, And then you know, kind
of going into the playoffs even a couple of years ago,
(02:55):
you know, when they played in the conference finals against
the Nugget. I don't really think any but he was
looking at that team thinking like, man, they're going to
win the whole thing here, right. I mean, I think
they've kind of that team. It kind of felt like
they went as far as they went, and I think
all the things that you kind of mentioned are very valid.
Right after that trade and how well things started to
go all of a sudden, Now people are thinking like, hey,
they're going to make this run to the championship. I think,
you know, the fans felt good about the way they
(03:16):
finished the season, and I do think, yeah, like you know,
Game one came and all of a sudden, it's kind
of like, hey, this isn't going to be this easy,
you know. I think it was Jared Vanderbilt who kind
of referred to it as a wake up call. You know,
that's not kind of what you want to hear in
a way, because you would hope that a team again
that had the site set on the championship is kind
of ready for that. But yeah, I think you know
(03:37):
what Fred said earlier is right. They just kind of
got punched in them out here.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Yeah, and we have to remember JJ Reddick, who's had
a very good year, is a first year coach, and
for him to say, well, they were just more physical,
they down physical this. You've watched the tape you've played
against the Timberwolves this year, you know, and that tells
me that they weren't prepared and that's a problem, at
(04:03):
least in my mind. Dylan.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yeah, I think so too, you know, and I think
that again they kind of should have known kind of
what to expect here, right again, and then and again,
I'm just kind of going back to the Warriors here.
They faced the same problem, right. It was kind of
you know, they had to protect they knew what they
had to do, They had to protect the ball, they
had to make their shots and just kind of on
the on the boards, just kind of hang on for
dear life, you know, and the Lakers quite weren't able
(04:28):
to you know, to do that. You know, kind of
one thing outside of Reddick's control, I think is you know,
the the Mark Williams trade that that didn't go through, right,
I mean I think you look at that now and
you kind of start wondering, given that the guy didn't
get injured, like the team was, you know, the Lakers
at feared you know, did they kind of need that
that big man there, right, because Jackson Hayes is you know,
he's not great, right, He's you know, and in situations
(04:50):
like this, I'm not sure you know how how much
you want to throw them out on the court, and
it is going to leave them at a sizeist event.
And now that said they knew what the variables were.
I mean, it's not like a very complicated equation here,
you know, they I think they know what they have
to do, and again, the fact that they weren't ready
to do that, I do think it is disconcerting.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yeah, and you pointed out Jackson Hayes. I think he
played five minutes, you know, so you're playing without your center,
You're going small against this gigantic team. That's a problem.
I mean, I don't know how many minutes you have
to play Jackson Hayes, but hell, at least he's tall.
Maybe he should be in there more.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Dylan, Yeah, I mean, you know, and if they start
going south, right, I mean that's the decision. It's almost
kind of pick your poison, right, I mean, I do
think they've shown throughout, you know, the right this season
that's not their preferred option to go to Jackson Hayes. Obviously,
to be put yourself at a huge size of the
disadvantage isn't great either, and it's almost kind of a
(05:47):
pick your poison type of situation. But yeah, at some point,
you know, I think we just again what was coroublesome
to me was just kind of as as Minnesota was
kind of going on this run, you know, starting in
the second quarter into the third, which is kind of
they just kind of stayed small, right, They didn't really
kind of adjust to that at all. They didn't really
change anything up.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
You know it look like, you know, Reddick just kind
of froze on the sidelines a little bit. And you
know that that lack of adjustment to me is kind
of you know, you do kind of wonder kind of
going forward. Look, there is a playoff series. Teams are
you know you're not gonna sweep everybody, right that said
kind of going forward, I think is what you're concerned about.
And you know, again that lack of adjustment to me
with what I found troublesome.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, but you never know that.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
That's the thing, you know, you know, Fred through it
out there, they were out physical and things like that,
and you go into the game. You may have a
game plan going into the game, say they're going to
be physical with us, and and you've got to be
ready for that. But then it happens, and you know,
it takes individuals to be able to adjust to that,
not just the coach but the players on the court
to adjust the physicality, just much as as you got
(06:51):
to adjust how the officials are are calling the game,
and you got to be able to adjust to that.
So I don't put it on on one thing or
even even just you know, JJ is really the players
and in the moment, how do you adjust to a
team that's playing a little bit different than you expected?
But going forward, now Game two, how big does Game
(07:12):
two become for the Lakers? Being that you know it's
a home they've they had home court advantage, and now
does this become a must win for the Lakers?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yeah, I think so. You don't you know, you don't
want to lose two home games and then have to
go to Minnesota where I'm guessing, you know, after the
run that they made last year, guessing the crowd there
is going to be really hyped, you know. I mean
if you're the Lakers too, I mean, this is this
is a tremendous opportunity for them, right, I mean, this
is the first time they've hosted right given that the bubble, right,
(07:44):
you know, the that you're in the bubble, there wasn't
home court advantage that year. This is the first playoff
series where they've had home court advantages. They had Kobe Bryant,
so you know, let's not lose sight of like the
advantage that they have here. I think a lot of
is at stake, you know, for Luka Donsic to kind
of right. I mean, obviously the fans have kind of
taken to them, but you know, this is gonna this
is going to put them into kind of a different
(08:05):
stratosphere if he can do this. Yeah, so absolutely, you know,
they they have to win this thing, you know, and
if frankly, if they lose here and they go down,
you know, they go over to Minnesota down to oh yeah,
I mean, the series at that point I think is
pretty much over.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I want to talk Clippers for a second. They had
a chance in Denver, should have won in Denver Game
two tonight, but they gave that one away.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Dylan, Yeah, they did. Yeah, you can't be blowing fifteen
point leads, you know. And again I think, you know,
I think if you're you know, the LA sports fan
kind of hoping for that, you know, Lakers Clippers thing
in the conference final, I mean, I do think the Clippers,
you know, the one thing is right, they might be
the team with the best I'm not saying they would
beat Oklahoma City, but I think they might be the
(08:48):
team with the best shot at beating Oklahoma City, you know,
so yeah, for them to kind of blow it the
way they did is just you know, I mean they
got to be kicking themselves for that. I mean, just
get again they you know, they closed the regular season
winning eighteen of twenty one. Uh you know, the fact
that Kawhi Leonard is healthy, you know, this kind of
feels like another one of those. And again they've teased
(09:09):
us before right where you then they're playing well when
you're kind of thinking like, hey, they might win a championship. Uh,
you know, this is certainly one of those stretches. And yeah,
you know they they again from their standpoint, you know,
they better win tonight. Yeah you the next game?
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Yeah yeah, yeah, no, that that that definitely is a
is a big one for them, and it would be
bad for laf if both those teams go down.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Oh too.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
But and and looking at at both these teams because
the expectations are are are different for for both of them,
meaning the Lakers and and and the Clippers. What has
to happen for the Clippers, I mean, you know, Kawhi
has obviously been the focal point, and if he's healthy,
everybody believes that the Clippers can can can can win
(09:55):
it and and can go deep in these playoffs. But
we talked about this a couple of weeks ago. It's
like who's got more pressure? Is it James Harden or
is it Luca? In down? Who has more pressure now?
Going forward? Now that both teams are down one? Who
has more pressure on? James Harden or Luca?
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
I think it's definitely got to be Luca, right, I think,
you know, just the I mean it's the Lakers, right,
I mean they're the team everybody's watching. Uh, you know,
and I think with with the Clippers, it's it's still
on Kawhi Leonard, I think, right, And and unfortunately, it's
it's a matter of him staying healthy. You know, there
is kind of this a bit I think of a
kicking time bomb field there. Unfortunately, you know, just because
(10:34):
of again his his health history. You know, we've seen
this before. This isn't the first time where I think
we've seen a Clippers team playing really well and Kawhi
Leonard being healthy and then you know, something inevitably goes wrong.
You know, in recent years it was either Ham or
Paul George, one of them kind of going down.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
And I think.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Until right, frankly, that they get to an NBA Finals,
I'm not really sure people are going to kind of
be like really really believing then that, you know, I
do think in terms of kind of this this era
of Clippers basketball, obviously they've kind of had to wager
everything on Kawhi Leonard, so to me, you know, in
one way, yeah, there is kind of more on him
(11:11):
because he's going to right, he's trying to It's not
just about this season, it's about its entire tenure here
and whether it's going to be a successor and viewed
as a success or a failure. That said, you know, again,
the Lakers are the team everybody's watching and and I think,
you know, the one thing about the Clippers is they
you know, just because of how deep they are, the
way they can do different things, they have kind of
more routes to victory. Right, if the Lakers are going right,
(11:33):
if the Lakers are going to play well, we know
what that looks like. It's it's you know, Luka Doncic
and Lebron James carrying them and you know, kind of
the other guys, right, you know, the d and three
guys is kind of namely shots from the outside, right,
we kind of know what that looks like. But it
does kind of start with you know, Luka Doncic scoring
the basketball and so yeah, I do think absolutely there's
(11:53):
more pressure on him, and you know what, so far,
at least it seems like he's responded pretty well.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
All let's go to the Dodgers quick here. Okay, they
are sixteen and seven, and of course the sky is falling.
The Podreys are sixteen and six. Everything is great, So
if the Padreys lost one more game, apparently their sky
would be falling too, Dylan, Are the Dodgers going exactly
as you thought they would go?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I mean, you know, the previous road trip obviously didn't
go well, right. I think they they played three series,
they lost all of them. I don't think that that
was like ideal that said. I love this this recent series,
you know against the Rangers where they took two or three.
You know, it's just I mean, this could be a
World Series preview, right, and you know they face a
team with good pitching and they just kind of gutted
(12:40):
out these wins. You know, I think the bullpen is
kind of back to where you want it to be.
Kenner Scott obviously is you know, kind of solidified himself
there as a closer. He's done a good job back there,
and you know, they're due. They're hitting it just enough
to win at this point, you know, and I expect
at some point again the Bats are going to kind
of really kind of come to life, and you know,
(13:00):
I think they'll kind of get back to what they
look like during that first week of the season. But
you know, I do think with you know, Yamamoto going well, uh,
you know, and and you know, the glass now scared yesterday,
you kind of thought like, oh man a, they're going
to be short up pitching again. Of you know, fortunately
for them, that turned out to be relatively minor thing
with just being cramps. You know, I think they're in
a pretty good spot right now. And again, I really
(13:22):
like the way they played that Texas series where you know,
those weren't easy games, right and you know, and one
of them they lost and at the end there, but
you know, I think, uh, yeah, you know, I think
that that kind of puts them in kind of in
a good shape going forward here.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Yeah, overreaction is the key, and every everybody wants to
overreact when the Dodgers lose one game, especially or if they,
god forbid, lose too in a row. Talk of Otani
moving down because nobody's getting on base for him, you know,
the eight nine, seven, eight nine hitters and not getting
on base for Otani.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
So as RBIs are down, there's nobody on base.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
They were talk about moving him, you know, you know,
back in the lineup, let Mookie lead off and let
Otani at second or third. Your thoughts on that, do
they need to change anything up right now or just
ride it out?
Speaker 2 (14:11):
I would just at this point, I would just write
it out, you know, and you know, write another one
of those things you kind of heard, you know, a
couple of weeks ago with Max Munsey, and you know,
do they need you know, do they need to make
a deal and move him or something. And you know,
he comes out right the other night and he.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Wins them the game.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
So at this point, it's still too early in the
season of panic, you know, I think what you just
kind of want, at least like on the pitching side,
you know, especially given how dependent they are on the bullpen.
You know, to me, like when when that wasn't going well,
it did kind of make you wonder a little bit,
just because you know, relievers, their performances tend to go
up and down a little bit more from year to year,
(14:45):
you know, compared to other players. So you know, anytime
the bullpen doesn't look good, you do kind of start
to wonder, Okay, this is just going to be one
of those seasons. Obviously they're kind of straightened that out,
and you know, again the starting pitching, you know, it's
going to be good enough, and the bats are definitely
going to come to life. You know, this kind of
offensive role that they're in isn't going to last forever.
And you know, once once the bats picked up, I'm
(15:06):
sure they're going to go back, you know, to one
hundred and twenty one pace or whatever we thought they were.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Going to do. All right, well, Dylan, thanks for coming on.
I appreciate the inside. As always, We'll talk to you
again soon.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
All right, thank you so much for hatting me on.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Perhaps the quote of the year. We have just found
the quote of the year. It's just come in and
we are going to talk about the quote of the
year next. Hello, Happy Monday, Happy Monday.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Hope you guys and everyone had a blessed and beautiful weekend.
And we're back. We're back down the stretch of some
very exciting times in the sports world. NBA playoffs, we've
got Dodgers rolling still on the road, and AHL playoffs.
I mean, it's it's a springtime, Fred, It's a good
(16:10):
time of the year to be a sports fan.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
It is. This is a segment where we're gonna open
the phone lines and ask if you ever heard your
parents having sex and if it traumatized you. I'm not
saying we won't do it later, but this is the segment.
We were going to do that, but something happened in the
last couple of minutes that was so overwhelming that we
cannot do anything but this. It has to be the
(16:35):
quote of the year. Now. When Kevin first sent it
to us, I thought it was from some fake account.
I didn't actually think it was real. Kevin, Oh, it's real.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
This is not for really fugazy.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
This is absolutely real, all right, So this will be
the quote of the year. Why don't we just run
it because we have the audio, and then we'll tell
you who said it.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
I did know that Luca was important to the to
the fan base. I didn't quite know it to the
to what level. But really, the way we looked at
it is, you know, if you're putting on the if
you're putting the team on the floor, that's Kyrie, Clay PJ,
Anthony Davis, uh and Lively. We filled that's a championship
caliber team, and we would have been winning at a
(17:25):
high level. And that would have quieted some of the outrage.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Okay, so let's just run the beginning of it again. Ronnie,
just the top one more time.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
I did know that Luca was important to the to
the fan base.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
That's enough. Those are the comments of Nico Harrison, the
general manager of the Dallas Mavericks. Ronnie, one more time.
Speaker 5 (17:46):
I did know that Luca was important to the to
the fan base.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
There you go.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
I didn't quite know it to the to what level.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
That's good. I didn't know Luca was important to the
fan base. Did he didn't know?
Speaker 4 (18:01):
They just didn't know to what extent?
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Yeah? To what extent? Know? Yeah? To what extent?
Speaker 5 (18:06):
I didn't know that Luca was important to the to
the fan base. I didn't quite know it to what level.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
There you go, to what level? He didn't know to
what level. He's the general manager of the Mavericks. He's
in a business. It's a business, and he didn't understand
the importance of Luca to what level to the Dallas
fan base. I think that tops everything else. He said. Now,
(18:37):
I didn't realize it. I mean, I knew people liked him,
but my god, he's one of the top five players
in the game. I didn't really like them that much. Hell,
I didn't get it.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
I didn't know that Luca was important to the to
the fan base, but.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Not to what level. That was the quote of the year.
That was it? Now, Rodney, I know you think he
didn't and he probably didn't make this decision in a vacuum.
He probably did not do that. That's fair. But man,
when you come out and say I didn't, Hey, that
(19:16):
surprised me. I didn't realize he was that popular. No, Nico,
that's just a bad call. That is a bad call.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
I didn't know that Luca was important to the fan base.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, you did, but to what level? Now, Rodney, when
you hear him say that, what do you think.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
I think he's just being honest. I mean, nothing more,
nothing less. I don't I mean Yeah, I think he's
just being straight up and being honest, like I, you know,
I knew he was important, but I didn't know to
that extent where the whole arena was gonna yell fire
meire me, and that it was going to be uh
(20:03):
you overwhelmingly uh to that extent.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Look, he's not.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
He's not a guy that that brought you three championships.
And and and you look up and your you send
them backing, and and you are blind to the fact
that he brought you three championships, and you like wondering
why people are mad at you know, it's okay, he
(20:31):
got us to the finals, and he's got us to
the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
He's a young superstar.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
But you know, other superstars in the league have been
traded away, and other players have been traded away. I
didn't know the extent that the fans would go crazy
over this. And then on top of that, you know,
you know, you got to look at it going the
Lakers better win this series and go deep, otherwise it's
(21:00):
going to be.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Well, they wouldn't no further than we did.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
So, you know, and behind closed doors and where nobody
is talking about it, NKO is rooting hard rooting extremely
hard for the Minnesota Timberwolves to pull off this series upset,
and that way he can save face and go see
it didn't matter. You know, he's not taking them any
(21:27):
further than what he took us.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
I did. Luca was important to the to the fan base.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
Yeah, so I'm not I'm not shocked by that comment.
It doesn't that to me. It's not the comment of
the year, it's quote of the year or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Oh, to me, it speaks to the fact. But I
just know to what level he's one of the top
players in the game. Can we make the argument now
that that deal was very much like when the Rams
traded Eric Dickerson. Eric Dickerson one of the great players
in the NFL. Dick Enberg, the late dick Enberg, would
(22:05):
always say, you can never ever trade the greats. You
have to embrace that, you have to hold on to it.
That that I didn't know to what level now. Granted Rodney,
he hasn't led him to three titles, and if he had,
you know, maybe different supporting people around him. And I'll
(22:25):
tell you one thing, I suld take him in a
heartbeat one second, wouldn't You wouldn't anybody take him in
one second, you might even stay.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
Yeah, given right, now, given given given what your which
you had to give up. Yeah, absolutely, you take him
knowing that all you got to do is a trade
one for one. And the one for one is, you know,
a guy in his thirties versus a guy in his
twenties that is arguably the you know, top three players
in the league, and I got him for you know,
(22:59):
another ten years where the guy that I'm getting you know,
you know, may not be healthy for a season for
the rest of his career. Yeah, it's a it's a
win for us if you're the Lakers, it's a win
for the other side. But I think the popularity part
of it, because sometimes you're blinded fred Sometimes you're blinded
(23:23):
by inside the building and outside the building. Sometimes you're
blinded by, you know, the way a guy is inside
the building. And I've been in those situations where inside
the building, the guy is a cancer, the guy is terrible,
the guy is you know, something that you're trying to
find ways to get out of here because he is
not good for the organization.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Not saying that Luca was.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
That guy in Dallas, No, I am not saying that,
but what I'm saying is sometimes the internal information is
different than the external information, and what people think or
feel like they know from the outside looking in, it
doesn't match what is going on inside and internally, and
(24:08):
so I think deep down that is what not only he,
but I think others felt. Because again, this did not
happen just on Nico. This happened within the organization, with
multiple people signing off on this.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
What do you think, Well, I'll say this too as
a jumping or too even a lot of that can
be true riding it too, because you know a lot
of athletes public persona is much different than what you
know of them, you know behind the scenes. But even
with that, you have to at least know if you're Nico,
if you're marketing, if your ownership, this guy has a
third highest selling jersey in the entire league, behind Steph
Curry and Lebron James are one, two and three the
(24:48):
last couple of seasons, marketing opportunities and faces all over
the place. To say that you didn't know the way
that he connected with the fan base, How could you
be that close to it and just be totally clueless
about that. That's the part that does that makes sense
to me. You could say the guy's a cancer, he's
out of shape. I don't want to give him for
million dollars. All of that while also acknowledging this is
going to be a really unpopular.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Who knows that he didn't do that?
Speaker 3 (25:09):
To really not throw Luca under the bus even more
than what they perceived that they already did. It's like, listen,
I could come out and this has happened before too.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
I can.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
I can run down a list of things as to
the reason why we got rid of him. I can
run down a list that you guys don't even know
about that we kept under wraps.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
But I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna throw
him under the bus.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
I'll just say that his impact was, you know, different
than what we thought about it. And at that point,
he's falling on the sword for not only just him
and the ownership, but he's also falling the sword from
the marketing folks, because the marketing folks could have came
to him and said, listen, we can't get rid of
this guy. This guy is making it generating another one
(25:58):
hundred million dollars for us. Why are you getting rid
of this guy? And just before you do that, just
understand this is what's happening. I'm saying it was a
company wide decision, not just Nico doing this, and who
knows again, who knows what they are covering up for
what went down in Dallas.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
We don't know that.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
And at the end of the day, it may come
out that there was a reason why they pulled the
trigger when they did, and it may be a different perception.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
But right now he's falling on the sword.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
Yeah, And I don't think anybody's faulting what, you know,
faulting him for not coming out and eviscerating Luca. You
couldn't do that. That's bad pr You look as an
organization look bad. Ripping a player hurts you with agents
and players moving forward. So I don't think anyone was
asking to do that. But for you to say that
you didn't know how popular he was to the fan base,
you just look really really clueless. You can say, you
know what, we know the kind of impact player that
(26:53):
he is. He was a great player for the organization.
This was an unpopular move, but we think this is
what's best for the organization moving forward, and if we're healthy,
we can win without Luco on the team. You could
just say that I know it was unpopular, but we're
standing behind the size of organization. This is the best
chance for us to win. You can think in your
heart of hearts that's a BS. But to come out
and say that you didn't know how popular he was,
(27:14):
you look worse for it, not him.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Or absolutely, which I agree with that. I agree with that,
But I also believe that he is He is falling
on the sword. He is falling because we don't know.
And when it went on behind closed doors, maybe he
even said, you know, this is gonna this is gonna
kill us. From a PR standpoint, I'm sure he did.
If he's worth the assault on anything, anybody would say
(27:38):
we are going to get killed. From a PR standpoint,
just everybody get ready for it. And he could have
done that. I gotta believe that, you know, someone in
that position is not going to be that naive, And
if he is, in shame on him. But I think
I really believe that he is falling on the sword
(27:59):
for a lot of fun folks in that organization and
they're letting him die on that vine.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
So during the playoffs, there's a backup official at every game.
But should that official have to take someone else's jersey
and wear it? Because this happened, it was very odd.
I'll explain next. Come on, Lit'll take cold for you, Ronnie.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
I see you, Rodney Pete, fred Rogan on a beautiful Monday,
beautiful sun shining Monday in southern California. Let's go, Freddi.
We've got a full show today. Man, We've got a
lot to get too, still got.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Any bonds almost done with the NFL Draft coming up
this week, will join us at two o'clock. The NHL
playoffs going on. Minnesota is playing Vegas last night. A lignsman.
So there are four officials in a hockey game. Two
referees they have the orange bands on their sleeves, and
two linesmen and their job is to see who's offside,
(29:05):
breakup fights, call icing things like that. Anyway, one of
the linesmen gets hurt, actually gets hit in the head.
Somebody ran into him unintentional, knock him down. Guy was
woozy and he was done so watching the game and
they say, but there's good news. There is a backup referee,
a backup official at every playoff game. So it'll be
(29:29):
a minute and we'll have somebody out here and continue
the game. Okay, they take a commercial, comeback, and here
comes the replacement for the linesman, wearing the same jersey
as the linesman that was knocked out of the game.
You see, the guy that was there is the backup
was a referee, and he has the orange sleeves. But
(29:51):
because they didn't have a backup linesman and another jersey,
linesman ninety four was knocked out of the game, and
then linesman ninety four return to the game. The injured
guy took off his jersey and gave it to the
other guy to wear. And what is this youth league?
Is this the youth league? Is that how this works?
(30:12):
He just takes off his jersey, gives it to himself,
go back into the game. They didn't have another linesman there,
so the guy had to take off his jersey. Could
that have looked any cheaper? If they're gonna have a
backup crew, have a backup crew, don't take that's like,
take off the jersey and give them somebody in the crowd.
You get down there, go on, you're you're you're alignsman.
(30:35):
Now you're in. Now you're in, go go get them. Yeah,
do you know how to play? It doesn't matter. I thought, God,
NHL be better than that. Yeah, be better than that.
Don't take their jersey every to get your guy's body
and give it to another guy that you wonder like,
how hap is this?
Speaker 3 (30:53):
You're a big time organization, How do you operate like this?
How do you operate? What in the world? You're better
than that? As you mentioned, you're better than that, and.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
The National Hockey League you're in play on you're better
than That's absurd. That'd be like a guy gets hurt
and there's somebody in the locker room to replace him.
They give them that guy's jersey. Just go go in,
just put his jersey on it, go back out there.
We didn't we didn't plan for this. We didn't do
(31:25):
anything by the rules or anything like that. Just go, yeah,
we don't have another jersey. You just go back out there.
That looked cheap, really cheap. But the Kings tonight against Edmonton.
This is game one my senses, the building will be
sold out. It's a seven o'clock start. America's All Star.
(31:45):
Oh not America's All Star, the world's are All Star.
Connor McDavid said they had been waiting for this moment
for one year, this moment because they were knocked out
last year in the final, so they've been waiting for
this moment for one year. To Connor McDavid said that
(32:07):
to begin the quest once again, this moment, okay, okay,
he said, Oh, the Kings are good, they play good defense.
We know.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
How do you feel about that, fred How do you
feel about him saying that? Connor McDavid saying that given
a little bit of that's because that's like a backhand
respect right to the Kings, isn't it a little bit?
Speaker 1 (32:28):
That's no respect for the Kings? What none? I've been
waiting for this month.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
I've been waiting for this for a year, to get
with the Kings. Because that's no. We've had our sights
on the Kings. That's not that's not a little bit
of respect, like we've been looking forward to playing the Kings.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
No, he was waiting for this moment to begin the
quest for the Cup again. He didn't care they played
the Kings, the New York Islanders or the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Oh, Freddy,
that's exactly what he said. He could care the Abbotsford Canucks,
that'd be fine with him. He was waiting this moment
(33:07):
not to play the Kings, and that's what sticks in
my crawl. No respect. You go out. The Kings are fine,
they play good defense. But I think we all know
what this is about. Is that about the Kings. It's
about where we need to be. You know what. I
(33:27):
hope they light him up like a Christmas tree tonight,
I do. I hope they come. What do you mean,
light him up? Light him up out, be specific, be clean,
play a clean game. You better not end up in
that corner. I'll tell you that right now. Play clean,
(33:48):
put a bout it. If you can catch him, put
a body on him. He's the fastest guy out there.
Not checking him a little bit. I'm fred to you owing,
make sure the checks are in, are in, and the
checks cash.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
That's what you really mean, That's what I'm saying. Yeah,
get your moment, get those checks, book out come. I've
been waiting for this moment for a year. Well, Connor,
your moment has arrived. Your moment has arrived, and tonight
is your night.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Yeah. NFL Draft around the corner. Vinnie bon Signor joins
us next
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