May 29, 2025 • 41 mins
Dan Woike joins us to talk about the potential of a OKC-Indiana NBA Finals, and the Lakers' offseason. Most pundits believe that the Rams are the best team in the NFC West - so why arent they favored to win the division? The cost of youth travel sports is reaching ridiculous levels
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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 Fred Rogan Rodney Pete on a
M five seventy l a sports and off day for
the Dodgers. They're back from Cleveland, they get a day
to relax, and then they're back at it tomorrow night
against the Yankees at the Stadium, first of three. We'll
talk about that coming up later on in the show.
But now let us bring on our NBA insider, Dan
Wiki and Dan, good afternoon to.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
You, Good afternoon, fellas. Happy Dodger off day to everyone.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yes, happy Dodger.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Tanner Scott can't blow it? Save today?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Who day NBA humor. It's good.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Actually, he may or may not be on somebody's fantasy
team on this call. He may or may not be.
I may invested the Tristan.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah, then you know what I think you better put
him on the bench.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, easy, fellas.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Wow, I'll kill your e r A Now, I gotta
be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Not's so good, so good.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
You know what we talk about the Lakers. I want
to ask you about this, and everybody keeps saying, oh
my god, the ultimate nightmare. If OKAC plays Indiana in
the finals, Does it really matter? Dan, does it really matter?
If it's the Knicks or Indiana.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Now now I mean like look, I mean like one,
the TV deal is already signed, right, like so uh
if the ratings are bad, like what we're what we're
crying over is like, you know, did did ESPN get
enough money for its commercials?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Right?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Which is like so one, Like no, it doesn't affect
anybody in a real way, right, Like the money has
already been put out there. The ratings have already been declining,
like they have across every part of television. That's just
not it's it's not it doesn't matter. The market doesn't matter.
It's about a showcase of your sport and of your stars,
(01:52):
you know. And I think if you can put you know,
if Okay See wipes the floor with the pacers, I
think that's probably bad for basketball, Like in a in
a holistic sense, that's like a nightmare scenario.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Right.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It is like you get four uncompetitive games and it
just sort of feels like cool, like like you know,
now we wasted our time on this. But if the
games are you know, up tempo, if the games are
are fun and physical and close, that they you know,
if we get some juice and some trash dock in
a little bit of drama. I think, you know, look,
(02:29):
if the product is good, I think people talk about it,
and then you know, that's the NBA seems to care
about that, you know, as much as TV ratings as like,
are there generating buzz and like, you know, if the
games are good, it'll generate buzz. If the game's stink,
it'll generate less buzzy. You know, if it was the
Knicks and the Lakers and the games stunk, like at
least people would still talk about, you know, New York
(02:50):
and LA and they'd have like what does this mean
for Lebron's legacy? Like those kinds of conversations and things
like that. But I think in this case, you know,
I mean, look, you get two you get we're exciting
young star guards, like the two best players in the series.
If assuming it is the basis, but even if it
was a nixt to, the best players in the series
would have the ball in their hands all the time,
you know, and they'd get to kind of go at it.
(03:12):
I think that's exciting, and you'd get it in great atmospheres.
You know, that's the other part of this too, right,
Like you know, watching these games in Oklahoma City watching
these games in Minnesota and Indiana like these aren't like
obviously like headline markets, but the crowds have been insane,
the atmospheres have been great, and it's come through on television.
Makes it about it. It's compelling. It's a compelling watch, No.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
It is. It is a very compelling watch. The Indiana
New York series has been exciting and very.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Exciting to watch because what you just said, You know,
you got two emerging stars that are you know, the
leaders of their teams, and they're going at it and
playing well and they have the ball in their hands
most of the times and regardless of who goes they're
going to face that with with Oklahoma City and SGA Dan,
are we seeing the change, the real changing of the
(04:01):
guard with these guys the Halliburton, Runson and SGA, i'lbe it.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
You know, they're not, you.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Know, not big names like like we're become accustomed to.
But is it a real shift now with with the
stars and faces of this league?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
I think so, right, And I mean I think I
mean this has been building for a few years, right,
and there have been and this is this is one
of the things like the NBA is in a really good,
good space when it comes to this specific issue, Like
there may not be a dominant like you know, face
of the league or whatever, you know, but there are
(04:44):
there are candidates strewn across the league right And it's
I've said this to people too, you know about about
the league, Like even if you don't have a good
team in your market, your team stinks, Like I mean,
you can you can count on a pretty enjoyable like
a pretty fun watch and a pretty special player coming
through your town thirty eight times a year, you know
(05:07):
what I mean, with like a couple exceptions, like I
don't think you get geek to see the Jazz or
the Wizards, you know right now, but basically everybody else
in the NBA, you know, there's a reason to watch
to some degree. You know, maybe not the Kings, but
but like you know, there's twenty or so stars in
(05:28):
this league that are like, pay that ticket and admission,
you want to go watch this player. He's a great player.
These are great teams, Like it'll be a fun product.
And I think, you know, having been at these games
all season, I think the intensity level is high. I
think that the league is in a healthy space. And
part of the reason is why is You've got guys
like Lebron and Staff and Kevin Durant who are still
(05:49):
really really good players at the ends of their careers
or in the last chapters of their careers. You've got
guys like Jokic and Gianna Sants Tecumpo, we're just like
smack dab in the middle of their time. And then
you've got like this like a group of like twenty
five year olds that are like Shake Gildes, Alexander Anthony
Edwards to only twenty three. You know, Tyrese Halliburton has
(06:11):
really really had a special playoff with Jalen Brunts and
like this this group that's like on the come up
that you know, there's there's talent everywhere, and that's you know,
on one hand, and we'll talk about the Lakers in
the second. You know, on one hand, that's great for
the league. On the other, if you need to like
go into an offseason and you're deciding, like if we
(06:33):
make move X, Y and Z and a guarantee, like
does it guarantee us that we're a serious contender, it
gets a lot harder for that calculus just because of
the way the talent is spread out right now across
the NBA.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
All right, Dan, So let's say for argument's sake, Okay,
see wins the whole thing, and you go, while they're young,
they were built that way and they'll still be young.
Then if you look at the Lakers, you go, they're.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Old old ish, I mean like relatives, right, like I
mean like they're Okay, so they have they have a
old star and Lebron James Luka Doncic is not an
old star. It's twenty seven, Austin Reeves is turning. I
think today's twenty seventh birthday, you know, So they're not
(07:17):
old by any stretch. I mean they have an old player.
I think. The one thing that's interesting about this Thunder team, right,
and we'll see how this plays out, and it's it's fascinating.
It's a fascinating position because not only are they the
clear favorites to win the NBA title, they have a
and they're young. They have a ton of draft capital too.
(07:39):
Write so like any any trade, any player, like, they
can get involved in it. But but the other weird
thing is that you'd be like, well, why would they
do that? Like, you know, they should just run it forwards.
With what they have, they're going to get really expensive,
really fast. And the way that you know, this collective
bargaining agreement is set up, it's it's pretty anti dynasty.
(08:02):
It's really hard to go into that second apron and
and go deep into it and keep playing all your
players what they're worth. Like I mean, it seems guys,
three years ago, it seemed like Denver would just keep
winning forever. You know, they were so dominant on the
way to the title, and Nikoliochic was so good. Nikol
Jokis didn't get any worse. Guys, but their roster, did
(08:24):
you know, Contavious Callwell Pulpe had a leave, like they had.
They they chipped away at their depths and they've had
to do it over and over again. And it's you know,
you take players that that you trust, that you're paying,
you know, six seven million dollars too, and you can't
pay them twenty and then now you have to replace
them with a minimum player. It's it's difficult, it's difficult
(08:44):
mass and so I think you know, those are going
to be the decisions that Sam Prescy's gonna have to make.
I mean, like I mean, I believe going into next season.
Right now, they have no open roster spots and they
have multiple draft picks, so like something's gonna have to
happen with that roster. You know, they've got they've got
guys that are gonna have massive extensions coming towards them,
Jalen Williams being one of them. You know, it's things
(09:08):
are gonna get really expensive there and it's gonna happen
really quick. So that that is sort of set up
to be the equalizer in the NBA. So look, if
you're the Lakers and you look at this and say, man,
we better you know, hurry up living or hurry up dying,
kind of it's a situation. I think the thing with
them is I think the thing with them right now
is that, you know, honestly, like their calculus hasn't changed
(09:32):
in a negative way since Lebron James is signed with
the team. Like when you have Lebron James, like you've
got no time to waste. Now they have Lukadacich, they
seemingly have more time.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Yeah, speaking of I mean, you mentioned Oklahoma City having
a lot of draft capital and conversely, the Lakers don't,
and and you rite you write, and you wrote in
your article about the Lakers are going looking for bargain deals.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Right, bargain deal? How did you what do you mean
by that? Dan?
Speaker 4 (10:04):
And Who's Who's a bargain deal that you would look
at and go, okay, that's a bargain deal player.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
So I think the promiseeutical rounding was sort of basically right,
Like a lot of chatter around the Lakers has been
about a player like Nikhil Alexander Walker right rough by
the way, rough Data write about Nikil Alexander Walker after
his performance last night, but you know, had a big
game in this series, played well against the Lakers. It
has become kind of, you know, that sort of prototypical
(10:31):
three and D type of wing with a little playmaking.
He only makes six million dollars this year, like he
or a four four and a half million, I think,
or something like that. He is in line for a
big race, probably more than the Lakers can afford. But
it's been sort of like sort of bandied about that
maybe you know, oh, if the Lakers could get him,
would Lebron take up pay cut and all of this stuff,
blah blah blah blah blah. The general point is is
(10:52):
that if you were in the Lakers situation, you do
not want to go sign and pay Nikhil Alexander Walker.
That is a fool's errand it almost never works. What
you want to do is you you want to find
the player who can perform like Nikhil Alexander Walker for
four and a half million dollars a year. Like that
is like that's the goal, right is? Like you need
(11:14):
to you need to scour the league and find that guy.
And it's not a great free agency class for that
kind of player. Could it be a player that you
get in a trade if you make a deal for
a center and add on a throw in that type
of a thing. Nikaile Alexander Walker, right was, was in
a lot of ways a throw in. He was a
part of the Russell Westbrook to Utah trade that that
(11:36):
the Lakers made to get D'Angel Russell and Lake Beasley
and Jevannerboldt. He went, yet not a throw it anymore.
He went. Mike Connelly was the headliner there and that
deal from Minnesota and Alexander Walker was sort of more
so filler and became a really important player in their
in their rotation. So I think what the Lakers need
(11:57):
to do. If they can't find the guy who's going
to be the next Nikhil Alexander Walker, they need to
find the vert the paid version of Nikaile Alexander Walker
that didn't work out right, And you can look at
their own roster and say, a player like Gabe Vincent, right,
Like Gabe Vincent is in the final year of his deal,
he's going to hit fore agency next year. He has
not played well as a Laker. I think gave Vincent
(12:18):
is you view him much differently if he's making the
league minimum than you do if he's making ten million
dollars a year. That will be the Lakers charge this
offseason is maybe you know, is there a player who's
gonna hit unrestricted free agency that you know didn't quite
live up to their last contract who needs a reset?
You know, is is Luke Cannard a player that would
(12:41):
fit what JJ Reddick wants to do in terms of
motion and shooting around. A player like Luka Doncin is there?
You know this quint Capella, you know who went to
the bench in Atlanta and savor for anyakakong Wu. You know,
need to show that he still has some juice left
in his legs and sign on a cheap deal after,
(13:05):
you know, making eighteen million dollars on his last contract
like that, that's gonna be. That's those are gonna be
the kinds of things that I think the Lakers looking
at a player that I like potentially that could fill
this the body is bad, you need good luck is
d Anthony Melton, former USC guard, good shooter, good defender,
(13:25):
can play off the ball, but coming off an ACL injury,
was injured before that. I think he had a either
back but the season before so he hasn't played a
lot of basketball in the last two years. But you know,
look that risk is a lot different at fifteen million
dollars a year than it is at two. And I
think he's a guy I like for them. Dante Exum
(13:47):
is a player that I like for for what I
think the Lakers kind of need in terms of like
size and length and you know, catch and shoot. He's
become a pretty good catch and shoot player in Dallas.
But you know there's some some kind of but like
none of you're not gonna You're not gonna say like, oh, well,
you know, the Lakero's gonna get myles Turner, Like, it's
not gonna be that kind of a free agent signing.
(14:07):
I don't think like that guy, I don't think is
out there.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yeah, but Dan isn't that what robl Lincas had to
do every year since Lebron's been here, this kind.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Of thasically basically, I mean, look, they had they had
more wiggle room right in the past, like when they
had the full mid level. You know, they used it
on Gave Vincent. That was you know, they were you know,
there was a list of players they were you know,
they were in on Bruce Brown, you know, Gary Trunk Junior,
whose name had been kicked around, but I think he
(14:35):
was signed already. Dante DiVincenzo was a player at that time,
you know who people talked about some and that in
that way, you know, and they Dennis Shrewder being resigned
was an option, and they like, you know, Gabe Vincent
had just been the starting point guard in the NBA
Finals and they missed, you know, like he got hurt.
He was hurt, and you know, I think it's and
(15:00):
kind of proven out that, you know, what Gabe Vincent
does well is more so when he has the ball
in his hands and on this team when you have
Lebron James, and you had Austin Reeves and D'Angelo Russell
before you and Anthony Davis, you weren't gonna get a
lot of touches and you're gonna get few of them
when you add Luka Dacic to the mix. And so
it's been not a great fit for Gabe. But I mean,
(15:20):
that's what it is, guys, at this stage, right it's
you need to find the right players who fit your
system and what you're trying to do. For most of
the NBA, it's situational opportunity and you've got to figure
out you got to figure out the right guy. When
the Lakers won the title, Guys in twenty twenty, you
know how Kuzma was on a rookie contract, Alex Cruso
(15:42):
was on a nothing deal, Dwight Howard was on a
veterans minimum. Rajon Rondo was on a veterans minimum. You know,
if you're gonna if you're gonna pony up at the
top of your roster, which you know the Lakers are,
which most teams that are credible contenders do, unless you're
in a situation like the Thunder where you've been fortunate
enough to draft and develop and you're really really young.
(16:03):
You got to get your minimums right, and the Lakers
haven't gotten them right.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
We talked a little bit about Lebron in the future
earlier in the show, and I suggested, and he's because
he's a story and basically in a student of the
game that I don't and I know he plays the
Brett fav Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
I don't know what I'm gonna do next year. I
don't know what I'm gonna do.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
I think he's a guy that that will play as
long as he's healthy and and he's and he's going
to you know, chase certain milestones. I think he's built
that way that he appreciates, you know, being the leader
in points and then desist and then games played and
all those things that he's at the top of the
list or close to. I think that's those things are
(16:51):
important to him, which is why I think as long
as he's healthy, I don't see him retire anytime soon, like,
not in the next year, and not even after you know,
this year runs out and he ops in and he
comes back as a free agent, I think he signs
another deal and plays for another two maybe three years.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, I think I think there's a couple of factors
in play here, And I don't want to pretend to
know exactly what Lebron James is thinking. I do tend
to think that the thing that will get him eventually
won't be competitive fatigue. It won't be It'll be some
sort of injury that he the rehab just sucks too much,
(17:32):
you know that, where it's like at some point the
work that he's putting into the body versus like what
he's getting out of it, the calculus just doesn't add
up anymore. The math doesn't math. I think that's probably
how it ends, But I don't know, you know, I
think it's really interesting. I mean, I think if things
like legacy and stuff like that matter to him, and
(17:53):
I'm not sure they do. Well, Okay, I should say
I think they do. But I think I think he
realized is there are unwinnable arguments to be made in
like the modern era, right like, like there's nothing Rodney
and I'm guilty of this. There's almost nothing he could
do to that would have me like put him ahead
of Michael Jordan, right like like and that's true. For yeah,
(18:16):
I don't know what he could do. You know, maybe
if he scored one hundred points in a game or
something like that, and and like and and it's it's
funny because the further you get away from Jordan, it's
like he never missed a shot. He never you know, whatever,
Like like the myth only gets bigger and bigger. And
I think twenty years now, like these conversations about Lebron
James in this place and stuff like that, Will Will
(18:37):
kind of age similarly. Right but but right now in
the moment, I don't know. I don't if that's matters
to him. I think he knows he can't win that,
you know. So it's interesting. I will say he's tremendously
self motivated. I think that he has been the center
of attention, you know, basically his entire life, you know,
(19:03):
from being an only child to being the most talked
about high school player to being you know, a wildly famous,
you know, eighteen year old and all this stuff. Like
he has been the main character for a very very
long time. I am curious to see how being a
supporting character sits with him. I don't know. I don't
(19:24):
think anybody really knows for sure. You know, he handled
it really graciously last year with Luka Dacic and stuff
like that. But I mean, the Lakers made it clear
when they made that trade, and they made it clear
when they didn't involve him in that trade. They didn't
they didn't ask him for his opinion. They didn't tell
him until after it was done. And I believe that,
like I've not heard anything to the contrary, and that
(19:48):
it's a pretty song. It's a pretty strong message as
to like, you know what direction the franchise is moving,
and it's no longer in Lebron James's sou that and
he gets it, Don't get me wrong. I don't think
he's like mad about it. I think he understands it.
But I just don't know how he's gonna react to it.
And I don't think anybody can really know for sure
how he's gonna react to that.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
And maybe quite frankly, he doesn't know how he's going
to react to it yet.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
No, No, I mean yeah I would again, this is
all this is all untouched sand underneath his feet too, right,
Like he's never walked this path, so we'll like it is,
you know, when was the last time he wasn't the
most important player on his basketball team his freshman year
of high school. Maybe maybe, And yeah, and and you know,
(20:34):
because he played with some older guys, you know, like
he's like Maverick Carter was a really important you know
figure to him, still obviously a part of the empire,
and Maverick was a couple of years older and played
Division one basketball, like you know, maybe as a freshman,
but that's twenty seven years ago, Like it's been a while. Yeah,
(20:54):
And by the way, all this is happening in the
context in which he was on the All NBA second team.
Was that good and that available? So yeah, it's a
it's it's there's no there's no script for this. And
I think, uh, to your point earlier about it, hasn't
this been rap plink is charge along? It has been,
And I think there isn't a script And they don't
(21:17):
totally know. They still haven't totally figured out how to
how to live for today with Lebron James, I'll still
will still like making sure you're in a decent position
for tomorrow. I think the Luca trade accomplished that in
a real way. Now, the Lakers job Deceummer with fairly
limited resources, is to plug the holes that that that
that trade created, mainly in the middle of the court. Like,
(21:39):
they need to find a center. Everybody knows they need
to find a center. There aren't great options. They've got
to find the guy that fits with what they're trying
to do.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
All right, Well you always felt with what we're trying
to do.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Nan Oh God, thank you so much, guys, and I
appreciate it. Very sweet of you. Alright, guys are great.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Looks like the Rams have the best roster, but don't
have the best chance to win. Now, how do you
figure that?
Speaker 3 (22:09):
Back now? Throw back Thursday?
Speaker 4 (22:12):
Pretty can you believe it's already the end of May? No,
it is, Man twenty twenty five, I got my.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Rodney.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Everybody needs to remember this, everybody. And it doesn't matter
how old you are. It doesn't matter. But I think
it's a something that you will experience throughout your life.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Doesn't matter how old you are.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Every year you get older, and it doesn't matter if
you're twenty seven, thirty seven, forty, it doesn't matter. Every
year you get older, time goes faster and the world
gets smaller. Every single year. Things accelerate and the world
becomes smaller because as you get older, you have a
(22:55):
group of friends that are your friends. In life, we
have a few friends and men an acquaintances, so nobody
could say, you know, I got one hundred and fifty friends.
I actually, no, you don't.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
You don't.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
You have a handful of friends maybe if you're lucky,
and a lot of people you like and you know,
And that's why as you get older, time goes faster.
My god, it's the middle of May. Yeah, and the
world gets smaller.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
That's true. You know.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
You think about when you're younger, you can't wait to
get to double digit. If you're in single digits, you're not.
I can't wait to be ten. I can't wait to
be twelve. I can't wait to be sixteen when I'm driving. Oh, man,
I can't wait till eighteen. I graduate.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
I can't wait till twenty one where.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
I can go to Vegas all those things. And as
you hit but probably forty, you're like, man, slow it down,
a little bit, slow it down, you know, because I, oh,
I'm iying fifty and fifty is not what it was
when we were growing up. You saw, you looked at
fifty as oh, man, that's an old old man. And
(23:59):
now even fifty don't look the same way. You don't
look at sixty, You don't seventy. You know, people are
out there working, doing a whole bunch of things at eighty.
Nowadays you look up and that guy's eighty two or
that guy you know, seventy nine years old, and they're
doing their things. So it's definitely the world has changed more,
you know, more knowledge we have about diet and keeping
ourselves healthy.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
It's changed that way. But yeah, you're right.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Everything accelerates as you get older, and you want it
to slow down, where it's the opposite when you're younger.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, I mean, if look, if you're about to hit forty,
you know what, you look forward to your first NEH replacement,
You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (24:39):
That's so true. Yeah, can I get fixed? Yeah? Right?
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Good morning? How you feeling well? You know, my model?
What a new day of new pain. It's good to
talk to you. I don't know what happened. My wrist
is killing me. You don't know how it happened. Like
five minutes ago.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
Yeah, I woke up, I woke up and it was
feeling this way How did I get that bump on
my head?
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Okay, so talk at rams Ota possibility of acquiring Jalen Ramsey.
So what happens is on Sunday his large cap number drops,
making a trade more likely. And if the Rams are
going to pull the trigger, that's probably Rodney. When they're
going to pull the trigger when they can get it
for the last.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
Month, Yeah, absolutely absolutely, And look, you know how much
does he have left in the tank? Is he that
lockdown guy like he was some years ago? No, he's
not that guy anymore, but I think he still adds
a lot of value to your team. Now, it's got
to be obviously at the right price. And you mentioned
that price drops this Sunday, which will be good. But look,
(25:51):
I think the Rams are they're in a you know what,
not longer about a year and a half ago, two
years ago, we were talking about Okay, now the Rams
are building, they need to starve them scratched, and you know,
Aaron Donald's gone, and you know they're gonna get rid
of Cooper Cup and they're just gonna rebuild the roster.
And there was a giant pivot I think with the
(26:13):
Rams and the season that they had last year and
getting all the way to you know, deep in the
playoffs and had Philadelphia on the ropes in Philly in
the snow with eighteen seconds they had a chance to
win that game. And so I think they're in a
much different space of we can win right now, you know.
I think they were really pleasantly surprised by their young
(26:35):
defense and the way they played, and they got some
studs on that defense now. So adding a guy like
Dalen Ramsey to it, I think, you know, in their
mode and they're thinking of we can win this thing
right now plays into that.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
And you have to give the Rams credit. You have
to give less sneed credit. Sean McVay. They usually put
together a very competitive roster, a roster that gives you
a chance to win. And this year will be no different.
And if Matthew Stafford stays healthy he did last year,
if he stays healthy, they are legitimate contenders. Don't kid yourself.
(27:11):
They're not on the outside looking in.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
No, and think about what they you know, pookin the
coup has got another year under his belt. He's a
superstar on the verge of becoming a superstar, if not already.
And then they added they added god receiver. Now I
can't get Devanta Adams right to the team, which I
think he's still got something left in the tank and
something to prove as well.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
I think he's a I think of all the.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Things around the league, he is going to have a
tremendous impact on this Rams team and you're going to
see the difference with him in the coop on the field.
At the same time, it's it's going to be they're
gonna be smiles coming through the face mask of Matthew
Stafford all season long.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
So you look at the roster and you think these
guys are pretty damn good. But analytically ESPN ran them
on on a lot of the betting sites use it.
They think the forty nine ers can win the division.
You're gonn, how could that be? How could that be?
The Rams obviously are very good, they have a good roster.
They said the forty nine er schedule is easier, and
(28:15):
that being said, they've got a better chance to win.
Back when you played, what did you think or how
did you feel about how the schedule was put together?
Speaker 4 (28:29):
You didn't really think about it a whole lot, and
it's and it wasn't a big to do like it
is now.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
There were no TV specials or big build.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
Up to Okay, and this the roster release or i
mean the schedule release and what's gonna happen and who's
gonna play who, and it's to make a big deal
about it.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
It wasn't. It's like, oh, that's the schedule, okay, a
big deal.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
And you were, you know, you kind of paid attention
because you knew who you're gonna play in your division.
Obviously you're gonna play them twice, but you always you
did pay attention to what outside division you were going
to play, because usually if you're in the NFC, you're
gonna play a division from the AFC, you know, and
play all those teams in that in that particular division.
(29:11):
And so that was always interesting to see. You know,
we're gonna play the AFC West this year, and man,
we gotta go. We gotta play the Broncos, We got
to play the Chiefs and Raiders. Man, that's gonna be tough.
That's that makes our schedule a lot harder than say,
we're playing the AFC South and we got to play
Tennessee and Houston and Jacksonville. That's a lot of that's
an easier road than happen to go through the AFC West.
(29:34):
So you looked at it like that, But it wasn't
a whole lot of emphasis put on, you know, the
schedule when it came out like it is today.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Yeah, but did you think of the back of your mind, God,
we really got screwed this year.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
No?
Speaker 4 (29:48):
No, not really. You never really thought thought of it
that way, you know. I think the you know, because
it wasn't as many. First of all, there wasn't as
many h you know, live or special games like there
are now, like the trips to overseas. It seems like
it's gonna come to the point where every team's gonna
(30:09):
play a game overseas.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
And and then it.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Was the Monday night, Thursday night, Sunday night games, and
how many you got?
Speaker 3 (30:17):
So you you paid attention to that because.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
You didn't you didn't want even though you love playing
on them and being in front of of of everybody
and being isolated, you didn't want to play a whole
lot of those games because you ended up being on.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Short weeks and it could make it difficult for you.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
So but I never never felt like, oh, you got
screwed on the schedule because you always felt you got
to play everybody anyway. Sometime if you want to you
want to go and win the Super Bowl, you're gonna.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Have to play who you play.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
And so it never I never felt like we were
screwed on the schedule or or anything like that. I
don't think any anybody that I played with felt that
way either.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
All Right, so we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
I'm gonna tell you that I really liked the rams
chances this year.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
All right.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Something next that really is bothering a lot of people,
especially if their parents will get into it.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Eh.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Yeah, you know, everybody's son or daughter. You know, everybody's
son or daughter is a star. Everybody's son or daughter
is going to be a pro. If they compete at
any athletic event, they are going to be a pro.
Boy or girl, doesn't matter. Your kid is going to
be a pro. And if you don't have kids, you
were a kid, So think back to when you were little,
(31:34):
Think back to when you played Little League or ayso, soccer,
travel sports. You were going to be a star. And
if your parents were around, you're damn right you were
going to be a star. Despite the fact you were
smaller than every kid out there. You were going to
be a pro, and your mom or dad knew how
to coach you, and they made sure you did what
(31:56):
was right. Despite the fact they may have never played
a game in their life, they knew they could analyze
and pick these games apart. So since everybody wants their
kid to be a pro, and every kid will be,
there's no question about it.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
No.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
You know, Rodney, for example, is a bit of an anomaly.
He was a professional athlete. There aren't a lot of
people like Rodney that are professional athletes. But every parent
thinks our kid will be that. And to do that
in today's world, they spent a lot of money. They
(32:30):
spend a lot of money on coaching, They spend a
lot of money on training. They spent a lot of
money on travel teams because they believe if they do that,
their kid's going to be a pro. Now, I four
years coached AAU basketball travel basketball. We had our team,
the Calabasas Chaos, and we won the Chaos the Calabasas Chaos,
(32:54):
and we won. We were good. We're very good. We
went a lot more than we lost tournaments. Kids had fun,
but you know, once you get in the the itch
and you win a tournament, you know what, You're gonna
win a better tournament next time. You're gonna win a
bigger tournament next time. And why should we just drive
(33:16):
down to Anaheim. You know what we're gonna do. We're
gonna start traveling. I mean, we're gonna travel. We're gonna
go to Vegas, We're gonna go to Phoenix, and we're
gonna go for three day tournaments because we're that good. Oh,
we're gonna chart our a big bus and we're all
gonna go on the bus and we're gonna get hotels.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
And we're gonna go to the games. I think that.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Think about the insanity of that for a minute. And
this is what has people upset today. This is what
got This is what has parents pissed off. They're starting
to look at what they're spending for kids to travel
around and play. It's ridiculous. There was a tournament in Illinois,
a basketball tournament. The cost of forty bucks a day
(34:08):
to get in. It didn't matter if your kid was
playing or not. Forty dollars per ticket for you to
go in and watch.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
Oh this man ticket, the ticket that just watch the
kids play right, going to the gym.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
All right, So let's say they're there three days. That's
one hundred and twenty bucks. Two people, two hundred and
forty bucks. You meet two nights in a hotel. Start
adding it up. Start looking at the cost of all
of this. Plus in those teams you normally have to
pay for your kid to be on the team. Yeah,
just start looking at the cost of all of this.
And people are going enough, it's not worth it.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
We can't afford it.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
We can't even afford to do this anymore. We've got
kids traveling all over the place. We're paying, we're going
to the games, we're buying the tickets. The kid's twelve
years old. Twelve, and look at travel baseball. If you
compete in that, because, let me tell you, more often
than not, if you want to get drafted by a
(35:12):
major league team, they're going to see you in the summer, right,
they'll check you out in college, they'll watch in the summer.
And they're looking at kids when they're young. Now they
travel all over the place, travel baseballs every weekend, and
it could be you know, ten miles away, could be
one hundred miles away.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Did you do that?
Speaker 4 (35:35):
Oh, yeah, I did it, and you're right. Every weekend
there was a tournament that you could be in. And
you know, I'm talking. It started, you know at eight
years old. You know, there's eight and under tournaments, then
there's a ten year old tournaments, and then there's.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
The twelve And yeah, we traveled.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
I can't tell you how many times we went down
to Orange County and then and then back and forth
to Arizona, which they have a ton of tournaments, and
then Nevada as well, and then you you know, you
go and you do these special ones, like you go
to Cooperstown.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
You got to do that one.
Speaker 4 (36:15):
Fred got to take the team to Cooperstown and which
was actually a fun, fun tournament to be a part of.
But yeah, it got to be crazy because you as
a parent, you have no time for yourself anymore. Because
you know, aside from those tournaments being you know, Saturday
(36:35):
Sunday and some of them being Friday Saturday Sunday during
the summer, there were practices during the week that you
had to you know, maintain and go to and all
those things. So it was very very time consuming, very
time consuming and again costly, like to enter those tournaments
as a team. It cost a lot of money, so
(36:56):
every player had to pony up the money. And then
and then, like you said, to be a part of
the team, just to be a part of the team
they had, there was a price tag on that. And
then going forward, of course you had to get the
right gloves and the bats and and all the extra
gear that you You had to be up to date
because if that kid hit two home runs with that
(37:18):
particular bat, your son wanted that bat, you know, because
it wasn't sharing the bats like we did back in
the day, where the coach brought like three bats to
the to the field and you know, with three different sizes,
and you just picked one of those three three bats
and everybody used it.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
And I remember those bats.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
Some of the bats had so many dents and dings
in it and just been used for like seven years straight.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
But that's the way it was. That's the way. It was.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
One set of catchers gear that all the catchers used.
It was just in a big old dirty duppel bag
that the you know, the chest protector, the helmet, the
catcher gloves and all that were in there.
Speaker 3 (38:01):
And then you.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
Had about four batting helmets or had five maybe because
you had to have one for the guy on deck
if the bases were loaded.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
So it was a.
Speaker 4 (38:11):
Total different world than it is now. And you're right,
the cost is astronomical. Yeah, parents have had enough. They
just have had enough. Can't even afford it anymore. But
here's the lesson to learn. You know, if a kid's
going to be a pro athlete, they're going to be
a pro athlete. There's really nothing you're going to do
(38:33):
as a parent to make that happen. And you can
pretty much tell parents at a relatively young age if
your son or daughter is gonna make it. It's not
really a mystery or a sequet, you know, or at
least have a shot, right, you know, have a shot. Right,
(38:55):
you'll know if they'll have a shot now, don't right,
how much money you spend, because if they don't have
a shot, they don't have a shot. I remember I
was managing a little league team. It was out here
in southern California years ago, and we had this kid
and his father wanted him to play second base. That's
all he wanted. He wanted his son to play second base. Well,
(39:15):
I quickly realized that this young man couldn't catch the ball,
he did not He couldn't catch.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
And this is the league he goes, Pony league. Kids
can steal and stuff. Let's say they're like ten years old.
All right, nine years old. But he's really couldn't catch.
And we worked with him on it, and you know,
the guy throw the ball, he just miss it or
it kind of hit him on the shoulder. So I
told his father, I'm not putting him at second base.
He's going to get hurt. And his dad got really mad.
(39:48):
His dad said, his dad said that he didn't want
to play in the team anymore. So we actually had
an in season trade. We sent the kid to another
team because I wouldn't let him play second base. Well,
the first game the kid plays for the other team, Oh,
he played second base, all right, Ball's hit to short,
(40:11):
he runs over to cover, guy throws him, the ball
hits him right in the nose, breaks his nose, and
a season was over. God first game, first game, first
game with the new team playing second base, threw him
the ball right in the nose. Boom broken, Like nine
ten year old kid.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
Season over. I could see I could see it. Now.
You know you don't want to you don't wanna you
don't want to laugh.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
You don't want to say I told you so, But
deep down you had to be saying I told you so,
you stupid ass.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Father. I tried to.
Speaker 4 (40:41):
Tell you a kid couldn't catch, and don't put him
at second base, and sure enough he breaks his nose.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
Now, now how you feel, dad, Now how you feel? Right?
Speaker 1 (40:52):
But his father thought this nine year old kid he
had it and he if he just played second base,
I mean, he'd play second base there for a couple
of games and then the Toronto Blue Jays would call
him up because he'd be ready. Right, that's a dad, though,
King knows. Parents, your kids are who they are. It
(41:14):
doesn't matter how much money you spend. And if they're
going to go and play Division I college athletics or
they're going to be a pro, that's probably already been determined. Okay,
should should someone who's had a bad game talk to
the media.
Speaker 3 (41:32):
That's next.
All right, we continue Fred Rogan Rodney Pete on a
M five seventy l a sports and off day for
the Dodgers. They're back from Cleveland, they get a day
to relax, and then they're back at it tomorrow night
against the Yankees at the Stadium, first of three. We'll
talk about that coming up later on in the show.
But now let us bring on our NBA insider, Dan
Wiki and Dan, good afternoon to.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
You, Good afternoon, fellas. Happy Dodger off day to everyone.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yes, happy Dodger.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Tanner Scott can't blow it? Save today?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Who day NBA humor. It's good.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Actually, he may or may not be on somebody's fantasy
team on this call. He may or may not be.
I may invested the Tristan.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah, then you know what I think you better put
him on the bench.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, easy, fellas.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Wow, I'll kill your e r A Now, I gotta
be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Not's so good, so good.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
You know what we talk about the Lakers. I want
to ask you about this, and everybody keeps saying, oh
my god, the ultimate nightmare. If OKAC plays Indiana in
the finals, Does it really matter? Dan, does it really matter?
If it's the Knicks or Indiana.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Now now I mean like look, I mean like one,
the TV deal is already signed, right, like so uh
if the ratings are bad, like what we're what we're
crying over is like, you know, did did ESPN get
enough money for its commercials?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Right?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Which is like so one, Like no, it doesn't affect
anybody in a real way, right, Like the money has
already been put out there. The ratings have already been declining,
like they have across every part of television. That's just
not it's it's not it doesn't matter. The market doesn't matter.
It's about a showcase of your sport and of your stars,
(01:52):
you know. And I think if you can put you know,
if Okay See wipes the floor with the pacers, I
think that's probably bad for basketball, Like in a in
a holistic sense, that's like a nightmare scenario.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Right.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It is like you get four uncompetitive games and it
just sort of feels like cool, like like you know,
now we wasted our time on this. But if the
games are you know, up tempo, if the games are
are fun and physical and close, that they you know,
if we get some juice and some trash dock in
a little bit of drama. I think, you know, look,
(02:29):
if the product is good, I think people talk about it,
and then you know, that's the NBA seems to care
about that, you know, as much as TV ratings as like,
are there generating buzz and like, you know, if the
games are good, it'll generate buzz. If the game's stink,
it'll generate less buzzy. You know, if it was the
Knicks and the Lakers and the games stunk, like at
least people would still talk about, you know, New York
(02:50):
and LA and they'd have like what does this mean
for Lebron's legacy? Like those kinds of conversations and things
like that. But I think in this case, you know,
I mean, look, you get two you get we're exciting
young star guards, like the two best players in the series.
If assuming it is the basis, but even if it
was a nixt to, the best players in the series
would have the ball in their hands all the time,
you know, and they'd get to kind of go at it.
(03:12):
I think that's exciting, and you'd get it in great atmospheres.
You know, that's the other part of this too, right,
Like you know, watching these games in Oklahoma City watching
these games in Minnesota and Indiana like these aren't like
obviously like headline markets, but the crowds have been insane,
the atmospheres have been great, and it's come through on television.
Makes it about it. It's compelling. It's a compelling watch, No.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
It is. It is a very compelling watch. The Indiana
New York series has been exciting and very.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Exciting to watch because what you just said, You know,
you got two emerging stars that are you know, the
leaders of their teams, and they're going at it and
playing well and they have the ball in their hands
most of the times and regardless of who goes they're
going to face that with with Oklahoma City and SGA Dan,
are we seeing the change, the real changing of the
(04:01):
guard with these guys the Halliburton, Runson and SGA, i'lbe it.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
You know, they're not, you.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Know, not big names like like we're become accustomed to.
But is it a real shift now with with the
stars and faces of this league?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
I think so, right, And I mean I think I
mean this has been building for a few years, right,
and there have been and this is this is one
of the things like the NBA is in a really good,
good space when it comes to this specific issue, Like
there may not be a dominant like you know, face
of the league or whatever, you know, but there are
(04:44):
there are candidates strewn across the league right And it's
I've said this to people too, you know about about
the league, Like even if you don't have a good
team in your market, your team stinks, Like I mean,
you can you can count on a pretty enjoyable like
a pretty fun watch and a pretty special player coming
through your town thirty eight times a year, you know
(05:07):
what I mean, with like a couple exceptions, like I
don't think you get geek to see the Jazz or
the Wizards, you know right now, but basically everybody else
in the NBA, you know, there's a reason to watch
to some degree. You know, maybe not the Kings, but
but like you know, there's twenty or so stars in
(05:28):
this league that are like, pay that ticket and admission,
you want to go watch this player. He's a great player.
These are great teams, Like it'll be a fun product.
And I think, you know, having been at these games
all season, I think the intensity level is high. I
think that the league is in a healthy space. And
part of the reason is why is You've got guys
like Lebron and Staff and Kevin Durant who are still
(05:49):
really really good players at the ends of their careers
or in the last chapters of their careers. You've got
guys like Jokic and Gianna Sants Tecumpo, we're just like
smack dab in the middle of their time. And then
you've got like this like a group of like twenty
five year olds that are like Shake Gildes, Alexander Anthony
Edwards to only twenty three. You know, Tyrese Halliburton has
(06:11):
really really had a special playoff with Jalen Brunts and
like this this group that's like on the come up
that you know, there's there's talent everywhere, and that's you know,
on one hand, and we'll talk about the Lakers in
the second. You know, on one hand, that's great for
the league. On the other, if you need to like
go into an offseason and you're deciding, like if we
(06:33):
make move X, Y and Z and a guarantee, like
does it guarantee us that we're a serious contender, it
gets a lot harder for that calculus just because of
the way the talent is spread out right now across
the NBA.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
All right, Dan, So let's say for argument's sake, Okay,
see wins the whole thing, and you go, while they're young,
they were built that way and they'll still be young.
Then if you look at the Lakers, you go, they're.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Old old ish, I mean like relatives, right, like I
mean like they're Okay, so they have they have a
old star and Lebron James Luka Doncic is not an
old star. It's twenty seven, Austin Reeves is turning. I
think today's twenty seventh birthday, you know, So they're not
(07:17):
old by any stretch. I mean they have an old player.
I think. The one thing that's interesting about this Thunder team, right,
and we'll see how this plays out, and it's it's fascinating.
It's a fascinating position because not only are they the
clear favorites to win the NBA title, they have a
and they're young. They have a ton of draft capital too.
(07:39):
Write so like any any trade, any player, like, they
can get involved in it. But but the other weird
thing is that you'd be like, well, why would they
do that? Like, you know, they should just run it forwards.
With what they have, they're going to get really expensive,
really fast. And the way that you know, this collective
bargaining agreement is set up, it's it's pretty anti dynasty.
(08:02):
It's really hard to go into that second apron and
and go deep into it and keep playing all your
players what they're worth. Like I mean, it seems guys,
three years ago, it seemed like Denver would just keep
winning forever. You know, they were so dominant on the
way to the title, and Nikoliochic was so good. Nikol
Jokis didn't get any worse. Guys, but their roster, did
(08:24):
you know, Contavious Callwell Pulpe had a leave, like they had.
They they chipped away at their depths and they've had
to do it over and over again. And it's you know,
you take players that that you trust, that you're paying,
you know, six seven million dollars too, and you can't
pay them twenty and then now you have to replace
them with a minimum player. It's it's difficult, it's difficult
(08:44):
mass and so I think you know, those are going
to be the decisions that Sam Prescy's gonna have to make.
I mean, like I mean, I believe going into next season.
Right now, they have no open roster spots and they
have multiple draft picks, so like something's gonna have to
happen with that roster. You know, they've got they've got
guys that are gonna have massive extensions coming towards them,
Jalen Williams being one of them. You know, it's things
(09:08):
are gonna get really expensive there and it's gonna happen
really quick. So that that is sort of set up
to be the equalizer in the NBA. So look, if
you're the Lakers and you look at this and say, man,
we better you know, hurry up living or hurry up dying,
kind of it's a situation. I think the thing with
them is I think the thing with them right now
is that, you know, honestly, like their calculus hasn't changed
(09:32):
in a negative way since Lebron James is signed with
the team. Like when you have Lebron James, like you've
got no time to waste. Now they have Lukadacich, they
seemingly have more time.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Yeah, speaking of I mean, you mentioned Oklahoma City having
a lot of draft capital and conversely, the Lakers don't,
and and you rite you write, and you wrote in
your article about the Lakers are going looking for bargain deals.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Right, bargain deal? How did you what do you mean
by that? Dan?
Speaker 4 (10:04):
And Who's Who's a bargain deal that you would look
at and go, okay, that's a bargain deal player.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
So I think the promiseeutical rounding was sort of basically right,
Like a lot of chatter around the Lakers has been
about a player like Nikhil Alexander Walker right rough by
the way, rough Data write about Nikil Alexander Walker after
his performance last night, but you know, had a big
game in this series, played well against the Lakers. It
has become kind of, you know, that sort of prototypical
(10:31):
three and D type of wing with a little playmaking.
He only makes six million dollars this year, like he
or a four four and a half million, I think,
or something like that. He is in line for a
big race, probably more than the Lakers can afford. But
it's been sort of like sort of bandied about that
maybe you know, oh, if the Lakers could get him,
would Lebron take up pay cut and all of this stuff,
blah blah blah blah blah. The general point is is
(10:52):
that if you were in the Lakers situation, you do
not want to go sign and pay Nikhil Alexander Walker.
That is a fool's errand it almost never works. What
you want to do is you you want to find
the player who can perform like Nikhil Alexander Walker for
four and a half million dollars a year. Like that
is like that's the goal, right is? Like you need
(11:14):
to you need to scour the league and find that guy.
And it's not a great free agency class for that
kind of player. Could it be a player that you
get in a trade if you make a deal for
a center and add on a throw in that type
of a thing. Nikaile Alexander Walker, right was, was in
a lot of ways a throw in. He was a
part of the Russell Westbrook to Utah trade that that
(11:36):
the Lakers made to get D'Angel Russell and Lake Beasley
and Jevannerboldt. He went, yet not a throw it anymore.
He went. Mike Connelly was the headliner there and that
deal from Minnesota and Alexander Walker was sort of more
so filler and became a really important player in their
in their rotation. So I think what the Lakers need
(11:57):
to do. If they can't find the guy who's going
to be the next Nikhil Alexander Walker, they need to
find the vert the paid version of Nikaile Alexander Walker
that didn't work out right, And you can look at
their own roster and say, a player like Gabe Vincent, right,
Like Gabe Vincent is in the final year of his deal,
he's going to hit fore agency next year. He has
not played well as a Laker. I think gave Vincent
(12:18):
is you view him much differently if he's making the
league minimum than you do if he's making ten million
dollars a year. That will be the Lakers charge this
offseason is maybe you know, is there a player who's
gonna hit unrestricted free agency that you know didn't quite
live up to their last contract who needs a reset?
You know, is is Luke Cannard a player that would
(12:41):
fit what JJ Reddick wants to do in terms of
motion and shooting around. A player like Luka Doncin is there?
You know this quint Capella, you know who went to
the bench in Atlanta and savor for anyakakong Wu. You know,
need to show that he still has some juice left
in his legs and sign on a cheap deal after,
(13:05):
you know, making eighteen million dollars on his last contract
like that, that's gonna be. That's those are gonna be
the kinds of things that I think the Lakers looking
at a player that I like potentially that could fill
this the body is bad, you need good luck is
d Anthony Melton, former USC guard, good shooter, good defender,
(13:25):
can play off the ball, but coming off an ACL injury,
was injured before that. I think he had a either
back but the season before so he hasn't played a
lot of basketball in the last two years. But you know,
look that risk is a lot different at fifteen million
dollars a year than it is at two. And I
think he's a guy I like for them. Dante Exum
(13:47):
is a player that I like for for what I
think the Lakers kind of need in terms of like
size and length and you know, catch and shoot. He's
become a pretty good catch and shoot player in Dallas.
But you know there's some some kind of but like
none of you're not gonna You're not gonna say like, oh, well,
you know, the Lakero's gonna get myles Turner, Like, it's
not gonna be that kind of a free agent signing.
(14:07):
I don't think like that guy, I don't think is
out there.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yeah, but Dan isn't that what robl Lincas had to
do every year since Lebron's been here, this kind.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Of thasically basically, I mean, look, they had they had
more wiggle room right in the past, like when they
had the full mid level. You know, they used it
on Gave Vincent. That was you know, they were you know,
there was a list of players they were you know,
they were in on Bruce Brown, you know, Gary Trunk Junior,
whose name had been kicked around, but I think he
(14:35):
was signed already. Dante DiVincenzo was a player at that time,
you know who people talked about some and that in
that way, you know, and they Dennis Shrewder being resigned
was an option, and they like, you know, Gabe Vincent
had just been the starting point guard in the NBA
Finals and they missed, you know, like he got hurt.
He was hurt, and you know, I think it's and
(15:00):
kind of proven out that, you know, what Gabe Vincent
does well is more so when he has the ball
in his hands and on this team when you have
Lebron James, and you had Austin Reeves and D'Angelo Russell
before you and Anthony Davis, you weren't gonna get a
lot of touches and you're gonna get few of them
when you add Luka Dacic to the mix. And so
it's been not a great fit for Gabe. But I mean,
(15:20):
that's what it is, guys, at this stage, right it's
you need to find the right players who fit your
system and what you're trying to do. For most of
the NBA, it's situational opportunity and you've got to figure
out you got to figure out the right guy. When
the Lakers won the title, Guys in twenty twenty, you
know how Kuzma was on a rookie contract, Alex Cruso
(15:42):
was on a nothing deal, Dwight Howard was on a
veterans minimum. Rajon Rondo was on a veterans minimum. You know,
if you're gonna if you're gonna pony up at the
top of your roster, which you know the Lakers are,
which most teams that are credible contenders do, unless you're
in a situation like the Thunder where you've been fortunate
enough to draft and develop and you're really really young.
(16:03):
You got to get your minimums right, and the Lakers
haven't gotten them right.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
We talked a little bit about Lebron in the future
earlier in the show, and I suggested, and he's because
he's a story and basically in a student of the
game that I don't and I know he plays the
Brett fav Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
I don't know what I'm gonna do next year. I
don't know what I'm gonna do.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
I think he's a guy that that will play as
long as he's healthy and and he's and he's going
to you know, chase certain milestones. I think he's built
that way that he appreciates, you know, being the leader
in points and then desist and then games played and
all those things that he's at the top of the
list or close to. I think that's those things are
(16:51):
important to him, which is why I think as long
as he's healthy, I don't see him retire anytime soon, like,
not in the next year, and not even after you know,
this year runs out and he ops in and he
comes back as a free agent, I think he signs
another deal and plays for another two maybe three years.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, I think I think there's a couple of factors
in play here, And I don't want to pretend to
know exactly what Lebron James is thinking. I do tend
to think that the thing that will get him eventually
won't be competitive fatigue. It won't be It'll be some
sort of injury that he the rehab just sucks too much,
(17:32):
you know that, where it's like at some point the
work that he's putting into the body versus like what
he's getting out of it, the calculus just doesn't add
up anymore. The math doesn't math. I think that's probably
how it ends, But I don't know, you know, I
think it's really interesting. I mean, I think if things
like legacy and stuff like that matter to him, and
(17:53):
I'm not sure they do. Well, Okay, I should say
I think they do. But I think I think he
realized is there are unwinnable arguments to be made in
like the modern era, right like, like there's nothing Rodney
and I'm guilty of this. There's almost nothing he could
do to that would have me like put him ahead
of Michael Jordan, right like like and that's true. For yeah,
(18:16):
I don't know what he could do. You know, maybe
if he scored one hundred points in a game or
something like that, and and like and and it's it's
funny because the further you get away from Jordan, it's
like he never missed a shot. He never you know, whatever,
Like like the myth only gets bigger and bigger. And
I think twenty years now, like these conversations about Lebron
James in this place and stuff like that, Will Will
(18:37):
kind of age similarly. Right but but right now in
the moment, I don't know. I don't if that's matters
to him. I think he knows he can't win that,
you know. So it's interesting. I will say he's tremendously
self motivated. I think that he has been the center
of attention, you know, basically his entire life, you know,
(19:03):
from being an only child to being the most talked
about high school player to being you know, a wildly famous,
you know, eighteen year old and all this stuff. Like
he has been the main character for a very very
long time. I am curious to see how being a
supporting character sits with him. I don't know. I don't
(19:24):
think anybody really knows for sure. You know, he handled
it really graciously last year with Luka Dacic and stuff
like that. But I mean, the Lakers made it clear
when they made that trade, and they made it clear
when they didn't involve him in that trade. They didn't
they didn't ask him for his opinion. They didn't tell
him until after it was done. And I believe that,
like I've not heard anything to the contrary, and that
(19:48):
it's a pretty song. It's a pretty strong message as
to like, you know what direction the franchise is moving,
and it's no longer in Lebron James's sou that and
he gets it, Don't get me wrong. I don't think
he's like mad about it. I think he understands it.
But I just don't know how he's gonna react to it.
And I don't think anybody can really know for sure
how he's gonna react to that.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
And maybe quite frankly, he doesn't know how he's going
to react to it yet.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
No, No, I mean yeah I would again, this is
all this is all untouched sand underneath his feet too, right,
Like he's never walked this path, so we'll like it is,
you know, when was the last time he wasn't the
most important player on his basketball team his freshman year
of high school. Maybe maybe, And yeah, and and you know,
(20:34):
because he played with some older guys, you know, like
he's like Maverick Carter was a really important you know
figure to him, still obviously a part of the empire,
and Maverick was a couple of years older and played
Division one basketball, like you know, maybe as a freshman,
but that's twenty seven years ago, Like it's been a while. Yeah,
(20:54):
And by the way, all this is happening in the
context in which he was on the All NBA second team.
Was that good and that available? So yeah, it's a
it's it's there's no there's no script for this. And
I think, uh, to your point earlier about it, hasn't
this been rap plink is charge along? It has been,
And I think there isn't a script And they don't
(21:17):
totally know. They still haven't totally figured out how to
how to live for today with Lebron James, I'll still
will still like making sure you're in a decent position
for tomorrow. I think the Luca trade accomplished that in
a real way. Now, the Lakers job Deceummer with fairly
limited resources, is to plug the holes that that that
that trade created, mainly in the middle of the court. Like,
(21:39):
they need to find a center. Everybody knows they need
to find a center. There aren't great options. They've got
to find the guy that fits with what they're trying
to do.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
All right, Well you always felt with what we're trying
to do.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Nan Oh God, thank you so much, guys, and I
appreciate it. Very sweet of you. Alright, guys are great.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Looks like the Rams have the best roster, but don't
have the best chance to win. Now, how do you
figure that?
Speaker 3 (22:09):
Back now? Throw back Thursday?
Speaker 4 (22:12):
Pretty can you believe it's already the end of May? No,
it is, Man twenty twenty five, I got my.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Rodney.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Everybody needs to remember this, everybody. And it doesn't matter
how old you are. It doesn't matter. But I think
it's a something that you will experience throughout your life.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Doesn't matter how old you are.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Every year you get older, and it doesn't matter if
you're twenty seven, thirty seven, forty, it doesn't matter. Every
year you get older, time goes faster and the world
gets smaller. Every single year. Things accelerate and the world
becomes smaller because as you get older, you have a
(22:55):
group of friends that are your friends. In life, we
have a few friends and men an acquaintances, so nobody
could say, you know, I got one hundred and fifty friends.
I actually, no, you don't.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
You don't.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
You have a handful of friends maybe if you're lucky,
and a lot of people you like and you know,
And that's why as you get older, time goes faster.
My god, it's the middle of May. Yeah, and the
world gets smaller.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
That's true. You know.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
You think about when you're younger, you can't wait to
get to double digit. If you're in single digits, you're not.
I can't wait to be ten. I can't wait to
be twelve. I can't wait to be sixteen when I'm driving. Oh, man,
I can't wait till eighteen. I graduate.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
I can't wait till twenty one where.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
I can go to Vegas all those things. And as
you hit but probably forty, you're like, man, slow it down,
a little bit, slow it down, you know, because I, oh,
I'm iying fifty and fifty is not what it was
when we were growing up. You saw, you looked at
fifty as oh, man, that's an old old man. And
(23:59):
now even fifty don't look the same way. You don't
look at sixty, You don't seventy. You know, people are
out there working, doing a whole bunch of things at eighty.
Nowadays you look up and that guy's eighty two or
that guy you know, seventy nine years old, and they're
doing their things. So it's definitely the world has changed more,
you know, more knowledge we have about diet and keeping
ourselves healthy.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
It's changed that way. But yeah, you're right.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Everything accelerates as you get older, and you want it
to slow down, where it's the opposite when you're younger.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, I mean, if look, if you're about to hit forty,
you know what, you look forward to your first NEH replacement,
You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (24:39):
That's so true. Yeah, can I get fixed? Yeah? Right?
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Good morning? How you feeling well? You know, my model?
What a new day of new pain. It's good to
talk to you. I don't know what happened. My wrist
is killing me. You don't know how it happened. Like
five minutes ago.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
Yeah, I woke up, I woke up and it was
feeling this way How did I get that bump on
my head?
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Okay, so talk at rams Ota possibility of acquiring Jalen Ramsey.
So what happens is on Sunday his large cap number drops,
making a trade more likely. And if the Rams are
going to pull the trigger, that's probably Rodney. When they're
going to pull the trigger when they can get it
for the last.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
Month, Yeah, absolutely absolutely, And look, you know how much
does he have left in the tank? Is he that
lockdown guy like he was some years ago? No, he's
not that guy anymore, but I think he still adds
a lot of value to your team. Now, it's got
to be obviously at the right price. And you mentioned
that price drops this Sunday, which will be good. But look,
(25:51):
I think the Rams are they're in a you know what,
not longer about a year and a half ago, two
years ago, we were talking about Okay, now the Rams
are building, they need to starve them scratched, and you know,
Aaron Donald's gone, and you know they're gonna get rid
of Cooper Cup and they're just gonna rebuild the roster.
And there was a giant pivot I think with the
(26:13):
Rams and the season that they had last year and
getting all the way to you know, deep in the
playoffs and had Philadelphia on the ropes in Philly in
the snow with eighteen seconds they had a chance to
win that game. And so I think they're in a
much different space of we can win right now, you know.
I think they were really pleasantly surprised by their young
(26:35):
defense and the way they played, and they got some
studs on that defense now. So adding a guy like
Dalen Ramsey to it, I think, you know, in their
mode and they're thinking of we can win this thing
right now plays into that.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
And you have to give the Rams credit. You have
to give less sneed credit. Sean McVay. They usually put
together a very competitive roster, a roster that gives you
a chance to win. And this year will be no different.
And if Matthew Stafford stays healthy he did last year,
if he stays healthy, they are legitimate contenders. Don't kid yourself.
(27:11):
They're not on the outside looking in.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
No, and think about what they you know, pookin the
coup has got another year under his belt. He's a
superstar on the verge of becoming a superstar, if not already.
And then they added they added god receiver. Now I
can't get Devanta Adams right to the team, which I
think he's still got something left in the tank and
something to prove as well.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
I think he's a I think of all the.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Things around the league, he is going to have a
tremendous impact on this Rams team and you're going to
see the difference with him in the coop on the field.
At the same time, it's it's going to be they're
gonna be smiles coming through the face mask of Matthew
Stafford all season long.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
So you look at the roster and you think these
guys are pretty damn good. But analytically ESPN ran them
on on a lot of the betting sites use it.
They think the forty nine ers can win the division.
You're gonn, how could that be? How could that be?
The Rams obviously are very good, they have a good roster.
They said the forty nine er schedule is easier, and
(28:15):
that being said, they've got a better chance to win.
Back when you played, what did you think or how
did you feel about how the schedule was put together?
Speaker 4 (28:29):
You didn't really think about it a whole lot, and
it's and it wasn't a big to do like it
is now.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
There were no TV specials or big build.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
Up to Okay, and this the roster release or i
mean the schedule release and what's gonna happen and who's
gonna play who, and it's to make a big deal
about it.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
It wasn't. It's like, oh, that's the schedule, okay, a
big deal.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
And you were, you know, you kind of paid attention
because you knew who you're gonna play in your division.
Obviously you're gonna play them twice, but you always you
did pay attention to what outside division you were going
to play, because usually if you're in the NFC, you're
gonna play a division from the AFC, you know, and
play all those teams in that in that particular division.
(29:11):
And so that was always interesting to see. You know,
we're gonna play the AFC West this year, and man,
we gotta go. We gotta play the Broncos, We got
to play the Chiefs and Raiders. Man, that's gonna be tough.
That's that makes our schedule a lot harder than say,
we're playing the AFC South and we got to play
Tennessee and Houston and Jacksonville. That's a lot of that's
an easier road than happen to go through the AFC West.
(29:34):
So you looked at it like that, But it wasn't
a whole lot of emphasis put on, you know, the
schedule when it came out like it is today.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Yeah, but did you think of the back of your mind, God,
we really got screwed this year.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
No?
Speaker 4 (29:48):
No, not really. You never really thought thought of it
that way, you know. I think the you know, because
it wasn't as many. First of all, there wasn't as
many h you know, live or special games like there
are now, like the trips to overseas. It seems like
it's gonna come to the point where every team's gonna
(30:09):
play a game overseas.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
And and then it.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Was the Monday night, Thursday night, Sunday night games, and
how many you got?
Speaker 3 (30:17):
So you you paid attention to that because.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
You didn't you didn't want even though you love playing
on them and being in front of of of everybody
and being isolated, you didn't want to play a whole
lot of those games because you ended up being on.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Short weeks and it could make it difficult for you.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
So but I never never felt like, oh, you got
screwed on the schedule because you always felt you got
to play everybody anyway. Sometime if you want to you
want to go and win the Super Bowl, you're gonna.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Have to play who you play.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
And so it never I never felt like we were
screwed on the schedule or or anything like that. I
don't think any anybody that I played with felt that
way either.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
All Right, so we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
I'm gonna tell you that I really liked the rams
chances this year.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
All right.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Something next that really is bothering a lot of people,
especially if their parents will get into it.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Eh.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Yeah, you know, everybody's son or daughter. You know, everybody's
son or daughter is a star. Everybody's son or daughter
is going to be a pro. If they compete at
any athletic event, they are going to be a pro.
Boy or girl, doesn't matter. Your kid is going to
be a pro. And if you don't have kids, you
were a kid, So think back to when you were little,
(31:34):
Think back to when you played Little League or ayso, soccer,
travel sports. You were going to be a star. And
if your parents were around, you're damn right you were
going to be a star. Despite the fact you were
smaller than every kid out there. You were going to
be a pro, and your mom or dad knew how
to coach you, and they made sure you did what
(31:56):
was right. Despite the fact they may have never played
a game in their life, they knew they could analyze
and pick these games apart. So since everybody wants their
kid to be a pro, and every kid will be,
there's no question about it.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
No.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
You know, Rodney, for example, is a bit of an anomaly.
He was a professional athlete. There aren't a lot of
people like Rodney that are professional athletes. But every parent
thinks our kid will be that. And to do that
in today's world, they spent a lot of money. They
(32:30):
spend a lot of money on coaching, They spend a
lot of money on training. They spent a lot of
money on travel teams because they believe if they do that,
their kid's going to be a pro. Now, I four
years coached AAU basketball travel basketball. We had our team,
the Calabasas Chaos, and we won the Chaos the Calabasas Chaos,
(32:54):
and we won. We were good. We're very good. We
went a lot more than we lost tournaments. Kids had fun,
but you know, once you get in the the itch
and you win a tournament, you know what, You're gonna
win a better tournament next time. You're gonna win a
bigger tournament next time. And why should we just drive
(33:16):
down to Anaheim. You know what we're gonna do. We're
gonna start traveling. I mean, we're gonna travel. We're gonna
go to Vegas, We're gonna go to Phoenix, and we're
gonna go for three day tournaments because we're that good. Oh,
we're gonna chart our a big bus and we're all
gonna go on the bus and we're gonna get hotels.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
And we're gonna go to the games. I think that.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Think about the insanity of that for a minute. And
this is what has people upset today. This is what
got This is what has parents pissed off. They're starting
to look at what they're spending for kids to travel
around and play. It's ridiculous. There was a tournament in Illinois,
a basketball tournament. The cost of forty bucks a day
(34:08):
to get in. It didn't matter if your kid was
playing or not. Forty dollars per ticket for you to
go in and watch.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
Oh this man ticket, the ticket that just watch the
kids play right, going to the gym.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
All right, So let's say they're there three days. That's
one hundred and twenty bucks. Two people, two hundred and
forty bucks. You meet two nights in a hotel. Start
adding it up. Start looking at the cost of all
of this. Plus in those teams you normally have to
pay for your kid to be on the team. Yeah,
just start looking at the cost of all of this.
And people are going enough, it's not worth it.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
We can't afford it.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
We can't even afford to do this anymore. We've got
kids traveling all over the place. We're paying, we're going
to the games, we're buying the tickets. The kid's twelve
years old. Twelve, and look at travel baseball. If you
compete in that, because, let me tell you, more often
than not, if you want to get drafted by a
(35:12):
major league team, they're going to see you in the summer, right,
they'll check you out in college, they'll watch in the summer.
And they're looking at kids when they're young. Now they
travel all over the place, travel baseballs every weekend, and
it could be you know, ten miles away, could be
one hundred miles away.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Did you do that?
Speaker 4 (35:35):
Oh, yeah, I did it, and you're right. Every weekend
there was a tournament that you could be in. And
you know, I'm talking. It started, you know at eight
years old. You know, there's eight and under tournaments, then
there's a ten year old tournaments, and then there's.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
The twelve And yeah, we traveled.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
I can't tell you how many times we went down
to Orange County and then and then back and forth
to Arizona, which they have a ton of tournaments, and
then Nevada as well, and then you you know, you
go and you do these special ones, like you go
to Cooperstown.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
You got to do that one.
Speaker 4 (36:15):
Fred got to take the team to Cooperstown and which
was actually a fun, fun tournament to be a part of.
But yeah, it got to be crazy because you as
a parent, you have no time for yourself anymore. Because
you know, aside from those tournaments being you know, Saturday
(36:35):
Sunday and some of them being Friday Saturday Sunday during
the summer, there were practices during the week that you
had to you know, maintain and go to and all
those things. So it was very very time consuming, very
time consuming and again costly, like to enter those tournaments
as a team. It cost a lot of money, so
(36:56):
every player had to pony up the money. And then
and then, like you said, to be a part of
the team, just to be a part of the team
they had, there was a price tag on that. And
then going forward, of course you had to get the
right gloves and the bats and and all the extra
gear that you You had to be up to date
because if that kid hit two home runs with that
(37:18):
particular bat, your son wanted that bat, you know, because
it wasn't sharing the bats like we did back in
the day, where the coach brought like three bats to
the to the field and you know, with three different sizes,
and you just picked one of those three three bats
and everybody used it.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
And I remember those bats.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
Some of the bats had so many dents and dings
in it and just been used for like seven years straight.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
But that's the way it was. That's the way. It was.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
One set of catchers gear that all the catchers used.
It was just in a big old dirty duppel bag
that the you know, the chest protector, the helmet, the
catcher gloves and all that were in there.
Speaker 3 (38:01):
And then you.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
Had about four batting helmets or had five maybe because
you had to have one for the guy on deck
if the bases were loaded.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
So it was a.
Speaker 4 (38:11):
Total different world than it is now. And you're right,
the cost is astronomical. Yeah, parents have had enough. They
just have had enough. Can't even afford it anymore. But
here's the lesson to learn. You know, if a kid's
going to be a pro athlete, they're going to be
a pro athlete. There's really nothing you're going to do
(38:33):
as a parent to make that happen. And you can
pretty much tell parents at a relatively young age if
your son or daughter is gonna make it. It's not
really a mystery or a sequet, you know, or at
least have a shot, right, you know, have a shot. Right,
(38:55):
you'll know if they'll have a shot now, don't right,
how much money you spend, because if they don't have
a shot, they don't have a shot. I remember I
was managing a little league team. It was out here
in southern California years ago, and we had this kid
and his father wanted him to play second base. That's
all he wanted. He wanted his son to play second base. Well,
(39:15):
I quickly realized that this young man couldn't catch the ball,
he did not He couldn't catch.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
And this is the league he goes, Pony league. Kids
can steal and stuff. Let's say they're like ten years old.
All right, nine years old. But he's really couldn't catch.
And we worked with him on it, and you know,
the guy throw the ball, he just miss it or
it kind of hit him on the shoulder. So I
told his father, I'm not putting him at second base.
He's going to get hurt. And his dad got really mad.
(39:48):
His dad said, his dad said that he didn't want
to play in the team anymore. So we actually had
an in season trade. We sent the kid to another
team because I wouldn't let him play second base. Well,
the first game the kid plays for the other team, Oh,
he played second base, all right, Ball's hit to short,
(40:11):
he runs over to cover, guy throws him, the ball
hits him right in the nose, breaks his nose, and
a season was over. God first game, first game, first
game with the new team playing second base, threw him
the ball right in the nose. Boom broken, Like nine
ten year old kid.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
Season over. I could see I could see it. Now.
You know you don't want to you don't wanna you
don't want to laugh.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
You don't want to say I told you so, But
deep down you had to be saying I told you so,
you stupid ass.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Father. I tried to.
Speaker 4 (40:41):
Tell you a kid couldn't catch, and don't put him
at second base, and sure enough he breaks his nose.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
Now, now how you feel, dad, Now how you feel? Right?
Speaker 1 (40:52):
But his father thought this nine year old kid he
had it and he if he just played second base,
I mean, he'd play second base there for a couple
of games and then the Toronto Blue Jays would call
him up because he'd be ready. Right, that's a dad, though,
King knows. Parents, your kids are who they are. It
(41:14):
doesn't matter how much money you spend. And if they're
going to go and play Division I college athletics or
they're going to be a pro, that's probably already been determined. Okay,
should should someone who's had a bad game talk to
the media.
Speaker 3 (41:32):
That's next.
Roggin And Rodney News
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