6/28 H2: David Vassegh on the Dodgers and Will Ohtani Be in the Homerun Derby

R&R with Jonas Knox in for Fred Roggin as the guys talk about the Dodgers with David Vassegh who are already in their final season in SF, if Ohtani will be in the Homerun derby and more + Lakers moves.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
And we continue on. Let's keepit going. Jonas knocks in for Fred
Rogan. On a Friday, Dodgersstart a three game series in San Francisco
Oracle Park. It's kind of weirdthe new scheduling doesn't allow the Dodgers to
play the Giants as many times.This is gonna be the last time they

(00:22):
go up there this year, whichseems weird. It feels like they maybe
normally play the Giants like thirty timesa year, but this is the last
time they're going up north. Let'sbring on our guy, David Bassey to
talk about that and other things.David Bassy, what's happening, brother?
Everything's good, guys. I'm headedto Oracle Park as we speak, taking
a walk around the Embarcadero on myway to the ballpark. So a great

(00:46):
trip in Chicago. The Dodgers handledbusiness and I felt like going on this
road trip, the Dodgers should loseonly one game, so I'm expecting the
Dodgers to take two out of threeat least from the Does does it feel
sorry? Don it? Does itfeel weird that this is going to be
the last time the Dodgers come upgo up North to play at Oracle Park.

(01:07):
It feels like it's like they haven'treally played the Giants enough. Yeah,
right, and this is really earlyin the summer for this to be
the last trip up here. Butyou know, with this wacky new schedule
that Major League Baseball devised to haveevery team play each other, this is
another wrinkle in that schedule, sovery very different than in the last ten

(01:33):
to fifteen years because it's only beentwo years since they've experimented with this schedule.
So they've de emphasized again playing nineteentimes in your division. So that's
what you get. How is itlanded with some of the players that you've
talked to there and yourself as faras just the adjustments and everything that's gone
on, Well, not so muchonly playing within your division two times in

(01:59):
each ball park, but more sojust the travel of this schedule this year.
I know Freddie Freeman voiced his displeasurewhen we were in New York with
some Major League Baseball officials about justhow the schedule is so weird. Right,
The Dodgers went all the way toChicago and now are back in San

(02:19):
Francisco. They took two separate chipsto New York, after short stays in
Los Angeles. So to me,that's the bigger complaints that I'm hearing,
more so than only playing the Giantstwice in San Francisco. Dave Landon that
goes tonight against Logan Web. Whatcan you tell us about some of the
other guys that we kind of maybeI don't want to say, forgotten about,

(02:40):
but hadn't heard from him? Well, like Grustar Graderol. What's the
update on him, Dustin May?Any updates on those guys. Well,
I want to expect either one ofthose guys back until September when the rosters
expand. Graderol it feels like theDodgers get encouraged and then all of a
sudden his shoulder starts sparking. Soat this point, Rodney, I don't

(03:02):
know if you can count on him. Dustin May, obviously I spoke to
him the last time the Dodgers playedthe Diamondbacks in Arizona, and he was
very open to pitching this year andwants to come back in some form or
fashion, even if that means beinga release pitcher in the month of September,

(03:22):
if his elbow cooperates. Dave,what's been the most impressive part of
watching show a Otani up close thisseason, man Jonas. It feels like
there is a mystique around him whenhe's in that batter's box, when he's
going like this. When he washitting two hundred for twenty five games,
there was not as much mistique.But when he is hitting the ball the

(03:46):
way he's hitting it now and justcontrolling the strike zone and doing so much
damage, and when he hits thebaseball it goes farther than you ever thought
somebody could hit it. There's justa definitely Arab mystique around him. They
I'm just gonna ask a question aboutthe other guys and how they feel about

(04:11):
Otani and the attention, because Iknow sometimes locker rooms can kind of get
fractured when one guy gets so muchhype and when there's other superstars on that
same team. But Otani's personality Ithink is perfect because he doesn't flaunt it.
He's not cocky, he's not anythinglike that. But sometimes when you
know guys, I could hear guysget asked questions and press conferences. The

(04:34):
first question is what do you thinkabout Otani? And they could have gone
three for four or had two homeruns or pitch seven, you know,
shutout innings. And the first questionis Otani had two home runs? What's
it like playing with him? Howwas how was it landed in in the
in the clubhouse with the other guys. Have they just accepted that this is

(04:55):
this is a once in a generationaltype of guy and the attention is going
to be the attention. Yeah,that's the biggest thing. They've just accepted
it. That's what's going to beasked about them, especially when he's hot.
When he wasn't playing well, theattention wasn't on him. But when
he's playing like this, obviously youhave to ask players about it. And

(05:15):
sometimes it's warranted, other times it'snot. But it kind of just goes
with the entire package of being teammateswith him. I mean the Dodgers,
like I've said before, it's notjust a game anymore. It's an event
because of Otagi, and certainly that'swhat it was in Chicago. They got
bigger crabs than they have all seasons, and it's an event. And I

(05:38):
think players understand that. How likelyis seeing him in the home run Derby
this year? I know Dave Robert'snot a fan of it, But is
that a possibility for us to getto see he's a fan of it.
But I'm starting to get indications thatit's not likely Jonas because he's still rehab

(06:00):
being that elbow and that's a majorconsideration for him and the Dodgers. So
because of that, I feel likeit's not as likely now. Who knows,
maybe another Dodger like Kaoscar Hernandez orsomebody else could get involved, But
for Otani, I'm not sure,Dave. As this team goes and,

(06:21):
you know, up in San Franciscofor three games, what do they have
to get better at? As withthis point of season sometimes when you're this
far ahead and is a foregone conclusionin everybody's mind that they're going to win
the West, But what things dothey have to get better at as they
go forward and go into August andSeptember. In October, Ronnie, that's

(06:43):
such a tough question to ask becausethey're on pace for another one hundred wins.
So what can you say about ateam that's on pace for another one
hundred wins? It would be thefifth time in the last five full seasons
they have won one hundred games,So I guess the only thing is that
everybody's looking at is how does thisplay in October? And you never really

(07:08):
know until October comes around. Sofor me, Rodney, I'm going to
take a hard pass on that questionand say, you know what, I
think they're doing really well. Yeah, because what a month ago was the
bottom of the lineup right, thebottom of the lineup was not coming through.
They were hitting not even two hundred, and was all the top concerned.

(07:29):
I feel like they can augment thatbetween now the trade deadline. I
would say that the way this rosterlooks right now is not the way it's
going to look on August first.And I'm not saying they're going to make
a big splash position player wise,but certainly they can. They have the
opportunity to make some tweaks to helpout the seven, eight nine spots.

(07:49):
And look, they need Max Monthlyback the third baseman that I filled in,
whether it's Catin, Bigio, Kik Hernandez, they've combined for four
fifty ops. Max Monthly's ops iseight hundred. They need Max Monthly back,
and supposedly, starting around today,he was going to start swinging the

(08:11):
bat again and return after the AllStar Break. But look, the Dodgers
going into the trade deadline, theyneed another starting pitcher that can make a
start in a playoff series, especiallywith the uncertainty around Walker, Buehler,
Yamamoto and Kershop. That's the priority, and they can augment, you know,
the position player pool a little bitdifferently, but the big splash to

(08:37):
me has to be with a startingpitcher. Dave, do you plan on
while you're in San Francisco going backto that pizza place where the robbery happened
while you were there? Getting readyto call in to five seventy or no?
Is that on? Yeah? Iwant I checked it out to see
if they were still open. They'restill there. I don't think I'm going
there though, Jonas, I gotbigger fish to fry around here. I

(09:01):
got you. Hey, Dave,go do your thing, man, Thanks
for joining us. Enjoy yourself upthere in San Francisco. Okay, have
a great weekend, guys. Therehe goes. David Best said, Hey,
Jonas, I know you asked thequestion, but what do you think

(09:22):
Otani should do? Should he?Should he do the home run derby?
Hold that? Yeah, it's Friday, It's Friday. We don't. We
don't really care. But man Jonasknocks in for Fred Rogan still got a

(09:43):
frog in his throat, I think, but we'll keep it moving. So
I asked you before we went onbreak about Otani and the home run Derby.
Do you think it's a good ideathat that he entertained it? Or
do it at the All Star Game. That's probably not a good idea,
but I think you should do it. I just look from it. Are

(10:05):
you a believer that that's going toruin a swing? Or you know,
are you one of those guys that, oh, if you go into home
run Derby is gonna ruin their swing? See? I don't know. I
think we've seen enough from him atthis point to where his swing is unruinable.
I don't know. That's probably nota word, but I look at
it and I go like he is, Like there's rarefied air that he breathes

(10:26):
that most normal players don't ever breathe, and to Dave's point, like there
is a mystique to him, likeyou can, Yeah, the cool thing
about what Otani does is that youcan feel it. It's similar to Barry
Bonds. To be honest with you, to where it didn't like wherever you
were, if he walked out ofthe circle from the dugout into the batter's

(10:48):
box, you looked at it andyou went, there's something different here,
Like there was a vibe. Therewas an energy, almost like that big
fight field they talk about when yougo to a big boxing match or you
have, yeah, like walking throughthe airport and you're watching the game and
Otani comes up. You stop,You're stopping. There's like there is a
vibe to it. And I lookat it, and I go, from

(11:11):
an entertainment standpoint, who the helldoesn't want to watch that? Because it's
not It's not just that he hitshome runs. To Dave's point, he
hits bombs like these aren't wall scrapers, Like I think he's got the longest
home run hit this season. Ithink he did that last week, if
I'm not mistaken. So I lookat it. It's crazy, and so
I look at it and go froman entertainment standpoint, it makes sense.

(11:35):
And the pushback would be, well, you know, he's recovering from this
elbow injury and there's concerns there andand I get all that, but does
he not take BP before games,does he not like like practice? I
mean, is he just going outthere cold and not taking any warm ups?
And so I think maybe there's away that they can figure this out

(11:56):
to where if it gets to acertain point and he's like, hey,
I've got a swing count similar toa pitch count coming off an injury.
Whatever, this is the number ofswings I do before games getting ready for
games. I can't exceed that maxfor the home run Derby if that's possible.
I don't know who the hell wouldn'twant to watch this. Everybody would

(12:18):
want to watch it. And Ithink if if there's ever a year to
do it, this is a yearbecause he's not pitching this year, right,
he doesn't have to focus on thepitching. It's all about the hitting,
so that's not in his head.No, I think it would be
great. You remember the speaking aBomb that one year they had it in
Miami and Stanton was playing for theMarlins and he went off on the home

(12:39):
run. Derby was just hitting anoff the wall back down there, and
you know it's crazy, Oh,Tony feels like he's hitting the home run
every single game and Aaron Judge hasthirty. Yeah, don't even get me
started on the Aaron Judge. Iwas watching, like this, how much

(13:00):
of a life I have? Okay, my son was sleeping, and so
when when he's sleeping, I'm tryingnot to wake him up. So I'm
like, all right, what's gonnalike, what can I put on that's
not gonna wake him up? Andso I keep the volume down. I
was watching Yankees Braves last Saturday.Aaron Judge hit a home run that look
like your standard run of the millpop fly at Dodger Stadium and it was

(13:22):
ten rows back in the seats.I'm like, you know that, Like,
so there's something about this it's notequal, Like there's that's not right.
I'm not saying he's not a greatplayer. He's a great player.
But I just I look at itand I go, Otani's feel a little
bit more impressive, to be honestwith you, like they feel a little
bit more legitimate than than Aaron Judgesare. I mean, they're both awesome

(13:43):
to watch. It's been fun tosee them. You know, it's two
of the faces of major League Baseball. But I just I look at it
and I go, this is Iguess it's kind of similar to the home
run Derby. Conversation with Otani ismaybe similar to is Lebron gonna do the
Slam contest? And I know thatthere's concerns for you know players, Well
you know, something could go wrong, And it's like, all right,

(14:05):
well, Jalen Brown did the dunkcontest this year. It worked out,
okay, Like he's fine, yeah, you know, he did Okay.
It's like, yeah, I mean, you know that's your average sort of
an NBA season, but I youknow, you the pushback on Lebron has
always been like, well, youdon't want to do the Slam Dunk Contest,
but in warm up drills before gamesyou're doing three sixty win mills.

(14:28):
It's like, why, what's what'sthe difference between? So I look at
it and I go if Otani istaking BP and he's getting his swings in
before games or in between games,anyways, what's the difference. And if
they really want to spice this upa little bit, all right. I
don't know if you saw this recently, al Michaels has an Ai al Michaels

(14:50):
now to where like he's like announcingthe Olympics and like some of the raw
and it's like it's it really,it's so above, it's so above beyond,
like my sery, it's scary.But if we're going that route,
I don't think it would be toodifficult to ask an ai Otani pitching to
the real Otani at the home runderby, Like, I don't think that's

(15:13):
outside the realm of possibility. Allright, we've got holograms on stage for
lost pop stars. Can we pleasefigure out a way to get Aiotani.
Just watch a show called Dark Matteron Apple TV or something like that,
and it's about the alternative university,and you're like, you know what,

(15:33):
that's not that far off. Guysgo into different realms and seeing themselves in
a different, different universe. Yeah, crazy, crazy stuff. We chopped
this up, I think last weekjon Otani obviously on fire and going crazy,
and you know, moved right intothe leadoff spot when Mookie got hurt.

(15:54):
What do you do when Mookie comesback? Do you even have that
conversation or you just immediately put Mookieback in the leadoff spot and Tony goes
back to hitting second. Is thiswhere Dave Roberts really earns his money and
has to manage the egos because Ithought I thought your question to David Vasse

(16:17):
was interesting, how did the otherguys on the clubhouse? In the clubhouse
feel about you have a great game, and the first, first or second
question is about Otani because he's thesuperstar. Like, let's not pretend like
the Dodgers don't also have other superstarsand and egos. Yes, and listen,
you've been around a lot of thatthroughout the course of your career.

(16:38):
And and I just I look atit, and a couple guys, so
you too, trust me? Trustme? Yes, I do know.
I mean, especially that time ofthe morning. It's always fun. But
I look at it and I go, is this where Roberts maybe acquiesces to
Mookie Bets and says, okay,well, listen, you don't want we

(17:00):
don't want you to lose your spotbecause the easy answer would be, if
you want to use an NFL perspectiveor something like that, the easy answer
would be, well, when youknow Drew Bledsoe came back from injury,
you know he never got a spotback because Belichick realized we're better in this
situation with him here. I don'twant to mess with anything. We'll just
roll with Tom Brady made the rightchoice. I wonder if maybe Dave Roberts

(17:25):
is sort of juggling the I've gotto be. I don't want to lose
Mookie because I don't want him toall of a sudden, you know,
have some distance from the from Otaniand the rest of the team, because
he feels like he's being overshadowed andthat his spot got taken off getting hit
by a pitch which wasn't his fault. So I wonder if Dave Roberts says,
I'll do him a solid, I'llput him back in that spot,

(17:47):
even though the results from from Otanihave been that have been that great thus
far, Like, I wonder ifthat's where the conversation. Yes, and
they really have, but we howoften because they have, we we often
didn't forget what kind of year Mookiewas having. Yeah, because he was
he was having an MVP year aswell before he got hit in the hand.

(18:08):
I just think I think for TeamSecond, I think it would be
easier if they came back and said, listen, we're gonna let Mickey role
play a little bit more shortstop.We may move you to second base,
but we're going to keep you inthe leadoff spot kind of kind of appeal,
Yeah, because I don't think youcan go to I mean, we're

(18:30):
talking Mookie Bets. Now. Weget it's not like you know some you
know, journeyman guy leading off thatgot hurt and was you know, kind
of your catalyst a little bit andthen comes back talking about Mookie Betts.
Like we're just talking about with egosand different guys, and Mookie is the
nicest, most respected guy in thatclubhouse, teammate and everybody loves him,

(18:51):
but also a competitor and an egoguy that has has his own personal goals
and things like that. So Idon't think you Look, if it happens
to last longer than expect it,like if it's not three more weeks and
it turns into be six more weeks, then you have that conversation. But

(19:11):
if he comes back on time,like he comes back in a couple of
weeks or three weeks, I thinkyou got to put him right back in
there. Yeah. I just Ithink that's where maybe Dave Roberts is a
little torn and like look where else, by the way, where else?
Because if Mookie struggles, then I'llbe fire. Dave Roberts. Oh,
of course, yeah, of course. And that's that's the other thing too,

(19:32):
like and you know, we didn'thave time. But you know,
I wonder, you know, doesVassy look at this and go, all
right, well, this team isabout where I thought they would be because
the record is the record. They'retwenty games over five hundred. They're not
losing the division. We all knowthat. I think Philly's been been fantastic.
Bryce Harper came up with the injurylast night, so you know,
you see how that plays out.But the record is the record. Are

(19:55):
they where you expected them to beat this point in the season, and
are are they for you? II to me the regular season and and
not that it doesn't matter. Ithink it's secondary to what happens in the
postseason. Whatever their record is,getting the they could they could go in
the biggest slump down the stretch andfinish four games over five hundred, get

(20:18):
a wild card spot, and ifthey win the World Series. Nobody in
this town's going to give a ripwhether or not they struggle down the stretch
in the regular season. They're notgonna care. To me, don't you
look at this team going how canthey struggle. How how did they struggle?
How do they lose two out ofthree? Like they had a stretch
where they were losing two out ofthree in like three or four series in

(20:38):
a row. Oh yeah, Iknow. And Fred wanted everybody fired,
like I remember those days. Listen, I remember those days. He wanted
Otani sent a triple a like infact, he wanted Otani to go to
Rancho Kukamanga to figure out his swinglike he like he like, I remember
those days. Then it was victthe brick who had to wear it because
of frustrated Fred, which is nevera fun Fred to deal with on this

(21:00):
show. I remember all those days. But I just I look at this
situation with the Dodgers and I go, well, how many other places in
baseball is Mookie Betts the second optionas far as best player on the team,
Like, it's not that many placeslike he's He's an incredible player,
He's a first ballot Hall of Famer. So to me, that's where I

(21:23):
think Dave Roberts earns his money towhere it's not about maybe it'll cost you
a couple of wins if you makea move here or there in the regular
season, but if it means managingthe personalities in the clubhouse to get the
melt, get the most out ofthem, because Mookie Bets can say whatever
the hell he wants. There's gonnabe times in the postseason when they get

(21:44):
there where he's gonna feel like he'sgot to prove himself and have a better
performance then that. Yeah and thatyeah yeah, and that could lead depressing
And if he goes into the postseasonthinking that I'm being overtaken by this guy,
I lost my spot being hit bya pitch all of a sudden.
That factors into Dave Roberts and theway he plays this thing out. So
I think he gets his spot backwhen he comes back. But yeah,

(22:07):
I mean, if it goes ona little bit longer than we expect,
then maybe it buys buy some peoplesome time and more speculation comes from it.
That No, you know, that'sthat's real interesting because it's such a
long season and we like to overanalyzethe season and every week and every series,
and they're not dominant like we thoughtthey would be. Oh, they
got Otani, they got Freddy,they got Mookie. They should be dominating

(22:27):
every team and winning. They shouldbe eighty and fifteen right now instead of
what they are. But that's notthe case. They're playing for October,
that's that's what they're playing for.And I think fans sometimes, even though
they know that deep down, whenthey have a struggle of a stretch,
yeh, then obviously the finger pointingstarts. But you're right about Dave.

(22:52):
He's got an he's got to manageTyler Glass now right he's throwing a hundred
innings right now, that's most he'sthrown, and I don't know how many
and so and we're only in we'rein late June. So as he goes
forward, how do you manage that? You know, Gavin Stone has been
money for you. You don't knowhow Yamamota is coming back, you don't
know. You don't know about WalkerBuehler. You know, hopefully Bobby Miller

(23:15):
can can work it out. Butright now, Gavin Stone's is one of
your top two pitchers, you know, So how do you manage him?
A young kid going forward? InJuly and August you pull them back?
Do you think that? Because I'vethought about this as well too, I
think this year is one of themost difficult years for Dave Roberts as a

(23:37):
Dodgers manager, and it's the bestteam he's as far as from a talent
standpoint, the best team he's had. I think it's the most difficult because
of Look, if this was yearone or two of Dave Roberts in LA,
then it's like, all right,we don't have a previous history of
any letdowns in the postseason or questionabledecisions. Now you've got all this anything

(23:59):
other than a World Series, youknow, who's going to get the heat,
right? I mean, like youknow it is like that's why when
the conversation was being had last yearabout Dave Roberts and his job and all
this stuff, it's like, whatdo you want him to do? Like
he didn't go one for whatever?It was like like Mookie and Freddie Freeman
did. Like that wasn't like hedidn't give up you know, seven solo
home runs or like that wasn't himin the postseason. So Dave Roberts,

(24:25):
to me finds himself in the mostdifficult spot of his Dodgers managerial career because
of all these different factors, theegos, the talent, the juggling of
lineups, the bullpen, the staff. How you handle that down the stretch
in a division that you're gonna runaway with, there's gonna be a lot
of games that don't really mean anything. You don't want guys to come into

(24:48):
the postseason and be quote unquote rustylike we've seen before and then all of
a sudden there's a letdown. Yeah, like since like so this idea that
well, he's got the best,you know, best roster he's had.
I mean, it shouldn't be thatdifficult. Well, I don't know.
I mean it kind of is likethere's a lot of things that you've got
a factor in and manage that Ithink a lot of other people in baseball.
The hard part the hard part,and you know, you know this,

(25:10):
We know this, and it's aboutany sport, but especially baseball.
The way it's gone, it's theteam that gets hot. One year with
San Diego that got hot, yeah, you know, and beat the Dodgers,
and then last year it was theDiamondbacks who got hot. The pitchers
got hot, the bats got hot, everybody got hot, and you can't
plan for that to do anything.You ran into a team like that,
you can't do anything about it,Like nobody expects it. You can't plan

(25:32):
for that like no, like no, and and that has happened to the
Dodgers a lot where they've run intojust a buzz saw at the perfect time,
and it's like, well, youknow, they should have beaten that
team. I don't know if anybody'sbeaten that team at that point, Like
they just ran into them at theit was wrong place, wrong time,
and they've found themselves in that spot. But this year, I just think

(25:53):
when it comes to Mookie and someof these other guys, it's like,
look, they're going to go intothe postseason knowing there's a lot of pressure
on them. How did they respond, how did they deliver? And while
those are good problems to have froma talent standpoint, managing and juggling all
that down the stretch, I thinkis where Dave Roberts which is which is
great now that you know, becauselast year it was on Mookie and Freddie.

(26:17):
Now they've got Otani you know,in that mix as well, and
hopefully they get Munsie back as anotherbat and plus Will Smith is another big
time threat that's been there. Isit better for them for this team?
Because I sometimes think it's it's it'skind of good for teams like the Diamondbacks
and like San Diego the year beforethat, to kind of be in a

(26:38):
dog fight to get into the playoffsbecause they're playing like playoff games all through
September to make it, and sothey're playing meaningful games, where as the
Dodgers run away with it, they'renot playing so many meaningful games. It
doesn't matter. We already got thedivision wrapped up. That can go two
ways. But for this team andthe way it's shaping up this year with

(27:03):
some of the injuries, the Dodgersneed to build as big a lead as
they possibly can so they can restguys. Yeah, and I think you
go, you know, like they'regoing to get the Phillies at home coming
up in August. You know,that's one of But like if you look
down the stretch at who they've got, you know, you finish with the
Padres, You're going to finish atColorado in the regular season, like,

(27:25):
you know, I mean Colorado's Imean, they are what they are.
It's just not they're not. They'rethe Western White Sox. Yeah, feeling
bad, get something good quick winethe Western White Sox. Well, yeah,

(27:48):
I mean there's nothing they can reallydo about you know, the schedule
is. You know what the scheduleis. They've just got to hope that
those guys don't let it get intheir heads. Is that they've got to
prove something when it gets to thepostseason and that they can deliver because well,
you know, they're gonna have toblock that out because it's gonna come
up. Everybody's gonna talk about itlast year. Remember those guys last year.

(28:11):
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lot of long, confusing phone callsand eventually medical bills and more headaches.

(28:37):
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dealing with everything yourself, make onecall to Jacob and let him handle the
rest. Jacob will guide you throughthe process and on top of all that,
he'll also fight to get you thesettlement you deserve. You should take
it easy, don't stress, letJacob deal with the rest. When you
call an attorney, you want onewho is respected. Call Jacob because he

(29:00):
the real deal. Eight four fourtwenty four Jacob eight four four twenty four
Jacob, or visit called Jacob dotcom and make sure you're following. Called
Jacob on Instagram, go to acall dot Jacob for great advice, prizes
and a lot more. Call Jacob. Hey, John, So, I

(29:22):
gonna get your thoughts on on whatJJ Redick and Rob Polinka said at that
press conference about some of the playerson the Lakers and what they didn't say
about some of the players on theLakers. Rodney p Jonas knox Man,
it is Friday. I just hadsomebody hit me up on Instagram and and

(29:45):
X. You don't remember Jenobli,you don't remember the Joker. They were
second round picks, they were superstars. The Lakers wasted it, oh man,
I mean community honest. The differencebetween them one another championship or not
is not the number fifty five.The number most likely double a double A

(30:07):
did a Adam did a deep diethe other day and yesterday and found that
that that Wiggins is really the onlyone seeing significant in significant minutes in the
last ten years of the fifty fifthpick, the only one is only one.
So they're all some Some are playingin Serbia, some are playing all

(30:30):
over the world, Australia, whatever, and some are not even in the
league or playing at all. Soit's a crap shoot at all. So
in that press conference they mentioned,you know, looking forward and spoke to
a d spoke to Lebron, youknow, Austin Reeves spoke to him,
spoke to Ruy Hachimura, and they'dimage anybody else, you know, I

(30:52):
mean, uh, does that meand Low's opting out tomorrow? Does that
mean you know I am ready she'sgonna What does that mean for the rest
of the team. Construction wise,I mean I think, you know,
construction Yeah, Like construction wise,I think there's obviously some changes that are

(31:15):
going to be made. As there'schanges that are made for Like I mean,
Lebron's going to be there, Likelet's you know, stop playing games
here, He'll be there. RobPolinka can say, you know, I
mean, you know, we're goingto respect his stop. Like Lebron's coming
back. We all get that,like to play like I don't know what
he's going to do we're going towait to see what he's going to do,
and like you don't need any moreproof of I don't even know if

(31:37):
it would be considered tampering because thewindow hasn't opened yet. But it's like
like there's no conversations that have happenedbetween the two at any point, Like
you know, just Bronni James endedup there because I mean Rui Hachimura wanted
him, you know, and JJnever discussed no no, no, no,
no. Yeah. You know theydo a podcast together, but there's
been no discussion about it's okay,like let's let's all just you know,

(32:00):
you know, it's a game ofpretend here. I get it. But
with them, I'm really curious.And you've been in locker room and you've
dealt with new coaches and whatnot.I'm really curious how JJ Reddick's honesty and
his bluntness is going to land withsome people in and around the organization.

(32:23):
Because while we talk about, youknow, how the guys on the Dodgers
feel about the first or second questionbeing about Otani, like the star there
is Lebron and everybody knows that JJReddick's there because of Lebron and I wonder
players he's meant like, he seemslike JJ Reddick, seems like a pretty

(32:45):
blunt guy, like he'll he'll tellyou how it is. I think that's
why he was successful in broadcasting,why he was very polarizing because some people
didn't like it. Some people did. I wonder players on that team when
he either doesn't mention them or tellsthem how he feels about certain things like
that, if they're not going tohave a little bit of who are you?

(33:07):
Like, you've got like you haveno you played in the league,
but so do I. You've gotno experience coaching. And it's different now.
Yeah, I mean I had somebodytell me that the money is so
great now that you know, it'sa real fine line between the coach and
how much discipline a coach can puton a guy, or or how a

(33:28):
coach can speak to somebody. It'sjust a different world with the players now,
especially in the NBA, because themoney is so great. What wasn't
that part of Magic's issue when hewas coaching is his ability to relate to
the newer players and what was thattwenty years ago, twenty five years ago?
Whatever got out because of that too? Yeah, it's like the inability

(33:50):
to relate to the new players andthe mindset that they have. I wonder
how that's going to go. Iwonder how that his approach he steps and
his blunt to someone else doing somethingsimilar that Ad is doing, and he
doesn't say anything to Ad about it, but he says something in a blunt
way too, Yeah, someone elseabout it, or Lebron. He doesn't

(34:15):
say anything Lebron about it. Howthat's going to land? It's like,
what's what's the old story where?Uh, Lawrence Taylor showed up late to
a meeting with the Giants and BillBelichick was a defensive coordinator, and Belichick
went to Bill Parcells, the headcoach, and said, Hey, I
don't know what to do here.You know, Lawrence showed up late to

(34:36):
the meeting. You know, hewas like fifteen twenty minutes late. And
parcells response to him was, well, why did you start the meeting without
him? Like certain guys, certainguys you know, And I just I
wonder how he told us what I'mon our show? He was driving by,

(34:57):
he was up all night partying,driving by Giant Stadium and the lights
are on. He's like wow,what's going on over there? And it
was a game supposed so good.Oh but yeah, I just wonder if
how long JJ Reddick is into thejob before he realizes, oh God,
like I've got to like walk oneggshells with this player. I've got to

(35:20):
walk on it like the fine line. And there's going to be some players.
That's the nuances of coaching, though, if you've not been a coach
before, because it's different than beinga player. And in JJ's role,
like Lebron being basically the leader allthese years, he's had to probably deal
with that. I can talk tothis guy, I can yell at this
guy. I can do that thisguy, you know, And I know

(35:43):
that as a quarterback, there wereguys receivers that I could jump them,
get on their face and just cussthem out. And there were other ones
where I got to put my armaround him and just talk nice to them,
or they would curl up in aball. And that's want to come
out of the locker room like thatwith kids too, right, exactly different,
Trust me. I I go throughthat daily where I'm like, you
know, he's three, but youknow he's kind of a pain in the

(36:05):
ass. But you know, Igot to be sensitive to how he feels
about certain things, and you know, yeah, there's like a certain to
deal with. Yes, yeah,and it's going to be it's going to
be interesting, it really is,and that that dynamic. And and then
the hard part is the closeness ofhim and Lebron. Yeah, Like,
had they not had the podcast beforethis, I think this would have been

(36:30):
an easier appeal to swallow. Butthe fact that they were Buddy Buddy had
a podcast together. Now he endsup the head coach and he's telling certain
players certain things that he's not alsotelling Lebron, which is why, again
going back to Belichick, the beautyof Belichick and the greatness of him was
he was maybe even worse to Bradythan he was to any of those other

(36:53):
players. Purpose, yes, yeah, purpose other players saw it. Yeah,
and they realize, oh, Ican't get out of line if Tom
Brady's geting yelled at like that?Does JJ Reddick have to take that approach
with Lebron in order to get theears and the attention of the other players
in the different ways because Jimmy Johnsonwent the other way, Some try to

(37:15):
come back at him, say youdidn't say that to Emit. He said,
you're not Emmitt. I don't treatin a fair business. I don't
treat everybody to say, all right, yelling at him, so you do
when you do what he does.There's certainly five guys on his team.
I don't yell at Michael. Idon't yell at him. Yes, like

(37:36):
they're they're excluded from the from frommy voice raising a certain level. Yeah,
that's that's why I'm fascinated to seehow this works. Like, I
like, we can be critical,Like there's a lot of people that are
critical of the higher and they don'tlike it. And he's got no experience
and this is all about him beingfriends with Lebron and all that. I'm
fascinated to see that dynamic and hisadjustment to having to cater to the personalities

(38:00):
and movie the sensitivities of some ofthe other players, not name Lebron,
Which is gonna be the fun part. Hey, we talked Belichick and Jimmy
John. Let's get into some footballon the other side with our man Vinnie
bonson your is gonna give us someupdates on what's happening around the NFL.

(38:21):
Jonas knocks in for Fred Rogan amfive seventy l A Sports