The Best of The Dan Patrick Show

00:00:00
Speaker 1: You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox Sports Radio.

00:00:04
Speaker 2: The Cabs beat the Pistons as Detroit melts down in the final two and a half minutes. They go into overtime, Cavaliers up three to two in the series and a chance to close things out. And if you're looking at the point spreads, it's been three and a half now, it was four and a half last night. Pistons will be three and a half point underdogs on Friday in Cleveland and the Spurs four and a half point favorites Friday in Minnesota. So no basketball coming up tonight, the NBA wisely stepping aside because of the NFL schedule release. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but it feels like when the NFL decides to roll something out, get out of the way, and some of these matchups, Look, we know the schedules for these teams, we don't know when they're going to be playing somebody. Is it going to be over Thanksgiving, going to be over Christmas? Is it going to be overseas? Kind of an idea of Okay, that's our schedule, those are the games we're going to be playing. But you know, Packers against the Rams on Thanksgiving eve bore, that's tasty. Thanksgiving Bears, Lions, Eagles, Cowboys, Chiefs in the Bills. Then you get a Black Friday, you get Denver against the Steelers.

00:01:22
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:01:23
Speaker 2: Who has it better than the NFL? No body, Paul. Do you have last year's slate of games around Thanksgiving? Yeah?

00:01:32
Speaker 4: The Thanksgiving Day early game was Packers Lions. Then it was Chiefs Cowboys at four point thirty and that did a gigantic number. I mean, I think an all time number. The late game, the primetime game was Bengals.

00:01:44
Speaker 2: Ravens, which thought that was going to be a big game. Yeah, it turned out to be a dud. Like the Eagles against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, it's going to do a monster rating. That's why whatever you say about the Cowboys that not winning, not going back to a super Bowl, not really competing at a high level, they still bring in eyeballs the NFC East, you bring in eyeballs Eagles, Giants, Cowboys, And you know that's where the Cowboys, you know, stack up against any team in any sport when it comes to Mussy TV, because you're either tuning in because your dad was a Cowboy fan, therefore you inherited that fandom, or maybe your grandfather was and then your dad was when they were really good and they haven't been that good for thirty years now. But you're still you're kind of caught up in the why did you do this to me?

00:02:35
Speaker 5: Dad?

00:02:36
Speaker 2: We have a lot of fans who you inherit that fandom? Like why am I a Jets fan? Well? Because I was, and your grandfather was as well, and we remember what Joe Namath won a Super Bowl that's a long time ago. Dad. Yep, I'll blame your grandfather.

00:02:51
Speaker 6: Yes, Marvin, Are you putting the Cowboys in the same category as the Jets?

00:02:55
Speaker 2: No? Okay, No, I'm just saying you inherit the fandom. Sometimes you get the bait on and if you're a Jets fan, maybe your grandfather was a Jets fan and they won a Super Bowl, and then your dad became a Jets fan, and now you're a Jets fan. Sometimes it's child abuse when you think about why did you do that to me? Yes, marm But.

00:03:17
Speaker 6: As far as being a Cowboys fan, and I'm a forty nine Ers fan, so I do not like the Cowboys at all, But I'm not sure if that's child abuse.

00:03:22
Speaker 7: They've been really good.

00:03:24
Speaker 6: They've had great playoff not playoff success, regular season success. But if just you know, crack the bed into playoffs.

00:03:30
Speaker 2: Wait a minute, it's a thirty three year drought for America's team.

00:03:34
Speaker 7: But I'm talking about not being competitive at all.

00:03:37
Speaker 2: Okay, I mean they tease you sometimes in the regular season and then they get into a playoff game at home against Green Bay and you go, what just happened here? So the Cowboys are the big teas. They are big t's. Yes, Dylan, if you inherited being a Jets fan, I wouldn't fault you for jumping ship. There's a few teams out there where I'm like, I feel like you're allowed to move along at some point if you so choose. Yeah, yeah, it should be. But I find that more younger fans, they might root for a player, you know, it's Mahomes can make you a Chiefs fan or you're just a Mahomes fan, and it's more individualized because of fantasy football. It feels like so when you root when you're watching a game, you might be rooting for your team, but you're also rooting for your other team, your fantasy team, yes Ton, And when you're.

00:04:28
Speaker 8: Playing video games, you could put any player on any team. It's also a lot less team more I'm going to create this player or put this guy on this squad, so it's totally player driven.

00:04:36
Speaker 2: And there was a move yesterday that kind of surprised me and Devon A Chan who's a really good running back, got four year, sixty four million dollars, and I was wondering, are you gonna now? He's really good and he's worth the money because he can run and catch. But if I'm Miami, I kind of go all in tank and just I wouldn't have brought in Malik Willis just to kind of get me through another year. I would just say, hey, quinn Ewers, why don't you be the quarterback? And then maybe we'll be in the running for a true franchise quarterback next year and maybe maybe you get Arch Manning or one of these other quarterbacks expected to go in the first round. And there are probably five or six quarterbacks who are projected. But if I'm giving a Chan like, I don't want to end up in six win Land. I want to be like three and four wins. So all right, we got some younger players we're trying to develop, and now we're going to get a chance to get a really good quarterback. Because I've come to the conclusion, if I'm the Steelers, i have to walk away from Aaron Rodgers.

00:05:44
Speaker 9: Now.

00:05:44
Speaker 2: I'm looking at a business perspective here, because what are we going to win. We're not the best team in our own division, maybe not the second best team in our own division. And are we going to be back here next year at nine to eight in the can down the road? As much as I want to see Rogers play again, if I'm Pittsburgh, I think I have to just come to the conclusion, why don't we try a different approach here? Because we haven't been able to replace Ben Roethlisberger and here we are with Rogers. You're not sure is he going to I want to know your heart is in it, like I want Aaron Rodgers to be there in the off season. I'm just surprised that the Steelers as an organization are waiting for Aaron Rodgers again. I'd walk away. I'd be like, no, you know, we want you to be here, we want you to want to play, and maybe you just turn it over to Will Howard. And just say, hey, let's see what we have with this kid, and maybe he's just a backup, but maybe we get into a better position for the next ten years instead of next year. At this time, we're probably going to be coming off a nine and eight season, maybe a first round exit. Okay, you're not going you know, you're always going to be stuck in neutral. It's going to be this is as far as we go. Now do we change it up? At some point? I wouldn't be waiting for a forty one year old quarterback to come back and decide what we're going to do as a team moving forward here. And that brings me to Lebron James, because if I'm the Lakers, I want to be respectful to Lebron, but I also have to look at this as a business. I would move on from Lebron. I would say, you know what, maybe we could use that sixty million someplace else. We have to re sign Austin Reeves. That's a big ticket item, and maybe we go out get someone like, as I've been saying, Isaiah Hartenstein, who's just a lunch payal guy. He's going to be there, play hard every single night and resemble what a center should look like and act like in the NBA. But I don't try to solve everything right now because you're not going to be better than Okay. See, you're not going to be better than the Spurs. I want to capitalize on Okay, Lebron's farewell tour and if that's your approach. Unlike with Kobe, it was a farewell tour. It felt like for the last couple of years, Lebron, you're going to make the playoffs, But are you gonna like the Lakers aren't satisfied with a second round exit. You can't go away. We made the playoffs and we won fifty five games, and we lost in this second round. I'd walk away, I would say to Lebron the only way I would bring him back, and I want to see him play again. I just have to look at this from a standpoint of the organization, not my feelings for Lebron, because he's surpassed every milestone, so there's nothing that you go, oh, you know, come to this game because if he scores this many points or has this many rebounds, or he wins this game, I have to move on because this is Lucas team and as great as Lebron was sacrificed, played well as the third wheel carried them the last couple of weeks of the regular season, carried them in the playoffs as well. But I have to be pragmatic about this and say, are we better in the long run? Run here the long haul than one more year. Now they're in a better position. It feels like then the Steelers are, But here you are. You're going to be waiting for Lebron. What are you going to play? Pay him? That's commensurate to being one of the greatest players of all time. The farewell tour, where you're the Lakers, you're the show in town. People are still going to come out to your games. So I don't know how you benefit financially. And if you want him to come back, you say, all right, come back, We're going to invest in you for one year. There was a story Dave mcmanhamon of the Mothership, and he had a report that Lebron was upset because he didn't get the game ball for when he surpassed Kareem abdul Jabbar for most games or most victories. I don't even know what the milestone was guest.

00:10:11
Speaker 8: To most wins in the history by any player.

00:10:13
Speaker 2: Okay in the NBA, but Rob Polenka. The GM gave the game ball to JJ Reddick, who won his one hundredth career game. So Dave mcmanhamon had this little scoopage. I don't know how this gets out unless Lebron wants this to get out because you know he's buddy buddy with Dave mcmanhamon. And does he say, hey, you know how petty these mfors are? You know they did this? Well then you say, well, didn't they draft your son, didn't they bring in Russell Westbrook because you wanted him, didn't they hire your podcast partner JJ Reddick? I mean they kind of have done some things for you here, And I thought, how petty can this be? I mean, really is this a real And maybe it's just kind of a window into the relationship he may have with the front office. He loves JJ Reddick, well he should because that's the guy he wanted to be his coach. But I got to move on at some point, and it's really difficult. I mean, look back with the Chicago Bulls, could have run it back one more year with Michael Jordan and Scotty and front office decided, Nope, we're going to break it up. Imagine that they started a rebuild. They had everybody there, they just had to pay everybody, and all of a sudden, the Tim Floyd era era and er er started. Yes. So at some point, now, that to me was malpracticed what they did. But if I'm looking at what the Lakers should do and what the Steelers should do, I gotta move on. I can't be stuck in this well one more year and then we'll get to this point next year, and what are we going to be saying? The Steelers could be saying, you know, Aaron played pretty well, okay, so what are you going to do? Well, we have the nineteenth pick in the draft, okay, and then the Lakers bow out in the second round. You know, Lebron played pretty well for a forty two year old, what are you going to do? At some point you have to look at this and say, it's more than just year to year. This is more of a window of where are we going to be in three years, five years? And knowing that, Okac, they are deep and they are young, and those guys are signed up, and then you got the Spurs, they're deep. And they're young and you've got them signed up. So that's where you have to look at this and go, yeah, come to think of it, it'd be nice to see. I think the Laker fans don't love Lebron. They love having Lebron, and there's a big difference in that, Like, he's not beloved because he's not one of your own. And he did come there and you got a championship in the bubble. But other than that, Okay, you don't owe him anything. You've given him a lot and you can say that he reciprocated. But I can't be waiting around and he can still play at a high level, and maybe that's part of the problem. I know that I'm getting, you know, twenty one, eight and seven from him next year. If he was really on the decline, then it would be really easy to say, Hey, you know some nice, nice parting gifts for you, Well, we'll keep Brownie on the roster for next few year. How's that We'll do that for you when you leave.

00:13:41
Speaker 1: Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

00:13:51
Speaker 10: Hey, this is Jason McIntyre Join me every weekday morning on my podcast Straight Fired with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sportsbook.

00:14:10
Speaker 7: And all the best guests.

00:14:12
Speaker 10: Do yourself a favorite and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:14:23
Speaker 2: No basketball tonight, NBA taking the night off to allow the NFL center stage. That's very nice of the NBA to do that. It'll be the Pistons three and a half point underdogs Friday against Cleveland. The Spurs are four and a half point favorites against Minnesota on Friday. At the end of regulation, there was a play with about maybe two seconds to go, one second to go. Jared Allen bumped a Sart Thompson and knocked him to the ground. And I thought that if they were both going for the ball, then I would say, okay, play on, let's go into overtime. But Thompson is clearly bumped from behind by Jared Allen, So therefore I have to call it. I know there's one second to go, but I have to call it now. I'm sure the NBA is going to say, well, he's twenty six feet away from the basket, he's not really in a scoring position. I understand that. But it's an accidental trip. It's still a trip. If I accidentally foul you, they still call a foul on me. And I thought that it was. It was not a no call in my opinion because I thought Allen is behind Thompson. If they're both side by side, then I'm okay with that. But I was not okay with what I saw. Here is a JB. Bickerstaff, the Pistons head coach.

00:15:54
Speaker 8: Did they give you a reason why there wasn't no foul call on Jared Allen on edge of he fouled?

00:15:59
Speaker 9: A Sorry, it's a bet.

00:16:01
Speaker 1: I mean clear, he trips him when he's going for a loose ball in the game situation. You know that's tough.

00:16:08
Speaker 2: It's not a debate in my opinion, because he does trip him. I don't care if their feet get tangled up. Did you trip him? Yes? Accidentally? Okay, but I'll still call foul if that's in the first quarter they're calling it. I don't like games to end on, you know, plays that I don't think really we're going to be scoring plays or impactful plays. But this is the playoffs, and you did trip him, and there is time on the clock, and I have to call it.

00:16:39
Speaker 4: Yeah, Paulie and Thompson made a great steal on the play. He should be rewarded, not like you said. It wasn't a fifty to fifty play. He got tripped from behind, you call it. He goes and shoots in the bonus and they probably steal it.

00:16:51
Speaker 2: And I don't want to hear this. And I've already heard annalysts say, well, you were up nine with three minutes to go. Okay, yes we were, and we allowed Cleveland to come back. But was that a foul? How about we take away we're up nine with three minutes to go and just say, just look at that play. Don't factor in. Oh you guys blew a nine point lead. Yes, I mean they they went out of their way to allow Cleveland to win this game. They really did. But that to me was a foul, whether it was accidental or not. Yes, Dylan.

00:17:28
Speaker 11: There's some games too where the moment it heads to overtime, you're like, I know exactly how this is going to end. You know, thement momentum has completely shifted, and you're like, if you're the Pistons there, You're like, no.

00:17:40
Speaker 2: And I always love inside the NBA because they give you great analysis. I mean, where else can you get this analysis? From Charles Barkley talking about the Cavaliers Max Struce.

00:17:53
Speaker 7: I'm thinking what everybody is thinking, that's the pretty man.

00:17:57
Speaker 2: I don't think everybody.

00:18:00
Speaker 7: I don't know.

00:18:00
Speaker 1: You can ask your question, yes you can't.

00:18:03
Speaker 9: What are you attracted to her?

00:18:04
Speaker 7: About him?

00:18:06
Speaker 9: I'm not attracted to attracted. He's a good looking man.

00:18:09
Speaker 7: What are you attracted about his good looks? His face, his face, his face looking man.

00:18:15
Speaker 2: Okay, he's got his bandana headband on, his hair's back, he's got these bright blue or green eyes, he's got his beard on. Paul, he's watching the game with his wife. And his wife when she sees uh, Max Scruce like, who's that?

00:18:31
Speaker 4: I told you that incopetence?

00:18:32
Speaker 2: Oops.

00:18:34
Speaker 4: My wife hasn't watched ten minutes of the NBA in ten years. And I'm like let's watch the end of this game. It's really tight. She's quiet, she's watching, she doesn't know Donovan Mitchell, and all of a sudden, Max Streuce hits a three.

00:18:46
Speaker 2: She goes, who's that?

00:18:48
Speaker 4: And she said it like that.

00:18:50
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Now imagine you're watching Euphoria and then you say who's that? Then you're gonna get in trouble. But Max Struce, who's that? All right, Dylan, let's pull question for the first hour of this program.

00:19:05
Speaker 11: We have a few dan off our earlier topic. What would be the smarter decision The Lakers move on from Lebron or the Steelers move on from Aaron Rodgers.

00:19:14
Speaker 2: Okay, well, I think the Steelers with Aaron Rodgers because I got to look at what is the ceiling here? What's the floor here? And you got smoked in the playoffs? Are we going to go through this again? Like Steeler fans want and deserve better than this, But it feels like you're kind of you kind of know how this is gonna go as scripted. With Lebron, it's a little bit tougher to say goodbye because he plays at a higher level. But I mean I'd walk away, I'd let both guys go yes, Bill.

00:19:51
Speaker 11: It is funny when you look at the Steelers, it's like on an island. If you just heard, Okay, the last two years they've drafted the quarterback from Ohio State and the quarterback from Penn State, you'd be like, one of those guys got to be pretty good. And no one feels that way at all. Drew Hollurs being a deep programmed.

00:20:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw that. Can you imagine if you were his quarterbacks coach at Penn State and everything that you taught him, the Steelers say, we have to undo.

00:20:16
Speaker 7: It's like the men.

00:20:17
Speaker 11: They take the men in black wand and just put it up to him and go.

00:20:21
Speaker 2: But Drew Aller, who was pretty hot at the beginning of last season, it was like, Okay, this guy is going to be a first round back draft pick. It feels like there's always ten quarterbacks now who may could be first round draft picks. And then we get to the draft, and then we have two first round draft picks at the most important position in all the sports. But next year, next year, you got what everybody considers one of the better quarterback drafts in recent memory.

00:20:52
Speaker 7: Yes, Marvin, the worst thing that happens to quarterbacks.

00:20:55
Speaker 6: Is they played great their college freshman year and their sophomore year Christian Hackenberg. Oh, I mean he's a number one pick in the draft. But then they have to keep playing for three and four years and then they get exposed.

00:21:06
Speaker 2: Yep, that's what happens when I would be leaving after my third year. Yes, Dylan. Last year, Drew Aller.

00:21:13
Speaker 11: Had like the third or fourth best odds to go number one overall preseason.

00:21:17
Speaker 2: That changed quickly. But if I'm Pittsburgh, I know it might hurt one year, But do I want to rip the bandage off and then try to move forward and maybe find our quarterback? I mean, Aaron Rodgers is one more year. Maybe it seems like Lebron might play two years just to prove that. I saw where Steph Curry I think wants to play three more years. He wants to play till he's forty. God bless him if you can do it. But if I'm the Lakers, are we going to be better next year? How much better with Lebron and how much better without him? Moving forward? Because I don't think you'll be a better team next year because Lebron played really well. But I just think You've got to look bigger picture here, and I don't want to player hold the franchise hostage. And if it feels like you've done everything that you can possibly do for Lebron and he's not happy or he has problems with some people in the front office, do we move on because of that? Like, I don't want to be petty because it seems like Lebron might be petty. You've got to be grown ups here with your decisions moving forward. Yeah, Dylan, it's.

00:22:30
Speaker 11: Funny that Lebron's this is now Lebron's longest tenure on a team, and you don't really like when you just split second think about him. I says he didn more with the Calves and the heat still than the Lakers.

00:22:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, interesting. But his critics though the Bubble Championship, you know, they never call it just an NBA championship. It's a Bubble championship. Mickey Mouse. Yeah, like you in the shadows of Mickey Mouse in Orlando. Yes, Paul, that's.

00:22:56
Speaker 4: Always bothered me because that's kind of unfair to the Lakers to criticize the Ball Bowl Championship. They would have had home court advantage in the playoffs. Soon so all those games were neutral site that that's actually makes that tougher to do win the Bubble Championship.

00:23:09
Speaker 2: Jason in Detroit, Hi, Jason went on your mind.

00:23:13
Speaker 3: Hi, Uh, thanks for having my take my call. Appreciate it. I just wanted to kind of comment a little bit about what you're just talking about. Uh, with the officiating, it's not for me. It's not even just Detroit. It's just like a league wide I mean when you see the reps, it's like you can tell they don't they just don't want to call that foul. And then what are we doing? You know at that point, Like I said, it's not just Detroit, it's like a league wide thing. It's like you can do they put the SGA push off on the promo for the the Road to the Finals on ABC and ESPN. It's just like what it's I'm forty nine. I played basketball. I played in the Program League against Lindsay Hunter, I Renewable a bunch of other like CBA guys and other stuff like that. I wanted to play in the NBA. I'm now like this is the first time ever in my life. I'm just like leaving the house, like when the games come on, and like, I don't even want to watch them, and it's like the only thing that can be talked about is the referee, and it's like the games are just like secondary at this point.

00:24:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, sorry to hear that, Jason, but you got to call that. I wonder if that's Sga and he gets knocked down or Lebron gets knocked down or Wenby gets like I hate thinking that, but I do think that. I mean, I'm watching old clips of NBA action from the eighties in my free time, and you'll see Larry Bird comes around a screen, hits a shot and then they call foul and it looked like the official was looking around to say, who am I gonna pin this on? Because Larry Bird did not get fouled on the play. And it's one of those where you actually hear the players saying that's bs and it was. But you're thinking, why do we let the best players get the calls? They're already the best players, But last night that should have been called like it or not, you know, playoff game, it's in the final seconds of the game. Regulation, I got to call it. That's all got to call it. It's like, oh, you know, the officials they put their whistles away when it's in the final two minutes of a football game, then you don't want to call it. Well, if I'm a defensive player, I'm like, okay, I'm going to hold onto you and you see it. It's egregious sometimes, but they're just grabbing because they're like, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. That's what Seattle the Legion of Boom did. They're like, they're not calling pass interference on every play, so why don't we hold on every single play? And they were correct.

00:25:53
Speaker 4: Yeah, pauling that non call last night, though it's in Detroit. I looked at it again. That ref is right there there on top of the play. He's direct view, not shielded at all. That's where we're calling nothing to end this game.

00:26:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he had a great angle. Uh, And I think that's where Who was it Tony Brothers is was he the official last night?

00:26:18
Speaker 9: Now?

00:26:18
Speaker 2: I don't know if he was the one who was not making the call, but I think he spoke afterwards. But it was like, oh, you know, they're both kind of jostling, you know. No, Uh, it felt like Thompson had a step on Jared Allen and he you know, was going after the ball. It was a play. So Tony Brothers was on the call or non call last night. Let's see Andrew in Atlanta. Good morning, Andrew. What's on your mind?

00:26:49
Speaker 5: Hey? Dan? You you're kind enough to do a bigtise to the main stage. So I was driving by Magic City yesterday into work and I was trying to share that clip with my son and he started asking questions. It's about the main stage. So I was going to see if I could do maybe a redo so I could have a better clip to share with him and not have as many questions. Is that okay?

00:27:12
Speaker 2: Porsche to the main stage. Porsche to the main stage.

00:27:16
Speaker 5: No main stage is here. I just wanted to say first time, long time, six two three hundred ish, wanted to see for your farewell tour, is there a way to get any clips or recordings of your early shows from the attic and if there's a possibility to shoot a few shows from the attic with the current team.

00:27:38
Speaker 2: The attic is closed for business. Took everything out of there. There were two bedrooms up there that we converted into my side of the studio and the Danet's side of the studio. But We've since taken out the big glass partition in there, all the equipment out of there, and you'd never know that. We hosted a national radio show from the attic. Good times. I think everybody had a good time except for Todd. Why do you say that you had your little desk and it was, you know, cramped quarters Seaton and Pauli rup front. There's three flights of stairs you had to go into every day up.

00:28:18
Speaker 7: I did like the smell of breakfast.

00:28:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, coming from I know you guys would come in and my wife's getting the kids off to school. Let's see Merle in Ohio. Hi, Meryl, Hey, good morning, Dan.

00:28:32
Speaker 12: Thanks for the opportunity a long time, first time. I appreciate you guys a great deal. I want to go back to a conversation from the top of the show. I think Dylan made a comment about this last week of kind of NFL fandom and you're born into it and how to let your child find their own way. Grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, just up the road. Came to Columbus to go to Ohio State. But you know, in Youngstown you've got halfway to Pittsburgh, halfway to Cleveland, and you've also got the forty nine Ers as an option because of the de Bartelow and York families there. My dad was a Browns fan, so I was a Browns fan. That's, you know, not an easy road to hoe between the team moving to Baltimore and just being kind of generally bad for a long time and now everything that comes along with Jimmy Haslam and the ownership mess in Cleveland.

00:29:18
Speaker 3: Now.

00:29:18
Speaker 12: So my daughter a few years ago, she's five now, so she would have been three. Then we're driving through the tunnels, come into downtown Pittsburgh, beautiful city, and we were going to a Pirates game. The next day, the Steelers had a home preseason game, so the lights were on over at Hinesfield and she saw the diamond logo and, as any three year old girl would do, said, I like that team because they've got diamonds. And she's stuck with the Steelers since then. I've not tried to force her to, you know, choose the Browns because to your point, Dan, that's kind of an abusive thing to do to a child. So she's a Steelers fan. And thanks to my wife finding one of those Rob Low NFL hats, I've gone fool free agency, and I'll say you, Sundays are a whole lot more fun now without the brown.

00:30:04
Speaker 2: All right, well, thank you, thank you for that. I let my son pick whoever he wanted to pick. It didn't matter to me. And he's a Packer fan. He likes the Red Sox. I think he likes the Bruins hockey. And I'm like, pick whoever you want, but whoever you pick, stay with. And I've told the story. When he was twelve, he told me he's a Red Sox fan, and so I went out and got him some gear. He wore the gear. He had a jacket, he had a hat. He wore it to school first day and he ran into some Yankee fans at the school and they took the hat, put it into Jurnal and they pete on it. So that's when I had to kind of explain to my wife what fandom is, because she's not a sports fan. She likes the individual things like running a marathon or canoeing or something like that. And she's like, she we should go to the school and complain. I said, no, hun, this is the rivalry. Well, they can't do that, I said, no, they can't. But they did, and it's part of the rivalry. It's okay, I said, as long as he's not getting it into a fight. And they just took his hat. I said, I'll get him another hat and then you wear it. See what happens. Yes, Marvin, you didn't.

00:31:29
Speaker 7: Put him in boxing lessons or anything. You take take my son's hat off.

00:31:33
Speaker 2: No, but my wife wanted me to go, and I said, no, that's the worst thing. I'm not let him. He picked his team.

00:31:40
Speaker 7: Let him fight.

00:31:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I said, hey, now you're going to find out how much you like the Red Sox. And he told everybody that year they were going to win the World Series and you would have guys who were seventy eighty years of age going. He didn't he doesn't even know the history, like this is gonna be heartbreak. And he swore to everybody they were going to win the World Series. And that's the year they won the World Series. And so I said, okay, now now you understand the rivalry. You got one. The Yankees have twenty seven. The rivalry continues, Yes, Todd, When is.

00:32:20
Speaker 8: It okay for a parent to get involved in so called fight their kids battle for them? You know, is it a certain age, it is a certain school.

00:32:27
Speaker 2: I well, why don't I ask you? What age do you think it's appropriate that if you fight a battle for yourself.

00:32:34
Speaker 8: I think once you're like in junior high school, late junior high that probably once you're done with elementary school, you have to kind of figure it out for yourself, whether you're just getting picked on or bullied for no reason, they stole your lunch, or they don't like the team you're rooting for.

00:32:47
Speaker 7: That that's what I would say.

00:32:48
Speaker 2: Did your mom not step in on your behalf?

00:32:51
Speaker 3: She did not.

00:32:52
Speaker 7: My brother did, though.

00:32:53
Speaker 8: When I got shoved down a flight of stairs for no reason, like late in junior high school, I was going down to the gym, to the gymnasium, and I had a big backpack on some already off balance with this big backpack with all my school books. God forbid, I should leave one of the books home and not carry all of them with me or put it in a locker. And someone thought it'd be funny to kind of give me a little shove, And I went tumbling down a flight of stairs, and my notebook opened up, and all sheets a paper of flying everywhere, and I'm a total panic and I'm injured, and I'm trying to gather up all my notes, and you know, my brother let the you know, it didn't get violent, but he lets you know, those people know that shouldn't happen again because he was a big guy.

00:33:26
Speaker 2: Didn't want to mess with big Iron.

00:33:28
Speaker 7: Yeah, and he's not a.

00:33:29
Speaker 8: Violent person, but he just, you know, quietly said, you know when we're not going to do that again.

00:33:34
Speaker 2: Well, if you're being bullied, if it's something more than you know, a rivalry with your sports teams, and something is happening, you know, chronically, then yeah, then you have to step in.

00:33:44
Speaker 7: Yes, Mark, they took your son's hat off and urinated on it.

00:33:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a fight if he makes But you know there's four Yankee fans in him, So can you fight in that instance?

00:33:58
Speaker 7: Then I'm getting somebody else we're even there.

00:34:01
Speaker 2: I think there were more Yankee fans in school than Red Sox fans. I don't think Red Sox fans wanted to come out from hiding. Yes, Paul, I could.

00:34:09
Speaker 4: Have told you when you bought the hat that you're in trouble.

00:34:11
Speaker 1: Oh okay, I see with as that time, Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.

00:34:27
Speaker 2: Tune In Friday, NBA on Prime a pair of Game six is starting Pistons Calves at six thirty Eastern. That's followed by Spurs Timberwolves. Stan Van Gundy will be on the call with Iron Eagle and Cassidy Hubbard. They tip off at nine to thirty eastern. Great to see you again, Stan. Let me start at the end of regulation last night. If you were the coach of the Pistons JB. Bickerstaff, what would you be saying to the official?

00:34:54
Speaker 13: Oh boy, okay, I probably wouldn't have been as severe as JB. Wood because JB you'll give him an ear full. But I thought it was a foul. I thought it was a clear foul. You know, great defensive play by a star Thompson and then with plenty of time on the clock, Jared Allen just runs into him.

00:35:15
Speaker 9: He should have been shooting free throws. Yeah.

00:35:18
Speaker 2: I don't like that. Somebody uses the logic of hey, the Pistons, you know, they put themselves in this position. They were up nine with three minutes ago, and like that doesn't matter in this situation, and oh, it's incidental contact. I think if they were both side by side, coach, then I would say incidental and I would have said, let's play on. Jared Allen is behind him and bumps him, and I don't care if you accidentally trip somebody. You can still accidentally foul somebody and they have to call it in that situation.

00:35:49
Speaker 13: Yeah, Look, the intent is not They're exactly right, The intent is not the issue. I mean, most of the time when you foul guys, you're not doing it intentionally. And the sar Thompson clearly had the ball and was clearly ahead of Jared Allen, so it wasn't two guys going for a loose ball. Sar Thompson already had it. I think it's an unfortunate call, and especially coming on the heels of last year when they got the unfortunate no call.

00:36:20
Speaker 9: When the Knicks ran into Tim Hardaway Junior.

00:36:25
Speaker 13: It just seems like in their own building they're having a tough time getting calls at this.

00:36:32
Speaker 9: Time of the year.

00:36:34
Speaker 2: Who do the Knicks want to face.

00:36:39
Speaker 9: Philadelphia again?

00:36:41
Speaker 13: That's who they prefer to play, Yeah, Philadelphia again, and look at the way the.

00:36:45
Speaker 9: Knicks are playing right now.

00:36:46
Speaker 13: I honestly think it's a situation where they're just more concerned with themselves and they don't really care.

00:36:54
Speaker 9: Each team presents a different challenge.

00:36:57
Speaker 13: Detroit elite defensively, but I feel like New York thinks that they can score on anybody right now. And then Cleveland the tougher team on the offensive end of the floor, but the Knicks defense has been outstanding. Neither one of these teams, Cleveland and Detroit are currently playing.

00:37:16
Speaker 9: Anywhere near the level that New York has played at.

00:37:19
Speaker 2: Who does okase you want to see?

00:37:23
Speaker 12: Oh?

00:37:23
Speaker 13: Okay, see would much rather see Minnesota a little banged up than they would San Antonio.

00:37:29
Speaker 9: But my guess is.

00:37:31
Speaker 13: Virtually all of their preparation time mentally and on the practice court is going into San Antonio. And if that comes to be, I don't think Minnesota's done. But if that comes to be, that could be a great, great, great series and a precursor of what we might be watching for the next five, six, seven years with Okac and San Antonio battling it out for the Western Conference finals. But'll essentially be the NBA Championship.

00:38:04
Speaker 2: Is Wemby the best player in the NBA now.

00:38:08
Speaker 13: He is the most impactful player in the NBA, I think because if you look at both ends at the floor, so certainly Shake Gilges, Alexander Jokic, Luka doncicch can match him at the offensive end of the floor for right now, but they don't come close to his defensive end back Dan. I think Victor Wimbinyana wen Beanyama is the most impactful defensive player I've ever seen in this league. I mean, the entire game changes when he's in the game and when he goes out. And you know, most of the time, when you're an NBA coach and you're game planning, like you're pretty set on what you're going to do offensively. You know, some wrinkles here and there against certain opponents, but most of your game plan stuff is how we're going to guard these guys.

00:38:59
Speaker 9: When you play Antonio.

00:39:01
Speaker 13: You have to have a separate offensive game plan for when Victor win ben Yama's been on the floor, because everything changes.

00:39:10
Speaker 9: You cannot score at the rim.

00:39:12
Speaker 13: Minnesota has shot under fifty percent on two point shots every game of this series. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that, But it's all because of Wendy. Even the shots he doesn't block. You just take almost ridiculous shots just to try to get it over or around him. I mean, it's crazy what this guy does. Plot He's not just a rim protector. Rudy Gobert is a great rim protector. This guy goes out on the floor and can move his feet and guard guards.

00:39:45
Speaker 9: I mean, it's phenomenal what he does.

00:39:49
Speaker 2: I brought this stat up the other day. Shack missed over five thousand free throws in his career. I think wil Chamberlain missed over five thousand. And sometimes I'll hear people fans are analys say whether hands are too big, and I go, that's nonsense, because Wenby is seven four seven five and has beautiful touch. Karl Anthony Town's beautiful touch. I mean I never bought into like Shaq just didn't have a good motion there. Will didn't have He had a like a jerky motion then went underhanded there. So when you hear that, oh, it's just because they have bigger hands, that means that they can't have a good touch.

00:40:29
Speaker 9: No, I don't.

00:40:30
Speaker 13: I don't think that has anything to do with it, to be quite honest, I mean there's some guys out there, smaller guys who have huge hands, Kawhi Leonard, who shoots them like Kawhi Leonard's hands are as big as anyone's. He shoots the ball extremely well.

00:40:44
Speaker 9: No, it's not that. And I think what we've seen right has been.

00:40:47
Speaker 13: A total transformation in how big men are developed.

00:40:53
Speaker 9: In this day and age.

00:40:54
Speaker 13: And so you know, when when Shack was coming up, and even more so when.

00:40:59
Speaker 9: Will is coming up, those guys played.

00:41:01
Speaker 13: Next near the basket, and that's the skill set that was developed. Now these guys are developed like everybody else, with well rounded skills. And I think particularly a guy like Wimbin Yam, I've said for years, I think they do a much better job in Europe in terms of player development than we do here in the United States. So I just think that guy was brought up to with guard skills and he's seven foot four. I mean, he's a true unicorn, and we've never seen anything like this guy. I mean some of the things he's do, they run picking rolls when he's handling the ball, and you know he's rebounded and leading the fast break. I mean the things that he does. They're running flare screens for him. I mean, I've just he blows my mind. I've been around this game a long time. You think you've seen it all, and then you see Victor winbgnon.

00:42:02
Speaker 2: Former head coach Stan Van Gundy NBA on Prime and they'll have both games coming up on Friday night. Stan will be part of the crew that will bring you the Spurs and the Timberwolves. Is OKC beatable and if so, how well I.

00:42:16
Speaker 9: Think they are beatable.

00:42:18
Speaker 13: I think that certainly san Antonio can beat them. The talent level is there. It'll be strange for OKAC because they're still really young. They'll have a huge experience advantage.

00:42:31
Speaker 9: John san Antonio.

00:42:32
Speaker 13: San Antonio, only one starter had gone into this playoff run with any previous playoff experience, and that was the Aaron Fox who played one seven game series for Sacramento. And then they had Cornett and Harrison Barnes, neither who play a lot who had been on championship run. So this is all new to san Antonio. But talent level, they match up with anybody. I mean, and it's not just when the Alma. They've got fox Castle and Dylan Harper, who I don't know if anybody can keep them out of the paint. And then the roster has been very well constructed. They've got shooters like Champinney and the cell around those guys. Those all of those guys continue to get better. I think these two teams are going to be battling it out for years and years and years. Both have great front offices, both have great head coaches. They've done a great job not only in evaluation, but they've done a great job.

00:43:36
Speaker 9: In developing their talent.

00:43:38
Speaker 13: And they're not only really good, they're both really fun teams to watch.

00:43:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's important that we focus on the supporting cast with Wemby because it's easy to lose sight of those players. And Dylan Harper right in front of us is becoming a very good player. If you ran the Lakers and you had to make a decision today on Lebron James, what would you do?

00:44:03
Speaker 9: Well, here's the.

00:44:04
Speaker 13: Thing I think that fans sometimes forget this. It's always a decision of what are your other options?

00:44:14
Speaker 9: So do you truly? Because they want to win now?

00:44:18
Speaker 13: I mean, Luka, Doncic is in his prime, He's as good an offensive players we've ever.

00:44:23
Speaker 9: Had in this league.

00:44:25
Speaker 13: Do you have a better option than Lebron James to help you win a championship right now? I don't think they do, so I think I would sign Lebron James.

00:44:37
Speaker 9: You're in a win now thing, You're not in a rebuild, and I.

00:44:40
Speaker 13: Just don't see how there's a scenario out there that's better now.

00:44:44
Speaker 9: Maybe there will be, maybe a trade will.

00:44:46
Speaker 13: Come up, but minus that, yeah, I'm signing Lebron James.

00:44:50
Speaker 9: And here's the thing I really liked about what Lebron did.

00:44:54
Speaker 13: He obviously still playing at a high level, but before the injuries, he willingly.

00:45:00
Speaker 9: He took a step back.

00:45:01
Speaker 5: Dan.

00:45:01
Speaker 13: Yeah, and with playing as a third option and doing so efficiently and well, but he can still step up.

00:45:09
Speaker 9: We need be. I don't know who their option would be out there.

00:45:13
Speaker 13: I know, I know the rumor they're gonna get Yannis, Okay, I don't know if Jannis is the better guy around Luka Doncicch than Lebron James. Because of shooting Luka doncich you gotta put shooting around him. I think the bigger thing for the Lakers coming up is they got to make sure they get Austin Reeves back. I know they wont him back, but does Austin Reeves as an unrestricted free agent want to go somewhere where he can be the number one option and not a number two with Luca.

00:45:49
Speaker 9: I think that's the bigger issue for the Lakers.

00:45:52
Speaker 2: Okay, so you're saying you would take Lebron back instead of if Jannis was available.

00:45:58
Speaker 13: I would yes right now, And look, be honest, obviously one.

00:46:03
Speaker 9: Of the top five players in the league.

00:46:06
Speaker 13: I don't think he's necessarily a really good fit for Luka Doncic. I think he's a guy that excels with the ball in his hands, and I think the Lakers, especially assuming they get Reeves back, already have two guys who need the ball in their hands. Lebron has been in your system with those guys and shown you he can play as a third option, and he's the far better perimeter shooter to space the floor for those guys.

00:46:36
Speaker 9: So if you want to win right now, yeah, I think so.

00:46:40
Speaker 2: I asked Jamal Crawford earlier in the week and I said, who is the best basketball playing analyst right now? And he said that he is the best player currently as an analyst Okay, is there any other analyst right now that you think could take Jamal Crawford won on one.

00:47:02
Speaker 9: Wow, Well, you'd have to think age.

00:47:06
Speaker 13: Jamal is pretty close to you know, he's more recently retired.

00:47:13
Speaker 2: I mean, could Dwayne Wade beat Jamal Crawford right now?

00:47:17
Speaker 9: I don't think Dwayne Dwayne State in great shape.

00:47:20
Speaker 13: I don't know if he's stayed up enough on the basketball to be able to play him, he would probably he would probably be the closest.

00:47:32
Speaker 9: State in great shape.

00:47:33
Speaker 13: Yeah, Carmelo I think still plays Vince Carter. I mean a lot of those guys, but I think Jamal would be at the top, just because he's played more recently. He's younger than those guys. You know, I'm surprised my name hasn't come up with the conversation at all. The I mean, you know, I think people are sleeping on me a little bit. But if I'm not in the equation, I'd.

00:47:58
Speaker 9: Go with Jamal.

00:47:59
Speaker 2: Okay, the but you know what, here.

00:48:01
Speaker 13: Here's another one and he's on uh, he's on Peacock. Austin Rivers. But I think Jamal was just a better offensive player. But Austin is young and is recently retired.

00:48:12
Speaker 2: Also the best former coach right now basketball players?

00:48:18
Speaker 9: Who the best former coach player who's done both? Steve Nash.

00:48:28
Speaker 2: That's right, that's right. He was a coach for a little while.

00:48:30
Speaker 13: Ye, Steve Nash has done both, and so Steve I think clearly. And Steve is another guy you could probably throw into that discussion. What these A lot of these guys have done. I just don't think they Jamal still plays that. I know a lot of them don't. But they've stayed in great shape.

00:48:48
Speaker 9: Blake.

00:48:49
Speaker 13: If you look at the guys in our studio and just look at him, Dirk Novitzky, Steve Nash, Blake Griffin, e Donnis Haslam, they all look like they did when they played Dween, Wade Kandas Parker. I mean, they all looked like they could go out and play right now. Maybe Candace would be the best matchup for Jamal.

00:49:10
Speaker 2: Before I let you go, I think you were an assistant with the Heat in three.

00:49:16
Speaker 9: Yes, I was there.

00:49:18
Speaker 13: Actually three is when I became the head coach for the three to four season.

00:49:23
Speaker 2: Okay, the game plan against Kobe and shaq uh who was tougher. Maybe it's obvious, but you know in their prime coming up with a game plan for Shack or Kobe.

00:49:36
Speaker 9: Well, I mean, here's the thing.

00:49:37
Speaker 13: I don't think people understand, like, you could not play anything norm near your base defense against Shaquille on him. It was just he was too big, too strong, and too good. I think people, because of his size underrate his skills. So you come in double. That guy was a great passer, he had quick feet, great footwork. I think his size has made him underrated as a player. Kobe was great, and there was no way to stop him either, but he was a more normal player. Shaq was just so far out of the norm of what you played against. I mean you would look out there sometimes, you know, we had Alonzo morning and you look at Alonzo against Shaq, and you would think sometimes I thought Zoe was bigger than him, you know, I mean it's just and yet Shaq's feet were so quick, he could really pass. He had phenomenal hands, great touch around the basket. I think people focus on the free throw shooting because it was the only thing that made Shack look.

00:50:53
Speaker 2: Moral great stuff is always Stan. Thank you for joining us.

00:50:57
Speaker 9: Yeah, glad to be here, Dan, and enjoy the games going forward.

00:51:01
Speaker 2: Stan van Gundy,