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 All Star Game coming up this weekend. This is not going as scripted for the NBA because I thought the World versus the United States was a wonderful approach, maybe a last ditched approach to have a little bit of competition with the All Star festivities. But now you've got a few players who won't be playing in the game. Kevin Durant was asked a question yesterday. I'll give you the question and his answer and then we'll talk about it.

00:00:32
Speaker 3: I saw you saw the rosters were revealed and said, you're on the Old Heads team.

00:00:36
Speaker 4: Do you think the Old Heads will compete and try to win the whole tournament?

00:00:39
Speaker 5: Here?

00:00:39
Speaker 6: You should ask the Europeans the World team if they're gonna compete. I mean, because if you look at Luka, Doncis and Nicole Jokis. Now let's go back and look at what they do at the All Star Game. Is that competition?

00:00:53
Speaker 7: So we have a.

00:00:53
Speaker 6: Questioned what they've been doing. But we're gonna question old his in the Americans. But these two dudes out there and Yochis, they don't care about the game. Man, Oh, these dudes be laying on the floor. They shoot from half court. But you got worried about the old he is playing hard. I can read between the lines.

00:01:11
Speaker 2: Bro Oh Durant. He's funny. He's funny, he's feisty. But you know it's a fair point. He's saying we play hard. They don't. But the reason why Joker doesn't play hard in the All Star Game is that's not his style. The All Star the way that's played up and down, dunking, that's not his style, Luca, that's not his style. So he might single them out as not playing hard. I'm gonna guess if they are playing this weekend in the All Star Game, they will play hard because they're playing for their country or countries, and I think you'll see a more spirited I hope it is, and I'm not asking too much. It's not going to be the way it once was, but I would like to see some competition and maybe we'll get that with this format. We're running out of ideas when it comes to the All Star Game, and it's not mandatory or the future of the sports at stake. You know, it's like the Pro Bowl, and I said that for years. They don't want to play in it when it was in Hawaii. You wanted to be awarded the opportunity to go to Hawaii with your family and oh, by the way, we'll show up, run through a couple of plays.

00:02:23
Speaker 8: Hopefully we don't get hurt.

00:02:24
Speaker 7: That's it.

00:02:25
Speaker 2: You just wanted the designation of being a pro bowler with the All Star Game. Do I want to see them go out and maybe make it like Olympic competition. I'd love to, but it's not going to happen. So maybe you get something that is a reasonable facsimbile of a pickup basketball game.

00:02:42
Speaker 9: Yeah, set, Yeah, I think the first problem is trying to make this mean something. Yes, that's the first problem, so that already were starting from like a deficit there.

00:02:50
Speaker 7: But Matt, do you think.

00:02:51
Speaker 9: The NBA did enough to get the format the tweaks to the format out there so people understand what this All Star Game is going to.

00:03:01
Speaker 8: Look like because it is significantly different. Well, you have three teams.

00:03:06
Speaker 2: You have two teams from the United States and then you have the World team.

00:03:09
Speaker 9: Right, and then what that each You basically play like twelve minute quarters in like a round robin kind of Yeah.

00:03:15
Speaker 8: I don't even understand it seedon.

00:03:17
Speaker 9: Well, I don't think it's complicated to understand. I just don't think that people know that it's changed that much.

00:03:22
Speaker 2: Well, that you have three different teams in the quarters even then like I'm going to tune in and go, okay, maybe explain this to me a little bit further.

00:03:31
Speaker 7: But I thought it you.

00:03:33
Speaker 2: Know, when you have three teams and you have one game, but try to combine three teams into one game, and it's the All Star weekend, and then you have the rising Stars and now we just found out that Cooper Flag is not going to be playing in that this isn't going as scripted for. And then you got the commissioner who is going to be under fire this weekend about tanking because these teams they're not hiding it anymore. It's like, yeah, you know, we're going to play our starters until the third quarter when that ends, and then we're going to sit them down. Hey we might win, we might not. But it just feels like it's well it is. It's not a growing concern. It's a concern here. And I can't imagine what David Stern would be doing right now if he was the commissioner. Maybe it's not fair to Adam Silver. But David Stern would not be putting up with this. But I don't even know what you can do. You know, all the media rights. I think it was a total of like seventy billion dollars over the next eleven years. They're swimming in money. They don't know what to do with all the money that they're making. And if I'm a player, and let's say I applied this to Larry Bird. Larry Bird tried to eke out a ten year career back issues and he had to retire. What if Larry Bird played today and he did have a back condition, and I could make maybe get fourteen years out of Larry Bird instead of ten, and maybe he played sixty five games, wouldn't you want that? Do I want Steph Curry to be able to play longer? Do I want Kevin Durant to be able to play longer? Lebron James to be able to play longer? And the answer is yes, I don't think the NBA cares about us. If we say the following, well, I go to one game a year. The NBA doesn't care about that. Now we do, as you know, parents, where you say, oh, I want to bring my kids to a game, But the NBA is worried about filling up the seats every single night. They want repeat customers, They want the people who are going to show up, and then you got the TV money as well flowing in. But I don't know if I got Commissioner Silver in a private moment and said, hey, if you're looking at the longevity of great players like Cooper Flag, he's going to have load manager at some point in his career.

00:06:02
Speaker 7: They all do.

00:06:03
Speaker 2: Now, at nineteen, you can run all day, but he gets to be twenty six, now seven years, you know, on those legs, and then maybe you're gonna have load management.

00:06:12
Speaker 7: It happens.

00:06:13
Speaker 2: But if I can extend Cooper Flag four more years by limiting him, and you know, maybe he's only playing in sixty five, maybe seventy games. It used to be a badge of courage, like you wanted to play as many games as possible. Charles Barkley won the MVP of the All Star Game and he played on a stress fracture.

00:06:38
Speaker 8: He shouldn't have been playing in the game.

00:06:40
Speaker 2: Imagine Michael Jordan breaks his foot and then comes back and you know you're going to play the Celtics who are going to beat you in the playoffs. They never would have let Michael Jordan back intoday's NBA. They just wouldn't because they'd say, that doesn't make any sense. We're gonna sit you down, we're gonna get into the lottery, we're gonna tank, and we're going to be better.

00:07:01
Speaker 7: So the philosophy has shifted.

00:07:04
Speaker 2: I never ever worried when I tuned into a game if the stars were going to play or not.

00:07:09
Speaker 8: Growing up, it was a great luxury.

00:07:12
Speaker 2: Then about ten years ago, maybe a little longer than that, it all changed. But I understand it from a player's perspective. If I can imagine if you add four more years to Steph Curry's career, that maybe it would have ended. You know, at thirty six, it's over one hundred and thirty million dollars by just being economical, smart, taking care of yourself, getting your rest. And I know we don't like it, but you know, we're in a completely different world what it was like when we were growing up. Bill Russell played every game, and you know Bob Coosey played every game. Yes, But in today's NBA, they're looking at this from a business. For the NBA has business and entertainment, but the player is thinking about I'm gonna sit out.

00:08:08
Speaker 7: I mean, look at Giannis. He's had a calf.

00:08:12
Speaker 2: I don't know how serious it is, but he's been out for a while, and we don't even blink anymore. We're like, such and such isn't playing like Kawhi. I'm always surprised when Kawhi is playing, being like, oh, and Kawhi is having an unbelievable year he is, Yes, Marvin, but.

00:08:31
Speaker 10: Also you got to put this on the team also because they're protecting their investment, because these guys are making so much money. Hey, this guy has a stress fracture or he has a bad calf. They're not going to throw him out there. Hey, let's keep him out here in an extra two games.

00:08:44
Speaker 2: I know, I get it. I get it that this is it's business. It's our entertainment, but it's their business. Yeah, Pauline, you know.

00:08:53
Speaker 11: You're completely right about it. It's like a ship that's going one way and you can't turn it around. But if you look at what most fans think of it, they compare it to the NFL, and they'll always compare the NBA which is considered not as rough and brutal as a sport, fair to say. And they sit out all the time, and football players they can't sit out because they have fewer games. But if you look at the ratings of the NBA finals the past fifteen years and load management they match each other, the finals keep going down and down and down compared to a generation ago, and that's a real problem.

00:09:22
Speaker 8: Yeah, Seeden.

00:09:24
Speaker 9: I think from the team perspective too though, I think it's probably important to remember that when you're the team, and yes, you're protecting your investment, but no one is bigger than the team. The team is going to keep going on after all of these people retire. There's you know, after Larry Bird, there's always going to be another Jason Tatum, and then there's going to be another guy. There's always going to be another guy that comes down the play. And that's what teams are thinking about. This one guy is not bigger than the team. I don't really care who they are. They're not bigger than the team. Lebron James is not bigger than the Lakers.

00:09:53
Speaker 8: Yeah, but you want to extend them, You want them to play four more years.

00:09:58
Speaker 9: Definitely, you want them to play four more years, sure, but also not to the point where the team feels like we need you more than you need us.

00:10:07
Speaker 2: We'll settle on a poll question here. Chris Sims will join us. We'll look at some of these quarterback situations here, and man, there's some wild things that are out there, and you know they're not really reports, but it's kind of a what what was the word you used, Paulie where we try to get around saying it's a report linked oh, link to ye.

00:10:29
Speaker 8: Yes, Joe Burrow is linked to Yeah.

00:10:31
Speaker 2: I know there was an article. I don't know if it was on the mother Ship, but it talks about Joe Burrow and being linked to other teams. And you're going, okay, wow, what's And I said to Fritzy, all right, read it to me and he goes, I said, where's the Joe Burrow stuff? He goes, well, no, it's like the second you know part of the article, Yeah, had.

00:10:51
Speaker 4: Trey hendrickson about Coles Cowboys, what teams is going to go to? And then a little bourg Towys. The end is like about Joe Burrow and.

00:10:56
Speaker 7: Joe Burrow is not going anywhere.

00:10:57
Speaker 4: He's different to his quarterback.

00:10:59
Speaker 11: But like, what is that, Yeah, paul it is from Yahoo Sports. Bengals already have Trey Hendrickson replacement lined up amid Joe Burrow trade rumors, as if they go together at all.

00:11:09
Speaker 2: And then you read it and then they say the Bengals aren't trading Joe Burrow. But it's that link and then you click on it. It's clickbait and they got me, They got me. That's where you want to respond to somebody. You know, you mightey yelled at somebody like I stop that, you're better than that, but no, you got to click on yeah, Pauline.

00:11:30
Speaker 11: A big thing in journalism air quotes these days is say link to It's in Lewis saying there's a report that Trey Hendrickson is being pursued by blank blank. Like if you said today that you know what would be a great place for Joe Burrow to be the Miami Dolphins, they would use you and say link to the Dolphins. Yeah, and they tag it to Dan Patrick when you're not reporting.

00:11:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be good. Though, if Joe Burrow went to the Dolphins, you just aggregated yourself. They were all in on him, you know. It was weird that we had heard that leading up to the draft they were going to offer like five first round picks for Joe Burrow in Miami, and then of course the Bengals you know, took him.

00:12:10
Speaker 8: But and then it came out like earlier this year.

00:12:13
Speaker 2: That the Bank the Dolphins were trying to get Joe Burrow at the draft.

00:12:17
Speaker 8: I'm like, this is old news.

00:12:20
Speaker 2: They did, they desperately wanted to get Joe Burrow, and now you got Tua. Maybe you don't even have ta So we'll talk to Chris Simms about a lot of these situations here because they're fluid. You're not quite sure we know what the Raiders are doing. But after that, is there a quarterback that somebody's going to go all in on and say that's our future? Because I don't see that. The parade yesterday, it was great to see probably eight hundred thousand there, a beautiful day there in Seattle. They're feisty, the Seahawks are got that chip on their shoulders still, you know, don't come at us and don't be saying something about my quarterback. And Sam Donald just like, hey, thank you for believing in me. There weren't a lot of people believed in Sam Donald when they brought Sam Donald in. To be fair to the situation here, if you go back to when Sam was going to Seattle, it's not like it was, oh my gosh, we got Sam Donald. It was wait, we got rid of Gino and we got Sam Donald.

00:13:27
Speaker 7: A lot of.

00:13:27
Speaker 8: People said that. A lot of people said that.

00:13:31
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.

00:13:39
Speaker 7: App SOT got here.

00:13:43
Speaker 12: I have a podcast Empire. It continues to grow, and I have brought it here to Ibeart. I'm also doing a live radio show from three to five pm Eastern because.

00:13:53
Speaker 4: My wife wanted to kick me out of the house.

00:13:55
Speaker 12: It's called Stegatzi Company Live, which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports, a lot of phone calls.

00:14:07
Speaker 7: I love you guys, your show, it's one of my favorites.

00:14:09
Speaker 12: A lot of interact guys not taking themselves too seriously. Those are just some of the things that you could expect from Stu Gotson Company and Steve Gotson Company Live. So listen to Steve Gotson Company Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review Stu Gotson Company, and God Bless Football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. You do it today and you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you.

00:14:38
Speaker 7: Get your podcasts.

00:14:43
Speaker 2: Chris Sims joining us on loan from Pro Football Talk Live. He's co host with Mike Florio. Also was there working the Super Bowl for NBC Football Night in America. Do you think we'll ever get to the point where there is load management in the NFL?

00:15:00
Speaker 5: No, I don't think so, I don't. I mean, it's just, you know, the league is so close. One game is equal to five games in the NBA or ten games in the NFL and Major League Baseball, right, So No, I mean, I think the only time you get to load management is with certain star players. Maybe if they have some injuries and teams that are smart bring them along the right way. But no, I don't think that's ever going to be a thing in the NFL.

00:15:29
Speaker 2: Then explain to me what the Raiders did with Max Crosby or is that tanking?

00:15:33
Speaker 7: Well, I think that was more tanking.

00:15:35
Speaker 5: I think, yeah, I think it was that maybe more than anything is tanking, he was dealing with a little bit of injury. Maybe they're saving himself from himself. But yeah, that's not, you know, a load management thing there. The Max Crosby situation in general is going to be fascinating here as we go into the offseason, right because you usually sit there and go, wait, you don't trade a player of the caliber of Max Crosby and do that. But yet this is one of those where you can look at it and justify it a little bit, or at least go I could see them doing it.

00:16:05
Speaker 7: It's twenty nine years old, as we know.

00:16:07
Speaker 5: Hey, there's a formula in the NFL most defensive players hit thirty. Teams don't want to give them big contracts new contracts there, and the Raiders have so many needs on their football team. Wouldn't be shocked if he does get traded this offseason.

00:16:21
Speaker 2: He's one of my favorite players because he wants to play and he plays hard. Right, But if I'm the Raiders, I absolutely trade him. Yeah, you know, I hate giving up on that, but I can't bring in a rookie quarterback with a rookie head coach and not have a good offensive line.

00:16:38
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, I hear you there, And you gotta wonder Matt Max Crowby's got Crosby's getting to a point of his career where Yeah, I don't know if he wants to sit around for the next two years and be a part of the rebuilding process.

00:16:49
Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm with you there, Dan in a lot of ways. All right, let's look at some of the quarterbacking situations. What's the biggest question mark you have?

00:16:57
Speaker 8: What team?

00:16:57
Speaker 7: What quarterback?

00:16:58
Speaker 5: Well, I think the obvious one is probably Pittsburgh a little bit. Just as far as where they go a playoff football team, We've got no idea who the quarterback is gonna be. I mean, Aaron Rodgers, mikel McCarthy. It didn't necessarily seem like it ended the most perfect way when it was in Green Bay, and now here they may be thrust it back together and then off of that, yes, do they bring them back, But is he gonna understand that, like the quarterback of the future is not on the roster of the Steelers, So like if they bring them back, is he gonna be okay?

00:17:28
Speaker 7: If like they draft Ty.

00:17:29
Speaker 5: Simpson in the first round and then if they go two and five to start the year. Is Ty Simpson gonna be in and is he gonna be able to deal with that?

00:17:36
Speaker 7: Right?

00:17:36
Speaker 5: So I mean that to me is probably the most intriguing one. I haven't thought about it as a whole as a league here yet. I'm still kind of transitioning at a super Bowl mode here, But I think that's the one probably i'd still pick if you let me think about it even more.

00:17:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm trying to figure out the Viking situation too. Yeah, right right, that's gonna be tough, No doubt. They're in a spot.

00:17:56
Speaker 5: They really are because, as we talked about last year, their team right was playoff ready, maybe even.

00:18:04
Speaker 7: Super Bowl ready.

00:18:05
Speaker 5: Like I do think if Sam Donold played on the Minnesota Vikings last year, yes, they would have gone to the playoffs. Definitely that they got to the super Bowl, I don't know about that, but yeah, they're in a spot where they definitely have to bring somebody that's you know, tried and true and proven to a degree, not only because if JJ McCarthy gets hurt, which is gonna be is becoming a thing, and if he doesn't play well, you gotta have a guy there that can at least come in those those scenarios and hold down the ford a little bit.

00:18:30
Speaker 7: But I also think.

00:18:31
Speaker 5: You need a guy there to kind of have the hot poker next to JJ McCarthy every day a little bit. They'd be like, Hey, you gotta be good today. You gotta be good today, gotta be good today. This guy's coming, he's practicing. He's a pro. He knows how to practice and look good in front of the rest of the football team.

00:18:44
Speaker 7: And I do think there's value in that for young quarterbacks.

00:18:47
Speaker 2: If I said you had to extend one, Rice Young or CJ.

00:18:52
Speaker 5: Stroud, Gosh, I wouldn't have gone, no brainer CJ. Stroud right before the so the end of the regular season, I'm like, no brainer. But what happened here, Chris, Yeah, I mean it was questionable towards the end of the regular season. You know, I've had people go, oh, they think his concussion in the middle part of the year was still affecting him. Right, he has been in some different offensive systems, but man, he really lost his way towards the end of the year, lost his way with decision making, feel for the game. You know, the proper type of throws forgetting what his team was. I mean, I said to Mike Florio before, and I think this is why. You know, we were kind of talking about the Patriots and maybe there won't be the biggest bullseye on their back because of how the playoffs and Super Bowl went going in the next year. And I made the comment, You're like, yeah, I mean, hey, the Chargers game is underwhelming.

00:19:46
Speaker 4: The Houston game. You kind of felt like if CJ.

00:19:48
Speaker 5: Stroud just kneeled on the ball the whole game, Houston probably would have won the football game. Just kneeled on it to every play, first, second down, third down, kneel on it. Defense will set us up for a field position at one point we'll kick a field goal and win the game that way.

00:20:01
Speaker 7: Like I'm joking, but I'm not joking. It was that crazy. It was that bad.

00:20:05
Speaker 5: So I sit here now, I guess giving the edge to Bryce Young, but don't feel necessarily great about that. I mean, I know Carolina went into the year going, hey, we like where we're going, but we don't have our quarterback yet.

00:20:17
Speaker 7: We don't really know. We don't think we got the guy. We don't have the guy.

00:20:20
Speaker 5: Now, how he played better, definitely, how do they feel about that. I'm sure they feel better, but I wouldn't sit here and just go, oh, we're just golden at quarterback with Bryce Young.

00:20:30
Speaker 7: I'm not ready to say that yet.

00:20:32
Speaker 2: You know, the draft is kind of sparse with what we think will be franchise quarterbacks. But I'm wondering about Mac Jones or Malik Willis. Feels like they could get that kind of I don't want to say Sam Darnold, but they could get that. Hey, we've gone through you know, the washing machine a couple of times, right, maybe now it's our turn. Now we're at an age where we can handle this.

00:20:53
Speaker 7: Yeah.

00:20:53
Speaker 5: No, I think Malik Willis is a superstar, right. I would think he is the like the crowning gem of guys. It's going to be out there as far as free agents that you can get no compensation trading any like.

00:21:05
Speaker 2: Why wouldn't Pittsburgh go for Malik Willims If I were them, I'd be looking at that.

00:21:10
Speaker 7: You're you're exactly right.

00:21:11
Speaker 5: I mean, Malik Willis has proven I mean he's got special talent, he has a special arm, he's got special mobility. He knows how to run the offense and do all of that. So yeah, you know, he's a great story here and again another story of like we looked at the draft and you know, again, I was a Malik Willis fan coming out, and it's like, Okay, yeah, I know Kenny Pickett can play in the pocket, and he's very good in the meeting room. And I'm so sick of that damn dumb discussion all the time with some of these quarterbacks. And I'm gonna go, oh, yeah, how did that meeting room and in the pocket work for you, Pittsburgh Philadelphia Raiders? You know, how about the guy that has a ton of talent and can make game changing plays, It just needs a little polish and needs to be coached a little And that's where you know the league misses out on guys like that.

00:21:56
Speaker 7: But do you like Milake Willis more than Jordan Love.

00:22:01
Speaker 5: It's closer than I ever thought it would be, right, And I'm really a Jordan Love fan. I mean again, I'm the one that was like Jordan Love, I think is going to be better than Tua when he was coming out in the draft.

00:22:12
Speaker 7: Right, So I'm with that.

00:22:14
Speaker 5: But Malik Willis, I'm not gonna say he's better than Jordan Love, right, now, I will say that I think he shows more potential to be a greater player than Jordan Love. That that's what I would say right now, But I got to see a little bit more before I say he's better than Jordan Love.

00:22:29
Speaker 8: And he's forty million dollars cheaper, right.

00:22:32
Speaker 5: That helps still, but he won't be forty million dollars cheaper after this offseason.

00:22:35
Speaker 7: That that I think will change. What about Mac Jones's future.

00:22:39
Speaker 5: Well, Mac Jones is first off shown that he's capable of being a starting quarterback. We know that, right, And the guys like Shanahan and McVeigh and you know the Ben Johnson's in the world, the guys who have these unbelievable, intricate, hard offenses are always gonna like Mac Jones, just like Shanahan and mcveig love the kirk Cousins of the world and those because they can handle all the tricks that they have to offer to make the offense look tricky and awesome.

00:23:06
Speaker 7: Right.

00:23:06
Speaker 5: So that's where you know there's always gonna be love for Mac Jones. Now, he can't carry the team, right, you put him on crappy Jacksonville for two years ago with all that was going on there. Yeah, he's not Josh Allen Lamar or Mahomes. They're just gonna, hey, get on my back, guys, I'll get us through this time period here. No, he's not that. He needs system. He needs help, and when he does do that, you could see he can play at a high level. But at the same time, I don't think the forty nine Ers and Shanahan are just gonna give him away. And not only do they have to be blown away by the trade, but the forty nine ers as we know, are good and with healthy like there might be a Super Bowl team. And I knowing my buddy Kyle Shannan, I don't think he would leverage the future of the team and get rid of Mac Jones unless he's very comfortable with who his backup quarterback is. And I don't know if he's there with Curtis Rourke right who came off the ACL injury, coming from Indiana and being there and being that guy to hold down the ford.

00:24:00
Speaker 7: If something did happen to Brock Perdy.

00:24:01
Speaker 2: We're talking to Chris Sims, Pro Football Talk Live co host Football Night in America, analyst and in his podcast Unbuttoned. If Mac Jones was Seattle's quarterback this year.

00:24:14
Speaker 5: Yeah, okay, I mean, could they'd be in the playoffs for sure?

00:24:18
Speaker 2: Okay, so you're not saying they would they would still have won the Super Bowl.

00:24:22
Speaker 7: No, I'm not gonna go there.

00:24:24
Speaker 5: You know, I think Sam Donald's talent is better than there's a reason. You know, Sam Donald was the number three pick and people thought he was going to be the slam dunk number one pick. Really, if you go back to that time, right, people were shocked that it was Baker Mayfield. Everybody thought, what, Sam Donald's going to Cleveland. But you know, he's got better physical ability than he gets credit for. Right, You've heard Josh Allen talk about how Sam Donald spends the ball. I mean it's a perfect spiral that spins tight his arms, a little more explosive than people realize. You saw on Super Bowl Sunday his movement and getting out of trouble a few times was kind of special that way. So I do think he's capable of making some some play that maybe Mac Jones isn't capable of making.

00:25:02
Speaker 2: Let's go back to the Super Bowl, and it felt like, and I said this a couple of times on the show. If you said to Patriot fans the beginning of the year, You're going to the super Bowl, but you're not going to be competitive. Would you sign up for that? And the answer is of course yes yes. But man, it really feels like morale is low. After the way they were beaten. Your first round pick at left tackle gets you know, man handled, Drake May didn't look good through the entire postseason. So now handicap the Patriots going into next season knowing you have this Super Bowl loss hangover.

00:25:39
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think they're still going to be really good.

00:25:41
Speaker 5: They still got a lot of room on their cap space, kind of like what you alluded to. I mean, they were playing with house money. The fact that they got this far is incredible. I don't think they're going anywhere. I think they're going to continue to be a really good team. Now, I mean, can they.

00:25:54
Speaker 7: Get back to the super Bowl and go fourteen to three? I don't know.

00:25:57
Speaker 5: They're going to have a first play schedule next year. And if you look at the teams that are gonna play next year on the road and all that, it's like whoa, okay, whoa, Yeah, it ain't gonna be the same. And I think, yeah, morale is down because of like what you talked about, they didn't play very good football in the playoffs. I don't want to use the phrase they lucked into things, but things certainly with CJ. Stroud's play the way Stidham, the Broncos, the snowstorm, Yeah, that definitely helped out. And I think to your point too, and to me, the biggest story going into the game was that the guy that was one vote away from being the MVP was historically bad in the playoffs, like historically and same with the left tackle. And then we got to the halftime of the game and it was like, whoa again, the guy that was one vote away from being the MVP, it's historically bad in the first half of the game, made one real throw in the first three quarters of the game. He stepped up and threw a deep curl route to step Von Diggs in the first quarter, and I would say that was the only throw he made in the football game until the touchdown drive to make it nineteen seven to start the fourth quarter. That's crazy when you say that out loud, right, And that's why I think Morale's a little down overall. And they were dominated in the game and it just didn't look good. But they shouldn't be down for long. It just should be about the game and the future is bright for the New England Patriots.

00:27:17
Speaker 8: Yeah, but why didn't they make adjustments?

00:27:19
Speaker 2: You got thirty minutes at halftime, Chris, Yeah, right, well.

00:27:23
Speaker 5: Here here, so here with my I really I watched the game on film and you know, this is what I do and the podcast and Chris sims unbutton and all that. First, I think the Patriots they knew they weren't the better team. I could tell you in the pregame warm up so that they didn't they knew they weren't the better team. I said this to Rodney Devin mccorty. You went to either side of the field. The Seahawks were out on their field like we're about to show everybody today. It felt like the Patriots are a little bit like I hope we play our best game and maybe we can pull it off.

00:27:52
Speaker 7: Right.

00:27:53
Speaker 5: That's kind of what it felt like on the field on Super Bowl Sunday, And I know Rodney and Devin McCarty kind of felt the same thing, to the point where you were like Seattle's so psycho. Rodney Harrison was like, I hope they don't run out of energy before the game's over. And I was like, Rodney Devin Witherspoon could not sleep for five nights.

00:28:09
Speaker 7: In a row.

00:28:10
Speaker 5: He ain't gonna lose energy today. I was like, they're young and full of it, and they're ready to go. But I do think the Patriots went in the game knowing that they weren't the better team. They knew they had to take chances on the defensive side of the ball, which is what you saw early on the game, right, I mean Sam Donald threw some passes and you're like, whooh, oh.

00:28:26
Speaker 4: My gosh. I mean they were gonna go for it on that side of the ball.

00:28:29
Speaker 5: And I think they knew, between the shaky play of their quarterback and the way and how good Seattle was, that they were just hoping to muck the game up, make it ugly. Oh it's nine to nothing, so what we'll put a drive together, make it nine to seven. Maybe Sam Donald will make a mistake, and now we go up ten to nine, and now it's thirteen. That's what I think they went into the game thinking that was the only way they were gonna be able to do it.

00:28:53
Speaker 7: But the fact that they couldn't run the ball at all.

00:28:56
Speaker 5: Then kind of shift the onus onto Drake May and the passing game and the pass protection and a bunch of other things you know that went along with it led to, you know, some really tough sledding in that department.

00:29:09
Speaker 2: It's an eight hour pregame show and you have aun, you have a rundown meeting where you get all the analysts together. Right at what point do you look at the rundown and realize that Rodney Harrison is going to question Tony Dungee's Hall of Fame vote?

00:29:24
Speaker 7: Was that one?

00:29:25
Speaker 8: Was that scripted?

00:29:26
Speaker 7: That that was a rundown? It was? It was, It was.

00:29:30
Speaker 5: It was I think kind of thrown into the rundown. And I'm not privy to all these conversations, but I think it was thrown into the rundown when the Hall of Fame made the most egregiously stupid, tropic thunder decision in the history.

00:29:43
Speaker 7: Of their their their their.

00:29:45
Speaker 5: Hall of Fame with not putting Bill Belichick in with the most obvious should be first ballot Hall of Fame or ever. So then it was like, well, we got to talk about this, and of course Rodney and Devin being from the Patriots and all of that.

00:29:56
Speaker 7: And then yes, throughout the.

00:29:57
Speaker 5: Week, you know, people started to question whether coach Dungee definitely did that and all that. So yeah, I think it kind of came organically and Rodney wanted to question coach Dungee on that situation. And uh, I didn't get to see the segment in total totality there, but it sounded like it went pretty good, even though Coach Dungee didn't quite answer the question all the way.

00:30:22
Speaker 8: Should he have answered the question?

00:30:24
Speaker 5: Well, you know me, I mean, I'm a big mouth to tell says everything, so I you know, yeah, he should have answered the question.

00:30:30
Speaker 7: I would have liked him for him.

00:30:32
Speaker 8: To answer the answering.

00:30:34
Speaker 7: He answered it right by not answering it. He answered it exactly right.

00:30:38
Speaker 8: I would have called Rodney for targeting. I would have had to flag him on that.

00:30:42
Speaker 5: Well.

00:30:42
Speaker 4: I thought Rodney might go harder, you know.

00:30:44
Speaker 5: I thought, you know, Rodney, Rodney, as we all know, like Mike Tyson, at times, can be like a pit bull on the loose, and you're just like, oh, he's in that mode, watch out. And I was kind of hoping the pit bull might get unleashed during that interview, but he kept tame there and and you know, stayed one.

00:31:00
Speaker 2: I guess, thanks as always for joining us the entire season. We'll leave you alone for a little while, all right, just for a little while.

00:31:07
Speaker 5: You know, we got draft and free agency to talk about, so you know I'll be game for that whenever you're down.

00:31:12
Speaker 8: Thank you, Bud, all.

00:31:13
Speaker 7: Right, thank you. Tell those jerks I said, Hi.

00:31:15
Speaker 8: Hey jerks, he says Hi.

00:31:16
Speaker 1: 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. Chris Mannock Sports Illustrated senior NBA writer, and he contributes to NBC Sports covering the All Star Game this weekend.

00:31:36
Speaker 2: Seeing you want to give Chris the you have an NBA whole question today?

00:31:41
Speaker 9: We do, Okay, In fact, we have would you rather a player sixty games for fifteen years or eighty two games for eleven years? Right now, we're at about seventy percent of the audience would rather eighty two games for eleven years?

00:31:55
Speaker 8: All right?

00:31:55
Speaker 2: What would you do Chris with We know load management is here to stay, but if I can give you your guys. Let's say you're star, he's going to play sixty five games, but that extends him four more seasons, or you get him for eighty two for four less seasons.

00:32:14
Speaker 3: Well, we're the sixty five game player. Does he get the playoffs? Two?

00:32:18
Speaker 7: Yeah?

00:32:19
Speaker 4: Yeah, because then that's the ballgame there.

00:32:20
Speaker 3: I would much rather have the guy for four extra years playing sixty five regular season games if I can get him for the postseason. The right for a contender the regular season is close to irrelevant when.

00:32:32
Speaker 4: It comes to that.

00:32:33
Speaker 8: Yeah. How did we get to this point though?

00:32:38
Speaker 4: The tanking point of where teams are just.

00:32:41
Speaker 2: Load the league, No just load management that but also load management ties into tanking as well. So how did we get to this? What came first? Load management or tanking?

00:32:53
Speaker 3: I think load management came first, and a lot of it begin began. If you want to find a spot in history with the Greg Popovich San Antonio Spurs, who were aggressive in resting their stars.

00:33:07
Speaker 4: We all remember that great.

00:33:08
Speaker 3: I think I still have a picture of that stat sheet where it said Tim Duncan dnp rest which is one of the early days of just straight resting guys, and that was what the Spurs did in the early twenty tens, and teams quickly adopted it after that. You know with the back to backs, if you get an older player, you're gonna limit his minutes. And then Kawhi Leonard comes around twenty nineteen and Toronto wins a championship by load managing him. So I think, you know, the success of one team begat More teams doing it, the success of the Raptors, begat More teams doing it. And it became part of the you know, kind of the fiber of the NBA.

00:33:46
Speaker 2: Who is going all in tanking where it's that it's not reading between the lines, it's just blatant.

00:33:54
Speaker 4: It's more than one.

00:33:55
Speaker 7: I mean, well, Utah to me is really curious about.

00:34:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, Utah is the most glaring example because of how they're doing it. Like Utah is trying to throw games at the end, like simple as that. Like that game they had against Orlando on Saturday, they were up by seventeen I think it was at one point seven at the end of the third and they tried to throw the game and succeeded. Against Miami on Monday, they tried to throw the game and failed because Kyle Philipowski and Bryce sense bab made.

00:34:24
Speaker 4: A bunch of shots and that was how that went.

00:34:27
Speaker 3: But they have tried multiple times in the last week to lose games in the fourth quarter. Now, last night, I hate watched the King's Jazz game last night just.

00:34:38
Speaker 4: To see what would happen. Of course, they boat race Sacramento.

00:34:40
Speaker 3: That was predictable, but the way that the Jazz have been doing it has been the most egregious.

00:34:47
Speaker 4: But they are far from the only offender.

00:34:49
Speaker 3: Like people know, Trey Young could probably playing basketball at this point Indiana, which is just as egregious right now as Utah I mean Ivica Zubach gets acquired. He had been playing through what was determined a mild ankle sprain, and now that ankle sprain is so serious that he's got to sit out for an extended period.

00:35:09
Speaker 4: So the Jazz, because.

00:35:11
Speaker 3: Of the fact that they're playing their guys and then benching their guys, they are front and center, but they are far from the only offender. Dan, this is the first time in league history that we've gotten We're before the All Star break and roughly a third of the league does not care about winning games. That is a five alarm fire for Adam Silver to address.

00:35:31
Speaker 2: Okay, what can what's solvable? What's the solution here?

00:35:36
Speaker 3: Well, let's unpack it from a couple of ways. Short term, one thing that the people in the league that I've talked to have been pushing for is a fine with a warning. Right, So the first you go to Utah, Washington, whoever, and you say, all right, seven hund and fifty thousand dollars for trying to lose games. If you do this again, we're gonna dock you a couple of second round picks. If you do it again, we are going to reduce your lottery odds. This is something that's come up from a couple of executives, like, if you finish the season with the fourteen percent chance of landing the number one overall pick, we're gonna slash it. We're gonna take away some of your ping pong ball combinations, which is within the purview of Adam Silver to do. He can unilaterally do stuff like this, so short term, they want to see him threaten a big stick to some of these teams because there is twenty five plus games left in the regular season. As far as fixing the problem, there are two camps in this one of the camps says, let's just keep putting band aids on these bullet holes.

00:36:38
Speaker 4: This is what they've done over the last ten years. They've tweaked things, they've added.

00:36:42
Speaker 3: To play in tournament, they've flattened the odds, They've done things to try to save the system. And those people say, hey, if you eliminate lottery protections, good luck getting that past the general managers. But if you eliminate lottery protections, that's gonna take away a lot of these things.

00:36:56
Speaker 4: If you say a team cannot.

00:36:58
Speaker 3: Draft from the top four for two consecutive years, that's going to solve a lot of problems. There's some people that believe that. There are others that say the system is broken. It needs to be take out, taken out into the woodshed and shot, like, just blow up the whole system and let's all get into a room this summer and figure out something else. Those the two camps right now, and those are the two sides that are you know, as we speak, lobbying.

00:37:21
Speaker 4: Adam Silver about this these changes.

00:37:23
Speaker 2: But how do I know if somebody is tanking? How do I know if Trey Young is not hurt?

00:37:28
Speaker 8: How do I know? You know, Anthony Davis can't play the rest of the season. I mean, what does Adam Silver do?

00:37:35
Speaker 2: How do you, you know, do something in a clandestine way that you're healthy enough.

00:37:40
Speaker 8: We saw you doing yard work here.

00:37:42
Speaker 3: Well, I mean it doesn't take inspector gadget to see like some of these guys are. I mean, Trey Young had a quad strain in early January. Like like Anthony Davis, fine Dallas said to Compo, if he decides to set out the season, I would say the same thing. The Jazz again are playing their guys and look that jas. One of the problems that people in the league have with the Jazz is that right now they're a pretty damn good team. Like, they've got three guys that are borderline all stars like Jared Jackson, Junior Lowry Marketing, Kiante George.

00:38:13
Speaker 4: They're not all stars, but they're on that next tier.

00:38:15
Speaker 3: Yes, So if these guys were all playing, could they make a run at the playing tournament right now?

00:38:20
Speaker 7: Probably not.

00:38:21
Speaker 3: They're like nine games back of that that ten spot. But the teams above them, Memphis, the Clippers.

00:38:27
Speaker 7: They're not very good.

00:38:28
Speaker 3: You know, maybe maybe if you really put your foot on the gas that you can go and get it so that that's you have to almost put that on a shelf. I think you've you've got to use common sense in these situations. You've got to make teams. If there are injuries, you've got to report it. You've got to have medical evidence. You've got to give the league a chance to review all of it before so they can make an informed decision.

00:38:51
Speaker 2: Talking to Chris Mannix, Sports Illustrated senior writer and the All Star Game coming up this weekend, you okay with the format even though we have since Star is not playing. No, no, no.

00:39:02
Speaker 4: This this I don't like.

00:39:04
Speaker 3: I don't like anything about this anything Like I let's start with the dunk contest, which you know again needs to be destroyed.

00:39:12
Speaker 8: Nobody cares about the dunk contest.

00:39:13
Speaker 3: But nobody knows who these guys are, Like I mean, I two of them. I had to go look up, like I wasn't sure who they were off the top of my head. Like this, we have gone from being able to get Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan to being able to get Blake Griffin and a bunch of guys that were top Deer guys, to having guys like VJ. Edgecomb and Cooper Flag say hell no, like this is where we are. We can't even get the top young guys in the league to play it. I think that's gonna be pretty bad.

00:39:40
Speaker 5: Uh.

00:39:40
Speaker 3: Kevin Durant said something last night and he's dead on about this. Like the the USA versus the world can work in some context.

00:39:48
Speaker 7: It could.

00:39:48
Speaker 3: It could work in an Olympic setting where there's a medal of the line, you're playing for your country out there. But the greatest defenders of All Star indifference are the Europeans like nikolea Okicic can't get him to care about an All Star game. Luka Doncic if he plays, can't get him to care about an All Star game. That is that Alpa Prince Singoon Al Prin Singoon is not gonna care about the outcome of the All Star Game.

00:40:10
Speaker 2: I think it's it is, but it's the outcome, Chris. It's the style of play in the All Star Game. It's just running up and down and dunking and shooting threes. And you know, Yo, Kitchen Luca that that's not their style. That's why they don't care. Nobody cared about the Olympics than those guys did Joker did so. I think if you attach an actual game to this instead of just a pickup game, those guys will care.

00:40:40
Speaker 4: I don't think they'll care.

00:40:42
Speaker 3: I think you're still gonna get them shooting like half court shots, and you're never You're never gonna get like high and you're not gonna get like early two thousands All Star We've all seen the clips of.

00:40:51
Speaker 4: Those games in the early two thousands. You're never gonna get that again.

00:40:55
Speaker 3: The NBA is searching for a way to just get something more than what they've gotten over the.

00:41:01
Speaker 4: Last few years. I can't see how this is going to be successful.

00:41:05
Speaker 3: I mean, the one thing the NBA could have done Dan that would have added a level of intrigue, and they should have done this. And maybe there'll be an opportunity in the next couple of days. I don't know what Luca's situation is going to be. Put Dylan Brooks on the All Star team. Put Dylan Brooks on the World All Star team, Like you want to get people to watch, how about you add a guy that's competitive in like warm ups onto the All Star team. How about you put a guy that has bad relationships with like every star player in the league, including Lebron James.

00:41:32
Speaker 4: On the All Star team. You want to.

00:41:34
Speaker 3: Get some intensity, put Dylan Brooks on the World team.

00:41:38
Speaker 4: I'm begging the NBA. They passed on it with Kawhi and Leonard.

00:41:41
Speaker 3: They blew an opportunity putting Shangoon on it over Dylan Brooks. Make Dylan Brooks an All Star if you want to make this game interesting.

00:41:48
Speaker 8: Nobody cares about Dylan Brooks.

00:41:51
Speaker 4: But the way he'll play. You keep talking about the style.

00:41:54
Speaker 3: I'm not saying they care. Do they care about Shingoon? Do people really are they focused on the game for him?

00:41:59
Speaker 4: So let's just add add something that that maybe mixes it up a little bit.

00:42:03
Speaker 3: Like I want to see Lebron and Dylan Brooks in the same locker room. I want to see them in them, you know, kind of going at each other during practices. I want give me a little bit of spice to this All Star game.

00:42:15
Speaker 2: I have the betting lines here, so they expect a competitive game. According to DraftKings, USA getting two and a half against the World, that's the Stars team, and then the Stripe's getting one and a half against the World, and then Stripes is favored over to the Stars so by one and a half. So they're expecting a competitive game, Chris.

00:42:39
Speaker 3: What's the definition of insanity? They're doing the same thing over again expecting the same result.

00:42:44
Speaker 4: I just I don't see it.

00:42:45
Speaker 3: I look at it could be interesting because of the format, maybe you can get some guys to be more engaged, but I don't think a format change is going to do it. I just think there's nothing. We are on the path to the Pro Bowl is what we're on with the NBA All Star Game, and I don't think there's anything it's going to stop it.

00:43:01
Speaker 8: Is this Lebron's last season in LA?

00:43:05
Speaker 3: There's a good qualifier. Is it his last season in LA? I'm going to say no. There are options out there for Lebron James. It's not just Cleveland, although that's obvious. I think Golden State is another great opportunity if he wants to and that's another way to stay in California as well. What we have to remember is that Lebron James when he signed with the Lakers back in twenty eighteen, it was about more than basketball. It was about lifestyle, it was about business interest. I don't think a lot of those things have necessarily changed. Now two of his kids are off to are gone, Bronny's playing with them. You know, Price is in college, so that dynamic has changed to a degree. But I think that his desire to be in LA goes beyond basketball. Now, what will the Lakers be prepared to offer him in the offseason? I think is going to be interesting. They are pretty committed to rebuilding or retooling. I guess around Luca Austin Reeves, you know, a prototypical center that plays around those, plays well with those type of guys.

00:44:12
Speaker 4: Will they be willing to.

00:44:13
Speaker 3: Make him a competitive offer or is it just, hey, we got the mid level exception at twelve million dollars or whatever.

00:44:20
Speaker 4: May be, and we want you to stay that That, to me is the big question.

00:44:24
Speaker 3: I do think there's part of Lebron that wants to stay in LA, but he's not going to stay.

00:44:30
Speaker 4: I don't think if they they lowball.

00:44:31
Speaker 2: Him, who is more likely to be playing their last games with their respective team, Yannis with the Bucks or Lebron with the Lakers.

00:44:44
Speaker 4: I'm gonna say Yanis with the Bucks.

00:44:47
Speaker 3: You know, Milwaukee, Look, did they entered these negotiations with other teams in good faith, Like nobody really denies that. Like there was some uncertainty about whether or not they pulled the trigger on a deal, but over the in the week before the deadline, they were talking to teams, making counterproposals, like they were engaged.

00:45:05
Speaker 7: In all this.

00:45:05
Speaker 3: There just wasn't a deal that made sense for them to pull the trigger right now, when the expectation is more teams can get involved in June and the offers from the current teams are going to be better. That being said, from what I hear out in Milwaukee is like, you know, they're not going to spend the next few months thinking about what offer they can get. They're gonna spend the next few months thinking about who they can get to bring in to convince Yiannis to stay, Like they could have I believe three first round picks the deal around the June Draft. They've still got some movable contracts. You don't know what's gonna shake out in the postseason. Who's gonna wind up becoming available that you don't expect right now. So Option A for Milwaukee is still to find that player, find that Drew Holliday, find that Damian Lillard, find that guy that can make Gianna say, you know what, I'm gonna sign my name to an extension right now.

00:45:54
Speaker 4: I don't think they're going to find it.

00:45:56
Speaker 3: That's why I think it's more likely Giannis is gone at the end of the year in some kind a blockbuster deal.

00:46:01
Speaker 4: But that's gonna be the priority.

00:46:02
Speaker 3: I love Dan seeing see Cam Thomas last night by going for thirty four, and there's that clip of Yannis like big smile on his face coming off the bench. If Cam Thomas winds up saving Giannis's future in Milwaukee, that will be the greatest plot twist in NBA drama history.

00:46:17
Speaker 2: Not good enough to play for the Nets, but good enough to play for the Bucks. Good forty four? Yeah, thank you, Chris. Have fun this weekend. You got it.