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: Tim McMahon ESPN NBA reporter, he gave us The Wonder Boy, the book on Luka Duncic and the Curse of Greatness. It's been covering the MAVs as of late because we got some drama there. Nico Harrison gets fired. Was that just to playcate the fans? Tim Howdy?

00:00:24
Speaker 3: Dan, I had to say, there's a lot of justification for that one, including the fact that the reason the fans were outrage is because the man made the most shocking, the most controversial trade in NBA history, and it's been a complete disaster. I mean, this thing could not go worse. The Mavericks have the worst offense in the league, while Luka Doncic is lighting it up for the Los Angeles Lakers. Anthony Davis came into Campa a little bit heavy, has a calf strain, you know.

00:01:00
Speaker 4: I mean they.

00:01:01
Speaker 3: Traded Luca for for those exact reasons last year. Honestly, this is it was just a horrendous case of general manager malpractice and it reached a point where there was no justification of Nico Harrison continuing to be the general manager of Mavericks. It was only doing harm the fury from the fans. That was the primary focal point. That like, that was the dominant vibe when you walked in the arena. The players felt like they had a home court disadvantage.

00:01:37
Speaker 5: You know.

00:01:37
Speaker 3: One player said, it feels like our fans don't want us to win, and he was right, because the fans wanted them to lose, so Nika would would get gone. And so it's a complete mess. They do have a chance to pivot out of it because the basketball gods gifted them the number one overall pick. Just complete luck obviously not part of the plan. But it's going to take a lot of winning in the margins and a lot of you know, smart moves to be able to build a sustainable contenter around Cooper Flack and but that has to be the priority now, not trying to contend in this three to four year window Nico Harrison.

00:02:18
Speaker 4: Thought he created.

00:02:19
Speaker 2: Okay, but I can blame Nico Harrison. But does an ownership have to sign off on this trade as well?

00:02:26
Speaker 3: Absolutely, and listen, the firing of Nico Harrison is an admission of the obvious. The Mavericks made a colossal mistake when they traded Luka Doncic, and not just that they traded him, but that the way they went about it. You know, trade you don't trade a five time first team All NBA selection entering his prime, fresh off of finals appearance, and I could put a period there, but you don't trade that guy, especially as a pocket listing like, hey, a secret, We're not gonna We're not going to create the biggest bidding war in NBA history. And so Patrick Dumont allowed Nico Harrison to be the one basketball voice in his ear.

00:03:14
Speaker 4: He got bamboozled.

00:03:16
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, Nico Harrison took us to the finals, that's what he thought. No, dude, Luca Doncics took you to the finals.

00:03:22
Speaker 6: There.

00:03:23
Speaker 3: Yes, there were some moves to put some pieces around, but come on, and it was it was new owner syndrome. Just a complete disaster. My advice would be for Patrick Dumont to whether it's a press conference, whether it's a uh preferably a one on one sit down with me, but to take verbal visual accountability for it and not kind of some you know, he put the letter out there. It was it was vague that kind of danced around it, But what I would tell you is, yeah, it's also on Patrick Dumont, absolutely, and he was less than a year into being an NBA governor. He was listening to one person, one person only, which is not the way to go about doing business. It's been a very difficult learning experience for him, and he understands there's a lot of work to be done to get this fan base fully.

00:04:22
Speaker 4: Back on board.

00:04:24
Speaker 2: Why did Mark Cuban get kicked to the curb and did he have any say in Nico Harrison getting fired?

00:04:32
Speaker 3: Let me start with the last part. Cuban's been lobbying for Nico to get fired for a while.

00:04:39
Speaker 4: He was not alone.

00:04:41
Speaker 3: He had a lot of people lobbying with him. I'm not going to I'm not going to say that Cuban's lobbying was a primary reason or even a major factor. But listen, he laid out a logical case why they needed to move on. It wasn't difficult to do. And Patrick Dumont one thing he realizes, Hey, I've you know, Cuban has been doing this for why he's been in this world for a while. I should at least listen to what he has to say, have dialogue with him instead of we're going to be trading the face of the franchise.

00:05:13
Speaker 5: Mark.

00:05:14
Speaker 4: Oh, actually it's already done.

00:05:15
Speaker 3: Hey, I'm just giving you a courtesy call before it's about to be reported in two minutes, which is that was Cuban's involvement in that trade. Now, why did he get kicked to the curb? There's a lot there. One thing I will tell you Cuban didn't help himself when he sold this franchise or the majority share of the franchise and you know, cash multi billion dollar check and then told everybody wo would listen, Hey, I'm still in charge of basketball operations. These people there, it's just a real estate play for them. They don't know what they're doing with basketball.

00:05:48
Speaker 4: I do.

00:05:48
Speaker 3: I'm still in charge. Don't worry. When that was not part of the discussion of the deal. I don't know if he was trying to speak it into existence or you know, Cuban. I don't know how well you know Mark Cuban, but I don't think he do real well on polygraph tests on a regular basis.

00:06:07
Speaker 4: He tends to be a little bit full of, you know, excrement. But that didn't help because it's like what kind of dummy. Do you think I am.

00:06:19
Speaker 3: We gave you all this money and you're telling everybody you're in charge when that's not the deal. So that didn't help. And I think Nico Harrison realized, Wow, oh, Cuban says he's in charge. Dumont says he ain't. Let me go cozy up to the guy who is in charge. And Nico Harrison, you know, former college basketball player, did a hell of job boxing out great boxing out there. And you know, Cuban was complete. I called him the world's richest mascot. That was Mark Cuban's role. You know for the first probably year plus of Dumont's.

00:06:55
Speaker 2: Tenures the governor talking to Tim mcmahony ESPN NBA reporter banned to make man podcast on the Hoop Collective and wrote the book literally on Luka Doncic and the Curse of Greatness. How would we know if Luca is getting better? I know he's in better shape, But what would you see since you wrote the book on him? What is different about him this year than maybe in previous years.

00:07:22
Speaker 3: Well, one, let me just remind you his last year with the Mavericks, he led the league in.

00:07:28
Speaker 4: Scoring, was.

00:07:31
Speaker 3: Rounding up averaging a triple double and took a roster that wasn't loaded with star town around him. You know, Kyrie is a co star, but took that roster to the NBA Finals, So pretty high bar to get better from that. Now, I will say that I believe that this trade and frankly, the way he was backstabbed and fat shamed and all those kind of things on the way out the door.

00:07:58
Speaker 4: And look.

00:08:00
Speaker 3: On the fat chaming. The condition concerns are real, but it was embarrassing for him. It was a slap in his face. He has committed to conditioning in a more consistent way than he ever has before. You saw the body change. It's funny the Lakers listened to two forty four. It's actually fourteen pounds heavier than the maps listened them. The mass never updated to listen. The guy was in the two sixties a lot of times in Dallas, so you see the commitment to conditioning. He's also I think grown up a lot in terms of understanding the importance of being a leader, exactly what a face of the franchise means, you know, having a working relationship with the front office. Luca never wanted anything to do with front office stuff. Early in his career, he didn't start giving input until the Mavericks completely bungled the Jalen Brunson situation and lost his CoA starf from the West Finals team for nothing. Now he's not only is involved on you know, like consistent dialogue with Rob Polenka and Genie Buss, but he's making phone calls. He's calling DeAndre a and hey, you know, we need you here recruiting. Same thing with Marcus Smart. All things that are face to the franchise needs to do, you know, to maximize their chances of success and things that you know early in his career and even before the trade, you know that wasn't part of the Luka Doncics experience in Dallas.

00:09:31
Speaker 7: I'll leave you with this.

00:09:33
Speaker 2: I'm wondering if ownership will just blow this up in Dallas. You look at you know, this draft coming up. There's probably five guys who could be the number one overall pick. There's a lot of talent there, and I wonder you don't want to go into the next three four years thinking you're going to get Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving. You got Cooper Flag and almost admit, you know, we need to start over. Whether there be any sentiment towards trying to do that, Well.

00:10:03
Speaker 3: It's complicated, okay, because in successfully building a contender around Luka Doncic, you gave up your first round draft capital, either outright or via swap twenty seven, twenty eight thirty okay, and hey twenty eight okay, See Houston has now thirty the Spurs have it. So not only did you give up, but your closest geographic arrivals.

00:10:30
Speaker 4: You have the downfall here.

00:10:32
Speaker 3: So but you've got you've got gifted Cooper Flag and this kid.

00:10:37
Speaker 2: Look, but did you go to the wrong place though, like Wenby went to the right place? Did Cooper Flag go to the wrong place?

00:10:43
Speaker 4: So far?

00:10:45
Speaker 3: Now, hey, they've they've really got to get a lot of things right to be able to build a sustainable contender around him. Okay, to your point, anything out this year, which they've done unintentionally so far, Like, hey, that's probably in the best interest long term in the franchise because this is their one and only chance to get a high mid to high lottery pick and that type of talent to pair with Cooper and you know, to grow with him and I think there's Look, there's they will have discussions at least internally about exploring the trade market for Anthony Davis.

00:11:32
Speaker 4: He's got to get back on the floor. They got to make sure.

00:11:34
Speaker 3: He's not in a situation where he's going to aggravate the calf injury or worse.

00:11:39
Speaker 4: He will have some type of trade value. They've got to explore that.

00:11:42
Speaker 3: Kyrie Irving, it might be mutually beneficial for him just to take the whole year focus on getting one hundred percent healthy, not help them win a few four games down the stretch. But they can't do a complete rebuild Dan because if they're bad next season, they don't benefit to Charlotte Hornets do if they're bad the year after that. Okay, see he's going to get a high pick out of it, you know, and then then Houston, then San Antonio. So you can benefit from being bad one year and one year only. And the other thing is Cooper Flag wants to compete asap. They've got to get a lot of things right to give them that chance. It's obviously not gonna be as a rookie.

00:12:24
Speaker 2: Would you rather have Victor Winmbanyama or Cooper Flag?

00:12:27
Speaker 4: I mean Listen, would I rather have Victor Winbnyama or any other player?

00:12:30
Speaker 5: Meme?

00:12:31
Speaker 4: Okay, that's that's not a fair question, all right.

00:12:36
Speaker 7: I like the All Star format.

00:12:39
Speaker 2: I didn't see the hoop collective if you guys were talking about it. But I do love that there is a chance that they play for pride and the world will play for pride.

00:12:50
Speaker 7: And maybe maybe we.

00:12:54
Speaker 2: Have an All Star game that feels like it's an actual game. Your thoughts, I can you gave me a little bit of a grimace there? If we're playing poker. You don't like your hand?

00:13:05
Speaker 4: Well, listen, here's the deal. I don't give a crap about the All Star Game.

00:13:08
Speaker 6: I don't.

00:13:09
Speaker 7: I'm not Dan.

00:13:11
Speaker 2: Also, it's the problem, though Tim, people don't care about the Alster guy.

00:13:15
Speaker 3: I'm the wrong guy. You know why, Dan, Here's what I do on All Star weekend. I cash in Marriott points and Airline miles and I take my wife to a beach somewhere. I'm not the target demographic.

00:13:27
Speaker 4: Now.

00:13:28
Speaker 3: The product has been poor, but I think it's an overblown thing because like the Pro Bowl, it's awful. Major League Baseball All Star Game like they're not competitive games. The NBA is the only league that acts like it's some kind of insane crisis.

00:13:42
Speaker 2: But what if Baseball did this and had the United States players against the world.

00:13:46
Speaker 4: It does add some intrigue to it.

00:13:48
Speaker 3: And I was talking to somebody I was in LA recently and I was talking more close to Luca and like, Luca has shown zero interest in all stro games, same with his buddy Joker, right, And they said, Hey, you know, I think these guys are going to compete now, Like to your point, the international players, I do think there's like, okay, hey, US against US against America, and you know, for the Americans maybe it is like, dude, we can't just like God, these guys are already winning all the m vps. We can't let these guys just come in and dominate us. That's a bad look for us. So look, it can't get worse. And it's it's a it's an interesting idea. I'll give them that. I don't know that I'll tune in as I'm sipping a surveys on on the.

00:14:34
Speaker 4: You know, with my toes in the sand.

00:14:36
Speaker 7: Thank you, Tim, Audios amigos.

00:14:39
Speaker 2: Tim McMahon ESPN NBA reporter banned McMahon podcast on the Hoop Collective.

00:14:45
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 wapp. Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube and you can be a part of it. Just go to YouTube and search Fox Sports Radio, hit that subscribe button and smash that notification bell and catch all the videos from your favorite shows. Two Pros and a Cup of Joe, Dan Patrick, Colin Coward, Doug Gottlieb Cavino and Rich The Odd Couple with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington, The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harme, and The Ben Maller Show.

00:15:19
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00:15:20
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00:15:25
Speaker 2: Kevin Love is back on the program, The Utah Jazz Forward and of course won a championship with the Cavs. Five time All Star joins us on behalf of Shift Naturals Natural Sciences Company. I'll let him talk about that coming up. You know, yesterday was the anniversary of your thirty point thirty rebound actually thirty one points thirty one rebounds game. What do you remember most about that?

00:15:53
Speaker 6: I had just come off a game against the Lakers against pau Gasol and Andrew Bytom where I didn't score, you know, I laid an egg, so I needed to make my presence known, and you know, it just so happened.

00:16:07
Speaker 4: That kind of started the you know, streak of double.

00:16:11
Speaker 6: Doubles where you know, I had fifty plus in a row, and I think that led me into my first All Star Game as well. So that that season was certainly a breakout year for me, and I ended up being I believe, most improved at the end of that season.

00:16:27
Speaker 4: And here we are, season eighteen, so I'm still here.

00:16:32
Speaker 6: I got gray hair, matching the shirt, trying to look as good as you do when you you know, I don't know your secret, damn. But withstood the test of time as well. But a lot of fond memories from my first six years in Minnesota. In that game in particular, is one of the highlights.

00:16:47
Speaker 2: What player do you think gave you the most of your gray hairs?

00:16:53
Speaker 6: Defensively going against Dirkowitzki, there was just nothing you could do to stop that. And then I would say on the offensive end, it was probably because I was the fifth pick.

00:17:05
Speaker 4: I was the new guy in Minnesota.

00:17:08
Speaker 6: You know, I came into the league, Boston was a superpower in the East.

00:17:13
Speaker 4: It was Kevin Garnett. So those two guys gave me a lot of gray hairs.

00:17:18
Speaker 6: But I also believe in that time frame when I came in two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine, for several years, I mean, it was Zach Randolph, it was Pougasol, it was Tim Duncan, it was Blake Griffin, it was LaMarcus Aldridge, it was Dirk And that's just the Western Conference, and I'm leaving a number of guys out, but at that position, it was Yeah. It certainly aged me.

00:17:44
Speaker 2: Go back to the NBA Finals when you were with the Cavs Game seven, final minute and you get switched off with Steph Curry.

00:17:53
Speaker 6: Sure, I tell everybody all the time that you know, we had gone over that play. I can't tell you how many times, and we were switching one through five. I knew that they were going to call my number up. They didn't want Tristan Thompson to switch off. They didn't want you know, Lebron, you know, really anybody else, Kyrie jar Smith. They wanted to call me up. And you know I was able to switch off on to Steff. I kept my feet down, and I knew he was going to try and get to his bag. I knew he was going to try and get to you know it three point shot. That year he was unanimous MVP. They were seventy three and nineteen.

00:18:37
Speaker 7: Your arms are flailing like you're you're Kate.

00:18:41
Speaker 6: Listen like if you you know, it's like old school when Will Ferrell goes up there and does the debate and he like fully blacks out. That is exactly what actually I tell everybody all the time that Steph gave up that ball. He gave it back to Draymond, and what I was supposed to actually do was denied the ball back to Steph. So in terms of EQ and and knowing the game and the situation and all that was at stake, I always told everybody was actually like a you know, I kept my feet down, arms were flaying in Like I said, I blacked out.

00:19:14
Speaker 4: You know, I contested a heavily contested shot.

00:19:17
Speaker 6: So I did my job, But they don't realize that it was actually a in some ways a bad defensive play in terms of our concepts and what we were trying to get done.

00:19:30
Speaker 4: I was supposed to deny that ball back. Steph Curry was never supposed to get that ball back.

00:19:34
Speaker 6: So you know, there's a number of plays in that game that that that stick out to me, obviously, the block by Lebron, the shot by Kyrie that put us ahead, and it was just yeah, I just that was that was all I could.

00:19:49
Speaker 4: Do to to do my part.

00:19:51
Speaker 6: A had a tough series, but the end of the day, people remember that last game, and you know that stop was a huge moment in my career.

00:20:01
Speaker 2: All right, let's clear up something that happened last year. There was a headline that was written Kevin Love graciously reacts to Dan Patrick's disappointing Cooper Fly comparison.

00:20:11
Speaker 7: Okay, well you.

00:20:14
Speaker 4: Are so sensitive, man.

00:20:15
Speaker 6: I didn't take any any any type of I didn't feel any sort of way about that. As you know, I've been a friend of the show. I've been I mean a friend of yours. I'd like to call your friend for a long time.

00:20:27
Speaker 2: Did you know what I was trying to say?

00:20:29
Speaker 4: Of course?

00:20:30
Speaker 6: Of course, that's where, like, you know, things get taken out of context, and you know, people, and I mean in general, people like the common fan that that add so much to our game and sports in general.

00:20:47
Speaker 4: They want to take that and make it something that it's not. So I didn't take any offense to that. I know that I've had a damn good career. I feel like I've left some stuff on the table. But of course, one hundred I understand what you were saying. But I've seen Cooper play in college when I'm when they played Miami. I've met with his parents a number of times. I've seen him up close. I've watched him since he's been fifteen years old. And you know, I know the Maps are having a tough go.

00:21:18
Speaker 2: But there's so much pressure on him. In the post, I'm blaming us, the media. We won't be satisfied if he made five NBA All Star teams and woned title, played on the Olympic team.

00:21:32
Speaker 7: I mean, you're going to be a Hall of Famer.

00:21:34
Speaker 2: I'm blaming the media because we won't be satisfied, right, And I think people took it differently.

00:21:42
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that's true, and that's unfortunately in some cases. Is the is the world that we live in.

00:21:48
Speaker 2: But it would be better if you were actually mad at me. This would be good content.

00:21:52
Speaker 6: Kevin, Yeah, exactly right, and I think that's what people want, right, But I'm just listen. I'm very comfortable in my career, very comfortable where I'm at now, And you know, I hate looking back in the rear view, and I think that in some cases that creates complacency. But no, I knew exactly what you were saying, and I think I even said like, and I believe that and feel that with every ounce of my being. Like, I've always been a fan of the show and will continue to be. There's no hard feelings because I know the context in which you said it in and what people wanted to get out of it on the other side. But again, like, if you want me to be pissed off, you know, we could make some good headlines here.

00:22:34
Speaker 2: What's your favorite memory of Kobe when you played on the Olympic team with him?

00:22:38
Speaker 6: Oh man, okay, So best best memory with Kobe was we had finished the gold medal game. We had beat Spain, you know, like a saw Brothers, Ricky Ruby, all those those great teams that they had had two thousand and eight. You know, it was kind of a running it back in twenty twelve, and so when you know, we're thinking we're going back to the locker room thinking we're doing the champagne shower, and you know, that was I hadn't had that moment before, you know, twenty sixteen was really that first moment where I had felt that type of you know, the joy of winning and winning big at that type of level. So we're walking off and you know, we do the media after the game. As we walk off and are headed to the locker room and they say, mister Brian, mister Love, come with us. We're thinking we're doing media and we get drug tested. We get drug tested and we have to so we have a couple people on the staff I forget exactly who it was bring us champagne. And we just had to sit there and I think we probably got about, you know, thirty ish, maybe half an hour of just Kobe and myself talking all things just about life and kids in career. That was a very special moment for me, especially all all things considered now with obviously the terrible tragedy that happened with him, But I look back with that as a very fond memory in my basketball life and journey because he was a giant in my eyes and a lot of people's eyes, and you know I grew up a fan. I loved this game, love the way that he chased it as number eight, as number twenty four, And you know, he certainly holds a special place in my heart in terms of, you know, my overall basketball career and journey these last thirty years.

00:24:38
Speaker 2: What was it like to get yelled at by Lebron?

00:24:43
Speaker 4: I still get yelled at by Lebron. I'll see him.

00:24:45
Speaker 6: We had to for other reasons, of course, But you know, when I first got to Cleveland's, I had bad habits. Like I look back, I had bad habits. I didn't know what it meant to sacrifice. I didn't truly have my first few years, but in my six years in Minnesota like a vet to show me the way and to deal with adversity and to understand, you know, what it meant to be a good pro and also a good teammate.

00:25:17
Speaker 4: So I think.

00:25:20
Speaker 6: Some of those moments, and you know, him yelling at me and wanting me to be better was you know, I would hope because he saw something more in me, and also that you know, I was rough around the edges. I needed to grow up in a lot of ways. But I think that took looking in the mirror and understanding that things weren't adding up as I would have liked. And I think the adjustment curve in period was tough for me that that first year. You know, I went from being a guy that was a twenty plus point score, ten plus rebounds, and you know, I'm all NBA guy, and you know I had a step and sacrifice and you play on the perimeter and let a basketball, you know, magician and in Kyrie getting downhill, you know, I've never seen it below the rim finisher quite like him. He's so special. And then a freight train in Lebron do their thing, and you know, it was about spacing for us, and we were we ended.

00:26:23
Speaker 4: Up being a machine.

00:26:24
Speaker 6: We were a team that was thrived under chaos. Sure, I think that's part of what we're talking about. But you know, certainly those are some of my my my favorite memories because I do feel like personally professionally I have uh it'll come a come a long way, but it definitely added to a little bit. This this these grays here in that silver Fox.

00:26:46
Speaker 7: What are you doing with Shift Naturals?

00:26:49
Speaker 6: So I invested in the company Shift Naturals out of ben Orgon I grew up, you know, just just down the street in Portland, Oregon, and it's a you know, I'm talking about longevity here, right and really unwinding from the grind. And for me, you know, this was an easy, you know, thing.

00:27:11
Speaker 4: To be a part of.

00:27:12
Speaker 6: It's a hemp based beverage brand and it's focused on that unwinding. Sparkling Water is ready to drink cocktails and gummanies meant to help you relax and feel good without you know, a hangover. And I think that that model really defines them, that unwind from the grind, and it's better for you. It's great tasting, and you know, it's something that I implemented into my everyday life.

00:27:36
Speaker 2: How did you I was going to say courage. I don't know if you'd use that, but you came forward with mental health, Jared. It's something that especially guys don't talk about. But can you help me understand maybe the week leading up to that where you actually said I need to talk to this about this, bring this to people's attention.

00:27:57
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:27:57
Speaker 6: Well, it was All Star of twenty eighteen and if you can remember that time in February, uh, you know, there was a lot leading up to that in my personal and professional life. I'd been named an All Star that year, but even prior in the summertime, there was you know, things going on within you know, my family and my extended family, people within arms distance, whether I was going through it or they were going through it.

00:28:22
Speaker 3: Or.

00:28:24
Speaker 6: You know, we were estranged or or not speaking or on bad terms. And then you know, we we trade Kyrie Irving and we still have the expectations of make you know, if not making the NBA Finals, then.

00:28:38
Speaker 4: You know, going and winning the NBA Finals.

00:28:41
Speaker 6: And so our team a lot of new faces, a lot of new parts, and we did not have a good start to the season, and I think that that was stuff. I'd broken my hand, you know, I had the panic attack on in November of that year against the Atlanta Hawks, and everything kind of led up to All Star you know, that year.

00:29:04
Speaker 4: So I had the game taken away from me, and I.

00:29:06
Speaker 6: Was just you know, so much of the time I was able to just lean into basketball as a as a safe space. So that being taken away, the team didn't know what was going on. My teammates didn't know what was going on. I was afraid that I was going to be you know, found out. I didn't want anybody to know because how it was going to affect my livelihood and you know those things said. You know, there was rumblings around all Star as well. I started giving questions about you know, where my head was and you know how I was really feeling, and I think people started to catch wind of it, and I mentioned Parking, Florida because I'm like, Okay, what is really going on in our country and that community and you know those kids, those parents who's all affected by that.

00:29:52
Speaker 4: And I thought that there.

00:29:53
Speaker 6: Was some some good to be done by you know, sharing my story because I know that all of you know, those people and so many others now that I've found out in March of that year, when I press sin on that first person article, just you know, my idea was to just help that next person, help that one person, and you know, maybe you can change the trajectory of their life and thinking of their families, their friends, their siblings, mom, dad, you know, teachers, community, peers. You just don't know the ripple effect that that could have. And just changing one life, so that, you know, led me to start the Kevin Lovelund as well. So it's been a great you know, a great thing and something legacy wise that I know that I'll have after basketball. But I think that's what led me to share, and as well as DeMar de Rosen sharing his story you know as well, or just a passive tweet that struck me as as something that it felt like it was very courageous, and I got to speak with him at All Star of that year, and I think he could really He said it in his book that you know, he could sense something was going on, so that that that kinship, that brotherhood as as has really.

00:31:13
Speaker 4: Evolved as well. And you know, we've continued to do the work the last seven US years.

00:31:18
Speaker 2: It's called Shift Naturals. You can visit Enjoyshift dot com for more information.

00:31:24
Speaker 7: Great to catch up with you, stay in touch.

00:31:27
Speaker 4: Yeah sounds good, Thank you, Belly, appreciate it.

00:31:31
Speaker 2: Kevin Love, I've always enjoyed him. I think he's a very interesting person and probably will make a great coach or analyst when it's all said and done.

00:31:40
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.

00:31:52
Speaker 2: Chris Sims Pro Football Talk Live co host. You can see that show with Mike Florio preceding this one on Peacock and soon starting Monday on NBC Sports Network. He'll be in studio Football Night in America. They get you ready for the Lions at the Eagles kick off eight twenty eastern. Football Night America starts at seven Eastern. Chris, let me start with the Eagles with AJ Brown. He can be telling us the truth. He can be correct in his assessment of the offense. It's just the style in which he's telling us these things I have a problem with. Tell me what is different about the Eagles this year as opposed to last year, and in particular Aj Brown?

00:32:33
Speaker 5: Well, I think you know, last year they got the running game going to such an extent that it basically made everything really easy. Right, everything now it didn't even matter. I mean, again, let's not forget there was a seven or eight week stretch towards the end of the season where last year in Philadelphia were like, man, can they throw the ball? Can they really do anything like that? This is not like it's just coming up out of nowhere.

00:32:53
Speaker 7: Again.

00:32:54
Speaker 5: It was also like that the year before too, when they you know, kind of had the meltdown late in this football season. So this has been a continual issue with them. They're not extremely creative, right. The quarterback is not surgical playing within the pocket.

00:33:10
Speaker 6: You know.

00:33:10
Speaker 5: I don't think the quarterback wants them to do a whole lot on offense either.

00:33:14
Speaker 7: So they're very simple that way.

00:33:16
Speaker 5: And I say that because I know that I've been told by that by people that have played their coach. There been, there, there now whatever. So those are the issues. So, yeah, they lack a creative schematical attack on a week to week basis where they basically rely on. And when you see Jalen Hurts in the passing game have a good game, what happens. It's always the same thing, Dan. The team has to play run defense to such an extent, then now we can just throw a go ball to AJ Brown or we throw a slant to Devonte Smith and then they run and do that. But there's never like, ooh, watch this systematical destruction they're doing right here.

00:33:52
Speaker 7: And without the run game, all.

00:33:54
Speaker 5: Those things kind of get put at the forefront and we all go, what's going on with the most talented offense.

00:33:59
Speaker 2: And why isn't anybody else complaining.

00:34:03
Speaker 5: That's a fair question. I get that you've heard the offensive lineman going, we're predictable. We have people saying the plays when we're lining up there, right, But at the same time, too, right, they're wasting one of the biggest assets in their football team. We got a guy that's making thirty two million dollars and is one of the best offensive players in the game, and they can't find a way to let him touch the football. That's kind of crazy in the twenty twenty five NFL. You know, so again, I don't sit here and condone all the things he said and done this thing, what he just did being on playing online, playing in a game with somebody. I don't think he said anything crazy there. I didn't have that much of a problem with it. He just hey, we're not good, don't take me on fantasy. We should be better. Yeah, it's obvious stuff, right, But yes, I understand your point in airing out their dirty laundry sometimes.

00:34:51
Speaker 7: Sure, I got you. What should we be watching for with Drake May tonight?

00:34:56
Speaker 5: Oh man, man, Drake May is for what I love is the aggressive nature of the offense. Right, you're watching them every week. It's not dink and dunk and like they're managing Drake May. Is that like they haven't gone the full Tom Brady offense yet because it's a hard offense and he's learning it. And I think Vrabel wants to play a certain way, so it's not just like, hey, the ball's in your hands, so you know, tear them up that way.

00:35:20
Speaker 7: They play a balanced game of football.

00:35:22
Speaker 5: They can really run the football, but when they drop back to pass, they're looking for heavy hitters. And that's what I love about Drake May. He is just as poison as can be in the pocket. He's fearless with people around him, and he is an unreal intermediate deep ball thrower right now and then when it's not there, as you know, he's getting to the point like Tampa Bay last week, Dan they spied them. His running is getting good enough to wear a third downs. The defensive coordinator's like, we got to account for him. We got to have a plan here, so he'll post some problems. The Jets defense, though, is no slouch. They're one of the better pass defenses in all of football. I don't think it's just gonna be bombs away playoff they play. The problem is, we know the Jets offense stinks, and you know eventually the dam will break with the Jets all together.

00:36:05
Speaker 2: But with Josh McDaniels, there are they running? Are they running Tom Brady's offense? Maybe just it's a little watered down exactly they are they are? And you know, I think the world Josh McDaniels. You know, you can say what you want about him as a head coach. There's no denying he's one of the best offensive coordinators in football for about twenty years straight here, And yeah, I think it's like it's early years Brady offense right now. That's what I would say, Dan, Like when they were winning those first three Super Bowls, they weren't in the shotgun and it wasn't just Wes Welker Edelman, We're gonna just totally destroy you that way, right It was a little bit more we're gonna run the ball, and then we're gonna fake the run and Tom's gonna sit there and throw a twenty yard laser down the field for play action pass to somebody.

00:36:44
Speaker 5: That's kind of the way they're playing right now. It's like early two thousands, Patriots, Your MVP as of today is Matthew Stafford. I'm gonna go with Matthew Stafford. Yeah, I mean again, Drake May and that combo for sure, right, I mean, we'll see where Baker Mayfield. I'm still not gonna take him out of there, but I think the top three right now would be Stafford, Drake May, and Jonathan Taylor. For my money, those would be the three guys i'd look at. Stafford is you know, phenomenal. It's just phenomenal, and again a lot like Drake May. It's not like it's a dink and dunk golfense. He drops back and he's like, where's Pooka? Is he thirty yards down the field? Oh no, he's not open. Lo Oh, there's Davante. He's forty yards down the field? Show right, I mean that's where he is. Phenomenal that way, and for being the gun slinger he is and the arm talent he still has and still to what he's only thrown two interceptions.

00:37:29
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'll give him the title right now.

00:37:32
Speaker 2: As we sit here and I thought this would be his last year. I love them as a team and a Super Bowl contender. It just came down to Matt's health and he's I don't know how many times he's been sacked, but probably not very many. You've got a great coach, you've got a couple of great receivers, and you've got a running back, you got some playmakers on defense, and then you got this show down with Seattle. How is Seattle making this work kind of in the shadows?

00:38:00
Speaker 7: Yeah it is.

00:38:01
Speaker 5: And you know, I know you don't listen to me like on a daily basis, and don't expect you to, but Seattle's one of those teams. For about three weeks, I've gone on my shows, different shows and gone They're the team everybody's sleeping on. Seattle can go to the super Bowl. They're that good. They literally are that talented. And I think that their offense and what they do fits Sam Donald a lot better.

00:38:22
Speaker 7: Than what he was in the Minnesota.

00:38:24
Speaker 5: So the first thing is they can legitimately run the ball this year, where like if you don't play run defense, they will run the ball with success. And then if we know if you overplay the run. They're one of the most aggressive passing teams in football too, yards per attempt, yards per completion, you look it up. Sam Donald's at the top of the list in that department, and then you add Rashid Shaheed to it. So they have a great combination of like, hey, we can run the ball when you cheat and stop the run. We got some guys on the outside, even Cooper Cup that can beat you down the field watch out. And then that Shanahan play action scheme is so effective off of that. With Clint Kubiak the other side, I have a man crush on their defense. Dan their front five, they're front four. I mean, it's it's one big baller after another. So they can win the physical battles and their secondary is awesome on top of that. Not totally healthy yet, but it's between that and the scheme. Yeah, as I've said a lot of times this week, like don't be shocked if we're sitting here Championship Sunday and the Seattle Seahawks are there. I put them in the same class as the Lions, the Eagles, and the Rams or the Bucks in the NFC.

00:39:27
Speaker 7: The NFC's got some heavy hitters this year, that's for sure.

00:39:31
Speaker 2: Vikings having more of a seller's remorse with Daniel Jones or Sam Darneld.

00:39:38
Speaker 7: That's a good question there.

00:39:40
Speaker 5: You know, I think that they made up their mind they didn't want the Sam Donald thing at the end of the year, you know, after the Detroit game and then going into the RAM game, which the Ram game wasn't Sam Donald's fault. The wild card game, I mean, they got their butts whooped. In totality, everybody got whooped. Nobody had a chance on that football game whoever played quarterback. But you know, the Daniel Jones things. I had heard from some people up there and some credible people that they really like Daniel Jones. And again, as you've heard me say to you before, the league views Daniel Jones differently than the fans do. And so yeah, I would think there's some buyers remorse. But at the same time, like they were invested in JJ McCarthy, they trade it up to get him. They had to do this. He's a top ten pick or eleven pick whatever. He is right in that range where they got to see what they got here. So can he stay healthy here? He is can't practice yesterday? Right, There is some talent there, but it's not gonna be like he's gonna be able to run the offense like Sam Darnold did last year or Kirk Cousins before that. He's basically a rookie. So there's gonna be a few bumps in the road as we go forward.

00:40:44
Speaker 2: Here feels like people are bailing on Jade and Daniels because he got hurt. He did turn in maybe the greatest rookie season of quarterbacks ever had.

00:40:56
Speaker 5: I'm so sick of the fickle nature of fans right now. I mean I have people now be like Drake may he's better than Jayan Daniels now right. I mean bo Nicks is better than Jayan Daniels now right, And it's like, no, no, Jane Daniels is phenomenal. This is the only issue you really had about Jane Daniels that I think I worried about and other teams worried about, is he's frail. I mean, he can be painfully skinny looking at in the field of times, so this is what we all wondered. Could he take the punishment of the NFL when he ran a little bit and did that. But still, I mean, he's phenomenal and the class is phenomenal. I mean, come on, Caleb Williams is going like this too, and he's totally getting reconstructed as a quarterback robot here right in front of us. So it's an incredible class right now that I feel like you really only question right now to this point is is JJ McCarthy and Michael Pennix and where are they gonna go? The talent's there, but it's just been all over the place so far.

00:41:52
Speaker 2: It feels like it was two months ago, six weeks ago people were bailing on Caleb Williams Ben Johnson relationship that it wasn't going to work.

00:42:01
Speaker 7: And I'm thinking, do we give up that quickly?

00:42:04
Speaker 5: With?

00:42:05
Speaker 7: Yeah, that talent?

00:42:06
Speaker 2: And then you bring in Ben Johnson who's trying to get him to play the position how he envisions it instead of Caleb Bin visions it exactly.

00:42:14
Speaker 7: That's a lot. That's a lot, Dan, You're spot on.

00:42:17
Speaker 5: I mean, this is a guy that his whole life in Caleb Williams has been able to drop back and go, uh, I can just make it happen. I'll just make this throw or I'll scramble and move and buy some times and make it happen. And he's got now Ben Johnson coming into town and going no, no, no, that's cool. You might be able to do that, and you know the Pac ten against some crappy defenses are in the Big twelve and all that, and you might get away with it against a few offenses defenses in the NFL. But as a whole, if you want to win a Super Bowl, you gotta run an offense. You gotta run an offense. You can't think you're just gonna make a play in a big moment. You gotta trust the system and be systematic that way. And he hasn't been that totally yet, but he's getting there, that's for sure. And his talent is eye popping. I mean to me, it's eye popping. I mean you see his running. His running is like a third down running back. He breaks tackles and breaks ankles and does all that. His arm is arguably the strongest in football. It's right up there with Josh Allen. Right, But you know, throwing balls on time, in rhythm, in the pocket.

00:43:14
Speaker 7: And all that, that's still a learning process.

00:43:16
Speaker 5: And you explained it right, and Ben Johnson, of course, has a million rules and laws to his offense. That's a big learning curve.

00:43:22
Speaker 2: Well, I want him to be Jared Goff through the first three quarters. Then he can be Caleb Williams in the fourth quarter. That's a great way to put it. That's what he should be. You're exactly right.

00:43:31
Speaker 5: And I think if you looked at me and you sat down and watch film right now of Caleb Williams, you'd go, ah, yeah, there's a little too much, you know, trying to color outside the lines in the first three quarters where you just go, wait, that little slant rout or that under route was open, let's hit it. Let's be in second and four, let's just keep going that way. And yeah, he hasn't totally gotten there yet.

00:43:50
Speaker 2: To your point, Dan, the Giant situation with Jackson Dart, Like, I don't know how much this played into the firing of Brian Dabele, but if you're going to have designed runs with your quarterback who runs like a running back like I have to protect Jackson Dard from himself.

00:44:10
Speaker 7: That crossed my mind. I don't think you're crazy for that. You know.

00:44:13
Speaker 5: There's a little bit of like a thing with the Giants where I was like, are they just gonna go all out and ruin the football team just to save their jobs?

00:44:21
Speaker 2: Right?

00:44:21
Speaker 5: And that's where I was like, ownership's got to look at the bigger picture here, right, It's like, we gotta win this one or I might be get fired. I'm gonna ruin the rookie quarterbacks career today and run them up the middle seventy five times, but I want to win the keep.

00:44:32
Speaker 7: My job ready.

00:44:33
Speaker 2: He was knocking on the you know, the blue tent, and yes, getting Jackson Dart out there.

00:44:38
Speaker 7: I went, wow, right, that's right.

00:44:40
Speaker 2: This was a troubling situation because it really felt like Brian Dable knew I can't put Russell Wilson in there.

00:44:48
Speaker 7: I'm totally with you.

00:44:50
Speaker 5: And then even last week, he gets concussed and then he comes in plays two plays and then somebody with some brains went, wait, that guy's brain's not working functionally here, let's.

00:44:59
Speaker 7: Get him out of the football. But yeah, I would was that was that.

00:45:02
Speaker 5: You know a part of my thought at first was like, man, they they just did they They don't trust him, and they don't feel like he's protecting Jackson Dart. You know, certainly that crossed my mind, but I think ultimately, you know, they just they wanted to turn the page on Brian dayball. And I don't know if I totally agree with it. I'll just say from this like, I'm all for the new, you know, getting a new head coach. I think there's a part of me though, that goes, wait, you know Jackson Dart and what he's doing, it is going this way? Do we want to disrupt that right now? Maybe just keep that going and then we can fire day ball after the year. I think we all knew what was going that way anyways, it didn't matter, right, So I just wonder if this disrupts the whole process of Jackson Dart to a degree.

00:45:42
Speaker 2: Is Jameis Winston goofy on purpose? I think no, he's like that naturally. And I say that in a in a good way, right. Jameis Winston I think was afraid for a long time to show his true personality because of some of the things that happened in college, in his early career where I think he was like, wait, I'm the number one pick. There's a bad reputation out of here, so let me be a little bit, you know, a little bit, you know, like as far.

00:46:08
Speaker 7: As just a straight arrow.

00:46:09
Speaker 5: But I think he's gotten to a point in his life where he's finally like, hey, the hell with it. I'm just gonna be myself, and I really love being around him. He is he is hilarious, he's funny. It's natural. Do you your quarterback, not as a starting quarterback. No, but I want him over Russell Wilson. I think that is no doubt. I'll take that. I You know again, I don't think Russell Wilson plays to win games anymore. I think he just plays not to lose. Jamis is going to play to win this week. And yeah, he might throw some interceptions, but he might throw some of the damnedest touchdown passes we've ever seen too, And I'd rather watch that than Russell either throw a go route or take a sack.

00:46:45
Speaker 7: I don't want to see that.

00:46:46
Speaker 2: I can't imagine somebody giving Russ another chance.

00:46:50
Speaker 7: No, no, And does Russ really want another chance?

00:46:53
Speaker 5: I mean, I think Russ came to New York because he wants to live the New York life, and they're more worried about being famous and all that. And yeah, I mean the days of being a starting quarterback are certainly over. It's just yeah, does he want to take the Joe Flacco route and be a backup somewhere, maybe revive his career?

00:47:08
Speaker 2: That way good to talk to you. Thanks has always have a great weekend. And you know what, you can always text me if you want to tell me, hey, Seattle is a legitimate you know, just send a text.

00:47:18
Speaker 7: Hey.

00:47:18
Speaker 2: Okay, sure, try to find your podcast or watching you in Florio.

00:47:23
Speaker 5: I mean, well, I do want you to watch Christims unbtton. But you can text me too and ask those questions. It's not against the rules. I checked the rule book. You're allowed to do that, all right.

00:47:31
Speaker 7: He's Christians. Tell those jerks, I said, Hi, Hey jerks.

00:47:34
Speaker 2: Pro Football Talk Live co host and his Unbuttoned podcast as well. He'll be there on football Night in America.