JR SportBrief Hour 1

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That's betterhelp.com slash positive. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

It is the JR Sport Brief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. And I'm here with you again on another weeknight where I get started at 10 p.m. Eastern Time, 7 p.m. Pacific. I'm here with super producer and host Dave Shepherd.

I'm happy to be here with you. Everybody listening all over North America. We got a busy four hours for you. And what else is new? We got guys or maybe we got one guy going into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

I'll tell you who that is. We got everybody all set and ready, getting ready for the playoffs. We got guys in rehab. We have an NBA player and Kevin Durant trying to come back from rehab. We have a Patrick Mahomes who's he's trying to make sure his ankle is healthy. We got Brock Purdy. Brock Purdy trying to go to Philadelphia and not be eaten alive this upcoming Sunday. We got Bill O'Brien back in the NFL. Thank God Bill O'Brien is not going to be a head coach. We got Eli Apple being a troll once again. We have Ed Reed being the most emotional that I've ever seen him in my life, especially dealing with an HBCU that he was hired for, but not officially and then let go from. OK. And then we have two angry ass, old ass quarterbacks who just they don't know what to do.

They're like the old guys, the old Muppets who sit up in that window and just laugh and talking about Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. So we got a lot to do. You would already know this. If you follow me on social media, I've already shared this information with you. That's Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.

I am at JR Sport Brief at JR Sport Brief. You already see all of this good stuff. And thank you to everybody listening. Your local affiliate. Free Odyssey app.

A.U.D.A.C.Y. Smart Speaker Series XM Channel 158. And if you want to talk to us, you could do that, too. Phone number is 855-212-4CBS. That's 855-212-4CBS.

Super producer and host, Dave Shepherd. How are you this evening? JR. Oh, that's not good. I'm gutted right now because we lost we lost our JV basketball game by 16 points. We got outscored 13 to nothing in the first quarter. We got it to within five in the fourth quarter. And then we just completely gassed out. We were watching balls go right by us. We weren't collapsing on defense. We weren't covering anybody. We weren't face guarding anybody.

And also, not to mention the fact that we do not for the life of us still to this day know how to box out. And that falls on me as a head coach. So I'm gutted right now. But I appreciate you asking, JR. How are you, sir? I'm OK. Do you?

What do we need to do here? Your team lost. That's bad. I'm never going to give you a dishonest answer. I feel horrible about it.

We had like an hour session even afterwards. Of course, you got parents mad at me. Tell them parents to kick your ass. Screw them parents. Screw them. Screw them.

Are they helicopter parents? Let me tell you something, JR. Well, I declined to comment on that if you get my drift. Let me tell you something. You know this. Anybody listening who coaches any high school, middle school or elementary school support can relate to this. If you are coaching below the college level, half of the battle is just interacting and dealing and negotiating and compromising with parents. Oh, no.

Yeah. So well, you know, you don't have to say anything and I don't know anything about nothing. But yeah, we got we got terrible parents coaching all over it.

Well, not you, but we have parents of kids all over America. Thanks, JR. But, you know, horrible. Thanks, man. Like the thing is, like, unlike the old quarterbacks you alluded to in your in the beginning of your monologue, I'm going to look inward, not curse out my person asking the questions, whether that be Jim Gray or not laughing and giggling with my two BFFs and actually taking accountability and responsibility for what went wrong for my season.

In his case, losing to the Lions, which he had no business doing at Lambeau Field. OK. Yeah. All right. Well, how many more games you got left this year? We got one more. We're playing away at Trinity on Friday. And if we win that, hopefully there's a little bit of leverage to say, hey, let's get one more game.

Do you need to tell the kids this is the time and opportunity to tell them to play dirty? No, I mean, it's an opportunity to reflect and to truly just focus in on what you can do differently. And then having that quick memory in sports and next next time, just have that mindset.

If you can do that, you took away a lot from this season. OK. That's reasonable. I was just I mean, if you teach them how to box out, you can teach them how to throw an elbow and then they want to do it all the time. That's true. But unfortunately, the rest call that in high school basketball. Oh, OK. I didn't know.

I didn't know if high school was like the other things. You just pay them off to look the other way. I don't have enough money to pay anyone off to look the other way, unfortunately. You pay them in food. Referees like to eat, man. That's a good point. Like everybody likes to eat. Listen, with how slow some of them are on calls, it looks like they like to eat too much.

Oh, well, don't they? They may give you a technical file when you walk out onto the court. That's true. All right. Well, good luck, Shep, with your game this upcoming Friday.

I hope you guys walk away with a W. That would be nice. Absolutely. Well, anyway. The referees, they eat too much. Shep students need to learn how to box out. Parents of students, athletes, student athletes all over the country, they need to learn how to relax. And before we get into active athletes and when I say active, I mean people who are in season.

Gentlemen, women who happen to be participating in postseason. I want to get these two old guys out the way that Shep just mentioned. That's that's Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. You know, some folks just don't know when to to give it up. And everybody's well within their right to do whatever the hell they want to do until they they reach their expiration.

Until they decide to hang it up themselves or until someone says you got to go. In the case of Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, that doesn't happen to be the case. But for your weekly update or what seems like a weekly update with Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, we've got an update.

And neither one is any more clear than what we used to. I thought Aaron Rodgers would have packed it in for his weekly session with Pat McAfee now that he is out of season. And now we just get a weekly update about what he's doing or what he's thinking about or what his future is. And is it with Green Bay?

Is it moving on? Is it a matter of being traded? And thanks to Pat McAfee, we we have that because he spoke today and Aaron Rodgers told Pat McAfee, yeah, there's a possibility I might be in another uniform, even though last year he said he wants to finish with the Packers.

Listen to this. I have never been a free agent, which is pretty wild. I've never gotten to the end of my contract. So to even think about being another uniform never really crossed my mind just because I was I got a second contract in my fourth out of fifth year, five years.

And then each successive contract was with at least a year left on the deal. So there was never a time you're thinking like, oh, I might be another uniform. And I just never thought that way. You know, even when Jordan was drafted, I thought that might be a possibility for sure. I might not finish in Green Bay.

Then I went to covid MVPs and it obviously seemed a lot less likely. But you never know. I mean, any time there's a situation where change is possible, what's the old adage? You know, that people want to say, oh, the grass isn't always greener, you know, on the other side.

And I always say the grass is green where you water it. And I think that's the most important thing to remember. Changes is a part of this business is a part of life. And I think being open to it and embracing whatever that change looks like is an important part of coming to peace with whatever decision lies, lies ahead of you. And I think that's the most important kind of piece I want to get to is mentally feeling good about where I'm at.

If I want to hang it up and do that, having the peace to do that, if I want to keep going, understanding all possibilities that are involved. He mentioned grasses. Is he smoking some?

As a. Why does he do this every? Well, I know why he needs he needs the attention.

I'm giving it to Pat McAfee is giving it to him. He's talking about the grass is green wherever you water it. I think he knows his his way around some grass, not cutting it either. He's talking about potentially going elsewhere. Then he also said that trying to keep some of his buddies around that he would have no issue with reworking his contract.

I don't think there'd be a scenario where I'd come back and that would be the number. I think it would definitely definitely things would have to shift. There's a lot of teams because of covid that are strapped and you're seeing us a lot of different contracts are pushing more money out in deals. There's creating a certain kind of void years to allow for an easier cap.

So there would have to be some adjustments for sure. Why? Why did you sign this deal in the first place? I mean every now and then I get people who call me up telling me that that Tom Brady is the way that in order to build a successful team and and allow more money to be left out on the table for other players. You should take less money quarterback shouldn't run around trying to demand, you know, 15 and 17% of the cap. Well, nobody says that about Aaron Rodgers now does anybody I don't hear it. This is the dude who decided to sign a three year 150 million dollar deal. This is the man who most certainly is closer to the end of his career than the beginning at 39 years old and he's doing all this this debating publicly about his future. Come on Aaron Rodgers wants to play he wants to.

He just wants rose petals and and flowers picked and he wants them handed to him on a on a golden tray. He wants grapes and fans and he wants people down on one knee. Aaron Rodgers wants it all.

But don't take 150 million dollars and come back the next year ago. Well, you have to restructure Rob Gronkowski said it perfectly last week. Stop talking about your damn MVPs and talk about a Super Bowl.

Dude is really into himself here. We had this this comparison just a little bit last week. He's he's not like Tom Brady. I've never heard Tom Brady talk about an MVP. Tom Brady could go he could come he could stay I've been saying for a while now man just go home and he hasn't now he's just playing for the hell of it.

About to be 46 years old in August. Doesn't sound like he's going to be a Buccaneer. Appears that he's going to go elsewhere if he wants to continue on with his career. And last night when we were here on air, he was having a conversation on his own show. Let's go hosted there with Jim Gray. And Tom Brady was asked the question that I guess everyone wants to know but Tom Brady is not prepared to answer and he pretty much told Jim Gray as much listen to this time. You're leaving everybody guessing and you said you'll take your time.

Do you have any type of a timetable as to what you might want to do regarding your football career? Jim if I knew what I was going to fucking do. I'd have already done it. Okay. I'm taking a day at a time. I sense you're antagonized by the question. You're scratching. It's only the question that everybody wants to hear your scratchy. I appreciate your asking. Thank you.

Wow, that's that's the most aggressive thing. I've heard anyone say to Jim Gray since Pete Rose told him to stop antagonizing me and MLB all-star game more than 20 years ago. I guess Jim Gray was due just to get cursed out by somebody and that's supposed to be his his co-host even though Tom Brady is the the main attraction. Is this what we're in store for for the next I don't know 10 years.

No, right. Most quarterbacks aren't going into the Hall of Fame once they retire. Most quarterbacks aren't revered as some of the most successful ever. Most dudes when it's time to go. They get pushed out. But not Aaron Rodgers and not Tom Brady Tom Brady will leave when he feels like it and Aaron Rodgers will pretty much do the same.

But this is like someone who just doesn't know when to go. Why do we have any more episodes? Hey Shep, are we done with Let's Go from Tom Brady for the season? Do we have more episodes coming? I wish I could answer that factually correct.

I don't know. It's a great you would assume a guy that's played in 10 Super Bowls won seven should have won nine would be doing that up until Super Bowl Sunday. So the following so yeah, so the the two days of the one day after the Super Bowl concludes that would be the last Let's Go episode of the season. We don't need any more Tom Brady. Let's go after February 13th. That's the day after the Super Bowl. We don't need any more.

Let's go. I can tell you this much after Aaron Rodgers season concluded more than a week ago. We don't need any more Aaron Rodgers on Pat McAfee.

No one to hang it up. No one to go like we always point and look at wide receivers and call them selfish. I don't see anything wrong with what Tom Brady is doing.

Nothing at all. Do I need to hear him? I actually like the fact that he told Jim Gray basically like leave me alone. I like that and if Tom Brady wants to talk all the way up to the Super Bowl of today was last episode good for him.

I don't expect to hear from Tom Brady until he goes somewhere else or has a press conference with a new team or announces his retirement again. Aaron Rodgers. He's he's like he's like like diarrhea.

He has diarrhea of the mouth and you got to hear from him every single week. It's so easy to point at the skill position players and the wide outs and go. Stefan Diggs is is selfish and wide receiver X is selfish.

Oh my God. Aaron Rodgers is turned into one of the most selfish QBs ever. Give us a break and I'm glad he's helping to pay Pat McAfee's bills. Pat McAfee's making all the money extremely successful and Aaron Rodgers is playing his hand in it. Good for Aaron Rodgers. Maybe he's getting a cut. Not that he needs it.

He's making all the money in the world. And so here we have a 39 year old man, a 46 year old man. They can't get enough of the yapping. They don't know when to quit. They don't know when to give up. They don't know when to go away.

I'm sure we all know somebody like that. Just hanging on. Sucking all the life out of the room. Sucking all the life out of the party.

Sucking all the life out of the gym. And I'm assuming that we're going to get another old angry future Hall of Fame quarterback update next week. You need to take a hint from Matt Ryan. I turned on the television this weekend to watch NFL football on Sunday and boom, Matt Ryan was on television. Hey, Tom Brady, take a hint. I know you beat Matt Ryan's ass. I get that. I understand that.

You have a job waiting for you as well. I wouldn't mind seeing him in his suit on Fox instead of being tossed around out there on that field. And for Aaron Rodgers, well, damn, I just wish he would go away completely. Sorry. Two future Hall of Famers that just know how to talk. Say a whole lot of nothing to keep a whole lot of people guessing. Not me. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here on CBS Sports Radio.

You don't have to do any guessing. The phone lines are open 855-212-4CBS. And since we talked about Hall of Famers, I'm going to tell you about an individual who's going into the Hall of Fame of another sport. I don't know if he belongs there. I'm going to tell you about it on the other side.

It's the JR Sport Brief Show. We're just getting warmed up right here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Here's the second chance. Pete, those who will hear this tonight will say that you have been your own worst enemy and continue to be. How do you respond to that? In what way are you talking about?

By not acknowledging what seems to be overwhelming evidence. I'm surprised you're bombarding me like this. I mean, I'm doing an interview with you on a great night, a great occasion, a great ovation.

Everybody seems to be in a good mood and you're bringing up something 10 years ago. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. JR wants to hear from you. Call him now at 855-212-4CBS. That's 855-212-4227. Here, folks, since we opened up the show talking about Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers, I'm going to get to your calls in a second.

That's 855-212-4CBS. And I told you about Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. It's like we're all set up to get weekly updates as to what they will do or not do with their careers. Tom Brady is just like, man, if I bleepin' knew what I was bleepin' doin' with my career, you would know. Aaron Rodgers is just like, oh, yeah, yeah, I signed a $150 million deal last year, but I'd restructure it if it came down to it. It's like, well, thanks, Aaron Rodgers.

Next week, tell us what you plan on eating for dinner. So I'll get to your calls on those guys momentarily. But also, by the way, we found out who's going into Cooperstown next. The Baseball Hall of Fame. We found out who has gone over the threshold for 2023, and it's really only one guy. And I'm not sure he is a Hall of Famer in the way they count things today.

It's Scott Rowland. He's the only dude to get the required more than 75% of the vote from the Riders. He got 76% of the vote. This was his sixth year of eligibility.

They made his ass wait. And so Scott Rowland, I remember him starting off with the Phillies, winning a World Series with the Cards. This man went out there and won eight gold gloves.

Congratulations to him. He is going into the Hall of Fame, although his numbers on site just they're not overly enamoring. When you look at his numbers and the longevity of his career, the consistency and the defense, he's a Hall of Famer. I mean, years ago, would he have been?

I'm not so sure. I think they kind of let anybody in right now at this point in time. The next dude who will probably gain entry into the Hall of Fame will be Todd Helton.

He didn't hit 75% of the ballot vote. He only got to 72% on his fifth try, which would lead you to assume that he will get in. Billy Wagner will get in.

Andrew Jones, maybe give it a couple of years, maybe he will get in. People get up in arms about the Hall of Fame. They let everybody in right now. So what's the big deal? Good for Scott Rowland. Congratulations.

He actually just posted a video of him with his family finding out he's going in. And that has to be something you're thrilled about. Some dudes who will probably not get in. Alex Rodriguez, high A-Rod, 35% of the vote, cheater. Manny Ramirez, 33% of the vote, cheater. Andy Pettit, 17% of the vote, cheater. I don't think he's a Hall of Famer anyway. And then we got guys like Bobby Abreu, 15%. Is this guy Francisco Rodriguez, K-Rod? No, come on.

I find the people who even get on the ballot, I find it comical. Congratulations to Scott Rowland. He had a very good career. Was he the most feared guy ever? Hell, no he wasn't. He was consistent, offense, defense.

He did a damn good job. 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. That's 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. Ryan is here from San Diego. You're on the JR Sport Reef Show. Hey, how you doing? I'm very well, Ryan. What's on your mind?

What's on my mind? I wanted to talk about the Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers situation, right? So I've always had this feeling that Aaron Rodgers has always been about himself. He only thinks about MVPs. He doesn't think about Super Bowls.

This man has had a great team throughout his career and just can never get it done. Tom Brady, on the other hand, you look at his time with the New England Patriots. I mean, all he had was Gronk, Julian Edelman, and he made players around him better. And that's the thing with Aaron Rodgers, he's so about himself that he'll hop on podcasts throughout the week and talk about how he's doing X, Y, and Z, but doesn't perform on the field.

So that's really all that I have. Aaron Rodgers is overrated. Tom Brady, as I get older, I tend to respect him a lot more because, you know, he takes responsibility for, you know, his play on the field. Okay.

Well, thank you, Ryan, for calling from San Diego. You know, I'm not going to say that Tom Brady was out there playing with nobody. He did have an undefeated season, although didn't end with a Super Bowl, some guy named Randy Moss. I don't want to hedge on that side of Aaron Rodgers as well, saying that, oh, he's had guys. There have been some years where Aaron Rodgers didn't necessarily have the best of seasons or have the best of weapons. Yeah, we could talk about Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings and the Devontae Adams, the development of him.

But there were times where the Packers could have done better around him, which makes the past couple of years even more interesting when he signs a gigantic three-year deal just to stay and then the following season talks about MVPs and says, oh, well, yeah, I'd give up some of the money. Stop it, please. Craig is calling from Sacramento. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, Art, how you doing? I'm very good. What's going on, Craig?

Good. Well, I just want to get your opinion and get my opinion on, you know, the Baseball Hall of Fame. I mean, either you look at the career and you know it's a Hall of Fame career. I don't understand why they give them so long to keep trying to get on until attrition just gets them in. So how would you break it down? They have ten years of eligibility. If you don't accumulate a certain amount, you fall off. What would you do different? Yeah, I guess, I mean, they used to do, you know, they had the 500 home runs and the 300 wins and all that.

So I don't know if that was so good because the game has changed. But I don't know how exactly I would break it down, but I just kind of feel like, you know, somebody's going on the seventh and eighth and ninth try and one person gets in, it's kind of like, well, we've got to put somebody in. That's just kind of how I feel. And even with Aaron Rodgers, he's had an amazing career. But I mean, he's got one Super Bowl and some MVPs. But, you know, I don't know.

So anyway, I don't know how I would break it down. But it just seems to me that a lot of these, like who got in last year, Fred McGriff? Yeah, Crime Dog. Yeah, he got in via committee. He didn't even necessarily get voted.

He got voted in via committee. Yeah. So I just wanted to get my opinion. What do you think?

What's your opinion on it? I think all of these Hall of Fames, I don't, you know, Deion Sanders, I think exactly what he said. And he was specifically talking about the Pro Football Hall of Fame, obviously, not the baseball, even though he played in both.

Sure. There's a difference between the Hall of Fame and the Hall of Good. And based on what we see right now in baseball and sports, I would say Scott, see, I think about Hall of Fame, I think legendary.

Like you are, you are in the highest upper echelon. Scott Roland was very, very good. But the way things have been diluted, he is a Hall of Famer. I'm not going to dispute that. Would I put him in or would he go in in an older era?

Probably not. But now, even though I'm young, I sound like the old man saying, oh, why are we putting this guy in? It's tricky, man. This is what I understand and this is why I'm accepting of it. Times change.

Qualifications change. And the reality is we won't have guys. And think about it. Think about the game of baseball right now. Look at the numbers that some guys are putting up. But look how offensively putrid the game has become over the past several years. We're batting average suffers and guys are hitting a million home runs sometimes, but they're striking out a trillion times. It's there's no happy medium. Yeah, it's very rare to see one or two or three players, even on one roster, batting above 300. You know, it's it's it's bad, man. We don't got guys who even move into 280 range and a 34 percent on base percentage, 34 to 40.

Nobody nobody walks just for the hell of it. I was looking at, you know, Freddie Freeman's numbers and Matt Olson's comparing their numbers just for the sake of it earlier today. And how did one guy switch from another? Well, the Braves went from a man who's on base 40 percent of the time. And they gave up. They brought in a guy who's on base 32 percent of the time. And the numbers aren't what they they used to be.

But that's they've been a good like like pitchers. We can't look at Hall of Fame criteria and say, oh, man, he needs to edge closer to 300 wins that those days are over. Nobody pitches long enough. They don't stay in a game long enough. So the criteria changes.

I'm not mad at the sports writers, although some of them can be rather vindictive. But if we go this route, then nobody will get into the Hall of Fame. We're going to have dwindling numbers into the future, you know. Yeah, I know. I agree. One hundred percent times. Thank you, Craig. Closers and Moneyball and statistics.

It's all different. Well, I can name some closers over the past several years. I put Billy Wagner in and let's let's keep it moving after that.

I find it comical that that K-Rod is even on the ballot. But what do I know? Well, thank you. You know a lot and I appreciate your opinion there and taking time to talk to me and I love your show.

No doubt. Craig, thank you for calling from Sacramento. It's the JR Sport Reshow here on CBS Sports Radio eight five five two one two four CBS.

I'll take more of your calls on Rogers and Brady, Scott Roll in the Hall of Fame. And then I want to give you an update on someone who is definitely going into the Hall of Fame in his sport. It's basketball. I got an update.

You'll hear from Kevin Durant on his injury. You're listening to the J.R. Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, great show.

I listen to you every night. One of the best broadcasters around really are in tune to what's happening in professional sports. Call in now at eight five five two one two four CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio eight five five two one two four CBS.

That's eight five five two one two four CBS. We got a lot to get into as the show continues on. We'll get into Patrick Mahomes and his ankle. We'll talk about Brock Purdy.

We'll get into Bill O'Brien. I want to update you on the Los Angeles Lakers, who I have on here in the studio. I still am trying to figure out why LeBron even has teammates. The Clippers are beating the Lakers and this happens to be a home game for the Lakers. It's a you know, two teams play in Los Angeles. The Clippers will get their own arena in a couple of seasons.

And right now the Clippers have a forty six to thirty six lead. You hear about breaking news? What did you hear about the breaking news?

What is it? Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are playing at the same time? Oh, well, well, this is that breaking news? Doesn't happen often, JR. Well, I don't consider. I can go on a whole list of guys who who don't appear to be NBA players to me. That would be Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Anthony Davis, Zion Williamson. Do any of these guys play basketball? Three of the four are in this game. One is not playing, ironically enough, but Anthony Davis, before the game started, he he had to brush off the dust that LeBron threw in the air. So, you know, Anthony Davis will take offense to anything as the Clippers have a fifty one to thirty six lead, a little more than eight minutes left in the first half. So congratulations to LeBron James as he continues to move closer and closer to passing Kareem entering into tonight.

LeBron James was only two hundred and twenty four points away. We've been talking about Hall of Famers this hour. Hall of Famers in multiple sports. Aaron Rodgers will be a Hall of Famer.

Tom Brady will be a Hall of Famer. I shared with you the news that that Scott Roland, former third baseman for the Phillies and also the Cards, he is now being inducted into this year's class for the Hall of Fame. And in prior seasons, prior years and prior generations, he wouldn't have.

But times have changed. And after about six years of being on the ballot, Scott Roland is in. Billy Wagner was pretty much right behind him, which probably lets you know that next year, Billy Wagner will probably go ahead and go to the Hall of Fame. And in a typical year, I wouldn't I wouldn't consider Scott Roland to be a Hall of Famer. I even watching him play. I considered him to be extremely good.

Very, very good. Not Hall of Fame. If Barry Bonds wasn't on drugs, I'd say Hall of Fame. If Alex Rodriguez wasn't on drugs, I'd say Hall of Fame. I look at Mariano Rivera, I go Hall of Fame.

I go Kirby Puckett, Hall of Fame. I think about if you have to think real hard about it and make a case, are they a Hall of Famer? I guess you're sure you're always going to have dudes on the on the edge in every single sport. But it feels all across the board, whether you're talking about Canton, Springfield or Cooperstown.

It's like the barrier to entry has changed. And speaking of that, let me give you an update on someone who is going into the Basketball Hall of Fame, even if he quit and retire tomorrow, which he will not do. And that's Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant is actually he actually spoke to the media earlier today in Brooklyn, spoke to the local media. We know he sprained his knee about a month ago, scheduled to be out until, you know, maybe mid February. And it was reported by Shams that Kevin Durant wants to come back and play before the All-Star break in the middle of February.

And then may also want to go out there and compete in the All-Star game. But in the meantime, Kevin Durant let the media in Brooklyn know today that he's not playing basketball yet. He's just doing small exercises to strengthen up his knee. And he's not teasing himself by picking up a ball.

This is what Durant had to say. Couple hours a day, just small exercises trying to build my strength back up, getting away from not doing any basketball activities for a couple of weeks to send you back. So just trying to do the little things. Are you able to, like, do you just maybe stand around and shoot a ball or do you not even?

No, I don't want to tease myself like that. It's tough not being able to go full speed. So I just try to do the small things first and then once I'm able to get back on the court, do some things and that's when I lock in on that. Yeah, well, he's one of the best human beings you'll ever see pick up a basketball. And when he's not on the floor, he's just go, damn, it'd be nice if he was out there. He's he's a he's a thrill to watch. I've been able to see him in an NBA game. I've been able to watch him in person just playing in the street. And he is he is unlike any human being I've ever seen pick up a basketball.

His fluidity at his size just makes no sense. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS, 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. Vinny's calling from Vegas. Hell of a name.

Vinny from Vegas. Go ahead. You're on CBS Sports Radio.

Hey, JR. Thanks for taking my call. I appreciate it.

No doubt, Vinny. I appreciate it so much. I just want to let you know this is absolutely my favorite new sports channel. Listening to you for a long time. It takes me home in my car every night.

Seven o'clock. And also, I got to give props to the chef the other night. I tried to get through and talk to him when he covered for you on Saturday night. He did a great job. Just give him some applause there.

No, absolutely. Well, he was here Friday night. I'm not here on Saturdays. Excuse me, Friday night. Yeah, it was Friday night. That's right, too.

Excuse me. I got my days mixed up a little bit. It happens living in Vegas. Yeah, it does, man.

It's just a 24-hour town. Things happen, but I listen to you as much as I can, and it's definitely the best show going right now. Thank you. Well, what else is on your mind? What's up? Well, Aaron Rodgers, I'll tell you what. It's about time he just showed up and stopped whining, stopped moaning about all this nonsense and what is, should be, and all these phrases that he's saying. It's just crazy. And his MVPs, nobody wants to hear it anymore. It's such a tired story. I mean, it's getting old.

What do you think? Yeah, I wish he would just shut up. I think if you can't come to the conclusion that he's selfish by now and really into himself, how much more evidence do you need? I mean, we've had multiple instances just of him being all about knowing but himself. Exactly.

Selfish, condescending. He talks to the media, and he talks to the general public that are his fans like we're idiots, like he's the smartest person in the room at all times, doesn't give anyone any real information. He dances around the subject the whole time, and it's just so old and tired. I just wish he would go away. Well, if he's having these conversations publicly, do I even want to think about what he privately thinks in his head?

He's a conflicted dude, man, so we got to hang in this, I guess, until he figures out what he wants to do. Thank you, Vinnie, for calling from Vegas. Let's go ahead and talk to Rob from Toronto. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show. JR, are you there?

I am here, and so are you here with me, Rob. What's on your mind? Well, the first thing I want to say is love listening to your show. Thanks. And when I drive home from work every day, I listen to your show. Just a great show with my drive home, love listening, first-time caller. Thanks.

What you got? I wanted to talk about the baseball holiday. Okay. So I think that it's a little bit messed up that they didn't put in A-Rod, and they put in other players that maybe didn't take drugs, but A-Rod was still a very good player, and he didn't get into the Hall of Fame. Well, here's the deal, and thank you so much, Rob, for calling from Toronto.

I appreciate you, man. We know why Alex Rodriguez didn't get into the Hall of Fame. We know why. I can give you a few reasons.

How about I bookend him? One, steroids. That's on one end of the spectrum. And on the other end of the spectrum, it's being a jerk, okay? You can fill in a whole lot there in between.

How about, okay, let's put this in between. On one end, Alex Rodriguez used drugs, and he lied about it. On the other end, he was a jerk. And then somewhere in the middle, he had the nerve to lie and then also decide to sue the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball to get his monies, all of his monies.

Yes, plural, monies, every dollar cent and penny of it. So anybody who doesn't put Alex Rodriguez on Hall of Fame, what is Alex Rodriguez going to do? He ain't complaining about it. All he does is go, oh, yeah, I hope one day I go into the Hall of Fame.

Oh, yeah, I hope one day they put it in. Oh, yeah, if I don't get in, you know, I'll explain it to my family and my daughters. That's all he going to do.

The same way that he had to sit up there and explain to Katie Couric, oh, yeah, yeah, I didn't do anything, and then he said he lied. I ain't got no sympathy for Alex Rodriguez. He should be worrying about the Minnesota Timberwolves right now.

Are they actually going to be able to complete that purchase? Does Anthony Edwards know who he is yet? I don't care about no A-Rod in the Hall of Fame. Let him buy a ticket like everybody else. It's the J.R. Sportbree show here on CBS Sports Radio, 855-2124 CBS. I'm going to get to more of your questions. We'll talk about Holmes. We'll talk Bill O'Brien. We'll do it all on CBS Sports Radio. We'll talk Bill O'Brien. We'll talk Bill O'Brien. We'll talk Bill O'Brien.