Klay's Big Move (Hour 2)

Call from Mom. Answer it.

Call silenced. Instacart knows nothing gets between you and the game. That's why they make ordering from your couch easy. Stock up today and get all your groceries for the week delivered in as fast as 30 minutes, without missing a minute of the game. You have 47 new voicemails. Download the app to get free delivery on your first three orders while supplies last.

Minimum $10 per order. Additional terms apply. Alrighty, rocking and rolling. It is the Zach Gelb show coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Chael Sonnen is going to join us coming up in a few moments. The former MMA fighter, he was a part of all the desk coverage for UFC 303, which was really a crazy card with all the changes. Originally it was supposed to be McGregor going up against Chandler, then you had a new main event, you also had a new co-main event. And you saw Alex Pereira eventually beat Yuri once again, where there was a knockout, or it looked like it was going to be a knockout, right as the horn sounded and the bell did go off at the end of the first round, and then 12 seconds into the second round, boom, Pereira knocks out Yuri. But what transpired with Dan Ige and Diego Lopez is the craziest thing I think I've ever seen, and I'm a casual UFC fan, I am.

I've become more and more of a fan the last few years. But what transpired, where originally it was supposed to be Ortega against Lopez, and Ortega couldn't make weight. So Lopez agrees to fight a weight class up, and then the morning of the fight, I guess Ortega had 103 degree fever. So no one knew he was going to be forced out, and I'm watching, I think it's the preliminaries when I was watching it, because I was all over the entire card, and in the preliminaries they say Ortega's out, and Dan Ige, who has a fight coming up in July, I think on July 20th, he's in the area training in Las Vegas, I guess he lives in the area, he agrees to do the fight.

Think about that. He agrees to do the fight, wasn't training for this, and then they go to weigh in, and they had to go up another weight class. So Diego Lopez in two days had to go up not only two weight classes, he had to fight someone he wasn't even preparing for. So I don't know what was more impressive, was that Ige just basically, who was training for the fight, just showing up and participating, which was ridiculous. If he would have won, it would have been one of the sickest things I've ever seen.

Or it was Lopez, who he could have just bailed out, he okayed the two weight class changes, and also the new opponent. So that was absolutely wild, but if you listen to me, I got a chance to see Alex Pereira fight in person twice. I got a chance to see him fight in person, and I remember walking away the second time I saw him, and I was just enamored, enamored by him. The intro is insane. The background, so this guy's about to turn 37, and it feels like he's just getting started, which is why he turned 37 this weekend.

It's crazy! But Pereira, we were once talking, I talked to Dana White about this, about the possibility of another rematch with him and Adesanya for a middleweight. That was back after Pereira won at Madison Square Garden in November, again. And it wasn't against Adesanya this time, it was against Yuri, it was the other time they fought. And there was talks about maybe Adesanya and Alex Pereira fighting then again, and now we have abandoned that middleweight dream, and now we're talking about Pereira potentially fighting in a heavyweight bout against Jon Jones.

So UFC 303, in the aftermath of it, was crazy. Chael Sonnen does a great job, the former MMA fighter, and obviously he was sensational in the broadcast coverage, really enjoyed him at the desk. I saw Dustin Porre was on there as well, and he's kind enough to join us right now. Chael, appreciate the time, thanks so much for it, how you been? That was a beautiful introduction, and you guys are exactly right. I tried to call Jon Jones, I wanted to be a hero for you, so I tried to call Jon Jones to tell you what he was seeing, what he was thinking, if we could get that fight. He gave me, I had bubbles, I had bubbles, like he wrote the message, but he never hit send. I don't know what was on the other end of it, and I'm dying, this is like 10 minutes ago, I'm dying to know what Jon's thinking about Pereira. Well, we all got ghosted, I just guess you got ghosted by Jon Jones.

Well, you know, I guess there is a point where you have to elect yourself mayor of Get the Hitsville. My last interaction with Jon Jones was five years ago, and he again wrote it back immediately, but it was not only a middle finger emoji, he skin toned it, and it was the funniest, it was the funniest F you I've ever gotten. Well, let me start you off with this, because, you know, I was saying- Can you hear me? Is this on?

I'm giving you fire right now, we got a bad service? No, it's sensational, we always know you step up and deliver, but I want to ask you this, because I remember being at UFC in November, and everyone after that fight was talking about seeing Pereira drop back down to middleweight and fight Adesanya again. And then it's okay, he goes and wins in a light heavyweight, and we know what Pereira's been able to do, but now just the fact, Chael, that we're talking about him fighting in the heavyweight division, I've never seen a rise like this, it's crazy.

In sport, excuse me, in sport, and this is a challenge, you're a sports guy, your listeners are, if it happened, please tell me, I can guarantee it never happened in combat sport. I'm telling you, in sport, I'm old enough to remember when Bo Jackson was playing football and went and played baseball, but he wasn't 36 when he started, and he didn't become the best in the world. I have never seen a rise like this, basketball, baseball, any way you want to do it, this might be the great athlete of all time, that's silly, it might be true. How much longer will this continue to go, because you just said it, right, he got his start so late, right, we know with the kickboxing, the history and the story, but he turns 37 this week. Brother, it's just beginning, let me tell you why, and here's one thing, and please mark my words, you'll be glad that you called me from Uncle Chael's mouth only, okay, these guys that he's beaten, they all went and fought him. Yuri Prochaska, Saturday night, went and fought him, he brought his skills, Bruce Selden never did that, Peter McNeely never did that, Frank Bruno never did that, nobody aside from Evander Holyfield ever did that against Mike Tyson.

When they reached that level of fear, the Anderson civil level of fear, where the guys that leave all the skills in the locker room and they just try to get back to their family in one piece, that is what just happened Saturday. That fight that you just saw Alex in, that's the last time you're going to see Alex fight, and tell John, if and when they ever get John, you will never see him fight again, you'll see him in the ring, you'll see him make his walk, you will never see anybody try to beat that guy again. I know that Dana will keep on saying that John Jones is pound for pound the best fighter in the UFC, and it's tough to argue it, but do you think Alex Pereira is the best pound for pound fighter in the UFC now? If Alex Pereira, the G.O.N.T. conversation is very fun, the greatest of all time, it's such a fun conversation, if Alex Pereira is to win the heavyweight championship, so that would make him champ, champ, champ, first ever, we will no longer have that conversation. The heated debate you heard between Dana and the media on Saturday will never happen again, when it's time to talk about G.O.T., we will just say Alex Pereira. I don't believe that he's surpassed John Jones, that's something I'd have to see to believe. John is something very special that I have a hard time explaining his skills and ability. Brother, I'm in that same spot with Pereira, I'm poking over my words right now. I've never seen, I can't explain it, he doesn't have some secret coach, he doesn't have some secret training, anytime we see this, you know, it's Olympic year, we'll see that in a month when the games kick up, we'll see some country come out of nowhere like Jamaica did eight years ago.

They're on steroids, they're like the Russians, there's no great secret, they got a hold of a great chemist, that's not what's happening here. This guy's clean, he's above board, and he just found a game that he can play better than anybody else. Chael Sonnen here with us delivering us fire right on the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. So, I understand people saying he's not the best fighter in the sport right now, but he's got to be the face of the UFC Alex Pereira right now.

Oh yeah, I mean it's down to him and Sean O'Malley, I personally think maybe Sean's got him nudged just a little bit, I have some numbers to support that, but that's not going to continue. You throttle up his game, I shouldn't say it won't continue, I'm just sharing with you, the bump that Alex Pereira got two days ago, like Dana White was not planning this. This was not the direction, nobody believed this could happen, we had plenty of kickboxers come over, we had plenty of middle-aged guys come over, it doesn't work this way.

There's no great secrets, man, I've seen this guy lift weights, not a lot of them, I've seen this guy run, and it was fast, it wasn't that fast. There's nothing here that is unique, there's nothing here that's special, he doesn't have a trick move, he's not overly dynamic, he's never had a wrestling match, he has no color belt in jiu-jitsu, at least not that I know of, I know he's never had a competitive match, this has never happened. This is a straight up kickboxer, we used to tease kickboxers, in 1993 when they started to figure out what arts work and which ones don't, kickboxing was one of the first ones laughed at. Do you actually think that Pereira won't fight again until it's Jon Jones? Because he always takes fights, that's what I love about him, he's always in the octagon. Oh, no, no, no, hey, this Jon Jones come out of everybody's mouth, you and I, everybody, and I'm sure Jon's talked about it today too. And one thing about Jon, whether he pushes, sends back an arc of bubbles or not, I will speak for Jon, he will take that fight. Jon Jones is not scared of Alex Pereira, not even maybe a little tiny bit, he just has his hands full right now with Sipe.

But let's set that aside, to your question specifically, Pereira has not said that, Pereira actually said the opposite. He said I will fight anybody and I am always ready, and I have to believe him, a lot of guys say that hyperbole, but he saved the show two nights ago. He saved UFC 300, he wasn't booked on that card, and to do it he offered to go up to heavyweight and fight Tom Aspall, our current champion in the absence of Jon Jones. This guy's the real deal, I don't know where he gets the confidence from, he got nothing special. There is nothing that I have, me personally, that I would give to have what he has. Like a genie pops out of the bottle, I can trade him straight across, nothing. No wrestling experience, he didn't even have a fighting experience, he got an amateur record, 11 fights that includes amateur, 11 in total?

That's nothing, you could get that in a month in certain jurisdictions. And he's the best, he has no black belt, he has no black belt in the yard, he's got two gold belts that say he's the best. You can't make the story up. So what's next for him, did we start to hear noise about Adesanya again, like who do you think his next fight will be? No, most definitely it will not be Adesanya. You're going to start hearing about Uncle Ayub.

I know what you're thinking right now, the same thing everybody else is, what did Chayil say followed by who, but he's just the only guy that's left. And the problem there is Uncle Ayub does have the one skill set, he's a fighter from Dagestan, which means he has high level grappling, one of Khabib's guys. And the one style that we haven't seen Alex dominate or even defeat is that kind of a wrestler, and it's not worth the risk in my opinion.

To take the risk that this guy could get over on your big, this guy called Uncle Ayub, I think that's a nickname, I don't know, maybe it's a first name or last name, I don't even know and I'm not trying to be funny right now. To take the risk of him taking the spot of your biggest star, I don't know, I don't know, Dana White's a big gambler man, I don't know if he's that big. Chayil Sundin here with us, do you ever think we'll see McGregor and Chandler or is this just going to get him pushed and pushed back further and further? No I don't believe so, I'll put it to you this way, we were very unlikely to ever get this match and nobody was more resistant than Dana. In fact Connor put out a piece on his massive social media that the fight was going to happen on June 29th International Fight Week, him and Chandler, 5 rounds, the whole bit. And Dana White did a media tour to let the world know, no it is not, I mean he went on Pat McAfee, he went on CBS Radio, he let everybody know, that is not true, that statement was not put out by me or the company.

They only share that with you, he was very reluctant to do the one that just fell through and I don't know why, that never came out. Dana was a gentleman through this whole process and Dana protected Connor through this whole process but Dana's also known something through this entire process and I do not believe you're going to fool him twice. So then what's next for Chandler, because I feel that's what gets lost here, I feel bad, he's been waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting and I don't believe that fight happens until we actually see it. Well you should have heard him, you should have heard Chandler, poor Chandler, he's such an entertainer, he's such a handsome guy, I really like this guy, but he's 36 years old. You can't be a cage fighter or a Division 1 wrestler and be 36 years young, he's 36 years old and he was cutting this promo about you've got to believe and he sounded like Anthony Robinson, this is positivity and it's going to be me and Connor as a, hey Chandler, first off, in case you've never read any of those positivity books that usually turn out not to be true, you can't do it when you're counting on somebody else, particularly a drug addict, in this case Connor McGregor, and secondly, if you get the fight you look like a good negotiator, if you don't get the fight you look like you're unemployed, which was you for two years, currently are. Do something else Chandler, you're a prize fighter, to get the prize you've got to go fight. What's more likely?

You're going to miss me when this interview hangs up, correct? You can't get this kind of insight. LP is on fire over here. You are on fire, there's no doubt about it, but what's more likely? Chandler and McGregor get into the Octagon or Stipe and John Jones gets into the Octagon?

You're a genius for asking and I love questions like this. Alright, let me just think for two seconds, it's going to be Stipe and Jones and those guys have one thing that Connor McGregor doesn't, which is bills that they can't pay. They can both pretend to be set up, and I know that's part of John's stick, he likes to act it. He's not fighting because he wants to, he's fighting because he has to, and that's the major difference with McGregor. They say a rich man can't fight, I mean that's an expression that goes back to Sugar Ray Leonard. They coined Thomas Hearns with it, Marvin Hagler, but it was actually Sugar Ray that said that.

He said you can't get up and run five miles in the morning when you wake up in silk sheets. And yes, you will see Jones and you will see Stipe, but that's because they got to. Chael Sonnen here with us for a few more minutes. Before we let you run, let me get back to UFC 303. How about what Diego Lopez did and the story of Dan Ige and then Ortega having to drop out because he was sick.

Lopez going up two weight classes, Ige coming over from down the street practically training in July for a fight. I've never seen anything like that. When I was watching the card and you guys explained it, I was like, did I tune into the onion? Is this really going on? I didn't believe it. Yeah, it is.

It is amazing. I mean, one thing about this sport in all fairness is we are going to fiercely adhere to whatever rules we make up on the spot. But yes, to make believe that you have the authority to weigh somebody in outside of the window of weigh ins. Like there is a precedent that goes back over 40 years where weigh ins are from makeup numbers from 9 to 11 in the morning. And at 1103, the guy comes and gets on the scale and is on weight. But he's late to the scale. Something happened. His clock was there. He's late. And he never fought.

None of them ever fight. There's a reason. I just got to tell you, like, I love this and this was so fun. But I love that it was so fun because I've never seen it. I've never seen it because you can't do it. At any rate, it's been done.

And yes, I see it the way you do. Like Lopez and what he agreed to do. He was 146 pounds the day before. He did not just move up one weight class. That was the fight Ortega. He moved up two weight classes in one day, which again, you're not allowed to do unless you make up the rules as you go.

But either way, that's not the point. It was a gangster move and it was a great move by E.K. as well.

I enjoyed it. I know Michael Page lost is just as simple as he can't get to the ground and he just has to deliver that knockout punch to win. Yeah, I think that it is a little bit. Hey, I'll tell you one thing about page is dynamic and frightened as he is. He's not very big. He cut some of the least amount of weight of anybody on the card. And I only tell you that because, you know, yeah, he's got to land that knockout punch and it's hard to do. It's really hard to knock somebody out that's bigger than you is a great misconception that there is a size advantage in this sport. Like Muhammad Ali was one hundred and ninety eight pounds in his prime. And Mike Tyson literally did not weigh more than one single opponent ever had. Like it's a misconception, but it is hard to knock the guy out. That's a reality.

Just your power changes. It's different, man. I thought that was great. I really was impressed. Were you surprised? And I know.

Right. The judges and how fights are scored. You know, nothing surprises me was that way with boxing. And you've seen a little bit of it in the UFC, just not as bad as it's been in boxing. Were you surprised that back that fight was as close? And Dana, I think, even said it could have been a coin flip. I thought in Machado, Gary clearly won the fight.

Oh, did you really? You know, I think if there was ever if there was ever a fight like I'm training a bunch of a judge. Let's say I've trained a bunch of judges. So we're going to look to look at fights and look at rounds and debate. If there was ever a fight that I've ever seen that I could show him that was an absolute draw, it was that one. I got the first round. The first round was clear to Ian. The second round was clear to MVP.

And so did all the judges. But when you went into the third round, it was two and a half minutes on the dot. It was I think it was 231 if we're being literal of one guy on top. Well, the other guy got the exact same position for 229. Like they literally split time on the same position. Generally speaking, when human nature comes into it with judges or human beings, whoever did what I just described, what they did at last is the one that wins.

And that's exactly what happened here. I know you were with Dustin Poirier on Saturday on the desk. You guys are doing a kick ass job. Poirier is talking about one last fight. You have any idea who that fight's going to be up against?

The leading candidate right now is Justin Gaethje. And there's really nothing that's happened. That's just if you talk to the fans. Hey, what's the big one? What's the interesting one? What can you package up?

What can you sell? But things can change very quickly. You know, the UFC is going to honor Michael Chandler. If you want to wait and Connor returns, we'll put you together.

But that's as far as that goes. If Michael Chandler returns, everybody's fair game for McGregor. That would include Poirier. I'm not suggesting for you that that's the fight that's going to happen.

I'm just suggesting that that's the star. And if you look at the guys that are available and the guys that are still competing, he could get something going with Colby Covington, but it hasn't happened yet. And the storylines and the things that are out there, Trilogy, Justin Gaethje, I'm still in Vegas.

If there was somewhere to bet that happens, I would. He is Chael Sonnen, does a great job. Of course, Daniel Cormier and also was all over the UFC 303 coverage on the desk. Chael, really appreciate the time.

Thanks for doing this. Yes, thanks for mentioning Daniel. He used to be a fighter.

He was pretty good. Whatever happened to that guy? You know, did they ever work with that Rogan guy?

You know, so there you go. Chael Sonnen with us on the show. Man, Santa, let me tell you, I've never talked to him. You know, I've heard him obviously on the broadcast. I literally think I would never have to drink coffee again if I just talked to Chael Sonnen each and every morning. Like, if I just called him and needed someone to motivational speak to me for five minutes to wake me up, I think he'd be the perfect person to do so.

All right, let's make that happen. I mean, caffeine is not great for your body, so, you know, let's go. Actually, I drink black coffee, put nothing in it. My doctor said I could have like two, three cups a day.

I don't. I only have one cup, but I don't think it's as unhealthy for you as you think. What doctor is prescribing three cups of coffee a day? Hey, I don't put any milk, I don't put any sugar in it. He goes, you could have a second or third cup if you really wanted to.

Good luck with that. That's what happens when you're somewhat in shape. You know, I used to not be able to say that for 10 years, but now I guess I could say that.

Love it, baby. That's what my doctor was telling me. I don't think it was like a voodoo doctor or anything like that, but that's what I was getting told. Yuri was claiming that Alex Pereira is like doing magic.

That was some weird build up. My second cup of coffee, I'm shaking like a leaf. Oh, are you? Oh, yeah. I think you're always worried, though.

No, no, no. It's just the caffeine. My body just can't take too much caffeine, and I just start shaking. Not from worry, not from any kind of stress. It's just pure caffeine.

You may want to get that checked out. It doesn't seem all that healthy. Which is why I don't have a second cup of coffee. But maybe you shouldn't have one if your body's shaking after one cup of coffee. No, after two. Oh, if you have the second. If I have a second cup of coffee, my body starts...

But I think a lot of people, if they have too much caffeine, I mean they look like they're a crack addict running around the street. Oh, that's a good way to put it. Alrighty, this is that Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. Klay Thompson. Looks like he has a new home.

We'll tell you who it is and we'll discuss next. Temp check. What kind of summer are we having this year? A family road trip summer? A beach bum summer?

Or a wake me when the sun sets summer? With Instacart, choose your own adventure and skip the shopping side quests. Where available, you can get ice cream delivered to your hotel, sunscreen to the pool, or cold brew to your bed. Well, store in as fast as 30 minutes.

Wherever you find yourself this summer, you can get the goods. Download Instacart for free delivery on your first three orders. Offer valid for a limited time. Minimum $10 per order.

Excludes restaurants. Additional terms and fees apply. Alrighty, let's get you caught up to date on Klay Thompson.

This is the Zach Gelb show. So Klay Thompson intends to sign a three-year contract worth $50 million with a player option. And he's going to be joining the Dallas Mavericks.

Now, there could be some complications here. Nothing is official until July 6th anyway. But I guess the Warriors are going to do some sign and trade and there's a lot of complications. And it's been reported that they're nowhere close to actually executing that sign and trade. Santer, what did you say just was tweeted out by Anthony Irwin who covers the Lakers?

That the Lakers are willing to offer what for Klay? Four years eighty. Four for eighty. Four for eighty. So is that at least... So here's my question. I wonder if that's misleading.

Not the four for eighty. But if Klay is planning to join the Mavericks on a three-year deal worth $50 million with the player option, is that player option to make it a four-year deal? Or is that a player option going from two to three? I don't know the answer to that. Because if that's the case, that it's a three-year deal with a player option, because it's a three-year deal with a player option, is that three years for fifty and then there's an additional year for the fourth for the player option?

Or is it the player option comes after the second year? Because if that's the case, you know, you add another $16 million to it, and it still would be a four-year, $66 million deal where the Lakers you said were offering what, four for eighty? So the way that I interpret that, let's say if that Anthony Irwin report is true, the way I interpret that is Klay thinks Dallas is in a better position to go in a championship than the Lakers.

He can't say he's wrong because the Lakers, right, they lost in the first round to Denver, and the Mavericks just lost in the championship, you know, in the NBA Finals. You know, bring Stu over here real quickly, and let me just ask this to Stu, and let's get me on camera on the YouTube as well if you guys don't mind. Are we down on YouTube?

Okay, so we'll get the YouTube back up and running. Stu, isn't that the only way to interpret that? The Lakers are reportedly offering more money that he just views Dallas as a team that's in a better chance to go in. And really for Klay, what else are you playing for? To go in a championship. Yeah, and I think that's absolutely the case, and I don't blame him.

He's right. I mean, they just made the championship. Lakers aren't making a championship next year. Klay Thompson and whoever else they add, that's not a championship team.

So there's also two other ways to look at it. Let's continue with Klay, and then I'll get into my stuff point. For Klay, he was considering, right, the Clippers were interested.

I saw the Magic were interested. But once they signed KCP, or they agreed to terms with KCP, Contavious Caldwell-Pope, I thought that took the Magic out of the running for Klay Thompson, but people were saying that's not necessarily the case. The Lakers, you know, they needed a shooter like Stu. Klay and his dad's a broadcast of a team where he played, obviously.

That would have fit a need. Now, it's also another play that gets injured a lot, which also fits what the Lakers are. But the Lakers need a shooter, and we know one thing.

Even if Klay's role is reduced, he could still shoot the crap out of the ball, and he could still make a lot more three-pointers than a lot of other people in the league, even though he's hobbled at this point. Yeah, I think he would have been a good fit. Again, I don't think he would have put them over the top and made them a contender, but for what they're trying to do, I think... He would have improved them. Yeah, he would have definitely improved them, and now the options are very limited. There is nobody left now for them to really get to improve the team, so it's going to be interesting to see what they do. You know where Klay should have gone? It should have been Denver.

Right? They lose KCP. I know they still have Michael Porter Jr. there, and he could shoot three, but he's kind of hot and cold. For Klay, you're playing this game now to go win a championship.

He clearly showed. You know he's still going to get money. You know, he's still going to go make $15, $20 million a year, whatever it was.

But he could have got more money in Los Angeles, and he elected to go to Dallas. I don't... Like, the whole new salary cap and the aprons and all that stuff, it is very tough to comprehend. And I'm not going to try to sit there, and it was already tough to understand all the rules with the NBA. I'm not going to try to learn these new rules.

And I know that it just restricts teams if you're in the one or two-apron category. So I don't know where Denver was. But if you're looking to go win a championship and kind of play like that Ray Allen role on the Miami Heat, I thought he should have just gone to the Denver Nuggets. That's what I would have done if I was Klay Thompson. But you can't crush him going to Dallas, because as long as Kyrie is committed to playing basketball, and, you know, his focus is on basketball, when the ball gets thrown up in the air for the season, you put a team with Luka and Kyrie that we already saw them get to the NBA Finals, where they were locked in together for three, four months. Now you add Klay.

That's another guy that could sit there and knock down shots. So it's a good move by the Dallas Mavericks, and it's a good move by Klay Thompson, because it was time to end. His time was done in Golden State. You know, Golden State, a year ago, they gave the four-year contract, $100 million to Draymond Green. That was stupid then. It's stupid now.

They should not have done that. That's paying a player for his past, not what he'll do in the future. However, you look at Klay, it is going to be weird seeing him in a different uniform, and now you'll see him in Dallas. But it's better for his career, because he wasn't winning another championship again with Golden State. And now I think the fascinating part of this is, what are the Warriors going to do? Like, Stu, you just said after, what, Klay goes to Dallas and, right, KCP, he goes from Denver, and he used to be a Laker, but he goes from Denver to Orlando. It's like you just said, what the heck do the Lakers do?

Now what do the Golden State Warriors do? You still got Steph, and you didn't get Paul George. There was rumors that maybe they were going to get Paul George. Paul George goes to the Sixers, and now he's competing with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, but I actually look at this whole Klay Thompson situation. It's a good move for Klay to go to Dallas.

That's not the fascinating part to me. The fascinating part is, how do you find a way to preserve the championship window that Steph Curry could still bring? Like, Steph Curry's still an elite player in this league, and you botched it last year by committing $100 million to Draymond. Now Klay's gone, which I understand, but it shouldn't have been one or the other. It should have been both back or both gone, but you're not going to double down at this point after you saw the Draymond thing blow up in your face, and then you weren't able to do anything in this offseason so far. You know, maybe Durant comes and saves the day, and maybe Durant goes Phoenix. I can't stand your guts, which that's more of a Durant problem than a Phoenix problem, and he goes to Golden State, but outside of that, I got nothing, and it's kind of a sad thing that Steph's still there, and they rewarded Draymond, Klay left, and neither of those guys should have been brought back, you know, in just being honest, and they've missed that opportunity to kind of retool this team and refix this team. You know, it would have been nice to see LeBron go out there. You put LeBron and Steph together. We knew that wasn't going to happen, though.

That was a pipe dream, and I led that pipe dream. Like, Stu, I turned my attention to Durant, but then everyone would tell you that the Rockets are in play for Durant because they got all their picks back, you know, the Suns' picks back, and that trade with the Nets that they made last week, and I don't know about you, Stu, and I know you're a big NBA guy. Do you think Durant is really checking his ego at the door and basically walking back to Golden State with his tail in between his legs when he already left there? Like, I have a tough time envisioning that, but that's the only thing I can think of. No, I'd be pretty shocked if that happened. I just don't see that happening. I mean, I've seen on Twitter people have mentioned Laurie Markkinen as a guy that Utah's trying to trade. Maybe he's a piece, but I don't think that really does much for them. I mean, it's just another scorer. I don't think that makes him, like, a contender or anything like that.

So you also have to think of it this way, too. Look how long it took Damian Lillard to request a trade from the Trail Blazers and actually go through with that. We had, like, four years of buildup on that, and he was afraid of being looked at as the bad guy. Steph is under contract for two more seasons this season than the next season, I believe, and then he's a free agent in 2026, 2027. Steph won't do it. He won't. But I'm kind of at the point where after seeing the way this offseason looks like it's going to go, it's once again not being mad that Klay Thompson left, but they weren't able to get Paul George.

You know, I don't think the rant's coming back there. You know, I don't really think there's a move that Steph's going to be able to pull off here, and people want to play with Steph Curry. But I don't think there's going to be a move in the next year or two that's really going to happen where it's like, oh, wow, look at the Warriors.

They've drastically changed. I think Steph should kind of force his way out, but he won't do that. So based off of Klay Thompson, assuming this does go down, he plans to sign with the Mavericks.

We'll see how they'll cross the T's and dot the I's in the sign and trade. Who's a player that changed uniforms that when you look at it, it's just really bizarre, and you're like, wow, that actually happened. And the name that I'll start off with is Jerry Rice. Obviously, everyone remembers Jerry Rice, greatest wide receiver of all time with the 49ers. And then even when he was at the Raiders, that wasn't bizarre to me because it was him and Tim Brown. But Jerry Rice playing like the eight or nine games or whatever it was with the Seattle Seahawks, any time I see a Jerry Rice photo with him in a Seahawks jersey, that is just absolutely bizarre. Ack, is there a player, I'll put you on a spot here, that you see and you're just like, ooh, that doesn't look right that he's wearing a different uniform or when he did wear a different one.

I mean, there have been many throughout the years. Tom Seaver in a Cincinnati Reds uniform. Montana with the Chiefs.

That was the next words out of my mouth. Wolf Frazier in a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform. Boy, there are lots of them. Willy with the Mets. Willy Mays with the Mets. Yeah, that was a little bit odd for me.

Yeah, a little different though, but I mean, there are just a bunch of them though. Patrick Ewing with the Sonics is one of them that stands out to me. Emmitt Smith with the Arizona Cardinals. Yeah, and he broke the rushing record.

Wade Boggs, who got his 3,000th hit with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at the time, now the Tampa Bay Rays. Sam, can I ask you a question? No. When were you born? 1980. 1980? Yeah. I thought Sam was like, Willy Mays with the Mets was a little bizarre to me. I was in 73. Yeah, no.

I'm like, how old are you, for crying out loud. Looking back in history, so I think for me it's actually harder looking back historically at guys that I didn't get to see, because you only see the highlights of those guys in a certain jersey, and then when you see them in a different jersey, you're like, that doesn't make sense for everything I've seen my whole life. So who's your top one? I think probably Wade Boggs with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Didn't he go in the whole game? Wasn't there a stipulation in the contract? Yeah, so because of him, they had to change everything.

He went in as a Ray because of his contract, and he got his 2,000th hit, the first player ever to do it with a home run, and then Jeter did it also. So, fun times. And Ack, who's yours? Number one? Number one? Joe Namath with the Rams, that's another one. Yeah, that's a good one. This is before my time, but people always talk about this. Johnny Unitas with the Chargers. Okay.

That's a tough one. See, I like the way that Ack, that was before my time. You know, I'm always cognizant of that when I bring up an older player. I'm not going to pretend to see as if I was alive when they played. That's why I just got a kick when Santa was like, you know, Willie Mays, it was bizarre to see him with the Mets.

And I'm like, damn, I know Santa's a little bit older, but I didn't think he was ancient. My top one is always going to be Tom Seaver as a Red. Even though he had a really good career there, and he was there for several years, it was sort of in his prime. He should never have left New York. He's the franchise with the Mets, yeah.

And that's everything wrong about the situation. Alrighty, Stu, who's yours? Just wondering, who's a player that it was just bizarre to see them in a different uniform? Shaq in a Lakers uniform. Shaq in a Celtics uniform was the one I was going to go with. Okay, because I was going to say Shaq was in 10,000 different uniforms. Yeah, he had like seven teams, but still in the Celtics uniform was so jarring to me. Okay, that's just Stu with his Laker.

That's a good one, though. It's solid, but like, can you name a team Shaq didn't play for? Yeah, but you know what, because Lakers and Celtics are such big rivals. The rivalry, sure.

And he was really way at the tail end of his career at that point. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll come on back, we'll teach some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio.

We call that the News Brief. Alrighty, let's listen up to the season with Peter Schrager. He had Dave Canales on, the new head football coach of the Carolina Panthers, and he said the offense won't be all about Bryce Young. It all starts with the run game, and so having Robert and Damian in there, because I love our backfield, and then adding Jonathan Brooks, and then just again, depth, you know, talent. Just keep adding key pieces, challenge your roster, you know, so that was what this draft and this offseason was all about, but I feel confident that we'll be able to have a successful run game, which for me opens everything else up and helps their down, and it helps move the ball and give you more opportunities. Yeah, they've improved the offensive line. Their running backs don't really scare me, if I'm being honest. You know, we'll see what Jonathan Brooks is going to be. You know, Miles Sanders is there. I thought that was an overpay. Their wide receivers, like Adam Thielen had a solid year.

He's not a number one, though. You get Deontay Johnson. You draft to the kid LeGette out of South Carolina.

They got enough where Bryce Young should be able to swim this year and not sink like he did a year ago, but I still think that team has a ton of work to do. Here's Jonas Griffith of the Denver Broncos. He was on Denver Sports 104.3, and he talked about Sean Payton and the team's expectations. There's a difference in the Sean Payton that the media gets first that the players get. I mean, he's obviously been nothing but great to me.

We talk all the time. Honestly, I think last year he was not grumpy towards maybe the players. Maybe it was towards the media or whatever it may have been.

Yeah, sure, sure. I'm not really sure how that whole aspect went, but I think he's very confident in the team this year. We're going to surprise a lot of people.

He talks about it a lot to us, too. He's like, hey, real comfortable with the guys this year, and we're ready to go. They're going to surprise a lot of people in the NFL?

Sam, I know you're a big Sean Payton fan. This team's surprising a lot of people to do what? To win five games. Five games would shock me with this team. They won eight last year. But that's the thing is they've gotten worse. They've lost offensive weapons. They have a potential rookie quarterback or Zach Wilson.

I don't know what's worse. He got engaged, by the way, Zach Wilson, so congratulations to him. Congratulations to him. Yeah, Jared Stidham's on that roster. Yeah, his engaged partner, wow, wow, yeah. Good for Zach Wilson, I'll just say that. Oh, yeah, she's very good looking.

I'll just say it bluntly. Although Zach Wilson has like weird new hair, too. Have you seen all the memes about Zach Wilson's new hair? Oh, he has long hair. It's like long hair, but it's like slicked back, like Rick Pitino style, so he looks kind of Goomba-ish.

I don't even know. You know, I will say this with, I wouldn't say that, but first off, Zach Wilson isn't looking Italian, by the way. The memes about his hair slicked back the way Patino and Calipari-esque. I don't get it.

He's getting all the meme treatment. Maybe the dude in Remember the Titans, they call him Sunshine. Sunshine, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, maybe that. I'm not saying he looks like Rick Pitino. Sunshine's got hair down to his, like, his shoulders. Yeah, Rick Pitino probably jealous of some of the girls that Zach Wilson's hanging out with. But, you know, Zach Wilson, I wouldn't mind being him. Even if you're the punchline to like a bunch of jokes, it's not a bad lifestyle if you're Zach Wilson.

That's all I'm going to say. But this team's going to be terrible. And we're going to enter next season with Sean Payton being on the hot seat. Like, I know that they handed the keys over the franchise to him.

They picked him over Russell Wilson after the trade of the contract, all that stuff. They're going to reg – I'm with you, Sanctor. They were eight and nine last year. They're going to regress this season.

I just don't see them being all, quite frankly, a good team. So Brandon Aiyuk, he was wearing a Steelers hat? Is that right, Sanctor? Brandon Aiyuk was wearing a Steelers hat? No, he was wearing a Pirates hat. It was a Pittsburgh hat. But people were getting very upset with him wearing a hat that had a P on it while he was either in or around Levi's Stadium and with all the rumors about him potentially going to that team. Yeah, so as someone that knows quite a few pro athletes, I can't really look into a lot about – and I haven't heard the cut yet, to be fair, so I can put my foot in my mouth here and just be dead wrong – an athlete wearing a team in a different city and a different sport, I think that's a fashion statement.

But here's Brandon Aiyuk. I'm wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates hat. This is TMZ Sports. I got to know, man. You want to be in the Niners uniform next year? Sure. See, I knew it, man.

Sure. So can you tell the fans that are all wigging out, making up all these things, having all these theories, what was, like, the meaning when you were rocking the hats? Pittsburgh Pirates. Pittsburgh Pirates. Pirates just hit me up on IG. They're like, we see you wear a Pittsburgh Pirates hat.

We're going to save you some gear. So I said, all right. Ah, so there's no Pittsburgh connection. It's not like that. Everyone can rest easy. Yeah, everybody can rest easy. Yeah, I don't think that's a big deal.

I don't think there's something crazy going on there. Now, to be fair, Aiyuk did show up to the Pivot Podcast with our friends Ryan Clark and Shannon Crowder and Fred Taylor, and he brought Jayden Daniels with him, which I know that they're college buddies and former college teammates and all that, but he's been talking about potentially going to the commanders as well. He wants his money, but he hasn't been getting paid yet by the San Francisco 49ers. Here's Kayvon Thibodeau. He was on the Rich Eisen show on Saquon Barkley leaving for the Eagles.

It's a business at the end of the day, so I never really took it hard. I reached out to him, and, you know, this is a not-for-long league, so you got to get paid when you can, and you can't miss out on any dollars. We've seen it before with past contracts with past players, so I'm happy that he was able to get the contract that he was seeking. That's a player answer, you know. I think fans are more upset than actually the players. I'm not saying they're thrilled to see Saquon go down the turnpike, but the Giants weren't giving him what he wanted, so that's why he left, and the Eagles gave him a deal that made more financial sense for him.

And once they didn't get the deal done last year, you knew they weren't getting the deal done this past offseason. Here's Diana Taurasi on facing Kaitlyn Clark. Yeah, I mean, it's amazing. You know, what Kaitlyn's been able to do in her short career so far has just been nothing short or remarkable. And, you know, the one thing that I really love about her, she loves the game. You can tell she's put the work in. And even, you know, throughout, you know, her short WNBA career, it's been a lot of pressure, a lot of things thrown at her, and, you know, she keeps showing up and keeps getting better every single game. So her future is super bright, and, you know, being a veteran and being this league for a long, long time, you know, it's pretty cool to see that and, you know, going into the future. A little different than when Diana Taurasi was last talking about Kaitlyn Clark during the NCAA tournament, just throwing shade at her.

By the way, I've not listened to it yet. Did you know Diana Taurasi was a guest on the network this past weekend, Santer? Did you know that? Nope. Just shaking your head, Santer?

I did not know. Diana Taurasi, what show do you think Diana Taurasi was on? What hosts do you think Diana Taurasi was talking to? Was it Mr. David Sheppard?

That's right. She was on with the Good Shepherd. I want to hear that interview, because I can't wait to hear how much praise. Diana Taurasi deserves it, right? But the introduction Shep probably gave Diana Taurasi was like an introduction she's never received. I guarantee you Shep probably had every stat, every accolade, and after every question was probably like, you know, Diana, it's an honor to have you here, you know, one of the all-time greats to ever participate in the game of basketball.

Notice I said not only, you know, I didn't say just women, you know, men and women basketball, you are one of the greats. I cannot wait to listen to that interview. I saw it. Good job by Shep getting her. I saw it, though, and I'm like, I can't wait to listen to the entire thing just to hear how much praise Shep gave Diana Taurasi. So there's the news brief of the Zach Gilb show on the Infinity Sports Network. Who's the team to beat in the East after the Sixers landed Paul George? We'll do that next.