After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Luke Combs. I am somebody who has struggled with anxiety a lot. A couple ways or tools I guess you would say to maintain my mental health is making myself aware to the things that I know I'm prone to.

Information is key for things like that and knowing what you're dealing with and how they operate. Being aware of the way your mind works in certain situations has been the most important thing for me. More at i'mlistening.org. Talk saves lives. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Billie Eilish. I feel like I spent a lot of time thinking about happiness and how it's just like it fluctuates and everyone thinks if you're one thing you're going to be that forever and you're never going to be anything else and it's really not true. Like happiness is temporary but also so is like misery and things just like morph and change. It just doesn't stay. It goes up and goes down and things change and like that's how life works.

Explore more at i'mlistening.org. Have you noticed that we've reached that part of the NFL season where tensions, tempers run hot? Where the losing can grate on you? Where guys are getting each other's faces more often? Have we not seen it a bunch over the past few days? Now we always get the cameras on Tom Brady whenever he throws a tablet or gets in the face of his offensive linemen. There's a camera specifically assigned to catch Tom Brady anytime he raises his voice. You're contractually obligated if you are a TV network showing a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. So yes anytime Tom Brady raises his voice, anytime Tom Brady yawns, winks, moves an inch to the left or the right, it must be on camera.

What I do throw is tablets. And they don't recover. So he is constantly in the spotlight. Don't ask me why people were asking him if he was planning on retiring. But that seemed to be a topic of conversation on Thursday, which makes me laugh. I remember when Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were traded to the Brooklyn Nets and there were so many people, just like this mob mentality of course, they should retire, they should retire, they're over the hill, their best days are behind them, they're done, they should retire. Well here's the thing, it doesn't really matter if you think an athlete's best days are behind him. And I would never, would never assume or presume to tell someone else what to do with their careers because I don't want someone telling me what to do with their careers.

I don't want someone telling me what to do with mine. But it always cracks me up when fans tell athletes or talk about how athletes should have retired. Because yes, if it was you in that position and someone was paying you 25 to 30 million dollars to continue doing what you loved, even if you didn't necessarily have the same zip or athleticism or speed or power explosiveness, even if you weren't necessarily playing for a championship, you would definitely walk away as well because it was the right thing to do, please. It's fascinating right now the number of people who think Tom Brady should have retired, and he did I guess for 40 days and 40 nights, but when he came back the Bucks had a job for him and they're paying him millions of dollars to do what he loves, even if the season is tougher than other seasons. And I also really appreciate how many of you are so confident you know exactly what's happening in his marriage, right? I mean we're all there all the time, we hear their conversations, we know exactly what's happening between him and Giselle. But the idea that somehow Brady is going to have this revelation that now he sucks, which isn't true, but now he sucks and should walk away in the middle of the year.

What? Have you guys not been paying attention to Brady for the last 20 years? To the NFL for the last however many years? Brady's got a job to do, he's getting paid well for it, and it's only week number seven. The Buccaneers are right in the middle of a very mediocre NFC.

There are three teams right now in the entire conference that have five or more wins. That's it. And so to somehow talk yourself into Tom Brady should hang it up.

Week seven of the NFL season, that's it. He's over the hill, he's done, should have retired. I don't think his final chapter has been written yet. Still healthy. I still would never put it past him. Do you guys remember that last season he was the runner-up to the MVP Aaron Rodgers?

And he's just fallen off the map all of a sudden? Oh my gosh, sports fans, sometimes we make zero sense. The Buccaneers are right in the mix, just like the Packers.

Oh, I've heard that too. Aaron Rodgers should definitely retire. Yes, the two-time reigning MVP. He should hang it up too, even though he just got a fat new contract that's paying him a truckload of money. None of us would do that. Heck, I won't even make a million dollars my entire life.

And I still get paid a little bit to do what I love and won't retire until I'm damn good and ready. So why should Tom Brady? Why should Aaron Rodgers? Oh, he should have retired. Aaron Rodgers. Oh, he should have retired.

And the jokes about his marriage too are just gross. Ugh. Seriously, sports fans, sometimes you all annoy me. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. When you need cash out of your home and a simple way to get it, Rocket can. So you can find me on Twitter unless you believe you have the secrets to Tom Brady's life.

You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, our Facebook page too. That's where you can weigh in and vote for the game of the week. I honestly believe we're about to see in these next two weekends the teams that find a consistency that can put together 60 minutes of quality football or more than they have been. 60 minutes asking too much, it might be. More than they have been though. I feel like we're going to see some separation.

We haven't seen it yet, but we're going to see a little bit. It's time for teams to get serious now. Let's get serious. The 49ers are serious. They traded four draft picks, including three for the 23 draft, which is next spring. They traded three of those and a 24 pick to the Panthers for Christian McCaffrey. And man, their roster is loaded. You may think Jimmy Garoppolo is boring, a game manager, not real dynamic with the football in his hands, but as long as he delivers to his playmakers, they could be good to go. This should definitely give them a jolt to their offense.

I like this move in a division where every team has three wins, and that includes the Cardinals who just picked up the victory on Thursday Night Football. So this, at this point, I think tensions are running high with a lot of teams. They recognize a sense of urgency. They maybe are frustrated with the fact that they're not consistent. They know they can be better. They haven't gotten there yet.

They look around. This wasn't the way we wanted to start. What Lamar Jackson said to us earlier in the week, real talk. We're frustrated. We're angry. We're mad.

This sucks. Well, I think he could speak for a lot of players around the NFL. And losing, it squeezes you. Losing adversity, it squeezes you as an individual, as a locker room, as a franchise. And what happens when you're squeezed? We find out what's really inside. And so you can think of it as a toothpaste tube, actually.

When a toothpaste tube gets squeezed, well, the toothpaste comes flying out because of the pressure. So what comes flying out of a locker room or flying out of a team or flying out of an athlete when they're squeezed with adversity? Is it sniping at one another? Is it great leadership? Is it frustration, anger, or is it hard work? Is it we're going to support one another?

Or is it every man for himself? I mean, there's a lot of different ways that teams react in adversity. The teams that have strong leadership and are determined to stick together, those teams are the ones who take the big steps closer to being champions. But yeah, there's a lot of pressure because really, other than the Eagles who, you know, you are what your record says you are, people are still asking me if the Eagles are, quote unquote, for real. Other than the Eagles, who haven't lost yet, but even then, right, there's not a whole lot of separation. The Eagles, you could say, they've taken care of their business. Pretty much every other team, even if you only have one loss, well, you left an opportunity out there. I'm thinking about the Minnesota Vikings, just crazy how they started, right, because they got that big, huge win at home against the Packers in week number one. And then on Monday Night Football in week two, looked terrible. You know, their defense couldn't stop anyone. Did they play the Eagles in week two? Oh my gosh, their defense was leaving guys wide open.

And so that was their kind of blip on the radar. There are no perfect teams. Every team has fatal flaws. Yeah, it's great to have five or six wins right now. If you're the Buffalo Bills, you look pretty darn good.

But even the Bills, pretty sure they'd tell you same thing. We leave points out there. We leave opportunities out there.

If you can get the wins while you grow, that's amazing. But right now, there's a bunch of teams facing adversity, whether it be because of losses or injuries, not getting the playing time they want. And the Jets are four and two. And one of their receivers, Elijah Moore, wants out.

Had a personal day away from practice on Thursday, but from what I read, he was sent home. And so you're getting guys who are frustrated for whatever reason, whether it be team goals, whether it be individual goals, guys who, like Robbie Anderson, don't want to be part of what's happening. They're ticked off. They're angry. And instead of channeling that emotion, a lot of times it comes out in this way. Ask for a trade, ticked off about your lack of usage or the way you are or not involved in the offense or defense. So yeah, Elijah Moore is a great example, but he's not the only one. We just talked about Robbie Anderson.

There's others too, who are frustrated. I appreciate the way Melvin Gordon has handled his business this week. Going back to last, was it Monday? I guess they played Monday night football, the Broncos. He had three carries in the first half. The Broncos offense falls off a cliff after starting out with 10 points. He doesn't see the field in the second half.

I can imagine that was frustrating, but yet when he was interviewed by a reporter, he stood there, he answered questions after the game and he didn't make a huge stink about it. I really can't explain it, but I am a little bitter that we lost the game. How are you feeling physically? Does everything feel okay? Are you still dealing with some injuries? No, I'm solid.

What changed for you between the first half and the second half? Was there anything that you can put on paper? I don't know. Me and you both kind of clueless on that. I'm sure it'll be a conversation that's had, but to tell you exactly what happened, I can't tell you. I apologize that I do not know who that reporter is. I remember seeing it on Twitter. Should have written it down, but Melvin Gordon answering questions.

If you know her voice, she gets credit. This was her interview. Melvin Gordon answering questions about getting benched and answering them honestly. Can't tell you what happened. Ticked about the fact that we lost.

Wanted to be out there and yet he doesn't turn it into a thing that he wasn't part of the game and they lost. And so then Nathaniel Hackett, he has to answer questions because he says, yeah, Gordon and I, we talked it out. Yes, sir. Of course we did.

It was a great talk. Love Melvin. Have so much respect for him as a pro for all he's done in this league and yeah, we'll keep all that stuff private in there. Will Melvin Gordon start on Sunday or did Latavius Murray do enough to get the start? No, Melvin will start. So Melvin Gordon going back to that starting lineup.

All right, so that's one example. Guys could take things out on each other. Gordon chooses to take the high road. His coach made the decision. They had a conversation. I actually did see a comment from Melvin as well after their call or their talk, excuse me, that they were good.

They're moving forward. You may remember last week there was a report. A report, there were rumblings about Deontay Johnson going after Mitch Trubisky, right? So then Mike Tomlin has to answer questions about that, about whether or not that's true, whether or not there's a feud between those guys. If it were, do you think that I would share it with you in this environment?

Probably not. Our business is our business. And I understand in today's climate, oftentimes there's leaks, our business getting the street, but I'm not going to, you know, I'm not going to acknowledge it or confirm it or deny it in these settings.

I'm just not, I ain't got enough hours in my day for it. And the things that happen among collectives from time to time is normal business. Everyone wants to win. If it transpired, it's good. It probably means there's a couple of guys that wanted to win. If it didn't transpire, it probably means that it should have because we are aggressively pursuing victory. So that's what Mike Tomlin had to say.

And I do appreciate that in front of everyone, he doesn't feel the need to confirm nor deny. However, Deontay Johnson confirmed it. And even though the Steelers end up getting the win, this is the kind of stuff that's happening. When guys are getting hurt, they're changing quarterbacks.

So Trubisky's coming off the bench. A lot of it gets chalked up to passion. So Johnson says, I don't want to get too much into detail. We're both passionate about the game.

Stuff happens during football. We're fine. We talked about it. We made up better over the whole situation. No hard feelings toward each other.

That's still my guy at the end of the day. But ultimately, these are the types of stretches in the season, the types of passionate, emotion-filled games where wins are hanging in the balance, where stuff's going wrong. In the heat of the moment, maybe you take it out on each other.

That's what families do for sure. But can you move past it? Can this team, the next team, when squeezed, find a way to work through it? Find a way to use the adversity as an opportunity to get closer, to show leadership, to care about one another, ultimately to recognize that if you're going to win a title, if you're even going to contend for a title, it is not easy. It is the opposite of easy.

If it was easy, every team would be doing it. And so these relationships pour through the fire. You don't have to like everybody, but you got to work together. But it doesn't always have a happy ending, right? It doesn't always come out the way that Johnson and Trubisky did, or the way that Gordon and Hackett did, or at least what they've told us. Even Kyler Murray, Cliff Kingsbury, making jokes about their encounter that's only gone viral all over the place on Thursday night, now into Friday morning. That one also smoothed over, making jokes about it.

It's a lot easier when you win, for sure. We actually had an opportunity to ask Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner about guys yelling at each other on the sidelines. So we're going to bring that answer back for you, plus Kyler and Cliff and DeAndre Hopkins, who got in the middle of the two. They all tell their versions of the story.

And Elijah Moore. See, that's how things go horribly wrong. Except that one's weird, because the Jets are actually winning. You would think winning would help. It's just that time of the year. Guys getting squeezed, teams getting squeezed.

What comes out when you get squeezed? What is the after-hours game of the week? You can find our poll on Twitter, A Law Radio, or on our Facebook page After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

Thanks so much for hanging out with us. It's officially now a football Friday After Hours on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Hopkins split left, two receivers right. Snap to Murray, going to give to Ingraham, running straight ahead. Ingraham diving for the goal line, and he's into the end zone for his first NFL touchdown. And the Cardinals within two, 2.28 to go in the first half. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

They did actually score a touchdown after the encounter that you either have seen or heard about now between Kyler Murray and his head coach, Cliff Kingsbury, and actually DeAndre Hopkins, getting right in the middle. If you haven't seen it, and if you would like to practice reading lips, we've got that video up on our show Twitter After Hours CBS. It's only been seen 2.3 million times. It's a short video. It's only five seconds because that's all you really need to be able to read the lips of Kyler Murray.

I will paraphrase. He is telling his head coach to relax. Sort of. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

Yes, indeed. Right before that touchdown, late in the second quarter, there's a timeout called. It was the third last timeout of the half for the Cardinals. And as Kyler Murray is coming off of the field to convene.

Confer would be the right word. Confer with his head coach. He's yelling at Cliff Kingsbury. Ultimately, they score and then things look a hell of a lot brighter. Before they even get to the locker room, so not even five minutes later, they've got a pair of pick sixes.

They go from having one offensive touchdown on the board to having a 28-14 lead over the Saints at the break. Dave Pash on Cardinals Radio. Now, afterwards, of course, everybody was asked about the heated exchange. So we're going to hear from Kyler and then Cliff and then DeAndre Hopkins. Kind of funny how they all had different explanations and different versions of what happened in that moment. Just trying to win. We're both competitors.

I know how he gets on the sidelines. How's your mental health? I'm listening with Billie Eilish. Feel like I spent a lot of time thinking about happiness and how it's just like it fluctuates and everyone thinks if you're one thing, you're going to be that forever and you're never going to be anything else. And it's really not true. Like happiness is temporary, but also so is like misery and things just like morph and change. It just doesn't stay. It goes up and goes down and things change.

And like, that's how life works. Explore more at I'm listening dot org. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Luke Combs. I am somebody who has struggled with anxiety a lot. A couple of ways or tools, I guess you would say, to maintain my mental health is making myself aware to the things that I know I'm prone to.

Information is key for things like that and knowing what you're dealing with and how they operate. Being aware of the way your mind works in certain situations has been the most important thing for me. More at I'm listening dot org. Talk saves lives. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Luke Combs. I am somebody who has struggled with anxiety a lot. A couple of ways or tools, I guess you would say, to maintain my mental health is making myself aware to the things that I know I'm prone to. Information is key for things like that and knowing what you're dealing with and how they operate. Being aware of the way your mind works in certain situations has been the most important thing for me.

More at I'm listening dot org. Talk saves lives. I'm the same way, boy. At the end of the day, we're just trying to win. He said I didn't look good on TV, acting that fiery.

So he said, I don't know, this is a Gen Z thing. You're on TV, so calm down. Like, I like showing emotion.

I love to see that. I mean, honestly, I love being part of a team that two people are dedicated and that focused on winning. And obviously you're going to butt heads.

I'm not married, but from what I hear, that's like a marriage. Wow. OK, so I do. But I do agree that in relationships, all kind of relationships, things get fiery. And I'm definitely a person who raises my voice. Even when I'm not angry or mad, I just get passionate. So I raise my voice. People will say to me, why are you yelling at me? I'm not yelling at you. I'm just I'm I'm fired up. But I applaud Cliff Kingsbury for making a joke of someone telling him to calm the bleep down because I don't know, maybe it's just me.

Although most of the girlfriends that I have, not big fans of someone else telling us to calm the bleep down. But in the heat of the moment, this is what happens, right? DeAndre Hopkins says he likes it. Cliff Kingsbury makes a joke. Kyler, hey, that's just heat of the moment. So when we had Kurt Warner on the show earlier this week, it was actually before Thursday Night Football, but it was in the heat of Tom Brady on the sidelines screaming at his offensive linemen.

And so I asked Kurt, how often do these type of exchanges? Does it escalate to yelling on the sidelines? It happens a lot. And I think it probably happens the most between quarterbacks and offensive linemen. You know, when when we're getting hit or, you know, we don't feel they're doing their job because obviously we can't do ours without them doing theirs, that sometimes we've got to get on.

And we, you know, we got to get after them. And sometimes it happens in the huddle. Sometimes it happens on the sideline. But yeah, I think that's, you know, that's a normal course of action, you know, in a lot of football games when, you know, we're not having the success that we want.

The first group that you go over to the offensive line, you know, whether we're not running the football well enough. Go on, guys, like, you got to pick it up. Or if I'm getting hit a lot and, you know, and you're getting beat up and it's like, okay, you know, come on, we got it. We got to figure this out.

And so I don't know. I mean, I don't really think a lot about interactions that happen on the sidelines, you know, especially when they happen here and there, because it's part of football. And, you know, my kids say that all the time. They bring up one incident where I was yelling at my coach coming off the field. And every time something happened, they're like, hey, you remember that time? That time that you were yelling at your coach?

Yeah. You know, that was terrible that, you know, like they bring it up all the time and, you know, I didn't get into those kind of situations very often, but sometimes it happens like that and you get after it. And I think the biggest thing is just to go, Hey, you know, I respect, you know, guys that get on me or coaches that get on me because I understand they're just trying to get the best out of me. And I want them to understand the same thing that I'm not attacking a person.

I'm just attacking a problem. And we've all got to look at it that way. And, you know, I wonder if it became a bigger deal yesterday because of, you know, Tom Brady and some of the situations that he's gone through with the 11 days off and then going to Robert Kraft's wedding. And, you know, you just wonder if it gets elevated a little bit because of those things where really in the big picture of anybody that's played ball or anybody's played offensive line or quarterback would look at that and go, Oh, that happened a million times. That's normal.

Yeah. Kurt Warner hall of fame quarterback with us here after hours on CBS sports radio earlier this week, it was really cool to be able to pick his brain about roughing the passer as well. And also about the putrid offense that we have seen through six plus weeks in the NFL, though Thursday night was a good upgrade, lots of offense, Andy Dalton, even sparking the offense, quote unquote, for the Arizona Cardinals throwing touchdowns to the other team. That joke has been told a hundred times already, not here on the show. So a couple of things.

I love what Kurt had to say. It's important to remember I'm not attacking the person I'm attacking the problem. That is, I mean, that would keep us all from taking it personally, right? If we remember, Hey, we're on the same side. This guy's not attacking me. He's just trying to figure it out too. Can we give our teammates, our coworkers, our family members, the benefit of the doubt or, according to DeAndre Hopkins, can we give our spouses the benefit of the doubt?

I'm not attacking the person I'm attacking the problem. Oh, that's amazing. Great wisdom from Kurt. Lots of other good stuff in that conversation. It's on our podcast After Hours, AmyLawrence.com. And if you would like a defensive player's rendition of what roughing the passer is like now in the NFL and how guys should tackle in 2022, former Steelers defensive back, two times Super Bowl champion, Brian McFadden answered that question. He was a little snarky, but you know what? Sarcasm is my love language.

I was good with it. Both those conversations up on our podcast and the links are on Twitter, ALaw Radio, as well as on our Facebook page. While you check them out, or even before you check them out, you can vote for our TD of the week. Nope, not that. That comes up on Tuesdays. My brain.

You know what? It's here. It's here.

It's just going in a bazillion different directions. You can vote for our game of the week. That's on both Twitter and Facebook. And I suppose the Chiefs and 49ers just got a jolt if Christian McCaffrey is actually going to play coming up Sunday in the Bay Area, week seven. So that's the big news. I got to go record my CBS Sports Minute about Christian McCaffrey. So I'm going to hand you over. It's After Hours. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Billie Eilish. I feel like I spent a lot of time thinking about happiness and how it's just like, it fluctuates and everyone thinks if you're one thing, you're going to be that forever and you're never going to be anything else. And it's really not true. Like happiness is temporary, but also so is like misery and things just like morph and change. It just doesn't stay. It goes up and goes down and things change.

And like, that's how life works. Explore more at I'm listening.org. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Billie Eilish. I feel like I spent a lot of time thinking about happiness and how it's just like, it fluctuates and everyone thinks if you're one thing, you're going to be that forever and you're never going to be anything else. And it's really not true. Like happiness is temporary, but also so is like misery and things just like morph and change. It just doesn't stay. It goes up and goes down and things change.

And like, that's how life works. Explore more at I'm listening.org. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Billie Eilish. I feel like I spent a lot of time thinking about happiness and how it's just like, it fluctuates and everyone thinks if you're one thing, you're going to be that forever and you're never going to be anything else. And it's really not true. Like happiness is temporary, but also so is like misery and things just like morph and change. It just doesn't stay. It goes up and goes down and things change. And like, that's how life works.

Explore more at I'm listening.org. Puts it in! Pulls the rabbit out of a hat. Kawhi Leonard banks it home. 97-93. Clippers in front with 4.50 to play. On the right wing, John Wall will let the clock dwindle down as much as possible. Bouncing it back to George at the top of the key. Now Leonard off the screen.

Fires from 18 feet. Oh, he's got it! Kawhi Leonard buries a big one. Mr. Clutch is back.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. He may be back and it's good to see Kawhi Leonard on the basketball court again, but he's not starting for the Clippers. At least not right now. That's Noah Eagle on Clippers radio. Kawhi scores 14 points in his return and the Clippers are able to survive the Lakers in the battle of LA. And so you hear the way that Kawhi can change a game.

It's the same Kawhi. It's just odd not to see him out there in the starting lineup, but I suppose there's something to be said for getting your feet wet again. That's how I get into a pool when it's cold or how I get into the ocean.

I dip the toe in, then I maybe go up to my ankles. Okay, gotta get adjusted to that. It's been a while for Kawhi.

You want to talk about shaking rust off? Man, it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You want to know how long it's been? He hasn't come off the bench since 2013, but he also hasn't played since he tore his ACL in the postseason going back to June of 21. So it's been more than a year since he was on a basketball court in a game that counted.

Missed all of last season while he's recovering from that surgery. I like to hear him when he's hopeful. I like to hear him when he's happy. Certainly like it when he's playing basketball on the court again. I feel good. You know, we did an amazing job. The Clippers staff just putting together a team for me to get better and come out here quickly and then I just give it all to them because they match my motivation of getting back. So that's all you can ask for for a group. All right, but coming off the bench, is it going to be this way?

Should we expect this? Are you now the top candidate for NBA sixth man of the year? Paul George with 15 points. Remember John Wall is now on this Clippers roster.

He had 15 in his debut and then Leonard providing some pop when they needed them. Pretty much do my same routine and just have a mental focus and just tell myself, you know, it's only gonna help in the long run and I just approach the game that way mentally and then physically I just try to warm up in the back before the first six minutes before I get in the game and see what happens. Okay, if you can actually bring John Wall and Kawhi Leonard off the bench the entire season, I don't know if it stays that way. A lot of times injuries, blah, blah, blah, whatever.

You know how it goes over the course of an 82 game season, but wow. It'd be a little bit like what or it could be a little bit like the war what the Warriors had done going back to when Andre Iguodala spearheaded that second unit that would come off the bench. Remember Steve Kerr set it up so that Draymond was in the starting lineup and they had the core that he really liked but then they would bring four players off the bench when he was ready and he asked Andre Iguodala to go from being a starter at that point to being a guy who would kind of spearhead that group coming off the bench.

You have to have a guy who is a self-starter, number one. Number two won't take it personally. Number three recognizes he can do just as much damage and Kawhi's a veteran. I don't know if it stays this way but still interesting and welcome back to Kawhi Leonard.

Meanwhile the Lakers fall to 0-2 so they lost the season opener against the Golden State Warriors now back home. This actually was a home game and LeBron James with 20 points not a great shooting night but also 10 rebounds and six assists. Not that all night we played the right way. We played the way we wanted to play. We defended at a high level.

We shared the ball offensively. You can't control when the ball goes in and doesn't go in so you kind of can and I think we made another step forward today in our in our development of continuing to get better and better as a ball club. That's interesting you can't control I wouldn't think that LeBron James would cede control of anything anytime but if you can't control whether or not the ball goes in the hoop who can? Interesting I'm not sure I've ever heard that before from LeBron. It's not just chance. It's not just luck, spin, shooting technique, if you can create space. Huh he actually said you can't control whether or not the ball goes in the hoop. Oh that was mean. Hi Kawhi.

Welcome back. As we said maybe Russell Westbrook couldn't control whether or not the ball was going through the hoop. He was 0 for 11 and of course was more than willing to talk about it after the game. You personally how would you assess your game tonight?

Um solid. Played hard that's all you can ask for. So I suppose he can't control whether or not the ball goes through the hoop either? Are you kidding me? You guys are the best in the world.

If you can't control it who can? Played hard that's all you can ask for. I mean there's something wrong if playing hard is all you can ask for. I mean playing hard is all you could ask for of say a youth team, an AAU travel team of seventh graders. But I don't think playing hard is all you can ask for of an NBA team that has championship aspirations. And I'm not kidding I've never heard LeBron James say anything of the sort.

He's always large and in charge. I'm sorry. I mean it's early. No one needs to panic about the Lakers for heaven's sakes. They're 0-2. They could win their next 80. I'm not telling you they're gonna but that's it's a long, long season.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Well I mean let's hope it gets to 0-3 or 0-4. Oh my gosh. Not that long ago. Actually they've got company too at 0-2. But not that long ago the Milwaukee Bucks were the big bads in the east. Now they're still a contender.

I believe that. As long as Giannis is there. They've gone through some changes on their roster but hosting the Philadelphia 76ers in that game going down to the wire. Milwaukee is led for the lion's share of the game. Led by 13 here in the quarter. Here's Grayson Allen.

Kicks it out. Matthews with a chance for the lead. Three ball.

Yes sir. Wesley Matthews with a dagger from the left wing and the Bucks go back ahead by one. Milwaukee leads by one.

Opening night here at the center in Philadelphia. 6ers looking for their first win. Harden sprints out top to get the ball. Harden now off the screen.

Drives it. Goes in on Holliday. Off-balance shot.

Banked it but no good. It's tapped and Milwaukee gets the rebound. Grayson Allen to Holliday and 2.5 remaining and a difficult shot. Harden thought he was fouled.

This one definitely a back and forth affair. The Bucks only managed 17 points in that fourth quarter. Philly was closing fast but a two-point margin of difference gives the Bucks a win in their season opener. Meanwhile the 6ers fouled 0-2. Here Dave Kohn and then Tom McGinnis on Bucks and 6ers radio. Again I don't think it's all that notable when a team starts out 0-2.

I wouldn't say it's optimal but please ask me whether or not it's time for them to panic. Doc Rivers on the 6ers 0-2 start. We lost two games.

I told them no more victories. You played two great teams. You knew from the day they released the schedule that they were coming and we have to expect to win these games. Even while we're a work in progress we still want to win these games. So what happened Coach Rivers? Well we lost two games.

We lost two games. Yes yes that's true. I hope no one responded with duh. That's just me.

I just do that when I'm in a radio studio all by my lonesome. So it still feels strange to talk about basketball. I got to be honest. I'm just not there yet. What did I do yesterday morning?

Oh I mixed up the two New York teams and then I had them playing the wrong opponents. My brain, I mean there's a lot happening in my brain as I mentioned. Most of it I'm not going to bore you with. Let me just tell you that it's been one heck of a challenge to make sure this show could go on the air tonight and this morning.

We've had some some technical difficulties but that wasn't my excuse yesterday morning. I'm just not yet in basketball mode or hockey mode even though I'm planning on attending an NHL game coming up in the next couple of days. But it's weird right? It's October.

I'm not ready for it yet. It is. It's hockey. It's hoops. They're back.

October is that month. We're all four of the major team sports are playing games that count and to that end we'll get back to game two of the ALCS at the top of the hour. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. He went 0 for 11 and Russell Westbrook said I was solid. I think he's just toying with us. He really is. Oh solid.

So solid. 0 for 11. And what did Mike Tomlin tell us? If there were a dispute in our locker room you don't think I'd be telling you right? I mean what is going on in the world of sports right now? We can't get a straight answer to any of our questions.

If it didn't transpire it probably means that it should have. Oi. If you can't if you can't beat them you might as well just join them. Join them and make sarcastic comments. Do you think that's how Christian McCaffrey feels right now? Can't beat them. Really anybody around the NFL with the Panthers might as well join the world of contenders.

I hope that he's happy. I know it's hard to move. It's always hard to move even if it's a choice that you make especially when you're leaving a place where you're comfortable. A place where you're familiar.

A place where you started your career. And he's always spoken very highly of the Charlotte area and certainly the Panthers organization. But gosh. To be on a team that you know has the chance to go somewhere that is fresh off the NFC championship from a few months ago. It's a little odd too that both Robbie Anderson and Christian McCaffrey end up in the NFC west. I mean it goes without saying that the Niners are all in even if they hadn't made the trade for Christian McCaffrey. We know that this is a team that has designs on winning and that division is is really wide open. Pretty much every division is wide open.

I'm looking for week seven to show me a little something something where teams that are poised to make a move actually do. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Billie Eilish. I feel like I spent a lot of time thinking about happiness and how it's just like it fluctuates and everyone thinks if you're one thing you're going to be that forever and you're never going to be anything else and it's really not true. Like happiness is temporary but also so is like misery and things just like morph and change.

It just doesn't stay. It goes up and goes down and things change and like that's how life works. Explore more at i'm listening.org. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Billie Eilish. I feel like I spent a lot of time thinking about happiness and how it's just like it fluctuates and everyone thinks if you're one thing you're going to be that forever and you're never going to be anything else and it's really not true. Like happiness is temporary but also so is like misery and things just like morph and change.

It just doesn't stay. It goes up and goes down and things change and like that's how life works. Explore more at i'm listening.org. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Billie Eilish. I feel like I spent a lot of time thinking about happiness and how it's just like it fluctuates and everyone thinks if you're one thing you're going to be that forever and you're never going to be anything else and it's really not true. Like happiness is temporary but also so is like misery and things just like morph and change. It just doesn't stay. It goes up and goes down and things change and like that's how life works. Explore more at i'm listening.org.