11-2-22 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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Download the Odyssey app today. Happy November! It's November! Oh my gosh, it's almost the holiday season.

Alright, and being a little tongue-in-cheek. I'm not one of those people who has a Christmas countdown on my phone. We all know people like that, right? They start playing Christmas music before Halloween. I mean, I went to Walmart last week to do my grocery shopping and there were Christmas decorations everywhere. The food shelves were half empty, but man, there were Christmas decorations stacked to the ceiling. There is a guy that I work with at church in the kids ministries. He actually has an app on his phone that has Christmas music and Christmas lights and gives you a daily countdown of the number of days until Christmas.

You're not going to get that here. But I do think November signifies the soft entry to the holiday season. And I've had multiple conversations about Thanksgiving with the family where I will be spending my day, my Thanksgiving day, not my family. Similar to last year, I'm not able to travel this year.

But I am really excited about baking and cooking and I even have a friends giving plan with my college roommate. And so I've started to talk about the holidays a little bit. Plus, once we get through this first week of November, it's now don't misunderstand me here. It's not calm. It's calmer than what it's been in October. It's not calm because college football really gets cray in November, kind of building on what we've seen the first few months. And of course, the NFL.

And this year in November, we have the World Cup. So it's not like it's quiet or boring. I can't remember the last time I was bored. It's funny I talked to other hosts or I hear other hosts talk about how, quote, there's nothing going on or it's boring. It's a boring night.

And I think, are we covering the same industry? Because I don't remember the last time there was, quote, nothing going on or it was boring in sports. But anyway, once we get through the baseball postseason, at least it calms down a tad in terms of major events night in, night out. And so then I feel like I can start to plan some desserts for Thanksgiving.

That's, I'll just be fair. That's my favorite part is the food, the food, the fun, the family, the friends, the football, all of that. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and we're just weeks away.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I hope that you enjoyed the first day of November. It's special. I've been using the orange heart emoji a lot over the last few weeks. It makes me happy and I'll continue to wear orange even though it's no longer October. It just seems to fit this time of the year. We are live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios.

You need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family. Rocket can. Man, do we have a lot to get to tonight because it was all converging in the sports world. Not only the NFL tree deadline, which took place on Tuesday afternoon, but a major bombshell from Brooklyn, of course, because that's the only way that Brooklyn deals. A Brooklyn bombshell with Steve Nash ousted as the head coach of the Nets following just seven games of this new season. We're going to talk about that and all the specifics with our New York Post Nets insider Brian Lewis.

Thankfully is a night owl and also has had a really busy day. And so he will join us about an hour from now. He's got a new column up on what went so horribly wrong. And also the potential for Eme Udoka, the suspended Celtics head coach, to quickly, as in 24 to 48 hours, quickly become the new head coach of the Nets. Now you may remember, but if you don't, I'll tell you he was on Steve Nash's staff before he took the job in Boston. He was only in Boston for one year, one year that started in the toilet and ended up in the penthouse in the NBA finals.

And so it was quite the meteoric rise for him as a head coach, but everything that happened with his suspension and the accusations that have been made against him. And really everyone keeping the details under wraps in Boston. What we do know is that he's available. The Celtics are happy to let him go somewhere else.

They're not interested in keeping him around and would love to somehow divest themselves of Eme Udoka, which is a powerful statement on what was happening behind the scenes, even if we don't know the details. But of course the Nets do not care about that because the Nets only function in dysfunction. I've said it before. Jay gets so mad at me because he knows it's true. It strikes a chord with producer Jay. I don't even need him to look at me or he's refusing to look at me right now. I don't even need him to look at me or to acknowledge.

I just know he hates it when I say it. But the Brooklyn Nets are the Cleveland Browns of the NBA. They don't ever do anything in non-dramatic, non-disfunctional fashion. Everything with these two franchises makes headlines. Everything with these two franchises seems as though it's a lot of bluster, a lot of attention, always moves that other stable franchises question and can't really figure out why they would do it the way they did it. They make a lot of headlines, but for all the wrong reasons. That's the Browns and it has been the Browns fans know this well. I'm not telling you anything you don't know. And the Nets are very familiar with it now, too.

Strangely enough, they seemed like they were on a stable path, a steady path, and they were making inroads until they decided to make a splash. Not just Kevin Duran and Kyrie Irving, but of course James Harden. You all know the rest. Or if you don't, it's because you've repressed it and you no longer want to remember.

It's a protection mechanism from your brain. So we'll talk about that coming up. Kevin Duran did speak about Steve Nash and the ouster of Steve Nash. Or if you believe the team, a mutual parting of ways, such a buzz phrase in sports and in business, actually. They had a game tonight. And so we heard from Sean Marks, the general manager before the game, and then heard from Kevin Duran and the new interim coach or new old interim coach Jacques Vaughn after the game.

You'll hear from both of them coming up. Then we had the first college football playoff rankings unveiled. They're more of a conversation starter than they are concrete positions.

They're more about generating conversation at this point in November. The college football playoff committee is very strategic about releasing their rankings because they believe it keeps college football more front and center. In fact, it draws more attention to the weekend matchups because we now have rankings to give us a framework. But so much could change between now and the final rankings, which don't come out until after conference championships. We also have more suspensions in the Michigan State, Michigan brawl. And so we'll give you the latest in that situation. But it certainly seems like the Spartans are coming down hard, though. Jim Harbaugh's already told us an apology is not enough.

And he does expect criminal charges. Oh, and then the World Series. Remember that thing? That event? That crown jewel? Fall classic?

Taking place in Philadelphia? Oh, yeah. So much. There's just so much. Which means I probably don't have time to tell you about Jaws in concert. I know that people keep asking and Jay wants me to give my review to so he can weigh in because it's one of his favorite movies.

I'll try to get to some of the non-sports stuff that you all have been asking me about. I did before we start, I did share this quote on both Twitter and Facebook. I saw this over the weekend, actually at church. It was shared on a video at church and we shared it with my fourth and fifth graders in class. And it really resonated with me. In fact, I copied it right away into the notes on my phone and I was waiting for an opportunity to share it.

And this morning and today, it definitely felt like the right time. This is not about sports. Except for there's always people on my social media who assume everything I say and everything I tweet is about sports. And they put everything through a sports lens. But I guess if that's how you want to do it, I'm much more multidimensional. In fact, sports is I wouldn't even say it's the it's the biggest element of my life.

In October, it happens to be a little more of a heavy element. But this quote is from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And it's such great wisdom. And I absolutely love it. We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. Now, that can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, depending upon where you are in your life and what challenges you're dealing with. It could be personal. It could be professional.

Again, I don't think it has anything to do with your sports teams. But what stands out to me, and I looked this up because I wanted to know when Dr. King said this, it was just two months before he was assassinated. And he was still continuing to spread the message that he is so famous for equality and of hope, to be sure. And a man who resonated hope despite everything he was facing on a daily basis. And he couldn't have known that two months later, he would die the way that he did. But he certainly understood the fishbowl that he was in. He certainly understood the waves that he was making. He certainly understood that there were people that did not want to hear his message and did not want to see him continue to spread the wisdom and share the hope that he did.

So obviously, would have known that he was in danger or that he was always having to be vigilant. And yet his wisdom, I mean, there are so many quotes that are attributed to him. His wisdom is still, even today and moving forward, so applicable to the human experience.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. And some of you have responded, which I appreciate. Mostly, I just wanted to share that because there's always something that we're dealing with in our own personal lives.

And whether it happens to be a tough week or it happens to be a week in which you feel more joy and you feel lighter and don't feel burdened by some of the challenges of life as much. It kind of goes in waves, right? Or peaks and valleys.

A lot of people describe it as the highest of the mountain peaks, but then the lowest of those valleys. And that, again, is really part of being a human being on this planet. So that quote, the past couple of days, I've been thinking about it and stewing over it, chewing it, chewing it. Do you chew a quote?

I suppose you can. You know what I mean. And I love it and I wanted to share it. So I hope that it means something to you and resonates with you. But no need to worry about me. It's some of you sending hugs. Some of you, I'm so concerned about you hanging there.

No, no, it's just a piece of wisdom that can apply to every day. Whether it's a good day, whether it's a good week, whether it happens to be a tougher one. Hope is eternal. Hope is something that we all need. And I don't know where I would be without hope. I probably wouldn't still be alive.

And I don't know if I'd, if I was, I don't know if I'd have a life worth living. So I hanging on to hope, especially over the past couple of years that we have gone through, I feel like one of the goals of the show, my show as a host of the show is to share hope always, which again has zero to do with sports. But some of us do find distractions and entertainment from sports.

So that always can help too. You can find me on Twitter, Alaw Radio, if you want to find that quote and share it. Also on our Facebook page after hours with Amy Lawrence. Lots of you still watching us be goofy in our double feature, our Halloween double feature on our YouTube channel. So that's available if you find our YouTube channel named after the show or you can find the videos pinned to the top of our Facebook page. And our phone number is 855-212-4227.

It is toll free. Let's dive into the World Series couple of minutes here and then we'll get to a break. We'll obviously talk Steve Nash and NFL trade deadline and let's go cram it all in.

Like some of us cram the food down on Thanksgiving. I think it's important to consider the Phillies home field advantage. You will hear people say, whether it's people who work in this business or whether it's former players, former managers, coaches, yada, yada, yada, analysts.

That home field advantage doesn't really matter anymore when it comes to playoffs. And it's not specific to baseball. You'll hear that about football. You'll hear it about hockey. You'll hear it about basketball. And maybe in some cases it's true. But I refuse to believe that it is never a factor and that there are not teams out there who have a very distinct home field advantage because of the fans, because of their passion, because they show up, because of how they play when their fans are carrying them with that wave of emotion. So I thought it would be an interesting question to throw out there.

And we may not have time to share a ton of answers, but you'll see them on Twitter and Facebook. Across the board in sports, which teams have the best home field, home court, home ice advantages? And it's not really about who has the best fan bases. I don't think that's fair. But where do the fans create a distinct home field or home? You know what I mean.

It's kind of awkward to say. So I don't want to limit it just to baseball and home field advantages. But football, we know there are teams. I don't even want to name any because I feel like if I name some, that I'll be stealing your thunder. So which teams, now it's teams.

We're not talking cities here. Which teams create actual, tangible home field, home court, home ice advantages for their favorite teams? Which fan bases do that? It's a lot about the fan bases. I have so many good answers. But again, I don't want to use any of them because I feel like I'll be stealing some of your answers.

I don't think there's an infinite number. I do actually think that there are a few that should jump out to you. Maybe you wouldn't have said that about the Phillies before this playoff run. But you've got to know by now that at home, at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies have a distinct advantage. Doesn't mean they can't play on the road.

It means they are carried, they are bolstered, they are emboldened, and they are better when they're at home. We had to wait an extra night to see them back at the bank. The World Series returning to Citizens Bank Park for the first time in a long time. And boy, they took advantage right off the top in the first inning. Two outs, right at first, and McCullers kicks and comes home.

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Do more with Viator. On Phillies radio, I absolutely love their reactions to what they see on a nightly basis from this team and how hot they are and how much they're feeding off one another as well as their fans. This was a no-doubter, again, from Bryce Harper. Lance McCullers knew it the second that Bryce connected. It was a first-pitch home run. It was a first-pitch... Nope, not that. It was a first-pitch blast from Bryce. And that's now a six-pack for Harper in these playoffs, but nothing like your first home run on this stage.

So Bryce Harper finally has a World Series home run, and you can see that he is in his element right now. If you're watching the game, then you may have seen, after Bryce runs through all of the various handshakes and gestures and special connections that he's got with all of his teammates in the dugout, he goes all the way through the line, does all the handshakes, couch warbers there to greet him again at the end, and by the time he gets back to the top step of the dugout, so over closer to where guys come out of the dugout, up the steps, and go over to stand in the on-deck circle, Bryce Harper is yelling, and the camera catches him yelling for Alec Bohm. Bohm, Bohm, and for whatever reason, there's a camera right there, so you can hear him clearly yelling, Bohm, and he gets Alec's attention, and so Alec was in the on-deck circle, comes back over to speak to Harper, and it's obviously loud in the stadium, and so they're real close and tight, and he's saying something to him. So Bohm goes up, and he gets, I think he got, I don't remember exactly what he did, he wasn't out there in the first inning, but it wasn't too long before he had an opportunity, again, to apply whatever wisdom and advice Bryce Harper gave him.

And the pitch to Alec Bohm, blasted left field deep, number is back, he turns, he locks, he's scored, it just clears. Leadoff homer here in the second for Alec Bohm, and a low laser just over the left field wall, and it's three-nothing Phillies. Swung on, hit in the air, high and deep, right field, Tucker drifting back to the track at the wall, he jumps, and it's off the top of the wall, is it a homer?

They say yes, Brandon Marsh. Swung on, hit in the air, center field, going back on his McCormick, back toward the wall, and it always goes on, off the brick wall, above the trees, a two-run center field home run for Kyle Swarver, and the Phillies are leading it now six to nothing. Here's the 2-2 pitch to Hoskins. Swung on, hit in the air, deep to left field, it is gone, back to back home runs. Swarver and Hoskins, Reese is pumping his fist, going around second base, seven-nothing Phillies. Whose house?

Mercy. When it was all said and done, five home runs off McCullers, a record for home runs surrendered by a single pitcher in a World Series game, so Dusty Baker left him out there, clearly a frustrating night for Lance, who goes four and a third only, but gives up the five home runs, the seven runs on six hits, strikes out five, but man, the Phillies had no trouble getting to him. There was a conversation about whether or not he was tipping his pitches, and that was brought up postgame.

I think guys have conversations all the time, you know, before at bats and before innings and things like that, so I'm not going to sit here and say anything like that. I got whooped, end of story. I got beat, man. They hit a lot of solid pitches, I thought, but at the end of the day, we got beat pretty bad, and I got beat up pretty bad. They just had good at bats, you know? I felt like I made some adjustments and went on a little bit of a decent run there toward the middle of the game, and then obviously, you know, they had two homers before I got taken out, so, you know, this is a game of adjustments, and they're a good team.

I've said that before, and I got beat today. They're not just a good team, Lance McCollors. They are a hot team, and they're playing at home.

Where? If you're keeping score, you now know the Phillies are 6-0 at Citizens Bank Park. The first two series that they split on the road went back to Philadelphia and never returned to the other stadium against Atlanta, against San Diego. There is that potential against the Astros. Now, certainly, the storyline here is the Phillies offense, but the Astros offense should also be a story or the Phillies pitching, depending upon how you look at it, only five Houston hits, so we'll look a little more at this game three, delayed game three of the World Series, but no doubt worth the wait for Phillies fans.

First World Series win for Philadelphia since game five of 2009. We are just getting started, a lot to do, but the question is out there. I'd love to hear from you. I'll try to put it up on social when I have an opportunity. You can also send your questions for Ask Amy Anything and answer while you're there. So on Twitter, After Hours, CBS, or our Facebook page, it is our hump show, and I need to know which teams have the best home field, home court, home ice advantage in sports, because I think it's intriguing.

It's not a factor for every team, but there are some like the Phillies who are making the most of being at home, the friendly confines, if you will. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Everybody's standing. This Bellotti is ready. And another 3-2 to McCormick. Strike three.

Paul got it looking. And the Phillies are two wins away as they take out the Astros in this critical game three, a five homer barrage. Back to the pitching of Rangers, Suarez and the Phillies with a seven to nothing win tonight in game three. Just walking into the ballpark, I mean, just being back home, I think, is such a moment in the swing for us just for the pure fact of our fan base. I mean, we all come in here and we're ready to go and we're excited to get on the field because you know they're going to show up and, you know, there's going to be 46,000 people here screaming and yelling, going crazy. And, you know, this whole city is so excited to be in this moment. And we're just, you know, thrilled to be able to play in front of them and have this opportunity and, you know, just be here with them. Getting you to the good half of your week.

It's The Hulk Show on After Hours. That's what Bryce Harper is talking about, an actual home field advantage. And boy, have we seen it. He's been giving credit to the fans at Citizens Bank Park for weeks now and they have responded.

I think they take it as a personal challenge. Rob Thompson has another way of explaining what these Phillies fans mean to them. They're like the Eagles. They get better every game. It was really something.

Yeah, it was really good. It definitely is. I'm not even there. I'm only watching on TV and then listening on the radio and still you can hear the roars. I would tell you that Houston has a similar atmosphere and then at Minute Maid Park with the roof closed, certainly that is a louder, it's a different noise. Not every team responds though to the home field advantage and there are places around the country where it is tangible. It's obviously not SoFi Stadium.

So you kind of understand what I'm saying. Rooted, grounded, passionate, maybe long suffering at times, fan bases, but fan bases who are emotional, they're engaged and they show up in good times and in bad. Obviously you're going to have more people who are interested in buying tickets when a team is winning. There's always that fringe, but if your core fan base shows up and I would say as a side note, reserves the right to tell you what they think of you, whether it's positive or negative. If they take ownership, that's a fan base that makes a difference and the Phillies fans, we'll just say Philadelphia sports fans, they take ownership of their team, which means they believe they have the right to give their input for better or for worse.

It's a blessing and a curse, right? Lots of people make fun of Philadelphia sports fans. The whole line is the booing of Santa Claus. Dear Lord, there isn't a fan base in the world that wouldn't boo Santa Claus right now.

I don't even think that's a thing. For goodness sake, the New York fans booed Aaron Judge this year. Booing is pretty common in every venue, in every sport around the country. And it happens so quickly.

One moment you're the windshield, the next moment you're the bug. I mean, if you're an athlete, that's just how it goes. But when it comes to Philly sports fans, I love that they take ownership. They're invested. That's the part that matters so much. For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, till death do us part, isn't that the... That's the way that Philadelphia sports fans look at their teams. We are married. We're stuck together.

I can't quit you. And those make the best home field, in this case, advantages. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Producer Jay is putting up a spot on our show Twitter, After Hours, CBS, as well as our Facebook page where you can weigh in about the best home field or home court or home ice advantages around sports.

I'm not just looking for baseball. I'm looking for anything so we can open it wide. And then you can also send your questions for Ask Amy Anything. Hey, Producer Jay, would you like to hear an early question on our Facebook page? Are you ready? I think I know when you're going to say.

Do you? Favorite Halloween candy. That's the one. If only you and I had done a video and given the peeps are top seven steps on the Stairway to Seven Halloween candy. If only we had done an entire YouTube video on our favorite Halloween candy. We really should have thought of that. Wow.

We should have. I kind of feel like this guy should be on our production staff, no? Yeah, he's at it. Sign him up. Let's go.

Oh, goodness. Okay, let's hear one more from Dusty Baker. Actually, we heard from Bryce, heard from Rob.

We heard from Lance. Let's hear from Dusty and then we'll get to Marco Bolletti. So Dusty obviously is being asked more about the Phillies offense and his pitcher Lance McCullers. I kind of think that the Houston offense deserves a little bit of the scrutiny considering that the Astros only managed five hits and they did all. Now they were all for three with runners in scoring position, but the fact that they only had three opportunities with a runner in scoring position, I think is also telling. But Dusty talking about that Phillies blast with the five home runs and the chasing of Lance McCullers in the fifth.

It's pretty evident what kind of threat they pose. And they can get the ball out of the ballpark and they can hit. And so, you know, we just got to go back to the drawing board and figure was it them tonight or was it Lance tonight, you know, not having his off? I don't think the series is over, but I do know that game three, the winner of game three has an overwhelming advantage in a tie series. So the stats bore that out, but, you know, the stats don't bore out the last team into the postseason. The Phillies who needed what all but the last two days of the regular season and punch their ticket, they change managers in the middle of the season. The stats don't necessarily bore out the fact that they would be the hottest team right now and the best team left in the National League.

So we'll see what happens. But I do think the Astros have a ton of experience, which will help them. And a lot will rest on Justin Verlander, right? Because Verlander has been abysmal in the World Series, like flat out awful. He doesn't have a World Series win.

All of his accolades, Marco, all of the shiny individual awards and trophies on his resume, he cannot yet claim a World Series win. And it's a big deal. His numbers are they're awful. They're awful. There's no way to sugarcoat that.

They're awful. It's surprising because he's not a guy that shrinks in the big moment, you think? Because you've seen it too many times in the playoffs. So we've seen him come up with so many big performances to get to the World Series, whether it was the Tigers or the Astros. So the idea that he's been so bad, you do have to wonder if it's gotten into his head a little bit, especially because game one, they gave him a big lead.

They did. And he gave it right back. Five runs. And he was perfect through three and then couldn't get anybody out.

Yeah, exactly. Now you got to wonder again, look, I love Dusty Baker. But he has the questions, the fact that they kind of hung him out to dry. He left him out there for so long, kind of left Lance McCullers out there to dry again.

He did. So it's still the idea of Verlander, but is Dusty going to be as slow to go to his pen who's been great as he's been in this series? At some point, he's got to show a little bit more urgency. In my mind, if your starter doesn't have it, don't be afraid to go to a bullpen that's been locked down. Yes, the bullpen's been so good. And he's got guys that are- You know when the Houston Astros don't have an advantage when we don't ever see Ryan Presley or any of those other relievers. Right. And it's not just the Nerris and the Presley and the Monte- Like, I understand the back end of the bullpen.

That's where it's been the money. But he's got- I mean, you saw Jose Urquiti who hasn't basically pitched in the- I don't think he's pitched at all in the postseason. It's might've been his first appearance. This is a guy that was a starter, won like 13, 14 games, and he's good. So like there's guys there that are not just your automatic on the back end of the bullpen. You've got other arms.

Don't be afraid to go to guys if your guy in front of you doesn't have it. And that's the only thing that I'm a little leery of Dusty Baker right now because it's almost like he's hearing the voices of all his past problems in the postseason of the World Series. So between Verlander and Dusty, like at some point, you know that Verlander needs to show up.

You also know that Dusty Baker needs to be a little quicker with the pull and not trust his aging veteran as much as he does maybe. Christian Javier will go in game four. Let's just say that the Astros lose that game though. It would be Justin Verlander in game number five.

Holy cow, I can feel the tension building for Astros fans. All right, we'll talk more about that. Coming up, we've got Steve Nash out in Brooklyn, and Emeudoka could be the next Nets head coach within days.

Also, the next hour when we have a chance to talk to Marco, we'll hear about the Banana and the Monkey. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news, and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today.

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This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. It is not stunning to me anymore when the Nets do not lose or when they lose in some unexpected fashion, like a brutal fourth quarter against the Bulls. You hear Chris Carino on Nets radio and then also Chuck Swersky on Bulls radio. It certainly appeared as though the Nets were headed to a big win, maybe back-to-back wins in the wake of Steve Nash and the team parting ways, but that did not happen. It's not even the biggest story. Here they are at two and six, and I know that that has a direct connection to the change of head coach, but it's not the biggest factor.

It's not the most important factor. And coming up at the top of the hour, I kind of feel bad. We only have Brian Lewis of the New York Post on the show when things are so horribly wrong with the Nets, but you know what?

That's the space he lives in, and honestly, that's the space they live in right now. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio, a couple of things going on with our social media right now. So check out our show, Twitter, After Hours, CBS, or our Facebook page.

We've got your space to send your questions for Ask Amy Anything, so that you can do on either of our social media sites. And then just for fun, with the Phillies being perfect at home in the postseason, and that has given them a decided advantage, you can see how much better they play and how much they enjoy performing for their fans at Citizens Bank Park. What teams out there enjoy distinct home field or home court or home ice advantages created by their fans, created by their fan bases, who are so invested in and till death do us part type of a thing. So we've got posts up on both Twitter and Facebook again, and we'll go through your answers. I know Producer Jay will retweet some of those, but we're going to talk Nets here for a little bit, and then top of the hour, Brian Lewis of the New York Post. So yes, the Bulls come back. They hand Brooklyn another loss, but the news was earlier in the day, and it was phrased as a mutual parting of ways. This was a mutual agreement between the Nets and Steve Nash, but Sean Marks, the general manager, still has to answer for the decision.

We both felt this was time. It was certainly trending in that way, and to be quite frank, the team was not doing what it was supposed to be doing. The team was not doing what it was supposed to be doing. It's never that simple, right? It's never as simple as, hey, the team's not listening to the head coach. The team's not winning. I'm stunned that Steve Nash lasted as long as he did, but my big question immediately when I saw this news, and it caught me off guard on Tuesday afternoon.

Why bother bringing him back if this is what you were going to do? Remember, Kevin Durant went to Josie. Was it London where he went to Josie? They had that meeting in London and it leaked, of course. The gist of the conversation was this. The crazy part is it had to leak from someone either very close to Josie or KD himself, one or the other. Anyway, the gist of that conversation between the owner of the Nets and Kevin Durant after he'd asked for a trade was, hey, I'll stay. If you get rid of both Sean and Steve and Josie put out a statement and said, I back my guys. So then why now?

Why bother? Why start the season with Steve Nash? Give him that dreaded vote of confidence. Start the season with Steve Nash only to decide it's not working, which is the phrase that Sean Marks uses.

It's not working after seven games. Feels like you could have saved yourself a whole lot of trouble if you had just given in to Kevin Durant. But according to KD, this was not on him and he didn't have any idea it was coming. All shocked. I mean, you're always shocked when a move like this happens, but it's normal in the NBA.

So it's about getting ready for the game tonight. That's true. It is fairly common and normal way of life in the NBA.

And I would say in professional sports and even in big time college football, we have already had multiple coaches ousted, even though we're nowhere near the end of the season yet. So Sean Marks, how much did the players have to do with this decision to part ways with Steve? Zero. There was zero input from many of the players on this. I think this was a decision that we didn't need that. Steven, I didn't need that. Obviously, I've talked to Joe about this, but the players were not consulted. They were told ahead of time that this was the direction we were going to today. But I don't think we needed that input right now.

There's a lot of stuff. We didn't have a healthy team, just didn't play well. And that's what happens in the league. So that doesn't take away from Steve's basketball IQ, how he teaches the game.

I don't think that takes away from anything. We just didn't work out. I like working with Steve. I like working with the coaching staff.

It was a roller coaster the last few years, but the core of it, basketball, is something that we all love to do. So regardless of who to coach, regardless of the circumstances, still got to come to work. So I enjoy coming to work with Steve. The message I told the guys afterwards, no excuses. Whether it's back to back, no excuses.

Whether the changing scenery of today, no excuses. This is what we do for a living. We signed up for it. It was game day, so we got to bring it. It's sort of comical. And I can find the humor in many of the dramatic headlines out of the nets the last couple of years. It's sort of comical that KD and Kyrie did not want Jacques Vaughn as their head coach. And now here he is interim yet again.

It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. So then how much does the culture have to do with what happens moving forward, Sean? Whenever you're bringing anybody in here, it doesn't matter if it's a new head coach, or whether it's an intern, it doesn't matter. You're doing your due diligence on everybody's background.

You're looking at past relationships, prior relationships, current relationships, you name it, to make sure that you're bringing in the right people at the right time for the right job. Kevin Durant mentions a roller coaster the last couple of years. Well, whose fault is that?

Exactly. The Nets decided to bring in Kevin Durant and Kyrie, allowed them to pair together there, and then allowed them to make a lot of the decisions for the team. Never did KD and Kyrie here know until this past offseason. And now the only person who's taking the fall for all this dysfunction is Steve Nash. It's unbelievable how this happens.

That's the guy that KD and Kyrie wanted. Does anybody remember that? It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Download the Odyssey app today. Download the Odyssey app today. Gochino.com promo code fall update.