2-9-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

We are so touched. You all made the trek out here. Robert, Renata, we hope our marriage is nothing like yours.

Cheers everybody! From the director of Pitch Perfect and the producers of The Proposal. Something doesn't feel right. We're pirates and they took everybody hostage.

Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel. This is not happening. Pirates chasing you wasn't on your vision board? You're the only thing on my vision board. We are so touched. You all made the trek out here. Robert, Renata, we hope our marriage is nothing like yours.

Cheers everybody! From the director of Pitch Perfect and the producers of The Proposal. Something doesn't feel right. We're pirates and they took everybody hostage.

Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel. This is not happening. Pirates chasing you wasn't on your vision board? You're the only thing on my vision board.

Shotgun Wedding. Rated R. Watch now on Prime Video. Producer Jay just said to me, I didn't envision that we would be playing any type of an open or a montage that pertained to basketball during Super Bowl week. But he should have known because I warned you all on Sunday, the NBA is threatening to hijack Super Bowl week. And I guarantee you once again, on Thursday, your top story will be the NBA. Just like it was today. Wednesday.

Because LeBron James set the all time scoring record. Guaranteed. This is just based on my own knowledge of the business. But also I know what people react to and I've seen it on my Twitter and Facebook. People are reacting to LeBron all day Wednesday more than anything else. Well, here we are on Wednesday night and a lot of people have gone to bed in the East Coast. Actually, a lot of Brooklyn Nets fans have gone to bed.

Right. So when they wake up and we will have the privilege of informing many of them, many fans of East Coast teams or Eastern Conference teams. They're going to find out that more humongous news broke even as we hurdle our way toward the deadline, which is still hours from now. Kevin Durant on his way to Phoenix. He decided he did not want to stay in Brooklyn. He decided that once Kyrie had asked out and got traded and that was quick, that there was nothing left to play for in Brooklyn. Isn't he the one that handpicked the Nets and then told us, Jay, if you if you could go back and find that. I remember from Durant's first interview, if you can, it's totally it's totally cool. I remember from Durant's very first interview when he explained why he chose the Nets and he talked about the franchise and how it just had such great potential. And he felt like it aligned with his values.

OMG. So he and Kyrie, that was where they could team up because there was cap space there. They felt like that was where they could play together and both get the big fat deals, yada, yada, yada.

That was in 2019. Durant was injured. He wasn't going to play for a full year because of a blown Achilles. It wasn't long before James Harden joined the Band of Merry Men. The Nets from Josiah to Sean Marks, they gave those two everything they wanted. They hired Steve Nash because he was a malleable coach. Remember when we heard from KD and Kyrie that anyone could coach the team on any given night? They handpicked Steve Nash. They won a playoff series. But the three guys never really had extended time on the floor together. It was a waste is what it was.

Although sometimes addition by subtraction is a great option for corporations, for businesses, for teams. In this case, if you're the Brooklyn Nets, are you breathing a sigh of relief because it's over? You're not walking on eggshells anymore.

You're not wondering when the next domino drops. This guy's unhappy. This guy goes AWOL. This guy wants out. This guy wants a trade. This guy wants a coach fired.

This guy is not satisfied. It was three and a half years of that. Bowing to every wish and command and need and demand that Kyrie and Kevin Durant made. Until last summer, when Kyrie demanded a trade, the Nets said no.

He picked up on his option. Then Kevin Durant stunned everyone by being the next guy to ask for a trade even after Kyrie had picked up his option. The Nets said no.

Until we can get what you want or what we want in exchange for you, we can give you what you want. What a surprise that once the Nets grew a friggin backbone, neither superstar was happy from that point forward. Although Steve Nash did walk away. And for a couple of minutes there, they were a pretty hot team with Jacques Vaughn. I actually just saw an NBA insider, who we've had on the show before, tweet, he feels sorry for Jacques Vaughn.

Come on, there's no way. Vaughn has played in the NBA. He's been around the league a long time. I know KD loves basketball and when he's healthy, there's nobody like him in the game. But he cannot possibly feel bad about not having to deal with the headache that is Kyrie or this drama anymore.

Not to mention four first round draft picks. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Producer Jay is a miracle worker. He found it from the very first press conference that Kevin Durant held with the Brooklyn Nets, explaining why he chose Brooklyn. Really easy to see, you know, with these guys brought to the table. So it's not like I had to do any deep analysis on any player here.

I mean, just watching games and playing against them and seeing continuity throughout the last couple of years is pretty easy to kind of figure out what kind of team is kind of organization is this place is. Until you showed up. Until Kyrie showed up.

And all of a sudden that changed that philosophy changed. And so KD, Kyrie, they come in, they blow it up, they leave. Or as Robin Lopez puts it, this is hysterical.

Robin Lopez, one half of the Lopez twins, currently a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He didn't identify his subject or subject matter, but I think we're all clear. Did you see the tweet, Jay? This is amazing. Why can't I be this funny? I want to be this funny.

This is just like that time in Muppets Take Manhattan when the Muppets, after unsuccessfully attempting to take Manhattan, split up and leave Manhattan. That's brilliant. I wish I was that clever. Why can't I be that witty? That's a good tweet.

Oh my gosh. And we know the Lopez twins are funny. I feel like they're not getting nearly as much attention these days because the Kelsey brothers have hugged it all and the Watt brothers before that. But the Lopez twins are, they're funny and they're unique. I mean, my gosh, they might be the most recognizable twins on the planet, actually. It's up there. They're close.

They're also huge Star Wars nerds, by the way. Oh my gosh! Vaulting to the top of my twins list. This is just like that time in Muppets Take Manhattan when the Muppets, after unsuccessfully attempting to take Manhattan, split up and leave Manhattan. It's spot on. Wait, let's sub in Brooklyn. This is just like that time in Muppets Take Brooklyn when the Muppets, after unsuccessfully attempting to take Brooklyn, split up and leave Brooklyn.

Ooh, and leave Brooklyn in shambles. You could probably put that there, too. That's awesome. I'm going to retweet it here in a minute.

You can find me, ALawRadio, but I'm not nearly as clever as Robin Lopez. Also on our Facebook page, if you haven't yet seen our Super 6 videos, we've got three up and three to go. So three up, three down.

Actually, it would be three down, three up. Producer Jay and I recorded the next video, which is Super Bowl Nerd Alerts. This was kind of in respect or with regard to LeBron James becoming the NBA's all-time scoring leader. We thought it would be fun to come up with our own quirky, likely unbreakable, Super Bowl records. Jay, don't give away the answer, but give one category that you picked. One category that I picked. Defense.

Defense, okay. I went coin flip on your butt. And coin flip, I mean, I told my mom this. I dazzled my mom with this coin flip nerd alert.

She went, what? Because the probabilities. Forget unlikely, it's nearly impossible for this to happen, especially if you're a math teacher. And so, yeah, we did our Super Bowl Nerd Alerts with some, we think, virtually unbreakable records.

Especially in today's NFL. That's nerd stuff. Such nerd stuff. The only thing that would have been better is if it was Star Wars nerd stuff, but that doesn't really apply to the Super Bowl.

Although I figure I could probably find some roles for droids, maybe. Do you know what? The hat that I wore in our latest video, which is episode four of the Super Six series. We'll post it sometime in the next couple hours.

It'll be before the end of the show, I promise you that. But as you can tell, there's a lot going on here. The hat that I'm wearing. I mean, I regret to inform you, you're probably not going to be able to take me seriously after you see it on my head.

Jay, what did you think of my hat? It was like from the 20s. It was like the flapper. You remember the, well, I don't remember it either.

But the photos, the videos, maybe movies you've seen with the flappers in the 20s. Yeah, it was similar to that. I liked it. I definitely noticed it, so I'll say that. Duh. I mean, how could you miss it? Big flower.

It was good. Yeah, so I have a different winter hat for every one of our Super Six video series. If you haven't found them, all right, we'll give you some hints. We've used all of our social media sites. So yes on YouTube, yes on Facebook, yes on Twitter. And now we're about to turn around and go back through those same three. We're doing three videos and spreading them out, but then turning around and kind of doubling up on each of our social media sites.

So yeah, Twitter, After Hours, CBS, Facebook, and YouTube are named after the show. Don't forget to like and subscribe on YouTube because that's what makes Jay happy. And he needs something to make him happy because his nets, huh. I have noticed, by the way, that Jay is not put on his nets hat in months.

It was one that was, okay, this is how bad it was. He won't wash his hats. And so the hat was kind of stuck to his head. He couldn't get it off. And so then finally he had to pry it off his head because he was embarrassed to wear it anymore. That's about what happened.

Once I finally was able to rip it off of my scalp, I couldn't put it back on. Maybe if you eat more broccoli. That does it. It helps with the hair follicles. It helps with everything.

Maybe. Miracle vegetables. But I can't really preach to you about broccoli on this particular night because I had four, maybe five munchkins. I figured if I had five, they'd make up a whole donut so I was safe. I'll take some responsibility for that. I did show you that they were there. That's right. I blame you.

I did work out on Wednesday, so at least there's that. Now still to come, pretty excited to share my conversation with a Dallas Cowboy. He spent this season, or most of this season, with the Cowboys as their long snapper. Matt Overton, active on social media.

Get this. He has a side gig. When he's not playing football, I'm not going to tell you. You're going to have to listen to the interview.

But I caught up with him on Wednesday afternoon. Probably the longest interview I've ever done with a current NFL player. Very talkative. To that end has started a podcast. It's in season two of his podcast. It's called Stay Ready, which is his motto. And he's been on four teams in five years. So the uncertainty that he deals with on a regular basis, he's got a wife, he's got kids, they have a dog.

To have to pick up and move over and over again is not easy. So I caught up with him in Nashville, and we talked about the Cowboys, why they're different, what his future holds. Also about how his side gig, as well as his motto and his faith help him to deal with a career that is full of uncertainty and has no job security.

That's kind of where he's at. But at 37, he was still earning a paycheck in the NFL this year, so pretty freaking cool. And I'm telling you, he's a great talker, good stories, very candid about the Cowboys. Kind of takes you inside the Cowboys organization in a way that I've not heard.

So that's coming up at the top of next hour, about 45 minutes from now. We told you Kyrie made his debut for the Dallas Mavericks, 24 points. You'll hear from Jason Kidd coming up. And Damian Lillard, it's not his birthday. He gave Klay, Klay Thompson, a bad birthday.

Not a bad beat, but a bad birthday. No, Klay himself had 31 points, picking up where he left off with the 12 triples in his last game. But Dame had the last laugh. It's one heck of a night in the NBA. Not just Russell Westbrook getting shipped out of LA, and this comes on the heels of a reported beef. Even a shouting match, as some described it, with head coach Darvin Ham.

But also the fact that this didn't happen in the offseason when so many people said it could or should. There was the whole flap about his contract. So momentarily, Russell Westbrook is headed to Utah. I can't imagine that's where he stays. D'Angelo Russell going back to LA.

He's been there before. Malik Beasley also going to LA, and then Jared Vanderbilt. But this is a three team trade. Lakers, Jazz, Timberwolves. They get guard Mike Conley. It's a little convoluted, but essentially Russell Westbrook going from LA, D'Angelo Russell going back to the Lakers.

And then the doozy. The news that broke an hour before we got on the air. Kevin Durant traded from the Nets to the Suns, who were active for Kyrie and were looking to make a big splash, to try to give them a leg up in a very crowded West. And it's been a rough first half for them.

They have not lived up to potential. So KD on his way to Phoenix. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

De'Andre Ayton. I'm actually surprised he wasn't part of the trade because it seemed like the relationship between the Suns and De'Andre had soured a bit too. Mikhail Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jay Crowder, who the Nets may end up moving again. Four first round draft picks. Here's looking at you, Timberwolves.

Here's looking at you, Rudy Gobert. Four first round draft picks. If you're the Nets, I guess the best you can say is at least we got something in return for him. Probably more than we would have gotten.

Well, let's be fair. More than what teams were offering in the summertime, right, when he had asked for a trade. They didn't get what they wanted. They finally decided to acquiesce to both Kyrie and KD and said, I hope they said, don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you. Good riddance. Yes, it's a big deal for the Mavericks. Yes, it's a big deal for the Suns. I hope they found what they're looking for.

But I'm going back to Robin Lopez. The prevailing thought is that the triumvirate, yes, I'm being sarcastic. Yes, I'm being snarky. Kyrie, KD, James Harden. They came. They carved out their own niche in Brooklyn. They caved.

And then they departed, leaving a mess in their wake. All right, that's what we got to say about that. This is just like that time in Muppets Take Manhattan when the Muppets, after unsuccessfully attempting to take Manhattan, split up and leave Manhattan. Do you think in another life I could be as funny as Robin Lopez? Don't say no, you'll crush me, OK? Yes.

Thanks, Jay. You're an enabler, you know that, right? You brought me munchkins and then you left them there. You didn't even have a munchkin of your own. You turned around and left.

I didn't have one when I brought them in, planted them, then left. I have gone back and eaten one. What about the 17 donuts that you brought in there? Did you eat one of those? Haven't had a donut yet. See, this is what happens.

Jay, he cannot be trusted. I brought you food. It's not food. It's Dunkin' Donuts. Yeah, food.

No, no, no, no. I told him not that long ago, if you really care about me, you'll stop bringing candy to work. And? You haven't, but now you're doing the whole donut thing? It's because you're mad at me that I've told our listeners that when we get to 4,000 subscribers on our YouTube channel, you have to eat a big bowl of broccoli. You're mad about that, and now you're trying to covertly sabotage me.

I'm doing so well. New year, working out, eating healthy, you bring me munchkins. It's not candy. You said, don't bring me candy, and I brought baked goods. You think you're cute, don't you?

You really do. Just saying. No.

Negative, Ghost Rider. We are still touched. You all made the trek out here. Robert, Renata, we hope our marriage is nothing like yours.

Cheers, everybody! From the director of Pitch Perfect and the producers of The Proposal... Something doesn't feel right. We're pirates, and they took everybody hostage.

Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel... This is not happening. Pirates chasing you wasn't on your vision board? You're the only thing on my vision board. Shotgun Wedding.

Rated R. Watch now on Prime Video. We are still touched. You all made the trek out here. Robert, Renata, we hope our marriage is nothing like yours.

Cheers, everybody! From the director of Pitch Perfect and the producers of The Proposal... Something doesn't feel right. We're pirates, and they took everybody hostage.

Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel... This is not happening. Pirates chasing you wasn't on your vision board? You're the only thing on my vision board. Shotgun Wedding.

Rated R. Watch now on Prime Video. He takes it in! Blazers back in front. 31 for Damian Lillard. Now the Blazers trying to get it up across the mid-court line. Grant's got it.

Finds Simons underneath a little, and he tucks it in! 123 and 116. Timeout Warriors with 36 seconds left.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. To the best of my knowledge, the Golden State Warriors have not made any type of blockbuster trade. Though, I saw this and thought it was funny and worth mentioning. That even as Portland was warming up for this game against Golden State. In fact, maybe this was a joke, but I did hear this. They're in the layup line, and they trade away Josh Hart to the New York Knicks. So he was getting ready to play, and ends up getting pulled, of course.

And is informed that he is on the way to New York, momentarily. So New York gets Josh Hart, and in return sends Cam Reddish. And a first-round pick with a couple of other players. First-round pick?

That's interesting. Yes, a first-round pick and Cam Reddish, couple of other players in there as well, role players. In exchange for Josh Hart. It's a lottery protected pick, but still it's a first-round pick.

Wow. I just guess I'm not keeping up with the Joneses when it comes to what players are worth. Either on the free agent market, because the NBA's salaries are crazy. They might as well not even have a salary cap. There's so many nuances and loopholes in their salary cap. But also, what players are earning in terms of draft capital. Gosh, Rudy Gobert, Minnesota Timberwolves. They changed it all.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You're finding me on Twitter, ALawRadio, lots of you weighing in about the KD trade to Phoenix. Certainly looks great for the Suns if they win a championship. If they come close again and still don't get over the hump. And I never wish for a player to be injured, only that it is a concern now with Kevin Durant. He misses long stretches of time. He's older, his body's got a lot of mileage on it. And it seems fairly standard now that he is going to miss a month, couple weeks, here, there. Is he worth it?

Sure. Steph Curry is. He generally misses time every year. But if the Suns don't win a championship, this will be an unmitigated disaster. They've got him under contract for a few more years.

But you put this team together to win now. You trade away four first round picks, including one in 2023. So Portland sends Josh Hart away and then has to take on the Golden State Warriors. You hear Travis Demers calling a couple of big moments for Damian Lillard. 33 points, even though he was relatively poor in terms of his shooting, his field goal shooting.

But he was 16 of 16 from the charity stripe. Triple double for Dame. 33 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds, all in against Golden State. This is a team that, you know, they're the toughest team in the league to guard. They move well without the ball, they pass, they play with good pace. They shoot the ball really well. And even without Steph, they're still difficult. You know, they're just a great team, championship, organization.

So we had to, you know, work our ass off, contest shots better, communicate better defensively so we could, you know, get those guys a little bit more uncomfortable. That's Dame en route, Sports Northwest. Momentarily you'll hear him about the Josh Hart trade. Because, again, they found out as they're preparing for this battle with the Warriors. But Steve Kerr is responding to Dame getting so many calls. And he's not blaming the referees.

You have to listen to what he says. He's looking at the disparity between Lillard getting to the line 16 times, well for 16 shots, Lillard getting 16 shots on the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Klay Thompson, for the second game in a row, shoots no free throws. I mean, that's interesting.

They play the same position, essentially. And so Steve Kerr was kind of saying, this is why it caught my ear. He's saying a lot of what many of you were saying and a lot of what the conversation has been around the NBA and even as recently as LeBron setting the record, how much it's changed, how much the court is tilted, so to speak, in favor of the offense. It's not something he's done historically. And I think one of the things that's happened in the league over the last five, six years is the game is slanted towards the offensive player on drives. And we know that. And so it's a huge advantage to be able to get downhill and show a little gamesmanship. And you saw Dame, he got 16 free throws. He's really clever. He gets into the paint and he'll force the issue and the refs are going to call it because that's the way the rules are written.

And so it's, you know, when you have to go against that, but you're not creating that yourself, it can be tough. And I thought that was a big part of tonight. We had some tough calls for sure, but there was also just, this is the way, you know. We are so touched. You all made the trek out here.

We hope our marriage is nothing like yours. From the director of Pitch Perfect and the producers of The Proposal. Something doesn't feel right. They're pirates and they took everybody hostage.

Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel. This is not happening. Pirates chasing you wasn't on your vision board. You're the only thing on my vision board.

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Taste your goals. Learn more at Goalie.com today. The game is being played today. The rules are interpreted very much from the offensive side. So if you're the aggressor on the dribble, you're going to get calls. He's not saying that the officials are not giving them a fair shake.

But what he's saying is that it's become exorbitant. The number of free throws that some of these guys take. Especially since Damian Lillard's not been one who goes to the free throw line a ton historically. And yet 16 for 16. About half his points on this night in which he and the Blazers edged the Warriors. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio.

Happy birthday to Klay Thompson, 31 on his 33rd birthday. But back to the Blazers. They found out. That sounded weird. I was going to say they found out. Then I was going to say they find out.

It came out really awkwardly. They find out that Josh Hart is headed cross country. Even as they're preparing to play this game. And Damian Lillard, he's chosen to stay in Portland. Which is a relatively small market compared to most of the NBA cities. But it can be frustrating sometimes when the talent doesn't stay. And when they don't keep the talent when they have it.

You know it's one of those things where we all have been a part of the business. And Josh is a really good player. So you have to know that he has an option. He's probably going to opt out of the deal that he has now. And you have to assume that he's going to be wanted on the open market. And it's a chance that you lose a player like that.

You're not able to match that number. So it's either that or you find an opportunity. Where you can position yourself to maybe do something else significant. Instead of just having a loss for a significant player. So I would agree. It's not something where you say, oh man that's gone.

Put them over the top. But I think it's a game of chess. Especially when you're in a smaller market. And you're in a position that we were in with this specific situation. So you've got to do what you've got to do. And you've just got to trust the process. And that we're positioning ourselves to be able to do something that can really help us.

I so desperately would love to see him and the Blazers win a title. He's remained loyal in a business where loyalty is not necessary and is very rare. Not from the fans obviously but players and franchises and leagues. It's a business to them. It's not about loyalty because they really.

I don't want to say they can't afford it because it sounds like I mean financial. But if you don't look out for yourself no one else is going to look out for you. And just as a lot of the guys around the league are talking. These last couple days they're worried about their phones blowing up because they think they've got traded. Malcolm Brogdon even said after the Celtics went over the Sixers on Wednesday night. That this trade deadline makes role players work a little bit harder because they don't want to be on the chopping block. It was really interesting to hear him say that on a night in which he had 19 points coming off the bench. So yeah a lot of guys are on eggshells because this is what happens. Josh Hart getting ready to play a game. All of a sudden he finds out he's headed to the Knicks.

And then think about some of these other guys. We're talking KD. We're talking Kyrie.

You know we're talking about various role players that are on the move. Sometimes they're just a product of. Hey we have to make the finances work.

Hey we have to make the other team happy. You're just. You're just. Oh gosh. Even as I looked up.

So funny. Marco do you see the tweet from Miguel Bridges. Yeah I saw it before. OK so I didn't see it before so here I am talking about how a lot of guys are kind of caught in the web so to speak.

And I look up and on the screen. Michael Bridges tweet his reaction to being shipped out of Phoenix and going to Brooklyn is OMG LOL. I mean I don't know if he's actually laughing.

I doubt it. It caught him off guard right. And so sometimes you don't you get completely blindsided sometimes you fear that it might be coming. But my point about the loyalty is Dame has stayed loyal. He wants to win in Portland in a business where there is no loyalty.

He is the aberration. But it's tough because you recognize that the Blazers are not dealing from a position of strength a lot of times. Reminds me of the Pittsburgh Pirates and not so much that they're in a small market but because they're owners.

The ownership does not want to spend money to keep people around. So we kind of feel like the great guys that come through. They're going to end up moving on at some point and it can be demoralizing. Yeah you know and that's where the fan base is just like you know every year. Really can we can we get further away. Like we were there it felt like the Blazers they got to a Western Conference Finals.

Can we get over the top and instead it's dismantling. So it's tough it's tough when you're a fan and you're talking about the players trying to figure out. I mean we all talk about it so they all know it it's not like they don't know. But a lot of times when you're hearing about like you know the Durant to the Suns has been talked about for a while now the last few days right. So if your bridge is like hey maybe we can get Durant and get over the hump.

And then all of a sudden you find out well I'm part of that deal. That's tough I mean again we don't we don't think of them as humans but they are. So I mean we look at it from the sports perspective we don't think of it from them from them. And instead of he goes from having a chance to win a title to oh man we can get that little that last piece to get over the hump. To I'm now going to a rebuilding situation where they just tore everything down because they got rid of their two best players.

So it's it's it's tough. I just want to add that Mikael Bridges has had a has had a pinned tweet on his Twitter since August 2020 saying I don't ever want to leave with a heart at Suns. Oh he doesn't always work the other way either. Oh no it definitely does not. That's true. That's what I mean about Dame being the not the rule. He's the exception.

All right. Coming up Jason Kidd raving about Kyrie Irving. Top of the hour we're going to get to football but we're continuing even on this Wednesday night looking to see if there will be more breaking news.

But the doozy the big one the one that everyone's reacting to the Suns are trading for Kevin Durant. And so that chapter of the Nets history dubious chapter is now closed. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours podcast sitting in the seat today. I just know I want to be places where I'm celebrated and not just tolerated or or just you know kind of dealt with in a way that doesn't make me feel respected. And there were times throughout this process when I was in Brooklyn where I felt very disrespected and my talent. I work extremely hard at what I do. No one ever talks about my work ethic though. Everyone talks about what I'm doing off the floor.

I just felt like being in New York City in the media capital of the world. There were so many things that leaked out that I don't even know where they came from. And I'm answering things that I don't deserve. And ultimately I don't pay attention to that much. So I'm just grateful that I got to move on now here.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Kyrie Irving all sunshine and roses when he joins the Dallas Mavericks. That was his introductory press conference on Tuesday. On Wednesday he was speaking about KD getting traded out of Dallas.

You'll hear that momentarily. But I want to let you know he made his debut with the Mavericks for those of you huge Mavericks fans. This was a victory against the Clippers and really they dominated from the start without Luka Doncic. So Luka's still injured. He's not on the court. Instead it's all hands on deck but a game high. 24 points for Kyrie Irving. 4 of 8 from beyond the arc. And he finishes up with just a driving force and a smile on his face which I suppose is a good start.

But isn't that how it always starts? Jason Kidd, the head coach of the Mavericks, he also made a sojourn from the Nets to the Mavs. Though it was from New Jersey to Dallas and he's thrilled with his new point guard. It's good. I think knowing Ky and just understanding his skill set and the new atmosphere, he's excited to be here.

I think he talked about that yesterday. I think his leadership down the stretch of getting everyone organized, knowing how to play without having the ball or being able to have to score, setting screens for his teammates to get shots was shown tonight. So a lot of great stuff as we build on this new journey. It just felt good to get this debut out of the way. It's been a long 96 hours.

Barely any sleep sometimes. And just packing my stuff up is the first time I ever got traded in the middle of the season. So it's new for me. But I'm excited that I'm here and just keep things rolling now. It felt like when he came into practice yesterday and we had a shoot around this morning, you could just tell his energy was great. He just talked to all the guys out there and told us just to keep doing what you guys are doing, have fun. Don't look for me.

I'll find a way. Just give us that confidence. It felt like he's been here for a while while he was on the floor with us.

It's great. So first you hear Jason Kidd, then Kyrie, who as I say is riding his high because he escaped Brooklyn. He escaped a prison that he built actually. And then Tim Hardaway on playing with Kyrie. Theo Pinson, oh Hardaway came off the bench with 19.

Theo Pinson was asked a simple question. What do you think of Luca and Kyrie together? Beautiful. Picky poison. I mean, I'd be careful how you apply that word when it comes to Kyrie Irving.

That's a good one. All right. One more from Jason Kidd. Did he really say it's a privilege to coach Kyrie Irving?

OK, whatever. Jason Kidd, also this idea of now having Kyrie run alongside Luca. It's not where he has to get used to playing with another star. He's done this most of his career with, you know, the greatest. And so I think this is a great challenge for Luca. And I think Luca is up for the challenge to show that he can play with another superstar. So Jason Kidd harkening.

No one uses that word. Back to the days of Kyrie with LeBron James. Remember Kyrie, Kyrie, Kyrie.

No, I didn't even do it on purpose. Kyrie with LeBron James had the three pointer that beat the Golden State Warriors going back to Oracle in a game seven. He's got a ring, but ultimately he and LeBron could not play together anymore. Kyrie wanted to be his own man. He wanted to be out of the shadow of LeBron. Of course, the grass is not always greener and it wasn't long before he was in Boston where that situation soured. And we now know it became a major problem in the locker room. You know what? I hate to use the word cancer. I know that people use that word sometimes.

I actually feel like it's disrespectful to people who are fighting cancer. Anyway, it didn't work in Boston either. And it wasn't long before he was disgruntled and he was dissatisfied and he wanted out. And everybody knew he wanted out. But the stories you've heard in the wake of his exit from Boston. And we're talking about players who have come out and really shared walking on eggshells, how you had to be careful what you said, how you said it, temperamental, not reliable. And what did we see? Brooklyn bought in thinking he'd be different with KD.

You give him what he want, give him a bunch of money, give him Kevin Durant. It's going to be so different. It's not different.

It wasn't different. The problem that Brooklyn had and really the bed that they made they had to lie in for a while is that they caved to everything that KD and Kyrie asked for for three years nearly. Before finally growing a backbone or I guess men would put it a different way.

Before finally growing a backbone, Jay just nodded. I speak man. It's not a euphemism man, it's what it sounds like.

Well it actually is a euphemism but okay. Anyway they finally grew a backbone and stood up for themselves and their organization. They did not fire their coach though that happened a little bit later on. Although I truly believe that Steve Nash was okay with walking away at that point.

But yeah they asked for all these changes. Most of them were given to the Nets until finally it became too much. And the Nets put their foot down.

Good for Sean Marks. Could you imagine if Joe Tsai had wiped out Sean Marks and Steve Nash in the offseason the way that KD wanted? And this is what was going to happen. Kyrie was never going to get a max deal without contingencies. They were never going to be that dumb and give him a max deal with everything guaranteed. They were not going to do that because they knew he wasn't reliable.

So this was always going to happen. They did not wipe out Sean Marks. Initially did not fire Steve Nash and I'm glad for Joe Tsai because this was going to happen. The writing was on the wall and it really didn't have as much to do with the tweets with Kyrie. Which by the way he's deleted his apology on social. Not sure if you noticed that.

There are people actually out there who are watching his Twitter like hawks to find out. So apparently once he got traded to Dallas he deleted the apology that the team demanded. What a punk.

What a punk. Anyway, my point is that, and that wasn't even the reason. But when Kyrie didn't get the max deal that he wanted, the max extension, this was always going to happen. They were going to trade him and then KD was going to want out. There was no fixing it once the Nets decided to stand up for themselves in their franchise. But I will say this about the Brooklyn Nets. Good for you Joe Tsai, Sean Marks, the front office, that you stood up for yourself in time to salvage something out of the situation. Yes, it was a waste of three and a half years in terms of time.

Time. But that's what you lost. You got four first round draft picks in return for KD. One for Kyrie, correct? Plus a second round. And then players that you like that will work together.

Addition by subtraction. So yeah, the writing on the wall was coming, but at least they were able to make something in return. It's after our CBS Sports Radio. We're so touched. You all made the trek out here. Robert, Renata, we hope our marriage is nothing like yours.

Cheers everybody. From the director of Pitch Perfect and the producers of The Proposal. Something doesn't feel right. We're pirates and they took everybody hostage. What have we got?

Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel. This is not happening. Pirates chasing you wasn't on your vision board? You're the only thing on my vision board. Shotgun Wedding, Rated R. Watch now on Prime Video. We are so touched, you all made the trek out here. Robert, Renata, we hope our marriage is nothing like yours.

Cheers everybody! From the director of Pitch Perfect and the producers of The Proposal. Something doesn't feel right. We're pirates and they took everybody hostage.

Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel. This is not happening. Pirates chasing you wasn't on your vision board?

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