After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

Even Matt talks with Matt Hardy.

There's nothing like a wrestling fan, you know, for better or for worse. How do you handle that, though? We're talking about people talking about your family, what they don't know about your family or your brother or you. How does one handle that from a day to day basis? Something I joke about with the Young Bucks all the time. I said, if you would vanity search Matt Hardy on Twitter, I said, after you got through 100 replies, you'd want to quit the business and never never be seen again.

It's just you just learn to deal with it. You know what I mean? It's the Kick Rocks Wrestling Podcast with Evan T. Mack. Subscribe now on the Odyssey app or ever you get your podcast.

Good morning. Awesome to have you with us as we start out on Monday. I know that this past weekend, the final weekend in February, final weekend really before we start to get hot and heavy in March in terms of conference tournaments. We've got conference championships that are being won on the college basketball stage. That kind of March Madness or whether it's the March Madness that we're seeing now in the NBA, specifically the West. Buckle up. It may be like watching a car wreck, but you're not going to want to miss what we get in these final few weeks of the NBA regular season and then on into the postseason.

I don't know. We might see that the Wild West, the Wacky West, the Weird West. Might end up giving college basketball and March Madness a run for its money.

Because there's almost no separation and it doesn't make sense from night to night, from game to game. This weekend, perfect picture of what we could see in the postseason in the West. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Good morning to you.

Thanks for hanging out with us. We've got a lot of headlines to get to coming off of what was a crazy weekend, but as I say, we're very close to stepping into the month of March. I'm thinking out loud, but thinking somewhat seriously, that we'll see an NBA player eclipse 100 points and either tie or bypass Wilt Chamberlain.

This weekend's record for most points in a game. In the next three years. If the NBA continues on its current trajectory, why not?

Why not? We know now that 60 is the new 50. 50 is actually not that challenging anymore.

As the girl who sits in a chair in a radio studio. But it's becoming more and more commonplace. Similar to games in which 140 points are scored by one team.

No big thing. 60 is the new 50. And now we have two players over 70 in the NBA this season.

If you missed it, it was a show. It was history for Damian Lillard. He just holds on to the ball, finds Dame off the screen.

He goes left, cross over, steps back, fades away, three, buries it! Franchise record! 64 for Damian Lillard.

He is crushing every scoring record in franchise history. 121-105. Dame's got his hands on his knees in the corner. Dame fighting through, gets tripped up, now gets the ball out of the wing, puts up a challenge three and hits it. 69 for Damian Lillard. 126-109.

Dame's got it. 145 to play. Bump, drives, runs it up!

Yes! 70! 71 for Damian Lillard. Oh man, I got goosebumps. I got chills.

I'm seeing history. Dame is the eighth player in NBA history to score 70 or more. We got, I think, 23-22 games left after this. And we need to win as many as possible. And, you know, obviously being short-handed, I know that it's going to be a team effort, but I feel like I got to, you know, do my best to be aggressive. And just try to do what I can to make sure that we get some wins and, you know, that's all the case was tonight.

I wanted to be in attack mode. I got it going and I just stayed aggressive. He scored on dunks, which is rare, not typically part of Dame's arsenal, though he was feeling it last night, had a couple of drives to the hoop in which he got by two or more defenders, accelerated and had a couple of dunks, had some drives and also had some deep shots. In fact, second most triples made in an NBA game, tying a couple of other players one shy of the record, but 13 triples for Dame. He goes 13 of 22 from beyond the arc, 14 of 14 from the free throw line. Overall has 71 points, six rebounds, six assists in 39 minutes. 71 points in 39 minutes. Let's just say for the sake of argument that this Damian Lillard was involved in a game like what we had Friday night when the Clippers and the Kings battle into double overtime in what turns out to be the second highest scoring game in NBA history. If that's Dame and his team is scoring 175 points, I can see him getting to 100 or getting pretty darn close.

It's going to happen. What you're going to see is, again, one of these long games where defense is not either it falls off late because guys are tired or it's not really a factor. We know that NBA scoring averages are skyrocketing. At the end of the season, it'll be fascinating to get the full perspective, the big picture about how much scoring has increased. Because commonplace, 140 point games, 130 point games, it's nothing. And we just had two teams score over 175.

I get it was double overtime, but that's only an extra 10 minutes. That's an all star score, but actually an all star score from 10 years ago, not even all star score from 2023. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio, a franchise record for the Portland Trail Blazers, a career high for Damian Lillard, but actually his fifth career game with at least 60 points.

So this is what I'm saying. We're not talking about a huge stretch to imagine a player like a Donovan Mitchell who had 71 earlier this year. Steph, I think that'd be a little harder just because Steph doesn't play as many minutes, although his latest injury is more of a freak thing. He's been really durable.

Last year, he was durable. I could see a guy getting hot, hitting a bunch of threes, even a Klay Thompson hit 42 the other night. And I think he had 12 more threes.

So he's done that multiple times. A guy getting hot, a game goes long, and his teammates are feeding him. Because when you've got a guy like Damian Lillard who has a hot hand, well, yeah, you need to feed him. And it was every indication that this was going to be a huge night for him because he had 41 at the half. The biggest thing for me was, I mean, first of all, having 41 at the half was insane. And then we come out in the second half, and in the third quarter, he just made every right play. They started firing on him at half court. He didn't shoot his first shot until like, I think, 841 on the clock. And then his second shot, like 720 or something.

He just wasn't forcing at all. He understood what they were going to come out and do. And that takes some incredible discipline to know, like, all right, I'm not going to force it.

I know I can get my career high, but I'm going to just fall back. And that was just, that was so impressive to me. Chauncey Billups talking about watching the show that Damian Lillard put on. And he said early he started to see a few shots go in. He recognized that he was feeling it. And also mentioned that they were short-handed, so he felt like he had more responsibility on his shoulders.

Root Sports Northwest is where he got that initial reaction. But how does he stay ready for games like this when so much could be asked of him? But also when he has to step up and avoid, certainly, if the Portland Trail Blazers are going to turn this ship around, so to speak, and start to take advantage of their opportunities. It comes down to preparation. And, you know, that might sound like an easy thing to say, but in the summer, in the offseason, it's not just the training.

It's, you know, the type of recovery, the type of rest that you have, how you take care of your body, how you take care of your mind and your spirit. And I think in the summer, I don't take those things lightly. I train hard. I give myself rest. I stay on the schedule. You know, I take how disciplined I am in those things very serious. And I think when you get to training camp and you get to the season, and you get into games like this and where you got to play extended minutes or you're getting a lot of attention or you got to be able to produce and get the job done while dealing with a lot, I think all of those things, you know, become it becomes worth it and it shines through.

So I just think it's all about the investment that I put into, you know, being the player that I am. Not just that, but his investment in Portland has always really impressed me. So the Blazers go for 131 last night. Damian Lillard has 71 of those. The rest of his teammates have 60.

It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. How long until we see a player match Wilt? 1960s, early 1960s with the 76ers. Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in a game. And this cracked me up because I was doing some research earlier just to kind of obviously didn't see it, kind of understanding what it was like and and looking at the box score a little bit.

And what I found out is that he only had an audience of roughly 4,100 people. How about that? That's so different.

It is a little insulting. But yeah, Wilt Chamberlain, I'm pretty sure someday is going to do what Kareem just did. Now, the problem is with having a Wilt Chamberlain type of handoff now, not Wilt himself, but having a Wilt Chamberlain type of like handoff where maybe it's the franchise, maybe it's the NBA who's acknowledging Wilt the way that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was acknowledged as the NBA's all time scoring champion. But you you have to have some indication it's going to happen in order to be prepared. We don't know who, what, where, when or why. But it would be pretty amazing to in that moment. Stop the game or after the game. I feel like it's important to acknowledge. And there's this changing of the guard, if you will.

But we're seeing that coming. We're seeing it because scoring is escalating the new rules in basketball. And it's not just at the NBA level, though it's very much defined now. It's a stark contrast where the rules favor the offense and they facilitate spacing and scoring and more flow and more rhythm. And then the advent of the three point shot. I mean, I swear there are some guys in the league who they they break out in hives if they have an opportunity to shoot mid range jumpers. They they can't.

There's a mental block there. So the more that we see the three, the higher the scoring goes, the more that. The more that the the rules and the way games are officiated tilt the court in favor of the offense, similar to what we're seeing when it comes to football. Right now, often you have players that talk about the field being tilted in favor of the offense. It's happening really in every sport.

It happens in hockey, too. So Wilt will be unseated as the single game scoring champion. If there is such a thing. I wonder what he would have to say about it if he was still around.

Actually, it would probably be something spicy. But yeah, I hope that the NBA will be prepared for it because it's coming. I'm going to give it three years. I'm going to go three years. Our guest earlier from Denver, he was covering Nuggets and Clippers that also went into overtime.

Our guest earlier said at this rate, it might be three weeks. So you can find our post on Twitter again, a law radio or on our Facebook page. Look for the Wilt GIF, although, well, you can tell me if you spot anything wrong with it.

Not wrong necessarily, but just. Odd, odd about it. Jay's laughing because it took us a minute to figure it out. But you see if you can check it out on our Facebook page with the Wilt GIF. We don't take ourselves too seriously around here.

All right. Speaking of taking ourselves seriously or taking themselves seriously, the Denver Nuggets, they recognize they've got to protect their territory atop the Western Conference. So after they cough up a big lead against the Clippers, who boy, did they have a weekend. After they cough up a big lead against the Clippers and they see L.A. force overtime. Well, then it's about planting their feet. It's about getting comfortable again.

It's about making sure that they can take care of business and not lose this opportunity in Denver, in OT. Murray, head fake on the three. Back over to Jokic. Good top job of killing the clock. Hook shot won't go.

Got his own board and put it up and in. Nine point lead for Denver. It's a nine nothing run for the Nuggets to start overtime. Jamal Murray at the mid court circle. He goes to the right hand, throws it off to Jokic at the nail. Spins on Gordon. Jumper.

Got it! Denver's up by 10. They're going to come back and beat the L.A. Clippers in overtime.

132 to 122. Jason Kosmicki on Denver Nuggets radio. The Nuggets go as Nikola Jokic goes. But is there a guy who is more consistent in the league right now? I love what Michael Porter brings to the table. He had nearly 30 points, some huge threes in this game.

Talk about a spark plug. He heats up so quickly. And yes, Jamal Murray, one of my favorite players to watch in the league. The pick and roll that he and Jokic do are the pick and pop, but they do a bunch of different iterations of the standard pick and roll. But when the two of them play that two man game, it's very effective because Jokic can do so much. He can be a facilitator. He's huge. Right. But he can also shoot the three when he comes barreling down the lane for.

It's kind of funny because it's a finger roll, but it doesn't look like a finger roll because he's so tall. Forty points. As part of another triple double and get this, 14 triple doubles in 19 games now for Jokic. So I keep asking people who is the MVP? If not Jokic, then who? Who would you put up against Nikola Jokic? Because if he keeps this up, he's going to run away with his third consecutive MVP.

Michael Malone, I feel like he's going to run out of words eventually about his star center. For me, there's nothing to prove. I mean, I think for everybody in this room, there's nothing to prove, but there's a national audience out there. And then I think it's great that this game was on ESPN so he can continue to showcase his abilities.

And I couldn't agree with you more. Nikola impacts the game in so many ways. So for Michael Malone, he continues to tout Nikko as the MVP, Joker as the MVP. I hear Jason Tatum now and then, and I'm not opposed to that. I think what Tatum is doing, the way he's elevated his game, especially in this situation that the Celtics had to start the season.

The fact that their coach was ousted, not that they weren't familiar with Joe Mazzulla, but there's a lot of drama and adversity to start the year. And I've been really impressed with how he has not only remained motivated, but remained locked in. Except for, of course, the All-Star break in his vacation where he told us he came back and he wasn't exactly sure it was happening. So Jason Tatum is a good option.

It was either I left home, I was shooting in Utah, or still drunk from vacation. That's how I played the night. There's one game where he wasn't quite his best. But Jokic, I don't know how you can argue with averaging a triple-double as a center. Do you know he's just a tick off, not even a full assist behind the leaders in the NBA. If, and if, but if he would go on this stretch over the rest of the season where he's averaging say 11 assists per game, he could end up leading the NBA in assists. It's that tight atop that category. And so what he's doing is pretty phenomenal.

Does he look like a giraffe out there sometimes? Yeah, I'm not telling you he's the most fluid, but he gets the job done. And the fact that he's going to be a center who would average these kind of numbers, I think can't be stated enough. And of course, his team is also the number one seed in the West. And like I said, his coach is waving that banner. Is he going to be a guy that's going to be on SportsCenter making a game-saving block? No, he's not. But his hand-eye coordination, the deflections, the steals, and we've seen it.

I think maybe the first MVP year, he had probably earned four game-saving blocks in that season. So if you're looking for a super athlete to win MVP, he's not your candidate. Okay, not your candidate for that. As I say, I mean, I like giraffes. It's totally okay with me.

Just a little awkward now and then. So, yeah, he's not Jason Tatum. He's not Damian Lillard. I mean, even Giannis, although he's gangly and very long and that wingspan sometimes doesn't seem to fit. But he is very athletic and powerful and explosive. Not really Jokic. But he gets the job done. Maybe that should be to his credit that he gets the job done anyway. So, yeah, if you've got another MVP candidate, I don't think he's a guy that would score 100.

But somebody's going to. His name is Jason Taylor. Jason Taylor. He's going to score 100 in a game. Maybe it's Bronny. Maybe we're going to see Bronny score 100. No way. There's no way the rest of the NBA will allow the son of LeBron James to score 100 points. It's not happening. There's no way. There'll be personal vendettas there. No way.

That's what real men do. All right, so the Nuggets maintain their lead atop the West. The rest of the West is a total crap and trap shoot. It's just, it's insane. We also had a couple of, well, some pretty insane finishes in college basketball.

We can't get to them all. But did you see Arizona, Arizona State on Saturday? If you didn't see it, you'll hear it. And then in addition, we have zero from Aaron Rodgers.

But the chatter continues. And Mark Murphy speaks about the possibilities or what we're waiting for or something like that. Maybe he was so exhausted from his darkness retreat that he just went home and fell asleep for a few days. Also, producer Jay comes back from vacation where he's really disconnected for a good week. And he says, so I heard Aaron Rodgers only lasted two days.

Like of all the things I heard about Aaron Rodgers, that wasn't one of them. So where did you hear that? I don't know. I thought that that's one thing I saw in my very limited time on the internet, that he only lasted two days.

Maybe he was two days in at the time and that's what I saw. I don't know. I can't believe that that was even a thought while you were on vacation. I'm offended.

All right. It is a Monday morning. Survive in advance, peeps.

Survive in advance. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Now Joe Ingles, thought he got fouled at mid-court, but he passes it out to Holliday. Holliday takes it down low.

He fades, he fires and hits. Left baseline jumper from Drew Holliday who has become the bunch. Primary source of offense with 20 points now in the game.

Bucks by six again with two and a half to play in the third. Middleton running the other way. Takes it all the way in. Puts the shot. Off it in with a foul. Cash. Money Middleton never hesitated. Took off and the rest took care of itself.

They're out there with Lopez, Crowder and Ingles. Holliday pulls up. Shot by the way.

Got it. Three pointer from Drew Holliday who delivers in the clutch. He had one more time. Bucks by two with two oh six to go.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. That's 14 straight for the Milwaukee Bucks who now once again are tied in the loss column with the Boston Celtics and are a half game back in the win column. So nipping at the Celtics heels for the top seed and the best record in the NBA.

Dave Koehn on Bucks Radio. Jay Crowder against his former teammates the Suns. He has seven off the bench. No Giannis Antenakounmpo has a knee injury now that he's dealing with.

So a bit of a concern though. He seemed to be in good spirits. He was on the bench.

He was kind of jumping around and gesturing and supporting his teammates. And that includes Brook Lopez with 22 and Drew Holliday with 33 in this win. Just the defender he is. The player he is. You know he's one of the top two-way players in the league and at least top three. You know just absolutely phenomenal. Just the best two-way player in the league. And those are the plays he makes just time and time again.

That's the voice of Brook Lopez. So yeah you've got some teams that are real hot. They're playing their best basketball.

And then you've got this total crapshoot in the West that I have no idea what we're going to see from this point forward. Again you're talking about in some cases 19-20 games left for these teams. And from the Phoenix Suns in fourth. So the Suns just lost in the Bucks yesterday. From the Suns in fourth place all the way down to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 13th place. So four through 13 are separated by four games in the standings. But separated by just three games in the loss column. The Dallas Mavericks better watch out. They keep coughing up opportunities for wins and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. And they're going to find themselves in that 7-10 tournament if not worse. And this is with Kyrie Irving.

But sometimes they lose their minds out there and it's like they forget what's happening. For the second time this season the Lakers come back from 25 plus down to win a game. And this time it's in Dallas.

They're down 27 points in Dallas. They have a 12-0 run in the third quarter that really sparks their rally. And then Jarret Vanderbilt with one of their new acquisitions gets matched up with Luka Doncic primarily in the second half. And is able to limit him but forces him to work real hard for every shot.

And so even though Anthony Davis has 30 points, 15 rebounds, what he pointed to was Vanderbilt and the D. Very valuable. You know being out 27-14 in the half and he comes out and set the tone for it defensively on Luka. Getting some steals. Making him shoot some tough shots.

His rebounding on both ends of the floor. It just started an effect for our group to lock in defensively. We still had a big lead. You should know like sometimes you're going to lose it. But you know like I said I think we relax a little bit and we got to work on that.

Not all losses are created equal. And this wasn't at home against a Lakers team that has hobbled LeBron kind of. I mean he had to leave the game for a bit in the third quarter because look at his ankle need to be re-taped.

So maybe he tweaked it. He grabbed his heel while he was on the floor. So he comes back in. But the Lakers are still putting this new look roster together. And they're below.500.

They're fighting, scratching, clawing. And that's the difference with the Mavericks is they weren't using that killer instinct. So I thought it was sort of comical that after they blow a 27-point lead. One of the questions to Jason Kidd postgame is about whether or not he should have called a timeout in the late stages of the game. When by that point it's a loss. The Lakers took over with two-ish minutes to go and didn't give up the lead after that. But it seemed like such a nitpicky thing to ask when they just coughed up this humongous lead and have been embarrassed on their own court.

I'm not the savior here. I'm not playing. I'm watching just like you guys. And as a team we got to mature. And we got a lot of new bodies coming back. And we have to grow up if we want to win a championship. There's no young team that's ever won a championship mentally or physically.

And so just to see how we could respond. Again, two-and-a-half quarters we're playing at a high level on both ends offensively and defensively. But what the Lakers just showed us is that it's not a race. It's not the rabbit who wins.

It's the turtle. And they work the game. And that's where we have to get to. We have to get better at working the game.

And we will. I'm pretty sure he called the Lakers a turtle. Just for point of reference, the Mavs started four guys who were over 30. So the only one that they didn't start that was over 30 is Luka who's about to turn 24. Though does have a fair amount of experience.

But I will say this. One thing that I don't love about the Mavericks and that seems to stand out to me. And it's not unique to the Mavs.

But it does always flag with the Mavs. They argue calls all the time. Luka argues calls all the time. And I get it that superstars are often afforded a different, I guess, tolerance from officials when it comes to arguing calls. But Luka's got to get out of that.

He's got to. That's what the coaches are for. Let other people argue the calls for you. Unless it's so egregious that your arm is hanging off or your shoulders become dislocated. The problem is that you spend so much time and effort worrying about the calls and worrying about the officials that you're not paying attention to the game and it gets you out of your rhythm.

So Luka did struggle after that first quarter. Let's give credit to Jared Vanderbilt. It's a huge deal. But I understand what Jason is saying and he's obviously annoyed with his team.

I'm not the savior here. I'm watching like you are. They do need to grow up. They do need to mature.

And obviously they still need to gel as well. It's important that they take this lesson and don't waste it because there is so little margin for error in the Western Conference. Now the East was kind of fun this weekend but not nearly as much fun as the West. So we've kind of given you a snapshot at least of what has happened in the Western Conference the last couple of days. The Clippers, they lose in double overtime against Sacramento on Friday.

176 to 175. Total insanity. I think Kawhi had 44 in that one. Then of course they come back and they lose in overtime in Denver after their plane gets hit by lightning over the weekend. So they were delayed in getting to the Mile High City but they had quite a weekend. But really that's just a microcosm for the West. And honestly is it not a microcosm for basketball in late February? Whether we're talking NBA or whether we're talking college.

Late stages as in the very last stages of the game between Arizona and Arizona State on Saturday. Get to Cambridge. Cambridge push one up. Good if it goes.

The shot is good! Jasmine Cambridge wins it for the Sun Devils. From past Midcourt, Arizona State gets a massive win. The Sun Devils leading scorer puts it on ice. The Sun Devils upset number seven Arizona. I still don't know how to feel. That was probably, that's definitely the craziest experience, the best game I've ever been a part of.

But it literally hasn't even set in yet. When do we have the next game? So that's the call on the Arizona Sun Devils radio network. And it's Desmond Cambridge after the fact who says that's the craziest thing he's ever been involved with in basketball.

I would say so. A 60 footer at the buzzer as the Sun Devils are able to come back against Arizona. So their rival obviously. The Wildcats did not do a good job protecting their second half lead in actually six minutes without a field goal. As Arizona State is climbing back into it. So just one highlight from the weekend that was in college basketball. There were other buzzer beaters as well. Man, we had Jason Tatum of the Celtics with a late game winning jumper against the Sixers on Saturday night. Only to turn around and see Joelle Embiid hit a three-quarter court shot. That was just a tick too late. So yeah, you can feel the electricity, the energy and also the chaos starting to ramp up in basketball at every level. Alright, find me on Twitter, ALawRadio.

I'm giving it three years before somebody matches Wilt. Also on our Facebook page, there's photos from the weekend too. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. I have no problem with the Rappaport, Schefter, I think they really get their jobs. When it comes to me, they don't know s***. They really don't. They don't have people in my inner circle who are sources, I can promise you that. And anybody who would talk to them is not in my inner circle. It's that simple.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Anytime he tells you he doesn't care, just know he's lying. He cares. Maybe cares more than he wants to admit. Methinks he doth protesteth too much when he says he doesn't care. Because then he gets all fired up when people try to jump the gun or believe they know what he's going to do before he knows what he's going to do. How could you possibly say that? Maybe he does know what he's going to do, but he loves to play the clock as well.

We know that. Rogers is fairly masterful, and I don't think we should be as naive as to believe it's not intentional in many cases where he milks the spotlight and milks the opportunities. In this particular case, I think he just loves playing with people. He's that type of personality, just loves to play with people who think they want to break the story before he's ready.

And I don't love that. I hated it for Tom Brady, that the reports were out there before he retired the first time, that he was about to retire and he didn't have the opportunity to do it himself. Which is why it was a simple video put out on social media to announce it the second time. And so Aaron Rodgers, it's his story and he should be able to tell it.

But also, he's one of the most high profile NFL players on the planet, and he does attract a lot of the spotlight because of the interviews that he does weekly with Pat McAfee, of course, which is where that came from. Not last week, though, because as we understand it, which I guess we'll get some clarification at some point, he was in the darkness in Oregon. I now know more than I ever wanted to know about the darkness retreat, but here's the deal. There's a fireplace in the place. So yeah, it's not complete darkness if there's fireplace and people are opening the door every single day to be able to bring you food.

So a lot of the jokes now fall short, to be sure, because it's not a complete darkness retreat. It's more about the quiet, the solitude, the meditation, whether you want to do yoga, I would be sleeping, whatever you need. Box breathing. A chance to get away is really what it is. And yes, practice your box breathing, too.

There's a light switch right there if you need it to take a bath or something. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Haven't heard from Aaron Rodgers yet. Also have heard nothing with the Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens standoff, and that includes even the franchise tag. And it's interesting the way the reporting around their situation has turned as well, because this contract standoff has now been going on for weeks. And according to some of the insiders, there is such a large gap between what the Ravens are willing to guarantee and what Lamar Jackson wants, which is fully guaranteed money, that there's a lot more people now who are starting to believe that that is a divorce in the making. We don't have any clarification or any type of a resolution with the Giants and Daniel Jones, though that I think is more overblown because they can franchise them and still be paying him a salary that they're comfortable with, and yet have some more time to get that deal done in maybe another year to see what he can do under Brian Deball. So lots of quarterback questions, of course. We don't know, though, about the kingpin.

The number one, I think, right now option for a lot of teams, if they thought they could get him, would be Aaron Rodgers, and that certainly is the Jets, maybe the Titans as well. All the Jets are also promising their other, I don't want to call it girlfriend, but potential girlfriend, that she'll be a Hall of Famer if she comes to play in New York. Crap. Yes. So goofy. It's a chessboard. I'm not using the carousel metaphor anymore.

It's a chessboard. There's all kinds of strategy, but for the Packers, they wait like the rest of us. It was interesting to hear from Mark Murphy, Packers president, over the weekend when he was asked about Aaron Rodgers and the potential in 2023. Obviously, Aaron's been a great player for us. And, you know, I think he needs some time to figure out if he wants to keep playing.

And, you know, it's, you know, it's a grind, you know, a long season. And, you know, so he's taking his time. I do think we'll find out pretty soon if he wants to play and, you know, where he'd prefer to play. Pretty soon. I feel like that's fairly relative.

Mark Murphy on Sirius XM NFL radio. So what about the waiting? What's the impact on the Packers? I mean, you know, football, you know, football coaches, they want to get everything planned. And, yeah, you know, I think as long as it doesn't drag out too far too long. But, yeah, you're right. I mean, you know, we have decisions to make.

And, you know, particularly with the salary cap and getting ready for the draft and free agency, you want to know where you stand. I feel like anything is better than him going completely AWOL and radio silent two was it two years ago in the off season where no one heard from him. And then he comes back from wherever he was. It was like a off. Well, the off season where he was engaged. I think it was actually engaged. Wait, maybe not because he was the COVID MVP, as he likes to remind us.

I mean, who can say that they want MVP of COVID? No, it was. It was the it was post 2020 because he went radio silent and the Packers, nobody heard from him. And he comes back from his sabbatical, his off season darkness retreat. And he then goes on what was it like a 30 minute soliloquy about all the things that were wrong with the Packers and all the ways that he felt like they were disconnected, but that they were in a much better place. And since then, lots of reports indicate that he and even coming from Aaron and Brian specifically, they've indicated they're in a much better place.

I don't know. I hesitate to say much because most of in fact, I would say 99% of the people that were talking about Tom Brady when the season was over. This is people inside the NFL, whether insiders, reporters or just members of the NFL fraternity, almost to a man said that they were sure he was going to play again.

And he doesn't. He's gone for now. Well, what about Aaron Rodgers? Most people, I haven't heard even one person think that he's going to retire. Everybody thinks he's going to play. And then there's really the split on which way he's going to go. Is he going to stay with the Packers? We've had reports.

We've had not just reports from anonymous sources, but actual sources come out and tell us why he's going to do this or he's going to do that. So I don't know. Will you wait? Don't make shit up. Okay.

I swear. That's why it's taking longer. He's not in any hurry because he knows people are waiting on him. He's a contrarian. Have you not figured it out yet? Aaron Rodgers wants to do the exact opposite of what everyone thinks he's going to do. Whatever one says he's going to do, he wants to do the opposite, which I guess could be the reason why he decides to walk away.

You do a great job, but not when it comes to my life, so stop talking about me. Producer Jay loves, loves, loves Aaron Rodgers getting uptight. Aaron Rodgers pushing back.

But what's better, though? The drops from Aaron or the drops from Kevin Durant? Because you also love the Kevin Durant drops. Now, Mike Tomlin is in a completely different category. He actually inspires us to run through walls, sort of. Actually, I've invited Jay to try running through the double pane glass that's separating the two of us just based on Mike Tomlin inspiration.

And he won't yet sacrifice his face to do that. So I guess not quite through the wall, but we love Mike Tomlin. He's in a completely different category because we enjoy and smile at what he has to say. Most of the time with Aaron Rodgers and Kevin Durant, while we may be laughing, we're mostly rolling our eyes. It's pressure because I'm one of the best players to ever play the game. Ever to ever play the game. Do you think that was like the most important thing he needed to tell the Suns fans?

I am the one of the best players to ever step on a court. He went into that conference knowing that at some point that was going to come out of his mouth. He didn't know where, but he knew that he had to say that.

It was skillfully and deftly placed. Oh, my gosh. All right. So we've also got N, not NFL, nope. NHL trade deadline is coming up, too. And there are moves that are being made.

I would say right now the rich get richer. It's what we're seeing, at least at what it feels like, is that the teams that are out of it. They're kind of divesting pieces or the teams that have expiring contracts at the end of the year.

They're also divesting pieces. So, yes, the Bruins have gotten more depth, which really is bad news for the rest of the NHL. And the Devils picked up star forward Timo Meyer from the Sharks on Sunday night as well. Still waiting on Patrick Kane. When was the last time I actually finished a show talking about hockey? Ooh, good for me. It's After Hours with Amy Laura at CBS Sports Radio. Boom!