After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. We're glad to have you with us on what is quickly morphing into an early Wednesday morning. It's our hump show, middle show of the workweek. Thanks so much for your questions for Ask Amy. Anything I've already started to answer, the ones that I see on Facebook, though Jay sometimes tells me to steer clear of a few because he's saving those for the next video version of Ask Amy, so I have to be careful.

If you don't get your question answered online, you didn't hear it on the show, there's a chance that you will see it posed on the next video version of Ask Amy, which will happen next week. Next week, which will be the third week in May. Do you know we're closing in on Memorial Day weekend?

Whoa. In some ways it feels like the spring is passing by in a blur. In other ways it feels like it's taking forever.

I guess that's what happens when you're counting the days. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Glad to connect with you on both Twitter, ALawRadio, as well as on our Facebook page, as I say. If you posed a question and didn't hear it, then I will recommend that you go back and check because often I answer them in the 24 hours following the hump show. Coming up this hour, Steve Kerr has some pointed, I think honest comments about why the Warriors season ended shy of their goals and Draymond Green, though not responding directly, gives his version of the story to Marjor Rosen and Paul George. They have a hysterical exchange about the quality of talent in the NBA, about the level of talent in their own league. Dwight Howard, he's got a message for all the losers who've already bowed out of the NBA playoffs.

We'll mix in a bunch of that craziness. If you missed it, we've already done some QB news here on this edition of the show, as well as the Tampa Bay Rays who were still red hot at the expense of one Justin Berlander. So we've missed in a bunch. We've missed in, I think I just said we've missed in a bunch. Why don't I just say it again? We've missed in a bunch.

We've missed did a bunch. This has nothing to do with misting or mixing. Actually, it has to do with mixing. Are you ready for this? Do you recall producer Jay a couple weeks ago where someone recommended using coffee grounds for my rosebush?

Yes. Well, I don't generally brew coffee with grounds anymore, except for my cold brew maker. So it's been a couple weeks, but my cold brew maker, I used it over the weekend. I've been saving the grounds and we'll be mixing them with water. So here's the deal. You apparently, according to the interwebs, you take a cup of grounds, you mix it with a gallon of water, which seems like a lot, but I don't know if I'm going to measure it out, but a cup of grounds, a bunch of water, you water the rosebush, the roots of the rosebush that way, and it's supposed to increase the acidity in the soil, which then leads to healthier roses.

I'm doing that today, Wednesday. Coffee grounds for the first time ever in my garden. A lot of people backed it up, said it was going to work. And you know how our elevator here has like those fun facts now and then that they rotate. The video scroll, yes. Yeah. So I'm not positive what it said because I caught the end of it as it was changing, but the headline was don't throw out those coffee grounds.

And I have to assume that it was something to do with put them on your plants or something like that. I didn't get to see it. Hopefully I'll see it on the way out, but yeah. All right. That feels like validation to me. It feels like a sign. Yes. Today is the day that I either give new life and extra health and vitality to my rose bushes or I kill it.

It's one or the other. I feel like it'll work. I have good faith in it.

What if all of a sudden within a couple of days they shrivel up and die? Well then I guess you know not to use coffee again. Oh great. Yes. Good point. Thanks. I think we need some new, some flowers sent this way from whoever that was that gave you the info. Well, as you point out, we received it from a lot of people.

I guess I have no one to blame if it doesn't work though because I don't remember exactly who it was. That's happening today. As I go out and water the flowers, I'm using coffee grounds. Right. I wonder if, but see my coffee grounds, well the type of coffee that I used, maple pecan. Do you think that my roses will benefit from maple pecan? Sounds like they'll be more rich in there. Maybe they'll smell like maple pecan roses. That would be cool.

Get some maple syrup roses out there. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio, ALaw Radio and Twitter and then our Facebook page too. It was a high scoring affair to open up the Western Conference Finals in Denver, Lakers, Nuggets. And honestly, it looked like it was going to be a runaway for the, for the Nuggets. And yes, I do use that noun specifically because the Nuggets were run, run, running and gunning.

Did you see them to start this game? Play defense, get a rebound, bolt up the court. Play defense, get a rebound, bolt the other direction. And they, they used that formula to perfection.

It worked extremely well. They were up by as many as 21 points early. They were up 18 at halftime. And then they took their foot off the gas. They stopped running.

They got stagnant. The Lakers used that to their advantage and they were able to cut into what was a significant lead. By the time they got to the fourth quarter, it's nearly gone. Jokic has it now, top of the key, dribbling right. Schroeder gets in there with him.

He puts it up, AD blocked it. Here comes LeBron the other way. LeBron driving down the middle all the way to the rim, foul. LeBron will go to the line to shoot two and the Lakers can cut it to five. Here's LeBron at half court. Crowd chaining defense, LeBron dribbling right. LeBron to Austin Reeves for three.

Good. And it's a three point game. 124-121 timeout Denver. That is John Ireland on Lakers radio.

Yeah. An 11 to two run. And that 14 point lead the Nuggets had, poof, it was gone all the way down to three in the fourth quarter. So here are the Nuggets. You've got the fans a little nervous there.

And they're looking for some way to regain their advantage. And they went back to the formula that had worked for them in the first half in a critical moment in the fourth quarter. Rebound fought for, grabbed by Michael Porter Jr. And Davis falls on him.

That should be good. Casey takes it away. Leaking out is Murray, alley-oop and a dunk, two hands.

Aaron Gordon. Good job, MPJ getting on the floor. Six point lead for Denver, two and a half the goal. It was big. It was very big.

I was a momentum swinger. Got the whole crowd back into it. And I don't remember the following play, but it felt like they got a little stagnant after that.

You know, I typically, when you go have a big swing like that. The part that impressed me about this moment with two and a half minutes to go in the game, it was only a four point difference between Lakers and Nuggets at that juncture. They get a rebound.

Contavious Caldwell-Pope fires it up court. So all the way into the front court to Jamal Murray, who's got his head up, who's asking for the ball. And without dribbling, Jamal looks for Aaron Gordon racing up the right side, fires the pass that is able to, that sounds awkward, fires the pass that Aaron Gordon catches and jams at home. So in two passes, in a couple of seconds, they go the entire length of the court and they get an easy dunk. That is the type of quick thinking and quick ball movement that helped them build the lead in the first place.

Minutes after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. There were no baskets in the final two minutes or about the final two minutes, only free throws. But man, the Lakers certainly had their opportunities. Kick out three, Casey.

Too strong. Three pointer ties it up for Los Angeles with less than a minute to go. Murray picks up LeBron in transition. LeBron has it at the point for the tie.

Missed it. Long rebound. Knocked out of bounds. Last touch by L.A. Now the Nuggets can go two for one here. Jamal Murray has it on the high right side.

He started out there by Austin Reeves. 30 seconds to go in game number one. Murray feeds Jokic on Hachimura, gets down the lane, layup missed. He got fouled, no whistle. Late whistle and a foul call. That's the essentially the end there on Denver Nuggets radio. The Lakers had opportunities and not only did Denver secure the rebounds when they absolutely had to have the rebounds, but late stages.

So few seconds left. LeBron fumbles a ball like literally like a quarterback would fumble the football. He fumbles the ball in the lane and Jokic is able to get a hand on it and scoop it away. And that was the last opportunity for L.A. 258 total points in this game. The most in a playoff game without overtime since the late 80s.

A lot of points. Both teams shot 56% from the field. And so that defense that the Nuggets started out with didn't last into the second half.

And Mike Malone knows they nearly coughed this one up because they got away from what was working. We'll take the win. You know, we protected our home court and wins are hard to come by this time of the season. But our defense has to be a hell of a lot better. You know, that they shot 66% in that second half and they didn't feel us and they scored way too easy to get 19 fast break points to rebounded them by 17 and 29 assists on 11 turnovers are all really good numbers. So I'd much rather clean up things after a win in the Western Conference Finals than a loss. So we'll take it.

But much work to do. It's not just us. It's them two. You know, they're they're they're really good. They're really good team. They have A.D. who is playing really, really well. Who they have on LeBron who is affecting the games in every possible way. Nikola Jokic.

Hey, they're a good team, too. Thirty four points for the two time MVP. Twenty one rebounds and 14 assists. He was really aggressive from the beginning. He wasn't waiting for the game to come to him.

And the Nuggets weren't either. They were dictating. They set the tone early on.

The crowd was into it. They built the big lead and then rut row. Contavious Colwell-Pulp actually admits that they got away from their game plan in the second half. We talked a lot about it, just defend, rebound and get out in transition.

What we best at and what they lack at on defense. So I think we did a lot of that first half. But the second half, we kind of gave up on it a little bit. But, you know, we finished it out strong. That's why I love the team. We're resilient and we don't let up.

On the Nuggets radio network. Yeah, we were supposed to defend and rebound and push the tempo, which we did early. But then we didn't.

It worked. At least the Nuggets know it worked. Yeah, the Lakers put together a run, but it was largely based on the fact that they were able to slow it down and play more of a half court type of game.

And that is what they want to do. When you've got Anthony Davis, when you got LeBron James and they're older guys, right? They played, each of them played more than 40 minutes. You've got a short bench.

They don't want to run. They prefer to make this a slower pace, but also they prefer to have their defense set so that because they feel like they have an advantage on defense. There are 10 and we have to come back with desperation going in the game to have to play better at the rebound better. I thought we did a good job of not turn the ball over. That's one thing we've been very conscious about in the postseason, but we've been better in transition tonight. We wasn't that great in the first half.

We cleaned up in the second half, so we need to be better at all facets of the game. Now, one thing that the Lakers did on defense in the fourth quarter that helped them. It helped them to alter the Nuggets shot selection and the Nuggets went quite a stretch there without getting a bucket in the fourth quarter. I was actually listening to Jason Kosmicki on Nuggets radio and he kept saying, they need a bucket. They need a bucket.

They really need a bucket. So the Lakers defense was working there in the fourth quarter. What they did was take Anthony Davis off Nikola Jokic. So not the one-on-one matchup anymore.

They put Rui Ahachimora, who I really enjoy watching. He's got a great future in this league. They put him on Jokic, one-on-one ish kinda. And then Anthony Davis was patrolling the paint. So he'd kind of be the last line of defense.

It really worked. Not only did it alter the shot selection, as I say, for the Nuggets, but he's there in position for rebounds when he needs to be. And should Jokic get by Ahachimora, AD is still waiting for him. But think about the length and the reach of Anthony Davis. Not only is he a big dude, he's got a long wingspan. And when you have to contend with him when he's always right there in front of the hoop, it changes so much. But what happens with Jokic is a lot of times he's not in the paint. He's out of the perimeter. He's moving around. Remember, he's a great passing big man.

And so he's mobile and he's moving around. And when Anthony Davis is having to stick with him everywhere, a lot of times that leaves the Lakers six exposed, right? So the hoop, the lane is exposed. It definitely worked well to have Anthony Davis as, as I said, the last line of defense right in front of the hoop. So this was an adjustment they made in the fourth quarter.

I wonder if they will continue to use it. Slide adjustment. Wanted to take A off as being the initial line of defense and hopefully, you know, Rui could turn him, make him go east west a little bit more. And once he went up to shoot, you know, he's, he shoots 70% on those floaters, those little short range chip shots and floaters.

And the idea was just to get A behind him a little bit and have A as that big long arm, just ready to contest over the top of Rui. And so it was good for us in some segments and, you know, we were able to, after a tough first half, liven up 72 points, claw our way back into it. Darvin Ham, we'll see what he does for the Lakers defense moving forward and how he dials it up. Big game for Anthony Davis in terms of offense, 40 points, 10 rebounds. But I suppose you could say that he and Jokic essentially cancel each other out. So yeah, Jokic ends up with the triple-double, his six in the playoffs. Anthony Davis has another monster game, but it's in a loss. He's a two-time MVP. He's very skilled. Obviously, that's his number show. Made some tough shots.

You know, just try to make it tough for him, you know, switching up match-ups and schemes on him. But, you know, he's been playing well through the entire season and, you know, especially in his playoffs. So he has 40 AD. LeBron has 26, I think, without looking. Austin Reeves had 23. He had some hot shooting there, so his triples were able to kind of spur their comeback.

But Jokic has 34. Jamal Murray, I'm so happy for him that he's healthy. It's a little bit like the Klay Thompson storyline from a year ago. Jamal Murray had essentially missed parts of two seasons and had missed a couple playoff runs, and now he's healthy. And it's so much fun to remember how we kind of fell in love with Jamal's game when he was in the bubble with the Nuggets, and they got to the Western Conference Finals, and now here he is again. He looks happy. And man, can he shoot the lights out when he's locked in. Such a dynamic player.

So he has 31. Maybe home court really makes a difference in this series. We know that the Nuggets were the best home court team all year. They have not lost in Denver in the playoffs yet. Of course, the Lakers have also protected their home court relatively well, and so it's an advantage that the Nuggets can use if they can win in Denver.

I mean, that's kind of the idea, right? If you can win at home, you don't need to win anywhere else. I love the fans there in Denver. They're hungry for a title.

It's such a difference in terms of pedigree, right? Because the Lakers, even if it's not these guys, though a couple of these guys were part of the 2020 championship, but they're looking for banner number 18 in Denver, the Nuggets don't have one. So it's kind of the, yeah, it's the haves and the have nots, if you will, in the NBA. The Nuggets still have so much to prove until they get that first title. But boy, are they playing their best basketball of the year right now. Coming up, there's a bunch of guys who are already out of the playoffs. Dwight Howard has a message for them. I didn't even know Dwight Howard was still playing basketball, but not just that, DeMar DeRozan and Paul George together on the podcast P. Oh my goodness. They're taking aim at their own kind in the NBA. Some funny stuff. I guess when your season's over you might as well sit back and bust on everybody else who's still playing or who is maybe early exit in the postseason.

Grow up. Good stuff. Oh yeah, KD, we've got a message for you too. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBT Mobile's network can help keep you connected to all your favorite podcasts when you're out and about. Whether you're an early bird looking to dive into a daily news podcast or a night owl who wants to catch up on the latest reality TV drama, T-Mobile will keep you connected on their strong and reliable network. T-Mobile covers more highway miles with 5G than anyone. So if you need great coverage, especially when you're on the go, check out T-Mobile.

Find out more at tmobile.com slash C-Y. That's S-E-E-W-H-Y. This is Flea for This Little Light, the podcast about falling in love with music. I started a nonprofit music school about 20 years ago called the Silver Lake Conservatory of Music. The reason that I started doing this podcast was music education.

I'll be speaking with Rick Rubin, Thundercat, Stewart Copeland, Margo Price, Corey Henry, Cynthia Erivo, Sheila E, and Patti Smith. Please listen and follow This Little Light, a presentation of Cadence 13 on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Surgeons keep our hearts beating. They do the amazing, help save lives, and so can you. Your CSL plasma donation can help create 24 critical life-saving medicines that can give grandpa the chance for his heart to swell when he meets his new grandson or give a bride the chance for her heart to skip a beat on her wedding day. Every plasma donation helps more than you know. Do the amazing, help save lives.

Donate today at your local CSL plasma center and be rewarded for your generosity. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Monk Alley up to Dwight and Dwight scores again. So Dwight, Howard, and THT, 23 points combined. Actually, 25 points combined off the bench as Dwight now is up to 12.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. That's a bit of a throwback Lakers radio when Dwight Howard was still on the Lakers roster. If I remember correctly, he had a couple of different tours through LA, didn't he? The first one was with Kobe.

That didn't last very long. Kobe chased him out of town. Those two dudes did not get along. Such different personalities. I'm not even sure they spoke the same language. And then Dwight Howard went back.

What was it? A couple of years ago. Wait, was he part of their championship in 2020? Was he? I believe so.

I think he was too, actually. So I suppose now we have to call him NBA champion Dwight Howard. Huh.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. See the bubble. The bubble.

It did wonders for people's careers. Well, Dwight Howard is now playing in Taiwan, in case you were wondering. He's not in the NBA currently. And I'm not sure these have any friends in the NBA once this piece of audio circulates.

It's hysterical though. From Dwight Howard's Instagram, and it sounds like there are friends in the background, maybe teammates of his in Taiwan. He is inviting those who've exited from the playoffs to this point to join him. Continue to play.

You just have to do it in Taiwan. But we got plenty of space for you here. Jordan Poole. Come on.

Julius Randall. Come on. Let me stop. Let me stop. Come on, man. Nobody beat. Clay, you can slide down here to my boy.

DeAndre and you and CB three. Come on, shoot. Katie. Come on, Katie.

Oh, you know who? Hey, it's I might have gone back to Houston, but I think this might be a better look. Okay. I'm not sure that Dwight Howard made a lot of friends when he was in the NBA anyway, but we have to go back.

Okay. We have to play it one more time because it sounds like he might be, it's hard to tell from his Instagram, but it sounds like he might be in the locker room in Taiwan. I'm going to do some research and figure it out. I didn't really feel like I needed to do a deep dive on where Dwight Howard was, but you can hear guys cackling in the background, right? That could be his teammates. Maybe he's not in Taiwan.

It sounds like though someone says with us here in Taiwan. Anyway, let's hear it again. Cause he just like puts a bunch of the best players in the NBA on blast. Come on. Come on. Come on, man.

Nobody beat us. Clay, you can slide down here to my boy. Deandre. Hey, you and CB three. Come on.

Come on. Oh, you know who? Hey, I'm going back to Houston, but I think this might be the guy that he's with is the one who keeps throwing out the names. You could hear him in the background. That's fantastic.

Oh my goodness. Well, speaking of Jordan pool and clay, uh, we'll get to them next half hour, but while we're on NBA players on blast, it seems to be the mode that we're in currently. DeMar DeRozan and Paul George. Now Paul George has a podcast with Dallas Rutherford and Jackie long.

Okay. Just so you know, it's it's playoff P who's not in the playoffs. It's Dallas Rutherford, Jackie long, Paul George, and their guest is DeMar DeRozan.

And well, it's pretty self-explanatory. DeMar DeRozan does not hold back. I guess when he's got a microphone in front of him, he just, he goes all in. How did you feel about the tweet that LeBron sent out?

Bronnie was better than some current NBA guys. We do guys a lot. Sorry.

No cap. I'm the type of dude. I keep my opinions myself.

I chill. I played the backseat, but being in the lead so long, you realize how many months don't love the game of basketball who take it for granted, who feels so entitled, who just won't everything that come with it, but don't want to put the work in. It's so frustrating.

You know what I mean? It's like, we played in an era where you had like earned everything. So you got so many guys coming in and thinking like they just should be playing because they homeboy told them they nice. And it's like, bro, you're not good.

So I definitely got Bron standpoint of that because you'll be surprised. It's a good, what is it? 450 of us.

It's a good 75 to a hundred stinks. Good dudes though. So DeMar DeRozan is the one who uses the MFR. He's the one that's, that's getting bleeped out. But do you know the voice at the end is Paul George. He's the one who's saying we have 450 dudes in our league.

75% of them can't play. What can we get to the, the end part, if you can isolate it producer J but yeah, it's not just DeMar DeRozan who does it actually, I guess you could play the whole thing again, if you want, doesn't it sound like he's using past tense. He's still in the league. The last I checked, he was a member of the Chicago bulls this season and the season before. So it sounds like he's talking about, we played in an era, blah, blah, blah. I mean, he's still currently part of the league, but yeah, the voice you hear at the end is actually Paul George. How did you feel about the tweet that LeBron sent out?

Bronny was better than some current NBA guys. We do guys a lot of sorry, no cap. I'm the type of dude. I keep my opinions myself. I chill. I played the backseat, but being in the league so long, you realize how many don't love the game of basketball who take it for granted, who feels so entitled, who just want everything that come with it, but don't want to put the work in. It's so frustrating. You know what I mean? It's like we played in an era where you had like earned everything. So you got so many guys coming in and thinking like they just should be playing because they homeboy told them they nice. And it's like, bro, you're not good.

So I definitely got Brian standpoint of that because you'll be surprised. It's a good, what is it? 450 of us. It's a good 75 to a hundred stinks. Good dudes though. That's actually Paul George.

There's four to 50 of us, but there's a good 75 to a hundred. Is that what he says? That stink. Wow. Podcasts. I'm telling you, they are revelation in the last couple of years in pro sports because the athletes speaking to each other will reveal their true feelings, true emotions, two perspectives. They'll reveal truth.

They wouldn't reveal anywhere else. Stinks. Oh my gosh. That's on podcast P maybe like playoff P but it's podcast P podcast, Paul George. And what has this been around for? Cause I have, it's the first I'm hearing of Paul George's podcast.

I believe I knew he had a podcast, but I've, I didn't know who the other guys were. I had to look it up. So, but tomorrow DeRozan, it's like, I generally keep my opinions to myself, just not today. Oh my gosh.

So, all right, coming up. Steve Kerr. He gives an interesting reason for why the season started off poorly and never really got back on track for the warriors a little bit with Draymond too. And then Eric Spolstra weighing in about the firing of veteran coaches.

Plus you're not going to believe who the Sixers are considering for their head coaching vacancy. Surgeons keep our hearts beating. They do the amazing help save lives.

And so can you. Your CSL plasma donation can help create 24 critical life-saving medicines that can give grandpa the chance for his heart to swell when he meets his new grandson or give a bride the chance for her heart to skip a beat on her wedding day. Every plasma donation helps more than you know, do the amazing help save lives. Donate today at your local CSL plasma center and be rewarded for your generosity.

Please make me roll my eyes. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the after hours podcast. We have a coach who's one of the greatest winners in NBA history and you lean on him in situations like this. His calmness. Everyone feels that.

And then it starts up top, right? Steph's comments and it goes on down the line. This is after hours with Amy Lawrence. Draymond Green in the wake of the warriors. Some win they had in the NBA playoffs. I don't remember exactly which one, but ultimately they bow out in game six against the Lakers and it wasn't close in the end and a disappointing finish for the defending NBA champions.

But as it turns out, they, according to Steve Kerr had maxed out their talent anyway and weren't a championship caliber club. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS sports radio. Couple of things I want to cram in here before we get to the top, because we're busy fooling around with Dwight Howard's Instagram and the podcast B. Thanks for finding me on Twitter a law radio.

Also on our Facebook page, I've been answering some of your questions for Ask Amy during the break, so make sure you go and check those out and I'll do more of that during the day on Wednesday. So Steve Kerr did his exit interview on Tuesday and yes, he obviously pointed to the fact that the Warriors stunk on the road this year. They won, was it eight regular season games on the road and then a few during the playoffs, but they were awful away from home.

So he did point to that. They certainly had issues with consistency when it came to offense there without Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton for a good portion of the season, but he drew headlines for what he said about that incident that happened way back last fall between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole when Draymond punched Jordan in a practice. I think there was some of that was that was lost this year for sure.

And, you know, it's no, there's no hiding from it. The incident with Draymond and Jordan at the beginning of the year played a role in that. It's hard for that not to impact a team. And so, you know, we feel like we have a great group of people on the roster, on the coaching staff in the front office.

We have a way of doing things that we're very proud of, but those things were definitely challenged this year. Anytime some trust is lost then it makes the process much more difficult. And there was some trust lost and that's as blunt as I can be.

So Steve Kerr starts out that I could have set it up a little bit better. He mentions that a lack of trust among the players and in their team locker room was one of the reasons why they were not a championship contender this season. And he points to one of the reasons for lost trust or lack of trust being that incident between Jordan and Draymond Green. Remember Dray was suspended or was away from the team for a certain amount of time. He had to apologize, blah, blah, blah. And Steve goes on to say that's as blunt as I can be. When the trust is lost it makes everything that much more challenging.

And he also said the only way to get it back is for us to continue to communicate. But I do wonder what changes will be made in the offseason. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio so that goes back to training camp with Dray and Jordan Poole. And Dray was away from the team for a week and that's where they began. However, he is not ready to give up on this core group. And the core is, of course, Steph, Klay and Dray.

Talking to Klay as we were sitting at the table last night, Ty, Klay, Steph and myself, just like how important and big of a summer this is. Like how like locking in, like how locked in we need to be. Like, yeah, this like, no, I don't think this is it. I'll say it right here for you.

No, this isn't it. We plan on doing this thing again. That's the plan. Obviously, this is a business and things has to take place.

I get that. But we plan on doing this again. But we're just sitting at the table stressing the importance of like us coming in in shape and like being ready to go and like getting our bodies to the best space that you can get your body and like how big of a year this is for us next year. Our older guys are obviously the ones who are responsible for the banners that are hanging in there. You know, Draymond, Steph, Klay, I know they are determined to come back and play at a high level. And I have no doubt that they're going to be prepared and ready to start camp. And there'll be some energy and maybe a little more of an edge than we started with this year from those guys. And the young guys have to just continue to work and grow. So Steve Kerr from the exit interview with some pointed comments and he's always very thoughtful and he does not hold back.

He doesn't put guys on blast, but he's honest. And then Draymond Green on his own podcast called The Volume, people ask me if you could have a co-host or if you could host a show with anyone else, who would it be in the sports world tonight? I almost always think of Draymond because I think that would be a revelation in many ways. All right, so that's just a little bit of news making in the NBA. You may have heard by now that the San Antonio Spurs won the draft lottery, which means they win the Wembe sweepstakes.

That's what it's called, or that's what he's called Wembe. Victor Wembenyama, who is the French phenom, who's actually overseas still playing in a tournament, but they had him on video and did a lot of interviews after he found out that the Spurs had the overall number one draft pick. And remember the last two times the Spurs have had the number one pick twice in their franchise history. David Robinson in 87 and Tim Duncan in 97. So they were 10 years apart and both Hall of Famers, they obviously changed the course and the direction of that entire Spurs franchise.

It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. I got to mention this just because it popped in my brain talking about the Spurs. I don't know if you all caught this, but Becky Hammon, who was one of the top assistant coaches for Greg Popovich in San Antonio for years, she's now with the Las Vegas Aces. Remember she left last year, or was it two years ago, to coach in Las Vegas with the WNBA. They've actually suspended her for two games to start the season and the league has taken away the Aces first round draft pick in 25, so down the road a little bit, because of two reasons. So they were investigating two different things about the Aces. Number one, that they were getting around the WNBA salary cap by paying players under the table. Now the league admits they could not find any evidence of that, but that there were accusations from former players that they were getting paid under the table so that the Aces could bring more talent in and make it look like they were still under the salary cap. But again the league says they couldn't find any evidence of that, which I suppose would be hard to do if there's no paper trail, but that was one accusation against the Aces.

The other, and this one is from a former player, her name is Dierika Hamby. She is now with LA and she accused Becky Hammon and the franchise of treating her differently and essentially trading her because she was pregnant. So now she's in LA and after she was traded to LA, the Sparks, she put out there on Instagram that her former team had treated her in an unprofessional and unethical way that was traumatizing due to her pregnancy.

And so the league went and they interviewed, I think it was 33 different people from the Aces organization, players, staff members, and they believe they found enough evidence going through text messages and emails and other documents that did support Hamby's claim that she was treated differently and ultimately traded away from the franchise because she was pregnant. So Becky Hammon gets suspended for, this is, I mean this is earth shattering, Becky Hammon gets suspended for two games and the WNBA takes away a future first round draft pick from the Aces. So that kind of made waves yesterday in women's basketball as they get ready to tip off their season. We're still going through the firing process of teams that do not realize the goal of winning the NBA championship. Doc Rivers becoming the latest and I really appreciate that Eric Spolstra stuck up for these veteran coaches.

Even as he's getting ready to coach in the Eastern Conference Finals, he's worried about this trend he's seeing in the league. The great proven experienced coaches that have lost their jobs already, it just doesn't make sense to me. When you have a proven guy and then you have an opportunity to start again without revamping the whole culture and everything, it takes so much time and energy to restart something. And I think that's part of the reason why we've been able to reboot so many times over and over and over.

We're not reinventing a new culture and then trying to teach everybody and then all of a sudden two years later it's going to be somebody else doing the exact same thing. But particularly in a proven veteran guys, it's just been stunning. It really has been disturbing. Good for Eric Spolstra and he's right. Mike D'Antoni, Nick Nurse, Frank Vogel, Monty Williams, Mike Budenholzer, Doc Rivers, and get this, I actually said this earlier on the show because I just knew and then I went and did some research and was like, yep.

According to multiple sources out there, both Budenholzer and Williams, who were just fired by the Bucks and the Suns, are expected to be candidates for the Sixers job. Seriously. The Eastern Conference Finals begin tonight and Jimmy Butler's got a message for all y'all. This year is our year. We're going to go into this game one and do what we're supposed to do and be the first one to four. Like I said, we're very capable of it. We have enough.

Guys are playing some incredible basketball. I like our chances as is everybody in this organization. You gotta, you gotta circle the wagons. It's us against the world.

What does he say? We're ready. We're prepared. We have what we need. We're going to be the first of four. Boom.

I don't know if it's one of those clickbait soundbites or clickbait lines that you'll see on Twitter because it wasn't guaranteed necessarily, but it kind of was. Hell no. We'll talk to you tonight. Have a great Wednesday after hours, CBS Sports Radio.

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