After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

Good morning! Happy Tuesday! If you had a long weekend, well, this is back to reality.

Or maybe you didn't. My brother and his family are still on vacation there in Hawaii and living it up for another few days. I've got friends in my neighborhood who are taking a five-day weekend because there were no snow days for their kids this year in school and the school system gave them off both Thursday and Tuesday. So it's like having a week of vacation, another spring break if you will.

But for the rest of us who are typical adults with actual jobs that have to be worked. Hello! Time to get up and at them. If you're waking up on this Tuesday morning, maybe it hurts.

Maybe you were late getting home, late travels. Don't worry. We've got exactly what you need, the tonic, to wake up real quick.

How about this? You better rush to your phone or your computer and check out the whale video. I found it yesterday. It was suggested to me by Twitter which is another reason why I think it might be fake. I'm a little bit nervous that Twitter put it out there for me. What does that say about me? I'm a sucker for animal videos? Does Twitter know that about me? It's a pretty good video.

It is, but it was on my feed as a suggestion for me. So I'm wondering if I watch too many animal videos, does Twitter and the rest of social media now know that I'm a sucker for animals in videos? Fionna the hippo video. Oh yeah, Fionna the hippo with the Cincinnati Zoo. Yeah, that got in the algorithm I'm sure for you. She's awesome.

She loves watermelon. Anyway, the reason that you can wake up quickly this morning and maybe it'll put a smile on your face and you will love this great world of ours. There are whales hanging out with two surfers or two people on a surfboard. They're not in the middle of the ocean, but they're out in the water. They're paddling around, minding their own business until what appears to be two or three whales come up and investigate. They're curious.

They want to know if these people are as curious as they are. And so they start putting on a show. Not only do they come out of the water and surface, you can see their eyeballs are staring at them. Then they start dancing like synchronized swimmers.

A couple of them with their fins up in the air. Jay and I think it's real. We think the video is authentic. Although the title of the Twitter account where it came from is a parody, right? I don't know anything about this account, but this video to me seems real. As real as the one that Steph Curry shot where he was making full court shot after full court shot from one corner to the hoop.

And it also looked real. Yeah. If I get duped by this whale video, I'm going to be really angry.

So I need you all to weigh in. Please check it out on my Twitter, A Law Radio. Watch the video.

It's 90 seconds. If you think it's real, it'll make you smile on this Tuesday morning. I promise. Cause it's pretty incredible. I'm jealous. If this is real, I'm jealous. If it's not real, I'm still jealous because they're obviously whales, even if it happened in a tank or, or the background is completely doctored and it's a, it's a green screen in a tank somewhere.

Jay thinks it might be too good to be true. You said it was too perfect. It's very perfect. It's very perfect, but I, I want to believe that this was just one of those perfect moments in the world. Like where the whales, the clouds, the sun, the camera all just met in alignment.

And we got this amazing video. I want to believe that. Well, we know there are human and animal encounters such as these all the time and whales.

Well, what do they have to be afraid of? Really? These two don't have a harpoon on their surfboard. And this is not some fishing boat. It's just two people hanging out, maxing and relaxing until some whales decide to check them out. I think it's real myself.

It's calm. Like they, I think it's real. And their reaction seems genuine. Whoa. The guy's first reaction is whoa. And then she's chattering excitedly and, and they're looking around and watching the whales.

Now they could be really good actors, but I think it's authentic. So check it out. It's not the most important thing that will happen on your Tuesday, I hope, but it is a good way to wake up after a holiday weekend. On Twitter, A Law Radio. And then if you're listening online and you're not on Twitter yet, now's a good time.

I don't recommend starting your day with Twitter, but this is an exception. We're going to now transition from whale watching to basketball. You know what? A lot of people go off the coast in Massachusetts, off the coast from Boston and go whale watching. There we go.

I mean, segue. Boston was hosting a game seven on Monday night, wrapping up the holiday weekend with what was supposed to be the crown jewel of the sports weekend. Miami on the cusp of becoming the first ever team to lose a 3-0 lead in an NBA playoff series. You know what Miami thinks of history though, right? Well, you know, Miami will fight you no matter what the situation, but Miami tends to fly in the face of history. This Heat team doesn't care about your history. Now I would say because the Boston Celtics are supremely talented, because they've got a lot of great players, a ton of wisdom and experience, this was a team that appeared to have seized momentum in this series and could capitalize on having a game seven at home back on equal footing with the Miami Heat. I don't know that it was the first minute of the game that changed everything.

We'll never know. That might be a bit of a cop out, but it certainly did change things for Jason Tatum. It was Vincent who committed the foul and Tatum essentially landed on Vincent as he was down on the floor. He turned that ankle as he fell down, rolled it, but your adrenaline will keep you going through this game.

I don't care. It would have to be a bone broken. Tatum misses the second free throw.

Celtics lead 1-0. That has put a damper on the proceedings here, 30 seconds in. I came down, you know, on my ankle, and it's tough because it kind of impacted me the rest of the night. I swelled up, and it was just frustrating that I was kind of like a shell of myself.

I don't want nobody to feel bad for me. Unfortunately, injuries are a part of this game. I've been fortunate enough up until this point. I've never missed games. I've played 95% of the games since I've been in the league. I'm top two in minutes since I've been in the league. It just was an unfortunate fall of the night on the first play of the game.

It was something I was trying to battle through throughout the game. Jason Tatum rolls his ankle. He grimaces at multiple points during the game, but he ends up playing 42 minutes. Now, he did not shoot well, especially did not shoot well from beyond the arc, but to be fair, none of the Celtics shot well from deep. He did have 11 rebounds, hit a couple of sweet assists. However, when he was on the bench, the Heat made their initial run, and so that was significant. Wally's trying to get the ankle re-taped, and he's over.

Actually, I don't even know if they re-taped it. He's just trying to give it a break over there on the bench. The Heat finds some momentum, and they go on a run that initially gives them a lead. Over the course of the first and second quarter, so end of the first quarter, beginning of the second quarter, they outscored the Celtics by 20.

So they dig themselves out of a hole, and they go up by as many as 17. Still, how many times do we see either the Celtics or the Heat dig themselves out of a double-figure deficit and flip the script? And the Celtics tried. They got within 11 at halftime, and I kept feeling like, in fact, I even tweeted at halftime it was going to be a nail-butter. I kept feeling like it was just a matter of time because it was Game 7.

It was in Boston. They'd already faced elimination five times, and five times had come out victorious. And even with a Jason Tatum that was hobbled, they still have a Jalen Brown and a Marcus Smart. And my goodness, can any team shoot that badly from three-point land the entire way through a Game 7 with friendly rims? And plus they have Derek White. Jalen Brown steps to his left, returns to the Marcus Smart.

This offense is broken right now. Marcus Smart picks up his dribble, goes right side. Derek White trying to bail the Celtics out with a three, and he does. Ooh.

Celtics teetering, but they're back within 11, which is where we were at halftime. Derek White up-bakes on Struce, switches to the right hand, attacks the paint, muscles it up, and in! Score to the foul!

Wow. Jalen Brown, offensive end, finds Derek White. White switches to the left hand, attacks the paint, forces it up, and in with the right hand.

Timeout air exposure. Is Derek White that dude now? Man. Again on the Celtics radio network. Yeah, Derek White, he kept them close. He worked hard. And we've seen him turn into, maybe not a superstar, but a bona fide starter member of this team because of his defense and because of how opportunistic he is. But you know who that dude was in this game over and over again? Wasn't a member of the Boston Celtics. It was an undrafted player.

One of the seven undrafted players the Miami Heat have on their postseason roster. Jimmy with the rock, 36 seconds to go. And the third goes baseline, kicks it out to Martin. Martin sidestepped for three, splash! Everybody's all upset and think Jimmy stepped on the baseline.

Only three people get to decide if he did. Taylor driving baseline, fades outside the right block and got nothing but net for Caleb Martin to end the corner, keeping the lead at 10. Ball inside, right hand comes out. Tatum was at the rim and it wouldn't stay in. He's made four of 10 in this game. Caleb Martin is made 11 of 15. Three point ripper to start the fourth quarter.

He's four five from the land of milk and honey. Jason Jackson on Miami Heat radio. Yeah, Caleb Martin had his best game of the series, but he's been the man, really the second option, I would say. Generally you'd go Jimmy Butler, Bam out of bio, but Bam did not play well. He didn't shoot well.

He worked hard. He had a bunch of rebounds, had some blocked shots in there, but did not shoot well. Neither he nor Jimmy Butler had a great offensive performance in game six or seven, but Caleb Martin consistently bailing the team out.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. So yeah, Martin with 26 plus 10 rebounds, so a double double in this game seven, several assists in there as well. And I think he got robbed. I think he should have won the Eastern Conference Finals MVP. That went to Jimmy Butler instead, but Jimmy was all about Caleb following the game. I think that everybody sees what he's doing in the games, but the real work is done when he's in the gym by himself with his trainer.

All the countless amounts of reps to prepare him for this moment, he doesn't shy away from it. I definitely reflect on where I started and the journey it's taken to get here. And you know, even as early as the two-way last year, but I think more than anything, it's kind of a weird feeling because I just, I'm also understanding that as happy as I am, as grateful I am to be here, I also understand that like we have four more, like the job's not done. We didn't go through all we went through all regular season and my personal journey to stop here, you know, so we're, you know, we're trying to get what we came here to get.

So we got four more. If you're a real competitor and it's in your soul, and that's what Caleb is, he's a competitor. Every bit the competitor that, you know, you talk about with Jimmy or Bam or, you know, whatever, Caleb is a competitor, you get to the higher stakes. The further you get along, the more competitors are going to reveal themselves. You know, game sevens or get to the conference finals, it's not for everybody in this association. Otherwise, you know, more players, more teams would do it.

You got to be, you know, you have to be wired a little bit differently. And Caleb is, he's pure, he competes on both ends, lays it all out there for everybody to see. Yeah, he has so much respect in that locker room just because how hard he competes. It's like his last breath on every single possession, and I love the guy for that. Caleb Martin, not the MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals, but I think he should have been in spirit.

He goes four of six from downtown, has the double-double, best game in game seven, when the shots weren't dropping for Jimmy Butler, for Bam Adebayo, for Duncan Robinson, who was a spark in game six when they needed it. Yeah, rollercoaster ride, it never ends for the Miami Heat, but honestly, they perform better when they have no choice. They play their best basketball when their backs are against the wall. That's who they are. They actually prefer a higher degree of difficulty. They just don't do anything easy. No easy street for the Miami Heat. I stumbled on that earlier. I swear I didn't write that down.

It wasn't in my notes. No easy street for these Miami Heat. But Eric Spolstra certainly waxing poetic following the game, and he should.

He should. Everything they've been through from an eight seed, nearly getting knocked out of the play-in tournament because they were screwing around, to now the NBA Finals. People can relate to this team.

You know, life is hard. Professional sports is just kind of a reflection sometimes of life, that things don't always go your way. And the inevitable setbacks happen, and it's how you deal with that collectively.

There's a lot of different ways that it can go. It can sap your spirit. It can take a team down. For whatever reason, with this group, it's it's steeled us and made us closer, made us tougher. We never thought it'd be easy going through these playoffs, going through the season, up and down, good, bad, through the adversity.

Still, you know, nobody let go of the rope. So biggest thing for us, man, I'm happy my teammates played the way they did. You know, Caleb definitely made a name for himself. And obviously Jimmy is being Jimmy. So, you know, the biggest thing for us is just keep going.

Bam out of bio. Another game in which he missed some easy shots, but I say easy, point blank shots right at the rim. Couldn't quite find that rhythm offensively, but this is the heat. They want to bring all of their opponents down to their level, right? They want to grind you to death. They want to wear on you and wear you out. And they'll do that with the effort.

They'll do that because they're relentless, they're tenacious, they're physical. Sometimes the offense is there, sometimes it's not. And for the most part of this postseason, they've played far and away at a higher offensive clip, at a better offensive clip than they did during the regular season. I've said this before, they were among the bottom feeders in the NBA throughout the regular season offensively, in any metric, especially three-point shooting. While the Celtics were one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA this year, but that means a whole lot of nothing until you can do it in the playoffs. And the Heat, they found an offensive rhythm, but even when they didn't have it, they relied on what's worked for them.

Their identity never changes. And I love what Jimmy Butler had to say after the game. We don't have the the soundbite, but I'm going to read it to you because I think it speaks volumes about their chemistry and how their chemistry gives them an advantage on the court. This was Jimmy when he was asked a question about Miami Heat culture.

I don't call them role players, I call them teammates because your role can change any given day. Think about the Heat roster. It's Jimmy Butler and it's Bam Adebayo.

Okay, Jimmy's a superstar. Bam's a better than average player. I would say he's a very good player. I mean, are we talking Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown here? No, but he's a very good player. Love his athleticism.

But then you've got Kevin Love in the starting lineup, Kyle Lowry, who both those guys have championships, but Kyle is not the same player he was when he was with the Raptors. He's solid. He's smart. He's crafty.

And that is, I mean, that makes all the difference, that experience. Duncan Robinson, Kayla Martin, Max Struce. He was cut by the Celtics in 21, I think. They were without Tyler Hero, without Victor Oladipo. They've got guys who will do anything to win. And then you've got the unwavering confidence of Jimmy Butler. How many times did he tell us over and over, we're going to be the first team to four wins? Oh, well, we're going to win the next game. We're going to win the next game. We're going to win the next game. And he said, my team takes my confidence from me. And as for the Celtics, you play with fire too many times, you're going to get burned.

And they did. That crowd was taken out of it early in the third quarter when the Heat just refused to take their foot off the gas. And I love that about this Heat team. Again, it's going to be ugly a lot of the time.

They don't dazzle you. They don't cause you to get up off the couch like Steph Curry, but they know who they are. And they stick to that and they believe in each other.

And I know it's all these kind of hokey phrases. And yet it's true. It works for them. And we're watching it.

They kick history in the teeth. So the number is O for 151. O and 151. My gosh, I'm looking it up at NBA TV. I hadn't seen this last night. I look up at NBA TV. And as the time is winding off the clock, Paul Pierce, he's going, he's shrugging like, I don't, I can't believe it. Yeah, it was a who's who in Boston.

On Monday night, those who's who's couldn't help. We'll hear from the Celtics. Jaylen Brown taking it on himself. Jason Tatum with the bulky ankle.

So now there are questions about the Celtics, but let's not overreact, please. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. If you haven't seen the whale video, no time like the present, I'm telling you, it is worth it. Check out this video on my Twitter, A Law Radio. It's a couple sitting on a surfboard, just seemingly minding their own business out for a, well, it was Sunday, out for a Sunday paddle.

When all of a sudden they're greeted by what appears to be three very large mammals, three very large whales. Jay and I think it's real. We're asking you whether or not the real, the video is real and authentic or it's fake. I'd be so disappointed if it was fake. It can't be.

It can't be fake. We agree. Good morning. We're whale watching here on After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Jaylen diagonally. Tatum's got it. He's going to attack Struce, but he double dribbled first.

They call traveling. He laid it up and in, but Tony brothers was right on it. Jaylen on the push, and to grant Williams offensive foul. Got that on Brown.

He pushed Max Struce away to create room. And that's five turnovers now committed by Jaylen Brown, his third foul, and it'll be Miami ball, a chance to extend their nine point lead with 18 to go into third. Eric White for Jaylen Brown.

Don't lie to attack. Butler knocks it away from Jaylen. Lead pass for Jimmy Butler, two hands slam. Timeout Joe Missoula. Miami has its largest lead as Jaylen Brown commits his seventh turnover of game seven thousand returns to the jail in the corner against BAM switches to the left hand, exposes the ball and commits his eighth turnover of game seven. A nightmare that Jaylen could not wake up from.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. For a good portion of the fourth quarter, Jaylen Brown had eight turnovers and the Celtics had eight made threes. That's not a formula for success. Jaylen with a tough night. It happens to everybody. We've seen it from Jason Tatum. Actually, do you all remember last year on the way to the NBA finals and into the NBA finals, Jason Tatum set a new record for most turnovers in one playoff run. I mean, this team doesn't have the same turnover problem that the Warriors do.

It's actually part of their MO. But when they're not shooting well, when, according to Marcus Smart, they're not shooting well, they kind of lose their identity on defense. And I wouldn't say panicky is the right word, but they tend to fumble and stumble when the shots don't drop from three.

And that bothers me. It bothers me when I see NBA teams, Celtics or otherwise, act like James Harden, right? No matter how many three-pointers you miss, well, just keep shooting them until they drop. Except sometimes they don't.

There's a reason that we use the cliche, live by the three, die by the three. If you're so unbelievably committed to it, and in this case, it is unbelievable, the Celtics have athletes who can drive to the hoop. They have guys who can get to the rim. They're better when they're attacking the rim. And even if Jason Tatum can't do it, Jalen can do it, Marcus Smart can do it, they can run sets for Al Horford, Rob Williams, that's really the only type of shot that he gets. The guards can, I mean, Derek White can get to the hoop. I, for the life of me, do not understand why the Celtics or any other team can start over 12 from three, continue to shoot so poorly from beyond the arc, and not change their tune. I mean, Joe Mazzola has been asked multiple times in this postseason, are the Celtics too reliant on the three? And he says no.

Every single time he says no. They go nine of 42, nine of 42! Are you kidding me? No wonder the Celtics fans got really silent inside the building. Nine of 42 from three. It's enough to make you want to poke a fork in your eye, for heaven's sakes.

In fact, I'd rather poke a fork in my eye than watch it again. Oh, see, I forgot about that. Sean Grandy, Cedric Maxwell on Celtics Radio, Sean actually joined us from Boston. He had a lot to say. He was still going through it all after calling game seven, and he joined us from Boston. His son, he's a 12-year-old son, was sobbing after the game because he's all in on Boston, right? And actually he's a big hockey guy, his son.

He loves hockey, plays hockey. So can you imagine what it's been like for his son? Not only do the Celtics lose to an eight seed at home in a game seven, but the Bruins, well, they did it first in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, lose at home in a game seven, in sudden death no less, to the Florida Panthers, right? It was sudden death in game seven. It was, yeah.

Oh, that's rough. But he's what, 12, 13, and he's seen like five championships in his teams? Yeah, a little jealous. Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets are in their first ever NBA Finals. New England sports fans don't know how good they got it. Well, some of them do.

The ones who remember the bleak years, they do. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. So yeah, Jalen Brown taking this real hard on himself after the eight turnovers. We fell.

I fell and we let the whole city down. It's slightly melodramatic, but I can understand why he feels that way. He was asked about his contract. He says he's not focused on that.

He thought that they were going to continue playing. He also defended Joe Mazzola. It's not his fault. You can't blame him. He deserves credit. And I agree with that. The knee-jerk reactions are no supermax for Jalen Brown and Joe Mazzola needs to be fired.

Seriously? They got within a game of the NBA Finals. After going to the NBA Finals last year, this core has it.

Jason Tatum tends not to overreact, but what does need to change? We've shown that we can get there. I mean, we get to the conference finals.

It's my fourth time in six years and been to the finals once. And we had a special opportunity this year. We just fell a little bit short. It's not like we're not capable. We don't have the talent. You know, we do. It just didn't go our way this year. It's hard to find answers 20 minutes after you've been stomped on your own court in a game seven. That part I get. But interesting that Jason says, hey, we can do this.

And he's right. The Celtics could have. They just put themselves in too big of a hole. You win one of those first three games and maybe we're looking at a different outcome. But that's not how it went. Miami Carpe Diem sees the day. But I thought it was really interesting what Marcus Smart said. And I kind of referenced this a few minutes ago that when the Celtics are off track offensively, when their offense is offensive, like it was last night.

Jay, don't laugh at me. It's kind of clever. That was good. When the Celtics are not in a rhythm, I mean, that's boring, really. I feel like I've come up with two kind of clever phrases.

When the Celtics offense is offensive and the Heat do not take easy street. And I swear that wasn't even on purpose. Both keepers, I'd say. You think? I'd say. Thanks, Jay.

Producer Jay. He's my yes man. That's not even remotely true, actually. So Marcus Smart believes that when the shots aren't dropping, the Celtics, they kind of get out of the game plan defensively.

And that's a problem. Defense is key, you know, because even though you miss shots, your defense can save you a lot of times. And a lot of times our defense have been our kryptonite. We're not making shots.

So I think that's it. You know, just we just got to understand that shots aren't always going to fall. But our effort on defense, we can always control that. And you can't control the shots not falling or going in.

You take the open ones, you take the right ones, and you continue to play defense. I mean, he also said they got surprised that the Miami Heat snuck up on them in the first three games of the series. Maybe Marcus doesn't speak for the whole team. Maybe. All right, one more again, because they're all searching for answers after Al Horford just shot. I mean, he's one of the guys that shot abysmally, dismally, abysmally from beyond the arc for a lot of the postseason. He actually thought it was maybe not an advantage for the Celtics to be at home.

See, are they just spitballing here? Maybe they're just guessing about what went wrong. For whatever reason, we always felt coming back here was kind of our safe haven, that we were going to be fine. I'm not going to say that that's bad, but I definitely think that for whatever reason, we just kind of let loose a little bit at times here at home, just thinking that we'll be fine and we'll kind of find our way. And that's something that we'll have to look at and make sure that we shift that mindset of protecting home, kind of being more aggressive. Because on the road, I feel like there's that edge that we have. And we have to be consistent in that. That's something that we have to be better at. It's an interesting observation, right? And I do understand why away from home you kind of circle the wagons.

It's you against the world. We hear that from athletes a lot. But you're a veteran team. We're not talking about a bunch of newbies here.

If you know this about yourself, you got to if you know this about yourself, you got to stay on the edge. And maybe that's partly why they were content, satisfied to just sit back and fire the threes. Yeah, I feel like a change of strategy might have been good at some point. Heat move on. Denver Nuggets up next. They've been sitting around for a week. We'll hear a little bit from them coming up. But that series doesn't start till Thursday. So, you know, we've got some time.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. It's a bumblebee buzzing around Jimmy Butler's head postgame. He was upset. Things you miss when you go to bed.

I mean, how could you? Don't you worry, though. We got you covered.

We're whale watching and everything. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Ten seconds remain. As the Eastern Conference Championship belongs to the Heat's 103-84 the final. For the seventh time in the 35 years of Miami Heat basketball, your Miami Heat will battle for the NBA's title. Denver, here we come.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Jason Jackson on Miami Heat radio. And yes, it sets up a date with the Denver Nuggets who've been hanging out, biding their time for a week.

I can imagine they're getting anxious now, too. I mentioned Sean Grandy of Celtics Radio joined us earlier. He thinks that the Heat have won their last game, that they're going to get swept by the Denver Nuggets. You know the Heat love it when you doubt them. Jimmy Butler was asked about the Nuggets last night and what's in store for them in the finals. I got two days to figure that out. We have two days to figure that out. Before game one. Oh, my God. Y'all saw that? Damn bumblebee.

So we will lock in on them. I mean, I think he was rather mild-mannered with the bumblebee flying around. Oh, my God.

I probably would have screamed and, well, done like a mini screech and gotten off the stage right away. Damn bumblebee. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. I'm not yet ready for Mike Malone to go on his Nikola Jokic's disrespected stint yet. We're going to have to save it until we get to Thursday. But it's coming. No matter.

We know it's coming. Will the Nuggets have an advantage because they've been off for a week? I mean, they'll certainly be well, you would think that they would be more energetic. They'd be more well-rested. But that's not always the case.

Sometimes you get out of rhythm. I don't know. It varies from team to team, series to series, year to year. But Nikola Jokic, he's a load and he will have to deal with him. Who's going to guard him is the question. That's a, that'll be interesting.

That's a, that'll be interesting. Plus Jamal Murray, the last we knew he was in some kind of rhythm and flow. Contadious Colwell Pope actually thinks that the Nuggets have the physical advantage and we've heard this before, but he points to the altitude in the Mile High City. We've been here a long period of time, just working out. I feel like it does affect us, you know, just because I've felt it before out there playing. But like you said, our advantage is like them have to come in and adjust to the attitude, which we have been here for a while now.

Doing this, doing that, working out, getting our breathing right, you know, lungs, everything. It's going to be, that's an advantage for us, I would say. Not to mention the fact that they've been hanging out, just waiting. The Heat, while I do believe they're relentless, they're tenacious, they can dig down deeper and they do play their best when they have no other choice. I mean, they actually do well chasing, not being chased, if you will. I don't think they're great front runners. When they have a challenge in front of them, though, when they turn a molehill into a mountain like they just did with the Eastern Conference Finals, they tend to then kind of lock in. So we'll see how this series starts, but they do love a challenge. Mike Malone will let him rave about Nikola Jokic.

You put that in your pipe, you smoke it. Now in Thursday, but yeah, eight years ago, he started in Denver and now they're finally in the NBA Finals. If I'm the same coach, I was in year one, I failed. You know, I wasn't meant for laughs.

Thank you in the front row. But I think for all of us, everybody sitting in this room, if you're the same person that you were from a year ago, not even just eight, then we've all failed. You know, I challenge myself to continue to grow. And not just as a coach, but in all facets of life.

I think that's, you know, if you're not growing and improving, then you're probably getting worse. He definitely is saltier. He loves to give it back to the doubters, the haters, the critics, especially when it comes to his two-time MVP. I'm excited to see this series. And honestly, I'm excited for the two-championship series for one simple reason.

Yes, I have to watch them regardless because of my job. But three of the four teams in hoops in hockey that are eligible for championships, whether it be the NBA or the Stanley Cup, would be first-time winners. So the Golden Knights, they're a younger franchise, their second appearance in the Stanley Cup final.

They were just waiting for Jamie Ben to come back before they wrapped up the series in Dallas so he could be a part of it. 6-0 win last night. So Golden Knights seeking their first Stanley Cup, as are the Florida Panthers, their second appearance as well. And then the Denver Nuggets have never even been to the NBA finals, so their first chance to win the title. And then the Heat, who haven't won since the days of LeBron and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. It'll be fun.

It doesn't start till Thursday on the hard court and then Saturday for hockey. So we'll get a bit of a break the next couple nights to be able to focus on baseball and this whale watching video. I don't even think they were whale watching.

They just got surrounded suddenly by a group of whales, this couple that's out on the surfboard. Check it out on my Twitter. Most of you think it's real. I'm with you. I think it's genuine authentic. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. Boom!