After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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This is it. The last show before your holiday weekend. And judging by the hideous traffic in and around the New York City metro which is where our CBS sports radio headquarters are located, many of you are already headed for the hills and headed for your holiday festivities. According to AAA 51 million Americans will travel this weekend which is an 11 percent increase over July 4, 2022.

That does not include me or producer Jay. We are here for the duration not only because, well I can only speak for me, traveling on holiday weekends causes me to break out in hives because of the mass numbers of people who are also on the move whether the roads or air travel, the airports, oh my gosh considering what happened over the past few days in air travel I am hoping that it's cleared up by the time many of you head out of dodge because the numbers, the thousands and thousands of flights that have been canceled, United having the worst time, there are still people that are stranded and still people who can't get back to where they needed to be this week so it's been a bit rough for air traffic and for air travelers. Maybe you're hitting the roads, cool. I hope you're not taking the smoke with you or maybe you could take the smoke with you. Smoke's supposed to be sticking around in many places of the upper midwest and the northeast even on through Saturday but I know that's not going to stop us, the daunting travel not going to stop us from enjoying what is an extended Independence Day holiday weekend. We are here tonight into Friday morning and then we're back with you again on Sunday night following a brand new event for this holiday weekend, really excited about street racing in Chicago. Grant Park, for those of you who know Chicago or familiar with Chicago, of course we have our affiliate AM 670 The Score in Chicago. I have no doubt that we'll have a bunch of listeners on 670 this weekend. A lot of times over holiday weekends we end up with the entire Chicago audience.

Rich Rosen, the program director and when the regular host is on vacation he typically throws our network show up so that's cool. Because we're going into a holiday weekend and a lot of people are already on the move, we know many of you are out of your routines whether you're driving, whether you're just taking Friday off to get out of Dodge, maybe you are headed to an airport so you got to get up super early or you're staying up really late, we're just glad to keep you company. We'll be here on our regular hours even if you are not and as we head into the holiday weekend we've got a few surprises for you. First of all, keep Funfetti in mind. That's all I'm gonna say. Funfetti with chocolate. Okay, I'll say more. See Funfetti with chocolate. That's all I'm gonna say. And then in addition to that, red, white and blue.

I've got my American flag earrings that I'm sporting right now to go along with my navy and white top. And producer Jay and I not only were busy getting ready for tonight's show with the extensive prep that we do but we've already recorded the latest video version of Ask Amy Anything and according to producer Jay, I hope he's not lying, these are actually questions that he collected from you. Now sometimes in the past I feel like Jay has put your names on his questions. Sometimes he feels like his questions are better than your questions. I'm just saying I don't, I don't know if I agree with him but I'm not in charge of the questions. The questions are not my department. I'm in charge of the answers. So Ask Amy Anything, the video version will be released at some point over this holiday weekend.

Also Jay's department would be the video editing because you know me, I'm not a huge fan of being on camera. I do it because we know you love it and because we generally come up with some entertaining stuff in our various videos on YouTube. So if you don't yet know anything about our YouTube channel, that's where you find our extensive collection, our library of videos if you will. So check out After Hours with Amy Lawrence on YouTube and within the next couple days there'll be a brand new video with some summer and holiday themes and you don't need me to tell you if you subscribe to the YouTube channel because you will know right away when it happens.

So that's where we start. Holiday themed funfetti, a holiday flare, holiday excitement and energy and plenty of news that will break over the holiday weekend. Why? Because tomorrow, Friday is the beginning of NBA Free Agency. So we are now inside 24 hours to NBA Free Agency. I got to tell you that I watched the majority of the match in Las Vegas, win Las Vegas between the Chiefs and the Warriors.

I laughed a lot. Had no idea that we were not just getting Stephen Clay, but also Draymond Green. And we weren't just getting Pat and Travis, we were getting Von Miller.

So really was threesomes. Draymond and Von Miller didn't even bother to act like they weren't the center of attention. They were out there on the tee box.

No disrespect. They were on the greens. They were mic'd up. They were just as entertaining as the golfers.

What's good? Not to mention a couple of stories that I'll share with you, but Draymond, he was ripping Klay Thompson. I mean ripping him the entire time. He did not let up because Klay, you know, he's a little more reserved even on the golf course. He's more reserved. Even with his boys, he's more reserved. People have feelings.

Right. He's got feelings. And we also know that Klay hates it when he doesn't succeed at everything he tries. He was really ticked because he wasn't golfing well. Like really ticked. You could see it in his body language. He was so mad at himself. He kept apologizing to Steph and Steph's very encouraging. Steph really is a pretty optimistic guy. So Klay is thinking further and further into his shell. And Draymond is just ripping him like nobody's business. Calling Klay the weak link and the reason why Steph and Klay are losing. And at one point it's while Klay is standing over a putt. And finally he backs off from the putt and goes, yo Dray, bro, I can hear you.

I can hear you. Anyway, really funny stuff. I enjoyed the match. This is probably the one that I've enjoyed the most.

Well, at the very least, it's right up there with Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. But that was during the pandemic when I literally watched the entire thing. This one, I believe I watched, what was it? Seven, eight holes until the Chiefs made quick work of the Warriors.

I don't know. I don't know what happened, but Patrick Mahomes was thinking putts. Travis Kelce, boy, he hit screamers.

Oh my goodness. I would not want to be anywhere near Travis Kelce when he is taking a swipe at the ball. Boy, sometimes he hits it like it's a baseball. Anyway, the two of them, they are incredible teammates. Incredible teammates. And they kept talking about how they play off of one another and how they know what it means to be teammates and they succeed at pretty much whatever they do. And Travis Kelce, typical to form, he's a ham. Just so funny.

Soft hands, soft hands, soft hands. But also, I guess these two team up in cornhole tournaments. As you can imagine, the Chiefs get invited to a lot of charity events or their teammates are hosting charity events.

So they do darts, they do cornhole, they do all kinds of fun backyard games and apparently they team up a lot and they just happen to be really darn good at it. I'm not going to say dynasty yet. We're not done. I think my favorite, my favorite was when Travis Kelce says thank God for Pat Mahomes and then mutters under his breath to himself. Do you know how many times I've said thank God for Pat Mahomes? They were really funny, like really funny.

I enjoyed it. So some of the cool moments, again, Draymond Green and Von Miller might've been the star of the show. They're out there the entire time hamming it up and come to find out Dray knows nothing about golf. He didn't know he didn't know what a read was. He had no idea how to read a green, which that doesn't surprise me. He didn't even know what they were doing by lining up the putts. He had no idea what that meant. He was really funny. He was getting an education in golf and Steph was also trying to teach him etiquette. It didn't work.

Let me just tell you, it didn't work. He and Von were, they're crazy. They're really funny. Had bets going on each of their guys and that's why Dray was mad at Clay because he was losing money. Anyway, if you saw the match, let me know because I really enjoyed it. I got a lot of work done. Well, I even lifted weights while I was watching the match.

So I did a ton. I thought it was perfect for the Thursday going into the holiday weekend. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

Love to hear from you on Twitter, ALawRadio, our Facebook page too. Again, we know a lot of people are out of their regular routines when we're into a holiday weekend. So here's the question for you tonight. As we head into this extended Independence Day weekend, when you go to a cookout, when you host a cookout, any type of summer backyard picnic or festivity, what's the first food you grab? When you are headed for, whether it's a picnic table full of grub, whether you're getting it off the grill, whether you're sitting at an actual table, maybe you're going out to a restaurant, although that's not nearly as much fun as a backyard barbecue. If it's your backyard or it's someone else's, what's the first food you grab at your summer barbecue, your summer picnic? I would say must-haves, except for for me, there's a lot of must-haves. They're all must-haves.

But what's the first one you grab? Is it the burger? Is it the burger? Is it the potato salad? Is it the chips?

I do love chips. Is it the beer? Actually, Pat Mahomes was drinking Coors Light, so is Draymond.

I guess that was the official sponsor of the match, so hope they liked it. Pat Mahomes was even joking about how he couldn't get Steph to drink a beer. Also, I think it was Catherine Tappan who was doing the on-course interviews, and at some point she said Steph Curry's the only one of these guys who didn't get back into their hotel rooms at five or six o'clock in the morning. Now I don't know if she was joking or if that was being serious, but she did seem to indicate that they were all out pretty late in Las Vegas.

Of course, this course when Las Vegas was right there on the strip. What's the first food you grab? The first thing you grab at your backyard barbecue or your summer picnic? Jay will put up a post on our show Twitter after our CBS, and then also we'll get to it on our Facebook page.

Our phone number 855-212-4227, and while you're at it, while you're writing to us, let us know where and how you're listening on this holiday weekend. I always have more energy on holiday weekends, even though I'm working, but I do have some plans for Saturday. I'll share those a little bit later on, and actually Jay you can help me make a choice, because the friend that I'm hanging out with on Saturday, so we were originally going to have a beach day, and she decided this is her choice. I would have gone to the beach regardless. I'll go to the beach when it's 40 degrees out.

It doesn't bother me, but because it's only going to be in the upper 70s, and she really wants to go in the water, she felt like it was too cold to do a beach day, so we're postponing our beach day until later in July. Cool. Instead, we're going to do water activities. Now I suggested a lake that's west of me in the New Jersey mountains, which I really love. I actually took Bob there last weekend, so he could check it out. Bob can't believe how many trees there are in New Jersey. I mean, what do we think?

What do you think? We were a desert? The Garden State. Yeah, the Garden State, exactly. He had no idea it was so green either.

Also, what did he think? The trees were brown this time of the year? I'm not really sure.

He, in fairness to Bob, a lot of people feel this way. They think that because you're close to New York City, it must all be urban. It's nothing but concrete, but that is not the case everywhere. Yeah, it's not the case in Pennsylvania. It's not the case in New Jersey. Certainly, there are parts that are urban. It's not the case in Connecticut. It's not the case on Long Island, for heaven's sakes. It's really not the case, for the most part, as much as there are cities and definitely urban metros. For a good portion of the Northeast, this is what it is.

Trees and a lot of green right now. Anyway, there's a lake nearby that offers both paddle boarding and kayaking for a relatively reasonable rate. What do you think? My friend left it up to me. Kayaking or paddle boarding? I love both. I would say paddle boarding is probably a better, it's better for your balance. It's a better workout if you're talking about having to not only maintain your balance, but move your board. Kayaking is more of an upper body workout, I would say. I guess it depends on if you kneel on your paddle board, but also a little easier to get around. You're probably not going around the lake twice on a paddle board.

I could be wrong, but it seems like it would take longer on a paddle board. Yeah, it's using more of like all of your body. You've got to stay balanced while you're- Great core workout.

Very good core workout, yeah. So which one would you choose? Paddle board or kayak? Are you trying to like do it more for like an exercise or just be like just strictly social, just to kind of have a conversation and be out on the water? I want exercise, but I also want to be social.

I'm not going to leave my friend in the dust. Well, are you planning on like hiking or anything during the day or walking? No, we're just, we'll probably drive up to the lake and go out on the lake. I would say that would be like your lower body exercise and then you can get the upper with the kayak, but I think a kayak would definitely- Nah, it's a good three mile, four mile hike to get to this lake, so no, I'm good. I think the kayak would be a little easier maybe if you kind of just want to just have a conversation and relax. The paddleboard, you kind of got to be focused on staying sturdy and not falling over the whole time. I don't really want to fall into the water because the water is probably in the 60s. I'm not looking forward to getting wet, so I'm thinking kayak because I don't want to get wet.

I don't mind my lower body. I just don't want to fall into the water when it's that cold. I would say no thank you because then you have to get out and get back up on the paddleboard and do it again. My brother one time, we were on paddleboards in North Carolina and he made me fall off. I don't know if he crashed into me or what. He thought it'd be really funny and then he felt terrible when I fell off. I was wearing sunglasses.

I lost them. He was so sorry after that, but it was too late because I'd already fallen into the water and lost my balance. It is a great workout though if you're talking balance and core, so maybe I'll do that another time. Thinking about the fact that we've only had a couple of days over 90 and it's only supposed to be in the low 80s, I don't think I really want to get wet the whole time, so kayaking will probably save me from getting completely immersed in the water. Yeah, and kayaking is a blast too. Oh, I love kayaking. I absolutely love kayaking.

So does producer Jay. I don't have my own kayaks like Jay and his family do, but I've got a bunch of friends with kayaks, so that's settled. There it is. That's what I'm doing on Saturday. What are you doing?

And when you get to a summer barbecue or a backyard picnic, what is the first food you grab? We'll have a post up on Twitter after our CBS, our Facebook page too. Can't wait to get through these four hours and launch you forward into your weekend. Yes, we'll have more on the match, plus we're on the eve of NBA free agency. Bradley Beal speaks out as a member of the Phoenix Suns for the first time. We had the unveiling of the major league baseball all-star starters, the all-star game starters, and a couple, hmm, a couple early firework shows to launch you forward into Independence Day weekend. I know you're out there.

I know some of you are already stressing out of your travel, but we'll keep. Do you hear that? That is the sound of BMW performance without a single piston or cylinder, a generation of all electric vehicles designed and built like no other. The BMW IX, I7 and I4 revolutionize every drive into a thrilling opportunity to feel the pure rush of BMW 100% electric.

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That's going to go in left center. He just hit one out. His fourth home run in this series.

That one goes the opposite way out by the rocks out there and left center and it's not over yet. Angels trail nine to seven. Shohei Ohtani's 29th home run of the season and here in the month of June, 14 home runs. That's the most home runs any angel batter has ever hit in a given month. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. We're witnessing something we will never see again and I'm getting front row seats on deck watching it. It's pretty special what he's doing.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Mike Trout loves to be on base when Shohei Ohtani steps into the batter's box and yet again he is the benefactor of an Ohtani home run. In fact, those are the two guys that score in the ninth inning for the Angels though they do fall short in their game against the Chicago White Sox in Anaheim.

Terry Smith with the call on the Angels radio network. Yeah, two run blast against Chicago is the 29th of the season for Shohei. Now if you're looking at games, number of games to determine the midway point.

So don't think about all-star break because that's almost always past the midway point. But if you're thinking about number of games did you know that the Angels are already past the midway point but barely. They've played 83 of their 162 games. Shohei right now has 29 home runs and 66 runs batted in. He's on pace to finish just shy of 60 home runs. Even 50 would be incredible for him. Jay, will you look up how many he had last year? And then the 66 RBI. So we'll dial it back to say 64, 63, something like that because again we're just past the midway point for the Angels and you're still talking about 126 RBI. Could you imagine?

I'll even go conservative. 50 home runs, 52, 53 home runs, and 125 RBI. Plus he pitches and his last outing 10 k's.

Mike Trout is right on when he says we've never seen anything like it. Last season he had 34. 34 home runs last year.

46 the year before that. This could be the first year we see Shohei Otani with 50 plus homers. And the Angels desperately need to make the playoffs in order to keep him. By the way Shohei is one of the starters for the upcoming all-star festivities, the all-star game in Seattle.

He will be the starting DH and his teammate Mike Trout is one of the starting outfielders. So the Angels have both of their superstars in the starting lineup. But get this, the Rangers who are leading the AOS have four starters. So four Rangers, two Angels, six of the starters for the American League come from the AOS. No Astros, the defending world series champions. You've also got two Rays and one Yankee. But Aaron Judge is not healthy so I can't imagine that he would end up starting.

There will be some replacements. Yeah it's Rangers, Rays, and Angels right now. That's your flair for the American League starters.

They were just released on Thursday. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I'm sure I'm not breaking any news for you but there are no Mets in the National League starting lineup for the upcoming all-star game. And now Caratini swinging a high fly ball deep center field.

Nimmo back. We are tied. Victor Caratini with home run number four and he evens the tally at two apiece. 0-2 pitch. High fly ball deep right center field racing back is Nimmo at the track. At the wall he makes the catch.

Up against the wall. Deep enough to get the run home though as tagging is Contreras. He will score and the Brewers lead it 3-2.

Oh and to the count to Marte. Here's the pitch. Swung on and missed strike three.

He got him with a change up and the ball game is over. And the Mets in excruciating fashion have lost to the Brewers again. I feel like Howie Rose can can actually feel all of this in his soul as the Brewers beat the Mets again. Once again they're rallying and they get past New York even after Max Scherzer throws a solid game.

It's a quality start. Two runs on seven hits through six innings pitched but ultimately the bullpen cannot protect it. Instead as you hear on the Brewers and the Mets radio network, Brewers are able to get another win to right now in the NL Central. They've got the lead. Oh no they don't.

I take that back. They are tied in a dead heat with the Reds. Okay so those two teams are tied atop the NL Central. Meanwhile the Mets fall further and further behind. They've now dropped 18 of their last 24.

Multiple chances late in this game including the ninth inning when they left the bases loaded and Starling Marte strikes out as you hear. This coming on the day after the owner Steve Cohen actually did a mid-season press conference to assure the world, his manager, his general manager that he would not be making any changes mid-season but the rumors are flying anyway about whether or not Cohen would make the drastic move of trading either Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander before the deadline. Now they have very expensive contracts.

Not that the money is much of an object to him. But as the Mets fall further behind now nine games below 500 that becomes the question. Will Steve authorize Billy Eppler to trade away one of these two former Aces?

They're obviously later in their careers. Even when they do pitch well it's a battle. Six innings, five innings, they have to throw a ton of pitches.

Was it Justin Verlander who needed 100 pitches to go five innings a couple nights ago? So yeah now Max Scherzer is answering questions about whether or not he's willing to waive his no trade clause. Yeah I'll comment when Steve says so until then it's pointless.

It's just clickbait now. When Steve says. When he when he says so when he makes you he he drives this so it's pointless for me to talk about anything in the contract whatsoever. I'm here to show up to win that's all I'm here to do. Oh but how do you do that exactly? There there isn't a lot of winning right now and it's not all on Mad Max though he certainly has played a role in it so how do you get this ship turned around? Play better. Hitters need a hit, pitchers need a pitch, fielders need a field, run the base as well. That's how you win ball games.

It's easier said than done apparently. Producer Jay how are you feeling about going to a Mets game? Oh going yeah right. At least there's Shake Shack. It's about the only good thing we got going for us. And sunshine sunshine and Shake Shack. If it wasn't outside like on a nice summer day I'd have zero interest in going. It's a nice still like a fun day to go I guess and spend the day at the ballpark eat some food eat some ice cream get some Shake Shack but the the team itself is no no not worth going to. No not worth going to see. Going for the Shake Shack. You don't have to pay attention to what's happening on the field.

They sure don't. By the way this is on the heels of the 24th perfect game in MLB history. Still thinking about that what a cool moment that was in history. All right so we have so much to talk about on this edition of the show as we launch you forward into a holiday weekend. We will be here Sunday night and Monday night as well as Tuesday morning so we're not taking off the time but yes a holiday flair and we know a lot of you will have barbecues picnics you'll be in the backyard you'll be in someone else's backyard you'll be at the lake you'll be at the shore whatever it is there's always food involved because as Americans food goes hand in hand with our 4th of July celebrations. I think if you made me choose between food and fireworks I might actually choose the food. I do love fireworks but I might actually choose the food.

Marco Bellendi is here in studio. When you're at a backyard barbecue or a summer picnic what's the first food you grab? When it's time to eat when everything's out there on the table and available what's your first food? Burger. Burger you go burger first?

Automatic. All right usually followed by a hot dog but yeah those are those are the chips. So burger and dog back to back.

It's like Otani and trout back to back burger and dog. AJ says he goes brats and ribs. Love a good chip and dip combo as well. I might even be convinced to try a good baked bean recipe.

So good. I'm also first grabbing the burgers cheeseburgers because I don't like cold burgers so I want to eat my burger right away but that's very quickly followed by pickles dill pickles as well as chips. I love chips and if the potato salad is not made with mayo I will eat the potato salad as well. I don't really dig mayo so like potato salad like none of that stuff.

But you can make it without mayo. I do like baked beans. Yeah not a big fan. No?

No it's all right I'm not a big fan I'm not looking for that. I'm usually gonna find something else. Where does the ice cream fall on your list? At the end of the night somewhere.

Okay yes no it's gonna happen yeah of course yeah you'll find a way to be able to add that in sure. Are you working next week or are you taking off? I'm not taking off but I'm trying to think of when I'm with you. I think I was only two nights. No idea when he's working.

No yeah because it's convoluted. Next week's schedule is a little all over the place. So there's only I think two nights that I'm with you but I think it's after the holiday. I want to say it's the... You're gonna miss Funfetti.

Wednesday into Thursday and I think the Thursday into Friday. Well I'll try to say some Funfetti for you but I can't make any promises. That's okay.

I appreciate it. Funfetti with chocolate actually because you know most people would get a cream cheese icing or the Funfetti icing. Nope I saw the chocolate icing and thought that it's gonna go perfect with Funfetti. So that's where we're going.

Funfetti cupcakes with chocolate icing. All right. All right. Yeah no one's gonna turn it down.

No I wouldn't turn it down. I don't know if I'll be here. Depends on what night.

Yes you will. Depends on what night you have it then. I'm saving you some. No I don't turn any of them away.

Yeah none of it. All right so on Twitter after hours CBS. What's your first choice at the backyard barbecue or your summer picnic? Also on our Facebook page. Now coming up we're going to dive into a little bit of the NBA drama because James Harden made a decision. Kyrie Irving is visiting where?

Draymond Green was the life of the party at the match in Las Vegas as was Von Miller. He also is a free agent. There's a lot happening if you missed our conversation with our Blazers insider about Damian Lillard. Still really a bunch of different ways that situation could break in Portland. So we'll give you the latest including an update from Shams Charanea about what the Sixers are seeking if they choose to trade James Harden.

It's like a hot potato. No one wants to hold on to him anymore. Just just get rid of him. That I can understand. Who wants him?

That's the part I don't get. What do you want for him? Whatever just get rid of him. Like I can't understand why you to take him. I don't understand what somebody else would want to add that. I don't either. And it's not like his numbers are awful.

I think it was 21 and 10 he averaged last year. So it's not like there's nothing there. Yeah I just I don't see what he adds if you want to be a contender to win a title. What does he bring you that you you're not getting somewhere?

I don't see it. I don't see him as the missing piece. And and Kyrie Irving is available as well. He I wouldn't put on any team. There's not one situation whether it's a contender, a team that's trying to get over the hump in the playoffs, a team that's just trying to get to the place. Somebody that hasn't been there in in so many years.

It's like I just want to get to the playoffs. Get me to the place. I wouldn't trust Orlando in any situation.

Now there is not one. Teach the young guys nothing. I wouldn't trust Kyrie Irving in any situation. And there is no franchise in my mind that would go anywhere near him.

Not just paying a boatload of money. I don't care if he came free and I know how talented he is. I'm well aware there's no reason to deal with the circus and the zoo and whether or not he's going to even get on the floor on a nightly basis. You have no idea what you're going to get out of that.

I don't need the headache because it doesn't matter. If with the Cavaliers he was relatively tame. We know that now and they did win a title with him. But from Boston to Brooklyn to Dallas it's been nothing but drama.

Every time I play with other great players we become better. Yeah right. It's been the opposite of that. The Dallas Mavericks couldn't even make the playoffs.

Once they got him they got worse. And so I agree with you. If the rest of the NBA hasn't learned from the mistakes and the miscues of the Celtics, the Nets, and the Mavericks. The Mavericks gave up so much to get him to.

Which is just sad. And again, so what do you have to do? So if you're Mark Cuban do you have to bring him back because you gave up so much? But like what is the point here? You want to get to a title right?

So if it doesn't get you closer then why? The only situation that I could see it but is Kyrie going to be willing to take less money? We haven't seen that one happen.

That happened once at all. Either is the only guy that apparently can I guess keep him under is LeBron. Does he really want to do that? To take less money? Because I think LeBron would take him.

But what's the... But LeBron doesn't write the checks. Well again I don't think they can write that check. So would Kyrie Irving be willing to take less to go to the Lakers because they still got to fill out the rest of the roster and it can't just be Kyrie and nothing.

And I don't even know. I got to look at their salary cap situation even if they're allowed to offer him a bigger contract and you know they're not going to be able to work a sign and trade. Would they want to do that? Would Kyrie take less money? I don't know the answer to that.

I would imagine it's no and if that's the case then there is no other situation. I know he's meeting with the Suns. I feel like that's a... That's insane.

To me that feels like... They already have Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. There's no way.

I firmly believe that's a Kevin Durant going to Ishbia. Meet with him. Talk with him. Let's see if this works. You know what Kev?

No problem. We'll talk to him. We'll meet with him and you know what? Nothing's going to go down that road.

So I don't believe that that's real. I think that's just to put on a show that yeah we will acquiesce to Kevin Durant. We'll speak to your friend. We're not hiring him. We're not. Yeah it's basically like yeah we'll talk to him.

We're not bringing this guy in here. It's not like anybody doesn't know about Kyrie's reputation at this point. So we'll see. Free agency begins inside of 24 hours. In fact it starts at 3 p.m pacific six o'clock in the evening friday just before the holiday weekend. It seems so fitting. That's what July 4th has become now.

It's really all about NBA silly season. So that's why I always work. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Do you hear that? That is the sound of BMW performance without a single piston or cylinder. A generation of all-electric vehicles designed and built like no other. The BMW iX, i7 and i4 revolutionize every drive into a thrilling opportunity to feel the pure rush of BMW 100 electric.

But isn't that what you'd expect from the ultimate electric driving machine? Take advantage of exceptional lease and finance offers today. You want James Harden back. James Harden's a great player. I didn't answer the question. Well I would say this is that James has a decision to make and I'd be very happy if he came back.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Nick Nurse had to dance around the question of James Harden when he was introduced as the new head coach in Philadelphia. It's not up to him obviously though he did give the company line answer. I'd be very happy if James Harden was back. Well Harden has exercised his option for the upcoming season. That means he belongs to the Sixers right now to the tune of 35.6 million dollars. But it also means the Sixers own his rights for the next year which means they can field trade phone calls. Other teams. Are there other teams that are making calls for James Harden? He's decided not to go into free agency maybe because he believes he wouldn't make as much money. Not sure 35.6 million dollars. A lot of money to leave on the table.

I probably wouldn't either. Harden may not want to be there anymore anyway so if he was already talking to Daryl Morey about how they could make a trade happen. Morey could have said to him hey I will find a way to move you. I will find a way to give you what you want if you opt in and make this easier for us. Right so we can get something in return as opposed to you being a free agent and going anywhere you want. We did trade away Ben Simmons for you.

Sorry it sounds funny now. But we did bring you here. Give you a chance to play here.

Don't leave us high and dry. You opt in so we can trade you and get something in return. And since Morey and Harden know each other from their days in Houston they wanted to work together in Philadelphia it makes more sense. All right just breaking in the last hour on NBA TV Shams Charanea on what the Sixers want in return for James Harden. They've got Joel Embiid still in his prime that they have to build around and you would have thought bringing back James Harden would have been a priority for the Sixers team and when you're going into free agency with this roster you have Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid I think this is a group that the Sixers from what I'm told they're going to prioritize trying to get the right pieces in there that they can at least compete with. And when I look at the landscape the market the two teams that I've heard the Los Angeles Clippers the Miami Heat are teams that are expected to emerge in this process from what I'm told. And I think teams across the league also understand this with James Harden that he's the caliber player the type of player who's likely to end up at a preferred destination.

We saw how the exit in Houston went. So when you think about James Harden trades the Clippers I think will be a big time a prominent potential destination for him. They've got different salaries that they can send to the Sixers that can work. But this is this is a split between these two sides that I don't think many across the league saw coming especially last year James Harden took a 15 million dollar pay cut in free agency to go back to the Sixers and that gave them the room to sign PJ Tucker, Daniel House, trade for D'Anthony Melton and now a year later after getting one game away one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals James Harden appears to have played his last game. With the Sixers of course there is a lot of speculation why does he want out? Does Joel Embiid want him back?

And before Doc Rivers got fired it was about Rivers and it's really not. James Harden is a 10-time all-star he's serious about his hoops but man he does a disappearing act in the biggest games of his career postseason games and he's not alone. The Sixers have run into that glass ceiling that is the second round and have been unable to break through. If Harden wants to go somewhere else or the Sixers believe that they can bring in different pieces that would get them closer by trading Harden maybe it benefits both. Now I have heard the rumors the speculation about Harden to the Clippers that he wants to go that he wants to go to LA and the Clippers are interested. I mean how many more turns can his career take from Houston then to Brooklyn then to Philly and then you're going to go to LA and we're talking four years right since he got to well no he was in Brooklyn the second season but yeah you're talking about the last five years playing for potentially four different franchises. What are you Russell Westbrook? Man it's like a revolving door for some of these guys.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Mountain Dew Zero Sugar asks ever wonder what it would be like to live in an alternate universe? Well friends welcome to the alternate universe of Mountain Dew Zero Sugar because even though it says zero sugar right there on the bottle when you crack one open and try it the taste is nothing less than outrageously delicious. Hey transport yourself to an alternate universe with Mountain Dew Zero Sugar. Zero sugar all do. Stop by Quality Mart for a refreshingly good deal on Mountain Dew. Get two 20-ounce Mountain Dew's or only $3.50. Do the Dew It Quality Mart.