After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

Walk the dogs, school drop-off, meetings from 10 to 3, take kids to soccer, then no time left for a jog. When everyone else is relying on you, it's easy to put your needs last. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist online so you can show up for yourself the way you do for others. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month.

That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. Hey, is that the new iPhone 15 Pro? Yeah, it's made with titanium and the Pro camera is epic. Just got it at T-Mobile. Nice. Yep, and I got their Go 5D Next plan so now I have the freedom to upgrade my phone every year. Whoa, I gotta get to T-Mobile. Get our best deals on iPhone 15 Pro at T-Mobile.com.

One year upgrade requires Go 5G Next plan, financing new qualifying device and upgrading in good condition after six months with half paid off. Officially headed downhill toward the weekend. We only have one baseball series left, you know, and it will start this weekend coming up on Friday and Saturday. The World Series, as long as it's not a sweep, will actually take us into November, if you can believe that. But yes, we're heading into the final weekend of October and as I say, heading into. It's Wednesday, okay, but we're pointed toward the final weekend in October. Lots of trick-or-treating this weekend. I'm actually really happy that I will not be around on Saturday afternoon and evening because I, yeah, last year I baked cookies and passed those out on a tray to trick-or-treaters but my neighborhood is so busy.

There's so many kids. It, you know, it's hard to walk. Penny, I remember a few years ago, funniest thing ever with Penny, we were walking and I'm trying to navigate large groups of kids and parents and crazy costumes and everything else and just that people have their dogs out and so it got really busy in the afternoon in my neighborhood and I'm walking Penny around the block and I can't figure out why she's lagging behind me. I turn around and I realize she's following a trail of Cheetos and eating them off the ground. So yes, it's difficult to walk the dog on Halloween trick-or-treat events but anyway, it's not all about me.

I just choose to stay hidden and stay inside. Anyway, so this weekend, I will be gone on Saturday with a couple of different events and some fun stuff with Bob and my brother but yes, Halloween is upcoming. A lot of people will celebrate this weekend since it's a Tuesday and then next week, I mean believe it or not, we will be crowning a World Series Champion. We finally got to that point and as October wanes, the fall classic is heating up but that's the opposite of what happened to the Phillies bats. They went from world beaters to silent. They went from loud. Do you remember me telling you last week how the Phillies are loud? I can identify.

I can relate to that. They're loud in everything they do. Their stadium is loud and it was in games one and two. The fans were loud in game six and seven.

Gotta give credit to the DBACs. They earned every bit of their second World Series appearance in franchise history but I am stunned at the ouster of the Phillies. I don't make predictions very often.

In fact, hardly ever and when I do, I always qualify them by saying their guesses. I have no idea what's actually going to happen but I did say on a Zoom call to a class I was speaking to on Tuesday that I would that I would be stunned if the Phillies lost game seven for a lot of reasons. They have the best home field advantage in the history of the baseball playoffs.

Those fans provide such a lift and such a boost not to mention I felt like they were due. This team had so much wisdom and experience. They were very limited in game number six on their own field and I just thought the tenacity and the toughness and everything that they bring to the table as a team that it would serve them well. I know it was their first game seven in franchise history. I guess I didn't consider that in the equation but they'd faced winner-take-all games before. I liked the fact that they had fought from being a wild card two years in a row to get to the NLCS and they had taken out big bats like the Atlanta Braves but I did not see this coming. I did not see their bats go from lukewarm to flat out cold in the span of two games. I didn't see it.

Didn't see it coming. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Thanks for all your questions to our Twitter and Facebook pages. If you did not hear your question posed on Ask Amy Anything here on the show, well first of all go back and get the podcast because if you missed it it's always available but I do reply throughout the day on Wednesday.

I'll go back to Twitter and Facebook and I'll reply and I'll get a bunch of your questions answered that way. Oh my gosh don't ask me why I do these things. I'm a glutton for punishment and I very often think that I'll just suck it up. Who cares if I'm tired and then I get to this point in the week and I think what in the world? Why did I schedule a duct cleaning at my house between the hours of noon and three? Jay why did I do that?

I thought it's all right. I'll sleep on Monday. I'll sleep on Tuesday and then on Wednesday it'll be okay. I'll be able to wake up early. Now that sounds like the worst idea of all time but because I've had some trouble with allergies this year.

I've never had allergies before but for whatever reason I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting old. I have no idea but but I'm getting the ducts clean in my house so all of the air ducts before I turn the heat on and yeah I'm I'm an idiot because I schedule it between noon and three. Yeah they first said between eight and nine and I thought okay it's gonna take a couple hours. I'll be so exhausted by mid-morning. I'll just wake up early. I'll sleep first and wake up early but now it makes me want to just ignore the phone call and not open the door. I've been there with the schedule. It's with the sleep you're like oh no like I'll be fine and then like the actual comes to it.

It's like why the hell did I do that? Yes but it's a problem because we generally sleep during business hours so when there are appointments that need to be kept and and in different I don't know whether it's a I'm trying to think of some other example oh like a power washing or getting a new shed installed soon. These are things that need to be done during the daytime right?

The worst though like those two things are taking place outside so theoretically I don't have to be awake the whole time. Do you have to like let them in? Oh yeah no they're going to be in the house. In fact he said to me if you would like us to do one particular room first we will do that first and then you know if you need to do some work or if you need you know I mentioned my dog. Do you think it's possible that while they're cleaning the ducts in the rest of the house I can go back to sleep?

Try. If I had them do my bedroom first no that's creepy there's going to be multiple men in my house I don't think it's a good idea for me to go back to sleep that's probably not a good idea but oh why why did I do this I was so gung-ho and I needed to get it done and well it's a it's a good cause like I don't think I think it's you know gonna be a benefit but to wake up at basically the middle of the night for us it just doesn't sound exciting. No we're exciting it's anything but exciting. Like if you're getting up to like I don't know go to a movie or something like maybe you'd be a little better. I would not be getting up to go to a movie after three hours of sleep. Is there any way you could like shoot a text or something like hey can you come more towards three because three isn't I mean it's early but it wouldn't be as bad.

Right uh yes I can try that. Like noon sounds sounds horrible. So here's the fun no it does sound horrible and watch watching them show up like right away at noon. I would hope I'd be able to get back to sleep but the problem is going to take up a couple hours so probably not by that time Penny and and Sugar will be needing.

Penny's gonna be doing her thing. Oh man this is a what a terrible idea. Cancel it just call it. I can't I can't cancel it I have an appointment I have a coupon I need to get it done. Anyway maybe I could ask them to come later um but here's the funny part so they told me that they would come between noon and three so that's the even worse right because what if they show up at 2 30 and I've been awake since noon so my plan is to because I usually turn my phone on silent when I'm sleeping so I don't get bombarded by texts and calls. What if I set the alarm for noon I turn the phone on and then I stay in bed because they're giving me a half hour warning but also the chances are if I fall back asleep and the phone rings I might not hear it. It's a tough game to play that game like I've done that waiting for like to hear back from emails or something and try like oh I'll set an alarm like every hour and I'll just sleep in between.

You're never like it's it's horrible. Yeah shoot that was a bad idea that's a really bad idea. They're definitely coming today.

As bad as mad dog basing his future on a game that he can't control. Have you guys heard this? Yeah they are they're coming today I'm just gonna suck it up okay. Don't bother me on Wednesday evening because I'm gonna have to take a nap. Call you. No dinner time I'm out.

All right so I don't know maybe that's a maybe that's a bad idea but this is a worse idea. I would not be stunned if they won tonight I would be floored floored and I'll say this right now just uh I'll say this right now and Bob Raisman write it down. If they win the next two days they win the next two games and win this series in seven games if they win I will I will retire on the spot. Maybe you can convince me one if they win two in a row.

You know what I'll make it different I'll make it different because I'll make it be painful for me. If they win the next two days on the spot two weeks from today I will work on the air and not go to Timmy's first game as an assistant coach. That will be painful and you can chronicle it because if I'm not on the air more than I lied and if I'm on the air you know what he he paid his bet paid his debt if they win two against the Phillies. So here's the thing he's not actually retiring this is Mad Dog Russo for those of you who don't know him he's an iconic radio voice he's now on Mad Dog Radio on satellite and you may not have known him before but you definitely know him now.

I wonder how many of the under 23 year olds in the Diamondbacks Clubhouse knew the name Mad Dog before yesterday. Nice that's courtesy of AZ Sports yep gotta pay up but I don't understand why you would ever make a bet like that. I don't get it why would you ever tie a personal event or your future in the business to a game you have no control over?

I will retire on the spot. On the spot but I'm assuming he doubled back on that right and now it's just about missing his son's game and I say just I'm sure it's going to be painful but what an idiot you're actually punishing your son for something you can for a right a stupid bet that you have no control over the outcome I do not understand that. I think his son hurts more than he would.

Exactly the son's got to be well not furious but probably really sad are you kidding dad yeah are you exactly that hurts me that you would actually make that sacrifice over something as stupid as sports. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio the Phillies two for 17 with runners in scoring position in games six and seven on their own field they did have the lead in the fourth inning they rallied past the dbacks in the fourth inning of game seven but then left the bases loaded so they played it two runs in the fourth inning left the bases loaded and it wasn't long before the little engine that could those scrappy diamondbacks came firing back. Carroll swings ground ball base hits center field Rivera rounding third he will score and on Carroll's third hit of the night he ties the game at two swing and a base hit right field Carroll rounding third Castellanos charging we're going to have a play at the plate the throw is cut off Carroll scores Moreno in a rundown and he tried to juke out the first baseman Harper the put out there will go nine three four but the Diamondbacks take the lead Greg Schulte on Diamondbacks radio you could feel it even through the tv and you could definitely hear it that full-throat stadium they were measuring decibel levels that you may have seen on the broadcast on I guess it was was it tbs the broadcast where when the the Alec bone home run went flying out of the stadium and then boom scores the go-ahead run on a Bryson Stott RBI they're measuring decibel levels and it's got up to 106 for those of you who pay any attention to that it was loud it was raucous it was electric and again that's one of the reasons why the Phillies have played so well at home in this postseason in last year too but the Diamondbacks rallied with two runs in the fifth and that stadium got quiet the Phillies managed to get a couple runs off bread and fought but you know what they didn't do they could not generate any offense against the bullpen fought was gone after four innings the Phillies had one hit one hit in the next five innings they did have a couple of walks in the seventh but then left two more runners stranded in fact for Bryce Harper and Trey Turner the two and three hitters there's there's going to be a lot just stewing over this going back over it the two of them were 0 for 8 combined in game seven and multiple times they had a chance to drive in a big run even if it's not a home run it's just a big hit couldn't capitalize two for 17 with runners in scoring position these Phillies in these final two games at home and so that stadium got nervous and anxious and then finally just got quiet and the bats were muted and the fans were muted as well here's the pitch and a fly ball right field going over his Corbin Carroll he's under it he's got it and the 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks are headed to the World Series for the second time in their 26-year history they have upset the Philadelphia Phillies they come back after losing the first two games here in Philadelphia they went for the last five the last two here at Citizens Bank Park and they beat the Phillies four games to three winning tonight's game by a final score of four to two and the celebration is on the field for the Diamondbacks off to Arlington Texas to take on the Texas Rangers in the 2023 Major League Baseball World Series there's a lot of emotion on this field right now we have walked a walk that I don't think only but a few people understand there are some dark days here so two years ago we lost 110 games and to say that we're going to the World Series you know 24 months later is an amazing feeling and I can't quite put it into words but at some point today I'm going to slow down and be able to but for right now I'm going to enjoy the hell out of it.

I think it's really been a group effort you know players sticking up for players you know staff as well and kind of just some of the infrastructure that we've developed over really the course of this year to be able to get through those tough times you know we were in a sense lucky enough to face some real adversity during the season and so you know I think that prepared us for for moments like this. Pair of wild cards meeting in the World Series for the first time since 2014 I think was the last time and it's incredible the Rangers and the Diamondbacks now they both spent a lot of money the Deepaks won 84 games this year both these teams had 100 loss seasons just a couple years ago and so as much as people talk about how Major League Baseball is unfair there's no salary cap there is a luxury tax though and there's a pretty steep luxury tax threshold it's very punitive once teams go over it so you've even seen teams like the Yankees like the Red Sox dialing back they're spending a little more because they recognize how much money it cost them to go over the cap quote unquote but now you've got two teams both wild cards although the Rangers led their division most of the season but two wild cards who take out teams in their own divisions right and survive to the Fall Classic. I will say I'm happy it's not a rematch of last year only because I like fresh storylines and something new and this is definitely new from the category of you can't make this stuff up we're asking you like Diamondbacks over the Phillies what's it been like for you this year another stunning upset you never saw coming on Twitter after our CBS or my Twitter a law radio also on our Facebook page tell you what Nick Castellanos never saw it coming the potential of this team is so much greater than going home before the World Series you know last year when we lost game six I think obviously we're disappointed because we didn't win the whole thing but there's a lot of there was a lot of like all right well we got here you know like now how we can build off of that so knowing how we feel about this team and we came up short from what we did the year previous I mean it's a disgusting feeling honestly.

Nick Castellanos does wear his heart on his sleeve and a disgusting feeling because this team could have accomplished so much more by the way before that if you didn't recognize voices Corbin Carroll on MLB network he went three for four with a couple RBI in this game and true to form how he has been pretty much all season long except for when he was injured for a bit did you know that this team they're so young they had 11 home runs by players who were under 23 years old I mean what they've been able to do is stunning but against the Phillies at the bank considering that earlier in this series the Phillies had a 10-0 shutout a 10-0 game the bats just they disappeared I like this answer from Rob Thompson Phillies manager about when he realized that things were changing in this series probably the fact that they got the lead and the game first game back here probably changed the momentum a little bit they started to run a little they started to run a little bit started to put pressure on us and you know they started playing their game and they did a good job with that so I'm not exactly sure but yeah but it did change it definitely did it's it's always painful when you get this close and you come up short but the Phillies had everything in their favor and they had taken out the big bad Braves again final two games at home they just needed one of them and so while I wouldn't bet my future in the business on it nor any type of personal family obligation or family event I am stunned and many of you are responding with the upsets you never saw coming so we'll get to a few of those before the end of the hour last night was also the start of the NBA season the Denver Nuggets celebrated with the banner and the rings oh my gosh the rings apparently have on the side of them a piece that unfurls like the banner don't ask me how they did that but if you want to find the um the Nuggets the NBA probably posted a video of the rings of the rings yeah I guess they have a piece that folds out like a banner crazy anyway they get really creative with these rings now they are gaudy some gaudy bling so the Nuggets are back to business the Golden State Warriors they now have Chris Paul but they lose to the Phoenix Suns his former team with KD yeah yeah all the drama so we'll mix in a little vote I'm Kate Abdo the host of Kicking It a new weekly show from the CBS Sports Galasso Network where Clint Dempsey, Charlie Davies, Mo Adoo and I connect with the biggest personalities from global soccer and beyond to learn about their journeys and what makes them tick this is the place for football fans to hear unfiltered conversations with the game's most familiar faces so what you're waiting for follow and listen to Kicking It on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts let's face the facts everyone wants to feel valued especially your employees in fact a 2023 study found 78% of business owners say benefits and retirement plans improve employee retention employees want to feel secure in their jobs and their finances at principle we help you invest in your people because investing in your people is investing in your business learn more at principle.com benefits products and services offered by member companies of the principal financial group Des Moines Iowa for important information visit principle.com disclosures of the NBA as well it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio you are listening to the After Hours Podcast luggage nation you guys have been the best fans in the NBA for eight years we appreciate that last year was amazing we got one ring who wants another Murray has it at the mid-court circle guarded by Torian Prince they're going to go to Jokic and the high post again this time a pick by joker joker kick out three-pointer got it there's a triple double Nicole Jokic game number one 27, 13, and 11 this is After Hours with Amy Lawrence all right so some things never change Nicole Jokic with his first triple double of the NBA season the Nuggets shot 53% from the floor so they were locked in after receiving a double from the floor so they were locked in after receiving their rings and watching the banner raised into the rafters it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence CBS Sports Radio Jason Kosmicki on Nuggets Radio and Mike Malone at the ring ceremony he's fantastic and and keeping in mind that he lost his dad two weeks ago so his dad just missed seeing his son have a brand new piece of hardware a brand new piece of bling and seeing that banner but of course he does know that his son finally became an NBA champion which is incredible so glad his dad was around for that but yeah the emotion of the opening ceremony it's a lot to digest it was nice to you know have a moment there and then get right back to work I thought we took that energy that confidence and went right into the game with it so you know today was a great time we just played as a team but I was hopping but I was moving guys in the right spot it was amazing to be honest I miss I miss the guys who are not with us anymore but it was just a probably it can happen once once in a lifetime so we as a group as a collective group we went as a we went and we're going to remember one time in the history or whatever so we're going to be remembered as a champion so I think it's a really nice moment in life a really nice moment in life I'm sure he enjoyed his off season back home where he said after a couple of weeks of people wanting to take photos and talk to him and congratulate him they just leave him alone and he just does his thing I don't know if you guys watch the inside the NBA on TNT but it was uh it was on site actually it was in Denver and so they talked to Jokic after the game and Shaq had learned how to say I love you in uh Jokic's native tongue and so they were already goofing off with him of course because he is a likable personality and as much as people make fun of him for the fact that he's stiff or not athletic or whatever he's now a champion and nobody can take that away from him now I don't know how to say I love you in Serbian oh Jay knows how to say I love you in Serbian go ahead um we would be remiss if we did not allow Shaq to speak to you in your native tongue my gosh I just want to go Shaq I just want to say brother volunteer volunteer and take a job good job I like the suit really what did he say what did he say says I love you next time something different next time something different plenty of time to prepare next time something different Jokic is like uh how about say something different to me next time so that was one of two games on opening night in the NBA it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio the other actually in the bay area where the Warriors hosted the Suns and this was kind of crazy because it was wild in the third quarter the the Warriors outscored the Suns 40 to 19 in the fourth quarter they were outscored 28 to 18 so yeah it was a mess I said this earlier it cracks me up Tim Roy who's the play-by-play voice of the Warriors I heard him say this Chris Paul has been the best Warrior on the court tonight that was his first game of course with Golden State and so after Tim says that he pauses a phrase I thought I'd never utter we're all getting used to each other you know me and Steph played two totally different ways you know and so that's an adjustment for a lot of these guys it's adjustment for us but we have so many different units that can play especially when Dre get back you know I mean so that's going to be a whole nother group of us sort of getting used to each other but it's promising because one thing about teams is you can tell the spirit you know spirit is something that you can't hide you know when guys is frowning or mad or whatnot so what I'm excited about our team is you know the spirit is right we've joked about it a lot already it's I remember it was last year the year before he got JK in Phoenix like 92 feet from the basket and we were all like come on man it wasn't it was a different play it was a great play in terms of today like just understanding when contact was going to happen and obviously you know selling the call that was that was actually there but yeah definitely some laughs and he got booked with it too which is funny and you know just you know obviously smart basketball you have to play the game it is nice to not have to look at the ref like hey he's on our squad now it's weird to me that Steph Curry and Chris Paul are now in the same backcourt it is weird I will tell you that and it's probably going to be extremely odd to see Damian Lillard in a Bucks uniform playing alongside Giannis just combinations that we have to get used to speaking of that I talked about those with Matt Moore when he joined us from Denver after the ring ceremony and we're going to bring back part of this conversation because I want you to hear what he has to say about load management last night it was the Lakers right and and while LeBron is on a a minute's limit just because he's starting season number 21 they want to be careful how will load management affect the Lakers because they use it liberally this is what load management is about exactly Jarvin Ham not just that but Kawhi Leonard I he his idea of load management is to take a month off at a time is that that's mean isn't it it probably is mean anyway I asked uh I asked Matt about load management how it will be implemented but also about James Harden and what happens with Harden so we're going to bring back part of that but they are off and running in the NBA with a pair of games from the Western Conference and the Nuggets they are the champions on Twitter after our CBS on our Facebook page what is the upset in sports that you never saw coming we'll also bring back some of your answers who it's the hump show it's your hump day you got this yeah yeah yeah yeah I will be delirious come this time tomorrow since I will have slept for all of 45 minutes before the duct people show up what was I thinking you are listening to the after hours podcast around the screen from Nurkic on the right wing back in between the circles he gives it right side Gordon for three he got it Eric Gordon from way downtown and the Suns are back up five 106 101 43 seconds to go gets to the top of the arc gives to the cutting Nurkic she scoops it up and in off the window what a feed from book and Nurk finishes at the rim to put the Suns up four with 10.3 seconds left timeout warriors this is Clay Thompson four-time champion with the Golden State Warriors uh-huh you're listening to one of the best shows in America after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio thank you Clay my mom for her birthday got to hear that and was speechless no joke I played it for her and she had no reaction mom did you hear that that was Clay you're listening to one of the best shows in America after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio she loves the Splash Brothers she was watching the Warriors season opener last night and yet she was speechless she couldn't figure out why Clay Thompson was talking about after hours yes thank you Clay thank you Warriors it's after hours with Amy Lawrence CBS Sports Radio as the man told you and by the way that is Suns Radio as they managed to hold off the Warriors for their victory in game number one and they're off and running we had a chance to catch up with Matt Moore longtime NBA insider now with the Action Network and really good conversation wide-ranging conversation about the Nuggets Lakers lots of topics there but I wanted to ask him how he believes teams will navigate the new rules made to prevent stars from either taking random nights off or stars sitting out all at the same time I mean it wasn't a great start when Bradley Beal who you know did tweak his back and have an injury but they said that he's out basically out of trying to be cautious in the first game of the season not a great start there but that said I'm still pretty optimistic that I think we're going to see a much more a higher level of effort and focus from teams and players on the regular season this year it's been a big talking point most notably if you kind of if you have conversations around the league you kind of get a sense that a lot of this is coming from the players themselves that in coordination with the NBA who knows that a new media deal is being negotiated and they need to put their best foot forward for the good of everyone financially I think we're meeting this summer with the nbpa where there is a little bit of this sense within the ranks of trying to get everybody back on track of hey we we get to play like we got to be out there I know that the training staffs are telling us that we need to rest that it's dangerous I'm going to get injured but we've got to push through a little bit we have to kind of change the narrative I think the players are really tired of being accused of not wanting to play when so often it's the teams that are asking them and telling them hey you're at risk of injury we think it's safer if you don't play tonight I think the players are kind of taking this stuff into their own hands and saying no we're going to compete this season now we'll see if they carry through with it if they can still do it in January but I do think we're going to see a lot less load management a lot less rest nights I think a lot more play on back to backs I think we'll see a lot a better product from the NBA this season. Okay Matt let's talk about some of the new duos and tandems that we have in the NBA I actually was listening to Warriors basketball my driving to work and Tim Roy utters these words Chris Paul may be the best warrior on the court tonight and then after a pause he follows it up with a phrase I thought I'd never say so there you've got Chris Paul joining the Warriors but that's just one of the moves with Dame going to Milwaukee the changes for the Celtics, Wenby and San Antonio who are a few of the new combos that you are psyched to see? I mean I think it starts with Milwaukee just seeing Danny and Lillard for years has been one of the best offensive players in the league and he's carried these teams with rosters that were fine they weren't terrible like these were teams were not filled with you know non-MBA players but he's never had a real star beside him a real superstar and now he's got arguably the second best or best player over the last five years in basketball in Giannis Anacompo and having Giannis as a player he can play off of is going to elevate his game to an even higher level having Dame to space the floor and make sure teams can't send droves of defenders at him is going to make Giannis better this is the best defense that Dame's ever played with and I was thinking about this too you know where does Chris Middleton fit in with the number of guys that Dame has played with it's probably in Portland LaMarcus Aldridge and then I think Chris Middleton's probably better than CJ McCollum so like Chris Middleton the now third or fourth best player on the team is now is still probably like on the list of third best player that Dame's ever played with and that that I think is really exciting the Celtics I'm more excited on kind of a how they all go together formula because you have so much defense in the back court with Derek White and Drew Holiday that's just a fantastic defensive combo that's going to give point guards nightmares game after game after game but in previously you kind of saw this Chris F Porzingis was phenomenal last year I've never been really high on Porzingis and he was amazing last season because he was finally healthy yes if he stays healthy he provides a weapon that means that the Celtics won't have those stretches where their offense completely melts into pieces and that's really exciting and that can open up even more for Jason Tatum so all these things I think that they're super exciting the Warriors I'm a little bit more skeptical about with Chris Paul and the age and the injuries and all that and the sun I've talked to players who kind of said like yeah we don't know I don't know if Phoenix is going to be dominant enough because of their defense and that I think is an interesting question um and I think everybody in the league I will say this I don't know I've never seen a rookie come in that so many players are like I gotta make sure I watch that as I've heard talk about Victor Wemenyama. What do you expect with him? I had kind of lowered the bar on my expectations and been like well you know look he's he doesn't have the muscle mass and he's gonna get pushed around and um guys are gonna attack his dribble and then I saw him in preseason and was like man maybe not maybe he's gonna block four shots a game and hit threes and dunk from the free throw line like there's a part of this where there these these guys that are so physically exceptional I'll never forget there was a scene early in um Giannis first MVP season where they were playing the Nuggets and Paul Millsap like was trying to stop Giannis in transition it was obviously impossible because of Giannis's athleticism and wingspan and Paul Millsap looked at the bench like what is it you want me to do here and that's how every player looks with Victor Wemenyama what is it I'm supposed to do here um and that I think is going to be really amazing in that look it's not going to be perfect every night and there will be nights he struggles like any rookie but the things that he does are things we've never seen before and that's going to be exciting and something to watch for every single night.

Matt Moore is with us from Denver here after hours on CBS Sports Radio. What happens with James Harden? You know I think he ends up a clipper I think eventually that deal gets one side of the other budgets and they get it done I think there's a sense of resignation on the on the sixer side with a lot of things going on and I think on the clipper side there's a confidence that they can get them now look my understanding is that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are both express that they want that deal to get done but that's something that they they think the team needs to do typically those guys get what they want with the Clippers and so you know I think it's very likely that he winds up there. Harden's away from the team right now with a there's a personal family illness and it is like for all of the jokes and all of the comments and I understand why Harden has put himself in a position for those jokes to be made but like my understanding is the situation is serious and so I'm trying to have like empathy and care and not you know get involved in in the kind of cynicism that that Harden has honestly generated for himself and understand that he does have have you know a family and personal life and he's got some stuff going on but long term I think he probably goes to the Clippers the bigger question in NBA circles I've talked to is very little about Harden because he's not considered to be that much of an as a impactful influential player anymore quite honestly the question is what happens with Joel and Ethan and there are a lot of teams that are keeping their cap sheets and offers ready in the event that Joel Embiid decides you know what this is you didn't get a star back in return I don't want to waste the season this has gone sideways I'm out and if that happens we're just going to go from the Dame situation and the Harden situation right into the Embiid saga and it will just keep on running because there's not a lot of confidence that things will calm down with the Sixers unless Daryl Morey and the Sixers front office find a miracle trade for a true star running mate next limpy oh my goodness are you kidding me the Sixers go through this every couple years by the way Ben Simmons is ready to go he's gonna play in 23-24 I don't know what happens with James Harden or when though Matt seems confident that he will end up in Los Angeles because you know PG-13 and Kawhi are on board with it but where does that leave the Sixers could you imagine if that happens and when if Joel Embiid says something about wanting to leave or it's not going to work here I'm ready to get out the firestorm oh I might hunt under a rock could it just happen while I'm gone for my wedding in the holidays so that I don't have to deal with it are you saying the Nets won the James Harden trade oh my gosh uh the Nets won with this whole concept of addition by subtraction that's how they won they won because they got rid of the headaches that's how they won even though they're now left kind of wondering what the heck do we do now it's after hours with Amy Lawrence CBS sports radio you can always catch the full show on podcast and our guests are put in separate audio files we share those every afternoon on Twitter and Facebook I know many of you bookmark our podcast and you you catch it on a daily if not multi-weekly or multi yeah bi-weekly I don't know something something weekly basis multiple times per week would have been the appropriate way to say it all right we're asking you whether or not uh or what what's an upset that stunned you and still you can't believe it happened uh Mark says Red Sox over the Yankees after being down 3-0 an embarrassing 3-0 in the 2004 ALCS that I remember well Christopher on Facebook Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson he says I'll never forget it uh Dave goes with the Baltimore Ravens in 2000 with an average Trent Dilfer as quarterback another David Mets beat the Orioles in the 1969 World Series that was before my time but I've heard so much about it Igor a 16 seed UMBC upsetting Virginia in the NCAA tournament in 2020 yeah good ones oh Missy Texas A&M upsetting Alabama in October of 21 it's after hours CBS sports radio boom commuting to work again welcome back just breathe and remember you got this and the all-new Hyundai Kona is there to help class leading interior space means you can stretch out intuitive tech like remote smart parking assist makes parking stress free and complimentary blue link plus allows you to set the climate controls remotely learn more about the all-new Kona and your best commute ever at hundayusa.com call 562-314-4603 for complete details.