After Hours with Amy Lawrence Hour 1

Listen up.

I won't sugarcoat it. This is the longest cold flu analogy season we've ever seen, but we're not alone. We've got Instacart. Sure, you may be a coughing snot faucet who just wants mommy, but you're not giving up! Not when cold medicine, fragrant herbal teas, and honey shaped like bears can be delivered through Instacart in as fast as 30 minutes! Now let's go win the sick playoffs! Daddy, I just want my soup. Oh, sorry. Sport App says it'll be here in a few minutes.

Instacart for the win. A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners up get nothing, one retired cop returns... That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. American woman, listen what I say.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. So, did you survive? Did you survive your first weekend post football? I did. Not only is it proof because I'm here, but I honestly didn't miss it.

Is that terrible? I know we'll have a very busy offseason with a lot of questions. In fact, at some point this week, we'll ask you a question about the questions.

Because, you know, that's how my mind works. But, it's not going to be long until we get crazy busy again with all of the NFL news and notes and possibilities and infinite potential for free agents and draft opportunities. Yeah, it's going to be plenty busy. So, I did not mind at all that we did not have any football games this weekend. I didn't. If that is sacrilegious, well then you'll have to forgive me. Or you can lose all respect from me if that is your way of thinking.

That's certainly your prerogative. Actually, I was really looking forward to Daytona and then it got postponed to Monday. Pretty early on Sunday they made the call. That was the second time in, gosh, a couple years that it's been either postponed or cancelled because of rain and it's becoming more and more prominent.

All of Saturday was wiped out. So, they've got a busy day at Daytona on Monday. The 500 doesn't begin until 4 o'clock Florida time. That's 1 o'clock Pacific time, which is really tough for NASCAR. I know that it's a marquee event.

It's considered the granddaddy of them all, if you will. The biggest weekend in the sport, really the biggest week in the sport, except that a Monday start is challenging. And it's a holiday weekend for a lot of people, not for everybody. But my Sunday school class at church on Sunday morning, this past Sunday morning, or this Sunday morning I should say, was pretty light. We had half the number of kiddos that we normally do because lots of people go away. My next door neighbors, they're gone for the weekend. So people do take advantage, especially if it's a four day weekend. My mom actually has a four day weekend from school as a teacher in Texas. And so, there are a lot of people that either will be on the road or will be out of their regular routines, maybe visiting with other people, just taking advantage like I say.

That's one of the reasons I love working holidays is because people who don't normally have a chance to catch the show live, they are in fact listening or following along with podcasts because they get out of their typical routines. So for that reason it's a really tough weekend for NASCAR to move to a Monday, not taking advantage of that Sunday where fewer people have commitments on Monday. And now on a Monday afternoon, hoping that the weather cooperates so that they can get that race in, but the same pomp and circumstance that we generally associate with Daytona will be missing. So that's kind of a bummer. But I'm looking forward to it.

I won't be able to catch the whole thing on Monday, but I will do my absolute best. I can watch it on tape delay and kind of fast forward through it a little bit. Although it's different than a football game or basketball or baseball where you've got built in breaks. I know they have pit stops in NASCAR, but they take all of 20 something seconds. And you really don't want to miss them, actually.

There's major drama in them. Unlike, say, a pitching change in baseball or the in between innings, there's not a whole lot going on then, minus streakers. So yeah, it's a little bit different fast forwarding through a race, but I will catch as much of it as I possibly can because I do love Daytona. I love the way that NASCAR starts off with a bang and that it's usually relatively dramatic.

So that was taken away from our Sunday. Instead, without Daytona, the hubs and I watched, I don't know, three, four episodes of Clone Wars. We're big into the Star Wars animated series. I've seen it.

He is hooked. So yeah, we had a movie night Saturday, which was fun, following the three point competition and then watched a bunch of Star Wars Clone Wars. It's one of our commitments. It was in our vows. We must always watch Star Wars. I've turned him into a major nerd. It wasn't actually in our vows, but we did talk about it beforehand. That one of our healthy habits for marriage is always watch Star Wars.

It takes us to a good place, a good place where we can get away from real life for a while. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Love to connect with you. If you haven't heard the show before or you're listening for the first time in a long time, well, you can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

If you haven't seen the new YouTube video that producer Jay put up as he took us behind the scenes at Radio Row and in Las Vegas, Super Bowl week, all of the buzz, the electricity, man, the mega setting for a Super Bowl for the first time ever. Well, you can find that on our YouTube channel. Really easy. No problems Googling it. So once you do, then it'll pop up in your search engine. So yeah, you can find us anywhere you Google After Hours with Amy Lawrence. I'm actually working on a blog post to share some of my photos for the extracurricular activities on Saturday outside of Las Vegas. It was a bucket list day for a bunch of reasons.

And I'm really thrilled to share those photos with you. Maybe my next life. I feel like I'd be a pretty good planner. But after planning my own wedding and the effort that goes into it for, I don't know, a six hour affair, it was a lot. And I really don't want to deal with bridezillas.

I was not a bridezilla. I have zero desire to deal with bridezillas or any of the drama that comes along with some wedding planning, vacation planning I could do. I'm big into the planning so I could do vacations for people.

That'd be fun. But a lot of you have told me after seeing my photographs that I should go into photography. The crazy thing is I use my phone for almost all of it. My Galaxy phone has a 16 megapixel camera and it takes incredible pictures.

And so I don't know. Photography might be something fun. I really do love to take photographs of clouds.

That's my all time favorite subject is clouds. Way more than people. Definitely animals. In fact, we saw some pretty cool animals when we were outside of Las Vegas on Saturday before the Super Bowl.

I'm not even sure. I might have told the story of who and what we saw along the side of the road in Lake Mead National Park, but I have some pictures to prove it. So with the quiet, the quiet before the storm of NFL Combine and the start of mock drafts.

So many mock drafts. Maybe I'll get another blog post turned out. For now, YouTube and Facebook and then Twitter again, A Law Radio and our phone number is 855-212-4227. I did hear from Jay, by the way. Producer Jay had to use his mom's phone to get a text out to me because this wasn't working. So I get this random number popping up on my phone on, I think it was early this morning, early Sunday morning.

And it's not a number I recognize, of course, because why would I have his mom's phone number saved. And he says he'd been trying for a couple of days to get a message out in pictures and hadn't been able to. And so as I'm reading through the text, I'm like, oh, it's Jay. And then there are a couple of photos of a volcano and then Jay at a volcano.

They did some hiking. That's what they're doing in Costa Rica where his cell coverage is spotty. And so he's doing well. I guess it took him quite a while to get there.

They had a bunch of delays, but the family did land and they're enjoying the time in Costa Rica. He was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. So I think he's doing well. And actually doing some manual physical labor, which is not really Jay. So that's good, good for him.

So yeah, he's doing fine. Ryan's with us the rest of the week, which is fun. And so we'll get off the beaten path and we'll get a little creative. Speaking of creativity, my favorite part of All Star Weekend outside of Sabrina versus Steph. I loved that on Saturday night.

I love the way the two of them were so respectful and not just respectful, but supportive of one another. I love that Steph Curry came up with this new innovation. Not that we haven't seen a combination of men's and women's kind of skills competitions in the past, because the NBA and the WNBA have done that. The WNBA is supported in each of its cities by the NBA team that's there. I'm not sure if you know this, but the finances for the WNBA are not... At least they weren't a handful of years ago.

Maybe it's changed, but I don't think so. Each of the WNBA teams has to be supported by the ownership or the franchise from the NBA that's there, because they don't make money. Generally, they do not make money. That's the goal of the WNBA, but it's not the reality. They rely on the NBA for a lot of support. For that, there's a partnership between the two leagues as well as the athletes. They've done skills competitions where they've featured some of the best women in the league before and paired them up with some of the stars in the NBA. But this was different. This was Sabrina Ionescu and Steph Curry, and he actually did not compete in the... Should I call it the real three-point competition?

I'm using my air quotations, because obviously it's all exhibition. But I guess he did not compete in the event that he's done so many times and won multiple times, which is the three-point shootout. Instead, it was kind of an add-on, an addendum to the three-point shootout. And it was really cool to be able to see Sabrina and Steph and to see them, again, cheering for each other, which I thought was really neat, supportive of one another. And it seemed as though this was the highest-profile event at All-Star Weekend, other than, say, the introductions, because the NBA makes a big deal of its introductions.

They go all out. It's smoke. It's lights.

It's music. I don't remember which one. I think it might have been Orlando, but I'm not sure. Were they actually at Cirque du Soleil performing during the NBA All-Star intros? So a lot of times they'll bring in celebrities.

They'll have maybe a DJ or a particular actor or entertainer who will do the introductions. And so that is really the pinnacle, if you will. It's all downhill from there. I do not enjoy this brand of basketball. I really don't. I've said this many times on the air, and it's true. I do not watch any All-Star festivities or any All-Star games, I should say, other than Major League Baseball, because we actually get legit matchups of pitchers and hitters, though I know in some cases people claim that the hitters are lobbing up these softballs so that there can be home runs, whatever, whatever. I don't think that's the case in baseball.

It's not timed. They want to get out of there and have some of a break in the middle of their season two. And so these guys in Major League Baseball are not loafing it because they recognize the quicker they get done, the quicker they can get home to their families or take a quick trip to Cabo, challenging to say, or Europe or whatever. And so for that reason, they really do play an actual game not in the NBA. Not in the NBA. And we know not in the NFL either.

They've completely taken the actual game out of it, and now it's this flag football affair. So I do not watch All-Star games because I don't want to see two teams combine for nearly 400 points. 400.

Combined they scored 397. No. That's a negative ghost rider for me.

I am not interested. When you have a Karl-Anthony Towns who pours in fitty for the losing team, that is, and does not win MVP and it's a ho-hum, no thanks. But I will say I liked the moment where Luka Doncic missed a dunk. He passed the ball off the backboard to himself and missed the dunk. That might have been my favorite moment of the actual game. I know Damian Lillard heard the boos when he won the MVP, the Kobe Bryant MVP award, over Tyrese Halliburton, the pacer, who hit 10 threes. Damian hit 11, including one from half court, and had 39 points.

But honestly, that was an afterthought. Good for Dame, but how about you and Giannis get your act together and the Bucs get on track? The big stories from this weekend were Sabrina versus Steph, or Sabrina and Steph. And then LeBron, in his 20th All-Star game. It's pretty incredible to think about that he has been part of the All-Star festivities every single year he's been in the league. Now partly these are popularity contests, which is great. If you're going to put on a fan event, you might as well put the guys in there that fans want to see. So I have no issue with it being a fan event. The coaches do pick.

They'll add people based on injuries, that kind of thing. So no issues at all with it being kind of a gimmicky fan event. Otherwise, I mean, already people have really checked out, so I wouldn't say that it's a high-profile event anymore. But what we do see is that it's a group of these stars that you don't get at any other point.

And then it attacks... attacks? They do not attack celebrities. It attracts celebrities and entertainers.

And so for that reason, there's other star power, some megawatt star power. I got to tell you, you check out my Twitter, A-LOL Radio. I'm going to retweet right now. By far, my favorite celebrity sighting. And maybe if I tell you, hey, Indiana basketball, you might have a clue as to who it was.

I just retweeted. Again, he is by far my favorite all-star, my favorite celebrity. He's not really an all-star. My favorite celebrity of the weekend. Otherwise, Luca missing a dunk. Uh-huh. That was pretty damn cool. And the fact that he just kind of bowed over his knees like, you got to be kidding me.

That was my moment and I blew it. That's it. But good for Indiana. I heard a lot of people say, now people say this about the Combine as well as about other NFL events. When they host him in Indianapolis, it's a good walking city. The area where the events take place is relatively confined.

It's flat, which is helpful. It wasn't extreme cold this weekend. So for all of those reasons, good for you, Indy. Headed next year to the Bay Area and Chase Center with what is the brand new arena there for the Golden State Warriors.

All right. So we're just getting started. LeBron actually addressing questions about his future at his 20th all-star game. Damian Lillard earns the Kobe Bryant MVP award and the real quote-unquote three-point shootout before Steph and Sabrina.

But that was my favorite. We've also got news in the NFL quarterback ranks. And then Tiger does not finish the Genesis Invitational. In fact, he doesn't even get through Friday, which is disappointing to a lot of people who are there. Not the least of which is Tiger himself. There's plenty of incredible golf there. Hideki Matsuyama fired a 62 on Sunday, but it wasn't Tiger Woods. And not only because he's one of the organizers slash front men for this tournament, but also because it was his return to golf.

And I think a warm up, a test for what's to come at the Masters where he would like to play, but has got to get through some of these other tournaments to build up endurance and strength before then. So we've got a lot to talk about. I'd love to hear from you. On Twitter, ALawRadio, and then also on our Facebook page. Our phone number is 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Hope you're enjoying a long weekend. And if you're out of your regular routine, hey, thanks for hanging out. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Ten seconds. He got it. He got it. He got it.

Oh, he got it. The greatest shooter this game has ever seen. That was amazing. Just to be able to have this be the first of its kind event and come out here and put on a show, but understanding what this means and excited to change the narrative and be able to do it alongside the greatest to ever do it.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Sabrina Ionescu can hang. If you didn't know that and you were just seeing her shoot this weekend under pressure, she is a tremendous talent and she's been in the spotlight for a long time, going back to her days at Oregon and also her relationship with Kobe Bryant and with his family. And not just her relationship, but the entire Oregon Ducks team that Sabrina played on that Kobe kind of took under his wing and was mentoring in a way. Sabrina counted him as a friend and when Kobe passed away in the helicopter accident, she talked about him a bunch and showed great compassion and empathy and I think people got to know her a little more then, plus her incredible career at Oregon. And now we're seeing that same kind of buzz around Kaitlyn Clark, who will be one of the next big stars in the WNBA. So this is great for the game of basketball, forget who plays it. Men, women, forget which league, if it's the NBA or it's got another letter in front of it. Gender doesn't matter and I really appreciate that Steph Curry highlights that. He's been a great champion for equality, a great champion for women. He's got a couple of daughters, obviously a wife too, Ayesha, who's very successful. She was there in Indianapolis. She's got cookbooks, she's got a TV show, she's extremely popular in her own right and they've been sweethearts since they were in 8th grade.

They met at a junior high church camp, I believe is the story. And so he's always really at a heart for using his platform to elevate those and to extend a helping hand to those that he felt like could use a boost. And I just love that he didn't treat her any differently and by him setting that example, by him including her in this high profile event on a Saturday night at the All-Star Game and issuing that invitation. In fact, taking himself out of the actual three point shootout against his peers, he's showing people that the level of play for the Stars in the WNBA is just as exciting. It can be just as dramatic, as much fun. You're not setting aside expectations when you watch the WNBA. Sure, there are fewer of them that can dunk, but sometimes that actually makes for better basketball. NBA All-Star festivities being a perfect example.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Yeah, Sabrina started out with I think six or seven threes in a row. She drained the whole first rack of balls from the left corner and then as she went around found another groove as well. Steph had to get hot on his last rack and a half just to be able to pass her. But it was fun. It was fun to see him do his little shimmy there in Indy and to see the two of them support and encourage one another. And I love how Sabrina recognizes the magnitude of this event. Just continuing to use my platform and I think a night like tonight shows a lot of young girls and young boys that if you can shoot, you can shoot. And it doesn't matter if you're a girl or boy.

I think it just matters the heart that you have and wanting to be the best that you can be. I mean, when I got to the top, but I missed the two three pointers, I knew I had to get hot. This couldn't have gone any better in the sense of us two taking the chance in front of this stage, one round with all the hype and to deliver like that. She said the bar was unbelievable to watch.

So this might be something I don't know if anybody can fill these shoes, but it might be something that you need to do more often. I agree with Steph and those are part of their interview on TNT. I agree with Steph when it comes to Sabrina setting the bar. She went out there, she went first and she hit her first six or seven threes in a row. Serving notice that this wasn't going to be a walkover for Steph. And I don't want to say he barely beat her because he did beat her by a few points, but he had to make his last four or five in a row himself to be able to catch her.

It was a really close competition. And so it's just fun to see the shots, the talent and what Sabrina has to say, if you can shoot, you can shoot. She wasn't limiting her inspiration, her impact to young girls.

It's about all kids, young boys too. If you can shoot, you can shoot. And honestly, you know what I heard when she said that? Applying it to my own situation. If you can talk about sports on the radio, if you can host a radio show, you can host a radio show. Who cares what gender you are? If you can talk about football intelligently and entertaining people while you do it.

If you can talk, you can talk. After hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Yeah, the idea is that this will boost the interest in the WNBA, but not just in the WNBA, in the game for young people. Just knowing that Steph wanted to do this as well in terms of just respecting another shooter.

And I think it's going to show a lot of young kids out there, a lot of people who might have not believed or even watched women's sports that were able to go out there and put on a show. And so it was really exciting to finally be able to do this. And like Steph said, it happened perfectly. It really did.

It was a lot of fun. I kind of feel like that was the pinnacle of All-Star Weekend. That and as I say, the way that the NBA pours all of its resources into the intros, it's all downhill from there. You get the intros, you get the star power, you get the lights, you get the fog, you get the smog, you get the music. You get the people in the stands who get highlighted who are excited and then it just kind of implodes after that. I do not need to see 211 points for one team ever, as in ever. And yet sometimes I swear the actual NBA games are going that direction as well. Alright, we're going to get to your calls.

855-212-4227. We've got some news from the NFL when it comes to potential available quarterbacks in this free agent market in 2024. You know, it's always a veritable game of musical chairs. Well, there's one that may have just put himself on the outside of this game, at least temporarily looking in.

And coupled with some of his other challenges and the way his last two years have gone. Ooh, this might be the end of this particular quarterback in the league. So again, you can find us on Twitter or Facebook.

Hope that you're enjoying your holiday weekend. We'll let you hear from Dame as well. I suppose there needs to be a highlight since his first half year in Milwaukee has not been so much of that. It is humorous though that Dame wins the MVP playing for his new coach in Doc Rivers. So they're not winning any games yet with the Milwaukee Bucks.

But boy, they're really good in these All-Star festivities. Let's go! Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai, there's joy in every journey.

2024 Santa Fe, available early 2024. When the whole family comes together to watch the game, nobody wants to miss a second of the action to run to the grocery store. With Instacart, you can get all your weekly groceries in as fast as an hour.

Less time shopping means more game time. Let's go! Visit Instacart.com to get free delivery on your first three orders. Offer valid for a limited time, $10 minimum per order. Additional terms apply.

A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll.

The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. Is your wallet a little lighter than usual after the holiday season? Consider it money well spent, because you deserve to live your best life. And Chime wants to help you live yours to the fullest. A little extra money goes a long way, which is why the Chime checking account has tons of benefits that millions of members love. Like fee-free overdraft up to $200 for eligible members, no monthly fees, and access to over 60,000 easy-to-find and fee-free ATMs.

You even get paid up to two days early with direct deposit. All while managing your money on the go, including sending and receiving money fee-free with friends that aren't even on Chime. Sign up for Chime today for you and your wallet. Get started at chime.com slash goals 24.

That's chime.com slash goals 24. Banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank N.A. or Stride Bank N.A. members FDIC. Spot me eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Access to direct deposits up to two days early depends on the timing of the submission of the payment file from the payer.

Out-of-network ATM withdrawal fees may apply. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. And this year's 2024 Kobe Bryant MVP trophy goes to Damian Lillard.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Why in the world would you boo a Kobe Bryant MVP? Damian Lillard ends up with 11 triples and 39 points and hits a half-court shot that you hear sort of on TNT. I hate using TV play-by-play on radio. Very few TV hosts, and I do mean this as a compliment, will give you many details. I once had a former boss describe the best TV play-by-play this way. If I am watching TV but I turn my back to the screen and I can't see what's happening and I'm listening to the play-by-play announcer, in this case Kevin Harlan, and I have no idea where the ball is or what's going on other than I have no idea where the ball is or where they are on the court or really who took the shot in some cases, well then I'm doing a good job. Because TV play-by-play is not meant to describe what people can already see. It's meant to enhance it, although for that reason I much prefer radio play-by-play. Anyway, you really don't get much detail there, though Kevin Harlan is the best at both and he goes back and forth.

He hit a half court shot, he hit 11 triples, he got booed as he was introed before the MVP award because the local guy, the pacer Tyrese Halliburton had 10 triples of his own and 32 points. And I don't know, it seems a little bit goofy. Maybe because of the name of the trophy you can take it seriously, but when no one actually plays the game with intensity it almost seems ridiculous to hand out an MVP award.

It's a little bit fraudulent, but okay. You had 39, Kat had 50. Your team was the first ever to score over 200 points and somehow that is a great indicator of your skills and your most valuable.

No one is valuable in these games. I'm not a huge fan. But I understand it's a marquee event for the NBA and they get a lot of attention this weekend. It's post NFL, plus Daytona was cancelled, or postponed I should say, to the next day. Which really meant that the NBA had the star and the stage to itself, other than the stadium series in the NHL.

Which I really wanted to go to considering that MetLife is 15 minutes from my house, but just too much with a bunch of other things going on. Anyway, congrats to Dame, I guess. He actually did enjoy being part of All-Star Weekend for his first time as a buck. Some people don't take the competition serious, you know, but for me it was just a break from the season and an opportunity for me to just be successful at something. You know, just something to go after. Something to go after. Kind of a poor consolation prize, if you ask me. And we talked about the Bucks a little bit before we got to All-Star Weekend, the fact that they have won just three games since Doc Rivers took over.

And even though I don't believe in karma, this could actually be a little bit of karma. He and Giannis, it's not that they don't work hard, it's not that they don't want to win, but the defense just hasn't chilled. There's plenty of offense, although Dame's still working that part out too. Man, pretty soon we're going to start hearing the rumors, the speculation that he's salty because he really still wants to go to Miami.

It's after hours on our Facebook page, on YouTube, and then you can find me on Twitter, A Law Radio. Giannis enjoyed himself as he always does. He had his kiddos around, lots of them did. Dame had his three kiddos there with him as well in Indy. And Giannis at the very least recognizes that Dame is working hard and this is a nice nod toward a tough season.

Dame? Yeah, I knew he was going for it. I knew he was going for it. When he has that twitch in his eye, when he's locked in, you got to pass him the ball and just get out of his way. When he has that twitch in his eye, that's my favorite.

I do sometimes have a twitch in my eye. Now coming up, we'll hear from LeBron James, who did answer multiple questions about his future, both with the Lakers and his future as an NBA player. And then Adam Silver, who's featuring kind of his state of the state address on Saturday night. I thought it was interesting some of the questions about the NBA post-LeBron.

Now this is just me. I don't think the NBA still gets a major LeBron bump. I do think that people go to stadiums. If they've never seen LeBron, they'll go to an arena or a stadium to see him play. Especially now when there's less of a chance that load management will keep you from seeing him. But I still say don't buy tickets for a game in which the Lakers are on the road playing back to backs.

That's asking for trouble. I don't know though that in terms of its profile or its TV games, that there's still a major LeBron bump. I could be wrong. And I do think there's plenty of star power in the wake of LeBron. Now is there a generational talent that will be soon compared to LeBron, like LeBron is compared to Michael Jordan?

I don't know. That last ring that LeBron won with the Lakers, even though it was in the bubble, that was a big deal. Had he not won that ring, his last one would have been with the Cavaliers in 2016 when the Cavs rallied from the 3-1 deficit to the Warriors and came back to win that NBA title. So had he not won with the Lakers in 2020, I think people would be talking differently about him. But his longevity and his staying power, his durability has been huge.

He owns pretty much every record that you can own, kind of like a Tom Brady when it comes to playoffs, a lot of the scoring records as well. He's continued to move up the charts and to raise the bar, but I don't think that, I could be wrong, I don't think that a lot of people still tune in for LeBron because he's been around for so long. Now if he announces a farewell tour, maybe we'll see the LeBron bump. But I'd love to hear from you actually, especially those of you who are newer fans of the NBA or say younger fans of the NBA, do you still tune in? Actually I don't care what age you are, whatever your perspective on the league, and I know LeBron's a lightning rod, people either love him or hate him, and that actually means he's transcending his sport. But he's a household name, he's a worldwide superstar, so I would like to hear from you, does LeBron still serve as the same attraction? 20 years into the league, maybe he does because you believe he could be out of the league soon, does he still have the same superstar attraction?

Is there still the same bump for the NBA because of LeBron James? And we'll hear from him coming up. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, our phone number 855-212-4227, Carlin is in Texas, welcome to the show. Hi there, long time listener and first time caller so I'm honored for you to take my call. Of course, thank you so much.

Yeah, of course. The whole thing with the All-Star Weekend when it comes to any sport, you know, the NBA, the NHL, the NFL, they're all so just, it's hard to watch. It's hard to be entertained because they make so much money, they don't want to get injured, and of course they want to have fun, but it gets to a point where we want to be entertained. Now, the only sport that I can think of that actually entertains us when it comes to an All-Star Weekend is baseball because when you look at NHL, you look at skaters that skate through four different defenders and nobody tries, and then the goalie all of a sudden gets distracted by a butterfly in the stands and gets scored on. And then when you look at baseball, you can't fake or, you know, be lapsed a day's goal about a 90 mile per hour fastball and the batter still has to hit the ball, they still have to catch it, they still have to throw it into the infield, so it seems just a little bit more enjoyable. Right, a little bit more of what you would get during an actual game.

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And the whole thing with LeBron James and the NBA and stuff like that, I think he's a great player, of course he's the greatest player of my lifetime. I was born in the 90s, so I never actually got to watch Michael Jordan go through his entire reign that we all know and love, but it's just, I don't know. It's hard to be entertained and hard to be pushed to watch it just because of those facts. You know, it's interesting too, and right, it's happening in the regular season as well, where there is less defense and more and more we're seeing games that have scores near 150.

I just, it's outrageous. It seems as though the game has become so lopsided. Now I know in the NFL, we do have seasons where it's a high flying, high potent attack and the offense is up, but that's not the way it's been the last couple years, actually.

And the Chiefs won the Super Bowl this year with defense and we had some really good defenses that survived to the end. So I would agree with you, it almost seems as though it's only one half of the game in the NBA and I can't stand the current, and it's not every team, but the current mode of entertainment, which is dribble, dribble, take a three. Right. I just, I can't stand ISO ball. I can't stand team shooting 85 triples a game. That is just boring to me. I want to see a posterizing dunk.

I want to see somebody go in there and put somebody on their butt. That's what I want. I could be wrong.

I don't know. Thank you. Thank you so much, Amy. You're welcome. Thanks for listening, Carlin.

Glad to have you call for the first time. So the question is about, not so much about the NBA as a whole, but what we're seeing, and this is true, this is legitimate. What we're seeing is that fewer people are watching games on TV. Now, the NBA is still seeing a ton of impressions online.

YouTube, it's Twitter, it's Instagram and TikTok and all that jazz. There are a lot of people who are following online with various social media opportunities, but not tuning into games. The ratings have tanked the last couple of years, whereas the NFL is seeing increased ratings. The NFL is seeing more and more people tune in. I mean, the record setting numbers, not just for the Super Bowl, but for the championship games, and these are not just online. Yes, there are streaming options like Peacock for a playoff game, like Paramount Plus for the games that are on CBS. So you do have the streaming options.

You also have the Nickelodeon broadcast in Univision, but the vast majority of people are tuning in on the actual network that is hosting the game, that has the rights to the game. So you can't tell me that it's all sports across the board because it's not. The NFL bucks that trend and defies that logic, but the NBA has seen a drastic decline in its regular season ratings specifically. And so I need to know whether or not LeBron James still has that bump. We'll hear him talk about retirement and his future in the NBA. I do think it's unbelievably impressive that he has not just the talent that he still does and the skills and abilities at this point in his career at 39 years old, but also that he's never missed an All-Star game. So that and by missing it, I just mean he's never not been voted in. So that speaks to his popularity that the fans are still willing to put him in this game and still willing to vote for him. But it also obviously speaks to his level of play over the entire course of his career. But does he still have the same draw?

And if he does, is it because you think you may not see him for much longer? That's the question. So on Twitter after our CBS or my Twitter, a law radio, and then also on our Facebook page after hours with Amy Lawrence, some of you still discovering that brand new YouTube video from producer J was a parting gift before he went off on vacation with his family.

And I appreciate they're having as much fun as we were in making the video. It was mostly delirium from working all the time. Super Bowl week.

I will admit that it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. That's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort coming soon to a Super Bowl.

There's joy in every journey. 2024 Santa Fe available early 2024. No need to debate the issue. Blinds.com's President's Day sale can save you up to 50 percent on new premium window treatments. Finally, there's a better way to give your home the presidential treatment with Blinds.com.

You'll never deal with pushy salespeople campaigning in your home or spend hours at overwhelming showrooms. Shop 100 percent online with upfront pricing, free virtual consultations, free samples and free shipping from natural wood shutters to motorized shades and more. Get unlimited premium custom window treatments installed for one low cost.

Do it yourself or elect to have a pro handle the installation. Our free design experts are ready to help you make the perfect selection. Blinds.com has you and your windows covered with our 100 percent satisfaction guarantee.

If you're not happy, we'll make it right. Now that's presidential treatment. Shop Blinds.com's President's Day sale happening now for up to 50 percent off plus premium doorbusters. Save up to 50 percent at Blinds.com. Blinds.com. Rules and restrictions may apply.