After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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Price and coverage match limited by state law. Actually, what I have to say is sort of ironic now. It's my first time back in our headquarters, our main studio, since last Friday afternoon, right, when I was the guinea pig. In fact, the sign that I wrote to remind myself of our new name, our new brand, is still sitting here. So apparently, Producer J, you didn't tell me that other people have been using my sign that I wrote here.

I didn't realize. Yeah, so we found out that this has been a handy-dandy tool for every other host who's been here, which, huh, I don't know, maybe I'll take it with me and see what happens. Anyway, as I'm coming back from being out in the newsroom, I just saw for the first time that somewhat on our door, the heavy sound, well, theoretically soundproof door, but we can hear Boomer's music through it in the mornings. It's a heavy door that leads into the broadcast studio, and it used to say, and it was printed, someone printed it and slid it into a glass slot. It used to say the old name of the network, but rather than go to the printer, print a new one out. Someone took a black Sharpie, crossed out our old three letters, and wrote by hand the name of the new network, because apparently it's too much trouble to actually go to your computer, print one out. It probably took the person longer to find a black Sharpie, because we don't have a lot of writing utensils in this newsroom, than it did to actually go back to the computer, type up in block letters, Infinity Sports Network, print it out, cut it with a pair of scissors, and stick it in the slot. That would be ridiculous. And so instead, black Sharpie, because nothing says professional like the new name of our network handwritten on the door.

Animals. Oh my gosh, people crack me up. It's a good thing we don't have visitors here in studio very often. Now, we know that other shows do, but I think I'd be embarrassed to have someone come into a main studio where the name of our network is written in black Sharpie. It's not great.

It's not great. We should get a plaque or something. It's not great, but maybe the new boss will have some say over black Sharpie versus an actual printed label for the studio door. Not just that, but we have to say congratulations to our friend David, who has been promoted to assistant brand manager. And so we've been working with David. Well, I've been working with, I can't speak for Jay, but I've been working with David for 12 years now. And we've developed a good working relationship, mutual respect. And so I appreciate that David not only has stuck it out for as long as he has, because there's only a handful of us original employees here at the network that's now been crossed out in black Sharpie, but also because he deserves the promotion. He's worked so hard and at times has been juggling the responsibilities of three different people. So I'm proud of him and proud for him that he's been promoted. I have not met the new boss yet, but producer Jay tells me he's very nice because Jay decided to take a walk down to his office after yesterday morning show finished.

I absolutely did. How about that? I'm out of the building. Jay decides he's going to go introduce himself. He doesn't bother waiting for me. He just goes, Oh, I told you what happened. Now the, yes, you did the last time we had a new boss, it was maybe, Oh gosh, three, four months. Because there was a transition where he was in, he was working in two different places over the course of a general week. And I do actually distinctly remember that I was the one who introduced Jay to the boss. He did not know who the producer of the show was. And so I had to amend that situation. I don't think I ever knew that he was here at the time.

Not to mention, I don't recall that he remembered our names for very long, but we'll see if this boss is better at name recognition, name and face recognition. The infinity sports network is written on our door in Black Sharpie. Am I the only one that finds that amusing? It's a start. It is a start, I suppose.

Don't encourage them. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. It is our hump show, middle show of the workweek. Thanks for all your questions for Ask Amy Anything. The ones that did not get fielded here on the show, on the air, those are likely to be answered on social media. I do go back and answer as many as I can over the course of your hump day, my Wednesday.

Thank you, because you still care. I actually was telling my students at Syracuse that sometimes we try out features that don't work. Maybe next week you can ask me, what's one element or one feature you tried on your show that crashed and burned? Because I have one that I was so excited about that I thought for sure was a hit. Oh no, didn't even last a week. You never know. In fact, the production is probably still in there. I can think of a few that didn't last, that didn't work. We either, and by we I mean me, I either wasn't committed to it or I didn't like it or I just didn't know how to sell it at the time.

But that's not the case. I told them about Ask Amy Anything that it goes back now. It's 11 years old. We need to have a birthday for Ask Amy Anything. If that means cake, I'm all in.

Absolutely. When was it born? It was born in the second year of the show, which was the year 2014.

Do we have a date or like an approximate date? It was early in 2014. I'd have to go back and look at social to find out, but you might be able to find out because that bright orange box is part of the very beginning. It's now an OG. It's an OG feature on our social media.

The names changed, but not the feature, not the bright orange box. I still can't believe someone wrote to us this morning and wanted to know what the name of the show is. I don't understand. On the Twitter page that says after hours. Anyway, we're still working on redesigning our social a little bit so we know there are some places and some spaces where graphics don't fit and we took photos down and so we're redesigning. We're working on it.

We're going to get there. Thank you for your patience. April's a super busy month. Why?

Because the NBA playoffs tip off and because the Stanley Cup playoffs are soon to follow actually this weekend because thank God hockey does not do the play-in tournament. Not now. Let's hope not ever. But that's what we started with in the Wild Wild West on Tuesday night and we've got questions. Here are the questions.

Are you ready? Number one, what's wrong with Zion Williamson? We'll get to that one. Number two, have we seen the last of the Golden State Warriors championship core that has won not just four titles, but went to five straight NBA finals and won their last crown in 2022. Three points, Sacramento advantage at 23 to 15, steal to Aaron Fox, break away, two-hand rip. Tipped, kept alive by Len, no good. Rebound grab by Davion Mitchell. Back out on the wing, Keegan scores his fourth three-pointer of the first quarter. He's got 14 and the Kings lead by nine. Hesitates, probes, now skips across court. Harrison Barnes wide open, bearings the triple.

Boy, the spacing was just outstanding there. The Kings have made their 11th three-pointer in 25 attempts. Davion hesitates, circles under the basket, lobs it out to Alex Linn, hands to Keegan, rocks, fires, scores.

Boy, that was a quick release that time and it had to be because Graymon Green was right there. Curry left side, backs up into a three, it's up and no good. Good box out inside by Murray on Pajemski. Fox will lead out to Sabonis who drives and lays it in. Warriors were jogging back and they got beat.

Sabonis now with 10. Curry double bounced past Graymon, lost the ball, knocked away from behind by Fox. The Kings have been faster, they've out-hustled the Warriors, out-fought the Warriors, and quite frankly, Golden State's pretty lucky to be down by only 14.

Oh, it would get worse. In the fourth quarter, it ballooned to plus 20. And a little bit of indication, a little bit of redemption for the Sacramento Kings. Who a lot of times are dwarfed by their big brothers in the Bay Area, but not on Tuesday night as the Warriors did not play well, picked the worst possible time to lay an egg. They really had been on a tear, they just couldn't get out of that number 10 seed in the West because the conference was so competitive and so they put themselves in a real tough position. But as you hear with Gary Gerald on Sacramento Kings radio and then Tim Roy on Warriors radio, the Kings were ready to go.

They were intense, they were definitely locked in from beyond the arc. So that whole live by the three, die by the three, well it worked for the Kings on Tuesday night. They ended up not just with so many open threes because of the rotation of the ball and the Warriors flat-footed on defense, but they forced 16 turnovers by Golden State, which is often times the Warriors' demise and downfall. And then the offensive rebounding was terrific. So in those categories, hustle stats, energy, as well as just the aggressiveness, it was the Kings who had the edge.

And you could tell that Mike Brown, who of course coached next to Steve Kerr, actually was the interim head coach or filling in as the head coach when Steve needed time away from the bench. You can tell he had these guys ready to play. One of the things we talked about before the game is in a one-game series, usually it's about which team can impose their will on the other team for as close to 48 minutes as possible. And our guys responded. Obviously this team beat us last year in the playoffs and it feels good to win this game, but we know we have to go on the road and win another one for us to accomplish the first step in our goal. De'Aaron Fox with 24 points and 6 assists, and then Keegan Murray, he was brilliant. 32 points, 9 rebounds.

But here's the challenge moving forward. It's the Pelicans and the Kings to get into the main bracket in the West because the Pelicans fell to the Lakers. We'll talk about that and Zion coming up. This year, the Kings are 0-5 against the Pelicans.

You don't talk about a monkey on our back. The New Orleans, they've had our number the whole year, so we've got to figure out how to contain them, contain their main guys, contain guys like CJ and guys coming off their bench. It's a big, big matchup for us to try and get in the playoffs and the team has beat us five times.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on the morning after the NBA playoffs begin. Two and a half months from now, we're, okay, it feels like three, four, five months, right? We might know who's moving on to the conference semifinals. We're not big fans of the, I mean, it's so asymmetrical. It's asymmetrical. It seems so random.

We know it's driven by TV games and that type of thing, but it's annoying how the NBA stretches out the rounds of the playoffs and still somehow has to wait 10 days in between the end of the conference finals and the finals. And so I'm going to go on a honeymoon and be completely out of touch for two weeks. I'm going to come back. It's going to be the same round. We will be no further down the road than when I left.

Oh, my gosh. Anyway, we're going to get there. At least we got some drama to start. So congratulations to the Kings who lost to the Warriors in that Game 7 on their own floor. Same floor a year ago, and this time they get the last laugh. The game on Friday is another huge test for them. And whether or not they're a contender in the West yet, probably not by the way they flamed out at the end. They weren't supposed to be in this play-in tournament, but I still say every step for a team that collectively, a franchise collectively that doesn't have a lot of recent playoff success and that might be putting it mildly. I mean, the fact that they were able to beat the Warriors is a big first step. But what does that mean about Golden State? Well, as you can imagine, that's the first question and the number one question for Steve Kerr and many of the Warriors following this loss.

It's too early for me to even think about that. You invest so much in the season and there's so much that goes on. It's so emotional. The highs and lows of this business are incredible. That's why we're all kind of addicted to it. You can't find this anywhere else in life. I know I can't. And you have to absorb the lows.

We've been really blessed here with amazing players and multiple championships and finals appearances and the highest of highs. And this is the flip side. This is life. This is how it works. You don't get to stay on top forever.

It's a horrible feeling. You go out there and compete, leave it all out there and it doesn't go your way. We obviously understand you can't win it every year, but there was so much belief that we could make something out of this season and keep our hopes alive, trying to get a win tonight and taking it from there. Sacramento played unbelievable tonight. They played aggressive and Keegan's making shots.

D-Fox is creating. It seemed like they got every 50-50 loose ball, offensive rebound. It was a tough way to end our year for sure. One tougher than for Klay Thompson. And I can't help but wonder if his thoughts about the future, the possibility that he was playing his last game in a Warriors uniform, if that somehow weighed on him. And the reason I say that, it's not because I know Klay or because I want to project anything onto him, but we had just heard from him a couple weeks ago. Maybe it was last week.

Was it last week, Jay? With the Draymond Green show on the volume, so that's Dray's podcast, Klay himself said at the start of the season, the concerns about my contract, the questions about my future, then taking a, I want to say a backseat role, but then taking a different role and coming off the bench, all of these things, I was thinking about them. I was worried about them. Essentially they were causing me some anxiety, and that prevented me from playing my best.

And it wasn't until I realized how much I have to be thankful for that I'm still out here playing a game that I love that I was able to kind of throw off that weight and play with freedom and joy again. I'm paraphrasing, but that's what he told Draymond Green. All that to say that he wanted to stay with the Dubs, but he wasn't going to worry about it. So as I watched him play last night, now all of his shots weren't quality shots, but he had some wide open looks that he missed, and you just wouldn't expect this from Klay Thompson with so much playoff experience and obviously the talent that he has. 0 for 10 in this game.

He played 32 minutes and didn't score a point. And at the end of the game, even as the Warriors and the Kings are filtering back to their locker rooms and they're saying their congratulations, the hugs, all that jazz, he stops, and he pauses, and he looks back around the arena. It wasn't his arena, but he looks back around that arena in Sacramento with a look on his face, and he's pretty expressive. I wonder if this is the last time.

What if this is the last time? And the video's out there. We've shared it from our show Twitter at Amy After Hours. It's been spread by multiple outlets, but we got it from our Sacramento Kings reporter Sean Cunningham and Fox 40, which is his outlet. So they were filming it as it played out on the court. Tough night for Klay, and I wonder if the Mentals had something to do with it. Over six from downtown, 0 for 10 in this game.

I thought they were really physical early. Call from Mom. Answer it.

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Visit fidelity.com slash wealth investment minimum supply Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC member NYSE SIPC. In the game. So his first few shots weren't great looks. And so I think he fell out of rhythm.

It can happen, you know, as a shooter, you miss your first few and the game isn't coming as easily. Everybody's going to talk about one game. I know he wanted to play better. But you know, we go through so much over 82 games and the fact that he was able to turn his season around with a new role and adjusting to coming off the bench for a long period. And then, you know, back in the starting lineup and just really just having fun playing basketball and being a piece out there.

I'm more worried about that because I know he's a true champion and we all, you know, again, prepare ourselves to play our best when the lights are bright and when it doesn't happen. Nobody needs to tell you anything because all we want to do is win and numbers aside, like that's the only thing that matters. One more and this is with Draymond Green, who also echoed what Steph had to say about it being painful. And this is hard.

He was asked the direct question of whether or not the Warriors' core will still be together come next season. I have no reason not to. You know, they stuck with us to the good and the bad. It's not so great this year, but we can't win every year. So, yeah, I do have confidence until it's no longer. Obviously, we want to play back. We've been through a lot, you know, incredible highs, some shitty lows.

But the common denominators to both of them is that we've gone through each and every scenario together. And so Clay Thompson, unrestricted free agent. Chris Paul likely not to be on the roster next season, especially if they want to get Clay back because they owe him $30 million if he is still on the roster in, I think it's mid-June, so after the NBA Finals.

But there was some speculation. There has been speculation that if Clay is willing to take a contract, almost sounds funny saying this, that's two years and $60 million, if he's willing to take that. So a shorter-term deal, I know Jay's laughing.

We can't identify with that. But it is likely that there's another team out there, maybe the Orlando Magic, who will offer him more money. What if the Magic offer him $40 million a year and they give him two extra years? That's fully guaranteed. This is not like the NFL where you only get the actual guaranteed money. This is a fully guaranteed contract. If you're Clay Thompson, and we're asking rhetorical questions here, we looked for audio from him after the game.

We did not see it. But if you're Clay Thompson and the Warriors are offering you the chance to stay for two years and $30 million per, but the Orlando Magic want you in white unis and blue pinstripes, and they want to give legitimacy to their franchise and this iteration of their franchise, and they say we'll pay you $40 million over four years, meaning $40 million per over four years. So the Warriors offer you $60 million, but the Orlando Magic offer you $160 million. And I don't know that that's going to happen, but it might.

It might. I mean, that's tough. Do you really pick heart over finances, right? It's not because the Warriors don't want him back, but they want to get under that luxury tax threshold.

They've been over it for a long time, and it's really caused them some consternation. So I don't know. I don't know. You'd have to take the years and the money. Would you? If you're 34 turning 35, you get a four-year deal for $40 million a year, you'd have to.

You'd be responsible not to take that. Unless what you want is to finish out your career. I mean, he's made a ton of money.

Let's be honest. He can live on that for the rest of his life. Probably his family can too. I agree $100 million extra dollars is a lot to turn down, but what if that's not your priority? If he wants to stay. I mean, also, he'd be going to a young team that has aspirations of winning hopefully soon. But, yeah, I mean, if he wants to just be a Golden State Legends, he is no matter what, of course.

He is, yes. He's a Hall of Famer. Yeah, but if he wants to stay on the same team, have that legacy of being a one-team-his-whole-career-athlete, then you stay, but that would be a lot of money to pass up. But maybe it's not about legacy. Maybe he just wants to finish out his career with Steph and Dre and Steve Kerr. I mean, they've had a lot of work together. I guess then you'd have to be sure that they're not going to trade Curry at some point or Draymond if Curry are rebilled. Wait, did you hear what just came out of your mouth?

Think about it. Dre, okay. Steph Curry will retire a Warrior. I mean, he may get another contract.

He may not. It depends on what Steph wants to do. They are never letting Steph Curry go anywhere else. The Oilers traded Gretzky.

Anyone can trade it for the right price. Except that didn't Gretzky have a reason to go? He married an actress and they wanted to go to L.A.

So that's why. The Oilers gave him what he wanted. In this case, Steph Curry is a Warrior. He's never indicated anything else except that he wants to be a Warrior. Oh, I don't think he would want to go anywhere.

I agree with you. I don't think it will happen. But if, say, the Warriors next year are sitting 12 games, 14 games under at the deadline, I don't know. They want to get another luxury tax and maybe it's time to rebuild sooner rather than later. You can trade everybody else except for Steph Curry. There is no way. What can you get back for a team that's desperate?

Oh my gosh. Think of the return. I wouldn't do it.

Their fan base might revolt. I wouldn't do it. He's Steph Curry. He deserves the right to walk. And he can make you good for another 10 years after the fact that you traded him? He's made you money hand over fist for 15 years. He has made you money and the star of the NBA. No way.

Absolutely not. Now, loyalty is not a thing in sports in most cases. It is for fans, but not for players or for teams. Players, maybe a little more.

They get blindsided. So, this could be tough, but there's a lot of speculation about what is in store for the Warriors and Klay Thompson definitely was wearing that. If not during the game, definitely after the game. On Twitter, at ALawRadio, that's not changed. On our Facebook page too. Coming up, the Zion Williamson playoff debut was everything we wanted.

Until it wasn't. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Infinity Sports Network. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. On both the Lakers and Pelicans Radio Network. It was a weird tug of war between LA and New Orleans. And you hear Todd Grafannini on the Pelicans Radio Network mention that they'd been, well, he paraphrases, but they got crushed on Sunday by the Lakers. And so, he was proud of the fact that they were playing better defense. But there were long stretches where they didn't score in this game on Tuesday night. The Lakers would put 12 consecutive points on the board. And then it was 13 consecutive points in a different stretch.

And the Pelicans would go quiet. So, they were down by double figures until the fourth quarter when they put on a charge. They're able to get back into this game. In fact, it's a tie game at 95 with just over three minutes to go. I'm not exactly sure why, but Zion Williamson just went down the tunnel.

He was holding his left thigh. Not sure if there's anything to be concerned about there. Maybe he's just going to go stretch it out. Hopefully, he's coming back. Well, Aaron, thanks for the report. But that could literally not be worse than what you just reported.

That is very unfortunate. What I just saw tells me he ain't coming back. He just spiked the towel and went into the tunnel. Once again, on Pelicans Radio. Now, after the fact, Willie Green, the head coach of the Pelicans, didn't have a whole lot to offer. And people spotted Zion in the locker room, the training room, after the game. He, according to the reports, was not wrapped and was not limping. They didn't have him down the final stretch, though, which is part of the issue. But we'll get to that. The latest report from Shams Charanea, and this happened, oh gosh, around 1230 Eastern.

And so it was not that long before we started the show. He is believed to have suffered a left hamstring injury against the Lakers. That's according to Shams and the athletic and stadium.

The test will be coming on Wednesday. So they think it's a hamstring. No idea what his status will be for Friday. But he had the playoff debut we all wanted.

We waited for this because the Pelicans didn't have him for the play-in game last year, the year before that, or their first round game. He's been dealing with not just injuries, but trying to keep the weight off, get in shape. All the reports about how he hired a chef.

He's eating healthy. He's committed to his workout regime. Regime. Regiment. Regime.

Regiment. Either one. So he had an incredible debut. 40 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists. Fearless. Aggressive. He was not intimidated by either Anthony Davis or LeBron James. He was taking the ball right to them. He was running point when he needed to.

Oh, that's a page out of LeBron's book, who you know is a point guard trapped in a tight end's body. This was vintage Zion. It was exactly what we've waited for until he pulls up blame after a layup and leaves the game with three minutes to go. And while C.J. McCollum and some of the others were able to keep the Pelicans close, they had to play the free throw games and the foul and the free throw game. Ultimately, the way the Lakers shot from beyond the arc that opened up the paint and also the way they played defense, it was a little bit too much. Here is Reeves dribbling right all the way to the middle. D'Lo for three.

Got it! Huge three for Russell. Puts the Lakers up by four with 50 seconds remaining in the fart.

Wow! L.A. goes 14 of 35 from beyond the arc. So the three-point shot was a weapon for them last night. And D'Angelo Russell has played really well over the last month to six weeks.

It's notable because they're not just A.D. and LeBron. By the way, can't stand the question of what was going through your mind. However, D'Angelo Russell was asked on Spectrum Sports Net, what were you thinking as you shot that ball?

Naked. Honestly, everybody came locked in. Everybody came and was efficient with whatever it was to dictate the win. I just wanted to make shots.

That's what I do. Just continue to try to be a high percentage shot maker for the team. So it was the three-point shot. It was also all hands on deck.

They got contributions from a bunch of different places. Anthony Davis notes that. So he has a double-double, 20 points, 15 rebounds.

LeBron is 23 and is really close to a triple-double. But they had a bunch of other guys chip in as well, like Russell, like Gabe Vincent. The fact that they weren't just LeBron and A.D. bodes well for them because that's what happened to them last year. They got all the way to the Western Conference Finals. But in doing so, they were worn out and ultimately ran out of gas. It just happened to be against the Nuggets, who will be their next round opponent.

But they were running on fumes, as it was, because those two guys are older and have a lot of miles on them. And so for them to get contributions from elsewhere and have their entire starting lineup, Austin Reeves, Rui Hachimura, to have them in double figures is a big deal. So the defensive effort also was real good. As I say, they go long stretches without giving up any points. They have eight steals and seven block shots. And not only are they healthy, but they're focusing on that end of the court. You've got to score the ball.

You've got to be a fishing gun, not turn the ball over, but defensive stops. That's not just the sound of that first sip of Morning Joe. It's the sound of someone shopping for a car on Carvana from the comfort of home.

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Brought to you by Merck. That's keys to runs. You're able to get a few stops in a row. You're able to get some scores you're able to get to.

Some good runs where you can go on a 9-2 run or a 10-2 run or whatever the case may be. Force the team to call a timeout and gain some momentum. We worked up our defense tonight.

They definitely did that. So they are on to the main bracket. Meanwhile, the Pelicans have to turn around and play the Kings. Now, one note that may or may not matter, Pelicans swept the series with the Kings this season.

They actually went 5-0 against them. So even without Zion on the court late, and they're all talking about how that really did take the air out of their sails, now they have to get ready, not knowing if Zion will play on Friday. I think the rest is important for us. We've been playing a lot of minutes in the last month. We've been playing a lot of games and games that are impactful in terms of standings the last month or so. So the sense of urgency is there. The physicality is there. The pace, you know, all those things.

So it's nice to be able to get some rest. C.J. McCollum didn't shoot well, but he does have a bunch of playoff experience. And so you've got guys that aren't going through this for the first time and should bring that to the table. Kings kind of in that same space. Both these franchises want to get to where the Lakers are, where the Warriors are, and I don't mean play in tournament. I mean, just in general, over the last 10 years, those two franchises have had a ton of success.

I've obviously got future Hall of Famers, and so really that's the goal. That's what they're aspiring to be. But they're going to have to go through one more game to get into that main bracket. And then the winner earns a series with the Oklahoma City Thunder. One of the youngest teams in the NBA.

Just full of energy and too young to know they're not supposed to be there. That's the phrase you hear, right? So good news. Good news for the NBA that they start out with these two kind of, well, games with superstars, with notables. And now we'll get into the Eastern Conference on Wednesday, though there will not be Giannis and Tenecumpo for the Bucs.

That's what we're hearing. I guess we won't have the real confirmation until we get to actual game time. But, oh, they don't play tonight. They play the Pacers, excuse me.

I don't know why. I'm thinking Giannis. So when we get to the Eastern Conference, the first round, Giannis is likely not to be there. He's been undergoing what they're calling round-the-clock treatment on his calf muscle to try to get ready for their series with the Pacers, which will start a little farther down the road. I was thinking, you know what happened?

This happens only on the hump show when my brain is tired. I was thinking big men MVPs, and it's Philadelphia that's playing tonight. It's the Bucs who are playing against the Pacers, so sorry about that. Yeah, you get Sixers and Heat. Remember the Miami Heat did this last year. They went through this play-in tournament because they barely made the postseason, right? And they ended up getting all the way to the NBA Finals. Well, here you go against Philadelphia, who does have Joel Embiid back, but obviously they dropped like a rock without him.

It's just, yeah, it's weird. You've got teams that are on the way up and teams that are on the way down. I don't love the play-in tournament, but I guess it gives us something to kind of jumpstart the postseason that then settles in from a sprint to a marathon that runs essentially my pace, which is my one-half marathon takes two and a half months.

I can run faster than the NBA playoffs, progress through their first round. On Twitter, A-Law Radio. We were talking about Puka Nakua earlier, which is why there's a photo of Puka Nakua up from Radio Row in Las Vegas. It's not as though you lost the photo and it just all of a sudden hit your newsfeed. No, we actually, I'm going to let you hear from Puka if you missed it earlier because it's exactly the sort of thing that you want to hear before you launch into your hump day because if you aren't doing what Puka Nakua was doing as part of his offseason workouts at Cooper Cup's house, well then you're already ahead of the game. Something's wrong with you. Plus, both Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes weigh in on the Rashid Rice situation with the Chiefs.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Here's our latest sports update. In the fart. In the fart? Is that politically incorrect? In the fart. That's what it sounds like, right?

It's our friend John Ireland. And yes, I will admit, the first time I heard it, I wondered what he said. Did he say in the fart? In the fart. I mean, there's something in the fart.

Hopefully not the basketball game. Poor Marco. I introduce Marco and John Ireland starts yelling about fart. In the fart. All right, all right.

I've heard enough. We're supposed to be keeping bodily functions out of the show this hour of the morning. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. We like to give you something that will make you smile as we push you forward into your hump day.

It's our hump show here on After Hours. And Pukanukua, who was definitely a candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year with the Rams, a big reason why they were able to earn a wildcard spot. And while Cooper Cup was injured to start the season, Pukua was getting a lot of his catches. He was a record setter as a rookie, and it was so much fun to watch him work. Well, apparently, after his rookie season, banner year that it was, he took a little time off. And then he got invited to his BFF's house.

Cooper Cup wanted him to come over, be part of the off-season workouts for the receivers. Well, I mean, Pukua loved it. He thought it was great.

His conditioning days were some of the tougher ones. I remember the first week I came back, I think I threw up every day of the week. And he wasn't a fan of that because it was on his lawn and stuff.

It's not like we're here at the facility. It's like, oh, you're throwing up in my bushes, Pukua. But it was super fun. It was super fun to throw up every day on Cooper Cup's lawn. I threw up in his bushes. I can imagine Cooper's not anxious to invite him back.

You're throwing up in my bushes, Pukua. Thanks. Oh, goodness.

That makes me laugh. And it is good to talk some football. We actually had a QB news last hour for the first time in a long time. This is not QB news per se, but Patrick Mahomes was asked about whether or not he's been in touch with Rashee Rice. I've worked with Rashee throughout the offseason just in general. So I'm sure we'll continue that work as the legal process plays out. As far as Rashee Rice goes, his situation, I'm leaving that like we've done most of these just for the law enforcement part of it to take place. And then we'll go from there with that.

So you can hold your quiet. I have had an opportunity to talk to Rashee. And I'm not going to obviously get into that. If you don't know the situation with Rashee, it's a serious one where he had leased a pair of vehicles. He was driving one. A friend was driving one. They were reportedly racing and he lost control of a vehicle. It was a Lamborghini, right, he lost control of. And several people got injured in what was a crash that was precipitated by this race going back to late March in Dallas. It was a six-vehicle crash. And so not only are they facing counts, and we're talking aggravated assault and collision involving injury, but they've also been sued now, have a couple of lawsuits that are asking for millions of dollars because these two people, at least at this point it's two people who say they were injured. Now, Rashee turned himself in.

I know that the Chiefs have to wait to see what happens, but yeah, it's a tough situation to have to navigate at this point in the offseason. We'll talk to you tonight. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Boom! Here's why April chose to vaccinate her child. Talk to your pediatrician or visit YVaccines.com. Brought to you by Merck.