After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

Temp check. What kind of summer are we having this year? A family road trip summer? A beach bum summer?

Or a wake me when the sun sets summer? With Instacart, choose your own adventure and skip the shopping side quests. Where available, you can get ice cream delivered to your hotel, sunscreen to the pool, or cold brew to your bed.

Well, door. In as fast as 30 minutes. Wherever you find yourself this summer, you can get the goods. Download Instacart for free delivery on your first three orders. Offer valid for a limited time. Minimum $10 per order.

Excludes restaurants. Additional terms and fees apply. Angie's List is now Angie, and we've heard a lot of theories about why. I thought it was an eco move. Fewer words, less paper. No, it was so you could say it faster. No, it's to be more iconic. Must be a tech thing.

But those aren't quite right. It's because now you can compare upfront prices, book a service instantly, and even get your project handled from start to finish. Sounds easy. It is. And it makes us so much more than just a list.

Get started at angie.com. That's A-N-G-I. Or download the app today. We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature. Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to, or the succulents that adorn our homes, nature makes all of our lives, well, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. With AllTrails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently with offline maps and on-trail navigation.

Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with AllTrails. Did you watch the NBA draft and practice your French accent? Or just practice your French pronunciations? I had to practice because I actually wasn't sure if I was going to be able to regurgitate some of the names here on the air. I will readily admit I am not great at any other accents except Espanol. And while French and Spanish and Italian are romance languages, you know me. I can't really say anything even in British English other than across the pond. And so I'm not, yeah, I'm not good at that kind of stuff. But I've been practicing, especially the number one overall pick. Zachary Rissachay.

Not with a French accent, of course, just the fact that I've got the pronunciations right. So I hope you were practicing or if you didn't watch the NBA draft, we will definitely fill you in. It's a different feel.

I've got to tell you. Had dinner with some friends before the draft. And kind of nice to talk about a summer in which we don't have to spend our entire lives attached to a TV because that will be coming soon with football season.

So, yeah, it's always nice to get to this point. And Major League Baseball can grab a little more of the center ring of the circus, if you will. And Olympics are just a few weeks away. More and more of the rosters are being unveiled for the various teams. If you didn't see, the U.S. women's soccer roster was introduced and it includes four new players, four new Americans. Does not include Alex Morgan, which maybe not a huge surprise considering that she's older. But it's the first time Alex has been left off an international roster to rep the red, white and blue since 2008.

Think about that. A changing of the guard. It's a British soccer legend who is the new U.S. head coach. And so she's got different ideas. And one of the things that she said is that she really needs to get more of the younger American players acclimated to the world stage.

And the only way to do it is to put them on the roster and give them experience. And so no Alex Morgan, though I don't know if you remember a couple years ago we had Lindsay Horan. She was the captain for, I don't know if it was the last Olympics, maybe it was. It was either the Olympics or the last Women's World Cup.

But we had her on the show. She was joining us actually from outside the country. I think they, maybe it was a qualifier. That's right, they were qualifying for the World Cup. And so she had joined us from somewhere in Central America I believe.

Costa Rica I think? Yeah, yeah. And so we were able to connect with her and kind of talk to her about it. And she was the captain for that last squad. And so she's still on the squad. But there are a lot of new faces, a lot of new names that people will get used to. No more of, well not just Alex Morgan, but we know Morgan Rapinoe, Megan Rapinoe retired.

And then also Carly Lloyd, she was left off the last roster. So yeah, it's a changing of the guard always when it comes to some of these events that you don't see on the grand stage except for every three, four years. So yeah, we're getting closer to the Olympics. And my friends asked about when football started. No, stop it. We're not talking about it.

But it does. Actually, you want to know something really funny? They wanted to know why the NFL draft is so much bigger than the NBA draft. I was like, oh, there's a whole psychology behind that.

Thank you for asking. Yeah, I just kind of had the chance to talk to them about how the NFL is a golden goose. We don't really understand the phenomenon. I kind of think it's because we just believe whatever the NFL tells us now. We have FOMO when it comes to the NFL, so we don't want to miss out. So yeah, the NBA draft taking place in Brooklyn the first round on Wednesday night and coming up tomorrow afternoon. Thursday afternoon, not at Barclays Center. It's somewhere else.

I don't remember where. But it's somewhere else in the afternoon that they'll finish up the second round. Spoiler alert, no Bronny James drafted in the first round. No Bronny drafted by the Lakers at number 17. We'll get to some of the key highlights as we saw them and as we heard them.

And if you would like to weigh in with the highlights for your team, great. I know that there was a decidedly French flavor at the top. I think four of the first six were Frenchmen, which is amazing. The top two guys selected were 19 years old or are 19 years old. Zachary Rissachay, 19 years old following the footsteps of Victor Wemenyama last year, though not nearly the star power coming out of France. And I think part of it is because WEMBE is such a unique physical specimen. There aren't many people on the planet who look like Victor Wemenyama and who have the size and the length and the reach as Victor Wemenyama.

But then the second one taken overall. He might be more familiar to people because his brother plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but Alex Saar, also 19 years old. So it's becoming more and more of an international flavor at the top. And part of the reason is not because American athletes or American basketball players aren't good.

That's not what we're saying. Because a lot of these guys have experience on national teams playing in World Cups or World Championships or even Olympic Games before they ever become eligible for the NBA. They are training on international squads. And with that, they've got an advantage because in the United States, what do we often see in the college training ground?

Now guys can go directly to a G-League. They don't have to go to college. They do have to wait, though, at least one year or until they're a certain age before they can be drafted. And so we're seeing a bunch of freshmen one and done, but that doesn't necessarily prepare them. One year of college may not prepare them to play in the NBA the way that international competitions prepare other athletes like those coming out of Latvia or France or Spain.

Take your pick. That is one of the reasons why is that their training and their development is more accelerated if they're playing on national teams in their own countries. And then the idea behind their national teams, too, is so different than the United States because they will practice and train year round in many cases. Whereas a lot of times, members of the U.S. basketball teams, they're just together for periodic camps or evaluations or maybe three weeks of practice before the competition.

Three weeks is that. And so it's a much different development cycle for guys who are U.S. born and U.S. bred as opposed to guys who grow up playing internationally. So that's part of the reason. Just a different development doesn't mean the American players aren't as good or won't be as good. And I was pretty excited to see Donovan Klingen get drafted. Actually, two UConn players drafted in the top seven. And so Dan Hurley, our friend Dan Hurley, was right there in the mix, and that was pretty cool.

So you had both Stefan Castle and Donovan Klingen in the green room. Zach Eady is selected in the top ten, but he wasn't there. Maybe I missed it because I was also taking notes and working on my laptop. I'm not sure if they talked about where he was, but I'm assuming he was home in Canada. He was home. It was a party. He was at his house or something.

Right. I never did see him, so maybe I just missed it because, like I said, I was looking down, I was taking notes, all that kind of stuff. But he was selected in the top ten. He went number nine to the Memphis Grizzlies. Also love the fact that we got to see Dalton Connect, the Tennessee product, who was just so much fun to watch in the SEC this year. He's the one the Lakers selected at number 17, so Bronny is still very much available come round number two.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. Yeah, there's a whole science behind why the NBA draft and the NFL draft are not the same. Not the same energy, not the same high profile, not the same must watch TV. And when I told my one friend that Detroit sent 750,000 people to the draft this year, he was blown away. Do you think those people understand what they're doing? Like, I don't even think they care much. They're just there for the party. The NFL throws a party. The hype train.

Right? And it was historic and it was phenomenal to watch and some of the stories that came out of it. The NFL is a different breed. Let's just be fair. The NFL is the league that every other league wants to be when it grows up.

And right now there's no competing. But it was neat to see these dreams come true. And, you know, my favorite are some of the players who either had siblings who were already playing pro basketball or their parents played at the highest level. So it's kind of neat to see Reed Shepherd, who came out of Kentucky, both of his parents, they were both there with him. Both of his parents were stars at Kentucky themselves.

So he was kind of a legacy Kentucky basketball player, which is what they call it. And so it's kind of neat that both his parents were there. It was his mom's birthday.

That was a lot of fun. You may know Donovan's story in that his mom, Stacy, she played, I think she played for Maine. She played college basketball. She was a star at Maine and she passed away when he was in eighth grade from breast cancer. And so he had an entire inner lining of his sport coat decorated with photos of him and his mom and his family.

And he was emotional as well. A couple of guys there whose parents played in the NBA, well dad played in the NBA, which was really neat. So I love those family stories and also cool to see the coaches. So John Calipari on to Arkansas, but they're celebrating with the Kentucky kids as they're getting drafted and selected like Reed Shepherd. And then also seeing Dan Hurley, you know, our friend Dan Hurley being there and hearing some of the guys talk about him too.

So super cool. I appreciate the atmosphere. It's just very different. It's low key compared to the NFL draft where they just don't have the number of people. It's inside at Barclays Center and right away being indoors as opposed to being outside limits the number of people. And the atmosphere is just so different. But dreams are dreams and a bunch of them came true on Wednesday night for a lot of these players who got extremely emotional.

You know, a couple of guys going through the G League and, you know, it means so much more to them because they've had to wait and didn't get drafted initially and took a different route into the NBA. So that was kind of cool. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on our Facebook page. I went back and I responded to a bunch of your Ask Amy questions.

Didn't have a lot of time to get on Twix on Wednesday, but I will catch up. Here's why I am so excited for you all to hear my conversation with Bill Lindsey. Oh, Bill Lindsey?

Who's Bill Lindsey? Oh, you're going to hear that final call of the Panthers Stanley Cup championship multiple times on the show tonight. I know many of you have heard it. You could recite it back to me or some of the key highlights.

It's gone viral. It's unforgettable mostly because of the emotion that comes gushing out of Bill Lindsey. That is some cojones, boys! But even more than that, he probably epitomizes what not only the players were feeling, but also what the fans were feeling after 30 plus years of futility. So in those moments, Bill Lindsey, he captivated us or just maybe me, but I think it's amazing.

I don't have any issues with it whatsoever. Whoa! Oh!

Oh! You're going to hear him talk about that final call and what was going on in the booth. But also, this is why I tell my students always do your research, always do your homework before you talk to any guest. An analyst, an insider, a former player, a current player, do your homework. What I found out right before I talked to Bill, he had just had his moment with the Stanley Cup. And I'm not going to give it away because it's priceless.

I suppose you could go and you could look at it on the Florida Panthers Twitter. But either way, I won't give it away because the emotion that he shared with us in the wake of what was his 10 minutes with the Stanley Cup, you can understand the emotion. When you hear the man's story and when you understand why he was so emotional at the end of game seven, you'll think it's terrific. I promise you. It will change your perspective.

It wasn't just a former player yelling because he's a fan. That's not what this was about. Anyway, amazing conversation with Bill. I can't wait to share it with you. It's longer than what we normally do for interviews, but you'll enjoy it. Even if you're not a fan of the Panthers, you're not a huge fan of hockey.

That part doesn't even matter. If you're a fan of people and if you're a fan of great stories, Bill Lindsay has got a great story or two just for you. I found that he's a wonderful storyteller. So we'll have that conversation at the top of next hour for our early morning crowd, which does include a bunch of our affiliates in Florida and listeners in Florida. We will definitely bring that back and we'll share it. In fact, I would love to put it up if we could on our YouTube channel because it's priceless.

And so that will be available to you wherever and whenever you want it. Also, we're going to be going through some of the baseball happenings. Where's our friend Doug from San Diego? Is it Doug or Dan? Dan from San Diego, who is going to be annoyed that once again we're talking about the Dodgers. Hey, it's not my fault Shohei Ohtani signed a $700 million contract with the Dodgers. Are you guys watching? Not to find out if Shohei is also culpable with the sports betting scandal. Not that. Are you watching what the dude is doing right now? It's otherworldly.

I know that we're in June and they don't hand out MVPs in June. But oh my gosh. Just when you thought he couldn't get any better.

Jay, I kind of feel this way and I don't know if you would agree or disagree. I guess we'll find out when he gets back to pitching. The fact that he's only hitting may actually be contributing to the numbers that he's racking up. Because he's raking.

He's deadly every single game. He's hitting for average and he's hitting for power. And I wonder, remember he had talked about in the past, he was just exhausted a lot of the time.

To go from start to start and have to do the prep for the pitching. But then to also be hitting every day and be doing his prep for that. And really what he felt like is, he said he doesn't ever take BP. Part of that is because he's just exhausted. He doesn't have a lot of energy. And so what he does in between starts, remember he told us, he sleeps. That's what he does.

He sleeps. I wonder how much of what he's doing in the first half of the season relates to him not being so exhausted from constantly pitching. Yeah, I mean it's definitely got to contribute, right?

You'd imagine because you're taking an entire training regimen out of your routine, out of your day that you don't have to do anymore. You can focus all on just hitting. But he's also in a much better lineup. He's got Freddie Freeman, he had Mookie Betts, Will Smith. So he's surrounded by All-Stars, which will help his RBIs of course. And he was putting up tremendous numbers all of his other careers as well. But right now he's absolutely sluggy. He's on another level.

That's pretty incredible. I'm sure the White Sox can't wait for the Dodgers to leave town. But they're still on the south side of Chicago. By the way, your White Sox have now fallen to 40 games below.500. But still get you a fall guy. No, not that kind of fall.

Well, maybe that kind of fall. So the Dodgers are keeping pace and Otani is filling the void where we're missing Mookie Betts. I'll just speak for me. I love Mookie Betts. I loved him as a Red Sox. I love him as a Dodger.

I think he's one of the most dynamic players in all of professional sports. So I love Mookie Betts. And so I miss seeing Mookie at the top of that lineup. So yes, maybe Dan from San Diego will get upset. But if I don't talk about Otani, I feel like I'm not doing my job.

And not just that. You know, the Dodgers have struggled in their pitching rotation. They've got guys who were injured. Clayton Kershaw had another setback. Walker Buehler has been a mess. They're really struggling to find a starting rotation that is one who could potentially carry them in a postseason.

Well, Gavin Stone just did something he's never done. Again, you're welcome, White Sox. Excuse me.

But it's potentially this kind of light bulb that goes on if this is something they can get from him on a regular basis. I know you're not supposed to be evaluating baseball teams until July 4th, but we're getting there. July 4th is a week from Thursday.

A week from Thursday. Also, we had the crazy, intense thunder and lightning and downpours for Jay and I in the Northeast again. And so that meant Mets and Yankees got delayed.

But it did not slow down the Grimets. Do you think Grimets plays in the rain or would he melt? I think he plays in the rain. Well, I saw some videos of a lot of people in Grimets costumes again at Citi Field who were playing in the rain. Yeah, Grimets plays in the rain.

I mean, purple matted hair doesn't sound so attractive, but to each his own. And finally, Jim Schlossnagel speaks out in his own words about bolting from Texas A&M to Texas after he took exception to one reporter who wanted to ask about the possibilities. I guess an apology is in order. But you don't want to miss my conversation with Bill Lindsey and we'll jump into some of the NBA draft coming up. Thanks for hanging out with us on Twix at ALaw Radio on our Facebook page, too. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours podcast.

With the first pick in the 2024 NBA draft, the Atlanta Hawks select Zachary. And we're here to get your job done right. Get started at Angie Dotcom. That's A-N-G-I or download the app today. Worried about letting someone else pick out the perfect avocado for your perfect impress them on the third date guacamole? Well, good thing instacart shoppers are as picky as you are. They find ripe avocados like it's their guac on the line. They are milk expiration date detectives. They bag eggs like the 12 precious pieces of cargo they are. So let instacart shoppers overthink your groceries so that you can overthink what you'll wear on that third date. Download the instacart app to get free delivery on your first three orders while supplies last.

Minimum $10 per order, additional term supply. We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature. Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to or the succulents that adorn our homes, nature makes all of our lives, well, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. With AllTrails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently with offline maps and on-trail navigation. Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with AllTrails. Rizashay from Lyon, France and Francis J.L.

Boron Press. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Dreams come true and young men, young women, they cry, which is okay. We're talking about sports, but we're also talking about the culmination of a lot of hard work and a lot of years. And remember, it's not just the athlete himself or the athlete herself who sacrifices. It's also the families. It's also the support staff. It's one of those moments where you can stop and you can take stock and you can say, okay, it was all worth it, right? It was all worth it. And then you take a deep breath and you jump right into the next challenge because it will get challenging. And I'm wondering, will we see as much scrutiny every time Rizashay gets fouled hard in the NBA, as we have with Kaitlyn Clark, every hard foul that she's gotten at the WNBA stage.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. He joins a roster with De'Jaunte Murray and Trae Young. And it's kind of neat to think about how he might fit in. He's only 19. So think Luka Doncic when he got into the league.

And, well, Victor Wemenyama as well. They're trained. They're developed. They can always put some more weight on, of course.

But 6'9", he's versatile. And it'll be fun to watch him grow up with those other Hawks. I think, like, especially as a rookie, I will be ready to do, you know, whatever it takes to gain the respect of those guys, of my teammates, for sure. But to also, like, really help them to win, you know. And that's the most important in basketball or in sports in general. That's winning. And I think, like, that's why I think that I can contribute to win games, you know. Yes, I do.

I do know. They can certainly use a little extra something, something. And it's kind of fun when you can build up a young roster. We see the potential with the Oklahoma City Thunder and how they're so young and yet they can be so dynamic. They're putting the right formula together. So you've got Rissachay, who's 19, out of France.

He goes No. 1 to the Hawks. And remember, the Hawks jumped from 11.

I mean, they catapulted. They stunned the NBA draft lottery when they went from No. 11 to No. 1. It's crazy how they do it, but the NBA feels like that keeps teams from tanking.

Because there's no guarantee that you're going to get that overall No. 1 pick. The next pick went to the Washington Wizards, also a 19-year-old Frenchman, Alex Saar, whose name you may be more familiar with. And for him, and he's getting interviewed on ESPN as the draft is taking place. And so a lot of our audio, the picks, as well as some of these interviews, is coming from ESPN.

Thank you. His brother Oliver is standing there with him. Now, he made his debut for Oklahoma City back in December of 2021. Remember, they were coming out of the bubble and coming out of that finish to the season.

So they delayed the start of next season. So he was coming out of that, or he was part of that, sorry, making his debut, and now a few years later sees his little brother get drafted No. 2 overall. You know, he shared a lot with me. Everything I've learned is through him, and he gave me all his knowledge. And to this day, it's truly special to have someone like him in my corner. I went through his draft, and I know how it feels to go out and draft him. For me to be able to be a topic now is truly special. Yeah, so his brother was not drafted, and now the family gets to share him being drafted No.

2 overall. But yeah, another French young man who's 19 years old, two 19-year-olds at the top of this draft. But you can hear the emotion in Alex's voice, and that's what I love. The family dynamics, and again, it's not just about the sacrifices and the work made by the player, the athlete, himself or herself. It's also about the people around him and around her. And that's a major piece of the family dynamic with Bill Lindsey. That's all I'm going to say. You're just going to have to catch him at the top of the hour because that emotional final call of the Stanley Cup championship for the Florida Panthers represented a lot more than just, oh, my franchise finally won its first cup. Nah, it's a lot more than that.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. A couple of different UConn players going in the top seven. Stephon Castle, he was the freshman of the year, I believe, in the Big East.

And so No. 4 for him. So Dan Hurley was actually sitting at Donovan Klingins' table that was right kitty-corner to Stephon, and so was able to celebrate with both these guys. So yeah, Stephon and then Donovan both having Dan Hurley with them. And just coming from not just that pedigree, now Stephon only won the single national championship, but Donovan was part of both of them. They both spoke so highly of UConn and Dan Hurley and the coaching staff and getting prepared now for this stage. Everything is just happening really, really fast. So just being in the natty, really soaking in that moment with my teammates, that's a super big accomplishment. And then flip over to a couple months later, you and another one of your teammates are top 10 picks.

It really means the world to me, and I wouldn't trade this for anything. It shows that we were the best program in college basketball, and they still are right now. Coach Hurley is the best coach in college basketball, producing players at a high level every single year.

I'm not sharing the exact number now with how many draft picks he's had these past five years, but Coach Hurley has been the top of the top in college for a couple years now, and I love that man to death. Fun to see both Stephon and Donovan and see some of the UConn highlights behind them as well. So you've got Stephon Castle, who's a little bit younger. Clingan, he's the 7'2 guy up and down the court, up and down the court. Really had great footwork and good speed. Obviously the shot blocking, the length, the reach at 7'2. And the questions were about Portland and how he fits in with the Portland Trail Blazers. But we know Joe Cronin, the GM with the Blazers, has kind of been on this mission to rebuild and use young guys and start with a foundation, and we'll see. We've got a lot of really good, young, talented players now, including Donovan. A player we're really, really high on, a player we had ranked very highly, a player that we think is going to be a great addition to this franchise because of many reasons.

You know, who he is as a person, the type of player he is, the defensive prowess that he brings, the winning mentality, a lot of good features, and Donovan has an extremely bright future. So there were a lot of eyeballs, mine included, on both Donovan Clingan and where he would go, and then Zack Eady. Now some people were predicting that the 7'6, I think he's 7'6, 7'7 Purdue product would go in the second round.

There was a lot of debate. I mean, he was maybe one of the big questions this side of Bronny James. He ends up getting drafted two picks after Donovan Clingan. So you've got a pair of seven-footers that go within three picks of each other, and he's selected number nine overall by the Grizzlies, and Zack Eady's not there.

He's with his family in Canada, but GM Zach Kleiman is thrilled to get this guy, and a lot of reasons, too. It's not just about his size that you can't teach and what we've seen on the college stage, but also about what's between his ears. Zack Eady is a particularly special fit, I think, for this group.

In getting to know him, we're talking about someone whose competitiveness is through the roof, care factor through the roof, no ego, just wants to win. I'm excited to see these two guys at the next level. I mean, I know often when you have seven-footers, they deal with different injuries, and it just kind of comes with the territory, the stress that you put on your body carrying that kind of weight and playing in a physical league like the NBA, but really excited to see what Clingan and Eady could do, especially Eady because he's still developing. He's played basketball for six years, didn't start playing until he was in high school, I think a sophomore in high school, and what a legacy he leaves at Purdue and also in the Big Ten. I know our friend Jerry Palm is raved about him as a person, not just as a player, so he's got to be thrilled as well to see him go in the top ten, which I think is higher than some analysts and insiders expected.

One more just because we've been talking about the Lakers. They had the number 17 pick, and everyone waited with bated breath. And with the 17th pick in the 2024 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers select Dalton Connect from the University of Tennessee. We would have never imagined a player as skilled and sort of perfect for our needs would be there for us as Dalton Connect. We had him as a top ten player unanimously across our scouting boards. I was at the SEC tournament scouting him extensively, and my mind was like, there's no way a player like this could be available for us to pick on draft night.

So across the board, just couldn't be happier. Is there a man busier than Rob Palenka right now this side of the presidential election? He's nonstop. They tried to get Dan Hurley, then they had to move on to J.J. Redick, then they introduced J.J. Redick, then they had to go back to their war room. I don't know how much J.J.'s involved. I'm sure he was there, but they had to develop this war room long before J.J. got there. And there were draft boards.

And so you hear Rob say, we never thought that Dalton Connect would still be available. He was there in the green room, and it was kind of neat to see, again, just after a bit of a wait, maybe dropping farther than what he expected or some people expected. But now he gets to be, presumably, we'll see what LeBron does in free agency if he returns, but could end up playing alongside LeBron James.

It feels great. You get to play with one of the greatest ever, touch a basketball, and it's going to be exciting to go put on a show for L.A. So the NBA draft, round one in Dubuque, round two is Thursday afternoon at the Seaport District Studios. They move it out of Barclays, they move it out of Brooklyn, and it's a completely different place.

But whatever, as long as you clear the deck, get your guys drafted. I just kind of wonder why if you're going to break it up into two rounds, why not wait until you can do it on a night when you've got the national TV stage again? But maybe they I guess the debates got what they got to get only like a month ago. And so maybe they did have to pivot, recognizing that they were crap going to clash with the presidential debate.

Yeah, I'm sure that was definitely something that got thrown on a monkey wrench. I just still look and I get why they're trying to do it. And anything sports wise, you can get a national stage minus Thursday night. But the idea I mean, like you're trying to be like the the NFL were in round two. We actually know the names in round two of the NBA minus like Bronny James and a couple of other players. We were struggling in round one to know who everybody was. So the idea that like you're going to pack the house and everybody's going to watch it and it's going to be prime time to watch the 57th overall pick in the NBA. Who's never going to step foot on the floor half the time? Like I'm I'm struggling with it.

I know what you're trying to do and you'll probably succeed because we're starved for this stuff. But it's almost like give me a break. I mean, let me know where about three guys go in the second round and I'll call it a night. Well, I would say it's probably the same reaction to them trying this in-season tournament. Maybe the diehards are into it, the players, because they have a chance to make more money.

But for the most part, that seemed to me a bit of a flop. The NBA is trying to kind of emulate what we get from Euro soccer, from MLS and add this in-season tournament. WNBA has added this commissioner's cup, which I couldn't explain to you if I tried. They're attempting to streamline it, but it's still so awkward. And same thing now with the draft, trying something different that has worked for other sports and seeing if they can catch kind of lightning in a bottle. I get it, but like the in-season tournament, as much as if you don't like it, and I understand, I actually think it will kind of catch on a little bit simply because it's regular season games that matter a little bit more. And it gets our eyeballs to a random Tuesday night. Now they've got to fix some of it, but it gets more eyeballs and it's still a game itself, which is still fantasy, it's still betting. There's still like added extra, I don't know, something there for the regular fan or the casual fan or the die or everything. Second round of the NBA draft, who the hell are these guys?

That's the problem for me. It's not just that we're seeing them and who's got what suit on and who's got what whatever. Like that part of it already doesn't do a lot for everybody, but if we know who you are, you get excited for your team, for what this could be, the implications and all the others. When your team drafts, you look at it and you go, who is this guy? And then you look it up and you go, he's a 19-year-old from Panama.

I have no idea who this guy is. There's too much going on, there's not enough good players for the NBA to have this in the second round for me. I don't think there's enough for the diehard, never mind the casual fans. Yeah, well and the atmosphere is so different. Even when they show the team's fans, there's not that much excitement. Because as you point out, a lot of these young fans don't know who they're cheering for. They're just cheering for their team name.

But otherwise, it's just so different than the NFL. The mock draft, I mean you're talking about a number one overall pick. None of us has ever seen him play. And it's not just Victor Wimbunyama where you're like, oh man, but you saw the hype and you see the highlight reels. Oh man, but this guy's special, he's a unicorn.

Who is this guy? You think he might be good, you don't know because you're going on whatever. But the top two picks in the NBA draft, we have never seen with our own eyeballs. That's the top of the draft. Now you want me to get excited for the 47th overall pick who got traded six times because everybody's trying to unload five extra second rounders so they can save $3 million in their payroll? There's just too much.

We've gone too far down the line at this point for me. Yeah, except for Bronny. I think that'll keep people interested in the second round whether or not Bronny gets drafted. That's the name, and again, how many years? So you're going to do this every year. Wait, are we going to call him Bronny when he gets to the NBA?

I would think so. I mean his name is... It's LeBron. It's LeBron, right, so we're not, I don't know, Bronny? Do you think he'll outgrow Bronny at some point? I think he's been called Bronny his whole life, so I think that's his... One of our favorites, Boomer, is still going by his childhood nickname, so... Yeah, I mean, I would be surprised if he ever said no, call me LeBron. I think the last thing he would probably grow. I think he would want...

I think he would want anything other than LeBron. Or just Bron. Bron. Maybe just Bron. Maybe. Ron. Maybe. All right, coming up... Is it just James?

Yeah, just Jamie. Show Hayotani he just keeps on truckin', poor wife. Show Hayotani he just keeps on truckin', poor wife.

details and limitations, visit hondausa.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. DIVE INTO A WORLD OF ELECTRIFYING ANIME EXCITEMENT WITH HULU ANIMEHAM, YOUR ANIME DESTINATION. UNLEASH THE MAYHAM WITH HULU'S HUGE CURATED COLLECTION OF ANIME SHOWS. FROM LEGENDARY CLASSICS LIKE NARUTO SHIPUDAN, DRAGON BALLS E. KAI AND BLEACH THOUSAND YEAR BLOOD WAR. TO THE LATEST SIZZLING RELEASES LIKE SANDLAND, MISSION YOSAKURA FAMILY AND TONS MORE. WHY ARE YOU FIXATED ON ME? BECAUSE YOU'RE MY FRIEND.

THAT'S RIGHT, GET FIXATED AND GET YOUR ANIME FIX WITH HULU ANIMEHAM, YOUR ANIME DESTINATION. Sucks, but it is worth talking about. Sorry Dan in San Diego, the Padres won again too. YOU ARE LISTENING TO THE AFTER HOURS PODCAST. Here's the wine, the kick, the payoff pitch. Slung on and well hit to right field.

This ball's back and it's gone. A home run for the second night in a row. A lead off home run and Shohei Ohtani has just set a Dodger franchise record with RBIs in 10 straight games. In the history of the Dodger franchise, it's never been done until tonight. It's 1-0 Dodgers on an Ohtani home run, his 25th.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. That's Tim Neveritt on Dodgers radio and yes Ohtani now owns the consecutive games RBI mark all by himself. He is scorching hot right now and his numbers reflected, but they need the pitching to go along with the hitting. The 0-1 to Luis Robert with Pham leading at first. Here it is. Swings hits a ground ball toward the middle.

Lux has it. He'll throw to first. Freddie Scratch, he got him. It's a complete game shutout for Gavin Stone. The very first of his major league career. He scatters four hits in a ball game.

An absolutely wonderful performance by Gavin Stone. His best as a big leaguer. 9-2 his record. He is the first Dodger rookie to throw a shutout since 2013.

Hunjin Ryu did it and the first Dodger to have a complete game shutout of any kind since April 25, 2022 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Yeah, that was sweet. That was the first time. Second time ever I went out for the ninth.

But no, that's really cool. And then to just close the game down, that was sick. That was sweet.

He looked like the Bulldog tonight. You know, that was really fun to watch. I think that you can sense a player that the game slows down when they can, specifically a starting pitcher, they can focus on the game plan, executing pitches, but also understand what's around them, what's happening around them.

Today we are coming into the game very short in the pen. And so certainly to be able to keep that in the back of your mind and know what's expected of you as a starter on that particular night. And then to still go out there and execute pitches and do what he did was pretty special. Dave Roberts, before we talk about these numbers, you heard Gavin Stone as well.

It's her second consecutive show with It's Sick. Last night it was Vientus, right? Matt Vientus? Vientos?

Vientos? Mark Vientos? I think it was Alvarez who said it. Or it might have been Mark Vientos. No, I think it was Vientos who had two home runs for the Mets against the Yankees and called the subway series sick.

That was sick. And now we've got Gavin Stone talking about how it's sick to be able to go out for the ninth. Yeah, full nine innings. Only needed 103 pitches. Four hits.

That's all he gave up. Seven strikeouts. No walks. And so we're talking about a scoreless, complete game, but also a near no hitter. Just a couple of hitters in there.

He was lights out. So good for the Dodgers to find a rookie that can potentially take some of this load at the front end of the rotation. Dodgers are fine. It's just their pitching is still their weakness. And the White Sox, they're a disaster. But Otani and whatever they can get from him to cover up what they're missing from Mookie Betts. And Gavin Stone turning into ace material here.

A rookie at nine and two. Alright, coming up. We've waited. You've waited. We get to play the final call of the Panther Stanley Cup again. But it will be followed by an emotional conversation. To really understand Bill Lindsay, the analyst who lost his mind in those final moments of the Stanley Cup championship.

You'll get it once you hear him. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on the Infinity Sports Network. And on trail navigation. Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with all trails. Plug in a Hyundai EV and the extraordinary happens. It's not just the ultra fast charging capability and long range in the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6. Or the adventure seeking spirit of the Kona Electric or the groundbreaking 601 horsepower IONIQ 5N. And it's not just the comfort in knowing that every Hyundai EV is backed by a 10 year 100,000 mile limited electric battery warranty. Hyundai's EVs transform a low hum into a loud adventure. They bring color to your journey and turn energy into main character energy. So forget everything you thought you knew about EVs and turn the extraordinary into something truly electrifying.

There's joy in every journey. EPA estimated three to three mile driving range for 2024 IONIQ 5SE SEL limited rear wheel drive and 361 mile driving range for 2024 IONIQ 6SE long range rear wheel drive with fully charged battery estimated range varies for other models and trims and depends on battery capacity, temperature options and other factors. Limited battery warranty covers defects materials for 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

See owner's manual for complete warranty details and limitations. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. After investing billions to light up our network, T-Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now, you can switch, keep your phone and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon and AT&T at T-Mobile.com slash across America. Up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. A left 15 days qualifying unlocked device, credit, service, ported, 90 plus days with device, ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months.