JR SportBrief Hour 2

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That's 855-212-4CBS. You can also contact me. I am at JR Sport Brief everywhere. If you follow me on social media, you'll know what we talked about tonight. You'll know what we are going to talk about tonight. It's a four-hour show. One hour is already in the books.

I get started 10 p.m. Eastern Time, 7 p.m. Pacific. We opened up the show last hour by talking about Kobe Bryant. He would have been 44 years old today, August 23rd, and just talked about his legacy and what he was able to leave behind. And it's not just about basketball. I think ultimately he left behind just a thought process for anyone to pretty much follow if you want to find success, if you want to look for success, if you want to look towards achieving excellence in whatever the hell you do. That's something that Kobe left behind. It has a fancy phrase, a catchphrase, the Mamba mentality. But basically it was get your ass up and work. That's something that nobody can kind of quote-unquote beat you at.

If you have a passion for something, get up and get at it. It's really that simple. And so much love to his family here. Kobe Bryant would have been 44.

That's how we opened up the show. We talked about Nick Saban. Nick Saban is currently 70 years old. He got a new contract that will take him to age 78. His new deal? It's like Kirby Smart just got an $11.2 million deal? Well, Nick Saban is now getting $500,000 more than him, $11.7 per year. It will take him to the year 2030. Can't wait to see a 78-year-old Nick Saban on the sidelines yelling at everybody.

I guess he'll be looking like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons, but we'll get there. And of course, as we continue on with the show, I do want to thank the NFL. I do want to get into Russell Wilson. You know, one of our callers mentioned him last night, said Russell Wilson is the most disrespected quarterback currently in the NFL. I had to go, is he really? So I want to talk about Russell.

I want to get into the AFC West. Aaron Judge continues to abuse baseballs for the New York Yankees. He might actually be getting ready to set some records.

So we'll get into Judge Wilson. But this was the big story to come down the pipe today. And it was just like, oh, well, what a shocker this is. It's the fact that Kevin Durant will be back with the Brooklyn Nets. It's the fact that after two months, almost two months ago in June, right before the draft, Kevin Durant said, I want out. And here we have it, August 23rd, the Brooklyn Nets put out a statement. And it's not like the Brooklyn Nets put out a statement. Sean Marks put out a statement on behalf of the organization.

Listen to this very carefully. Steve Nash and I, together with Joe Tsai and Clara Woosai, the owners of the Brooklyn Nets, we met with Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles yesterday. We have agreed to move forward with our partnership. We are focusing on basketball with one collective goal in mind, build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn.

This statement is from the general manager. This statement is from the guy that was on the other end of an ultimatum from Kevin Durant a few weeks ago, where Kevin Durant met with Joe Tsai and basically said, hey, I will return to Brooklyn if Sean Marks and Steve Nash are gone. Well, what did everybody do?

Just kiss and make up? That sure as hell didn't happen. What happened is, Kevin Durant got punked here. There was no way in hell that they were going to be able to get a proper return from Kevin Durant, who, by the way, the man signed a contract last season. That's a four-year deal of more than $200 million.

What the hell were they going to get in return? I mean, the latest rumor came out yesterday that, oh my God, the Memphis Grizzlies, they have five first round picks. A couple of weeks ago, it was the Boston Celtics and, well, they're going to give up Jalen Brown. And then it was the Golden State Warriors at the onset. And then it was the Miami Heat. And then it was the Phoenix Suns. But the reality is, Minnesota screwed this up.

Minnesota just really changed the entire game. Rudy Gobert, let's keep this in mind. The Minnesota Timberwolves, in order to bring on Rudy Gobert, they gave up four first round picks. They gave up Malik Beasley and Patrick Beverly and two, three other legitimate role players for Rudy Gobert. Yeah, they screwed this situation up for everybody.

They reset the market. Damn it, Donovan Mitchell hasn't been traded from the Utah Jazz to the New York Knicks yet because of this Rudy Gobert trade. And is it going to work out for Minnesota?

Probably not. And so if I have to think about Rudy Gobert, I'm going to have to think about Rudy Gobert and his value or worth versus Kevin Durant. Come on, now. I don't care how many Defensive Player of the Year awards Rudy Gobert has. There is no comparison to Kevin Durant.

Zero. And so Durant is going to be sticking around in Brooklyn. Kyrie Irving is going to be sticking around in Brooklyn. Ben Simmons, oh my God, does Ben Simmons play basketball?

I guess he does. Ben Simmons is going to be sticking around in Brooklyn. So we might actually get a three-headed monster? We might actually get a super team?

Can we call it that? I know it gets a little sketchy when you think about Ben Simmons, but this is still a team. Kyrie Irving. Kevin Durant.

You got to think about Nick Claxton. He's going to continue to get better. Seth Curry is there. Joe Harris is one of the best shooters in the NBA, and he's coming off of an entire year of rehab and surgery. You would think he'd come back to the NBA, but he's coming off of rehab and surgery. You would think he'd come back healthy. They just added Royce O'Neal. TJ Warren coming off of his own injury. We saw what he did in the bubble. Is he going to replicate that? Hell no, but he's not a scrub. They got bodies, man.

The Brooklyn that's going to be dangerous, but here's the thing. Kevin Durant. Yeah, he got punked here. Joe Saad basically said, I ain't moving you, and Kevin Durant had no recourse. And people already don't like Kevin Durant. People really look at Kevin Durant as a whiny, crybaby.

He's all of the above, and he doesn't care. He was on Twitter today telling everybody as much, even though he goes on Twitter to tell people that, you know, yeah, I don't care. Patrick Beverley decided to share some tweets today about Kevin Durant, basically saying, well, thank God this saga is finally over. A Kevin Durant situation because of the lack of movement and players. Yeah, Kevin Durant calls people their jobs. And Kevin Durant, of course, he responded to Patrick Beverley and he said, blame KD.

What else is new? This is what Kevin Durant does. Now, is this going to affect Kevin Durant's legacy?

Is this going to be a bench, you know, a bookmark in his book? We don't know how much longer he'll play. I assume Kevin Durant will play maybe into late thirties to 40. He'll be around. I don't think he's going to disappear off the face of the earth. People are always going to remember him going over to Golden State. People are going to remember him go to Brooklyn. But whether or not he picks up a championship with the Brooklyn Nets is really, I believe, what will define his legacy.

Because let's keep in mind, it can be easy to forget. Kevin Durant is not the first superstar to ask or demand a trade. He's not. The first go around when he left Oklahoma City Thunder, he went to the Warriors. He was a free agent.

You think about the second go around. He left Golden State. He signed with the Brooklyn Nets. He hasn't forced his way out, particularly anywhere, except for a couple of months ago.

And he called his bluff. And I'm glad. Because we don't need a bunch of whiny ass NBA players just trying to bitch and moan their way out. It sucks after a while. It ain't cool. Just go out and play.

And yeah, there's only but a handful of players that can do it. But it sucks. Like I believe in doing what you want and taking advantage of the situations. But don't be a complete jackass about it. As much as I love Kevin Durant as a basketball player, have not had a million interactions with him, but have appreciated him out in the community and what he's done.

And in the times that I've met him, he's just been very nice to me. But I mean, what he's done just here in this situation sucks. There's no better way to put it. You can look at it as a business move and a business play. But I'm glad the Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Cy called his bluff.

Now you got to go play. Like get off your damn high horse and just go get it. There comes a point in time where you actually have to be considerate for what somebody offered you. The Brooklyn Nets gave this guy money. And they knew he was going to be out of season. The Brooklyn Nets just committed four years, 200 plus million dollars to him. And now he wants to leave. And now sit your ass down and play.

You know how this gets fixed? You know how this becomes just a just a marker in his career? If Kevin Durant wins a championship, because as I told you, he's not the first person to demand a trade that was a star. One of the most likable superstars that I think the NBA has ever seen is Hakeem Olajuwon.

I can go back to 1992 where Hakeem Olajuwon was basically done with the Rockets. The Rockets were saying Hakeem was being greedy, asking for money. Every time you turn your head, Hakeem wants more money. The Rockets said that Hakeem was sitting out. He was faking injury. Hakeem said that Hakeem was sitting out. He was faking injury. Hakeem was like, get me the hell up on out of here. A matter of fact, do you need a refresher?

You might not even know this. This was Marv Albert. Marv Albert, the marvelous one back on NBC. And listen, the other guy talking, Steve Patterson. He's the general manager at the time of the Rockets. Take a listen to this. Man, when do you hear a negative word about Hakeem?

It sounds odd to even listen to that. Hakeem Olajuwon is also the humblest guy to ever meet or talk to unless he's slapping you in the face at a game or punching you in the head at a game or giving you an elbow or a dream shake. But besides that, Hakeem Olajuwon, absolutely amazing.

Loved. The number 34 in Houston goes a long way for a lot of legends and certainly does that for Hakeem Olajuwon. And we know what happened after that.

Yeah, they won two championships. Okay. And who talks about Hakeem and his trade request? Nobody. Nobody at all.

He's not the only one. You know, we opened up the show. Showing love to Kobe Bryant would have turned 44 years old today. How many people forget 2007, unless you bring it up, where Kobe Bryant was basically like, get me the hell up on out of here. He just signed a new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was looking to get shipped out to the Chicago Bulls. He wasn't happy that the Los Angeles Lakers, they got rid of Shaq because they said, we ain't paying him. He's fat and old.

We're going to give you the money. But then Kobe felt like they were rebuilding. He wanted no part of it and a baby buying him.

He wanted none of it. Kobe Bryant, you might remember this voice. This was on ESPN New York, 2007. Kobe Bryant basically told Stephen A. Smith, I want out of LA. Are you saying now, emphatically, regardless of what they've done, you want out of Los Angeles? Yeah, I would like to be traded.

And as tough as it is to say that, as tough as it is to come to that conclusion, there's no other alternative. They obviously want to move in a different direction in terms of rebuilding. I wish they would have told me that. Prior to me resigning with the team, they obviously want to move in a different direction. Well, they want to keep you though, Kobe. They want to move in a different direction, but they don't want to do it without you.

Well, you gotta be a friend about that, man. Three years ago when I was resigning, they should have told me that. He didn't want it to rebuild. Yeah, well, Kobe Bryant wasn't happy with who was going to be left on the Chicago Bulls if he were to be traded.

And ultimately, he did it. Some guy named Paul Gasol showed up and Kobe Bryant was able to pick up two additional rings. Kobe Bryant, we know, never went anywhere. Legacy and career would have been totally different if he would have left. And we've had other players throughout the NBA's history that I guess they were close to leaving. There was a point in time where Tim Duncan, oh my God, is Tim Duncan going to go to the Magic?

Is he going to sign? Player movement, player movement is a part of the game. It really is. And it's never going to change. Nobody talks about Akeem Olajuwon and his trade demands. Kobe Bryant and his trade demand. It's rarely brought up unless there's a particular reason like this one. So Kevin Durant has an opportunity to go on and continue to build his legacy.

We know this. Kevin Durant is one of the most dynamic offensive players that the NBA has ever seen. He's also, unfortunately, been one of the most temperamental. How is that going to change or adjust as he gets older? If he's healthy, which he's had some trouble with, he blew out that Achilles trying to push it for the Golden State Warriors. He's come back for the Brooklyn Nets and he's been dinged up and nicked up here and there. And as he gets older, is he going to be durable? How does a seven foot shooting guard, how does he age in the NBA? We don't know.

Help me. I don't think we've seen one. I've never seen a seven footer as fluid as Kevin Durant with the ball.

How does his body type age? We have no idea. So it's even tough to look at the Brooklyn Nets and say, man, they're the best team in the East. I wouldn't be quick to say so. Why? Kyrie Irving's going to play his ass off this year.

Why? Because he wants more money. He wants a new contract. This is a contract season. It's a contract year for Kyrie Irving.

If you had any thoughts that he wasn't going to show up or he was going to go on a spiritual hike with Aaron Rogers, probably not. He's going to try to get paid. Ben Simmons. I think Ben Simmons sees this as a prime opportunity if his back can hold up. Ben Simmons will run the court, initiate the offense when Kyrie is on the bench and he'll run the court and play small forward and power forward, not have to shoot the ball and it would not shock me. If he did put up a couple of shots just to keep things honest, must be nice playing with with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. And then the Brooklyn Nets roster is looking pretty deep right now. They're going to be one of the top teams in the East if they are healthy.

And we can say that about any team. Come on, James Harden is working out. He wants to get paid. He's coming in and improve shape. Joe Lembe at the end of the playoffs.

He was basically a mummy. Both hands needing work. Giannis Atetokounmpo. He was balling out, but Chris Middleton was a broken man. The Boston Celtics, how are they going to bounce back? Come on, we just had Tatum announced to the world that, yeah, he played the majority of the playoffs with a fracture in his wrist. Maybe that's why he sucked.

And even then, he didn't suck that damn bad. The Brooklyn Nets will be at the top of the Eastern Conference as one of their big competitors. Every team boils down to health. And so it's tough to go out and say, oh, this team will be the best.

We have no idea. But if the Brooklyn Nets are healthy, if they are, I'll tell you this much. I would take them in the Eastern Conference Finals and I wouldn't be shocked if they went to the NBA Finals. And Kevin Durant's legacy, I think the rest of it hinges on just whether or not he's able to win another championship. And if he is, and if he's able to do it in Brooklyn, that trade request, man, it's just, it's just a small chapter. It's not even a chapter.

It's just a couple of pages in his book. What do you think the Brooklyn Nets will do this upcoming season with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons? Are we talking championship? Are we talking Eastern Conference Finals?

Or are we talking an injury-filled disaster? I'm going to take your calls on the other side. 855-212-4CBS. It's the J.R. Sportbrief show. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. God bless, wish you well, and all the best, J.R., because you really are my favorite sports DJ on the air.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. Joe Tsai, owner of the Brooklyn Nets, one Kevin Durant, zero. Almost two months after requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets because of a lack of confidence in the franchise and its direction, Kevin Durant's not being traded anywhere. The Brooklyn Nets released a statement today. Sean Marks, the general manager, released the statement today. Only about two weeks after Kevin Durant said, I'll stay if you fire Sean Marks and Steve Nash.

Oh, we're on the same page. We're going to be together. We're going to move forward together and try to win a championship for Brooklyn.

So what happened? Did Kevin Durant change his mind? Does he now all of a sudden have confidence in the Nets?

Probably not. He just ain't had no damn choice. The Brooklyn Nets weren't going to get a decent haul for him, and God bless Joe Tsai and the Brooklyn Nets. They weren't going to be punked here.

Man, I would have loved it if they took it all the way to the wire. Let Kevin Durant figure out what he wants to do. You're under contract.

Sit at home and don't get paid or just look like a whiny biatch. Well, now he's going to play. He got punked.

He tried to push the button, the eject button, and it didn't work. And good. I love him as a player, but I mean, damn.

You can't always get your way. And so with this Brooklyn Nets team, there's a lot of top teams in the East. You know, what are the Milwaukee Bucks going to look like healthy?

And this is, this is always the name of the game. The teams at the end who are most healthiest, typically they're in the best position to win. What do the Celtics look like next year? What do the Sixers look like? The East is going to be fun to watch. We know who the top teams are.

I think it's just going to be a matter of health, but I'll tell you this much. I still believe the Brooklyn Nets, sure, if they're healthy, they have a talented roster. They have a talented roster that's worthy enough of going out and competing for a championship. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Seth Curry, Nick Claxton, they were able to add TJ Warren. He's going to be looking to get paid on a comeback from his injury. Cam Thomas, a lot of people don't even know who he is.

He's big time. Yeah, it sounds funny to say Ben Simmons, but I mean, can he be as bad as he was against the Hawks the last time we saw him play? Royce O'Neal is over. Joe Harris is coming back. They got some bodies.

It's just if they're healthy. I think they can compete for a championship. What do you think?

8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS before we pick up the phones. Shep, what are your thoughts, man? Good on Joseph Sy, good on Sean Marks, good on Steve Nash. Kevin Durant got outplayed by a mile by Jason Tatum in that series, then has the nerve to whine, bitch, and complain that the Nets aren't giving him enough when it wasn't him who got paid $40 million to rehab a ruptured Achilles and played zero seconds JR, had the nerve to then try to get two people that are deserving of many more years at their respective position, that being Sean Marks and Steve Nash, fired, given the pink slip, and he tried to go behind closed circuits and closed doors. The reality is this, JR, Kevin Durant better be thanking his lucky stars that Sean Marks and Steve Nash have strong character. Now, with that being said, Kevin Durant's a great basketball player.

He has not been a great teammate in more ways than one. Yeah, but what do you think the Brooklyn Nets are going to do this season? Oh, got you.

As far as Brooklyn Nets this season, Kevin Durant's still the best player and Kevin Durant as the best player without Steph Curry as the second best player has never succeeded, and that will be the case this year. Okay, all right. 855-2124 CBS. We got Rich Collin from Chicago. You're on the JR Sportbreeze Show. What's up, Rich?

Hey, JR. That's a good topic. You know, when he was nosing around about being traded, there was a lot of noise here. In fact, I think even Vegas had the Bulls, either second or third most likely team, to try to blame him, and we were frankly delighted they stayed away from him. What people don't know about him, since he is a great player, but I think his own impression of his self-importance is killing this guy, and I think that bears out when you take a look at the teams that are interested or not interested for what they're going to do this season, and I think that's why they're not interested for what they're asking. I don't trust the guy, and here's why, and it really comes down to stats over his career.

Let me take it first to the teams. He never won at Oklahoma City with a loaded roster, and he couldn't win at Brooklyn. He won at Golden State. Well, that doesn't tell the full story, though.

I'm not through, because you're right. It doesn't, but when you talk about a loaded lineup, I'm not sure that's the formula versus having role players that can play and complement different parts of the game, but here's the thing that concerns me if I was a general manager. I looked this up to make sure I had it right. He has missed 17% of his games over his 15-year career. That's the equivalent of 210 games. Yeah, there's injuries.

There's nagging this. There's nagging that, but that's equivalent to almost two and a half seasons of games he hasn't played, but you want to kind of invest that kind of money in a guy that has missed 17% of the games. To look at the totality of his career and the injury history is not fair.

I think if you want to look at the past several years as he has aged, absolutely. For the most part, especially for a guy who is a seven-foot shooting guard, the beginning portion of his career, he's been relatively healthy. I don't think it's no shock and surprise that the first major injury that he had was to his foot. That was pretty much the only dangerous, bad, scary injury he had. If I have to look at recently, he had a calf injury while with the Golden State Warriors and that calf injury, because he pushed it, because it was in the playoffs, because he was hurt before that, because he went and tried to play in the finals, his Achilles gave out. He missed an entire season after that. If I have to look at his MCL injury this year, okay, a guy fell into his knee and he missed about a month and a half to two months. And so I can't look at his entire career and go, oh, well, he's missed almost 15 to 20% of his games.

If you want to look at recently and if you want to look at his age, I think that's reasonable. The other point that you mentioned in talking about a loaded lineup, that was a very young team with the Oklahoma City Thunder, very young, probably so young that you have to go, well, what the hell are they doing here? Probably no different than what we just saw with the Boston Celtics. So I can't look at Kevin Durant and just go, man, who would want this guy? He's injury prone. He can't win with a stacked roster. If there's any reason that I believe anyone would not want Kevin Durant, it's really only because of his age. And we have no idea how he's gonna, how he's gonna age out. That's it. He's about to be 34 years old, seven foot tall shooting guard, had a broken foot, a couple of surgeries needed, has had a knee issue, blew out his Achilles. What does that look like? But we know this when he's on the court, 30 points easy.

One of the most dynamic ever. I'm gonna take more of your calls. 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. What are your thoughts on the Brooklyn Nets and where they can go with a returning Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and oh yeah, Ben Simmons is there too. More of your calls on the other side. More of your calls on the other side. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. Hey JR, how you doing man? I appreciate listening to you every night, man. It worked man. Enjoy and appreciate all your insight.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio. Right before we went to break, we talked about the return of Kevin Durant to the Brooklyn Nets, or at least, or at least the fact that he has rescinded his trade request. And we can all assume it's because there was, there was nowhere to trade him to. And the Brooklyn Nets did not buckle. They did not bend.

They did not fold. And so he will be returning to the team to at least for now honor his contract. And that's four more years.

Yeah, just like a presidency. That's four more years in Brooklyn. I guess until he gets to the end and he wants to be traded or they decide to trade him. And so Kevin Durant will be back. Kyrie Irving will be on an expiring contract. You have a returning, hopefully Ben Simmons from his back injury. You have Royce O'Neal brought in, TJ Warren, Nick Claxton is an emerging big in the NBA. You still have Seth Curry, great shooter. You have Joe Harris, another great shooter, big man, great shooter. If he's out there and healthy enough to go out there and play. And so they, they got a roster like any team.

It depends on health, but I'll tell you this. Sure. Kevin Durant will be 34 in a few months. And if there's one element that you really want to look at this team and say, whoa, where does it come together? Outside of health, it's, it's leadership. Kevin Durant has shown that that ain't his, his mode of operation. He's not going to be at the forefront rallying the troops.

I think that's one of the reasons that he wanted out. We knew he took issue with how he was being treated in Golden State at the end. He's never going to be at the forefront, rah, rah, rah. What you can expect when he plays, when he's healthy is one of the best players that the league has ever seen. But when the going gets tough for the Brooklyn Nets, is their basketball talent and their health, is that going to be enough? Who the hell is going to bring them together? It ain't going to be Kevin Durant.

We've seen him try to bail. It's not going to be Ben Simmons. I mean, what, what clout does he have? None. And don't, don't, don't get me started.

Kyrie Irving leader? They, they doesn't, they don't go together. Wait, what? Yeah. They don't go together.

It's the JR sport reshow CBS sports radio 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS, all things considered. It's still a talented roster. If they're healthy, I could see them in the East finals. I could see them in the finals. Would I peg them at the start of the season to be the favorites to win it all? No, but they can go all the way.

They can go to the finals. A matter of fact, let's hear what Mr. Avery Johnson had to say about this on CBS sports HQ. First of all, I want to thank Kevin Durant and all of his representatives for giving us, you know, two or three months of fun content that we can share on CBS sports HQ, even though it ended up in, in, in a meaningless chat in a lot of ways. But I think what they found out is that Josiah had all the power, the next front office. They, Kevin Durant obviously tried to force his way out.

It didn't work. The type of players they were receiving in return was going to significantly set the nets back. Josiah, the owner held his ground. And obviously as of right now, he won because Kevin Durant, you know, is going to be returning to the nets. You know, James Harden forced his way out of Brooklyn. He forced his way out of Houston. You've seen other players, you know, guys like Anthony Davis forced his way out of New Orleans. Kevin Durant tried it.

It didn't work at this point. We'll see what the future holds, but at this stage of it, it looks like a lot of the NBA owners are cheering on Josiah right now, knowing that he didn't give in to Kevin Durant's demands. As they all should. Terrible precedent would have been set.

Terrible. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. I mean, maybe, maybe the Brooklyn Nets, they need a guy like Eudonis Haslam, who, by the way, is going to be returning for his 20th season with the Miami Heat. 20th season. He just turned 42 years old. He basically, he ain't play at all last year. He played 13 games last year. And he's a coach and he's making about two and a half million dollars.

Good for him. Pat Riley's guy. Brooklyn Nets need Eudonis Haslam on the bench to just punch Kyrie if things get kind of funky. Let's go to Adam in Toronto. You're on CBS Sports Radio.

Hey Jay, I really appreciate you taking my call, man. Look, I guarantee this whole Kevin Durant saga and wanting out of Brooklyn isn't over. Within the next one or two years, he's going to be disgruntled again. He's going to be unhappy. It's just the way he is. Every time he gets unhappy, he wants out.

I'm really happy Sean Marks and Josiah, you know, stuck up for themselves. That no, man, you're coming here to ball. You're not playing at all. We're not trading you because this would have been the second time in multiple years that Kevin Durant, I don't want to say ruin the NBA, but I don't really know what other, what other word to use other than that, you know, with the whole trade or with the whole signing with Golden State. I mean, there was really no point watching basketball for quite a few years. You already knew what the finals match was going to be.

It was going to be LeBron and Golden State. You know, like he would have ruined it because disgruntled superstars that had just signed a contract and are just slightly disgruntled wanted out. You know, I know you brought up the Colby situation, but that was because of a rebuild. The Nets are not rebuilding. He just wanted out because he was unhappy.

And in terms of the Nets, you know, how they can, how they can do next year, I think they can get to an Eastern Conference Finals, but I think that's their peak, man. And, you know, Barkley said it best. Barkley said it best. Katie isn't a bus driver. He's a bus rider. And I acknowledge that he is one of the greatest 15 players to ever lace him up, but he is not a leader at all. He's not LeBron.

I know this is a bad example. He's not Chris Paul. I think Chris Paul is a great leader, but like he's not MB. He's not Giannis.

He's not a leader. So, and there's no other leaders on that team. So I think their peak is the Eastern Conference Finals. I think, I think Milwaukee's still better. I think Boston's better.

And I think the Warriors are better than the West still. So yeah, man, that's all I got to say. I appreciate you. Sorry.

Thank you, J.R. No, thank you, Adam, for calling from Toronto. Yeah, the Warriors are going to be one of the best teams going out there and defending their championship. I think no doubt about that. Let's see how Klay Thompson continues to improve. It's going to be a fun NBA season.

Let's put it that way. And I don't think we're all the way done with the player movement. You know, we'll see what happens with Donovan Mitchell. God knows what the Los Angeles Lakers do.

Are they really going to go into a season with Russell Westbrook at the point guard spot? I don't, I don't know about that. I don't know. Frank is calling from Alaska. You're on CBS Sports Radio.

Yeah, this is Frank in Alaska. I, I'm just thinking that, you know, I'm glad the management stood up and didn't go in that direction. I think discipline is really difficult right now in the NBA.

I don't know if it's being, you know, followed right. But I think the Brooklyn Nets, you know, they're from one to 10. I'll give them about a five this year. They got to work together more as a team rather than separately. And then they got to bump up a lot of more defense. I'm a Portland Trail Blazers fan.

And I just know that when you're in the NBA, you know, I was, I grew up watching in the 70s and the 80 teams. And, you know, I'm not saying that they were more disciplined, but it just seemed like they, what they did, what they said, and they said what they meant, you know. Well, that's, that's, that's what happens. That's what happens when you're making this type of money.

You know, the players, they, they have more leverage and, and it's, it's only a handful of players, but those handful of players, they set the tone for everybody else. I mean, come on now, is, is Seth Curry going to wake up and say, hey, I want out? Is random? I don't know.

Random player in the league, Nicholas Batum. I mean, what are we doing here? There's only a handful of guys who can kind of throw their weight around and they've done a little too much, especially when they're getting paid more money than every and anybody else. And are we supposed to think that will change when the Damian Lillard's of the world and the salaries are now moving into the 60 million per year range? Yeah, the money is there, but everybody got to start honoring their end of the bargain. The players have to understand, hey, you're getting paid handsomely and you might be traded. I'm going to take more of your calls on the other side, the JR sport re-show CBS sports radio.