11.4.22 - JR SportBrief Hour 3

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So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Throughout the 60s and 70s, you're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. And I'm JR. Happy Friday night. So you're happy almost Saturday morning. Just happy weekend. I'm just happy that I'm here. I'm happy that you're here. And whatever happens, I hope you have a good night, a good morning, a good day, whatever it is, just be good.

All the negative crap we got going on in the world. Damn it. Just be good.

Take a breath. Woosah with me. And let's be good. I'm being joined by super producer and host Dave Shepherd in you.

Yeah, you being good all over North America. Somebody listening right now is driving an Uber. Somebody listening right now is driving a truck. Somebody's driving home.

Somebody is driving on a date. The hell you listening to me on a date for you doing turn the radio down and talk to your person in the car with you. Well, that was stupid of me. Hey, shut up. Did I just tell somebody to turn me off?

I think I did. Right. You're rooting for the, uh, you're rooting for the underdog. They can appreciate that. Yeah, I don't give a damn. I'll be here every, yeah, I don't care. I'll be here every single week night. If you want to date, enjoy your date. If you want to bring me along next time, by all means, I'm, well, nevermind.

They got to get in trouble if I said that. Anyway, we're coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. If you need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family, the Rocket Rocket can we're getting ready for the weekend. We've already had a fun show. We've talked about college football, Georgia, Tennessee, big match up Saturday afternoon to eight and oh undefeated teams, high powered offense with the vols. And then you got the Bulldogs who have a bulldog of a defense. Vols are number one.

If Georgia can put a stop on that offense, they will vault the number one and the vols, they will fall down the rankings. At the same time, we know that tomorrow we've talked about this as well. We got a world series tomorrow. The Houston Astros have a chance to win their second world series. Their first since that one that took place in 2017, you know, the one where, uh, you know, they were banging on the garbage cans, the one that got people fired and booted all across the league. Well, one went away in Houston, one went away against these Phillies, someone who's probably been the world series MVP up until now, the rookie shortstop, the man replacing Carlos Correa, Jeremy Pena. This is what he had to say about being one win away from a championship. So we're trying to stay grounded and we're gonna just log back in and play our game, you know, show up, ready to go, ready to compete.

And yeah, try to close it out. Okay, this is going to be a rematch of game two from the starting pitching perspective. Valdez will be on the mound for the Astros. A Wheeler will be on the mound for the Phillies.

Wheeler and his last start look like he was running out of gas. And so, you know, everybody in Houston is going to be real hype. Game six on Saturday. I know Philly fans hope this happens.

Game seven would take place on Sunday. So we've talked world series, we've talked bulldogs and voles. We talked about the NFL MVP. We talked about someone like, like Jalen Hurts. Philadelphia Eagles sitting at eight and all.

Definitely going to the playoffs, unless there's some massive disaster, of course they're gonna go. But I still think because of the preseason attention and the years that we've seen Josh Allen and the fact that the sports writers are the ones who vote, that I still believe Josh Allen will ultimately win MVP unless Jalen Hurts and the Eagles just burn through all of the competition the rest of the year. And Jalen Hurts, he's such a great teammate, a great guy and improved quarterback year after year after year being in his third season. He's smart enough to give credit to his teammates.

Listen to this. It's a great team effort for us to come out here and battle through these types of wins. You got CD making big time plays on the back end, getting us momentum, getting us a short field.

You got hard grades having a career day, you know. So while I've made improvement and while I put the work in, it's only a reflection of what we've done as a football team. Yeah, right before the break, I told you about two teams that you didn't expect them to be here, but they are. And they can, I mean, well, not they. I'm calling it the loser bowl. It's the Bucks. It's the Rams. Yeah, they're losers right now.

There's no disputing that fact. They are losers. The Bucks are three and five. Everybody hurt. Offensive line busted up. The Rams are three and four. Everybody hurt. Offensive line busted up. It doesn't change the fact that they're on the losing side of the ledger right now.

There's still plenty of time to correct things, but at this moment they suck. I'd love to see Aaron Donald fling Tom Brady around. I don't think it'll happen. Tom Brady will hit the dirt faster than Aaron Donald even gets there, but I'd sign up to see it. And so we have a full weekend of action.

NFL, it's college. Thank you to Emory Hunt for joining us earlier on in the show. Big game for all my friends and family out in Baton Rouge and Louisiana as well. It's a busy weekend. And then Shep is running the New York city marathon, which is the most important thing to me.

I could care less about these football people. But as we continue on at the same time, we know some of the other stories that have existed in the world of sports is not just the world series or college or hockey. What's up, Boston?

I see you on a run right there. NBA is going on as well. And as I just told you, we got a loser bowl. The Rams just won a championship.

They're three and four. Not the worst team in the league, but they're running game is crap. Just like the Bucks in the NBA. We got similar last hour about an hour ago, I should say.

How about this? The other California team that won a championship this year, the Golden State Warriors, they suck right now as well. Their record is now three and seven. They're the worst team in the Western Conference, not named the Houston Rockets. They lost to the Pelicans tonight, 114 to 105. And they didn't just lose to the Pelicans. It was who they sent out there to lose to the Pelicans against. There was no Steph Curry, his elbow. There was no Andrew Wiggins is his foot.

There was no Clay Thompson. This is called a back to back. And we know he went back to back on leg surgery. So he ain't playing back to backs. And then you have Draymond Green speaking of backs. He ain't play either because they don't want his back to go out on him. And so who the hell played?

You may ask for the Golden State Warriors. Well, all of these young guys who they would typically expect to step up. Jonathan Kominga tonight almost played 40 minutes gave you 18 points. Anthony Lamb, 16 points. He played 40 minutes. Pool was out there.

Of course, you know, he got busy. He had 20 points on a poor shooting night. Moses Moody had 14. Ty Jerome had 18 points.

You probably wouldn't recognize Ty Jerome if he walked by you in a mall. And they were in New Orleans. And Zion played. Had a windmill dunk in 16 points. Brandon Ingram played nice to let his healthy coming off of that concussion. 26 points. McCollum had 20.

Larry Nance flying all over the place had 20. The fans in New Orleans got their money's worth. Unless you paid your hard earned money to see Steph Curry, maybe Clay Thompson and Draymond Green. I know there were a lot of folks down in New Orleans who wanted to see Steph Curry, but he didn't play.

Okay. Precautionary elbow issue. They didn't play him. The Warriors will be back in action against Orlando or excuse me, back home against Sacramento on Monday.

East Coast, go back home West, try to get some rest. They have been awful defensively. The Golden State Warriors, one of the best defensive teams in the league last year.

At this juncture of the season, they are crap. They are the worst defensive team in the league. No one is giving up more points per game right now than the Golden State Warriors. Ironically, they're number one in offense. No one is scoring more points than the Golden State Warriors. This makes it feel like the Warriors from, I don't know, years ago before they started winning championships, when all they did was score with some guy named Don Nelson and they ain't play a lick of deep. They still have plenty of time to turn this around. 82 game season. This is an older team. They just came off of a championship.

They were always going to monitor folks in their minutes. Steph Curry is amazing as he is, night to night and ageless as he looks. We know shooting is the last thing to go. He's still crossing people up. He's 34. Draymond Green, they got to be careful with this guy in his back. He was never the most athletic guy. He's 32. Klay Thompson, 32. We know about his injuries.

And then you got a bunch of really young guys. Kominga can't even buy a drink. He's 20. Wiseman, he's been playing poor in the past couple of games. He has all the talent in the world. He's 21.

Moses Moody can't buy a drink. And so this entire season is going to be an exercise and try to pull things together. But they know if they do not play defense, they are cooked. This is what Steve Kerr had to say earlier about their defense being trash.

It feels like a little bit of a championship hangover. You know, I don't think even our main guys have played great defense. And then there's some inexperience, young guys, new guys on the roster. Oh yeah, they got young guys on a roster and he gave them a chance to play. This was Steve Kerr not too long ago after tonight's game.

Listen. A parent who really played well tonight, you know, JK played really well and he's earned some minutes. And, you know, I thought Ty Jerome was fantastic again. He's just played well every single night. I thought Lamb played well as well.

You know, there's a lot of good stuff to take from it. Moses Moody played well. So guys who maybe haven't gotten a ton of minutes who are going to get a chance to play. Oh yeah, they played. And Steve Kerr certainly heard about it. He was asked after the game about the stars. And Steve Kerr was, he actually said he appreciates and he's honest. You know, Steve Kerr is a good dude. He says he appreciates the fans who pay their good money to show up. He said ultimately the player's health is the number one factor in our team's success and even our fans' satisfaction in the long run.

And it's true, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing. I'm sure that there were people who drove 30, 40, 50 miles, who saved up tons of bread, tons of cash to see Steph Curry shoot threes. I'm sure there were plenty of people who took their kid on a Friday night to downtown New Orleans, right off of Bourbon Street, and took them to the Smoothie King Center to see Steph Curry shoot. Maybe Draymond fouls somebody. It sucks. There's no masking it.

There's no fixing it. Steve Kerr also said, I don't know if this was wise of him. He said it would be wise for fans to look at schedules of teams they want to see, manage expectations, you know, look and go back to back. And he said, especially when you get a team with players who've had injuries like we do, or you get guys who are advanced in the age.

And he said, he apologized to any fans out there who were hoping to see those guys. Well, well, we started seeing this with Popovich years ago, as the Spurs got, quote unquote, long in the tooth. And we know that Adam Silver in the league has tried to do everything that they can to get their star players out there onto the court. Not as many back to backs, more rest days, the players have a lighter practice schedule. The calendar isn't what it used to be.

The season has been elongated starting earlier from a couple of weeks. This is still the case, still an issue, still a problem. And so Steve Kerr, I know he is actually sorry. I think he understands at the same time.

Yeah, he's, he ain't gonna bite the hand that feeds him. His job is to take care of the Warriors. And I think a lot of fans have gotten hip and smart to the fact that they already know, hey, if I buy a ticket to an NBA game, there's a chance, there's a chance that if I'm paying to see the opposing player, the star player, that he might be hurt, that he might be quote unquote, being rested. And the Golden State Warriors, they didn't list any of these guys due to rest. They had them out with legitimate injuries and concerns. Steph Curry's elbow, Wiggins foot, Draymond's back. We know Clay Thompson is just working his way back in general.

And so there's some legitimacy there. But it doesn't make it any easier when these stars are sitting out. So the Golden State Warriors, they got time to fix things. They have time to improve. It wouldn't shock me if they go on one of these 10 game winning streaks throughout the course of the season. But for right now, we got two teams in California that are just on a championship lull. You got the Rams who are currently three and four dealing with their own injuries. And then you got the Golden State Warriors, who are the worst defensive team in the NBA right now. And they are the worst team in the Western Conference, besides those Houston Rockets who only have one victory. I'm sure the Rockets are being ignored right now with the with the Astros. And I know the Texans are being ignored. Shout out to all my friends in Houston. 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. What do you think about these players? Just being sat down. If you're in New Orleans right now, and you were in the Smoothie King Center, call me up.

How did you feel spending your hard earned money, going to the arena, huh? And then there's no Steph Curry. There's no Draymond. There's no Klay Thompson. I mean, even there's no Wiggins. At least Wiggins, maybe he'd give you an explosive dunk. If you're down in New Orleans, call me up. And at the same time, this is an unfortunate situation. The Kyrie saga goes on. Nike has said goodbye. I'm going to come back, get to more of your calls.

We got a lot to do. More NFL, NBA, World Series. It's the JR Sport Brief Show, CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. Thank you, man. We love you down here in Texas, okay, JR?

Hey, how you doing, man? I love your show. I love the topic. Thank you. I will be listening again in the future. This is a great show.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. Oh, I love Texas too. Shout outs to all my folks in Abayu City. At least they got one good team, trying to win a championship. The Astros trying to win that World Series tomorrow. The Rockets? Oh, they tanking, man.

They tanking. They got a bunch of great young players. I saw the Houston Rockets play here in Atlanta earlier on when the season started and they got amazing young players, but they going to get smashed around during that Victor Wamben-Yama sweepstakes right now. And in the Texans, they're going to be looking for a quarterback as well.

So congratulations for having the Astros. Let's see if they can get the job done against these Phillies in game six or maybe game seven. They trying to win a championship.

Sunday, we got football between the Rams and the Bucks. They were just competing for a championship in the playoffs last year. They can both still go back, but it ain't looking too good right now.

They're both below 500. And then about an hour ago, a little more than an hour ago, a team that won a championship in the NBA, they stink too. The New Orleans Pelicans, they're good when they're healthy. They beat the Golden State Warriors in New Orleans, 114 to 105. The Warriors are the second worst team in the West besides the Rockets. They're 0-6 on the road. They lost to Orlando on Thursday. Tonight they lose in a back-to-back to the Pelicans. None of their stars play.

None of them. No Steph Curry out with an elbow. No Klay Thompson. We know why he didn't play. His leg is still recovering. No Draymond Green. His back. And then no Andrew Wiggins.

His foot. And so if Steve Kerr wanted to see what his young guys look like, he got it. Because outside of Kominga and Wiseman and Moody, you saw dudes who you wouldn't recognize off of a wanted poster playing tonight. And they're gonna need those guys throughout the course of the season. And so the Warriors will be cool. They got time, but right now they suck.

Worst defensive team in the league, even though they have the highest scoring offense. I think at some point they'll go ahead and get it together. And then after the game, Steve Kerr, he said he understood fans who would be disappointed. He said he wanted to apologize for any of the fans who were hoping to see the good guys or the big names.

Of course, they weren't hoping to see him. They wanted to see Steph Curry out there. People spend their hard-earned money, and this has always been something that the NBA has tried to fix and rectify. Spreading out the schedule, less back-to-backs, and it's just always going to be the case. Steve Kerr said, fans, it should be wise for them to look at schedules and manage expectations, especially for older teams like the Warriors.

I just don't think people expect for everybody, and I mean everybody, Hall of Famers, to be sitting out at the same time. Steve Kerr said, it's my job to look out for my team and our fans first. Okay. 855-212-4CBS, that's 855-212-4CBS.

Tim is here from California. Hey, what's going on, Jay? How are you doing, man? I'm excellent. Go ahead.

Hey, I just wanted to ask the question. I just don't like, I'm a Bulls fan from the 90s, but I just don't remember them like sitting out on their third repeat, being an old team on their last championship, on their sixth championship, or even on their, what, their fifth championship. I just don't remember them sitting their players. They had a pretty much tougher schedule. Could they have better travel than today's players? I just don't remember that, so why is that?

Why do they do that today when there's better travel, better conditioning, better, it seems like it's less of a stress on the player because of the defense, different types of defenses that's going on, but it just seems like they're just letting their players rest for no reason. Well, there is because there are hurts. Well, there is, there is no, no answer. I don't have that answer. We've spoken to doctors here on the air who don't have that answer and there are a variety of reasons. I think ultimately, if you want to look at it from an organizational perspective, the answer is the financial investment that is now here with the players.

That's the first thing. There's also an incentive from the players to try to elongate their careers so they can make more money. I think that's, that's, that's definitely at the top of the, the reason why we can look back 20, 25 years. We have players who are making $50 million. Michael Jordan at his, his peak was making approximately 33 and that pretty much sent the NBA into a space where they said, whoa, we can't set this and have it as a precedent. MJ making 33 and now we gotta pay this young guy, Kevin Garnett.

No, we gotta, we gotta reign this in. And so we are in a different financial space where you want to protect your assets. The money's being made. Why are the players getting hurt at seemingly a higher frequency? People say it's because they play more basketball than they should. They don't give their bodies a chance to rest, that they have more miles on their legs, even when they get into the NBA from playing youth and AAU and travel. And there's, there's a variety of reasons. So I don't have that answer. It is the reality that we live in right now. And there have been plenty of doctors to say the same thing.

The dudes are bigger, faster, stronger. Muscles are, doesn't necessarily happen to ligaments. And so, I mean, I can take, uh, I could take the engine from a Ferrari and I can throw it into a Toyota. It doesn't, don't mean that the Toyota is going to move.

And if it does, it may explode if it does anything. And so, I mean, we have all of this science and all of this technology. I think the largest and best answer that we can always come up with as to why today's athletes aren't as durable or as strong or why don't they go as hard? Money.

You know how things always go? This is an interesting analogy, but if I have to think about boxing, you know, Teddy Atlas is, has always said throughout time, it's one thing to be a boxer and to come from the dirt and to fight your way up out of necessity. And then when you finally get there, when you're sleeping on satin sheets and one trillion thread count pillowcases, you're not going to have the same type of motivation when the money is rolling in as when you were getting going.

And I think that's just a human element. And you think about a team sport like basketball where they're raking in billions and they're growing globally. Why are you not playing them? I got to pay Steph Curry how much? You sit them out again. I need him for the playoffs. I need him for the whole season. Yes, sit them down in New Orleans.

I think everybody's accepting of that because the fans, let's be real, the fans are still going to show up without a shadow of a doubt. 855 2124 CBS. Paul is calling from Virginia. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, what's up, JR? How's your night going? I'm sitting here with you.

I'm absolutely amazing. All right, cool. Well, I was going to talk about the Commanders, but then you started talking about basketball and the sit down. And so I started thinking about like, I think it came about like 2012, maybe pop a bitch when pop a bitch sat everybody down. And but I think that was for a playoff run and they were giving them a rest. I don't know why Golden State sitting down all these people for no reason at the beginning of the season. Well, it's I don't think I don't look at it as it's just the beginning of the season. Is it the beginning of the year? Yeah. But when you play in the playoffs, you've you've obviously elongated your year.

You have a shorter rest period and break. This is still an older team. They legitimately have a chance. Yeah, they suck right now. They still legitimately have a chance to win throughout the course of the season. Their players, the guys who did sit down sans pretty much Andrew Wiggins, who's the youngest of them. They do have a history of injuries and being hurt. So I don't, I don't think it's just, oh my God, it's the beginning of the year. There's no reason to sit them out. Does it hurt?

Does it sting? Was it absolutely necessary? I can't say, but I can certainly understand the reasoning behind it. I don't think it's it's a list list that oh my God, we're just resting them. Yeah, I get that.

But main reason I'm calling is the commanders. I'm here in DC and there's a whole lot going on around this place. As far as the football team goes, as you obviously know, I heard a rumor that there might be a trade out there with Green Bay and to replace Heineke and possibly get Aaron Rodgers in here. Well, humor me. When would that take place, Paul? I would, I would say towards the end of the season or as soon as the team is bought. Okay, well, that ain't happening because the trade deadline just took place and one guy's making $50 billion and the other guy is making the lint out of my pocket. He also is smart enough that that guy being Heineke to say, I know why I'm a backup. That's because they're paying Carson Wentz.

So I don't know if you heard that rumor, if you created it, whether the tooth fairy told you whether your next door neighbor said it. Nah, bruh, that ain't happening. Aaron Rodgers is going to stay his ass in Green Bay collect his 50 mil.

And I don't know, maybe they'll move the trade deadline again, but not happening while the things have happened though. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio 855-212-4CBS on the other side of the break. The Brooklyn Nets actually won a basketball game. The Brooklyn Nets actually won a game without Kyrie Irving.

Kyrie Irving didn't play tonight because he suspended, but then he's still lost in another way. I'm going to tell you about his situation with Nike. We'll talk some more NFL. It's the JR Sport Brief Show CBS Sports Radio. 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, man, this is going to be cliche as a mug, but a long time, long time listener, first time caller, man, and I appreciate your show big time. You have so much insight. I just want to give you props on that.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It is so difficult to win in sports right now. Year over year over year.

I don't care what league you're in. Sure, you have a collection of talent, but like gone are really the days where you can, you know, stretch things out for, I don't know, 10 years. In the NFL, maybe if you have a quarterback, obviously, it already seems like we might be approaching that halfway point already with someone like Patrick Mahomes, but yeah, sure, you got a great quarterback.

You can stay in competition. There's a reason that the New England Patriots went on almost a 20-year run of being ridiculously competitive. Sure, there were some injury years and some championship losses, but 20 years is ridiculous, but when you have so much player movement, you have so much money at stake and guys are getting hurt and injured, like it's amazing right now to see what we've gotten with the Houston Astros, like six consecutive appearances in the American League Championship Series. Back the back World Series appearances. They went again in 2019.

That's tough. We got the Los Angeles Lakers. Sure, they won a championship in the bubble, but here we are and they're garbage. You know, you think about the finances, you think about the injuries, like dynasties are ridiculously tough and even for a team like the Warriors, can we say that they were on the back end of the dynasty or are they just, you know, retooling with their young guys?

They would hope so and so it's real tricky and then you got situations that don't ever, ever work out like the Brooklyn Nets. Tonight, they actually won a basketball game with Kyrie Irving serving the first game of his five-game minimum suspension. The Nets were in Washington, D.C. Kevin Durant just makes no sense, just rolls out of bed and is amazing. 28 points, nine rebounds, 11 assists, 10 of 21 from the field.

If you didn't see the highlight, I'm sure you can find it anywhere online. Just crossed the living hell out of Wizards center, Wizards center Daniel Gafford, crossed him up, left him laying face first on the floor and just casually drilled the jumper like it was nothing. Just Kevin Durant is just one of the best basketball players you will ever see play in your life and so everybody contributed.

The Wizards didn't have too much life but we know the story surrounded pretty much Kyrie Irving. It was nice to get the basketball game. Nets owner Joe Sy after the game, he pretty much put out a tweet.

This is it. Let's put the joy back in basketball. That was the Nets owner, that was the message to the public after the Nets won a game tonight to improve their record to three and six. Earlier in the day, Kevin Durant, he talked about this unfortunate situation with Kyrie and the suspension and this is what he had to say.

Unfortunate situation for people to impact it but this situation, I mean, it just sucks all around for everybody and hopefully we can move past it. Kevin, what did you think of Kyrie's conduct this week? I mean, I ain't here to judge nobody who would talk down when I'm like, how they feel, I just didn't like anything that went on. I felt like it was all necessary. I felt like couldn't have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization.

I just don't like none of it. Do you feel the suspension is unfair? Yes, I believe and trust in the organization and who was right. Okay, on one hand, he says he feels that the organization should have kept quiet and that certainly raised some eyebrows.

It didn't take him long afterwards after he made those statements earlier on Friday to release a tweet. I just want to clarify the statements I made at Shootaround. I see some people are confused. I don't condone hate speech or anti-Semitism. I'm about spreading love always.

Our game unites people and I want to make sure that that's at the forefront. Later on in the day, we also learn that the Brooklyn Nets and the NBA that they are reaching out to Amazon or have reached out to Amazon in addition to the Anti-Defamation League asking them why the film that Kyrie shared is even there on Amazon. This evening, we also learned around game time that Kyrie Irving no longer has a relationship with Nike and that Nike has shut that down. Nike is no longer going to work with Kyrie Irving. They're not going to release the eighth edition of his shoe and Kyrie Irving we also learned today that the Brooklyn Nets have an expectation for him to serve at minimum five games and that they hope that he takes up some of the offers for him to meet and sit down with some Jewish leaders in the community.

So this will continue to play on. They played against Washington tonight. Washington had no juice.

They had no life. The Brooklyn Nets, they will be back in action on Saturday night. Back the back at Charlotte. Kevin Durant, the basketball freak just rolls out of bed and drops 30 like it's nothing. 8-5-5, 2-1-2-4, CBS. Kevin is calling from North Carolina. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show. Yeah, hey man. I really enjoyed your show up and to this point especially the bit about you know why owners and players are being fat in an effort to basically make sure they're in prime condition you know for majority of the majority of the season you made some valid points about the salaries and on the importance of of you know just resting them but but then but then you made you made the comment about you know how people are making their top players are making 300 million now versus when Michael Jordan made 30 million and that's kind of where I lost you because when Michael Jordan was making 30, 30 million was a ton of money those players still played that the Jordans the birds Magic Johnson they still played everything they still showed up whether they were playing the bottom dwellers of their league or the top they would show up every night and here's the difference would you turn on an NBA game today whether it's NBA TV or TBS or TMT zero people in the stands back then whether it was the 50th game of the season or a playoff game the stands were full so when you say the teams are making money and that's why the owners are they don't care they're still making the money so they don't care about who sits and who doesn't I'd have to disagree maybe the television contracts are bigger today but if you tuned in 20 30 you know 25 years ago on a Monday Tuesday or on Saturday the stands were full whether or not it was a well you know let me well you're you're you're repeating yourself now so let me let me respond to you I think for the first point uh let me clarify because I don't I don't think you understand what I'm saying you you're actually agreeing with me the fact that players are making more money right now there isn't so much of as an incentive for them to go play they're not trying to quote unquote earn their contract if you're making and I don't give a damn what inflation is or what it looks like versus 20 25 30 35 years ago if you're making 40 million dollars a year you're not necessarily scratching and clawing to say man I gotta earn my check it didn't matter if you were making 2 million dollars in in 1995 you want to make your money and so I think we're making the same point there as it relates to the revenues of the NBA it's the attendance in arena attendance is is one part in portion as you said of the revenue the game is exploding all over the country all over the planet every country around the globe the revenues are going up the interest is going up and and and it's debatable as to you know what team you want to identify had a full house in in 1990 versus 2022 I think that is a debatable point every NBA game has never been a complete uh sellout where I think there's that much of a chasm there but there is no debate whether the money is coming in from the gate of which a team can make yeah north of a couple of hundred into a few million dollars depending on you know if you're the the golden state warriors or you're the pelicans or whether it's the television revenue whether it's the international tv revenue whether it's the merchandise the league is in a healthy place it's it's it's moving into a place where the NFL was a few years ago when we talk about moving into the teens billions of dollars per year in revenue and so yes there's there's no concerns do you want to make sure your players are out there yes do you want to have stars that are sitting out hell no but to think that the NBA is in a financial space or owners and in revenue aren't are concerned oh man they're in a damn good place well I just think I think it's an embarrassment that you turn on I mean and I've been I'm 52 and I've been watching basketball college and NBA for a long time it's embarrassment when you turn it on and no one's in the stands and that to me more than anything I mean I think merchandise 25 years ago was they were selling I mean Kevin you can you can find it to be an embarrassment we know that this is something all across the board in sports I would say that the healthiest thing if you want to quote unquote do the eyeball test for who's in the stands would probably be college sports I'm talking to a good friend of mine who's in Nebraska right now this very moment and he's going to attend the corn huskers game tomorrow they they pack that place out memorial stadium every single game the NFL dealing with attendance issues the NBA NHL here's the facts it shouldn't be an embarrassment it's reality people have options as to what they want to watch people have to have in college and you're comparing college and NBA and college football is no I'm not I'm comparing no no no Kevin I'm comparing college athletics football as an example to the pros this is the biggest this is the biggest point people have more options now in 2022 to be entertained overall than they did 20 years ago 10 years ago 30 and I think that has more to do I'll put it to you this way why aren't there fans in the stands tickets are expensive and if I can sit at home if I can sit in transit if I can open up my phone and tablet and watch four and five games at a time and not have to spend $50 and go is Steph Curry gonna play I'm gonna stay at home and that's the same thing for the NFL college athletes will sit out on the all-star games but they're not sitting out in those 15 regular season games I just think I think NBA athletes today are prima donnas and I I just I think it's an embarrassment and yeah they're making they're making money the teams are we we know you can find it to be an embarrassment I don't think it's just an NBA issue it's the JR sport show here with you on cds sports radio more your calls on the other side is there something really absurd that skews you out getting a paper cut on my eyeball a fear you can't shake I'm gonna leak ocular fluid on my cheeks it's gonna go into my mouth and I will perish whatever scares you I want to talk about it join me Larry Mullins on my new podcast your weirdest fears listen and subscribe to 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