4.7.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 4

Getting to know yourself can be a lifelong process, especially since you're always growing and changing. Therapy is all about deepening that self-awareness, because sometimes you don't know what you really want until you talk things through. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist online who can take you on that journey of self-discovery from wherever you are. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive today to get 10% off your first month.

That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. Last year, you may have made some smart decisions and you may have made some not so smart decisions, like maybe putting too much trust in those friends you met at the hotel in Sicily. The good news is making smart financial decisions is easier than you think. NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast has the weekly know-how you need to get ahead. Sean and Sarah, the hosts of Smart Money, break down the latest financial news and give you honest, objective money advice. Subscribe to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. A big shout-outs to all my folks listening on WWL out in New Orleans. And thank you to everybody listening all over North America. I get started here at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 Pacific.

That's every weeknight, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. You can listen on your local affiliate. You can always tune in. Put the Odyssey app on your phone and you can just punch in CBS Sports Radio. Available Sirius XM Channel 158.

And if you got a smart speaker, ask it to play CBS Sports Radio. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. I'm being joined by super producer and host Dave Shepherd.

He is coming to you live from New York City. And we've had a busy day. We know the Masters is going on in Augusta. Looks like Tiger Woods will make the cut. He's pretty much right on the line as of now. Rory McIlroy is already cooked. He's done.

You have Brooks Koepka, who's number one on the leaderboard. And with all the crazy weather that we're having or soon to have in parts of Georgia, if it hasn't hit you already. You know, the Masters is hoping to finish things up on Sunday and not have to suspend any more of the tournament and take things into Monday. By the time we get here, we'll have an answer as to who won the tournament. We'll know that by Monday night. Also, by the time Monday swings around the NBA regular season, it's over, folks.

It's done. The games are pretty much cooked. They're finished on Sunday. And we even got teams that have given up, like the Dallas Mavericks, who intentionally went throughout today and said, we ain't we ain't playing our stars here. We'll put Luca out there with five bums and try to lose on purpose and lose. They did to the Chicago Bulls. We'll talk about that. And then a few minutes ago, the Los Angeles Lakers, they came out on top against the Phoenix Suns, 121 to 107.

Here's the deal, though. The Phoenix Suns got nothing to play for. They're going to be in the playoffs.

They don't have anything to worry about. The Los Angeles Lakers, not so much. They are still trying to adjust their positioning when it comes to the play in tournament and maybe the regular playoffs. But as of right now, with the victory over the Suns, where there was no Chris Paul, there was no Devin Booker, there was no Kevin Durant. 121 to 107 was the final and the Lakers are currently seventh in the West. So the Los Angeles Lakers, a team that started the season two and 10. The Lakers got a record now, 42 and 39. That's a decent turnaround with no LeBron at points and then no Anthony Davis. And you got new guys coming in and Russell Westbrook going out.

The Lakers always interesting as to what they will do. Anthony Davis had a crap shooting night four of 12 from the field, but he did have 14 points in 21 rebounds. LeBron James, I guess still playing himself back into shape, 16 points, six assists and six rebounds. D'Angelo Russell led the way tonight for the Lakers, 24. You had Reeves, 22 points. And then coming off of the bench, you had Malik Beasley. So you had some great scoring here from guys not named Anthony Davis and LeBron James. A matter of fact, I told you D'Angelo Russell got busy.

Take a listen to all of these damn clutch threes in the fourth courtesy of the Lakers radio network. Brown back to LeBron and I think LeBron's going to touch it every time now. D'Angelo Russell for three. Good.

And that should be enough. Lakers 115, Suns 103 as we hit the three minute mark. Rebound Troy Brown back to LeBron. Lakers going to run some clock. D'Angelo Russell for three.

Good again. Russell hits three consecutive threes. He's now the leading scorer in the game with 24 points. Lakers up by 16.

Twenty four points and that's exactly where he ended. D'Angelo Russell knocked down six of nine threes tonight. And the Lakers, as of right now, they are in the seventh spot.

The Phoenix Suns, they are in the fourth spot. And that's why there was no Booker, Durant or Paul. We're going to talk about Kevin Durant later on in the show before we get out of here. He had some interesting comments to make about the physicality of the NBA.

But we do have a lot of callers on the line right now. And then we'll get back into the Dallas Mavericks, those quitters. We were talking about Zion. Tonight the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Knicks 113 to 105. The Pelicans announced earlier today that the Pelicans, they shouldn't expect to see Zion Williamson at all. The Pelicans are currently right behind the Lakers in the eighth spot.

So they're there for a plan. We found out Zion is done for the regular season. Zion is not going to be playing in the plan. And that we shouldn't expect him unless maybe, kind of maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe they go into the postseason. Zion hasn't played since January 2nd.

With a hamstring injury. Here, let me help you out. Let me talk to you like we are in kindergarten, OK? January. February. March.

We're basically pulling up on, depending on where you live, Saturday is April 8th. And I know Zion's hamstring is like 20 times the size of mine. I get it. It's the same dude that didn't play last year because of his foot. The same man who missed the majority of his rookie year. And they gave him five year basically $200 million dollar contract extension. That doesn't kick in until next year when he's 23.

He did get in some better shape now. When he played this year. When he played. Only played 29 games. What a hell of a start. Zion has been in the NBA.

Think about this. Zion has been in the NBA for four seasons. Four seasons already.

Do you feel like you've seen Zion play? I got a lot of callers with a lot of opinions. 855-212-4CBS. Tony is calling from Vancouver, Washington. You're on CBS Sports Radio.

Go ahead, Tony. Hey, JR. You know, this is why Barkley gets on Anthony Davis. I mean, all world talent. But it is a production business. When you're missing more than you're playing, you're not producing. And as for Zion, he's all world talent, sure. But he's missed so much that he's non-productive for them. He's just a big cost. And there's no vision really that says that he's going to produce in the future. Because he's missed so many games. I don't know if he's fragile or whether it's injury or non-injury.

He's not producing. And that's a problem. Yeah, I think he has to get smaller.

I think that would certainly help alleviate some of the issues and problems. You know, what do I know? I'm not a doctor. But if you got a hamstring injury and your hamstring is big as hell, I'm just going to take a guess that it will take a little bit longer to heal. That's just my assumption.

But what do I know? Hey, thank you, Tony. Appreciate you, man.

No problem. Hey, let's go from Vancouver. Let's come here to Atlanta, Georgia and talk to JD.

You're on CBS Sports Radio. Go ahead, JD. Hi, JR. Happy Easter, by the way. To you as well. What's up?

Thank you. Well, first off, I do believe that Zion is a bust at this point. And in my opinion, he will be a bust forever. And my question is, do they still have weight clauses in contracts? Because anybody who signs Zion to a $200 million five-year contract without a weight clause was remiss in their duties.

Yeah, I believe you do. Is that the NFL? I mean, I know in this day and age that's probably, you know, not politically correct to have a weight clause or whatever. But is it legal to have a weight clause in the contract? I think so.

I don't think it would be illegal. I know in the NFL, definitely. I don't think that I don't think it's illegal at all to have a weight clause in an NBA contract. But I don't believe Zion has one in his. Well, I can tell you this from personal experience with Falcons in the past.

So how about this? Here's an answer for you. He does have a weight clause in his contract. He does. He does? Oh, well, has he met it? I don't have all these answers now. I got to figure out. Me and you both, brother. I hope you have a wonderful Easter, JR. You as well. Thank you, JD, for calling from Atlanta.

Here's some information. Zion Williamson listed at 285 at Duke. He's been listed at 284 by the Pelicans.

Coming back to New Orleans. It also has de-escalators in his contract that are tied to his conditioning. The Pelicans can subtract money from Zion's contract if the sum of his weight and body fat percentage is above 295 pounds. So we don't know the full details here on it. But yeah, he has some clauses here in his contract.

But you want to know something? He gonna make a boatload of money anyway. It's not like his contract's going from 200 million to 20 if he eats himself out of house and home. And he got slimmer when the season started. He was. He wasn't smaller smaller. He was fitter. He was slimmer. He didn't carry the baby weight.

He got a little bit more muscular. The big O, not Oliver Miller. He's calling from Charlotte, North Carolina. You're on CBS Sports Radio. JR, please don't hang up on me. I promise I'm not on the speaker. Good.

Thank you. I can tell. Zion is undeniable, phenomenal talent. He's a figure of a man. Has he been a bust so far?

I'd have to say, yeah, based on the number of games that he's played so far in his career. But guess what? We'll still take him right here in Charlotte. See, if he was in Charlotte, he would have that money problem because Michael Jordan don't pay nobody. The problem is, Zion, the guy used to sleep on them satin sheets.

But I got a fix for that, too. See what the Pels need to do is they need to hire two people. One that drives Zion directly from the facility to the house and from the house to the facility so he can get his treatment. No drive throughs. The other driver or the other hire should be a night watchman.

That is a front gate of his gated community so they can turn away all the Uber eats, lift, eats, door dashes and food deliveries in the predominant driver pull up with his hotel. See, I'm also Die Hard Saints fan and I feel for the Pelicans, that fan base anyway, because now New Orleans got two superstars down there that's getting that bag and they ain't playing. Referring to Michael Thomas. Yeah, Michael Thomas, his legs are cooked.

Yeah, I hear you. Oh, what about Brandon Roy? What about him? To your point, if you can't get on the court or get on the field, then that organization has no choice but to put on a big boy pants and make a tough decision. But throwing money at the problem or at the player, it really ain't the answer unless your name is Drew Brees. Well, it's so difficult when you you have Anthony Davis, who's a worldly talent, but also was injury prone. Anthony Davis no longer wants to play there. You selected him to be your your world changer. He's gone. You pick up another potential game changing talent in Zion Williamson. Will you select him at number one?

Overall, you you have made the full commitment to see him through. Otherwise, the franchise is just going to take completely into the toilet. So we see this with the Pelicans. They have made their bed and they they got to land it.

Thank you so much. Big O for calling from from Charlotte. It's a difficult decision, man. And I would agree with what he said up until now. I would say that Zion early on in his career, the first four years, he's been a bust. He hasn't played. I don't care how much talent he has. He's been a bust. Do I think he is a bust? Do I think he's a talentless goon?

Hell no. But if he keeps this up, he's going to make the list permanently. He can still get off.

He got to play. You know what I would love to do? Not here, though. I'd love to have 10, 15 years from now. I don't think he ain't going to last no 15. But I'd love to talk about Zion 10 years from now.

15 years. And I'd love to say, oh, my God. Zion, one of the most athletic, productive power forwards that the NBA has seen that that that he deserves the accolades and the attention. You got to play, though, man. We've had a lot of guys come through the NBA that have talent. How many how many players actually have sustained talent? Those guys go into the Hall of Fame and we know the Basketball Hall of Fame will let in a lot of folks.

It doesn't matter if it's international play. What you do in the NBA. There's some contributions there.

What was I done? Four years. He's been in the NBA four years. 2019 was his first season.

Supposed to be. He didn't play then either. When is he going to debut? When is he going to debut? I watched him debut. I lost my mind watching him debut. He knocked down like a million threes. And then we don't see him ever again. Daniels calling from D.C., you're on CBS Sports Radio. That was a loud sigh.

You OK? At fault for giving these people two contracts, you know? He's a great player. He's averaged 20 and 7.

Hasn't played much, but I just want to know where this is going. John Wall had a big contract. GMs are at fault as well. Yeah, well, the GM puts the team together. The GM is pretty much handcuffed. The GM is going to do what the owner says.

What owner is going to say? Nah, don't pay Zion. Let's just tank the team for the next six years.

Seven years. Like, where are the Pelicans going? Where are they going without Zion? To the playoffs for a couple of years?

And then they got to tear it down anyway? They're in a bad spot. They really are. Tommy's calling from Charlotte. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, how you doing? Good.

Good. I mean, it's hard to call somebody a bus with the talent that he has. I know he hasn't been able to show it in the last couple of years, but he's definitely one of those. I mean, I hate to say that.

I know you might disagree with me here. A generational talent. His size and his capability when he's playing is insane. And I know he's injury-ridden, but he called him a bus. You think of a bus like Greg Oden, a guy who's had a Gonzaga and stuff.

It's just kind of weird. Adam Morrison. There you go, Adam Morrison. You know, you got guys like that who are similar in the style. You know, come in, highly touted, you know, big guys, you know, but none built like Don Wood. And I think watching him play at Duke, you know, he had some injuries there, too.

But when he came back, you can't say that he hasn't done some amazing things on that court. Where are you at? You at the supermarket?

Yeah, I'm so sorry, man. Nah, what you putting in your car, 87, 89? What you putting the gas in the car?

I got it for 87, man. Gas ain't cheap no more. How much is a gas a gallon in Charlotte?

Gas a gallon in Charlotte is about $3.50. Well, Zion, he got a lot of money. He ain't earning it.

Maybe he can send you some, okay? I respect that. All right. Thank you, Tommy.

Appreciate you. Yeah, I don't care. I don't care. I know Zion does have a generational talent.

What does it matter if you don't play? He hasn't gotten the official stamp and been pushed out the door. Zion is not Adam Morrison. He is not Greg Oden. He is not Anthony Bennett.

He on his way. And so to me, I don't care. We really splitting hairs if you want to call him a disappointment or a bust. Pick one. I don't care. This much I know. He has amazing talent and he can't play.

That's it. I'd love to see him play. A matter of fact, give me 60 games every. Give me 65.

I don't know if he can do it. It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you on CBS Sports Radio. I told you Kevin Durant didn't play tonight. Los Angeles Lakers beat their backups. Suns are still in the fourth spot. Lakers are hoping to move up to the sixth spot. Looks like they'll still get into the play in at seven. Kevin Durant had some interesting comments about the way the NBA is. The way it was. And maybe if the game was slower, maybe Zion would still play.

Maybe not. We're going to hear from Kevin Durant on the other side of the break. It's the JR Sport Reshow 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, how you doing man? I listen to you every night on the way home from work. I appreciate what you're doing man.

You're a bad mamma jamma. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. About 40 minutes or so ago, the Los Angeles Lakers, they beat the Suns 121-107. The Lakers are currently seventh in the Western Conference. They finish up their season Sunday against the Jazz. And the Lakers at least are short a winning record after starting the season 2-10. And they still have a small chance to move up to the sixth spot.

But it's likely that the Lakers are going to have to go through the play-in. Meanwhile, the team that they defeated tonight, the Phoenix Suns, they're still in fourth place in the West. And there was no Chris Paul. There was no Devin Booker. There was no Kevin Durant.

Tonight for the Phoenix Suns, Torrey Craig led the way 18 points. And they're just trying to stay healthy. They're just trying to go through and get through the rest of the season. And they want to see Durant. They want Booker and they want Paul.

They want these guys to be healthy. No sense in trying tonight for the Phoenix Suns as they get ready to wrap up their season as well against the Clippers. Interesting enough, Kevin Durant is still doing his podcast because that's what professional athletes do. Charles Oakley goes on a podcast and yells at Isaiah Thomas. And Isaiah Thomas goes on a podcast and gets at Michael Jordan. And Draymond Green has a podcast and he just says everything. Kevin Durant has his Exeterus podcast and for some reason he wanted to take a look back in time at the physicality or the lack of physicality.

A matter of fact, he didn't say that. He said the NBA today is just as physical as it was 20 and 30 plus years ago. The only difference is the referees let a whole lot of things go. Take a listen to Kevin Durant.

I go back and watch a lot of that 90s film, 80s stuff. And they play physical, but I just think they got away with a lot of flavor and fouls. And I think that's why they call their area more physical than ours. Because we play physical here too. It's more space, but guys play physical. We got a strong athletic guys here too. But I watched some of those games.

The paint was clear. Nobody was getting touched. It wasn't a lot of help defense, but you did get a lot of flavor fouls that weren't, didn't result into fines or getting kicked out the game. So it just seemed like, you know, it was a little tougher. A lot of those players just got called as techs and you moved on. Nowadays, guys might get suspended for doing something like some of the fouls Bill Lambert would pull off. Like in transition, how he would foul some of those guys that might have been resulting in suspension nowadays. So guys more cautious of being extra physical based off of that.

Part of what he's saying is true. I wouldn't compare it to today, especially given the pace of the game. There was a point in time, especially in the 90s, the game was, was plotting. It was slow. It was much more physical. It was half court. It was dumped the ball down low. It's easy to be less physical when you're operating more so at the perimeter.

Unless you're going to just strictly take a look at screens. But then even if the ball is down low in the post, you still got guys moving off of screens. You got back to the basket centers. Look at all the centers that we had in the NBA in the 90s that were putting elbows and hips and arms into you while you had dudes being screened around them. I'm talking about the David Robinsons, the Shacks, the Patrick Ewings, the Alonzo Mornings, the David Robinsons and sure, some of these dudes could, you know, pick and pop on a jumper.

And then the guys next to them, for the most part, were enforcers. Oh, this is I hear what Kevin Durant is saying. I don't I don't agree with it. But who the hell am I to argue basketball with Kevin Durant? Right. Not seven feet tall and play like Allen Iverson 8 5 5 2 1 2.

I can't even say that's a disrespect to Kevin Durant. Much more efficient than Mr. Iverson 8 5 5 2 1 2 for CBS. That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 for CBS. Lucius is my main man calling from California.

You're CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Lucius? Hey there. How are you doing tonight? Oh, man. I'm better now that I've heard from you. What's on your mind? Thank you.

Yeah. My question to you is basically in a seven game series. Who do you in the playoffs? Who do you think is more of a threat to the Suns? The Warriors obviously with Katie against the team.

He left because, you know, he wanted to win on his own and that clearly didn't work out. So just the pressure pressure with that matchup or is it the Lakers with A.D. playing as well as he is recently and LeBron back and healthy? Obviously, assuming they make it out of the plane. But yes, who do you think would be a bigger threat? Who's the bigger threat to the Suns? You're asking me if it is Golden State or the Lakers?

Yeah. I think it would be probably the Golden State Warriors. I mean, we've seen what they can do. The Los Angeles Lakers is still a new team. I think the biggest issue here for Golden State is going to be how fast Andrew Wiggins can be re acclimated. And then even an issue last year, all throughout the postseason, even though they were the champions, was was their size. So but despite that, I would say Golden State, the Lakers still got a little bit more work to do. We haven't seen them fully play together at full strength. And we know what Golden State can do at the same time. It's not exactly the same team. You know, Gary Payton Jr. is not being there. It's Andrew Wiggins has to get back into things.

So it's a little tough. Yeah, for sure. And how much do you think Katie playing against the Warriors, you know, and how he left them? How much do you think the pressure of that will have a factor on him? I don't think so, because he's he's one of the greatest. I don't think he's going to be. I mean, the thought will obviously be there.

The questions will be there. But I think once the whistle tips and I'm sure there'll be some friction, somebody will foul somebody. Draymond will be talking crap. Kevin Durant is as professional of a basketball player that you will find. I don't think there would be anything that would kind of kind of mess his brain up.

I think the only thing that would ever slow Kevin Durant down is his body outside of that. I'd take him any day. Yeah, definitely. I agree. OK. A pleasure, Lucius. I'll catch you later, man. Yeah.

No, Lucius, always with the great questions. Gary Payton Junior. Yeah, he came back.

He ain't back. I would be more worried about the the Golden State Warriors if I were the Phoenix Suns. We know what the Lakers can do. And this is what makes the West so damn exciting.

Even in the first round, whatever we get when we get out of this stupid play in whatever we get in the first round. I can't look at you and tell you that any of the teams in the first or excuse me, in the West. Nobody's head and shoulders above anybody. Everybody is flawed.

Everybody has its issues. Whether you are are the Nuggets or Memphis, Sacramento, Phoenix, Golden State, the Clippers, the Lakers. One of these teams is going to be in the Western Conference. Who's it going to be? I mean, by process of elimination, I'm sorry. I don't see the Kings in the finals. I don't.

Sorry. Somebody is going to go. It's going to be fun. Even Denver. I think Phoenix might have a better chance.

But then Phoenix doesn't necessarily have depth. Tonight was good for a lot of their bench guys to go out there and play. It's going to be fun.

I just can't wait to get through this crap. Just like the Mavericks, the quitters. We're going to hear from Jason Kidd on the other side of the break. We're going to talk about a crazy week in basketball as well. We literally had two championships in college. We go to NBA players and NBA teams quitting. We got the Masters going on.

We got the Tampa Bay Rays. They're still undefeated. 7-0. It's just been a busy week. It's the J.R. Sportbrief show on CBS Sports Radio. 855-212-4CBS is the number to hit me if you want to talk to me before I roll out. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. I certainly appreciate your show. I really think you do the best job on the radio talk shows. First of all, I want to say, man, I enjoy your show because it's a different voice and I've contemplated calling before. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the J.R. Sportbrief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Man, what a week it's been.

This has been a busy week. LSU wins the national championship. We got Angel Reese and Kaitlin Clark. And then on Monday night, we got San Diego State and UConn. And then San Diego State.

Yeah, UConn whoops that ass. And then we talk about a parade. I hope they're not having that parade tomorrow. Hey, Shep, do you know any update on that?

Probably not, right? So Mike or Cam, I believe, called us two days ago and it was at the end of the show and they had told me the parade is off. Good.

Good. Have a big ass celebration tomorrow, folks. Leave the parade to everybody in UConn. And then we even had more Angel Reese not going to the White House.

And now she's saying she is going to the White House. The Dallas Mavericks turned into a bunch of quitters today. Jason Kidd saying, oh, we weren't we weren't waving the white flag.

You know, we we just wanted to be eliminated. But he didn't say it. Listen to Jason Kidd after the loss. He just sounds like. Sound like a quitter. Listen to this.

Understanding it's not so much waving the white flag. It's, you know, decisions sometimes are hard in this business and you have to make hard decisions. And we're trying to build a championship team.

Yeah, OK. Hard decisions. We're trying to build a championship team for the future. So we got no chance of winning a championship this year. So we intentionally lost to the Bulls tonight by not playing any stars and only playing Luca 13 minutes so we can get a draft pick. So we have a better chance of holding on to our draft pick who will hopefully somehow some way help us win a championship into the future.

Got it. I know your career. You traded for him and he's going to be a free agent. And a couple of years ago in 2019, you traded for Chris Staps.

That didn't work. And he's playing on the East Coast. I mean, what are we doing here?

This is ridiculous. Former hockey fans, I know you got the Frozen Four. We got the Masters going on. Rory McIlroy is out.

Tiger Woods is kind of right there on the cut line. Brooks Koepka is leading the way. They're going to be busy. We're going to have a lot to talk about when we come back on Monday. The playoffs will be set. We'll be getting ready for the play in so it won't be fully set. Aaron Rodgers. God knows where he'll be, but I assume he's going to be a jet. Maybe we get Lamar update.

Probably not. Anyway, we got folks here. They want to talk to me before we roll out. They have things to say. Let's hear from them. 855-2124 CBS. Let's start off.

Why not? Chris is here from California. You're on the JR Sportbreeze show. What's up, Chris?

Hey, JR. How are you doing, man? Love your program. Thank you. I've been listening for like, I don't know, like three or four months. And I got to be honest with you, you definitely passed the year test brother. I mean, big time. Love the program.

Thank you. Anyway, you know, I want to talk about, you know, I've been following the NBA for like, I don't know, like 55 years or so. And like this year is like a total puzzle.

I mean, it's just tripping me out. You know, you got the Western Conference. Denver's leading all year. Joking's the two-time, you know, Joker. Two-time MVP. And that's the big talk. And, and B, that's, I mean, let's be honest here. I saw the play against each other, I don't know, like two months ago.

And B, like literally destroyed him. So I don't understand the discussion on this. But then, you know, you got to look in the Easter coverage. You got Giannis. You look at this Milwaukee Bucks squad with Giannis, Drew Holliday, you know, middle chances. I mean, this squad is unbelievable. And I'm watching their games and, you know, you get the history of the Bucks with Marcus Johnson, you know, color analyst. It's like, whoa. And, you know, getting back to the playoffs this year, I have no clue what's going to happen, man.

No clue. Well, that, that, that would make it fun. I think every round throughout every level, every step, we're going to have some intriguing matchups.

This is not your prototypical one versus eight. This is going to be fun, Chris. Hey, thank you so much. Don't be a stranger, OK? My pleasure, my friend. You take care. You as well. Thank you, Chris, from California. And I think he, he mentioned the Eastern Conference. Let me, let me tell you guys this.

This is also some news that made me scratch my head today. The Boston Celtics, we know their number two seed in the East. Ain't too much to play for.

They beat the Toronto Raptors in Boston tonight, 121 to 102. There was no Malcolm Brogdon. His back.

Sure. Back hurt. Marcus Smart. He didn't play. Is his neck? His neck hurt. OK. Yeah, sure.

Fine. But going past that, Jalen Brown did not play in the game tonight because he cut his hand. And I know we've heard plenty of stories of athletes forever. Yeah, I cut my hand opening up a box. I cut my hand by slicing an apple for my child. We've heard it all. And these things can happen. They happen at home. How many times have you tried to open a box and you cut yourself?

Especially that damn cardboard. Anyway, Jalen Brown cut a finger on his shooting hand. He knocked over.

A glass vase while watering his plants. Go ahead. Put that in the memory bank for ridiculous injuries. Ridiculous.

Not so ridiculous. OK. Glen Allen Hill. Former baseball player. I remember Glen Allen Hill. He was on his couch. He had a nightmare about spiders and he cut himself on his, you know, his glass table in front of his couch. OK, fine.

And then we have the more interesting ones. Let's let's move up. Fernando Tatis Jr. Hey, what happened to you? Well, I screwed up my wrist. Doing what? Just on my motorcycle.

OK, fine. Stupid injury. We've had a lot. Carl Povano pulled an ass muscle.

Jeff Kent was washing his motorcycle. Joel, my friends in Detroit, remember this. Joel Zumaya. I remember him. Joel Zumaya had carpal tunnel from playing Guitar Hero. He's playing a video game. I guess he was holding.

Let me. OK, that that joke is not appropriate. Anyway, that that that has to be up there, too. This man was out there throwing 100 plus miles per hour and he lost feeling in his arm because he was playing that that guitar, too. I guess he's holding it too, too hard. The grip. He lost all feeling in his wrist. It's worse, but this is unique. We got a new. And then what's the New York Mets, the Cuban guy from the Mets?

Cespadus. This man stepped in a hole trying to catch his wild boar on his ranch in Florida. And now my man was he hurt himself watering his plants. Oh, my God. The vase hurt him, not the plant.

This is not a little shop of horrors. Eight, five, five, two, one, two, four, CBS. It's eight, five, five, two, one, two, four, CBS. Mike is calling from Pittsburgh. What's up, Mike? What's going on, brother?

Are you there? I'm amazing. What's on your mind? I just want to know. After the pirate season started, they're doing pretty good.

I just want to know how you think they're going to finish this year. Will you say, oh, well, what the hell do you think this is? Man, this is radio. What the hell do you think?

Do you think you would Charles Oakley? What are you doing? I have not watched the minute of the the Pittsburgh Pirates yet. I haven't. What do I think they're going to do?

I don't know. Look decent and then choke, I guess. I'll see them soon enough.

It's still like a weekend to the year. I haven't seen every MLB team. Come on.

And any of these hosts who tell you that act like they do their line. You know, but nobody humanly possible is watching every NBA game, every MLB game stop. And I got to be honest here and shout outs to all my folks out in Pittsburgh love Pittsburgh. Come on now. Why the hell would I be sitting down just watching the pirates?

Most of the time sitting here with you anyway. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS back is from Florida back. You got to be quick.

Hey, how's it going? Shout out Iverson. Shout out Josh Brolin, Goonies, Sicario and gangsters. Oh, that's not that's not quick back. That's not quick. What's your point? Zion?

Yes, definitely a bus. FSU and specially Chris Paul tonight. I saw him when they were Wake Forest with a rank 3 in the country and we beat him Tim Pickett in overtime.

But yeah, Zion and him. I mean, I don't know what the deal is with that is the whole thing with eating. I didn't think that he's naturally it's we don't we don't know.

We just know he's naturally a big guy. That's it. Anyway, that's it for me. I'm done for the week. Be back with you on Monday 10 p.m. Eastern Time, 7 p.m. Pacific. Thank you all so much to super producer and host David Shepherd for an amazing week. And thank you all for listening. There is no show without you. Hey, Shep, you on Sunday, huh? Yeah, 2 to 6 a.m. Eastern Time.

I have a feeling Zion might be talked about a little bit along with Luca Doncic deciding to, you know, with the bed along with the rest of the Mavericks chair. I can't wait, man. You on the other hand, you actually get a couple days off. It's not I didn't ask you about me now. I got to shut up. Okay, I'm out of here. The JR Sportbrief show here on CBS Sports Radio.

It is a wrap. It's done. Listen to Shep on Sunday. We'll be back together with you Monday night. You can find me everywhere at JR Sportbrief. Do not miss David Shepherd on Sunday. The JR Sportbrief show on CBS Sports Radio is done, but don't move because coming up immediately is Ryan Hickey.

He is awesome. Thank you. Just click installation at checkout and relax while we do the work for you. No matter how many window treatments you order, installation is always one low cost.

Need help choosing? Talk to a Blinds.com design expert for free to help you make the best selection from classic shutters to outdoor roller shades and more. With over 25 million windows covered, you can rest easy with Blinds.com's 100% satisfaction guarantee. See why Blinds.com is the number one online retailer of custom window coverings with over 40,000 five star reviews. Shop Blinds.com and save 45% off selected products.

45% off selected products at Blinds.com. Rules and restrictions may apply. This podcast is brought to you by the Showtime original series Yellow Jackets. For those of us who didn't peak in high school, those teenage years were pretty angsty. But nobody had it worse than the whiskey high Yellow Jackets girls soccer team of 1996. Yellow Jackets, the Emmy nominated phenomenon that has us all asking what really happened out there and what wouldn't you do to stay alive?

Is back for its much anticipated second season. The team survived a plane crash and a summer stranded in the woods. But winter bites and those girls are hungry.

Plus, there might be a dark force in the wilderness compelling them to do some unsavory things. TBD. Meanwhile, 25 years later, the surviving adult Yellow Jackets are grappling with their past while getting caught up in kidnappings, cults, murders and parenting moody teenagers. Melanie Linsky and Tawny Cypress star with Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis. The Internet is obsessed and Rotten Tomatoes declared it 100% fresh. So if you haven't watched Yellow Jackets, it's time.

New episodes streaming now only on Showtime and now stream Showtime on Paramount Plus. This is Flea for This Little Lake, a podcast about falling in love with music. I started a nonprofit music school about 20 years ago called the Silver Lake Conservatory of Music. The reason that I started doing this podcast was music education. I'll be speaking with Rick Rubin.

Thundercat. Stewart Copeland. Margo Price. Corey Henry. Cynthia Erivo.

Sheila E. And Patti Smith. Please listen and follow This Little Light, a presentation of Cadence 13 on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Attention sports fans. Your favorite sports book, BetUS.com is back for a 28th year NFL action. With the industry's biggest signup bonus of up to 200 percent, BetUS offers our members the opportunity to cash in on all your favorite leagues, including NFL, NBA, MLB and more. We've also got hundreds of new casino games, including the coolest European slots and our live dealers are waiting for you at the tables. You need a sports book with integrity, longevity and you need to know you're going to get paid.

You need a sports book that offers everything, including live betting, MMA, golf, horses, esports and all kinds of crazy bets. Call today at 1-800-79-BetUS. That's 1-800-79-BetUS and they will walk you through setting up an account. Nobody in the industry gets better bonuses than BetUS. Join now. Mention BetUS 2022 and you can get up to 200 percent bonuses on your first deposit. Nobody beats that. Head to BetUS.com and join today. That's BetUS, where the game begins.