JR SportBrief Hour 3

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It's the JR sport brief show on CBS sports radio. This is what I call halftime, halftime of this show. I've been here with you for two hours. There's two more hours to go. We get started 10 p.m. Eastern time, 7 p.m. Pacific. Much love to everybody listening out on the West Coast where the Los Angeles Lakers are currently losing.

How about this? Losing to Minnesota 86 to 79. They're going into the fourth quarter. Whoever wins this game gets the seventh seed.

Whoever loses this game gets another opportunity to play on Friday for the eighth seed. We'll keep you updated there. Shout outs to everybody listening here with me in Atlanta, Georgia. All my folks here in the South.

My folks on the East Coast, the Midwest, the mountains and everything in between. You can listen to the show on the free Odyssey app. You can lock in on this show on YouTube. You can lock in on this show on your local CBS sports radio affiliate, Sirius XM channel 158.

And then you can also tune in on the smart speaker, super producer and host Dave Shepherd. He's holding it down on the boards in New York City. We've had an eventful night even so far up until now. We opened up the show talking about the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta beat Miami tonight, 116 to 105. Atlanta secures the seventh seed in the NBA playoffs and the Atlanta Hawks will move on to take on the Boston Celtics in the first round. The Miami Heat, the losers tonight, they still have a chance to get into the playoffs as the eighth seed. They will take on the winner between Chicago and Toronto. Chicago and Toronto play each other on Wednesday night and then they will play Miami. Miami just has to win one game.

Whoever wins tomorrow will obviously have to win two. Trae Young involved in a lot of trade conversations. Well, there was a report over the past two days that the Hawks would be open to trading Trae Young in the offseason. And after the victory, he spoke to TNT, Ernie and Shaq and he talked about ignoring all of the noise and going out and winning this game. Trae Young finished with 25 points in eight rebounds, seven assists. What was different tonight? Total team effort.

What was different tonight from your bunch? I just think we brought the physicality to them. I mean, they're known and around this league for being a very physical team and try to bully a lot of teams on the defensive end. And if you don't match their intensity and their physicality, you can get beat. And that's what I feel like has been going on these last couple of games against them, the last few games.

So tonight, I think we really matched their physicality in a show. I got to make sure this is Trae Young. Let me hear. Trae, look, I know you're going through a lot. What did you say to yourself today? Hey, I have to focus on this to, you know, play the type of game that you play because, you know, with all the stuff that you're going through, you could have went either way.

But I felt you played a fabulous game. What did you say yourself to stay mentally prepared? For me, just all day, just been trying to think about tonight, just trying to focus on the next task.

I mean, I can't control all the outside noise and what's going on everywhere else. I can only control what I can control, and that's what I do on this court and for my teammates and making sure we come out with the win and let everything else take care of itself. So that was my mindset, not to get focused on anything else but today's game.

Okay. Meanwhile, for the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler, he finished with 21 points, Tali Hero 26, Bam Adebayo had 12, Kyle Lowry had 33, and their head coach, Eric Spolstra, he said, man, we just, we got to get back to the drawing board. We definitely have to, you know, get to the film and go back to all the fundamentals, you know, we knew coming into this game that this game would be decided, you know, ball in the air, ball on the floor, and it certainly was. Yeah, yeah, Miami Heat, they don't have enough, they don't have enough firepower there, and so we'll keep you updated with the Lakers and Timberwolves as they continue on. We'll have time to get into Atlanta and the Celtics. I'm not feeling too optimistic about Atlanta and their chances against Boston, but we got this game going on right now it's the start of the fourth quarter the Minnesota Timberwolves leading the Lakers 86 to 79, whoever wins this game this evening, they will go on to take on the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs, the loser of this game will still get a chance, Oklahoma City will take on the Pelicans, and that game will go down on Wednesday night.

Throughout the course of the night there's a few other things that we discussed. Aaron Rodgers is still on hold to be moved along to the New York Jets. Mark Murphy, president of the Green Bay Packers, pretty much said that, you know, we're just waiting he say much and nothing.

We learned that Tristan Thompson is on the Los Angeles Lakers right now he's a great bench warmer. And then I do want to talk to you about NFL Sunday ticket. Some of these prices are ridiculous Jeff Okuda has been traded from the Lions to the Falcons, and it's, it's a lot going on. We also have tons and tons and tons of callers. I want to get to your calls. I want to talk to you about NFL Sunday ticket.

And then we'll talk about this this Minnesota in Los Angeles Lakers game. As it concludes 855-212-4CBS that's 855-212-4CBS. We got a lot of folks who want to say a lot of things, please let us know your opinion, let us know your point and try not to spend, you know, 20 minutes trying to get to it. Tommy's calling from New Orleans, you're on the JR Sportbreeze show. Go ahead, Tommy. JR, how you doing, my brother. How's everybody by you, man? Good, man.

What's on your mind? Listen, Zion Williams thing, man. I'm done with this guy.

He's a punk. Okay, and he's a long line. He's a long line of a Baron Davis, Chris Paul, Anthony Davis. I'll even throw Michael Thomas in there, man. He's a modern day.

Jamarcus Russell, JR, or Ryan Leaf, Artabaridovich. I'm done. It would be one thing if he's actually mentally incapacitated, but he hadn't played in, I don't know, 16 years, JR, and he's only been in the league for five.

I mean, what else do you want us to do? And I mean, Let's go back. Calling Zion Williamson a punk is a very strong statement to make. Do you want to retract that or do you want to explain why you want to call Zion a punk? I will explain why I call Zion a punk. Zion's a punk because he took the money and didn't perform.

And I understand that, you know, he got injured and they were like that, but now it's a mental thing. It just, it doesn't pass the smell test, man. And quite honestly, JR, I am biased because we've been burned by all those guys, you know, Baron Davis, Chris Paul, Anthony Davis, all those guys. And I'm just sick of it, man. I'm sick of it.

The pelicans are a stepping stone in the NBA and that needs to be said. For anyone who is not familiar with why you're calling him a punk, Zion Williamson spoke to the media today and said, I can pretty much do everything. It's just a matter of the level that I was playing at before my hamstring. I don't want to go out there and be in my own head and affect the team when I can just be on the sideline supporting them more. He said that there are times when he still feels hesitation when he makes certain moves.

And so there's a few things here. Part of it sounds like he's in his own head and it does seem to be another element where he's worried about damaging himself more, which I think is reasonable. Would I say, hey, go out there and give it a try? I would say so. That's me. But I don't know if I'd go to the extent of calling him a punk. When I think punk, my words are a little bit stronger.

I'm calling somebody a punk ass and you can fill in whatever you want left. And so I would just caution you. Just be patient. I understand. And then I probably should dial that back and I will.

But, you know, all of that makes hay. And if he feels that way, then stop playing basketball. OK.

Thank you, Tommy. We get it. He ain't gonna get that money up, would you? Now, if you want to call him a crook, if you want to call him a sham, what's Ben Simmons doing? I mean, if we're going to use that type of logic to say, oh, you're getting paid a lot of money, he's not performing, we can put a lot of people in that category, can't we? Like, if you want to call Zion a punk, what is Ben Simmons? And Ben Simmons, they said he had a mental issue. Is it a mental issue? Is it his back?

They got to cut it open again? Like, what's the deal? 855-212-4CBS. Lee is calling from San Diego. What's up, Lee? Hey, G.R. Thanks for taking my call, man.

Sure. Hey, I want to talk about how deep the Padres lineup is. And we have guys like Hassan Kim and Trent Grisham, which I think is probably one of the best outfielders in the league right now. And they're hitting out of the yard.

What's going to happen when Tatis comes back? What is a pitcher to do? Who are they going to pitch around? And who are they going to pitch to?

Let me know, bro. No one. No one.

Here's what I know. Fernando Tatis Jr., I know that he's likely to go out there and play in the outfield. But to be honest with you, I ain't thinking about the San Diego Padres until, give me another month or two. They spent all that money. The lineup is ridiculously deep. The starters are deep. Let's see, we got a long season, 162 games. They just got started. Give them some time. I'm not worried about them right now.

They're going to whoop ass unless Fernando Tatis Jr. gets another dirty haircut and says that he didn't take drugs. 855-2124, CBS Beck is here from Florida. What's up, Beck?

Hey, how's it going? Congrats to your ATL beating us tonight. But yeah, we're still trash. I wouldn't call them my ATL, but go ahead.

Oh, I'm sorry. With all the games you went to, you're a big fan of the ATL and the Hawks. I'm a big fan of basketball.

I'll watch anybody, but go ahead. You know, Lowry tonight having the most points in what, like two years and we still get blown out? I mean, this is a joke, but again, with our bias, hopefully we win the next game. Do you know who, do we still have home court depending on the Bulls' Toronto game? That, um, well, yes, that game should be a home game for the Miami Heat, should be. Ah, okay. Well, then again, if Atlanta, if Atlanta were to lose, the home game would have been here.

Ah, okay. So we still have a chance with a home court, but then again, if we hopefully get it, we won't have home court. The rest of the playoffs will be the last seed, but we've matched up with Milwaukee. I mean, all your callers last night talked about the Celtics, like the Heat were guaranteed to play the Celtics, and now we may not even make the playoffs. But hopefully, you know, again with Milwaukee, we matched up within the last couple years, so anything's possible.

But again, you know, everything's trash. Kevin Love, why didn't we get Westbrook? Or he lives here in Miami, I think, and everything else. And again, we need to do a whole revamp of that whole team. Maybe Pat Riley needs to leave.

Okay. Yeah, Pat Riley, he's forgotten a whole lot about basketball from, I don't know, maybe about the past 40 years, but, I don't know. Just be patient, Beck. Enjoy the rest of the season while it's here, because you, like I know, eventually it's just coming to a close.

Wow. Yeah, just Pat Riley needs to go. Why not? Get rid of Pat Riley and get rid of Eric Spolstra. You know what? I don't know where Ronnie Cykli is, but let Ronnie Cykli be the GM.

Let him run the team. What do I know? Sanjay is here from Corpus Christi. You're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Sanjay?

Hey, JR. So I just wanted to talk about, you know, the Celtics. Where do you think they'll end up in these playoffs? Potentially the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks. So do you think they'll win the finals this year? Because I think they have a pretty good chance of doing so.

They have a chance at winning the finals. I haven't necessarily sat down and filled out a bracket. I'm just looking forward to the games, man. I know when we get into playoffs and sports and all of this, people need to fill out brackets and make bold predictions of who's going to do this. I really just want to see people win the games. If you want to ask me kind of, you know, level of level who I think is going to win, I'm cool with that.

But I haven't sat down and proclaimed anybody to be a champion. I think we will have Eastern Conference Finals between the Bucks and the Celtics. But I'm a realist, man. I can sit down and make predictions, but I know along the way things are going to change that are outside of anybody's control. Somebody's going to get hurt. Somebody's going to go down with an injury. And so I'd rather just go through the process and wait to see who's there before I say, I believe this is going to happen.

I believe that is going to happen. Sometimes me, just like everybody else, I just want to watch and enjoy the games. You know, a guy called and he says, oh, you're Atlanta Hawks. Yeah, I guess they are mine.

They in the city. But I don't. I like the Hawks. I know a lot of people in the organization, the team and stuff. I root for them, but I'm not jumping for joy.

I'm happy. I just watch basketball, man. They give me a credential to see all of the games.

I go, I do it. I love basketball or football or baseball or soccer. I like tennis.

I will watch cockroaches, wrestling and and running through the subway if I can. I like athletics. I like competition. It's the JR sport re-show here with you on CBS Sports Radio.

Speaking of competition. YouTube now has the rights to the NFL Sunday ticket package. They are paying two billion dollars a year to the NFL for it. Guess who has to cover some of that cost?

Yeah, maybe you. I'm going to give you an update. I'm going to talk to you about NFL Sunday ticket when we come back. I'll give you more details on how much it's going to cost. Eight five five two one two four CBS. Hey, if you're going to watch some NFL games later this year, you want to watch your out of market teams.

It's going to cost you. We'll explain on the other side here on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the J.R. Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the J.R.

Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. Your credit to your profession. You are one of the rare where your personality actually balances facts with whatever college called me. But I'm also called up a barely in Texas.

So barely in Texas lives you. Call in now at eight five five two one two four CBS. The JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio. The Lakers and Minnesota are still playing it close. About five minutes left in the game. Minnesota leading 95 to 90. Los Angeles Lakers are just trying to go ahead and get over that hump. We'll give you that that full score in that final when it comes through. Whoever wins this game will secure the seventh seed in the NBA's Western Conference.

I do want to mention this. A couple of weeks ago, maybe maybe about a month or so ago, we learned that the NFL Sunday ticket package was going to be distributed by YouTube TV later on this year. DirecTV has basically distributed Sunday ticket for the past 30 years. And so you had a satellite dish or you streamed it and you purchased it and you were able to watch every NFL game. And then you had red zone if you didn't want to watch one particular game. And so last year, the cheapest price for NFL Sunday ticket was about 300 bucks. And that was if you also had an NFL or excuse me, if you already had a DirecTV subscription. Now, with YouTube TV, Google signed a seven year deal to push out all of these games.

And they're paying two billion dollars a year to the NFL. You'll be able to watch four games at a time. You'll be able to to have these games saved via DVR.

And so you have a little bit more benefit. You know, NFL Sunday ticket on DirecTV, when the game was done, it was done. There was no going back. And sitting down and watching it, I assume unless you had it saved on the DVR, most people I know streamed it.

You were cooked. And a lot of times, even last year, DirecTV is not a technology company. It's not a streaming technology company.

This is what YouTube does. DirecTV last year for Sunday Ticket sucked. I mean, they had the refund money at points last year because the service didn't even work. I didn't enjoy getting emails. I subscribed to Sunday Ticket.

I didn't enjoy getting emails apologizing that I couldn't watch the game because of some technical glitch. And so if there's one thing YouTube does, it's push out video. But it's gonna cost you. We learned today that the price for NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. If you have YouTube, it will cost you three hundred and fifty dollars per season.

That is, if you already have YouTube TV. If you do not, it will cost you four hundred and fifty dollars for the season. And if you buy this and they want to make sure people buy it soon, you'll save one hundred dollars if you buy it before June 6th.

And so the season starts in September. If you plan on watching every single NFL game, I would advise you, if you can, buy it before June 6th and save yourself one hundred dollars. The price is pretty similar to what we had with DirecTV. I believe in the reliability of YouTube TV, but it is still a steep price to pay for every single NFL game. And if you want Red Zone, it's going to cost you a lot of money there, too.

Three hundred and ninety bucks with NFL Red Zone. And then if you don't have YouTube TV, it'll cost you five hundred bucks if you want Red Zone. And I would think maybe if you're watching every single game and you're a diehard, maybe you're gambling, too. Maybe that's why you want to watch. Maybe your favorite team doesn't play locally and you want to get the games.

It's a lot of money. There were people that were disappointed that YouTube didn't offer up a single team package. So let's say you live in Oakland, but you are a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and that's the only team that you wanted to watch. You can't.

You can, but you have to buy the entire package. There's no singular game. And you also can't buy it week to week. And from a business perspective, I understand it. People are used to paying for these games and YouTube is saying, give me all your money. I'm not I'm not surprised here.

This sounds it sounds right up about everybody's alley. If you think about the cost of streaming. Everything is going up and I don't know, but Netflix has increased the prices. I don't know how much Netflix is. I guess 16 bucks now, 16, 18 bucks. We know that there's HBO Max and then there's Peacock and there's Hulu.

I think Discovery and HBO Max, they're getting ready to announce a merger. So God knows that will go up. And so by the time you do all of the math, what you probably used to pay in cable if you ever had it versus what you're paying in streaming, you add all of it up. You're paying a la carte. But it's about to be the same amount of money. So the NFL is coming through and I'm glad it's on YouTube TV.

At least I know it works. But these prices are are nuts. But here's the deal. People are going to pay for. And enough people will pay for it where the NFL is. They ain't going to be upset. They get near two billion dollars anyway.

And the last time I checked Google slash YouTube slash alphabet, they not losing any money as well. And so they know fans will pay for it. Fans are addicted to the NFL.

This prices might be steep. Three fifty for the whole season. People are going to pay for it. People are going to watch. People are going to tune in. Eight five five two one two four CBS.

That's eight five five two one two four CBS. Peter is here from Sacramento. You're on the JR Sportbreeze show. What's up, Peter? Hey, what's going on there, man?

Just calling in from SAC, man. You know, we're trying to light this beam up. Just wanted to get your take on what you think the chances of the Kings are progressing in the playoffs and moving forward. I know not a lot of people as far as national media has given them a lot of attention, at least from what I've gathered for sure. So I just want to get your take on on the Kings.

Yeah, we talked about this last night. I know they're going to take on the Golden State Warriors. And this is this is my overall assessment of the Kings. They should be happy with what they've been able to do this season and anything else on top of that is just it's a cherry on top.

If they can go past the Golden State Warriors. Oh, my God. Congratulations. You have more to build up on.

But this is flat. And I said this last night. I look at the Kings and there's a couple of things that I think they lack. They lack experience. I don't think they have a full depth coming off of the bench in defense and size. Those are really what I look at when I look at the Kings. And so can they beat Golden State?

Yeah, everybody has a chance. Would it be a shock? It'd be a decent shock. I think if the Kings want to win. And this is the only way they would is if they try to run Golden State out of the building every single game.

And I don't know if that's going to work for four games. If it does, man, you got to crown them. But I still believe, man, they have some holes to fill.

They have some growth. And that's not to take away from what they've done so far. But, man, this ain't like no championship team that we looking at. No. Yeah, no, I get that defense for sure.

Have you watched any of the games, though? I see the Kings every night in the background while my ass is sitting here live on the radio. Right on. For sure, man. Right on there. I appreciate it.

Thank you. No doubt about it. Thank you, Peter, for calling from Sacramento. Man, I got I got multiple screens on in the studio. I think you can pretty much deduce where I'm at every single week night from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on the East Coast. All of the games are on.

The Sacramento Kings games are on while I'm sitting here. And all I do is see them run up and down the court. I can look at the numbers.

I can look at the talent. I know the players that they have. They got some work to do.

Speaking of some work to do. Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers are tied at 95 all. Little less than 90 seconds left in the game. And this is going down to the wire. It's been a close one.

It's the chair. Our sport re-show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. What we are going to do is take a break.

I'm going to come back and get some more your calls. Maybe we'll have a result here in this game and we will figure out who is moving on. As the seventh seed, somebody got to win this game. It's the JR sport re-show on CBS Sports Radio. Oh man, Minnesota has fallen asleep. You are listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. Hey man, thank you for having me man. Enjoy your show man. I've been tuned here for about a month man. I've been locked in.

I appreciate your work man. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. LeBron James goes baseline, kicks a pass out to Dennis Schroeder. Dennis Schroeder knocks down the three. Ninety-five.

Excuse me. Ninety-eight to ninety-five. The Los Angeles Lakers take the lead. The Minnesota Timberwolves have basically fallen asleep here at the end of the game. Haven't scored since about six minutes left here in the game. Mike Conley hit a three about halfway through the fourth and Minnesota has just drawn a blank there.

And now, it appears that we are without me going into play-by-play mode. With a tenth of a second left on the clock, we are now entering into a review mode. Mike Conley takes a three. Literally, one tenth of a second left on the clock. Anthony Davis gives him a little bit of a high five and Mike Conley is at the free throw line.

Hey Shep, you can't make this ending up. What a game. Are you kidding me? Yeah, Anthony Davis gives him a little slap. The Los Angeles Lakers don't have additional reviews here. Darvin Ham is just kind of on the sideline looking around and I'll go ahead and fill you in. This game is going into overtime. Ninety-eight all at the end of the fourth quarter. Mike Conley scores with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Minnesota doesn't score a damn thing.

The Lakers basically only score seven points in that same time frame. And then Dennis Schroeder knocks down a three. What you would think is a game-winning three with 1.4 seconds left on the clock.

Dennis Schroeder is posing and letting everybody know he has ice in his veins. And with 1.4 seconds left on the clock, you would swear Minnesota's done. Until Mike Conley takes a three and Anthony Davis gets called for a foul. He slapped the hand of Mike Conley. Typically, if you get the hand, you get away with it. Not this time. The game is going into overtime.

Ninety-eight to ninety-eight. This might be one of these all-time games that people remember just based on how this has gone about. And we saw some turnovers. Austin Reeves trying to inbound the ball to LeBron, turns it over. LeBron James then called for a foul. Kyle Anderson gets the ball. Kyle Anderson is hounded by Anthony Davis.

He turns it over. That set up the three-pointer. This is going to be a wild ending in Minnesota. This is good stuff.

I know the playing games are a bunch of losers, but this is a good game. 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. That's 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. Nikki is here from California. You're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Nikki? Hi, Jay.

This is Nikki and I'm in El Cajon, California, but born and raised in San Diego. I just have to say that you are the most fantastic, most incredible and rejuvenating person I've ever listened to. I listen to your radio station as I drive around door dashing and I do it for eleven and a half hours. And I wait until seven o'clock our time to listen to you. I was cut off today. I was really bummed out by the Padre game, but I've gotten now to get back to you.

So I just wanted to tell you I am a listener. I'm a Kansas City Chiefs game. And I have to say that also there are a lot of sore losers in the Super Bowl that were unhappy with the game played. You know, like you say, there's winners and there's losers. So that's all we can say. OK, well, thank you for the kind words and good luck to your chiefs.

OK, maybe they go back to back. OK, take care. Thank you so much, Nikki.

Drive safe, OK? OK, thanks. No doubt about it.

Thank you so much. Man, people start calling me about food. I always get hungry. Always.

I always want some food anyway. Yeah, the Kansas City Chiefs. I'm interested to see what they do with their wide receiving group. Juju Smith Schuster. He left. I know they just got Richie James from the New York Giants.

I'm not I'm not going to be worried about those Kansas City Chiefs too much, but let's see what they do moving forward. Eight five five two one two four CBS. Larry is here from Cleveland.

You're on the chair. Our sport show. What's up, Larry? Hello. Hello, Jr.

This is this is Larry. Nice speaking to you. I wrote to you an email a while back about what I do. And it's an honor to speak to you as well. But I got a message for Sion Williams. I got a real clear message.

Sir Sion Williams, if you hear me out there, I got a message for you. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. I'm a person with disabilities who lost my shot in 2005, had multiple disabilities, technically live in the hospital. Technically, I still have two jobs.

And I'm looking forward to going to a job fair at first in the stadium, trying to fly for the Rock Hall. Nice. I'm trying to better myself. And I want this player to hear this out. I need to him for stop being sorry for himself because I have mental health issues, too. But I cope with them. And I'm an inspiration to everybody. And I do advocacy work for people with disabilities in the community. And I'm a self advocate in my community. And I go to Washington, D.C. And I go to Columbus to testify at the State House. I'm very involved in my community.

And I'm not going to give up. And thank you for what you do for the people with disabilities in our community. And I actually listen to your podcast, too. He needs to listen to your podcast, too. He needs to listen to me and listen to this message very clearly.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself, sir. Thank you. OK. Well, Larry, thank you so much. And thank you for being an inspiration.

You go out there and be awesome. OK. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. And write me an email. I got.

And I get. When did you email me, Larry? When I I emailed you a while back. I got your email and I can email you so you can do me a favor. Forward me. I can find it.

But forward me the email and I'm going to look out for it between tonight and tomorrow. OK, I'll do so. All right.

Thank you. Well, Larry, I'll look out for you. No doubt about it. Absolutely. Anytime, Larry.

Thank you for calling from Cleveland. I mean, that that that also makes you put things in perspective now, doesn't it? You start taking a look at what everybody has to deal with in the real world. And it you know, there's there's not a real it's like Zion is still a human being. I know we have one of our callers say, oh, my God, Zion's a punk.

He's taking the money. And I'm like, do we got to go that far? We got to call Zion Williamson a punk. And yeah, I would love to see him out there. I think he can.

Oh, he'd be surprised at what he can accomplish by going out there rather than being afraid. But who am I to tell him what's in his body? I just know what I want from him.

But I ain't him. I don't know if I go as far as calling him a punk. Do I want to say he's he's soft? Maybe. Do I want to question his his mental toughness? Maybe. Am I going to say that he's dealing with the mental health issues? I'm not going that far. It's confidence. We don't have too many athletes who step up and say, oh, I'm dealing with this. I'm dealing with that.

And whether it's a physical injury or mental injury. The players are more vocal than than they ever have been. And to Zion's credit, he stood there and he talked about it earlier today.

And he mentioned that if you missed it, Zion talking about, you know, what people think about him. Says he can't worry about it at all. Listen. It's tough. I can't lie.

It's it's tough. From my perspective, I just want to play basketball. I want to hoop. I want to play the game I love. But the reality of it is, whether I check my phone, whether I'm just watching TV, no matter what it is, I can't really escape, you know, what the what the world thinks, what people people's opinions are.

So nice. It's frustrating. It's frustrating. I'm sure it is.

Zion continued on. And he says that he can't understand why people think that he he doesn't want to play. This is what he said. I love his game. I say it over and over for those people that think that I just want to sit on the sideline just to sit over there.

I don't know why people think that, but I know it sucks. I just I just want to be playing basketball for. You know, I don't know if today helps them, though. I don't know if the conversation helps. And he was honest. He said, listen, I want to be Zion. I want to be the Zion that I used to be. I mean, there's certain things that I do on the court that I'm still hesitant to do. Well, how do you get over them until you play?

That's always going to be there. At the beginning of this season, we had Klay Thompson come back from a blown out Achilles, a blown out ACL. We ain't seen Klay Thompson in full strength in two years. I feel like I haven't seen Klay Thompson forget two years. The last time I saw Klay Thompson really running around was in like twenty nineteen. And here we have Klay coming off of his injuries and Charles Barkley said, oh, he's cooked.

He's done. He's not the same dude. Well, as the season went on and Klay Thompson said it himself, man, give me a break. I just came back and Klay Thompson looks like the Klay Thompson of old. He don't look washed or cooked.

He looks like he's back in the groove. And so sometimes you've got to give the players the benefit of the doubt that they can go out there and turn things around. Zion hasn't proven anything. He's shown that he has tons of talent, that he can compete at an all star level, that he is just a bowling ball on the way to the basket in a way that we haven't seen in a long time in a different way. But we ain't seen it consistently. So we don't know if he'll ever be healthy enough to go out there and play.

But he still has time to turn it around. I think you've made your statement. The next time Zion says anything. It should be with the basketball in his hands. You've made your statement today.

You've talked about how you are physically able to play, but you have concerns about going out there and playing. And nothing else to say, man. Come back next season and ball out.

There should be nothing else after this. Hey, Shep, what do you think about his comments? I mean, listen, he's had he's been on the floor with Brandon Ingram for 12 games in the last two years. There is not a more explosive athlete in the NBA. And you just feel like whether it's injury related, whether it's diet related, he can't stay out of his own way. And so he has been, I wouldn't say embarrassment, but he's been a disappointment. And this is him at his most vulnerable. You can tell this means a lot to him.

We remember him signing last season when he had that contract extension when a lot of people questioned it. He was visibly emotional. This game means a lot to him. But to your point, JR, I hear a lot of talking from Zion Williamson.

I don't see the action being more important than the talking with him. And it's time that he just stops talking and lets the play dictate who we think of him. That's that's what it comes down to, because he's not a bust. He's not Greg Oden. He's not Anthony Bennett, but he is an individual that he may go down as the most injury plagued superstar this sport has ever seen. And this is a sport, remember, with Bill Walton.

Oh, yeah, busted. At least Bill Walton was able to play a long time, as busted up as he was and win a championship. Zion is just, he ain't playing at all. There may not be no MVP or championship. He just doesn't, you know, play. He's going to make tons of money. You know, after after today, I think there's there's nothing to say.

He said what he said. I don't foresee him playing this season. I don't see the pelicans doing anything. There's no reason for him to play. He's not going to be conditioned. He hasn't played since January 2nd.

Zion needs to count the months. Go through the summertime. Do what you did last year. Get in shape again. Maybe lose some L.B.'s. And come back better next year.

Actually play. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. The Lakers and Timberwolves continue on. 18 seconds left in overtime. L.A. leads 105 to 102.

Maybe we'll have a result. I'll tell you on the other side here on CBS Sports Radio. This is Flee for This Little Lake, the 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, Margot 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. Every Plasma donation helps more than you know. Do the amazing. Help save lives. Donate today at your local CSL Plasma Center and be rewarded for your generosity.