JR SportBrief Hour 1

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Donate today at your local CSL plasma center and be rewarded for your generosity. The show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Happy Friday night to you. Hope you're getting ready for a great weekend full of basketball. Because the entire NBA playoff slate is just about set. We're going to talk about it all night long.

We got plenty more things to talk about. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. This is when the show gets started.

10 p.m. Eastern Time, 7 p.m. Pacific. I'm being joined by super producer and host Dave Sheppard. He's coming to you live from New York City.

We're going to be hanging out with you for the next four hours. So to everybody locked in on your local affiliate, thank you so much. To everybody listening on the free Odyssey app, A-U-D-A-C-Y, thank you so much. If you're tuned in on Sirius XM Channel 158, thank you so much.

And if you're on a smart speaker, then you can make the assumption that you're smart. Congratulations and thank you so much. Yeah, we're going to keep you up to date on what is pretty much the remaining game, the final playing game that will make whole the NBA playoffs, which will start tomorrow actually. Right now, in the first quarter, about halfway through the first, Oklahoma City and Minnesota, they are tied at 12. And the winner of this game will move on as the eighth seed in the Western Conference to take on the number one seed, Denver Nuggets. And so we're going to talk about some of the playoff matchups that are pretty much already set.

For the weekend, by the time tomorrow rolls around, Brooklyn and Philadelphia will take on each other, Atlanta, Boston, New York. You got a nightcap with Golden State and Sacramento. But about 20 minutes ago, right before we got started on air, the Miami Heat, they grabbed the final spot in the East. The Miami Heat just beat the Chicago Bulls 102 to 91. And congratulations to Miami because they now have a trip.

They have an entire series against the Milwaukee Bucks that starts late Sunday afternoon. The final score one more time, Chicago 102, excuse me, Miami 102, Chicago 91. And this was a back and forth game.

Pretty much right out of the gate. Miami Heat had the lead and then the Bulls had the lead. And then pretty much the Bulls ran out of gas at the end of the game.

Let me give you some final stats and numbers here. Jimmy Butler. Yeah, he had a big, big and one at the end of the game. He also had a big pass. Jimmy Butler finished with 31 points. Max Drewes finished with 31 points. Bam Adebayo had a crap night shooting the basketball, one of nine from the field overall, but was able to hold down 17 rebounds and then also had a big block at the end of the game.

And the Chicago Bulls, they go into the off season rather meekly. DeMar DeRozan had 26 points. I mean, he went to the basket and ended up with and ones with reckless abandon. And Zach Levine having a poor shooting night himself. This go round 15 points, six of 20 from the field. And so Billy Donovan pretty much left standing on the sidelines with his hands on his hips.

And here's the deal. In the third quarter, the Miami Heat led by 10 in the third. And then the Chicago Bulls were on the run.

I mean, we saw Kobe White knocking down threes. But this is what it boiled down to. To close out the game. The Miami Heat finished with a 15 to 1 run to close this out. And the turning point. A lot of it came from Mr. Jimmy Butler.

Who would you would expect it to come from? I want you to take a listen to these clips from the Heat radio network, starting off Jimmy Butler, going to the basket, going strong, getting an and one and finally getting the Heat a lead. Jimmy working on the vein pump gets underneath, got it up, got it, got the bucket and the foul. The Butler did it again.

Thank you, Jason. It continued on. Jimmy Butler wasn't just out there going hard to the basket. He also played defense, had two steals, had four rebounds, and then he had a massive assist.

I told you about Max Struce. 31 points. He knocked down seven threes. Six of Max Struce's three, six of them, came in the first half. But Jimmy Butler was able to hit him with this big one late in the game. Butler with 29.

Girls around. Leads it for Strips. Three ball.

Right wing. He got it. Max Struce with four barrels of juice. Seven of twelve from downtown. He has 28 barrels of juice.

OK. All right. Nice to see Max Struce show up tonight. By the way, Kyle Lowry. Oh, man, he was he played and then he was on the sideline stretching out his left leg.

And I guess that's what age will do to you. And despite that, the Miami Heat was still able to come back and win. A big punctuation mark to the game.

Bam Adebayo. I told you he sucked the night shooting the ball. He had a poor game the other night as well. Shooting a rock. One of nine from from the field.

Just flat period. He was able to grab 17 rebounds. So he contributed defensively. And then defensively, there was nothing bigger than this gigantic block to Zach Levine that pretty much, I'd say, helped close out the game. Levine flying. He got bucked by Bam at the apex.

Bam Adebayo might not be a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year. But you try it. I dare you. He calls these games like they are WWE matches. I love it here. Let's hear the final call. Where's the excitement as the Miami Heat get ready to take on the Bucks again?

Let's hear that. Eight seconds to go. Butler will put the ball on the ground. The daps have already started and this one belongs to the Heat. Milwaukee. Milwaukee. Here we come. Milwaukee. Here we come.

And then from another perspective. We're not done with Eudonis Haslam. He's gone. I don't want to say he's going to play more basketball. Eudonis Haslam is the world's greatest cheerleader slash player coach in the NBA right now. And it seemed to be that all of his former coaches were in attendance. Billy Donovan from when he was a Gator. Stan Van Gundy was on the call. Pat Riley was in the building as well. Obviously Eric Spoelstra, his current coach. And so we got more Haslam.

Good for him. Anyway, let's actually hear from people who participated in the basketball game. Let's hear from some winners. Max Drewes, 31 points. Jimmy Butler, 31 points. And Max Drewes, he spoke to Chris Haynes and so did Jimmy Butler. And Max Drewes talked about having a game like this against his hometown team, the Bulls.

It's huge. It don't really matter who we're playing. We had to win this one no matter what. So winner go home and we're not done yet. So we want to keep playing and it's good to get that one.

But it does feel a little bit better against them. I'm not going to lie. You had those threes, man. How were they able to find you in those crevices? Hit the ball to him. He's one of the best at finding me. I love playing with him. He just makes the game easy for everyone. How did you find the ball to those crevices? We can thank Jimmy Butler. Great at finding all the crevices to hit the ball. Anyway, Jimmy Butler was standing right there with him as well.

He was asked by Chris Haynes, man. How did y'all come back to get this win? This is what Jimmy had to say.

Keep being in attack mode. Eventually the ball's got to go in. I can't keep missing layup. Did you feel the pressure as a seventh seed? You know, you lost the first play-in game and had this one close. Was there pressure when they locked the room?

Nah. I don't think any of us felt any type of pressure. We went out, we competed, we played the right way, corrected some things and did what we were supposed to do.

Okay, yeah. They corrected some things, all right. And now they got a trip to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks.

And what's their benefit there? That they've been active? That the Milwaukee Bucks have been sitting around for about a week watching basketball just like the rest of us? Meanwhile, the Miami Heat, they have a, they got a good lather now, don't they?

They've been able to stay warm. You know, Jimmy Butler in the postseason, all of a sudden he puts on a cape and he turns into another human, right? Can we expect this performance from Max Struce, game to game?

Hell no, no we can't. Bam Adebayo has been missing offensively, even today, one of nine? I mean, damn. Supposed to be the big man, right? Supposed to knock down them shots in the layups, point blank range.

If the jumper ain't falling, go low. One of nine from the big man. Gabe Vinson, zero points. Tyler Herro, he had 25, I believe, the other night. Now Tyler Herro coming down with 12, he was 0-5. At one point in time, the only man that was knocking down a three here for the Miami Heat was just Struce. He's the only dude who really knocked down threes tonight. Out of the 10 made threes by the Miami Heat, Max Struce had seven of them. Nobody else even hit two. Kevin Love knocked down a three.

Cody Martin came through, excuse me, Caleb Martin, not his twin. He knocked down one. And Kyle Lowry, who was left holding his leg on the end of the bench, he knocked down one. Tyler Herro, 0-5.

Jimmy Butler, 0-2. And so good luck to the Miami Heat against the Bucks. I'm sure there are a lot of people who are thrilled about the results with the Heat. I'm sure there are a lot of people who feel oh so much better here that they're going into the playoffs. It was a couple of nights ago. Seemed like we had quite a few people who were shaking in their boots. My thought process hasn't changed. I'm taking the Bucks.

I don't think it's that difficult. I think they have more offensive firepower. I think they have one of the best players, if not the best player in the league right now in Giannis Atteracumpo.

I think they're full of shooters. The best thing for the Miami Heat to worry about or their best weapon is if guys are hurt. Where Chris Middleton wakes up and he says, oh my God, my knee hurts, which has been the case for the better part of a year now. And so yeah, I know Eudonis Haslam is, hey Shep, would you say he's still playing basketball? What's his deal?

What would you call it? He's playing in practice, yeah. Yeah, Eudonis Haslam is still a basketball player. He's active. He's active. There you go.

The countdown is on. I don't care what they did in the season, all right, or they split the season series 2-2. You can look at the rosters. Look at the teams.

Look at the talent. And it's apparent the Milwaukee Bucks are better. You can look at the standings.

There's a whole lot that you can look at and deduce and say, yeah, Miami, I'm not going to say they'll get swept. They may pick up a game, maybe two, but I'm expecting the Milwaukee Bucks to just walk out of this series and keep it moving. And then Eudonis Haslam can finally enjoy retirement, whatever that will look like for him, probably somewhere in the Miami Heat front office.

Congratulations, Eudonis Haslam. And congratulations to the Miami Heat for beating Chicago tonight 102-91. We're just getting started for tonight, just like Minnesota and Oklahoma City. They're trying to finish up and close the final playoff spot tonight in the West. Minnesota currently leading 21 to 18. We'll keep you updated on that game. There's so many more matchups that we need to get into as the playoffs start this week.

Brooklyn and Philly, Atlanta and Boston, New York and Cleveland. We had a prospect here. Get in trouble in the NBA.

OK, you're supposed to be going to Memphis. I'll tell you about him. The Dallas Mavericks have been fine.

I know their owner. I guess Mark Cuban doesn't care about money. Ron Rivera talking about his old, I guess, almost soon to be old owner and Mr. Daniel Snyder.

It's just a lot to do. Gerald McCoy retired Tampa Bay Rays. Did they continue their winning streak? I'm going to tell you about all of this. We got a full show.

It's a Friday night, so don't go anywhere because we're just getting started. It's the JR Sport Brief show. CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. J.R. wants to hear from you. Call him now at 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4227. It's the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio. Miami Heat walk away with a victory against Chicago tonight, 102 to 91. And now they walk clear the hell into the number one seed, Milwaukee Bucks.

That game will take place this upcoming Sunday afternoon. And who knows, maybe the Miami Heat being a little fresher, just a little fresher. Not fresher, but more active.

That's the appropriate word. They're not fresher, but they're more active. Maybe the Miami Heat will steal one in Milwaukee. I still believe the Bucks will walk away with things.

It's not difficult to ascertain. Meanwhile, Eric Spolstra, Miami Heat head coach, just spoke to the media. And he says, yeah, it was a back and forth game, but I appreciate how my guys fought.

Obviously has not been perfect this year. But I do know one thing about the men in that locker room the last 48 hours. I know how categorically, unequivocally, how badly and desperately our group wanted to get into this damn thing.

And get into the playoffs to have an opportunity to compete for a title. And that's the part that I love about this group. Even when there's some frustrating times during the season, I know how badly the guys want to win.

And how much they put into it. And it was just great to see that competitive spirit. It was a classic old school Eastern Conference game.

Yeah, you got a lot of bullying. You have more defense. This wasn't one of those track meet style games. And that's one thing you can always give the Miami Heat credit for. Their physicality. And typically teams will take on the personality of the best player.

And Jimmy Butler throughout his time and tenure in the NBA, especially growing into an All-Star. He is just, he's a dog. There's no quit. There's no give up.

He just goes 100 miles per hour until he's exhausted. There's never a play that he's not into. And so coming off of that loss against Atlanta a couple of nights ago, you should have been, rest assured, the Miami Heat were going to battle hard. And Chicago Bulls, they just, they ran out of gas.

They had nothing there at the end of the game. And so we'll have plenty of time to talk about the Miami Heat and the Bucks. I'm picking the Bucks.

Real simple. But we have more playoff action that's going to be taking place tomorrow. We got a full slate. And so if you are a basketball junkie, if you can't stand your family, if you need a distraction, if you just need something to do. You got basketball pretty much from the top of the beginning of the day until nighttime, starting off with Brooklyn at Philadelphia. James Harden eventually going to go back into Brooklyn.

Joel Embiid probably the front runner for MVP right now. You got a Brooklyn Nets team that's going through the entire season. I feel like we've had multiple versions of the Nets. We've had the Nets without Kyrie. We've had the Nets without Durant. We've had the Nets now without both of them.

And in comes Cam Johnson and Mikkel Bridges who's dropping 26 points per game. And the Brooklyn Nets did not fall off the face of the planet. They're still active here. The Brooklyn Nets have been able to stay alive. They're actually, think about this for a minute, here's a word that you haven't been able to associate with the Brooklyn Nets for the, I'd say the past several years. The Brooklyn Nets are actually a team. Yeah, the Brooklyn Nets are actually a team. The bad part is, it's taking on someone who is not just a team, but Joel Embiid might as well be a team himself. And we know this. Brooklyn Nets, do they stand a chance? Yeah, everybody stands a chance.

But it's minimal here. I told you a couple of days ago, I walked by Mikkel Bridges walking his dog in New York City and all I could say to him was, good luck. Like this is the movie taken. Like I'm telling him, good luck. Because they're going to need more than luck. And so head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, Jock Vaughn, he says, listen, we don't need nobody stinking luck. We're not thinking about being the underdogs in this situation. We'll be fine. That's what Jock Vaughn had to say.

That's the title. I think we put ourselves in a position to be the sixth seed. We earned that right to be the sixth seed and we earned our right to line up and play on Saturday. That's the way you think about it. Hey Shub, does he sound pretty confident?

Um, delusional and confident at the same time, yes. Yeah, the job of a head coach. Hey, how about another head, well, this is not a coach, this is one of his players. Spencer Dinwiddie is back.

Another run with the Brooklyn Nets because Kyrie Irving is gone. And so Spencer Dinwiddie is here. He's helping to run the show. And when he's not fighting on Twitter with his former teammate Kyle Kuzma, Spencer Dinwiddie is talking to the media.

And he's telling everybody. Yeah, Joel Embiid might be the most dominant physical force in the NBA right now. But he's like, we ain't worried about him. We're going to keep some of our defensive principles in our identity for sure. We have wrinkles for him, of course, because he's an MVP.

I mean, why wouldn't you? You know what I mean? But we also have to do some of the things that have made us a pretty solid defensive team up to this point as well. Okay.

Alright. Hey Shub, are they bringing like, they got like Shaq from the year 2000 in the back or something? Like what are they doing? Yeah, along with Buck Williams and Brook Lopez. Yeah, that's not going to help. Have you seen Nicholas Claxton stand next to Joel Embiid? I have not, but I'm guessing Joel Embiid makes him look regular size. Yeah, it's like putting up a light post next to an oak tree.

Geez. I don't think there is a team, unless it is Brook Lopez. He's big as hell, okay? And Brook Lopez is a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year.

He might actually win it, which is just mind boggling. You think about this man played no defense and didn't ever grab a rebound when he played for the Brooklyn Nets. I don't think there's anybody in the league who has an answer for Joel Embiid. You give him the ball, he's destroying you down low.

He can knock down the shot on the outside. And so the Brooklyn Nets, A, they have five fans. Sorry, they got five fans. The Brooklyn Nets are here on borrowed time. And Mikel Bridges is going to have to knock down the 23s again if they want to have a chance to win this series.

They just got too much firepower. And I'm sure Ben Simmons is somewhere, I don't know. I have no idea what Ben Simmons is doing. Ben Simmons might not even be in America right now. Speaking of people, he should start a league with Zion. Players who get paid and don't play, they probably have a group chat. I need more than two people for a group chat, I guess, but I'm pretty sure they're good buddies.

You know what's funny? They're both number one overall picks. They were both seen coming into the NBA as individuals that were going to carry the torch and get the mantle past them from LeBron James.

And they have been utter, embarrassingly, overwhelmingly, unequivocally disappointments. It's ridiculous. Zion is catching the crap now, too, man. Yeah, he talks to the third person too much.

Well, I haven't heard that. Oh, Zion is when Zion is ready? Yeah. He's not the Rock. What is he doing?

Only the Rock can talk in the third person. But Zion is over here doing windmill dunks and games that he's not going to play in? And by the way, I saw he looked at the beginning of the year, he was pretty cut up. You could tell that just by his arms. And when he's doing these windmills, yeah, he could do it, but he's looking kind of hefty there.

I just hope he doesn't turn out to be a disaster. Even his own teammate, C.J. McCollum, it's always nice when your teammates just speak in generalities and you know it's about you. C.J. McCollum is talking about how we, our younger guys, they have to learn how to take care of their bodies. They have to understand that it's not just a show up and play thing.

It's how you sleep, when you sleep, what you eat, how you prepare, because you're a professional. And C.J. McCollum, he didn't have to name Zion Williamson, but he didn't have to, but we all knew who he was talking about. And so between Zion and Ben Simmons, and Ben Simmons coming over from Australia and playing at LSU or not playing at LSU, and Zion going to Duke and not playing at Duke, is anybody really surprised that these dudes don't play basketball? At least Zion has a brighter future than Ben. I don't think Ben Simmons really cares too much about ball.

What a shock there. Speaking of caring about basketball, we're going to get ready to take a break in a second. And when we come back on the other side, I want to tell you about another matchup that's going to take place tomorrow, right after Philadelphia probably smashes Brooklyn. It's the Atlanta Hawks. They're going to be up in Beantown taking on the Celtics. They haven't had any luck against the Boston Celtics this year, and I'm not expecting that to start tomorrow. Speaking of defense, who's going to stop Joel Embiid?

Atlanta Hawks don't have too many dudes, or collectively as a team, they don't play no defense. So when we come back, we're going to hear from head coach of the Boston Celtics, Joe Mazzulla. He talked about the Hawks.

He's given them more credit than I would. And then we'll also hear about a prospect speaking about somebody going to LSU like Ben Simmons, speaking of someone going into Duke like Zion. There's a young man named Mikey Williams. You might have heard of him.

He was supposed to be going to Memphis to play for Penny Hardaway. He got in, I guess. Hey, Shep, when you get arrested, that's like a whole lot of trouble, right?

Usually, yes. Larcenies, misdemeanors, felonies, yeah. Not the kind of part of the law you want to be a part of.

Yeah, that's trouble when somebody shoots at you or somebody got shot. But anyway, we're going to talk about all of that on the other side. The J.R. sport ratio here with you on CBS Sports Radio, 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. You're listening to the J.R. Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. How you doing, J.R.? I enjoy listening to you when I'm on the road, driving back. You always make a lot of sense, and you're funny as hell.

You really have a lot of substance to you. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the J.R. Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Miami Heat are in the playoffs. They knock off the Bulls. Right now, Minnesota, they are in control.

In this final Western Conference matchup to gain the eighth seed, Minnesota leads OKC 45-34. Anthony Edwards, so far, showing more life than he did a couple of days ago. Anthony Edwards has 8 points, 4 of 8 shooting.

Typical guy. Not bothered by anything, ready to bounce back. Karl-Anthony Towns has 15 points, so we'll keep you up to date on that game as it continues on. Right before we went to break, we spoke briefly about Brooklyn and Philadelphia.

Not too much to say there. Joel Embiid is going to go out there and whip everybody's ass unless he's injured or hurt. It's a shoe in there that Brooklyn is going to go down. And then we have another matchup that should be fun. It's going to have its spurts.

There should be some excitement. The Atlanta Hawks are going to take on Boston. They concluded the season against each other this past Sunday with a bunch of absolutely nobody's playing basketball. And the Atlanta Hawks were able to win their season finale 120-114. It was only a few weeks ago that, right here in Atlanta, I watched the Boston Celtics. And these guys were here, I think, on a Saturday night, I think it was.

And yeah, Saturday night. And the Hawks got waxed. 134-125. The score isn't indicative of what took place. Tatum had 34 points.

He was out there doing whatever he felt like, dropping threes, going to the basket. And the Atlanta Hawks had, they had no, no answer. And so even in last Sunday's game, I was incorrect. The Hawks lost that one. They were swept in the season series.

And I got to tell you this. I don't care if Nate McMillan is here. I don't care if Quinn Snyder is running the team. The Hawks players are the same. The philosophy might change, but them playing defense on a consistent level, that hasn't changed.

Finding bench help outside of points, that hasn't changed. But Joe Mazzulla, because he's a great coach, he's not going to go out there and give anybody bullets and board material. Not that it would matter for the Hawks. But Joe Mazzulla says, this Hawks team, they're different than the one that we saw earlier on this season.

Take a listen to the Boston Celtics head coach. Very talented team, well coached. You know, they're playing a much different style and identity than even when we played them earlier in the year at their place. And so they have the ability to put a lot of pressure on your defense with their talent and the way they play. And so we have to be very detailed and be connected defensively. We're going to be very organized on the offensive end. OK. All right.

Let's see. Back when Nate McMillan ran the show, Hawks lost to the Celtics 126 to 101. A couple of weeks ago, the game that I went to right down here in Georgia, the Hawks lost 134 to 125.

And I can't draw anything into this ass whooping of a game where nobody played. The Hawks lost that one 120 to 114. And I don't know what combination it's going to be coming out of the Eastern Conference.

I'm kind of torn and conflicted here. I want to see the Celtics back in the Eastern Conference finals. I do. I want to see what they can do. I don't know if I want to see them take on the Bucks. Or if I want to see them take on the Sixers, I want to see the Sixers go to the East finals. I want to see what Joel Embiid can do. I want to see how dominant he can be throughout the course of a postseason. Last year, Joel Embiid dealing with a broken face, dealing with busted up hands. And that was all she wrote for the Sixers last year.

And I want to see him win an MVP and go on a run here. Hey Shep, what are your thoughts on how the Eastern Conference is shaping up? We know who the teams are at the top and you even have the Cavs there.

But for those top three teams, what are your thoughts? You know, JR, it's interesting because Joel Embiid is the greatest player in NBA history to never have played in a conference finals or NBA finals. And you and I, I remember as clear as day last year talking about Embiid just doesn't have enough help. And you know that is in the form of an absent James Harden when he gets to the bigger stages of the NBA playoffs. So as great as Joel Embiid is, and as much as a walking bucket as the soon to be MVP will be, James Harden is absolutely unreliable. Every single where he's played in the playoffs. And so because of that, JR, and Max, he doesn't have all the experience in the world. Tobias Harris has been known to fall asleep at the wheel when it matters most for the Philadelphia 76ers. They're not a threat to me. So what you're going to have is you're going to have the Celtics, you're going to have the Bucs in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Now, you are very well aware of also this fact too. You mentioned Chris Middleton, his injuries. He can be brittle, he's an individual that isn't quite there yet, but there's a revenge factor that they have on their mind from last year. When they were within two possessions of beating the Celtics in six, of course the Celtics take game six and game seven. So the Bucs are on a mission this season. There's a reason why they rested so much in the final month of the NBA regular season campaign. And so it's going to come down to Bucs-Celtics. And the Bucs without Chris Middleton almost got the better of them.

With a relatively healthy Chris Middleton and a revamped Drew Holliday and a reincarnated Brook Lopez, it's going to be the Celtics in six or seven of the Eastern Conference Finals representing the East come June. Well, damn, you just gave us a whole dissertation on it. No, thank you, Jay. I just want to live up to my end of the bargain when you ask me a question and I'm coming with something substantive like you always do. I'm not too much substance here. I don't particularly care. I favor the Bucs to come out of the East. I'm not so much down on the Sixers. Are they the least of the three?

Probably and yes. I trust Harvey Jr. I'm sorry? But you've seen this guy's career now for 14 years. I'm less concerned about James Harden.

Got it. Joel Embiid is playing at a different level. Tyrese Maxey, I'm not worried about his experience because he's not expected to do anything. He doesn't have pressure out there. The pressure is on Joel Embiid. The pressure is on James Harden. So I think it'd be a different scenario if Tyrese Maxey was expected to be a lead.

I wouldn't be surprised. I expect him, if he's healthy, to go out and put up some numbers and put up some stats and to continue to emerge here. When it comes to the Sixers, I'm more worried about their depth. You mentioned some of the missing elements of James Harden. He's a gamer.

Has he had the success that you would want? No. Is he going to go out there and pull a hamstring? Maybe he's going to have a bad game?

Possibly. That's why they're in third. But I'm less worried about James Harden and more concerned with other elements of the team. Ain't nobody scaring me on their depth chart. They're going to have to really rely on their starters and they're really going to have to rely on Joel Embiid. After taking a beating defensively throughout the course of the playoffs, how he holds up is to be seen. I would love to see it. Is it going to happen? At least we'll enjoy it here in the first round of the playoffs. 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS.

That's 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. I did mention this prior to the break as well. And maybe you've heard of this dude.

Maybe you haven't. We're going to get a lot of these stories, I feel like, now that the basketball world has changed. So when I say basketball world, I mean the entire pipeline from even now middle school to AAU to high school to semi-pro to college to the NBA. Everybody can make money now.

Everybody can utilize social media to blow up your persona, to make money, to get cash in. And there's a young man. His name is Mikey Williams. I'm familiar with Mikey Williams just because of the internet. A few years ago, I also saw Mikey Williams play in person. He was with LeBron James' son, Bronny James. But outside of that, I haven't seen his dude.

I haven't seen his game. I just know, if you want to put it on paper, he's internet famous. And he's a good enough basketball player that he committed to Memphis to be the point guard for Penny Hardaway. And now a lot of that might be in jeopardy because Mikey Williams, a high schooler, 6'2", 6'3 point guard, he was arrested. He was arrested in California. Five charges of assault with a deadly weapon. He was released on bail. They're saying that he might only face one charge. There was a shooting towards a car, towards a vehicle, and this is just terrible. And nobody said that he's guilty of doing anything.

But being arrested and fitting the description and even being in this scenario has to be massively disappointing. Mikey Williams also has a shoe deal. He's a celebrity in the basketball world for younger people, I should say. And the folks out in San Diego, our friends, San Diego 8 at CBS, they talked about this live on air.

This is how big of a deal it is. Local basketball star is facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon. You see images of him here, a very familiar face here in town. 18-year-old Michael Williams was arrested in Hummel yesterday afternoon on suspicion of five counts of assault with a firearm. We still do not know the circumstances leading to that arrest.

He was released on bail just after midnight with a court appearance now set for April 20th, next week. He's a basketball star here. His Instagram account appears to have been deactivated overnight.

Williams played at San Ysidro High School. He has a huge social media following. He even signed an endorsement deal with Puma already. I mean, come on now.

How difficult, how difficult is it to, and I'm not saying he did it, but how difficult is it for anybody to stay home? I mean, sheesh. And we're going to get, we're going to get more of this. We have so many prep to pros who are just, they're treated like, like stars already.

I guess they are. When you have an endorsement deal with Puma, when you're 17 and 18 years old. When Penny Hardaway wants you at Memphis, when you're supposed to be the next big thing, you're going to the NBA. I mean, the world is at your fingertips. And so we don't know what he did.

We don't know if he's the one who did it. But I mean, damn. I would think you'd be a little bit more insulated.

I think you'd be pushed to the side just a little bit more. And I think we're going to have more of these scenarios and situations as the years go on. I certainly remember hearing about Imani Bates on the cover of, I guess, digital magazines and coming out of Michigan. The next big thing he was supposed to go to Memphis and and play for the Tigers.

And he got caught with a charge in regards to having a weapon that he didn't know that the weapon was there. And, man, there can be so much done to help build these these players up and and build them and just elevate their skills. But when it comes to life skills and trying to move them into a different place to make smarter decisions. I guess I guess shop sometimes they wake up and they feel untouchable, like they coddled so much that I don't want to say they feel that they can get away with anything. But they live in a fall. So they live in a lie.

I like John Moran. Gee, there's there's no one that plays in Louisiana that feels that way these past few weeks, huh? Leave Zion hasn't been arrested. No, no. Obviously we're talking about breaking the law. Another superstar or at least six time also broke the law. And now he's being charged a whole nother Pandora's box chair. But to your point, it is a generational thing where they are more entitled than at any other point in professional sports history.

Athletes today, specifically those that are just coming out of college and younger. Yeah. And it's what we're going to have more of these stories. And by the way, Sean Kemp also charged for, I guess, trying to retrieve his goods today. I think a lot of people thought that Sean Kemp was going to get get off scot free for firing that weapon. He was charged today a few hours ago. Sean Kemp charged in that parking lot shooting.

You probably saw the video by now. Sean Kemp had some goods stolen. He was able to track them via technologies and Apple products. And he said he got fired at.

He fired back. And now Sean Kemp is being charged. A lot of folks out here being punished to see what happens. It's the J.R. sport re-show here with you on CBS Sports Radio.

Speaking of a punishment, the Dallas Mavericks got punished for for tanking or did they? I'll fill you in here on CBS Sports Radio. Don't move. Help save lives. Donate today at your local C.S.L. plasma center and be rewarded for your generosity.