6.2.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 2

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Better flights, fewer points. Start it today at Point.Me. That's Point.Me. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. It is the JR Sport Brief show here on CBS Sports Radio, joining you on another Friday night. I'm here every single weeknight.

That means Monday through Friday. I'm here 10 p.m. Eastern Time, 7 p.m. Pacific. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia.

I'm being joined by super producer and host, Dave Shepherd. I'll be here for the next three hours. If you missed the last hour, sorry. You can always hit rewind on the free Odyssey app. So if you're on the free Odyssey app, thank you. If you're tuned in on your local CBS Sports Radio affiliate, thank you. Sirius XM Channel 158, thank you.

Or a smart speaker, thank you. Thank you very much. Hey, guess what? In about 20 minutes from now, we're going to have a conversation with Basketball Hall of Famer and Denver Nuggets legend, Alex English. Alex English is going to join us in about 20 minutes. We'll talk about everything going on with the Denver Nuggets. I do want to get his opinion on another. Can I call him legendary?

I will. Maybe not. A legendary Carmelo Anthony. I'm going to ask him about Carmelo standing with the Nuggets.

And of course, I think I might already know the answer. I want to get Alex English's opinion on who is going to walk away with the Larry O'Brien trophy. So if you want to hear from an NBA legend, Alex English is going to join us 20 minutes from now. Later on in the show, we spoke to him earlier on in the week.

Someone else in his respective Hall of Fame, Andre Ward, International Boxing Hall of Famer, decided to walk away his career early, is deciding to shed a lot of light on his life. He had no idea he was selling drugs to the degree which he was. He has a new documentary on Showtime.

Completely has turned his life around from being a youth and he's still young now even to this day. But he has a new documentary out and I want to share with you a clip from that interview earlier this week. Some other news that we talked about last hour. Frank Vogel, new head coach of the Phoenix Suns. The Chicago Bears. We'll get into this. The Chicago Bears.

It doesn't look like a guarantee that they're going to move away from the lake or the lakefront, I should say. We learned that Russell Wilson said no to going to the Philadelphia Eagles before he went to the Denver Broncos. And then later on, we'll also talk about Von Miller. He had some comments to say about the Broncos and Tom Brady. Tom Brady didn't just say he's no longer playing yesterday.

Tom Brady was asked not about his own future, but the future of his son and whether or not he wants him to pursue football. And so I want you to hear that later on in the show. And so we have a whole lot to do. That's 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. We got quite a few callers here on the line. We opened up last hour talking about Jokic finally getting some of the respect that he deserves. That will also be a question that I ask Alex English. And I said the Miami Heat, one thing that they're not going to be able to do to change things is get taller. They're not going to get bigger. They're not going to grow four or five inches over the next two, three days or throughout this series.

And so they're cooked. And Chef, I do remember telling you about the procedure of leg lengthening. And I have found out some more information here. Leg lengthening surgery is gaining popularity among men seeking to be taller. And ultimately what happens, for instance, there was a gentleman.

He was 5'7 and he increased his height to 5'10. Now here's how it works. Prepare yourselves. It costs $75,000. A little cheaper than what I thought it would be. It's a four hour operation. It's not covered by insurance. And it involves cutting the thigh bones in each leg and inserting rods inside of them. Over the next three to four months, the rods are lengthened one millimeter per day and basically the bone just continues to grow along with it over the rods. And so yes, you can go ahead and grow three inches over several months and then you have physical therapy and the whole process can cost you about $100,000. So yes, everybody on the Miami Heat can get taller, maybe, and they can probably afford it, but not in time. So I guess lifts are not on the table then.

I've never seen a lift. So how does that even work? You put it in the heel of your shoe and it makes you taller? Yeah, an actor by the name of Tom Cruise knows a lot about that. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, guys like, you know, allegedly Ben Stiller, you know, they know a lot about that. Well, Tom Cruise is, he's in his 60s now, right? Correct, but he's still a sex symbol. Like he's still- I didn't ask you that. No, but what I mean by that is Tom Cruise gets- Well, let's back up here. Yes. I said he's in his 60s, right? Yes. Okay, he's in his 60s.

Barely, yes. And so he's pushing, is he pushing 70? He's not pushing 70. No, he's born in 62, I believe.

So he's like, he's Jim Carrey's year. So they're both 61, I believe. Oh, so he's just got into his 60s.

Yeah. And so my point is, it's probably, if he was younger, Tom Cruise would probably be the poster child for leg lengthening surgery. But he's too old.

Like, why would you do that now? It's a little too late, you know? But J.R., but what I- no, but my point about Tom Cruise is, and you know this, like, not only did he single-handedly save the movie industry, when you are in that field, they have expiration dates that are a lot longer than most. Like, Morgan Freeman is still highly sought out. Morgan Freeman is pushing 90.

I'm not talking about any of that. No, but what I'm saying is, like, 60 in that kind of genre is actually, like, medium. I'm not talking about his genre.

Right. I'm talking about his age. But he's not old.

To have his legs lengthened? In that industry, they act until their 90s. He's not old to have that. He's gonna go for another 30 years if he wants to do that in that field.

His body is- he's 61 years old. Do you- let me describe this again to you. Yes. Okay? If you're 61 years old- Right.

I don't give a damn what your profession is. Mm-hmm. Who at 61 years old wants to have their thigh bones cut open in each leg, have rods inserted, and then have it extended via remote control for four months? If you're single, which he is, and you have the amount of resources that he does, he is still the perfect candidate for leg extension surgery, whatever it is that you call it. Leg lengthening. Leg lengthening. Excuse me.

I now know that. I think if he were younger, he would be the ideal poster boy. I don't think at 61 you want to go through the trouble. I'm sure Tom Cruise has had his face pulled back. I'm sure that he is getting needles in his face right now, but to basically break his legs to say, hey, at 61 we're gonna add- we're gonna make you- how tall is Tom Cruise?

Five, seven, eight, nine? So when he's not wearing lifts, he is five, seven. And so I don't think at this point in life, all the dumbass thing- I'm pretty sure he's broken all these bones with these stunts. Sure. At 61, I don't think he goes, you know what I need? An extra three inches of height. I don't think so. I think he's made enough money.

Hey, if you make it to 61 without breaking your legs, I don't think you do it intentionally. 855-212-4CBS. That's 855-212-4CBS. Brian is calling from Washington. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show. What's up, Brian? Hey, JR. How's it going? I wanted to comment on the Kevin Durant conversation earlier. Sure. You're live on the radio.

Go for it. Yeah, I was just curious. Basically, what I see Kevin Durant, he's a bucket, right? He's a top scorer, one of the top scorers in the league, obviously, but I don't see much of his game beyond scoring. To me, I see he's very comparable to Carmelo Anthony.

So let's say if Carmelo Anthony was in the same position as Kevin Durant when he went to Golden State with Steph and Clay, I think they would do that. Brian, it hurts. It doesn't hurt my soul. I won't go that far. I just have to tell you, Brian, you're wrong.

You're wrong. I don't know how much Carmelo Anthony you watched, have watched. I don't know how much Kevin Durant that you have watched. They are night and day when it comes to what type of players they are, what they contribute and what they do. Are they both lethal, dangerous scorers?

Yes and absolutely. One of the beautiful gifts that Kevin Durant has as a scorer, which is a little bit opposite of Carmelo Anthony, is efficiency. Kevin Durant was efficient.

He wasn't wasted space. He did not waste a shot at Carmelo Anthony. And this is underrated from Kevin Durant's part, a little bit easier to do so when you're seven feet tall. Kevin Durant would play defense and has played defense at a better rate as he's gotten older.

He's about to be 35 years old. He passes the ball. He's not afraid to pass the rock. He's not someone who's looking to go out there and just jack up shots. There are actually times where Kevin Durant and he can do this if he wanted to. Kevin Durant and maybe not right now, or maybe it's not even smart. He can go get a point whenever he wants to. And he doesn't.

He doesn't. And so I would tread very carefully by going, well, Carmelo Anthony is a scorer and Kevin Durant is a scorer. And so they remind me of each other that they are so different. OK, OK, I think that's fair. I would just say that obviously Kevin Durant's known for his scoring. I think that he has the ability to be more of a playmaker, more of a defensive kind of presence in the game. But he hasn't really made that presence outside in the other in the other teams where he has to be the leader. I would say he's more of a scorer as opposed to the other playmaker.

That's not true. Let's let's think about this. OK, he played on the team with Oklahoma City, where you could probably say he wasn't demanding enough offensively playing next to Russell Westbrook. So let's let's just get that out of the place. If anything, he allowed Russell Westbrook. Sorry, Russell Wilson.

That allowed him to cook at times where he probably should have not should not have. And so let's get that out of the way. He goes to Golden State.

We don't need to say anything about that. He's playing with a bunch of All-Stars and Hall of Famers. He goes to Brooklyn injured and hurt. He doesn't play with Kyrie Irving. He plays with secondary players.

And if you go ahead and look at the numbers, I venture I'll ask you to do it. Go look at his assist numbers while he played in Brooklyn. He is not just a guy who scored.

If you want to talk about his leadership qualities as a player, certainly up for debate. When it comes to how he performs on the basketball court, he's one of the most efficient, dangerous, lethal scores that the NBA has ever seen. And one of the reasons is because he's not just out there hunting for shots. He is one of the most fluid, easiest scorers that the NBA has ever seen in its history. I have had the benefit of seeing him in person, not just on an NBA court. I've seen him play in Harlem at the Rucker on multiple occasions, and I've never seen anybody his size move the way that he does.

He is the only human being I've looked at and gone, man, God made him just to play ball. And so I can't agree with you there, Brian. I appreciate you for calling from Washington, though. Thank you, Gar.

No problem. Yeah. Yeah. You could you could tell me my point is fair, but what I'm telling you isn't a matter of opinion. It's it's a matter of fact. That's just that's it.

It could be fair. It's the facts. If you want to tell me about Doran and his leadership qualities. It looked legitimate. Oh, he wasn't out there. He wasn't forceful. And he wasn't this. And he just wanted to play ball. He could have been more assertive. You could also make the point if you wanted to. Well, you could say, oh, man, well, man, the guys want to play with him. He just plays ball.

You could make that argument. Eight five five two one two four CBS. Liam is calling from Georgia. You're on the JR Sport Brief show. Hello. Can you hear me?

Yes. You're live on the radio, Liam. Go ahead. So first of all, I just want to compliment you. Just what a great show.

You make great points and truly just an overall great show. Well, thank you, Liam. How you want it? You want it? You want to take my job next week? You can.

No, I think I'll stick with what I'm doing right now. What are you doing right now? Well, I do play hockey. OK. Here in Georgia, where? Over by Athens. Oh, you are for 78. So just come come to Peachtree and do my job next week.

Not that bad. Maybe not next week. I have a tournament. OK. Well, the week after.

Good luck. What else is on your mind? You ready for the Stanley Cup finals?

Yeah. I mean, I've been looking forward to it all year. All season. Well, I think one Florida team will actually win. How many goals does could Chuck score this series?

I think he should score at least like five goals in the whole series. Well, damn. OK. So what do you got? There's a sweep over the Golden Knights.

What do you got here? Yes, I think so, because I mean, they swept the they swept the Carolina Hurricanes and I think the most goals Carolina the Carolina scored in each game was like one. So. Well, I hope they don't I hope they don't have a six hour game. Hey, Liam, I'm I'm probably going to pop in and out on that game tomorrow night.

I'm just interested to see if the Panthers can be the Florida team that actually wins, because I don't think it'll be the Heat. Yeah, I agree with you. I agree with you. OK, well, thank you, Liam.

Hey, good luck. Who are you playing in this tournament? Oh, a lot of teams. It's called the Wish Cup up in Tennessee. OK, I'm playing to see you going to over Henderson.

I think it's in Hendersonville by Nashville. OK, damn. You're playing hockey in June. It's about 90 degrees outside today, man. What's up? I know, but it's not ice.

It's roller hockey, though. Oh, you're going to be busting ass. Will you be safe out there?

OK, thank you. You too. I appreciate you. Thank you for calling from Georgia. Let's go from Georgia to Houston. Let's get another call in and then we'll have a great conversation with the Hall of Famer.

Alex English is going to join us on the other side of the break. Dave from Houston, your CBS Sports radio. Hello. Hello. How are you doing there? I'm excellent. How are you? I'm good.

Thank you. I'm a little surprised that Katie is getting so much love in a finals night like this, but I like it. I like talking Katie because the guy is an absolute assassin, a physical freak. I just think that the knock he gets is when teams and coaches don't use them as a tool and they use them as a leader.

That's the problem. He's not the personality on the court. He just needs to be used for his skills. Put him in the lineups where you need those tools, not where you need those coaching moments and those conversation.

Use him and then put him with players like the Draymond Green that he had in Golden State to do those other parts of the job. He he came into the conversation tonight. We started off the show.

And that's why we're going to have a conversation with Alex English in a few minutes. We started off the show talking about the Nuggets and Jokic. And then I let everyone know that Frank Vogel is going to be the new head coach of the Phoenix Suns. And then we started getting a few callers on Kevin Durant.

And here we are. I agree with you to a point. Not everybody is going to wake up and have just a, you know, the greatest of talent around them. And if we want to say anything about Kevin Durant, it is his choices when it's come down to free agency that have pretty much just just kind of backfired. Obviously, we saw the success with the Golden State Warriors. There was his decision to leave the Golden State Warriors, which I think is well within his right if he wanted to look for a new challenge. But then he pairs up with Kyrie Irving.

That did not work out. And then ultimately he had the exit again and he will be 35 later on this year. And so unfortunately, he's been he's been hurt the past few years. And I hope as he kind of I don't want to say ages out, but comes to a close of his career, whether it's another four or five years from now, that we can hopefully just see it happen gracefully. I hope so.

Fingers crossed. It's the J.R. Sport Brief Show here on CBS Sports Radio. We're going to take a break. And when we come back, we're going to talk to Basketball Hall of Famer Denver Nuggets legend Alex English. I'm going to ask him about Jokic. I'm going to ask him about Carmelo. I'm going to ask him about all these dudes coming over from overseas and Serbia. We got a lot to do.

Don't move. Alex English on the other side here on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the J.R. Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the J.R. Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. It's the J.R. Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio.

It's a Friday night. We're two nights away from Game two of the NBA Finals. And we needed to bring on a legend. We needed to bring on someone who is in the Basketball Hall of Fame. We need to bring on a Nuggets legend.

We need to bring on someone who basically leads them in every statistical category. It's NBA legend Alex English. Alex, how are you? I'm great. How are you? I'm excellent.

Thank you for taking the time to hop on. You know, first question out of the gate. Game one is in the books. What are your initial impressions after watching that? It was pretty much a beat down until the end. It was. And at the end it was pretty much over. You know, for Miami to get back in the game, it would have taken another five, six, seven minutes on the clock and that wasn't going to happen. I thought that the Nuggets played great basketball, great team basketball. And they've done what they've done all year. You know, Nicola Jokic leading the way and all the others participating. And Jamal Murray just playing the type of basketball that is going to make him a superstar. So it's you know, they got a solid squad all around. Alex English is here with us.

The JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. This NBA Finals matchup is looked upon as as two underdogs, two teams that weren't necessarily supposed to be here. We heard all of the nonsense about Jokic and the MVP race earlier on in the season. Do you think the Nuggets are finally getting their just due? Because the way Mike Malone speaks, you know, they're relishing in the fact that they don't receive the attention.

Yeah, they may be relishing in that fact, but they're getting all that attention right now. You know, after these playoffs and the way they played, people are beginning to realize and recognize that this is the best team in the NBA. And, you know, with Nicola Jokic leading the way, you know, they're going to be special for a long time. Well, you certainly lit it up for the Nuggets when you played and not just for the Nuggets. I mean, just for the entire 80s, nobody scored more points than you.

We had a lot of callers last night who wanted to find or identify the closest thing to a Nicola Jokic. For all the time and years that you have watched basketball, is there anybody that has a slight similarity? Not at his position. I think, you know, he makes everybody else around him better.

Magic Johnson did that to a degree, but it's just different. You know, he's a transitional transformative type of player. And, you know, I call him a point center forward guard. And, you know, he's you know, he lives up to it. He's a great passer, a great rebounder. You know, he's been my MVP for the last three years.

So, no, there's no one that comes close. I mean, there are great players in the history of the game and there will always be great players, different types of abilities though. Jokic has an ability and ineptness since on the floor to find a guy at the right moment at the right time. And because he's such a great offensive player, you know, teams are afraid to double him. Because he's going to find the open guy and his team knows what to do once that happens. You know, I think Coach Malone has done a great job in making the players around him understand what they've got in the middle in Jokic. That if they keep moving, they keep doing the things that they do, they do the cuts off of reads that they do. He's going to find them or he's going to score. He's going to make them better. And, you know, it rubs off on everybody else.

Everybody else does the same thing. You know, nobody's forcing unnecessary shots. It's pass, move, cut. It's the JR Sport Reef Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio, NBA legend Nuggets legend Alex English is joining us. You talk about Jokic. Last night we had on Magic forward or center Wendell Carter Jr. He said Jokic is the most difficult dude for him to guard in the league. When you play, there were so many talents.

You named a few of them. Who was the most difficult guy for you to guard? Oh, that's a tough one because the position that I played, the small forward position. During the era that I played, you had some of the most talented small forwards to play the game and all unique in their abilities. You know, I could play with James Worthy one night who was long lanky, run the floor, shoot jump shots, get to the basket, dunk on you. And the next night I might have Marcus Johnson who, you know, is just a slasher, tough. And then the next night it could have been a Larry Bird. You know his game. And then the next night it may be a Dominique Wilkins. So every night that I played, it was a different talent on the floor. So it was a learning experience each night. You know, during the era that I played, I think that that position was the toughest position in the league at that time.

Well, Mr. English, I got to ask you this. Someone who was a prolific scorer in his own right just retired from basketball that happens to be Carmelo Anthony. We know that he started his time in Denver, didn't end the way that he or I think Nugget fans would have wanted to. But what's the vibe with with Nugget fans and Carmelo? Do you think he gets the appreciation that he deserves or do you think because I feel like the fans are split 50-50 on him?

You know, I don't live in Denver. I know that, you know, getting Carmelo was a big deal. And when he played there, he played great basketball. I think the fans are probably upset with his decision to leave Denver and, you know, not understanding that basketball is basketball.

Sometimes we have to leave and go other places. I did it, but I think that they should give him his due. When he was there, he helped make the Nuggets a prolific team, a team that other teams recognize and were afraid to play. So he is, you know, he is a great Nugget player as well.

So I hope the fans get over the problem that they have with him. Nuggets legend Alex English here with us, the JR Sport Brief Show, CBS Sports Radio. You talk about your time. You didn't spend your entire career in Denver. You ended your career in Italy. And we have seen just the growth of the NBA, whether it's a Jokic from Serbia.

We have a Wimbenjama coming over from France. What makes, from your experience, European players different? Well, just playing in the European system for the one year that I played, they do a lot of practicing. They work a lot on their individual games. And, you know, they learn the game differently. They learn all the basic fundamental things.

You know, they don't take shortcuts. And, you know, if they make it to the NBA, that can help them a lot because they're very fundamentally sound. Well, we see a lot of youngsters with a lot of different options now here stateside. Overtime elite. We see the college athletes getting those checks that weren't handed out when you were out in South Carolina.

We even see LeBron's son. I think he's going to make $8 million at USC. What do you think about the developmental system here stateside? I think they're doing a decent job. I'm not as happy with the way the system is run in college.

You know, I like NIL stuff. I like players being able to get some of the money, all the big money that's being dealt out to the colleges and universities. But I would like to see them change the system to the point where a player has to stay at his school. If he transfers one year, then he's going to have to sit out a year. You know, colleges aren't able to build the kind of loyalty and camaraderie that they used to have when I played. And I'm all about kids being able to earn and get paid just like the coaches in college are. But I like I'd like to see the system go back and maybe backtrack a little bit and work out the kinks in the NIL.

Final question for you, Mr. English, Coach English. Who's winning the finals and how long is it going to take the Nuggets to do so? Well, there you go. You just said it. I don't need to say it.

It's going to take the Nuggets at least five games. OK. All right. Well, Coach English, I appreciate you for coming through, talking about everything from Jokic to Carmelo, the college system. I appreciate it.

I enjoy the game on Sunday. We're all going to be tuning in. I will be there. No doubt about it.

Thank you. It's the J.R. Sportbrief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We just had a conversation with the Nuggets legend, Basketball Hall of Famer Alex English. I'm going to take more of your calls on the other side. That's eight five five two one two four CBS. That's eight five five two one two four CBS. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. First of all, you know, I just want to start off by saying I respect you a lot and I love your show and everything that you do.

So I just want to say mad love and love everything that you do. Call in now at eight five five two one two four CBS. It's the J.R. Sportbrief show on CBS Sports Radio. Thank you so much to Basketball Hall of Famer Nuggets legend Alex English for joining us in the last break. If you happen to miss the interview, you can hit rewind and tune in on the free Odyssey app.

And he, like like a lot of people, I guess there's not maybe there is bias there, but I think it also happens to be a whole lot of common sense. Alex is picking the Denver Nuggets to win this series in five games. Eight five five two one two four CBS. That's eight five five two one two four CBS. I'm going to get to your calls.

And we have even more stuff if I want to call it stuff. Good stuff to talk about coming up next hour if we want to stay in Denver. This is a real Denver themed night. Russell Wilson. He's a Denver Bronco. He had the opportunity to be a Philadelphia Eagle. He said no.

Didn't want to go there. Von Miller, for whatever reason, and I think we know why. He was asked about the Denver Broncos and he still sounded like he plays for them and not the Buffalo Bills. And then Tom Brady had some interesting comments about the future of his son playing football. So we'll hear that from Tom Brady. We will also hear from Andre Ward. He spoke to us earlier this week. I want to reshare some of the words and comments with you there.

And so we got a lot to do. Eight five five two one two four CBS. Let's go ahead and let's talk to Doug. He's calling from Georgia. You're in the J.R. sport reef show. Go ahead, Doug. Hey, good evening.

What's going on there? How are you? Doing very well.

No ship's doing good. Talk to him. Hey, I was excited to hear the interview with Alex.

I'm again caught. And, you know, I know he graduated 76 and got in the draft. Played for McGuire.

But yeah, true professional. Great guy. And that was a great interview. And I'm glad you guys had him on, man.

That was a blessing. So you guys have a good night and take it easy, brother. Thank you. Appreciate you, Doug, for calling from here in Georgia.

Thank you. Michael is calling from Michigan. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Go ahead, Mike.

Mike is not there. Greg is calling from Mississippi. What's up, Greg? Hey, good evening, JR.

It's a pleasure to talk to you. Your comparison with Durant. Maybe the only other person like that with that deal that could shoot get his own shot out. What about Dirk Nowitzki?

I don't think so. Dirk wasn't Dirk could not move with the same type of fluidity as as Durant. Durant is like a shooting guard that you stretched out to seven feet. OK, that is fluid, but Dirk could get a shot off. Probably had one of the prettiest shots. Maybe I would say Dirk a little bit more of a leader because he stayed in Dallas. They let that championship slip away when Dwayne Wade played great, took it, but Dirk did come back and beat the Heat. So, you know, maybe I might just say that my game might be a little bit better that I respect a little bit more than Durant.

But Durant's a hell of a player. Appreciate you, man. You do a great job. Thank you, Greg, for calling from Mississippi.

Yeah, I mean, you're certainly entitled to your preference there. Clarence is calling from Mississippi. You're on the JR sport re-show. What's up, Clarence? Hey, JR. What's going on? How are you this beautiful Friday night? I'm doing pretty good. I've been talking to you for a while now.

I've been talking about Kevin Durant. He's a loser, JR. He's not going to be able to win. He's a loser. He goes to random 18. Thanks for taking my call.

No problem. Listen, I love Clarence is one of my favorite people to talk to. He gets right to the point.

There's no dilly dallying. He makes his point and that's it. He called Kevin Durant a loser. He said he goes to a ready made team. What else am I supposed to say to that?

I can't argue with him because he made his point. He exits stage left. Clarence is great. Oh, this guy's back. I don't know what happened to him. Michael is calling from Michigan.

Hey, Michael, what the hell happened to you? I just I said you disappeared. Yeah, I'm sorry about that.

I don't know what happened with my phone. I appreciate you taking my call, JR. I love your show.

No problem. I just want to. Yeah, I got to blame my phone. OK, but I just I just wanted to talk about Joe because I mean, he is just so phenomenal. He gets so many rebounds. He doesn't even jump a foot off the ground and he just does everything so great. I just I wonder why he wasn't done as the MVP this year.

It really doesn't make a lot of sense. Well, it was less it was less about him and his accomplishments and stats and numbers. And I say this every single year. The MVP is about a story. That's it. It's an ongoing story. Like, what's the story this year? Like the storylines are already starting to be written for next season. Like, let's think about this. Do you think Joel Embiid is going to win another MVP next season?

No, I mean, I just. There's going to be an there's going to be an added emphasis on Nikola Jokic. There might be a player who has another bomb year. And when I say bomb, I mean that in a good way.

And so the lines are set up. Let's let's think about this. Shaquille O'Neal only has one MVP. Like he could have gotten another MVP. We can certainly get into the conversation about a Steve Nash and or a Kobe. I mean, or or Shaq. So it's always about a story and who has the best record and who was the best player there and who was dominant. And so it's about a story.

And the story that people did not want to write was how the hell are we going to give Nikola Jokic a third MVP when Nikola Jokic? Well, he hasn't even won anything yet. Well, he's about to. It seems like it. Yeah. I mean, you're totally right on that.

I mean, he just he just wasn't there at the right time for his third MVP. But I got to ask one more thing. Yes. In baseball, the automated strike zone that is available now. Why are we not doing that? It doesn't make any sense to me.

Why? Just like in tennis, how there's the Hawkeye, why we can't use that in baseball. It's so agitate.

I mean, I'm sorry. It has to do with betting because I bet a little bit. But but I mean, when when the rally gets started off of a strike that is obviously out of the zone, what are we doing here?

Well, here's the biggest thing. The umpires have a union. So you're not necessarily going to dump the umpires. And I agree with you.

The other element is the players. There are a lot of pitchers who don't want the automated strike zone because it will eliminate a lot of high, high strikes that would typically get called balls. And I'm talking about those high fastballs. So I am not opposed to having an automated strike zone.

I think it would add some consistency. We should not live in a world where umpires are treated like baseball cards. You turn on some of the games now and the umpires are graded as to whether or not they are hitter or pitcher friendly.

And it's that that's not the case. It should be consistent. And, you know, as perfect of a game that baseball is, when I say perfect, the dimensions of the diamond are perfect.

And it's very symmetrical when you think about the frames. It takes you three strikes to get an out. It takes you, you know, three three outs to complete an inning. I mean, I can go on and on about just just the synchronicities that exist in baseball. But we have the umpiring that is inexact. And so it's it's quite ironic.

But I'll tell you this. It's eventually going to happen. How long is it going to take to happen is the thing? Because we've already seen it start to be implemented in the minors. And we have major league players who have already started to experience it.

I got no problem with it. Bring on the robo-umps. And if you want to keep an umpire, just have him stand there for potential plays at the plate and have him read off whatever the buzzer says. And if the strike zone is too nuts or crazy, expand it. If the robotic umpire, if the computer is calling the strikes, calling the strikes the balls now, then then lift it up higher, man. Figure it out. Technology can do a lot of things.

I heard technology is going to end the world in a few years. So, I mean, what do we know? The most it can do is figure out a stupid baseball game. I love baseball.

I just call this stupid because I feel like it. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. So much to get into. Russell Wilson said no to the Philadelphia Eagles. Adam Silver has additional words about John Morant. Gervonta Tank Davis, he was on house arrest until he violated it. Now he's behind bars. Von Miller talking like he's still a Bronco. Tom Brady says, my boy, I don't want him playing no football. We're going to talk about it all. The JR Sport Brief Show, CBS Sports Radio.

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