6.7.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 3

Okay, what's the number one reason you should try Instacart? Shopping over 1.5 million unique products from over 1,000 retailers and get everything delivered right to your door in as fast as one hour. All in one app.

So you can spend more time with the ones who matter most. Visit Instacart.com to get free delivery on your first three orders. Offer valid for a limited time, $10 minimum per order. Additional terms apply. You're listening to the JR Sportbrief on CBS Sportbrief. You're listening to the JR Sportbrief on CBS Sportbrief. You're listening to the JR Sportbrief on CBS Sportbrief on CBS Sportbrief. You can always tune in on the free Odyssey app.

You can hit rewind. Thank you to everybody locked in on your local CBS Sports Radio affiliate. Yeah, you could be anywhere in the country. You could be in San Diego. You could be in Las Vegas. You could be in Boston. You could be in Miami.

Sorry. You could be here with me in Atlanta. Shout outs to everybody listening in my hometown here on 92.9 The Game. What's up Chicago? What's up Detroit? Seattle?

Toronto? And you know, all the best. Everybody's been dealing with the smoke and the Canadian wildfires, whether you're in Canada or whether you're in the northern part of North America or the United States of America, just dealing with the smoke. Oh, my God. We saw some of the photos and the images.

It just it even let's put it this way. The smoke and the haze that look like Mars had the mayor of New York City waking up this morning going, what the hell is this? Just quickly, listen to New York City Mayor Eric Adams describe his city. Went outdoors and basically said, you know, what the hell is this? You know, it was it was clear there was something different that was happening in the city.

You know, what the hell is this? Well, we could also say what the hell is this to the NBA Finals matchup? And earlier on in the show, we talked about Messi going to Miami. We talked briefly again about live golf and the PGA. We'll hear from Rory McIlroy later on in the show. And then we know that Chris Paul, it looks like his days in Phoenix are numbered and the Suns don't want to pay this man 30 million dollars a year.

Now we have to figure out whether or not he is traded, released, waived, sent to Mars, whatever the case might be. But Chris Paul ain't playing right now. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.

They are. And tonight, the Denver Nuggets beat the Miami Heat, the final score 109 to 94. Denver takes a 2-1 series lead. And between Murray and Jokic, they did it in historic fashion. Listen to the stat line from Nikola Jokic. 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists. That has never, that stat line of 30-20-10 has never been done in the NBA Finals.

Ever. Jamal Murray had a triple-double as well. 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in this combination. Jokic and Murray both having triple-doubles.

It's never been done before. 30 point triple-doubles in NBA history. Not in the NBA Finals. Not in the playoffs. Not in the regular season.

Not ever. It's kind of crazy. Jimmy Butler having the best game, his best game of the series with 28 points. Bam Adebayo, 22 points and 17 rebounds.

This is a huge number. The Denver Nuggets out-rebounded the Miami Heat tonight 58 to 33. By the time we got into the second half of this game, it was, yeah, you could call it hanging in there. You never know what will happen.

Somebody goes on a run. It wasn't competitive. It was like the Denver Nuggets had this in the bag. And then everybody in Miami knew as much because they started to leave. Tell me if you've seen that one before. 855-212-4CBS. That's 855-212-4CBS. I want you to hear from Eric Spolstra. I want you to hear from Mike Malone. I'm going to take some of your calls and then, of course, I'm going to give you a new top six list because that's what I do.

So let's not waste any time. Eric Spolstra. He just talked about this historic performance between Jamal Murray and Nikolai Jokic. It's a great duo.

You know, their games really complement each other. You have one guy that's, you know, really can score in a lot of different ways. Another guy who's setting great screens or handoffs. And then if a ball gets back to him, he can get a bunch of people involved. Yeah, that's Jokic.

You just do whatever. 855-212-4CBS. Mike is calling from Maryland.

Hey, JR. I'd like to talk about the Jokic. He doesn't look it, but for an athlete his size, he's in tremendous shape. He's well-conditioned. And every category I look at, passing, great passer, rebounding, great rebounder, foul shooter, great foul shooter. Great shooting. And he can even hit the three. Great shooter.

Defense. He's a good defensive guy. So he's a team man. He's a very complete player. A lot of the big men in the past could not shoot the long ball like he does. So let's see how, you know, when his career is over and when the series is over.

Get a guy like Pat Riley. He's been around. Say, hey, Pat, what do you think of the Joker? Well, I think we all know, I think everybody knows he's best. I mean, LeBron James has lauded him. Kevin Durant has lauded him.

People are telling the truth about this man right now, and it's taken him to get to an NBA Finals to do so. Hey, Jimmy Butler just spoke, and even though the Miami Heat are now down 2-1, Jimmy Butler says, nah, we ain't worried about nothing. We feel great. We didn't play our best tonight. I feel like we just got to come out with more energy and effort. And that's correctable. That's on us as a group.

No X's and O's can fix that. So, you know, come out, dive on the floor, get loose balls, get defensive rebounds, and maybe, just maybe it would have been a different game. I mean, for three games here, y'all have kind of been chasing and running after them.

Why should it change all of a sudden mid-series? I don't know, man. 8-5-5, 2-1-2-4, CBS. Jonathan calling from Virginia. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Go ahead, Jonathan, quickly. Hey, thanks, JR.

Enjoy the show. You talk about the only person in the Finals of 30-20-10. Well, guess what? There are only two players in the playoffs who have done it even once. And you probably know their names, Wilt and Kareem. They each did 30-20-10 once in the playoffs. Joe Kick, on the other hand, has now done it three times in a single postseason.

So, time will tell where he ranks among the greats, but he's also a pretty damn impressive start. But the other thing I wanted to ask you, I work in medical. I got called into my work for an emergency case right around the time they were probably doing pregame warm-ups. Missed the entire game. I'm wondering what your assessment of, or what the stat line are for Miami's three-point shooting. Did Denver improve their three-point defense? Because I think that's a huge key in this series. Well, Miami went 11 of 35 from deep.

That is a 31% clip. Denver actually shot like garbage. Much worse than the previous game.

Yeah. Denver shot like trash from three-point tonight, but it was really only Jokic and Murray who scored the majority of the offense. They were five of 18 from three as a team, but Jamal Murray went three of six and Nikola Jokic went one of two. I'm actually more thinking about how Denver is defending the three-point line, because I think when you do that effectively against Miami, it takes them out of a big part of their game. They didn't do that well in game two. I had mentioned this.

I mentioned this last break. Gabe Vincent was one of six from deep. He only had seven.

Max Struse was one of four from deep. He only had three. And Duncan Robinson, who's an excellent three-point shooter, he hit three of six.

He hit for nine. And so I don't want to tell you that it was superb Denver defense that stopped Gabe Vincent and Max Struse. I think at the end of the day, these are all players on Miami, and this is why I think Denver is in such a great position, that game to game, you don't know. Gabe Vincent and Max Struse can go on stretches.

Same thing with Duncan Robinson. But to think that game to game to game, that they're just going to drop an average 20, I think is a misnomer. Hey Jonathan, thank you for calling from Virginia. Thank you, man. Keep rocking.

No doubt about it. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. I'm going to get some more of your calls.

The phone lines are certainly open. But this is something that I do every single Wednesday night into Thursday morning, and tonight will be no different, even with the NBA Finals. It will be a truncated version, but I wanted to get this in there. You know, last night we talked about Jacob deGrom, and we looked at someone who's one of the superstars of Major League Baseball. But unfortunately, he hasn't been healthy enough to even go out there and show his work. And so real quickly, I want to give you a top six list of some of the most injury-prone stars that the sports world has ever seen. It's time to get JR's latest top six list, only on the JR Sport Brief. This is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Nikola Jokic is talking to the media right now.

We will hear from Nikola Jokic when he finishes up with the media. But right now, a top six list. Some of the most injury-prone stars ever. Who's had it? Who didn't have it? Who didn't have a chance? Who didn't even get an opportunity? Let's go backwards.

Let's start off with this man right here. Who is he? What's the number?

Number six. Hey, it's Bill Walton. You know about Bill Walton. He says all the crazy, wild things on television, whether it's a college basketball game or back in the day, the NBA on NBC. Bill Walton is a fun guy.

I met Bill Walton. He's a real fun guy. His foot injuries weren't that funny. His back injuries weren't that funny.

Missing seasons weren't that funny. I mean, he won a championship with the Blazers and then missed a whole bunch of seasons and then had a chance with the Celtics as a backup. His feet so bad. Multiple surgeries. His back more recently also bad.

His back injury was so bad that he told our friend Maggie Gray from here on CBS Sports Radio back when she was with Sports Illustrated that his back injury had him contemplating suicide. It's like anything that's really meaningful and impactful. It's how you're feeling that day. And when I was lying on that floor and I had nothing and I was going to kill myself if I had a gun, I just all these things keep flashing in. And so when I kept telling myself all the time, what am I ever going to do if I get up off this floor? It was forty six years ago that I made my first appearance in Sports Illustrated faces in the crowd.

Is that right? Fourteen individual covers, three collage covers, but none of them none of the individual covers after I was twenty four years old, which was when the bone in my foot split in half when I was playing for the Trailblazers. And I ill advisedly took a pain killing shot before the game. Hey, look, Bill Walton is a cool ass dude.

I'm telling you that from personal experience, and I'm glad that he's still here and I hope he's having something very good to smoke on right now. Hey, top six list of injury prone players. What's the next number? Number five.

Oh, my God. This is another dude who got championship. So he's one of the he's one of the top players that the NBA has ever seen. He's on the top seventy five. He doesn't say a word.

He doesn't speak. He helped deliver a championship to Canada. He's a multiple time NBA finals MVP. His name is Kawhi Leonard.

Can you believe it? Kawhi Leonard is only thirty one years old. Feels like he's been in the NBA forever and been hurt. I mean, since he blew out his quad with the San Antonio Spurs, went to Toronto, won a championship, goes down to Los Angeles. I feel like he's in witness protection. Kawhi Leonard ain't playing more than 50 games a season.

How the hell is he ever going to work out? And then even more recently injured again. We didn't see him to conclude the playoffs. He's hurt again. Tyloo had to defend him and in his passion and all of this.

Listen, you can't listen to the outside noise, which I never do anyway. But I mean, he's definitely hurt. He's not, it's not a little man's where he's taking time off. He's shown in the past. He's played through injuries in the playoffs. And so if it's something he can't play through, then, you know, it has to be pretty serious. And so, you know, we're not talking about he's sitting out because he's a little man. He's tired or nothing like that. Like it's a actual thing, you know. So what the outside is saying, like, who cares? Maybe Kawhi Leonard has load managed himself into future injuries.

But what do I know? I got Kawhi Leonard at number five because he's won championships, finals MVPs. He's accomplished either way. What's the next number? Number four.

Oh, this really sucks. This was this was supposed to be one of the heir apparents of which there were several to Michael Jordan. This man came out of Detroit.

He was hated at Duke. It's Grant Hill, one of the nicest human beings that you will ever meet in your life. Hey, Grant Hill goes to Orlando. Grant Hill gets a gigantic contract leaving Detroit. Grant Hill has an ankle injury. We do not see Grant Hill for years. The Orlando Magic are paying him out of the behind. And unfortunately, he's dealing with an ankle injury that at one point risks and puts his entire health and life at risk. But Grant Hill is able to bounce back.

He becomes a great role player for the Phoenix Suns at one point, averaging 15 and 14 points per game on a way to a Western Conference finals in 2010. Grant Hill was able to turn things around. Did he live up to the superb all time all time great category?

No, he didn't. But he certainly had a damn good NBA career that most players would be envious of despite his ankle issues. Hey, Matt Barnes, he recently asked Jerry Stackhouse on all the smoke about how great and special Grant Hill was.

You get traded. You spoke on it to Detroit. You teamed up with Grant Hill. For people that don't know, obviously injuries derailed his career. But how special was Grant when Grant was healthy?

We ain't got no time. He was cold. He was cold.

You know, because he he was unselfish, man. He was like LeBron from the standpoint of he could handle the basketball. He looked to make plays for others, but he could he could score at will. He could really keep him in front of you off the bounce. He could go out and down in the post and play. And it was probably the only weakness that you probably would say about Grant was probably defensively. Right.

And then at the end of his career, he goes to Phoenix and he becomes a defensive stopper. So, you know, you look at his body of work, man, if he if he wouldn't have got hurt. And I think that played a big part in us kind of. I mean, we were we were on our way.

Right. I think we were probably one of the best tandems in the league behind Scotty and MJ at the time. Yeah, it would have been nice to see what Grant would have been able to do down in Orlando.

Maybe the magic, their fortunes would have been different. I got Grant Hill a number for one of the most injury prone stars ever. What's the next number? Number three. Let's go to the ice.

Let's go to Philadelphia. Let's check in with Eric Lindros. I mean, wow. Concussions. How many of them are recorded? Eight eight recorded concussions.

This is one of the most tight prospects that the NHL has ever seen in a shortened season. He won the heart trophy, best player MVP. And then he started getting laid out. He had to call it quits in the year 2007. Back in 1998. That was the first reported concussion. And I'll never forget when New Jersey Devil Scott Steve Stevens just sent him to the nether round. Eric Lindros right now taking the time to God bless him, still speak out about NHL players and their head issues. And he says that our players need to be protected more. It can't be the discretion of the referee. I don't know how this is going to play out, but it's thank God it's not in my hands.

It's up to the competition committee to figure out. But what, you know, common sense would say that we shouldn't have that job. But where are we on research? And if we're going to fix, we're going to get right to the bottom of it. You've got to have a strong base to build up. You can build a bridge. You can't just throw on the little sick knee at the end and call it good luck with that. Once you go first, you want to build up strong from the base. And the way to do that in my eyes and many other people's eyes, talking with Dr. Mulder last week, is basic research. Whether it be imaging or blood work, anything along those lines.

Basic research is how you're going to get to know more and be able to be in a situation to address this problem. Yeah, well, that's Eric Lindros talking to the Toronto Sun about headshots. And NHL doesn't need any more of them. We'll tell that to Kachuk from the Panthers.

He's over here cracking people in the skull with his fist. Not the nicest of guys. I got Lindros at number three. Who's a number? What's the next number? Number two.

Yeah, on the countdown, two comes after three. Hey, it's the guy who's having Tommy John surgery. It's DeGrom. He inspired this list. He got one hundred and eighty five million dollars coming his way. And over the past few seasons, his shoulder hurts, his forearm hurts, his elbow hurts. And now he has Tommy John and the Texas Rangers are a bunch of suckers for giving him that money. And DeGrom, he has to live with the fact that he won't be able to earn that money.

And he knows it's why he cried when he had to deliver the news last night. No, I went through this before and I know what it takes to get back home. So that's the goal. Go out there, you know, rehab as the best I can and and be around to help, you know, any way I can. You know, we got a special group here and. And then I'll be able to be out there and, you know, help them win that it stinks. This is what we love to do.

But, you know, finding this out, coming here. Wanting to be out there and helping the team, you know, it's a disappointment. You're not sustainable, right? Throwing one hundred plus miles per hour.

Precision point accuracy and a one point nothing era. It's not sustainable. It is the J.R. sport re show on CBS Sports Radio. We're going to take a break. When we come back on the other side, we're going to hear from Nicola Jokic. Nicola Jokic just spoke to the media. Jimmy Butler had some additional words as well.

And yeah, we have one more name to share with you. He happens to be the most injury prone star ever. The biggest case of what could have been is the J.R. sport re show on CBS Sports Radio.

Don't move more on the other side. You're listening to the J.R. sport brief on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, J.R., how are you? You know, what I wanted to say was that I love your top six list. Those things are awesome. I don't call into radio stations, but this is the second time you've made me call in because I just love your list so much.

It's fun to listen to. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the J.R. sport brief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. NBA finals are done for tonight. Denver beats Miami 109 to 94. We'll hear from Nicola Jokic in a second. And then I will also share with you number one on my list of most injury prone.

What if stars ever. But before I get that, you know what, let's let's get Jokic out of the way. He had a historic night for the Denver Nuggets, 32 points, 21 rebounds, 10 assists. So that that part of the stat line, that triple double never been done by anyone in NBA history in the finals of 30 2010 game. The other historical element that Jamal Murray has a triple double of his own, 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. They are the first pair to ever average a 30 point or have a 30 point triple double in NBA history. It doesn't matter if it's the regular season, the postseason, the finals, a 30 point triple double by a pair of teammates has never, ever been done. And so Nicola Jokic, he just spoke to the media and he was asked about this stat line.

He didn't give a damn when you have a line that's never been accomplished before in finals history. What do you think of that? To be honest, I just think it's a win, you know, because if you lose, nobody's going to even mention it.

And I mean, to be honest, I don't care. It's just it's just a stat. No, just the stats. It's it's just the wins. It's just the wins. It's just the wins. What are the wins? What do we win?

How did we win? And that's all that matters. Good on him. I appreciate it. I like a guy who ain't out here saying I got triple doubles and paint.

Do we win the game? That's all that matters. And he really doesn't seem to care. This is not an act. He does not give a damn. And I love it.

I really do. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS.

I also just gave you and I'm getting ready to reveal to you. Number one, I'm giving you a top six list of some of the most injury prone stars ever. Impossible to fit everybody onto a top six list. I wanted to look at some individuals who were always hurt and attained success and then make my way down to some dudes who are just big what ifs might have missed the boat on on Hall of Fame.

All time careers here. Let me give you a recap before I give you numero uno and number six. I gave you Bill Walton and number five. I gave you Kawhi Leonard and number four. I gave you Grant Hill and number three. I gave you Eric Lindros. Unfortunately, eight recorded concussions. I'm sure that there were many, many more. And number two, I gave you the man who is having Tommy John surgery.

Mr. One point nothing. E.R.A. two time Cy Young future. Oh, I guess not Hall of Famer Jacob deGrom. And that leaves us here with this number right now. Number one.

This is a huge what if. Because I think this man was going to be one of the most dynamic point guards. And he was one of the most dynamic point guards that the NBA has ever seen. His game so violent, his athleticism, so herky jerky. He was such a supreme athlete.

It didn't seem possible that it would last. And I'm referring to Derrick Rose. This man won an MVP. One of the most athletic freaks in scores that the NBA has seen at the point guard position. Every time Derrick Rose would go to the basket, it seemed that he would be shot out of a cannon. Some of his highlight reels include two hands, two hand slams attacking the basket.

Just just violent, like he wanted the whole world to know about it. And it looked like he was going to be able to take the Chicago Bulls back to prominence, especially after picking up an NBA MVP award in 2011. When he, by the way, just basically fell out of the womb. But since that MVP season, we know about everything that happened. 2012 playoffs, tore his ACL, missed the entire season, came back, tore his meniscus, missed the rest of that season. Knee injuries on and on and on, broke his face at one time and tore the meniscus in his knee again.

And I can go on, but I will not. But somehow, some way he's still been able to go out and have a serviceable career as a backup, as a point guard, as a mentor, as a do it all for the Cavs, for the Knicks, for the Wolves, for the Pistons. He didn't play this past season really for the Knicks. Didn't complain. Showed up, helped Jalen Brunson and everybody else.

Didn't say a peep. It's admirable what Derrick Rose has been able to do. And he is one of the biggest what ifs for a dude who actually did climb the top of the mountaintop. And I think the Bulls would have been there if he never got hurt. Paul George, on his own podcast, he talked about how great Derrick Rose was before the injuries. I remember the playoffs, like we're going over Skings, matchups, who's guarding who? And they like, alright, P, you got D. Rose.

Wait, what? I just started playing. And it's your first playoff. Like, y'all trust me guarding the MVP? So I'm like, alright, bet.

Like, I'll take the challenge. It was crazy, like, matching up with him and seeing him in front of me. Because I'm not going to lie, like, that year, bro, he was untouchable. And I felt I played good against him and I look at the box score 40.

Damn, I thought I was on this s*** today. That series took me deep into my career in terms of like, alright, if I can guard him, I can match up with anybody. I've never seen anybody else other than Ja. I've never seen anybody else that had that ability. He just had ability to just, off of trampoline and just punch that motherf***er on you too. It's impossible to fit it in six.

I just wanted to share some with you. It's impossible. I know Derek Rose, he's one of the biggest what-ifs from an injury perspective. Someone who actually did climb the mountaintop and have success and fall off. Similar to a Jacob DeGrom. We know.

Hall of Fame, championships, it would have been right in front of him. But it's not for everybody. It's not for everybody. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. I'm going to take some of your calls on the other side of the break.

You know what, not even some. I'm going to take a whole hell of a lot of your calls on the other side of the break. That's 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Hey, you know what? We'll also hear from Jamal Murray.

He's the other nugget who had a triple-double. We got a lot to do. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, JR, thanks for taking my call. You have a great show. I listen to you on my midnight shift every night. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS.

It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. NBA Finals still rolling on. It's not safe to put a fork in the heat now, is it? I guess we got to wait a little while.

Just a little bit. Anyway, Nikola Jokic, I told you he's not the only dude who ran around and got a triple-double tonight, a historic one. Jamal Murray poured in his own triple-double as well, 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists.

And he spoke to the media. And Jamal Murray said, yeah, after I had 18 points in Game 2, I needed to come out here and do better. I felt like I didn't bring the intensity that the moment called for.

Even though I didn't play terrible, I felt like I could have done a lot more. Most people that have watched the Nuggets play, when I have a game like that, I'm most likely going to bounce back. Here we go. Now we have to wait until Friday for Game 4. And if the Miami Heat win that game, then all of a sudden all the other Miami Heat fans that have just kind of said, oh, you doubted us, you doubted us, they will be back out of the woodwork. They're saying absolutely nothing tonight. And let's see what happens because if Denver goes up 3-1, it's curtains.

We know that. Hey, I'll be live on the radio here on Friday so we can go out or go ahead and find out together. It's 855-2124 CBS.

That's 855-2124 CBS. It is Wednesday night into Thursday morning, which means I also just gave you a top six list. We took a look at some of the most injury-prone stars, some of the biggest what ifs that the sports world has ever seen. And number one, I gave you Derrick Rose. What is also so unfortunate about his scenario is we saw him have success. We saw him be an MVP. We saw him lead the Bulls to the postseason.

And then, unfortunately, we saw his knees and every part of his lower body just give out over time. I got Rose a number one. It's impossible to fit six athletes into the injury-prone category. I had Walton at six. I had Kawhi at five. Grant Hill at four. Eric Lintross at three. DeGrom at two.

And Rose at one. Let's go to Tony from Washington, D.C. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, JR. My man, how you doing, sir? Very well, man.

Go ahead. I think you've got to look at a couple of other guys. You left out Penny Hardaway. You left out Sam Bui, even though he wasn't a star coming out of Kentucky. He was hyped to be one of the top players ever. And then my man, Greg Oden, who was hurt more than Keith Sweat and Barry Weichmann, man, he stayed hurt. But not superstars, but guys that came out high in the draft, hyped. But Penny, of course, I think him and Shaq would have been a nice duo as they stayed together and he was healthy. He was the next big point guard that I believe in that. Kind of like the ilk of Magic Johnson, but could do a little bit more.

But I thought Penny Hardaway should have been on that list. Okay. Thank you, Tony, for calling from Washington. Joe is calling from San Diego.

You're on CBS Sports Radio. Yeah. How you been, man? I'm excellent. I'm here. What's up?

Yeah. Listen, Chef said superstar. So initially I had Jimmy Garoppolo, but I can't put him on there because he's not a superstar.

So I hopped out and I changed it. I got to go with because his career was so short, he ended up in the Hall of Fame. I'm a Raider fan and I respected him, but I didn't like him because he was on the Denver Broncos. That was Terrell Davis, a very short career. His numbers don't compare to a lot of the running backs ahead of him because obviously he didn't have that many years. But he was a phenomenal, phenomenal running back for the short time that he did play.

Very wrong, I would have had way higher up on the list, only no disrespect to you, but the guy only played like about 400 games in the NBA. And the only season where he played 82 games, he was the sixth man of the year with the Boston Celtics. He had like two or three years, I believe, where he didn't even play. Yes, he missed three seasons.

The reason why I had him at number six is because, little known to most people, he was someone who, like Derrick Rose, won an NBA MVP. He was a Finals MVP and he was able to go out there and accomplish a lot despite missing multiple, multiple, multiple seasons. Yes, but he also had foot problems even when he was in high school. He won his final 59 games in high school and then his first 60 at UCLA, so I mean 119 wins in a row. And he dealt with foot problems with UCLA. He was a two-time college player of the year. He was killing it out there with wooden, and so that's why I didn't slap him further up on the list because Bill Walton is less of a what-if. We saw what he did, and despite missing multiple seasons, he had a successful career, man.

That's why I had him at six. Yes, no, I mean... Joe, Joe, Joe! I got other callers here, Joe. Okay, no worries, man. Have a good night. Thank you. I appreciate you. I can't talk to you for four minutes, brother.

855-2124, CBS Arthur, caller from Mississippi. What's going on, man? How are you?

Go ahead. Oh, man, I got a penny hard away, man. It was a cold cat, man.

Cold, cold, cold. I wish him and Shaq would have stayed together, wish he would have stayed healthy. You know, got a couple rings, but you know, it is what it is, but I mean, it has some great games, though.

Yeah, it would have been interesting to see if they would have got that Michael Jordan guy out the way. I don't think so. Appreciate you, Arthur. All right. No doubt about it. Russell is calling from Rochester. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show.

Hey, just two people. I think Rookie of the Year, Ben Simmons, was phenomenal, and I think it's a big what-if, because whether you give validity to his mental health issues or not, it still remains a what-if. And that Peyton Manning, if Peyton never would have had that trap or shoulder throwing arm surgery, he might still be playing today, so I think those are two that might be working. Whoa, Peyton Manning?

Peyton Manning, one of the most injury-prone dudes ever, really? What? Well, I would say, like, one of the biggest what-ifs. No, bro. No, no, no. Anyway, no, no, no, no. Let's not even – no, that's just – I'm not even going to justify that with a full response.

I got a question for you, Russell. Are you congested? Yeah, yeah, the smoke and the smog – I'm in Rochester, so, like, we got it pretty bad, the smoke and the smog, but I still got to get out here and get people where they're going, Uber and that stuff. Did the worst of it change? Like, today it was red outside, right? It looked like Mars. Yeah, well, from what I was reading, today was worse than yesterday in Rochester.

Oh, my God. Where were you when I was in Rochester? I was in Rochester. Okay, all right.

I'm either in Rochester or Buffalo, but, yeah, it's been pretty bad out here with the smog and stuff. Okay, because, man, I'm like, damn, man, you sound like you need something, man. You don't sound good. Well, you feel better, okay? I appreciate it. Thank you.

All right, thank you. Peyton Manning, a what-if, what? Peyton Manning used up everything that he had. Have you seen him and his brother?

Have you seen him and his brother just standing around? They are the most – if you put the two Manning brothers in your kitchen next to each other, you say, hey, these are some of the greatest athletes ever in their respective sports, you'd be like, what? There's only one more what-if I can think of, JR. With what, Peyton Manning? No, if Tom Brady – because, remember, he got hurt in 2008. He's the other guy that I always say what-if. Shep. Yeah.

I don't even know what you're going to say. No, that was just because Peyton Manning, he had his entire career, he was hurt just one time, and that was that neck surgery, when he had the four neck surgeries. That's it. Yeah, he got a giant scar on the back to remind him of it.

And he came back and then won an MVP, so. Yeah, so I'm like, what are we doing here? What-if. What-if. Peyton Manning, what-if. No, I think I've seen enough of him. I think I'm very familiar with Peyton Manning and what he did in his Hall of Fame career and one of the greatest quarterback careers that a human being can ever have. So, I don't think there's too many injuries that made his career a what-if.

I don't think so. Anyway, it's the JR Sportbrief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. I'll tell you what does have a what-if. Liv Golf, Rory McIlroy talked about it, Lionel Messi, there is no what-if. We know exactly where he's going to play. And me, if you're asking me, I don't think there's a what-if about who's going to win the NBA Championship. I think it's the Nuggets.

I've been saying that before the Finals. Where all the heat callers at? Call me up, Miami. Call me, please. Talk to me.

I'm here for one more hour. It's the JR Sportbrief Show on CBS Sports Radio. I'm going to get some more of your calls on the other side and, yes, we'll hear from Rory McIlroy. We'll talk about Chris Paul. We'll talk more Finals here on CBS Sports Radio, the JR Sportbrief Show.

We'll talk about Chris Paul. Your points are worth more than you think. This first class flight to Tokyo? You can book it in your credit card portal for 1.4 million points. With Point Me, you could redeem just 120,000 points for that same flight.

Now that's more like it. Point Me gets you 6 to 12 times the value for your points. Your credit card points are worth more than you think. Point Me, better flights, fewer points. Get started today at point.me.

That's point.me. What you watch depends on what kind of mood you're in. Sometimes you're craving comedies like Friends or South Park and sometimes you're more into dramas like HBO's Succession and House of the Dragon.

There's also cooking shows like Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay and even movies like The Lord of the Rings and Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Well, Max is the streaming destination that has the best of entertainment for whatever mood you're in anytime. And plans start at as little as $9.99 a month. Max, the one to watch. Subscription required. Visit max.com.