Rodgers Makes His Decision (Hour 1)

It is! The JR Sportbree Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody for being tuned in, locked in, wherever you might be, whatever you might be doing. Thank you for hanging out here with us on the Infinity Sports Network.

I'm in Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to our producer in New York City, Ryan Botcher. What a day, what a day, what a day. He has arrived. Well, not yet. He has come back. I guess not quite.

Aaron Rodgers is officially joining the Pittsburgh Steelers. What a day, what a day, what a day. In a couple hours from now, Game 1 of the NBA Finals is going to get underway between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. Man, we had an overtime thriller last night in Edmonton between the Oilers and the Florida Panthers. Man, the Oilers came out on top? Yeah, they got a 1-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Congratulations to them. How about this, in other news and sports, Anthony Richardson, the guy who's going to lose his starting job to Daniel Jones. How about Anthony Richardson is already hurt again. Amman Ra'Saint Brown already had some surgery. Man, the White Sox in the process of being sold to somebody with the last name Ishbia? There's another one?

Yeah, we found out. Lamar Jackson is looking for a new contract. Looks like he's on his way. Eric Carr explains why he walked away from his contract. Looks like Shadore Sanders, there's a way for him to start right away for the Cleveland Browns.

I did not expect that. Rick Pitino, he doesn't want to start or finish anything with the New York Knicks. He's not interested in the head coaching job. He's not trying to go back to New York. This Rick Pitino feels very comfortable in Queens with St. John's. The Chiefs and Royals, they're going to stay in Missouri. Ok, no Kansas City, Kansas.

It looks like they're going to stay in Missouri. And of course at the end of the show, we're going to talk about a few things that took place this day in sports history. We have some guests that are going to come through and join us.

How about this? In 20 minutes, we're going to get an NBA Finals preview. We'll be joined by James Herbert.

Covers all things NBA for CBSSports.com. And then next hour, we're going to take a dive into what's going on in the Stanley Cup Finals. We already had a solid game. We already had a great game last night.

Game 1. David Pagnotta going to join us. Covers all things NHL.

All over the place including Sirius XM NHL Radio. Ryan Boccia, how are you on this Thursday, June 5th? You doing good?

I'm doing great. Well that's good. Yeah. I'm just happy that we have competitive hockey and basketball in a similar time frame now.

Ok. What do you mean? Off by a couple of days? Yeah, like every other day.

It should be a good game. The wait for these Finals to start has been insane. Well, you got to let the guys rest now, right?

A week? You have to have buffer room. What do you want to just move everything up? It's tough to do logistically. I think it's a better advantage if you win early in a series. So the funder taking care of business should be to their advantage. Well, we know they got a stronger team. I know a lot of people. We've heard Tyrese Halliburton lament the fact that nobody's picking them. Well, I say this.

Get over it, man. Now you have an opportunity to go out there and prove it. ESPN is already doing their, well they're doing SportsCenter right now. And they're doing a little pregame spot or shot inside the arena. Tonight everybody in Oklahoma City, they typically wear those colorful shirts. Tonight they're going to be wearing all white. So the stadium or the crowd, the arena probably won't look all that crazy. Yeah, everybody looking at the Oklahoma City Thunder, they are the favorites here without a shadow of a doubt.

We'll have that chat in about 15 minutes with James Herbert as he comes on through and he joins us. But speaking of colorful, anything, everybody knows black and yellow. Everybody knows the Pittsburgh Steelers. Everybody knows the steel curtain. People know the Steelers. The Steelers are one of the iconic franchises in the NFL. And now they got a quarterback and I can't even call it the world's largest kept secret. Aaron Rodgers has finally decided that he is going to join the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I want you to take a listen to the news that came on down earlier this afternoon. This is courtesy of CBS Sports HQ. Big breaking news here at CBS Sports HQ. We have been waiting forever and now our NFL insider Jonathan Jones confirming it. Aaron Rodgers will be a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. According to JJ, he plans to sign a one-year deal with the Steelers ahead of next week's veteran mandatory minicamp. The wait is over. Future Hall of Famer, according to JJ, will now officially continue his career in Pittsburgh. Good. Good. I need a good Aaron Rodgers story.

I'm here for it. The guy is egotistical. He's pompous.

He loves hearing himself talk and he's about himself. He can still play football, by the way, despite heading heading into the season at 41 years old. He'll be 42 throughout the course of the season by the time they get into December, 42. Aaron Rodgers could still play.

I don't think he's completely cooked yet. No, he's not at his MVP peak. But you could imagine the only thing that would slow Aaron Rodgers down is his body and it's physically.

I don't think the guys slow down any piece or bit at all when it comes down to his acumen. He's one of the smartest quarterbacks to ever play. He's one of the most efficient quarterbacks to ever play the game. And last year for New York Jets team that only went five and 12.

This is why the Jets cleaned house. Aaron Rodgers did complete 28 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. Aaron Rodgers did go on a little bit of a stretch towards the conclusion of the season. And meanwhile, the Steelers. Yeah, they went on a stretch that that nobody wants. OK, they went 10 and seven, went to the postseason, got smashed by the Ravens 28 to 14. People looked at this and said, so what? Mike Tomlin went out and had another positive season above 500. Who cares? We're out here losing.

This is not the point of it. They got rid of George Pickens, pretty much brought in DK Metcalf in exchange. We heard about the rumors of potentially trading for John Smith from Miami, who hold in more than 800 yards, receiving an eight touchdowns last year.

And now they potentially have someone who can deliver them the ball. It was only over the holiday Memorial Day weekend holiday that Aaron Rodgers was sitting around on a podcast. The more you know, podcast and Aaron Rodgers was asked by a young lady.

Yes, it's a little girl, not even a young lady, a little girl. She asked him if he would ever join the Bears. Not that they need a quarterback right now with Caleb. And Aaron Rodgers pretty much hinted that eventually he would be playing in Chicago before another team.

Will Aaron Rodgers ever go to the Bears? Oh, boy. Security. Get her out of here. Security. Can you take it easy on her?

No, but I believe there's a team that might play in Chicago this year. What's a trip? I don't know. Sure. Check it out.

Yeah. Well, we don't have to look too further or look too far. The Pittsburgh Steelers, they are in Chicago November twenty third, one o'clock game. So Aaron Rodgers has an opportunity to go back out into Chicago and just torture that fan base. And when you think about the Pittsburgh Steelers schedule, this is awesome. This is spectacular.

You cannot make some of this up. The Pittsburgh Steelers, they open their season in New York against the Jets. Sign me up. That's their season opener Sunday, September 7th. They then go to Seattle. Who cares? They take on New England. Who cares? Aaron Rodgers up in New England.

Who cares? They take on Minnesota. That'll be a fun one.

That game is actually going to take place in Ireland. That'll be a fun one. They take on Cleveland. I wonder which quarterback will be throwing the football for the Browns at that point in time. They go to Cincinnati.

Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers. They host the Green Bay Packers Sunday Night Football in October right before Halloween. They take on the Colts. They go to Los Angeles. They take on the Bengals.

They go to Chicago. We have Aaron Rodgers versus Josh Allen. We have Aaron Rodgers versus Lamar Jackson. We have Aaron Rodgers hosting in December Miami.

Yeah, I'm sure Miami will lose that one because they hate the cold weather. Aaron Rodgers goes back to Detroit. Aaron Rodgers goes to Cleveland. And then the Steelers conclude their year, which will probably determine whether or not they make the postseason against the Ravens at home.

There you have it. Aaron Rodgers decided to climb out from behind his rock. He said that I am going to go and play for the Steelers and I will actually participate in camp.

Aaron Rodgers, we know how this guy rolls. He could have waited until next month. But he wants to have a full month to go out there and pretty much study the team's playbook. And so he'll be on the field next week. He'll make niceties. He'll tell some jokes. He'll probably have a veiled joke or nudge to the New York Jets and what didn't work out in New York. Aaron Rodgers will be an ass and Aaron Rodgers will help the Steelers be a winning team.

I believe that. I think having Aaron Rodgers behind center for the Pittsburgh Steelers will help them once again get over 500. I believe it will allow them to make it into the postseason again as a wild card and on a one year contract.

I'm sorry. I think the Steelers will be looking for a QB in another year. Is this going to be the complete disaster that it was for the New York Jets?

I don't think so. The Jets were swinging for the fences after going for quarterback after quarterback, quarterback and having a defense. They felt that they were one quarterback away. And they knew that by bringing in Aaron Rodgers. They weren't trying to hit a single, a double, a triple.

They were either going to hit a grand slam or strike out. The New York Jets struck out and everybody got the boot. It's not going to happen here with the Steelers. Aaron Rodgers is going to help get them to the postseason.

He's probably going to still sit around and do his interviews with Pat McAfee. I think Mike Tomlin will actually deal with it as long as they're winning. I don't think Aaron Rodgers is going to change. I don't think the Steelers are going to change. A matter of fact, these are two individuals, both Mike Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers.

They have a good amount of respect for each other. About three years ago, you know, after Aaron Rodgers played against Mike Tomlin and the Steelers, he was asked about this on Pat McAfee and Aaron Rodgers had nothing but glowing, positive words to say about Mike Tomlin. I'm a big Mike Tomlin fan.

I have been for a long time. I like the way that he speaks about his team. I like the way that he goes about his business. You know, I like his confidence.

You know, I've heard nothing but good things from guys that have played there. Yeah, I could see this being business as usual. You know, the difference here with Aaron Rodgers between the Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Aaron Rodgers is not going to have the run of the building.

He's not the boss. Like, it's going to still be Mike Tomlin. Now, is Aaron Rodgers still going to have a little bit of carte blanche? Is he still going to sit around and do his interviews and whatnot?

Yeah, I feel fairly positive about that. But Mike Tomlin is, he's been around. Mike Tomlin has won a Super Bowl. Mike Tomlin is like the furniture. Mike Tomlin just got a contract extension.

Damn it. When it comes to the Rooney's, Mike Tomlin is like, he's like family. The New York Jets have pretty much been voiceless forever. Come on, Robert Johnson, the old Band-Aid man? This is the guy that's leading the franchise?

The Pittsburgh Steelers are iconic. Are we going to get some Aaron Rodgers-ism here and there? Is he going to say something funny? Is he going to say or do something ridiculous? Is he going to irk Mike Tomlin? Is he going to irk his teammates?

Is he going to be on Pat McAfee saying something wild? I expect him to. But I also expect them to win. I expect less drama. I expect a defeat in the postseason.

And I expect for us to go through this again. And maybe this go round, around this time next year, a little before this, heading into the draft, I think we might have an Aaron Rodgers who says, either A, I will run it back with the Steelers. B, I'm retiring.

Or C, he says nothing. And he waits until the summer. Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers. You have now walked in to the Aaron Rodgers zone. The only difference between the Jets and the Steelers, I think the Steelers are better equipped to deal with the guy. A winning season.

A funny quote here or there. Not as much drama with the New York Jets. And then we head into another offseason of will he or won't he, as Aaron Rodgers will be 42 years old. I think they're good enough to go to the postseason. I think we all know.

Most of us know. I don't think they're good enough to win a Super Bowl. Botcher, what do you think this is going to end up like for the Steelers? Let's move to February, March.

What do you think has taken place? 500 football losing the first round and they're back to square one. You'd say I'd see that Mike Tomlin maybe gets the boot. If not, they'll probably trade up in the first round of the NFL draft. OK. Yeah, I don't see Mike Tomlin getting the boot, getting sent out of the building. Aaron Rodgers would have to take a complete flame thrower to the organization, I think, for Mike Tomlin to get the boot. And then even if that were the case, I think people would look at Aaron Rodgers as the problem and less of Mike Tomlin. I think his job security is safe unless Aaron Rodgers takes him down. And well, damn it, I guess Mike Tomlin can call Rob Salah.

He can call Rob Salah and ask him about that. I think Tomlin will be safe. But like you, I think that they're going to be in the same damn spot they were last year. Winning football team, winning program, into the playoffs, then out and then more drama as the Steelers still look for a long term quarterback. We know a 42 year old is not going to be running or leading anything for any amount of time. Aaron Rodgers only signing with the Steelers for one year.

Hey, get ready for the roller coaster. When he talks next week, when he signs his contract, when he's officially a stealer, I'm pretty sure we're going to have some great sound bites coming from Aaron Rodgers. Mike Tomlin as well.

These two are built for microphones. It's the JR Sportbreeze show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Next hour, we're going to have a chat with David Pagnotta, covers all things NHL, as the Stanley Cup Finals are underway.

The Edmonton Oilers winning Game 1 over the Panthers last night. But in five minutes, we're going to have a chat with James Herbert. He covers all things NBA for CBSSports.com. Tonight is Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers.

We got a lot to get into. NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB. It's the JR Sportbreeze show on the Infinity Sports Network. You're listening to the JR Sportbreeze.

It is the JR Sportbreeze show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Last night, we had Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals get underway, and then tonight we have Game 1 of the NBA Finals. We're going to have the Oklahoma City Thunder hosting the Indiana Pacers. People expected the Thunder to be here, not so much the Indiana Pacers.

I mean, the Thunder are the overwhelming favorites to walk away hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy. To talk to someone who's very versed on not just the NBA Finals, these teams and some of the other wacky and crazy things that have taken place in the NBA this week, a la Tom Thibodeau. Joining us right now is someone who writes for CBS Sports and covers all things NBA.

It's James Herbert. James, how are you, man? I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. Awesome.

Thank you for taking the time to join us right out of the gate. Everybody, most people are picking the Oklahoma City Thunder. What do you think gives the Pacers any chance to prove people wrong? I think the Pacers offense in some ways is like, you know, it's nothing like the offenses the Thunder have faced so far. I mean, they just operate at such a higher speed, and I'm not talking about just the way they push the ball after getting stopped. I'm talking about just the way they move it in the half court.

Like, they are a blur. Like, if you watch the way that they play, there's not really another team in the NBA like them. They're always trying to create as much confusion as possible by, you know, they have guys slipping screens, setting these ghost screens, just trying to reverse the ball from side to side and make the defense have to close out multiple times on the same possession. The Pacers oftentimes don't really know what they're going to do on a given position where they go down the floor, which makes them really hard to scout. So you have this historically great defensive team in the Thunder that has feasted on forcing turnovers and making these teams get stagnant. And then they're going up against a team that like does not get stagnant ever, very rarely turns the ball over. And, you know, the Thunder like to load up on guys.

They like to, you know, try to make the paint all crowded. And the Pacers like they love when teams try to do that because they're better than anybody in the league at being able to kind of take advantage of that, move the ball from side to side, get you moving. So, I mean, it's one of those things where it's a really interesting matchup because you have this incredible offense against this incredible defense. And, you know, it might look different from night to night in terms of like which team has the advantage when the Pacers have the ball. And it's not just night to night.

It's really like quarter to quarter play to play. Like it's going to be really interesting to see how that kind of sorts itself out because something has to give. Well, James, when you we know about the depth on the Oklahoma City Thunder and to kind of continue on, just thinking about the Pacers because there's so much attention paid to the Thunder. Is there a swing player on this this Pacers team not named Tyrese Halliburton who people need to pay attention to? I mean, are we seeing Neesmith? Does he have to go out there and drop another million threes and a half, a quarter?

I mean, that would help. I don't know that that's something the Pacers want to rely on every night, especially, you know, he's coming off of an ankle injury. You saw him dealing with that at the end of the series against New York.

I think one player that I find endlessly fascinating and honestly one of my favorite role players in the NBA, I will play maybe selling him short because he's an extremely important player for the Pacers. That's Andrew Nembhard. And he's the guy not not not Aaron Neesmith, aside from the first 90 seconds of Game six against the Knicks. Like Nembhard was the guy guarding Jalen Brunson and he was being extremely physical with him. He really frustrated him and Brunson at one point in the game headbutted him. And, you know, that was by far Brunson's least efficient game of the series. And Nembhard made a bunch of timely shots in that game, too. He is not a guy that is necessarily going to score even double digits every night, though certain nights he can contribute that way in the offensive end. Last year in the conference finals, when Halliburton went out, he was putting up these huge, crazy offensive games against a great defensive team in Boston. He doesn't have to do that against the Thunder, but he is the guy I'm guessing from the opening tip will be defending Shea, Gildas, Alexander, those two guys.

A couple of Canadians have known each other since they were kids. He's going to have watched all the tape. He's already extremely familiar with Shea's game. That doesn't necessarily mean you'll actually be able to get stops on him very frequently because Shea is the MVP and he's that good.

But I want to see how that matchup works and just if he can at least make things tough on Shea, the way that he did against Jalen Brunson the last time we saw Nembhard on the basketball court. James Herbert is joining us here on the JR Sport Brief Show, writer for CBSSports.com. Shea Gildas Alexander, as you mentioned, this man walked away with his first MVP. Could be the finals MVP for all things considered here. Man, who doesn't get the attention? Shea Gildas is the MVP. And granted, there's so many other players on that squad.

They're so deep. Who don't you think gets the recognition they deserve? I mean, it's a long list because the Thunder are so much more than just their best players.

I mean, I think most people look at them and it's, you know, it's Shea, it's Jay Dove and it's Chad Holmgren. Those are the top three guys that they're sort of building around. But I think they have the best supporting cast in the NBA. They have the best defense in the NBA by a wide margin. And, you know, I could wax poetic about Kason Wallace, if you want. I could go on about Isaiah Hartenstein, who would just fit in extremely well. Exactly how the Thunder expected this year. I think there's some debate among people over whether Lou Dore or Alex Caruso is their best on ball defender. Because, I mean, either one of those you could say is the best perimeter defender in the NBA. That's how good those guys are. So, I think the thing about the Thunder is it is a really collective effort.

And, I mean, I don't know, like if you wanted to name a guy and I can go on about him. Like Aaron Wiggins came off the bench and had an amazing regular season for them. His role has fluctuated a little bit in the playoffs.

But he's another guy that could totally come in and swing a playoff game. I mean, the thing that is so amazing about the Thunder is that they just keep coming at you in waves. They play a really demanding style. They play a really fast pace. They're incredibly intense defensively. And it's similar to the Pacers in that, like, the way you can pull that off night after night is by using your depth. Using your bench and having fresh legs come in every few minutes.

You talk about fresh legs. Both teams are going to be fresh with Game 1 underway in about two hours from now. Are we going to see a long series or a short one? I'm thinking five, six max. I'm going with OKC.

What are you thinking about this, James? I'm hoping it's long just because these are two of my favorite teams to watch play. And I think it's a really interesting matchup. But, I mean, if the Pacers are able to push it to seven, let alone win the series in any number of games, I think that would be a massive upset. And that's not because the Pacers are not deserving of being here. I know people didn't pick them, but I think they have improved over the course of the season. And they have improved over the course of these playoffs.

And we've seen it. The reason why I say it would be a massive upset is not so much about the Pacers. It's about the Thunder. This is a historically dominated team. They won 68 games in the regular season.

Like, elite offense, elite defense, elite in transition, elite in the half court. They force turnovers better than any team that I've seen in my life. They might honestly be the best defensive team I've ever seen in my life. I mean, they go, like, seven deep with guys who I think, you know, they weren't all eligible to make all defense just because of minutes and games played and that type of thing. But I think they legitimately have, like, seven guys who are all defense quality defenders on this team.

And, oh, by the way, they have, like, multiple guys that can go and get you a bucket. Everybody who plays is empowered to, like, put the ball on the floor. They're just an all-time team, assuming that they can, you know, like, validate that by finishing this thing off with a championship. But, I mean, by any statistical measure, like, this would be a better than average championship team.

So, yeah, I'm inclined to think five or six is, like, for the Thunder is more likely than a seven game series or a Pacers upset. James Herbert is here with us from CBSSports.com. We know there was a team that was, they thought that, well, they were competing for a championship until Indiana eliminated them. And then they decided to eliminate their head coach.

That's the New York Knicks. There's so many names that are getting thrown around as replacements for Tom Thibodeau. What do you think the most realistic and likeliest option is? I'm not sure, like, I don't have inside information on who they're going to hire here. I think Johnny Bryant is the betting favorite right now.

But, I mean, we'll have to see. Like, there are a decent number of coaches with, like, NBA head coaching experience that are on the market right now. Guys like, you know, Michael Malone, Mike Budenholzer. I don't know that either one of those guys strikes me as, like, a particularly natural fit for this job. If the idea was to get someone, I mean, usually in this situation, when you fire a coach, you go and hire someone that is, like, totally different.

So I would probably be thinking, like, they're going to be trying to sell people on. We're going to get a guy who is more creative offensively that is really the kind of guy who makes adjustments quickly in the playoffs. We think this is the perfect guy to get us to that next level and win us championships. And I think, you know, for all the great positive attributes of the two guys I just mentioned, who have both won championships, by the way. But I think they also kind of have a reputation for being a little stubborn in the same way that Tom Thibodeau is. So it would be a little bit weird for me if either one of those guys was hired. But, I mean, we're going to have to see. This is, like, I don't think this is a situation where the Knicks already knew where they were going with this when they made the decision to get rid of Tom Thibodeau just because they have not made a hire yet.

But, yeah, I mean, I'm interested to see how things go. I mean, Jason Kidd is another name that some people have thrown out. And the interesting thing about that is he is under contract with another team. So the Dallas Mavericks would have to be OK with that and would have to be compensated for that if that was going to be a direction that New York wanted to go. Well, we know for sure the New York Knicks have a hole to fill when it comes down to their head coach and then also their bench.

But also you want to talk about something a little less certain. Do you think Giannis is going to be out of Milwaukee? I feel like Kevin Durant, we know that's almost a certainty, but what about Giannis?

Yeah, it's kind of hard to call it. Like, I think the thing that makes the most sense to me would be that he's out of there. And I say that not just from his perspective as somebody who wants to compete for championships every year and who has to be able to take a step back and look at this roster and look at how the season ended. And like, understand what it means to not even have Damian Lillard available for this this coming season. I think you are accepting at the very least one sort of, you know, a quote unquote wasted season where we're not really going to be a contender.

And then you're trying to hope that the front office can pull off some magic tricks after that to get you back in that spot. So that's one side of it is from Giannis' perspective. I also think from Milwaukee's perspective, I understand the reluctance of, you know, whether it's front offices, whether it's ownership groups, to trade away somebody who means that much to the franchise. Who has spoken in the past about how all things equal, I would like to spend the rest of my career in Milwaukee. He means a ton to that franchise.

He means a ton to that city. But when you when you take the kind of emotional part out of it and you just look at like, what is the most realistic way for the Bucks to become a championship contender again? Like, I don't really see a path for them either. If Giannis is staying there, like in the next couple of years, like some crazy things can happen. But I think they would have to get so, so lucky on a number of fronts to the point where if they can pull off a trade, like maybe if they can pull off a trade where they're able to get some of the draft picks that they've created a way back in the deal. You know, like the Nets did when when they like before they at the same time really as they made the bridges trade last summer like that, that I think would make a lot of sense for them.

Now, I don't know how feasible that is. I don't know exactly what kind of packages are out there. But it is so rare that you're that a player of this caliber who is not like aging out of the league already. Like if he is actually available, like you can ask for the farm like you can ask for all star caliber young players. You can ask for, you know, packages with five picks and all the swaps you have and all of that. And I think we will at least see the Bucks driving a hard bargain if Giannis does decide like this is it. I am formally asking for a trade. And I think at that point, like if the offers are coming in, like I do think if you just sort of look at path A keeping Giannis and like hoping for a miracle or path B getting a full proper reset and getting a whole bunch of assets to to start over. Like I kind of like Plan B for the Bucks too.

Well, I think maybe if they do move on from Giannis, maybe they'll get as lucky as a Dallas Mavericks. Hey, James, I hope for their sake. I appreciate the time. Appreciate your insight. Tell everybody where they can find you and your work with CBS Sports. Yeah, I mean, it's all in CBS Sports dot com, the NBA section or in the CBS Sports app.

Thank you so much for having me. No doubt about it. Enjoy the finals, man. Hopefully, like you said, it's a it's a long one that James Herbert from CBS Sports dot com. Yeah, I'm waiting to find the person who's picking the Indiana Pacers to win the finals. I've yet to find that person and maybe outside of Indianapolis, maybe that person does not exist. OK, 8 8 8 7 10 for ISN.

That's 8 8 8 7 10 for ISN. And speaking of Indianapolis, the Pacers are in the finals. But I think meanwhile, I think there might be some folks looking at the Indianapolis Colts. They may already have some concerns, further concerns about what may happen with their team this upcoming season. I'm going to give you the latest on Anthony Richardson on the other side of the break. Yeah, let's just say it's not good news. Pacer fans, Indiana fans, pay attention to the Pacers. It's the JR Sport Brief show on the Infinity Sports Network.

I'll cue you in on that when we get back on the other side. But right now, it is time for a news flash. Here he is. It's Rich Ackerman. You are listening to the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Brief show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Thank you so much to James Herbert for joining us in the last break.

Covers all things NBA, writing for CBSSports.com. I think everybody, I'm being, just thinking about myself. I think anybody who's selecting the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals, they're grasping for straws. Like they're looking for a needle in a haystack.

Like, of course it's in there, but your chances of going out there and finding it are slim to none. And of course everybody has a chance. I mean, God forbid there's some catastrophic injury to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

You never know. But man, all things being equal, the Oklahoma City Thunder, they should be your 2025 NBA champion. So thank you to James for coming through and having a chat with us about that. The New York Knicks disaster and who's going to be their next head coach. Whether or not Giannis is realistically going to leave the Milwaukee Bucks. It's just a lot going on.

The Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, they get going in about, let's just say, two hours from now in Oklahoma City. And so at least the people in Indianapolis have something positive to look forward to right now. Because some of the news that we got today regarding another team in Indianapolis is not all that great. It involves Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson. This man has hurt his shoulder again.

OK, like this is bad. This is almost similar to what we just heard a couple of days ago when it comes down to C.J. Stroud and D'Amico Ryan. C.J. Stroud just got here. And now this man has a shoulder issue, something that bothered him dating back to the Ohio State.

And I guess these two guys are like two peas in a pod. This is what D'Amico Ryan's had to say about C.J. Stroud early this week. Listen to this. Do you have any work on his shoulder in the offseason? That's it for C.J.

guys on the questions. That's it. That's what I said. That's it for him. Like his general soreness. We're taking extra precaution with him. We're not going to rush him into anything. He'll be fine when the moment is for him to be ready to go. He'll be ready to go.

Oh, come on, man. Now, today, Shane Steichen, the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, he had to answer questions about Anthony Richardson, who has been unable to go out there and throw here in OTA. Apparently he was looking good. And then all of a sudden he did it. I mean, if we think about this man, Anthony Richardson was the fourth overall selection in twenty twenty three.

This man was back flipping coming out of Florida. People looked at him as like Cam Newton with speed. He's just or was a beast.

And everybody knew that he was going to be a project. But since since he's been drafted into the NFL, we're talking a knee injury. We're talking about a concussion. He sprained his shoulder in twenty twenty three. He was out a couple of months. I mean, he's always hurt. They don't believe in him anymore.

They don't trust him so much so that they brought in Daniel Jones, the former Giants quarterback, to basically be his competition. And so here's Shane Steichen talking about yet another shoulder issue for Anthony Richardson. Last week in practice, Anthony sustained an injury in his throwing shoulder. Felt some pain in it.

Doctors, trainers checked it out. He's got some aggravation in his AC joint. So we're going to set him out this week. Obviously, he'll sit out for many camp. We'll see when he comes back, not going to put a timetable for training camp on it. But when he does come back, we'll ease him into throwing. And then we'll go from there. The good thing is he's not going to need a procedure right now. He's not going to need a procedure right now.

Oh, come on, man. They're paying Daniel Jones $14 million to be the quote unquote backup. Daniel Jones is going to get a good amount of starts. Damn it, he may start half the season. OK, I mean, Joe Flacco was playing for the Indianapolis Colts last year. Nobody wanted to watch him go out there and throw the football. He ended up playing six games. I would take the over. I'd take more than six if I was going to take a look at whether or not Daniel Jones was going to get an opportunity to start for this squad. He is either Anthony Richardson is going to be hurt or he's just going to be giving the game away and then passing the baton to Daniel Jones. I don't know if that's you might as well ask me, do I want to be shot or do I want to be stabbed?

The answer is neither. And when it comes down to his injury, Shane Steichen said one minute he looked good and then the next minute he was hurt. No, he looked good. I mean, he looked good and then he just felt pain after that.

I think it was last Thursday's practice, man. That's like me after I go to Arby's. It's been a while.

I think I've eaten at Arby's once in my life. Maybe that's maybe that's why it looks good, feels good. And then then it doesn't. And good luck to Anthony Richardson. It's just not going to end well for him as they're starting a quarterback.

Shane Steichen, never one for many words here, says, yeah, it sucks. The guy's hurt again. It's frustrating for me, him and maybe the city if they're not just paying attention to the Pacers.

I mean, obviously it's frustrating, but he is in good spirits. So we're working through it right now. Damn, damn, damn, damn. Hey, Bacha, how many how many games do you think Anthony Richardson is going to start this year?

Four. Oh, my God. Damn, I think it is. Is it his shoulder? Is it his head?

What do you what are you going with here? Bad play for training camp. He'll fill in for Daniel Jones who gets hurt and then he'll bench him just because he's bad. Damn. So you don't you don't see him starting the season. I really don't see him starting the season.

They're starter. Wow. Man, that's going to be one miserable ass backup quarterback, man.

Yeah. Well, the writing is on the wall for this dude. And to just have another end to his shoulder.

Let me tell you something. Looking like a Greek god and being a gymnast and his style of play is not conducive to. I'm just going to stay healthy. I mean, first of all, the man can't complete more than 50 percent of his passes, which is an issue if you're a quarterback in the NFL. Last year, he threw eight touchdowns to 12 interceptions, had a completion percentage of forty seven percent. I don't care how good you could run the football. I mean, if you have to look at an object and ask the quarterback, say, I'm just going to run through this individual. You're not going to have a long career. He was drafted in twenty twenty three.

It's twenty twenty five. He's not a battering ram. I mean, we look at Cam Newton, who was taller than this man. I wouldn't say that he's stockier than Anthony Richardson.

Cam Newton was certainly a giant human being. But Anthony Richardson not setting himself up for a long career, whether it comes down to his ability to stay healthy or his injuries. I mean, those concussions and shoulder issues, they didn't just poof come out of nowhere. Good luck to the Indianapolis Colts. At least you have the Pacers utilize them as a distraction.

But then in another week, I guess it's just back to reality in that regard as well. And speaking of injuries, this one this one stinks pretty bad. I'm on Ross St. Brown for the Detroit Lions earlier this week. We talked about Frank Ragnow retiring this center there multiple time Pro Bowl center. Well, we learned that Iman Ross St. Brown, one of the best wide receivers in the entire NFL. He had a little bit of a a knee clean up this week. Happens. OK, I'd be less concerned about him than anything going on, you know, with the Indianapolis Colts.

Iman Ross St. Brown still one of the best in the game. I'm sure we'll hear about this on his podcast, because why? Everybody has a podcast. He told this this little bit of information to the media. If I were the Detroit Lions, I'd be more concerned with the coaches who are now gone, like Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson, than a little bit of a knee cleanup.

The guy is twenty five years old. I think Iman Ross St. Brown. Not a history of injuries like Anthony Richardson.

I think he'll be just fine. It's the J.R. sport re-show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We're going to take a break when we come back and we're going to talk about that NHL Finals game one from last night. We'll talk about NBA Finals game one. David Pagnotta will join us to talk NHL. It's the J.R. sport re-show. Don't move.