It is. The JR Sport Brief Show here on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody for being tuned in, for being locked in all over North America. I hope you've had a terrific Monday.
I'll be with you for the next two hours. I get started at 6 p.m. Eastern 3 Pacific.
So if you've been hanging out the whole time, Thank you for being here. If you're just tuning in, Welcome. Of course, we talked about the Oklahoma City Thunder. New champs. Thank you to Steve McGeehee for joining us from News Non in Oklahoma City.
He's going to be at the parade tomorrow. Burning up in ninety five degree weather. If you're outside in the weather too, Man, take care of yourself, okay? Just be careful out there, okay? It can be rough.
Anyway, We talked about Shohei Otani pitching again yesterday. And Kevin Durant has been traded. We got into Duranch trade to Houston. Matter of fact, in about 20 minutes, we'll have a chat with Sean Pendergast. He's going to join us on Sports Radio 610.
Down in Houston, Texas. We'll get. His thoughts on what this means for the Rockets as they Try to go for broke Eme Udoka.
Now Back together with Kevin Durant. We'll get into that. Told you about John Jones calling it a rap, no longer going to punch people in the face. Tom Brady keeps winning. He did some big winning this weekend in New York City at Fnatics Fest.
There's just so much more to do. Aaron Rogers hated his time with the Jets apparently. Oh, what a world Next hour. We'll talk about a few things that took place this day in sports history. We got a lot to do.
And if you want to be a part of the show, you can. You can call up 888-710-4ISN. That's eight eight eight seven ten four I And thank you to our producer in New York City, Ryan Botcher. Thank you to you. for hanging out with us.
You can always listen on the Free Odyssey app. Your local affiliate. a Sirius XM three hundred seventy five and a smart speaker If you have one, ask the speaker to play the Infinity Sports Network. Fanatics Fest. I mean, outside of the game taking place yesterday.
We had the parade for the Florida Panthers take place yesterday. It's like the sports world descended upon New York City. For Fanatics Fest. Everybody was. Kevin Durant was on stage when his trade was announced and.
LeBron James was up there sitting around with Tom Brady. James Harden, Bunch of influence. Did I miss it? Did you go at all? Did you see any of it, Botch?
Personally, it's too expensive for me. I don't want to spend it. But it's expensive. What You could have got a credential and went. I don't know how to do that.
I just told you.
Now you know.
Now I know. If you want to go somewhere. You request a a credential. How much were tickets to Fnatics Fest? I have no idea.
Last year's was way too much, so I didn't look this year.
Well, how much did it cost last year? It was like over $200. Yeah. For a ticket? For a ticket, I'm pretty sure.
This might have been for three days.
Okay, so you there's not one buy one ticket and you just go all weekend or you gotta buy individual days or? You I think there was an option for like a three day pass or like a singular day ticket. Wow.
Okay. And the one that you looked at was for all three days. It was two hundred and fifty bucks. That's what I think it was last year.
Okay. Right. I guess that sounds about right.
Now. And if Victor when Benyamo was there coming back from Asia, Outside, and I see the videos and photos, and I see there's. forums and guys are speaking and their interviews and Are they signing things? Like, what what are they doing out there?
So. It's basically a glorified, like a real dimension.
So basically. like traditional convention centers, you have to pay for autographs and pictures.
So, you have to pay for a ticket to enter, and then you have to pay for celebrities' autographs. Oh, my God. Is this what they did? They were charging for autographs at this place? Yes.
That's what it is.
So you have to pay to get in. I looked it up. It's $150 for a three-day pass if you're an adult. And then you have to pay for each thing you want to do.
So it's like if you want to do meet a like a WWE wrestler, so you have to pay for that. If you wanna meet like a Yankee player, you gotta pay for that.
Well, how much is this? Like, you're gonna, I paid $150 to get in. And now I'm going to be charged, what, $50 for a Victim Wemba Yama autograph? I think it depends on wh who Who it is. It's like if you're wanting, if you want to meet, like, I don't know, like, Kevin Durant, it's going to be like 10 times more expensive.
Wow.
Look. It's it's been a while. It's been a while. I I talk about sports for a living. Um it's nice, unfortunate.
It's been a while since I bought a ticket. But even if I could afford it, Or couldn't afford it. It wouldn't matter. Like, I don't want to. I don't, I don't have, there's nothing about.
And then you but I guess you can flip the autograph. I I guess that's is How many people are doing that, I guess?
Well I well, I think the place is filled with a lot of kids and or like collectors.
So though though you could also like buy a table if you're like a trading card dealer.
So you can go out and like sell your base best cards and flip them for some other it's it's like a sneaker con, basically. Right. Well but I feel you see I l I thought I I like I like shoes. I don't like shoes enough to stand outside. I will never.
I'm not standing outside for nothing. But I feel like it's such a business like How many people when when a new pair of Jordans come out? How many of those folks are standing in line? To buy the Jordans to wear them. versus buying them to flip them.
Yeah, there's a lot So I see what you're saying.
So I think personally it's 50-50. Like 50% fans, 50% resellers. And what because literally every celebrity it looks like was at this event. There's like three pages of like Hall of Famers and all-stars here. Yeah.
And so, but people are going, people people who want autographs don't want them for themselves. They want to sell the autograph. Am I wrong? Yeah, you're not 100% wrong. I just, it depends who it is.
Like, if it's a native New Yorker and they get a picture with, like, I don't know, Carl Theny Towns, they might keep it. But if it's I don't know. Forget a picture, I'm saying autograph. If Kevin Durant signs signs a a Like, what does that do for you? You just take it home?
Like, it's worth money, is it not? It's worth money, but it's worth money, but you just paid money for it, so it's unless you resell it. That's my point. You want to flip it. Like, if I'm paying $50 for a Kevin Durant autograph.
You know, I'm so far removed, I don't even know how much it would be worth. I guess it depends on what he signs. That factors in as well, I guess, right? Yeah, if he signs one, like if you somehow bought one of his Game Use jerseys and he signs that. That's gonna be like ten times more than you send like a small trading card.
Durant son basketball. This is what I want to see right now. How much of that? That's got to be like $700, right?
So I'm on eBay right now. Kevin Durant and his first just popped up on eBay. Kevin Durant NBA autographed basketballs for sale.
Okay, it says 400 bucks. That's okay. To be fair that that it could be a lot worse. Yeah, oh well, I mean some here, uh Pre-owned, $100, $200. A pre-owned autograph?
What does that even mean?
Somebody, I don't know.
Somebody had it already, I guess. I don't know. Wilson Kevin Durant autographed basketball, $400. There's another one here, $1,200. Panini, offensive, Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets on basketball, 450.
Yeah, like I saw uh I guess it's worth the price of admission. Yeah. I just looked up like John Cena of all people. It was three hundred dollars for a John Cena autograph, and three hundred and ten dollars to take a picture with him. Excuse me?
It's $310 to take a picture with John Cena and $299 if you want to slam something signed. You can spend almost $600 for what, a 10-second interaction with John Cena? Yep. That that's what people did. John Cena's time is worth $600 for 20 seconds.
Sign me up. And then he was also part of the Fnatic games, which, of course, Tom Brady into. Of course, he won. Yeah, but John Cena literally didn't even try. On every single event, he, like, because his character is a bad guy now, he literally made a joke of it.
Hmm. Yeah, I did see him. He did the entrance or something. What did he do? I don't know.
Yeah, so for every.
So the Fanatics Games was like. Basketball, baseball. Hockey, soccer, a dog. It was mini games.
So one of the events was like. A slam dunk contest for WWE entrances, so they had to make like a dramatic entrance and whatnot. Yeah, I did see Tom Brady came out and got jumped a little bit by uh Eli Manning. And Tom, so basically, the Fanatics games is what Ryan just mentioned. And you had this competition.
between active, well not active, well some active, but legends. Tom Brady, James Harden, John Cena, and whatnot. And then you had them taking on normal guys. And of course. Tom Brady ended up winning the competition.
Like, there's nobody else who could have gone out there and won, but of course, it was Tom Brady. Listen to Tom Brady winning Fanatics games. This was not rigged. This was completely legit. A man who wins at every single thing he does in life, he told Michael Rubin he would do it, and he did it.
And still the GOAT and the winner of $1 million. Give it up for Tom Brady!
So, Tom Brady ended up winning the Fanatics games, and he said. God bless him. He doesn't need the $1 million. He's going to split the money. Amongst, I believe, the top 50 fan competitors.
So everybody gets a couple thou. And then he's also going to donate the rest of it to who the hell knows. Yeah. Uh each fan 50 of them will get $5,000 each. And then he's going to donate the rest to charity.
And so Tom Brady coming in number one. Justin Gaitchie, a UFC fighter, finished second. James Harden, Eli Manning, they were the only other athletes to finish in the top 10. They finish fourth and fifth. And then we had a guy who ended up Third overall, Matt Dennis.
He was third place. He was actually on Boomer and Geo on WFAN in New York City. Listen to this. I got the card and made the exchange for the cash. Tom Brady offered two hundred fifty thousand.
Kevin Hart stepped in, said he'd help me work a deal. And he ended up going with a little extra signage on a jersey and a card from Michael Rubin. in addition to two hundred fifty cash. Oh, nice. Good for you, man.
That's great. For you. The event they put on, I just was blown away. Michael Rubin, Tom Brady, all those guys.
So when you entered into this thing, did you think you had a real chance of placing that high? I honestly thought competition would be a little tougher. Um I did not think I performed as well as I could have. But it's just one of those, I've always been a pretty well-rounded athlete, and I was like, let's just test this out, see how it goes. First year they've done it.
So I think competition is probably going to get tougher as the years go. No one is. Amazing concept that they put together. I have never seen a convention like this ever. All bless them.
I wonder how much money all these athletes got paid. to go ahead and show up. And next week they'll probably all be hanging out at His July 4th party, which has just been amazing. A massive as well. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. Ed is here from Maryland. You're on the JR Sport Re Show. Ed, what's up? Hey, Joe, how you feeling today, brother?
I'm good. What's on your mind? Look, I th you were talking about that, and you were. You were talking about the Lily event that Tom Brady won the money at. It was a huge event.
But you know what's crazy, JR? And I've been blessed to be the wing guy with some guys that you know, you know, played in a league, whatever. And I've been to these events. First one was a guy banks that used to play for the Giants. He's a good friend of mine, you know.
Yeah, yeah, back in the day. I know Carl personally, yes. Yep, yep, yep, I've babysat all these kids the whole nine.
Okay, and Kind of married into the situation, but then we got to be good friends. And I've been to those events and It's a lot of FaceTime that goes on with those things, J.R. It's almost, it's almost similar to. like Hollywood and the red carpet. Like I was just like Slipped in the door.
So, I wasn't big into taking a whole lot of pictures, but I just like to, it's kind of like being at a casino, observing. Going on, and it's a lot like a red card. Wouldn't you say it's a lot like? Hollywood from the standpoint of like certain events Even in sports. Are like the plate to be like the plate to be able to do that.
I think in the time and era that we live in right now, there's no line, there's no delineation between. Hollywood and sports. I mean, if you are a celebrity, you're a celebrity, whether you're shooting a basketball or you're. You're acting in a movie. A lot of these dudes typically run it's different circles, but It it's all the same damn thing if you ask me.
You think but like like with an event like this, I c I I I like to compare it like like They're different awards. Hollywood it it just to make a comparison, like Hollywood's have certain awards where like this is the place to be and and with with with the professional guys They have certain situations that it's important for these guys to be there. Does that make sense? Like yeah, well, I mean, what Michael Rubin added to what Michael Rubin has created, not just with Fanatics Fest, but also the brand Fanatics and Being pretty much the retail arm for every single thing associated with sports, his business is absolutely amazing. I now know that I think this year was the first year that they pretty much manufactured all the NHL jerseys.
Like they have deals with everybody. And so it was just natural to then take this next step and have this massive conference, which is. Never been done. I mean, you may have during every all-star break, and thank you, Ed, for calling for Maryland. I have to hit the break.
Yes, sir. You can go to an all-star game, an all-star weekend. That's a convention in and of itself. Which is always a lot of fun. The Super Bowl has its entire now meteorow or whatever the hell they call it.
Now it's no longer just radio row. Major League Baseball has its all-star game. It'll be here in a couple of weeks in Atlanta. Like, there's always NBA, all-star game is the convention. But when you can slap One of these things together.
with all sports with athletes from everywhere over a weekend. It's pretty remarkable. It's pretty amazing, if you ask me.
So, kudos to Rubin for what he's been able to do with his business. It's the J.R. Sport Re Show here on the Infinity Sports Network. Yes, we will get to Tom Brady and what he had to say about his quarterback or the guy he didn't want at quarterback. That's Sam Donald.
We'll talk about Jon Jones and. His unlikely retirement, I guess is what we can call it. I have no idea. But when we come back from break, we're going to talk about Kevin Durant going to the Houston Rockets. We're going to be joined by Sean Pendergast.
He's going to join us from Sports Radio 610 down in Houston. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on the Infinity Sports Network. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infiniti Sports Network. Amongst all the things that took place over the weekend, Fnatics Fest, NBA Finals, Panthers having their parade, OKC winning it all.
Yesterday around lunch we all learned that Kevin Durant is on his way. to the Houston Rockets.
Well, looks good.
Sounds good on paper. Kevin Durant joins a young team. We have pieces that are going to Phoenix in exchange. To break down what took place, what the Rockets gave up, what we can expect. Joining us is someone right now very familiar with all things of Rockets.
You can catch him mornings on Sports Radio 610 down in Houston, Payne and Pendergast. It's Sean Pendergast. Sean, how are you, man? I'm great, J.R. How you doing, man?
I'm excellent. Thank you for taking the time and joining us. When you heard the trade took place and you saw what was being exchanged, what were your initial thoughts with Durant going to the Rockets? My initial thought when I saw what was going back to the Phoenix Suns, which by the way was always going to be the Barometer for whether or not I wanted a Kevin Durant trade. It was always going to be for me, depending on what they gave up to get him.
And I was. I won't say I was stunned, but I was very happy. With the trade and what was going back, the biggest thing to me, JR, in a trade for Kevin Durant that they had to do. was make sure they don't give up any of the young Long defensive wing players that they have.
Well, Ahmed Thompson was never going anywhere. But Jabari Smith Jr., his name kind of Bounced around this trade a little bit. Tari Eason, his name kind of bounced around a little bit as the trade rumors were swirling. They kept all three of those guys. That was big.
And then I thought the draft capital that they gave up was way less than what I thought. It was gonna be. Phoenix seemed real intent on getting All of their draft capital back. The Rockets have their pick in the draft this Wednesday, number 10 overall.
Well, they did before this trade. He also had unprotected number. One or their unprotected first-round picks in 27 and 29. They got to keep both of those.
So, yeah. The fact that the Rockets didn't give up much, I don't care about the five-second round picks. Those are like six-round picks in the NFL draft. You can get those on the street corner. Um, I love, and I'm, I, I've never been a huge Jalen Green guy.
Honestly, losing Dylan Brooks in this trade hits me harder than losing Jalen Green in this trade.
So, Sean, when you look at Jalen Green, every time I've turned him on and watched, and I get it, he's still 22. He went through that entire. you know, G-League experience. Did he ever develop at all? I felt like he just, his inconsistency, his shot selection, it's like something hasn't clicked where he could just.
just consistently work and then play defense. What's the deal? He developed once Udoka got there. You got to understand, J.R. Lu, when it was Stephen Silas coaching, all these young guys, it was a disaster.
They just didn't respect Stephen Silas. Stephen Silas didn't sign up to coach all these young guys. He thought he was coming here to coach Russell Westbrook and James Harden, and they both asked for trades right after he got hired.
So that whole thing, the whole. The whole stew of Stephen Silas and all these young guys just didn't work at all. And so Jalen Green scored plenty of points on Stephen Silas' watch, but to your point, obviously they were all, none of it was winning basketball, and none of it was all empty calories. And then Emil Ducka got here, and he kind of lit a fire under a lot of guys, including Jalen. And I will say, Jalen's credit.
He was playing better defense, you know, as this season went on. By the time the playoffs rolled around, he was at the very least a willing defender. He was never going to be Ahmed Thompson. But he was at least putting the effort in on the defensive end. It was becoming a better ball distributor.
He was becoming better at those things, but He was never and is never going to be the best player on a championship team. And I think that's the question. The Rockets had to ask themselves when they were presented with this opportunity to get Kevin Durant. And clearly, the feeling the Rockets had, and I know, and I'm guessing there's a level of disappointment from the Fertillas and ownership that it didn't work out with Jalen Green. I know they really liked Jalen Green, and they were really hoping.
would work out um but the price for kevin durant just started to reach a price point where it was too low to To not A yes to. As Sean Pendergast is here with us from Sports Radio six ten. in Houston So, what now? When you think about the construction of the Rockets, you talk about Thompson, Sengoon is still there, you have a champion in Van Vliet. What are your thoughts on how this whole roster comes together?
I think it's great. I think there's a lot of versatility built into the roster. Kevin Durant. hits them right where they itch. They were good at a lot of things last year.
But two things that they were very poor at. We're half court offense And just shooting, just you know, just pure shooting. And Kevin Durant's arguably the best in both of those instances in the last 20 years. You know, nobody, literally nobody better off to dribble in the NBA last year than Kevin Durant. I'm literally the only player to go 25 plus a game, 50 plus from the field, 40 plus from three.
Three seasons in a row, he's hit those. And that's not back in his late 20s. That's right now in the middle of the three-year streak. Nobody's ever done that before.
So he's still scoring and playing. At a very high level. I think his defense is a little underrated. You look at some of the defensive metrics. He's still a really long.
Obviously, he's very long, and if he gets in one-on-one situations, he's at least a pest defensively. I think it's really fun to think about the way things can fit together. We saw Ime Odoka in the playoffs. And late in the season, kind of unveiled that two-big lineup with Stephen Adams, Albert Shengun, which was outstanding in that Warrior series.
Now, all of a sudden, if the other big that they're throwing out there with those two guys is seven-foot Kevin Durant spacing the floor, you know, it's just, I think there's a lot of combinations. It's a roster, it's a rotation now that. You know, Reed Shepherd, former number three overall pick, is going to get a bump up now, get some minutes. Cam Whitmore, who's, you know, doesn't get on the floor very much, but when he does, he puts the ball in the basket. He's probably going to get some more minutes, and they still got some dry powder.
Do some more things, uh, Raphael Stone, the GM, does if he wants to.
So I think it's really exciting. I think just the versatility of all those guys on the wing. Added in with Kevin Durant makes for a lot of really fun permutations for Emeo Doka.
Well, could you see any? You kind of alluded to it a little bit. What adjustments would you say the roster needs going forward? Are they set as. Title contenders, as it stands today, are there some weak spots that you would like to see addressed?
I think they're title contenders. I mean, I think they're right in the mix now with Kevin Durant on the team. They can use more shooters. You know, they they kept Kevin Durant's shooting was a weakness. They picked up Kevin Durant, so that's one guy.
Um you know but you they they probably need more Probably need one more. plus level shooter on the outside. I don't think it's going to be somebody where they're Giving up two players and a couple first-round picks to go get. They've got the mid-level exception available to them. You know, they got They've still got a ton of draft capital if they want to use that.
I keep an eye on them maybe in these next, you know, in the next. 48 hours or so. You know, it's with the draft, the draft coming up this week, that tends to trigger a lot of activity of all types. I'd say that's probably if they're trying to put Yeah, it's hard to say the finishing touches. I mean, they got knocked out in the first round last year, so I don't want to act like they were, you know, I don't want to act like they were one possession away from getting to the NBA Finals.
Kevin Durant's a big, big step. But yeah, like I honestly think, JR, that the Raphael Stone and the Fertidas took a look at this postseason. And kudos to the OKC Thunder winning the NBA title, but they did go to seven games in two of the series that they. That they played in leading up to it against the four seed in each conference.
So I don't think OKC is a good team. I don't think we're talking about an all-time great team. And I think you look around. landscape of the playoffs in the NBA. We don't have super teams really going anymore.
It was very balanced. There was a lot of parity. And I think they took a look around and said, man, we can win this thing right now. And that was the impetus behind the move.
Well, Sean, when you look at it, the expectation is for them to win right now. What do you expect? From this team. Of course, all things being equal if they're healthy, what are the expectations next year? Because things are kind of packed in the West.
Yeah, they are. if if everybody's healthy, if this is the nine-man rotation they go into the postseason with, and really not even the nine, like if the guys that you know, the if the starting five and the fur two most important guys off the bench, you know, let's call it Tari Eason and Stephen Adams. If they're all healthy going into the postseason, there's no reason this team shouldn't at least be playing. In the Western Conference finals. I 100% believe that.
They were the two seed last year, won 52 games. And they couldn't score in half work sets.
So So, I just think that this trade for Durant, there's nothing that they got worse at, and there are significant things that they got better at. I think they've certainly have title potential. And if they're all healthy, I think it'd be a major disappointment if all the guys you and I just talked about are healthy, that they didn't at least get to the conference finals. Man, it's going to be fun to watch. I assume, I really assume all fans for the most part, well, the majority are very happy with the move.
Yeah, I can tell you. I put up a little Twitter poll this morning, JR, and glad you asked. I gave three choices to the Rocket fans out there, and I said, What you approve? Do you approve of the Kevin Durant trade? And the three choices were I strongly approve, I'm okay with it, and then I disapprove.
And less than 10% disapprove of the deal. The other two. The other 90%, roughly. Uh, kind of split evenly among the two buckets of approving it, you know, probably about half and half, half or.
okay with it. And then the other you know the other half of that. Bundle are really, really excited about it. Generally, the people that are concerned about it. We're mostly concerned about Durant's age.
The injuries And what A contract extension might look like for a 38 and 39-year-old guy who's dealt with some medical issues over the last few years. That's the big concern. Um, we're all ready to embrace Kevin Durant, the uh social media jouster. You know, like when he's not on your team, he's annoying on social media. But I just watched him cook Emmanuel Acho like 10 minutes ago, and I'm like, that's my guy right there, Durant.
He's my guy. Yeah, he's certainly going to be a whole lot of fun to watch. Hey, sometimes when the opportunity presents itself, You just got to shoot your shot instead of thinking about the long term. Worry about that later. Yeah.
And we'll see what happens. And here's the thing, Jared, but real quick about that. Even if this thing doesn't work out with Durant, you know, even if they give him a two-year extension and in three years he's cooked. It's still got Amin Thompson, Jabari Smith, Kim Whitmore, Reed Shepard. Uh you know I know I'm missing one here.
Oh, Alfred Shangoon. Shangoon. Yeah, they will all be under the age of 26. When this Durant deal is up in three, you know, he gets a two-year extension. In three years, those guys are all going to be 26 or less.
So, this is not something where it's not looking, it will never look like what the Suns look like right now. I can promise you that. That is a graveyard in Phoenix right now. Yeah, I don't know what the hell they're doing up there. Who knows if they're even going to keep Jalen Green, but.
You have no idea what's going on with Beal. I'm surprised Booker must really love Arizona because I'm surprised he wants to stay there. It's just. It's ugly up there. There's no other way to put it.
They got like seven two guards on the team. It's crazy. It's, it's just, it's, I mean, I'm sure they're not done. And I hope for Jalen Green's sake, honestly, like, I like Jalen Green. I like that they traded him for Kevin Durant, but I do like Jalen Green, and I hope, for his sake, I hope they do move him somewhere else.
Well, yeah, because being out there is a, it ain't gonna work out. He'll get it, he'll get it.
Well, you'll have to share shots, but anyway, good luck to him. Good luck to the Rockets, man. They're gonna be a lot of fun to watch. Hey, Sean, tell everybody where they could listen and follow to you and all that good stuff, man. Appreciate it, JR.
Yeah, on the Odyssey app, 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Central Time. uh mornings on sports radio 610 you just search Sports Radio 610 or Payne and Pendergast, it pops right up. And you can get me on X at Sean T Pendergast.
Hey, Sean, thank you so much. Good. I can't believe it. I was going to say, hey, enjoy the draft. It's actually two days from now.
So. A ton of time. Yeah, yeah. Look, look, we ain't got no picks, JR. We got Kevin Durant now.
So we're emptied the chamber for this draft. But yeah, appreciate you having me on, man. Keep up the great work. No doubt about it. Catch you on down the line.
Nat Sean Pendergast. Host the morning show Sports Radio 610. Down in Houston. Yeah, I think they're going to be in the mix as a championship contender. If they're healthy, I'm just hoping Kevin Durant you know, anything over 65 or so games, I would I would certainly sign up for it.
888-710-4ISN. That's 888-710-4ISN. Do you think Kevin Durant is going to win a championship in Houston. I'm not expecting it. But I certainly think that they'll be in the mix.
This portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial. Stuck in a Tom Share and won out. Contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free Tom Share exit information kit at Wesley Financial Group.com. I told you about Tom Brady not wanting a particular quarterback on his team. I'm going to tell you who that is on the other side of the break.
We'll get into John Jones. But right now, let's get into a news flash with Rich Ackerman. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Reshow here on the Infinity Sports Network. I need you to thank O'Reilly Auto Parts for all of your car care needs.
Get guaranteed low prices and excellent. Customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Hey, thank you so much to Sean Pendergast for joining us in the last break. to talk about Kevin Durant's move. down to the Houston Rockets.
It's it's gonna be fun. Every NBA season is just It's something different. We have so much player movement, and I know there are a lot of people who aren't fans of it in the league. But the fact that there's so many superstars and players that move around, I I think it's a good thing. for the league.
I I I enjoy it. Botcha, do you think it's good or bad? I enjoy movement. When when things get very stale and repetitive with the same teams, With the same talent on each team, it just bores me.
So, seeing a blockbuster trade like Kevin Durant, I'm okay with it. Yeah, I'm sign me up. I mean, we've had a lot of guys moving around. I'm I'm here. I mean, if there was something to be said.
When you had, you don't have legacy team.
So think about. Akeem Olajuwon playing for the Houston Rockets and then watching him run around. And he was watched at the end of his career dealing with asthma. To see him running around in a Raptors jersey was just. It was horrific.
I mean, looking at Patrick Ewing in a Seattle uniform is just. Is just still mind-boggling.
So we've certainly entered into another era. And I'm going to enjoy it. I'm going to enjoy it. But speaking of people. Switching teams and being in new places.
We know that Sam Darnold, is now a member. of the Seattle Seahawks. He had an opportunity, he had a chance, and He wasn't sticking around with Minnesota. He's now in Seattle. And we also know that Geno Smith is now a member of the Raiders.
He's hooking up. with Pete Cowell back there. And so we know that Tom Brady is now a part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Now, you would think a former quarterback, one of the greatest quarterbacks, the most successful quarterback of all time. That he would certainly have some input as to what would take place at the quarterback position. And apparently, he did. I know he said he pledged the fifth when it came down to Shador. He's just like, I don't know about that stuff.
I don't know anything about not picking him. But apparently Tom Brady wanted nothing to do. with Sam Darnold on his team. He didn't want the guy. He basically said, uh uh no thank you.
You know, I don't believe that guy is a winner. I'm not going to put words in his mouth. I don't know exactly. of what was said. But take a listen.
This is Adam Rank. He is on this report. About how Just Tom Brady didn't want this guy. Listen to this. This is Jim Rohn.
I'm kind of shocked by that because I think that, and if we've not said this on this show, we've said it during one of the breaks. We're both big Sam Darnold guys. And I think last year kind of illustrated everything that we thought about Sam Darnold when he was coming out of USC: he is a great prospect. And coming out and working with KOC allowed him an opportunity to really show the kind of quarterback that he is.
Now, with Tom Brady not like, I don't know. Again, this goes back to our thing: like, what is the player's motivation? Like, what is he seeing that we're not seeing? I know we're not supposed to question Tom Brady because he is the greatest quarterback of all time. But if you're asking me if I'd rather have Sam Darnold or I'd rather have Geno Smith, give me Sam Darnold all day.
And now I hope that he goes out there and proves himself in Seattle. Man I don't know about all that. To me, it's a wash. I think they're the same damn type of guy. Like they were plagued by turnover.
They're former New York Jets. They're two guys out of, well, of course, they're out of college. But they were big expectations out of these dudes. They became turnover machines for the New York Jets. They had to go ahead and try to restart their careers elsewhere.
I I don't I don't trust either one of these guys. If the goal is to ultimately go out there and win a Super Bowl, I'd be damned If I see Sam Donald or Geno Smith. Hoisting a Vince Lombardi trophy. I don't expect it. And maybe, maybe Tom Brady.
has seen the same damned things that that we have seen. I have seen Sam Darnold turn the football over so many times in his career. Before he got to Minnesota, he had a crazy season.
Okay, he won 14 games. He stunk against the Lions. He stunk against the Rams. He had 35 touchdowns to 12 interceptions last year. They were getting ready to call this guy a comeback player of the year, coming back from what?
Just thinking to joint up? Before he Started in Minnesota because J.J. McCarthy went down. He had 63 touchdowns in his career. in 56 interceptions.
You don't think maybe Tom Brady saw what took place last year? You didn't think Tom Brady maybe said, you know what, I think last year was a one-off. I think last year was an aberration. I don't think he's gonna. you know, be that guy.
I think he's gonna revert. you know, back to the mean of of what he is. And so I I'm I can't blame Tom Brady for saying I don't want this guy. Good luck to good luck to to Sam Donald out in Seattle. Guess I throw the ball at Jackson Smith and Jigba and He gets to turn the ball over.
I'm not mad at it. Botcher, if you had a choice. Between Sam Darnold. in Geno Smith. Is it is it really that big of a difference?
Uh unless it depends how young you want to go. That's the only issue. Do you want to maybe try to compete now with Geno Smith or maybe have a two year, three year window where maybe you see small improvement from Sam Darnold? Personally, I take Geno Smith, just as I saw, Sam Darnold. not improve at all.
He actually regressed with his time in New York.
Well, what is that? What? You're saying how does that have to do it now? I'm just saying now I think Darnold is going to regress. Yeah.
He can have a one-year high and then he's going to come back to the norm and then. Ruin a team. Yeah, I think so. He's going to turn the ball over. At key moments.
It's a wash. And so, I mean, I heard what Adam Rank had to say. But you you ask like what what difference does it make? Like, oh, Sam is good, and Gino is. I'm like, who cares?
They neither one of them winning nothing.
Okay. Geno Smith. He'll be thirty five years old. In October.
So at the beginning of the season, he'll be 35. Sam Darnell right now is twenty seven. Let's just put it this way. I'd be surprised. If Geno is the raiders, he's a babysitter.
That's what Geno is. And Seattle is is hoping for a little bit more. Out of Sam Donald. I just don't know if they're going to go out there and get it.
So he will have Jackson Smith and Jigba, who emerged as the number one receiver last year. For Seattle, and we see where DK Metcalf is no longer there, now in Pittsburgh. Yes, Cooper Cup. God only knows how much Cooper Cup has left in the body. There's a point in time where it's just like, damn it, this guy's going to try to push for 100 receptions every year.
I don't know if he has that in him. Marquez Valdez Scantling, a Noah Fant.
So not necessarily the the most eclectic. Of a group for Sam Darnold. And just let's just be real. Like he had an MVP numbers-wise season last year. Who the hell he is not replicating that?
Okay? He had Kevin McConnell in his ear. That's that's that's not that's not happening. And so Tom Brady Rather than having that Sam Donald out there, you're gonna have a good a good babysitter. And Geno Smith.
Gino will get the job done for a few years before he's maybe even relegated. That's a being a backup, so. Uh can't knock Tom Brady for saying uh no. On that one. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. Also, I told you about Jon Jones. deciding to call his career. A rap he's done. He's 37 years old.
had the heavyweight belt, Didn't want to fight Aspinall. For whatever reason, and now has decided to hang it up. I've told my stories about Jon Jones. Very nice guy every time I've met, every time I've spoken to him. Plenty of legal issues that he's had to deal with over the years, which were very, very shocking.
Um until they weren't anymore. And now John Jones is retiring.
Now, do I believe this? Oh no. I mean he has had some gaps here where he hasn't fought. Um But it's real difficult to look at any fighter, anybody in a fight game. who says they're done.
Like, do fighters retire? They just stop fighting. We got Manny Pacquiao. I think Manny needs to pay his taxes or something like that. Manny Pacquiao gotta be like 45, 46 years old.
And he just announced that that he's coming back. I think he's fighting Mario Barrios. He's forty-seven years old forty-six years old. What are we doing? Hey, Bacha, tell John Jones to come back and tell Manny to stop.
But they should they they should both probably stop at their ages. 37? That's old for a fighter, isn't it? No, you can compete with MM. No, no, no, no, no, it's not.
He could. He's still in his prime. Old? It's a lot of fights. You tell John Jones he's old, okay?
I'm good, I'm good.
Okay, alright. Everybody's old to you, Bacha. Damn. It's the JR Sport Reshow on the Infinity Sports Network. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. Tomu.
