It is the JR Sport Brief show on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America. I hope you've had a tremendous Tuesday.
I'll be hanging out with you for two more hours. This show gets started every weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. You can always listen on the free Odyssey app. You can tune in on your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate. It's Channel 375, and if you got yourself a smart speaker, ask the speaker. Talk to the machine. Tell it.
Demand it to play the Infinity Sports Network. Man, we're about 24 hours away from the start of the 2025 NBA draft, and we have so much action that's already taken place before then. Boston Celtics last night, they moved Drew Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers, and about an hour ago, the Boston Celtics make another move, trading Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks. Boston Celtics are like, man, we ain't winning a championship next year. It's time to make some moves. How about this? Joining us in about 20 minutes is Noah Dalzell.
She covers all things Boston Celtics, but SB Nation will get her thoughts on what the Celtics are doing, what they could do, and what might be next in a season likely filled with plenty of uncertainties. If you want to give me a holler, you can do so too. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. I'm in Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to our producer in New York City, Ryan Botcher. Much love and many thanks regardless of wherever you might be in North America. Hello to all of our friends in Canada as well. Wherever you are, I hope you're pretty cool as well. We're trying to stay cool. Hot as hell all over the damn place. It was 95 degrees in Oklahoma City today at that parade.
Damn. We had plenty of the players walking around shirtless. Shay Gilgus Alexander, he was walking around shirtless. This guy is an underwear model, so what a shock, what a surprise.
Chet Holmgren. No visuals that I saw of this man walking around shirtless. I don't know, he might scare the children. He looks like Slender Man.
I have no idea. Anyway, before we have this chat with Noah, we've talked a lot of basketball. Naturally so. When news breaks, you gotta talk about it. Here we are on the eve of the NBA draft. Many camps are done in the NFL, and I guess this was a prime opportunity for you know who to pop up on Pat McAfee's show. Oh yeah, it's just the normal everyday quarterback boogeyman.
Aaron Rodgers. He was on Pat McAfee today. I think at this point it's probably been months since we heard from this man on Pat McAfee's show. He had his press conference with the Steelers and chatted it up at many camp about how happy he is to be in Pittsburgh and be with Mike Tomlin. We learned about the girlfriend slash wife slash whatever he's calling her, if she exists.
We heard and learned about all of that. But today we got a little bit more clarity from Aaron Rodgers about his future. And no, not about whether or not he's going to play or stick around. We see that he signed a one year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He didn't do a one plus one. He didn't do any of that. This man Aaron Rodgers is 41 years old.
We don't know how much longer he's going to be here. And he told Pat McAfee specifically why he only signed a one year deal. Listen to this.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is it. You know, that's why we just did a one year deal. Steelers didn't need to, you know, put any extra years on that or anything. So, you know, this was really about finishing with a lot of love and fun and peace for the career that I've had. I mean, I played 20 freaking years. It's been a long, a long run.
I've enjoyed it. And what better place to finish than in one of the cornerstone franchises of the NFL? Okay, well, this is it.
Good. Well, we think it's it. And nobody's looking at the Pittsburgh Steelers going, oh, man, well, if they win this year, how's he going to walk away?
Or if he wins this year and now he can just walk off into the sunset with the second Super Bowl ring that he has yet to win as of now? This is I'm not going to say this is an odd pairing. We know the Pittsburgh Steelers. They're trying to get over the hump. They're trying to actually go to the postseason. They're trying to do more than just finish above 500 and get eliminated in the wildcard round. The Pittsburgh Steelers.
I guess this is their version of going for broke. Now, we saw the New York Jets go for broke, but we know the Steelers have a little bit of stability, a little more stability than the New York Jets, who had the bat around rumors that the team was being evaluated in certain aspects by the Suns owner who was utilizing Madden to help make decisions. All rumors. Nothing true. Of course not.
None of it. I don't think that's how the Steelers evaluate talent. I'd be damned if Mike Tomlin is sitting around playing a video game going, huh?
Maybe that's what I need to do on Sunday. I highly doubt it. And so I think the Steelers are going to be OK. During Aaron Rodgers. And after Aaron Rodgers, you might as well buckle up, this is going to be an interesting season all the way around, and I talked about Aaron Rodgers and what this team can go out there and do. Are they at the top of the totem pole when it comes to the AFC?
The answer is no. I still think they're pretty much in the same space as they were last year with an improved quarterback, albeit he's older. He's older than Russell Wilson.
Without a shadow of a doubt, he's 41 years old. He is going to have the benefit of throwing to DK Metcalf. You know what they do or who they add to the wide receiver room and you still have Pat Fry removed and they they got their work cut out for them. The Steelers will be good. They won't be championship good.
So I think we might be in store for the same damn thing we see every single year. Aaron Rodgers talked about his number one target in DK Metcalf. This is what he told Pat McAfee. DK is a lead by example guy, and he's a big reason that I'm in Pittsburgh as well. It started here.
I didn't really know DK at all. He's like, I work out at 6 a.m. every day. I'm like, okay, already this guy has discipline. This guy has a drive.
I said, how about 8 o'clock because I'm going to have to drive from Malibu to UCLA. He said, yeah, that's fine. He's not just a specimen, but he's a really solid human being. He is a solid, solid dude. And he leads by example. The way he practices, you know, and that's, I think, one of the most encouraging thing is the room goes how the top dog goes.
And when DK catches the ball, finishes 60 yards to the end zone, it makes everybody else want to do the same thing. No. Well, there go all those stories about how he only eats candy and eats Skittles. Yeah, sure. Okay. He does all of that and gets up to work out at 6 a.m. and then just washes it down with Skittles and juice. I'm absolutely sure that he can maintain his physique by doing all of those things.
Absolutely, of course. Or they need another DK Metcalf if they want to take things to another level. And it's not just DK. He might be new to the team. There's another guy who's new to the team and has yet to even throw a pass in the NFL.
That's Will Howard. He was drafted in the sixth round here by the Pittsburgh Steelers. And so what what world will it look like if Aaron Rodgers has a young guy? I mean, one of the reasons that he felt that he was getting pushed out of Green Bay is because they drafted Jordan Love in a pandemic and he saw the writing on the wall. This is what Aaron Rodgers had to say about working with Will Howard.
Will's a rookie. And so I pulled him aside during one of the days and I said, listen, I want to help you as much as possible, but I'm not going to overstep my bounds. If you, you know, if you want assistance, I'm here, buddy.
I want to help you. Because number one, he's a real good kid. He's a sweet kid. But I was impressed by him. Obviously, he worked once the rookies came out in May. I thought he looked really sharp. He made a bunch of great throws. I think there's definitely some things I can help him with and some things that are different at the pro level.
And I'd love to love to help Will and set him up to have a chance to be the guy for the next who knows how long. Oh, wow. Nice.
I mean, as the guys on the college level, Will Howard is more recent of a champion than Aaron Rodgers. I'll tell you this. It's got to be one hell of a story to say. Hey, dad, you know what happened to Aaron Rodgers called me over and wanted to talk to me.
Wow. I guess there comes a point in time where you get to the end of your career and it's just like, you know what? Maybe I don't need to be an ass.
You know, maybe I can pass on and share a little bit of what I know. And most certainly, I understand any any athlete who takes the position like Joe Flacco. He's like, man, it don't matter what I say, what I do, I'm going to be criticized. I'm gonna look like the bad guy for not working with Dylan Gabriel or Chador. It doesn't matter what happens. Well, if you're just Aaron Rodgers in a lot of cases, you already look like the bad guy. And so what difference does it make? This is going to be his swan song.
And then just the most appropriate fashion. The Pittsburgh Steelers first game of the season will be against the New York Jets. I don't know if this is a revenge tour for Aaron Rodgers on his way out the door or whether or not this is going to be a farewell tour. And I don't see Aaron Rodgers pulling up into any stadium in the United States of America and just being showered with love. You think about the Pittsburgh Steelers and some of their road games this season.
They are at well, forget all of this. Everything seems like a storyline with Rodgers. They open the season in New York against the Jets. They then host Seattle.
And so you absolutely know that D.K. Metcalf is going to want to torch them. They go up to New England. They take on Minnesota overseas in Ireland. They come back after their bye. Aaron Rodgers gets introduced to the Browns. They take on Cincinnati, which would be fun.
A meeting of minds. That is Thursday Night Football. Aaron Rodgers.
And you can then take a look at Joe Burrow. They got a home game versus the Green Bay Packers. That is the farewell for Aaron Rodgers. They take on the Colts.
By the way, Anthony Richardson says his shoulder is perfectly fine. They go to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers. If the Bengals again, Aaron Rodgers with his final stop in Chicago a week before Thanksgiving or the Sunday before Thanksgiving. They go to Buffalo. They host Buffalo. They go to Baltimore. They host Miami. They go to Detroit. That should be fun for Aaron Rodgers. They go to Cleveland and they finish up the season hosting the Baltimore Ravens. That's it. And so if you want to see Aaron Rodgers one last time.
Go ahead and do so. Because who knows what he does when the season is over. He just said it's it's likely done. He just said he's likely going to wrap it up. With Aaron Rodgers, you never know.
How many seasons have we gone through the is he playing, is he not? This is like waiting for the pope. We just got a new pope. Everybody's looking at the smoke and whether or not we got a new pope. And Aaron Rodgers goes up into a hole. And if he comes out, I feel like it's Groundhog's Day out here. And so who knows if and when we will ever hear from this man when the season is over.
But Aaron Rodgers, a man of his word, I think he told Pat McAfee after this year, I'm gone. The way that I was welcomed in was was really cool. I wanted to be there for for many camps.
Once I decided I was going to be all in. But I didn't need this. You know, I didn't need it at all. I don't I don't feel the need to prove anything to anybody here or don't have any chip on my shoulder that I need to hold on to. I don't want the attention.
I know that's a narrative out there. When this is all done, you know, it's Kaiser. So you won't see me. I won't be in the public. I don't want to live a public life.
And that's why it's so strange what's going on right now with my private life, because I don't want to live. I don't want to live a life in the public eye. I'm not going to be in the public eye when this is done. I'm done. And you won't see me. And I'm looking forward to that. But while I'm in it and for this year, I'm going to give the Steelers everything that I got and empty the tank and be super comfortable and satisfied with whatever happens. Wow. OK. All right.
He'll be a ghost. I mean, for a guy who wants to live a very. Private life. Why are you doing it? Oh, it's the one million dollars he's reportedly getting, I guess. OK. And even if he was doing this for free, why bother? Why not just show up and play? I mean, those are the small contradictions.
Why have you done it for the past several years? And granted, he's a human being. He's entitled to change his mind and and evolve and think differently, just like everybody else. But he contradicts himself. What he just said just screams attention, all the narrative that I needed.
Well, what you sitting around talking about McAfee for in public? You can talk with him privately and get the same message across if you wanted to. Oh, this is the same Aaron Rodgers who said the New York Jets need to limit distractions as he sat on a weekly interview show. Every single week. Just the guy doesn't know if he's coming or whether he's going.
He just knows that he wants attention or maybe he doesn't even know that. Hey, enjoy the last of Aaron Rodgers. Why you can maybe possibly it's the J.R. sport show on the Infinity Sports Network. We're going to take a break when we come back. We're going to talk some Boston Celtics. Trade in everybody.
Well, not everybody. They got rid of Porzingis. He's a hawk. They got rid of Drew Holliday. He's now a member of the Portland Trailblazers. What is next for the Boston Celtics outside of saving money and having a new ownership group? So much influx with so many of their injuries. We'll have a chat with Noah Dalzell on the other side of the break as she covers the Boston Celtics.
We'll get some insight on the other side. You are locked into the J.R. sport brief show on the Infinity Sports Network. You are listening to the J.R. sport brief.
It is the J.R. sport brief show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Man, we just had the NBA championship on Sunday. We have the draft on Wednesday. And the team that won the championship last year has been very, very active. Some good and some bad. We know that in the playoffs they lost two of their star players injuries who have surgeries.
And now they're shedding salary. A lot of question marks about the Boston Celtics moving forward this upcoming season. What we can expect seasons after this. Joining us right now with someone who covers all things Boston Celtics SB Nation elsewhere is Noah Dalzell. Noah, how are you?
I'm great. It has been a very busy couple of days here covering the Celtics, that's for sure. Absolutely. Well, we all learned about Kristaps Porzingis getting moved to the Atlanta Hawks last night. We learned about Drew Holliday being moved to the Portland Trail Blazers. What's the overall vibe of the Celtics fan base that they knew this was coming? But now that this is a reality, what have you noticed about the fan reaction? Yeah, I think it depends on which fans you're asking. If you're asking the most hardcore fans that understand how the second apron works and how the luxury tax works. I think everybody knew they were going to be some key players, you know, departing this offseason. And I don't actually think that they've done a pretty good job of not parting ways with any draft picks, getting a young, promising player back in return and keeping your core for now of Jalen Brown and Derek White. I think if you ask the average person that watches Celtics games and they do tell them the Celtics just traded Porzingis and Drew Holliday for Anthony Simons and Georges Niang. They're like, what was that? So it depends on who. But certainly I think those of us that are very clued in and I kind of understand how things go, which is a lot of the people that consume my work, which is on media, like they understood this was coming. Noah Dalzell is here with us, covers the Boston Celtics.
Knowing that this was coming, you didn't know what was going to come in return. OK, and Kristaps Porzingis, it's OK, fine. Georges Niang is here. He'll probably be gone in the next day or so.
Who knows? He picked up a second rounder. In the case of Drew Holliday, you get back Anthony Simons. And a lot of people haven't seen him play being up in Portland.
We know he likes to score the basketball. What can we expect from this roster? Forget next year. What can we expect the rest of the way the next several months as they round out the roster dealing with all these injuries?
Yeah, I don't know. I mean, if they keep things as they currently are, and there is a case to be made that these are the two big moves and maybe there's going to be some moves around the margin, but now they've achieved their financial goal of getting below the second apron, which is the financial special that everybody kind of knew they were going to have to get below. Then you have a team that is going to be spearheaded by Jalen Brown, Derek White, Peyton Prichard, who I think a lot of people expect will take another leap after her sixth Man of the Year season last year. Then you're going to have to see guys like Baylor Shireman show that they can be kind of trustworthy rotation players.
The best thing you have going for you is that you play in the Eastern Conference. There are two other top Eastern Conference teams that are actually in the same exact position of losing their star player in eruption Achilles in this postseason, which is kind of crazy when you think about it. But it's also possible that another move is coming. If Derek White or Jalen Brown are traded in the coming days, which I think is a possibility, but probably not the most probable one, that to me is kind of like they're no longer prioritizing staying competitive right now.
They're doing more of a hard reset than I expected. These two moves are pretty predictable, but it's the other few players on the roster that I'm not sure about their fate that will kind of determine how competitive this team will be moving forward. Given Jalen Brown's gigantic, massive contract, more than $300 million, and then also the knee injury and knee surgery that he just had, do you think there are a realistic possibility of somewhere where he might end up?
Absolutely. I think a lot of people talk about Jalen's contract, but Jalen Brown is a final of NDP, an Eastern Conference final of NDP, a multiple-time All-Star that's still in the prime of his career. And while those kind of seemingly grow in trees in Boston, like we've had so many great players wear Celtics jerseys that sometimes, you know, Jalen Brown was just another one of those great players, for a lot of franchises, this could be your chance to get a very good basketball player that does it on both ends, that is proven as a proven playoff performer. So I think that there are teams out there that might just say, you know what, this might be our only chance in the next few years to trade for a multiple-time All-Star that can do it at the highest level. There's also potentially teams like, say, the Houston Rockets, who just made a move to acquire Kevin Durant. They're in the mix for a championship next year. They already were a top two seed last year. Maybe they're looking at their young prospects and saying, you know what, we have Durant. We've already kind of put it all in right now.
Let's make another win now move and turn some of those young prospects and future draft picks into Jalen Brown. So I think there is definitely going to be a market out there for him. But the question is, is there going to be an offer that's going to compel Brad Stevens to effectively trade away one of the two players that has been the cornerstone of this franchise for much of the last decade?
And I don't know that that kind of offer is going to be out there. Noah Dalzell is here with us covers the Boston Celtics. You're listening to the JR Sport re-show on the Infinity Sports Network. Since he had his knee knee surgery and we all know about Tatum and his Achilles. Has there been any type of updates about any of these guys are too early? Yeah, but I can tell you that I know is that Jason Tatum has been working at the Auerbach Center, the practice facility on a very regular basis tirelessly with his trainer. We've had multiple players on our show, the Garden Report.
Torrey Craig, Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheinman, guys that have been in and around the facility. And that's been the report is that he is just there and he's in good spirits. Jalen Brown, I've caught up with a couple of times. Saw him most recently on Thursday. He had surgery a week prior.
He was walking around with a crutch and I think it looked like he was moving pretty well was bending his knee, was putting weight on it. So I don't think that his surgery is one that's going to impact him deep into this off season and he is slated to be available for training camp. So I don't think that it's going to go very far with all the changes going on with the Celtics and changing salaries. And we also know that they're changing ownership. How is that process going along right now? Just the ownership process. Yes, with Bill Chisholm has taken over, we learned earlier today it took months for the approvals to take place. How far along in the process are the Celtics in that regard?
Yeah, I'm not sure exactly where things are currently. I do know that nothing is expected to really change when the ownership transfers happen, which officially hasn't happened. But Wick is going to be the governor.
Wick Rosebeck will remain the governor for the first few years. And in addition to that, I think there's the reality that people are wondering, is he going to come in and be a Matt Ishby type like the Phoenix Suns owner and come in and just change the way this team is governed? There's been everything that I've heard about Bill Chisholm has been that he's going to be pretty hands off and has kind of deferred how things have been done because there's been sustained winning in Boston for a long time and he doesn't want to come in and disrupt that.
So I don't think fans are going to steal his impact and his presence in a negative way. The way that, you know, when the team was first up for sale, many feared, OK, who's going to buy this team? And what is that going to mean for the Celtics?
Absolutely. I mean, it has to feel some of the pain that the team has experienced in the fan base over the past several months has to be blunted a little bit because of the championship. I know the expectations for the Celtics are so high, but there at least has to be a little bit of, OK, at least we won last year for the fan base.
Yeah, I think so. Honestly, watching Tyrese Halliburton go down in Game 7 of the NBA Finals and I was just, you know, I was just a fan watching at that point. You know, I don't cover either of those teams. There was something so uniquely heartbreaking about it because you're like, I don't know if he's ever going to get to the mountaintop. I don't know if he's ever going to be able to bring this city a championship. Watching Tatum go down with his Achilles injury was the worst thing I've ever seen in person at a sporting event. And it was the most somber sight, like being in the locker room afterwards in Madison Square Garden was just heartbreaking. And at the same time, there was no feeling of like, what if he never does it?
What if he never gets, you know, achieves the ultimate goal? Because I just saw him do it last June. So they wanted to go back to back. I think this team, this core could have won multiple. But the fact that you got one, you know, I watch enough NBA basketball to know how many great teams, talented players never get it done. And I think that that should be something that Celtics fans, you know, don't take for granted because it ultimately lots of players aren't there.
And it was just last year. But I think they'll be able to get back to that position in the coming years as well. I don't think this is the end for this era of Celtics basketball either.
Certainly in a little bit of a transition period, losing two pieces that helped them win that championship and Drew Holliday and then Porzingis popping up on occasion here and there. Noah, thank you so much for the time. Please tell everybody where they can listen, read, watch. You're all over the place on the Celtics. Fill us in.
Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me. You can find my written work at Celticsblog.com.
I have a story actually about Drew Holliday's Oscar work that you can check out there. And then my podcast is the You Got Boston podcast. I have regular reactions to everything going on in the Celtics world. And actually right now, I'll be going back live on CLNS media. You can watch our postgame show.
We react to everything. So if you ever want more Celtics coverage, you can find it on CLNS media and You Got Boston podcast. Hey, amazing chat, Noah.
Thank you so much. We'll have you on down the line, OK? Absolutely.
Thanks for having me. No doubt about it. That Noah Darzil covers all things Boston Celtics. They are certainly in a transition period right now, having offloaded Chris Staps, Porzingis, also getting rid of Drew Holliday. Who knows when Tatum is going to come back and then Brown coming back from his own knee surgery as well.
What they do and what type of depth they have. There's a there's a lot to figure out with the Boston Celtics. This might just have to everybody might have to settle for a resetting year. And not too bad, I guess, coming off of a championship.
But hell, what do I know? Teams are trying to win and they're trying to win big every single year. These these injuries are just they're nuts. The Achilles injuries are crazy. And the thing is, nobody has an answer.
None. Are the guys playing too much basketball? Are they playing too little basketball? People will talk about everybody running around in low tops like there is not one particular answer. Like it's it's a massive issue in the NBA right now. Dude's just going down with with Achilles stairs.
It's the JR sport show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll talk more about this on the other side of the break. And then we got one guy in the NBA.
He's had his share of injuries. It looks like he's he's in shape. OK, wow.
Following a diet. Yeah, it's it's not Zion. Yeah, Zion doesn't know what a diet is. I'm going to tell you who the player is on the other side. But right now, here on the Infinity Sports Network, it is time for a news flash.
Here he is. It's Gordon Damer. You are listening to the JR sport brief.
The JR sport brief show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Well, it is a time and place for everything. Sometimes you got to know. I don't know when to go fast. Sometimes you got to know when to go slow.
Sometimes certain people only understand if you go one particular way. Eight, eight, eight, seven, ten for ISN. That's eight, eight, eight, seven, ten for ISN. Hey, thank you so much to Noel Dalzell for joining us. Covers all things Boston Celtics. Kristaps Porzingis, now a member of the Atlanta Hawks. He's on the final year of his contract.
And now also, well, not also last night first, I guess we could say. Drew Holliday being moved in exchange for Anthony Simons. Drew Holliday going to the Portland Trailblazers. So there's just a lot with the Celtics that is basically in flux right now. We have no idea how things are going to turn out when the regular season starts. So we'll see. Eight, eight, eight, seven, ten for ISN. Injuries really dictated everything going on with the Boston Celtics right now.
Or at least accelerated the process. Let's talk to Jay from Alabama. And then I want to talk about all these these dudes going down with the Achilles tears.
It's it's a bad situation in the league right now. Jay from Alabama. You're on the JR Sport Reshow. What's up? How are you doing today? I'm excellent. How are you?
I'm doing well, thanks for asking. First thing I had one to call in and ask you about was I just want to get your opinion on this. The draft is tomorrow night. You got Cooper Flagg projected to go number one overall. He's supposed to be this generational talent or whatnot. But my comparison and what I'm asking you is that the biggest comparison or the best player that I can see him being compared to right now would be Keith Van Horn.
Do you think that's too big of a stretch or you think there's a downplay? I think Keith Van Horn was a completely different player for what I've seen from from Cooper Flagg. Keith Van Horn operated as a scorer. Keith Van Horn was a shooter. Cooper Flagg to me comes across as more of an overall basketball player. I don't I mean, outside of being white, I have no comparison with with him and Keith Van Horn. I mean, but that's the that's the thing about it is the fact that with him being compared because he can't be on the layer bird level.
So from a realistic standpoint, if you go back and look at and check Keith Van Horn coming out of Utah, his numbers pretty much kind of stack across the board as far as rebounds assist as Cooper Flagg is. I know it's a different time and age. Yes. You know, what would it be? And nowadays, would you think that it would? No, no, no, no, no, no.
I would I would not. Keith Van Horn couldn't defend a door in front of him. I mean, it's one thing to look at the stats and numbers and say they're comparable.
Those numbers, if you want to talk to me about college and I'm not looking at them in front of me. I remember watching Keith Van Horn in college. I remember watching Keith Van Horn play for the Nets. Keith Van Horn was a scorer.
He was a shooter. That's what Keith Van Horn did. Nobody was going to look at Keith Van Horn and say, oh, my God, you know, can you go out there and get rebounds? Oh, my God. Can you sit down in front of a defender?
Oh, my God. Keith, can you just please help us go out there and block some shots? And as Keith Van Horn got older and slower, Keith Van Horn was pretty much cooked and out of the league. Like Cooper Flag is an athlete.
This dude is flying up and down the court. His body dimensions are very different from Keith Van Horn. He's an athlete and he's more of an overall basketball player. And so I would not I think looking at stats, points, rebounds, assists, I think that is doing Cooper Flag a massive disservice. I think if we got to start comparing him on the white basketball players scale and going, well, well, Larry Bird is way out of reach. But, you know, Keith Van Horn, the numbers match up. This is what comparisons are.
They're comparisons. I look at Cooper Flag and I go, well, you know what? He's he's very unique. I mean, Giannis Atetokounmpo was drafted into the NBA coming out of Greece. Ain't nobody watched this dude play.
Nobody knew what he was going to develop into. But I will tell you, from what I've seen from Giannis, I don't know what you or anybody else have seen. I've seen a very unique basketball player. OK. And so sometimes you have a guy who comes through who breaks the mold and Cooper Flag just seemingly does a little bit of everything. And for a guy who is 18 years old, you want to talk about Keith Van Horn? Keith Van Horn wasn't doing what this dude was doing at 18.
How his game evolves at the professional level is going to be something to be seen. I got you. I got you.
Like I said, I just want your opinion, man. I appreciate that. You got it. Yeah. Throw throw throw the Keith Horn, Keith Van Horn idea, throw it out the window. And wherever you heard that, tell that person to shut the hell up. That that makes no sense.
OK. I mean, the thing about it is that the only reason why Keith Van Horn didn't go first that year was because Tim Duncan came back. So if we I mean, in hindsight, in 2020, we have the ability to see what Keith Van Horn's career wind up being. But I'm just saying from a predictive standpoint, if you look at it from potential, if we don't have a Tim Duncan in his draft, but Keith Van Horn went second overall in that in that draft. And that's only because Tim Duncan decided to come back that year. So once again, in hindsight, it's 2020. So that's it.
That's the good part about it. We got we got somewhere to go and some to be able to see. So I'm just looking forward with his career. What he does make out. I hope so, too, Jay.
Thank you for calling from Alabama. Yeah. But what we've seen, given their ages, there is there's there's no comparison. This is not Cooper Flag from what we just saw his freshman year in at Duke.
Should have been his senior year in high school. Let that sit down. Like we can start pointing point that guys. Let's see what he can do.
I don't know what a compass. What is he? A combination of Andrei Kirilenko with more of an offensive game. Is he going to be a shorter version of and by the way, he's 18. The guy may not even be done growing yet. Is he going to be a less athletic Giannis with a jump shot? Is he going to be a better passer? You know, Giannis sometimes is like a bull in a China shot. And that's that's the part that's that's fun to watch. But Keith Van Horn.
No, no, thank you. Keith Van Horn played a four years at college. OK. Ah, this it's difficult to compare them, given the ages. And by the time Keith Van Horn came out of school, he's basically a grown man. Cooper Flag should be entering into his freshman year in college right now. OK. Cooper Flag has already been playing basketball with LeBron James and against Steph Curry.
The Keith Van Horn. No, just no. I don't know about that one. Eight, eight, eight, seven, ten for ISN. That's eight, eight, eight, seven, ten for ISN. I didn't expect that.
Bacha, have you heard that comparison before? Van Horn, not not a thousand years, because you just see with your own two eyes that Cooper Flag is athletic and can move his feet. Yeah. Keith Van Horn was just I didn't I didn't see that one.
I'm like, what? OK. All right. Any other white basketball players we need to pick out? Bacha, are you missing anybody?
I did. Brian Scalabruni. Is he up there? Oh, well, he he helped find and develop him early on.
So keep going. Anybody else? Said Kurelenko. Mirza Teledevich. Is he up there? Let's stick to white American basketball. OK, OK.
The pool is dwindled now. Kirk Heinrich is even. Oh, it was short. Kirk Heinrich is what, 6'4? Like a spot up shooter. He was like 6'4.
There's not many of them. Yeah. OK. Well, just make it short. Gordon Hayward.
But no. What is 6'5? 6'6? A guard?
Yeah, a guard, small forward. Yeah. There there.
There is there is nobody. Let's just see what the guy does. Just that that that one threw me for a loop.
I've never disagree with anything more. I'm like, what? OK. All right. It's like, hey, we got Zion Williamson here. What is Zion from Duke? What is Zion?
What's a comp for Zion? I don't know. I don't know.
It's it's tough. Sean Kemp. Well, because you're watching television right now.
ESPN and Sean Kemp popped up on the TV. No, because they just plays like I'm just a slasher. Yeah, well, shorter and fatter. Most definitely.
Unless it was Sean Kemp when Sean Kemp was old and fat in Cleveland. Now, my point is, let the unicorn be a unicorn. Let's see how he ends up and goes from there. Anyway, I did tell you that there is a player in the league, in the NBA that apparently is in a whole new new lane in space.
OK. He got in shape. It's not Zion Williamson, because Zion, the only shape he knows is round. Luca Doncic is reportedly on a strict diet. He is sticking a cardio. He's disciplined. And I hope he comes back and has an amazing year. But everybody's in shape and all.
No, not everybody. A lot of guys get in shape in the off season. It's what you actually do when the season starts.
When you don't have the same luxuries that you have when you got all the time in the world in the summertime. And so it's good at least to see that Luca is on the up and up. And yeah, he can look svelte and look good in all the photos and all the pictures. But we don't want him getting fat when the regular season rolls around. And I just I still love this J.J. Reddick, very directed at Luca without saying his name at the conclusion of the season. Basically said, man, get your fat ass in shape.
Listen to this. We have a ways to go as a roster. And certainly there are individuals that were in phenomenal shape.
There's certainly other ones that could have been in better shape. That's where my mind goes immediately is, you know, we have to get in championship shape. It looks like Luca Doncic has taken heed to the words of J.J. Reddick. It's going to be real interesting to see what the Los Angeles Lakers do at the center position. We've heard that Kristaps Borzingis would be a possibility. And now we see that Kristaps is, well, he's in Atlanta. God only knows how long he'll be in Atlanta. He's on an expiring contract. But if the Los Angeles Lakers want to compete for anything, they're going to have to add, you know, some type of height and size, somebody, an athlete who can go ahead and get to the basket and be a big man. So a lot is going to take place over the next 24, 48 hours. And then, damn it, what are things going to look like when free agency opens up? This is the wild time on the NBA calendar.
We just got to wait and see. It's the J.R. Sport Reshow here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network.
Hey, you got more Keith Van Horn comparisons? Call me up. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. Of course, we'll talk about a few things that took place this day in sports history. There's a lot. We'll talk about these achilles injuries, run through a lot of the trades. The J.R. Sport Reshow on the Infinity Sports Network.
