5.3.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 4

Imagine you're looking at a balancing scale, with everything you do for other people on one side, and everything you do for yourself on the other side.

If it isn't balanced, maybe it's time to spend a little more time on you. And therapy is a great place to start. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist online who can help you find that balance and stick to it. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month.

That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. When the whole family comes together to watch the game, nobody wants to miss a second of the action to run to the grocery store. With Instacart, you can get all your weekly groceries in as fast as an hour.

Less time shopping means more game time. Let's go. Visit Instacart.com to get free delivery on your first three orders. Offer valid for a limited time.

$10 minimum per order. Additional terms apply. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

It's the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio. Much love to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America. East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, here in the south with me, everybody in Hawaii, everybody in Alaska, folks up north in Toronto.

And just just coloring the map, OK? And we got plenty of people who tune in overseas as well. Much love to you. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Our super producer and host, Dave Shepherd.

He is coming to you live from New York City. Thank you for locking in. I've been gone for a few days. Haven't been feeling the best, but here I am.

Like Joel Embiid. Except for I'm winning tonight. Sorry. Anyway, the Boston Celtics, they smashed the Sixers 121 to 87. We'll talk about that game momentarily. Joel Embiid MVP comes back to take in L. You want to holler at us? It's simple. 855-2124 CBS.

It's 855-2124 CBS. You can find me online everywhere at JR Sport Brief. It's been a busy night as we continue on. I feel like I've missed two days. I've missed a whole lot. Missed Steph Curry's 50 point game and last night the Lakers beat the Warriors in game one of their series. I'm just missing a lot.

Come back and Joel Embiid is MVP and then his team is stinking the joint up. OK, you can always listen to the show on the free Odyssey app, A U D A C Y. You can tune in on your local CBS Sports Radio affiliate Sirius XM Channel 158.

And if you got a smart speaker, just ask it to play CBS Sports Radio. Right before we went to break, I gave you a top six list. So much negativity in the world. I gave you a top six list of some positive stories in the world of sports. You know, I gave you a sports story to kick things off. I gave you the Panthers upsetting the Bruins a couple of days ago at number six. I gave you the Dallas Cowboys, Deuce Vaughn, the running back now playing in the same building with his dad, who happens to be a scout.

And number four, I gave you Lamar Jackson finally making all of his money with no agent. I gave you Serena Williams at number three. Serena Williams now. God bless her.

Welcoming in soon. Another child announcing her pregnancy this past Monday at the Met Gala in New York City. And number two, Liam Hendrix, Chicago White Sox pitcher beating cancer. Coming back from the diagnosis in December and already just getting ready to get on the mound in the minors on his way back to the majors.

Well, I will assume barring any setbacks, maybe in as soon as a week or two. And a number one, yeah, might be controversial to a lot of folks. I don't know why. Brittany Griner deciding to use her platform and everything that took place with her to be an advocate for the release of others.

Brittany Griner I have here at number one on the list. I'm going to get back to your calls momentarily. Eight five five two one two for CBS told you about these Boston Celtics evening up their series against Philadelphia tonight. All tied at one.

One twenty one to eighty seven was the final score. I told you Joel Embiid came back tonight. Just last night he became the NBA's MVP. And he made it real clear right out of the gate in his press conference that this wasn't this wasn't anything Joel Embiid ever thought he was just going to wake up and do. Joel Embiid is appreciative for winning this, and this is what he had to say earlier about how it feels to get his first MVP and that he wants to win a championship. This is what Embiid said.

Feels good, obviously. That's something that I dreamed of and I've always wanted, you know, especially when I started playing basketball. But I was always the goal. And, you know, obviously there's other goals and stuff.

But, you know, this is just one step to, you know, to whatever I want to accomplish, which is, you know, to win championships. The Celtics might be in the way of that after tonight's blowout. Joel Embiid is one and nine in his playoff career against the Celtics. Embiid, in his return from that busted knee, sprained knee, probably going to bother him for the rest of the season, however long it is, he finished with fifteen points, three rebounds and five blocks. They ain't suck tonight because of him. They were just terrible all across the board.

Everybody was. James Harden, who had forty-five points in game one, he finished tonight with twelve points, twelve rebounds, or excuse me, twelve points, ten rebounds. But shooting?

Terrible. James Harden was two of fourteen from the field. Maxey only had thirteen points. And even though they won the game, Tatum finished with only seven points for the Boston Celtics. He was one of seven from the field. Jalen Brown held it down with twenty-five points. Malcolm Brogdon, the NBA's reigning sixth man of the year, he had twenty-three points, including six threes, and they helped lead the way. And so afterwards, Jalen Brown, he spoke to TNT, Ali La Force, and he said, well, yeah, we got the job done.

Listen to what he had to say. Jalen, what a different game than game one. How were you able to change the narrative? Just setting the tone on defense, just trying to be aggressive on both sides of the ball, getting our teammates going. Malcolm had a big game, and just really just setting the tone on defense and having fun. A huge difference, too, was points in the paint, a much more balanced attack offensively tonight. How did you approach what they were trying to take and get from you offensively? Just trying to be aggressive and take what the defense gives me.

I feel like I can get to the basket whenever I want, so just stressing the game, letting the game tell you what to do, and playing basketball like the way I know how. Even more importantly, you got this win while Philadelphia had the MVP of the league on the court. I know it wasn't 100 percent, but still, a win like this on your home court going on the road, how important is it?

Super important and well-deserved. Well-deserved MVP from Joel, but tonight we got the win, and we're looking for another one tomorrow. Tomorrow will happen to actually be on Friday. Game 3 will go down in Philadelphia. Joel Embiid will get his MVP award. Let's see if things are going to change.

I'm not so positive. Maybe Philadelphia picks up the victory on Friday to take a 2-1 series lead. I still believe the Celtics will win this out. James Harden, his inconsistencies. Joel Embiid and his knee. I don't think Tatum is going to only score seven points the next game. This has to be one of the worst performances of his career, and so I think the Celtics ultimately will walk away from this series with the victory. Head coach, Philadelphia 76ers.

Doc Rivers, who, yes, won a championship as the coach of the Celtics. This is what Doc Rivers had to say about his team's poor performance. We didn't move the ball. Offensively, we were pretty bad, but give them credit. I thought their ball pressure ate us up all night. I thought they pressured us. They denied us. They played in our airspace all game.

You know, it's funny. We talked about it this morning. We talked about it before the game, but you can talk about intensity and force all you want, but when you get on the court and it's actually being applied to you, you have to be able to handle it. We didn't handle it very well tonight. We'll be better.

Yeah, well, they can't be worse than they were. Once again, the Boston Celtics beating Philadelphia 121 to 87. Game three that's going to go down Friday night in Philadelphia, Cinco de Mayo.

Let's see what happens there. 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. That's 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS.

As we continue on with this hour of the show, I want to get to more of your calls. I want to talk to you about the other series, the Suns. The Phoenix Suns are certainly behind 0-2 right now to the Denver Nuggets.

Jokic did not win his third consecutive NBA MVP, but if Jokic is going to continue playing the way he is right now, he might walk away with what he really wants, and that's a championship. And so we'll hear from Nicola Jokic and then also Kevin Durant on what that series is looking like. And oh yeah, by the way, the New York Knicks, they are taking on the Miami Heat in the playoffs and we'll get to them as well. 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. That's 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. Let's go ahead and talk to Dave. He is calling from Detroit. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Hi. I have a couple questions I'm going to fire at you real quick about Draymond Green.

Okay. And then you'll probably be able to answer them both at the same time. I was wondering, how many years do you think that Draymond Green has left where he's going to be a good player and be able to help a team get to the playoffs? And then my second question is, would it be wise, seeing as how the Pistons could use a veteran and they need a veteran who can help out the young players and help us get to a playoff, do you think it would be wise for the Pistons to go after Draymond Green and pay him the money he wants?

Do you think that would be a wise idea? I don't think so at this point in time. I think Draymond Green, especially coming off of whatever ends with his tenure with the Golden State Warriors, I think he's going to want to immediately try to contribute to a championship. Can I see him back or in Detroit or in his home state of Michigan at some point when he calls it a wrap?

I think the answer is yes. It was only a few weeks ago, maybe a few months ago, that Draymond Green, he made it clear that he wants to play in the NBA for 15 years. That means that he would call it quits and he would be a wrap in 2027. That's four more years from now. It's like four more seasons. So do I think he's going to be a high level player for four more seasons?

I don't think so. I would give him maybe one or two max. And let's also be honest, the system that he's in right now with Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors is ideal.

They certainly help elevate him and his strengths and he's amazing. I don't know if that's going to travel with him the same type of way. So am I out of pistons? Am I hunting for him?

Maybe, maybe not because I don't think at this point Draymond would really have that type of interest. 855-212-4CBS. Dan is calling from Toronto. Go ahead, Dan. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Well, I'll tell you, I am a long, long standing Detroit Lions fan. So I've got positivity coming out of my ears.

I really do, man. I have not been as happy about this team. I don't even remember.

I don't think ever. This young core, this management group, this ownership group. I mean, you want to talk about positivity? It's right there, man. How did you feel about the selection of Jameer Gibbs last week? I loved it. And the reason that I love it is because offensive coordinator Ben Jonathan is going to use him the right way. He's not a running back.

He's like a, he's like a Deebo Samuel kind of guy, you know, like and he are our offensive system is so creative and you're going to see him do some really interesting things. I think it's not it's not what it appears to be. OK, well, listen, man, I hope that the end of last season continues on and you don't get the first part, OK? You got it, man. Have a good night. You as well, Dan. Thank you so much for calling from Toronto. 855-212-4CBS Auto is calling from Maryland. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show.

Hey, JR. I have a difference of opinion with you on Brittany Griner being number one. OK, go ahead. I think it's a little premature. I will hold my decision on whether or not she's worthy of it if I see her follow through on some sort of action, you know, to help those wrongfully imprisoned. And I know, for example, there's a couple of people who we could have also gotten out of Russia, particularly a history teacher who was smuggling in, I think, 14 grams of cannabis.

And he wasn't brought home. I also. Yeah. Let me ask you.

Let me ask you a question, right? Would you say Brittany Griner speaking up is not a positive story? Yeah, I guess. But I don't think it's that strong a positive. Oh, OK. Well, I find it I find it tough to say. I mean, you got to go. Yeah, I guess it is.

It's it's either it's one or two ways like this. This I don't find it to be a a middle ground. I mean, you say you want to see her do more or be more active. We wouldn't be having this conversation or raising awareness if she hasn't spoken up about it while microphones have been in her face. So, you know, I ask again, having said that, her speaking up about it, is it a positive or is it a negative? It's not neutral.

Like which one is it? It's not what I'm saying. It is a positive. But if you're right. But that's if you're that. No, no, it's not. But this is this is my point here.

Thank you for the clarity. The list is top six positive stories in sports. Right.

I have Brittany Griner here at number one. You know, one of our callers took a comparison of a ranking to say Liam Hendrix just came back from cancer. Yes, absolutely.

It's unfortunately something disgusting that one day hopefully a scientist can wake up and eradicate it. And Liam Hendrix is going to inspire folks. Here's the deal. And this is why I have Brittany Griner at number one. I think you can go talk to anybody here. A lot of folks in America. Right. I don't know how many people would be able to tell you who Liam Hendrix is.

I think you could go all across America right now in regards to the breadth and the depth and the influence of the story. Yes. Can any human being on earth probably relate to someone or anyone with cancer? Yes. Brittany Griner and her influence here has a wider scope than Liam Hendrix. And that's why I have this here on the list. I didn't go ahead and rank. Oh, my God.

Which one is the more amazing story? I wanted to take a look at it as it related to influence. Does that provide a little bit of clarity? Yes, it does. I think you're just your argument is it's more impactful than the others. Yes, it's a fact. It is. OK. All right. Well, thank you, Otto. You know, there's no debate there. I'm not weighing who's who's getting more daisies or roses. Most top six positive stories in sports. I think Brittany Griner's carries weight.

Otherwise, people wouldn't be so much up in arms about it at all. Curtis calling from California on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Kurt? Good evening, Mr. Jackson. I would like to share something positive with you that you made available to all of us when it comes to the agents of inclusion. I listen to your 26 minute podcast. With a young man by the name of it, I hope he doesn't mind if I use a proxy for his middle name. Daniel.

Curry. And the young lady, Addison Wilcott. I would like to say to your audience that everyone should listen to that 26 minute discussion that you had with those two young people. They were so impressive. Daniel and.

Miss Wilcott. They became two of my heroes. For the way that they were able to articulate and communicate with the questions that you present, adult questions that you presented to those two young people was so impressive. I would encourage everyone to at least listen to that podcast. Well, thank you, Kurt. I appreciate that. And I encourage everyone to take a listen to every single one of the episodes that that we've released for agents of inclusion.

And now you allow me to talk about positivity. Thank you, Kurt, for calling from California. And thank you so much. Hey, Kurt, make sure you have other people tune in and listen to make sure your friends subscribe and all that stuff. OK, I'll do my best.

Thank you so much. Kurt calling from California. Yeah. Instead of arguing. And this is the funny part. And I'm not I'm not born yesterday.

I've been programing content all my life. I got no problem sitting here having conversations with people about Britney Greiner. I know that some people who are upset, they want to yell at me, they want to scream. I don't care. You know, me providing with it, provided with an opportunity to talk about positivity is fine by me, whether you agree or not, utilize some of that energy to go ahead and listen to agents of inclusion.

It's a podcast that I started here with Odyssey. I started it with Special Olympics because what Kurt just said is true as hell. There are heroes that I don't care how you feel about Britney Greiner. I don't care how you feel about Aaron Rodgers or LeBron James. I don't give a damn if your hero was Jackie Robinson. I don't care if your hero was Muhammad Ali or Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey Jr.

I do not care. We have heroes in our neighborhoods, our next door neighbors, our friends, our families, people down the road that we do not know that we have never heard of that have more inspirational stories than any celebrity or any athlete you will ever hear of. And so agents of inclusion is a podcast that we started to highlight some of these these heroes who are in our neighborhoods who are told you can't do this or you can't do that because you have an intellectual disability.

You can't even bother to try. We just released an episode with a good friend of mine. His name is Adam Hayes. He's from Maryland. Adam Hayes was was basically or not basically he has had 35 different brain surgeries. Let me say that again. He has had 35 different brain surgeries. He's one of my favorite people to speak to. Go ahead. Check out that episode Agents of Inclusion.

The episode is live right now. Adam works for Special Olympics Maryland in the digital media department. He helps them out with videography. He rides on his bike through Maryland miles upon miles a week, thousands of miles a year. And he says, man, I have fun playing sports and riding my bike and doing everything because people need to understand you can go do what you want to do in life.

Don't let anybody go out there and limit you to what you do. So, yes, if you listen or hear the sound of my voice and you can safely search a podcast or anything of the sort, go ahead and check out Agents of Inclusion. It's the new podcast. I'm sure you may have heard the commercials from Odyssey, myself, JR Sport Brief Productions and Special Olympics.

That's Agents of Inclusion. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio 855-212-4CBS. That's 855-212-4CBS. When we come back, I'll get some more of your calls. We'll talk some hoops. And we got a lot to do here on CBS Sports Radio. Don't move.

You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. I just want to say mad respect for your show. You always got a lot of good points. I agree with a lot of things you say. I just want to say I love your show.

Me and my grandpa listen to it every night. I needed a JR fix tonight and I'm glad you're on. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. And I gave you the top six list, positive stories in sports. I did put the Panthers and Bruins. They are at least the Panthers upsetting the Bruins at number six on the list.

And tonight, knowing that there are no Bruins, at least the Celtics are providing some hope of smashing the Sixers 121 to 87. As we start to narrow things down here in the playoffs, both on the Stanley Cup side and also on the NBA side. We're having less and less games, which is fine.

That's the point of going through a tournament and narrowing things down. Because I haven't been here, I haven't been feeling the best over the past two days, I've missed out on talking about some big games. Not being here Monday to talk about Steph Curry and his 50. Even last night, we had the Lakers and the Warriors back at it. The New York Knicks in action, beating the Heat with no Jimmy Butler with that ankle, 111 to 105. And then when we get to tomorrow, the Lakers and the Warriors will be right back at it. And then also, Jokic losing his mind. The Phoenix Suns, they're down 2-0 against the Denver Nuggets. And Chris Paul, what else is new? Chris Paul is hurt with a groin injury.

So we have some interesting stories. It's amazing to me. Nikolai Jokic had an opportunity to win his third consecutive NBA MVP.

And even after Game 1, it's kind of crazy. Kevin Durant was asked by one of the reporters, he's just like, are you surprised at what the Nuggets and Jokic are doing? He's like, why?

Like, why would I? Like, Jokic is the man. And Kevin Durant is just like, Jokic, there's no ceiling to the dude.

This is what Durant said. I was just thinking back to the game that he played. He could bring the ball to the court, he could orchestrate the offense, he could play in the post. So yeah, there's no limit or ceiling that you can put on him. He can't just call him a great passer or a great big man.

He's just a great basketball player. He can put labels on guys. He can take away from them a little bit. So yeah, he can call the points all in one second. He can call the center in one moment. He can do everything. Yeah, what Nikolai Jokic has been doing since the series got going, even out there whooping that ass.

That's just what it is. He had 39 points in the last game. He's not someone going out there just getting buckets. They only scored 97 points. Phoenix only had 87. And when you think about this, and I will laugh forever, they got four points off the bench. And depth was always going to be a concern for the Phoenix Suns. It's like, sure, you got Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

What are they going to do, drop 30 each and you spread out the wealth to everyone else? Bismack-Biambo had two points off the bench. Campaign had two points.

Let me say that again. A whopping four points coming off the bench last game for the Phoenix Suns. I think the Denver Nuggets are going to handle them, especially if Chris Paul, man, you have a groin injury.

You just don't wake up and move at full speed. It's going to be tough for Phoenix to bounce back unless Durant and or Booker just have some type of historic series. Jokic, 39 points, 16 rebounds, five assists last game. Jokic came out of his mouth and he's like, listen, man, I just play basketball. I don't try to run around and just score. Even in the fourth quarter, I was posting up and I was in the middle of a pain and I passed to Jamal in the corner. I was supposed to shoot that one. So I thought he was open, but I was supposed to shoot that one. I just gave him a hot potato. But it is what it is, you know?

OK. I can tell why he doesn't elicit excitement even when speaking to the media. Maybe if he was super exciting when talking, maybe he'd be on his way to a third MVP. His game does the talking for him, though, JR. Yeah, his game does the talking. But maybe he'd get a little bit more support if he opened up his mouth. He doesn't care.

He makes it clear, which I appreciate. He doesn't give a damn. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. Allen.

Oh, my God. Allen's here from Toronto. You're on CBS Sports Radio.

Go ahead, Allen. Tampa Bay Rays. They're Jack Rabbit's start. They're 25 and 6. And they're the first team in modern history to, the third team in modern history to start at 13 and 0. The the 1982 Atlanta Braves and the 87 Brewers.

And you see how many home runs they hit so far? Seventy four. Sixty four. Sorry. And the second place is the Jays at 35.

They're going to smash the Yankees 2000 and 2019 record of 302 and the Minnesota Twins 203 of 219. OK. And I have a question, Allen. Yes.

OK, sure. Where does this fit in with anything? I hear you, but what does it fit in? It's an absolute surprise. I would have thought they'd be maybe just a little bit of 500 because last year they had so many injuries. No, no, no, I understand that. But I'm asking in the in the context of of everything that we've discussed tonight.

I'm just trying to understand. Just it seems kind of out of out of the blue for the Rays to be discussed. Yeah, I think the top five would have put them in.

I mean, in the top six, I would have put them in. Oh, oh, positive stories. Oh, OK. Yeah. Oh, OK. Positive story. Oh, I guess. I mean, if I have to think about the Rays histories of. Yeah, they're absolutely amazing now where they historically have been losers.

Yeah, I guess that would be positive. OK. Now, I just I didn't understand the context down. Appreciate you, man. They just they just swept the they just swept the pirates and the pirates. And I saw Wanda Franco. Yeah.

So Wanda Franco is over here double clutch and throws the first and people hate him now. So we'll see. Hey, thank you, Alan. Yeah. Always a pleasure.

Thank you very much. No, no doubt about it. Yeah, we got we got a couple of hot dogs on the field here. People coming through with their unwritten rules can't double clutch the throw on the way to on the way to first.

Now you're being a hot dog. Who cares? He should throw the ball behind his back. Let's see how many people get mad.

Go for it. Who cares? Right. Baseball's here for entertainment.

Let the let the people with their baseball rules get upset. Eight five five two one two four CBS. Going to get some more your calls before we roll out.

You're listening to the J.R. sport brief on CBS Sports Radio. I want to commend you on what you're doing, going around college to college. My friend's daughter saw you at Bryant. I think it was you got her really thinking and she's going to I think she's going to go into your field. I think it's just a wonderful thing you're doing. Call in now at eight five five two one two four CBS. Oh, that's nice.

It is real nice. So what do I care? I talk about sports for a living. The most I could do is try to help out other people. Right.

That's not that complicated. Eight five five two one two four CBS. That's eight five five two one two four CBS. We talked about positivity tonight. Things not so positive for Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. Losing to the Celtics tonight. Not so positive. Not so positive for Dylan Brooks have been reports that they are some NBA teams that do want to give him a look.

Now that the Memphis Grizzlies just made it clear they no longer want him. And then I gave you a top six list of really taking a look at some of the most positive stories in sports right now. I gave you the Panthers upsetting the Bruins. I gave you the Dallas Cowboys. Deuce Vaughn, Kansas State running back. Now in the same organization as his dad, Chris, who happens to be a scout. Lamar Jackson. No agents still coming up with the big bucks. Five years.

Two hundred and sixty million dollars. Serena Williams at number three. Serena Williams. We know that she, well, not formally officially retired, but Serena Williams walking away after the U.S. Open announced on Monday that she is pregnant. Liam Hendricks. Liam Hendricks diagnosed with cancer in December on his way back to the bigs as soon as this month.

And at number one, controversial to say the least. I gave you Brittney Griner utilizing her platform with the WNBA season, getting ready to start in a few weeks. Brittney Griner just making it very, very clear that she will continue to be an advocate for those who are wrongfully imprisoned. Let's get some more your calls before we roll out. Let's go ahead and talk to D.J. from Green Bay. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, how are you doing?

Excellent, D.J., what's up? I wanted to ask you, what are your thoughts on the Denver Nuggets? You think they can win the big one this year? Yeah, we just spoke about the Denver Nuggets prior to the break, and I said that the league is, it's wide open. I don't think there's any one team that's that's over anyone else. They have the benefit of playing a Suns team right now that is going to play with a hobbled, if at all, Chris Paul with a groin injury.

And they don't have a bench. And so Nikola Jokic has started to put up the shots. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Lakers won it or the Nuggets. The only teams right now that I'd feel less than about, I'd go with the Miami Heat, the New York Knicks and the 76ers. I'm not not all that high. So I think Boston is going to be representing out of the east and out of the west.

I don't know. I think I think between the Lakers, the Nuggets and also the Warriors, I think it could be any combination of them. Yeah.

No, the Heat broke my heart. I'm a Bucs fan, but I feel like the Nuggets can actually get to the big one this year and I feel like they can compete for it. Well, let's see what they do, DJ. I appreciate you for calling from Green Bay. Hey, thank you very much.

No doubt about it. Andrew is calling from Winston-Salem. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Go ahead, Andrew. Hey, thank you for letting me on, JR. Really appreciate it, my man. Sure. Sure. Want to give a shout out to Shep.

When I called initially, I had just gotten off of work, so I didn't understand the context of your top six. Want to give out three positive things, which he asked for me. I got to say Serena being pregnant, bringing a beautiful baby into the world.

Congratulations. We hope that comes to. Also wanted to say the Boston Celtics finally finding some fortitude. And Denver Nuggets, which your previous caller called about. I'd love to see the Nuggets and the Celtics from the finals.

That would be cool. You know, I think it'd be due for you. Not that it's due.

You go out there and earn it. But when you're Jokic and you're getting smacked around and and Kendrick Perkins made what I found to be some ridiculous statements a few months ago about. Oh, well, why is he getting the attention?

Is it because he's white? I found that to be nuts. And so I think it'd be pretty cool if Jokic walked away with a championship. There's so many dudes that are easy to root for.

Thank you, Andrew, for calling from Winston-Salem. Like this so much. And it all can't happen, right? I want to see Jokic win a championship. I want to see LeBron win another one. I want to see Steph Curry get a title as well, because he's just so fun to watch. I want to see him just drop 50. I want to see Tatum and Brown kind of finally get over the hump.

So I'm I'm I'm going to be happy with whatever happens and I'm going to be disappointed. Like even right now, this series that we have between the the Lakers and the Warriors, somebody's going home. Like everybody can't walk away with a W. So it's shut.

Do you get what I'm saying? Like, I want to see so much happen and only one team is going to walk away as a champ. There's a lot of very interesting, intriguing, captivating storylines. There's so much at stake when you talk about that fifth NBA championship, that hollow number five that LeBron and Steph are both in pursuit of. And then you have the Nuggets that have never been to a finals when they've been in Denver and so they haven't gotten one yet. So there's so many stories we can root for.

J.R., unfortunately, if Jason Tatum is your alpha, that is never going to be a recipe for success. You and I both know that. No, I don't agree with that. What? I don't agree with that.

This guy. I mean, did he not? You know what?

The bed in, you know, three straight games versus the Warriors and then what he did against game one against Harden without children beat and rip protector? Yes, he did. But let me let me ask you a question, sir. You, you, David Sheppard, you got a crystal ball here. Well, J.R., I have two eyes. I have a brain. I have common sense.

I have, you know, pretty pragmatic and objective and concrete observation skills. And I can tell you, Jason Tatum is not that guy. No, I can tell you, having watched him in person with my own two eyes.

Yes, sir. He's 25 years old. Been in the league for six years. Yes, that doesn't matter. It happens that everybody moves at a different pace.

Joel Embiid a few years ago. Is he moving backwards? I'm sorry? Is he moving backwards? Who's moving backwards? OK, that was a joke.

I thought I thought you might laugh about that. No. Do you get what I'm saying?

No, I do. But what I'm saying to you is there ain't no blueprint for everybody. There's a lot of dudes who aren't shot out of a cannon. He's one of the most talented guys in the league. That's not to say that at some point in time he's not able to put things together. I mean, it's not to say that even coming off of a crap game tonight where you only had seven points, they doesn't bounce back and just drop 40 the next game. And so I'm not going to bury a dude who helped the team go to the NBA Finals, but then got there and didn't have the greatest of series.

This is very, very simple. He's one of the most talented guys in the league. There are plenty of dudes who throughout the course of history have had to get the crap beat out of them before they find ultimate success. And so with someone with his amount of talent, which is kind of slim, far and few in between, I'm not going to close the door on him when they just went to the Finals last year. Did he have the best Finals? No. No, he did not. Is he one of the most talented people on earth with a basketball in his hands?

The answer is yes. And so I'm not going to say he'll never win anything. He's 25 years old. All things considered, we may be watching him in his peak in his prime here for another, I don't know, eight years?

Seven, nine? You got to give him a break. He's 25.

No? Listen, he is one of the most talented players we have on planet earth. What he can do from outside, what he could do taking guys off the dribble, there's no denying that. But he is the ultimate quintessential front runner. He's great when his team's ahead by 10, 20 points and Jalen Brown is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. But when the game gets tight, he freezes. He's Walt Disney.

He's Casper. I would disagree with that because I have seen him annihilate teams. In the big games?

When the stakes are highest? Because I remember him shrinking in Game 7 against LeBron in 2018 in the Eastern Conference Finals. I remember what he did obviously last year for three straight games in the 2022 NBA Finals. He was a baby and throughout a good portion of that, he was destroying LeBron and he just came out of the womb. My point is, he is only 25.

He's 25. He's been in the league, yes, a long time. But he's accomplished a whole lot more than a lot of guys have done in that period of time. And I just think to say that he will never do this or never do that, I think that's difficult to say.

It really is. If you would have told me Joel Embiid, you know, his first couple of years where he was kind of lighting the ass and he was telling jokes that he'd be the MVP. Is it possible based on his talent?

Yeah. He has to get there. And so, look, not everybody is going to win at all.

He actually helped take a team to the Finals. And so I'm not going to say, oh, Tatum will never be the lead here. I just think that's not fair. Is it guaranteed to happen? No, nothing is. But I'm not going to shut the door on him like he's just been around forever and never win anything.

I don't think that's fair. It's the Gerald Sport Reshow here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Thank you so much to super producer and host Dave Shepherd and you for listening all over North America. I am back.

I will be back with you tomorrow at 10 p.m. Eastern, Southern Pacific. But don't move here. Amy Lawrence. She's coming up next.

Gerald Sport Reshow is done. And relax while we do the work for you. No matter how many window treatments you order, installation is always one low cost. Need help choosing? Talk to a Blinds.com design expert for free to help you make the best selection from classic shutters to outdoor roller shades and more. With over 25 million windows covered, you can rest easy with Blinds.com's 100% satisfaction guarantee. See why Blinds.com is the number one online retailer of custom window coverings with over 40,000 five star reviews. Shop Blinds.com and save 45% off selected products.

45% off selected products at Blinds.com. Rules and restrictions may apply. Your points are worth more than you think. This first class flight to Tokyo, you can book it in your credit card portal for 1.4 million points. Yowzers. With PointMe, you could redeem just 120,000 points for that same flight.

Now that's more like it. PointMe gets you six to 12 times the value for your points. Your credit card points are worth more than you think. PointMe. Better flights, fewer points. Get started today at point.me. That's point.me. Get some damn sleep.

Go get Asserta, people. America's most recognized brand of mattress. American made, Michigan made, and always the highest quality. Check out the entire lineup of mattresses at over 150 retailers in the metro area. Close out the iComfort series in the closeout event. Go to Asserta.com to find a retailer near you. Buy today, get delivery within a week. No waiting around or sold out nonsense. Get some rest. Get Asserta.