JR SportBrief Hour 2

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It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody tuned in at work, at home, on the roadways, in the back rooms, in the patrol cars, in the firehouses, in the restaurants, in the bars. Shout out to everybody in the studios, too. We got people working in studios all across the country, making sure that you get this program and wherever the hell you live. All right, so thank you to everybody tuned in on your local CBS Sports Radio affiliate, all the engineers and producers holding it down in the studio.

Much love to everybody listening on the free Audacy app, AUDACY, Sirius XM Channel 158, and then people tuned in on the smart speaker. It's NBA opening week. It's the first Wednesday night of basketball with the NBA season. San Antonio Spurs are leading the Dallas Mavericks right now, 68 to 64. Tonight is the debut of Victor Wenbanyama.

I'm going to tell you about his stat line momentarily. If you want to listen to this show, I get started every weeknight at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 Pacific. Super producer and host Dave Shepherd, he's holding it down in New York, me once again.

I'm here in Atlanta, Georgia, and we've already had a good time with the first hour of the show. Unfortunately, I have to share with you the news that Dusty Baker is going to make it official. On Thursday, Dusty Baker is having a press conference. He is shutting down, closing up shop as a manager.

He's done. I mean, we got the word and the rumors that he is going to be stepping away. And now a few days after the Houston Astros were eliminated by the Texas Rangers, Dusty Baker is set to make it official at a press conference tomorrow. 26 years as a manager, 19 seasons as a player. He is only the seventh man to win a ring as a player and a manager.

That championship last year with the Astros, and he also picked up his first ring as a player in 1981 with the Dodgers. And so 74 years old, he's decided to step away and we'll have that press conference tomorrow. I'm sure we'll have some great audio to share with you tomorrow evening. We talked about Brock Purdy. We saw the game Monday Night Football. Brock Purdy throwing two fourth quarter interceptions in the 49ers loss to the Minnesota Vikings 22 to 17. And Kyle Shanahan let everybody know that on the flight home back to the Bay, that Brock Purdy showed signs of having a concussion.

And so he's in concussion protocol. There's no guarantee that Brock Purdy is going to play this upcoming Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals who are trying to turn their season around and go four and three. And these 49ers, let's also keep in mind, they are on a two game losing streak. They lost to the Browns.

They lost to the Minnesota Vikings. And now we might have to see Sam Darnold out on the field if Brock Purdy isn't prepared to go. And then we also talked about James Harden.

Why? Because I guess he decided to leave the strip club last night, showed up in Philadelphia thinking that he was going to get on a plane to Milwaukee. And the 76ers said, nah, don't get on the plane. Stay here. Get ready for the season. It's just the James Harden saga continues on. And who knows when they move on from him.

It's been reported more recently, and it could be a lot of smoke and mirrors, that the Clippers are no longer chasing after James Harden right now, this minute and this second. And so we'll see what happens there as we move on. If you want to talk to me throughout the course of the show, it's simple.

855-212-4CBS is the number. And I'm on the internet. That's how I got started in this damn business. I'm everywhere at JR Sport Brief. You got Twitter or X, I'm there. You got Instagram, I'm there. You got Facebook, I am there.

Right now, I'm here with you. And in an hour from now, because the NBA season is off and rolling, I'm going to give you a top six list. We're going to take a look at the best teams.

The teams that have the best chance to win a championship this upcoming year. That top six list is coming an hour from now. But I got to talk about this. This is not a this, it's a person. It's a man. It's a 7'4", 7'5", I don't know how tall he is, he might get bigger, dude from France.

It's Victor Wimbunyama. Tonight, making his NBA debut for the San Antonio Spurs, you could make the point that there hasn't been a player that's had this much interest in his debut since LeBron James. Since LeBron James. I remember LeBron, bigger entrance into the league than Victor Wimbunyama.

I mean, commercials. This man was expected to be God, and I mean, damn it, all things considered. He has probably lived up to the expectations, if not exceeded them. Like it's amazing what LeBron James has been able to do, and right now he's into his 21st season. And so Victor Wimbunyama, at halftime of this game, currently has six points, he has a blocked shot, has grabbed three rebounds, and has an assist.

And it's steel. Great for him. Devin Visell, who just got a big ol' contract from the San Antonio Spurs, has 15 points. And let's be real, ain't nobody was watching the San Antonio Spurs the past couple of seasons.

The Spurs have won 22 games, there's a reason that they have Victor Wimbunyama. And Victor Wimbunyama, his first big play in the NBA was to block the shot of Kyrie Irving. And so on the Dallas Mavericks side, Luka Doncic, nice that he's actually out there playing and not out of the game. He has 16 points, seven rebounds, and six, excuse me, 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and Kyrie Irving has all of eight points in the first half.

We know Kyrie Irving just can get hot anytime he feels like it, when he feels like it, so no concern there. At halftime, 68-64, the Spurs lead the Mavs in Victor Wimbunyama's debut. And I'm not surprised. Right before we went to break, we had a caller who already wanted to go, I don't think Victor Wimbunyama is all that good. I think Victor Wimbunyama needs to do more.

And I'm like, come on, man. Like, we are already on the Victor Wimbunyama is not all that good. Can we give the dude a break? Can we give the 19-year-old a break? Victor Wimbunyama won't be 20 until January, all right? Let's think about it that way.

And I know he's competed against professionals over in France. But this dude is like a baby deer. And some of the flashes of what he's been able to do already through the preseason makes you go, man, when he's able to put it all together, he has a great chance to be a problem.

OK? Giannis Etteracumpo comes over into the NBA, and in a different way, looks the same. Long, gangly, dangly, he looked like a baby deer, and he's flying all over the place. It took him time to refine his game. And Victor Wimbunyama, both offensively and defensively, looks more refined than when Giannis showed up, and nobody knew what the hell you could expect from him. And so it's amazing to see what Victor Wimbunyama has already done through the preseason. And speaking of Giannis Etteracumpo, who better than to give a description on Victor Wimbunyama? This is what Giannis had to say about Wimbunyama last year.

Listen to this. He's incredible, man. Like, I believe in 2045, everybody is going to look like Victor. The way he can shoot the ball, the way he can move, he's extremely fast for his size, can block shot, can be a threat on the offensive end, he's unbelievable. The key is to just keep getting better, keep staying humble, and stay healthy. You know, a body like that, with a skill set like that, as long as he stays healthy, he's going to keep improving, keep enjoying the game as much as he can. And I think he's going to be, you know, he has the chance to be one of the best, one of the best to ever play this game.

Like, we have never seen something like that before. Somebody that's 7'2", be able to shoot over you to dribble like he's a guard, to block shot, to run down the floor fast. We got to get ready for this kid, you know. He's going to be really good. Oh man, I want to see if he lives up to the hype. Am I expecting him to have a 20-year career and be the NBA's all-time leading scorer?

No, I don't. I mean, you couldn't expect that from LeBron. You just want to see somebody who goes out there and competes for titles, competes for championships, plays at the height, is healthy enough to go out there and do it. And just through the regular, excuse me, just through the pre-season, it's been impressive to see how Victor Webb and Yama has been aggressive in a safe way, in a controlled way, going to the basket. It's been impressive to see Victor Webb and Yama go up against contact and finish through contact as players try to get into the center of his body. It's been impressive to see how fluid he is at the perimeter. Six of his points tonight, all six of his points, come from the three-point line. And so Victor Webb and Yama hasn't gone to the basket.

And I think it actually makes sense. If you're the San Antonio Spurs, you're not competing for a championship this year. This season is to develop Victor Webb and Yama. This season is to develop winning habits.

This season is to understand the grind of the NBA. And there's going to be nights where Victor Webb and Yama has 10 points. There's going to be nights, I'm sure, where he goes over 20, 25.

Maybe you have a 30 point. I have no idea how many games Victor Webb and Yama will play. I don't think people need to have overreactions because of what he does on a game-to-game basis. Victor Webb and Yama might be Rookie of the Year, or he might be in second place. He might play 65 games, he might play 60. Damn it, I'd be shocked if he went out there and played 70 or 75. The point is, let this man be introduced to the game. I said last week, it's impressive what Victor Webb and Yama is already doing for a guy that doesn't have experience.

I had a smart aleck reach out to me and go, He played professionally in Europe. His mom played basketball. His mom was a coach. You're saying he has no experience.

That's not true. Look, Victor Webb and Yama doesn't have NBA experience. Victor Webb and Yama has not played in the best league in the world with the best players in the world. Victor Webb and Yama has not gone through an 82 game grind of a season where the schedule is unmatched versus what the players have in Europe. In this regard, as a professional athlete in the NBA at the highest level, Victor Webb and Yama does not have experience. He has not seen a Steph Curry. He hasn't played against a Giannis Atetokounmpo.

He hasn't battled against someone who will try to exploit him, and this will be a fun matchup, a Nikolay Jokic. And so how he grows as a basketball player, given his skill set, given his size, his athleticism, it's going to be fun to watch. Is he going to burst onto the scene like LeBron did and say, hey, here's 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists as a rookie? I don't think so, but I think Victor Webb and Yama, if he plays, is going to have a solid season. I think he's going to go up, I think he's going to go down, and either way, I don't think people should have massive overreactions on what he does game to game, whether it's positive or whether it's negative. I mean, tonight he got six points, and I got somebody already calling me saying, oh, I think Victor Webb and Yama should score more.

Maybe he's not as good as we thought he is. He's 19 years old. 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS to be 19 and 7'4", 7'5", is wild. Greg is calling from Michigan. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Go ahead, Greg. Hey, chair, Mr. Positive. First of all, shout out prayers for Lewiston, Maine. And you're spot on about Harbaugh in Michigan.

Wow, is it getting bad here. Hey, just an observation with Wambein Yama. I'm watching him, and you're right, he has that touch, he has that ability. But right now at 19, and don't get upset at me, please, it looks like he really can't control his body in the sense that the game is moving so fast that he's so big that he leans, and he can't stop him from leaning or, you know, jerking and jiving and whatever you want to call it. And I see it, I'm watching it, I mean, he's great, he's got those long arms and he can do it. But I think, like you said, I think he's going to fill out and he's going to be able to control his body better. And yeah, but I've been really watching him and I'm just, hopefully he doesn't hurt himself because he's so big. And he's just got to be able to control the body with the speed of the game with the NBA and how it can, you know, go from side to side, up and down.

Yeah, I'm not, thank you Greg for calling for Michigan. I'm not so much concerned. And yeah, this is all an adjustment. He has to get used to the physicality of the league, the speed, and it goes without saying. I don't think he's going to have an issue keeping up. His versatility and fluidity as an athlete with his size is already nuts. One of the reasons that he's in the NBA is because of his body control and his athleticism and what he's able to do with a basketball. The only comp that we have at, maybe close to his size in the NBA right now is Kristaps Porzingis. And let me tell you something, and good for Kristaps Porzingis, he helped the Boston Celtics beat the New York Knicks tonight.

And in the process, I think Kristaps Porzingis, he went out there and finished with 30 points in his Celtics debut, the Celtics over the Knicks 108 to 104, Porzingis with 30, Tatum with 34. Porzingis is the only comp. When Porzingis came out, Kevin Durant said, Porzingis is a unicorn. He's big, he's long, he's athletic, he's seven foot three, he can go out there and shoot. Well, have you seen Wim Benyama? He makes Kristaps Porzingis look like he is moving in quicksand. Victor Wim Benyama gets the ball and moves like he is, this is an exaggeration, he's moving and dribbling the ball like he's, you know, Chris Paul or Iverson, he's moving like a guard at seven foot four. Porzingis moves like a small forward power forward for a guy who's seven foot three.

Wim Benyama moves. And so filling out, I don't know if he's going to fill out much more than he already does. Is he going to add strength? I would assume so as he gets older. I don't know how much bigger he's going to be. And if it's necessary, he's a freak. He's unique.

There is no template for Victor Wim Benyama. The cool thing about his story is we're just going to have to wait and see. That's what it boils down to. It's the JR Sport Reshow here on CBS Sports Radio. I'm going to get some more of your calls. But you know what? Coming up, speaking of a surprise, something to look forward to. We had a lot of conversations about the Arizona Diamondbacks and what they're getting ready to do on Friday, Game 1 of the World Series. We're going to take a break and we're going to chat it up with someone who's been holding it down for a long time in Phoenix, Arizona. Sports Talk Radio Show host calling us up from 98.7 FM in Phoenix.

John Gamadoro is going to join us. It's the JR Sport Reshow, CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

It is the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. We've talked about it a lot this week. We got a little bit of a shock, a little bit of a surprise. The Arizona Diamondbacks are going to the World Series. We got a little bit of a shock, a little bit of a surprise. The Arizona Diamondbacks are going to the World Series to take on the Texas Rangers. Someone maybe not surprised. Someone who's seen the entire season kind of play out and take them to a World Series is someone joining us from 98.7 FM out in Phoenix, holding it down for them.

It's John Gamadoro. How are you, my man? JR, how you doing, my friend?

I got no complaints. I guess the first question is for everybody who's finding out about these Arizona Diamondbacks, are you surprised? And what has kind of taken them over the edge here?

Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, no, I'm not totally surprised. On my predictions, I thought they'd beat Milwaukee and I thought they'd crush the Dodgers because the Dodgers, yeah, they didn't have Walker Bueller. They didn't have their top pitchers, right?

They didn't have Gonsolin. They didn't have Dustin May, Clayton Kershaw as the shell of himself. So I thought that they would beat the Dodgers. I didn't think they'd beat the Phillies. I didn't see them beating the Phillies. But you got to remember, JR, what a lot of people say, oh, this team won 84 baseball games.

This is the worst team. This is a different team. And they started with Madison Bumgarner. They got rid of him after four starts. They had Zach Davies. They cut him. They got rid of Nick Ahmed. They got rid of Carson Kelly, Josh Rojas, Andrew Chapin. Like, they reworked this team on the fly as the season was going along. And they ended up with a pretty good baseball team. So I don't think we should be shocked that the Diamondbacks are in the World Series. This is not the team that started the season. It's a much different team than the team that just won 84 games. Sean Gambador is joining us here, the JR Sportbreeze Show CBS Sports Radio.

He holds it down on 98.7 FM out in Phoenix, Arizona. You talk about some of the players that they were able to bring in and have been impact players. I mean, I didn't even see Paul Siewald coming on to contribute in such a way. What has he meant to this team as they've decided to kind of throw him out there and say, hey, man, finish up these games for us? You know, the Diamondbacks were going through this, JR, they were going through this terrible stretch where they went 16-34. From June 13th to August 11th, they went 16-34.

That's a 3-20 winning percentage. They had like a 10-11 game losing streak. They were not playing good. Mike Hazen, and I talked to Mike Hazen at the time, you know, they were going to make some trades, try to make the team better, but they weren't going all in. They didn't look at this team and say, huh, I'm going to trade my top prospects to go get Jordan Montgomery.

I'm going to trade my top prospects. They didn't go after Berlin or Max Scherzer. They liked their team.

They're definitely a year ahead of schedule. But the most important thing they did was what you just mentioned. They got Paul Siewald. They had the worst time ever. They couldn't find a closer to save their lives.

It's been this way forever. As long as I've been here in Arizona, they've had a really hard time finding somebody to close out baseball games for them. Ziegler was good. Brad Ziegler was good. But they really struggled there. Once they got Siewald and Ryan Thompson, Camper Bay let go for nothing, nobody picked him up, the Diamondbacks got him, they reworked their bullpen. It was amazing. The biggest weakness they had, they had a terrible bullpen.

It was atrocious. And now it's like the strength of this baseball team is how good their bullpen is. It's incredible. But it's all new guys. Thompson's new. Siewald's new. Gingkel's not.

He's been great all year. But bringing in Paul Siewald, a great trade by Mike Hazen, enabled them to bump everybody down. Gingkel in the 8th. Thompson in the 7th.

And it just kind of reestablished order for them. Well, listen, man, I want to ask you about this dude. He's 23 years old. He's going to be Rookie of the Year.

It's Corbin Carroll. When you think about a young organization like the Arizona Diamondbacks and you think about a dude who's 23 years old, does he have a chance? And God knows how long he's going to play. Is there an opportunity for him when it's done in, I don't know, 10, 15 years to be the best player that this organization has had in its young history?

Yeah, I think so. I think the best homegrown player they've ever had is Paul Goldschmidt, who they traded away. Terrible trade for them.

Luke Weaver and Carson Kelly from St. Louis. They couldn't afford to pay him. But what they did is they took this rookie and they gave him an eight year contract. He's locked up until I think even 2032 is the first time he could be a free agent because there's an option year in there for 2031. He signed that contract.

He locked himself up. He's making over $100 million as a 23 year old kid. He's got a chance to be one of the truly great baseball players.

The speed, the power, the willingness to do whatever it takes. He is a special, special baseball player. He's going to be the rookie of the year.

He's going to run away with it. Look what he did yesterday, JR. I mean, he was the reason they won that game yesterday. He was the reason with the three hits, the stolen base, the big sac fly, the RBI single. His fingerprints were all over that victory. He's a great player. And that's what Mike Hazen had to do when he got here. He had to redo the entire minor league system.

And he did it. Alec Thomas, Corbin Carroll, Brandon Fodt, and the trade that he made for Gabby Moreno. This team is young. They're exciting. And they're going to be, they're going to be relevant for a number of years because of how many good young players they have. John Gambadore joining us here, the JR sport re-show, CBS Sports Radio.

John holds it down on 98.7 FM out in Phoenix. You named a lot of players. We saw what Fodt was able to do out there on the mound. And Corbin Carroll having an amazing postseason here, no fear. There are a lot of these players who have been anonymous. I remember being in Phoenix for the Super Bowl earlier this year and walking around Chase Field.

And you look up at some of the photos and the names and you just go, man, they got a ways to go to build and get to relevancy. And months later, here we are, they're going to the World Series. Is there another player that America, that people listening to us right now, that they need to pay attention to in this World Series and into the future for the Diamondbacks besides Carroll? You know, their top prospect is on the roster, Jordan Lawler, but he doesn't play because Perdomo, Geraldo Perdomo has been so good at shortstop. It allowed them to get rid of Nick Ahmed. Nick Ahmed was part of the Justin Upton train. He was the last piece standing from when they traded Justin Upton to Atlanta.

And Nick Ahmed had been the longest tenured Arizona Diamondback. And I'll tell you, it was kind of sad because they cut him. I mean, they just let him go. They let him go. He wasn't doing a good job. He wasn't hitting left-handed pitching.

They let him go. Perdomo has done a great job. But Gabby Moreno is very much going to be, in my opinion, the next Nadia Molina, the next Pudge Rodriguez, the next truly great catcher in this game. He is great defensively.

He's tough as nails. He's got a good offensive game. I think Alec Thomas may be the best defensive centerfielder in baseball.

And I'm not kidding. I really don't think I've ever seen anybody. And the Diamondbacks have had Devon White. They've had Steve Finley. They've had Chris Young. They've had really good centerfielders. Thomas may be the best. It's hard to sit there and say, one guy. Brandon Faught, he pitched 12 games in Reno this year, and he's pitched four games in the postseason. They've won every one of them, and he's been terrific. So, JR, to be honest with you, man, it's four or five guys. It's hard to name just one. There's four or five guys that America's going to find out about if they haven't already because these guys are so good.

Well, John, let me ask you two more questions here. Who the hell do you got winning the World Series? Are you going to take the hometown Diamondbacks to beat the Rangers, or do you still think they got some more climbing to do?

No, I didn't think they, and I was honest with you, right? I picked them to beat Milwaukee. I picked them to beat the Dodgers. Wasn't surprised that they beat the Dodgers the way they did, sweeping them. I thought Philly would get them, and they were up 2-0. I thought Philly would beat them. I do think they're better than the Rangers because I don't think that the combination of Avaldi and Montgomery are as good as Wheeler and Nola. And who knows what you're going to get from Max Scherzer, the former Diamondback, by the way.

Who knows what you're going to get from him? The Diamondbacks have Gallin, Kelly. They've got Fod. They'll pitch a bullpen game in Game 4. Their bullpen has been lights out, and they just play baseball the old-fashioned way.

Move a runner over, get a sac fly, bunt a guy over, steal a base. They didn't hit a home run yesterday. They won the baseball game. They can win games in a lot of different ways that other teams can't. They're terrific defensively, sensational defensively, to be honest with you.

I've got a lot of guys that are Gold Glove candidates and Caliber players, so there's a lot to like about this baseball team. They just play, and they're very, very well managed by Torrey Lovello. They execute. They execute. So I'm going to take Arizona over the Texas Rangers. Not a hometown decision.

I think that they will find a way to win because that's what they've been doing lately. Yeah, it's been fun. We talked about this last night on the air, how the Phillies, it was pretty amazing how they were just smacking home runs all over the place and that they were having success with it. And that's all good and well, until you don't. And we see where the Phillies are. Last question for you, John, as we get ready to move on. There's a lot of conversations, a lot of commentary about this is going to be the lowest rated World Series ever and who wants to see the Diamondbacks and who wants to see the Rangers.

What do you say to that? What do you tell America about what is likely going to take place over this next week? Man, if people are going to miss out on watching this World Series, they're insane. I mean, do you realize how great these baseball games have been? Katell Marte with a walk-off hit in game three. Alec Thomas with a pinch hit tying a home run in game four. Gabby Moreno with the base hit as they had this unbelievable comeback in game four to beat the Phillies. A bullpen game and they win. And what they did, the heroics of game seven. You're missing a good baseball team if you decide you're not going to watch this.

I don't buy any of it. I mean, I really don't. I mean, I understand that certain portions, you know, if you're not a diehard baseball fan in New York and L.A. or Boston or some of these teams aren't in it, you may not be tuned in. But this is a drawback team, JR. This is a team that will bring people back and make them love baseball, you know, the way they did when, you know, Ricky Henderson was stealing bases and just the way that they play the game. They play it the right way and they're exciting and they're young and they're fun.

And man, if you decide not to watch this World Series, you might miss some incredible baseball. Hey, John, I appreciate you taking the time to hop on. Where can people follow and keep up with you?

All of your work out in Arizona? Yeah, Arizona sports dot com is our Web site on Twitter or X, whatever they call it now. I'm Gambo 987. So that's pretty much the main thing is that that's probably my main source of, you know, interacting with people besides my radio show is Gambo 987 on the the old Twitter. Hey, John, I appreciate you hopping through. Let's talk to you again.

Win or lose. Good deal. You got it, JR. Take care, my man. Thank you so much, John Gambadore, for joining us here on CBS Sports Radio host on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM out in Phoenix, Arizona.

They've always been nice to me out there when I've been in the area. Thank you, John, for coming through. And I'm going to be tuned into the World Series and I really do appreciate what he said.

And we did talk about this last night. The Phillies have been all or nothing. And unfortunately, at the end of the series, they were nothing. They stopped hitting those bombs. They they stopped hitting shore bombs and Bryce Harper bombs and Castellanos.

His bat went cold and now they're sitting at home. And if we have seen anything from these Diamondbacks is they can win in a variety of ways. And so if you're somebody like me who kind of misses, quote unquote, the old school way of playing baseball, getting a hit, getting a single, getting a stolen base, moving a runner over.

And if you miss that, that's what the Diamondbacks have been doing. And so thank you, John Gambadore, for coming through and joining us. You're locked into the J.R. sport brief show here on CBS Sports Radio eight five five two one two four. CBS is the number. If you're waiting patiently on the line, I'm going to get to you on the other side of the break. At the top of the hour, I'm going to deliver to you a new top six list.

We're going to look at the best NBA teams here for the upcoming season that is already underway. You're listening to the J.R. sport brief on CBS Sports Radio. First of all, this show should be on prime time radio so more people can, you know, catch a whiff of this dialogue.

And I appreciate that. Call in now at eight five five two one two four CBS. It's the J.R. sport show here with you on CBS Sports Radio eight five five two one two four CBS. That's eight five five two one two four CBS. Shout outs to everybody who tunes in and locks in all over North America every single week night.

Thank you so much as well. John Gambadore for joining us in the last break. Ninety eight point seven FM in Phoenix coming on and joining to talk to us about these starting to no longer be anonymous.

Arizona Diamondbacks. I guess we could say that we're learning more and more about a lot of these players. And it's it to me. And I just told this to John.

It's hilarious to me. Just walking around downtown. I don't know how long I was there. I felt like I was in Phoenix for an entire week leading up to the Super Bowl this year. And, you know, I've walked by Chase Field. I've been to Chase Field.

I've done interviews there years and years ago. So it was nice to be back downtown and just to see just the the history promoted Randy Johnson way. And you see the faces and the images of the players on the sidewalk on like the light post and just like I don't know who that guy is. Like just looking at their faces.

I don't know who that guy is. And I'm like, oh, man, it'd be nice when the Diamondbacks are good again. It only took a couple of months. It took one season for them to go ahead and and get back to a World Series.

Something that they haven't done since 2001 when they went out there and beat the New York Yankees. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. Let's get to some of your calls before the top of the hour. I'm going to give you a new top six list. We're going to look at the top six NBA teams for this upcoming season.

And I'll elaborate. And then I also, in a moment, want you to hear from Adam Silver. You heard the announcement from Marco Belletti about how the NBA All-Star format is going to change in Indianapolis.

I want you to hear from Adam Silver himself. Let's go ahead and talk to Johnny from Atlanta. You're on CBS Sports Radio.

Go ahead, Johnny. What's going on? I'm good.

What's up? The expectation for Tyler? I mean, Victor is so high because for the last two years, every time you go to social media, you see Victor doing all these amazing things, shooting threes, talking on people. So I was excited to see him this year. I ain't going to lie, I picked him at DraftKings.

I'm very disappointed. But like you said, he's 19 years old. And then the same thing with Ted Hogan. I'm excited to see him because the past few years you saw him on LeBron James, he took on that whole team and beat him with Brandon Boston and Mario Bailey.

But guess what? I don't even think they made a roster this year. But that's the reason why the expectation for Tyler and Ted is so high because they're seven footers who can shoot the three and beat you at the post. Yeah, well, I think well, if you look at Oklahoma City, it's going to be a great fit for Chet because he's not going to be expected to do a whole lot, you know, right out of the gate. The Oklahoma City Thunder are an emerging team. It looks like that they're going to be in the postseason for years to come. And Shay Gilgas Alexander, he's going to start to get even more attention as they move forward. They're going to start to get that experience.

And so, yeah, this is a cool thing to see how they develop. You know, right now, Victor Wenbanyama, only six points in the game. He's been plagued by foul trouble. He has five fouls, so he hasn't got a lot of playing time.

Only 16 minutes in San Antonio, currently leads Dallas 101 to 100. And so no big deal, I think, tonight for Victor Wenbanyama. He may come back the next game and light it up. Or he may, you know, have another stinker.

And if he does, it's not the end of the world. Not a shock and not a surprise. And I mentioned to you the NBA All-Star format, something that hopefully sooner than later we see Victor Wenbanyama participating in a lot of them into the future. And so we got an announcement. And thank you, Adam Silver, I guess, for trying to inject new life into what has been a crap fest for years now with the All-Star game. They're going back to a traditional format.

East versus West. And I don't know if the players, if this is going to make too much of a difference for them. But this is what Adam Silver had to say earlier today about the change.

Listen. One very important announcement I did want to make today, and it's fitting with the theme for this entire season. And essentially it's back to basketball around the league. We thought it was time, since we're coming back to such a traditional market as Indianapolis is, as Indiana, and all it means for basketball, that we were going to return to the classic format for our All-Star game. So this year we'll be featuring, as we had historically, it'll be East versus West with the return to the four quarters, you know, same format that we're all used to for a basketball game.

OK. So, Shep, we having a normal quote-unquote All-Star game? Back to the time where it's 160-158 and they don't play defense. So there is, so I assume that means we're not getting any of these, the rules at the end of the game, where you got to hit a certain mark or a certain point, like a regular game? Right.

Or obviously, you know, the captains where it was LeBron James and either Steph Curry or Giannis, depending on the year. Yeah, we don't need that. I don't know if it's going to make that much of a difference. For me, I'd be happy to see like a regular-ass game. I just don't know if the players still have the pride of an East versus a West, you know, anymore.

I don't think that exists. The players make so much money. I think they look at it as an opportunity to market and sell themselves and their shoes and have parties and leave. And yeah, they're competitive and I think the only way we'll see them be competitive is if the game just so happens to be close at the end of the game or somebody wants to show somebody else up. So what drives that?

I don't know. Somebody like Giannis who says, screw this, I'm playing hard. I think that's the only driving factor. You're going to have to have one player or two or three who say, uh-uh, I'm just going to go out here and bust ass and everybody else is going to try to keep up.

So we'll see what happens with this playing tournament. We're going to have that coming up soon as well. It's a lot going on. Bill is here from Boise. Go ahead, Bill. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, JR. Thanks for taking my call. I wanted to share a Dusty Baker story with you. Can you hear me okay? Yeah, I hear you. Go ahead, please. Do it quickly.

Okay. Well, 1981, I went to Game 4 of the World Series between the Dodgers and the Yankees. That year, Dusty Baker was the home run champ, I believe, of both leagues. I know for sure the National League, but we got stuck in traffic trying to get into the stadium. By the time we got to the game, into our seats, it was still top of the first inning. Bases bloated, no outs. The Yankees were up 3 to nothing. And Lasorda was yanking Bob Welch, the starting pitcher, from the game.

And I paid almost $200 for seats, and we were in Dusty's porch, the mid-level there above Dusty Baker in left field. The Dodgers came back. Dusty Baker came up with the bases loaded and laid down a surprise drag bunt down the third base line. By the time the dust settled, he was standing on third base, three runs had scored. And when asked about it after the game, he said, nobody told him to do that. Lasorda didn't give him the signal.

He did it on his own. Final score on that game was 8 to 7. It was the most exciting game of the whole series. Reggie Jackson missed an easy soft fly ball to right field. And in the newspaper the next day, George Steinbrenner comes out and apologizes to the American people, saying that the American people expected a higher caliber of play from the New York Yankees.

Goldest baseball game I've ever seen, and I just had to share that with you knowing that Dusty's going to hang it all up. Thank you, Bill. You got it in just by the skin of your teeth, okay? Thank you for sharing, okay? Alrighty, thank you.

Alright, thank you, Bill. He got it in there. Now we got a hit break.

It's the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. On the other side, a top six list. The best NBA teams for this upcoming season.

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