12.5.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 3

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It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. Shout out to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America. I'm glad that you're here. I'm glad that you're listening. Hope that you're safe. I hope that you're well. And if you're not, damn it, I hope I can help just a little bit. I'm going to be hanging out with you for the next two hours. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia.

Super producer and host, Dave Shepherd. He's joining us live from New York City. As I sit here in Atlanta and stare at a screen, I am live looking in at Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Lakers are hosting the Phoenix Suns right now. The Lakers currently lead 83 to 82. It's a knockout game for the NBA end season tournament. This is a good game so far. It's going to go down to the wire.

We got three teams that are already set. Earlier tonight, the Milwaukee Bucks eliminated the Knicks 146 to 122. The Milwaukee Bucks are going to go out there or go out to Vegas.

They should be on a plane to Vegas right now. And they're going to take on the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. And the winner of this game between the Lakers and the Suns, they're going to take on the New Orleans Pelicans who beat the Sacramento Kings last night. And so we'll keep you up to date on this Lakers-Sons game as it continues on. Wouldn't it be a hell of a story if LeBron James is like the first winner of the NBA end season cup?

He's going to run around and say, I got something that Michael Jordan doesn't have. So we'll see what happens. This is turning out to be pretty cool as Bradley Beal is still on the bench with his back issue.

Anyway, we've already had a busy show. We gave you an update on Trevor Lawrence. Head coach Doug Peterson said that he has a high ankle sprain and that he has no status. It's been reported that Trevor Lawrence isn't necessarily out this Sunday against the Browns. We talked about Lawrence, some of the other injuries in the NFL, the quarterbacks, the other side of the break. Before we went to break, we heard from Aaron Rodgers, angry, upset, said that leaks, information leaks, like what we're getting from the New York Jets as it relates to Zach Wilson not wanting to play, that leaks like that don't come from winning organizations. But where the hell has Aaron Rodgers been? He's been a New York Jet long enough now to know that the organization is ass.

It's quite simple. We talked about the new NCAA president. His name is Charlie Baker.

He's the former governor of Massachusetts. He wants to create a new tier of division one sports where schools, the big ones, the Alabamas of the world, the UCLAs of the world, that they would pay the athletes $30,000 per year through a trust fund. That's on top of tuition and that the schools could also directly offer the athletes NIL deals. And so college sports continues to change. As we continue on here, as I told you, we'll give you an update on the Lakers and the Suns. I do want to talk about Arch Manning and Caleb Williams since the so much talk about QBs. We'll talk about Shohei Ohtani. He's in the news.

It looks like he might be coming to a decision sooner rather than later. And in a few minutes, actually momentarily, I want to share with you some comments made by Roger Goodell today in Las Vegas where he talked about the growth of the NFL. Pretty amazing.

Before we do that, let's talk about the growth or not the growth. Let's talk about the Milwaukee Bucks moving on in the end season tournament. They beat the Knicks tonight, 146 to 122. Giannis, 35 points. Damian Lillard, 28 points. Julius Randall had 41 points in a losing effort. But Damian Lillard trying to go out there and help his team win $50,000 or excuse me, half a million dollars apiece. He talked on TNT after the game. And Damian Lillard said, yeah, we won. Yeah, we're going to take on the Pacers, but we can be better than what we did. We find it a way right now. I think there's a lot of moments where we're picking roles together and two guys come to me. I hit him in the pocket.

They got to pull over and address him. And then it leads to a wide open three for bees or for Brooke or whoever that other guy is on the opposite side. So we're already starting to improve in those actions. But I think this is our 21st game. So it's just going to take time. You don't really know when it's going to click. It just, it just happens. And we just got to keep doing our part in the film room and in practice, just kind of having those conversations and addressing those things that we can improve on so we can be better as a complete team. But that takes time.

And I think, you know, when that day comes, everybody will be able to look at it and say, you know, they starting to put it together how we expect it. Okay. And that was Damian Lillard, not on TNT. They were interviewing him from the toilet. Adrian Griffin, head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. He spoke as well.

I wonder if he was in the same bathroom. He says, yeah, we want to go to Vegas. We want to win a half million dollars.

Listen to the new head coach. Tonight was, you know, huge step. You know, we wanted to get to Vegas, but you know, when we get to Vegas, we got to take care of business. We got two games to win there. You know, celebrate tonight. I thought we played an outstanding game.

Give credit to the next day. You know, they were tough, tough-minded group, well-coached group. But I thought, you know, tonight our team was the better team. And I thought our bench was terrific. I thought the crowd was terrific.

And, you know, I had all the, you know, makings of a playoff, you know, atmosphere of a playoff game. So. Okay.

Yeah. Well, God bless them. Let's see what happens. They're going to play these games on Thursday.

And the championship game is going to take place on December 9th. So we don't, we don't got to wait too much longer. We have some callers who've been waiting patiently on the phone lines throughout the break.

I want to talk to them. And then I want to share with you some comments made by Raj Goodell as he has made it very, very clear. He wants the NFL. Yes, he wants American football to grow into being an international game.

Now you tell me if you think that's possible. We're going to hear from Raja Goodell, but let's hear from you first. Let's go ahead.

We got Chris from Baltimore on the JR Sport Brief Show. What's up, Chris? Good evening. Good night, JR. How you doing? Season greeting to you on your posse. Yeah, I got a big old posse, man. Thank you. What's up? Um, and Rogers, right? Yeah.

I don't know how you keep getting away. Or they letting him get away with opening his mouth before anything. Because before he even took the field for the New York Jets, he was already hurt.

You know what I'm saying? Yeah, he had that calf strain earlier in the season, but yeah, I think he would have been okay. He's older. He had it, he had it before the season even started when he got hurt playing for Green Bay the year before. And what happened was he was playing in a couple of games, and he already got hurt about game number 13, 14.

And that year, he did not play to win any game. I don't know if I'm supposed to be saying this. You know what I'm trying to say? Say what you want to say. What do you mean you're not supposed to be saying? Were you going to get punished by saying something?

Speak your mind. Well, JR, the only game he tried to win that year for Green Bay because he was mad with them was he wanted to make sure he beat Dallas, his ex-head coach. And he did. That's the only game he was trying to win. And even when it came down to the end, they had a chance to make the playoffs if he won that one game. You know what I'm saying? It wasn't a winning record game, but if they had won, they would have made the playoffs.

He wasn't trying to get greased. Well, Chris, to make a long story short, you basically call in Aaron Rodgers a quitter. He's the quitter that everybody thinks Zach Wilson is.

Yes. And he came into the season hurt, JR, before he even started. I know, Chris. How you doing, Toledo? Forget him.

How you doing? Why is he talking about this guy like that? What? Why is he talking about his backup quarterback like that? He's his buddy. He said he loves him. You never loved somebody before? He loves himself, JR. Come on. Yeah, I know that.

Well, forget Aaron Rodgers. Seems like he did something to you. How was your day? You good? I'm hanging in there, JR. A little hurt, but I'm hanging in there. You're hurt?

What happened to you? You a quarterback? All kind of stuff, JR, but it's always a pleasure to listen to your showing. Whenever I don't hear your voice, it's not a good thing, JR. Oh, that's terrible. All right, Chris, thank you for calling from Baltimore, okay?

All right, yeah. I appreciate you letting me come on and talk and speak. And I hope you guys have a nice night.

You too, you too, you too. No doubt about it. Whenever you're not here, the station loses customers. Where's that guy?

Not the recording of it. Shep, where the hell is that guy? It's a shame, man. He'll call. He's called more than once? Yes, yeah. You know who he is? No, no, no, I don't. When you're not on, this station loses customers.

Man, play that at my funeral, please. 855-212-4CBS. Henry calling from Baltimore. What's up, Henry? Hey, JR.

I'm a man. What's up? How you doing?

I'm doing great, man. Man, you got to help me. Basically, last night, you got to help me, man. Last night, my grade decided to have this like football game.

You want to get all official and everything. They had me referee the game. I'm not sure why I agreed. Basically, I'm still alive. You're what?

I'm still alive, thank God. They had me referee the game. Who made you referee a game?

Who? So guys in my grade, man, they forced me to referee a pick-up football game they had. Hold on a second. Shep, I can be a little slow sometimes.

You help me out. He said guys in his grade? Is he like in like primary school or something? He doesn't sound like he's in a grade. He sounds like a grown-ass adult and he called to talk about the Ravens. So I guess he's throwing us a curveball. I'm guessing he's realizing how tough it was to referee.

Maybe he's not an expert in that particular sport, so therefore, he's lucky he feels like he got out of life. That's too much, Shep. Too much. Okay. Henry, you said grade as in like school?

Yeah. I know you sound like a big something adult, man, but I'm in 12th grade, man. I'm in 12th grade. Oh, okay.

So why didn't you... What was that? High school? Like you going to college, right? Yeah. Yeah. Hopefully next year.

I hope so. So, okay. So you were the referee for your high school game and what happened? You got hurt? No. Well, not yet. Well, basically, there's a big controversial play that we're still arguing about.

I bet five bucks on there with some guy in my grade. Basically, the quarterbacks threw a forward pass to a receiver behind the line of scrimmage. Then that receiver took the ball and threw it downfield.

I ruled that as an okay play and then bedlam ensued. You can't make two forward passes. You can't do that. You can only lateral the ball next to your behind. You can't do that.

This cost me five bucks and I have this. Oh my God. Ugh. I'm trying to figure out what that sounded like. My apologies if listening to that guy blew your speakers. That was terrible.

When you're not on, they lose customers. Oh, man. I'm glad that guy is off.

You can't be in 12th grade calling me on something that sounds like that. You're the best, man. You're the best. Man, you're the best. Come on, man. I make phone calls from my computer.

Okay. You can't call me from a Caterpillar phone. 855-212-4CBS.

It's 855-212-4CBS. Oh, it's Daniel from Chicago. This guy drives Uber. I know who this guy is.

You're CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Daniel? Hey, how are you? I'm excellent. What's up? Yeah, I'm trying to get it done when you're asking about the athletes getting paid, you know? But they blocked me. I can't get it.

I can't get it. I want to say I support the athletes getting paid. You know, it's good for them. I support anybody getting paid as long as they ain't hurt nobody. I'm with it.

That's right. But I don't know if they're going to get double. That's going to be double whammy. Getting out, getting paid, and getting scholarships.

That's too much, though. Is it too much to get paid and get a scholarship? Yeah, they're going to get a scholarship. They won't be doing nothing. They won't be doing nothing. I suppose they can get paid, but the scholarship, I don't know about that.

They need to do something about that. Listen, if I had only been so lucky to get paid to go to school. Well, I mean, they're not getting paid to go to school. They're being paid to be athletes, which generates money for the school.

If only I should be so lucky to be an athlete in school and get a scholarship. Man, that's like living a life, ain't it? That's right. That's right.

That's right. There's nothing wrong with it. I mean, there's a lot of people who live their life living high on the hog. Yeah, but that's what for young guys, they're going to be guest scholars. They don't know what to do with the money. Thirty thousand dollars?

Yeah, that's a lot of money for young guys. What they going to do with the money? They in school. They kind of working them. I mean, what they going to do? They going to go to the club? Like, what they going to do?

That's right. They're going to go to the club. You go to the club? No, I don't go to the club.

Why not? Well, because I got too busy. I work my job every day.

And when I don't go to, when I don't work, I sit down at home and watch Chicago Bears. Oh, that's terrible, man. Oh, well, it's good. We're going to be all right, though. We're going to be all right. Yeah, in a few years, Daniel.

Hey, good luck, man. You driving that Uber? Yes, yes. All right, what time you finishing up?

Maybe another one hour. All right, get all the money, okay? Oh, I'm trying. I'm trying.

All right, Daniel, thank you. I'll be expecting you in Chicago in summertime, okay? Who, me? Yeah, I'll come pick you up in the year.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll be back in Chicago. At least you know I'm coming in the summer.

I ain't coming in the winter. Hey, drop safe, okay? Okay, thank you. Have a nice evening. You too.

See, I'm glad he knows. I'll go to Chicago. I've been to Chicago in the winter. I ain't worried about no damn cold weather, but if I got a preference, no.

Was just in D.C. last week. I had to go, oh, yeah, that's right. It's winter. Well, I guess it's almost winter, and everything is dead already.

I couldn't find a leaf on a tree. I said, take me back down south. 855-212-4CBS.

It's 855-212-4CBS. Hey, Mark is here from Canada. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show representing Montreal. What's up? What's good, JR? What's good?

It's jet de coupe. To you as well. Yeah, for anyone who's not familiar, I just told Mark I'm gonna cut him. What's up, Mark? I'm doing all right. I want to get your take on the rumors of Otani coming to the Blue Jays, and do you think it's good for the league or bad for the league if he signs up here in Canada?

Damn. Tell me how you really feel about yourself. Do you think it's like a detriment to play in Canada? No, but I know some guys think that Canada is like a faraway country.

Like a faraway country where we all live in igloos and take polar bears as public transit, and people think that they might lose Otani if he comes to play up here in Canada. Are you calling Americans stupid? A lot of them are. What percentage of Americans? Give me a percentage. I'll say a good 63. 63% of Americans are stupid? Yeah, do you think that's accurate? 63? Yeah, I'm not gonna argue there. I'm not gonna argue. All right, and one more, JR.

Yes? What do you think will be a bigger signing? Shoei or LeBron when he's signed with the Heat? You think LeBron James is going back to Miami?

No, no, no, no, no. When he did sign with the Heat. Oh, oh, what's gonna be a bigger sign? You think this will be a bigger signing? As in the hype and the... The hype?

Come on, man. LeBron James had a whole special and people hated him after that, so I mean... Yeah, those were the guys in the crib. Shoei Otani's gonna sign his contract and people go, oh my god, and then Shoei don't even, he don't even sit down and speak English for more than five minutes, you know?

Yeah, but it's gonna be a hell of a lot more money. Oh, well, yeah, but does it really... LeBron James is one of the few athletes, well, how about this? He's one of the, well, not few, but yes, a few. LeBron James is one of the few human beings on earth who has more than a billion dollars in assets, okay?

Well, Shoei's gonna be more than halfway there in a couple of weeks. No, that's, yeah, that's, that's liquidity. But even after you pay taxes, et cetera, there's a difference there, Mark, but I think you get it.

Well... Thank you for calling from Canada. If he, if he does sign here, then I hope to see you at the Rogers Center someday. Oh, man, yeah, I haven't been up there in a few years, you can thank COVID. Hey, I'll see you later, Mark, okay? Take care, dear. All right, thank you, Mark. Mark said that 63% of Americans are stupid and couldn't have a conversation when we got liquidity, it's okay.

I'm not gonna say nothing about Canada, I love Canada. Look, Shoei Otani, we should find out over the next couple of days, I guess over the next week, where he's gonna go, what's gonna happen. I don't know if Shoei Otani is gonna get a half billion dollar contract. Is he gonna get $600 million? Is he going to Toronto?

Is, I heard the Chicago Cubs are out. It's, it's wild. And how about this? Like, we've heard that Shoei has wanted everything on the hush-hush. I guess he's trying to figure out what teams can be trustworthy. How about one of the teams, the manager sat in front of the media today, and he ran his gums about Shoei. And I wonder if this is gonna affect them. A matter of fact, we're gonna take a break. And when we come back on the other side, we're gonna hear from one of the teams that met with Shoei Otani.

It's the only team that publicly acknowledged it and actually gave some detail. I wonder if this is gonna hurt him in the long run. We're gonna hear from him on the other side of the break. I'm gonna get some more of your calls as well. 855-212-4CBS. My name is JR. It's the JR Sportbrief show on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. Hi, JR. Pleasure to speak to you.

You know, just recently discovered your show a few weeks ago and just got to tell you that you've got a very easy listening style. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sportbrief show on CBS Sports Radio. What it do on Paul Wall on the people's chant. What it do on Paul Wall on the people's chant. Hey, this is Paul Wall. Paul Wall, man.

Some things never change. There's a cool dude. Shout out to everybody down in Houston.

855-212-4CBS. Before we went to break, we spoke to a gentleman, not in Houston, Texas. He was calling from Montreal, Canada. I even told him in French that I would cut him. He had no response. He said he'd cut me back. That's about me.

The only things I can say in French is I will cut you. Don't ask me why I know that, but I do. Now, he asked me about Shohei Ohtani. We've heard so much about where Shohei is going to go. Cubs are out. Yankees ain't thinking about him right now. Mets ain't thinking about him.

And so, yeah, we're hearing. Angels? Blue Jays? Rangers?

I don't know. Rangers out too? A surprise team?

Did I say Angels? Like, why would he stay with that bum-ass team? And then, of course, the Dodgers.

And so, the winter meetings are underway. And so, manager of the Dodgers, Dave Roberts, he spoke to the media. And for whatever reason, Shohei Ohtani, Shohei Ohtani's wanted to keep things quiet, right?

Keep things on the hush. Dave Roberts had no problem letting people know that. Yeah, we spoke to him.

And then he just kept going and going and going and going. Listen to Dave Roberts today. I'd like to be honest. And so, we met with Shohei and we talked. And I think it went well.

I think it went well. But at the end of the day, he's his own man. And he's going to do what's best for himself, where he feels most comfortable. We met in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium a couple of days ago. I don't know if it was more of a pitch. I think he was more of just sort of getting familiar, more familiar with them. I think that he had questions for us, just trying to get more of the landscape. But being in this league for six years, he's got a pretty good idea of the Dodgers, what we're about, the city itself. And so for me, and speaking for our guys, it was just a pleasure to get to spend some time with them. What?

That's a whole lot. Everything that I've read for the past, I don't know, five, six, seven months has pretty much said Shohei Ohtani, he doesn't want anything about his free agent. His free agency discussed.

If you're talking to him, keep it quiet. And so the fact that Dave Roberts is, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he came by Dodger Stadium and we sat down for a few hours and he had questions and we talked about him and he knows how, and he just kept going. It made me go, whoa, why is he saying all of this? How about the Dodgers general manager? He spoke not too long after Dave Roberts. And he basically said, yeah, Dave made a comment. He made more than that. And then he was asked if Dave Roberts, by spilling the beans about the meeting, whether it hurt them in their pursuit of Shohei Ohtani.

And his comment and his retort was, I have no idea. Now, I mean, let's be real. If Shohei Ohtani is going to go to the Dodgers, I don't think Dave Roberts said anything about it. Saying that we sat down is gonna change things all that much because if he's going to stay in LA, why the hell would he stay with the Angels? I think he's gonna be a Dodger. If he goes to Canada, I'd be a little surprised, but what the hell do I know? I'm just a guy that watches baseball. Shohei Ohtani has spent his entire life here in America in LA. Why would he wake up and say, eh, I'm gonna go to Toronto? Eh, not so sure. Seems like he has the good life out in California. 855-212-4CBS.

It's 855-212-4CBS. Sometimes people just don't know when. They don't know when to shut the hell up.

They don't. Brandt, he's calling from North Carolina. You're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Brandt? Hey, how you doing, JR? Man, I love your show. I listen to you every night.

Thank you, man. What's going on? I was, me and a few of my friends are kicking this around today, and we were wondering, let's say Deion Sanders, instead of going to Colorado, he would have went to Florida State and become their head coach, and they had the exact record, the exact same season that they had this year. Do you think Florida State is in the final four?

Wow, that's a good question. What do you think, Mike Norvell? He's a loser, can't sell his team. Well, you know, they say it's a beauty contest, and, you know, it would be an awful lot more appealing having Deion over there. I think the answer is yes, and I think it is because, you know, I mean, we can all judge things as human beings and look at what's going on on the field or what team is good or what seems bad, what seems better than the other one. This is still a business. It's the entertainment business, and I think the sheer, I don't know, aura of Deion would have probably pushed them through just off of name recognition alone.

So, yeah, whatever conversation you have with your friends, I think that would be accurate, yeah. Yeah, well, we've all pretty much come to the same conclusion. If Deion being on that sideline, they'd be in his final four. Yeah, well, he's not. Not for not right now, at least. I don't think he will return.

Maybe he will. But the fact is, I've also seen some wild stories today. You know, we got politicians who are trying to put aside money so Florida State can sue, and it's just, it's getting a little too crazy for it. But thank you for calling from North Carolina. You drive safe, okay? All right, thank you for taking my car.

Absolutely. Let's go from North Carolina to Oceanside, California. Jeff, you're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, man? How you doing, JR? I'm good. You okay? Excellent. Yeah, I'm doing well.

Just a little tired, a little tired. I was curious. Listen, I was raised in Chicago and I went to the University of Michigan, so I run in those circles talking about sports. And I've got a bunch of friends who right now are stirring up rumors that Jim Harbaugh is gonna go to the Bears and for the number one selection, take JJ McCarthy, his favorite quarterback ever at the University of Michigan.

And I wanted to get your take on it, JR. Talk to me, please. I'm not going that far about him taking his college QB, but I will tell you this. I'm expecting Jim Harbaugh to be back in the NFL. I mean, he's openly been taking meetings and flirting and I mean, it was only what, last year, two seasons ago that he thought that he had the job with the Minnesota Vikings.

And they said, nah, bro, no, thank you. So I think with the openings that we are likely to have, Ibra Flus is probably gonna get the boot. We know that the Raiders are gonna look for a full-time coach. I don't know if Antonio Pierce is gonna keep that. I think it's only a matter of time before he's back in the league. I don't know about bringing his quarterback with him, but yeah, I don't think he's long for Michigan. Do you think there's a chance he comes to Chicago? Yes, yeah, I just said it.

I think Ibra, what you keep me around Ibra Flus for? No reason at all. We need to get rid of him regardless. Yeah, so I think that'd be a natural reconnection for Mr. Quarterback there, yep. We had a few good seasons with James under center, so Chicago likes him already.

It'd be interesting to see happen. Thanks, JR, I appreciate it. No problem, Jeff. Thank you for calling from Oceanside. Yeah, they don't need his cheating ass out at that school no more.

This is pretty cool. NBA end-season tournament. Austin Reeves coming through with a dagger three, 105 to 101 with 15 seconds left. Kevin Durant's gonna have to come through and hit like a four-point play to help them win. It's amazing, Kevin Durant, 35 years old. He's averaging, he's third in the league in scoring, and I know everybody scores, but damn, he's dropping like 31 a game. Poor Kevin Durant, he don't get no type of help. Devin Booker and then that other guy who sits around on the bench from Washington.

Bradley Beal. 855-212-4CBS, that's 855-212-4CBS. We're gonna take a break. When we come back, I will get to more of your calls. I did mention Roger Goodell trying to make this NFL a global game, so we will hear from him, we will hear from you, and then I assume by the time we return, we're gonna have a winner between Phoenix and the Lakers.

Somebody is going to Vegas. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. God bless, wish you well, and all the best, JR, because you really are my favorite sports DJ on the air. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. This portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial.

Are you stuck in a time, share, and want out? Contact Wesley Financial today. This portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial, are you stuck in a time, share, and want out?

Contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free time, share, exit information kit at WesleyFinancialGroup.com. You probably knew this already. LeBron James makes no sense. The Los Angeles Lakers just beat the Phoenix Suns, the final score, 106-103, out in Los Angeles. The Lakers advance to the final four of this NBA in-season tournament. The Lakers will take on the Pelicans on Thursday, and I would assume the Lakers will beat the Pelicans, and we got the Milwaukee Bucks on the other side. So, we might see, and this is what I'd like to see, give me the first finals, NBA in-season finals, NBA cup finals. Give me the Bucks and the Lakers, like sign me up for that. In Vegas, no less?

Give it to me. Now, these are LeBron's numbers tonight. Where the hell did they go? 31 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds. LeBron James had 5 steals. Nobody's done this since Magic Johnson in 1987.

They're stupid. Anthony Davis decided to play basketball today, and I got to give him credit. He's played this season, so we got to cut it out for a little while. 27 points, 15 rebounds, 2 blocks. Austin Reeves hit a dagger 3 at the end of the game. He had 20 points.

Kevin Durant still doing all his damn work at 35 years old. Kevin Durant had 31 points. Grayson Allen had 21.

Devin Booker had 21. There was an interesting play at the end of the game. It looked like the sun stole the ball from Grayson Allen while it looked like he expected to be fouled, but then the referee said LeBron James called a timeout while the ball was in the process of being stolen, I believe. So, hey, LeBron James can call a timeout where they don't even have the ball. 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 4 CBS. It's 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 4 CBS. Speaking of LeBron, he just spoke to TNT with Ali LaForest.

Let's take a listen. Well, LeBron, does taking over in the fourth ever get old? No.

It's money time. I've been there a lot in my career, and I understand the assignment, so I was happy I was able to make a couple plays, but a big shot came from A.R. up one. Take us up four. That was big time.

No question. 7.4 seconds on the clock, one possession gain. What are you reinforcing your team in that timeout?

Well, we got to execute one, and like I said, A.R. got the shot, and then we had to come down here and protect, not give up a three being up four. KD made a heck of a reverse layup. We was able to get the ball in, let's execute, try to make both free throws. A.D. went up one for two, and I actually wanted a foul because of the shooting ability by KD and Book. But we didn't get an opportunity, and KD was listening to a wide right.

There's always a million scenarios at any point in time. You know them all. So my final question to you is, you've won a championship. You've been an MVP, a finals MVP, an Olympic gold medalist.

What would an NBA cup adding to that list of trophies mean to you, LeBron? It is what it is. I mean, it's the inauguration.

It is what it is at this point in the season. We have an opportunity to compete for something, so why not? I mean, you've got the greatest competitors in the world fighting for something, so let's fight. We'll see you in Vegas. All right, perfect.

Thank you. Yeah, it's the inaugural. But anyway, yeah, it's going to take place on Thursday. You've got the Lakers and you've got the Pelicans.

You've got the, who the hell, I keep forgetting, the Pacers and the Bucks. And that's on Thursday. And on Saturday night, we're going to have the championship in Vegas. And so that gives me something to watch on Saturday. Hey Shep, what the hell would you be doing on Saturday? Well, I'm hosting for Sirius XM NBA radio. I'm hosting a pregame show. Nice. Thank you, sir.

What, for the final? Yeah, yeah. Excellent. We have a pregame show on Sirius XM NBA radio, so I look forward to that. And then I'm going to talk about the championship later on on CBS Sports Radio. So everybody listening to NBA radio gets, is it a Shep sandwich? What?

Well, yeah, well, obviously I do my 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. every Sunday here. And then I, you know, I'm talking about the NBA final for the end season cup or whatever the hell we call it. Right, right.

It's sandwiched in between you. Exactly. And JR, we need some JR sport brief on Sirius XM NBA radio. So at some point, and I know you got a lot going on right now, but we got to hear your voice on that channel too. So I'm going to have you on at some point. So that's a little tease for our audience. Oh, well, thank you.

Thank you. I'll be on WFAN on Saturday in New York. You're usually on WFAN on Saturdays. Hey, do you find that you have to be even harsher with callers on WFAN because you're dealing with mostly New Yorkers and East Coast people? What are you saying about New Yorkers? They can be aggressive. We're typically on the national side, they're a little nicer. Do you think so?

I do. I mean, don't get me wrong. You have some amazing callers on WFAN and they're really nice, but I'm generalizing. People who call us here, they tend to be a little more patient and forgiving.

We're in New York. They hammer you. You calling New Yorkers jerks? Some of them, yes. People think that I'm aggressive when I'm here.

No, I don't think so, do they? Yeah, people do. People have told me, my old friends have told me, they're like, hey, you're a jerk.

And I'm like, I'm not, not really. No, you're just, you don't mince words, but you're not a jerk. Yeah, I don't got no time for mince and words. Right.

No time for that crap. Exactly. But what was your question to me? You asked me if New Yorkers are jerks. The answer is yes. That's what you asked me, right? Well, they got a lot to be pissed about these days, specifically those two football teams. We know this.

Yes, yes. Yeah, I'm from New York. I can say what I want about New York. And who would have thought the best quarterback story in New York wasn't a guy drafted number two overall, wasn't a four-time regular season MVP. A guy living in his mama's house.

Exactly. That's, that's all you need to know about the state of New York sports. She's washing his underwear, she's making a bed. Hope she's charging him now. Yeah, he makes $44,000 a game. That's ridiculous. What's ridiculous? That he makes $44,000 a game and Aaron Rodgers makes $2 million a game to talk about Pat McAfee's PR firm every Tuesday.

That's what's ridiculous. Tommy DeVito can ask Aaron Rodgers for some money. Well, they have a relationship apparently. Apparently everyone has a relationship with Aaron Rodgers that plays quarterback in the NFL these days.

Well, they live in New Jersey. So maybe Aaron Rodgers will go to his mother's house for dinner. He's got time.

He does. Ryan is calling from Phoenix. You're on CBS Sports Radio. What up, Ryan? How are we doing, JR? Just appreciate you taking my call tonight.

Sure. Yeah, just wanted to pick your brain a little bit about this game I just got done watching. I'm not saying it was a little bit one-sided on either way on the staff. I feel like both teams played well.

I got the numbers that we expected from both starting fives, including the benches. But the turnovers from Phoenix tonight I feel like is what kind of dictated and separated what the outcome was. Last I checked, it was like 22 turnovers for Phoenix versus 10 for L.A. And it was a three-point ball game with a minute and a half left.

I'm just not saying it was a rest plan type thing or anything like that trying to go into the meme culture. But like you said, you really want to see a LeBron and a Lakers finals. Do you think anything like that had to do and might be officiating tonight was a little bit sloppy and one side versus the other? No, I'm not going to get into the – if that were the case, then we'd have LeBron in the stupid finals every year.

You know, Ryan? Yeah, yeah, of course. Like I said, I'd love to see the Lakers take on the Bucs. I would have no problem if the Suns went along, but I think this is the most intriguing matchup. I mean, look, Kevin Durant is still the best player on the Suns. It'd be nice if Bradley Beal could actually play. It would be amazing. Yeah, well, he needs more than an epidural in his back. He needs a new one. Maybe him and Ben Simmons could start a new team, okay? I hope him and Ben Simmons don't start a new team because that would be worse than any spotter from the NBA that has to offer right now. You ain't lying.

Two dudes on the bench. Yo, what up, Seth? Long time, dude. Hey, Shep, Ryan's talking to you. Oh, Ryan.

No, Ryan, I love that joke. Ryan, thanks for calling JR, man. Good to hear from you, brother. Oh, dude, you guys are the reasons I started calling in in general.

So it's an absolute pleasure to finally talk to JR. No doubt, man. What do you do? You in college or something?

No, I'm a bar manager at one of the local bars out here in Phoenix. And me and JR are me and Shep are talking bar talk. Hey, don't hang up.

Tell Shep what bar it is so when I come by I get a drink, okay? It's called The Vig. I didn't ask you all that.

I'll put you on hold. He said too much. I didn't hear what he said. He said it's The Vig? The Vig?

Where was he when I was there earlier this year? Anyway, I'm going to get some more of your calls. We'll talk NBA tournament, more football. We do it all.

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