2.5.24 - JR SportBrief Hour 4

The Sultan of Sizzle. The Titan of Toastiness. The Kingpin of Kindling.

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Additional terms apply. It is the JR Sportbrief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you so much to super producer and host Ryan Hickey.

He's holding it down for us, holding it down, holding it down in New York City. Thank you for tuning in wherever you might be. In your car, at work, at home, on a ship, on a boat, under the sea, in a plane. You could be in Canada, in the United States of America. You could be over the border. You could be in Europe.

I don't know where you're at. But thank you for tuning in. We appreciate you.

We'll be hanging out with you for one more hour. This show gets started every single weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, 3 p.m. Pacific. It's NFL Super Bowl opening night. It's taking place out in Las Vegas. The Kansas City Chiefs just finished up their portion of the session. The San Francisco 49ers are going to take the stage or take their respective seats as they address the media and answer questions about their hygiene habits.

Taylor Swift and probably even, you know, somebody's dad. Well, Patrick Mahomes' dad, you know, being arrested for a DUI. And so we got a lot to get into here with the remainder for the remainder of the show, I should say.

And we've already had a busy one. Thank you so much to Thomas Dimitrov, a former Falcons general manager, for coming through to talk to us about, you know, what is a team for paying for this week? Thomas Dimitrov has also worked intricately with someone like Kyle Shanahan. He hired Dan Quinn, who was introduced as the new coach for the Washington commanders today. And also Raheem Morris was a part of that staff. Raheem Morris introduced today as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. So thank you to Thomas Dimitrov for coming through and talking to us from a unique perspective, someone who built a Super Bowl team, someone who went to a Super Bowl. We know they didn't win and has a lot of tentacles that reach out to multiple levels here in the NFL. Thank you as well to Solomon Wilcox for joining us. Solomon hosts the NFL opening drive on Sirius XM.

He played in the league and also has a very unique perspective. And then, of course, tonight with NFL opening night, it's just I don't know. It's it's the Wild West.

That's what it is. The players and coaches sit down. They are hounded and mobbed by media. And they get asked ridiculous questions, some legitimate questions, some out of left field. And I told you, the Chiefs just held theirs. And then also before any of this started, Roger Goodell held his annual Super Bowl week press conference.

He did so in a invite only setting. I'll explain why. I think we know the reason why.

And I don't think it worked. Roger Goodell still asked about workplace diversity in the NFL after scaling back his press conference this year. So we have a lot to do. And then even with some of the NBA news over the weekend in regards to Joel Embiid going down with a meniscus injury, a meniscus tear in about 15 minutes or so, we're going to have a conversation with Curt Healy. Curt Healy runs pro basketball talk over with NBC. And so we'll have that chat with him in about 15 minutes. I wanted to hear some of the audio from Patrick Mahomes as well as Travis Kelsey. They just spoke to the media. And as you can expect, the questions are, let's just say, pretty, pretty wide ranging.

Of course, Travis Kelsey had to be asked about Taylor Swift. What a shock, right? Listen to this. She's unbelievable. She's she's rewriting the history books herself.

I told her I'll have to hold up my end of the bargain and come home some hardware to. And we know Travis Kelsey will come home. Oh, damn. Hey, Hickey, that mean they living together? No, right? No, she's living in Kansas City.

No, no, we know. No, she's not. I wonder if you think she has her own residence there or not. She just stays with him, right? I would say that private jet usage is probably up a little bit. It's probably not too far to get to NYC or L.A. from Casey. She's getting her ass whooped because all the private, you know, jets.

What is it? Her carbon footprint is offensive to the earth. Yes. To some.

Yeah, to some. I mean, how many how many planes you think in the sky at any given moment? Oh, great question. I mean, thousands, right? I'm going to say I'm going to Google this unless you can be faster than me. I'm going to say that at any given moment, like right now, there are.

Five that four thousand two thousand two thousand flights on earth. Right. Right. OK. You think so?

No, let's see. That sounds about right. I mean, globally. Yeah. On earth.

How many. Flights in the air. Earth. Any given moment. Any given moment. Let's see.

There's got to be some sort of average. Oh, my God. Whoa, brah.

Oh, well, you man, you got to think about this. I'm thinking about commercial air. I don't know. There is an average of almost 10000 planes. Wow. In the sky at any given time.

But Taylor Swift is ruining the planet. Yeah. According to Flight Radar. There could be anywhere from eight thousand to twenty thousand planes in the sky. Wow. Aviation analysts estimate that there are about sixteen thousand airplanes worldwide in the air at any given time of day.

Sixteen thousand. You know what this means, Ryan? We got to get a plane. I feel like I'm missing out. I guess we're the poors over here. Yeah.

Holy cow. Sixteen thousand planes. I'm stuck over here with my feet on the ground. What is this? I'm taking the subway like an idiot. My God. Like a complete loser here. Sixteen thousand planes.

I can't be so lucky to be in that. Anyway, Travis Kelsey did talk about going home and bringing home some hardware. He also wants to bring home his third Super Bowl championship as he continues to assault the record books when it comes down to receiving yards and touchdowns in the postseason. Travis Kelsey continued on and speaking to the media at media Super Bowl opening night. He's like, man, I want this third ring more than ever. I've been on a mission ever since I won my first Super Bowl. We we made it back to the Super Bowl the year after 2019, obviously lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That's motivated me to get back to this point right here. So you'll hear me say this a lot, but I want this one more than I've ever wanted a Super Bowl in my life.

And it's because the type of team we have, the people that we have in this thing, but also because that tier of teams that have done it twice have gone down in history as some of the greats. Yeah, he's he wants another ring. I can't fault him.

What the hell you think he's out there playing for? And the guy that everybody wanted to hear from is Patrick Mahomes, especially after the news that broke over the weekend. It wasn't all that great for Patrick Mahomes because his dad got in a little bit of trouble. This is from Saturday on CBS. Some super trouble before the Super Bowl for the father of NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Police arresting this man. That is the father of Patrick Mahomes. Jail records showing Patrick Mahomes senior taken into custody this morning on the charge of driving while intoxicated for the third time or more.

This happened in Smith County in the Tyler area of that county back in twenty eighteen. Pat Mahomes senior received a 40 day jail sentence for a second DWI offense. Yeah. Patrick Mahomes dad got busted with an open can of Coors Light on Saturday morning. Not good, especially ahead of the Super Bowl.

Not good at any point in time, really, for him or society or anybody. Of course, Patrick Mahomes was asked about this and it was a short answer. So sure. We're not even going to play it. He said it's a family matter.

I'm going to keep it in the family. That's it. Nothing else from Patrick Mahomes.

I guess that was a little bit simpler than what I certainly thought would take place. Anyway, they did get to some football when it came down to Patrick Mahomes. They didn't necessarily keep bothering him about his dad and his arrest. Patrick Mahomes was asked about you want to talk about records being broken.

Patrick Mahomes was asked about Tom Brady, specifically seven Super Bowls. Listen to this. I'm not even close to halfway. So I put a lot of thought into it. I mean, your goal is to be the best player that you can be. And I know I'm blessed to have a lot of great players around me. So right now, it's whatever I can to be a great 49ers team to try to get that third ring. And then you asked me that question in like 15 years and I'll see if I can get close to seven.

The seven seems like a long ways away still. Yeah, I mean, can he can he play? Of course, he wants to win every Super Bowl possible. He's already lost one that one to Tom Brady.

There's no damn guarantee he's going to win this one. You think about Tom Brady. He went to the Super Bowl 10 damn times and walked away with seven rings. He had to lose two or three.

Yeah. Hi, Eli. Hi, Nick Foles. Took it away from him. It's not easy, man.

It's not easy. And then even if you think about this upcoming game and we got plenty of time to get into the depths of who's going to win and why or why not. But we do know one of his offensive linemen in Joe Tooney is still dealing with a pectoral injury. And well, Joe wasn't available the last game.

And so he's still not available this game. And so the Chiefs very well might win. But, you know, it's been a little bit of a bounce back for Patrick Mahomes. So people have looked at them and said, oh, you're doing this with a weakened offense.

Well, they've gotten better. So Patrick Mahomes was asked about feeling like an underdog. And he's just like, man, I don't ever feel like no underdog.

Listen to this. Yeah, I mean, I think you approach like any other game. I never feel like the underdog. I always feel like we have a chance to win the football game. And that's how we approach every single game. And we were underdogs in the last Super Bowl.

So all you can do is just have that same mindset of just going out there playing your best football, best football and hoping that you end up with a win. I don't want to see Patrick Mahomes on the other side of the field. We just heard the same thing from Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson made it very clear. He's like, I don't look forward to playing against this dude.

And we found out why. Lamar Jackson, who's known to run the football was, I don't want to say forced into trying to keep up with him. But, man, there's only one Patrick Mahomes.

He's the best quarterback in the entire NFL. And everybody's playing catch up. So from that perspective, yeah, ain't no underdog. But I do expect a little bit of a back and forth game. I expect a lot of action.

We got a lot of time to get into that. 855-212-4CBS. We got Ed. Ed is here from Pennsylvania.

You're on the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Ed? Hey, hey, brother.

How you doing, JR? Hey, let me tell you, man, you know, I was about to say something when you were saying how many flights in air. Well, you know, that's what I do anyway on my way to Newark. And, yeah, there's a lot of flights that be in the air, bro. There's there's a lot of flights.

You know, if you look around the whole, you know, country where I'm in the world. Yes, it is. You know, one thing about it is it's amazing. Hey, brother. But you know what?

It's amazing. God forbid. It's amazing how the safety rules are. That's every day. So we can't drive a car without having an accident. That's on the road. So, you know, I'm saying so.

Yeah. But let me tell you, brother, you know, I've been doing this for 30 years. And I always tell everybody New Year's, whatever it is, you know, call. That's why we have owners. That's why you have us as limo drivers. You know, I pick up a lot of stars and actors and and sports players, everybody, you know, and CEOs. And the thing is, man, that's why we're here. We got an old saying in the limo company.

You don't blue thirty thousand means that the time that you pay for everything as a normal person, it's going to cost you about thirty dollars, thirty thousand legal fees and all kinds of things you got to go through. What are you are you talking about? Patrick Mahomes, dad?

No, I'm just saying that's how it is. If you know, just some normal people, he's people need to realize he if he lets he wants help. He's an alcoholic, bro. And he's going to do time for three. Do you ask? I know people who had a couple of. He's going to do a couple of years now. You don't know how he had his life. Well, he was in Texas. I don't know. You know, but you know, man, but see, the thing is, man, we, you know, in our country and around the world, you know, unfortunately we do. But God, come on. Takes a couple of seconds, bro.

Ten, 15, 20 bucks. How did he pick you up? Yeah, well, he was arrested in the morning time.

So whatever he was doing, he was doing it for a long time. Right. And the thing is, right now, call somebody.

And if someone knows that's him sitting in the bar or whatever it is, you know, he's telling everybody that's his son. Then you get the guy. Oh, don't go nowhere. I didn't took a couple of people's keys. I didn't took people didn't got the keys.

I took it from first my pastures after I dropped them off at, you know, a park and ride. No, no, no. That's all. I'll take you home. No, no, no, no. I'm good. You're good.

You're a good man, Ed. I can't speak for Patrick Mahomes, but maybe he just got progressively drunk. I mean, that's I mean, yeah, yeah. But you know what, bro?

But you know what? If this is his third, he's an alcoholic. Yeah, well, I'm not I'm not going to argue with that. I don't need to diagnose him.

Look, no, I might diagnose him, but until he might kill someone on the road like Andy Reid's kid did. You got to be careful, bro. You got to be careful. I just feel bad for Patrick right now, you know, because I know it's tough and he's going to have to let that go right now. But, you know, Dad, come on, man. You know what? We all having a great time out here. Really?

Really? Well, he didn't make it. He didn't make it to Vegas.

He is allowed, by the way, to go to Vegas, but he's not allowed to drink if he gets there. But, you know, I'm not the judge. When he goes to court, when it's time for him to go to court, the judge is going to say, you know what? You have a problem. We're going to work on it. You're going away for two, three years.

He's going through time. He's done. All right. Thank you, Ed.

We'll see what the legal system says. All right, brother. And if you ever need me, there are.

You better call me, brother, if I'm down in Atlanta somewhere. Thank you, Ed. I appreciate it.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Ed, for calling from Pennsylvania. Look, I'm not going to speculate as to what the ramifications are going to be for Patrick Mahone, Sr.'s actions. OK, I'm not a legal analyst. I'm not familiar with the laws in Tyler, Texas. I don't know what legal precedents have been set, what orders have been handed down. But yes, it was a little surprising to learn or be reminded that Patrick Mahone, Sr. already spent a month behind bars, which I believe he did over the weekend for his first DUI arrest. And having three of them, not good. As Patrick Mahone said, it's family business and he is going to keep it that way.

Unfortunately for him, he is a ridiculously high profile public figure. It's the J.R. sport re-show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. On the other side of the break, we got to get some hoops in here. There is some big news that came down the pipe as it relates to Joel Embiid, his meniscus.

Zach Lavine is out for the season. We're going to talk to Curt Heelan from Pro Basketball Talk. We're then going to hear from Roger Goodell some of the words that he had to share from his own press conference.

And then we'll talk to you as well before we roll out. It's the J.R. sport re-show here on CBS Sports Radio. The Sultan of Sizzle. The Titan of Toastiness. The Kingpin of Kindling.

These are the admired ones. Those who've created the prime place together. They don't just have a backyard. They have the backyard. Because they know a Solo Stove Fire Pit is more than just the ultimate smokeless fire pit. It's a place where friendships are forged, football is revered, and food is enjoyed.

Solo Stove, the perfect flame for the big game. Your fever is high and the pressure to log in at work is too. But when you finally decide to take care of you, there's Instacart. Just because that one perfect coworker of yours is attending all meetings, camera on while she's sneezing, coughing, and aching, doesn't mean you have to do the same. Take it from us. Trying to stay on top of things will only get you further behind. Instead, get everything from tissues and teas to cough suppressants and comforting soups delivered through Instacart in as fast as 30 minutes. If anyone needs anything, they can just redirect their questions to that one perfect coworker of yours.

A Peanut Butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners up get nothing. One retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter.

But you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort. Coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

It's the JR Sport Brief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Yeah, we know it's the NFL media week, opening night, whatever have you. We know that Super Bowl is coming. But the NBA is heating up as well, because once that Super Bowl is done, well.

And it's going to be the NBA's time to shine as we move on towards the playoffs. So to talk about some of the unfortunate injuries, to talk about the trade deadline and some of the moving and shaking going on in the league right now. It's time to have a conversation with Curt Heelan. He is the lead NBA writer at NBC Sports for all things basketball. Mr.

Pro Basketball Talk himself. Curt, how are you? I'm good. How you doing? I'm excellent. Thank you for taking the time to hop on.

So much to get into. I guess let's get Joel Embiid out the way. I mean, if we want to say out the way. I ain't too optimistic on the Sixers the rest of the season. What are your thoughts? Is this man coming back? The knee flap, meniscus flap?

What's the real deal? Probably not. I mean, look, I'm not a doctor.

I'm not going to pretend to be one on the radio. But that type of injury, that type of flap thing, what I've been told by doctors is that usually means a repair and a repair would mean he's done for the season. Nobody knows without ever looking at it exactly, but it sounds like they're trying to be optimistic that maybe he could come back in time for the playoffs or something.

But most likely that's not the case. And if he's out, well then the Sixers have their trade deadline is different. Everything is different because they're just not going anywhere without him.

Well, Kurt, it looks like a failed process to me. I mean, as Joel Embiid gets older, it would take like a lightning strike to turn this around. I can't imagine him getting healthier as he gets older. And we already know Ben Simmons is out the door. Is this not catastrophic for the Sixers, not just in the present, but in the way down in the future? I'm talking two, three years from now. They're going to have to start again.

I don't know if they're quite there yet. Remember, this is a team that has set itself up to have max cap space next summer. They can basically rework the roster around Embiid and Maxey next year. I think they're going to have to make some hard decisions and Embiid's going to have to make some hard decisions about possibly playing a little lighter. He's not heavy.

Would he be better off a little lighter? But also, this may ultimately be a Dwayne Wade late in his career situation where you're like, man, we're just not going to worry about the 65 games and the awards. We're going to have to say he plays 55, 60, whatever it is we need to do to get him healthy to the playoffs and then hope that that works. And if they can get a third guy in this summer, maybe they can rebuild around it. But you are right about this. At his age as a big man, their windows shrink.

There's not a long time to do this. They're going to have to do it in the next couple of years, and they're going to have to make some real bold moves this offseason. Curt Heelan is here with us, covers the NBA lead writer for NBCSports.com. You want to talk about Joel Embiid on the opposite end of the spectrum is obviously LeBron James, still balling out at 39 years old.

Certainly not the player he was a decade ago, but still one of the best in the game. A lot of talk about him, his future, what the Lakers do on Thursday. What do you find to be most likely come trade deadline? The Lakers getting a small guard? Are they getting anything?

What say you? They will make some move. De'Jaunte Murray is not out of the question, and that's probably the biggest name that gets moved if he does around the deadline. Look, I know we're kind of used to blockbusters at the deadline, and Kyrie Irving came up relatively last minute last year. I'll just say, talking to people around the league, that's not happening this year. Zach Lavine is off the table, which means De'Jaunte Murray is probably the best player who might get moved. You were talking about a one-time All-Star four years ago. He's a good player, don't get me wrong, but we're not getting that blockbuster this year. I don't know.

I don't know that the Lakers might try to get him, but it's more likely they get Royce O'Neal or something and make some moves around the edges. They can rise up for a moment. You saw it in New York last night. You saw it with the end-season tournament, right? Do you really think that they can sustain that for one full series of seven games, two full series? Yeah, they'll probably get smacked out of the postseason.

That's what's most likely. And so, thinking about that, Kurt, this just leaves us with a giant question mark over the status of LeBron with the Lakers come July, no? Or do you think it's likely that he absolutely stays?

It's not absolute. He's going to want changes. He's just at the point in his life where he wants to compete at the highest level. I don't know, though, that that means he's not opting into the $51 million, that he's not going to live in Southern California with... I don't know if Ronnie's going pro.

I'm not going to pretend to answer that question, but Bryce, his younger son, is still here. I don't know that he's really willing to... That's it. I'm going to pack it up and go back to Miami or Cleveland.

Or, you know, somebody said, main your teamwork. He lifts them up to contender status. I just don't know that he's willing to do that. I think what you're seeing the last week with the emoji tweet and the Knicks towel and all this stuff is kind of classic passive aggressive LeBron, right? Like trying to pressure the team without pressuring, you know, without, oh man, whatever the front office does, I'm here for the guys in the locker room and he sends all sorts of subtle messages.

It's just how he operates. Kurt Heelan is here with us. NBC Sports lead basketball writer. You mentioned Zach Levine. We know he's now out with a foot injury. How his career continues on is certainly not looking good for where he's at.

The Chicago Bulls, as they move forward, they've been a better team without him. They also have DeMar DeRozan on an expiring contract. Is there a possibility that DeMar moves on elsewhere? The Bills just going to hold on to him as this contract expires? That's a really good question. It kind of looks like it and I don't, you know, I don't get it.

It seemed like it seemed like they were ready to start moving, breaking up the stuff like they're insistent on keeping from whatever. They are really insistent unless you're going to bowl them over with some sort of Godfather offer of keeping Alex Caruso. Why? And nothing against Alex Caruso. Alex Caruso, though, a strong defensive guard who can give you 20 to 25 minutes a night, if you don't put up with much more than that, he's built for coming off the bench on a contender, right? Like if you, there's pretty much every playoff team could plug Alex Caruso in and he helps. They're going to keep him because he's part of the future.

I just, I don't really get what they're doing. I get that they can't trade Jack Levine and they're going to have to be a little patient with that. His contract's huge.

Like I said, there's injury histories. They're just, they're not going to be able to move him, maybe in the offseason. But I don't know why you're keeping DeRozan. I don't know why you're not pivoting towards a rebuild right now. You don't have to tear it all the way down, but you've got to start pivoting because this, I mean, what are they, the eighth or ninth seed right now?

I haven't looked at the standards this morning. Number nine, going nowhere. Yeah. Playing elimination, if that. Yeah. It's like, hey, if everything comes together for us, we can make the play in.

Really? That's what you're going for? You're Chicago, man.

You should be better than that. Kurt, he and Luz here with us, nbcsports.com, lead NBA writer. When you think about the teams that are actually, will have an actual legit shot to win a championship, we know Boston sits at the top in the east and Milwaukee is still trying to get it together defensively on the west. You have some young teams at the top there. No strong indicator that they're going to be the same when we get to play off basketball.

What do you see happening or most likely to happen with the east and west as we kind of draw it towards the finals? Look, Boston's the team to beat, but they are a flawed team. Anybody who watches them knows, and I'm not the only person saying this, for a team with that much talent, they rely way too much on the three ball and they don't work it inside out. They don't get their three pointers cleanly sometimes. They degenerate into isolation at the end of games and they're, because of how they get their threes, their ability, when they don't hit the threes, it's like that game against the Bucks where they completely fall apart.

Shooting variance is such a big factor in their games and it shouldn't be. They should be better than that and I think that gives the Bucks hope because maybe they can get their defense together, but it should also give the Knicks and the Cavaliers, by the way, I think with all the hype around the Knicks in New York, people have been sleeping. The Cavaliers have been playing pretty much just as good as them for a month now and have really great talent as well. One of those teams could be in the Eastern Conference Finals. One of those teams could really threaten Boston. The Celtics are still kind of the team to beat, but the door is open in the east and in the west, the bar is Denver. You know Denver is going to be good in the playoffs. They've got Jokic. They've got the best player on the planet. Their starting five is as good and as balanced as it gets, but I think the Clippers are a legit threat to them with all the caveats that come with the Clippers. They've got to be healthy. James Harden's got to rise up.

He's got to be the third best player on this team, but he's got to be there in the playoffs for them. That said, you watch them play. I'm out here in L.A. I see them a lot. I've got the scars from picking them too many times, but man, it feels like they could be in that mix. They strike me as the team that's the biggest threat to Denver in the playoffs. You didn't mention the Phoenix Suns.

We certainly know it's surprising. Bradley Beal is playing with Devin Booker, with Kevin Durant. Do you think that they can be right there in that mix, or is there still some depth that needs to get worked out, which we might see on Thursday?

We could. They're looking for depth. They're looking for defense. The problem is that, like a few teams, like the Bucks, they wasted so much. They used so much draft capital to get their stars.

They just don't have that much to trade. They're very good. I think they can win a series. I'm not sure they can win two. I'm not sure that their defense depth is just going to be good enough when really put to the test.

That said, there are times you watch them and think, man, that offense. Who's going to stop them when they're really rolling? Their numbers when their big three are on the floor are fantastic. I'm not sure that they get there. When you get to that second round, it's a higher level.

You're down to the eight best teams, the four in each conference. That's a really high level of basketball. That's where that defense. I've got a feeling it comes back to bite them. I'm just not sold that the offense can power them through that.

I'll tell you this, Kurt. It's nice to watch a league right now. An injury is unfortunately always a factor, but there is so much parity. It's very difficult to take a look at one team and just say, hey, they are the favorites above and beyond to go ahead and win a championship. I think it's good for basketball. I think it's good for the fans. We've got to wait to see who comes out on top.

Exactly. There are no 2017-2018 warriors out there, are there? There are a few teams. Like I said, Denver is the bar. Whoever wins it.

Even if you're talking about Boston, Denver is the bar. You've got to be better than Denver in the playoffs. I think there are a number of teams that could do that. We'll see. We're going to get past this trade deadline. We're going to get through Indianapolis. We're going to finish up with March Madness and then be on our way to the postseason.

Hey, Kurt, I want to thank you for taking the time to hop on. You looking forward to Indianapolis? You know, it's not a place I've spent a lot of time, so I think it'll be fun. It's a fun venue.

Is it just me? I enjoy All-Star Saturday way more than Sunday. So the three-point contest and the ANSQ-Curry shootout and the dunk contest, that's more fun to me than the game itself. That's what I'm looking forward to.

Tell them to shoot from the same three-point line. I don't know if she wants to. Somebody told me she wants to.

I know originally she wasn't going to, but I don't know if that's changed. We're going to find out. It's going to be an interesting spectacle. I heard that Victor Winbenyama is going to participate in skills.

Yeah, he's supposed to be out there. We'll see what happens. And maybe, I don't know, maybe we'll get an interesting dunk contest, but I've stopped holding my breath on that for about, I don't know, almost 20 years now.

Two years in a row it feels like I'm asking too much, but let's hope. I mean, hey, if we're bringing in guys from the G League, then they can bring in one of these sprite dunkers, you know, just bring the guy in. You know what? I've been saying for years that there's no reason this should be the exclusive domain of NBA guys. I know there's reports tonight that Jalen Brown might want to do it.

I think McClung's doing it again. But why not, man? I want to be entertained. If that means you bring in some professional dunkers, let's see what they're doing. Yeah, well, we know the NBA wants to highlight its own stars.

Hey, Kirk, thank you for taking the time to hop on. Where can people follow you and your work with NBC Sports? Yeah, if you head to NBCSports.com and we've got a trade deadline tracker up. All the latest news, rumors, and, you know, once we get some trades, they'll be up there too with quick breakdowns.

So, one stop shopping for all your trade deadline news, man. Love it, love it, love it. Mr. Pro Basketball Talk himself. Hey, Kirk, enjoy yourself out in Indianapolis. Look forward to talking to you down the line, OK? Looking forward to it, man.

No doubt about it. That, Kirk Heelan, lead NBA writer, NBCSports.com for all things basketball. It's the J.R. Sportbree show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We had to give you a b-ball update right quick.

We come back on the other side. We will update you on the commissioner of the NFL. Roger Goodell spoke to the media and, let's just say, a little bit of fun and a whole lot of serious as we lead towards the Super Bowl. We'll share some of that commentary and that audio with you. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbree on CBS Sports Radio. Well, I love you for listening.

Thank you. It is the J.R. Sportbree show here on CBS Sports Radio. Thank you to NBCSports.com lead basketball writer, Kirk Heelan, for coming through to join us. A lot of NBA news, despite all of the news going on in the NFL right now, as the NFL is gearing up towards its Super Bowl this coming Sunday. Here's a reminder, speaking of the Super Bowl, you can stream the NFL on Westwood One for free, sponsored by AutoZone. All season long, you can listen to every Westwood One broadcast of the NFL live on the NFL app by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports or on the Odyssey app. So get in the zone, AutoZone.

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Yep, Graybar does that. Zone restrictions. They do apply. And so NFL opening night media night continues on in Las Vegas. The Kansas City Chiefs have had their time to shine.

The forty niners are now sitting up on these stages, these desks as well, answering some questions. Patrick Mahomes was asked about his dad and his arrest of his DUI arrest, I should say this past Saturday morning. And Patrick Mahomes keeping it very simple and very straight to the point. It is a family issue.

And that is how we will keep it in with the family. Patrick Mahomes did continue on. He was asked questions about competing with Tom Brady for championships.

He says, yeah, I need to get there. Kelsey, of course, was asked questions about Taylor Swift. And ironically, Roger Goodell held his own press conference prior to NFL opening night. And Roger Goodell put in his two cents on everything.

He did it in a invite only setting. I think Roger Goodell didn't want to necessarily answer questions about, you know, workplace diversity in the NFL's hiring practices. And so they actually dialed down his press conference this year, I guess, to have things in a more controlled environment. Having said that, just like Travis Kelsey, Roger Goodell was asked about everybody's favorite pop star, Taylor Swift. Roger Goodell is like, listen, she brings eyeballs.

Why do I care? Having the Taylor Swift effect is also a positive. Both Travis and Taylor are wonderful young people. They seem very happy. She knows great entertainment. And I think that's why she loves NFL football. But I think it's great to have have her a part of it. Obviously, it creates a buzz. It creates another group of young fans, particularly young women, that are interested in seeing why is she going to this game? Why is she interested in this game? Besides Travis, she is a football fan.

And I think that's great for us. Yeah, come on. Taylor Swift gets the people going. And she's not running away, traditional NFL fans. You're not turning the game off because there were too many cutaways of Taylor Swift. Get used to it.

You're going to see Taylor Swift on Sunday, whether or not you like it or not. Roger Goodell was also pushed into answering questions about some serious football business, specifically the officiating. Hey, Roger, people think your referees suck.

What do you say? Professional sports and all sports officiating is part of that. I think in the NFL, the level of scrutiny is at the highest I've ever seen it. And that's part of our popularity.

I understand that. It's part of the technology. You all do such a great job that you see more than you could ever see in officiating. The game is faster. I think our officials do a great job.

They are superior. But at the end of the day, no one's perfect, whether it's all of us that watches the games or play the games or coach the games or the officials. We have to continue to try to get better. We have to work, use technology where we can to try to improve their performance. Let them use technology to make sure they get the right answer. But I think they do an incredible job.

But we're going to keep working to get better ultimately. Man, if we have so much technology, how come the referees can't use a simple video camera and a screen to get the call right? It's standing around doing all these replays.

They don't got to use their eyes. Use the replay. It's going to take them 25 minutes to do that. I mean, man, we shouldn't even use these old men with the chains on the sidelines anymore. You can count everything.

We're still using chains to determine what a first down is. And speaking of growing the game, you know, as this man said, and there's so much technology being used, Roger Goodell also had an announcement. The NFL is going to Brazil.

Listen. You mentioned Brazil. Brazil is new for us this year. We are incredibly excited. We're going to do it on our kickoff weekend, which is an unusual approach and different than we've ever done. We actually are going to play it on Friday night of our kickoff weekend.

Yeah. Forget your high school game. We don't give a damn. You play in high school football.

Who cares? You're going to watch us in Brazil. Parents are going to be sitting in the stands with their cell phones out while they yell at Jimmy.

But they'll actually be watching the Philadelphia Eagles and Friday night on a Friday night in Brazil. And then the mollywop of a question came through. This is the one that Roger Goodell did not want. This is the reason why he scaled down what is typically a gigantic press conference in a massive ballroom. Roger Goodell was asked about workplace diversity, not from Trotter, who is now no longer working for the league, but by another reporter who I'm sure will no longer be welcome back.

Listen to this. As of this press conference, the NFL media newsroom still employs zero black managers, zero black copy editors, zero full time black employees on the news desk. And your only full time black employee, Larry Campbell, passed away over the weekend.

Now, Mr. Trotter, Jim Trotter was not here, you know, for whatever reason. Over the last few years have asked you why that is the case. And I believe that has more than 60 percent African-Americans have played to play the game. And I know that you're a man of conscience. How does knowing this sit well with you? You know, and after two years of being asked this question, why has it not been any change or any hires in that area?

Well, I disagree completely with it. There hasn't been any change. I'm happy to get your data and share it with our people and make sure that we get an answer for you. I don't have all the data. I will tell you that the first time ever, 51 percent of our employees across the league, across the network, across all of our media platforms, not including players, are either people of color or women.

First time ever. So progress is being made. And there are areas where we still need to work and we still need to improve, whether it's offensive assistance or maybe people in our media newsroom.

We will continue to do that and make make significant progress as we have. He didn't want that question coming in. I mean, you can throw around all the numbers about women and you could put in percentages. Trotter for years specifically asked about management, and now Trotter doesn't have a job. And I'm also sure that Roger Goodell walked away from that press conference. Let's just say he was a little ticked off at the fact that that that question got in and got through. And we'll see if that reporter is there to give or at least ask the same question next year.

I'm sure somebody will, if he doesn't. Hey, listen, it has been a fun show. Hey, Hickey, man, we got a lot done today, right? It was a jam packed show.

That was a lot of fun. And nobody nobody gets arrested in Vegas between now and tomorrow, do they? Nobody, at least not me and you, which is all that matters.

Oh, yeah, I'm not getting arrested. I don't have time, but I got better things to do, like sit here with you, which I look forward to doing tomorrow at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, 3 p.m. Pacific. Thank you to Curt Heelan, Solomon Wilcox. Thank you to Thomas Dimitrov, former general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, for coming through to provide their perspectives on the NFL this Super Bowl week and everything else going on in the world of sports. As I said, we'll be back with you tomorrow. 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. Thank you so much to super producer and host Ryan Hickey. Hey, if you missed a minute, the free Odyssey app, the J.R. sport re-show here on CBS Sports Radio. It's done.

Don't move. Bart Winkler. He is coming up next.

The J.R. sport re-show. It's a wrap. Thank you, Ryan. You'll be safe. Be cool.

Be well, be smooth. A peanut butter M&M's production in a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring. But the runners up get nothing. One retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter.

But you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. OK, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever. Or I can hop into my all new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road with available H track all wheel drive and three row seating.

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