2.2.24 - JR SportBrief Hour 2

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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.

It is! The J.R. Sportbrief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Super producer and host, Ryan Hickey.

He's holding it down for us on the boards in New York City. Happy Friday to you. We've been hanging out for an hour already. I'm here every single weekday. I get started at 6 p.m. Eastern time.

3 p.m. Pacific. We got a lot to do. How about this? In another, I don't know, about 20 minutes from now, we're going to be joined by a legend. This man scored and scored and scored and never made an All-Star team in the NBA. Eddie Johnson. Eddie Johnson currently hosts on Sirius XM NBA radio.

He calls all of the Phoenix Suns games on television. Eddie Johnson, he gets the job done. And so we're going to chat it up with Eddie. Right before we went to break, we talked about some of the first time All-Stars and Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Maxey. And let's get some basketball thoughts from from Eddie Johnson. I know being out west, he has some thoughts about the Los Angeles Lakers as well.

The Phoenix Suns, the All-Star game and what have you. And so Eddie Johnson is going to come through and join us in about 20 minutes from now as we continue on with the show. I do want to get into this.

I don't know if it's a funny story. Christian McCaffrey and his girlfriend, it was initially reported that they weren't able to afford a suite and people lost their minds. And so we're going to get into that. Also, Tony Snell.

This is something that popped up over the past couple of days. Tony Snell looking for a little bit of help from the NBA to get his service time, to get some proper medical benefits for himself and his children. But people are finding some issues with someone who's made millions of dollars looking for a little bit of help when it comes to health. So we'll get into that. I do want to discuss some of the let's just say gambling issues that the NFL currently has, especially on the heels of the NFL getting ready to descend upon Las Vegas for the upcoming Super Bowl.

We're going to get into more. We got John and Jim Harbaugh still talking about their respective teams. Lamar Jackson getting more of a pass and he's going to have more input on the Baltimore Ravens and the offense. And then we have Jim Harbaugh, who is just ready to go with Justin Herbert and is already predicting that they win multiple Super Bowls. Let me not say predicting. He's hoping. He's pushing.

The expectation is to go out there and win multiple Super Bowls. So if you want to talk to me, it's simple. It's 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. You can also get a hold of me. I'm all over the Internet. I am everywhere at J.R. Sportbrief.

So if you're at home, you're at work hitting the road, getting ready again. Thank you for taking some time to hang out here with us today. First, I want to get this out the way. We talked about LeBron James last hour. Not going to be traded. We talked about Joel Embiid. We have no idea what's going to take place with Joel Embiid and his knee and his torn meniscus. But in a way, LeBron James and Joel Embiid are currently linked. And no, it's not just because they're two of the best basketball players on Earth.

No, it's not because they're future Hall of Famers. It's because, you know, LeBron James at this stage of his career, you know, he needs to sit down every now and then. Did he need to sit down yesterday against the Boston Celtics? If he needed to play, could he have played?

Probably, yes and absolutely. But he's old, OK? They got to play the New York Knicks tomorrow. He played in three out of four games earlier on in the week. The man is trying to play for as long as possible.

And yeah, there's going to be some difficult decisions to make. And then in the case of Joel Embiid, well, he's not old. He's getting older.

He's going to be 30 years old next month. But he's been broken down for a long time. And Joel Embiid caught some flak over the weekend because he did not play against Nikola Jokic this past Saturday. The 76ers were fined $75,000 for not initially listing him on the injury report. And he basically got pulled right at shoot around the training staff.

They did not like how he was moving around and they sat him down. The fans out in Denver basically said that he was ducking Jokic, even though he played him the week before and he gave him the business. And then he missed the next two games. And then Joel Embiid got back out onto the court.

He played against the not the Sacramento Kings, excuse me, he played against the Golden State Warriors. And then Joel commingled fell on his knee, the same knee that's been sore, the same knee that's been bothering him, the same knee that's been giving him fits. And then we find out yesterday he has a torn meniscus. Nick Nurse, head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, made it very clear that this torn meniscus didn't have anything to do with his prior knee soreness. Now, let's be real. If you've torn your meniscus in the past, which he did in 2017. If you've been having knee pain and knee soreness and knee swelling and a guy then falls on the knee to put the final nail in that coffin.

I'm sorry, Nick, but they all appear to be related to me. And so Joel Embiid caught a lot of flack for sitting out. Joel Embiid caught a lot of flack for not playing. Because, yeah, the NBA players today are soft and they don't they don't go out and they have a split fingernail or hangnail and they don't want to play load management. Right. Well, Joel Embiid is someone who's legitimately been hurt off and on throughout the course of his career, even as he's building himself. I think a Hall of Fame resume. I think he'll go right into the the Hall of Fame if he quit tomorrow, especially now based on an MVP. And so he got beat up.

Online, on the radio, on TV. He's ducking yolkage. He doesn't want to play.

He's not hungry. He's going to miss the threshold to go out there and win another MVP. Well, someone who took notice is someone who has four MVPs himself.

That. LeBron James. LeBron James went on Twitter.

He didn't explain his hourglass emoji from the other night at three in the morning. But LeBron James said. Where are all the media outlets, TV media personalities, hot takes that talk so much crap about Joel Embiid about missing those games when he knew what he was dealing with. Now he's out with an injury because of it. Not one person has went back on TV or their dumb ass podcast and apologized to that man.

No accountability. Is LeBron James the guy to deliver this message? Well, I mean, it's LeBron. He can say whatever the hell he wants to and it ain't gonna make no difference in his life. He's sitting pretty. Yeah. One billion dollars says he's sitting pretty.

He doesn't have a worry. But this is this is business as usual. Right.

And how things go. Hey, Ryan, how many people in our business take time to go? Yep. Well, I'm wrong. I'm sorry.

I didn't I got that one. Who says that? Can you recall that?

Jim Calhoun had an epic rant once. I won't repeat it. I'll get fired. But, you know, he goes, do you want me to say effed up? All right. I effed up. And that's a coach, not media. Otherwise, to your point, not many, not many go there. Run to work, run to the microphone and say, guess what, guys?

I was wrong. And nobody nobody does that. I'm trying to understand why LeBron is so up in arms. LeBron James has his own his own media company. Granted, he's not sitting around with a podcast talking about sports.

I guess he leaves that to his other buddy, Draymond Green. But I said this last night about athletes accountability. You've got to be able to, quote unquote, give and take. Like if you're going to be willing to share an opinion, you've got to be able to willing to take your medicine.

Like if you get sick, if you spout and run your mouth and then it comes back to kick you in ass, you've got to be able to stand there and go, oh, yeah, you know, I got it wrong. Or this this is what it is. And LeBron James used the word accountability. I mean, it goes both ways. And this is not to kind of deviate from what LeBron said.

This is this is the business now, right? It's what it is. People who have microphones and people who have platforms, they say wild things. You know, every time Kendrick Perkins pops up on a television, I don't pay this man any attention. And the next thing I know, I read something about how he has a wild trade idea or, you know, like last year, he got into the whole black white thing about Joel Embiid, MVP versus Jokic. And it's just like, oh, my God, come on. This is what people get paid for.

To say loud and ridiculous things. And so a little surprising that LeBron James would would look for accountability. I obviously, LeBron James pays attention to what is said on TV, otherwise he wouldn't come through and address it. It's a world that we live in. It's not just the opinions of people on X. With Twitter or Facebook, what have you. Yeah, the people on TV and radio.

It's like the big shout machine. And who am I to say this? Right. But I try not to sit here and shout and yell and say wild and crazy things. I certainly share my opinion. If I'm wrong, I'll say I'm wrong because life ain't that damn important where I got to go.

Oh, my God, I said I'm wrong. And now the world is going to collapse when when you actually got credibility in what you do. Call a spade a spade. You know, you know, you don't got to spout and scream and yell and say wild stuff. And so a little surprising that LeBron has said this, but it is true.

The one thing I agree with him on and hold is accountability. You know, in the world we live in right now, everybody has a microphone and anybody can have a podcast. Anybody could be on IG or TikTok or YouTube or Snapchat. Anybody can just share their opinions and their thoughts.

You can open up the phone and close the phone. You don't have to answer the tough questions. You don't have anybody kind of kind of pushing you.

You don't have anybody that helps provide balance. And this is why things are so nuts. You got one thought process on one side, you got another process on the other. And there's no meeting in the middle because everybody is just shouting in their own space. Everybody's just shouting in their own rooms.

It's like an echo chamber. I think this. I think this. You think that.

You think that. And there's no there's no proper, proper dialogue. And I have no idea what media is going to continue to look like, especially in sports. More athletes with podcasts, short interactions between the media and the quote unquote journalists.

I don't think things are going to get any better. We're going to have more Draymond greens. I mean, let's be real.

We have athletes who are in middle school and high school. This is what they're used to. They're used to podcasts. They're used to hearing from Draymond after an NBA Finals game. Man, when I was a kid, there's none of that. You played in the finals. You had a press conference. You had some give and take and it went out for us to read. So it's checks and balances. And now, yeah, you can have your own voice and yet you can control whatever you want to say. Where's the balance?

So I got to read everybody's diary or I got to hear one side of the story without getting a full one. Yeah, LeBron, no accountability from the media. There's no accountability from a lot of the players who chat. And that's just the world that we live in in 2024. LeBron James looking for, I guess, an apology for Joel Embiid. It ain't coming. It's not. They don't they don't care enough.

Nobody cares enough. It's the J.R. sport re-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. I want you to think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs.

Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. We're going to take a break. And when we come back on the other side with all these conversations and talks about LeBron, the Lakers and Bede.

Oh, man, we got the all star starters, reserves, snubs. We're going to have a conversation with Eddie Johnson, 17 years in the NBA. He's now an analyst. This man won a championship out in Greece. This man now talks about the NBA, not too shabby of a job living out in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. We'll talk to Eddie on the other side. I'm going to ask him about LeBron, all stars and so much more. You are locked in to the J.R. sport re-show here on CBS Sports Radio. Football is revered and food is enjoyed.

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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 J.R. Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. It's the J.R. Sportbrief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. So much going on in the world of the NBA.

We had to bring on someone who was a 17 year NBA vet, someone who picked up a six man of the year award. Someone who is currently an analyst for the Phoenix Suns. Also a host afternoons NBA today on Sirius XM with Justin Termini as my main man, Eddie Johnson. Eddie, thank you for taking the time to hop on. My pleasure. My pleasure. Anytime. Thank you so much going on in the NBA.

I want to get into the All-Star and your sons and everything going on. But I guess one of the largest stories that we heard about today, I guess if you want to consider one, was just a confirmation that LeBron James isn't going anywhere from the Lakers. Is this even news? Like, did anybody think he was really going anywhere?

What do you think about this? I think it's always news when it comes to a player of LeBron's stature and then his age. Like, his hunger to win is why he's still playing.

People got to understand that, right? I mean, the reason he's playing is not for the money. This dude's a billionaire. He's probably losing money by all the time he's got to spend in a uniform right now because he could be out doing all kinds of things, right? So the reason why he's playing is one, love of the game, and two, he wants to win. Is he chasing the legacy of getting six championships? Probably. But I think it's the love of the game and then you play the game to win the game. And so to me it's not a shock that this is up right now and people are talking about it because if I was him, I would think about it.

Why not? I mean, Karl Malone at the end of his career, because he didn't win titles, but what did he do? He moved on. What did Gary Payton do? He moved on.

So it's not unusual and so I don't really see it as a shock. Eddie Johnson is here with us, the JR Sport b-show on CBS Sports Radio. Knowing how the Lakers roster is currently constructed, we can take a look at the trade deadline coming up on Thursday.

Do you think there's a high possibility of him picking up another ring in Los Angeles or having it have to be elsewhere, even if it's next season? I said before the season that I thought this team would be an issue. I really like what they did in the offseason and I think a lot of people did. It just hasn't flowed correctly. Sometimes the chemistry just doesn't work, despite the names on the roster. And so I'm sure there's disappointment there. But yeah, I think they're being very aggressive to try to get players.

You know, Yonta Murray was obviously a name that was out there. Doesn't look like that's going to go through. But they have guys on their roster that I think other teams would take, based on contract, based on the fact that they can play. And then them getting rid of a player that maybe they don't want to pay in the long run. So that option is there for the Lakers, without a doubt.

And then finally, that guy probably wants to go to LA, who does not want to go and play in LA. So that said, they're always going to do something at the break. And they've done it the last two, three years. So I expect them to make a deal. I don't know who it's going to be, but I'm sure they're going to add to it.

And if they do add to it the right piece, then they are a problem. People got to remember. They went to the conference finals last year. Oh, OK, they got swept. But every game they could have won.

Like, every game. So for me, it's a dangerous team still. And I wouldn't want to play them in the first round of the playoff. Well, Eddie, you talk about a dangerous team. You call their games the Phoenix Suns, man. We see Duran and Beal and Devin Booker, you know, out there. We've seen them out there for a good amount of games now. What is the team looking like? We know depth was a concern earlier on in the year.

What is your your thoughts on what they've been able to do so far? Just getting reps. When you bring, I don't care how good the roster looks, man, you've got to have reps. This game is, basketball is easy, right?

It's easy. Pick up a ball, you go out and shoot. Problem is, you've got opponents facing you that's trying to stop you from shooting, right? Pushing you to spots you're uncomfortable with. And now you've got to have teammates that understand how to get you open.

Understand the nuances of the game in regards to your game and your skill set. Well, those things take time, especially three tremendously gifted players that have not had a ton of time on the court together. So it's been a work in progress.

But I think what you're starting to see is really the fruits of their labor here lately. And the consistency and the understanding that when one guy has it going, the other guy becomes a facilitator. Case in point, the backing forward now in regards to what really started with Bradley Deal a couple of weeks ago in L.A. He had 37 against the Lakers and they deferred to him. And then Devon gets high. You defer to him. Then KD got high. Back to back 40 point games. You defer to him.

Then Devon comes back with a 50 and a 60 point game. So they've learned to understand and stay with the hot hand. And then that hot hand has learned to understand that it doesn't mean that you take every shot now.

It just means that now you created a fire over here. They have to adjust. Now get the ball to somebody else and let them add to the fire that you started. And I think they have started to understand that.

And so for me right now, they got a rebound. OK, and they can't turn it over. And if they do those two things. They're going to beat you because nobody's going to outscore them if they get the same amount of field goal attempts that the other team gets.

No one's going to do that. They shoot the ball too well. And I think that's been the key. NBA champs. I mean, we got a lot of parody in the league right now. It's kind of wide open.

Could we see the Suns? They have enough to be champs outside of those big three. Well, I think again, I think they're going to tweak some things. I think this trade deadline or buyout period, they're looking for certain pieces. And I think more so physicality, maybe a physical ball player that they can get, maybe got bought out. Maybe they can get in a small deal because obviously they can't make a big trade based on that second apron and the salary cap and all of that. And having three max players on their roster. But they're going to need to tweak it or the guys that they have going to step up their game. I feel sorry for Bobo because Bobo waited all year to have a chance in the rotation.

He finally got it. He was playing well and then he turned his ankle. And so I think it's just still work in progress with them to see what guys can step up.

And so that's the issue right now. Eddie Johnson is here with us. The chair of sport re-show on CBS Sports Radio. You talk about injuries. We know about Joel Embiid having his knee evaluated. What's going to be the proper procedure to get him back on the court and maybe extend his career? What do you think this means for the Sixers? You think we even see him back this year? Well, I think Joel Embiid, I think if he can be back, he'll be back.

That's unfortunate. And I hope it's not that bad that's going to hold him out like that. I mean, you see what they did last night. You saw Tyrese Maxey, man. This dude's special, man. Like, given the 1A status on that team, he dropped it.

Like, you know, what is it, 51. I don't want to shortchange him. But you see what he can do.

I think you see their team and how it's made up. And so he's watching that, man. And I know he's going to try his best to get back. But that's a devastating injury, man.

It's just, you know, it's the labors of the war, man. It's an 82-game marathon. And unfortunately, man, that's what makes the NBA so great.

Because think about it this way, Dale. Say if the NBA was a college season, then 30 teams would be a waste of time, right? So Denver, Boston, all these teams would be right there every year. But the marathon now throws a little derivative in it because now you got injured.

Now you got fatigued. Last year, Denver had to go all the way, 82 games, all the way into June. So now they come back this year, they're a little fatigued.

Now you can take advantage of them. That's why you haven't had a back-to-back champion in five years. So the 82-game marathon is important. But it's unfortunate because it's going to be some guys that's going to fall to the perils of playing in a game that, you know, is 48 minutes and you've got to do it 82 times.

Former NBA veteran, Eddie Johnson, current Suns analyst, Eddie Johnson is here with us. Man, you went through the games. You played here domestically.

You played out in Greece with Olympiacos. You know the game and you know the grind. Are we kind of stuck in this era that we're in now?

You know, even talking about load management is kind of like passe. But it just seems like the players make so much money. Are we ever going back to, hey, I'm going to go out there and get this done?

Or is everybody too comfortable with the checks? Yeah, it starts, believe it or not, it's going to have to start in the grassroots program. That's where it's going to have to start to change the mindset of these athletes who I think along the way kind of lose the love of the game. If AAU, they're playing five, six games in a freaking weekend.

Stop. You know, it's like, give them, put them in motion to how the game is supposed to be appreciated and attacked. If you're playing four or five games in a weekend, you're not playing hard every game. There's no way, like, I'm going to protect them there. How are you going to play lights out five times straight over a period of two days? Really?

It's not going to work. And then you got the guys that, look, I think it's a lot of great AAU coaches. There's a lot of guys that's just there for the yes man. They're just there to get that balloon payment at the end.

You know, that relationship. And so they don't really give them the answers that they need. They're always yes, yes, yes. They never really put them in their place when they're wrong. And I think a lot of these kids get harmed by that.

That's why. They come to the NBA and they come to the NBA what? After one year of college. And so now that mental toughness, that understanding that they're going to have to deal with playing against grown men now. One year removed from high school and now you're playing against grown men. It's a huge adjustment to make. And I think the game has changed because of that. Coaches have had to really change how they view the game and how they coach the game because of the really immaturity of players. Can you throw the ball into the post? Come on man, you see it.

See it every night. They struggled even throw the ball in. One dribble left, one dribble right.

Get a better angle. All the things that you would have been taught in college. They have missed out on it. Greg Popovich came out the other day and said it. He said the fundamentals of these young players, you know, are not at the level that they should be. And I think that's where it starts.

And I think if we do that, we'll have a better game. Eddie Johnson here with us, the JR sport b-show on CBS Sports Radio to start to wrap things up here. Some of the most talented and developed players. We know that the rosters for the All-Star were announced yesterday. We got the reserves. There's some players that got left off. Guys like Sabonis and the Trae Youngs of the world. What are your thoughts on how the rosters have been constructed?

We know it's an exhibition. What do you think about someone like Sabonis not making the squad? Well, I hurt for him. I hurt for him. I hurt for De'Aaron Fox.

You know, I hurt for a lot of guys, man, that's having tremendous years that they're not going to sniff it. You know, Oklahoma City. I mean, should they have two players on there? Probably. Minnesota does.

Like, yeah. I mean, the Knicks got two on there at the All-Star game. Boston got there too. Probably should have gotten three. We saw one year where Atlanta had four. So don't tell me that that's not doable.

I really, like, want to reward Winnie. Like, we've all heard these excuses. And I epitomize the frustration of an All-Star game. Like, for a period of time after my career, I was the highest scoring player in the history of the game, never made an All-Star game. And people were like, I got attention on the All-Star break, and people brought that up. Now, Jamal Crawford's going to get that attention.

But it's not great attention. I guess many years I should have made it. One year I was averaging over 22 points off the bench in 26 minutes. Now, 26 minutes, man! And I still can't make it shooting 50%?

41 from 3? Can't make it? Pat Riley said, well, what does it say about our game if a guy that plays off the bench makes the All-Star team?

Well, probably I shouldn't be on the damn bench. So I get it, man, the frustration, man, of not making it. But, you know, what those guys have to do, man, is just move forward and keep fighting the fight. Because there's players on that team that, you know, they're losing, and they made the All-Star team. But yet, they'll change it. They'll change the goalposts, you know, to make the, you know, well, you know, they're great. You know, it's legacy. No, no, no, no, no, no. You get rewarded for winning.

That's what we've been taught. And so I'm not going to say names. You can run off names, right? Guys that's on losing teams right now in the All-Star game.

I don't buy that. Eddie Johnson, certainly with all your experience, six-man, 17 years, winning a championship out with Olympiacos. Man, I appreciate the time. I know you're on Suns TV, you're podcasting, you're on Sirius, you're doing it all. Where can people follow you in all your good work, man? Jumpshot 8, easy.

Jumpshot 8 on my Twitter, on my Instagram, and they know I'm very active on there in my responses. You know, J.R., it used to be a time as an athlete, you had to watch what you had to say back, you know, to these guys that I call them. I call them water boys, couch potatoes, okay? And if you know the game like you do, there's no way you're in that category. But I want people to understand and learn the game before they get on social networking and start criticizing guys that's been in the game a long time.

Do your homework first, and I applaud you for what you do, man. That's why I enjoy being on the show, and that's where they can reach me. Thank you, Eddie. I appreciate it. Next time, we've got to dive a little bit deeper into former athletes who have jumped into media because that's a whole different conversation. We're going to talk about that next time, Eddie.

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Yeah, Graybar does that. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. It's the J.R. Sportbrief show here on CBS Sports Radio. Well, thank you so much. Eddie Johnson joining us on the last break to talk some hoops.

Appreciate that. And now we're coming back with a little bit of Mr. Vegas. We know the NFL is getting ready to head on to Vegas. We got the Super Bowl coming a week and two days.

At this point, about a week and a day, by the time this day is finished. And we're going to have these Kansas City Chiefs taking on the San Francisco 49ers. You know, one of the earliest statements that Eddie Johnson made involved LeBron James. He talked about LeBron and whether or not he was going to be traded, stick around, what have you. I think we both came to the conclusion that maybe one day, yes, LeBron James will decide to move on from the Los Angeles Lakers.

Although that day might not be today. And one of the things that Eddie said was, LeBron is doing this, this playing basketball because he loves the game. He doesn't have to do this for money. LeBron James has a net worth of one billion dollars. He ain't hurting for money. He's not hurting for cash. For a dude at one point in his life had nothing, had to bounce from home to home to home to home. Not too bad of a lifestyle for LeBron James. And so he got all the money in the world. And who knows, maybe LeBron James will pop up at the Super Bowl. Possibly.

We know it's going to take place in Vegas. And there was a story that kind of got the, went on the rounds today. And it was about Christian McCaffrey's mom.

Yes, you heard that correctly. Christian McCaffrey's mom. Christian McCaffrey we know traded from the Carolina Panthers here now on the 49ers. It's probably their best offensive weapon at 1,400 yards rushing, almost 1,500 yards rushing.

Also had 14 touchdowns. And he also is in the middle of a 64 million dollar contract. Now if you're familiar with any of this celebrity stuff. He also has a model fiance, Olivia Culpo. And she has a net worth of between seven and ten million dollars. It's like a power couple, right? You would think so. Except for Christian McCaffrey's mom, who by the way is married to Ed.

Ed McCaffrey used to play for the Giants and won a couple of Super Bowls for the Broncos. Yes, you would think that they are very familiar with, I don't know, money and millions of dollars. Well, they sat down on her podcast, which is just called Your Mom. And she basically said that they don't have enough money to afford a suite at the Super Bowl. Because the suites are going for between two and three million dollars.

This is what the mother had to say. We looked into a suite and none of us can afford it. Not even Christian, money bags are there.

And nor money bags Olivia. So we are not in a suite, I'll tell you that right now. We did negotiate like an area, I don't exactly understand what it is. But anyway, we are in there. And part of the problem is I wanted eight tickets together because I felt strongly about everybody being together. So anyway, long story short, they're outrageously expensive. They're stupid expensive.

I don't know if it's the Taylor Swift factor, if it's the first time. There's so much going on. OK. And so a lot of people question that. And you could be financially responsible. I mean, yeah.

OK, sure. You make sixty four million dollars. Half of that is going to the tax man. You could say the same thing for Olivia Cooper. You can also say this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Maybe they have other investments. If they wanted to, I'm sure they could drop two or three and say, man, we might never go back to a Super Bowl. Let's have this experience for the family.

Let's all go watch Christian. It's a possibility, right? Now, on the other hand, you can say that that's an obnoxious amount of money and we are not going to pay it. Well, I guess it's it's not a lot of money for them. They have it because Olivia Cooper went on social media and said. It's fake news. Happy birthday, Lisa McCaffrey.

I bought you a sweet. And so all is now, I guess, well in the world. And this is this is a wild story. You know, Ryan, we talked about this earlier, and I think we both are we in agreement that I think they try the. This is this is a mom being a mom, right? They didn't expect her to go on a podcast and talk about what they can or cannot afford. Right. They they didn't. They were probably trying to surprise her and say, hey, we can't afford it. And she went blabbing to the public. I see. Yeah, that story checks out right. It wasn't said like an obnoxious or woe is me. At least I didn't take it that way from Christian McCaffrey's mother. So I think it was genuine. I've just we tried. Couldn't do it. Yes. But then to have Olivia Cooper say it's the fake news.

I got you a sweet. It just reeks of like there's nothing positive that comes out of this story. Like, why is this public? Because his mom went on social media, went on a podcast, his mom.

And she's just like, oh, yeah, we they can't afford a sweet. The guy who's making sixty four million dollars. And oh, yeah, by the way, he had a contract before that.

He's probably going to have another contract and a supermodel that they can't shell out this money. And I just think it's a case of I don't want to say parents just don't understand, but it's it's like oversharing. I mean, we talked about it last night when it came down to Tom Brady's dad.

Why are you taking a crap on Bill Belichick at all times now? And so I know we talked about a LeBron James looking for accountability from the media and all everybody that talked about Joel Embiid not playing and not being healthy enough to play. And and we're all those people now apologizing. We got parents now. Chatting.

Right. We got players who have podcasts. We have mothers who have podcasts. We have fathers who are dumping on coaches.

Let's take it a step further. Hickey, do you remember maybe two seasons ago when Odell Beckham Jr. wanted to get out of Cleveland? Remember when his dad was on Twitter, like tweeting out plays and videos where Baker didn't get the ball to Odell? Do you remember that?

He made a highlight reel, a highlight reel of all the times Odell was open and Baker didn't look his way. And didn't they have, correct me, didn't they ask or have LeBron James also tweet and share this out? That you may that I do not recall. You may be right. Sounds familiar. Yeah.

I think even LeBron James, I think, just tweeted it or retweeted. I could be wrong there. But it's I don't know. We've advanced so far in media that it's not just we won or we lost the game. We've now reached the point of we lost the game. And so instead of, you know, mom, I feel like it's high school. You know, mom or dad are at the game and you lose and mom and dad step out onto the court and they give the coach a piece of their mind or they want to curse out the referees. And now we can do it.

We can do it online. Like it's a little much, man. Don't you think there is definitely like the line? Yeah, it's there are no secrets anymore, which is in some cases good. Right. Gives us some juicy details and content to talk about.

Other times like this, it's just like. Who really cares personally, like, do I care where the McCaffrey family is sitting for the game? I do not. I'm pretty sure you can watch the game anywhere in the stadium, not in a suite and be OK. But yeah, you got to be separate from.

No, you got to. It's it's it's a communal thing, right? You got to have the eight seats, the 10 seats and a suite. You you don't want to just sit everybody in a row because then you can't talk to each other and you can't show phones and take selfies. You can't do that with the common people. And you got to go to the bathroom at the common folk, God forbid. You know, imagine Mr. Ed, Ed.

Imagine him going to the bathroom right next to me or you. Ed McCaffrey can't do it. He couldn't do it.

And by the last time I looked, he made millions of dollars in the NFL, too. Yeah. This this had to be just a 3D chess by the mom. You think like putting pressure on Christian to do it? I don't think the mom would be that. She'd be a jerk if she did that right. We I'm not saying she's Kris Jenner.

She seems very nice, but we've seen plenty of mothers. Kind of throw family at the window. Oh, throw family out for financial gain and benefit. Right.

Put the financial gain, put the money, put the fame, the attention over blood. So you think she tried to run a guilt trip here? I don't think so. But when you said like, oh, maybe this was a surprise that was ruined. I would say it's more that.

But it could be on the other other side. She knows, hey, look, this gets out. Pressure's on Christian.

Get the job done. Yeah, well, I find it very pointed that Olivia Kupo said, surprise, I got the sweet. Not that Christian pitched in or that Ed decided to step out of retirement. I don't want he's doing probably playing golf somewhere. Not that we all chipped in and we got a sweet.

Olivia Kupo's like, I got the sweet. Well, Christian have to pay. It's not going to be in it. You got to take care of the family, right? He's marrying this lady. I mean, two million dollars for a suite to watch you play a game. I'll say the place you look pretty good to me. That's his fiance. You got a hundred.

That looks good for a lot less money. Listen, I mean, you got to you got to keep the wife, the fiancee happy. It's the part of the job. It's the J.R. sport re-show here on CBS Sports Ready. When we come back on the other side, we're going to talk more about money. Jacksonville Jaguars want money. NFL is in Vegas. There's going to be people gambling away money.

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