David Shepard, Infinity Sports Network Host

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Hyundai. There's joy in every journey. Hey, Shep. How are you, man? I'm doing good, man. It's great to hear you on the other side of this thing for a change, man. How you been, my friend? The other side of what?

Well, you know, the other side of being a guest instead of just being the annoying guy in your ear or trying to retort one of your positions. So it's great to be on with you, man. How you been, my friend? Not at all.

I'm good. Well, I mean, we talked about this from even earlier this year. It's like, hey, by the time we get into the nuts and bolts of the postseason and the NBA and here we are staring at the finals, we were going to have this chat on air instead of doing it privately. And I guess the first question to you is, Ramona Shelburne, a few minutes ago, she used to say, hey, I got the Mavs because they got the top two players in the finals.

What do you see out of this finals, man? Well, JR, we're talking about an individual that has seven 50-point games for the Boston Celtics. He's an old NBA's first team guy for three straight years. I would hate to say that Jason Tatum is not one of the top two guys in this series.

I understand the clutch factor of Kyrie Irving, but Jason Tatum is still second banana in this NBA finals to, of course, Luka Doncic. But, JR, to me, it's about the role players. It's about Derek Fively. It's about Daniel Gafford. It's about P.J.

Washington. It's about Derek Jones. And the Mavs have a better supporting cast. Not to mention, JR, the path to getting to this point. The Mavs have played three 50-win teams while the Celtics have played a loaf of bread and, you know, some healthy guys here and there, right?

So we're talking about the conventional wisdom. I'm going to tell you, the team that has the tougher path, they've been challenged more. I'm not going against this Dallas Mavericks squad. You saw what they did to the up-and-coming Minnesota Timberwolves. Yeah, I would venture to say that I would look at the Boston Celtics as having more depth when you immediately think about the guards that they have and whether it's Wyatt and Drew Holliday.

And then, you know, Porzingis. I mean, I don't know if I should expect anything from him, but I think the Celtics might have a more well-rounded, experienced team. So my thing is, besides Al Horford, who can you trust off that Celtics bench? You know what Harding's going to give you. You know what Josh Green's going to give you.

You know Derek Lively, what he's going to give you. Yes, J.R., the Celtics are top-heavy. They have the best starting five in the NBA. But outside of Al Horford and Peyton Pritchard, what are you getting off of that bench? And not to mention the fact that Jason Tatum is afraid of the big moments and Jalen Brown has butterfingers more than he does clutch fingers in fourth quarters of NBA Finals games.

So I'm going with the clutch factor. You know, Kyrie Irving, at 25 years old, was delivering multiple 40-point games, something Kareem, something Kobe, couldn't even tell you. And so with that in mind, J.R., yes, the Celtics are a 64-win team. Yes, they had a 14-game-back gap between them and the New York Knicks. But there's something about playing in the big moments on the final stage that, outside a true holiday, I don't exactly trust in anybody playing in Boston right now. Yeah, David Shepherd is joining us, an Infinity Sports Network host.

You talk about the depth of both teams and franchises. You talk about Kyrie Irving. What are you expecting from this man here in this series? This is almost a second lease in life for him. What are you expecting from him? J.R., I mean, you're talking about a guy that was averaging 16 points per game in the Western Conference semifinals and that figured that the Thunder had his number.

And then this guy puts it on a different gear. And we knew when the pressure was mounting and the heartbeat was moving a little faster and the bounce of the ball was going a little higher, it was Kyrie Irving that came up with 24 first-half points in game number one of the Western Conference finals. J.R., that's what set the tone for the Dallas Mavericks in that series. Kyrie Irving knows when to pick a spot. We're talking about an individual that went for double-digit fourth-quarter points in both game number two and game number three in the Western Conference finals.

And so what that tells me, J.R., is this guy is cold-blooded. He will get it done. He will elevate his game. And there's a reason why he had a ho-hum 36 points in the closeout game versus the Minnesota Timberwolves.

We're going to get the guy that should have been honored as one of the top 75 players of all time. I still believe the NBA is kicking themselves from not making that decision happen. O'Shea, when you talk, well, we know there's quite a few reasons Kyrie wasn't put in that list.

And a lot of it is, I'll just say some of his stances and behavior. But LeBron James made it very clear today that he missed his plan with Kyrie Irving. And LeBron James sat down and said this on his podcast with J.J. Redick. I know, correct me if I'm wrong, did you not say anybody could coach the Lakers, including yourself? You said that, right?

I think I heard that. J.R., I said I can coach the Lakers. I didn't say I can coach them to an NBA championship. But what I will be able to coach them is getting past one game.

And that's what they won. More than you, more than Ryan Hickey, more than myself combined in these NBA playoffs. You talk about two top 75 all-time players. LeBron, I understand he's towards the end of his career. The guy's still at the tail end of his prime. Anthony Davis is in the smack-dad middle of his prime. What I'm saying is, you better believe that the second best player on my team in the NBA playoffs is not challenging the infrastructure of what we consist of defensively and offensively. That would never happen. That would never fly. J.R., if a player talked about me like that, in the middle of a freaking series, I would sit their ass down. I don't care if it's Mr. Anthony Davis himself.

Okay. And David Shepherd is joining us. Infinity Sports Network host. What do you think J.J. Riddick, and sure, the ink isn't dry and it's being alleged that they're still taking a deep dive. I think at this point we'd all be shocked if it wasn't J.J. Riddick.

What do you think about him getting a chance and an opportunity when he's really never coached anything? J.R., Lakers are about stars. The Lakers are about individuals that ultimately, it's a Pat Riley-like move.

So they knew that Paul Westhead was an individual that was not going to move the meter. And so the Lakers, they did their thing in terms of really making sure that they had the right name and the right brand to go with the Lakers squad in the 80s to really fit the superstars. I've never heard of this before, but yet LeBron James, he's unprecedented to begin with in terms of his NBA career. So what he went out was he's going to convince Lakers fans through this podcast that apparently no one watches, but everybody watches, right, that J.J. Riddick is going to be the guy. And to me, J.R., everything I'm hearing, he is the favorite to land this job. You look at individuals like Steve Kerr, Mark Jackson, even to some extent Steve Nash, guys can make that transition right away from never coaching, never being an assistant coach, never being in the front office, to ultimately in the right situation doing well with the right players as long as the stars believe in said head coach.

And you don't want anybody believing in you. But LeBron James and J.J. Riddick has that in spades. And the fact that, you know, Anthony Davis with clutch sports and him being so close with LeBron James, that's going to then follow suit. But, J.R., to me, if you are the head coach of the LeBron James team in the NBA, your shelf life is two years. Darvin Hand made the Western Conference Finals a year later, he's gone. Frank Vogel won an NBA championship two years later, he's gone. J.J. Riddick, if you are listening to the J.R. sport brief right now, understand you may be the favorite to land this job, but you're also going to be the favorite to get the boot in two years as well.

And David Shepherd is joining us. And Shep, I gotta be honest here, you talk about getting the boot. There might be an opportunity for you to fight. You don't want Mike Tyson or Jake Paul, does it matter which one it is? So can I just say to your audience right now, you are such a freaking good dude and good sport for even entertaining the notion of me thinking I can get in a ring with Mike Tyson.

And you put up with that crap for so long, me just talking out of both sides of my mouth with that. Let me just be real about that. There is no way in hell that David Shepherd could get in a ring with Mike Tyson if Mike Tyson trains, Mike Tyson would take my head off. Now, where I'm coming from, J.R., anything you do in life, you are a living testimony to this. If you are going to do something, you've got to first believe that there is nobody out there that can do it better than you.

It doesn't even matter whether that aligns with actuality or not. That's the mindset you have to have. So I'm going to convince myself that if I ever have an opportunity to do an exhibition fight with Mike Tyson, hopefully it's for a good cause.

Special Olympics, I know rings near and dear to your heart, J.R., that would be an instance where I have to convince myself before getting into a ring. So that's all that is. Okay. You hyping yourself up. Okay.

That's all it is. Because, J.R., let me tell you something. There is no way you could have told me that the Miami Heat as an eight seed would have been able to beat the Boston Celtics last year in the Eastern Conference Finals. And they'd see J.R. But you know what? You've got to believe it before anything else comes to fruition.

And that's the key to life. How else do you explain how, you know, Snoop Dogg became a Minnesota Timberwolves fan all of a sudden? That's your boy, by the way. What's he doing moving for the Timberwolves? He's not. He's not. He's not jumping.

He's just enjoying a basketball game, just like everything else. Hey, Hickey, you got any two cents you want to kind of put in here? This is a meeting of the mind set. I don't want to interrupt and be the kind of third wheel here. No. No third wheel.

Go ahead. None? You don't have nothing?

The guy said he had to hype himself up to think he could beat Mike Tyson. Nothing. Something. I'm afraid. I don't want to say anything now all of a sudden. Now I find myself learning with Mike Tyson. So I'm going to let Chef take that battle by himself. I appreciate that.

You know, JR, it's funny, man. I just got back from my sister's wedding. And I'm going to say this on the air on your show. If I'm never lucky enough to be privileged to walk down the aisle and have somebody that I want to invest and spend the rest of my life in, more importantly, you and Ryan Hickey are both coming.

So just be prepared for that. And I just want to say... A wedding? You invited Hickey and I to a wedding live on the air? I am inviting you guys to my wedding. Whenever that happens, you guys are both amazing dudes.

Is it going to happen or is this lip service? No, it's a great question. You know, I'm going to have to do a quick Q&A with Sophia to really come to a conclusion with that. But in all seriousness, man, I'm on such a high right now because I just watched my little sister get married. And so of all times to ask me about fighting Mike Tyson, there is no chance in hell I'm going to tell you, if you put me in a ring with I am Mike, that I'm not going to give myself an ounce of credit to be able to ultimately overcome him. I know Buster Douglas, everyone had him losing that fight.

We know 1990 was a very different story and circumstance than most anticipated. Okay. You said you want to hide for a minute.

I thought Aaron Rodgers, but I'm glad it's because of the sisters wedding. Hey, Shep, I appreciate the time, man. Where can people listen and find you here on the Infinity Sports Network now? Well, thank you, JR. You can always find me every Saturday and Sunday morning, 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Eastern time. You can follow me on social media at Shep On Air and just continue to listen to JR Sportbreef because I would not be where I am in my career, in my life without this man. And special shout out to Ryan Hickey and I love you both, man. Thank you for having me, JR. Well, now what's going to happen, we're going to hang up on you and now we're going to talk crap about you, okay?

You wouldn't do that, but I love you anyway. Well, we're going to do it live on the air so you don't have to worry about it, okay? And Shep, where can people find you online, man? Sounds good, man.

Shep On Air, any social media platform. I love you, JR. Thank you so much for having me. I love you back, Shep.

Enjoy and now me and Ryan are going to talk about your wedding on air, so just stay tuned. You can hang up and now we're going to talk about you, okay? That's the deal, man. Have a great day, my man.

We'll be right back. The bigger the fight, the better the reward. You put in the hours, the energy, the tough labor. You are a fighter and Medela is your reward. Medela, the mark of a fighter. Responsibly, beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, Illinois.