JR SportBrief Hour 1

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For trusted protection trust Pampers, the number one pediatrician recommended brand. It is the JR Sportbree show here with you on the infinity sports network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Much love and many thanks to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America. Super producer and host Ryan Hickey is holding it down for us in New York City and you, you could be anywhere, but I'm glad that you're here. You can always listen on the free Odyssey app. You can lock in on your local infinity sports network affiliate Sirius XM channel 158.

And if you got a smart speaker, all you have to do is ask that speaker to play the infinity sports network. This is when I get started every single weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern three Pacific. What a day. What a weekend. Well, just a lot going on. Just about an hour ago, JJ Reddick was formally introduced as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

We'll get into that next hour. Of course, tonight, game seven, everybody loves a game seven. I don't care what sport it is.

It could be baseball, basketball, man. But tonight it's game seven of the Stanley Cup finals. We're finally going to have a winner between Edmonton, who's been hot, and Florida, which is, dare I say, Florida's been cold.

The Panthers have. And so we'll talk about that busy weekend with Kaitlyn Clark and Andrew Reese news. What else is new?

I had a chance to see Kaitlyn Clark up close and personal on Friday, so we'll get into that. Just more news as well. The Cleveland Cavaliers have a new head coach.

It appears in Kenny Atkinson to the shock of no one. It appears that Scottie Barnes is not going anywhere from the Toronto Raptors. The Dallas Cowboys are in the news.

Why? Because it appears that Mike McCarthy isn't necessarily happy with his his work conditions. And Ty Dunn is going to join us from Golong TV to talk everything Dallas Cowboys.

The Packers, it looks like they actually have a plan that works. They have their next can't call them owner, but they have their next president and CEO all lined up for them over the weekend. Pretty wild stuff. Matthew Stafford's wife, I think he needs to tell her to stop podcasting.

J.J. Reddick says he's done podcasting, at least for a while, while he's coaching. And so we got a lot to discuss, a lot to get into. And how about this? What a crazy world we live in. Things are so busy right now in the sports world, it's not even a thought that the NBA draft is two days away. Two days. Yeah, that nobody nobody's thinking about it. It's just like, are the Hawks going to keep or are they going to trade the number one pick?

Nobody knows anything. And so we're going to talk about it all. If you want to participate in the show, it's simple. 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. You can also find me online. I am everywhere on the Internet. I am all over the place. I am at J.R. Sportbrief.

Super producer and host Ryan Hickey. How are you doing this beautiful, I guess, hot, warm Monday? Did you have a good weekend?

I did. Weekend was a lot of fun. I'm fired up for tonight. Game seven.

I mean, this is we could be seeing history. And imagine being 60 minutes away from winning a championship if you're a Panthers fan and then just seeing it unravel four games in a row. Man, this I'm disappointed in the Panthers.

And this is why. And you would think with all the momentum, the Oilers have had to win the past three games. Florida won the first three games. And the Oilers, it's not like they've gone out there and have barely just, quote unquote, skated by. The Oilers won eight to one, five to three. This past Friday, after I pretty much lamented the fact of the fact of the Panthers having to fly back all the way to Edmonton, they laid another egg. They flew from Miami to Edmonton and got smashed five to one on Friday and then had to take a plane ride back, knowing that they could they could do something that, as Hickey just mentioned, hasn't been done.

OK, since 1945, this is the first time since 1945 a game seven has been played after a team took a 3 0 lead. So the Florida Panthers have an opportunity to make history for the wrong damn time. If the Panthers do win, this is going to be their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

This is I don't want to call it hilarious, but this is just embarrassing. Momentum says that the Oilers will win and that the Panthers will choke unless with their backs up against the wall, they finally wake up. A matter of fact, don't take my word for it. Panthers captain Alexander Barkov. He said tonight's game seven.

Yeah, legacy defined. We have one one thing on our mind to to play our best game. And that's about it. Like we have a unbelievable opportunity to to win the cup. But our mindset is to play our best game starting from the first shift. And that's that's about it. That's all we think about. You better figure out a way to stop Connor McDavid.

How about that? This man has 11 points in the whole series. This is the second most in series history. And you want to know who he's behind?

Some guy you might have heard of them. They nicknamed him the great one. It's called or he's called Wayne Gretzky. And so if you don't give a damn about hockey, if you're not a fan, if you want to know about hockey, tonight is the game to watch.

Because this is for all the marbles. And Connor McDavid, he's one of the greats. He's an active great.

And this is what he had to say about getting ready to fly from Edmonton down to Miami to win this game seven. Well, you got to prepare just like you always do. You know, obviously it's not your ordinary game.

Everybody understands that. But you got to make it as ordinary as possible in your in your head. You know, I think part of that is just sticking to your routine. I was sticking to the routine. There's no such routine. Hickey, do you know anybody's routine who goes from Miami to Edmonton and back and forth? Do you know anybody who does that? No, I do not. Shocking. I don't know anybody who does that.

I don't know anybody who does that by choice. They're doing this to hoist the cup. And we just said this, the Oilers to win the last three games in beat down fashion for having won the first three games. If you're Florida, I said momentum has to be on the side of the Oilers.

It has to be. And so for the Panthers right now, whatever you got to say to hype yourselves up, I guess you just go out there and do it. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, he said, yeah, losing eight to one, five to three and then five to one has no impact. None, none whatsoever on what's going to take place tonight.

I'm not concerned about the past at all, George. We'll do our plan is set. Started last night after the game, met this morning, did video, do the same tomorrow, get ready to play.

I know it's three three. So the concern of the previous three games certainly didn't affect Edmonton and won't affect us. OK, this is this is an element of coach's lie.

This is just what it is. We have what we have worked into a space of coaches will just tell you anything just to get to the game. This man has to be sitting in his locker room, dropping every expletive possible just to get his guys ready. This man has to be sitting in the locker room saying everything to get his guys together because you don't walk into a Stanley Cup.

Go up 3-0. Game seven is forced against you. The series is tied 3-3 and everything is fine.

That's that's not how it occurs. And so the Oilers head coach, Chris Knoblauch, on the other hand, they're on a three game winning streak. He says, we ready. I think players have had their backs up against the wall since November. It's a couple of playoff series and definitely the last three or four games here. But our goal is here to win our last game of the season. Oh, of course, that's something that he's going to say, of course. Like he's on a three game winning streak.

Where's his pressure? You know, I've talked so much about flying from Miami to Edmonton and who wants to do that? What about the team that goes from Edmonton, the Oilers, and they end up down in Miami?

They don't have to travel like the Boston Celtics did last week. And Hickey, by the way, Boston Celtics, this has to have been. And I saw the crowds. I saw people throwing beer.

I saw that Brown lost his ring and now he's trying to find it. This was the quietest parade I feel like in the past five years for any sports team, any of them. Could not agree more. I mean, you go just to last year, the Nuggets parade and Michael Malone specifically. And the day he had himself, what he was saying, I mean, no one even looked visibly intoxicated. No, I don't think anybody was strong. Maybe, oh well, I mean. Everyone could have drove home that night.

The BAC was low enough. Who could have drove home? Everyone there. Yeah, everybody. Player wise, at least. Joe Missoula looked like he had fun for him, right?

You see him hopping around, by the way, in that Tormaniscus? Well, he had on his basketball shorts and his T-shirt. I mean, whatever gets the job done. Nobody got Tom Brady drunk, although I did see Al Horford decided to wear a drunk Tom Brady T-shirt, which is nice. And so, look, we know before the Celtics had their parade, they flew to Miami. I'm sure a couple of them had some libations and they flew back. In the case of Edmondson, you ain't win nothing yet, but how sweet would it be to fly back to Miami and just finish the job? You don't have to travel. You don't have to worry.

You don't have to fly from Edmondson. I don't know where the hell they go. Vegas, maybe? I don't know. What do hockey players do after they win the Cup? Besides, take the Cup all over the world, Dickey. Do they party?

What do they do? Oh, yeah. I feel like they drink a lot of beer. I mean, that Cup is going to be filled constantly. Anybody gotten sick off of that yet? Good question.

Not that I'm aware of. We wouldn't know, would we? That's also true. You can't be the guy that, yeah, I got sick because I drank out of the Cup.

I think that's why we just bite the bullet. Some guy just wakes up with mono, right? Blame it on something else. It can't be from the Cup. No way. I remember Sam Darnold had mono. When was that? October, right? So I don't think the Stanley Cup was still being passed around. October?

Sam Darnold? Was it September? Was it early in the year? It was a couple years ago. Right. So I meant like when it happened. So it's like I think it was early in the season, so I don't think the Cup was still being passed around by that point. But hey, maybe he was one of the last ones to drink out of it before it went back to his home.

I'm talking about the New York Jets quarterback, Sam Darnold. Right. The Cup? What Cup? What Cup was he drinking out of? He never won a thing in his life.

The Stanley Cup? Well, maybe he's friends with someone on the team back then. No, I know how he got mono, okay? Oh, you got sources, huh? Interesting. No, I've been in spaces with him, okay?

Oh, you know how he operates. I think I might, oh, I'm not confirming anything. Okay. Hypothetically, of course, we're talking.

Yeah, I don't need no lawsuits. I'm not sure about anything. I gotcha.

I have my thoughts. So the Stanley Cup, you can say, is not to blame for his mono diagnosis? No.

Okay. I can't tell you the last thing Sam Darnold's ever won. He may not, I mean, the last thing, well, he might win as a starting quarterback job for the Minnesota Vikings, but after that, what are you expecting him to win? Nothing. Backup city for Sam Darnold.

Congratulations. Sam Darnold got, it's a shame he got more attention on this show for mononucleosis as opposed to being a good quarterback. Guess you got to be known for something, right?

That and seeing ghosts. That's true. Yeah, poor Sam Darnold. Anyway, congratulations to the Edmonton Oilers for even staying alive. I expected this series to be done a long, long time ago, and here we are, game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. So we'll keep you up to date when the game gets going in a few hours. It won't conclude while I'm here on air, but we will get you going.

And there's a lot that we need to get into as the show continues on. I told you, the Los Angeles Lakers, they formally introduced J.J. Redick. Scottie Barnes has a new deal. It appears that Mike McCarthy is already sick and tired of Jerry Jones.

Edwin Diaz last night accused the cheating. Scottie Scheffler wins despite climate protesters slowing down the Travelers Championship. The NBA draft is a few days away.

The Packers, they have a thought and an idea about their future from a management perspective. We got a lot to get into. And oh, yeah, by the way, Kaitlyn Clark and Angel Reese played another game yesterday, right?

This is a gigantic rivalry, if you haven't heard of them. We're going to talk about it all. Let's get into Angel Reese and Kaitlyn Clark on the other side of the break.

I told you I had an opportunity to see her or her being Kaitlyn Clark here in Atlanta on Friday. We'll get into that. We'll talk J.J. Redick, get into the Cowboys, Scottie Barnes and Kenny Atkinson. We just got a lot to do. Happy Monday to you.

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That's 855-212-4227. We talked about the big game seven taking place tonight where we will crown a Stanley Cup champion. We got the Edmonton Oilers down in Sunrise, Florida, hopefully getting ready for their perspective, getting ready to sweep the Panthers on their way to a cup after being down 3-0 in this series. That's tonight. We've had a big weekend in the world of sports.

This is a game that was, this is a series that people expected to kind of finish up quite some time ago. And here we are. So we'll take a look at that game seven tonight. Yesterday, I'll go back a little bit further and the phone lines are open.

That's 855-212-4227. You know, over the weekend, on Friday afternoon, Friday evening, I had an opportunity to sit down and watch Kaitlyn Clark. Kaitlyn Clark was here in Atlanta, took on the Atlanta Dream, packed out State Farm Arena, almost 18,000 strong. And I would say the majority of the fans who showed up wanted to see Kaitlyn Clark. And I guess they got their money's worth because the Indiana Fever came down and it was only a 10-point game for the most part. But this, it was just an ass-whoop. Let me put it to you that way.

The Atlanta Dream, they're not a good squad. And this entire night was about Kaitlyn Clark. And there were, you could really understand how much money and revenue she's generating.

How much attention. And so the game, it was 91-79. Kaitlyn finished with 16 points, 7 assists, not huge numbers, but she had a good game. Knocked down one of her patented threes and everybody here in Atlanta went home happy. Unless you were a fan of the Atlanta Dream. And so we fast forward to yesterday and Atlanta, excuse me, Kaitlyn Clark's team, the Fever, they were in Chicago taking on an Angel Reese.

What else is new? Close game, 88-87. Kaitlyn had 17 points. Angel Reese put up 25 points in 16 rebounds. Now I don't care if you've never watched WNBA basketball, those are big numbers, okay? She's the first person to do this since Asia Wilson did it in 2018. Yeah, Asia Wilson, multiple time WNBA MVP. And so, Chicago, Angel Reese, they got one on Kaitlyn Clark, okay? And then after the game, Angel Reese, who's been on a double-double streak now of 8 games, Angel Reese was on ESPN and she was asked if this was a rivalry now between her and Kaitlyn Clark.

Take a listen. This is a good competition. I'm happy. I mean, they still got us. They got one up on us. I'm just happy for the team and I want to make it about us. I just want our team.

Chicago, they came out tonight, so I'm just happy for us. Oh, I wish she would pick one. What an amazing game she had.

What an amazing streak she's been on. But this is the same woman who two weeks ago was saying that she wants people to pay attention to her because people are showing up to see her too. And I'm just, Hickey, am I on drugs? Possibly.

But am I? Like, did she not say that two weeks ago? Oh, she did. Right. It's not just about one person. It was her direct quote. It's not just about one person. People are showing up to see me too.

Whoa. And then after you beat her last night, I don't know. Maybe, maybe this will be the line that she walks into the future. It's about the team and not about me or her. I doubt it though. Maybe two weeks from now she's going to be saying, why is she getting the attention?

I deserve it too. Kaitlyn Clark. She talked about Angel Reese. So she was asked about her after the game.

25.16 rebounds. Kaitlyn Clark was like, yeah, she was a bully. I thought she ran really well in transition.

I think she got a couple and ones in transition. Obviously, she played a really great game. I think they definitely knew to be physical with us. I think they probably watched the dream film and saw that we fouled them nonstop.

Yeah. And Kaitlyn Clark, a lot of debate about what she did and what she did not do down the stretch. She basically did not see the basketball in crunch time. She finished with 17.6 rebounds and 13 assists.

Okay. That's an Indiana Fever record. Kaitlyn Clark did it big too, except for her team lost.

And at the end of the game, well, she ain't see the rock. And she talked about how, yeah, we all just stunk at the end of the game. I just felt like we didn't execute. It just felt like we kind of let them take them. When they went on a little run, we could never find a way to respond. You know, that's what happens in basketball runs.

So you got to find a way to always respond. And I don't think we executed any sort of set. Yeah, that's what happens in basketball. Okay. And so Andrew Reese says it's not a rivalry. Come on.

Ask the fans. And I get it. Kaitlyn Clark said it's a rivalry to everybody except for us. You know, for you and the fans and people online, it's a rivalry for us. It's not.

Well, it is. There's something extra when y'all go up against each other. I mean, even with her team, we saw Kennedy Carter shove her to the ground. We saw Andrew Reese a couple of weeks ago smack her in the head.

Yesterday, we saw Andrew Reese put up an amazing game, 25 points, 16 rebounds. There's a rivalry. Whether y'all want to talk about it or not, there's some beef. And I get it. The WNBA only has 12 teams right now.

All right. How many rivalries can you realistically have? But when you think about geographically, you know, Indiana to Illinois, and you think about the history dating back to college between Andrew Reese and Kaitlyn Clark, there's something there. And what's also going to be interesting is the possibility that these two might play on the All-Star team together. Knowing that we have to have a little bit of a break with the Summer Olympics coming up in Paris, the All-Star game for this year is going to be Team USA versus Team WNBA. And so a lot of the stars who are not on USA basketball will be taken on this team. So we could see Andrew Reese on the receiving end of a give-and-go from Kaitlyn Clark.

We'll see soon enough. 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. That's 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27.

I just think it's ridiculous to not accept this as a rivalry, but I guess that would be Andrew Reese giving Kaitlyn Clark too much credit. Just let's relax a little bit. Todd is calling from Indiana. Todd, you're on the JR Sport Brief Show. What's up?

Hey, JR. How are you? I heard you say you were a fan of that video game NBA Jam. Yeah. I must have said that, I don't know, a month ago, but go ahead.

Yeah, I was listening. I was hoping maybe down the road you could give a top six list of your favorite top six NBA Jam teams. Wait a minute. You want me to give a top six list of imaginary basketball teams in a video game from 30 years ago?

Well, I think the best team was Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson. Okay, Grandmama. From what, Charlotte? Yeah. Okay.

Well, thanks. And I was hoping if you played that game you could tell me the team from Atlanta off the top of your head. Do you know who was on that Atlanta team from NBA Jam? Oh, was it Mookie Blaylock and Kevin Willis? I don't know.

Dikembe? It depends on what year. Well, there was only one video game, but I think Dominick Wilkins was on that team.

In 94? So who was the guard with him? Well, there were three people you could choose from, and I don't remember. I was hoping you could tell me. This is why we have Google, man. Okay? Yeah. Well, I wanted to let you know I was hoping to get a top six list of NBA Jam teams. Yeah.

I liked the game, but I wasn't playing with every team. Okay, Todd? All right.

I think when that game came out there were also 29 teams, possibly? Right. Yeah.

So we've had quite an expansion there, Todd. Well, thank you, man. I appreciate that. Thank you for being a hardcore listener. Yeah, man.

Well, I remember you were giving the top six duos of NBA, and I was kind of curious if any of them would match up to the NBA Jam teams. Okay. Yeah.

I'd have to think about that one, Todd. Thank you so much. All right.

You got it, bub. All right. Cheers. Bye-bye.

Thank you. Hickey, I didn't know I'd be answering questions about NBA Jam. You know, that's some good trivia there, though. Like, he's asking me for NBA Jam duos. I could probably name the duos from every team in 1994, but, I mean, he wants me to do a top six list of basketball video game characters.

I'm not doing that. I love that, Todd, though. I mean, he's a stewed listener, does not forget, and he also doesn't let things go. Like you said, that was, what, a few weeks ago, I think, was the top six duos? And he's right back.

Even, that top six, was it last week, two weeks ago? But the reference to the video game has to go back even further than that, man. He doesn't forget, like an elephant.

Well, good for him. Thank you, Todd. Hey, I got a simple answer as number one. This is, well, this is 1994, so there is no Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

What should I say? Akima Lajuwan and, I don't know, was Clyde over there already? Clyde. There you go.

Simple answer. Done. There's your number one.

Thank you so much, Todd, for calling from Indiana. Hickey, you never played NBA Jam, right? No, sir. I was not around when that game came out.

Oh, man. You missing out? It was amazing. Like, it was really basketball the way it's played today. All you do is dunk the basketball and shoot threes. That's it.

Not bad. That's it. Was it like a black tap?

No, no. You played in the arena. It was 2D. It was 2D basketball.

The players, I guess it was 3D, there was depth to the screen. You know, guys could, you can go up and down the court, left and right. You could, you know, move up and down, I guess, from a TV perspective on the court. And you could just shoot threes. You can go down low and dunk or hit layups. You pass the ball.

It could be intercepted. It was simple. NBA Jam is the reason why I haven't played basketball on a video game in forever because the games nowadays are just too damn complicated. I don't, I can't do this stuff. You got to run and shoot and now you got this stupid stick to do fadeaways and I don't got time for this.

Shoot, pass, block, rebound, steal. Am I missing anything? No. Yeah, that's it. That's it. I guess running is not that, you know, that important. That's it. Running? Yeah, you got to run. You got to move the character, but... Oh, okay. That's fair, I guess. Yeah, that's a given.

You're right. Yeah, I miss, I miss NBA Jam a lot. Well, thank you, Todd, for taking me down memory lane. It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you on the Infinity Sports Network, 855-212-4227. I know he asked me about video game basketball. We're going to take a break.

We come back on the other side. Let's talk about some real NBA action. Toronto, the Raptors didn't exist when NBA Jam came out. This guy didn't exist when NBA Jam came out. His name is Scottie Barnes. He has a new contract with the Toronto Raptors and then the Cleveland Cavaliers. It looks like they're trying to establish themselves in their future. The Cavs have a new head coach and they might bring back Donovan Mitchell. I'm going to give you an update on both on the other side of the break.

At the top of the hour, we're going to talk about the Lakers' newest head coach in J.J. Redick. We have so much to do. After the end of a good fight, you deserve an ice cold reward. Medela, the mark of a fighter. You've earned this rich golden lager with a crisp, refreshing taste. Because you know the bigger the fighter, 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. Frick responsibly.

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That's 855-212-4227. Yeah, shoutouts to everybody doing security. Securing things. People, places, objects, valuables. Much love to the folks holding it down in security.

At the top of the hour we're going to get into the Los Angeles Lakers. As JJ Reddick was formally introduced a little more than an hour ago to the public as the Lakers' newest head coach. And he was not shy. He didn't run away from any of the questions.

Rob Palenka at certain points in time tried to protect him from certain things and he wanted none of it. And so I want to give him credit for how he conducted himself. And I think we might have a few ideas as to how he will be interacting with the media as he moves forward. And one of the most difficult jobs in sports. And that's head coach of the Lakers. Because if you're head coach of the Lakers you have that job today. And you may not have that job not necessarily tomorrow. But a year or two down the line.

They get you the hell up on out of there. And speaking of coaching jobs by the way. Kenny Atkinson back in the driver's seat as a head coach in the NBA. You might remember Kenny Atkinson as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets from 2016 to 2020. And so he basically oversaw the Brooklyn Nets before Kyrie Irving arrived along with Kevin Durant. A matter of fact in that first season with Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant didn't play. He was still recovering from that Achilles surgery. And Kyrie Irving was there. And Kenny Atkinson I guess he didn't want to deal with the politics. He stepped down with a record of 28 and 34. He's like I'm not doing this. And must I remind you back in 2020 there was a whole lot of politics going on outside of basketball.

COVID shots and I can go on and on and on. Kenny Atkinson said I'm not doing this. And he quit if you want to call it that. He was a Clippers assistant for a couple of years. Past two or three seasons he was on the Warriors bench. Was actually an assistant coach when the Golden State Warriors won that championship a couple of seasons ago.

And so Kenny Atkinson who's known to be an X's and O's and development type coach. He's going to get that opportunity and chance to help the Cavaliers develop. We don't know the status of Donovan Mitchell. It's been reported that he will be offered a max contract to stick around with the Cleveland Cavaliers. We don't know if Darius Garland is going to want to stay. I don't think he would.

Why would he? And then you have Mobley and then also Jared Allen who unfortunately was hurt in the postseason. But Jared Allen was on the Brooklyn Nets with Kenny Atkinson. And Jared Allen ironically and Hickey does J.J. Redick have something to do with everything?

Seems like it right? He has his toe dipped in every water now it feels like when it comes to the NBA. He did this podcast to basically interview for his job.

Good for him. Back in February Jared Allen of the Cavaliers was on J.J. Redick's podcast. And Jared Allen talked about how Kenny Atkinson was able to fix the Nets.

Listen to this. Just having everybody buy in. When you get teams like that where the future is iffy you don't know where you're going to go. I mean I feel like it's easy to just go your own way and hope to get traded or you know sign somewhere else's free agency. But I genuinely believe that we were all bought into Kenny and his system and just trying to make things work with what we had.

And it was easy for me at least to do it. It seemed like everybody was buying in having fun willing to get better for the team we had. Oh OK. And then the team went to hell. That's just the facts. I mean Jared Allen was a part of that team early on and then he wasn't.

I think you can blame I don't know some guy named Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving but hey what the hell do I know? Kenny Atkinson gets a chance at shot and opportunity and let's see what he can do with it. Most importantly is Donovan Mitchell going to stick around?

I would certainly think so. Brian Winhorst who knows something about everything. He was on Cleveland radio ESPN radio in Cleveland and he talked about how the Cavaliers got Kenny Atkinson to leave the bench in the Bay Area. My understanding of the events is that you know a week or so ago that James Borrego was seen to be ahead. That his interviews were a little bit more in depth and he had you know he had talked to Donovan Mitchell. Kenny Atkinson has talked to Donovan Mitchell too by the way let me just say that.

And that there was you know support behind Borrego and then I think last Wednesday don't hold me to the exact day. There was a meeting with Dan Gilbert and after that the Cavs were no longer leaning towards Borrego and were moving towards Atkinson. And by Friday it was pretty clearly favoring Atkinson and here we have the decision on Monday. So I think even Atkinson from what I understand was a little bit surprised by the fact that it turned back in his favor. Listen there's only a couple of things that well Kenny Atkinson is a good coach but if the Cavaliers want to be successful in what is already a tough Eastern conference. You need Donovan Mitchell back and then Kenny Atkinson is going to have to figure out a way for Evan Mobley to develop that's it.

Like you need Evan Mobley to actually be an all-star. I've seen this guy up close and personal. He's a freak.

Hickey this guy walked by me in a hallway and I'm like why are you this guy like 7'1". He's tall as hell. 16 points 10 rebounds this past season. He's still only 23 years old.

Matter of fact he just turned 23 years old. They need him to develop into an all-star. I got to be honest. What is so exciting about the Cleveland Cavaliers?

The answer is nothing. I mean they went to the postseason not this past season but the year before that. They lost to the New York Knicks and you had Jared Allen basically telling you we're too soft. Like we're not we're not good enough.

Like the lights were too bright. Kenny Atkinson has to figure out how Mobley and Donovan Mitchell are the centerpieces of the team. And I would expect Darius Garland to just say please do me a favor. Trade me. Move me elsewhere.

I don't want to be here. Donovan Mitchell is taking all the damn shots and quite frankly it's also a small backcourt. Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell together is just two small guys.

I don't think that's going to work. You look at the guys that just won a championship. Tatum and Brown?

These dudes are like 6'7", 6'8", 6'9", 6'10". You put those two dudes up against Donovan Mitchell and Garland it's it might as well be me and Hickey out there. No disrespect to Donovan Mitchell but these guys ain't cutting it. So congratulations to the Cavs for actually getting a very very good head coach. But more importantly the Cleveland Cavaliers have to figure out who the hell is going to be doing the work on the basketball court. 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. It's 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. Hickey do you think this is going to work out in Cleveland?

I guess the question I would ask you back before answering that is what do you mean by work out? Compete. Like move towards being a top contender in the East. Like they're not a rebuilding team.

No they're not. Top contender I would say no. But I guess what I will say for the situation they're in where it seems like they're going to double down. You know keep Donovan Mitchell and kind of go for it now. I think Kenny Atkinson in the short time he was in Brooklyn did show the ability to be able to get everyone on the same page and fit the pieces well together.

I think he'll do that better than J.B. Bickerstaff was able to do. So I think this team will be better than they were you know let's say the last two years. But like in terms of touching the Celtics I mean I guess the Bucks can't be any worse right than they were last year. You want to be you want to be competitive like they're not in that nobody's looking at the Cavaliers and saying hey we know the Celtics are the champs. Nobody's saying they're in the Knicks category the Bucks you know there's a bunch of teams that are kind of in the middle right. The Cavaliers are right there with the Heat you still got the Sixers we don't know what their roster is going to look like especially when it comes down to the wings. And they're just the Cavaliers just exist right now.

That's it. Nobody looks at them as a contender. And people just look at somebody like Mobley and they say well he has to take the next step. Otherwise I don't know what you're going to get for Garland. This is someone who has been an all star. Are you just swapping him out for another all star.

And if so where. I think they probably need depth. And then if you get another all star in Donovan Mitchell is a high usage player like he's used to having a ball in his hands all the damn time. And so I feel like the Cavaliers might be in no man's land depending on how they utilize Darius Garland as an asset to bring in depth. Donovan Mitchell is also somebody who's injury prone. Where was he in the playoffs.

I can tell you where he was. On the bench coaching acting like J.J. Redick to I don't know it's a Darius Garland who's probably like listen man I don't even want to be here with you anymore. This wild stuff for the Cavaliers. I think Evan Mobley is a big key for whatever they look like into the future. But if there is a guy who can I guess quote unquote fix it up it would be it would be Kenny Atkinson.

Good luck there. Also congratulations to everybody in Toronto. You got Scottie Barnes a five year extension two hundred and seventy million dollars. Now unfortunately for Toronto Raptor fans. They suck like they they need more than Scottie Barnes who had an amazing year. A first time all star. This man dropped 20 points at eight rebounds six assists a block of steel.

He improved from long distance 34 percent from from long range. And you got no choice. He's 22 years old. He does a little bit of everything. But I'll say this. That's a lot of money for a guy who at the end of the game is he is he killing you.

Is he torching you. I mean the Toronto Raptors this past season they had a record of twenty five and fifty seven. This is not necessarily a team that I look at and go I'm excited. Grady Dick will he get better.

Yeah sure fine. Emmanuel Quickly kind of is what he is. He's a microwave scorer.

R.J. Barrett. How much better is he going to be. I feel like the Raptors gave this man a deal. And sooner than later if the Toronto Raptors want to get back to competing for a championship. They're going to have to package up some young talent just to get some some vets in to win.

Because they're too young. And I just I don't see it in it for them to win. I guess Scottie Barnes is winning two hundred and seventy million dollars over five years. Toronto Raptors are floating in no man's land. And if there's anybody who they want to thank. You've got to go back to 2019 Raptors fans should still think Kawhi Leonard congratulations to Scottie Barnes.

Hickey. Toronto Raptors also a team not doing a damn thing. They are in a lot more position right now than the Cavs at least. So you got that going for you Cleveland. Well and this is I am going to compare it to the quarterbacks. We see how all these QBs get this money right.

And now we heard the rumors about how certain owners want to stop it. We got NBA players this guy's going to make two hundred and seventy million bucks. Is Scottie Barnes a good guy. Yes a good player. Yes. Is he a multiple time All-Star.

Yes. Is he like single handedly going to put a franchise. Do I think he's a like a super superstar franchise player. I don't think so. And this is what they're going to be paying him over the next five years to I think just quote unquote be OK. Good to OK. Not win a title. But if you're Toronto.

What are the chances do you have. You can't let the guy walk. So much money in these sports is ridiculous. It's the J.R. sport we show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. Speaking of money is no more money no more glamour of a team than the Lakers. We're going to talk about J.J. Redick on the other side of the break and we'll hear from him. He just had his press conference.

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