It is! The JR Sportbrief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America. Happy Wednesday! Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I hope you're safe, I hope you are well.
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I might be in Atlanta, Georgia, but thank you to our super producer and host Ryan Hickey holding it down for us in New York City. It is Wednesday. I'll be sharing with you a new top 6 list.
It's what I do every Wednesday. And about two hours from now, we're going to have a whole chat. I'm going to share with you a top 6 list. Some of the biggest, some of the best duos that we have ever seen in sports history.
Why? Well, Klay Thompson returned with his old splash brother, Steph Curry last night. Steph Curry got the victory. What else is new? Klay Thompson returned with the Dallas Mavericks to the Bay and got an L. But we'll talk about the top 6 duos list in a little bit. Unfortunately, speaking of basketball, we learned why Greg Popovich has been gone from the San Antonio Spurs. A mild stroke.
No stroke is the best type of stroke. They say it's mild and that he's expected to make a full recovery. Of course, we're going to talk some more about the college football playoff rankings. How about this? There's word that that are Gruden. John might be returning to the NFL to coach as soon as next year. Deion Sanders had some words today about whether or not he's going to make the transition to the NFL. We know his son's going to the NFL. We know Travis Hunter is going to the NFL.
Is Deion Sanders going to follow them? A former Dolphins player says the Dolphins are soft. Kirby Smart called one of his own players an idiot yesterday on the Bulldogs.
Kirby Smart has now apologized. What a shock. Not at all. And Trevor Lawrence is still out. You'll miss another game with that shoulder injury. It's going to be real fun watching the Jaguars take on the Lions.
Not not not at all that that will not be fun at all. And then how about this? We learned that a quarterback who got benched, he got shown the bench. I mean, well, he first sat on the bench because he was he was tired of running around. So he showed himself the bench and he got shown the bench permanently.
But Anthony Richardson, he's back as the full time starter for the Indianapolis Colts. So we got a lot to get into. If you want to participate in the show, the phone number is as follows. I'll tell you to write it down.
But 2024, remember it or punch it into your computer or your cell phone or something. 855-212-4227 is the number. That's 855-212-4227. You can find me online. I'm on the Internet, the wild place where people argue and scream and get angry and yell at strangers for no apparent reason. I am at JR Sport Brief.
Not a difficult person to find. Super producer and host Ryan Hickey. How are you this Wednesday? You feeling good about Anthony Richardson being back?
I am happy that he is back. Yes. I'm not sold that the performance on the field will be much better on Sunday, but at least at least look, I'd rather watch him turn the ball over than Joe Flacco. That's for damn sure. Damn.
Wow. Look, it was only a few days ago that head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, Shane Steichen, he pretty much said that that Joe Flacco is still the starting quarterback. Let's let's go back just a little bit. Anthony Richardson was benched for two games for calling out of a game. He took a playoff. He said he was tired. Man, he got he got destroyed by everybody.
Justifiably so. His teammates took him to the woodshed publicly. Media took him to the woodshed publicly. His coach took him to the woodshed. Everybody did. Analysts. He ultimately got and understood what the hell was wrong. Franchise quarterback taking a playoff because he's tired.
You got to be kidding me. And then he got benched and that was probably the final shoe to drop for him to be sat down because let's face it, Anthony Richardson's performance as a quarterback this year has just been awful. It's been terrible.
I mean, to hit only forty four percent of your passes is horrible. That's that's not a starter. That's not a starter.
And I don't know. Bring back NFL Europe. You're not lasting. You can't go to the CFL and complete 44 percent of your passes. I don't care how athletic you are. I don't give a damn how many backflips Anthony Richardson can do.
That ain't cutting it at all. And so he had a three and three record. He sucks as a quarterback. He doesn't know how to find a receiver to save his life. He doesn't know how to go through his progressions before he tries to take off.
He doesn't know how to stay healthy. And then he quit. So they put in a 39 year old Joe Flacco, to his credit, helped take the Browns to the postseason last year after Deshaun Watson went down. And so maybe there was a little bit of hope that Joe Flacco one step away from being back home with his wife and his 20 million kids, that maybe there was something left in him. So maybe he helped turn things around for the Colts.
The answer was no. They lost their last two games, including that game where Anthony Richardson said, I'm done. They've lost to Buffalo. They've lost to Minnesota.
They've lost to Houston. And as Hickey pointed out, when you think about the turnovers, Joe Flacco has been a king of those four interceptions into fumbles. In the Indianapolis Colts, they had to know something like this was coming. I mean, based on Anthony Richardson's injury history, they gave Joe Flacco approximately 10 million dollars this season to be the backup, knowing that either A Anthony Richardson was going to stink the joint up or B get hurt.
And damn it, it was a combination of both. Plus C, he decided to quit in the game. And so with their next matchup coming against the equally woeful, pathetic New York Jets, Shane Steichen has changed his mind over the past several days. He has gone from Joe Flacco as our starter to today, letting the world know that old Quentin Anthony Richardson has learned his lesson and that he is back and not just back for one game against the Jets, the Indianapolis Colts.
They got seven games left in a year. Anthony Richardson, barring injury, he is the starter the rest of the way. Take a listen to Shane Steichen tell you who you're going to look at for the rest of the year. We've never lost faith or belief in him and his abilities. And he's shown strides.
He really has. And with that being said, he will be our starter again. He's going to start this week.
He's going to start the rest of the season. All right. And we're going to go from there. And I informed Joe of the decision yesterday.
He's the ultimate pro. He respects the decision, understands it. I talked to the team this morning about it as well.
I informed them of the decision. And look, everyone has a different journey, right? Everyone has a different way, development and how you go about the process. And everyone wants instant gratification right now. And sometimes it doesn't work like that. And you fight through these times. And I love Anthony. He's a great person. Got great faith in him and his abilities to be our franchise quarterback.
Okay. That's a lot of positive words, not necessarily for me or you or for the team or for the fan base. Those are positive words for Anthony Richardson.
You need to boost him up because if this guy sucks the rest of the year, if he really hasn't shown any progression and I'm not sitting in practice, I'm not, and I'm not Bill Belichick either. I'm not spying. Hickey, have you seen the Colts practice? Do you know what the hell they doing? I do not.
I wish I did, but I do not know. You just, you just like a horror show, don't you? A presumed horror show presumes.
I'm not a scary movie kind of guy, but this has been a frightening to watch. Well, I mean, dammit, if you saw them and I don't know, I'm just, I'm guessing based on what we've seen on the actual, you know, football field on Sundays, I'm going to assume that Anthony Richardson is just a slightly better against players that he has to play against, you know, for months in practice. Now, having said that, we don't know. Maybe he has made strides, you know, maybe he is catching up with AD Mitchell and actually finding his second and third receivers.
I have no idea. But if you believe Anthony Richardson, he talks about how much better he's gotten since he's been benched. You know, just so that I'm willing to be a pro, you know, I'm willing to sacrifice anything that I need to do for the team. You know, I feel like these past two weeks is definitely opened my eyes and allowing me to have the opportunity to do that and just take a deeper dive and look into myself and see what I'm made of.
So I'm thankful for these past two weeks and I'm low key glad they're hoping to have it. Damn. Hickey, what's the reporter? Is he OK? You got something in his throat? And I'll be COVID again. Oh my God. That's the last thing we need is him out on Sunday. I know a coffin on Anthony Richardson. That's not what we need.
No, not at all. This guy has dealt with concussion in the NFL. He busted up his shoulder, had a knee injury. And now out because the reporter couldn't cover his dad. Well, he sounded like he covered his mouth. Next time he could step away from the microphones a little bit.
But that's besides the point. Hey, good luck to Anthony Richardson. He needs it.
The Colts deserve it. And I don't know what improvement is. Is he going to move from being a forty four percent passer? Is he going to complete fifty five percent? Hickey, what would you be happy with?
For Sunday or like I guess for the rest of the season, I would take fifty five. Oh my God. OK. All right. Baby steps. OK. I'm not asking for a drastic turnaround here.
I just just show me incremental growth. Yeah. That's all we can ask for. And when you've been as bad as he has been, I mean, what more could you ask? Well, I hear that. And so after sitting down for two weeks. Watching Joe Flacco fumble and throw the ball to the wrong team. It's real simple.
Anthony Richardson. He talks about what Shane Steichen has told him now that he has his job back. He told me I was going to be the starter from here on out. But it's up to me to keep my job. I got to make sure I'm doing the right thing and keep showcasing to the same that I can be the guy that I am the guy for this team. So it's not really really up to him. I felt like the past couple of weeks was up to me as well. You know, I just got to showcase the work and just keep showing him that I'm willing to be the quarterback for his friends.
OK, me. What do I expect? Mediocrity. I don't expect no big changes here. I expect a quarterback who will razzle and dazzle you with a run here or there. I expect to see a quarterback who will miss open receivers. I expect the Colts to be a team that finishes below 500, doesn't go to the postseason.
And I expect the Indianapolis Colts, barring an injury, to have to spend all offseason evaluating and working with Anthony Richardson to grow him to see whether or not he is the guy. Because I think you'll get you'll get his chance to get his opportunity again next year. OK. Last year was supposed to be the rookie year.
It was. The man was only able to go out there and play four games this year. He's benched two games, has a three and three record as a starter. He has seven more games in front of him. You're going to have a clear indicator as to how he might grow between now and January. And if he sucks that bad, I still think they have no choice.
But to give him a chance to see what he does next year before they just decide to pull the plug completely. This is a quarterback. Hickey, how many starts did he have at Florida? Twelve, eight.
What did he do? I think it was 13 total between two years. Yeah, this guy, he fell out of college. Nobody does anybody fall out of high school.
Is that possible? Dropout, right? You can definitely drop out for sure. I guess fall.
You could fall out of there, too. Yeah. Well, I don't want to say the guy dropped out, but he fell out of high school, fell into Florida, barely started, and is now an NFL quarterback. The point is, you can give him time. Give him some time. The Colts have this investment in their first round pick and see what he can do the rest of this way.
You selected him number four last year. You got time. Hickey, does that sound like a reasonable thought? This year, the summer, the beginning of next year, see what he can do, right? Absolutely. The only thing I don't know, JR, is if they're willing to give that much time.
Oh, my God. There's a small part of, not a small thing, there's a big part of me that believes these last seven games for the Colts have is his tryout. We could see a new quarterback by next year. You think selecting a guy at four last year that they would pull the plug after two seasons?
I mean, they bench him already. Doesn't that tell you? I mean, if it's a wake up call, send a message.
But what if that message is not received? Oh, well, we'll see. But don't you think I think there's a limited amount of progression you can show over seven games. I'm not expecting him to wake up and, you know, give us what Jayden Daniels did so far this season.
I think that there's even more of a jump that he can pretty much show in a full off season. And so I think even if he performs average or he does OK the rest of this way, you want to give him next year. And let's be real, given what the Colts do the rest of the way, I would peg them in for, I don't know, three more wins, two minimum. What do you say?
Three's fine. Honestly, to me, the wins are irrelevant. And even like huge progress is irrelevant.
Like we just talked about before, if you see small gains, I think that's enough to bring them back in 2025. Like, I mean, you hear the coded language essentially that like they're talking about work ethic and, you know, being a pro, like clearly the immaturity and probably that that stems a little bit, you know, of just lack of starts and lack of experience. Clearly, that was the biggest problem. And so I don't know how that translates on the field that much tangibly that we can see. Like if that doesn't if that wake up call is not taken, I think it will be.
But that's not that wake up call is not taken. I think it's crazy they said they move off of them. I don't know what they do next year, to be honest. But I don't think it's crazy to think that after two years and what would that be like 17 starts, they would throw the towel in. Yeah, I think anybody doing any job that you're relatively new at or you've moved on to a different level.
I would think having two off seasons, I think could could do you some good. You know, let's take a listen to Shane Steichen, because he talks about what message he tried and what he's trying to get across to Anthony Richardson. Listen to this. I want to address, you know, Anthony's situation. You know, I've said the process, the process for a long time. And what I mean by that is the attention to detail and everything he does, from the classrooms to the walkthroughs, to practice, to the weight room, all those little things, right?
You just got to be at a higher standard. And that's what was talked about. And that's where we went with it. And so that was discussed with him two weeks ago.
And those were the conversations that took place. And over the last two weeks, he's made strides in those areas, big time strides, becoming a pros pro. And is he a finished product? No, he's not. And it's my job to help him get there along with the rest of the coaching staff. But he's a hell of a talent. Like I said, we've never lost faith or belief in him and his abilities. But damn, you were right. He basically called him a lazy, you know what?
Now I'm glad they finally said it. I mean, like psych and the whole time he's processed the pro like they never he hid behind those two words, the process sound like the Sixers. Oh, no, like, like, that's a little concerning.
Yeah, he says he needs to do that going to the weight room better and stuff. Studying. What is he, Colin Murray?
He's playing Call of Duty instead of going to work. I mean, damn. Wow. Like, can you teach that at this point? I don't know. Work ethic. Yeah, I don't know. That's one thing I don't think you teach. You either have it or you don't. You either want to do the work or you are just a lazy.
You know what? But every now and then, people can get a firm kick to the ass and it can be a wake up call. But overall, I think for for long term success, you either want something or you don't. There's nothing there's no foot in the ass that is going to change. Maybe a long term view.
Maybe I would say more cases than not. Hickey, I'm going to tell you a terrible story that I heard on this day in your city. Ninety four, seven the block. OK, let's hear it. Earlier this afternoon, as Cypher Sounds was signing off of his shift, he gave inspirational words. Cypher Sounds is a comedian as well as a disc jockey and a deejay, whatever. So he's being funny.
This is a terrible joke. He says, I want you to be like a crackhead. Hickey, this is what he said, OK? He says, I want you to be like a crackhead. And this man said he says they will look for money any way possible to go get their fix. He says you need to treat your dreams like it's crack and go after it any way possible.
Hickey almost just drove off the side of the road. I said, did this man just say that? And then I thought about it and I said, you know what? I said, he's right. I have no experience with the, you know, drugs.
I don't have none. But I said to myself, I see it. I see it outside. I said, yeah, when an addict wants something, it doesn't matter what it is. It could be success. You go for it.
Nothing stops you. You're going to start looking in the couch cushions to find the loose change. You're going to, you know, look in garbage cans.
You're going to go underneath people's cars. You're going to you're going to try to find that success any way that you can get it. And so Anthony Richardson, if he really wants success with the Indianapolis coast, there's not a damn thing that Shane Steichen can go out there and tell him. I'm not telling this man to treat quarterback success like it's crack and he should attain it that way. But the fact that the matter is that if he wants something, he'll go and get it.
He don't need the coach to tell him. I love that. I love that a lot. Anthony Richardson, be like a crackhead. Let's go. That's the key to success.
Yeah. Treat the success like it's crack. Go get it by any not any means. Well, you can't you could steal money. Just work hard.
How about that? Right. Work hard to get it right now.
I mean, if you want to be a successful quarterback outside of PDs, of course, there's nothing else illegal that you have to do in order to attain that. So work hard. Study. Go to the weight room. Know what you're doing. Be like Tom Brady. OK, do that. Sleep in weighted pajamas. There you go. And don't eat tomatoes. And good luck, Anthony Richardson.
I think you'll be a middling average quarterback before he is ultimately benched next year. It's the J.R. Sportbrie show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven.
That's eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. We got a top six list. We're going to look at some of the biggest and best duos that we have ever seen in sports history.
We're going to talk some college football playoff rankings. We still have people ticked off about last night, like the guy who called about SMU. Somebody called the Dolphins soft. It happens to be a former player. Joel Embiid made his debut last night. Klay Thompson returned to the bay with the Dallas Mavericks.
And hey, you know what? Speaking of the Colts, in a return, their opponent, the New York Jets, their star quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, he has some words on his own return from next year. I'm going to tell you what he had to say on the other side of the break.
Happy Wednesday. You're locked into the J.R. Sportbrie show here on the Infinity Sports Network. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrie. It is the J.R. Sportbrie show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven.
That's eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. Right before we went to break, we talked about the return of Anthony Richardson. The man benched two games for the Indianapolis Colts, completing 44 percent of his passes. Can't find a receiver to save his life.
Three and three as starter here for the Indianapolis Colts. Quit in the last game that he played. Had to take a breather. Told everybody as much. Hey, why did you check yourself out of the game?
I was tired. Man, they destroyed him for that. He said he learned his lesson. Both he and head coach Shane Steichen both make it very clear. That he's changed, I guess, that he's two weeks has done him good. Well, let's see what he can do against the New York Jets, a team that is equally as disastrous, probably worse. Just don't know what the hell their future looks like because it's tethered to a quarterback who's about to turn 41 years old, tethered to a team. The New York Jets that have fired their head coach. Pretty much wiped the floor with their former offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett. They have a new head coach in and Jeff Alberg, who takes over from defense. Rob Salah is gone, probably laughing hysterically at what the Jets have done. And Aaron Rodgers is one of the worst passers in the NFL.
Can't move. Achilles repaired last year, thigh injury, knee injury, 41 years old, crap attitude, a wide receiver that he just disparaged publicly for running the wrong route. Something that you've never really ever heard a quarterback do. Mike Williams ends up being their hero for the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Washington commanders. And meanwhile, they bring in his buddy, a guy with Hall of Fame talent in Davante Adams, who, quite frankly, went from the Raiders to the Jets. And right now, that is a parallel move. You're going in the same direction, at least for this season.
Nowhere. And so there have been a lot of questions for the New York Jets. Now, Sauce Gardner, they're yelling at him. He can't tackle. He sucks. The defense has regressed. The Jets look terrible. Terrible.
And this is good. I mean, if you don't like Aaron Rodgers, you love this because as miserable as he always is, even when things are seemingly going right, man, I got to imagine he really hurts right now. And so earlier today, he spoke to the media in hilarious fashion, knowing that this Jets season is not going to end up with a playoff appearance, knowing that year to year, Aaron Rodgers can wake up and say, I want to go to the mountains and disappear into a hole in Oregon. We don't know if the Jets are screwed now or later.
I know they're going to be screwed long term. I ain't winning no championship with this guy. I mean, is he playing like this at 41? What makes me think he's going to do anything different approaching 42? Bottom line is he was asked, are you going to return next year? Hey, it's a real simple question.
And listen carefully to the answer. Aaron Rodgers, do you want to return in 2025? Will you be back? You've talked about wanting to play beyond this year. Has the way this season gone for you or as a team changed that at all? Not really. Not, not for the negative. No, not really.
You don't want to play in 2025? I think so. Yeah. I think so. Yeah.
Now, Hickey, is that a positive or a negative? I think so. Yeah. I guess it depends who you're asking. I mean, do you really want him back?
Because if he does return, that's, I would not say very good for the Jets. Wow. This is like, this is like ripping off the Band-Aid, right? You got a scar. The Band-Aid been sitting there for a while. It's melded onto your skin. It's picked up some hair and the glue is singed onto your body.
And you just know you have to rip it off. The Jets have to figure out when they, and they got no choice. Hickey, the guy has a no trade clause. If he wants to come back, he'll be back. If he doesn't return, well, the New York Jets are just going to have to suck a full year anyway. And just, I don't know. Is Jordan Travers going to be good enough?
We don't know. It may take two years for us to see this guy throw a football. So they're, they're screwed in the long term. It's just a matter of how much longer they're cooked with Aaron Rodgers. He might as well just quit it. Would that be in the New York Jets best interest for him to just retire and leave? 100%.
No doubt about it. Rip the Band-Aid off, have him retire, incur, you know, the dead cap and move on. You see the bad thing about that for the Jets, that further, that further proves how inept they are.
That further lets everybody know what a disaster and desperate that the organization has been. And everybody knew that bringing in Aaron Rodgers, this was a, not a crap shoot, but you were swinging for the fences. This wasn't about hitting, let's hit a single. Let's hit a double. Let's hit a triple. Let's, let's lay down a bunt and drive the runner in. No, you're going up to the plate and you are trying intentionally to hit a grand slam. And if you don't hit a grand slam, you're screwed. You're cooked. You're screwed.
You're done for the next several seasons. And so if Aaron Rodgers is to retire and they're not going to encourage him to do so, by the way, they may, I don't know, give him the cold shoulder. They will make their intentions known.
Hey, just do what you want to do. And even saying that it's like, oh, he may interpret that as they don't, they don't really want me. They sent planes to come get me.
They, they came out to California to get me. He's going to need his ass kissed to return. And if they're not kissing his ass, it wouldn't surprise me if he just walked off into the sunset begrudgingly.
And I can't imagine Aaron Rodgers being the type of guy. Hickey, could you see him going somewhere else? Like if he doesn't play for the Jets, I think he's done.
I don't think anybody else wants to deal with this guy. I would agree. Yes. I think he's, the Jets is the final stop in his career.
What I wonder is if what you're saying, right? The Jets, let's say give him the cold shoulder. Don't show him the love.
Doesn't he seem spiteful? Like, oh, you don't want me? Yeah, I'll opt in or I'll stay around.
I'll be here in 2025. You can't cut me. You know, you can't move me.
You can't trade me. Like hold them hostage, hold them, hold them hostage. That is some real joker-esque thinking Hickey. I mean, maniacal, a super villain thinking they don't want me. You don't want me here?
Hey, I'm going to park myself here. And if the ship is going to go down, it's going to go down with me and I'm a hop off and laugh at y'all. Yeah. It sounds like something a joke would do to Batman. Remember that scene in Batman where the joker, he was, yeah, he was in the cell with Batman in interrogation room and Batman was beating the living hell out of him. And the, the joker was just laughing at him, just laughing. He was enjoying it. He was like, Batman is so mad at me right now.
I love it. He was having a good time. That's Aaron Rogers. Just having a good time where everything sinks around him. But realistically he's hurting Hickey. This guy has to be embarrassed. He's he doesn't have the words. Thank God we haven't had to talk about him for weeks because what is there to say? The jets stink. He's not sitting around on Pat McAfee, you know, telling, Oh, we need to play better. These guys need to play better.
I need to play back. Like nobody cares cause you're a loser right now. Aaron Rogers is a loser right now. He is a loser on the jets. He might be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, but when it comes to 2024, he's a loser. And the jets historically, they've been losers.
Aaron Rogers knew as much as introductory press conference. He talked about how lonely that a solo Vince Lombardi trophy from 69, how it looked in the front one lonely ass trophy. Well, you know why it's been lonely? The jets have been losers and the guy running the team, owning the team has owned them for approximately 25 years. Now loser, the New York jets haven't gone to the post season in about 13 years. Losers. It's the longest streak of any team in North American professional sports losers. I guess the end of his career, Aaron Rogers has found his match. Misery loves company to losers. It's the JR sport re-show here with you coast to coast on the infinity sports network. 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27.
That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. I'm here for everybody who was not a loser. We're going to take a break when we come back. Hey, speaking of Anthony Richardson, I'm going to tell you about another lazy ass professional athlete.
And then I'm going to tell you about someone historically who has not been a loser. I feel you were on both of these gentlemen on the other side of the break. You're listening to the JR sport brief.
It is the JR sport re-show here with you coast to coast on the infinity sports network. Yeah, everybody wants to be loved. Everybody. Hey, we just talked about Aaron Rogers.
Nobody loves him. Okay. He says he might return. I don't know.
Maybe. Uh, yeah, I guess I'll return next year as a just quarterback. You don't know Anthony Richardson returning as quarterback, the starting quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. And then last night in the NBA world, the first day of the NBA cup brought to you by Emirates, uh, we had a couple of returns. We saw one guy returned from being perennially injured. That's Joel Embiid. And then we saw one of the greatest shooters of all time returned to his former team. Klay Thompson returned to the Bay area, returned to San Francisco this time as a member of the Dallas Mavericks. And let's just say things didn't turn out well for Klay Thompson or Joel Embiid.
Let's get to the guy that is always hurt. Joel Embiid finally played a basketball game after he has caused a lot of media and fan disdain for both how he and the Philadelphia 76ers have handled his time away. Injury management, the NBA didn't appreciate how they framed it, fined them hundreds of thousands of dollars for not properly disclosing that he was hurt. He's not playing back to backs.
He needs to rest, blah, blah, blah. Yesterday he played against the New York Knicks and the Knicks beat the Sixers 1 11 to 99. Joel Embiid looked like a guy who hasn't played basketball in, I don't know, a few months. The last time we saw him on a basketball court, he was running around for Team USA, basically picking up a gold medal that Team USA basketball ultimately didn't really need him for. And then yesterday he was running around with, I don't know, Saran wrap on his knee.
This guy had, he had a wrap, as Hickey said, it was like an offensive lineman's brace. And so what did he do in a loss to the Knicks? Joel Embiid, 13 points, two of 11 from the field. He had five assists, three rebounds.
He was one of five from deep. And this man said, I'm tired. I'm just going to jack up threes and miss four of them.
Why not? That's the easy thing to do. And so ultimately, for whatever reason, Joel Embiid said he felt good. He didn't look good, but he said he felt that way. Thought overall, you know, fell, I think, felt pretty good, you know, health-wise. I think it's just by trusting myself. I thought I was a little timid. So I stuck with a lot of jumpers, just to get myself a little comfortable. Yeah, but as the game goes, I'm sure, you know, just getting back to myself is going to be easier. Now I know running up and down a basketball court is not easy. You need your wind.
It's going to be the last thing that comes. But dammit, Hickey in that postgame press conference, Joel Embiid, he still sounded tired. Like he still needed air.
Oh, absolutely. I mean, we've talked about, you know, his health being a big problem and it's no surprise that, I mean, he's like with a knee injury, he's not running around. Like he's not a practice like getting in shape. Like he's basically kind of doing the old Luka Doncic. I'm just going to play my way into shape by playing only. Oh my God. Then he's going to, his right knee is going to give out next.
Overcompensation? Yeah. I don't know if his both lungs, his lungs were mad at him last night.
I know that. His lungs were pissed. I saw him standing at the free-throw line one time. I don't know if he took any free throws. I can look, but I know that guy was tired.
I looked at him and I said, dammit, looking at him is making me tired, but he says he felt okay. Obviously he took a lot of jumpers cause his ass was tired. Let me tell you, anybody who plays basketball, there's nothing worse than driving to the basket continually. It sucks the life out of you so much so that you just go, you know what? Screw driving to the basket.
That burst of energy constantly just saps the life out of you. You just put up jumpers. But then if you don't have your legs underneath you, the jumpers don't fall and you just become useless.
Imagine being seven foot two against the best athletes on earth and also being a lazy ass. He said coach Nick Nurse, I guess he needed to prop him up a little bit or at least give him an alibi. Coach Nurse said, well, we all know. He says he had a guy's rusty, uh, duh. Both rusty a little bit and conditioning I think showed up fairly early. I've seen him kind of play through that, uh, before, you know, kind of respond in the second half after being on a layoff a little bit, seemed to do it a little bit, but then I thought he got a little tired again.
Okay. He seemed to get tired. Oh, he was tired as hell.
Come on. He's tired tonight. We know he ain't playing back to back games. The Sixers now have a record of two and eight. Paul George did play last night.
He only had, well only he had 29 points. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers, they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight. This is a team that has started off 12 and oh, everybody has eaten.
You know, I mean, Mobley is getting a ball and Mitchell is out there scoring everybody. And by the way, don't get too excited about being 12 and now everybody goes on some type of streak. They're good. What are people going to say when they lose four or five games in a row? Nothing.
Cabs are okay. They're good. They winning no championship.
Sorry about that. Uh, anyways, speaking of another team in returns, clay Thompson, I told you he was back in the bay playing for the Dallas Mavericks. They gave him a three year, $50 million contract. Golden state warriors said, no, thank you. And golden state warriors now have a record of nine and two because they beat clay Thompson in his return.
One 20 to one 17. Steph Curry was popping threes all over the damn points. Had 37 points, including a dagger three clay Thompson in his return. He was greeted by all of the warrior employees on the way into the building. He was serenaded with cheers and love. When he was announced, they played a special video for him.
They gave out captain hats because he used to like to take his boat to the basketball game. So the arena showed him a lot of love. He had a good game, 22 points.
He was six of 12 from three, helped the mass go on some runs, but they don't have Steph Curry on their team. And so clay Thompson, he says the reception that he received, it was beautiful. It was amazing. It was a really cool experience. I appreciate the fans very much. Um, the captain's hat ended up being a great touch. Some such a passionate boater and, uh, saw a lot of familiar faces in the crowd and, um, that was a warm hearted feeling. So, uh, it was a really cool to see, uh, the fans were there gratitude towards myself and, uh, some I will never take for granted. So I was very, uh, very awesome.
Hickey. We both thought he was going to cry. He didn't cry.
I don't think they gave him ample opportunity to, the video was pretty fast and fans showed him adulation. Nobody spoke. So no tears. Yeah. So you texted Steph Curry the night before don't talk, do not talk.
It's probably smart, but I think we were got some waterworks there. If that speech that was supposed to happen, actually did go down and Steph Curry, he spoke after the game and Hey Steph, did you shed a tear on the inside? How did you feel Steph Curry? The emotions that pregame of him, you know, being acknowledged and the crowd during two line layups going crazy for him, uh, the video tribute. And I'm so surprised they ran a post up for him on the first play. I, well, I blacked out on that when I wasn't gonna let him score and I found him, but it was a, it was pretty special night all the way around. Obviously we won.
It was great, great finish, but well done all the way around. Yeah. It was cool to see they give the ball to play Thompson immediately and Steph fouled him on the shot attempt instead.
Well, it was good to see them odd site. Unfortunately the Dallas Mavericks are five and six and this is room to turn things around. The golden state warriors are nine and two. I mean they are literally running a rotation out there that has like 12 guys. So anybody and their mother, they just throw them out there with Steph Curry.
I'm still concerned about their size, their lack of size. Uh, when they won the championship, that didn't apparently matter at all too much. Uh, I don't know how far the warriors are going to go being so small, but I'm not going to count out Steph Curry. Let's see if they maintain a nine and two pace because Steph Curry, man, he is still one of the greatest players ever.
He's still one of the best players in the NBA and ain't nobody can shoot the ball, uh, like him as he put his own friends asleep last night. Hey, clay is getting that money, but maybe he would have been better off still being out in the bay. It's the Jr sport. We show here with you coast to coast on the infinity sports network.
We're going to take a break when we come back on the other side. Man, there's a guy who used to coach. He used to coach out in the bay. He used to call this guy Chucky. His name is John Gruden and apparently he might be making a return to the NFL as a coach. Didn't he get dishonorably discharged and they give him the boot for being nasty and then Dion people are talking about Dion to the Cowboys. What's going on? I'll fill you in on the other side. It's the Jr sport. We show coast to coast infinity sports network.
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