It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. They tried to get rid of me. Damn it. They tried to cut my line, but I'm here.
Damn it. Yeah, it's good to be here. You thought something was wrong. Something was. But now I'm here. I'm good.
Everything is smooth. And this is when the show gets started, albeit four minutes late. Every single weekday, 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Much love to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America.
I'm in Atlanta. Super producer and host Ryan Hickey is in New York City. And shout out to Greg holding it down on the boards. And we got a lot to get into.
Of course, it is Wednesday. In two hours, I'm going to give you a new top six list. And this is going to be unfortunate for some fan bases. We're going to talk about some of the most just downtrodden, miserable, pained franchises, fan bases in a world of sports. He has a top six list of miserable fan bases.
If you're miserable, maybe your team is at the top of the list. The Jimmy Butler saga continues on. Let me check. No, he has not been traded, but we will have a conversation next hour. A matter of fact, not even next hour. In about thirty five minutes, Will Mansell is going to join us from South Florida. We're going to figure out what the hell is going on with Jimmy Butler and his situation. Bill Belichick, he has some suggestions as to what they should do with the Vince Lombardi trophy. He thinks it should be named after one of his former players. Adam Silver has suggestions about what the hell should take place in the NBA.
And I'm sorry, it doesn't have as much to do with threes as you would want. And so we got a lot to do. You can always listen to the show on the free Odyssey app, your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate Sirius XM 375. If you got a smart speaker, ask the speaker to play the Infinity Sports Network. Yeah, you can also watch now on YouTube. Yeah, we're streaming on YouTube.
Just search the Infinity Sports Network. Hickey, they tried to put me down. They tried to chop me off. The aliens tried to abduct me. They tried to cut my lines, but I'm here.
I'm back. Like 50 Cent says, many men want you dead. Can't keep you down. Yeah.
Hickey, we may have to, we may have to play that many men. Yeah, man. They wish death upon me. The blood and my, I didn't get shot. How many times he got shot? Nine times? Nine times.
Yeah. I didn't get shot nine times, but I'm here. I'm back. How are you doing? You good? Now that I can hear you and you're live, I feel a lot better than I did, let's say five minutes ago. Yeah. Everything is good.
It's technology, man. How many times has this happened? Hickey? Never. I was just going to say this like the first time I think, and basically just over the year plus, we've been working together. So that's pretty good odds. But still even the few times it has happened, it is maddening to say the least. Oh my goodness. I mean, it's just, it's technology and how things work. You know, we're not trying to, we're not curing cancer here. We're just talking about sports. So everything is good. Everybody's good, right?
That's true. Just trying to entertain the people. That's all. Yeah.
Something is broken. Well, outside of the past five minutes, how was your day? You've been good? Yeah, it has been good.
Yeah. No complaints. How about yourself? Are you doing all right? I'm all right.
I ain't got nothing to complain about. Greg, how you doing? Greg is helping out on the boards.
Greg, you okay? Yeah. Better now that we're off and running, I suppose. Oh my goodness. Everybody's so damn stressed. Would have thought that this would have been so much work.
I thought we'd just show up and push a button and boom, that's just the magic happens. But I'll tell you this way. It is so good to be back. You can find me online everywhere at Gerald sport brief. And if you want to call up here, phone line 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. It is so good to be back and we're going to get into the top six and we're going to have our guests on in a little while. And I might as well get this out the way cause there's so many topics. I know we're a week and a half away from the super bowl. This is kind of like the make my day part of the sport calendar where you got to look at the Cal and go, man, w w what the hell is going on?
Like when can we actually get some, some football here instead of thinking about it, but we still have an off season. We still got a bunch of loser teams that have decided to, you know, fill in their head coaching vacancies outside of the saints. We have some news on what the saints won't do with their head coaching opportunity. But how about this one?
This news has certainly, uh, garnered and gained some traction. I might be back on airwaves, but dammit is Russell Wilson gonna get back with Pete cow played the audio yesterday. The Rooney's art said yesterday, well, the sun, he's just like, yeah, we're going to bring back either Justin Fields or we're going to bring in Russell Wilson. We're going to bring in one of these two to return. Well, I think if you're, I don't want to say a betting man, but I think it makes a whole hell of a lot more sense to tell Russell Wilson to take a boot, uh, to take a hike and keep Justin Fields.
I think it makes a whole hell of a lot more sense to try to grow something with Justin Fields and get him some weapons to work with. Then bring back Russell Wilson whose feet might as well be in cement. This guy might as well go back to the Raiders. And of course we got the reports that Russell Wilson and Pete cow they've made up their bosom buddies following his departure, Russell Wilson's departure out of Seattle, where he wasn't happy with the amount of times and his usage with Pete cow when it came to throwing a football. And then he kind of belly ached his way on out of town.
They've made up their buddies, their friends. Well, now Pete cow is in charge of the Raiders and I can tell you what Raider fans don't want to see. They don't want to see Aidan O'Connell throwing a football. They do not want to see Gardner Minshew throwing a football. I mean, Russell Wilson is not in that upper echelon. He's a, I say slightly above average quarterback at this point, especially given his injury history, his inability to move. He can certainly still throw the ball, but he can't do nothing else. Pete cow would still be better off having an older 36 year old. He'd be 36 at the end of the year, maybe 37 and older Russell Wilson running the team.
Then O'Connell and Minshew. And so of course, Pete cow was asked about this. He was sitting down on a podcast because yes, even Pete cow can sit down on podcasts. It doesn't matter how old he is. And Pete cow was asked about the possibility of bringing back Russell Wilson, getting back together with him.
This is what he told the, what is football podcast. It's so early. I mean, we're just in the midst of just trying to, you know, find the puzzle pieces, not even get, putting them together yet. So I, I really, I can't, I can't even say, I mean, guys are still free agency hasn't come yet. That's the first competitive opportunity that will occur. And then the draft has come and we'll have that opportunity to do things. I can't tell you right now. I mean, I could, I could guess, but it would just be a guess. So, but I promise you, if you're a real competitor, you're not letting options get away from you.
So we're going to consider every option as a possibility, and we're going to go after it and we're going to go after it very aggressively with intent and hopefully with a sense and a feeling that people want to be part of this thing. Man, this is, it's like one of them high school relationships. And I know Pete Carroll is about damn hickey. He about 50. Is it 50 years removed?
Oh damn. More than that. He's about 55 years removed from high school, but Pete Carroll is about to spin the block with Russell Wilson. I think it's going to happen, man. You do, huh?
I mean, there's a lot of bridge quarterbacks out there that can kind of fit what Pete Carroll is looking for. You think they're going to go back to their Seattle days, huh? I think so. You, this is a matter of familiarity.
Like, do you want to, let me watch my words carefully. Yeah. When something ends and people are apart, and then they realize that, you know, things aren't as good as I thought they would be Russell Wilson has been dumped by the Broncos. He might get dumped by the Steelers.
Although he's a free agent, there's no dumping to do. And he might now have to play for his third team in three seasons. A couple of years ago, when Russell was in Seattle, he looked like one of these dudes who was just going to stick around with his team forever, go into the ring of honor. He probably still will go into the ring of honor, whatever the hell they call it out in Seattle.
He'll still do all of that. But now that he's had time apart, and now that Pete Carroll has been jobless, you got two miserable football souls who are staring each other in the eyes going, I missed you. Let's get back together. This was like high school. Hickey, you, you dated and then you, you dump each other or somebody dumped somebody and then you date a jerk and then you come back around.
If adults do this all the time, this is what they're doing. Hickey, that's all. Yes, you are right. But when a relationship ends as publicly and you can maybe argue as sourly as theirs did, where Russ is basically for a year, dragging his feet, crying about how he wants to get out, wants to be able to cook. Do you forget? No, you don't forget.
What do they say? You forgive, but you don't forget. Now, we also have to keep in mind that Russell Wilson in a lot of cases, or specifically his exit out of Seattle, he proved to be a phony. He did all that yapping, had his, well, he didn't do the yapping. He had his agent do the yapping.
Well, and then it's, I didn't say that. And then his agent says he didn't say that. But if he, he did want to be traded, if I did want to be traded, I would want to go to the Raiders.
That was one of the teams that he had mentioned potentially going to when he was still in Seattle. And so throughout that whole process, Russell Wilson didn't want to be painted as the bad guy. He never wanted to be the dude who forced his way out of town. He never wanted to do that. Russell Wilson is so image conscious.
If he sneezed, he'd make sure that that nobody saw it because they would think that he's a human being. That's how image conscious Russell Wilson is. And so I think after all is said and done, they're all going to make nice with each other. It's in Russell Wilson's best interest, whether he wants to go back to Pete Carroll or not. Hickey, I would say it's in his best interest to, you know, drum up some interest. It's like, hey, if the Steelers really want me, maybe I can talk to the Raiders and jack up the price. Maybe people can fear that I'll go back with Pete Carroll and I get a better price anywhere. I mean, the more teams that are participating, or at least have interest in Russell Wilson, the more beneficial it is to him. You're right.
That's what I'm fascinated about. Cause like if you're Russ, I he's not what he used to be. Right. But do you want to go to the Raiders where, I mean, you're looking at what, five wins, maybe six, maybe seven, if we're talking about a really solid turnaround in year one of the Pete Carroll. I mean, we played it yesterday, right? Art Rooney said that he wants either Fields or Wilson back.
Didn't specify which one. I'm not sure if there's a lean one way or another, but you got to think there's at least interest from the Steelers in bringing Russ back. So you have one team in the playoffs with this past year, another team that right now is in the dumps and needs a lot of help in a lot of places. Maybe Russ uses them, you know, like kind of like you said, drive up the price on the Steelers, maybe make them a little jealous, maybe want, you know, force their hand to try to really get him back.
I don't know if they're more than like just a little flirtation, like a little high school crush, if you will get the ex jealous. Yeah. I just, well, there's no guarantee that the Steelers want, you know, they're playing the game too. They are.
We don't know. They may, it's one thing to say, yeah, we want one of the other bag. He's not going to, you know, give one of the guys the boot already because then he automatically kicks himself and he asked the Rooney's do and Khan and Khan and Tomlin with the quarterback that they want to keep.
And so you want to keep everybody on their toes. Justin Fields, I think, and we know we've seen the best of Russell Wilson. He ain't getting better. All he can do is just stay healthy.
That's it. I still don't think we've seen the best of Justin Fields. And when I say that, no, I don't think he's going to wake up and turn into Lamar Jackson. But I still think there's room for improvement as a passer and decision maker.
Will he ever get there? Maybe not, but I think it's worth a try because you already know what you got with Russell Wilson. Are you beating the Ravens? No, you're not beating the Ravens. Are you going to beat the bills? No, you're not beating the bills. Are you beating the chiefs?
That's what you got to beat. No, you're not beating the chiefs. If you're going to go all in and test anything, move on from Russell Wilson, let him go back to the 73 year old guy and just pick Justin Fields and keep it moving. I think it's as simple as that. If I'm the Steelers and if I'm Russell, I don't think he has too many options because realistically I think the Steelers are going to pick Fields and it might be a matter of finances.
It might be a matter of money. I think that Russell Wilson will be back with Pete Cowell. Will he tell lies and oh, I missed him so much. And when you have a chance to get back, Russell Wilson always got a positive thing to say. Never a negative word. Never, ever.
Even when it's clear to everybody he's out here just BSing. Russell Wilson, I expect him to be back with Pete Cowell. Put on that silver and black. I think that'll happen. It's the JR Sportbreeze show here with you coast to coast on the infinity sports network. I expect Russell Wilson to be back with Pete Cowell. I'm back here on the infinity sports network and we're going to take a break and then I will be back again.
I'm going to tell you about a coach who will not be back on the sidelines next season. We're going to get into that on the other side of the break. We're going to have a chat with Bill Manso from WPLG TV down in Miami.
Ask him about Jimmy Butler. We have a lot to get into. Of course, a top six list in a few hours as we take a look at some of the most miserable sports fans in North America right now. Yes, top six list for today.
We got a lot to get into. It's the JR Sportbreeze show. Good to be back on the infinity sports network.
You're listening to the JR Sportbreeze. Oh, okay. All right. I was going to say, hey, yeah, we had a rough start to the show. Yeah. Many men.
Yeah, many, many, many men. Which death upon me. Yeah, we had a rough start here to the show today. You think the wonders of technology, but I'm back. I'm here. Pray for my downfall, but here I am. 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. It is so good to be back. When we came back or when I was connected and when we were able to chat, I told you about Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson. I think they're going to get back together.
I'm not going to call it a match made in heaven. Just two familiar faces, just back in the same place. I'd be a little surprised if Russell Wilson was back with the Steelers. I think there's an opportunity with the Raiders and I don't really think the Steelers want him back.
I think it's in their best interest to go ahead and move forward with Justin Fields. Now, I did mention to you Pete Carroll had a year off. Pete Carroll will now be on the sidelines in Las Vegas. There's another head coach. He coached last year and apparently he is going to have a year off. His name is Mike McCarthy. And after working for Jerry Jones, I think it's probably in Mike McCarthy's best interest to take a little bit of a vacation himself.
Pretty pitiful, pretty sad. This man had to work for Jerry Jones since 2020. There will be no 2020-25 season. As we know, Jerry Jones has moved on. Brian Schottenheimer is moving over from being offensive coordinator. He's now new head coach of the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones has somebody else that he can now boss around, undermine, and be a jerk to. So you can understand Mike McCarthy taking a year off.
And given the time that he was quote unquote available to interview for any jobs, look at the jobs disappeared. Mike Vrabel ended up with the Patriots and Glenn is with the Jets. The Dallas Cowboys, while still in the negotiating period with the man, basically said, no, you cannot go ahead and talk to the Chicago Bears.
And so it's just been a mess. The only head coaching job that is open right now, it's the saints. Mike McCarthy would, do you want to just take a year off or do you want to go watch Derek Carr throw the football? The saints are going to be bad.
I wouldn't touch them to save my life. Tyler Sullivan was on CBS sports HQ and great NFL analyst. And he explained why Mike McCarthy just taken a year off is in his best interest. Yeah, I think it's smart because oftentimes, and we're talking about Mike McCarthy going on his third stint as a head coach in the NFL, Green Bay Packers, obviously Dallas Cowboys, you really only get like two or three cracks at this thing in the NFL. And so if you are not sold on the new Orleans saints as an option to really set yourself up for success over the course of the longterm, then you don't take it.
Yeah, nah, bro. The saints have been in, in salary cap hell now for years. They keep on kicking the can on down the road, offense, pathetic ranked 24th. I'm surprised they gave Alvin Kamara an extension for what, why are you paying a running back for their defense was ranked 19th. You got guys like cam Jordan, the guys getting older, you got Derek Carr. He's like, nah, I'm not taking no pay cut.
I need all my money. It's just a bad situation. But I guess there is another former offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys who wants the job. His name is Kellen Moore. Ian Rappaport said this yesterday on the NFL network that Kellen Moore, well, he's going to interview with the saints and he's done very well. Listen to this. It does seem like Kellen Moore has done exceptionally well in this process.
It's really hard to say one is a favorite and one is not, but to me, just kind of reading the tea leaves here. It does seem like Kellen Moore is in a very strong position with the saints. And you know, he has interviewed several times for a head coach jobs.
He is not going to be the rah rah leader. Definitely has a different affect, but a former player, someone who can call plays, who can design an offense. We've seen what his Philly offense has done. Just beating down opponents in a physical way would be a good hire for someone, potentially the saints here. Do you got to be a rocket scientist to give the ball to Saquon Barkley behind that giant offensive line?
Do you have to be a rocket scientist? I want to give Kellen Moore credit. The man played quarterback, mostly backup, back up in the NFL.
Good for him. He's primarily been in the Dallas Cowboys organization. This man was the offensive coordinator for the chargers, but let's, let's be real, man. Whoever takes that Saints job is cooked. I would stick around with the Eagles.
I would wait another year, win, lose, or draw. I would sit around like Mark McCarthy, but actually work for the Eagles next year. And I'd wait for a new job to open up the Saints job. You thought the judge job was undesirable.
You thought plan for shot con was undesirable. The saints will be in hell for a very long time. It'd be nice if they ended up with arch Manning. That'd be a nice story. Everybody would love it. I hope for that too.
It's the JR sport Bree show here with you coast to coast on the infinity sports network. Speaking of hope, I've been telling you for days. I hope that this Jimmy Butler drama resolves itself. Jimmy Butler's putting posts on Instagram today, trying to use his black American express card. He's making jokes about how it doesn't work.
He can't buy coffee at his own coffee shop because he doesn't have a job. I'm sure all of those funds are hurting Jimmy Butler's pockets. When we come back on the other side of the break, we're going to have a chat with wool man. So from WPLG TV down in South Florida, I want to get his thoughts on when this is going to come to an end. The NBA trade deadline is about a week away, a little more than a week away. When is this going to end with Jimmy Butler? When's the latest, what's the latest and what's going on with Pat Riley?
Is he losing some of his touch? We'll have that conversation in a minute, but right now on the infinity sports network, you're listening to the JR sport brief. It is the JR sport Bree show here with you coast to coast on the infinity sports network. Man, there's so much going on in the world of football. Of course, we've got the senior bowl going on in Mobile, Alabama.
People are getting ready to descend on New Orleans for the super bowl with the chiefs and the Eagles. And then the NBA right here, smack dab in the middle of winter, they got the trade deadline coming up next Thursday, February 6th, the name that has been thrown around so much and so often belongs to a player in Miami with the heat. His name is Jimmy Butler. He wants out. He's looking for his joy.
I know the heat. They want to look for a return. What is next to happen? This is just an ongoing story that will not end. Joining us to give us the latest on what's going on in South Florida is Will Mansoy. You can catch him on WPLG TV covering the heat and everything else down in Miami. Will, how are you?
Yeah, they're all good. You know, crazy the last couple of weeks going on, waiting and waiting to see what the shoe drops and what happens next with Jimmy. I hear that now.
I understand reported. It's been reported that the Miami Heat have lowered their asking price in regards to what they can get back in return or what they are willing to accept for Jimmy Butler. What do you think is the best case scenario for the Miami Heat? I think at this point, best case is they have to move on, right? They cannot extend this past the deadline. We've seen how awkward it's been. It's three suspensions now in less than a month.
The latest is indefinite suspension, but at least five games takes you through the deadline. They're trying to do everything in their power to make a move, move on from this. And I think at this point, I think as a fan media, whatever it may be, you have to look at the situation of it's almost like an addition by subtraction. I know that heat fans in general are going to be angry if it's just let's say a player with an expired contract and a draft pick.
It's obviously not going to be to the level of what Jimmy Butler can give you at full health and with full effort. But again, the headache that it's become, the distraction that it's become, and the obvious signs are that he's not going to be here for the future. You have to move on whether it's a lesser deal or not. You have to move on before this deadline.
We know that, we know, and we all hope that's the case. Well, Mansour joining us covers the Miami Heat WPLG-TV. What has the fan reception been like?
Is everybody too cool for school down in Miami? They're just like, okay, let us know when this is over with. Our fans looking at Jimmy going, what are you doing?
You know, what's crazy is the way it's changed in those, I mentioned 30 days, three suspensions. I would say if I was on your show 30 days ago, when the story broke and the news broke that Jimmy wants to be traded and all these different things, I think the majority of the fan base was on Jimmy's side. Hey, you've given us all you could give us. You've given us five years, you know, two NBA finals appearances, the great runs playoff Jimmy. But now with the way he's taken it between the social media stuff and then the missing the flight the other day, not wanting to be as a backup and go into the lineup as a reserve, I think people have turned on Jimmy. I think he's fans that truly loved him.
You're still going to have the base that's going to love what he did here and still be on his side. But I think a lot of fans have turned on like this has become such an unnecessary distraction the way he's handled it. And I think more so now fans are kind of over like, you know, just move them on at this point, whatever you gave us what you gave us and now let's move on. So if the fans were initially kind of on Jimmy Butler's side, people were given Pat Riley the side eye, like he was screwing things up. Are people still mad at what he said over the summer about such a mouth? I think so.
And look, I think it's two results too, JR. I think when you look at the results of this team, Pat Riley's never been one afraid to make a move, but they haven't been able to pull the trigger and actually make a big move. They were right in the middle of the Dave Lillard stuff.
We know what happened with the players. Joe Cronin didn't want to deal with Riley. A lot of you fans would have been on Riley and said, hey, you couldn't get it done.
In reality though, that was kind of a situation he couldn't win. I think Riley's always thinking big, never trying to hit a single or double. He wants to hit a home run. In the last couple of years, they haven't been able to hit the home run. So now the Jimmy stuff happens and I think fans are wondering, okay, has Riley lost his touch? Can he still get this done? Can he get a big deal and get this team back?
Not just to a competitive level, but to a championship level. But what's happened now the last two weeks, I think people have seen it through the eyes of Riley with like, hey, look, we're trying to get something done, but this guy is not making it easy for us the way he's acting. So I think fans have turned more toward the organization and toward Riley. Wow.
Sometimes folks don't know how good they have it. I mean, Pat Riley is one of the most successful individuals in the history, the 75 plus year history of the NBA. Will Mansour is joining us here on the chair. Our sport reshow covers all things heat down in South Florida. If the Miami Heat are able to trade Jimmy, we can all assume that's going to happen. Who or what would be an ideal piece in the return? I mean, even as recently as yesterday, the name of Julius Randall has been bandied about, Wiggins is thrown around.
What piece would actually help the Heat? What's been wild in this mess is that while all the names that we've heard from Anthony and Andrew Wiggins and John, they could make a golden state, whether it's a Bruce Brown and an expiring deal, now obviously the talk of the year and Fox to the heat getter, that is unlikely as it seems. The one thing that transpired in the last month is that their own player, Colel, where a kid that they got in the first round this year has developed and will work as a year candidate. I mean, the kid's been a double-double machine. He's coming off another double-double, 19-10, the win against Orlando.
He's in the starting lineup now. It's as the norm with Ben Adebayo, two big men with Colel at the five. It's changed kind of the idea of what this team is going to be. Like, okay, so do you just get expiring contracts?
Do you get do you get deals and draft picks? I think the one thing I could feel pretty comfortable saying, JR, is that they do not want to get any contracts that go past 2026. Pat Riley and his organization, they want to line things up to the big free agent class, whether it's Luca, whoever it may be, to make sure they have financial flexibility. And I think they feel more comfortable doing that, given Tyler Herold playing at an all-star level, giving Bam what he's done before, starting to hopefully turn the corner on offense.
He struggled a bit this year. And then the development of Colel Ware, a kid that looks to be a really good force at the center position for them for now and the future. Well, all things considered, given where the Miami Heat are at right now, where they'll be next Friday, this is a team in transition. I mean, the next, the rest of this season, next year, we might as well just, you know, clasp our hands and wait, huh? And that's the thing is that the Heat don't think that way.
Look, I've been around this organization a long time. I love, you know, I love covering the Heat, but the one thing you will learn from day one is that they don't settle. They don't think of the short term as far as like, oh, it's rebuilding. They always have competing and playing for a championship in mind, no matter how the roster may not look capable of dealing with a Boston, dealing with the teams out west, they see, well, they can compete.
So I think in the short term, yeah, you want to kind of line things up where these young players play and get experience and build. But I also think that the Heat don't normally think that way. They want to be able to, whatever move is made next, don't keep the eyes on now and the future thinking they can compete with anyone. It's just the way they do things. They're not a team that's just going to concede and say, okay, these teams are better. We're not going to compete.
That's not the way they function. Will Mansell is here with us, covers the Miami Heat, WPLG-TV down in Miami. When you think about how Pat Riley showed up and has changed the organization since he showed up about almost 30 years ago, we've seen the changes here. Has Jimmy Butler damaged his standing in his historical space with the Miami Heat? I know it's crazy to think about right now, he's still on a team and he wants out, but has he kind of burned this bridge into the future when it's time to celebrate his career? No, unless he wants to, unless he doesn't want anything to do with his organization in the future, the one thing the Heat have shown that they're capable of throughout the years is to forgive and forget and to move on.
And we've seen it. We've seen it with some of their all-time greats. I mean, there have been falling outs and issues with Alonzo Mourning, who's now an executive with the team, works at the front office. The most obvious cases will happen all the way, the greatest player in franchise history. And now he's obviously got a statue and his number retired and he's always going to be a big part of this organization. I think there's going to be a day where no matter what happened at the end with LeBron, LeBron's jersey is going to be hanging here and there's going to be a banner at the arena. They will make up with Jimmy and this, I think, will be looked at as a great period in Heat history where he came here for five, six years, had some phenomenal moments. Now that's, to me, the balls of Jimmy's court. If Jimmy sours on this organization, doesn't want anything to do with him and doesn't want that, then he doesn't get it. But I think as time heals and time goes on and you reflect on what this time with Jimmy was, yeah, I think the Heat will welcome him back with open arms and embrace him.
I think fans will as well. It's just unfortunate it gets ugly at the end, but the riot itself was worth it. Like there's no one that could tell me otherwise that the Jimmy Butler, everybody, wasn't a success.
It absolutely was. It's just an ugly ending, which unfortunately is kind of the MO for Jimmy and all his stops. Yeah, I think at this point in time, Will, I'd wish he just got shot out to Mars. I mean, this is it's just a blatant money grab. I find it surprising just a little bit that you say the fans were on his side. I mean, he's a thirty five, thirty six year old player at this stage of his career. He wants a contract extension. He has a contract to finish out this year. He has an option for next year. He's not playing for free. And the fact that he would go this far, I'm just a little surprised that the fans would just go, I'm on his side.
What do you want to pay him until he's forty five? You can't even legally do that under the cap. It's just a little surprise. And the fans took that approach now. And that's where business and personal mix.
Right. The fans are thinking from a fan emotion perspective. How are we thinking about the business? You know, I mean, he did it with the way the greatest player in franchise history. You sure as heck know, he's doing with Jimmy Butler, too, as far as thinking of it from a business perspective.
I know that that's rough. I know that Jimmy has been great here. But like you said, you have to think big picture. He's not his prime.
This is not the Aaron Fox situation where you're getting a player and is trying to figure out you're getting whoever gets Jimmy next is getting a player who probably has one last run of this postseason, maybe next postseason to give you that level of basketball to pay him beyond that is probably not a smart business move that they want to make. Yeah, not at all. Hey, well, I'll say it. The fans are not smart. I said it, not you.
Don't worry about it. Luckily, the fans are not running teams. They always say like that. They equate what you do is that you don't have a job or you could be the New York Jets. You could let your teenage son run the team. So exactly. You're really in trouble in different strokes with different folks.
They will. Thank you so much for the time. Where can people in South Florida, where can people all over the country keep up with you, your work and the coverage of the Heat? Easy enough. On social media at my name at Will Mansell and for those in South Florida, I work at the ABC, but I also get the cover of the broadcast on their team.
So if you watch games locally or whatever on their NBA pass, all that stuff. But it's always my pleasure, man, to talk to me basketball. Hey, Will, thank you so much. And hopefully this this this chapter closes soon and everybody can move on. Appreciate you, Will.
Anytime. No doubt about it that will man. So it covers the Miami Heat, helps hopes for the Heat.
WPLG TV down in Miami. The story cannot end soon enough. And I still am a little surprised that the fans would be on the side of Jimmy Butler.
For what? This guy is basically spit in y'all's faces. Y'all are so happy that y'all went to two finals, one in a bubble and another one where you got smashed by the Nuggets.
That's good and great. Great player. But he basically said, I don't even care about y'all.
This man doesn't show up. He doesn't play like are the standards so low from what you expect as a fan? Are we finally into the era?
We had a caller this week. You know, he's like, hey, you know, I feel fans are not fans anymore. They're front runners. And I said, we got more fans who are interested in rooting for players than we have fans that are interested in rooting for teams. Jimmy Butler got that strong of a fan base.
You're going to rock with that. And what world does that make sense? Hickey, is that surprising to you? The fans were on Jimmy Butler's side.
What are they smoking? Very much so. Now, at least they've come to their senses and it's kind of gotten more extreme.
But like, think about it. When has a fan base ever taken the player side when it's screw you guys not playing? He basically quit.
Not basically. He did quit on the team, on the fan base. And for it to take, you know, almost a month to realize, oh, wow, maybe like, you know, we shouldn't be on Jimmy's side. Maybe he is screwing us. It is surprising. Yeah, they're just like, oh, well, we went to two finals and lost.
Yeah, you can ask for more money. He's old. He doesn't play. And we're supposed to think that he's going to get better.
Like in what world? Jimmy Butler, is he going to he's going to age like LeBron? Is Jimmy Butler going to give us twenty five, eight and eight when he's 40 years old?
It doesn't look like it. And I know the NBA certainly changed. We got Chris Paul running around. He's the next Methuselah. I don't think Jimmy Butler is going to be around at 40. So he's just trying. He's screwing everybody. He's screwing the heat. He's screwing his teammates and he's screwing the fans. And if you're rocking with Jimmy Butler and that includes Shaquille O'Neal, who lost his mind, there's something wrong with you. Like it's a business and the business is to entertain the fans. This is show business.
Shop for work. Stop being a quitter. It's the J.R. Sportbree 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. Speaking of nuts and crazy people, the fans in Philadelphia, they're real nutty. I'll explain on the other side. It's the J.R. Sportbree show, the Infinity Sports Network.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-29 20:08:21 / 2025-01-29 20:24:28 / 16