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And if you don't have a sense of excitement about this, I don't know what you're here for. The Rich Eisen Show. You sound re-energized. You sound like you're bouncing off the walls, Joshua. We're ready for any challenge.
Today's guests: Yes Network Brooklyn Nets analyst Richard Jefferson, co-host of PTI, Michael Wilbon, actor Tay Diggs, co-host of Good Morning Football, Kyle Brand, plus co-host of Peacock's brother from another, Michael Holly. And now. I can multitask. It's Rich Eyes. All right, everybody.
Welcome to this edition of The Rich Eisen Show. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial. Have a conversation with us. We say good afternoon or good morning, wherever our NBC Sports on Peacock viewers are taking in this edition of The Rich Eyes and Show. And we say the same thing to those listening to us on SiriusXM Channel 211 NBC Sports Audio or on the burgeoning, growing Rich Eisen Show.
Terrestrial Radio Network. Good morning to you, Chris Brockman, because we are sitting here in our Los Angeles studios. Good to see you, Mike Del Tufi. How are you? And our social media grand maester, TJ Jefferson, settling into his chair right here.
What are you, Rich? I am I'm doing all right. Everything's good right here. All good in this hood. We are wow, we are five wide today.
We are five wide today. We got our starting five on the floor, and I'll tell you who's coming up in a second.
So we were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Kyrie Irving. He arrived. He practiced. He met with the media. His body language was damn near cutler-esque during that.
during that zoom and uh how how would this team look In Kyrie's first game. With Hardin and Durant on the floor. We finally got that information last night. And anybody out there who's concerned about the Nets' ability to win a championship. Certainly here in this great city of Los Angeles, the city of Current NBA champions.
Los Angeles Lakers, your LA Lakers. All you got to do is go find yourself a Colin Sexton. That's about it. How about that? No sophomore jinx for good old Colin last night.
And those plucky calves, those plucky calves forced overtime. In this game, as I was, my eyes were peeled on how the Nets were going to. Figure out the endgame scenario, and at the end of regulation last night. It's a lot of isolation for Hardin. and letting him dribble and create.
There was a shot by Kyrie with the time dwindling down in regulation that didn't go, and overtime got forced. And uh and then Overtime hits, and the Nets get a two-possession lead. And you can't help but sit there and think, well, that's all she wrote. That was a nice night for the Cleveland Cavaliers. And then.
All of a sudden they're staying in it and Sexton jars a three to force double overtime. True. And then in double overtime, it just fell apart for the Nets, and it was the Collins Sexton Show. How good was that kid last night? Dude, on fire.
And it's not like Kyrie wasn't. Doing Kyrie things, 38 points. I mean, 37 points for Kyrie last night. And let's get Sexton's numbers: 42 points for Colin Sexton. Good.
He had 15 straight. In the double overtime. He was amazing. And the Nets big three did their thing. They did their thing.
Harden got a triple double. Harden got the old triple double, 21, 10, and 12. Durant with 38 and 12 and 8. He almost had a triple-double, and Kyrie put in 37. What do you want?
You know, and DeAndre Jordan had a nice night as well. As he played the bulk of the first three quarters, and then they decided to stick. You know, Joe Harris out there. And Sexton had 15 of his 42 and The second overtime last night, and that. was that And Brooklyn's nine and seven, and Cleveland's seven and seven.
Now Difference between the NBA and the NFL. NFL That's the only Shot the Brooklyn Nets had having a win all week long. And we are sitting here spending an entire week saying, Is this really going to work out? Can this possibly work out? Is this going to be what we are expecting?
Did the Nets make the wrong move with trading their entire future for Harden? What is Kyrie Irving's issue? Could this loss be traced to anything that was going on behind the scenes that we don't know because Kyrie acted in the manner in which he acted in the one shot that we had with him in the media? That's the NFL. NBA, see you Friday night.
Same team. Right. Same team. It's a home and home. Same bad job.
Okay. Isn't it great how we do that in the NFL? Because we have a whole week to chew on it. And there's only 16 opportunities to win and lose. The NBA, yeah, and then Friday night it could be like, here we go again.
How are they going to, how is it going to be the Nets against the Cleveland Cowliers?
Well, Kyrie's got a calf. You know, and he's, you know, we're still trying to work him back in and You know, Harden's still, you know, on the whatever neutra system he's on, or, you know, we're going to give the Durant the night off because it's a game the next night, you know, and he can't go back to back, so we're just going to use one of them here, one of them there.
So, I mean, you can't go all in on anything on this front other than the fact that it was a highly entertaining game. I'm you know, Jared Allen going against his former team. Boy, I I just Love watching him play. He's got an interesting game. And you're going to wonder: Andre Drummond didn't even play in the overtimes.
And you're wondering: are the Cavs already. Seeing what Allen's got.
So he gets worked in here.
So Drummond around the trade deadline because they don't want to pay him. Get him out of there. I don't know what the Cavs are up to on that front. You want to chime in on this one? Because as you know, I'm like, these guys have to get their reps in because they had to get on the same page.
And and and uh you know They got their reps in last night. They certainly got in their possessions. They got it in. They all shared the basketball, although there's only one of them at the end. There's only one basketball at the end.
I just found it interesting.
Okay, Harden's clearing out. He handled the ball. He was handling it up the court. Kyrie was just. You know, deferring, I guess, on that front.
And they're all, you know, having a good time. I mean, it was intense. They don't win, but we'll see a Friday night. When I think about teams and when they put together, you know, quote unquote super teams like this, I just think about the Miami Heat. In 2010, 2011, whatever it was, their first year together.
Because he created the super team. But they started 9-8. And everyone was wondering, what's going on? Is this going to work? And then they went to four straight NBA finals.
Like, you got to give them a little bit of time to play together. And all that matters is how they play in the playoffs. And I think when it comes down to it, they're going to be in the NBA Finals against the Lakers. That's the if and or but. That's all it is.
So I'm not really worried about an overtime, double overtime loss to Cleveland. Yep. Who cares? They all played well. When they were all on the court last night, they were plus eleven.
So they're going to work it out and it's going to be fine. Yeah. 71% of the points came from those three. 51 minutes for Harden, 48 for Kyrie, 50 for Durant. It's gotta be the most minutes hardened played in five.
Yeah, so he's getting into shape and he's he's That's what I'm saying. But it was Colin Sexton. He's a real deal, isn't he? Yeah, it was his night. It was his night.
Richard Jefferson was on the mic. He was great with Ian last night. I know. I was watching the Yes feed last night, too. And Iron with the line of the night.
Line of the night. And, you know, they're all calling it because they're all calling it Irons at his home, and so is Richards out here on the left coast.
So, um.
Okay. Sexton's lighting it up 15 in double overtime. And Richard goes, He's got to have, that's got to be a record. Is that a record? Closing in on a record or something like that.
Pause and I go, Richard. You can look it up on Google or something like that. Richard, there is Google. Desi, good. There's Google for that.
Oh, my gosh. You know, there's Google for that. I did laugh out loud. Yeah. I did laugh out loud.
So Richard Jefferson will be joining us coming up in about 12 minutes. And Michael Wilbon. Pardon the interruption, fame. It's been a while since we've spoken with him. And uh obviously he'll chime on on this front, and then we've got ourselves uh a chat with Tay Diggs.
He is playing a high school football coach in CW's All-American. All right. Kyle Brandt will be joining us in his usual Wednesday spot. He's like, How about Thursday? I'm like, okay.
Anytime. God, I love Kyle Brandt from Good Morning Football. He's got his own pod. And then Michael Holly will join us going out the door as we take you on Peacock, NBC Sports on Peacock as the stand alone channel. We take it from Dan Patrick every day and we hand it off to Michael Holly and Michael Smith of Brother from another.
He will help us take him to his show. And Michael is kind of a Brady expert. He's written books on Tom Brady and the Patriots. His home base for many years has been the Boston sports area, his Boston area. And um Kyle and Michael Wilbon will hit on the NFC Championship game and the AFC Championship game.
Here we go. Here we go. I kind of feel like this is the quiet before the storm right now. Everybody spoke yesterday. Yep.
And we're two days away. Anybody guarantee win yesterday? Anybody say anything crazy or controversial? I didn't see any. Big quotes in the future.
You know, the interesting thing, and I want to talk to Holly about this because this is what Riles. Patriot fans up a little bit. about Brady in Tampa. Is Arian saying that Brady wasn't allowed to coach up in New England, and I'm letting him coach down here? And You know, Aryans made reference to that a When he talked to us.
When he talked to us, he didn't say it as point blank in a way that could sound. Critical of Belichick's way of doing things. Because it kind of worked out, the 20-year relationship, I would say. It's fine. It's all good.
But the fact that Brady is coaching him up, teaching people. Teaching the children.
Well, to use a little Crosby Stills Nash and Young here. Teaching the children well. And in New England, Tom wasn't really known for. Tom did a lot of yelling up in New England. He did.
He did. He did. And I just can't wait. It's just truly unbelievable. And this is one thing I'm wondering.
You tell me. First is always the special one, right? He's twenty four years old. He's in New Orleans. And then the second one is very special because you're proving it's not just one.
I mean, look at Breeze retiring with one. Phillip has retiring with none. Aaron Rodgers has one. Just the one.
Okay. The third one for New England, though, was very Important because it was back-to-back.
Okay. He joins A select group, the triplet Cowboys, the Denver Broncos, right? Going back to back. Just to throw some out there for you. Then the fourth one was Very important because they hadn't won in a decade.
It shows you that. It wasn't just a flash in the pan. Or you're now separated from TJ Jefferson's triplet Cowboys. Right. who did win three in four years, which is what Brady did to start.
This all out. Then the fifth one. And the sixth one are now up there because you're separating yourself from Terry Bradshaw. Separating yourself from Montana, like you're in a different one.
So each and every one is special in its own right. Fifth and sixthes You know, important the fifth one for sure because now the quarterback. He's by himself. Mount Rushmore has just one guy with five rings on there. Sixth one was particularly gluttonous and unnecessary.
Except for the fact that Six is better than five. It's weird we ties him with Michael Jordan. Could you make the case? The seventh is the most special of all. Because he's 43, it's with Tampa, and it's not with Bill, and it's not with New England, and it's not the Patriot way, it's the Brady way.
In Tampa, Florida. Right. And it would be the first one to ever do it in his home stadium.
So there's just an interesting little wrinkle here. Yeah. And the fact that Tom Brady strolls into Lambeau freaking field of all places. To play a playoff game. Obviously, never play a playoff game.
Right, right. Correct. Tom always has that weird quote. Not weird, but it's his famous quote about which ring is his favorite. He gets asked that all the time.
And he always says the next one. Of course. This one, though, I don't think. I think this one might be the might be his favorite. This one's different.
This one's different. Yeah. This one's different. The in the the wrinkles again. being that he's not with New England anymore.
And also to be able to say Okay. Rams and Chargers, you go host the money. the Super Bowl in your own building, play it play the Super Bowl in your own building and win it. Everyone else from now on. That's another thing to shoot for.
And do it as a 43-year-old in your first year with a new team in a pandemic. I'm serious. Like, this is. This is something that would scare me down in my socks if I'm a Packers fan. And I know we could talk X's and O's and how Green Bay will also have the home field, and it's 20 some odd degrees.
So on and so forth. But I'm just wondering if this one in particular for Tom. Brady, Thomas Edward Brady, that this one's the seventh would stand out. amongst all the other ones. For this fact alone.
And he's eight. Quarters away from making that happen. The entire Journey. of this season. From Being in New England.
Thrown a pick six to end his career there. That couldn't have been. Easy to swallow. Certainly, if he strolled off the field knowing, I'm not coming back, even though the narrative wasn't. At all about that, that there was a decision to make, and then he makes a decision, and then he goes to Tampa, and then he goes to Tampa, and it's a pandemic, and there's lots to learn, and he does.
Have to school people up, and he's also something he has to take in himself, and he's got a leopard to. Change some spots, and he does all of that, and then the season starts, and it's very Very inconsistent for him. And it's also very Um Out of character for him to lose track of Downs on a Thursday night game and all of that. Kind of forgot about it. And then, you know, and Arian saying things publicly that Belichick never would.
And And is this relationship frayed and then Antonio Brown comes in, and there's more to learn and more to get used to. Can they do it? Eight quarters away from winning his seventh ring. And let's be honest, if Tom wins this year. For a lot of people.
in our business and fans, it's going to end the debate. It's going to end the Bill vs. Tom debate. And that it was Tom the whole time. Yeah, but that's not fair.
It's not fair, but for a lot of people, it's going to end it. It's not fair at all. That would be absurd. That's absurd, and I'll just say that right now. Front it right here, right now.
And I think for Tom, Tom himself might feel that way. If Belichick had the same roster, and he's in charge of the roster there, but if he had the same roster as New England's, I mean, as Tampa's. And that's part of the reason why Brady might have made this decision. He looks around. I'm not going to spend my calendar years of age 43 and age 44 with the window closing just for old langzine because I I'm I've I've I want to wear just the one uniform.
I mean, it's not going to happen. With all due respect to some of those New England guys, You want to play with Jacoby Myers? You want to play with Mike Evans? Great job with the all-due respect, because that was disrespectful, even though accurate. I have no explanation for that.
And honestly, you know, honestly. I mean, I'm a Pats fan. I'll be. Right up front about it. New England could have easily been four and twelve.
I mean, uh the fact that it wasn't a total disaster this year might be a testament to Bill Belichick's coaching and the the whole staff. And I don't want to hear that at all about Bill versus You know, Tom and who's more important or whatever. If the Bucs make the Super Bowl, it's all we're going to hear for two weeks. And I'll be sitting here for two weeks saying that this is a ridiculous conversation. But Tom proving.
that he can do it without Bill. And Bill will have to prove he has to rebuild in order to do it without Tom. And he needs to find his quarterback. But that's for down the road. For the moment?
Like, because Belichick has not forgotten how to be a GOAT coach. At all? The horses weren't there. And the main horse that can actually turn a 7-9 team into 9-7 or 10-6 is. Eight quarters away from the Super Bowl.
But Tampa. Bay. Unreal. 844-204-rich number to dot. We'll talk about that with Michael Holly and Kyle Brandt and Michael Wilbon.
Tay Diggs will join us on the program. And then Richard Jefferson, let's take a break. We'll call uh call up R. Jeff. when we come back here on the Rich Eisen Show and ask him.
Did he, in fact, Google that information about Colin Sexton? That's next. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy.
Just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money when you bundle your home and auto policies. The process only takes minutes, and it could mean hundreds more in your pocket. Visit progressive.com after this episode to see if you could save. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will be not available in all states.
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This is the Rich Eisen Show. From our debut show. That was from our debut show on October 6th, 2014. We're back here on The Rich Eisen Show. We're just going down memory lane on our Peacock feed, just letting our radio audience know.
If you want to watch us on Peacock, we do have some extras during commercial breaks and things of that nature. Just get Peacock. Get the app. It is free, peacocktv.com for all that. We are joined by one of our favorite guests, and he was calling a game with Ian Eagle on yes.
He's one of the broadcasters for Brooklyn Nets games. You also see him on the Worldwide Leader in Sports and ESPN. Longtime NBA player, now turned broadcaster Richard Jefferson. How are you, Richard? I am outstanding.
How are you guys doing today? I am doing fine. What do you make of last night's game with the Nets? Richard Jefferson, you go for it. One.
what I make of it, the Cleveland Cavaliers actually have a pretty strong team. No, what I make from it, there's so much. There's so many layers to it. One, to see Kyrie and KD and James Harden play close to fifty minutes last night, I think was encouraging because one, James Harden is not in the best condition. You know, are not in his championship normal condition.
Kyrie was missing two weeks, and you know, KD's coming back from an Achilles.
So, you know, to see these guys be able to play the way they did, it was encouraging. I think, you know, they are going to be a talented team, but I think the deficiencies in their team, whether it's the size, whether it's individual team defense, they have a lot of firepower, but they also have some spots that they need to shore up. But when they do, literally, to me, it's them and the Lakers. I'm sorry, but those are the only two teams that I really feel have all of the things necessary to be, you know, a powerhouse. All right, let's use that opening salvo from you as the launching off point because you said a lot right there.
Let's start. You talked about Hardin getting into shape. Did he lose 30 pounds in 20 hours just by being acquired by the Nets, Richard? I don't know. You know what's so weird is all of the pictures of him, all of the pictures of him.
That looked like he was heavier were all like in warm-ups. And I'm not saying that he was wearing a few extra tops or maybe a back wrap or whatever, but it seems like there was a level of embellishment there. I don't, you know, I look, NBA players are physical specimens, but I don't think you can lose that much weight. That being said, when you're playing 46 minutes a night, all you got to do is mix in a couple of salads and not eating unhealthy, and the stuff will fall off of you very, very quickly, especially when you're in the prime of your career.
So, you know, if he has refocused himself, if he's re-locked in, if he's doing the things that he needs to become the MVP caliber James Harden that he's been for the last five seasons, I imagine that flipping a switch, you could see a body change in a matter of 10 days and two weeks.
So you're saying he was wearing like a he was wearing a clump suit, warming up or something like that? Minus the headpiece, minus the head makeup.
Okay, so yeah. I'm just wondering if, yeah, I think that's what he was rocking. Yeah, I'm just because, again, he definitely seems much happier and better. And certainly. But Rich, Rich, Rich, we can't trust the internet.
You know, you can't trust the internet. You see a couple of pictures and you're just like. Ooh, is that real? Is that embellished? You know, at the end of the day, he showed back, he showed up and he's had three triple-doubles in four games, and he's had.
230-point triple-devils.
So, you know. Say whatever you want. Like, he's getting into better shape, but those numbers are monstrous. Like, I'm not going to talk about his physical shape. I want to talk about his physical numbers.
And his numbers look great thus far. Richard Jefferson here on the Rich Eisen Show, you also referred to Kyrie being away for two weeks. What can you tell me? What do you know? What can you share about why he was away for him being away at all?
Richard. What happened? There hasn't been much clarification. There hasn't been much communication. I think.
You know, professional sports, as you guys know, is one of those things where it's like you don't really get a break. You know, it's like you have your off season, and when you're in season, you're expected to be on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Right? I used to joke and tell people that we didn't, I don't know what day of the week it is because our days of the week go travel day, practice day, game day, off day. Like, that's all we have.
There is no Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And so I think, you know, whatever it was, that there was things going on in his personal life that he needed to address. If there were things that were going on, you know, maybe with a family member that he needed to address and he needed some time away just for, you know, whether it's mental or emotional clarity, that's fine. But I will say this: he did play for two weeks. And that man went out and he scored, what, 38 last night and played 46 minutes.
So, As much as we want to criticize him for needing that time away and a lack of communication, I think that was the big part: a lack of communication. He was in very good shape. He was still working out. He didn't just like, I'm going to go to the Bahamas and like eat and drink and like take my time off. And I need time.
No, you know, he was working out. He was doing the things that were necessary for him to show back up to his team and be effective.
So as far as I'm concerned, this was a personal matter. He needed to time off. He needed to do a better job of communicating very, very early to his team. Not to the media, not to the fans, to his team. That's the part that added a lot of skepticism to what was going on.
And then there was obviously other issues, but that was the part that I think he recognizes that he needed to do a better job. But to his credit, he was in shape and he didn't just take time off.
Well, and here's the thing: because again, I don't know him. I've never really met him, Richard.
So I'm, and I'm not one of those types to sit in a chair like this in front of a microphone like this and a platform like this and just fire away. Because I didn't like his body language and his Zoom, you know. But the question I do have, and maybe you can help me here, is he does seem like a very conscientious thinker of a player. Who has a platform that he thought he should give up because the social injustice going on in this country, in his mind, was more important for him to pay attention to and throw all of his energies in rather than go to a bubble, which obviously he wasn't going to go to anyway. But my point is: this: if there is something that was going on, even if it was a private matter, even if it was a private matter, to use his platform to tell people, hey, This is the stuff that athletes go through, and we know this is what I'm going.
I go through something similar, you two, and maybe use this platform. to communicate that To even fans who definitely want to know, does this guy care for me to invest myself into watching a game like last night? Like, that's the issue. And I agree, I agree. And it's weird because it's like I've expressed this to people.
Kyrie, and I know this is going to sound probably not, nobody owes anything to anybody. I know that sounds very selfish, and I know the fans. You were like, well, the fans support you, and the fans watch you, and the fans do this, and the fans do that. That is true. But if Kyrie were to retire tomorrow, he doesn't owe an explanation.
Kyrie could disappear. Kevin Durant could disappear. We've seen it from guys like Barry Sanders, Calvin Johnson, guys in the prime of their career who are like, I'm done. I just want to move on. And so, you know, for Kyrie, the people that matter most, and why I think there was such a fair amount of criticism on him, it was because the lack of communication with his team.
Now, when he came back, he addressed the team, he addressed the people that mattered within the organization because I stand this. He needs to. You say, like, oh, well, he needs to address this with the fans. And it's like, well, look, the Nets could trade him tomorrow. And does he have to address the fans then?
Do the team have to address the Nets fans that loved Kyrie? No, they say thank you, Kyrie, for your service. Move on, right? And this is for a player that's well-behaved and perfect. They can still just say, what, move on?
So the only thing that really and truly matters is that the people in the locker room understand that Kyrie is there, that he's locked in, that he's focused on the final goal. And for this team, it should be winning a championship. I agree that like you do owe, like there's a mentality that you owe fans, but ultimately the only people that truly matter when you're on this journey are the people within the locker room. Don't be disrespectful.
Now, if you don't like them, don't watch the games. If you don't like them, don't buy his shoes. If you don't like them, don't buy his jersey. You know, that's one thing. You have the right as a consumer to not do that.
But to say that, like, I need personal time off and I owe it to fans to address that, I feel like that's a misconception. Richard Jefferson, ESPN NBA analyst and Yes Network, Brooklyn Nets analyst and longtime veteran of the NBA here on The Rich Eisen Show. You also said, see, I'm not lying, but from your opening statement, I'm going to pull on the strings here. You also said that there are some weaknesses that when they shore up, look out. How do they shore it up?
What needs to be shored up? And how do they do it since it seems that they're out of draft capital to cough up in any sort of deadline deal or this is the unit that they're going to have? Walk me through that, Richard.
Well, and again, I don't think it's championship or bust. I think this team has the talent. Them and the Lakers probably have the most talent and the most whatever when you look at like how do you win and how do you compete. I really and truly look at the Nets and their lack of size. DeAndre Jordan played well, and he's playing better, but losing Jared Allen was big.
So now you have DeAndre Jordan, he's your one true big. And now they've bumped people up. But now, when you're talking about team defense, they need to be between 10 and 15. They're probably not going to be a top 10 defense because they don't have the depth. But if they hover around 13, they're first in field goal percentage, which is amazing because they have perimeter shooters, right?
KD, Kyrie, James Harden are perimeter shooters, but they're highly efficient perimeter shooters. And then they're third in, I think, they're third in points per game, but they're like 16th in turnovers. You can't turn the ball over if you're not going to be a great defensive team. If you're the 18th ranked defensive team and you're 22nd in turnovers, it doesn't matter how great your offense is. You're giving the other team easy buckets and easy extra opportunities.
So they got to lower their turnovers. They need to be, again, as long as they stay within the middle, as long as they're 10, 11, 12th in the league in turnovers, 10, 11, 12th, 13th in defense, now their offensive efficiency goes through the roof. And so those are the areas. And I think they do need to find some depth. They do need to figure it out.
And I know that there's different trades and there's other guys whose names are probably going to be mentioned. There's going to be buyouts for players late. And if you're a guy, let's say hypothetically like a PJ Tucker, I'm not saying that this happened, but a name like that that gets bought out or traded in waves. You know, who like the Nets are going to be the number one team for those veterans that are bought out at the end because Lakers are loaded, Clippers are loaded. Do you want to go to Milwaukee?
You know, Miami's got a ton of young teams. There's Philly, I think, is good. Boston's loaded. Brooklyn is the one team that you could look at. It's like there is an opportunity to play and win a championship.
If I get waived by whatever team, I can go sign with them for the veteran minimum for this year and go contribute to what they're doing. That's when things start to get scary. Hit me with the Eastern Conference team that could derail this championship run. Give me one for you. You know, they played against Milwaukee, and I just still don't think Milwaukee has enough.
Right. You look at the late game when they beat Milwaukee, it's like Chris Middleton was the individual that was taking the last two shots. For their team. And, you know, Giannis had a very good game, but you know, but ultimately, I think there's Boston, they're Philly, the Milwaukee, it's the same normal characters, but I really think that the Nets are really one or two pieces, a little bit more defense, cleaning up their turnover situation. From really, if they're healthy, they have too much firepower for almost every single team.
Billy could be a problem with their size. Tobias Harris, Joel and Biede. If Joel and Biete is playing and he's banging and posting up extremely well against DeAndre Jordan, there's nobody else to come in after DeAndre Jordan. Right, there's nobody else to come in.
So, if DeAndre Jordan's in foul trouble, Joelle and Bede could really cause a problem for that team, and including Ben Simmons with his size. It's just a matter of whether or not they can score enough points to keep up with the Nets. But the size of Philly could be a problem, but it's really the Nets to lose, and they still have areas that they can improve, in my opinion. How's Nash handling all this, in your estimation? I know, what a first rodeo here.
You want to coach? We're going to give you the most loaded team of all time, and there's going to be a lot of stuff going on. I think, Steve, yeah, I think you know what I think really helps. I think having Dan Tony there helps because Dan Tony had a relationship with James Harden, right? Like James Harden won an MVP with him.
So, having Jock Vaughn, who was there with Kevin Durant and Kyrie last year, having Steve Nash that had a relationship with Kevin Durant, I think this group, especially, especially Katie and Kyrie, you need to connect with them on a human level, not just on a basketball level. Right, I don't think they're the players that show up, play basketball, go home, right? Like, they need more than just like a basketball coach, they need a person that they believe believes in them on all aspects of their life. And so, I think Steve Nash is a perfect guy for that. And including, you know, you got Eme Adoka, you have a great balanced staff there with the Nets that I think helps.
It's not just Steve Nash as a first-time head coach, and there's no relationships up and down that staff with the players. There's relationships just riddled within. And then I guess to finish up here, Richard, when I first asked you, what do you make of last night's game? You say the Cavs have a good team. I know they don't have Hardin and Kyrie and Durant, which is why we're finally getting around to the team that actually won last night.
We're also on the radio in the great state of Ohio. And last night, I guess if it was a bowl game, it would have been the Richard Jefferson Bowl since you have some Cavs ties. Connections for both. Exactly.
So, what do you make of that? You know, I love Sexton, and they're not even whole. They didn't have Kevin Love, they didn't have Darius Garland. But Colin Sexton is such a competitor. You look at like he had blocked shots.
He was playing defense. He was making plays. He was distributing to score 20 points in a row. Like, dude, there's prime players. There are players in their prime, great MVP players that have not done that.
Uh, and so, you know, he's a very, very talented young guard. I think he's getting better. I still think he needs to learn how to get his teammates involved just a smidge more. And I know I'm being critical for a kid that's averaging 25 points a game, but that raises your team's level. I think J.B.
Bickerstaff has done an amazing job. He's finally got an opportunity to coach. You know, he's been an interim head coach in Houston, interim head coach, and then a head coach for one year in Memphis. He just never really got the opportunity to have a team, a training camp, and like two or three years of working and developing with talent. And I think this is a great opportunity.
I think J.B. Bickerstaff is going to be a great coach. I know you want to say young because he's only like 41, but he's a great young head coach that's been in the game for 20 plus years. And what about Drummond? Alan had more minutes last night.
Is that somebody that they're kicking the tires on to see if Drummond, who's going to have to get paid, needs to be moved? What do you think of that situation? Yeah, Drummond is so good leading the league and rebounding. He's just so talented and such a big force. Um, you know, I think Jared Allen is probably, you know, a fail-safe because it's like, hey, Jared Allen is a very, very good big.
He's not probably going to get the Drummond numbers, but if you were to trade Drummond for pieces or draft picks, you have a very good young big that should have been starting for the Nets, a lot of people believe. You have a very young big that you can, you know, pay probably half the price, but he's got a ton of potential, one of the best shop lockers in the league.
So that gives you the leverage to maybe trade Drummond to get some pieces, maybe get some more young talent, especially with Kevin Porter, you know, struggling with some things there.
So you're losing the wing that everyone thought was going to be the future 18, 19 point of game scorer for you.
So now you have that option with Drummond. And look, ultimately, if Drummond is going to be a guy that's going to be a stud and a star, he might have to do it someplace else and get his money someplace else. I think the pickup of Jared Allen was huge, but it also sometimes leads to the writing. On the wall for a great player like Drummond. It's like, no, you're great.
No one's questioning your greatness. It's just we're too young. We're not very good. You're probably going to be moved someplace so that we can, you know, kind of restructure. It's no different than Chris Paul getting traded from Oklahoma City.
It's not that he's not great. It's just we're not going to continue going in this direction and we'd be wasting your greatness right here, right now. Richard, I really appreciate the call, man. Great. I was listening to you and I and on that broadcast last night and him telling you to go Google Colin Sexton.
I know what a jerk, right? That was hilarious. I am the nerve of this guy. And it was like, dude, I'm kind of busy right now, Ayan. I can't just sit here and Google stuff.
But, you know, he doesn't care about that stuff. Yeah. He doesn't care. It's so funny. Richard, thanks for the call.
Let's chat again soon. Thanks, brother. Really appreciate it. Thanks, Richard. You bet.
That's Richard Jefferson. He's great. Niso Craig Man.
Okay. Yeah. And yes, I have Andre Drummond in the Rich Eisen Show, Big Ballers Fantasy League. And that was definitely a little bit of a fantasy question right there. I didn't appreciate that.
I wasn't going to say anything. That's like insider trading, right? No, it's wondering what's why. I mean, honestly, I was trying to figure out why he wasn't in the game, but Allen isn't there. You could tell it's not Drummond because he doesn't have the same afro as Jared Allen.
That's some serious flow going on. There you have it. There you have. That's the update right there. 844-204-Rich Numbers.
Great poll question. That's on our at Rich Eisen show handle. That's coming up. And then Mike Wilbon of pardon the interruption here on a busy Thursday. Let's talk O'Reilly Auto Parts people.
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Number to dial here on the show.
So again, I think Richard Jarrett, look, I... Kyrie doesn't know anyone in explanation, and Richard Jefferson is correct because he's giving you the point of view of. You know, if the if the organization decided to just move on from Kyrie Irving and, you know. They would owe an explanation to the fans, but at the end of the day, Right. The only way that you can vote is with your feet and with your Wallet, and he basically said, If you don't like Kyrie, don't buy his shoes, don't buy his stuff.
Yeah. I don't know where I land on that. Again, obviously, I'm biased in the fact that I feel that the media plays a role. The media plays a role for a reason. The reason why athletes do get the salaries that they get is because the fans put the money in the pockets of the owners.
And the fans watch the games to a point where the television networks put the money in the That's the way the collective bargaining agreement demands it to be broken up in a certain way with a cap and everything. That's the economics of the game. That's the way that the game flows. You know, and then fans clearly have an emotional attachment. To not only players, but the sport itself.
I mean, how many times did we say in the awfulness of 2020? That's still going on right now in 2021. That thank goodness for sports is an outlet. And thank goodness to watch the players play as hard as they do with no fans. and also go through what they go through with protocols and things of that nature.
When it all comes down to it, you know, when you're at star athlete, who you are. All excited about, you know, and is introduced with much fanfare the year before that you're all excited about just disappears. And you're hearing that the team doesn't know where he is. Or why. And then the guy reappears, and then you're wondering: will we get an answer?
And you get a guy who puts his. head on his hands. Just putting his face right in the Camera of the zoom and doesn't give any answers, basically saying I'm looking forward. I mean What are you supposed to do with that as a fan? But I watched the game last night, that is for darn sure.
I mean, I was definitely curious to see what the three of them looked like. And um You know. Part of that reason why I did that is I knew I'd have to talk about it here today. If I didn't, I don't know if I'd be watching that. Be very honest with you.
I I shoot you straight here. Because I get turned off by that sort of stuff. It's just like if I need to be curious as to your exploits and whether you're going to win or lose, I need to care about you. I need to care about you as a person. I need to know that it does matter to you as much as it does to me.
That's what fans connect to athletes. You know. And just pay me the respect of giving me an answer as a fan to know why I'm so emotionally invested in your endeavors. Why am I so emotionally invested in whether you win or lose? You know, and it does matter to you to actually perform out there, and I can see it matters to you, and you're really laying it all out on the line, but.
When it comes down to it. If you disappear for two weeks and it's something that is very personal and you could basically say, look, I would share with you why I wasn't here for two weeks, but it really is very personal to me. Everyone out there is going through personal stuff. I do make a ton of money. I do understand that I do have.
a great life, but I just can't share with you. And I'm back here again and I'm hoping all the fans join me. How difficult is that? Instead of this. You made a face.
You don't agree? It's okay. You could take the conversation again. No, I'm just wondering: why do we give Marshawn Lynch a pass? I didn't give him a pass.
But Marshawn didn't just disappear from the scene, Chris. No, but he shows at the press conferences. And only, you know, I'm just here so I don't get fined. And now it's a big joke because we like Marshawn. Right, but the questions he's not answering.
We have a general feeling about how we. Feel and look at Kyrie Irving, we don't like him. That's the general perception of him. I don't. I actually do like him.
Honestly, I loved him as Uncle Drew. He made me laugh. That really makes me laugh. I enjoy his product. I enjoy his brand.
A large portion of the basketball fan population. Don't like this guy.
Well, I mean... Because I guess he comes across and has communicated, certainly in this instance, that he doesn't care to give you an answer for a reason why he disappeared from the scene. And the way that Marshawn doesn't answer questions and did not treat the question and answer period with The news media, and he did not treat it in a professional manner: I'm here to give you answers to questions that you're asking me. That's an apple to this apple. But the apple to this Apple is a different fruit, if you will.
It's an apple to this orange, and the fact that I need to know why he's disappeared. He disappeared for two weeks. What happened? And why you know, in this era of COVID, is there video of him just parting it up like it's no big deal? You know, and you could basically say what I do in my personal time.
I mean, just. is my personal time and I understand that there are a lot of people out there who are quarantining and may I mean, why not just pay the ability, why not just pay the respect to the people who are out there wondering an answer? what the answer is. Unless you think that every answer you give has been totally. Used against you, so I don't want to talk anymore.
I Again, I'm not in his shoes. Uh I know my my you know my youngest son Coop Um when he you know when Kyrie was on your Celtics. Was a big fan of his. I mean, when we went to the All-Star game here in Los Angeles, him being that game, my kid was losing it. Very, very excited.
Interestingly enough, he was warming up on the floor with Durant at the time. You know? Again, um And you want to talk about using your platform to get stuff out there. If there is something personal, you could say, hey, Everyone's going through a lot of stuff. I understand that a lot of people don't think I deserve to have the ability to go through some stuff because.
Uh of what I do. But It's difficult to buy in. That's all. It's just difficult to buy in. What's the poll question over there, Christopher?
Okay, so yesterday Was the thirteenth anniversary of Breaking Bads release. Oh my gosh. 13 years, we bar mitzvah Breaking Bad as a man in the eyes of the Lord now? 2008. How about that?
2008. Okay, yeah, Mazletoff.
So, just throwing this out there, obviously, we consider it one of the greatest shows of all time. Yes. Most other everyone else does. Which TV show do you wish you could go back and watch for the first time? What do you got?
Breaking bad. The Sopranos, the wire. Game of Thrones. All right. Go to Rich Eisen's show.
We'll unpack this a little bit more. Kyle Brandt, who is. Also one of our Favorite pop culture Sherpas will join us on this subject in hour number three. To me, you know, the wire, the sopranos, and Game of Thrones, some great premium cable fare. Breaking Bad is the best drama uh on just basic cable.
Yeah. Without the con with that has the constructs of basic cable as opposed to premium cable. We'll talk about that. At Rich Eisen Show to vote on that, Michael Wilbon, and pardon the interruption, Tay Diggs will join us in an hour or two.
