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Now, on with the show. At which point did you look at your phone and feel the need to call Puka Nakua a goofy ass? This is the Rich Eisen Show. Don't say nothing about my teammates. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
Of course, I had to respond to an old teammate of mine. Earlier on the show. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. ESPN Senior NBA writer Ryan Wintors. Coming up.
Basketball Hall of Famer Dwight Howard. And now, Rich Eisen. Hour number three, The Rich Eisen Show is on the air. We're on ESPN 2 now for this hour. Enjoyed the first two hours on ESPN with Kurt Warner Hall of Famer and Brian Windhorst, who was just awesome.
If you missed any of it, there's our YouTube channel. There's also the Disney Plus page. We're on Disney Plus every day, all three hours. Same thing with the ESPN app. You can check us out to see any of the three hours anytime you want.
You can also listen to our podcast. Youtube.com/slash Rich Eisen Show is also our YouTube channel page. Exactly. Dwight Howard's in our green room. He's got family in there.
He's got a rescue dog in there. Whoa, really? I'm not kidding you. We're all going to come out. It's going to be like a, and, and it, Would it be wrong?
Uh-oh. I think you know the answer. Would it be wrong, TJ? Jefferson.
Okay. As somebody who has um Succeeded at times, but ultimately did not succeed on a game show. At the end of the day. Would it be wrong For me to have this up right here. During the interview.
With Dwight Howard, my Rich Eisen celebrity Wheel of Fortune giveaway that they gave me. Again, I don't know if it would be wrong. I've never met Dwight in person. Oh, he's large. But I got to imagine he's still 6'11 to 50 or so, right, TJ?
Probably still shredded. I imagine he stays in shape. Yeah. I don't know if that would be wise. I mean, I know you're a robust six-foot.
What if I just laid it like this, right here? Right in his eye line? If you make it seem like it's always there, then there's no it is always going to be there between us. That's true. Unspoken.
I synced it. But what if I just leave it here? It's a provocative move on your end.
Okay. Yeah. I mean, I say do it. There's a lot of cameras around. He understands what time it is, or it was.
He's got a great sense of humor. I'm sure he'll be okay with that. And the neat thing is, what, you know, I'm all about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital all the time. Of course.
And we raised. Thanks to Me crushing it. Uh, close to $90,000 for them. Amazing. He is all about his charity was about dog rescue.
He has one in the green room. And that's how to win you. He's about it too. You love dogs, so that dog, you might be able to do it.
Now, I would do that. I would say this, though. If Candace Parker was here, I wouldn't be doing that. You wouldn't do that? No.
No. I mean, she got it too. I just try to be a bit more respectful. She got it too, though. Oh, she did.
I don't understand the difference. Why would you take it easy on her? I know they're Hall of Famers in their own right. I don't know. Because I promise you, Candice Parker would not take it easy on it.
She would not take it easy on her. Not true.
So I would do the same thing. Damn it? Absolutely.
Okay. All right, good time.
So I'm going to have it here at the ready. for when Dwight comes out. Maybe have him sign it for you in the back.
Now that would be disrespectful. Yeah. You know what I mean? That's as disrespectful as asking Bill Buckner to sign the Mookie. I think that is insane.
The Mookie Wilson. And I know. Like, have him sign a picture of one of his most embarrassing moments. Respectfully, I don't think the two are equal. Is that right?
I think there was as much at stake.
Now you're getting. Trust me. This. show, the celebrity wheel of fortune. Um program.
in which I dominated Hall of Famers. Um and it got it got re-aired the Friday night before championship weekend. In the NFL. Because my phone blew up again. Oh, okay.
Yeah. Well, I still don't think anything. Where Stone Street blew up my phone that Friday night saying he got the. The bonus round that I whiffed on, he said he screamed it at the screen. Oh, yeah, by the way, I would have done very well that day.
I got a lot of the answers, not the point. Yeah, did you get the? I missed both of the bonus round ones. I think I got them. What was the quote?
Remember? Yeah, one of them was huge paycheck. Oh, I couldn't get the huge part. I got the paycheck part. And that's why I sent back to Stone Street.
Well, you would know all about huge paychecks, Mr. Modern Family. You know what I mean? I just don't feel like, of course, you'd get that one, right? I don't feel like Candy and Dwight have had to suffer the way Bill Buckner has had to suffer when I say I don't think until they come out here.
Oh, but oh boy. It's going to be game six all over again. I see Rich.
So insane. Jeff from Detroit, your franchising show. What's up, Jeffrey? Line four, sir. Line four.
What's going on, cousins? First of all, let me tell you, last week you guys did a great job entertaining your fans, man. It was great seeing you guys down there mingling. Thank you. Got a couple of comments, and then I have a question for you, Uncle Rich.
Yes, sir. First of all, I feel like Stewart got off easy, but here in Detroit, man, we're a little pissed at Duncan Robinson. You can't turn your back while everybody in the background is squabbing. TJ and my man, y'all know this. If you fight, we all fight.
At least pretend like you're it ain't a real squabble, though, Jeff. That wasn't a real squabble. He was looking at this saying, These knuckleheads, I'm out. Yeah, I know, but still, man, you can't just turn your back while everybody in the background is. Yeah, at least make it look like you're going to participate.
I feel you. That's what it's like reaching for the check. Yeah, like reaching for your wallet when the check is there. My question to you now: that the NFL season is over with Uncle Rich. Yes, sir.
Besides Uh the Patriots and the Seahawks. Can't use them. Uh-huh. What was your most delightful surprise about this NFL season? And what was your biggest disappointment?
Oh, Jeff and Detroit, everybody. Here we go. Biggest surprise, delightful surprise. Yep. And biggest disappointment Um I would have to say most delightful surprise.
Would that be Jacksonville performing like they did? Another candidate might be the Colts for the first few. Daniel Jones was a delightful surprise. I would say Caleb Williams got a really good point we were hoping for him. Like a delightful surprise.
I think the fact that we kind of know this early, like the season was wide open. I'm talking about a full season where you didn't see it coming. Yeah, the season was wide open. And I feel like that was kind of. Let me see here.
I can look at my 49ers doing what they did. I know that's not all the people who are delightful. They had a high win total coming into the right. Yeah, but they had a lot of injuries. And biggest disappointment.
Well, Washington. I'm sure you know what mine is.
Well, the Lions. Yeah, the Lions. I had them making the Super Bowl. Yeah. I guess biggest disappointment the bears going to the you know the bears doing what they did you know I can't hate as much as I want to their indivision I can't stand them you know being in the north but I have to give Ben Johnson his kudos.
He was the secret sauce. No doubt. Thanks for the call, Jeff. Biggest disappointment was how to be. You know, Jake Browning not being as good as I thought he would be.
Well, I mean, the whole Bengals season was a massive disappointment. Yeah. Massive disappointment. And I guess the biggest surprise might have to be Matthew Stafford's season two. You're like pleasant surprise.
Just delightful. The guy was in traction and then he's the MVP. Go at age thirty seven? Mean that That had to be a surprise. We were talking about Matthew Stafford not even getting a snap in.
You know, and then him going on what a run that he did. Ultimately, proving my choice for MVP correct is just a chef's kiss.
So that was delightful. Please, come on now. I understand it's a regular season award. Do you? Because it doesn't sound like it.
Because all I know is in the regular season, what Matthew Stafford did against the toughest defense. In the NFL. What he did. And then, of course, the postseason bearing it out, which always happens for an MVP award. It does.
You know, eventually it does bear it out.
Sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Did I miss any disappointments?
Yeah, no. Surprises? I mean, maybe Arizona, the Kyler Murray situation, that was kind of a disappointment. But biggest disappointment? No, I'm just saying.
The Raiders were a massive disappointment. Yeah, especially after week one. Biggest disappointment. Dolphins. People kind of thought they might have been a French playoff team.
The Ravens wound up being a disappointment.
Some of Mexican Chiefs and I missed it. Yeah. Well, I mean. Even before the injury, they were They were struggling. I was waiting for that light switch to get hit.
Everybody thought it was happening, right? How about your Cowboys? Where do you put them? There's a pleasant surprise? I mean, look, the offense is not delightful.
Brilliant. Is it delicious? I know it's marvelous. The defense was the opposite of Marvelous. Like, if Marvelous was in.
The Marvian showed up, though, and it got better. Yeah, Marvelous does not describe anything on the Cowboys. George Pickens was a pleasant surprise. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Thank you. Marvelous. Guess what I've got? If it's a pleasant surprise and marvelous. One last power ranking.
You didn't see this coming, did you? We did. Maybe we should. We should say one last power ranking because you never know. You might want to do one.
No, no, I'm going to keep doing power rankings.
Okay. But not. I guess traditional where I'm ranking how good the teams are in order. How about that?
Okay. Wait till you hear who's number one. It's not Dallas. Hit it. Hit it.
Hit it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is my call rankings. All right, everybody, let's get to my power rankings. Last one of the season.
Season's now over. It's the anti-Jim Mora. The season is over. It's over. It is over.
Everybody's done. All 32 teams have had their days.
Some better than others. Yeah. Number 10 on my fa final power rankings list. I'm putting the Jacksonville Jaguars here. I'm putting him here.
I I was Man, I was disappointed that they got one and done. The Bills just wound up being too. too uh too tough to overcome And, but what a season for Trevor Lawrence being a finalist for MVP and comeback player of the year. And Liam Cohen being a finalist for coach of the year, and the fact that they did most of their damage. After Travis Hunter.
Was lost for the season is just a sign for the future that they're only going to get better. Um and so I put Jacksonville number 10 on this list, and I put the Texans right above them. even though the Jaguars finished better. In the regular season, that they won the division. I'm putting the Texans here.
Because the Texans actually won a playoff game. They went into Pittsburgh and they beat down the Steels. They absolutely beat them down into a pulp. And um and sent Mike Tomlin into What appears to be a brave new world? I'm hearing it's television right now, but I'm just dropping a breadcrumb.
Not that there's a. No rich, what's he gonna do? Start selling insurance? I got it. But anyway, the Texans are nine on this list.
What a defense they've got. Man, oh, man, oh, man. I'm just wondering if. CJ Stroud had just taken a sack, and Nico Collins had actually been able to clear concussion protocol how much further this team could have gone. But they're ninth on the list.
Number eight on the list? Yeah, I'm putting them here. I'm putting the Packers here. I loved what the Packers did this season, man. And.
They just couldn't get past the Bears. How many times can you say words like that? I love Jordan Love. I love the coach. As you know, I love caping for this coach.
He might be my new Tomlin now that LaFleur's still in Green Bay. And some fans are like, I'm sick and tired of. If it wasn't for the seventh seed, we would have missed the playoffs four years in a row. Let's get him out. What are we doing?
I think LaFleur's my new Talmud.
Now that Talman's gone, I'm going to start capering for LaFleur like this. Wow. Yeah. Stay by your phone, man. I may need to.
And if he comes back, I'll do it for Talman again. But I just. They didn't finish strong in the fourth quarter in games, man. But they still have a lot of Moxie and they've got a lot of young players and um They're eighth on my list. Buffalo Bills are seven.
Buffalo Bills are seven. Oh gosh. What could have been? That catch, by the way, John Hamm's joke about it during the NFL honors. It didn't land in the room very well, but John nailed it.
What was the joke? The joke about, you know, how Haley Steinfeld is. you know, just got married to Josh Allen and she's... An incredible actress, they got a baby on the way, and she's an incredible, she's a great catch. And if there's anybody who knows what a catch looks like, it's Josh Allen.
Nice, that's funny. It was great, it was great. That's really funny. I know. Um So, the Buffalo Black, I can't wait to see what they look like with Joe Brady.
They're going to be able to get over the hump, but they're seventh on the list. They were terrific, and so were the 49ers. They're sixth on my list. 49ers are six. And you're going to start seeing a few scrolly choices that I'm going to hear from some folks in this room.
Number five are the Denver Broncos. I'm putting the Broncos at five. Damn. Seems low? Nope.
No, it doesn't to me. The defense was susceptible towards the end. They started balling out in the playoffs. And the offense was a little bit too touch and go for me, but they're still a top five team. And they might have made the Super Bowl, and who knows what would have happened if they'd made the Super Bowl, and they'd be at top this list.
But number four on this list are the Chicago Bears. I think the Bears were a better team than the Broncos at the end of the season. And I think this kid, Caleb Williams, uh without question in my mind Was the second best NFC quarterback in the playoffs. And at the end of the day, That's no disrespect to Sam Darnold. I know that sounds disrespectful because Darnold had a terrific playoffs, but in terms of the upside in the future, boxes checked, man.
And the Bears were superb. And only didn't advance 'cause the Rams were a bit more. difficult. for them to get through. Number three on this list.
Are the Patriots? Laugh all you want, pal.
Okay. Laugh all you want. Laugh all you want, cause the Rams are two. The Rams are two on this list. Shocking.
Shocked they're not one. They're not one, Chris, because as you know, you win the Super Bowl and you look as great as the Seahawks did in the playoffs and whatever. But the Patriots are not better than the Rams. I'm sorry. I know what the record is.
Tell me what to beat the Rams in the Super Bowl.
Okay. Oh, no way.
Okay. Really? You guys got mud holes stomped in you by the Patriots.
Okay. The Rams aren't that good on defense. But look how the Rams played Seattle. Yes. The NFC Championship game did, in fact, become the de facto Super Bowl at the end of the day.
And we're playing the result. We're playing the result. But this guy, Stafford, was 100% the right choice for the MVP. And what he did against the Seattle defense was superb, with the exception of two plays that they'd love to try one more time at inside the five-yard line. For an NFC championship game potential win.
We don't know how it would have turned out, but the Seahawks are clearly number one. I was having my fun about waiting till you see who's number one. And I just can't believe this photograph. Sam Darnold holding the Lombardi Trophy. He did it, they got it done.
They are the best team, obviously, in the NFL, better than the Rams. Better than the Patriots. I even toyed about putting the Bears above the Patriots, but at the end of the day, hey, Chris, come on, man. Laugh. Is this a serious list or not?
It is a serious list. Yeah, okay. That's why I put the Patriots above the Bears at the end of the day. I had to put the AFC champion at the end of the day above a team that didn't even make the NFC championship game. But there you go: Seahawks, Rams, Pats, Bears, Broncos, Niners, Bills, Packers, Texans, Jaguars, my final NFL power rankings.
We can go home now. We can, indeed. By the way, these dudes are hammered at the Seahawks parade. And we do have enough of this. Have you heard some of this?
We're going to hit that on the back end. Let's bring Dwight Howard out here. Let's do it. Dwight Howard is here on the Rich Eisen Show. Everybody, the host of the Above the Rim with D12 podcast is coming out.
The Rich ISIS Show Podcast. Here on the celebrity Wheel of Fortune friend and NBA Hall of Famer, NBA champion, Olympic gold medalist, and again, his podcast, Above the Rim with D12 podcast, White Howard is here on the program, eight-time NBA All-Star, and it's obviously All-Star Weekend here. Yes. Who are you so excited to have won your first All-Star game that you're like, oh God, I cannot believe I'm a teammate of or you ran into somebody or anything like that from your first All-Star? I was so caught up in.
Being nineteen years old, that You know, it was I'm gonna go have fun at the game. And I hope I play a lot. And I'm going to try to get some cool dunks. Right. And then I'm gonna go home and go to sleep.
I was so young, I couldn't really go out and party at the time when I first got into the NBA. And so I remember going to Vegas, uh, having an all-star game there. Uh the best the best memory is just being with my family and seeing all my friends and everybody show up. And then the dunk contest happened. Right.
And that was where Superman came from.
So I'll never forget that. Walk me through your process for that, where you came up with that.
So I had been practicing dunks for like maybe like two, three years. I would travel at to different gymnasiums around. and uh try dunks for people. and then my last dunk practice was with my teammates in Orlando. And I was like, man, what if I jump from the free throw line and my and somebody throw me a pass over the goal and I dunk it?
And so they was like, That'd be fire And so uh Jameer, he did the pass, he threw it. And the same way I did it in the actual dunk contest. I threw it in and dunked it. Everybody went crazy. And it was like, yo, you really like Superman.
Like, this is awesome. You got to do this in a dunk contest.
So Yeah. It's what, I think it's Thursday night uh before the dunk contest. I have a conversation with Grant Hill And then Shaq says you gotta show people your personality. Yeah. Um I was like, you know what, if I do this dunk, I gotta have a costume.
My cousin, he went to Party City and found the biggest Superman costume he could find, which was only a large.
So, if you can go back and look at the pictures, like the top is so tight because it's a onesie. Looks like a bib. Yeah, it's a onesie. We had to cut the bottom off because it was like boots and everything, and I had to like tie it around like a onesie. And we got out there.
And I wanted to let my personality shine through. And the dunk, it just was. Look at that. And every time I look at that picture, I just look at all the people's faces in the crowd. Jason Kidd's son, if you see him at the bottom, he's like, whoa, he's going crazy.
Just to see the reactions. And then, like, I was really for a moment in time. Like doing something that I've watched on Marvel Comics or watched Superman do in real life, it looked like I was really flying.
So like that was the one of the greatest memories, you know, ever. And who who was like Dr. Jay a judge? Because he sometimes will judge. Do you remember who the judges were?
There were the judges. I know one year I did it and the judges really didn't understand my dunks, so I got a low score.
So I had to come back the next year and put on a real good show. And that's what ended up happening. I thought that that dunk contest was over from the beginning. And the best part about the dunk contest was the dunk contest we had before the dunk contest in the back. What do you mean?
Like we had one in the back where everybody was warming up and getting themselves going. I thought that that was better than the actual dunk contest. No kidding. Why? Who was doing what?
Because everybody was just loose. You know, it was no crowd, it's just us back there.
So now they're just trying things, and it looks so good. And then everybody already had their set dunks.
So, but us back there in the back practicing and seeing all the guys just high-flying and doing different things, it's amazing to see that art. It's like watching, you know, if you're a C fighter, you're watching somebody do some jiu-jitsu, and then somebody over here is doing some Tai Chi, and then another person over here is doing some Muay Thai. You know, it's just like all different types of art, but they're bringing it into one.
So, it was cool to see. Dwight Howard is here on the Rich Island Show. That's great stuff, man. That's a great story. Go for it.
The judges were Daryl Dawkins, Dominique Wilkins, Carl Malone, Dr. J, and Magic. Come on. Hmm. Yeah.
Those were your judges. They that was they that's awesome, yeah. Mr. Peace, uh, Dr. Duncanstein, Chocolate Thunder.
Oh, yeah, oh my god, Dawkins, yes, his dog eye. I used to want to dunk so hard because I used to watch his dunks. Because it broke the rim. Yeah, I mean, broke the backboard. You broke the backboard.
I broke a couple. Uh, at my school. Oh yeah. And uh had the backboard satur all on me. And like the fiberglass, it actually, once it gets into your skin, it starts to seep in.
That's no good.
So I was getting cut up, and I was like, yeah, I broke a gold. Did you keep any of that glass in a zip? I wish I could. I didn't even think about it back then. But you know, we didn't, we were so, I was so young.
I don't even know if we. My school was so small, and you know, I don't even think I was thinking about that. But looking back on it, I should have kept the rim, I should have kept the pack board, like all that stuff. 2008. What a year.
You know, also, you were on the Olympic team in 2008. Give me your.
So, what was it like walking into practice for the first time for the Summer Olympics 2020? All right.
So, 2008, mind you, I graduated from high school in 2004. Right. So, I'm the youngest guy on the team. You're 22. 21, 22, 20 years old.
You're 22. LeBron's 23.
So you were a little bit younger than him on this team. Yeah. And it's like, wow, I'm playing with Kobe, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony. Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosch, and I'm like This is awesome. Like, this is a cold squad.
Darren Williams, like all these guys, I'm actually on the Olympic team. And You know, I just remember the practices like seeing Kobe, Dwayne, and LeBron go at it. Seeing mellow just as smooth as ever. Coach K had us so inspired, you know, to go and win and play hard by just showing us little videos of people singing the national anthem and then making speeches. I'm like, man, I'm ready to.
I'm ready to go to war.
So I just appreciate having the opportunity to represent my country, represent my family on the largest scale in the Olympics, and being able to be a part of watching them build the stuff in Beijing, like the different buildings, and seeing Michael Phelps win in the Olympics. But being 22 is like, wow, this is a whirlwind of things happening. But I'm here with my favorite players that I've watched growing up. I'm playing against guys that I played against at AAU, and now we're on the same team.
So Your favorite Kobe story is what? Hiver Kobe Sword. That's so hard. I like our little fight that we had, our little scuffle that we kind of had. Why do you like that?
Because like We never had no like real tight beef before any of that. You know what I'm saying? Like, I remember calling Kobe. Uh Right after we lost to them in the finals, and asking him how could I get better. And then he started talking about you should You know, your post game is good.
You know, you get down there, that nobody can stop your jump hook. You know, that nobody can bang with you. You're gonna dunk on everybody in the paint. You know, you just get that face-up jump shot. You know, free throw line, jump shot.
And you good.
So I was like, no, how many uh How many should I do? You know, what you do when you shoot? And he said, shoot, I make a thousand shots a day.
So I said Yes, I can do that. I can do that.
So after that, you know, I would do a thousand shots every day, have to make a thousand shots, and that would be. Like I would go around a hundred s uh shots a spot. Mm-hmm. Bank shots on both sides, hook shots, 100 hook shots, 100 left-hand hooks, like running hooks, like all these different things.
So I started to develop like the shots were so easy because of that. You know, imagine making a thousand shots every single day, which means you're going to miss a lot of shots, but from doing it over time, you develop that. And so I was thankful for that. And then when we got a chance to play with each other, You know. I just thought we were like He's this old bull and I'm the young bull.
And you know, it seems like we're not seeing eye to eye, but only because of communication. And um after we separated from teams in the little fight, You know, I was like, man, why? Why is Kobe? Me and Kobe getting into it. And if you're seeing the fight, I'm like, I know you.
But I'm saying it to him like, bro, like I don't want to fight you like you Kobe like I grew up watching you You're one of my favorite players. Um We was on the same team. You know me, you know I ain't got no disrespect towards you. Uh but then after that whole incident, after he retired, And I saw him at the game with his daughter. And I seen him doing the You know, going and coaching the girls' team and stuff like that.
You know, I saw the other side, you know, of him, you know, and it wasn't. The I'm on the court like I gotta be. the mumble. I gotta be But I saw the fatherhood, and so I couldn't relate to it because I have kids, and I'm like, oh, okay, we're going through it, but this man just really trying to. you know, provide for his family and do whatever And we over here trying to do the same thing, but You know, we didn't come together in that moment.
So did you eventually hash it out with him or no? I remember before one game, he kind of like I was shooting threes, he came and hit me in the back of the head. It was like a pride of you or whatever.
So. That was really good. I remember my son had one of the last pictures with him. He was a little bit younger, he took a picture on the side. you know, with Kobe and um always be a core memory.
Dwight Howard here on The Rich Eisen Show. What do you say to people? who think there's a an asterisk next to the Lakers. championship because it was the bubble and COVID and stuff like that. What do you say that?
Um, I just think that it's it's a It's a dumb thing to say because we actually still had to go play. And if another team were the one, Nobody would have ever said, oh, because it was in the bubble, they won. You know what I'm saying? We actually had to go out there during the toughest time in the history of our world. Like, this wasn't a.
Um Something that was just in America. This was a pandemic. We're leaving our families, our kids. Um, my son's mom had just passed a couple weeks before we had to go to the bubble. And you know, for me, I couldn't even al he wasn't even allowed to come in.
So I had to, you know, s make that sacrifice and leave him, you know, at home and, you know, be there and everybody had to make certain certain sacrifices, but it's like It was tough. It was tough being away. No crowd, no people there in the stands. Everything that's going on in the world, we got the political stuff that's going on with who's about to be the next president, the George Floyd situation.
So many things were happening. And a lot of people was looking at it like, we just got to go play basketball. But Before that started, we was the number one team. Before we had to go on any break, we was the number one team and we would have won regardless.
So I think anybody else is just hating. Were you involved in those conversations about not playing at all, right? Remember that happened? I remember. And I was.
I was. But I'm glad that I still played. You know, obviously on the emotional side and You know, what America is dealing with. I felt like at that point we needed to focus on. you know, trying to help our country get better.
But at the same time, winning a championship It's hard. You know, it's not that just simple. Right. Certainly in a pandemic. At any time our our the Most people's favorite player in the world.
Michael Jordan played for 14 seasons. He had six championships.
So for the other years, The greatest player in the world didn't win.
So you can't win every year, but to get there, to win, it is. Extremely difficult. It doesn't matter if it's. A million fans are no fans playing. You're still playing against professional athletes who are trying to win, too.
What do you think of the state of the game today, Flight Howard? I love it. You do? I love it. All these kids watched all of us play.
You know what I'm saying? I feel like our era was kind of like the golden age of basketball. People might say the birds and magic era, but you know, just the bronze, the D-Ways, the Dirt and the Whiskeys, the. The Shaqs, Tim Duncan. Uh Yao Mean.
Um, Amari, uh, you got all these players that played in this era. These young guys watched us. Say who did he watch? He watched Kobe He emulates him. You look at um Anthony Edwards, you know what I'm saying?
He watched all these players come before him. You watch Jokic, you know, he's dominant, but he's not dunking on people. He's shooting, he's getting assists, he's doing all that. They watched us, so why would I, you know, uh Hate or you know, pull them down as players. We want to build them up because they're carrying on the name.
A basketball. What do you think of when you see Wembanyama? Man, I love 'em. He's a real alien. Like he's 75.
He's 7'5. He's like. He went to go see the monks.
So that's fire. Like, just for him to even have that mindset at the age of, I don't know, how old is Wimby, what, 20? I think he's just turned 20. 22? 21, 22.
To have that mindset at 22, to make sure he dedicates himself to this sport with so much stuff going on around him is amazing to see. Him going to work out with Jamal Crawford for his handles, him going to CKG for his mentality on the court and the Monks. You know what I'm saying? That's awesome. Like, he might.
Like he's like Kareem. He's like Kareem with a jump shot.
Well, not saying Kareem didn't have one, but Kareem was the hook. This guy is doing the jump shot with some magic mixed in, too. With some magic Johnson. Man, if some KG, he got it.
So I'm loving what he's doing on the court. I just want him to stay healthy. Um, and continued success, he's going to carry our league with the rest of these young guys. How do you like doing your pod? I love it, you know.
Um but for me I like Talking about a lot of things outside of basketball, which is weird because people say you played basketball for so long. But, you know, I just love having high-level conversations. That's why we called it Above the Rim to talk about things that have happened outside of basketball. But, you know, basketball was a part of my life for a very long time.
So it's not like we're trying to make it obsolete. But. You know, we do want to have a conversation and get people to know me and to know the different guests that come on. And your charitable works, I know you were all about dog rescue for the wheel. Is that a rescue dog in the Angel is her name?
Well, her mama.
Okay. But Angel is her name. And you just got her from her mama. I understood. Angel is a year and four months.
I've had her since she was about this big. She was the only witness at my wedding for me and my wife.
Okay. So she's been there since the beginning. When I first signed with Big Three and went to the draft, Angel was there. She went to go see my dad, get his deacons, get initiated and be a deacon. She's everywhere.
So she's in the green room right now. If you called her from here, would she come? She might come, but she can hear me. Angel! Let's see.
Can she, can she, but let's, let's, let's release the hound. Angel Come on. Come on now, Angel. Just get her on out here. Is she coming around?
Come around the corner. You'll be coming around the mountain when she comes. We're very, we're very, we're a very, very dog-friendly program. Dogs are so. Hold on a second.
Come here, Angel. Here we go, baby. I'm right here, baby. Hey, come here, girl. Good job.
Hey, girl. Love you so. What's up, baby? How are you doing? Yeah, I love you so much.
There you go. Yeah, Angel is so amazing. I'll tell you, I did a flag football game the other day.
Okay. And as I was on a field running, everybody said that Angel, she sat and just looked at you. Mm-hmm. Eye cont making eye contact with me the whole game. She's just really a great dog.
I could see when I came out, when I went back to say hi in the green room, she just popped out. And so sweet. She is a very sweet. What mix do we know? She is a Belgian Malinois.
She's on the tiny side, so I call her my Minnie Mal.
Okay. She's a Minnie Malinois. And what's the name of your charity again? My charity? For the dog rescue.
I'm sorry. No, you got so many. I just start looking at her eyes.
Well, how about this? Everybody, help control the pet population, have your pets spaded and neutered and adopt. You know, don't shop. Adopt and don't shop. And spray and noodle the dogs.
That's not fair to the dogs. They got to get some love too, man. That's not fair. At some point. Dogs need love too, at least one time.
Okay. Hey, Dwight, thanks for coming on here. Thanks for having me. Anytime. Let me know whenever you're in Los Angeles.
Yes. You know, would you guys consider Dwight Howard a. Fill in guest host for here on the program? You want to hang with Dwight for a day here? Sure, sure.
Yeah, we can do that. You want this chair, you know?
Well, that's your chair. I know no, but I'd take it back. I don't want to take your chair. Get somewhere else and look. You could host the program for me.
I could host the show. Would you like to do that? I would love to do that. All your friends, you know. But only if you sign the program.
Well, no, this is mine. You got one. You didn't keep yours? But I want yours. No, this is mine.
I want some of Craig's money. How about you sign this and I keep it here? But that defeat the purpose. But that was good. That was good.
Okay, I can do that. All right.
This is my. I mean, this is you can have it. I just, I just, I just feel bad for getting whooped so bad. That's Will of Force. All good, man.
Thank you for coming here. That's White Howard on the Rich Eisen Show, Above the Rim with D12 Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. We're back to wrap this up by telling you what's going on in the Seahawks Victory Parade. See, I'm not even smiling there. I know what's going on in my skull.
The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Rich Eisen's show. Still got it. As you all know, I care deeply about pediatric cancer research and awareness. That's why I love talking about Hyundai Hope on Wheels.
Certainly, you don't know that for over the last 27 years, every Hyundai sold has helped fund life-saving pediatric cancer research together with over 850 dealers nationwide. They've raised more than $277 million, supporting over 25,000 kids in their fight against cancer. At Hyundai Hope is an optional, it comes standard. Visit HyundaiUSA.com and search Hyundai Hope on Wheels to learn more. O'Shea Jackson Jr.
is here. Yes. Contest wrestling is going to be coming your way very shortly. I don't know if you saw, we had a Super Bowl champion, Seattle Seahawk, Ernest Jones IV, on yesterday. Oh, gross.
Not for him. I know for a Rams fan. Yeah. He's the one who basically told everybody after the Rams beat the Seahawks in a four-interception game for Sam. Darnold that you know uh anybody that's carping on his quarterback.
Uh what do you say, quite frankly, F you? And um you know, 'cause we always love following up on stories that we unearth here on the program. He said that for the parade he was hoping to get a T shirt made. That he got back, he hoped he was going to get it in time for the parade, and that it did involve that famous soundbite about what people should do to themselves, right?
So he did get the t-shirt? He did get the t-shirt. To the point where we show it, we have to blur things out? I mean, are we going to show it? What do we have?
Let's see it. What do we got?
So it's Sam Darnold smoking a heater, flipping off the camera with the camera.
Okay. Yeah. All right.
So Ernest Jones got it done. Yeah. And he was like kind of sheepish about it, saying that his grandfather didn't like him using this language. Right. Hopefully, grandpa had earmuffs when Ernest Jones.
Address the fans in Seattle at the parade. Do we have that sound bite all queued up? No, we don't.
So what happened? Oh, he gets up there and he's like, anyone who talks about our defense, our offensive line, the city of Seattle, my quarterback. And then he's like, basically had two words for him. I got two words for him. Hopefully, Grandpa had earmouths.
We'll cue that one up for tomorrow's program. It's pretty good. You got to respect that. Absolutely.
100%. Have your teammates back. And also, you want a Super Bowl. Do what you want. Talk it.
Exactly. Yeah, bro. Let it out. Don't you think? Hating your heart, let it out.
Where were you watching the game? Oh, uh well, I was watching a Bad Bunny concert and then strangely they were playing football in between it. I like it. But uh yeah, my buddy Marlins, you know, we got it we all us got together, hate watched the whole thing. I was hoping the power went out in the stadium, honestly.
Until Bad Bunny, then you weren't. Yeah, Bad Bunny. Yeah, bro. It was hot. Loved it.
Me too. Had a great time. And also, people talking about not being able to understand it. I still, to this day, don't understand a word Sean Paul says. I still play them songs.
Yeah. Bone thoughts. Didn't tell you what he's talking about at all. What were they saying? Yeah, you know.
You know what I mean? I don't know. Hey, the beat is nice. I'm good. It's the rhythm, y'all.
It's gonna get you. Yeah. I just went a little Miami sound machine on you. Didn't I do that? Yes.
Like I said, the Music Universe. Who's on No Contest Wrestling? Oh, the ruler. And officially, the record holder for most appearances on the No Contest Wrestling podcast, Oba Femi, will be joining us.
Okay, great. He is taking the wrestling world by storm.
Okay, great. Those who didn't know, now they know. We tried to put him on like last year, and I got told that I didn't know what I was talking about. And now everybody at the bottom on him, and it'll be great, and you'll be recording it, and that'll be in your RSS feeds by the end of the day, which is always great. We're at the end of this show.
Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast. You can watch and listen to The Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app, The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
