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Well, his nickname is Showtime. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Neither of those counted as a tip. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. We should have they dunk however they wish.
Wembanyama must dunk flat-footed. Earlier on the show, NFL Network Insider Ian Rappaport. ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passon. Coming up. ESPN NBA Insider Ramona Shelburne.
And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number three, The Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Great fun. First two hours already with Ian Rappaport and Jeff Passon dispensing information on football and baseball. That was awesome.
And you can catch up if you missed any of it through our podcast, all three hours.
However, you get your podcasts through the Rich Eisen Podcast Network. I'm going to say the word podcast one more time. NCW, no contest wrestling is going to be in your inbox or your RSS feeds or the YouTube channel of the Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday. John Cena is going to be the guest of O. Shay Jackson Jr., who may or may not appear in this program in hour number three.
Is he going to come in, TJ? Yeah, he'll be here. Fantastic. He will finish up this show. And then it's been a fun day in our neighborhood already to kick off our hour here, our final one of the day here on this Tuesday on ESPN2, ladies and gentlemen.
Ramona Shelburne is joining us here from downtown Los Angeles, senior writer for ESPN and NBA Insider. Good to see you, Ramona. How are you? Good, how are you, bud? I'm great.
Great for seeing you here on the screen and helping us unpack what we saw over the weekend. Generally, a success you think the NBA is happy about? The All-Star weekend here in uh the home of the Clippers into a dome. Yeah, listen, I had a lot of time sitting in that arena, you know, looking at some of the empty seats most of the weekend. And then finally, by Sunday, it was sort of filled up.
And I thought to myself, like, Are we seeing this through the wrong lens? Like, are we, our bar of is this a good game, has come down to are the guys trying hard? Are we entertained? Like, oh, look, somebody played defense right there. Oh, I see a real foul that was committed.
And I think, like, if this is our standard, even if we meet that standard, people aren't going to be satisfied, right? It's sort of what we're really looking for is more of an authentic vibe to this, more of something that doesn't feel forced and corporate and sterile and just like everybody's there and they don't want to be there and they'd rather be on vacation. I think we got that at least. Like, we had a couple of really good moments. Damian Lillard winning the three-point contest, I thought was one of the highlights of All-Star Weekend, not just because he's out with an Achilles injury, but he's back in a Portland Trailblazers jersey.
Like, that was awesome for me to see that, to see him home there, to put it on a show like that. And then I thought in the game, Kawhi Leonard. Was unbelievable. I would have voted for him for MVP if I had a vote. I don't know who they chose to vote on that, but that 31 points in a 12-minute game, Clay Thompson has the record for most points in a quarter.
It was 37 in an NBA game. And so this was a real, that was a real show that Kawhi put on. I thought the young guns ended up winning. The last game almost didn't really matter because everyone was just tired. But it was a real game.
There was effort. There was defense being played. And I think that's all people really wanted is just something that felt authentic, that felt real and not like force. And these guys are there just trying to have a good time and make the best of a situation. Like, that felt authentic to me.
Well, I mean, seeing stars, that's why people put fannies in seats, to use the old Steinbrenner phrase, like seeing Damian Lillard back again in a Trailblazer jersey shooting threes. And it's great to see. And the NBA slam-dunk contest, I think, should be slam-dunked on, you know, if not. Discontinued, which you know, and again, I have sympathy being from the NFL world. I mean, you know, the Pro Bowl featured very little football for three and a half quarters until the players began to realize You know, there's money on the line, and then started playing football.
Pardon me. But here we go with another conversation. About whether the players care, whether it's tanking or load management. And then this is a conversation about the NBA All-Star game. Are players, do they take pride in this?
Conversation where they're kind of pissed, they're bristling at having fans wonder if they care. Is that a conversation amongst players, Ramon? Yeah, and listen, I'll tell you about some of the players I know. Like, you know, Jason Tatum is a guy. I know he's out right now with his Achilles, but he wants to play every night.
And I know there are times where they'll look at the schedule and they'll go, you know what, we got five and seven. Why don't you sit one of those out? And he's always kind of trying to fight his way back into the games. There's certain Giannis the other day, he was saying, you know, I'm 100%. I feel 100%, but I understand I have to take a little while to ramp up because I have his history of calf injuries.
But he wants to play. And you can tell it bothers Victor Voibanyama, right? When he lost, you saw him, he was like getting mad about a defensive adjustment at the end of an all-star game, right? Or the all-star quarter or whatever it is.
Some of them care. But I think that the overall question, and something Adam Silver said really resonated with me, Rich, was at the end of his press conference, he was, I forget what the first question was, but he got onto one. Of his tangents or something that he'd obviously been thinking about for a while. And he goes, you know, when we first did the lottery, the idea was everybody understood that it's short, you know, you have to put aside sometimes your short-term interest for the long-term health of the game. And when the NBA was kind of still not quite as healthy of a league as it is now, when they were still trying to prove, like, hey, we deserve to be on primetime.
We deserve these kind of billion-dollar TV rights deals. All the partners, the 30 owners, they all kind of understood like we're in this together. We all have to focus on the long-term health of the league. The league is really healthy right now, right? The league is, they just got this gigantic TV rights deal.
Financially, it has probably never been healthier. And so that's when it's harder to focus on the long-term health of the league and the overall quote-unquote good of the game when your short-term matters more to you, right? The long-term's been taken care of. Everybody else sacrificed and built this league for what it is right now. And so I think Adam's just got to find.
A way to incentivize people to care about the long term, and to me, fixing the lottery is pretty easy. You have to just disincentivize tanking, you have to incentivize competition. And so, I think Adam Morty gave you a hint in what he said. He said, I'm not so sure the bottom eight teams are actually the worst teams because there's such an incentive to tank.
So, people are throwing games, right? Or they're sort of Doing the kinds of overt behaviors to lose, so that the teams at the very bottom aren't necessarily the worst team.
So he kind of already told you, I think they're probably going to flatten the lottery odds. Like, it sounds like this idea that you have to have the worst record to get the best pick. They just got to disincentivize that. Just take that away.
So, whether that's the bottom eight teams all have the same amount, whether that's maybe we go back to having just the eight playoff teams in each conference, and so there's 14 lottery teams. Maybe there's maybe that all have the same odds. As long as you disincentivize tanking, then you'll take it away. But if you're trying to punish teams by fining them, I don't think it's going to work. I mean, it's a carrot and stick situation, right?
I generally think carrots work better than the stick. And I think in this case, that's where Adam is, too. Wouldn't you say, though, like, I guess then that might fix tanking this early, which is what we're seeing for the first time, right? Where teams are fined. In February, pre-all-star break for tanking.
That's a new wrinkle. But if you flatten the odds, Ramona Shelburne here on The Rich Holly Show, if you flatten the odds, wouldn't a team basically say, I don't want any part of a play-in tournament as being a 10-seed, just so I win two games to get my My clock cleaned by the Oklahoma City Thunder, you're just going to tank to then, right? I mean, just to get your. The flat odds are still better than the odds of just making the playoffs and giving your fans a couple extra reasons to hope for about a week before they're dashed in a five-game series. You know what I'm saying?
I don't know what to do. Yeah, it would disincentivize playing for the play-in, right? Those two spots that they carved out.
So, you know, I think there is a formula that will work. And I think they are debating. Look, if you want to talk care and stick, the care would be, okay, we're going to flatten the odds. And so you're sort of disincentivized, you're incentivized to tank, but you're incentivized to keep competing, right? The stick would be the punishments are not going to be in the dollar amounts.
It's going to be in draft picks. It's going to be in something that's really going to hurt you. Whether maybe that's taking away money from a salary cap. Maybe that's something, maybe it's taking away a future second-round pick or future first-round pick. There's other things they can do that doesn't have to be that extreme.
Like you could take away the ability to put protections on picks, right?
So some of these picks are so highly protected. People go, you know, I like the best one. The best one I love is with the Indiana Pacers and the Clippers, where the Clippers have the Indiana Pacers pick if it falls five through nine in this year's draft, right?
So Indiana keeps it if it's one to four, and then if it's 10, and if it's 10 to 30, but five to nine, the Clippers get it.
So it's so hyper-specific. But last week of the season, you're going to be looking at those every single Pacers game. Seeing if they're trying to hit the over or the under on that one. I think that's actually pretty bad for the game because it's too obvious what teams are doing. It's too obvious, and the incentive for them to lose is too obvious.
And so, what if you just said, we're not putting protections on picks? You're either giving up a future first or you're not. It's unprotected. And I think that would stop a lot of this. Plus, it would also make people never want to trade first-round picks.
But everything is on the table. Everything's on the table. Because I think Adam understands the NBA's 75 years in. Nobody's incentivized to think about the long-term health of the game because it is really healthy. And so that's his job now because it is.
It's too easy for everyone to just kind of worry about themselves right now. Ramona Shelburne here on The Rich Eisen Show.
Okay, so now it's the de facto second half of the season. Or third, or whatever you want to call it. The final third, let's put it that way. What's the storyline that we're looking at? What's your favorite storyline, and what should we be seeing?
I mean, you know, what I look at in the West is really the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs. The Thunder were kind of running away with things and they've been hit by the injury bug, like most teams generally are. And it allowed the Spurs to come on here and provide this challenge to them where down the stretch, like it is not outside of the realm of possibility that the Spurs catch the Thunder for that top seed. And you know, Victor Wembano, we saw how competitive he is in the all-star game. You saw how he was in the meeting matchups so far with the Thunder.
I think that's something he wants. And none of us thought the Spurs were going to be this good this quickly, but they really are coming and they might already be here.
So I'm going to be watching to see how that plays out. Obviously, in the East. Jason Tatum, potential return. I'm about to go on NBA today and talk about that. I think my general sense is he's done everything possible to put himself in position to return this season.
The question becomes, though, is that the right idea for him and for the Celtics? Like, he's what if he's able to come back, you have to understand he is not going to be the same Jason Tatum we all saw, right? He's going to be Jason Tatum, who came back very quickly from an Achilles. And is that worth the risk of re-injury? And I, you know, I talked to him just the other day and he said, I still have not made a decision of whether or not I'm going to come back this season at all.
I mean, he's going to be in position to make that decision. He's ramping up to make that decision. But We're not to that point yet. He's still got a few hurdles to clear. I think Boston surprised him in the Eastern Conference, second overall.
Nobody saw that with Jason being out, but Jalen Brown's had this MVP caliber year. I think the Celtics are the story really in the second half. And my other one in the East is the Cleveland Cavaliers. They went out and got James Harden. And I don't know how you put a guy who is the system, right?
He is a system in and of himself into your offense with just a third of the season to work on it. But they weren't all that great the first two-thirds of the year.
So maybe the James Harden system in Cleveland will be good because I think that was a great pickup there at the trade deadline.
Well. I ask you my president. Celtic fan Chris Brockman. Thinks it's a good idea for Jason Tatum to try? Yeah, they can win the title with Jason Tatum.
They can. I mean, they really can, Ramona. No one saw it. What version of Jason Tatum are you getting, right? I remember when Kobe came back from that Achilles, and like a couple weeks into the comeback, he knocked knees with Tony Allen and broke a kneecap.
And I mean, this is, you haven't played basketball in, like, nine, ten months. Like, he's not going to come back and just be that guy again. Rebound, shoot threes, play a little defense, twenty-five minutes a game. He's definitely coming back though. Why would NBC flex into Celtics Sixers on March first and announce that they're releasing this rehab dock with Jason Tatum?
I know everybody saw that, and I know that looks. To be what you know, everybody, I know why people think that it could be that, okay? But I'm telling you, Jason, the last thing anyone in Boston wants to do is put pressure on Jason Tatum to come back until he's not just 100% ready, but a thousand percent ready. Like, he, if he wakes up three days before whatever day he's targeting, or if he even is even targeting a day, if he wakes up and just doesn't feel right or doesn't trust it, nobody wants him to go out there just because there's a documentary coming out or because they flex that game. Like, this is a this is an Achilles injury.
Like, this is my sense of how this will go is that he will continue to ramp up, he will continue to scrimmage, try to do more, and then. One day we'll wake up and he'll be upgraded to questionable on the injury report. There's not going to be a long buildup to whatever he does. Ramona Shelburne here on the Rich Hazard Show. In the few minutes left I have with you here, let's talk women's hoops, Ramona.
I mean, UConn's doing it again. Gino's doing it again. They're undefeated.
South Carolina looks awesome. UCLA just up the road. Corey Close has got him working. My Wolverines, I'm really excited about as well, not just about the men's side. And we're less than two months away from the WNBA draft.
You know, March Madness is going to really put the women's game right there where it deserves again soon. What was the conversation over All-Star weekend? Are we got a labor situation here? Are we going to have a season? What do we have here?
I think we all have had this idea that they are going to figure it out. You know, at the 11th hour or whenever they have to, because right now, Rich, like you know, deadlines create action, and there's nothing happening right now. Like, they're not, if they were to quote unquote strike.
Well, what are you striking? They're not missing any games. The only thing a strike would do is make it so they don't get their health benefits anymore. That doesn't do anything, right? There's no pain point or pressure point.
The first thing you've really, I guess we've missed free agency. I feel bad for Toronto and Portland. They don't even have players. They were supposed to have an expansion draft. They need to get some players on their team.
Those are inconveniences that can be dealt with. But the only thing you really start to miss is when you get closer and closer to that draft in April. And so we're still a really long ways away from that, from those pressure points. And I think the union knows that, the league knows that, and everybody understands, like these, we're getting uncomfortable. Adam Silver used this term the 11th hour.
We're getting very uncomfortable right now because there's things that need to still happen. But we're not at a place where there can be real pain inflicted on either side by doing a strike or a lockout, et cetera.
So I think we're getting closer from what I've heard in the background. The executive committee of the Players Association, they have now a new proposal from the league to review. I think they're working on submitting a counter-proposal, from what I understand. There's some internal discussions within that committee and within the league. I know NECA Gumake has been out at Athletes Unlimited.
Breonna Stewart's down at Unrivaled. They're all talking all the time on Zoom calls, etc. But once we see whatever the Players Association sends back to the NBA, to the WNBA, which I expect any day now, then I'll have a better sense of how far apart those two sides really are because they were talking, but they weren't exchanging proposals for about six weeks there. And I think that really slowed everything down. All right.
So I remember hosting an NFL draft during a lockout. That's when I lost most of my remaining follicles, Ramona, to be honest with you.
So what's the pressure point? I'm looking at the schedule here. I mean, fever at Liberty. with a a double header is is April 25th. Yeah, training camps?
What would it be? When's midnight strike? When is it? Like 80% of the league are free agents. Like everyone timed their contracts.
Everybody signed one-year deals and everyone timed their contracts to coincide with this new CBA.
So literally, there's not even really any teams. There's only like 20% of the league that's under contract for next year.
So the pressure point is at some point there has to be a reasonable time for free agency. At some point, the two expansion teams need to have an expansion draft. That's really the pressure point. And so I would say, I mean, we're in the middle of February now. It's got to happen sometime in March because those two things really do need to happen.
It's not just the draft and free agent. It's not just the draft and training camps. It's that nobody knows what team they're on right now. That's a problem. Yeah.
I don't mean to be flippant. I don't mean to be flippant, but again, there's a golden goose that's getting more valuable. Here. And, you know, and stars, I mean, Juju Watkins is going to be healthy. Like, this is.
This is rubber meeting the road here and everybody can actually just Who's going to have everybody sit down and say, What are we doing? You know what I mean? Like, who are those principals? Yeah, I mean, I think it's to me, it's NECA Gumake. She's been the the head of the Players Association for a long time, and she's very well respected in the game and by the league office.
And I think, you know, she's been doing a lot of podcasts, she's been saying what she wants, but I think there might be a point when NECA gets in a room with either Kathy Engelbird or maybe even Adam Silver and they hash things out or something to that effect because she has a pretty clear idea of what the players are asking for that's not being met. And I feel like that at some point Is probably gonna be where we land. I know Breonna Stewart's been taking a very big leadership role recently as well.
So I think somewhere between those two ladies and Nafisa Collier would be also in that mix of like who can get something really across the finish line. But I think we're getting close here, Rich. I mean, I thought it was interesting the league put out a schedule. Because one of the pressure points I had been hearing was literally arena dates. You know how this goes.
Like, if you don't have your dates on the schedule, they give them away to some concert, they give them away to some circus that comes to town, or they give them away to anybody else who wants to use the arena. Arenas cannot have open dates. And if you want those open dates, you gotta lock those in.
So the league went forward with the idea of let's do the schedule, even though we don't even know who's on what team. And I thought that was a blink, at least in my eyes, in terms of how the league is viewing this, because they understand. We're not going to be able to have the games we want, to have the matchups we want. Our television partners need dates. Our arenas need dates.
That was a blank on the league's part just because I know that was a real pressure point for a lot of teams.
Well, I'd rather see locked-in dates than locked-out players, Ramona. Let's put it that way. I look forward to seeing more of you right here in the studio. We'll do this setup a little bit better than what I did today. I appreciate your time and see you on NBA today at Top of the Hour, correct?
Top of the hour? Anytime, Rich. Ramona Shelburne, right here on the Rich Guys and Show, right here. Lots to talk about, right? That was awesome.
Yep. As always, with Ramona. Yeah, man, you don't want a half of Tatum? You don't agitate him. You don't want adjacent ta.
You know what I mean? I understand how you feel. I feel the finals. And by the way, nothing sucks more than labor disputes. I mean, the WNBA has more people interested in it than ever.
The women's final women's March Madness is going to be great. Again. Again And um Wouldn't you want to see like Juju Watkins getting back out there, smiling at an NBA draft, holding up a jersey? Let's go. Let's go.
And I know I know the first the first person when she comes into Los Angeles, if You know that would want to see Juju Watkins play as my daughter. Yeah. Who wears Juju Watkins attire almost half the time during the week.
So let's go. If you will, 844-204-Rich, number 10. Speaking of my kids, I've got a great segment: Hot Takes from 15-year-olds. Sports hot takes from teenage boys coming up next. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
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As many of you know, supporting pediatric cancer research is something I care deeply about. That's why I'm proud to share what Hyundai is doing through Hyundai Hope on Wheels. For over 27 years, with every Hyundai sold, they've helped fund pediatric cancer research. Alongside over 850 dealers, they've raised more than $277 million, helping over 25,000 kids and supporting more than 1,400 research grants at 175 institutions nationwide. This year alone, they've committed another $27 million in honor of the 27th anniversary of the program.
And they're proud to have national youth ambassadors like Jackson Trin and Emmy Cole who bring hope to kids across the country by sharing their stories. Because at Hyundai, hope is our greatest feature and it comes standard. Visit HyundaiUSA.com and search Hyundai Hope on Wheels to learn more. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, 844-204 Rich is the number to dial. If I may, I do have the best dad ever signed out here.
I try. Parenting. Three-day weekend. Which is also, you know, three words for a three-day weekend: survive and advance. When you have three days, With your kids, survive in advance.
Big weekend, though, for all of us, all three kids in our household. Taylor, who doesn't like when I talk about her, so I'll just touch on this. She made the all-star team for her basketball club. Congrats. For a third straight year, her name's on a banner.
as well the Pan Pacific Park. Not the first spanner in her names, but you should. That's correct. For previous all-stars. At any rate, so she made it again.
Xander created a new. Instagram page. I don't know if you guys all check that one out. He's making X cooks. Yeah, Bake by X.
Oh, nice. If you want recipes, he's baking recipes at Bake By X on Instagram. Shout out. Cooper turned 15. Hey, Coopy Dew.
Happy birthday. 15 years old. Took him. And uh five other teenage friends of his to Top Golf Sunday. I'm behind the wheel of the car with five other guys in the the uh In the um In the car, with six.
I'm driving I'm plus six in the car, okay? And they're Sports Talk was so wild. Their opinions so off the rails, about 2 in, I turned to Cooper and I'm like, start taking notes. I told him to take his phone out. Normally, it's the other way around.
Start taking notes because I am bringing these to the people. If you're wondering what 15-year-old and fourteen year old young men who are diehard sports fans are thinking. Hot takes. You got it. I've got them right here.
I've got a list of them. Then he calls me at one point.
Okay. I've got a list of the hot takes from a bunch of 15-year-olds. And I want to run through all of them with you.
Okay. Some of them are hot, some of them aren't that hot, but some are real hot. You ready, guys? You tell me if you can. And you are sort of the hot take artist of the rich eyes.
Music to my ear.
Okay. Music for this? Sure. No, don't worry about it. I don't need that.
Here we go. Music makes everything a little better, though. Sure. Give me some music, right?
Okay. All right, here we go. Hot takes out of the minds of 15-year-olds is brought to you here on The Rich Island. How many of these are coops? Not many of them.
Okay, these are all his friends. These are all his friends.
Okay. First one. Cam Ward will be a top five quarterback next season. 0.0 chance. Cam Ward.
Will be a top five quarterback next season. What if I told you last year at this point in time, Drake May was going to be a top five quarterback? Drake may finish second in the MVP portal. Could have finished first if it wasn't for a certain baby driver on Sunday. I get it.
What do you think? They were like, listen. You know? Brian Dables, the OC, he performed well enough. You know, you surround them with some more pieces.
And off he goes, just like Drake May. Yeah. Nothing, huh? I mean, it's hot. You're sizzling?
Do you have like a flame? Don't we have a flame drop or something like that sizzling? That's a sizzle. I mean, because I said to him, I'm like, top five, you're talking like Josh Allen. You're talking Burrough went healthy.
You're talking Mahomes went healthy. You're talking Stafford and May were the first two. Quarterbacks mentioned in the MVP voting? Cam Ward is currently 21st in MVP odds. That's one take.
Okay, you ready for another one? This one is cool. The next Sam Darnold.
Okay, we're looking who's going to be the next one.
Okay, I like this. The next Sam Darnold is Mason Rudolph. That one came from The back of the car. You honestly should have pulled over and made that conversation. I did say, I think this is a little bit of a shot.
I'm not even going to uninvite him to talk about it. This is Buddy Luke. I basically said, we've just met. As we're going down the 405, I'm looking in the rearview mirror while keeping my hands at 10 and 2 because I'm a very responsible driver. You got people's lives.
I said to him, We've just met. I am definitely not your parent. But if I was your parent. I would pull this car over and slap you. I'd say I'm pulling this car around.
Because I pointed out, I'm like, by the way, is he a member of Rudolph's family? No, I thought this was an interesting, at least, construct. Who is the next Sam Darnold, right? I'm like, it's got to be somebody who has started in the league, who has bounced around in multiple places starting. Mason Rudolph has not done that.
Mason Rudolph is a, if you will, career backup with, I should say, with all due respect. He has been. I'm sure he's been sitting there saying, I need my start me week one, give me a full season, I'll show you what I can do. And it's got to be somebody who has started and then getting another chance to start, who's a first-round pick, also. Like, that's the next Sam Darnold.
The candidate for the next Sam Darnold, in my estimation, is Matt Jones. First over, by the way. First round choice chosen by an AFC East team. Who then gave up on him, or circumstances caused him to have to depart. He goes from This is, he's on his third team right now.
Don't forget he was in Jacksonville as a backup. And then he goes to San Francisco like Darnold. Then maybe he's got so he would have he's two teams away from being a five-team guy.
So he would have to go somewhere else. And have a 14-win type season like Darnold had with Minnesota last year. Or I would think the next Sam Darnold goes He would be team four, not team five is very rare. One of the names I've seen thrown about in this category is Drew Locke. That was another one, another kid in the car said Drew Locke's name, but I'm like.
But Drew Lank didn't start, you know. I mean, I guess he started for Denver and then started in Seattle. I mean, they don't have to follow the exact same Darnold path, but it's a path less traveled to stardoms.
Okay. There are a few names. Here's the next one: The Saints. will win the NFC South in 2026. The Saints will win the NFC South.
The New Orleans Saints? In 2026. Don Bowie's favorite team, the Saints? I mean, is that sizzling? No.
Is that sizzling? I mean, it's hot. It's hot. It's hot. That's hot.
It's hot. Tyler Shuck here too. Takes the nice name. Chuck is nice. What if they draft Jeremiah Love?
I think they Olave Love Shuck. They probably should. Let's be honest. Does that deserve the sizzle drop? No, I don't know about that one.
If they get love, I might use that post-draft.
Okay, here's one. Brees Hall will lead the NFL rushing in rushing next season with the Arizona Cardinals. Where did the Cardinals come up? I don't know. I'm just driving a top golf, man.
Yeah, he's keeping my hands on 10 and 2. Seeing Brees's name thrown about as a possible franchise tag guy. I don't think the Jets are franchise tagging him. I don't think so. I honestly don't think so.
But he goes somewhere else. The Cardinals, as you know. The Chiefs really should have traded for him. Dude. That's not too far off.
The Cardinals, though. I don't know. James Totter's not healthy. I don't know. Or he is, and suddenly, you know, they don't have to work him back in every snap.
What a car. He definitely lead the league in rushing. Look, James Cook, nobody saw that coming. He led the league in rushing this year. He definitely has the ability.
TJ? I agree, but with the cart. By the way, what if that happens? Who's here? I don't remember which kid said it.
It wasn't Luke, I can tell you that. No, Luke's walking. Luke's still outside. Here's a good one. Here's a baseball one.
All right.
You'll like this one, Jay. Oh. His buddy Jackson came up with this one. Jack Dog? What's up, Jackson?
The Dodgers will win the next three World Series for five in a row. Five in a row? That's a lot of pressure there, Jackson. Yeah, I mean, yes. Your team doesn't care about winning.
My team doesn't care about winning. Your team can't win, TJ.
So, yeah, of course. We care. You just can't do it.
So, yeah, yeah, this is fine. Five world six. This isn't even that hot. It's not that hot. There's no way that's talking about it.
There's no way that happens. Because to have that happen, you have to have like the injury bug cannot come anywhere near Chavez Ravine.
Well, just get another superstar to replace the injured guy.
Okay, that's a good point. And the first one. You barely won by Isaiah Kiner Falefa's toe. I'm sorry, did you win or did you not win? All right, yeah.
Alright, we'll get five. And then they get Kyle Tucker. and they keep getting better and it doesn't matter. It keeps getting better, and then someone's going to sign from the 401k plan so they don't pay the luxury tax, which doesn't matter anyway. The manager is in o uh Button pushing wizard.
Like, he's like the o's of the mentalist of managing. It's like, how the hell does it come up with? Oh, let's put Pajes in right here.
Okay, then he makes the catch to save the World Series. Let's put Rojas in. Oh, and then he comes up with a home run to win the World Series, and then the play at second, double-clutching second-base play to keep the World Series alive.
Okay. Oh, yeah. But like Jason said, barely win. Like, where are the chances of that luck happening again and again? Do you really feel it's not that hot to say they're going to win three more in a row, win five in a row?
I don't think that's super hot. I think it's kind of hot, but it's not out of the realm of possibility.
Okay. Two more football ones from the kids. Jimmy G will get a starting job in the NFL.
Next season. Nope. It should have been this year if he was going to get one. I don't even know what his contract situation is. I'll look.
But where? I don't know. Once upon a time, we thought he was the fifth stringer on San Francisco, and he wound up starting for him a month later. True dad. Jimmy G's a free agent.
Okay. Somebody's not going to sign Jimmy Garoppolo to start. What if the Jets did that? Hey, there's certain teams. Like, why wouldn't they?
Why wouldn't you reach out to Jimmy Garoppolo? 34. Why not? Jimmy G in New York? A little older.
Not too far off. He's a free agent, huh? Yeah, he's a free agent. He'd cause a ruckus in the city, though. Maybe Jimmy G's hung that part of his name up.
Maybe he's retired. I don't know. That part? Never that, bro. Bro, his name's not Jimmy Y or Jimmy P.
Guys. 15-year-olds are going to be watching this video back on YouTube. They got to know what that ring is. You know what? I don't know what that is.
I know. I guess. I'm just driving a top golf. Guys, I'm still driving a top golf right now. By the way, I just got a text from Susie that said, I beat Rich three times in a row at Top Golf.
She did indeed. You know why? Because she kept every single thing kept landing in the target area. Look, man. That's the point of the game.
I understand that. I was trying to hit the hell out of it. I'm hitting the back wall. Look at you flexing. Brockman, you know why I beat you one-on-one?
She's all. The shots are in the middle. The shots win in. Susie, this isn't about you, it's about the 15-year-old hot takes. It's a bold strategy, Cotton.
Okay, last one. Last one. One more. You know how there's a handful of teams that have yet to win a Super Bowl? Oh, yeah.
Right. I can tell you. Of all the teams yet to win a Super Bowl, the last of the last to do it will be the Detroit Lions. Oh. And I'm like, I like this.
No, no, no, no, no. I might agree with this. I like that. The Cleveland Browns? The Arizona Cardinals, as we know.
Whose idea was this? The Lions are as close. This is the reason why this is hot. You have the list of the teams that have yet to win a Super Bowl? Yeah.
Okay. Read them off. Arizona, Jackson, Buffalo, Carolina, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston. Jacksonville, Chargers, Vikings, Titans. Wouldn't you say the Lions are in the top three of the closest to it?
Yeah. To getting off that list? The Bills, the Lions. Chargers, who else did you say? It's a lot of teams, actually.
Cardinals. Titans, Vikings, Chargers, Jags, Texans, Lions, Browns, Bengals, Panthers, Bill. How many of those teams? How many teams are there? 12?
Yeah. So they're basically saying. That If well, what would this be? By 2050? By the time these These kids are celebrating their 40th birthday because there'll be some champions who have won it before already for everybody to get off the list.
And then the Lions are the last? That's... Man, that's hot. I bet by the time these kids are hot, by the time these kids are 40, in 25 years, they want more than half will still have never won. Of course.
Yeah. And yet, those famous people won't have one one. That's fine, but we still got them in the trophy case. It's going to be 70-plus years. We're 60 games away.
We're 60 Super Bowls in, and many of those franchises have been around for. Most of the 60. Don't talk to me. Right? It's not about you either.
I know, I'm just saying.
Somebody out there is going to say about the 15-year-olds.
Well, did they mean the four that's never made it? Because that's Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, and Jacksonville have never made a Super Bowl. All right, so let's go with that one. Let's go with those four.
So, those four, yeah, they said that the Lions would be the last. To have never made it. That's a rough one. Yeah. I'd love for it.
I'd love for everyone to enjoy what it feels like. It would be super cool. They're nowhere close.
So, who are the four that have never won it? Never appeared. They've never appeared. Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, and Jacksonville. Yeah.
If you if you or rank it rank it Rank it. I think Jacksonville is Closest.
Okay. I'd say Houston. Closest. Really? Detroit's.
Pretty, I mean. I know last year's stunk, man. I'm not giving up on that. I'm not giving up on that. By the way, they were also reading out these Valentine's Day cards, these fake Valentine's Day cards from NFL.
Cooper said the one for Dan Campbell was Let's just go for it. Man. Riding into top golf with 15-year-olds, guys. Riding the top. Can't wait.
Okay, sorry, I was avoiding that subject.
Well, I'm not going to ask you to jump in this. No, it's Jackson. Jacksonville, Detroit, Houston, Cleveland, Wayforth. I would agree with that. I would make it.
I would say Houston, then Jacksonville. Houston made it the closest of any of those teams this year. I would say Houston, then Detroit, then Jacksonville, then Cleveland. Cheese. Those are your hot takes.
I like it. That was fun. That was good. I knew that two in. As soon as I heard the second one being the next Sam Darnold is Mason Rudolph, that's what I told Cooper.
Rudolph. Get out your phone. Put it on the notes app. Let's go. Then he texted some of these to you, and I'm like, yo.
He did.
Well, he called me first. Oh, he called you. And then texted. And he was like, well, he called you because he wanted Cage to top golf at his party. We were at another.
Very good. Let's take a break. 844-204-Rich, number to DAO. We'll set up our Wednesday show. When we come back.
The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, LinkedIn is one of our sponsors, and we love telling you about LinkedIn because every hire counts for small businesses, especially your time counts too. Hiring can quickly become overwhelming from sorting applications to figuring out who's truly qualified. And this is where LinkedIn Hiring Pro helps. It streamlines the process so you can focus on connecting with the right candidates, not managing the noise.
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finishing up this show before recording no contest wrestling with TJ Jefferson, John Cena, and in-studio guest. It's a big day for everybody here in this studio. We're all excited. Yeah, man. Thanks for making it happen.
Number one. You know? Feeling great. You should. I'm so cool for this.
It's crazy. You are right. I am not pushing back on that. What did you think of the All-Star game? Weekend.
What'd you think? Oh, such a clipper all-star game, wasn't it? Just lackluster.
Well, no, why scored 31 in 12 minutes in one of the games? He didn't even win. I didn't watch that. You didn't watch it. Once they started telling me that his three teams and such and such, it's all LeBron's fault.
Oh, yeah, that's the new wave. Blame it on. Just blame it on Braun. You stub your toe, blame it on Braun. I stepped in a portal with socks on, blame it on Braun.
So that's what I'm doing. This guy. Thanks for nothing, LeBron. This is just a. Lakers, you know, it's always about the Lakers, man.
Yeah, crypto.
Now, that building, that would, that would, that throws a good awesome. Excuse me. Jackson Hayes dunked from the dotted line. Like, he was confused. How are you going to confused?
The wall. The Lakers slam dunk participant who basically dunked from a point on the court where whoever might have been guarding him would have been called for a block because he was not defending on the outside of the dotted line. That's happened. Jackson, I grilled you. You know, I might have said cut you because of your performance.
Okay. That was a little rough. All right.
But it's not as bad. Laker fans will remember when Shannon Brown disappointed us in the dunk contest. That broke my heart. I knew we had it in the bag. Hey, you are also somebody who likes a good line, a good zinger, right?
The zinger of the weekend, when interviewed by. By Reggie Miller. The 44th president of the United States was there with his lovely wife. There he.
Okay, he had this to say. This is awesome. Want to shift to Chicago. You mentioned the 90s, your time there, and that run by Michael Jordan in Chicago. Do you have a favorite moment during that time in Chicago, during the 90s?
I always enjoyed watching us beat Indiana. Goodness. Although people do that to me, I knew you were going to do that. Although I will say that nobody terrified me more than Reggie Miller with a possible three-point shot at the end of the game. You did push off Michael on that one play, though.
Come on, Mr. President. Everybody knows that. Didn't he push off in the Utah Series? No, right?
They didn't. No. We gave it to you. You had to come back in game seven, though. Didn't happen.
We didn't happen. I love that. Give it to him when you can. Didn't happen. Mm-hmm.
I love that. I love that Just a little dig. A little dig puts you in misery.
Well, as you know, as a Knick fan, anybody who causes Reggie Miller to be retortless, I'm in. Hashtag retortless. Yes, indeed. Anybody, or shuts him up? Is that fine?
No, retortless is fire.
Okay. That's that Michigan. That's that Michigan. You mean the number one basketball program in college basketball right now? Chest out.
The men? Number six in the women? I mean, those are big numbers. Those are some outstanding numbers. Outstanding numbers, man.
Yes, sir. Marching right around the corner. Oh, boy. Yeah, buddy. I cannot wait for tonight.
That's again, it's Purdue. It's Purdue tonight. And then Duke, this is my guy right here. That's my coach. Look at the swag.
That's right. In front of the Michigan State fans who were giving him crap, and they were up by almost 20 and a half, needed to hang on to actually win in their building. But this is that thing. It means nothing. Shay, I told him, but you look at this picture.
There's no sense of actual danger in this picture. You know what I'm saying? I know what he's saying. I'm not worried. About those kids.
No contest wrestling with O'Shea and TJ and John Cena back to Rapid Masset. 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.
