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Check responses for accuracy. Are all batteries the same? That's like asking if all soccer players are the same. Take Messi, the most decorated player ever. Is there any other player who has achieved that?
No, just him.
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This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody! Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere.
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Now, on with the show. Oh my god, you guys are my favorites. This is The Rich Eisen Show. The one and only. Rich Eisen.
I know what I'm talking about. That's the headline. The Rich Eisen Show. With guest host, Brian Weber. I mean, honestly, he's brilliant.
Brian Weber. I've got a long resume. Google me. It saves time. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
And now, sitting in for Rich. It's Brian Weber. We have arrived at the final hour of the program, and the last 60 minutes of content before Rich is back. I am a fan of Lowe, as Barry once said. Looked like we made it.
Rich and the team return on Monday. I'll do my best not to destroy his impeccable brand in our last hour together. Coming up in 20 minutes, because this is the football show of record. mister Eisen, employee number one and still the face of NFL Network. We'll get you set for the start of NFL Training Camps.
Now just eleven days away, we'll move across the league when we're joined by Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. We're going to jump right in talking MBA. I've done my best to be comprehensive. As we're now just 60 minutes away, 59 precisely, because as I mentioned, soccer always starts on time. The second quarterfinal.
In Englewood, California between The Spanish powerhouse and Belgium, who exposed the United States on Monday, coming off the greatness of Mbappe and France's victory. Yesterday 2-0, as we say, on the pitch in Morocco, we've talked some UFC, we've talked a lot of baseball. If you missed any of that, you're covered. Just Stick and stay, and look for the podcast. It'll drop just over an hour and change from now.
And It's something you subscribe to, I hope, by now. If not, just throw the subscribe button down, and you will be fully covered every day moving forward. Let's get back to the NBA. I don't want to spend much more time on Kawhi Leonard, and I am not myopic enough to presume that you'd give me three hours of your time, especially as a film-in host, given. All the options that are out there now, and especially because I hope most of you are still enjoying summer vacation.
And if you are, I appreciate you hanging with me for a bit. The quick summation of the Kawhi story really comes down to this. 10 months into the allegations of what you can really boil down to a no-show endorsement deal that allegedly gave Kawhi money that. Wouldn't obviously count against the salary cap because it came from a third party. Company that Clipper owner Steve Bommer invested in, so it was a way to funnel money to Kawhi without having any cap consequences.
We're now 10 months into this, and a quick moment to pause. And celebrate the journalism. Pablo Torre, who, of course, is a valued member. Here at ESPN. In fact, I caught him on party interruption again yesterday.
I love the dynamic between Pablo and Tony Kornizer. As I get older, I feel like I'm getting much more Tony and a lot less Pablo. But Pablo is doing real. Journalism, sports journalism doesn't have to be a paradox in Oxymoron, doesn't have to be jumbo shrimp or military intelligence. It requires legwork, determination.
And being aware, you might offend some people that are your media partners. And Pablo is doing such great work, he won a Pulitzer Prize.
So he's been all over this. And I'm here in Southern California, so I've tracked it fairly closely because I was wondering all year long when is the league going to do anything? They're going to drop a hammer on the Clippers?
Well, I knew they weren't going to do it. In and around the All-Star game because the Clippers hosted it at Intuitome. Then I figured they're not going to do it during the playoffs because they don't want to distract from that. Then I figured I was with you on the 3rd of July. Wouldn't have that been the greatest news dump of them all?
But too obvious, I guess.
So. I'm thinking we'll finally get clarity once Summer League is done. That is July 19th, as it got underway last night in Vegas after the minor tune-up events in San Francisco and Salt Lake City. And we saw the future of the NBA on display last night in Nevada with a lot of current stars courtside. After all, Summer League really is just a giant NBA convention, much like the NFL Scouting Combine brings the football world together.
If you didn't catch the highlights, you'll have plenty of opportunities to see Number one pick A.J. DeBonsa. Number two pick Darren Peterson moving forward. The biggest takeaway was you got a sense of how bright the futures of both of these players are. I know it's Summer League.
I am not trying to sell you a bill of goods that's not Grounded in reality. They're playing against guys who'll be lucky to be the twelfth man, or they're going to the G League. And we saw what they did at a high level against better competition many nights in college, but It does speak to the fact that the NBA has never had more depth and a better distribution of talent than they do currently. And maybe, just maybe, one of these years, the Wizards will be watching. Paul, I'll be watching just because I love the athleticism of DeBonsa.
Got to work on his outside game. That was glaring again last night, going 005 for three-point land. But we know. Wes Unsult ain't walking through that door in our nation's capital. Finally, some hope for the Wizards.
As for the Clippers. They got through this entire year. Finally decided to part ways with Kawhi. Got a lot in return. For him, Brandon Ingram plus another player, two firsts and two seconds.
That is objectively more than Brad Stevens got for Jalen Brown, who we had to trade, he says. Let me say this word slowly. Due to optionality. In English, he wanted more roster flexibility that he couldn't have with two Supermax players, namely Brown and Tatum.
So the Clippers. Do a good deal. That's breaking news. Kawhi is gone, we think. He's been to Toronto, back to where he's a hero after winning the title there.
Really interesting, it's the Raptors who made this trade because remember, they were in the hunt for Kawhi originally when he made his LeBron-esque decision. And Pablo Torre has reported that Uncle Dennis, who runs the show, at least financially, for Team Kawhi. had reportedly approached the Raptors asking for a similar arrangement that allegedly the Clippers gave to him. Namely, he wanted to get paid through corporations as a side hustle to make more money. Nothing wrong with that except it's against the NBA rules.
So was it all mean? The league stepped in yesterday and just said, We're going to pause things until there is the final release of the findings. And along the way, the Raptors have to decide, saying, and I don't think this is going to happen, if Kawhi has to sit 20 games, pick a number. If there's any kind of suspension, do they still want to pull the trigger on the deal, or do they want to go back to the Clippers and say, okay, guy's not going to play for a quarter of the year. Give us back one of the picks.
That's all this means. And I probably could have done it in. two minutes less time, but I try to be exhaustive and make sure that we're covering all the bases.
So we'll find out. Once the hammer comes down. My thoughts would be: there's no smoking gun to connect Kawhi to any of this. I don't think anything happens to him in terms of an on-the-court suspension. Bomber is going to have to go for a while.
Write a big check, but that's not a big deal. And the Clippers are going to be docked massively in terms of. Their trade Abilities in the future and draft capital, there's going to be. Onerous on the Big Word Friday restrictions. Because the NBA cannot allow this kind of Joe Smith situation to happen again after that precedent years ago.
I'm Brian Weber, Infra Rich. Hit me up on the X platform, B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's. In 15 minutes, we make the move to the NFL when we're joined by Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. Terms of LeBron.
And I think we have all gotten to a point of wake me when it's over. And I think it's clearly by design. The man loves attention, and you can't blame him if you have more money than. Six, seven, eight, nine future generations of your relatives can spend. If you're statistically the greatest player of all time as the NBA's leading scorer, what else can you get?
How about adulation and attention?
So he is slow playing this, I think. Completely from a standpoint of generating more content for his documentary. And he just loves that we're talking about him. Among the people talking about the king. ESPN senior NBA insider Sham Shirania.
Detailing this great item on NBA today: how teams are having to use technology to communicate with LeBron.
Some of the leading suitors for LeBron James, whether that's a Golden State, Cleveland, Miami, Minnesota, Philadelphia, some of them have been able to send a voice note to LeBron James via Rich Paul.
So, whether it's an owner, a president, or a general manager, being able to record a voice note, I'm told, send it to Rich Paul, and that makes its way to LeBron James. This is just a part of. LeBron James' process of studying as he makes a decision. And it's unclear whether Cleveland or Miami have been among the teams that have sent a voice note to LeBron via Rich Paul. Again, they kind of don't need to.
They already had him in their buildings in the recent past. Is this like leaving messages back in the day? Is LeBron walking around with a handful of quarters, pumping them into pay phones, trying to update what's going on? Hey, this is LeBron at the tone. Leave your name and number.
I keep going back to the word unseemly. It just feels. Yeah. Too complicated. Two-layered too cute by half, but When LeBron has total control, as he does.
And I know the CBA talk is boring. But it is Important because it's the rules of the road. Because now free agency has effectively been killed, other than LeBron, thank goodness the content gods smiled upon us with the king making this long, tedious, drawn-out free agent decision. These teams don't have any urgency to lean on him to fill out their rosters because they're primarily set. The moves have been made.
And in fact, right now, all we're waiting for are marginal developments, like, say, Jonathan Kaminga, who clearly Steve Kerr and the Hawks both agree, is not nearly as good as I have thought.
Now, Kaminga truly is a unicorn. On some nights, he looks like the best player in the league with all of that raw athletic ability. Other nights, he looks like he's never played basketball before. And Steve Kerr obviously did not want to deal with that inconsistency. Plus, he.
He prefers veterans that he can count on, but There are reports out there, and especially it's percolating because all the basketball journalists and executives and agents are gathering in Vegas that the Lakers could be trying to work out a sign and trade to get Atlanta to send them Kaminga. That's what we've been reduced to.
So it's all LeBron all the time for a reason. But let's say you're Bob Myers. With all of those rings, one of the brightest guys in all of sports, the architect of the Warriors dynasty to a degree, now consulting with the Sixers. Wasn't it beneath him to have to go on the Rich Paul show and Make a sales pitch for LeBron like it's a bad ripoff of Shark Tank. And I understand, especially because LeBron is the producer, everything is content now.
It just feels Too wonky. And at some point Just make up your mind, but he's doing it. Because he can. And he's doing it because He has sucked all of the oxygen out of the league, and he is front and center for the final time other than. when his farewell tour winds down.
So From a basketball standpoint and a hoops perspective only, sounds like the Nuggets are out as much as I would have really liked to seen, just talking about fit and situation, LeBron, Choker, and then Murray becoming the third option for a team that was the three seed in the West this season. Golden States, it's feeling like Shaam's reporting. Indicates that the Warriors feel like they are more of a long shot than was originally thought to be the case. You get the motivation for LeBron there. Remember, he keeps talking about maximizing happiness.
He would be happy with Steph because they're tight and we saw their chemistry on the floor in the Olympics. I'm not going to waste time on Minnesota because I don't think he wants to babysit Lonzo Ball and the Ant Man. Miami. If he's truly a storyteller, this isn't a great story. We have seen this saga before.
I guess maybe. There'd be plenty of room for Pronti because they need a lot of help after everything they gave up to get Giannis. And I think it's important for LeBron to be the second option. He was not at all pleased. It was obvious with being the third wheel here in L.A.
behind Luca and Reeves and the third wheel financially in the offseason when they made Austin Reeves the first player ever to be undrafted to get a Max Steele. Cleveland is the obvious homecoming. And maximize what's available on the floor, lost in the shuffle of them getting embarrassed by the Knicks and swept away in the conference finals. Cleveland finally got back to the conference finals. And James Harden disappears in the postseason, but he's a facilitator and would defer to LeBron with Spider-Mitchell being the lead alpha on that team.
And then finally, Sixers make the most basketball sense. And if you want to tell a story, the Sixers haven't won a title since 1983. Back to the if proposition. If Jalone B to finally stay healthy, and if my aunt, dot, dot, dot, she be my uncle. But let's just take Embiid off the floor because he's always off the floor.
LeBron plus Jalen Brown plus Plus, an all-NBA talent now in Maxi and Edgecombe coming off a solid rookie year. They are right there with the Knicks in terms of the top teams in the East, but. It's up to LeBron to make his decision whenever he wants because he has total control whether you, I or anybody else likes it. I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen. Enough MBA.
This show is all about football with Mr. Eisen. as the face that runs the plays at NFL Network. Coming up. We're less than eleven days away from the starting training camp.
How much separation is there now between the Rams with the addition of Miles Garrett and potentially Aaron Donnell coming back? And everybody else, we'll find out when we're joined by Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. Get into the Hyundai Getaway Sales event and get away with a deal so right it almost feels wrong. Right now, you can get great deals on our most popular models, including our adventure-ready SUVs like the Hyundai Santa Fe or Santa Fe Hybrid and the Tucson or Tucson Hybrid. Plus, there's our bold and stylish Elantra loaded with the latest stack, or go all-electric with the Ionic 5 or Ionic 9.
So, get down to your local Hyundai dealer and get away with a deal you'll love during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Visit HyundaiUSA.com for details. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an Audible with a SoFi personal loan.
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Fast Funds Terms Apply at SoFi.com/slash debt play. A bandwagon fan. The biggest insult in sports. But this summer, during the FIFA World Cup, it's an invitation, America. Never watched soccer before?
Perfect. Think a corner kick is a karate move? Sure, why not? Prefer sports where players can use their hands? Me too.
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Now we're talking.
So grab a bag of Lays and jump on the bandwagon. We're undefeated. Lays, the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Rich Eisen here for Gusto. On my shows, we talk a lot about what happens in the spotlight, the games, the highlights, and the moments that get replayed and debated.
But in any successful operation, what happens behind the scenes matters just as much. Small businesses are no different. Payroll, hiring, onboarding, benefits, and all the details that keep things moving may not be the most visible part of the job, but they still have to be handled right. That's where Gusto comes in. Gusto is online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses.
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The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Boom stretch on a Friday, Brian Weber back with you. We are winding down. That means mister Isen is warming up. Getting ready for his triumphant return on Monday.
We still have a lot to get to. We are efforting, my favorite media word. Words we only use in our business, like ensuing. Right? On the ensuing kickoff.
I got another one that comes to mind. Do you stave off elimination or do you prevent elimination? I don't know why we do these old-timey things anymore, but I got it in the broadcasting handbook. We are attempting to overcome some cell phone issues with my pal, Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, and I spoke it into existence. My voice is so loud, I just shook the tech.
Josh, I appreciate you taking the time with your great work at Pro Football Talk. How are you? I'm doing great, Brian. Do you have soccer fever? Are you just running wild on the pitch?
I have a fair amount of it. I am nothing that's ICU necessary at this point, but Yeah, I have a 12-year-old daughter who's played soccer for about five years.
So I'm. It has been fun to watch. And I think especially because the best players have all shown up in such a big way. And it's You know, to see that happen, it's like, you know, it's the Olympics, the World Cup, these things that happen so rarely, you don't want someone to have a disappointing one. Right, unless you're in the United States.
But you said it well because I keep going back to the term of star power with Conor McGregor getting back into the octagon tomorrow to see the great Messi, to see Mbappe score again. Holland, that man is just Thor. I hate to be that obvious, but that dude would just knock you over in any sport. The stars have been trying. Hey, quick thoughts that you're a soccer dad.
What do you make of now the debate about soccer being too expensive for kids? And then Alexei Lawless trying to clap back, saying, Well, anybody with a ball and sneakers could play it. What is your personal experience, Ben? I would love for it to be less expensive. I think that there are people that are close out to it.
My daughter plays for a club that that we do do some scholarship stuff and try and get as many people in the New York City area.
So there's a lot of people that don't have the means to play and would want to and would be and are increasingly from cultures that are very entwined with soccer.
So I think it's a natural thing for the United States to develop Those ties to try and find ways, I would think, through the MLS and U.S.
soccer to. to get more of those people involved in the game so that this next generation of Americans are going to be ready to go. And I feel like we always keep waiting for the U. S.
soccer breakthrough, but Even if that doesn't happen, that the MLS would be a league that Yeah. Make a lot of money s selling players to other bigger teams. And there are leagues all around the world that do that, and Norway's a perfect example. They don't have a top flight league, but it it hasn't stopped them even though they have a fraction of the people in the United States.
Well said. Josh showing his versatility. I figured you would be up to speed for a couple of reasons. You're bright, and anybody who's been going to friend of the program, Mike Florios, ProFootballTalk.com, knows that Mike has been posting a lot about the beautiful game. Hey, Josh, I saw Pele play in 1977, so we've been waiting for the United States to be good in the World Cup for a minute.
But let us get to the NFL because training camps officially open in 11 days when the rookies for the Panthers and the Cardinals show up. Let's start with the reigning Champs. Chiefs won back-to-back titles a few years ago, but before that, it had been two decades since the Patriots won consecutive Super Bowls. How do you see the positives and negatives of an argument that the Seahawks have a real chance to run it back and win another Super Bowl?
Well, I mean, the negatives are the same ones they are for every team. It's, you know, injury luck, it's the amount of. time they had to spend playing and the shorter off season The kinds of bounces, you know, you they squeaked by the Rams in the NFC Championship game in a game that could have flipped. on any number of plays over the course of the afternoon, The negatives are there. The positives are Sam Darnold's confidence and belief in himself and his team's belief in him should be.
absolutely enormous at this point. The belief in Mike McDonald as a leader two years into his head coaching career to be doing this Is tremendous. And you lost Kenneth Walker, you lost a few other guys here and there, Reef Woolen, obviously. But the core, the guys that you would say were the main reasons that for the entire season, forget about the Super Bowl itself. or the playoffs and I think you have all those pieces still in place, but they're playing in the toughest division in football, in my opinion.
And I think that. and the injury stuff makes it very hard to do anything other than take the field. And I agree with that assessment. Beyond whatever the metrics would say, clearly, I think the NFC West is the toughest division heading into this year. With the addition of Miles Garrett to the Rams in all of football, I'm Brian Weber filling in for Rich.
It's the Rich Osen Show here on ESPN Radio, taking across the NFL with Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. Josh, since I alluded to the Chiefs. What's your outlook for KC with Patrick Mahomes coming back from the knee injury after they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014? I think it's going to look similar to most of the last few seasons. 23 and 24 of regular seasons felt like how exactly are they going to get this done with this mishmash of players?
Um On offense, and I feel the same way about that. And you have confidence in Reed and Mahomes, but. it really feels like increasingly they're doing it with tricks and manipulation, and I don't know how much that flies. My big question and the thing that I would hang my hat on if I wanted to believe in the Chiefs is that Steve Spagnolo has rebuilt this defense two or three times in this run. And you bring in new blood on that side of the ball and they lost a couple of corners.
They've really changed the look of that defense a great deal that there could be growth there. that can allow the offense time to find itself. And I think that's kind of the same place they've been in for the last few years. It didn't go well last year. But again, to go back to the luck idea, they were so good in one score games before that flipped last year.
If that flips back, you know, I think you're looking at a team that could make the playoffs. I I wouldn't put them ahead of Denver or the Chargers in the West at this point, though.
Okay, and I can understand that reasoning. My thought about the Chargers would be this, and this is all a build-up for them getting back to the playoffs. At what point, Josh, did we start to scrutinize Justin Herbert, now zero and three, if you believe in quarterbacks' wins and losses as an individual staff, but he is yet to win a playoff game now in his career. Put him in the same context of all the heat that Lamar Jackson gets for subpar performance in the postseason. I think we're there.
I think it's now. I think if it were to happen again and more importantly for him to play as low to such a low standard compared to what he does in the regular season again, And that's also been the case for Lamar, right, that it's not like a Josh Allen thing where you feel like the defense is blowing it late or a coaching decision or a special teams blunder. It' It's on the offense in these games. And if Herbert were to have that again, I mean, I think we heard it already after this last one. There was a lot of that.
Some very strong words from Jim Harbaugh and the rest of the team about how much they believe in Herbert. But at some point it becomes harder to believe and and You know, I I I don't want to malign the Chargers fans that are out there, but there are places like Baltimore, Buffalo, New York. you know, other places where this kind of stuff would have created already this firestorm. I think the playing for the Chargers works to his favor a little bit because he has more I think he's going to have more time and less spotlight on those particular issues. Josh, I could say this as a Southern California resident for 23 years.
You don't have to worry about maligning anybody. There are very few Charger fans, and the ones that existed are still bent in San Diego because that team got ripped from America's finest city. I said it, Josh did not, and Rich did not. I'm Brian Weber.
Well, time-stamping for Rich Eisen here on ESPN Radio. Josh, you alluded to Buffalo. Going to be great to see that glittering new stadium in western New York. What's your outlook for Josh Allen and the Bills with the coaching change? No more Sean McDermott.
And he got the coach he wanted with Joe Brady being promoted to head coach. I'm as I said earlier in this, I'm a New Yorker and I still haven't quite come off my hangover from the Knicks yet. And I will look at it this way, that Tom Thibodeau did a lot of really good things with the Knicks and couldn't get them over the hump. Mike Brown came in and did it. I think that, that's the best case scenario for the bills right here, was that whatever that thing that they couldn't figure out when Sean McDermott was there, If they can tweak a little this and tweak a little that and still have Josh Allen doing Jalen Brunson's superhuman stuff at the end of games, That's the formula.
it's there for them. I don't know exactly which player it is that's going to step up, and you can scrutinize all the different position groups, but they're a team that's been knocking on the door. That you can pick them apart any much as any other contender, but they're right there. And That's got to be the hope that there's a slightly different look at the top. And a different view of how the team should operate leads to the thing that unlocks the finals the final level.
Let's stay in that division with the changing of the guard in the AFC East as the Patriots went from worst to first and unseated Buffalo as division champs.
So you have the change now, a wide receiver with the addition of A.J. Brown coming in to replace Defon Diggs. I mentioned the schedule. It's going to be much more challenging now for New England. Josh, what's your level of confidence that the Patriots can be more than a positive one-year story?
I think that they have a quarterback and a head coach that you would believe in.
So I think those are the things that make you believe this is The start of something rather than an aberration. I think the schedule is a big reason to think that there could be a setback. I think the fact that.
So much of the jump was fueled by They came from such a low place coaching-wise, so solving that was worth such a big deal on its own. But has he squeezed the has he gotten the toothpaste out of the tube with the players that they already have? And do they now need another round or two of personnel additions to go from being a good team that overachieved a bit last year and arrived ahead of schedule. I think we all agree with that. to being one that's able to sustain it for the long term.
I have I think they did a lot of short-term moves that really helped and really boosted them in a division that was weak outside of Buffalo. The division remains weak outside of Buffalo. That works in their favor. But I think they have to find a more sustainable group of players rather than continually shuffling in and out veteran free agents. like they've done, you know, that they kind of needed to do because the roster was in such terrible shape.
Because I mentioned the transformation of the Patriots. We saw the 49ers as well last year, just pointing out that just about every year, some team goes from worst to first. I won't confine you to that setup. Let's just talk about teams that didn't make the playoffs last year. Who would be on your short list of the candidates to be the most improved teams in the NFL?
I think from the way they finished last season and the state of their division, I think New Orleans is a team that I got an eye on as a I think they would probably have to make it as NFC South champions, but I think are capable of doing that. I think that, that division still feels Very, very hard to read because every team, nobody had a winning record last year. Nobody draped themselves in glory from start to finish. That would be the team in the NFC that comes directly to mind. Um and in the AFC I I just not you know Not such an off-the-wall pick, but I think the Bengals, this is it for them.
And this kind of Zach Taylor error of the team. If they can't do it after all the defensive moves and trading the pick for Dexter Lawrence, this group is never going to get it done. To validate what I laid out earlier in the show, can I talk you into the Cowboys with their upgrade on defense? They can't be worse than last year. Can I talk you into the Cowboys going to the playoffs?
Absolutely, you could. Absolutely. I just think the NFC South is always the easiest route to get some players in the NFL.
So I'll take that one whenever it's available. And the best word you said was available because you point out, as I do as a filling host, our best ability is availability. Josh, I greatly appreciate the time and the information as we say goodbye because you mentioned your New York State of mind, and that's where I grew up. Were you old enough to remember when major indoor soccer was a thing, and the New York Arrows had a huge contingent of fans in MSG? I went to a Cosmos game.
That's as much as I got. I got at the very end, Giorgio Chinaglia. Nice. Franz Beckenbauer on that team as well. Yes.
That was the Giants at Old Giants Stadium. I don't remember the indoor league, but I did go to a Cosmos game as a very, very young top. I love that. And now the staff, I'm sure, is collectively rolling their eyes. Here's what I say, Josh: if you're old enough to have attended a game in the old NASL, when I actually saw Pele in 77, it's like the line from Ocean's 11: the crew that was old enough to shank, or shank, I just blew the line, shake Frank Sinatra's hand.
We are soccer purists. We know this sport. We don't have to reveal our credentials to anybody. No, not at all. It's a very long ride from there to here.
I think we're in a better place, but a little more work to do. Thank you, Josh. We'll be in touch. Appreciate it. Right.
Josh Oper, Pro Football Talk. I cannot believe I blew that line. I have used it. A myriad times.
Well, maybe I'm winding down because if Rich is coming back, that means I disappear. I am probably better suited to, hey, come in every four months or so. Look, there's a reason why I'll do the LeBron ripoff. Not one, not two, not three. I'll even a three versions of the Brian Weber Show.
Are no longer on the air. Since I go with nothing but contemporary references like the Magic Hour with Magic Johnson or the Chevy Chase Show. You wind up in life where you're supposed to be, and I'm right where I want to be filming for a child. I can't believe I blew that Sinatra Live.
Well, when you were a solo host. You got to be Conan and Andy Richter, Johnny and Ed McMahon. You got to laugh at your own attempts at humor, and I appreciate your indulgence. And we gave you hard-hitting NFL information with the reminder: when it comes to your home, Pella Windows and Doors are the experts at taking care of you and your home. At Pella, they find the products that meet your needs, and their experts install them.
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I'm getting nostalgic and the program hasn't even ended. In fact, we have a lot more to get to. I do my best to be comprehensive, but occasionally I overlook something like butchering. That's an outro joke.
So coming up, we'll wrap it up with authority. And we'll also put the finishing touches on what has been another really fun week. We'll empty the content bucket by logging on to the World Wide Weber. That's next on The Rich Eisen Show. While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent, future stars who are already turning heads at age 14.
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If you're a soccer fan, I don't need to tell you what is coming up as World Cup fever continues, and I'm here in Southern California. A traffic nightmare has been created in advance of Spain and Belgium getting together in Englewood. We have focused on the beautiful game. We've talked NBA baseball heading into the All-Star break with full coverage of home run derby and the all-star game itself Monday and Tuesday here on ESPN Radio. Even some UFC, but potentially, I missed something.
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WWE the World Wide Weber. And for that, I'm pleased to be joined by our outstanding producer, Ryan, who must be thinking, man, does this guy ever stop droning on and on and on? Ryan, where do you want to start? All right, Brian.
Well, this is a question that's not only on NBA fans, but many of our producers who are trying to plan out their shows this weekend. Will LeBron James make his free agent decision this weekend before Rich Eisen returns from vacation on Monday? Ooh, okay, let's go timing first because I know you also want to know my thought about his destination. I think LeBron, at this point, because he's been monopolizing all the attention and conversation in the NBA, wants to own an entire day. And that tells me, as a batter veteran embarking into a microphone, Monday is the day.
It might happen while Rich is on the air because outside of the greatness of Home Run Derby here on ESPN Radio, pretty slow day. Throughout the afternoon into the evening. He can't go on Tuesday because you got a World Cup semifinal and the all-star game.
So, unless he just wants to slow play this. Out into something that makes absolutely no sense. I'm gonna go Monday and I will go with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ryan, where do you think he goes? I'd like to see Philly.
I don't really have a great idea. Cleveland would be cool. I mean, a third time is wild to think about if you go back to his initial decision to leave. But I'd like to see Philly. I think it'd be really interesting, especially based off that trade with the Celtics and him being able to pair with Jalen Brown, what that whole dynamic would be like.
I'm with you. As I said earlier, I think if LeBron is on that roster, they are just slightly behind the Knicks at the top of the Eastern Conference. What's next? You talked about Conor McGregor earlier in the show. He was once the king of the UFC.
Who do you think is currently the baddest man on the planet, as we used to describe Mike Tyson years ago?
Okay, well. Because all my references are decades old, I know you'll be shocked that I still like boxing. Yes, I am. But Eastwood, get off my lawn.
So, if I was going to focus on boxing, I'd go with Terrence Bud Crawford. After all, he beat Canelo Alvarez in that super fight in Vegas in the fall, but he doesn't want to fight anymore. I can't blame him because hopefully, unlike Floyd Mayweather, he's held on to his money. I laid out my thoughts about the UFC largely becoming interchangeable because they don't want to pay their fighters to become a new Conor McGregor. I have to get one more WWE reference in.
After all, we have a great partnership here at ESPN with. The premier leader in sports entertainment. I will go Brock Lesnar. I would not mess with him, even in a choreographed, scripted kind of way. What do you think?
Did I miss somebody? No, you nailed it, and I think that a lot of fans miss out on the way boxing used to be. There are so many different fighters that people of a generation that has basically come up with the UFC miss out on. All available on YouTube, right? Don't cost nothing like this show.
Sometimes you get what you pay for, but I'm glad and I'm not surprised with your comprehensive knowledge, you're aware of what went down back in the day. What's next? The Tour de France is underway. If you could only pick one international sports event to attend, what would it be?
Okay. Attend. I just want to make sure I am parsing the words correctly because. He says, I mentioned my 20 years in tennis. I once got busted.
I never said when I was calling international tennis events off a monitor, I never said directly I was there, but I'd say as we come back from commercial on TV, here in Paris. That's factually right. The match is in Paris, but one day early on. 2005 at Tennis Channel. I did a match in Sydney at noon.
And because we were short staff, I hung around and I did another match in Buenos Aires. And someone with no life figured out there was no way, even if I had a private jet, I could make that sojourn in person. I'm going to go with the running of the bowls. Take me to Pamplona.
Now, I'm not going to compete. Look. I am clutching this microphone because I have no athletic ability whatsoever. Shocking, I went into sports media, but just hanging out with a couple cocktails, watching the Bulls run wild, strikes me as a spectacle. You got anything on your bucket list, Ryan?
Olympic hockey. I would love to go to an Olympic hockey game. Based off of the experience that so many were able to take in this past year in Italy, it seems like quite an event to take in. And I guess I would probably just open it up to any Olympic sport, but specifically hockey. I think that would be really cool to take in.
Any game. It doesn't have to be a gold medal game or anything.
Well, we've bonded remotely. Uncle Brian has some room in my studio apartment. Come out in 2028 for the LA Olympic Games, if I am still employed. We got time for one more. All right, you're a big fan of movies, as am I.
Rich Eisen talks a lot of entertainment on this show. With the latest Minions movie cleaning up at the box office, what's the greatest film franchise in movie history? Wow.
Now, I have to be mindful of the clock. I can't be like Nick Siriani and just butcher this because we only have limited time. Greatest franchise.
Now I'll self-report. I have not seen any sequels to the original Fast and Furious because I know what it is. I think the name gives it away. They're fast and they're furious, so can't include that. You think just because I'm a middle-aged suburban guy, I'm going to go Godfather, but Godfather 3 ruins that trilogy.
I like the original Star Wars, and I know out of sequence, whatever, episode 4, 5, and 6. I like the Star Wars I grew up with, but. Miss me on the rest of that nonsense. Look, I am a nerd. I come up with obscure analogies, but I am not even.
The type of guy who would waste my time, plus, it's not age-appropriate on Harry Potter.
So. I will go James Bond. Because it spans the decades because of the mix of technology. And The back in the day Unifying force between the UK and the United States. Give me James Bond.
Now, don't give me George Lazenby. Don't give me Roger Moore. Give me Sean Connry. Shaken, not stirred. Ryan, you got a thought there?
Love the James Bond selection. I love that you started with Fast and Furious. I'm a fan. Mikey C in here at the studio just mentioned the John Wick trilogy, which is very good, although I think it's gone to four at this point. And then one of my favorites is Indiana Jones.
I know I sound like a company man, but Indiana Jones for sure. Those first three were fast.
Now I have to bury you. Hang on. Do you realize that Indiana Jones is superfluous? Big word? He does nothing in that movie.
In fact, if he's not there... The Ark of the Covenant goes back to Nazi Germany and potentially ends World War II on its own. Are you aware of that? I'm not aware, but I saw a great post on social media earlier this year that someone was watching it for the first time. He said, Do archaeologists usually kill this many people?
And he didn't do anything except outrun that great ball. Speaking of great, great job, Ryan. Great job, Mikey C. We appreciate the guest, Andy McCullough of the Athletic, Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, and especially want to thank Rich Eisen for allowing me once more to have an entertaining week with you. Have a great weekend.
Rich is back on Monday, and I'll talk to you down the road on ESPN Radio. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Yeah. MLB.tv on ESPN is your home for every auto-market game, live or on demand. Catch your favorite teams and players, plus MLB Network and ESPN app features like multi-view, syncing your stats, key plays, bets, and fantasy.
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