REShow: Brian Mahoney - Hour 3 (7-7-2022)

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Try Dove Men Plus Care Dry Spray goes on dry, clean feel all day. This is the Rich Eisen Show. How you doing?

Good Dan, how about you? No complaints, no complaints. That's good, we don't want to hear them anyway so... That'll wrap it up for the show. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

That's a fact. We don't want to hear the complaints. We don't want to hear it.

Absolutely don't want to hear complaints. The Rich Eisen Show with guest host Dan Schwartzman. And now sitting in for Rich... Hit the drop! It's Dan Schwartzman. Our three Dan Schwartzmen in for Rich Eisen on a Thursday.

Sad news in the world of entertainment by the way. The man who played Brian Piccolo in Brian's Song, great football movie with Billy Dee Williams playing Gale Sayers. Passing away at the age of 82. Great actor, iconic actor. Sonny of course in The Godfather.

Sonny Corleone gets shot up in his car in the ambush at the toll booth. Also of course, Elf. The guy had quite the range of being an actor.

He could play Sonny Corleone and he could be an elf which is one of Will Ferrell's better movies. Man that's sad. James Caan passing away. At first I didn't know he was 82 years old at this point.

Did not know that. What a what a career he had. Great actor. Yeah. Five kids, four weddings, four marriages, five kids. That's I mean wow. He got married 18 first time.

People got married young back in the day right? Crazy. I mean Bridge Too Far in a great war movie. Man. So his son of course what Scott Caan of course is a notable actor right now. He plays uh with Hawaii Five-0. He's been in a bunch of stuff. Wasn't he in Boiler Room?

I think he was in Boiler Room as well. Liked that movie. Man. Varsity Blues. Yeah yeah yeah.

Gone in 60 seconds. Yeah a lot of movies for his son Scott Caan as well. But James Caan, what a career. The Gambler. Brian's Song. Bridge Too Far.

Dick Tracy in 1990. Don't forget that. Dogville. Elf. Wow.

82 years old. Sad. Great actor.

It's tough when you see the uh the legends passing away right? I mean I watched, was that movie with Cry Macho? Isn't that the one with Clint Eastwood? Oh yeah yeah yeah absolutely. Yes. I watched Cry Macho on a flight.

I was actually I think I was going to the Super Bowl in LA uh back in what was that February. I watched Cry Macho and I'm a huge uh Clint Eastwood fan. Not just as an actor. I think he's a legendary director as well.

Some of the movies he's done obviously are phenomenal movies you know. And uh he's like 92 years old or something and he's still going strong right? But at some point we're gonna lose Clint Eastwood.

At some point he's gonna retire as well. I mean I'm watching this guy and he's obviously very frail now. He's still a great actor but he's obviously very frail. And every time I see him now acting in a movie I'm thinking man he was the coolest cowboy ever. No offense to John Wayne who obviously was cool but Clint Eastwood had the look right?

I mean the good the bad and the ugly the the that trilogy of great movies the Sergio Leone movies right? The guy was just the cowboy. You think of a cowboy it's John Wayne or Clint Eastwood. I'm more Eastwood than Wayne but whatever.

You can't go wrong either way. And then you're kind of watching. You're forgetting Dirty Harry. Dirty Harry movies. Yeah exactly forget just cowboys but Dirty Harry. And then he's got a little bit of a voice but Dirty Harry.

And then he's continued to just have you know amazing movies past that into you know his 80s and 90s now. Million Dollar Baby. How great was he in Million Dollar Baby?

In the line of fire right? The Mule. Gran Torino. You know his directing of what?

Letters from Iwo Jima. American Sniper. He won what? Four Academy Awards and look he's 90 what is he now 92 years old yeah just turned 92 at the end of May. And he's going strong and he continues to by the way you know make movies and act in movies and find roles and that's great. But that's the one I'm dreading because at some point I hate to say because I'm younger than Clint Eastwood. I'm 43 he's 92. It's gonna happen.

Here you go here you go. I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well to tell you the truth and all this excitement I've kind of lost track myself.

But being this is a 44 magnum the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off. You've got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky? Well do you bunk? I love that.

Do you bunk? And the guy goes I gots to know. Remember that?

He goes I gots to know. I mean that's just crazy. I mean you know by the way he was with his co-star Sandra Locke for like 15 years. They were together they were an item and she was in a bunch of those movies too. That's right never they never got married though. Never got married. Listen he had a lot of kids and a lot of mistresses wives whatever you want to call it. I mean Clint Eastwood has he took advantage of being a good looking guy and a movie star. Let's put it that way. But yeah James Caan another you know legend from that generation passing away at the age 82. Man I hate it. What can you do? Just go watch.

You know what though they left such legacies on the screen right and it's you can always go back and watch and see them. So Sonny Corleone. Wow unbelievable. All right uh Brittany Griner is still in Russia and today she pleaded guilty in a Russian courtroom. She has pleaded guilty.

Now a lot of that has to do with the belief that it will kind of speed things up to where any sort of a prisoner exchange can happen and bring her home quicker. Although just because she has pleaded guilty does not end a trial in Russia things are different in criminal court. Even with a guilty plea the judge continues to go over the full case file and enter it into the record and that could go on for by the way weeks or months. She's next scheduled to show up in court on July 14. That's next scheduled hearing and she wants time to prepare for her own testimony at that point. So she's facing 10 years in prison for bringing in vape cartridges that were that contained hashish oil.

Now here's where I'm a little I don't understand something. So yes she's being paraded around in a Russian courtroom because of the fact that obviously Russia and the U.S. right now are as low as probably the cold war in terms of relations right. America is supplying Ukraine publicly supporting them and Russia of course is fighting their invasion in the Ukraine.

So we are at opposite ends again and it's bad right. So she's obviously being used as a pawn. Now that said has there been any debate as to whether she did bring in vape cartridges containing hashish oil which by the way would be illegal in Russia.

Now I bring that up because of this. You know is she wrongfully detained because there is no criminal activity that occurred or is she being detained actually according to Russian law based on the fact that she did in fact bring in these vape cartridges. I don't know now what she told the court is that she had packed these vape cartridges accidentally and did not intend to bring them with her and bring them into Russia. Now maybe I don't know like you've heard stories where people pack a gun forget it's in there they go to the airport next thing you know they're arrested for it right and sometimes it's innocent enough okay whatever. But I think that Brittany Greiner actually did bring in vape cartridges filled with hashish oil maybe I don't know again I don't think there's a consensus on this right unless I haven't read something do we know for sure that she is being set up with that or in fact she did bring it in. She may have actually broken the law in Russia.

Now here's the problem we have. Just because as a country we are more lenient toward certain laws maybe we restrict less for instance you know weed is legal in many states now. Weed is not legal in many countries by the way the federal government in America does not characterize weed as being legal that's why all these cannabis shops and stuff are cash businesses because banks are afraid to take their money because federally weed is still illegal. So when you look at a place like Russia and I don't know the laws and rules of Russia I've never been I'm married to one but I've never been I mean I'm married to a Russian not a Russia but I don't know what their take on weed is but I do believe it's illegal there. It's like you can't go to Singapore spit on the streets and not expect to get arrested okay I don't know what the penalty is there but you can't go to like you hear these stories about you know female tourists going to UAE or Dubai and then being on the beach in bikinis and getting in trouble for that right or things like that. Yeah because it's a Muslim country.

It's a Muslim country right or drinking alcohol in public you can apparently have never been to Dubai but you couldn't imbibe with alcohol in a lot of places but you know because it's a Muslim country you have to be weary of it and do it in places where obviously it's more allowed right or it's kind of no one cares rather than out in public walking down the street. So my whole point is I don't know if weed for instance or vape cartridges loaded with hashish oil is a serious offense in Russia or they're making it more of a serious offense because they want to hold on to Britney Griner so that they can trade her for high profile Russian prisoners that America has especially this one guy Victor Boot who is nicknamed the merchant of death he was the world's biggest arms dealer at one time in fact there's a movie with Nicolas Cage and Jared Leto called uh what's that called um what was it a dog what was that called Lord of War it was and I believe it's based on Victor Boot so he was arrested in Thailand and he was extradited to America and he's been sitting in an American jail and he's got the rank of colonel I think in the Russian military and obviously he knows where a lot of the bodies are buried because you know where is he getting all this Russian gear to sell to African countries and other conflicts around the world South America Central America wherever it may be so obviously he's a connected guy Russia wants him back maybe this is how they're going to get him but the reality is look I do think that she's being used as a pawn but if she in fact did break the law there are consequences okay you don't go to foreign countries expecting the same treatment and the same laws as what you get here in the United States I think that's very different as we Americans we we totally forget that a lot of times when we travel we do but you have to be cognizant of it like you have to be cognizant I mean we may think some places are a little too strict and the rules may be ridiculous but that's not for us to judge right or us to you know fight yeah the government's not going to go get to right they can do so much like look I as you know I'm half Japanese as a kid I went to Japan often now Japan's a fairly lenient country with a lot of things but by the way you get caught in Japan you're going to jail for a very long time a place like Japan does not tolerate drugs seriously you get caught with drugs my cousin from Japan came to town a couple years ago and I asked him about that he goes oh no man you get caught with weed in Japan you're in trouble like you're going to jail like a serious offense like we hear it's like man it's just weed or whatever officer like all right slap me with a summons no big deal I'll pay a hundred dollar fine right and then you just go back to smoking it on the street place like New York City you smell it all the time because it's now you know you know it's legal but you go to Tokyo you start smoking weed walking around you're going to jail for quite a while they they take that seriously and I guess Russia's similar to that so all I'm saying is this it's unfair that Brittany Griner has been used as a pawn most likely to get prisoners from America that Russia wants but on the other hand did she break the law or has she been set up that I do not know now if she was she pleaded guilty she pleaded but again I don't know if she pleaded guilty because she actually did it or she pleaded guilty because that's the next course of action to get her out of there you know some believe that she is pleading guilty so what that will do will it will expedite a real you know prison relief you know a prisoner exchange wherever it may be a swap that would get her home and from all indications she was probably never going to be acquitted because apparently in Russia you're never acquitted like a their conviction rate is ridiculously high the Google where right you're going to go to the Gulag in Siberia no thank you so the whole point is maybe she pleaded guilty so that it sped up the process of okay I'm guilty fine charge me now let's talk about how I get home and what Russian prisoner in America is going to be coming back on the flight you know I'm saying maybe that's what it is so you know it has been called kind of a theater the trial it's been like a show trial to a point Russia wants to claim that no it's not and we're just doing what we usually do I don't buy that either but all I'm saying I guess art is if you go to a foreign country be cognizant of their laws on what you can and you can't do because there are many instances forget just Brittany Griner of tourists from not just America but a you know England as well that go holiday somewhere and get in trouble for something that you may not consider to be a big offense Dan I spent six years as a marine and they really wherever we were in the world they really emphasized what the laws were before we went on on duty off duty so when yeah when you had you know break when you were on holiday you were they drilled it into your heads this might happen if you get too drunk or you start using drugs all right let me ask you because you went to the Persian Gulf right yeah Saudi Arabia in particular Saudi Arabia Kuwait and you couldn't just walk around drinking a beer right oh no they probably told you that right like uh no for female soldiers you have to act to the court you know I don't agree with it but female soldiers the burkas right they had yeah they um if we were in convoy the female soldiers who were who were or marines who were driving the trucks or the humvees they had to be in the middle so that the Saudis wouldn't see them oh because they're not supposed to be driving they're not supposed to be driving right so so that's obviously changed in that country now but uh and yeah you can't just be sitting there on the corner in Saudi Arabia in Riyadh drinking a beer right no absolutely not no we didn't want to do anything to to mess with the Saudis and and offend them but you were told right you can't do absolutely yeah absolutely so all I'm saying is you know look I think you know if Brittany if Brittany Greiner did in fact bring these cartridges she thought it's no big deal and you know I'm not going to blame her for thinking that because here it's not a big deal and maybe you know having played in Russia before this wasn't a big deal and no one cared and maybe that was the case but when you're talking about a conflict and she was what arrested I think a week before Russia invaded or days before Russia invaded the Ukraine so I think maybe they looked at it differently at that point said aha we got ourselves a high profile pawn here knowing that they were going to invade and things would obviously get nasty with the west and of course America and this was a way to kind of give themselves some leverage I do believe that Russia has obviously done wrong with her because they want to send a message or use her as a pawn on the other hand do not go to another country if you do not know the rules do not break those rules because a lot of these places you don't want to go to I don't I couldn't imagine what a Russian jail is like okay I couldn't imagine you look at their orphanages they're awful like what do you think a Russian jail is like it's got to be in terrible place I really you know question why she was there in the first place I mean do money yeah but I mean they make a lot of money to play in Russia a lot of these you know the WNBA players don't make a lot like I think the highest salary in the WNBA Russia come on Russia they pay a lot they they like women's basketball they pay a lot of money like I was reading Diana Taurasi I think you know drank a lot while she was in Russia because like she was in the city it was really cold and all you do is sit there and drink vodka right and it was a real problem for her but they got paid like a million dollars to like play a season in Russia compared to what they're making here it's a lot more money so for Brittany Greiner where she's playing for Phoenix Mercury and probably making 250 000 she goes and supplements that playing in Russia for you know during her off season she made probably another million dollars or so so I understand that this never has been an issue right this has been going on for years for decades women players have been going I think that's going to change now that oh yeah well look at the NHL players look at them I mean a lot of these NHL players now worried about getting out of Russia the ones who are there and on top of that there's the big worry about uh this draft coming up and Russian players if you draft them can they get out big problems all right NBA writer for the Associated Press Brian Mahoney we're going to talk to him about what's going on the latest with Kevin Durant any movement any talk any team kind of emerging as a favorite and on the nets at this point going to call his bluff Brian Mahoney is going to join us next Dan Schwartzman in for rich here on a Thursday it's the Rich Eisen Show. 23 past the hour it is hour three Dan Schwartzman in for rich it's the Rich Eisen Show on a Thursday NBA off season continues to roll and uh crazy contracts being signed Chet Holmgren we saw the first action for him late Tuesday night I believe it was as he opened his summer league season for the Oklahoma City Thunder the second overall pick was absolutely lights out he was great what does he have like 23.7 rebounds six blocks four assists hit three four three pointers he was unbelievable I think he's the first summer league player ever with five or more assists and four three pointers excuse me five or more blocks and four three pointers in a game did it in 24 minutes and I will toot my own horn it's just one game but I will toot my own horn I do recollect uh Art Martinez can verify this I do recollect the last time I was in for rich it was leading up to the NBA draft and I said it was right after actually I think it was the day after the NBA draft and I said that I thought Chet Holmgren was the best player in the draft I do believe I said that he went number two I thought he should have gotten number one over Paulo Bancaro from Duke who went number one overall I thought Holmgren was the better player the higher upside no Bancaro is a tremendous talent as well and both of them I do believe were better than Smith the kid coming out of Auburn who did go number three but I think in terms of pure upside Holmgren is the best talent I do remember you saying that draft did you watch the highlights from the summer league game no I didn't Art I mean he's seven feet tall he looks like a stiff wind will blow him over right but he plays incredible defense he's relentless on the defensive side he's pretty agile yeah yeah he's jumping up and down blocking shots but also his ball handling I mean a seven-foot guy doing behind the back crossovers setting himself up for three pointers and a beautiful feather touch I mean unbelievable when people talk you know people compare him to Durant and that's crazy talk because Kevin Durant's one of the greatest five to ten players in the history of basketball but you can see it like when he's out there on the court you can see he's a white Kevin Durant I mean he is he's a pale version of Kevin Durant you see it on the court it's impressive he does stuff out there you're like man that's a beautiful shot oh wow look how he just uh stopped at a dime turned around and just swish right through the hoop guy's got incredible ability I'm just saying it's just one game and he's gonna have his struggles and he will get beat up because he's a very very slender guy I get it but he is man he's good a lot of fun to watch the mayor of Oklahoma City apparently went ballistic watching him play and that's a team that had success with you know we saw they them them having success the years that they had Westbrook and Durant and even James Harden was there for a couple years don't forget before they had to deal him rather than give him a max contract which they couldn't or wouldn't do at the time he goes to Houston becomes a megastar of course but as bad as Oklahoma City was to have that number two pick in the draft there is quietly some very good talent on that team look at that roster right now okay forget just Chet Holmgren forget just him as a number two pick and his upside but you look and there is Josh Giddy who is a very young player he's 19 years old the Australian kid that was the sixth pick in last year's draft he is going to be a triple-double machine and only get better last season the average of 12 and a half points almost eight rebounds and six and a half assists per game as a shooting guard now he doesn't shoot very well that's a problem he doesn't hit a lot of three-pointers but you expect him to get better and better he's only 19 he's not gonna be 20 until October but you saw a ton of talent out of him so you have a young guy at his age 20 years old when the season starts you have Chet Holmgren who is also incredibly young as well he is a guy that is 20 years old there is some talent there I'm telling you man like they're not gonna be great immediately Shay Yoges Alexander is a star right he's a guy that averaged almost 25 points a game last year you averaged 24 points a game the year before that 19 points before that so you got some good players and in a couple of years I think that's going to be a heck of a big three and a homegrown big three because remember they drafted Shay Gilgas Alexander or they you know as a draft you know they they got him from the Clippers after his first year so you might as well call him homegrown he's developed into this star while being with Oklahoma City Giddy to me is going to be a star and they drafted him and he's young Gilgas Alexander's 23 Giddy's going to be 20 and of course Chet Holmgren's 20 as well and in this draft they went out and got themselves some talent as well so clearly he's going to be well so clearly I mean I think this is the future is looking very very bright for them very very bright in terms of what this team could be as they move forward just saying it's fun to see it's fun to see like they actually have a chance to be a very good team and you saw it now the Kevin Durant situation is fluid at this point there's nothing new nothing has changed you know the expectation isn't that he's going to be dealt tomorrow but at some point you have to believe that he will be moved right like at some point you have to believe that he's going to be traded I cannot believe that the Nets bring him back even though I don't think there's a reason why they shouldn't call his bluff like Kevin Durant has not said anything publicly right he's actually some people on Twitter have kind of asked him what his problem is and he won't say anything like he doesn't answer like he will do lol and stuff like that or come on man things like that but Kevin Durant loves basketball Kevin Durant lives and dies basketball like we know that that's who he is he's a he's an absolute basketball fanatic if this guy wants to be in a gym and shoot the basketball a thousand times a day that's what he wants to do hence he's one of the greatest players in the history of the game I mean Kevin Durant has had a phenomenal career he's won rings he's got nothing left to prove except that he's still one of the top players in this league and he's got a huge contract he still has 200 million dollars that he can make so he's not going anywhere but the fact is if they called his bluff and said all right Kevin like you can sit out a guy like that cannot sit out Kevin Durant is not capable of just sitting out and not playing basketball he lives and dies basketball so I'm just thinking to myself okay what happens here like I don't understand what the end game will be and for Brooklyn they have an opportunity and they have some time to try to convince him to change his mind he may never change his mind he may be stuck on the fact that he's got some sort of a grievance with Brooklyn and some people believe it has to do with their treatment of Kyrie Irving that he's mad that they did not resign Kyrie Irving to a long-term contract when they had the opportunity and most likely after this year Kyrie's gone unless they can get rid of him before this season and Kyrie's the guy that recruited or heavily recruited was the main reason why Kevin Durant surprisingly chose the Brooklyn Nets before the 2020 season let's not forget that or 2019 season so all I'm saying is maybe this is just his ploy to try to get his buddy Kyrie Irving a long-term deal and he's going to play this as long as he can realizing he doesn't have the leverage or in the end it's just going to be a case where he actually wants out of Brooklyn after playing a grand total of 90 games there in two years and he's going to bounce but whatever happens look Kevin Durant is look there's no denying it Kevin Durant is one of the greatest players in the history of this sport all right this is a guy that for his career this season barring injury he will clear a thousand games played in his career he for his career has averaged over 27,000 points a game he has scored over 25,000 career points and by the way he's 33 he's going to play at least another four more years of that contract wherever it may be he's going to end his career with over 30,000 points there's no denying his greatness right I mean is anybody out there going to deny that Kevin Durant is potentially a top 10 player in this league he's got rings okay he does he's got the ring he's got finals MVP okay this is a guy that has everything on the resume now he might not be the most pleasant guy and he might be kind of a quirky teammate but overall I think look no doubt Kevin Durant is a great player let's find out more if there's anything on that front our buddy Brian Mahoney NBA writer for the AP joining us and Brian let's start right there Kevin Durant obviously no movement that we know of in terms of what's going to happen do you think he's going to move this off season or do you think Brooklyn who has a lot of leverage meaning we got you for four years and 200 million more dollars so if you don't want to play here you can just sit out four years good luck with that do you see them calling his bluff ultimately Brian how do you think this ends up in your book well I think they move patiently because one because it's just hard to find the right deal anyway and two because I do think there's hope that he changed his mind and says okay well I don't want to go somewhere else where they have to gut the team and things aren't maybe so bad here so you know if he does get moved and he's going to if he does get moved you know one way or the other I never thought it would happen right away there's no reason to rush into it and it's hard to get it done so you know I'm not surprised it's sort of you know slowly developing process do we know why he's mad do we know why he's demanded this has anything come out remotely close to us knowing or reason as to why Durant who seemed to want to be in Brooklyn a couple years ago extended his stay there four years and 200 million dollars has now suddenly asked to be traded is it the Kyrie Irving situation do we have an idea I mean that's what the speculation is because then like I said you know he seemed to want to have a long term future here he signed a multi-year extension last year the idea that one year later he'd want out you know it seems it'd be something you know far beyond basketball reasons and certainly it seems like the issues with Kyrie Irving and between him and the Nets would have been maybe the one thing that you could speculate would really frustrate Kevin Durant to want to get out by the way I don't blame the Nets you know I mean like this Kyrie Irving situation is so ridiculously crazy is there a market for Kyrie Irving out there for Brooklyn to trade him well you know I think contract wise he's tradable it's an expiring contract um you know it's see okay you got a deal for one year still talented player uh and then you make your mind up after that either he's gone or you extend after that but um as far as the off the court issues certainly scare a lot of people away uh there's no one who wants to rush to a deal with a guy who you're not sure wants to play basketball that much and what we've seen with Kyrie Irving the last two years is we're not sure how much he still wants to play basketball and that of course gives any team pause no matter how talented you are that said though Brian is he a good teammate and I ask that because we hear the speculation of he's obviously kind of a quirky guy the flat earth situation uh he took time off for social justice stuff I get all that but the bottom line is he is the lead recruiter for Brooklyn when they brought in Kevin Durant and James Harden and they seemingly wanted to come play with him so is he a good teammate from what you understand I mean the players certainly seem to indicate that and you know the one thing that it's hard to say the last two years you know we haven't been in the locker rooms we haven't really seen the interactions off the court at all uh you know really since COVID happened so we can only go by what these guys say and they seem to say Kyrie is a guy that like having around and he's our teammate and we're with him uh so as much as that seems hard for us to imagine like the guy's not playing uh you know he's not going out of his way to be in our mind what would be a great teammate uh the indication for those guys is he is to them so we kind of have to go on that. Chat with Brian Mahoney, NBA writer for the AP joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show now I brought up Oklahoma City earlier and Chet Holmgren had quite the summer league debut I was a big fan of his I thought he was the best player in this draft you look at that roster as bad as they are they at one time had Durant Westbrook and Harden I'm not saying that's what they have now but when you look at what they've kind of built there with youth with Gilgus Alexander with Gitti the kid they drafted last year who's obviously a talented youngster and now with Holmgren are you looking at that team and saying hmm a couple of years that could be a really dangerous squad? It's very possible um you know like you say we saw it once uh would you know when you draft high every year if you or you make a trade like they did uh you know when Paul Gorga you can certainly get uh loaded up quickly and if those guys develop properly you have the right coach in place and everything uh it can definitely happen uh you know Josh Gitti I thought had a great first year uh so you go to Alexander you know I think is terrific um and even Lou Dortz so there's been guys that they've brought in one way or the other who have developed nicely today and now you get it Chet Holmgren pieces so far looks fantastic so uh over a couple of years yeah there's no reason I think it can't happen there again. In Utah they trade Rudy Gobert uh he's now with Minnesota I want to look at both teams here for one you have Karl Anthony Towns who now has that big body next to him which I do believe frees him up they have Anthony Edwards they have youth there is Minnesota a team that you think can really sneak up on people next season?

Well I think they're going to certainly be very good uh you know we we saw last year that was a nice second half of the year we saw how you know what a great jump Edwards made we know how good towns is already yeah so when you bring in now another piece who seems to you know fix one of the problems they did have there and that interior defense uh yeah I mean the west is certainly a couple teams maybe I'd still say are you know like ahead of them but I do think they make another nice move up the ladder this year. Now with Utah though you know Donovan Mitchell's still there and I think a lot of what happens to him to term is determined by what happens with Kevin Durant if Durant goes to Miami that closes off that avenue if Durant goes nowhere maybe Miami does pivot and try to make a run at Donovan Mitchell is Utah in your mind or from what you hear looking to just kind of retool here Gobert and Mitchell of course seem to have issues they got rid of the guy that was older and not the number one option which Donovan Mitchell obviously is or do you see a scenario where Mitchell is dealt this off season and they're completely blowing it up and restarting? All the above I guess that's what everyone's a little confused everyone said okay you got to break them up they've been saying it for two years uh and it's got to be you know one or the other and now you say okay maybe they did maybe maybe the move was now they just built around Donovan Mitchell and they broke these two guys up and the other part of the equation is maybe it's a full blow it up rebuild and there's no way they traded one they're not going to trade the other now so uh I don't think anyone really knows for sure uh you know I think it's sort of a wait and see a little bit they bring in a new coach uh you don't want to you know totally not have any players for them and uh maybe keep down on Mitchell and see what happens after that but uh I would say no one is for sure saying that's going to be the final answer. All right Brian last question the New York Knicks have had a very interesting off season they paid a lot for Jalen Brunson some may say they overpaid in terms of the dollars four years over a hundred million dollars for a guy that had one nice season and one nice postseason for Dallas they also keep talking about Leon Rose the president of the team who doesn't speak to the media but he keeps trumpeting the fact that they have 11 first round picks or so the next seven years and a bunch of second round picks as well yet they don't seem to want to use those they they didn't get to John T. Murray a lot of Nick fans thought that they should have made a run they seem to have the draft capital to do so what is the strategy of anything that you're seeing from the Knicks here as they go forward? Well it seems to be patience and sometimes that doesn't necessarily work in New York no you know I think everyone says okay it's great great to have the picks but then when you did see a guy like there's nothing Murray was available and seems like he would you know be a terrific upgrade and gettable with the the picks they have and they don't get involved you kind of say okay well this this can't be it right you know Jalen Brunson as you say got a nice year but it's one nice year and there's you know we're not going to win with that so I think everyone says okay we're you know we're good that you have a plan but we need you to speed it up a little bit and I think that's sort of what probably Leon Rose expected people don't want to wait forever in in New York and you know certainly they have the ability to get involved and stuff and I think the hope to the fans is that they're going to do that whether it be Donovan Mitchell or something else they got to jump in and go for it. Why doesn't he talk to the media what's his deal with that I mean what he hasn't talked to what is it I read something where he hasn't talked to the media hasn't had a press conference taking questions in close to two years or something right?

Yeah I mean it can't be us right? I don't know do we all smell bad I don't know what it is but he apparently doesn't want to talk to the media. No he's you know Leon was always you know even as an agent didn't like to necessarily talk you know it's behind the scenes he preferred to do things and that's the way he kind of wanted to keep it here but but it can't be once every two years I understand that he doesn't want to you know talk every 15 minutes like some executives probably do but you do have to talk more than than he has you know I think the fan base deserves that I think we deserve that and you know hopefully he will at least you know twice a year I think is fair before end of the year whatever it is but it's certainly more than he has I think is necessary and beneficial. You would think right like having a state of the team type of thing every year nope nothing from Leon Rose you don't hear a peep from him if you remember the media or the fans Brian Mahoney NBA writer for the Associated Press Brian appreciate you hopping on as always my friend.

Glad to be here thank you. Great stuff from Brian Mahoney it's amazing Leon Rose one of the great agents right at CAA I think he built that company and becomes the GM of the Knicks or president of basketball operations and literally never talks to the media it's been two years since he has actually taken questions from the media. Wow big news coming from England and Wimbledon as the men get prepared for their semi-final matches tomorrow not going to be as exciting as we had hoped I will tell you why next Dan Schwartzman in on a Thursday for Rich right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Wrap it up a Thursday edition of the Rich Eisen Show Dan Schwartzman in for Rich I will be back tomorrow as well big news coming out of the all England club in London bad news Rafa Nadal fans the two seed has pulled out of the semi-final match that he had been scheduled to play in tomorrow against Nick Kyrgios the bad boy of tennis as Nadal has been diagnosed with a torn abdominal muscle. Spanish newspaper Marsa says it's a seven millimeter tear that originally he had intended to play but he did practice for about 45 minutes and could not practice at full speed obviously listen you know playing tennis with torn abdominal muscle is going to be difficult right stretching your arm stretching up to serve the back and forget it not going to happen now you kind of see why he struggled so mightily yesterday in his marathon quarter final match up against 11 seeded American Taylor Fritz nothing against Taylor Fritz but you kind of see why Nadal almost lost that match it's amazing he won that match having to deal with that now from what we understand he wore tape over part of his abdominal area and he had to take painkillers that's how bad it was before going out there and playing five sets including a tiebreaker in the fifth like you have to wonder like if he had won that in straight sets right could he have been a little better for Friday probably not I mean talk about a game I I have I have to tell you Art I have like newfound respect I'm a big Nadal fan I think he's a great representative of tennis you know him Federer especially more so than Joe Givens but him and Federer we love him because he's classy yeah he's classy and and by the and look I gotta say for a guy to play with an abdominal tear five sets was that five hour match whatever the heck it was yeah it was long dude that is respect man like how do you not respect the guy for doing that he could have bowed out at some point said listen I can't continue I'm in this pain dude's on painkillers and still making it to the semi-finals that to me is a win and Fritz I think he just wore down I think he was you know making unforced errors at the end and you know I think he was just too tired yeah but how do you lose to a guy with an abdominal tear imagine every time the doll's got a rear back imagine every time the doll's got a rear back for a forehand or backhand or up to serve the pain he's in I got I don't know what kind of painkillers he's taken but unbelievable like that's hard oh so close for American tennis I looked it up yesterday because I wanted to see for myself this is a really pathetic statistic no American man has won a grand slam tennis event since Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open back in 2003 we're looking at a 19 year track because I'm going to guarantee you right now aren't no Americans winning the U.S. Open okay no American man is winning the U.S. Open it will be 19 years exactly when the U.S. Open the last American is eliminated at the U.S. Open from the time an American won a grand slam event we used to win all the time right like McEnroe Connors Agassi Sampras right I think Michael Chang won once Roddick won once probably should have had a better career what happened Brooklyn Decker and he's like listen man I got the most beautiful woman what the heck you know I don't know I don't know what happened with that but American tennis especially the men's side has been terrible the women have represented very well obviously Serena Williams Venus Williams you got a really great batch of young players now Sloan Stevens won a grand slam now you have Coco Goff Amanda Nissimova uh you got uh Jessica Pegula you got Sophia Kennan you got a lot of talented uh young ladies playing tennis the men though it's like Taylor Fritz okay he's good he's not world class good he's only 11th seed because you know Zverev couldn't play due to injury and uh Daniel Mevidev couldn't play because he's Russian you know and they banned the Russians and the Belarusians from playing but uh you know Francis Tiafoe's 23rd and Isner has never been good enough you know he's a hard server big heavy serve but not good besides that he's not a real threat to win anything guys like Jack Sock I mean the American men's tennis right now is in shambles and this was an opportunity Taylor Fritz was oh so close to go to a semi-final against Nick Kyrgios who could show up and just self-destruct because he does that often you know he's nuts so man man ah I'm not a huge tennis fan art but like I love watching marquee matchups right like like I don't get tired watching Nadal Djokovic I know others may say we see it all the time I'm sick of it right they faced it over a hundred times and how many grand slam finals have ended with those two guys on the court okay fine I'm not tired of it I don't want to see Cameron Norrie versus Nick Kyrgios no desire to see that I don't care if Cameron Norrie wins or if Nick Kyrgios wins I'm gonna pull for Djokovic to win because I want to see him just destroy Kyrgios because I can't stand him right I mean yeah did you see his press conference with the reporter like look tennis has a lot of quirky things and there's like a dress code apparently at the All England club where you have to wear like white do you hear about this oh yeah do you see this it's so like you have to wear white right it's tradition now we can say it's ridiculous whatever but Kyrgios shows up wearing his red Jordans and his red Jordan cap do you see that and after the match a British reporter asked him he goes like why do you feel that you know why did you wear that knowing the rules he's like because I felt like it I like my Jordans and the guy's like are you just do you think like the rules don't apply to you and he's like no I just like my Jordans and for the real story behind some of wrestling's biggest moments it's something to wrestle with Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson too all-time Hogan opponents Macho Man's got to be in the conversation where's Andre for you I've always said Andre was number one wow because even going back before you know Hulk Hogan was a babyface Hulk and Andre were able to go in and headline at the New Orleans Superdome at Shea Stadium in Japan wherever they went that was an attraction something to wrestle with Bruce Prichard listen wherever you get your podcasts