REShow: Brad Spielberger - Hour 3 (7-6-2023)

Taste some of this. This OMG is the Rich Eisen Show. No other way to put it. With guest host Brian Weber.

Oh my gosh. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. I'm not talking to you. I talk to anybody out there. Haters. Rich Eisen.

I talk to the haters right now. And now, sitting in for Rich, here's Brian Weber. Final hour of the program. Still a good chunk of time for you to get involved.

844-204-7424 is the phone number. Conversation never stops on Twitter. B.W. Weber.

Weber with two B's. I'm following the same blueprints. I think it's a winning approach, but I'm also delusional on a lot of levels. I never overwhelm you with guests. Just chew today. And the second one coming up after we have the baseball conversation with Gabe Lacks of US 8-Day in the last hour of the show. 20 minutes from now, taking across the NFL with Brad Spielberger, a pro football focus.

Jumping right in, talking NBA. And I do my best to be transparent. I'm probably too candid, but my view as a guest host, especially on a program I respect as much as this one. And filling in for a host that I have tremendous respect for.

In Rich, we worked together at NFL Network and he has assembled a brilliant career. I want to give it my all. Now that sounds like your basic job description, right? Well, as a fill-in host, you also don't want to overwhelm the audience.

This is not the Brian Weber show, so I'm not coming in throwing high heat for three hours. I want to make sure we cover everything that we need to. We do it in an entertaining fashion. We move quickly. And I continue to give you topics that you find interesting.

But I never want to have a weird skewed sense of self that, oh, you guys are all listening because of the sound of my voice. I realize this is Rich's program. So I take the opportunity very seriously. And as I'm always trying to stay on top of any breaking news, that's why I'm two feet away from a computer, B.W.

Weber, Weber with two Bs, and thanks for all of you who have chimed in on social media or decided to give me a follow. About 10 minutes before the start of the program, and I was intending to tip things off, talking more MBA, I saw seven people retweet a story from TMZ. And because nobody covers the connection of sports and entertainment more skillfully than Rich struck me as certainly newsworthy, especially with the headline.

But I'm also trying to be forthright with you. I find a lot of what's on TMZ unseemly. I don't dispute the reporting. They are never wrong. How many times do you hear about TMZ having to write a check for settlements? We don't hear about any talk of them making things up.

Now, maybe I'm being too old school and don't love the notion of paying for sources. But however you view the organization, they get their stories right. So when I saw the headline just a few minutes before the start of the program a couple of hours ago, this is from TMZ, Britney Spears, smacked in face by San Antonio Spurs security, dot, dot, dot, wanted pick with Victor women young. Of course, my interest was piqued and I was going to talk about women Yana and I am going to still fulfill that goal tomorrow because he's getting set to make his summer league debut in front of a sold out crowd. That's how much buzz there is not only in Nevada, it's going to be on national TV because we all want to see more and more of a player who has such a unique skill set, has a very gregarious personality. He's enjoying every moment of this journey. We saw him take over New York City prior to the draft.

Just seems like a cool dude who understands the global fascination and what he can do with amazing potential. But if you throw Britney Spears into the mix, well, now we have something to discuss. So the overview initially from TMZ indicated this. When be I can call him when be because I'm webby women Yama and members of the Spurs were having dinner at an upscale restaurant in Vegas prior to his debut on the floor in summer league tomorrow through a coincidence. And I'll go back to Casablanca, all the gin joints in all the world. Britney and her husband also decide to have dinner at that same restaurant that happens in Las Vegas.

When I'm there, it's me and Wayne Newton, but I travel in different circles. Apparently, Britney's an NBA fan or her husband is recognizing women and was interested in taking a photo with him together. So according to the original version, which I'm going to update momentarily posted on TMZ, Britney tapped Victor on the back when the Spurs director of team security responded by back handing her to keep her away, allegedly knocking her glasses off. And Britney fell to the ground in the process. That was the first report.

I have not been refreshing because I'm not allowing this to be three hours of Wimby and Britney audio content. But as time has passed, updates have come from TMZ, including this thought. When law enforcement arrived at the restaurant, they were able to review security cam footage showing the Spurs director of team security pushing Britney's hand away and then her hand, not his hand, her hand struck her own face. That was an hour ago. Now the latest report, I'm just chuckling because of course this is getting more and more surreal. Initially, TMZ said, despite the fact there was a police report, which is just standard policy, you got to have it documented, especially if there's a lawsuit potentially coming. Initially, the thought was this would not rise to even an alleged battery and would not be handled as a criminal matter because police who arrived on the scene believed what the security guard told them and what they saw on the video, that he had no negative intent. He was merely trying to do his job.

And that job as the director of team security is to defend Wimby at all costs. However, and I promise this is it and we'll move to Lillard and the latest on Jaylen Brown coming up. I'm Brian Weber, Infra Rich Eisen, 844-204-7424. The number? Twitter is your best bet.

BW Weber, Weber with two Bs in 15 minutes. We talk NFL with Brad Spielberger, a pro football focus. Well, don't say there'll be no criminal investigation too soon because now TMZ has posted an update. Quote, Our source says this indeed is a criminal investigation. Vegas police set to interview Britney today and it could be referred to the district attorney. So this thing is going to presumably have more legs and play itself out.

And when I'm back with you tomorrow, I'll give you the update. I was planning on talking Wimby anyway because Draymond Green has jumped in with a hot take of quote, unquote, I think people are setting him referring to women up for failure with bizarre expectations. If anybody can measure up to expectations we have not had since LeBron James, I'm pretty confident it's Victor because I follow international basketball. I call college games. This guy is not just a byproduct of unnecessary hype. Watch the tape. Now you can push back.

Okay. He's playing in Europe. You know how good the basketball is across many of the Euro leagues. The coaching is phenomenal. It's a lot more rugged than today's NBA.

They actually play defense in its physical. So I'm not buying that at all. But if you're with me tomorrow, I will update now the saga that is developing. What in the world happened to Britney? Whose hand allegedly struck her face?

How did she wind up on the ground? And welcome to the NBA, Victor, Wimby-yama. Things I never thought I'd be talking about on a Thursday installment of the Rich Eisen Show. An hour ago, in an effort to come up with a different way of framing another seemingly endless saga in Damian Lillard. And if you have hit the wall, if you are completely full, if you're saturated with Damian Lillard conversation, I understand that.

Let me give you some bad news. There is no sense of urgency required by Portland to do anything. In fact, one could argue most rational course of action would be slow playing. You never know if another team is going to jump in. And for Portland to get what they feel is the right kind of value to let Damian Lillard walk. Remember, and I realize contracts mean very little in the NBA, Lillard is still under contract for several years. The final year of that deal is going to pay him $60 million.

At the same time, the relationship between the franchise and their superstar has mattered. Lillard has done all the right things. I think he was too patient. I think he should have forced his way out a couple of years ago.

He burned two more years in his prime. There's also the argument, I don't buy this as much, but I'll just give you the thought process that Portland, quote unquote, doesn't want to do Dame Dirty and that would be sending him a place he doesn't want to go because they'll never get another superstar. Because the easiest reaction would be, well, if they did that to Dame, what are they going to do to me? Now, the flaw in that logic is this, and I have great respect for Portland as a city and a franchise.

Because I'm old, I go back to Dr. Jack and Maurice Lucas and Bill Walton defeating the Sixers in the mid-70s. Portland is a great basketball town. It is not necessarily a free agent destination. So I don't think that whomever the next big name that's going to come along is going to have an internal monologue that sounds like this. Well, I'd seriously consider going to the Blazers, but they screwed Lillard on the way out, so I'm not going to do it.

I don't think that's as mitigating a factor, but it's part of the overall landscape. Most importantly, Portland owes it to themselves as a franchise and their fan base to get maximum value for Lillard because from just a very surface level analysis, they have to replace the points they're losing and using the number three overall pick on Scoot Henderson is going to fill that void to a degree. But they need dudes. They need assets because now they're not only rebuilding things, they're blowing it up. And the playbook that has worked in the NBA, while Sam Henke made some bizarre choices along the way, and Philadelphia still hasn't won anything, but his philosophy has logic attached to it. You want as many assets as you can when we're talking about draft picks because it's a crapshoot. You don't know what's going to hit, so Portland's got to make sure they do what's best for the franchise, which involves getting at least four first round picks.

That's the comp. That's the precedent set and the Durant deal to Phoenix and what Gobert yielded going from Utah to Minnesota. It's still astonishing, and I know what Gobert has done defensively, but Gobert was able to land four first round picks in return for him going from Utah to Minnesota. Just a stretch, but the NBA has different negotiation results in other sports. The holdup seems to be Portland is yawning at Tyler Herro, just as the Heat have been willing to be less than enthralled with continuing to do business with Tyler Herro, who has to feel like the most unwanted player in the NBA franchise that he worked so hard to come back from the hand injury in time to make a cameo at the end of the gentleman sweep in the NBA Finals, is ready to kick him to the curb, and that's understandable.

If you could get Damian Lillard, goodbye Tyler Herro, but Portland wants a lot more than Herro and maybe Duncan Robinson and all those picks. So to make that happen, we're looking at a third team certainly in the mix could be Brooklyn with all of their draft assets accumulated by both the Kevin Durant trade and Kyrie going to Dallas. Maybe the Sixers get involved, although that gets convoluted because of the James Harden element.

Harden, I've been talking less about because I just don't find him as interesting, and we have seen this movie before not once but twice. Nobody has been better in forcing themselves off a team than Harden. He did it in Houston to get to Brooklyn.

He did it in Brooklyn to get to Philly. With Harden, I have a little bit of fatigue with the acceptance. If you put them on the Clippers, the West gets even more interesting, although you put them on the Clippers and today is the fourth anniversary of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard taking their talents to LA and what the Clippers have to show for it. Not a damn thing because unfortunately Kawhi is made of glass. You are what you consistently do for Kawhi Leonard.

It gets hurt. Paul George also got hurt, as you know, last year. So even if Harden is able to fulfill his goal and wind up on the Clippers, I'm not sure how much that really changed things. At least you would think because Harden, for all his flaws, does play a lot. He doesn't get hurt too much. Now, he can slow play it.

He can mail it in. He can forget to go to the gym for six months, as he did in Houston on his way out the door. But if you're the Clippers, you tack on Harden, you know at least you're going to have one star because you can't rely on Kawhi and Paul George has become more injury prone as his career has moved along. Boston was also mentioned amongst the variety of teams I've been detailing because it's going to take a three, maybe a four team deal to satisfy what Portland wants.

But I think once the pieces come together, we know the endgame. At this point, I would be stunned if Lillard doesn't wind up in Miami. And I know you could push back saying, hey, loud guy, whoever you are. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen, Thursday edition of the program. We can hook up, metaphorically on Twitter, B.W.

Weber, Weber with two B's. I realized that since I was talking about Paul George, he made it clear he wanted to be a Laker. And the Pacers said, how about Oklahoma City instead? I was here doing fill-in shows talking a lot about, well, it feels like it's a done deal. Donovan Mitchell's going back to the New York tri-state area.

He's going to play for the Knicks and he wound up in Cleveland. So I understand that it's just too simplistic to say, well, it's going to happen. Dame's going to go to Miami. But I think it's going to be crystallized because of the mutual interest between Portland and Lillard. They want this to be amicable. Miami has enough assets to start the process.

And then you throw in another team or two to get the final mosaic in place. But I mentioned Boston for two reasons. Their depth, we just saw them make the move to get Porzingis, giving up Marcus Smart in the process.

And a report I was just reading from the Boston Globe gave a little more context. I thought the motivation to part ways with Smart was puzzling because of what he means from a standpoint of toughness, tenacity, same word, but his ability to grind and his defensive skills. Well, this report in the Boston Globe, and they're more dialed in than I am, suggested that perhaps the motivation to send Smart packing came down to this, that based on the personalities, and Marcus has a high motor, he was being a little bit too dominant.

And because Tatum Brown are a little more chill, they were deferring to Marcus both in the locker room and on the floor. And remember, Smart took a hideous shot in a road game in Philadelphia after the Celtics did all of the hard work to come back, forced overtime. Smart with the poor decision at the end of regulation didn't hit the shot.

Hard knocks down the three. Smart's got another look at the end of overtime. Overmatched Joe Mazzulla doesn't call a timeout, and it's Smart, not Tatum, not Brown taking the three.

And perhaps that's illustrating what I'm talking about, that Marcus dominated that roster both on the floor and in the locker room. So now it's up to Tatum and Brown to step up in that role. Well, just to finish my thought on Tatum, I did think it was interesting that he has yet to sign the Supermax offer if he gets every dime, five years for $295 million. And I thought the possibility that could be inferred from the delay in signing that deal was that Boston might be slow playing things to kick the tires on the likelihood they could get involved in getting Dane Lillard. But according to the Boston Globe, as of an hour ago, Celtics have, quote, no intention of entering the Lillard sweepstakes. I'm back with you tomorrow, and I will do my best to enjoy the afternoon here in Southern California and come up with a different slant on Lillard, because hopefully by now it's coming through your radio or however you consume this fine audio experience. I'm not just rehashing Portland, Miami, get the deal done, and then what does it look like with the Heat having Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler alongside Dame?

I'm trying my best to approach this from a different point of view. 844-204-7424. That's the phone number. Twitter handles B.W. Weber. Weber with two Bs. Coming up, we talk NFL. We're getting closer to a deadline in the National Football League for players who got tagged to either play on the tag this year or come to terms on a long-term contract. That is looming next week. So will either Josh Jacobs or Saquon Barkley really get paid?

Will they be upgraded or are they going to have to play on the tag? Looking forward to checking in with Brad Spielberger, a pro football focus. I'm Bryan Weber, guest hosting for Rich. We continue.

This is the Rich citizenship. Are you currently enjoying the show on the Stitcher app? Then you need to know Stitcher is going away on August 29th.

Yep, going away as in Kaput gone dead. Rest in peace, Stitcher. And thanks for 15 years of service to the podcast community. So switch to another podcast app and then follow this show there.

Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Welcome back to The Rich Eisen Show Radio Network. I'm Bryan Weber and I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show Desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call flickgrainger.com or just stop by. Let's talk NFL. Pleased to be joined by Brad Spielberger, a pro football focus. Brad, I appreciate you taking the time. How are you today? I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on.

My pleasure. Earlier in the program, I was talking about realistic expectations in Denver with Sean Payton now joining forces with Russell Wilson. Certainly, if a Bronco fan is listening, they got to believe it can't be any worse for Russ last year. How much better do you think he's going to be year one with Sean Payton now as the head coach?

I think it's going to make a pretty big difference. I think Payton is going to go back to probably what made Russell Wilson most effective, which was running the football a ton, setting up play action, setting up deep shots. You obviously get a healthy Tim Patrick, the number three wide receiver back in the fold. You bolster that offensive line with a couple additions in pre-agency, but I do think it all filters Sean Payton just being a very, very organized on top of everything head coach. I think that offense is going to be much more cohesive, much more in rhythm, and much better for Russell Wilson's success.

Brad, since we're talking AFC West, I want your thoughts on Kellen Moore coming to the Chargers as the offensive coordinator to work with Justin Herbert in a second, but since you spend so much time in the data space, guys like me are able to take a lot of shots at Brandon Staley because he makes quote-unquote questionable decisions, and I realize it could go either way. If it works, he looks like he is a super genius. When you watch Staley coach, do you find what he's doing ingenious or infuriating at times?

There's certainly a healthy dose of both. I mean, I do think he is. Yeah, to be honest, you know, it might not be as binary as we'd like, but look, I do think there are some math-based decisions that he's made, you know, playing the probabilities, playing the numbers that have gone his way or that have not gone his way and have looked very, you know, if it goes, like you said, if it goes right, you're a genius. If it goes poorly, you're an idiot, but I think the truth falls somewhere more in the middle, but there also have been times where he makes a decision, and I think because it's so unorthodox, the assumption, maybe some of the person calling the game or analyst watching the game is, that must have been a quote-unquote analytics decision, and there have been many instances where that is not actually the case, right, where, you know, the true, you know, mathematicians would tell you, hey, this actually isn't a good time to do this. So, you know, they have a good staff that has added some more smart people recently.

I think they got to find a healthy balance, but maybe he went a little bit too, you know, off the reservation towards the end there. Just one, I just want you to know, I'm not anti-smart. Smart is undefeated. Smart wins, but maybe because I'm here in Southern California, I see so much of the Chargers. There are odd developments, and you're right, perhaps I'm also being led astray when I hear an announcer say, oh, that analytics, and they really don't know what they're talking about. I mentioned Kellen Moore, and I didn't think that necessarily the play calling of Joe Lombardi was maximizing the brilliant skill set of Justin Herbert. So, what was your reaction when you heard Moore was coming to LA, and how much different do you think the offense is going to look?

Yeah, I agree with you. I do not think it was using his, you know, remarkable talents for the most effective use case, and the biggest number that jumps out is you just look at the average depth of target, simply just how far are you throwing the ball down the field, and over the last two seasons, Justin Herbert ranks 49th out of 60 quarterbacks with at least 100 pass attempts, and obviously a lot of those guys are, you know, guys who made a couple spot starts, backups, things like that. If you just look at starters, he's basically dead last in the NFL. So, you need to push the ball down the field when you have a guy who has an actual cannon strapped to his shoulder and can just attack. Look, Mike Williams is a big body, jump ball wide receiver. Obviously, Quentin Johnson, their first round draft pick, has that capability as well.

A tall, long strider that made some catches in traffic. I think it's really just about when you put that much stress on the defense, everyone says, oh, their run game was so poor, they were dead last in yards for carry, all these things are true, and they say, alright, bolster the run game, you know, add more players. In reality, make the defense respect you deep, and you'll probably create a whole lot more room for Austin Echo to operate. I think that's the effect, is the passing game more explosive, and that actually creates room for the running game to get going. I'm Bryan Weber, in for Rich Eisen, we are spotlighting the NFL with Brad Spielberger, a pro football focus. There are many big names that, even from a fancy football standpoint, I'm not taking you down that road, that casual fans would instantly recognize still looking for jobs. So, how about DeAndre Hopkins?

The tour included stops in Tennessee and New England. This morning, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reporting, he's being told it's going to come down to either the Titans or the Patriots. Wherever Hopkins goes, what are the numbers tell us about where do you think he is at this stage of his career? I know last year got funky because of the PED suspension, but whomever signs Hopkins, what are they getting?

Yeah, you know, I think the narrative maybe has gone a little bit too far. Is he still, you know, one of the best first five, six-year runs for a wide receiver ever? No, maybe he's not quite that player yet, but you are still, but you just look at last season in the games he played from week seven through 16, he was third in targets, fourth in receptions, just getting absolutely fed the football. His drop rate is the third lowest in the NFL over the last couple of years. His receiving grade for us was still in that upper echelon at 88. So, you know, again, is he a top 10 receiver still? I don't think so, but I think he's still a top 32 wide receiver, right?

He's still a number one guy in a building, and I think that would go a very long way for both of those clubs. They have some good ancillary pieces, but I think if you bring in an attention that's grabber like DeAndre Hopkins, it just makes life easier for everyone around him. Long list of teams interested potentially in Dalvin Cook. I know the counting numbers, rushing for better than a thousand yards last four seasons. Based on your grading, how good of a season did Cook have last year?

Yeah, so there is still a lot of explosiveness, which is good to see. You know, explosive rushes, forced missed tackles per attempt, such as how often is he shaking guys, but I think the number one data point you could look at to say why did he get cut with all those good volume stats is over the last two seasons, he actually has the highest stuff rate in the NFL, and that is simply defined as rushes of zero or negative yards. Now, of course, the offensive line and the actual play call and all those things do factor in, but I think it'd be hard to argue Minnesota has not created a pretty favorable environment for their run game. They have a lot of good blockers in the offensive line, particularly in the run game. You know, good coaching Kevin O'Connell, so I think that's the number one thing is just getting caught in the backfield, a lot of those negative plays, but all of a sudden, I still think he's going to make a very big impact where he goes, just 27 years old, and he still has that top-end speed like we saw in the Bill game, that that epic, you know, instant classic. He can break off an 80-yard gain and add a moment's notes.

Brad Spielberger, a pro football focus, is our guest here on the Rich Eisen Show. Baker Mayfield has been polarizing, going back to his time in Oklahoma, certainly a controversial number one overall pick. Now that he's in Tampa Bay, what's the outlook for Baker this year? Do you think that he's got enough talent around him, and can this be a new chapter in his career? I think it's comfortably the best wide receiving group he's ever worked with.

You know, it will certainly help him out. Obviously, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, even some of the depth there with a guy like Russell Gage, you know, got hurt last year, but is a very good number three wide receiver. You know, Rashad White, their rookie running back last year, is a good football player, a good check down option as well.

So I think that certainly works in his favor. They have the new offensive coordinator in Dave Canales, who comes over from Seattle. I think that, you know, people think they're going to be terrible, one of the worst teams in the NFL.

I'm not so sure I see that. I think they have too much talent remaining on both sides of the football. But the biggest thing for Baker Mayfield is, historically, again, with our data, he's been very high in these big time throws we chart, which is, you know, tight window or deep downfield or all these things, but also near the top of the list in turnover worthy plays. So, you know, throwing balls into double coverage or hitting, you know, defensive backs in the hands, I think now you can convince him, say, look, this is a good football team on both sides of the ball. You're not looking for a home run.

Hit some singles, hit some doubles. And I think he can do that in Tampa Bay. Let's wrap it up at the running back position. A couple marquee players got tagged, and we know nobody wants that, especially at the running back position. Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley. I want to ask you how it's going to play out contractually, but from a standpoint of the data, who had the better season last year? Barkley, obviously, is the focal point of the Giants offense. Daniel Jones had, what, less than 20 passing touchdowns. So if I'm making the argument who deserves to get paid, I'm probably going with Saquon, but how do you see it?

Both were great. Both were top five in the NFL in total touches, you know, worthy engines of their offense. Obviously, like you said, the Raiders, you then have Devon Adams and Darren Waller and Hunter Renfroe. So maybe you could argue Jacobs was less singularly important, but when he had the rushing title for a reason, he also was a guy that broke off a bunch of massive gains and these explosive carries can do so much for your offense and just opening things up. So I think honestly, both have a good case to join that upper echelon of compensation. Yes, there's been some injuries for Saquon Barkley, but still not an old player.

He is kind of the foundation of that team. You go back and watch the film last year from like the Packers game, which they played over in London, and a couple others. And if your takeaway is anything other than the Giants probably don't win this game without Saquon Barkley, I'm not sure if we watched the same game.

There were a couple games last year that looked like that. So it is a tough time though right now for these guys to get paid and I think these teams are just very comfortable biding their time, you know, not giving these great offers. But I think these two guys in particular deserve to get that multi-year turn. Brad, I enjoyed the conversation. Greatly appreciate the insights. Thanks so much for taking the time to join us today on the Rich Eisen Show. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. Brad Spielberger.

Check out his great work at Pro Football Focus. A different perspective based, and I know this is a novel concept, on actual information. Now the counter would be, and I don't endorse this view, but I know a lot of you, I can sense you rolling your eyes depending on what make and model car you have.

I may be able to see you. I probably shouldn't have said that out loud. But a lot of you, when you hear analytics, data-driven analysis, yeah, I was told there'd be no math involved. And I am allergic to math on a lot of levels. It's amazing I've had any success calling games because a lot of that is just tracking the numbers.

That is not my forte. But it is a useful tool to actually have a foundation to evaluate players beyond, we all watch these games and we come up with our takeaways. Barkley has meant everything to the Giants. And I mentioned Danny Dimes, quote unquote. Of course, he got paid because quarterbacks always get paid. Got the multi-year contract primarily because of the addition of Brian Dayball. I think about his body of work, working with Josh Allen. Allen, not as good last year.

I'm not saying cause and effect, but I am saying Dayball shows up and the Giants are a radically different team. And Daniel Jones looks like a functioning quarterback. But Barkley makes that entire offense go.

All the touches, better than 300 touches last year, he was their leading receiver. So I know the word deserves is loaded, but if anybody deserves a long-term contract, it's Barkley. Still, Giants don't have to do anything because of how the CBA is constructed and because the franchise tag still exists. There is no justification for the franchise tag whatsoever. Other than the NFL PA has always been out-bargained and outwitted consistently by NFL ownership. Last time I checked, the NFL has a license to print money.

There's no reason for the tag to exist, but the owners aren't going to give it back. And I don't see anything changing anytime soon. Heading towards the final block of content, and I'm going to do the impossible. I'm going to talk a little more baseball and I'm going to do what he said with conviction in an entertaining fashion. Can you tell I'm watching a lot of baseball? I can't watch Summer League.

I'll be watching tomorrow when Wimby, if he's smart, will have Britney Spears sitting courtside. Did you notice that somebody is still flirting with 400 in Major League Baseball? We're in July. We're a handful of days away from the All-Star game.

There's a dude hitting 384. Who is it and why do so few people seem to care? Answers coming up. I'm Brian Weber, always having a good time when I'm in for Rich.

This is the Rich Eisen Show. Brian Weber back with you. We are winding down. That means I'm already warming up for tomorrow.

Having already planned on opening tomorrow's program, talking Wimby-mania and I had no earthly idea we would stumble into a good chunk of today's program being devoted to Britney Spears. Can't wait to see how this story evolves before I'm back with you tomorrow at noon Eastern. Give me a call then if you would like.

844-204-7424. We can have the conversation after the program on Twitter. B.W. Weber.

Weber with two B's. I am not rehashing whatever occurred between the Spurs director of team security and the great Britney Spears last night at a restaurant in Las Vegas. Although the internet is undefeated. I just saw this headline.

Hoops, she did it again. And as I said, if Wimby is as, I think he's a personal friend of mine, Wimby. If Victor Wambunyana is as shrewd as I think he is, now he might want to step away from this because there is the possibility of lawsuits and litigation. But if this is a grand misunderstanding, and I hope nobody put their hands on Britney, I hope even the one convoluted explanation that the Spurs director of team security used his hand to push her hand away from Victor's back as she was trying to get his attention to take a photo and then she hit herself in the face with her own hand. I hope none of that's true. Can you tell I'm a big Britney fan? Leave Britney alone. If Britney is seated courtside tomorrow night when Wimby makes his summer league debut in Vegas, then I'll be convinced, as I'm already starting to lean that way, everything in life is professional wrestling. Everything is choreographed. I'm not going kyree on you. The world is not flat.

But the older you get, especially if you're prone to a little bit of cynicism, you start thinking, man, Vince McMahon for all of his foibles, and they're well documented, was a genius in some ways. Wrap it up with a few more thoughts on baseball. Good news, if you're not a baseball fan, I have done a lousy job of clock management, so I have limitations here. And good news for you, tomorrow is my last day of this fill-in cycle.

Yeah, strike up the band. Gonna hit the NFL much harder tomorrow. I'm trying to be selective because we're still 20 days away from the start of training camps.

I'm not cramming in college football because I'm desperate for content. And I'm a lapsed baseball fan who's gotten back involved with the sport because it's a much better product. And stop with, yeah you, stop with the chorus out there telling me we can't have a pitch clock in the playoffs.

You out of your mind? And stop with the, well, the integrity of the game. The game is radically different. The postseason has evolved to a far broader field than when I first got involved with baseball as a broadcaster. It was the advent of the wild card. I tracked a Giants team in 1993 that won 103 games, lost at Chavez Ravine on the final Sunday of the regular season, and got bupkis because there was no wild card.

So either you adapt, either you evolve, or you become even more irrelevant. And undeniably, baseball waking up, and this is largely due to Theo Epstein. Rob Manfred put him in charge and Theo's a bright dude as we saw in Boston and Chicago. The changes baseball has implemented have revamped the sport in a major way and the pitch clock has changed everything because these games are a lot more watchable. And as we discussed when we had the baseball conversation an hour ago with Gabe Lacks, MLB reporter for USA Today, there's plenty of young star power across the bigs. Home run derby field announced last night. Among the bright young talents that will have an opportunity to shine on the national stage, Adlai Rutchman, the outstanding young catcher for the Orioles, who does have a skill set and a makeup that brings to mind Buster Posey. And no, I am not penciling Adlai into Cooperstown just yet. But how many years has Baltimore been dreadful? When was the last time they were even in the conversation? Ripken?

It's been a minute. Arizona lost over 100 games a couple years ago. Third and first place in the NL West despite the massive payrolls of both the Dodgers and the Padres because of young talent like Corbin Carroll. And I'm intoxicated like a lot of you are with everything I see from Elie De La Cruz with another home run last night. So maybe I'm just going through a midlife sports crisis and felt like I had neglected my passion for baseball too long.

I'm watching and I'm enjoying it. And I'm also pointing out there's a cat hitting.384. It is July 6th. Not too long ago, he was in the.390s. And I'm talking about Luis Arias of the Marlins. Now, I realize why this is not moving the needle the way it used to.

I also understand it's July 6th. The explanation would be he plays for the Marlins who are much improved. Skip Schumacher doing a real nice job year one in South Florida. A rise though, this is not an aberration. He won a batting title with the Twins last year. He's a consistent professional hitter. And we're beyond small sample and we're beyond small sample size talk.

First week of July, over.380. If this was 20 years ago, I probably would have opened the show with it. Now, there was no TMZ.

Wimby was just a dream and there was no possibility that Britney Spears would hijack the program. But I'm old enough to remember and I'm not comparing a rise to Tony Gwynn. If this was a transcendent talent, a player that had the star power of Tony who we lost way too young, we'd have a different conversation.

But who's the last player who was even in this kind of realm? Tony Gwynn, George Brett in the 80s, and of course, Ted Williams back in the 40s. I remember famously, he could have rounded up the.400. He played both games of a doubleheader, rounding up his average officially.

There was no need to use the decimal point. He wrapped up the year at.406 because there goes the greatest hitter who ever lived. So I'm not trying to sell you anything. I don't work for MLB.

I find Rob Manfred to be a loathsome character on many levels, but it's a much better product and I would be the laziest host in the world and I can understand those who go down this road if I just did training camp previews for three hours. And now I've congratulated myself once more. Coming up tomorrow, countdown to kickoff. I'm gonna start my summer camp tour.

Let's focus on Seattle. No, I'm gonna continue to balance. If you're full, metaphorically, of Damian Lillard talk, we're winding down on that.

I certainly have been comprehensive. I'm not gonna ignore tomorrow, but I'm tapping out to a degree unless there's more news. And thank goodness TMZ provided me with today's unexpected gift. I will advance the story because it feels like it's still embryonic. There's a lot of moving pieces here, but what an amazing combination between the latest unicorn captivating our attention and the NBA. Think about how the league has evolved. We couldn't even say Giannis's last name, right? Go back and watch that tape on draft night.

Let's head to the kumpo. Say it quick. Nicole Jokic is doing things we've not seen statistically from a center since Will Chamberlain.

Joel Embiid is a flat-out stud and now here comes somebody with even more potential, understanding that the p-word can be dreaded and often can be a curse, but if you've seen any of Lemayana on tape or if you've even listened to people you respect, if there's ever been a can't miss, it's him. We're talking about it tomorrow in much more detail. Want to thank our guests, just two today, both delivered as always. Gabe Lacks helped me out because I'm dragging you around the bases. Whether you want to hear baseball conversation or not, he is the MLB reporter and baseball editor for USA Today and a good football dialogue with Brad Spielberger, a pro football focus. As always, primarily I want to thank Rich Eisen and his team, Bruce Gilbert, all the great people that Westwood won, our terrific technical producer, Art Martinez.

Leave Britney alone. Can't wait to see what happens before I'm back with you tomorrow noon eastern as we wrap up the program on a high note. I'm Brian Webber, indeed we'll do it again tomorrow here on the Rich Eisen Show. How wrestling really works and how you get the ratings. Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson explain on 83 weeks. Collision has been struggling a little bit out of the gate with these ticket sales. A little bit out of the gate. This was a major show announced on a major network with what everybody thought was this huge star, CM Punk. I said he was going to be the biggest financial flop in wrestling history and I think I'm being proven right every minute of the day. 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.