RE Show: Jerry West - Hour 3 (8-4-2023)

Happy New Year! This is the Rich Eisen Show.

Kicks the snap, back in the pocket, up in the pocket, throws down the middle of the field and that is picked off! They got it! Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. So what is going on in San Francisco?

Is it possible this year? Trey Lance just gets released. Out! Earlier on the show, CBS Sports NFL analyst Amy Trask, Angels Manager Phil Nevin. Coming up, Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Suzy Schuster. Hi everybody, Suzy Schuster in for Rich Eisen here on the Rich Eisen Show.

Happy Friday to you all. We're on our second or third mimosas of the day. Amy Trask was just on the show. We had ice cream with Amy and questions as we will want to be done. TJ Jefferson here with you.

Jay Philly and Chris Brockman. And to my right is my favorite guest. And I think he knows that and I can say that because I'm sitting in my husband's chair. And can you tell somebody in a national studio audience that you've got a crush on somebody if they're sitting on the set next to you?

Or is that just weird? Poor Rich, here we are. And Jerry West joins me right now here on the Rich Eisen Show. And Jerry, I don't take it for granted that you are willing to come down to the studio and sit with us and spend time with us. So thank you again for doing that. Well I appreciate it Suzy. Obviously I've known you forever.

And also Rich, not as well as I have known you. But it's a pleasure to be here today. I know you have a great show and I watch it myself sometimes.

Well I appreciate that. It means a lot to us. Let's talk about the state of the National Basketball Association. Let's talk about the NBA.

What is the state of it right now? Well you know Suzy to me from a distance, you know I've watched this league for so many years. From the time I started my career here as a player in Los Angeles to being involved with the Lakers for so many years of my life. And it has just spread like wildfire to be honest with you. The league has prospered the teams, the interests worldwide. It's just amazing where it's came. And great leadership, teams that have been really positive and some players that obviously people love to watch play.

So it's in good hands right now and I think it will continue to grow and be even bigger worldwide. And now we're seeing coaches from overseas, we're seeing a lot, obviously the players just keep coming. But let's talk about that international side to the NBA.

Well repeat that last part again now. Just a question about how the international side of the NBA has grown. Because now we're seeing foreign born coaches, we've already seen years and years of players.

But how is this changing the NBA? You know you would never think that we'd have players from Canada which was reserved for ice hockey for so many years. And now we've got some great players from Canada coming in. And who ever thought that Australia would provide a number of really good basketball players. And if you look at the most valuable players in our league, where they came from?

They're from Europe. Jokic, Giannis and also another great, great player who has performed in this league for so long, Embiid. We have some incredible players and to me that's part of the growth of the league when you see players from other countries come here.

It creates an interest and starting with little kids that they might know because they're young. And it'll continue to grow as they play longer and play like the MVPs that they have become. Luka Doncic, my goodness, incredible young player. And then you look at the players that are kind of American born, they continue to get better.

Every once in a while I watch things on YouTube connected with basketball. And just to watch how these kids work out and how dedicated they are, there's a lot of money in this league. And for a kid not only to be able to live his dream to become a Lebron James or Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant.

They have been doing this from the time they take a walk. And it's amazing to me to see how these kids come in so polished, particularly with dribbling skills. And probably the last thing will come are the shooting skills. But it's just amazing how good these kids are. They play like a college schedule all over the world today, particularly when they're 12 to 16 years of age. And it's just amazing where they have come at such a young period of their lives. Because with all this ability to watch every piece of information out there for them, it just makes for a great, great opportunity for these kids to get better. And if you remember how difficult it is, 440 kids play in the NBA. That's it.

They're not going to have any more. And it's highly, highly competitive. And that's what I think the growth of this league is going to become. And we'll see better and better players going forward. What are your thoughts on Victor Wojmikin? I mean, obviously we saw him just in a little bit of time on the court. I can't think of a better coach than Greg Popovich to help him along. But what are your thoughts on him?

Well, a disclaimer first, okay? Because I'm still involved with the Clippers today. You're really not supposed to talk about other players. And I hope the NBA understands that. But he is one of those players that you feel like he's going to be an iconic player. If you watch him, he's highly skilled. He probably needs to be more schooled in playing in the NBA. He can run. He can shoot three-point shots. I think his best skill is going to be blocking shots early in his career. But for people who haven't seen him play, he's pretty spectacular. But the other thing about him, if you put a microphone in front of him, he is fantastic. And to me, he's more than a basketball player. He is someone who gives the league another positive voice. His first game in the summer league when I watched him play, he really did not play up to his hype.

And none of those kids do at that age. But he got on TV afterwards, and he was being interviewed. And he said, well, I didn't have my best game, but I think I'll do better going forward.

I mean, he was so polished and so poised. And that's what the NBA needs, another voice to replace the ones who have been here for years. So to me, it's just like from one generation to the next.

And he's going to create a new player, also new fans. You know, that's what we talked about on the phone the other day. Yes. We talked about a tenacompo. We talked about yogic. We talked about these voices that are just making the NBA look better and better every time they open their mouths. Well, as I say, that's what's remarkable. I think we're getting kids now from Europe, a lot of kids in Europe. France at one time did not have a very good basketball program. They have a great basketball program. And again, I think it's because of the French players who've played over here successfully.

And also, Victor is the next in line. We're going to see kids from more kids coming from Africa, I think, because the NBA has done an incredible job. The NBA and along with Masai Ursary at Toronto, they've done an incredible job.

They have brought resources to them that they didn't have. And if you're a solitary person, there's not very many people around, basketball, you can do everything that you need to do to develop your skills. And then comes playing against competition. And these kids are going to be like, when I was a kid, that's all I did was shoot basketball by myself, never dreaming that I would be able to play at the highest level in this league. And there's hundreds and thousands of kids all over the world who have that dream.

Jerry West here on the Rich Eisen Show, Suzy Schuster in for Rich. Do you think that Victor is worthy of the comparison, the best prospect since LeBron? That's a lot of pressure on a kid.

Oh, I think for sure. You know, just his sheer size is compelling to see him. I saw a picture of him with David Robinson and Tim Duncan, and he makes them look like they're really small. But his length, his reach, but he's got something special about him.

I guess it would be like if you walked into a store and there were three pairs of shoes there, only one of them would catch your eye. And he is going to catch your eye, that's for sure. And I think being with the Spurs, Greg Popovich and the people who have run this franchise successfully for years, they'll do a fantastic job with him, getting him ready to play at the highest level. And remember, he's 19 years old. I mean, my goodness, he could play till these players play down to their 35, 36, 37.

And so it's going to be, I'm anxious. I'm actually anxious to watch him grow as myself. And yet our friend Shaquille O'Neal says, I would love to be on the court with him.

We were talking about it recently. He said, I would love to get out there because the evolution of the big man has changed, clearly. We're seeing a lot of big men who can do a lot more things than Shaquille could do, even though I would tell him that to his face and he'd probably be annoyed, but that's okay.

I can take it. Shaquille and I still keep in touch and again, I love that guy. He's just a wonderful person and he has time for everyone. And when you get to know him, the one thing you don't realize is just how darn big he is. Not in height, but he is like proportionate. I saw a picture of him with Will Chamberlain and Bill Russell, I believe. And he just, if you look at him standing there together from a distance, you would say that Shaquille is so much taller than him. He's not. He's like an oak tree.

You put him in the ground, he's not going to move. But I complimented him the last time we text and I complimented him. I said, you're in better shape now than you ever were when you played.

He's lost a lot of weight. Oh, I told him the same thing. He was so mad at me. I said, you look really good. You don't look as chunky as you did when you were playing. I was never chunky. You saw me in the locker room and said, you were chunky. Well, you got to kid him. Have fun with him. You have to say to his face, like Shaquille, you were a little chunky. But he gets really mad about that. What's your favorite Shaquille story? Because you must have a good story or two from back in the day.

I have a lot of good ones. I know. That's why you're here. I'm not sure it's susceptible to be on the air, but I do remember the first game that he was supposed to play in Los Angeles. He was ready to go and healthy. And we were going to play against the Utah Jazz, okay?

And Utah had really good teams. And I see him and all of a sudden I look up and he's walking down there on the court and he shoves or slaps Greg Ostertag. I said, my gosh, what in the world is he doing? And so the league suspended him for a game. I said, kill. I said, you know, you're going to be a player that these fans are going to love in Los Angeles.

And for the first game of the season at home, you're not going to play? And he apologized like he always would do. There's other incidents he went into. And I think he was embarrassed by it.

I really do. But Ostertag said something about him that doesn't resonate very well with him. And I remember another time he gets kicked out of a game and I go into the locker room to see how he was. And he had torn the doors off of the restroom areas that are protected. He said to me, I'll be happy to pay for it. I said, no, I want to pay for this.

And I said, no, no, no, you can't pay for it. But how in the world can someone be this strong to rip these doors off? I mean, it was crazy. But he is a fun guy, a really fun guy.

He kept it light and airy. And particularly in a grueling NBA season, 82 games. And some kids come into the league, and it's really funny, Suzy, they come into the league and their college team might lose one or two games. Hell, they might lose five straight games and they're not used to it.

So they have to learn how to participate in the league also. And he was – I don't know if I've ever had a more favorite player around than him. Taking into consideration the changes for the big men and Shaq loves to do all sorts of like, where do I stand? Where do I fall with all of the big men in the history of the NBA?

Where do you think he falls? Well, you know, I like to look at players in different eras, okay? And I think today, because the NBA has changed so much, the coaching has changed a lot because they have to deal with the three-point line. And now centers has to be much more versatile. If you put him in his prime against other centers in his prime, he would be fantastic. He would absolutely be fantastic because he is so – has such quick feet and he was massive.

And once he got his position, he was going to run right through you. But I've never tried to compare players at all. In different eras, there's always players that stand out than others. But the game changes fundamentally every year because the rule changes. Will Chamberlain, he used to dunk from the free-throw line when he was in college. They cut that out.

The lane, they made it wider. Now there's so many different three-point – I mean, three-second calls they can make, which is a technical foul. And today, that's probably going to give a team another point, which you don't want to happen. So the league has changed, but he would do very well in every era that we have seen so far. But he would himself have to make fundamental change. He'd have to learn to go out on the court and play people a little bit better because of the threat of three-point shooting. But I just think these great players can adjust to those things if they were still playing today. Jerry West here on the Rich Eisen Show, Suzy Schuster in for Rich. What player do you believe is the least valued player in the NBA that you think should have more weight as we look back at the history of the NBA? That is a fantastic question.

No one's ever asked me that. Being involved with the Clippers, people forget because he's been injured so much how great Kawhi Leonard really is. I mean, this guy's a man on both ends of the court. He watched film playing when he was really healthy all the time. And last year, he had it going again really well last year. But because he had missed so many games with injuries, I think people forget about him. And I looked at these teams and people were starting to talk about, well, this team should be favored in this. The Clippers team, not because I work there, this team has two elite players on both ends of the court.

Very few teams can say that. I'm talking about Kawhi and Paul George. But if any other players that I remember in yesteryear, John Stockton I thought was the most underappreciated player in the league.

But if you look now, oh boy, I think Bam Adubato in Miami is really good. He plays every night. He competes every night. He gets numbers every night.

And you can write him in. A coach loves a player that goes out there every night and he fills the stat sheet up. But even if he doesn't say score on some nights, he's still going to help them win because of his value to his team.

And he doesn't get a lot of publicity, but I really think he's a terrific player myself. Obviously the caveat that you are with the Clippers, but is this the year for the Clippers? I know there's a lot of journeyman players who want to come to Los Angeles and join you guys up, but I have to ask that for poor T.J. over there who's long suffering. Well, this Clipper team is really dangerous. We have players at every position.

I see a lot of free agents being signed today and everyone raves about these free agents. Well, other people could have signed those people. And it's not a knock against them, but it's the fit you have within your team. It's like a puzzle to me. You work a beautiful puzzle and there's a big hole left in the middle of it because two or three pieces are missing.

And if that piece is missing, it's not a puzzle. So coaches have to adapt to players getting hurt today, players not being able to play on certain nights. They have to adapt a lot. This Clipper team is a really good team, healthy.

I mean, really good. It's just how to keep them healthy. That's been the Achilles heel the whole time, correct?

Well, come to California, get in the sun, that's supposed to make you healthy, right? In this case, it hasn't. But no, we have some terrific players. We really do. And I don't like to over-hype any team. To me, the Lakers have done a great job here in the last year and a half. Two incredibly gifted players that will carry them.

But it's just, you know, I look at, again, Denver. My goodness, a very dominant team and probably the best player in the league is Jokic. And he is, he just, you know, he's not the greatest athlete in the world. He makes teams win.

He's easy to play with. He just has a way that makes it easier for a coach to play. But coming into any situation, Susie, in any sport, and particularly basketball, you know, you're playing two ends of the court. You're playing the offensive end and defensive end.

And if they're not coordinated, you can't hide more than maybe one defensive player who just is a poor defender. And particularly in late in the playoffs, those people are going to get exposed because our coaches are that good in this league. Where does Jokic stand in terms of the greats of the game? As you watch him, you've watched everybody, you've sized everybody up.

Where is he? He's just amazing. He really is. You watch him, you know, he doesn't really dunk like we see and that's, everyone in the league dunks today. But he is, he just is one of those players that if you watch him play, he'll score 10 points and he'll have, he'll have 15 or 20 rebounds, 12 assists. But people, you have to watch him carefully around the basket. And some of the shots that he makes, you say, oh, he can't make those shots.

He makes them regularly. And he's got the greatest pair of hands that any inside player and people don't really talk about that. But I played with players that we had fondly had nicknames for and bored hands. They couldn't catch. The hand that I coordinated wasn't great. But he just got those incredible hands. And the thing that I love about him, he'll shoot a shot on one side and everyone, he's so, he anticipates his own misses. And sometimes I think he misses deliberately because people get themselves out of position. He'll catch it on the other side and lay it in and get fouled. But as I say, he is, he is like, you know, like LeBron James, who who plays here for Los Angeles.

I have, I have known him since he's 17 years old and the brilliance of him as a player. But more importantly, his mind, his mind makes everyone better. And it also, these things rub off on your teammates. So if you had a great passing team, which is one of the things I think is prettiest about basketball, and it's more difficult to see today because so many players run, but you can be on three on one and a guy will run behind a three point shot, pass up a layup to shoot a three point shot. And again, this the analytical approach that has that has gathered steam, particularly in basketball. But they don't tell you this nor this. And again, he's just these kind of players are rarities and that's why they're so highly coveted.

But more importantly, the people who play with them appreciate that one skill that we don't see enough of. We're going to take a quick break here on The Rich Eisen Show when we come back. A second segment with the great Jerry West and your questions. This is a rare opportunity, people.

So ask respectfully, ask nicely, and maybe he will answer. Right back here on The Rich Eisen Show. Or wherever you listen.

Search BLEAV podcasts wherever you listen. Actually we're not at a crossroads. Let me tell you why. OK, sure. I'm not a lawyer, but I watch a lot of law shows. OK.

I got about 50 witnesses that see me hit my head on your set. Oh. So if you just give me this, I'll let bygone be bygone. So it's a liability issue for me that turns into an even worse liability issue.

I don't want to have to call it The Shaq Eisen Show. I know that. All you got to do is just give me this and I'll put it next to mine. This is beautiful. I'm doing the math in my head as to how much you'd be suing me for personal liability, as to how much this trophy costs, which I've been told is around $22,000. Well, I'll be suing you for $23,000. You want to lift it? No, I don't want to touch it. OK, you sure you don't want to touch that? Bad luck.

Bad luck for you? No, to touch the trophy when you don't earn it. I like that. Yeah, my father used to always... Are you serious? He always used to... Because, you know, like when you're a kid, you get the trophy from the local trophy shop. Sure. He'd be like, if you listen to me, guys, you get this, you want to touch it, don't touch it, it's bad luck, you got to earn it. Right.

So that's why, like, you know how like in the NBA when you win the Eastern Conference or Western Conference, they give you those little trophies? I never touched it. Never? I never touched it and I never celebrated it. I remember Phil did that too, right? Yeah.

Like when you guys won the Western Conference Finals of one of the many times you did. Yeah, I never touched it. I never looked at it. I never celebrated it. This was beautiful, though.

It's a beautiful trophy. Yeah. Back here on The Rich Eisen Show, Suzy Schuster in for my husband, Rich Eisen, with the great Jerry West with me, which is such a treat. And the first caller we're getting, and by the way, you don't get to call in and ask Jerry questions very often, so this is pretty special here on Roku. But first caller, I'm holding my breath because Scott in Boston, you're on the phone. Scott, what do you got? Hey, guys.

Suzy, happy birthday yesterday. I didn't think when I was driving to work today I'd get to ask Jerry West a question, so I'm kind of excited about that. And hi to TJ and Chris. Hold on one second. Hold on one second, Scott. We're going to pipe you into the studio so that Jerry can hear you.

But thanks for the happy birthday, and your kids were the first two people to call me, so that was a good thing. So clearly. Good. Hold on. You got it?

You got it, Philly? Hold on. We're going to bump you up. Hold on one second, Scott. All right.

I don't have to repeat your question because I don't want to screw it up. We got it? I think we hear you. All right, Scotty, go for it. This is my brother Scott calling in from Boston. Okay, great. All right. What do you got, Scott?

Hey, Jerry. I'm a big fan. And not only is you a basketball player, but all the things you've said about and help people with mental health, so I appreciate that. My guess is you're not a big Celtics fan, but I got a Celtics question for you. If you were the general manager of the Celtics, would you have signed Jalen Brown to the contract they just signed him to?

And I realize he's the highest paid player now in the NBA, and I realize it's more of a function of how the contracts work, and he'll be bypassed shortly. But would you sign him to that deal, and also, if you were the coach of the Celtics, what would you ask Jalen Brown to improve on so the Celtics can make that next step and win the championship? And the last part of it is, do you think he'll be better with a more traditional point guard now that Marcus Smart has left the Celtics? All right.

I'm going to break this down because those were three questions, and I'm going to ask them one at a time for you. Let's just first start off with Jalen Brown. Your thoughts on him as a player. Obviously, he just got a lot of money, so what are your thoughts on Jalen Brown with the Celtics? Well, he's a terrific player, obviously, and I think the way the game is played today, he actually keeps improving, and I think that's the thing I like about him. In college, he didn't shoot the ball as well or as consistently as he does today, but I also think the way they play, they have an incredible one-two punch there in Boston, and he's just a player that keeps getting better, and players like that, I think every team has someone that they're drafted younger than they normally would be, and he just keeps getting better, and Boston, they've had a great franchise for years, they have wonderful people that work there, as do the other franchises in the league, but he's a terrific young player. Do you feel that Jalen Brown will improve with a different point guard in play? Obviously, Marcus Bart has been shipped out now. Well, you don't know that.

You really don't know that. I think the one thing is you expect players just from, and this is in all teams, you expect them, the younger they are, and obviously they get to be 25 or something, I think players can continue to get better, and particularly mentally. All players do that, and particularly players that have enough physical gifts who have the work ethic, which is something, if you ever lose that, you're not going to get better. But there's a lot of teams that have players like that, and I think when you're his age and players his age, the height of a player today, probably 29 to 35, where at one time at 35, you're going to retire, not anymore because of all the physical things, players take care of themselves because the enormity of the money in the league today, this is a profession today, it truly is.

What do you think as you look at a player like that, and when a player gets paid the way they did, and you look at development? You know, speaking of, Susie, speaking of money, I don't care what players make, I'd like to think that the players, and particularly in 1964, in an all-star game in Boston Garden, the old Boston Garden, the players got together and said, we're not going to play this game unless you recognize us as someone that can bargain with you. And the owner of the Lakers then came into our locker room, Elgin Baylor and I were on the all-star team, and here was his words, his words were the following, if you don't play, you're never going to play another basketball game again. And I loved the competition, I still love to watch people compete, particularly in basketball because it's something that has always been in my blood, and I marvel at some of the things that the players do today. And from that moment on, and Oscar Robertson's involvement in a lawsuit, very much like Kurt Flood in baseball, that has opened the gates for these young kids today, and I am thrilled for them. Obviously a lot of old-timers wish there were other sources of revenues that would help them because basically you had to have another job in the summer, you made nothing. And it was just the growth of the league, I'm thrilled for the players today, for the incoming players, but they must realize that only 440 of them are going to be involved at the NBA, and really a chance at this piece of the pie.

It's a profession today, it's not just something that people did because they like to compete. You must be so, you've been covering and been such an integral part of the NBA, you're the logo after all, and as you see the game change, I know you don't like to say that you're the logo, but I know because you're a very humble guy, but as you see the game change, what's it like for you to watch these players getting the money that they get, thinking about how you guys played and how you guys put in the time and effort, versus what these guys get, even unproven at this point? Well I think the biggest thing Suzy, it really wasn't the money, because again you played for a different reason, you played because you love to compete, and from the time, almost all these kids playing today are the same thing, they started playing very young and obviously some of them separate themselves because of the greatness, their unique skills, but I never really thought about the money because an owner would come to you and he'd say okay, we're offering you a two year deal, and you had no agents, no one to represent you, and they wouldn't even talk to an agent or somebody, even a lawyer, they wouldn't even talk to them, and just take it or leave it.

It got to the point where it was very frustrating to have to do that because you really felt they were being deceptive, and coming from where I came from in West Virginia, I was so naive, it was a joke. But today now, the thing that I look at today, I marvel at all the medical treatments and how they measure where an athlete is today physically as compared to yesteryear. That to me, to walk away from the game with no bad knees or whatever injuries they had, I'm fortunate at 85 years of age, I don't have any of those problems, and I have a lot of stuff that happened to me, but again, I knock on wood all the time, I'm pretty darn healthy for my age.

Chris what do you have? Mr. West, there's a lot of debate on social media and everything about what era was the best era of basketball. The 90s players seem to think it was their era, today's players, there's so much talent now. What era do you think was the best? Yeah, what was the best era of basketball in your opinion?

Oh my gosh, I believe in 1988, and I'm not sure, I think the Lakers won the championship when I was there. The three point line had came into being. I don't think we shot 300 three point shots all year long, but those teams in the 80s were the best teams I have ever seen.

Even better than the teams playing today. They had size, they had, oh my gosh, they had all stars at every position, but you have to remember one thing, the league was now expanding, and so there were less players that could play in the league, and now there's more players that play in the league. And with the growth of the league, you keep seeing people clamoring for an expansion franchise. And I think the NBA, our commissioner has done an unbelievable job, and I'm talking about Adam Silver, he's done an unbelievable job growing this league. His job was so different than David Stern's, and he's grown this league now, and there's room for other teams, because there's so many players that are worthy of playing in the NBA. But as I say, this game will not stop growing, I just feel that it's, as I say, in 88 when we won that, coaches didn't have to adjust to the three point line, and that has, in the last number of years, and I don't know what years those were, but now you see everyone wanting to shoot a three point shot. And the other thing I think it does, it kind of opens up an area for smaller players to be able to play in the league, because cleverness with the ball, the ability to shoot three point shots, I think it's also let smaller players play, and there's a bunch of people out there that don't grow to 6'5 to 6'9 or 6'10, there's a bunch of kids. So that's the good thing about it, but the coaches have changed, we've got some incredible coaches in this league, and hats off to them, because they have learned how to use this three point line to their advantage. How many three pointers would you have made with a line? Well, if you shoot enough, you're going to make some. And I didn't mind shooting the ball. No, you did not. TJ, you have a question, but make it very loud.

Very loud. So, Mr. Jerry, you know, in sports we're very big on comparisons. We always like to compare the players from our past to the players of our present. Which modern day players do you see that remind you of yourself, of a young Jerry West? Who out there in the league today do you look at and go, okay, I can see myself in him? Who do you see in the modern day NBA that reminds you of you?

God forbid, everyone did. I was a crazy competitor, I mean, I used to worry about the games all day long, and I think we have so many of those kids in the league, so many of them today in the league. But I think looking back, it's uncomfortable to really talk about, you know, how I played in those times, and obviously I was a player that got a lot of attention.

I think I made 11 all-pro teams in my career, and the writers didn't vote for it, the players. And so it was more meaningful, I think, than it is today, but I was, I probably, when I came into the league, I was a better defensive player than I was an offensive player. And that was really a strength that I like to see in players. And I think I mentioned earlier, I mentioned two players that play for the Clippers, and I don't get to see, I see all these other teams play, but Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, they play both ends of the court, and that's why I sort of admire them, maybe more than most might, even though they've been, not been healthy here recently. I just like players that are well rounded, that can play both ends of the court. And they like to do it.

You have to like to do that. You know, coaches can't keep forcing you to do it. You know, you see players that are poor defenders, and you say, my gosh, my goodness, this player is so athletic, why can't he play the other end of the court? And there's a, there's a knock to doing that. I told Kareem Abdul-Jabbar one time, I said, Kareem, if you'd really work hard, and after the end of the season, I said, I said to him, if you really worked hard, you might accomplish things that you can't even believe.

After the season, I apologized to him. He made it look so easy, because he didn't waste steps. And you see some players, you watch some really great players, unless they're running, their effort is just moving their body suddenly to the right places. And within the scheme of a defensive scheme that the coach might put out there for them, they just played the game easier.

They have few, fewer wasted steps in a game, and they accomplish more. Well, then I have to ask you, how did he take that criticism when you said that to him? Him? Well, he, again, he and I are close. He's one of the players that, I don't know, I've always liked him, and he's different. He's really studious.

He's incredibly bright, and he and I like to read, and it came over, it came because of reading. He would, you know, I'd hear him talk about certain things, but I met him when he was in high school. And I think what happened, I went over, I read about him in paper, and when I was playing, we practiced at the gym, and I went over and had a conversation with him. And that's, little did I know he was going to get to where he was going to get. And I had an opportunity to coach him. He was a consummate professional, consummate, and I admired everything he did.

And particularly after being around him, he was one of those players that just didn't waste steps, and it was just an economical way for him to save energy. Jerry, I'm going to ask you to come on every time I do this show. I want to thank you so much for your time, it means so much to us. Susie, I really appreciate it, and obviously it's nice to see you. You too. And I do have an opportunity to watch you and Rich sometimes when I'm working out.

And I wish you continued good luck. Thanks, Jerry, really appreciate it. We're going to take a break and wrap the show up.

When we come back, we'll put a ribbon on it. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Mike Del Tufo is standing at a microphone that's about, I'd say, 20 feet away, looking right at Mr. Wonderful of Kevin O'Leary of Shark Tank.

Go for it, Mike Del Tufo. What happens if something happens to me and 2,500 miles away, my family's there and they don't know I could be sitting in the apartment alone, dead for days? So I came up with an idea for an app called Just in Case that would be basically you download it and you could check in with this app and other people could see that, A, you're alive still.

You could basically be tracked with it. Just to get the whole story before I completely eviscerate you, how would you make money doing this? A subscription per month. People are going to pay per month. 99 cents per month, very cheap. If your mom calls you for two days and doesn't get an answer, she's probably going to call the super and say, go check on his corpse. Think about it.

They don't need 99 cents a month for that. The theory, wouldn't you want, if it's something you don't have to do, other people could check in. Mike, when you're dead, you're dead.

Who cares? How does the app know you're dead? The app doesn't know you're dead.

You have to tell it you're not dead. The app would tell you that you're not checking in. Every time you unlock your phone, it would ping and you put people on a list that know that if your mother's in Florida, she could be sitting in the house. You know that at least she's checked in on her phone. If you're their kid, you don't have to talk to them on the phone. You don't have to call them. And if it's a kid, if you think you're, if you're, if you're worried, why don't you call her?

Well, let's say people don't call their mother and father live 2,500 miles a day. I just want to make sure you're not dead. Like are you kidding? You should call your mother every day. No, no, no.

I'm talking about like all day. You don't know. Oh, you want to know the exact moment your mother does check in.

Exactly. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show. Suzy Schuster, In4Rich. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show radio network desk, furnished by Grainger.

With supplies and solutions for every industry, Grainger has the right product for you. Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. Breaking news. Rich is on the ground in Canton, Ohio. If you see him, just say go blue.

That's what everybody would like to do. Chris, you got some breaking news for us, please? Well, I thought that was the breaking news. That was my breaking news. What is your breaking news, Chris?

Yeah. Breaking news. The league is finally levied a punishment for Alvin Kamara, stemming from his involvement in a Las Vegas fight two years ago. Three game suspension for Alvin Kamara. So he's gonna miss week one against the Titans and then road games in week two and three at Carolina at Green Bay. He'll be back week four against Tampa. If you remember correctly, Jamal Williams led the NFL in touchdowns last year, is in New Orleans with Derek Carr, Mike Thomas, etc. So Alvin Kamara gone first three games of this coming season. Games are weeks away, Chris.

Weeks away. I gotta say, I know you guys didn't watch, but it was nice to just see football on the screen last night. Mike Torrico and Chris Collinsworth and they did a few minutes with Aaron Rodgers, put on the headset and they were talking to him before the lights went out in the third quarter. It was great. It was nice to just see it out there. You know, DTR balled out for Cleveland, Zach Wilson played okay. It was just nice to see two different teams out on a green grass field in a stadium hitting each other. Guys making plays.

Zach Wilson, a 50-yard pass. We're back. We made it.

I think Torrico said it was 172 days. It's almost six months without football and a long spring. So long spring. Dog days of the summer. And so we're back. We're just now football every week until February. So buckle up. Let's go.

Buckle up, Buttercup. We watched Demarcus Ware sing last night. That is what we did see. We saw a couple highlights. We saw Demarcus Ware singing.

I wanted to make fun of that at first. I thought he did a great job and then he did it for Demarius Thomas. He was doing it in the honor of Demarius Thomas and I realized, okay, I'm an a-hole. I shouldn't really say anything.

You said it, not me. It was cool. It was cool. I like it when the Hall of Famers come out.

Zach Thomas and Joe Thomas. It's awesome. Football is, I mean, it's so great. I mean, this is what makes Rich so happy. He does love this weekend. He doesn't like being away from my birthday. He got to, we got to spend some nice time together yesterday, which is kind of a rarity, but he loves being there for that dinner. I think he always says that hosting the Jackets Dinner is one of the greatest privileges that he has just because of all the greats in the room and everybody that came before and walking through the bus in Canton is very special. So I think he will have a great time. I'm happy to sit in this chair. You know me.

I like to kind of like play with the guest list and what have you, but I could sit there and listen to Jerry West, wax wrap, sodic. He could read the ingredients on the ice cream package I handed to him because I just think he's such a gift and to be able to have people call in and those of you who didn't get your question asked, maybe another time we'll try to do it again, but I just think he is a walking encyclopedia. Yeah. We talked about Zach Wilson being able to sit under the learning tree of Aaron Rodgers. Well, just being able to sit and listen to Jerry West, who is the logo of the NBA and he shortchanged himself. He said 11 time all NBA. He's actually 12 time. I didn't want to correct him, but he shortchanged himself one all NBA team and just to be able to listen to someone that has his cache, his resume, his just knowledge of the game for so many years.

It was just a pleasure and an honor to kind of sit back and it's something I wish I could do more of to be quite honest with you. Yeah. And by the way, any young NBA player that might be seeing this interview, take note at the degree of humbleness that Jerry West has.

He will never show off about himself. He did say I was pretty good. I was pretty good. Yeah. Yeah.

I was pretty good. Yes. You know, you were exceptional legend, Hall of Famer, College Basketball Hall of Fame. He was a head coach in the NBA. People forget that he coached three seasons. Sure.

Sure. With the Lakers. I mean, the guy's done it all. He's seen it all.

Think about the players, even just in his executive career that he discovered. Yeah. It's crazy.

If not for Jerry West, Kobe Bryant, a little kid named Kobe Bryant Hornet and not a Los Angeles Lakers. Right. Yeah.

Yeah. And the guy's a living walking legend. It's an honor to be able to see him as often as he's been able to come through here. And also, Chris, without even diving into what was discussed off camera, just those conversations that the stories that he shared off camera with us were just kind of mind blowing and just, you know, it's just something that it's very memorable. He's gotten into those in his his autobiography.

I mean, he came from a very abusive upbringing in West Virginia. And this guy, the guy's amazing. It's really cool that, you know, the person that he is is not the person you see portrayed on Winning Time. But it is awesome just to be able to the fact that you have that relationship with him is really cool that you share that with us when you're sitting in. I don't take it for granted.

I have a relationship like that with Del Tufo and Brockman. It's just not the same. It's not the same. It's not the same. They're cool. Fellers.

OK. But it's not, you know, I can't call Jerry West up. I met Jerry West twin. What year is it?

Twenty, twenty three. I met him twenty five years ago when I came out here to interview Kobe Bryant for Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. And I called Jerry to book him for that. And then when I moved out here to cover the Lakers the following year, the only person I knew was Kobe. And and and I was grateful to have a great relationship with him for so long. But Jerry really helped make my adjustment to Los Angeles seamless. And I'm always grateful for that.

And he's the kind of person that if you work very hard and prove yourself to him, then he will he believes right back in you. And that is something I will never, ever take for granted. I don't take for granted either my ability to sit here with you either.

I love sitting in for rich. I'm thrilled to have been back in. I will bring in booze. I will bring an ice cream. I will bring in donuts if it means that I get to kick my husband out of his chair.

I'm in an Uber home. Thanks. Yeah, you're welcome. My thanks to the great Amy Trask, my partner in crime, which I'm so excited about for the football scoop with Schuster and Trask coming up for you looking forward and Phil Nevin, of course. And the stories are long and deep, but they don't belong on TV. Have a great Friday, everybody. And thanks for letting me sit with you for the last three hours on The Rich Eisen Show on Roku. We out like Shout. For over three decades, nobody has had a wrestling career like Arn Anderson.

Conrad Thompson gets all the stories with Arn. After watching AEW's Double or Nothing, Amy wants to know, what's this dinosaur taste like? It ain't chicken. It's like biting into a scented charcoal briquette, but chewy, like yours. That's disgusting. It sure is. And check out Arn every week, wherever you listen.