REShow: Joe Vardon - Hour 1

This is the Rich Eisen Show.

I want to remind you all. This is the Rich Eisen Show. With guest host, Suzy Schuster.

And one last thing on Rogers while I'm just on a roll here. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. I hope he's coming back. I heard, you know, overheard him say that he told Dermot James, give me a few weeks. Today's guests. Senior writer for The Athletic, Joe Vardon. Fox Sports College football insider, Bruce Feldman.

Pro Football Hall of Famer, Marshall Faulk. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Suzy Schuster. Hey everybody, I'm so happy to be back here with you. Suzy Schuster here on the Rich Eisen Show while Rich is cycling around Berlin. You heard it. He is cycling through Berlin because he's there for the back to back Frankfurt games. And he took the train to Berlin to go see it.

But as I said, do not waste your time sitting in a hotel room for three days. And off he went. And yes, Chris Brockman, Mike Daltufo. What's up Suzy? I'm actually going to look at Rich's story right now. He biked his way through Berlin. Had the best morning. He's going to join us to talk about his experience on the road in Berlin.

844-204 Rich, you can call in. And if you've got a question for what kind of... It's been years of racing. Exactly. Like, Oskar Seiznick, what a kind of great day he had there.

We are happy to answer those questions. He did finally eat a pretzel, TJ. Did you see this one? Finally? Wait, first of all, not finally. He's had several. Well, this is the first one that he's posted.

You know, because I know I shame him over the vacation food pics. But I did want to see the pretzels. There it is. I can't really see it. It's like... No, I can't see it. It's really yummy. Is it really a German pretzel if you eat it without mustard? Because that's the whole key there. It looks like he's eating with coffee? That looks kind of weird. Delicious.

Why not? 844-204 Rich is the number to call Roku Channel. Channel 210.

And by the way, we had a whole conversation on What the Football yesterday with Amy Trask because Rob's got to update her viewing. I have a Roku Channel clicker. I can even use it. Well, I don't.

I have Cooper turned it on when I watch games. But she's got 75 different clickers. I mean, she's in another century. We've got to get her up to date.

A lot of clickers, man. Listen to Sirius XM. It's now 161 XM 206 online 998. Those are the new channels for today.

Stream for free on the Odyssey app or odyssey.com. Twitter, Instagram, at RichEisenshow, YouTube page, youtube.com slash RichEisenshow. Don't bother asking to follow me because I don't check the follows.

I mean, I'm so not a social media person. But great to be with you guys. I feel kind of relaxed and happy to be here today because I'm not with my kids. And yesterday yesterday, we really had the giggles. So let's keep that going today. Why was it was it? Andrew, that was so funny. So funny, you know, the whole day me and Brotman started off arguing about something.

Yeah, first thing we kind of carried it over to the show. And then Andrew told this story about where was he? He was in Cambodia.

And his his car broke down or the guy that was driving them. The car broke down and he and his friends had to walk like eight miles back to the camp and they were being chased by little monkeys. And I was like, he was like, for a second there, I thought I was going to have to fight these monkeys. And he's like, they were little. And I was like, you're kind of little. You got to drop your voice down to imitate Andrew, though.

You got to get down, though, has a really deep voice. And then when they got back to the wherever they were staying after walking all the way back through the jungle and being chased by monkeys, the guy who was their driver was like, all right, time to pay me now. And we're like, pay for what here?

Your car broke down and we almost got attacked by monkeys. And so he wanted a payment for that. Yeah. Yeah. I hope he I hope he pulled out the empty pockets on that one. It was like 15, 20 bucks. Yeah, it wasn't much.

I get it anyway. That kind of just kick started our giggle fest. Andrew, don't get too comfortable in this chair. Don't get too comfy. I saw him slouching back into it the last couple of days.

Susie takes umbrage with people who get a little too busy. Ryan, please don't get too comfy. I'm just saying, like, watch out.

I'm just saying. And then Arnold had the donkey. I think that kind of what started and we were watching our we were talking about the main cast. And Arnold Schwarzenegger was on. And if you've seen the doc on Netflix, you know, he's got this donkey that just lives in his house.

Bunch of pets. And so he yeah, the donkey made an appearance. And Eli and Peyton had no idea how to react. And then he called the Echor touchdown.

It was actually an amazing appearance. Look at that thing. You know, Eli is supposed to be on tomorrow and he cannot cancel this because I have to ask him, how many times do you interview a major, major movie star who has a donkey walking into their living room? It's got to be the third or fourth time it's happened.

I would say probably not. So then it got us talking about like what exotic animal we'd want as a pet or we'd want to cuddle with because we were talking about Caleb Williams. That's how it started.

There was a lot going on. I said the monkey. And then he was like, no, monkeys are mean.

And then he got. Oh, yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, exactly. Monkeys are mean. Monkeys are mean. Well, if you go to the zoo, they literally throw their poop at you. By the way.

Yes, they do. And the answer to that is duck. I do want to talk about Caleb Williams later in the show. I do have some thoughts on on the. Are you are you jousting? You're bobbing and weaving from imaginary monkey.

Yes, I was like a duck. And I was like, oh, the way I kind of just want to like listening out there. Yeah, he's bobbing and weaving in a seat, just trying to imagine the monkey poop coming out of his face. But that's just from Sarah. But that's a whole nother conversation. Oh, my gosh.

Yeah. So we will talk about Caleb Williams later in the show, because, look, it's like every other show out there. We're going to have to talk about what's going on in college football, because I'm just going to say this right now. I don't care.

I don't care about the science feeling. I'll tell you why. I'm so with you. I'm going to tell you why.

Number one. I can't get over the way everyone is basically hanging Jim Harbaugh. I cannot get over it. Is is it just because they don't like him? Science feeling has been going on since the dawn of time.

This is just the first time we've got somebody dumb enough, brazen enough to do it so sloppily. But the fact that Purdue, the fact that Rutgers, Ohio State, they all have each other's science. I remember during the Purdue, Michigan game last year, Rich was like, God, they've really got they got their number.

Was it because they had their number or is it because they knew what was coming? But if you're good enough, no matter what, if you're good enough, you're going to win the game. Doesn't matter if people have the science. Don't you think, Chris, if you don't get an advantage?

Yes and no. I think for me, like, look how awesome C.J. Stroud has been in the NFL this year. And his two years in college, he was arguably one of the best players in college football. Heisman favorite for most of the season. And then he just happens to have two of his worst games ever against Michigan.

Seems a little fishy now that you see all this stuff that's coming out. But I think for that, you mentioned Jim Harbaugh. I think it's yes, it is a little bit personal, but it's also the way he conducts himself. He thumbs his nose clearly at the rules. He he's he lies to NCAA investigators about the cheeseburger thing from a while back. And it's just kind of the way he conducts himself during the football season. He doesn't really lend people to give him the benefit of the doubt and think that, like, oh, maybe he didn't do this. You hear about all this stuff and you're like, oh, that guy acts like a jerk all the time. I've seen him act like a jerk during games. Sure, of course, he's probably covering this up and lying.

So he doesn't really do himself any favors with his own behavior. You know, and then you have this type of scandal come down and you're like, oh, yeah, they should throw the book at this guy. And you may be right. But I'm going to tell you this right now.

The Big Ten doesn't like that every year he flirts with the National Football League. Probably like that. And they're pissed about it. And Tony Petitti is like, OK, I'm going to come in.

I'm going to let everybody know who puts the pants on first. And I get it. But I really don't think this is anything new and exciting. There's no smoking gun.

There's no email that connects. And I am not a Michigan apologist. I didn't go there. I mean, I happen to have a Michigan flag flying over my backyard.

Yeah. But I didn't go there. I love the school. I love the kids who play.

And that's what I want to talk about right now. I am upset about the kids playing the game because they're all out there killing themselves, putting in the time, doing the practices, trying to be student athletes. And they have their legacies at stake here.

And what bothers me is everyone is so quick to judge. And let's see if they're going to suspend Harbaugh and take away the last couple of games. And this is going to be on Harbaugh. And they're going to forfeit the right to play for the national championship or for whatever it is, because I can't keep straight how many stupid playoff games there are or what system, because it changes every year. I also the fact of the matter is, Chris, there are kids out there killing themselves every week. And everyone's rushing to judge and they're all cheating.

And all these organizations are swapping signals and there's a whistleblower this week and there's somebody else this week. I am concerned about these kids because it matters if they have a national championship on their resume and it matters if they play great in that game. It matters for where they get drafted. It matters for what job they get if they're not good enough to play in the National Football League, because I know. I mean, Danny Farmer, I give you an old school UCLA name. Danny Farmer went on to a really successful career off the field.

He wasn't going to be a great NFL player. You can't. You have to think as well. This is not just about the figurehead at the top. And I get it. And come at me.

Oh, you're Rich's wife. And you're going to say this. And this is about Ohio State. I don't care. I'm not a Big 10 person. And I think for me, that's where this comes about. The only people I think who care about this are Big 10 people. That's right.

The rest of the football country, the rest of the sports watching. This is such a snooze story for me. Just wake me when it's over. It doesn't matter.

Do you have the science? Great. Are you going to beat Alabama? Are you going to beat Georgia? Are you good enough to beat a Pac-10 team, a Pac-12 team that comes out of this? Let's just get to the playoff already. I'm so sick of this story.

I'm so tired. I've been around sports for 30 something years. I mean, that's I mean, I guess growing up in Boston like my whole life. But like, by the way, there's always some, as Rich would say, Stu Gots, who like wants to get in with a sports team. And Connor Steyns is that Stu Gots. He's a kid who is obviously bright ish, has a military background, which, you know, by the way, let's face it, coaches love that.

They love a military background. Oh, he knows how to get this. The kid was so sloppy. He deserves to go down. He deserves to be caught. And he was right. But Harbon knew about it.

And if Harbon knew about it and covered it up and looked the other way, he deserves to go down, too. But so far, there's nothing. And everybody's got to just slow their role and wait for due process to take.

To take its procession. But how long is that going to take? Might be too long.

Might be too long. Might be that the next couple of games go by. Michigan either wins or they don't.

And there are kids out there killing themselves to win. And they shouldn't be penalized if Harbon it's going to come out. But what are they going to do now? They're going to they're going to give them a suspension now without knowing all the information. It's going to happen maybe tomorrow. We're going to know something from the Big Ten by tomorrow. That's what everyone's saying. We'll ask Bruce Feldman what he thinks the timeline is. Bruce is coming in like an hour or so.

He'll have the latest on this. But it seems like it. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what the solution is.

There isn't one. I mean, like this is going to keep going on. Like I was talking to my brother on the way down. You know, typical angry Massachusetts resident about sports. And he's like, why is this even a story? It is because it's Michigan. It is because it's Jim Harbaugh.

Because it's across the board. Where are the investigations into Rutgers, Purdue and Ohio State? Is that what's going to happen next? Oh, by the way, let me tell you what's going to happen at the end. They all steal signs.

They all steal signs. It's a big story because it's Michigan. If it was another of the big, you know, big programs who had a chance to win the title, I think it would be just as big a story. But Jim is also that type of personality that it kind of amplifies, you know, the scope of this and kind of the hate that's coming his way. But like I said, he doesn't do himself any favors. You're not wrong.

I actually want to talk to Bruce Feldman a little bit about Lincoln Riley, only because he's also learning that you have to play some better politics when you go to a big, big organization, especially with dealing with boosters. And also this will work itself out in the field. You know, if Michigan loses to Penn State this weekend, you know, their season is not completely over.

They can still beat Ohio State and probably make the playoff. But this will work itself out in the field. That's kind of in Rich's point the whole time, or one of his points is just, you know, block out the noise, go on the field, take care of business. And, you know, let that kind of kind of do your talking. Let the kids play the game.

But if the kids also knew about it, knew something fishy was going on and also benefited, they're not innocent 100 percent. What do we want to do? Burn college football down to the ground and rebuild in its ashes? No, but the Big Ten is insane enough to have a morality clause that they make kids and players and coaches sign. You know, what are we talking about?

Morality clause in college football? It's insane. It's so stupid. It's a waste of paper.

I hope it's an electronic signature because otherwise there's a lot of trees that died for nothing. It's insane. We already talked about this longer than I wanted to today. All right, we're done. We're moving on. As Bryant Gumbel would say, let's move on to the NBA. And Joe Vardon is coming on from the athletic. I'm excited to talk to him.

He's had some great articles the last couple of weeks. I mean, he's talking about LeBron. He's talking about Steve Kerr stepping down after this next Olympics run. I tried to get pop on.

I tried to get pop on. And I got I got the absolute red light from Tom James, who's been the great guardian at the gate. And because I just love Greg Popovich and how he coaches and basically Steve Kerr saying he's going to finish up after the Olympics next summer. And it'll be interesting to see who actually goes and how they rebuild. And I want to talk to him at length about the Clippers. My friend over there, TJ Jefferson, I'm with it. He had a funny line to start one of his columns about that display or sorry, maybe his dispersion of the ball and the guy. They're not taking it away from us.

Maybe Kawhi. So we'll talk to him about that story. Yeah, it's a good story. You should read it.

He's coming on soon. So just pretend you read it. That's just the way to do it. Skim, if you will. Marshall Falk will call in from New Orleans. Third hour. Beignet or two speaking engagement. We're going to do a little bit of a we're halfway through the season.

Midmark. What's he thinking? Like to get his thoughts on that.

And of course, Bruce Feldman. And too bad there's nothing to talk about. What a bummer. It's so funny. The first month when Bruce was coming in here, all we talked about was Dion in Colorado.

All right, TJ. And now now for the last three weeks, it's been nothing but Michigan. Well, and also last week it was kind of like, OK, obviously we we are hyping up what happened, but it was like I thought he and Rich were going to like start knuckling up yesterday last week when Bruce was in. Because, Rich, you know, he takes it kind of personal and Bruce is just like, hey, man, facts. Here's the information.

This is information. And Rich is, of course, deflecting. And Bruce is like, am I coming back next week? It was great. It was great. It was great. Yeah, that's like don't shoot the messenger, Rich. Chris and I are just sitting back here looking at each other's laps.

This is amazing. It's a boxing match. Well, that'll be fun. I'm looking forward to having him. And I do want to talk about USC. We've got to talk about other teams, too. This cannot be.

This is like what I said to Amy Trask yesterday. I said, we cannot just talk about the Raiders. The Raiders. But week after week, it's like they're pulling us back in.

They're giving you something to talk about. There are other college football teams to discuss, and we will do that. But we'll take a break first. But anything anything else you want to get to before we get to Joe Vardon? No way. Let's talk some hoops. Big Association Night tonight. I like it.

Joe Vardon when we come back. Justin came in and I took it down like two points because it was raining. That's the time we started getting death threats. Yeah, I'm not surprised.

People worship that movie. Putting on ears. The podcast is on YouTube and wherever you listen. The football season is underway and Believe podcasts are talking about it. When he went home and went to sleep, Michael Parsons was terrorizing him. Believe has podcasts covering all 32 professional teams and many of your favorite college teams, too. And to be only producing 15 points a game.

That's something that is definitely disheartening. Sideline to sideline. End zone to end zone.

As a quarterback, I would expect him to be acting like that. Take the accountability. Put that on yourself.

Don't put it on your teammates. Search BLEAV podcasts wherever you listen. We have something called Celebrity True or False, if you wouldn't mind letting us know if some of these things are true or false. Spent seven years living in Greece as a teenager. Is that a true story? Yeah, that's true.

That is true. I went to high school. I graduated high school there. My dad was with the American Embassy when I was a kid. We were actually in Beirut, Lebanon. And the war got evacuated from Beirut to Athens, Greece. My dad got reassigned to the embassy there and was there for actually six years, not seven.

No kidding. So are you fluent in Greek? I speak Greek. My wife and I took our kids over there a few years ago and I definitely got yelled at by a few people when I was trying to overextend my command of the language.

But I could get around. Well, you know, if it doesn't, if it has nothing to do with Giannis these days as a sport, a tete kumpo, we have no idea as a sport about whether you were talking Greek or not. Unless we don't hear that name. I don't know what you're talking about. You don't even know right now what I'm talking about. What do you mean? Giannis the NBA player. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, sure. Well, yeah, Giannis, that's John, as you know. Actually, I did not know that. Yeah, yeah. You're a ghost is George Giannis is.

So he's John, a tete kumpo. That's right. That's right. I had no idea.

So if I don't think you're telling the truth, I swear I am. Yeah, for sure. Giannis. Absolutely. So should I just call him Johnny A from now on?

From now on. Johnny A. My guy from the Bucks, Johnny A. I'm like a Wikipedia page for you. How have you guys survived on the show all these years without me?

Well, I just got to we've got to get you on more before we. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show, Suzy. Shoes for Infra Rich Eisen. I am sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry.

Grainger's got the right product for you. Just call click Grainger dot com or just stop by Joe Varden from the Athletic joins us right now from New York City. Happy to have him join us. And he is in there fresh off of an exciting dinner last night with Tom Brady and Wendy. We need to have all the details. I want to know what they had for dinner. How many courses and did Tommy dessert?

Was there any refined refined sugar on the menu that you're aware of? That's all I really care about. Right. Well, I'm going to say no.

I mean, between the way Tom Brady treats his body and the end, Victor sleeping habits, I can only assume that he eats well. I must not be a very good reporter because I don't know what was on the menu. I can tell you I had a cheeseburger at JG Melons. Is that delicious?

And by the way, delicious and one of the best burgers in the city. So very smart on your part. So how did this happen? What are you hearing about? How did this come about?

Yeah. So we found out about it because Tom Brady tweeted a picture that looks funny. They almost look the same height.

So I don't know if there's a depth trick going on there. But Victor is here at Madison Square Garden for shoot around his first media availability at any shoot around as an NBA pro. And somebody asked him if indeed he met Tom Brady last night.

And he said absolutely that he did. He talked about really enjoying the time and called Tom Brady humble and interesting, but also as somebody who's interested in other people. And then a Spurs official told me that this was a dinner set up by a billionaire, Michael Rubin. He's a co-owner of Fanatics. And both Tom and Wendy are our clients.

And so that's how they that's how they came together. Victor said he knows a little bit about American football. He's learning more. But he said, but he assured us all. He's like, I know about Tom Brady. Tell me what Wendy's like in person. And I'm curious, you know, I spent so long covering the Lakers and Shaquille O'Neal seven, two.

And that's the way I look at life. And we're talking about another four inches. And yet he's such a slim guy. I'm so curious about what you feel like he's like in person. So I have found him to be incredibly engaging and thoughtful and polished for a 19 year old Parisian here in the United States. He speaks I like to say that he speaks better English than I do.

But beyond that, he is somebody who will make eye contact and he will consider your question and not necessarily go along with the premise. And I think all of those things are going to help him. Of course, it's not going to help him put the ball in the hole or block four or five shots a night. But just the idea of being the number one pick and being an international athlete of interest. Now, I guess we can call him a star. He's on his way to Rookie of the Year. But to be able to handle the the global attention and sort of the extra scrutiny here in the United States the way he does is it's just going to make life easier for him. It'll it'll help him capitalize on various marketing opportunities and it'll help people like me to be able to explain to the average fan who he is. And so I think from that perspective, he really is off to a great start.

It seems like the kerfuffle at the Aria during summer league with Britney Spears, like that was a lifetime ago. What's most fascinating to you about him? I mean, you've been covering this sport for a long time. It's got to be just the sheer size. You know, think about he he might be depending on how tall you think he is. There's there's you call them seven, six. There's some talk about him being seven, five at the athletic.

I was just told that that we're going with seven, four. So somewhere in there. But being that tall and having skill sets that could be compared to Steph Curry, who's well over a foot shorter than when Binyama. But just the ability to shoot to move the way he does. And then again, I mean, you know, my most of my NBA career has been spent following LeBron.

And I was actually at LeBron's Madison Square Garden debut nearly nearly 20 years ago covering it. And there's been a couple times where we've had a number one overall pick since who who had a certain degree of hype. I would say that Victor is probably the most tight number one pick since LeBron and the way that he is handling the attention and not being an American. And sort of the way he has put himself on display and the way that he's able to communicate is is impressive to me and interesting.

I definitely want to know more about him. You mentioned LeBron, James. What's his mindset right now at this point in the season? He's playing more minutes than he was supposed to. You know, that that's been an early an early story line in the NBA and with the Lakers. And it goes back to opening night against the Nuggets. I was there and LeBron placed twenty nine minutes.

They lose. They outscored the Nuggets when he was on the court. And after the game, both he and his coach confirmed that this is the plan for the year that he's going to play around 30 minutes, which would be way fewer than he's ever averaged in 20 previous seasons.

He didn't sound happy about it. But but the idea is like they're trying to preserve this player who's still great, but he's about to be 39 years old. He's missed one hundred and ten games, something like that over the last five years with the Lakers.

And this minutes restriction lasted all of one game. So they just I don't you know, it's it's a it's a combination of the Lakers not being as good as they thought they might be when he's not on the floor. And also just the incredibly high level that he's playing.

And they've had some overtime games as well. So that's his mindset now is he's you know, he's taking on a workload that we've seen throughout his entire career. And he's just trying to get the Lakers into a good play into a good place.

We'll talk about that load management as well in a minute. But I have to ask you, how is it possible that the Lakers are where they are when they put all that money into getting LeBron and A.D. and trying to build around him? I think it's almost head scratching. Is this a is this just the way the team has been built?

Do you think? I mean, if you're Jeannie Buss and you're sitting there knowing that the minutes are counting down for how much time you have LeBron James, are you just thinking I've got to restructure what I can't imagine what it's like for LeBron at this point to be sitting on this team the way it is right now playing the way they are? I think that I think there's probably some patience, you know, that for one of their starters, Jared Vanderbilt has been hurt all season and he's a big, rugged wing defender that that is good playing alongside LeBron. And then you look at Austin Reeves, who I spent a lot of time with this summer on Team USA, who had a great summer for the Americans. And then he was one of those players you thought was really going to have a springboard year back in the States with the Lakers. And he actually hasn't gotten off to a very good start.

So I think that's an issue. And then some of their other ancillary pieces have been inconsistent. You know, there's I mean, Gabe Vincent has hasn't been as good as he was with the Heat. And he's had some minor injuries that he's been working through. So I'm not concerned yet about the Lakers.

You know, they historically have started kind of slow. The chemistry is a lot better there this year. And, you know, Russell Westbrook was there the last two years. And it just was a bad fit personality and game wise with him, the Lakers. So he's happier now with the Clippers. The Lakers are happier without him. So I don't think it's time to panic.

I it's a team that went to the conference finals last year and on paper they got better. It's always time to panic if you're a Laker fan, don't you think? I mean, like there's not a time where you don't panic. That's that's true.

And like you said, the clock. I mean, for the first time ever, LeBron publicly considered retiring. It was after last season.

Everybody knows about it. And obviously it didn't happen. But just a simple fact of him putting his own words to that idea really, you know, rang the bell that that the end maybe isn't maybe it's not where he's not on the doorstep.

Of walking away. But it's it's in the conversation now. So, you know, the Lakers have a window that's going to be open as long as LeBron's there. They need Anthony Davis to be upright. He's he was a little banged up the other night. So that's always a concern. But, you know, they need to win now for sure. You were there for the James Harden opening salvo with the Clippers.

I'm curious about this. At the end of the year, James Harden's year is a? Oh, well, I mean, every year that he's ever had has ended in disappointment because of his playoff track record and the track record of the teams that he's been on.

So, you know, I guess history tells us that that's going to be the answer. I think if there's a chance to get away from that word disappointment, he's got a coach and Ty Lou, who is as creative as anybody in the NBA. And he's somebody who has worked with these star teams before. And, you know, I like to make the point. Ty is a asking all four of these guys, Harden, Leonard, Paul, George and Russ that they have to sacrifice.

OK. But the other thing he's doing now is is when push comes to shove. He does want the ball in Kawhi Leonard's hands, which means he's going to ask a little more from the sacrifice perspective of the other three stars.

My point is he's done this before. When he took over the Cavs in 2016, they were in first place. They had just come off of finals. They had LeBron, they had Kyrie, they had Kevin Love. And Ty had to sit those guys down. And he said, when push comes to shove, you, Kyrie and you, Kevin Love, have to defer to LeBron.

And they did. So Ty has a chance to make it work with the Clippers. And that's how that's how he will do it.

And how will he massage the egos for that, do you think? Ty has a tremendous what is it is the word cachet like he has he has an abundance of respect among players because he was a player and he communicates with these guys as well as anybody in the league. So when Ty asks you to do something, they they typically do it. You know, I was in the bubble as one of the reporters there and every night, I guess not every night, but many nights. Reporters and players would congregate outside at Disney and Ty would hold court with these players. And it wasn't just that he was an assistant coach on the Clippers at the time. And it wasn't just the players on the Clippers who would come sit with him. I mean, players from the Lakers, players from the Raptors and the 76ers, they would all come and just sit and hang out with him because that's who he is to these players. So he's got to rely on his personality and the respect that he's built up over a great career. But it's, you know, it's listen, James Harden, the day that he gets introduced as a as a Clipper says, you know, I'm not a system player, I am a system. So it's it's it's not a small task to get players like that to buy in and to do to take fewer shots and then move the ball more.

But, you know, James led the league in assists last year. So it's not like he doesn't know how to pass and he wanted to come to the Clippers. So it's not like he didn't know who's on the team. So this is what he wanted. He got what he wanted.

And it's upon him to buy into what Ty has to say and to get others to do so as well. Hey, Joe, Chris Brockman, a big matchup in the east tonight, Boston at Philly. What have you seen from these two teams early in the year?

Well, with Philadelphia, we have Nick Nurse, who has brought I mean, he's just an entirely different style coach than Doc, and they do some different things defensively. He's you know, he's a little bit more of a game to game. You know, a strategic, if you will. Is that a word? If not, it's OK.

I can make these make up these. We'll let it go this time. Yeah. You know, he's a strategy guy and you don't always see that on the average night in the NBA.

But that's something that Nick likes to do. And he's getting a lot out of Joelle for sure. Tyrese Maxey is is evolving and thriving, you know, taking over for James Harden.

So that's been great. And then you say and then the Celtics, right? Like they they are incredibly deep again, but they look like they're the makeup of the team is different because of Drew Holliday and also because of Porzingis. So they they certainly have as good of a starting five as any in the NBA.

And they have just you know, I know they lost for the first time the other night, but they have been a dominant, dominant group. TJ, TJ here as one of the rare Clippers and Sixers fans, since we're talking about the Clippers want to know this. What do you, in your opinion, see the Sixers doing now? Do you see them maybe packaging those picks they got for Harden and getting another superstar this season? Do you think maybe they kind of ride this out for the remainder of this year and then maybe look towards next year where I believe they have somewhere around like fifty five million open to bring another star in? What do you think the Sixers are going to do?

Because I'm like nervous here right now. Well, I mean, I think I understand the nerves, but at the same time, I think you've got to feel very good about the start, considering the tumultuous training camp that they had with the James Harden saga. You know, we all know Daryl Morey. We all know the big swings that he takes. And I mean, it wasn't too long ago that he was able to bring James to Philadelphia from the Brooklyn Nets off of a super team. So, you know, Daryl's track record suggests that there's another move coming. You very accurately and eloquently describe the the the arsenal that that Daryl has to spend to bring that person back. But he has time.

You know, I mean, the February trade deadline is a long time from now. And in the meantime, this group is winning. And I think you want to see how good Tyrese Maxey gets. And you want to see, you know, how how much Nick gets out of out of the supporting cast. But yeah, I mean, I expect them to make a move. You know, I mean, the Raptors, Nick's former team. You know, there's there's a couple of players there if the Raptors decide to break it up. You know, you you monitor what's going on in Cleveland with with Donovan Mitchell. Not that the Cavs are looking to move on from him, but if I mean, they're off to kind of a slow. So, so start will say after beating the Warriors, but was a slow start. If that were to continue, then there's a conversation there.

And then you look at the Bulls. They have a couple of players that would all fit along Joelle and alongside Joelle and beat as well. So the goal obviously is to win. And the goal is to keep Joelle happy. That's the goal one and one.

Maybe they're one in the same. And, you know, as a strategic, you know, I'm sure Nick will figure it out. And one last thing, Joe, to just kind of close on the Sixers. Do you think we'll ever find out what exactly went down with James and Darryl? Because they were seemingly such a great tag team. And then something definitely went awry. Do you think that whatever happened really come to light? Do we know what what really went down with those two that made the Harden so angry?

Well, listen, I have never sat in a room with two of them at the same time, just the three of us. And I wasn't there, you know, as the feeling soured. But I do feel like they're there that there is an explanation.

And, you know, it's based off of what we've seen and heard publicly and also just some conversations I've had. But, you know, James Harden last year. So heading in, heading into the previous season, took less money like he could have. He could have had more money than he took from the Sixers. So they so so they could bring P.J.

Tucker on and and and build a team to win. He was looking to be compensated for that going forward. And I feel like the Sixers were ready to do something like that. And then the season goes along and James basically flirts with the Rockets.

And I don't know if it was a negotiating ploy on his camp's part or what the deal was there. But these reports began to surface and there was traction there about, you know, James's interest in going back to Houston. While all that's going on, the Sixers again fall short in the playoffs and James really struggled, you know, to deliver like he.

I mean, that's what his track record shows, certainly over the last couple of seasons and for most of his career. And then he goes in and the market dries up for him, especially in Houston. And that that that option wasn't available. So now he's looking to be paid what he thought was fair from the Sixers. They wanted to pay him less than what he was looking for and with few with fewer years available on that contract. And that upset James to the point where he exercised his option with the idea then that he would force a trade. The the Sixers didn't want to do that. They ultimately did.

But I feel like I feel like by and large, that's pretty close to what happened. Who intrigues you, Joe Vardon? Who do you have next in your scope that you want to look into?

Who are we not talking about or who's interesting to you, either a team or a player? Oh, my. Wow, that's a great question.

That's why I sit in the chair. I mean, you know, someone's going to ask the good questions here. OK. You know what? I will answer your question. I did not see the Dallas Mavericks starting this way. So good. And I also did not see and maybe I should have the Memphis Grizzlies getting off to as poor of a start as they have.

So I'm looking to see if either trend continues. Is this Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving pairing with really just role players behind them? They never were able to get that third star. Does that work? I mean, they missed the playoffs last year. So how good are they going to be? And is this Kyrie, you know, last a full season stay out of the controversy that he has found himself in?

Does that work? And then with the Grizzlies, you know what? Well, John Moran is out. I mean, they have two other stars who are playing well. Desmond Bain and Jaron Jackson Jr. are playing like themselves. But, you know, they just got their first win the other night.

They lost their first six. They sorely miss Steven Adams, who's gone for the year. And, you know, they traded away their sort of security blanket for John Moran and Tyus Jones. And I feel like those two moves, you know, the injury to Steven and losing Tyus has really hurt them. You know, Marcus Smart's there, but he's a different player than Tyus. And the way Tyus kind of held that group together the last couple of years when Ja was out is really how they were able to win games when Ja was either hurt or in trouble. So can the Grizzlies get it together?

And if they do, what will that look like, you know, come the springtime? I mean, I think those are two really interesting storylines. Let me just tell you the answer to the Kyrie Irving. Will he stay out of controversy?

No, it just doesn't ever happen. So let's just let me just finish that one up for you. Joe, thank you so much.

I want to talk Steve Kerr. I wanted to talk load management. Your articles for The Athletic are incredible. Thank you so much for your work and thanks for taking the time to be with us today.

I enjoyed it and I'll come back any time. Thank you. Awesome.

Thanks so much. Love having him on. He is an incredible writer. Boom. I mean, he answers everything you want and he writes the most interesting articles. I think he's fantastic.

I'm happy to have him on. We're going to take a break. Close out the first hour when we come back.

I don't know. Chris Brockman will torture me about something. Come on. What are we going to talk about coming back, Chris?

Chocolate croissants. I brought some good stuff today. I always do. You guys are spoiled. That is the most, in my mind, rewatchable movie there is. Oh, Fugitive. Does it hold up or what?

It does. How about that train wreck? The train wreck at the top. For sure. It's a remote drop for me all the time.

Does not matter where it is. Yeah. But, you know, and we are such huge fans of the film. Huge. We wanted, you know, on behalf of the fans of the film, thank you for catching the switching of the samples.

Oh, the liver samples? Without you. You are welcome. Our D90, you know? Wow. You know that?

I'm so glad you remember that detail because that's, I would say to people that you don't remember. I'm the one who did the liver sample. I solved the mystery. You did. Of the liver samples. Well, you and Bones, you know.

Bones, of course. God, you remember everything. I'm telling you, I've seen this movie a million times. And wasn't the relationship between Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones quite wonderful? Amazing. Yeah.

I love it. Tommy Lee Jones' character, obviously, they did another movie out of it. But, Harrison Ford, perhaps the most beat up movie star of all time. Yeah, he gets his... Oh, yeah. Well, he does his own stunts, too. I mean, that's his own damn fault. Did you do your own stunts?

I did all my own stunts. I dealt, I actually handled the liver samples with these fingers. It's ungloved. See?

That's not Santa Claus. You know, that's why you're as successful as you are, Jane. You don't leave any stone unturned. And thank you so much. I go the extra mile.

Thank you for your hard work. Without which, Devlin McGregor could perhaps be in business still today. Yeah, maybe. With Dr. Nichols doing his nefarious deeds, you know? And Dr. Kimball would be in jail still. Oh, I know.

Would you think about it? He'd be rotting in jail if it weren't for me. And I forget my character's name. It was Kathy Wallin.

If it weren't for Kathy Wallin. See? Bingo. See? It comes back to you.

It does. Back here on The Rich Eisen Show, Suzy Schuster in for Rich Eisen, who has biked his way through Berlin today. He will join us soon, guys, to talk about what he saw and if he's in one piece after making his way through the Tiesgaden. I don't know how he's going to be.

I think pretty good. He looks great. Like I said, look at his story. He's having a great time.

You know, because he didn't have any assignment for NFL Network for a couple days. So, you know, people, you and others have encouraged him to kind of be a tourist. Be a tourist a little bit. Go see Berlin, which is such an amazing city. Have you been to Berlin? I've not been to Berlin.

I've been to Munich and Cologne and Dusseldorf, kind of the west coast of Germany. I mean, it is all the way across. Go look at the map, people. Don't hurt yourself looking at a map. It's like Maine, kind of.

It's in the northeast part of Germany. It's just so much bigger. Yeah.

I mean, it's so crazy and such an amazing city. And he has really enjoyed and said the hospitality has been incredible. I think he's had a lot of bread stuff, to say the least. He said that he was going to ask a little a little heavier.

You better not. It's it's it's it's Europe. You never gain weight in Europe.

No, it's just the maintainer. He he will eat his head off in Europe and not gain a pound. And he took the train when the few times I've been to Europe, loved taking the train. Amazing country. It's amazing.

It's amazing. So, yeah, he's had the best time. He said that people are just treating him so beautifully and he's really enjoying it and he's excited to go back and get back to work. But I think he I think he's enjoying himself.

Well, let's ask him a little rich time. What's that like? Somebody said to me yesterday, like, when's the last time you watched a television show by yourself? I said, I don't know, on a plane. I can't like cheers in nineteen ninety four years. I mean, Frasier wings.

I have wings. I mean, look, Susie, you're busy keeping four. And I did say four human beings alive. What about the two dogs?

Oh, and four of them brings two dogs. So I'm going to bring you guys breakfast every day. I mean, you're the only one who sits in that chair that brings us food. This croissant is so good.

It's nourished. Oh, I'm laughing with Andrew. Oh, Andrew, so funny. Andrew, what did you bring for breakfast, huh? What did you bring, Andrew? Did I see you walk in with croissants, Andrew? I mean, he don't get us drunk on mimosas. I mean, donuts yesterday.

I'm just saying. And you weren't even hosting yesterday. Hey, Ron. Hey, Ron, where are you? Andrew, what did you bring? Where is A-Ron right now?

Seriously? Mimosas tomorrow. I ask good questions.

Just ask Joe Varden. I bring the breakfast stuffs. I bring booze.

I should be in there every day. What the hell? Somebody else who is our kids, her name's Toma, compared to who we usually have sitting there, you know, you bring everything up.

Susie, whatever. We're going to put up a poll question about breakfast, because that's what gets people excited is food. Yes, it could be that. What are we throwing up here? Best, best, best breakfast food. That's right.

Well, that's that's all encompassing. We want to do it like best pastry that you expect me to bring every time. Show the croissants for best breakfast pastry. By the way, Amy Trask every week for what the football comes in with ice cream. And she eats whipped cream with sprinkles on top. She is the smallest human being in the world and has an iron leg. She literally weighs like 92 pounds. She's so tiny. She does eat ice cream.

That's right. She sits there and she takes a cup. She's she puts whipped cream in a cup and then put sprinkles on top. She eats it like it's a real food. She doesn't eat real food.

She just eats that. Also, when you bring these croissants, these things are like on steroids. Like last time you came in, I had a croissant that looked like a crab off the deadliest catch. I mean, it was that big. And you didn't need for three more days.

Is that what you're saying? All right. So I have a donut muffin croissant.

What's the fourth here? Best breakfast pastry bagel, a scone scone, a scone bagels, not a pastry kind of croissant. A bagel is a breakfast stuff. It's a breakfast stuff bagel.

All right, great. Yeah, I think bagel over. Nobody likes scones advertising show right now.

Call us eight four four two four. Look, Joe likes scones. I had something to say about the Great British Bake Show. I had something to say.

What was it? Because we we met Prue and Paul from the Great British Bake Show at the Roku up front. Oh, I've never been more starstruck. I mean, I fell into Paul Hollywood. Guys love that show. Oh, I love it so much.

And Prue is my new best friend. That's my humble brag. But whatever. Do we we we don't have time for Robert Solid, do we? Oh, what a bummer.

Hoskins, I'm sorry. I totally was it under two minutes. Then we have time. No, I don't think so. OK, we'll talk about it later.

All right. We got two more hours to go. Rich.

Rich is coming up in like five minutes. We'll play for also callers. Yes. Also, callers. Susie loves callers.

I know. How come no one's called in yet today? I don't know. Where's Jeff? Where's Terzo? I want some new callers, too. I love you, Jeff.

I love you, Terzo. But come on, you guys. We know Jimmy's going to call. I'm saying Antonio is now a good time to tell you before Rich calls in that I totally redid his office while he's away. Oh, you did throw anything out. Oh, yeah. Oh, no. So much.

That's so much stuff. I get to rearrange it, but you actually toss stuff out. Oh, yeah.

I put footballs and nice things. May have found a weird note from somebody. Oh, no. Let's move on. Let's go. We should we should probably can we read it? Can we read? Let's read it.

It's quite rich. He leaves. He's such a good guy. And then we just sit there and clean out his closets while he's gone. OK, it's all good.

All right. So we've got we've got the Feldman coming up. We've got Marshall Fall coming up. We've got a rich coming up. You're here. We're here as sort of chicane here. I'm here.

You're there. Oh, I've got a Chris Meyer story, but that's probably not fit for television. Oh, anyway. Well, dude, I've been around for so long. I got a story on everybody.

I should write a book. Oh, my God. It's already 15 to radio. I'm just saying.

I mean, I'm just saying this is going by too fast. I'm going to lose today. Yesterday for the podcast, I was a little pissy today.

I'm right here with you. Our number one in the books. Our two straight ahead on The Rich Eisen Show. But anyway, speaking of The Great British Baking Show, that's what it was. It was J.J. Watt.

That's what it was. J.J. Watt saying it's only 5 a.m. in England. But when you guys wake up, I've got a question that needs answering. Do we not have air conditioning tents on that side of the pond? Has this technology not reached you? Every season of Great British Bake Off, there's a hot tent crisis.

Just AC the tents. Well, listen, J.J., let me just drop this one. Let me text Brew and ask her.

Whoa. Because I have Prue's cell phone. Dude, I have some good stuff in my Rolodex, but I have Prue's. I have Prue's number. I'm going to send her this text. Again, met her at the Roku up front. A lot of fancy people in the room. I have a picture.

I think I'll pull it up for one of our little commercial breaks. I think we're sent to be of me looking at Prue. And I just think she's the coolest.

So the answer, J.J. Hey, J.J. Watt, I'll get back to you on that. To be honest with you, if Prue was in here right now, I would not know who Prue was. Yeah, I don't know who that is. She's amazing.

She's one of the most famous bakers in the history of Britain. And oh, by the way, wears incredible jewelry. I'm just saying. And Paul Hollywood is one of those guys where, like, every girl who goes out and is like, Hi, Paul.

I mean, it's just so funny. I thought you said crew from Michael. Crew.

The expanded, you know, the. No, no. No, Prue. All right, Rich is going to re, Rich is going to tell us about his bike tour. We've got photographs. Mitch made up some some cute little caricatures. I mean, look at that picture. I didn't even know we were going to put it up.

But at least he's wearing the Harris tweed. And our number one in the books, our two straight ahead of the Rich Eisen show. How wrestling really works and how you get the ratings.

Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson explain on 83 weeks. Too much time is spent discussing talent's age. The younger demo is just as excited about Paul Heyman or John Cena or an undertaker or Becky Lanchard. I don't care what their birth certificate says. They're going to draw a younger demo because they're fun to watch and they're great entertainers. Eighty three weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.