Howard Beck: Do The Lakers Find A Way To Draft Bronny?

Hey, it's Valentine's Day. This is the Rich Eisen Show. I love the fit. With guest host, Susie Shuster. I love it.

You do? I love it. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. How best to describe how the Niners are processing everything. I've never been in a more devastated locker room.

And that's saying something because I've covered this team for several years now. Today's guests, veteran NBA reporter Howard Beck, pro football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, box sports college football analyst Bruce Feldman. And now, it's Susie Shuster.

And what better way to say Happy Valentine's Day than to sit in for your husband on Valentine's Day who's home throwing up. Hi, everybody. Susie Shuster here with you. Rich is home. He's on the IR.

We're gonna sit him as a sideline reporter. Hey, listen, you gotta have a sense of humor with this. And by the way, you know what I was thinking as the show was starting? This is so fun. Look what we get to do. This is so fun.

I still think it's fun after all these years. Hey, everybody. Sideline reporter Susie Shuster here to tell you an update on Rich Eisen who is home and sideline for the week. You guys, guys, Rich will be home and staying rested.

He'll be getting plenty of IVs and fluids and hopefully we'll be back for the show on Monday. Guys, I got it back to you. Back to you, TJ. Hi, TJ. What's up, Susie? How are you? Good to see you hanging in there. Yeah, I brought you donuts. I saw that.

I appreciate you. We got Kurt Warner in. I'm excited to have him calling in and zooming in.

Howard Beck is actually going to be with us shortly. Talk some hoops. Yeah, little hoops. Celtics look pretty good last night, huh? I mean, we're the we're the best team in the league by far. Anyway, you like them apples?

I mean, how can you even take them at thirty one and a half? And it was like, all right, this game's over. Tatum's release is so silly. It was so much fun to watch him. He just it's just a beautiful watch.

It's pretty great. No one talks about him as being one of the best players in the league, but that's fine. Well, not like everyone's talking about Curry. Is he the top five of all time? Like, yeah, we already know that.

Hello, people. I mean, top five all time. That's pretty good. That's kind of fun. That's a bold, bold top ten.

Maybe I want to ask Howard back about all the rumors now about sources, sources saying sources saying that the Warriors went shopping for LeBron. Oh, I mean, come on. That's both old. I like a bold statement like that. So we've got that. Who else do we have on the show today? We've got Kurt, got Kurt at 10.

He's going to be watching tape. Let's break down Super Bowl a little bit. Still Wednesday parade today.

That's exactly right. This is the day the Chiefs get wasted. Let's see what happens if anybody throws a trophy. A lot.

Tom Brady. Well, we have in the last year or the four years ago that Kelsey was wearing this like twenty thousand dollar Louis coat. Oh, that's right. Just got absolutely beer drenched. Yep.

And then we later we asked him about what the dry cleaning bill was or which texted him. And then what's going to happen when the Kelsey's play together next year? It's going to be amazing. I'm trying to get this going. I don't know.

I haven't really heard it anywhere else. I was trying to get this going on overreaction Monday podcast where you get your podcasts and on our YouTube channel that Jason has yet to announce a retirement doesn't really know what he's doing yet. Let me ask you a question. Go to Casey.

Play with your brother. Let me ask you a question, Chris. If you said it on overreaction Monday and I heard it on overreaction Monday, are you a source? Can I say sources? Tell me. Yes, absolutely. That Jason Kelsey is contemplating joining his brother Travis.

We're really going for a three pete attempt next year. You heard it here on the Rich Eisen Show. Back to you, Chris. What is it? The JLM and dove and and all the football aggregators. We're not reporting. I'm really just trying to get that going as a rumor. I like it.

I think it'd be awesome. As I said earlier in the week, I guess a jumpstart what he said. I'm looking at him during the trophy presentation. He's standing there confetti falling. He's got that look on his face. He's like, I want that again. And I mean, he wants it with his brother.

I'm totally into it. Let's go with your brother. Let's go with it. Sources tell us. I know that you hate them, T.J., but they hate me. So they have been so close.

He has been there on the sideline watching his brother celebrate just a year ago. And think about this. Why would you want to try to win one? Think about what it would do for Miss Donna Kelsey's wardrobe. No more split jersey. She could just go with one, maybe two numbers front and back. She wouldn't have to do the half and half. So, you know, I know in the friendly, Kelsey's wouldn't have to split who goes where. Yeah, exactly. You get one or two sweets next to each other. Taylor can hang out in one.

It'd be great. Oh, they're definitely sharing the room, though. They're close to all of Jason's kids. And the other one, even the Kelsey brothers sharing the room.

And then, you know, Kylie and Taylor and the kids, they go into the adjoining room. I think it's a great story. I think if you told me and I told you, that's two sources. This is basically happening to source this. Yeah, let's let's. By the way, if this actually happens, we own this story. Yes, I'm just saying. But don't aggregate us. We're not reporting it. Well, I'm just going to predict it.

Dispelling. It's not a prediction. Don't you have the off season script over there? You had the 20, 20, three seasons that came to fruition. You nailed it every step of the way, weekend and week. Everything just came true. It was written down on paper.

OK, what's the off season script look like? I haven't checked my mail yesterday. I didn't go to the mail room, but I'm pretty sure it's in. I got an alert that mail had been delivered.

So did you get did you get Sarah Valentine? I did. See, here's the deal. Oh, God.

Oh, God. Never good. Never good when it starts with last year.

Last year, I kind of fumbled the bag a little bit. Oh, Chris. And I had to make a super last minute resi. Liz actually babysat. And it was. That's right.

Kind of a situation. That's right. This year, I plan two weeks out. We're going a veteran move going to dinner tomorrow. Amateurs go out on Valentine's Day. The real pros go the day after because you couldn't get a res. Is that what it is? I wanted to go to this one spot.

You couldn't get it was closed. So we're going tomorrow. Where are you going? I was just, you know, did you get her a present or flowers?

Did you get a card? She's probably listening. Well, you know, I go to the same flower spot every year. I love it. I go there. I got to get the cup. You're such a such a rook.

Name the place. You make it a nice deal. No, they're not sponsoring anything. They might after you say so. I'm not dummy dummy. You might get a discount if you let me. They're not paying for anything.

I mean, yeah, you guys are amateurs. You don't like me. Won't say anything.

Don't drop names unless they're buying. That's what Amy says to me. Says if you're not going to sponsor, I'm going to back with the lawyer.

Well, OK, well, then I can't do that. You guys can't argue that. By the way, speaking of Amy Trask, the great Amy Trask, what the football we had Jim Nance yesterday on. If you want to download that podcast, wherever you find your podcast or check it out on YouTube. He was fantastic. And it was the first time he'd spoken since the Super Bowl. So please check out what the football back to you, Chris. Back to me. Yeah.

What are we talking about? You're not fumbling the ball. Anyway, I planned ahead. We're good to go. Yeah, I feel great about it.

However, I did order something and it was a little bit smaller than I wanted to return it. I paid for the expedited shipping, so hopefully it should be here. I went tomorrow a couple of days. Coop's birthday tomorrow. Don't forget.

Coopie Coop. Yep. Don't forget. Thirteen. Yeah.

Big thirteen. Nice. Mitzvah coming up. Excited. Big Mitzvah.

What are you aware of those things? You wear a really cute outfit. Yeah. Dress up nice, though, right? Dress up nice. All right. I'm going to. You better dress up nice. Slappy gift situation for one of these things.

You're supposed to either give a gift that it's in multiples of 18, which is high, which is why is it 18 if they're turning 13? I don't know. Ask the Jews. I'm not sure why I'm asking. I'm literally asking what you are, but it could be a wrong one.

Oops. Do you know what? I think it's like I think I is 18 and I think that's life. And so it's like traditional sold. Sold me. How's this sports show going? It's great. Today is your mom. Did you get your mom a Valentine's Day?

I didn't. Well, it's not too late, but you're her boy. I got to be honest, despite the fact that I'm wearing a Shawn Michaels T-shirt with a heart on it. Heartbreak Kid.

I completely forgot this. Today was Valentine's Day when I got dressed. I wasn't thinking about it when I pulled this shirt out, the dresser. I just put it on. I actually thought of the Heartbreak Kid on Valentine's Day. I didn't think about it until I looked in the monitor and I was like, oh, crap, I have a heart on.

And they had nothing to do with it. It was just like there. And I picked it up. Here's my sneakers.

So I put it on. Here's the deal. And life advice. Wait, wait, wait. Let's all stop down and listen to life advice from Chris Brockman.

Yes, Chris. Your mom still lives in Altoona, right? In the break. Call the local florist at Altoona. She might be watching stuff delivered.

I might be on I might be on the website right now. Nice job on the box of hot chocolates. Mikey, any Valentine's plans for you, babe? I'm going out to dinner. He said that like he couldn't wait for you to ask. I am quiet about it.

You have a date when you post it on Instagram. And I won't talk about it for like an hour. So exciting. I'm quiet. I keep it quiet. I got up this morning. Not my life. My that life.

I don't. I'm excited for you. Thank you, Susan. I wish I was in the seat tomorrow.

But I think it's Siciliano. And maybe he'll ask about your Valentine's evening. Just know that I care.

That's what I'm saying. I got up this morning. Five thirty. I quietly put my Valentine's in front of all the kids doors. Slipped a couple, you know, like a little candy with some golden retrievers on them. I left a Valentine for rich. He said he liked his car. He finally got up after sleeping for thirty six hours, which is wonderful news.

He needed it. But here's our Valentine's Day plan tonight. I'm sleeping in my office. I'm not going near a flu. I had covid like like when what?

Two weeks ago, a week ago. I mean, coop, by the way, like he had tennis tryouts with covid. He did great. So I'm just saying my Valentine's Day is maybe a pizza delivery. That's all I have to say.

Yeah. So Jason Tatum dropped a lot for Valentine's Day. He looked pretty great. So we will talk to Howard back about the NBA shortly.

Looking forward to that as well. And yeah, yesterday was the day that the Niners broke down and talked about all of their disappointment with the Super Bowl. Kyle Shanahan was asked about whether or not his players were prepared for overtime.

And here's what he had to say. Was it important, do you think, for the players to know that the new rule as it pertains to overtime in the playoffs? Well, yeah, I mean, we we did say and we told everyone as we were waiting for the coin toss, I review everyone with to make sure they're sure before we go out. So we asked position coach to do that. But now I didn't cover it in a meeting on the Super Bowl week.

I don't think that changes anything. We did it with our analytics department. We decided that going into the playoffs. What you know, I think you guys know how I've explained how I make decisions with that stuff in the past. I take all the information I can get, especially ones I haven't been in. And our analytics felt that was the best way to go. But as you guys know, I don't always just go with that. I take into account what they say, what they think is right.

And then I go off my gut in the heat of battle. And I knew what they felt going into it. And when I think about that during the moments I have make the decision, I think the type of game it was did match what they felt was the best way to do. It did seem more like a field goal game. And our demons had been out there for a real long time right before that.

So it was no, I didn't feel at all to override that at the time. I actually talked about that with Jim Nance yesterday on what the football he did notice that, that defense did look gas. Let's keep rolling with this sound and hear from him on the notion that he can't perform in big games. I mean, you'd love to fix perception because I would love to win one for what I know about football and stuff.

And I know if I fixed perception, that means I did everything I wanted to do, which isn't fixed perception. It's win a damn Super Bowl. But I also know like when you say big games, like we've got to win a bunch of big games to get to Super Bowls. We've won a lot of big games here. We've won a lot of big games to get into playoffs. The fact that we keep getting there shows you guys how many, how much we've been game, win games or big games.

And I think you guys are aware of that. But it's, you know, these two Super Bowls have been tough losing to Kansas City. But to think that if, if we win that, that means I can win a big game. No, that means our team won the Super Bowl. That's what, that's what I understand. You guys can have any narrative you want, but like the success or the failure and it comes down to one game.

And I hope that I can be a part of a team that wins a game at the end of the year. But to say that the Niners can't win a big game would be an extremely inaccurate statement. Well inaccurate, but they lost the big game. Twice.

Twice. And he was part of the Falcons 28 to three. It's too bad that kind of, this is the narrative on this guy, but it is what it is.

He's such a great coach and a great offensive mind. We've kind of seen with what he's done with San Francisco. You know, one seat in the NFC, a lot of big games they were trailing and in the playoff games came back and won those.

You've seen this on social media a lot this weekend. I think it's pretty accurate. He's kind of in the Andy Reid Eagles head coach stage of his career when Randy Reid went to all those NFC championship games in a row, lost the one Super Bowl to the Patriots. And he was there for a long time and had a lot of success and then kind of flamed out and went to KC.

And now they're one of the ten great dynasties in NFL history. So I think it's coming for Kyle Shanahan. I like to have fun kind of ripping on him, his big game stuff. But I do believe he's going to win a Super Bowl someday and it's going to be a great moment when he does. He's only 44, so he's got 25 years left of his coaching career and I have no doubts that he's going to win the big one. I mean, you have to think when he goes to bed at night, he has nightmares that involve Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady.

Yeah, without question. I mean, think about it. We're asking him to win these games, which of course no team is two players, right? We're not talking about we get it. But this one is going to be a hard one and for him to say this game, I thought it was the field goal.

I mean, I said this yesterday. You never put yourself in a position and nobody ever did with Tom Brady to leave him with any time on the clock. I understand the rules you're going for sudden death, but don't you think you got it?

You got to stab the dagger when you can. Yeah. And you think about the what ifs on Sunday, TJ, you talk about a punt hits the heel of the 49er blocking for the return that leads to a Chiefs touchdown. It's just kind of, you know, that one point game of inches, the blocked extra extra point, a lot of things that went against the Niners that went for the Chiefs. And that's kind of the difference.

And, you know, you're a bum or you're the greatest of all time. Well, first and foremost, you kind of drive the train on the on the Shanahan. It's fun. Not as fans are really sensitive. So it's kind of fun to just kind of wind them up.

Yeah. Also, Susie, though, you said he's having nightmares about my homes and Brady. Well, that's kind of understandable. That's like having nightmares about Jordan and Kobe. Like, it's not like Jeff Hostetler and Trent Dilfer all do respect were the quarterbacks that beat you. You lost to the top two guys. At least everyone's putting them as the top two guys ever played a position.

So, you know, it's not that bad of a thing. Who was it, TJ, that referred to him as like the Jerry Sloan? And it was somebody who did a deep dive into when Jerry Sloan was the head coach. Was there a lot of and you too can check out the interlops key on the Rich Eisen show.

Go to the YouTube archives. Check out that interview. It was it was excellent. But yeah, he pulled out the Jerry Sloan. And I just remember covering the Jazz whenever they come to town or when I went to Salt Lake, especially playoffs, there was that just feeling of you'd watch Stockton Malone, but you had Shaq and Kobe and Rick and Derek and all these guys. And it was that eventuality for Jerry Sloan where he just looks sick at the end of every game, much like Rich looked yesterday. But, you know, there was just so funny that he would pull out Jerry Sloan. Yeah, I mean, look, it's not like Jerry Sloan wasn't a great coach, one of the best ever, because he was. He just happened to live in the era of Phil Jackson, much like, you know, a lot of the NFL coaches, they lived in the era of Belichick. You know, it's not that you're doing a bad job is that you're going up against something that's truly special and, you know, generational.

And that's kind of where these coaches found themselves, the positions that they were. Good thing we've got Howard Beck coming on next. We'll go just keep steamrolling through the hoops and we'll make all these comparisons as we go. Let's take a quick break.

When we come back, Howard Beck joins us here on the Rich Eisen Show. Don't go anywhere. You need parts. O'Reilly Auto Parts has parts. Need them fast?

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I'm serious. We got everything DoorDash to the house. Kind of like what we saw during the big game, right? DoorDash went all out for game day and DoorDash stuffed from all the ads to one lucky winner. Cars, snacks, even tax software. What a football game that was, for sure.

It was one heck of a delivery for the winning team. And whatever watch party or anything party you've got coming up, get it delivered to DoorDash. You're going to love it. We sure do in my house.

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Get dinner for tonight, groceries for the week, or a consolation prize for your sad friends in San Francisco. All on DoorDash. DoorDash, your door to more. Head to the DoorDash app to get everything you need delivered. Good to see you, Shaquille O'Neal.

How are you, sir? Before we get started. Yes. If I take this home, will I get arrested? The Vince Lombardi trophy? Is this the real one?

That's the real one. That's a real Vince Lombardi trophy. I don't know if that's the one that's going to be given to the Rams or the Patriots this weekend, but that is a real... You want to lift it? Well, if I lift it, I want to take it home. Well, then I think we're at a crossroads here.

Actually, we're not at a crossroads. Let me tell you why. Okay, sure. I'm not a lawyer, but I watch a lot of law shows. I got about 50 witnesses that say me hit my head on your set. 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. I know that. All you got to do is just give me this and I'll put it next to my own. 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. Okay, you sure you don't want to touch that? Bad luck. Bad luck for you or for... No, to touch the trophy when you don't earn it. I like that. Yeah, my father used to always... Are you serious? Yeah, he always used to... Because you know when you're a kid, you get the trophy from the local trophy shop? Sure.

You'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.

That's why... You know how in the NBA when you win the Eastern Conference or the 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 is beautiful, though.

It's a beautiful trophy. Yeah. Back on The Rich Eisen Show, Suzy Schuster in for Rich Eisen. He is on the IR taking off the rest of the week.

Andrew Siciliano will be in later on. Welcome back to The Rich Eisen Show Radio Network. I'm sitting back at the show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger's got the right product for you.

Call clickranger.com or just stop by. Howard Beck joins me now from The Ringer. My old friend from the Lakers beat days. Great to see you again. Howard never thought I'd spend Valentine's Day with you, but here we are. Great to see you as well. Happy Valentine's Day and pass along my best to Rich, of course.

Oh, I sure will. Let's get right into it and talk about the article that you've got up on The Ringer today looking ahead post trade deadline and looking ahead at the rest of the season. What would you foretelling? Yeah, so the trade deadline last week by a lot of measures was kind of a dud. Now there were a flurry of deals in the last 24 hours, but it's mostly second tier players and a lot of second round picks and just reshuffling the deck and people getting their salary cap in order, that kind of stuff.

Not a lot of sizzle and that always disappoints fans. So we were trying to spin it forward a little. So my piece on the ringer.com today is about speculation season, which is all the GMs in the league, Suzy, are now sitting back and going, OK, well, who could we get this summer when the blockbusters usually happen? Because it's hard to make those the scale of that kind of move mid-season.

You usually have to wait till the summer when there's just a lot more room to maneuver. So that may mean, first of all, that teams are looking at LeBron James going, huh, any chance that he breaks free from the Lakers if he's discontented there? If he does, would they put Anthony Davis on the market? So it's it's more about questions and speculation than it is about any definitive answers. But along the way, some of the intel I got just in talking to people around the league, everybody kind of expects that the Hawks are moving either to John T. Murray or potentially even Trae Young. And there's a lot, a lot of heat, I feel like, around Trae in particular.

And so that's something to keep an eye on. But just across the league, it's always in today's NBA, who's the next disillusioned star to ask out? Right. We've seen Harden do it multiple times. Kevin Durant do it multiple times. Kyrie Irving. He's another one that teams will keep an eye on in the event that the Luca Kyrie partnership doesn't bear enough fruit in the postseason. So it's just kind of, you know, ruminating on all these possibilities. What about the rumor that came out, the sources saying that the Warriors had made feelers for LeBron with the, I think it was Draymond had said, go ahead and do this, but that would reunite or not unite.

It would just unite Curry and LeBron. And I'm wondering, was there any weight to this or was this just kind of like a feeler out there? Yeah, a very titillating report from ESPN this morning about that. You know, it's a call and calls happen all the time. So this is not to discount or, you know, in any way diminish the report.

It's great stuff. Really interesting. The part that I'm not surprised about and that I don't think anybody should be is that these are the conversations you are obligated to have in this league. It also noted that Daryl Morey, the Philadelphia 76ers GM, who going all the way back to his Houston Rockets days turns over every rock.

Right. Like not surprising that he made an inquiry about the possibility of, hey, would LeBron be available? It's part of the job and the Boulder GMs and certainly the ones in a position to do so are going to ask because, hey, if LeBron did want out for any reason, you know, who wouldn't want to land with Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid in Philly, like among the places you could go to pursue another championship, that's a logical place. The Warriors, the Warriors and Lakers have the same problem right now, right?

Now, LeBron's older than Steph Curry, but the Lakers and Warriors both have a problem with aging cores, aging stars. And yeah, could they have solved each other's problem or at least in this case, the Lakers solving the Warriors problem more so? I don't know.

There was no information in that story about who would have gone back because, you know, it never got to that stage, right? It wasn't a negotiation. It was just a question. Hey, any chance you guys would do this? No? Okay.

All right. We'll go back to the season and see what we can do. And I feel like at this point, LeBron's future really depends on his kid. It seems like he's he's kind of made it very clear that he wants to play with his son. I mean, so who knows? I mean, yeah, no, Susie, that goes back like years back to when Brawny Jr. was like eight years old or something. I can't remember when we first started having these conversations or when LeBron first alluded to this this desire of his to one day play with Brawny in the NBA. And now we're on the verge of it, right?

Like it could be as soon as next season. Does that mean that a team that drafts Brawny suddenly has the inside track to sign LeBron? Like LeBron, here's the funny thing.

LeBron has like 50 something million due to him if he picks up his option and could get that and more if he resigns with the Lakers, he can sign anywhere he wants for the minimum if he wanted to. It's not unprecedented. I don't expect it. But I, you know, and again, to be clear, I don't expect that the LeBron Brawny thing is so important to him that he's going to somehow sacrifice and like go play in, you know, Charlotte or something just because they drafted Brawny Jr. But it's another piece of the intrigue that we have to throw into the mix this summer where it's at least worth discussing. And we'll see how LeBron actually acts on it. Or do the Lakers find a way to just draft Brawny to keep LeBron happy? That's, you know, obviously another very likely scenario.

Doesn't that seem like the far more likely scenario? The real estate's right here. His life is here. And I can't remember there being a player that teams worked harder to keep happy. Yeah, and yet LeBron, you know, like clockwork every four years for the first, you know, or for a period of time, there was was changing teams, right? Cleveland to Miami, Miami back to Cleveland, Cleveland to L.A. I think everybody I certainly have thought from the moment that LeBron picked L.A. and the Lakers that that's where he would finish his career and that's where he would retire.

And if I had to bet that's still what I believe will happen. But LeBron has surprised us all before. And, you know, so much in the NBA, especially when you are a player of LeBron's caliber or a team of the Lakers legacy, these are these are entities where like there's only championships and there is nothing else. The Lakers feel that way. LeBron feels that way. The playoff mean everything for a team like the Lakers.

Where do they finish? And if he feels like there's enough promise there and if there are conversations with Rob Palink in the front office about what else they plan to do this summer to strengthen them. Those are the things that go a long way toward staying. But I also think to your point, Susie. Yeah, I think LeBron's happy in L.A. His family's happy there. It seems like a stretch to think that he's going to like go bounce around at age 40 in December. He'll be 40. I don't see that happening unless things really ended badly.

Yeah, I don't see it happening at all. Howard Beck from the Ringer joins us here on the Rich Eisen show. Susie Schuster in for Rich Eisen. Jason Tatum. How good is he?

It's phenomenal. So he was here in Brooklyn last night beating up on on the Nets in my backyard. Tatum has been fantastic. The thing for the Celtics is like no one has had any doubts for some time about whether Jason Tatum is all NBA, MVP caliber star, a guy who can obviously carry your team very deep. You know, they went to the finals two years ago. The question about the Celtics and about Tatum and Jalen Brown as a tandem has always been what are they going to do in crunch time? Because that's when sometimes their judgment has been a little suspect or their playmaking has been a little bit faulty, the decision making.

And so that's the evolution that they need to have. On the other hand, look just personnel wise, the pickup of Kristaps Porzingis who's out right now banged up happens a lot with Porzingis, but he has lent a whole other dimension to that team. The Celtics are far and away the favorites to win the East and I think the favorites to win the championship at this stage. And so how we feel about Tatum, how we talk about Tatum per usual will depend a lot about whether he can deliver in the postseason and get these guys back to June at a minimum and maybe even win a championship. What's your impression on how well Doc Rivers is meshing with the Bucks?

It's a great question. Obviously the record doesn't show or suggest that things are going great so far, but that team was a little wonky even before he got there. And yes, I know the record was great, but there's a reason that they threw Adrian Griffin overboard when they did despite that record. They just didn't have the long-term faith that Griffin was going to be the guy to make the right decisions in the postseason. A new coach comes in, even a coach of Doc's caliber, it's a different voice, a different philosophy, different style. He's got to learn these players.

They have to learn him. I'm not surprised it's going to be a little bit bumpy and they've had other bumpy stretches this season anyway. So I think it's at least a little bit alarming. That's fair considering the Bucks have the highest of expectations, but I wouldn't overreact just yet. And let me ask you this, what are we not talking about?

Who are we not talking about that we should be talking about? Ooh, probably the Cleveland Cavaliers. I mean, they're having what will probably be their best season, their best non-LeBron season, maybe in franchise history and certainly in the last 30 years. They've been the hottest team in the NBA over the last month or so. They play phenomenal defense. The offense has really started to click.

The concern I think they always had when they got Donovan Mitchell was meshing Mitchell with Darius Garland and figuring out the Jared Allen and Evan Mobley thing has been a challenge. But they have, with some of those guys out this season, they found a formula that works. Those guys came back. They're healthy now. They're at full strength and they just still just keep chugging along. Now, I don't think anybody's expecting the Cavs are going to knock off the Celtics, make the finals, or that they're a threat to win the championship, but they're not not that either right now.

They're really, really good. And the space behind the Celtics in the East is kind of wide open, right? And Beat is out for at least the time being. The Bucks, as we just discussed, are kind of wonky. The Knicks are really banged up. There's a lot of teams vying for number two and to try to be the team that presumably will face the Celtics in the Easter Conference finals.

And the Cavs are as strong a candidate as any right now. And that's the one I think probably no one's talking about. Chris. Hey, Howard. Chris, how you doing, bud?

What's up, Chris? Two teams in the West are starting to pick up steam. The Warriors and the Mavericks.

Who do you like? What do you like about both these teams? Can they make a run and really challenge the top of the West? It's it's funny because I think logic says to pick the Mavs between the two of those. But I'm not entirely convinced myself that the Luca Kyrie thing is the right way. It feels like they're just like taking turns a lot still as a partnership.

And it's, you know, they haven't been together that long. But I don't fully trust that. And I do tend to have a bias toward the team that has the track record and that has Steph Curry and that has still a little bit of that allure and that that that mystique of a dynasty.

Right. Like we see it over and over again, just when we want to write them off. You have another game like Steph had last Saturday, which, you know, was incredible. And that shot and they've caught a little bit of of of traction again here with Draymond back for the last few weeks. And some of their young guys are starting to pop. Like, I think I think there's still some life left in the Warriors. Not saying they're going to make a run to the finals necessarily this spring.

But of the two of them, them in Dallas, I trust the Warriors more. What do you make of the scoring? I mean, there was that one week where we had two sixties and two seventies. Is it is it good for the game?

Is someone going to get 80 this year? What has been your read on all of that? It's really interesting. You know, we strain in this league all the time. Media and fans do to try to make these comparisons when we talk about the goat or we're talking about, you know, the seventy three win Warriors team versus the seventy two win Bulls or all these comparisons across comparisons across the areas are inherently fraught because the NBA, I think more than the other sports, evolves so much the pace of the game, the style of the game and the tempo right now, the pace of today's NBA game is so high by historic standards. Plus the reliance now on the three point shot. It has just spiked scores and it is spiked individuals because we're also in an era where we have what has been referred to as heliocentrism, right? You take your best player and you make him the center of your universe and you just say do everything and so you have the ball in your hands more often and more opportunities to get 60 or 70. So it's hard to wrap your head around and I do think it's it's kind of warping our historical perspective on the league a little bit statistically, but it's also a blast to watch. I mean, I don't think anybody's complaining in the moment.

No, absolutely not. And it does feel like Luca is kind of the guy, right? Who could get we could see an 80 point game this year.

I mean, he is he is the epitome of heliocentrism right now. Luca James Harden previously during his Houston days, especially where every single Mavericks possession it feels like even though they have Kyrie Irving there who could do a lot of amazing things with the ball in his hands. Luca controls that offense. It seems like 99% of the time it's either shooting or passing and and he's also yes, very, very skilled. I could score in a variety of ways. And yeah, like if someone's going to threaten 80, it could be him. But you know, maybe it's Donovan Mitchell. Maybe it's, you know, eventually Anthony Edwards like there. There's a lot of really talented scores in the league right now. You combine that with, you know, the pace of the game and how many opportunities they get the three point shot getting hot for a night.

It seems like almost anything is possible, but I'm going to just say, no, I don't think Wilt's 100 is ever going to be attached. I mean, heliocentrism is like the antithesis of the triangle. I mean, poor Phil Jackson. TJ, what do you have? Well, I was just going to say, hey, Howard, TJ here, heliocentrism.

We used to have a segment here called Big Word Alert, where the rich would dig into his bag and pulled out a word we didn't know that would have been one of them. Look, I got one question, two parts. I'm a huge Sixers fan as well as a Clippers fan. It's been my dream since 99 for those two, the means added in a championship. So first things first, you know anything about MB, what's going on with his recovery and what are your thoughts about the Clippers and how they're doing this year and how we're just looking to your crystal ball? Am I ever going to see this matchup in the finals? Sixers Clippers?

Yes. It doesn't seem far-fetched. Probably not this year. I just mean in my lifetime, Howard.

In your lifetime. Well, the problem is that the window for the Clippers feels kind of, I don't even want to say the window is small. It's more like the window is like jagged and broken and you never know when it's just going to fall on you. Kawhi Leonard has gotten through most of the season healthy and now suddenly he is a little banged up. Was it a hamstring? I think they said. So they've got to stay healthy. They're going to keep these three together, I think, for the foreseeable future. Obviously, moving into a new arena next fall, I think we'll see Kawhi, Paul George and James Harden together for a bit.

But they're all up there in years and a lot of miles on them and we know the injury histories. But the Clippers have a window and they're legit. They can make the finals this year.

There's no question if they stay healthy. The Sixers, the MB thing is really interesting, right? Because the Sixers are kind of messing around. You were just joking around about big words and heliocentrism.

The language kind of matters to me as a writer for my career. So when the Sixers are saying things like, Embiid has a flap but it's not a tear. He's having a procedure but it's not a surgery. Guys, come on. Let's be a little more honest with our injury reporting on one of the most important players in the league, the reigning MVP.

It's unclear to me just how serious this is. The Sixers and Embiid's camp, I think, have intentionally kept this obscure. And there's some rumblings around the league. I've heard people say they don't think Embiid's coming back this spring at all.

The Sixers, everything I've heard from them is absolutely the opposite of that. And listen, the signals they were sending last week, picking up Buddy Heald at the trade deadline, signing Kyle Lowry after he got bought out, those are indications that you expect your superstar back. So I think Embiid will be back. Is it back in time to kind of get back in game shape for the playoffs? Like what's he going to look like in late April?

I don't know. But I expect we'll see Embiid. And I like the moves that the Sixers made over the last five days. I got to ask you, Howard, as a girl mom of a hooper, I love the Sabrina Ionesco, Steph Curry challenge coming up. What are you hearing about that?

And what's the interest level like? This is so revolutionary. I love that they're doing this in part just because, not to be negative here, but the NBA really does need to find new ways to spark more interest in All-Star Weekend. It's all gotten a little bit stale. The dunk contest feels like it's on life support again.

Shout out to Mac McClung for reviving it. But they're having to import a G-League player to make the dunk contest feel good. So Steph versus Sabrina, I love any new wrinkle that they're going to add. If people want to get into the gender aspect of it, fine.

I'm not a big Battle of the Sexes person. I just think it's fun that two of the greatest shooters of all time from their respective leagues are going to go head to head. It'll be fun.

We haven't seen anything quite like this. They're both great personalities, too. They're going to make it fun. I think it'll probably be one of the highlights of All-Star Weekend. I don't even think it's about the Battle of the Sexes. I just think it's great that we're talking about women hoopers. With Kaitlyn Clark and with Sabrina, I just think changing the dynamic. And it really does show you how many more people are tuning into women's sports. So it's less, to me, Battle of the Sexes and more just exciting to see. It's just great for girls to go out there and see someone representing them as something so big like the All-Star Game. All right, before I let you go, Shacks Jersey was retired in Orlando and a lot of people are wondering why they did that.

It seems to me like, what do you mean, why not? It's a great opportunity to get butts in the seats, but what was your impression of it? I mean, Suzy, you and I both know, having covered Shaq for years in L.A., his relationship with Orlando was fraught, to say the least. He once referred to Orlando as a dried-up pond. Every trip the Lakers made to Orlando during my seven years on the beat, that was always ... It wasn't like LeBron back to Cleveland levels of vitriol, but it was pretty intense. They did not really like Shaq after he left them behind and dumped on their city. So listen, time heals all wounds, all that stuff.

I love that they did this. I understand he was only there for four years. I understand that when he left, he left in a way that was very contentious, at least for Orlando fans, but I hate to say it this way. The Magic don't have a ton else to celebrate and Shaq is a really big and really important part of their history and I think it's the right thing to do, to let time heal the wounds and honor the best player in your franchise's history. No, he didn't deliver you a championship. No, he didn't stay there for the duration of his career, but his importance matters and I think just healing that wound matters too. I like seeing that come back together. It's still the same ownership group. None of the same people running the show at the basketball level, but I think it's good for the game, it's good for Shaq, it's good for the Magic.

I don't think there's anything to really pick apart here. I remember when I was at the Sports Center when this happened, suddenly you're cutting Magic highlights. You're talking about the Magic. It just seems to be a total no-brainer. Let me think, I can get Shaq in the arena or not.

I think I'm going to make that phone call. It's a great PR move, it's a great celebration, it's great for your fans. This is a good time to do it too because it's not Shaq coming back at a time when the Magic are still a perennial lottery team with no hope. They've got two really promising young players in Paloban Caro and Franz Wagner. They're on the rise again. They're a team with a lot of hope and intrigue.

They're moving in the right direction. It's the right time. I think it was good for Magic fans to be able to remember this really vital part of their history when for a time they were the most exciting team in the NBA. Oh my God, remember when everything was Penny Hardaway.

I mean, forget about it. Howard, thanks again. It's great to see you again. Hope to have you on next time I'm back in the chair. Absolutely. Great to see you, Susie.

Take care. That's Howard Beckham, the ringer, old buddy. Used to work at the Lakers, beat with him all the time. I spent more time with Howard for years than I spent with Rich, but that's a whole different show.

Well, you made Rich chase you for a few years, right? So anyway, when we come back. Just a quick transition. We're going to get the full story.

The greatest underdog of all time when we come back. Guys, it's Valentine's Day. Get out there.

Order those flowers or you might be asking for it. America in the morning, the podcast available wherever you listen on the Bigger Pockets real estate podcast. Co-host David Green and Rob Abasolo interview real estate investors and entrepreneurs about successes, failures and hard earned lessons. Joined by author Dave Meyer, who wrote a book. I did write a book. It seems like you're coming out with a book every four minutes. You are one to talk. You've released two books this year. I've done half as many as you.

It is more about strategy than it is about just finding whatever the new buzzword happens to be. Bigger Pockets real estate podcast on YouTube or wherever you listen. I really fell in love, not just with the movie, but with you.

And I think my wife might have been one of those people. Well, Rich, the last thing I do is walk around trying to give away Billy Wyatt baseball bats. I know, which is very appreciative. Here it is. I'd like to hand it to you. To do what?

Just to hold it and say basically and just to put a Billy Wyatt baseball bat back in your hands. What are your memories? I remember that there are only 12 of these made. Okay. And like I said, I had a couple and now I have one. Well, I'm honored. I'm honored that you gave one away. This is yours. Thank you.

I appreciate it. I'd like to sign it, but why do you think the movie resonated and still does? You know, I only know from being an actor and knowing the two guys, Will Aldiss and Steve Campman, who wrote, produced and also directed, co-directed that movie. And I just know that it was a script that hit me like it hit everybody who was in that movie. And we all tested for it, including Jodie. I mean, everybody did.

And I just think it was one of those movies you do because you love the material. And it was a tough shoot. We all worked hard. We all carried lights and did everything else we had to do to make it happen. No kidding. Yeah. Jodie Foster was carrying lights? Yeah, she was part of it.

It was all for one. Really a team effort. And it's one of those movies that, you know, good, bad people like it, don't like it, whatever. I just am proud to be part of that experience. Universally loved. It really is.

Nice to know. It really is. Welcome back to this Valentine's Day edition of The Rich Eisen Show. Suzy Shuster in for Rich. Kurt Warner will be joining us at the top of the next hour. That would be a great interview. Looking forward to being with him. Guys, let's talk about Deshaun Foster being named the head coach of UCLA football. How awesome is that? I am obsessed and so happy because I covered him for his entirety at UCLA.

And it makes my heart so happy on Valentine's Day to be able to roll some sound from him. Let's hear first from Martin Jarman, who is the UCLA AD, talking about what it's going to mean to have Deshaun Foster coming back to UCLA. We want somebody that wants to be a Bruins. Well, we didn't get somebody that wants to be a Bruins.

We've got a Bruins. Come on out, coach. You're new head coach. And for those of you who are listening on the radio, I mean, he just got just absolutely surrounded with so much love from every player who came off the bench, who came off every seat just to hug this guy. It means so much to him and it shows you how much these players believe in him. Let's hear now from Deshaun Foster.

I've always dreamed about being a head coach and being at UCLA and being the head coach here at UCLA. You guys have no idea. Just be of trust. I'll tell you something I built for y'all. I could do this. All right. I'm gonna put all my passion into this. I'm here for these boys. I've been here for them.

Okay. I've been here for them. I'm gonna get this team playing hard.

My three pillars, discipline, respect and enthusiasm. You're gonna see it. You're gonna feel it.

All right. We're gonna get this Rose Bowl back to how it needs to be. We're in L.A. We are UCLA. This is a real university.

This isn't a part time school. We win banners in every sport. I just got to get football back. I promise you I'm the man to do this. I know I might not have the experience that certain other coaches have had. But I guarantee you that I am prepared for this job. I interviewed just like everybody else did. They came back with the best candidate.

Oh, I just love it. I mean, look, his running backs, his running backs get drafted. He is a great coach. And I don't think you need to have somebody with a long resume. You'd see that in the NFL all the time now.

So why have it here? But I remember when he was playing and he broke his wrist. I think it was his wrist or his hand. And this is the Bob Toledo era, of course. And they were going to be great. And he played through the pain. He played with the cast. And he had a fraught relationship with Toledo.

It wasn't smooth sailing all the time. Al Borges was the offensive coordinator at the time. And I just think that no one deserves a chance to lead men more than Deshaun Foster. I'm so psyched to see him there. It was a beautiful moment. I mean, he was tearing up. And if you're a mom and you're seeing this and you're seeing the passion that he's going to be coaching with, I think you give some thought to sending your kid there to UCLA. I sure hope so. Yeah. And, you know, it was great to meet him a few months ago.

It was June, I believe, June, July, when he came in and you were in the chair. And he just there was something about him when you when you met him and you listen to him speak and you see the success that he had with the group that he was coaching. And now you would assume that that's going to carry over for the entire program, not just the running backs. You know, just big congratulations to him and Martin Jarman, who's also a friend of the show and all of UCLA, really. That's a big splash in town. I mean, USC has been getting all the headlines recently. Heisman Trophy winner. They got the big splashy new head coach. And, you know, that's a chance to take the city back, especially with a guy who's had a lot of success in their program, you know, NFL career and to come back home. It's pretty great. We haven't had both teams great for a while. And there's nothing quite as fun as covering USC, UCLA.

I got to do a bunch of those games. And that was, of course, like think about how big it was that that was important in this town because the Lakers were winning. That's right. When the Angels had won. I mean, and yet people were so riveted of obviously we had Pete Carroll.

Right. So, I mean, we had we had an incredible time for college football. But I truly believe that if anybody can bring UCLA back the way he wants to, it's going to be him. It's going to be great.

And I am so thrilled. Can't wait to have him back on the show. I'm sitting in the chair in a couple of weeks during the combine. I think I'm going to have to reach out to Deshaun to come down the freeway, get him in here again. I can't wait to see what's ahead for him. Kurt Warner will join us at the top of the next hour. Looking forward to talking to him. And like I said, I learned so much from Kurt every time I speak to him. So I can't wait to have him on.

I'm curious to hear about his take on Brock Purdy and whether or not this settled some questions about him. But we've got him ahead. Looking forward to that. And we're just getting started on this Valentine's Day edition of The Rich Eisen Show.

So Chris is going to scramble and try to figure out how not to screw up Valentine's Day for Sarah. And we'll let you know how that goes. It's always a struggle. Listen, the struggle is real. The struggle is real. The struggle is real.

Lots more ahead on The Rich Eisen Show. Don't go anywhere. We will be here for you. We drank a whole bottle of wine last night and watched The Bachelor. I mean, we were just living our best life.

That's exactly what you want to do to warm up for Valentine's Day. It was great. So Amy and I drank The Calling with Jim Nance yesterday on What the Football. I had some intercept last night.

You had intercept? Shout out Charles Woodson. Charles Woodson. That's a good bottle of juice. The good news is that rather than waste the wine from The Calling, I poured it into a plastic bottle and brought it home.

Well done. So I poured it into a nice glass last night. I texted Nance and I said, look, I just want you to know I didn't waste the juice. He's like, excellent use of transportation. And yeah, I'm not going to let that go down the drain.

What are you, insane? The Calling is fantastic juice. So there you go. That's how I spent my night. This parade looks nuts, by the way. The cheese parade is going on right now. We're watching it on NFL Network.

There was just, I couldn't figure out who it was, but it's just a shirtless player running down the street, going from side to side, high-fiving everyone. And there are a ton of people there, Mike. It's packed. Dude, it's KC. I mean, this is going to, this is a big, big deal.

I think they were expecting more this time around. I want to know which of the randos that show up. Who is that? He's running down the street, throwing beads to the crowd. What is it, Mardi Gras? I don't know. What is Mardi Gras?

Fantastic. Oh, there's the championship belt. It's that Wednesday there. I mean, I got to tell you, is anybody going to try to toss the Lombardi, though? That's all I want to know. I can't believe that happened. Please don't drop it. Hey, I wonder if the Kelsey announcements have been made yet. Jason Kelsey and Travis Kelsey, same team, you heard it here first on The Rich Eisen Show.