The fallout from the Mav's victory over the Timberwolves

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Bluenile.com code pod. I'm living my best life. Yeah, yeah. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Here's the other surprising part. With guest host Brian Weber.

Yeah, big shoes to fill. Eisen's a legend. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The Rich Eisen Show. Do you know who I am? I'm a guy on television.

I have my own show. And now, sitting in for Rich, here's Brian Weber. Welcome to the program. Always an honor to sit in for Rich and the guys.

And if it's a holiday on the Rich Eisen Show, more often than not, you're going to have to endure the quote unquote dulcet tones of yours truly. But before we jump in, we're going to talk a ton of NBA. We're on the cusp of something we've never seen before in the history of hoops.

A pair potentially of sweeps in the conference finals. And we're going to keep it upbeat. We're going to move quickly.

We're going to carve out time for your interaction. Because it is Memorial Day. And I've got to catch myself because I have been with you on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year's Day.

I have a card in front of me. I'm old and old school. And I'm looking down at all the holidays I've scratched out because I'm Ron Burgundy. So apparently on Thanksgiving, I had to remind myself to say Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. But while we can certainly say Happy Memorial Day because we know it's the unofficial start of summer, not to get too deep as a fill-in guy. We should take a moment to reflect on and honor all the people who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. My grandfather was a World War II veteran. So Memorial Day has always meant a lot in our household.

Having said that, 844-204-7424 is the number to call. I always, on holidays, preface the monologue by thanking Rich for not only thinking of me. Because if you watch the simulcast, Emmy-nominated simulcast on the Roku channel, you see how deep the bench of guest hosts are, led by Suzy Schuster and the rest of the crew. So when Rich reaches out, I am always delighted to keep you company, keep the chair warm, keep the brand intact. And a lot of shows, I'll just give you a little quick industry update.

And Rich could certainly do this with the archives of interviews he's compiled over the years. A lot of shows play tape on a holiday. But we are live. How can I demonstrate I'm live? I can take a phone call at 844-204-7424. I can read your post on the X platform.

We're not tweeting anymore, according to Elon Musk. It's B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's. I can give you an in-progress score, and I'm not building the show around Roland Garros, because it would be then a four-minute podcast, and I'd be out the door.

But whatever. The King of Clay. Rafael Nadal plays in Paris. It's headline news specifically because this feels like this could be the last time we see the greatest player in the history of tennis on clay. He's matched up with Alexander Zverev in the first round. The four-seed Sasha taking the first two sets from Rafa.

They're level of two in the third. I'll keep you updated in general terms, but I wanted to use that as a proof of concept. We are here for you, and we're going to start by tipping things off with what went down last night in Big D. However, if you are inclined, especially on a holiday, to have your voice heard and your opinion expressed, slide in with a phone call or X me, because I do my best to build the format in a way that we have a lot of room to stretch out.

In fact, no guests in the first hour of the program. I try not to overwhelm you with outside voices because I think I'm just that fascinating. Plus, I love the real estate and to have the ability to go long form with my thoughts across a lot of different sports.

But with the notion that the NBA is going to be the dominant topic, understandably, today, coming up in hour number two at 1.20 Eastern Time, we will look ahead to the NBA Finals matchup between the Celtics and the Mavs when we check in with Mike Vorkanov of The Athletic. And because I am an old soul and my birth certificate just says I'm old at this point. I was born in the 1960s.

Now, November 1969, I can probably round up. But baseball on Memorial Day is still significant for some of us. If you're not paying attention, I get it.

But we've reached more than the quarter poll. And there's a lot of salient on a big word. Monday edition, the program topics to dissect with Scott Miller, longtime baseball writer.

You can enjoy his work now for The New York Times. The Atlanta Braves with a devastating injury yesterday. I was flipping around and saw Ronald Cunha Jr. go down with the non-contact injury.

In fact, it has been confirmed as a torn ACL. The reigning NL MVP is out. We'll talk about what that means for the balance of power in the National League with the Phillies not only playing so well against Atlanta head-to-head in the postseason this year. The Phillies have been locked in. We'll get to the baseball in the final hour of the program.

So if you didn't watch last night's game, and I can't blame you because it is a holiday weekend after all. And I hope that you have perhaps better things to do to take advantage of a more flexible schedule. Unless you're working today, if you are, the filling hose says stick it to the man. Now show up, obviously, if you've got to get to work the next hour or two. Hope you're getting time and a half. Punch that time card and then mail it in.

Because they're not going to be able to track you down. I have a great understanding of how technology works. I'm in your radio after all, so you have my sign off. Don't necessarily give it 110%. But it was another thrilling conclusion last night in Dallas. And while the casuals are going to look at these 3-0 series tallies in both the East and West and say, oh, what a garbage playoffs, it's been anything but that. Think about, and we're going to talk Celtics coming up to start hour number two. But if you go back to the wild conclusion of that game, game three in Indy the other night, it reflects just how many twists and turns we've seen for the majority of both of these series. Because, just quick update, again I know I'm talking to a massive audience here and a lot of you don't break things down in granular fashion, but in terms of the Pacers and the Celtics, Indy gave away game one. Undeniably, that should have been a Pacer victory.

And it all started with Tyrese Halliburton dribbling off his leg with a minute to go. The steal with ten seconds to go by Boston, as much as a steal as a giveaway by the Pacers. Jalen Brown's incredible three from the quarter to tie things up, and Boston wins in regulation. The Pacers, without Tyrese Halliburton, have a massive lead against the Celtics. And it's feeling like this series is going to have a radically different complexion moving forward. And then everything changed in the second half, and Boston comes back showing their tenacity and they leaned on Drew Holliday, best known for his defense, but he came through with some clutch buckets as well. And when you're thinking 3-0 Boston over Indiana, they must be the bosses of that series. They must be dictating the terms. Yeah, scoreboard says it's tilted in one direction, but if you're actually watching these games, you know how two of those games, I believe, should have gone the Pacers' direction.

And I don't want to use the C-word necessarily, just talking about getting tight in a high-leveraged situation. But when you're at home, and you're playing without your best player, and you're that energized, and you don't get it done, when you're getting production from guys like Andrew Nembhard, now I remember him wrapping up his college career in Gonzaga, because I'm based on the West Coast and I have no life. But when Nembhard went on for 21 the first half, he's looking like Reggie Miller, and the lead goes to 18 points for the Pacers, you figure, okay, there's no way Boston's going to come back, because in many ways, it's representative of the small issue that Boston's had this year on their way to the remarkable regular season. Remember, they had a 14-game differential between them as the top seed and the Knicks as the 2 seed. They went 37-4 at home. They won 64 games. But if there is a flaw to this team, it's that they mess around and they find out.

They play with their food, for lack of a better term. Still, even with those issues to overcome, the Celtics showed the resolve at how about Al Horford, of all people, becoming an offensive lifeline, 37 years old, going on for 23. So that's how we got to 3-0 in that series with the Celtics trying to put the finishing touches on the sweep tonight. And it bears repeating, because we've never experienced this before in the history of NBA postseason basketball. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. Hop aboard at 844-204-7424.

Conversation never stops on the X. That's B.W. Weber. Weber with 2B is wide open with no guest in this first hour of the show.

I just went on the Google machine to confirm my thought process, and I'm pretty good when it comes to arcane stats. For example, we all know, because they put the graphic up every time a team grabs a 3-0 series lead in the NBA playoffs, nobody's ever come back from that deficit in the history of the NBA. It's happened in hockey on a few occasions, never in basketball. And just to further that thought, good friends at the search engine confirming that we have never seen a pair of sweeps in the conference finals before. This would be unprecedented. And the start of the finals is locked in, not going to be moved.

It can't begin until next Thursday, June 6th. So we're looking at massive rest potentially, which certainly would be to the benefit of, say, Kristaps Porzingis, who still has not played in the Eastern Conference Finals. And candidly, while Boston's been tested, scoreboard says 3-0 after all. They haven't needed him. Same story for Dallas. Luca effectively is doing all of his brilliance on one leg. So certainly he could benefit from having a nine-day layoff.

Then you worry about rust. But given where we are with the wave of injuries that has blown up this postseason, and if you don't like Boston, and we're going to tackle this coming up in hour number two, I'll dig into my past and channel my inner angry New York sports fan, because I grew up in the suburbs of New York City. If you want to bash Boston, all you have to do is point out who they have not had a face in these playoffs. No Jimmy Butler for the Heat. No Donovan Mitchell towards the end of the series in the second round against Cleveland. No Halliburton now, as Boston's looking to break out the broom tonight. But even with some asterisks if you want to go heavy-handed, or just some realities to deal with, these games have been awfully compelling, as was the case last night. So we see it once again.

Luca and Kyrie dominate the action. And now because we overreact to everything and have to feed the content beast, the question posed on all the talking head shows, I give Inside the NBA credit, because it's the best studio show, and we're all starting our obituaries for it. And coming up in 30 minutes, I'll lay this out there for you at 844-204-7424. I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen. Memorial Day edition of The Rich Eisen Show.

You can communicate with me on the X platform, B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's. Given where we are on the brink of Boston versus Dallas, meaning Tatum and Brown versus Luca and Kyrie plus the supporting cast, is Charles Barkley a bigger star than anybody left in these basketball playoffs?

We'll get there coming up in a half hour. But because I have so much respect for that show, they hit on the notion that Luca and Kyrie are making the case to be ranked among the best, most prolific, you pick the adjective, premier is always a good one, back courts that we've ever seen in playoff basketball. And there is a stat that backs that up, and I try not to whip out an accountant, green eye shade. I always think about blazing saddles when I say whip it, not whip it good like Diva, excuse me while I whip this out.

I try not to have a calculator in front of me, but since this metric has been thrown up on the screen so much, it's been buried into my subconscious. When Luca and Kyrie both scoring more than 30 last night as they didn't game one against Minnesota, they've done it now three times in this playoffs. That has not happened for a pair of backcourt mates in one playoff run in over half century.

You're going back to Gail Goodrich, Jerry West, and even that's back in the day for an old timer like me. In my lifetime, we're thinking about the most dynamic back courts in high leverage situations come playoff time. Clearly, Steph and Klay come to mind. You could also throw in their LeBron and Dwyane Wade, but either way, what's most impressive to me is the quick transformation and turnaround we've seen in Dallas because I follow the NBA closely.

I love it as much and some days even more than the NFL. If we head back to the business end of last season, and remember, Dallas tanked. It was overt, it was over the top, and they got fined 700 grand by the league for doing so because they wanted to protect their draft possibilities. So when we offer the context that, well, this team didn't make the playoffs last year with Kyrie and Luca, at the end, that was by design. Still, that doesn't mitigate the lack of success they had for the chunk of games that they played together, and injuries were a big factor, you recall, last year. But when they came as a duo in that backcourt after Dallas picked up Kyrie, giving him a chance to jumpstart his career.

After all, the ridiculously inane things he said and did in Brooklyn, there were rough patches, as was to be expected. It's not fancy basketball. But here we are, just over a year later, and they're playing like an all-time tandem. And some of that, I think, also comes down to playoff experience cannot be replaced nor duplicated.

And we're seeing it with Minnesota. I don't want to continue to hammer, and no reason to now after that, and I'm only saying it in the terms of the dunk, that Jordan-esque dunk that Anthony Edwards threw down over Daniel Gafford. But anyway, looking back, what a pickup that was for Nico Harrison, the GM of the Mavs. Remember, Mark Cuban now has largely a ceremonial role, because the Adelson family, the gambling moguls, bought Cuban out a few months ago. Nico Harrison is a highly respected basketball executive, dating back to his time running a marketing department for Nike. He drafted Derek Lively out of Duke, and I'm still wondering how Lively last night got up after Karl-Anthony Towns put not one but two knees into his man zone.

Somehow he survived that, and then, and I don't think this was dirty at all, this was just bad luck, later on, Lively gets a knee to the head from Cat. It was the one contact that Karl-Anthony Towns was able to make last night, because he is MIA, so when Minnesota loses, and if it's a gentleman's sweep, or if it even goes six, it's immaterial, the headlines are going to surround, was it too much too soon for Anthony Edwards? In part because he mentioned, and I think it was reflected by what we just saw with the eyeball test, watching games one and two, he was gassed. He was not only emotionally spent after that comeback for the ages, down 20 in the third quarter, game seven on the road to Denver, but given that he's only 22 years old, he had never been clearly this deep in the playoffs before. So we talk about the learning curve, we talk about what it takes to build that kind of championship medal, I think that's been a major issue for Minnesota, but you're not going to do anything with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line when your second best player absolutely disappears, because I'm not taking out the hammer and just laying down gratuitous shots at Karl-Anthony Towns. Did you watch that game last night?

He could not buy a bucket from three-point range, 0 of 8, and that is not an outlier. He has been absolutely stone cold throughout this series. Now, if you want to be pro Dallas, you'll point out that they play much better defense than we give them credit for, and what's been real interesting about Kyrie's emergence was, even when he wasn't scoring earlier in the postseason, especially in the last round against top-seeded OKC, he was locking people down on the defensive end of the floor. But now, I think a lot of the struggles that Minnesota's had is a direct result of what Dallas has been doing with team defense, and defense is not sexy to talk about, not a good topic in our business, but if you're watching these games, especially I thought last night when Lively went down with the second knee, that time to his cranium, and what Daniel Gafford was able to do, and look, I'm not going to pretend that I'm a soothsayer. When the Mavs made what felt like minor deals prior to the deadline, separate deals to get another big in Gafford, who got liberated from Washington, and P.J. Washington, who I knew better because he was one of those Kentucky guys, and P.J. hit that big three with about 2.30 to go. He continues to make his presence felt after he was a catalyst in a major way offensively in the win over the Thunder. They have a team concept defensively, and they have a pair now of reliable stars that Minnesota just can't counter, because in the modern NBA, it can't be MJ and the Jordanaires as much as Scottie Pippen was a Hall of Famer in his own right. You need two legitimate future Hall of Famers. You need two legitimate A players. We know that I'm not putting Anthony Edwards on the road to Springfield, Mass. yet, but you get what I'm saying.

An alpha, an emerging star, someone in the conversation to be a future face of the place. And the question I had coming into the series, even with all of the tremendous basketball we saw, and the grit and determination from Minnesota knocking out the reigning champs, although I'm still wondering what happened to Denver in that second half, Game 7. Minnesota certainly influenced the outcome, but Nuggets just did not have that same kind of resilience as we saw on their way to the title last year, and some of that also a byproduct of not having the same depth as that championship team, missing glue guys like Bruce Brown, and to a degree, Jeff Green. But my thought coming in was, and I did not even have it in a pencil, because I do write a lot of stuff out, if I'm ever lucky enough to head over to that simulcast, you have to look at me on the wonderful optics of the Roku channel.

I didn't, because I am not that sage. I didn't have Luka and Kyrie going off in this kind of fashion, but I wondered, and this was prior to finding out how gassed Anthony Edwards was, and we found it out not only in Game 1 but Game 2, he certainly looked rejuvenated last night with that big comeback in the third quarter as Minnesota made it interesting once more. Remember, Dallas had the lead at halftime for the first time in the series. It was tied after three, and it came down to another dynamic final minute of play. Gafford with that block that was not a goal 10. He got on the way up, coming off the glass, and then on the other end, he's on the business end of that lob from Luka. I wondered for Minnesota, who could they count on to be their second scorer? Now remember, in the regular season, before the NBA tinkered with the officiating, after that All-Star game, what was that, 412-408, and the regular season scoring was equally obscene, Indiana led the league in scoring this year, averaging more points than any team since the Nuggets in the 1980s, talking old school with those video game unis and Alex English knocking down threes.

But Carl Anthony Towns had that game when he went for 57. We know this guy can score, so what's changed? Has he gotten tight? Is he in his own head? Is he failing to own things? Because postgame, and we'll get into the term no cap, and I think he got a little bit sideways verbally, but reporters asked him, what's going on with your shot?

What's the state of your outlook from beyond the arc? And he said, I'm taking 1,500 shots a day. I think he meant over the course of a year. At this stage of the season, when you're that spent, he's not in the gym getting 1,500 shots up, in my opinion.

But this is a player who has been reliable, a player that we've known going back to college, and he has been absolutely MIA when it's mattered the most for the T-Wolves, who are far from, in my opinion, a one-year story, especially when you have Anthony Edwards merely being 22 years old, although we forget Luke is only 25. So we're going to talk a lot more NBA moving forward. I want you to be a part of the program 844-204-7424.

You can slide into the X platform, and we can chat on social media if you like. It is B.W. Weber, Webberware2B. It's coming up in 20 minutes back to the NBA. I mentioned in passing with, unfortunately, all sides pointing to the demise of the best studio show we've seen in the history of our industry. Looks like next year will be the final season of Inside the NBA.

Charles Barkley, a bigger star than everyone left in these playoffs. We'll get there coming up. And I'm not breaking down forehands and backhands. I'm not talking about the necessity of having a solid second serve. But with Rafa Nadal now on the brink of being knocked out in straight sets in the opening round at Roland Garros, as Sasha Zverev has dictated the terms, and Rafa now serving to stay in the match at 3-5 in the third. I'm going to take a step back and we'll talk about not only what looks like it's going to become official as the end of the line for the King of Clay, but are we in a period right now in a general sense in the world of sports that some of the foundational talents we've relied upon as sports fans for must-see TV, however you consume sports these days.

For the better part of 20 years, are we starting to see them sunset? That's coming up. Just getting warmed up on a monster Memorial Day. Always a pleasure to be in for Rich and the Guys. I'm Bryan Weber. We continue.

This is the Rich Eisen Show. Man, the Hoops Finals are right around the corner. How cool would it be to go to one of those games?

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Power dot com slash awards only at a sleep number store or sleep number dot com. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show radio network. Brian Weber with you having a blast on this Memorial Day. I am proudly sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Granger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Granger has the right product for you.

Call click Granger dot com or just stop by. It's a final at Roland Garros. And I'm only mentioning the outcome to pivot to larger thoughts. But nobody in the history of tennis and they've been playing tennis a long time has been more dominant on the red clay, the terrible shoe than Rafael Nadal and the king of clay, 14 time French Open champion in the twilight of his career. He's been dealing with a variety of injuries now at the age of 37, unable to take a single set, although the second set went to a tiebreak knocked out in the first round.

The draw was not kind to play a ghastly human being. I am not a fan of Sasha Zverev for reasons you can Google. If tennis was more properly run, he would have served a suspension for the allegations of domestic violence. But we're just talking tennis here. The four seed taking care of Nadal 637663. So all the speculation now will turn to what Rafa says in his post match press availability. I tend to think he will not announce anything today.

He'll be too emotional, but he's been foreshadowing for a long time that he's now winding down. And when you have that much pride and those kind of results. Remember, these guys and women, these people who are these people, these premier athletes do not get to that position without having an almost maniacal level of competition.

And certainly he wasn't embarrassed. But when you're accustomed to picking up the trophy, or at least being a factor deep into the second week at a major and have it end like it did today, it feels like another reminder where we are in the overall sports landscape. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen, 844-204-7424. I promise I'm not talking tennis. I'm going somewhere with these thoughts. Plus, I quit tennis channel after 20 years in glorious fashion.

I will say this, depending on where you are financially or your station of life, I'm in my mid to late 50s. I'm going to pass away alone in a one bedroom apartment. So nobody relies on me and I've done OK in my career. And I ran into a situation where I just felt like I wasn't being treated with respect. So I did the you can't fire me. I quit. And not only did I quit, I went thermonuclear. And I'm pleased with that to a degree.

Now, it was sort of petty, but I just got to the point where I didn't want to be involved with horrible people anymore. And the backdrop is it happened to be in the sport of tennis. But I love tennis because I grew up in the late 1970s with the big personalities. And we're talking personalities coming up in 15 minutes. Does Charles Barkley overshadow the star power of everybody else left in these NBA playoffs? And then coming up in 30 minutes, we'll get into the Celtics.

And do you want to come up with this notion? Have they gotten a free pass all the way to the NBA Finals based on all of the personnel issues their opponents have dealt with, with the Pacers now having the strong likelihood we will not see Tyrese Halliburton again tonight, although somehow, some way, they had an 18 point lead without him in Game 3 and could not finalize. But here we are in what feels like a pivot point, an inflection point, if you will, because the stars of yesterday had much shorter careers because they didn't train year round because they had to get jobs in the offseason because they didn't make enough in professional sports and obviously now we're focused on generational wealth. But to see, for example, since I'm using Nadal as the focal point of this conversation, remember, even if you don't follow tennis, you're aware this guy is an all time great. And what an amazing confluence it was to have Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic all come along at the same time. Djokovic, all time leader in slams, he's got 24. Rafa right behind him at 22.

You want to push back, you say, OK, 14 came on play, but in no way does that parse the number. And then Federer, who I still think is the greatest of all time because I love his stylistic play, right behind him at 20. With Rafa now winding down, it feels like the end of the Big Three era. Think about what's going on in golf. Tiger is still going to show up. I think he's going to show up when he gets of age to play on the senior tour because he can use a cart in all their events, but for the majors. Tom Brady, is he finally done?

I think so. I think that's what the roast was pointing out. And he actually showed up at the promotional event for Fox. But putting these fellows together, and I'm sure there's people in baseball I'm overlooking, but the baseball comp always came down to an aging Willie Mays stumbling around playing for the Mets in the 1973 World Series, losing fly balls in the sun and just looking like a shadow himself. The difference for these modern stars, Nadal, Tiger, Brady, was they had unprecedented longevity. Now Tiger, more of a wild card because of all the issues away from golf.

But as I'm thinking about these transcendent names, and yes, Tiger's not done. On some level, it's hard to watch. If you want to take a step back and say he's embarrassing himself. Now look, this is not Mike Tyson, who according to New York Post had some kind of medical scare on a flight over the weekend, but his reps say he's doing fine, that he had an issue with something going on with an ulcer flaring up on a flight from Miami to LA yesterday.

But according to his reps, he's okay. And now we're all going to have to endure the Tyson versus Jake Paul fight, which is a topic for another day. But let's not take these iconic stars for granted. Just because it feels like they have the ability to play forever, because they played longer and at a higher level than we've ever seen in the past, at some point they all say goodbye. And it feels like today is that day for Nadal. Tiger has mentioned, we just saw him with the PGA, at least he's walking better, but he wasn't even in hailing distance of making the cut. But he's going to show up at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst because it's in his DNA. So as we say hail and farewell to Rafa, as a sports fan, as much as we fall in love with Anthony Edwards, who's 22 years old, do have some appreciation for the transcendent stars because while it feels like it's going to last forever, it never does. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen, 844-204-7424.

You can head over to the X platform. That's B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's. We're talking Celtics coming up in just over 20 minutes. But straight ahead, with the future of inside the NBA now in major doubt, is Charles Barkley going to become the biggest free agent we've ever seen in the history of sports media? And to keep it more current, is he a bigger star than anyone left in the NBA postseason? Much more to get to.

Appreciate you spending part of your Memorial Day with us. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen on The Rich Eisen Show. Passion, drive and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights and more. Whether you're into speed, power or style, eBay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for. And with eBay Guaranteed Fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back. Because with eBay Motors, you're burning rubber, not cash. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at eBayMotors.com. Eligible items only.

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Bluenile.com code POD. Brian Weber back with you. Appreciate getting the call to come out of the bullpen on this memorial day.

Had a lot of fun with you on Friday as well. The best news for you, Rich and the crew back tomorrow. So be sure to check out Rich with Chris, TJ, Mike for all of their takeaways from the long sports holiday weekend. In addition, everything we have coming up on this program. Fifteen minutes from now, we'll dig deep and give you more thoughts on the Celtics and then we'll expand the conversation. Coming up at 1.20 Eastern Time.

Look ahead to the still potential, but it's trending towards the stone-cold lock option. Boston versus Dallas in the NBA Finals when we check in with Mike Vorkanov of The Athletic. First a reminder, Game Time is an authorized ticket marketplace for basketball, which makes getting playoff tickets even easier and faster. Prices on the Game Time app actually go down the closer it gets to tip off. So you've got killer last minute deals, all in prices, views from your seat, and the lowest price guarantee, all adding up to allow Game Time to take the guesswork out of buying tickets for sports.

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It'll cost you that much to watch cable TV as much as you, yeah, you. Now I'm speaking for my battered industry. I was very fortunate to come into sports broadcasting at the perfect time. Most of life is timing. Nobody tells you that.

Not to diminish, hard work, and I still believe, I don't love the term talent, but innate skill goes a long way. But when I jumped into this dog and pony show, it coincided with the rise of regional cable sports networks. I got a job that did not exist three years prior to my arrival, and now we're watching it all come crashing down. But it is interesting, and I'm not in any way a lobbyist for the cable industry. I write a big check like you do if you have not cut the cord yet, and if you have, that's why times are tough out there like Dusty Rhodes. You're putting hard times on me. Have you taken a step back, let's say you've gone with the skinny bundle for cable TV, and maybe you're throwing internet in there too to get a discount.

That number, you know what it is, and I love getting on the phone and negotiating and threatening to leave, and they knock $8 off, and I feel like John Rockefeller. So you know what that has been over the last 10 years. Are you paying attention to what you're going to be paying not only in the next six months, but the next six years potentially for the streaming platforms, not the Roku channel of course.

Absolutely free and filled with tremendous content. But as we think about where the NBA is, about to announce their new media deal, remember it doesn't start until after the upcoming season, which is going to make watching inside the NBA, if the multiple reports out there that Warner Brothers Discovery is going to be pushed out, Turner could be out of the NBA business for the first time in 40 years. Now I'm old enough to remember when the NBA was on USA Network, but we'll save that for my podcast back in the day with B-web, wherever you download your podcast. It just seems unimaginable that basketball games will be played not on the Turner family of networks, but didn't we say the same thing if you're old enough to remember about the NFL and CBS when Fox stepped in in 1994 in a move that made that network relevant. Before that, it was the Simpsons and the ill-fated Joan Rivers show and America's Most Wanted. That was it.

Tracy Ullman's show as well with the Simpsons came from. So with Barkley now, along with Kenny and Shaq, I think Barkley and Kenny are more, and this is just my opinion, I think they're more of a set duo based on their longevity together and that they still work the NCAA tournament together for now, but let's just say the crew. With their run winding down, and they'll be done in terms of Turner's coverage of the Western Conference Finals as soon as tomorrow night if Dallas can complete the sweep. We've already had Barkley because he's the most transcendent and most unique personality in our industry, absolutely demolishing his bosses. And I don't have to read you all the quotes, but he's called them stupid. He said they mismanaged their relationship with the NBA. He went on to rip them for the shadow cancellation of what was not a great show, in my opinion, as someone who consumes way too much media with Gayle King, but only Charles can go on national shows and absolutely destroy his bosses because not only does he have what we say as the parting shot money, I'll keep it clean, he can walk away at any time, he'd be unemployed for 30 seconds. So that's why I'm continuing to pump the brakes for all of these obituaries and eulogies about the death of inside the NBA. Now it won't be the same show without Ernie Johnson, who's just so selfless in that role. It's never about Ernie, he keeps it moving, even tougher. If you consider the environment of doing that show now in a raucous arena, you've got to get Draymond Green, who I think adds nothing, but that's just my opinion, has evolved as well, but I think Barkley's been foreshadowing that given his star power, not only could he use his free agent ability to go to Amazon or NBC, if those are in fact the new partners, and we're going old school with Round Ball Rock once more, John Tesh is warming up the orchestra as we speak, Barkley could also do his own thing. He could not have that crew together, probably not Ernie because he's a Turner lifer, and do their own shows on YouTube and every other platform and keep all the money, because that's the seismic shift no one's talking about. You don't need to be on a massive platform anymore.

You can be your own boss. Think about the Rich Eisen Show, case in point. But as I take a step back, understanding a platform of this size, especially on a holiday might have some casual fans going, ask yourself this, is Charles Barkley a bigger star than anyone still left in the NBA postseason? And you can throw out the Aunt Sarah trope if you want. Does your Aunt Sarah know who Kyrie Irving is? If she does, probably for the wrong reasons. Does she know who Luca is? She knows that song. He lives up on the second floor.

We're going old. She's Vega. She does not know who Anthony Edwards is. Now she knows who Michael Jordan is and all the who's the next Jordan conversation that have spilled over into mainstream conversation as well. Does not know who Jason Tatum is. Does not know who Jalen Brown is. Although Brown now beefing with Stephen A. Smith because Stephen, as the modern Howard Cosell, makes it all about himself.

I don't think there's a question. Barkley is bigger than anybody currently left in the playoff field. Heck, I think he's bigger than anybody but LeBron. My aunts, you fill in the blank. Aunt Martha hanging out with George in his fall teeth. My Aunt Martha would know who LeBron is because of the horrible remake of Space Jam and because of all his commercials. She might know who Chris Paul is, speaking of terrible commercials. Although Chris has been pretty good on that ABC studio show.

He's likable when he wants to be. So Barkley has never had more leverage than right now because of his impending free agency and because I don't think it's even debatable. He's a much bigger brand.

We all have personal brands now. He's a much bigger star than anyone left in the postseason. Although the NBA I think breathing easy that they can sell. Tatum and Brown looking for redemption after they blew the early series lead to the NBA Finals against the Warriors a few years back versus Luca and Kyrie with the twist.

Remember Kyrie was a member of the Celtics not too long ago. So that's at least marketable and the Celtics have a national following of both lovers and haters. The ratings will be tough, but it doesn't matter anymore. It's all about the guaranteed TV money.

The ratings are additional cash flow. I'm Brian Weber. This program always highly rated except when I'm in the chair.

Coming up, have the Celtics gotten a free pass to the Finals based on injuries? We'll tackle that straight ahead. It's Memorial Day and you're listening to The Rich Eisen Show. John brings his skewed sense of humor. Jeff brings tips to cut strokes off your next round. Together, it's those weekend golf guys.

They'll pay a lot of money to PXG and Tylus and Callaway and on and on and on. How many yards do you think you're going to pick up with that extra effort? I think I can get an extra five to ten. What if I give you fifteen to twenty?

You can pay me more. Jeff Smith teaches on a sliding scale. Those weekend golf guys. The podcast. Part of the Believe Network. Just search. BLEAV on YouTube or wherever you listen.