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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. Final hour of the program. We'll do it again tomorrow.
Yes, we are with you on the 4th of July. We'll wrap it up with style points on Friday. A lot to get to, but we'll always carve out time for you to get interactive.
844-204-7424 is the phone number. Open for business on the X platform. B.W. Weber.
Weber with two B's. Talk some baseball concisely and in entertaining fashion. As I continue to be, as self-promotional as possible, thanks to Andy McCullough of The Athletic for wrapping up the last hour. Coming up in 40 minutes, we get back to the NBA, in addition to what I'm going to tackle presently when we check in with Curt Heelan of NBCSports.com.
In 20 minutes, we return to the NFL analysis. Jim Harbaugh, to me, is a fascinating person. Now, we could just talk about Jim Harbaugh as one of the most impactful coaches we've ever seen. He has now won the national championship at his alma mater. You'll recall he has already reached the Super Bowl as a head coach with the 49ers, losing to his brother in New Orleans when the lights went out.
How do I know? I was there. And in fact, the Super Bowl will be in New Orleans coming up next February, and I will be there for that.
So if Rich needs someone to fill in, Uncle Brian will not be available. I made a pledge to myself as I was working for NFL Network on their morning show, I believe, with the time differential. We went on the air at four o'clock local time in New Orleans, and that was an interesting experience. I will leave that alone. I'll just give you a quick flashback. My co-host called in sick the week of the Super Bowl.
There were some rumors about a long night on Bourbon Street. And then when the person returned to work the next day, I was not thrilled because I had to do a lot more work. And I was trying to clarify why I was not thrilled, understanding we all get sick. And I said, you do realize we call everything the Super Bowl? Like, hey, it's a Tuesday in September, but we got to treat the show like it's a Super Bowl. We were at the freaking Super Bowl. You got to show up.
You got to play hurt. But, man, that was a long time ago. Clearly, I've let it go. That was 2013. The reason I mention in a very circuitous route the New Orleans memory I just conjured up is Jim Harbaugh has already made history. Jimmy Johnson winning a national championship at Miami and chasing it with multiple Super Bowls in Big D. Harbaugh, clearly motivated by the loss to his brother, has a chance to duplicate that. What a realistic expectations for the Los Angeles Chargers. I always say that in full detail, not just L.A., because I'm still catching myself, not to say San Diego, even though I live in Los Angeles. Just too many years of habit. Plus, it still is a sports crime.
The bolts were ripped away from America's finest city. We've been talking a lot of LeBron James today, not only to satiate a big audience. I am not doing the grab the lowest hanging fruit possible kind of content. But it's newsworthy because yesterday his son, Bronny, was introduced to the assembled media here in Los Angeles. I thought Bronny came across as thoughtful, engaging, understanding, the bird of expectations. The one takeaway, because I listened to it live, that was how significant it was on the radio here in L.A., he said something, I went back and checked out the video and made sure I got the quote right because it hit me just in real time as a little bit less than plausible. Bronny was asked about the opportunity to play with his father and he said, quote, I never really had a thought about me going to play with my dad.
Now, we know that's not accurate. Of course, that would be the dream of anyone. But wisely, he's trying to not only diminish expectations, he's trying to say my dream was to play in the NBA and as a bonus, I get to play with my old man. And I got no problem with that from the Bronny point of view.
What's he supposed to say? Don't draft me? With the 55th pick, hang on, we're being told that Bronny James has declined to be drafted. Now, I think from a standpoint of perception and optics, had he been signed as an undrafted free agent like, say, Austin Reeves was, who's now part of a shaky starting five for the Lakers, the perception might have been different, might. There are people who are going to bash this move just to bash it.
I'm not in that camp. My issues with how the Lakers have handled things really come down to a lack of transparency. And I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Ozen.
844-204-7424 is the number to call or you can get chippy on social media. That's how it works. After all, B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's.
The Lakers yesterday spent the majority of that media availability trying to convince all of us. And oh, by the way, a fellow named Dalton Connect, their first round pick, taking a number 17. And Rob Polinga got very lucky. He was still available there after. If you follow college basketball, you know just how impactful he was as the leading scorer in the SEC.
The guy is a bucket. I think he's a better player than Austin Reeves, hence being taken in the first round. When you're the SEC player of the year, I realize there's going to be pushback that comes with his advanced age. Because remember, all the players coming out of the COVID eligibility era had the opportunity to hang around college. So he's older than a lot of NBA draft Knicks would like. They want you to get to the league as young as possible so you have more of a runway in your prime. But when you are the SEC player of the year, when you go for 30 with regularity, you're going to be a first round pick.
But I felt bad for Connect because he sat there like a potted plant. Understandably, all the questions were directed at Brony. But to listen to J.J. Reddick, who certainly is shrewd enough to know what the perception in general circles is, that Brony is on that team.
And Brony was drafted solely because of his last name, pushed hard against that, said it on several occasions, that this is all about something that Brony had earned. And then Rob Palenka jumped in with the notion that the Lakers somehow are all about player development now. Name a player that they really have developed.
Ever. And you could say Austin Reeves. I think Austin Reeves did that on his own. I think Austin Reeves was overlooked coming out of college because he was slender and he was seen as a one-dimensional player. I don't think that somehow Darvin Ham, who had issues in terms of substitution patterns and making critical decisions in the flow of the game, made Austin Reeves better. But again, I'm not an NBA insider. I'm just telling you based on what I watch.
But do not sit there and tell us like we're fools that somehow this is a reflection of your organizational philosophy. Somehow Brony is this transcendent poster boy for turning hard work into NBA dividends because unfortunately he is physically limited. There's only so much of an athletic ceiling for a player with his skill set. Understanding this young man came all the way back after his heart stopped.
Cardiac arrest is no joke. So I'm happy for Brony. He's got the opportunity.
I feel badly it's going to come in this circumstance because even if he balls out, which I don't think is going to happen because I watched him play a lot at USC, as a reserve averaging just over five points on the worst team, the now dead Pac-12. Don't get me started on that. I'll save that for tomorrow.
I'm Brian Weber still in mourning over the depth of the absolute lack of leadership, conviction, even some sports morality that led to the demise of the Pac-12. But I'll save that for tomorrow. For Brony, the best he can do is keep his head down, lean into the work by all accounts. And I'm not just repeating the talking points that the Lakers shoved down our throats yesterday. I've heard many NBA analysts say Brony is renowned for being a hard worker. I get it.
So that's where we get back to the he's earned this opportunity. OK, but wouldn't he have earned something as an undrafted player as opposed to going in the second round? And I realize the fifty fifth pick is usually an afterthought. And if I wanted to go back and read you the list of players selected in that slot, you wouldn't know their names. I get it. I'm talking about a standpoint, though, of fairness.
I'm talking about if you want to have a conversation about nepotism or privilege, we could. It just seems unseemly the whole way this came together with the reports during the second day of the draft that Rich Paul, the agent for the entire James family now is on the phone telling teams, don't trap Brony. He'll go to Australia.
Well, who was taking him? Nobody else was interested because he's not worthy of playing in the NBA right now, which is the case for many players taking the second round. But most of them don't get a three year deal plus an option.
Most of them don't get guaranteed money dipping into that third year. But none of them have the same DNA in the last name as LeBron James. And LeBron got over in a major way beyond that. He got his kid a job. He got him guaranteed money.
He got him the opportunity to appreciate having his name read in the draft, going through what had to be a phenomenal day for that family. And I'm not bashing that. I'm talking about the notion of merit. I'm also talking about the Lakers handing the deed of the franchise to LeBron James because Jeannie Buss is incapable of saying no. And this is more of a reflection of just how dysfunctional and poorly run the Lakers have been for decades.
So if it sounds like I'm killing LeBron, you're misinterpreting what I'm saying, or maybe I'm not being as precise as I want to be. This is a reflection of the Lakers, who have been a mom and pop organization despite being a billion dollar franchise and a global brand for decades. I'm surprised somehow that Kurt Rambis was not jammed down J.J. Redick's throat as he assembles his new staff with veterans like Nate McMillan. And that's why it's because J.J. is a bright guy. Now, he's not qualified for that job. If you're going to hire Nate McMillan as the assistant, why don't you hire him as the head coach?
But no, no, no. We're the Lakers because they have discovered in their infinite wisdom that J.J. Redick is going to be the next Pat Riley because it's the Lakers. They put spin on everything. We know why J.J. Redick got hired because he co-hosted a podcast with LeBron and they like hanging out with each other.
Just tell us that. Don't go through the verbal pretzel and the word salad that they went through in justifying J.J. being hired. I'm just glad I don't have to listen to him on the NBA Finals anymore. And I respect J.J. as a bright guy. I went to a decent college. I'm on team intelligence.
But he was just so ponderous calling games. It's not a podcast. Have a little bit of enthusiasm. Get in and get out.
So just as a consumer, I'm glad that he's now moved into the next chapter of his life. Can he coach? I don't know.
You want to talk about comps? You would say Steve Kerr. OK, radically different. Steve Kerr was the GM of the Suns, so he had experience in player personnel and he walked into the best situation of all time taking over the Warriors after Mark Jackson flamed out with no coaching experience. Don't you think J.J. Redick probably has more in common would say Mark Jackson walking into day one of the Warriors than Steve Kerr did with a ready to win team. But again, this gets back to the central fact that LeBron James controls every aspect of the Laker organization. So LeBron held the team hostage for a while and then quickly decided after all that speculation that no, no, no, no, he's going to take less this time.
And I realize he did take less when he took his talents to Miami to build that super team with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. But once Klay Thompson was savvy enough to say, you know, I like my dad. He was a member of the Showtime Lakers.
He's currently a radio announcer for the Purple and Gold. But you know what? I like more than my father.
I like winning. I'm going to Dallas to play alongside Luca and Kyrie coming off the run to the finals. Then being the third wheel with LeBron and Anthony Davis, because LeBron ain't going anywhere as long as he wants to play. He continues to have the hammer because while you're hearing reports that that deal that came to terms today between LeBron and the Lakers, which has been percolating for a while, is a two year contract. It's a one year guarantee. And then LeBron has the player option.
Why? So he can maximize his leverage. He can threaten to leave again next summer. Now you're going to say, would he leave his kid?
He's done everything he cared for his kid. They're going to have the photo op. Bronny will play at some point for the Lakers this year. There will be a highlight.
You want to bet it's Bronny alley-ooping to his old man and then you send the video to the Hall of Fame. But this is all about LeBron, the businessman, maximizing his opportunities. And however you view him and you cannot in any way parse his numbers, his longevity, his durability, you have to admire his business smarts. Nobody has played the system better than LeBron. And now it's just been borne out in different ways.
He's turned the Lakers from a bus family business into the James family business. And ultimately, if you're a believer in player empowerment, and I am, I don't want to be hypocritical, I'm always going to side with the folks who generate the revenue as opposed to those who live off those rewards. You can't have it both ways. Here's where I'll find a middle ground. Just be honest.
Be transparent. Do not pretend somehow because the word earned kept being thrown out repeatedly yesterday. Bronny didn't earn anything.
He was given an opportunity based on his last name, as many people have in many businesses. We just haven't seen it taken to this level in pro sports in a long time, and especially in the NBA. And as for the Lakers, they have been so poorly run for so long, they have no other options. So they're just going to run it back and forget about Bronny.
He's going to toil in the G League as he should. If you're just thinking about the hierarchy across the NBA, how did the Lakers get better? They didn't. And what happened last year? Play-in team, despite the fact LeBron was largely healthy, AD only nicked up from time to time, combined they played over 140 games in a regular season.
And that got you the play-in plus getting swept by the Nuggets. What does next year look like? More of the same.
Because nothing changed. So for all the talk about this was going to be the rebuilding offseason, we're retooling for the future. We're going to maximize the remaining years that LeBron James has in the NBA.
Well, what happened? LeBron didn't leave any money on the table after speculation he was willing to do so. So he's clearly prioritizing family, which I think we all can appreciate. He got his son a job and living his best life in LA.
And I live in Los Angeles. I'm not going to take shots at that. I think he prefers now to have his meetings and his power lunches at Spago show up, still get his 22, 25 points on a team that's going nowhere. But just tell it like it is. That's the reality. Do not somehow try to convince Laker fans or just those watching in general that this is not an example of LeBron James flexing. And don't try to frame it in terms of player development.
What's earned versus given. I just heard and saw a lot of hypocrisy yesterday from a lot of different folks, namely JJ Redick and Rob Palenka. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen.
844-204-7424 the number to call. We'll get back to the NBA coming up in 20 minutes when we check in with Curt Heelan of nbcsports.com. We had a good baseball conversation the last hour of the show when we were joined by Andy McCullough of the athletic. So a reminder, game time is the authorized ticket marketplace, which makes getting baseball tickets even faster and easier. Prices on the game time app go down the closer we get the first pitch. So that is a great innovation. You got killer last minute deals all in prices, views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee.
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Last minute tickets, lowest price guarantee. Coming up, we return to the NFL. We never drift too far away from football when I'm in the chair. After all, this is the football show of record. Jim Harbaugh is mentioned as one on every level he's coached.
Is he going to back up winning the national title of Michigan by making a run to the Super Bowl with the Chargers as soon as this season? That's coming up. We continue on a jam-packed Wednesday. I'm Brian Weber. In for Rich Eisen.
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Download Game Time today. Last minute tickets. Lowest price guaranteed. Welcome back to The Rich Eisen Show Radio Network. I'm Brian Weber and I'm proudly sitting at The Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.
Call clickrainger.com or just stop by. I am open to taking some phone calls tomorrow. And again, since I'm looking for transparency from the Lakers who've gone from having a front office to the James family office.
I really appreciate the opportunity to sit in for Rich whenever I can. So I come with probably I'm not just trying to be self promotional, four hours of content that I'm trying to get into the three hour framework. So I realize my style is not necessarily conducive to phone calls. I don't spoon feed it to you.
We don't do a show question. But if you hear anything that you want to react to or you want to take it in a different direction, I am here. I am live.
I am not an AI chat bot yet. That's coming. That's why I'm working so hard now in my mid 50s. 59 and out, baby.
844-204-7424 coming up in less than 15 minutes. We wrap it up talking more NBA with Noel Friend, Curt Heelan of NBCSports.com. I mentioned last night I watched about half, again, transparency being candid, being forthright. About half of the kickoff edition of the brand extension of hard knocks on HBO. The new version focuses on the offseason and they focused on the New York football Giants tonight.
Feels like a light sports night. So to be very upfront with you after I do my prep, I will be watching the latest installment of the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. Now, tomorrow we will not be doing Mount Rushmore's of film sequels. We will not break format. But since I gave out the phone number, it's going to have a little bit different of a feel. We don't have holiday rules.
But I do recognize that if you're kind enough to give me a couple of minutes on a holiday, that levity should prevail. Still, I will give you some thoughts if you're an Axl Foley fan as to the new cop that is dropping on Netflix today. But this way, it can't be worse than Cop 3, right? Even Eddie Murphy acknowledges that movie should never have been made.
Film, though, at the Six Flags in Santa Clara, California, just outside San Jose, where the Niner Stadium, Levi's Stadium, is now situated. Cop 2, if I wanted to do Hack Radio, I could argue Cop 2 as good or maybe better than Beverly Hills Cop 1. And how else could we come to that conclusion with other franchises? You could argue Godfather 2 better than Godfather 1. Jump ball, but you have the De Niro aspect. Empire Strikes Back better than Star Wars?
Eh, too dark when I was a kid. But I said I wasn't doing that, so let me make sure that I remember. This is a sports show, although the brilliance of Rich is it's where sports and entertainment intersect. So I think the man with his name on the marquee wouldn't mind if I meandered a little bit into greatest sequels of all time. And it almost works as a segue because part deux of Jim Harbaugh in the NFL is upon us. I'm here in Southern California, where for the first time there is a palatable buzz surrounding the Chargers.
Now I've had a lot of fun. I have had a cottage industry bashing the Chargers, even when I worked for NFL Network, because I was not concerned the Spanos family was going to get me fired. I was doing well enough on my own to walk off the professional plank that I didn't think Dean was going to pick up the phone and call 345 Park Avenue. Plus, let's be honest, who has less clout in the NFL than the Chargers? They are tenants at SoFi Stadium.
They pay rent. They botched that stadium drive in San Diego repeatedly. I do not blame the good people of America's finest city for not wanting to dole out corporate welfare to the Spanos family. If you don't have the resources to build your own stadium, don't own a team. Or if you realize that you're so loathed by your fan base, figure out another way of getting the public money. But because the Spanos family is so incompetent and so cheap, they botched that entire situation and they get crushed in the ballot box. Now they play here in Los Angeles and nobody cares until now. It's an interesting tipping point. Because finally, and I have to believe, that somebody in a role of authority in the NFL reached out.
And this is just my theory. But you have to have a relevant team in addition to the Rams' success. And the Rams, win or lose, already have the built-in fan base because they were here. I know they started in Cleveland, but you get my point. When the Rams came back, there were thousands of folks ready to go out and talk about the fearsome foursome or Vince Ferragamo. There are no Chargers fans innately and I realize they played the one year in the NFL. Look, history is my bit.
But the point I'm trying to make should be self-evident. They came into a town, nobody cared about them, nobody wanted them, and they've been terribly mismanaged. As they've been throughout their entire franchise. Brandon Staley is a nice person. Completely overmatched. Should never have been the head coach of any team other than he used to work for Sean McVay. And McVay has such a charismatic aura to him that I understand that everybody in his coaching tree, which is an offshoot of the Shanahan coaching tree, has gotten the benefit of the doubt. I do not think that Staley was qualified for that job. Obviously, he flamed out on the job, didn't help himself by making some of the most absurd in-game decisions we've ever seen in sports history. And don't just tell me, oh, it's analytics.
Analytics doesn't mean reckless, blind, illogical choices at all times. Sometimes you've got to open your eyes and say we're on our own seven yard line, we're punting. And now Brandon is back to being an assistant and I have no doubt that he knows what he's doing schematically, X's and O's, but he should never have been the head coach. So I think that was rock bottom for the Chargers, who realized we had to pay Justin Herbert, although they always go cheap. But when you stumble into a franchise quarterback, and I'll be honest, I'm on the West Coast. I used to work for Pac-12 Networks, the company's now defunct.
I watch a lot of Oregon football. I did not think Herbert would be this good. I thought he threw into some tight windows and now I'm breaking it down. He had a penchant for turnovers, although if you've been paying attention, the turnover issue has become more prevalent after his remarkable rookie year. But remember, because this is the Chargers, he would never have played unless poor Tyrod Taylor had his lung punctured by the Chargers' team doctor. Yeah, we're talking about the Chargers botching a shot because of the Chargers.
So they finally got something right. And Harbaugh, however you view him, has that it factor. And he's won on every level going back to San Diego, not San Diego State, San Diego. Then my alma mater, Stanford.
I can share some stories on my podcast. I won't do it here about how he alienated himself quickly within that athletic department, but he won. So people look the other way and he won with the Niners and he won at Michigan. He wins everywhere he goes. Will he win this year?
I think that's a stretch because now it's about culture building. But I am fascinated to see how that offense looks with Harbaugh and his staff working with Herbert. You know, for Harbaugh, it's all about the run game as well on every level of coaching. The Niners' success came not only because of the transformation of Colin Kaepernick, because they ran the ball so effectively. Michigan wins the national championship, I think as much based on their defense and play quorum and the collection of running backs as JJ McCarthy.
So I'm not in the prediction business. I'm not going to come with the insane perspective that, oh, the Chiefs should be looking over their shoulder, although there's a reason no team has ever won three Super Bowls in a row. Saw it in the old days with the Packers and the Browns in the NFL championship era. San Diego's Chargers are now the LA Chargers. They'll be vastly improved. But as you think about that division, until the Chiefs don't win the AFC West, because they've been stacking division titles, it's headline news. But I do think the gap between the Chiefs, who had a wobbly regular season, Raider fans always, justifiably point out the last team to beat Kansas City last year wore the silver and black on Christmas Day.
I think that division just got a lot more interesting because of competent coaching that the Chargers haven't had since Marty Schottenheimer a million years ago. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. Hit me up after the program on social media. You want my thoughts on COP4.
I'm an Axel Foley kind of guy. B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's. Straight ahead, we wrap it up with more NBA conversation after virtually getting shut out in a free agency. What is next for the Lakers and the Warriors? We'll find out when we check in with Kurt Hillen of NBCSports.com. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen on The Rich Eisen Show.
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Shopify.com slash WestwoodOne. Brian Weber back with you in for Rich Eisen and the fellas. We are winding down. That means we are warming up for tomorrow. We are going to do it again live. We'll do it live on July 4th. So if you want to be a part of the program, you can hit me up on the X platform, B.W. Weber, Weber 2B's or give me a call. We'll have more room for a dialogue tomorrow.
844-204-7424 is the number. As promised, let's say hello to an old friend and someone who's basketball acumen. I deeply respect.
It is Curt Heelan of NBCSports.com. Curt, how are you? I'm doing well. How's it going, Brian? Happy 4th, man.
Thank you, sir. And I want your reaction to the move we all saw coming. But I will be a cynic and I'll frame it this way. What happened to the notion LeBron was going to take less as we find out he's getting the max with the deal, getting finalized today? LeBron actually taking less would have been, first off, out of character, right?
Like he has never not milked it for every dollar. But I think he genuinely would have if the Lakers could have put on the roster someone worth taking the discount for. And and it's become clear that that's probably not happening. DeMar DeRozan is the only guy of that kind of list left. He seems to be like I've heard he's leaning towards the heat and they're kind of trying to work something out. Even if that comes back around to the Lakers, it's a sign and trade.
So it doesn't really impact him. So, yeah, he's I think he would have for the right situation. But the Lakers, Brian, the Lakers off season. I mean, they hired JJ Redick. Hey, doesn't he have a podcast with LeBron?
Of course, sorry to interrupt. I think he knows LeBron, right? Haven't they done a show together? Yeah, they have.
It's kind of weird. I know. Of course, LeBron was hands off on this. Oh, yeah.
He had no knowledge and no role. Yeah. If you wanted to elicit eye rolls. So they're running back the same roster and stuff. I think he was hoping for an upgrade. I think they're still hoping for an upgrade. But, you know, free agency moves fast now. We're on July 3rd and it's kind of like market is hey, maybe they're not going to bring back Brandon Ingram. But like that's the market like DeMar DeRozan and Brandon Ingram are what everybody's watching.
So what's that get you back to the play in like this year? Yeah, well, that's the thing. I mean, when you think about the West, I think they're a play in team right now. And even if they upgrade with the Rosen over, you know, they'd have to send out the Angela Russell and whatever to make it work because they're a play in team. And this is the West.
It's the problem. Oklahoma City had a really great offseason and was the number one feed last year and gained playoff experience. Dallas got a little bit better this offseason and gained playoff experience. Minnesota is not still right there. Denver's not going anywhere. Memphis gets everybody back healthy from a 50 win team two years ago.
Like you can keep going down the list. Phoenix Suns and on down the line. I just don't see where the Lakers got better and suddenly they're not a play in team.
Talking hoops with Kurt Halen. Check out his outstanding work at NBC Sports dot com. Thinking about the Warriors and I'm happy for Klay Thompson from a standpoint of renewal. He gets to go to a better situation, a team that just made it to the NBA finals. I like it from the standpoint of basketball fit.
He can be the third option still. And maybe this is just my years working in the Bay Area. It just feels odd that he's not going to be on the Warriors. I presume you respect the reporting of Ramona Shelburne.
She's outstanding. What do you make of what she and some of her colleagues at ESPN have reported? That Klay's team came back to the Warriors and their proposal to the Warriors was two years at 20 million bucks per. And the Warriors responded, we just can't do it yet. I think that they realized Klay, they needed to move. I think they realized they needed to move on from Klay in the sense that they need a true second shot creator.
What I just mentioned, guys, everybody's waiting on Maury market is the other one. Like the Warriors are trying to find a way to land Maury market and out of Utah. They need somebody who can be, frankly, what Klay was. Pre-injury, they need him like back when he was able to be that secondary shot creator. He's just not that guy anymore. That'll work fine in Dallas.
It'll be great. But it was I think that they this is a situation where they they kind of realized what was going on. And so they were they were not going to bring him back probably under anything but an insanely favorable contract.
And frankly, 20 million years, probably slightly below market for what he should be, even at this point. Yeah. But to amplify your point, it was clear the Warriors were ready to move on. So we have casual fans listening on a national platform, especially during a holiday week. Could you give them a sense of why marketing is so much in demand and what's it going to take to get him out of Utah? Because we know Danny Ainge is a master negotiator. Yeah, I'd say I was about to say it's Danny Ainge doing the negotiation. So it's probably going to take a firstborn child.
Like, oh, it's going to take a lot. And the reason is he's look, it's it's just market economics. Honestly, Maury market is an all star player.
Let's not get me wrong. 20 plus points a game has really come into his own the last couple of years in Utah. They're not going to give him away, but he's, I believe, up top my head.
Twenty seven, close to that and kind of entering in his prime. And that's a Utah team that's still a wide ways away. They want to be. He's not part of their long, long term future. And so if if the right offer comes along and you can blow them away. But the other part of that is who we've been talking about. I mean, the only real difference maker available this year went to Philadelphia with Paul George. Beside that, there's good players. Demardo isn't a good player. Brandon Ingram's a good player.
Maury market is a little bit better than that in his prime. It's a very specific need. And if you're the Warriors, for example, really need shot creation to take some load off of Steph Curry. He's the best guy available. And suddenly it's simple supply and demand.
I was told to be no math evolved. You're getting Adam Smith on me. I'm Brian Webber in for Rich Eisen.
The laws of economics with Kurt Heilman of NBC Sports Dotcom. You hit on Paul George as we think about the balance of power in the East now. And I can assume your answer is going to say if healthy because Paul George, as you know, has been banged up.
And that's that's the bugaboo for and B. But let's say they're big three versus Boston as the reigning champs. How much did Philadelphia close the gap between themselves and the Celtics? I think they're right there.
I think they're in fact, I'd probably put them a little ahead of all things being equal and healthy. I'd probably put them a little ahead of the Knicks, but I think it's right there where the Knicks and 76ers can really push Boston this year. And that obviously didn't happen this past year, partially due to injuries like the East playoffs. And frankly, the NBA playoffs on the whole kind of some of some of the joy of it got sucked out of like. New York would have pushed Boston, but you're like there would have been teams that could have pushed them had they been healthy.
And that's. I think that's where they put themselves. They are right there now. If Kristaps Porzingis isn't healthy, if things don't click just right for Boston. So and do and they do for Philadelphia, if they can get Paul George and Joel Embiid to the finish line healthy with Tyrese Maxey and they've got some. Kelly Oubre and Aaron Eric Gordon and shooters and stuff coming in around them. That's a good team, man. That's a very good team.
They don't and they honestly, Ryan. Adam Silver is going to hate to hear this. I'd play those guys 60 games. You've got enough talent on that roster to win regular season games and get in as a top three for seed. And then and don't worry about the MVP. Don't worry about the postseason award. If you can get those guys to the postseason healthy, you got a chance. I'm with you because it's all about April, May and June for the Sixers.
Got about two minutes left. And since I had the economic reference there and I love this stuff and I love talking to you every summer and I'm a guest host for hire. So I go all in on NBA free agency. Does this cycle have less buzz and oomph because of the players we're talking about? Or does the new CBA have any impact? Oh, the CBA absolutely has a new impact twofold.
One and this has been going on for a few years now. The best players don't really hit free agency. Paul George being the exception. They extend with their teams, even if they want. If Donovan Mitchell wanted a trade, wanted out of Cleveland, he's still better off.
Signing the extension and then forcing his way out in two years. It's just how how things get done. But the CBA and the new aprons that I even the casual fans probably have heard a little about and we don't have time for that right now.
That changes everything because it really looks you've got billionaires. Steve Ballmer is trying to get below that number because he doesn't want to deal with the restrictions on team building. Every team is trying to do it. The Nuggets are trying to do it. It's big spending teams really reining themselves in.
And that that dampens the market. Plus, you know, bombers spending his cash on urinals and toilets at the new arena. There will be plenty of those.
I'm expecting like Japanese. I was going to play the bidet card, but you beat me there. Kurt, always a pleasure. You know, I appreciate the relationship. Thanks so much for taking the time during a holiday week and hope you have a great July 4th. Thank you. You too, Brian. Take care. Kurt Hill at NBC Sports dot com. We have been doing this dance for many years.
And I appreciate anybody who not only knows this stuff, but is thoughtful and can have a laugh along the way. If you don't get the reference, Steve Ballmer, a reminder whose net worth is greater than the other twenty nine owners in the NBA combined. But if you had bought Microsoft stock, now you have to have hundreds of thousands of shares. But if you had bought and hold Microsoft in 1984, you would not be listening to this program.
You'd have your own private island. But one of the selling points of Ballmer for the new arena the Clippers are building here in Southern California is he wants the fans to be back in their seats. So quickly to root on their beloved Clippers that he wants no lines in the restrooms.
So more urinals and I guess more toiletry overall per capita than any other arena ever built. And now you know the rest of the story. Big show in store tomorrow. How do I know? I've already been working on it because barring breaking news. And the good news is we'll be alive so I can react to anything that happens in real time.
Saw that nugget the reporting from Ramona Shelburne about just how contentious it got between Klay Thompson and the Warriors a couple minutes ago. So that, again, is a testament to Rich investing in not only the content, but you, the audience. I realize a lot of shows play tape during this holiday week, and it means a great deal to me to be here to guest host for Rich and maintain the momentum he's created with his incredible brand. But in addition, everything I've mapped out tomorrow, we are going to have some fun. And I am going to go home and watch Beverly Hills Cop 4. I'm not going to do a 15 minute review. I'm not going to do a Mount Rushmore of sequels. Although I could probably narrow it down to what is the greatest fourth movie of all time? I'll self report I've never seen one of the Fast and Furious movies. And I like action movies. I just feel like I'm too late now.
I don't have a life, but I don't have 19,000 hours to catch up on sequels one, two, three, four and five. We'll have a sequel tomorrow. And what more good guests on the docket want to thank Curt Heelan who just joined us. Andy McCullough talking baseball from the athletic.
And we got into the trenches with Duke Manyweather. He's the co-founder of the offensive line Mastermind Summit. Thanks as always to Rich, Bruce Gilbert, all the great people at Westwood One, my friend and skilled technical producer Art Martinez. My name is Brian Weber and we'll do it again tomorrow on July 4th right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Binge seasons one through four of Talk Bill before season five begins wherever you listen.
