Starting NFL QB's To Get BENCHED (Hour 3)

Alright, we have number three of our radio program and this is that Gelb show right here on the Infinity Sports Network. Coming up 20 minutes from now, we talk to one of our favorites, Antonio Daniels, the former NBA player and current star over at Sirius XM. NBA radio is going to stop by. We'll talk about the NBA Finals with him and get into some of this off-season carousel that's already moving and spinning in the NBA with a lot of rumors flying around there with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, and who the heck is going to coach the New York Knicks. Coming up, it is a Monday. Every Monday and Friday on this show, Stu and Samter have some questions.

I try to give you some answers. We get to onside offside and we get to it right now. Zach's taking on the most polarizing issues in sports. Which side of the line of scrimmage will he end up on? Offside, defense number 69. It's onsides offsides with Zach Gelb.

Alrighty Stu Cat, what do we got cooking today? Alright, after months of uncertainty around a new deal, the Packers decided to release defensive back Jair Alexander. The former All-Pro missed 10 games last year with a knee injury and has played just 34 of 68 games since 2021. Though he did still finish 19th among corners by PFF in 2024. Onsides offsides, the Packers should have kept Jair Alexander.

I'm going to go offside on this one. And it's not that I don't think this guy's a good player because I think he's a really good player. But it seems as if for the last few years that there's been a lot going on between the Packers and Jair Alexander. You go back to that stuff where he tried to make himself a captain and run out to the field and everything that happened with the coin toss. It seems that they were tired of Jair Alexander and they weren't going to get a new deal done. And if you weren't going to get a new deal done, I think they feared that he was going to be a pain in the ass. That's what I kind of think was going to happen. So now he gets to hit the open market, right?

He gets to be a free man. And I don't know, watch, he'll probably wind up in Philadelphia, Buffalo, Baltimore, right? Some of the Kansas City, some of the teams that come to mind if that's the case, the Packers got to deal with it. But they've been at a crossroads the last few years and they've been able to survive it. Now I do think that they went down a road and it was a dead end.

And I don't think there was any way of coming out of that without this getting to be a very ugly situation. So I'm fine with both parties just moving on the Packers, saying goodbye to them. And I'm sure Jair Alexander is fine with it. So the Packers should have kept Jair Alexander with how the situation ended up going to and knowing the situation the way that I think I know it. I'll go offside on that one.

Offside! Nick Chubb rushed for over 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns in four years between 2019 and 2022. However, the Browns released him after injuries forced Chubb to play just 10 total games over the past two seasons. Now reports say that Chubb is expected to sign with the Texans. Onside to all sides, Nick Chubb can still be in every down lead back in Houston. No, and I don't think he needs to be.

I think you could use him in small doses and he could give you some big returns still. The guy just is not able to stay healthy right now to withstand the every down type of back situation. At one point he was one of the best running backs in the NFL.

He continuously just gets hurt and hurt and hurt and hurt. So Nick Chubb can still be in every down lead back in the NFL. I'm going to say offside there and it's a one-two punch kind of situation I would say with Nick Chubb. So I would go offsides on that one.

Offside! Is Joe Mixon still on that team? I believe so. He had a really good year last year. You got Joe Mixon and Nick Chubb. That's not bad.

If you told me that two or three years ago, it's oh my goodness gracious. You got one of the great one-two punch situations ever there in the back filled with Nick Chubb and then Joe Mixon. But I'm going to say that it's the compliment of the two of them both in similar spots in their career where for running backs they're older with Joe Mixon being 28 years old and then you have Nick Chubb. How old is Nick Chubb? Didn't you just say his age or something like that? He was born in 95.

So kind of both similar spots. He's 29 years old. Both being in similar spots where Nick Chubb and Joe Mixon, they're not as great as they once were, but they still could both be very productive and they kind of I think would need one another to get the Texans to where they want to go this year.

But anyway, go ahead. So Aaron Rodgers officially signed with the Steelers this weekend and apparently he signed a team friendly deal. Let me tell you, one of the great human beings of all time, Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers's contract is for one year, $13 million, and that could escalate to $19 million with incentives. I thought he would sign for 10 M's, right? 10 M's. M&M's or millions? What were we doing there? A little more than that.

A little more. Onsides, offsides, Rodgers taking a team friendly deal will change the negative feelings from Steelers players and fans. I don't think that's what will do it. I think the fact that he's finally just going to show up is what's going to do it. And it's one thing to say it on the outside looking in. Oh, we're sick and tired of hearing about Aaron Rodgers. Once he gets there, I think all that stuff is water under the bridge and it's OK. That's the quarterback for this season.

Let's go. But I don't think him taking less money is all of a sudden. That's the reason why the players and fans now will be all in on Aaron Rodgers. It's the fact that he's simply now just on the team while people will be at least open to it because you have no other option, really, unless you want to go play Mason Rudolph and you're not bringing Aaron Rodgers, you know, to go play Mason Rudolph. The only way Mason Rudolph is going to play is a few things. If it's in blowout fashion, if Aaron Rodgers gets hurt, or that's about it, right? Mason Rudolph is going to beat Aaron Rodgers for the job. It's either if it's a block game or if Aaron Rodgers gets hurt. So Rodgers taking a team friendly deal will change the negative feelings from Steelers players and fans.

Yeah, that's not the case. Offside. The first name that everyone thought of when the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau was former Villanova coach Jay Wright. But unfortunately, over the weekend, sources reported that Wright told the Knicks that he wasn't interested in the job and that he wanted to stay retired. Onside to offside, you believe that Jay Wright will eventually return to coaching at some point. I never want to say never with how young he is.

But do I think he's going back to college? No, especially after this new ruling with now it's legal to pay the players, even though it was kind of already legal, just it's a different way of paying it. Now you could still do NIL, but now the schools can directly pay the players. And Jay Wright, let's be real, he kind of was in front of this stuff.

He didn't want to deal with any of the NIL stuff. All right, there's been another Final Four. I've won two championships.

Let me ride off into the sunset. Let me just leave the sport now before I start to hate the sport. That's why Jay Wright walked away. So I can eliminate the college game of Jay Wright ever returning, in my opinion.

It comes to the NBA. You get your college players professional. You have Jalen Brunson. You got McHale Bridges.

You got Josh Hart. If those guys couldn't get him to say yes, I don't think Jay Wright wants to coach again. He'll sit on CBS, work, what, a few weekends a year, be on the Selection Sunday show, do March Madness, do the studio show, enjoy his mainline mansion, probably go down to the Jersey Shore in the summer, drink copious amounts of wine, and that will be the life that Jay Wright is going to live. I don't think he's going to coach again. So you believe that Jay Wright will eventually return to coaching at some point. Now I do, or excuse me, will eventually return to coaching at some point.

Now I do not, so I will go offsides there. In Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the Thunder took out the Pacers 1-23 to 1-07 to even the series at one game, heading back to Indiana. Sorry, that was most people in the second half of that game because it was a blowout and the game should have never started at 8 p.m. Eastern. I know people are going to say, what about the West Coast? In the NFL, do they not play games on Sunday afternoon and the ratings are extremely high? Play that game Sunday afternoon. If it's a weeknight, I'm not sitting here saying, play it in the afternoon. But on a Sunday night, after the game, Game 1 was Thursday. You make us wait all day Friday, all day Saturday, and all day Sunday, and the game was a stinker.

Play it at 3.30. Come on, what are we doing? Well, in that game, Pacers star Tyrese Halliburton had another underwhelming game, finishing with just 17 points and 6 assists after his 14-point outing in Game 1 that, of course, ended with his dramatic game winner. On such all sides, the Pacers should be worried about Halliburton's struggles thus far. Yeah, I would say they should be concerned. Is he capable of turning it around?

Sure. You could still make the case for that, but there's a reason why the Thunder's defense is this great. And that's why I would be worried because you now have to find, you have to be a problem solver up against a phenomenal defense and a team that's turning out to be an all-time great team with the way that they play defense and also already having 62 wins a season by double digits.

So it's going to be very tough to go get three more games. Duh, hot take of the day. So I'm not saying that was what they seen from Halliburton through the first two games. They need to be freaking out. But do you get a little bit worried? Are we going to be able to get the job done?

Yeah, I think so. And you even heard it from Mark Boyle, the voice of the team. Hey, did he even say Halliburton has to be great for them to go win this series? And oh, their defense isn't the best in the world, even though it's got better. I'll tell you, for a team announcer that is in the NBA Finals, usually it's all positive, positive, positive, positive, positive, positive. You hear some of those answers, and I appreciate his honesty, right, and his objectivity. You hear some of those answers, kind of get the sense that he won't expect them to win the championship.

So that was just me. So the Patriots should be worried about Halliburton's struggles this far. Yes, onside. Over the weekend, a judge approved the deal between the NCAA and the U.S. government, which will allow schools to pay college athletes starting as soon as July 1st. Now, schools will have a cap of $20.5 million per year that they can divvy up amongst their student athletes. Onsides, offsides, this new rule will ruin college sports forever.

Offside, I'm not going to sit here and say that. Personally, and yes, some schools are not going to be able to get anywhere close. Most schools will probably get anywhere close to the cap, so there could be an advantage that way. But people, when NIL was introduced, said, oh, it's going to ruin the college game.

I still sit on my ass and watch college on my couch right on my fat ass and eat all the nachos and the wings and all that stuff each and every Saturday. I love college football more than ever. The tournament is still always must watch, so I think for the average consumer of college sports, college football on Saturdays, NCAA tournament come March, this is not going to ruin it. This is just something that is long overdue, and the NCAA was stubborn for all these years. I know people say that this is a big ruling and it's a big deal. I'm not saying it's not a big deal, but since we're already introduced to NIL, I know that this is a different structure now that schools can directly pay them. I hear that, and people say big deal, and I go, oh, how does this really impact my life? How the kids get paid, I don't care, just as long as they're getting paid. And now there's multiple ways to pay kids coming from the school and then also still with NIL. So for me to sit here and say that this new rule is going to ruin college sports forever, I just don't agree with that, so I will go offside.

Offside. ESPN released their rankings for this year's college basketball transfer portal with the defending champion Florida Gators at fifth, preceded by Louisville fourth, then Michigan third, Kentucky second, and Rick Pitino St. John's Red Storm topping the list with five top 100 transfers. Last year, Pitino won the Big East and took the Johnnies to a number two seed in the NCAA tournament before losing to Arkansas. On stage all sides, Rick Pitino is the face of college basketball right now. He's a major player, and he's definitely someone that is easily recognizable, but he's got to win. And I know people are saying, well, Zach, he just won the Big East championship.

Sure, but then he lost in the second round to John Calipari and Pig Sui at Arkansas. So Cal is still a major player and a major face for college basketball. And I do also think that there's players now where it's kind of just even if it's a one year shoot right out of the cannon, one and done kind of thing, with now players being more recognizable with them getting paid, that players could also be the face of the sport too. So college football is kind of faceless right now. I think college basketball is kind of faceless too. The NBA we know is faceless as well. Pitino's in that conversation, but I'm not going to say he's outright the face of college basketball right now. And also, how much longer is it going to last, too, just with his age and everything like that?

How many more years do you go to coach? I'll go offside there. Offside. Pirates female. And actually maybe John Shire, if you think. I know he hasn't won yet. But the fact that a lot of people just can't stand him because it's Duke and you just choked that game away you did up against Houston in the Final Four, I know most people say you need a championship to be the face of the sport, but with how they lost, it does get people to celebrate a villain, right? Even though I don't view John Shire as a villain, but some people do. And I get it because at Duke, you've got to kind of celebrate a villain's demise before it even really gets the arrival and the big moment. But you get what I'm saying.

And maybe it's an undertaker rise from the dead kind of moment with how it ended last year. But anyway, let's keep it moving. Pirates phenom Paul Skeens is absolutely dominating the league this year, amassing a paltry 1.88 ERA with a nearly invisible whip of 0.84. However, Skeens is just 4-6 with just one win over his last six starts, despite not allowing more than one run in any of those games, thanks to the Pirates' terrible run support. Onsides all sides, Skeens should demand a trade unless the Pirates promise to spend money and build around him. It doesn't mean that the Pirates need to listen because they have control of him and you can keep him and what is he going to do and not going to show up. I doubt that's going to be the case. I think that's fine. And we could say, oh yeah, demand a trade unless they promise to do X, Y, and Z. I don't know how realistic it is yet right now. But yes, I'll agree with the question. And I don't think the Pirates are ever going to show that commitment anytime soon. So if I was Skeens, I would demand a trade.

I just don't know if he will, but I'll go onsides on that. All right, last one on Saturday, American Coco Gauff won her second Grand Slam, capturing the French Open in a dramatic three-set match over number one, Irina Sabalenka. Now, after the match, Sabalenka was less than complimentary of her opponent. Conditions were terrible and she simply was better in these conditions than me. And I think it was the worst final I ever played. She won the match not because she played incredible, just because I made all of those mistakes from, like if you look from the outside, kind of like from an easy ball. If Iga would win me another day, I think she would go out today and she would get the win. Now, Gauff responded after the match. I mean, I don't agree with that.

I'm here sitting here. And last time I played no like to Iga or anything, but I played her and I won in straight sets. So yeah, I don't think that's a fair thing to say. So on set to all sides, Sabalenka's comments were petty and poor sportsmanship. Yeah, you could say that. I have no issue if you want to classify it that way. I usually don't freak out when it comes to professional athletes and poor sportsmanship or comments that are made in terms of, oh, I didn't think I played well and I more so lost than the other person wanted. I would not go about it that way. She beat you.

Coco's golf response was great while I'm sitting here with the trophy. So whatever, pretty much. So I don't think that Sabalenka, who's a champion, obviously a phenomenal player, needs to go about it that way. But if you're going to say they're petty and she's a poor sport, the sportsmanship conversation I always think is lame when we're talking about professional athletes.

But in that case, I can't say that they weren't petty and I can't say that it was good sportsmanship. So I will actually agree here and I will go on sides in this regard. All right, we'll take a time out. This is Zach Gelbscher on the Infinity Sports Network. We talk to Antonio Daniels next. All right, he rolled tight up at one for the NBA Finals.

You will have game number three coming up on Wednesday. Let's go out to the guest line and chat with one of our favorites. He does a phenomenal job on Sirius XM's NBA radio.

That is Antonio Daniels, who of course won an NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs, and he's kind enough to join us right now. Antonio, appreciate the time as always. How you been, my man? I'm blessed, Zach. Thanks for having me, brother. How are you?

I'm doing great. So through the first two games of the NBA Finals, your takeaways are what? Oh, gosh. Well, first, before these finals happened, for me, this was going to be an identity series, right? Somebody's identity is going to win. It's either going to be Indiana's ability to play with pace and speed and speed up the game and put up a lot of points, or it was going to be Oklahoma City's lockdown defense. And I call the thundering five from the beginning. That was my prediction. I'm not changing that.

I go all the way back to 2001. I saw Allen Iverson walk into the Staples Center and deliver a massive performance against the Los Angeles Lakers, still in game one, and then they didn't win another game after that. So when I look at this, it would not surprise me one bit because the Indiana Pacers haven't played well in the first two games, but neither have the Oklahoma City Thunder. So I'm staying with my prediction.

I still got thundering five. I know Halliburton had that incredible shot, right? Another sequence in game one. He was not playing well, though, before that, so it erased that. Last night did not have a good game.

What he's gone on is a life-changing run. We're all going to view him differently. So I hate to say through the first two games, right, how concerned should the Pacers be?

But then you see afterwards him limping around. Where is the concern level for you? Well, here's the thing. Like, it's funny how a narrative will start around the player. When it's positive, it's okay to talk about. But the thing is, when we start talking and throwing out superstar and all these other kind of adjectives that come along with the player, now we have to hold him to that standard every game, right? So the thing is, it can't be, well, he's this, and we put him in this category, and then he struggles, and then we say, well, you know what? I don't want to talk about his struggles. That comes along with being the guy.

That comes along with being that particular guy. He has 31 points in two games, right? Game one and game two. He has eight turnovers. And for me, it's less about Therese Halliburton and more about the defense of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

I'm going to be completely honest with you, Zach. The reason that I picked OKC in five is because I haven't seen a defense like this in a while. And what I mean by that is this. Can you think of another team that is constructed to put five or six guys out there that all have first or second team defense ability? Like, you can go down the list from Casey Wallace to Shay Gilders Alexander, to Jay Dub, who was second team all defense, to Lou Dort, who was first team all defense, to Alex Caruso, who has been all defense before, and Chet Holmberg. Their point of attack defense, think of how they made Anthony Edwards look, how normal they made Anthony Edwards look. There's nothing normal whatsoever about Anthony Edwards, but they made him look somewhat normal. It gives you a different appreciation for how truly sensational Nicola Jokic is to actually stretch that series to seven games in the second round versus that OKC Thunder defense.

It was less about Theresa Halliburton. Yeah, and I actually think what happened to them, the Thunder, because all throughout the year, it was weird with the Thunder. They kept on showing you they were a great team, but then the Lakers trade for Luka, and people love the Lakers. Then the Warriors get Jimmy Butler. People love the Warriors. Oh, the Clippers are finally healthy. It was almost as if throughout the entirety of the season, we were trying to find the reason why the Thunder weren't ready or the Thunder wouldn't win a championship. Even if they got there, all the Cavs or the Celtics would be there. But that moment up against the Nuggets and the fact that they got to seven and then they were trailing and looked like they were going to run out of the gym in the first quarter, even though they didn't win the championship, I thought that was the monkey off the back moment for them that gave them the confidence to go do what they're doing now.

It's so funny you say that, Zach, because me and my co-host, Rob Perez, talked about this today. There was a moment in that series, I believe it was game five, versus the Denver Nuggets, where Nikola Jokic was Nikola Jokic for the last five minutes of a game. And it took Shay Gildas-Alexander to go shot for shot or make a play versus the Denver Nuggets and counter what Nikola Jokic was doing.

That was the grow-up moment. And I think for many of us, the big reason that it was kind of, not difficult to ride with the Thunder, I won't say that, but the reason I think that we were kind of backing off the Thunder is because they hadn't shown that experience yet. Any way you break it down or any way you look at it, it's the second youngest team in the league. So everybody that you just mentioned, when you mentioned the Lakers, LeBron's been there and won it. Luka went to the NBA Finals last year.

So the experience is there. When you look at the Clippers, right, we know what James Harden has done, but Kawhi Leonard has been there and Kawhi Leonard has won it with multiple teams as well. Golden State. Jimmy Butler has gone to the Finals, took that Miami team numerous times. Steph Curry has won it as well, numerous times, four times. But when you look at the Thunder, the only championship experience that they have is in Alex Caruso. So we live in a world and a culture, an NBA culture where there's, you know what, you got to prove it to me.

And there's nothing wrong with that whatsoever. But I feel like they've earned the right and they proved it to many of us. And I feel like that moment in the Denver Nuggets series where they kind of got over the hump and derailed that Denver Nuggets team that had just won the championship two years ago, I felt like that was that grow-up, eye-opening moment for many of us.

You've said it. You think the Thunder are going to win in five. I picked the Thunder in six before the series. No matter how long it takes them to get three more wins, if they get three more wins, we know what the numbers are now. Sixty-two wins this season by double digits, which is incredible. You talk about the defense. We know what the potential total win total for this team can be. Are they an all-time great team in your opinion? I just saw you win a championship, but when you look at the list of some of the greatest teams ever.

I'm not ready to go that far yet. Are they having a miraculous season? No question about it. And for me, I worked in OKC. For years as their in-studio analyst. I know what that fan base is like.

I know how hungry that fan base is for success. I don't know if there's a better front office executive as far as spotting talent is concerned than Sam Presti is, right? You can go all the way back to the Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Kevin Durant days, Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams. You think of all the guys that Sam Presti has drafted, have drafted three MVPs, and now you have one in, and Shay Hilders Alexander as well, to go along with James Harden in a completely different uniform. I don't know about where they rank all time. I don't know.

I don't really get caught up into that. I know this is a historic season that they're having for their particular organization, and this fan base deserves it. You know, and I know you played for the Spurs, right? You won a championship there. I had Robert Horry on, and I said I want to put the cart before the horse, because even if they get one, it's nowhere close to what the Spurs have done, but the way that- There's a lot of simulators.

Right? That's what I was going to ask you, because I see it and I go, it feels very similar to when I was growing up watching the Spurs, and now what I'm watching with the Thunder. You know why?

You know why, Zach? Because with the Spurs, there was always a narrative to discredit their greatness for whatever reason. So it was, yeah, they're really good, but they're boring. Or, yeah, they're really good, but they don't have any drama. Or, yeah, that you can just continue to go on and on, even though to me, Greg Popovich is the greatest coach in the history of sports.

I mean, in the history of this league. But I will say this. The similarities to me is people are thinking of ways to discredit what OKC is doing for whatever reason. They've done everything the right way. There is no perfect organization.

There's no perfect situation. But they've drafted well. They've developed well. And they brought in ancillary pieces whose skill set matched what they need.

Right? They drafted Chet Holmward. They drafted Jay Dove. They drafted Wallace and Wiggins and those guys, whoever people. But then they went out and got guys like Isaiah Joe.

Right? They went out and got guys like Alex Crusoe. They went out and got guys like Isaiah Hardinstein. And obviously, Shaquille Alexander is the centerpiece. And you know what's funny? When you talk to people about the Thunder, the narrative, the conversation always seems to go towards Shaquille Alexander being fill in the blank. Oh, yeah.

We talk about it in our Sirius XO XM show all the time. We have people calling in like, Yeah, I just don't like his style of play. And, you know, he's a free throw merchant and he does it. Listen, that that young man is a baller. He is a baller. And for me, I feel like how great he is, how great this team is, has got lost in low hanging fruit conversations, right?

Conversations where social media is easy to kind of kind of draw on what everybody else is doing. Oh, well, everybody else is saying it. Let me say it, too. If you can't see the greatness in Shaquille Alexander, you got a serious issue watching the sport of basketball.

Yeah. And I also think we've done a really crappy job embracing players that weren't born in America and knowing how to process them. Because, like, for example, Nicole Jokic is one of the greatest basketball players I've ever seen. Why can't he be the face of the league? You know, Giannis, right, wins a championship, all those MVPs. People don't call him the face of the league. And Shaquille Alexander, I get Anthony Edwards' incredible personality and what he's done the last years has been special, but he hasn't got to an NBA finals. But you look at a guy like Shaquille Alexander, why can't this guy be the face of the league? So that's the thing. I think it's just because, you know, it's weird to say it and sound that I don't usually think this way. The fact that we're not born in America, I don't think the NBA fans here know how to react to it.

And to me, this is an entire hour conversation, Jack, because I will ask you a question. Has there ever been a face of the league that's not American? No.

Ever. So this isn't new. That's the thing about this.

This isn't a new thing. So it's not like you can say, well, if you go back 15 years ago, this particular, there has never been a face of the league that's not American. And I agree with you 100%.

I think it's wrong. I think it's wrong, but I don't know what would actually, what qualifies to me as the face of the league. Can there be another face of the league while LeBron James and Steph Curry are still playing? I think so because of the fact that I don't believe most people look at them and still, even though they're both playing at a great level at their age, that they could still win a championship. Okay, but I don't think it's about winning a championship when we talk about the face of the league, because now this takes it to a completely different conversation.

I can tell you this. There are certain guys that when you play, they change the environment, right? When I'm in New Orleans and I'm ready to do a LeBron James game or I'm ready to do a Steph Curry game, the ambiance is different.

The crowd is different. People are bringing their Sunday's best to a Friday evening game, right? And I don't know what fans, realistically speaking, are ready to pass the torch.

That's the issue. But we always say, you know what? I'm so tired of seeing the same guys in the finals every year. Are the fans ready to pass the torch? Are the fans ready? We just had a Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals with four incredible young stars. All guards in Jalen Brunson, Terese Halliburton, Shay Gilders Alexander, and Ethne Edwards, right? And if you look at this finals right now, to me, this is a basketball purist NBA finals, because it's not about star power.

It's not about market size. It's not about some of the other things. If you love the sport of basketball, it's very easy to tune in and find everything to love about this NBA finals. And if he stays healthy, I think the guy that we may be ready to pass the torch for is Wendy, because what that dude has that the other guys don't, and trust me, I think Joker's a unicorn, but, Wendy, I would say he's an alien. And you've kind of seen it with Otani in Major League Baseball. That's kind of the feel that I get with Wendy in the NBA. And that's fair. But the face of the organization, the face of the league, is about more than what happens in between the four lines, though. Yeah. It's almost like what qualifies a player to be a superstar? It's not about the four lines. You know, it's about the BRI. It's about the basketball-related income.

What are they doing to the environment around them? So when you look at the face of the league, it's somebody that has to be charismatic. It's somebody that people have to show up to see in droves, right? And every star in the league does not qualify. You can be a really, really good player, but every star in the league does not qualify. And it'll be interesting, because I honestly feel like, if you go to settings, scroll down to injuries, cut them off for Victor Umenyama, he has the potential to be the best player to ever touch a basketball. Wow. You're going to get the Michael Jordan, LeBron James crowd.

They're going to start going after you now. That's going to be the one thing that gets them to agree on something. But think about what we're talking about here.

We are talking about a guy that is 7'4", 7'4", with a skill set on both sides of the ball that we've never seen. Think about this, Zach. Honestly, we can pencil in. Now, the key is help. That's the key. That's the key to anything. We can pencil in the next 10 or 11 defensive players of the year and go ahead and give him the trophy now.

Sure. We can give it to him right now. He realistically would have won defensive player of the year this year if it wasn't for the 65-game threshold. He has the potential to be something that we've never, ever seen before because his size and his skill set. Wrap it up with Antonio Daniels. Just real quickly, when the Knicks' job opened up, my first thought was Johnny Bryant. You know, you hear all this Jason Kidd stuff. Who the heck knows who they're going to hire? What would be your best guess right now who's coaching the Knicks to replace Tibbs?

I don't know what they're looking for. Like, realistically, they just advance. And it's weird too. Coaching in today's NBA is different. You know, they just had a coach in Tom Thibodeau that brought them more than they've been since, further than they've been since 1999. And he got fired.

He got let go. So I don't know what the next step is, not just for the coaching, but for the New York Knicks. Because if you compare this year to last year and last year to the year before, they didn't skip any steps. They did exactly what they were supposed to do.

They incrementally improved, which is awesome, right? This year, they made a huge trade by acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns. And all they gave it was one year. They just gave it one year with Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson and Mikel Bridges and Ojian Anobi, Josh Hart, those guys.

They gave it one year. Here's the thing when you fire a coach. When you fire a coach, you got to start over. You're starting over. You're starting over from block one because you're bringing in a new coach with a new philosophy with a new everything. So it would be interesting who they decide to go with and where it goes from here.

And the last thing I'll ask you is a two-part question. KD, we know he's going to get moved at some point. What's your best guess on where he's going to wind up? And then for Giannis, do you think when the season starts, he'll be in Milwaukee or somewhere else?

I definitely, to answer Giannis first, I don't think that he'll be in Milwaukee because I just don't see how that works for either party. And it's not an indictment on either one of them. But there are certain teams, and it's so funny because these are two of the teams that went for the big splash and it failed. This is what I mean when I talk about the Knicks and I say you can't skip steps because certain teams will try and skip steps by simply adding star power. But star power doesn't equate to chemistry.

It doesn't equate to symmetry, right? So I think when you look at the Milwaukee Bucks, they're financially strapped. They have no future assets, and they don't have really good young players to build around Giannis. So what they have is a guy in Giannis that can open up some of that for them by trading him away. I feel the same way about Kevin Durant.

Phoenix, they're in the same exact situation, right? Bradley Beal has one of the worst contracts in the league, if not the worst contract in the league. You have a great young player in Devin Booker, but they don't have anything moving forward.

So what does the future look like? You need to have a player that brings back young players and assets in the process. Kevin Durant does that for the Phoenix Suns.

Giannis Antetokounmpo does that for the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, I think you're Spurs. Giannis, put him with Wendy. You know, keep on to Fox or Castle.

That would be a fun one. And the thing is, I'm down here in San Antonio's home for me. I'm down here in San Antonio. The two big things that I continue to hear being down here in San Antonio is one, Giannis and Wendy, and two, Giannis and Kevin Durant. Those are the two big rumors that I continue to hear. The Durant one, do you think that one makes sense at this stage of his career to give up those future assets to go get KD? Yeah, but it depends on what you're giving up because the deal that I saw was Harrison Barnes, Devin Fissel, and the number 14 overall pick. So you still get an opportunity to hold on to Stephon Castle, right? You still get an opportunity to possibly hold on to Kelton Johnson. And you still have De'Aaron Fox here, right? So you still have Victor Wimanami here. So if you can hold on to your young pieces, some of your young pieces, and all realistically you're ridding yourself of is Devin Fissel and the number 14 overall pick for Kevin Durant, and you're not asking him to be the guy, but to be an ancillary guy?

Man, listen. That's a problem. Well, yeah, that's a different. So I thought they'd have to at least give up the number two pick. In that deal. And I would not do that. I don't think they would do that. I don't think they would do that either.

But I think they would give up the number 14 pick with a couple players in the process. He's Antonio Daniels. He's a great job. Sirius XM, NBA radio.

Also won a championship with the Spurs, is an analyst for the Pelicans as well. Always great with us on the show. AD, thank you. Appreciate you, brother.

Thanks for having me, Zach. By the way, I went to Little Wayne on Friday night. Stu, you think I thought that concert was good or bad? Um, bad. Horrible. Really horrible. Horrible.

Ah. And I'm very disappointed. And I've seen Wayne perform before. And he was really, I saw him at the Super Bowl two years ago.

It was great. He didn't get on until like 10.15. Now, I knew that when it's 8 o'clock, right? That's when the ticket starts. I was expecting 9, 10, 15.

Thankfully, I got snuck into a luxury box, so I had some free booze and some free food, which was good. So I'm not bitching about that. But he played less than 90 minutes, I would say.

Or like right around 90 minutes. And he does like 45 seconds of his songs. It just was not good. And a lot of people are crushing this new album. I thought the new album was fine. I don't think it was great, but I thought it was fine. But the show was just not that good.

I may have been in a little bit of a heckling mood when I was leaving the stadium, because I was at Madison Square Garden. I was like, Wayne's washed. Washed. He's washed.

Wayne's washed. So what a waste of money. What a waste of money. And the tickets that I got cost me $1.50. And the tickets, my, like, same section of my original ticket when, an hour before the show, we're going for $28. $28 an hour before the show.

So sunk cost at that point. But I had a good time, my friends. I had some matters. But I did not think it was a good performance. And, see, rappers, in person, it's either great or horrible.

There's no middle ground. And I've seen Wayne before, and I thought he was great. I saw Jay-Z, great. When I saw Jay-Z and Kanye, even though Kanye's a piece of crap now, Jay-Z, Kanye, phenomenal live. Eminem, great live. Lil Wayne, I thought he was really good live, but then seeing him again, past his prime.

It's like seeing Jordan, oh, he's not Jordan, but you get the analogy. Jordan and the Wizards. Some nights, you find the fountain of youth.

But on most nights, you knew what you were getting. All right, anyway, it's time to answer Ask the Pros' question of the day. It's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Brandon on Long Island says, Bleacher Report believes Sam Darnold is the most likely QB to be benched this year. Which starting community do you think will be benched first? You can submit a question by tweeting at infsports, et cetera, at Zach Gelb using the hashtag Ask the Pros.

Think O'Reilly Auto Parts while your car care needs guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. So getting benched, here are some rooms. Whoever starts in Indianapolis, is it Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones? That could be a bench possibility.

Cleveland Browns, see, Joe Flacco wins the job. He could be benched. Sam Darnold, I think it's a possibility. I don't like, even though Gary Myers will try to tell me otherwise, they're not viewing him as definitely the long-term option. They gave him a three-year deal. There was 50-something million guaranteed. That's not a crazy amount of guaranteed money for a quarterback, even if it ends up just being one.

One-year right, that's a one-year quarterback salary, and then you move on. Russell Wilson with the Giants, I think, could be benched for Jackson Dart. And then I don't know if this would, I think this would be like a who cares situation, but the Saints. If they start Spencer Rattler and then they go to the kid that they just drafted, Shuck, is that like, all right, whatever, if it's Shuck and then they bench him, that's like the who cares. That would be a lame answer if I gave you the Saints, if I'm just being honest. At this rate, I think you just start Shuck and you see what happens there.

You say Shuck and then who gives a puck, right? And maybe they'll end up being the number one overall pick. I'm going to say, though, I'll limit it this way, because I don't think I'm missing any teams, right, Stu?

I don't think so. I mean, maybe the Panthers, if Bryce Young is just horrible, but even then, that's kind of like a who cares in a way. Well, it would be a big deal. Because he's a former first pick, but I don't know, if he's horrible. I think people are back in on Bryce Young and they're not thinking about that right now.

Yeah. So I would say it's the Colts, the Browns, the Seahawks, and the Giants. I'm going to guess it's the Browns. You know, if they're making Daniel Jones the guy or Anthony Richardson the guy, you would think they'd be able to keep the job through the first two months of the season, and then you'd have the benching.

I don't think Sam Donald's going to get benched in the first two months. And the Giants, it's how many games you could win. Oh, by the way, Marasch's father, how many wins do you think he has for the Giants this year? I was talking to him yesterday. Ten.

Exactly ten. Of course. And Carlos of the K, I thought, was going to just die on the spot as he was flabbergasted and was trying to debate Bob and tell Bob why he was wrong, which I agree with Carlos of the K, but Carlos of that moment, just shut your mouth. More wins than the Chiefs, probably, for Carlos. Yeah. Oh, he showed up to Bob's bar at the start. Oh, the Chiefs are going to miss the playoffs.

Looking for clicks, Carlos of the K. Carlos with a click. But I'm not going to go to the Giants. It is impossible. I'll say the Browns. I think they start Joe Flacco. Just throw them to the walls for six games of the season.

Or maybe even Kenny Pickett, who I saw at the UFC. Or eventually, you get to Chidora Sanders. I want Chidora to be the first guy off the bench.

I personally would start in week one. I don't think they're going to. So I think it's whoever the Browns are out there for the first six games of the season, and then you get the Chidora party.

So I'll go with the Browns to answer that question. We'll talk to them tomorrow, everybody. We out. Thanks for listening. Bye bye. We'll see you tomorrow.