Magic Johnson, NBA Hall of Famer

Fall is just around the corner and home is the center of it all. At Ashley, seasonal decorating's a breeze with their range of designs and materials. Snuggle up on a family-friendly sectional or an ultra-modern sofa. Or gather outside and enjoy the crisp, cool air with a new fire pit or conversation set. From minor refreshes to total overhauls, Ashley has the essentials to make your home fall functional and fabulous.

Shop in-store or visit ashley.com today. Alrighty, we continue this at the Gelb Show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Now joining us on behalf of GSK Sideline RSV program, SidelineRSV.com.

For more information on the legendary Irvin Magic Johnson and Dr. Leonard Freeland. Gentlemen, appreciate the time. How are we? We're doing good, Zach. How about yourself?

Well, I'm doing fantastic. Doc, I'll chat with you in just a bit about the great campaign, but I gotta start Magic off with some basketball questions. Magic, we all know that you could guard anyone on a basketball court.

Right now, the toughest player to guard in the league, in my opinion, is Nicole Jokic. If you were going up against the Joker, how would you try to slow him down in a game? Oh, it's kind of difficult, Zach, because he can shoot from the outside. He can put it down on the on the floor and take you off the dribble. He can post. He can pass. I think, you know, you just got to try to go back at him on on the offensive end because there's no way you can stop a man that can that has that many abilities in his game.

Right. Because since he can do so much on the court, you can't you can't stop him. And that's what I like about his game. He has really changed the game of basketball, being a dominant big man and also winning the NBA championship. So he's a champion this year. He's the most unstoppable player we have.

So I can't stop him. Well, another player that's tough to stop that is also one of few MVPs and also has an NBA championship is Giannis Antetokounmpo. Recently, he said that if he senses any complacency from the organization, if everyone's not all in to win a championship, he'll eventually leave the Bucks. Now, he doesn't have a player option until 2025, 2026.

But when you hear that, does your intent to go up? Maybe this is another superstar that's going to leave their organization. Well, Giannis has been again, remember, he was an MVP. He's a champion. So he's just putting the organization on notice that he wants to win more championships. And that's what he's supposed to do. So he wants to make sure that they're going to bring in, you know, quality players and and stars that go alongside of him that put him in a position where he can win more championships. And also, if you don't, then I have options to leave.

So I think it's great. And he's serious. You got to remember one thing about Giannis. He's very committed to Milwaukee. He's very committed to basketball because he works on his game probably harder than any other player I've seen. And he wants to not only get better, but he also wants to win. So now it's up to the organization, the organizations who make sure that they stay competitive so that they can keep them. Talking to Magic Johnson right now, we'll chat about GSK and sideline RSV program in just a bit.

Visit sideline RSV dot com. I don't know if you saw this, but recently Gilbert Arenas had Steph Curry on over the summer. And Gilbert asked Steph Curry, who's the greatest point guard of all time?

And he was respectful to you, but he said himself, how do you process that one? And do you think Steph has surpassed you as the greatest point guard of all time? Well, does the number say that, Zach?

Not yet. I would still say it's you if you ask me. OK, so if you got if he got more than five championships, if he got more than three finals MVP and three league MVPs, then he's the greatest. Is he if he got more than, you know, number one in assists all time in the finals, number two and double doubles, number one in triple doubles all time in NBA playoffs, number four in steals all time in the playoffs.

If he got more than those numbers, he's the best. Well said. Look at that.

Usually both debates don't end very quickly. Magic Johnson dropping the hammer here on. No, I'm just saying if he if he got more than all those things, he's the best.

But the last time I checked, he doesn't. So but everybody has to, you know, decide for themselves who they think the best is. Let me ask you about your Lakers. LeBron and AD got to the conference finals last year. How how open of a window do you think they have this year to go take it a step further and get back to the championship? I think they're the best team in the West this year. And I and I, I strongly feel that they're going to the NBA finals this year.

And they have probably more depth than any team in the West. I think that we'll see AD have a MVP type season this year. Rob Palenka did a nice job of bringing in some really good players to go along with LeBron and AD. And then they brought back all the young players. I think Austin, Austin Reeves going to have a tremendous season this year.

We saw him in the World Games playing really good basketball for USA. And so, you know, DeAngelo Russell was back. So it's going to be a really, I think, a great Laker team. And I'm I'm predicting right now that they're going to the NBA finals. All right, gentlemen, Ervin Magic Johnson here with us, Dr. Leonard Friedland, as well.

The floor is yours. Tell me a little bit about GSK and also the sideline RSV program. Yeah, thanks, Jack. And it's great to work with you, Magic, on our campaign.

I'm Leonard Friedland. I'm a physician research scientist at GSK and working in vaccine development for many, many years and really proud of the work that we're doing with this health awareness campaign about RSV. Zach, RSV is a very common contagious virus that affects people of all ages, particularly the very young and the older adults.

Older adults, particularly over the age of sixty five. One hundred and seventy seven thousand older adults over sixty five are hospitalized in the United States every year due to RSV. And of those, that fourteen thousand will die from RSV in the United States every year. It's really important to know about this virus because there are things that we can do to help protect ourselves. This year, for the first time, we have vaccine options to help protect against RSV.

The Centers for Disease Control now recommends that all adults over the age of sixty can receive a single dose of RSV vaccination based on a discussion that they should have with their health care provider, their doctor, their nurse, their pharmacist. And our campaign, sideline RSV, is all about bringing this discussion to the center court. I'm learning all about basketball, Mr. Johnson. And but having this discussion is really important because if you know that you potentially could get a serious infection, you want to know what you can do to protect yourself, protect your your friends, your parents, your grandparents, et cetera.

And that's all about the discussion. So on sideline RSV dot com, there's great resources there to go learn. We have some videos that Mr. Johnson and I have done together. Magic, it was fun working with you on that where it's all about raising awareness, getting the knowledge and then have that discussion. It's really important that we stay healthy as we get older. I'm all about prevention and what we can do to keep ourselves healthy. And that's what magic is all about to health and wellness. And we want to thrive throughout life.

And so let's do whatever we can to keep ourselves healthy. So go learn about RSV and the options available to help protect yourself. Sideline RSV dot com.

And once again, that is sideline RSV dot com. Irvin Magic Johnson and Dr. Leonard Friedland with us. Magic, one more before we let you run. I have to ask you this question. So one of my best friends from college is a diehard commanders fan. Steve Sands from the Golf Channel. I know him very well. I was his kids camp counselor. He's crazy for the commanders.

They've been beaten up, tortured for their entire life. Now, you and Josh Harris and company are coming in to save the day. What's the message to commanders fans while you guys are going to get this thing right and move it in the right direction? Well, I think that we're going to build it in the right way. Josh is a tremendous owner already with the 76ers.

He knows what he's doing. I'm so happy that he brought me onto the ownership team. But you have the right people in place. So we're going to increase the fan experience. We're going to add to the talent that we already have on the commanders team. So we're going to build this thing to a championship organization. So I'm excited that we've taken over.

But fans can expect we're going to be winning and winning for a long time once we build this thing and build it the right way. He is Magic Johnson and also the Dr. Leonard Leonard Friedland once again, sideline RSV dot com. Gentlemen can't thank you enough. Appreciate the chat. Let's do it again real soon. Thank you, Zach. Thank you.