Russell Wilson and the Steelers a Match? (Hour 1)

Old Man Winter here. If I had it my way, it would stay winter all year long. Short days, wind chill, black ice, and a good polar vortex.

Heaven! Wait, is it getting warm in here? Your cold snap is over, Old Man Winter. Spring has arrived.

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Call 562-314-4603 for details. This is Tony Kornheiser's show. I'm Tony.

You expected someone else? So what exactly is the show about? Hmm, I don't know. It's a sports show nominally. Football's over, but we're finally at a point where things matter in college basketball. And baseball season is on deck. Greatest three words in the English language, pitchers and catchers.

We have some of the best voices come on and explain what matters and what makes an upset, like Ryan does. 9 over 8. No, that's not an upset. No, yeah, it is, Bob. And if you're lucky, I might just tell you about my search for discounted sleep pants.

Or my worries about what my dog just ate. Listen on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Bye! From the Palisade, yet not overly ostentatious studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street, welcome on in to a Thursday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, the free Odyssey app, and of course, streaming live on YouTube. YouTube.com slash CBS Sports Radio. 855-212-4CBS is the number to jump on in.

855-212-4227. You could always get at me on Instagram, where I'm straight flexing, or via the good ol' cesspool of Twitter, at Zach Gelb. Got Stuart Kovacs, big Mike CBS, Moist Mike, Chris Hess, all rocking and rolling, jamming out with me up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. We have three guests today. Jamal Mashburn's gonna join us in studio coming up 20 minutes from now. We're gonna debut a new segment called the College Football Fix, and that will come your way at 4.20 p.m. Eastern, 1.20 p.m. Pacific today, and joining us in that segment will be the head coach of the Florida State Seminoles, Mike Norvell, and then in the final hour of the show, former NFL quarterback Sean Salisbury will join us. But, I got to start off with something today, and it has to do with someone that we spent the last three, four years talking about in great detail, and that's Russell Wilson. So, we all know Russell Wilson is getting released by the Denver Broncos, and Russell Wilson has already been granted permission because the Broncos did this out of the kindness of their hearts to start to be able to talk to other teams. He doesn't have to wait until Monday rolls around with the legal tampering window when the new league year does start officially on Wednesday at, I believe, 4 p.m. Eastern. So, Russ can start to talk to whoever he wants. He knows his fate.

It's sealed, signed, and delivered. It's over, it's done, it's finito with him and the Denver Broncos. And, there has been a few teams that I've thrown out there for Russell Wilson. The two teams that I've talked about the most are the Minnesota Vikings and then the Pittsburgh Steelers. But, the Steelers were the first team that I talked about, and the first team that I mentioned about Russell Wilson potentially being interested, and I say that very specifically, and I say that in a very certain way that, and this goes back to December, because any time we say something about the Steelers on this show, there's always a bunch of websites that end up writing that CBS Sports Radio host says this about the Pittsburgh Steelers. But, going back to December, I said Russell Wilson should want to go to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And, the reason why I said that is because let's just say there are a few people that I know that know Russell Wilson. And, a few of those people went out of their way to mention in December when this all went down, all these shenanigans went down between Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos, and Russell Wilson was getting benched.

A few of them went out of their way to say to me, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. They kept on throwing out the Steelers. Now, the reason why I haven't predicted Russell Wilson to the Steelers yet is because I don't think that's where he's going to land. Now, the report today, and I'll get back into this in just a second, but the report today is the Steelers are expected to meet with former Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson, per Jerry Dulac, and Pittsburgh has interest in adding him.

And, that was aggregated via my sports update. So, I think, and I know, Russ has interest in Pittsburgh. But, just taking a meeting and just bringing in Russell Wilson to sit down and talk to him does not mean that this is going to be a takes two to tango situation and both are going to start dancing.

It doesn't mean that because you've got to look at it from a Steelers perspective. There is merit to believing that the Steelers would want to bring in Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson is far past the days of being considered maybe being an elite quarterback or even being considered a great quarterback. The apex for Russell Wilson now is just being a good quarterback and lost in all of this nonsense from this past year between Russell Wilson and Sean Payton is that Russ improved as a quarterback.

Now, people could say, no bleep, Sherlock, when talking to yours truly. It couldn't get any worse than what we saw in year number one with Russ with the Denver Broncos. But, in year number two, dare I say it, Russ actually played some good football in what was a toxic situation when him and the coach didn't get along and, quite frankly, there's not a lot of talent on the Denver Broncos. So, the ego of Russ still concerns me. Russ focusing more on his brand than actually football at times does concern me.

But Russ, the football player, had some good moments in 2023 and some good moments on the field when you watch the games or you delve into the tape. So, I could see the Steelers, and this is what I think is happening. I really do believe that the Pittsburgh Steelers, they are bringing in Russell Wilson to talk to him, to sit down, and pretend like there is interest in bringing in Russell Wilson. And I think it's to further send a message to Kenny Pickett that your job is really on the line. Because if you just had a competition this year, and let's say you bring back Mason Rudolph, and it's just Kenny Pickett and it's Mason Rudolph, there is no doubt about it that Kenny Pickett's going to win that quarterback competition. And then you start to think to yourself, even though Kenny is playing for his job and he has to prove it this year on the field, but was there something done in the offseason to maybe put Kenny Pickett in a quarter and really make him feel the heat, and really make him start to wonder, alrighty, I got to do this, or else the Steelers are being serious with this being my last year. Because if I'm Kenny Pickett, I'm saying year one was year one, they started Mitch Trubisky, that was stupid from the start, then they quickly went back to me.

I wasn't horrible, but I wasn't great, and then year number two, it was ups and downs, but I could blame it on Matt Canada for my incompetence, and then also I got hurt. But there's a lot of excuses here two years in for a first round pick that Kenny Pickett can use to justify maybe he doesn't feel that his job is on the line. And if they just bring back Mason Rudolph, and that's the only move the Steelers make, and they don't even ever talk to Russell Wilson, I don't think this is a situation where, yes, sure, Kenny knows he has to perform well, but he feels the heat from the organization. You could leak out that story like they did a few weeks ago, that there's conflicting thoughts in the organization, and some want Mason Rudolph to be the guy next year, and others want Kenny Pickett. But a lot of that I think is just a lot of rumors, and I don't want to say it's BS, because I do think there is some validity to that, but you don't know where it's coming from necessarily. So I think being public here and already getting it out right now that you're interested in Russell Wilson is kind of just a little baloney from the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That's just the way that I view it. I think what they're doing here is trying to create a situation and present a situation where they're making the tone set right from the start with Kenny Pickett, and they're saying, yeah, we're going to go talk to Russell Wilson. Even though we just gave you praise a few weeks ago from Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin, the GM and the head coach, we're going to go talk to someone in this league, even though his stock is in the gutter right now, and he's going to take maybe the veteran minimum to go play forever he lands next, but this is someone that's been a nine-time Pro Bowler, this is someone that has been a Super Bowl champion, and has been to another Super Bowl. So what I think the Steelers are doing here is trying to create fear and get it through Kenny Pickett that this is a put up or shut up year, and I don't ultimately believe that Russell Wilson is landing with the Steelers. Yeah, no crap, Russ would want to go to Pittsburgh.

Why wouldn't you? Great defense. You have two good wide receivers in George Pickens and Deontay Johnson.

You have two solid running backs in Najee Harris and Jalen Warren. Obviously Russ would want to go there, but do the Steelers really want him? I think it would make sense.

I said this before, I'll say it again. I think Russell Wilson would be a better option than Kenny Pickett in 2024. Justin Fields would be a better option, and heck, Michael Penix Jr. would be a better option. I gave you that take earlier in the week, but what I've always said is I don't think the Steelers are actually going to go through with it. And right now you put a gun to my head, I'm saying Kenny Pickett is the week one quarterback and the week one starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I think this is just kind of a dog and pony show right now with Russell Wilson, where they'll trot Russell Wilson into Pittsburgh, they'll have him sit down, they'll have a conversation.

Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan will then speak glowingly about him, but I think it's 100% intentional to try to spark even more of a fire inside the tummy of Kenny Pickett, and also drill home that we're serious about this being your last year to try to prove something to this organization and show that you belong as a franchise quarterback in this league, and also with this legendary organization. So I right now just do not believe that when we get to the fall, when we get to early September, or heck, even the summer, when you start to have these offseason programs underway, that Russell Wilson's going to be a stealer, and Russell Wilson will end up being the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year. I think he's going elsewhere, and I keep on throwing out this team, and I threw it out to Justin Jefferson at the Super Bowl. I really do believe Kirk Cousins is leaving Minnesota. And then, for Minnesota you could kind of get the best of both worlds, you could sign Russ on like a million, two million dollar contract, get him in extremely cheap, whatever the veteran minimum is, with all that money that he just made, and you have him in Minnesota for a year with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hockinson, and you also get to play half your games in a dome. That's where I think Russ is going to ultimately land, and I'm not saying that Vikings fans should be jumping for joy, and they should be doing somersaults in the streets, because I think it's better if you bring back Kirk Cousins. But I don't think they're bringing back Kirk. I think Kirk is landing in the ATL. I think he's getting ready to go to Atlanta, and you got to pivot quickly if you're Minnesota. And for Minnesota, I don't believe you're going to be able to trade for Justin Fields.

I just don't think it's going to happen inside division. You got to go get a veteran. And when I said this to Justin Jefferson at the Super Bowl, you guys need a veteran, if Kirk goes, he agreed. They need a veteran. But you could also then draft someone with a top 15 pick in the NFL draft. And there were rumors that they were trying to aggressively move up last year for Anthony Richardson. So I think the next landing spot for Russell Wilson, if I had to take a guess today, even though I would love it for it to be the Raiders, and I would love it for it to be the Steelers, I think it would be fun. I think it's going to be Minnesota. And then Minnesota will either then trade up to go get a first round quarterback or they'll stay put and they'll see if a J.J. McCarthy falls.

They'll see if a Michael Penix Jr. falls as well. And then you could make that decision if you're going to pull the trigger or not on drafting a young quarterback. So I am not buying the Russell Wilson to Steelers stuff today. And heck, I started it.

You go back to December, there are a bunch of blogs. Oh, Zach Gelb, radio host, CBS Sports radio host suggests the Steelers to go get Russell Wilson. I think Russ is interested, but I believe the Steelers are putting up this front. They're putting up this facade that they're interested to really send a message to Kenny Pickett and really try to football intimidate Kenny Pickett to maybe get the best out of him in 2024. I don't think the Steelers are going away from Kenny Pickett, even though they should. Here is James Palmer from the NFL Network.

He's taking it a step further. I'm giving you destinations for us. Russ, I'm trying to help you right now. James Palmer, our pal, says nobody wants Russell Wilson, right? I spoke to multiple quarterback needy teams today, and all of them told me right now, guys, that Russell Wilson is not an option in terms of the things they're looking at to fill their opening. Now, yes, free agency hasn't started. There's still time for quarterbacks to change teams and that market to fall. There's still the draft and that market to fall. And who winds up with a quarterback?

Who doesn't? There's still time. But as of right now, when I spoke to multiple teams that need a quarterback in this offseason, Russell Wilson is not one of the options, but they are looking at. And it is wild that this is just two years removed from the trade that went down from Seattle today.

It is wild. But there's a lot of specific things that James Palmer said there. Yeah, that's not a surprise. Russell Wilson's not going to be a number one option for anybody right now. Like your team, like the Raiders, the Vikings, the Steelers, you know, any team that could be interested in a quarterback, Russ isn't the number one priority. Maybe trading for Justin Fields is, maybe signing Kirk Cousins is.

But those are only two guys. Justin Fields can only land in one spot. Kirk Cousins can only go to one spot. And it's tough to play the draft game. But if you could get someone that had a decent, good season last year, and Russell Wilson for a vet minimum, well then yeah, that's something that could be your third or fourth option. But then it ends up becoming your starting option for next year. I just don't believe it's going to be the Steelers because ultimately I think the Steelers rock and roll another year with Kenny Pickett. Alrighty, this is Zach Gilbeshow on CBS Sports Radio.

We'll take a break when we come on back in five minutes. Joining us in studio, played his college basketball at Kentucky, then spent a bunch of years in the association. Jamal Mashburn will join us. Financing subject to credit approval. Delivery fees may apply. Like the tech-filled Tucson and Kona, as well as the spacious Palisade. Enjoy wherever you go with the peace of mind that comes with America's best warranty and three years or 36,000 miles of complimentary maintenance.

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You'll be glad you did. Alrighty, rock and roll it is the Zach Gilbeshow Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. This March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. The Kentucky legend and former All-Star Jamal Mashburn is teaming up with Exact Sciences and the Blue Hat Foundation to challenge people 45 and older to box out colon cancer by getting screened for the disease. And the former NBA player, Kentucky superstar is kind enough to join us right now on CBS Sports Radio in-studio.

Jamal, thanks so much for doing this. How you been? I've been doing good, man.

Back in New York. You know, live in Miami and it's a little colder up here. But I'm surviving.

I got thin blood now. Well, you're used to it. Have you now become one of these people in Florida when I get a call from my grandmother and it's like 75 degrees that they whip out the North Face now? One hundred percent. One hundred percent.

So you got soft. Yeah, one hundred percent. I have no, you know what, with me it's just living in Miami. Miami is a dynamic city. It still has enough room for growth that you can make an impact on it. I can't make an impact on New York City.

New York City is going to always be what it is, but Miami is a nice place to be. But, you know, I'm enjoying basketball retirement. Yeah.

Well, it's not a bad life, obviously. I can't speak for it myself, but we were just talking right before you got on the air and you also got Joe Stonecrabs in there. I know you're going Saturday. You'll see my guy Bones at the door and you'll get the excellent Stonecrabs and then the most underrated $12 or $14 fried chicken you'll ever get. Yeah. I mean, it's when people think of Joe Stonecrab, they might as well sometimes put Joe's fried chicken up there because a lot of people have known for that. And it's awesome. It's very good.

I mean, the service is phenomenal. Legendary spot. Been there for many moons. So good luck if you can get a reservation.

It's worth a wild table there. So you met Rick Pitino, what, in the late 80s, early 90s, right? I would say it was, for me, it was late 80s, mid 80s. I used to see him quite a bit at five star basketball camp when he was the Providence head coach at that particular time. So they used to have these camps up in Holmesdale, New York, and they were bringing a lot of the top high school prospects in there and different things like that.

About 400 kids or so. And he would do like motivational speeches and teaching clinics. And for some reason, he would always pull me out of the crowd. I used to tease him after a while was you were recruiting me back then.

You know what I mean? And so we developed a relationship along with the other assistant coach Herb Sendek. He was the primary recruiter. And then when Coach Pitino took the job at the New York Knicks, I really started to follow him there and his style of play and everything like that. And then once he left the Knicks, he took the Kentucky job in eighty nine.

And that's when he started to recruit me heavily to go to Kentucky. Is it surreal to you still to this day now that he's still coaching because he's on the sideline with St. John's and when he was in Greece and then he goes to Iona. People thought Iona was going to be his last stop.

And now St. John's is supposed to be his last stop. You know, I don't I don't to me, you know, Rick Pitino is the true phrase of lifer. You know, I don't I don't see Coach Pitino doing anything else but being around the game of basketball. If Coach Pitino left coaching, I think the natural footprint for him and his age would probably be, you know, somewhere as a consultant management maybe overseas or something like that or even a commentator of the game. You know, I don't see him ever leaving the game. He still has competitive fire. He can still turn around a program. I think the landscape has changed on him a little bit where it's pretty much become professional sports with NIL and the transfer portal.

It's always been that with the money that's in college athletics. But, you know, he's a lifer. He's a teacher of the game. You know, he loves it. He goes through his ebbs and flows during the season, just like any coach. He's probably a little bit more emotional about it and outwardly emotional.

It worked a few weeks ago. He threw the entire team under the bus and then it's like, oh, that little fire under their ass and they start playing better. Yeah. I mean, it's a different time and a different age when, you know, things like that during my era playing with him, that was pretty common. And that was one of the reasons why he wanted to recruit three New York City kids to go to Kentucky, because he only had three scholarships.

I was the only one that accepted to go at that particular time was he wanted kids that could listen to the message and not the tone, you know, and New York City kids during that time. I can care less if you curse at me or scream at me. What are we doing? Tell me another day that ends in Y. Yeah, yeah. I get cursed and screamed at walking down the street.

No problem. You know, so it's all good. Talking to Jamal Mashburn right now, looking back at your final four run with March Madness coming up in a few weeks. What's still to this day when you think of those memories in March that just still stand out to you?

Well, I can't run away from it. If I tried, it would be the Duke-Kentucky game and Christian Layton hitting the shot. And that was the elite eight in 92. And then also my experience in the final four playing against the Fab Five. You know, Chris Webber and Jalen Rose and all those guys.

Two different scenarios. 1992 for the University of Kentucky squad, we were coming off of probation. Nobody expected a lot of out of us. It was almost like the David and Goliath story facing Duke at that time. Christian Layton to me is probably one of the best college players of all time based upon his accolades and his impact on the game. And then you fast forward to 1993 and facing the Fab Five, a cultural phenomenon, you know, and what they meant to this game of college basketball. They might have been the true NIL group.

You know, when you think about it, all the things that they've kind of ushered in, meaning baggy shorts, the lifestyle, different things like that. So it was a we just didn't have enough to get past the combination of Duke and all that they had to offer. But to me, there was a winner and a loser. But Kentucky actually won, in my opinion, because you were back on the map and then getting to the final four in New Orleans.

You know, I want to be in a New Orleans pelican at one point, you know, I mean, so that's a full circle moment. But for me, that's the purity of the game, at least from a player standpoint. Take all the money, the sponsorships and all those different things out is one and you're done. It's like a pickup game, you know, and in the streets of New York City or wherever you play at, you know, somebody got to call next and you might not be the person that will be continuing to play. So that's what I love about March Madness and the college basketball experience. It's show up and you might have your off night and you might lose and go home. Or you might be a 16 or whatever, see 11 seed or whatever it is, and you can make it to the final four. You know, I never thought about it until the way that you were just looking back at your matchup against the Fab five. Everyone then remembers the championship game with Weber and the time out.

So you lose the round before, obviously, in the final four, the semifinals. Do you remember watching that national championship game at all? You guys weren't still there, right? Yeah, we stayed. Oh, you stayed? Yeah, we stayed.

So I think the championship game was on a Monday and we lost on a Saturday, I think it was. And Coach Pitino was just like, hey, you know, you're in New Orleans, go hang out. We're going to stay till after this. I think we flew out that Tuesday morning and that Tuesday morning actually is when I had my meetings with four agents and four business managers that Coach Pitino has set up. And that was the process that we talked about before my junior year started. But we stayed. Coach Pitino was he was a big part of of yeah, it's basketball, but also you guys are college kids.

You got to enjoy the experience, you know, and that's what he let us have and have that opportunity. And also we had other people who were freshmen that probably need to see that experience. They didn't play a lot. I think one player played a lot. Not a lot was Tony Delk and also Roderick Rhodes. But it was one of those things where he was trying to show them, you know, what the experience can be like by experiencing the whole final four rather than just the piece you were in.

Talking to Jamal Mashburn, who joins us in studio right now. When you get to the current day, Wildcats, we know John Calipari has been there a long time. First few years in, he won a national championship. When you're at a school like Kentucky, you win one. It's OK.

When are you going to get the next one? How do you look at so far the long tenure of John Calipari? You know, I think it's it's kind of like the evolution of adding social media into the mix. People having a voice that are part of the fan base that gets louder and louder when they don't think you have achieved what they think they are entitled to have. And that's championships. But the competitive landscape of college basketball has changed. Even if you look at it before NIL and the transfer portal, you know who he recruited were one and done kids.

You know, the top of the class and everything like that. So his roster turned over every year. And I don't think people realize how difficult that is to have continued success and get a new group every year in there and have to restart it. Back before then, you know, kids stayed three to four years and you also had kids in there that were probably not pros, but they were very impactful glue guys that did a lot on the college level. One of my good friends who I play with the Gauchos with here in New York City, Orlando Antigua, he's the assistant coach there.

So me and him stay in contact quite a bit. And, you know, it's a pressure cooker down there. It's not everybody's built for Kentucky basketball.

You know, I've seen a lot of kids. And even when I played in my time there that transferred, they were from Kentucky. They just couldn't handle the pressure of it. But I think John Calipari, in my opinion, has been a success.

It kind of wracked my brain. You know, we had Tubby Smith after who who coached me and helped recruit me as well than Billy Gillespie. Who else could step foot into that program and consume everything that needs to be consumed that goes around just beyond coaching? You know, there are very few guys that can step in there and have success. I mean, I don't even know if a guy like Roy Williams could have had success there.

That's a different personality. Coach Spatino, when he got there, he had that New York charm with him. Or you want to call it New York BS with him, you know, that he can navigate the politics of different things, bring people closer, but also keep other people away from his players so that we didn't get in trouble as far as, you know, extracurricular stuff. But there's not very many guys that Coach K, Tom Izzo, I don't even know if Coach K. Oh, wow. I mean, I don't.

Coach K, he embraced the one and done late in his career. You know what I mean? I don't know. Yeah. I don't know if he had the capacity to do it.

I think you need to have a little bit of salesmanship with you. You know, I think could do it. Probably Bruce Pearl.

Bruce Pearl or Auburn. You know, I got to know him a little bit. I like him. He comes on the show a bunch. Yeah, he has a personality for it. He's engaging in different things like that.

So there's only a few that I can see in my mind that can actually sit at the center of that job and have success and longevity. So safe to say you're not at a point now where it's like, oh, we got to get I'm always I like Calipari, to be clear. But a lot of some people in the fan base, even though the contract is what the contract is, they're like, oh, you got to get him out of Kentucky. Yeah, I think, you know, grass is not always greener.

You know what I mean? And then also, too, you know, it's the landscape has changed on how you get players nowadays. You know, it's come down to the power five. I think football has made an impact on that part of it. As far as basketball is concerned, a different conference alignment, a lot of factors, a lot of factors. You know, you're I would say Kentucky basketball is probably the closest thing to a professional basketball franchise where your coach has to be a CEO. You know, other coaches and other programs just be managers of talent or manage the program.

But it's a collective. That's all of Kentucky that supports it. You know, Louisville's out of the question right now. I don't want to kick him out. I don't want to kick him out of there because Kenny Payne was at once.

You know, even though I played against when he's at Louisville, I know you guys you like to beat the crap out of Louisville. You know what? But, you know, it's a lot of pressure in that state. It's a lot of pressure. It's a lot of pressure. You're the main thing.

You're the main thing. Did that pain you when Pitino was coaching at Louisville? Nah, you know, me and Coach Pitino, one thing about us was we had a relationship beyond Kentucky basketball. And he approached me when I was a young kid and always approached me in the way that he valued my ability, physical ability, but also he valued my mind as well. And on the basketball side.

So me and him had an open dialog and conversation in a way I've always looked at. Once you become a pro and he went to the Boston Celtics, I didn't think he should have been the president of the Boston Celtics. He should just kept the head coaching job and let somebody else handle the personnel. But I understand why he did it.

You know, he wanted control. I just think that, you know, me and him, once I became a pro, I understood the business of college basketball. It's different when you're in college, a little bit more naive. Yeah, you're a little bit more naive. You're a little bit more emotional.

You're probably more attached to the institution and the program and different things like that. The rah rah of everything. Yeah, but once you've seen professional sports and been traded a couple of times, it becomes a lot different. Absolutely. Wrap it up with Jamal Mashburn. Do you like the NBA today? You know, I get that question a lot. Yes, I think there probably needs to be a little bit more of tweaks.

I think the analytics have impacted the game to the point where guys are looking at evaluating using analytics and not necessarily value in other aspects of the game. For example, I watch guys run for threes. Fine. That's cool. We did that in college.

That's not a problem. But to me is the when people talk about the lack of value for the mid range game. To me, that's where you create space. You know, it's difficult to guard at the three point line because you have opportunities. But just from three to rim, there's still a middle game that is required to win in the playoffs. You know, we can take NBA players can take away the perimeter. They have a shot block at the rim. Sometimes the best offense is the most open shot. And that's the mid range 15 to 17 to 18 footer, which I don't think they value as much. But as a true basketball player, you know, you have to have all three levels, in my opinion, to be an effective player and have that skill set.

I like the game. I think the skill set of the players reminds me of when myself, Grant Hill, Rodney Rodgers, Penny Hardaway. The guys that weren't Penny was a point guard.

But the point forward, I think that ushered in what we're seeing today. And I think what's been eliminated, if you take a look at it, Chris Paul is the last remaining true point guard. Now the point guard is has to be a combo guard because you have your big that can initiate offense. Non-traditional centers, close to a two than a one. Correct. You know, so you have to be able to shoot, dribble and pass and have an IQ for it and also be able to defend your spot.

And I think sometimes people get confused. What does defend your spot actually mean? You're not going to guard an NBA player one on one.

You're just not going to do it. It's being able to just contain them and contest. But I like where it's at. I'm a season ticket holder with the Miami Heat, you know, chat with Pat Riley quite a bit. But I go to the games, entertainment, you know, the Heat have done really, really well getting to two finals appearances and different things like that.

So I like where it's at. But I do think they need to probably usher in some more rules that allow the defense to be a little more physical. My problem is the commissioner has basically created a culture where like the regular season feels irrelevant. And now with this playing tournament, which has only been successful because you had guys like Stephen Lebron in it, when you have big name stars, people are going to go watch that. But in the regular season, I understand load management and stuff like that is going to happen. And when you're the Raptors and you win and Kawhi sits out 22 games, no one remembers the regular season. But there's a lot of times now where I just think people don't care about the regular season anymore. You know, that's a problem as a sports fan. Yeah, I can see that. And, you know, the narrative, I think, shifted. It's almost like like this in-season tournament I thought was a disgrace. You know, I thought it was a success because it was the inaugural one. OK, I'm curious to see what it looks like in year four and five. How do people take it?

How do how does it transpire? I don't know if the neutral site in Vegas was the right fit. I think it'll be more of a thing than the. Correct. I agree with you on that part of it.

And also the celebration of the of the in-season tournament. You know, but I do think that, you know, you're correct in saying that I think a lot of this stuff has been born or burdened on the player. Load management wasn't created by the players created by the organization. If you ask any owner if he wants his superstar to play in the All-Star game, he'll say no.

Probably won't say no publicly, but probably he doesn't want his asset to get hurt. So I think that ultimately 82 games is a lot. The players have gotten bigger, stronger, faster injury considerations. But that's the evolution of the game, in my opinion. And they're just trying to figure it out on how to keep guys healthy.

And I think sometimes science on the preventative side goes a little bit too far to the cuddling part. You know, but you know that I think me personally, that narrative was created by guys who are veterans and organizations who are specifically going after championships. And we got to be realistic here.

Not every organization is going after a championship. A hundred percent. There's no doubt about that. All right. Before we let you run, this March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and Kentucky legend and former All-Star Jamal Mashburn is teaming up with Exact Sciences and the Blue Hat Foundation to challenge people 45 and older. To box out colon cancer by getting screened for the disease. I know this is something that's very important to you.

Just tell us what we're doing. Yeah. You know, it's important for people 45 and older to get screened. I was impacted by colon cancer with my mother, Helen Mashburn. She was diagnosed, ironically, in my best season of my NBA career when I became an All-Star in 2003.

And she got screened earlier. Probably we probably wouldn't have to deal with some health care hurdles that we had to deal with. And she lived a long life and everything was 18 years in remission, passed away pre-COVID from a heart condition. But I understand the impact that, you know, as a caregiver and as a son, how it impacts not only the person who has colon cancer, but everybody around you.

The caregivers and everything like that and how it impacts that. My mother didn't want to burden me through that that season. And when I finally saw her, my mother would carry around 200 pounds of 511.

When I saw her, she was 100 pounds. You know, so the disease is preventable. And I've often looked at life as in professional sports.

It's almost like the older you get, the trimmer you have to be and if you want to have success. So why not use that health is wealth mentality going into life. And if there's certain things that we can prevent or have open dialogue that that shares information with others. And I think as men, sometimes we don't want to talk about health at all. You know what I mean? We just it's just not a topic of conversation for whatever reason. But we need to have that dialogue. And that's how I was impacted about it.

I don't do a lot of things commercially. But when this opportunity came, it really hit close to home. And it was something that I wanted to get behind because I had a personal experience with it. Well, hey, it's a fantastic message and one that a lot of people need to hear and enjoyed the chat. Appreciate you coming on into the studio. Thanks, man. Have a good time, man.

Yeah, you got it. Enjoy Joe Stone Crab. Thank you. We'll do. Make sure you say hello to Bones. We got it.

We got to make sure Bones is happy. All right. Zach Gelb Show CBS Sports Radio. Take a time out. We'll come on back after these short messages.

Update time. Here's the act man, Rich Ackerman. And this portion of the show is sponsored by the new Hyundai Tucson available with complimentary class-leading Blue Link Plus.

Now it's easy to use your phone to control your Tucson. All right, let's go to Dalton Schultz, former Cowboys tight end now with the Texans and is going to remain there. He was on the Pat McAfee show and he laid into a little bit about the Dallas Cowboys culture.

Let's listen up to Dalton Schultz. Yeah, no, it's that was one of the first things that kind of stuck out to me is like the focus is just football. You know what I mean? And going back and like telling some people like how being around the Cowboys like practice facility, you know, game day describing some of the interactions and stuff that you see on a day-to-day basis, like surprised a lot of people are like, holy crap, like that actually happens, like at a practice facility and like, you know, it's just you think it's normal and then you come to a place like this. Like what? Like what? You don't have to out anything.

But like, what do you know? Dude, it's just like there's people literally going on tours while you're listening in the weight room. And they've got like a one way. They've got a one way mirror for people to like, look at like it's literally it's a zoo, dude.

People tap them on the glass, like trying to get people's attention as they're doing, you know, power cleans or whatnot. And it's just it's different. And I mean, that's the brand that they've built. That's, you know, that's what Jerry Jones likes. That's the way they run things. And there's nothing wrong with that.

It's just, you know, you don't realize like how many, you know, eyeballs and how how much that can maybe, you know, distract from, you know, stuff just in the locker room, being in the facility until you go somewhere else and you're like, holy crap, like, dude, there's none of that. It's kind of crazy because now he's with the Texans when the Texans are on an upswing and the Texans had one of the worst cultures in the league for about a two or three stretch run with Bill O'Brien towards the end and then also Jack Easterby, who somehow got all that power in that organization. And now you have a member of the Texans in Dalton Schultz ripping the Cowboys culture, but he's not wrong.

And I've said this for the last three years. Jerry Jones now as an owner does not evaluate the success of his team by wins and losses. His wins and losses and his wins are how much drama he could stir up. And I don't think anything Dalton Schultz said there was out of line. I don't think anything Dalton Schultz said there was wrong. Let's hear new Panthers coach Dave Canales. He was on up and Adams with Kay Adams and he was asked about bringing Russell Wilson. He used to coach with the Seahawks to Carolina. You could bring Russell Russell in here.

I'm seeing tweets about it all day long on my timeline. Why won't you or why don't you? Well, this this is not the situation for us. But what I will say about him is taking that taking that chance and that opportunity to go to Denver. I really admire him for that. I know exactly what he wants, what he needs, what he's going to ask for.

I can anticipate those things. And he really he really gambled on himself to go and try to do something a different way to see what that could become. So and what it's become. Hey, the film's out there. But I really credit him for that.

The film's out there. That's his way of saying, yeah, that's why we're not interested in them. Even though I didn't think the film was that bad this past year with Russell Wilson. But why would the Panthers bring him in? Like, I know some people are saying, oh, you sit Bryce Young for a year when you're the number one overall pick and you've already played a season. You don't sit a year.

The year to sit someone a year was the first year. And I don't know if Russell Wilson would be a good mentor. So sorry. There's no way that the Panthers should even consider that. I think it's crazy that I'm not faulting K for bringing up because it's a newsworthy question. But it's crazy that that's even a conversation bringing Russell Wilson, potentially the Carolina Panthers. Let's go to Joe Flacco. He was on Sirius XM NFL radio and he was asked if he's interested in returning to the area.

Joe Brown is here. I can tell you that, you know, all things equal. Cleveland is definitely the place that I would feel best about now. You know that then you have to get into the world of somebody going to actually give me a chance to play, you know, and and all the different things that go into that.

I can't help but have a special feeling about Cleveland just because of the few weeks that I spent there and how great the city was. And at the end of the day, I don't necessarily want that to be a huge part of like all of the decision. But I do think it will factor into the decision if I have it, if I end up having a decision to make. Joe Flacco has to go somewhere where he doesn't believe in the starting quarterback. No one's going to bring him in unless it's a mentor situation where you want to sit someone. No one is going to bring in Joe Flacco with them thinking he is the day one starter.

So when I hear that, I know he said if all things are equal, we don't know if they will be. I wonder what Joe Flacco's true thoughts are on Deshaun Watson. And can Deshaun Watson, with all that guaranteed money, get back to moving in the right direction as a quarterback? And if Joe stays in Cleveland, I think unintentionally that's him revealing that he doesn't believe that Deshaun Watson is going to have a successful season this upcoming year.

Let's go to Howard Eskin. He was on sports rated 94 WIP and he was asked about the Eagles' interest in Saquon Barkley. I didn't believe it, but I checked it and they do have interest in Saquon Barkley. Wow.

That's a wow. You can't pay a running back that kind of money. That's why they keep on bouncing around. And you know, the thing I've always said, you can just shake a tree and running backs come falling out of them. You see all the running backs that are unsigned, but I think they're trying to work on something that would not be fully guaranteed. During the legal tampering period, which starts Monday, and then the new league year starts Wednesday when free agency officially commences, I hope we get a lot of running back news. Because I don't want to sit here and have the same conversation as last year about the running back market.

But I don't think that's going to happen. I think these running backs are going to have to wait and there's a lot of them out there. Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Austin Eckler.

You go on and on and on. Tony Pollard with the running backs that are going to be heading free agency. Now Joe Mixon as well.

And I don't think it's going to be a quick dash for these running backs to go secure the cash. I didn't even try to rhyme that right there, but I'm a poet and I didn't even know it. How about that?

How do you like me now? How about that? But yeah, the Eagles should be interested in Saquon. So should the drama Dallas Choking Cowboys.

Coming on back Zach Guilfshow. Award winning Hyundai models like the tech filled Tucson and Kona as well as the spacious Palisade. Enjoy wherever you go with the peace of mind that comes with America's best warranty and three years or thirty six thousand miles of complimentary maintenance.

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Offers end soon. Call five six two three one four four six zero three for details. I'm Tony Kornheiser. This is my show. My friends come on and you know them. We talk about the sports you care about basketball now golf in the metronome of your life. Baseball, whether it's opening day, the big tournament or one of the majors, we have the best to preview it and break down just what happened. And let's not forget the important stuff.

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