Zach’s Super Bowl or Bust Teams (Hour 3)

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Eastwood Homes is built with care. What's happened in hour number three of our radio program? That's right. It is the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. The Lakers last night are going home. The season's over. Denver advance into round number two.

We get Denver and Minnesota this weekend. And I can't wait for that matchup between those two teams with the high flying Anthony Edwards going up against the best player in the league. Nicole Jokic and just a clutch player in Jamal Murray has a Western Conference Finals feel even though will be in round two. But after the game last night, the moment, right, the euphoria did go away where Jamal Murray did it again. All the thoughts were about LeBron James. And what was LeBron James going to say? And I'll tell you, I'm with Charles Barkley.

Man, that was terrible. Like I was with Charles Barkley. How long they make you wait for LeBron James to get to the podium? And I read somewhere last night that the Lakers basically used last night as their locker clean out day were usually the way that this happens.

And it's kind of funny because it was on the road that the teams lose regular season postseason whenever the season comes to an end. And then the next day or two, every player, every coach, right, is made available and you clean out your locker. Now, the NBA, we know out of all the leagues, is the one league that is driven by the players.

And we've seen right. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, when they landed in Brooklyn, never have an introductory press conference. Leon Rose, as much as I love Leon Rose, like never addresses the media as the president of the New York Knicks. So if there's one league that doesn't allow people to kind of like follow the rest of the leagues and there's no really tradition or there's no way you understand how things work when it comes to players and coaches addressing the media, it's really the NBA. So last night, the Lakers, I guess, made everyone available or almost everyone available.

And I don't think that factored in why it took LeBron so long, because whenever LeBron wants to get to the podium. Sorry, whoever. Give me a random player stew on the Los Angeles Lakers.

Go ahead. Max Christie. I don't think they're going to say, hey, Max, I know we told you you're going to go, but LeBron's ready to go. So you'll have to wait, Max.

OK, I think everyone be be ready. But you did have Charles Barkley was on TNT right doing the postgame. He's like, I guarantee you we won't get off.

He will guarantee that he will not get off the air until LeBron at least addresses the media. So I'm sitting there and I'm on the edge of my couch. Oh, not even on the edge of my couch. I was in the corner of my couch, basically my head on a pillow and a blanket on top of me.

And so I was trying to keep my eyes open as it was almost two in the morning. And I'm waiting and waiting and waiting for LeBron James to get to the podium. And they play you one cut. I sound like a TV guy.

They play you one sock sound on tape of LeBron James at the postgame. One. So in the moment, I'm like, all right, I got to start thinking about the show tomorrow. I know it's almost 2 a.m. Eastern Time. I probably should go to bed.

So I have some energy and I think my energy has been good today. But I ended up going right on YouTube. And right away they had the press conference stream that I was able to watch it in. You know, the 10 minute press availability that was made for LeBron James last night. So last year, LeBron played into retirement.

It was the biggest B.S. I think I've ever heard when last year, LeBron's like, who knows if I'll be back. Maybe that was my last game. And I'm like, all right, LeBron. You're just trying to take away from the shine of the nuggets. And you don't want people to be lambasting you that you got swept out of the postseason. That was the reality of the situation last year. There was a 0.0 percent chance that last year was LeBron's final season.

And obviously it wasn't. So this year, after losing to Denver again, I was wondering how LeBron was going to handle it. Let me play you LeBron from last night when he was asked what is next for him. Have you given any initial thoughts of what comes next this summer or for next season?

No, I just want to get home to the family, honestly. Start looking at the schedule, obviously. You know, my son, one of my boys is just trying to decide if he's going to enter the draft or go back to school. I've got another kid that's playing A.U. ball right now. My daughter's playing volleyball.

And my wife is doing so many great things. So it's about family right now. And then in a couple of months I've got to go to Vegas for training camp. So I've got to rest my body for USAB. But that's kind of the initial thoughts.

So that gives you nothing. LeBron didn't give you a read one way or another. I do believe, just like last year, no one thinks LeBron is actually going to retire. And he's not walking away. And he will be back next season.

But you have to remember the calculation. And everything's done so meticulously with LeBron James and what's at stake here. We don't know when Bronny is supposed to get drafted. Right? You have some experts.

Let me do that again. Some experts, and I say that in air quotes, that believe he's a lottery pick. Now, if you are told you draft Bronny, LeBron joins your team, that could rise the stock of Bronny James.

I do think Bronny is going to go in the first round. In all likelihood, you see the Shams Harani report after the game last night, the Lakers are open to the idea. So I think the Lakers will be all in.

Right? Trevor Lane joined us earlier. We've heard it from others that the Lakers are willing to give LeBron pretty much whatever he wants. So I do believe new coach probably in all likelihood come in there with Darwin Ham.

It appears on the way out. LeBron, I do think will come back and probably Bronny James, unless another team maybe wants to throw a little unexpected domino here to fall. And then how will that impact LeBron James and his decision? I would guess right now that Bronny James is on the Lakers next season. But for LeBron, it would be foolish as a father to say last night, regardless if I opt in or out, I'll be back in the Lakers next year. It'd be foolish for him to give the answer to the test because priority number one in this offseason for LeBron, forget about training camp, forget about the Olympics, forget about his future. It's what his son is going to do.

And I believe his son is going to keep his name in the draft. I personally think he should go back to college and maybe go play with the former LeBron James high school teammate, Drew Joyce at Duquesne and get another year where you could fully play with the unfortunate situation, the hard situation that happened over the summer and play another year. But from a business standpoint, if you know you're going to be taken in the first round. And you know, there's going to be a little bit of a race for you because you could get the services of LeBron. Yeah, I understand why Bronny is going to take advantage of that. So LeBron wasn't going to give you anything last night one way or another because he wants to keep you guessing, because whether it's needed or not, it's going to improve the the stock of his son. Because LeBron, we don't even know if they actually want it. Like we know LeBron wants to play together. We don't know if that's Bronny's dream and if that's Bronny's vision. And the thing is, even if Bronny says, Dad, I don't want you being in the same locker room as long as it's not the Lakers. Right. Then Bronny Bronny could get that wish because if the Lakers do draft Bronny, that doesn't mean LeBron needs to lead the team that he's currently on.

But you need to at least create that buzz in that drama. And LeBron's not a dummy. LeBron knows that there will be a time in this offseason.

Well, you'll have win horse. So you'll have Sean Sharani get on ESPN or the athletic or wherever. And they'll say, you know, watch your Bronny James go. A source told me that LeBron is maybe not happy with the direction of the Lakers and he's willing to go some to some team that drafts Bronny James. Right. Like, you'll know that report's going to be there.

Whether that's genuine or not is a totally different conversation. Because even though I think LeBron should leave, I don't think LeBron is going to leave the Lakers. And I think LeBron's last team will be the Los Angeles Lakers. But let's hear from King James last night. LeBron, was this your last game with the Lakers? Did you feel that way tonight? Was there any thought at all that this could have been your last game with the Lakers? I'm not going to answer that.

Appreciate it. Stu, how did you want him to answer that question? Just wondering, you being a Laker fan, not how you wanted him to. With what happened last year and the bowl junk.

Thank you, Coach Prime, for the work. But the bowl junk that transpired last year where he tried to basically say there's a chance he was going to retire. How did you think he was going to approach that last night? Just out of curiosity.

That's a great question. I mean, I think I would have expected something like the offseason as soon as we'll see in the offseason. Which I guess is similar to what he said. But I mean, it's not like he's under contract with the team. I know he has the option, but it's not like he's under contract. It's his choice. It's his choice. So I don't blame him for saying what he said. But yeah, it always seems like it's always him making himself the story after losing to the Nuggets. And in this case, he's kind of making his son the story.

Because I just think this is a good fatherly intention here. My son's draft stock is kind of dependent on my decision and what I do. So even if he thinks he's going back to the Lakers, which in his heart, I do think he believes he's going back to the Lakers. You can get the best of both worlds in his mind where you get Bronny and LeBron on the same team through the draft. Or you could, even if you think you're going to go Lakers, like maybe Bronny says, OK, Dad, I want you to be in the same locker room as me. You could at least give that idea and that thought that LeBron is still willing to go to another team. So I don't think he was in any situation last night where it benefited him for just being honest with us. I'm just happy he didn't threaten retirement because I think last year he realized, yeah, that kind of backfired. Everyone saw right through that.

So now you just give people a bunch of no answers. Where are you at, Stu? 100 percent. Trevor Lane was at 90 that he'll be back with the Lakers out of 100 percent LeBron next year. What do you think the likelihood is that he's back with the Lakers?

I think it's like 75, 75, 80 percent, something around there. Where could it go wrong? So maybe Bronny, maybe Bronny or maybe just the coaching search. Yeah, that's true. I mean, remember and good on Trevor Lane bringing it up. How Ty Lue wasn't the coach of the Lakers when it's LeBron's guy and he also played for the Lakers, too, is mystifying to me. And it was all that they didn't want to give him. I think it was that four year contract. It was the fourth year. Yeah.

And they wanted to give him three years. Like, who gives a rat's ass about that? How many years do you know how many years Darvin Ham got just on the top of your head by any chance? I don't. I don't.

OK, that's fine. Let's see. Darvin Ham contract.

I wonder if anything comes out. Ham got a four year contract with the Lakers. So it's like, what are we doing here? That to me, I think, was kind of the Lakers showing LeBron at that point. Everywhere you go outside of Miami, the organization kind of did everything you wanted outside. The only time I didn't do something he wanted was when he wanted Pat Riley to coach the team and they wanted to fire our exposure. And Pat Riley was like, no, we're not doing that. I think that was the Lakers kind of way of saying, yeah, we give you a lot of power and a lot of say. We give you a lot of leeway, but we're not going to do that.

And that was stupid. That was stupid because Ty Lue should have been the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. When you bring in LeBron, you've got to do what LeBron wants. So we know he ended up going to the Los Angeles Clippers and how that whole scenario did play on out.

So nothing really firm for LeBron. Your number 75, Stu. Samter, what's your number likelihood that LeBron James next year is on the Los Angeles Lakers? One hundred. Hundred? Zero to a hundred real quick for Michael Samter. I'm going to say it's nine. I'm going to go with Trevor.

Ninety. I do fully believe he'll be back. The brawny thing could throw a little wrench in the whole scenario. But if something goes awry with the coaching search or they don't maybe have a good free agency plan that LeBron wants here, a trade plan that maybe go south. But I really do believe LeBron's back in L.A. next year. LeBron has brawny in L.A. next year. And the one part that I disagree with Trevor Lane and I guess it's possible, right, that LeBron go play another two or three seasons. I feel like next year is going to be the last year. I really do. Especially if brawny and him are on the same team, maybe brawny him on the same team.

It changes that equation. But I don't think he's going to play multiple years with his son in the NBA. Let's hear from Brian Windhorst. Windy, he was on the ESPN today and he was asked about LeBron James's future. Based on my conversations and my feel, I don't think he's going to retire. I do think he's going to play at least one more season. He has a contract decision. He has an option in his contract. And what he does will be somewhat interesting. I really don't see him leaving. I don't see him playing anywhere other than L.A. for a number of different reasons. But LeBron, I do think will opt out.

Yeah, well, there we go. So I don't know where the relationship is with LeBron and Windhorst anymore. I think they were a lot closer years ago. But out of anyone here that I trust, when it comes to LeBron James and what he's going to do, it is Brian Windhorst. Now, Shams is pretty plugged into and Shams has been trying to push the brawny narrative as well, that the Lakers are open to it. And even Shams said that they'd be willing to give him a three year max contract.

So all signs are pointing out LeBron James will be back with the Lakers next year. Alrighty. 855-212-4227. 855-212-4227. You can find the poll question at INF Sports Net. Also at Zach Gelb.

Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Make sure you follow me on X, Twitter and also Instagram. And the poll question is this. Will LeBron James be back with the Lakers next season? Yes, he'll be back.

I'll be back. No, he's retiring. Or no, he's going to a new team. 7.5% say retirement. 37.4% say he'll be back with the Lakers.

And 55.1% say he's going to a new team. We'll take a break when we come on back. Super Bowl or bust teams for this upcoming year. After the draft, how many Super Bowl or bust teams are there? I'll give you my answer when we return.

Alright, it is the Infinity Sports Network and it is the Zach Gelb show. Coming off the draft, I think there are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight teams that as you get set for the OTAs and the training camps and all the offseason programs that these teams can legitimately say anything short of a Super Bowl victory this year is a failure for our organization. So let's start off with the two teams that are the most obvious in the AFC.

It's Kansas City Chiefs and it's the Cincinnati Bengals. Now, there's different levels in the Super Bowl or bust conversation. Like sometimes you don't win a Super Bowl, you maybe got to fire a coach. You don't win a Super Bowl, alright, it's viewed as a disappointment. But then there's a team like Kansas City, right, that's won three Super Bowls. If they don't win the Super Bowl this year, I don't think we're slamming them. But every year you have Patrick Mahomes and you have 15, the expectation, fair or not, is to win a Super Bowl. So Kansas City is definitely obviously the start. They're the top dog in the league. That's the team you start off with. Then also let's go AFC first and NFC.

Cincinnati, the only thing that derailed Cincinnati last year were injuries. You have to find a way to keep Joe Burrow healthy. I don't care if Trey Hendrickson is complaining and wants a trade. He's got two years left in his contract. I don't care if T. Higgins, who's a franchise tag player, wants to get traded.

Whether you have those guys or not are relevant to me. As long as you have Joe Burrow and Joe Burrow is able to stand upright, you have a chance to contend for a world championship. So Chief Spengel's two teams right out of the gate, AFC, Super Bowl or bust. The Baltimore Ravens. I'm not saying there's a great belief that Baltimore gets it, but after being the number one seed last year, having a lethargic first half against the Texans in the divisional round, finding a way to win the game in the second half, and then no showing offensively against the Kansas City Chiefs when the Chiefs didn't even give you a great effort offensively, and Mahomes even told me after the game that he just had to be a game manager and they were going to win that game.

Right now, you're kind of stuck. Individually, Lamar Jackson has won two MVPs. We know the Ravens have a good team. There's no more, oh, if we just get to a conference championship game, that's not successful, oh, we just get to a Super Bowl that's successful.

No. It is Super Bowl or bust for the Baltimore Ravens. I think these next two teams may surprise some people. One team maybe not so much, the next team maybe so. So I'll give you the team that's not so much.

It's Buffalo. Now, you could lose your belief in a team, but Buffalo has consistently been there. They have consistently been in the divisional round. One other year they got to the AFC championship. They have constantly run into Kansas City, give a great effort.

There's moments in the game where you think that you're going to be able to beat Kansas City, and then you don't do so. But the Buffalo Bills, even though you don't have Steph Diggs, even though you lost some stalwarts on the defensive side of the ball, you have Josh Allen, you have James Cook, you have Dalton Kincaid, and you just drafted Keyon Coleman out of Florida State. Buffalo Bills, Super Bowl or bust. Now, let's go to the Jets. I don't believe the Jets win a Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers.

There's the hot take of the day. The Green Bay Packers were in an easier road in the NFC, and they had teams that were constantly in the NFC title game towards the end of Aaron Rodgers' career, and they couldn't get Rodgers back to a second Super Bowl. Now you go in a tougher AFC, and standing in your way, Mahomes, Burrow, Allen, Shroud, Lamar, Herbert, right, like really great quarterbacks in this league.

So I don't think the Jets win a Super Bowl, but it is Super Bowl or bust. You have a year or two window with Aaron Rodgers, and I'll give the Jets credit, they got a damn good roster. Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson, you know, they got to stay healthy.

Smith, a walking injury. So you draft a kid for Sean who out of Penn State, and you have a heck of a defense that's just begging to get productive quarterback play, and we know at his worst, Aaron Rodgers will give you productive quarterback play. So those are my five Super Bowl contenders in the AFC. Chiefs, Bengals, Ravens, Bills and Jets. I know a lot of people will say, what about the Texans? And I look at the Texans as a team that can't get to the Super Bowl this year, but I don't think it is Super Bowl or bust for the Houston Texans.

Now, they're all in. You have Shroud, you got Steph Diggs, you got Daniel Hunter, you have Will Anderson Jr., but if the Texans get to the AFC championship game this year, and they have sustained success now in back-to-back years, is anyone going to say, oh, that's a failure by the Texans? No. So that's why I didn't put the Texans in there. That was the one team in the AFC that I was like, hmm, maybe I should throw them in there. Cleveland, no. Pittsburgh, no. The Dolphins, you're getting close on decision-making time for Tua Tungovello, but I can't say it's Super Bowl or bust, and Jim Harbaugh just got to the Chargers. You can't say it's Super Bowl or bust.

How about they make the playoffs first? So those are the five teams in the AFC. Now, let's go to the NFC.

I think there's only three. If Aaron Donald didn't retire, I would have said the Rams or Super Bowl or bust. You know what? I'm going to make a quick correction. I'm going to throw a fourth team in there in the NFC.

I got it. I was not going to put Dallas in there. I don't believe that the drama Dallas choking Cowboys, the cockroaches that are the Cowboys, are going to a Super Bowl or have a chance to go to a Super Bowl this year, but the Cowboys, the last three years, 12 wins, 12 wins, 12 wins, and the best performance they had was a victory up against an 8-9 Tampa Bay Bucs team in the playoffs. Outside of that, embarrassing performance against the Packers. Couldn't get the job done twice against the 49ers in games that they could have won. So for the Cowboys, they haven't been to a Super Bowl since 1995. They haven't been to an NFC title game since 1995. I don't expect them to.

But what are you doing here? Dak final year of a contract, McCarty final year of a contract. It is Super Bowl or bust for them, even though I don't believe it will happen. And then the other three in the NFC, I think are easy peasy. Let's start with the San Francisco 49ers.

They've been there twice. They've had leads twice up against the great Patrick Mahomes and you see the choke job by Kyle Shanahan and company. Niners, we all know what this core for the foreseeable future. It is Super Bowl or bust. And you wonder, when do they maybe take a step back?

When do they start to look vulnerable? And when's the moment where these long playoff runs do catch up to them? Next one, Eagles.

Eagles are right there last year. They were 10 and one to start the season and they had maybe the worst finish to an NFL season that I have ever seen. You win 10 games in your first 11 and you end the year with only one victory? Like, Stu has seen some bad football. Stu, I don't even, like, if your team started 10 and one, first of all, I don't know what you, you wouldn't know what to do with yourself.

I was gonna say, I've never seen anything like that, no. But you would at least think, even with your dreadful team, that they'd be able to find a way to win two more games the rest of the season. And that's you who always monitors and watches football knowing that something horrible is going to follow. I never thought I'd be back in on the Eagles. I did not think I'd be back in on the Eagles. But getting Saquon Barkley, I do not like the tradeoff of Son Redick. You know, obviously, you lose Fletcher Cox, you lose Jason Kelce, but their offensive line is still gonna be a force. With Milata and Lane Johnson as the bookend tackles.

Landon Dickerson was a good draft pick a few years ago. They're gonna be fine, the Eagles. And getting Saquon brings them an extra pop that offense, smooth things over with A.J. Brown, you got Devontae Smith in the contract extension, Saquon in the backfield, you got Jalen Hurts.

I think Jalen Hurts looks like the quarterback more like two years ago rather than last year. So Eagles are Super Bowl or bus. And then finally, a team that, if I would have told you two years ago they were Super Bowl or bus, you would have never believed me. It's Detroit Lions. The Lions are right there. The Lions failed in the second half. They probably should have been in the Super Bowl. They probably should have been in the Super Bowl. They have the right coach, they have the right GM, golf is good enough to get there. You got St. Brown, that contract taken care of.

Defensively, yeah, they could use some improvements, but Aiden Hutchinson is gonna be a star in this league. There's no reason why the Lions aren't a Super Bowl or bus team. So those are the teams. Chiefs, Bengals, Ravens, Bills, Jets, Eagles, 49ers, Lions, and Cowboys. Whether you think they're gonna get to a Super Bowl is a different conversation, but those are the nine teams in the NFL that could legitimately walk into a season and say, anything short of a Super Bowl this year is a disappointment.

Let's go around the room right now and let's just do the quick exercise. I'm not gonna hold anyone to their prediction right now on the 30th day of April in the year of 2024. But early Super Bowl prediction.

Let me start you off with Samter. Samter, what is your early Super Bowl prediction, my friend? Chiefs, Lions. Chiefs, Lions. And who wins?

Hold on, I think I know your answer. The three-peat for the Kansas City Chiefs in the bandwagon that you joined. I'll say this, I want the Chiefs. I think the Lions take home the hard work this year. But I want the Chiefs. I think the Chiefs. Okay, so you're taking the Lions over the Chiefs.

That's what you're doing? My heart says no, but my mind says yes. Okay. Uh, Stu? I'll go Bengals 49ers. Bengals 49ers? That'd be a fun Super Bowl. May not be a good memory for our good pal Boomer Esiason, who we love, but Bengals and 49ers. I think my early Super Bowl prediction's gonna shock people.

At least for one team. Both of the teams are on the list. I'm gonna put the Lions in the Super Bowl.

I'm gonna buy stock on the Bills. You know, I know I did this last year. Halfway through the season, everyone was out.

I bought a future ticket on them. Probably should've cashed out after the wild-card round. And then divisional round weekend, I thought they had it.

And Bass missed the kick. But the Buffalo Bills, everyone's gonna write them off. You still have Josh Allen.

I believe Keyon Coleman's gonna have a monster season. You know, it's so easy to go Kansas City, right? Everyone's gonna take Kansas City. Everyone's gonna take Cincinnati. Like, out of those next grouping of teams, you know, I did consider the Texans. You know, Perloff was in there right before the draft, and he was like, oh, Texans, Lions could be Super Bowl pick. I'm like, yeah, I agree with you.

And that's just how much respect I have for C.J. Stroud and D'Amico Ryans. But I'll go on a little bit of an island with the Buffalo Bills, who you know are gonna still be a double-digit win team. People are gonna question if they can win their division. They did so last year.

They still found a way to get the job done. I will go Bills-Lions in the Super Bowl. And could you imagine both of those fan bases? Bills never won a Super Bowl, right? They went to the four.

They lost all four. Lions fans don't even know how to say the word Super Bowl. Imagine.

You know, maybe I'm a terrible human being. I would love overtime. Overtime.

Back-to-back years. Overtime in the Super Bowl. Lions and Bills. And the celebration would be great, but also the heartbreak. When the game ends, just see how that fan base reacts. Would be crazy.

Absolutely crazy. So I will go early Super Bowl prediction right now, Super Bowl 30th. Lions beat the Bills. Lions beat the Bills. High-scoring Super Bowl.

31-30 in overtime. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb showing the Infinity Sports Network. We'll come on back. You will hear from Charles Barkley and his thoughts on the Boston Celtics.

He said something last night that really caught my attention, but let's get to the update first. Here's the act man, Rich Ackerman. Alright, closing time on the Zach Gelb Show on the Infinity Sports Network. Man. That's a dime. I think it's a full quarter, honestly. You know, I'm not going to lie here.

I really thought last week was the last week of any of those slip-ups. But when you start thinking, here's where it happens. I started thinking about other things that we were doing off the rundown, and then you forget, okay, the network name changed. So I was about to say on the YouTube chat, there is a very, very, very, I don't want to say heated discussion, but lively discussion, that if you were getting a pet, what would you name your pet?

Now, I have an answer for that, and I came up with this answer when I was actually on a bachelor party in Puerto Rico back in February. So, Santa, you have a dog. Well, what's the name of your dog? I probably should know this, but what's the name of your dog? Oliver. Oliver? That's a good name.

It's a good name. Middle name's Simba. Oliver Simba, because he looks like Simba. Oliver Simba. What kind of dog is it again? Schnitzel? He is a Shorky poo.

He's a Shih Tzu Yorkie poodle mix. That fits Santa. Yeah.

They definitely fit Santa. So Oliver Simba Sampter. Okay, that's a good name. Stu, I know you have two cats. Yes. I'm not a big cat guy, but what are the name of your two cats? Jack and Cornelia. Cornelia? Yes. It is after a Taylor Swift song.

Oh boy. Did you hear a Maggie and Perloff this morning? This was just sent my way, and I thought it was very good. I guess Pete the Body Baladi was getting all nostalgic, and there's a report that the NBA could be going back to NBC. So, he was getting nostalgic, and they did an AI Taylor Swift Pete the Body Baladi song.

It was excellent. Do you know the Swiftie background on the Cornelia? Is it like the name of the song? Yeah, it's like the name of the song Cornelia Street, and she used to live on Cornelia Street.

Oh, here. Yeah, yeah. Yes. I think she still lives around here.

Yes. That was her old apartment though. I know she has a different one now, but yeah. Stalkers too.

I know, now I sound like a creepo. Yeah, I was going to say, when the height of the Kelsey relationship was really starting with Taylor Swift, there was one night where I was walking home from here, and there was like a large, large, large crowd, and I'm like, oh, this is where Taylor Swift lives. And all these losers standing outside. Oh, sorry, that's not nice. All these lovely Swifties. I don't want to start a war with the Swifties. They're all standing outside waiting to get one little shot of Taylor Swift just to see her, and I stayed there for about 10 minutes, and I'm like, I'm not watching this anymore.

There's too much high-pitched screaming. Do you think we're going to see her? Why do you think she's going to come out of the apartment? I'm like, oh my goodness gracious. How long have you been here?

14 hours? Oh, you're going to be terrible. So the name of my dog, if I was getting a dog and it's a boy, Mofongo.

I had some Mofongo in Puerto Rico, and I'm just sitting there and I go, if I ever got a dog, had to be a boy, Mofongo, Mofongo Gel, that would be the name of my dog. But anyway, let's get to a little Kristaps Porzingis. This is last night. We have an injury report on Kristaps Porzingis in just a second, in a new medical term, a new part of the body that we didn't even know existed. But this was Charles Barkley last night talking about the Kristaps Porzingis injury where he left the game and obviously did not return as the Celtics did beat the Miami Heat to go up 3-1, but now they're going to be without Kristaps Porzingis.

The thing about this game is Porzingis was great in game one and three, and then got hurt tonight because I told you he is a really huge part of the offense and defense. I just hope he's all right because, listen, let's be honest, if the Celtics are healthy, they're going to win a championship, in my opinion. They got everything you need, offense, defense, good solid role players. They got two guys who are all-stars, who are studs, Drew Holliday is a terrific leader. Charles Barkley is my favorite commentator.

I love Charles Barkley. I don't agree with him, though, in terms of if the Celtics are healthy, they definitely win the championship. No, if Denver is healthy, if Jamal Murray is healthy, if Nicole Jokic is healthy, just those two, no one's given an answer in a seven-game series to beat them. Now, out of the East, I would like to see Boston get there because I don't think Indiana is going to the NBA Finals. The Knicks have a gritty team. We'll see if they could close out the Sixers tonight, but I don't believe that the Knicks are going to the NBA Finals. So even though the Celtics have their warts and there's still a lack of trust and a lack of belief in the Celtics because whenever you start to buy in, they have a game two type of performance up against Miami, I still believe that Boston is the best team in the East. But that does not mean I have them as the best team in the NBA because that's going to be Denver. Now, here's the latest on Krzysztof Brzingis from Tim Botenkampf, I believe his name is.

Is this an actual? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just want to make sure that we got this verified all squared away. The Celtics say Krzysztof Brzingis is out with the soleus strain, the same injury Giannis Antetokounmpo had, which made him miss the entire Bucs-Pacer series so far.

And Woge, he adds that Krzysztof Brzingis is expected to miss a minimum of several games with a right soleus strain, sources tell ESPN. So I already know Samter's answer to this. He did not know. And I don't know this either. Do you know what the soleus muscle is, Stu? You had to take a guess? Calf muscle.

Did you know that? Like, if you didn't watch the game and see that clearly there, it was something on his leg. And I said soleus muscle. What would you have thought that that was? Probably like the sole of your foot, right? No, I would have went like more upper. I would have went like neck or something like something in the neck or something like in the upper back. No, but yeah, I never heard of that in my life.

Neither have I. But I use Google and Google's told me that the soleus muscle is a wide flat muscle in the calf that runs from just below the knee to the heel, connecting to the Achilles tendon above the heel. You know what that sounds like? That sounds like right now. I'm not a doctor, so I'm not Dr. Gelb.

I do not have a doctorate degree. That sounds like right before you're about to tear your Achilles, that that's an injury that you end up suffering. Like remember when Durant got hurt? I think he had a calf strain or something, and then Achilles popped. This has the making of, and when Chris, I kind of related to Kristaps Porzingis. Last night when I'm watching Kristaps Porzingis get hurt, it was such an awkward non-contact kind of injury, and you saw him just like grimace and pain right away, and his back got real tight and almost looked like he couldn't walk.

I was once playing, and this is my favorite radio, whenever you compare yourself to an athlete getting injured, and I'm not an athlete, and this is not even a soleus muscle injury. I was once playing basketball in Philly. I was in like a men's league right out of college, and we were pretty damn good. Man, some of those games were crazy. The crowds that would come to those games, you could not believe it.

Remember when WorldStar was a thing? A family was trying to WorldStar us, where they'd get this viral video, and they kept on saying, WorldStar, WorldStar, WorldStar, and they were trying to get us getting stuffed or fall on our faces, and I stuffed one of the opposing players. I had a big block, and the ball went flying to the other end of the court, and I looked at the cameras, and I was like, WorldStar, because that's what everyone was trying to get us in the gotcha moment with our basketball team that we were trotting out there. But I went up for a rebound in one of these games, and I got crashed by like two people, and my back just went, and I don't want to have a moment here on the radio.

So I had a, it was a herniated disc, just got to be very careful, there's been some people when they say bulging something else on the radio, they try to say disc, but they say something else. And that was the, I could not walk, I could not move, and the next day I tried to stand up and get out of my bed, and I did what Christos Verzingis did last night, which was like the oh, and then you grab your back, you grab your leg, and you don't know where the pain is coming from, all you know is that you're in pain. That's what happened to Christos Verzingis last night. He hurt the soleus muscle, but it shot all throughout his body.

He didn't know what to do. And you could tell he was, he was walking off the court. And he just, you could just tell the immense amount of pain that he's in. And it stinks because unfortunately for Christos, injuries have derailed his career. So he is out with a soleus strain. And Woge says it's expected to miss a minimum of several games with the right soleus strain sources tell ESPN. I know that it's several games of the NBA. It's always like, okay, you never know when the players actually to come back. If they get it back, but if they're in the NBA finals, that's when I would expect them to return. I know these series are long.

I'm not a doctor. I don't think he's playing in the second series, maybe for the conference finals, maybe. But like, you should be able to win your next series. Even without Chris, they should still be able to get to the NBA finals without Christos Verzingis. But if they want any chance of beating Denver, yeah, they're going to need Christos Verzingis back in him. They're going to need him to be healthy. And so that may not even be enough.

Do we have this Woge sound though? This is Woge talking about the future of LeBron James, which has been a big topic throughout the show. In my conversations with Rich Paul, who obviously represents LeBron James, but will also represent Bronny James, is that the idea of them playing together is not a priority. It's not foremost, at least any longer in LeBron James's mind, that Rich Paul's goal here in the pre-draft process for Bronny James is to see if there is the right developmental system, organization, a place that can take a young player like Bronny James, who went five months without playing after his hard episode, certainly limited him in his season at USC. And so if he does go in the draft, he very likely would spend next year in the G League. So I think that's the priority for them as a family. What's best for Bronny James? And if it ends up them together, well, that would be great. But I don't get a sense it's playing much of any role in LeBron James's decision.

I love how he goes, it's not playing a role, but if they end up together, great. You're telling me Bronny's going to go to a team without his dad and he's going to play in the G League next year? If that's the case, if that's a thought process, you should go back to college. Go back to college. I know Bronny can't just be a kid like everybody else, but transfer to Duquesne. Play for your father's high school teammate in Drew Joyce, and work on bald hair. You don't need to go to the G League.

Get the thrill of maybe going to a March Madness or something like that. I said this before, I kind of moved off Bronny and LeBron playing with one another. Because when LeBron sat there and he said, that's my dream, I don't know if it's my son's dream. So that kind of got me skeptical, but today I feel like when you have the early reporting from Shoms, also this is a little Shoms whoa's going at it, because Sean said they report last night the Lakers are open to it. Now, it doesn't mean that LeBron is still open to it, or maybe LeBron's son said no, that it is not something I want to do.

But I will still sit here and say LeBron's back in Los Angeles next year, Bronny's on his team, and LeBron is playing his final season. Alrighty, good show today. Big thanks to each and every one of you participating with the extravaganza. Big thanks to Stu, big thanks to Samter as well.

And also a big thank you to Trevor Lane and Alex Brown for stopping by. We'll be back tomorrow, everybody, 3 p.m. Eastern noon Pacific. We out. Bye-bye. Peace! Hey everyone, Boomer Esiason here, the NFL Draft is behind us and your favorite team is USA.