Jimmy Butler’s Days In Miami Numbered (Hour 2)

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Price and coverage match limited by state law. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on the Infinity Sports Network. We played you that awful hickey rap a few moments ago. Alan Jeffery says, Zach, what was that? That was terrible. Tell Ryan to keep his job on the radio. Rapping is not his game. Daly is saying clearly the hair product is getting to hickey's brain and is affecting him.

So some people got a good laugh or maybe they never want to hear things again after hearing hickey rap. So, boy oh boy, that was something. You will also hear a crazy Shep claim coming up 20 minutes from now. And I played a little bit of a role in this having some fun at the expense of David Shepherd who I did see announce the other day that he is resigning as the executive producer of the Bart Winkler show. And he's going to be doing now the Friday into Saturday, Saturday into Sunday weekend overnights right here on the Infinity Sports Network. So congratulations to Shep on the new gig as he continues to host.

But we will set Shep up for his next chapter in life and have a little fun when talking about him. How about Minnesota over the weekend? I love this Minnesota Timberwolves team. And how can't you love Anthony Edwards right now? Let's welcome in their TV play-by-play man.

And that's Michael Grady as Minnesota looks to take a 2-0 lead in Denver tonight. Michael, appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this. How you been? I've been good. I've been good.

Good to be on with you. Excited about the rest of the series. So take me through your biggest Game 1 takeaway. All they had to do was at least just get one in Denver to show, okay, this Minnesota team is not to be messed with. They were able to do that in Game 1.

What jumps out to you a few days later? Just the hunger and the poise that they had in that game. And it really stood out going back to that Phoenix series. You know, all the talk headed into that series was, you know, the Suns smoked you guys three games during the regular season. And now you have to face them in the postseason. This is a team that you don't want to face.

You have all kinds of matchup issues. And the Timberwolves took care of business in the first two games of that series, really smacking Phoenix. And then you go on the road to face the Suns in a tough environment, and they kept the crowd out of it one Game 3, stayed greedy in one Game 4, earning a sweep against a team, again, that swept them during the regular season.

And so to come into Denver and get off to a good start, Denver goes on their inevitable run, playing like defending champs. And for the Timberwolves to have the poise and the aggression and the will to pull that game out, with guys stepping up in the second half like Mike Conley and Nas Reed, and then Anthony Edwards starting the show and then closing the show, just really, to me, just exemplifies the growth that they've had from last season to this year. The last few weeks, you know, we always knew Anthony Edwards was a special player, but I think it took a while for a lot of people nationally to say he could be the future face of the NBA.

And that's been on full display, and I thought it was a serious moment for him on Saturday. You being there for the journey of Anthony Edwards, just how do you kind of put into words what you've seen now for a little bit? It's part of the progression when you have a small market team and a young star. From a Timberwolves fan's perspective, they've been seeing spectacular play from Anthony Edwards all season long. And we really saw him take a step forward when Karl Anthony Towns went down with that calf injury last season.

And so Anthony Edwards had to take a larger load with the team, and he's making spectacular plays, and we're seeing him learn on the fly. And this season, understanding when teams are double or triple-teaming him and blitzing him, how to make the smart play to set up his teammates, which makes him even more dynamic as he becomes a better playmaker. We know he can score, we know he can jump out of a gym, but making the right play when he's attracting all this attention has been a nice progression that we've seen in his game. So the fact that he's starting to get some national recognition, and I thought it was great, headed into Game 1, all of the talk of the Michael Jordan stuff and the comparisons were out there. And so you could understand if he would step into Game 1 and maybe be a little bit timid, a little bit shaky, but he came out and was super aggressive and then finished with the playoff career-high 43 points. He's not afraid of the moment, the bright lights don't intimidate him at all, and all he cares about is hooping and winning, and that's the guy who you would love to see as one of the future faces of the NBA.

Michael Grady here with us, I'm glad you brought up the Jordan point, because I've said that before, I know a lot of people have said that as of late as well. He has a Jordan mentality, and I know the Jordan fans are going to start saying, you can't mention Michael Jordan, no one's saying he's Michael Jordan, but he has that mentality, when did you kind of start to realize that? I picked that up really early on, you know, I'm in my second season in Minnesota, so I saw glimpses of it a season ago and how much he cares about winning. Seeing him take his game to another level in the postseason, which is something that he's done since he entered the NBA, is certainly a sign that he loves to meet the moment. But I think this off-seat, I think, well, the postseason series against the Denver Nuggets a year ago, where they lost in five games, and seeing how upset and frustrated he was that they lost that series.

They gave Denver all they could handle, a number of Denver players said that was our toughest test of our championship run, and so for Anthony to go back in the lab, continue to work on his game, rise to the occasion for Team USA, although they fell short of their medal goals, that experience paid huge dividends for Anthony Edwards. An example I'll give is this, when I first got to Minnesota, I was watching one of the first training camp practices, and I remember nudging my TV partner, Jim Peterson, and saying, I'm not really noticing Anthony Edwards. And he said, oh, no, no, he usually relaxes in practice, but you'll notice him in games.

And that was kind of a red flag for me. Training camp day one this season, he was dominating every practice, he was crushing it and setting the tone that I'm going to lead this season. That carried over into the regular season, and we're seeing it carry over now into the postseason.

Talking to Michael Grady right now, does a great job as the television voice for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tonight, I just can't wait for this game, this is the most exciting series out of all the second round matchups. I said it to the general manager of the Nuggets the other day on Friday, that this feels like it's a Western Conference Finals, even though it's a second round matchup. But tonight, I think a lot of people anticipate the champs to bounce back and even the series up 1-1, but when we throw that Jordan mentality around with Anthony Edwards, it does give me a little pause. And I have the most respect in the world for Denver, but tonight could even be a bigger moment for Minnesota, because if they go back to their building up 2-0, man, that would be a stunner. It would be, and getting back to that, the Michael comparisons, it's just, I think people are understanding that this young man is a killer. And when you talk about killers, these guys don't come around that often, and I think it's really fascinating because, yeah, Jordan fans may be a little bit irritated that the comparisons are rising, but the fact that people aren't afraid to whisper Anthony Edwards' name in the same breath of mentioning Michael Jordan says something about what we're all recognizing.

And he's such an intimidating and physical presence on the basketball court that he's starting to get that respect around the league. And so the Nuggets, I fully expect the Nuggets to come out swinging in this ballgame, of course. This is a desperation game.

There's no way that you want to go down 0-2 heading to Minnesota. At the same time, the Timberwolves are kind of licking the chops. They're like, look, look, we know that we can play with these guys. We're not afraid of these guys. We know that we can play them.

We feel like we have the best player in this series, even though Jokic, all due respect, is staring at his third MVP. But the way Anthony Edwards is playing, he's just out of his mind. I think it's going to be great theater in this ballgame tonight and this game too. Now, it's only one game.

It was an impressive statement on Saturday, like the way that you laid it out. They got out to the big start. Then Denver came alive and they were able to pull away and get the job done. Minnesota in the fourth quarter. What's your biggest concern, though, for Minnesota in this series moving forward, just wondering?

Oh, you look at the status report. Rudy Gobert is questionable for personal reasons. If he's unable to go, the Timberwolves still have depth. They're not facing the team in Denver that has a lot of depth on their roster to begin with. Nevertheless, losing Rudy Gobert and what he's able to do on the basketball court.

I hope people are watching. I know there's so much criticism about that trade a season ago, but it's paid huge dividends for the Timberwolves this season. He could very well be defensive player of the year this season. There were moments in Game 1 where he's guarding Michael Porter Jr. on the perimeter. He's blocking shots inside. He's helping off Nicole Jokic.

He broke up a pass inside to Aaron Gordon in a crucial moment in the ballgame. He's the quarterback of the defense and they would absolutely miss him if he was not able to play in this ballgame. Outside of that, from Minnesota's perspective, you just want to avoid foul trouble.

If you can avoid foul trouble, you're going to be in good shape. The Nuggets are just going to have to find ways to utilize what depth they do have so that Jamal Murray, who is still dealing with the calf and Jokic, they're not exerting a ton of energy. They need guys to step up so that their key players can get a little bit more rest because the Timberwolves are deep and they're relentless. I saw the news about Gobert about an hour ago.

I saw it pop up on my feed. Is there any clarity? I know that he's questionable for the game. Who knows if he's going to play, but is there any clarity on one way or another what his status is going to be or is this going to be right down the tip-off? We should know very soon on whether or not he's going to be able to make it out and get here. It's a family thing, but the hope is that he'll be able to make it to game time. He wants to be there for his brothers, but family is important right now.

Can't say one way or another whether or not it's going to happen. Let me ask you about Jayden McDaniels. I loved what Anthony Everett said before the start of the Suns series.

It paid off in a big way. How about his growth that you've seen out of him as a player? He was 0 for 7 in Game 1, but still had a dramatic impact on the game with what he's able to do defensively.

His growth, speaking of Jayden McDaniels, has been, I remember going back to media day talking to his teammates, and they all to a man said he's my favorite player on the team. He has a thankless role to where you have your point guard who's distributing and making everybody happy. Anthony Edwards has to get his. Karl Anthony Towns has to get his. Rudy Gobert is going to be playing clean up, but he's going to have his opportunities. And then you have Jayden McDaniels where it's like, you know, if you get yours, great, but we really just need you to defend the best perimeter player every single night and stay out of foul trouble because we need you.

That's a thankless role. And he doesn't blink. He doesn't flinch. He accepts every role that every responsibility that's asked of him, and he just goes out there in battles. And so, in a way, he's not the scorer that Scottie Pippen was, but from a defensive standpoint, the way that back in the day, we're going to the Michael Jordan comparisons again, the way Mike and Scottie defensively would just be a menace on the perimeter, you very much have seen that with Anthony Edwards and Jayden McDaniels. So I love his game. Offensively, it's going to be up and down. He had a huge game in that Phoenix Suns series where he had a playoff career high. Again, didn't score in game one.

I fully expect him to get more involved offensively in this ball game and then continue to be a menace and an irritant with Jamal Murray or whoever he's guarding in this ball game tonight. Last thing I'll ask you, you know, you see a lot of hoops with being the guy that's on TV calling the Timberwolves games. I know before that you worked for, yes, covering the Brooklyn Nets as well and doing their games too. So you know the East, you know the West and how that all goes down. I know Boston, right? They were the best team in the East this year by like 15 or 16 games. Still something's holding me back embracing how great they could be just because of some of their previous playoff shortcomings.

So I'll just ask you this. Do you feel like what we're watching this series? Are these two teams, Denver, Minnesota, in your opinion, the two best teams in the NBA this year?

I do believe that's the case. I think Boston, I don't think they're going to have any resistance in the Eastern Conference as long as they're focused. There's no reason why they should trip up. And then OKC in Dallas, you know, I'll do respect both of those teams. I hate hearing any criticism of OKC as far as being the number one seed in the West. They are 100 percent legit. They have a star in Shay Gilders Alexander. They play for each other. They play extremely tough defense. They are legit one seed. The only question with that group is, of course, experience with every round that they go. That would be tough. That would be tough for them and Dallas will test them from that standpoint. And the Luca Kyrie Irving combination is ridiculous. So I think low key that's going to be a fun series to watch.

But the winner that comes out of this series, yes, I would agree with you, will represent the West in the NBA Finals against the Celtics. He's Michael Grady, Valley Sports North. T-Wolves announced it as a great job calling their games all throughout the season. Michael, thanks so much for giving us a few minutes today.

Appreciate you. There you go. Michael Grady joining us as we get you set for tonight with the Minnesota Timberwolves going up against the Denver Nuggets. Minnesota is already up by one and it's a sensation that is Anthony Edwards.

We will take a time out when we come on back. I was listening to the network on Friday and I heard something from Shep. I was watching, you know, the NBA games, the hockey games. Just taking it easy on a Friday night and I said, you know, let me flip on the Infinity Sports Network. And I heard something from Shep that we need to address on the other side.

It is the Zach Gelb show right here on the Infinity Sports Network. Call from Mom. Answer it.

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See site for details. Claiming that he could have success coaching the Lakers. I'm telling you this for a fact. I would be successful as the Lakers head coach.

I'm telling you. I have coached superstars in this sport. I know how to deal with the creme de la creme of basketball players.

I know how to stroke their ego and I know how to hold them in check. We have a bit of breaking news here on the show tonight. Marco Belletti has changed his Twitter picture.

And it should be me of one right now cringing after what I just heard. What the hell was that? So there you go. That is the next Shep claim. Like, I want to go to Samter here because I see how mad Samter's getting and I know how annoyed Samter was with the Tyson stuff.

So, Samter, I'm going to go to you here but just for the sake of getting through all this other audio, give me like the SparkNotes version of what Samter wants to say here. A condensed 30 second a minute take. The Tyson thing was the dumbest thing that's ever been said on radio.

This is the second. Worse than hickey rapping? No, hickey rapping was the worst thing I've ever heard but it wasn't a take.

It was just bad. Shep saying that he could coach the Lakers is the second dumbest take in the history of sports radio. So, this was all impromptu. Right after I heard them toss it to an update, I called the phone line as Alex in Milwaukee and this is the phone call calling out Shep for his erroneous take. 855-212-4227. Alex is in Milwaukee. Alex. Alright, long time listener. First time caller. How are you? Hey, Alex.

What's up? So, let me get this straight. Darvin Ham was an assistant coach from 2011 to 2022. Won a championship as an assistant coach. He couldn't have success?

David Shepherd's going to have success running the Lakers? Apparently, Shep has turned around a high school JV program. Wait, time out. Alex, I literally just screwed your call five minutes ago. I thought you were on my side, man. Did you pull an Okidoke on me and just lie to me? Yeah, I wanted to just get through on the air and help the part.

Oh, that wasn't right. Alex, come on, man. We had a trusting relationship. I thought we were bonding on the phone. I was excited to put you on and then you turned on me like that. The Bart Caller Standings Committee decides that because of him telling the truth now, Alex is permitted to continue to speak.

That's fair. Well, I was not going to... My name's not Alex, Bart. I said my name was AJ. Oh, you lied about that too?

No, my name's AJ. Shep just misheard me. Oh, he misheard you? I did not mishear you. Listen, if it was like Bob and I typed in Rob, I could buy that. Okay, so my cognitive perception skills and my hearing is so bad that I heard Alex instead of AJ is what you're telling me?

Yeah. Hold on, hold on, hold on. You think you could orchestrate a good huddle when you can't even get my name right? Well, if I'm being honest with you... That is a very compelling point. If I'm being honest with you, and I don't know if you're trying to... Very compelling.

25,000 people screaming in the stadium and you can't draw up a play because you can't hear things right? I feel like this is like a ringer of Bart's or something that I'm unaware of. I just feel like you're trying to like catch me in a moment of panic. But here's the thing, AJ, Alex, whatever you want to call yourself. I'm going to be respectful. It's AJ, okay.

It really is AJ? Okay, I'm going to take your word for it, even though you lied to me at first and you proved that and you were honest about it. But somehow you're not lying about your name.

Get him flustered. Fine. I've never told the lie. Yeah, of course not.

Now, I will say this... That would be a lie if he said it, so I believe him on that too. Alex, I will say this, or AJ, let's go with AJ. AJ, please.

Okay, AJ, I will say this to you. You have every right to disagree with me. You have never watched me for one second coach a basketball game. Yes, I have.

So you were just going by a baseless opinion. I've seen you run a marathon. You've seen me run a marathon? You've seen me run a marathon.

Was it marathon number one, number two, number three, or number four? I don't know. You think I have the advanced analytics on me right now? All right, all right, AJ, thanks for the call. Oh, this is getting spicy. I was willing to keep taking this, man.

This is fun. But eventually he would have run out of clever things to say. No, I wouldn't have. Because he wanted to call in as an agitator, and that's fine. But if you're going to call in to disagree with the position that I have with it, you have Bart, at least have the manhood, the adulthood, the maturity, the cojones to actually say what it is you disagree with instead of trying to hide behind agreeing with us and then lying when you get on the air. But that's just me. No, I got to side with AJ.

I mean, if you're having this tough of a time getting people on the air, how are you going to draw up a huddle on the Ron James screen? Okay, wait a second. Wait a second.

Now, come on, Bart. I'm pretty freaking good at getting names right. Now, if I've ever gotten a name wrong, it might have been once or twice. Maybe. Maybe. And I don't get Alex and AJ wrong.

It would be like Bob versus Rob or like Phil versus Bill. So clearly, Shep, a little bit annoyed. That was so funny. When I called him, I go, Shep, I think you could coach a Lakers to an NBA championship. He goes, Oh, awesome. Great to hear that. I'll put you through.

Like, what's the screening process here? Now, let me ask you guys this, because I played this for my father over the weekend when I was going to visit my sister and my brother-in-law and my niece. And he goes, these two morons couldn't realize that's you? They thought for sure. My dad knew right away. Like, he's like, it's so obvious it's you. Did I do a good enough job disguising my voice or, Bart and Shep, just a little bit stupid? I think you did a really good job the first like 20 to 30 seconds.

But like the second answer, I could tell it to you. I'm like, this sounds just like Zach. Just a slightly different voice.

The one thing I will say, though, is like, hey, you know, your dad's heard your voice his whole life. If you're just like on the radio and especially like phone line connections aren't as good, it's very easy to like mistake a voice. There are certain voices like when John in Arkansas, a.k.a.

Sully, calls up. It's pretty obvious. Or Pharrell, what's up? You know who it is? There are certain voices that are very distinguishable. You have a very distinct voice, but you were hiding it enough that like, My energy was so low. Maybe in the back of their, yeah, maybe in the back of their minds, like the voice sounds familiar.

I can't place it. But without knowing that it's you, here's the other question I have to ask you. Did you tell him AJ or did you tell him Alex? Oh, I told him Alex. The whole thing. You're such a gaslighter.

I love it. You gaslighted him all the way home. I had no script going in.

Outside, I was just, because I was originally going to talk about something totally different. I had no script going in. All I knew when I called was I was going to tell him what he wanted to hear, which was he could coach the Lakers more successfully than Darvin Ham. So, once you get Shep going, it just never stops. About 30 minutes later, he brings it back up and Shep is still annoyed about the phone call. Here's clip three.

Wait a minute. I did my job correctly, as do you. It's not my fault you got a jackass named Alex who pretends to be a different name when he gets on the air with you.

That's not on Shep and that's not on Bart. That's on the jackass that wants to make trouble for two people on a Friday night because they got nothing better to do. You think that guy that called has nothing better to do? I do.

I do. Because I don't think you lie to somebody outright to get on the air and then admit you lied and then change your name while you're lying. I think it's BS.

And we don't get a lot of calls like that, but what that is, is Bush League. And it's an insecure, miserable human being because he's trying to derail the dreams of someone to think they should coach the Lakers. Now whether he believes that or not, that's his position. That's his prerogative.

But don't lie to me to get on the air so that you can bash me. So what do you think this guy is like in real life? He must be a big old jerk, huh? I don't know if he's a jerk or not.

I know right now at this particular time, he's got nothing better to do than to call into Infinity Sports Network and lie to get on the air only so he can insult somebody that's a part of that show. Who he's never met in his life, by the way. He would have no idea whether I can coach or not, Bart. He has no idea. He's never seen me coach. Alright, well...

But he makes it that he watches me in marathons. You have... That was weird. By the way, I forgot to tell you one crucial part of the story. At that point, Bart knew I called the show. Because as a respectful host to host, I texted Bart after it happened. By the way, I was Alex slash AJ in Milwaukee and Bart's like, I couldn't believe it was your voice. Now I said to Bart, I know you'll probably break this rule, but just don't tell Shep because I want to tell Shep on Monday. So Bart was a little... Being a bit of an instigator there.

You sure you never met that guy? He was just throwing the knife a little bit deeper and deeper into the back of David Shepherd. Now, to make this full circle, I reach out to Shep today. I said, we're recording something for our show.

We want your basketball insight. So I'm not going to play you the entirety of it. But I legit did like a two or three minute mock interview with him talking about the excitement of Anthony Edwards. And then I brought up to Shep that I was Alex in Milwaukee. By the way, talking about entertaining, we were actually just talking about you in the newsroom before I brought you on. Someone was playing for me a rant that you had, I guess, on early Friday or late Friday evening when you were working with Bart. And someone called you like under the name of Alex or AJ and they were messing with you.

What happened there? Because I heard your response. I didn't hear the phone call and you eviscerated that person. Oh, well, look, I mean, my thing is, you know, we have jobs to do and we hand ourselves as the professionals that we like to associate ourselves with being. And if you call a radio show, you have every right to disagree with the host, the producer, whoever is a part of the show. But don't tell me when I screen your call a certain position, lie about it just to get on the air and worse, clearly lie about your name.

Like that's the thing that bothered me the most. And what was the gist of the call? You were saying, I don't know if you've been down this road before with Mike Tyson, but you believe that you could successfully coach the Lakers is what I gathered?

Well, let's put it this way. If I'm in the huddle, I'm not, you know, coming up with the solution of writing out everyone's name as to what the play is going to be. I'm actually going to come up with the play. Darvin Ham was there to be the babysitter, right? Darvin Ham was not there to actually do X's and no's and coach up the L.A. Lakers.

That's LeBron James. He wants to be everything apparently to the franchise. What I'm saying is I would do a better job in Darvin Ham in establishing who the guy would be, who the sheriff would be in town from the nanosecond I take the job.

You've got to remember something. I've coached Carmelo Anthony's kid. I've been successful as a JV basketball coach. Now look, am I going to win a championship in year one? No.

But I'll tell you this much, if I'm coaching that Lakers team, Anthony Davis, he ain't going to talk about me the way he did in after game two and divide the locker room. That I promise you. What if I told you I was Alex in Milwaukee? There's not a chance.

As talented as you are, as talented as you are, you ain't that good. Well chef, hate to break it to you. I am. I was Alex in Milwaukee, aka AJ.

That was me on Friday. No it wasn't. Thousand percent.

Not lying. I was going to mess with Bart over the whole athletic article about Giannis Antetokounmpo and I was going to get him all crazy and going nuts. But then I heard your take and I said, nope, I'm going to go prank chef.

It was me. Not a chance. Not a chance. I got to listen to that. I'm telling you it's me.

Gelb, I've heard you for the last eight years on the Infinity Sports Network. Well you got punked. Nope. Not a chance.

Not a chance. I'm telling you you got punked. I will send you the call log that I star six seven so my number didn't pop up. It was a thousand percent me. You know, I've learned from my past not to tell full-time national radio hosts what to do in terms of bits, so I'm not going to say anything. But there's no way, there's no way this is a Zach Gelb bit. Because, Gelb, as talented as you are, I would still be able to pick up on mannerisms, language, jargon, phraseology. I know you too well could not know what voice would be yours.

Clearly not. You got it, Chef. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks for having me, man.

Appreciate you. So he still doesn't believe that it was me. Which is crazy. But it was me.

So that's how I spent Friday evening. It was supposed to be Bart first and just Shep said something and I'm like there has to be a system of checks and balances. Like Darvin Ham did not do what he was supposed to do as the head coach of Lakers. Darvin Ham though was an assistant coach that won an NBA championship.

And Shep, because he coaches JV basketball, thinks that he'd be more successful than Darvin Ham as the coach of the Lakers. I mean the fact that you straight up gaslit him by lying about your name, lying about the call, and the fact that he didn't believe you when you told him the truth and he's like sticking by the I know your mannerisms. I know your voice. There's no way that it was you. You took Shep to the woodshed.

And it wasn't even intentional. And then here's the other thing. Now obviously when you were talking to him, he's responding to you as if he's doing an interview. But when I hear him responding back to you, it sounds like somebody who's doing a radio interview and trying to spin it in a certain way. I said we got an interview for a segment on the show about basketball. He legitimately believes that he could coach the Lakers.

He was breaking it down. I coach Carmelo's son. Therefore I could coach LeBron James. Oh, Anthony Davis wouldn't divide the locker room and talk about me like that. That wouldn't happen. Dude, Anthony Davis is three feet taller than you.

He would tower over you and scare you out of your britches. But here's the thing with Shep's new hours since he's going to be doing the weekend overnights. I probably will not listen to the weekend overnights and I've hosted that shift that's not speaking down about it. It's just been from 2 to 6 a.m. Eastern time. I'm probably not going to be up.

And if I am up at that time, no offense, I'm not spending it with Shep. But it does make me want to use the rewind function and hear how many more takes. Because it started with the Tyson stuff and then it goes into now the Darvin' Ham stuff. Like what's the next? That Caleb Williams stinks as the quarterback of the Bears and Shep's going to tell you how since he played intramural football, he could be the next quarterback of the Chicago Bears. It's just never going to end and it's just going to keep on being a circle that goes around and around and around and around and around and around of zany takes. So I just, the only plan I had, Santer, was when I called was just to say, hey, I agree with you Shep and what you're saying.

You could lead the Lakers to a championship. And it was the easiest screening process ever. It's like we should have Shep teach kids and do that and that's not how you screen a phone call. So there you go. You know, somebody named Oliver from Philadelphia was just calling and I was hesitant to take the call because I'm worried that now Shep is going to try to prank us. I think we'll be able to tell Shep's voice. You think so? You know, let me tell you about Bill Russell, okay?

He should be mentioned more in the GOAT debate than that LeBron James fellow, okay? It's a good Shep right here on CBS Sports Radio. That Guild guy pranking me. I'm not going to tell that Guild guy what to do.

I'm not going to tell him to do his job. He's a full-time radio host, national, but I did not like the disrespect that he showed to me on the phone. Taking his time out of his loser life to call up and to say, hey, you're Alex and then AJ in Milwaukee. Alrighty, this is the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. Let's get the latest update in with the next coach of Kentucky, the great Rich Ackerman.

Hey everyone, Boomer Esiason here. The NFL Draft is behind us and your favorite team is now gearing up for week number one. The free Odyssey app puts you right in the middle of the pro football conversation with the biggest sports radio stations from across the country. The local voices who know your team the best, giving you their unfiltered takes on the current state of your squad.

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It is the Zach Gelb show. So we played this for you earlier. Pat Riley tells Jimmy Butler to shut his mouth because over the weekend Jimmy Butler's like, Oh, if I was healthy, we would have beat Boston.

If we played New York, we would have beat the Knicks as well. And I actually respect what Pat Riley had to say. Let's just replay the Pat Riley part one more time. This is Pat Riley calling out Jimmy Butler's comments from over the weekend.

You know, for him to say that, you know, I thought, is that Jimmy trolling or is that Jimmy serious? You know, if you're not on the court playing against Boston or on the court playing against New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut and your criticism of those teams. So Pat Riley obviously is old school and the new school era of the NBA. You can't have a coach or a front office member, president of the team telling the player to shut his mouth.

But sometimes you need that. And Pat Riley is a thousand percent right. But I don't want to get into that debate. Like, Sam, I hear that and we know the contract situation, right? This was reported last week, I think, by the Miami Herald that Jimmy Butler, who's not a free agent, but he's looking for a two year extension worth like one hundred and thirty million dollars. And I've given the take like I have with many stars. You don't pay for the past.

You pay for the future. And I would get out of business with Jimmy Butler now and I would trade him and I would not give him that extension. And, you know, Jimmy Butler, who is well respected, but he could be a malcontent if he wants.

And we've seen that before in his exit from Minnesota. And if you don't give him that contract extension this offseason, I think he's going to go into that playbook a little bit and he's going to make things a problem for the Heat organization. And when you have Pat Riley telling him to shut up, I think that's just the start of what's going to be a very tumultuous offseason for the Miami Heat. And I I would be surprised if Jimmy Butler is on the Heat through the entirety of next season.

I'm not going to say the start because we've seen it before where stars get disgruntled. And whether it's a James Harden or Kevin Durant, it takes until the trade deadline to get dealt. But by the trade deadline, this upcoming trade deadline in the NBA, I do not think Jimmy Butler will be on the Miami Heat. And it just feels like the Heat have kind of hit that apex, right? Even when they went to the finals, they were an 8 seed, they were a 5 seed. It just feels like the Heat, even when they made those runs, they know how to play playoff basketball, but it feels like it's over. It feels like they kind of just hit the jackpot twice and that's about it.

So I do that weekly with Mark Hochman and Shannon Crowder going to their show on 560WQAM and Alejandro Solano is on that show too and he's part of the Heat radio network. And they would always ask me about the Heat and every time the Heat came up before the season, during the season, even when we entered the postseason, I said no one's going to want to play Miami. But that doesn't mean that Miami's a team that I expect to go back to the NBA Finals. And even if they go on a run like they did last year, where they surprise people and they get to the finals, I don't think they're winning the finals. Like their apex to me is what they did twice in the last few years is you go on a gritty run, a tough run, people start to say Jimmy Butler's a top 10 player in the league, and then boom, once you get into the finals, you just get showed that you're a tough, gritty team that's really, really good, but you're not in the greatness category of being able to get the four wins when they matter the most. And so with that being said, you know, you can probably get some assets for Jimmy Butler. You might as well try to move on. This offseason or by the deadline you would?

Right. No, this offseason. I wouldn't even go into next season with him.

I would try to do it during the offseason to start the season fresh. So I'm with you, I agree, but I'm just saying if it played out to the deadline, this would be the year to get rid of him. Because if he gets hurt again or with load management again and he's not on the court again, I think the value starts to shift away a little bit and then you're two years removed from the second finals run.

And then people just naturally go, okay, you're in your mid 30s. You start to get to a spot where it's like, hmm, I think his better years are behind him. And, you know, people will start the speculation on where he could land. It would be a tough look for Pat Riley to send them back to Philadelphia. I would say that, but the Sixers could use them. I think the Sixers should pursue Paul George first. And I read today that the Clippers already made Paul George a bunch of offers that weren't at the max and any offer that he's made that wasn't at the max, which he hasn't got one yet from the Clippers.

He has, according to some reports, he has turned them down. But let me just move on real quickly because I want to spend a few minutes. It's crazy. Did anyone up until yesterday talk about this CAS Magic series?

Like, on this network, outside of like a Bogusch or an Ack or a Balletti update, did we spend any time talking about the CAS Magic series other than to say no one's talking about that series? And it's wild that that series ended up going seven games. And it was up until yesterday that no one really ever uttered a word in terms of a basketball standpoint from that series. And, you know, if you weren't watching the game yesterday, the Cavs completed a great, you know, historical comeback where, you know, in a game seven, where Cleveland was down 18 and like, wow, look at the Magic, this young team with, you have Paulo Bencaro, Franz Wagner.

You have Jalen Suggs and look what they're doing. And it was pretty much all Bencaro, to be fair. And then Donovan Mitchell, Spider Mitchell, just found a way to lead his team on the comeback and secure the victory. Like, there were two players in that game yesterday.

It was Spider Mitchell and it was Paulo Bencaro. So even though the Cavs win, like the Cavs to me are in a championship team. You know, Boston should be able to get to the NBA Finals. If they don't, I would be surprised even with the Porzingis injury. And I know the Cavs fans were chanting, we want Boston yesterday.

Fun to do. And the only thing is you don't got LeBron James anymore. I know you got Donovan Mitchell, but I would be surprised if the Celtics lose this series. And Knicks Pacers will be a fun series where we know the Knicks like to play good defense and slow you down. And the Pacers like to go up tempo and just score, score, score, score, score. I don't think either the Knicks or the Pacers are going to find a way to beat the Celtics in a seven game series either. So I have the Celtics going to the NBA Finals.

I don't have this great takeaway about the Cavs yesterday. But you watch that magic team with Paulo Bencaro in year one was rookie of the year. In year two he becomes an all-star.

I know he didn't play well yesterday by Franz Wagner. You know, he had a really good season. And Jalen Suggs is starting to be the player that people thought he could potentially be when he was at Gonzaga. That magic team in an attractive destination in Orlando, a good place to live as well. They're going to be a team this offseason.

They should be hunting. And Bencaro, he's so big and he plays like he's a point guard too. You know, kind of how like LeBron, when he first entered the league, I'm not saying he is LeBron.

But that's a star. That dude's a one. I think he could be a one in a championship team, but you need another running mate. And Wagner and Suggs are good pieces. But like I look at Paul George, why not him there this offseason? I don't think Jimmy Butler would be the right fit. But like I'm Orlando, I would happily give Paul George a max contract this offseason.

And they can make it work from my financial standpoint. And I saw that Clay's been rumored to potentially maybe go there too. Or that could be a team that could be, you know, pursuing these services of one Clay Thompson. I'll get into that, though, coming up later.

I'm not going to give you my answer on if the Magic should do that or not, because Samter, who's been working very diligently today, and as every day, of course, producer extraordinaire of the Zach Elbs show on the Infinity Sports Network, he did include that Magic conversation about Clay Thompson in Onside Offside, which we will get to in about 25 minutes from now. I am not going to rap on the other side. I will not be like Hot Take Hickey. And the first thing Hickey said to me when he saw me in the newsroom, he goes, what'd you think of my rap? And I was like, I'm surprised you did it, because you have told me with how close Hickey and I are numerous times before. He is like, musically challenged.

And he goes, that's a fair assessment. I go, some of the lyrics were good, Hickey. But as I said on the air, I go, you should never rap. So, I'm not going to rap when talking about the whole Drake and Kendrick beef, but we will go through my top five best current rivalries in sports. But I'm looking at that Magic team, they're building something special, and I think they're one piece away from being a legit title contender.

Coming on back with more How to Play This, this is Zach Gilch on the Infinity Sports Network. Listen as Selenia tells us why she chose to vaccinate her daughter. I definitely felt like the pros far outweighed the cons, the diseases that I am protecting my child against. They're still here, and at the end of the day, it's my job as a mother to keep my child safe.

Talk to your child's doctor and learn more at WhyVaccines.com. Brought to you by Merck. You could spend the weekend doing the same old whatever, or you could conquer the weekend in the all-new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit HyundaiUSA.com for more details.

Hyundai, there's joy in every journey. Hey everyone, Boomer Esiason here. The NFL Draft is behind us, and your favorite team is now gearing up for week number one. The free Odyssey app puts you right in the middle of the pro football conversation with the biggest sports radio stations from across the country. The local voices who know your team the best, giving you their unfiltered takes on the current state of your squad. It's always football season right here on the free Odyssey app.