The Perfect Pairing? (Hour 1)

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Live from the police show, you're not overly ostentatious. Studios of the Infinity Sports Network here in beautiful New York City sitting on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to a Tuesday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local Infinity Sports Network affiliates.

The free Odyssey app and of course streaming live on YouTube. 855-212-4227 is the number to jump on in. 855-212-4227. You can always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter X at Zach Gelb. We've got a loaded show for you today as we take you all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. I have Stuart Kovacs with me, Ryan Bottcher with me, and we'll be joined by not one, not two, but three awesome guests. Cedric Kornbread Maxwell is going to stop by as we'll get you set for the Eastern Conference Finals between the Pacers and the Celtics that commences this evening at 8 p.m. Eastern.

So he'll join us 20 minutes from now. Cedric Maxwell, Derek Stepan, former Rangers forward, he will join us at 4.40 p.m. Eastern, 1.40 p.m. Pacific today. We'll preview both the Eastern Conference Final and the Western Conference Final in hockey. We already knew that the Rangers and Panthers were set. That will get underway tomorrow evening, and it will be followed on Thursday, I believe, with you have Pete DeBoer's team and the Dallas Stars welcoming in the Edmonton Oilers. And talking about Peter DeBoer, the head coach of the Dallas Stars, is going to stop by at 5.20 p.m. Eastern time, 2.20 p.m. Pacific today. And that was an interesting hockey game last night. We'll start with the hoops.

We'll get to it in just a second. But you got to see Vancouver host a game seven. You know that the NHL, they would never say this, but they want Connor McDavid and Leon Driscital to be getting into the conference final because they would love to see them in the Stanley Cup final when you have the biggest star in the sport in Connor McDavid, another top five player in Leon Driscital. And early on in that game, the third string goalie for Vancouver was sensational.

Like that game should have been out of reach a lot earlier than what it actually was. And the third string goalie did a sensational job. And then it's 3-0 in the third period. Vancouver, they either refused to shoot or they couldn't get a shot off.

It was so bizarre. And the next thing you know, because it's hockey and all these games have crazy endings, it goes from 3-0 to 3-1, then 3-1 to 3-2, and you have Vancouver pulling their goalie with about like 1.45, two minutes left, and they couldn't get a shot off. So it was very fitting that they couldn't get a shot off.

They had one opportunity late. I believed it was blocked, but it was fitting that Edmonton won. And I know that Vancouver had a bunch of injuries, but it was fitting that Edmonton won because they dominated that hockey game.

And if that game would have got to overtime, I'm not saying that Edmonton could not have won, but the momentum drastically shifts to the Vancouver Canucks in their building. And did you see, I know we all know how hockey is, right? And we know the passion from the fans. But did you see how many fans were celebrating in Edmonton? I believe right outside their stadium they had a watch party. You know, I know the Rangers for Game 6 where they beat the Hurricanes to advance to the conference final, they had a watch party inside the arena, Madison Square Garden. I guess this was outside the arena for Edmonton. There were so many fans. Now, I wouldn't usually be someone that would want to go to a watch party to watch a game. You know, if my team is on the road for a big game and I'm not in the building, I think I would just prefer to sit on my couch.

If you know of a nice bar that has the sound on, maybe. But I saw Carlos Ortiz, Carlos with a K, he was at the Ranger watch party for Game 6 and it looked awesome. Absolutely awesome. And then you see all the fans in Edmonton last night and it looked like a grand old time. So we have the Final Four team set in hockey, the Stars going up against the Oilers, and you do have the Rangers going up against the Panthers.

So loaded show today, we got a whole lot to do, only three hours to play, so let's get to it right now. I was watching last night the Barstool Rundown and Big Cat proposed a question that I think is a fascinating question because you could give me three answers here. And I don't think any of the three answers are wrong. And the simple question is this. Who is the best duo remaining out of the four teams in the NBA playoffs? You have the Pacers with Halliburton and Siakam. You have the Timberwolves with Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony Towns. You have the Dallas Mavericks with Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. And then you have the Boston Celtics with Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown. So we all know who we could pencil into the fourth spot. That's Halliburton and Siakam.

And even folks that listen to us in Indianapolis, I don't think are calling me up at 855-212-4227 and would argue differently. Halliburton's a nice player. Siakam, we know a champion. Very good player. That duo is not on the level of Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony Towns. But with what has happened so far in the postseason, we have seen, and we all knew Anthony Edwards was a very good player, great player, but his stardom has catapulted nationally through the first two rounds of the NBA playoffs where Anthony Edwards has gone from a star to a mega star and the future face of this sport. Because what he's done so far, even though he did not play great offensively in Game 7, but for the most part he has anchored the impossible, which was someone taking down Denver in these NBA playoffs. Denver, not in the conference finals. Denver, not going to back-to-back NBA finals.

Denver will not hoist back-to-back Larry O'Brien trophies. And you have seen Kat, who was a former number one overall pick, have his inconsistencies, but still be a very good player. Like, you know who Karl Anthony Towns reminds me a lot of, Stu?

It's actually Anthony Davis. Where, when they are both on, they look great, they look like they could be the best player on the court. But through injuries and just so many inconsistencies, their level of play is up and down on both sides of the court.

But we know Anthony Edwards is a mega star. You look at Tatum and Brown, Tatum is the star of that group, Jaylen Brown has the mega contract. Jaylen Brown also has inconsistencies. We see it at times in the postseason, him not being able to go left. We have seen with Jaylen Brown, him have costly turnovers late in postseason games. He's inconsistent as well, come postseason time. And then you have Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, where I remember we had Avery Johnson on before the postseason started a few weeks ago.

And I said, if Denver doesn't get to the championship round, doesn't get to the NBA Finals coming out of the Western Conference, who's the next team that you believe in the most? And I actually agree with him when he said this, because of the fact that now we're operating in this era of dynamic duos, that it's Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. And Luka has been incredible, even dealing with an abundance of injuries. And it's just a reminder with Kyrie Irving that when he's locked in, he's one of the baddest dudes on the planet on a basketball court. The problem is he was not locked in in Brooklyn.

He was being a pain in the ass. He was not locked in, you know, when he was with Kevin Durant and he was with James Harden. And you saw him also in Boston not be locked in as well. And his career the last few years has soured, even though he's always been a great player, because a lot of people just didn't think the juice was worth the squeeze. And in all likelihood, up until this postseason run, the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. But now it seems like Kyrie Irving's in a good headspace, and we're all reminded of the great Kyrie Irving that we saw in that 3-1 epic comeback when the Cavs did take down the Golden State Warriors. Talent has never been the issue with Kyrie Irving.

It's been up here, and then also it's been health and just staying healthy. But I look at these three duos, and I try to rank them one through four. Halliburton, C. Occam's, and F. Fourth. I'm going to give you my first answer, like the best duo remaining, and then two and three I really think they're splitting hairs. But I think right now, the best duo remaining in the NBA playoffs are Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Like you look around, when you look at the one part of this duo, who's the best player between Jason Tatum, Luka Doncic, and Anthony Edwards?

I think it's Luka Doncic. And then you look at the number two options, Kyrie Irving, Jalen Brown, and Karl-Anthony Towns, Kyrie's locked in right now. And when Kyrie is locked in, he's a top ten player in the sport. So you could argue that Luka and Kyrie are two top ten players in the sport. Jason Tatum's top ten player in the sport, I can't argue that for Jalen Brown. Anthony Edwards feels like he's now a top ten player in the sport, I can't say that for Karl-Anthony Towns. So in the one spot, it's Luka Doncic and it's Kyrie Irving.

Then, I may be like the Raiders when they're drafting and deciding between the corner, Tarion Arnold or Brock Bowers. I may have to flip a coin between Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown compared to Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. Because right now, and Edwards has been tested more in this postseason, Tatum has not been tested yet because of the first two opponents.

And quite frankly, I don't think the Pacers are going to give him much of a test either. But right now, Anthony Edwards is inspiring. Anthony Edwards is now most people's pick to win the NBA Finals.

Not only get there, win the NBA Finals. So I think you're splitting hairs with Tatum Brown up against Edwards and Katt. And Brown and Katt are number twos on championship teams, regardless of where they were drafted. I think at their apex, Karl-Anthony Towns is a better all-around player than Jalen Brown. And Jalen Brown is a phenomenal two-way guard.

Like I'm out to eat. He's one of the better two-way guards in the league. But I just think with his size, his defensive play, Karl-Anthony Towns has more upside.

So I think you're splitting hairs. You could really flip a coin. But I would go best duos remaining in the NBA playoffs. Luca Doncic, Kyrie Irving won. Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns too. Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown three.

And Therese Halliburton and Siakam in at fourth. And the best part about this question is, and the answer of it, is I walked around the newsroom right before the show, I saw Desele and Stu. And I said to Desele and Stu, who's the best two remaining in the playoffs? Desele right away.

Boom. He said Luca Doncic, Kyrie Irving. Stu was like, I'm actually going to go Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown. And I can't sit there and yell at Stu and call him a moron.

Because, A, that's not very nice. But, you know, B, it's not inconceivable to say Tatum and Brown are the best duo remaining in the playoffs. And I have them ranked third. So Stu, you tell me why you go Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown as the best duo remaining in the postseason when I have them third. Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns as two. And Luca Doncic and Kyrie Irving in at number one. But once again, it's all splitting hairs. It's very, very close.

Yeah, it's close. I thought that I like what Tatum and Brown do in terms of complimenting themselves. Like I think Brown is pretty good defensively. I think Tatum can also be good defensively. I think they play off each other really well. Like Doncic and Kyrie, there's a lot of firepower there. There's a lot of offense.

There's not a lot of defense. Kind of same with Kat, like, I don't know. Again, I'm really splitting hairs, but I just think as two guys that compliment each other well and that are all around players, I would pick them. Now going off of this, with all these players and all these duos, most to gain, most to lose, individual players. Take the duos out of it by standing with those, you know, let's just say with those six players. Luca Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown, Anthony Edwards, Carl Anthony Towns, and you know what, screw it, for the fun of it, Halliburton and Siakam. Out of those players too, who out of those eight players has the most to gain with the remaining two rounds of the NBA playoffs?

What would your answer be? I think it's definitely Anthony Edwards. I think it's hard to make an argument otherwise. I think Edwards just, that he's doing it so early and this could be the first of many. I know we don't want to get into Dynasty Talk, but if he's able to get it.

Yes, if he's able to do it this early, that's going to be pretty insane and it does seem like the sky's the limit for him. So I'm with you, Anthony Edwards is in at one. Who's then in at two? Because two, I think it comes down to the conversation of, is it Luca Doncic or is it Jason Tatum? And I don't think Tatum is ever going to be the face of the league.

I do feel like Tatum gets a little bit disrespected in some of these conversations. But I do think it's Luca because Luca is a top five player in the league and you put a championship on his resume this early, especially in Dallas. You know, you look at the historical standpoint, Dirk Nowitzki and how great he was for that franchise, Luca gets a championship this early. And just pound for pound, Luca is a better player than Dirk and Dirk's one of my favorite players of all time.

And if he could go get a championship this early in Dallas, that would be phenomenal. So I would say most of the game it's Edwards one and then it's Luca two. But I do think we're in agreement here, Stu.

And I don't want to speak for you, so correct me if I'm wrong. The most to lose is Tatum. It seems like Tatum's the guy, like Josh Allen is in the NFL or Lamar Jackson is in the NFL, where we really don't care what the Bills and Ravens do in the regular season. Because they've been around both for so many years and they've been elite in this league and they've been so close but yet so far.

That's Jason Tatum. It's like what Giannis was a few years ago. Now Giannis will be different because he had a few MVPs.

Even Nicole Jokic, same thing a few years ago. Where we've seen them so many times, you see them dominate at a high level, now it's okay you gotta get to a championship. And this could be the easiest road to a NBA Finals ever out of the Eastern Conference. First round, Heat were injured. Jimmy Butler was hurt. You dispose of them in five games.

The last round, it's probably easier to name who was available rather than who was hurt for Cleveland. And they dispose of them in five games. And the Pacers, you know, they have a great offense.

They have a good one-two punch down low. McConnell's gritty off the bench. But the most they could see this series go in is six games. I picked the Celtics in five. So I think Tatum has the most to lose because some will argue, including yours truly, that the playoffs really don't start for the Boston Celtics until you get to the NBA Finals. So are you in agreement there before we get to Kornbread Maxwell that Jason Tatum has the most to lose?

I am. And it's going to be next year, year eight for Tatum, which is kind of crazy. It seems like he's still really young but he's actually starting to get to the point where, okay, he's in the prime of his career. They've surrounded him with a lot, especially the last few offseasons.

Porzingis, Holiday. Yeah, there's a lot of good players around him. The emergence of Derek White. Yeah. So if he doesn't get it done, he's going to, there's going to be a lot of criticism on him.

It's funny. We were also blown away how early Tatum Celtics really did break out, even with the Hayward injury and the Kyrie injuries, right? When they went to that conference final, you had Jalen Brown on that team. Scary Terry was also on that team.

He didn't show up in that elimination game. And you had those guys break out so early and they've gone on so many runs with the early success that it starts to build that narrative. Okay. It's, we're done with them having the early success. Now you got to go win an NBA championship and anything short of that would be a failure this year. So it is the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll take a break. We'll come on back. We'll preview the Easter conference finals in the NBA with Cedric Kornbread Maxwell, long time Boston Celtic and also has done a great job as their radio analyst for many years. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show.

All right. It is the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network, the Easter conference finals and the association does commence tonight with the Boston Celtics hosting the Indiana Pacers after the Pacers had an historical evening shooting the basketball, taking care of the New York Knicks in seven games. Let's go out to Boston. We welcome in a two time NBA champion, the 1981 finals MVP, longtime Celtics radio analyst.

And that of course is Cedric Kornbread Maxwell. Kind enough to join us once again on the Zach Gelb show. Cedric, always great to talk to you. Thanks so much for doing this and how you been? I am doing fine, sir.

Just, you know, just hanging in there, getting ready for the festivities tonight. So let me just get the vibe around the Celtics. We know how great they were in the regular season. The first two rounds of the playoffs, they were expected to be an injured heating Cavs team, both rather quickly.

They did so in five games. We were talking about this to open up the show, though, Kornbread, and it's like, no one's going to praise the Celtics until they have that Larry O'Brien trophy. So from a player's standpoint, when no one's really praising you and you just keep on winning, how do you kind of navigate through that? You do, you do exactly that.

You don't worry about all those other ancillary things. You play the game, you know, this is a, and this is one time I'd have to agree with, with something that Draymond Green echoed from somebody else when he said this season for the Boston Celtics isn't about winning the division or having the best record. It's about bringing another banner. And I think it's Tatum and Brown's time to step up and, and, and bring another banner to the, to the elevator. You got some great dynamic duos remaining in the NBA postseason. You just mentioned Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown. You have Anthony Edwards and Carl Anthony Towns. Obviously Luca Doncic and Boston's favorite friend in Kyrie Irving.

We'll see Halliburton and Siakam tonight. Out of those four, who do you think that the best duo is remaining in the NBA playoffs? I would, I would just have to go with Brown and Tatum, two younger players right now, dynamic, a little bit longer, bigger. I love Kyrie Irving. I think he's, all the Boston Celtics players have ever played here, especially with a guard. He is, he, he was by far the most outstanding offensive player I think the Celtics have ever had in a uniform. But when I think of Tatum and Brown, what they're able to do, scoring the basketball, passing, doing all those things, I liked them as well as anybody. We know with Kyrie Irving, right? He was an ugly ending in Boston.

He wasn't all in with the Brooklyn Nets and he wound up in Dallas and people were like the juice isn't worth the squeeze anymore. We all know when he's locked in, he's a top 10 player. To see what Luca and Kyrie are doing right now with how you just described your feelings on Kyrie Irving, just what, what other emotions is that elicit when you see that team in the Western Conference Finals? Well, you know, I'm, I think I'm not as surprised because of the way those two play, but it's not those two. It's those ancillary players that have come in and played well.

The Washingtons of the world, live leagues of the world. These guys have made a difference in what Dallas has been. Before they were just an offensive juggernaut. Now they can come back and legitimately have sides and defend you on the perimeter and coming towards the basket with those guys I talked about. So that is the difference in the team now that I saw in the middle of the year when the Celtics kind of spanked Dallas to what Dallas is now. I thought last year is Cedric Cornbread Maxwell is with us. Joe Missoula was in a tough spot and he was unfairly criticized.

But that's the nature of this business. What have you really learned and really seen from the coach and Joe Missoula this year that stood out to you? I think Joe has just grown. I think, you know, everybody grows, you know, if you're on this earth every day you grow you evolve and I think he's evolved as a coach.

His personality is one where it's a little raw right now when it comes to the media, but I think he believes in this team. There was one game before a game in the latter part of the season. I was there maybe three hours before the game doing some business and Joe was walking around the court and he does this thing where he has these beads and he walks around the court for maybe five or six times. And he and I were there and he stopped where I was at and he said, Max, what cabin ship do you win?

I said in 84 and 81 it founds MVP and all that stuff. He said, man, he said I would do anything to bring a banner to the Boston Celtics and he like had a tear in his eye and I was like, that's how convinced I am of what he will do. You know, to stem the tide and win a banner and, you know, put these guys in the best possible position. You know, people parachute in this time of the year and now they're watching every Celtics game.

They may only catch a few throughout the season depending where they live as Cedric Maxwell is here with us. Derek white has been really good for this team. If people have not been made aware of the game of one Derek white so far.

Just take me through your vantage point with what you're seeing with him. Derek White has the one of the leaders right now at the guard position in block shot. You know, he is shot the ball extremely well. He's defended extremely almost to the point where he should have been able to get the ball. You know, he is shot the ball extremely. Well, he's defended extremely almost to the point where he should have been probably should have been the all-star this year. Then you have Drew Holliday who is a world champion, you know, who has the experience of comes in and handles those defensive talents. It's going to be a vocal point tonight. It's going to be a Halliburton Halliburton and we have a guide that can play him like a white can play him or Drew Holliday.

It makes it a little easier. I'd say to get out and push up on those guys because those two guards are so so dynamic. How about Porzingis? I saw whoa said they don't expect him to be back for the first two games of this series. We know he's dealing with that soleus injury.

Do you have any expectation that eventually Kristoff Porzingis is going to be back for this series? I'm trying to figure out where does whoa's get all this information? I mean the government has secrets, but damn if whoa's gets on it there, you know, I need to know where if they're really aliens or not.

Can you get up with whoa's and find that out? But at the confiscate his phone, I think I mean he is he I think he's spot on with it. Porzingis wants to come back. But I think they're being slow and they're diligent about when he comes back.

I've heard that it's going to be here. Mr. First couple of games. Some people say well if you don't need him at this series, why play him at all? I think that you have to play him in this series second or third the third game because you have to ramp back up to what the NBA speed is and you can't simulate that in practice. So yeah, I look forward to you know him coming back and getting into the rotation because he is such a he was such a huge weapon this year when it comes to shooting the ball from the outside.

Maybe not blocking shots, but long enough really to challenge a lot of shots. So it'd be great to have him back wrap it up with Cedric Kornbread Maxwell Celtic start the Easter Conference Finals tonight up against the Indiana Pacers. How do you think this series is going to play out? I think the Celtics are going to win it in five games.

It's no disrespect to Indiana. You know, we know the Celtics in game twos. They haven't gone their way, but I kind of think they start this thing up to all they split in Indiana. They close that sucker out in game five. I like what you're saying, you know, and you know that they're to be getting there to be played. I think the Celtics have the team right now that has the advantage but you know, here's what you have. You have a team that believes in themselves in Indiana, you know, they knocked off Orlando. They knocked off a hard fighting Knicks team and now you playing a team that is really been, you know on top of the world in the Boston Celtics. So the subjects can't come in and you know, just throw throw caution to the wind. They have to be do their due diligence again about guarding these guys. And the thing that subjects have the difference between the two teams is the subjects can defend you to death. The Pacers can score you that if there's a way that you can slow down the scoring.

The subjects take huge events in that earlier. You said it's it's Jason Tatum's time and you believe he's going to pull through. Why do you believe he's going to pull through and get that other banner? Well isn't this what they said about Jordan and that's what they said about LeBron all these guys were up in their years when they finally broke through.

I think it's just take them son, you know, he's been a bridesmaid for you know, a couple of times been right there at the door last year. I thought the subject is going to make history by coming coming back and beating Miami with the deficit that they had and then take them turns his ankle into several games with one minute beginning of the game. So I just think it's his time, you know, sometimes it's just written in the stars that you think about who what where and if there are opportunities, but this is Tatum's time. I think the shine and and I think that he will he's been dynamic this year not the MVP, but because he's had so many talented guys around him. He's been able to kind of defer.

This is made with time for him to take over. Pretty think wins in the West between Minnesota and Dallas. Wow, that's going to be a good one.

And you know, I'm gonna go out and I'm a I'm a surprise people. But I think it's going to be Dallas. And the reason I think it's going to be Dallas because of those other guys to PJ Washington's of the world the live leads of the world. I think they can challenge and offensively.

I think that they can put up maybe a few more points than Minnesota. So I like Dallas. He said your cornbread Maxwell have a great call tonight is always my friend. Thanks so much for doing this. All right, take it easy. There you go.

Said your cornbread Maxwell here with us on the Zach Gelb show. I think that it's going to be Celtics and Timberwolves. But can you imagine from the coverage standpoint if we have to see Kyrie Irving walking into Boston with the Mavericks for an NBA finals, that would be a whole lot of fun. No one's going to pick the Pacers. No one will and no one should.

So sometimes when that does happen, you usually see the team that no one's picking wins wins. But I just as long as Tatum is healthy and and Brown is healthy. I don't see a way where the Pacers win this series and his point of Porzingis I thought was interesting. I don't think they need Porzingis to win this series.

I've been saying it from the start. They do not need Porzingis to get out of the Easter conference, but they need Porzingis to go win an NBA championship and go get the last four victories. But he talked about that how you still feel like you have to play Porzingis at some point in this series because if you are to advance, you don't want him to be knocking off the rust, which there will be rust with the injuries that he's coming off of.

Well, the better idea how healthy he actually is, you don't want him to be knocking off that rust in the NBA finals. I didn't think about it that way. So that was a very astute observation and an excellent point by one Cedric Maxwell. We'll take a break. When we come on back, Stu brought up this crazy NASCAR fight the other day. I did not see the video at first. I watched it last night after the show. That was bonkers.

What's the craziest fight in sports history? We'll go around the room and we will address that question next and we'll give you an answer. 855-212-4227 on social media. 855-212-4227 on social media at Zach Gelb Instagram Twitter X and now let's get to the latest Infinity Sports Network update with the act man Rich Acker dive into the start of summer at Whole Foods Market.

Check out their summer splash event with sales on fresh organic produce organic strawberries and a fan favorite sale on Ben and Jerry's and talenti explore deals on grill friendly meats like organic air-chilled chicken breast beef and chicken kebabs all with no antibiotics ever from our meat department plus grab easy size from prepared foods and cool off with refreshing drinks kick off your summer and shop in store or online at Whole Foods Market today. The wait is over. That's right. Season 5 of the Kardashians is here. Just when you thought life couldn't get any faster. They're punching it into overdrive Chris Courtney Kim Chloe Kendall and Kylie are back and continue to defy expectations in all their endeavors. So get ready to go behind the glitz and glamour of the most iconic family on television.

The all new season of the Kardashians premieres May 23rd streaming on Hulu. Okay picture this it's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can waste another weekend doing the same old whatever or I can conquer it. I can hop into my all new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road any road the steeper the better because my all new Santa Fe is available with H-Trek all wheel drive so I can hit the trail without a worry in the world. Heck with three rows and best in class rear cargo space I can pack the whole family in with all our gear.

We've got available dual wireless charging for our phone so we'll never lose touch with civilization and we won't lose touch with the primordial power of Mother Earth. So which is it waste the weekend or do something a little more epic and conquer it in the all new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details.

Hyundai there's joy in every journey. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show the defensive part of the week is sponsored by the Federal Credit Union who proudly serves the armed forces DOD veterans and their families the members are the mission learn more at Navy federal dot org. This week's player is Pacers big man Miles Turner in Indiana's Game 7 win over the Knicks on Sunday. He had four blocked shots.

Turner is currently third in the playoffs and blocked shots averaging one point eight per game. So Stu mentioned this fight between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch the other day. This was that like some all star event. This was an exhibition still. It was an exhibition race where didn't matter for the standings but it all you got in the end was I think it was winner take all prize of like a million dollars or something like that.

Are you kidding me. That's awesome. That is wild. So I I heard about it for some reason I'm not a big NASCAR fan. I think during the pandemic is when I became a big NASCAR fan because like the only thing that was on and it was something to watch. So I ended up watching the fight last night. That was a pretty good showdown.

That was a pretty good melee. And I saw an auto week dot com because I wasn't watching the the actual race that this whole kerfuffle started because the ill feelings between the two started on lap one. That's what they said on auto week dot com when Stenhouse shoved to Chevrolet between Denny Hamlin and Busch to make it three wide. The move forced Busch into the outside wall. The next lap Busch hit Stenhouse in the rear and sent to Chevrolet into the second turn wall.

Busch parked his damaged race car in Busch's pit and then climbed up on the RCR team pit box and told Busch's crew chief he would see Bush after the race. You know isn't that a wild concept Stu. Like for example let's say Stu and I are basketball players and we get into an argument on the court and I shove Stu. All right that's like innocuous for the most part. You get into a crash and then you your response is to ram your vehicle or make contact with the other person's vehicle later in the race.

That's very dangerous if I may say so myself. But I saw Stenhouse and Bush they got into it and then he threw Stenhouse through the first punch. And I don't know who do you know who the big dude was Stu that was involved in that because there was some big dude that came just like rushing in. He looked like he could be a defensive end on the Carolina Panthers for crying out loud. You know if he has any NCAA eligibility left you know maybe Dabo Swinney would actually take that guy in the transfer portal and give him some NIL money. I'm not talking about the name, image and likeness of God I'm talking about actual NIL money.

Hey Florida may promise you some NIL money and then they may rescind that NIL money with that lawsuit that's pending today with the quarterback. But whoever that dude was Stu that dude was a behemoth and he was like the bouncer in a club. He was like Gronkowski on Sergio Brown when he tossed him out of that game. That was absolutely wild the entire fight Stu. Yeah at first I thought it was a crew chief. It appears it's not usually so usually NASCAR to tire changers or more muscular heavier set guys look like a bodybuilder though. Yeah he did. He looked absolutely massive so I'm guessing it was a tire changer if I had to guess.

Yeah I couldn't figure out who it was but that was crazy. So it elicits this conversation. What's the greatest or craziest fight in sports history.

And I start mine and I think it's like everyone's answer. If you grew up around when I grew up even if it doesn't really matter the age but everyone remembers the malice at the palace in 2004. And you know I didn't grow up in Indianapolis or Detroit.

I don't know how you feel about this too. Well you're a Lakers fan so this may be a change your emotions a little bit but I think my favorite NBA team of all time actually may be the piston squad that won the championship. And I know Stu doesn't like that but that piston squad that won the championship with Ben Wallace Rashid Wallace you had Chauncey Billups Rip Hamilton Tayshaun Prince in a weird way which was sloppy aggressive low scoring physical basketball in the early 2000s mid 2000s. I love love love love that Pistons team that was coached by by Larry Brown. So and Larry Brown won an NBA championship with them. I love that teams do I'm sure you love that team too right.

Yeah that was a not happy experience losing to them as a Lakers fan but I can see why you would like them because that that's a as a neutral I would probably like them to. That was the Lakers team right was Shaq Kobe Gary Payton and Malone. Yeah.

The Lakers had those two teams in our lifetime. It was that. Yeah.

You know that I know you're going with this. Yeah. And then the other one was Dwight Howard Steve Nash Steve Nash and Kobe.

Yeah. And Powell still. Oh and Paul Gasol was on that team. What did they made the playoffs right.

Or did they get hurt. And that was that was the year Kobe tours Achilles right before the playoffs there. They were the eighth seed and they got swept by the Spurs. Yeah.

Yeah. That team I thought for sure they were going to win a champion as did I. And and then Kobe Kobe didn't win those two other champions that came after words right. Those two other championships that he ended up winning. That was before Nash and Howard. So they won the two and then they traded buying them for Howard and they signed Nash as kind of like try to retool the team and he won those two extra chance. Yes.

He had all his rings at that point. Oh gotcha. Wow.

I always thought it was the other way. But yeah they won in 0 0 9 and 10 and I think this was 20 12 when they got Dwight Howard because that was then probably the belief of oh now they bring in this team he's going to catch Jordan. That that. Yeah.

Now that you say you're right on that. But anyway that's the craziest fight I've ever seen in sports history. And it's not just because it was player on player. It was also player on fan. Like do you remember the Pistons fan that came onto the court that looked like turtle from entourage. And every time it's like oh this day in sports history malice in the palace I see turtle Jerry Ferrara tweet. That was not me.

And then you know it's not me. And then you had Ron Artest just lying on the scores table and I guess that fan threw the drink at him and then he goes into the stand and then Stephen Jackson goes into the stand. I was looking back at the suspensions from that. So that happened early in 0 4 early in the season November of 0 4 Ron Artest was suspended for the remainder of the season regular season and postseason. He missed 73 regular season games and 13 playoff games. Stephen Jackson missed 30. Jermaine O'Neal originally got hit with a 25 game suspension got reduced to 15. Ben Wallace got six. Anthony Johnson got five. Reggie Miller got one Chauncey Billups got one. Derek Coleman got one and Eldon Campbell got one.

So that ended up being the suspensions from the malice at the palace and I have never seen anything like that. Stu what is the greatest fighter the craziest fight that you want to bring up in sports history. So mine was from 1998 Yankees against the Orioles Yankees are in the midst of one of their best seasons of all time. Bernie Williams hits a 3 1 home run off Armando Benitez.

Burn baby burn. And that next pitch Benitez Plunk's Tino Martinez in the back upper back clearly throwing Adam and then a brawl breaks out and you know they're just pushing and shoving at first. But then it goes into the dugout. Graham Lloyd and Benitez in the dugout. Strawberry comes into dugout sucker punches Benitez. It was one of the more crazier baseball fights I've ever seen. Armando Benitez that falls into the long line of Mets closers that have tortured me. Braden Looper Armando Benitez.

You could just go on and on and on. Remember when Billy Wagner blew that game up against the Yankees in the regular season subway series. Oh just Aaron Heilman. Oh stop stop stop that back to Edwin Diaz now with how he's performing as of late. Guillermo moto actually end up going to the Mets. He got into it with Piazza in spring training.

You know Piazza I've had him on a bunch Roger Clemens by the way. I hate his guts. My least favorite player ever Roger Clemens with roid rage in the World Series on the bad at Piazza.

Oh I thought it was the ball like that makes it any better. That punk Roger Clemens who should be in the Hall of Fame. I can't stand him. So I wasn't expecting you on a rant about Mets relievers and hating Roger Clemens but still brings up Armando Benitez and that was a terrible part of my childhood even though he's on the Orioles in the fight that you were mentioning. All right. Botcher what you got cooking for me today.

OK. So my first thought was of course you know Adore and Jose Bautista 2016 Jose Bautista at a dirty slide in the second base of being hit by a pitch. It wasn't really a long fight. No he got absolutely cooked by Adore but it's memorable in the way that it's like a down go Frazier moment down goes Frazier. But there's also a bunch of memes from that where you can't go wrong with saying it's one of the best fights ever.

But I also looked up other great fights. Nineteen seventy nine the Bruins at the Garden. Yes jumped in the crowd and Mike Milbury fans. So that's that's another one that you can say.

So I was actually I was going through this last night because I was thinking about this and I always remember the mill. But I've been told the Millbury story for all those years Rangers and the Bruins you see the fight at the end of the game and then it ends up into the stands and then Millbury rips that fans shoe off and then he's hitting a fan with the shoe. That was a classic Bruins and Rangers with Mike Millbury John Cheney and John Calipari when Cheney stormed the press conference room when Calipari was at UMass he's too good of a coach to be doing that stuff. I'll tell you I'll tell you.

And he had to get like grabbed out of the room. Pete Rosen but Harrelson is always a classic one. But for me it's malice at the palace is the first one that I think of eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. Let's go to Dave and Hershey Pennsylvania. He's next up on the Zach Gelb show.

Dave what's cooking. I got to agree with you the malice in the palace is by far the worst fight of all time. But two you're forgetting maybe not a brawl but bad fight Nolan Ryan putting up company to Robin Ventura was my favorite of all time. But then before my time the Rudy Tom Jonathan punch that ended his career that was that was a rough one for anybody who was a great athlete like Rudy Tom Jonathan was to be shut cut short because of a blast from a monster of a man.

That's that's my that's the one that I think was most costly besides all the suspensions from the malice in the palace. Rudy Tom Jonathan was a great player. Dave appreciate the time.

Thanks so much for calling us. By the way when you do a show like this you get to interact with a lot of great listeners. I met a guy who is built like he is the incredible Hulk.

He is really strong. But this guy by the name of Sean Weaver I met him at the D.A. Bob's bar show. He listened to D.A.

for years. He listens to me. He listens to Maggie and Pearl off really good dude. And once eventually get in the sports broadcasting business he told me this morning and his mother listened to the show. Mother listened to the network when it was CBS Sports Radio now the Infinity Sports Network that unfortunately his mother passed away.

Lori Weaver she's a big Steelers fan. She had a short battle with cancer and she passed away Saturday. So we're sending all the best to Sean his father and his family just wanted to reach out and send my condolences on the air. I'm going to write Sean a condolence note as well and send it to him. But he listens to the show a lot in South Carolina and really do appreciate his friendship and him listening to the show and just wanted to send his family. My condolences on the passing of his great mother and Lori Weaver who passed away over the weekend after a battle with cancer.

So may she rest in peace. It is the Zach Gelb show right here on the Infinity Sports Network. We will take a time out and we're coming back with more right after these short messages dive into the start of summer at Whole Foods Market. Check out their summer splash event with sales on fresh organic produce organic strawberries and a fan favorite sale on Ben and Jerry's until empty explore deals on grill friendly meats like organic air chilled chicken breast beef and chicken kebabs all with no antibiotics ever from our meat department plus grab easy sides from prepared foods and cool off with refreshing drinks kick off your summer and shop in store or online at Whole Foods Market today. Okay. Picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever or I can hop into my all new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road with available H track all wheel drive and three row seating.

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