Lakers Legit Contenders? (Hour 1)

Okay, what's the number one reason you should try Instacart? Shopping over 1.5 million unique products from over 1,000 retailers and get everything delivered right to your door in as fast as one hour. All in one app.

So you can spend more time with the ones who matter most. Visit Instacart.com to get free delivery on your first three orders. Offer valid for a limited time, $10 minimum per order.

Additional terms apply. This is CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City sitting on top of the tenth floor of 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to the one and only Wednesday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, and that free Odyssey app, 855-212-4CBS. You can always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb.

That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. The one and only Zach Gelb show in this time slot this week. Monday I was in for Maggie and Pearl off. Last night I was off taking in a little Bruce Springsteen concert which was phenomenal. Today we are here hosting the show up until 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific and that I've been called from this time slot to the Maggie and Pearl off time slot tomorrow. The show that comes on right before us from 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern on Thursday and Friday.

So I'm just moving around, being a good company guy, being a utility player, and telling me or working wherever they tell me to do so. So we got a whole lot to do today, but first up producing this extravaganza for the next four hours is no other than Hot Take Kiki. I don't know about that Hot Take Kiki.

And I guess Kiki didn't burn the house down yesterday since we're still on the air and ready to go for a big edition of the Zach Gelb show. Zach Kuntz is going to join us coming up an hour twenty from now and he is a large man, Kiki. He's got to be 6'7", 6'8", tight end out of Penn State and Old Dominion and the tight ends in this draft are just absolutely loaded and it's a deep tight end class. And this dude, you look at him like he should play basketball and he's going to get ready to embark on an NFL journey coming up tomorrow where you're going to be two weeks away from the NFL draft. There's a whole lot to get into in the NFL draft conversation and I'm making a change in my mock draft right at the top.

We'll get into that coming up at the top of the hour right here on CBS Sports Radio. But first, let's start off with something that I absolutely hate and that is this nonsense play-in tournament that has now become the norm. And it's not something where a lot of people today start off their shows by asking, do you like the play-in tournament or not?

Because we've already seen it now for a few years, but full disclosure, I do not like it. I actually, in a weird way, even though I don't love what the Mavericks did, even though I understand it, I like that Spineless Silver, Adam Silver has this big great plan that he's been praised for the last few years. Oh, this play-in tournament is awesome where we reward losing and if you go through a regular season that most of these teams half-ass anyway, and if you're a ninth or a tenth seed, you still get an opportunity to play into the postseason. This was designed so teams would not tank and the Dallas Mavericks basically said to Adam Silver, screw you. So in a weird way, I don't like what the Mavericks did, even though I understand it, but then I do like it because it gives the middle finger to the commissioners big grand plan and Adam Silver. And outside of Donald Sterling, which obviously was the correct move that the commissioner did make, it was the easiest thing he ever had to do.

It's like, what else has he done? And everyone points to this play-in tournament and what I've always argued in the last two, three years, the reason why this play-in tournament has worked is because you've gotten big stars in it. We've seen LeBron play in it. We've seen Steph Curry play in it.

John Morant as well. So it makes it more entertaining when your big stars are in it. But if you take the Lakers out of this play-in tournament and they win last night, they come from behind, it's like, do any of these other players really make you want to tune in? Don't get me wrong, Jimmy Butler is a damn good player in this league. He's a great player in this league, but he's not someone that I'm rushing to go see play more in a play-in tournament.

Trae Young, he was magnificent last night, but you're not running to go see more of Trae Young like when you compare him to players like LeBron and Steph Curry. Same could be said for the Timberwolves. You have some exciting players like Anthony Edwards, who was a no-show last night, but it's not like I have to at this stage of his career watch Anthony Edwards in a play-in tournament. And you know how it goes with the rest of the teams that are still in it. You'll see tonight with the Bulls and the Raptors, the Thunder and the Pelicans.

Zion was playing okay, but Zion is not ready to play, or he is physically, but I guess not mentally. So this entire thing goes on, and when you have more and more of this play-in tournament happen, the Commissioner's been bailed out because you've received stars, big-time stars, in the play-in tournament. But it does get hairy, and we'll see if he gives the Mavericks a punitive action, because that one thing that the Commissioner's been praised for, it makes teams that are in that 9th or 10th or 11th or 12th spot delay intentionally losing games. And you saw the opposite of that this year with the Dallas Mavericks, where Luca's going to play a quarter in a minute, and Kyrie's not going to play, and Hardaway's not going to play. So that's where I'm at on this play-in tournament.

I've never been a fan of it, but we could only react what they give to us. And last night, let's get into this. So the Hawks beat the Heat, and that's not the lead, but I was surprised by that. I thought the Heat would win. And you look at the rebound difference, that's very telling. The Heat defense was also awful in the game last night. But the big takeaway from last night, and what every Tom, Dick, and Harry's going to do today if they host a radio show, you know, give us a call.

855-2124, CBS 855-212-4227. Do you believe the Lakers are dangerous now in the Western Conference to maybe go and compete for a Larry O'Brien trophy? And I tell everyone, pump the brakes on that. Like, let's not get caught up in the moment when a team had to come back from down 15. They needed overtime as well to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves, who, oh yeah, by the way, the last time we saw them out on a basketball court, you had Rudy Gobert punching Anderson, and that whole disaster of a situation where they suspended Gobert because I don't think his teammates like him, but it was really just a one-game suspension because the front office knows, oh yeah, there was four, basically five first-round picks traded for him. And I do think on a side note, Hickey, the great irony in this now is Rudy Gobert is coming back in a game where, like, you don't even know if his teammates want him or if they need him, but now Gobert is coming back in what is an elimination game for the Minnesota Timberwolves because they choked last night.

And I know we can sit here and we can praise the Lakers, and you know as long as LeBron and Anthony Davis are healthy, they will always put up a good fight and they'll always be a battle, but last night, to just see Anthony Ebert, who I like a lot, basically be a non-factor in the game. If you're a Timberwolves fan, it's weird because I would say that you're sick to your stomach today, but what does this really mean? Like, even if you end up losing coming up on Friday night, and it would be a bad look, it would be a disaster, but you're not going to really do any damage. You're not as an eighth seed, and I know we've seen sometimes before, eight seeds beat one seed, and I know that the Timberwolves have a ton of talent, but as an eighth seed, you're not going and taking down the Denver Nuggets. You're not going to beat them four times in a seven-game series, so you're basically just delaying the inevitable end to your season, and I get it, you'd rather keep on playing than not playing. So, in one breath, yeah, you're disappointed, but are you devastated with last night's performance?

I would probably say no, because the large scheme of things, what does it mean? But it was embarrassing that the Lakers, like, if you were just following the game on social media, you would have thought that this was a blowout, and it was, and that the Lakers were dead. But as you know, basketball, here's the cliche, it's a game of runs, and the next thing you know, the Los Angeles Lakers end up winning the game a buck 08 to 102. But to get back to my point about the Lakers, anyone today giving a take that they think they could go to the NBA Finals, I just don't get it. Because why should we believe in this Lakers team that they're going to consistently be able to win four games in a seven-game series, and do so three times just bare minimum to get to an NBA Finals?

Like, I just don't see it. Like, LeBron, we all know he's still magnificent. Anthony Davis, he's been playing really well down the stretch. I'll give him credit for that when he's on the court. But outside of that, I do like, you know, a few of their, like, Dennis Schroeder did play well last night, so I'll give him credit for that.

D'Angelo Russell solid even though he did nothing in the game last night from an offensive standpoint. But you look at this roster, the roster's just not constructed to go win. And the crazy part about this, we're like in an era now where you used to need three guys to win it all. This is like a dynamic duo type of era the last few years in the NBA ever since Kevin Durant really left the Golden State Warriors to go to the Brooklyn Nets. I know people say, oh, they had KD, they had James Harden, they had Kyrie, but they barely ever played together. So you look at the Lakers, they have a strong dynamic duo of LeBron and Anthony Davis, but injuries have been a problem for that duo.

So I don't even know if they could get through an entire postseason healthy. And whoever the third piece is, I just don't think it's strong enough to get to the NBA Finals when you look at the Suns being that much better. I think the Nuggets clearly are a better team. And even if you want to go with the team that has not been that strong this year and they've been abysmal on the road, I will give the benefit of the doubt not even nine times out of ten, ten times out of ten to the Golden State Warriors over the Los Angeles Lakers.

And that's just for starters. But you look at their first round matchup. Yeah, they're going up against the Memphis Grizzlies. Can they beat Memphis? Yeah, but I don't expect it. Like, I'm not telling you the Lakers are just going to be some pushover and they're just going to crumble and they're just going to be an easy out come playoff time.

Like, I'm not telling you that. They'll be a tough team to beat as long as LeBron and Anthony Davis are healthy. But I just don't see how they consistently win four games in a seven game series in this NBA postseason. Like, I would not be surprised if they beat Minnesota or if they beat Memphis. But I don't I'm not even telling you they are going to beat Memphis.

And I can't take it any further than that. Like, I think the apex for the Lakers this year, if everything goes right for them, is that they will win one playoff series. That's if everything goes right for them. But, Hickey, like you look at this team all throughout the year and really the last few years, ever since winning that championship, when has everything gone right for them? Whether it's been LeBron, who's still sensational, but his body, I guess you could say is breaking down with how many injuries he suffered. Anthony Davis, find me a year where he isn't injured. And you look at this roster. Yeah, I like bringing in Russell at the deadline. And you get rid of Russell Westbrook, too.

We talk about DeAngelo Russell and then Russell Westbrook as that get a little bit confusing. But you just look at the entirety of this team. This is not a team, in my opinion, that's deep enough, even with LeBron and Anthony Davis for now being healthy, going on a run, even in a Western Conference that, let's be real, this is not a strong Western Conference compared to other years. Like, the Nuggets are really damn good.

But they have questions. You look at a team like the Suns. They're probably everyone's pick right now or the majority of people's pick right now to get to the NBA Finals. But outside of that, it's like, are you going all in on Memphis?

Are you going all in on Sacramento? The Warriors, I know they've never lost the Western Conference playoff series with Steve Kerr as their coach, but are you going all in on them when they can't win road games this year? I can't trust the Clippers and who knows where their whole situation's at. And the Lakers, they don't get your trust.

So I look at this conversation today, Hickey, and I think a lot of it is a bunch of hot air. And I think it's a lot of people just doing like football takes for basketball where it's in the moment where we live or die by every football game. And now you're in the playoffs. So, oh, the Lakers, they come back from down 15.

Anthony Edwards is a non-factor in the game, and they still need overtime to get the job done. And now today, like people are saying, oh, the Lakers are going to be this dangerous force. I'm not telling you they're going to be a disaster, that they're just going to roll over, lie down and play dead coming up in this series up against Memphis. But I can't sit here and tell you anything more than saying maybe the Lakers win one playoff series. I can't have any expectations with that. And you shouldn't even expect that they will end up winning one playoff series. Like if everything goes right. I said that before.

I'll say it again. That's the farthest I could see them going this year where they could win one playoff series. But I think it's just Jack Assery to expect this team, even in a weak Western conference, really going on a run and being a legitimate threat to go win a championship or just get to the NBA finals this year, Hickey. If you were buying into the Lakers because they did finish strong after the All-Star break, I think a lot of that conference should have been wiped out last night. Because you watched that game yesterday, the other two best defenders on the Wolves with either being suspended in Rudigo Bay or breaking his head in Jay McDaniels, not there. You needed the Wolves to go on basically a historically dry shooting spell, scoring seven points in basically the span of a quarter in 11 minutes to end the game. You scored seven points.

You make two shots on the field to turn the ball over a ton. And even then with all those breaks going the Lakers' way, they still were turning the ball over on the inbounds, making bad fouls. Anthony Davis to send the game to overtime.

They just couldn't even get out of their own way. So even yes, the Lakers won, and they were playing some good basketball down the stretch, albeit against some bad teams. Any confidence you may have had going into the playoffs should have been wiped away yesterday with how bad they played, how they should not have won that game whatsoever. To me it was more of a loss by the Wolves than a win by the Lakers. There's no reason to believe this team is dangerous in the West.

And it's a great point, and that's what I was alluding to as well. It's like if you're a Lakers fan, do you really roll out of bed this morning after last night and you start to actually believe in this team? Like you won the game, and you'd rather win the game than lose the game. Clearly there's your big analysis of the day.

But having to come from behind even shows me more and how dead they looked for a while shows me why you should not be buying into this team whatsoever. Real quickly, let me just get some quick predictions out of you. Grizzlies-Lakers, who do you roll with in the first round? Grizz in five. In five? Five.

Oh man. Five. You know what, I'm taking the Lakers in seven now.

Me and Dylan Brooks. Forget everything I just said, the fact that Hickey goes Grizzlies in five, I'll take the Lakers in seven. Kings and Golden State Warriors, Mike Brown knows the Warriors better than anybody.

That he does, I'm going with the Kings. And how many? Six. Six? I like the Kings as well, I do.

I think that's in seven. I'll take that series going to seven. Suns and Clippers, I'm going Suns. Suns. You're not going to support your guy Russell Westbrook? I will not, no.

By the way, your curse about Russell Westbrook has been exaggerated a little bit. Oh, by who? I was being a good company guy and I was listening to the DA show.

Okay. They have added curse, several words, curse words to what you said because they did an extended bleep or ever bleeped it originally. All Hickey did was call Russell Westbrook here a bleeping clown, F word. There was nothing else that was said.

I think they wanted to throw in A and then you could use something else along with that as well. I kind of like that actually. Let's exaggerate this. Let's really inflate the bad boy persona that's going on here.

I am with the DA show. Let's just get a ten second bleep and make it seem like I just went on this crazed expletive laced rant for a good amount of time. But you did curse. You did drop the F word.

The F word was said solo, but now I do kind of like dressing it up a little bit. If I want to say the word, kind of like Rudy Gobert, maybe get my money's worth. I don't think I got my money's worth.

Just like Rudy did not get his money's worth that weak punch. I kind of want to redo. Okay. Well, can we dress you up a little bit? Dress me up? What do you mean dress me up? Like a costume?

I think if you want to embrace this bad boy persona, I think you got to kind of go biker look. Where you go get a leather jacket, you have like a wife beater underneath as well. You get some ripped jeans as well. Some really bougie shoes. And maybe we throw like a face tattoo on you. Like go Mike Tyson.

We throw a little face tattoo on you. Can I dress more like Yellowstone? Like more western cowboy? Nah, nah, nah. That's a tough look.

Those are some tough dudes. I need you like biker looking tough. And we also need your voice to get a little deeper too.

Well, if they have a little baritone on that voice. Enhancement surgery, I am down. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. And I think we'll just leave it at that. Alrighty, we'll come on back in five minutes. And when we do return, there was some hot take artist that was on the radio yesterday on this network that was spewing some things about the 76ers.

And there's one thing he said that I did not agree with. We will discuss about the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6ers, 10, 9, 8, 76ers when the Zach Gelb show returns. And not 76 minutes, and not 7 minutes, and not 6 minutes, but 5 minutes right here on CBS Sports Radio. Alrighty, this is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. So, Hickey, as I was going to the Springsteen concert last night, I was stuck in a little traffic. And it was 6 o'clock, and I go, ah, the Zach Gelb show is on CBS Sports Radio. So, I kind of like the fill-in host that was hosting last night in Being You, hot take Hickey. So, I wanted to tune in and just peruse and kind of listen in, eavesdrop a little bit on what you were talking about.

Because I had about 15 minutes to kill before we could find our way to get to the gate and then park the car and do all that. So, I heard you're open last night, and correct me if I'm wrong because my memory could be a little hazy last night after the show. Is that you basically said when the Sixers lose, and this is a woes report as well, the ramifications may be significant. And you talked about how the Sixers have a ton of pressure on them this postseason. And if they do lose, Doc Rivers and probably, I think you also said James Harden, would not be back with the team.

So, two things on that. Number one, I don't think the Sixers actually have a lot of pressure on them this postseason because here's my take on it. I just don't have any expectations for the Sixers. We have gone through this song and dance for the last few years where Philadelphia, their regular season, I know it's been up and down, but this year they had a very strong regular season with 54 wins.

But their biggest problem, and I've talked about this the last three years and everyone has, they don't have that finisher. Embiid, probably going to be the MVP of the league. He is phenomenal. But we saw up against the Hawks and up against the Celtics in years past, you need another person to compliment him to hit that big shot late. And when you look at, let's just say James Harden, who was brought in to be that guy, well, you're asking him to do something that he's never done in his career. Because find me the clutch shot in a big playoff game that James Harden made up against a legit great opponent.

Like, you can't find it. So, Hickey, I'm at a point, and I'll be curious what you have to say on this, I just don't even put much pressure on the Sixers because I don't expect them at the best. Like, if everything goes right, I think they get to the Easter Conference Finals this year. But I don't expect them, if they're in the Easter Conference Finals, whoever they're going up against, like, let's say it's probably going to be Milwaukee, to beat them, but in the second round, if they get out of the first round, I don't see them being the Celtics either. So, my expectations are low for the Sixers, even though they are a three seed and, right, they have 54 wins, the Celtics have 57 and the Bucks have 58. That's why I don't put a lot of pressure on them because I really have no expectations for them to go to the Finals this year. But that's exactly my point. That's a problem. You have the MVP winner on your team, you have the assist leader in James Harden who's played, you know, has rebounded, played well in the regular season, and head coach in Doc Rivers, and you, rightfully so, because I'm with you, have zero faith they can get past the Celtics in round number two. I agree with that.

But that's the problem. You can't have an MVP winner on your team and then go into the playoffs and say, yeah, probably not even going to, you know, we'll be happy just getting out of the, we'll win a first round series then from there, probably not much expected. That's why I think heads are going to roll. Okay, so when you say heads are going to roll, the bad boy of radio these days here at CBS Sports Radio, hot take hickey, mark my words, heads will roll.

You know it's just going to be Doc Rivers. I know you think if they lose, James Harden won't be back. And I think you're using logic in terms of he shouldn't be back. But the only way James Harden isn't back in Philadelphia next year is if he doesn't want to be back. Because Daryl Morey is BFFs with James Harden.

And I think Daryl Morey, by the way, is overrated at his job. And I could never get past when he basically celebrated losing to the Golden State Warriors by posting in a tweet his team's percentage in Houston and the amount of games they won up against Golden State against the rest of the league. You still lost those series. You still had chances to beat them multiple times with KD getting hurt and won. And you weren't able to slam the door shut and a lead in the other series. So I don't want to hear about, oh, well, you took this team to this level, so we should celebrate that.

That's a loser's mentality. But you know he loves James Harden. And he brought James Harden to Philly knowing down deep what James Harden could not do in Houston. And he still brought him to Philly.

And I know it is almost like just nonsense to keep on doubling and tripling down. But if it's up to Daryl Morey, there's no doubt in my mind, I do think he will do whatever it takes to bring James Harden back. But he already had some speculation like a month or two months ago by a Houston reporter that James Harden, it's in play that he goes back to Houston this offseason. So I don't think it will be the Sixers wanting a divorce. If that's the reason why James Harden isn't back, it would be James Harden leaving the organization, I think, on his own accord.

I think that's very likely. James Harden has showed you he is someone who does not like criticism. And when the blame starts being pointed at him, he runs. You talk about, again, another postseason early exit for the Sixers, which would be the sixth time in the NBA that you would not make it to the conference finals. Or get eliminated, I should say, in the second round.

Seventh time overall, you would not make it to the conference finals after making the playoffs. I think that the pressure and the fingers are starting to be pointed at him, and he's going to run. And there's a reason why he wants to go back to Houston. Obviously, it's home and it's where he started, but that stinks.

The strip clubs are there as well. They welcome him back, I'm sure. It would be a big parade for his return. You spent $1 million reportedly one night in one of those Houston strip clubs. Is it a jersey hanging in the rafters?

I'm pretty sure that's one of the reports. If James Harden walked into the strip club in Houston, it would be the greatest coming home party in the world when that guy once reportedly spent $1 million a night in a strip club. I think they would throw him a parade.

Legitimately throw him a parade. Even if I had $1 million, I could never see myself having the audacity to basically spend $1 million in one night in a strip club. I know it's multiple people that are getting involved in the action, I would assume here, but imagine blowing $1 million one night in a strip club. My wrist would hurt. That's a lot of bills to be tossing around, that's for sure.

That's a lot of paper in the air. Dexter Henry, could you ever imagine spending $1 million one night in a strip club? It would be a good time. I would say I could imagine it if I was a billionaire.

I guess I could do that. It better be a good time. You better be getting the buffet in there too.

Exactly. But hey, James Harden was the real MVP for everybody in that strip club that night. I'm sure at one point, Hickey's probably learned my wrist hurts from throwing out so much money.

Here's a few hundreds, throw them out to the ladies, why don't we? That must have been a good time. It had to be a good time. By the way, Hickey, I know we don't really talk about it this way, and Embiid usually escapes this conversation, but forever we hear about Damian Lillard, and that's popping back up in the news. Luka Doncic, you know, when are those guys going to request a trade?

I've said this now for a year. I forget which former sixer player we had on last year during the postseason, but he kind of made the point as well. It's like, when does Embiid, who loves Philly? And I know how much Embiid, living in Philly, I know how much Embiid loves Philly.

Like, he goes out all the time in Philly and the public eye, all that, and he embraces the Philly love too. But when the facts are how much he loved Jimmy Butler, and they basically went with Ben Simmons over Jimmy Butler, and that didn't work out. And now we know Ben Simmons is out of town being in Brooklyn, and I almost just said out of the league because Ben Simmons doesn't play anymore. And James Harden goes there, they have regular season success, but you know James Harden isn't winning a championship. It's like, how does Embiid keep on going back to Philly and just giving them the benefit of the doubt with even though how much he loves Philly, when does he start to say, it doesn't matter who the coach is, it doesn't matter who the owner is, it doesn't matter who the general manager is.

I've been here for a long time. I've given dominant, dominant, dominant performances, and now it's time for me to do what a lot of other stars do and go to a better situation. And you look at Embiid's deal, he has a player option coming up in 2026, 2027. If they don't fix this thing quickly, and I don't think Embiid's winning a championship in Philadelphia, it would not shock me a year from now if we're having that conversation in greater frequency.

And there's more and more people that end up talking about it. And Hickey, it would not surprise me if he ends up going to Miami one day. You know, Bam goes somewhere else, you team him back up, but Jimmy Butler, I know Jimmy's not getting any younger.

It would not surprise me if he goes to a place like Miami or anyone that has a, let's say, a solidified closer in place. Like, hey, Embiid with Dame would look good. You know, I don't think Embiid's going to Portland. And I know Philly would love to go get Dame Lillard, and maybe that pops back up this offseason. But you put Embiid with Jimmy Butler, that would be phenomenal. I know we saw it for a little bit, but there's some places that are definitely going to start popping up into conversation about Embiid, because forever it was, who's the second guy you're getting with Joel Embiid?

If they continue to swing and miss, which is just expected to be inevitable at this point, Ryan, eventually Embiid's got to do what's best for himself. He wants to win a championship. I think you're 100% right, especially too when you look at it, he has not gotten a lot of criticism for not getting deep in the playoffs. Now, similar to Giannis, I would say a lot of it's not on his shoulders, but again, there's a lot of questions about Giannis. A few years ago, is he the guy, can you win a championship with Giannis? Can you build a team that is good enough to win a title?

And in 2020, the bubble really came to a head. Now we know the next year won a title, but those questions were looming. Embiid has not gotten, up to this point, any sort of criticism, any sort of questions coming his way about the Sixers continually, even when they were one seed, getting bounced early in the playoffs.

I think if it's another early exit, which it looks like it will be in the second round, that's when I think those questions start, and then I think that helps expedite him wondering, is this really the place where I can go be successful? Are you saying that people are going to start to blame Embiid this postseason? Start questioning Embiid, not blame, question, just like we questioned Giannis. I don't think that's going to happen because you always with Embiid have people that prevent him from really getting the brunt of the criticism. Like, he turned the ball over late up against the Hawks, but everyone talks about what play. Ben Simmons refusing to dunk the basketball. You then look at this postseason, if they don't go as far as what some people may think, like I don't think they're going that far, people are going to say, oh, James Harden couldn't hit a big shot. And Embiid's also a phenomenal player, we all know that, duh. Great player, MVP, but I think in a weird way where we don't have a lot of rational, insane people in this society anymore, I think people are all able to gather around the fact that he's never had that number two that is that finisher. And until you get someone you can believe in, because it wasn't Simmons, it's not Harden, to go finish a game, I do think that's going to give Embiid the out almost every time in that conversation. But after a while, it gets to a point where it's like, there's only one constant.

You can change the surrounding pieces, you can change the coach, there's one guy that's still there, and the result's not changing. The work week is over. I'm already on to the weekend.

Hey, you better watch yourself there. I expect, who's filling in for me on Thursday and Friday? Do we know who yet? Jody McDonald tomorrow and Chris Moore on Friday. I may have to text both those guys, you may want to ask for a new producer.

Because Hickey's going to be hardly working, we know that. Hey, by the way, yesterday I did see that the prices were announced for Sunday NFL ticket. And by the way, you want to know, and I've subscribed to the streaming for Sunday ticket, I always thought, Hickey, that if you were getting all the games, that Red Zone did come with that.

Now, I've never had to pay for it, because it's always been something since I do the ION Football show that the company takes care of. And then I ask you, well, I know for your very popular Colts podcast, you have to make sure that you can watch the Colts game. So last year, did you have just access to the Colts games and all the other games with Red Zone? Or did you not have Red Zone, just wondering? No, I got the Sunday ticket. I got the ticket so I watch every Colts game easily.

I've used illegal streams a lot, but I figure, especially the podcast, I want guarantee that it's working, not miss any plays. But did you get Sunday ticket with Red Zone too? I have Red Zone already. Oh, you do?

Yeah, I've had Red Zone for a while. At your apartment? Yes. I thought that you cut the cord.

No, sir. I cut the cord for the summertime when I was not home a lot. Oh, you bring it back in the fall? That's right.

Oh, yeah. I'm not taking a chance on Wi-Fi or other people's passwords when it comes to football season, so I got the cord back. So you just cut the cord in the summertime only? Yes. So you have it right now?

I have it right now, yes. When do you say it's cutting the cord season? I probably won't do it because there's a real pain in the ass to do it, and the company I use will never admit to it. I'm convinced when I cut the cord and still kept the Wi-Fi, they made the Wi-Fi worse.

Oh, you're ridiculous. The summertime in the three months in the summer, twice a day guaranteed a crash. Ever since, coincidence or not, ever since I got the cord back and got cable back, not one.

And it's been since September, so we're almost nine months, not one crash. And what was the service that you're using? Spectrum.

So you think someone at Spectrum was sitting in, like, a cave or some office somewhere and was like, oh, that hickey fella, you know, we lost his, what, $70 a month? How much is your capable of with Wi-Fi? It's $200 with everything.

Okay. So how much do you save just by a month by getting rid of the cable? Rough estimate.

Let's go. $120. So you save $120.

So you think over $120. Yes. The cable company was sitting there saying, let's screw up hickeys Wi-Fi. Yes, because they knew I was coming back. I told them, you think you're very important. No, I think they do it for everybody because they're trying to get you back and get the money. Everyone is greedy in this world.

Everyone wants as much money as they possibly can. So, yes, you may think that 120 a month is not a big deal. To them, it's a big deal. And they try to get me back and they try to weaken my Wi-Fi in doing so. And it didn't work. I was getting budged, but I noticed. Your girlfriend, middle of the night, roll over, hit you over the head with the pillow and was like, Babe, we need to go get the cable back so the Wi-Fi works together. No, but she was pissed and rightfully so.

So was I when that Wi-Fi kept crashing. So she believes the same nonsense that you believe that they weakened your Wi-Fi? No.

No. That was just my theory. But she would get upset when we're sitting there at 12 o'clock and it's not working. So she has the brains in this relationship.

Sure for that. I mean, I think I'm right. I'm 100% right.

It's not a coincidence. I've had I've been in the apartment for just about a year now. And all of a sudden, three months later, it started working fine.

Yes. September 1st, when I got it back, it worked. It's been fine. I've had zero problems.

The Internet has been, man, as great as I could have asked for. I think you should actually cut the cord then. If you're right, I think you should cut the cord the entire year. I don't advocate cutting the cord.

I think you should cut the cord the entire year. No, I need cable. I need it. No, but if your if your Internet is then weakened, I think it saves us all for some of these videos that you put out and some of these just tweets that you put out as well. Well, the videos are just wait till I get here.

But this is great. It delays them at least. Delays. Sure. It will not stop.

It will not stop the machine. Because some of your tweets. Well, what do you know my tweets for? I've there's some tweets that I cringe. I cringe and and I'm almost like compelled to quote teaching and go. This is what's going to make me mute you eventually down the road. Like what? I think I have great tweets.

I cracked myself up most of the time. Pete Alonso is on pace to beat Aaron Judge's New York record of 62 home runs by the All-Star break. That's 100% already. Man, I really thought the Mets were going to go a buck 62 and 0 this year.

That's also funny. Now the Rays. I'm telling this in Tampa Bay.

If I was a call, I'd be calling every day. All right. 162. Now it's realistic.

Let's do it. Some of those. And also when you get annoyed at your football team or when your teams lose your tweets, then the next like day or two. It's either like throwing a pity party or it's like you tweet things to try to build you back up after just a train that hit you on the field talking like the day or two prior to that. No pity parties. I don't I don't ask for people's sympathy after the Colts blow a 33. Nothing.

They did have time. Ask for sympathy after Penn State loses to Ohio State again. The dong bong that you were talking about. Great name. A plus celebration.

A plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus name. Am I wrong? See, exactly.

You can't even push back on it. You know you like it. If anyone else tweeted it doesn't mean you would not have that much of a hatred towards it. No, but it was the Orioles who did that, right? The Orioles. Yes, sir. Yeah. But I know how this works.

If it was like the Yankees or if it was the Phillies, you'd be like, oh, this is stupid. I give credit where credit is due. I do not allow biases to impact my thinking. I as what you would call an impartial comedy. I'm an impartial. You can't even say it. Opinion giver.

CJ Stroud calls himself a ball placing specialist. I will call myself an opinion giver and I do not allow biases to influence those opinions. Can I help you out here? Sure. An opinion leader. That would be the better term here. You're an opinion leader. There's opinion leaders and opinion followers. Sure. Sure.

That sounds pretty good. An opinion leader. And if you're following Hickey, you're probably going down the wrong path. You're going down a great path.

You're going down the wrong path. But anyway, so the YouTube Sunday ticket stuff comes out the other day. And for non-YouTube subscribers, it's $4.49 for the season and then it's $4.89 with red zone. Now if you do it early, it's $3.49 early bird special, $3.89 early.

That is with the red zone. Now for YouTube subscribers, it's $3.49 a season, $2.49 before June 6th. And that's just Sunday ticket.

If you want it with red zone, that's $3.89 and then early before June 6th, $2.89. So everyone freaks out about the price and I get it. It's a lot of money, but it's football. Like you're either going to stream it illegally or you're going to pay it. I would pay it.

I'm going to pay it and get it expense hopefully by the company coming up in the fall. But last year, and I looked this up, just Sunday ticket last year was $2.93, $3.94 for the season. Sunday ticket max, which is all the games, the red zone channel, and then that crappy fantasy football channel that they have, that was $3.95. So if you do the early bird special and I'm not a YouTube subscriber, that's going to cost you $3.89. And last year it cost you $3.95. Now here's the thing that I'll bring up. If you're a college student, I did not see this. If you're a college student, last year you got it for $1.20. That's everything. I wonder if YouTube is going to take care of the college students like DirecTV did, and I'm going to assume that's probably going to be a big fat no on that since we didn't get that information. The one thing I think they missed though, Hickey, that I thought we were going to get here is individual teams. Like you could buy just the Patriots or just the Colts or just the Eagles. I thought we were going to get that, but it's not. I think a lot of people on Twitter are freaking out about the price, but it's pretty similar if not cheaper than what DirecTV was offering, just depending on what numbers you look at and if it's before or after the deadline along those natures.