Sun Setting in Phoenix? (Hour 4)

We continue this at Gelb Show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. Larsa Pippen, Marcus Jordan are hosting the WUSHI World and Celebrity Sports Entertainment Charity Basketball Game. Coming up tomorrow, May 3rd, doors open at 6 p.m. Eastern at FLA Live Arena. Benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation and participating in the game is NFL cornerback Xavier Rhodes, who's kind enough to join us right now, the three-time Pro Bowl cornerback.

Xavier, it's Zach Gelb. Appreciate the time. How are you? I'm doing great, man. Appreciate you having me on.

But I'm doing awesome. Thanks for asking. What are you going to get picked up with teams interested in you? Here we go. 25th pick.

Minnesota Vikings. I was out of that green room heading to the media row and taking the next flight to Minnesota to talk to Leslie Frazier. So it was a great feeling, man. It was a blessing in disguise. At first, I took that experience and looked at the guys in front of me and made sure I played harder and played better than them guys.

Well, no one wants to be in the green room and not go in the first round. When it was getting into the 20s, were you nervous you were going to slip out of the first round? Man, I was nervous. I was shaking.

I was biting my nails. I didn't know what was going on. That's the crazy part about the draft.

You don't know. You have a good idea, but once it gets to that number you thought you were going to get drafted at and then go past that, your mind just starts wandering off. You just start thinking, hey, if I'm going to get drafted first round, is this going to be something?

Is this going to be a history saying Xavier Rhodes thought he was going to be in the first round, now he's dropped in the second and third. So that's, I mean, sorry to those guys that actually happened to them, but that feeling is not good. So you were surprised that you lasted that long and that you ended up going to Minnesota, it sounds alike.

Yes. Like I said, it was a blessing in disguise, you know, but I thought I was actually going to either go to Chicago or I was going to go to Tampa Bay. So I was pretty surprised. And also Leslie, Leslie Frazier was surprised too. He actually told me. So I was surprised you was up for us to pick you up.

How about that? Xavier Rhodes here with us at the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. I know you bounced around this year with Buffalo in Dallas. Are you planning on playing football this year? Of course, man. I mean, it's always going to be in me. I've been playing this game for all my life and I'm always going to be in shape and ready to go.

So yeah, definitely, of course. How do you look at your career so far? Because you've been in the NFL, like we said, since 2013, Minnesota, Indianapolis.

Last year, Buffalo in Dallas. You've made the Pro Bowl three times. You were first team All-Pro in 2017.

How do you kind of reflect on this journey so far? I think I accomplished a lot individually for myself as a team. You know, I wanted to get that Super Bowl.

So I think my career is not over yet. I keep trying to get that confetti drop on me on that field for one time. I was close, you know, but I got knocked off by the Eagles in the NFC Championship game. So, I mean, I'm still trying to get that ring, you know.

So, I mean, once I get it, I'm going to steal it and that's probably going to be it for me. And that was some run you guys did go on in Minnesota that year. Unfortunately, for you guys, it ended in Philadelphia like you were talking about. But in that run, everyone remembers that Minneapolis Miracle play. How did you kind of look back on that one and what are the memories that come to mind during that? That's a memory my family and I are going to forever remember, man. That's something that's happened once in a lifetime. You know, an experience that many other ball players don't actually experience unless they win the Super Bowl or something or something.

50 or 65 yards kick field goal or something. But actually being that moment to think the game is over, you got to leave, your season is over, thinking exit meeting once you're going to tell your position coach and then come up with Stephon Diggs to catch that ball and take it to the house. I mean, it's so real, man. You can only say but a few words about that moment.

You just have to be there to feel it, you know, and at that moment to this day still getting the chills when I talk about it because it's a moment that I never thought I'd be in or ever experienced. Xavier Rhodes here with us. I know you were in Minnesota a little bit with Kirk Cousins. Do you think he could win a Super Bowl in this league? Because the Vikings have a team that's pretty good, I think. Man, they have a team, man. They have a great team. I mean, Kirk Cousins has always put up the numbers, always did things right.

I mean, God for him, man. I mean, like I say, each and every year they get better. Each and every year his throws and everything, his decision making is getting better. So I believe this year alone is going to be a great year, especially with the receiver that just drafted that's going to help Justin Jefferson out a lot more.

And so I think an endowment coming out the backfield is going to be a blessing in disguise, you know, because as you see, they're starting to pass the ball a lot more, but as time goes on, that's going to balance each other out without coming out the backfield, catching the ball out of the backfield and actually running the ball. So I think they got a good sense of making it this year. But do you believe in Kirk? Because I heard that laugh early on. It makes me think that you don't believe in Kirk. Oh, I believe in Kirk. I get some memories I had with him.

That's all. That's all that laugh was about, the memories I had being there with him. You know, sometimes, you know, walking and coming to the facility, seeing Kirk drive that old beat up caravan he had, you know. You're like, Kirk, you're making all this money. You're driving a 1976 Ford Caravan.

Man, what you doing? And he got all his, he had all his, I think his sponsors stamped on the van. It was a crazy experience. You always made fun of him when he put it in that van. And the chains he put on this year on the flight back, I thought were great. Yeah, it was great. I didn't think, when I was there, that wasn't Kirk. The fact that he opened up like that shows you the camaraderie and the trust he had with his guys and the coaching style.

He was actually comfortable enough to be himself. And as you know, you know, when I was there, we had Zim. Zim was really a tough guy. You know, it's a hard coach. He would love him, but man, he had coached you hard. Like, he would want nothing but greatness out of you.

And push you, even if you were great, he's still going to push you to your limit. It feels like that style with Coach Mike Zimmer, you could only put up with it for so long, and eventually that's why they had to make a change in Minnesota and bring in Kevin O'Connor, a little bit more of a player-friendly coach. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I mean, the style of play has changed over the years, as you see. I mean, everything about football is starting to change. So, I mean, two tickets on, two sales on, you know, I think Zim is going to get another opportunity because he is a great coach, honestly.

Even Zagroul, I believe, you know, how he came in and took over Minnesota and changed up the whole defense and the whole team, and took us, like I said, to the NFT Championship game, almost close to the Super Bowl, and being the number one defense for multiple years with him, I mean, being under that defense with him, I believe he's going to get another chance. Xavier Rhodes here with us. I know you're a corner, but I was looking back at the pick six for 100 yards that you had up against the Cardinals right before we brought you on. How the heck were you not out of breath after that? Because you were running there on the field after that, celebrating with your teammates.

That was impressive. Honestly, the first thing that came to mind was John Brown. I mean, John Brown is from Miami, and we know of each other. We played each other in high school once and for. And he almost ran me down to high school. In the kickoff return, I ran back in high school, but knowing he was on the field, it was a good chance he was going to come get me. So the only thing I was looking at is the end zone and looking at the jumbotron to see how close he was in coming to get me.

So I had to take off. Who were some of the toughest wide receivers you ever had to go up against? I know being in the north, definitely Calvin Johnson probably had to be one. Oh, 100%, man. 100% Calvin, man.

I mean, it's been played that he made that I only believe, to this day, I believe he only can make. I mean, I went against Dez Bryant one on one. I went against Antonio Brown, Odell, Hopkins. Man, so many, man. So many guys. I went against one on one, and it was a great battle with those guys. You know, that's how you know where you at in your career when you can actually have your coaches and your teammates trust you to be one on one with those guys and believe that you can do what you need to do to help to win the game.

You know, that was a great time to be a Viking and a great time to be on that team. Would you ever talk smack to Calvin Johnson or was it like, all right, I don't want to await that sleeping giant? Man, you know, I tried once.

Actually, I did try once. I wanted to try it out because people always tell me Calvin don't talk. Like, he really don't say a word on the field.

He just make plays and throw the ball, spin the ball, and walk off. So I tried to say, well, I said, Calvin, man, you ain't nothing. Why they call you Megatron?

You ain't transforming. And then he looked at me funny and turned his head and walked off. I said, yep, I tried. Man, it ain't working.

So after that, I didn't say anything else after that. Xavier Rhodes here with us. So you were in Buffalo for a little bit last year. Last year, it didn't go their way. It was a Super Bowl or bus type of season for them. How close do you think the Bills are from winning it all?

Man, them guys are closing in. McDermott is a great coach, man. He's a player coach. I told McDermott the way he's running his team is awesome. Team oriented and the way he builds his team together and how they come together as one.

It's unseen, unheard. I've been around some teams. I've been around great teams and I've been around great coaches, but to see a different way of coaching and how the players actually buy into it, man, it was awesome to see. I mean, I think they have a chance every year, honestly, to believe it. The way he handled it and the way he handled things over there in Buffalo and the way the players just give it their all and work hard out there.

The whole coaching staff, I would say the whole staff, whole everything out there. It's just unbelievable. And I see why they went each and every year now. Did you get a lot of chicken wings when you were at Buffalo? Oh, man, I did. I had too many chicken wings. I had to stop. They had to put me on a limb.

I was gaining too much weight out there. Those wings had me flying. Yeah, so I'm buddies with Dion Dawkins and Tyler Metikevich. I actually went to school with them both at Temple and they took me to Bar Bill. Those wings are no joke in Buffalo.

No joke. You know, Dion was just on, what it is, the show we used to... The Celebrity Cornhole. Cornhole, yeah. Man, Cornhole is, listen, Cornhole is the game them boys play when we on break. They on Cornhole.

It's like a long line at Buffalo Bills. Them guys, I'm talking about literally everybody on that team plays Cornhole. Never team in my life. Yes, and they in there going at it.

You lose, we talking smack to you all day to the next day until we play again. Like I say, the team there is unbelievable, man. Everything they do there is team oriented.

Like dinner, events, whatever they doing, they all coming together and they all being as one. You were in the same defensive back room this year, Xavier Rhodes, with DeMar Hamlin. I saw two weeks ago that he was cleared to continue his football journey and cleared to play. When you heard that, just what came to mind? Oh, man. Blessings. That's a blessing from God to come back to something like that and still come back and feel like you needed to play and play out what you believe is still calling me. I don't know, man.

I give my hat off to him, man. Because at that moment, during that time, it was hard to even see. It was hard to even digest. You couldn't fathom and imagine your brother going through that in that sport. And for him to go back and have the courage to go back and play, man, tell you what type of player he is. Tell you how devoted he is to the game. Tell you how devoted he is to his coaches, his teammates and everyone. Because he felt bad that he couldn't... To me, honestly, he really wanted us to go out there and finish playing that game for him. To hear that, man, it was like, man, yeah.

He loved his game. It really is surreal that we could talk about this story now in a positive way because I remember we were live on the air when that happened and that was one of the scariest things I've ever seen on a football field. Man, yes, it was. You were speechless. At first, we didn't know what was going on, what happened.

You just seen drop. I ain't gonna get into details, but you just seen that happen and then you can literally hear a pin drop. And it was... How many of the Bengal Stadium hold fans? I believe over 70.

I don't know, but literally everyone in that stadium was quiet. Never... Yeah, it was unheard of and I'm like, man, this is real. Like, he couldn't really believe what you were saying. And like I say, for him to get up and still have the courage to play this game, man, he... Man, I tip my head off to him, man. He's a soldier, for real. He's a really good soldier. He's a leader. And I love him for this.

I love him for what he's doing. Wrap it up with Xavier Rhodes. So you're teaming up to be a part of this celebrity basketball game. Larsa Pippen, Marcus Jordan are hosting the WUSHI World and Celebrity Sports Entertainment Charity Basketball Game tomorrow.

Doors open at 6 p.m. Eastern at FALA Live Arena benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Tell me what you're doing coming up tomorrow. I'm coaching. I don't want to go out there and hoop and embarrass nobody. So I'm just going ahead and coach people.

I ain't trying to criss-cross hot sauce nobody quick. So I'm just going to go out there and just tell them what to do, tell them to play. No, I'm playing. I can't play basketball today in my life.

That's amazing. Would you ever want to coach football? Whenever you hang up your cleats and you say that the journey's over, do you want to go into coaching? I was thinking about, I'm thinking a lot of people, a lot of my teammates and some coaches ask me that I think about what I think about coaching or do broadcasting. I don't know.

I don't know. You know, the only reason I say I don't know right now is because I've devoted so much of my life and my time to the game. And I believe right now I have to like take a break from it because sometimes when I'm coming home from watching, from being from the facility, I don't just put my film down. I don't just don't relax. I literally put in more hours and watching film and watching my craft and watching my opponent.

So, my meter and my time off from ball is never off. Even in an off season, I probably take two, three weeks off when I'm back into it. So, it's just my time. When it's time for me to settle down, I'll probably sit down for a year or two. And then I think about getting back into it. I don't know yet.

I can't answer that question for you right now. The last thing I want to ask you, I know you were briefly with the Cowboys last year and the last two seasons, their defense late has been playing really well and the offense just hasn't been able to close out those games. I wonder what that locker room dynamic is like because when the defense plays well and the offense doesn't, you wonder about if there's at all a disconnect. They got dogs on the defense.

They got some dogs on the defense. I want to shout out my man Al House. I had a lot of sit downs. I sat down with him multiple times and we talked. He was a vet in the game. I think he played, what, 15, 16 years or something like that.

Probably longer. I don't want to take no years off him, but to sit there and pick his brain and hear him talk about how to take the ball away and how to read certain route concepts. The way he's teaching his guys, man, is the way you learn as you're going on your own, but to have someone like him in your room to tell you these pointers as a young guy, the sky's the limit for them, especially that defensive back room. He literally tells us the scheme. He literally tells us everything we need to know how to take that ball away, how to read certain route concepts.

To have that in your room is unbelievable. I think the boys are going to be great. Well, I really enjoyed the conversation today, Xavier Rhodes. Thanks so much for doing this. Be well and good luck coaching tomorrow night, all right? Thank you.

Have a good one. Pete DeBoer's Dallas Stars. Last night, because of Hickey, the Rangers did lose because Hickey thought the Rangers were going to win 4-1. So the Rangers go down, Devils do advance, and they will do battle with the Carolina Hurricanes starting tomorrow. And also starting tomorrow, you have the Oilers and the Golden Knights series as well. And all eyes, as we're down to the final eight teams, four in the east, four in the west, are on Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, and if they could find a way to get to the Stanley Cup final. The game's preeminent player is going to win a unanimous MVP this year, and that will be the second of his career, and we know that it's only been done twice so far in NHL history.

Wayne Gretzky had it one time, McDavid's had it one time, McDavid's about to do it two times, 64 goals, 89 assists, 153 points for Connor McDavid this past year. And also in the NBA world, just what a disappointing performance by the Phoenix Suns last night. I can't say I'm surprised because the Suns all throughout the postseason seems like they've not been able to mesh and gel, and now Chris Paul has a groin injury. And there's two reports out there from Chris Paul. The first one is from Shams Sharania that Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul is expected to be reevaluated in one week after MRI on his groin injury today. Sources tell the athletic stadium and stadium, Suns are preparing to be without Paul through games three through five.

Now Bill Reiter, who you all know works for CBS Sports HQ and CBS Sports Radio, he has a similar report but just a little difference at the end. Sources tell CBS Sports that Chris Paul will likely be reevaluated in a week for the groin injury he sustained in game two of the Suns series against the Nuggets. Now here's the difference in this report, but there is some hope the timeline could shrink three to four days. So if Bill is right that there is some optimism that maybe the timeline is only three to four days where he gets reevaluated, that would then be Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at the earliest. So he probably would not play in that game three, that would be May 5th, but then if it goes through four days that Saturday, and then their game four would be Sunday up against Denver. I would probably think that you look at both reports and Shoms is they're expecting him to be out games three through five and Bill's like there's some optimism that the timeline could be narrowed down to three to four days where they reevaluate it. Hickey, it's probably safe to assume even though these NBA injury reports and the reporting of injuries, it's really day by day, I would think with this groin injury, the earliest we see Chris Paul return is game six.

And then it also begs to ask the question, even if the series is still alive in game six, because I'm starting to think Denver is going to win this series in five where the Suns will split at home and then Denver will go back and close this thing out in game five on May 9th. I also start to wonder then, even if there is a game six, basically a little over a week removed, how healthy and how effective will Chris Paul even be a week from now? When you look at leg injuries especially, I mean the groin is probably the one where you can't play through it. Like we saw James Harden play on one hamstring a few years ago at the Nets and was somewhat productive. Made a few good defensive plays, was at least another body that teams had to take account for, but he was for the most part a decoy. But he was able to at least play on the court, we've seen players play through ankle sprains and rolls, but the groin just because you have to push off, you have to change laterally, very quickly, you can't play through it.

So honestly, you said game six earliest, I would be shocked if he's back at any point in this specific series with his age, where the injury is, I just don't think the groin is one that you could push or come back early from. And if the Suns, let's say, go down in the second round, how would you view their season? With how late they got KD, then KD suffered the injury, he played like eight or nine regular season games, whatever it was. If they go down in the second round to a Denver team, that it's kind of weird to say this, I think people are starting to realize how great this team could be. And usually don't have to say that about a number one overall seed in a Western Conference, but it seems like all throughout the year people are trying to say, oh yeah, Denver, they have this good record, they're going to be the number one overall seed, but they're not going to be representing the West in the NBA Finals because they're going to come up short. I think a lot of people now, when they look at Denver, we all know how great Nikola Jokic is, but for whatever the reasons were, people were trying to take away from him this season just because of this dopey MVP conversation, which rightfully so, and beat ended up winning. But the uncertainty of Jamal Murray, and not knowing how healthy and how effective Jamal Murray is going to be, it seems like a lot of people forgot in 2021 when they put this four guys together, and you saw that little run that they went on for a slight moment, and then unfortunately you had Murray tearing his ACL, it's almost like people forgot how good the Nuggets were trending in with the past history as well, and now through the first round and a half, it's like, oh, the lightbulb's finally going off for now, more and more people are stopping the doubt that comes with Denver. It's also showing the regular season actually matters because there's a lot of people that looked at the Nuggets and all, you know, that's regular season success. Let's not believe it on the postseason, even though both you and I were people that would talk to a shortlist of championship contenders, we both have the Nuggets on there, a lot of people did not. To answer your initial question, at least, when it comes to how you would assess the Suns season, it's a failure. Yeah. You sure about that, Giannis?

You positive? When you acquire Kevin Durant, it is truly championship or bust. The only thing I will say that's not really caveat, or it's not going to make Suns fans feel much better, but I do think this is the year where your chance at winning a championship is the worst.

Why is that? He's played 10 games, you have no depth, you have an aging Chris Paul that now we see got hurt. I think Kevin Durant has, I would say, three high-level years left at least, which I think that also runs through the extent of his contract. So you're going to get better depth, probably going to get a replacement for Chris Paul sooner rather than later, you're going to build chemistry. So if you have a three-and-a-half-year window, because they got traded halfway through this year, I think there were four cracks, let's say four postseason runs, this one to me by far is the one that's least likely of a chance to win a championship. And also, it does appear like Chris Paul is on the 18th hole of his career, and it feels like we see these constant issues in the postseason, and now he's dealing with another injury again, but I'm not disagreeing with you because I understand what you're saying. It takes time to gel, and I do view this as a failure if they don't get to the NBA Finals bare minimum, but you could also just as equally argue this is their best chance to win the title because going into the postseason, there wasn't that many strong teams, and you didn't have that many teams that you fear heading in. Now, you could easily just come back and say to me, well, what's going to be really that much different next year?

I genuinely do not know. So you look at how this road, there was no one really scaring you heading into the postseason. A year from now, I know Kawhi just had the torn meniscus, but if Kawhi and Paul George could ever get on the court at the same time, you look at the Warriors, if they have a better regular season, can a team like the Kings, who had a really good year, can they take that next step? Denver, if they get to the Finals and win it, they're going to be a force to be reckoned with. I'm not really optimistic on Minnesota. I thought the Gobert deal was a disaster. What did the Mavericks do?

I don't think they could do much. A team like the Pelicans can sign, ever be healthy. You just never know what's going to happen.

Like, where does Dane get traded to? So I go into this postseason where there wasn't a lot of teams that you feared. Like, when we did that exercise, the five teams that you would put money on to go win a championship, we both were in agreement. It's the Bucks and it's the Celtics. And then we both said it's the Suns and the Nuggets. And I forget who you said was your fifth team, but I ended up going Golden State. And it's like, it was tough to even kind of get through five teams.

And look, part of it's getting through the West. The other part is who you go up against in the Finals to win a championship. And to not have Milwaukee in the fold, this Heat Knicks game that's going on right now, Jimmy Butler's not playing. The Heat are still up by three.

I know Harden was great last night, but you don't expect that consistency from him. And even though I still think the Celtics are going to get to the NBA Finals, like, I look at the Celtics as a team that they haven't really impressed me so far through their series at a game in the NBA postseason, because it took the Hawks a little bit longer than it took the Celtics a little bit longer against the Hawks than you expected. And last night, when you had a chance to not only protect home court, but take advantage of a Sixers team that you've owned without Joel Embiid, you didn't win the game. So I look at this year, it may be as easy as it's ever going to be for the Suns to win a championship, because there were so many question marks heading into this postseason. But even look how then the postseason plays out. You know, you got in the second round, a team that arguably right now is playing better than anyone in the postseason in the Nuggets, who have home court advantage, who are right now clicking in all cylinders. That's a bad matchup for them, especially, you know, in the second round, what do you think?

But that's not like an impossible mountain to slay. Well, I mean, it's looking like, I mean, they are at least right now. I think they're winning in five the Nuggets.

I'm saying this is a missed opportunity and this is why. I'm just saying, I think also too, the Nuggets are a legitimately good team. So it's not like, you know, they're losing to the Grizzlies. You got to be a good team to get to the finals. Losing to, you know, the Clippers without Paul George or Kawhi Leonard. Like it's, you run into a buzzsaw, you run into a buzzsaw. But this may be the only, this team may be the best team that they're playing in what would be in route to win in a championship.

And like that's, if that's the toughest dragon that you got to slay, it's not like this is some ridiculous road. 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS, 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. Let me squeeze in one point here on football. Let's go to Lee in Cincinnati. Lee, go ahead.

Hey, thanks for taking my call, Zach. I just want to preface this by saying I'm a big Florida Gator fan. I have a Florida Gator emblem tattooed on my left shoulder, the only tattoo I have.

Let me ask you a question. What factored into that decision to get a team tattoo, what did you say, on your shoulder? Was that like a tough decision for you?

No, not at all. My brother-in-law, who's an illustrated man, has tattoos all over his body. He wanted me to get a tattoo and he said, if I could think of one that he won't regret, but he did it and I said, sure. He came up with that. Every guy in my family has always gone to University of Florida, so that's why I got it. Gotcha.

Okay. I always wonder about people when they get tattoos of sports teams, if it's something they end up regretting or if it was a tough decision for them. Oh, no, I'll never regret this and I have to thank my brother-in-law for it, to be honest with you. Because he paid for it also, by the way.

Oh, that's nice of him. So, but what I have to ask you is, I hate to say this, man, but you tell me, was Anthony Richardson at the fourth pick not the worst pick you have seen in the first round since, as much as I hate to say this also, since Tim Tebow was taken by the Denver Broncos? That was a stupid pick because the Indianapolis Colts don't have anybody else to play quarterback.

He's going to take so long to develop. They've got Gardner Minshew, Nick Foles, and who else? Well, what did you want them to do? Let me ask you this, if you say it's a stupid pick, what did you want them to do there? I wanted them to wait until next year and get Caleb Williams between you and me because they got Peyton Manning. He was NFL ready.

Everybody knew that. They got, after that, Andrew Luck. He was NFL ready, plug and play. Alright, the same way that Trevor Lawrence was with Jacksonville, even though he didn't recruit until this year, same way a lot of quarterbacks are. Anthony Richardson isn't.

He is too raw. And what the Colts needed was a plug and play quarterback out of the college. And Anthony Richardson isn't any of that.

Can he be developed? I don't know because you have to be a winner at the collegiate level to be a winner at the pro level. And he wasn't even a winner at Florida. So how in the heck is he going to be a winner in the pros? It's a much more mental game.

It's a lot faster. You have to think a lot more and you can't live off your physical attributes the way he did at Florida, which he still even there didn't do a great job of. Lee, appreciate the phone call. I don't think it was a massive mistake and I'm not even all that optimistic on Anthony Richardson. I could argue the other way. How many times do we see great college quarterbacks, like all-time great college quarterbacks end up being just complete disasters in the NFL? Like one that he mentioned, Tim Tebow, that he had a problem with when he got drafted to the Denver Broncos.

Here's my thing. If you say Richardson shouldn't have got drafted by the Colts, what else should they have done? The Colts had to, had to, had to, had to take a quarterback. And I never defend the Indianapolis Colts.

They're my least favorite team in the history of football. They had to take a quarterback. And when you look at the upside of who was available, I thought the upside of Richardson is greater than Will Levis.

So I don't have a problem with the pick. But if you wanted to say they should have waited another year. Yeah, I do think the Colts are going to be bottom five bad in the NFL this year. And if they get in a situation next year where Caleb Williams is there, I hate to sound like Hickey now. If they don't like what they see early on with Richardson, they could do what the Cardinals did and say goodbye to Josh Rosen. But I can't crush them for taking Richardson at four because they've had a quarterback carousel the last few years. And now this is actually a young guy, whether you believe in him or not, that you can at least appear to have your future at the QB position. And like, let's be real, this is not a deep draft class. It's not a great draft class. Who did they have to take at four to justify not taking a quarterback with the fourth overall pick?

So I didn't have a problem with the pick, Hickey. The only problem I would have, and it didn't happen on Thursday, it happened months ago, was not trading up to number one and getting Bryce Young. I'm saying the only complaint you can have, again, it's at that point at four they're going to take a quarterback. It's Will Levis or Anthony Richardson.

Cultivate the right decision without a doubt. And don't get me wrong, I think Bryce Young is going to be really, really, really good. I don't think he'll ever be a top five quarterback in the NFL. And look how much the Panthers had to move up to go get Bryce Young.

So it's a tricky game when you say, oh, wait until next year. And I think Caleb Williams will be the number one overall pick. But how many times do we say, like remember Spencer Rattler and Sam Howell were supposed to be like early first round picks. It's totally different. But even look at two, two is supposed to be slam dunk number one overall pick and then Joe Burrow merge.

And also, you don't know if you think he's going to be bad enough to get him outright without having to trade up. So I didn't have a problem with what the Colts did. All right, we'll take a break. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio. Come on back to the closing bell. We'll tell you whose stock is booming, whose stock is dooming. Another day is in the books and we're taking stock of the sports world. It's time to find out who's up and who's down. Let's end the day right and hit the closing bell only on the Zach Gelb show. Joel Embiid has won his first ever MVP.

Give Joel the process and bead a stock up. The defensive player of the week is sponsored by the Navy Federal Credit Union, who proudly serves the armed forces, DoD veterans and their families. Their members are the mission.

Learn more at navyfederal.org. How about Nikola Jokic, along with the rest of the Nuggets? He put the clamps on the Suns offense in Denver's 97 to 87 victory last night. The Joker recorded one block, two seals and 16 rebounds as the Nuggets held Phoenix to just 14 points in the fourth quarter to go up 2-0 in the series. And not only that, the Joker also added in 39 points and pulled in 16 rebounds.

So give Nikola Jokic a stock up. Last night, unfortunately, our New York Rangers season has come to a close. Rangers took a 2-0 series lead, then lost games three and four at Madison Square Garden, lost game five before winning game six. And in game seven, the Devils blanked the Rangers. Let's hear the cherry on top of the sundae if you're a Devils fan. This made it 3-0 late in the third.

Here's Matt Lautlin on the Devils radio network. Now Polat takes it away from Kako, gets it to Hughes. It's a 2-1-1 with Lindgren back. Hughes goes cross-ice. They score!

Eric Holla! It's 3-0! I really want to give it a stock down because I'm so annoyed. But you got to give the Devils a stock up. The Memphis Grizzlies have made it clear today under no circumstance are they willing to bring back Bum Brooks. And then there was a report from Ramona Shelburne. He was asking for $25 million a year. Good job that the Grizzlies realize they need to cut ties with Bum Brooks. He's not their only issue.

They got to address other issues but there's no way Dylan Brooks could be back on that team, give a stock up to the Grizzlies. Tiger Woods is caddy. Joey LaCava is switching bags. And he's going to be joining Patrick Cantlie's bag. Now that's big because I always think Patrick Cantlie has a shot to win a major.

And you add Joey LaCava, that's very important. It is unfortunate because this shows two things with Tiger. And Joey and Tiger are so close.

It's more than just a caddy golfer relationship. But we know Tiger underwent surgery. And this was about a week and a half, two weeks ago to address post-traumatic arthritis in his right ankle. So that shows he's nowhere close to coming back. And number two, he said before he's never going to play a full schedule again. You wonder how many times you're actually going to see Tiger.

So it is unfortunate because it starts to kind of put the end of Tiger as we have known it in kind of a closer reach. But it's good for Patrick Cantlie. Hopefully he can increase the pace of play, Joey LaCava, and get him eventually a major as well. So give a stock up to Joey LaCava. I'm giving a big fat stock down to the Rangers who gave us just a bleep sandwich last night. And Gerard Gallant has to go after the game. You know, having talent is great, but it means nothing if they can't come together.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. This guy, Gerard Gallant, ever since November, I've wanted him fired. I'm not usually quick to pull the trigger and bring out the axe on a coach. But you have that much talent and your team doesn't show up and your team doesn't respond, that's on you. And I know you don't want to give the players a pass, but I think Gerard Gallant has been embarrassing for most of this year.

I had so many times I thought he got too cute with the line adjustments. I am not a fan, the Rangers need to move on. This is a big offseason, because you look at the teams remaining. There was an opportunity for the Rangers to go win the Cup, but they just got out of the first round. And I felt it all year, that they'd either be in the Stanley Cup final or they were a loss in the first round to the New Jersey Devils.

And that performance when you have the top six that you had, that no one showed up in a game seven, is just embarrassing. Stock down to the Rangers. Also giving a stock down to the Phoenix Suns. Jamal Murray didn't even play well last night and you still couldn't beat the Nuggets. You're down 0-2 heading back to Phoenix and you're not winning this series.

Give a stock down to the Phoenix Suns. And finally, earlier in the show we were discussing the MVP voting process. I believe Joel Embiid should have won the award, he did win the award. Now, there are a hundred voters, each voter gets five votes. A first place vote, a second place vote, third place vote, fourth place vote, and fifth place vote. When you do the math for Nikola Jokic, he only received 99 total votes. That means one attention seeking writer, broadcaster, whatever voter is looking for that attention. And I want to know who that dope is that didn't vote Nikola Jokic to have a top five vote in the MVP and what the reasoning is.

Because I want to hear you bloviate on that one and just fail to admit that you just weren't looking for some attention. Stock down to whoever that voter was that did not vote for Nikola Jokic. And by the way, I saw Bill Simmons say yesterday that he already regrets not voting for Nikola Jokic for the MVP. I thought it was Bill Simmons, but that was just for the first place vote.

But someone left Nikola Jokic out of the top five and I want to know who that is. Alrighty, that's the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. The Knicks, who have had a sluggish performance for most of this game, and the Heat don't have Jimmy Butler, the Knicks just have taken a three point lead with.308 to go, 99-66. The Florida Panthers won their first game in the second round up against the Toronto Maple Leafs as that is a 4-2 final. So the Panthers take a 1-0 lead, the Kraken and the Stars just got underway, no score there. And also coming up tonight, you know it, in a few moments, you had the Los Angeles Lakers with Lebron James up against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Big thanks to Xavier Rhodes for joining us earlier today, Donovan McNabb and Tonio Daniels. Stars just take a 1-0 lead, they get a goal, they strike first. Hickey, even though I'm mad at you, I still love you, and I appreciate you producing this show. We'll be back tomorrow at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Now, buh-bye. Peace. Hickey's a mush.