Kevin Durant Regretting Leaving The Warriors? (Hour 3)

Surgeons keep our hearts beating. They do the amazing. Help save lives.

And so can you. Your CSL plasma donation can help create 24 critical life-saving medicines that can give Grandpa the chance for his heart to swell when he meets his new grandson. Or give a bride the chance for her heart to skip a beat on her wedding day. Every plasma donation helps more than you know. Do the amazing. Help save lives.

Donate today at your local CSL plasma center and be rewarded for your generosity. What's happening hour number three of our radio program. That's right, Zach Gilb shows CBS Sports Radio. Nick's trying to stave off elimination against The Heat. Early stages first quarter. Nick's are up by two. 14 to 12, a 6.30 remaining Brunson off to a hot start once again.

He does have nine points. So we'll see if The Heat can go out there and win this game. And if they do, the series is over and they're off to the conference finals. And if they don't, then we're going to have to wait and see what's going to happen on Monday night in game seven back at Madison Square Garden, the world's most famous arena. You do have a game seven coming up on Sunday to determine who's going to get to the Easter Conference Finals between the Sixers and the Celtics. Last night in the NBA, hey, Philadelphia had a golden opportunity at home, taking a 3-2 series lead in Boston, going back to Philly for game six.

They were flat right out of the gate. Then in the third quarter, they started to show up. And in the fourth quarter, not even the entirety of the fourth quarter, because the game was back and forth. And once Philly got the lead, you're like, OK, you think that they're going to win the game. But in the final six minutes or so, the league's MVP and Joel Embiid just didn't touch the basketball.

He had two shots down the stretch, none in the final 355. And from 613 to 22.1 seconds left in the game, the Sixers didn't register a field goal. So it's not just Embiid. Embiid's got to touch the ball. And if you wanted the ball, go demand for it.

You're the damn MVP. But the rest of the team just did not show up. Like Tobias Harris was abysmal after playing a really good game in game number five, didn't show up in game six. And now the Sixers go back to Boston, where Boston hasn't really shown up in this series either. And you kind of saw that last night, where Jason Tatum was as bad as bad could be in the first three quarters. And then in the fourth, he outscored the Sixers, where he had 16 points and the Sixers just had 13. And really, Hickey, last night's performance by James Harden kind of encapsulates what the Celtics have been, where they don't wake up until the last second when their back is up against the wall.

Like this series should not be 3-3 right now. I thought Boston sleptwalk through game four and then didn't show up to the fourth. And they got it to overtime and they just ran out of gas. In game five, it's inexcusable to me how flat they were after sleepwalking to the first three quarters of game four to not show up at home in game five.

But with how abysmal Tatum was through the first three quarters, in a bizarre way with the way that the Celtics have been playing, it kind of makes sense that he finally did show up in the fourth. Because that's what this team does, is they never have that killer instinct and they never make you feel good until the end of the series where you kind of wipe some sweat off your head and go, whoof, they found a way to survive again. Because that's what this team has now been doing, where they've gone far a lot of times as of late, haven't won a championship, got to the finals last year, but they always play with fire. And last year they didn't get burnt until the last round, and this year so far, they have not been burned. And we'll see if that change is coming up on Sunday when they do play this game seven. And that's part of the reason why I don't feel very confident in them in game seven at home, just because, again, they do just have these performances where you're scratching your head that the sum of the talent does not, or the whole of what should be sometimes is marginalized and they play down compared to the talent and the roster they have. They have a very deep team. They have probably the deepest team either in the NBA or definitely in the Eastern Conference, and it's like they don't play up to that level at a consistent point, whether it's even in game or game to game.

It's very frustrating. I think you are going to get kind of burned, kind of always doing this high wire act and needing an unreal performance in the last six minutes from Jason Tatum. Or needing your defense to be on point to limit these Sixers to one point in the final six minutes of a game at home. It worked in this game, yes, but is that sustainable for two games in a row for a full series?

No. And they shortened the bench last night to go get that win. They only had two guys come off the bench last night in White and then also Brogdon. Those are the only two players that came off the bench last night for the Boston Celtics. But I could just as equally argue that I don't have any confidence that the Sixers are going to show up. You look at the Sixers and Bead will go get you 20-something points on any given night.

Can he take over the game in the final few minutes? That's been a question that's been there for years, it's just been covered up because Ben Simmons used to be on the Sixers and be so incompetent in those big moments. And as great as James Harden has been in this series, they are not even still playing if it wasn't for James Harden.

Let me make that clear. Game one and game four, he won in those games. But last night, James Harden couldn't even hit a three-point shot.

He went 0-6 from three. So it's like, I hear what you're saying about Boston, I'm not saying you're wrong in terms of I don't know what to expect out of Boston, but I don't know what to expect out of Philadelphia. So far this series, it's been so unpredictable and there's been kind of expect the unexpected in this series. The one thing where if I had to make a pick right now where I would lean, I would lean Boston over Philadelphia. And it's not a great reason, but the reason just is they lost game one, then they lost game five. They only won one home game so far in this series, that was game two. It's like, is Boston really only going to win one home game in this series when a lot of people perceive them to be the better team?

That's why I don't feel great about it. I do feel like this is 50-50 because I can't trust either of these teams. But right now, from a percentage standpoint, I would lean like 51-49% that the Celtics end up winning game seven.

Where's your number, by the way? I will say Sixers 60%. Oh wow, very confident. I mean 60-40, it's not great, but... For a road team in a game seven that for the last few years has squandered every opportunity? If you would have told Sixers fans before the start of this series that they had a 60% chance to go win, they would take it.

They would take it in a second. I 100% agree with that, but it's just like you look at the Celtics, they just to me inspire zero confidence at home just for how bad they've been there this postseason, how bad they've been there last postseason, and their struggles to truly put teams away the last two years. Some it's on coaching, there was a coaching change, but a lot of it just feels like the core of the players, they don't step on the throats when you need to. To their credit, they bounce back when their backs are against the wall.

Until they need to, yeah. Last year, Heat at home, chance of close of the series, lose. Bucks at home, chance of close of the series, lose. This year, had a chance to take control of the Sixers series, lose. Hawks in the first round, close them out, lose.

Like, you talk about close out opportunities at home, they are not good. They are not good the last two years. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio Warriors Lakers also will come your way last night, but we're still kind of fuming off the incompetence of the Phoenix Suns last night, as last year it was embarrassing, absolutely embarrassing, how they did not show up in that closeout game against the Dallas Mavericks. And this year, even though Denver's the better team, to show no heart, no life, and just get steamrolled like that, it's a disgrace. And you look at the Phoenix Suns, they went all in, they went out there, got the rant, they shortened their roster in order to do that.

I know you had CP3 out with the groin injury, he wasn't playing well anyway before he got hurt in the playoffs. DeAndre Ayton can't give it a go last night, he's on his way out of town, I can guarantee you that, you got to expect that he's going to get traded this offseason. But what I witnessed last night, I've never seen anything like that. Where you go from it being a one-point game, with a little over three minutes left in the first quarter in your building, and by the time, I'm not saying like halftime, like we've seen teams get blown out in the first half, an elimination game. But in the first quarter, in three minutes, for that game to flip from being a game that you're down by one, to then you allow a 17-0 run, I've never that I could recall seeing anything like that.

And then by the time that happened, you knew with what happened last year, even though KD wasn't there, that that game was over. When that game just concluded the first quarter, if you were being honest with yourself at 44-26, you knew it was over. And then by halftime, it's 81-51 from a historical standpoint, that 81 points are the most in the first half by a road team in playoff history for the first half, like that's crazy. If you think about it, that's an all-time no-show performance by the Phoenix Suns and Hickey. The thing that I still can't wrap my head around and my brain around is the fact that with three minutes to go in the first quarter, it was like a one-point game.

And then boom, 17-0. To close out that first quarter, a run by the Denver Nuggets, I've never seen a team like that on the road in that limited amount of time end someone's season like the way that I saw it from Denver last night. If you want to use a dam analogy, the Suns were supposed to be the dam and let's say the Nuggets are the water. And the dam is being held up by two pieces of wood in Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.

And guess what? That wood is rotting, that wood was starting to give, and when it gave, boy did the dam break. No one else there to help, the levees were all open, and there was just the entire town flooded. And that's exactly like when you have Booker missing shots and Durant missing shots, no one's there to bail you out.

No one is there to actually lend a hand and knock down shots to kind of save the tidal wave from coming. Can I ask you a serious question? Sure. And I say this in a positive way, and I was not laughing, poking fun, I just thought your analogy was funny. How the heck did you come up with that one? Where'd you pull that one from?

I honestly don't know, I just came to when you were talking about the onslaught and the 17-0 run just kind of felt like a tidal wave, and it's okay, let's roll with that. Because if I'm being honest with you, on Fridays, I feel as if this is like your pre-standup comedy show, like you're in the back of the green room and you go, I'm going to try all my material from 6 to 10 p.m. Eastern with Zach. If Zach laughs at it, okay, then you'll use it on your show coming up later tonight from 2 to 6 a.m. Eastern.

If he doesn't laugh at it, then you'll probably just call me a moron and you'll still go ahead and use that material. That was really in the moment, that just came out of nowhere because I felt like you were sitting on that one when you said it for a while and you were just waiting to test it out on me. I like the fact that you think I'm all having these extravagant plans and I'm going to write all this material, I'm going to test it out here. I was not going to talk about the Suns-Nuggets game from yesterday, so I was not really planning on using a lot of references from that game specifically, so I promise it just came to me. Is that something I was sitting on since Thursday or since last night? Let me just drop it in here, see how the reaction goes, and maybe I'll say it's like 2.20 a.m. Eastern tonight, but no, that came right off the cuff.

I'm going to roll over in the middle of the night at 3.37 a.m. Eastern coming up on Saturday morning. All right, well, here's the analogy that I'm going to use, folks, and I'm going to talk about what was the analogy again. You don't even remember it? Are you kidding me?

It was that good and you hate it. It was the Suns were the dam, the Nuggets were the water. Yes, and that dam gave, and boy, did it break.

Beavers are flooded. Sorry. It's impossible. Now, anytime I watch Kevin Durant go down in a playoff series, I always think he should still be on the Golden State Warriors, and I wonder internally, he'll never admit this, because he can't take that blow to his ego, but I wonder internally if even he knows down deep, man, I should have just embraced the villain role. I shouldn't have been so sensitive what people were saying about me, and I should have just stayed in the Bay Area, because I know a lot of people, and I didn't really give a rat's ass about the Durant decision to go to Golden State. You know, that was his right, but I do feel like a lot of people, and I know a lot of people where I write about it, and when he won championships, he would sit there, and I think he would lose his mind over irrelevant people on Twitter saying, oh, go win a real ring, like things like that, and I think that got to him, and that's why he wanted to go win a ring on his quote-unquote own or leading the way, let's just say, and he went to Brooklyn. He trusted Kyrie Irving, disaster. James Harden even realized what he got there. Oh, man, yeah, I wanted to come here, but Kyrie's crazy, so I need to go leave, and now it's like you're in Phoenix, where CP3 may or may not be back on that roster next year, but who knows if he'll ever be healthy in a big spot.

DeAndre Ayton's going to be on his way out, and it's just him and Devin Booker, sure, a great dynamic duo, but now you're getting older, and you see like LeBron, he's getting older, and they're asking him to do less now until they have to. It's almost like you just wonder with Durant if he could just go back and do it all over again. What he should have done is just embrace being the villain and win so many titles and keep on winning finals MVPs in Golden State, and they did have to retool to go get other titles, and now part of that was Durant leaving, but Klay went through a bunch of injuries as well, and the way that you saw the emergence of pool for like one postseason run, Wiggins winding up there, so the team would have been different, I get that, but if I was Durant, I must be thinking today, what would happen if I just stayed in Golden State and just embraced that villain move that I made at first and just kept on doing it, because eventually you win all those titles, you win all those MVPs, even if you had a problem with how he got there, he still took the most out of that opportunity, and if you go pull off like four championships and four finals MVPs, like who are we going to be to start killing Kevin Durant? And that's always what I think about now when I watch Durant lose in the postseason, and it may be hypocritical because I was probably begging Durant to leave the Warriors as well in the past, but now looking back at it, I wish he just kind of embraced that villain role. I have no problem with him leaving, I think he did the right thing, and I don't think he regrets it, just because you had, like he was never, you could win, so he left in what, 2019, so it's been what, four years since? He could have won four more titles in a row.

It was never going to, like the... That would have been different though. I don't think so. If he gets to a point where you were four or five championships, it's like, what are you going to say? Well, then he's Scottie Pippen.

Do you want to be Scottie Pippen? Hold on, when, Steph was on that team, right? Steph was on that team when he won two championships and hit the shot in LeBron's face and won two finals MVPs.

So... He was never getting credit. Doesn't matter how many you win, he was never getting credit. It was Steph's team. He would have been viewed as Scottie Pippen if he was there still today. And if you ask a Heat fan, they still say it's Dwayne Wade's team, but we all know LeBron was the best player on that team, so it could be someone else's team, but you could be the best player on that team. And if you have a trophy case of four NBA championships and four final MVP trophies, if Ryan Hickey says, oh, go win a real ring, like, why do you even care?

If Charles Barkley kills you for being a passenger on the bus and not the rider, like, why do you care? Eventually you shut people up by winning all that much and he had an opportunity to do it, and now he looks even worse because, yeah, he had that one series against the Bucks where they lost and he went off and he had no help because Kyrie was hurt and James Harden was playing on one leg. But if you don't win another championship, I feel like a lot of us, we're going to say Durant was an all-time great player, but you're going to look back at that career and be like, yeah, he should have won more. And if he would have just stayed in Golden State, I know people are going to, then some will be very petty and go, oh, he never won with a team that you built, but who gives a rat's ass?

Like, if you were the guy that won four championships, five championships, and won four or five finals MVPs, eventually people just got to shut up and respect it. Mike Misanelli will join us next. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio.

at your local CSL Plasma Center and be rewarded for your generosity. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. Alrighty, Zach Gelb Show, CBS Sports Radio. You can think of O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs.

Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Got to give credit to the Knicks right out of the gate. They've found a way to win that first quarter 31 to 24, second quarter just got underway.

It's a 34 to 27 game. Jalen Brunson, what a performance this has been so far. We talked about his heroics the other night to force a game six, where he played 48 minutes and left it all out on the court and was basically playing on one ankle, as you know, and he had 38 points, and that was coming off even in a loss of 32-point performance.

Heck yeah, I was like looking at the over-under for him tonight, and I was just like hmm, at 28, it was 28 and a half I think it was for Jalen Brunson, I go do you just kind of bet the under and think to yourself okay with that ankle, just not going to hold up with how many minutes he was going to play, but then something just told me I can't bet against Jalen Brunson individually right now. Like I think the Heat are going to win this game, I think they'll come back, they'll still win the game, but Brunson in that first quarter and some change, 18 points, six of eight from the field, four of six from three, he just continues with the run that he went on last year with the Mavericks and what he's done in New York here and you're number one, he continues to just find ways to get better and better and better and keep on impressing you. He's done what you want your star player to do, especially in the playoffs, which is step up when the big moments matter, and he has been tremendous like I said in game five with elimination on the line, he's continued that performance so far here in game number six, a really hot star with the Knicks needed. He has been a tremendous leader and he has been honestly way better than I ever would have anticipated him coming over from Dallas. And we know his father's part of the organization, his father was Leon Rose's first client and the families have been so close, so if anyone knew what Jalen Brunson was, not only as a basketball player, but then also as a man, it's Leon Rose.

And Leon Rose made sure to go get Jalen Brunson to New York. I'm not telling you they thought that he could be this star, but he has been the shining star of this team this year. And when you look at the Knicks in future years, and this is why I just so disagree with you on saying that this season is a failure, even if they don't win this series, and right now it's 36 to 30 in the game six and we'll see if this eventually gets to a game seven or not, is because the Knicks aren't built to do what they're doing right now.

And I know you could say expectations change and they were a fifth seed. The fact that they beat the Cavs was so impressive and I do think Miami is better and they're more seasoned, but not to just get away from this conversation, the Knicks right now, I feel like their ceiling is this round and getting to this round. And for the next two years, the roster construction is going to be so big for the Knicks, because Julius Randle's a good player, but then come postseason time, he's been more bad than good, and that's probably saying it politely. RJ Barrett is a fine player. I feel like Knicks fans are critical of him and I think it's fair, but then some of the praise he was getting in the first series, let's not get carried away and then make ourselves think all of a sudden he's like the second piece on a championship team. Like Julius Randle, if the Knicks ever get to a championship level, like if we're being serious here, Julius Randle or RJ Barrett are going to have to be the third best player on this team.

And Jalen Brunson's going to have to be the second. And you're going to have to find that first piece moving forward and it may not be this offseason, but it's going to have to be the offseason after that, because the big part about making the playoffs this year and winning a round, it kind of has James Dolan stand down, where year one they made the playoffs, year two they missed the playoffs, now you make the playoffs. When you're trying to rebuild the Knicks, it's all about surviving initially and so many people have failed to survive initially and it's about keeping James Dolan, even though he's right, he'll always be involved, but let the people he hire actually do the work.

And the way you do that is bring satisfactory results. And so far there's been satisfactory results that two out of three years of Leon Rose, they made the playoffs and now they win a playoff series. So I said going into this season, make the playoffs this year and then improve the following year. Now they win a playoff series, this does kind of feel like where we were a year ago or in the first year of this, where when they made the playoffs it was so impressive and I was in shock that they quickly got disposed of by the Atlanta Hawks. But let's not, now moving forward, it's like when you look at the Knicks, okay, they just made the playoffs, they won a series, let's not then think in this round, oh they were a lock or they were definitely going to go make the conference finals because I just don't think that was realistic thinking that this team was going to beat Miami, who's now in a 10-0 run and they've just taken a one-point lead up against the Knicks.

So really you have a foundation. Brunson is everything you want in a player and it's about adding those right pieces around him and I'm really excited to see what these next two off-seasons, this one and the next one, have in store for the Knicks because you're going to have to get rid of either Randle or Barrett and you're going to have to get another star. And probably, Hickey, I would imagine, you probably do keep Barrett, then you have Brunson, you get rid of Randle and you can't just toss him away for nothing and you got to kind of figure out who that next guy is that they're going to get. And in so many other years, we've always kind of laughed and trolled people when they go, oh, this person will be interested in the Knicks because like outside of Carmelo, it seems like no one was ever really interested in the Knicks and Amari Stoudemire too. Now I do think there's going to be some interest in the Knicks because you have someone who's so friendly with the players and Leon Rose being an agent.

You have Jalen Brunson who so many people love to see what he's doing. Like the Knicks for the first time in a while, I'm not saying they're this great destination and they're like the four seasons, but they're starting to look like a resort that you would be fine with hanging out at and seeing what it's all about. And that's the big part, whether it's via trade, which Donovan Mitchell wanted to get traded to the Knicks, it didn't happen, or if it's just outright in free agency as well. So that's why I'm excited to see what the Knicks do the next two off seasons.

They have made organic progress, which is good because for a while it's always been the off season. Okay, let's clear cap space. Let's hope LeBron comes to the Knicks. Let's trade for Giannis. It's all these pipe dreams that never actually come to fruition. Katie and Kyrie. Let's get Kawhi Leonard.

Zion in the draft. Now it's at least there is realistic, tangible progress, which definitely is nice. And for the first time in a very long time, it's actually real, which is good. Like I said, now you just got to keep on capitalizing. You hope you do off of this run and you hope that it's still a linear growth forward. And now like last year where you made the playoffs, then you missed the playoffs.

No, it's not up and down. You hope it still continues in an upward trajectory. And also it feels like the Knicks could be right in play for Damian Lillard. If he becomes available, I really do think the Knicks and the Heat will be two of those teams that will do everything in their power to try to go get him. And if Damian Lillard winds up in Miami and you have a team of Jimmy Butler, Dame, and I guess Bam would still be there and I don't know how they would get that deal done. Holy moly, like that would be something with the Miami Heat. As Miami just kind of new all year, just get healthy, just be in the postseason. And with Jimmy Butler, they'll go to battle and they'll try to take down whoever they can and they'll feel pretty confident with it. But it really does feel like if Dame is available, like two of those teams that you do circle, Ryan, are Miami and then also the New York Knicks. And for a while, it seems like the Knicks could be a team that would actually be attractive enough where Damian Lillard would want to go there. And you could throw Boston into the mix as well if they want to break up that duo of Tatum and Brown. Absolutely, which again is progress.

Again, for a large part of a lifetime, it was hope of all. I hope these star players come here, but it was never actually realistic because they had nothing around, nothing to grow with outside of that star player. Now there's actual legitimate pieces here that should be, you know, you hope, part of a championship team sooner rather than later. So right now, that's 37 to 36 with 743 to go in the first half. The Heat have come on back to take that one-point lead. We'll see if things continue to progress in the Heat's favor. If they do, then there won't be a Game 7.

The Heat will be off to the conference finals and they will await the winner of the Boston Celtics who are hosting the Sixers in a Game 7 coming your way on Sunday. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Zach Gelb Show, CBS Sports Radio. So I want to get to an NBA point in just a second. Let me just update you on some scores. Panthers and Maple Leafs right now, Florida's up 2-1. They did take a 2-0 lead heading into the second and Riley did score to cut the deficit to 2-1. If the Maple Leafs lose, their season's over after finally getting out and winning a playoff series for the first time since 2004. If they lose tonight, they would go down in five games to the Panthers.

The Panthers, if they do win, this story just continues to be a great one where last year they were the president's trophy winners. They get embarrassed in the second round getting swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning and this year they have the fewest points out of any team to make the playoffs this year. You go up against the big bad Boston Bruins who had the most points and most wins in NHL history. You take them out in seven after going down 3-1 in the first round and you find a way to beat them and then to quickly go up 3-0 and then you drop game four and this series at 3-1, you do expect that Florida's going to find a way to win one of these games as they have just been an absolute unit and if Florida does find its way to the Easter Conference Finals, we know that the Carolina Hurricanes are their opponent as the Hurricanes had disposed of the Devils last night in five games. Jesper Foss got the game-winning goal in OT as he got the deflection in front and it'd be a neat little story because in football we talk about Travis Kelce going up against his brother Jason Kelce in this past Super Bowl that the Kansas City Chiefs did come back to win.

Well, Jordan Stahl is the captain of the Carolina Hurricanes and his brothers Mark and Eric, Eric played forever in Carolina. He used to be their captain or now with the Florida Panthers so that would be a little fun stall party in the Conference Finals and we'll see if that does happen and also coming up later tonight in hockey, you do have the Oilers and Knights and this series, I just don't know which Oilers team is going to show up. The first round, the first game felt like the Battle of Alberta and it was a 6-4 and they lost and then they win game 2-5-1 then they lose game 3-5-1 and then they find a way to just be the much better team in game 4. The results of this team have been very confusing and these games have not been closed outside of game 1, 5-1, 5-1, 4-1. I just got to see what goaltending that you're going to get tonight out of Edmonton. It does feel like this series is going to go 7 but I want to see Edmonton take control of this series for the first time in this series and they could do that with a win tonight. I do think the Oilers are going to win this series and I do think they're going to win tonight. And then the Stars and Kraken, I think last night, it's amazing how Seattle and your number 2 is in the second round. I know when the Knights were an expansion team they got to the Stanley Cup Final early on but for the Kraken just to be in the second round is more than what they could have ever expected. Credit to Dave Haxtel who was in two playoff performances in Philadelphia and did lose his job and you look at what he's doing in Seattle it's a very impressive job but what Dallas did last night and they take control of this series 3-2 they win the game 5-2 it seems like they are the better team and you would continue for that to be projected moving forward if this goes 7 that would be wonderful but I'm not going to put it past Dallas to go into Seattle in a game 6 and find a way to pull out a victory. And also tonight coming up in the NBA we're talking Heat and Knicks that game that Knicks threw the first punch the Heat have now countered here in the second it's 49-48 with about 55 seconds left in this first half Brunson dominant in the first half with 22 points Bam out of bio coming up big I have his over tonight Hickey of I think it was either 17 and a half or 18 and a half it doesn't really matter because barring an injury he is going to hit this or just the greatest no-show of all time in the second half because Bam out of bio in the first half is 7-12 for 17 points in this one and Jimmy Butler hasn't really had to do much yet he has 9 points but he's not been great so far in this contest so if this continues to be close I'm going to rely on Jimmy Butler to end out this series tonight in 6 games if not it will go to a game 7 coming up on Monday night at the world's most famous arena Madison Square Garden and you do also have Golden State in Los Angeles tonight it looks like Wiggins is going to give it a go he's going to have to go through more testing in warm-ups as now this game is not that far away it's going to tip off hopefully in like an hour and 15 minutes you'll see how long it's going to be past 10 o'clock but you look at this rib injury that he's dealing with that's going to impact the game his effectiveness and Anthony Davis he is not even listed with a head injury and we thought he suffered a concussion the other night they're now calling it I think it's a foot injury I believe what it is so looks like the concussion we thought Anthony Davis did suffer he did not suffer it I do lean Los Angeles tonight in the game I just think they've been the better team and we've also have not seen a vintage LeBron James yet and that's not me saying that he can't show you a vintage LeBron James not what they're asking him to do it would not surprise me tonight with the series a chance to really put it away and you go back to a game 7 you have lost all momentum and everyone's going to talk about oh remember that time LeBron was down 3-1 the Warriors choked the lead and LeBron had that great run with Kyrie and the Cavs if this gets to a game 7 and LeBron loses this game tonight Saturday is a long day for LeBron James and then Sunday until tip-off will be a long day for LeBron James because everyone is going to talk about how LeBron can't blow this 3-1 lead and LeBron can't lose this series blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah that's what the conversation will so maybe I shouldn't look at the game this way but this is just the way that I look at the game I think LeBron is going to want to avoid that conversation LeBron's not going to want to deal with that nonsense and LeBron's going to basically go and have a great performance tonight and show you a LeBron that the Lakers haven't asked LeBron to be so far in this postseason and I do believe that the Lakers they do end this series tonight I would not mind seeing 7 games of this I would love to see actually a 7th game of it but I'm going to tell you how I feel about this one and I do think the Lakers are going to win ok moving to football Zadarius Smith I don't know what the details are of the trade but it's been reported that Zadarius Smith has been traded from the Vikings to the Cleveland Browns this is the least surprising thing that Zadarius Smith got traded it kind of felt like he was either going to get traded this offseason or he would be a cap casualty now the next name to go is going to be Dalvin Cook and there was a thought maybe Dalvin Cook was going to get moved before the draft and then when you got to draft week and the fact that he didn't get moved that it was very telling that when you look at Dalvin Cook it was kind of like ok just when are they going to cut him is this one of those post June 1 type of casualties that's something that you're going to have to wait and see but it does seem one way or another and at this point I don't think it's going to be a trade but it looks like Dalvin Cook may actually just get outright released by the Minnesota Vikings and then if he becomes available Dalvin Cook and you know he's going to look like he's going to look for a big contract I don't know what he's going to be on the market and what they're going to get him on the market but the teams that would probably like Miami Hickey was interested in Dalvin Cook I would think that if Dalvin Cook becomes available and just gets cut outright release that it would not surprise me whatsoever if Dalvin Cook winds up with the Miami Dolphins That's a good fit because the Dolphins have a lot of scat backy type of running backs where there's not a real threat between the tackles and Dalvin Cook I think absolutely would fill that need he's from the area he'd be definitely cheap as well I think it's a perfect landing spot for him and the other teams that I kind of look at I don't feel like Buffalo will do it because Buffalo I feel like we're always the team that we link of running back to Buffalo and then they just don't make the move and right they lose Devin Motor's single Terry this offseason they replace him with Damian Harris remember they just drafted Cook's brother in last year's draft so I don't I think Buffalo will be a team that a lot of people target and a lot of people suggest but it won't actually happen and then when you look around and kind of get the sense of the rest of the league like with Baltimore now Baltimore I feel like it started with Odell Beckham in appeasing Lamar and then it's like okay you move on from that I guess they tried for DeAndre Hopkins and I don't know if the Cardinals they're asking price is just ridiculous and too high in return so that's something that you'll wonder but you kind of look around at a team like the Baltimore Ravens and you wonder JK Dobbins with the injuries and all that if maybe they go make a move to go get Dalvin Cook if he's available I wonder if Dalvin Cook would want to go there just because there are a lot of running backs in that room do you want to be a guy that's splitting and getting 10 carries a game and if you want to get paid I think the Ravens are going to be that team to pay you well that's a fair point I just wonder does he get paid on this contract or is he going to have to go to a team for a one year deal and then get paid after that like that's a big part of it too I would probably guess the latter one year deal he gets cut sign him for 2023 and then re-evaluate after this season alright then I'll give you another destination if that's the case and it's a one year cheap kind of deal what about Dallas? Dallas Cowboys absolutely Tony Pollard we don't know when he's going to come back there's been talks that they may bring Ezekiel Elliott back if you could go pay a little bit more for Dalvin Cook and get Dalvin Cook I would absolutely take Dalvin Cook over Ezekiel Elliott it's not even close you'd think the salaries would be more than near ballpark like Dalvin Cook is not getting a big time even one year deal I'm with you 100% and outside of that there's not many destinations that really jump out to you like Seattle has Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet San Francisco just got Christian McCaffrey I don't think people are running to go join the Los Angeles Rams anymore the NFC South Miles Sanders got the big deal from the Carolina Panthers the Saints didn't they get Jamal Williams this offseason so the Falcons just drafted Bijan Robinson it's like you look if you want to go to get a little revenge inside the NFC North the Packers have two running backs and you look at like the Lions they just drafted a running back in the first round so really the destinations you got to have demand I think Dalvin Cook's a player that people would want but you got to have desire from these destinations we just went through a lot of these teams where's the team that has the need and is also going to bring you in and pay you something serviceable and really you go through it Dallas is a team the Ravens are a team and then it's probably Miami as well outside of that I know the Jets have Breeze Hall, do the Jets make a move since they're just loading up on everybody since Rogers? Why the hell not, right? Just All-Star team yeah like Cleveland's not going to do it the Bengals do they maybe swap getting mixing off the roster and getting a cheaper alternative in Dalvin Cook for a year? because it's not a lock that mixing is back it's I really don't know so I think it's it's a slim market for Dalvin Cook when he becomes available but just one more thing the Browns getting Zadarius Smith it just brings back up the conversation I would love to know what Cleveland's going to be this year because Watson has a lot of rustle to knock off I don't really saw any signs last year that he did and it's just like you're in a tough conference and you're in arguably the toughest division in football and you know the Bengals are the class of that division I'm just very curious what Cleveland's going to do and we talked about coaches that are on the hot seat like the fancy's on the hot seat because you know they can't get rid of Watson you just gave them all that money and traded up all those picks for him so with that I don't know where that relationship is but at the end of last season it just didn't look like they were putting the ball in Watson's hand so many times it was like taken out of Nick Chupa just like didn't make really sense you just wonder where that relationship is going to be at the end of the year and it's going to be tied to wins and losses because if the Browns will make the playoffs this year I can't imagine Safanski being back in Cleveland after this season It is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio I believe we'll be joined by Mike Missinelli on the other side so we'll connect with him the long time Philadelphia talk show host and we'll see if the Philadelphia 76ers are going to find a way to win game 7 or will Boston do it again where their backs are up against the wall and they just find and be rewarded for your generosity