Anthony Davis Importance (Hour 2)

Alrighty, we continue our number two of our radio program. That's right, it is the Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Ira Winderman who covers the Heat is going to join us 20 minutes from now as Miami takes game one of the Easter Conference Finals up against Boston last night at TD Garden.

You do have game number two of Lakers and Nuggets coming your way in about an hour and a half from now. But first up, five questions, five answers. Let's rock and roll with a little onsides offsides. Hot take hickey.

Hit it! Zach's taking on the most polarizing issues in sports. Which side of the line of scrimmage will he end up on? Offside, defense number 69. It's onsides offsides with Zach Gelb on CBS Sports Radio.

Game one win over the Celtics. If you hear their voices, you're just like, okay, that's a big game. And whenever Kevin Harlan does a game, even if it's not a big game, it feels like a big game with how great he is as a broadcaster. Always a lot of energy, always a lot of enthusiasm anytime there's a big play. And you're right, he did drop a lot of football references yesterday.

He had Jalen Ramsey, he had Xavier Howard, he had Tua, at least off the top of my head, at least those three. Dolphins were getting a lot of love yesterday. Now, I love Kevin Harlan. It seems, though, as if he's saying, let's get through this NBA postseason and get me to football in the fall.

That's how I interpret that last night. Or just, you know, helping to manifest the way South Florida sports have been recently, where every team is, there's a reason to believe. We're getting a Dusty May reference, Jim Lara Nega in the next game.

You know what, maybe. Let's get some owls there. Let's go game three in Miami, let's get them there.

A little Isaiah Wong reference next. Like, what else is going to happen? It's a good side of being in South Florida, that's for sure. That's for sure. Panthers are playing well.

That's South Florida, right, Sunrise? Yeah, of course. He's got to give me a Panthers reference. Maybe like a little Vinny Viola reference. We've got to get that out of Harlan. We've got to challenge him to go hockey, expand the horizons a little bit for the next game. Alright, there you go. Challenge is out there, Kevin.

I'm sure he'll live up to it. Not the only Florida team to be the Boston team. That's all you've got to say. Especially in Boston, that's for sure.

That is for sure. Well, yesterday Butler was fantastic along with Kevin Harlan. Jason Tatum was well up and down. He did score 30 points, but attempted zero.

That is right. Zero field goals in the fourth quarter. Also turned the ball over three times within the last four minutes. This performance came after Tatum's last game, which was the historic 51-point Game 7 performance we saw on Sunday against the Sixers. Onsides or offsides, Zach? In the playoffs, you'd rather have Jimmy Butler instead of Jason Tatum.

I'm actually going to say onsides to this, and this is why. Jimmy Butler never bottoms out, it feels like. Where Jason Tatum, even though he had 30 last night, it felt as if it was a very empty 30.

Because as you pointed out, he did nothing in the fourth quarter. Now, Tatum's on the better team. Tatum is the better player when you factor in the regular Season 2. But come postseason time, whether Jimmy Butler wants to admit it or not, he just goes to a different level, and he's actually the player that I fear the most in this series, and his team's not even better than Boston. Boston's going to win this series, but it's because for Tatum, it seems like it's either all-time great performance or then just the performance where you feel like he could have done a whole lot more.

That's why I'll go with Jimmy Butler, because there's more consistency there. Eric Spulstra continues to make his case for being the best coach in the NBA. Yesterday, as we talked about, Miami did take a 1-0 series lead over the Celtics with the help of three undrafted free agent players, scoring 15 points a pop. Now, the Heat have won three straight Game 1s on the road, and are just three wins away from becoming the second 8th seed ever to make the NBA Finals. Onsides or offsides, Eric Spulstra right now is the best head coach in the NBA.

Let me ask you a serious question here. If you were going to say it's not Spulstra, who are two coaches in the league if you were not going to say it's Spulstra that are the best coaches in basketball right now? And let me remind everyone, Monty Williams just got fired and Mike Budinolzer just got fired. Doc wouldn't be on that list or even be in consideration, but he got fired as well.

I'm sure Doc Smiley is being mentioned in that conversation. I would say the two that have the best case would be Steve Kerr, and I know it's not been great recently, but probably Greg Popovich? It's definitely Pop. Pop just hasn't had the talent the last few years. Now, if I had to factor in this season as well, the guy I was most impressed with this year from the regular season was Mike Brown, and he ended up winning Coach of the Year. There's not a lot of great coaches right now in the NBA.

I can't say it's Missoula. Doc just got fired. Budinolzer just got fired. Tom Thibodeau did a fine job with the Knicks.

It's like you look around the rest of the East. Quinn Snyder just took over the Hawks. Can't say it's him, even though he did a good job in Utah.

So it's definitely Spulstra. And you said Steve Kerr? Steve Kerr is a good coach, but I know all good coaches have to have great players.

Ty Lue? You know what, if I had to give you two names, if it's not Spulstra, I would say it's Ty Lue, and I would say it's still Greg Popovich. But right now, the best coach in the league, it's Spulstra. Because Spulstra has proven that he can consistently be good, and his teams can be a threat, even if their regular seasons aren't great, without LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. Spulstra has won a lot of people over the last few years, and he got to a finals without them, and now he's three wins away from getting back to another finals.

He's very easy to root for, too, and that's why I've been throwing out this pretty much the last few weeks. Imagine if you get Butler with Dame Lillard this offseason, Eric Spulstra. Those are three guys you'd love to see win a title together, but maybe they don't even need Dame, and maybe they get the title done this year.

Only seven wins away from that becoming a reality. So yes, Spulstra right now, if you don't factor in past history, if you don't factor in all-time legendary status, clearly Spulstra's not better than Pop. But right now, pound for pound, the best coach in the NBA, it's Spulstra.

So I would go onsides on that, but if it's not Spulstra, I would probably say you still give the tip of the cap to Pop, and then also probably Ty Lue as well. But I was really impressed with the job that Mike Brown did this year. Mike Brown did a really good job with the Kings in year number one for sure. Speaking of the Western Conference, let's go there. Game two between the Nuggets and Lakers is set to tip off in just about 90 minutes or so from now. Going back to game one, all four stars in this series had excellent games. As for Denver side, Nicole Yocha dropped another 30-point triple-double. Jamal Murray chipped in with 31 points. On the Lakers side, you had Anthony Davis scoring 40 points. LeBron James had 26 while also shooting 50% from the field. So all four stars you need to rely on showed up in game number one. In terms of game number two, onsides or offsides, Anthony Davis will be the best player tonight.

I will go offsides and here's why. The reason I say that is I think it's very similar to the conversation we just had about Jimmy Butler and Jason Tatum. Anthony Davis, it's either sensational, like what we just got to witness in game one, or it's, man, his stat line feels very empty and he leaves you desiring a whole lot more. We know the best player in this series in the year of 2023 is Nicole Yocha.

He never has a bad game. So if you ask me, will Anthony Davis be the best player in this game? The fact that the Joker is on the court, I can't bet against Nicole Yocha right now. So that's why I will go Anthony Davis will not be the best player in game two, but he is by far and away. Even though you have LeBron James, he's the most valuable player for the Los Angeles Lakers if they want to get four wins to go back to the NBA finals. Plus AD, game two, not a good combo. Grizzlies in round one, Warriors in game two, not his time to shine.

To say the least, that is for sure. All right, let's do a little hockey here, Zach. It's been a rough year for the Coyotes. It's really been a rough time in general for the Coyotes, but they had a plan to build a new arena in Tempe that was resoundingly rejected by residents earlier this week. And Gary Bettman, when he joined us not that long ago, he was very confident that things are going to be A-OK.

He was very confident that this was going to get approved. Maybe wishful thinking because it was a hard no from the residents there, which now means could put an end to professional hockey in the Phoenix area. That's something that Chief Star quarterback Patrick Holmes does appreciate. The two-time Super Bowl winner tweeted yesterday, quote, KC Coyotes has a nice ring to it.

At NHL, what do you think? End quote. So, onsides or offsides, the Coyotes should move from Phoenix to Kansas City. I just got to have a quick question to ask you off this.

Sure. Was Patrick Holmes sitting at our lunch and I didn't even realize this when we went to Jacksacks? Because when it was Carrington Harrison, you and yours truly, we were talking about how impressive of a city Kansas City is. And I said, it feels like there should be a professional hockey team.

I said that. So was Mahomes at the at the table next to us? I didn't recognize him in that restaurant, Jacksacks, which was delicious, by the way. Oh, the burnt ends, the cheesy corn, the baked beans, the wings, that carrot cake cupcake that Hickey looked at. I was like, oh, I'm not going to try it. And then you eventually did try it and you said it was delicious.

That was a wonderful meal. But I didn't realize that Mahomes was sitting there still in my takes. He has some very good listening, I guess. If I was running the NHL, yeah, I would actually move the Coyotes to Kansas City because I was so impressed by Kansas City. Now, I don't think Gary Bettman is considering that. And I think the worst way he wants to keep that team in the desert because of how fun of a city that could be. And you kind of saw that during Super Bowl.

And I think that's important, the environment. But if it isn't going to be kept out in the desert, we've already had a stadium proposal and a whole complex about 50, 55 minutes from Atlanta. And then also Houston as well has been under consideration. So since that's been more out there now, Mahomes starts to tweet about it.

Maybe he carries a little bit more weight. I don't think Bettman will do it. But if I was running the league, absolutely. Well, we'll go to a Ranger game in Kansas City and we'll go be pigs at Jackstacks because that place was unbelievable. So for the selfishness of my belly, I'm going to go on sides on that one.

Barbecue and hockey. Nice little ring to it. I like that. Phenomenal. That would be nice. How great would that be? Especially T-Mobile Arena right downtown in the heart of the city.

Easy to get to. Let's do it. Let's do it.

All right. Finally, big football news, big football contract extension today. I'm shocked we did not leave the show with this. But the Steelers, they made a big move locking in Mitch Trubisky to a two year.

I'm sorry. Locking in Mitch Trubusky. Oh, thanks to a two year contract extension. Now, Trubusky's cap hit for twenty twenty three was slated to be ten million dollars.

This extension in part was made to lower that. But he is now in Pittsburgh for another two years to be at least Kenny Pickett's backup. But Pittsburgh did not stop there. A day ago, they also resigned to Mason Rudolph.

Quack, quack. Oh, that was Doc Hodges. Yeah, Doc Hodges.

He is unfortunately no longer there. Mason Rudolph, though, back on a one year deal. So big moves to the backup spots in Pittsburgh on sides or off sides. You get understand like the Steelers extending Mitch Trubisky. I'm sorry, Mitch Trubusky. Now you're confusing me.

And I came up with the nickname. Here's the thing. He's not a bad backup. If you need Mitch Trubusky to start a game or two, it's not the end of the world. So I'm OK with this. I'm fine with it. It just doesn't make sense why you would also have maybe they're going to carry three quarterbacks.

That's probably what it is. So I don't have a problem with this. So, yeah, I could understand it.

So I'll go on sides on this front. But I think this is a perfect time to just remind every idiot last year that was buying into the Mitch Trubusky hype. How many people said, oh, you put him in an organization like Pittsburgh?

Notice the guy that made a what, a Pro Bowl or two when when he was with the Chicago Bears and made the playoffs a few times. Like, well, what the heck are we doing here? And you're living out an accomplishment. The MVP. Oh, that the Nickelodeon that well, Nickelodeon valuable player. Yes. Come on. In the playoffs game, he gets to say so much they lost.

I think he had one touchdown pass. The kids love Mitch. All right. Throw his head in a slime bucket. OK, I'm sure he sells the trophy front and center on the mantle. Yeah, I'm going to assume that the way that Peter Schwartz goes crazy over Joe Douglas dunking ranch on his head, that it's the complete opposite feeling for Mitch Trubusky when he looks at getting air quotes slimed in that wild card game. That's that's what I'm going to say. Did he also win Pro Bowl MVP?

No, no. You're thinking Nick Foles. Nick Foles won a Pro Bowl MVP. He made the Pro Bowl once.

Twenty eighteen. But no, he did not win the Pro Bowl MVP. That was Nick Foles, who has a Super Bowl MVP and a Pro Bowl MVP. But whenever you ask him to start an entire season, he is no bueno.

Only good coming out of the bullpen off the bench. It is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll recap Game one of the Easter conference finals with Ira Winderman next.

All right. The Miami Heat in not stunning fashion, probably one of the least surprising things you've ever seen. They do take Game one of the Easter conference finals up against the Boston Celtics by a final score last night of a buck.

Three to one sixteen in TD Garden. Let's head out to the guest line right now. We welcome in Ira Winderman, who's covered the Heat for a long time for the South Florida Sun Central. He's kind enough to join us on CBS Sports Radio. Ira, how are you?

I am good. I am still in a state of shock and not even as much about winning last night here in Boston. But the fact is that after being in the playing round, I'm still working in the late May.

I did not see this coming, Zach. Not only in the playing round, the second play in game down late in the fourth quarter. I know we always give the Heat the benefit of the doubt and we talk about how scrappy they are in the Heat culture. But this is really unreal. No, I mean, it really is. It's like these teams that make up a ton of games late in the standings. You never saw it coming.

It's similar to that. And yet it was so dramatic. And and yet here we are about six weeks removed from that. And it seems so long ago because you look at the Miami Heat, like you said about how last night was not a shock to TV Garden and the way they're playing. And you say to yourself, this is a pretty good team and this is a pretty good supporting cast. And this is arguably the best player in the NBA right now. I'm not saying Jimmy Butler is better than your leading man in the league. But right now, if you were to ask me on today's date, who's the who's playing best in the NBA?

There are like four teams left. I'd have to tell you, Jimmy Butler, especially after Jason Tatum's fourth quarter last night. And he's just an absolute killer. And you could talk about the thirty five points he had last night. But the six steals are the most impressive point to me. Yeah. And the pull up three at the end, you know, between you and me.

So anyone who's listening out there, cover your ears. Jimmy really wanted to come out and shoot a three to start the game to sort of pick up where he left off last year. And that game seven against Boston.

Make a statement. He wins the tip. He'll go down or shoot a three.

He'll show he's over it from that. This shot didn't quite happen that way. And yet with a little over a minute to go the game on the line. There he was shooting a similar pull up three, albeit later in the shot clock, basically putting the game away last night. So Jimmy remembers. Jimmy sort of takes names. So, yeah, the fact that they're up one nothing on Boston, they remember what happened in Game seven last year.

And I, you know, I think just because they think they are in this position now, they really are looking to seize the moment. And no one saw it coming. I remember I was at Jimmy Butler's introductory press conference when he quickly became a Philadelphia 76er. And that was right after everything that transpired in Minnesota. And a lot of those questions were about how he wasn't a great teammate and all that stuff. And he's just taken really his game to the next level.

And not only that, he's a big time leader. What has changed with Jimmy Butler throughout the years, in your opinion? You know what, I think when you go back and you look at Chicago and the team they had there that he was on. And then you go to Minnesota and you have you had Kat there.

Then you go to Philadelphia and you had Joel. He's never really been the leading man. And let's face it, there are guys in this week who seek out that moment for every Kevin Durant who goes off to join up with people, be it in Golden State or in Brooklyn or in Phoenix. There are guys who want to be the man, who want to have that opportunity. And that's one, what Jimmy was looking for.

And number two, he was looking for a place where there was enough structure. It's almost like Jimmy knows he could be an SOB at times. We all remember that practice in Minnesota when he shows up and basically is playing in his street clothes with his Rolex still on, kicks some butt with the third team, storms out of the gym. All of a sudden he's on SportsCenter with Rachel Nichols. I think Jimmy sort of realized he needed some structure also. And that's what the Pat Riley School for Wayward Kids does.

He found his perfect match. We've seen this with the Heat so many times before. Whether it's Tim Hardaway resurrecting his career, Anthony Mason becoming an All-Star with the Heat.

And now Jimmy is just the latest in that lineage. Ira Winderman here with us. As great as Butler has been the last few games of Bam Adebayo have been extremely impressive.

And that's been a rollercoaster ride of emotions the last few years. Heat fans, some days they love Bam Adebayo, other days they're like, okay, get him off the team. What have you seen out of Bam recently? You know, Bam has a subtle game that is appreciated by sort of basketball insiders and what he does. And the way he defends all five positions. And the way he boxes out. The way he does all the things that may not get you to All-NBA but make your team a winner.

And he's the perfect balance for Jimmy because he's not out there seeking the glory. Remember, I think it was two games ago at the Consega Center in Miami, the Heat were coming off a win. Bam had a podium moment. He was on the podium.

And all of a sudden, only Bam Adebayo can do. He goes, wait a minute, this is my mommy. That's what he calls his mom.

And he took her phone call on national TV, on NBA TV that night. So he's the perfect yin and yang to who Jimmy Butler is. That Jimmy wants it all. That Jimmy does the entrance when he walks into the arena to be noticed. When he comes in his own black car and he travels on his own.

And Bam's just sort of the guy who just wants to be a guy. That's why it's really worked between those two. It didn't work with Karl-Anthony Towns in Minnesota. One game I remember when he went at him and scored him, he called him soft as baby.

I'll say the word poop instead. If you remember in Philadelphia when they won the series last year, he just was screaming in the hallway. They kept Tobias Harris instead of me. So you know, Jimmy's sort of that guy. Bam's the opposite guy.

He can be workman-like, he wants to be appreciated, but he doesn't necessarily need the limelight. So that pairing has worked out really well. And in the post-game press conference last night, Ira Winderman, all you did was point out the Game 1 success. Why was Bam so upset with you? You know, I have this relationship with guys because one, it's been a long season.

I've been with them since pre-fever. So you know, it's sort of like the wife sometimes who just wants to turn over and not hear from you anymore. So we kid each other. Jimmy's done the same thing to me and people go, Bam, what's between you two?

And it's like, I'll give you an example, okay? The Heat win the series in Milwaukee. The ultimate upset probably in this season's playoffs no matter what else happens the rest of the way.

Matter of fact, I wouldn't even call Heat over Celtics as big as Heat over Bucks. So after the last game of that series, Jimmy's walking out to do his interview and I go, Hey Jimmy, nice game. And he turns around and he goes, Yeah, this morning you didn't even say hello to me. And it was funny because earlier in the day, and Zach, you know this because you cover a lot of sports. There's certain things you don't do in sports. You never go into the baseball clubhouse and talk to the pitcher who's pitching that day.

He's off limits. You never at the morning skate talk to the goalie who's playing that night. So I thought in the morning shoot around, I'm going to give Jimmy his space.

Because he is super laser focused in the morning. And then he does that to me. It reminded me of a story Christian Laitner, you remember when he was with Minnesota starting his career. First year he was in there.

Me, Tom D'Angelo from the Palm Beach Post, Amy Shipley from the Miami Herald. We walked up to him and started asking questions. And he goes to us, is that how you interact with people?

You don't say hi, who I am, how are you doing and hello? You just throw questions at me? A year later I go up to Christian Laitner, same Timberwolves locker room. And I go, Hey Christian, Ira Winderman from the Sun Sentinel. And he turns to me and he goes, Yeah, like I care? So you just sort of deal with this stuff over the years.

That's fun. Ira Winderman here with us right now. Also in those post game press conferences last night. Every Heat player went out of their way to say that they don't look at themselves as underdogs.

Even though they hear everything that's being said about them. It doesn't get inside the locker room. That has to be used as motivation. That's just a cliche athlete line, right? Yeah, you know what?

It is used as motivation for this reason. All along people are going, Okay, with Tyler Hero out, Jimmy, we know we can give a 30, maybe a 40 piece. Who knows, maybe a 50 piece along the way. But who's going to be the other 30 pints scorer? Bam, as we talked about, that's not in his nature.

He's more of a fill the box score guy. But what we saw last night is instead of one or two teammates also scoring 30. You had Kyle Lowry with 15, Caleb Martin with 15, Gabe Vincent with 15, and Max Stroust with 15.

You had four guys giving you 15 instead of two guys giving you 30. That to me crystallized who this Miami Heat team is. I know you win with star talent in the NBA. But the Heat are taking a little bit of a different path through this playoff run. What did you see change in that third quarter? Because I was wondering what type of Boston you would get in the first half.

And I was kind of expecting them to no-show. They showed up in the first half Boston, but they failed to show up in the third. You saw the arrogance of a team who thought it would be easy. Who after going seven hard-fought games against the 76ers had the type of first half where they said, We're finally done with Embiid, we're finally done with Harden, we're finally done with Maxie.

Now we have an easier series. We got these number eight seated guys, you know, the balloons about to burst for them. And they exhaled. And the one thing about the junkyard dog Miami Heat of 22-23, they don't exhale. And they saw sort of the raw steak laying out for them and they started chomping on it.

And that's the difference. I don't think the Celtics, Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown, took the Heat seriously enough. And by the time they caught themselves, it was like, Holy crap, we're down eight points. Jason Tatum is also frustrating because he is a great player. We got to see what he did in that game seven. But in the fourth quarter last night, he didn't even take a field goal attempt. Like that's inconceivable to me, even with how great the Heat defense is. Yeah, I think that's rookie coach also.

I think, you know, Reggie Miller and Stan Van Gundy were talking about it on the broadcast. The guy's coming off a 51 burger and he doesn't get a shot early enough. You call a timeout. You run a set for him. You iso him. You get him to the foul line.

You get him going. You know, that's the thing I still believe in this series, which I think very well can go seven. And certainly can be won, you know, easily by Boston. But they certainly can have their way still the rest of the way is the coaching matchup.

Eric Spolstra has seen and done it all. Joe Missoula is throwing, you know, his coach's pad, you know, on the bench. He's saying he doesn't call timeouts because he wants to get them out of their problems. He calls two timeouts too early.

You know, we do those silly things, you know, those matchups. Who's better at center? Who's better at power forward?

You know, and we tend to say, well, that's one point for this team, one point for that team. I'd say when you assess the differences in this team, the coaching difference is so significant that I think that's where the Heat have a significant edge that the Celtics, even with the talent of Dylan Brown and Jason Tatum and Marcus Smart, still have to overcome. Joe Missoula might become a great coach, but remember Eric Spolstra in the first year of the Big Three. No one when the Heat were losing to the Mavericks in the 2011 final said, hey, this guy's going to the Hall of Fame one day.

It still takes time. When did you realize that Spolstra was going to be a great coach? Because when he had the Big Three, no matter what he did, everyone nationally was like, okay, anyone could coach this team. But since then, even though he hasn't won a finals, he has proven that right now he's pound for pound, in my opinion, the best coach in the sport.

Because he can take whatever you give him and make him something. I'm going to tell you, I saw it even before the Big Three. I don't mean to condescend here, and I love Michael as a person. He got Michael Beasley to the playoffs.

I mean, think about that. In 2009, he got to a Game 7 against the Atlanta Hawks, and the year after he played a series against the Boston Celtics, when the Heat had nothing. And then after the Big Three, when you have years, and were you actually just the years when he had Dwayne Wade and, like, Jerbain O'Neal, and they made the playoffs.

I mean, look at what he did that one season. You might remember, they started 11-30, and the second half of the season, they went 30-11. What other team doesn't quit in that situation? In the lottery-chasing NBA, what team doesn't say, ah, forget it, this is going nowhere? Instead, they were alive until the final game of the season, when the Nets had all their players, and Chicago got the last playoff spot.

That just tells me, that's who Eric is. He'll find a way. Tyler here is out, he'll find a way. Victor Oladipo is out, he'll find a way. Look at Game 2 in New York. Jimmy Buckland was out, and it was in three points in the final two minutes.

He loves trying to find a way. You go back to that Buck series. They win Game 1, then Game 2, the Heat barely even showed up. What type of Heat team do you see tomorrow night with an opportunity to take two on the road in Boston?

You know, that's the story I wrote today at the Sun Sentinel. Look at the Milwaukee series. Game 2 not very good. Game 2 in New York, of course, Jimmy was out, but they fell behind by eight earlier in trouble. Also, look at last year. The first two games were Miami against Boston. The Heat won Game 1 of that series in the Easter Conference Finals also, and then got slaughtered in Game 2 at what was FTX Arena at the time, RIP FTX. So when you look at it, the Heat have plenty of examples. I think Eric Spolstra can come out and show them all of that and basically ask them, you've taken the hard way all season.

Perhaps we try a little different way right now. And I think Jimmy, with some of his best play late last night, I think that was a good sign and the fact that he had so many contributors that if maybe one of those guys is off, another guy, maybe a Duncan Robinson or someone steps up, I think the Heat will be more competitive than I think some people think in a game that's going to be pretty desperate for the Celtics. Longtime Heat reporter Ira Winsorin covers the team for the Sun Sentinel. Ira, thanks so much. Hey, and I gave you a Christian Laitner story also. My pleasure, Zach. Thank you. You got it. Thanks so much. There's Ira Winsorin joining us on the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio.

Okay, we will take a break. When we come on back, three things you need to see from the Los Angeles Lakers tonight. Yo, Zach Gelb Show, CBS Sports Radio. I'm actually really fired up for this Game 2 between the Lakers and Nuggets Hickey because I'm just genuinely curious what Lakers team are going to get. Because when you look at a Game 1 performance where Anthony Davis did all he could and they still lost, I actually walked away even though I picked Denver to win this series and I do believe Denver will still win this series. But I walked away so intrigued by Los Angeles because they played as bad of a first half that you could play and they still had a shot to win the game late in the fourth quarter.

And I just wonder in a game that, quite frankly, I have zero feel about tonight, how this actually transpires and plays on out in Game 2 of Los Angeles and Denver. Did you see how Nicole Jokic walked into the arena tonight? He was looking pretty confident. That kegel, I think, screams big performance. That's what we're doing now? If you are 50-50 right now and don't know which way to lean, I would lean towards the man who's looking like he's going to drop 40 and then go do whatever they do in Peaky Blinders afterwards.

Okay. That's a confident look right there from the Joker. Yeah, I would say so. But we've seen other players this postseason roll into a building in a big game in the playoffs and you're like, okay, you can't lose if you wear that outfit and then they end up losing. Like James Harden walking into Game 7 was wearing some ridiculous outfit and that was the most he showed up in Game 7 was walking into the building because he did nothing on the basketball court in Game 7. His fashion, though, I don't really get, to be honest. I would not consider what he wears fashion. It definitely is fashion.

He looks like he's been to the Met Gala multiple times. But that's... That's fashion. I don't get the tangent, but that's not fashion.

It is. I am rich, I am popular, so I'm just going to wear whatever I want and people are going to call it fashion. But if me or you wore the shoe we're getting looks like, what the hell is this guy wearing? There's a difference between you and James Harden. But that doesn't make fashion or not. No, here's the difference. He has swag.

You don't have swag. So, like, for example, if you want to go back to Carpool Karaoke, rest in peace. But when Carpool Karaoke was around, James Corden walked into a store with Justin Bieber. Now, Justin Bieber can wear whatever he wants.

He looks cool. And James Corden pointed that out to him. So, Justin Bieber said, no, you have swag, too. And Justin Bieber put James Corden in the most ridiculous outfit. Justin Bieber wore the same outfit. He looked cool in it.

James Corden did not. Some people have swag. Say what you want about James Harden in the playoff moment. He doesn't have swag in the playoffs. But in terms of what he wears to the arena, he has swag. You are the James Corden of this situation where it doesn't matter what you wear. You don't make it look cool. I would disagree with that and I would disagree with the way James Harden dresses. I would disagree with the way Russell Westbrook dresses. You just wear a sweatshirt every day.

Well, it's radio. I'm not getting paid to dress up. And also, I don't have millions of dollars in my bank account to overspend on a rainbow jacket that looks like it was from the 1970s in grandma's closet, bust it out, wear a pink ski mask and say, hey, this is fashion. All I'm going to say is I go back to you at Las Vegas last year when we went out to the draft.

Okay. And you walked out of the bathroom after you changed because we had to go to an interview room. That's right. And you were wearing these shorts that you had a collared shirt tucked in. And those shorts were raised so high. I thought you were trying to cover your nipples. Like, I don't get what you were trying to do in that moment. You're so hot. No, you look no offense.

You looked a little nerdy in that moment. I would disagree. I think that's more style and fashion. Anything that we saw from James Harden recently, that's for sure.

It's a beachy vibe is what I would say. Some people just can't handle it, I guess. I'm sorry. You look like an L7 weenie there, as the kids used to say. Well, that's tough reality.

I'm not changing the look then. Chase Young even said something to me. No, please, please. When we walked into his hotel room to go do the interview, you stepped outside for a second to go take a phone call, and Chase Young was like, who's this guy that you brought along? He's my resident nerd. You talk about no swag. There's a Buckeye for you. Oh, really?

London show. You would die to have the success that Ohio State football has had. And I'm not a big Ohio State football supporter, but come on.

You Penn State folks, you guys walk around like you guys are the greatest thing in the world. You guys are the one walking up with no fashion and no style and no swag. I didn't realize, by the way, that you've become this or you try to be this big fashion critic.

I was going to say icon, but that would just be a lie. You've been a fashion critic. And it actually bothers me that people dress ridiculously and then have it passed off as fashion. Well, you had a problem. Not fashion.

It is. You had a problem with Anthony Davis the other night wearing sunglasses to a postgame press conference. You cannot wear sunglasses indoors after a loss.

Why not? That look is reserved only for winners. What happens if he was crying? You look like an absolute clown. Then show your emotions. You cannot wear after a loss sunglasses. You look like an absolute fool. You look like somebody who doesn't care.

OK, I'm calling how it is. Did LeBron James wear sunglasses? He did not. And this is a guy who has worn sunglasses in the past. He knows that's reserved only for when? Hold on. I've seen LeBron James wear sunglasses even moments when he's lost.

I have seen that before. Come on. Then shame on LeBron.

You cannot. Sunglasses after the game inside. By the way, inside the sun is not out.

It is a dark room. The only way you can get away with wearing sunglasses is after a win. Winners get to do what they want. You know who you're starting to remind me of? Who is that? I'm Bam Adebayo. You're Ira Winderman. And how Ira Winderman clearly annoyed Bam Adebayo last night with just asking a simple question. You're playing that role of Ira and I'm playing the role of Bam Adebayo right now where you're you're Ira wasn't being ridiculous, but you're being ridiculous.

Fix it the other way around. If anything, you're Ira and I'm Bam because I'm getting not mad at you, but upset about what people would deem, quote unquote, fashion these days. You can't take my comparison and then use it against me. But I'm just telling you. I just reversed it.

I'm that little pesky pain in the ass reporter right now. That's what you're being. And I'm trying to be Bam Adebayo saying you're trying to infringe on my territory and try to give me a lecture about swag and style and fashion. Like, who are you to say that James Harden wasn't fashionable or Anthony Davis can't wear sunglasses in store?

You're not even the same ballpark as those guys. No, I'm not giving you a lesson or a lecture. I'm giving not understanding what I'm James Harden. I'm giving Anthony Davis and anyone else who thinks that that is fashionable a lesson. And it is fashionable.

Absolutely not. Those guys get invited to events that you don't get invited to and they wear fashionable clothes and they fit in a sense of fashion that is required to go to events like that. You wear your cargo shorts up to your nipples. Come on.

What do you know about that? No cargo. That is no cargo shorts. Whatever shorts you want to call. And I wear them at my waist like they're supposed to be worn. You wear them up to your nipples.

They are not any higher than they should be. They are worn right where properly shorts and pants should be worn. When we went to Las Vegas, you look like you just got stuffed in a locker. You look like that Sheldon the genius kid that pops up on every TikTok of mine these days, which I don't know why.

But that's what you're starting to look like. Little Sheldon? Yeah. From the TV show? He's on your TikTok? Pops up on every one of my TikTok now. I have no clue. Like all the reels, all that entire family.

It just pops up. The last week, clip after clip after clip. You're like little Sheldon or Jimmy Neutron when it comes to the fashion world. Sorry, just a humbling moment for you. Anyway, tonight for game three with the Los Angeles Lakers. Three things I got to see from the Lakers. Number one, how we started this conversation.

The start is enormous. LeBron James said it last night, the other night after the loss. They lost that game in the first half. He's not wrong.

Number two, Hickey, I want to run this one by you. I got to see LeBron be more aggressive. He was settling in that fourth quarter and he was not shooting the ball well. And when you had 15 seconds left in the shot clock and just about a minute left in the game, it made no sense to me when Jamal Murray is on you how he did not drive to the hoop. So I got to see LeBron be LeBron and be aggressive and attack towards the rim. I didn't get him settling for that three in that game the other night when he had a chance to go steal one on the road. Bad shot, I think he learned from it, though. That's one of those where it was almost a heat check in the moment where I think he kind of in a way was selfish and said, I want to be the one to make this shot.

I'm going to pull up with no regard or no reason to it. I'm not shooting well from three anyway. I would bet similar situation tonight. I guarantee he's not taking the same shot.

I would hope so. Because if he does, then Denver is going to be up to. And finally, here's what to me is the biggest enigma in the game tonight. What Anthony Davis do we get? Anthony Davis in a loss was spectacular. I just wonder if that was a wasted performance that the entire team wasted anyone's performance with how they played in the first half. But can Anthony Davis replicate what he did in Game 1 tonight?

That's a big question that I have because of the Anthony Davis. It's very similar to Jason Tatum when he's on. He's unconscious.

He is on fire. But then when I don't even want to say when he's off because you still put up numbers. But there is a way that you can have an empty kind of feeling on the stat line like Tatum at 30 last night. It was such a pedestrian 30 for Anthony Davis.

It's very similar as well. He's either making the greatest impact on the game in a positive way or the greatest impact on the game in unfortunately a negative way as well. And talk about your aggression point with LeBron. That also applies to AD because when he's... I mean he's almost invisible at times, right? It's not like James Harden where he's contributing to losing in a way where his play is so bad.

It's just invisible of where is AD? Why is he not taking this game over? And there he is in the corner getting boxed out by smaller guys for rebounds and he just looks disinterested. It's, yeah, the aggression. He needs to really make his mark known.

And not just early but throughout obviously the entire game. If you truly are the bad boy of radio, as DA calls you, I think you need to channel your inner James Harden here. And show up to CBS Sports Radio one day in that oversized blue jumpsuit that James Harden showed up the other night. I think you should do that, Hickey. But if I thought that was fashionable, I would.

Well James Harden makes it look swaggy. You? Not so much.

Instead you'll put your pants up to your nipples again. And this is that Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll update you to some of the biggest stories in the world of sports next with some audio. Call that segment The News Brief.