the ending Poland show got a glass of this everything we got they can they're gonna come with everything they got I'll start on by saying I'm bored I'm broken I'm back the end the Poland show on ESPN 630 starts right now you know I can live with this weather right miss nice 70s low humidity. I know it's not gonna last we're gonna be schfizzing in a couple of months with high humidity. But while we got it it feels nice right feels.
Good. We'll get to the NBA stuff. Jimmy Butler does it again. I mean he is just unbelievable when it comes to the postseason. Nobody's paying attention to him during the regular season. He's just making sure his team gets in although they barely got in. They were in 8c. They had to win a play in game to get there. And now they have taken game one on the road in Boston, third straight series. They have won the opening game. And he was just terrific again last season.
And he was terrific again last night as the heat had an enormous third quarter. They were down nine at the half and they just blew the doors off Boston in that third quarter. We'll get to all of that also. I want to talk some more about what's happening with with the with the commanders and I'll get to that here in a second that that they are going to be sold. It's just that there are some bumps in the road along the way which bears some disgust.
Bear some discussion and coming up in the next hour it was 55 years ago today that Frank Howard of the Washington Senators. We call them the capital Punisher.
He completed the greatest home run week in baseball history. 20 at bats, 10 home runs. And I will detail that week in the next hour.
Now as for the commanders, the latest is and it's you know nothing to get alarmed about but it's just more of the explanation of why it's very, very unlikely. In fact, it now seems after reading this almost impossible that the other owners will approve the Josh Harris deal next week.
There's a lot of complications in this including what they're calling an earn out payment. Now I don't know enough about money to really understand all the specifics of it.
But it's it's money that the team would earn after the sale which would translate into dollars that would be turned over to Dan Snyder.
I mean when you look at the big picture and just having observed Snyder for all these years.
This seems to be and I don't, again, I don't know anything about high finance and how all this works.
But it just seems to be a lot of petty stuff just to get him over that six billion dollar hump.
In other words, instead of saying six billion dollars flat for the team, no, no, no, no, they had it to get it to six point oh five billion.
So I guess Snyder can walk around wherever he walks around and I don't know who his friends are or are going to be.
I guess you get a lot of friends once you sell a team for six billion dollars but he can walk around puffing at his chest and say I sold for more than six billion dollars.
But this seems to be related to the point oh five of all of this.
So that's why this is such a complex deal according to what Mark Maskey and Nikki Jibala have in the post today.
Let me give you a few more specifics of what they're right about.
They're also concerned the NFL finance committee about the debt talking about above the NFL's one point one billion dollar limit for team acquisitions.
And I relate this back to what Albert Breyer had a couple of days ago at SI.com said, you know, once you start to require the owners to put down 30% in cash as the value of the team's keep going up.
I mean, we just saw a team last year that Denver Broncos sell for four billion.
Now we're seeing one sell for six billion.
If the Cowboys ever went up, they'd go for north of 10 billion, I'm sure.
And so who are your people who can pay that kind of money?
Jeff Bezos and maybe three or four other people in the whole universe.
So you really limited in who you can sell to.
And in order to put this deal together, what you've had is Josh Harris finding all these limited partners, supposedly there's 17 of them,
to get them over this hump.
And he's saying, well, you know, don't worry about the financing because when you put the money together of all the people I have involved, we're worth over $100 billion.
Not much, not as much as Jeff Bezos, but we're okay.
We'll, we'll cover the check.
And, and in reality is you shouldn't be really worried about finances in the NFL because the amount of money that's coming in from media is incredible.
And it just seems to keep going up and up and up and up and up.
So I don't think that there's any reason to fear default or that somebody would go bankrupt or anything like that.
But they want to make sure that all the T's are crossed and all the I's are dotted.
And according to someone familiar with what's going on, according to the post, there is a lot of work to do.
And then there's this quote.
Everyone wants this to work. One person with knowledge of the finance committee's conversation said, there's no doubt about that, that it has to comply with the rules.
It has to be under the debt limit.
And the financing is, is a concern about how they're doing this.
And I go back to what Seth Wickershamp had in his big story in ESPN a couple of days ago, this sentence, several league and ownership sources have said, if it were not for the disdain for Snyder,
driving the sale, there's no way the owners would approve the Harris bid.
So they're going to do this by hook or by crook. They're going to find some way to do it.
But it's going to take some time to get it done.
More from the story.
Multiple sports financial advisors said such a structure would be common and well accepted in most business settings in a deal of such magnitude, but it is extremely rare in sports franchise sales.
Well, how many times do sports franchises get sold? It's relatively rare.
And in the business world, I mean there's acquisitions all the time. There's sales and acquisitions. That happens.
The Harris group believes its deal is in compliance with NFL ownership rules. People connected to the process said.
But such issues can be subjective. When Howard Milstein withdrew his bid for Washington's franchise in 1999, the finance committee reportedly regarded a $150 million loan to Milstein and his brother from their father as a loan.
Milstein's backers contended that it was equity that resulted in Snyder buying the team from Jack Kent Cook for $800 million. I didn't know that.
So, and now, you know, when you talk about $150 million as a stumbling block, that now seems quaint, doesn't it?
Like when you're talking about billions and there was a stumbling block over $150 million, which you and I is unbelievable life changing money.
But to these guys now is nothing. It's a quarterback's contract, essentially, a starting quarterback's contract.
And back in those days, that proved to be the stumbling. That's why they got rid. They also didn't like Milstein. Milstein was suing a bunch of people.
And as the story goes, the other owners, I think one of them may have been Willington Marra, who was the well respected owner of the Giants.
And he supposedly was very influential in getting Snyder to get help and buy the team.
They looked at him as young blood and somebody who was local in Washington, D.C., Milstein, they were from New York. They weren't from here.
And they thought that it would be a good situation. And obviously, it was not. And 24 years later, they can't wait to get this Schmeggagie out the door.
And they're going to do everything they possibly can to do this. Again, this set in several league and ownership sources have said that if it were not for the disdain for Snyder driving the sale, there's no way the owners would approve the Harris bid.
But at this point, that's all they got. This is what they're dealing with. They're going to find a way to get this through.
It's just that you're just going to have to wait. You're going to have to wait a little bit longer. I think we were all hoping for a grand celebration next week with news coming out of Minneapolis that enough votes were in 24 of the 32 owners.
That's what they need. If they have that many, the sale is approved. And bye-bye, Dan. Goodbye, Danny.
But I guess Danny's going to be hanging around a little bit longer. I know I don't know. This is another part of these owners' meetings.
I guess Tanya's going to show up, right? I mean, if there is going to be a vote and I would assume that's another another interesting wrinkle.
She has a vote in the room. Would she vote to approve the sale? Or would she vote to turn it down? I don't know. Maybe that could be more of what's going on and negotiating for what seems to be mere pennies.
This little deferred payment situation. But maybe she votes no in order to create a little bit more leverage if you want to put it that way for this extra incentive, this extra, what are they calling it, earn out payment to go through.
I don't know if I'm going to say that's something. So this is not something that I can speak to with any expertise whatsoever. I'm a guy who's been an employee my entire life.
I am not an entrepreneur. I don't really have a great understanding of money. I like to save money. But in terms of making big money, no, I've never been able to do that.
I think it's a big deal. I think it's going to be a big deal. I think it's going to be a big deal. I think it's going to be a big deal. I think it's going to be a big deal. I think it's going to be a big deal. I think it's going to be a big deal. I think it's going to be a big deal. I think it's going to be a big deal. I think it's going to be a big deal. I think it's going to be a big deal. I think it's going to be a big deal.
real difference there and Jimmy Butler did his thing. Now I'm going to tie this in with
something I saw yesterday from Joel Embiid of the 76ers. The most valuable player in the
NBA who was essentially a no-show in game seven against Boston on Sunday and he apparently
is not happy that Doc Rivers got fired. This is something that Stephen A Smith said yesterday.
He says, I'm here to tell you right now, Joel Embiid was not happy that Doc Rivers got fired,
not from everything I'm hearing and I worked in Philadelphia for 17 years and I still know
a lot of people within the 76ers organization. I ain't guessing I'm telling you. Well, if
you were unhappy that Doc Rivers got fired, perhaps you should have shown up to play for
him on Sunday in his last game as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. 76ers president Darrow
Morrie was asked about Smith's report at a Wednesday press conference and confirmed it.
He said about Embiid and Rivers, they had a strong relationship. I have to make tough
calls all the time with the trades that Joel was disappointed in. I think it's natural
to be very close with the people in the locker room. He was very close with coach Rivers and
was shocked with the change. It's my job to help convince him that the new coach is someone
who will have a great relationship with. That also seems to indicate it was James Harden
who forced Doc Rivers out the door. But I find that to be rich that Joel Embiid who
loved his coach so much didn't show up for him. Jimmy Butler loves his coach, loves his
teammates and when the money is on the line, he shows up and this was a little exchange
at the end of his about six minute news conference last night after he put together this line.
Thirty five points. He also had five rebounds. He had seven assists and he had six steals.
So he's doing it at both ends of the court and this little exchange again after last
night's 123, 116 Miami win.
Jimmy, I would imagine that you don't feel like an eight seed. You in the heat that you
don't, this doesn't feel like you're climbing mountains and knocking off favorites and all
those kinds of things. That's a question? Well, it's a start of a question. Oh, okay.
Well, what's the question? Just the question is how do, how does this feel to you guys
what you have done so far? And if you go back all the way to that night against Chicago
and the play in, did you think then that something like this would be possible? Damn
right. I did. Damn right. We did. And the best part about it is we still don't care
when none of y'all think, honestly speaking. We don't care if you pick us to win. We never
have. We never will. We know the group of guys we have in the locker room. We know that
coach Bo put so much confidence and belief in each and every one of us. Coach Pat as
well. And so our circle small, but the circle got so much love for one another. We pump
constant confidence into everybody. And guard them. We who will play basketball the right
way knowing that we always got a chance. You don't care. You don't care what people
are saying. Interesting. He referred to Pat Riley as coach Pat. Riley has coached in a
while. And Eric Spolstra is regarded now as one of the best coaches in the NBA. And you
know, you can look at it like, well, why doesn't he have better regular seasons? Why is he,
you know, struggling to get his team into the playoffs? But once he gets into the postseason,
he knows how to coach as his mentor obviously did Pat Riley winning five championships or
four championships with the Lakers. And interesting. He refers to him as coach Pat, but they ride
Butler and Butler did a hell of a job last night, but he got a lot of help. They had
six players in double figures, including Kyle Lowry with 15 points off the bench. We'll
get to his comments with the TNT crew in just a minute. This is more from Butler. And it
has to do with blocking it out, you know, blocking out everybody talking about Boston
as the prohibitive favorite. I heard a lot of the guys who covered the league say, yeah,
I think Boston in five. Well, I got to win four straight now to do that more from Butler.
I really feel as though with anything in life, if you get the opportunity and you have the
belief that my teammates, my coaches, you know, coach Pat, ownership having me to, you know,
kind of lead the charge along with Bam right now. Anything is possible. Like, I'm playing
at an incredible level because they're allowing me to do so. They're not putting a limit on
my game. They're trusting me with the ball on a defensive end. And I think that's what
any basketball player wants. That's what anybody wants out of life is just to be wanted, be
appreciated and just let you go out there and rock. Yeah, Chicago didn't want them.
Wines up in Miami. That no thanks. Bam, Adebayo, nine of 13 for 20 points last night. He also
had eight rebounds. So that duo obviously getting it done. Realize this, Miami had to
win a play in game over Chicago. And then they knocked off the top seeded bucks in five,
the fifth seeded nicks in six. And now they have a one oh lead on the Celtics. They have
won the opening game of the first three series all playing on the road. And you know what
they say about a series, it doesn't start until the road team wins. When the road team
wins the first game, you start to pay attention. You start to pay attention to that. And we'll
see what happens tomorrow night as they look for a two oh lead. Two oh lead in Boston.
That would be I mean, it almost comes down to it's such a well worn cliche, but it comes
down to maybe being a must win for Boston. It's that big of a game tomorrow night. I
mentioned Kyle Lowry. He was on with the TNT crew last night. And I'm going to play that
coming up. Not so much to hear the Lowry comments on his performance. And he was terrific off
the bench last night. But this is the TNT crew at its best. This is why when you compare
the pre and the post game shows for the NBA on TNT versus ESPN. Oh my God. There's no contest.
The chemistry in that group. And by the way, I just read and I know him Tim Kylie, who's
the producer who put that show together and is the brains behind it goes back to 1995
and they started it on TNT. Barkley was still playing in the NBA that that's how long ago
it was. But he has managed to blend Shaq and in Barkley and Kenny Smith, who was the original
heir with Ernie Johnson, who's the best traffic cop in the business. And I want to play this
so you'll hear how they work so well together and why that show is such a success and why
all of them are in the basketball hall of fame because of it. That's next. It's the Andy
Poland show ESPN 630. The Andy Poland show on ESPN 630, the sports capital. We got a Tony
show coming up today. Yeah, I know it's Thursday, but he adjusted a schedule a little bit this
week. So he is doing a show today might be related to the PGA because the first two rounds
of the PGA Championship are on ESPN so they don't have PTI today or tomorrow. And a little
bit later on I'll play some of what they said yesterday about Victor Wembanyama winding
up in San Antonio. I think I said this a couple of days ago. I think I'm pretty sure
I said this going into the draft lottery that the best place for him to wind up would be
San Antonio. And you can come up with all the conspiracy theories you want. Maybe it
was engineered that way, but they have had a great history with foreign players. He knows
Tony Parker doesn't play anymore, but I'm sure stays close to the organization. And
the puzzling thing to me is I thought at the end of the season, I heard it was definite
that Greg Popovich was going to retire. I thought that was reported and maybe I even
thought he said that. But now that ain't going to happen. You got a chance. Think about
that. You know, think about the three big men that he will have had the opportunity to
coach if in fact he decides that that he wants to do it another year. And man, I guess there's
been no official announcement that he's going to leave 74 years old. But you certainly get
rejuvenated with the ones in a lifetime player landing in your lottery lap like they did the
other night. But he got the coach David Robinson and Tim Duncan. And you know, timing is everything.
If Robinson isn't hurt in Tim Duncan senior year at Wake Forest, San Antonio probably
isn't in the lottery and not being in the lottery doesn't give them a chance to draft
Tim Duncan number one. And you put Duncan and Robinson together and you win a couple of
titles with them. And then Duncan wins three more without David Robinson. And now now the
opportunity to coach Victor Wemanyama with whatever else they could put around him. But
that that is really remarkable. A remarkable string of luck. But it's it's a great organization.
And the basketball team is the only game in town. There are no other pro teams in San Antonio.
Probably never will be here. Things about the NFL once in a while. But I don't think that's
realistic. It's a town that that is built around sports anyway. The basketball team and
the rest of its high school football. I mean, it's it's a big city. And it is a big metropolitan
area. Well, not big metropolitan area. But if you take the surrounding area, it becomes
a big city. I love living there. Great, great tourist attractions, including the Riverwalk.
And he will be embraced there. And it would be a very, very comfortable place for him to
play. So I will get to that. Kyle Lowry last night off the bench for Miami. Jimmy Butler
once again, shine with his incredible line. 35 points, seven assists, five rebounds and
six steals as as Miami was able to blow this game open in the third quarter. But Kyle Lowry
coming off the bench had 15 points playing 27 minutes. He was six of 12 hit the three
of five from three and gave them a real lift. And so after the game, the TNT crew, which
is there, this is their last rodeo of the season. They don't do the finals. So they travel with
the Eastern Conference finals. So you had Kenny Smith, and you had Shaq, and you had Charles
Barkley and Ernie Johnson running the show. And after he had finished up with his media
obligations, Kyle Lowry sat down with him with them. And and this is how the conversation
went as they asked them, well, how did you guys get this done tonight?
Concentration, we stayed a level, you know, you in those situations in this building,
you know, you can get down and you can be like, Oh, but we just stayed level. And that's
what good teams do. We stayed level headed. Didn't get too high too low. And we just
kept going.
Kyle, most teams have their constructed with two superstars and the others, you get shots
when it comes to you guys and one superstar that's unselfish. And you guys have the same
amount of shots. I call you guys rhythm delegation because every time the ball comes
around, you guys are on rhythm. Two people here didn't pick out. They thought it was going
to be easy.
What? What do we say? What's going to be easy?
You said they don't have a chance. That's what you said. That's what you said. You said
that you got a chance.
Yeah, let's just clarify. It's not going to be easy. You just didn't have a chance.
You didn't have a chance. Anyways, how's it feel to know that you can choose the main
talent you want and be in rhythm?
You know, it's crazy, man. If you guys watched Jimmy Butler play, he's one of the most unselfish
stars I've ever been around. And he's always like, shoot the ball, shoot the ball. And
you know, for a guy like that, to give us the confidence, it works for us. And our team,
you know, Max undrafted, Gabe undrafted, Caleb undrafted, you know, we got a bunch of guys
dunking undrafted for him to give the confidence to those guys is only going to make us better.
So for us, it's just like, all right, shoot the ball, make sure we get the spots and,
you know, with Spo, everything's going to flow.
But you know, listen, you have been amazing doing this playoff run.
Appreciate it.
Did you get a energy from somewhere because you have been just amazing? Like what happened
to you kicking another gear when it when the playoffs started?
I got healthy. One, that's one and two. It's all about winning games. You guys know you
guys have been in big game, big situations and trying to win championships. At the end
of the day, you want to just win basketball games. And for me, it was about being healthy
and then doing whatever it took to help the team win. You know, I think me and Spo, we
had a great conversation. Me and Pat had a great conversation. It was best for, you
know, what, for our team needed. Needed a guy to come in with some energy and me lead
the second unit. And that's what I've been doing.
So before earnings, before the game today, Ernie said who was the lead shot blocker
for the Miami heat? You know who that was?
His me.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, get out of that band.
My's me.
You know what is interesting that Chuck said that because that was honestly my, my
question. So I'll second part of it. I'll do a second part because I was doing the last
series. I was texting the Miami execs, Zoan and then in Pat. And I'm like, you know, what's
going on with a Kyle? Like his ability to get that speed that you had, you said it was
in Andrew. Now playing against second unit guys, do you have a different mindset? Because
you're accustomed to playing against the starter who you kind of a different mindset as well.
Yeah, I think planning with this playing with our second unit, I have the ball a lot more.
And there's a different confidence in me. So when I got the ball, you know, I think my
second is like, go Kyle, we need you to go, go, go. And you know, when Jimmy's off the
floor, you know, we got to kind of play sporadic and play all over and create shots. We're from
for everybody else. So I think that's the one thing, plan against the first unit and
then being with the second unit, these guys looking me to lead them and have the ball a
lot more.
I would like to apologize on behalf of my brachyderious partner over there. Oh, I was
texting with the Miami exec stop stop stop. I was debating what the same I was doing.
Just stop it.
So it's the source.
I was the one that they go to chances that Pat Riley got his number. I was debating whether
it's like the money you might have a lot of money, but I guarantee you don't have Pat
Riley. I don't have to flex on a Pat Riley. Okay, coach.
I was on the phone with the sources. I didn't want to say it. Ernie came out. I forgot I
was on TV.
How aware are you and the rest of your teammates of what's been said going into this about
Las Vegas odds and on and on and on and and and your team basically an afterthought. Kyle,
it's not disrespect. That's just the that's just the perception from all these. Well,
these guys have this chance of winning the championship. Miami's got this. How aware
are you of that and what kind of fuel does that add?
I think we're aware of it, but we don't care. And that's just how we've been operating,
you know, this whole playoff run. I know we're at an eight eight seed, but we're not the
typical eight seed. You know, we really don't care. We go out here and we do our jobs and
we're prepared. Coach prepares us. The players, the prepare ourselves and we get shots up
and we just, you know, we just work. You know, that's the one thing about our culture is
we just work no matter what.
Anything else fellas?
The message in a locker room. I've noticed strategy. I know the culture. I know you
guys said, okay, let's just play. We can get one get one. Now that you got one, you're
going forward in game two or you're just going to come out and whatever happens.
I think we got to be greedy. I think we got to go out there and still play the basketball
game and try to win. I think that the end of the day, you know, we won the first of it's
the first of four. No matter how you get them, you know, if you get two in the road, shoot,
that would be great. But as at the end of the day, it's the first of four.
Well, they got to count them up. That I've been doing sports radio since started. We're
coming up on what the 36th anniversary of it this summer, July 1st, 1987. We started
WFAN. So I've been doing talk shows ever since and I've done two person shows, three
person shows and it's all about chemistry. And whether you have it or whether you don't,
it's something that you try to develop over a period of time. Sometimes it develops. Sometimes
it doesn't. I was very lucky to be on a show that lasted almost 15 years with Steve's
aim and we had really good chemistry and we had had a show that had a third person, a
rotating third person in just kind of worked and we were able to do that for a long period
of time. Sometimes you start a show and you think, okay, these two guys or this guy and
this girl are going to work well together. It doesn't go that way. This show is amazing.
I mean, that is exactly what you want when you're doing one of these type of free and
post game shows is that you have three guys who bust on each other, but really like each
other you can tell and really like Ernie, who's kind of like the dad for all that. But that
was just great by Shaq, you know, busting on Kenny Smith because I was texting during
the game with Pat Riley. I'm sure he was. I don't think he's making that up. It's just
that it did sound a little bit pretentious when he said it and you may have been watching
on TV and thinking, hmm, look at that. But there's Shaq who I'm sure can do the same
thing, you know, being one of the guys and that's what really makes that so good. Look,
why does PTI work? PTI works because what Tony and Mike have been doing on TV for now
20, almost 22 years, something they'd been doing for 20 years before, just not on television.
But if you ever were around them as I was lucky enough to be many times socially and
you know, Tony and Wilbom would do a lot of radio together and Wilbom mostly as a guest
in chemistry. And that's that's what it is. And whatever ESPN is doing, just rotating
people in and out of one of them's Wilbom Wilbom's great. But the cast, the characters
changes all the time. I think Jalen Rose is good at what he does. Steven A Smith is
like the face of ESPN. They put him on every show and he loves the NBA and he does have
some some sources and contacts and he occasionally breaks some stories. But the show just doesn't
work like that because those guys just don't have the great chemistry. They're all good
at what they do. It just doesn't work as well as it does on TNT because well partly I think
it's the production of it. Tim Kylie who's retiring really has done a great job of getting
them to be who they are. But when you hear, I mean, this is, you know, this is just basic
stuff when you're doing these pre and the post game shows. Athletes sits down and they
talk about the win. But they did more than that and they gave you a stick between the
two of them not planned out either. Just all natural, all organic. And that's why that
show is in the hall of fame. I don't know what ESPN is going to do with their pre and
the post game show. I think you got to swap out Mike Greenberg from Malika Andrews. That's
a start and and then maybe, you know, cut down the number of people on it. I don't know
what maybe just, you know, maybe just have Will Bond and Steven A. I don't know. But
when you compare the two of them, it's just no comparison. And that's why that works
so well. And that's why they win awards all the time because they're that good baseball
story. You probably remember this. It's probably the most famous spring training baseball moment
in history. It was back. Hard to believe it's been this long. Twenty two years. Randy Johnson
was he finished his career with the Giants. At that time, he was with the Arizona Diamond
Backs and they're playing a spring training game in Arizona. And I think it was a dove
that crossed home plate and Johnson could bring it a hundred miles an hour. And I'm sure
you've seen the YouTube video of the dove just exploding with the pitch a hundred mile
an hour baseball hitting a dove in mid flight. Boom feathers everywhere. So last night in
Oakland, Zach Galen, G. A. L. L. E. N. He's ironically playing for the Arizona Diamond
Backs and they're playing in Oakland and it's just warm up tosses. This isn't this isn't
real game action. This isn't even in the bullpen where he's, you know, firing the ball, you
know, as close to game speed as possible. No, he's just warming up in the outfield. He
threw a curve ball and it hit a bird in mid flight and apparently killed the animal.
Galen said, I don't really know what happened. Honestly, I just know that the ball changed
directions. I saw what happened. It was kind of a freak accident. It's unfortunate. And
it was captured by the cameras, Bally sports, which is in bankruptcy, but I guess they're
still producing games. Galen was only five when Johnson killed bird. He said, I don't
remember it, but I've seen the clip many times and the incident happened actually on the day
before the anniversary of Johnson pitching a perfect game for Arizona against the Atlanta
Braves in 2004. And I think Dave Winfield also hit a bird. It may have been with a batted
ball or it may have been with a thrown ball. I don't remember, but I think that was during
a game as well. But, you know, this is really a surprise in that, you know, this is not
like he's throwing it at the speed that Randy Johnson threw. What are the odds? I mean,
what are the chances that a bird could fly across the plate at that exact moment to get
blown up by a baseball? And the fact that it's Arizona pitchers, both of them Arizona pitchers
Zach Galen and Randy Johnson who do this 23 years apart. Man, I guess the PETA people
are not because I remember this. The PETA people got on Randy Johnson about it like, you
know, he did that on purpose. No, he didn't do it on purpose. And this didn't happen on
purpose either. But hopefully the bird didn't suffer very much. And they obviously didn't
hold up the game. They got the game played. And Zach Galen now joins Hall of Fame company
Randy Johnson with over 300 wins. Matter of fact, he got his 300th win here. He got it
in Washington. And boy, that was, you know, he pitched, I think like the minimum. It was
a cold and nasty weekday game. Might have been a game that had been postponed because
of rain or maybe it was a getaway game day. But it was not, you know, the buildup was not
what you would normally have for a pitcher on the verge of 300. And then to get it in
the bullpen like he did like when you get 300, you like to get it walking off the mound.
But nobody pitches a complete game anymore. And he didn't come close to pitching a complete
game that day. But he got his 300th win coming up next hour. Reggie Miller on what should
happen with John Moran, what he would tell him stay with us is the Andy Poland show.
We got to go after this with everything we got, they're going to come with everything
they got started on by saying I'm bored. I'm broke and I'm bad. The Andy Poland show
on ESPN six 30 starts right now. We got Tony coming up at 11 o'clock today, a little shifting
of the schedule. I think it's related to the PGA championship being on ESPN. No PTI today.
And tomorrow. So lengthening out the weekend. Just a little bit. I'll be off tomorrow as
well. I think Mike Callow will be sitting in and next hour or so we'll take a look at
what happened last night in the NBA and reaction actually from Tony and Mike to Victor Weman
Yama winding up in San Antonio and Scott Hastings, who is the color analyst for the
Denver Nuggets. He talked today in Patrick yesterday about the Vat team and what we can
expect going into game two tonight against the Lakers. Yet I remember doing a game that
Scott Hastings played at two of them, three of them, four of them. I did SMU basketball
for a couple of years in the early eighties and he was he was playing for Arkansas and
Daryl Walker who later played for the bullets was the star of that team. But Hastings was
the workman like center and wound up having a 12 year NBA career. He had over the course
of those 12 years, 19 starts just 19 starts over that time. So he's built a career in
radio and television in Denver. Kind of Bob Eucharish, you know, like like making fun
of of his career. He last 12 years in the NBA. I don't care how much you play. It's
pretty good run and teams like having him around. He played in Denver for a long time
and that's where he makes his home now and talk to Dan Patrick yesterday about the Denver
Nuggets. So we'll get to that also a Patrick guest yesterday and he's he's always very
good. Reggie Miller seems to come on with them once a week. Part of the TNT coverage
did the game last night in Boston and and they talked about what is you know, I guess
that's still the number one story in the NBA playoff's aside. It's John Moran, like what's
going on here? How how is this possible that that this grade of a player is is doing what
he's doing and not getting it now JJ Redick had a take yesterday, which went the other
way like, well, wait, Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas is telling people to get more guns.
Here's a guy who was actually carrying a gun apparently legally and and why is he being
punished for this? Why is he being vilified for it? Well, the NBA has a rule that you
can't you can't be seen with with guns like that and and to do it on Instagram live plus
after he had gone face to face with the commissioner and told him he wouldn't do it again. He did
the exact same thing a couple of months later. So that's that's the real issue there and
and it seems like, you know, most of the older older people who are covering the league and
like Charles Barkley lit him up last night that they have taken the position that that
Adam Silver has been betrayed here. And it's got to be a big, big suspension to send a
message. This is something that's got to be at least half a season. So when Reggie Miller
was on yesterday, Patrick asked him if you had a chance to sit down with John Moran
and talk to him, what would you say? I want you to look at your inner circle. And I want
you to write a list down of all your boys, all your homies, right? And I want to look
at them all. And I want to say, I want you to burn it up right now. You've got a clean
house, young man. And look, the people that he has surrounded himself with. And some of
this could be family involved as well. You've got to look at the whole picture, my friend,
and what you have and what you can achieve. And right now what's being taken away from
you. Which life do you want to live? But Reggie played with guys who you probably
had conversations with that they were doing stupid things. And that didn't mean they stopped
doing stupid things. And look at them now. There's cautionary tales all throughout this
league. There really is. You know, I can give you a handful of guys that I've played with
or you've seen on other teams that have gone down this route. Where are they today? John
Moran, before all this was being painted as one of the faces of the new league, of the
new up and coming young players. And now he's being vilified to his own doing. You right?
This is not us catching him doing something. This is him doing it on his own phone. He
self induced all this. And it felt like the commissioner that this hurt him personally.
Yeah. Because you know what, we had a face to face. We sat down and we locked eyes. And
I felt that we were on the same page because the commissioner only lost success for the
Memphis Grizzlies and John. And he felt the worst coming out of John's mouth. And he
believed him. And the old phrase, bamboozle, could we let us straight? That's how the commissioner
feels. And he feels embarrassed. That's why it'll probably be a heavy suspension coming
to start of next season. But could you imagine David Stern's approach as opposed to Adam
Silver? He's lucky. David Stern isn't a hold of this. He's so lucky. David Stern is not
at the helm of this. He would have been given the Ron or he'd been gone. He would have been
given the Ron or test treatment, which was unfair and unjust. Let me just say that for
the brawl. But he would have been given that type of treatment. No doubt about that. I
would disagree that what Ron or test got was unjust. I mean, he basically touched off a
riot at the palace in in Detroit. And he was suspended for the rest of the season. I mean,
he had players fighting with spectators. David Stern had to do something drastic there and
suspending Ron or test for the rest of the season, I think was was the way to go. You
know, Reggie played for the pace or so. So I get that. But the rest of what he says about
John Moran and it does start with the people he hangs around with. He says, let me let
me get a list of your homies and then you erase those guys from your life. Easier said
than done. But that that is the answer more from Reggie. And this is on the drafting of
Victor Wembanyama when it happens by the San Antonio Spurs who have the number one pick
and and what could be expected. I was interested to see in the the the build up to the lottery
the other night that Jay Bill has said, if you took an 18 year old LeBron James and you
put him side by side with Victor Wembanyama and you said, you can take one of them. So
this will be a tough choice. That's with already seeing what has unfolded with LeBron. The
championships that he's won in Miami and Cleveland and Los Angeles and the debate over whether
he's the best to ever play the game that he's in the conversation. I still say Jordan, but
if you say LeBron, you can make a case for that. So think about that that that even
with all you know about LeBron and you've got Victor Wembanyama. Who would you take?
Wow, that's I mean, if Victor Wembanyama plays 20 years and wins four championships
and becomes the all time leading scorer. Yeah, I mean, you you probably take them. But wow,
that you'd actually have to debate that. That's that's how good he is. So this is this is Reggie
Miller on that and the expectations for Wembanyama coming to San Antonio.
Oh, look, if they're putting the same expectations they put on LeBron James who was anointed the
chosen one by himself and by Sports Illustrated, rookie of the year and the second coming. Look,
I've seen all the the same highlights and that you have in this young man. It looks like he has
everything it takes to be the next great one. So I think everything short of a rookie of the year.
And I think he's going to the perfect franchise if again, I think San Antonio will make the
smart call and draft him number one. You're going to a system where they're known to highlight the
big man. David Robinson obviously Tim Duncan in your next in line. Popovich is one of the greatest
NBA coaches we've seen. I think they'll mold him in that right direction. So everything's short of a
rookie of the year. I think should be on his plate. But Popovich and like evolving into today's NBA,
he's never really embraced the three. Doesn't seem like it's a, you know, wide open fun type of
basketball. But I wonder with him with when by Yama, do you let him go? Is he going to be a featured
guy? Because I mean, Pop's pretty conservative. I think he was conservative. I got to disagree
with you a little bit. They played an old school type game when David Robinson was there. Okay.
And they went, look, they went through different times. So it was David Robinson.
Then they they shifted the offense for Tim Duncan. And when Tim Duncan started to get a little bit
older, it was Tony Parker and Manu Janobli. So they did kind of switch to the threes and wide open
more space, the passing. And Pop has evolved with the times. It depends on who's going to surround
Victor as well. What other players? They got a very young team. But again, I think Pop is the
right man. If you want to learn what the NBA is all about, I think Pop is the right answer here.
He's 74. I know.
AJ, nothing but a number. I mean, oh, no, I, but the thing is, is I wonder if they didn't win this
lottery, is Pop going to, you know, does he coach longer or, or, you know, is he going to maybe one
or two more years? But now with Victor, one by Yama, you know, you're going to want to stay a little
bit longer, I think. But let's not forget, Pop is coming off a gold medal as well, coaching
all these younger players and all that. So it's not like he's out of touch. He just won a gold medal
in the recent Olympics and probably he's going to do it again in France coming up. So I mean,
I don't want to focus in on his age. I focused in on what he has done for the game and his ability
to coach these younger players. Yeah. And that's fair. I just wonder, you know, the passion to
continue to coach when you get to be 74. And is it, do you look and say, do I, I guarantee you this,
he woke up this morning, 44. He woke up this morning, filling 44 instead of 74 after getting
that. Let's call it the Andy Reed effect. Right. I mean, Andy Reed is 65 years old. He walks around
like he's 85. But he's not anxious to stop coaching because he's got the guy, he's got Patrick
Mahomes. And so if you have Victor Wemanyama, if you were thinking about retiring, suddenly
or not, right? And boy, you know, not that pop needs anything more to cement his legacy. But if he
does this with three big men, you know, he's well, he's probably already in that discussion. But
you put him alongside the two guys who are debated as the sort of the winningest coaches,
red RBAC and Phil Jackson. And do you start to put him in that category, especially if he wins
a championship with one bignon, he's only 18 years old. So it may take three or four years for him
to develop. And he's he's got to put on some weight. Boy, he is, he is a stick figure right now. He
may last in the NBA. There's no real fear of injury that these at least injuries he's had in the past.
That could be a problem. But but yeah, you start to feel a lot younger when you look at a guy like
that and the opportunity to coach him. This was Tony and Mike yesterday on PTI and Wemanyana,
yet when Binyana winding up in San Antonio. Well, Bon, does this feel like a good fit to you?
It feels like it feels like the perfect fit. If he wasn't going to my team or one of them,
he's going to a place, Tony, where they know how to nurture, shield when necessary, protect,
develop, demand the organization and particularly the head coach, Greg Popovich. And I don't know
at Pop now in 70 ish. I don't know how long he's going to stay can do whatever he wants. He's earned
that with his, with his, his resume. But just even being in that town to have gone with David
Robinson at number one and had a massive jump into prominence. And then Tim Duncan, of course,
who he came in to supplement already a championship. David Robinson, it wanted to win to win multiples.
And now this kid and France, they got first players, you know, Tony Parker, he's pretty
intimately familiar with Tony Parker and Boris Diao. All the pieces seem to fit all of them.
Yeah, I mean, I said this yesterday that San Antonio among the teams were the best chance of getting
them. Houston Detroit, San Antonio, San Antonio, I was favorably disposed to in that regard. I think
that the connection with Tony Parker is very important. He played so many games with Greg Popovich
and he is French and Wembanyama is French and Wembanyama played on Tony Parker's team and was
coached by Tony Parker's brother. I think that has to give him a comfort level. I mean, I really do.
I think that has to give him a comfort level. And I'm sort of glad. And I mean, I don't know
anything about the kid. I know he's young and I know he's from France, but he's not going to a big
city with a suffocating media presence. He's going to a place, a small city where he can be nurtured,
as you say, and take a little time to grow into this thing. So, to me, the perfect place with
Charlotte with Jordan, but San Antonio is a good place for him. I think winding up in San Antonio is
a lot better than winding up with Jordan in Charlotte. Jordan may have learned his lesson
about how to treat big men drafted number one, number one, as to how he treated Kwame Brown.
But I think that San Antonio is the spot for him. And this should probably work out perfectly.
For both of them. As for the poor old wizards who wind up at number eight, which is where they
finished the season in the lottery process. So they didn't move up. They didn't move down. They
stayed at eighth. And they are going to be picking a player who they hope will be really, really good.
But the odds of him becoming an all star are enormous. How about this? The last player drafted
eighth overall to become an all star was Vin Baker, drafted 30 years ago, 30 years ago,
at number eight, became an all star. He's the last to do it. Recently, there have been some players
picked to have been really good to almost great. Franz Wagner picked 2021 by Orlando. Looks like
he's going to be a star. This is from a Matthew Parris story in the Times today. Rudy Gay,
2006, Jamal Crawford, 2000, Andre Miller, 1999. All these guys seem to wind up playing for the
wizards. Robert Parrish, if you want to go way back, he was coming out of a centenary though.
Centenary, very small school in Louisiana, 1976, was taken actually by Golden State and really was
not a star there. He was traded to the Celtics in the in the Kevin McHale deal. Jack Sigma,
1977. He made the Hall of Fame. Great player with the Sonics. But you're going way back there.
Outside of Wagner, the best player to be picked eighth in the last 10 years is arguably
Contavious Caldwell Pope, who was actually with the Wizards for a little while. Now he's starting
for the Denver Nuggets. That's kind of the way things go for this franchise. Other possibilities,
and this is again from Matthew Parris's story in the Times as to what they're going to do
with the number eight pick. Arkansas's Anthony Black Villanova's Cam Whitmore,
or mentioned the 19 year old black has good size, the six, seven combo guard can play either
position in the back court. Grades out as a solid defender could help Phil Washington's need at
point guard. One area of concern, three point shooting. Well, this is a league based on three
point shooting. That's probably not good. As for Whitmore, from Villanova is a projected to be a
better shooter, is six, six, and shot 47.3% from the field. But according to SB Nation,
NBA teams are unsure what position Whitmore might defend in the NBA and play shooting guard
small forward and power forward. Other prospects, he says to keep in mind, Kansas' Grady Dick,
who's a guard forward who can shoot, Houston's, Jarece Walker, power forward who can defend strong
upside and overtime elites, a sword Thompson, a defense first wing whose twin brother Amman was
also in this year's class. Matter of fact, both of them were at the NBA draft, at the NBA draft
lottery the other night. Nobody to get too excited about. And, you know, it's just sort of like
life with the wizards, pick an eight, get a player, maybe can play, maybe not. We'll see,
and we'll see you next year's lottery. Anyway, that's a wrap for me for the week. I'm taking
it tomorrow off, but I'll be back on Monday. I believe Mike Callow will be in for me tomorrow.
Tony is coming up next. Enjoy this wonderful weather, and I will see you back here
coming up on Monday morning coming up at 9 a.m.