the ending Poland show got to go after this everything we got bigger than a
come with everything they got started on by saying on board and broken up by
the ending Poland show on ESPN 6 30 starts right now and I may be a little
bit scratchy today I'll explain that in a second we're going three hours Tony's
off today so we're on till noon talk of course about the sweep by the Denver
Nuggets last night with another sweep possibility tonight we'll see if Miami
can finish it off and boy it'd be a long haul till the finals because they don't
start until next Thursday so you're talking an over a week off for at least
the Nuggets and possibly for the Miami Heat tonight we'll see what happens there
also we'll talk about the sale of the commanders I don't think there's any
surprise what came out of the owners meetings yesterday we knew there was
not going to be a vote taken there was not and Jim Ayers say made some comments
Jerry Jones made some comments and reading between the lines it seems to be
well we still have to vet all these partners that are coming along but we
expect this to get done and likely it's gonna work out the same way it did last
year with Denver they'll have a special meeting in August July whenever it is
and certainly the season will not start with Dan Snyder as the owner so we'll get
to all of that and more Max Kellerman will join me at 10 20 as he does most
Tuesdays and one of the things I want to ask Max about with Boston now facing
03 and the only team in baseball to have ever come back from 03 was Boston who
beat the beloved Max Kellerman New York Yankees I want to ask him you know what
that was like as a fan watching your team now the Yankees have had a lot of
success and if you're in that situation in the championship series many times
the odds are you may face that situation but they are the only team to blow a
3-0 lead and I'll ask him if you were a fan of the Miami Heat could there be any
empathy with New York Yankee fans who saw that lead evaporate I think it was
2004 2003 was the Aaron Boone home run that beat the Red Sox and I think 04 was
the year that the Yankees imploded after the after the 3-0 lead in the series
but before I get to all of that let me tell you why my voice is a little
scratchy last night I went to Tom Laverro's annual I think it's called cigars and
curveballs and he has it at Shelley's Backroom which is right downtown 13th
and F and it's a place where you can go and smoke cigars and have dinner there
was a time when I would smoke a cigar to a year I don't really like cigars I
don't like the way it makes my mouth taste after it's over so last year I
probably smoked my last one when you go on the door for this fundraiser and you
pay some money to go in there's appetizers and there's a you know a
bunch of people that you know including Mike Rizzo because Tom always scheduled
this on a day off for the Nats and last year Davy Martinez was there as well so
you get to schmooze with with those guys and other guys from around town some
people in my industry some people who are fans of sports radio and people have
worked in television and things like that and newspapers and so forth so we
sat around schmooze raised some money and had an auction they auctioned off a
bunch of stuff including a Mark Mosley signed jersey at Joja Kobe signed
jersey some books and they even auctioned off Tom and Kevin's podcast where
people could sit in I think that raised close to a thousand dollars so it was
great event this is a great thing that Tom does he does it for the DC Grace it's
a wooden bat baseball team that's they they have this every summer it's called
the Cal Ripken League and there are a bunch of teams from the area there's the
big train which has been around for a long time they play a Shirley Povich field
in Bethesda it's a wonderful place to spend a summer evening they play just
June and July they're college baseball players who play their sport with a
with an aluminum bat but in the summer they play with wooden bats and some of
them go on to the major leagues and there've been some well-known players for the
Grays over the years including Dusty Baker son who's now in the Nat system and
and you know it's just a great great thing for baseball in DC not just the
Nat's but to grow the game it's the participation by kids in the District
of Columbia is very low and the Nationals are attempting to do something
about that and they've been very supportive of Tom's event they've been
supportive of the DC Grays and and I think for the whole whole area it's it's
really meaningful for baseball to matter again in Washington DC so that was that
was really nice and that's why my voice is scratchy I had to talk really loud
because there were a lot of people there Tom did a great job of bringing
people out so there's a lot of noise a lot of yacking and when you're talking
with some people you got to make yourself heard and you wind up with the scratchy
voice but I did make it home in time to see the end of the game last night and I
get to that in a second but one other quick thing here Rex Mintern is here
today and last Friday was ride your bike to work day and there was a time when I
worked in the afternoon and it worked for me ride your bike to work day is is
set up throughout the DC area and they have various pit stops where on your way
to work you can stop and get some refreshments they give you a t-shirt
when you register and I really enjoy the whole the whole thing I get to you know
talk with other bikers at the pit stops and so I take the day off now that I
work in the morning because the pit stops don't open until seven o'clock
and just wouldn't work for me to ride to work so I took the day off and I went
on a ride so about I don't know 10 30 11 o'clock I'm on Old Georgetown Road
not far from NIH and I'm practicing good safety habits I'm at the stop light
waiting for the walk signal to go so that I can get on my bike and continue my
ride and turning left is Rex in his car and he yells out and I give him a
old man wave you know like that and he goes on his way and and I get home and I
see a text from him and I will read you the text verbatim as he wrote it to me
last Friday he said you're far from home which was true I live in Germantown so
I'm in Bethesda at that point it's another what 15 miles or so and yes I was
in fact far from home but between the lines is the message hey old man you might
drop dead on your way home that's a long way for you to be riding and I texted
back when I got home on my way back from Georgetown I'm old but I'm not dead now
a year out of college if I saw somebody my age on a bicycle knowing how far he
was from home I might have the same reaction was am I accurate in depicting
how you felt when you saw me on Old Georgetown Road I almost crashed I was
shocked yeah right but I was impressed yeah well yeah I mean again it's it's
use it or lose it so as you get older if if you're not you know doing things that
they keep you active it's it's gonna fade away it it is it's so yeah I've I
really have enjoyed biking guys as you know I had a pretty bad accident about
four years ago but I'm fully recovered from that I always wear a helmet I wore
helmet that day and that saved my life and I try to be as safe as I can but I
really enjoy the whole experience of riding and it's a beautiful ride the
one thing about riding to Georgetown on a weekday Friday as opposed to like a
Saturday or Sunday the Crescent Trail which goes from downtown Bethesda right
to the waterfront in Georgetown I think it's about eight miles if you get on
that like nine o'clock on a Saturday or Sunday morning forget it it's like the
LA freeway I can imagine yeah it's just it's just packed with people and and to
be able to do this on a weekday was nice and the weather was perfect it wasn't
it wasn't anywhere near hot and was cloudy which is good so the sun's not
beating down on you and and a good time so so let that be a lesson to you as you
get older keep doing what you're doing otherwise you're gonna wind up in what
most young people think you should be doing sitting in a rocking chair watching
TV which which I am not quite ready to do so so I ride along and encourage
everybody to and I you know sometimes I see people out on the trail that are
much older than me and I'm always impressed by that and you know my goal
is my granddaughters actually turning ten months old today so my goal is to go
on a long ride with her someday and so I got a figure that's gonna be another
maybe 12 13 years something like that before she could you know ride of any
distance I'll get her tricycle ride around the neighborhood a little bit but
yeah that's what I'm that's what I'm shooting for all right let's get to the
game last night LeBron you know gave it all he had especially in the first half
he had 31 points he gave the Lakers 40 but he only had nine in the second half
and they had the ball with four seconds to go down to everybody in the arena
knew that LeBron was gonna get the ball and he drove to the basket and he
really didn't even get the shot off right right he didn't eat you was the
long bird grabbed it yeah just just put his arms around the ball Murray really
you know Murray for him didn't have a great game he he had 25 points but he
disappeared in the fourth quarter he really did not have a big scoring fourth
quarter when they you know we're looking to put it away but that was a huge
defensive play at the end of the game and LeBron now is swept out of the
finals I will get to his reaction in a moment because this is what I think
everybody's talking about today who is he gonna retire is he gonna retire I'll
have thoughts on that in a second but this is Mike Malone who until you know
a month ago was virtually unknown by people who are casual fans of the NBA he
said at the all-star game and he was a hundred percent right he said it's a
disgrace what what this is now this is not basketball that they're playing so
good for him but he gets his team in and and the world is now
recognizing Nicole the yokech who actually won two MVPs and didn't win it this
year you know it's ironic that the year he doesn't win the MVP that Joel and
Bead wins it the people started to notice like hey this guy's really good and
he's averaged a triple double throughout the playoffs did it again last night
30 points 13 assists 14 rebounds a spectacular player just doesn't really
look the part you know kind of doughy but he's seven feet tall he can handle the
ball he can shoot the ball and he got off a couple of shots at the at the at
the shot clock buzzer which were just terrific last night and so Mike Malone
now can can revel in the fact that for the first time since the Nuggets joined
the NBA in 1976 from the ABA where they were coming off losing in the finals I
believe it was the New York Nets that won in in 76 he's now got his team in the
NBA finals it's a surreal moment first Western Conference Championship in
Nuggets history and I could not be more proud to represent the Nuggets great
players on our team high character and this is for all of our fans back in
Denver and we're not satisfied I think that's one message that's coming out of
a locker room right now there wasn't a big celebration back there we understand
that we're heading to the NBA finals and we have four more games to try to win
we've heard that messaging from you since since game one of this series it's
been a bit of a countdown and now we've heard you say now it is four more wins
how have you gotten this group of players to buy into that mentality well
started back in September and October you know we went to San Diego for training
camp and our goal this year wasn't just to win the Western Conference
Championship our goal was to win the first finals championship and then and
nuggets history and something that we talked about all season long middle of
December we wind up taking over first place in the West held on throughout and
I think the Minnesota series the Phoenix series and now this Western
Conference finals against the Lakers first sweep in nuggets history as well
our guys have believed along the whole the whole journey that we've been on but
as I mentioned our players are hungry they're not satisfied and they
understand whether it's Miami or Boston we have much more work to do coach we've
all known for a while now how great Nico Leo can choose Jamal Murray now healthy
we know what he was capable of he's back to that level talk about the
acquisitions that you have made here over the last couple of years to round
out this team when you bring in an Aaron Gordon and a KCP and a Bruce Brown this
year who was vital to your team just talk about that process and what you guys
need it and the way you addressed it by rounding out this team and adding those
players
well I think it's a really important point you know nobody can win a
championship by themselves and we understand how great Nicole is a two-time
MVP averaging a triple double in these playoffs after three rounds which is
just insane we know about Jamal's resurgence coming back from the ACL
injury but you know Michael Porter coming back from an injury just as
important and you mentioned the acquisition of a KCP you mentioned the
free agent signing of a Bruce Brown you got to give a lot of credit to our
front office Calvin Booth took over for Tim Conley I've had the pleasure and you
know to work with tremendous front office people who have made sure we added
the right players to the puzzle it's not just about talent talent is a given in
this business it's all about character and identifying guys that are gonna buy
into our system our best player is completely selfless a huge part of our
culture and we have a lot of guys stepping up this is not just on one
player and coach I want to quickly ask you about that best player that selfless
player as you call it this is a scary proposition for the rest of the league
but makes Denver fans giddy everywhere at 28 years old a triple double machine
how much better can Nicole Yokich be well you know what he he challenges
himself to get better every all season like all the great players in the past
he never wants to come back as the same player his IQ is off the charts his
greatest skill is to make everyone around him better he steps up in big big
moments he's a clutch player but what I see the the main areas that he continues
to grow in is his leadership and his voice and when he takes over a huddle or
he speaks up in a locker room or a film session the impact is just tremendous
on our entire group and that's the area where I think the call has grown the most
getting comfortable with his voice and the leadership role that he has to have
with this team because everybody listens to him everybody loves him and
everybody respects him he's he's an unbelievable player and he's going to be
on center stage but he'll have to wait a week more than a week as the finals don't
start until June the 1st there are three X wizards who are going to the finals
with the Denver Nuggets let's see how good Rex is can you name all three Thomas
Bryant mm-hmm KCP yep there's a third this is a tough one he was he's been
around the league he is his boss is Smith is Smith yeah who's I think been with
thirteen teams at maybe fourteen has he set the record yeah and I don't think
he's ever been in the finals before so that's nice for him he didn't play last
night and Bryant didn't play either but but there will be some wizards
representation in that and and you know cadavers Caldwell Pope he's he's a starter
for them I don't know why the hell it didn't work out here you see here what
two years ago and it played wizards asking to do too much I guess I mean but
he's he's working out fine with them he gave him he gave him 40 minutes last
night and 13 points you only had one assists but yeah I mean you know it's
odd when you have a big man like a Nicola Yokech who's handing out that many
assists so you know guard is who only has you know one assists in the game you
know you have to look at that in a different way you know Jamal Murray also
had only five assists last night so it's just a different you know the way that
basketball was traditionally played when we were growing up I mean people who
were older is so different than it is now you know well I mean Will Chamberlain
just just to prove a point one year led the league in assists but that was very
unusual you know usually it was it was a guard that did it and now you know it
can be a big man it just just the way the game is played I want to spend some time
on LeBron and and what he said at the end of his news conference last night so
we'll get to that next also the NFL and the greed it's just beyond belief
we'll talk about that and more as we continue it's the Andy Poland show ESPN
630
the Andy Poland show on ESPN 630 the sports capital great for Tony so roll
until noon today Max Kellerman in an hour you hear him every morning here on ESPN
630 with Gishan and J will this is getting a lot of the play from last night
and it it kind of tells you where LeBron is on the landscape the story is the
Denver Nuggets getting to the finals for the first time it should be anyway but
really the story is what now LeBron what's going to happen getting swept out
the third time in his career that he has been swept in a series and he's 38 years
old and it's it's been assumed that he's going to spend one more year playing for
the Lakers as his son goes to USC and wherever Bronnie goes the year after
next is where LeBron is going to go well as the news conference wrapped up last
night after he had given what he had and and and did not get off the final shot
in the two-point loss and the sweep he sounded like he was you know leaning in
the direction of at least thinking about retirement and this is how that last
question went last night obviously all-time scoring record another season where
you essentially defeat father time again on a personal level how would you
evaluate the season that you had I don't know I'm I let it play the game I let it
compete I let it be out there for my guys my teammates wherever I have that
particularly here I think it was special in a in the fact that having a first
year coaching first year coaching staff to be able to take you know take them
to the West Recompany finals I think that's dope for coach ham and his coach
staff going forward it's pretty amazing for me I mean I just you know it's all
about availability for me and keeping my my sharp and things of that nature being
president of the floor being president you know locker room and bus rides and
playing rides things of that nature just challenging challenging you know for
short it was a very challenging season you know for me you know for our for our
ball club obviously you know we know we went on early on or whatever case may be
but it was a pretty cool pretty cool ride but I don't know I don't know I don't
know I think it's okay I don't I'm like to say as a successful year because I
don't play for anything besides winning championships at this point in my
career and I don't I don't get a kick out of making a conference appearance
I've done it a lot and it's not fun to me to not be able to be able to be a
part of you know get to the finals but the way it's it let's see what happens
going forward I don't know I don't know I got a lot to think about to be honest
I got a lot to think about to be honest and just for me personally going going
forward the game of basketball I got a lot to think about he was asked after the
news conference he was asked when when you say you've got a lot to think about
what thread should we be pulling on that and LeBron said if I want to continue
to play as in next year yeah you would walk away I got to think about it now
realize this is 10 minutes 15 minutes after he's just been swept out of the
Western Conference finals so he hasn't really had time to reflect on this he's
really down I think he came into this game especially the way he played in
the first half that ain't no way his team was going to be swept and they were
and so now he's he's got a contemplate an off season where he's got the finals
that he's not going to be involved in and you know this is again all raw nerves
right after the game week from now it it may be different he may be thinking in
a different direction here is what's on the table if he plays next year he's
got one year left on his contract with the Lakers and then there's a player
option so that allows him you know if he wants to go play with Brony he can
opt out in the final year but next year he's due 46.7 million dollars and 50.4
million the following year she's almost a hundred million dollars on the table
over the next two years and he's made a lot of money you know it's like when
when Jerry Seinfeld was asked why he didn't do one more season of Seinfeld
when he could have made another a hundred million dollars he said well I had
made some money before and LeBron has and he may even be a billionaire with all
of his investments and all of his companies but the question is what's
going to happen next now it's been assumed that he wants to play with
Brony he said that he said that's my goal I want to play with my son but he's
kind of backpedaled with that a little bit he was asked in February as he was
passing cream of duels or bars the all-time score you know what what is he what
does he have left to accomplish and he said I got to play with my boy but recently
he said I've done what I've had to do in this league and my son is going to take
his journey and whatever his journey however his journey lays out he's going
to do what's best for him and as his dad and his mom Savannah his brother and
sister we're going to support him and whatever he decides to do so just because
that's my aspiration or my goal it doesn't mean it's his and I'm absolutely okay
with that you know maybe Brony has said to him you know there's a lot of pressure
here dad you know I got to go to USC as a freshman and I got to perform well
enough that I'm going to be taken in the NBA draft because everybody assumes that
that's the plan and maybe he wants to release a little bit of pressure on him
the other thing that's a possibility is that he could sit out next year he could
not play go to the LeBron James or Brony's Brony's I guess he's LeBron James
Junior Brony's games and and and watch him play and then just wait for the draft
and wherever Brony winds up sign with that team you know and and play one more
like ceremonial year I guess he would you would go for the championship but the
reality of what the Lakers are facing right now is I don't know how much of
this team they can even bring back and and how much they're going to be able to
add to it with the money that they're going to be due to pay LeBron plus
Anthony Davis Austin Reeves is a free agent you're gonna have to pay some
money to bring him back D'Angelo Russell well he was a big disappointment so
he's gone he's off the books things like that but in order to add another piece
to make him title worthy and and that's what he says he's he's playing for you
just heard him say it's not playing just to get to the conference finals he's
he's playing for championships does he want to go through that next year
probably miss some of Brony's games you know the leverage that he has with the
Lakers he can just tell him I'm not playing tonight because Brony's got a
game even if it's on the road he'll just fly there he's got all those things at
his option but that that would be something that I think would be something
he would consider he would consider doing that and you know maybe that's that's
the best way for him to to go out he said you know he's dealing with a lot of
injuries he's got a foot problem that's I think it's ligament and he managed to
play through it he said he heard it pop against Dallas on February 26th he saw
a bunch of professionals some recommended surgeries he finally found
somebody who he described as the LeBron James of feet and he was assured
that he could rehabilitate and get back on the court which he did but he's still
facing the possibility of off-season surgery which I think you could have
so you know even at you see 38 so even if he plays one more year at 39 and you
got this you know cool traveling show with LeBron and Brony I think that might
be might be fun from now he asked to also weigh the the idea of ending his
career with four titles you know if you want to get into the all-time greats
conversation they kind of weigh that you know Jordan had six Kobe had five you
know is he is he going to want to have that fifth championship that much I don't
know but but again because of the the way the Lakers are hamstrung here it
seems unlikely that they can put together a championship team next year
and you just heard LeBron say that's really all he's playing for at this
point so retirement I think is is not going to happen but it's it's it's
interesting to hear him at least entertain that notion and the old Bill
Parcels pal Parcel's line is if you're thinking about retirement you're
retired that's more for football but you know maybe maybe after 20 years realize
it's 20 years since LeBron came into the NBA 2003 so a year off and one more
it might make some sense coming up next hour we'll get to more on the sale of
the commanders what Jim Erase said what Jerry Jones said all that is we
continue with the Andy Poland show ESPN 630
the Andy Poland show we got to go after this everything we got bigger they're
gonna come with everything they got started our by saying I'm bored I'm
broken I'm back the Andy Poland show on ESPN 630 starts right now sometimes this
is the halfway point and sometimes we're only a third through the show like today
Tony's off so we're going till noon Max Kellerman coming up in 20 minutes the
NFL owners had their meetings yesterday in let me pronounce the name of this town
it's EAGAN I guess it's Eagan Minnesota which isn't far from where the
Minnesota Vikings have their headquarters and so forth I don't know why they chose
that it's I guess it's middle of the country right Midwest so good place to
have it convenient for everybody to fly in their private jets you know you know
you don't have to worry about connecting flights if you're an owner but they got
together there Tanya Snyder not there Dan Snyder not there he's apparently
checked out Jason Wright represented the team and they did not take a vote and we
did not expect them to take a vote on the deal that's in place deal that
reached in principal with the Josh Harris group and the question is how soon is
this going to get done I don't think I mean it would be absolutely shocking if
the commanders open up the season and Dan Snyder is still the owner I just
cannot imagine this and there's no other deal on the table now Brian Davis the
former Duke player popped his head out of the ground with some cockamamie
lawsuit yesterday claiming he's got a seven billion dollar offer to buy the
team which is just absolute nonsense so he's he may be coming up the works a
little bit they're gonna have to just you know slide this mess out of the way
eventually but the owners right now are considering this this Josh Harris
group which again as Seth Wickersham reported last week at ESPN if the owners
weren't so anxious to get Dan Snyder out the door this wouldn't be approved part
of it is that they have so many partners there's there's 17 minority partners
in this and traditionally you know owners have you know one or two partners
Snyder at one point had three other partners which he eventually bought out
and and and I think led to this because that the fact that he had to pay off the
debt waiver by 2028 is I think a big reason that this sale is actually
happening but it's not happening just yet the hope that this could be done and
approved at the owners meetings yesterday is is obviously not going to
happen it could happen later this summer the one one guy who's been the most
outspoken about this is to say the owner of the Colts who said back in
October that there is merit to remove Dan Snyder as the owner and that got a
lot of people up in arms including Snyder who released a statement who said oh
you know once Jim finds out the facts here he's going to realize that that's a
big mistake well it's it's not he's they're finally getting the Snyder's out the
door which is a a good thing and something that has to happen but it's not
going to happen yet this was here say yesterday this deals been put together
and I think you know all three parties the league and the Harris group and you
know the commanders they they want to see this deal get done it's just you
know being on the finance committee and being representing the ownership you
know there's certain criteria that has to be met I mean I mean that's just the
way it is you know and and it's not there you know but it doesn't mean that
it can't get there it's it's you know it's it's it's complicated put it that
way you know I could explain it you wouldn't tell you anything because you
would say what did you just say you know but um so but you know it's not too
complicated to kind of really get to the wake of it make sure you know that we
get a deal that you know complies within the league rules and we're trying to
do everything we see and to make the deal work no the big hold up is is the amount
of money that it's on the debt to 1.1 billion dollars which they're uncomfortable
with again the big thing is with the escalation of the values of these teams
that the rules they have in place are probably gonna have to be amended they
just don't work that well because you're asking somebody on a six billion dollar
deal to put down close to two billion in cash nobody has that people have big
money they don't have that sitting in their checking account so they have to
take on partners they have businesses that are worth a lot of money I mean
Josh Harris among other things owns the devils and he owns the 76ers and he's
not gonna liquidate that to make this happen it used to be you know the NFL
had a rule and this is why Jack Kent Cook when he owned the Lakers and the
Kings was not running the Redskins Edward Bennett Williams was the president of
the team but I don't know how much ownership he had it was it was Cook's
team the problem was at the time the NFL said no no no you you can't water down
your ownership you can't have ownership of other teams that has since changed
and with that changing that makes Josh Harris a candidate because he does own
those other teams he's not planning to sell them in fact he's in the process of
building a new arena for his basketball team in Philadelphia or trying to get
that through trying to get that approved so that this is not you know what it
was back in the in the 80s this is this is a different ball game now now
reportedly the finance committee met for about an hour and a half yesterday with
Roger Goodell about that and they've raised issues according to the post
related to the structure of Harris's deal the committee believes the deal in
its current structure is well above the NFL's 1.1 billion dollar debt limit for
team acquisitions again that's that's a number that's probably got to be
massaged a little bit because it again it doesn't really work as these
franchises climb in value to now over six billion dollars Kansas City Chiefs owner
Clark Hunt the chairman of the committee has vowed to continue to work with the
Harris deal according to people familiar with that and that was kind of
corroborated yesterday when Jerry Jones spoke to the media well I would
anticipate being done is there a timeline at all no I don't have one but there is
not I don't want to simplify a lot of people's a lot of work but these are
outstanding qualified owners and not just their several handful of qualified
owners here certainly the significance we read about are very qualified and that
always rules the day
with
getting
structure
right and it's too important to important have right structure for them
coming in because they'll benefit from the way it's been structured for
everybody else and come as structures important
be interesting to see what the financing was when Jerry Jones bought the cowboys
in 1989 because he paid at that time of believe it was a hundred and eighty nine
million dollars and if you've read his accounts of what what he went through
he was he was maxed out he was gambling you know he was he was a guy who made his
money in in oil and you know that's a gamble as it is where you're drilling
you're spending money to drill hoping you're going to find oil but you don't
necessarily find it that's when you know you talk about the glory hole that's
that's what it is when you see the oil gushing and that's what this this was
at the time I mean he was advised oh like hundred and eighty nine million what
are you doing well this is the cowboys is the jewel franchise I'm gonna make
this work and he was he talked about you know maxing out all of his credit
cards there were there were some you know rocky times there but I never heard
anything about partners now it's a whole different ballgame so that you can in
fact according to lead rules take on as many as 25 partners this is 17 but I
guess it's territory that they haven't been through in in a while because the
Walton family bought the Broncos last year they don't have to worry about
partners in that and and the deal that was made before that was was a third of
this it was to something when David Tepper bought the Carolina Panthers and
he was able to buy them himself so this it's sort of new territory for him but
it shouldn't really be that scary as Harris has said he said that the the
partners that he has combined with with his wealth it's worth over a hundred
billion dollars it's it's not going to fold so I don't I don't see this as as
being anything that should be this much worry about but there I guess trying to
fit it in with league rules and and how it all works and you know I guess if
if Dan Snyder hadn't been such an embarrassment to the league that they
would say to Josh Harris well you know you're really over leveraged here and
the way this deal is put together and with this incentive thing that you've
worked out with Snyder to get the money over the the six billion dollar mark
we're really not comfortable with that so you know come back in a year when you
got your financing together but because there is embarrassed by Snyder as we are
as fans by what he's done to this organization that they they want to make
sure he's out the door and and I think also they're looking at the stadium
situation they want to be in Washington DC you know all this this nonsense and
reportedly Harris had it in his prospectus to try and attract investors
that Virginia is promising a billion and a half for a new stadium I think that's
complete nonsense and I think the NFL even if if there were financing available
for Virginia they wouldn't want it they want to be in Washington DC when this
franchise was a jewel franchise it was in the nation's capital it had a couple
of good years at FedEx field but it never really had the home field advantage that
they had at at RFK never had that feel never was was anything like that even
when they had some pretty good teams there and he wants the league wants and
you know once they want to be in DC and the influence that they were having
Congress and and and all the other things that go along with being the the
monster corporation that they are they want to be in the district of Columbia
and and the longer this stretches out that the less chance it happens by the
time there leases up at FedEx I still think they're probably gonna wind up
staying at least a couple years after that I think it's gonna take a while to
get that all done but that would be the goal that happened there I talked about
the the flexing of the games that now from weeks 13 through 17 you can flex a
Thursday night game flex out and put in one of the Sunday games into that I
think that's that's really awful but it's gonna mean more money for the league
more more leverage for them with Jeff Bezos who reportedly is paying a billion
dollars a year to put those Thursday night games on prime John Mera who's in
I'm not really a good guy he's he's he's on that competition committee and he's
the one that that led the way for for Washington to get screwed out of a
situation where they would have had some salary cap room to to build around
Robert Griffin the third and they lost all of that because remember in the
uncapped year of 2010 they plowed in the money from D'Angelo Hall and and
Albert Hainesworth to to it was an uncapped year and you could do that they
were told they could do that and then once I was over the go no you violated
so there was a there was a cap penalty and that really hurt them he's not a good
guy but he does at least have a little bit of empathy for the fans and he's
and he was he said when he was asked about it in March when this was on the
table he said the plan was not friend fan friendly and asked about it again
yesterday he said I feel the same way and I do 100% this is not this is not
good not necessarily for the people who are flexed out of the Thursday night game
though they may have to make alternate plans as well like for example this
won't happen for the commanders because it doesn't fall in that 13 to 17 week
window that that that five week period but the commanders are playing Chicago in
week five I have cousins that are Bears fans they're coming in to see this game
and you know what if I told them after they've made their their reservations
oh yeah it's it's not a it's not a Thursday game anymore they flexed it to
Sunday they have a Sunday morning flight back to Chicago that that could happen
to some people later in the season because of this and I don't think that's
right the owners did ratify a proposal to allow each team to designate an
emergency third quarterback on game day they had this for a while and they
stopped it and then what happened last year in the playoffs yeah Brock Purdy gets
hurt backup gets hurt and here they are I think it was Josh Johnson right Josh
Johnson hurt Josh Johnson by the way Josh Johnson signing with the Baltimore
Ravens that guys been with everybody and it's his third tour of duty with the
Ravens it's unbelievable and it just highlights this and so stop picking on
Robert Griffin the third well once again RG3 who said that he was very excited
about his talks with the Harris group and and seemed to lead everybody to
believe that he was going to be a part of it have you heard his name mentioned
you know all these different partners names that are coming up you would
think somebody as high profiles he is no nothing it was just him just just
trying to insert himself into into the news and so he did this interview yesterday
about his TV career and by the way he's going to be a star he's great on TV and
I look him and it is as great on TV in the same way I do as Alex Rodriguez great
on TV and baseball now Rodriguez had a much better career in baseball than Griffin
did obviously and would be in the Hall of Fame were not for the steroids but
but but Griffin is as they say fake sincerity about as well as anybody but
he's also you know does his homework knows the game and expresses himself very
well gives opinions I don't necessarily agree with all his opinions but he said
in this interview he says I haven't retired yet at all I tell everyone that
asked me the question that I train every day and I'm prepared to play if that
call comes I've had some talks with teams over the past two years but nothing has
come to fruition I would like to know what the definition of talks is is that
hey this is this is RG3 yeah you remember me I was really good and in 2012 and
you know not not so good afterwards and I got hurt a lot and I was a backup with
Baltimore you remember me yeah I'd like to play let me get your name and number
Bob and we'll get back to you that's probably what the talks were all about
so so Josh Johnson who's who's the ultimate NFL tumbleweed and in a
situation where he needed to stay healthy to give the 49ers any chance to
get to the Super Bowl couldn't do it he's he's with Baltimore he's back and
RG3 is not so you know enough of that already that he's gonna play again
that's that's not gonna happen but now they will have the third quarterback
available so when they when they get the players dressed this will be a player
who can only play if the other two get hurt he cannot come into the game and
once he comes into the game he the other two quarterbacks can't come back in
like if you got a player banged up and the backup comes in the third 13 guy
comes in the other two can't re-enter the game but it it seems like a no-brainer
especially now that you're playing 17 games you know I mean why not and and
the owners don't want to do it because it's it's more money it's more their
precious dollars they have to spend but I think they need to expand the rosters
I think you have to have more players available for every game because it's
just it's just a war of attrition and as the season goes on you know we had we
had for many years it was 14 games and 14 games seemed about right then they
went to 16 and 16 at least was an even number and seemed now there's shoe
warning in that 17th game and believe me the 18th game is coming they have the
option to do that and they've always been able to get the players to do what
they want but just throwing more money at them it's it's sunny corleone with the
photographer they breaks the camera and throws down some dollar bills and and
it just goes away and that's what's that's what happens here with the NFL so
they you know this is the start I think whether they're able to get it through
I don't know because they have all the leverage against the players but at some
point I think they need to expand the rosters to more than what they have
available for every game so what you'd have is the 53 plus one which would be
54 I would think that it might make sense to go to 60 you have the players
they're on the practice squad you might as well do it coming up talk to Max
Kellerman about a variety of things and also later this hour it was five years
ago today that the NFL instituted a national anthem policy which is now
completely outdated we'll get to that and more as we continue it's the Eddie
Poland show ESPN 630 the Andy Poland show on ESPN 630 the sports capital here
Max Kellerman every morning here with Keishan and Jay Will he's on in the
afternoon on TV this just in max on boxing and has identified himself as a
baseball fan first do I have that correct well my first love as a team sport was
baseball yeah that was my first love for a team sport but I like do I actually
care about what's happening in baseball outside the Yankees unlike most baseball
fans I care about the team I mean yeah well this is actually Yankee specific so
you have the fire away okay see yeah you have the you have the Boston Celtics
down 3-0 and the one time in baseball that it's happened that a team has
blown a 3-0 lead was your beloved Yankees losing to Boston I believe it was it was
2004 and and of your sports lifetime is there a more painful memory than that
lead collapsing here's the truth you know I hate to take it this way but you
asked me a direct question my brother Sam we're 15 months apart was actually
murdered in 2004 and I found out about it I guess it was the ninth inning Mariana
Rivera was on the mound Yankees were up three games so nothing you're about to
sweep the Red Sox that's when I got the news and I don't remember anything after
that I didn't see anything after that yeah yeah so so like as far as I was
concerned the Yankees are about to win again you know they're about to move
another world series right and you know like that all I could think of after
that was Sam at least you didn't have to live through that you know what yeah yeah
yeah yeah you find any kind of left you can and in a tragedy like that and I
hate to bring you down but that's the truth no I guess it's a more interesting
answer than yes it was the most painful sports yeah yeah I yeah obviously your
perspective is completely different with what happened but but I wondered too
about about the the fans of the Miami Heat now I mean they are they're really
doing something that's historic right I had has has there ever been a an eight
seed maybe even recent years it's happened I didn't come to mind but has
been an eight seed that's actually were an eight yeah the Knicks were an eight
seed when they went to the finals which was what the heater trying to do I it
wasn't a sweep as I recall but that was the Marcus can be seasoned you know Patrick
you right hurt but the the next had a lot of talent that you they actually had
the supporting cast Patrick you and needed in the 90s you know in the mid
90s in order to win a championship they finally got it he got hurt and they
were beaten by the Spurs but that was the shortened season so it's kind of like
it's looked at like the bubble year there's something about you know just kind
of a normal season that I think people view differently yeah in terms of in
terms of getting credit and this is a kind of normal run-of-the-mill season
that goes you know a full 82 game schedule and the he's playing the playing
game and have to play another playing game right because they lost yeah Jimmy
Butler has just been unbelievable yeah yeah yeah but but it's not just
Jimbi Butler I mean they had a embarrassing blowout for Boston the
other night Butler had 16 points that they're getting contributions they're
getting contributions from guys who were under after you I saw this nine
undrafted players on the heat nine it's incredible well listen this is you
want to really talk about what's going on in Miami it's Lakers southeast yeah
you know Pat Riley I saw David Oliver and Chad this that 24.7 which is 25%
yeah Pat Riley has participated as a player poacher executives in 25% of
every finals ever played in NBA history think about that for a second right yeah
so what's going on there really it's a Pat Riley organization Eric Spolstra is
from the Pat Riley tree he is the best coach in basketball it is fair to say
you know in fact it's undisputed at this point right he was in the
conversation he's top five years that air supposed to best coach in basketball
he's the guy you know he's number one and I was saying Ty Lew until recently the
look what Spolstra's doing with this group and Jimmy Butler is the perfect
Pat Riley Eric Spolstra player right in tents to the point of insanity and and
you know this is there was a trying to remember the author's name a really
interesting book called the captain's club or something like that yeah and the
idea was that when you have a captain of a team who was an extension of the
coach on the field of play Tom Brady to Bill Bellis Derek Jeter to Joe Tory
Tim Duncan Greg Popovich that's when you get dynasties right and and
I think it's I think it's fair to say that Jimmy Butler is an extension of
Eric Spolstra and Pat Riley you know in spirit right the same kind of
maniacal the word Jay Will uses about him all the time maniacal animal you know
and and when the heat got Jimmy Butler's like look I don't know if they're gonna
win a championship but that's the right guy for that franchise no no no question
but I would just say this about Riley's past championships they've been with
Kareem and Magic Wade and Shaq you know the Jimmy Butler is a star but we
don't put him in the same category as those guys and the fact that they're
doing it yeah and the fact that didn't start that way we didn't start but but
in the regular season if you're suggesting to most basketball fans oh yeah
Jimmy Butler's you know right there with the all-time breaks
what does people say you're nuts playoffs different story and
like I say he's doing it with guys like Duncan Robinson you know that that
we're not even drafted it's it's it's to me I think an incredible story
and and I've also on to your point I think it it tells you what an
incredible winner Pat Riley is you know anything he touches player coach
GM president whatever it is they win and they win championships
they do but I would say about the previous statement you just made
if you look at Pat Riley's resume and I don't want to gloss over Eric's
full school I just get Pat Riley and Eric's full school so they said best
coach in the game he's got the crown but but they haven't won a championship yet
they've been to a finals they're about to go to their second finals um Pat Riley
took a Knicks team with Patrick viewing as a centerpiece
true who was perceived during the regular season above Jimmy Butler but in fact
when their careers are over I would anticipate they're perceived as more
and less on the same tier of player um the second best player of the team was
John Starks yeah you know talk about the you know
bagging groceries same kind of guy right that you see on the heat roster
and they got to within you know if if a lot of one doesn't get his finger tip
on Starks is three in game six at Houston mixed win in six games and as it
was came close to beating him anyway right like it took
Starks missing every shot yeah for them to to lume game seven on the
road so he's done something similar even when he had
now hard away in morning were highly you know uh drafted and thought of very
well but they weren't white you know top five type of players right top 10
and maybe outskirts of the top 10 and even though they used to get knocked out
in the first round every year they were a powerhouse like the way they
competed was a lot like the way this heat came
competes true so it's he hasn't quite done this before but
also like let's see what happens in the final like if Jimmy Butler figures
out a way to beat these nuggets all bets are you know
retired the prize yeah exactly yeah that that would be
one of the all-time stories that we're talking to Max Keller and let me
get you on the on the Boston angle a different way
and uh and that's Joe Missoula uh i don't think you know even if they if
they lose tonight by like three i think he can he can exhale a little bit
but do you think in many ways he's he's coaching for his future in Boston
in that this game does not resemble game three
that that he's got to make it so it's at least it's not an embarrassment
because if it does resemble game three max i don't know how he can come back
next year yeah i agree with that um he look
Emmanuel Stewart one of the greatest trainers of all time
in boxing made mistakes in his first couple of you know super fights with
a fighter right because he hadn't been there before
that you know everyone needs experience i don't care even the greatest of all
time player and coach and so i think Joe Missoula
has a promising career it may not be right now for the Celtics if they get
traced tonight right i agree with that but that means he's not a good coach or
can't be a very good coach but i would agree it wouldn't be with this Boston
team yeah yeah i think that's that's exactly right
there there was a cap's coach named Cassidy which Cassidy whatever his
name is and he and he was a disaster here he's young he hadn't had any
experience he got Boston to the finals you know so
you're right i think it can happen for him someplace else
but i don't think the players can look at him and it was pretty clear they
didn't have any confidence in him and then
to compound it to come out and say it's my fault i didn't have this team ready
i i don't know how you can how you can do that how you can instill any kind of
confidence when you're telling the world and your players
i can't do this job well i don't see it right i mean i at least what i liked
about it is he was being honest you know um what i but the issue was
not in his response but in the truth of the matter you know it's good i think
it's a good sign that he was not denying the truth
he had lost his team basically but uh but but why did he lose his team
why did he lose his team and maybe part of it is look they were just in the
finals i get it but they did they did uh lose and their best
player didn't play very well and part of it may just be
that cadum and jaylin brown while both terrific players and you can see the
Celtics make a deeper playoff run every year
but while both three players don't make each other better i think that's a
legitimate criticism not that they make each other worse but they don't make
each other better and ideally you'd like a team to be more than the sum of its
parts mmm let me hit you with uh with labron and carmello before i let you go
uh labron kind of hinting at the idea that he's going to retire i look at it
as a guy who just was swept in the finals the emotions are raw it's
10 15 minutes after the game i don't think he's thinking as clearly as you may be
in two weeks but do you think that there is any real possibility that uh we've
seen him play for the last time i don't i think he'll play again
um is there a possibility he doesn't play next year
no i i don't think that's a good possibility either but
better than that he doesn't play ever again right um
if he played his last game for the Lakers again
improbable but that's probably a better chance than either of the first two
scenarios you know i just touched on so so no i i would agree it's
highly unlikely that labron james is done it's right after a loss
you look at the last play of that game labron james drives you know poorly
designed play by darvin hann no space for labron
he drives into the teeth of the defense jimal murries riding him hand on the
ball the whole time aran gordon's in front of him he's a leaper
who's six nine or whatever he's labron tries to
will it anyway he's on a bum leg he's in year 20
um he played 48 minutes and uh he tried to jump over a leaper and the
leaper blocked his shot by the way yokech was waiting for him under the
basket if he you know if he did get any closer so
in that moment labron left it all on the court
he just didn't have enough given the circumstances of that moment
to bring the leakers at least one win but they got damn close and they were
in every game yeah i i think when he has a chance
to think about it too and and and there's also the brawny factor you know do you
want to put that much pressure on brawny like hey this this path is already set
for you you're going to play with dad in two years and you're going to be in the
nba well you know maybe brawny doesn't doesn't develop as
quickly as as as some hope that at USC needs another couple of years there
you know so you you i think i think i think this sort of releases some
pressure on him as well and i think that was a that was a pretty smart move by
him last night uh last thing is is car mellow and and
wondering about his legacy we always talk about guys who don't have rings and
car mellow only three times in the playoffs did he get his team past the
first round but he led Syracuse to the one national championship that they got
under Jim Beheim and he won three gold medals so
when obviously he was a great player obviously a great score number nine all
time but as a winner how do we judge him overall with those other numbers we
have first of all i remember i was it was my
year on around the horn i was the original host on around the
morning this is like 2002 maybe and um everyone was telling me tj
Ford is the best player in the country and they're going to win and i so you
know i'm watching these guys early this season and the entire time i
like no Syracuse is going to win they have car mellow
Anthony right i thought of him as a winner and a clutch player because he
showed that all season he had jerry macnamaro was huge in that
final sure but like they had they had car mellow Anthony wins the national
title i think he had the sheen of you know being a winner
and a funny thing happened to him and it happened to a couple other players
where the league changed from out from under his feet
and the the player that he had developed to become his entire life
the isos score with every single move in the book right
that guy suddenly was not so valuable as he used to be
and a guy with that skill set who wasn't like a point forward
would you know give it his giving car mellow size
was expected to three and d more than really he was capable of
but even the the idea that he could have become a kind of more efficient
player who could operate in the flow of an offense that's not centered around
him he was late to recognize how much things had
changed and how much he needed to change i think
and that slow recognition i think hurt his legacy in the long run because i
do think it was possible to win a championship
with car mellow Anthony as one of your two best players and and your first
option on offense right i that would have been possible it just
never quite broke that way for him and part of it is
James dolan when they when the when car mellow made it clear you have to
trade me to the next right so it chased away other
potential landing spots who don't want to trade a lot for a disgruntled
star doesn't want to be there James dolan in typical
bumbling James dolan fashion the owner of the next you know cut out his gm's
legs and and you know insisted on giving the nuggets everything they asked for
so love car mellow went to a depleted roster
yeah you know it so it just didn't quite break right for him to win a
championship but you know in a parallel universe he's won a couple of titles
right right now i think i think the olympics should count and i think what he
did at syrukis should count and uh you know had he come along a
few years later he did come out in the same class as
LeBron same draft class but he would have been able to maneuver himself into a
position like LeBron has been able to do with
Miami and and the Lakers toward the new Detroit yeah yeah if the
Detroit doesn't draft our yeah right they out they got too cute you
know yeah clever by hash yeah if they just draft car mellow he
probably get at least one with those they were champs they were defending
champs yeah they would have lost a little defense with car mellow but they
would have picked up a whole bunch of offense no question and you know i think
there's a good chance he's the leading scorer on another or one of the
real offensive weapons on a championship team early in his career
then he has the patina of being that championship winner
and and you can maneuver with that you're throughout your career a little
differently and maybe things would have been different
big series tonight oriles and yankies best of luck i'll talk to you next week
good talking to Andy thanks that's max kelerman you hear him every morning here
on esp on 6 30 anyway uh what i think max kelerman
for joining us today as he does most tuesday is one of
the recs mintern for running the show and thanks to
all of you who listened tony's back on his regular schedule this week so that
means a show tomorrow and a show on friday looks like the weather's holding
up so that's a good thing uh and uh and enjoy it enjoy the rest of the day
and i will see you back here tomorrow in my regular spot right here
at nine a.m.