Just the Stats
Just the Stats
Skip Bayless and Zion's Future
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In this episode Reggie and Eugene discuss Skip Bayless and his over-the-top takes on Tom Brady and LeBron James, and how sports reporting has shifted from well thought out takes to theatrics. Plus, don't miss our conversation about Zion Williamson's availability and potential suitors. Find out how his off-court issues and lack of availability could be causing stress for him and his team!
Sports Announcers and Narrative Journalism
Speaker 1It's just a statue . John T , Eugene Warren coming to you from Loving City of Atlanta , Georgia . And Eugene , this past week we had the end of an error here . You know I do you ever watch skipping Shannon ? You're now on them . I watch them .
Speaker 2I'm kind of like everyone else nowadays , I'm catching whatever the trending topic is , that skips it on Twitter or Instagram Or you know , or TikTok , you know , whatever it's like okay , we're going to say okay , let me watch this and see why I started freaking out . Yeah , that's usually where how I consume them , or or like I know we were talking . Sometimes I'll catch like the last little bit because I liked it . I've been watching switch between Pat and Colin Cowherd , yes , so , so sometimes I'll catch like the last few minutes because I'm flipping to is it ?
Speaker 2I think it's FS one or whatever the fuck one of the Fox channels that they're on , and I'll catch like the last few minutes because I'm flipping to . they're on and I'll catch like the last five or 10 minutes because I'll get . I'm trying to keep calling Cowherd show , so I consume a little bit that way .
Speaker 1Well , i've been a big fan of of skips for a long time on the very shows been on . I think that as of late I wouldn't say I've soured on it , but he's become a big narrative guy . I like a lot of these sports announcers that I've listened to a sports writers , broadcasters that I've listened to in the past . The gold standard has always been Michael Wilbine .
Speaker 1I have a skip on the screen right now . We're going to kind of go through I was wiki pulled up so we can go through things and on song like an idiot talking about his career here . We have it here right in front of us , so we'll go through that a little bit . But I couldn't help but want to start with a picture of Michael Wilbine up here because he's like gold standard for me especially . I don't know if it's just being a black guy who's aspiring to do these type of type of things , but Michael Wilbine has been gold standard for so long . You know him and cornhizer on PTI has been probably the longest watch show that I that I watched . I feel like I've been watching that most of my life .
Speaker 2Yeah , what did he game ?
Speaker 1I know , Watch Michael Wilbine and cornhizer on PTI . Did you ever check them out ?
Speaker 2Oh yeah , we like that used to be right when the hey days of ESPN started , when I I you legit used to watch around the horn PTI and then go out in the sports center . I mean , i used to be you know that's my single days and how you didn't have the kids and now the wife . You know . You know what I mean . So stop watching sports . I used to watch every ESPN . I got home from work , man , to catch the little yeah .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2That would be my everyday routine , You know .
Speaker 1I really the difference , i think , for me , watching that show versus watching first take days , which we'll discuss , and and the undisputed days with skip is , you know , skip has been excellent . I've been watching skip since cold pizza when he was on with with Jay and Woody Page . He was on there with them And then I think it went to like they had like a first and 10 segment on there . They used to watch . She's a love watching that . And then , of course , cold pizza was rebranded as first take . The rest is history is often to the stratosphere Right At that point as far as popularity goes . But it the reason I've kind of sour on it now is skip and a lot of sports writers have become very popular . They become narrative guys , you know , you know , so then we give you an explanation on that . It's a situation where You kind of know what he's gonna say . So if they were to bring up Tim Tebow , tom Brady , the Dallas Cowboys , you kind of know what he's gonna say . He'll kind of pick and choose games . He'll go back in years for certain subjects . You know , if it's convenient he'll go back two or three years but then talk about the current situation if it was good for him to do so And you kind of knew where he was gonna go , right . You talk about Michael Jordan . You kind of know what he's gonna say And it's just not as I guess I want to say not as interesting , because maybe it's interesting to somebody , but it's just . I already know what you're gonna say . So it's like a book you've already read to a certain degree . You already know the ending . You know where you're gonna go . You're gonna talk about the Tebow playoff game , even though that's a microcosm of his career . It's a very small part of his career , but you're gonna harken back . I'm a Pittsburgh Steeler fan , so that game does still hurt , but I know that what he's going to talk about , you know . You talk about Tom Brady . I know what you're gonna talk about . That's probably one of the issues that him and Shannon aren't on right now . I don't know that they've said that , but that the episode where he was kind of like talking down to Shannon and telling to put his glasses back on and all that stuff , i was a little bit disrespectful .
Speaker 1I think sometimes and you see this with very popular DJs sometimes a very popular DJ that becomes more popular than the artists they're playing . They feel like they're now . They are just as important as the artists that they're playing . You know DJs sometimes they're playing music and they're playing the songs you like by other artists , and then the DJs , as they go on , they become the artists you know , and I feel like what somebody's sports announcers they I don't know if it's like they felt like they could play the game , but they start to talk in such disrespectful fashions .
Speaker 1I don't ever want to be a guy , eugene , who talks like I am more important than the people that I talk about , right , yeah , yeah , that's , the people are tuning in to listen to their tuning , to listen about what the people talk about , not myself . So it's interesting . Let's go down to skip career a little bit here , because it's been a very long one and and it's lasted quite some time . And we'll skip the print journalism , which was a massive part of his life , by the way . We'll kind of go to when he started on television . Now , i didn't know that he was on the sports reporters back in 89 , which is pretty interesting .
Theater vs. Debate in Sports Reporting
Speaker 1Yeah , did you ever watch that show , the sports reporters ? that was on for quite some time .
Speaker 2And I used to . I love that and that , and I think that's where and it's probably don't remember him too much , because I think then you had a great point , i ended up . Why we love I think , why we love PTI , is because these guys they do it every day and they're , and they still talk about , they still think I I don't watch them like as much as I used to , but I can watch it now and it still feels like it's same as I'm watching for right , same feeling .
Speaker 2They're discussing , where it says probably when you started watching , when we started watching some of these hockey head shows that be at the first , it was about discussing , you know , a subject , whatever football , baseball , basketball . Now I know , when I'm watching it , i feel like it's theater . I feel like I'm watching theater . I feel I'm watching a show and I know they got , i know they got to do it every day , but it feels like it's become more like that , more like hey , who , who can I , how , can be more outrageous ? How can my take become just more over the top so I start trending somewhere versus Just talking about it , versus I think that's what I remember him on the sports reporter They were just talking about . It wasn't like , it wasn't like outlandish , it wasn't , they were just , you know they would have their points And they , you know it was . It seemed like it's more well thought out on their , on their , on their thoughts , versus , like you said , now it's hey , how many I'm skip , how many times can I hate on LeBron James ?
Speaker 2you know , you know And and how and how can I be ? How can I get under the skin of Shannon Sharp ? Now I'm pretty sure . Oh , you know , a lot of it is on the production . You know production and it is driving it and yeah , I'm gonna see them argue when I see them .
Speaker 1See them Find something to argue about . And right , lebron James , tom Brady are evergreen subjects for skip like it . At some times It would become the Lakers Dallas Cowboys . Tom Brady show like it aids when you look at the segments you know .
Speaker 2Yeah , so that to me where it's it's come to . And why can't I stop watching them , me and then , and that's why , like Calhart , calhart has been the exact same When he was doing the podcast when he was doing radio show band .
Speaker 1Back to the radio .
Speaker 2I mean , i mean it's kind of nice that he has , like he's had some of like co-hosts and he's , like any interacts with them , but for , yes , the 80% the show , it's still him talking about a subject You know and you know again . Sometimes this takes All right . The thing is different with him is Colin is not going for a take to be Like to , to be more for the be theater by like he has right trying to be more outrageous than somebody else .
Speaker 1Right , it might be outrageous , but it's not an attempt to be outrageous , as some of the other Correct me here , out here , like he's thought about his take , like he thought about it , like wrong or right He's going .
Speaker 2Look , i'm gonna show you where I've come up with this take and why I'm going this way . You can agree with it or not , but I had just a little more respect versus that , versus Lynn , the The , the , the , the , the , the buffal player , but I can't . This is darmo hamilton . Yeah , i have his take on that whole thing . Yeah , the mark Hamilton , thank you .
Speaker 1After that it was just like it was just it .
Speaker 2It was one of those things that was like what are you talking about when you ? and it's like , when you write it , like I don't understand We're coming from , and it's just , and I just look like I said he's just like he's like And I just look like I said he's just become more theater , more . You know , like you said , trying to be like I think you put her , put her perl . He thinks he could be out there and be a better player , be a better gm and be able to do things .
Speaker 1He could make a shot out there . I think you can go fast , you know , right , yeah , so yeah , and it's just .
Speaker 2It's like you know , it was cute five years ago , but I mean you could tell me . That's why I think people Are starting to drift away with that . Drifting away from those people like they just want to hear you talk about it , like we don't need to hear you know an outlandish take every time . Just Give me your opinion and but research your opinion , let me know what's , what's your thought . Be on p , you know , just don't throw it out there . And it just Just like we used to say in the in the mortgage industry Like don't throw , don't throw a loan application against the wall if it sticks . Like do your research right , you know , make sure the person qualified for the loan , make sure your take is qualified , make sure you qualify your take , you know , bounce it off somebody , you know , or don't . Just don't just jump on whatever the first thing the producer says . But you're right , it's . It's become like you said .
Speaker 2The LeBron show , tom Brady show , the Cowboy show is like I get it . Those teams are there the most ratings , but They're the most ratings . But just try something different every now and then talk about something different . It didn't see what happened , you know , yeah .
Speaker 1I think that one of the biggest things that I'd aspire to do is come on and , in any show , be open to changing my mind . I go into any debate like that . If I have a perspective , i'm always open to change my mind versus trying to prove my point . If that makes sense , i want to have a date there and I'm not saying that I'm gonna waffle easily . But at the same time it's kind of like if somebody presents a better point , a point is a point And that's kind of like what I like , what baits you know , and it got to the point where certain Skipper Shannon episodes would be with Shannon have a solid point , but it's getting so dug in to his perspective that it's kind of like he's just Still holding on to a take that's just a garbage take at that point That's been proven not to be a great take . But if he was like , oh , the the courage of his convictions is gonna ride that take to the very end When it's just not true anymore and then he'll come back on and have to kind of the same narrative Narrative again , yeah , and you kind of see where he's going . I never knew When I watched some of these other shows where they're going and I've seen tower , heard we've moved to Changes perspective on a situation or look at things differently Once other , once other facts are presented and I thought that's a good debate . At a certain point , if you're watching the show where guys just got his opinion and just never changes I mean at school that your perspective never changes , but is that really like a debate ? Are you really debating or you're just convincing ? at that point You're just trying to convince somebody that your way is the right way , versus Exchanging facts and perspectives and then just seeing which one makes more sense at the end . You know some always kind of open to that .
Speaker 1Now Bayless has been on for a long time , like when you look at the Jim Rome show , which I used to love . By the way , jim Rome still comes on CBS for people who Want to watch that . He's still on one of those CBS things , cbs sports , but Jim Rome comes on there . I don't know if it has a reach that he had when he was on the the mothership , which is ESPN . Yeah , you know what Woody page to . So Bayless was on what Woody page Here and I love Woody page . You know what he paid for . I guess more so around the horn flame now .
Speaker 1Yep , that's kind of a first take , but what he page ? very bright guy , loves talk about sports very different than skip Bayless , but that's why it's interesting that he was ever on there . Now the let's fast forward here to the Shannon sharp situation here , because , as I looked through , you know 2016 , he came on with Shannon sharp and We all know we could do a complete , total , different episode on skip and Stephen a . That chemistry was amazing right there . I enjoyed that show . I maybe I enjoyed it more .
Speaker 1I'd go back to see , but skip was still more of a narrative guy , still Harkening back to T-Bos . He'll pick and choose games . He'll say , yeah , this game in this fourth quarter . He'll pick and choose quarters , minutes where something might support his , support his view , but then overlook the rest of that year , overlook the years prior , overlook what happened just last year . Right , let's go back to remember game seven , 1989 , when this happened . It's like alright , it's cool . But I Like the . I like the fact that he was on with Stephen a because Stephen a had had a Steve the Stephen a show . I don't remember that at one point It was on was on ESPN and I don't think it did that well , but he came back on with skip First take and it was amazing , it's president first takes kind of become a Stephen a Smith show . Right now I don't watch it as much , but Stephen a still Stephen a yeah , that's , that's Crème de la crème . Right there , man . You know what I mean . Top top , not status . Demar Hamlin .
Speaker 2I like when they yeah , demar Hamlin . Oh , okay , i was . I was like , how's it one button , but for the pork his name . I just like I'm . Or I like when mad dogs on there . I like when mad dog and him are going .
Speaker 1Yeah , mad dog some Wednesdays man , and that's and that's great and that came in , she's great .
Speaker 2That's great .
Speaker 1I like that's what I want to stream more than the reddit Perkins chemistry that he has on there . I like the the mad dog . Maybe it's because they're just both been radio for so long .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , you can tell the two radio guys going at it , man , mm-hmm , without being too zoo crewish , i don't know if you have any zoo crew radio . Yeah , situations in some a lot of the local cities and I feel like they do a great job of kind of going back and forth on there . Let's get this out of here , we'll go back to Just us here on screen . So when you I Don't know man It's , it's Now that Shannon is gone and courses
Sharp Leaves, Zion Trade Rumors
Speaker 1we talked about . The Shannon situation that happened with the Tom Brady compares very disrespectful . I didn't expect Shannon to leave immediately , which was very funny because he did leave like right after , right after .
Speaker 1Yeah , you thought at least maybe because it made what the finals in .
Speaker 2Monday , so is that maybe ?
Speaker 1Friday . Man , no , yeah that the Ticket , the plane was already ready . Man , nothing was ready . I'm not sure if he just jettin from the state , right , i think it's does a place here in a . I'm not sure who's jettin from the state . Of course you keep your place down in Los Angeles because it's beautiful Los Angeles . Course You're not . Why not right ? But at the same time it was funny to me that Shannon seemed like he ran out of there , like he , as soon as it's over , as soon as they were got through that last day , let's go ahead and get everybody , get our people out here at the store , order out there . The tears came and all that stuff .
Speaker 1But what do you think of the Shannon sharp years there on on this beat ? I think he started off kind of slow in my opinion , and as I feel like every show does , i feel like our show start off slow , like every , every show starts off slow and then kind of gains traction as time goes on and His perspectives this tastes got better , i think , over time and I think you got towards the end of the show where I started to look at them as real equals , despite the fact that Skipped had been on a million years , you know , and he's really like one of the one of the godfathers you can talk about debate television from a sports perspective . Shannon very much newcomer , even though he'd been on for seven years . I was 2016 , they started that show , so they've been on seven years . That's having just flew by right , right And as time went on , i think their chemistry got better and And it seemed like it ended quickly , like it seemed like it wait down hill in like six , seven months , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 2I think what ? I just think he just got tired of it . You know , i think you just got . It's like Like you said , you got , he gets . He probably got tired of hearing the same take over again . It's like he and let's just face it , you when you watch and sharp on his from his playing days , that's the guy you're like . I can't wait to retire to see what he's gonna do afterwards , because you knew he's gonna wind up on TV .
Speaker 1You know he's just mother broadcasting to Shannon been broadcasting on , i think , yes , before he came to a , to ESPN , espn , i think he was doing guest spots and then , of course , he ended up on FS1 , right , i feel like he's doing guest spots on the ESPN on first take yeah and Then went over to FS1 then whatever .
Speaker 2Yeah , so I can see him doing something like that . He probably just got tired . It's like I can go and do this myself .
Speaker 1Well , he's been made into a his own person now , thanks to skim . I mean , no matter what I think you no matter . I think that's where some of the tears can come from , because no matter what you may feel about that person , that person gave you a platform and opportunity . Yes , become the person that you are today , and I don't think you ever forget that .
Speaker 2No , he probably didn't . You know he's yes . Why pride the tears came from ? but he's probably like going . You know what ? what's the next chapter ? now ? What I proven I can do this . I proven I can hold my home against . You know , a guy that's been around a long time . You know I didn't , so I think that would be his . Whatever it's next stop . I'm very , i'm very happy to see what he's gonna do next . That'd be really cool . See what he's , because it's common , right , he's not gonna just sit out there and not do anything because he's he's just too good for He's too good not to be on TV . Like . That's a guy you wanted , like you want to hear his takes , you want to hear him bounce . It takes off and he might just do . Maybe he'll just do the Podcast thing for a little while or the . You know , just jump from , like you said , these segments here and there . I think that those be great . Or if he wants to have his , i can see it having him's own show there . So it's a boy man .
Speaker 1That's , that's a , that's a podcast . That's done very well for him or the show is done very well for me . Interviews all kinds of people and I Would love doing a show like that because you get to do kind of different people from society . It's not just sports . You know , you can do musicians , you can do politicians , you can do other sports And that's you can do a lot of different people on a show like that . So maybe that's something he moves into . I saw and I think I saw Nate Burleson on On a good morning America supply days on something , a morning show or something like you know , you remember my straight hand , straight hand left . It's really good morning shows doing morning shows and stuff of that nature . So there's a lot of Opportunities out there for excess of athletes who can , who have that charisma .
Speaker 1And you're not necessarily held down by ESPN , or going to one of that another sports type situation , you know right , yeah , like you said , like maybe he builds on this podcast brand or maybe he comes .
Speaker 2You know , maybe he goes to like a bigger platform , Maybe he has joins the ringer or something like that . You know , you know , i guess I it could see him somewhere Because people want to talk to Shannon and maybe that's where I got old to maybe is getting Harder to line up guests with skip . You know , maybe people there's a lot of football people that you know After the whole that , you know , hope .
Speaker 2That whole situation , you know , vowed never to come on . So now , if he's off , he can get a lot more football . People , right people are gonna want to talk to Shannon . So Yeah , i'm just curious to see what what he does next . I don't think he's gonna , like I said , be on the sideline sidelines too long .
Speaker 1Yeah , me too , and hopefully we are able to To see where where he lands and kind of . And I'm also interested to see who jumps in on undisputed to with skip skip . Oh , as much as I might rag on the narratives , there are interesting perspectives that he gives on certain things . I can't . It's like a buffet now It's good . So skip , and Back in the day you see more of like a full meal , like a no buffet . She may be , i order the meal . Now It's a buffet . I got a pick and choose what I want from , from from skip now , because he's come to dug in on certain narratives For me , but I'll still be there to see who's there on an undisputed and what the next phase of his life looks like .
Speaker 1We'll talk about Zion here . I've heard some things floated around about trade packages . Of course we're here in Atlanta , so we're hearing some term trade packages here in Atlanta about Zion . But I think the biggest issue that I have with any kind of Zion talk here and hold on just my mic here , all right , so any what I'm hearing about Zion is that There's gonna be a pretty decent asking price for him , despite the fact that he's played only 29 games In about the past two seasons . Now I did . When the guy plays his box office right , average is high , shooting percentage is high , plays above the rims always a popular Way to watch the game , yep . So no , no complaints about any of that stuff there .
Speaker 1One of the trade packages that I saw flowed and you know they float a bunch of hypotheticals out there So you can't ever fall too in love with them . But I'll talk at least about one I saw out there , which was John Collins and Trey young being traded for him . I can't take it , eugene . I can't take it only because the guy does not play games . I need to see Zion . You tell me if this is fair or not . I need to see Zion . It is 41 too bad . Can I see him play 41 games ?
Speaker 2And even then I've traded . Yeah , I've traded more than that .
Speaker 1Four guys plays 41 games . Like maybe I'm too low , Like it's it's . Can I see a guy get through half a season before I start kicking the tires on him ? Like yeah consecutively , like I need to see you get through at least half a season Uninjured before I could start Maybe spitballing . To see if you can come here Like as even then , it's not a guarantee , right ?
Speaker 1Yeah , even then , we're not like all right bringing the guy in 41 games , but getting rid of two guys for a guy who might play is a heavy , heavy lift . And I really feel like if the Pelicans were to move him which I really thought they probably should because they're in a win-nil window I think I think they got a decent team where if they can get a good player back for them , for him , they're going to make some noise , because they were making noise without them all anyway . So you're going to make some noise if you can , if you can move him . But what do you get for the guy ? Because I think I don't think they're going to be trying to trade straight up for him . If I could go straight up Lillard for Zion or something like that , maybe .
Speaker 1I think Lillard's got a few years left in the tank , right , right , when , now , when , now for him , but I don't think there's a lot of straight up players . They're going to be asking for it . They're probably going to want some pigs . They're probably going to want multiple players . Oh yeah , yeah , what do you think about that ? Like , is that possible for a guy Hasn't played in two years ? I played very minimal games , very minimal , i mean , i don't know .
Speaker 2Yeah , I don't know what I mean . That's the thing . You . The crazy part is the time you looked when you play last year and they were number one seed . They were number one , number two seed when he was in that and they were like they were a top tier team and they looked awesome . Fast forward , He gets injured , Brennan Inger gets injured . They're just , they got , they got the injury bug bad last year . I mean never knew . I mean not just those two guys , but a lot of other guys on that team .
Speaker 1So yeah , yeah , i mean , my fantasy team stub this toe and missed a month .
Speaker 2I'm right , i know , and I had , i had Xiana , my fantasy , i just and I just stuck them in my IR , just so I just the whole season , because I just I didn't want to drop them , because you know the class of thing you drop them right , because you're like maybe .
Speaker 2Yeah , maybe . So I just kept an air , i mean because I didn't really need them , just in case . Um , but yeah , no , i just like you said I I want them to . I'm seeing play now I get them playing the way we would discuss this and we're not . we're not fat shaming anybody , but he definitely needs to lose weight . Charles Barkley is told .
Speaker 2I mean Charles Barkley told you that Like , yeah , and , and you know , that's what Barkley's game changes , when he , when he dropped the weight , right , that's when he became just the legend of his Charles Barkley . But no , i'm with you . And , and that's the thing , what are ? it's ? all depends Now , if we shred , if we can somehow get rid of the John Collins contract , great Cause , i mean cause , if we're getting rid of John and and and Trey , that sheds a lot of money .
Speaker 2Um , and then you know they , they did pick up , you know , i know Zion did some recent as contract , but a lot of that is tied to his health . So that's good . You know , a lot of it has to kick in . Like a lot of that money , guaranteed money , has to kick in , maybe play a certain amount of games . But I mean , yeah , it's just , and I know if , and there's a thing , is Zion coming to us , is that getting us over that hump ? Are we getting into that top tier , if you know , if he plays ?
Speaker 2So I don't know , i'm I just feel like there's other other moves that the Hawks can make with , with the , with our , you know , versus going down that road . You know , i feel like we can go other ways , and there's a thing is we don't have to be desperate just because there's a lack of free agencies . We can let you know other teams be desperate for you to , for our , you know , for our talent Versus us being desperate because we still have a good team , Regardless of you know , i know , we know we had we were in a playing game last two years . You know I like this . I want to see what Quinn's going to do with the team , but we still have a good team . There's no reason to get that desperate you know .
Speaker 1So how
Zion's Availability and Potential Suitors
Speaker 1desperate . What teams would be that desperate for a Zion in your opinion ? Is it a team that just needs to sell tickets ? or is a team that ? can he be a finishing piece on a winning team ? I don't know . I mean , you saw what happened with the Suns and CP three Right , when CP three was missing from .
Speaker 1The Suns is a different team , like you , you it's hard to be missing a guy from the end of the season and think that you can just plug him into the playoffs for one . It's hard to plug a guy in and it's hard to be missing a guy . So you really need him to be playing significant basketball , going into the playoffs , i think , or you really to have that chemistry and then you're going to need to kind of get you through through those rounds . Yeah , he's shown nothing so far , nothing in the latest stints with the baby mama and the , the porn star fighting and all that stuff Like that's . That seems like it's taking time and it's not going to take time from anybody . I don't , i don't . It's a stressor , if nothing else . So Availability availability is best ability We all know , great , and being that he is not been available , you can look at all his games from Duke if you want .
Speaker 1You can look at the games from when he actually plays if you like . Yeah , but those games are more likely coming from a couple of years ago . There , he just hasn't been present . We've seen more of his wardrobe than we've seen his skill Like him playing . We've seen his wardrobe . He's sitting on . You know he's out there . If you came to watch him watch , then you're . You're going to sell a lot of tickets , but I think even if you're in just a ticket selling business , you're going to want him to play at some point , right ?
Speaker 2Right , yeah , and it could be . maybe it's one of those things that we've seen this happen where an injured prone guy goes to a different team and , oh , look at that , he's all of a sudden healthy . So maybe it might be one of those things . Maybe he just gets put under the staff . Or you know , coach , i don't know . I just um , because if you , i mean well , here here's , i mean here's the opposite , i mean look at what we've said . It's the thing about Luca . You seen Luke look lately , he's looking really good , so that I mean that's , that's the kind of thing , that's the Instagram story I want to see from him , like I want to see him , like running on the beach , running up those you know working with , you know paying like a million dollars for a trainer you know getting to that kind of shape . Where , where is that ? as I am stories Like we heard that I think that's what changed from MB last year . He started , you know , stop , stop eating the McDonald's . Gotten , gotten , it's hard man .
Speaker 1It's hard , that's . It is extremely difficult , especially when you got all the money in the world , right , but I think it's the same thing If you have all the money in the world you hire , you could hire a chef . You can afford to eat more nutritious and still not not compromise like taste and stuff like that . A lot of these chefs can pull that off .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , i mean like like he's box office , no doubt Like he was last year .
Speaker 2He saw him come in , you were excited , You , you , you saw him He's a little slimmer when he came in and then the hamstring industry injury happened and it was like it was all year long after that . Right , It was after four , maybe after also a break , maybe maybe before playoffs , maybe playing game , maybe you know , it was just all these and you just kind of knew it's not happening . And so , and if you're the pelicans , I mean , or are you , are I mean , if you're , are you trying to go to Portland , you know , trying to get that number two pick , I'm sorry , that number three pick , and you know , getting one of those top two picks that are coming .
Speaker 2you know , karma , that's the way the New Orleans wants to go . Um , i mean , it's not a bad , it's not a bad thought . You know , you've got there's three picks and we already know one's going . It's just , we're a suit and a Miller are going to go , one of those guys is going to do and what's going , three . So do you want to take your shot ? You do want those guys .
Zion's Suspension and Future Potential
Speaker 1Um , that means it would have to be like a Charlotte trade right , Charlotte's in there too .
Speaker 2Right , that's what I'm saying .
Speaker 1I would have to be in there somewhere in that trade . So we're not saying that I could directly with Charlotte , but they would have to be in the mix .
Speaker 2You would think I mean just from , and that's what I keep hearing too . Well , i heard Charlotte . It's like then you're pairing two guys that have two injury histories .
Speaker 1I just feel like that's just a double whammy right . You know , not near for their fans , man , it's great on paper , but they're not actually ever running the court out there together very , very rarely .
Speaker 2No , So I just I don't know , um , and I just that's the thing . Where is his value at ? I mean , is it , are you , are you going to be able to get a lot back for him , cause he's got the games plays . We know he's a number one pick , but you know he's been injuries . I just don't know what his value would be . So I mean , if they're good , if we're going to for one , i mean , you know , if the Hawks were , i wouldn't mind it , cause we still got a good infrastructure .
Speaker 2So we got rid of Collins and we got rid of , you know , tray . At least we have Murray and we still have a good team in place . If he fall , you know , if he gets injured , but you know this is always going to be back in your mind When's he going to get injured , when's he going to ? and then we made all , we made this push and what's just say ? let's just say we trade them . And you know we trade Tray and we trade John and it's maybe , it's a maybe a pick swap or something down the road or forum . And then we wind up in the playing game because he's in the year , because we have the same team . Basically , what do we ?
Speaker 1do ? What did we do We ?
Speaker 2didn't improve our team . Like I said for the Hawks , i just don't . I just don't think we have to be that desperate , you know , to get to , to move on . If we're trying to be on from Tray like we don't have to do it right now , we could wait till wait , till February . We'll wait till the trade deadline If the team isn't going the way you want to . Versus um maybe we get him , maybe he's healthy . There's too many . I don't know . I don't know what . I know there's not a lot of certainty in the world , but there's a lot of less . There's a lot less certainty . What was Zion right ?
Speaker 1now 100% agree with that . Um , what's been ? we'll give Jaffee minutes cause I don't , this is this . I don't know , man , i don't know . I mean , what was it ? Was it 26 games , 21 games ? I know it was in the 25 games , 25 . Okay , 25 games , all right . I mean , which is significant ? by the way , yeah , it's a lot of games . Um , i don't know .
Speaker 1I think a lot of times these guys are just making too much money . You know what I mean . You're making a lot of money If you sure you get back . Let's say , he loses 10 , $12 million . Um , if you're making what 40 to 50 , you're still not in a bread line , so to speak . You know what I mean . I mean it's it's . Is that changing your life ? I think you'll think about it later .
Speaker 1I heard Perk talk about uh losing on $300,000 in , uh , just technical file charges and stuff , the ad , and he said he misses it . He misses that $100,000 cause he kind of gave some of his money back . You know , and that was his advice to other young NBA players not to give your money back , when I can see you thinking about it later for sure , when that money's not coming in at that pace like I just handed them , you know , $10 , $12 million back . So of course you got to think uh , think , you think about it because it is still a lot of money . But I think , in a scheme of things , though we look at how much money a person's going to make from endorsement , how much money a person's going to make over the life of their contract , how much money future opportunity they have to make doing things outside of the game once they retire , um , then you have a situation where you really have to be your own deterrent to your behavior .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1Because I don't think money's going to be the deterrent . You , once you've made this much money , once you've hit nine figures , i don't think money's going to be the biggest deterrent to your behavior . Um and the the . The gun could have been a toy gun . That could have been that . He has another little post She showed me with him using a gun as a lighter .
Speaker 1I don't know , i'm not sure exactly what his situation here is Maybe that's the gun , i don't know . But at the same time I'm just having a hard time trusting , trusting the guy . The kid is young , he has an opportunity to turn things around And one of the key things about the number of games he was suspended is he now can't qualify for any NBA rewards . You got to play , at least I think , like 65 games or so . It's in the sixties . He got to play . He's he's disqualified from that off top . Most he can play , if he plays every game from this point is 57 . So he's disqualified from any of those wards and those awards , of course , have kickers in them . That would have made him uh him more money .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1But ultimately he's going to want to change himself , man . That's why I don't really want to give this a ton of time . I don't really there's enough conversation . I don't . The trust factor is not there , um , until the kid kind of grows up a little bit and decides that he wants to make certain changes for himself . Mm-hmm , i don't know what else can be really done . I mean the NBA way to like sit him down . I really feel like a tougher punishment would have been better . But you know it is . It kind of is what it is .
Speaker 1You know it's a great player , like watching him play a lot , but it's kind of ruining with this stupid behavior , you know .
Speaker 2Yeah , well , they and they get . They put some , they put some Things in the suspension . So even if it's 25 games , he gets done . Like he has to show that he's changed Right . He has to do something now . They didn't , they didn't see it spelled out . Anybody has to do , but they're laying some foundation rules out that he must I'm assuming , some sort of rehab , some sort of you know Probably some you know just more accountability for himself . You know , for first , first thing , you do delete your social media . Just just delete it all . Just don't go on there anymore , just be free for these kids man .
Speaker 1It's like me , who social media is horrible .
Speaker 2Yes for other .
Speaker 1Really love it , or even other grown-ups who really love . I know a lot of older people who really love social media . It's right much more than go ask for them .
Speaker 2Yeah , but other than that , I mean this I just want , like you said , let's So . he screwed up on his first chance , right He ? and which you know it's kind of a joke anyway .
Speaker 1He kind of yeah , I've been through therapy .
Speaker 2Situation was right through therapy is hilarious , but you got to give you , it's like you know , silver game benefit that like , okay , we'll do it . You get this many games , you come back and you , in me , any come back and and you saw what happened right . So This time , and you know , and that's the thing , it's like he , if he doesn't meet this , these criterias , he doesn't get to play . So I'm hoping he gets He . You know he . Obviously he wrote a statement out . Apologize to the fans teams , blah , blah , blah . Right , You know . Sorry , i hate to write it off like that , but we heard , we heard this , we heard this long dance before .
Speaker 1Yes , man , we heard it before , heard it for a fairly recently right .
Speaker 2So now's your , now's your real chance of proof it . You know , show us that you can do it . And Let's say I'm pulling for him . I'm like I said , i always been fooling for him . I want to see him play .
Speaker 1I'm the good thing is great player great player .
Speaker 2I mean , the good thing is they got a good team there have a win .
Speaker 1Yeah , they didn't win .
Speaker 2They got used to playing without him in certain Stance and they do pretty good without him , so right so they think they were 20 and 5 when he wasn't playing . So they've got a good nucleus So they can hold a fort down before he comes back and and , like I said , when he comes back , we , you know , i wish it all welcome him back . You know he didn't . He didn't do . He didn't do . My PMP Proverance has drugs You didn't do . You know . Yeah , he didn't really break a law .
Speaker 1I didn't break a law .
Speaker 2You didn't . I mean great , it's toy gun , that's . I mean . If it was , don't have it . Just don't do you know , post any kind of gun , you know , you know . Or if you want to post something about Rehab , i mean that's great . I mean if you're doing better , that's , that's what I want to see . If you're gonna post me something , post me something . Hey , this 12th day rehab just started , you know , starting to see Where I messed up . And if he starts reflecting that way and wants to share that , that's fantastic . I mean he doesn't have to hear at all . But just don't you know . So no more the gun sharing , a toy gun , whatever , and But yeah , just , i just want to get better and come back and play . That's really all it comes out to for me .
Speaker 1Yeah , for for me as well , and we'll leave it there .
Promoting Podcast Platforms
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