all right episode three we in here episode two was a success we appreciate everybody showing support and now let's keep it going yeah yeah we back we back another week let's do it We bet. So it's been six and seven days since we last spoke. So a couple of things going on in the sports world. Let's talk about it. okay okay way out way i want to begin i mean i don't know i mean fresh off the bed the first thing that comes to my mind is just i would like to say rest in peace to george foreman yeah legend okay legend legend legend is on right uh you know shout out to george foreman i feel like he definitely came around like a little bit, I was a little bit late he already had kind of his career was already in the sunset or whatever but the grills he put me on paninis for sure yeah yeah for sure I mean I feel like George Foreman I mean, I feel like he's a winner, man. Like, off the field. I mean, in part of his boxing and outside of boxing, I mean, a successful businessman, like you mentioned.

You know, he won the gold medal. And then the thing about him is that, you know, he won the world heavyweight at 24, right? And he came back at 45. And no one has ever done that before. With the gut. Right, exactly. 20 years later.

Of course, we know about the rumble in the jungle with Ali, you know, the rope-a-dope thing. Right. Probably one of the biggest fights in history. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I was a little child in 94, but I just remember how big it was from my dad telling me about how he was the oldest heavyweight champion in history. when he knocked out some dude in the 10th round and got all three heavyweight titles.

And actually, that record still holds to today when he was being the oldest champion ever. And actually, he held on to his heavyweight championship until a couple of years later when he was 48. So that's just crazy. yeah yeah man put it to put it all into context you know he uh he won his first title in 1973 wow and then lost his title to muhammad ali like you said the rumble in the jungle in 74 he retired in 77 came back in 87 and then he won his championship again in 1994 at 45 so just like a remarkable run of consistency and getting back to the top of the mountain that many times should definitely be commended. A role model, for sure. And all his kids' name was George. That was kind of wild.

Like, what do you mean all, like, on both sides? Like, they're all they guys? Yeah, I think he got a daughter named Georgina. Yep, he got a few sons and a daughter, and they're all named George. That's crazy. And Georgina.

Okay. Hey, he adult like that. He's a narcissist. We saw him with the clips already. Yeah, yeah. Rest in peace to him.

Rest in peace to that man. We saw him with the clips already. All right, yeah. So, RIP to George Foreman for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. what else what else happened what else what else peripherally happened yo i feel like we're gonna talk about this a lot yo but the uh the new contract at the wmba the new contract but they they negotiating right negotiating a new contract yep yeah yeah talk about holding out talking about a bunch of stuff yeah i mean what y'all think I feel like that is.

I don't understand why it's getting a negative light when it's business. You know what I'm saying? Like far as like the NFL done it, NBA, baseball, you know, it's it's Angel Reese is getting a lot of heat for doing something that she's supposed to do. You know, talking about, you know, we need more of this. We need more of that. And that's where we stand.

And then in the beginning of the stages, that's how it works. And then you meet in the middle somewhere where both parties are happy. But I feel like she's getting a lot of slack for being one of the stars in that league, if not one of the top stars as far as the future of the WNBA and actually speaking out for the behalf of all. And I feel like there's a lot of negativity coming out of that, and I don't think it's supposed to be because that's part of business. man does everybody do y'all all believe that WNBA should be paid like like what more or like what's the number I just want to know because like I'm on the side of I think they should get paid enough to be here do I think they should get paid like the men I don't think that's I'll be honest I don't think that I don't they're good but they don't they don't pull the same I think the numbers have grown to the degree that they should have enough that we don't have to send what's her name? Brittany Griner just got jammed up in Russia. She shouldn't have had to have been playing in Russia all offseason as the third best player in the WNBA.

She should be able to have that not be her situation. I advocate for women to be able to do that, but what number is that? I don't know if they garner that much. Well, here's the thing. right um and the way the wmba structures their contracts are a lot different so i've actually done a little bit of homework on this so the duck so every league every professional league has a cba right um which is collective bargaining agreement if anybody doesn't know that right and the cba for the wmba was actually recently agreed upon back in 2020 it does not run out until 2027 other leagues have had cbas that have happened recently um the nfl of course we know the big there was a potential for a lockout back in 2020 they were they negotiated to higher salaries um and they even and their justification for that was adding one more game if you remember it so it went from 16 to 17 games the nba i would say the nba probably has the strongest union um because their salaries of course are the highest, but a lot of that money comes from TV deals that are actually overseas, especially in China. NHL actually had a shutdown because they weren't able to agree upon their contracts. And that, of course, that agreement also was made in place in 2020 and baseball, every time, I mean, they have lockouts all the time.

There was a 99 day lockout back in 2022, too, but they were able to negotiate that as well. So I think Angel Reese is just maybe a couple of seasons early, but I do understand where she's coming from because the salaries in the WNBA are significantly lower than comparative women's leagues in Europe. Okay. And the WNBA's profits that they made last year was higher than all the NBA, all the basketball, right? All the, all the women's basketball leagues in Europe. So it is a little bit unfair as of right now.

So they're due? Yeah, they are due. They're due in 2027, but the owners are making money hand over fist. Now, to be fair, Angel Reese, Kaitlyn Clark, them coming into the league has brought a lot of more exposure. WNBA has blown up. Of course, just gambling in general has generated a lot of buzz for women's sports as well.

But their contracts need to be negotiated. because they are the lowest in any professional sports. That's the part right there. You hit the nail on the head. The surge of the WNBA's popularity based around Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese's emergence is what makes this conversation more interesting. I don't think in 2020, you know what I'm saying, they would be running to the table asking for more. But I do think that now with the way that they're sharing their market value, the way that they're sharing eyes, I think that it's fair.

You know what I'm saying? When a player has a five-year contract, at three years, he's starting to look like, hey, if I'm producing at a high level, I want to restructure. I want to renegotiate my contract. I think they're a little bit early to the conversation, but I do think that they're warranted to demand a little bit more piece, a larger piece of the pie for sure. because uh i want to say last year there was a jump of uh 48 from from 2023 the 2024 was 48 percent higher so as far as far as viewership we talking about 2 million fans the highest in 22 years so it actually even higher than Brian There a 93 ticket surge in ticket sales 170 increase in view and 601% increase in merchandise sales. Mm, boom. Right, and they only get paid 60s, high 60s, high 80s, right?

Not only that, well, they made $200 million last year, And only $20 million of that went to revenue allocation. That means the salaries were only 9% of the league. In comparison to the NBA, the players make 48%. This is what I'm talking about. The owners of the WNBA are making money hand over fist. And it's not going back to the players.

Even the NFL is at 48%. And they don't even have guaranteed contracts most of the time. yeah yeah I mean I feel I feel like what you think percentage wise Brian like I know you said like not as much as I could see that right as far as that being a journey you know not overnight type thing but what do you think about the same percentage 48 52 as far as splitting the revenue yeah I mean obviously it's you know I don't I don't agree with slave labor I don't I believe that people should get a fair wage and if the swap out for the for the nba is that much i think the wmba should be looking at that and saying yeah we should get something similar 48 of 200 million though of the revenue of the revenue they're if they're if the revenue i mean how is the revenue general being generated is it being generated because the owners is it being generated because people just like the fever or is it being generated because people want to be caitlin clark you know i'm saying so i think bring it in the money. Angel Reese, all the big names. 9% is crazy. NBA, 49-51. NFL, 48. NHL, even the NHL players make 50%, and their salaries are relatively lower compared to other leagues.

What's the NHL, man? 50%. 50%. It goes to the players' revenue. This is a young union. they're they're a new it's a new you know thing so it's going to take a while for them to to gain that power put on the negotiating table yeah they're getting yeah they're getting smoke right now yeah but but i could i definitely would like to see that up above into 25 30 range no yeah i mean that would be yeah that that would be appropriate i mean even mls and i don't even know anybody who watches mls even they i actually got a couple of boys that are like real serious about MLS. Really? Yeah, they go to games and shit. Well, that's somebody.

It's a lot of people. It's a lot of people. They pay Messi. I mean, it's something going on. Yeah. Yeah, man.

Angel Reese is getting a lot of backlash, yo. I don't necessarily agree with it. Yeah, it's unfair. She's one of them ones. She's going to be one of them ones in the W. You know what I'm saying?

We're going to be hearing about her for a long time, I feel. Yeah, every time she says something, it's going to go viral or whatever. Exactly. I don't give a shit. She can play. And that's the part that, you know what I'm saying, as long as that's the part, I feel like I like the athletes that are willing to speak up and speak out for their fellow teammates and stuff.

They don't mind putting it out there. and she goes out there and she competes and she plays well so i feel like she's valued that voice is important it's people that don't play that well and be talking and nobody listen because it's like oh they're not defensive player of the year right yeah bro and the amount of hours it takes to be a professional athlete bro you know they're not just working 40 hours a week it's non-stop grind. I mean, with the dedication to be the top 1% of anything and A, the top .01% and only making high 60s, like, you can't afford to even afford to live by yourself with that type of salary. Right. You know, you have to be in a real struggle bus. I mean, I'm talking so. Not no major city.

Not no major city. Yeah. So definitely going to need to be some changes there. And that's why she had to play over the winter. Because, you know, remember the WNBA plays in a little bit of a later season. But they were in the, I think it's called the Rivalry League.

Unrivaled. It's called the Unrivaled League. Yeah. Yeah. And I think her salary there was actually higher than it was in the WNBA. Yeah. yeah so i think the instagram live thing worked got a comment on there he said it's interesting oh yeah oh sorry no way bro i was gonna say they the unrivaled league is something to help compensate the wmba players so that they don't have to go overseas to play uh The championship, you could win $50,000.

So each player wins an additional $50,000 on top of, I think, Angel Reese. I think the rookie salaries is like $73,000. So other people make more, but rookie salary is $73,000 plus $50,000. So that's a hot little, you know what I'm saying, $130,000. That's a good year. Yeah.

No, no. As a single 22-year-old, that's not a good year? thanks i mean how much is it how much is a a condo in chicago yeah i know but she got a reebok deal and a podcast but that's why that's why she loves by all her peers because she's not speaking for us so everybody knows that she's good personally right right you know what i'm saying she's speaking for the people that don't got reebok deals which is everybody else correct right i'm saying so So, yeah. Yeah, no, for sure. That's what I'm saying. That that more. Yeah.

You selling jerseys, you selling jerseys, you selling tickets more for sure. Everything is up. I mean, and honestly, they probably should even expand the games because I think they only play like, what, 30, 50 games maybe? The NBA plays 82. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, listen, if I was a WNBA owner right now, I would be sitting pretty. I mean, look, the profit margins are ridiculous. And you don't have got to pay your players? I mean, it's almost as bad as NCAA before NIL. Yeah. Yeah, maybe they're spending that money on that media.

Maybe they need to be – I mean, it's a lot. I mean, we can go there, right? I'm ready to go out there a little bit it's a couple WNBA players with OnlyFans because they can't afford because of the salary that's nasty work bro oh I didn't know that yeah a couple of it was one that retired right like she retired Erica Cambridge definitely got up by the tall one the center Liz Cambridge I'm sorry Liz Cambridge you know And that's how you know something ain't right, man. I mean, I don't know. She might have just did OnlyFans because she wanted to, though. She says she made more money off OnlyFans in like a week than she ever made from her whole WNBA career.

Right. Wow. Definitely, you know, inequality exists. Let's go and change stuff. This is beyond inequality. This is damn near slavery. another another another going viral quote by eddie yeah no it's it's getting better i'm just saying we're i'm glad that it's starting to be because it's been like it's been bad but i'm glad that it's finally starting to be highlighted starting to have you know a legitimate a legitimate discourse but the you know maryland just won the buzzer maryland just won on the bus everybody what yeah They just had a buzzer beater.

That's what I'm talking about, though. Let's go. Let's go. Oh. Damn. I knew you was watching the game.

Colorado State, though. Colorado State took us to the buzzer like that? Yeah, it was a great game. Maryland, boy. Woo! My bracket's alive.

Everybody's parlay's still alive. Derek Queen, man, hey, listen, he's going to be a lottery pick. But we can talk about this when we get to the NBA, but let's stick with the WNBA for now. Yeah. I mean, with the WNBA, man, you know, what's going to solve a lot of the issues, people need to, like, actually start watching the WNBA. For sure.

If more people start watching it, they'll start making more money, like, overall, and then they'll be able to, you know what I mean? they'll be able to part with more of a percentage. I mean they need to do it anyway but they just don make enough money overall it seems like Well they are getting a couple of new media right media right deals um starting in 2026 apparently so that should help um yeah i mean they have but yeah i mean when they up when that when it's time for them to renegotiate they need to they need to need to ask for the bag you know yep especially now get like a deal with on like maybe even like on Netflix or something like that because that's something that's a streaming service. Wow, that's actually a good point. It's coming, son. It's coming. It's a slow burn.

The NBA wasn't popping as soon as it got on either. It's a slow burn. We're just starting to see, I'm not going to say just starting, but the talent level is improving year over year. The girls that I'm seeing in high school and college now are playing at a different level. Juju Watkins. And when Juju get to the league, and then you got Juju, and you got my girl Buckers.

What's her name? Paige. Paige Buckers out of UConn. Yeah, she nice. It's a bunch. It's some – oh, and Naomi.

Naomi Miller up in Rutgers. It's some – she got Kyrie handle. I just think that it's some players that are coming up that's going to start – it's going to infuse some excitement into the WNBA. And it's like that, that unrivaled league that just happened. That was, that was kind of lit. That was a pretty, that was a pretty lit situation.

If y'all tapped into any of them games or any of those like, any of those clips that was running around the league. No, I was, I mean, that was actually pretty fun to watch. I would actually say that was a little bit more fun to watch than the big three, just because they were playing on a, on a longer court. Yeah, no, it was, it was good. It was good basketball. I actually enjoyed it.

Yo, 25 is a freshman. Holy shit. Queen? Yeah. Yeah, Derrick Queen. Yeah, yeah.

Him and Cooper Flagg was at Mount Verde Academy last year together. It was... So, yeah, they're true freshmen. Damn, they must have been... Shout out to Andrew Reese. They were super nice.

Andrew Reese's brother. They won every game. Hell, yeah. Yeah. I think it was him. All of them.

The whole team that was at Mount Verde, they're all playing D1 somewhere. They're all at Baylor. The other one's at Florida. Then Queens at Maryland. Cooper's at Duke. Like, yeah, silly, dog.

It's phony now. AAU to the pipeline now is crazy. That's why it's wild. I think Gilbert Arena's son he sent his son to go play with like nobody he sent him out he didn't want him to link up with Barnes' kids and all the other good players he wanted him just to be Superman he's just like yeah I just want him to just take 30 shots every night I don't care kind of like the Ball brothers yeah like just being able to play free mm-hmm that's a thing yeah who made the shot I only got the TV on Derek Wayne oh Wayne hit it oh yeah over like two people he nice he's the one bank shot like a Tim Duncan type of bag shot so it was crazy yeah let's go shout out Tim Duncan. All right. So let's let's lead into the, since we're talking about basketball, might as well get back to the NBA.

Where are we at with that? I think last time, last time Eddie had something to say about the Lakers slipping to the fifth seed. And they turned up for a couple games and got back up to the third seed is bouncing around over the western conference is definitely a dog fight yep from oklahoma city that's a little bit out of the fray for now uh yeah so so where do we where do we see that where do we see that division that that conference falling is there where you see that falling at well um i i think it's very interesting because um we were talking about the lakers being the second seed, but the Rockets have been on an absolute tear. I think they may be up to a 10-game winning streak by now. They are on fire. We kind of were sliding them a little bit because they're a young team.

They got some nice players. Jalen Green, Dylan Brooks is on there, Jabari Smith, Fred Van Fleet, but they don't really have that guy, right? That all-star, that guy who, when the game is on the line, he can take that shot, kind of like how SGA is that person for the Thunder, the Nuggets, Joker, the Lakers, LeBron or Luka. Memphis, you can give it to Morant, the Warriors, you can give it to Curry. They don't have that guy necessarily, but they They play great team basketball. And Ime Uduka, shout out to Ime Uduka, Coach of the Year, in my opinion.

He has put together a winning basketball culture in Houston. Before he got there, Houston used to be just complete trash. I mean, they were the laughingstock of the NBA. Now you really have to look at that team and take them seriously. So I think they're going to be a tough out. Now, the Lakers, they still have some time to make up ground.

To be fair, they've been dealing with some injuries. I mean, Luka's had a back issue, LeBron. Yeah, what's the timetable for LeBron? Is he? LeBron came back last night. He came back last night, yeah.

Yeah, he looked good, but he's on a limited minute restriction, at least initially until they get them back into the flow of things. Austin Rivers has been dealing with some injuries as well. Hold up real quick. I want to just point out the reason why nobody's worrying about the Rockets is because if you look at the last, this nine-game winning streak the Rockets have been on. Yeah. It's a perfect example of taking advantage of bad teams.

They're not doing nothing. They beat the Mavericks, who don't barely have a team. Yeah. The 76ers who don't have PG or a M. Tanking. They beat the Heat without Jimmy Butler.

They beat the Bulls. They barely beat the Bulls. They got through the Magic, which is a quality win, and they lost to the Nuggets right now. We can go back further. It's not very exciting. I don't think the Rockets are worth talking about, but I do appreciate Ime Udoka.

I agree with you, Eddie. He should be in the running for Coach of the Year. He should be in the conversation. But yeah, as far as the reason why people are fast asleep on the Houston Rockets is because they are – I mean, I think honestly, if I'm the Lakers, if I'm the Memphis Grizzlies, if I'm the Denver Nugg I'm trying to figure out how I can be the four seed. Can we do this for a five with them? Oh, yeah.

I'm trying to figure out how I can be the 4-5 seed. If they the 2, how can I be the 7? I want the Rockets. That's food. no i mean you're absolutely correct um but the record is what i mean they're kind of what the timberwolves were last what the timberwolves um either the timberwolves or the thunder last year where they had like a great record i think they're like number two in the west and then they lost in the second round to the mavericks right and and that's what we're saying experience matters right that was a thunder wasn't it they was okay second in the west last year okay yeah and they got smoked in the second round to the Mavericks. So, yeah, I mean, I completely agree with you. But the record is what the record is, right?

Listen, they're number two. They got a two-and-a-half game lead over the Nuggets. We'll see what happens if the season goes on. I don't think they're going to hold to number two. I think they may slip to, like, four or five, like you were saying, and you're trying to figure out, like, which team is going to take them on. And honestly, this is why I like the Lakers coming out of the West, because if the Lakers hold on to the fourth seed or whatever, they play the Rockets, and then they got to play the Thunder, which is And then the Lakers got a lot of experience.

If they beat the Thunder, I think it's smooth sailing for them because, I mean, unless something crazy happens with the Nuggets and they learn how to play defense, which I'm not convinced that they kn then I think the Lakers are still in my opinion the favorite to come out the West yeah the Lakers are a bad matchup for everybody now before before I think with with uh Anthony Davis they they were they were a problem because Anthony Davis and LeBron James are are tremendous but you but but LeBron at his advanced age wasn't able to come off the ball enough to not be tired at four. And AD wasn't taking charge in terms of scoring Precisely He wasn doing what he needed to do from that regard so yeah i think now they have that x that they have that guy that can have the ball in his hands a lot which gives lebron that break right so i just think in a seven game series you can't have lebron not that tired and at this point in his career he's just too smart he just knows everything he knows how he knows what to do he just can't always hit the button because he's tired so now with Luka, he gets that break. Yeah, it's going to be tough. Oklahoma, Houston, I just think they're not old enough. I don't think they've got enough experience. And Denver now, they were the issue because Jokic is probably the best player in the league.

And so if you got to stop him. But now that they got Luka, they don't really got to stop him. They can just outscore him. They can just wash each other out. If Joe Cook is going to go out there and give you 40, 12, and 12, well, Luka can give you 40, 12, and 12. And that's just whatever else the rest of the team do.

And then it's Jamal Murray versus LeBron. Yeah, I like that matchup. I like how that shakes out. So, yeah, that's the only concern. I just think the Lakers are going to go out. And like Eddie said, Denver don't really have no bench, and they don't play defense. who Denver did not play defense I mean listen I knew they didn't I knew they didn't have a bench and they didn't play any defense when I saw the Wizards drop 130 something points on them yeah that's all I needed to see last time we went to a Wizards game they were struggling to score 60 that was a couple months ago oh yeah right before they traded Kuzma Right before the late is in, we went to the game before you.

Oh, is Steph – I don't know. Is Steph Curry injured? I heard something about he might have got dinged up. I don't know. I don't think so, but it's possible. That's not what you talked about.

We kind of look at the Warriors based on having playoff Jimmy kind of being their X factor now. I honestly I mean the Warriors are a tricky team to kind of like handicap because they just got Jimmy Butler and before they had Jimmy Butler they were not playing very well but they've been I think they've won like maybe something stupid like 10 of their last 14 games so they've been playing very well is it going to be good enough with playoff times coming around we'll see very well. They play very well right now with Jimmy Butler. Because Jimmy's very unselfish. He's very unselfish. He doesn't need to take 20 shots or whatever.

He just will pass and rebound and play defense. It allows them to just get into their offense better. And then Draymond is still playing very well also. I still think the Warriors are going to go after Kevin Durant in the offseason, though. No. Kevin Durant's not going to go back.

You don't think so? I think they're going to try. No. Kevin Durant won't go back to Golden State as long as Draymond Green's in Golden State. Oh, it's because of Draymond. You know, I...

It's the elephant in your room. Oh, constantly. I mean... You called him a bitch. But look, at the end of the day, Golden State isn't who Golden State is without Draymond Green. You know what I'm saying?

They can't go nowhere with him and they can't go nowhere without him. He's just one of them guys for them. He gave them the edge they needed to get up. He's also really important to their offense. Bro, he's a top... Draymond Green is a top five defender in my life.

But he's also their distributor. He's cold with it. He works within the offense perfectly. He don't do too much. He don't demand nothing. He just lets Steph go.

Yeah, he don't take a whole lot of shots. At all. But he can hit that top three from the top of the key. He'll be working on that. He will. And he will hit somebody and get suspended and then they leave.

Correct. For all the stuff that he does the right way, he also will get suspended in game five and maybe lose you a championship. He will. It may or may not be a teammate that he hits. He'll punch your sixth man of the year, square in the jaw for no reason. And and he'll call the best player on your team a bitch to his face.

That tangle up he had with Sabonis, what was that last year? That shit was just ridiculous. He'd be jumping on people's chest. Yeah, the game on the line, they ain't giving KD the ball. I mean, he right, though. They won four championships.

How many championships? We won three championships without you. They won three without him, yeah. They won two without him. Two with him, two without him. And then they came back and won another one without him.

Yeah. But you still don't call your teammate a bitch, though. That's just crazy. I mean... In 1998, you do. Yeah.

I feel like that used to be okay. People definitely on wax calling their teammates a bitch when they were being a bitch. All right. Yeah. All right, let's go. Yeah, what's up?

I mean, we did a lot of Lakers talk. We got to talk about the Bronny versus the Bucs. Oh, yeah. Yo, I'm happy, yo. He doing well. 17 points, five assists, seven for 10 for the field, two, 50% from three. two out of four? No, 30 minutes.

What y'all think about it? I feel like Eddie was the one that was kind of like not impressed? Or you was just like, yeah, I feel like this is just a Nepo. He's a Nepo hire. No, no, no, no. I was saying that's what people were saying.

I was saying he actually does have NBA talent. We were comparing other second round draft picks. He's actually doing a lot better than people pick before and after him in the second round. yeah yeah i agree this was this was just another moment where it's like another point in case of like what 55th pick giving you seven for ten from the field what 55th pick coming in and being that efficient like i don't know whenever that happened so i just think that it's it's promising and it shows you that he's you know continuing to get better this has been a good this has been a you It's a positive year. I wasn't expecting him to look like an all-star or anything like that this year. So I think he's already outperformed. I think his G League numbers already has outperformed his pick.

He's already warranted the draft pick. So now anything else he does, that game against the Bucs the other night, that was just that was just him being you know showing off a little bit and that's good yeah what do you think about stephen a smith saying like i could have been wrong about brownie right he's he's apologizing but not apologizing you know talking about you know he didn't criticize him in high school he didn't criticize him in college, but he criticized him in NBA. The only thing I feel about it is that, you know, that cardiac arrest stuff, and we don't know. We know he had some kind of surgery or whatever. We don't know what it was. But he's still recovering from that.

And even J.J. Riddick on his interview said that Friday's still getting in shape. He still is working on becoming in NBA shape. you know so I feel like um Stephen A. Smith's halfway apologized but he did but he not apologizing try to think about that situation I think that like that whole situation was wild like Stephen A. Smith getting upset that LeBron said something to him but it's like if you are going to be able to talk about these athletes on TV the way that you do, I mean, when they respond to you, you got to be able to take it. You know what I mean?

Right. So it's like, I guess everybody's like, well, LeBron shouldn't say anything because, you know, he's a, you know, he's an NBA player and they're just critiquing his game. And it's like, that's fine. But if you're going to critique them publicly like that, then they should be able to respond to you publicly. So I don't understand why i just hate when the media people get a taste of their own medicine in reverse and then they want to act like oh my god i can't believe he did that it's like you know what i mean i don't understand how you're even upset that lebron said something to you well my thing with steven a smith is that he's not he's not being he's not being well that too but he's also not being truthful Like, so if we're going to keep in context, like he's trying to say like, oh, I talk about players and I criticize all players and whatever. Now that could be true, right?

But the way he's actually gone at Bronny James, as if like he doesn't, he has no talent. He doesn't deserve to be in the NBA and all this other stuff. I think... I think it crossed the line to a certain extent. And every day he's talking about Barani as if there isn't other things in the NBA to talk about. But I think he's just trying to find ways to stay relevant.

And I think I heard the other day that he's interested in running for president. Only a narcissist would think that as a podcast or as someone in the media that they have the chops and the ability to run for president. Right. some actually do become presidents that are narcissists. I mean, we have one right now. But him in particular, Stephen A. Smith, the fact that he thinks that he can run for president and win is ridiculous.

And this is a hype train. He just wants to get himself in the media, get out there. This is great for his brand. That whole interaction with LeBron, that's great for him. We're talking about Stephen A. Smith right now because of that.

Before, we weren't even talking about Stephen A. Smith. Yo, that's the game. And I feel like that's the type of game that 50 Cent be playing. You know what I'm saying? And that's why Stephen A.

Smith just got a hundred million dollars. He did just get the hundred mil. I feel like off the camera, Stephen A. Smith, you know, tell you what to do, help you out. You know, you need to put a suit on. This is what you can do, tell you the game.

But on the camera, I mean, he's the best at what he does, you know, good or bad you know but yeah 50 cent be doing that too just to stay relevant you know so i mean i just yeah i do think that it's it's business obviously but you know i think he did he crossed the line with the yeah you've been talking about lebron and all these different capacities for the last 20 years that's one thing but now you can talk about his son as a basketball player that's that's another thing but now you're talking about LeBron as a father I feel like that's one of I feel like that's one of the few spaces where it's like not only should you not speak on it but also if you was going to say anything about LeBron as a father you would say only good things the facts there's like come on and so so that's just that's just shows you how like disingenuous the conversation was even it even was from the beginning he just using his name continuing to use his name now using his son's name to add to bring clicks if he really wanted to if he really wanted to clear it up if he really wanted to clear it up he would have hollered at lebron lebron hollered at him and had a conversation with him privately even though it was in public he said it to him and he stepped off. If he really wanted to say something to him, he could have gotten in touch with him. He could have did that. He could have, whatever. But instead, he went on a press run to talk about how he got jammed up for disrespecting LeBron as a father. So I just think that this entire process, and then he called LeBron soft for how to him, and then he responded in a moment, and then he thought, so what I'm saying is, I'd be going to press tour.

That's a joke. It's a joke. Steven A. Smith think he's wrestling out here. It's gaslighting, bro. It's complete manipulation.

Correct. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? Everybody wanted to. He had to.

I wasn't going to speak on this, but since it went viral, here I am. Yeah. It's like, bro. You want to touch your damn ass up, dog? Like, do what you got to do to get your clicks, bro. Yeah, so, yeah, I didn't, whatever.

I wasn't going to speak on this. The biggest cap I've ever heard. He was itching. As soon as the day went viral, oh, I can't wait. He can't wait. Happy as shit.

And he'd be looking for somebody to do that to him. I think what's so big about it is that LeBron don't respond to nobody that criticizes him that's true and a lot of people don't be criticizing him and then be standing next to him at the bench people talk trash and be like at home people talk trash and be on keep behind their keyboard they don't talk trash on ESPN all day and all night and then one stand two chairs down and think I'm not about to reach my 6'9 armor over there and grab him. There's even videos of LeBron just chilling, watching his sons play and the kids trying to mess with him. Nothing. You know what I'm saying? Nothing.

He's not a responder. He's been famous. He's been in the NBA 20-something years. The fact that he said, I'm going to tell you this one time, I feel like he meant that. and I don't even think it would be a physical thing I think it would just be a phone call to shut that down type thing yeah I mean LeBron has I would imagine damn near an unlimited amount of power within the NBA have Adam Silva calling Bob Iger yeah like if he really if he really wanted to you know I mean well look Stephen A's in that 100 million now club. Maybe not. I don't know.

LeBron's a billionaire, so who knows? I'd say I think that you don't want to be on the wrong side of that. No. Especially when that phone call don't happen. It would be problematic if you're trying to cover sports, you're trying to cover the NBA, and it's LeBron James and Rich Paul and all of them decided that they wasn't trying to like work with you, I would imagine that would affect like your work. Right.

And I feel like a lot of parents can relate to that too, man. A lot of parents wouldn't let that slot. I mean, for real. So we can move on to the next thing. But yeah, we just wanted to talk about that. Congratulations, Brownie.

Career high. Way to come back. Shut the haters up. And I mean, people said he's a workaholic behind closed doors. All you do is put in that work. So congratulations, and we wish you all the success.

Nice. What's the next thing on the topic, fellas? Man, we ain't got no NFL stories. It's dead, bro. Dang. I mean, that pro day, I did want to see how y'all felt about that Jalen Monroe 40-yard dad.

Did y'all catch that? Yeah. I don't know. QB speed is... He didn't run a 4-3-7. That's cap.

That's what they posted. That's Alabama posted. But every that was there, that clock was like, oh, yeah, it's really more like a 4-4-1, 4-4-5. I think even somebody did a 4-4-7. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Look it up. Alabama's purposely hyping him up. I don't blame him. He did good. Yeah, they want him to go high.

Yeah, they want him to go high. He ain't run a 4-3-7, bro. They said it's a 4-4-5? Yeah. That's a big difference. So Justin Fields.

Yeah. It didn't look like a 4-3-7. It didn't look like a 4-3-7 at all. It looked like a 4-4. Like you said, 4-4-7, that sounds right. 4-5 I believe that 4-3 is like Lamar territory I'm going to say if Milrow ran a 4-3-7 Lamar is a 4-2 easy easy he might be a 4-1-9 we might not never see him whoa whoa whoa you're going to be on Santa's speed right now that's what I'm saying I will give Milrow his flowers and he's fast he's definitely going to be the fastest QB in the draft um he you know i i mean he's gonna be describing him kind of like he's just he's kind of like a similar jaylen hertz type well i actually well i won't even put him in jaylen hertz stratosphere yet i think as of right now he's still a project um i would say he's a little bit better i would say he's more like erin i mean erin um anthony Richardson territory at this point until he can prove that he can. That's Eddie's guy right there.

Yeah, you bring it up. He's a bum. They trying to get him out of – they trying to get him out of – This is a rough draft of the quarterbacks. What is your allegiance to these bum quarterbacks? Eddie, this allegiance to these trash quarterbacks. You love Justin Fields.

You love Jalen Monroe. You love Jason Richardson. Justin Fields just got a $20 million contract. Who? Who did that? What trash franchise, I wonder, paid that man all that money?

Tell me. Listen, the only thing I can tell you about Jalen Monroe is this. Just tell me who it's signing. His completion percentage was 64%, okay? As a college QB, that is actually underwhelming. 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. These are not great numbers.

He can run. I'll give you that. He had 726 yards on the ground and 20 touchdowns. The boy can run. Where are they talking about him going? Is this Milrow?

This is Milrow. Well we don know We don know They flirting with him being in the first round like as like a mid to late first rounder I've even heard him going as high as to like – 16 touchdowns. 16 touchdowns, bro, and throwing the ball. Throwing the ball to the ball. Ugh, that's not good. Now – That's not good. Yeah, yeah.

So I'm thinking he's going to be a Project QB. Listen, he's Anthony Richardson, basically. Anthony Richardson actually had some, well, he threw a little bit better than Anthony Richardson, so he's actually a little bit better, but I just don't know if you can throw him in to start immediately. He's going to have to sit maybe like a year and hopefully can throw a little bit better, but yeah, Milrow ain't there yet. He's sorry. He's projected to go to third round to the Raiders.

Third round? Perfect fit, just for y'all. Perfect fit. Third round sounds good for him, I guess. Third round to the Raiders, that sounds right. He's going to start.

He's going to start for y'all. What if Anthony Richardson doesn't beat out He's not. What's his face? Daniel Jones. He's not. He'll beat out Daniel Jones.

He's not. They want him to. If he don't beat out Daniel Jones, I mean, you in trouble. Bro, he's not going to do it. I think he will. Daniel Jones is decent.

He has to, bro. he has this is yeah this is the first this is the first thing in his career that he has to accomplish he has to be daniel jones in training camp yeah listen if they thought that he was good they wouldn't have brought somebody that could take it they were so close to taking it they thought he was good they would have brought in somebody who clearly wasn't gonna would take the spot they brought a guy in this competition because they don't believe in him they don't believe him Pat McAfee gets on the thing every chance he gets and basically says they don't believe in him. They don't believe in him in Indianapolis. If they seen him and they said, yo, they said he got concerns about his work habits. You be saying how this project is failing. It's a failing project. If you don't work hard and we think you suck, that's a problem.

They said Bronny don't work hard. You don't hear nothing about Bronny don't work hard. They said Bronny trash. Bronny be in that gym every chance he gets. they say Richardson's trash and they be like he be tapping his head I know that mean he don't do no cardio he out here say I'm tired you know it's very important the organization that drafts you as a quarterback the Indianapolis Colts are notorious for being a horrible organization when it comes to drafting QBs outside of Peyton Manning even Andrew Luck was like I gotta get the fuck out of here I'm retiring they waited to the last minute they waited to the last minute to try to get that boy along. Bruh, like, the Colts haven't been good in years. I mean, listen, Anthony Richardson has a support system around him.

Same thing with the Bears when they drafted Justin Fields. And they're actually, with the way the Bears are structured right now, Caleb Williams is set up to fail. And Caleb Williams has a lot of talent. Hold on. Hold on. I was trying to give you, I'm trying to run that back.

Are you saying drafting Peyton Manning was such a hit that you're not giving them credit for that? Because everyone knew that Peyton was going to be Peyton. No, I'm saying everything after that has, to be honest with you, has not gone to plan for the Colts. They kind of underperformed with Peyton. They did kind of underachieve. Yeah, they didn't care about defense.

They had Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark and Edron James, and they only got one Super Bowl. Devin, to be fair, they did care about defense, but when Tony Dungy had installed the great defense, right, they said, you know what? We're not going to bring you back. And then that's when Tony Dungy had went to Tampa and won. Remember, that's how that whole thing went down. Yeah, good point.

All right, where Aaron Rodgers is going, yo? Aaron Rodgers? Oh. He ain't got no choice. He got to go to the Stables. What about Russell?

Russell going to the Browns? I think it's more likely that Aaron Rodgers ends up with the Browns than it is with the Steelers at this point. Why is the AFC North the quarterback carousel? Exactly. Why is it out of the middle? I think because I don't know.

I can see why the Steelers need a quarterback because they don't get them high draft picks. you know so they kind of like brian mentioned we didn't get lamar we'd be in that same boat we're not just going to lose a whole season like we guess raven's just not going to do that i just see aaron rogers finding a way to get himself into the colts if they if aaron if anthony richardson is as bad as brian said he uh said he is and they really have completely lost hope in him they might as well just bring in aaron rogers at this point i I mean, fuck it, right? You ain't got nothing else to lose, right? Daniel Jones, we know. We've seen enough of Daniel Jones. We know he's not a starting quarterback in the NFL. He's a backup, and he's a good backup, but he ain't starting.

I don't know, man. I don't know. I don't know if the Steelers talked to Aaron Rodgers, right? They talked about bringing him in. I don't think the Steelers are going to bring in Aaron Rodgers because I think Aaron Rodgers is too old to not want some power. So he's going to need an offensive coordinator decision or a draft pick decision.

He's going to need some juice to be to come. Secondly, I don't think Aaron Rodgers cares enough to want to go through a whole offseason camp and stuff. I think he wants to sign in August. I think he wants to sign it right before he don't want to go through camp he just wants to play football so I don't think that's the kind of operation the Steelers are running I don't think Mike Tomlin wants his quarterback not there all camp I don't think nobody wants to do that the Giants just signed Jameis the Giants signed Jameis what's going to happen is he's going to fuck around and run out of teams it's really only the Steelers and the Browns now I think that ship already sailed. The Jets was the spot, man. Like, you're supposed to make that work.

We saw him be, like, not a good teammate in Green Bay. He wasn't a great teammate when he was at the peak of his powers. Now he's a little bit deteriorated, and he's, like, a little bit more of an asshole. I mean, I feel like Rodgers likes his guys, though. Oh, yeah. I feel like Devontae Adams signed anywhere yet?

Yeah. Oh, the Rams? Okay, okay, okay. So that's done. They stay in with Stafford. I want to talk.

Anthony Richardson, I think he just needs to let – he's in playoff mode. In his 17 seasons, he got to let the other people on the team do their job. The way he plays Anthony Richardson on the coach. I feel like that he got a strong – he can run. He can win. I mean, the team is – he's got a really nice deep ball.

I feel like he just needs a little bit more coaching. Just needs to throw away the ball a little bit more. You know, I mean, the talent is there. I mean, for what I see. I agree that he's been taking some shots. That's what I'm saying.

Like, he's a mix of Lamar and Cam Newton, right? But he's not able to play like that unless it's players. He played too reckless. Yeah, y'all don't – I don't get what y'all be seeing. Y'all see some highlight plays and be like, ooh, I wish he could do it all the time. He has no savvy.

He has no skill. You got to have him. He's just out there running around with the ball. He's just out there running around. He's going to get cracked. That's what ends up happening.

He be getting played. He be hurt every year. You know who else don't got no savvy? Justin Fields. He be out there getting cracked. Justin Fields had a great season last year.

But it was tight. the motherfucker was just like... What's a great season, Eddie? Four games? Yeah. They had him basically doing nothing, though. Yeah, and then they needed him?

Well, he played more than four games. When they needed him, his back was hurt because he got hit. I don't even know when he was on the field to get hit, but somehow he wasn't available when they needed him. I think that was a fake... That was a fake injury. Yeah, because they wanted Russell to start at that point.

Eddie he went 4-2 as a starting quarterback last year he had 65.8% completion rating I don't know what Brian is talking about he had 5 touchdowns and 1 interception 5 touchdowns 1 interception 1 interception how many games is that? 6 games? 5 touchdowns? that's not great 6 games, 5 touchdowns, 1 pick he's okay. Yeah. And if you project that over 17 games, we're talking what? 30 touchdowns, 4 touchdowns? 4 interceptions? What are we talking about here? You're looking 30 touchdowns. Eddie, your math ain't mapping, bro.

Yeah, bro. You mean 12 touchdowns? You be lucky to throw like 15 half that My bad my bad my bad my bad 15 yeah you right I multiplied it by two But yeah 15 touchdowns If we just make numbers up he can be nice Again, at a 66% completion rating, I mean, it works. Nah, it was past the reason. 66% on checkdowns, bro. Yeah, it was all checkdowns. What's his average It's probably like 4.3 yards to throw. 10 yards per throw. 10 yards per throw, actually.

Thank you very much. 10.4 to be exact. What year is this for Justin Fields? This is last year. Pittsburgh. It's right here on Pro... This is about to be his what year?

Sixth year in the league? He's only 26 years old. Bro. Justin Fields is good for the Jets. It's better than nothing. and he was in Chicago but they literally threw away his talent in Chicago like what are we talking about Justin Fields is a mid-level quarterback I mean he's better than half the league I would agree I would agree he's around there thank you thank you perfect perfect that's a great number Justin Fields is the middle of the road You pick Justin Field over Brock Purdy? Yeah.

I would because Brock Purdy gets hurt every single year and Brock Purdy honestly can't move. Hey, Charles, see Eddie out. No. Brock Purdy. He got a job, bro. He was in the city.

We don't see the week of the leadership. Brock's earned a little bit of respect, bro. He's earned a little bit of respect, bro. We don't see. Jimmy G had that same offense and did the same damn thing. Who are, Eddie?

He ain't got Debo, right? Christian McCaffrey comes back, right? Without Christian McCaffrey, Brock Purdy was horrible last year. I think Justin Fields was horrible. It's okay. He wasn't bad.

Justin Fields was horrible about no receivers. He wasn't winning, but he was all bad. When he looked decent. He wasn't winning. I mean, we'll see. Listen, listen.

We'll see we'll have a better record this year. Brock Purdy or Justin Fields? I want to see George Pickens get a quarterback. That's what I would like to see because I feel like George Pickens is nice. Yeah, he is. He's nice.

He completed 66% of his passes. I feel like the Steelers are going to ship George Pickens out of there after this year. Wait, wait. I want to stay on this. This is very interesting. He probably will get shipped out.

You are right. He's going to work his way out of that team. He is. DK's his replacement. That's exactly what they brought him in for. He is.

Yeah, I agree. So Justin Fields over... Are you still not letting this go? Who was Justin Fields? I want this on wax, yo. I want this on wax.

Justin Fields better than... He's about to get a full season to start. He's about to... We're going to get a full season of Brock Purdy. 6-9 last year. 66% completion rate. Already, if you take Justin Fields' stats, that's better. Justin Fields' stats were better than Brock Purdy's stats last year.

Go ahead. Is he better than Joe Flacco? Wait, stop. Wait. Eddie, what we're not going to do, we're not going to just go off of the six games that Justin Fields produced in and then go off of Brock Purdy, who had a whole season where he was an MVP candidate. I'm not going to let you do that.

Yo, I think Joe Tacho's a still ball. Who was the MVP candidate? Who? What? Who was? You just said Brock Pryor last year was the MVP candidate.

No, two years ago. Remember, I'm talking about a player who's actually good, and you're talking about a player who you wish was good. Oh, my God. I'm talking about a player who has a resume. I'm talking about a player who has a resume. Yo, yo.

I still have to get it. Yo, yo. Aaron Rodgers was the MVP candidate, too. Wait, are we losing control? Are we losing control? Four years ago, John Brady was an MVP candidate.

You want to throw him in there, too? All right, Eddie. All right. Hey, you like your guys. It's okay. You all got our guys.

I want him to pick between Justin Fields and Richardson. And Jason Richardson. Pick between them. Which one? Anthony Richardson. Anthony Richardson.

Jason Richardson's retired. Anthony Richardson, honestly, I don't think Anthony Richardson is going to last in the Colts. But the Colts are a horrible organization. So I don't think any quarterback going in there is actually going to succeed. Are you happy to be a Raiders fan and call other organizations? I don't even understand.

Well, Jim Ursay is rated as one of the worst owners in the NFL. No, that's true. Yeah, the Colts owner, he's bad. He's bad. He's bad. Yeah.

He hired Jeff Saturday a couple years ago. I mean, that's. Yo, I actually wanted to see how that worked out. I forgot about that. Hey, how that worked out? The coach owner is not, that was crazy.

That was so boring. Yo, I forgot about that. He just threw him to the wolves. He's like, I don't got. You know what I mean? Hey, yo, that was crazy.

Yo. I mean, like, he really, like, the only good player they had was Jonathan Taylor, and he was trying to stiff him for the bag. Yeah, that too. Yeah. No, no. Jim Irsay is pretty fucking bad.

Yeah, he's bad. He said just Saturday could do it. They just had Peyton Manning for 12 years. That's it. Have we ever seen anything like that? Have we ever seen an offensive line thrusting?

I've never seen that before. You literally know. That was crazy. coaching the Colts to back up. Yo, life is about all year to the head coach. Unbelievable. Yo, life is all about who you know, bro.

That's it. I swear. He had good money. Networking. He took it serious too. He took it serious.

He really did. He made it look like that's kind of what I thought. That's what I think people thought the JJ Redick hire was. They thought J.J. Reddick coaching for the Lakers was going to look like Jeff Saturday for the Cubs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

But I turned out to be wrong. That worked out. Yeah, that worked out well. All right. I completely forgot about that, the Jeff Saturday hiring. That was crazy.

That is funny, though. I feel like that's not talking about enough. Like, what was that? this is a $100 franchise just hiring the homies he's just doing whatever hey somebody call Jeff see if Jeff can do it somehow the Colts are going to develop Anthony Richardson no they're not he was known as a smart player he never played he was at Florida looking terrible he only played I'm not talking about that I was talking about the coach. Oh. Because he was texting the owner. And then he was like, yo, you know everything.

You're a smart player. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're right. He was a smart player. It's not like he didn't know the game of football. I thought you were saying Anthony Richardson was a smart player.

Who's the coach's head coach right now, actually? Where do you get this information from? Nah, man. I'm over that conversation, man. Everybody got their players where they root for, man, for sure. You know.

The Colts actually were 8-9 last year. You got some too, Brian, but, you know. Who? Anthony Richland. Oh, yeah. You know, to be fair, Anthony Richland had a winning record last year, which is incredible comparing how bad these stats are.

Eight touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 47% completion rating. They got a good team. They got a good team. Hey, Jonathan Taylor was balling out. And one tap out of the game. He got a good running back.

They're a weird team, man. Michael Pittman's a good receiver, too. Sometimes. Oh, wasn't it something going around about Shadour going to the Browns? Oh, yeah. Where's my cases of water at?

Miles Garrett said he knows who the next Browns can be. So I'll send you all my address. Fuji. Fuji? Yeah. What did you say?

Put some waters on it. I said, put some waters on it. I thought the bet was, who were the Ravens picking? Like, what position? Nah, I got it on tape. It's recorded.

We got 500 views. I said. What did you say? Brian said, that organization, Dion would never allow. I said, that ain't nothing but a conversation. Oh, yeah.

You know what I'm saying? Oh, that was with Brian, though. Devin and I, I think we were talking about the Ravens picking up positions. Right. Actually, I think Shadour going to the Browns is like a solid place. The Browns got a lot of talent.

They're not like the Giants where they just don't – the cup it's bad. Like the Browns have talent. They just need a quarterback. Yo, that organization wants to win. It's tired of losing. Yeah.

What do you need? You need a new stadium. You need $40 million. dollars you need this just i just i just tired of losing unfortunately because of their cap situation they going to keep losing though I mean I mean Yeah Miles Garrett is paid like a quarterback And they're paying Deshaun. Oh, they're still paying Deshaun. Damn, you're right. Well, that's almost done, though.

No, they owe him like $70 million next year or something. Because they kept pushing it. They kept pushing it. Because it's all fully guaranteed, so everything hits the cap. Then they turn the 52 into a 68 next year, then they kick that into a 73 in two years. They still on the hook for another two, three years.

Bro, his agent, John Watson agent, that man did magic. Amazing. How do you sign for that much money fully guaranteed under those circumstances? It all hits the cap, bro. That's crazy. He's cool.

But now what's the name getting more now? it's the D hop effect you have a wide receiver that never not catch everything that really helped out his numbers I mean he was great when he was with yeah I mean it was more so just the fact that he was a complete free agent at the very time at 24, 25 years old yeah that never happens that's unheard of a good quarterback to be a free agent like that Why was he available? Because he was probably being freaky and Houston let it ride. Yo, but he took a lot of sacks, though. He's always been taking sacks. Yeah. Yeah, but you don't give somebody a fully guaranteed contract coming off of that type of year, though, where you don't really know what you want to get out of him.

Yeah. You do if you don't want him to go to Atlanta. Oh, that's what they were competing against? Atlanta? That's what I'm saying. Because he was a completely free agent, everybody had a chance.

So they had to give him something that would be solidified in the contract. Right. Yeah. Y'all think OBJ done? Go ahead, Brian. No, what was you saying?

I was going to say – I was going to say the subject, so you can finish your thought. Oh, I forgot. All right. Y'all think OBJ done? You think you have to leave? Yeah.

Odell? Yeah. Yes. Okay. I don't know. I think the Ravens got the last little bit of Odell left.

Yep.

Transcript continues in the episode.