The Best of the Week The Dan Patrick Show

You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Gina Oriema is set to join us the freshly minted head coach of the national champion Yukon Huskies. Did you forget about this feeling? Did you remember what it was like to win a national title?

Almost? You know, we have those moments our senior citizens. You know you ought to know so, but it didn't take long to remember.

Though.

Never ceases to amaze me, the feeling that you have when when you watch those faces and it's just really really unbelievable.

But take me back to preseason and you said that the girls they lost a scrimmage.

Yeah we did, we did.

And is that where you go home and you say to your wife, oh god, I don't know what we have here. We may not even make the tournament.

Well, it's that's exactly what we say. We said we make the NCAA tournament this year.

You know, is.

We didn't take it seriously, you know we we.

Kind of everybody thought, yeah, we're gonna be good because you know.

We're healthy. We got everybody back.

But it was a it was a good reminder, but it was it was a struggle throughout. I would say November December, trying to find some consistency. We would have it, lose it, have it lose it. And I think it wasn't until we got back from South Carolina the first time, when we played so well that we actually understood, all right, this is what the level is, this is.

Who we can be. And that's when it all changed.

Is it a grind?

Oh yeah, oh yeah?

But is it a different kind of like let's say, fifteen years ago, similar kind of grind.

A little different? I think a little different.

It being that the players I'm coaching today are more challenged, They're way more distracted, They've got way more voices in their head. They've got way too much information coming at them from all sources of people.

Things that it's hard.

To make your voice really be a you know, the voice like you know when you played, like your coach said, you know, today's Wednesday. You go home and tell hey, mom, today's Wednesday. Man, No it's not. It's Monday. Coach said, it's Wednesday today. What's your coach say today?

I don't know. I wasn't listening. I mean, that's it's just a little bit harder right now. Man.

But you're not dealing. You know, we hear the men's coaches talking about transfer portal. Nil. Yeah, how prevalent is that for you? On a daily, weekly, monthly basis. No, I don't deal with it on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. No, we don't have somebody on our staff that's calling AAU coaches and handler and all that. You know, you know is you're a kid interested, Hey tell them we're interested, like a lot of schools do. No, we don't deal with that.

We just coach our team.

We know at the end of every year, because we get pretty good players and if they don't all play as much as they want, those days I'll wait my turn.

Those are gone, you know. So we know that the end of.

Every year, some kids already halfway out the door when they realize I'm not getting the time that I thought I was going to get. And it's like, you know, we understand we might lose a couple every year, but there's a couple kids that want to come every year. What makes it hard is in the NBA they have a free agency period of time. This is when you can talk to free agents, this is when you can

Every kid's a free agent every day the whole year.

It's just.

And then the portals open during the NCAA tournament. Can you imagine the NBA playoffs and free agency is going on during the playoff. I mean, it's insanity. So whoo, but luckily we don't have to deal with as much as obviously it's happening on the guys and the money. Don't even get me started on the money some of the money that I hear programs have to spend. And now obviously it's football and men's basketball to drive this.

But it's out of hand, man, it's out of hand.

What was your pregame speech?

What's my pregame speech? Probably, you know, the same as it was the previous three games that we just want you know, this was our fourth game, you know, two and two.

I like to talk about how many times this one was really good.

I like this one because I said, you know, this is our twenty fourth Final four, and our record in the Final four before last night was eleven wins, twelve losses.

In twenty three.

Final fours, I said, So, I'm the winningest coach in the history of college basketball, but I have a losing record in the final four, I said, But when I'm introduced at some events, you know, they go and ladies and gentlemen, Gino Orima.

You know, he's lost twelve, I said.

They don't do that. They say, you know, you know where, He's won eleven national chams. So you know, nobody gives a damn about who loses. They just care about winning. So why worry about losing because nobody cares. So I think the thing that I always try to do is try to make them understand.

To not be afraid to lose, because that's.

What gets in the way of teams winning, especially at this point in time in the season, when your whole, you know, career is riding on it. Of losing is just so powerful, and I think it's my job to try to diffuse that as much as I can.

At any point during that nine year maybe it's not fair to say drought, but for you it would be. But did you at any point doubt yourself of am I still able to motivate them? And am I losing it? Or you know, any kind of concerns about you and your coaching.

Yeah, yeah, of course, because well a couple of things. We went to fifteen straight final fours, but we didn't win. After number eleven, we didn't win the next four or five years. You know, six years out of those nine years that we didn't win, we went to the Final four eight times, and we were never healthy. I shouldn't say six of those times we were never healthy. So I kept saying, you know, when we get healthy, we'll be fine. But I gotta tell you, Dan, I'm brutally honest.

You know, yeah, it really really really made me.

Question, am I still the right person to be doing this at this time in my career? At a place like Yukon, where championships is the standard.

And you know how this works. We get to a certain age and people go, oh, how much long are you going to do it?

You know?

Oh, you know, be a great time to retire, you just when you walk off. Finally, I mean, so how do you deal with this? Just because I decided in three years I'm retiring. I just said I have to mark this is when I'm going to retire, or I don't think I would retire.

Is that five years ago? You made that commitment?

A year and a half ago, I said I would retire, and I gave the date I was going to retire. Good for you, okay, but I needed to do it because there's other things I needed to do, and to be fair with my family and my wife. Have you had those discussions of and I don't know if there's anything else that you want to do, because maybe you're like you know, coaches coach till they die. It's like, this is what I want to do. This is all I know. I don't know if I'm wired that way.

No, no, I no, I don't know why I still do it. Be honest with you, most people my age have enough sense not to do it, and I I think one thing that helps me then, like when I get back to school and whatever recruiting has to be done or whatever I would say. By the time May comes around, I don't give basketball a thought until next September.

I get it. I just walk away. I'm done. And luckily I have.

A staff and I got a program that that that can do that. But I don't live at twenty four to seven. I don't take it home with me like the way. You know a lot of these guys do. That just wears on them day after day. Now we have the privilege of doing that because of our success.

I get it.

If you're grinding it out, trying to make DNC tournament every year, keep your job. But I'm not in that situation. If I was, I would have got out a long time ago. Uh So, you know, I'm able to put it away, and there's so many other things that I would love to do. You know, when and you retire, let me know, because I'll sit there and ask great questions like you do, and make fun of people like you do.

I would love to do that.

However, I got I got an email today from a friend of mine, Tom Sherman play for play for Penn State, and he played for Joe Paterno and he emailed me today and he goes, hey, forty years at you kind of because it's unbelievable.

He goes, you know what, Joe.

Paterno was at Penn State sixty four years, so you can still catch up. And I thought to myself, you got to be kidding. Sixty four years.

Yeah, so no, it'll be.

Some time before that, trust me.

And I'll leave you with this that you get your women to stay, you know, they're they're there for years. So you develop a friendship, a relationship whereas you know, men's college coaches, if you're good, you know it's a six month you know, transaction here. Yeah, but you could see that where you with Paige Becker's you're watching her be this great player to being injured to never winning a title. Now he's your chance to win a title. Then just being overcome by emotion because it's real. It's

It is because.

We do get them at an age where they're very impressionable, so to speak, and they're seventeen, eighteen years old, and we know, if things go well, we do get them for four years. We do get to see them at the beginning, and then we get to see them at the end, and we get to see them when they're struggling. When it is it's like raising your kids, and it's like, all of a sudden, you send them off after a period of time.

Yeah, if.

This was like men's basketball, there's no way I would even have close to twelve national championships. Diana would have been one and done. Stewie would have been one and done. Mayan War would have been one and done. I can go on and on page Becker's would have been one and done. All these guys. So the fact that I think we can it goes back to the old days. It's like the way it used to be. You know, we we get them young and then we you know, work with them, and then does create a bond that

If you stay, you stay, that's fine.

So it's really kind of created like a professional environment where we're just doing this. You're and this nonsense about well they're not employees. Yeah, they are employees. We're paying them to play basketball for us, and when they don't like their job, they quit and go go work someplace else.

So I'm lucky, I really am.

I've got a great situation, and I know a lot of guys on the men's side envy it, and and I feel bad for those guys.

Uh congratch, hair still looks great, and uh, thanks for joining us.

Yeah, And you know, I can't believe you're still doing this. And I know I tell people all the time, you're one of the few guys in America that ask questions that are way shorter than the guys answer.

And I really appreciate.

That I want to shot clock Gino. I like that brevity, brevity, get to the point that shit, Hey, congratch, thanks for joining us.

Yeah, thanks for having us.

That's Gino Orima.

Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk line up in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.

Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.

You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the iHeartRadio app.

Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.

We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world.

We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture, stories that well other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss.

And the fact that we've been friends for the last twenty years and still work together. I mean that says something, right, So check us out.

We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say.

I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio maybe the.

Most interactive show on planetar.

Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific, and if you miss any of the live show, just search Covie, Know and Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on social media that's Cavino and Rich.

He's the head coach for the men's team at Connecticut, two time defending national champs at least until tomorrow or late tonight. Dan Hurley joining us on the program. Good to talk to you again, coach. Did you watch the games, the semi final games?

I did, unlike uh, you know, unlike after the twenty two season where you know where we had that first round exit and I ignored the rest of the tournament.

Uh. I.

I've watched as many of the games as as I possibly could. Since we've been eliminated.

You lose to Florida second round. But do you take any solace with the fact that Florida is here playing for a national championship?

Yeah? I do.

I think it's a uh, it's more honorable that, you know, kind of at the run we've been on. Uh, you know, where where we kind of fell out the hands of uh, you know, of a championship level team that's you know, one game away from experiencing the championship glory.

So yeah, I mean if we would have lost to like a lower seeded.

Team or a team that, you know, it was not of the championship caliber, I guess it feels more honorable, you know, have a one thirteen in a row in that tournament in the fashion we did, you know, to have it all, you know, to have it all end at the hands of of the Gators, there's there's probably some honor in that.

How do you explain what happened with Duke and Houston at the end of that game.

I mean, I mean.

I can't you know, imagine, you know, just kind of well, no, I can't imagine you know what what John and his staff and those players are feeling. I mean, it felt like, you know that they were the best team, you know, the best team in the country this year. I think their roster, the way they it together was, uh, it

A lot of pressure want to pressure free throws, one.

Ones, they had to inbound the ball versus full denial. With a three point lead or a one point lead, they were, uh, you know that they were in a type of game that Houston had been in a bunch, uh you know, because of you know, playing in the Big twelve afforded them more opportunities, and I think that came back.

To haunt them.

I brought this up a long time ago. I brought it up. Subsequently, you go to you and l V when you and LV blew out Duke, your brother's team, and then that following year, and we thought they were invincible. And I remember talking about you want to see a team play a close game. You just want to have

Yeah, I think, you know some of the I would say, the situational things that you experience in a you know, with that true game pressure, you know, and you know, Duke goes in as the favorite, just kind of like we were last year, where you know, we're.

Playing at such a high level.

They had, you know, dominated the first you know, four rounds of the tournament. Obviously, the Arizona game ended up being an eight point game or an eight point win, but you know, at times in that game they look dominant. But I just think that they You could practice situational basketball all you want, but you cannot simulate the game pressure that you feel. You know, when your inbounder has got to run the baseline and throw a pass through a narrow window to a player being face guarded by

The difference in coaching a freshman and coaching a junior, what's the biggest difference.

I just think, Uh, you know, repetitions, game experiences, you know, just having been in those positions you know before, you know, more practices under their belt, more, uh, you know, more life experiences. You know, just you know a little bit more. You know, maturity a little more. Uh, you know, worldliness a little bit, you know, just a little bit more. You know, prepared to have experienced more failures, have experienced, uh, you know, different types of successes.

Just a little little uh, a little more grizzled.

Talking to Dan Hurley, You're still the reigning national champs, at least for twelve more hours.

That's why I got I'm wearing it today, Dan, I'm wearing it.

Uh. There's a trophy behind you. There's a pair of shoes on top of that trophy. Whose shoes are those Oh j R.

Smith, Uh, you know Jr. Swish.

That was my first great player that played for me at S. Benedix And uh the first play went to the NBA out of high school, so was Uh that was his rookie year shoe with the hornets.

Okay, any other memorabilia that might surprise.

Us, Uh, I got Well, I think a lot of people like the underwear over those are my underwear. Not many men have their underwear on a plaque in their office.

Uh.

Obviously the Gladiator health So that explains a lot about me right there, the lion head behind it.

You haven't gotten in trouble in a while, have you?

No, I've I've got a lot of self aware. Well, I don't have a lot of self I have enough.

You know, your my life's been a whirlwind.

Uh of some incredible moments and and some moments that uh, you know are Arnes uh arnest.

Arn is great.

But I remember when you turned down the Lakers and we talked and you said you weren't mature enough yet for a job like that. Your words, Yeah, all right, how do you mature?

Like? What do you?

What do you what are are you doing anything to mature?

You know that that's a tough one. I think Number one, I'll say this a lot of I feel like the biggest mistake I made this year was not being able to uh, you know, put together uh and develop a championship team. You know, I when I look at this year for me, you know that that's the thing that I regret the most is that I wasn't able to uh, you know, to put together another team that was could experience championship glory.

You know.

Some of the things I think that uh, you know, whether it's you know, my relationship with officials, or you know, some of the fan interactions or the different things that come with me part of what makes me successful is uh, is my passion, it's my intensity, It's it's this you know, when when you're winning it, when you're winning championships, these these same things have gone on when you're winning championships.

I haven't changed a whole lot that way.

If you had a little ear piece and your wife was allowed to talk to you on the sideline during a game, how do you think that would go.

I think that I'd be here, stop.

Shut up.

Yeah, I mean I would say that from a I think that my relationships with officials. Now you know the Florida you know the Florida post game. I regret that one greatly. You know that that was I There was literally one play call.

Uh, there was one drive to the rim that I felt, if we clearly got fouled on, that would have kept that game in a two possession game. That was just it was ringing in my mind. And it wasn't like multiple calls I felt were miss dan. It was just this one play, uh, that I could not get out of my mind as I was heading through that tunnel and as I saw the Baylor players, I deeply regret that. I mean we we we missed a lot of open shots.

That one I regret deeply. I didn't believe that.

And then that was embarrassing when I look at other ones that were, you know, embarrassing that I'm the best coach in the country. That was embarrassing. I wish somebody could have stopped me from having that moment. A lot of some of the fan interactions. I've got to get somebody I think that maybe could just walk me on and off the court. Maybe like college football has those guys that walk the coach to the other coach and

But what is it about officials?

Though I don't think it's as bad as it's made out to be.

I've watched these other officials and listen, I've earned you earn your reputation.

You know.

I'm definitely a tough coach to officiate because I'm very demanding. Uh And I value every single possession in the game because I know how important.

They are, you know.

And and but I've also modeled myself after maybe an older, you know generation of coaches. You know, I'm just an intense coach, and I think I'm intense in a very similar way to Coach Sampson tonight. I think if you watch Coach Samson closely tonight, he's a very intense coach and he's going to be very demanding of the officials.

Well, you're like your dad, though you would.

Hate my father, I mean everyone and my dad.

I know, I like being around your dad socially when he puts his teeth in and he you know, you know, we we have a conversation. I enjoyed being around and we were I don't know what we were watching, like, I don't know, some sitcom or not even a sitcom is some cop show. When I went to his apartment in Jersey City and I'm going, it seems really nice. He's just a nice guy. Then you hear these horror stories about how demanding your dad was.

Yeah, well, I mean, Dan, you know, it's like you've got to be able to separate the competitor, you know, the combatants.

But could you coach like this like you are right now, No, you couldn't.

Just be like, it doesn't line up with our play style. It doesn't lie, okay, with with the intensity that we play with. It doesn't it doesn't line up with how we attack the offensive glass or you know how hard we played defensively. And it's not just me, it's our whole bench. I mean we lead the country in warnings from officials to have everyone sit down. I mean everyone on my bench is like out of pocket, like it's it's just we're an emotional program. We're a passionate program.

When do you walk down the hall to congratulate Gino.

I guess I'm gonna wait for him maybe to sober up. I mean, I wouldn't remember.

I talked to him last hour.

How did he look.

He looked like a million bucks, hair was calmed. I mean it looked like Gino.

I mean, he he he.

I mean we we we text, we talk, you know, we were texting before, you know, all of his games and and I mean he he saved my season from completely unraveling in November.

So I owe a lot to Gino.

And uh what did he do?

I mean, right when we.

Got back from Maui as as I as I had erupted like a volcano in Maui and and come back to try to pick the pieces up. I was in a bad, bad place. I was coaching, angry, I was coaching frustrated. I you know, I I knew I didn't have deep down I knew, you know, I didn't have a team that could compete for a championship. And I

How's the transfer portal, by the way.

Oh my god, yeah, I mean like no one is I mean when I that Monday, when when you come to the realization that like literally no one is on your team, you know, like that Monday, because even if you're not in the portal, because it's now a lot of it is being conducted by agents, you know, So even if you're not in the portal, you're you're you're in the portal because schools now, you know, they they reach out for the agent, and you know, these agents

We you know, it's it's a mess.

How many players are officially on your roster?

I think right now I could sit here and say that we definitely have eight players on our team, you know, and we could have as many as ten. I think, you know, maybe two potentially or are are undecided whether that's you know, going to the NBA. Obviously, Alice Caravan's got to make a decision what he wants to.

Do with this last year.

You know, I'd imagine he'll be deciding at some point soon here, maybe this week, and then you know, then we have another player who's you know, deciding. So yeah, I mean right now and listen, it's better than it was. You know, last week. I think there was a point where I think I felt like I had like one guy plus the high school guys, and we got three McDonald's, all Americans, and a Tasmanian dude who I think is gonna be really good.

So we're excited about that.

All right.

If you need help in filling out the roster, like practicing, just let me know. Wait, don't laugh like that.

We're used to deep.

When you get used to deep runs, Dan, I feel like I gotta do better.

You do.

Good to talk to you. Thank you, coach. That's Dan Hurley.

Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio Wapp Dwight Howard.

He'll be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame coming up in September. Former NBA champ, three time Defensive Player of the Year, five time All NBA First Team Dwight, how are you doing?

Many blessed man.

I'm so happy and thankful to be back on your show again. We ever did a show in a while. I think the last time I did a show, I was actually in Orlando. I was driving in my car. He was like, hey, you turned down music a little bit so we can hear you.

What was your reaction when you got the call for the Hall of Fame?

Man, I cried so hard.

It was just like the first day soon as he got as soon as I got the call, seeing the name the Nasmith Basketball Hall of Fame calling my phone, you know, seeing that, and then hearing them actually say you have made it in to one out of four hundred and fifty six people who have been in.

The Hall of Fame for basketball.

I just every memory of basketball that started, my youngest memory, shooting on my first basketball go watching my magic justin tapes, and then just the tiers start flowing, and uh man, it's this an incredible journey with a lot of ups and downs, but to make it.

To basketball heavy it is for me, it's everything.

What would you be like? What kind of player if you were coming into the NBA now, given the way the NBA is, Oh.

Man, what kind of player would I be? Well?

I feel like my time in Orlando I was very unstoppable with office and then the side that I played. I believe that if I was playing now, I would still be a dominant player, top five center.

I believe if I was playing right now.

Yeah, the game has changed so much with the perimeter. And I knew you grew up idolizing magic, but maybe you would have geared your game to be more perimeter based. I mean, we got seven footers playing on the perimeter on that look.

That's true.

Actually, when I started playing basketball, I didn't play center. I didn't play center actually until I got to the NBA. Uh So, when I got to the NBA, that's when my positions changed. And back then, there were no stretch forwards. There were no stretch no stretch fives. It was only dirt and the whisky and the next person close to him that was shooting that much was Tim Duncan and he was shooting more so off the glass shots and

And I go back to just being a kid again.

How tough was Kobe on you?

I would say he was that tough on me?

What what like people would assume because I was a hard worker, You know, it wasn't. I wasn't somebody that he had to worry about getting in the jail, working hard in the games and stuff like that. I just think we just at the time, we was in two different places in life, and uh, we didn't see how to eye. We didn't give each other a task to eat to see how to But are you living?

You learn if I gave you a mulligan on getting out of Orlando. Would you have still left Orlando and gone to the Lakers.

Uh, My intentions was not to go to the Lakers after Orlando. I now do it what I know now. Leaving Orlando, Uh taught me many lessons in life that I needed, and I feel like if I would have stayed in Orlando, maybe I wouldn't have learned those same lessons. And it's just how you look at it, you know. I hate the fact that I did have to leave Orlando, that was my first home. But I believe that everything happens I was exactly supposed to happen, and I can't

Most physical player you ever played against?

Was who?

Most physical player? Pekovich from Minnesota. Father was the strongest player that I could say, I've played this really Okay, the most out or to anybody else?

What was your welcome to the NBA moment?

Welcome to the NBA moment? Oh, Kobe Bryant Duncan on.

Me, Well, You're not alone in that category there, Dwight.

It was a funny one because I remember actually Brian Grant actually after that play.

He said, welcome to the league.

I'm telling and I couldn't wait to dunk on him back or block his side or something. So when we played against him in Atlanta Hawks, I took it personally to just try to destroy him.

Did Kobe say anything to you when he dunked on you?

Uh?

He just said in an interview that he baptized me, and he woke me up in actuality.

He did that dunk.

Was so embarrassed, and I was like, I gotta block everybody's dunk. I put it everybody to the ground, and I'm gonna go get me a defensive Player of the Year.

So it did wake me up. He baptized.

He had forty one in that game.

Jesus ripe, we must have had the thirty eight thirty eight, thirty nine.

Who is the best player you faced?

The best player that our face? Oh that's playing that our base? Oh my goodness. Uh? Skill wise or do you mean like overall overall?

Just best player? Like that guy is he's different?

Oh? Man? Uh? Well, obviously uh cobD Uh.

Kobe did a shot in the finals, and I'll never forget the shot.

Uh.

He was driving to the basket and he went up and I put my hands up and try to block the shot, and he took the ball between my arms and then brought it back, came back up and then shot the shot. It was It was incredible. After that moment, I was like, this, that's the coldest player that I've ever played me.

You think you and Shaq will ever be friends?

Uh? Yes, we Actually I saw him in Orlando.

Actually after I was inducted into the Hall of Fame. I was out at a restaurant eating with my family and my friends, and the owner said that Shaq was actually at the restaurant, and I said, I'm going to go talk to him, and everybody was like what I said, Yes, I'm going to go talk to him. I got up, went over to where he was at, shook his hand as we have a minute a loan, and we had a real good conversation and I was very happy about it.

But it was a really good talk and I'm glad that the.

Universe everything worked out perfectly for us to be in Orlando at the same place at the same time.

I have a conversation.

But when did it go south or sideways between you two?

I have no.

I really believe that it was outside noise and people. He says, she says stuff like that, and then now I make both of us irritated. So when I hear something on TV that he says, I'm pissed off about it, and I responded to him and vice versa. And to be honest, I'm just just like, man, we're too old for this. You know, we have children, we have people who look up to us, and you know, we both need a lot to a lot of people in this world.

I don't.

I don't like it. I grew up watching Shaq. I respect him as a player and a man in a businessman that he is. When his father passed away years back, it's one of the first people to reach out because I knew how much that, you know, losing his father.

You know, it was hurting him. Man.

You know I really as a as a young man, you know, looking up just smiling like sagas like my big brother.

So we just had to miss.

Unsett Yeah, I thought it was you were both in Orlando, both had Superman nickname. You end up following in his footsteps to the Lakers, So it's maybe he was thinking you were following in his footsteps, trying to be like Shack, and for some reason he had a problem with that. That's all I how I viewed it.

Yeah, well I wouldn't.

So my thing is this, Also, if someone is trying to follow in my footsteps, that means to me that first, that's an honor, that's un humbling, and that means that I've done such a great job with my life and my career that somebody wants to follow in those footsteps.

So I don't see anything wrong with that. No, now I did not do that.

It's just everything seemed to pan out like it was a mirror image of Shacks like and career. We're both tall, we're both funny, we're both comedians, like to have fun, dance, we both talked the ball a lot, with both dominant centers.

I understand that we both say we're Superman, So I get it. If I am following his footsteps, I shoot, I would love that.

You know, Shaq has saved away for so many big men He's done an amazing job. So you know, that's amazing to follow in the footsteps of one of the greatest, most dominant big men to ever play.

Who's gonna present you at the Hall of Fame?

Oh?

Well, I would love Kevin Gardinett, uh, keem Elijah one, and Shaquille O'Neill to walk me in.

If it's not Shaquille, if he can't do it.

Mark Jackson, Wait, have you reached out to these guys? Are you reaching out to them now?

Yes?

Yes, I have to reach back out to Mark Jackson. Mark Jackson's story about him. I met him in high school at the Top one hundred camp and I asked him could he meet me every morning at around six point thirty to work out before a cap started.

And he thought I was playing around and I wasn't going to show up.

I told him I was serious about being the number one pick and the best player in the Nations. I was there every morning, he was there every morning. That helped me get better, and I remember that they really helped shape the mold before the NBA. So you know, I would love for hear you know, walking in, But I don't. I said, I think it's players who have made it into the Hall of Fame.

Okay, yeah, I mean it sounds like you got a posse there, not just one person twice so Shack, Kevin Garnett, a team Elijah, team Elijah. Yeah, well you got to pick one. I don't know. Can you have three?

I think you can have too.

Okay.

Uh my favorite player all time is what Chamberers, So if he could do it, I would love what Timing to be there.

That's my favorite player.

Uh So, yeah, well that's not gonna happen, so I think it would be awesome. I mean, if Will Chamberlain walks you in, hey, that'll be a pretty great moment. He's been dead for a long time. Dwight, I think Shack walking you in would be awesome. That would be pretty special to see you two walk in together. Hopefully it would.

It would.

It would be very special, not only because of all the noise that over all the years.

People would love that.

But one thing we both say is people would love to see us fight, and we're not fighting.

We don't need to fight.

But the moment that people would really love to see is I think that moment right there, and it shows that we have mature in a lot of different ways. We're able to squash whatever beef people to say we're having. And you know, he's inducted me into that level, that that space that he's always pushed me at every single time he's been, uh, you know, the shows at tn T and stuff like that.

So just to see him do there, I think it'd be really awesome.

And this I'm gonna script this for you. You and Shoq walk in and then you open up your jackets and you got Superman T shirts on.

Ah, that would be hilarious.

All right, we just got to get Shack on board.

You know.

That's it. We we we get. We got a little bit of time. You got a couple of months.

I think I think we got some time. I uh, I will start working on sending us some more message and see if.

The work well. More importantly, congratulations on all of this and thanks for joining us.

Thanks for having me man. I don't know if you know, I'll be joining the Big Three this year. Uh play some Big Three basketball with ice CE and if you have any players that's interested in playing, and I have my whole professional league and Asian it's called the age A Tournament We're having a draft April eleventh and April twelve this month coming up.

We have twelve teams in our league.

We want to expand it and get more guys in America and the States opportunities to play in a national ball did an awesome job for me my career, and it could do an amazing job.

Of the guys. I would love to give him that opportunity.

Can Cube play anymore? I mean, he messed around and got a triple double, Dwight, which I don't know if he really did. Dwight, he kept his own stats in a pickup game.

You are less.

He was so good.

Can Cube still? Can Cube play?

He can still play?

That's why he had it to four point four point shot? Oh man, Good luck with all this, and again, rats and thanks for joining.

Us, Thanks for having May I have an awesome Day's.

Dwight Howard going to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio w APP.

It was great, great day yesterday, Brent. Congratulations on going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's the Pete Rosel Radio and TV Award. I don't take any credit other than letting people reminding people that you weren't in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You did all the work. I just wanted people to remember all the great work you did. So congratulations, Dan, thank you so much.

I know that a couple of years ago we had a conversation out at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. I think we were on the rooftop of the Fountain Blue Hotel and you mentioned it, and I know it wasn't even on my mind, but.

You you actually put it forward.

And then later I'm told as I was leaving you at Jim Nance and Jim Nance also echoed what you had said. So I want to thank both of you. It was such an honor yesterday and you would have got a kick out of I was honestly just brushing my teeth and my phone rang and I looked down and I said NFL Hall of Fame, and I said, well, I wonder what that. And so I said hello, Brent, coach Vermeo and I said, yeah, Coach, I said, this is not your cell phone, this is a different phone.

It was.

It was great moments.

I just wish Dan irv Cross, Phyllis, George.

Jimmy, the Greek.

I wish they were still with us to shareing this because they meant so much to the NFL today and actually the start of my career. So again, thank you so much for your platform.

Well, you gave me almost an opportunity to dream because when I watched you do your show when the NFL today, I remember watching and saying, I can do that. I'm not a play by play guy. I can do that. I don't know how to do that. I don't know if I'd ever get a chance to do that. But it's the first time in my broadcasting career, or like the beginning of it, that I had a direction and

I'm so appreciative to hear that. And so many youngsters through the years Dan have come up and said, you know, I really want to get into sportscasting. I love what you do, and I would spend some time and talk them through it. But I you know, you touch a lot of lives. And I was asked yesterday, anybody ever get upset with you? And I chuckled and I said, occasionally I would get a letter, a little nasty from a preacher somewhere who said that I was spoiling church attendance on Sunday.

Did you get any feedback, negative feedback when you were saying you were looking live.

No, it's interesting.

No, everybody sort of gravitated to it without knowing how it started. And it started because my director Bob Fishman, who was a Hall of Fame director by the way, he at a meeting of the NFL Today once earlier in the week, said that his father had a friend who loved to bet over unders and we were coming into November and he wanted the weather at the Darius stadiums that we were going, and we didn't have enough time. Remember the NFL Today was a half hour show. Now

And we started.

I think the first one, damn might have been Soldier Field in Chicago, because I know it was in November, and so we used you are looking live and it was kind of a drizzly, gloomy day at the lake front of Chicago. And so the next one at the at the meeting, Uh, Bob said, hey, my father's front really loved that. He thought that was great, and so we went from there to two three different stadiums that we could flash around the country, and so it became

If I say you were looking live, let's do.

It so so so it went from there and but no, I never I never received. I don't remember Pete Roselle, who was a good front of the shows. He would come by, you know, two or three times a year when he wasn't on the road watching games. I don't I don't remember Pete ever asking me specifically about but you are looking.

I've just became the trademark of the show. That's how that's how we are.

But you were kind of dancing around gambling without.

Oh yes, oh yes.

And I remember now, remember now, Jimmy, we weren't dancing, okay, we were hugging me. I mean when Bob Wesler called me before year two of the NFL Today and he said, Brent, do you know a gambler by the name of Jimmy the Greek? And I did, because when I was covering baseball, I would stop off in Las Vegas and I.

Had met the Greek. I knew him.

And he said, I want to put him on the NFL today to talk about the games. And I said, Bob, that's fine, but what are we going to do with the commissioner Roselle? And of course that led to the famous meeting that we had for about an hour down the Park Avenue, NFL offices, and Roselle could not have been more favorable to what the Greek being on the show.

Yes sir, yes, sir, you got it.

Never even thought about it, walk out and say, how are we going to talk about if we can't use the points spreads?

Okay?

So that that led to the famous checkboard with the Greek and people would figure out if the checks were all on one team side, he made cover of the spread. So so we went from there. And the only time I got in trouble after the NFS we were doing the NFC of CBS then was after the NFC Championship game. The Greek would always slip me a piece of paper with the spread on the Super Bowl, and I would always give it and I'd always get the phone call on Monday.

Don't you ever do that again? Oh gee, I'm sorry.

I forgot until the next year when you forgot again.

That exactly.

Yeah, you know, I always knew, honestly, if you go back to the founding of the National Football League. I mean there were people at ball with Caama Art Rooney he gets his stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers by winning at.

The horse track, and even Peter Roselle.

Every time I went to the Kentucky Derby, Peter rosel was there, usually with Wellington Marraw, the owner of the jobs, so I knew. And the underground was just full of people who like to bet on the National Football you know. You know, I'm glad that it's now illegal. And obviously you have to be careful because a gambling addiction is like an alcohol addiction.

You got to be careful. You got to watch people.

And I try to tell youngsters all the time.

You're not going to beat it. I said. You may think you are, but you're not.

I said.

If you want to do it for recreation, as I do, I said, go ahead and enjoy it.

If I would have told you nineteen seventy five, hey, Brent, you're going to be a Hall of Famer and gambling is going to be embraced by all sports. What would you have thought that we've gotten to this point that gambling is now commonplace. It's it's almost like you're guilted in if you don't gamble on things, I'm.

Gonna thought you were crazy. Okay, let's tell you the truth. I uh both.

I never got into this, you know, dreaming about Hall of Fames. I met to Canton early in the NFL career to shoot a segment for it, but I never dreamed about about going in a and the gambling. I guess I always thought it had a chance to be legal, but I didn't realize how sports were going to embrace it.

And you're so right. I talked to people all the time.

I mean, think about ESPN, which did not exist when the NFL today started. I mean, we didn't have cable television like we have. If you up, I was watching last night, like a lot of people are watching. In the bottom line, you know, there were NBA spreads and

To tell you the truth, I.

Was wondering if you could get Joe Namath to introduce you at the Hall of Fame. I mean, you were there when he made his big proclamation, Oh yeah, and then they were going to win Super Bowl three.

Yeah, it's great.

It was.

You know, you were talking about stadiums, you know, and the old Orange Bowl. I think for me, the stadiums always stand out where I have memories of what happened there. Okay, and Super Bowl three was really something because earlier in that week we'd gone to Fort Lauderdale and the bellman sold us that Joe Namath was out back, and there

But guess who was next to me. Howard Cosell giving me the.

Flay by plane of the I was the.

One man audience for Howard Cosell at Super Bowl three.

And of course he hated.

The NFC because the NFC would not lie, and he loved the AFL.

That was that was his dream. So he was so proud of Joe.

Willie names I'll tell you you know.

He called me mush I was thinking Mush, I'll tell you he's the best.

So but that's one of the iconic moments in NFL history. Like when you think about it, what it became. You know, then you had guys who started to guarantee things. Then it became almost like common place where somebody was like, hey, we're gonna win, do you guarantee it? I guarantee it.

You know.

It was in the footsteps of Joe Willie.

Absolutely absolutely, and I'll tell you Dan, that game to me meant more to the merger than anything.

Now.

Now, Al Davis meant a lot to the merger because he.

Started signing quarterbacks were in the NFL, and when the George Hallises of the world saw what it was going to cost them, they also made a move toward merging. But once Joe Namas you know, I mean remember now of Greek and Las Vegas made the Baltimore coltson eighteen point favorite eighteen point favorite in that game, I mean, let that sink in right.

Now with everybody who didn't you have.

You know, I did not bet the game, and I never I never, I don't think I always.

Thought the Cults were going to win. Listen, I was a Bears guy.

Okay, I mean covered them and knew the Hallas that I.

Kind of looked down a little bit at the AFL.

You know, I was kind of one of the establishment reporters back in the day, and so I really thought the Colts were going to win. I don't think I would have given eighteen points, but as it turns out, the bet of the year would have been on Willy Names and the Jets.

My friend, congratulations again and good luck with Thank you v's in the sports betting network that you've been that you co founded there, but uh, long time coming. Glad to play any role in this, but once again, thank you for being a friend.

Oh, by the way, the Gators did well in your pool, Yes they did.

You won the contest, you won the bracket. Is that more important than going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for me?

Is whatever?

Thank you, Thank you.

So much, Dad, Thanks for all your help.

Thank you, buddy. That's Brent Musburger.