FULL THU POD @SpenceChecketts on NBA Finals Game 6, OKC @ IND, NFL Offseason, USMNT/RSL + more

All right, let's get it.

Drive time Thursday afternoon, ten minutes past the hour of two o'clock. It is hot, man, It is scorching hot today, about ninety two degrees sunny here in.

Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.

Have like a random cool down Saturday, Sunday Monday situation, which might feel kind of good. We hit one hundred a little bit earlier. It's going to be a hot tomorrow as well. But as it is every single day, it's good to have you along for the ride. Spence checkets beyond the mic, Porter Larson back behind the glass after pulling double duty today, Porter and James holding it down as Sean is on the road with the PFL.

So Porter and James.

Doing a good job midday today on the radio station. Appreciate their work. So Porter is producing the show. He can take a few deep breaths after three hours on air, and we are jam packed and busy on a Thursday edition of the program. Could be the final day of the NBA season, could be the final day of the season in Pro basketballs the Oklahoma City Thunder, We'll look to complete what has really been a historic season all year long. They're going to try to knock off the

So we'll let you know.

It's about fifty minutes away from right now. Of course that decision will affect the line, and of course it will affect the flow of the basketball game. Tyree's really makes them go in a lot of ways. We'll talk about it on the show today. There ain't non the postseason when he scores twenty plus points, they're actually nine to zero. In the postseason when he has eleven plus assists, they're six and seven when he goes beneath twenty points. So of course they badly need him to go. But

We'll get there.

We'll draft fourth overall in the NHL Draft the day after the NBA Draft concludes. So the latest on some of these prospects. Something weird is going on with Ace Bailey. Ace Bailey canceled his workout today in Philadelphia.

And.

You know he's taking a lot of heat.

Let me just say this, these decisions are never made by these young prospects, and Ace is very young. He's eighteen, He's still very much a kid. So it's not an Ace Bailey problem. That could be who is representing him, could be a problem with his reps or his agent or what have you. Rumors are that his agent, Ace is the only client that this agent has. I don't know, never heard of the agent. Really, what this usually means is the young man has a promise from a team.

I don't know.

We'll have to see. So we'll talk to some NBA drafted on the show. NFL offseason news. Not a lot right now is OTA's and mini camps. You're kind of wrap it up, but we will talk some NFL today on the program with a really good guest, one of our favorites to talk NFL offseason. College football quiet right now, although if you're a BYU fan, you need to know

And look, I'm not going to.

Tell you I've been grinding tape on Rider Lions, but the more you read about him, the more that you understand he's very highly thought of.

So it could be a big day for BYU.

Grabbing the top draft pick, or excuse me, the top prospect in the twenty twenty six class. Utah Football has announced their home promotions.

If you're into such things, we'll tell you what those are.

For Utah Football, we have a little Gold Cup action as the US men's national team will be at action tonight against Saudi Arabia in group play. Diego Luna, our own Diego Luna from RSL, has been, in my estimation through one match, the best player on this team. So if you're looking for something to watch tonight and you're not necessarily a basketball fan, there's a little soccer on your television. A little bit later, we know the details

A lot of money.

But the money that's now coming into professional basketball. We're talking about groups and individuals that are like ten times wealthier than that number, which is astronomical. And the business of basketball worldwide is booming NBA Africa, of course, all the money to make in China. Ask Daryl Morey about how sensitive that topic is. So the finances of the

Shop for a long time. Doctor Buss was not a rich man.

Everything he had to buy the Lakers in nineteen seventy nine, and you fast forward. He paid sixty seven million for the Lakers in seventy nine and the valuation now was ten billion dollars. The business of basketball is very good, So a lot to do on the program. Really Good Guest List three of my favorite guests will stop by today. We'll start off with some football, some NFL football with Ben Solac. For me, ESPN, I always enjoyed chatting football

Hundred through eleven.

These guys are going low today after the challenge of the US Open. I would imagine they're breathing very, very easy. So Ben Solach, Chris Camrodnie Dave mcmanman and me Spence Check. Its all of you the great listeners. Happy Thursday afternoon to you. You're almost to the weekend. Hang on, you're almost there. And that guy pulling double duty today three hours in the midday hosting a show now producing Afternoon Drive.

Hello Porter, Happy Thursday. How are you young man?

Happy Thursday to you, Spence doing well, do well already you know, as you mentioned, well into the radio day, so ready to ready to finish it off.

There you go, there you go, So a lot to get to on the program. Ben Solak will be our first guest to talk to some NFL football.

But before we catch up with Ben on.

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Welcome to the Drive with Spence Check.

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I'm taking more on Jalen Williams twenty two point five points. I'm gonna take less on Tyree Saliburt and thirteen point five points.

There's a chance he would he can play.

I'm taking more on Pascal Siakam twenty one point five points, and I will take more on Aaron Nesmith eleven points as well. You know what, give me TJ McConnell more than five point five points. That feels like easy money. So download that prize picks apup today. Those are my picks for the game tonight. Speaking of the game tonight, this could be the final matchup of the NBA season as the Oklahoma City Thunder will look to close out

And just didn't look right.

Indiana is going to hold a walk through and work out in about forty five minutes from right now. It will make a determination after that, according to ESPN and others. I think it's an interesting dynamic to consider. It probably will just list him game time and then we'll see if he's actually out there to play. I mean, I don't know if this is gainsmanship from Rick Carlisle. Rick is known for his gamesmanship. You can ask Tom Thibodaux about that, so this could be a bit of a

He didn't look right.

And you know, I always get a kick out of media members that played doctor in these situations talking about what could happen if he plays. But when it comes to this calf strain, we do have several examples of potential collateral damage if you push it and you go.

You remember Kevin Durant going down.

For the Golden State Warriors when the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Championship. That was as a result of a calf strain that they pushed in the wrong direction, and of course that adversely affected Durant quite frankly for a couple of years. He missed an entire season of basketball, wasn't really himself when he initially came back. So there's that risk, and you do need to mitigate that if you're an organization, and if you also remember during that series.

It almost never happens.

And I'm watching the game, Durant goes down, you know, and the Raptors win, And the first person from the Golden State Warriors to address the media was Bob Myers.

Manager.

It wasn't Steve Kerr, it wasn't steph of course, it wasn't KD. I'd go to the hospital. It wasn't Draymond, wasn't Clay, it was Bob Myers, because he had to get out in front of the story that they potentially could be held liable here for their malfeasance allowing Kevin Durant to play when he was clearly compromised. You have to stop the narrative that you do not have a great health and conditioning staff, that your training staff might

One NBA Finals and never made it back.

So if you're Tyree Saliburton, you badly want to play tonight. But on the flip side, conversely, if you're compromised, you could cost your team a chance at fortune a game seven. Now, do I think Indiana can go to Oklahoma City and win a game seven?

No?

But so many crazy things happen when it simply do or die. It's what makes March Madness so awesome. And when it's a one off, what if Shay rolls an ankle in the first quarter. What if I don't know, Benedict Matherin just goes nuts and goes for a half a hundred or something, we've seen it. What if the thunder just frees up because they're a young team that's never had this opportunity before. If you can force a game seven, everything is on the table. That's why game

And that's simply this.

When your star player goes down, the sum of the parts are able to step up and maybe play better basketball than they ever have before to make sure that they're keeping up despite losing their best player.

And we do see it happen quite often.

There are potentially only two games left for the Pacers to lift a championship that nobody thought they had a shot of even sniffing. So if you're ty reech you have to weigh that out. And if it really is up to the training staff. After he does this walk through coming up in about forty minutes, my guess is he does not go. If he has any say, my guess is he tries. But here's the problem with that. If Tyree Saliburton is fifty sixty percent and he steps out on the floor and tries to give it a go,

Today. The LA Lakers were sold. We'll get to that. But our first guests.

I always enjoy talking football with the great Ben Solac from ESPN.

Ben, Happy Thursday, man. How you doing?

Oh well then, how you Ben?

I'm good buddy. So what's got your attention right now? This really is a little bit of a down period. Of course, football is always topical for people. But what's got the Ben Solac antenna's up right now?

What are you talking about? The Ravens are still in mini camp, but it's like day six or something. What a thrill? Yeah. The biggest thing that I'm watching for at this stage is always contract extensions hold out that sort of a thing. Bengals and Trey Henderson is something that's been covered now for over a year, since he's

All right, good stuff, good stuff. Let's start with low hanging fruit. Good ridden. Saron Rodgers as a Jets fan. He's the quarterback for the Steelers. Now, of course, everybody was waiting for the decision. It came down in very classic Aaron Rodgers fashion. How's this going to look? What do you think it's going to look like in Pittsburgh?

Fine? Okay, acceptable, You know, it's hard to get thrilled about this. I think even if you got some version of Aaron Rodgers that was an MVP guy three or four or five years ago, which I just don't think he can get given how old he is now coming off of the injury and what have you, we're still talking about a team. His best weapon is dcame met Calf, which is decays a good receiver in the NFL, but as far as wide receiver ones go, he's more on

We'll stick with low hanging fruit.

And I will ask you about Justin Fields and Aaron Glenn and my New York Jets, even though, as I've told you over the years, no part to me believes in their ability to do anything right. And I'm still in that space. What it's going to what's what's this going to look like? Ben both now and what's the plan? What's the plan for this team moving forward?

Yeah, so I think that the Justin Fields tire kick is the correct way to go about things. This is going to be a long term rebuild. There's no doubt about that. Aaron Gunn was in Detroit, which is the team that took things very slow in there, rebuilt General manager Darren Moogie was in Denver. What is the team that tried to fast track or reload right, all right, Nathania Hacket Russell Wilson's humongous trade, big extension go and it didn't work.

Right.

You kind of experienced how you put the car before the horse. You end up crashing and burning, and you can really throw a wrench in your team's future cap space. So I effect the build here to go quite slow. Accordingly, you bring in a player like Fields on a like fee tier contract, right, it feels like a big contract out twenty million per year if you look at NFL quarterback contracts, I mean, like you know, Danio Jones got

Right.

They did wasn't run the option offense. And so I think that Aaron Glenn's experience in Detroit and his Lions teams, his Lions defenses tended to get shredded by fields on the ground. He was so good against Detroit's man covered specifically, I think he knows the value of having that eleven or eleven quarterback, that true dual threat option quarterback. I think you just see fields carry the ball at some of the league highest levels this year for quarterbacks, and

I'll take advantage of Avenue on today to get a couple of thoughts on local storylines. And it was a quiet draft for our local college teams, juxtaposed to what it typically is with you. Todd Bergham Young but Jackson Dark played his high school ball about twenty minutes from where we're broadcasting today. He lands with the Giants, who of course also have signed Russell Wilson and Jamis Winston.

I'd be stunned if they can keep him on the bench all year simply because Brian da able to head coach there Joe Shane the general manager. There are both guesses in round for years. Seat's starting to get a little hot. The objective for both those individuals is to get to the twenty twenty six off season and be able to turn to the Merit family and claim, this is why you got to keep me for another year. Right,

That's brutal.

Man. I think that is fair. There's a lot of playoffs being in the first half of the schedule, so I think they're going to to start Russ, be training Jackson up, and then be looking for that opportunity to kind of get him a soft onboard a few easier start somewhere mid season. That'd be my ETI vacation.

It's probably okay to say that the Niners had no choice to pay brock Party what they did, But it's also probably fair to say, wow, that's a lot for brock Party. Since you and I last spoke, the contract came down five years to sixty five. Obviously, San Fran had to make some really difficult decisions. So your thoughts on the pretty contract and what it means for the Niners.

Yeah, you say that here. It's past of doing business, right. Quarterback contracts and quarterback rankings feel like they should be something that's very like complex. It's actually that's very simple, It's okay, can we go to the super Bowl with this guy? Like if he if he above a bar such that we can make a Super Bowl rue with him, yes, then he's going to get paid an insane amount of money.

It was a big.

Reload year for them. I don't think twenty twenty five necessarily year they're going to get back to the big game. But if they get some good plan of these young players, rebuild the offense a little bit, twenty twenty six spect now just to be back in full force.

Another local story of a player that you and I have spoke about over the years, and I never really understood the Jets being enamored enough with Zach Wilson to draft him when they did. And I also understand BYU fans that are blind and blue saying he landed in the wrong organization. There's merit there, for sure. He is getting a second chance, though, what do you think it looks like? And will he be the backup by the way, the first choice backup to two in Miami.

Yeah, I think he will be the backup to two in Miami. And I also think that because it'll be the backup to two in Miami, will probably see them at some point. Right. That's just kind of what to his health situation usually ends up being. It's a good offense for him. The success of Zach Wilson. The good of Zach Wilson is the quick release, the ability to throw off platform which is a non negotiable in this Dolphins offense. You have to get rid of the ball

Do you know?

Smith, same thing. A couple of backup spots before the Seattle success, Sam Donald, a couple of backup spots before the Minnesota success. Zach Wilson was the second overall pick. Everybody in the league knows his name, scouted him, watched one of his BYU games for multiple years, loved the arm talent, loved the mobility. He's going to keep getting bite of the apple. Right, He got his bite in the apple in Denver. All Right, Bonix is good to worry about it. He's going to get his biting in

All Right.

PAC twelve may rest in peace, even though it's been resurrected. It's just a different league. But of course, as a result of the University of Utah's affiliation for a number of years, we saw a lot of these quarterbacks play up close. So I want to stick with the quarterbacks and stick with some former Pac twelve quarterbacks. And it was a wild off season for Caleb Williams for a

Ben, Yeah, So go back and you watch some like truly disastrous rookie quarterback seasons. You go back and you watch twenty eighteen Mitch Trubisky, and you go back, you watch twenty twenty three Bryce Young, like the sort of seasons that we watched and we were like, dang, like this is just this might not be he might be done. And then you go and you watch Caleb. Caleb clearly had a better season than that group. He absolutely did.

I don't know if you heard Ben, but should Or Sanders fell the fifth round.

I'm not sure if you caught.

Win for me?

Yeah, all right, I'm breaking news on the radio.

There you go.

So the Browns QB room is Joe Flacco. Can he Pickett, Dylan Gabriel and should Or Sanders? Who comes out on top? Who's under center for the Browns this year?

I asked me in August, Man, I got no idea. It's so it's about as bad of a quarterback room situation and that I've ever heard of. I'll tell you what I what I believe to be true, what I believe confidently, and then I've got nothing for you afterwards. I don't think this team will keep Sanders and cut Dylan Gabriel. It would be shocking, right, It's gonna be hard to carry four quarterbacks already hard enough to carry three.

Fair enough, we've got a lot of Bronco fans around here, and they've got a former Pack twelve quarterback under center. Year two, they had Evan Ingram, they grab r j Harvey in the second round, and they've got a good young wide receiver group Courtland Sutton. Of course, really good year last year. What is year two for Denver look like with BONICKX under center.

I think it's going to quite good. They knew they needed to get more weapons. They did a very nice job, you know, kind of coloring in the best. They coued players like Marvin Min's last year and the big rotation at tight end von Bele. And so they add ar Jie Harvey in the second round running back out of UCF, theyd Pat Bryant out of Illinois, third round wide receiver, to bring Evan Ingram the tight end like you brought up.

Now.

They just kind of want to have bodies on bodies. They big rotations. They have tons of personnel groupings, and that's how they say. They stay very multiple and they stay hard to deal with. It's gonna be a very high floor offense. It's gonna be a very functional offense. That's what it was for the back half of last season. We've got to remember Nick started the season really rough, right. It was had no touchdowns to four picks. He was one of the worst quarterbacks in the league by the

Jordan Love played his college ball here in State and of course sat behind Aaron for a minute, and then for two years he has started for the Packers under center, and he's been good.

I don't think there's any debate about that.

I mean, fifth last year in QBR twenty five touchdown passes, eleven and six. That's a tough division. It's tough to make a lot of headway there. But is there more in the tank? Do we see Jordan Love? You know, while us a cliche, reach the next level this year?

Yeah, there is a next level to be reached. There absolutely is. Jordan Love last two seasons as a starter, he's had eleven interceptions in both of the seasons, thirty sacks in twenty twenty three, only fourteen in twenty twenty four.

You measured by proximity.

Now, the closest pro football team to our little city out here is the Las Vegas Raiders, and Gino Smith is not a recent PAC twelve guy. But Chip Kelly coaching the PAC twelve and so did Pete Carroll, so we have an interesting kind of new partnership. Yeah, what's it going to look like for Vegas with Gino Smith and Chip Kelly?

What's that pairing going to look like?

I'm extremely bullish. I think the Raiders are the team that I expect to potentially improves the most from their twenty twenty four win total to their twenty twenty five win total, which is a hard thing to say. In a division with the Chiefs, the Chargers, and the Broncos, they have to play a sixth game, but the Raiders tend to play their division game is very tight. I think that the Antonio Pierce Raiders were really poorly coached. I think that there's just a lot of meat left

Much the whole way.

Two deared question, last quarterback question. Then I've got one more for you, Ben that I'll set you loose. So Minnesota, to no one's surprise, really will ride with JJ McCarthy and Sam Darnold, who, as I've told you before, when the Jets drafted Sam, I'm like, Okay, finally this is the guy didn't turn out that way makes his way out to the Pacific Northwest to play for the Seahawks. So what do you make of Minnesota's decision? What do

Yeah, Minnesota, you had to like read some key leaves, but you also don't because they drafted j Jim McCarthy tenth overall, they very clearly like him and they think he's going to be the future. They were talking to Sam Donald about contracts. I don't think the door was shut on Sam Donald coming back and competing with JJ, essentially holding that job as JJ came back, But they got priced out of where they wanted to be on

Last thing, Bat, I'll set you loose on this.

According to Vegas, they're telling us that the Eagles, the Chiefs the Ravens and the Bills and the Lions. Those five teams are the safest bets to win the Super Bowl this year. So my two tiered question before I say you loose is do you believe the super Bowl winner will come from that group? And if there's a team outside of that, you know that group of five, who may that be?

Yeah?

So I think anytime you give me Chiefs, Ravens, Bills, I want to have that group. I just think that be the top tier of the AFC is so clear the Bills and the Ravens are just miles out of anybody from a roster perspective, quarterback play perspective. And then even if the Chiefs have their works as they clearly do proof the putting in the e and we can't count them out of this thing. They were like awful and offense last years and they still made it. So

Ben good stuff, My friend will set you loose. But just so you know, I've got a great testosterone guy, just hit me up.

I can send him you away.

Okay, Yeah, I'm worried about this now of my career.

All right.

The great Ben Solac covers the NFL for ESPN. Get him on Twitter at Benjamin Solac is where you find him. We've been having been on the show for about well in August, it will be six years, and it's been fun to watch him rise through the ranks. Man, He's a bright kid, does a really good job of analyzing the league for ESPN. So at Benjamin Solac is where

It could be the final day of the pro.

Basketball season as Oklahoma City is looking to eliminate the.

India the Pacers tonight.

The Pacers just took the floor eight minutes ago for their pregame walk through, and during that walk through, the status of Tyreese Saliburton will be determined by the medical staff.

We probably won't know until Tip.

Live in studio injury experts, among other things, Chris Cameronnie I always get a kick out of guys in our business when there's like an injured player who just played doctor on air or on TV. Strain calf could lead to a torn achilles all the things.

Do you have any is that what he's doing? Yeah, strain calf?

Do you have any hot medical takes for us on Tyree Saliburton's status. Well, I've heard that a strained calf can lead to an achilles. That's the take today. I've heard that twenty five times today.

People are probably just lazy and assuming that a strained calf that Kevin Durant suffered six or seven years ago in the finals that led to a torn achilles could potentially do the same thing. I know there is a correlation, so you can't discount that.

Sure, sure, but.

My Haliburton take is the Pacers probably need how Burton to win Game six.

Good take, good take, good take.

Is it gonna happen?

I don't think so. I mean, I picked Oklahoma City in five. It's a it's a historic season. When you look at the metrics, and you know me, I'm a data guy, analytics.

Let's get into it.

Yeah, their net was plus thirteen, what about their pr? The pr is a little bit dated. TK Okay, so you know, okay, yeah, God bless John Hollinger. Okay, but the pr is a little bit dated. Have you ever been aggregated, by the way.

Yes, but not for like online stuff, more just stories I got. I got aggregated up the wazoo when I went and hung out with Stone Cold Steve Austin, because like, he doesn't give a lot of interviews.

Yeah.

Yeah, so all of the wrestling blog websites aggregated a lot of my stuff. And one of my colleagues, Chris Vanini, national writer at at the Athletic, is a huge wrestling fan, and he was like, dude, this this aggregated tweet has like over like a thousand and retweets in like an hour, and it was just basically somebody rewriting the most interesting things that Steve told me in our interview.

Well, somebod who doesn't frequent wrestling blogs. I guess that's why I was unaware that you were aggregated for Stone Cold. You have, over the course of your career doing this. How long have you been doing this in media? Thirteen fourteen, thirteen years. You've interviewed a lot of really fascinating characters. And one of the things I like about your work is you really do think out of the box. So I've heard cliche things say, is there one that stands out?

As a journalist is the record? Yeah? Is there one that stands.

Out if we're talking on the record, honestly, it might be recency ad biased, but it might be my days in Hawaii with Trevor Rightley. Yeah, like honestly, like just because for about forty eight hours, Trevor and I were basically on the record driving around the Big Island about anything from the University of Utah football recruiting to Dion Sanders to visiting the Middle East and how you go about making sure you don't have any cultural you know,

Know, when my phone rings and it's Trevor, Yeah, I go, okay, here we go.

What's what's there to happen?

Because you dude, you never know ever, Like truly, I cannot predict what's about to happen. And every conversation includes some wild twist and turn where you at what are you doing for work? You know, Like I can't say what he told me as far as what he's going to do next the last time I talked to him, But it's a completely different thing than what he's been doing.

It's it's interesting, like the people like that. A lot of most people would assume that they're usually bloviating or or more often than not, stretching the truth. But in my time with Trevor, everything that sounded too good to be true actually was true. There's a lot of people that are like that. Some people are just very good storytellers.

Well, it's a dream for people like us because what it's turned.

Into because he does, sorry to interrupted me, because he doesn't expect any sort of reciprocation, which is also which is maybe where you were going in this day and age where it's kind of like scratch my backs, I'll scratch yours, which is not how my job goes. And I mean Trevor's proman he played in the NFL for like six years. He played here, he knows how it goes.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was like the next time I heard from him, it wasn't like you even talk about it.

Probably wasn't even on his radar, correct, right? Who would play Trevor in the biopic Chris Pratt?

No, God, no, come on, how dare you?

I just try to think of like action because I always used to Trevor and I did a ton of radio back in the day together, a lot of pre adf and post game football, you know, for both Utah and BYU. And he would roll in studio for an hour at the old station. And he still rolls in here when he's in town, and he would tell me these stories off air that were so wild yet to your point, true that they actually happened. And I started telling I'm like, you're Batman, dude, like you're a real

The problem is is guys who are funny generally aren't six or five Keanu Reeves, Yeah, Kiana is not funny enough, like Kno was like stoner funny, like this Billtad. We're gonna have to circle back on this. Let's take let's table, let's table it like that, right, it might come to me.

But what I was gonna say is the reason Trevor is such a breath of fresh air. And I don't really know when to pinpoint this as far as when it happened, but like I have stopped following athletes on social media, like I don't need to follow Steph where it's like all right, game time, or Donovan like Cava, Like you don't get anything interesting from most of these athletes.

Now that's not a blanket statement. That's true for all of them.

But whether it's a coach or a player sitting down with a journalist like you, doing an interview with a radio host like me, or addressing the media post game, it's rare that you get something that is anything other than boilerplate cliche, walk the company line.

But you know why that is. But it didn't used to be that way.

Yeah, I mean, it used to be that beat writers reporters were entrusted with the word of the athlete because there wasn't social media. The Internet really hadn't taken off. And even like within the last I would say, the last five to seven years, that's changed. Even as Twitter started, you were still you still hadn't seen the marketing, the monetization of the social media platforms my story and my

But we need to bring back a little too big.

Yeah we do. But yeah, it that that that is a reality check topic.

I like that.

We could we could spend hours and hours on that.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's just interesting and consider any other. So Trevor Riley certainly good answer the question from a local standpoint.

I mean, I don't mean to butter you up.

You're very good at your job, so you get good things from Kyle when you sit down with Kyle. You get good things from you know, our local players and coaches when you have access to them. Is there any other whether it's Jazz or BYU or even RSL or the University of Utah, any other notable interviews or stories you've done that really stand out or characters kind of like in the elk of trav.

Quinn's The Quinn Profile.

I did.

I think the year after it was not the year that they beat Okay, see when they had Paul George and Russ and Carmelos the year after, so they were still kind of on their upward trajectory.

The reason you know that so well is because Ricky Rubio played for the Jazz and people people confused me for you.

Sorry, man, you just look like.

It when I when I would go to the ZBBC, fans were waiting outside asking for interviews, and one time somebody like basically almost stepped out in front of my crappy rusty Sue Brew and it was like Ricky and I was like.

Come on, man, didn't you have a Rubio kit?

Yeah?

I was gifted a Rubio kit? Yeah do you want? I mean, you know who gave.

It to me?

I would guess it was fault.

Yeah, it's not Antonio Daniels Vancouver kid. Oh by the way, real quick before you continue, Trav had no frame of reference we were talking about because we we're gonna play was at chun you know, we're gonna get up and we're wash out.

Yeah, you didn't gone to the text.

So I had a busy couple of days, bro, did you Okay? I had a busy couple of days. But we're so I was.

I was talking to Trav about it because Trav was doing the finals and for our listeners. Travis Henderson, the supremely talented executive producer of Jazz Broadcast Games, is currently broadcast in the NBA Finals. Our guy could do what he does, like people in our market don't know how talented. Travis Sanderson is like, he is a gem to have here. So he's currently doing the finals, but we're going back and forth about our Washatch weekend and he didn't know

It's great. Like, like I said, it's in great condition. It's on a hangar in my closet.

That a guy.

It was literally the only one online I did a bunch of it was eBay.

I found it on eBay. But for our listeners, c K. You were in studio with Amy I think.

Yeah.

It was during COVID.

During COVID, so stuff was weird.

Yeah.

Yeah, we both had man buns. Yeah, and we were.

You talked about like I dropped like an Antonio Daniel's reference and you were like, if you can name the first team that Antonio Daniels played for I'll give you a hundred bucks, and I was like, if I can name him, I'll take a jersey.

And then that's close, was it?

So what happened was no, you brought up the fact Jazz fans were mad that Antonio Daniels had something critical to say about Donovan and my thing was like, why do we care what Antonio Daniels says? And I said to the two of you, if you can name the team that drafted Antonio Daniels, I'll give you one thousand dollars. That's how convinced I was. You weren't gonna be able to do it. Taken that and you didn't even pump

It's the best jersey in the history of the NBA. It's a great jersey and segue. Antonio dani also played for the Seattle SuperSonics. He did who once upon a time where the Seattle SuperSonics before they were the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Yes, yes, yes he did. Since you brought that up real quick. We got a couple of minutes here in this segment before we break. I think the NBA is going to approve expansion this year. Really, I think in the off season. I don't know this to be true, but the more and more I read into it, the more and more I talk to people, there's a lot of momentum to get a team back in Seattle and then have one in Las Vegas.

I think that is going to be approved this offseason.

Now.

The undercurrent of the Vegas team is that Lebron wants to be an owner, and so a lot of people believe that Adam Silver is kind of brokering that deal behind the scenes.

And Lebron has one year left on his contract.

He got his kid a job in the league, so I think he's probably ready to step aside, and then he'll probably be the face.

Of the Vegas NBA franchise.

I don't know what the Seattle situation is going to look like, but it was announced yesterday ck that the La Lakers were sold. And when you dig into this, and then you look at the new owners in Dallas, and you look at the new owners in Phoenix, Ishpia and potentially Lebron and his crew in Vegas with deep pocketed investors, and I would imagine plenty of Titans of

Mark Walter?

Mark Walter, thank you? So Mark Walter is currently the owner of the Dodgers. He tried to buy the Clippers. He was outbid by Steve Balmer. Steve Balmer has a net worth of one hundred and thirty billion dollars. This Mark Walter gentleman allegedly or reportedly has a net worth that is in that cul de sac one hundred and thirty billion dollars. The money that's coming into like, I don't know Qualtricks financials. When Ryan bob the team, the number I saw was, wasn't it well less than two?

Oh, I was talking about the Jazz sale.

The Jazz sale, Ryan paid eight hundred million for it. And then I think with investors, let's see porter, will you look up what Ryan bought the Jazz war please, so I think it was approaching to it was over one, right, so one point four one point five maybe closer to two.

Ryan himself wrote a check for eight hundred million.

And again I don't really know the financials of Qualtrics or Ryan, but Ryan, his brother, his dad at the time, moved tragically has passed, and one of their business partners I believe, split it four ways. Obviously Ryan has investors other than his own bank account. But there's this movement and momentum in the NBA now where even if you have five six billion dollars, one point six billion dollars was the price tech like when so Ryan put up

I don't know if that's the case anymore.

Like there's a world now where Ryan is no longer this guy that has such deep pockets, Like if there are one hundred and thirty billion dollars, you'll pay whatever you want to for your NBA team. I mean, Mark, the guy that just bought the Lakers, owns the Dodgers. Their payroll is one hundred and forty million dollars more than whoever is in second. I think it might be

Yeah. I don't know how much that affects the jazz though, because at the end of the day, the jazz are never going to outbid anybody for free agents. So like that, that might affect the the New York, Chicago, Dallas, LA. Markets. Maybe it'll affect the Vegas market if that comes to fruition. But for Salt Egg, for the jazz, that's never gonna affect the people working for them here because you have to be able to strike the lottery four or five times in a decade in order to build a contender.

Yeah, that's I mean, it's the right parallel to use.

And I don't think it's lazy because I think it's the and it's a different league now, it's a different collective bargain agreement. So it's hard to draw a straight line. But what the Spurs did with that group should give Jazz fans hope that in a city like Salt Lake, you can actually do it.

I mean, but you could still, like look at the Nuggets. The Nuggets drafted the best player in the world, the second round, second round player, So it's like it's still doable. You just, yeah, it sounds reductive, but at the end of the day, all you have to do is get good time.

Somebody listens to the drive bugget through Friday two to six. Monod you nobly second round pick better known around here as a rich man's talon Horton Tucker.

That's what I've heard.

You got to stop sending me that kid's tweets, all right?

ESPN seven hundred Welcomes Nate Jackson to Kingsbury Hall November seventh, twenty twenty five.

Tickets around sale now on Spence Jackets facts c K. Are you ready for it?

Yeah, let's get his mike on. You ready for a little known Spence Jackets. I just went third person twice and never do that. Love Elton John, absolutely love Elton John. I saw Elton John and Billy Joel together Madison Square Garden, I don't know, maybe fifteen twenty years ago, the best shows I've ever seen.

That's very cool. Yeah that so were they on a tour together? Was okay?

No, they were on a tour together?

Yeah?

Yeah. My in laws went to Elton's last concert here. I had a bunch of friends go to Elton's concert last concert here. I bet he puts on a really good show.

And I haven't seen it in fifteen years or so, Like how old is that?

How old would you guess Alton John.

Is Now I'm going to guess Porter's gonna fact check or you're going to fact check. I'm going to go seventy.

Four, seventy eight. Oh, they're pretty close. So I don't know what sort of energy he has at this stage of his career. So I saw him when he was just like little kids, man, does he yeah, Okay, I feel like these old rich.

People are just say yeah, I feel like being a dad again.

Dave Letterman.

I listened to an interview with Dave Letterman and he's like, yeah, I've just started having kids.

He's like in his seventies.

No, Dave had a kid towards the tail end of his show, because I remember it was a big deal because he really didn't have kids until he was like in his fifties, and then he had like the heart thing. Because I was a Letterman guy. I remember it was a big deal that Dave Letterman had a kid.

You are correct, Harry Letterman is twenty one years old. But then there was a gap, and I think he's had a couple more. Really all right, Anyway, in this interview, Picasso potentially in this interview, he was asked like what are your regrets. And he said that I didn't become a father younger. So I don't know Elton's current kid situation. But I saw him on tour. Let's see, he probably was in his early sixties, so I don't know what energy he has in his late seventies, but I would

Yeah, I would imagine that, like it is hard to have somebody like Bollocks up the energy at a Elton John concert, for sure, unless somebody is maybe singing a little too loud. I think that's outside of talking in the movie theater. Being at a concert and having somebody close to you singing louder than the actual person singing to me is like nails on a chalkboard.

You know.

Another reason, yes, I agree with you.

Another recent development of mine is and I noticed this went to a music festival.

You were your shoes off, of course, did you take a rug?

Of course? Obviously shoes off? Gummy, the whole.

Thing really tightened together.

It was in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Dave and tim right, Little Little Camp, Little Father John Misty.

Oh naturally, let's see uh John Butler Trio. Yeah for real?

Wow, Yes, excellent poll Little DAWs potentially randomly Goo Goo Dolls, which pissed everybody off.

Heys is a great song.

Listen, man, we're of different eras. That was probably the annoying song when you were in college, and for me it was the song that you wanted to dance with, dance with a girl too, in like eighth ninth grade. Okay, So like everybody has those songs man, where you're just like kind of like, ooh do I do I have the Cojones.

I'm gonna hit you with this lineup and it's gonna be right on brand for me.

Kay, I'm ready.

This is why we went.

Okay so sound on Sound Music Festival twenty twenty two Lumineers, Father John Misty, Head in the Heart the National Band of Horses, Trampled by Turtles, Brandy Carlyle, Stevie Nicks was incredible.

Zach Bryan. I actually saw Zach Bryan play.

Not a country singer. According to our guy Porter Larson.

Oh no, yeah, dude, I made the mistake of being like dude, I found a new country and he was so mad at me. He's pop country. Okay, fair enough. The roots were there as well, so that was fun. But what I realized is this is a young man's game, dude. Music festivals are a young man's game. Wait when was this twenty twenty two? But like, what time of your Sorry it was summer, so it was hot humidity. Yes, yes, augusty, I believe SPF fo are you working with forty five?

So my whole let's go down this path.

My sunscreen approaches this forty five to fifty base fifteen spray with a little banana oil, right, well, coconut oil.

Your smell's really nice.

You're looking to get some some melanin in there.

Oh look look at me, man, I mean you you ten instantly?

Yeah?

I need a minute. Yeah, okay, I need a couple.

Of But let's not yeah, bro, but we got to be careful with those burns. As long as you're hitting the dirm, you're wrong.

We've been lied to have we's.

Good for you.

Good for you? Now, don't take my word for it. Anyone listening wear sunscreen?

Okay, don't be like, Hey, I heard Spence said I should just get burned all the time. No, it's a slow burn, okay, and then eventually I tan and it's a good look. So that that's my sunscreen approach. Fifty bays. Then we go with the spray with about five ten fifteen banana oil. Wasn't ready for that.

It smells so nice?

Do you do that on the golf course?

Oh?

Yeah, okay, yeah all right.

In fact, next time you see our guy Gerald, he gives me this crap for it because it attracts bees.

Aren't you worried that it might like spill in your bag? And then the spray? I mean the oil.

No, First of all, I keep it in the side pocket.

Natural.

Would you like to know my golf bag set up? Yeah, outside pocket. Two gloves usually new to make sure I'm good when I set up the bag, take the glove out, put the keys in the wallet in the outside pocket. Inside pocket, sunscreen, CBD oil for the back, yep, you know, vapor type vix rub for the shoulder. I'm an old man at this point, so I have to make sure my injuries are all taken care of. Upper right pocket, my green Uh you know the tool you used to fix the green I know you do.

Yeah, of court.

Obviously, my ballmarker, which is magnetic that sticks to that.

Trap into a quarter.

I have a couple of cores in there because Trey never has a ball marker.

Well, the guy from Happy Gilmore just picked it up. Good, good pull coming coming. The two two's coming this summer. Man like next month. It's going to be bad. I know we can talk about it. I'm going to interrupt you. We'll go back. Have you watched Stick on Apple TV? I have not own Wilson. There's it's bugs, it's Ted Lasso for golf. But but Amanda is actually learning about golf, so they actually talk about golf. Okay, I think thirty minutes shows. I'm just throwing it out there. There's nothing

Yes, exactly.

It's his his character Midnight in Paris. His best roles are in Wes Anderson movies historically. But the cast is good and the golf, the golf is good. So I would just recommend that. So back to your golf bag. Well, okay, let me finish that. Then we'll go to the best own Wilson movies because we have to. Yeah, that's it's like a staple of you. And it's also June.

So if you want to rank Utah's wide receivers from the Pac twelve era, just calm down. So in the pocket with my tool and my ballmark, that's where I keep my tea's Okay, pocket, below that, I have every potential tool that I would need to fix a club. So you have like a little screwdriver thing. I've got a couple of rings in case you fix a club. You have to fix a club when you have a powerful athletic swing, Chris.

Or when you break a club on the.

Course unnecessary drop in And by the way, for the record, this year, no broken club Okay, what's changed the economic impact of breaking several clubs throughout the course of the season In this economy, I cannot say that I've had zero club throws, but I've had zero club breaks.

What feels better letting go of a club in anger or swishing a three pointer?

Oh?

What a great question. Because look, here's the bottom line. If you can keep yourself to under three club breaks a year, it sounds horrible. There's nothing more satisfying than breaking a club.

After the knee or I've been over the knee.

There's nothing more satisfying than breaking like a wedge. So if you hit like a if you rope your drive and you're like ninety five yards out, if you chunk it, chunk it or scull it within it, whatever, yep, because a new wedge is like one hundred and ten bucks, and that's not expensive enough to dissuade me from the sandy pitching gap gap. Yeah we're ninety five yards out.

Oh, I know you do.

And we'll get to your thoughts on the current tournament that's going on right now in the world of professional golf. But the problem is, one hundred and ten dollars is worth the price of how good it feels to break a wedge after you scull a little wedge, you.

Know, after roping a drive.

So if you can keep it to one or two club breaks a year, then you're actually doing okay. But the problem is a couple of seasons we were your boy over here, we're talking four or five club breaks.

Yeah, I would imagine that a driver would be the easiest club to break. It is because it is, it's more less titanium steel, or maybe I don't know, it's urban fiber.

Look at you. It is easier to break. But the problem is that's a little more punitive. A new driver, you know, three hundred and fifty four hundred bucks, but a new wedge is like one hundred and ten dollars.

So if you break a wedge, it feels so good.

Now you're judged instantly by the group and people are probably I don't want to play with this dude, like he's throwing clubs.

Can you play golf with people who judge you?

Well, I also play golf with other golfers who get angrier than I do, and I judge them, So therefore I know I'm being judged.

Golf course seems to be a very therapeutic place.

It is.

Yeah, naturally it is.

Let's see, we don't need to go over my club selection of my golf back.

But that's the gist of it.

I could survive in the wilderness, oh, et Ceterrin, okay, in the left pocket where the sunscreen you.

Talk an exceedrin migraine or just playing extend.

Plain, et cetera. Now you're an expert. Is there a big difference?

Yes?

Is there a difference in the caffeine boots. Yes, oh yeah. Should I get migraine.

Oh yeah, unless you get a certain type of headache. But yes, it's always good to have exceerin migraine handy, Okay, they have. They have a smaller bottle. It's like twenty pills. Okay, it's like six bucks. Okay.

Back to the Owen Wilson First of all, Dick saying, okay, I'll check it out an admission about why I'm somewhat anti Owen Wilson, and it's really not his fault. So Vince Vaughn had this like eight year run where nobody could match his ability to just basically ad lib and be really quick and really funny.

Hot route, hot route. You know, I don't.

I was all state. I can put it wherever I want out here.

I hate you.

So it's really not Owen Wilson's fault that in the movie Wedding Crashers, he tried really hard to do the Vince Vaughn ad lib thing and it never landed to me because he was going next, you know, toe to toe with the Master. Yeah you know, so after that I became very anti Owen Wilson. But best Owen Wilson movie of all time?

Is what his best best movie or his best performance?

Either We've got Midnight in Paris. I think it was a good movie.

I think his best movie is Midnight in Paris.

Got Grand Budapest. The West stuff is Tarjaline is really good.

Yeah, I would probably go best performance somewhere between Darjeeling and Royal. He was like, Royal is the answer? Yeah, I think so that's the answer. It was written in a sort of obsolete vernacular.

Royal is the answer? Yeah, Well see I knew we'd land on a wildcat rush. He was in Rushmore, but very briefly, but bit part. Rushmore, as it's well documented, is the best West movie period. Uh, Starski and Hutch was pretty good. Let's see Hall Pass was underrated.

Funny. Yes, it's not the answer, no, but it was.

Underrated funny yes, Becausecus is funny too.

All Right, anyway, what are we doing?

Let's uh, it's no easy transition, but this is what we do when you roll in the studio. Gold Cup tonight, US men's national team taking on Saudi Arabia.

I believe, uh are we back?

After our dominant performance against the Trinida Trinidadians, Trinidad and Tobago, Tobago whatever. Are we back now? Are we so back? As the kids would say, We're not so back? I think it'll depend on the result tonight, the performance tonight.

Locally. We'll see if your boy Poch deploys Diego Luna again, who moon man, who is basically you know, had a goal stolen from him on that shot, had an assist. Seems to play very free and well in the system that Mauricio Poctino likes to play. So I think Diego Luna plays better for the national team than he does for RSL because I feel like he's he has less on his shoulders, He's able to be more creative. It makes sense, and he's you know, playing with a higher

Win.

I don't know if it will be an easy win, but it should be a win. I am. I'm enjoying. I don't know if you've been watching. I've been enjoying the Club World Cup.

I was gonna ask you about MESSI scored.

Right, yeah, and they beat they beat Porto, which is no small feet yeah nothing.

Yeah.

I mean our former friends, former friends of the program, Danny Mussovski and Albert Rusnach are in the starting eleven for Seattle against against Athletico Madrid. It starts at four o'clock. So and then oh, that's why you're looking at the clock.

That's well.

And then their next their last group game is PSG Seattle's so is it really?

Yeah, Mbape is in the hospital. He's not with the SG anymore anyway.

No, he's with Madrid, but he's in the hospital here. He's in the hospital a cute gastro enteritis, which is I think basically like scientific terms for like neurovirus. So he might have got the worst, the worst thing imaginable. Don't wish that on anybody.

No, No, because I mean the NBA went through this weird phase where like they would sit players out with gastric distress. Yes, every time Jamal Tinsley went back to Brooklyn, he missed like three games with with like gas distressed. Like no, he went home and got loose with his hommies.

Yeah.

So when I saw that, I was like, what is that bad gas? But it certainly it's that must be so painful.

I bet bad gas is probably like ninth on the list of all the bad things that he's currently dealing with.

Are you good at understanding where the line is between bad gas and a heart attack? There have been days where I'm like, I'm having a heart attack. It's like, no, you're just plugged up.

So this is great radio, So like we can talk, we can talk about this. One of my closest friends, he has a hard line of delineation between what is like a stomach ache and what is like gas. To him, a stomach.

This is great, No, I love it.

Stomach ache is feeling a little nauseous, okay to him, like he doesn't have time for the downtown stuff. It's more like it is it? Yes? And I tend to agree with it. Yeah, So I can tell you anything and everything you want to know about stomach issues.

Is it something you experience?

Yeah?

Really? Oh yeah, like ever since you were a kid. Oh yeah. Are there certain food you have to avoid or else your.

I can't I can't eat spice anymore. Spice spice. Yeah, it's not even like I can't even eat a halpino.

You're the one that introduced me to Afghan kitchen. You can't eat spice. So if you for me, if you grab some Afghan what's the order now?

It's been a while. Everything Spicyani chicken chicken is spicy. It's not, no, bro, it's not. I mean maybe you can ask to ask to increase the spice level. I definitely don't.

Well, you can choose your level of spice. Yeah, Oh it's it's it's always a zero, a zero.

Yeah.

Is this a recent development the last ten years? Porter? How's your stomach with spice?

Can you handle spy? I? Uh, I have a literal garbage disposal, Like I could eat rotting meat and I think my stomach would just be that cool.

He's also like, what are you thirty yet?

Barely?

He's also very young man?

Yeah, I don't. I mean I'm jealous of it.

I am too.

Anyway, Diego plays better for the US men's national team than he does for RSL, plays more free.

Was Johnny Russell the missing piece all along?

Johnny Goles, our.

Guy Johnny Goles has taken a moniker from Johnny Mendez.

Well, he's taken. He's taken the goals moniker from basically everyone else on the roster outside of Diego.

Gozo has two Gozo has to listen.

It does not bode I mean it's it's a good development for RSL, but it does not bode well for the state of the talent, of the of the attacking talent on the roster. And I know a lot of them were gone, but they literally brought an old dude off the street and he scored a goal in like his third game, first start. Some stuff you can't teach. Johnny Russell has like almost seventy goals in MLS, So the dude knows how to find the back of the net.

I would agree with that. And I think they've got something with him. Yeah, just graduated high school like two months ago, which is why.

And a local kid, which is which is cool. Historically we've been known to develop, uh, you know, defenders and midfielders. I guess we do have some kids, the the.

The the U sixteens or whatever.

No, the brothers who are playing in Europe, the Booth brothers, both brothers that were from Eden. They're they're over there, they're attacking players. But yeah, it's it's cool that Xavier is actually like a Utah born for sure.

For sure.

Nick Romondo is inducted into the Ring of Honor, which now has Jason Krice, Javier Morales and Nikki was the third. Surprised that we don't have our guy.

I think I think he's I think I read somewhere that they're planning on doing that next year.

Oh okay, surprised that it was Nick first and Kyle am I making something out of nothing?

Did Nick retire before Kyle?

Yes, he did, good point, that might be it. Yeah, and I guess Jaber retired before Nick.

Okay, yeah, because if we're talking, I mean, you know, as a as a sports guy, generally you're you're up for such nominations either very local or national or whatever based on the time you retire.

This is true.

You read Gordo's piece on Jay right on Jason Christ you sent it to me, I didn't well, I knew.

Were invisible men.

Yes, I knew.

I knew it was in the works because of our guy sending us the heads up. It's a really interesting path to consider, how when Jay was here as the coach manager, excuse me, winning MLS cop you know nine the gaffer thank you and then should have wanted in thirteen? Thirteen was probably the best team right of RSL history?

Is that fair?

Should Yeah, and probably should have won Champions League?

Should have won Champions League? It was thirteen second time was their lost? Would you say that's the best club in RSL history?

Talent wise better?

No?

Nine, even though they won the cup.

Well, I think ten to eleven twelve were probably the best teams, but roster talent wise probably thirteen. But I mean, you could make an argument that some of these teams in recent years have been more talented top to bottom for sure, roster wise, but they didn't get the results that those.

Guys did last year.

That fifteen game stretch, that's the best soccer I've ever seen played. Yeah, for RSL, you might want to keep a couple of those guys around, but you know, what are you going to do? What are your as Nicky goes into the Ring of honor, what's your recollection of kind of when he established himself as who he ultimately became, because it wasn't right out of the gates.

No, yeah, I mean probably the year before they won the Cup because they had a pretty deep playoff run in OH eight.

Was that the Eastern Conference finale where they.

Hit the post like six times? So I think that was the first year Rio Tinto was open. It was, and it was a big deal that they got so far in their first year in their new stadium.

My name's on a beam, yep.

I think that was. That was back when the league was so dumb that teams from different conferences could enter the other team's playoff race. Because I think the Red Bulls beat RSL.

They did that in that final and if I remember correctly in two thousand and nine, yes, RSL beat.

Chicago and penalties and then Columbus. I think, how did that work? Because it's dumb. It is a dumb you know what, the dumbest it's still a dumb league. Yeah, maybe it's not as dumb as it once was. It's still a very very dumb league. You're gonna watch Seattle Athletic.

Well, now that I know that Moose, Hey, Porter, will you find Seattle at Athletic?

What channel is it on?

Uh? So I've learned this this d D a Z N acronym. Know how you pronounce it?

DOZ zone? The zone? Yeah, that sucks.

Dunny was on the was on the Miami call Kay, which was cool. But I think this one is on the Zone and it's streaming for free online.

If we are antiquated in the studio, we cannot stream on the television, so I guess I'll have to watch the replay. But I didn't know Moose was in the eleven Your guy, Well, it's John Paul's guy.

I mean really like.

The Moose is loose against one of the best teams in the world.

We lost JP as a club when we didn't take care of Moose.

You think so, oh, I know, so not not losing Chico and going No, it was Moose.

Moose was the beginning of the decline where John Paul is legitimately no longer an RSEL fan.

It's very sad.

What about you?

Was it?

Crooks?

No, no, no, no, I stand on my feet, dude, I shouted out. Real, I am here for the lads. They have not lost me. I'm in for life, man. That's what happens.

Is they going to make a push?

Oh?

Yeah, They're so boring, so boring, it's so uninspiring. It's like I I watch I watch every Jazz game, even this year. Uh so, I watch every RSL game, but it is a task. I find myself of scrolling doom scrolling during RCEL matches, and then if something exciting happens, I'll hear the announcer. I'll just pull up apples, like you know, Apple does the whole moments that you missed.

Do you still watch every yarsel that I tried to? Yeah, we're the Jazz gonna take.

Well.

I really hope Dj edgecumb falls. I think he's really good. Happy anniversary in nineteen eighty four NBA draft class, which included one Michael Jordan, aquiem Olajuan and one John Stockton. All right, Chris, I'll let you go. You gotta go watch the game. That was an entertaining, weird hour. Thanks so much for your time, and we'll see how today.

But it's Thursday.

It's Friday for me. That's why you're here, is it? I'm off tomorrow? Yeah, good to say it, buddy. About two hours away ish from tip as the Pacers will try to stave off elimination tonight and the Oklahoma City Thunder will try to win the NBA Championship. Live to Indianapolis, we go, I believe. So that's where we find our guy, David committed on a Thursday.

Dave, you are live on site?

Yes, I'm in La.

Okay, see, okay, see on Saturdays. Should Indianapolis take care of business tonight?

Oh? Wow?

A little bit of a story going on out in La that I've been working on, you know, So it's not that I'm just sitting around here twiddling my thumbs.

Okay, Well, the natural first question is how excited were you that that story broke? So therefore you did not have to make the trip to Indiana.

There you go, good, good positioning there. That's I'm sure we'll talk about the sale.

But I am. I wish I was in India, and I to be honest.

Because being there for three and four it was an incredible atmosphere and I seeing some of the quotes coming out from guys like Miles Turner and Andrew Nemhard. They sound like a confident group that aren't.

You know, sometimes a team gets to this.

Point, they're looking towards the finish line, and they suffer an injury to one of their stars and it's like, well.

Let's pack it up.

It doesn't seem like that's their mentality now that they could very well be outclassed by the Thunders. They had the last two games, and Brian Windhors pointed out today that the thunderscore fifty two points off of the Pacers turnovers last two games, like that will be the recipe for disaster if it goes that way tonight. But I'm kind of holding out hope that we get a really competitive game and a chance for a game seven on Sunday.

How jealous was your wife when she found out that you were staying home?

She also she loves being there, love love's mixing it up.

Dave, Come on, man, you're talking to me, dude, Yeah, sorry, yeah?

Are you sending her pictures?

Are you sending her pictures of like the Santa Monica pier and the beach?

Are you doing that?

I'm more like, send of your pictures of like the laundry that I've done and the mail that I've opened.

But okay, all right, if there was a second iteration, a modern day iteration of winning time, who plays Dave mcminnimon.

Okay, this is a good one. I've been told before.

I have a bit of a I can have a squinty look, and and when I'm in shape, which is not right now, but when I am in shape, I'm a little lanky. So I've been compared to Ed Norton before, and Ed Norton is a tremendous actor, so I'll go with Ed Norton.

I like Ed Norton.

H My producer has chimed in and he's offering Charlie Day because you're kind of a funny guy.

How does that land?

They get always funny connection?

Sorry, well it was.

It was an awesome series. I was bummed when HBO canceled it. But it did bring a lot of interesting perspective based off of Pelman's book on the part on the path that doctor Jerry Buss and of course his family have taken that has now ended in a you know, it's incorrect to say they sold it for ten billion. I know it's a little bit more nuanced and complex than that. And let me say you and timmy good time. Bontemp's great piece today. It was awesome. I've used it great,

Yeah, obviously a tremendous series of events when doctor Buss was able to acquire the team for jacking Cook back in the seventies and kind of put all of his fortune on the line that he developed in real estate in order to make it happen for sixty seven million dollars, you know, now we're fast forward and to this moment of a ten billion dollar valuation. That's just a tremendous American success story in itself.

And the way that trust was set up was the sixth siblings.

You basically weren't getting now.

Of course, the team, let me start here.

The team was operating at a profit, so the six siblings were able to live a comfortable lifestyle based on the revenue generated from the Lakers on a year to year basis. But comfortable, you know, it's a very varying descriptor word. And there's levels of comfort where you're vacationing at a you know, a Maria, and there's a level of comfort where you're vacationing in the Maldives on a private island.

And by going with a sale like this, it's Maldives all the time.

You know, each of the siblings will clear somewhere in the neighborhood of a billion dollars, which is just a tremendous, tremendous number. And they the way the trust set up, none of the siblings would get paid out until the team was sold. So it's not like, hey, I want to sell my part to the rest of the siblings, give me my money, and I'll be on my merry.

Way, It couldn't work that way.

And with several of the siblings getting up there in age, you know, and this tremendous opportunity from a guy Mark Walter, who you know, became someone who Genie Bust trusted through the relationship with matgew Johnson and seeing the way that he's taken care of kind of a civic point of Pride organization and LA Dodgers.

It was.

They decided it was the time to do it. So the family did a vote yesterday, the majority vote between the siblings, and you know, here.

We go is is Jim going to be included? Here are they? Are they really going to give Jim his billion dollars?

Jim will be getting his billion dollars, not what he does with it.

We're all waiting with baita breath.

Jim.

The funny thing about Jim, you know, I was covering the Lakers when he had an influential role in the front office, and I've always liked Jim. He thinks a little bit outside the box and he's you know, not cut.

From the cloth of corporate America, I don't think. But he cares about the team.

And obviously it was back in twenty seventeen when him and Johnny Buss, you know, sued their sister Jeanie to try to you know, wrestle control from away from her for the organization like that was pretty ugly. But in recent years.

That bridge has been repaired.

And obviously Jeannie is the aunt to his kids, and I think that has something to do with it and the family did a Hulu documentary a couple of years ago, and I think that was kind of like, hey, let's put this all out in the open and let's move forward.

And Jim's been around.

A little bit more more since that documentary came out, So, you know, I think that was another sign that this this could happen, because if I think there was still rancor between the siblings, I don't think we would have come to this point that we're at now.

So you and Tim did a really good job today.

And I'm not sure how many sports fans or basketball fans really know because you hear the Lakers, you hear Tinseltown, you hear Los Angeles, and you just assume that they have the same bank roll to like the Knicks do with Jimmy Dolan. But that isn't the case, Dave, is it. It really has not been how this organization has been run.

Yeah, So they spent on salary and they spent on luxury techs. If the salaries required that you know, in the Genie bus era since twenty thirteen when she became the governor, they spent more than one hundred and usween one point five billion dollars, eighth most out of any team in the league in that time, and they have the second most amount of championships in that time. Only franchise with more since twenty thirteen is the Warriors of four.

So you know they've been competitives.

Where they haven't spent as much is on their scouting department, on their coaches, on their analytics department, and those things.

When you're in a.

Hyper competitive space like the NBA is and it's being filled in that same amount of time by billionaires, you can be looked at as you know, behind the times. When it came to the NBA and this deal and Mark Walter, who is involved with the Googenheim group, you know they men's they'll have those extra resources to spend on all the stuff that isn't controlled by the salary cap that the Lakers, you know, under Genie.

Bust chose not to spend on because again.

I mean basically like they secondly probably could have afforded some of that stuff more. But then what's left for you know, the bus siblings to live on? You know, like basically all six of the siblings were, you know, living off of the Lakers wealth.

So what have you learned about Mark Walter and what you know? What sort of owner? Excuse me, obviously he tried to buy the clips that went to Balmer.

He owns the Dodgers.

Dodgers payroll is far more than any other team in the Major League Baseball? What what sort of uh you know, majority owner will he be? I know Genie is still going to be the governor, But what have you learned about Mark? And what sort of owner do you think he's going to be? So far?

You know, I've spoken several people who know him from the Dodgers. I haven't spoken to him directly. I look forward to that chance. But he has been for the most part hands off. He is very much involved when it comes to finding the right people that he wants to put in place for the job. But once he's been through that process, it's not like Barry Jones coming down from above and meddling with the decision makers. He wants to trust those people and am power those people.

In terms of Jeanie.

Buff we already have reporting on that, and Rob Blinka, we've reported on his contract extension that he signed shortly after the Luca Dodgers trade.

But in the mid.

To long term, who are those extra voices they are going to be involved in this team for the Lakers, because we anticipate there will be.

I believe it was nineteen eighty three, maybe eighty four when Larry Miller secured a three million dollar loan from a bank here in Utah to purchase half of the Jazz and later had to secure another three million dollars by leveraging. His business at the time was not big, it was growing to buy the remaining remaining shares of the Jazz six to seven million dollars in eighty four. To wrap your head around a ten billion dollar valuation for a pro basketball.

Team, Dave is something else.

I'll tell you what help me and our listeners understand exactly why the business of basketball is so good right now.

I mean, listen, some of it is in a marketplace like Los Angeles in particular.

It is a really strong brand and it allow you to.

Sell all sorts of marketing opportunities, brand partnerships, et cetera with businesses in the LA area. And when you have those chances, then you know you are also then building out luxury suites et cetera, et cetera, that you are making sure they're filled by these corporations that you have these business relationships with. Beyond that, it's an international brand. I mean, the Lakers aren't just one of the biggest

And what have the Dodgers been doing. I mean with shohe.

Atani, they have a whole commerce, They have an whole industry based on the shift with Japanese corporations that they've been able to build out since getting him from the Anheiam Angels. And so you know, that's the same thing, like Japan will necessarily be the destination with the Lakers product, but I'm sure they'll try to pair up some business opportunities there. But you know, Mark Walter has soccer team in England Mark Walter also has business interests in the LA Sparks.

Like he will try to.

You know, basically the way your cable is bundled. He's going to bundle his sports interests in a way that he can do scaled deals that are unlike many other owners can offer. Two major brands that choose to work with him.

Are you the brains behind Magic Johnson's tweets?

I was shocked someone at ESPN when he was in doing a first take last week. I need to find this out and commend whoever the producer was got him to like read some of his dry tweets from the past and try to explain what the heck was going on through his mind when he had those tweets set out. So I applaug whoever you know you got magic to trust.

Them enough to go through that process.

So it is really him, that's really Magic Johnson tweeting out those tweets.

There is a segment that FBI Social shared that he went through a couple tweets that read like Highlights magazine and he claimed ownership of them.

So okay, all right, good to know, all right, moving on here, Dave any insight. There are several in look, the business now, certainly on social is really weird. I feel like I'm aggregated every day. I can't imagine what somebody with a platform like you feels like. So there's a lot of aggregation. There are a lot of rumors, but there continues to be So. There are two rumors that have surfaced over the past twenty four hours regarding conversations between the Jazz and the Lakers. One is the

Right, I mean, obviously, you know we've talked about Kestler several times on your program, and yeah, I saw that. You know, some of our conversation last week was aggregated, and you know, everything we.

Discussed is you know, it is what it is like.

There remains interest on the Lakers end, and we presented the assets they could present in a deal, and that remains the case unless the Lakers were to do another trade prior to you know, expressing interests again to the Jazz and having different assets to show at that point, or obviously a three team deal or something like that.

But just one to one that remains the same. I saw.

I believe it was Andy Larson of the Salt Lake Tribune who mentioned some interests the Lakers have in John Collins. I saw, I believe you mentioned on a podcast. I haven't listened to the podcast. I saw in the aggregation of what he supposedly said and the package that the Lakers would potentially deal with Ruey and.

Max Kleeber and you know.

Multiple first rounders to me, sounds like an extreme overpay for a guy I think Colin's not expiring contracts of him.

I'm not correct, correct.

Yeah, so it.

Didn't really pass the smell test to me.

I don't have reporting on the.

Lakers talking to the Jazz about Collins. Of course, I'm not saying or feuding what Andy's heard. I just I haven't heard it personally. I would say, though, if what I saw in terms of what the trade package would be was accurate, because again I didn't listen to his podcast, I'm not sure exactly what I saw.

Was accurate, But if that is accurate. I'd have a hard time seeing.

The Lakers offering anywhere close to Collins at this stage or his career.

Is that right now?

There's there's still a lot of really hatching Mora fans in this organization like big time. And again we talked about the Japanese business interests, really Hachima. It can be something that Mark Walter's team can tap into in Japan about so shore, John Collins provides that much more of a basketball advantage that you would turn your back on seeing what you can do with that really hatchema connection.

Okay, good point, but watch your mouth. John Collins was born in Augden, Utah. Have you ever been ogged in Utah? It's quite pleasant, Dave, Okay, sure.

It's not all right.

Breaking news sham Shararnia, who I believe you work with. Tyres Halliburton will play tonight in Game six of the NBA Finals, Dave, your install reaction, Yeah.

That's where this thing has been trending.

And obviously after Game five, when the adrenaline still pump and he says he's going to play, you do have to raise an eyebrow a little bit. But you know, we've had folks on our air report about it.

I text with some folks connected.

To Indiana who were basically presenting the scenario of we're going to trust him and not take away this opportunity from him, for sure, but we have to be ready and have a contingency plan if if he just doesn't look right, not only to protect him, but also to protect this opportunity in front of because this is a winner go home, your season's over scenario. And as great as Tyres Haliburton is, and he's tremendous.

He has moxie, he has a sense.

Of the moment, he's a great floor general, brings a great attitude, all those things, they are not built the Pacers needing thirty and fifteen from Tyres Haliburton to win, even to be the team as good as Oklahoma City Thunder. I mean, I think Halburt had like fourteen to sixteen points in Game one.

Obviously he hit the biggest shot of the night, but it wasn't.

Like he was dominant leading to the point where they got that win. And so you know, of course we all watched Game five and we saw the great third quarter that TJ McConnell had.

He'll be part of the mix.

I'm looking at Matherin and Nemhard as really the swing players for Indie to Night because they have the skill, they have the physicality, they have the you know, the ability to play with athleticism and match with the you know, those guys on.

The thunder end of things.

We talked about Shake gils I, was Ander and Jalen Williams, and I don't think they're intimidated whatsoever. They's got to play better. You know, nem Aar didn't shoot it well at all. Mathurin missed those free through was at the end of game four and maybe maybe Pacers are up three to one at that point. Like I look at those guys, and then obviously Pastelsiacam he had a really strong Game five.

He can be that guy. He's won a championship before.

You know, if those guys, you know, bring their a game, I think they could make up or mask a you know, ce performance out of Tyres Haliburton and extend the series.

So you referenced a couple of the options I was debating earlier. If Tyres didn't play. You know, TJ only started one game this year, and I feel like Rick wants him to run that second unit, and if we're honest, oftentimes, like backup players in the NBA, it's kind of like the backup quarterback in football always the most popular player in the stadium. If the starter isn't going well, you

Like Nemard said at their player availability that he has been told that he's going to be handling the Ballmore so, if we take him out his word, we should see more.

Of that.

TJ. As you mentioned, he's tremendous, and you.

Know, I think he is one of the better role players in the entire NBA. But some of that mix is literally maximizing every iota of energy in his body any given moment he's on the court, and given his physical size and the guys he's matching up against, you hit a ceiling.

On that, and you know you're not.

You're asking a lot to get more than like twenty five minutes of that level from TJ McConnell, and that's probably even asking too much.

And so I think you'd rather.

Put him in an environment that you already know is successful versus then perhaps Okay, all of a sudden, now he's going to be guarded by Ludort.

And rendered ineffective there.

And you're like, oh, so I took one advantage I had here to try to stabilize something over here, and now I lost both of them. Like, I don't think that's really the solution there, And you know, I think whomever is on the court, they need to push the ball and get into their actions quicker. Because what we saw in Game four, and you know, credits to Indiana, it was ugly early and they did make that run in the second half, but they were stagnant getting into

Uh.

And then when you do get downhill, you know, that's when the thunder are so good at collapsing already, and it's you know, they have more space to collapse versus like they had to make that quick trigger decision where you're right at the hoop versus you're gonna shooter dump it off, they're gonna have success against you. And so

Of the fourth quarter the other night.

Okay, see it was great from that point on, but it was a two point game of the fourth indye should have a shot tonight.

Do you have Allen?

Do you have a lien you feel like at enst to I Do you feel like the Pacers extended to seven.

I was texted with Simmy good times nice.

Today and I went fifty five forty five. Okay see he said his instinct sixty five thirty five okay see. But I mean both of us giving a legitimate shot to the Pacers, Like it doesn't feel like a foregone conclusion that this thing's over tonight, all.

Right, Dave, before I say you loose.

If Oklahoma City gets it done, it will culminate what has been a historic season in many different ways.

And you and I have talked about this.

Maybe we just should have been more reductive and simplistic, like, yeah, they're awesome, They're probably gonna win it. Maybe Boston would have had something to say if Tatum stayed healthy. But what is your opinion on just how long this team can play at this level? You know they will have some extensions on the table. You know, Shay as a result of his MVP and team all NBA is due for supermacs. They have not extended CHET, which they'll do. And obviously Jalen just went for a forty a forty

I really it comes down to I think your belief in just how great Shay is, and he's made me a believer, and so I think, like you're looking at at least a five year window where they should be the if not the favorite, in the contender favorites conversation, because everything I see from say is that like he is singularly focused, basketball is complete consumption of his life.

Injuries pop up. Let's say something like that, that's happening, he has a major injury. Sit back.

Because of all that draft capital they have moved forward, they.

Are able to pivot.

They're able to either use the draft picks themselves to figure out, you know, kind of.

The new talent that's homegrown.

That that can help them through a lean time when a guy is injured or a guy's not producing, or you just go PLoP it out and trade for any of the guys on the market, even if it's just for a year, because you just it's an embarrassment of riskness that they have.

So yeah, they're they won't be spending a lot of time.

In the playoffs in Oklahoma City over the next five years. And I don't really go beyond five years because like the NBA is, you know, the stuff's always unpredictable. But I'll give it a solid five year window moving forward.

All right, fair enough, I'll sell you lose so you can text your wife a picture of your nobuu while she's eating her hot dog at halftime, Dave, thanks, thanks for the time, and enjoy the game, all right, the Great Dave mcminham an NBA Finals ninety minutes away game six tyree Saliburton will play. Probably cliche to say, but this has to be his best song, and maybe it is.

I think I think it's got to be the best song. I'm not necessarily like a Elton John expert, to be clear. I don't know that. I could name you a whole a lot of his songs, but hey, this is a classic no matter which way you stick.

Yeah, I mean it is almost famous. Is one of my top five movies. It is a phenomenal film. Yes, I call it a film because I'm pretentious.

I like that.

Shout out to Cameron Crowe. Kate Hudson is Penny Lane, come on, man.

Film I call him?

I call him cinematic Adventures?

Okay, don't be pretentious.

Biggest movie crush you've ever had in your life, even when you were young or whatever.

That's a good question.

Kate Hudson is Penny Penny Lane has to be up there.

Megan Fox was a big one.

Okay. Transformers, Yeah, you are a kid.

Jennifer Aniston always are.

You an Aniston?

Guy?

I didn't know that about you. Yeah, you want to?

You want to hear a super scorching hot take before we say good night. Cordney Cox better looking than Jennifer Anis.

Wow?

Yeah, hot. I know it's a hot take. It's a hot friend's take, but that's what the people come here to listen to.

Hot friends takes.

Both pretty Kate, Jennifer Aniston's always wearing the Nick's gear in the Friends episode.

True, it's true.

That may have been uh, I may have been the killing see the The.

Only issue like obviously Kate Hudson playing Penny Lane. It's a fictional character, and it's always like Rachel mcadam's wedding crashers. There's no like, that's not real. Okay, she was way too cool and way too Joe, Like, that's not a real thing. So you fall in love with movie characters

I think we're talking about an NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. But I hope that's not true. I hope I'm wrong. Obviously, Game seven's are something that if you're a sports fan, especially if you're not a fan of the Pacers or the Oklahoma City Thunder. That's all I'm cheering for is to see a Game seven. There's nothing that matches that level of urgency, that level of pressure, and there's not you know, an uneven level of pressure. Both teams are winner,

I think I agree with you.

I'm gonna say my hot NBA Finals take tonight is that it is over after this game. So we'll see, Okay, see Indiana Pacers Game six, and the NBA Finals comes your way coming up on the other side, all right, port it before we say a goodnight? What comes our way? On a Friday edition of this radio show.

On a Friday edition of the Drive, of course, we will recap the NBA Finals Game six. It is okay see in Indiana, Howard Beck stops buy for that one. We'll double up on the NBA Daily Assist with one Zach Harper Paul Pugmeyer for the latest in the golf world, including reaction to jjspawns US Open, and we'll go from there. Of course, it's myself and our friend Tony Parks in for you.

There you go, yep, I'm out tomorrow, so give Porter and Tony your ears. I'll be back on Monday and we will say good night. Special thank you to Ben Solac, Chris com, Ronnie, Dave mcminnimum Little Sports Court action on a Thursday as well. If you need to sound you may miss from the show. Website is ESPN seven hundred Sports dot com. Download our app. ESPN seven hundred app is available in the App Store in the Google play Store.

It's called The Drive with Spence. Check its.

It's available wherever you get your show. Subscribe, rate reviews, say nice thing in the comments, give us all the stars.

It actually helps Reporter.

I'm Spence saying, and you guys, have a great weekend, Begod yourself, be good to each other. Give Porter and Tony your attention tomorrow and I'll talk to you on a Monday edition of The Drive NBA Finals coming up on the other side, right here on ESPN seven hundred ninety two NFM. We are proud to be part of Utah's ESPN Radio network.