The Kevin Sheehan Show - DC Sports Power Poll

Episode Date: November 21, 2019

Kevin and Thom opened with the Wizards win, the Caps loss, and an update to the Montae Nicholson story. They talked Alex Smith and the Washington Post Poll that indicated the Nationals are DC's favorite sports team. They finished up with a story that picked Gilbert Arenas as the greatest Bullet/Wizard of all-time. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. You're listening to The Sports Fix. Yep, Tommy's here. Aaron is here. Sorry about yesterday. Something came up last second. We haven't missed that many podcasts since the radio show came back. But people need their fix. People got really upset with me yesterday. And Aaron, I was trying to think, seriously, have we missed more than two? regularly scheduled podcasts since I went back to radio in August. Turn your mic on. Yeah, turn my mic on it would help. There were a couple in August that you had already planned out before. Already planned in August.

Before you had known. But since football season has started, no. Twice. I think two of them. Yeah. Calm down people. You are diligent. You'll show up.

I'll always give you that. That's one thing I was always taught by my parents. Just show up. That's 90% of the battle. All right. want to just briefly, if you don't mind, indulge me to talk about the Wizards. Okay, I understand. You do?

I didn't watch it, but from what I read about it, it was an exciting game. Well, at the very end of the game, it was really good to have Ted Leonis on the bench because he was talking to Scott Brooks. You know, during the game, the game was actually still being played. And he's talking to his coach. He's talking to his coach. Oh, his coach could use help. And I think Ted probably helped out, you know, and maybe some of the defensive schemes down

the stretch. Oh, they could use a lot of help on their defensive schemes. Tommy, is there one owner, one owner in all of sports that is closer to the action on a nightly basis, weekly basis, whatever sport plays, whatever schedule, than Ted Leonis. Not that I can think of. I can't think of one either. Well, that's part of the business of happiness. I guess so. Yes.

He's happy on the bench next to his players. So he owns the team. The next question would be, the follow question would be, why is he the only, you know, owner in sports that sits on his team's bench. Is it a positive or is it a negative? Are the other owners wrong not to be there? Or is he wrong to be there? Well, he's wrong to be there.

Absolutely 100%. Do you think I knew what the answer was? Wrong to be there. I mean, you know what? You know what it says? He sat on that bench right next to that bench for years. and then when he fired Ernie, he came out and said, I didn't really know what was going on.

That's true. You know, he sat right there, had a ringside seat for the whole thing, and then he claims he was clueless. I mean, what does that say about him? Not to mention the fact that it's not like he's eating a lot of food these days that would have taken his attention away from the seat that he had in the game that was going on right in front of him. I mean, it's a bad look.

But, you know, You know, he manages, look, particularly for all the media in this town, too, especially the Post. I mean, the Post just sucks up to him so much. I mean, like, the whole, the whole Ernie revelation, remember when Ernie left and then the Post wrote this big story about how there was a problem with the culture with the team? Like, they were the last people in town to know this. It was just unbelievable. So, but the national media really loves Ted. They love it because, you know, he appears at all these panels and discussions.

Ted talks, med talks, fed talks, and uses words like synergy and stuff like that. You know, he's like the guy in that Dennis Quaid movie. Yeah. When they buy the sports magazine, I forget the name of it. I don't know what movie you're talking about. It's a good, good, good movie. But yeah, I mean, the bottom line is. He sat next to the bench for years, and then he claimed I didn't know what was going on.

I have to read a couple of tweets, responses, because I tweeted out at the end of the game last night, Tommy. Good Wizards win. Ted on the bench helping coach at the end helped lock it up. I retweeted it. Oh, you did? Yes, I did. So I got a couple of really funny responses from Corey. He was obviously optimizing the assets in the monumental human capital portfolio to leverage the most effective positive outcome for organizational excellence. Obviously, this is an attempt to talk like Ted does, right?

Yes. And there was another one in here. Hold on. I got to find it. I think I responded to him that it was, you're right. It was a value-added, mission-critical deliverable. And then somebody else, let me find the other one, because the other one was funny, too. It was a couple of them that responded.

Now, helped enhance synergies. This was Lee. Helped enhance synergies with forward thinking on the need to score additional points. And it's like everybody sort of gets this. Like this is all like a lot of you recognize this. It's the annoying way in which a lot of people in business talk to each other using these very annoying business, you know, buzzwords. And it's definitely the way Ted and his people probably communicate with one another at monumental. And by the way, your guy Callahan tries to do that with I'm sure Bruce.

Trust me, they're not at the level of Ted or any of. his friends, and I'm not sure, I don't know what level Ted is. I don't know. I get pretty excited when I hear the word self-scout. You're the only one. You're the only. This guy's trying way too hard. But I just thought it was funny some of your responses on Twitter last night with all of that stuff. He is, he's very lucky his hockey team won the Stanley Cup. Yeah. Because he gets a free pass in this town as the owner. who's smart, out-of-the-box thinker, engaging, and everybody seems to, I don't think everybody does anymore,

that would be unfair. I think in recent years people have picked up on what you and I have picked up on for a long time, and that is he's pretty self-absorbed. You know, anybody that writes a book lecturing you on how to be happy is pretty fond of himself. Yes. And, you know, the fact that he's been sitting on his NBA's team bench, and I've been calling it out here for a couple of years. Maybe Scott Brooks doesn't care at all. I don't know if the players care, but it is very unique. Mark Cuban sits a couple of rows behind his team's bench. Arthur Blank and Jerry Jones will end up on the sideline sometimes late in the game.

The last five minutes of the game. But I don't even think you've seen Jerry do that in recent years. No. I would think. But Jerry will be in the locker room. I would think that the head coach, while he's at work, which is coaching a game, I think in some ways it would be a distraction.

Yeah. I really do. I would think it would be. On the other hand, Scott Brooks, whether he has 100% attention or 50% attention, he's not a very good coach. I like Scott, though. And he, this team, we got sidetracked here.

I told you a week and a half ago after, I forget which game it was. I said, they're actually better than they even think. You know, because this is a season that comes with sort of a, hey, the expectation, at least from the fan base. They haven't said this. But it's sort of a season in which they were going to, you know, have a modified tanking sort of season. Try to get their salary cap structure in store. They're going to be without the Maheemee contract next year.

Get a couple of guys on expiring contracts so they can really reload when John gets back. You know, hope that the draft turns out with Rui Hachamura. and that Troy Brown Jr., the number one pick from last year develops, which I don't really see that right now. That was an Ernie pick. Yes, I do see a lot of promise in Hachamura. Yes, absolutely. You know, but they have in a lot of these complementary pieces,

they have some good players. They lead the NBA in scoring people through 12 games. I know it's not a three-game sample size. It's 12 games. They lead the NBA in scoring right now. It is a brand of basketball that a lot of you, including me, I don't like to see this consistently. They don't guard. You know, they're just, it's a summer league sort of up and down, fast-paced.

But you know what? They've got guys that can shoot it. They've got guys that see the floor, that pass well. Bertons is one of the best shooters in the league. He was in San Antonio, but he's a little bit more than that. I love Mo Wagner. Beal is turned into a truly, elite score. I don't put him in there in the category as an elite player. He's a very good player.

They have Ish Smith, who I had on the radio show, who's always been one of the fastest guards in the league, and he plays hard. You know, Thomas Bryant's a big that can catch, has good feet. I love Mo Wagner. He's the guy that I love coming out of Michigan. I just think he's a star in the making, you know, down the road. It's fun to watch them. Okay, now let me take you through. Look, I recognize and readily acknowledge that you know a lot more about basketball than I do. You're much more in tune with the game on a regular basis than I am. But I do know something about basketball.

Yes, you do. This is your favorite sport, too. And I think that what they're trying to accomplish, we heard in the offseason, particularly with their three-headed front office, is changing the culture. To change the culture of a team on the court, you have to start on defense. That's defense is culture as much as talent.

Defense is the identity of a team. And they're just inability. Scott Brooks's inability to either teach it or their inability to either be interested in playing it or to grasp it. leaves them no closer to changing the culture than they were at the start of the season. Defense, it's about talent, but it's also about desire. It's also about attitude.

It is the very definition of a culture of a team. If a team has a defensive culture, everything else will fall in the place. So that's a bit disturbing. Yeah, I know what you're saying. And sometimes I just don't think that way. like you do, you grasp on to something that could turn into a column at some point, you know, in the next day or two, and you really ride it for all its worth. But I'm not, I'm kidding with you to a certain degree.

Okay. The bottom line is in this sport, you, and in most sports, you know, the NFL, we still, we still have not seen a team that was terrible defensively and great offensively, unless you want to call that New Orleans team, which I think was the lowest ranked defense. But they were an opportunistic defense. But still, low-ranked in terms of they gave up chunk yards. Yes, they did.

You know, the Redskins in 83 were an opportunistic defense with the largest turnover ratio in NFL history. Their secondary was nicknamed the Pearl Harbor crew because it was easy to bomb them, you know, on a daily basis. And they did not win the Super Bowl. They got to the Super Bowl, but they got beat by a team with a great defense. in the Raiders with two incredible corners that completely shut down the Redskins offense

and wide receiver corps. But in the NBA over the course of time, you really, you know, people will say, oh, you know, it's a sport, the last two minutes matter, you know, you don't guard anybody. You better guard in the postseason. Yeah.

You're not, in Golden State, for as prolific a team as they've been offensively, they were a very good defensive team, too. Now, great offensive team. sometimes end up getting better defensive results. But those are teams that run offense. The Wizards, I don't know what their pace of play is right now. It's ridiculous.

It's not very long before they get a shot up. They're the leading scoring team in the league, and they give up the most points in the league right now defensively. They're averaging, I think, 119 a game, and they're giving up 121 a game, which is really amazing. A hundred and twenty one a game, that probably won't last. They can't sustain that bad. They can't.

They can't sustain that bad. But I guess my overarching theme here is that in an east where, you know, it gets sketchy and questionable from about six on, six, seven, eight spot on. Like, they're good enough offensively, and they may be good enough as a team if they really went for it. And I don't know what the organizational mindset is. Maybe they would much prefer to be in the lottery next year and picking the lottery. for it would be the second straight year.

I think Ted is a go-for guy in this sense. I mean, Ted has already said... A go for what? Go for the playoffs, Scott? Ted has already said he thinks they're closer than they thought. I didn't hear that. Has he said that? Yes, he did.

When did he say that? He said that. I forget where I read it. It was an interview... Like in the last week or so? Yeah, it was. I'll find it for you. I mean, I know I have it.

He's right, Tommy. Okay, well, he did say that. He's right. They have a lot of gifted, offensive players and they have a lot of guys that can just flat out shoot it and create. You know, like Hachamurl looks really good to me. I was a big Brandon Clark fan out of Gonzagin. By the way, Aaron, Brandon Clark's killing it in Memphis so far. But Hachamurl looks like the real deal. I mean, and not only has a very sort of, you know, advanced game. He does

everything and he's under control and he doesn't seem overwhelmed. I think he's averaging like 14 a game and six rebounds in like 20-something minutes. I mean, he's having a big, big start to his, you know, he could end up being the third star. Yes, yes, he could. No, I think he could. You know, Isaiah Thomas isn't going to be on this team next year. Bertons may be a huge chip for them at the trade deadline.

That could bring back a lot. Don't, in fact, I'm just thinking about it for the first time because he's not under contract. I don't think, Aaron, next year. I think I looked this up earlier this morning. Bertons does not have, is not under contract next year. Wagner is, Isch Smith is, obviously Beal, Bryant, Hachamura, they all are, but I think guys like CJ Miles and Bertons are not under, and Isaiah Thomas are not under contract next year. Is that correct?

Do you have that their salary structure up? He is, he is a free agent after this year, correct. Bertons, and who else is? Am I right about Isaiah Thomas also? I'd have to pull up the whole wizards when I just pulled up Bertoms. That's all right. But let me just much more than Isaiah Thomas. Bertons could be a significant trade chip at the deadline if they're not contending for something and they don't want to resign them.

And when I say major, I'm talking about like a protected first rounder. I can't believe we're talking about the wizards as much. Okay. Here's what it's unbelievable. I'm sorry. Here's what Ted said at the, uh, The dedication of three basketball courts that the Wizards organization, Monumental, was part of at the Fairbby Hope Recreation Center.

This is what he said. When? I don't know, a couple of days ago. Okay, so it was a couple days ago. Yeah. Not a couple months ago. No, no. This is what he said, and this is Ted Speak.

We look at the world now in 10 game increments. Oh, God. Here it comes. We'd like to see progress in those. increments. Is he going to talk about deep dives? Next year we'll have John Wallback. We'll have a little bit of space under the salary cap.

I think the NBA is very different this year than it's been in the past and I stick with, I think our turnaround can be quick and fast. But we don't have any expectations about wins and losses. This is what I speak to. It's more about

culture, identity, and what players will be with us on a long-term basis. Okay. So he thinks the turnaround can be quicker. Well, of course he's going to say that. Look, I'm looking right now at this team. And what I see is I see a team that if they actually play this season to win as many games as they can possibly win, they could win enough games to be a seven or an eight seed in the east.

That's what I see so far. And I've watched a lot of NBA here over the last week. I did not watch a lot in October when we had World Series games. Right. I'm going on. So you're the guy watching the NBA? I'm the one guy watching it. The Clippers Celtics last night.

First time with Kauai and George on the court at the same time. They're my pick. They're going to win the title this year. It's going to be the Lakers and Clippers could be the Western Conference final in one arena. Also, I have had a couple of people, just a couple, say, are you going to talk about Lucudansch it or not? So last night, and I think you'll get a kick out of this if you didn't know this already, Luca Donchich became the first player in NBA history to manage a 30-point-plus triple-double in 25 minutes. He had, where is it?

He had 30 points. By the way, the final score was Dallas 142 Golden State 94. They won by 48 points. Don Chitchin the game, 35 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds. All right, last night, in 25 minutes or less. First player to do it. He is spectacular. I do think he is a great player and has the potential to be an all-time great.

Let's put the brakes on the comparisons to people like even LeBron and Jordan and Kobe. Okay? Let's give it some breathing room here. He is a spectacular player. He is strong. He's a ball handler. He can score in a multitude of ways. He's a phenomenal passer, a phenomenal rebounder.

He's got a lot of bird in him. He's got a lot of bird and dirk in him. All right? Sticking with the white guy comparison. I don't see him as Jordan or Kobe. I just don't. Not yet. He's really good, though.

Really good. And man, I mean, the Warriors. They're 3 and 13. They're losing games by 48 points. I mean, they're unrecognizable with the team they have out on the floor. Draymond Green didn't even play last night. But anyway, all right. That's enough NBA for the day?

Well, maybe. We'll see. No, that's it for now. That's enough of today's NBA. That's enough of today's. Well, you know, we'll come back with a 10-day sample. 10-day increment? 10-day increment.

Every 10-day, we'll do our NBA 10-day increment story. Okay, that sounds good. That sounds really good. The Capitol's lost last night, and Garnett Hathaway got a three-game suspension. Do you think that that was justified, a three-game suspension for spitting? You know, this is so bizarre because I'm in the minority, I think. I don't think spitting is that big of a deal. I mean, in the NHL, you can punch a guy so hard that you might be able to break his jaw,

but you can't spit on a guy. That's exactly what Greg Wyshinsky told me yesterday. I mean, really? He did not expect him to get suspended. Well, I thought he was going to get suspended two games based on the fact that everybody prefaced, even the coach for the caps, Todd Reardon, but you heard it from the Ducks locker room

is you always heard the phrase, there's no place for something like that in hockey. That's what everybody said. So I knew then that if everybody thinks that, that he was going to get, he was going to get a suspension. I thought it be two games at the max, one or two games.

I didn't think he'd get three games. But, you know, I had this discussion on the radio yesterday afternoon. And we were talking, what would you rather do? Get hit or get spit. And most people called in and said they'd rather get hit. I mean, if you get hit by an NHL player, you could die.

you could wind up in a hospital getting your cheekbones repaired. If you get spit on, you can go in the men's room and clean it off. Yeah. Now, I'm not advocating getting spit on. But spitting, it is this line. I remember Sean Taylor got kicked out of a game against the bucks for spitting in Michael Pitman's face. Roberto Alamoire. He was a playoff game.

He was a playoff game. He was a playoff game. And the umpires almost went on strike. Yeah. So spitting is some kind of psychological line. You know what? What is it? I mean, it's, I mean.

It's an insult as much as anything. Look, this is not sexist in any way, shape, or form. It's not the intention, but I'm just curious because I'm asking the question out loud. I'm not sure I know the answer to this. Do women view it the same thing? It's view it in the same way? Like if a couple of women got it. into a little bit of a scrap and got spit on?

Would they rather get hit than spit on? Or is it a man thing? I don't know. I don't know what it is. Is this a gender-specific topic or not? I don't know. I don't think it. Have you ever been spit on?

Yeah. I told, did I tell you this story or did I tell Greg this story the other day? I got spit on in a pickup basketball game years ago. I was younger and more able. And by the way, more willing. Well, if I got spit on in a game, I would react. Oh, I reacted. Yeah, I would react.

But generally... By the way, it was... And I told Greg this story, I think on the air the other day on radio. It was a guy who was a first-rate tool to begin with. You know, a guy that nobody liked. He was a complete A-hole. He was one of these guys. For those of you out there to play a lot of pick-up basketball,

it's the guy that every time missed a shot called a foul, you know, and they would grab the ball and walk back. and say, let's check it up. You know, half the time it wasn't a foul. And I think at one, I got sick of it, one of these games, one of these days, and took the ball, I said, no, no, no, it's not a foul, and started walking to the other, and he spit at me as I walked by. Wow.

He's a former college basketball player, too. That's pretty bad. Yeah, but I had the ball on my hand. Okay. What do you think I did with that ball? Oh, I think it went in his face. Hard. Yeah.

And then me after that. But it's funny because when you say this about spitting, why should spitting be worse than getting slugged in the face? I agree. I agree. Look, Aaron will appreciate this. It's dirty. The one time I can remember that I was spit on was a great moment for me. What?

I was 14, maybe 13 years old. I was at the Allentown Palestra watching wrestling, professional wrestling. And there was a wrestler, and we had great seats, like right in the first row. And there was a wrestler named Gentleman Joe Turco. And I harassed him so much from ringside that he turned around and he spit on me. Yeah, but that seems like it's a bit of a badge of honor. Well, it was. Yeah.

It was. Exactly. That's what it was. Yeah. I got the response I was looking for, you know? But that's the only time I ever recall being spit on. I'm sure I've been spit on before. And to be honest with you, I'd be surprised if players aren't spit on in NHL games all the time.

and we just don't hear about it. You know, it's a bit of a disgusting vile, you know, low rent perceived as low rent thing to do. It's insulting. It's more insulting than it is, you know, unsafe. Yes. Although I guess if somebody's sick or something,

it can be unsafe. But it's not less, it's not more high risk than getting punched. The reaction I got yesterday were more people and I'm sure this was the bravado talking. They said they'd rather get punched and spit. Yeah. It's interesting. I just think that's nuts.

Anyway, that's enough of hockey for the day. Yes, there we go. That's enough of the hockey talk for the day. So there were a couple of football things and Redskins things that we should get to because we have not had a chance together to talk

about Monta Nicholson. Am I right about that, Aaron? Did we talk about Monta Nicholson on Tuesday or not? No, I mean, we mentioned it. It was more because we hadn't had all the info yet. Okay. So what's come out, yeah, what's come out is the findings from this search warrant that TMZ and I think the post had, I think the post had it, that they found pills, marijuana, and

foil with residue in the home. We know what Callahan's reactions, we did talk about this on Tuesday. Yeah, because you were more worked up about it than I was. Well, I was asking the question that, you know, why is he playing when there is and was an incident that probably has more to the story to come? And that later that day, more of the story came out, right? So there was a search warrant at his home. We also learned, if we didn't know that on Tuesday, that the call that Monti Nicholson and the other gentleman in the home made was to her brother first. and he's like, why are you calling me? Call 911.

And so, you know, you do have to wonder, right, the possibilities of why you wouldn't call 911. There are a lot of possibilities that are completely benign, like he completely freaked out and got completely rattled and didn't think of it. But again, if you're not thinking straight, the first call you make is 911. If you're thinking what kind of impact is this going to have on me, then maybe you're not. not calling 911. I was going to say that there are other, you know, possibilities that aren't so flattering. Yes. You know, like I don't want anybody coming to our house right now.

Yes. Or I don't want anybody seeing me in the condition that I'm in right now. So all of that is in play, which is precisely why I told you on Tuesday and why I still sort of feel the same way. And that is, why is a 1 in 9 and a 1 and 8 football team last week where, you know, optics should matter. Oh, come on. Oh, they don't. I know they don't. But they should.

Yes, they should. They're losing a lot of customers. I don't know if you've noticed. I've heard. Yeah. So I just wouldn't have played him unless somehow, you know, I mentioned this the other day to you, I think, unless he came to me and said, I really need this. She'd want me to play. It's cathartic.

I need to be with my teammates. I need to be around people that I love and that care about me or something like that. I don't know. Callahan's answer yesterday wasn't any more clear. on it. He said that he's going to, as him now, he's going to play Sunday. And he also said, with respect to, has the league reached out, or they involved in this? He said, maybe. It seems like it might be the case. I don't know. I wouldn't cut him. Like, you know, there is a presumption of innocence, despite what his track record is. It's a separate incident. And I, and I would certainly presume him to be innocent, but I would be thinking about the organization, too.

you know, and I would be thinking about the optics of playing him. But it was, at the very least, he was involved in an incident, you know, one in which somebody died in his home while he was there. Overdosed, according to the reports. You know, Cooley once said to me, and this is going to sort of relate, because he didn't call 911, Cooley said to me about the drug testing programs as it relates to weed, that if he were a GM and somebody got busted for weed, he would really wonder about the intelligence level of that person

because they tell you before you're in the program, the date you're going to get tested. And if you can't figure out how to get the weed out of your system by the date they told you, you're pretty stupid. Or you've got a major problem. Yes. You know, it's one or the other. And, you know, the conversation came up,

and it was the Trent Williams conversation. Yeah. You know, and he said, Trent's actually really, bright. I know Trenti was my teammate, but for a lot of these guys, you really have to be dumb to get caught with weed in your system. And then once you're in the program, then it's random.

Then you don't know. But before you're putting the program, you know the date that you're going to be tested on. You know what? In most cases, most people, reasonable people would say, how did he not call 911? Yes. I mean... Yeah. I mean, or somebody in the house.

Yeah. Somebody in the house said, screw you, I'm calling 911. Anyway. You know, I don't, look, I don't mean to be callous about it. It was a horrible thing, and I feel bad for the family and all that. But in terms, if I was a Redskins fan, I'd be numb to it already. I'd just be numb to it. So what?

So you're playing a guy who may have been, had some kind of role in a terrible incident. You know, you're going to play in my side. Why would I care? Yeah. Why would I care? Well, you know, if I didn't have to do three hours of radio every morning and then an hour plus with you, I don't think I'd be following this story at all. I mean, you know, it's like a lot of things with this team right now. I don't know.

We've talked about this before. I think a lot of people tune in because they enjoy sort of rubbernecking on this disaster, you know, accident. Well, that's human nature. Yeah, it's human nature. But, you know, when you get to Sunday at one, less and less are actually paying attention to the games themselves and the people involved in the games. This is why, this is why last Sunday, both Boswell and I wrote columns that had nothing to do with the game, even though we were both at the game. Sorry, what was your column? I forgot. Well, my column was the big picture, the crowd.

Oh, yeah. And I contrasted that to write up the road at the stadium where they had 70,000 fans watching the best player in the league. take apart the Houston Texans 41 to 7 and how, you know, how the Ravens are such a stark contrast to the Redskins more so than ever and the impact that that's going to have on the Redskins down the line. I've been in North – I was in a sporting goods store in Northern Virginia recently, and Ravens gear was more prominent than Redskins gear. In Northern Virginia?

And Redskins gear was discounted. So, I mean, and it had not. nothing to do with the game. So at this point, unless something dramatic happens in one of these games, you know, I mean, what you're going to see written about will have very little to do with X's and O's. Yeah, I think you're right. Real quickly, before we get to a bigger DC sports topic that involves the Redskins, I went through the Bengals and the Redskins schedule. schedules yesterday. This is really something you're going to want to hear. Because I think there's a pretty good chance the Redskins are going to go 1 in 15.

I'd put that chance at least 50-50. They've got six games left. They're going to be underdogs and all but one of them. And it's even debatable. Aaron, right now the Giants come to Washington. Pick them at best. Redskins aren't going to be favored in that game more likely than that. Maybe a very slight favorite, but it would be very slight. The Giants are better than the Redskins. I mean, they crushed them the first time when Case Keenham started the game, and then Haskins came in.

They were down 17-0-0. They got absolutely run out of the building in that particular game. But I was looking at the schedules for this purpose. Like if the Bengals lose one more game, and they still have the Dolphins and the Jets on their schedule, and the Redskins don't win any. The Redskins would likely win the tiebreaker with the Bengals because they've got the easier of the schedules,

and the easier the schedule, the earlier you get the... the pick. It comes down to strength the schedule. Okay. So if you are one in 15 against an easy schedule, you're a worse team than the team that's one and 15 against a tougher schedule. So they could have the number one pick. You could have the number one pick in the draft. What a disaster that will be. No, no, no, no. What an absolute disaster that would be. It would be great for us. That would be a disaster. It would be great for us. Yeah, it would be great for us. But what an absolute disaster. I mean, it literally, it's like, it's like given $40 million

dollars in lottery winnings to a Coke addict. You know, and literally what it is. You just know they're going to burn right through that number one pick and do something stupid with it. It may take them, it may take them a while to do it,

but they'll do it. At least if these people are in charge. Yeah. I would you know, they this is, it depends on who's in charge. If Bruce and Dan are still there. And again, I don't think Bruce is going to be there. I really don't. But I would really

fear that they would screw up the whole thing. Well, Bruce is still there. They're not going to pick a quarterback with that number one pick. No, but I'm saying the trade opportunity is going to be massive. Yes, it was. I mean, they're going to be able to get a huge haul back for Joe Burrow. Yeah. The opportunity to draft Joe Burrow or Chase Young, but probably Burrow. But yeah, I wouldn't feel good about it if it was that group. With Dan still here, people are going to say it's going to get screwed up anyway. But anyway, I just wanted to point that out because I do the work for you. If they win out, if they lose out and the Bengals can beat either the dolphins of the Jets,

I think the Redskins will end up with the number one picking the dog. Apparently doing all that work debilitates you a little bit, doesn't it? A little bit. Yeah, I'm a little bit off this morning. You're a little bit struggling. And we've got a lot of edits going on in the show right now. So I don't want you to carry that burden for me, buddy. If it's going to affect your health.

So on your radio station, apparently I did not hear it, but I was texted by a friend about it, and then I found the article that laid out what Grant talked about. Did you hear about him telling the story? So a buddy of mine text me and he goes, what's the deal with the Dan and Bruce Golf came in Dan's office at Redskin Park? and I called him back. I'm like, you're talking about the Bruce golf game? Like, how did you know about this? And he told me, you know, that he was listening to Grant Paulson, who was talking about a story that he had heard, I guess yesterday he was telling the story about how Dan and Bruce play these golf games in Dan's office. And that Dan will often come out screaming at Bruce if Bruce is late for his scheduled tea times.

Yes, I'm very, very familiar with the. golf games. Very familiar with them. And I tried to think if Cooley had actually talked about them on the air or not. I think he did. He says he didn't. I think he did over the years, but whatever. Those games were played in Bruce's office, not Dan's office. And Dan wasn't really a part of the, they had this, basically this mini-putting golf course set up in Bruce's massive office. and there were several people involved in sort of a running sort of tournament, you know, in season with standings and the whole thing. And Bruce would, you know, schedule tea times with people like Cooley and other people to play in this game. I was familiar with it.

I don't think it's a big deal. I understand the reaction to the thought of Bruce coming out of his office and being yelled at by Dan to get into Dan's office to play a stupid golf game in the middle of like maybe reviewing film or something. I mean, it would be another reason to sort of clown them. But anyway, for those of you that have heard that story, Bruce's office was the home course for all of these games. And I don't think Dan may have played once or twice from what I've remembered from a lot of these stories. But really, it was like Bruce and some of them were athletic guys involved in this thing. Dan's a racquetball player.

I wouldn't say he's not athletic. Okay, you can say he's not athletic. that he's athletic. Oh, and by the way. I'll stick with the he's not athletic. Here's what that story does. It just illustrates one of Leverro's rules. If things look bad from the outside, they're much, much worse.

But do you think like playing games in an office makes it much, much worse? Well, if everything, if everything around you is on fire, yeah. Yeah. Well, it's the optics thing that I talked about. You know, these things get out and it makes a bunch of clowns look even clownier. Yeah. You know, and... The Cleveland Browns are on the line about trading for Trent Williams?

Hold on. Hold on. I got a big putt here. Bruce has a big putty. He's on number seven. Tell him, tell him he'll call you back after he gets to the halfway point for beers and snacks. He'll call you at the turn.

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MyBooky.ag. Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. So early this morning, I didn't see it when I was on radio, so I'll do some of this on radio tomorrow. But Rick Mace and somebody else. Her name is Emily Guskin. wrote a story on a post-pull, a Washington Post-Pole, identifying the favorite teams in this city. The poll results, okay? The poll results are that the nationals are the favorite Washington sports team right now. All right, they got 28% of the vote. The Redskins were second with 13% of the vote.

The capitals were third with 10% of the vote. mystics were fourth with 8% of the vote. The wizards were tied for fourth with the mystics with 8% of the vote, and DC United got 6% of the vote. The question was as follows, if you're into these polling things, and you want to know specifically how the question was phrased. Question, thinking about Washington's professional sports teams, would you say your favorite team is the Redskins, Nationals, Wizards, D.C. United, Mystics, or Capitals, or don't you prefer any of these teams? Now, the last time the Post conducted a similar poll was in 2010, and at that point the Redskins were clearly the runaway favorite at 34%. The Wizards

back in 2010 were second with 13%. And then it was the Nationals at 7, the Caps, at six, the mystics at two, and the DC United at one. So it's, the nationals right now are basically twice what the Redskins are in popularity based on this poll. Go ahead. I'll let you take the first swing of it. Well, the nationals have the benefit here

of the immediacy of having a World Series championship. I'm assuming this poll wasn't taken in September. I'm assuming this poll was taken recently post-world series. So they have the benefit of that. Any rational person at this stage

would not want to own up to the Redskins being their favorite sports team. I mean, give it, given how, I mean, you really, I mean, you really have to question your intelligence. If you're a Washington sports fan, and

you would sit there and say, yeah, the Redskins are my favorite team. You know, I mean, people are going to start saying no Venus for you and feel sorry. for you. So, I mean, all the ingredients that are going on right now leads to this. It certainly doesn't mean it's etched in stone and it couldn't change within a year like it has to change over nine years in this case. But I'm not surprised by any of it. I'm surprised. Actually, I am surprised a little bit that the Wizards are so low. I am, I'm not surprised at all given the timing of this.

they took, they did the poll between November 12th and November 17. Yeah. So you're coming off a World Series and you are in the midst of the worst Redskins season of all time. You're also in the midst of the hottest capital start of all time as well to a regular season. And the Wizards, you know, are floundering a little bit. And the Mystics just won a title. I'm actually very surprised that 8% of the people polled said the Mystics. I'm not going to lie to you about it.

that. And I'm surprised that even the DC United is up there at 6%. But, you know, here's the thing. The thing is this. What you said, you are not, you're really going to have to be a diehard at this at this particular moment with the nationals just having won the world effing series. They weren't like 100 wins and won a series and then lost in the NLCS. They won the World Series. Pretty big deal. You said it. It was the most important sporting event that's ever taken place in this city.

Was the World Series games three, four, and five in terms of games played in this city? I'm actually surprised that the Redskins were second at 13%. Seriously. Because I would have thought it would have been a runaway with the Nats and this kind of polling with this kind of question, all right, and that, you know, maybe even the capitals would have been second with the Redskins third. I think if it was April and the caps that, you know, we're about to enter the playoffs. Yeah, but not with the draft.

People were so excited after they drafted Dwayne Haskins. You've got to be careful about that time in the year with the Redskins. This was probably the worst time of the year and the worst situation ever to pull anything about the Redskins. Yeah, it was. And if your prediction comes true that Bruce Allen is, it's, fired or let go or leaves, that would certainly affect the polling if it would happen in April. Yes, I think it would.

I don't think there's any doubt that it would impact the polling. What I know for sure, or I don't know for sure, what I have a sense of is it would not impact ticket sales. I did a segment yesterday in the spirit of quid pro quo talk. Yes. I said, would you buy a season ticket or season tickets if Bruce Allen got fired? almost everybody said no. See, what it'll do, it'll get a great bump in social media reaction.

People will be excited about it, but it's not going to equate into people buying tickets. Well, tickets and season tickets are two different things. You know, I mean, the market, the sports market play is changing. People are not buying season tickets, period, as much as they used to. They're buying maybe season ticket packages that includes two or three games. the traditional season ticket as the foundation for sports franchises is quickly disappearing. And teams are being forced to sell every game as if, you know, as opposed to before,

they'd sell season tickets and then they'd close up shop when they were done, and then they'd sit around and play golf, you know, in their offices. Well, they can't do that anymore. So I'm not sure season tickets is a good measurement. of that. So you don't think that the firing of Bruce Allen would have a significant impact on

the economics? Yeah, no. Okay. But I think they believe that. Really? Yeah, and that's one of the reasons I think he's going to get fired or he's not going to be back.

He may, you know, he may choose to walk away and retire. But I think they believe that there would be this huge boon, you know, huge increase in like, know, buying tickets. I think they're per usual off, but there would be a huge social media reaction. A huge sports talk

radio reaction. Yes, it would. One other thing, I just want to mention about this poll, because I was just reading the methodology to the poll. Do you know that it was 900 95 adult residents of the District of Columbia? So nobody in Northern

Virginia or Maryland was polled? I mean, are they saying, it's says this Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone, November 12th through the 17th, among a random sample of 905 adult residents of the District of Columbia, reached on conventional and cellular phones by live interviews. The margin of sampling error for overall results is plus or minus four percentage points. Look, I mean, I'm not going to tell anybody how to run their poll,

but I'm going to tell them how to run their poll here. You've got to have a mix of D.C. Maryland and Northern Virginia. it's got to be the market. And you know what? When you think about the results here, okay? Maybe, well, I would suggest to you that the caps would have been higher with Northern Virginia and Maryland polled. That the Wizards would have been lower with Northern Virginia and Maryland polled. Maybe the Mystics would have been a lot lower as well.

you know the Redskins I think the feeling about the Redskins probably is the same in all three jurisdictions and maybe even the Nationals I don't know maybe the Nationals number would have been higher if Northern Virginia and Maryland I don't know if it's been higher I think it's about the same if you're doing a poll to find out what the favorite sports team of the market is don't you have to poll people in Northern Virginia and Maryland I would think so but I wouldn't I wouldn't tell them how and they have pollsters I don't know what why they came to this conclusion. I'd be interested in finding out.

Yeah, I would be. I'd tell you what would have been interesting if you did do the whole market and you added two other teams in there, the Ravens and the Cowboys. Well, definitely, yeah, no, those would be the two. I mean, that would be an interesting poll then. Wouldn't it? I mean, because we have maintained,

Dan Steinberg and I have talked about this, that if either paper assigned a Cowboys Beat writer, that you get more clicks and more attention than... Anything other than the Redskins. Yeah. Yeah. I think, you know, this goes back to the conversation about the NFL. The NFL's king in most markets.

You know, I know there are a couple of, you know, markets that are unique where the NFL is not king. And that's why this polling is, you know, an indication, now in the moment that the Redskins have now lost the town to the Nationals. It's not a surprising result, given the timing. But I'm quoted in this story because Rick Mace called me and I had a conversation with him. And the demographics, you know, are obvious and they had some of the demographic breakdown. Younger people are less into the Redskins and older people more into the Redskins. I think that would that'd be obvious to anybody. But if the Redskins got on a role, which would

be miraculous at this point. And for two, three, four years, we're in contention, you know, winning divisions, going to the playoffs every year, having a chance to go deep into the playoffs. And this, and this poll was done, it would be, it wouldn't even be close. They would have 40 percent. What if the nationals were winning World Series? It still wouldn't be close. Oh, I think it would. I don't think it would be close. And that would be the clear cut second, and you'd have the market divvied up into two. No, I think the Nats would still be on top. What's a role?

I just gave it to you. Like three, four years, you know, 10, 11 wins, winning divisions, being in the playoffs, having a legit chance, being in an NFC championship game or a Super Bowl, you know, maybe not even winning it, but getting to the point where you were a legitimate Super Bowl contender and a contender for three, four years, I think it would turn on a dime. quickly. I think it might. Again, I maintain that there's, you know, if the Redskins come back, there are fans that won't come back. That doesn't mean they won't draw well. That doesn't mean they'll have big crowds. But the Redskins problem is in the business office too, just as much as it is on

the field. And again, I'm going to repeat this. The idea of selling tickets and selling a team has changed dramatically. And this is what Brian Lafamina was here for. He was here in part because the marketing and selling of a team is different now than it was five years ago. And he understood that. The Ravens understand that. The Redskins, they don't get that. They're in the 20th century.

All of the Brian Lafaminas combined together in one organization are not going to, do much if your team stinks on the field. But if your team is good, you can't just automatically assume that you can open up shop and just do business the way you did in the past. That's fair. And I understand that. I don't even know

what the tactics are. But it's got to be a hell of a lot of different with social media and with technology and with just the way fans sort of view attending a sporting event and consuming a sporting event. Right before, right before our eyes within a few years, just like that.

I want to get to one other quick Redskins subject. I talked about this this morning because I think it's interesting. So I have a sense that Alex Smith is an important figure in the organization. Well, he's with Snyder at every game, isn't he? He sits with him. He appears to be, you know, very close with Bruce and Dan. Very close. I think he's very well respected, and he's very well respected by his teammates.

And, you know, the most important thing is that he's, he gets healthy and that he returns, you know, he's healthy and he lives a healthy and happy life. And I think everybody wishes that for him. But, you know, the conversation is going to shortly turn to the $21 million salary cap number next year. And if they decide not to, you know, eat it all and move on and take the pain in 2021 and move on from him, which I think they should have done in 2020 would have been really painful. You could spread it out over two years. Then they are viewing him potentially as a guy that could come in, next year and play.

And I just, I think that's a terrible idea. First of all, the assumption here is that he would get back to physically being able to play. Obviously, if he's not, it's not a conversation. But there is, it would be another indication that Dan and Bruce really think we've all missed the point here. They were six and three a year ago. They had Alex. things were going well, they were going to win the division, they were going to win some playoff

games, it was going to be the first of like a three, four year run with his contract extension, and maybe end up in a Super Bowl. And the truth is, is that what Alex Smith was in 2018, is he was a game manager at best. He had the 27th ranked passer rating for quarterbacks that started eight or more games. He was 26th in Raw QBR. He was 27th in yards per game. He had the 27th yards per game. He was 25th in completion percentage. He was 29th in yards per pass attempt. You can go down the list. He was not a very productive quarterback throwing the football. No. And if nothing else, if the Redskins, and they did in almost, I think, all their wins, they scored first in I think all their wins. Exactly, which is why I always say about the six and three,

because we've gotten this six and three attached to Alex Smith. They were really six and four, because when he got hurt, they were down two scores to Houston, primarily because of his poor play in that game against the Texans. And they had not proven at any point at that year that they could come back after falling behind. So I really think we are talking about a quarterback who had a 6 and 4 record. I've always wanted to make that emphasis because the 6 and 3 actually sounds a lot better than 6 and 4, especially when they had Dallas on Thanksgiving four days later, and then at Philadelphia on a Monday night, you know, 10 or 11 days after that, whatever it would be.

You know, they were probably headed to 6 and 6 with Alex Smith. And so this notion that they were somehow this great juggernaut team headed for playoff glory is not reality. The reality was he was a good game managing quarterback. He didn't turn the ball over. They relied on a running game early. They relied on a defense that stopped the run. They relied on turnover margin and field position. And penalty, you know, I love all the coach Cal talk about the penalties and bringing

the referees in. And it's uncharacteristic. The penalties they had against the Jets, it's another slap at Gruden. Well, last year, on their way to six and three, they had a really good penalty situation. They were disciplined, you know, they played unlike any other Gruden team and any other Redskins team in a long, long time. But Alex Smith coming back next year, if he's actually totally healthy enough to play football again, is a terrible idea. It is putting on hold the movement towards the future.

If Dwayne Haskins is here next year and they don't draft Joe Burrow number one overall or Tua at number four or whatever, you know, and they're going to go with Haskins, he is your quarterback. Now, could you bring Alex Smith back to backup? Haskins. Haskins seems to like Alex Smith, considers him to be a mentor. Remember what Patrick Mahomes said about Alex Smith? What a mentor he was. You know, at $21 million next year is a backup? Okay, you can do it. I would not be tempted by having Alex Smith there.

I'd rather hire him to be a coach. And why would he do that? Why would he be a coach? He doesn't have to coach. Coaching's a lousy job. It's not a good job. But, you know, all of this. So the question this morning for callers was, I said,

finish the following sentence. We all wish the very best of health and happiness for Alex Smith. But, dot, dot, dot. You know, and almost everybody said, of course he can't be the starting quarterback. But Tommy, if he gets back to full health, I'm telling you right now, Dan and Bruce love Alex. Well, think about this. Think about what you're saying here.

And they think last year they were close with them. Well, if that's the case, if that's the track they're on, and if Dan is close to Alex and Alex was Bruce's move, Bruce isn't going anywhere. I know. That's another thing that I would not be thrilled about. Yeah. I mean, it's Dan loves Alex too. Yes. So it's possible Bruce could go and Dan still loves Alex and stays.

I don't know. I think that's a threesome. Oh, God, that sounds not very enticing. The whole notion of them thinking this way, if they do think this way, and I think there is some evidence that I have, that they do think that last year's team was a much better team than I think it was, and I think a lot of you would agree with me, and some of you don't, but that's fine. That if he's physically fit to play, they want to prove that they were right. And here's the other part of this.

You know, you bring Alex Smith back and Bruce's back because the whole thing, you know who could come back? Callahan could come back. Yes, he could. I mean, Tommy, with whatever they bring in, next year, I'm marking it down right now as a 4-12 season. They're going to be 1 in 15 or 2 and 14 this year. A new coach, a whole new setup. It's still probably going to be not a playoff season. Okay, I don't know if it'll be 4 and 12.

If it's a really, you know, if it's a better situation, better coach, staff. Maybe they can go five and 11, six and ten, seven and nine. But it's not a playoff year next year. Right. You know, next year is another one of those years where we're building for the future. We're building for really 20, 21 and beyond. And if you

are bringing Alex back and Haskins, you then have to find the coach that thinks that's okay. Yeah. And they'll only hire the one that says it's okay. Right. You're right. I mean, there's a chance the whole band could be back.

I mean, the first show we saw with this band was terrible. The whole band could be back. It was too loud. The drummer was awful. The singer was terrible. Wouldn't you feel queasy watching Alex Smith, though, out there? Wouldn't you feel nervous for him? Of course.

I mean, and I can't imagine what his, I don't know what his wife tells him or what they discussed. Did you see the Instagram video she put out? Yeah, I did. It's very inspiring. Very inspiring. But I would be scared to death if he was out there. And I was close to Alex Smith. Every time he got hit, I would just imagine his leg crumbling like paper, you know?

I mean, the only path, and they're probably not going to take it, is to can everybody for Dan Snyder to have the epiphany that we've talked about over the years, apologize to everybody. Take blame for all of it and promise that he is going to. with the help of somebody, Joe Gibbs, a consultant that he's gone to the league. The league is providing him with a consultant or two to help. He's going to hire the best person he can hire to take over the football operation, and he's going to give that person contractual autonomy. And that football person will then hire the coach. And then that football person will hire the coach.

Yes. And if the hire ends up being Greg Williams, and he gives Greg Williams that, you know, VP of personnel title and elevates, you know, Eric Schaefer or, Kyle Smith, the GM or whatever, Kyle Smith, it would probably be. Something like that has to happen. Without that, you got nothing. You got nothing. I know.

I mean, yeah, I'm queasy. Yeah. Very queasy. We wanted to do... No, you wanted to do. No, the conversation about the NBA thing. Oh, okay. Do we have time?

Yeah, we got time. Okay. We absolutely have time. Let me first quickly just tell everybody. By the way, got some numbers on the app. I mean, a lot of you have downloaded the app, which tells me that it's working pretty well because I've not gotten a lot of complaints.

So if you want to download the app on your iPhone, just go to the app store on your Android, go to the Google store. The app provides the podcast, all of the old shows, that's right there when you click on the app, the updated show, the newest show. And it's got my Twitter feed, the show's Twitter feed,

the show's Facebook feed, as well. And if you enjoy it and the other platforms that you've been listening to it on, that's fine too. And if you're on those platforms, rate us, review us, and subscribe. That helps us. It doesn't cost you a thing. So Tommy texted me yesterday. A list put out by RTNBA. They seem to have a big following on Twitter. Yeah, 226,000 followers. Sent me a thing that they did where they identified every single, single NBA team's all-time best franchise player. Yes.

Franchise player, not necessarily the city that they're in now, but the franchise, which includes its origins. Yes, you see that with the Hawks. Yes. Which I think they got wrong with Bob Pettit. As opposed to, as the old-time Hawks players. As opposed to Dominique. As opposed to Dominique Wilkins.

I would agree. That would be mine. But you want to start with the Wizards all-time franchise player? Who was it, Kevin? It was Gilbert Arenas. Oh, my God. Are you kidding me? What an insult.

I mean, this is what happens, and this is why I tweeted out, this is what happens when you hire children in a meeting. You know, I mean, this is what happens when you have people who believe, sort of like you in a way sometimes, that the world started when they were born. Right. And that nothing happened before them. This is how you wind up with Gilbert Arenas as the best player in Wizards franchise history, ignoring. Wes Anseld, who won the MVP and the rookie of the year in the same year when they were in Baltimore Bullets. So this is franchise history. So this is going to be hard for me because in my world it started when they got to Washington, as you just described.

And because of that, my all-time Washington Bullets slash Wizards player would be Elvin Hayes. With a slight edge over West. Slight. Well, Elvin Hayes, again, would be above Gilbert Arenas. Earl Monroe. Well, of course. Would be above Gilbert Arenas. You could make the case that Bobby Dandrich would be above Gilbert Arenas.

John Wall's above Gilbert Arenas. Really? Definitely. I don't know if I go that far. Oh, my God, yeah. John Wall is definitely, if I put together my top five, Washington, by the way, you're forgetting Gus Johnson in Baltimore. No, I didn't get to him yet. Okay, so Elvin Hayes, West Sunseld John Wall, Bobby Dandrich, and then for me, after those four,

it's either Gill or Phil. I'd probably go with Gil as the fifth best Washington bullet-slash-wizard of all time. If Phil hadn't gotten the back injury and he had played another four or five years healthy in Washington, he'd easily be in the top five. Yeah, he was a sharp shooter. But Elvin West and Wes are one, two, in whatever order you want to put him in, I'd put Elvin first and West second. I put West first and Elvis second. But if you consider Baltimore, you probably go West first and Elvin second. Because West was not only the rookie of the year in 68, it was the MVP.

I mean, what's remarkable. I mean, and that's when Nate Thurman was playing, Will Chamberlain was playing. That was Russell's last year in the NBA. And Willis Reed was. playing. And let me get to Willis Reed with the Knicks. So who, hold on, where's the Knicks best player? The next pick

Patrick Ewing, and a lot of people tend to agree with this. I would just tell you that Willis Reed played in two NBA finals. He was the MVP in both of those finals, and he went against Wolf Chamberlain in both of those

finals. I know. Okay, so I'm sorry. Wouldn't you put Walt Frazier ahead of Patrick doing? I I thought about that a lot. And to bend over, to be fair, I wouldn't. I mean, my initial reaction would be yes. Walt Frazier was a champion.

I know that. I know, a two-time champion. Yeah. I know that. Well, Frazier was as big a part of those championship teams as Willis Reed. So was Dave DeBusch. I understand that. You know, but I wouldn't put him ahead of Ewing.

But I would definitely put Willis Reed ahead of Ewing. You know, I mean, this is just a sloppy thing. They transposed the pictures for Isaiah Thomas and Alex English. So they've got... Alex English for the Nuggets? Yeah. Well, who would you pick? You know, I mean, of the Nuggets, absolutely, I think Alex.

Dan Isl? No, Alex English. Alex English was a great player. Okay, so was David Thompson for a short period of time. I would say Alex Inglis will be the Nuggets. But they have Alex Inquish's picture with the Pistons. I guess I would have Alex English. How many times did Alex English lead the league in scoring?

It was a couple times, right? Yeah, he was a prolific score. He was. And then they have Isaiah Thomas's picture with the Denver Nugget. So they got that wrong. What? No, they got the pictures mixed up. Oh, okay, got it.

You know, another one I pointed out to them was that they have Chris Paul as the greatest clipper of all time. Bill Walton? Well, no, I didn't do that. But I went back to Buffalo because they're the Buffalo Braves. And you got McAdoo. And you got McAdoo. who won two scoring titles while he was with Buffalo. And, I mean, he was with Buffalo for six seasons.

I'd consider Chris Paul. Over McAdu? Well, how long was McAdu in Buffalo? Six years. It was? Yeah, from 69 to 75. It's close. It's close.

I mean, it's not close to me. I mean, Macadoo, I mean. So the biggest debates are Lakers and Celtics. the great teams where there's so many options. I mean, I'm going to tell you right now, Magic's my number one all-time Laker, and I don't care what people say about Kareem or, or Wilt or anybody else.

Magic would be my number one Laker, and I think they did have magic. Yeah, they did. But I can live with that if you put Kareem as Lou Alcindor as a Milwaukee. As a Milwaukee buck. I mean, he won three of his, I think he won, let me see, hang on a second.

I'm not sure. Hang on a second. Well, they won the title when Oscar was on the team over Boston. Yes. He played in Milwaukee. It had to be six or seven years, right, Tommy? Yes, he did. How many years?

I think six years. He played for six seasons. One is only two NBA scoring titles with the Bucks. And three of his six MVPs were with the Bucks. So you could easily make the case. base for him. Well, it's not, you don't even make, that's the answer to that question. But that wasn't their answer.

Who was their answer? What's the guy who plays for them now, the Greek. Janice? Yes. Well, of course that's ridiculous at this point. He may become it. Yeah. Did anybody watch the playoffs last year?

Yeah. When Kauai Leonard took him to school in the postseason? You know, the, I'll tell you what, I'd probably pick Sidney Moncrief or Marcus Johnson. I'm just thinking about some of those good Milwaukee teams. Absolutely. Over Janus at this point. Yeah, I would too. But you could make Kareem when he was Lou Al-Sinder.

The best bucks. But would you pick Kareem over Magic for the Lakers? No, I wouldn't. I'd pick Magic. Okay. What if he didn't play for Milwaukee ever? I'd still pick Magic. Okay.

But that's a tough one. Oh, my God. Now, here's what's not a tough one. Kobe, Magic, Will. This is not a tough one. I love Larry Bird. And I think Larry Bird is an underrated great player. I think he's maybe one of the top six or seven players.

You don't have to convince him. for me. Okay. But Bill Russell is the number one. The greatest champion of all times. Celtic. I mean, it's not an argument, but they have Larry Bird. As if Russell's 11 championships. I know, different league then. I mean, but you see, this is what I don't get, Kevin. I'm not, I'm not going to argue with you. I think, hold on, I think if you told me I had to vote on this, I think I would definitely pick Russell. Yeah. I think I would definitely pick Russell, even though this is the problem with teams like the Celtics and the Lakers is that you could take their next four greatest players of all time and spread them around, you know, four or five

other teams that don't have players that even come close to any of them. Right. Yes, you could. We're so willing in the NFL, I mean, it's still not arguable among most people that Jim Brown is the greatest player in the history of the league. Jim Brown hasn't played football in 50 years. I know. But we are willing to accept.

Why are we? And then baseball's the same thing. People will say Willie Mays is the greatest player to ever, you know, play. He hasn't played in almost 50 years. But we're willing to accept that, but not in basketball. And that angers me. I don't know why. Well, you and I do.

No, you don't to some extent. It's been 30 years since Magic played. That's true. Magic's my number one all time. That's true. It's actually now been 20 years since Jordan played. Yes. Yeah, so I just, but I think people are more reluctant to do in basketball

because basketball players are so athletic, and you've argued this. I mean, I don't think it's prevalent as it is. I don't think the differences in athleticism in basketball players is that dramatic. I don't think it's more dramatic than it is in football players or baseball players. I didn't say that it was. It's just more dramatic in all sports. It's physical evolution. But I know, but we're not on speed dial.

with evolution, Kevin. I understand that, but I'm telling you, with respect to sizing up these athletes, I told you this, like several months ago. And I'm forgetting the game. But on NBA TV, one night, I was sitting there watching it, and they had the way the broadcast came live on ABC of Lakers Celtics game something in 1962. And I'm watching the greats, Jerry West and Bill Russell and Coozy and all these players. and I'm telling you, Tommy, as I was watching this,

and I've talked to a lot of people because I made that comment, I'll never forget guys like Gary Williams called me and other people called me and said, you're 100% right. I think DeMath's team this year would win a game against that 1962 NBA finals team by 30. Well, they couldn't because they wouldn't get a shot off because Wilf would block every shot. Really?

They couldn't? Okay. I mean, you know the story about Will Chamberlain when he was like... Russell's going to have to come out to about 25 feet to block their shot. You know, I mean, you know, I mean, Wilt, there's the story that when, I think Wilt was like 48 years old playing a pickup game in L.A.

And with some NBA players. And somebody did something to disrespect them. And he said, basically announced a court gentleman, there'll be no more baskets at this end. And he then blocked every single shot that came down when he was 48 years old. Right. So.

Yeah. I mean, that could be a bit of a reach for me, but a college team. It's just, they're bigger, stronger, faster. But not than everybody. Not than everybody. I always point to Carl Malone. Like if you look at Carl Malone and you look at his measurements in the early 1990s, mid-1990s, late 1990s, his phys and also remember what he was as a player, you take Carl Malone

from 1996. and plop them down in 2019, he's going to look like the rest of the guys. He's going to play like the rest of the guys. But even the difference between Jordan, who was barely 200 pounds, 195, and LeBron, who's 270, you know, it's just a massive physical difference. You and I, when we first started to do the show, you know, and I remember Tracy McGrady was one of these players, and he turned out to have all those injuries, et cetera. But I remember saying to you, because you and I both love that.

basketball. And I'm like, the biggest difference now is that there are like a dozen players. You can't guard one-on-one with the best defender in the league. It's impossible to stay in front of that player. And that's why you saw, you know, in the mid, you know, I don't know when it exactly started. You saw, you know, consistent double teams. Like, we are not going to let him have the ball. Right. He's going to have to give it up. And then we're going to play. play three on four, you know, for the rest of this possession. But guys like, you know, it was the real explosive guys early on that just there was this quick twitch explosive with the basketball thing that you don't see from way back in the day. And I also think the ball handling in particular.

The shooting was, there's not much difference in terms of a great shooter back then and a great shooter, except for the distance. You know, back then, a guy that shot a 35,000. jump shot. It was a heave. Now it's just a jump shot from half court. You know, LeBron can pull up from just inside half court and shoot a normal jump shot. It's not a heave. It's not a chuck. That's a bit of a reach. It wasn't a heave or a chuck. Oh yeah, it was. Half court shots back then? No, it wasn't. No one was shooting a jump shot from half court. I know. Now you've gone to half court. I'm saying regular jump shots were not heaved. Not from 30 feet. No, I'm saying these longer, like just look at the difference.

in the shooting ability. It's gotten much further out. Of course it's gotten much further out. But also, that's also a result of that was considered to be a bad shot back in the day. The idea, without a three-point line, was to get the ball as close to the rim for a high percentage shot than it was to take high percentage shots or lower percentage shots from deeper. I don't know. I mean, it's a conversation we've had many times.

I think basketball players are the best athletes in the world, and I think you see the differences more in that sport, but I think the differences are significant in all sports. You know, it's training, it's nutrition, it's all of those things. People are bigger, stronger, and faster in life, period. They're healthier, too. They're not that much bigger, stronger, faster than they were 50 years ago. Really? Yeah.

Okay. I think the average human being is bigger and bigger and stronger. So we'll be flying 50 years from now? Huh? Will we be flying on our own 50 years? Who knows? Wouldn't we both love to be around to see it? I'd be a blimp. What were the other ones you had a problem with as I'm looking through these? Well, let me tell you about, I mean...

First of all, how's Russell Westbrook, the greatest player in Oklahoma City history when Kevin Durant was on that team? Although, Durant was not as good in Oklahoma City as he was afterwards. How about what? Clyde Drexler? Oh, in Portland. In Portland. Again, you would argue Bill Walton. Walton's definitely the greatest player in franchise history. Yeah, so. Please tell me in Houston it's Elijah one. And not somebody like hardened.

I don't know. Okay, yeah. Okay, it's Elijah one. Yeah, as it should be. Yeah. As it should be. What else? Dirk in Dallas, LeBron and Cleveland, Steph Curry at Golden State.

Dr. J. With the Nets. Oh, with the Nets. What about the Sixers? Did they have Moses there? No. Or did they have Irving again? I don't, I don't know.

Who they have at the six. Iverson? I forget. I'm looking up McAdoo because I made the case for McAdoe, and I didn't have all the information for you. Bob McAdoo won three scoring titles when he was with the Buffalo Braves. Yeah, he could score. Okay?

So, I mean, that's why I have him over Chris Paul. Three scoring titles, they're the only three scoring titles he won. I mean, those Buffalo teams were great, and McAdu was unbelievable. Then he got traded. Then he went to the Knicks. and it was not pretty. I don't know what the hell happened. I'll tell you what.

He was a key reserve on a couple of local title teams. Wilt is the 76ers player. Okay. I mean, that's when he was scoring a hundred a game. Yeah. Well, he was only with the 76ers briefly. I know. I know.

I mean, he was with the Philadelphia Warriors. The Warriors, but the Philadelphia franchise. Yeah. So that's all. It was a pretty sloppy thing for somebody. Gilbert as the greatest player in Washington history is a joke. Yeah. I mean, for something that touts themselves as, you know,

some kind of NBA expert at this Twitter account, it was pretty sloppy. Tough call between Malone and Stockton. They went with Malone in Utah. I go with Malone. Yeah, I think probably. Yeah. Now what about Steve?

what's his name, the point guard that everybody loves. Steve Nash? Steve Nash over Barclay in Phoenix? Yes. Really? That's a tough one. Yeah, the question is whether or not you put him over Paul Westfall. I don't know if I'd put him over Barclay in Phoenix.

Barkley's best years weren't with Phoenix. They were more in Philadelphia. I think Steve Nash is the greatest player in Phoenix history. Yeah, I could go with that. What else do you have there? That's all I got. Jordan, obviously, with the Bulls, Dirk with Dallas, Elijah won with Houston,

Reggie Miller in Indiana, Mike Conley in Memphis's short history, Kevin Garnett, Minnesota, that makes sense. Yeah, Janice in Milwaukee, please. Yeah. Wade in Miami. Yes. Yes, because he was there for the first title.

Yes. And was the key in that first title team in 2006. I agree. All right. That's it. There's nothing else to debate here, I don't think. No. Oh, they've got Oscar for Sacramento.

Well, they used to be the Cincinnati Royals, right. And then they became the Kansas City Omaha Kings, and then they moved to Sacramento. I remember the Kansas City Kings teams with Phil Ford and Scott Wedman and a couple of, though. They had a couple of good teams before they moved to Sacramento. Yeah. A couple of decent teams. Kansas City had an NBA team, people, if you didn't know that. done for the day? I think that's it

boss. All right. Back tomorrow. I'll have a football Friday ready for you, including smell test if you still want it. Thanks to... You know what? You know what? Let me just mention a couple of things. Yeah. First of all, you can hear me with Nick Ashue Saturday morning 9 and noon on 106, 7 a fan.

You read my stuff in the Washington Times. Go to Washington Times.com. Click on Sports and pray. And the other thing is, we didn't do an NFL power pole, did we? No, we didn't. You know what to do it today. That's fine.

Wait a minute. You know what? Just real quickly, who was the Pistons? Was it Isaiah? Yeah. It was Isaiah, but they got the picture wrong. I got Alex Singlish's picture there. That's right.

Okay. Back tomorrow. Enjoy the day.