The Kevin Sheehan Show - Kobe Ranks Where?

Episode Date: January 28, 2020

Kevin and Thom today with lots more on Kobe Bryant's death, the reporting of it, and his basketball legacy. They debated where he ranks on the all-time NBA list of greatest players. They also talked about the Chiefs' previous Super Bowl team, Dusty Baker to Houston, and the an all-time NBA comeback last night. <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's here. I am here as well. We're going to start with the Kobe stuff because Tommy hasn't weighed in on the Kobe stuff. Yesterday, most of the show was about the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. LeBron James weighed in. We're going to get to that here moment. But I do, you know, I think it's one of those days, Sunday was one of those days in which people, you know, the first question asked of people is, well, how'd you hear about it? What were you doing? How'd you hear about it? What was your reaction? Well, I think most people now, when they hear about these things, nine times out of ten, they hear about it on social media, you know? I mean, that's how I found out about it. and your first reaction is, okay, now we need to find out if this is really true. Once you see it on social media, then you say, now I need to find some credible sources. So did you see the first TMZ report, which, I mean, what were you doing? Were you at home Sunday? Were you on one of your walks?

Were you swimming? What were you doing on Sunday? On Sunday, I was writing the column at home. On the chiefs column that you wrote? Yes. So you weren't even watching the Maryland game? No, I wasn't watching the Maryland game. Well, they were playing Indiana.

I know that. Yeah. I know that. And I'm sure in your world, that's a big deal. It was in my world a big deal. So you were writing a column and you had your phone on? Yes. Okay.

Yes, I saw it on social media. Gotcha. I don't remember it like where I was when the Kennedy assassination. happened. Okay. Okay. It's, it's, it's, it, it, it, where were you for the Kennedy assess? I was in school. You were? I was in grade school. Do you remember how the whole day played out? Yeah, I do. Okay. I remember, I remember vividly, this part in particular, this is something I'll, I'll be ashamed up to the day I die. Uh, going back to my neighborhood after the, uh, the, uh, after school that day. And, uh, uh, uh, after school that day. And, uh, uh,

We had, like every neighborhood, we had Chinese laundry. And back then, you know, we identified the Chinese as communists. And, you know, somehow we had heard that the communists had killed JF Ketty. So a bunch of kids in my neighborhood, we went after this young, this poor kid who's parents own this Chinese laundry. And it was a terrible thing. It was horrible, you know. When you said you went after this kid, what did you do? Well, I think we beat him up.

Oh, really? Yeah, it's terrible. What can I say? I mean, you know, I was like seven, eight years old. Really stupid. And if he's listening out there, I'm really sorry. I live with it to this day. I do.

I really do. I'm not kidding. How many of you beat this kid up? And did you beat him up badly? No, we didn't beat him up badly. Okay. Was he just hanging out in front of the laundrom? He was on the street.

in the neighborhood. You always took a risk when you were on the street and no I don't. No, I don't. In school, how did you get the news? Did they play it over the PA speaker? Yes, they did.

Were the teachers upset? Were the teachers upset? Yeah, it was a pretty upsetting situation. In fact, I think they let us out of school early. They let us out of school early and our parents, I know, we're waiting. Usually, typically, I mean, I only lived a block from school. So my parents wouldn't be there.

My mother wouldn't be there to come get to get me, but she was waiting for me when I got there. And then after I got home, I did what kids did. I went out to play. And were your parents talking about that the Comis did it to Kennedy? I don't think so. I don't think so because my father wasn't there. He was at work. I don't remember my mom talking about it, but I think it was other kids started talking about it.

And, you know, it developed into a mob mentality. We knew that something bad had happened. president of the United States have been shot. We thought we were, we thought that the communists were coming over to Brooklyn Bridge. Yeah. You know? Right. So we did something really horrible and stupid.

That you were regretful. Still. To this day. Yes. I mean, your JFK, which I was not alive for, 9-11 was the day for me. Yeah. And for most people that live through 9-11. And if you live through both, which you did, they're both.

equally as surreal in terms of the days, right? Yeah. I mean, you're seven or eight years old, you said, so it's a little bit different in the way you interpreted it that day. I mean, you chose to go beat up the kids whose parents own the Chinese laundromat. I don't know what you did at 9-11. Were you searching out, you know, anybody that looked like a terrorist? No, no, no, no, no.

No, no. I was sitting at home watching MSNBC. Because I think I usually watched Imas every morning when he was on MSNBC. TV and they broke in with the news and then you know I mean so I watched all that unfold on TV and didn't immediately

grab my pitchfork and run out on the street and look for the enemy you know one of the I mean I played back on the radio show this morning John Thompson's appearance yesterday with Doc and Al talking about Kobe Bryant I always felt like coach really was good

on days like yesterday on his radio show so I played it back and just in talking about 9-11. That's one of the more incredible stories of all time is that John Thompson the second, coach John Thompson, Big John, was supposed to be on the plane that ended up, you know, going into the

Pentagon. He was supposed to be on that plane and something happened that changed the flight for him to a different time that day, but that was the flight that he was originally supposed to be on. You know, I was supposed to fly that day. Now, I had a meeting out in, of all places

believe it or not, South Bend Indiana, but I was flying to Chicago and then going into South Bend after that. And the meeting had gotten canceled like two days before. But it was a day like within that previous week I was supposed to fly. It wouldn't have mattered. I wouldn't have been on one of those planes flying to Chicago. Aaron, 9-11 all of a sudden just became about Kevin. No, it didn't.

Look at that. What JFK was about you? Well, you were asking me questions. I was telling you. No. I didn't ask you anything about whether you were flying on 9-11. I didn't. No, you didn't. But it was a segue

from the John Thompson. Look, I think if you're younger, well, how did you find out about Kobe? I was watching the Maryland game, and my son who was watching the Maryland game at Penn State. I really don't want to talk about my reaction because that's making it more about me. I wanted to get your version of it.

I told everybody yesterday what it was. Ryan, my youngest, who's at Penn State, were usually during these Maryland games, three of us are sometimes more on a group text during the games. Like, Jesus, why did he go to a two, three zone there? And he texted, he said, Kobe died, question mark, question Mike. Are you guys seeing this? And then I was with my other son, and we immediately became not interested in the basketball game,

which was a great game and consumed with doing what you were doing, which is, is this true or not? And I mentioned, Tommy, yesterday that, you know, for me, like, it was a surreal, shocking stunning, you know, Newsday, obviously. I wasn't a big Kobe guy. He wasn't my guy, but man, was he the guy for my kids and their generation? Absolutely. My middle son, Corby, who produces this show sometimes when Aaron's gone, that was his guy. I mean, he took it hard. I mean, in middle school, he was waking up to look at highlights on Sports Center to see what Kobe had done. I mean, he knows everything about Kobe Bryant's career. Kobe Bryant was everything to him. And it was

crushing to those people. And the other thing, too, is it happened on a Sunday in January when, you know, a lot of this country, not a lot, not the majority, but a lot of people are in gyms, you know, playing, reffing, watching youth basketball games with kids who loved Kobe Bryant. And there was a lot of, you know,

explaining, you know, before or after the game about what had happened to a lot of young people. It was quite an impactful day. It was, but it's a generational thing. Kobe, I agree with you, Kobe wasn't my guy either, you know, but if I had grown up maybe a generation before,

he probably would have been. And the impact he had is worldwide. I mean, I did a column about five years ago about a young Chinese American girl who was going to a friend central school

up in Philly and my sister, in law was a teacher up there. She told me about this girl who had basically started a Kobe website because she was so obsessed with Kobe. Right. And China, even though she lived here, she basically started it, you know, on the Chinese internet. And it had, you know, six, seven, eight million, eight million followers. That's amazing. And she just loved, and she had a chance to meet Kobe and she just loved him. So his impact, he touched a lot of people. I mean, I think we're just seeing how many people he had an impact on.

You know, it's funny. Normally, I would have written a column for Monday's paper about Kobe Di. But I'd already written my column. I planned I'd write in two Super Bowl columns this week, one of them about the 50 years ago when the chiefs were in the Super Bowl and the great defense they had. I had interviewed Bobby Bell, who was a linebacker on that team. And I thought it was a good column. I wasn't going to sub it out, you know, and get rid of it. Plus, I can't, I could not speak any better than a lot of other people did about Kobe Bryant.

I mean, like Bill Plashky. Oh, yeah, I read that. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I was devastated. Yeah. I can't, I can't write anything that's going to be more insightful or better than that. So, and there were a lot of media members who had relationships with Kobe.

Well, did they ask you to write about it? No, they didn't. But that would have been the natural order of things. Did somebody else write for it in your paper? We wrote a story about it. No one wrote a column about it. So they don't, on a day like that, in your business, you don't get somebody an editor or somebody in charge that says,

I know you got a column coming out about the 69 chiefs and Hank Stram and matriculating the ball down the field boys. But Kobe Bryant just died. You got to write about this. Well, but they felt like they had it in control with the story that they were doing. Okay. They didn't feel like they needed to. But you could have written about Kobe.

Yes, I could have. Okay. I could have, but it wouldn't have been, again, it wouldn't have been any better than what anybody else did. Because it wasn't, it wasn't something, he wasn't somebody you were passionate about. Right. Can you think of the people you've known from a far, that people from afar that you didn't know, stars and whatever thing? What's your list of people who, is there a list of people for you who died who really did impact? No bias.

Okay. Bias is number one for me. Yeah. And Sean Taylor's up there. But bias for me was just, you know, in the same way that the Kobe death, it just, it blows you away. Remember the Sean Taylor thing? He was in the hospital. He'd been shot.

And there was news the night before that he was getting better. Remember, I think it was Vinic Serato that sort of gave out that information that he's getting better. And there was a sense the night before he passed away as you were going to bed as a fan that. and maybe he's going to be all right and then you woke up. I remember waking up to Todd, you know, calling me Castleberry, who was our program director and general manager, calling me at 4.30 a.m., something like that, 5 a.m. and saying he died, he died overnight.

You got to get in there. But I don't want to make it about me. The biased death, no, the biased death was the worst. What about it? It was the absolute worst. It was devastating. at the time. And he was just, it was also Tommy, you know, for people my age then, and I was not a drug user. I just wasn't, I mean, I smoked weed every once in a while and I certainly drank a lot.

But I was not a cocaine user. I had a lot of friends that did a lot of coke in college, you know, in the 80s, you know, and that was to hear that he had died from cocaine intoxication, especially given his physical stature. He was so physically imposing. It scared the shit out of so many people. But it was so sad. I was looking so forward to seeing him with

the Celtics and in the NBA and seeing that career. He is I mean, Juan Dixon won a title. Len Bias is the greatest player in the history of Maryland basketball. Dixon's two. And most of us that live through the bias era, I think would say that. That was the most shocking

and the most impactful. But for my kids it was Sunday. Really? No doubt. I think you're right. I think for like, I mean, for that generation of fans who grew up with Kobe, to have them die so young, I think it's just, it's something that will impact them. They'll never forget for the rest of their lives. They'll be telling stories about Kobe Bryant and what they loved about him for years to come. You know, I didn't have an athlete who died young, who I admired from afar, you know, when Joe Fraser died, when Muhammad Ali died.

But they were both older and they were sick when they both died. And the one person I think of constantly is John Belushi. I mean, I was a huge Belushi fan. and to have woken up and to be in the Easton Express Newsroom when Belushi died, I think, at the age of 32, really hit me hard. Hit me hard. Because usually I always think it's difficult and a little strange to be so passionate about somebody you don't really know. Yes.

I mean, of course. But these people who we've never met who, you know, who, you know, you know, you. you would never get a chance to meet more likely than not, but we invest so much time into them and they have so much impact on our lives. Not influence necessarily, but impact. There's an emotional tie that you have with these people. I think that part of Sunday, too, is the same thing that I experienced when Len Bias passed away. It was so shocking.

There was no warning. It wasn't a long sickness. It wasn't, you know, it was, it was also, it gets combined also with sort of that horrifying, you know, image of how it happened. Yeah. You know, in those last moments. And the fact that his daughter was there. Oh, yeah. And, you know, all of that adds up to just an unbelievably hard to take day.

You know, I mean, you, I don't remember Roberto Clemente dying. I don't remember, I remember Thurman Munson, but I wasn't a Yankee fan. I know that was a big deal. Clemente is the comparable. Yeah. It's really the comparable. I mean, the whole sports world was, well, the whole world was stunned because not just that he died, but how he died on a humanitarian mission delivering supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua,

just coming off getting his 3,000 hit and winning the World Series. And, you know, off that. So Clemente is the comparable in the sports world. in dramatic deaths compared to COVID. Somebody tried to make the case to me late Sunday or yesterday. I think I mentioned it in the podcast yesterday that the Dale Earnhardt death for that fan population was the worst thing ever.

Yes, I agree with that too. It was so shocking and so awful and he was so revered. He died in doing a sport where people die. Yeah, I know. I mean, I think that's a little bit different. I mean, people die in car racing. Yeah. You know, I mean, is there a sense that Kobe's death was senseless?

Like, Bias' death was senseless? As opposed to having an illness? Well, I mean, are you suggesting that these helicopters are dangerous? No, I'm just saying, you know, I mean, it's an accident. Yeah, it is an accident. But it's, yeah, I mean, I wonder if there's, if there's any feeling that it was senseless for it to happen. I mean, there's a lot of second guessing that's going to come about the flight. I know people who are pilots.

I know. Well, we're starting to hear that right now. There were a lot of mistakes that were made on that helicopter flight. Have you ever flown in a helicopter? I have, but I think only one time in a helicopter. Do you remember where? Yeah, it was in business, and it was with a company that had a helicopter, and we were doing a PR tour for the launching of our product.

Okay. And so we actually were on a private plane for some of the trip and on a helicopter for another part of it. I've never been on a helicopter. Yeah. And I wouldn't get on one unless I had to. I don't remember feeling anything but just excited to take a helicopter ride. Like those things never really bothered me. But, you know, it seems like over the years we've had a lot of helicopter crashes.

Like this one was, you know, Buck was on with us yesterday on radio. And, you know, Buck's a pilot. You know that Steve Buck Hans is a pilot. And he said this was the real deal in terms of helicopters, two engines. Like it was a, you know, these things don't, you know, just go down. It had, I mean, I'm sure, and we're learning some of this too, is that it was more likely than not, you know, truly weather-related. The one eyewitness, and it wasn't eyewitness, it was really an ear witness to it, was this guy who heard the helicopter flying at what he perceived to be a super low level. But it was so foggy.

He couldn't see it. And 20 seconds later, he heard the crash. And he was the first one to call 911. Listen, I'm not saying, like helicopters are dangerous. The president flies in a helicopter. So, I mean, you've got to assume they're well up there. They're pretty safe mode of travel. But, you know, Tommy, I, again, to make it about me, which is what this show is going to be about today, I live, you know where I live.

I live near where we do this show. And I actually live on the Reagan National flight path into the runway that, you know, bends around Arlington in the Kennedy Center and the old USA Today building. And then it's got to get down real quickly to make the landing. Anybody that's landed on that particular runway, I think it's called, I think it's runway 13. I could be wrong. But anybody that's taken that river landing from the north flying south on the river, you know, knows that flight.

I mean, that's the flight path. It goes right over my house. And the helicopters that fly from the White House to Camp David take the same route. I can't tell you how many times, at least a half dozen times during the course of the year, we'll hear multiple helicopters not flying that high. They fly right over our house. And you can almost tell which are sort of the president's helicopters versus other helicopters. And usually on that flight path, they're going to Camp David.

Do you run out of the house and wave? No, I don't. You don't wave to them? I don't. Really? I think you should. I wanted to ask you about the reporting of this, and this is your area of expertise. Like TMZ was the first to break it.

What's your reaction to that? How they handle it, how they're not necessarily super concerned. This is an opinion about getting it right. Their emphasis is on being first. Right. It's paid off pretty well. for them. It really has. I mean, people take them seriously now, where they didn't take them seriously a few years ago, they put them as the National Enquirer of, you know, like the supermarket tabloid

of TV. Right. But now you have to take them seriously. I think it really probably started back with the Michael Jackson reporting. But, you know, for everybody... Another very shocking death. death. For everybody who's ready to rip TMZ for premature reports about who was dead and reporting the deaths before family members were contacted, let's remember they weren't in the helicopter. They didn't happen to be standing there when the helicopter went down. Somebody in emergency management tipped them to this. Well, I could be wrong about this, and I still haven't seen this, Aaron.

was it you who told me this or Greg who told me this, that they were apparently scheduled to do something with Kobe Bryant and the Mamba Academy at where they were heading to that basketball game in Thousand Oaks. Okay. That may not. I could be wrong about that. I think multiple people have told me that. I don't think I've read that anywhere,

but that they may have been in position to sort of get the news first. But you're right. They're not sitting in. on the side of that hill where the helicopter went down. And in other words, somebody of responsibility. Look, the reason they get this information is because palms get greased on low-level employees, ambulance, police, firemen, you know, 9-11 operators. Palms get greased about giving information to organizations like TMZ.

So if you're really looking for the source of frustration as to how the reports got out before family were contacted, start with the emergency people and find out how TMZ found out about it. That's where the source of frustration should be. Right. It would have to be, I mean, the news started to break sometime, Aaron, around 1.30 p.m. Eastern. because it was in about the 8-minute mark left in the Maryland-Indiana game. That's how I know that. Somewhere around that time. And so that's 10.30 a.m. Pacific.

And the thing went down at 9.47 a.m. I think it was. So it was within an hour. Right. So within an hour, the information was out, which meant somebody knew that the helicopter crashed and there was a pretty good chance that Kobe Bryant was on the helicopter. Yeah. But before we get to the other reports that happened during the day, because I think this is, I think it's an interesting conversation, especially to have with someone like you who this is your area. If that person whose palm was greased, if it had been greased by the L.A. Times, you can tell me that the L.A. Times wouldn't have broken the story before the L.A. Times wouldn't grease anyone's palm. Okay. If the L.A. Times knew of Kobe Bryant being.

on that helicopter had gotten, you know, tipped without greasing any palms. Somebody had called the LA Times first and said helicopter crash, manifest Kobe Bryant's on it. They wouldn't have waited for next to kin. Okay, just I want to make sure that people are clear on this. No, they wouldn't. Because the criticism of TMZ was that they didn't care about, in fact, the L.A. sheriff was the one who said in the sheriff's department criticized TMZ about getting this information out prior to.

to the next of kin being notified, any major outlet would have done that. Yes. Again, the issue was that someone in the sheriff's department told, or somebody in emergency management told TMZ. This is how they find out about things like this. So there's the, the tweet just came out from someone from sports grid who just had on their show, someone from TMZ,

who said that, first off, they were in touch with one of Kobe's reps before they went out. So at least Kobe's family did not find out through TMZ. They knew about it. And secondly, that they did find out through LAPD. Yeah. Through LAPD. I mean, again, I mean, that's how this works. Wait, what was the first part that Kobe's family knew about it before the TMZ report?

Yes. Now, when you talk about media, remember, like I just pointed out to you and you brought the L.A. Times, no one from the L.A. Times is paying some ambulance worker for tips. Doesn't mean that that ambulance worker's first call won't be to the L.A. Times. But no one's paying them. TMZ, I don't know for sure if they paid them, but I know their standards are going to be different. So how would it work exactly? How does it work?

Does it work that it's set up previously with the LAPD? Hey, if somebody famous dies, we'll pay you X amount if you tip us off? Well, I'm sure there's somebody. I can't say I'm sure. I believe there's probably people on their payroll under the table. who know the kind of stuff that they would want, or know, like, if they feed this information, what they would pay for.

What do you think they do pay for it? A lot of money. What do you think? What's a lot? I don't know. I don't know. If I had had somebody from TMZ on, that would have been something I would have,

I mean, I'm sure they're not going to probably tell me for competitive reasons. But I wonder what it really is. I bet it's not as much as you think it is, given the person they're asking to give the tip. You know, and they're likely income. level. I bet it's not anywhere near what you think it is. I bet it's $1,000 at least.

Oh, I was thinking you were thinking a lot more than that when you said a lot of money. No, no, no. Okay. So I'm with you. I mean, first of all, this is sort of what they do and they've created a really good business doing it. And they haven't been wrong very much. I'm not keeping a running tally of the ones they get right and the ones they get wrong, but it seems to me like TMZ gets it right a lot.

Then the after the Kobe, TMZ breaks it, and then I think it was the ABC affiliate in Los Angeles that also confirmed the story before it was on any network. It wasn't even on the ESPN crawl for like 30 plus minutes after TMZ had broke the story, which explain this to me. They really are, they've got to really make sure that it is confirmed. Yes. Right?

They're not going to start running it on the crawl that TMZ is reporting this. They could do that. In other words, the amount of people that are going to remember that you weren't first with it is pretty small compared to the amount of people who would remember if you were wrong about it. Right. In fact, you know, they also have to keep in mind a lot of people, most people, aren't on Twitter hearing the news through TMZ. Yes. And so if they put breaking news ESPN does or CNN does on their crawl that, you know, even according to, in crediting TMZ, OMZ, Kobe Bryant's been killed. People are going to remember, I saw it on ESPN. I saw it on CNN.

And won't remember the according to part. Then you get into all the other reporting during the course of the day. Rick Fox was on the plane, on the helicopter, and he's among the dead. I mean, this is, you know, apparently according to Wilbon, he is one of Kobe's really good friends. and that horrific stretch of time on Sunday when the reporting was that all four of his daughters were on the plane. I mean, on a day like that, you know, TMZ's got it first, and now everybody's trying to chase to get the information on who else died. A lot of people got that wrong.

What are the ramifications for them getting it wrong? Well, there's no ramifications. I can't even tell you who got it wrong. Yeah, there are no ramifications. I mean, because things move so quick. once the news broke, you know, and the misinformation did not last long. I mean, we knew pretty quickly, we knew at some point pretty quickly who had really died, you know, and who hadn't.

So while the misinformation was out there and it seems like a big matzo ball when it's on Twitter, like you said, I mean, we live in this world where people think, like everybody in, on the global planet is on Twitter, and it's a very small fraction of social media. Right, exactly. So I just don't think there's that much ramifications, except if you're the Washington Post reporter who got suspended from the Washington Post. I want to get to that in a moment. Have you ever been tipped off to a story where you would have had it first, but you needed more confirmation in the process of trying to get more confirmation, somebody beat you to the punch? Yeah, lots of times.

Like what? Do you remember anything? Well, the mass exodus of the Redskins executives, the Brian Lafamina exodus. I mean, I went to Brian Lafamina's house on Christmas Eve and knocked on the door because I didn't. I mean, it was a big story, and I feel like while I had one really good source, I needed to confirm it. So I went on Christmas Eve. I was driving around Loudoun County knocking on Redskins executives' doors

trying to see what was true or not. And eventually I got beat by it on it, you know? I can't remember who got it. Well, I mean, I think Craig Hoffman actually was the one who actually may have broken it. Well, that must have hurt. Oh, no. No, it didn't hurt.

Yeah. You know? But then in subsequent reporting, because of the information I had, I knew, like I knew I was the one who wrote that the Ruben Foster signing was the straw that broke the camels back for Lafamina and his dispute with the football people. Listen, you were the first person on the first podcast we did together to say, hey, Brian, I hope you're renting and you're not buying because I think within a year you'll be out of here. Well, that was just educated guessing. I know.

It was a great educated guess. Yes. But so that's just the one that pops the top of my head. But I've had numerous stories like that, you know, where I've gotten beat. And in the old days, getting beat, you know, like in these days, you're beat for a minute. You're beat for two minutes. It's not. In the old days, you were beat for 24 hours.

Right. In other words, the paper came out with the story that you didn't have and you couldn't come back for 24 hours. So you had to live with that gut-wrenching feeling that you got beat for a whole day. Now it lasts a minute or two. So is it not important anymore about being first? In the industry, it's important. Inside the business. For listeners, readers, viewers.

No, no. I don't think so either. No. They don't know who had what. But on Twitter, reporters fawn over themselves saying this guy had it first. You know, even if he had it 30 seconds first. It's so inside baseball. It is.

It's an industry respect thing more than anything else. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think, you know, in this city, with this football team in particular, with all of the news and with so many people having their hands and so many different source, you know, buckets. You know, it's been, especially for the people on the beat, you know, for the people on the beat, that's really more or less what they're doing. For talk show hosts, not so much. Right. For columnists, not so much. Right.

But I just don't think that the public, I don't think that the consumer really cares or even remembers more times than not. No, they don't. But again. Unless it's a real big one. But, you know, if you're proud of what you do inside the business, then it matters to you. Yeah. It matters what your peers think of you in terms of. of level respect.

TMZ's, you know, business model isn't just about breaking news, but man, they have really become pretty good at it. And man, this one, you know, that's one of those where, I mean, if you are in that, you know, world of breaking news, when they get that call on Sunday from an LAPD insider, hey, Kobe Bryant just killed in a helicopter accident, Calabasas, California. I mean, whoa. Yeah. I mean, first of all, the adrenaline and the rush in such a,

in such a, you know, professional way of, oh, my God, we have this. And at the same time, probably dealing with the human element, which is, oh, my God, we have this. Yeah. You know, absolutely. But they were probably more excited about having the information and being able to break the story, more or less. So this post reporter, I'll read you the story. The Washington Post was criticized on Monday by many, I guess, in media for placing one of its reporters on administrative leave after she generated controversy for a series of tweets posted in the wake of Kobe Bryant's death. Most of you know, and we briefly mentioned it yesterday.

Bryant was accused in 2003 of sexual assault. The criminal charge was later dropped. Bryant never admitted guilt, although he did settle in a civil suit with this 19-year-old hotel worker who claimed that it was sexual assault, which Kobe Bryant said was a consensual relationship. But anyway, this woman, Felicia Somnes, who's a reporter for The Washington Post, she tweeted a 2016 Daily Beast story about the Kobe Bryant's sexual assault within hours after the tragedy was announced on Sunday. And her initial tweet about the allegation against Bryant drew controversy, you know, and a lot of negative reaction, including death threats, apparently. She defended it, writing that any public figure is worth remembering in their totality.

So the New York Times reported that before she was suspended, she received an email from Marty Barron, the Post's executive editor. And according to the New York Times, part of the email read, quote, a real lack of judgment to tweet this. Please stop, you're hurting this institution by doing this, closed quote. And the post's managing editor, Tracy Grant, said in a statement yesterday that the tweets displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues. She was placed on administrative leave, and now the post is actually being criticized for putting her on administrative leave.

And I agree. They should be criticized for this. Look, I'm sorry, but, you know, for fans, for the NBA, for people who love Kobe, there's only one Kobe story to tell on the day he dies. for a newspaper, there's more than one Kobe's story to tell. And you can't tell Kobe's story without including the story about what happened in Colorado. You just can't do it. You know, I always say, you know, when you're writing the obituary, where is it going to be in terms of, is it going to be high up in your obituary or is it going to be down low? This is not going to be high up, but it's going to be included in any obituary about Kobe Bryant.

you know, the sexual assault charges in Colorado. So, I mean, would I have tweeted it out on a day like this? Having recognized the, like, basically, that it would create a firestorm? No, I would not have tweeted it out. But I don't feel passionate about it. I'm not a woman. And I'm not a woman who, I don't know about this woman. but, I mean, somebody pointed this out that if you're a sexual assault victim, Sunday was a tough day to go through.

I mean, because you're seeing the adulation for a guy who you probably remember as someone accused of sexual assault. Accused. That's right. But pretty strong evidence. DNA evidence. No, DNA evidence of an encounter, not of assault. It could have been assault. But it was not, and the charges were dropped.

No, in Kobe's statement, he said, I perceived it to be one thing. She perceived it to be another. That was a pretty strong admission. Which is why it ended up getting settled and there was a payment made in a civil suit. Yes. But he was not charged with anything or convicted of anything. No, because she wouldn't testify. So I just think that.

Which I understand, too, happens in a lot of these cases. I'm not making a definitive, you know, conclusive opinion on this. I don't know. But nor does anybody else for sure. That's right. Nobody else knows. But it's out there as part of your story. I mean, Kobe, and I just think reporting on it on the day he dies is a necessary burden.

And she didn't really report on it. She tweeted it out. She retweeted. The 2016 Daily. I guess because, I mean, like I just said, surrounded by this whole wave of adulation for him, you know, there's a handful of people out there and probably most of them are women who are thinking, well, what about this? You're right. You're right. And you know what?

I thought about it during the day. I thought, boy, there's probably, you know, this. woman and the people that know her if it really was a situation in which she felt like she was sexually assaulted or even was, regardless of the civil settlement. And she's, you know, and people like her, you know, this was a big story with Kobe Bryant in 2000, you know, in the early 2000s. A huge story. Now, to his credit, to his credit, from what we know, he has done nothing but live an exemplary life since, from what we know. To be. to be proud of.

He, remember when the controversy involving him using a gay slur on the court came out? Oh, God, you know what? I forgot about that. We did a lot on that. And how he handled that? I mean, he gave a textbook lesson for people as to how to handle that in the future. He wound up becoming a gay rights advocate.

Right. As a result of that of his comments. So, I mean, and part of the tragic. about Kobe's death is it seemed like he was on the verge of a post-playing career that just could have been amazing. I mean, a very smart guy with, you know, with a lot of creative ability, creative talent. He won an Oscar. Yep.

You know? So, I mean, part of the tragedy is not just the basketball, but what was ahead? There's a, I mean, you know. Well, I mean, he was, he was increasing his. personal net worth exponentially this you know I mentioned this on the podcast yesterday this investment that he had in body armor in the in the in the super drink he was an investor in that invested I was corrected after the show yesterday he invested six million dollars into this or his funded he had a

he created an investment fund with partners the value of that investment today or yesterday was worth two hundred million dollars wow that's It's a pretty damn good return. That's pretty good. You know, in the 30, whatever that would be, 33 to one area of return. That's a damn good return. So that's, so I mean, you know, I mean, it should not, what happened in Colorado, whether you believe it or not, should not define who he is, obviously, and no one's saying it should.

But if you're in the newspaper business, if you're in the news business, if you're in the news business, it's part of the story that's all it may not be part of your story if you're a Kobe fan but you know it's part of the business of reporting about Kobe Bryant now this reporter Felicia Somnez Sanmes was one of two people who

had accused Jonathan Kamen the former Beijing Bureau Chief of the Los Angeles Times of sexual misconduct in 2018 so she following the investigation, this guy came in, ultimately resigned, though he defended his actions and said the actions were mutually consensual. So, you know, she's come from a perspective of having some, you know, of some experience with this. Now, back to the post being criticized.

First of all, man, you got big balls on a day like Sunday to retweet what she retweeted. Okay, so, you know, she may have. felt super passionate and like you said felt like what are we talking about here i mean does it do people remember yeah what he did um but i i all of us could have predicted the reaction which was going to be you know 90 percent probably nine out of 10 are you out of your mind you shouldn't have been caught by surprise by yeah by the reaction now the post caving to she left her apartment and stayed in the hotel room that night because she feared for her life yeah well i'm sure that there were major, the report says that she was getting major death threats online. That's where like

the post, you know, her employer, I mean, they really, really caved to the criticism. Yeah, they did. They really did. Yeah. And I can understand why they would be criticized. I mean, there is something called the First Amendment in this country. Yeah. And she wasn't making something up and she wasn't incorrect. Right. You know, like it's not like she came out with something that was wrong. No. It was bad timing. If you wanted to sit down, if you wanted to talk to her about it, but to suspend her like that, it's kind of a gutless move for a newspaper that, you know, claims to be leading the light or I forget what's their motto these days? I don't even know. What's their motto?

It's something to do with post points, isn't it? I'm not sure. I don't read the post much anymore. Oh, I do. I read it. I don't. I read the posts. I read the Washington Times.

I read the New York Times and I read the Frederick News Post. I get the Sunday Times delivered, which is one of my favorite things on Sundays. New York Times delivered. Not your paper. Do you have a Sunday edition? We don't. We have Monday through Friday. And then I get the post and I read the sports section of the post.

Now, I'm not reading the post anymore for breaking news. I mean, that's not what they do anymore, right? Oh, they do. Not very often. No, they do. I read it for the columnists that I like. There are a few columnsists. Oh, you're talking sports.

No, they don't. I mean, but they break a lot of news. Yeah. News news news. Yes, I'm talking about sports news. Right, okay. Yeah. All right, real quick word to get this MyBooky in because it is the Super Bowl on Sunday.

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one person I was really interested in hearing from in terms of their response, one. And it was Shaquille O'Neal. Yeah. That was the person I was looking for. And he tweeted something out. It was that night or late in the afternoon that evening or whatever. A lot of people were waiting to hear from LeBron. I wasn't necessarily waiting to hear from LeBron.

I'm going to read what he said. Well, LeBron had just passed Kobe on the all-time scoring list. And we had heard from him that night before, and then they got on a flight from Philadelphia out to back to L.A. And they were told about the passing on the flight. I'm just telling you that LeBron's reaction wasn't one that I was waiting for, but I'm interested. When it came out, I was interested to hear what he said, and I'm going to read it to you, right? Yes. Were you waiting with bated breath?

No. On what LeBron had to say about this? What about anybody else? My breath is never baited. No, it's not great right now either, just as an FYI. But you were interested in what Shaq had to say. Of course. Yeah.

I mean, because their relationship is always of interest. So here's what LeBron Instagrammed out, I guess, late last night. Quote, I'm not ready, but here I go. Man, I sitting here trying to write something for this post, but every time I try, begin crying again, just thinking about you, niece, Gigi, and the friendship bond brotherhood we had. I literally just heard your voice Sunday morning before I left Philly to head back to L.A. Didn't think for one bit in a million years that this would be the last conversation we'd have. WTF, exclamation point, exclamation point.

I'm heartbroken and devastated my brother with four sad crying emojis with a heart as well. Man, I love you, big bro. My heart goes to Vanessa and the kids. I promise you I'll continue your legacy, man. You mean so much to all of us here, especially Laker Nation. And it's my responsibility now to put this shit on my back and keep it going. Please give me the strength from the heavens above and watch over me. I got us here.

There's so much more I want to say, but just can't right now because I can't get through it. Until we meet again, my brother, Mamba for Life, Gigi for Life. So that was LeBron's Instagram. What are you looking at me for? Well, I mean, I think you're waiting for some kind of reaction. No, I mean, so, okay. There's very. Stop.

There's no reaction Sunday, Monday in these days where people are truly grief-stricken and emotional. That I'm never critical. That's right. There's no right or wrong reaction. There's no right or wrong. I mean, not when it comes to expressing grief. No, there was some information in here. He had talked to Kobe clearly on Sunday morning before he got a,

on the helicopter, I'm assuming. And so, you know, we'll hear, I guess, one day what that conversation was. I'm sure it was about Saturday night and him passing him on that list. And, yeah, I mean, you know, he's going to continue his

legacy and he's going to put the shit on his back and keep it going. LeBron. So let's talk about Kobe. Let's talk about the basketball player. Exactly. Let's talk about Kobe Bryant, the basketball player. So, I think we've done this so many times, and we'll always continue to do it.

What is it about the list when it comes to? I think that the lists that people do more often than not that they debate are the top quarterbacks of all time and like the top 10 NBA players of all time. Don't you think those are the lists? Like what other lists or debates do you get into, the rankings? That's pretty much. Those are the two big ones. Don't you feel the same way?

And I think the quarterback one has been almost put to bed. By Brady. Yeah, in terms of number one. But I'm talking about like a top 10. Okay. That kind of thing. It seems to be... I mean, but usually the debates are about who was the greatest.

Yeah. The one sports debate is who was the greatest basketball player of all time? Who was the greatest basketball player of all time? Well, well, Chamberlain for me. But you're a magic more than a Michael guy like I am, right? Yes. Even though at this, I mean, I'm fine. Mike can be one and magic can be one.

My opinion is magic's number one. When we've done this before, we've sort of done. it as including everybody and then done it as the non-center conversation. You know, the centers on the list that would be considered for the top 10 to top 15 players haven't played, if you consider like I do, Elijah Juan is part of the conversation and I do. I think he's incredibly underrated as one of the all-time greats. I agree. His last year was in 2002. So there hasn't been a center. Shaquille, Shaquille's in that conversation. I don't put Shaquille in the same conversation personally as Wilk, Kareem, Russell, and Elijah one.

I don't, but he's not. But we had the same argument, not argument, but discussion when the NFL network just did their list of greatest NFL players. When they got to running back, not one of the running backs, except for I think Emmett Smith at the end of his career had played in this century. Right. So it's the same thing with running backs. Is that true?

Not one of the ten running backs. Hmm. I thought, I think we're missing somebody. Curtis Martin played in this century. He wasn't in the top 10. Oh, right. Right, right. Top 10 running back. NFL network.

Yeah, yeah, I got it. What do you got to stop? What do you got to stop? What do you got to stop? Because I'm actually interested in what you said now. Well, you know what? I mean, Barry Sanders played in this century. No, this is the 21st century.

I understand that. He played in the early. When did he retire? What year did Barry Sanders? Oh, 1998. Look at that. I mean, what am I doing with you? Emmett Smith.

Why am I even here? Emmett Smith. Huh? You're right. All of them finished up their career with the exception of Emmett Smith before. Why would you think I wouldn't make that up? I don't know. I just, I thought you may have been wrong about that.

Oh, my God. So, okay, getting back to the greatest basketball. Yeah. It is one of the most hotly contested debates. You think it's the list. I think it's just. singularly greatest basketball player of all time. But let's stick with the list and where Kobe fits on the list.

He's not top five. And I said that yesterday and I hold by it, whether you're putting all the players into the conversation or the non-centers. The non-centers, he'd be pretty close to the top five. But here's the list I created. You ready? Yeah. Because I did this on radio today.

Magic's my number one. Michael's two. Wilt is three. And the reason, and I didn't see Wilt play. But, you know, everything I've ever read about Wilt, my father loved Wilt, you loved wilt, the numbers are outrageous, the athleticism, the fact that so many people think that at 50 he still would have averaged 25 points a game and that he's maybe the greatest athlete of all time. Wilts 3. I have now put LeBron into the top four. I never wanted to. It's hard to

keep him out of that conversation of the top five. And I put Russell at five. Again, I didn't see him, but by everybody's, you know, the winning and the defensive nature, I put Kareem, Larry 7, Kobe 8, Oscar 9, because a lot of people have Oscar higher than that. Yes. And I put Hakeem Elijah 1 as my number 10 player in front of Duncan and in front of Shaq and in front of Malone or Elgin or West or anybody else you want to put into that conversation. I've got Elijah 1 at 10. So I've got Kobe at 8 on the all-time list. I was looking at various lists in preparation for the radio show.

A lot of people have them in the top five and a lot of people have them outside. top 10. So it's a, it's, it's one of those debates. Here's, before I get to your, your opinion on this, it is true that tragic death often sort of elevates, if not exaggerates legacy and how they were. And I used the example this morning of Len bias, because people always said Len bias was going to be the next Michael Jordan. And I never felt that way as much as I loved bias. I think bias was going to be the next Dominique Wilkins. That's who his game really resembled. His game did not resembled Jordan's game. His athleticism he was a better jumper and a more powerful jumper

than even Michael was and would have been part of every night's sports center top 10, you know, for a long period of time. And I think he would have been a great NBA player. But his game was more Dominique Wilkins than it was a two guard, which Michael was. You know, Leonard didn't have the handle that Jordan, you know, developed. And maybe he would have. Maybe he would have. But I think, you know, Sean Taylor's legacy. People talk about, you know, after he passed away so suddenly, you know, that he was on the way to being the greatest safety of all time. People forget the first three years of Sean Taylor's career were very, very up and down, inconsistent.

You know, that last year where he played eight, nine games before he got hurt and traveled to Florida and was ultimately killed, that was a year. He was putting together. And you could see. see it coming together, like the size, the speed, the closing ability, the range. And he was, I think, going to be a great all-time safety. I don't know if he would have been the greatest, but I don't think it's nuts with Sean Taylor, if you watch out last season, to project that he would have been a perennial pro-bowler, all-pro player, and one of the greatest to ever play the position. You know, but, you know, the discussion of his four years is being him being a great player. He was, he was a talented player, but he was a very inconsistent player in those first couple of seasons.

It wasn't great. Right. But he was in that last year and he was getting better. But anyway, the point being, you know, sometimes death creates a new conversation about the player and his career. I don't think that. I don't think it's going to change Kobe's perception at all. I think people all have the same perception of Kobe, you know, that they had before he die. What's he got to do?

is he going to bypass Michael? He's going to bypass LeBron? I don't think so. I don't think he is. He's not going to bypass Wilt or Russell or anything like. Look. I think so with some people he might. I know he has because some people just refuse to acknowledge that basketball existed before they were born.

That's your default. You know what? The truth is a pretty good default. So, I mean, my list off the top of my head would be Wilt, Russell. I would put Jordan ahead of magic, even though I liked magic better, magic, and then Kareem. So you don't have LeBron in your top five? No, he wouldn't be in my top five.

I put Kareem in my top five. Okay, so then? Then after that, I would probably put LeBron, Kobe. You got Kobe ahead of Larry Bird? Yeah, and then I have Larry. Okay. Yeah. You know, took some calls on this this morning.

And somebody, you know, basically said, how can you have Larry Bird ahead of Kobe? Kobe's one of the great defenders of all time, too. And I had Bird like one. It's a debate worthy of having. I mean, I'm not going to, you know, fight to the death to take Larry Bird before Kobe Bryant. They're in the same level. But, you know, I think sometimes people forget that Larry Bird's one of the greatest passers at any position in the history of the game. Look, I mean.

Google, Google Larry Bird. Highlights and Google Larry Bird interviews and see the interviews of the players who played against him. Right. And how they speak in awe of him. These are his peers, great players like Barkley, like Xavier McDaniels, a tough guy like him. I mean, just he was among basketball players. Like Kirk Cousins said, those who know, no. Right.

Yeah. That's the way it is with Larry Bird. Those who know, no. Well, I mean, Larry Bird was not a great defender. No. He wasn't. But Michael and Kobe and LeBron is in that category of great passer. Michael and Kobe not at the same level of passer that Larry Bird was.

I mean, Larry Bird and Magic, and I put LeBron into this category, are probably in terms of my lifetime of watching basketball, the players that made everybody else better around them more than other players did it. Now look, Michael and Kobe being big-time, elite, high-volume scores night in and night out, obviously made it easier on their teams, on the rest of their team. And Michael's first two titles came passing the ball to John Paxson and Steve Kerr. Well, I'm sorry, the first one to Paxon and then the second group of three to Kerr. So it's the three in a row. So he obviously made the right pass.

And Kobe made the right pass, I'm sure, too. Larry Bird, whatever you want to say about him defensively, and he could probably guard with the game on the line. But, man, he and Magic, for me, two greatest passers I think I've ever seen. I agree. I agree with that. What's your list of the greatest Lakers of all time? Well, I've just given you two that I've got ahead of him.

Okay. Magic, Wilt, and Kareem. I've got ahead of him. So I'd have. I wouldn't put Wilt on my Lakers. So you're going to put him in the 76ers? Yeah, I wouldn't put Welton on my Lakers. Okay, so I'd have Magic and Kareem before Kobe.

So would I. He'd be number three. Okay, what about LeBron? He's a Laker now, you know. Oh, well, but I don't perceive him to be a Laker. No, neither do I. Yeah. I would agree with your list.

Magic, Kareem, Kobe. Yeah. That would be my top three right there. But Will one. Will won, I think, two NBA titles with the Lakers, at least one or two. Yeah. I No, I think he won one.

I think he won one with the Lakers. Over the Nix, right? Yeah, the 72, I think. Yeah, the year after Lough Sender won with the Bucks. Right, which was 71. Yeah, they beat the bullets. They did, and Oscar Robertson was on that team. You know who else was on that team?

Bobby Dandritch was on that team, that Buck team, I'm pretty sure. So, no, I mean, Welts won. Two-time NBA champion, Will was. 67 in Philly and 72 in L.A. Right. And he was the NBA finals MVP in 72. Yeah. I mean, his, his, Wilts' numbers.

Like God. I mean, seriously. Not just the numbers, put it in. Google, Google stories about Wilt. I mean, just, just, just, Wilt was literally the greatest athlete in the 20th century. I mean, I'm sorry. I mean, what, on what planet would somebody not consider Wilt Chamberlain

to be one of the greatest three, four, five players of all time? When in 1961, 62, he averaged 50.4 points per game and 25.7 rebounds per game. I mean, seriously. And he was, you know, he had years, the next year, 44.8, 24.8, 24.3. That's unbut, these are numbers that have never been approached ever. The wilt thing. I mean, I, look, we had this conversation a year ago when I told you that on NBA TV, they were showing like the 161, 52 finals or whatever, and I'm like,

Damatha would have beaten them, you know, and because it really was a completely different game athletically and skill-wise even, it was a different game. There's a video of Wilt shooting sky hooks from the corner and hitting one

after the other, after the other, after the other. This is from the corner, as far away from the basket as you can get. And he's hitting one hook after another. Kobe to me is not like magic and Michael in the non-center thing is in at a level that when we start talking about everybody else it's just a notch down. You know, Kobe, Larry Bird, LeBron, if people want to say Oscar Robertson is in that conversation, that's what I think. I just think magic, you know, and the other thing about Kobe, and I said this yesterday, and he got it, And it's important, but God was winning a title without Shaquille O'Neal, super important to the way people view him and his legacy.

Because if he didn't win against those two titles without him, let's just say they lost in the seventh and deciding game against the Celtics and in the other series. We wouldn't, top 10, not even close to it. Because you'd always remember that he couldn't do anything without Shaq. Right. You know. And that speaks to his, one thing about Kobe from afar, I mean, I know, I know. you're in love with the word competitor. Yeah.

I mean, Kobe. Kobe Larry and Michael, that's the list. Competitors. Those three are at a class by themselves. Bird, Jordan, and Kobe Bryant. Like, just in being able to witness it on watching them on television, they had the killer gene. They had the, you know, they were assassins at the end.

And that's why I think Kobe basically willed himself to those two titles. He carried a team. That wasn't that wasn't a championship team. Gasol's pretty good. Yeah, I know that. He's pretty good. Yeah. All right, so we both have them in our top ten. You've got them at seven and I've got them at eight.

I think is what we just determined, right? Yes. Because you put Kareem, you had LeBron at six, and then Kobe at seven, and then Bird at eight. And I'm surprised that someone like you doesn't make the case, like so many people your age make for Oscar Robertson. Like, he's the, he was the triple double guy when, you know, there wouldn't, In recent years, obviously, we've seen all of his numbers shattered, but God, for how long was he the only guy to ever average a triple double? Triple double in the season.

In a season, until Westbrook did it and has done it a couple of times now. Okay, what else do we have on the show today? I have some notes here. What else did we have? What about my column? I want to talk about your column. You want to talk about my column? I wanted to just mention this one thing real quickly before we get to your column.

Last night, Sacramento was playing. Minnesota and the NBA. Do you know anything about this? No. It's the NBA. Why would I know anything about it? Do you have a problem with the Lakers and the Clippers being postponed? No. Come on. There's not a right answer. There's not a wrong answer to that. I've heard a lot of people criticizing like Kobe would want him to play. I have no problem with whatever they chose to do. So last night in the NBA, Sacramento, two bad teams, Sacramento and Minnesota. Sacramento was down 27 at one point, but they were down seven. 17 points with 2.5 minutes to go and came back and tied the game and forced overtime.

Think about that. Down 17 with 2 and a half minutes to go. That's your NBA. Well, that's not even the NBA. Do you know why? Why? Because it's the first time in 8,378 games it's happened since 1996-97. And actually, I found this interesting, Aaron.

So the ESPN stats and info put out last night that Sacramento became the first team to rally from more than 17 or more down in the final three minutes of a game to win a game. And since 1996-97, 8,378,378, 378-7 had been played where a team had a 17-point leader larger in the final three minutes, and they hadn't lost any of those games. So last night was the first. But the reason it only goes back to 96-97 is not because it happened in 1995. It's because that was the first year they started keeping play-by-play stats. That's remarkable to me.

I can't imagine that in the early 90s or in the 80s, they didn't have play-by-play at that point. But they didn't, and that's why they didn't have the stat. But anyway, it reminded me of a game that I'm going to tell you about that. I guarantee you you won't remember. You weren't even in the market at this point. In 1986, the Bullets played the 76ers in a first round best of five. This was after the miniseries, which we remember, the best two out of three. They had already gone to eight teams per conference,

but it was a best of five first round, not best of seven like it is now. And the bullets weren't very good, but they qualified as a playoff team. They had Dan Roundfield on the team, Gus Williams on the team. Was Jeff Malone on that team? Jeff Malone was on the team.

Mnute Bowles was the starting center. Cliff Robinson, the first version of Cliff Robinson, remember him, was on the team. Anyway, they played game one in Philadelphia, and they were down 17, points with three minutes and 40 seconds in the game. And they scored the game's final 18 points and won it, 95, 94. They were down 94 to 77 with 340 to go. And they won the game 95 to 94, scoring the final 18 points of the game. They went on to lose the series in five games to the 76ers.

Dr. Jay was on that team, Barclay was on that team, Cheeks was on that team, Bobby Jones was on that team. And so, but here's the, so that is even more incredible because back then there was a three point line, but teams didn't really shoot three points. No, they didn't. In fact, the final numbers from that game, the 76ers on the night were 0 for three on three-pointers. You would never see that, right? In the last 20 years, you wouldn't see that. Right. The bullets were three for six from behind the arc. And in that comeback, Dudley Bradley, who was the worst shooter in the NBA and was a defensive specialist, was on the floor, made two threes in the final three minutes and 40 seconds, including banking one in at the buzzer after Dr. Jay on the other end, Tommy, missed one free throw,

missed two, and then there was a lane violation. He got a third and missed the third. And the bullets got the ball, minute bowl, grabbed it, time out. And then Dudley, Bradley, banked one in from like beyond the three point line in the top of the key area, and the bullets scored 18 points to end the game. I remember watching that game, and I don't know if we've ever seen a comeback in playoff history like that, down eight, down 17 with 340 to go to win a game. I don't think we have. It sparked a conversation this morning about some of the recent great comebacks. The best one I've seen recently, Aaron, was that Texas A&M comeback over Northern Iowa. Yeah, the tournament, was that two years ago? It was 2017. I looked it up,

and they were down 12 with 31 seconds to go and came back, forced overtime in one. It's pretty hard to come from 12 down. Now, it also brought this up because somebody tweeted this to me. Did you see this yesterday? No. You don't know what I'm going to talk about? No. So yesterday, Duke Basketball tweeted out the 19-year anniversary of the miracle in a minute game. That's what I was afraid you were going to say. So they tweeted that out, and there was a a lot of response to it, and somebody sent that to me today. That was pretty incredible. That was down 10 with a minute to go. In this, Bullets come back against the 76ers, they were down 10 with a minute to go. They'd cut the 17 to 10 with like a minute to go and then ended up winning.

The most painful of all of those was definitely the Duke game. The Bullets game was a thrill. I was like, oh my God, we might win this series. God, I love the NBA back then, and I love the Bullets back then. Does any, no one remembers those years. No. All right. Tell me about your column that you just wrote the Washington Times about the 69 Chiefs. I'm going to spend a minute talking about my column. Okay.

And then a minute talking about something else. And then I'm done. And I'm not going to talk anymore until Thursday. I'm listening. Okay. I wrote a column about what I said was the forgotten defense in the NFL. The 1969 chiefs that went on to defeat the Minnesota Vikings 23 to 7 in the last time the Chiefs were in the Super Bowl, Super Bowl four. and how great that defense was,

and it may have been one of the greatest of all time, that really gets forgotten when we're talking about, like, the great Pittsburgh Steelers defenses, the great Chicago Bears defenses. No one mentions the 69 Chiefs. And they play three playoff games against the Jets, the Raiders, and the Vikings. They beat the Jets, 13 to 6.

They beat the Raiders 17 to 7. They beat the Vikings 23 to 7. I think it's the first time and the only time in postseason history where a team has held opposing teams to under 10 points in all their playoff games. I think that's really the only time that's ever happened. Well, boy, the 49ers are getting close. Yes.

Well, actually, no, they're not. Yeah. So, I mean, and one of the things I pointed out was there's only two teams in the history of the NFL that had this many Hall of Famers on their defense. One was the Packers, six Hall of Famers on that late 60s Packers defense,

and the 69 Chiefs had six Hall of Famers on the defense. Curly Colt, Buck Buchanan, Willie Lanier, Bobby Bell, Johnny Robinson, and Emmett Thomas. All the other great defenses we talked about, not six Hall of Famers on the list. What about the Steelers' defenses? No, four.

Four on the list of the great 70s Steelers' defense. And I interviewed Bobby Bell about how great that defense was, and he told the story about how the Jets had a goal line. The Jets had three plays from the one yard line to try to score, and the chief stopped him on all three, and told the story about how he tackled Namath on one of them, and name is said to him, Bell, what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here.

Or it's like the bell had crossed them up. So that's all. It's just, it's a forgotten defense. It's related to the Super Bowl that's going on this week because it's about the Chiefs. The other thing is, is Aaron, is there news about Dusty Baker? Can we wait on the Dusty Baker? Because I want to follow up on your column first. Okay.

So that Super Bowl team, that 69 Chiefs team, the 70 Super Bowl win in Tulane Stadium against the Vikings. they were a massive underdog in that Super Bowl. 13 points. 13 point underdog the year after the Jets had, you know, and people thought that was a flu the year before. So, you know, still, we were still in the age of the AFL being perceived as inferior to the NFL. Yes.

And this was the game more than the Jet game. Ultimately, I've read a lot of stuff about this particular game that really convinced the NFL that, oh, my God, we, you know, we have a competitive league. I think it had already been planned for 1970. Yeah, this was the last NFL NFL NFL Super Bowl. Exactly. But the feeling still was that the NFL teams were far superior to the AFC teams. And Kansas City destroyed a great Minnesota team with, by the way, a pretty damn good

defense themselves. Yes. You know, with the purple people eaters in that particular Super Bowl. And it's a Super Bowl that I think you rightly bring up how great that defense was with all of those Hall of Famers because this Super Bowl is remembered by pro football fans for the great NFL films micing up of Hank Stram. And all of the sound that came out of this Super Bowl

from Hank Stram. Matriculate the ball down the field. You know, Cross-22 Power Trap or whatever it was. And you have all that sound. Come on, Lenny, come on, Lenny, let's matriculate the ball down the field, boys. And you've got all that sound, Aaron, find that

so we can go out on this show by playing some Hank Stram. They loved Hank Stram, by the way. Bobby Bell. said they loved Hank Stramm's. He is a Hall of Fame coach and was considered to be an innovator, a big-time innovator. Way ahead of his time. And I want to point out, Bobby Bell, we automatically go to Lawrence Taylor

and maybe Ronnie Lott or Reggie White as the greatest defensive players of all time. Bobby Bell is in that conversation. Right. Among the greatest defensive players of all time. A tremendous linebacker who was six-foot, I think six-foot, about 230 pounds and could run a 4-4 back in 1969. So Bobby Bell should be on that list of greatest defensive players of all time. So that Super Bowl was remembered for that.

But the next year was the beginning of the merger. Yes. And they created the AFC and the NFC off of that. And that Super Bowl, too, if you go back and look at some of the information from that, Super Bowl. It was one of the coldest Super Bowls ever played. It was in Tulane Stadium. The field was a mess. If you've ever seen the film of it, the playing conditions would never be allowed. It would never happen in the era of the Super Bowl. Super Bowl, FedEx Field, it would be normal. Yeah, FedEx Field, yes. But I think there, and then I think when, well, obviously the Giants

Stadium Super Bowl ended up being the coldest Super Bowl, even though there wasn't any snow that. day. But I think that Super Bowl and maybe the one played in Houston outdoors before the Astrodome was built, which was the Miami second Super Bowl win after they... Actually, I don't know if that's true or not.

I got to look that up. That Miami Super Bowl where they beat the Vikings, that was in Houston, right? I think that was in Houston. I don't know. You're off on a tangent. I'm off on a tangent. Looking this shit up. Okay. Let me... Let me, let me, let me just say, you're going to get it.

No, because then I'm going to go back and just wait here for a second. I've got it right here. I don't want to. I don't want to wait. Rice Stadium, it was. That Miami Dolphins' 74 Super Bowl, 73 season, was played outdoors in Houston at Rice Stadium. Now, the Astrodome was built at that point, wasn't it? Yeah.

So I wonder why they played it outdoors. But I think that and the Tulane Stadium were the coldest Super Bowl's, before the giant Super Bowl. Like the temperatures were like in the 40s and it was bad weather. All right. Dusty Baker? What's going on with Dusty Baker, Aaron? So Bob Nightingale has said that while it's not official yet, the Astros have decided on Dusty Baker as their new manager.

I'm glad Dusty's going to manage. So am I. Dusty Baker is a very good manager. All you geeks in your basement, you were so wrong about Dusty. And I'll tell you what this is going to make. This is only going to add to a very interesting West Palm beach spring training because not only do the Astros, the sign stealing cheaters share the spring training complex with the Washington Nationals. Now Dusty Baker, former Nationals manager, is going to be right next door with the Houston Astros.

That's going to be a wild spring training down there. Well, they'll play each other a bunch. And they play each other. Well, the first preseason exhibition game is February 22nd, Saturday night. Astros versus Nationals. Dusty versus Dave Martinez, baby. That's awesome. You know what's really going to annoy me about this?

And I'm really happy that Dusty has a job. But the Astros have already started framing this is like this is going to be a redemption season. And Dusty is a perfect manager to have that narrative. Yes. He's the right guy for them because they're going to portray themselves as victims as a team that was victimized in this. You know, so Dusty's the right guy for what they know. need to do right now. They need credibility. And they are a good team. Yes, they are. They are a good team. Okay, just a quick correction. The coldest Super Bowl was the Super Bowl at Tulane Stadium. 43 degrees in 1972, which was the Dolphins Cowboys Super Bowl. Which the Dolphins lost. At Tulane Stadium,

which the Dolphins lost. And then Super Bowl 7, they won the first of two back to back against the Redskins. So that was the actual coldest. The giant stadium Super Bowl, the temperatures were in the mid-to- Upper 40s, a kickoff. The next day, though, however, do you remember that Super Bowl, if the weather had come in one day earlier, they had a foot of snow the next day. So it was an idea, to me, those are bad ideas playing Super Bowl's outdoors and cold weather cities, because you could end up having a disaster one of these years. They got away with it by less than 24 hours in that game in the Meadowlands between the Seahawks and the Bronx. The Seahawks in Denver.

You were there. I wasn't there. I was, I didn't go to the game. I was there all week. That was a fun week. So anyway, I was wrong. It wasn't Houston. It wasn't Tulane Stadium from the Chiefs Vikings game. Even though the weather for that game was terrible, it was rainy and the field was a mess. What else you got? I got nothing else. Me neither. Thanks. Back tomorrow, everybody. Enjoy the day. Hey, these guys can't move the ball against. Let's do the job by it, baby.

Let's go, boys. Hey, let's go, man. Come on, let's negotiate the ball down to field, Leonard. Come on, Lenny. Pump it in there, baby. Just keep a trickulating the ball down to field, boys. Yes, sir, rats. Yes, sir, boys.

Yes, sir, boys. Yes, sir, rats.