The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Brian T Smith On The Concerns With Concerns in Return To Play In NBA & MLB

Episode Date: June 12, 2020

Brian T Smith On The Concerns With Concerns in Return To Play In NBA & MLB

This is the Matt Thomas Show. Here we go, the final hour of the Matt Thomas Show 201 on the Sports Talk 790. Alongside Rossville, Real, I'm Matt Thomas. Our regular Friday contributor to the show always brings in the good takes at Friday 2 p.m. It's Brian T. Smith. Brian, we've tried to on this show today have some optimism about things. I'm not getting it from baseball, and now basketball is starting to wig me out. Are you in the same boat as I am?

Yeah, I am. And honestly, I've been here since what March 11th matter. It just seems like everything. Political, social, sports-wise, COVID-wise, everything is a stumbling step forward and then maybe two stumbling steps backward. and then we go forward again and backward. And, I mean, the general feeling that I continue to get from everyone, you know, whether it's readers or people on Twitter or sports fans, I think everyone's just mentally exhausted, you know,

and I try to be, especially in print, and some people would laugh at this, but I try to be optimistic. And, you know, sometimes the Texans of the Rockets might not help that. That's how sports goes. But overall, I do try. And I've really tried during this because I believe optimism, is needed and unity is needed during this to get through this. But you look at how Corona's gone the last few days, how some of our, oh, bleep and elected leaders

continue to handle this thing locally. And then you look at the sports situation and Major League Baseball and we'll get into that in a minute, I'm sure, but the NBA, you know, the NBA where you have a sourced report. And we saw this, Matt, before the approval started to pick up, the return started to pick up, where players are uncomfortable coming back. but it isn't interesting that there hasn't really been a single name attached to that. It's always 30 or 40, 40 or 50 guys. Look, if they don't feel comfortable, that's fine.

That's their right. But the NBA is going to move on without them as long as the NBA actually comes back. I mean, they're saying they're going to come back. But if things continue to spike, maybe they don't. Yeah, the one player that Howard Beck wrote about today that apparently has been leading this is Kyrie Irving. So take that for what it's worth. Kyrie Irving is the same, you know, I mean, he has every right, every right of the human being, if it's health-related.

Obviously, he was dealing with injuries. Brooklyn is a championship contender. He has every right to express that. Kyrie Irving is also the same person who a couple years ago insisted that the earth was flat, got destroyed for it, and then kind of came out and said he was joking the entire time. I don't really put a lot of stock in anything that Kyrie Irving says. Well, here's the thing that Ross and I debated, and I took the opposite. I said, you know, if there's some of it,

it has been because of the social outrage that we've gone through the last few weeks, and that I think the platform of putting games on television, playing, finishing out of season could do a lot of good towards, not only getting us back into the world of sports, but also sending out a message that wants to be out there. Ross's contention was that maybe there are enough players that just don't feel like that basketball can do any good on this, and that they need to take a stand that this,

the problems of our country in the last few weeks can't be solved by playing basketball. And this is the way they need to say, you know what, we need change in our society. And the best we can do that is by saying, you know what, sports can't fix this. We need real talk. So I'm not asking you to pair a side on this. I'm just curious how much of that. I will pick a side. All right.

Go ahead. I love Ross. He is 100,000 percent wrong as he sometimes is. And Austin, Austin is very right. He's completely wrong on blood. sports don't fix everything. Nobody is saying that sports fix everything, but sports help. And there's a reason that many of us have based parts of our lives,

all of our lives around sports and family and whatever else you believe in in the last 20 or 30 years. And that sports have become so important, Matt, in our culture. I think we are seeing in many ways what happens to modern life, which is absolutely insane and crazy and way too complex and busy. This is what happens when you don't have anything, when you can't go into work, when you don't know if you can go to the grocery store,

when it's weird to go out to eat, when you don't have any sports. We have so few diversions now, and yes, having Major League Baseball on, having the NBA on, is it going to fix the racial issue? Hell no. Does it help society move forward? And is it a huge part of the society that we live in?

hell yes and so I will say as long as this goes on we need sports back and we are missing sports and it can help things it definitely doesn't hurt anything see my I'm just saying that the players are talking about

hi Brian how's it going it's a hundred percent wrong guy here so I'm just saying that the play I understand where the players are feeling and all they're doing is having a conversation right now we haven't heard that they said they don't want to play we haven't heard that they're protesting the league and they're refusing to play or anything like that.

We just know that they want to make a statement. Perhaps they want some action from the league. We don't know. And I understand for a guy like Russell Westbrook, who gets in front of a crowd and gets on a megaphone and puts his fist up and marches in these protests, or Jalen Brown, who is also on the EPA executive committee, who drives 15 hours to Atlanta in order to march in solidarity in a protest. If he has a moment where he says, you know what, basketball's not that important.

important right now. There are a lot of things going on in our country, and I'm not sure if I'm ready to go back. If they want to say that, I totally, I think that's totally well within their right. So that's what I'm saying. If they don't want to come back or if they don't think it feels right, that's their choice. And playing a basketball game might not be high on their priority list. Yeah, but it seems like it's all tied to corona and health issues and family, not, not, I mean, if Russell Westbrook comes out and says that, then that will be a huge issue. I will be very surprised. Look, and I'm not, he can say whatever he wants. He's an incredibly passionate, smart, committed, driven person. I mean, Russell Westbrook makes the world a better place in many,

many ways. He's also incredibly competitive. And he, I would imagine, wants to finish this season, wants to win a title with his friend James Harden, came to the Rockets for a reason. I just don't believe we can continue to stop the world and expect. it to keep moving forward. And look, MLS is coming back. College football is going to come back. The PGA is playing right now. I respect, if that is the viewpoint, which I haven't heard, if that's the viewpoint, fine.

But at some point, they have to work. We all have to work and make a living, Ross. Well, my point is this. I think this is, while it is an issue, I think we would not, we don't want to be naive to this. I think there is tremendous angst about the bubble. And I think they don't. that's what I believe. Don't understand, well, I guess they've now come to comprehend that once you get to Orlando

and once you get to the Walt Disney World headquarters, you're not leaving. And I think that's wigan a lot of players out. Well, and look, really quick, the bubble, and now, I agree with Ross on this. If it was corona-related, the bubble-related, I would agree with that. The bubble is crazy, Matt. Major League baseball, if it comes back, is not going to do a bubble. The NFL is not going to do a bubble. College football is not going to do a bubble.

MLS is, but the MLS isn't, let's just be frank, is not the NBA. The idea that if you're a coach or you're in PR or you're a player and you're basically sequestered on some level for two months, three months, and you still have corona going on, that's difficult. It's going to really affect the media. I mean, I don't know how many people are actually going to be able to go there, let alone afford to go there. So the NBA's decision to wait this long to try and be so super-executive. safe. It'll be interesting, and I agree with Ross in this point, if it actually backfires. If they've tried to make it so perfect and so protective, but it's almost too protective, and you kind of can't have a life. Maybe you are better staying at home.

Well, listen, listen, and we'll get both of your opinions on this. What if I said, all right, we're going to campus, we're going to Walt Disney World, but we're going to check every day when you get in, and if you're cleared and you don't have the virus and you have not been tested, you don't have a fever, we're going to, you just play your games and you go back and you go stay at your hotel, but if you want to go have dinner at Universal or you want to go into downtown Orlando, whatever, you know, we can't watch you 24 hours a day. Do you think that's a realistic possibility, or do you think because of the intense testing that they're just going to be saying, the longer we're taking these guys and putting them away from our campus

and not out of our control, the bigger chance we have for the virus to infiltrate the NBA campus? I mean, I just feel like that maybe them being too overprotective could ultimately cost them, which is strange to say. Yeah, no, I agree with that, and that's where I would understand if I was Kyrie Irving or Russell Westbrook or Jalen Brown, whomever. Do you really want to

completely go with... Here's the thing that we don't know if they're going to. I mean, I heard Ross joking about this when he's filling in last week, and he was 100% right about this. Somebody's going to get busted. I mean, who's going to be the first person who goes out and... And TMZ's going to be there. Yeah. Mm-hmm. You know,

on Instagram at 2am, and then the bubble is broken. That's exactly right. That's a game we can play, Brian. Who's the bubble breaker? James Harden minus 300. Well, here's the thing. Yeah, here's the thing. Is it 7, 8, 9 seeds in the West and East that know that they're going to be gone?

Or is it 1, 2, 3 seeds in the East and West that know that they got a chance to be there until October? What if it's someone, no one thinks about it? And if someone the NBA really needs, what if it's Zion? What if Mike Shoshchewski has to give Zion some more back days? Oh, that's not. He has to find a way to get it. That is not nice. That's all right.

So let's go to one depressing topic of the next. Major League Baseball, apparently according to Carl Ravich, is going to say 70-game season. We're going to ask the players to make 80 to 85% of their prorated salaries. That's all well and good, Brian, but there have been two things that have been very consistent. The owners under every circumstance have said portion of prorated salary. The players under every single circumstance have said 100%. prorated salary. So we're just splitting hairs here, right? We are. And Matt, if you have this many counter proposals in public, everyone else is coming

back, planning to come back, NHL, NBA, MLS, on down. What is wrong with Major League Baseball? And if you have these counter proposals and they're still polarizing to each side, but getting closer, how come they can't compromise? How come everyone else in the world is having to compromise? even the president of the United States, local elected leaders are having to compromise, and major league baseball players and owners can't compromise enough to make a deal. I'm going to be writing in Sunday's Chronicle about Rob Manfred and baseball. And look, Adam Silver's not perfect. The bubble might end up being a little too sanitized.

Roger Goodell has had some issues in the past. Okay, nobody's perfect. But Rob Manfred, two of your last three world series winners, alleged cheaters, cheaters that Major League Baseball investigated and penalized in some way. Now you have this labor issue during corona, during the economy having, you know, at 1.40 million plus unemployment, you know, filings with all the racial unrest. Rob Manfred can't get his league together to get a compromise. Guess what's airing on Sunday night on the SPN, I believe, the 30 for 30 on the 19. home run chase, right? McGuire and Sosa, and what a farce that was. Major League Baseball

just keeps hitting it, punching itself on the face like it's Ken Giles. And if anyone is failing right now, Matt, it's Rob Manfred. Yeah, that union just has not budge one bit one IOT and frankly, they just keep saying, keeps in those proposals. We're not coming back from being less than 100%. BTS, that great weekend. We'll talk to you next Friday. Thank you, friend. You got it, thank you very much. You got it. Brian T. T. T. Smith from The Chronicle. at Cron Brian Smith on Twitter, and of course, you can read his stuff at the Houston Chronicle. Alex Corr spoke. We'll let you hear what he had to say. Well, not here, but we'll read some of the things he had to say about really the first time he's spoken since being suspended for a year by Major League Baseball, losing his job as a manager of the Boston Red Sox.