Hour 1: Luka Doncic’s Concerning Injury, plus ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ Star Jane Kaczmarek In-Studio

0:00Rich Eisen:Protein is now at Starbucks, and it's never tasted so good. You can add protein cold foam to your favorite drink or try one of our new protein lattes or matcha. Try it today at Starbucks.

0:16Rich Eisen:Every soda's got something to say. Colas brag. Probiotics give TED Talks. Then there's Mr. Pibb. No pitch, no promises, just bold cherry bringing the flavor. Bold kick of cherry. Hey yo, Mr. Pibb. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is The Rich Eisen Show.

1:02Rich Eisen:What the hell? Kirk Cousins is signing with the Raiders. You get a veteran to be in the room with this kid. Let's go! Today's guests. Actor Jane Kaczmarek. Six-time MLS champion Landon Donovan. 13-year NBA veteran Jalen Rose. Five-time NHL All-Star Chris Pronger. And now, it's Rich Eisen. All right, everybody. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show here on this Friday of women's March Madness Final Four in Phoenix, Arizona. Here on the outset of the men's Final Four in Indianapolis on Saturday. Lots to discuss in the baseball world, the NBA world. And, of course, it's a what's more likely Friday with not one, not two, but three in-studio guests.

1:56Rich Eisen:Jane Kaczmarek is in our green room right now. Malcolm in the Middle is back after a decade plus of being gone. It's now back for four episodes on Hulu. And she is going to be joining us in studio to kick off our number one. And then Landon Donovan will join us. And then Chris Pronger will join us as Hall of Famers just keep on strolling in here. Jalen Rose in the Middle to talk about that Men's March Madness. And there's our phone lines at 844-204-RICH. the number to dial to have a conversation with us. Hello, Christopher Brockman. Good to see you, sir. Hello, Rich. What's up, my man? Good to see you, Jason Feller.

2:36Rich Eisen:Good to see you, sir. Good to see you, T.J. Jefferson. Is the candle lit over there? It is lit. And in the words of Inigo Montoya, Hello. Hello. Very good. Nice T-shirt right there that you got. Just describe that for the radio audience. Princess Bride style. Very good. I don't want to also say that for over the next three hours to kick off the show to say prepare to die, but, you know, hopefully this show will be very good for all involved. We're looking for a man with six fingers. Won't that be great? Wow. All right. Anybody want a peanut? The man who normally would cover Fezzik just dropped that to start the program.

3:18Rich Eisen:Listen, the folks down the street are neighbors. I like to be good neighbors, right? Yeah. I'd like to be good to the folks who are in your neighborhood. We always tell our friends with the Chargers, come on across the street whenever you want. You know, come on by. They're already out on the coast. They're right here. Down the street, our neighbors are also the Los Angeles Lakers. Listen, just to describe. You leave our studio. You hang a left, then a right, and you keep walking. Two blocks. And you run into the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, of course, if anybody knows Los Angeles, anybody nationally knows Los Angeles, all of our Los Angeles listeners know you're not walking anywhere.

4:06Rich Eisen:And that could take 20 minutes. Please. Even if you drove. Walking? Out of here. We're in New York. But the reason I bring this up is our neighbors down the street are very nervous right now. Very concerned and nervous right now. about last night being a total unmitigated disaster for the los angeles lakers who went 15 and 2 in the month of march and the western conference player of the month of march helping them to that 15 and 2 record in march luka donchich 37 and a half points per game in march averaging eight rebounds 7.4 assists and 2.3 steals easily the best player in the nba in the month of march now is in april and has a hamstring injury that's freaking everyone out and rightfully so he goes down in Oklahoma City in a game going into it this game is hyped for potential Western Conference final preview and with Luka being as red hot as there is even even SGA was seeing that object appear closer in his rearview mirror for the MVP conversation with another guy who was in Los Angeles last night, Victor Wembenyama in Intuit Dome, showing off again.

5:26Rich Eisen:Him pounding the table. There's also Jokic lurking for now the fourth seeded Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference. But Luka, second quarter, goes down, grabs that left hamstring. We assume it's a re-aggravation of what caused him to sit out the four games before the All-Star break, a hamstring injury that caused him to miss those four games before the All-Star break. And maybe why he's wearing that sleeve also, because he left the game and came back in after injuring that hamstring. And he, in the third quarter, goes down in a heap. And he knows. He knows. He not only knows about the hamstring injury, but he knows that there's five regular season games left in the Lakers season.

6:20Rich Eisen:And he knows what's ahead of him. J.J. Redick, after the game, on why he was reinserted after he clearly tweaked the hammy in the first half, why did he come out in the second half only to come out again? We'll do an MRI tomorrow, left hamstring. We'll know more tomorrow. I don't know if you've got to talk to Luca, but just kind of how are his spirits if you were able to talk to him after he left? I haven't spoken, you know, other than words of encouragement. Okay. We just read that here then. Said that the doctors cleared him. That they talked to him at halftime and decided this is, they were going to handle their business.

7:09Rich Eisen:Quote, we could see right here, pardon me, he mentioned that the doctors figured it out with Luka. We checked him out. He got work done. He was cleared. I mean, again, we're not going to put a player at risk, end quote. That's what J.J. Redick had to say. And so now here we are. Here's the good news. The Los Angeles Lakers, in their five remaining games, have two teams tanking. Their first one at the Dallas Mavericks. And I guess for the Mavericks' sake, they're going to be happy Luke is not out there. And then their last game of the season against the Utah Jazz, who I think are in their, what, third consecutive year of tanking?

7:54Rich Eisen:Feels like it. They should come out like, I'll make an 80s political reference, like Michael Dukakis. That's how long they were spending in a tank. Then they have Oklahoma City here in the downtown Hoops Dojo. Who knew? And, again, that's the thing, too. Billed as a potential Western Conference final. As Austin Reeves said after the game, they beat the S out of us. 139-96 final. Shea with 28-7-7. That was his stat line through three quarters. While, by the way, in terms of Luka's MVP chances, he has 64 games played now. So he's now in the same thing as Cade Cunningham. Not enough, which is stupid.

8:41Rich Eisen:But the Lakers are one game in front of Denver, two and a half in front of Houston, and three and a half in front of Minnesota for the third seed right now. LeBron after the game on moving forward without Luka. For a Lakers team that without Luka in 13 games this year, seven and six overall record. Nothing has changed. We still will be. Obviously be tested. Obviously with our, you know, with the head of the snake, obviously. Don't want to make no conclusions, but we see what happens with him. And then we go from there, but nothing is rattled. It's one game. It's part of NBA season. As defending champions, we get it.

9:23Rich Eisen:We understand. So the good news, I guess, also is this hamstring injury occurs on the 2nd of April. The Lakers, no matter how poor they might finish record-wise, are not going to be in any play-in tournament for a change on occasion. We know they have been in that. And the first possible first-round playoff game they could play in, the first possible date is April 18th. So that's 16 days of hamstring rehabilitation. But Luka's got to be sitting there going, Man, I did everything I had to do in the offseason to be better in shape going into the playoffs through the crucible of a playing season.

10:11Rich Eisen:And how many times have we seen him in the playoffs, right, where he'll break down, he's got this injury, he's got that injury. If they're lucky enough to reach a Western Conference Finals, he's a shadow of himself. Or he's fighting through something. now he's going to be going into the playoffs fighting through something there's no doubt about it it doesn't matter if oh it's it's less than you think hamstrings man are a fickle fickle beast yeah soft tissue certainly since it's in your head too it's tough to get it out of your head man i'm i i i understand it's 16 days and what's the worst they can be.

10:54Rich Eisen:Because, again, they've got two games against two tanking teams. Golden State as well. 10th and Phoenix 7th. Two play-in teams, two tanking teams in Oklahoma City. So what, they go 3-2? 2-3 at the worst? They still probably would be hosting a team in the first round at the very least. so but Luca is going to be going to the playoffs thinking about something having something in the back of his head and it's also going to be a hamstring injury that could as you know go at any time so I mean look obviously sucks you don't want anyone to get injured but tough to find sympathy from me and TJ no I understand I'm not looking for sympathy I'm just I mean it seems like you're you know I'm not I'm just you're a diehard Laker fan these days like you know what am I supposed to say?

11:50Rich Eisen:It's the way it is, man. I know. It's too bad. It's the truth. I, for the record, never want to see anyone get hurt. Of course not. I might not like it. Of course not. But also, you know, Luke was on the cover of what? Men's Health. He's all rocked up. He's all going to be in shape, and this happens anyway. It sucks. Injuries are fluke, man. They're fluke. I get it. Your guy blew out his Achilles out of nowhere last year. Pretty awful. These things happen, and I felt for them, too. I don't feel for somebody. Chris? Brock knows how I feel about Tatum, so I was hurt. But I think the Lakers fans have an issue, Rich, when earlier you said he left, then he came back, and that's what I'm seeing.

12:29Rich Eisen:A lot of Lakers fans are like, well, why'd you let him back? Why'd you let him back in, obviously. So that's where they're losing it right now. I haven't heard from Lakers superfan OJJ yet today. Okay. So if he's played 64 games, is he not going to play the rest of the year? No way. Five games? I don't think so. So now he can't be first-team All-NBA? That's correct. That's correct, unless he has a season-ending injury, which apparently is categorized as keeping somebody out, in this instance, through May 31st, if they play that long. It's so stupid. Let's just not tank. How about that? Let's just be more responsible on that front.

13:12Rich Eisen:I don't want to hear it. the tanking stuff that you need to come up with this silly construct. Let me read it to you. Let me actually read it to you. And you say you, you make it seem like if this is something fans can follow. All right. Cause I'm reading from the ESPN article here about the new anti-tanking. Yeah. There's, there is an exception for players who reach 62 games and play at least 85 % of their teams games at the time of a season ending injury, but that would not apply to Donchich. He has played in 64 of the Lakers' 77 games, which is 83%. This is not 85. It's 2 % less, like milk.

13:51Rich Eisen:We as fans should be paying attention to this stuff or understanding or doing the math for ourselves. Can't do math. Furthermore, wait a minute, Donchich's hamstring injury would have to qualify as a season-ending injury in itself, as the CBA defines it. That would mean it would have to be an injury that, in the opinion of a physician jointly selected by the NBA and Players Association makes it substantially more likely than not that the player would be unable to play through May 31st following the date of his injury. Otherwise, it would simply be an injury that happens to coincide with the end of the regular season, which is what appears to be the case with Doncic right now.

14:32Rich Eisen:Can you imagine you've got to come up with all of these constructs because players are tanking or teams are tanking or players are load managed. Yeah. Oh, God. It's a shame because the NBA has a player like Doncic and a player like Kate Cunningham. I know. I know. And it's such a shame because I just want to watch basketball and enjoy it. Right. Because it is a beautiful game, you know, and it is a great game. Yes, I know. But all of this stuff that you're twisting yourself in some collectively bargained pretzel because teams can't be trusted to do what we grew up or players can't be trusted to do what we saw growing up, which is play ball.

15:17Rich Eisen:So what, are you going to play in 15 minutes in the last game of the year? No, there's no way you're going to do anything like that. Just what, versus individual achievement? But that kicks in escalators and contracts. I get it. I understand that. Like him not making all NBA could potentially be worth 15, 20, 30 million dollars. Well, back in the day, right? You just had to check into a game, right? You had to be there for the jump. Yeah, but I think they kind of. They have. Now you come up with a. They have changed. But I'm just saying back in the day, he could have just went out there for the tip, you know, and be done.

15:49Rich Eisen:Time out and you're out. Listen, what's this about? It's about the Larry OB. Is it not correct? It's about hoisting that trophy. And the best chance for the Lakers to hoist that trophy is to play like they did in March where they won 15 of 17 games and they cracked a code of how to play with Luca at the front and Austin Reeves as the Robin to that Batman and LeBron just being the commissioner Gordon sending up the signal you know or answering the you know call himself they figured that out now we are here in April and I understand you don't like the Lakers and I know you don't like the Lakers and I'm a Knick fan.

16:29Rich Eisen:But this is a frigging shame, man. It is. Sorry to say it. I like basketball played at the highest level. Of course you want to see Luka out there. I mean, Luka's proven over the last, what, five, six years, he's one of our best playoff performers. Yes, right. Kind of when the money's on the line. And this was the year that all of his hard work in the summer was going to pay off in the spring and instead he popped... We'll see what he does with his hamstring. Keep an eye out for the MRI, please. This looks like one of those things that if it's a two to four week thing and it does better than not, then they're good.

17:07Rich Eisen:Because it's two weeks between now and the first day, 16 days. April 18th is the first first round possible date. If they get a break, it would be what? April 19th. so 17 days max between the time that we're seeing here on the screen where he's back on his back hands in his face knowing exactly what's happened and know what's ahead and not but it might not matter anyway because Oklahoma City did kick their ass last night when Luca was on the court without his hamstring thoroughly being hurt and then there's the San Antonio wagon that pulled into Los Angeles into a dome last night. So, but the Lakers of March have now turned into the Lakers of April and three days in, no bueno.

17:58Rich Eisen:844-204-RICH number to dial here on the program. Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Pronger. Soccer legend Landon Donovan in studio. Jalen Rose, hour two. You also have a what's more likely Friday top of our number three. Our phone lines throughout 844-204-RICH number to dial. One of Wisconsin's finest. She told me in the green room that she's got in preparation her favorite Packers of all time. Jane Kaczmarek, Malcolm in the Middle is back. Malcolm in the Middle Life's Still Unfair premieres on Hulu April 10th. Jane Kaczmarek when we come back in studio. The Ridge Eisen Show podcast.

18:49Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen here. Every time I travel for a major sports moment, whether it's a playoff run or a huge primetime matchup, I see firsthand what happens to a city. Hotels fill up fast, energy builds, everyone wants to be part of it. Now imagine that on a global scale. The FIFA World Cup is coming this summer, people, and with it, thousands of fans traveling to host cities across the country. If you happen to live in one of those cities and you're planning to be away, maybe you've got your own summer trip lined up, this could be a practical opportunity. While you're gone, you could list your space on Airbnb and welcome traveling fans who want to experience the FIFA World Cup in person.

19:28Rich Eisen:You're not changing your routine. You're not committing to anything year round. You're simply making the most of a moment when your city is in the global spotlight. I know when I'm on the road for a huge event, having a comfortable home base makes all the difference. And that's what fans will be searching for. If you've ever thought about listing your space, this summer is a great time as we welcome FIFA World Cup fans. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. Need parts fast? O 'Reilly Auto Parts as fast. Need them now? We've got now. No matter what you need, we have thousands of professional parts people doing their part to make sure you have it.

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20:29Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen here. The April 15th tax deadline is coming fast, but don't worry. Hand off your taxes to a TurboTax expert today. You know how April feels. Everything speeds up. Games matter. More hoops and hockey schedules tighten. Your phone won't stop buzzing. And somewhere in the middle of it all, there's that quiet little reminder. Taxes. You'll get to it tonight or tomorrow or after the weekend. And if you handle it the old way, you're refreshing your inbox like it's breaking news. Waiting. Wondering. Hoping everything's squared away. That's a lot of mental bandwidth. With Intuit TurboTax Expert full service, you can match with a dedicated expert who understands your specific tax situation and handles your taxes for you, start to finish.

21:12Rich Eisen:You can do it all online or meet in person at one of their new tech-enabled store locations. Have your tax forms imported directly into the app and hand everything off to your TurboTax expert. While they work to get you every dollar you deserve, you can go about your normal routine, giving you time back to focus on what actually deserves your attention, like rooting for your team to make the playoffs. April 15th is not waiting, people. Visit TurboTax.com and hand off your taxes to a TurboTax expert today.

21:45Rich Eisen:Hulu back on The Rich Eisen Show is a radio and TV simulcast. Hulu's Malcolm in the Middle, Life's Still Unfair premieres April 10th. as Malcolm in the Middle is back. 151 episodes in seven seasons back in the day, and it is back. And Jane Kaczmarek is here on The Rich Eisen Show. When you first heard this could come back, were you in disbelief, I'd imagine, or no? Or how long has this been the process? I'm living in Pasadena. I was ironing, which I love ironing. Yes. Okay. And my life is wonderful. I really put my career on the back burner after the show. So the show ended, my marriage ended, and I wanted to just raise my kids.

22:30And Pasadena is a great place to live. I work with the public schools, the Pasadena Educational Foundation, the Conservatory of Music. And I have did a lot of theater there. I've worked five times now with Alfred Molina. Long Day's Journey to Night and Theater. And I have a wonderful, wonderful life. The kids went to college. They are all on their own. They're on their own now. And these rumors started circulating. Well, rumors had always been right. So there's going to be a reunion and stuff.

23:01Rich Eisen:Right. And I was like, no, no, no. And then Brian called and said, just want to let you guys know. We, Linwood Boomer, who is Malcolm and created the show. Right. Always said, I'm not going to do something unless there's a really good story. It's not like the family goes to Hawaii for Christmas. Yeah, like it's a pretty bunch. which your family would never be confused for, but it's okay. I digress. Yeah. And, and, uh, uh, he said that Linwood's come up with an idea and I thought, Oh my God. So Cranston was the one who called you up? Cranston, Brian, as right, is the one of the most remarkable men in remarkable humans.

23:45Yes. He has not changed a whit since he was this kid in Canoga park, California you know going to junior college and and um uh taking an acting class I mean he anyway um he has gone on as I mean Breaking Bad best show ever oh yeah as far as I'm concerned and he's gone to uh London he works at the National Theater Evel van Hov who's arguably the greatest theater director of our generation has twice now worked with Brian and suddenly Brian's like, I really want to do a reunion. I want it. We thought, wow. And I thought, you know what? I think he's tired of killing people. I think he's tired.

24:24Rich Eisen:He just wants to go back to being a dad. He wants to go back to being that doofy Hal. Yeah, yeah, sure. And we were like, great. He and Lynn would, you know, put this together. And I'm sure because of Brian's incredible respect and status. You know, it was not a hard sell. Just look at that picture. You're back. Like you're back. You're the parents now in a certain, you know, time of your lives now. And it's amazing. It's like slip. And clearly it's it was like no time had passed based on what you could see on the screen here. We were right back in it. We were right back in it. I mean, the opening scene in this reboot is me shaving his body.

25:10Rich Eisen:And he's not wearing a stitch. I've seen this. He has a little, well, okay. What are they? Privacy pouches? Privacy pouches? Anybody got one here? You got privacy pouches? We're not aware of what you're talking about. Not at the moment. There is no privacy here. No Peroni's disease. There's no privacy code for the Peroni's disease. But you can see, he's like brave. Well, I mean, he's been here multiple times, and I told you before, he's one of my favorite human beings as well. He told the story of the episode where he was wearing a bees suit. He's got thousands of bees. It's 25 pounds of bees.

25:48Rich Eisen:That's what he was saying, and how one of them stung him in said spot. Oh, he didn't tell me. Yes, and he's just sort of like, you know, I kind of feel like, you know, I feel that. And somebody had to come with a card to take the stinger. he didn't oh oh i'm gonna get him on that one oh yeah like he he he because that's the beauty of the show is like there's nowhere that i don't think you won't go on malcolm in the middle right like there's there's so much risk that you guys take sometimes for put your characters in for the fun was you know right when they said brian we're gonna cover you with 25 pounds of bees right okay that idea right you know and i said what was the sting he said it wasn't so much it was the weight and the sound it was the the the and i realized getting stung down there yeah was what that was not the fear of oh my god i've got these on me but the weight of 25 pounds of bees and that sound of it brian oh my god we're going to cover you with blue paint on this episode Brian and you're going to throw yourself up against a canvas we'll do it I was so I'm like I think Lois would be sitting down in this scene I think Lois might be on the couch I was like the laziest and it all started with um we came back at a at a water park episode I had just had my second baby who I was pregnant with all during the first season of Malcolm you know I was 43 three, I gained weight and you've got to be in a swimming suit at a water park.

27:31I was like, oh my God, oh my God. And then they said, well, you know, we can get you a stand at a, and I thought, what? There could be something to do it. Anytime I can't sit, she can do it.

27:45Rich Eisen:Pretty much. This woman was magnificent and she had just had, she just had twins. And I look, I said, you're in such great shape. She said she would do lunges, nursing. One lunge here. She'd lunge over here. And I thought, you're a better man than I, Gunga Din. I mean, I, so once I realized. I've never heard of that nursing-lunging combination before. Normally you would separate those two, you know. And by those two, I mean the processes. But once I realized they could have, there was a, so someone turns their sprinkler on. The property line, you can't cross the property line. And then this woman turns the sprinkler on to get Lois.

28:28It was early in the morning. It was kind of cold. And I'm like, do I really have to get wet? Can I maybe have my stand in?