Hour 1: NBA FBI Gambling Scandal, Wemby Goes Off, NFL “Do You Believe Them” Debate

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1:17But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash richeisenshow and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. Victor Wembinyama. The Rich Eisen Show. It's a 40-point game. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. We will have a quarterback on Sunday, I will tell you that. Today's guests. Patriots head coach Mike Brable. ESPN NBA senior writer Brian Wintors. Senior NFL writer for The Athletic Diana Rossini. And now it's Rich Eisen.

2:00Rich Eisen:Well, hey, everybody. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show live on a Thursday in Los Angeles, California. Thrilled to be here on Disney Plus, as always. Same thing with the ESPN app where you can get anything, ESPN everywhere. And then there's ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial right here on the program. Boy, is there a lot to talk about in this world today. Mike Vrabel, the head coach of the second overall team in the AFC, currently number two in the AFC atop the AFC East. The head coach of the Patriots is joining this program. I'm just going to keep clapping.

2:38Rich Eisen:Until you're on camera. There you go. Chris Brockman's clapping. Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Lots to talk about with him. And then in hour number three, Diana Rossini of The Athletic. give us some information on what's going on in the National Football League as week eight begins tonight, just up the road. Honestly, you hang a right, and then you go down the 105 freeway, hopefully the speed limit, the 105 freeway known for the movie Speed. It's been completed since then, by the way. Then you hang a left, and then you're at SoFi Stadium where week eight begins between the Chargers and the Vikings.

3:14Rich Eisen:We'll discuss that on this program again, 844-204-RICH, number to dial. Good to see you over there, Christopher. how are you rich i'm great what's up man chris brockman back from hanging in disneyland uh good to see you dj mike and these nuts tj jefferson candles lit good to see you sir how are you good they say aliens don't exist but um saw a guy in san anto that plays for the spurs that makes me wonder otherwise we'll talk about that in a second uh and we would have we would have talked about victor wambanyama off the jump uh if uh the fbi didn't knock on the doors of chauncey billups and Terry Rozier today and arrest them.

3:47Rich Eisen:What the hell? And Troncy Billups is the head coach of the Portland Trailblazers, by the way. Terry Rozier was a DNPCD, by the way. Oh, interesting. In the Miami Heat opener against the Orlando Magic. And lots afoot. As Terry Rozier was charged in a gambling investigation, and he was arrested. and taken in for what appears to be and again we're just all learning um what what this is all about but it appears to be that terry rosier is being accused by the fbi of doing something that the nba cleared him in an investigation back in 2023 where he leaves a game nine minutes in due to a foot injury and they noticed a lot of um intensity on terry rosier's over under points total that night and uh terry left the game with a foot injury and the nba apparently looked into it and said there's no they're there and the fbi's like well listen um we think there is not so fast and there's apparently a lot to back up their reason for knocking on terry's door and taking him into custody and then you know for chauncey billups it appears he's not involved in any gambling issues related to the nba or any game action or anything like that which is a relief can you imagine a head coach involved in that sort of thing dude but you have to ask that question again of of what the fbi says chauncey billups was part of which is an illegal gambit to basically cheat and rip off some folks at a poker table.

5:44And that he was one of the people that were used by this gambling ring to bring people to the poker table where they would be cheated. Using various methods of technology involving automatic shuffle machines and contact lenses that could see through cards. Like James Bond. I mean, and these people were apparently, according to the FBI, brought to the poker table to say, hey, how'd you like to play poker with some famous athletes? And one of them was Chauncey Billups. Now, this apparently has been going on for four years, this investigation, according to the FBI. That's right. And Chauncey Billups has been the head coach of the Trailblazers for the last four years.

6:29I'm just trying to put everything together and want to be very careful of what I say, because I'm still reading documents and still reading what's going on. But it's shocking. It's shocking. And obviously it is eye opening. That the FBI is knocking on the doors of the head coach of the Portland Trailblazers. And taking him into custody and the same thing of Terry Rozier, I guess they found him at a hotel room. Yeah. Right. Because he's on the road right now for the Miami Heat? So it is quite surprising, to say the least. And, you know, last night, the Trailblazers, I mean, Chauncey Billups was on the bench coaching and losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves by four.

7:26goes home and gets a knock on the door now i have no idea what's coming up next

7:34Rich Eisen:but this is you know um the nightmare of any uh commissioner of any sport that what you're seeing isn't on the up and up or a head coach of the league is doing something that's not on the up and up outside of that that could potentially because according to the um the authorities this poker ring involved some figures in in the mafia and if you get hooks into you that way what else are you susceptible of and what are you doing and if i'm sitting at home and i'm wondering you know do i get the league pass or not and somebody might be sitting at home going why would i do that if this is the sort of stuff that's going on in the league and that's the nightmare again that you're wondering who else could be doing it and what am i seeing that is potentially not on the up and up so we'll find out what exactly is going on and report it to you as we know it and brian winhorse is going to join us later on in the uh on the program on that front but i i mean if if all of this is true i have no idea how one terry rosier has a future in the nba or two the nba would clear him what what did the fbi find out that the nba did not exactly and how how do you if this is true of chauncey billups how does he remain head coach of the portland trailblazers which could be like the least of his problems on top of it but everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

9:14Rich Eisen:And we will find out what happens and, and report it to you. And again, Brian one horse joins us in our number two of this program, shocking development. That is for sure. And, you know, I will just say this as we just unpacked the surprising news, shocking news, jarring news, very dramatic that a head coach of an NBA team and a player of note of an NBA team is arrested in two separate gambling investigations by the federal authorities um I will I will do the NBA a solid and at the same time talk about what I saw last night which is again when we first heard of the existence of Victor Wambanyama remember when the videos first came out of him from France?

10:11Rich Eisen:He was like 15, 16 years old. And you're like, who is this individual and how is that a real human being on the planet? Of how tall he is and what he could do with the basketball? But it was him shooting threes, you know, like 25 footers and he's 7 '3". Well, last year an injury marred second year for him. The guy I saw last night in Dallas was like, okay, yeah, Cooper Flag, nice career you had there at Duke, and I know this is your coming out party here, but I've got 40 and 15 to drop on you with not a single turnover. It looked like an easy 40 and 15. I didn't realize he didn't have a turnover.

10:59Not a single turnover, and doing it in every way, shape, or form, whether it was backing down Anthony Davis or fronting Anthony Davis. This is Anthony Davis, Rich. And one defensive all-world guy, when he gets his orange jacket, one day we'll talk about how he can do it on offense and defense. And Wembon Yama, who still looks like he could use a few pounds, despite looking like he's bulked up compared to the guy that we saw. Shredded, man. And that he is shooting threes and he is backing you down and he is also dribbling on the perimeter through his legs to try and break you down like he's Allen freaking Iverson.

11:48And then getting an and one and running the floor and dunking on you that way and playing defense. Holy smokes. This dude is a problem, man. He is a real problem. if he stays healthy i i i can't i can't compare it you know what i mean like yeah listen we always talk about otani in in uh in baseball doing things that you just never see another human being do in that sport the unicorn i mean somebody this big this tall with the ball handling skills and the shooting skills, he's putting it off the glass also in a very easy manner. Does that look like sometimes when he puts it off the glass in that uniform, like he's the big fundamental?

12:47You know what I mean? Big, big fundamental. Honestly, what we saw last night from Victor Wimbanyama was as eye-opening as he gets.

12:59Rich Eisen:And I understand he's done this before, but it's the most points scored in a season opener by a Spurs player ever. 40 and 15, and it looked easy, as you pointed out. Pretty easy. Yeah, it looked pretty easy. He shot, what, 75 % from the floor? He missed six shots. He was unstoppable. the clip that I keep seeing is that he's bringing the ball up the court goes between his legs a few times on Anthony Davis and then does a step back three and one you're like yeah like what you're supposed to do it's it's the first game of the season this guy's locked down it's over serving you notice that um he's as dominant as they've they can come uh on last night is exactly what but we were wondering if this kid could be on a consistent basis.

13:48Rich Eisen:We'll see. We'll see. We'll see what happens. It's just 8-1. I know this is not an overreaction league here. I'm not saying he's going to average 40 at night. Giannis was the last player to win MVP and defensive player of the year. That's what Wemby's going to do this season. Well, Shea has the better odds right now. I know I shouldn't be using odds on a day like this. Rich, I can't have you getting caught up in nothing, bro. Shea's the favorite right now. Wemby is now second. him and Jokic basically have the same odds and Luke is fifth. And in the same regard let's just say this, congratulations to you on having the rookie of the year play for the Philadelphia 76ers.

14:24Rich Eisen:Let me tell you something I heard the rumors, I heard the rumblings it turns out it might be right VJ is a problem. Edgecombe sir Edgecombe, yes sir. He has the edge So the Sixers finally got a draft pick right, they finally nailed it. Well Tyrese Maxey is pretty damn good too on that front. Come on now. Sorry, a third overall pick. If the veterans are healthy, then look out. But it looked like Embiid couldn't jump last night. Yeah, I mean, look, it's his first game back. He only played one preseason game. He didn't look great. But, you know, we'll see. But Edgecombe doing things that have never been done.

15:01Rich Eisen:Well, I mean, he had 14 first quarter points. First quarter of his NBA career, he had 14. That's two better than LeBron's record for most points in a first quarter by a rookie in his first game um most points in nba debut since wilt wilt in 59 so wilt and lebron were names invoked by vj edgecomb last night and again this is the sort of stuff obviously the nba would want to be talked about other than i'm looking at our our friends and colleagues right now it's all about learning what's in these fbi documents yeah and and the illegal gambling probe that you're seeing chauncey billups his name involved in and you're hearing what terry rozier did and unfortunately for chauncey people are going to think he was involved in the same thing on the court instead again it was at a poker table in a poker ring in which he was used as the bait for marks to come in and get cheated at the table and um we will find out how he pleads and what is going on but for the moment if that wasn't happening that's a big if um when bunyama showing up and showing out like he did last night and uh your guy vj edgecombe that would be all we're talking about right which we did for the last few minutes yeah it comes as no surprise sham's reporting now that the chauncey billups and terry rejere been placed on immediate leave by the nba yeah that makes sense yeah that's what's gonna happen immediate leave yeah like you are you are you are no longer coaching the blazers until we find out more and then the first phone call i'm making if i'm adam silver is to the people in the organization who cleared terry rozier of doing exactly what the fbi took him into custody for so and more and more is going to come out and it's not going to look good for either of these individuals who are involved or any of them i imagine um 844-204-rich is the number to dial right here on the disney plus and espn app everywhere feed and um also on espn radio presented by progressive insurance keep your career moving forward visit careers.progressive.com this entire first hour is for us so give us a call 844-204-rich number to dial if you want to a conversation we appreciate that uh lots of nfl to discuss aaron roger says it's not a revenge game um sure move on here coach um so uh john payton says i wasn't referring to russell wilson i mean sure justin fields is like i i didn't hear what woody johnson had to say to what he had to say is it lying thursday uh richard nixon once said i am not the crook i'll tell you which one of the three that i believe the most okay oh start bench cut who do we think is uh being truthful Well, when we come back, how about we'll hit on as many of them as we possibly can.

18:04Oh, and John Harbaugh has no information on Lamar Jackson.

18:14Which one do you believe the most? Oh, it's a higher register Thursday as well. They're all telling the truth?

18:48We'll be right back. Defeated. Lays, the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

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19:34Rich Eisen:It consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required. And with as soon as the same day funding, you can make the right play fast. Call an audible on your debt today at SoFi.com slash debt play. Loans originated by SoFi Bank N.A., member FDIC. Terms and conditions apply. NMLS 696891. Fast funds terms apply at SoFi.com slash debt play. The Rich Eisen Show podcast. Back here on the Rich Eisen show. We're on the simulcast on Disney Plus and the ESPN app everywhere as well as ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance. It's a what's more likely, pardon me, it's a higher register Thursday.

20:17Rich Eisen:Friday is our what's more likely show. We'll do our higher registers later on, but we just kind of stumbled on something going to break. We did. I love it when we... Was it Lying Thursday? Yeah, Lying Thursday. It's not a lie. If you believe it. Alright, first up, even though we said it on a Wednesday, everybody that we're playing, the soundbites were said on a Wednesday, but we're talking about it on a Thursday program. The National Football League. Not to be confused with lying season, which correlates with the NFL draft. Well, it's every day. And free agency. It's every day. Well, you could just say in sports in general, it's Lying Day every day yeah you know until people say something you know completely unvarnished and then they get crap for it like wow you actually said that um aaron rogers says it's not a revenge game on sunday night when the packers stroll into accresher on sunday football on nbc our friends um at nbc are gonna have that big game what a piece of filet mignon that is i mean you have to think about it coming into this season the fight that all television partners would have for some big games if you put a list of the games that are possibles which one would you want to have this is this is up there isn't it like with the with the eagles chiefs rematch of the super bowl that's up there good one um bills chiefs right and the commanders and eagles coming into the season was the nfc championship game what you'd want one of those right dallas against anybody well dallas against the chiefs they put that on as you know on thanksgiving that's not a bad one going into the season i mean after the mica trade you know dallas well i mean but coming into the season you'd have to say rogers taking on the packers that's a good piece of filet mignon in it but uh i mean uh i guess rogers saying the police piece of filet mignon is not served on a cold dish.

22:17Rich Eisen:Hit it. I don't have any animosity toward the organization. Obviously, I wish that, you know, things have been better in our last year there, but, you know, I have a great relationship with a lot of people still in that organization, and this is not a revenge game for me. I'm just excited to see some of those guys and thankful for my time there. Obviously, we'd love to ride off in the sunset after a Super Bowl win. That's not the way the league goes sometimes. And you know I knew the writing was on the wall when Jordan was picked and it was a matter of time I happened to win MVP the first two years he was with us.

22:53But I knew at some point there would be a change and if I wanted to play it probably have to be elsewhere. So I understand the situation. You know we live and we learn and I have nothing but love and appreciation for the fan base, for the city of Green Bay, for the city of Suamico and Hobart where I lived for so many years um i'm excited to see a lot of those people all right i believe him no no no no no i believe

23:20Rich Eisen:him i believe him in that he has no animosity towards the organization um that he loves the fans loves the area loves he was excited to see some people that he still has relationships with people i believe all that right right right right hold on a second but what i heard was this is not a revenge game but potentially when he learned that jordan love had been drafted he had a couple revenge seasons it was revenge the revenge games were him playing for the packers to be the mvp of the packers and the national football league by the way twice two times in a row utah give me two that's what the revenge games have already been played yeah when he was on the packers for the packers it's a gutter kunst revenge game i mean that's basically sure like if i had to read between the lines right there i think you know the gm who started the clock of his departure yeah leading to the fact that in the nfl you can't just ride off from the sunset play for the same team and win a super bowl sure you know that's just the way it goes and he has now had years it's amazing how playing for the jets can change your perspective on life wait a minute big took place in new jersey right didn't it like the machine zoltar was in coaten island it was it oh it wasn't on it wasn't it wasn't it wasn't in atlantic i believe that little pier where they shot well i'm not saying where they shot it i'm talking about where the cliffside park okay right all right yeah because i was just wondering if the kid that they found in new jersey was actually aaron rogers is you know and big like he became a kid again and he strolled up i hate this team that's what he was talking about i'm just trying to i'm trying to connect dots i'm i'm obviously straining to do so it didn't work out but i kind of believe that with rogers right now i kind of went a little high register right there there may be one or two people that he will be thinking of and pointing out in their suites somewhere you know up in one of the booths that they're watching the game from and i i watched him uh go up to the floor at the nfl honors show that um he won here in la the mvp award i think his final time here i forget what the the exact um order of things he won in the covet year and then the following year he won it as well um so anyway he he and lafleur were hugging it out just when you thought that maybe he wasn't a fan of the packers or him anymore i gotta believe it i'll take that yeah that was honors here here in la yeah yeah so yeah yeah um i i i i i think that that was a truthful response.

26:19Rich Eisen:Now moving on to another individual that Chris Brockman, you said before, you don't know if you believe it or not. Jury's out. Sean Payton. Oh, oh. Sean Payton, as we all know, was talking about how he, after the game, after the win over the Giants, that unbelievable W, what over 1 ,600 teams had as large a lead as the Giants had halfway through the fourth quarter in the history of the NFL. And they were all undefeated until last week. And he mentioned how he talked to John Mara, one of the owners of the Giants. And obviously, Sean Payton goes way back in the day with him because Payton is an old Giants assistant on the Parcell staff.

27:03Rich Eisen:But at any rate, he said he told John Mara, you know, he couldn't wait to move to dart until after our game, huh? You know, because they've caught a little something with this quarterback, which is true. Which is true. Russell Wilson then clapped back, a very rare Russell clap back on Twitter saying that called him a classless act. Here we go. And then brought up Bounty Gate. He did. And I thought Sean Payton would be somewhere going, OK, I see you, Russ. I gave that game I did not know you had. Yeah. But I recognize it. Wink and a nod. That might have been private. Public, a different story. This is what Sean Payton had to say when the Russ clapback was brought up to him on Wednesday.

27:52I'm sure you saw Russell. I did. Look, in the euphoria, the way that game unfolded, that was strictly about dark. I mean, that was in no way, shape, or form anything that was directed at Russ. And I might be able to see how he might perceive that. But coming off that win and watching how he played, yeah, that wasn't any intention at all. the truth shall set you what is that the truth that was a drop that we had made i don't understand exactly set you free that's from liar liar at the movie with jim carrey okay i didn't understand a word um look sean payton we all know has an edge to him and i'm sure that he was taking a slight dig at russ and it's just putting on a nice public face i don't i don't believe him you don't believe him no no i believe he was telling the truth to mara that to mara he might have been referring to

29:05Rich Eisen:russ how does he not refer how does that not refer to russ exactly that's what i think when he was sharing it he kind of lost that that might be taken that way by the rest of the world so i kind of think that when he might have said it privately to mara he was admitting couldn't stick with the guy i made the worst biggest dead cap cut in the history of the national football league right couldn't stick with him you had to go to the kid and get a breath of fresh air just in time for us you know i think he's shared it without thinking that that could be taken by russ poorly right what do you think tj uh you know i remember last year there was two years ago when Russ was still in the Broncos, there was a point where Sean kind of dressed him down.

29:59I was on Detroit on a Saturday on NFL Network. In a way, I'd never seen, maybe since Parcells, a coach go after a quarterback like that. And that really took me back. So I was like, it's obvious. That's a level of disdain. He does not like Russ.

30:14Rich Eisen:I think a lot of people in the Denver area feel that way. Didn't Schlereth take the four-snap sequence against the Chiefs that wound up causing Dayball to turn to dart? That four-snap sequence where all he had to do is throw it in the end zone and risk an interception and see what flies, and instead he threw it so far up the tunnel that it was a— a penalty. He called it selfish. He called it selfish. He thought that Russ didn't want to have an interception on his docket. I'm just wondering, did Denver people just have... And Russ must know it. Just to be honest. It is kind of wild because Russ takes, in my opinion, far too much criticism from people.

31:10And it was kind of nice just to see him say something, man. people talk trash talk that man so much and it's my opinion pretty disrespectful talk a lot of it yeah and so it's nice to kind of see him go at least you know say right give a big a letter that comes after dne to you to someone talking he turns the cheek a lot yeah and uh this time around he he he showed the bird uh if you will on and even at that he didn't really go that hard at it but It was just nice to hear him say something. Yeah, he even put the laughing emoji after. Like, oh, ha, ha, we're all friends.

31:47Rich Eisen:It was hashtag let's ride, which is the old Broncos country. All right. Last one for you. Justin Fields, the target of an ownership quote that is just as rare as it gets. You know, not even Dolan calls out Knicks this way. By the way, there was a shot of him in the stand yesterday just sitting there like this. He always sits like that. He always sits like that. I know, but it was just like you were winning the game. Yeah, be happy. That guy can't be happy. I mean, Knicks hysteria is at an all-time high. Guys, I was just making a reference. I wasn't creating the wormhole. I'm not going to Knicks one.

32:30Rich Eisen:Let's have him back off. Look, we just figure whenever we hear that name, we're trained like Pavlov's dog to attack. Mike Brown got to meet Spikes. I couldn't believe Spike knew who I was, essentially. You know, it's like, you know who I am? Fat Joe was court-signed. Just leave that alone. They won with Fat Joe? Leave it alone, guys. Leave it alone. I'm just saying Dolan doesn't, I mean, not even Dolan has called out Knicks like this. Like, hey, man, if our center keeps shooting like this, all you got to do is just complete a pass. And we'd be better. You know what I mean? Any coach will look this way if the best player, most important player, just stinks on ice.

33:07Rich Eisen:I mean, literally, Woody didn't say that, but that was 100 % the implication. Hey, Justin Fields, you know, 0-7. The reason why the coach looks as bad as he looks is because the offense just can't do a damn thing. So Justin Fields now, he had his media availability on Wednesday and had this to say. Nah, I wasn't. Like I said, I'm not on social media. It doesn't bother me. It doesn't. You know, of course, everybody knows, you know, I need to I need to play better. We need to play better as a team. And of course, you know, no matter how, you know, the offense does as a unit, you know, I'm going to get the blame.

33:52And I understand that that's just what comes with the job. But honestly, it's what comes with it. So you can't let anything kind of affect your mind, my mind. And that's that's what it is, no matter if it's, you know, him, no matter if it's, you know, family members, even teammates sometimes you're gonna be there's gonna be times where you have to be the only one who believes in yourself so um you know like i said that's his opinion and um like i told you guys after the game on on sunday i'm at peace and uh i'm focused his right now is uh working each and every day and and uh getting better said he hadn't heard it he told us by the way that he