Hour 2: ESPN Sr. NBA Writer Brian Windhorst Talks Brawls, LeBron, Giannis & More

8:57Brian Windhorst:Yep. Or no, 20 years. And they may make the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. I've got a friend who's a season ticket holder in Charlotte who went to the game the other night, the brawl game. and he said, this is the best atmosphere of a game I've been to in 10 years. And I know that it isn't just about Con Caniple, that they also drafted Brandon Miller and they've been developing some other guys. It's not just that simple. The Jazz took Ace Bailey. And maybe in three years, Ace Bailey will be an all-star. But Ace Bailey didn't even get invited to the Rising Stars game. And so you say to the Jazz, you know, why are you tanking?

9:30Brian Windhorst:Why are you hurting the integrity of the game? Well, last year, there was a difference between being four and five. might be the difference between this year having your best year in 10 years and going into a tank. And they can't work harder. They can't scout harder. They can't do more push-ups. They can't like, you know, we're going to come and work as a group in August instead of September. The difference is that is one player. And their pick is top eight protected from a deal they made like years ago. So their only pathway, the only pathway in Utah, in Salt Lake City, Utah, is to get that highest pick.

10:05Brian Windhorst:And so that is the incentive, and I am showing you the result.

10:08Rich Eisen:Yeah, but we're not even a President's Day weekend.

10:11Brian Windhorst:I agree.

10:12Rich Eisen:It's getting worse.

10:12Brian Windhorst:It doesn't seem it gets earlier and earlier and earlier that the plug gets pulled. Am I wrong? Absolutely. And where it's spilled over is it now? For years, people would say, oh, they're tanking. But the players who are on the court aren't tanking. Right. The tanking was done on the injury list. Right.

10:27Rich Eisen:Or saying to Zubach, you're wearing street clothes tonight.

10:31Brian Windhorst:That's the injury list. Or whatever. They say that he has an injury. Yeah, right. But what's happening with Utah now, the stakes are so high for Utah, and there's so much tanking going on elsewhere. There's so much competition for tanking that they are now actively taking their players off the court. So like, you know, Mark and Larry Mark and he sat for the fourth quarter. The other day he had 27 points in 27 minutes. They sat him on the bench, and then their coach, Will Hardy, stuck his hands in his pocket, literally stuck his hands in his pockets and watched as his team gave up a 17-point lead, didn't even call timeout.

11:05Brian Windhorst:That's the, he knows the assignment. And by the way, before the season started, he was given a very lucrative contract extension. And, you know, when he signed it, he understood this is what I'm being paid to do. I'm being paid to do what the organization wants me to do.

11:20Rich Eisen:It's the Don Draper line. That's what the money is for. It's the madman line.

11:24Brian Windhorst:And Will is frustrated, but he's doing what he's been assigned to do. Right. And so, but something interesting happened. Two things I want to say. One. Yes. So today is a big tank bowl. Now, we have games on ESPN tonight, which we have Philly and the Knicks.

11:40Rich Eisen:7.30 Eastern. I've got this for you. Spurs and Warriors at 10.

11:43Brian Windhorst:You watch Countdown at 7 Eastern.

11:45Rich Eisen:Very good.

11:45Brian Windhorst:And then late game, we've got Victor. You see Victor had 37 points in the first half last night. Yep. Victor is the late game in Golden State. However, there's a more, not a more interesting, but an interesting tank game tonight, which is Sacramento versus Utah. Okay. Two teams that are extremely tanking right now. So yesterday afternoon. the injury list came out or the injury report came out and Lowry Markkinen who I will point out a month ago missed seven games due to the flu. I hope he's feeling better. I mean, I wasn't there. Maybe he was sick for seven years. Understood. He was listed as being out due to rest.

12:22Brian Windhorst:Oh. For this game.

12:23Rich Eisen:He needs a little bit more, huh?

12:25Brian Windhorst:Right. Come on now. I mean, I don't know how much you want me to go into this because we're talking about the Jets but the other day they held their best guard Keontae George out of the game and said it was for rest. And then they played another guard, Isaiah Collier, 48 minutes.

12:38Rich Eisen:Well, the reason why we're talking about it's not just the jazz, obviously, and we'll talk about some other stuff is, listen, this is a smart league run by smart people who understand what it is that they're putting on the court and what it is that is happening. Is there anybody in the board of governors, anybody that's like, we must do

12:58Brian Windhorst:something maybe because as i said the injury report came out and said mark in an out due to rest and and then one hour later he's rested he was he was taken off the injury report he's ready

13:09Rich Eisen:to go hey did he nap can we find out if he took a nap we can follow up today and so that's number

13:15Brian Windhorst:one is what was going on with that number two and i don't have an answer by the way i don't know what's going on second thing is this all-star weekend so adam silver you know goodell last week has his state of the nfl yes sir so now we have an adam silver state of the nba yes sir and he will be asked and so we will hear what he has to say when is that today or tomorrow no i think it's uh friday friday or saturday okay he will be asked and so we'll see maybe maybe he's

13:43Rich Eisen:gonna you know put his foot down we'll see brian winhorst here on the rich eisen show let's talk about harden winding up in cleveland why did that why did that happen the clippers turn things around Why? Who ordered the code red and why did it happen?

13:59Brian Windhorst:Can I just say before we get into this, like how fascinating it is that for years, the Clippers have had him for seven, six or seventh year. And numerous seasons, they were prepared to win and might have even have won. You know, the one year he tore his ACL in the playoffs, he had two or three of the best playoff games of the decade. They came back and won in Dallas. and if they had been healthy, they definitely might have gone to the finals. They might have won the whole thing. You're talking about Kawhi, right? Yeah.

14:27Rich Eisen:Okay.

14:28Brian Windhorst:Multiple seasons he got derailed with injuries. One year they made the Western Conference Finals and he tore his ACL and he couldn't play. They listed him as questionable with the torn ACL, but that's a different story for a different day. This year he's ever played better for the Clippers.

14:42Rich Eisen:This is his best season. They were on fire and then all of a sudden, I'm looking at my phone and it pops up that James Harden is going to get traded. And I'm like, where the hell did that come from?

14:52Brian Windhorst:And why? So last summer, the Clippers entered into a contract with James Harden that was basically a one-year guarantee for$39 million plus a mutual option for next year. And as the team was playing very well, James was looking ahead. By the way, as soon as they entered into that contract, they were giving themselves some optionality in case James had a bad year to get out. But they painted themselves in a bit of a corner there because they know that James Harden, if he's not happy contractually, will ask to be traded he has done this four times okay so as soon as they signed that contract they knew that they put themselves in a bit of a box here so the team's playing very well james has this contract next year for 42 million i think he'd like to make sure it's guaranteed because if it's not guaranteed he'd like to go somewhere where he could get taken care of and whatever the conversation was and there's people that are spinning it but whatever the conversation was james didn't hear what he wanted to hear and he asked out and no one gets traded more effectively than james hard when he wants to get traded and it did work out for him that there was a team that want that it was that could make a deal and do it like it you know he's going to an instantaneous contender yes who probably will pay him at least next year maybe even give him two years so but i think the key is they pulled the plug and i'm a huge huge huge believer it sounds basic but i'm a huge believer of actions over words if you use that in your head so much of the nba will explain itself and the actions of the clippers had said to me that they didn't believe in this team this year if they had believed in this team they would not have traded him um they would have guaranteed his contract or whatever they would not have traded zubach so i their actions regardless of what they say their actions to me say they didn't believe in this team and that they weren't going anywhere and it's just so ironic and kind of melancholy that this is the best Kawhi has ever played for them right he's amazing uh he's he had 40 the other night his last game he had 40 or two games ago he had 41 um and this is the time when they

16:55Rich Eisen:pull the plug but Garland I get I mean you got you got somebody a decade younger right right and uh with some injury history right um is it possible that the Clippers might have improved at the end of the day? I know trading Zubach is another indication of pulling a plug here.

17:15Brian Windhorst:Yeah. I mean, right now they've got a 38-year-old starting center in Brook Lopez and a 20-year-old, 21-year-old backup. That isn't a team that's trying to win or trying to win at the highest level. Right. No, I think medium term they may say they would have improved. Right. But you don't know whether Kawhi is going to be good in three months, much less nine. So, no, I think their actions to me speak to they didn't believe in this team.

17:43Rich Eisen:Okay. And the Cavs now are a contender for the conference? Well, I will say this.

17:49Brian Windhorst:So, tanking is a very popular topic right now in the league, and it should be because it needs to be highlighted because it needs to be addressed.

17:55Rich Eisen:Yes.

17:56Brian Windhorst:But most of the time we get to the all-star break, and I would say there are really only three or four teams that can win the whole thing. and sometimes I'm even throwing the fourth team a bone. Right now, I think there are five teams that can win the East. I can make a case for all five, and I have no idea who's actually going to. And I think Oklahoma City will win the West, but I don't feel super strongly about it. I can make a case for three teams in the West. So I can make a case for eight teams, and we may even have an outlier who might be able to stretch to like eight and a half, nine. And so while this has been a season that has been dominated by injuries, unfortunately, and while we have tanking as a real topic that is coming up now, which is unfortunate, I actually think we have a very, very highly competitive season ahead of us here to finish.

18:47Brian Windhorst:A very highly competitive playoffs. And I am extraordinarily excited about the young players in the league. Cooper Flagg is, to me, the most. Oh, never mind. I think, really, to me, I haven't seen a rookie like this since LeBron. Victor is a outlier because I've never seen anybody like that ever on planet

19:08Rich Eisen:earth.

19:08Brian Windhorst:Right. So, so when Benyama and Cooper flag as sort of the, the, the sort of the next generation, you know, I love watching Ann Edwards every game. And then, you know, you still have the old guys, Deron LeBron Durant and Curry still around. I actually think the league from a, from a star standpoint is in a, I don't think from a competitive standpoint, it's in a good place because there's teams tanking, but I think we're okay. with the star players. It's just, you know, there is a bit of a transition period that's going to take place here.

19:37Rich Eisen:Brian Windhorst here on the Rich Eisen Show. A name you didn't mention is Giannis, but that will change when we come back. We're also going to talk about LeBron, his future, and maybe a dark horse for coming out of the mist. Oh, look at you. Look at us. Very literary. You know what I mean? I paint word pictures, but actually I weave tapestries here on the Rich Eisen Show. Okay. Brian Windhorst is here. Dwight Howard's making his way to our studio. We're back with another segment with Brian Windhorst here on ESPN, Disney Plus and the ESPN app and ESPN Radio.

20:11Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

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22:56Rich Eisen:Ladies and gentlemen, Brian Windhorst is still here on the Rich Eisen Show. Again, tonight on ESPN, it's the final full slate of games tonight. There's three on Thursday night before the All-Star break hits. Snicks and Sixers tonight at 7.30, and then the Spurs and Warriors after that. Are you on the show? Yes, countdown tonight. Okay, at 4 o 'clock out here. Yes. And 7 Eastern time if you're on the East Coast. So walk me through Giannis' journey from summer to now in terms of his demands, what he wants, what he has said. That's the problem.

23:35Brian Windhorst:He really hasn't demanded anything. Here's what I can tell you. Again, let's focus on actions over words.

23:41Rich Eisen:Yes, sir.

23:43Brian Windhorst:The Bucks were negotiating a trade for Giannis last week. Now, whether or not they ever intended to actually follow through on those negotiations, I don't know. I can't speak with that kind of intelligence. But the Bucks were on the phone taking bids and having a back and forth. Yes. So the idea that this was all some sort of hoax, no. The Bucks were absolutely doing it. and they didn't like the offers that they got. And I think their offers, the NBA trades are so complex and I'm always, I don't know where to go to lose people, have them glaze over. But long story short, the Bucs can get more from teams in the summer than they can now.

24:28Brian Windhorst:The teams in the summer will literally have more to trade. And the only team that wasn't really the case was Golden State. Golden State's offer now is going to be the same as it will be in the summer. And therefore, they offered what I thought was the biggest package. Maybe the Bucks didn't feel that way. Maybe other people would say that what the Heat offered was better. But they certainly offered the most unprotected draft picks, which was four. And they can't offer more in the summer. The Heat, for example, can offer extra picks in the summer than they can now. And it wasn't good enough. And so the question will be, will it be good enough in the summer?

25:08Brian Windhorst:And will Giannis force it? Because this is going to be an action over words bonanza here because they can present him before next season a four-year contract extension for$270-something million. And he's in his 30s and he's had some injury problems. And I would not blame him for one second if he said, I won a championship and I'm going to take that 270 and I'm going to be a buck for life. He has not said that. He has said many different things, but he has never said he'll sign the extension. So I'm frankly not going to worry about what he says, what he posts on social media. If he signs the extension, he'll be a buck.

25:52Brian Windhorst:And if he doesn't sign the extension, they'll have to trade him because otherwise he'll be a free agent after next season. It'll be very elementary. And what will be interesting now is he's got this injury. He announced when he had the injury, I'll be out four to six weeks.

26:07Rich Eisen:Dr. Tenacumpo has been paged? Well, unfortunately, he knows about these things.

26:12Brian Windhorst:He's had this injury four times. The Bucs said no timeline. So Doc Rivers has come out and said he is going to play when he's ready. But the only pathway forward for the Bucs to improve this team really is to get as high of a draft pick as possible. Right. And when Giannis plays, they're 500. And when he doesn't play, they're one of the worst teams in the league. And all the teams around them are tanking. So if Giannis comes back and plays 18 games and they go 9-9, which this is the way they've played during the season, their pick will materially get worse. Now, they could get lucky if they miss the playoffs.

26:49Brian Windhorst:I think Dallas was like 10th or 11th last year or whatever they were, the hop-up. I mean, they could get lucky and end up with a top pick.

26:57Rich Eisen:Right.

26:57Brian Windhorst:But their only way that they're really going to make this team materially better is by that draft pick being as high as possible. And bringing him back, it's going to hurt the pick. So, you know, I'm anxious to see how that plays out. But I'm done with the words. I'm only going to pay attention to the actions. And so I will tell you that the actions, I know I'm beating the horse, but the actions of last week were that the Bucs were negotiating a trade. and we'll see what Giannis' actions and the Bucs' actions are with his availability and then the contract.

27:30Rich Eisen:You've said multiple times here, actions, not words. That's what you're paying attention to, and that's how the NBA is best explained. Brian Windhorst here on The Rich Eisen Show. What are the actions telling you about LeBron James and the Lakers?

27:41Brian Windhorst:So the Lakers had an opportunity to offer LeBron a contract extension last year, and they did not. And it's the first time in LeBron's 23-year career he's ever been on the final year of a contract. Obviously, he's left in free agency at times when he's opted out of a contract. He's never, ever been on the last year of a contract. And I understand why the Lakers did that because they are now building around Luka Doncic. And they probably could maybe do something better with the 52 million. By the way, when I say do something better with the 52 million, it doesn't mean pay LeBron zero. Like maybe they could pay LeBron 30 million and use that 20 million elsewhere.

28:19Brian Windhorst:but for them to be the best team that they can they can't pay LeBron 50 million dollars next year they just can't because they're paying Luca something near that and they're going to pay Austin Reeves something near that and you just can't have three perimeter-based players who are ball

28:35Rich Eisen:handlers who are not good defenders making that much of your salary so LeBron James saying I will not take less than what I'm currently making is that an action well if he does that it's going

28:48Brian Windhorst:to be hard because I mean I do think he's still you know he's still an all-star but I don't know

28:52Rich Eisen:if he's still a 50 million dollar max player but is he does he still want to be a Los Angeles Lakers

28:57Brian Windhorst:right so there's three things LeBron has to decide one are his body and mind in a place where he wants to play next year yes sir now the challenge with that's going to be and I don't know if he knows but I don't know you know the Lakers are going to need to know like in June because that's when the offseason starts and I don't know if he's going to have an answer in June I don't know where he's going to be with that. He may not know for sure until later. But he's going to have to decide that. That's going to be first. So that's the first thing. The second thing is, will he play? How much money is he willing to play for?

29:26Brian Windhorst:Is he willing to play for$30 million? Is he willing to play for$15 million? I mean, Dirk Nowitzki twice took really big pay cuts to stay with the Mavericks. Now it's debatable about whether those actually helped the Mavericks or whether they just saved a bunch of money because they didn't actually get functionally better. but that's neither here nor there. It's not unprecedented for a guy at the end of a 20-year career to take a big pay cut to stay with the team.

29:50Rich Eisen:And not just in the NBA either. Look at Aaron Rodgers, right? Aaron Rodgers, 42 years old. Does he want to keep playing? Sure, he'll play for the Steelers. And he took way less than what his Hall of Fame resume would demand.

30:02Brian Windhorst:Correct. Way less. So if LeBron is determined to make the most money, it will probably not be with the Lakers. But pathway two is to stay with the Lakers for less money. How much less? a lot of variables we don't know yet three would he go someplace else if he becomes a free agent would he go someplace else and would he go someplace to make the most money or would he go someplace where he could take less money but that he would feel comfortable or feel like he could win would probably there's a good chance it would be his last year he certainly has to go into what the strong possibility would be his last year so he has to go to a place where he could be comfortable playing a year.

30:39Brian Windhorst:And I think there's a couple of places where that might make sense. Cleveland is one of them.

30:44Rich Eisen:Heat? You want to go down the memory lane here? I'm not sure I put the Heat on the list. Okay, where else? Where else?

30:49Brian Windhorst:You know, Golden State, depending on how things go, would be one of them, depending on where their team is.

30:56Rich Eisen:Would Kerr have to be there?

30:59Brian Windhorst:Maybe. But that's a good question. Okay. And there's a place or two that I won't say right now, but I'm keeping my eye on.

31:07Rich Eisen:Is that the finger thing? We doing the finger thing?

31:09Brian Windhorst:Yeah, I just, you know, frankly, with All-Star Weekend and stuff, I don't need this in my life. Let's just say, I don't mean the fingers, but like. No, no, no, no, I got it.

31:18Rich Eisen:I got you.

31:18Brian Windhorst:Let's put it this way. I respect you. I have a team or two that I think he could consider going to. Okay. And I have researched the concept. Okay. And I will continue to keep my eye on the concept. Keep digging. And let's just say that, you know, it's not without merit. It's just not something I'm going to say. And I don't mean to be a jerk that way. No, no, no. But I just, I can't. I'm going to try to lay low this weekend. I don't need, like, to be on every show trying to back up what I say. But I'm just saying to you, I think he would have some appetizing options in a one-off situation if he was comfortable for playing for a salary that would fit in another team.

32:01Rich Eisen:And what about the Lakers? you know in the future i mean espn.com the app uh i'm sorry i don't recall the off the top of my head who wrote the article yeah about the bus family where everything extra homes right where everything was so laid bare even the kardashian family saying wow that's a lot of business of ours put out there you know like that's how that thing was off the charts but the but the laker

32:26Brian Windhorst:thing is so it's fascinating because it's a family and like right great stories in the history of humankind are intertwined with family but the lakers decision that the family decision making was actually very simple um genie bus is the most powerful of the bus children clearly and her older brothers at one point tried to squeeze her out they sure did and so she part you need there's six kids you need four votes okay her sister pretty much voted for her the whole time she has two younger brothers and two older brothers her two older brothers tried to force route she partnered with the two younger brothers to get the four votes to squeeze them out and then a decade later when it came time to sell um the older family members had a disadvantage because when they die they don't get you know they each had 11 of the team right which is worth billion dollars whatever um each time one of they die they don't get to take that 11 and pass to their heirs it goes back into the trust so the last family member standing gets the whole 66 percent so if you're the youngest kids you know you're in your 30s or 40s you're like like we'll see at your funeral yeah right you know i mean they they basically don't talk to each other like that's like that you know i got that i picked that up from the article man so genie then flipped it and the older siblings who are much older than the younger ones are like yeah we'd like to have our hundreds of millions now we'll vote with you and so she just flipped and she did that it was just a it's just a game of thrones it's not by the way that's what i was

34:01Rich Eisen:literally about to bring up that famously kobe told her to be khaleesi and and and get on your dragon and dracarys the whole situation which by the way she did and you tipped the cap i brought it up just because the lebron stuff got put out there and you know somebody from that family put it out there to create a problem for her well that's the way i read it in all honesty like

34:21Brian Windhorst:how could you not be impressed with like her acumen of course no no that's and and her friend like she obviously is very much closer to her friends and her co-workers the lakers than she is to her family yeah she took care of them she took care of herself yeah and she stayed in the job i know which is stayed in the job she got hundreds of millions got rid of everybody in

34:40Rich Eisen:her family and stayed in the job for sure this isn't about that that the lebron stuff that was I know. I'm sorry. No, no, no. But that's the stuff that clearly was. Let's try and stick it to, you know, Khaleesi here. Yeah, I mean, I think here's the thing.

34:56Brian Windhorst:When you have LeBron, there's downsides. There's a tax, a LeBron tax that you pay, that he does things that wear you out. however the other side of it has so much upside that it's it's a trade-off that everybody would make even today even today LeBron's value to the Lakers is immensely more than whatever drag he has on the team and so that's why everybody that's why the Cavs would crawl over glass to get him back for a third time because as much scar tissue as there's been with that organization he's still worth it he'd sell it out he'd sell it out I don't think like Again, it's fascinating because it's great detail, but it's not out of line with the way humankind operates.

35:46Brian Windhorst:So the interesting thing about the Lakers that I think was not portrayed in that story is that the reason what separates the Lakers from the Memphis Grizzlies is their local TV deal. Certainly, the New York Giants can operate on a little bit higher level from local revenues. But really, the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers operate relatively on a level financial playing field. The money that's coming into them is relatively the same. That's not the case in the NBA. In the NBA, the Lakers make more in a week than the Grizzlies make in a year with their TV deal. And that TV deal is under threat because of local TV, which is another story for another day.

36:24Brian Windhorst:But if that TV deal gets reduced, and by the way, the Knicks last year took a 40 % pay cut. and if the Lakers went down by 40 % that would be financially devastating to the Buss family so they cashed out she consolidated power and she sold to owners who have proven to be championship owners so the fans are in great position and in all honesty I see Jeannie Buss as a candidate for executive of the year she's not going to be candidate for sister of the year but she's not doing sister of the year she's doing executive

36:56Rich Eisen:sitting on her iron throne down the street here in El Segundo in the few minutes we have left. No doubt. No doubt. Dracarys, the whole thing. In the few minutes we have left here. Is Jason Tatum coming back? Because if he does, the Celtics, who are sitting in second place in the conference, could be the dark horse team.

37:13Brian Windhorst:Chris, how do we judge the NBA? Talk dirty to me, Wendy. What do we do? How do we judge the NBA? What have we learned today?

37:21Rich Eisen:Actions. Not words. Not words.

37:23Brian Windhorst:So when Jason Tatum says, I am not going to come back. He didn't say that. He said, I'm not sure I'm coming back. or whatever Joe Mazzula might say or whatever his teammates might say or whatever Brad Stevens might say. Let's put that aside. They're not going to put one ounce of pressure on him. Now let's focus on the actions. Okay? The actions are, he's been doing five on five with the coaches and on Monday, they took the entire G League team, put them on, I don't know if they want to bus or a train.

37:49Rich Eisen:Great.

37:50Brian Windhorst:And made to Boston. Brought them from Portland down to Boston, visited the Arbok Center so that they could practice with Jason Tatum. that's an action you know that's him taking a step forward in the process i have no idea where he will be at the end of the season i have no idea where he will be he probably doesn't know where he'll be in may but i will say the actions are him returning towards playing and the the perspective that also is needed is you don't need him to play well in march or april you need him to be a factor in may and i think that's on the table certainly not a guarantee but it's on the table would he come off the bench you think who cares doesn't matter right like at the end of the

38:33Rich Eisen:at the end of the day he's in if he's in the fourth quarter and it's jason tatum and it's

38:38Brian Windhorst:go time it's go time eastern conference is a wide open unpredictable you know who knows what will happen and that x factor is the biggest x factor in the east if not the league five and a

38:51Rich Eisen:half out they're 34 and 19 they got vucevich they got him i mean it's what okay and then last one for you since we just went new england let's go seattle for the the super bowl champs are they

39:05Brian Windhorst:going to get the sonics back what do you think so what i suspect is later this year the nba will announce that they are um going to form a committee to study expansion which is going to be an action action, which is code for we're going to expand. But they're not going to say it, but they're going to expand. But there's some arena situations that have to be settled first. So right now there's an arena situation in Portland that is bubbling. There's a couple other arena situations I won't get into. But typically you want to leave, even though I don't think the NBA will relocate, you want to make sure all of your arena situations are settled before you then expand.

39:45Brian Windhorst:sure um but um but then um i do think that's where we're headed um but it'll but again it'll be a process they you know you won't see the sonics back in 2027 it could be a few years but

39:57Rich Eisen:i think that's where we are headed okay and in terms of actions not words words are me texting you hey do you want to come on the show the action is sending you a car thank you very much you know

40:08Brian Windhorst:what i mean like that's that's when you as somebody who's gone from downtown to the lax area several thousand times yeah yeah very impressive speed and execution to get me here well the 105 freeway

40:21Rich Eisen:is the speed freeway from by the way from the movie so you know just look around and see if there's a bus and if sandra bullock is driving the imperial freeway is indeed for those scoring at home yes yeah but that's that's the difference words are like hey you want to come on the show action is like i've got you bring them here i'm on my own the way back by the way no you're not i gotta i gotta i gotta i gotta right there's somebody waiting out there somebody's waiting out there i'm sure they got the water at the proper temperature you know brian before you go we have this thing here where you know we give out documents to people if they want to give up

40:53Brian Windhorst:their fandom i like documents that are like this big that are green i'm sorry yeah no no my question

40:58Rich Eisen:is after hearing you talk about the clippers i'm a clippers fan i i'm ready to just give up man i've been a Clipper fan since 1999, ever since I moved here, and every time we get close to something, we just Clipper it up again. Should I just give up, man?

41:14Brian Windhorst:Is it time just to sign it? They did make two trades that are forward-looking last week. Yes, we did. It's not easy to get a multi-time all-star in his 20s under contract as they did with Darius Garland. His foot is bothering him right now, and they got two potentially very valuable picks that they now could go into the marketplace with for Zubac. I would not have traded Zubach, but they have their future plan. But I would be heartbroken. I'm sorry, TJ. I would be heartbroken if I was a Clipper fan and I saw Kawhi playing this way and knowing that my team is not going anywhere.

41:48Rich Eisen:All for nothing, right? I don't have that certificate here. I don't know if we actually made that. I got the Cowboy one. We got the Cowboy one. I got the Dallas Cowboy one. I thought he has it somewhere. It's somewhere. All right, so I should give it up is what you're saying.

41:58Brian Windhorst:No, but you can make plans for May and June.

42:03Rich Eisen:ladies and gentlemen brian winhorst here on the program thank you for having me thank you for coming here all right i appreciate your all-star weekend i shall do so sir i will be here in los angeles dodging the raindrops so uh ladies and gentlemen brian winhorst again you will catch him on espn tonight in advance of nicks sixers spurs and warriors oh my god thank you for doing it

42:27Rich Eisen:the rich eisen show the podcast

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43:37Rich Eisen:Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, one big happy family on ESPN, Disney Plus, the ESPN app, ESPN radio. I love saying that. I don't know if you can tell. Sometimes teams take a time out to regroup and call the right play. That's what we're doing right now to tell you about Pella Windows and Doors. They always have the winning game plan when it comes to your home because they're not just the window and door experts. They're experts at taking care of you and your home. At Pella, they find the products that meet your needs and they're experts, then install them. They do it every day. And that's why your neighbors trust them.

44:10Rich Eisen:Discover why Pella is a trusted choice for homeowners everywhere by visiting Pella.com slash Eisen today. That's Pella.com slash Eisen. Fun stuff. We hope you're enjoying it. watching it, we're going to switch over to ESPN2 for those watching on ESPN. For hour number three, Dwight Howard is making his way to our studio. I sent a car for him, too. Oh. I believe. I shouldn't just say. Manny in El Paso, Texas. He's watching us because he certainly can't take a flight anywhere. What's up, Manny? What's going on, man?

44:44Brian Windhorst:What's going on,

44:45Rich Eisen:man? Hey, Manny, what's up, brother?

44:47Brian Windhorst:Well, I still got bad bun in the brain talking to my buddies here. Anyway, Love the game. Love the halftime show. My question is, is it the best halftime show? I know Mr. Zlatoff will probably say that's going to be U2. I'm going to say it's Prince. Prince, yeah. Prince U2. Ben Benny just said, hey, my name is Benny. This is a look into my culture. I hope you enjoy it. Hey, let's dance for a bit. Anyways, gentlemen, we are four days away from NASCAR being back at Daytona. But with that, of course, comes some heavy hearts. Greg Pippo passed away and was truly loved as a driver. But it was after his racing career that people truly loved him.

45:23Brian Windhorst:When the hurricane hit on the East Coast in 2024, he took his own helicopter to help find and rescue people. This is an example of how people should watch over each other. I'm really excited about the season. The cars have 50 more horsepower in them. Dale Jr. and Mark Martin have given the thumbs up on the new point system. I'm getting goosebumps just talking about it. So I leave you with this question, gentlemen. Which racing movie do you prefer? These are Thunder, Ford versus Ferrari, Disney's Cars, or Christopher Nolan's favorite movie, Charlie Good Night. Okay, very good. Guys, I love you.

45:56Brian Windhorst:I always consider it nice to talk to you guys. TJ, right away, I got a hashtag for you. What's that? Hashtag DBDT. Don't be del Tufo. Stick to your colors.

46:05Rich Eisen:Yeah. Manny and El Paso. That's it. I'm not in the middle of the house. Manny and El Paso, everybody. He's Rackham. D-B-D-T. Go Dodgers. Don't be Del Tufo. Shea's on his way. I can't wait. Stick to your team. Shea's on his way. Fantastic. Okay. Okay. Life is a highway. Cars is very near the top. For kids. Very near. Cars is a great movie. If you haven't seen it, watch it. I have seen the first. Period. The first one I have. I love Ford versus Ferrari. I got to go F1. That movie was awesome. He didn't mention F1 either. F1 was great. That movie rock. I agree. Days of Thunder. I enjoyed it. But Days of Thunder, I haven't seen it in forever.

46:46Rich Eisen:It's been a while. Dude, Tom Cruise and Robert Duvall. I get it. Come on. That movie was amazing. That's one, though. Are they doing a sequel to that or a remake of some sort? What? Of Days of Thunder. Oh. With Tom Cruise. I think that was the next thing after he did a Top Gun reboot or sequel. What was the fourth one you mentioned? Talladega Nights. Talladega Nights. Come on now. Obviously. Not first or last. It's good. It's good. I mean, I'm really surprised because Manny is a man who knows a lot. I can't believe he didn't say Herbie the Love Bug. It's not a, I mean. It exactly is. You know.

47:26Rich Eisen:How are you raced? Is it Talladega Nights is a comedy? It's not really a racing movie. It's about racers in a comedy. You know what I mean? Sure, for sure. In the same way that Die Hard's a Christmas movie. I love Rich when he was there. Yeah, I just went there. I love when Rich does it. Dwight Howard is coming up to talk about NBA and his beatdown on Celebrity Wheel of Four. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast. Thought sweet green was just salads?

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