0:00

And we continue on Fred Rogan and Jonas noxon today for Rodney on a five

0:04

to seventy LA Sports, Jovann Buja Athletic did a terrific job talking about what

0:10

happened with the Lakers last night closed door meeting suggests there could be some dissension

0:15

Lakers going the wrong way. They're three and nine since the first in season

0:19

tournament championship. And Yovann will join the show here. Jonas at won forty

0:24

fill us in on what he knows. So I think that's a pretty good

0:26

get. Kevin, good job, and we'll look forward to talking to Yovonne.

0:30

Let's get to the NFL. So Matt's Matthew Matthew, not matt Matthew.

0:36

Stafford is out Sunday for the Rams. As a matter of fact,

0:39

I think everybody's not going to play except for Pooka Nakua and they're just trying

0:43

to get him his awards. And Purdy is out for the forty nine ers.

0:48

It's the final game of the regular season. Do we agree there is

0:52

absolutely no reason to put anyone of consequence in peril in a game that doesn't

0:57

matter. Jonas, Yeah, I totally agree. I don't understand. The

1:00

reason why this is a discussion and a conversation is because people bring up the

1:06

well, if you have too much rest, and the teams that are getting

1:10

most of the attention for that are like Baltimore and San Francisco, because if

1:12

people remember Baltimore in twenty nineteen was the number one seed, had the first

1:19

round by and then they opened up the playoffs, they rested their starters final

1:23

week of the season, opened up the playoffs against Tennessee and got completely manhandled,

1:27

and John Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson made mention to the fact that they were

1:33

off for too long. To me, I'll take my chances. I'm not

1:37

going to run the risk of putting anybody out there in a meaningless game if

1:40

I've already got stuff clinched. I'd rather just be healthy to get into the

1:42

postseason and then go from there. And then the conversation becomes and that's the

1:48

case, I'll take my chances with Matt Stafford being as healthy as possible and

1:53

that team being as healthy as possible going into Detroit for all of those stories

2:00

against potentially a first round wildcard matchup against the Lions, which Fred would be

2:05

phenomenal television. I'm telling you Rams Lions in the opening wild card game would

2:09

be a lot of fun. So in our house, we are big fans

2:14

of the Lions. I've admitted that none of my sons have ever been to

2:19

Detroit for whatever reason. They all love the Lions. And they had circled

2:23

this now and started talking about it a month ago. Oh my god,

2:29

what if? What if it's the Rams and the Lions in the first round

2:34

of the playoffs. Matthew Stafford goes back to take on his former team,

2:38

and Jared Goff would then be at home taking on the team that gave up

2:43

on him. And I love the Lions, but I gotta tell and and

2:50

to be fair, the Rams defense does have some holes. But I don't

2:55

I don't know if the Lions can beat the Rams. I had. I

2:59

got to be honest with you. I don't know that I've ever heard that you were legitimately a Lions fan. Oh yeah, I mean, look,

3:05

I love the local teams, but my dad used to take me to the Lions games growing up in Detroit. Would you go Superdome or not? The

3:12

Superdome, the Silverdome, Pontiac Silverdome. Fred Uh, it was called navin

3:21

Field, Briggs Stadium, then Tiger Stadium, and that's where I saw the

3:27

Lions at Tiger Stadium. Well, I had no idea and so all these

3:30

so you didn't force the Lions upon your kids. They just willingly took the

3:34

Lions as their team. It was. It was the damnedest thing. They

3:38

just started watching the Lions. I never really brought it up. Must have been all their success over the years, That's what I'm saying. Look,

3:44

Ram fans, I know, I know, and we're rooting for the Rams. I get it, but damn, the Lions got to win before I

3:51

go. I mean, that's how old I am and how long it's been.

3:54

Listen, look not too uh, I'm not trying to be cruel here,

4:00

right, but there would be an element of comedy attached to For the

4:03

longest time, Matt Stafford was labeled as well. He's gotten the playoffs a

4:08

couple of times, but it's not like Matt Stafford ever won a playoff game

4:10

for the Lions. And then when he finally does win a playoff game in

4:15

Detroit, it's a member of the Rams. I just think that would be hilarious. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be cruel to anybody in the

4:20

household there. But it would be kind of funny to see the Rams going

4:24

to Detroit beat the Lions with all of those storylines there. And for the

4:28

record, I love Jared Goff maybe more than most people. I think he

4:31

got a little bit screwed by Sean McVay and everybody when he was basically scapegoated

4:36

out of town. Not a little bit screwed like I just saw. I

4:40

wasn't a fan of that, and I think if you ask Sean McVay,

4:43

that probably wasn't handled the right way. And I think, you know,

4:46

Jared Goff was a lot better than maybe people want to look back and say,

4:49

no, no, no, they needed to make a change of quarterback.

4:51

They want a lot of games with Jared Goff. They went to a

4:54

super Bowl with Jared Goff. But there would be something kind of funny about

4:58

the fact and cruel but yet appropriate. If you know the Lions history with

5:02

Matt Stafford finally winning a playoff game in Detroit, but it's as a member

5:06

of the Rams. Sorry, Fred, there's an element of funny attached to

5:12

that. Well, I think that's going to happen. I think, and

5:16

I've said it, the Rams are the one team you don't want to see.

5:19

Now. When Eric is on the show Eric Dickerson, you know,

5:24

he talks about the fact that he sees things you don't see as a fan.

5:29

He sees little things in a game that the fans don't really see.

5:32

And if you add those up, and they're little things, but they mean

5:36

a lot, the Rams could be in big trouble, big trouble if you

5:42

add those up. But I just can't see. I can't see the Lions

5:47

beating them. That's done. I think Stafford has a big game. Now,

5:50

how much of that is because you've never seen the Lions really win any

5:54

playoff games outside of ninety one when they had Eric Kramer and they and they

6:00

went to an NFC title game, Like, didn't they go to the playoffs

6:02

with Carl Sweet ten years ago? I don't remember, you know, to

6:06

be honest with you, you know the quarterback was when I started watching the

6:10

Lions, who's that Milt Plumb? You wonder why they didn't win? Milt

6:16

Plum was the quarterback. I really had no idea you were this into the

6:19

Lions. I swear to God, like we'll joke about you know, you

6:24

being a Diamondbacks fans because you call them the Serpientes and because you worked for

6:29

so long and were out in the desert for so long. I had no

6:31

idea there was actually an emotional poll for the Detroit Lions. Here I was.

6:36

I was a Lions man. My dad used to take me to the

6:39

games. He shared season tickets with a buddy, a buddy I never met,

6:43

and for whatever reason, the guy I didn't know the guy, the

6:46

guy would only go to like half the games and I would go to the

6:48

other half. And the most tragic tortuous story for me as a child growing

6:54

up was the time I was going to have an opportunity. And I probably

6:58

was like six, so Eric was four. Okay. I was going to

7:02

see the green Bay Packers and this is Vince Lombardi. Green Bay Packers,

7:08

the powerful Packers were coming to Tiger Stadium, and I was so psyched and

7:13

I was so ready. So Saturday before the game, I mean, I'm

7:17

getting this is it. I'm going to see the Packers And all of a

7:21

sudden, I don't feel well and I feel a little warm, and I

7:27

told my mom and she said, lay down, okay. So I lay

7:30

down and now I'm drinking water and stuff. And I don't know, back

7:32

then, you took aspirin, right, you didn't. There was no tile

7:35

on a I was taking aspirin and I had a little bit of a fever.

7:39

And now it's probably seven o'clock at night, and she brings me something

7:42

to eat and I said, I'm just so tired, and she feels my

7:46

forehead and I'm still warm. Now I'm looking forward to this game tomorrow more

7:49

than you can imagine. Joseph, it was not COVID Johnson. That didn't

7:54

exist. Then, I'm just asking. I think I had malaria. I

7:57

don't know what I've heard. It doesn't play, you know what. I

8:01

think I had a case. He's a longer I had the old misery.

8:05

Anyway, So like eight o'clock at night, I go to sleep, and

8:09

even in my sleep, I am dreaming about going to this game tomorrow because

8:15

I really knew and I love sports, all right. I get up the

8:20

next day and I'm actually feeling a little better. I get up, I'm

8:24

ready to go to the game. So I walk into the living room and

8:31

I say, what time are we going to the game? And my dad

8:33

is sitting there, and he said, well, to be honest with you,

8:39

you have slept all the way through. I'd been to the game.

8:43

I'm back from the game, and I took your brother Eric, who was

8:48

four years old and probably didn't even know what time it was. I went,

8:52

are you kidding me? Did you start crying? Yes? Oh,

8:56

man, but that's a hell of a nap, though you probably felt fresh.

9:01

Well, there's a little consolation now, Jonas. Yeah, but at least you got enough energy to watch the replay on TV. H No,

9:07

they didn't of course back then. Oh that's that didn't exist, you know.

9:11

But that that reminds me of the story. Ever tell you about the

9:16

time I dehydrated? I mean, no, no, you have it.

9:22

I don't believe so, but I feel like this is a dangerous territory here.

9:24

So okay, Kevin, if I told that story when I dehydrated,

9:28

you know, all your stories run together so much, probably would be the

9:31

requisent answer. But I don't remember it, so please all right. I

9:35

don't know if you've ever gone through this, you know, I didn't know

9:39

anything. I've got a dehydration phobia. I'm not even lying. That's why

9:41

I drink this. I got a forty ounce hydro flask that I walk around

9:46

with. I have at least one hundred ounces of water before four am.

9:52

And then because I do the radio show, and I'll probably in a day

9:56

probably have anywhere between two twenty and two hundred sixty ounces of water every single

10:01

day. Yeah, that's good for you. Well, I bet I'm a

10:05

bedweather Fred because of it. But you know what, it's worth the sacrifice. Now I drink like three bottles of water a show. You see me

10:09

do that? That's fair? Yeah, same thing. I compare to stay

10:13

hydrated, you know, not like seventeen. You know you can get secondary

10:16

drowning from drinking too much water, are you aware of that? I mean,

10:20

I'll take my chances, Fred, Fine, you know what, but

10:24

hey, I'll go out without without any cramps. So they're exactly exactly all

10:31

right. So maybe now I'm like four years old and it's like eight o'clock

10:35

at night, and I go to the bathroom. I was toilet trained,

10:39

Jonas, I was four years old. Okay, so I go to the bathroom, I go back to bed. I go to the bathroom, I

10:43

go back to bed. As a matter of fact, I go to the

10:46

bathroom honestly, like twenty times in two hours. I go back to bed.

10:52

Finally I've gone for the twentieth time, and I don't really feel well.

10:54

And I walk into my parents room, so maybe it's eleven thirty at

10:58

night now, you know. And I'm standing at the end of the bed

11:01

and they're sleeping, and I go, mom, Mom, Mom. She

11:07

looks at me and she goes, oh my god, Oh my god,

11:11

I want what's the matter. I had shriveled into a human prune. I

11:16

had completely dehydrated. I don't know why what I had shriveled up. I

11:22

had like no water in my body. So I was like shriveled. And

11:26

they grabbed me and they rushed me to the hospital and they put me in

11:31

isolation and I'm in isolation for a week with IVS and medication, and finally

11:39

after a week they released me from isolation and I was hydrated again. What

11:46

are you an inflatable yard decoration? You did? You didn't have enough and

11:52

so you just sort of like fall apart when they unplugged the whole thing.

11:54

For what do you mean you shriveled up like that? I don't know It's

11:58

like look at a perse and say, what would they look like if they

12:01

had no fluids in their body? Dead? Okay, well I'm apparently I

12:05

was pretty close. Yeah, so what are you like? Walking around like

12:09

weekend at Freddy's. You're just like walking up to mom going, hey,

12:13

can I get a glass of water? Please? What happened to me?

12:18

And I didn't feel particularly bad, but I was like shriveled like a little

12:22

prune. Are you sure you didn't have something that was as someone who was dehydrated back in the day many times? Okay, that certainly never happened to

12:28

me. Yeah, I kill as you played football, I mean should probably

12:31

hits you at one point in time during your athletic feets at some point,

12:35

like normally, the way it works for me when I'm dehydrated, it starts

12:37

at my feet, like I'll start cramping up at my feet and my toes

12:41

and then I go, oh, we got a problem, and then maybe

12:45

it'll get to my calf, and then maybe it'll get to my hamstrings.

12:48

I don't like wither away like one of the California raisins. And then walk

12:54

into my mom and she goes, oh my god, we got to get

12:56

you a glass of water like that? That seems like there was something more going on there, Fred. And what a hell of a memory? Fred?

13:03

The detail the description of a four year old child. Yeah, well,

13:07

running, if you went through something like that, no matter how old

13:09

you are, wouldn't you remember it? Why didn't you tell me? I

13:11

don't know. I mean if I were four years old, I might have

13:15

remembered bits and pieces here and there, but not like the full details.

13:18

Fred, You've got a hell of a memory. I'm gonna Lord tell the

13:20

real story. Fred, want your parents' liquor cabinet, the old liquor cabinet

13:26

throw back, A couple of pause cough medicines, a couple of throat burners.

13:30

Was that wrong? Was that wrong? No, not at all.

13:33

Do what you gotta do. Just curiosity sometimes it gets you. Maybe that's

13:35

why you got to be hydrated. Fred, you had too much alcohol?

13:39

A jovon bouja. We'll jump on the show here, but anyways, that

13:43

Rams Lions matchup should be sad. I'll be on the show at about one

13:50

forty. Oh should we do? Dan Campbell next, ask your question and

13:54

be mad enough to ask the question. Oh yeah, let's do that just

13:58

you and me. Come on, Jonas, you know it? Oh yeah,

14:03

simple and free Jonas Knox in today for Rodney I throw back Thursday,

14:07

Bred, I thought you said you didn't have anything left on the tank,

14:11

but you had nothing left for anybody else by Chicago. That's what it was, that right, exactly? Come on, Kevin, you know that's my

14:16

jam. Give me your own special heart smile. Smima shall never leave me?

14:22

Now is a Detroit guy? Are you allowed to listen to Chicago?

14:24

Fred? You know what. I was barred for many years, but give

14:28

him my Juilliard training. I was then allowed to incorporate AllMusic. Yeah,

14:33

you know you gotta draw the line somewhere, all right, Uh, let's

14:37

do Dan Campbell real quick. I love the Lions coach. Sorry, I

14:41

think most people do. He's great. He really is. He's won in

14:45

a million and Dan Campbell got into it with a local radio hosts who questioned

14:50

his decision to go for a two point conversion after the ineligible penalty that back

14:54

Detroit up to the seven yard line. Kevin, do I think we have

14:58

this? Yeah? Here's an exchange between Dan Campbell and the radio host from

15:01

yesterday. You had said you told the offense, you're going for two on

15:05

the final drive if you score. But from the seven, I mean and

15:09

looking back, like, was there a point of no return where you laid

15:11

down your sword and kicked the extra point? Do you regret it all the decision to go for it from the seven? Yeah, I told I told

15:18

our offense. I think I said this before, and we're going for the

15:24

win and we're going to go down. We're going to score and we're going

15:26

for two. And I wasn't coming off of that. So if it was

15:31

like ten or fifteen, like a holding penalty, you still would have gone

15:33

for it. No, we're getting outside of ten. You can't every week?

15:39

Good? All good? You do it every week? Oh verse D.

15:45

Yeah, when you got the penalty, you move it to say it?

15:48

Say it, both of you? What say it? Say what you

15:52

want to say. I think from the seven it's a low percentage play.

15:56

I think your chances of winning are lower than if you kick the extra plt. I like you would say it to anybody else I'm on the radio,

16:03

say like you want to say it. I thought it was a reckless decision.

16:06

Thank you, okay, but you don't regret it. No, Okay,

16:11

that's fair. Say it. For God's sake, you know what.

16:15

That was Jim Costa on ninety seven to one the ticket in Detroit. I

16:21

like that I got something to say. Say it. And also, if

16:25

you listened to Dan Campbell, you know, interact with the media after that

16:29

game against Dallas, he was hot, obviously he was. He was pissed

16:33

off and he was not happy. He couldn't find a place to throw his gum or you know, his dip pouch whatever he was working on there.

16:38

But like he even like told you know, whoever the member of the media

16:42

was, he just said, listen, it's not you like, you know,

16:45

I'm just a little bit pissed off. I don't like losing. Like

16:48

he's got enough respect for members of the media that he's not going to belittlem

16:55

or diminishum. He's probably just been hearing from a lot of people. I

17:00

did, at what point, were you going to kick the extra point?

17:02

Because it felt like to me watching that game, and people want to get

17:04

hung up on, you know, whether or not you know, the guy

17:07

was eligible or he reported and all that, but it did feel like,

17:11

okay, at that point, kicked the extra point. No, still going

17:15

for it, okay, and then there was a penalty and it just like

17:18

no matter what. So the fact that he did say, yeah, if we got outside the ten yard line, yeah, then we would have you

17:22

know, kicked the extra point. But like there's nothing wrong with that.

17:26

Like he didn't he didn't get you know, he wasn't all, you know,

17:29

pissy about it. He wasn't all He just said, hey, let's have a real conversation. I'm on the radio and let's go that's fun.

17:33

I respect that. You know, there are a lot of guys. What

17:37

are you questioning me for? Or I'll never talk to you again after something

17:40

like that. You're trying to embarrass me. Chempicals, you got something to say? Say it okay. You think Lincoln Riley has that same response?

17:47

Are you kidding me? Yeah? Like like that would not like there would

17:51

be either he wouldn't he would storm off the interview or it just wouldn't be

17:55

like like you're gonna question my decision making, like what do you know about

17:59

football? And the fact that he's like, no, let's have a real conversation. Do you think I'm in a mistake? All right, So let's

18:03

play the game. Sean McVay. What would he do. He wouldn't directly.

18:11

I think he would find a workaround to appeal to everybody. Well,

18:17

I mean, listen, I respect your opinion and I respect you know, but you know, look, we've you know, we practiced this stuff all

18:22

week and uh, you know, that's just that's just where we're you know,

18:26

where we were planning on going. And you know, in the future,

18:30

you know, we'll address that stuff as a team. Okay. Uh,

18:33

Well, Brandon Staley, well we don't have to ask him. Oh

18:36

gosh, Fred all right, Uh, Darvin Ham, I don't know,

18:41

he's about ready to beat somebody's ass. So I'd like to stay away from

18:45

Darvin Ham based on, you know, some of the stuff going on there

18:49

in the locker room. Tyron Lou, I mean, yeah, that's the

18:53

plan. That's what we're doing every time we're going. I trust my guys,

18:57

players, play coaches coach for a reason, Okay, Dave Roberts,

19:03

I mean, look, we trust Mookie. We trusted the spot. It

19:10

just didn't work out, and that's playoff baseball. And also I've heard him

19:14

in the past say when somebody would ask him a question like that, hold

19:17

his feet to the fire a little bit. I was comfortable with that decision.

19:21

He will say that I was comfortable about that decision. Ron Washington of

19:25

the Angels. We don't know. We don't know what he would say, because he hadn't said anything yet. Well, I mean, if you've if

19:30

you know his history at all, who knows. I'm just saying, you

19:37

know, the guy's got a hell of a sense of smell. Todd McClelland,

19:41

coach of the Kings. What would he say. I know what he'd

19:45

say. I know exactly what he'd say. No, you don't know what

19:49

you're talking about. We did it, and too bad you don't like it.

19:55

That's how we do it. But the more I think about it,

19:57

they're all honest. I just like that. Dan Campbell said, you know,

20:00

don't beat around a bush here. It's also look, Dan Campbell's been

20:04

here. And remember when he first took the job, it was well,

20:07

you know we're gonna be biting kneecaps. I was like, oh, okay,

20:10

here we go again. It's the Lions. So he'll be done in a year, two years tops. And then it was he put a race

20:15

car helmet on. Then he talked about the coffee he drinks. He drinks

20:18

like, you know, a double shot venties from Starbucks. He drinks two

20:22

of those a day, black coffees, and so he just became it was

20:26

almost like it was a parody. But the whole time he was consistent,

20:30

we're building something. We're building something. We're building something. And everybody else

20:34

in the NFL has done it one way to where they you know, it's

20:37

either you've got to build through landing a free agent or you've already got a

20:41

franchise quarterback. And the Lions were like, no, no, no,

20:44

we're gonna build on the interior. We're gonna build this thing out. Oh

20:48

and by the way, the quarterback, you guys don't want any more that

20:51

you're basically paying for us to take. We're gonna be able to build something

20:53

around him to where we're a legitimate team. And now what three years later,

20:59

it's a completely And there was momentum from last year like, I don't

21:02

know how you can scoff at anything the Lions have done. I know it's

21:06

been easy, and you being a Lions fan, there's probably a lot of people who have had the same joke that they pulled from for years and years

21:12

and years. I look at him now and I go, they're getting the

21:15

last laugh because they've told everybody out this was going to go, and that's

21:18

exactly how it went. How do you guys think the late great Bob Knight

21:22

would have reacted to a question like that? Oh? That would what if

21:26

Vic asked it? I think VI can still be asking the question right now,

21:30

right well, early in his career, he would have walked up and

21:34

choked you. Yeah, well if you come trying to tackle me. You

21:40

remember when Vic was telling us a story that basically he got assaulted by Bob

21:44

Knight. Right, he's telling the story. We're like Vic, that's a salt. Well today, you know, is all right? Dissension in the

21:52

Laker locker room. We'll find out. Yovann Boujaz next, Jodas Knox in

21:56

today for Rodney on a five seventy LA Sports Arts reports of dissension in the

22:03

Laker locker room. Yovann Booja, the Athletic Roder with Shams and Yovonne jumps

22:07

on. Now. Yovonn thanks for coming on today. Thanks for having me.

22:11

All right, fill us in. Start from the beginning. Well,

22:17

this is something that's been building, I think for a few weeks now where

22:21

the Lakers have their peak of the season. They win the n Season Tournament

22:25

in Las Vegas on December ninth, and since then they have lost nine to

22:30

twelve games, and it has been an unhappy group. I think that's been

22:33

clear on the floor in some of the postgame comments. But it really hit

22:41

the year of the season last night, losing to an undermanned Miami Heat team

22:47

who did not have Jimmy Butler, they didn't have another couple of rotation guys,

22:52

and the Lakers are really outclassed throughout the entire game, basically wired to

22:56

wire. They did make it a more competitive game in the second half,

23:00

but Miami was pretty much in control of that game from start to finish.

23:06

So postgame you have this bizarre scene of Darwinham usually speaks about ten minutes or

23:12

so after the buzzer, and last night we're waiting. It's it's ten minutes,

23:18

it's fifteen minutes, it's twenty minutes. All of a sudden, it's

23:22

you know, you guys can go in the locker room. The locker rooms open, and the locker room never opens before Darvinham speaks, it's usually that's

23:29

just kind of how the MBA protocle works. At post talks and the locker

23:33

room opens. After that, we go talk. He's very dejected, he's

23:37

soft spoken, he's down. Lebron is right next to him, their lockers

23:41

are next to each other. Lebron gets dressed and just leaves, and that's

23:45

very uncharacteristic of him. He's always talks to the media. That's kind of

23:48

been one of his hallmarks throughout the years, is no matter how bad things

23:52

are, he'll give the media his time. He was clearly frustrated, just

23:57

know zips out of the locker room, and then you have some conflicting comments

24:02

postgame with Anthony Davis and Austin Reeves both saying, you know, yes we've

24:07

had injuries. Yes, we keep changing the lineup, we've been out of

24:10

rhythm. We don't have continuity, but we can't use excuses with that,

24:14

and we can't make excuses for our poor play, like we're we got to

24:17

figure this out. We're just not playing well. Then you have Darvin Ham,

24:21

you know, basically saying the opposite of well, we can't. We're

24:23

not going to get right until we get fully healthy, and you know,

24:26

we we don't have continuity because the lineup keeps changing and guys are in and

24:30

out. And even when as far as to say that the Lakers missing multiple

24:37

rotation guys was just as bad, if not worse than Miami missing Jimmy Butler.

24:41

So I think that cognitive or you know, that dissonance there. But

24:45

between what Darvin has been saying publicly and what some of the players have been

24:48

feeling and saying publicly, what was on display last night, and and talking

24:55

to sources after the game and putting this story together, it was just clear

24:57

that there is a disconnect right now between what some of the problems are how

25:03

to address those problems, And I think you're seeing that both on the floor

25:07

and their performance and postgame in some of the comments from both the players and

25:12

Ham himself. Obviously you're around them every day. Was there maybe remnants or

25:18

signs of this before the N Season tournament's success, Like maybe, Like it

25:26

feels like it's kind of odd that all of a sudden, you win an

25:29

N season tournament and just ever since then there's been problems, Like was there

25:32

any of this or any indication that there was some issues before all that?

25:37

Yeah? I mean I would go back to they started the season three and

25:40

five, like they've had these weird peaks and valleys where they had a rough

25:44

start to the season. Then they turned things around really because of the n

25:48

Season tournament. That's when they started playing their best basketball. What was when

25:52

those games were sprinkled in in between the other regular season games. Then they

25:56

go on this stretch where they go up I believe five games, five or

26:00

six games above five hundred. At the Uncason Tournament when they won it,

26:03

they were fourth in the West, and right now they are tenth in the

26:07

West, a mere point zero zero one above the eleventh seed Golden State Warriors.

26:12

So they're on the precipice of being out of even the playing tournament right

26:17

now with how fall you know, how much they've fallen in the standings.

26:22

So I really think it's it's the manner in which they've lost these games,

26:26

which has been you know, losing to a San Antonio team that was on

26:30

an eighteen game losing streak, and losing to the Miami Heat last night,

26:34

and and just some of these losses that have been pretty inexplicable. And I

26:41

think the flip side is, you know, Darvin has talked a lot about

26:45

the role players they haven't had, but Lebron and Ad have only missed combined

26:49

five games, and if you want to throw in Austin Reeves and D'Angelo Russell,

26:53

that goes to a combined eight games for your top four players. So

26:59

really like, yes, you know, Gabe Vincent's been out, and Ruie

27:02

and Cam Reddish and like different guys have been in out of the lineup,

27:06

but your top four guys have basically been there every single night, and you

27:10

guys are still below five hundred at the thirty five game marks. So I

27:14

mean, I think that's a clear disappointment and under achievement for this group.

27:18

And I don't think the blame squarely falls on Darvin ham. I think there's

27:22

a lot of blame to go around. But one thing right now that's been

27:26

clear is I think the players are starting to tune him out and there is

27:30

a disconnect there, you know, as we had been kind of learning over

27:33

the last few weeks, and was confirmed last night. All right, Jovan

27:37

Buhaigh athletic with us. That being said, is Darvin Hamm in trouble?

27:42

I don't think it's at that point yet. I would say that the seat

27:47

is starting to get a little warm. I would compare it to if we're

27:52

in a car right now, the seat warm are just turned on, but

27:55

it's on level one out of three. I don't think he's going to be

28:00

fired tomorrow or even within the next two days necessarily, but I think it's

28:04

become a situation where these upcoming home games are must win home games, and

28:11

like, you know, the Friday night game against Memphis the Sunday night game

28:15

against the Clippers, like the Lakers have to win. I think at least

28:18

one of those two, if not both, to change the atmosphere around this

28:25

group and start to turn this season around. They lose both those games come

28:29

Monday morning, Like, I don't know what's going to happen, but I

28:33

think the you know, the groundswell of disconnect and sort of tuning him out

28:38

has only been increasing recently. So if they lose the next two, like,

28:42

I don't know what it would happens, but I don't so to be

28:47

clear, I'm not, you know, I don't think he's again going to be fired today or tomorrow or something like that. I think they're more has

28:53

to go wrong for it to head into that direction. But it is trending

28:59

that way. And again with some of the comments post game from the players,

29:03

Lebron not talking like there clearly is a lot of frustration and really the

29:07

only thing at this point that can turn that around is them winning. But

29:11

with the way they've been playing the last three weeks, there's really no indication

29:15

that they're going to turn this around and start winning. So it made to

29:18

be seen where things ultimately play out. But you know, so I wouldn't

29:22

say the seat is hot, I wouldn't say a firing is eminent, but

29:26

it is starting to that has become a possibility when the thought of that as

29:30

recently as three weeks ago after winning the n Season tournament would have been laughable.

29:34

So it's just kind of crazy how quickly things can turn in the NBA.

29:40

Yovon, You're around this team every day, And I say that because

29:47

is it is it reasonable for the players to just talk about rotations or does

29:53

Darvin Ham have a legitimate gripe, because we were making the point that it

29:57

seems like the easy, borderline lazy way to go as well, you got

30:02

to fire, the manager, got to fire, the coach got to fire the but man if guys are injured and he's having to do patchwork lineups because

30:08

he can't get anybody healthy for consistent Like how much of that is on Darvin

30:12

Ham? You know what I mean? Like That's why I wonder, like,

30:15

what is the feeling that you're getting it is? Does he have a

30:18

legitimate gripe with just the injuries he's dealt with and them just not performing.

30:23

I think it's I'm kind of more in the middle on that question because I

30:30

do think again, like you know, Gabe Vincent was their primary offseason addition,

30:34

and he has played six games this season or my five or six,

30:41

and you know that was supposed to be a big pece. Like remember,

30:44

going back to last season, Dennis Schroeder played a huge part for them.

30:47

He was their sixth man. He was often closing games in the playoffs ahead

30:51

of Dangel Russell, and Gabe Vincent was supposed to be that Dennis replacement.

30:56

So already, you know, arguably your biggest bench piece and biggest addition entering

31:02

the season, you haven't had for basically the entire year. So that is

31:06

a legitimate absence, and you have had Rui Hachimura now have several injuries a

31:11

concussion, a broken nose. Now I has a cast train, Cam Reddish

31:14

has been in and out with the groins train, D'Angel Russell now has a

31:18

tailbone injury. So like there have been legitimate things, but I go back

31:22

to what I said earlier of like this team has always kind of revolved around

31:26

you just put competent role players around Lebron and Ad and they're going to be

31:30

fine. And for the most part, Lebron and Ad have been healthy and

31:34

this team has still struggled. So part of that is on I think Darvin

31:38

Ham and pushing the right buttons with lineups and rotations, and part of that

31:42

is on the supporting cast and them. I mean, last night they went

31:45

four for thirty on threes, with a lot of those being wide open,

31:48

with Miami kind of forcing that to be the game plan, and the Lakers

31:52

just missed a bunch of open threes. And that's been the case more often

31:55

than not this season. So I don't think all that is on Darvin Ham.

32:00

I think that the feedback that I've received has been more I think the

32:04

players and some people internally would like to just see him commit to a lineup,

32:08

commit to a rotation, and it's just, hey, these are our

32:12

top nine guys. This is our starting lineup. Sure, if one starter

32:15

goes down, we will we have to adjust the starting lineup. If if

32:19

one bench guy goes down, we have to adjust the bench lineup. But

32:22

what it's kind of been has been if one guy goes out, all of a sudden, it's a new starting lineup completely. You know, now two

32:28

guys are out, two new guys are in completely new rotation, like guys

32:32

who weren't playing or playing, guys who were playing are out. And I

32:36

think people just want to see some consistency with it. Of sure, stuff

32:38

happens, injuries happen, you have to make adjustments, but even within that,

32:44

there's been a lack of consistency in terms of like they've had three different

32:46

starting lineups the last three games, and that is not all injury related.

32:51

That has just been Darvin hasn't been happy with what he's been seeing. But

32:53

at some point, I think people want to see some levels consistency of just

32:59

this is this guy's he knows how much he's playing, he knows what quarters

33:02

he's going to be in, and that has not been the case all season

33:06

up to this point. Well, I'll tell you, Yovonn. You know, I want what I think people want to see. Want to see him

33:12

win. They don't care how they do it. They just want to see

33:14

him win. And that's and that's the thing. If they start with you

33:17

know, they win the next couple of games, this is going to cool

33:20

down and we're going to be having a different conversation. But they've lost nine

33:24

to twelve. They have some difficult games coming up. They got the Clippers,

33:28

the Suns the following week, then they got Dallas and okay, see

33:30

like they've got we've got a homestand which is nice, but they have a

33:35

pretty difficult home stand. So it's really going to be telling which way that

33:38

you know that the season ends up going over the next couple of weeks.

33:42

As always, great stuff, Yovonn. Thanks for doing this man, Thank

33:45

you guys so much. All right, Yovann Bohan of The Athletic. Keep

33:47

listening for your chance to win a pair of sweet tickets to see the Clippers

33:51

take on the Sun's Monday at the Crypt. Coverage begins at six thirty,

33:53

with tip off at seven thirty. Right here on your Home with the Clippers

33:57

A five seventy LA Sports give those tickets way next hour, so stay with

34:00

us for your opportunity. When we come back, we'll have spirituality. In

34:05

the two o'clock hour, VI will jump on and Dylan Hernandez, he's always

34:08

fired up, he'll join us next. From the Times