0:01

Sright there we go, three hour show Fred Rogan, Rodney Pete, The

0:05

Big Friday Show on a five to seventy LA Sports, The Friday Show where

0:09

anything goes and apparently anything has gone. It happened about eleven twenty five.

0:15

The Salta Adam Austin was on with us yesterday. He said he expected Rodney

0:19

something to happen this week, possibly today, perhaps late in the day,

0:24

but they delivered the news early this morning. Darvinham is out out after two

0:30

years as coach of the Lakers, two years in the playoffs, two years

0:34

coming up short. Were you surprised, Rodney, I wasn't surprised after all

0:41

the chatter that we heard in the last few weeks coming out of the Lakers

0:46

camp. I'm a little I guess I'm a little surprised because of the look

1:00

at ninety and seventy four in two years and took him to the Western Conference

1:07

Finals one year and one year lost to the defending champions, and every game

1:12

was close. I know, close doesn't matter because it's about winning and losing,

1:19

but I think you take that. It's in many other cities, if

1:23

you if you had a coach come in in two years you go to the

1:26

Western Conference Finals and you go to the playoffs, even granted it's to play

1:30

in. You get there, you go to the playoffs, and you lose

1:34

the defending champs. That coach is not getting fired most places, But this

1:38

is the Lakers. I'm just wondering, now, Fred, and I know

1:45

there's names being thrown out there. In fact, you know, the salty

1:49

one who's got his ear to the street, you know thought you know is

1:52

saying that it's a possibility ty Loo could could be the next Laker coach.

1:57

JJ Reddick's name has been thrown out there. I'm wondering, if you're up

2:02

and coming, say you're a new coach, not a veteran coach, but

2:06

a new coach, maybe getting your first head coaching job. Is the Laker

2:09

job something that you want? Is it really something that you want because you're

2:17

gonna have a short leash, And yes, it's not easy coaching Lebron and

2:23

probably not easy coaching Anthony Davis, but it's not even it's worth coaching the

2:30

Lakers and the expectation of the Lakers. So I'm wondering if who's that next

2:35

coach going to be? And if it's not a veteran coach, I'd be

2:38

worried if it's a new guy or somebody that's his first head coaching job.

2:42

Well, when you mentioned the expectation of the Lakers, I think that's fascinating.

2:46

What is the expectation for the Lakers to win a title? They won

2:51

in the bubble, Okay, that counts. But given this roster, can

2:55

you expect to win a title? Given the way they're constructed? Do you

3:00

expect to win a title? That's right, you don't. That's the reaction

3:05

nine people say it would say, no, you can't win a title with

3:08

this roster the way it is constructed. Okay, So whoever comes in here,

3:12

if the expectation is you win a title but you don't, then you

3:16

haven't failed because you can't. Adam, what do you think it's easy to

3:23

say that now? Coming into this season, the expectations were high based upon

3:29

this roster that they reconstructed at the midway point of last season that got them

3:34

to the Western Conference finals when they won the end season Tournament championship. They

3:39

had some of the top odds to win the NBA Championship. They came into

3:44

the year with the six best odds to win the championship. So to say

3:47

now that, oh, no one thought this team could win the championship,

3:51

that's just not true. Coming into this season, they were a contender.

3:55

The problem was a highlight, Darbn Ham. But if you get seventy games

4:00

out of Lebron James and Anthony Davis, you can't end up being the seventh

4:05

or eighth seed. Technically, if there wasn't a play in tournament, they

4:09

would have finished eighth in the West. They got to seven through the play

4:13

in tournament and unfortunately they had to take on the Denver Nugget in the first

4:15

round because of that. Is there shame in losing to the defending champs that

4:19

may win it all again. No, the shame is in being that low

4:24

of a seed to start with, when you got seventy games from Lebron and

4:28

Anthony Davis, who people are talking about this season as being an MVP candidate

4:31

with how well he played. So look, it's not all on Darvin Ham.

4:35

I told you guys this yesterday. I don't believe that. I do

4:39

think there are flaws on this roster, But what's the easiest thing to do?

4:42

Turn over the entire roster? Rob Polinka firing himself or just letting go

4:46

of Darvin Ham. That's why that's the easiest thing to do. But the

4:49

problem is this is turned into a perpetual thing. It's gonna continue to happen,

4:57

well until they find their guy. Well, but how long is that

5:00

guy gonna get? Right? Is that guy gonna get three years? Four

5:04

years? Because we've only seen guys get two. Well, if Frank Vogel,

5:11

who was everybody was praising him when he first got here, he's a

5:15

defensive strategist, he's he's perfect thing with the Lakers needed. They won a

5:19

title. Yeah, bubble, call it what you will, but their defense

5:23

was crazy. That roster was constructed at that time. It was perfect for

5:27

them. But he's gone. You know, he has one bad season and

5:31

after that he's on the hot seat, and it just keeps going and going

5:36

and going. And I'm saying, if there's not someone out there that is

5:41

a veteran and hard nos you know, I want to say Popovitch type,

5:47

who's gonna take that job with any kind of security. Because Lebron's not playing

5:51

seventy one games next year and Ad was as healthy as he's ever been.

5:58

You're gonna guarantee that's gonna happen next year, So they're gonna if they're not,

6:00

those two guys are not gonna be in the lineup as much as they

6:03

were this year, so you're gonna have to factor that in as well.

6:06

So I just don't know how attractive this job is gonna be for someone,

6:12

especially someone new. Well. I think you said it though. If it's

6:15

a young guy that comes in like JJ Reddick or Jean Rondo and gets blown

6:19

out in two years, he'll get another shot down the line. I don't

6:24

know why they would be that concerned about it. They would just use the

6:27

same excuse. Will the Lakers keep recycling coaches. It's not an indication of

6:31

that I'm not a good coach. It's just where the organization is at.

6:34

They're unstable. It's not about me. Mike Brown got another head coaching job

6:39

doing good things with Sacramento Now. I don't think it's gonna hurt that young

6:43

guy. If they're not able to perform or get the Lakers to win a

6:46

championship in the first two years, I think you can risk taking that job.

6:50

I don't think you're gonna have some scarlet letter on you if you don't

6:54

last with the Los Angeles Lakers because you can use the exact argument you're making

6:58

right now. They keep secondly head coaches over and over again. It's not

7:01

just me, it's them. Do you think that Rob Polinka had Well,

7:05

at first, you talked to everybody, But do you think he had conversations

7:09

with Lebron? And a dean said, all right, where you guys at

7:12

on this? I mean, what do you really think? Oh, there's

7:14

no doubt. Okay, if those conversations were already had, do you think

7:17

it was ever floated that all right, if you bring him back, Lebron

7:21

may say I could go elsewhere. Do you think that ever entered into a

7:27

conversation. My guess is it didn't need to get to that point because there

7:30

were so many murmurs during the regular season and so many guys in the locker

7:34

room that had already tuned him out. There's a report from Shams and Jovon

7:40

Bouja, who we had on earlier this week from January fourth of saying there

7:45

was a deepening disconnect between Darvin Ham and the Lakers locker room, citing six

7:48

sources with direct knowledge of the situation. They could all be players. The

7:54

disconnect stem from Ham's extreme rotation and starting lineup adjustments. They didn't trust him

8:01

Anthony Davis after Game two they blew a twenty point lead. He said,

8:05

there's times where we just don't know what we're doing out there. They don't

8:07

execute in the most pivotal moments of games, and that's a lot of in

8:13

game strategy. You could see Mike Malone was making all these different moves and

8:16

pushing all these different buttons out there. Now we'll put Aaron Gordon on Anthony

8:20

Davis so I'll have something else to think about. Darbynham wasn't doing that enough

8:24

guys in Game five in the third quarters at him, Adam to stop you

8:30

right pick if he did? He had he had Rudy, he had Ruey on the Joker, he had Lebron play the joker, Ye play the Joker.

8:37

I mean he played multiple guys on that, and I guess when when

8:39

you've got and Mike Maloney did. Don't get me wrong, he's done a

8:43

great job, but that that that team is constructed to win multiple titles right

8:52

now with multiple guys, and you've got a guy like Aaron Gordon who turned

8:56

from being you know the star to a role of guy that can be a

9:01

star at any any point in a game or any point in a series.

9:05

But I'm not arguing with about the rumbling in the locker room. But I'm

9:09

saying adjustment wise, because they were in every game. It came down,

9:13

came down to the last shot, and when your margins are that slim,

9:16

maybe call a damn time out in the third quarter in Game five against Denver

9:20

when they're making a run and everybody is saying call a timeout, call a

9:24

timeout, and Darvin Ham refused to do so. Do you think he was

9:28

Phil Jackson. He was just gonna let the players figure it out because we

9:31

did all this in practice. Well, he's not. It was his second season. He doesn't have that cachet. Everybody else it was first guessing,

9:39

not calling a timeout every time Denver went on a run and Darvin Ham didn't

9:43

do it. I'm sorry it looked like the game sped up too much.

9:46

It's just like I love Dave Roberts too, but when lance Lynn is given

9:50

up home run after home run in that series against the d Backs last year,

9:52

everybody else could see it. When everybody else is first guessing it and

9:56

he's the last one to figure it out. That's a problem for your head

10:00

coach. I like Darvin Ham, but I'm sorry that's what this is about.

10:03

I don't put a lot into They lost to Denver in five games,

10:07

and that means you should be fired. No, if you're losing to the

10:11

defending champs, the best team who may win it all again. I'm not

10:16

saying that's Darvin Ham's fault, but it was he maximizing his talent. Did

10:20

they maximize having Anthony Davis for seventy plus games and Lebron James this season?

10:24

No? Because they throughout six different starting lineups within the span of two weeks,

10:31

and players don't like that. There's no familiarity, there's no chemistry out

10:35

there. It seemed like an overreaction, a panic. You can't figure out

10:39

the right five guys to put out there on the court, and that is

10:41

the number one priority for a head coach. You think it had nothing to

10:45

do with the roster construction. Oh, I told you guys yesterday. I

10:48

think it's a flawed roster. I've told you this for six months. They

10:52

have too many guys who are one dimensional. They're good on one end of

10:56

the court, but not on the other d Lo good offensive player can't def

11:00

Austin Reeves, same thing, Cam Reddish, good defender, can't give you

11:03

anything on offense. Van Doll has the same problem. He's a great defender,

11:07

so you live with that. But this roster is flawed. There's too

11:11

many players. How much do you think the loss of Gabe Vincent affected this

11:15

team? Yeah, he didn't play enough to really show. He got that

11:20

contract based off of shooting fifty percent in the Eastern Conference Finals for the Miami

11:24

Heat last season against Boston, where he just lit it up from three shooting

11:28

fifty percent. Yeah, when he had been a career thirty four percent three

11:31

point shit right. I was with you that. I don't I didn't think his body at work really, you know, regarded that kind of contract,

11:37

or or even the Lakers banking on him being that big of a difference maker

11:43

for them. Yeah. Right. He would have helped a little bit on

11:46

the margins, but honestly, it seemed like Darvin ham was being overwhelmed with

11:52

too many options, So I don't know how much it would have helped, because he had enough guys healthy throughout the majority of the season where he should

11:58

have figured out earlier that Ruey hut Chimoor has to be in the starting lineup.

12:01

Where you should have figured it out by now that Austin Reeve shouldn't be

12:05

coming off the bench. He's one of your other playmakers taking the pressure off

12:09

of Lebron James having to do everything and initiate your offense. That's that's not

12:13

hard to figure out. I'm sorry. Is the problem here for anybody that

12:18

takes this job? The Lakers are a tough team to coach with expectations or

12:24

is it Lebron is a tough guy to coach with expectations. I mean it's

12:28

both. It's magnified because Lebron is now with the Lakers, he's a franchise

12:33

unto himself in some ways, you bring a man with the most storied franchise,

12:37

maybe as them or Boston in the NBA, And yes, you're under

12:41

a microscope, you're under the hot lamp the entire time. But I'm just

12:43

guessing Lebron is gonna be signing off on whoever that guy is, and if

12:48

it's JJ Redick, or if it's Jon Rondo, or if it's coach lou

12:52

who By the way, he's still in their contract through next season with the

12:56

Clippers, so that was guaranteed that it's not going to hurt This is not

13:01

gonna hurt Tyleru their performance against Dallas. It could depending on how this series

13:05

ends, they come back and win the series, because one could argue just

13:09

the same argument you made against Darvin Ham could be argued about Tyleru in what

13:15

way he doesn't have Kawhi Leonard right now? Why? Why does Paul George

13:18

only have thirteen shots? Why? Why are you not Why are you not

13:22

calling time out? Why are you not adjusting? Why are you not running plays directly for him? I've seen plenty of plays run directly for him.

13:30

This has been a problem for Paul George going back to Indiana. I'm just

13:33

saying, why can't you get more out of How do you have your best player on the court only take that many shots if you're not Is that not?

13:39

Can that not be directed at coaching? There can be some criticism there.

13:43

He's also won a championship before. He's also known as the best adjuster

13:48

in the league. My point is you can throw a lot at coaches at

13:52

the end of the day, though, you can, but Darvin Ham didn't

13:56

have enough built in equity like a coach like coach Lou. It's it's players

14:01

as well. No, it's not Roddy, I'm with you. It's not

14:05

just Darvin Ham was horrible and he held the Lakers back from winning a championship

14:09

this season. That's not fair at all. I don't believe that at all.

14:11

I don't think in the same way. He optimized things perfectly for this

14:16

team to give them the best chance to win. And that's what I think

14:20

the Lakers are looking for. But going back to your question, all three

14:22

of those guys I just mentioned would be Lebron, James guys j j Reddick

14:26

or Jean Rondo or coach Lou who again I hope, but don't don't be

14:31

mistaken. Lebron signed off on Darvin Ham too. Yeah he did. Darvin

14:37

Ham had zero track record signed off of him. Sure, he bolds your

14:41

guy and he signed off on him. So, like you said, Lebron's

14:46

gonna sign off on any coach. Well, and this is probably the last

14:50

run, but there would be even more. It would be hand picked.

14:52

It would feel like at this point, if it's one of those three guys,

14:56

it would completely be tied to Lebron. I don't know what ties he had to Darvin Ham, other than playing against him, because that's how old

15:03

Lebron James is at this point. Darvin Ham, his pedigree, his entire

15:07

reason for being hired was he was with the Milwaukee Bucks and they won the

15:11

championship in twenty twenty one with Mike Budenholzer as the head coach who was about

15:15

to be fired. What JJ Reddicks though, What is JJ reddick pedigree?

15:20

He's doing a podcast with Lebron now, Oh, that's right. He's a brilliant basketball mind. Oh hey, Rodney, I'm I'm not making the argument

15:28

that he has more experience than Darvin Ham. I know, I'm not making

15:31

that argument. There's a lot of brilliant basketball minds that don't make good coaches.

15:37

I'm not saying whether they should or not. JJ. We're criticizing Darvin

15:45

Ham for not having any kind of pedigree or having any kind of experience,

15:48

I guess. And then we bring up JJ Reddick and the first thing out

15:50

of your mouth is he's got a great basketball mind. No, that's the

15:54

perception of him. That's all I'm saying. Whether or not that's true.

15:58

Whether or not that should get of him the credential to be the next Lakers

16:00

head coach, that's a different point. I'm just saying Mike Budenholzer got fired

16:06

two years later after winning that championship. He was on that So it's so

16:11

it's not just the Lakers organization, it's what have you done for me lately?

16:15

Everywhere right now? Break Vogel maybe out of Phoenix after one season now,

16:21

so yeah, because there's a lot of rotating. That was money William,

16:25

Yeah, it sure was ruined that franchise. Yeah, all right.

16:30

By the way, I don't see Tyler coaching the Lakers. I just want

16:33

to talk to see that happen. I don't think there's any way Steve Balmer

16:36

would ever let that happen. You know, I don't want to see that,

16:40

but it has been brought up in reports now, so it's at least

16:42

worth talking about. Yeah, the only way that happens if Tyler goes in

16:45

and say I need out, I want out, or I'm not signing any

16:48

kind of extension. He's got one year left. He's got one year left,

16:52

but a lot of people speculated he would get that extension this season,

16:56

and it hasn't happened. That's which that's what has led to this rumors floating

17:00

around. That's what I'm saying. The only way it happens if Tylu initiates

17:04

it, say I'm I'm out, I gotta go. Otherwise, you're right,

17:07

I don't think. I don't think bumber. Let's about to go to

17:11

the Lakers, salty. I appreciate your hanging moron. Go at them back,

17:19

and Damn Wiky at the Times will join us. Wikey, Oh yeah,

17:45

yeah, off with a bang. Freddy is Friday. We absolutely do

17:51

not care on Friday, anything goes No, no, let's go all right,

17:59

and a bent will open the phone lines. Not yet want to hear

18:02

what you have to think about the Lakers making the move with Darvin Ham. We normally don't open the phone lines in the first hour. Today we will

18:08

and we will take your calls. Let's bring on our insider from the La

18:12

Times. He's with them every day. Dan Wikey. All right, Dan,

18:17

this didn't catch you by surprise, did it. It did not. The Lakers were very much operating like a team that was going to make a

18:26

move, basically since they lost in Game three. That did the you know,

18:36

the inability to conquer this sort of hill against Denver, combined with things

18:41

like fans sentiment, combined with things like not a ton of locker room support

18:47

because of some you know, lineup decisions throughout the season and stuff like that.

18:52

I think this was a toothpaste was kind of out of the tube situation,

18:56

I know. And we can get into like the specifics on this.

19:00

There's a lot of like sort of some people are like celebrating this. Some

19:04

people are are like Charles Barkley are lambasting this decision. You know. Like,

19:11

guys, I will say this, complex problems generally don't require simple solutions

19:17

there. There's usually a lot here and and uh it comes of this,

19:21

guys. I've got a I've got a lot, I've got a lot of this, a lot of different fronts. Yeah, I mean you say from

19:29

from game three, but like you also mentioned it, it probably started before

19:33

that when there was grumbling about December December, and maybe even before that,

19:38

guys, I mean Rodney started to interrupt you. I mean like I was

19:42

talking to I was just talking to Bill Plaski about you know, his common

19:47

you know, this team basically returned six core members from uh, you know

19:52

the playoff team from the Western Commerce final team a year ago, d'angela Russell,

19:56

Austin Reeves, Ruey Hachamura, Jared Vanderbilt, Lebron James Anthony Davis.

20:00

Three of those players, and really even kind of four of those players at

20:06

one time or another. This year we're benched. You know. Jared Vanderbilt's

20:11

injury kind of made it hard for him to like really like get benched.

20:15

But when he was back and starting to ramp up his minutes and stuff like

20:18

that, he wasn't reinserted in the starting lineup. Austin Reeves began the season

20:22

and the starting lineup and was removed from it before put back into it.

20:25

D'Angel Russell in December wasn't playing well, removed from the starting lineup, put

20:29

back into it. Rory Hachimura began the year out of the starting line up

20:33

behind Torrean Prince, you know, and I think there was definitely a feeling

20:38

and conversations that I had throughout the year that it was sort of like guys

20:42

were frustrated with the fact, like just play our best players. Yeah,

20:48

yeah, and that that that is a problem. I've been on teams where

20:51

it's felt like that. And we knew that because players know right, players

20:55

know whose players know who should be on the court, and now often they

20:57

should be on the court, and when they're not, it doesn't sit right

21:03

with guys. And so the moment you start to hear that, it's just

21:06

it's the beginning beginning of the end for any coach. And look, and

21:10

I think, and I think, and this is where it gets complex, right, because like you start to imagine being in Darwin Ham's position and you

21:15

say, okay, this team one of the one of the core things this

21:18

team was built around was to have Jared Vanderbilt gave Vincent guard the other team's

21:22

best perimeter player. Right, those two players are not available for most of

21:29

the season, and because of that, you know, coaches want to have

21:33

a level of balance, you know, you try to say, okay,

21:36

well who can do that? And he started the year by trying to have

21:40

Torrin Prince do that, you know, and from there he went to Cam

21:44

Reddish to try to get Cam Reddish to do that to fill that job.

21:48

When the team really found its legs, you know, I think was when

21:55

they just decided to say, let's just let's just play our best healthy available

22:00

players, and they developed an offensive identity and they won the final three quarters

22:04

of their schedule. After they did that, they had a successful season in

22:10

a lot of ways. They just got to that too late. And you

22:14

know, in that way, I think that those are grounds in some ways

22:18

for a change. But I think it's foolish to run around pretend like this

22:22

was, you know, born solely out of favoritism or any of this stuff.

22:26

Like I mean, I think like Daryn Ham had his reasons and they

22:30

just turned out to be incorrect. Ones any thought that as Lebron you know,

22:36

goes through his traditional line, I don't know what I'm gonna do here, you I'm anything could happen with me. He's not going anywhere. But

22:42

do you think that was floated in there, like you make this change or

22:45

it's going to be curtains for you guys. And that's not really how he's

22:49

moved the last few years, you know. I mean, I think the

22:55

most sort of famous example of that is, you know, I mean, everybody knew he wanted to play for time on lou and the Lakers wouldn't go

23:00

there with years of the dollars, and they hired Frank Bobel instead, right,

23:03

I mean how many Lebron has signed what two contracts since then the Lakers,

23:10

you know, So, I mean that's just not I mean, that's

23:14

not how he's moved, I think privately, sure, I think there's been

23:18

you know, I mean, he he didn't want to be bounced in this

23:25

way. I think, you know, some of the strategic elements, some

23:29

of the you know, things like that. I mean, look, and

23:33

players are always frustrated with the coach, especially when you don't lose like or

23:36

when you do lose like. That's that's just the reality of it. And

23:40

I think there were players that were frustrated with Darbenham and I think Lebron James was one of them. I don't think that he issued any sort of ultimatum.

23:48

I don't know, but that just that isn't how he's really operated.

23:53

He's had pretty strong opinions on a multitude of factors since you know, the

24:00

Russell West per trade even and like the team has generally done what's best for

24:06

the team. Yeah, all right, So so where do they turn now,

24:11

Dan? Where do the Lakers look? Because this is this has turned

24:15

into somewhat of a pattern of coaches coming in and it's revolving door in two

24:22

years here and two years there. And and I was saying earlier, if

24:26

you're a you know, a young coach, Hey, you're you're daj Reddick

24:30

and maybe your first gig, or you're a young coach and it may be

24:33

your first gig. Is this a place you really want to come? Well?

24:37

I mean, look, what in a vacuum? Maybe not. But

24:42

you know there's thirty NBA jobs, there might only be five available, right,

24:48

that's the reality I was talking to I was talking to. I won't

24:52

say you, I was talking to one of those types of coaches today.

24:56

Right. It's like a guy who is primed to be a head coach in

24:59

the league. And we talked about the Lakers and if that's a job you

25:03

would want, and you know, just while acknowledging the challenges of which there

25:07

are a lot, Okay, it's still an organization that is about winning and

25:15

wants to win, right now. Do I always think the Lakers go about

25:18

that the right way? No? Absolutely not. But I think that they

25:22

are about winning, They are about competition, they are about you know,

25:25

and look and if it doesn't work out after two years, It's not like Darwin Ham's walking out of the door with, you know, a thirty and

25:33

one hundred record. My math is a little spotty on that, but like

25:37

thirty one, thirty and one four record, right, Like, that's not

25:41

like they were competitive. They hit some absolute high points and they hit some

25:47

absolute low points. Like I don't think his reputation as a coach has been

25:52

ruined forever. It shouldn't be, you know, I think there's room to

25:56

acknowledge that this is an incredibly unique job. You are coaching the most win

26:02

now player. I've said this on the show a bunch of times, Guys, I have to reiterate it. You are coaching the most win now player

26:07

of all time in Lebron James. And guess what started next season. It's

26:12

only going to be even more every day that he moves closer towards retirement.

26:18

It's more pressure to win now and win now and win now. That's just while he's performing. That's the reality. This was not that that. That's

26:25

what's so unique about this situation. So I think, you know, yeah,

26:30

I think they'll they should consider young coaches. They they have had the

26:36

sort of reputation. I think there is some expectation that they will do the

26:40

exact opposite of what they've just done, that that this is how they normally move, so that you will hire an experience coach, right like you will

26:47

hire somebody who who's been in that seat before. The issue with that is

26:52

like that list of names isn't like the sexiest right now, you know,

26:56

like there there is you know, we're talking about Kenny Atkinson, who I

27:00

think is a good coach, who's you know, been on Steve Kerr's staff

27:04

here after it didn't work out in Brooklyn. Terry Stotts as a coach the

27:08

Lakers have tried to hire as an assistant twice. They've interviewed him in the

27:12

past. You know, Tyler has a job, right and a contract,

27:18

Like I don't know, Scott Brooks, James Barrego, Dwayne Casey, like

27:27

these are kinds of like the experience sort of like but like pretty soon and

27:33

I don't mean this disrespectfully, but you start you hear some of this stuff,

27:37

and you start to hear like the dreaded word, which is like retread,

27:41

you know, And so I think you should cast a wide net,

27:44

you know, I think like they should consider JJ Reddick. They should consider,

27:48

you know, David Adelman in Denver, and they should consider, you

27:51

know, if that they're interested in Mike and Nori in Minnesota. And I'm not sure that they are, but like they should consider that kind of candidate

27:56

in addition to considering, you know, the guys that have had that seat

28:02

before, that know kind of you know, what it generally takes to perform

28:07

as an NBA coach. That all being said, like this job is unlike

28:11

any other in the league. All right, that being said, Uh,

28:15

whoever comes in here when you have Lebron getting older, ad who had a

28:19

magnificent year, you knock on wood, he'll be able to have another one

28:22

next year without getting hurt. But with those two guys as the major building

28:26

blocks, one getting older and another one that survived not getting hurt one season,

28:32

is it realistic to think those two can win a title at this time?

28:38

I'm not sure, you know, I think I think it sort of

28:45

depends on how close you think they were the last two seasons, you know,

28:49

and and and that's that sort of you know, I think they were

28:53

pretty close this year, like weirdly enough, not necessarily to winning a title,

28:59

but you know, obviously we're pretty close in their series against Denver.

29:03

You know, had the regular season been another three weeks longer and they had

29:07

had Gabe Vincent, they had had Jared Vanderbilt coming back, like, I

29:11

think they would have not finished in with the eighth best record. I think

29:15

they were playing pretty good basketball. You know, maybe maybe that team works,

29:19

but I think Fred, like the issue is this right, and this

29:23

is true for every team in the league. If one of your two best

29:26

players, you know, gets hurt or both, like you're cooked, and

29:32

is there an increased likelihood that that could happen on a team where one of

29:36

your stars as Anthony Davis and the other is you know, forty year old

29:38

Lebron James. Yeah, that is a reality, and so you're always going

29:41

to walk this sort of edge. You know. I think that they need

29:48

to upgrade their talent. They need more two way players. They need to

29:52

be better in the rear season on the defensive end of the ball. That

29:55

gives you a chance to win every night if you play that way, with

29:59

that style. I mean, you know, I was watching the New York

30:02

next last night, and I'm not saying they need to play like the Knicks.

30:06

I don't know that they're they're built to play like the Knicks. But it's a lot of players on that court who are tough, who play defense,

30:15

you know, and who were very competitive this season despite a litany of

30:18

injuries on that team. You know, more of that, I think,

30:23

But you know, I think internal growth is also going to be really important.

30:27

You know, what's the next step for Austin Reeves? How much better

30:30

is Rey Hotch're gonna get? Like those things matter to this team and it's

30:34

in its future, you know, and that will determine I think a lot

30:40

of how how realistic you know, a championship or a conference finals appearance or

30:47

whatever it is is it is for kind of a lebron a d corps.

30:51

Yeah, and and real quick Dan, you know, you mentioned how much

30:55

better is Austin Reeves is going to get? And really is there going to

30:59

be patience for that for them to develop over the next couple of years into

31:04

to being better players or you just got to go out and and try to

31:08

find someone new, which is going to be difficult with lebronze contract. If

31:12

he opts in, where does that leave you in terms of or signs a

31:17

new one in terms of trying to find a guy with challenge, Rodney,

31:22

this is the challenge. You have the most wind now player of all time,

31:26

at the most wind now moment of his career. That's the challenge.

31:32

You know. I think that the you know, in regards to those two players, right like, you know, I think there is a belief,

31:38

especially with Austin Reeves, that he can be a part of a winning Gore,

31:41

right like, I think they believe that. I think, you know,

31:45

Rui has shown some promise on that front. Disappointing series against Denver,

31:51

no doubt, you know, Wheredy, Angel Russell fits and all of this

31:56

is you know, I mean his summer. That decision is going to matter

32:00

a lot to the Lakers, you know it is to me. It is

32:06

a question if you know, if you sort of like Agea and you were twelve games or whatever, ten games over five hundred this season, you know,

32:14

without two pretty key pieces of your defensive game plan. If you have

32:17

those pieces and if your injury luck breaks the same way next year, are

32:20

you a better team? I think you are. I'm not totally sure how

32:24

much closer you are to winning a title. And so yeah, like they're

32:28

gonna have to get better. They're gonna have to find pathways. Guys.

32:31

They've got a lot of stuff, you know, to figure out. I

32:35

mean, like, you know, you have to start playing your young players

32:38

too, if you're gonna pay them and you're gonna keep them. So you

32:43

know, hey, Jalen Chafino, like you're gonna matter next year. You

32:45

should, you know, And he had a very disappointing rookie season in the

32:51

NBA, plut pretty well in the league. But like you know, Max Christie, if you're gonna if you're gonna resign Max Christie, it'll be it'll

32:57

be on the next coach to find minutes for Max Christie. Like he's gonna

32:59

have to play it, like that's part of it. And if he's not playing, you know, he's going to have to be a tool to get

33:05

you somebody that that is. And I think this is again the rock and

33:10

the hard place that the Lakers are going to find themselves in as they're in

33:15

the Lebron James business here, and I think they probably should be. You

33:19

know, I think he's good enough for this uncomfortability. But it's uncomfortable,

33:22

like you you do have to walk up vary thin line between you know,

33:27

how much patience do you have versus you know what your sense of urgency should

33:30

be. You know, urgency can make you do some dumb stuff. You

33:37

know I can, And I think I think that's that's sort of would be

33:42

my mark if I was running the Lakers, that would be my marching orders.

33:45

Be aggressive but not dumb. Well, here's the issue, Dan,

33:49

given what you laid out, does it really matter who the coach is?

33:52

If this is what you're going to deal with, you have Lebron, you

33:55

have a d You'll keep trying because every year we have the same conversation.

34:00

All right, sure, the supporting guys. Now, let's just bring a different group in this year there was some continuity, okay, would make a

34:06

difference. It didn't. The supporting guys, the supporting guys, the supporting

34:08

guys. In the meantime, he gets older, ad could get hurt again,

34:12

and you're sitting exactly where you're at. If you're not in a position

34:15

to win a championship in your mind, in your mind, shouldn't you try

34:21

something different? So I think I think, like, in what way in

34:27

terms of your core? I don't think there I don't think there is I

34:30

mean, I don't think there's like there a replacement isn't available, you know,

34:37

like there's no like any any realistic plan b like doesn't totally exist today,

34:45

right Like. I mean, I mean we can talk about what like

34:49

say, do you push all your assets in for a Lebron James Trey Young,

34:55

Anthony Davis Core you know, I mean, I mean that would to

35:00

me, that's like what trying something different would be. But guys, I

35:04

mean they tried that with Russell Weston and it was the wrong fit and it

35:07

was the wrong Yeah, it was it was the wrong star, it was

35:10

the wrong is the wrong asset at the wrong time, right Like, so

35:14

I think you should be aggressive in this stuff. I will say, like if you want to point to like ways in which like coaching like you know,

35:20

mattered is like, you know, here's the thing that as you as you kind of autopsy the season, like you know, did they do enough

35:27

for Austin Reeves in his growth? Did did they empower did they empower you

35:32

know, ruy Hat Tramura enough? You know what I mean? I think

35:37

those are real stick questions. I mean, now, now look again, if you're the head coach, part of the issue is is that, like

35:44

you know, Austin Reeves had to become your sort of point of attack defender

35:47

because of injuries, right, which impacted his ability to play on the offensive

35:52

end, which impacted the coach's ability to trust him for more than say,

35:54

thirty four minutes. Right. But think, Rodney, I think that kind

35:58

of goes back to where're saying he's just kind of fucked about players and that

36:01

was that was a shortcoming for this team. It really was. All right,

36:07

Well, Dan, we appreciate you coming on. Now, you'll be busy all weekend long, so uh thanks, guys, enjoy your weekend.

36:14

Dan, all right, I appreciate it. Fellows, have a good one. Youtobe our good friend Dan Wyki. You know what, Rodney, we'll

36:25

open the phone lines next hour. Let's do it, all right, So

36:30

we've set it up, We've talked about it. You heard Adam the Salta,

36:32

You've heard Dan Witki. Lakers fire, Darvin Ham Is that a good

36:37

thing? Are you a happy Laker fans? But I think the more overriding

36:39

question here is, okay, can they even win? Can they win a

36:45

title? Because then they can't win a title no matter who they hire is

36:47

going to get fired again and we'll open the phone lines at one o'clock and

36:51

hear from you, uh when we come back the big amount of Dodger Stadium

36:54

last night we went here all about it. Oh yeah. Keeping up with

37:10

the theme of the weeks and days of the weeks for our afternoon delight,

37:15

Today's afternoon Delight is Friday from ice Cube. This song is from the movie

37:28

Friday and the soundtrack of the nineteen ninety five film in which Ice Cubes start

37:34

In produced and also wrote again. Today's afternoon Delight is Friday by ice Cube.

37:47

All right, if you'd like to weigh in on the Lakers making the

37:51

move with Darvin Ham. Do you like it? Ken? They win no matter who the coach is A six six nine eighty seven two five seventy.

37:57

We're gonna do that right after the top of the hour we open the phone

38:00

lines. We were going to do it in an hour one, but let's do it and give it a little more time an hour two. Weigh in

38:06

and tell us your thoughts on the Lakers move with Darvin Ham. Dodgers at

38:10

the stadium tonight, back at it against Atlanta and David vassaywill joined us during

38:15

the two o'clock hour, we'll touch on that. You know, where do

38:17

you stack up? Is this a preview of the National League Championship Series?

38:24

To me, I just think everybody go out there and have a good time

38:28

and play. I think it's so early in the year that to me,

38:31

honestly, to me, I know, you've got two of the best teams

38:36

in the National League that are going to battle, and the two teams expected

38:39

to be there at the end. But aside from that, I think it's

38:42

too early to make any decisions personally. And I know you look at it

38:45

differently. It means something for the players at the very least, they want

38:49

to see the other guys. They also want to perhaps lay the foundation for

38:54

down the road. I just don't think it matters that much now. But

39:00

you disagree, right, I mean, on the grand scale of it,

39:04

it doesn't matter, Fred, because we're in May, early May, and

39:10

you know, it's it's it's so put away. It's still a long way

39:15

to October. We don't know a lot and lot's gonna happen between now in

39:20

October. But at the same time, these teams have won more games since

39:25

twenty nineteen twenty twenty one than any other major league team, I believe.

39:30

So they have been the best in baseball. They both have World Series in

39:36

the last five years. They both have multiple guys that have won MVPs.

39:42

The lineups their stars up and down both of these clubs. So it is

39:47

a little bit of let's see how we measure up a little bit. Let's

39:52

see let's go up against the best of what people consider to be the best

39:55

in the East. Let's just go. Let's go test ourselves a little bit,

40:00

see where we are. And there is And as much as you want to get away from it and tell yourself, oh, it's early May,

40:05

doesn't mean a whole lot. It's just another series. Deep down inside,

40:08

is not just another series. It's like playing your rival, you know.

40:13

It's like, okay, that's it's just another game. And if it's not

40:15

the championship that you're playing arrival at, oh it was just another No.

40:21

No, it's it means something, just not as much as it will mean

40:25

in October, but it definitely means Okay, all right, Well we'll talk

40:30

about that with David Basse coming up here too. Talk about the Galla last

40:35

night. Now, don't leave anything out, don't leave anything out to what

40:42

happened inside. Yeah, every year the Dodgers do the Blue Diamond Gala,

40:47

in which they they raise a ton of money and they do great things throughout

40:53

the community, from building fields and helping with education, and helping with healthcare

41:00

and homeless and I mean a lot of things in which this team, in

41:06

this organization does behind the scenes is amazing. A lot of people don't really

41:13

realize that. But we we see the players, and we see the Dodgers

41:17

and they're blue, and we go to Dodger Stadium and we love to watch

41:22

our guys play. But behind the scene, the organization does so much more.

41:28

And you talk about having an impact on a city, the Dodgers and

41:32

the Dodgers Foundation really does. But yeah, the Blue Diamonds. So it's

41:36

a big blue carpet. It's held out of Dodger Stadium. It's very private.

41:40

It's not a it's not a you know, big open to the public

41:45

kind of event where the stadium is full. It's really it really takes place

41:50

in center field. They bring out couches, build a gigantic stage and you

41:55

know they last year they had Usher perform. This year it was Ed Sheeran

42:00

who was who was fantastic, And I hadn't seen Ed Sheeran and you know,

42:07

live maybe once and that was years ago, but I didn't realize how

42:12

talented he was. He's he's playing every instrument. He's got this machine that

42:17

he is I've not seen anything like before. But it makes the sounds of

42:22

several different instruments at the same time. And he's controlling at all with his

42:25

feet. So it could be drums, it could be a guitar, it

42:29

could be a piano, it could be something else, but he's controlling it

42:31

with his feet and he and he's playing and singing at the same time.

42:37

But the cool thing about the night is that before the event begins, there's

42:40

a a giant buffet party with every kind of food you could think of all

42:47

the chefs around town. The Dodgers do a great job with the food.

42:51

You're so full. And then they the players and their spouses, wives or

42:58

girlfriends are introduced before the before the event, so they come on stage and

43:04

they walked through the stage and come down to their seats, and you get

43:06

a chance to see them in a different light outside of their uniform. You

43:09

see him in a suit, and you see and then you see their wives

43:12

and girlfriends, which is pretty cool. Who'd you think was the best dressed?

43:20

I saw some stuff on Instagram of guys you did. Yeah, Oh, Tony's suit looked a little large, it was baggy. A lot of

43:29

people commented on that barbs Miguel Rojas always brings it. He did, didn't

43:37

he Yeah, yeah, he always brings it, So I always like him.

43:40

He always is always gonna have something different with the shoes as well,

43:45

So I'm I'm gonna go him. But the cool part of the night,

43:49

fred is uh. Mark Walter got up on stage and just you know,

43:53

talked about the Dodgers organization, all the things that they do, and then

43:58

he said, I'm gonna kick in fifty million dollars. No he didn't,

44:04

Yeah, no, yes, yes, yes, I'm gonna get I'm gonna

44:13

kick in fifty million. I thought Nicole Whiteman, who runs the foundation,

44:16

I thought she was gonna faint on the spot. But just a matter of

44:21

factly, Freddie is like, yeah, you know what, I'm uh tonight,

44:24

I'm feeling I'm feeling good. I'm gonna kick in fifty million. And

44:30

that's not the best part. That's not even the best part. He says,

44:37

I'm an kick in fifty million, And he says, but wait,

44:43

if we win the World Series, I'm gonna double it. Wow. So

44:52

he was already kicked kicking in fifty but if the Dodgers win the World Series,

44:57

is gonna be one hundred million dollars, says he's gonna kick to the

45:00

You know, when you said I'm gonna kick in fifty I thought you're gonna

45:04

say fifty thousand dollars and you go, man, it's very generous, right

45:08

yeah, on the spot like that, it's very yeah, or you know

45:10

what fifty I'll give you know, it's like, uh, yeah, I'll

45:14

give yeah, I'll give you. I'll give five thousand dollars. Well i'll

45:16

give you you know on the spot. You know, you don't hear people

45:20

do fifty million on the spot. Never this on a spontaneous fifty million.

45:25

What did? What did the audience with each other? It went crazy?

45:29

People went crazy. I mean there was a gass in the in the crowd

45:35

and then they must have clapped for about ten minutes when he said it,

45:38

and then they came back with the capper. Okay, if we win that

45:43

World Series I'm gonna double it. And that when that got everybody fired up,

45:50

you know, Okay, got your marching orders, Dodge, just let's go. I don't know if I know anybody they can say, hang tight,

45:57

here, let me get out my check book. Let me just you

46:00

check. What are you gonna write me your check for fifty fifty million?

46:04

Yeah? Who do you know that you can do that? Yeah, here's

46:07

a check for fifty million dollars. Yeah it'll cash. Yeah, with a

46:10

smile on your face. Oh my god. Yeah, just very casual fifty

46:15

million. It was. It was impressive, but overall, the night was

46:20

the night was great. But like we talked a little bit in the tease,

46:23

for whatever reason, and you said it, Fred, this event can

46:28

be in May, could be in July, it could be in August,

46:32

June, it it could. It could be one hundred degrees for six straight

46:40

days and the night of that gala, it is freezing. Feels like it's

46:47

thirty two below. I mean, it is always freezing at that event.

46:54

And like you said, it was warm yesterday, It was warm all day

47:00

yesterday. But the sun went down at died the Stadium last night maybe and

47:07

it just turned cold, turned like I was living in Michigan. It was

47:14

it was freezing and thank god they did you know, on on a lot

47:17

of the couches and chairs. They had blankets that you know, disperse different

47:22

places. But there wasn't any heat lamps last night, so it was it

47:24

was tough to find warm spots. All right, Well, you had a

47:28

good time. And yeah, if the Rogers win the World Series, Nicole

47:32

White, no, Nicaolet Whiteman will die. Oh yeah, it'll be We

47:36

won't be able to find her. I don't know what she's gonna do. She just collapse. It'll be over all right. Lakers gonna move today,

47:44

and that move is they fired Darvin Ham. It had been speculated, it

47:46

had been rumored fans were really upset with him during the season. The players

47:52

were outspoken at periods of time about him during the season. So now they

47:55

have made the move. You know my line, I'm gonna go south.

48:05

Somebody's gonna get it because somebody always does it. Yeah, well he got

48:08

it today eight six, six, nine, eighty seven, two five seventy.

48:12

We'll open the phone lines. Do you like the move? And by

48:15

the way, does it really matter who the coach is at this point in

48:20

time, because if the expectation is to win a title, given the way

48:24

the Lakers are constructed, will they ever have an opportunity with Lebron here eight

48:30

sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy will take your calls next