The Best of The Week on The Dan Patrick Show

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Best of The Week on The Dan Patrick Show

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Dan Patrick Show
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts and Dan Patrick Podcast Network
• Description: Dan Patrick's daily radio show features A-list guests from sports and entertainment, offering insights into pop culture and sports with his signature humor.
• Episode: The Best of The Week on The Dan Patrick Show
• Release Date: May 24, 2025

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Introduction to the Episode

In this special episode titled "The Best of The Week," Dan Patrick welcomes legendary hockey icon Wayne Gretzky to discuss various aspects of his illustrious career, current trends in the NHL, and reflections on sportsmanship and athlete longevity. The conversation offers fans a deep dive into Gretzky's perspectives on modern hockey compared to his playing days, his interactions with fellow athletes, and his views on the evolution of sports training and performance.

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Key Discussions and Insights

Retirement Reflections and Athlete Longevity

Wayne Gretzky begins by sharing personal anecdotes about his decision to retire, emphasizing the importance of mental readiness over physical capability. At [03:40], he recounts a pivotal moment at age 57 when he decided to stop playing charity games due to fear of injury:

"I was scared to death that I was going to fall and hurt myself. And you can't play this game with fear, right? So it was time for me to officially retire." – Wayne Gretzky [03:40]

Gretzky reflects on legendary players like Gordie Howe and attributes their extended careers to their exceptional skills and dedication:

"Gordie Howe got 20 goals in the NHL at the age of 50. He's still playing games, although he told me one day, he said, I only play the home games now." – Wayne Gretzky [04:25]

Modern Hockey vs. Past Eras

Gretzky discusses the advancements in today's athletes compared to past generations, highlighting improvements in training, coaching, and athleticism:

"The athletes are better today. They're bigger, they're stronger. The coaching's better. That's progression." – Wayne Gretzky [05:24]

He acknowledges that while aspects of the game have evolved, the fundamental skills and competitive spirit remain consistent across eras.

Training Regimens and Physical Preparation

Addressing training methods, Gretzky shares his personal approach to physical fitness during his playing days, contrasting it with modern practices:

"I do 8 pushups in training camp and scored 92 goals. There's no correlation, right?" – Wayne Gretzky [06:26]

This anecdote underscores his belief that natural talent and on-ice intelligence were more crucial to his success than rigorous physical training.

Comparisons with Contemporary Players

Gretzky evaluates current NHL stars, particularly Alexander Ovechkin, drawing parallels and contrasts with his own playing style:

"Mark scored big goals all the time. It's amazing. These three players have that goal-scoring touch and the physical part of the game." – Wayne Gretzky [06:31]

He emphasizes Ovechkin's prowess by referencing his scoring capabilities and the challenges he poses:

"When he scores, he doesn't miss the net. You can't score if you don't hit the net. It's common sense." – Wayne Gretzky [07:14]

Sportsmanship and Respect Among Players

A significant portion of the conversation revolves around the camaraderie and respect Gretzky maintains with former teammates and opponents:

"I have so much more respect for the players I played with and against today, even back then." – Wayne Gretzky [08:23]

He recounts witnessing contemporary players like Dallas Stars' Jamie Benn exhibit admirable sportsmanship during intense playoff battles:

"The emotions they showed after the game and the sportsmanship and the respect they had for each other was truly remarkable." – Wayne Gretzky [09:32]

Personal Anecdotes and Humble Reflections

Gretzky shares personal stories that highlight his humility and the lasting impact of his career beyond trophies:

"I have one trophy here, that Rocket Richard gave me. The only hockey trophy." – Wayne Gretzky [10:14]

He discusses the significance of the Stanley Cup over individual accolades, reflecting his team-oriented mindset.

The Evolution of the NHL and Future Predictions

Towards the end of the interview, Gretzky offers his insights on the current state of the NHL playoffs, predicting outcomes based on team performance and coaching:

"I like all four teams because I think all four teams are well coached and I think all four teams are getting goaltending." – Wayne Gretzky [21:01]

He expresses optimism about the future of hockey, believing that the sport will continue to grow and evolve positively over the next two decades.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• "You can't play this game with fear, right? So it was time for me to officially retire." – Wayne Gretzky [03:40]

• "Gordie Howe got 20 goals in the NHL at the age of 50." – Wayne Gretzky [04:25]

• "The athletes are better today. They're bigger, they're stronger. The coaching's better. That's progression." – Wayne Gretzky [05:24]

• "I do 8 pushups in training camp and scored 92 goals. There's no correlation, right?" – Wayne Gretzky [06:26]

• "Mark scored big goals all the time. It's amazing." – Wayne Gretzky [06:31]

• "I have so much more respect for the players I played with and against today, even back then." – Wayne Gretzky [08:23]

• "I have one trophy here, that Rocket Richard gave me. The only hockey trophy." – Wayne Gretzky [10:14]

• "I like all four teams because I think all four teams are well coached and I think all four teams are getting goaltending." – Wayne Gretzky [21:01]

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Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The episode offers a heartfelt and insightful conversation with Wayne Gretzky, providing listeners with a unique perspective on the evolution of hockey, the essence of sportsmanship, and the importance of respect and camaraderie among athletes. Gretzky's reflections serve as both a nostalgic look back at his legendary career and an encouraging viewpoint on the future of sports and athlete development. His humility and respect for fellow players continue to embody the spirit of true sportsmanship, making this episode a must-listen for sports enthusiasts and aspiring athletes alike.

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Note: This summary focuses exclusively on the substantive interview with Wayne Gretzky, omitting advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections to provide a clear and comprehensive overview of the key discussions and insights shared during the episode.

Transcript

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[Dan Flores]

Why is a soap opera western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American west with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6, where we'll delve into stories of the west and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region. Today, listen to the American west with.

[Steve Covino]

Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dan Patrick]

You are listening to the Dan Patrick.

[Chris Webber]

Show on Fox Sports Radio.

[Dan Patrick]

We make way for Wayne Gretzky, the Hall of Famer, part of Turner Sports coverage of the Stanley Cup Final. He'll be in attendance for all the games. Wayne. Oh, good to see you again. How you feeling?

[Wayne Gretzky]

I feel older, but it's great to see you. You know, when you get your two youngest kids graduating college the same week, you know you're getting old. So Thursday, NYU Friday, smu, and onto the Stanley cup semis and the finals.

[Dan Patrick]

Now, could you give me a shift on the ice?

[Wayne Gretzky]

No. I'll tell you what happened. About the age of 57, I was playing in a charity game and I came back and I threw my bag down in the hotel room and I said to my wife, that's the last time I'm ever going to skate. And she goes, what do you mean? I said, I was scared to death that I was going to fall and hurt myself. And you can't play this game with fear, right? So it was time for me to officially retire, even though I retired at the age of 39. But I skate every now and then, my son's hockey schools and I get on the ice, but I don't play in charity games anymore. I don't trust myself out there.

[Dan Patrick]

But that's what makes what Yarmur Yager or Gordie Howe did.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Listen, it's amazing. Gordie Howe got 20 goals in the NHL at the age of 50. Think about that. I don't know. He's got to be 58. I don't even know how old he is. And he's still playing games, although he told me one day, he said, I only play the home games now, though. I said, well, that's nice. You're well rested. And Chris Chelio has played to 50 years old and the way he played, he was a maniac at the age of 20 and the age of 50. So my. I have great admiration for older players, older athletes who've excelled. Guys like Tom Brady, guys like LeBron. It's pretty remarkable that you can go on at that age because, you know, and you've been around sports a long time, the athletes are better today. They're bigger, they're stronger. The coaching's better. And that's not a knock to the past. That's just progression. Right? 20 years from now, it's going to be better. Today. It's different. Every sport is different than it used to be, but the athletes, I think are better today.

[Dan Patrick]

Did you lift weights?

[Wayne Gretzky]

Brett hall had the greatest line of all. Somebody said to him, do you lift weights? And he said, I've never seen a barbell score, but I've seen a lot of. We used to do a training camp. We would come in and they'd have these kids from university that would do our, you know, I guess they were seeing what kind of shape you're in. So they had this. You had to bench press £195. And I would just look at the bar and I'd say to the kid, just mark me down for one. I didn't even try to lift it. I said, how many sit ups did I do last year? He said, seven. I said, mark me down for eight. So say they would think I was getting better. But Listen, I did 8 pushups in training camp and scored 92 goals. I did 125 sit ups my last year at training camp, I got nine goals. There's no correlation, right?

[Dan Patrick]

When did you realize that Ovechkin could get your goal scoring record?

[Wayne Gretzky]

Well, when he scored on his back against us. When I was coaching in Phoenix in about 2007, I came in the locker room and I think it was Rick Tock. It said, the writing's on the wall. This guy' to be chasing you down. No, we knew he was. Listen, he's a. I said this. There's only three guys, him, Messi and Gordie Howe, that could play with the finesse, the goal scoring touch and the physical part of the game. Those three guys did that. Now, maybe Mark had a little bit more creativity with passing, but scoring. Mark scored big goals all the time. Gordie Howe scored big goals, but if they weren't scoring, they'd run through you. And that's what those three guys have in common.

[Dan Patrick]

But explain to us that it's the hardest thing to do, aside from hitting a baseball. But you're on skates with a stick, and guys are trying to beat the hell out of you when you have the puck on your stick, like, what were you looking for?

[Wayne Gretzky]

Well, people always say, how did you score that goal? Did you see that open spot? Did you scout the goalie and know maybe where his tendencies were and what was his weakness? The game is so fast to me, I was just shooting, trying to get an open spot, trying to hit the net. It was my biggest pet peeve in the world. When you go all the way down the ice and the guy would shoot the puck and miss the net. And if you look at Mike Bossi and Brett hall and Vechkin and Yuri Curry, Mario, they didn't miss the net. They hit the net. You can't score if you don't hit the net. It's common sense, right? Game's too fast. Now, in practice, you get out there and you put up targets and you work on things like that. But during the game, the game's too fast. You're just trying to get it to the net.

[Dan Patrick]

Do you hold a grudge against anybody?

[Wayne Gretzky]

Do I?

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. From. From your playing days?

[Wayne Gretzky]

No, as a matter of fact, the exact opposite. I have so much more respect for the players I played with and against today, even back then. Now, listen, there's a lot of guys I didn't like because they're trying to win, and I was trying to win. But today, even. Even the guy that played me the hardest, the guy like Dennis Potvan, if he called me, needed a favor, I would try to drop everything, try to help him. You know, we become one. There's one common thing that we all have as professional athletes. One day, we're gonna be alumni. We're all gonna be retired, right? So I got a great deal of respect. Now, there was a lot of guys that probably hated me when they played against me, and there's a lot of guys I didn't like. But when it's all said and done, it's like the other night when you saw Dallas, Jamie, Ben and Scheifele battled for six games like real men. They were physical, hard, played hard. And that's what makes our game so great. The emotions that they showed after the game and the sportsmanship and the respect they had for each other was truly remarkable. I happened to be at the game, and I thought it was just amazing.

[Dan Patrick]

Talking to Wayne Gretzky, the Hall of Famer. Does your wife ever call you the Great One?

[Wayne Gretzky]

No. Every now and then she probably says, do you think? Why do you think you're the Great One? I will tell you. I was having dinner with Charles Berkeley one night in Phoenix and my son and I and we're sitting there and his wife said, great one, will you pass me the soul? And I went to grab the salt and his hand was already there. And he said, in this house they.

[Chris Webber]

Call me the Great One.

[Wayne Gretzky]

My son was 15 then. He thought it was the greatest thing in the world.

[Dan Patrick]

Where are all your trophies?

[Wayne Gretzky]

I have one trophy here, that Rocket Richard gave me. The only hockey trophy. I have one of the trophies I'm most proud of. I have here Sports Illustrated Sportsman in the Year. That's the only two I have here. The rest are at the Hockey hall of Fame or in the basement of my since past parents house that my nephew lives in. And my trophies are still there.

[Dan Patrick]

How important were trophies to you? Aside from the Stanley Cup?

[Wayne Gretzky]

Yeah. You know, Glenn Sather had a theory in training camp. I want to win the scoring race. I want to win the best defenseman. I want our goalie to be the best goalie. I want to have the mvp. But with all that, I want the Stanley Cup. So yeah, it was. He put it out there. He didn't hide from it at all.

[Dan Patrick]

The difference between playoff hockey and regular season hockey and it's not, you know, that much different than other sports. You know, maybe the NFL is still each game because there's only 17 games. But what is it about playoff hockey that we, you know, it's just different. It's different than any other sport.

[Wayne Gretzky]

It really is. Although I'm a basketball fan, I think the basketball has been phenomenal this year, the playoffs, and you can tell those guys have gone to another level. Our game has just always been that way. And I think one of the things that happens is it's so hard to referee our sport so fast and our referees do a great job and we get in the playoffs, the referees tell both teams, look, you can play hard and you play physical. Just don't be stupid. We don't want to be the difference in the hockey game. And so the game becomes extremely physical and very fast. And it's hard to. It's hard to win in the National Hockey League. And I thought Carolina played a really good hockey game last night. Unfortunately, they're playing maybe the best team in the last three years and they get beat. And now you play all year to get home ice advantage and you lose it in one night. And so I expect and anticipate Burns and company will come out Flying tomorrow night.

[Dan Patrick]

I don't know if you're like Peyton Manning when you're watching. Peyton gets upset, you know, when he's watching bad football or somebody does. I don't know. How are you similar to Peyton Manning when you're watching hockey and you're like, why, are they doing something? Or you get, you know, visually, you know, upset with what you're seeing?

[Wayne Gretzky]

No, not at all. I don't critique it. If anything, I'm the opposite. I just sit and enjoy it. I really appreciate good plays. I really appreciate good coaching. And you can see the four teams are in the finals. They all have good coaching, and that's part of the reason they're there. And then they have the skill and the talent to go with that. So now I know how hard these kids work, and I never critique them.

[Dan Patrick]

The oddest place where you were recognized is where?

[Wayne Gretzky]

Oh, gosh, I don't know. Maybe Rome, Italy. You know, it's amazing. I retired 25 years ago. I think I get recognized more now than I did in 1999. But people are nice. It doesn't even faze me. You know, people are always nice. Everybody has their opinions who the best player was, who the best teams were. We all do. That's what makes sports great. We don't all. We don't have the right answer. It's your opinion. As simple as that.

[Dan Patrick]

But Michael Jordan thinks he's the greatest basketball player of all time.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Yeah, he was the greatest athlete, I think, of all time.

[Dan Patrick]

Do you think you're the greatest hockey player of all time?

[Wayne Gretzky]

No. No, not at all. I always said that Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr were the two greatest hockey players that ever lived. I made my life because of those two guys. They took the NHL to another level and gave me an opportunity. No, I would never say that. And I mean that sincerely. I tell my kids that I say it publicly. I have too much respect for both those players that I would think that I was better than they were.

[Dan Patrick]

But if I said, I can wipe away everything you did in hockey, but you would have been a Hall of Fame baseball player for the Tigers, and.

[Wayne Gretzky]

I would have told you I was the greatest baseball player ever. I could brag about my baseball, but.

[Dan Patrick]

You told me years ago that you. That really was. That was a goal. Like, you loved the Detroit Tigers.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Oh, I really did. I grew up Ernie Harwell fan. Mickey Lolich, one of the great days of my life. I watched Mickey Lolitz pitch when I was 13, and I wrote it in my book. We're playing in Detroit. One day, Trainer came in and said, there's a guy out here wants to sign his book. Can I bring him in? I said, sure. It was Mickey Lolitz, because I wrote the story in the book. And so I got a chance to meet him and get a picture taken with him. And then through those years, you know, Mark the Bird Fidrich came and, you know, and then when Spark Anderson went to Detroit and they won the World Series. So I. I grew up a huge Tigers fan. Now, I love the Blue Jays, but they weren't there until 76, so I'd been 15 years in baseball by the time the Jays were sort of founded.

[Dan Patrick]

Were you starstruck first time you met Jordan?

[Wayne Gretzky]

Yeah, I think everybody is. Like I said to me, the two greatest athletes ever were Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali. And I got a chance to be friends with both of them. I got a chance to spend a lot of time with Muhammad Ali. I went to New York in 1978 when I signed the WHA and I was with Gordie Howe and Bobby hall. And I was this kid, just starstruck, Right? And we're in the Plaza Hotel. It was the first time I'd ever been to New York. And there I was standing there. Muhammad Ali came over to shake Gordie Howe's hand, and I almost fell over. Oh, my God. And then five minutes later, Pat Boone came over to say hello to Gordie Howe. And I said, is there anybody? This guy doesn't know him. So he fascinated me from the very first time I ever met him.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, but they have to be starstruck when they meet you, too.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Oh, I don't think so. I hope not, because I'm like you. I'm a normal guy.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, you are. You're so approachable, you know, And I liken you to kind of Joe Montana. If people see you, they don't realize that guy did what he did in his sport, like UC Montana. He looks like he's a kicker. You don't think that's one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time like you? You. You're disarming. Because you're very generous to people and very gracious.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Yeah, people are nice and listen, I got everything in my life because of hockey, because of fans. But I remember our sons played together. And I used to love the fact that Joe was there because we go to the high school football games and nobody even cared that I was there. Everybody was bothering and getting pictures with Joe. He made my life in high school that much easier.

[Dan Patrick]

But that's, I mean, it's been a pretty amazing career. But like, any goals that what's left here for you?

[Wayne Gretzky]

Oh, I don't know. Right now I'm proud to five grand or five grandchildren and two more on the way and, you know, families for me now and you know, I did my hockey thing and I loved every minute of it. Now I'm a fan. I enjoy being on tnt. They're wonderful people and the people we work with. And Liam is unbelievable. He's our quarterback and you know, he does all the legwork and all the heavy lifting and I just got to sit there and talk hockey. How nice is that? You get to sit there and I don't have to worry about getting hit or run or knocked over the head. I can just sit there and have fun.

[Dan Patrick]

But you're healthy.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Very healthy.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Although like everyone else, you know, I had some pre cancerous things taken off my face in the last few weeks, but.

[Dan Patrick]

But no concussion stuff.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Like if you ask my wife, she would tell you. I forget things. I just told you an hour ago. You watched that back in those days, they told you to go home, have a beer, go to bed, have an aspirin. We'll come and skate it out of you tomorrow. You'll sweat it out.

[Dan Patrick]

Do you have any pictures of you fighting? Like frame photos of you? Yeah, because it didn't happen very often, but I'm curious if you listen.

[Wayne Gretzky]

I was talking about my Sports Illustrated trophy. I got one fight, really, in my career. Neil Broughton. Wasn't even his fault. I jumped him. The guy flies from New York and he's out there giving this presentation about how my sportsmanship, how I don't fight. First shift in, I'm fighting Neil Broughton and I get to the bench and I'll never forget Mike Messi said to me, what were you doing? And I said, I don't know. But Dave Simicho says the good news is that's not even a fight. That's called cat fighting, so that doesn't count.

[Dan Patrick]

But did you throw a punch?

[Steve Covino]

I don't even remember.

[Wayne Gretzky]

I think I kind of. I don't know. We got to the penalty box and I remember I looked over and I said, I'm sorry.

[Dan Patrick]

I apologize, Neil.

[Wayne Gretzky]

I think he's more shocked than the 17,000 people at the game and the 19 teammates I had on the bench going, what? What was that all about? One night we were playing in Chicago. Bob, Murray, Kenny, he's always whacking me and hacking me. And I got so mad, I Grabbed him and he threw me on the ice. And he had his hand like this. And I'm looking over our bench and there was five guys with their legs over the boards. And he's holding me. He goes, now, don't move. I'm not going to hit you. And I said, I got back to the bench and I told all the guys, he said, nobody's allowed to touch him the rest of the night.

[Dan Patrick]

But did you give, like Dave Seimenco an extra gift? He was your protector. You had to have one on each team.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Guessing in those days, everybody had sort of. That guy, right?

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah.

[Wayne Gretzky]

You know, the one thing I did give him, I gave him my car that I won at the all star game in 1989 in Edmonton, I guess.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah.

[Wayne Gretzky]

I brought him downstairs after the game. I said, here, here's the keys. You can have the car. So he was great. He was a great teammate to all of us. And he was beloved by the fans, the fans in Edmonton. He was as big as anybody on that team. They loved him to death. And, you know, he was witty, he was fine. And he didn't really want to fight. He only did it if he had to. If he saw somebody abusing a teammate, he never went looking to hurt anybody. And that's. Listen, that's the other thing about our league, especially in those days. Those tough guys didn't want to go hurt guys. They didn't want to go after those guys. They fought the big guys, right? They fought each other. It was kind of a code.

[Dan Patrick]

All right, Handicap the teams that are left in the playoffs. Give us like a tutorial on what do you think is going to play out well.

[Wayne Gretzky]

I like all four teams because I think all four teams are well coached and I think all four teams right now are getting goaltending. I think Ottinger and Bobrovsky have proven to be two of the elite goalies. Skinner last year got to the finals and had a good run. He's got two shutouts in a row, so he seems to be on a roll. Anderson in Carolina, I wasn't. He didn't have a bad game last night, but he didn't have a great game last night. The thing between Carolina and physical, I think Carolina is a little bit faster and they go, go, go, go. Florida is smart and disciplined. This general manager has made some great deals. He's got to Chuck. He got Bennett traded for Seth Jones, Marshawn on and on. So it's tough to knock out the Stanley cup champions, right? So I like Florida, but Roddy Brunemore and I were roommates at the Olympics in 1998. So, you know, my heart's with him also, and he's done a phenomenal job. Now everybody knows Edmonton that, you know, that's where my life was made. And I always pull for them. My brother's the assistant gm. They have the two. Two of the best three players in the national hockey league and dry saddle and McDavid questions the best player in the game. They're going to have to contain him. Pete DeBoer has done a great job in Dallas. They made incredible trade getting Rantnen. I think it changed their team. The team that Dallas is playing or Edmonton's playing this year in the semifinals. Dallas is a better team than they were last year and that series went six games. So this series I predict to go seven games.

[Dan Patrick]

My best to your wife and the family. Great to see you again and nice.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Seeing you and it's always a pleasure. I hope everything's going well for you and your family, too.

[Dan Patrick]

Thank you, bud. Good to talk to you again.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Take care, you guys all. Take care.

[Dan Patrick]

How about that shout out from the great one one.

[Steve Covino]

Bye, Fritzi.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. Jealous.

[Steve Covino]

Super.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. Wayne wasn't on the bus last night coming back from the Emmys.

[Chris Webber]

He would never.

[Dan Patrick]

He would never have said that.

[Chris Webber]

Fox sports radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.

[Dan Patrick]

Catch all of our [e-mail] and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.

[Steve Covino]

Hey, it's Steve Covino and I'm Rich Davis.

[Taraji P. Henson]

And together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports radio.

[Steve Covino]

You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course, the iHeartRadio app.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Why should you listen to Covino and Rich?

[Steve Covino]

We talk about everything. Life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world.

[Taraji P. Henson]

We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss.

[Steve Covino]

And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right?

[Taraji P. Henson]

So check us out. We like to get you involved, too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say.

[Steve Covino]

I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive show on planet earth.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on Fox Sports radio and the iHeartradio app from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific, and if.

[Steve Covino]

You miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich wherever you get your podcast. And of course on social media, that's Covino and Rich.

[Rich Davis]

T Mobile's stats are as impressive as your favorite athlete's highlight reel because T Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are on America's largest 5G network. Switch now keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off up to $800 per line via prepaid card. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com KeepAndSwitch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Last 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service report in 90 days device and eligible carrier and timely redemption. Required card is no cash access and expires in six months.

[Dan Patrick]

Brands spend $32 billion every year on influencer marketing, yet most still don't know if it's actually working. Are you seeing a positive ROI from.

[Dan Flores]

Your influencer campaigns or is your team.

[Dan Patrick]

Just tracking likes and follows? At Jive PR and Digital we turn influencer engagement into real, measurable sales. Our clients see a 50% lower cost per acquisition compared to traditional ads. No more wasted budgets, no more guessing. Head to jiveprdigital.com to see if your brand is a fit.

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[Chris Webber]

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[Taraji P. Henson]

Please, for the love of everything good.

[Chris Webber]

In this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month.

[Rich Davis]

Of course if you joy over paying, no judgments.

[Chris Webber]

But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway.

[Rich Davis]

Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra.

[Unknown]

See full [e-mail] made for this mountain is a podcast that exists to empower listeners to rise above their struggles, break free from the chains of trauma and silence the negative voices that have kept them small. Through raw conversations, real stories and actionable guidance, you can learn to face the mountain that is in front of you.

[Steve Covino]

You will never be able to change or grow through the thing that you refuse to identify. The thing that you refuse to say. Hey, this is my mountain. This is the struggle. This is the thing that's in front of me. You can't make that mountain move without actually diving into that.

[Unknown]

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to conquer the things that once felt impossible and step boldly into the best version of your yourself, to awaken the unstoppable strength that's inside of us all. So tune into the podcast, focus on your emotional well being and climb your personal mountain.

[Steve Covino]

Because it's impossible for you to be the most authentic you. It's impossible for you to love you fully if all you're doing is living to please people. Your mountain is that.

[Unknown]

Listen to Made for this mountain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dan Patrick]

Chris Weber, hall of Famer, joining us on the program. C. Webb. How does that happen? You're up 14 at home, three minutes to go.

[Chris Webber]

It happens when you have a really special team. You know, first of all, Halliburton, when you look what he did, Nice. Smith, all the other guys. But please, let's not forget Coach Carlisle. You know, he, he's a, he's, he's a great coach and he's coached guys like Jay Kidd. He's coached against the greatest players. He's played with the Celtics, by the way, so he knows a little bit about. And to me, it was just wearing you down. Some teams we give a lot of credit for wearing you down with their defense. And I played on teams whether Sacramento and others where we, we wore you down with our offense as well. And that means just keeping your foot on the pedal, never looking up and trusting your players. And you know, those last few minutes, I mean, wow, these are some of the most exciting games I've seen a long time. So it's great to be a fan and watch all the excellence that's going on.

[Dan Patrick]

Why is it different playing in the Garden than any other place?

[Chris Webber]

Well, I would say the Garden in Old la. Old la, because you had stars like Jack and others that were there and you would see. But I think it's because it's not just about new stars. I think it's about the fact that because those arenas are so old, you know, Kareem played there or, you know, you know, that I don't know. Willie Allen or someone else was at those games. And so as a player, you come in saying, you know, I better give my best performance because this is where the best performers are. How many times do you. Do you get to perform in front of your heroes? And so for me, New York was always special. And, you know, if I could send out a PBA alert because New Yorkers are so cocky. I have a. I have a very close friend. His name is Haas. I won't give his full government name, but anyone in New York, please look out for Haji. Just make sure you watch over him because he was hitting me with bing bong and all this other stuff, and I haven't heard from him in about 16 hours. So please look out for my man Hines. But. But it's so much fun. And part of that too, is sending those crowds home quiet. It's no better feeling in any arena. But, you know, LA and New York, when you do it, you know, you feel a little extra special.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay, but did you ever have conversations with celebrities? Did you ever flirt with a celebrity in LA when you were playing?

[Chris Webber]

Never flirted. But if I saw, you know, someone that I wanted to flirt with, oh, I raised my game, you know, you want to play well and send them home or something. You.

[Dan Patrick]

So Halle Berry is their courtside. You might. Might want the ball a little more.

[Chris Webber]

Oh, yeah. And, you know, you might, you know, shoot your shot or dunk on someone a little harder and mistakenly look at it, you know, you know, it's not the wink, but, oh, I'm sorry, did I just do that? You know, that type of thing. I do remember one of the best compliments I ever got was. Was Jack before the game in the playoffs in la. And you would change right by him. And I'm really focused and nervous and getting ready to go. And he says, the calm before the storm. You were the calm before the storm. And we blew LA out that game. And I remember thinking, he never should have given me that compliment because I had to live up to that in front of him.

[Dan Patrick]

What's it like, though, when everybody knows you're getting the ball like you? And the feeling of. I don't. Some guys, you know, they run away from the ball, others run to the ball.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah. I think that it's all about knowing your game. It's really simple. Knowing that you have a move and a counter move with it. Starting like that, it's. It's really easy. And then if you have great players around, it's easier to trust. So I can only speak from my Experience, but knowing that I was going to get double teamed late in the game, I would be talking to Pejor, Vladi and them during the whole game. Like, you see they're going to come double me at this point later. I got you. And so it gives you freedom. The easiest person to check on the court is a selfish person. And so you have to make sure through your abilities that you keep everyone on their toes. Just look at a guy like Jokic. You know, he wants the ball late in the game, but he may not shoot seven possessions in a row, but they're going to score seven possessions in a row. So for me, the most important thing is, yeah, can you score? But there are a lot of guys we waited to the end to double because they didn't have the acumen to pass or didn't even know where other teammates were. And so to me, it's. It's. How can you make a score happen if you're a great player late in the game? And LeBron was accused a lot for that. But he's one of the best examples, Magic as well, of being able to take a moment, find it, know that I can score. But it may be easier to loosen you up by finding a wide open junior or someone in the corner or Booby Gibson. That hurt us in Detroit to. To. To kill you a little bit better instead of being selfish.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, but we give Magic a hall pass and say, that's a positive. LeBron, people view that as a negative, that he didn't want to take the big shot in those situations. With Magic, it was like, look at how unselfish he is.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, no, you're right, Dan, but. So let's separate. The first time he played against San Antonio, let's separate. You know, when he was learning on that learning curve. But he always played the right way. And so there was one game, I think, in the Pistons, game seven. I think we're playing against them and we're, you know, trying to go to the championship, and this guy scores 24 in a row, 25 in a row. But Booby Gibson had a great game because he was finding this guy in the corner. And then you wonder, how does a guy like Niecemith, how does a guy like Booby Gibson come out of nowhere? How does a guy like Fisher, Derek Fisher come out of nowhere and do these things? Well, it's because Shaq trusted at one point. It's because LeBron trusted. So, yeah, that's that line in the sand with LeBron. But when he was able and found his Voice found his way on the court. He still played the right way. And for me, he doesn't get enough credit for that.

[Dan Patrick]

Did LeBron have 43 on you guys in that game? Seven.

[Chris Webber]

I know he had 24, 25 straight and.

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, he had 40. He had 48.

[Chris Webber]

Thanks. I'm gonna call Rasheed Wallace and remind him of that, because that's one of Rasheed's biggest failures, or I won't even say that that's something that hurt Rasheed the most as a defensive player, that it was one guy on the floor that. That we couldn't stop. And so, yeah, whatever he did, he hurt our feelings and kept us from a championship.

[Dan Patrick]

Hurt your feelings? He's Chris Weber, hall of Famer. I mentioned this earlier. We can't underestimate the impact of the dream team in 1992 on the world, because here we are, what, 33 years later, and look at the best players in the game. The players are from outside the top five players you can make an argument are not American born. Shay Gilgis getting the mvp. You got Luca, you got Giannis. I mean, we can go down the list there, but that impact of we laughed at the rest of the world. We're crushing Barclays, making fun of people. We're focused on us, whereas the world focused on them. And how. How do we get better as a basketball country? And look at what that impact did with the NBA.

[Chris Webber]

So you're right. That impact was. Was great. I remember just hearing about players like Sabonis or other players and really not knowing until I got to play with great players like Sharonis Marceloness or, or Pedro Stojakovic or Potapenko or others. I think we did a. A great job in showing our secrets and, and showing them, you know, that, that you can be like Jordan, or at least you could dream like this. And if you don't reach Jordan's ability, you can still be pretty good if you watch him. And so I, I think that we did a great job in exposing the game, but I also think the way that the system was set up, you know, Luca was professional at what, 15?

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah.

[Chris Webber]

So if he's professional at 15, comes to the NBA with five years experience of playing against grown men, he's going to have a. A better trajectory. And so I think that the systems that we had overseas, allowing guys to play professionally younger, helped them advance a lot quicker. But our last seven MVPs, there were all foreigners, so to speak, or people from other places. And truthfully, shy could have won last year. And truthfully, the year indeed won. You know, Jokic could have won that, so you could have a four time. I really look at Yokos is missing the mvp. He should have one more mvp. So I love the way that the game is spread, but it comes back to skill, skill, skill and hopefully it'll set a fire under a lot of young kids to, you know, be the best that they could be. But I think the game is going to always elevate no matter who's the best, because guys around the world watch the best and we become better after that.

[Dan Patrick]

But you also look and I, I'm sure you remember this, but when Barkley won mvp, when Carl Malone won mvp, everybody knew that Michael Jordan was the best player in the game. Right. Shea Gilgis is getting the mvp. But I think everybody recognizes Joker is still the best player in the game. It just, and I, I mean SGA and OKC had the best year and he's the best player. But I don't know how players reacted when, you know, Barkley played well for Phoenix, Carl played well for Utah. I, you know, Michael, I don't think cared about the regular season as much as he's going to win a championship.

[Chris Webber]

Well, I also think there's fatigue, you know, there's Jokic fatigue.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chris Webber]

You know, you really think about it, you can't have a co. Mvp. But how did he not win an mvp? But then again with Shay, I think, I think too, I think it's the culture of how we play. If we want to really be honest, I think that, you know, I love playing with players that make everyone better. And so I think the days of just scoring 40 and being that guy, like that's, that that's not necessarily winning basketball to be doubling the post and not get anyone else involved. That's why we love Jokic and maybe not other centers. And so I think the culture, at least from watching doctors, at least from watching shy, is that Shay Gildrich is that they're always going to try to make the right play, even if it's being selfish four or five times in a row. But watching them facilitate, get other guys involved is so special. That's why Halliburton is special though. And I've always known that even he was drafted in Sacramento because he gets everyone involved. And I think that that has become the culture of the European player. And as Americans, being the best scorer, you know, it's a little more that you can add to that. And I think that that's where the line in the sand is going. To come. Like, how. How much better do you make your team? And Shy's team would not be that good. OKC wouldn't have got the first round without him. And Denver may not have made the playoffs without Jokic. And that's what I like. The distinction in the MVP argument is not that, oh, look at the stats. If we really take them away from their teams without them even scoring, they make their teams better. And I think that that shows what the most valuable player is. Not the most valuable score, but the most valuable teammate.

[Dan Patrick]

But you were on the College select team that beat the Dream Team, right?

[Chris Webber]

Oh, yeah, we beat him. Coach K, how you doing?

[Dan Patrick]

Like, it was real, though. That was a real game, right?

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, I mean, it was. It was a practice, Dan. Like, you know, I'm sure that you've been around your heroes and commentating or journalism and things when you first got in the game. And if you really first remember those things, just, you know, there was no social media. Dominique Wilkins, you know, I had him on the wall with Brooks and the tonics, the different shoes. I had Magic every. I knew everything about them that you could at the time. I watched all the Bloopers tapes. Remember, that's all we could get was the Bloopers tapes with the coach from Utah at the time. So Access was. Was not here.

[Dan Patrick]

Frank Layden, Frank Layton.

[Chris Webber]

And I remember. I remember being in a huddle and I. With literally with tears in our eyes because we're 18, 20 at this time. I just come from the championship. We were losing the Duke, and I'm playing with Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill and all my friends, and we're in the huddle like, this is a dream come true. None of us were thinking about going to the league. You know what I mean? This is the. If I go back to the purest of moments in sporting life, it had to be then, you know, because it was okay. I couldn't believe how quick Bobby Hurley was and that it transcended onto the court against Magic, where he's taken Magic and Stockton. Like, we didn't believe in ourselves like this. These were just our heroes. Barkley was my favorite player. So to go against Barkley and Patrick, you wanted to dunk on them. That was like the biggest thing in the call home. And so we really played the hardest that we could. We caught them sleeping. And Chuck Daly, being from Detroit, I had a great relationship with them. And I remember him patting us on the back, like, good job. And, you know, as a good coach, you want to use different things to Incentivize your team. And we beat them. And for them to say last point. It's so infuriating to hear them say, well, Jordan sat on the bench. Jordan could have sat on the bench the whole scrimmage. And you're saying we still beat the all Star team. Well, we'll take that. And so I think any excuse for them is not giving the credit of how great they were. And any great team knows you can get caught slipping. One day we caught them slipping, and the next day, I do not remember us scoring one basket. That's how much they wanted to pay us back. So if they didn't beat us, then they wouldn't have been that mad that next day because they kicked our ass.

[Dan Patrick]

Who was it? Was it Rodney Rogers?

[Chris Webber]

Rodney Rogers, he. I don't know why he kept talking. He was just always talking. His country guys so strong. And I remember Larry Bird because. Because he was my hero. And I just remember watching him and we didn't realize he was that tall. His back was hurting. You know, he kind of walked, ran with a little bit of a gate. But his movements, because he was such a great passer, you couldn't come up on him because his first step was so quick. And Rodney Rogers were rotating, and he goes to the corner and he pump fakes. And as he pump fakes, he's like, welcome to the Parachute Club. And we're like, you're talking during the shot and I'm talking about. It just fell through. It looked like the nets didn't even move. You know, one of those things. But we would have got fined because we're kind of giving each other five. Like, did you see what Larry just did to us?

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, you guys are celebrating him torching Rodney Rodgers.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, it's bad, but Larry Bir made a lot of people do that. Look, go look on YouTube against the Hawks game when he's calling shots with his left hand. That whole bench should have got fined.

[Dan Patrick]

Because they did get fined.

[Chris Webber]

Oh, good, good. Because that's a bad person. I mean, I would have gone to locker room and tried to fight my teammates. Like it's nothing I could do. And you guys are cheering them.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, you never, you never did that when you played against Jordan or you're on the bench and Jordan did something and you, like, turned your. Your guys and said, oh, my God, give me five.

[Chris Webber]

I put. I put my shirt over or something like that. Act like it. Let them. One time, Jordan, we were in the playoffs. Jordan parks his Ferrari inside the building, which you shouldn't be able to do. He's smoking a cigar before the game, which, I mean, you can do whatever you want. And we're the lowly Bullets, and Juwan and I are getting off the bus. And Juwan's very close with him, and he's like, Juwan Webb, who's guarding me tonight. And Calbert Chaney was behind us, and we both looked and did like that. And that was the one time I cringe about how I left a teammate hanging. Cause Jordan had 55 on us that night. And.

[Dan Patrick]

Poor Calvert Chaney.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, poor. He's the man, though. But yeah, hey, dealing with Jordan and Kobe, you're going to have to take. Take some Ls, man.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, but there was that same, like, tenseness that like. Or they probably were like, okay, who's. Who's going to get. Take a beating, you know, Tell me. And then you guys are like, pointing at Calvert Cheney there.

[Chris Webber]

That's exactly what it was. We left him hanging down as a teammate and a captain. That's the one thing I that like, because we both were like, hey, this guy. Leave us alone.

[Dan Patrick]

But Kobe didn't do that.

[Chris Webber]

No, Kobe didn't do that. But I had a teammate and now a coach in Doug Christie that very honestly, he's the man. Because Kobe was score shot after shot. Doug would play it correctly, hand in his face. I saw him tap Kobe on his head before and things like that. It didn't stop him. It didn't stop him. And after the game, you know, him looking himself in the mirror like, I did all I could do, and he get 44 and I'm ready for tomorrow. You know, you gotta have. You gotta have some big nuggets to do that. And teammates that. That do their job knowing that it's. It's an uphill battle. Man, it's so great playing with guys with that commitment because it makes you commit that much more.

[Dan Patrick]

You can't tap Kobe on his forehead.

[Chris Webber]

On the jump shot. Oh, yeah. A lot of it. Oh, yeah. You know how guys tap you on the elbow?

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, I know that.

[Chris Webber]

Oh, yeah. No, yeah, on the forehead. On the shot.

[Taraji P. Henson]

On the forehead.

[Chris Webber]

Oh, yeah. On the forehead.

[Dan Patrick]

Damn, that would piss me off.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, A little Lance Stevenson, you know, all that stuff. Yeah. Going in your ear. You gotta try anything.

[Dan Patrick]

You didn't do that, though.

[Chris Webber]

No, I think against the King, I pushed and, you know, tried stuff, but it didn't work. Didn't work. Didn't work.

[Dan Patrick]

Doesn't seem like Akeem would get agitated with anything.

[Chris Webber]

No, no. And. And you're hoping one guy, like, whether he makes the shot or misses the shot, you're hoping he misses it and starts to complain, and then you've done your job because at least he's thinking about something else while trying to destroy you.

[Dan Patrick]

I can't imagine somebody tapping Michael Jordan on the head. Even Kobe. I can't imagine that.

[Chris Webber]

I want to. You know what? I couldn't either. But I'm. I played with some guys that I think would like a Vernon Maxwell.

[Dan Patrick]

Vernon. Vernon and Albert, Alvin Robertson seem to be the craziest guys that, like, there have been crazy guys, but those are two guys that might be on the Mount Rushmore.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah. Yeah. And you know what? You're so right. And what's so great about guys like that? I think people think that, you know, and I'm sure Draymond must do this, but I think people think that they're a distraction. And really what, what it is is comfort. Because we needed what Vernon Maxwell had in Sacramento our first year. Jay Will White Chocolate needed that because if he gets that every day in practice and you get tired almost like of your big brother, then you understand when these other guys do it, it's nothing because you're getting, you know, abused all the time. And so those guys make locker rooms better because they do set an expectation where you have to be more accountable because, you know, this guy over here is crazy. Giving it his own.

[Dan Patrick]

Always great to catch up with you. Thank you, Chris.

[Chris Webber]

Thank you. Looking forward to seeing you in Adam Sandler's movie, baby.

[Dan Patrick]

Thank you, bud. That's a C web.

[Chris Webber]

Be sure to catch the live edition.

[Dan Patrick]

Of the Dan Patrick show.

[Chris Webber]

Weekdays at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific on.

[Dan Patrick]

Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app.

[Rich Davis]

T Mobile stats are as impressive as your favorite athlete's highlight reel because T Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are On America's largest 5G network Switch now keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off up to $800 per line via prepaid cart. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com keepandswitch up to 4 lines of your virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service support in 90 days device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card is no cash access and expires in six months.

[Dan Patrick]

Brands spend $32 billion every year on influencer marketing, yet most still don't know.

[Chris Webber]

If it's actually working.

[Dan Patrick]

Are you seeing a positive ROI from.

[Dan Flores]

Your influencer campaigns or is your team.

[Dan Patrick]

Just tracking likes and follows.

[Chris Webber]

At Jive PR & Digital, we turn.

[Dan Patrick]

Influencer engagement into real, measurable sales. Our clients see a 50% lower cost per acquisition compared to traditional ads. No more wasted budgets.

[Chris Webber]

No more guessing.

[Dan Patrick]

Head to jiveprdigital.com to see if your.

[Unknown]

Brand is a fit Made for this Mountain is a podcast that exists to empower listeners to rise above their struggles, break free from the chains of trauma and silence the negative voices that have kept them small. Through raw conversations, real stories and actionable guidance, you can learn to face the mountain that is in front of you.

[Steve Covino]

You will never be able to change or grow through the thing that you refuse to identify. The thing that you refuse to say. Hey, this is my mountain. This is the struggle. This is the thing that's in front of me. You can't make that mountain move without actually diving into that.

[Unknown]

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to conquer the things that once felt impossible and step boldly into the best version of yourself, to awaken the unstoppable strength that's inside of us all. So tune into the podcast, focus on your emotional well being and climb your personal mountain.

[Steve Covino]

Because it's impossible for you to be the most authentic you. It's impossible for you to love you fully if all you're doing is living to please people. Your mountain is that.

[Unknown]

Listen to Made for this mountain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dan Flores]

The American west with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. Hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best selling author and meat eater founder Stephen Rinella.

[Taraji P. Henson]

I'll correct my kids now and then.

[Chris Webber]

Where they'll say when cave people were here.

[Taraji P. Henson]

And I'll say it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves.

[Dan Flores]

So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th where we'll delve into stories of the west and come to understand how it helps inform the west ways in which we experience the region today.

[Steve Covino]

Listen to the American west with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and.

[Chris Webber]

It'S gonna take us to heal us. It's Mental Health Awareness Month and on a recent episode of just heal with Dr. J, the incomparable Taraji P. Henson, stopped by to discuss how she's discovered peace on her journey. So what I'm hearing you saying is healing is a part of us also reconnecting to our childhood in some sort. You said I look how youthful I look because I never let that little girl inside of me die. I go outside and run outside with the dogs. I still play like a kid. I laugh, you know, I love jokes. I love funny. I love laughing. I laugh at myself. I don't take myself too seriously. That's the stuff that keeps you young and stops you from being so hard to hear. This and more things on the journey of healing, you can listen to just heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts at. And T connecting changes everything.

[Steve Covino]

Oh, hey, don't be too upset. We'll have fun today.

[Taraji P. Henson]

I mean, that's the plan, right? Even though it's early for us. Happy to be here. Always pumped. Stop being for the great Dan Patrick, Steve Cavino, Rich Davis, our super producer, Danny G. He's the guy with the smooth and buttery voice that sounds like this. Yeah, that's right. We're gonna be playing games today. We're giving away prizes, having fun and Iowa Sam's on the xylophones. I'm sorry, the glockenspiel, Cypress Hill style, because he wants to be a rock superstar. That's Rich Davis in the background and spots on the videos. You know, we stream live now on Fox Sports Radio's YouTube page.

[Steve Covino]

What's going on?

[Taraji P. Henson]

Always putting videos up. So join us. We have big announcements. We have a big party coming up. You know what, I'm going to say it bright and early before you step into the office, before you put your helmet on, your hard hat, your helmet, whatever you're doing today for work. We have a big party coming up and we want you to come celebrate with us. A live broadcast and everything. June 20th, 21st, 22nd in Vegas at Circa. All the details at Covino Enrich. But book your flights, book your stay and come join us live. We have prizes, lots of fun, lots of people showing up. So we'll see you in Vegas. Tell you more about it later. Lots to get to, though. Like we said, prizes. We got last one standing Friday edition. It's one of our favorite games. Is heated. We'll give you a chance to play and always participate at 87799 on Fox. Hope you had a. Okay. See Sort of night.

[Steve Covino]

They just slaying it, huh?

[Taraji P. Henson]

Yeah. Dominant. Very dominant. Makes it kind of boring. It's.

[Steve Covino]

It really is. The ratings are trash.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Right? Right. Because proof in the ratings.

[Steve Covino]

I mean, the reality is OKC is just steamrolling everyone. But that brings up a thought that I want to get to in a second about sga.

[Taraji P. Henson]

We're going to talk about balding Baldo Ronaldos.

[Steve Covino]

And what would you do if you are a balding guy? And what if I told you you might be able to reverse it easily? And it's not some stupid commercial. There is a crazy breaking story about balding men.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Is this like a real story or something you saw on TikTok?

[Steve Covino]

Well, dude, this is real, okay? It's real fake, okay? Plus, a dumb hypothetical about being mad about something, but yet you don't support it. I'll give you an example. Remember when Twinkies, they were like, we're discontinuing Twinkies.

[Taraji P. Henson]

And the world was like, no. How could you Outrage.

[Steve Covino]

No, not Twinkies. Life is over.

[Dan Patrick]

How could you.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Meanwhile, you hadn't bought a Twinkie in years. I get it. I get it.

[Steve Covino]

It's like 20 years passes and you haven't bought a Twinkie, but you're mad if they discontinue it. So I have a funny story in.

[Taraji P. Henson]

The news about that, but we'll get you ready for the weekend. That's what we do. Happy to be here holiday weekend. So that being said, we salute all who served and died for this country as we headed to Memorial Day weekend. Happy to be here. And like I said, we'll get you ready for that. And we'll get you ready with something called weekend hobnobbing. Aside from all the great sports, what you need to watch in the world of sports and entertainment. Weekend hobnobbing. We do it every Friday.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah.

[Steve Covino]

And a big story that I want to get to today, I'm just listening these things so I make sure I get to them. Alex, Cora put in a scenario that people love to debate in sports, and that's personal life versus work. And where's the line? What's more important? I think it's obvious. But this story where it's like, was it obvious? We'll get to all that coming up. But I mean, again, ratings probably stunk. OKC and Minnesota. Are the wolves even going to show up or what?

[Taraji P. Henson]

What do you think the executives are saying?

[Steve Covino]

Ratings?

[Taraji P. Henson]

Yeah, the Timberwolves have to show up, make it a series.

[Steve Covino]

When are we going to put a little. Little respect on the name of the OKC Thunder. What is sga? What is Shay Gilgeous Alexander gonna get the love he deserves. Right. Because I thought about it and it's.

[Chris Webber]

Almost like he should be named MVP of the league or something.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Yeah, right. He should be mvp.

[Chris Webber]

That's.

[Steve Covino]

Either way, I think you're right.

[Taraji P. Henson]

I think when you could say his name with full confidence and not think that you're saying it wrong.

[Chris Webber]

Why do you think everybody calls him sga?

[Taraji P. Henson]

It's like when you couldn't say Giannis. Really.

[Steve Covino]

No. You couldn't say Anthony Kumpo.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Yeah. Well, you still can't say that, obviously. So you call him sga. I think that's. It starts there, but I think it's just a matter of familiarity, Rich. I think after the series, after this run, but especially if they win at all.

[Steve Covino]

If they win it all and he's mvp.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Yeah.

[Steve Covino]

Like I thought about it, you go back to the draft in 2018. If you go back in time. Time. If you go back in time 2018 and you realize. Let me look at that draft real quick. That was the Luca draft, pre Covid.

[Taraji P. Henson]

If I remember correctly, before the world changed.

[Steve Covino]

If you go back to the year.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Before I lost my eyesight, you know, it's not that I'm getting older. I suffer from what I call Covid eye.

[Steve Covino]

You don't have Covid eyes.

[Taraji P. Henson]

I'm telling you, my eyes were never the same, dude.

[Steve Covino]

No, it's. It's. It's definitely not that. You're in your 40s.

[Taraji P. Henson]

No, no, no, no, no. And my hair thinned out a little bit. Not because I'm getting older. Covid hair, bro. So you're going pre Covid 2018. Okay.

[Steve Covino]

The olden days.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Take me back.

[Steve Covino]

The Suns chose Deandre Ayton. Marvin Bagley went to. That was the year Luca went three.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Right.

[Steve Covino]

Jaren Jackson Jr. Trey. Young couple. Couple, you know, stars in this draft. But you go all the way down to crappy 1, 2, 3, 11. I mean, it was a first rounder, but again, a guy that has averaged over 30 points a game the last couple seasons, yet he's never in the conversation. Yeah, but like, I know he's mvp, so you could say, Rich, you're full of it. What are you talking about? Yes. Quality wise.

[Taraji P. Henson]

But I don't think.

[Steve Covino]

Do you know many kids that have an OKC Alexander jersey? Do you see that around town?

[Chris Webber]

Well, part of that is the market they're in.

[Taraji P. Henson]

I was going to say really just small market. Anything smaller market. Anything and of course, they become a bigger household name with a bigger reputation the more they win. I think it's simply that small market team, small market reputation.

[Steve Covino]

It's a weak. Yes. Example. But Ohtani was always a star. Are you saying how Ohtani went from like, yo, the guy dominating, but he's on the Angels to the Dodgers? Like, if you tell me SGA was part of some mega trade and ended up on the Knicks, Lakers, Golden State, the Heat, something like that, then all of a sudden that would change completely.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Yeah, I mean, tie it into your own world. We always talk markets here in radio. And by the way, happy to be on a million of them. Shout out to all the affiliates this morning. Appreciate you. Always great to be here.

[Steve Covino]

I think Dan Patrick really is on close to a million affiliates, but you.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Could be the greatest radio show ever. Like Weenie in the butt in the mornings.

[Steve Covino]

But if you're only on in Dayton, Ohio.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Exactly. That's the knock to Dayton, Ohio. It's just. You could be the greatest there, but not everybody's gonna know and respect you the way they should because it's Dayton, Ohio. It's as simple as that. It's a market day. I agree with Danny G. That doesn't mean it can't change. But winning, as we always say, winning changes everything. Bill Belichick, right? Everyone's like, man, Bill's bringing a whole lot of. Lot of noise to unc. You know how you fix that? Winning. Winning fixes everything. So every time you say winning, I.

[Steve Covino]

Think of Charlie Sheen winning. And I think it's old enough that it's retro again.

[Dan Patrick]

Winning, winning, winning.

[Steve Covino]

You still have that on standby?

[Taraji P. Henson]

You know, Sam pulled that out of his back pocket winning.

[Steve Covino]

Huge Charlie Sheed fan.

[Taraji P. Henson]

You were waiting for us to bring that back.

[Steve Covino]

I do love the three Musketeers.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Honestly, if something's not right, we're not saying that anything's wrong, but it is wrong to not respect them the way we should because they seem insanely dominated. Winning fixes that I know.

[Steve Covino]

And Danny G, you may roll your eyes because you're like, dude, he's the mvp and he's, you know, looks like he's going to roll to the NBA Finals, but.

[Taraji P. Henson]

But it's not, like, household names.

[Steve Covino]

Yeah. I feel like your mom doesn't know his name unless the mom test. The mom test. You know?

[Taraji P. Henson]

But you're right. You brought up young people. Young people probably very aware at this point.

[Steve Covino]

But it's the. It's the Aunt Sharon at Easter, Christmas, or a holiday event.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Like, hey dude, leave my Aunt Sharon Harris. They might be listening.

[Chris Webber]

And Rich, you may need to slow just a little bit until I see OKC get a big lead and keep it in Minnesota. Then I'll agree with that because think back, ask a Laker if it's easy to win in Minnesota.

[Steve Covino]

Listen, Minnesota, I think the T Wolves, Anthony Edwards. That whole squad is fun to watch. I enjoy them. Like I said, this matchup isn't necessarily what the executives wanted. Ratings gold, baby. Gold. Of course, they would have wished upon a star for somehow Golden State or the Lakers or staff or they're getting.

[Chris Webber]

Their ratings in the Eastern Conference.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Of course, big time. But a big time difference of star power and excitement and competition and market size. And market size. Yeah, it comes back to that. New York, the Knicks to Garden.

[Steve Covino]

I'm not trying to be the ratings guy, like boring.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Because I mean his part.

[Steve Covino]

I don't want to be that guy. I really don't. But we said it a little while back. If it's the Pacers okc, you could argue that it could be the lowest ratings of the 21st century.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Well, here's the thing, Rich. Is it as far as ratings, baby, ratings executives clearly would appreciate the Knicks stepping up and taking it further because it's great for basketball and it's high profile and big market. But who would be the greater ratings rival in the finals? I would have assumed the Timberwolves.

[Steve Covino]

You know, I don't stand corrected, but I just found the top selling jerseys in the NBA. And would you assume that SGA is in the top 10? Who buys jerseys?

[Taraji P. Henson]

Young kids are front runners and they like superstars. And that is true. Everybody's a fan of greatness. Hey, your boy here. Steve Cavino from Union, New Jersey. I had a Michael Jordan jersey runner. I mean, I also had like a Jalen Rose jersey because I thought the Nuggets jersey was kind of cool back then. I had a bunch of random jerseys, but of course I had a Jordan jersey because greatness is fun to root for. I'm not surprised. We're talking the mvp. Young kids who are in the market of buying a new jersey absolutely would probably go to that first.

[Steve Covino]

No, you're a Yankees fan. I'm surprised you're not a Cowboys and Lakers fan too.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Yeah, but hold on. We lived in an era where things started to change. You became a fan of greatness. I didn't root for the Raiders, I didn't root for the Royals. But I was a fan of Bo Jackson. Who was it? What 90s kid didn't like Michael Jordan or Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey Jr. Right. So he would be in that category for a young person today. They're hanging up posters in their room or whatever they do. What do they do? Little light up.

[Steve Covino]

What do kids do nowadays?

[Taraji P. Henson]

No, but it's not the same.

[Steve Covino]

Even though my daughter has posters, kids still have fatheads. Or is that the 2000s?

[Taraji P. Henson]

Got some, like, cool lights, some sort of galaxy on their ceiling.

[Steve Covino]

My kid has LEDs. My kid has some little ball that you let out that it makes like it looks like the Milky Ways on their ceiling.

[Taraji P. Henson]

So they probably have some SGA hologram up there, you know, floating around their room, some sort of fathead, because he is the mvp. So it's just. It doesn't pass the Aunt Sharon test, but passes the give me a good little kid name Jackson test with an X. Jackson?

[Steve Covino]

Yeah, that's on the Little League.

[Taraji P. Henson]

It passes the Kyler test.

[Steve Covino]

Yeah. Yo, Jackson. So you like sga? Of course I do.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Richie Wall, hologram with.

[Chris Webber]

With that in mind with sga. And after this MVP season, maybe his stardom will pick up on the other side of things. Tyrese Halliburton, is he a superstar?

[Steve Covino]

I mean, what defines a superstar? Is that the question?

[Taraji P. Henson]

No, we're going to get to that, too.

[Steve Covino]

You know, that's a great transition. Let me ask you before we do that, though.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Well, you know what superstar moments.

[Steve Covino]

What are the. What do you think the top 10 selling jerseys are now? This is based on the second half of the NBA season.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Lucas in there.

[Steve Covino]

Luke is number one. I remember the second half, so thank people buying that Luka Lakers jersey.

[Dan Patrick]

I remember that.

[Chris Webber]

Jason Tatum has to be in there.

[Steve Covino]

He's number four.

[Chris Webber]

Okay.

[Taraji P. Henson]

I imagine LeBron's still in there. Number three, Curry still in there.

[Steve Covino]

Number two, UGC. You guys just nailed the top four.

[Chris Webber]

Okay, New York. So Brunson, number five.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Yeah, you guys are like.

[Steve Covino]

Steve Harvey would buy his mustache would be, you know, shimmering right now with your Family Feud style, excellence. Speaking of which, Dan Patrick, Celebrity, Family Feud. How cool is that? We gotta get on that. All right, you guys name the top five.

[Taraji P. Henson]

It's called celebrity.

[Chris Webber]

I'm thinking young stars.

[Steve Covino]

Ja Moran, John Morant's number eight. So here you go. You're rolling. Keep on the young star.

[Chris Webber]

Young stars. Oh, I didn't play the second half of the season, but Wemby, number six.

[Steve Covino]

Yeah, nice clean sweep, this. Then there's one more at number seven. And I'll give you this. SGA is number nine. And it's someone he's playing right now.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Ah, Edwards.

[Steve Covino]

Edwards is number seven, baby. Jordan and then Jokic rounds out the top 10 and then Giannis Lamelo Ball, KD, Devin Booker and Jalen Brown. But he's a top 10 selling jersey. So Camino, your theory of like yo, kids know, it just, it might not pass the Aunt Janet at Christmas test. Like man, the OKC with who's that guy again? And Sharon and Janet. That's Shea Gilge's Alexander. Oh yeah. Just saying. For a guy that's putting up these numbers, I think he should be more of a household name. And when people talk about the young stars in the league, who else is in their 20s doing what he's doing? A lot of the other guys we speak of on that list are 30ish or older. The veterans, right.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Well, there is a feeling. I saw Charles Barkley being interviewed by one of our pals, Adam Glenn, who does celebrity interviews, like TMZ style interviews. And he's like, how do you feel about the Thunder's chances? And what do you think about SGA sort of coming out of nowhere. That's the feeling like he sort of came out of nowhere. But that's not the truth. Yeah, but it feels that way. Right? Not the truth. Doing it. Plus it takes a minute to acclimate to the NBA, so let's keep that in mind. Still a young guy, but he's been.

[Steve Covino]

Averaging 30 plus, which seems like forever but.

[Taraji P. Henson]

But it seems like. Exactly. So it's not out of nowhere. It just feels that way. And now they're on a bigger stage and all those things changed a reputation. That's when the kids tell the older folks like, see, we told you. Because now when it's on a big stage like this, doesn't matter what market they're playing for. And that's how you create that reputation and that's what makes you a superstar. And we can actually transition into that. But before we move past the Timberwolves, and I'm sure we're going to bring them up again, Timberwolves just looking weak compared to the Thunder. They're not wolves, Rich. But there's a viral story today. Did you see this?

[Steve Covino]

I'll tell you what I did see the so on my way to work this morning. We live out here in Los Angeles. I'm never up at this early, you know that 4 or 5am hour here on the west coast, you know, getting ready to come here.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Yeah, it's not our normal schedule. Normally we're on 2 to 4 on the west, 5 to 7pm on the east.

[Steve Covino]

What were those wolves in Game of Thrones? Dire wolves. I swear I saw a dire wolf on my street.

[Taraji P. Henson]

I think you're lying.

[Steve Covino]

I mean, it could, you might argue, Rich, it was probably a little coyote. But in my mind this morning as I pulled out of my driveway, I'm like, this is a dire wolf.

[Taraji P. Henson]

I want you to look this up.

[Chris Webber]

This is neighbor walking a wiener dog.

[Steve Covino]

Immediately, I immediately, I immediately texted my wife. I'm like, don't let our dog outside. Like, saw a shadow of a wiener dog wolf in my mind. In my 4:30 in the morning mind this morning I was like, I think Jon Snow is walking a direwolf on my street.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Dude, they are everywhere in Los Angeles. I'm sure you guys have seen the stories. You saw that story with Tommy Lee's dog, right? Some coyote hopped over like a ten foot fence, grabs his dog and. Yeah, Hungry Man. Yo, these things are wild, right? So literally there's a story today, or I saw it today.

[Steve Covino]

I think it was a Timberwolf.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Not a wolf, not a Timberwolf, but five coyotes. Five coyotes, I think equal one wolf, but five.

[Steve Covino]

Are you gonna ask me one man or five coyotes?

[Taraji P. Henson]

No, no, no, no. Five coyotes versus a good creeping five.

[Steve Covino]

Coyotes or a silverback gorilla.

[Taraji P. Henson]

And I think the story is a random stray black Labrador fights off and fends off five coyotes. Now I don't know, like, of course, maybe you're thinking, of course a lab could fight off five coyotes. To me I was like, yo, that's impressive. This five pack of coyotes attack and one black lab fights him off. That's viral today. Protecting. I thought it was protecting the house and the kids, but I think it was a stray and it was all caught on film. And it went viral this morning on my way in, I saw it.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, it says, wildlife cam shows stray dog fighting off stray.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Right.

[Steve Covino]

I heard the stray got the best of him when he drew a tunnel on a brick wall. Really tricked the coyote. Nice.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Yes, yes. So look out for that. It's a local LA story though, from my understanding.

[Chris Webber]

Raya, California.

[Taraji P. Henson]

Yeah, So I saw it on the news today. But again, not wolves, but coyotes. Props to that black lab. Pretty sweet.

[Steve Covino]

I know a lot of cops, they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is absolute Season one, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1 Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dan Flores]

Why is a soap opera western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American west with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6, where we'll delve into stories of the west and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today.

[Steve Covino]

Listen to the American west with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Rich Davis]

In 2020, a group of young women.

[Unknown]

Found themselves in an AI fueled nightmare.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Someone was posting photos.

[Chris Webber]

It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts.

[Unknown]

This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart podcasts Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope about the rise of deepfake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple.

[Chris Webber]

Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott and this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

[Steve Covino]

Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest.

[Chris Webber]

Names in music and sports. It kind of star studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes, we.

[Steve Covino]

Met them at the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it.

[Chris Webber]

It makes it real.

[Steve Covino]

It really does. It makes it real.

[Chris Webber]

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs Podcast, Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Hi, I'm Sam Mullins and I've got a new podcast coming out called goboy, the gritty true story of how one man fought his way out of some of the darkest places imaginable.

[Chris Webber]

Roger Caron, was 16 when first convicted.

[Dan Patrick]

Has spent 24 of those years in jail.

[Chris Webber]

But when Roger Caron picked up a.

[Wayne Gretzky]

Pen and paper, he went from an ex con to a literary darling from campside media and iHeart podcasts. Listen to goboy on iHeartradio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Steve Covino]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.