Hour 2: High on the Huskies?

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For one, we know this, the Spurs, he thinks well, I wanted to say cut down the nets but win the chip. Okay, C is at two, Celtic's at three, Nuggett's at four and then the Lakers at number five. But how many teams can actually win the Lario Bryan Trophy in the NBA right now? Stephen A, you saw Perk's list. How many teams do you think are actual title contenders? I'm going to say seven, possibly eight. The reason I say that is because he didn't have the T-wolves on the list. Okay, it's possible with Ant-Man, what if he explodes? I mean, we can't just summarily dismiss that. He didn't have my Knicks on the list, not that they deserve to be based on how they've looked lately. They only beaten sub 500 teams, but damn it, they still a Knicks. They were in these conference finals last year. It's the same talent that's on the squad this year. I'm not going to summarily dismiss my Knicks and I can't, even though I'm not pleased with how they guard. Cleveland can put up buckets on anybody at any given moment. So I would add those three teams into the mix because once again, it's not just defense. It's an high-powered offense making an opposing offense tight and tentative because you know you can't afford to make mistakes because you can't stop one of their offenses, which is why I think a team like the Lakers and the Cavaliers should be in the mix because of their offensive potency, even though we have some questions about their defensive prowess. But I would add the Cavaliers, the Timberwolves and the Knicks to Perk's list. And I would say the number is eight. Originally, I said seven, but I would say eight. Timberwolves over the front. Well, you know how... Go ahead. Well, you know how it goes, Stephen. You do lists all the time. You only can put five. And again, it's my list, not your list or Shay's list. Or not the world list. It's fluid. Don't be rude. Don't be rude. It's fluid. But seriously, as I'm watching all of these teams come towards the end of the season when you're supposed to be peaking right now. There's only real four teams that I could legitimately sit up here and say they got a real shot at winning the NBA championship. If we talking real tall and three of those teams are in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the San Antonio Spurs and the Denver Nuggets. Even though Denver been up and down battling with injuries, I would never dismiss Yolkich. I would never dismiss him because we know he could show up and show out at any given time. On the Eastern Conference side of things, the Cavs, they've been up and down. I still believe that they're soft. I still believe that Evan Mobley and Jared Allen just don't bring enough tenacity and nastiness for me in order for me to say that they can actually win a title. The Knicks are going through identity crisis under the coach of Mike Brown. The Boston Celtics, they could legitimately win the NBA championship this year. With the duo in Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the way that they're playing, Jason Tatum, what he has done, winning Eastern Conference player the week last week, how he's been playing, how he looked against the Hornets without Jaylen Brown, how he took a step back to Jaylen Brown when he returned, when they just played in Miami and he still had a triple double. When I think about it, and the way teams are peeking and looking right now, one, Stephen A., you're right. You got to get buckets. But you know the saying, defense go when you're championships. When I look at the Spurs, OKC and Boston, all of those teams are defending their asses off and all of those teams are top five defensively. We both made a mistake. We both made a mistake, Perk. You did your top five list. They asked the question, how many teams can legitimately win an NBA title. I said eight. And we basically talked about the core four. We both have brain fog with this, in my opinion. How do you leave out the Detroit Pistons? You can't leave out the number one seed in the Eastern Conference who can defend. And once Kade Cuddinham comes back, would be formidable as well. And the road to the finals has to come through Detroit in all likelihood. Who even without Kade Cuddinham has managed to hold off the Boston Celtics for the number one seed in the East. We can't forget the Detroit Pistons. I just had brain fog. That's my bad. They should have been mentioned as well. No, but here's the thing, right? And I think it's two separate conversations. Like we can have a conversation of who's a legit threat to come out of the Eastern Conference. And we can say, yeah, Detroit, Cleveland, absolutely, they got a chance of coming out of the Eastern Conference. But when they get to the Promised Land, they're not going to complete the mission. But yeah, they have a legit chance of coming out of the Conference. I think that's two different conversations. But again, when I look at this top three right here, I think I for sure got the top three right. I mean, I think the list wasn't bad at all. But those top three teams that's on there, the Spurs, OKC, and the Boston Celtics. And the reason being is because both of those teams are not only great offensively, but they are all three of those teams are outstanding defense. Yeah, I can do that. I would say to you, can't rule out Denver because Yolkic is arguably the best in the game. He's spectacular. The rivalry has been coming on strong. And we know what those brothers do. We know what those brothers do in the postseason. And in the game of basketball, if you have two stars playing like stars and this this supporting cast simply does their job, then Denver is held to deal with. And on the East Side, Detroit, it's not only that they defend, they have size too. So you ain't bullying them around. It's going to be the other way around. I wouldn't sleep on Detroit given hell for an opposing team in the Western Conference, whether it be San Antonio or OKC or Denver. Detroit has the girth. They have the athleticism. They have the defensive prowess. They have the toughness to compete with anybody. Boston should still be the favorites out of the East. I agree with you there. But I can't dismiss Detroit in terms of your core five. Core five to win a title. OKC, San Antonio, Boston, definitely so. But looking at Denver and Detroit, yes. Got to throw them in there. So he would take you take the Lakers off the list. And I would push back on the Timberwolves. Yes. Maybe they could come out of the West, but there's no way they're taking down the Thunder or the Spurs. It feels like they're kind of in a separate tier as well. All right, let's go to baseball. Park, we're seeing a little bit. The Pirates are calling up Connor Griffin, the number one prospect in baseball ahead of their home opener today. Only 19 years old Griffin would be the first teenage position player to debut since Juan Soto did it in 2018. Our buster only has also reported that Griffin is working on finalizing, listen to this, a contract extension with the Pirates for around $140 million over nine years. He is making his debut today. Just want to point that out. SA, are the Pirates bringing up Connor Griffin this generational talent too soon? I don't care. They haven't made the postseason, but about three times since 1992. I mean, give your fans something to cheer about. The brother hasn't even turned 20 yet. He's going to turn 20 later this month. I know he batted 174 in spring training, but he had four home runs and 41 at bats, you know, playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates in spring training. So he's got some promise. He's considered a five-two player, you know, hitting, hitting for power, running the bases, arm strength, the whole bit. The brother is a package. Okay. And he's only 19 years of age. He batted 336 in the minors with 21 home runs, 68 stolen bases, 95 RBIs and just 127 major minor league baseball games. Here's why I'm big on this, Shay, and why I wanted to broach this subject on first take for the audience to see. I cannot say enough about the job that I think Rob Manfred has done in altering the game and forcing, literally forcing the players and the league to adapt to modern times. Baseball is historically the last one at the party, consistently holding onto tradition, much to their detriment throughout the years, which is why they've gotten themselves in so much trouble. Steroids, everything, all this stuff with the amphetamines and all this stuff you used to do in the past and all of this other stuff. The thing about it now is shifting pitch counts. You know, time to get off your pitch, right? You know, all of these different things, raising them out a whole bit, all of these things have elevated offense in the game, it's got more stolen bases, the at bats matter more, it's not as dependent on the whole run ball as it used to be in order for a game to be more entertaining. And as a result, you're inviting more athleticism to the game. Why is that big? Because it's going to provoke you to bring younger players on the squad. That who can hit, who can hit, but may not hit home runs necessarily, but can really run the bases really, really well. That are exceptional with their speed and their arm strength and the outfield and things of that nature. All of these things are inviting it. A couple of things could derail you. You're not going to appeal but so much to the younger audience if they've got to wait forever to come to the majors. They want to have a shot to be there when they're relatively young, so they can get paid when they're relatively young, instead of being mired in the minor leagues all the day of time. That's a very, very big deal. This is why you have others leaning towards football, leaning towards basketball, because they want the bad quicker. They want the excitement and the elevation to the pro level quicker. They don't want to have to wait as long. So showing a willingness to bring somebody in this young that hasn't even turned 20 yet is a big deal. And some people said it's a little bit late. They expected them earlier. This is the kind of stuff that you're looking for if you're a Major League Baseball. You want the youth movement to be in vogue. You want to make sure that people out there know you're bringing up young thoroughbreds and the games will facilitate their success because it'll utilize all the assets that they bring to the table to their advantage of the sport, contributing to the entertainment, making their audience younger, and as a result, getting baseball back in the mind's eye of the viewing public, particularly with the core demographics, whether it's 18 to 34, 18 to 49, as opposed to baseball's demographic being well over 50. Baseball recognized that its sport was dying because even though it was popular with numbers, the demographic that prioritized watching the sport was a bit older than the targeted demographic that all the other sports leagues had. And now the M.L.B. is coming to the party. This is the latest example of it, and I love it. Once again, baseball over the last year, two years or so, they've been doing practically everything right, and they deserve to be applauded. I love this, and I hope that kind of Griffin shows up and shows out and shows that he belongs because if he does, after batting just 171 in spring training, they're going to say, okay, maybe there's some other youngsters that we should bring into the majors, and that'll be a very good thing for the league if the guys can perform on the major league level sooner than later. I agree with you in calling up the younger players. I definitely think that appeals to a younger generation that they can relate to and whatnot. But giving him a contract extension worth $140 million for nine years before he even takes one singular big league at bat is a completely new precedent. It's not about him being called up, and he deserves his money if he's worth it all. But I just feel like that kind of precedent is set for a player coming directly out of the minors to take his first, and he's like, here's a 10-year contract extension, basically. That's a lot of money. That's a lot of money. But the retort would be, we got bat, we had at least until the collective bargaining rules changed at some what. You had players coming out of college, had players coming out of high school getting their bag in basketball. You see cats coming out, and then let's take it to the pro level. No disrespect. We respect Kirk Cousins. The man has won one playoff game in his career. He's made over $321 million in the national football league. I mean, everybody is looking at their agent with a raised eyebrow, no matter what, because you think about this guy McCartney that's representing Kirk Cousins, and everybody wants him because how the hell you get that man that much money? So there are veterans whose contracts you can complain about, just like there's youth whose contracts that you complain about. But you want to take a chance on the youth because there's an upside, but most importantly, they're inviting a younger demographic to ingratiate the sport, which is what the MLB's priority was. Bringing a young, making the audience a bit younger to watch with your older generation, your parents and your grandparents. They don't want to lose them either, but they certainly needed to infuse a younger generation into their audience. And that's what they're doing. And I applaud it. Okay. Nine years? Come on now. That's crazy. I didn't say this to get nine years. Nine years! What you know, R.E.M. and Dan Hurley are doing right now, incredible. Will the Huskies be bringing both Natties back to stores Connecticut plus LeBron? Did not hold back criticizing playing games in Memphis. Don't want to miss Stephen A. and Big Kirk's reaction is to this. You're watching First Take presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance. It's the middle of the night in a small town on the Jersey Shore. Someone reports an abandoned car on a bridge. A search gets underway for the missing driver, 19-year-old Sarah Stern. Is it a missing person? Is it a suicide? At this point, nobody knows. Old friendships, buried cash, and a sinister plot that was once pitched as a movie plays out in real life. I'm Juju Chang from 2020 and ABC Audio. Listen now to Bridge of Lies wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back. South Carolina and UConn face off in a 2025 title rematch. The Huskies are looking to become the first repeat champion since they won 4th straight from 2013 to 2016 while the Gamecocks will look to snap UConn's 54 game win streak tonight. This week South Carolina coach Dawn Staley spoke about the matchup. UConn has been the standard in women's basketball for a very long time and everyone has to measure up to their standard. I think they allow us something to reach for and when you have a traditionally rich program like that, I think it helps us all grow. It helps us all try to game plan and figure out ways to just measure ourselves up to them and then possibly beat them and then to be able to do that over a period of time, you know, it's almost impossible. But it's incredible the standard that they have had for the past 40, 35, 40 years. She's done it before though. So Chenay Guamake is with us now. What would be the better story? UConn going for the back to back or crowning a new champion? Hello friends and guess what? It's game day at the Final Four. We are in Phoenix and we are ready to go. I am so excited. And that's a tough question because both outcomes are in my opinion good for the game. But if I had to pick one, UConn, it took them about eight years to get back to the mountaintop and they have arrived. But now they also do have a target on their backs. And so I actually am looking forward to more so the other one seeds. I think that would be a bigger storyline. Having a new champion just because we saw UConn, they performed at the highest level. They won. They got that championship after eight years. But the pain of losing for UCLA, the pain of losing for South Carolina, the pain of losing for Texas actually forced those squads, those programs to elevate their game. Even though we talked about it the other day, UCLA, they are humming like a machine. Their offense is one of the best. I think it's technically per adjusted metrics, the best offense remaining. They have six, seven All-American and Lauren Betz who was conference player of the year and conference defensive player of the year. They added Gianna Nipkins who's a great shooter. They shoot the ball really well. Kiki Rice is playing her best version of basketball. Then you move over to Texas. And this is a team that historically has been known for their defense. But they also are getting offensive production because they lost last year in the final four and they wanted to get back and fight back. We talked to Wari Harmon who is the heart and soul of this team. And she said, hey, we're here to win. We know what we got a taste of it last year. Now we want to win. And last but not least, Don Staley, South Carolina. This is a squad that is known for their post players from Asia Wilson to Aliyah Boston. And now Joyce Edwards who had, I think, 22, 20 point games over the course of this season, which is the most under Don. They also have Medina Ocott who's seven, six, seven. And she is someone who's had 22 double doubles. And now they shot 70% from three, their back court in their Sacramento regional. So all those other one seeds looked at last year, looked at the standard that Don talked about and said, we want to get there too. And to me, that is going to amount in the most competitive, fun games that we'll see all year. Well, Shay, first things first, before I answer this question, I'm about to put the biggest smile on Jenae's face right now. Before I even get into it, Jenae, I was on my way to the national title game. I'm sorry, to the final four game tonight in Phoenix to watch this game. And I can't make it. I was bringing Nyla, my daughter, who you were so wonderful to, who wanted to come see you and y'all. And we were coming together, but she's under the weather so she can't make it, which means I couldn't make it. That's why I'm not coming. We were coming to the game tonight. I was going to pull up and surprise y'all. We were coming to the game tonight. All right. Let me get that out. She says the love, by the way. She says the love. Here's the deal. The better story is a new champion. And here's why. Parity is what makes the world go round. We all see what the NFL has become and whatever, but it's because every year, you know, there's practically a new champion. It's hard to win back-to-back titles in a national football league and stuff like that. Yukon, I'm going to remind everybody, 37 consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament, 32 straight sweet 16s, 25 final fours, 12 national championships. And oh, by the way, the one loss that they had, which was to South Carolina and the great Dawn Steeley in 2022 was avenged last year. Okay. And now they're riding a 54 game winning streak. Yukon winning just reclaims a level of dominance that we have witnessed spanning decades when it comes to Geno Oriama and his team. A win by anybody else says, hold the horses. Yukon ain't the only, ain't the only big fish in this pond. Let's be very, very clear. Dawn Steeley, six consecutive final four appearances this year. They 35 and three. Oh, by the way, Texas back-to-back final four appearances under Vic Schaffer, who I just interviewed yesterday. They 35 and three. And they got something to say with one of the top defenses in the nation, in terms of forced and turnovers and all of that. And then you have UCLA led by the great Corey Close, who's got UCLA at 35 and one. The only loss of the year is to the team they play in tonight. Okay. Which is why this is such a big game to watch as well. What you want to see is somebody else looking at Goliath and not knocking them off like you some Cinderella. You knocking them off like you here too. This ain't some 21 and 12 team that's 11th seed and you get on a hot streak and you knock off the Goliath and a one off UCLA, Texas and South Carolina have been here. And you want to make the statement, we're not going anywhere. You got fud, you got strong. We get all that, but we ain't going no damn place. You gonna have to deal with us. You send that message by knocking off Yukon. That's the message that you send to the college basketball landscape for women's basketball. The dominance that you have witnessed Yukon, we respect them. We revere them. They don't scare us. We ain't no joke either. Y'all better recognize that is the message somebody in this tournament is going to have to send. South Carolina got the shot tonight. And if they don't get it done, it'll be UCLA or Texas with their shot. That don't mean they all got to win, but you got to make sure it's a thriller. You got to give them a run for your money. They can't annihilate and walk through the competition in this final four. If they do that, that's not going to be good for the sport. It'll be great for Yukon. Yeah, what's kind of crazy is that most of these teams have had this tremendous margin of victory, but I do agree with you. It's not going to be easy to be able to chip away and chip away at Yukon. What we saw in their Elite 8 game versus one of your favorite players, Hannah Hidalgo, who just became national defensive player of the year, was that Yukon showed a little bit of their humanity. They showed it. Who wouldn't when Hannah Hidalgo is up on you who set the D1 record with 16 steals in a game and broke the all time steals record in that same game versus Vanderbilt, which was wild. But overall, you look at Yukon and they, they, we were at their practice yesterday and Gina was a master of the details. He does not tolerate mistakes. He has them thinking for themselves on the floor, but we saw a little bit more of that humanity where other teams are like, Hey, like if they can be competitive with them, we know we absolutely can. Understanding that they're undefeated, but we are a better team. And so I'm excited for this matchup for South Carolina because I do believe they have a chip on their shoulder. And I actually asked them, I said, Hey, how was your performance last year in the final four to Yukon, which was really difficult? Is that motivating you now? They're like, actually, what's motivating us is that we lost the Texas. In the SEC tournament. And so all of these teams are looking at each other saying like, we want another shot at the great squads, you know, in this landscape. It landscape. That's why I'm so excited for the matchups tonight. I'm here for the great. How much of a chance do you give it? Hold on. Say how much of a chance do you give me South Carolina? Oh, the chance I'm giving before I was saying that like Yukon is the heavy favorite right now, I think it can go either way. I think it's a coin flip. And the coolest thing is I'll tell you two things from each squad for Yukon, you know, things were not going their way. AZ FUD did not shoot the ball. Well, she didn't even hit a three in the lead eight game. I think they're supporting cast of Sarah Williams, Ashlyn Shade, KK Arnold. They only scored four points. Sarah Strong did something she normally does not do. She started, you know, yelling and motivating her teammates and also taking the game in control by herself. She will have to do that against South Carolina because they're going to try to use size against her, but it's going to be like what style wins? Is it going to be the outside style of Sarah Strong who can knock down threes or the bigs that are going to try to control the boards? That to me is fascinating. And it's why I think it's truly a toss up, which is good for the game. Yeah, it is good for the game. A toss up tonight. Can't wait for the final four. By the way, Yukon is beating teams by an average of over 37 points. Remember ESPN is the home of the women's final four tonight highlighted by all four onesies, Joyce Edwards, South Carolina, square enough against AZ FUD and Sarah Strong and Yukon at Seven Eastern. The massive Booker in Texas will take on the Warnbets in UCLA. Our final four pregame special from Phoenix begins at Six Eastern. We'll also have a special courtside presentation of both games on ESPN 2 and the ESPN app. On the way, LeBron James went in big on playing games in Memphis. Big Perk thinks there's maybe a bigger issue though that meets the eye and then who will face the winner of Michigan, Arizona and the national championship. Seth Greenberg and Stephen A. They disagree. At EDF, we don't just encourage you to use less electricity. We actually reward you for it. That's why when you use less during peak times on weekdays, we give you free electricity on Sundays. How you use it is up to you. EDF. Change is in our power. How so to ship weekday peak usage by 40% could earn up to 16 hours of free electricity over the subject of fare usage care. For all teams and series, visit EDF.energy.com forward slash high power. ABC's NHL Saturday matinee, double headers, Red Wings Rangers followed by a matchup between the NHL's top team, the As and the Stars. Our pregame coverage begins at New Eastern and Sunday on ESPN and the ESPN app. The Rangers host OV and the Caps and on the Disney channels, another virtual real time version of the game featuring the inside out characters can't wait for that. Coverage begins at 7 Eastern for Pacific. These animated versions of games have been just so good. This one does not look to disappoint. The winner goes to the final four. This is it. You've made it. The final four. Where the only thing that matters as much as the championship game is reaching it. If you're going to dream, you might as well dream all the way. So before you reach for the scissors, you need to reach within you. Lock in. If they can hit it, then go to the championship. When your seconds away from that final buzzer, keep your composure. For the last! The hero of the year! It could all come down to one moment. If that doesn't give you goosebumps, I don't know what will. OK, men's final four tips off in one sleep. Excited for it. Who wins on Saturday? Let's go with Yukon Illinois first, coach. What do you think? I like Yukon. If you think about the teams that have given Yukon a problem, the teams that have got up and underneath impression of created turnovers and created offense out of their defense. Now this is going to be a slugfest. Illinois plays at a slow pace. Yukon plays at a slow pace. But if Yukon doesn't turn the basketball over, then Illinois has got to guard their offense. And their offense where they move the ball, they move people, they make you defend side to side. You've got Tyrus Root who's been absolutely dominating in the NCAA tournament. 21 points, 13 rebounds, four offensive rebounds. They can play through him, caribound off the ball. They haven't shot the ball well in the NCAA tournament. Yukon only 29% for the three point line. I think they shoot it better. Defensively, they do a great job of running their opponent off the three point line. Illinois, almost 50% of the shots come from the three. They make about nine. I think Yukon defends the three. I think that they own the tempo to game offensively and defensively. They play through Tyrus Root. And most importantly, they don't turn it over. And if they don't turn it over, Yukon wins this game. I think it's going to be Illinois. I don't root against Danny Hurley. I love him. Except for when they're playing Rick Petino because I'm Queens in the building all day, every day Queens, New York. So I'm with Root for St. John's. But I love me some Danny Hurley and I think that he's the crème de la crème of coaches in college basketball right now. I'm certainly not rooting against him 17 and one over the last three years in the NCAA tournament for crying out loud. He's the real deal. But I think people are sleeping on Illinois. Do y'all realize they're the tallest team in the tournament? I mean, they're the tallest team, one of the nation's tallest teams, if I remember correctly. OK, so when I think about Reed and what kind of problems he's expected to make, I think it's going to be a bit problematic. They got these Europeans. They got four of their core eight players from Europe, including Stojakovic. The son of Pajas Stojakovic, who I missed. I loved him when he played in the NBA. It's great seeing him in the crowd watching the somebody. It's a great feel. It's a great feel, good story. But a sunken ball and they're going to have a hard time matching up with that brother as well. And this kid, Waggler, this freshman coach, you have some explaining to do and damn it, don't take long because we got another game to get to. So don't filibuster this. But here's the deal. We talked about freshmen all year long. We talked about the Bonza. We talked about Peterson. We talked. I mean, we talked about Fleming. We talked about Boozer. We talked about Caleb Wilson. We talked about all of these guys. I never heard the great coach Greenberg bring up this cat, Waggler, from Illinois. This brother's precious. You got to pay better attention, Steven. I have brought that to you. I said on first take, when I'm sitting up there bringing up these names, you got to educate me, man. I'm sitting up there bringing up these other names. I didn't see this kid. This kid could play, by the way, his 85 three-pointers this year. He's a threat from three. He can ball, flat-out ball. And I just look at Illinois right now and I'm like, we about Danny Hurley, but Illinois can take him. Illinois can take him. All right, look, I don't disagree. The Waggler, he reminds a little bit of Steph Curry. He's a bigger version of Steph Curry. He's 6'7". He's got that logo arranged. He's got a middle game. He's got a runner. They put the ball in his hands. Like they changed this Illinois team when they put the ball in his hands and made him their point guard. But scoring point guard, which is what I call a ball guard. They flip their whole team and they do have great size and versatility in the front corporate. They're going to have to chase Connecticut all over the floor with those bigs. But Waggler, without a doubt, the guy's going to be a lottery pick, a high lottery pick. He's a matchup problem with unlimited range. Let's go to the nightcap really quick, coach. You got Arizona or Michigan? I've got Arizona. And the reason I have Arizona against Styles, Big Fights, the teams that have given Michigan a problem, teams that have been really physical. And this Arizona team is really physical. They can attack you right one step over the three point line. They can get into the ball. They can keep people on the perimeter. They're one of the few teams that match up in the front court with Michigan. Crevice can match up with Mara, which is a good matchup. But the most important matchup is Lennonburg. Karchenkov, a six foot, a six nine, two 40 physical tough on Lennonburg. But the game's going to be one in the back court. I really believe in Jaden Bradley. I think he's one of the best closers in college basketball. And Braden Burry is another one of those freshmen. That brother can go. I mean, flat go. He's a one man fast break off the defensive rebound. He can get to the rim. He's a three level scorer. I think the physicality and the ability to just continue to pound the ball in the paint where Arizona scores about 45 points in the game. All different ways in post ups and drives. I like Arizona. You just eliminated my big 10. Look at you. That's not nice. We even won a chip since 2000. Coach Greenberg, enjoy the games. We'll see you later. On the break, LeBron James did not hold back criticizing playing in Memphis. Worst comments out of bounds. We'll tell you next. The UFLE week two schedule rolls on tomorrow night at 8 Eastern, 5 Pacific on ESPN and the ESPN app with the storm taken on the Kings and Sunday on NFL network, one and O Stallion squaring off against the zero and one gamblers in Houston at 6 Eastern, 5 Central. NBA superstar LeBron James appeared on the Bob does sports YouTube golf show recently and had some comments about the NBA in Memphis that made waves online. Listen to this. At 41 years old, you think I'm gonna do that? Being in Memphis on a random Thursday. I'm not like the first guy even talk about it in the NBA. We all like, you guys have to move. Let's go over to Nashville. All right. So the joke was made. I don't think LeBron is going to be appearing on the Grizzlies anytime soon. But are these LeBron comments about Memphis fair or foul, Stephen A? They can be both. And I think it's important to mention that. I made noise last year because I talked about the city of Memphis that routes and folks up because they've had some issues. Mayor Paul Young, I think it's done an outstanding job because they've had issues with their crime rate, certainly still have issues with their poverty rate. Just look at where they rank in the national rankings. And that's certainly a subject to be debated, but he's definitely got them steered in the right direction and I applaud him. In the same breath, when you're looking at the Memphis Grizzlies, also look at what Desmond Bain said about their facilities. And he wasn't talking about FedEx Forum because we all know that's a nice arena, but he was talking about their practice facilities and what have you. When he got traded to the Orlando Magic and how being there was a breath of fresh air, that that place was like a dungeon, et cetera, et cetera, even though obviously he loves the city. He loves their tremendous fans. He loves the people. And so when LeBron James says something like that, I think that we get where he's coming from as a player from in Cleveland and then ultimately Miami, back to Cleveland and then LA, he's been around and he knows a thing or two. Plus he knows what he's heard about what Memphis has to offer as it pertains to his basketball teams and its facilities in comparison to other NBA teams. That's a story for another day that we don't have time to get into. Where it does become a bit foul is the fact that it's coming out of LeBron James' mouth because it's a large black population in that city. And you need that team there, obviously, to fuel, to assist in fueling the economy because a lot of things about them are not, you know, a lot, a lot of things about the city needs to improve. And we get that. There's some wonderful people there. And there's people there that's, that's us. It looks like us that are us and they need our assistance. They need our support in every way, shape, form and fashion. Nashville is definitely a thriving city. Nobody will deny that, you know, and this and LeBron is not the first person to point out that Nashville is probably more equipped to have an NBA team than some would say Memphis is. But we know how detrimental it would be if Memphis lost that team. And that's something to be taken into consideration as opposed to speaking flippantly about it on a damn golf course. Not to mention the fact that LeBron was just months removed from promoting the city. I forget whether it was with his sneakers or something else, where it was commemorating Martin Luther King and civil rights and black history just months ago. And that's not consistent with the verbiage that was caught on his mouth, out of his mouth, on a damn golf course. So I would say both things can be true here in terms of that question, Che. Burke? No, it's not. No, it's not. It's all the way foul and it's all the way out of bounds. I had an opportunity to actually meet Mayor Paul Young because I was down there three weeks ago because your boy Stone had a basketball tournament and they rolled the red carpet out for me. I stayed at a Hilton hotel, nice cozy beds, rubbed my feet together and got some great rest. Now, I will say this, does Memphis rank at the bottom when it comes to NBA standard hotels? When you think about the wristcaught and four seasons, the post-oat, Beverly Hillshires hotels like that, absolutely. But when it comes, when LeBron comments and says they should just move to Nashville, Stephen, you just highlighted. They got a lot of black people that are pissed off at those comments because it's 60 to 70 percent black people in Memphis right now in the inner city that look up and the only hope that they have, a lot of hope that the only hope that they have comes from having a professional team like the Memphis Grizzlies. When you think about when players are commenting and saying relocate and take their only hope away and Mayor Paul Young is trying to uplift this city and trying to bring back that arm, think about this. Now, when you talk about the practice facilities, well, why all these damn billion dollar tech companies are moving to Memphis? They got a lot of money down there. They could help out and upgrade the practice facilities. The owner is not broke. He's one of the richest people in America. They could upgrade that. But here's another point I want to highlight to you, Shay, about old King James, LeBron James. He do, doesn't he have an out-proma school? Yeah. In the city that he grew up in, in Akron, Ohio, right? Because at the end of city kids, he want to give them hope, give them the opportunity to be great in life. What if somebody told him to relocate that school and go somewhere else? How would he feel about it? See this is what I'm saying. Well, what? Well, what? But that's why I said it can be both because on one hand, it's fair what he said about Memphis, meaning their facilities, talking about the team. But it's foul what he said about Nashville. But he was talking about the whole... And those are the members relocating to Nashville. Yeah, but he was talking about the hotels. And listen, what I'm saying is, it's nothing. I mean, I stayed at the high. I didn't stay at the western. All I'm saying is, it's not to NBA standard, but it's not just like it's just the worst thing in the world. But all I'm saying, he's all the way foul. And I don't think when he says things like this, while he's playing with his rich friends on the golf course, that he's not actually thinking about the black community at that point. He's not thinking. He certainly wasn't thinking about the black community on that golf course that moment. That's for sure. Well, maybe his comments will raise some eyebrows and maybe they will invest a little more into their facilities and a nicer hotel for the NBA teams when they roll through. Park, thank you so much. We'll see you later. What is Kevin Durant and Gino Ariama going back and forth on? Well, Shanae Muguque is actually the perfect person to weigh in on it and she'll join us next. We are live on Hockey Island, inside Riley's mind to bring you the first ever inside out classic as Joy, sadness, anxiety and the rest of Riley's emotions team up with the Washington capitals and the New York Rangers for an NHL game unlike anything you've ever seen before. Look at this place. It's so magnificent. I'm about to cry. Don't get too emotional yet, Kevin. The inside out classic April 5th at 7 on Disney Plus, Disney XD, Disney Channel and the ESPN app. First take is presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance. Only pay for what you need. Great news out of the WNBA with the Connecticut Sun planning on moving to Houston in 2027 and becoming the Comets again. Kevin Durant said he was excited about the move but also felt for the fans of Connecticut. Here's Gino Ariama on the move. You know, that is a heck of a compliment from KD and it is unfortunate, you know, that we were talking about. It's viewed upon as a mid major. The Connecticut Sun or in a mid major. But I think that's one of the advantages that we have up in Connecticut that you, con basketball, men's and women's are pro franchises. That's why they're both playing in the final four this weekend. Chenay is a former Sun player and Texas native. What is your reaction to Connecticut losing their WNBA team? It's pretty bittersweet. Honestly, you know, he's not lying. Connecticut is considered the basketball capital of the world, not just for you, con men's and women's, but because of the Connecticut Sun. And I know they sold out TD Garden, which was a big step in the right direction. But if it couldn't be there, I'm happy it's here. The Houston girl is very, very happy. We saw Tina and Cheryl and Cynthia step on the floor, the legends. And so it is bittersweet for me, but I am excited that the league continues to expand and Houston is up. Houston is ready. We have another opportunity to bring the comments back, which I'm thrilled for. And I will support, and last but not least, happy expansion day to all who celebrate Portland and Toronto as well. Well, hell, the senator from Connecticut needs to talk about an investigation. He needs to see why his team couldn't be a part of the expansion. Houston should have a team. They deliver championships to that city. They know what it's like to win on a WNBA level. I'm happy they're getting a team back. We were talking about them when they were in Houston, not so much when they were in Connecticut. Flip that. Switch that up.