Is Marco Sturm Frustrated with Jeremy Swayman? // Jayson Tatum’s Return from Achilles Surgery // Celtics Beat 76ers at TD Garden - 3/2 (Hour 2)

Oh, right, of course, because I should know who that is. I don't care what you think. I'll tell you something that rubbed me right. Felger and Madness on 98.5 The Sports Hub. As the Flyers outscore the Bruins 3-1 in the third period and win it by that final score. And the Bruins, for the first time in nine games, will go without a point in the standings. Final score, Flyers 3, Bruins 1. Philly out of it, not a serious playoff team. They're kind of snipped there like on the fringes of it. That win gave them a little life though. It did. Thanks to Swayman. It gave them a little life. So the Philadelphia Flyers with Swayman in that I think scored two goals on 18 shots if I'm not mistaken. That's right. 18 shots. The first two goals came on I want to say like maybe 12 shots or something. So you blame Swayman for that there Big Jim? Yeah, he sucked in the third period. I can't stand this guy. Enough. I'm Jeremy Swayman out. I'm starting to wonder if some of the people over at the Garden feel the same way. After all three of us again, we're listening to our station over the weekend, Ty Anderson and Matt Doloff, Sunday at 2.20. I wrote it down to get Jimmy to clip it because I'm like, ooh. I didn't even realize all this stuff. I mean, we were all annoyed last week when Jeremy Swayman came back and wasn't ready to play that first came back. and that game against Columbus was a big game. Columbus, at the time, was your closest competitor for that last playoff spot. You played them three times down the stretch here in the last 25 games, four-point swing, blah, blah, blah. Big game. McAvoy made it back and was in uniform and played the game. Swayman made it back but did not get into uniform, did not play the game, and it just aggravated us. Apparently, we're not the only ones. Again, we were listening to Ty Anderson and Doloff over the weekend, and here's what Ty Anderson said about this situation. Number one, please. Like, do you think it hurt the Bruins just in that game and, you know, maybe coming back from the break that they didn't have a full lineup and they didn't have Swayman out there just to get ready? Yeah, you know, I don't want to say that, like, it full-on hurt them, but it should annoy you. I think I'm not upset. If I'm a Bruins fan, I'm not upset about how Swayman played yesterday. I'm more upset with the situation that was created this week in terms of, you know, you're not ready to go. You come back late. You know, I look at what happened with Jake Ottinger goes right back to Dallas. He doesn't go for the ceremony, the State of the Union. He's like, no, I've been away for a while. I've got to get back. We've got a big run ahead of us here. It's very important for me to get back in town. Kyle Connor goes back to Winnipeg. The Jets are out of the playoff race right now. They're really not in it. He says, I've got to get back here. It's important. We've got a big run. I've got to be here. Brock Nelson on the NHL Best Colorado Avalanche says, I've been gone from my family for a long time, and getting back to what's important here, a Stanley Cup is what I got to focus on. Jake Gensel goes back to Tampa. Tampa, the hardest team in the league. I want to get back to Tampa. We're doing something good down there. Why, like, get back home. Get back to Boston. Okay, so a lot of these other guys around the league got back and played. I mean, I remember Jack Hughes, who I think was at the State of the Union and played, I want to say Wednesday night. Yeah, maybe not well, but he posted your guy. The next I had a full 24 hours beyond that and couldn't play in that game against Columbus. So that's how Ty feels, because that's how he thinks Marco Sturm feels. Number two, Jimmy. Marco Sturm is building a program. You know, it's it's it's a blizzard on Monday. It's absolutely pouring snow from the sky. The wind is whipping you in the face. You're having a bad time. You know what Marco did that day? He said, hey, I want to practice today. And they were like, no, we can't practice today. He's like, no, no, I want to practice today. They didn't practice, but he wanted to. He understands how important these practices are because they're not going to get a lot of them. They got like 22 games in 45 days, right? Something crazy like that happening right now. They're not going to have a lot of practice time. They're going to have a lot of mandated days off because of their schedule. He understands the importance of practice. And if you get guys aren't going to practice and they're like the driving force of your team to a certain degree, he's going to get a little pissed off. And I can't blame him there. I found this quote after Thursday's game against Columbus to be a little telling, in my opinion. This is Marco Sturm after Thursday's game. Korpisalo was unbelievable today. I'm glad he came back right away from the Olympics and didn't waste any time, and he wanted to be in practice. I thought the last two days were very important for him just to be back on the ice and having a real practice again. He was great. It's not a direct shot, but it kind of feels like he gets it. He gets how important it is that we have to practice, and we have to be back on the ice here. That's the only thing I would correct. I don't want to tell anyone how to do radio, but you don't need to table that one a little bit, Ty. No, that's a direct shot at Jeremy Swayman. That's how I feel, too. That's how I feel, too. And you know what? Good for Marco Sturm for saying it. Because Corpus Heller was at the Olympics. He was on the Finnish team. So he was not in the – they didn't obviously make the finals, but they played Saturday. Absolutely they did. They played on the final weekend. And they weren't doing State of the Union stuff. But, I mean, roughly speaking, it's just interesting. And Maz went and pulled the quote. Marco Sturm after that – and Corpus Heller played great on the Thursday against Columbus. He was really good. And Marco Strom goes on and on about the practice. Here, Maz Poldek, go ahead. What can you say about Corpus Allo's performance and also DPHR for a couple saves stepping in in the middle? Yeah, it was outstanding. I mean, you just mentioned it. Corby was unbelievable on the day. Corby. Glad he came back right away, you know, from the Olympics right away. You know, didn't waste any time. Stop right there. I'm glad he came back right away from the Olympics and didn't waste any time. Right, right away. He said back from the Olympics. And he made a point. He came back from the Olympics right away. And were the other guys dicking around? Go ahead, Jimmy. Glad he came back right away from the Olympics right away. Two right away. He wanted to be in practice. I thought the last two days was very important for him just to be back on the ice and having a real practice again. And, yeah, he was great. How do you not read that as a shot at the starting goalie who didn't come back in time to practice? Oh, I think it was a broadside shot. I think it was absolutely, he T-boned him. And then Stwayman goes out. Now, see, I don't blame Stwayman for the game yesterday, Murray. Saturday. Saturday, because he made some really good saves early in that game. He, like, really had excellent saves. The two in the third period, you know, one was off a weird bounce off the stanchion, and he sort of, it was sort of a weak effort on his part, but it took one of those weird bounces off the metal striping in the middle. So that, you know, concise. And the second one, how'd you like the Bruins defense on that second one? Oh, no, bad, bad. It's just, it's one of those things. And this happens sometimes with anyone that watches hockey, especially me. Like, if you don't like the goalie anyway, and that guy comes back, this is his first appearance in a while. And it's like, they were just so good the other night. And of course, this guy craps his pants. And you put too much on the goalie. The defense sucked too. But it just felt, it was one of those things. It was like, oh, a given. of course, Swayman comes back and they lose this game that they should get. My issue, and again, I'm not going to beat you over the head with this because you know how I feel about Swayman. But I don't – the thing that bothers me the most about Swayman is the contract. Oh, of course. It's the contract is the problem. Because short of the contract, he's just another goalie who's kind of flaky and on his own program and on his own planet. And some of those guys still win at a high level. I'm sort of used to goalies who are their own world. They're in their own universe. So he's another one of these guys. He's just another goalie. Why do you got to pay him $8 million a year? Why did you have to do that? Especially when you know who beat him on Saturday. Oh, Vlidar. Vlidar. How many times do I have to tell you? And I'm right about this. You know I'm right about this. The overvaluing of the goaltenders and paying them too much money is just silly. It'd be one thing if, you know, the Stanley Cup playoffs were single elimination like the Olympics. And then Connor Hellebuck can stand on his head for 65 minutes and steal a game and a gold medal. In seven-game series in the Stanley Cup, it's rare. It's rare for a lesser team to win a series they shouldn't just because of the goaltending. It's rare. It happens, but not like you think it does. Generally speaking, over seven games, a better team wins, not the better goalie. and sometimes it's the both and sometimes it's both but it's hard to steal seven gamers and so what what why why are you paying any goalie the amount of money they're paying jeremy swayman never mind jeremy swayman who just sort of had one run and then all of a sudden you've got to pay him that money i told you this at the time and now you know he's half out to lunch he doesn't come back the coach is clearly annoyed with him as he should be dan vladar 18 9 and 6 9 0 7 goals against i'm sorry 907 say percentage 242 goals against better than swayman swayman has a 902 say percentage and a 289 goals against vladar greater than jeremy swayman this year how about the kid in Carolina Remember Brandon Boosie Oh yeah Sure yeah He been one of the storylines of the year Providence. He was in Providence. He was like the AHL goalie of the year. I'm like, what's wrong with this? Bring up this kid. He's just another goalie. Brandon Boosie has a $1.5 million cap hit. Caps real in hockey. Three years, $5.7 million. He's 24-3-1. 9-0-4 save percentage, 2-23 goals against. Greater than Jeremy Swayman for a fraction of the cost. And you had him. You had both these guys. And not that I'm, like, pining for Dan Vlader. I mean, Jeremy Swayman's a better goalie than Dan Vlader. But I'm just trying. More often than not, it just nets out to the same thing. Sorry for the pun. You know what I mean? If you play good defense in front of these guys, most of them are good enough to do what you need. Jonas Corposalo. He makes $4 million a year. I know, I know. That's almost a worse overpayment than Swayman. What are you doing in net? $12 million between these two guys. And they're just guys. They grow up. They're just guys. There's nothing special about either of them. Jonas Corposalo, a 900 save percentage, 305 goals against. Just a tick worse than Swayman at half the cost. what is the what was the need so that what bothers me on Swayman is the contract and I just feel like going back there because I pounded the table when it was holding out don't pay him don't pay him don't even come close to paying on this what are you doing and it just you know it bears out now the hockey Christians would give you their expected goals against and you know high danger save percentages. Swayman outstrips all these guys. Swayman is fourth in the league in goals saved above expected. Not that I've watched every game or has watched it until recently as diligently as I have in the past, but I don't know. I've watched Swayman. I don't say anything special. He's good some nights, not so good others, especially when he plays like two or three games in a row. It feels like there's diminishing returns. He's no workhorse, but sometimes he's good sometime but he's like he's just another guy he's just another goalie and oh by the way he's a pain in the ass so this all wraps into trade deadline i would trade this guy i would swallow money and trade his ass enough for this send him to edmonton who needs a goalie like there there's got to be someone out there that's desperate for that position that would be willing to take on that contract yeah my guess is that's the problem is they'd have to eat money and they don't want to do it. My hope is that they're just waiting for him to get hot and have a good year, and then all of a sudden they'll move him in. I'm not sure of that. I'm not sure they are. I don't know if they feel the same way. I think Sweeney and Neely feel goaltending is playoff insurance, i.e. my job security insurance. That if you don't completely suck in net, you're going to just back your way into an eight seed. And they just sort of view it like that. And they know that as long as they keep making the playoffs and getting home playoff dates, they're not going anywhere but it's such a waste of money such a waste of freaking money and this clown you couldn't even get back in time like that's aggravating on top of it all i know is i have new respect for marco stern new respect seriously calling that guy out get your ass on the ice corpy came back corpy came back and played oh what that again what a shock that was it was important for him to be here right away. Right away. Did I mention right away? He said he didn't waste any time. He didn't. He didn't waste any time at all. He came back right away from the Olympics right away. Didn't waste any time wanting to be in practice. I thought the last... Didn't waste any time, wanted to be at practice. Right away. That is so good. And there's nothing wrong with Swayman going to the State of the Union. I don't disrespect that. That's a big lifetime opportunity. Fine. Cool. That was Tuesday night. You can't get yourself ready for Thursday or beat down the door to get on the ice because it's important to you and the team. What were you doing wasting time on Wednesday? That's the question. What were you doing? Listening to camp. What were you doing, man? They flew him. Like, didn't they provide, like, I sent Air Force One to Miami for everybody. Yeah, well, to get him there and then to get him home. I don't know. I'm sure they would have taken care of you, gotten you home in time Tuesday night. Get your ass ready. What are you doing? It's unbelievable. Really, again. Like, and you know what? there's one thing though for for the average joe on the outside to be irritated by it because swayman's a pain in the ass this is the coach this is a rookie head coach calling him out get your ass back here let's go you got the big contract you claim you want to be a leader but you're not ready to go when we're coming out for the second half and then they just took a dump on the ice in philly on saturday with him and net and it's like is that related does he not have the buy-in of his team probably which is something we've asked in the past uh because there's been signs that he has not had the buy-in of the locker room or the team and so i thought they played pretty well or you know or sort of emptied the bucket anyway against columbus on thursday with corpus corpy in net swayman plays and it's a the wet fart game and they needed dpatro for a little bit of that game too we had to get on thursday yeah by the way just quickly as an aside Oh, my God, he's tiny. He's little. Mike DiPietro. Oh, my God, he's tiny. I'll put him in that instead of Swayman. That's how I feel. It's not going to be that much of a difference. Don't you get it by now? The league does not have Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy. It's a different era. And those guys didn't automatically win. You think it's all about goaltending? How come those guys didn't win more? I mean, it's hard to say that about Brodeur. But you know what I mean. It's a better team win, not the better goalie. overextend yourself on the contract for the guy. I would pick up part of that salary till he became marketable and send him packing. Smell you. So you better do it before the deadline because there's no movement clause kicks in next season. Is that right? Here it is, your last chance. Unless, does it kick in probably with the league gear then? July 1st. Yeah. So this is it. Now we're at the draft. Or you're stuck with this guy like foot fungus. For six more years. Do this now. Got to wear flip-flops when you go with him in the shower. 617-779-0985. I'm late. I'm sorry. Back to you after this. Now, more of Melker and Berge on the Sports Hub. I think he understood why Swayman and McAvoy were there. It's a great honor. But I think he's kind of like, all right, other guys came back home. Can you come back home now? Do you have to be there for the State of the Union and fly back to Boston at 4 in the morning and then, you know, come to the rink and be like, oh, I want to practice. And it's like, all right, well, we're not going to put you through any real reps right now because you arrived five hours ago. Right, you're not going to get extradited from D.C. Yeah. For not showing up to that and coming back and getting to your actual job. Exactly. And so I feel like Marco Sturm understood why they did that, but I think he was a little bothered by it. And here's the thing. McAvoy plays on Thursday. McAvoy, who actually played in the gold medal game and wasn't wearing a suit for it as the third goaltender, actually played in the game and then got back in time to play in Thursday's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets and had a good game. You know, like, it's important to be here. And I feel like that's sort of what Marco Sturm is trying to impress upon his guys. And if your third highest player is sort of like, oh, I'm going to arrive back and, you know, give me the time I need. And then your first game back is not ideal. Everyone's going to be a little, little annoyed. Getting some more on that. Very interesting, right? Oh, yeah. The goalie also bugs the coach. Sturm thinks he's a pain in the ass, a gigantic pain in the ass, which he is. And I'm sure he also looks at it, too, and says, all right, fine, I get it. You'd want to go to the State of the Union, but you didn't even do anything. If anything, you almost embarrassed the United States on an international stage when you did play. Get back here. It ain't like Hellebuck who gets the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and rightfully so. That's all great. this a-hole didn't do anything get back here get to work again as Ty said McAvoy played he played and they played 24 minutes against Columbus I was just double checking it to look it up so again at least he was out on the ice so again one of your that's actually a good comp younger guy wants to be a leader high salary but he played Swayman who was in a you know, again, in civilian clothes for the gold medal game, then goes and yucks it up at the White House and, you know, comes back and isn't ready to play as a result of it. Like, I can't tell you how much I love this story. I do. I think it's being grossly underplayed. The fact that Sturm singled him out. Yes, sir. Gave credit to Corpus Allo and pointed out everything that Swayman did not do that Corpus Allo did. And so... Let me hear it again, because it is so good. It's dynamite. Sturm 1, please. Glad he came back right away, you know, from the Olympics right away. 2. You know, didn't waste any time, wanted to be in practice. I thought they didn't the last... That's it. Came back right away twice, didn't waste any time, wanted to be at practice. So, again, Swayman wasted time, didn't get back in time, didn't want to be in practice. so again he he he lauding corpus all for all this and great but those that the thing to focus on swayman didn get back in time twice didn get back in time Didn get back in time Didn want to be in practice for whatever reason Not ready I have to tune my guitar to play some K He is, oh, what a pill. What a pain in the ass. He's got to be driving the coach nuts. This guy. Mike, the other thing I wonder, the more that, like, as we listen to this, the fact that they don't have a captain like has to be an element in this somehow some way and when i say that i mean if zidane o'chara were here in his prime like does he say something to swayman like hey get back here or like is is there some message delivered to the player like i just wonder about and i'm not telling you they have anyone who's necessarily worthy of it at the moment but the fact that the coach called him out somebody somewhere has got to be able to say to swayman hey get your head out of your ass it's over we're starting you know i'll call it the second half for the sake of calling it the second half but we're starting the season again we're on the cusp here we're on the bubble as far as making a playoff spot what are you doing dinking around and coming back not ready to go. Get your ass back here and get ready to go. And I think it's important that, you know, Sturm ended up being the one saying it, because, again, that's management we're talking about. I just don't know, like, are Sweeney and Neely equally as agitated by it that Sturm is? Are they behind him on it? I want to know all those things on this story. There is no way, God's green earth, that Sweeney and Neely are not annoyed by Jeremy Swayman. He busts their balls for that contract. They give it to him. And what's he been since he signed on the dotted line? Not that great. And just kind of a flake and a pain in the ass. And with questionable support of the locker room and the players around him and now the coach, like, you think those guys are pleased with the contract they signed him to? And they blame him. They don't blame themselves, which they should too, listening to you people uh they gave into public pressure and signed a bad contract of course they're annoyed by him he's not worth the money that's like the worst thing you can be to a manager i mean when ty referred to the stern comment he was obviously reading it someone needs to take that blow it up circle it and stick it in swayman's locker take it to his forehead seriously that is the kind of thing like the coaches i wonder if swayman even gets it probably not you know what i mean yeah like it probably was just like oh yeah corby came back and played with one like not he might not even be aware the coach was calling him out so like because i think he's that out to lunch that kid's on a different planet totally planted zippy with him completely but i just didn't i i was when i heard it you know and initially i heard ty say it i went and read the comments and i went and listened to the audio the audio was worse oh when i heard it i went god bless him. Really, I thought it was great. Someone finally called him out publicly like good. Thoughts on this? Thoughts on the latest from Jason Tatum and his return. We'll do that as well right after Big Jim Murray gets you updated here. Hildred. Useless. And mad. His ass is freaking huge. The Sports Hub. They say to be a championship contender, you gotta get to 40 wins before 20 losses. The Celtics missed that by a single game. On a night, Namias Kata went berserk. Jalen Brown had another MVP night. And the Celtics pull away late. And they win their 40th game of the year. The final score, Boston won 14, Philadelphia 98. Celtics keep winning as it feels like we are getting closer and closer to Jason Tatum's return. Temperature on the Celtics at this hour, Miss? Oh, pretty high, I think. I mean, hard not to be, you know, if you're a Celtics fan, how do you not feel good about where they are? They obviously win the game last night. Sounds like Tatum could be back. You know, I'd use the word imminent to suggest, you know, could be any game now, really. I think they've gotten to that stage. You start, we said this last week, the five-on-five scrimmages are usually an indication that you're getting, I mean, you're getting close. You're knocking on the door now. The East is open. I mean, they get him back and he is functioning at a pretty good level. They can win the East and be in the finals. They could totally be there. Absolutely. You ready for the drama? Oh, sure. You ready for the drama of Tatum's return? Oh, yeah, yeah. Is everybody ready for the drama? Again, the only reason I watched this is because Jimmy sent along the clip this morning. Is this chapter two of the docuseries? Episode two, yes. Did you watch this? Chapter two. I saw little pieces of it. Ay-veh. My God, the drama. It's just, get a load of this. Okay, so I can't remember exactly. I cut it up, but I can't remember. He's just being. One is no hype. Yeah, one is, no, no. No hope. He had no hope. Oh, no hope. I'm sorry. He had no hope. He was injured so bad it was hope. He had no hope. Go ahead, number one. Tatum is hurt. Tatum is hurt. You know, after I got injured, I remember I was in the back. Dr. Shana, I remember, handed him a tape cutter. The violins. Cut the tape off. The doc kind of raised his leg up. He looked up. He kind of nodded and confirmed, like, yeah, it's the Achilles. It's rupture. It was, like, heartbreaking. It's always thought the worst injury in basketball has been the Achilles tendon rupture. and they feel like an explosion go off in the back of the leg and the tendon just separates. I just couldn't help but think, am I ever going to play again? And to be honest, at that point, I had no hope. I had no hope. Am I ever going to play again? Right. Like it's a diagnosis of a potentially terminal disease. God forbid. But he's acting, yeah, the violins, the swell of the music. The doctor looked at it. I've never seen an injury like this before. Yes, they have. They happen, unfortunately. Achilles sometimes burst for professional athletes. It's like an explosion in his leg. But my Lord, I had no hope. It's a little heavy. Why does he do this? Why are we doing this? Listen to that. That music. My God. He held up his leg and he was like, yeah. They have the trainer talk. The trainer is ashen. Ashen face. It's an Achilles. My stomach was rumbling. I called Rick Radzik. He said, I think I have food poisoning. I have no hope to come in tomorrow. I have no hope. It's preposterous. Seriously. Give me the second cut. This is when they put up the MRI. Go ahead. I have no hope. Ridiculous. We do the MRI. Listen to that music. Bring in the keys. Again. We do the MRI. Put it on the screen. He was like, you know, Jason, let me show you. This is his Achilles tendon right here. This is one end of the tendon. This is the other. This is the gap right here. And this is what we sew back together. And I remember I shook my head. I couldn't look. I couldn't lift my head up. And he was like, all right, these are the different options of surgeries that you can do. There's pretty strong data that if you do it within 24 hours, patients have better outcomes. There's things around the tendon that we can preserve that makes the recovery process and the surgery better. He looked at his watch and he was like, man, I'm actually free today around 3. And it just kind of felt like my soul left my body and I just put my head down. His face, he's turning white. Jason was like, I'm not doing that. He was like, I didn't wake up this morning thinking I was going to have surgery. And so everybody's just kind of looking around. And he's like, nah, I'm not. And so I just asked everybody to leave the room. Yeah, she just grabbed me. And I kind of, you know, I broke down. Doctor looked at his watch, said, I was going to get a steak, but we can do it today if you want. Get you in there. But these kinds of surgeries are as run-of-the-mill as it gets in pro sports. He couldn't pick his head up, man. Couldn't look at the x-rays. Couldn't show you the x-rays. I couldn't pick up my head to look at the x-rays. Or as anyone else. Here's the x-rays. Oh, that sucks. All right. How's today? Fine. My soul left my body. My soul left my body. There it goes. My soul left my body. It's like Harry Potter. it is i i do like the part about the doctor verse it's as a as sort of a comic relief he said well actually i can do it today not that big of a deal i do like 18 of these a week i get i'll push my lunch back you want to do it yeah i'm free at three o'clock meanwhile his soul had left his body and he couldn lift his head up shouldn take me more than an hour the doctor like yeah not it really it pretty routine he all the time the time You want to do it now Push my dinner I going to squeeze you in between an ACL and an ulnar collateral I can lift my head up Good grief Why is it the drama It's just the never ending drama of the NBA. This is a new level. This is a joke. This is a new It's like an SNL skit. It's exactly what it is. If it wasn't a warm career, this is a parody of itself. Wow. My soul left my body. That is really overdramatic. My soul left my body. That was the one that got me. Mine never came back. I'm with Mazzo. The doctor won the best puck. Doctor looked down at his watch. Huh? Oh, yeah, I mean, if you want to do it today, we can do it. Sure. Push my dinner. If you want, I can put a second one in there for you. It's really not a big deal. All right, Doc, I can't. You look at his watch and he's like, man, I'm actually free today around 3. Oh, that is so good. Meanwhile, his soul had left his back. I couldn't hear him because my soul was floating above the hospital. The doctor's thinking there, wait a minute, I get 10K a pop for these. I'll do that right now. Let's go. Another 10K in my pocket. I'm actually free today around 3. And it just kind of felt like my soul left my body. I just put my head down. His face, he's turning white. Jason was like, I'm not doing that. He's like, I didn't wake up this morning thinking I was going to have surgery. And so everybody's just kind of looking around. And he's like, nah, I'm not. And so I just asked everybody to leave the room. Yeah, she just grabbed me. and I kind of, you know, I broke down. Oh my gosh. Wow. A little much. Did anybody at any point consider saying to him, dude, you know, you're not the only person in the world. This has ever happened to, right? Do you know that this is fixable? It can be fixed. You'll be okay. It's just, you know, it's going to take a little while, but you're going to make it. For guys that have dealt with this. He was like, man, I'm actually free today around three. Durant watched these clips. Kevin Durant watched these clips and says, this is the corniest thing I've ever seen in my life. I was sitting there wondering, when is this going to happen? When can I get surgery? I'm actually free today around three. Oh, no kidding, huh? I was going to have lunch, but I'll push that back. Bang this out right now. Like he scheduled a Zoom call. I can do it between three and five. Tatum, you can't breathe. That is so good. Oh, my gosh, that is great. Seriously. Discuss that. You want me to look at your kidneys? What does the return mean? Your thoughts? Long commercial free segment is next. Oh, my God. For Mike Felger, it's all about whining. Winning. Yeah, I mean winning. Maybe he gives you a wise-ass answer that you might. Oh, I don't know. Use. No, maybe it is about whining. I'm glad I got that off my chest. Felger and Maz. In the just released second episode of Jason Tatum's documentary, which is called The Quiet Work, this is shot, it was like six weeks after he had the surgery on his Achilles. And he was talking in the interview, and you know, this is all part of the documentary, and he says, look, I'm not coming back to be a role player. And six weeks removed from having surgery on your Achilles when you're Jason Tatum, That's obviously a perfectly acceptable thing to say. Jason Tatum is never going to be a role player. He's one of the five best players in the entire world. That said, when it is released now, as it has just been, and the Celtics are having the season they are, and Jalen Brown is having the season he is, and Jason Tatum is the occasional lightning rod that he sometimes has been, people are going to make a big deal of it. The problem isn't about whether or not he should or shouldn't, because what's best for the athlete is important here for him mentally. And this has been his why the whole year. working on something to come back. They have stayed in the hunt, in fact, way more than anybody expected, to open the door of, hey, when you come back, it makes us better. The problem is the pressure that comes with that. Because the minute he steps on the court and they announce that he is back, even in limited minutes, the Celtics become the favorite to come out of the East and a favorite to win the championship. Might be unfair pressure. No one has come back from the injury within 12 months or less and jumped right into a playoff race or the playoffs. It's asking a lot. It might be unfair. And for him also, he can't be a role player, even if you wanted him to be, because the expectations would be he'd be a lot more. Tatum's in the exam room with the doctor and going over how he's going to recover and whatnot. And he said, good thing, Doc, I'm no role player or something like that. I'm not coming back to be a role player, Doc, he says. So your thoughts on that comment? And again, as Greenberg points out, it was shot six weeks ago. So it's not like he said it this week. But don't you think he feels that way this week? Oh, definitely he does. Yeah, he wants to. I think it had a double meaning, just my two cents. One is that I'm not a role player. I'm coming back to play. And the other thing is I need to be, you know, this thing's got to be back to where I was. Like I'm not coming back to be some sort of bench guy. I didn't go through all this to be something less. So, but yes, I mean, and the more I think about it, there was a flurry of these, these Achilles injuries in the NBA. Damian Lillard had one. Halliburton had one. Are they all having documentaries or just Tatum? I don't pay attention to the other guys, but I... No, it's just Tatum. It feels like it's only Tatum. It just, like, it's not, it's not, you know... Where was your documentary, Maz? We're showing, if you're watching the simulcast, this is Maz with a little more hair. When he ripped his Achilles in a media game, 10 years ago now? That was... Oh, longer than that. 2012, I think it was. 2012. That was almost 14 years ago. Yep. Did you do a five-parter? No. No, mine took all of five seconds to figure out. I remember I put my hand down there and I went, oh, that's gone. I said, I knew right away. So, but the other thing is there's no, you know... I mean, I, you know, I hobbled off the floor. A couple of guys wanted to help me. I got over to the side, put my hand down, and it was gone. My Achilles tendon, there was nothing there. Just emptiness. It's kind of how I felt inside. Empty. did your soul leave your body mass again in mine never came back it did it zipped out of there pretty fast but holy crap like what are we doing i mean you know i did i called my wife and she's like you what take an uber yeah but that's you know alan han they're going on about the pressure the unfair pressure on Tatum. Like, are we still on this? These are highly... Fylander comes with the territory, and I would also say injury, you know, Jason, and the occasional... I mean, this is his first surgery, so, like, I guess, you know, he's incredibly lucky to be 28 years old, and I don't think he's ever had a surgery. As an athlete, yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, so it's like maybe he's just... Well, obviously, he can't deal with it. He's like, I don't know, but whatever. but the pressure the pressure all unfair pressure we just stop with this you know all nba player one of the best players on the planet there's going to be expectations that come along with that and oh by the way people are going to give him a break if he doesn't play well i mean obviously they're going to give him a break as they probably should he's coming back from a big injury he's coming back early and so he's it's not going to go well at times and people are going to understand that but like this thing about the pressure it's unfair the pressure i'll go soon to another five parter on the pressure he faces coming back having to play well as one of the best players on the planet what what is this with the nba oh it's way it's way too much and i'll tell you i keep going back mike the the more that we see of this thing i go back to that comment gasper made and he was talking about really about how the whole thing's going to work in terms of roles and everything else, but he said he described Tatum as needy. And I think, you know, hearing this thing, you now see what Gasper is talking about. I don't know that I've ever seen it on this level with Tatum. This is cringy. Really? Like, this is way overdone. It's not even close. It's a perfect tweet. Someone tweeted at me, Paul Pierce wasn't even this dramatic about getting stabbed. It's true. Wait till we get to the nonsense about the self-doubt and the team's identity and how do I fit in? Wait till we get to this crap. This made-up crap, I still insist, has to be for this Fakakta series. But this was enough to like, my God. Wow. Someone, give me a gag. Give me a drool cup or something. I'm going to gag with this stuff. You're all lined up, I promise. Right to you, 90 seconds, no commercials, just an update. and go right to the phone. My soul left my body. Pre-entry Monday. Don't go anywhere.