Hey everybody, welcome to Fred and the Fantastics with Laura, with Art, and Mark, and on BLEAV and on PodClips. We’ll discuss this, that, and anything in sports and a little bit more. And I’d love to talk about this. Kevin Durant, no longer a Phoenix Sun, now with the Houston club. But Mark, you’re sort of a Giannis fan. What do you think of Milwaukee and Giannis? He said he’s going to think about it. Is he going to end up elsewhere, or is he going to continue to play for the Bucks?

Prediction, not a spoiler. I think within a month, it’s going to be a bombshell, like what Dallas did in Minnesota with the whole Herschel Walker thing.

So he’s coming to the Lakers.

I think he’s coming to the Lakers. I think the Lakers, you know, kind of lay low and trying to, you know, keep up with Cooper Flagg and all these other teams like the San Antonio Spurs. I think that’ll be the next big thing with the Greek Freak.

If he comes to the Lakers, that means that, I presume that they’re going to have to give up a lot. Who might they give up?

Everybody but the other two guys.

I don’t know, I don’t know if they’re going to have to give up a lot, but it’s called deferred money that the Dodgers started.

Austin Reaves, Austin Reaves will be one of them, yeah.

Austin Reaves is rumored to go there.

And Knecht also. I think. Laura, what do you think about the Lakers picking up Giannis?

I think it’d be great. I mean, I love Giannis. He’s a great player, he’s a great guy. I mean, I think it’d be fabulous, I think we, I don’t know how that, I mean. It’d almost be an unbeatable team if the three of them are playing at their potential.

Now you’ve got Durant from Houston,

Well, I gotta ask you a question, you say it’s a great team. How many basketballs on the court at the same time? I’m quite serious. With LeBron trying to hog everything, with Doncic trying to hog everything,

You know, LeBron did not try to hog everything last season.

No,

I think LeBron had more assists than he’s ever had in his entire career last season,

He’s actually changed it ever so slightly. I will tell you this for the NBA, you guys, to have Los Angeles, Boston, New York, the major media centers, having great teams, that’s going to be a real key. And that’s why I think this may happen. Because, you know, I gotta be honest, I’m happy for Oklahoma City. They won the title, they had a great season, but really and truly, even though the ratings surprised me, you can get back to Celtics-Lakers, Lakers-Knicks, big market teams like that, and I think you’re going to really have a great NBA again.

Mark.

Well, here’s the thing, and you guys all realize, following the NBA, and I’m 63, going on 64. But I’ll tell you one thing, nobody duplicated the ‘Sixers when they came to town with Irving, the Bulls, the Celtics with Bird. You couldn’t, even they would pack in everywhere. Everybody’s tried to duplicate it. And the Lakers tried to do that with Malone and Gary Payton. They found out it didn’t work. The Brooklyn Nets have tried to do that, everybody’s tried to do it, but those teams, the ‘Sixers and Dawkins and all them, you couldn’t get into those places.

And the same thing happened when the Heat had their three great players,

Yeah,

And they had their run.

Let me throw you this, we’ve got a lot of.

Well, that was LeBron James with the Heat, right?

Yeah,

Oh yeah, what about this? We have a lot of listeners in the New England area, based on emails and folks, you can email us at sportsfred@aol.com. The Celtics no longer have Jrue Holiday, no longer have Mr. Porzingis. What’s going on with the Celtics? If you’re a Celtics fan, right now, and of course, Tatum’s going to miss, if not all, most of next season,

There’s another place for Giannis to go.

Well, okay, that’s what I’m saying, you’re not going to let the Celtics, you’re talking about major markets, certainly. Boston, historically, with the 18 national titles, can’t go without Jrue Holiday and without Porzingis, and just with Brown and no other stars.

Well, they’re going to open up an offense called three-pointers the guys are bringing in.

But right now. If you’re a Celtics fan, none of us are, but if you’re a Celtics fan, what are you thinking?

I think it’d be a great acquisition. That’s what I’m thinking.

I’m not going to go against teams like the Lakers and Celtics that have tradition. Where they can bring in two, three guys. And they fit that perimeter of what they’re trying to do. I saw when they brought in Danny Ainge years ago, and somebody says, this guy’s playing baseball, what’s he going to do? But they kind of bring in guys like M.L. Carr, Jerry Sichting. They bring in these kinds of guys, and they all seem to fit.

Laura. If you’re a Celtics fan right now, what are you saying?

I can’t possibly be a Celtics fan for one second.

Probably most online, too, for Laura.

I don’t have that much empathy, sorry.

Sorry, all right. We’ll take a break and come back with a lot more on Fred and the Fantastics, on BLEAV, and on PodClips.

Hey, we’re back, everybody, on BLEAV and PodClips, and it’s Fred, and the Fantastics with Laura, with Art, Mark, and I’m Fred. You can email us at sportsfred@aol.com, sportsfred@aol.com. Any thoughts about the NBA draft? No shock in Cooper Flagg getting that first pick, of course, Dallas having a 1.8 opportunity to get that first pick.

Fred, was it riveting TV? You said you watched the second round of the NBA draft on Thursday night. What are your thoughts?

I thought the first night was horrible, and the second night was the worst I’ve ever seen or heard in my entire life. Any sporting event, ever, ever, ever, ever. And that’s without Stephen A. Smith. So that makes it impossible.

Worse than the superstars from Hawaii?

Who are they hiring at ESPN?

I’ll tell you what knocked them off.

There lies the real problem. Who are they hiring at ESPN?

What knocked them off?

I’ve been so disappointed in ESPN’s baseball coverage. I mean, with their talking to the players while the game is going on and interviewing the manager in the middle of an inning. I mean, it’s just ridiculous. I thought they’re supposed to be a sports network.

Yeah, Laura, I got to tell you, when they interview a center fielder or a shortstop, I’m saying to myself, Are you insane? You know if one-tenth of a second can make the difference between a catch or not a catch? Are you out of your mind? And I think they pay the players $10,000 or something to do the interview, but I don’t give a crap, you cannot interview them during the middle of a game,

It’s not scoring,

Can you imagine in an NFL game, if you know, Stafford cracks the huddle in the Rams game. And all of a sudden, you know, Mike Tirico’s asking him a question. Well, what kind of defense do the Lions have right now, Matt?

It doesn’t work with football.

Well, I mean, this is what I’m saying, I mean,

I will tell you.

Okay, here we go, Laura. You’re in court, right? Big, big trial or whatever. You know, some reporter comes over to you and wants to talk to you while you’re doing what you do. I mean, come on, this is not right.

No. It wouldn’t happen, no.

Well, you know what else made headlines? And it was right on the same par with that, Wilmer Franco getting a suspended sentence.

Oh yeah, three judges and,

Justin Tucker got 10 games in the NFL,

But hang on. The court was Dominican Republic, so that’s one thing. And Major League Baseball may or may not allow Franco back. I mean, he’s free now, you know, in the Dominican Republic, Major League Baseball may, in fact, can he come back in this country? I don’t even know.

That’s the real key. Because, you know, as we know, we don’t want any of those bad people in the country right now,

God forbid. But it was a 15-year-old young lady and a 21-year-old Franco that apparently did or did not do.

I guess the mom was supposed to get 10 years because she was part of the orchestration of all this, and that got suspended. Supposedly, the family got a lot of money. She’s had a big deal with Tampa Bay prior to this all coming down. But I will tell you this, it’ll be very interesting to see how this all politically plays out with Wander Franco, at 24 years of age, signed a hundred-plus million dollar contract with the Rays, who are playing great baseball right now, Fred. Don’t look now, but they’re only a half a game behind the Yankees in the American League East. So, you know, they probably could use this kid somewhere down the line if he’s allowed to come back.

Well, let me say this about the Rays. First of all, let me say this about Mr. Franco. No, no, it’s, remember Julio Urias for the Dodgers. They never let him back in baseball,

Well, and the other guy too,

And Trevor Bauer, never back in baseball here. I think he’s pitching in Mexico now, so I don’t think they’ll let him back in. If they didn’t let the other two back in, that would be a major problem. But as far as Art saying the Tampa Bay club, I agree with you a hundred percent. You take a look at that talent. Two years ago, somebody told me to look at, he sent me something on Facebook, the stats on pitcher Baz, and it was in his minor league career. The guy throws a hundred miles an hour, and you take a look, we’re taping this folks on Friday. On Thursday, I think he went eight innings again, he struck out 11 or 12. With that pitching staff that they have right now, they have enough hitters. A lot of them left-handed hitting sluggers. So yeah, I think, honestly, if I’m going to say,

What if they won the American League pennant?

I think they can.

Well.

What if they won the American League pennant? What kind of World Series would that be? At George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa?

It’d be a lot of home runs, and Kevin Cash is not going to be out-managed by David.

Well, I think here’s the thing. What I’m looking at is, you still haven’t really hit the dog days of summer yet. One. Number two, they’re going to play a lot of their games on the road now. The first half, they were home, so that’s going to take a lot out of you.

Mark, have you noticed in baseball that things are getting a little heated lately, with guys getting plunked? Vlade Guerrero Jr., Ramirez for Cleveland, the Giants had a little bit of a melee.

Manny Machado to the Dodgers, put out a candle. I know what are they getting Scotties for?

Very interesting thing that I was thinking about. They need the All-Star break to fall more in the middle of the season. I think these guys need a break right now. And I know the All-Star game is still a couple weeks away in Atlanta. But we’ve played 80 games,

Yeah.

All right, let’s take a, just mention this very quickly before we sign off on BLEAV in PodClips and Fred and the Fantastics. A.J. Dillon, former Green Bay Packer, fine running back, and now Eagles running back. If he’s healthy, he says. His hero is Sophia Cunningham of the Fever of Indiana. Now, why is he saying that she’s his hero? Because she’s protecting Caitlin Clark. Any comments out there, Laura? Any comments about A.J. Dillon saying that Sophia Cunningham is his new hero?

You know, I think it’s great that he’s highlighting women’s basketball. I love that. And I think anything that supports women’s sports it’s great for women’s sports. So other than that, I don’t know. You know, what’s really rare about A.J. Dillon as far as a running back in the NFL?

Besides the fact that he went to Boston College?

Besides the fact that he’s Jewish. Other than that, how many Jewish running backs have they had? The USC running back in the late 50s and 60s was also Jewish. Grenny Lansdale.

What? I’m sorry, was his name Grenny Lansdale? No, no, I can’t think right now.

But he was a fine running back. Isn’t the quarterback at BYU a Jewish kid? Ratzlaff? But this is the NFL.

Yeah, oh, ok, gotcha. Yeah, that’s a good point. But a running back in the.

Take a look at the percentage of Jewish running backs in the National Football League. Not too high. But what do you think about his saying that Sophia Cunningham is his hero? I like the fact that she’s protecting Caitlyn Clark because obviously there’s envy out there, jealousy out there throughout the league.

Well, I’m a little concerned about Caitlyn Clark right now because she really hasn’t played well the last four or five games. And I’m wondering if you know a lot of this physical abuse that she’s taken on the court is starting to maybe add up a little.

Mark. What do you think about Sophia Cunningham and A.J. Dillon, and Kaitlyn Clark?

Well, I think it’s nice, like Laura said, that they’re pushing, you know, women’s sports at the forefront. I’ve always been a big advocate of the WNBA, covered it for a couple of years. And that was the Lisa Leslie, Becky Ham, and Sue Bird day. So it’s nice that these other ones are coming in and doing something. Caitlyn Clark’s good. Is she better than Diana Taurasi? I’m not, I’m not buying that.

Not yet, not yet.

Well, that would. That would be almost the same thing that, when I always tell these guys, you know, I always thought Barry Bonds was the best. People say, Shohei Ohtani, and they say, well, give it time.

By the way, by the way, Barry Bonds is going to get a statue out in front of Oracle Stadium that was announced by Larry Berry.

Wow.

So Caitlyn Clark was asked,

That lack of integrity.

Caitlyn Clark. Before we go,

True Dodger fan there.

Not a fan of steroids.

Caitlyn Clark was asked who would play her in a TV or movie scenario? Who would play her? What actress, Laura? Who do you think she said?

Geena Davis in the day, but she’s probably a little too old now. I don’t know.

Carrie Underwood?

Well, Carrie Underwood’s not really an actress.

How about Garner?

Trevor,

Gal Gadot, maybe?

She said. Anne Hathaway,

Anne Hathaway.

She’s 45.

Does she have a good jumper? What, does she have a good jumper?

Anne Archer?

I don’t know if she’s got a good jumper, but I think she’s one of the best young actresses out there. At 45 years of age.

I’ll have to agree with you on that one.

I don’t think she’s really particularly athletic, I don’t know.

I do not know who was the one that was married to Garner. What’s her name?

Anne Archer?

No, Garner. Was married to one of the boys from Boston. She does a lot of,

Oh, I know what you mean, she does the commercials.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think she reminds me a little bit of her.

Jennifer Garner,

Jennifer Garner,

Jennifer Garner.

Alright, that’s about it.

I feel good, man. We’ve got two of the best athletes in Pittsburgh, Paul Skenes and Aaron Rodgers. I’m excited, guys.

Aaron Rodgers is one great human being.

He’s going to be the comeback player of the year. I’m telling you,

He’ll probably wind up getting Tomlin fired.

I see that your emphasis on character goes out the window.

He likes the city of Pittsburgh.

As long as he’s with the Pirates or the Steelers or the Penguins, he’s fine.

I was just thinking of the Dodgers, you being a Raiders fan. Two hostile environments they’re in.

Watch out, don’t be talking to those Raiders because they’ve got Crosby and Carroll and they can really dish out the Kool-Aid.

Alright, that’s about it for Fred and the Fantastics.

For Art, for Laura, for Mark, for Mario. Thank you guys very much and gals very much. We’ll see you around the corner. More on Fred and the Fantastics. Bye everybody.