Grizzlies Summer League Recap | Gary Parrish Show

Grizzlies Summer League Recap | Gary Parrish Show

The boy is mine. [Music] [Music] You ready? I’ve been ready. What are we waiting for? Are you ready? Creed. [Music] By overwhelming demand, the summer of 99 tour returns. July 27th, FedEx Forum with very special guest and Mammoth. Tickets on sale now at livenation.com. Don’t miss Creed with DRI and Mammoth. The summer of 99 tour. 1 2 3. [Music] Ready, go. [Music] Shine down. Dance kid dance tour. Kid dance live in Memphis. FedEx Forum Saturday, August 30th with special guests Bush and Morgan Wade. Get tickets now at livenation.com. Shineown live in concert. For more, visit shindown.com. Live from the Built Ford Tough Studio at FedEx Forum, it’s the Gary Paris Show presented by Ortho South on YouTube at Grind City Media and the official Grind City Media app. Now, here’s your host, Gary Parish. [Music] All right, I’m here. My name is Gary Parish. I’m speaking to you from the studio beside the built Ford tough studio. We’re at FedEx Forum downtown Memphis. Bennett Doyle over there producing the program. Glad he’s with me. Glad you’re with me. Hope you’re getting through the day best you can. Her daddy lost most everything. And I hope you didn’t invest in a Zion pull and Grizz jersey or hustle jersey because the Zion pulling era in Memphis, it appears to be over. He’s been waved. And welcome to Memphis, PJ Hall. You’re now the owner of a two-way contract with the Grizzlies. I’ll walk you through the latest developments with our local NBA franchise. We’ll do that next. But first, quickly, let me set today’s schedule for you. Michael Ees usually joins me on Mondays in the second segment. But he is traveling today. So, when we finish this up, we’re going to take a break, come back, do five more things you need to know, at which point we’re going to discuss five previously undisussed stories. Among them, a not so great headline is attached to Tiger basketball once again. Sincere Parker, a transfer from MCNE State, has been charged with aggravated assault and vandalism after allegedly attacking his girlfriend. His status with the team officially remains unchanged, at least for now. He’s in court this morning. I’ll give you the details on that story. Best we know him in about 25 minutes. Our old friend Marcus Martin has signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. I’m going to ask Bennett how he thinks that’s going to go. We’ll do that in just a bit. Scotty Sheffller ran away with the open championship this weekend. He went 6864 6768. That translate to 17 under. Won the event by four strokes. He is undeniably the best golfer on the planet, the best we’ve seen since Tiger. And on one of the best runs in the history of professional golf. I’ll share some numbers to support all that. We’ll do it a little later on in the show. Brave star Ronald Akuna Jr. made one of the more unbelievable plays you’ll ever see in a baseball game this weekend. We’ll show you that. We’ll do it in the next segment. And uh we should offer our condolences to the Miss football program because freshman defensive lineman Cory Adams was shot and killed this weekend in Cordova. So there are currently national headlines about a miss football player being shot and killed in Memphis just a few weeks after Stephen A. Smith said what he said on ESPN. That’s not great. I’ll tell you what we know during a segment we call five more things you need to know then we’ll eventually do GP’s carry out we’ll call it a day. So that’s the rundown. We got a a lot to get to but I did want to start with you Memphis Grizzlies because they officially wrapped summer league out in Las Vegas. They officially wrapped it all up last night. Thank God. Final score Grizz 105 summer Clippers 82. Second round pick Javon Spa finished with 17 points and nine assists. He took nine shots. He made five of them. Three of five from three. Big B, it’s good to see you on this Monday morning. Good to see you, too. Why did you say thank God uh when you referenced the ending of summer league? I think I think I speak for everybody. Are Were you ready to be done? I think everybody was ready to be done. Do you know anybody who was ready for one more summer league game? Um I did I did find myself watching last night. I did find myself watching last night when I saw Javon Small was going to play. I was like, “Okay, hey, well, when our co-workers are performing publicly, I do think if if we have uh the opportunity to watch, we should.” So, I had it on last night, too. But I think I speak for everybody. I think I speak for everybody when I say, “Thank God, okay, summer league is over.” Let me ask you this, okay? Do you think it’s possible when we, you know, how you look back on things sometimes? You ever look back on things? Mhm. I like to look back on things sometimes. Do you think it’s possible when we look back on the summer of 2025? Do you think it’s possible we’re going to forever be wondering how differently things could have been if Javon Small had just remained healthy all July? Is that the way we’ll remember the summer of 2025? Oh, you mean like our potential to hoist a a summer trophy? Is that what you’re Will we forever look back on the summer of 2025 and say things like, “Man, if Javon Small wouldn’t have suffered a soft tissue injury, we could have hoisted a trophy, that summer could have gone differently.” I think I think there’s always going to be questions, GP. I think there’s always going to be questions related to these summer Grizz. Yeah, it’s going to always go down as one of the greatest whatifs in Grizzly summer league lore. I would definitely recommend putting asterisk. It’s going to go down in Grizzly summer league lore as one of the great whatifs. If Javon Small never suffered a soft tissue injury after one game in Salt Lake City, could this July have gone down differently? I guess we’ll never know. He played his first game of the summer. That was back on July 5th in Salt Lake City. Came off the bench that day, 4.6 assists, 19 minutes. That was a 9280 win over Oklahoma City. Summerly got off to a nice start. It did. Yes. And then he was sidelined. He had a soft tissue injury. Boy, those stink. Missed the final two games in Salt Lake City and then the first three games in Las Vegas. But then he comes back for Thursday’s game uh game this past Thursday. That was against the Summer Hawks. Started played 25 minutes, five of 12 from the field, 17 points, five assists, five rebounds. Then he played again last night, came off the bench, 17 points, nine assists in 22 minutes. So Javon Small ended his summer league with a nice performance that provided encouragement. Zion Pulland didn’t though. No. No. I I I after about the first three summer league games, I was like, “Yeah, I think his two-way might be in question here.” Zion Pullan’s two-way Yeah. was very much in jeopardy. Yeah. Bennett, you snuffed that out good. Yeah. because uh just uh five days after Zion Poland last appeared in a summer league game for the Grizzlies and went 0 of3 from the field, uh the former Florida guard was waved by the franchise this weekend. That move, as you probably know, freed up his two-way contract that now belongs to PJ Hall, the former first team allac player at Clemson. On a scale of one to seven, Bennett, how excited are you for PJ Hall coming to Memphis? Uh, I I’ll put I mean, I’ve always excited to welcome a new player uh into the organization, into town. I put it at about just don’t do like just don’t show up at a press conference and do that heart thing cuz remember I remember the heart thing. Yeah, did that to Caitlin and that was that so don’t hit him with a heart but just like welcome to Memphis PJ. That’s that’s sweet. You know, I’ll put it at about a a three. I would say about a three. That’s a fair place. I think if I think if uh I think if we’re looking up in a few weeks or well in a few months and like we’re relying on heavy PJ Hall minutes uh in Grizzlies games then uh something went wrong. I I don’t think there’s any way around that. If uh but he had a really good summer league and you know I we’ll see. Hey, we’ll see. Yeah, I I do think that that one of the of the three uh two-way contracts. I thought one of them was going to go to a big no no matter what. And there were options uh within the Grizzlies summer league team, Armando Bacott being the biggest name among the possible options, but the franchise clearly decided to go in a different direction. Uh they signed PJ Hall. And for whatever it’s worth, and you’re exactly right, if you’re relying on big PJ Hall minutes, something has gone terribly wrong. But Paul Biancardi, who covers recruiting for ESPN, you know Paul, he tweeted this morning like thrilled that Memphis has signed PJ Hall and he’s like, “I’ve known him since he was in high school. Terrific family, terrific all these things.” You know what he said? There’s a word in there that stood out. Unbelievable competitor. Okay. I like competitors. Well, it does feel like the franchise is really prioritizing that type of stuff. Like you hear Jamaak talk and it’s like, “Oh man, that guy just loves to compete. All he cares about is winning. Yeah. And then you hear Javon Small talk and it’s like, oh, he’s a dog and he’s a real competitor. And then you hear Cedric Coward talk and it’s like, man, you talk to people around him and they they are blown away by the competitive nature he brings to everything. And now here’s another signing and Paul Biancardi who isn’t speaking on behalf of the Grizzlies or Memphis. He’s just talking as somebody who’s known PJ Hall for a while and he says, “This guy is an amazing competitor.” So, it’s just another according to people who know him, amazing competitor, intense competitor coming into the franchise in a small role, sure, but a role. So, I I didn’t see much of his professional career because he’s played in the G- League a bunch, right? But, um, I do remember seeing him play against Memphis when Clemson came here. Was it two years ago Clemson came here and played at FedEx for him? And it’s funny you say all that because I do remember him talking a lot during that game of he he is a competitor. I do remember that about him at Clemson. So, for people who who are less familiar, he he played four years of college basketball at Clemson and was awesome in his final three seasons. Senior year, he averaged 18.3 points, 6.4 rebounds. And that was for a Clemson team uh that made it all the way to the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament. As you noted, Bennett, he did play here inside FedEx Forum that final season. Lost to Memphis 7977. That was part of Memphis’s incredible non-league resume. But PJ Hall did have 21 points. Yeah. In that game. That was a great game. I actually remember talking about him, like spending time on him on the I own college basketball podcast um after his senior year and just sort of wondering why he didn’t take advantage of the extra year of eligibility the NCAA gave all basketball players who played in that 202021 weird COVID season. like if you played in that season that did not count as a year of eligibility. So PJ Hall like RJ Davis and a lot of different players had a fifth year available to them this past season if they wanted it. And I was always like do whatever you want to do. Like it ain’t my life. But why would you enter a draft where you’re likely to go unselected when Duke or Kansas or Texas Tech or Alabama or somebody would probably pay you $3 million to play one season of college basketball. Like people didn’t make that kind of money this past season playing college basketball. So why wouldn’t you want to make that kind of money playing college basketball when the alternative is likely to to be undrafted? seemed like a reasonable question from my perspective. Like I said, it’s not my life, it’s his life. And with his life, he decided to forego that final year of eligibility and enter the 2024 NBA draft. Um, but he did not get picked and he ended up playing in the G-League um and signing a two-way contract for roughly $578,000. So, he definitely did leave money on the table. He could have made millions of dollars playing college basketball last season and instead decided to to get on with his professional career and the result was going undrafted and signing a two-way contract for roughly $578,000. He appeared in 19 games with the Nuggets. Basically did nothing, but in summer league over the past few weeks, he did average 9.2 two points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.6 blocks in 13.7 minutes per game. And this came after averaging 18.9 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.1 assist, and 1.1 blocks in 32 minutes per game with the Grand Rapids goal this past season in the G-League. So, I guess this is the simplest way to put it with the Grizz in need of front court help. Um, given injuries to Jiren Jackson Jr., for Zack Edi. Uh PJ Hall has been named the newest member of this organization. Zion pulling out, PJ Hall in. So the Grizzlies two-way players right now are Javon Small and PJ Hall. Small Hall. It rhymes. It does rhymes. Small. That’s our two-ways right now. Do we believe, this is a question for you, Bennett, that Jamaak will secure the third two-way contract from the Grizzlies? I think without question. I mean, there was just so much buzz surrounding him. He had he had a nice summer league. There was so much buzz surrounding him. I think too like um just reading the tea leaves like he’s doing interviews like he’s doing you know team interviews and stuff it just it feels like it’s going that way. It does certainly feel like it’s going that way. It is certainly what I would endorse. Um nothing against Zion Poland but when I watch him and I’m not pretending I tune into every G-League game but when I put eyes on him do you know what I see? A G-League player. Yeah. Uh, and it was like I saw Roser post this because he obviously saw him a lot last year with the hustle and he did say that he was surprised that he had such a bad summer league that he that he actually thought he was going to come in and really tear it up because he had such a good year last year in the G- League. Well, that’s why, you know, we can be whatever with summer league, but for a Zion pulling, this is like make or break your career type of stuff. I mean, he was playing on some level in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas for like hundreds of thousands of dollars, you know, like who knows what happens to him next, but like his disappointing summer, perhaps it goes this way no matter what. Um, but his disappointing summer at least played some role in him no longer, you know, having the job that he had. And I I understand why cuz when I watch him, I just see how about this with Mach specifically. I can imagine that becoming something just because there’s no physical limitations. He seems wired the right way. He showed the ability to make open jumpers in summer league. First he got drafted and told us, “I can shoot it better than you think.” And then he went to summer league and he shot it better than than we thought. And so when I look at Jamai Meshach, I can go I can imagine this becoming something. I don’t want to make it out to be something it’s not. He’s the last pick in the draft and those guys usually don’t become anything. All right. So he is fighting against odds um in history, but when I put eyes on him, I can see it. There’s enough there that makes me go, this guy, if a few things break the right way, this guy could be a real NBA player. I see that with Jama. I’ve never seen that with Zion Poland. Right. Right. And I think too like obviously the injury situation. They were always going to sign a big with with with Zack Edit to miss the beginning of the season and with Jiren to you know potentially miss the beginning of the season. Like they were always going to put a big on a two-way contract just cuz they probably had to. Um and listen it did work out for him last year. Like they did the same exact thing with Jay Huff. You know, they signed him off the Orlando Magic summer league squad because he had a big summer league and you know, I know last year went the way that it did, but at the beginning of the year, he was a very impactful player for the Grizzlies. Like, we all remember that. Oh, sure. Yeah. He mattered. He mattered for a minute. Yeah. Um, obviously different franchises will handle their two-way contracts different ways. Um, sometimes you really just need them for depth purposes and particularly in a season that’s going to start certainly without Zack Editi and probably without Jiren Jackson Jr. Um, you do need to just have a big on that. Yeah. On a two-way contract somewhere just strictly for depth purposes. Even if you can’t imagine PJ Hall being anything more than what he is, you just kind of need what he is maybe just to get through the early weeks of the the season. But I do think at least one of your two-way players and perhaps more than one need to be somebody you can believe in becoming something. They need to be somebody where you go, okay, this person is not probably going to help us now, but there’s enough interesting stuff here that I can imagine him becoming something. Zion pulling I can never imagine becoming anything or at least much more than a a good G-League player. That’s what I can imagine with him. I think he can be a good G-League player, but I don’t ever expect to turn on a television in the playoffs and and see Zion Pullan ever. Period. Just I’ll stop there. I don’t ever expect to turn on the TV and see Zion Poland playing in playoff games. I don’t know that Jamaek ever will, but I can imagine that. I can see it. I can see it. the physical tools, the tenacity that he brings on certainly the defensive end of the court, um the the ability to move the ball that he showed in summer league, the ability to make a shot. I’m not ready to throw him in on the rot in the rotation tomorrow or even make him a full roster member today. I’m just saying I can imagine that player becoming something who helps some win games in FedEx Forum someday. Zion Poland I think was only ever going to help you win games at the Lander Center and I don’t think that should be the priority with this stuff and I’m know most people don’t either. You you need PJ Hall for depth purposes but somewhere on those two-way contracts you need somebody you can believe in maybe becoming something and Jamaek for me checks that box way easier than Zion Pulling um than Zion Pullan does. So goodbye to Zion Pull. We wish him well. I mean, of course we wish him well. We wish him well. But goodbye to Zion Poland. Hello to PJ Hall. Javon Small gets another two-way. And the third, we assume will end up in the hands of of Jama. When we come back, we’ll talk about some less fun stuff. Memphis basketball sign Parker. He has been charged with aggravated assault and vandalism after allegedly attacking his girlfriend. He’s in court this morning. Ugly story. Right now, his status remains unchanged with the program, at least officially. His lawyer spoke to Jason Muntz from the Commercial Appeal. I’ll tell you what he said. We’ll do that next. Gary Paris show presented by Ortho South. Have you talked to Norll since the game? Yeah, but we’re we’re close friends, so it’s not one of those like I think it’s a little bit. How long before you said haha? Hey, you said I’m a Texas score. You said the block score. Do you want to see the picture of me in the locker room afterwards? How close? How close are you? Because it would have taken me literally 30 seconds. 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Now, I got five more things you need to know. Number one, ugly headline connected to Tiger Basketball for the second time inside of a week. Last week, we learned that the program has been put on probation uh because of an academic fraud case that has now been settled with the NCAA. And this weekend, another rough one. Sincere Parker, uh, one of the newest members of the team, a transfer from McNe State, played for Will Wade there, uh, has been charged with aggravated assault and vandalism after allegedly attacking his girlfriend. He is in court this morning. His attorney is at 2011 Popppler. Jason Muns from the Commercial Appeal, one of the fine Tiger basketball beat riders, is is also there. Oh, buddy. That’s when you know you’re a real Tiger basketball beat rider when you end up at 2011 Popppler. Yeah, I’ve been down to 2011 Popler. I know you have. I’ve been down to 2011 Popppler. That’s when you’re a real Tiger basketball beat rider when you end up having to show up for court court appointments. Uh Jason Muntz talked to the attorney and the attorney said as far as he knows right now uh the plan is for the University of Memphis to quote let the case play out and that sincere Parker would remain a member of the team while that case plays out. You think that’s just the lawyer talking or that really the way it’s going to go? Let me ask you this. Would you be comfortable with this? You love the University of Memphis. That’s your alma mater. Yes. Would you be comfortable with the program letting the case play out and so Sincere Parker could still be charged with very serious crimes? They remain unresolved and yet he is playing 27 minutes for the Tigers inside Fedex form on opening night. Yeah, I get like so conf I used to have such a conviction about these things and I get a little more conflicted now because you know over the years we have seen some instances of of players being accused of something that ended up not being true and their name gets smeared and whatnot. Um so I always want to be careful when talking about this kind of stuff. But, you know, being charged with a crime is being charged with a crime. Like, he spent the weekend in prison. Like, that’s this isn’t just like a, you know, a he said, she said, like he’s been charged with an actual crime, right? Um, so you have to take it seriously. I I I think if you’re the university, um I you know, wanting to see it play out, I think that’s fine, you know, but again, this can come back and bite you, you know, if if that’s the way you choose to go here. I appreciate what you said because I do think that’s important to note. A lot of athletes have had their reputations ruined, damaged severely, and stuff ripped away from them after being accused of a serious crime, and then it goes nowhere. Um, there’s a big case in college football that has been unfolding in recent weeks. The quarterback at BYU, he was accused of sexual assault and he was like, “No, I but I did have a consensual sexual relationship with this woman, but sexual assault, no.” And at BYU, there’s an honor code, right? And even consensual sex is a violation of the honor code. and he was subject to um suspension from football, from school, because he admitted to a consensual sexual relationship. But the only reason he ever had to admit to that was because he was accused of a very serious crime. Now, do you know what happened to the crime? Got dropped. Nothing. It’s nothing. It’s nothing. He will never It’s over. But his name, but look at his name and look and and look at the headlines connected to him and he’s literally had to uproot his life because of it. Um I remember a story um a more local one. Chris Jones played at Melrose High and then played at Northwest Florida for Steve Forbes. Ultimately ended up at Louisville playing for Rick Patino. Do you remember how his college career ended? M he was accused of sexual assault and he was eventually um either the charges were dropped or he was found not guilty but that didn’t change the way his college career ended. He was ripped away from him um because he was accused of a crime that he was ultimately not found guilty of. So I’m always um these are complicated things. Yes. and and it ain’t one I’m going to rant and rave about, but I will tell you this. If Memphis allows Sincere Parker to play after being charged with these crimes before the legal situation is resolved, it would be wildly unusual relative to the way these things are handled on campuses for the most part across the country. Um, well, his teammate had to miss time, right? Okay. At at Ohio State, right? And by the way, that’s another way of saying Memphis is bringing a whole recruiting class in and now there’s at least two members of that recruiting class in the basketball program who have been accused of what amounts to domestic violence. Um, Cincer Parker here, not only accused, but charged with crime. He’s like in jail right now. And then Aaron Bradshaw from Ohio State was accused of a domestic violence uh or some sort of physical situation last year and they pulled him out of competition and he missed games and he was never even charged. But at Ohio State they were like this is a serious allegation and we’re not going to allow you to represent us until we feel more comfortable with it. But the idea that you’re just going to remain a member of the basketball program uh uninterrupted, no, that’s not happening. At at most schools, Memphis can handle it however it wants. Um but I will I’m telling you at most schools, Cincer Parker would not play, would not represent that basketball team until this was resolved one way or another. So this is serious and it does um you know, it it just cast another bad shadow above the program. It was in advance of last season when we had this anonymous letter show up and then the whole coaching staff is fired and it was just bizarre. One bizarre thing after another or at least unusual thing after another. And now here we are in less than a week. We got two negative headlines. Like you can go to these college basketball websites right now and you’ll find two Memphis headlines from the past week and neither of them are good. One’s about academic fraud and one’s about a snee allegedly attacking his girlfriend. Like these are not thing. And this one breaks like while I’m at Peach Jam. So like I’m surrounded by basketball people and I could just show you the text message. GP, what’s going on down in Memphis? GP always something, isn’t it? GP, they got to get things under. It’s just the perception is not great and I’m not blaming anybody. Like this could just be a sincere Parker problem. That’s right. And nothing more than that. I’m not out here yelling and screaming and I’m just saying it’s not good. It’s not good. you know, um, you know, I’ve got on this shirt today. I didn’t even think about it when I put it on, but you know, when I put on a Memphis logo, I want people to think good things, not bad things. And when your basketball program keeps generating negative headlines, it’s just it it’s not it’s not where you want your basketball program to be. No. And I mean, listen, if he is to like miss time and not and not be able to like that’s a big loss for them. Like, he was he’s supposed to matter. He’s supposed he was a big piece. they went and got like he was one of the best players on that Mise team that you know won a game in the tournament this past season. he is supposed to matter. And so I guess if if you wanted to have some questions as a Tiger basketball fan, you could start to wonder like, all right, are these is this the caliber of talented player we have to bring in? Somebody who has a little bit of a knucklehead factor to them. And that’s the nicest way I could put it because it’s harder to recruit here than it ever has been. This is what I mean. There was a time when if John Caliperry were trying to recruit five-star prospects, it had to be Amari Starttomire or Kendrick Perkins, somebody that the Dukes and Kuckies weren’t really messing around with because they didn’t think they were coming to school anyway. And so you’d get in there and be like, probably not coming to school, but if we can get them, then we got something. But I can’t just go recruit heads up with the Dukes and Kucky’s and the Kansases. I got to pick my spots a little more strategically. Frankly, that’s how Shawn Banks ends up here. How does Shawn Banks end up at the University of Memphis? Because he was a me probably one of the 10 most talented basketball players in his high school class, but also had uh you know, gang affiliations. So Duke ain’t messing around with that. North Carolina’s not messing around with that. But at Memphis, John Caliperry was like, “Maybe I can get him here, get him on the right path, but more than that, here’s a really talented guy who’s available to me because other people don’t want to touch him.” You see what I’m saying? So, fast forward to the present. Aaron Bradshaw started his is five-star super talented guy. Starts his career at Kentucky. That didn’t go well. Transfers to Ohio State. Gets accused of a serious crime and on basketball court. Didn’t really go well. Now he’s at Memphis. Is this the type? If you’re trying to get talented players, do you have to take the Aaron Bradshaws as opposed to somebody you might have taken in a different time? And here’s Sincere Parker. If you’re going to take a talented guard out of the transfer portal, do you have to take one that maybe some other schools weren’t as interested in for various other reasons? Like, is this the type of basketball player, student athlete you’re recruiting right now? And if so, does that lead to volatility and possible negative headlines like the ones we’re experiencing right now? Like, it’s possible this is just an accident and nobody could have seen this coming. But it is also possible Memphis is in a place where it’s having to recruit uh people that got, you know, some scars on them a little bit. have been banged up a little bit and maybe aren’t as attractive options for for a different school in a different league somewhere else. Is just is this the aisle we’re shopping on now? I think if you’re a Memphis fan, that’s a reasonable question to ask. Like, is this the aisle we’re shopping on now when it comes to to basketball players? And if so, is that concerning? Hopefully, it’s just an isolated incident and there’s no meaning to it more than a young man you brought into a college campus made a terrible decision and allegedly did something awful and he’ll have to pay a price for that if convicted of his crimes. Maybe it’s nothing more than that. But if you’re a Memphis fan and you keep running into these negative headlines, I can understand why it would be frustrating. Like you talk to some of the wealthiest Memphis boosters and you know they they they’re exhausted by this stuff. You know, Memphis has never been the straightest, cleanest, sure, keep it between the lines program in the history of college basketball, but there have been an unusual amount of negative headlines connected to the program in recent years. And yeah, you talk to some of the wealthy people who care deeply about that program and you walk away knowing that not all but but certainly some of them are just like they’re just worn out by just tired of this kind of stuff. Number two, our old friend Marcus Smart’s got a new home. He’s a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. And in breaking news this morning, Chris Paul is now a member of the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers and Lakers, the two Los Angeles franchises, have added uh point guards, uh aging point guards, point guards with question marks, but point guards still. Do you believe Marcus Smart will help the Lakers do anything? Uh if he does, I’ll probably vomit all over myself. Uh yeah, that would that would that would make me sick. Um we’ll see. Uh we’ll see. I mean, he’s one of my favorite players ever. Like I’m I’m a big fan of the guy, but we know we know it didn’t work out here. Um you know, when he went to Washington, like he had some some okay games there. Um with the Wizards, uh and so like can he contri I think he can contribute to the Lakers. Is he going to help them win a championship as like their starting point guard? No, I do not think that. Yeah, I don’t think anybody thinks that. But like can he just be can he rejuvenate his career in Los Angeles playing with Luca and LeBron? I guess that’s the question because it’s more complicated than what I’m about to say, but what I’m about to say is mostly true. The front office here decided he couldn’t help. Mhm. That’s what they decided. They decided at the trade deadline he can’t help us. And yeah, we got to prepare for Jiren’s extension. A lot of things go into it, but on a very basic level, they evaluated Marcus Smart and concluded he can’t help us here. Now, if you’re the Lakers, you know what you hope that is? Well, he couldn’t help you there because he didn’t want to be there. He never really wanted to be there. He never logged in, for lack of a better word, in any sort of meaningful way. And so, his heart just wasn’t in it, head wasn’t in it. He was more hurt about leaving Boston than he was excited about being in Memphis. And perhaps this can be a way to restart all of that and not let his career just dwindle into nothing um the second Brad Stevens decided to move on. If you’re the Lakers, you’re hoping you’re getting a different version of Marcus Smart than the one that lived here in Memphis. Yeah. I think like I don’t I’m trying to think of like any times that we’ve even seen that where like an older player has gone somewhere and it wasn’t a great situation and they went somewhere else and ended up being like back to their old self and were awesome. You know what I mean? I’m sure there’s examples. I mean I I I remember it felt for a minute like Carmelo Anthony was done and then like he was he was actually a really good one and then he then he was making shots and he like mattered again for a minute. That’s Carmelo. I mean, that’s he’s a Hall of Famer. Russell Westbrook is sort of like he’s done. I wouldn’t have him on my team to like another Hall of Famer. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t I don’t know. I don’t I don’t know what to expect. I bet you the truth is somewhere in the middle. He won’t be the Marcus Smart that can that that you remember from Boston, but he’ll be better and more impactful than the Marcus Smart who was in Memphis. I bet you the truth somewhere in the middle. I think you’re right. I think you’ll look up next year and there will be a moment when it’s like they won that game because of Marcus Smart. Like I think that will happen next year. Maybe not a lot, but maybe. Maybe, maybe some. Yeah, maybe not a lot, but but some. Um, and then on the other one, this is the breaking news from this morning with Chris Paul and the Lakers. I mean, the Clippers. The Clippers are just sort of I don’t know if any of this stuff’s going to work, but they have just added Bradley Bill and Chris Paul to the roster. Mhm. And, you know, Bradley Bill is a terrible $50 million player, but he’s a very good $4 million player. Yeah. Probably a great $4 million player. Yeah. They’re just like loading up on these veterans and who knows if they’ll ever be healthy enough and to to matter. But they’re at least creating something interesting there in a time where I think it was roughly a year ago there were smart basketball people saying the Clippers should just blow it up and they declined to go in that direction and it looks like the smart decision now like they’re, you know, some people are projecting them to finish top four in the West. So interesting moves connected to the LA franchises over the weekend. And look at Chris Paul like officially solidifying his legacy. Like he’s a Clipper. He’s a Clipper, right? Like when you say Chris Paul 20 years from now, won’t you say Clipper? I don’t know that I’ll ever He’s played for a million teams. He’s played for everybody. I don’t know that I’ll ever associate him with one place as much as I’ll just think of him as one of the greatest point guards of all time. Certainly one of the great small point guards of all time. in some ways maybe the last of a breed and somebody who will carry this label around for the foreseeable future. Who’s the best point guard who never won an NBA championship? That answer to that question is probably Chris Paul. Yes. Like in the history of the sport, who is the best point guard who never won a championship? Iverson. I mean, you know, yeah, it it might be Chris Paul. Yeah, it really might be Chris Paul. So, I just think about him as somebody who was awesome consistently, made pretty much everywhere he was better on some level, um, but would seem to just pull a hamstring or something at inopportune times and could never quite get where it is, um, where it is I think he probably thought his career was going to take him. Never quite got there, but will go down in history as one of the greatest people ever played sport. Mhm. That’s the Chris Paul. And I don’t know that I’ll ever attach him to to the Clippers any more than I’ll attach him to New Orleans or anywhere else. But sure, I guess other people will because his best years were Lob City stuff. Yeah. And now there’s at least a chance he’ll he’ll finish his career there. And this is another example, by the way, of men who have all the money in the world and in theory could, you know, sign with anybody. Like if Chris Paul just said, “I’ll sign with anybody for the veteran minimum.” Most franchises would probably say, “Okay, we’ll take that.” Yeah. So, here’s Chris Paul. He he he could go anywhere he wants. And last week, we had Damen Lillard, and they could go anywhere they want. And you know what? They both picked not the place necessarily that gives them the best chance to win a championship. You know what they both picked? Home. Mhm. They picked home to be around their kids on some level. And I respect that immensely. I do too. You know, as I’m thinking through this, I do think Oklahoma City probably owes him a jersey retirement because isn’t he responsible for them getting a franchise because he played for New Orleans, Katrina happened, they go play in Oklahoma City that season, and it’s ruckus and like everyone’s like, “Wow, look at this Oklahoma City crowd.” And then they get the the uh Sonics team and then let me take it further. He comes to Oklahoma City. He came back and and mentors Shay Gilis Alexander. Is Chris Paul responsible for them winning a championship? I don’t think you’re speaking too crazy right now. He mentored your MVP. He opened up the world’s eyes to what basketball could be in Oklahoma City. Yeah, there’s only a few degrees of separation here. Chris Paul’s the architect of Thunder Up. I think his jersey should hang in the rafters there. Yes, I think his jersey. They owe him that. Yeah, they owe him that. You Oklahoma City, you owe Chris Paul something. So, get on that. Get on that. In the meantime, he’ll be playing with the Clippers. Number three, Scotty Shuffler ran away with the open championship this weekend. My god, this guy. He’s that real. It’s crazy, dude. You know, I got I got him at something like it was like plus 240 on Friday and I was like, “Thank you.” Like he just and it was easy. You just look up and he’s just there is and you’re like, “How’d he get here again? How’s he doing this again? He’s outrageous.” Yeah, he’s insane. So he goes 68 64 6768 17 under. wins the event by four strokes. Um, I know you don’t follow golf or care about it the way say me and Vernon do. I see your eyes glaze over a little bit sometimes, but help me with this. Yes. Have we reached the point with Scotty Sheffller where you don’t have to care a thing about golf, but you still know there’s a dude named Scotty Sheffller who is awesome at it. Like, you don’t have to know anything about tennis once upon a time to know that Serena Williams is a monster, right? And obviously Tiger, you didn’t have to, you never even seen a golf ball, but you know this Tiger Woods thing is here. I’m not comparing Scotty Sheffer to Tiger Woods or Serena because he’s not either one of them. But have we reached a point where he transcends his sport? Like when I was a kid, I didn’t watch hockey, but I was very aware of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Um, in baseball, you don’t have to watch it at all. You’ve probably stumbled into the show Otani thing. whether you watch baseball or not, you’re just you know who show Otani is. Is Scotty Sheffler in that category now? Man, so to me, I would say yes. And here’s why. You know, I’m a just a casual golf fan, right? Like I watch all the big events, but I’m more of a casual fan. Um, you know, when he said he’s coming to Memphis to for the FedEx St. Jude, I was like, I feel like I have to go. And I’ve seen him before, but it’s like just go put your eyes on I feel like I have to go because he’s going to be there because he is solidified himself as one of the greats in the sport pro at this point probably of all time, right? Like he’s one of the alltime great. Yes. Oh, he’s already on that list and is headed for maybe like I mean he could go down in history as one of the two or three to ever do it. Yeah. Best. He is on that trajectory right now and operating at that level right now. And you know, we it ain’t my job to sell tickets for the golf tournament, but that kind of stuff does matter to me. I I I said this game four of the first round Western Conference playoff series between the Grizzlies and the Thunder. And obviously like I I do have an interest in that building being full because like, you know, I’m employed here. When this this thing is going well, it’s good for all of us. And when it’s not going so well, it’s not good for all of us. Um, and I remember just saying and I had at least one man pick me up on this, take me up on this because he like reached out, however you reach out, Twitter, Facebook, and was like, “GP, I heard you.” And I actually I’m I I did it and I’m glad I did. Here’s what I told people to do. I said, “Listen, I’m not going to try to jaw hurt and the Thunder are here. This probably ain’t going to go well. It’s probably going to conclude in a sweep. This is game four.” Yeah. Yeah. But you can get into a playoff game at a pretty inexpensive price relative to playoff games for game four. And I’m not telling you you’re going to see a great game. But what I am telling you is whether it’s you or you have a son or a daughter, you take them tonight, they might have this story forever. You remember the year Oklahoma City won the title. Shade Gil just Alexander won the scoring title and MVP and finals MVP. I saw them in person that year. I saw them in person that year. That’s a story you have. Yeah, I like stories like that. So, to circle back to your thing. Um, how cool would it be if you was sitting around with your dad or your granddad or your mother, your grandmother, and they were like, “Oh yeah, I love golf.” Did I ever tell you about the time I saw Arnold Parmel play? Did I ever tell you about the time I went and saw Jack Nicholas play? You would think you’d be like, “No, but like that’s a cool. Let’s hear that one. That’s a cool story. I I like stories.” And yes, go to the golf tournament, you will be able to say, “I saw one of the all-time greats and maybe the most dominant athlete we have in the world right now. I saw him in person.” That’s a cool thing to have. Yeah. Um I have stuff like that from my childhood. Like I saw Mark Magcguire Homer. I saw Barry Bonds Homer. Like I still tell those stories or at least think about those stories. So, yeah, you’re going to be able to get one at TPC Southland uh here in a few weeks because um the guy who is absolutely running golf right now will be in attendance. There’s so many numbers to just illustrate that what we’re watching is elite level stuff, but the most important thing to understand is like it it hadn’t come out of nowhere, but it really did kind of this is surprising that he’s got here. Jordan Spe talked about this yesterday. you know, they’re both from Texas, and Jordan was like, “Yeah, he was he was a good junior player, like very good, but did anybody see this coming?” No. No. Go from that to the most dominant golfer in the world and one of the most dominant golfers of all time. No, nobody saw this coming. And it ain’t like something that started when he was 20 or 21 or 22 or 23 or 24 or 25. It’s all been in like the past two years. So, here’s some numbers from Kyle Porter, who covers golf. Used to work with us at CBS Sports. Now, he’s more uh doing his own thing independently, but he’s terrific uh on golf. And he just had a bunch of these numbers. I’ll share them with you. So from 2000 to 2021, so that was a a a a pretty small sample size, but uh in that time frame, he had 52 starts. So he was in 52 different tournaments. He had 15 top 10s, but zero wins, zero majors, won zero players championships, and he was gaining 1.6 uh strokes a round. I know none of that might mean anything to you, but I’m about to contrast it with some new numbers, and you’ll see how crazy it is. He made $8 million in official money right then in that stretch. Since 2022, here are the numbers. He’s had 82 starts, been in 82 tournaments. I just told you in that previous section of his career, it was 52 starts, zero victories. Since 2022, 82 starts, 20 victories, 59 top 10s. He’s only missed three cuts. He’s won four majors, two players championships, a gold medal, and strokes gained per round is at 2.8. And he’s made $85 million in official prize money. Since the start of 2022, it’s been four years, four majors each year, 16 majors. In the last 16 majors, he’s won four of them. That’s not normal. 12 top 10s, only one miscut. As Cal Porter pointed out, Scotty Sheffler has been arrested as many times at majors in the past four years as he has missed a cut at a major because he was That’s part of the lore. I really do think it is. Hell yeah. Because he was arrested for no reason and handled the whole thing beautifully and that is part of his story. Um he’s just been dominant in ways that we’ve never really seen with exception of the all-time greats, most notably Tiger Woods. Here’s another one. Players to win four majors by three strokes or more since the first Masters was played in 1934. So just you’re in a major, you win it by at least three strokes. Nobody’s Nobody’s trying to chase you down. You You walk it up 18, it’s over. Only three men have ever done it. Tiger Woods, Jack Nicholas, and Scotty Sheffller. Yeah, man. That’s it. That’s it. His last 51 starts, 14 wins, 42 top 10s, zero miscuts. and you hear people talk about him because even though he dismisses it a little bit, the Tiger stuff is starting to happen. Like is this guy 2025’s Tiger Woods? And I think the smart answer is no. But we are at a place where you can smart golf people are bringing it up. I think you still lean toward no, not yet. but he is playing at such a high level that the Tiger stuff is happening now. Now, he was asked about it yesterday and here’s what he said. He said, “I still think it’s all a bit silly. I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf.” And I personally do, too. I know some people like to get into the Jack Nicholas Tiger conversation. That’s the LeBron Jordan debate of golf. And some will just forever say Nicholas has more majors, so Nicholas is the GOAT. But I think what most people will tell you, and this is where I would land, is that nobody has ever played golf better than Tiger Woods. Nobody’s been ever been better at it. Jack might have won more majors because, you know, his personal life was a a little more boring, but nobody’s ever been better at golf than Tiger Woods, and that’s still true today. Tiger Woods at his best would smoke anybody else at at their best. I think that is undeniably true right now and might be true for the next hundred years. Eventually, somebody will come along and it’ll be the next great thing. You know, we’d never seen anything like Babe Ruth until we got Show Otana, right? There’ll be another one, but I don’t think anybody has ever been better at golf than Tiger Woods. And I still think that’s true. But we are at a place where people are starting to ask questions about Scotty Sheffller and put him into those conversations. And what’s interesting is it all happens this a fourth major championship running away with it just a few days less than a week after he spent time in front of a microphone trying to make a very nuance point. I think they got twisted in a lot of different directions, but he more or less spent his pre-ournament availability explaining to anybody who would listen, “Yeah, I love golf, but this does not fulfill my heart the way I thought it might when I was young. It’s kind of weird that I have worked my whole life to be good at this thing and I’m the best at it and I win everything I ever dreamed of winning, even more than I ever dreamed of winning. And it that feeling that you think would it’s 2 minutes and then I’m just like what’s next? I don’t I don’t walk around feeling the way you probably assume I feel as the best golfer, number one ranked golfer in the world. It doesn’t do that for me there. I need other things in my life. And so after he said that, people started I mean writing think pieces about it and everything else. But then the other golfers started getting asked about it. And so Jordan Spe was talking about Scotty Sheffller yesterday and I thought this was real interesting. You know what he said about Scotty Sheffller? He said he has hobbies and it was like but what he meant by that is he has things that he does outside of this. For some of us this is all we do. This is our life. We travel from one beautiful place to another playing golf, shaking hands with sponsors, meet and greets, proams, commercials, appearances, nude place, check into a house, play golf again, shake more hands, meet more people, sign more deals, play golf again, shoot a commercial. And Scotty Sheffller does not live like that. He’s like he has hobbies. He He He doesn’t want to go shake everybody’s hands. He wants to go play basketball with his friends. He doesn’t want to go make an appearance for an extra $2 million. He wants to be at home with his wife and his and his son. He’s a different guy. Jordan Spe said, “I don’t know that there’s another superstar in sports less as unassuming as Scotty Sheffller other than he said Nicole Joic.” Just Yeah, that’s a good comp. Y Spe said Joic is a little bit like that as well. it appears. But speed was like Scotty’s not like the rest of us. He more or less said he’s not like the rest of us. Um he’s not and some people like grabbed the quote. It got twisted into is he taking a shot at Scotty Sheffler? But if you go watch the full comments, he wasn’t taking a shot at him. He was complimenting him. But the quote that got pulled out was he’s not transcending the game like Tiger. So if all you’re doing is starting to hear Tiger Scotty conversations and then the quote you read is Jordan Speon Scotty’s not transcending the game like Tiger, it’s like what did he what did he say that for? But what he was actually trying to say in the context of the conversation that was taking place was he’s not trying to transcend the game like Tiger. He doesn’t need to be in every commercial. He doesn’t want to be on every billboard. He doesn’t even care about being the reason young people start playing golf. Like Tiger Woods wanted to inspire a generation of golfers. And Scotty Shepard’s like, I don’t really care, you know? I don’t I don’t I want to be a good husband. I want to be a good father. I don’t need to be an inspiration to young golfers all over the world. I don’t need it like that. And like Jordan Spe said, just trust me, whenever he’s done with this, he’ll be done with it. You will not see him hanging around at golf courses shaking hands and hosting tournaments. He he has a whole another life over here that that matters to him. And I just find all of that fascinating. I find him, we got into a habit people did of calling him boring cuz he’s not a big personality and he’s not throwing clubs and yelling at his caddy all the time and he just out there executing golf shots over and over again in ways that are that should be impossible but aren’t for him. Um, and people be like, it’s kind of boring. Except I’m I’m not bored by him at all. I’m totally fascinated by him. and and in some ways um um in awe of him like he seems to have incredible life balance and a and a real sense of self in a way that a lot of us never get. So I don’t find him boring at all. I find him fascinating and yeah, I look forward to him being in town because uh it’ll be an opportunity like I’ll take my little guys out there and you know I’ll I’ll stand right next to them and I’ll say that man right there like we all go out and pick up golf clubs. My kids did too. And I can tell them that that man right there and there ain’t been very few people in the history of this world who have ever been able to do with a golf club in their hands what he can do. That’s the other thing. You hear the other players talking about him. Roy Moy, he’s like when he’s putting like this, there’s nothing you can do because if he’s making the putts, he ain’t missing the shots. And that’s the other thing you hear about him. Everything with him is just clean. He just puts it right where he doesn’t mess up the way you see even the best of the best mess up. You can just mish hit here, push it here, bad decision here. He seems to always make the right decision and then execute it perfectly. Just an incredibly uniquely gifted person. And uh he’ll be here in just a few weeks. Should be fun. Number four. Speaking of uniquely gifted people, Ronald Akuna Jr. went viral on Friday night. It was a braise win for you, Bennett. You really racking up. I’m going to tell you your record in the next segment. But let me just set this up for you and then we’ll watch it together. And I because I bet you at this point I’ve watched it 75 times. So it’s Yanks Braves uh Friday night top third and Yankees have runners at first and second with one out. Cody Bellinger is up at the plate. hits one deep to right and Ronald Akunia goes and makes the catch, but he makes the catch in the most unusual way with his back basically to third base where he is now going to be trying to to throw the ball. You would never teach a kid to do any of this stuff this way. Not the catch, not the throw. This is all you better be Ronald Akuna Jr. before you try to do any of this stuff. So it almost appears like he’s not even trying to make a play at third. And yet what happened next is something that defies what you think a human should be able to do with a baseball in his hand. Kyra, if you got it, let’s watch it with the audio on because I think hearing the announcers surprise and shock sort of adds to if you have no context for baseball, how ridiculous it is to see this with your eyeballs. High and deep to right over toward the line. Akunius got it. Tagging from second is Bbos. Whoa, they got him. Are you kidding me? [Applause] Frenchie, I’m I’m stunned. We’re going to when we come back, we’ll we’ll dig into this. This was unbelievable. And Nachos sold it. And they’re not going to challenge it. No, folks. It comes right after J by the way gifted him some Yeah. some Jaw threes. So, there’s a Jaw Ronald Akuna relationship that’s developing. Looking forward to having the Brave Star court side for a Grizzlies playoff game someday. Bet you that happens. Well, yeah, cuz he does the Jo Sy, which is amazing. I love that that’s caught on the grenade. You know, when he hits a home run, he does the grenade. It’s so good. The grenade celebration is the best. It really is. Like I I I like sometimes things are just thumbs up for that one. Two thumbs up for that one. I don’t have to agree with everything everybody does, but if you want to ever have a conversation about the grenade celebration, oh buddy, it’s it’s caught on. It’s excellent. Yeah. and Akunia brought it to the Braves have ruined most of my The Braves have like I ain’t got no love loss with the Braves, you know that as the fan of another NL East franchise. I got you. But I love Ronald Akuna Jr. He’s fun to watch, man. He is. He’s just one of those dudes in baseball right now that it’s like, oh yeah, is Akuna? He is awesome. I love him. Yeah. Um I love everything about him. I love the way he plays. I love the way he carries himself. I love everything about him. I wish he I wish he was a Met. We got his little brother, Luis Anal Akuna. Oh yeah, y’all do got a little brother in New York and I like him but I love Ronald Auni Jr. So everything about that play is outrageous and I’ve seen some people say well but the guy wasn’t even running or if he’d have slid he’d been saved. That’s the point. That is the actual point. You know why the guy wasn’t running? And do you want to know why he didn’t sign? cuz it is incomprehensible to him that of there’s about to be a play at third, right? This guy’s been playing baseball his whole life. He knows what baseball looks and feels like. You know, you know what where this is a double play ball or not. There’s going to be a play at third or not. There’s a certain rhythm to baseball. And this guy is a professional baseball player. He’s been doing this his whole life. The reason he wasn’t running and the reason he didn’t sign is because you can’t even grasp the idea that a man is going to catch the ball at the edge of the warning track in the corner and right 301 ft away from you or away from third base and make that throw and get you out because he caught it backwards and then threw it flatfooted. I mean this sincerely like you. It’s tough. You get eight-year-olds out watching Major League Baseball and then you get them out on a baseball field and they’re all trying to make plays that they shouldn’t be trying to make. Yeah. Because they’re trying to impersonate Ellie de la Cruz or Ronald Akuna. And you have to remind them, no, you have to get in front of the ball because you’re not Ellie de la Cruz. No, you have to get underneath the ball because you’re not Ronald Akuna Jr. Ronald Jr. just was like flatfooted turns and throws it on a rope 300 crazy and 1 ft. I saw this um texted so somebody went and pulled the data on this. In the past five seasons of Major League Baseball, there have been 3,168 outfield assist. M. So outfitter catches a fly ball, somebody tags, and then you get that runner out at second or third or home. Gotcha. 3,168 examples in the past five seasons of baseball. And that one, the one we just watched, is the only one to exceed 300 ft in the air. The only one. Like we we you don’t see stuff like that. And there aren’t many people, we were just talking about golf. There aren’t many people in the history of the world that can play golf the way Scotty Sheffer plays golf. There aren’t many people in the history of the world who could make that throw. No, not just alive today. I mean, in the history of the world, there aren’t many people who could make that throw, make that play. Like, that’s among the biggest baseball highlights of the year. I really really hope that if Scotty Sheffller has a massive, massive like drive or something, it the grenade s. Yes, I would. Scotty, come to Memphis. Scotty, stick one on 18 and do the grenade s please. be perfect. It would be perfect. It would be perfect. It would be perfect. So, shouts to Ronald Akuna Jr. I I don’t like you when you hit three-run homers against the Mets, but uh buddy, I don’t mind watching you throw Yankees out at third base. That was quite a That was quite the That was quite the baseball play. Number five, Dev just decided he’d walk in. Got new Tyler creator, the album Blasting. Trying to do a show here. Trying to do a show. They have rest in peace. Sad story. Oh yeah, man. Um Corey Adams, uh defensive lineman from Louisiana who had signed with the Miss football program and was a freshman at the school uh was shot and killed uh this weekend in Cordova. It went down a little after 10:00 at night. Um, sounds like it was a pool party that went bad and five people ended up getting shot and one young man is life’s over. Just an ugly story to see this weekend. It was rough, man. A witness told that it appeared to be a pool party at the at the at the house. And then listen to this quote. Here’s what a man told local news. I was watching TV in my living room right here and I heard big shots, huge shots. I thought there was a big attack happening. I told my children just to lie on the ground and turn off all the lights. Definitely there was a big fear. Like it breaks my heart that good people Mhm. Um doing the best they can have to ever say that to their children in this city. Just get down and stay down. We’re just watching TV in our home. Get down. Stay down. And then I just went back to this morning to see if there’s an update with the story and there was another shooting in court over last night like right down the street in a Mexican restaurant on Germantown Parkway. Nobody was hurt apparently, but like a car did get struck and um this is not good. No. first and foremost because a young person’s dead. A young person who clearly had gifts. Like he was on scholarship to play football at the University of Mississippi. Um this was a accomplished high school player. This was a young man who I don’t know much about his life story, but he had somehow someway found him himself in a position where he’s a scholarship athlete at an SEC football school. Amazing, right? And now it’s over. And over what? Over what? I mean, we’ll get the details eventually. Somebody will be charged with this. Um, and then another young person’s life is going to be over, too, cuz they’ll probably be convicted, and then that’s that’s going to be life in prison for you. Um, so that’s awful. It’s also just awful for the city because you know the Stephen A. Smith headlines that were created of course just a few weeks ago and then for something like this to happen so quickly after that became a national story is it just it increases the perception problem that our city has right now. I I know there are stats that suggest things are getting better, thank God. But we have a real perception problem. And sometimes the perception is going to overwhelm the stats. People can’t even get to the stats because the perception’s hitting them right in the face. And so when you’ve got the biggest voice in sports media literally going on television and saying, “Well, what I’m told is NBA players don’t want to go to Memphis because they don’t feel safe.” And less than a month later, an Old Miss football player is shot and killed in Memphis. That is bad. That is bad for the perception of everything. And so we got to get the perception fixed. Obviously, everything else as well, but we do have a real perception problem right now. Yeah, man. And it’s not aided by Stephen A. Smith saying what he said, and it’s certainly not helped by this happening. I I guess this could have happened anywhere, but it did happen in the greater Memphis area. That’s a fact. My wife’s parents live over there. I think it was like Forest Hill and Walnut Grove, something like that. Yeah. I mean, I’ll let Chris tell his story, but like Chris lives right over there. Yeah. You know, um so it’s it just it it hurts the perception. Like there’s headlines right now on every sports website and it’s like miss football players shot and killed in Memphis. That’s the headline. Yeah. It could have happened anywhere, I guess, but it happened here. And man, I wish it wouldn’t have happened here. I do, too. Circling back to the and for what? We’ll get the details eventually, I guess. But you know what? We’re probably going to find out. It was over a stupid argument that meant absolutely nothing. That just escalated to gunfire. And it did not used to We’ve talked about this before, man. It just did not used to be that way. Like, it just did not. I mean, I I can I I remember being in high school and college. And listen, I’ve seen a lot of fights, a lot of fights, like growing up, never seen anyone pull out a gun and shoot somebody. I’ve never seen that with my own eyes. Okay? Like I grew up in Horn Lake. All right? And I’m not like I I I had a I love I like I enjoyed my childhood. Like I had friends and you know, and but like I did grow up in Horn Lake. We you know, I didn’t grow up in Kyville. When I would go visit my soccer friends in Kyerville in Germantown, their houses looked one way and then they’d come visit me and our houses looked a different way, right? Um like I went to a high school where the validictorian literally went to junior college because like that’s where you that’s what you did when you came from Horn Lake. All right. I’m just trying to illustrate to you I didn’t come from like where it is I think some people think I came from. I grew up watching everybody fight everybody all the time. I’ve been to pool parties where fights break out. And to your point, not only did I never see anything like that lead to gunfire. It never even crossed my mind that it would. I don’t ever remember thinking this fight, this argument, this altercation, this here’s seven dudes over here and seven dudes over here. I don’t ever remember thinking, “Oh, God, this someone might pull out a gun.” Never crossed my mind, not once. Now, if I ever see if I ever see a fight involving multiple people, that’s the first thing that pops in my mind. Yeah. Yeah. Because somebody’s going to be on the wrong side of it. And that person might be carrying a gun. And this is ultimately a a real problem we have. I know some of you love your guns, but like that we have too many of them. They’re everywhere. Everybody has a gun. And when everybody has a gun, guess what happens more often than it should? People get shot. This is going to end up being a direct byproduct of why did this happen? Because it was a pool party filled with kids and a whole bunch of them had guns. Because there’s guns everywhere now. And so once upon a time you’d have an argument over a parking spot and that argument might lead to pushes and shves and maybe somebody even throws a punch and that’s crazy but like that’s where it would end. It’d be like a did you hear about so and so got into an argument over a parking spot and then somebody said this and somebody said that and then somebody threw a punch and and then somebody kicked the car. Man, it was crazy. But that’s where it stopped. Now that person gets shot, somebody gets shot. And all the time it’s just like these stories we hear where it was the exact type of situation we all have been in when we were young. Uh boyfriend, girlfriend stuff, arguments, um fights between people from different schools. Like I I don’t want to overstate it, but like we all saw these types of thing. There was a pool party in Cordova this weekend and I I bet you at one point everybody was having a good time and then at some point somebody wasn’t having a good time and then at some point it became a confrontation and then at some point it got uneasy and now five people are shot and one guy’s dead. All right. I’ve been to pool parties that had every aspect of that up until the shot and dead part. It just never went to somebody’s pulling out a gun. It didn’t even cross my mind. But we now live in a world where if you see a confrontation in almost anywhere in the United States of America, almost anywhere, there is a chance that somebody around has a gun and there’s a chance that it could get pulled and used. And that is scary, scary, scary. I liked it better when pull party fights just resulted in pool party fights. Somebody maybe got thrown in and dunked a little bit, but um we got there’s just too many guns out there. I I’m not pretending I have a fix. I’m just acknowledging there are too many guns out there. Men are killing men every day. Women are killing men. Men are killing women. Wh I mean it’s there just people are getting shot. Kids are accidentally shooting themselves. That happens every day. There’s just a lot of guns out there, man. And uh I don’t know how to fix it, particularly in this country, particularly in this political climate. But until we figure out a way to get a grasp on this, this type of you’re going to see these stories all the time. You’re seeing this one because it’s a miss football player, but this is not a unique story. A young person got into an argument and it led to a gunshot and now they’re dead. That is not a unusual story in America. It’s a very common thing. This one’s getting big headlines because he’s a football player. But these things happen every day in this country. Every single day. It’s because the stuff that used to just you lead to a a a punch or a kick, it now leads to somebody grabs a gun and now here we are again. Again, condolences to the family and to the Miss football program. That’s a hard thing to to to go through. And so, um, obviously we’ll get more answers as time goes on and hopefully whoever’s responsible for this is is brought to justice. But here’s a young man who again, however he got there, he was on scholarship to be a football player at an SEC school. That’s an amazing place to look up and find yourself. And then thought he was just going to a party, I guess. And then it turns into what it turned into. Just sad stuff. Y sad stuff. Be back in a second. What can the Memphis Grizzlies learn from the Thunder Pacers NBA Final Series? Your style of play is not something that you really have to change. Both these teams love to play fast. Both these teams love to play uh really aggressively on the defensive side of the ball. Hey Grizzlies fans, be sure to tune in to Grisby where the panel and I break down all things Grizzlies and take a look at the rest of the NBA as well. The show is live every Wednesday, 2 PM on YouTube at Grind City Media and the official Grind City Media app. Grizzlies fans know it’s the team that gives you the edge. Big River Steel does, too. And much like the Grizzlies have recruited legendary talent, we want you to be part of our team. Are you ready to be part of something legendary? Then visit www.bigriversteel.com. That’s www.bigriversteel.com. [Music] Let’s face it, there’s a lot of trash talk in basketball, but the great teams let their performance do the talking. Like Ford F-150 with Pro Power on board, a class exclusive industry first feature that turns your truck into a mobile generator and leaves the competition speechless. Ford F-150, official truck of the Grizzlies. Greatness starts here at your Midsouth Ford dealer. Classes full-size pickups under 8,500 lb. GBWR. 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Tax not included menu for details. [Music] Welcome back. Gary Parish show presented by Ortho South. Let’s wrap this up with GP’s Carry out. It’s time for GP’s Carry out. One final segment filled with stuff to take with you. It’s not everything you need to know, but it’s most of it. What did we learn today? A whole bunch of stuff, but we mostly in the opening segment focused on your Memphis Grizzlies because they did wrap up summer league play last night. Went out on a high note with a blowout of the summer Clippers. So this let’s progress, brother. It’s progress. It’s progress. Got Javon Small back into the lineup over the past couple of games and suddenly things turned around. I believe on some level we will always look back at the summer of 2025 and wonder how differently things could have gone if Javon Small did not suffer a soft tissue injury early early in July. But um we didn’t have a point guard, man. What are you going to do? We didn’t have a point guard. How you going to win a summer trophy if you don’t have a point guard? That’s a good point. You know, it’s a good It’s a good point. I’m not really sure who Charlotte had on their bad Conanipple. People are in love with Kanipple. He hoisted a trophy yesterday. He’s a champion. Yes, he’s a champion. He’s a summer league champion. Will never take that from him. No, he’s always going to have that ring. Khan Caniple. Get him a championship before he even officially plays in an NBA regular season game. That’s the way to do it, I think. You’re damn right it is. That’s the way to do it. So, summer league is over. Zion Pullan’s gone. PJ Hall’s here. Javon Small’s got a two-way. And we’re waiting on what we assume will be a two-way for Jamaek. And then and then we’ll And then we’ll just we’ll rest for a minute. And then we’ll And then we’ll rest for a minute. What’s today’s biggest game? All right. Big Bet Bennett. What’s going on? Go ahead and fill them in on the record first. Okay. Let me brag on you a little bit. Go ahead and fill them in on the record first. Let me brag on you a little bit. Your record is now 244 215 and 4 after you had the Braves over the Yankees on Friday night. You’re now up seven units. 7.0. You’re up seven units. But it used to be down like 25. This is quite the comeback. This is a pretty incredible comeback by you. Are you ready to pick a baseball game tonight? Was born ready. I’m going to give you your Orioles. Okay. It’s the It’s the Orioles and the Guardians. Tricky tricky. It’s the Orioles and the Guardians tonight from Progressive Field in Cleveland. 540 first pitch. You can get Cleveland at minus 140 or Baltimore at plus 120. And this comes just one day after the president of the United States decided to go on a rant about how the Washington football team and the Cleveland baseball team need to change their names back to in Washington the Redskins and in Cleveland the Indians. The Indians. Correct. That’s what the president decided to do. That’s what the president was working on this weekend. getting professional sports franchises names changed back. You realize that’s bizarre, right? That’s what he’s caring. You realize like if Joe Biden did that, just woke up on a Sunday and was like, “We need to change the Reds the Washington team back to the Redskins and the Cleveland team back to the Indians.” You realize like all of you, you know what you would say, right? [Music] And this is bizarre. This is bizarre behavior. Mhm. Cleveland said they’re going to say the Guardians. Okay. Probably the right move. Who could say for sure? Yeah. Cleveland minus 140, Baltimore plus 120. How you going to act? Uh, you know, I’m going to This one’s tough, man. Uh, Orioles won yesterday. Uh, I I’ll take I’ll I’ll take the Guardians. You don’t believe in Baltimore? I guess I’ll just take the Guardians. I don’t Uh, you know what? I’ll take I’ll take my team. Give me those. Go against Baltimore. Give me something to enjoy watching. Give me Yeah, I’ll take the O’s. I’ll take Baltimore plus 120. First cushion now. First pitch is 540. What are we watching on TV? Okay. OTC, our tribal chief, Roman Reigns, will be in attendance at Raw tonight on Netflix. Yeah, man. He’s back. But can I tell you about something else? I watched something else. What? I watched something. What’ you watch? I watched a documentary. Oh. Amy Bradley is missing. Who’s Amy Bradley? Funny you should ask. She’s missing. She’s still missing. I don’t want to ruin it for you. Oh, okay. Okay. Amy Bradley is missing. New documentary on Netflix. Okay. Just dropped three parts each of them about, you know, 40 minutes. Love a three-part dock. I do. There’s nothing better than a three-part dock. It’s amazing. Two is like just a little too short. Three is perfect. Four is too many. Four is too many. Three is perfect. I love a three-part documentary, man. Cuz if you want to knock it out in a day, you can commit to that and do it. So, I’m getting on a plane on Saturday and I’m like, I just I want something easy to watch and I can’t We’ve talked about how I can’t download on Hulu. That’s impossible. So, I can’t finish The Bear yet. I’m like, “All right, let me just see what’s on Netflix here.” Amy Bradley is missing. New in television shows today. I think it was number two. I said, “Okay, I’ll take I’m going to download Amy Bradley is Missing. It’s pretty good. I got about 30 minutes left in episode three. I fell asleep last night. Okay. But I’m I’m through the first two episodes. It’s you won’t be bored. Okay. Here’s the story. So, it’s kind of like a family vacation. Mom, dad, and they’re two mostly adult children. I know the the the the daughter was like 23 and the son was maybe a little younger. Mhm. But it’s certainly grown grown kids. Okay. And they decided to go on a cruise. The parents won a cruise through their work. It was like a re an award for you were so great at your job this year. We’re sending you on a cruise. That type of thing. So, they’re all on the cruise and they’re having, you know, good time and the last thing anybody knows is that Amy was she was in the club dancing and having a good time and then her father saw her on the balcony of the ship at like 5:30 in the morning and then they just couldn’t find her. He went back to the balcony and she’s not there. And they start looking around. I mean, the ship’s massive and they can’t find her. The ship docks and they can’t find her. They search the whole ship. They cannot find her. And Amy Bradley is missing. Whoa. And the story is just sort of spoiler alert. What the investigation entailed, their search for her. There’s twists and turns in it that you you really can’t see coming. Uh-huh. Obviously, this is one of the stories you could Google it right now and read everything about it or you can just keep yourself in the dark and watch the three-part documentary. Stay in the dark. I kept myself in the dark and just watch the documentary. I wasn’t either and never heard anything about this. Um, but it’s a real story. Um, and just a scary like you just you’re on a cruise with your two kids and only one of them makes it back. Mhm. And it’s good. It was good. It’s good. So Amy Bradley is missing. It’s on Netflix right now. What are we watching on TV? the best. When’s the last time you hit all the buttons correctly? When’s the last time you got through a whole It’s a new studio, dude. It throws me off. I I have a certain rhythm. I knew it would be somebody else. I have a certain rhythm. I knew it wouldn’t be your fault. I knew it wouldn’t be your It’s fine. It don’t even It makes me laugh now. I don’t even get frustrated. It actually makes me It actually makes me laugh. I don’t even care. It just makes It’s funny. It’s funny that you cannot hit those buttons. Over at CBSports.com right now, the main headline, number one headline. You know what it is? Scotty Sheffller. Will Levis out for the season. Oh man. Yeah, that’s tough. That is tough for him. Cam Ward becomes QB1. Well, I don’t think that’s any shocker and I don’t think that uh that was going to be any different regardless of his will if if Will Leves was healthy or not. It has all been downhill since draft night for Will Levis, hasn’t it? Has a single good thing happened to him since draft night? He got dumped by Gia Dudy, lost his starting job. He had like that one good game. Now he’s got shoulder surgery. Is Is any That’s where he had a game where he threw like four touchdown passes. You think draft night’s going to be the beginning of the best part of your life and in reality it was the end of the best part of his life. I think it’s the end of his tenure as a Titan for sure. Like I do not think we will see him in a Titans uniform again. Um I could be wrong. Who knows? Uh but I’m pretty sure his deal Yeah, because he what rookie deal is like three years. Yeah, he he’s done. He ain’t going to be a Titan anymore. Um, so we’ll see, man. I mean, I people weren’t super high on him him, you know, on draft night. I mean, you remember he fell in the draft like he’s the guy that they have the camera was looking around. She was trying to find a new one that night. Yeah, I that’s that’s a bad spot for him. That’s a bad spot for him. I think training camp, regardless if he was going to play for the Titans or not, I think it training camp was important for him. Um, so I feel bad for the guy. I threw on some level, too. I just think I always try to put myself in other people’s shoes and like, man, how would that make me feel? And I just can’t. It It’d be hard. I think it would be hard to deal with this. You’re incredible athlete your whole life, great high school quarterback, great college quarterback. People say you’re going to get picked in the draft. You do. You go to Nashville. They they ready to make you the starter. I’m the starting quarterback in Nashville, the hottest city in the country. got this my beautiful girlfriend I love so much, man. It’s all here. It’s all happening. And like from that moment, everything’s gone the wrong way. Yeah, it really has. That must be tough to deal with. I don’t care how much money you got. I bet you all this stuff is I bet you will Le is not a happy person. Cuz the thing is, man, is like every interception he threw, it was like he threw three interceptions because they were so bad. They the worst interceptions I’ve ever seen. His turnovers were rough to watch. I don’t like watching It’s like they counted for more than one turnover. I don’t like watching people’s careers not go well. Yeah, it makes me I don’t either. I feel bad for him. Yeah, I want I want good things for people, not bad things for people. So, get get well soon, Will Levis. And then once you get well, maybe you know, study a little more. I don’t know. You got to do something. You got to do something. You got to do something. What’s on tap for tomorrow? Okay, tomorrow I’m leave. I got to go. Where are you going? We’re going on vacation. Oh, we’re going to Atlant the Atlantis resort. Very nice. You know, from Battle Battle for Atlantis. I am familiar. Yes. I’ve been watching Battle for Atlantis for a few years. And then last year I was like, you know what? Maybe we should just go see this Atlantis for oursel and we went and it’s awesome. It is amazing. I don’t know that you could take kids to a more enjoyable resort. It just I’m not the type that goes back places. talking to Jess this morning. Like I go and I see something and I do something and I go, “Okay, that was awesome. Now let’s go do and see something new.” Yeah. I always want to go see something I’ve never seen before. And yet here I am back toback years going to the exact same place. And it’s just because I genuinely can’t think of anything more enjoyable than that place for for my If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Right. And uh we finally roped our oldest son back into family vacations. You know, he went through a little phase. That’s nice. He went through a little phase. I don’t know if it’s because uh you know you get to be 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Correct. I don’t know if it’s you don’t want to be around your little brothers cuz they drive you crazy. Don’t think I went on vacation with my parents any of those years. It might be the It could be you don’t want to be around your parents, right? I don’t know. I don’t want to speak for him, but we went through a little phase where if you probably looked at vacation pictures, you he is not present. Um but he has now circled back to the age where he don’t seem to mind his parents so much right now and doesn’t seem to mind his little brother so much right now. So, uh, it’ll be the whole family in Atlantis and, uh, we’re looking forward to it. So, I’m going to do that. All right. And then Lang Whitaker is going to sit in the studio. Yep. He’ll be here. So, you and Lang I know you will. I know you will. So, you guys are going to hold things down. I’m going to get out of the country for a minute. And this is what I need you to promise me, Bennett. What’s up? Just promise me we I have a country to come back to. Oh, I got you. Can you promise me this this place is still going to be okay? You You’ll be fine. It’ll be fine. I don’t doubt I’ll be fine. I’m more worried about the country. I ain’t worried. Brother, we’ve been we’ve been in wild times for a minute now. I think you I think a week. I think you got at least a week. I think you’re fine. All right. I should be f We should be fine. Yeah. But man, sometimes I don’t know. Sometimes I don’t know. Yeah, I think it’d be good. It’d be good to escape. I’m going to try to escape. It’ll be good to escape. I’m going to go escape. I need an escape. So, uh, enjoy the rest of your day. I’m going to enjoy mine. You guys meet back here tomorrow at 10:00. I’ll talk to you again next week. Till then, be careful, be kind, be good, rep your hood. We are drafting our best movies of the 21st century. Arguably the greatest superhero movie of all time. I’ll go with Dark Knight. That was going to be my Give it to me. Give it to me. Dark Knight. Like you I’m sorry. I already hate the strap. Yeah. Tune in to the Jessica Benson Show with CJ Hurt live every weekday at 8 a.m. on YouTube at Grind City Media and the official Grind City Media app. Are you ready? Creed. [Music] By overwhelming demand, the summer of 99 tour returns July 27th, FedEx for with very special guest Dree and Mammoth. Tickets on sale now at livenation.com. Don’t miss Creed with Dry and Mammoth. The summer of 99 tour. 1 2 3 Ready, [Music] go. [Music] We get to the main event and you hear the crowd. There’s some rumblings in the crowd. Here we go. They say, “We want truth.” I love how John Cena said when they were chanting, “We want truth.” You can’t handle the truth. There you go. I loved it. He takes the knee off. Boom. Takes the mask off. Boom. And it’s our freaking truth. God, man. He cost John Cena of the match. Tune in to Grind City Wrestling weekly on the Grind City Media app and on the Grind City Media YouTube channel. Shine Down. Dance Kid Dance Tour. Dance Kid live in Memphis. FedEx Forum. Saturday, August 30th. with special guests Bush and Morgan Wade. Get tickets now at lenation.com. Shineown live in concert. For more, visit shindown.com.

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