The Morning Sports Take - Boston Celtics' Championship Glory

What if the Boston Celtics could rewrite NBA history once more? Join us in a monumental celebration of the Celtics' latest NBA Championship victory—an 18th banner that solidifies their position as the most decorated franchise in NBA history. We'll break down the stellar performances from Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White, whose outstanding efforts were crucial in this victorious season. But the excitement doesn't end at the NBA Finals; we'll also touch on the Florida Gators' thrilling run in the College World Series and the hotly anticipated Stanley Cup matchup between the Panthers and the Oilers. Plus, stay tuned for insights on the Lakers' coaching search as they gear up for the NBA Draft.

Ever wondered how Kyrie Irving handles the pressure cooker of Boston fans? We'll reflect on his growth and maturity, even amidst animosity, and how it has shaped his game. Dive deep into the Dallas Mavericks’ challenges, including the absence of key players like PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford, and the unforgettable moment of Payton Pritchard's halftime buzzer-beater. Relive Jaylen Brown's heartwarming tribute to Jason Tatum during the MVP ceremony and examine the future of the Tatum-Brown dynamic. From Kyrie’s potential reunion with LeBron James to the strategic moves of Celtics' GM Brad Stevens, this episode is packed with narratives that keep you on the edge of your seat.

Finally, explore the intricate world of NBA contracts, spotlighting Jayson Tatum's upcoming $315 million deal and its potential impacts. Learn the financial wisdom behind Tatum's spending habits, managed by his mother, and the cautionary tales of athletes who lost their fortunes. Hear about the emotional bond between Tatum and Brown, and how it plays into their on-court chemistry. As we shift gears, celebrate the Florida Gators' resilience in the College World Series, highlighting key players and matchups that keep the competition fierce and the excitement palpable. This episode is your ultimate guide to current sports action, rich with analysis, speculation, and heartfelt moments.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

redefining sports. It's different here. Fox Sports, pentacola good Tuesday morning.

Zach: 0:09

This is Fox Sports, pentacola, the morning sports. Take Zach Schroeder, kate Thomas, jim Cagle in with you on this great Tuesday morning if you're tired and need a pick-me-up after watching the the Boston Celtics beat down, if you will last night, stop by the Drowsy Poet Coffee Company this morning, on this great Tuesday morning, located on Brent Lane, I'll tell you my order once again Small, hot Milton with a piece of banana bread, warmed up. I get it every time. That's my go-to. But they have so many options to choose from. They don't just have drinks, they have food as well Sandwiches, salads, ham and Swiss croissants, rocky road brownies, if you will, cinnamon rolls. Stop by the drowsy poet on Brent Lane. Check out their drinks as well Italian sodas. They have children's drinks too Real fruit smoothies, poachinos, signature drinks, lattes. I could just keep going on and on about how great the Jossie Poet is. Go by and see for yourself on Brent Lane. But, kate man, that game last night. That's the storyline today.

Kate: 1:12

There's a lot of storylines to go along with this game. The Boston Celtics are NBA champions. Congratulations to the Boston Celtics. And they are now the winningest team in NBA history, surpassing the Lakers. With 18 banners that they got to hang, they get to retire Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum's numbers up in the rafters. How crazy is that at the young age that they are? They almost took this series in four games. They ended up taking it in five, got the win at home. It was a beautiful sight to see in TD Garden last night. It was, I don't know.

Zach: 1:44

Beautiful. It was a beautiful sight to see in TD Garden last night. It was, I don't know, beautiful. It was a beautiful sight to see when they won.

Speaker 5: 1:51

It was the game.

Kate: 1:52

Beautiful. Not for the Dallas Mavericks, and we're definitely going to dive in to a lot of that in today's show. Also, a lot of good baseball action going on. Yesterday the Florida Gators they extend their lifeline in the College World Series. That was a really good one yesterday and they'll play.

Kate: 2:12

I did not see the ending of the Texas A&M and Kentucky game, but they'll go and play Kentucky tonight, so that'll be a good one. Kentucky is extremely dominant. We'll also dive into that. Blue Wahoos are in action, rays are back in action tonight, stanley Cup tonight, panthers and the Edmonds and Oilers We've got a lot to dive into.

Zach: 2:32

Sports has not slowed down, yet it has not?

Kate: 2:36

And Lakers, what are they going to do about their head coach?

Zach: 2:40

Ooh, what are they going to do?

Kate: 2:42

So we can also talk about that a little bit.

Zach: 2:45

They should have had their head coach by now.

Kate: 2:46

Well, I know they wanted before the nba draft which is sneaking up on us very quickly. Will they have that in place by then?

Zach: 2:54

yeah we'll get into that discussion yes, we will, but what were your thoughts on last night's game?

Kate: 2:58

let's start there there's so many thoughts, zach. Uh, my thoughts were, and it's kind of been the same thing I've been saying since the NBA playoffs. The Boston Celtics have a complete team. They have all the pieces of the puzzle. They do not have to rely on one of their star players. So if, for some reason which neither one of them had a bad game last night, but if Jason Tatum or Jalen Brown and I'm going to go ahead and throw it out there Drew Holiday, derek White, just everybody on their team Goodness, derek White with his chipped tooth and the smile.

Kate: 3:34

There's like that slow-mo video. It's probably one of my favorite videos. I know that's awful, but I couldn't believe they kept on showing the slow-mo of how he got the chipped tooth, because that was pretty intense, with his just face basically buried into the NBA hardwood court, you know, just getting just plunged in there, and then he gets back up. His mouth is just yeah, we all. If you didn't watch the game, you saw it. But he gets back up and it's like put me back in, coach has a huge smile on his face with his just chipped tooth and I was like that is somebody who loves his team, who is going to go out there and do everything, and then Pritchard with the half-court buzzer beater at the half. I mean really, when that it was a 49-foot shot. Right, it's the second-longest shot in NBA Finals history.

Zach: 4:22

Yeah.

Kate: 4:22

And I haven't looked at how many points he had total, I'm sure it's like no more than six. But he was the number one play on a you know sports center in their top 10 this morning rightfully so. But I think that kind of right then at the half, when he got that buzzer beater before they went into the locker room, that's when I thought to myself all right, this game is done. Yeah, and I kind of thought it was done before that.

Zach: 4:45

Absolutely, and we do have that audio. We'll hear it here in a couple of minutes. But you're right, you said it was beautiful and I appreciated the championship last night. I don't really like I don't like the Celtics, but that's all right. Not everybody has to, you know. But I appreciate the journey. Think all the way back to 2016, the journey from 2008 where they traded. A few years later, they traded some of their key pieces on that team, like kevin garnett, paul pierce, to the nets.

Zach: 5:14

And then some of those picks they picked up jalen brown and jason tatum. 2016 jalen brown gets drafted. 2017 season tatum gets drafted to the Boston Celtics. They make it to the Eastern Conference Finals that year. Of course, they lose to LeBron's Cavaliers that year. 2018, the same core Tatum Brown. They lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round and that's when Kyrie leaves to go to the Nets. 2019 to 2020, they make it to the the bubble. This is the bubble year. Eastern conference finals they lose to the heat 4-2. 2020. 2021, they lost 4-1 in the first round and jalen injures his wrist.

Kate: 5:56

And this is when kairi stomps in the logo oh goodness well, you heard you all heard what the boston fans were saying you could hear it loud and clear through the TV screens last night.

Zach: 6:06

Two words 2021,. They made it to the NBA Finals. They lost 4-2 to the Warriors. We all remember that Finals. Steph Curry owns the Celtics that year 22,. They lose to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals again and they lose a few fan favorites like Marcus Smart.

Kate: 6:25

That was a huge one yeah.

Zach: 6:32

A lot of talk about that. This year they acquire Chris Stapps, Porzingis, Drew Holiday and they win the NBA finals and Jalen Brown gets finals MVP.

Kate: 6:37

I love to see it. That's interesting to me. Well, I even thought Drew Holiday had a case. After watching him play last night Between Tatum Holiday and Brown, I thought that towards the end of the game it was really like who is going to win the MVP for this entire finals? And that's how stacked this Boston Celtics team is, and this is the thing that I do want to also get into with both you and Jim. Is this the beginning of an end, in the beginning of a new era, as in? Are the Boston Celtics the new dynasty in the NBA, or can they be?

Zach: 7:15

Are they the new dynasty? That's a great question. I well, we look at this year. Kansas City Chiefs. They won the Super Bowl again. They're a dynasty. Now the Celtics, you know another up-and-coming team. They've been up, they've made it to the Eastern Conference Finals time and time again, like six, seven times now.

Speaker 4: 7:35

Right.

Zach: 7:36

And now the Finals two, three times. So are they a dynasty? No, not yet.

Kate: 7:42

Not yet. I think they still have to prove themselves. But the thing is, this Celtics team, with all the pieces of the puzzle that they have right now and another storyline that we'll be talking about, and I don't want to totally get into it today because I think today and I said beautiful, the celebration was beautiful. At the end, the emotions, the game from the Mavericks was very messy. They didn't play at all a great game. It's clear that the Celtics were the better team. They just didn't show up in game four in Dallas and that's when Dallas was extremely electric. But unless Luka and Kyrie are both stepping up to the plate for Dallas, they had no chance. We didn't see anything from Kyrie. It was a very, very difficult atmosphere.

Kate: 8:20

I could not even put myself, to be honest, in Kyrie's shoes, as the crowd is chanting what they were chanting at him last night. Now I know that after he left the Celtics and stomped on the logo and did a few flip-offs to fans, you know, during his time with the Nets and everything else, and there was a lot of controversy. But this is a different Kyrie as far as personally. I think he's grown a lot personally. He showed his maturity. He sat there and he waited for every single Dallas Mavericks player, you know, shook their hand before he went off the court, even shook the Boston Celtics hands. I thought that was a little early celebration, not gonna lie, I know he was just trying to be respectful. So I would say that Kyrie Irving has definitely matured.

Kate: 9:05

I hate seeing it for his career. I don't know if you know, I see Kyrie go into the Lakers with LeBron, so I don't know if that's going to happen, but I don't think it would be a bad choice. He just really just what I wanted to see from Kyrie. I guess if I was on the court and everybody was saying Kyrie stinks, but the other word right, if everybody was screaming that, saying Kate stinks, kate stinks, you know what? I would go out there and do. I would go out there and put so many points on that board and have assists and rebounds and I would be playing my best ultimate game. It would get me so fired up just like I am right now in this moment, that I would do everything to silence that crowd. And it just got to him. It got to him. I felt like it got in his head. I don't know, jim Zach, can anybody feed off of this energy I'm bringing to you guys right now.

Zach: 10:03

Well, there's a difference when you're just sitting in a studio with two other people and when 20,000 fans are screaming at you and you know that 10, 15 million fans are tuned in.

Kate: 10:11

There's 10, 15 million fans tuned into this radio station. I'm going to tell you that I wanted to see more than from Kyrie Irving last night. Where were you, Kyrie? The whole time where were you?

Zach: 10:23

Where was the whole team? Where were you, Kyrie, the whole time? Where were you? Where was the whole team? Where was PJ?

Jim: 10:27

Washington. Where was Daniel Gafford? They were all still in Dallas with the win that they had.

Kate: 10:30

Their heads were in Dallas, their brains and the game plan and everything was still in Dallas and it was just so clear. I just felt like, even though I wish I would have done anything to be inside of TD Garden last night, oh man, but just to see the crowd, and it really was. It was just so over at the half, the second that Pritchard makes that buzz, it was just the crowd and I loved that they showed the shot Because the crowd was like sitting down.

Kate: 10:54

They all just stand up and erupt and roar and oh my goodness. And it was funny because they said the night before at the watch game, when the game was in Dallas for game four, that they had a watch party inside a TD garden and that actually, because you know, boston fans get a little rowdy, some of the Boston fans actually started brawling Like, but so this was the Boston fans unified last night they decided all right, we're all one for Boston Now we're the NBA's winningest team. Even Magic Johnson puts something out on X. Oh, I just can't stand it that. You know the Celtics now have more championships than us and for right now, when you look at Boston, if we're going to talk Boston and the Lakers, boston is clearly the more dominant team right now in NBA. And now in NBA history. They go down in that record book, scribbled down in history on a plaque stone somewhere deep down there.

Zach: 11:48

You spoke about that, Peyton Pritchard buzzer beater at halftime. What's funny is one minute played for Peyton Pritchard. Three points, one shot Just three points One shot made.

Kate: 12:03

Eminem, lose yourself, type stuff.

Zach: 12:05

Yes, and he is the star of the game. This is what it? Sounds like heading into halftime. Missed free throw Four for the rebound.

Speaker 12: 12:12

Here's Pritchard. He loves these, puts it up Half court of the buzzer. Bang Pritchard at the buzzer with a three-pointer.

Zach: 12:21

He's done it again Goosebumps. I love that for him, I love that for him.

Kate: 12:28

I love the chest bump between him and Tatum because Pritchard's just so small right At the end and Tatum's literally.

Kate: 12:36

Tatum reminds me of Godzilla to be honest, I feel like he's just this monster of a human being, of an athlete. He just goes up and when he makes his like face, like roar, like you, just so excited, you're right. Only three, I knew, you know. I looked at my fiance Clay last night. I said I guarantee you that's the only three points he makes in this entire game tonight and I felt bad. But I, they, even they said it on the broadcast he, he lives for moments like these and I just think it gave the Celtics that extra push of momentum and confidence. Not, they were already ahead and they were already dominating pretty much the entire first half, especially when he went into the second quarter. But I mean, goodness for the Celtics, for Jalen Brown when he hoisted up that MVP trophy and the first thing that comes out of his mouth this is for my brother, jason Tatum. That was beautiful We've. You know a lot of people said that the Celtics couldn't do it with Tatum and Brown. Well, they did.

Kate: 13:38

So did they silence the critics for Jason Tatum? Finally, because he's now got a championship, so I don't care what anyone says. I don't care what anyone says. I don't think that you can now. I I think it doesn't matter whatever mess anyone wants to say about him. I think that he is now a champion. So forget all the haters, tatum. You go out there and celebrate in Miami, right?

Zach: 13:57

in front of the heat space. I don't think you silence the critics there's always gonna be critics.

Kate: 14:02

If you don't have haters, you're not worth talking about.

Zach: 14:05

Dang, and I'm one of those critics, so I'm going to give my criticism after the break. We're not done yet with NBA Finals talk. Come back in just a couple minutes. We're going to continue talking NBA Finals Boston Celtics as they win the NBA Finals last night.

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Speaker 1: 17:29

We've got the games.

Speaker 16: 17:31

Swing and a ball lofted into center field. Over is Beatty Beater dives.

Speaker 11: 17:35

It goes by him. There will be no throw. It's a walk-off win for the Rays.

Speaker 1: 17:41

Catch the Tampa Bay Rays on Fox Sports Pensacola.

Zach: 17:45

Fox Sports Pensacola, the morning sports take from Zach Schroeder, kate Thomas and Jim Cagle. Thank you for joining us this morning. We are talking about NBA Finals, the action that was going on last night Boston Celtics taking care of the Dallas Mavericks 106-88. Only thing I can say about Dallas is they avoided a sweep. That's pretty much it.

Kate: 18:07

That's well good for them, because they pretty much almost got swept. At least they did get the win in Dallas, so in front of all their fan base. But we just saw something really interesting on TV, kind of some of the money left for some of those star players on that Dallas Mavericks team. I brought up an interesting point and I don't know what would have to happen in order to make this happen. But do you see Kyrie and Luka staying together on Dallas? Do you see this being a continuing thing for next year? I haven't looked at their contracts or if they could trade it, but if I was Luka I would be kind of mad at Kyrie.

Jim: 18:39

Right.

Kate: 18:40

I just would you know, because Luca literally cannot do it all Like. It's just like LeBron with other One person can't do it for the rest of the team, but Luca, he I haven't even looked at his stats, it's not even. I don't even think he had a terrible game. I'm sure he had the best out of all the Mavs players.

Zach: 19:00

Yeah, he had like 27, I believe.

Kate: 19:02

And you hear that and that's an electric game, but for Luka we like to see 30-plus right typically, but he still had a great game. One guy that we were just talking to off-air, talking about Josh Green, he was at least proving himself for the. Mavericks 14 points.

Zach: 19:23

Sure Hit some big threes. Hit some big threes, hit some big three, Two rebounds.

Kate: 19:27

But that was also, I think, another big storyline in the game. No offensive rebounding, barely for the Dallas Mavericks.

Zach: 19:33

Thank you for pointing that out.

Kate: 19:35

No, like none. And I was like, if you can't offensive rebound in this game, you are not going to win. And then like barely anything on defense. They barely tried to make any half court shots. What are you doing, dallas? What are you doing, jason kid? Yeah, I know what they're not doing. They're not doing what Brad Stevens, the GM of the Boston Celtics. He moved from the coaching position to the GM position to make sure he had the right pieces of the puzzle in place for this Celtics team to get this championship that they got last night on the same day of their championship back in 2008. It gives me chills thinking about that.

Kate: 20:10

Can you believe that it just lined up on this day 16 years ago?

Zach: 20:13

That is crazy.

Kate: 20:16

I mean.

Zach: 20:16

Maybe that's why they intentionally lost. See, the stars are aligning too much here. They intentionally lost game four. It's very it's obvious I. They intentionally lost game four. It's obvious. I mean, come on now.

Kate: 20:27

I would never intentionally lose anything. If I had a chance to sweep a team, I'll go ahead and tell you that. So those are my thoughts. I would never intentionally lose or risk anything like that. So I don't know if the loss was intentional. I think they just played a really bad game and I think towards the end, Missoula finally saw that they were in game four and was like all right, let's pull some of these starters out, that sort of thing, Because you know when the game's getting away from you. And this is another thing, Zach, we talked about off air because we were so hyped up in the last segment that we couldn't stop talking about it during the break. The other thing we talking about was uh, now I've already lost my train of thought.

Jim: 21:05

I can't even think that's tough to answer your question about Kyrie. Why? Why now I'll show my ignorance in it why in the world would you keep him? What did you see in him? And you had him for this purpose, for this reason, and look what you got. Is that too harsh on this guy?

Kate: 21:21

no, no, it's not too harsh. He is in his older age, but I just I don't think that the map, the Dallas Mavericks organization, is right for him. I actually just see Kyrie going back to playing with LeBron, and that's why I keep on bringing up the Lakers and for the Lakers to have any shot to bring their organization back to the level of where it needs to be One, they've got to get a really good head coach, which I guess there are now still ongoing conversations with JJ Redick being looked at. I don't know if JJ Redick is the answer. Look, he speaks really well as a broadcaster. He makes really great points, he's got a podcast with LeBron, he's got all these things. Does that mean he'll be a great coach?

Kate: 22:03

I think a great coach is also a person that you get your team to buy in to what your message is. That's what Joe Mazzulla did with that Boston Celtics team. They have Joe Mazzulla, his team bought in. They had Brad Stevens, the GM of the Celtics. Those two together are integral parts of why the Celtics organization was able to hang an 18th banner up in TD Garden last night. It's a big part of the reason why Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum now will have their jersey numbers retired, hanging from those rafters. It gives me chills thinking about it at the age that they are. Tatum, now one of the youngest players with the championship. I know you want to be his critic, but give me some criticism.

Zach: 22:46

All right, here's some criticism. How is Jason Tatum not going to win MVP? He's their guy, he is the Celtics star.

Kate: 22:56

I don't think you have to have a guy.

Zach: 22:58

He is their guy, though Maybe the team doesn't make him their guy, but the media sure does. He is in every single commercial related to the Celtics at all. What did you see right after the game ended? What commercial did you see right when it hit commercial break? It was Jason Tatum on a billboard saying don't stop disbelieving. Was it Jalen Brown?

Kate: 23:21

nope that's just. He's got a really good sports agent that's making sure he gets all the right endorsements and all the right money.

Zach: 23:26

Doesn't matter. He's the face of the Celtics.

Kate: 23:29

He might be the face, but now it's a shared face. It's a two-face. It's a two-headed monster between Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown is what it is.

Zach: 23:44

It sure doesn't look like it, because I don't see Jalen Brown in any like advertisements or commercials or anything. It's always Jason Tatum. He has the Jordan deal, he has the Nike deal. Jalen Brown doesn't really have anything.

Kate: 23:50

I see Josh Allen in a lot of football commercial doesn't mean he's doing great, that's a whole. Nother sport, that's a whole nother sport but look, steph Curry still made himself. Steph Curry received criticism for it.

Zach: 24:01

When 2015, andre Iguodala won finals MVP, kevin Durant won finals MVP. Where was Steph Curry? He got hate for it, so I think Jason Tatum should as well.

Kate: 24:10

I think probably what the media did look at is because the media are the ones who do vote on the finals MVP, a select group of that. So for Jason Tatum for last night's contest, yes, he clearly. He had 31 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds in just 45 minutes. Jalen Brown had 21 points, 6 assists, 8 rebounds in 44 minutes. So when you look at those stats and you compare those together, who had the better game in last night's matchup? That was probably Jason Tatum. But overall, through the final series I think that's probably what the media sat there and took into consideration throughout each individual game and throughout the series as a whole who had a more dominant playoff athletic performance? And I think overall, overall, collectively, I think it was Jalen Brown. I'm sure it was very close vote, though I don't know what the final vote is. I want to say that there were 11 votes total that they went into and it maybe would have been like seven and then whatever 11 minus seven is four yeah, so something like that, you know.

Kate: 25:23

But this is the thing. That's why I brought up Drew Holiday earlier and I want to. He had, look, 15 points, four assists, 11 rebounds. Though we go back to that rebound and we talk about. We were talking about offensive rebounding. I think that's where that thought was a long time ago that I lost. But the offensive rebounding none, just nothing from Dallas. It was bad, it was embarrassing, it was embarrassing. I, if I was Kyrie, I do love that. He showed maturity and did all of that stuff. I just I don't. What do you do if you're Kyrie? Now, I would, I love there was he. It was like he was finally kind of getting back to his Kyrie self or more mature as we were leading up to this finals, but as we didn't really see him perform in the Kyrie way that we all wanted to see, now the conversation is kind of a negative one surrounding Kyrie and I hate it for him because he is an NBA champion.

Zach: 26:17

I think he fits the team. I mean, they made the NBA finals. I mean, what more do you have to do? The problem with the Mavericks is they need a center. They need a true center. Maxi Kaliba is garbage, plain and simple. He is not a good fit for the Mavericks. Derek Lively, on the other hand, the athletic ability of Lively. He was lively at Duke and he's lively in Dallas. He is. I'm really impressed with lively. They have themselves a diamond in the rough in Derek Lively and he loves to capitalize off those alley-oops.

Zach: 26:52

Yes, he does it's my favorite thing.

Kate: 26:54

He loves to be hanging off that rim more than anyone I have ever seen and I love it and they love to give it to him. But you're right, they do. I didn't think that Kleebler was that bad, but you're right.

Zach: 27:07

Now that I'm looking at some of his stats, he's not the greatest, it's horrible they need to shift Derek Lively to the power forward position and they need to pick up a center in the free and free agency. Whether that be heck Jonas Valanciunas on the New Orleans Pelicans, clint Capella on the Hawks, or I mean nurkic busovich, anybody they need a true center and they don't have that right now. That was a real void in their their lineup that could have helped with the offensive rebounds.

Kate: 27:35

They need someone who's going to grab the boards they do and they don't have that right now you know, and in game four, what we saw from dallas was we saw them play a great defensive game. We only saw. And in game four, what we saw from Dallas was we saw them play a great defensive game. We only saw that in game four I felt like for.

Kate: 27:48

Dallas, we didn't see it game one, two, three game, five? None of it. Where was it? What are they going to do on that side of the ball as well? Is it any coaching changes that they need to make or any other additional changes that you see, zach, for this Dallas Mavericks team, because I also saw some stats of people trying to make predictions on who is going to make it back to this place next year. Who has the best chance? Well, the Celtics right now are right up there with that, but the Mavericks were a little further down the list. Some people were looking at the Spurs. Look, minnesota and the Timberwolves. They showed a lot of promise this year. Denver I mean, there's just so many other teams that are really working on making sure they do have the pieces of the puzzle.

Kate: 28:32

You went through it earlier, kind of the Celtics journey right, that's how you described it the Celtics journey on how they got to now be the new NBA champions. They have had one heck of a journey after. You kind of went through that. And another interesting point that I think a lot of that I'd like to make is a lot of people these days, with any team, especially if they have, say, if you're the Lakers and for now you have LeBron, even though his sports agent is saying otherwise. If you're that organization, with social media these days and with the way things are, everybody wants instant gratification, right? Sure, you can't always get instant gratification. The Boston Celtics proved that it took time to get here. Now they're here. Now they're champions. But it took what you said since 2016, they've been putting these pieces together and they put them all together. I'll tell you what it took. They got their puzzle.

Zach: 29:29

It took a beat up. It took a beat up East is what it took. It took a beat up Miami Heat. It took a beat up Cleveland Cavaliers a beat up Milwaukee Bucks. In the East it took a young Pacers team. You really don't like Boston.

Jim: 29:46

Good thing we're not broadcasting.

Kate: 29:47

I have my reasons Boston right now.

Jim: 29:49

No, I'm agreeing with you 100%. Look, I'm just presenting the facts.

Zach: 29:55

There was no competition whatsoever. There were no stars in the East at all Joel Embiid but they didn't even. You know, sixers are just a joke at this point. There was just no competition in the East this year. The easiest path to the NBA Finals ever the Western Conference. Now that doesn't mean they're not a good team. They did beat the best out of the West and some would argue that Dallas is not the best. Look East. Boston is by far the best team in the East.

Kate: 30:27

And in the world right now, Sure In the West the competition in the West is fierce. It is.

Zach: 30:35

I mean you mentioned selecting next year's or trying to predict next year's NBA finals. It's pretty much impossible. I mean you can predict Celtics in the East, but in the West I couldn't tell you. It's going to be such a different west next year too, with the trades that happen in the NBA draft that's happening next Wednesday, so much is going to be shaken up. I don't know what this west is going to look like, and there's so many the Clippers, the Warriors, possibly the Mavericks, the Nuggets, pelicans could possibly be contenders.

Kate: 31:07

I hope, I hope so too, I just hope, I pray.

Zach: 31:11

There's so many teams that can be competitive next season and I think they will be. I don't know what to expect in the West next year.

Kate: 31:19

I kind of am excited that we don't know what to expect. It's really exciting. It's just exciting. I feel like a little kid. You're going to go on a field trip, we're going to go on a field trip through it and we'll go and take you with us, actually right here on Fox Sports Pensacola, throughout that whole journey. We've got a lot more actually to talk about. We'll break a little bit more down about the NBA. We will highlight tonight's Stanley Cup Finals between the Florida Panthers Edmonton Oilers. Talk about your Florida Gators. This is the home of the Florida Gators, at least for football. So we'll talk about the Florida Gators. Baseball Caglione Goodness gracious, that man is impressive. A lot more to talk about. This is the morning sports take right here on Fox Sports Pensacola.

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Speaker 1: 35:11

This is the Morning Sports.

Speaker 11: 35:12

Take, it's the best part of my day. Sports, sports, sports, sports, sports, sports, all the kids are falling prey to me.

Speaker 1: 35:17

Fox Sports Pentacola.

Zach: 35:20

This is Fox Sports Pentacola, the Morning Sports. Take, I'm Zach Schroeder, kay Thomas and Jim Cagle in with you this morning. We're just arguing how tall, is too tall.

Kate: 35:30

How tall is too tall?

Zach: 35:32

I don't know, because you saw some guy who wasn't six foot or wait, you're going to have to run that story back.

Kate: 35:38

He was six foot in his mind and we're going to let him be six foot.

Jim: 35:41

That happens to guys, just the other day at the grocery store.

Kate: 35:43

It was the best experience. The grocery bagger and the cashier were just getting into it about who was taller and he said I'm six foot. And I clearly looked at him and I was like this man is not.

Zach: 35:53

I know too many people that do that.

Kate: 35:55

I don't know, but I'm going to let them think. And if that's what gives you the confidence, then you're six foot man.

Jim: 36:01

Short guys like me don't need to do that, because it builds more confidence in taller guys that don't need the confidence built in them. Boom, we'll talk about big guys.

Speaker 13: 36:12

Poor.

Kate: 36:12

Zingas. Let's talk about Chris Porzingis because he is not short. He's 7'2 tall Is that how tall he is. Because he came out, he had the new injury which he is now going to have to get surgery.

Zach: 36:25

Leg surgery.

Kate: 36:26

So they announced that he has to get surgery. Basically after the game they still put him in because, like he comes out on that court, the Celtics fans again are going nuts, like in the beginning of the game, the second he walks out there.

Zach: 36:38

He just didn't do a whole lot. Though. He didn't do a whole lot, except just like kind of stand.

Kate: 36:41

Did you see when Kyrie tried to guard him at one point? That was hilarious.

Zach: 36:46

I was watching it live with some friends and I said why is Kyrie guarding Porzingis?

Kate: 36:51

That's exactly mismatch. And then he scored a bucket.

Zach: 36:53

And then he scored a bucket and they're like how'd you know that, dude? I'm like come on, bro Kyrie's 4'7" and he's guarding a 7'2" dude. Come on, that's what it looked like on the screen, so maybe I think, in basketball there's not a height too tall.

Kate: 37:08

However, I did see a crazy story about the tallest man in the world and they got him to play basketball. But when you are that big of a human being, a lot of other health issues come along, because your body just simply can't keep up Internally. Your body can't keep up with how large your body is externally. Right, so that's a whole other topic for another day. Brandon Ayuk with the 49ers I want to get into that FaceTiming. Jaden Daniels with the Washington Commanders what's?

Zach: 37:40

going on with that.

Kate: 37:41

What's going on with that, saying that the 49ers don't want him anymore?

Zach: 37:45

I don't think he's going to San Fran. I'm going to buy into it. I don't think the Niners are going to re-sign Iook. Don't think so. They're going to keep Deebo Samuel and get rid of Iook.

Kate: 37:55

Well, don't think so. They're going to keep Debo Samuel and get rid of IU. Well, and I think that's kind of what IU wants. Why, though, I don't know.

Zach: 38:00

The 49ers are elite.

Kate: 38:02

I know they are. Well, just minus the championships, Minus the championships, but I think he wants more reps, maybe and maybe. I think last season Purdy was doing a lot more with Samuels than he was with Brandon and I just think if him and Jaden Daniels are friends he's like all right, this is my guy. I'm going to go to the team where I feel like I'm going to get more reps and really be able to be a star. He already is a star, but everybody wants to be the one, the face of the team, the new guy who's coming in with the biggest contract.

Kate: 38:33

It's like every day when we hear about contracts, and one contract we can talk about coming up is Jason Tatum.

Zach: 38:41

He's got one with the Boston Celtics 315 mil Five years.

Kate: 38:45

Would make him the highest NBA player ever paid right in history.

Zach: 38:51

You know what's a cool story. I heard His mother worked hard raising him and stuff and giving him the opportunities that he got in life. And what's interesting is now she manages his money. What she doesn't allow is him to spend his Celtics money, so the only money that Jason Tatum uses currently is his endorsement money.

Kate: 39:10

I love it.

Zach: 39:11

That's it. I love that Sponsorship money.

Kate: 39:13

I think that's great, because I think that's being responsible with your money. We've seen it too many times time and time again with a lot of these athletes. They just get these crazy contracts, one that you just spoke of $315 million over the course of five years right, a crazy amount of money. But one prime example and I hate to think of it, but this is the one I'm thinking of is Jamarcus Russell. Man, jamarcus Russell goodness, I just couldn't ever imagine making that much money and then one day looking around and not really having anything, just not having any left, like, just being like.

Kate: 39:51

He is a high school coach in Mobile, alabama right now, at BC Ray and high school, which is great for that high school, actually really proud for them to be able to have Jamarcus, because he had one of the craziest arms. I'll never forget as a kid watching LSU play. But the contracts are getting more insane and more insane and I just feel like now with contracts, it's like who can one up each other? It's like who has the best sports agent out there, who's really going to bring you all the best money? I think the best contracts are when you get the money guaranteed, because you never know what's going to happen with you health-wise as well when you're an athlete.

Kate: 40:24

So yeah, I think it's funny. I saw Wimby, one of the sports reporters. He said he looked at Tatum's agent and he said I don't know why they don't already have the contract drawn up right now. Right, and he said look, the front office said it's going to take a couple of days. My question is if you're Jalen Brown because we're talking about it whose team is it? I said it's the two-headed monster, but then I think it's going to put him. Is it 50 million over? Jalen 30 million 30 million over Jalen Brown's contract.

Zach: 40:58

So does that then make you mad? If you're Jalen Brown this is the point I just spoke on how are you not going to win MVP? You're the face of the franchise. You're going to be, well soon, the highest paid player. You're on all of the commercials I'm just going to. I'm beating a dead horse at this point, but what?

Kate: 41:15

else is there to say you want to know who I think gave Jalen Brown that MVP trophy? I don't know if you saw the interview with Brown and him. He took a afternoon nap. He said I think it was yesterday or either the day before and he lost his grandmother I'm not quite sure how long ago, but he speaks about how you talk about Jason Tatum and his mom and how big of an impact she had on his life. Right for Jalen Brown, it was his grandmother that he really speaks to who passed, also his mom. But he said he had a dream during that afternoon nap before the game, and that his grandmother was in his dream, which just also just gives me chills. I can't I'm like chattering because I can't even talk about it, but it gives me chills. His grandmother appeared in his dream and was like just kind of gave him this sense of calmness that went over him. So I think his grandmother, his angel in the sky, made sure he got that finals MVP last night.

Speaker 5: 42:09

That's where I'm going to go, pretty good story, because it's just.

Kate: 42:12

He said I'm doing this for my grandma. I wish she could be here to see me play right now. I'm doing this for my mom and I think probably collectively. I haven't pulled the stats and I don't have them pulled right in front of my face, but if I did have the stats and if you, as a listener, want to text and chime in the number.

Jim: 42:29

Jim, yeah, it's 24-hour text line 850-790-5010-8507. 90-5010. That's how you stay connected with Zach and Kate.

Kate: 42:36

Right, it's how you stay connected 24-7. Do you think that Jalen Brown deserved the MVP trophy?

Speaker 5: 42:41

or do you not.

Kate: 42:42

I mean, let's have the listeners chime in. Zach because this is a question Because I think Jalen Brown deserved it, and the first thing he said is I want to give the. I was sharing this with my brother, Jason Tatum. Jalen Brown knows that it was him and Tatum together that made this happen.

Speaker 1: 42:59

Yes.

Kate: 43:00

I think he even knew it when he won finals MVP.

Zach: 43:03

Well, jalen Brown, to the grandma-mom story. Whatever it is, it sounds like he's just trying to mimic Kevin Durant's you're the real MVP speech with his mom.

Kate: 43:15

That's what it sounds like I need to go back and watch that one.

Zach: 43:16

And then you have Jason Tatum mimicking Kobe Bryant, like texting him saying I got you today, that's corny, that's corny as hell. What are you doing, jason Tatum?

Kate: 43:30

It might be another thing his sports agent or his mom is telling him to do right. Be another thing his sports agent or his mom is telling him to do right. I guess sometimes these players listen to the others with the power at beat in their career. I guess I don't know if I said that correctly, but whatever it is the wills to be, the thing is they're just both so good and I hope they, I just I hope the Celtics team stays together. I don't know if they really need to do a whole lot right now. I don't. I guess in the draft, what will they get? We'll get the last pick, I don't know. Well, I don't know where they're at in the draft, but for Boston it's clear they're on top of the world.

Zach: 44:11

Well, you asked. You asked who deserves the MVP and someone said Brown deserves it because he was there. He was there originally, right 2016.

Speaker 4: 44:22

Right Because.

Zach: 44:22

Brown was there originally 2016. He was drafted there first.

Kate: 44:25

Yeah, so I don't know.

Zach: 44:26

Good point, whoever said that, which is interesting because Brown is there 2016,. He gets drafted and he's still not the face of the franchise. Tatum comes along a year later and he's their guy.

Kate: 44:43

That's interesting, I don't know. Somebody texted in and said well, I'm just laughing. They said it explains why Tatum is on every commercial If he's only allowed to use the money that he gets from endorsements that's why he is on every commercial. If he's only allowed to use the money that he gets from endorsements. That's why he is on every commercial Zach because he's only able to use the money he can get from endorsements. So they said the man needs the money yeah, come on man he needs the money.

Kate: 45:06

But you know what? I don't think he had to win MVP. I think it's clear that we all know that. I mean I compared Jason Tatum to Godzilla earlier yeah you, he did you know what? I just started watching the Godzilla series recently. I didn't. I guess I'm really late to the party on that, yeah a little but. Godzilla. I mean, he's Godzilla. For a reason he shoots like power. Fire, fire, power.

Zach: 45:28

Fire power. What are you talking about Out of his mouth?

Kate: 45:36

What are you talking about? Is he a dragon? What rant are we a dragon on? You know what this is who? I am now going to start comparing Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown to King Kong and Godzilla.

Jim: 45:43

That's pretty fair. I don't know.

Zach: 45:45

I don't know if I can hop on that train.

Kate: 45:46

Batman and Batman, I'm going King Kong and Godzilla.

Jim: 45:52

Or what was the other.

Kate: 45:52

Godzilla Mega, the machine one. Whatever the other, godzilla Mega, the machine one. I don't know Whatever the machine Godzilla was and Godzilla, godzilla 1 and Godzilla 2.

Zach: 46:04

I don't know Thing 1 and Thing 2. I was never a fan, I'll be honest.

Kate: 46:09

He's still hating. And if you hate on the Celtics just as much as Zach Schroeder does, text us yeah.

Jim: 46:17

Yeah.

Zach: 46:18

I like the hate, but I'm loving on them this morning. I guess I'm just a salty Pelicans fan. What can I say? I'm a salty Pelicans fan. I'll just sit back and shut up.

Kate: 46:27

No, you know what I'm salty too, zach the fact that the Pelicans had Drew Holiday.

Zach: 46:32

Yeah.

Kate: 46:38

Now he's a two-time nba champ drew holiday. We have not given that man enough love, no, drew holiday. I love you, I love your dreads, I like your look, you're cool. He just seems like a cool guy yeah, and really quick.

Zach: 46:47

We do need to get to break to talk about some baseball action, but should al horford retire? I believe he should. He's an NBA champ. He's 38 years old, 17-year career. I'd get out of there Al Great heck of a career, though. Round of applause for Al Horford.

Jim: 47:04

Let's go Al Horford, I think.

Zach: 47:05

Al should retire.

Jim: 47:07

You're out of here, Al.

Zach: 47:09

No, no, no, not like that. Just walk him out the door. Close the door softly.

Kate: 47:14

Still give him a pass. Thank you for your service, Al.

Zach: 47:17

Shut the door, and that's all, there you go, and he's gone forever. Wow Jeez, this got dark.

Kate: 47:23

Got dark but we're going to get light.

Zach: 47:25

Okay, we're going to light it up with some baseball action. No-transcript.

Speaker 13: 47:45

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Kate: 50:07

Okay, welcome back to the morning sports. Take right here on Fox Sports Pensacola. I'm Kate Thomas, Zach Schroeder, Jim Jammin' Cagle in the house. Thank you so much for joining us on this wonderful Tuesday morning Yesterday. So much for joining us on this wonderful Tuesday morning. Yesterday was a great day for your Florida Gators. They get the win and continue their lifeline in the College World Series, and that's under the leadership of their head coach, Kevin O'Sullivan. Kevin O'Sullivan has navigated the Gators to Omaha in nine of the last 14 postseasons. Jim, I know we have some audio of Coach O'Sullivan.

Kate: 50:39

Let's hear that right now.

Speaker 9: 50:40

Another well-played game, obviously by both teams. Another one-run game Got my left I guess he broke the curse of the walk-off. So just really proud of our team's resiliency today. Obviously, everybody knows when you get in the elimination brackets it's about emotion and keeping your energy going, and we did that today. And congrats to NC State and their season. Elliot and I have been really close for a long time and I know how difficult it is when this thing comes to an end, but congratulations to NC State as well.

Kate: 51:10

That game was so much fun to watch. Goodness NC State. And he's right, you've got to give it up. They played one heck of a ball game yesterday. They didn't give up the entire time and both teams had so much respect for one another, all waiting on the field to shake each other's hands. Usually when you see a team, especially one like the Florida Gators, who are not even seated at the current moment, continue, uh, their tear in the college world series, you see a lot of celebration and craziness going on the field right after. That didn't even really happen yesterday. They, more so, just kind of all stood on the field. They respected each other and the competition that the Wolfpack brought, and they brought it.

Zach: 51:53

Well, you heard the word from Kevin O'Sullivan resiliency. That sums up the Florida Gators baseball team this year. That's it right there resiliency. When you think of a Gator, what do you think of toughness and resiliency? Right and that that's what the Florida Gators team is there's, there's.

Kate: 52:09

They're sneaky too. They're sneaking their way into this college world series. I really want to see this Florida Gator team take it all the way. I think it's because for me I don't have LSU in it and they were right there with the Tigers last year in the College World Series and they did really well. They just couldn't pull it all the way through.

Kate: 52:29

I think this team with Caglione, and now his last season with the Gators, this is the year for them and I want to see this for Caglione, I want to see this for this young kidione, I want to see this for this young kid. Can you believe that they almost walk this kid every time he gets up to the plate? I would be so aggravated. And it's because he's got I think he's hit the record at least for University of Florida in their baseball program another dominant baseball program in the nation. In the nation they're really defining themselves as that, uh, but I want to say 74 home runs this season. I don't know he's got a lot, but he's got the most in program history, or some of the most. And they just always walk them. They never give them a chance to to hit that ball and that's because they know of that home run record yeah I don't blame them, will kentucky do it tonight.

Zach: 53:17

Kentucky is very talented number two kent, kentucky, taking on the Florida Gators tonight at six. I mean records are out the window. But you look at the records, you can't ignore them 46-15, the Kentucky Wildcats compared to Florida Gators 35-29. But that doesn't really matter Right now. It's crunch time. I mean records out the window. It's who can show up? Can the pitchers pitch effectively? Can they get the bats going tonight? Right those are the questions that well, we'll know tonight at 6 o'clock, when first pitch goes out.

Kate: 53:49

I'm really excited to see that one. I mean there's going to be a lot of blue on the field.

Zach: 53:53

Oh yeah, I'm also really excited for Florida State taking on North Carolina tonight. Well, no, not tonight this afternoon at 1 o'clock.

Kate: 54:00

That's one I'll be dialed into, Because there's been another storyline about SEC and ACC in this College World Series. I think right now SEC has got more wins. But look, Florida State. They're in the ACC and I love to see them be in control. What if it's like Florida State and Florida? I don't know.

Zach: 54:18

Ooh, florida State. Ooh, be in control. What if it's like florida state and florida or I don't know? Oh, florida state, that'd be crazy.

Kate: 54:21

I would love to see that actually I might have to go to that game if that game happens, we're going, we will be there and we'll be giving you a uh, play by play, as we're there, if that happens. That would be so cool that would be insane.

Zach: 54:34

Yeah, tennessee's just waiting. Number one tennessee's waiting to find out who they play Now. Does Tennessee play the loser of Florida State? North Carolina, I believe that's what it is, I think they play the loser, since they're like, yeah, the A-1.

Jim: 54:49

Right, since they're the number one seed, they're number one.

Kate: 54:52

They get the easiest route right.

Speaker 8: 54:54

Yes.

Kate: 55:04

But I don't even know if there's an easy route with the teams that are in this competition right now not at this point. Yes, there's not an easy route. You get what you get. It's not the uh east, the NBA no east, no, or NBA west. Sorry, it's not the NBA west, not that, not quite all right, the hour is already up.

Zach: 55:14

That's insane. I don't know where this eight to nine hour has gone. But tonight Pensacola will be taking on the Chattanooga Outlooks, or Lookouts. I will be at that game, so I'll let you know how it is tomorrow morning. Also, mookie Betts will miss six to eight weeks with a fractured hand, we'll get into that tomorrow, but it might be a question for Dr Watson next time we see him.

Zach: 55:36

Rays also will be in action against the Minnesota Twins tonight, but that's it for today. This is Fox Sports Pensacola. The morning sports. Take from Zach Schroeder, kate Thomas and Jim Cagle. Go, have yourself a great afternoon and we'll see you tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock.

Speaker 1: 55:49

This is the morning sports take with Kate and Zach, but I love sports.

Speaker 15: 55:53

Dodgeball was the best. Oh yeah, I was the fastest one out there. Of course I was the ball, come on.

Speaker 13: 55:57

it's a great sport and it's virtually impossible to get pregnant while doing it, if you catch my drift.

Speaker 14: 56:01

Uh-uh, that's wrong, that's wrong yeah we do it like that Wow wow, wow, wow, wow.

Speaker 1: 56:05

Zach and Kate weekdays at 8.

Speaker 14: 56:08

Just go to Peacock and we stream it live every weekday. Watch past episodes too.