00:00So the NBA, once again, is playing politics here.
00:03I want to make this very clear, and I want to underscore something before we even get into this topic.
00:09I personally don't care what your sexuality is.
00:12I don't care what your politics is, and I don't care what your religion is.
00:16That's not what this show's position is, okay?
00:20This is not what we do.
00:22I don't tell you to take COVID shots.
00:24I don't tell you to do any of that.
00:26That's what not my show is set up to do.
00:28But I will broach this topic here with Jaden Ivey and the NBA.
00:35So Jaden Ivey was fired basically for conduct detrimental to the Chicago Bulls because he had an issue when it
00:44came to Pride Month.
00:45Once again, I want to underscore this.
00:47I don't care what your sexuality is.
00:50That has no bearing on my life, and it really doesn't have any interest for me when we come to
00:56talking that type of topic
00:58because personally, I don't care who you are in life or what you want to be or what you want
01:03to do with your life.
01:04I personally do not care.
01:06But at the end of the day, if you've got a statement, if you've got a comment, and you have
01:12an opinion,
01:13you're telling me that's conduct detrimental to your team when you've still got Chauncey Billups tied in with the Portland
01:21Trailblazers as the head coach.
01:23He's not coaching now because of the investigation of the FBI looking into illegal gambling with the mafia.
01:30He's still – and that's not conduct detrimental to the sport.
01:35And you have a guy that made a comment about Pride Month, and you fired him for it.
01:41Okay.
01:42Like I said, everybody has the right to their own opinions.
01:46Now, here's what the First Amendment doesn't cover, consequences.
01:51You know, everybody goes around this country and says this, I have a freedom to say whatever I want.
01:56You sure do.
01:57You without a doubt have an opportunity to say whatever you want, but you also have to deal with the
02:02consequences.
02:03I've dealt with consequences before in my life.
02:06Hell, I get conversations all the time from my bosses here about some of the things that we put up
02:12there on X.
02:13And the ramifications, consequences, this is what the First Amendment doesn't.
02:19You can go around in any business you want, and if you think that you're going to get up and
02:24you're going to go and make a comment with your political, your sexual, or your religious convictions,
02:29and you think that that company's not going to sit there and fire you, those are consequences.
02:35Hey, my wife used to say this to me all the time when I had a topic.
02:40Hey, that's a great position you're taking.
02:42What a great platform.
02:44Too bad you're not working on Monday now.
02:47This is the consequences you take when you make those First Amendment choices that you're going to make a statement.
02:53Hey, Jaden Ivey, at the end of the day, has every right to do whatever he wants, but the NBA
02:58also has the right to do this.
03:00Not in my building.
03:02Not in my place.
03:04And conduct detrimental?
03:06That's, I think, a little bit of a stretch.
03:07But there's no question.
03:09You can't go into private businesses and make your own statements when it comes to your political convictions and start
03:15throwing the First Amendment right around.
03:17That's not how this works, folks.
03:19You bet.
03:20In this country, one of the coolest things on the planet.
03:23You know what we have?
03:23We have the ability to be a jerk in this country.
03:27That's one of the great things.
03:28You have the ability to do stupid things.
03:31That's what makes America great.
03:32But consequences are what people seem to miss.
03:36They think consequences are covered when people make statements like this.
03:41Well, end of the day, they're not.
03:43They're not.
03:45You make these political comments, whether it's about sexuality, whether it's about religion, take a look at what the National
03:51Football League does.
03:53So the people were, they were kneeling on the sidelines, right?
03:57Well, we're going to get David Hill up next here in a minute.
04:00And guess what?
04:01When advertisers start calling the National Football League and it starts denting the shield, what did the networks do?
04:08They stopped airing the National Anthem and they stopped showing the players on the sidelines.
04:13Why?
04:14Because when you start affecting the number one thing that makes the NFL roll, that's their cash register.
04:20That's the only thing those 32 sharks care about.
04:24They care about the economics of the sport.
04:26They don't care about any of that other things.
04:29What moves the needle is gambling right now and also the revenue that they're getting from the television networks and
04:36also from advertisers.
04:38The National Football League cares about two things, folks.
04:41It has nothing to do with ratings.
04:43I mean, it has nothing to do with race.
04:45It has nothing to do with religion.
04:46Ratings and revenue.
04:48Nobody cares who your friends are in their business.
04:51They only care about ratings and revenue.
04:54What is moving the needle?
04:55And when you got someone like Jaden Ivey kind of hindering that and hitting the shield of the NBA, no
05:03way, man.
05:03Remember, Michael Jordan made a great comment back in the day.
05:07Republicans buy sneakers, too.
05:09And that's the one thing I think the NBA misses.
05:12Hey, you can have your political agendas all you want.
05:15But Republicans buy sneakers, too.
05:17When you're alienating half of your viewership, you want to know why the NBA ratings are down?
05:22Right here.
05:24Don't pick a side.
05:26You're selling tickets.
05:28You are there to make as many eyeballs possible to watch your sport.
05:32You are there to make as many eyeballs.
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