Harlan on Leonard's incoming role in Toronto, the Raptors' outlook and the NFL kicking off

0:00Hey sports fans, Dennis Robbins talking with you. Join me at betus.com my only sports book and casino. Same game, Parley's Osboos live in game betting plus a 200% welcome bonus for sports book and casino. Join me today at betus.com. Tell them Dennis Robbins sent you. Joining us here on the Maple Toyota hotline. You hear him all the time calling NFL games NBA games. He does it all. Here's one of our favorites back on overdrive. Here's Kevin Harlan. How you doing Kevin? I get afternoon. Everyone good to be on with you. Yeah, great to chat with you. What do you make of the NFL down in Australia? Are you a proponent of the NFL trying to basically get to every possible continent in time zone and just expand the brand? Yeah, I understand the business side is clear and I get it and that's the world we're in. It's shrunk with everything that we've got technically in front of all of us and and jet travel the way it is and where you can now alter that and make it even better

1:00for the people that have to make that trip in terms of pressurizing the planes and leaving them when you need it and everything else. It's I understand that. That is a marquee matchup. Those are two of the best teams in pro football and I get playing around the globe and selling your product. But at the end of the day, it's not that I'm against it, but that's a big game and that's a game that should be on a platform and here in the United States. I mean, you could have almost taken New England and Seattle and put them there and that although we've got two super bowl teams from February that are going at it and why would you begin with your two conference champions there? But San Francisco and LA, those are that's a big game and to make them do that go all the way

2:05there and go through those hoops and adjust what's your all teams are doing when they play in Europe or in Brazil or wherever. I don't know, just first of all we're playing on Wednesday, we're playing on Thursday, we're playing on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, like we're playing all over the map and I guess when you look at what made this league successful was that Sunday afternoon package, the early game, the late game and what they're trying to do is they've got 32 teams and 16 valuable members, commodities, investment pieces that they want to get in front of every available eyeball on every possible platform, make every game stand on its own and not have a Sunday game go to 4% of the country when we could put it on another broadcast member and have them do it nationwide and it would

3:10still get ratings even though it may be against two you know three win teams. So they're just trying to feel you know what this world looks like but that kind of a game is a fan out of love to have seen that game in San Francisco or in Los Angeles with a home crowd giving you know just this wonderful great you know a motion of opening game of the season two Super Bowl contenders and as opposed to maybe an unbiased crowd at 10 o'clock in the morning in Melbourne, Australia. I don't just as I'm talking as a fan here because I am a fan first and foremost and I guess I just kind of feel that way. Kevin do you think the guy that was this sports science that probably spent a million bucks to figure out what time to get to Australia. Does he have a job today because the Rams that decision that decision it did not

4:13look good when I thought about it this morning because we were weighing both things all week and I woke up this morning and I was like how stupid is that to fly in right before the game and not get acclimated. Well I mean I think science as it does every day comes up with the new way different way altered way of handling anything disease, hydration, physical, blood work like all of it right. I mean it's a daily evolution of that including this and there is no doubt that that coach and his staff discussed it with the smartest minds they know relying a lot on what they had done playing overseas before and they had followed this pattern before nothing like Melbourne but they it followed the same procedure and found success. Now I don't think this morning I haven't read it they're blaming that but I think what it does is it puts information just like a trial medical

5:20breakthrough in whatever it might be puts it into the pot puts it in front of very smart people and they're going to figure out if maybe they have checked the box here and said okay that clearly was not the best way or it clearly didn't have a factor. I don't know I I kind of think San Francisco was just ready now whether they were more rested less confined mentally and just the travel and all the weird things that conjures up when you make a 16 hour flight I don't know but maybe it did and and I do know this San Francisco look great and they had been there a week and that's the way they approach it and I guarantee you there are teams that are making trips around the world coming up this NFL season that are going to study what happened re-consult with the people that they already consult with and figure out you know what did we learn how can we alter it should we alter it and how does that apply to us and what we have but but

6:26the Rams have one of the richest owners they spared no expense in any aspect of their organization so it's not like they just decided one day hey we're going to wait go you know 72 hours for the game they made a decision based on the best information they had personal experience and science so until I hear differently until they hear differently until anybody does you know we'll have to wait and see just now what this does in furthering this exploration of traveling over oceans to play pro football and what that does to the player mentally and physically and and where we proceed from which had a Kevin Harland and obviously you have your NFL you know helmet on right now you're calling games already you call the Oprah on Wednesday night but you also call a lot NBA games and we're in rating up here in Toronto on this koai Leonard situation Kevin but let's presume it goes through

7:27and koai as a raptor based on what you know of koai and the projection of this upcoming season a lot of change LeBrons and Philly Yannis is in Miami in the east in particular the next one the one the championship but if koai is healthy and plays 65 games for the raptors next year what do you believe that means for them how good do you think they could be with a healthy koai well we saw advancement last year and you get a guy like Leonard his his aura and you've witnessed it you've you've tasted it firsthand with that championship and full of years ago so we know what he means I don't know that he's the same guy as he was then but everyone's in a while and when it matters and when he's healthy he can be what he once was at times it may not be every night and so to your point about 65 games you can see it and these guys are and he's a maniacal trainer he's got a mind

8:31you know for the ages in terms of seeing the game being around the game managing the game helping teammates helping you know teams he's on I hope it works I gotta be honest I want to get up there and do games I like going to Toronto I like him always respected him I'm wondering a couple things in in the aftermath of what happened in LA and it's still an ongoing thing I think too to a degree but you know when when he left San Antonio I recall and I don't have it in front of me because I'm so into the NFL right now in the start but my recollection is there was a trust factor with him and the spurs medical staff on how they were handling his injuries and my recollection is his trust factor really shrunk in other words he began to limit who he was listening to and how

9:33he would be guided from that point on he went to Toronto won a championship and again continued successful individual play although injured a lot in LA I think his his group his inner circle his shrunk and is trusted but that one person in that inner circle looks like got him in trouble so I don't know where his head is in that world but I think he can still play he can still contribute and while I may not be the headline guy he can definitely be a major reason why you win and and and and give a lot of texture to a team that he's evolving with some really bright young stars as the wraps have so I'm I'm I'm excited to see how this ends I'm hopeful he gets up there and it really could be kind of a reincarnation of of maybe not him being what he once was but how he can help the team overall with what he possesses moved to that position or at least in

10:34that in that conversation again so we're hoping for NFL season off and run in you're back in the booth then VAC season around the corner great Cavaniah as always Kevin thank you for doing us thank you for having me on always a pleasure take care you got it Kevin Harlan joining us here on the Maple Toyota hotline it's time to Toyota check out the Toyota Tacoma Toyota Tundra pickup trucks both available as hybrids Maple Toyota near Canada is one of land in the Maple a lot of mall hey sports fans Dennis Robben talking with you on me at betus.com my only sportsbook in Casino same game parlay's Osboos live in game betting plus a 200% welcome bonus for sports book and casino join me today at betus.com tell him Dennis Robben sent you