NBA did right thing with transparency in Clippers investigation findings

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1:25Find your connection at monoraybeacquarium.org slash connects. Find your connection at home. Let's talk to Steve Koonen-Hawks, CEO, here on Sports Radio 92 9th and the game. And he's joined us for over a decade on this show. The show is about to begin. The show is about 10 years of excellence. That's right. That's Mike, Steve. Steve, how are you today? I think of Fendid would be the first word that comes to mind on multiple levels. We've been doing this for over 12 years. Which we didn't get any hazard pay. Number one.

2:25Number two, your impersonation of me sounds wildly like your impersonation of Andrew Falkman. Perhaps you're all Jewish people. I find it to be a little bit singular and voice. But you know what? It's okay. I mean, I think we can talk as much or as little as you want. It's great to see though. I mean, there are rules. The cap works because the cap keeps everybody competitive. We said yes. Small market teams in places like Oklahoma City can win. The big one. You can't necessarily say that about Major League Baseball. So when somebody is monkey around with the cap, they've got to come down like a ton of bricks and they did with the glippers. So I think that's exactly what you're talking about. I'm trying to put a little something. But I'm not sure I can accurately comment. But I'll look into it this weekend, even though it's a holiday.

3:26All right. So hypothetically, if there was a league head kind of draconian penalties, I'll get it inside. Tell me y'all take on it. And what you're hearing from the fans. First the shock of the league's punishment. I think the first five first round picks. That's a lot. I don't think anybody thought that they would find Steve Balmer $30 million. So I think most fans thought this would be a slap on the wrist. I'm going to be honest with you. You okay? With that said, I think now what we know about this situation, the punishment is just. Right. And Steve, Steve, pop on the kettle, play. We can't have this in the NBA. We just can't. And part of me is like, okay, I get it. Steve Balmer wants to do everything he possibly can. And I don't know. I'm not privy to the information of how much he knew what he didn't know. But he obviously there was some involvement. And that's why, you know, the buck stops with the owner. But I think most NBA fans, to be honest, were shocked at the punishment. That's where I think we were this week.

4:27So here's what I can say. I'm really proud of the NBA for issuing the 36-page document that unveiled. What they, their discovery and what they found. And it was clear and it was transparent. And it had many, you know, direct actions that they found. And companies they talked to and memos and what have you. And so I'm glad and really, really proud that Adam Silver was very transparent. And you know, while all NBA owners have a great deal of wealth. I mean, that's obviously no secret. The Clippers owner far exceeded everybody, you know, by three, four, five, two, one. And that's why you have salary caps. That's what, you know, I mean, you see what's happened with the Dodgers and what they spend in comparison. And the Braves spend a lot of money.

5:27But they're dwarfed by the Dodgers. So I'm happy that the investigation has been shared with the public and they can form their own opinion. It's obviously not great for the league. It's not a great look, you know, it's. It's a difficult situation. But it has happened before in the early 90s with Minnesota. With Joe Smith, who ended up being, and I think he might even live in Atlanta ended up being a hawk. Right. But the same type of things, but you know, five years, but they had a couple of years of draft picks reinstated. I guess for good. I obviously wish it never happened. But at least the league was transparent. They were clear. They were forceful. And it's a great deterrent. This is.

6:27This is a group we're a collective. We compete on the court. We work together off the court. We share in each other's success. And we play by a set of rules. And so in this case, I don't think that. I think justice was served. And hats off to Pablo Torrey. We talked about yesterday being on that story for a year and having the inside track on it. And so I mean, Steve Kudin, the OX CEO joins us here. It's in the business of sports here in Atlanta. What are your thoughts if you have thoughts on hockey returning to Atlanta. And the folks that apparently involved with the gathering at South Forrest Scyth revealing today. These are claiming to have secured financing for an NHL team. And apparently there's submitting a final packet for approval to the league. Steve, we've heard numbers north of 1.5, maybe $2 billion in an expansion fee. Is that what you're hearing for the NHL? Do you think Atlanta will get a third crack at this if the arena is not downtown? I know, if Atlanta will get a crack at it.

7:27I know that there's a couple of really attractive things about our city where the six largest TV market in the country. We have a great sports culture here. The NHL's previous sales of Tampa. I think Nashville, I think an equity sell. And the Carolina, but the Carolina Hurricanes was well over 2 billion. So the number range doesn't surprise me. But I don't know. I mean, the NHL has been in the market twice. And I think it's pretty obvious why it didn't work. I don't think it was the fans. I think it was the leadership and ownership. And if it's to work, it's going to have to have people who have to wear with all. And that's really important. And I think that's what I think, because these things, especially with the sport like hockey, you have to make major investments in youth.

8:28You have to make sure that there's access to rings. It's not like we built 30 basketball courts around Atlanta and we're constantly creating leagues and finding opportunities to play. So we'll see what happens. I'm not sure it's up to me to opine, but I think any sport in America would love to be part of the Atlanta scenery. We can support it, right? Steve, and I ask you this because I know you've done all this market research, not you, but obviously with the NBA and the Hawks and your TV background, we've seen smaller markets have success. And every time I bring up hockey to somebody, they always go, how the hell is it working in Nashville? Or Charlotte or, you know, these places have it in Vegas. Correct. And you go, how? So the support, I think the South is great for hockey. The only, I mean, what's the number one knock on Atlanta nationally? What is it?

9:28Traffic? Traffic. Traffic. Yeah. So now you're talking about putting it out in the far suburbs. Right. Just like the Braves move closer to what they perceived as their core fan base, you know, the 400 to 75 chord or is, you know, kind of, that's kind of like our hockey fans are living. Like I'm a hockey fan of lives in a zip code, you know, which it would be, if I'm lucky, I would have heard of it for you. Right, one game a month. But, you know, I always said to people outside Atlanta, you know, Tom Cousins, you know, who would look at you with ease like, unfortunately the timing sucked for the flames. I just see if you were here, the recession and the real estate market was crumbling and he had a liquid eight and the flames went, you know, and then it was just pure neglect and incompetence with Atlanta spirit LLC. And you just wonder if that just, if that's poison the well for a third crack of this. Does Houston, it's from a marketing standpoint, it's Houston more viable as far as a market size? Well, it's Houston's a little bit bigger. Houston has an owner who is in the, you know,

10:29Fortune 300 in net wealth. And, you know, I don't know who's part of the, the gathering group. I'm sure they're, you know, very qualified, but the league has to do that work. I certainly, I'm not privy to it, but I do think hockey can work in Atlanta, but, you know, local sports or under siege, Derek Schiller has done the most remarkable job of creating Braves vision, you know, and getting it out there. So if you want to watch the Braves, you can stream them or you can watch them on subscription. We're going to be with great television on channel 46 over the air for free for our upcoming season, but there used to be a significant amount of money in local TV rights when Fandall TV in the cable existed and TBS in the Braves, that doesn't exist anymore.

11:29That's a large pocket of money that's not available for local teams. And so that's going to put more stress on the finances of an expansion team to try to figure out. So again, I think our city has a great sports culture. We were voted by sports business, journaled the number one sports city in the country to do business in. And I think having more teams, you know, elevate. Look at the success of the dream. What a great job they've done. I mean, we're hosting them now in our building to sell out, which is fantastic. That's true. Yeah. Yeah, it's a great point. I just think like when fans hear, oh, you know, we're going to get hockey and we have a chance to get it. All of these things start to, you know, we start to think about all the what-ifs. And then I'm like, look at these other places where it's been successful. Steve, interesting stuff, man. What do you think about the dogs getting the season started and your prediction? Not just for this weekend, but for the season. Playoff team, right? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

12:30I mean, tomorrow, I predict. Aggression. Yeah. With a beat. Yeah. If you look at the analytics, we should be favored by 72 points. Kirby's not going to allow anybody to put 72 points on an opponent. Rob, that's just not the way he rolls. But, you know, it's the most exciting time of year we're getting into, you know, basketball, starting, football. It's been full-year college hoops. The World Series for baseball. So it's getting fun. I'm fortunate. It went to the US Open last Sunday up in New York. So what the East Lake Friday, so I've had, you know, sports of Paloza. I've been really, really fortunate. And did you get a chance to be together? I mean, you know, look at the three of us. Different backgrounds, different. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Everything. I can't find one thing in common. The three of us.

13:32But yet, our love of sports brings us together every week, like a beautiful trio singing in perfect harmony. That's right. Did you, uh, real quick? Did you get a chance to meet any guys last week? And East Lake, Mike and I were out there Thursday and Friday. Thoroughly enjoyed it as we always do. I mean, because of our friends, the Coca-Cola company and the so-and-eats-great fatality, we sat our bottoms in a beautiful suite. Yes, sir. And I really enjoyed being in the Coke suite because I spent 14 years there and saw a lot of the alumni who I hadn't seen in years. So it was a great weekend. Very cool. And then we saw the five-hour match with, um, I fell on a meokovic because of the NBA. But with the Joker, um, losing probably for the last time of the US Open. Right. Yeah. So we talked a little bit back. Yeah, yeah. So trouble was tummy. Yeah. That was right. That was right in front of us. Oh snap.

14:33Oh god. Yeah. Like, oh, guess you're not going to have to lobster biscuit dinner. Baby, you can get a thumbs and dorks, then just put it I was thinking. Steve Conan, man, thank you so much. Have a great weekend. We appreciate the info. And we'll talk to you next week. Have fun with a grand game. That's right. Aggression. Be elite. Yeah, then nothing worse. You see that out there, tennis court. You're going to stay cast. So do you want the cream of my shoe? Oh, sorry. Brutal. Anyway, oh, man. So Steve, again, a lot of guys hit us up on the text line. Do you have fun with what he's saying? Yeah, look, I think hockey can work. I think hockey can work in force. I think hockey can work. If you're bringing a little bit closer to town in the 400 quarter of the North Point project, that's the one that Anson Carter's group is involved with. I still think hockey is doable downtown. If we have, I don't know, a trillion dollars to spend on a big dig to have express lanes onto the city, that's not happening. People who live in Alfa Reda and up in Forsyth County are not driving downtown to watch hockey. The city, it's just, it's like, we love state farm.

15:33We love the Falcons. And now with less parking, it's just a major pain in the butt to get down there. And people will not take Marta. They just won't. I wish they would. I did. I did for years. But it just. Hi, I'm Mike Sullivan, LA Carguide. You already know that LACarguide.com is the best place to search art dealerships for a new car. But we also have hundreds of pre-owned and certified pre-owned vehicles available for every lifestyle and budget. Customize your search by make, mileage, or even monthly payment. Whether you're looking for an SUV, a truck, a hybrid, or an EV, LACarguide.com is the perfect place to find your next car. One of you can see what's happening inside your body. Pre-new Vose whole body scans screens for hundreds of conditions, including many solid tumors as early as stage one, all in under an hour. And now, you can go beyond imaging with 80 plus blood biomarkers that help complete the picture. This Labor Day, save $300 off your scan

16:34when you book at pre-newvo.com. That's P-R-E-N-U-V-O.com. Save $300 now through September 8th at pre-newvo.com. Terms and conditions apply. The ocean moves us, whether that's surfing a wave or taking in an inspiring view. The ocean feeds us. Sustainable seafood practices bring the ocean's bounty to our plates. The ocean teaches us. How are everyday choices big and small make an impact? The ocean delights us as playful otters restore coastal kelp forests. The ocean connects us. Find your connection at monoraybeacquarium.org slash connects. It's going to be, if they're going to do it, it's going to be that good. The question is going to be, and we've got to catch a break. We'll talk more about this end of the show. But is the NHL going to be cool with the team driving an hour from the airport? That's a long way. That's a tough one. All right, guys, we got a lot to dive into. Falkens report. They are off today. But we have found out that there will be a presser next week.

17:36We knew this because it's the start of the season. But at that presser, we think, Kevin's the fancier's going to name his starter. And who's it going to be? We'll talk about it coming up on Sports Radio 92 9 in the game. Girl, let's get real. Some pads are just diapers with a good PR team, but not the new Cotex BioCare. That's because Cotex BioCare helps defend against odor and arrogance. And it's the first and only pad with this pH proactive system that helps optimize the pad's pH. Just think of it as self-care for down there. Check out Cotex.com for more details on the all-new Cotex completely redesigned to meet your needs. US, we heard.

18:49The Ocean moves us. Whether that's surfing a wave or taking in an inspiring view, the ocean feeds us. Sustainable seafood practices bring the ocean's bounty to our plates. The ocean teaches us. How are everyday choices? Big and small make an impact. The ocean delights us as playful orders restore coastal kelp forests. The ocean connects us. Find your connection at monoraybeacquarium.org slash connects. What if the thing you're listening to right now never got interrupted? What if it could play uninterrupted from room to room on sonos? What if you start with two sonos speakers just to see how it feels? What if you really like how it feels and you become a sonos person who can't stop saying to their friends, what if you start with two sonos speakers just to see how it feels? Because it's not magic.

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