02-07-25 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4
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Good morning to you. It's Friday. Not only are we wrapping up Super Bowl week or Super Week, we've got just one game left and one interview left. This was the surprise. I wasn't expecting to have a World Series champ offered to me during Super Week, but I

As you hear the conversation, you will understand why it's strategic. A new passion for our World Series champion. He's trying to get the word out. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Love for you to find me online at ALawRadio. Also on our Facebook page.

page after hours with Amy Lawrence. Thanks so much for your kind words over the past few days. They mean a lot to me. We work hard on this super week with different guests and a lot of work that's being done from home, extra editing and production behind the scenes. And Ryan's done a great job. It can get pretty

pretty chaotic and hectic, but it's worth it because of the connections we establish and I hope the conversations and the entertainment value that we bring different than all of the other hype leading up to the Super Bowl on Sunday. Johnny Damon, one of the few players in baseball history to win the World Series with both the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, but now in his retirement, he's

He is a husband, a father, and he's got a new passion as an entrepreneur. It was great to catch up with him in Orlando on Thursday evening. And as I was researching, something dawned on me. Damon made his debut in Major League Baseball 30 years ago. I started there. Johnny, when I say that, what does it mean to you? 30 years ago, you first played on a baseball field in the Majors.

It means I'm getting very old and I can't believe it. I still feel strong. Obviously, I feel stronger today, but not as fast as I was back then and not as skinny. But what great memories I had of playing Major League Baseball. I mean, it was the best time of my life.

my life. You're playing at the very top of your game. You're flying around private. You're staying at the best hotels, playing at the best stadiums, and they're paying you a lot of money to play a kid's game. So it was awesome. Are you ever blown away by the increase in salaries and market value now for players who are at your same position?

Well, I think we all are taking a strong look at it. I am very proud of the players and the Players Association for stepping up and making things possible. I know...

When I was playing for the Red Sox, the average salary for a really good center fielder was about $8 million, and it stayed there for quite some time. And then when I signed with the Yankees, I brought that number up to $13 million. So I'm very proud that not leaving Boston because I love playing for Boston, but every time there's a player that can help the future generations, and you can see where the center fielders are now. They're

upwards to the 25 to 30 million dollar range and it's great to see I just wish my mom had me a number of years later so I could be making those kind of paychecks of course people remember you for the championships you won with the Red Sox as well as the Yankees that's a rare feat but you started your career with the Royals you were drafted by them and spent your first few years of your career there of course the Chiefs are in the Super Bowl so what stands out about Kansas City as a sports town Johnny

We weren't very good as a team back then. The Chiefs ruled the city at that time as well, but we had a really great offensive team. And we led the league in hitting in 2000 at 288, and the top-hitting team the past year was 263. So that's how much the game has changed, and we had such a great offense. But

Because of that, I had too good of a year that the Royals could not afford me, so they had to trade me after that season to Oakland. And then that opened up the doors for me to go to Boston. Yeah, Kansas City is a great town. I mean, Patrick Mahomes is absolutely ridiculous as a quarterback. You know, good luck to them. May the best team win. They're two tough teams going head-to-head. And I bet against Patrick one time. I'm not going to bet against him again.

You won with the Cowboy Upright Sox in 04, an iconic team and the way that championship came together, a city that was finally relieved of its demons. What changes when you win a championship ring at the pinnacle of your sport, Johnny?

You have it forever. They can never take it away from you and you can brag about it as much as you want. You can tell everybody how great you were that entire season, that they couldn't do it without me. But our team was so special. We were a family. Big Papi became a legend during that series and our whole team just pitched in to reverse a curse.

to bring a nation together, Red Sox nation, and everyone's going to remember that moment forever. Just proud I had that opportunity, and I'm proud that I am part of that great 2004 Boston Red Sox championship team.

Completely different with the Yankees because they were a legendary franchise and you helped to add another chapter. But when you made the jump to the Yankees, what was that like in terms of reaction from the fan base?

Oh, it was very difficult. I mean, I never wanted to leave the Red Sox. I mean, they told me after we won that to buy a house and we'll have a contract extension for you during spring training, and that never happened. And then I played the entire season and no conversations with them at all. And then I started talking to the Yankees, and I know David Wells told me if I ever have a chance to put the pinstripes on, do it. So I did.

And it worked out for both teams. I know the Red Sox had Jacoby Ellsbury coming up, and he was going to be ready in like a year. The Yankees needed a leadoff hitter and center fielder, and I was able to provide that spark for them. And the Red Sox realized a year later, like they finished in fourth place, that they needed to spend some money. So they spent $250 million on players the following year.

off season won the world series. And here I am sitting in New York going, son of a bitch. But, but then again, you know, the Yankees, you know, winning for them, very important. They haven't been back since they got rid of guys like Matt Sui and,

Yes, me. So I helped break the curse of the Bambino and now it could be the curse of Johnny David now. Who knows? Yeah, I love playing in New York as well and I wanted to keep it going, but

I get the business side. They don't want aging players in the game. Well, to have two rings, one from each franchise, again, that's a rare feat, a rare double-double, if you will. We're spending a few minutes with Johnny Damon. You were the last person I expected to be offered as a guest, but this is really cool.

So thank you for a couple of minutes. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You mentioned the business of the game, and it's similar in every sport. As players, you have to go through the experience sometimes of being traded or feeling like a team is moving on and doesn't want you anymore. We recently had this trade in the NBA where Luka Doncic gets blindsided and shipped from Dallas to Los Angeles. What is it like? One day you have a teammate, next day he's gone, or...

Maybe it happens to you where you kind of have the rug pulled out from underneath you. Yeah, that's got to be one of the worst feelings in the world. I only got traded during the offseason, but if I were traded during the season, if I was on a losing team, I would love to go to a winning team. But then again, that's tough because you didn't do anything to help that winning team get to that part, but you helped the losing team lose games. So it's very difficult. But with Luka Doncic,

I feel so bad for him because he was ready to sign that five-year, $345 million max in Dallas, no state income tax. And now he can only sign a five-year, $219 million. I'm saying only $219, but that's huge. And going out to California with higher taxes and higher cost of living, I feel bad for the guy because I know he loved Dallas and Dallas,

Unfortunately, Mark Cuban doesn't own that team anymore. We have casinos owning the team, and hopefully Texas can get gambling, because if not, there's a good chance that team can end up in Vegas in a couple years. That's crazy, right, to think about how that might unfold. Johnny Damon is with us after hours with Amy Lawrence.

Terry Francona is back in the game. He was one of your managers, of course, part of that 0-4 run and also 0-7 as well with the Red Sox. He now is with the Reds. What was it like to play for Tito? Tito was absolutely amazing. And I thought the last time he was totally done. And then I didn't hear the story until he was gone.

manager for about two weeks and somebody told me, I was like, you've got to be absolutely kidding. But the guy loves the game, is a baseball lifer, and I know he's inheriting a very young, talented team. And I always...

Hope Tito, the very best in everything he does. So hopefully I'll have some time during the summer. I can go bug him for a little bit because he never had me on the bench because he knew I would drive him crazy. So that's why he always penciled me in, laid off spot every single day. Definitely a Hall of Famer. And you've also got some former teammates part of Cooperstown. How neat is that to know that you played with some of the best players

Oh, it's incredible. It's the best of the best. Big Papi, I got to go see his induction. I know Jeter and Mariano both just got in. And, you know, hopefully one day I can hear from the Veterans Committee because when people dissect my numbers, they're shocked. And you put them up against some of the guys who got in this year and some of the guys who got in recently, and my numbers absolutely blow them away and

and being a champion. So hopefully the veterans committee can take a nice look at myself, but also guys like Kenny Lofton, Gary Sheffield. I mean, he was the best hitter on every team he was on. They said a cream with something on it tested positive. Come on. I call BS on that, but Gary Sheffield definitely needs to be in the Hall of Fame.

How involved do you stay with baseball still now that you've been out for about a decade?

just saw some of my former teammates down at JetBlue Park. They were at the Fantasy Camp and I sponsored the Fantasy Camp with my A-game drink and got to see a bunch of the guys. It's always great seeing them and I pop in and I pop out. I do some meet and greets and that kind of stuff. I just don't have all the time in the world with eight kids and trying when my wife and I go on vacation by ourselves, we try to

do a quick three-day trip and now the kids are a lot easier to travel with so we've had a lot of big trips planned like we took 17 family members to Costa Rica during Christmas time and our 20th year anniversary my in-laws 50th year anniversary and also New Year's Eve so

We had a nice time during the Christmas holidays, and we're going to continue having great times with the family. And maybe one day I'll try to get into baseball, but there's so many guys. You have to be committed 100%, and it's an everyday thing. And I remember how tough it was when I played baseball. Going out every day, I think coaching would be just as tough. As I mentioned, you have to be committed.

Any of your kids interested in baseball? Yeah, my son is starting to swing the bat. We have a tennis court here and he wants to, he hits very well so far. He's a great hand-eye coordination, but the kid is super fast. And I have girls who play soccer and going to play beach volleyball. So yeah, we're,

In the athletic family, we have a nice pool we get to play in all the time, tennis court, beach volleyball court, playground where I do my pull-ups and all that good stuff. Not naked pull-ups, but regular pull-ups. Thank you for clarifying. I appreciate that. Not only big family and lots of other fun adventures, but now an entrepreneur as well. And you mentioned A-Game, which is a sports drink. How did this start for you?

Okay, well, back in 2012 in the central Florida, or let's just say the southeast, it was a very hot summer, and we lost a couple football players, and I just feel like they needed better, proper hydration. Yeah, it could have been the coaches saying, keep running, show you're a man out here, but a lot of the drinks, they have...

stuff to it. Like we have no artificial flavors, no artificial coloring, no forever chemicals, none of the bad stuff in it. Like we get our hydration from sea salt. We get sugars from natural honey. We,

We are very clean, and because of that, we have guys like Gary Brekka jumping on board with us, Make America Healthy Again, and we got to see what the FDA is doing. They're getting rid of Red Dive 40. It's about time. I mean, our kids have been...

not just our kids but everyone's been putting bad stuff in their bodies when every other country has cleaner ingredients and all their food and I'm glad we're finally doing this and hopefully there'd be less trips to the hospital hopefully there would be healthier people and so that's why I got involved I put up the money and I am majority owner I have a strong team working for

For me, it's kind of like the old four Red Sox. You know, we got beat up a little bit at the start, but we are rallying and we are hopefully one day we'll be on cruise control. But Polar Beverages have been absolutely instrumental to our progress and they're partners with us and they want to see us succeed. And we are going to do our best to bring our A game every single day and to succeed in this very tough category.

It's one thing to feel badly and think, oh, there's a need. It's completely another to jump into the space like you have. Why so passionate about this?

Well, I do want people to have a better product than what they show you. There's glitz and glamour. There's all this money thrown into many of the commercials out there. And we know we have a clean drink. And at the end of the day, it tastes better. I mean, we're pushing the other companies to get cleaner, get healthier, and better.

Do it for people. Do it for humanity. Let's get rid of all these toxins that are out there and let's try to be as healthy as we can always. You always have to bring your A game for every single thing you do, whether you're a teacher, a parent, an athlete. You always have to do your best at all times so there's no regrets.

You know, you may fail, but at least you tried your very best. And I feel like I did that throughout my playing career. And I'm trying to do that right now. Bring my A game. And I hope everyone can go out there and try it. We're at Shaw's and Stop and Shop in the Northeast. If you're down south, Piggly Wiggly in Florida. We're in Winn-Dixie. Yeah, we're crushing it in Alabama at Piggly Wiggly's.

Yeah, we have some government contracts in Louisiana. A lot of great things are happening for us. And we also have the greatest athlete who knows hydration. So Bo knows hydration, Bo Jackson. What? We have the World Cup coming. Tyler Adams, men's U.S. soccer team, plays for Bournemouth right now. He's been part of our team for a couple years. And Caleb Downs.

national champion at Ohio State. So, yeah, we're making tremendous strides and we're going to continue to bring our A game and bring awareness to the consumers and make sure they know we have a better product and we taste better

I was going to ask you how it's been received so far, but it sounds like you have the A-team for A-game and it's going really well. That's quite a group of athletes, yourself included, to be able to get the word out, especially when you're talking about making people healthy. You're not talking about just getting into the space to make a lot of money. That's amazing to have Bo on board, especially.

Oh, yeah. Bo's awesome. And yeah, we're going to keep plugging away. And marketing is the name of the game for us right now. We know we have the best product. Like people are trying it for the first time. They're kind of shocked because they think, oh, here's another drink. And then I've sponsored Tim Wakefield's Memorial Golf Classic and everything.

Everybody there, we've also sponsored many other events around the Boston area, and everybody loves it. We're going to continue to plug away, and what I just want people to do is try it, and I know they're going to love it. And if not, go continue to drink the other bad stuff out there. How can people find out more about A-Game, Johnny?

They can go to drinkagame.com and our Instagram tag is at drinkagame. Please check us out. And like I said, a lot of great things going on for us right now. Johnny Damon, two-time World Series champ with the Red Sox, with the Yankees, and now not just the big family, but also A-game and something that you can check out and try for yourself in stores near you. It's really cool to catch up with you, Johnny. Thank you so much for a few minutes.

Amy, pleasure to have you having me on. So have a wonderful rest of your week. I know it had nothing to do with football. Really?

Although he did talk about Kansas City, but that had to be one of the most entertaining conversations that anyone's had Super Bowl week. He's not even in New Orleans, but I think that was probably my most wide-ranging conversation. Also, this is kind of funny behind the scenes. So Ryan and Pete and I have been working on the schedule all week.

When he was offered to us, he was slotted in first. So he was actually one of the first guests that we put on the schedule. And because of his schedule, whatever he was doing on Thursday, they reached out to us. His people reached out to us and said, hey, can we push it back 30 minutes on Thursday? Fine, whatever. It's okay. He was the last one of the week.

So a few minutes later, they text back and they say, don't worry about it. He'll be ready at 4 o'clock Eastern. And take all the time you need, 30 to 45 minutes. And I was like, minutes? They clearly don't know what show they're talking to, but also how radio works. We're not doing a 45-minute interview. Having now talked to him, I don't need to hear anything more about naked pull-ups. Having now talked to him and recognizing that he –

Is going to share his opinion and has an opinion about pretty much everything, but also he's passionate. And there are so many more questions I could have asked him because he's more than willing to, to share and to, to gab. So it was good to talk to him. I think that was probably one of my favorites of the entire week. If not of all of 25, ha ha. It's good to have no shame.

naked pull-ups. Why? Why would he throw that in there? I was not thinking that. I was not. Nobody was. That never crossed my mind. He's like, okay, the family plays sports. Cool. So Ryan's face went...

When he says, man, my mom, if she had just had me a few years later. Oh, no, I guess it was after that. But he said, thinking about the fact that right after he'd left Boston, the Red Sox started paying people and spent all this money. Son of a bitch. Scared me.

There were a couple of other moments in there where I was pretty sure he was going to drop something else, but he managed to keep it under wraps. So yeah, terrific. Walked down memory lane for those of you who remember Johnny Damon, but also very relevant today too. I'm going to go look for it. A game. I mean, Bo Jackson is signed on to endorse it. Then let's go.

ALawRadio, our Facebook page too. Josh Allen, the NFL MVP. You'll hear from him. And what else were we going to do? There was something else we were going to do in this last... Hold on. Hold on. I'm looking. I'm looking through all my stuff. Oh, Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler speaking for the first time. Miami, just fair warning.

If you don't want to hear from him, we're going to let him say his piece before the end of the hour. Damn right. Happy Friday to you. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours podcast.

Here's the snap. Allen back to pass, has time, steps up in the pocket, looks to tuck it and run. On his feet to the five and into the end zone. The Beast does it again. Josh Allen with his second rushing touchdown of the game and the chance of MVP come up from the crowd.

Off the field, on the money, and after hours, it's time to talk football with Amy Lawrence. Just a few minutes left before we send you forward, launch you into your weekend. I'll give you a shove. It's like you're on the training wheels. Take the training wheels off. Let's go.

full blast into the weekend. And then by the time we reconvene, we will have a Super Bowl champion. Thank heavens, because I'm really tired of talking about it before the game. It was nice to have a different headline. Josh Allen, your NFL

MVP and really cool moment for Josh. It was a very tight race. In fact, one of the most hotly contested MVP races in recent memory. He had 27 first place votes to 23 for Lamar Jackson. And when I spoke to one of the voters, Mike Sando from New Orleans in the first hour of the show, he actually said he was surprised he had voted for Lamar. He told us why, but the big reason,

piece of evidence here that seemed to point to Lamar Jackson is that he was first team all pro. And it's only happened two other times and not in the last two decades that a second team all pro quarterback has won MVP. It almost always lines up. First team all pro is also the MVP, if it's a quarterback, of course. Now, I wanted it to be said,

He ends up winning offensive player of the year, but really neat to hear from Josh. Congratulations to him. Was that a Westwood or a Bills Radio Network highlight? That was Chris Brown. Chris Brown. Thank you. Chris Brown on Bills Radio. I know they're really excited. He made his parents cry and his fiance as well. He saved them for last, but the very final...

a couple of phrases of his speech, his acceptance speech, be good, do good. God bless and go bills. And that was retweeted or that was tweeted. I should say by the bills right after he accepted that award. Did you tell me you had his, his clip with Rob, Rob, Maddie? I no longer have, I'll get in a second. Oh, got it. Yeah. Take your time. We've, we've got all the time in the world until 5 54 AM Eastern time. Uh,

Something else that you need to see, I would really encourage you to go and check it out. I did retweet it. In fact, I'll do it again here because it was special. I cried. Ryan walked into the side studio and I'm wiping tears away because it's so moving and it's so powerful.

The Buffalo Bills went into a local children's hospital where Josh visits kids on a regular basis. He's got relationships with some of these kiddos and with their families. They exchange gifts. And Josh wrote, well, sorry, they wrote to Josh letters, made signs. They were wearing their best Bills gear ever.

These are kiddos that have been in and out of the hospital being treated for illnesses, in some cases terminal. Their families are fighting, and Josh brings light, and he brings hope. And as I say, he's clearly got relationships with these kids because they're addressing him by first name, and they've got gifts that he's given them, and the opposite is also true. So I just retweeted the video at ALawRadio. Please go check it out because it is priceless, and it gives you a picture of Josh away from the football field. And...

he got choked up too in thanking his family and made them cry and after he had accepted the award is beaming all smiles what a neat breakthrough for him Rob Motty of the AP caught up with him real quickly I know they take great pride um in what I do about his parents I wasn't lying when I said they've probably missed 10 to 15 games in my entire life football baseball basketball swim gymnastics you name it we've done it all and they've been there um

I love that they were here to experience this with me and my fiance and my internal team here. It means a lot. Yeah, how cool is that? He's one of the good guys. We were talking about Patrick Mahomes earlier and what a great ambassador he is for the NFL in the wake of all of these Hall of Fame QBs, guys who'd been around forever, guys who played to their late 30s, in some cases 40s.

They really were the standard at the quarterback position for years. And then one by one, they all walked away. They all retired. And now what we have is a Patrick Mahomes who is leading the charge of this new younger crop. So the average age of QB in the NFL starting QB is now below 27.

He's not even 30 yet and how accomplished he is. And then you think about Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. And of course, we've got a bunch of rookies and second year guys. They really are the new face in the new age of the NFL.

You can't have better ambassadors than this trio, Patrick, Josh, Lamar, at the most critical position. And, of course, the NFL is sitting pretty because there was barely a blip. There really wasn't a downturn from those elder statesmen who retired. Aaron Rodgers still around, of course, will retire at some point, we think. But now there's younger QBs who are not just outstanding,

the line, if you will, but raising the bar and Patrick, Josh Lamar, they're leading that charge. They're pretty cool. Just excited to see his joy and also the joy of others who were award winners. That includes Kevin O'Connell actually, who won the coach of the year award. We have his long speech. I don't think we have time for it here, but it's still a neat honor for him despite the abrupt ending of their season.

Speaking of abrupt endings, I mean, you've got guys who are on Radio Row navigating this massive conference space and doing interviews all over the place. And it's neat for them, of course, especially if they've not experienced it. But it really underscores the fact that

They're not playing anymore, right? And Jaden Daniels made that comment to PFT Live. Just the fact that he's still not gotten over, despite the awards that he's won, he's not gotten over the NFC Championship. Can you reflect on the positives yet? Or are we in pissed off mode still? I'm still trying to get over pissed off mode. You are? Yeah. Tell us what you think about. Like, what's the player two maybe you think about from that game that haunts you? Yeah, I just think just...

We just gave a really good team a lot of opportunities. Like, we made a lot of mistakes that game. And obviously, you know, turnover is going to be the big thing that people talk about. But I just think for that, you can't give hypotheticals. You know, we did what we did. The turnover is what cost us, especially against a really good team like Philly. So that's probably going to haunt me for a while.

As I hear Jaden, again, that's on PFT Live, I wonder why Lamar isn't there. Now, I can speculate. I have no idea why. Have not seen him, have not heard that anyone's spoken to him this week as part of this big deal. We looked to be sure that he wasn't there. Maybe he's showing up today or

maybe, just maybe, and this is me, I would not want to be there with the heartbreak of coming up short again and recognizing that it was really our doing as the Ravens. We spoke with Hall of Famer Rod Woodson. He's part of that Baltimore radio team, the Ravens radio team, earlier in the week, our newest Hall of Famer that's on our list. And

I mean, he said they have no one to blame but themselves. You cannot turn the ball over the way they did in that game against the Bills. So if I... Again, I'm just speculating. But if I'm Lamar...

I don't want anything to do with New Orleans myself. It's still too fresh. It's still too painful. And you're going to have to answer questions about it ad nauseum. So I wouldn't be surprised if that's why he's not there. Because generally you wouldn't think these guys, especially considering they had Super Bowl aspirations, you wouldn't think that he would have made other plans prior to the Super Week, right? Because he would expect that the Ravens would be there. Maybe he decided, I got to get out of Dodge and take a vacation. Just get away from it. Because...

What did we hear from Bill Belichick last week? He was still doing the Let's Go Series XM radio show. The fact that it sucks when you're not there and he doesn't want to watch it. It's like, especially if you come up short and you believe it's your fault, right? You could have had a different outcome. You could have orchestrated a different outcome. And he said, you don't want to watch it then. The only thing is now you're going to get asked about it more.

By not showing up? By not showing up. I'd rather do that. You'd rather get questioned about it? Yeah, the news cycle spins so furiously that let's just say no one hears from Lamar for a month or two months.

he maybe asked a couple of questions, but people are on to something else by then, especially in the NFL orchestrates events every three weeks so that we can never forget. I try to give advice to the NFL. We can't miss you if you never go away, but it's too late for that. It's a behemoth with an event, at least one event every month, Superbowl Sunday coming up. Oh,

Did a good job trying to hijack some of the headlines this week. Jimmy Butler speaking out as a member of the Warriors. It's just weird. That's straight ahead. Here's our latest sports update.

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One-on-one against Buddy Heal. LeBron, three-pointer. Good! Huge three by LeBron, and that could do it. 115-106. LeBron has 42 points, 17 rebounds, and 7 assists. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Is he showing off for Luka? Is that what's happening here? Three.

He triples in 38 seconds in the second quarter. And one of them came from midcourt and the logo. So LeBron James with a huge performance. And that helped him, the Lakers, get by the Warriors who got 37 from Steph Curry. He took 35 shots, though he was really the only one in the wake of them trading Andrew Wiggins. He was the only one who put up any volume there.

So Lakers edged the Warriors, but the big news is that Jimmy Butler was in the house. He was with the Warriors, and he made his first comments after getting traded from Miami. Why? Well, because he made it very clear that he would not stand for anything different, and he hasn't played since January 21st. He's in the middle of a—well, he was—in the middle of a third suspension, and—

I don't have any sympathy for him. This was his own doing. He missed team plays. He didn't show up to meetings. He walked out of practice when he found out he wasn't starting as if he should be starting after he's been acting like a punk. So I guess he just is ready to get back on the court. I'm so happy to be playing basketball again, honestly. Before an organization like this one, with some hellified talent that we have, I'm glad that I get the opportunity to get here and help.

Get us to winning and do something special. I think that's why I'm here. And I will do my best to do what everybody wants. And that's to win a championship. I mean it. It's kind of gross, though, that he's just going to flip a switch. Go back to, I really love Jimmy Butler's game. And I...

I'm sure we'll be interested in seeing what he does with the Warriors, but I just have a hard time with how he forced his way out of Miami. I hated it with James Harden. I've never looked at him the same way after he was so disrespectful to his teammates and coaches in, in warming his way out of Houston. Um,

I just, I don't, this doesn't sit well with me. And I'm not saying that you can't ask for a trade. I know some of you take a hard line stance and, hey, you have a contract, so play through your contract. And okay, that's all right too. That's your opinion. I understand that things change, circumstances change, just like you and I, sometimes we want a new gig. We want a new job. We want to do something different. I would never dream of being as disrespectful to my colleagues and boss

probably would not get away with it, of course, and would get fired. But the Heat, they suspended him three times because that's how bad it was. They were better off without him, even though he was their best player, than they were with him being around the team. So he was obviously asked about Miami. I don't got too many bad things to say about them. They gave me opportunity.

I felt like I did my job to the highest level. I have so much respect for that organization, for the people that's running that organization and for my former teammates. And I'm always wish them the best. When March comes around,

We need that like we need everything else. Before y'all even ask, we take dubs they can get around here. I got a lot of love for a lot of people over there in that organization and I just want them to know that I'm very grateful for the relationships that I have built and that I'll keep for a lifetime. So what was it that made you want to leave then? That's a good question, actually. That is a good question. I don't know. Maybe just a lot of talking back and forth and sooner or later talking's got to stop.

Okay. I don't know. That's a good question. I put the Miami Heat through it, but I don't know why I wanted out. Just a lot of talking.

I guess he didn't like what he heard. I know a lot of times this comes back to wanting a new contract or new extension. And he did void, or I guess turned down his player option and sign a new extension with the Warriors, which is what two years, $111 million. I'm not going to say that that was a big part, but I'm happy about it. I am happy about it. I think the biggest part was just getting me to be able to play basketball again, uh,

I just want to be able to go out there and do what I've been doing for a very long time and have fun and smile and rip a run. And I feel like I'm just doing cardio majority of the game. So I'm very, very, very happy that I'm not getting suspended no more. Okay. Maybe it's just me, but he makes it sound like it just happened to him that he had nothing to do with it. It's like he's being punished. Right. Yeah.

Like he has no clue why he was suspended. And all I want to do is play basketball. All right. It's going to take me a little bit to just let this one lie. So how does he fit in with Steph and Draymond? Because they're obviously the duo that runs the Warriors. They always play winning basketball and they'll do whatever it takes to win. I think that's what I respect most about those guys. And they've won at so many different levels, obviously at the highest level and done it multiple times. So,

Not only can I bring some things to this team, I think they can teach me a whole lot. We'll see. We will see. I suppose there is this joy over getting back on the court for now. And so no problems, no issues.

Yeah, I love Jimmy Butler's game. I don't love how he handled his business in Miami. And when people are relieved and at some point they just don't care, just go, you know it's gotten bad. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence at ALawRadio is where you can find me online. And I appreciate so many of you weighing in, not only about my new blog post, but also about what I shared with you earlier. And for those of you who weren't listening in our second hour,

I did share the news that Sunday night into Monday morning will be my last edition of After Hours. So I will carry you through the Super Bowl and Super Bowl postgame show. And then I am done here at the Infinity Sports Network. This was my choice, so don't start any rumors. It was my choice. I've been looking for a change professionally as well as personally for about a year and a half. So even before I got married and married,

The company and I just weren't on the same page, which is kind of what we're talking about with Jimmy Butler and the heat, right? Except I didn't throw a temper tantrum and refuse to come to work and then somehow believe that I was worth more than they thought I was worth. It's been coming for a while. All that to say, I am ready for something different and I'm excited about the future. I don't have anything to share with you along those lines yet, but

but I will when I have something definitive to pass along. I've already had people ask me, what about your social media? Yes, I will retain at least my Twix account, and I'm going to keep calling it that too, at ALawRadio. You know, I'm not sure about the others because they're intertwined with the show. They may still be open and available for you to go back and look, but I don't know that I'll continue using them

I also have a blog, and I'll tell you more about how you can stay in touch as we get through Sunday night into Monday. But thank you for all the kind words. Please do not be sad. Please don't worry about me. I'm not retiring. I'm not dying. I'm just looking for a different gig. So I'll talk to you Sunday night. Let's go Super Bowl. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Boom!