The second day of the 2024 NBA Draft featured a variety of selections across the league that could make an impact next season, but much of the speculation surrounded what would occur with USC guard Bronny James. Klutch Sports founder Rich Paul, who works as the agent for both Bronny James and his father, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, reportedly called teams and told them not to draft Bronny James, saying that he would play in Australia. The Lakers ended up selecting James 55th overall in the Draft, forming the first father-son duo in NBA history. Fred Toucher reacted to the draft pick and believes that Bronny James cannot play basketball.

During Friday morning’s edition of Toucher & Hardy on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Toucher played audio of Malika Andrews reacting to the pick while hosting coverage on ESPN. Toucher then spoke about how Bronny James seemed to be listed taller than he actually is on the NBA website and emphasized within the segment that he would probably not take the court alongside his father.

Co-host Rob “Hardy” Poole reflected on how the selection was presented on television from the ESPN Seaport Studios in New York City, specifically discussing how Andrews stated that seeing Bronny James selected less than a year after a congenital heart defect was something over which people should not lose sight.

“The idea that they’re trying to play off this narrative with something that is – it’s not a bad story – the fact [is] it’s LeBron James’ kid [and] he can play a little bit,” Poole said. “Horrific what happened with his heart issue and the congenital heart thing, but alright, he fixed it; he returned to the court. That’s a good enough story. To try and play it off by saying, ‘Just a year after this congenital heart [defect] and he’s drafted in the NBA,’ you see, now you’re ruining it by sprinkling it with B.S. because the only reason why he got drafted, we know, was to make his father happy.”

Although he did not mention Andrews by name, he wondered why the description she narrated on the air was delivered. In fact, he questioned the reasoning behind demonstrating deception towards what he believes to be the genuine reason Bronny James was drafted. Toucher articulated that the NBA Draft is not a random series of events; rather, there are special interests involved as well.

Poole also criticized the take from Adrian Wojnarowski not to get too concerned about nepotism in the NBA and how it happens at all levels of the game. Within his discourse, he outlined the dichotomy between giving a family member a title without any responsibilities as opposed to using one of two draft picks to select the son of a player.

“These guys really so badly don’t want to piss off Klutch Sports. ESPN, they don’t,” Toucher said. “Even Stephen A. Smith, who had been very, very critical of Bronny James after the Draft, changed his tune.”

Toucher proceeded to play audio of Smith stating that the Lakers selecting Bronny James could give LeBron James more inspiration and serve as a means of rejuvenation as he enters his age 40 season in the league. Smith wondered if it could get any better that his son was a member of the team and that LeBron James himself was still a superstar in the game.

“LeBron James – how is he setting the stage for Bronny James doing anything?,” Toucher replied. “Unless LeBron makes them play him, Bronny James is never playing in the NBA at any point when LeBron James is still in it.”

A federal jury issued a verdict on Thursday that orders the National Football League to pay $4.7 billion in damages, finding the league liable in the class action lawsuit surrounding NFL Sunday Ticket. This ruling could lead to changes in the way the NFL broadcasts, although a spokesperson for the league said in a statement that the league plans to appeal the ruling. U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez will hear post-trial motions for the case on July 31 and has the ability to forsake the ruling of the jury. Michael Kay, during The Michael Kay Show in afternoon drive on ESPN New York on Thursday, spoke about the ramifications that the ruling could have.

Kay cited reporting from Spotrac explaining that while the dollar amount could draw headlines, which is tripled under federal antitrust law, the news embedded within the decision is that fans could soon be able to purchase single-team streaming packages. Moreover, blackout restrictions may no longer be part of the equation as well, potentially setting a precedent for other professional sports leagues. After 28 years distributing NFL Sunday Ticket, the out-of-market viewing package moved from DirecTV to YouTube/YouTube TV in a deal reported to be worth $2 billion over seven years.

“This is a huge win for the Cowboys, and although Jerry Jones testified in the trial and said he didn’t want this to happen, the Dallas Cowboys, whether you hate them or not, they’re the most popular team in the NFL,” Kay said. “If he sold his Dallas Cowboy games alone, he’s going to make billions of dollars, and it’s going to affect teams like the Cincinnati Bengals where they don’t have nearly the following, so this could upset the entire NFL apple cart right now – this one lawsuit.”

Co-host Peter Rosenberg explained that he would only subscribe to Washington Commanders games and watch the local games. While some people would want every game, partially because of sports betting and gambling, fans may be afforded the option to choose how they want to subscribe. Rosenberg articulated that he could see a package where someone pays for a few teams or a division, but feels that the league was always ripping consumers off on was the inability to purchase games à la carte.

“If I’m a Cowboy fan in New York, I might not buy as many games as say a fan of Cincinnati because if I’m in New York, they’re going to play the Giants twice, they’re going to be on Monday Night Football three times, they’re going to be on Sunday Night Football, they’re going to be on Thanksgiving,” co-host Don La Greca said. “Half the games are available for free.”

Rosenberg believes that the ability to buy individual games would work best for marquee teams other than the Cowboys, including the New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers. La Greca believes that buying games à la carte would work but that it would put several channels out of business and affect the balance of power in the league. The NFL currently splits its media revenue and distributes it among the 32 franchises.

“But that’s why in a league that’s essentially socialism, that’s why they’re ahead of baseball because baseball’s a regional sport where the Yankees could make the most money and they put them at an advantage over the Rays, but everybody gets the same money TV-wise in the NFL,” Kay said. “If this becomes a thing, then everybody’s not going to get the same money.”

Kay questioned the rationale behind the lawsuit, estimating that the Cowboys could charge $200 just to watch individual games throughout the season. When he asked about the price of NFL Sunday Ticket, he was informed that it was $400 for the year. In reality, YouTube TV currently charges $349 for the annual package of NFL games. Utilizing the $400 figure, however, he stated that it was an “unbelievable deal” for the amount of content the consumer is receiving.

“It’s not like the NFL charges you serious rates,” Kay said. “If it was like thousands of dollars, I get it. $400? What are we suing about? If you get individual teams, you know how much they’re going to charge? They’re going to make it back.”

Earlier this week 590 The Fan KFNS owner Dave Zobrist told his local staff they would be having their final shows this week and the station would be switching to syndicated programming. The station had been local from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and had some local programming on the weekends. Zobrist has now announced starting Monday KFNS will be known as Fox Sports 590 AM and will now air the network 24/7 with the exception of local play-by-play.

“We’re excited to expand our partnership with FOX Sports Radio to bring the biggest names in the sports talk format to St. Louis,” Zobrist said in a release. “Broadcasting FOX Sports Radio’s lineup, along with local play-by-play, will continue our commitment to delivering bold, exciting and entertaining sports talk to our listeners.”

Zobrist told employees he will leave the station on while he looks for a new buyer. Former station owner Randy Markel has expressed interest in potentially re-acquiring the station and midday host Kevin Slaten said on the station yesterday, “Hopefully we can find some guys or women who want to buy the station. And that’s what we’re trying to do. I know everybody’s working towards the same end, everybody would like to see that as the end result…so that’s what we hope for.”

KFNS had been featuring local media veterans Jim Hayes and Charlie Marlow in the morning along with former St. Louis Blues player Cam Janssen. Frank Cusumano, who is also the sports director for the local NBC affiliate KSDK, had been holding down the mid-morning slot for most of the last 30 years on the station. Others affected by the move include former longtime St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz and Bally Sports Midwest St. Louis Blues reporter Andy Strickland.