The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 05/26/2021 - HOUR 1 - Lakers-Suns, Clippers, Rodgers

Episode Date: May 26, 2021

Colin discusses game two between the Lakers and SunsThe Clippers keep making excusesAaron Rodgers wasn't the only player to not show up to OTAsGuest: Nick Wright Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

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Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the

iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a lively Wednesday. It's Los Angeles. Center of the NBA universe this morning. It's the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Fox Sports Radio, FS1, IHeart Radio. Great to have you in.

Very lucky break for us. We get Alex Smith, who just retired from the NFL in studio in one hour from now. Good for us. Can't wait to see Alex Smith. Boy, he knows he could go to the front office. He could be a broadcaster. He could be a coach. He's got the world's his oyster right now for Alex Smith.

So it's great to have him in the building today. We feel very, very fortunate. And he'll be joining us. Enjoy, Taylor. Wow. Wow. One season in L.A. appears to be about over. Another one is barely alive today.

What did I say? You better not lose in the first round. Playing around. I don't know. This was not a good night for the Clippers. But that was a great. great Lakers' sons game. It was. Chris Paul, by the way, only played 23 minutes and the Lakers had to hang on for the

win. If I'm Frank Vogel this morning, Lakers coach, he's been in a lot of these playoff series. I had a restless night sleep. So Anthony Davis was not only fantastic, but super aggressive. He didn't know his play like that. Dennis Schrooter may have played his best game as a Laker, certainly his best playoff game. It's not even close. Okay, he was great last night. Andre Drummond was super effective, and LeBron played well. And we held on to beat Phoenix in trouble in the fourth, and Chris Paul wasn't around in

the end. And I'm not sure Chris Ball's got more than 50% of him right now. He's not playing in crunch time minutes. What does that tell you? Phoenix is a tough first rounder. Remember, they're a two seed. The Lakers last year when the championship is facing five seeds and nine seeds and three seeds, that's the downside to be in a seven seed for the Lakers.

Your toughest matchup, maybe your first matchup. I mean, they would get the Blazers or Nuggets next. They match out well with those teams. Now, Jamal Murray's out. After that, it'd be the Clippers who can't play late or Dallas that plays no defense. Or it'd be Utah. Lakers match up very well with Utah. but Phoenix, Phoenix has an answer for a lot of what the Lakers offer.

I guess the upside is KCP gave you Zippo, Alex Caruso gave you Zippo, Kyle Kuzma gave you Zippo, and all of them have talent and are generally semi-productive, and none of them were last night, so I'd feel good about that. But Anthony Davis, that's as aggressive as I've ever seen in play, and Dennis Schrooter was crazy town good. He was fantastic. And can you get that AD again? Let's be honest about AD.

We know he's good, but can I get that AD four more times in the series? How about just three? Because if they do, they'll win. But remember why AD was so great last night? Because he was so bad in game one and everybody called him soft on every show. Every newspaper article, every blogger, everybody in the world, he's soft. So he's motivated. Well, he's going to be motivated after a performance like last night.

He's not LeBron James. He's not Michael Jordan. He's not self-motivated. He needs to poke. So never forget this. The Lakers are 11-0 in Anthony Davis's best playoff games as the Laker. 11 and 0. They're 500 in the rest.

And so this Phoenix team, last year in the bubble, the Lakers got a little bit of a break. They faced a 9-C to 5-C to 3-seat. and a five seed. Well, Phoenix is a two seat, and they're really good. This series, before it started, may have been as simple as this. AD has a history of getting hurt. LeBron came in less than 100%. Chris Paul has a history of getting hurt in the playoffs. It may have been just this simple. Which star gets hurt first? And the answer was Chris Paul. And that may decide the series because this morning, I think if Chris Paul's healthy, Phoenix is up 2-0 and creates a major match-up issue. I mean, good luck stopping Devin Booker. Phoenix matches up really well with the

Lakers, really well, but not as well when Chris Paul's not around in the fourth quarter. As far as Anthony Davis, after the game, I don't, we know that if he plays like last night, The series is over. He's a dominant player. Last year in the bubble on his best nights. Lakers were 10 and 0 in the bubble when he had his best nights. Now there are 1 in the playoffs when he has his best night. Here's AD after.

In order for us to win a series, to win games, I can't have that performance. So I put it on myself, you know, as all leaders do. And I want to make sure that I made a statement this game, come out with more energy, more effort on both ends of the floor. Just trusting my work. Getting back in the gym. seeing the ball go through the net, and it paid off tonight. Can we get that again?

All right, the herd brought to you by Jersey. Mike, subs, be a sub above. Now let's talk Clippers. It's one thing to not play defense late. It's another thing to lose both games in the series at home. What's worse is after you lose, Tailu, Paul George, no biggie. nothing to see here, no concern. Um, really?

I've got eyes. I can see you can't stop Luca and you're down, 02. I've got eyes. I can read. I know your history. Remember, the Clippers tanked the last two games to meet this team. And Paul George said last year, hey, we just need time together. All righty, you've got it.

And now it's 02. The clippers need to look themselves in the mirror. After last year, they blame Doc Rivers. You are fired. Now he is coaching the number one seed in the east, and he has apparently been able to solve the matrix of M.B. and Simmons don't get along. And then they blame the bubble.

We don't have a bubble. And the Lakers won in the bubble, and you eroded. And they blame time. We just need time together. All right, they've had time together. And then it was Lou Williams' fault and Montrez Harrell. All right, they're gone too. And you've lost five straight playoff games.

They're all gone. How's it feel this morning? You've got to sort of look yourself in the mirror. Because I'll tell you what time doesn't solve. Paul George erratic history in the playoffs. And Kauai Leonard's lack of least. leadership DNA. Time does not solve those.

And you know, it's funny, is that the Clippers don't have a history of winning. The Lakers, same building, have a history of greatness. And so when the Clippers were purchased by Steve Bomer, they don't really have a book on how to do this right. They went out and said, let's just get two really talented guys. Does anybody love us? Okay, two guys fell in love with us. Paul George, Kauai Leonard.

We want to be loved. We've never been loved. We want to be loved. Two guys love us. Come on in. But the Lakers don't operate that way. The Lakers have always had great players. But the Lakers have only won titles when the great players were leaders.

Wilt wasn't a leader. Jerry West was. They want a title. Kareem wasn't really a go-to leader. It was more magic than for a decade. they want a bunch of titles. And then there's Kobe, and then there's LeBron and leaders. The Lakers, lots of players have fallen in love with the Lakers.

Lots of, lots of players have fallen in love. But the Lakers have a history. They know what wins titles when the greatest player is a leader. The Clippers just had two guys fall in love with them. Nobody ever falls in love with the Clippers. So they just said, come on board. and didn't really consider the leadership component. And you can see Rondo last night who won titles with the Lakers last year and with Boston.

You see him barking at Tailu. You see him barking at players? Because he can see the truth. This team doesn't have a leader. They're rudderless, but they're talented. And, you know, so this idea that everything's okay, it's no big deal. We're going to get past this. I think Rondo's looking around and seeing what you're seeing.

and I'm seeing. And what does Steve Balmer think of this? He owns the team, bought it for twice the value, reportedly. The Clippers spent $64 million on Luke Conard. He was a DNP last night. And on Marcus Morris, they spent $64 million, too, and he's ineffective. So Steve Ballmer's thinking, man, I wrote a lot of checks. One of the guys isn't playing. One of the guys is not effective. The two guys I thought were great, aren't leaders. Tailu can't solve what Doc Rivers couldn't solve. I think there's a tension and an anxiety around the clippers this morning, and it is not okay. Although Paul George, after, said it was all okay. There is a competition.

We've got to rise to the occasion. You know, a factor of the matter is if we don't, we're done for. But it's no level of concern. I mean, we just got to play our game. We've got to play through this. We got to incorporate our defense. Lucas going to get his touches. We just got to do a better job defensively of just quiet than everyone else.

If I was a Clipper executive this morning, I would update my LinkedIn. I would polish off my resume. It is not okay in the eyes of Steve Balmer. All right. Coming up next, oh, my, oh, my. Aaron Rogers and the Packers, oh, oh, oh, it's now a little bit orchestrated. Aaron's not the only one who missed OTAs. All five of his top receivers did.

Green Bay has themselves a mess on their hands. Some thoughts on this coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. F-S-1 and the I-Hard Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts. or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest

moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jette. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill

waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so... Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes, I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years. for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

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NetSuite.com slash her netsuite.com slash H-E-R-D. So not only did Aaron Rogers not show up for the Packers OTA yesterday. Either did any of his top five Packerwide receivers. Probably not a coincidence. Feels a little orchestrated. Receivers supporting their man. Matt LaFlewer is the head coach. coach in a tough spot.

You can tell when a crisis has developed, when somebody has to go speak in front of the media, and they start talking in what they call these days a word salad, they talk and don't say anything. And Matt LaFleure is a very articulate guy, but here he is talking about Jordan Love, and this is utter nonsense. Right now, I think even as we're saying, scripting, we're less concerned about trying to put maybe the perfect person in position to, you know, like we would in a game plan situation. It's more about just making sure that

we're putting Jordan in situations so he can continue to progress. Word salad. That means nothing. And that's a smart guy. He's in a really tough spot. Green Bay is going to mess on their hands. My only question at this point will Aaron Rogers fold? I listened to a sports talk radio show yesterday, and the host is one of those hosts who likes to take phone calls, and he took them from Packer fans, and 100% were against Aaron and Pro Packers. And Aaron likes to be liked.

We know that. Aaron doesn't love criticism. But Aaron has made it. Me versus them, and Packer Nation is behind them. And Aaron did not want it to end like Fav and its ending worse than Fav. And the Packer followers, bless their heart, you know, they've seen this act before, but it all turned out okay. So a lot of them are probably thinking, well, it'll be okay. I'm not sure about that.

But it's one thing for Aaron to no-show. But if Aaron no-shows and the receivers all don't know show, what does that feel like? it's orchestrated. And that hurts Jordan Love too. So even if you love Aaron Rogers and you have his jersey and you name your dog Aaron Rogers and you've got pictures of Aaron Rogers, it's easier to hate him when it feels like he's hurting you not just now, but he's hurting your future. You can't even develop Jordan Love on the right timeline.

Now, the media is overwhelmingly still in Aaron Rogers camp. Packers don't love the fact that guys like me and other networks and joy and everybody who does this for a living and every columnist and every blogger is pretty much in Aaron's camp, which is, could you get him an occasional receiver? Could you draft an occasional offensive player in the first round? Could you maybe spend a nickel and get J.J. Watt? Could you treat him at least half as nice as Tom Brady, Russell, Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, or Josh Allen.

But Aaron is losing stuff here, too. He's losing money. He's losing fan support. And Mark Murphy is not budging. According to his story this morning, Mark Murphy will not fire Brian Gutikinsk. Will not. So we have a line in the sand. And I know Mark

Murphy is not going to budge because Mark Murphy steeped in tradition believes he has a responsibility to the Packers organization to not create a precedent where you fold to a player. And how do I know that? Because I watched it with Favre and I've watched it with Aaron Rogers. The question is, does Aaron Rogers have the stomach to be hated in Green Bay? And eventually some media people will turn on Aaron. You know, bloggers, cheeseheads that have blogs, that kind of thing. So that's what it comes down to.

Does Aaron have the stomach? Because Mark Murphy's not going to budge. And Aaron's telling us, I'm not going to budge. And Aaron's history is he doesn't like to be disliked. He's losing money. He's losing fan support. and Mark Murphy's not budging, and I believe him. Joy Taylor with the news.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. I can't wait to see how that plays out. I know. It's fascinating. So the Nets got an easy victory over the Celtics last night to go up to their first round matchup. The big three all had strong performances. But the biggest star for Brooklyn last night was Joe Harris.

He tied a franchise playoff record with seven, three-pointers and had a playoff career high 25 points in the 130108 win. So the series now shifts to Boston for game three on Friday. We kind of knew this is what it would look like. Yeah, I don't think this is... I don't anticipate this being a long series. I wouldn't be surprised if Boston got a game. I would be surprised if they won a game.

Without Jalen Brown, I would be surprised now. I mean, look, they're not going to win the series without Jalen Brown. Right. But, you know, maybe go back to Boston. You know, who knows? You could get a game. What that means nothing. It means you've got a gentleman sweep as opposed to a regular sweep.

But I actually think this worked out well for Brooklyn because they did not have the opportunity for their big three to play together. And not that, you know, the Celtics are a terrible team, but they are short-handed. And you got to start the series at home. Yeah. So. Very comfortable start. Yeah. You get a nice comfortable start into the playoffs.

And look, again, that's no disrespect to the Celtics. I think if they were 100 percent, this would be a longer. series. It's going to be tough going up against Kyrie, Katie, and Harden no matter what. But I think obviously this was more beneficial for the Nets. Duran had 26 points. Kyrie had 15 and Hardin added 20.

But Joe Harris again was the star last night. I mean, Jason Tatum had nine points and he got poked in the eye, so he left the game in the third quarter and didn't come back. So it was really on Kemba and Marcus to make that a game. And, you know, it's too much. So Julius Randall was named the NBA's most improved

player this season. He won by a landslide, 98 of the 100 first place votes. Wow. This season, he set a career high, averaging 24.1 points and six assists per game, and tied his career high, averaging 10.2 rebounds per game. Really cute video we're showing right now of his son bringing out his award, wearing his jersey. It was really, really sweet.

He also got selected to his first All-Star game, and he is now the first Knicks player to ever receive this award. So this is great. This is what's great about the Knicks this year. They're an incredible story. They play tonight. They play tonight. Game two of the series.

And, well, so it's Sixers, Wizards first, then Knicks, then Jazz Grizzlies is the late game. What could get interesting is next year. Because the Knicks are going to have to make a decision on him. He has one year remaining on a three-year, $62 million contract. I'd love to have him as my second best player. Even third, if R.J. Barrett improves. And R.J.'s two and Randall's a highly compensated three. I'd be all in on that.

He's a, you know, could he be like a more offensively gifted Draymond Green, where his leadership and his toughness is a huge asset to the organization? But he's not a gifted, highly skilled offensive player. Well, he could sign a four-year, $106 million max extension with New York this summer. If he hits free agency in 2022, it will be eligible to sign the $201 million max five-year deal with the Knicks. So they could agree on a short-term extension. But the interesting thing about what the Knicks have done this year is they've made themselves look like a destination again. Yeah, they have.

That is very important. It is important. There are going to be some free agents out there next year. The Knicks were the laughing stock of the league. Still respected as far as the brands. But, I mean, you saw what KD did. You saw what Kiree did. You saw what LeBron did before the Lakers.

I don't want to go and deal with that dysfunction. And now they're stable again. And they're the talk of the – Well, as many stars as there are in Brooklyn, everyone's talking about the Knicks. You know, it's funny about this, Joy, and this is the way it's always worked. You have these big brands, and they get beaten down. Like Alabama football before Saban was a mess. Two years later, they owned the sport.

You know, USC football was a laughing stock. Pete Carroll's second year, they're a dominant program. When you have these beaten down brands that are good brands, and a lot of these young players remember, you know, or they're a big city glamour brand, all of a sudden, I mean, if Philadelphia wins this year, or gets to the finals. In the 70s and 80s, the Sixers were a huge brand. All it takes for these big brands is just a glimmer of, hey, it's a cool place again.

And the recruits and the free agents flock in. It's much easier for a big brand to bounce back than it is for a small brand to explode and stay consistent. Because that's just the DNA of the program. Every time the University of Miami wins a big game, the U is back. Every time Tiger buzz anything. Tiger's back. That's the Cowboys. You have a down year, the next year, they're all we can talk about.

Phil Mickelson, four years forgotten. 13 million people Sunday watched golf. Exactly. I was so happy to sit there and watch that. That's how it goes. So two months ago, Kyle Shanahan and Jimmy Garapolo had the conversation that the team would be taking a quarterback in this year's draft. Jimmy G is back with the team after their off-season program.

And after practice, he was asked how it felt to get that call. And if you ever considered asking for a trade out of San Francisco. When it initially happened, there's a million emotions that go on throughout your head. And you'd think of all the possible scenarios and things like that. But, you know, at the end of the day, I won't play football. I want to go out there and win games. That's what I do. And so, you know, it wasn't anything too crazy.

It took a little while to get, to get, you know, process everything. But, you know, once I did, it was just go out there and ball. you just got tacked. I actually really like this approach. I know. So do I. I think it's very self-aware. Yeah, it's like, hey, I had to process it. You do have a right for 48 hours of processing stuff when you get bad news. It's okay. You can be human.

So I say, we want to crush everybody for a bad tweet. It's like it took four seconds. You may have a cocktail in you. Let's not crush everybody. Like people are emotional. And if somebody said, Colin, we're trading you. Can I have two days to think about it? Can I go for a long drive, have a milkshake? Give me a little time to simmer down.

Let me take a walk with my dog and, you know, think it over, have a couple conversations. It is. It's very self-aware of him. I wouldn't have been upset at him if he asked for a trade because, you know, he wants the opportunity to play. But he's had a lot of injuries. He's in a great situation here. If he does end up pulling the Alex Smith move where he is here, he's a, he's, we know that the next guy's in the building, but he goes out and has a great year, that's going to benefit him for years to come throughout the rest of his career. So it's actually, I think, a better decision for him to stay with San Francisco.

So do I. So that they don't have the pressure to put Tray Lance out there right away. You're going to garner a lot of goodwill in that situation. Yeah. I mean, if he, if they, I mean, my takeaway is going to be if Tray Lance looked great in the preseason, you just either, you start Garapolo and just see what happens to the market. And if the Washington football team goes one in three without Alex Smith, and all of a sudden they're like, wait a minute,

our defense is way too good to be one and three. Joy, September, early October, the truth comes out. And for teams that are, you know, some good rosters in this league, like Washington, Denver, that just don't have the quarterback right? Denver may be able to get their quarterback for a lot less than three first round picks for Aaron Rogers.

Yep, a lot can happen. Yep, Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. You know, my buddy Nick right now joins us live, brought to you my Mercedes-Benz the best or nothing. You know, it's funny, last night with about 250-something to go in the game, and a very close game, LeBron hits a clutch shot. And I sit there, and of all the myths in sports, the biggest bunch of nonsense may be, you know, LeBron's not clutch.

And I'm like, okay, the Warriors game, we've seen it now twice in the last three games. where LeBron is super clutch. It is just complete mythology. And last night was a classic example, Nick, two and a half minutes left. He really hit the shot of the game. Well, and, I mean, it's a trend. Listen, at this point, there is not a huge gap between the folks who claim LeBron James still has question marks about how clutch he is and flat earthers.

It just doesn't matter the evidence you present to them. They are dug in. He has more buzzer beaters in playoff history than anyone ever. He shoots a better percentage on those buzzer beaters than anyone ever. He has more, if you want to define Clutch as makes to tie or take the lead in the final minute of a playoff game. He has the most and the highest field goal percentage of any high-volume guy in the last 25 years. if you want to take it down to the final 24 seconds, he's the tops of that list as well.

So, like, he, LeBron in 2013, hit a 20-footer over Kauai Leonard with 18 seconds left in game seven of the finals, game seven of the finals, to win a title. That was eight years ago, and people still question it. And yeah, and people, they used to say, well, yeah, but LeBron's game winners are going to the basket. The one you're talking about was a Jordan-esque turnaround fadeaway to ice the game.

Then he added that three right there to really ice the game. So, yeah, I mean, people can argue about it, but it's not a difference of opinion. It's just one side is right and the other side is dumb. I want to move off that series for a second and talk about the Clippers because Joy and I've been on this for a month. Yes. You cannot solve your dilemmas in the playoffs. If you have a bad bullpen in the regular season, you're not going to solve it against better teams in the postseason.

And I watch the Clippers, and I'm like, okay, they're bad late. And what's more disturbing is they're supposed to be, this is the second year, Dallas isn't even a good defensive team and they're not good late. Or is this series as simple as Luke is the best. player and they can't stop him? Well, it's all of the above. Listen, Luca is on his way to being one of the 10 greatest players ever. At 22 years old, LeBron, whose their game is very similar, even though athletically they're different. LeBron was 22 when he took that Cavs team in his second playoff run ever to the finals. I don't think Luca is going to take this Mavs team to the finals,

but he is going to take him to the second round. He has played eight playoff games. They have all been against the Clippers, a Clippers team that supposedly has the best collection of wing defenders in basketball, and he's averaging 32, 10, and 9. They've stopped him once in eight games, and they had to maim his ankle to do it. The Mabs could have beat him last year, but Jalen Brunson didn't play, and Chris Stapps got hurt three games in. So, listen, Luke is the best player. But the Clippers are also a very poorly built.

Kauai was, had the best half of his life last night, was fine in the second half. Paul George was good throughout. So why did they lose? Because Nick Batum was, according to advanced metrics, the worst player in the NBA last year playing for the Hornets. He's in their crunch time five. Reggie Jackson's never been good in the playoffs. He's in their crunch time five.

They're going to Terrence Mann for a boost. Patrick Beverly is undersized and bad on offense. Evita Zubats' feet are in quicksand and he's bad on defense. They don't have a good roster. They haven't had a good roster for two years. And Kauai could have stayed in Toronto and defended his title. He could have gone home to L.A. and played with LeBron and Anthony Davis.

Instead, he chose to go to, arguably, the worst historical franchise in the NBA's history, had them trade everything they had for Paul George, and what he's going to get out of it two years in, is one playoff series victory. That's it. Because this is over. They are getting smoked. They have no answers. It's mortifying for all involved. And it's even more so. And I know Joy's been pointing this out, if they just beat the thunder in game 72, they get the Blazers. The Blazers haven't beaten them in three years. Yeah. They opted for this, and Luca is putting them in a torture chamber every single night. You know, I pick Milwaukee to win it all because we've dismissed them, so there's no pressure.

And I do think Drew Holliday and PJ Tucker allow Chris Middleton to be good and not special, because I don't think he is special. So now he can just be a shot maker, 19 a game, instead of demanding he offer 29 a game, if Janus isn't good late. What do you make of the legacy Janus right now? Because most people like the Sixers or the Nets to win the East, meaning Janus again would fail. Where are we on Yonis today?

Well, I think Yonis has the most to gain legacy-wise of anyone in the playoffs that has a realistic shot of winning the title. So Janus is 26. he's won two league MVP's, he's won a defensive player of the year award. If he wins the title, he will have won a title younger than Jordan, younger than LeBron.

And if he wins the title this year, he will have gone through the defending Eastern Conference champions Jimmy Butler and Heat Culture, KD Hardin-Kiree in round two, Joelle Embed in round three, and then LeBron and Anthony Davis in round four. That is how you would, beyond a shadow of a doubt, no questions asked, become the face of the league, the best player in the league, and start truly building an all-time resume.

And they've got a real shot at it. I've got Philly coming out of the east, but I also have Milwaukee beating Brooklyn. And what I am excited for next round is this. When is Yon has struggled in the playoffs? Well, two years ago against Toronto, when Toronto had a... Kauai Leonard that was still interested in playing defense. Last year against Miami, Miami has BAM maybe the single best suited player to defend Janus in the whole league.

Next round, everyone's like, oh, you just build a wall. You have to build a wall with actual masonry, with bricks, with Kauai, with BAM. The Nets don't have the personnel to build that wall. So I think Janice is coming up on a playoff series where he's going to average 35 points per game. And I agree with you. I think they'll beat the Nets. I don't know if they'll beat Philly. But I think he has more to gain than anybody left in the playoffs.

So I said this with Aaron Rogers. Aaron historically doesn't like to be disliked. He can be a little thin skin. It's not a criticism. It's a reality. I've got proof multiple times. Mark Murphy is not budging according to reports. He's not budging.

Aaron to this point, not only no-showed OTAs, so does five top receivers. It's orchestrated. My question is, now he's not only losing money, he's going to lose the Packer fans. I heard a radio show yesterday. It was 100. 10 out of 10 calls were anti-Aren. Does he have the stomach for this is my only question? Your thoughts on what happened yesterday, where Aaron no shows, the top five receivers don't show for the Packers? Where do we sit today?

Well, I think, listen, you have a. a lot more experience with this than I do because you have businesses and you have ventures and you're an legit businessman. I just talk about nonsense for a living. Who wins a negotiation is who has

the stronger stomach. Does Aaron Rogers have a stronger stomach to be disliked than Mark Murphy has to have a season go up and smoke? That's the question here. Because Mark Murphy can solve this.

It might not be fair. It might not be righteous. But if he just fires Guten Koontz, Rogers is back. Rogers, to me, made that very clear in the Kinney-Mane interview when he was like, it's about how you treat people. It's about the people. And I love my teammates. I love my coaches.

I love this. I love that. And so the question is, is he willing to take this to the wall? Russell Wilson wasn't. When people thought he potentially might want out of Seattle, he wanted things to get smoothed over. Aaron right now seems very happy hanging out in Hawaii if you want to see some of these Instagram videos with his fiancé.

To me, Colin, the more interesting thing is this. Jordan Love last year was the inactive third quarterback for game day and he was the third quarterback in practice. Couldn't even get ahead of Tim Boyle, which means he didn't look good last year. Colin, what if at OTAs Jordan Love looks terrible? And Matt LaFleuror goes to Mark. Murphy and is like, I'm just letting you know, I'll coach whoever you give me, but we can't,

I can't start him. Just so you know, even if Aaron's not here, Jordan cannot be the starter, it's going to have to be someone else. Does that move the needle a bit? Because we won't know how Jordan looks at OTAs, but we know last year he didn't look better than Tim Boyle. I think that's Rogers' biggest piece of leverage left. Yeah. We are here for it, though. Little little offseason mayhem in Lambo is good for all of us. You, me, Joy, it's a tire fire. We're here for it. Absolutely.

Also, I'm very curious what radio show Colin Coward was listening to that still takes phone calls. I'm going to text you about it. I'm very interested in what that was. Talk to you later, buddy. All right, Nick. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. What's up, everyone? It's meet three-time.

NFL all pro Sean Mirren. And I have a new sports podcast called The Lights Out Podcast with Sean Murrayman. This podcast is special to me as I get a chance to talk to some of the best who've ever done it on the field or the track. So whether it's talking to a Super Bowl champion or a NASCAR Cup Series champion, the Lights Out podcast will bring it to you the only way I know how to. I'm giving you the best insight from the best who's ever done it. Listen to Lights Out with Sean Merriman on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at Tickford. Talk Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. Clearly, 84 is big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast.

or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field

and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free. iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now. Alex Smith, the former Washington 49er and Kansas City chief quarterback will join us in about 15 minutes

at the top of next hour. Very excited for that. A real gentleman, I watched him nervously play last year and I thought retirement was the place to be, even though in six games as a starter he did go five and one. Not a surprise. Alex Smith won a lot of football games in his career. So the story in Green Bay is now fascinating. Matt LaFleur is trying to talk about the players who are in camp, not the players who didn't show up.

That's what coaches want to do. He still says, quote, we can get Aaron back in the building. This is a little bit like Kauai Leonard in San Antonio, where Kauai got tired of the culture. He thought it was heavy-handed and he was done with it and he didn't want to live in San Antonio. The difference is Greg Popovich let his ego get in the way and just sent him to Canada because he knew Kauai would hate Canada. And Kauai acknowledged, I'm from L.A. I don't like cold.

Okay. But in the process, when Popovich let his ego get in the way, they didn't get enough in the trade. For a kid that had a history as a great postseason player, an ascending top five player, because they let emotion get involved. Oklahoma City got a ton for Westbrook and Paul George, both with bad playoff reputations. Westbrook at that point was no longer ascending

because Sam Presti took his ego out of it in Oklahoma City, took a deep breath and got a ton for Paul and a ton for Russ. San Antonio got a really athletic guy named Dorrozen, who in a three-point league can't shoot a three. Green Bay, Mark Murphy, needs to look at Oklahoma City. Take a deep breath. No emotion here. Aaron gave you a ton.

I've never understood people that get divorced after 10, 15 years of marriage. You've got a bunch of great kids. You had great times. You stay together for 15 years. Why are you bitter? You got to write a little check every month? The kids are healthy. The kids are great.

You're happy now. No more yelling, screaming. What are you bitter about? There's no reason to be bitter here about Aaron Rogers. Are you kidding me? You went from Brett Farr to Aaron Rogers. That doesn't happen ever. That doesn't happen ever.

You want a lot of games. You want a Super Bowl. You sold a lot of merch. You sold a lot of seats. Don't be bitter about it. I mean, New England, when Tom Brady left, got one compensatory pick. One. Green Bay could get three first round picks and multiple players and a second round pick.

Just take a deep breath. Denver, Washington, Miami, the Raiders. There are a lot of teams that would give you a lot to get Aaron Rogers. No reason. Listen, Aaron's just saying, you're going to get rid of me anyway because you drafted Jordan Love, right? you were going to get rid of me anyway. I'm just not going to allow you to get rid of me on your timeline. I'm going to rush it and make you get rid of me a year earlier than you wanted to.

What Green Bay did when they drafted Jordan Love, they wanted Jordan to sit for two years. Aaron's like, no, we're going to do this on my timeline, not yours. Don't be bitter. Take a deep breath. Call the Broncos. Alex Smith around the corner, hour one, done, hour two next. In L.A., it's the hurt. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clivert Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you at your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network

on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.