The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 06/02/2021 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: June 2, 2021

As a huge fan of LeBron James, Colin admits something about the 4x champion and what we can expect from him at this point in his career. Big news out of the NBA with the Celtics moving head coach Brad Stevens into the front office and letting go of Danny Ainge and why we shouldn’t be so negative about his time in Boston. He also defends LeBron for leaving the bench early during a blowout loss in game 5 against the Suns. Plus, NBA insider Chris Mannix joins the show to tell Colin what's next for the Celtics and Ainge after the massive overhaul. 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.

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 IHeart 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 Jay. 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 podcasts. 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 I Heart 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. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Best of 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. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Oh, I love shows with breaking news, and we've got it live in Los Angeles. It's the herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. The herd brought to you by Jersey Mike Subs, be a sub above. Big news in Boston. Danny Aange out.

Brad Stevens replaces him. Celtics, a huge brand looking for a new coach. No, it's not going to be. Mike Sheshefsky at Duke, Twitter. That's not who it's going to be. Joy Taylor is joining me. We have, that's what's great about the playoffs, the combustibility of it.

I mean, a bad loss. Let's get AD out of town. Celtics are going to lose their series. Boom, let's get Danny Aange out of town. It's just, it's the cabloom. We know the clippers if they lose this series. They're bringing in the TNT and blowing that thing up. I like the urgency and combust ability of what we're living in right now.

Well, yeah. I mean, this is what we've been waiting for. This is the playoffs are all about. You've got to win big. Yeah, and you watch these games. You can sense the intensity of these games. So let's start with this. I'll get to the Celtics in a second.

So the Lakers lose. I said this yesterday. I said the Sons are going to win this game. I believe the Phoenix Sons, when Chris Paul is 75%, 80% healthy, the Sons are better than the Lakers. Even if AD plays, I think the Sons are better. I think AD's had two or three amazing quarters. but you can't depend on him.

I can depend on Chris Paul when he's healthy every quarter. His leadership doesn't go away. His toughness doesn't go away. I can't depend on AD even when he's healthy. I don't know if I get aggressive AD. So I think the sons are a better team. But you know, in the past, when LeBron teammates let him down, and it was often.

Let's be honest about this. It was injured teammates. J.R. Smith goes kooky. Kyrie flakes out. LeBron had the ability to rise, put on the Superman cape and carry. them. He doesn't. He's scored more than 40 points one time this year. In the playoffs, he's 20th in scoring. D-Rose the Knicks on a bad wheel averages more than LeBron in the playoffs. Since LeBron scored 40 points once this year, once, 42 other guys have scored over 40

points. Like even Tom Brady as he aged, he's still great. We watched him. but he can't carry slow wide receivers in New England. He barked and yelled at them. LeBron has a turbo button, right? All great players push the turbo button. LeBron's still works, but just not very long. There's a video game I bought for the kids, and it had a turbo button. It was race cars, you can race through cities.

It was really fun. It had a turbo button. And he gave you about six seconds of turbo. Now, LeBron's is longer than that, but not that much longer. His turbo goes about three minutes, four minutes, both ends of the floor, and then he's older. And Kurt Schilling, the great pitcher once told me, as he aged, he goes, I still had the fastball. I didn't lose my fastball. I just have 12 a game, not 70.

So I would go into a baseball game knowing I got 12 heaters. I can go 96 miles an hour 12 times. So I'm not going to throw it unless it's two strikes or runners on. I got 12 of them. And that's now where LeBron is. And that's okay. The turbo button, it still works. But the Lakers now, as we said a couple days ago, they've become that Cavs team where

Kyrie and Kevin Love got hurt. The difference is LeBron in that series, that final, he averaged like 34 points in a triple double. He's averaging 22 points a game in the playoffs. That's what LeBron's become. And so he got the fastball, but he just, the turbo button doesn't last very long. The question's going to become in this franchise. Because we knew Andre Drummond wasn't coming back.

and Dennis Schrooter salary cap casualty won't come back. The question is, what do you do with Anthony Davis? Because as I said yesterday, Anthony Davis was always hurt in New Orleans. You just didn't watch. So Laker fans got last year's Anthony Davis who got a four and a half month hiatus through the pandemic. Everybody's like, I love AD. You can depend on AD. And no, in New Orleans, they could increasingly not depend on AD.

He is not healthy. He is never committed to his body. and therefore his body doesn't really commit to him. LeBron, Brady, Russell Wilson, a lot of guys out there, they spend millions of dollars a year, year round, their own trainers to be in great shape. Anthony Davis is closer to Big Ben. God gave him natural genetic gifts.

His off-season are little light in the sweat department couple yoga classes, grab a ball, shoot around. But AD came into this season out of shape. And good luck in a condensed season trying to play yourself in shape. So Charles Barkley was not exactly subtle last night talking about Anthony Davis and the Lakers. Forget about the championship. They can't win this series without street clothes. I'm not even

you want to explain that? I call him after the street clothes Davis because he's always in street clothes. Harsh but true. Now, LeBron doesn't want to get rid of AD. He does have a little psychological edge here. He can go to AD and say, bruh, we gave you a five-year deal,

clutch sports. My guy, Rich Paul, we gave you a five-year deal. You got to come in shape. Can't play herself in the shape. You got, you got. LeBron's got a little psychological edge on him. It's like, hey, I was going to hand the baton to you, and you didn't show up. And Anthony then has to look himself in the mirror and really come into shape.

But it's also about commitment. We hear this all the time, joy, about athletes. How committed are they? And I've said, you're not going to find anybody more committed in the history of sports than Tom Brady, even more so than LeBron. Why? Because Aaron Rogers won't take a pay cut. Tom Brady will. Commitment is, Tim Duncan, took pay cuts.

Brady took pay cuts. You want to talk commitment. LeBron now has to look himself in the mirror. Because an old expensive Kobe couldn't make the playoffs. An old inexpensive MJ couldn't make the playoffs. An old expensive LeBron going to be first round and out. What do you want to be? How committed are you?

LeBron's got a $900 million net worth. I am never here to tell people to take less money, especially athletes. I can do this radio TV thing forever. They got about 15 years to hit it. But it's going to be interesting. AD's got to look himself in the mirror. Do not come into a season and play yourself into shape. And LeBron has to look in the mirror and go,

do I have to work out my contract a little bit of here eventually? Take a little less to have a little more help. I think it would help in the pursuit of championships. But it's going to be an interesting off season. This series is over. It's over. Now, Phoenix is a better team. Chris Ball's injury is easier to navigate.

AD was grimacing in warm-ups. Series is over. All right. So let's talk about the breaking news today. It started early this morning. Woj, Chris Manick, Shams Sharanya, who we had on the show, all great reporters, all various stages of this. Danny Ains is out in Boston as the head of operations.

Brad Stevens, the coach, now replaces him. And then they're looking for a coach. So we don't know who's going to be the coach. It's not going to be Coach K. Come on, let's move on past that. That's Twitter nonsense. So it's very easy to say, oh, this Boston thing was a failure. Be careful. There's a difference between failure and high standards.

The Philadelphia Sam Hinky experiment was a failure. The process where they decided, as the league was pivoting to a shooter's league for five straight years, we're just going to draft the tallest guy out of college. That's not even understanding the temperature of the room. That was a massive whiff. Danny Age was not a massive whiff. Four years, three conference championships, and they got bad breaks. Gordon Hayward literally broke his ankle in his first 10 minutes as a Celtic.

Kyrie Irving just rejected the franchise in the city. Jalen Brown this year. good player got hurt not the same team this was not a whiff danny a age made two of the best trades in the last 10 years in the league he got rid of kg who was old and expensive and got great draft picks he also traded down and yet got the best player in a draft named jason tatum and danny a a lot right boston is a uniquely challenging situation a lot of NBA guys don't want to play there, despite its great basketball winning history. Kauai Leonard, free agent, no interest in Boston.

Anthony Davis' dad, I would never want my son to play for the Celtics. Rich Paul, who runs clutch sports, told the Celtics, you can go ahead and trade for AD. He'll walk. That's not what the Lakers face. That's not what, like, historically, the Bulls or the Mavericks had faced or the Philadelphia 76ers. There's players that don't want to play in Boston. a city that African Americans often feel is racially uncomfortable or insensitive.

So that's a thing you face in Boston. So this morning, this could be painted as, oh, what a failure. Not really. When they had to rebuild after their championship, after Danny Aange landed Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, we thought it was going to be a long rebuild. They missed the playoffs one time. Philadelphia couldn't get into the playoffs.

Philadelphia, the process, was a complete whiff defended by some analytic nerds who just like to be popular on social media. That was a whiff. They didn't even know what the league was becoming. Boston was not a whiff. Danny Aange will still get jobs. He's better than 70% of the guys doing this in the NBA. But the organization has included.

incredibly high standards, and they've got this young, dynamic, super smart head coach. He's getting worn out. They want to keep his brain in the organization. He's not 62. He's closer to 42. And that's the decision being made. You see this all the time. You know, ever seen some college basketball programs and college football programs that they'll still go to bowl games and they'll keep their coach forever.

And then you get those programs like an Ohio state. and they gave Luke Fickle one year. And he didn't win in one year. And they fired him and went and got, and Luke Fickle can coach and went and got Urban Meyer. That's called high standards. Like Boston's got high standards. But it is a uniquely challenging job.

And I think it came down to this. All these college programs were going after Brad Stevens. Hard. You write the check. And Boston went to Brad Stevens and he said, I'll be honest with you. I'd like to move into the front office. I can do that longer than coach.

I'm burnt out from coaching. And now Brad Stevens will run the organization, not Danny Aange. I think it actually, I don't know if it's the right move. It's an intriguing move. But I reject that Danny Aange and Brad Stevens were a failure. If you get to three conference championships in four years, and that's dealing with a series of bad, bad breaks. I mean, Gordon Hayward's first minute as a Celtic shatters his ankle.

Jalen Brown. Hurt. Kyrie Irving, who by the way, can be erratic, just rejected the city. I mean, you know, I think it worked. It just didn't get championships. And that's what Boston pursues. They're the Yankees. They're the Lakers. They're Ohio State football. They're, you know, Kentucky or Kansas basketball. They're not going to sit around and rest on, we made the playoffs. That's not good enough. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver 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, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick you 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 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, so. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear 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, Tripp 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. 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 Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now.

So LeBron left the bench with five minutes to go, and because he is a superstar and the best player in the league for about 15 years, people freaked out, social media goes nuts, I can't believe it. LeBron has never lacked commitment for 18 years. he's been carrying every franchise, every owner, every coach, every GM he's ever had. I'm not going to question LeBron's commitment to the NBA. It should be noted this is not Hoosiers. It's not high school basketball. It's not your eight-year-old son teaching him good sportsmanship. This is not Isaiah Thomas refusing to shake Michael Jordan's hands.

We still have games in this series. Chris Bosch will be on our show in about 20 minutes. Chris Bosch has a new book out. it's great. Letter to a young athlete. Fantastic. Buy it. Great book. He talks about LeBron's commitment to stretching and treatment. Barsh says you'll be out with LeBron at a team dinner. He'll step away from the table to stretch. LeBron is so committed to stretching, working out, and getting treatment that LeBron wanted to, in a blowout, start his treatment for the next game. by the way, in baseball, this is understood.

Sports have their own cultures. In baseball, let's say I pitch six and two-thirds innings. I'm done. I go inside to watch video and ice my arm and put it in a bucket. It's understood. It's okay in baseball. In basketball, you have to stay there to the very end. You know what?

We went through a pandemic, now a condensed schedule. It's a 30-point game. LeBron getting off to do treatment early is not the end of the world. You would ideally like him to stay, sort of that constant, you know, to appease the critics, to make sure it looks good. But in life, one of the reasons it's important, I thought, to defend Drew Brees when he had that moment in New Orleans when he lost some support from players is his resume was full of charitable donations, elevating teammates, elevating players that weren't even on his own team. Drew Breeze's resume matters.

Not every person is perfect like everybody else on social media. LeBron's resume matters. He has bailed out teammates, GMs, coaches, his owners, his entire career. I'm going to let him in a blowout. A blowout you stop watching. Go start treatment early. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's me.

Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast Inside the Parker for 22 minutes of Pipe and Hot baseball talk featuring the biggest names and newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the I-Test, we've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. A win is a win. A win. I'll care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped 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 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.

To be clear, 84's 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 there's a through line

We also have AIDS on the table right now so Thank you finishing that sentence 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.

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, Tripp 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? 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, our heart radio app, Search learn the hard way and listen now. Don't give me the absolutes that you can't trade Aaron Rogers in the season, as if he doesn't have value.

Like in Denver's 2 and 6. And Green Bay calls, you want Aaron Rogers, Denver? No, we're good with Drew Luck. Teddy Bridgewater, it's great. Mahalms, Justin Herbert, Derek Carr, we're good with Drew Luck. Stop. Aaron Rogers value is not going to decrease for teams that are 2 and 6 in October. So there's a story in the average.

athletic, the Packers would trade Rogers if they truly believed he would never play for them again. But the Packers don't think Aaron has the stomach for it. They're calling his bluff. Now, a lot of that's because Aaron Packers own him. Aaron would have to give up $35 million of which he would never get that back. That's a lot of lettuce. Even if you host Jeopardy, that's a lot of money to give up.

You're never going to get that back. here's the thing. If Aaron's going to be a little petty, Green Bay has the right to be clever. If I'm Green Bay, this is when I trade him. Let's take Denver as the trade partner because that's the most likely. Don't give them Aaron Rogers early.

Now, don't give him a training camp. Don't give him an exhibition season. Don't give him home games in that high altitude in September where he starts off 2 and 0 or 3 and 0. No. trade Aaron eight games in, nine games in at the deadline. Doesn't get a training. Unlike Brady, who at least was in Tampa,

Aaron in a tough division, moves in, has a rocky first year. That's your way of being clever. Also, the value to this. You don't want to trade him now to Denver. Denver kicks butt and the draft picks you get are lower first round. They're a playoff team. If you trade Aaron, week eight, week nine, Denver's 2 and 4, 2 and 5.

It ensures Aaron struggles initially, and Denver's not a great team, meaning you get the 13th pick or the 12th pick, not the 21st pick. And also if I'm Green Bay, I mean, I'm going to play Jordan Love regardless, right? But I'm going to demand, I want stuff now. I want a first round pick and a second round pick this year and a player. But it's really important that I get the next draft first and second round. because Denver, once Aaron gets rolling, it's going to be a playoff team. But this year, if you trade Aaron week eight, nine to Denver, they won't be. So that first round pick, that's a good pick.

Because Green Bay, if they have to play Jordan, they're not going to be a playoff team. They're probably not going to be a playoff team. So you're going to have your pick and Denver's, and they're both top 15. And then if you demand a second round pick, you get a top 15 second round pick and a top 15 second round pick from Denver and your own. That is four picks in the upper half of the first and second round. Translation, you give those to Jordan Love next year. He's got guys starters that can help you.

You get a couple receivers. You get stars that can help you. So if Aaron's going to be a little petty, then we all have a little petty, Green Bay has the right to be clever. And so I keep hearing. Nobody trades a quarterback. Stop with the nobody. Nobody made trades until Jimmy Johnson did.

I mean, stop with the, you can't do nobody, you know, how many times have we been surprised in sports with a nobody does this and then they do it. So I would not give Aaron a long runway to have a great first year in Denver. I would just say, listen, we're going to have to move off Aaron. It's going to be a little rocky. Hell, it was rocky. we moved off far for Aaron for a year. There were six and ten. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart

radio app. Search Hurd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Brad Stevens has now stopped being the coach of the Celtics. He now runs the Boston Celtics. As of this moment, Danny Aange is gone. I will defend the Celtics. I think they've been well run, a little timid at times in their acquisitions. But I will say, let me defend Boston on this. So there's three organizations in sports. The Boston Celtics, the Green Bay Packers, and the Utah Jazz, winning cultures. The good ownership, well, two of the three have good ownership.

These are good franchises. But they have an obstacle that we need to address. Running a pro franchise is basically a bar stool. You have three legs. Three ways, three legs to get players. You can draft them. You can trade for them. Or free agency.

They choose you. The Packers and the Jazz and the Celtics, they're kind of working on two legs in the bar stool. They don't do great on the players choosing you for different reasons. Green Bay is a little tiny town. Boston's racial history, African American players have pushback. Utah. and it's kind of in the mountains.

LeBron James joked. Remember that funny joke of the All-Star game? Even as a kid, we didn't choose Utah players when we were playing. Whatever that. What's that game called? Basketball game that kids. NBA Jam. Yeah.

Like LeBron's like, and Kevin Durant laughed. He's like, we never choose Utah guys. We knew they were great. We never chose them. So there's a reality with the Celtics that has to be stated. They draft pretty well. They've made good trades. They don't.

They don't, they don't, they're not a top choice for free agents. But the Celtics, the Packers, and the Jazz have either had good ownership, good general managers, good coaches. So they've been very, very successful. Usually there's a lot of places that don't, in that barstool of three ways to get a player, draft, trade, or free agency. A lot of them aren't nearly as good as the Packers. Buffalo for years and years was not great for free agency.

Guys in a winter, you know, in the fall winter, don't want to play in Buffalo, right? cold weather. They didn't do well in free agency. And they weren't drafting good players and they weren't developing them. Now, Buffalo has a great GM and a great coach, so they're fine. But Boston is not, I know it's got a great, there's this sort of Boston Celtics. They had a great franchise. I think they face an obstacle that doesn't get talked about a ton, but Kauai Leonard didn't want to play there. And A.D. did not want to play there. And that's, those are the kind of guys AD and Kauai that are deciding these playoff series. A lot of the top players don't want to play in Boston. So I thought they had great success. I mean, Brad Stevens is very interesting.

So Brad's super smart, but he doesn't have an agent. So Brad himself would prefer not dealing with an agent. Now running the Celtics, he's going to be on the phone with agents all day. We'll see how that works. In the NBA, either as a coach or a general manager, you got to deal with stuff you don't love. As a coach, it's the travel, it's the film study. It's an exhausting life. General managers don't have to go on every road trip, but they got to deal with agents and salary caps and, you know, sometimes dealing with a player like Kyrie who rejects the franchise. So, listen, there's a headache at every corner in professional sports, right? Like, just because you're moving upstairs, the headaches don't go away and the challenges don't go away. Now Brad Stevens,

who doesn't have an agent's going to have to deal with agents all the time. And he's going to see what Danny Aange had to deal with. Now, the Celtics, Nick Wright came on, and the criticism of Danny Aange was, you know, he had to win every trade. He's a little bit paralyzed by that. I got to win the trade or I'm not doing it. There's some truth in that. You know, less need of the Rams kind of views it differently.

I've talked to less need of the Rams, a very smart GM. Les wants a star. He's less worried about winning the trade and getting what makes a football team better. Like, Les Needs not one of these guys. Pete Carroll's not one of these guys where they lose a ton of sleep on, well, that was a winning trade and that was a lose. I want Jamal Adams. You know, I want Jalen Ramsey.

Can he make us better now? Let's go with it. And I think Boston has sort of lacked that. Let's just get better now and win. Because you got Jason Tatum. You got Jalen Brown. You're really one, really good piece away. I mean, you've been to three of the last four east.

Eastern Conference Championships. So it's not like you whiffed, but in the NBA, super aggressive wins. I mean, the Lakers are a prime example. They're going to blow this team up. There's no question. They're not going to beat the Suns because AD is grimacing doing pregame stuff. Like, AD is done. You cannot have a groin strain.

Forget having a groin strain and walking on a treadmill at a high speed for an hour. Try playing an NBA game for two and a half hours. You're not going to be able to do it. So I think the season's over for the Lakers and they'll just cabloom, blow it up and start over. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. It's okay to do that.

The teams that are doing that in sports are winning a lot of the championships. They're starting over. But I think Boston is a kind of uniquely challenged situation. And let me talk more about AD because AD, you know, when a Laker season is going to end, stuff. Remember the Laker team, Kobe Shack, Phil Jackson, they faced Detroit, and they were favored. So the way the Lakers work, it's one thing for the Lakers to lose a series. But when the Lakers are favored to win and lose, they blow stuff up.

That was the Kobe Shack team. They faced Detroit in the finals. Carl Malone favored to win, lost. And Kobe and Shaq were no longer teammates. So if you're going to blow up Kobe and Shaq, you'd blow up anybody, right? And I don't think LeBron and AD are going to be separate. I think LeBron and the Lakers have to have a heart-to-heart with AD and say, bruh, you came into this season, out of shape.

Like out of shape. This was, I know it's a condensed year. Yeah, I got hurt too. But I do think it's heart-to-heart, look-in-the-mirate time for AD, which is you cannot play your way into shape. You can't do that. Dame Lillard, Steph Curry, LeBron, these guys come into the season ready to play. 90% in game shape. So I do think we're getting to that point with AD because you can certainly make the argument that last year, because of the pandemic,

was a complete outlier and that Anthony Davis got a four and a half month hiatus in season. And that's the only season in which he was all. dog all the time. He was rested. They were good. He showed up every night. But A.D.'s career is a lot of can't play at the night. I mean, Charles Barkley was joking last night. He calls him street clothes because he's always in his street close. And LeBron, by the way, we've got sound of this, admitted he thinks Anthony's done for the series. You know, my mindset is that he's not going to be able to play in game six. But that's my mindset. I have to go in with that. My mindset for me is as if AD won't be in the game in game six.

And if something changes, then we go from there. But I'm preparing as if he's not. I mean, remember, LeBron put all his eggs in the AD basket. He put him in Space Jam. LeBron knew they were going to give up players and picks. LeBron had clutch sports. You know, clutch sports is Rich Paul and LeBron are good friends. they represent him.

LeBron was willing to give him number 23. So LeBron went all in on AD. And there were times, yes, that De Wade wasn't available for LeBron. But that's because D. Wade was hurt because of how hard he plays and how committed he is and how fearless D. Wade was as a smaller player. AD is not available because he's not committing. he's not in good shape. And so I think LeBron has to have a heart to heart.

Not all injuries are the same. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Chris Manix, been covering in the NBA for a long time. He is texting Danny Ains last night during the game. And Chris Manick's NBA guy is joining us live. Okay, so you're one of the guys that was all over this this morning. So let's start with this. Danny Aange is a very young 62. I reject the idea that Boston was a failure.

That's all over Twitter this morning. I think he won a lot of games and made a lot of big trades. And sometimes it's bad breaks. Like in Gordon Hayward's case, it's literally a bad break. What is next, Chris, for Danny Aange in your opinion? What do you know? Well, I don't believe that Danny is going to be retiring, even though the Celtics framed it that way in their announcement of his exit.

I still think there is a fire in his belly to run an NBA team. And I think it'll be back in the league sooner rather than later. The team I'm monitoring the most closely on that end is the Utah Jazz. I mean, Danny was a star at BYU. He has property in that area. And there's a connection there. And he's got because of that new owner of the. as Ryan Smith, who has a strong relationship with Danny Ames.

Now, the Jazz don't have a front office opening right now. Dennis Lindsay, who was one of the best top executives in all of basketball, he is still there. Justin Zanick, a very well-respected GM, works underneath him as his number two. So they're solid right now at the moment. But if something happens where a job opens up in Utah, I fully expect Danny Aange to be involved in that organization. Okay, I'll throw my theory at you on Brad Stevens and you can puncture it all you'd like, Chris. So, listen, coaching, he was a great college coach. He was a very successful NBA coach.

But sometimes, you know, a lot of colleges have come after Brad Stevens. He could write the check. And I think Brad looked at it. He's a smart guy and thought, all right, I don't want to go back to college coaching. I can make a lot of money. I'm not sure I'm enjoying all the NBA coach. coaching and the Celtics had to make a choice because they didn't want to lose his brain power in the building because he's super bright. So, you know, I mean, I think, I don't think

the Celtics hate Danny Aange. I just think we're going to lose Brad Stevens here. That's my theory on what happened. Tell me why Brad Stevens is moving upstairs. Well, I don't think that Brad would be going anywhere as the head coach if this opportunity didn't present itself. He very recently signed a long-term contract to be the coach. So I would expect he would be there. I actually asked Brad this during the press conference this afternoon. Would he be, would he have been happy staying on the job? And for whatever it's worth, he said he would have. He said he would have it. He said he loves the organization. It would continue to do whatever it is that he wanted to do. But I don't think there's any question, Colin, that with this job opening, Brad Stevens was

eager to jump into it. He's been a head coach of this team for eight years now. And the last three, have been very stressful. I mean, 2018-19 was a debacle. It was the Kyrie Irving year. It was Gordon Hayward trying to come back year. It was a messy situation that ended with this team getting knocked off in the second round of the playoffs. Last season was better, but the pandemic impacted it. They finished the season in the bubble. So that was stressful. This season, even more stress. COVID-19, the issues that affected the season, not the same type of chemistry with that locker room and it ends in the first round of the playoffs. So I would say I don't think Brad was a way out,

but when this opportunity presented, I think he aggressively put his name forward as a candidate to fill that opening. So the next Celtics coach, I heard stuff, you know, people were saying Coach K and I just don't buy it. I think Coach K is more consultant maybe than he would be coach. I mean, is there a frontrunner for this gig? Well, I think that, well, I know over the next few days, they're going to interview internal candidates.

They've got some strong ones on Bradstaff. Jay Laranega has been interviewed for head coaching opportunities before. Scott Morrison is an excellent young coaching candidate. Jerome Allen has been a head coach in the college ranks, but then they're going to spread out and look across the basketball landscape. And I do believe that's where they're most likely to land. Now, one of the names I've heard is IMA Udoka, an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets. He has been a coach on the rise from his days in San Antonio, in Philadelphia, and now in Brooklyn, one of the top assistants on Steve Nash's staff with the Nets.

That's someone I think will get strong consideration. But they will, I believe, pass a reasonably wide net early on in this process. As Brad goes through something, he's never gone through before. He's never been the man in charge of hiring a head coach. So I would expect this to be something of a drawn-out process in the coming weeks. By the way, a couple of non-Seltic topics. Fan behavior in the NBA. Listen, we know the proximity fans to players in pro basketball is really close.

And I said this yesterday. I've been watching this happen for five or six or seven years, where these billionaire owners to squeeze another nickel out of their arena have moved the media upstairs. Let's get more people on the court, more people around the tunnel. and I think pandemic, masks, everybody's pent up, there's a lot of anxiety, and it's just kind of, we're seeing this with airlines, bad behavior. We're seeing it. But some of this to me is, could you give the players a break when they walk to the tunnel?

Could they have? If you can high-five an athlete walk into a tunnel, that's, to me, I just don't think that's appropriate. There's another way to make money. How much of this is on owners, the league, who's responsible for this? I mean, why is it so bad in the NBA? Look, I think it's a good point that, you know, players or fans are on top of players in ways they aren't in other sports.

I mean, I can tell you firsthand the number of media seats I've lost that have been close to the floor because owners have wanted to put paying customers in that area and make money off them. this run of incidents involving fans has definitely given the NBA cause for reconsideration about some things. Now, right now what they've settled on is enhanced security at games, more visible presences when it comes to security guards at games. If that doesn't work, the league might have to take extra steps. Maybe barriers might wind up having to be involved. Seats may need to be moved.

But right now, I don't think the NBA. is at that point. They're hoping what you're saying is true. That the way that this last year and a half has gone, pent up everything, that when things get back to more normal, you won't see as many incidents. One thing I think that needs to happen, though, is that they need to work hand in hand with law enforcement to make sure there is real tangible punishment when something like this happens. I mean, banning a fan for life makes a nice headline in a press release, but it doesn't really have any teeth. Like you can't, there aren't. There aren't. faces on milk cartons at NBA arenas preventing guys or women from coming into the arena.

I think there needs to be legal ramifications. Now, the guy that got a kid that got arrested in Boston was charged with a felony. That, to me, is a little bit over the top for the incident that occurred. But I think there's going to be something that comes with real penalties, whether it's community service, a substantial fine. Because how drunk you are, Colin, if you are of the understanding that you are going to be dinged $50,000 or have to do 100 hours of community service, you are going to rethink throwing that water bottle or running onto the court. Right now, those penalties don't really exist, at least not in the legal process. And that's something I'd like to see the NBA work more with enforcement in trying to make sure

stuff like that happens. Chris, finally, Joe and I were talking about this last year is load management is not a great look for the league. I grew up in a small town. I went to one Sonics game every year. That's what we could afford. It was a three-hour drive after school to get there. So if I I'd have gone as a kid to a Sonics game and Gus Williams and DJ and Freddie Brown wouldn't have played. You know, that's a crushing moment for a little kid. I don't like load management. So I think the league, when the Clippers lost last year, Price sat there and thought, good.

Chemistry Matters play. I look at the Brooklyn team this year and I think to myself, okay, they want them in the finals. But if Brooklyn wins, Katie, Hardin left the rockets, Kyrie, boy, the messaging, Chris, is, Hey guys, go join up. You don't even have to play 45 games.

Just go join forces. And I know they wouldn't say it publicly. Couldn't I? Privately. Doesn't it hurt the league a little if Brooklyn just storms through this whole playoff and wins the championship? Yeah, because teams that are put together, even for a full season, don't have championship level success.

Even though he didn't win a championship in their first season with La Ron Wade and Bosch together as a trio. Now, I don't know that it would substantially change how NBA teams operate. I mean, the Raptors already kind of set the mold for what they did in 2018-19, where Kauai was on a very strict load management schedule. And that's the kind of blueprint. I think you're going to see teams follow moving forward. It's hard to kind of follow the Nets blueprint because if they win the whole thing,

it's going to be because they assembled three of the best scorers, as Kyrie Irving said, in NBA history, three guys that are just straight assassins in the fourth quarter. If you can do that, then sure, then maybe you can follow the blueprint that the Nets do it. But everything I hear from the Nets organization is that, man, they wish they had more time with these guys out there in the floor. If they get beat by Milwaukee in the second round, I guarantee you it's going to be blamed in some way, shape or form on the fact that these guys did not have the type of chemistry that they would have if they've played a whole season together. Chris Manix, great stuff, NBA writer, Sports Illustrated. You know I love talking to you, man. Thanks, Chris. Appreciate it.

Anytime. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Street. Peter 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.

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