The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 06/02/2021 - HOUR 1 - Lakers-Suns, Celtics, Packers

Episode Date: June 2, 2021

Colin believes the Lakers-Suns series is overThe Celtics now have a new GMGreen Bay doesn't believe Aaron Rodgers is willing to hold outGuest: 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.

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, unfiltered 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 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 Herd. You're listening to 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 Shishowski 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 not 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 scored more than 40 points. 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. He 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 to 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 Schroeder, 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 years 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 has never committed to his body. And therefore, his body doesn't really commit to him. them. 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-seasons are little light in the sweat department. A couple of yoga classes, grab a ball shooting around. But age, 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 their series without street clothes. I'm not even you want to explain that? I call him Anthony's streetclothes 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, bro, 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 or step in the shape. LeBron's got a little psychological edge on it. 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 offseason. 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 Aange 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 Kay. 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. 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 whip. Danny Ains 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 grape draft picks. He also traded down and yet got the best player in a draft named Jason Tatum. Danny Ains did 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's 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. I don't, 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 Age will still get jobs. He's better than 70% of the guys doing this in the NBA. But the organization has 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, there's 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 Hurd. 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. We'll have more on that coming up. LeBron left the bench with five minutes left last night. Oh, boy. Oh, my gosh. End of the world. I will defend the king.

Next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard 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 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 I'm 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more 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 J. 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 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 for 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 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. Trip 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, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Many people had turned the game off. Even the announcer Kevin Harlan lost interest in the Suns Lakers last night as he kept giving us updates on the Blazers and Nuggets a far more enthralling game. 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. Bosch 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 Breeze 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. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. And ask his teammates, by the way.

Hey, Dennis Schrooter. By the way, thanks for going on for nine. Are you okay with LeBron starting his treatment early? I'm going to guess his teammates are okay with it. I mean, I think it looked more dramatic than it was. I mean, obviously there's going to be the feeling from fans and people who are LeBron critics that, like, he needs to stay out there and, you know, see this loss happen in real time.

But, like, they're going to lose whether LeBron is sitting on the sidelines, not getting his treatment or not. So what difference does it make? And also, to your point, it looked more dramatic. There's a reason they put music in movies to enhance the drama. When you see LeBron slowly walking through the tunnel, You might as well have just put a music behind it. Boom, bum, bum.

It's like he's just walking to the tunnel, starting treatment. He's going to be an ice in about 35 seconds. Exactly. Well, it was a bad night for the Lakers. Great night for the Suns, though. You have to give the Suns credit. Good basketball team, like really good. Favorite now, I think.

To me, once they polish off the Lakers, I'll take them to win the West. They look incredible. Monty Williams has done an amazing job and deserves all the flowers for it. But last night was about Damien Lillard. Yeah. Put an all-time performance on for the Blazers, 55 points, made a playoff record, 12 three-pointers, and a double overtime thriller. Amazing game to watch.

But it wasn't enough. I'm Portland. It's so Portland, rinse and repeat. Dames amazing, nobody can defend. You don't even have words for it anymore. I mean, you're watching history last night. Damien. Like just just just pure magic talent, everything that you watch sports for in Damien.

We've been saying this now for several years. Game on the line. There's two human beings on the planet you want, Damon Steff. And as good as Luca is, Luca is still. And his clutch is LeBron. You tell me I need a shot on the planet. From anywhere on the planet. How many people on the planet?

10 billion. Dame and Steph. That's who I want. want the ball with nine seconds left. They are Damian Lillard is just ice in veins, cool. It was just, it was remarkable to watch. And then

Robert Covington missed a dunk with 47 seconds left. And then CJ McCollum stepped out of bounds. Yeah, yeah, he did. With 9.1 seconds left. God. I mean,

it was, it was the right decision to throw to him, but at that point, I'm like, Dame, just shoot it. Listen, this is, you know those guys feel bad because they're watching Dame put on a clinic and I think, I will say this.

I think Portland's a good franchise. It's cabloom time. Let's blow this puppy up. I mean, it's got to be right, but they're so loyal. Well, well, the Lakers are going to cobloom it. Yeah, but that's the Lakers. Well, what are your standards? I mean, I'm sorry, I've seen this thing for six years. Dame's great. Nobody can defend. No, I'm with

you. Like, something's got, something's got to give. That's right. But different organizations, and you know this, and different cities have different sensibilities. Yeah, I get it. So, you know, the Lakers are, we're not winning a championship. This is unacceptable. Everybody's got to go. The Celtics are like that to some degree, but it went a little longer

with the not winning a championship before they made some major moves. I mean, that's just not how Portland is. So the Nuggets now lead the series 3, 2, heads back to Portland for Game 6 on Thursday. I mean, it was just an incredible night. Watching Austin Rivers pray after After Davis, the shot, it's just like, yeah, I mean, he's putting 55 up on you. You're going to be grateful one of them doesn't go in.

I'll tell you, Austin Rivers. What a great story. I'll say this about him. He's always been able to score. He's always been a clever offensive player. I love these Derek Rose, Austin River stories, where guys come back. Eagles gone. They know what they are.

They know what they can do. And there are supplemental pieces on teams. Never, we always want to bury players. And Derek Rose has. real value, like real value. All the credit. He is, he's completely leaned into what he is now. Yeah, he's a completely different player. I will say, though, to your point about the guy's feeling bad, I'm watching the post game

interviews afterwards, and even watching AD on the sideline, I'm like, man, they've got, I can't imagine that emotion. Like, your teammate goes out and puts up 55 an all-time performance, and he step out of bounds and you miss a dunk. I mean, you just got to feel like that that feeling has to be awful. And AD is like knowing that if he's out there, the Lakers have a chance to beat this incredible sun's team. There's so many emotions to go on in sports. And I like I kind of allow myself to take it back there. Like imagine what it's like being on that bus with those guys or on that plane. Like that's got to be a heavy, heavy ride. So the Mavs are going to need Luca at full strength.

if they want to snap this two-game losing street to the clippers. He was clearly struggling with the neck strain in game four on Sunday. But some good news heading into tonight's pivotal game five, Lucas condition has reportedly improved. And they said, by the way, they said this 24 hours ago, Joy. So like it had improved 24 hours ago. So my guess is by tonight. He should be good to go.

He says it is probable. He's been getting treatment over the last few days. Yeah. He had his worst game of the series in game four, 19 points on 9 of 24 shooting and 1 of seven from Beyond the Ark, and he was over five from the free throw line. Yeah, I mean, he couldn't hit free throws either, yeah. Yeah, he was clearly in pain. The Clippers are favored by seven tonight, according to Fox Betts at the series tied to two-two.

I'll take Dallas on that. I'll take Dallas plus seven. That's a lot of points, especially if Luca is back healthy. So things got a little chippy between the Hawks and Nixon game four on Sunday in a very fun series so far. Clint Capella stepped up the trash talk ahead of a potential close-out game for Atlanta. He was asked about the physicality of the Knicks in this series. And he's clearly not impressed.

I don't know if they're physical, but they're trying to play physical. I feel like if they were really physical, we have more problems than we have. They're trying to play tough. I mean, push our guys around and talk to shit. But we can do that too. And we show them as soon as they came back here that we can push guys around too. We can talk to as well. And we can get a win with it.

And now we're coming to your home to win this game again. Also. Oh. Nate McMillan is, was March named the new coach. Remember Nate McMillan's history. For you in your 20s, you don't remember this. Nate was a guard for North Carolina State. He was a defensive specialist.

So when Nate played in the NBA, he was about defense. He was very Bruce Bowen of his generation. So have you noticed the hawks since Nate McMillan took over Atlanta? The offense has never been the question. They got a players. The defense for Atlanta has gotten significantly better since Nate McMillan took over this team. That's Nate's calling card. That's what he always does.

Remember Mark Jackson and Golden State? Mark can coach defense. They brought current for the offensive expertise. So Atlanta, don't look at Atlanta back in January, February. Atlanta now plays defense. Well, the next fans aren't going to be happy about that. Derek Rose and Julius Randall responded to Capella. Rose said I'm too old for that bleep.

And Randall said, don't care. Why would I give a hell what Clint Capella has to say? So they're not leaning into it. The Knicks are favored by one and a half tonight, according to Fox Bet. Whatever happens, obviously the Hawks are up 3-1 in this series. So the Knicks are favorite? Yes, the Knicks are favored by one-and-half. That's the bed of the night.

I'll take Atlanta. Yeah? Yeah, I'm going to take Dallas plus seven and I'm going to take two dogs tonight. So it's Wizards Sixers tonight. That's the first game. They're up 3-1, but Nibbid is injured. I'm not in Washington. And then Hawksnicks.

I'll watch that. In New York. I'm taking Atlanta plus the points. Okay. And. And Grizzly's Jazz. And Mab's Clippers tonight. That's in Utah.

I'll take the Jazz. What's the number on that? I don't have the... Yeah, Jazz will win that game tonight. They'll wrap up the series. Tonight's a good night. I'm going to take the Mavs plus seven. How fun is it been to just sit around and watch basketball?

Oh, tonight is a great... You're going to see... Jazz are favored by nine. That's about the right number. I think the jazz uncomfortably tonight. Yeah. Donovan Mitchell's healthy.

Yeah. I mean, Donovan Mitchell's been incredible. Yeah. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. This is going to be uncomfortable for Nick Wright.

You know, he is infrequently wrong. But when he is, he can be very moody. And he is now joining us, brought to you by Mercedes-Benz the best-or-nothing. It is time to acknowledge. This is one of those moments. Like, you acknowledge with Brady. You're like, Okay, he's good.

Okay. It is time to acknowledge the turbo button for LeBron. It works. You only get bits and pieces of turbo, but the season is over. AD is grimacing in warm-ups. It's over. Like you can acknowledge the season is over for the Lakers. Well, let me ask you a question, Colin,

because I just heard you talking about all these gambling lines. And by the way, you don't have to go to Fox bet to make that Knicks-Hawks bet. you can just make it with me. I'm going to be in the garden tonight. The Knicks are going to win. There'll be no Vig. You and I can handle that off the air. I agree with you on Clippers Mavs, by the way.

But do you think, because the Lakers are favored for game six, do you think the Lakers can win game six? No. I don't think they can win that game in Los Angeles. No. You don't? No. I think that growing strains do not get better in three days.

They don't. Oh, I agree with that. think they can win game six without Anthony Davis. Listen, yet I was very wrong about game five, which is why I'm so glad to be on with you, because not only are you my mentor, but you have much more experience about being very wrong than I do, so I hope you can help me work through this because this is kind of, you know, uncharted waters for me. I was wrong about game five. I thought the Lakers would be desperate. They were not desperate. And the more I thought about it, it made sense. Now, the sons played great. They had four turnovers, the whole game.

The AD doesn't play. Schroeder gives you zero points. KCP gives you zero points. LeBron didn't play particularly well. Booker at 18 in the first quarter. Sons deserve all the credit in the world. But I think the sons also understood something. They were the team that had to win last night. That was on their home court. The Lakers' second best player was not there. And if they lost last night, their best case scenario was a game seven, which LeBron hasn't lost a game seven in 13 years. So the point I'm making is this, I think you are, you know, writing the obituary. Yes.

When the team, while, you know, is not in great health, I don't know that they are quite dead yet. And so I do think they will win on Thursday. And then it's a game seven and one team has LeBron, the other team doesn't. And I, one other thing about this turbo button thing. Now, maybe LeBron's ankle is way worse than I am giving it credit for. But we are less than nine months removed from him dropping a 40, 12 and 7 in an NBA finals game.

We are less than three months removed from him being the favorite for this season's MVP. So I do feel like we are writing the obituary a tad bit early, no matter how great the suns looked last night and how terribly the Lakers looked. But we'll see. I'm wrong this morning. Maybe I'll be wrong Friday. Or maybe Friday we'll be talking about a game seven. But it is interesting.

I think both of us agree LeBron leaving the bench is not, doesn't mean anything. So I'd like to pivot to the Anthony Davis discussion is that because we don't watch bad NBA teams. I mean, most people in this league have not watched Atlanta until now, right? We don't watch Memphis until now. So we didn't watch AD in New Orleans. Okay. And then Laker fans last year seen him and go, oh, he's just amazing. But he got a four and a half month hiatus.

So he was incredibly healthy. If you go look at AD, he missed 18 games as a rookie when he was 19 years old. A lot of Knicks and Bruce. So I look at this and I say this and Joe Lambeed we saw the other day. Aren't you concerned? I mean, I'm not going to trade him. But this is now what he's become Nick. He's available occasionally.

That's his game. So the thing is, I feel like you knew with Anthony Davis that you can't count on him to play 78 games. That he's going to miss time in the regular season, but to his credit, now New Orleans wasn't in the playoffs a ton, but he had prior to 96 hours ago played 37 out of 37 career playoff games. He had never missed a playoff game. And he was fighting through stuff and after a bad game one played really well in games two and three. And then the growing strain, and now he's not there for game five. I do think it's a concern. Listen, he has been a guy that has always been banged up.

Like, the difference with Embeded is Embeded had major injuries, right? Yes, yes. And that knocked him out for the first two seasons of his career or had been much. Anthony, it's never been that until this year where he missed a long time with the cap and then the Achilles. It's always been little stuff like this,

a back that knocks him out for 10 days, a groin strain, those things where it's a lot of nagging stuff to where you are concerned about how available he is going to be, obviously, to win the championship they need Anthony Davis, maybe even to win a game seven in Phoenix they could need Anthony Davis. I don't think they have to have him to win a game six in Los Angeles, but I'm also, can I say one other thing about last night's game? The starting lineup for the Lakers, Colin, not only had they never started a game together. Those five men had played zero minutes of basketball together in their life.

It was the first time that lineup has ever been on the court together. I don't know what Galaxy Brain decided start game five of the playoffs with it, but it seemed odd to try out a new lineup never before seen in a playoff game. but that's what Vogel did. Okay, you've been highly critical of the Celtics and this whole draft picks. But I said this morning. Ponzi scheme is how I found.

Yes, the Ponzi scheme. Now, Philadelphia Sam Hinky was nonsense. I mean, they essentially, as the league was evolving to a shooter's league, they decided let's just draft the tallest college basketball player year after year after year. Like they couldn't even figure out the basics, the analytical part, right? But the media like thought Sam Hinky was smart and bought into it, blah, blah, blah. My argument with Danny Aange was, he made two great deal. First of all, he got KG to Boston.

And then as he was rebuilding him, they missed the playoffs one time. He got some bad breaks. Kyrie rejected the city. Gordon Hayward breaks his ankle five minutes as a Celtic. Jalen Brown gets hurt this year. And let's be honest about it. A lot of guys don't want to play in Boston. Like, that's the reality of Boston.

They need to draft another Jason Tatum. They're probably not going to get them on the free. agent market, but you would reject that. You just think Boston's totally overvalued and this has all been nonsense. I just think Danny Ains did a really poor job. You're right. He got Kevin Garnett there and it helped that the buddy that he won championships with was running the team Kevin Garnett played for and he gave him to him. Kevin McHale really got Kevin Garnett there and they won a title. And credit to them for that. Credit to Ray Allen and Paul Pearson, KG, three Hall of Famers, Ray Allen will be one day for winning that title.

And then after that, he had, it was, it's like a guy who went to the casino and hit a million dollar on his first ever slot pole. That was the trade with Brooklyn. Such a heist that nothing else ever seemed good enough. So then after that, after you just pull off this epic heist of Brooklyn, you never want to put your chips in the middle of the table because you're not going to, you're not going to, you're not going to, you're not going to. to win every trade 99 to 1. And so every year we had to hear the Celtics were this close to Kauai Leonard. Fair. And then the team that traded for him won the title.

They were this close to Anthony Davis. And then the team that traded for him won the title. Oh, they finally made a move. They got Kyrie. He's going to hang his jersey in the rafters. He couldn't wait to get out of there. Even this year at the trade deadline, they were this close to Aaron Gordon. Instead, they got Evan Fornier.

Like, it was a whole bunch of, we are always building for the future, the future, the future. And now you wake up and it's like, oh, okay, so in my own conference, the Bucks best player is better than mine. The Sixers best player is better than mine. The net's best two players are better than mine. So where do I go? What's my next big move? Oh, I know what it is. let me go give Kimball Walker a hundred and some million dollars for a guy who's my height,

he's six feet nothing, and he's got a bum knee. Let me let Gordon Hayward walk for nothing. Like, those are bad moves. They've won one championship since the fall of the Berlin Wall. I don't think he's done a great job. Always love your historical political references. This is all very good stuff for Nick Wright today. That's how most people measure titles.

is post-Berlin wall, pre-Berlin wall. It's a standard. Colin, what? Colin, I just, will you just make me one promise? Sure, what? Sleep on the idea of going against LeBron game six at home with his season on the line. Just sleep on it.

Leave yourself a little wiggle room and text me what you want to bet on the hawks because I'll take it. Those two things. I need you to do both. All right. Well, we can consider that after the show. All right. Nick Wright, great stuff. Great stuff as always.

By the way, So here's a quote. The Packers would trade Aaron Rogers if they believed he was truly committed to never playing for them again. Translation, they don't. The Packers do not believe Aaron Rogers has the stomach for this. Boy, that is a challenge to Aaron Rogers. The Packers would trade him if they thought he was committed to never playing again. Well, you talk about drawing a line in the sand.

I'll address this coming up. 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 eye 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 IHartRadio 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 which I'll say it. 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 what you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart 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. 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 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 is 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 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, Tript Fantine, 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.

person. Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free Our Heart Radio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. I'm not a big believer in you can't or you absolutely must do things. Contracts are, you know, made to be broken, rules are made to be changed, even speed limits on freeways. Speed limit? This is as fast as you can go. Police officers, law enforcement, give you about a seven, eight-mile-an-hour cushion. 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 two and six.

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 two and six in October. So there's a story in the 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 two. and four, two and five. 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 is 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. Green Bay's okay stepping back for an hour. Just don't want to step back for a week. Hour to Chris Bosch. Next.

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.

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 podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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, unfilts of college. 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 IHeart 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. On the Look Back at it podcast.

For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam Jay. 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. 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. 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. Human 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.