The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 06/11/2021 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: June 11, 2021

Colin continues to be mystified by the Clippers who despite their talented roster lose games they shouldn’t. He shares some bad news for one NBA team that thinks they can contend for a NBA title but clearly they aren’t that close. He also advocates for the expansion of the college football playoff and what we can expect once this inevitably happens. Plus, former NBA head coach George Karl joins the show to tell Colin if the Clippers can comeback against the Jazz after falling down 0-2 once again in the playoffs.   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. The story I told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast Deeply Well with Debbie Brown.

If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast. on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come into it. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramers sending on to Ernie Stewart. I'm Tom Bowdo. I'm Tom Bowker. On our podcast, inside American soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions, and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals.

Listen, inside American soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. 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 iHeart Radio app by searching Herd. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowher on Foxx.

Sports Radio. It is a Friday. We are loaded. We're live in Los Angeles. This show is called The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. I know what you're thinking. Colin, you love the Clippers in this series.

Yes, I do. That does not mean I don't think the jazz are good. I still like the Clippers to win this series. But the Clippers make everything look hard. And I'll tell you why. Years ago, over a decade ago, a man did a study. He was a professor on luck. And so he went out searching for people.

He sent ads out to find 100 people who thought they were lucky and 100 people who thought they were unlucky. And so he gathered them, and over the course of a year in this study, he came to a conclusion that the people that were lucky weren't lucky at all. They were extroverts. And the people that were unlucky in life couldn't get a break were introverts. What does that mean? That means people that are big talkers and more social and smile and talk to people in the

line at a grocery store, talk to people in line at a bank. those people connect. They're like human LinkedIn's. And over the course of a lifetime, you'll talk yourself into a job. Oh, I have a cousin that works over there. Why don't I give you my phone number and you can call my cousin? You can be successful when you don't communicate. But it's harder.

The jazz communication. Chemistry's great. Everybody's got a defined role. Who are the Clippers led by? Kauai Leonard never talks. Second year in a row, terrible chemistry. This is what the clippers are. I think they're going to beat the jazz.

But it'll never be easy with the clippers. If you don't communicate, you have bad chemistry. Everybody fired Doc Rivers. Hey, he's the problem. They bring in Tileau. The chemistry's still bad. They're still awful late in the game. Is that the clippers are always going to look like this.

They lost the first two games at home to Dallas. They lost the first two games to Utah. This is the classic chemistry against talent. And history shows you talent. chemistry. It usually does in the NBA. I mean, last night's classic. They're terrible early. They're great in the third quarter. And then they go five minutes in the fourth quarter without a single field goal. Paul George was good last night. Reggie Jackson was the best he's ever been. What happened to Kwai Leonard? He was one for four in the fourth quarter. That's the

clippers. They're all rowing the boat. Just everybody's going in a different direction. And because their star doesn't talk, nobody communicates it. The clippers have had 38 different combinations on the floor in two games. Last night, Rondo didn't play. Well, what happened to Rondo? Patrick Beverly did play. 21 minutes. Now DeMarco's cousins is suddenly playing.

Well, where's Terrence, man? I thought he was great against Dallas. Now, he's not playing. This is the Clippers' second postseason together. They're still a riddle. They're still bad in clutch times. Their chemistry is at times awful, hit and miss. They still too often roll the ball out and think they're the best team and they're going to win.

This is what they are. There's no such thing as lucky people. and unlucky people. People who are extroverts and talk and communicate and are verbal get more breaks. It's easier in life. People who are crusty and rigid and don't talk and introverts can be successful, but it's always harder because you've got to do all the work yourself because you don't communicate, you don't socialize, you don't verbalize your feelings.

And when they did that study, I think of the clippers. It's always going to be ugly. It's always going to be difficult. Their star doesn't communicate. And listen, by the way, it's hard to win in Utah anyway. They hit a bunch of threes every night. I mean, with Utah, you get the same performance. Win or lose?

Everybody has a defined role. They communicate really well. They play really good defense. They hit a bunch of threes. I know what I'm getting from Utah every night. I get good chemistry. I get good effort. I get good defense.

I get a lot of three pointers. I don't know what I get, Kauai Lenter, Paul George, quarter to quarter, half to half game to game because they don't really communicate. But the NBA's got a history where talent beats great chemistry. I mean, when the Bulls had Michael Jordan, good God, Dennis Rodman in the middle of a playoff series disappeared to Vegas.

You watched the last dance. Kobe and Shaq often couldn't stand each other. Talent wins in this league. And I think it's a chemistry play against the talent play. And it's not. Now the question becomes is Donovan Mitchell now the most talented play? in the series. Because Mike Connolly's out, Donovan Mitchell is on fire. And if Donovan Mitchell keeps playing at this pace, then chemistry plus the best talent wins the series. That's the key.

They have got to slow down Donovan Mitchell. Because if you have the chemistry and the talent, the most talented guy, you're going to win the series. We consider Kauai to be the most talented guy, but Utah's got the chemistry. I still like the clippers. Paul George had this to say, despite being in a hole 02. This is a tough opponent. They weren't number one. In the West, for, you know, no reason. This is a tough team.

But, you know, we're approaching this the same way Dallas was. You know, we still feel we have a lot of possessions that we can clean up and a lot of possessions that are hurting us. That's, you know, our fault. I still got the Clippers back. it's just going to be ugly and it's going to take a while. All right, let's go to here. The bucks edged the nets, 8683.

And that score is important. 86 points. That was it. That was a bad win for Milwaukee. Brooklyn scored 11 points in the first quarter. KD was as off as he ever is. Chris Middleton, and this isn't going to happen again, was clearly the best player on the floor.

And you won by three at home. And you ever see that movie, The Incredibles, the animation? This series is the Inevitables. Brooklyn's going to win this series. It's just the way it is. Stiles make fights. The skill differential here is substantial. And you know what's interesting?

You know how we talked about this week that, like, Chris Paul's never gotten a break. Milwaukee's actually gotten over the last several years huge breaks. And they still can't break through. LeBron left the conference. conference. Huge break. Kauai left the conference. He gave them trouble. Huge break. The Celtics have imploded.

Huge break. James Hardin is out of this series. Huge break. It doesn't matter. Atlanta has a better shot to get through their series. Atlanta with a young 22-year-old star than Milwaukee. Milwaukee's gotten breaks. It's not like there's been these obstacles.

They're all leaving. Kauai left the conference. LeBron left the conference. The Celtics were going to be this and they imploded this year. And here's what you're left with. They're trying to make Yannis a three-point shooter, one for eight last night. Can we stop? The bucks are a little like Wisconsin football.

You respect them, how hard they play. They're always good. It's a great, great, fundamentally sound front office. But every time they match up with like an Alabama or a big dog Ohio State, you kind of feel like they just, they don't, they don't quite have enough guys. And that's how I look at this series. I mean, think about this. Last night, in 20, 21 in the NBA, when you are Janice and Middleton are on fire, the opposing star Durant doesn't play. Another doesn't play well.

Another opposing star Hardin doesn't play. You're at home. It's the biggest game of the year. and you're playing kind of a poor defensive team in Brooklyn. And you score 86 points? Like this series, the last two years, the last three years, Milwaukee's actually gotten every break. LeBron's gone.

Kauai's gone. Celtics implode. Harden out of this series. 86 at home. Is Middleton going to give you that again? He was the best player on the floor. That's not going to be occurring a lot in the series. So I look at it and it's like,

I can respect Milwaukee. I can respect Wisconsin football. But, I mean, let's be honest about it. Wisconsin football. Urban Meyer leaves the conference. That's a huge break. It's your turn. It's still Wisconsin.

They're good. I can win nine games. It's not like I don't like them. I think they're great to watch them all the time. But it's like Milwaukee, you can't win 86, 83 with all the things that worked in your favor last night. And by the way, the second round of the playoffs, tells us a lot about teams in the first round. The way Milwaukee rolled Miami,

and now Milwaukee can't compete against Brooklyn, tells you Miami needs to blow it up and start over again. Portland could not beat Denver without Jamal Murray. Denver struggling to compete against Phoenix. With a bunch of young players, Portland doesn't have that kind of talent. The second round is telling us a lot about teams in the first round. Like Portland, blow it up. Miami Heat, you were never that good.

Blow it up. Well, the next round is going to tell us a lot about this round, and what it's telling us is, this is, I'm wrong. I picked him to win. One of the reasons I picked him to win, I thought health. Ambido gets hurt. Celtics. Jalen Brown was hurt.

Brooklyn's hurt. I thought, you know, Milwaukee's going to get through here because all their best players, Drew Holiday didn't get hurt a lot. Middleton doesn't get hurt. Yonis doesn't get hurt. They've gotten every break in this series. Katie stinks last night. Hardin hasn't played a game. Kyrie, by the way, didn't take a shot in the last four minutes.

86.83? You have met your ceiling. Last night was your ceiling. A narrow win when you get all the breaks. The Inevitables. That's what this series is. Brooklyn's going to win it. 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. 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. What's up, fam, Ms. Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall.

And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball.

After you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. It's Ryder Strong and Will Ferdell from PodMeets World. And now the Podmeets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, who now have

covered Dancing with the Stars, traitors, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you, I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Yeah. Just because we...

Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion of the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of ha-hoo. Ha-ha-hoo. Again, we are experts.

So make sure to tune into PodMeets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30, you shouldn't have to share one with anybody.

Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing.

I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas, their practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you you get your podcast. College football is moving toward a 12-team playoff. And I'm for it. I've been watching college football for 40 years. I've loved it for 40 years, regardless of how we determine national champion. I like the quality of the content. I like the teams. I like the stadiums, the fans. I think it's a little bit of an alternative to the NFL, even though it increasingly

looks a little like the NFL. I have two strong opinions on this college football playoff. Number one, this playoff is going to mean some teams will play 17 games. It's officially time to pay the players. I've always been somebody that believes name, image, likeness, you know, write the kids a check if they're Tebow popular, Johnny Mansell, Reggie Bush popular, end of the season. The aesthetics are going to be so bad if you don't pay the players now. And players are going to see it and they're going to stop playing in big games. Why? Because you're going to have multiple networks now, big.

on this. Right now, ESPN owns the rights. What college football is finally figuring out is they're going to put this up for bid for all the major networks and every network's going to have a little bit the way the NFL works. That's why the NFL is the smartest league with the smartest commissioner. They spread the league to every network's got a piece of it. College football goes, oh, that's how you make money, not give one network all the money. So you're going to have Fox is going to have some. ESPN is going to have some. CBS is going to have some, they're all going to be paying billions of dollars and it's going to look absolutely ridiculous not paying the players for 17 games.

This is also going to knock out a bunch of crappy bowl games. College football is going to be big boy business. And if you think the chorus is loud now to pay the players, I will jump on it with all my fervor and voice from this point forward. If the sport is a $32 billion sport and you're not paying players, for 17 games. I would tell the players, play one year, sit it out, just go get a trainer after one or two years. Don't risk an injury. You got to pay them. Beyond just name and image likeness, this is the kind of deal that's going to get all the college kids at some level are going to get paid.

Men, women, boys, girls, whatever, gymnasts, football players. This is a, basically it's March madness on steroids. It's going to be a massive deal. It's time to pay the players. The second thing is for God's sakes, it's not going to change the landscape. Bama's still going to be good. The SEC is still going to dominate. You're going to have eight teams with a chance to win the national championship. What about the exposure? What about the exposure to those teams?

Exposure is only valuable if you're good. If you go on Shark Tank and you're an idiot, the exposure's not good. If you go on The Voice or America's got talent and you have no talent, people make fun of you. Exposure is only great when Alabama's winning for. 40 to 8. It's great for Alabama. It's bad for coastal Carolina that gets rolled. This idea that exposure is going to change the landscape. You can only win in college football, usually one way. You got to recruit the best players. And have you ever noticed who's got all the national championships? It's schools that are within 75 miles of hot recruiting bases.

Bamas and Clemsons and USC's and Oklahoma's and Ohio State. They're around a bunch of players. They have massive brands. The exposure is not going to change anything. They're not going to change anything. If Alabama is already beaten people by 20 in the semis now. Now they're going to have two other games to steamroll people by 40. You think I'm going to sit there as an 18-year-old kid and go,

Alabama just beat Cincinnati by 38. Boy, that makes me want to go to Cincinnati. No. college football's got the same exact teams winning now that won forever. There's a couple of programs over the last 25 years that have snuck in Oregon. How? Phil Knight, the richest college booster in America and the most brilliant. All the marketing with Oregon.

So Oregon was not a top 15 program 25 years ago. Phil Knight's money and influence is the only reason they're there. If there's no Phil Knight, Oregon's win in seven games a year like they were pre-fill night. That's about the only way to sneak in. Or you get this legendary coach. Kansas State for years had a guy named Bill Snyder, who was just absolutely brilliant and he made them relevant. The minute he left, they stink again.

So exposure doesn't mean anything. The same teams are going to win. College football has always been a have-and-have-and-have-not sport. Look who's winning today. Who's winning was 50 years ago? Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma. Same teams. By the way, Clemson won a national championship when I was a kid.

Now they're good again. So my two big strong opinions, this is going to get players paid and they're going to, they should be. You can't ask people to pay 17 games. You're going to watch those kids start skipping games, bowing out of bowl games, bowing out of stuff if you don't pay them when they see it. It's a $9 billion annual sport. And the second thing, it's not going to change who's good and bad in college football. There may be a program that sneaks in, like an Oregon sneaks into the top 10 and they weren't years ago,

of a booster. They get a great coach. But don't get yourself. This sport has always been about a handful of power brokers and they'll continue to dominate it. And exposure is so overrated. It's such, oh, folks, everybody's on TV now. Boise State gets nine games on television. BYU's on TV, 10 games. When I first got a job at ESPN, 15 years ago, they had 60 to 70 college football games on a year. Now they have 500. Everybody's on television. Everybody's, everybody's getting exposure to same eight teams winning. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlie. The podcast is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport

and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talk to coaches. We talk to players. We tell you stories. You download it, you listen to it, I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Alib on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flanks. He running up the court, licking his fingers

why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Everyone, it's Ryder Strong and Will Ferdell from PodMeets World.

And now the Pod Meets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, who now have covered Dancing with the Stars, traders, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you.

I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Yeah. Just because we? Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion in the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of,

Ha, ooh, ha, ha, ooh. Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into Pod Meets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30, you shouldn't have to share room with anybody. Mm-hmm.

From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food.

because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. They're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. So the eight teams left in the NBA playoffs, no titles in 38 years. And in fact, no team left in the West, Phoenix, Utah, a, Denver. They don't have any titles, right? So if maybe in a perfect world, so you have no dynasty right now. So in a perfect world, yeah, here are the teams on television. The Sixers

were the last to win it in 83. The Bucks won it in 1971 with Lou Alcindor. The Hawks won it in 1958. That was probably with Bob Pettett. The Clippers, the Jazz, the Nets, the Nuggets, and Phoenix have never won one. So in a perfect world, there's no dynasty. and that's usually what gets in the way of a Utah Jazz winning. It's a dynasty, right? Like it was the MJ dynasty. And then, you know, that's, and then the Golden State dynasty gets in the way of a Portland who has a good team or a Spurs dynasty. So we don't have one.

So if there was a basketball god, who would he select? My guess he would select either the Utah Jazz who have been so well run for 30 years. years have done a great job drafting and developing. They've had great coaches. It's a great organization. And they always get blocked by a dynasty. Or Chris Paul, who can't get a break. He gets drafted to a team and can't play in the city for two years because of a hurricane, Hurricane Katrina. He goes to Donald Sterling, should have been a Laker, but the league nixed it. Then he goes to a tanking team. Then he goes to a guy can't get a break. If the basketball gods had any pull, Paul, the sons would win it, or the Utah Jazz.

But that's not the way the NBA works. The franchise that sold their soul to the devil, the Brooklyn Nets, will probably win it. I mean, think about what the Nets did. They had a great coach. They had great chemistry. They were a playoff team. Everybody loved them. Kumbaya, everybody said, oh, my guys, I bet.

And they said, nah, I'm going to blow it all up. We're going to get James Hardin, who held his franchise hostage. Kyrie Irving, who refused to play for coach Brad Stevens, and KD, who stunningly left all the good guys in Golden State. They sold, their soul to the devil. They blew up a good coach, a good roster, good guys, trade them all away because they said, what historically wins in the NBA? Great players. We need great players.

And so they went and got three of them. In Utah, by the way, would do that if they could, but they can't. So it would be nice, the basketball gods, there is no dynasty, it would be nice if they gave it to Utah or Chris Paul. But they're not going to do that. This is a league. Every sport, you know, I like Drew Holliday, but he's not Kyrie. He's not James Harden. He's not KD.

And that's the reality. You're seeing it in the Milwaukee Net series. So every sport has certain advantages. People that complain about the NBA, only certain teams can win. true. We saw the Raptors win with the Dallas Mavericks. I grew up with the Sonics. They didn't have a star one. The Pistons once with a bunch of B players, you know, beat Shaq and Kobe. A lot of people can win. And this year, somebody that hasn't won in a long time is going to win. But every sport has a recipe. In baseball, there's no salary cap. Just go buy the best players.

Okay, that's totally unfair. College football, you generally have to be within 75 to 100 miles of a hot high school recruiting area. The South, L.A., Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania football. In the NBA, it's just get the best talent. That's it. And generally, sometimes you can draft it, but generally you got to go get it because you didn't draft it. So I don't have any animosity toward that. Every sport, baseball, it's just who's got the most money. College football, it's where are you located? geography is 90% of it. In the NBA,

Brooklyn's like, we've got a playoff team. But that doesn't win here. So we're just going to blow it up and go sell our soul to the devil. And guess what? Devil's going to win this series. One more herd?

The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. It's funny about Russell Wilson. He's 32 years old. And unlike Brady and LeBron, Brady and LeBron weren't into this, you know, this nutrition stuff at the beginning of their careers because it wasn't really available as much in the country.

Russell Wilson's 32 years old. He will play well into his 40s. So Russell Wilson has played nine years in the NFL. He's going to, he's not halfway there yet. In my opinion, Russell Wilson will play into his 40s. I think he's got 12 more years left. And I think his prime is still probably five to six more years. He takes meticulous care of his body.

he's a very young, 32 years old. Whereas Deshawn Watson not only has some legal issues, he's been hurt twice. Aaron Rogers, 37, a couple collarbone surgeries. So I think Russell's going to play for a long time. But yesterday he was talking about, you know, some of the issues with Seattle in the offseason. And I tend to believe whether it's a corporate employee and corporate bosses, a husband and a wife, a player and a team, I think there needs to be a balance in the relationship. Otherwise, it creates resentment and you don't want resentment.

Aaron Rogers now resents that he doesn't get enough say with the Packers. You find husbands and wives, there's a resentment if he or she controls the relationship. And so Russell Wilson pushed back in the offseason and Seattle responded, meaning there's a reasonable balance between the front office and the quarterback. And yesterday, Russell doesn't want to leave Seattle. The grass can sometimes be greener. I don't believe there's a greener pasture for Russell Wilson, then Seattle. I'll get to that in a second.

But here's Russell yesterday. You know, in terms of the trade talks, I think anytime you play professional sports, there's always a possibility of something happened, right? And I think that's just a reality. I think that there's a lot of teams out there that people were saying that I was going to or would go to. I requested a trade. I did not request a trade. I've always wanted to play here.

You know, and the reality is, you know, I think calls were getting thrown around and this and that. And I think that's just a reality. But I think at the end of the day, the real reality is that I'm here and I'm here to win. I'm here to win at all. And go back to the four teams that were interested in him in terms of grasses greener, Las Vegas. Well, they don't have a winning culture. When's the last time they were great in back-to-back years? Chicago, they can never get the offense right.

And from a weather standpoint, there's a reason they haven't had a lot of great quarterbacks. It's windy. It's cold. It's a northern division. That wouldn't be the first place I'd want to play if I was a quarterback. There's Dallas meddling owner. And there's New Orleans. They were $100 million over the cap. Seattle really works for Russell Wilson. And part of the reason it works for Russell Wilson is because they've never been great before Russell Wilson. And so there's great value in the community for him.

Everybody understands how valuable he is. The Packers won with Bart Star and they won with Fav. So there is a feeling in Green Bay is, hey, we can reboot this thing. You're not bigger than the team. Pittsburgh, they won with Bradshaw. They've won with Ben. The organization is stronger than the individual player. But what gives Russell Wilson power is that Seattle was never really anything until

Russell. And so the franchise does need him. and he did take the franchise to a new level. And the franchise gets that. And I do think the power dynamic in Seattle is the right power dynamic. Is that Russell didn't make ridiculous demands. He's been hit more than any quarterback in the league for five years. He said, make the offensive line better.

Seattle tends to be two-run centric in a past-centric league. He said, let's throw the ball more. Let's get better receivers and a better tight end, a new offensive coordinator. So when Russell, this really is a good fit for him. Also, unlike the Steelers or say the Packers that are very much rearview mirror embraced tradition, Pete Carroll doesn't. Pete Carroll's a perfect coach for Russell. He's kind of a big swing guy.

He's an aspirational guy. He'll blow stuff up guy. He'll start over a guy. He's moved through all sorts of coaches on the offensive side. Pete is not a rear view mirror guy. He's looking through the windshield. So this is a situation where, Russell pushed back and Seattle smartly equipped him and modified some things to make him happy.

That's a very sound power dynamic. What you're seeing in Green Bay is the quarterback resents having not enough power. And by the way, these quarterbacks really, they get owned by these teams. They can franchise tag you forever. So as a franchise, you've got to understand. There's going to be some built-in animosity if you don't give them some. things they want. Unlike the NBA, where you can move around or baseball move around. You know, in football, you're trapped.

Aaron Rogers right now is trapped. That's why he's going to jeopardy. It's only out. Retire, make $15 million a year asking about Russian literature to contestants. So you have to understand that quarterbacks get uniquely trapped. They're really important as important as anybody in American sports other than a dominant starting pitcher. If you can't hit him, you can't hit him. So Seattle, this relationship is actually really, really healthy. Doesn't mean it can't be uncomfortable. A great marriage can have arguments.

But it's healthy. The star's got power. The GM's got power. The coach has some power. And Pete Carroll had to relinquish some of that power. That's a really healthy thing. There's no Russell Wilson's on the market. I like Kyler Merrick.

There's no Russell's on the market. 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. And with that, I bring in my friend George Carl, 27 years coaching. One of nine coaches in the league's history with over a thousand NBA wins. He is now joining us live. So, George, first of all, it's great to see you.

You know, chemistry is an interesting thing that a coach can only do so much. Utah has very good chemistry. I get the same team. I get the same defense. I get the same effort every night. The Clippers, whose star is kind of a nonverbal guy, they're not very communicative late. Their chemistry is weird.

I get a different team every half. How much of that's on the coach? I mean, they blame Doc Rivers for it. Now, Tyloo. How much can a coach do to create chemistry, or is it up to the players? I think it's a little bit of a 50-50 proposition. I think what I didn't like about the Clippers,

and I still don't like about the clippers. They've been this way the whole season. They've been up and down. They've been committed and non-committed. I don't even know what they did at the end of the season. It pissed everybody off. I mean, there's just too much negative energy going on in L.A. in my mind. Yeah.

And negative energy, I think, in the playoffs, is bad. It's not good. Yeah. You know, it's when you, Donovan Mitchell's an interesting. player. He's a combo guard. So he now with Mike Conley out, he's got to be a little bit more of a distributor. He's got, but he's always been a score.

He's like a little bit of a D-Wade where he's a natural score. He'll defend you. There's a little combo thing going on here. Can you have long term, can you win a championship with Donovan Mitchell, a scorer, kind of a scoring guard, being your lead guard

and having to distribute too? I'm kind of against that, but a lot of teams are trying to do it, Because LeBron is the point guard for the L.A. Lakers. He says he's a forward, but he's the point guard. I'm telling you, Donovan Mitchell is really, really good right now. I think the two guys that are blowing up are Booker and Mitchell. Those two guys have made a big step in this playoffs to being a stud, an NBA All-Star.

I mean, not All-Star, but NBA first team or second-team player. Yeah. And I met Donovan. Mitchell, I think his second year in the league, I spent some time in Utah with him. He's an amazing person. He really wants this. He really wants to challenge and responsibility of being a big time player, playing on the big stage and winning big games.

And, you know, people forget he played great in the bubble. Yeah. He played great in the bubble. And he lost in the first round. So we all forget that. And the truth of the matter, he was dynamite in the bubble last year, and he's dynamite now. But I think what you're missing a little bit is Ingalls is a point guard. Joe Ingalls can distribute the ball about as well as any small forward in the NBA.

And he knows the game has great basketball IQ. And so I think it allows Donovan Mitchell to be okay. But the big thing that Utah has in his back pocket is Mike Connman. is going to come back. Yeah. And Mike Conley's history in NBA playoffs is big time. He's been a primetime performer in the NBA playoffs in Memphis for many, many years. Yeah.

So that's why I like Utah more than I like the Clippers. You know, it's interesting. You had obviously, you had a lot of stars when you coached throughout the years. You had Carmelo Anthony. You had Rondo. You had Iverson. You had Gary Payton, a lot of stars. most of those guys

but some of those guys are a little difficult personality wise to mark his cousins I mean you did you had your share of guys that were difficult now Kauai George is difficult in a different way load management physically

he and pop didn't work he's not real he's not a talker you know that's not who he is would you struggle coaching him or how would you adapt to his personality I would you know I think you got to try to push him in the right direction, but you also got to realize he's who he is. Yeah.

And trying to change him is, I don't, I'm never, I've never been a guy that thinks you should change somebody unless he wants to change. And I think that's where I think Kauai just bothers everybody because when he plays the right way, when he is focused and he's demanding of himself, he might be the best player in basketball at both ends of the court. I mean, some of his games against Dallas were unbelievably efficient. I mean, shooting jump shots and shooting 60 and 70 percent is unheard of. And, I mean, he's an amazing guy, but then he goes out in these last two games.

He's been okay. He hasn't been bad, but he hasn't been a superstar like he was in the last three or four games of the Dallas series. Yeah. You know, I want to talk about Chris Paul because you played some basketball yourself, and I said I would have given Chris Paul the MVP. I know he's not going to score 30 a game, but we haven't had a scoring champ win a title in this league in 20 years, is that the truth of the matter is, in basketball, if I'm scoring 32, I'm taking shots and points and stats from you,

and you can't have resentment. You need guys who are making others better. Chris Paul's a fascinating player. literally everywhere he goes everywhere he's gotten terrible breaks he was going to be a laker he got sent to donald sterling he he had to deal with katrina first two years nilly he got sent to the tanking o kc thunder the sons were a mess when he got moved there can you compare him to anything what about him do you love and was there any player that you ever played against early in the 70s 80 who do we compare chris paul to i think he's a more talented uh john stockton that's who i think

is other than, you know, John Stockton played in one place his whole career. This guy is a maestro of point guards in the NBA today. I just think he orchestrates the game. He manipulates the game at both ends of the court. He's not a great defender anymore, but he's a good defender. His mind still thinks defense.

Yeah. And I think Phoenix right now has the best combination of young talent and old talent. I mean, Jay Crowder and Chris Paul and Tori Craig, they have old guys that know how to win games. But the guys that are really blowing up are Aiton and Booker and a little bit Cameron Payne. Yeah. And then you got McKell Bridges, who I didn't think had a very good rookie year. And now he's playing like a stud.

Yeah. I like Phoenix and Utah. And if they meet in the next round, I think Phoenix is going to win because of Chris Paul. Yeah. Well, I don't disagree. I want to go to the east. Ben Simmons, it drives me nuts. I think he's an unbelievable talent, but he doesn't work on that jumper.

And then you got Ambide, who's a super talent, but you've got the injury thing. if they get vanquished here by Atlanta and they don't win, they may break those guys up. Daryl Morey's been a very aggressive general manager. George, what do you do when you got Simmons who doesn't really doesn't want to get better at what he weak? You got M. Bid, who's got an injury history. Even now he's got a meniscus tear.

If Philadelphia gets beat by Atlanta, what do you do with those two? Well, I mean, I think the biggest question I would ask you, you just got saying a scoring champion hasn't won the MVP for 20 years we had a big guy win the MVP for the first time in 21 years this year and yokech and imbid is a different type of player i like yokech and i would never trade yokech but imbid is a he puts big numbers up he's got to give he's got to be giving the ball a lot he's got to be given a lot of attention to be successful.

And I don't like that totally and completely in today's game. The fast game, the efficient game of playing fast, playing with the three ball, I think is actually more efficient than playing through Embed. Yoke's just different because he's a playmaker. He's more of a passer than a scorer. But Embedd likes to put numbers up. And I'm not sure that's the most efficient game in the NBA today. No, it's a really good point.

George, it's a really, really good point. As a guy can be great. You know, I've said this for years, is that some players, the game moves into you. Like Russell Westbrook's a great talent, but the game became a three-ball shooting league and he doesn't shoot the three. And so the game kind of moved away from Westbrook style.

And what you're saying with Embedit is you love him as a talent, but the math doesn't add up. I mean, let's talk Janus for a second. Yonis is a great player. Coach, I can't have him on the free throw line. late. He can't shoot outside of. I mean, what do you do with Janus? You teach him how to shoot. You make him learn how to shoot. Shooting is a learned effort. I mean, it's practice. It's going out and just doing it. I mean, I've coached a lot of guys

that, you know, I mean, guys like Nate McMillan and Sam Perkins and guys, we made them into three-point shooters because you have to play. To play in the league today, you've got to be able to make to three. And 33% is acceptable. We like to be closer to 40. But I just think Ben Simmons and Janus got to know that you can't, you can't win a championship missing free throws. And you probably can't win a championship having a player out there that can't shoot the three. Yeah. George Carl, 27 years. He's got a new podcast called Truth and Basketball with George Carl, a three-time cancer survivor, known you a lot. long time. I think your insight's great. It's great seeing you. You're going to get a bunch of 90-degree

days in Denver now. Go golf. Go have fun. Good for you. It's great seeing you. And we've got NBA playoff basketball, and I love the, I love the small market teams. I love Utah. I love Phoenix. I think Milwaukee, I'm still rooting him for him because I played there. I'm having a lot of fun right now, Colin. Thank you. 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, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel,

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself can then shape my behavior, And that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast Deeply Well with Debbie Brown. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole. This podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Donno, it's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs.

We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come until he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love.

This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart, the chip. Score! I'm Tab Ramos.

I'm Tom Boehner. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions, and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals.

Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your podcast. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.