The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 06/16/2021 - HOUR 1 - Kevin Durant's Career Performance, Kawhi Leonard and Nick Wright

Episode Date: June 16, 2021

In hour 1, Colin recaps Kevin Durants game 5 performace, calling him an "Offensive Expert". Kawhi Leonard being out for game 5 and Nick Wright joins to talk NBA Playoffs and more. 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. 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 harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to him. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. Listen to a point game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet.

Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks.

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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 Heard at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. For listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Wednesday. Stay. The herd brought to you by Jersey. Mike's subs. Be a sub above live in L.A. It's the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and F S-1. We didn't plan it this way. Joy and I match today. We're wearing yellow. Just one time a year I wear it, and Joy is wearing a yellow dress. I swear I got. We did not plan this. It's just the way it worked out. I can't believe it. Something's in the air. You know what it is? It's the summer. It's my favorite time of the year in L.A. People are at the beach. Happy. Happy. The sun's out. Masks off. Free. It was so weird. I was down at the promenade yesterday and like walking into a store, fumbling with my mask. And they're like, you don't need it.

How good does that feel? Oh, it's like chicken noodle soup. It's great. It does. It feels like freedom. It's great to have you in today. You ever watch the news, especially like CNN or Fox News or MSNBC on cable? And they'll have an expert, a military expert. political expert. They just throw that word around. Like everybody's an expert. The other day I'm watching a show, and they're talking about UFOs,

and they had a UFO expert. And I'm thinking, how can you be an expert and something you've never really seen up close? It's hard to be an expert. Like, to me, an expert, it was like a veterinarian with animals. That would be an expert.

But everybody on these networks is throwing out expert. He's an expert on UFOs and military and Ford Affairs, and I'm always a little skeptical. I'd like to introduce you to an expert. Kevin Durant is an offensive expert. In offensive basketball, that's what an expert looks like. He can dribble.

He can fade. He can hit threes. He can drive. He can finish. He can slash. He is a complete offensive machine. Do you know how exhausting it is to play 48 minutes of an NBA game? How exhausting that is.

That's a 9,000 calorie burn. And it's not like KD's got an extra pudding. He's the skinniest great player ever. He plays an entire game, 49 minutes, 17 rebounds, 10 assists, has to defend. That was an all-time performance. And what's just remarkable, you know, the last five seasons in which he's been healthy at the end of it, he has been the best offensive player on the best team. So this is not a surprise.

And that game, I mean, if you really think about it, now that LeBron's older and is out, there really is no competition for the best player. Because this has always been a 75-25 offense over defense league. Yonis can't shoot. Kyrie has struggled with injuries. Dames a small player. Luke is too young. AD can't stay healthy.

And B's got injuries. James Hardin has no playoff credibility. Kauai, he's heard again, kind of a question mark. This is, now that LeBron's out. LeBron's always been sort of the roadblock. Now that he's out, this is Kevin's League. It should be Kevin's league. The last five seasons in which he's been healthy at the end,

he's been like the best player on the, you know, best team. And it was really funny watching this game last night. It is, did you notice how emotional Durant was and Steve Nash was at the end of that game? Like Kevin's not on the floor. He'll be frustrated time to time. But he's not a fist pumper. That's not really his thing, right? He's kind of stoic sometimes.

Did you see how emotional he was? Because I think Kevin knows last night's win. They're in the finals. I don't care about Philadelphia. I don't care about Atlanta. I don't care about the bucks. I think Kevin knew I got to buy time tonight. Kyrie will come back eventually.

It's probably the next series. And Hardin was obviously going to be rusty. He was that first quarter, it was like, has James ever played basketball? I think Kevin knew, can I buy us a night? That's it. I just got to get us a night. If I can get us through this,

it's the same way I look at the football season. When Joy and I go into a football season, you can't take a day out for five months. And I always look at Thanksgiving. If I can get to Thanksgiving, I'm not sick, I'm ready to go. I can see the next Monday I show up after Thanksgiving. I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I can see Christmas vacation.

I thought Kevin Durant at the end of that game, he knew, okay, if I can get past tonight, Hardin's not going to be really good. He's not going to be 100%. He's not going to have his timing. He's not going to be able to really defend. And he got him through it. I mean, that's what an offensive expert looks like.

To be that effortless and that efficient in the biggest game of the year against a supposedly great defensive team. Again, what's amazing about great players, and I know we talk about him nonstop, but I've said this multiple times. Does everybody understand how much greater like Peyton Manning, Brady, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Durant are?

LeBron, think about this. Every time Kevin Durant in his entire career, after maybe his rookie season, goes into a game. The whole game plan is, stop that guy. and nobody can't. I mean, that's what greatness is. Kobe, for most of his career,

we've got to stop Kobe tonight. You looked at film at Kobe. Nobody was sitting around breaking down film on Derek Fisher or Brian Shaw. When you really think about how great Peyton Manning was, he got everybody's best shot. Like defensive, I've talked to defensive coordinators. They're like, oh, yeah, it's Peyton Manning Week. It's Tom Brady Week where you don't want to be humiliated.

Like Milwaukee does not want to be humanized. humiliated when they play Kevin Durant. Hardin's not 100%. Kairi's not playing. So Milwaukee, this great defensive team knew just stopped Kevin. They couldn't stop him. They didn't, there wasn't even a speed bump. I mean, what you watched last night is the Jordan 63 points against the Celtics. He lost that playoff game is everybody knew Michael. You've got to stop Michael. We can win. Nobody could stop Michael. That's why when we say, when people come up to me and go, you guys talk stars too much. I'm like, do you understand how much better, and Chris Middleton's a good player?

He is a 19 point a game NBA player. Do you understand how great the truly greats are? Chris Middleton's not getting doubles, and he's giving you 19. Kevin Durant's the whole focus of Milwaukee last night, the coaching staff, the players, and that's what you get. I don't want to hear about UFO experts. I'm done with UFO expert. That is an expert in offense.

And Steve Nash afterwards in awe. Historic, historic performance. I mean, he played the entire game. He barely missed. You know, we know he's capable of nights like this, but to do it tonight, you know, we lose Kai. You know, James obviously is soldiering through, you know, his ailments. We're down bodies.

We're wounded. And for him to have the toughness, the mentality, you know, that's what makes them one of the all-time greats. And so this is a performance that, you know, a signature performance, you know, for Kevin. And it was beautiful to watch. And you could tell what Nash and Katie's reaction, they could tell. We just got to get past tonight. And they did. All right.

This is devastating news for the Clippers. That's really bad. It could get way worse. Kauai is out for game five against Utah. That's a game tonight. He's out. Utah's going to win. Now, you can't put him on Donovan Mitchell.

He's going to just bring down the house. And you don't have to guard Kauai. Now, Paul George is your primary score. And that is a role Paul George has not always been comfortable in. The Jazz are going to win. They're going to win going away. And according to reports now, Leonard has told teammates, be prepared. I may miss the series.

That's not great. You know, I was talking. can we see all these injuries? I was talking to Gary Payton yesterday. Gary Payton, the glove, is a Hall of Fame basketball player. I grew up in the Northwest. He played at Oregon State and with a Sonics great player. Gary Payton played no fewer than 80 games,

only three times in 17 years, that he played fewer than 80 games. And when it was fewer, it was like 78, 79. And in that era, there were harder fouls. You got pushed around more. You didn't have state-of-the-art treatment like now. There was more fatiguing travel. And Gary Payton never missed games.

And I ask him, everybody's getting hurt. Is it luck? Is it a condensed schedule? And he said something very interesting to me. He said, you know, the more power players get in any sport, the less they have to practice, and the less conditioning you can demand of them. And he goes, when I played, I had to guard guys that were like Michael Jordan Strong. He goes, I didn't get hurt because I was lifting.

I would be in the facility for five hours, lifting for three. that's just not the way the game works. In the NFL, offensive lines have gotten so bad. I mean, I'd never even talked about offensive lines. My entire career doing this. In the last five years, it's all I talk about. That's why I like the Cleveland Browns this year. Their offensive lines easily the best in football.

Is that why do the offensive lines get bad? We still have offensive linemen in college, great ones. But with the CBA, the players didn't get necessarily all the things they wanted, but they got less practice time. What does that mean? Well, what's the unit on the football field that needs the most practice time? Offensive lines. It's a very technical position.

I mean, Miles Garrett can rush the passenger in any defense. You know what I mean? But an offensive line to be a cohesive unit needs practice time. Well, in the last CBA, they took away some camps, they took away some practices. Even great college offensive linemen take longer now, usually year two, before you can count on them. and players won, but did they really? You know, the players now have more power than they've ever had in the NBA. But players have always run the NBA, but now you can't demand as much, the weightlifting,

the off-seasons. A lot of these guys just check out, they come back and they play, and by the end of a season, they're banged up. Some of it's the condensed schedule. I'm not denying that. Some of it could be bad luck. but we have literally every star on virtually every team now is hurt. This is beyond condensed schedule and bad luck.

Players, when they win in these collective bargaining agreements, one of the wins they always want is, give me more off-season, fewer practices, less nonsense. At the end of a season, that's not always a win. We know Russell Wilson, LeBron James for most of his career, and Brady don't get hurt much. Why? Because of the time they put into their bodies in the off-season. I mean, LeBron, Tom Brady, and Russell Wilson have nothing in common. Two play football. One plays basketball. One's

six, nine. One's closer to five-nine. One's kind of skinny and tall. One's bulky and tall. One's short and squatty. But it's their commitment to the off-season. Their commitment with training that allows them at the end of seasons to be strong and healthy. Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, I mean, you're just, and I'm not saying these guys don't work hard, but it's got to be more than a condensed schedule. This series now, it's very interesting. Utah's going to obviously win game five.

But remember, if Kawhi Leonard doesn't return for this series, if the clippers get ousted from the playoffs, if Paul George does not step up as a primary score and lift them to a win, Steve Bomer, the Clippers owner, we thought we were past Cobloom stage. He's not going to just sit there. Because Kaua, Leonard, he missed 20 games last year. He missed 20 games this year. Now he's hurting the playoffs.

So, you know, I keep saying the Brooklyn Nets are fragile. Boy, the Clippers organization is so fragile. I thought they got past it. I thought, now, okay, here we go. now they're back, they're past the Cabloom stage, and then this happens last night and you're like, oh boy, they're not winning in Utah. I don't think they could win a game in Utah without Kauai Leonard. They could probably narrowly win at home without him, but this could change everything, absolutely everything. And it could change the, but remember, Kauai's got an opt-out, probably won't opt-out, but he has one. Balmer's not going to sit there. This now will expose Paul George for the next two games. If Paul George does not play well in the next two games and Steve Balmer's watching, they're making a move, which, by the way, maybe Portland benefits. Maybe the Lakers could benefit. Maybe somebody in the league benefits. But they'll move him. Now,

they won't trade him to the Lakers, but they will move it if the next two games are ugly. Every opinion I had yesterday on the Clippers, all of it changes. You know, Joey and I always say this. Don't hold us to opinions when information changes. I can hear jazz fans saying, well, Mike Conley was hurt. Mike Conley's not Coeigh Leonard. Okay. I mean, Kyrie's great. He's not KD. Hardin's great. He's not K.D. Mike Conley's not Kauai Leonard. This is a total franchise changer, a total series changer. He's the best defender on the wing in this series. He's the best get a bucket guy in the wing in this series. He's mostly unaffected. by press and negativity. He just puts his head down in place.

What a break for Utah and what a bad break for the Clippers. Boy, it's crazy. It is just crazy what's happened to these playoffs. Coming up next, nothing is everything, but everything's something. Not a good day in Miami yesterday. I'll talk about that. what do you get when you cross a Mercedes-Benz SUV with a race car? What do you get when you put a four-liter-by-turb-engin under the hood of a luxury sedan? When you combine the sleek shapeliness of a coupe with the power of F-1 engineering, chills, goosebumps, and engine roar, you can feel in your gut.

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Want 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. 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. 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. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conkie, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We are also loves sports and with the World Cup right around the corner we'll be breaking down the biggest

storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the Iheart 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 defining 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 Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get to fly. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball.

Like, 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. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms.

So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider.

This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white color or something here?

Just take it. Oh, what are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would. Come on. Could you imagine? I would buy.

Cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Don't want to make too much of this. just a little NFL news, couple minutes, then we'll go back to basketball, no big deal. Tua threw five picks yesterday at Miami Dolphins practice. It was raining, so there's that. Listen, everything's something. Nothing is everything. It's bad optics. These are the last five things that have become news with Tua.

Week 16, bench for Ryan Fitzpatrick. Week 17, three picks overwhelmed against Buffalo. Offseason admitted he didn't really know the playbook. Yesterday, five picks. It's not exactly great when there was a term, tank for Tua. I'll go back to my epiphany. I really liked Tua for a long time, college pre-draft. And then at the start of the season,

I kept getting little bits and pieces of video and I said, it's not going to work. there's no special here. You've got to be special because that's when the play breaks down. That's what Elway had. Marino's arm and release and Peyton Manning. There's no special. Size, smaller than average arm, not significant. Athleticism, really, really average health question marks. Now, everybody has always said, he is accurate. It's funny about Alabama quarterbacks. I went back and looked at what we said about A.J. McCarron. We compared him to Drew Breeze. John Harbaugh did too.

Tua, it's his accuracy. What was Mack Jones? He is accurate. All Alabama quarterbacks are accurate. Because they have six seconds to throw, and their number three and four receivers are usually better than their opponent's number one receiver. Greg McElroy completed 71% of his throws. I went and looked this morning.

We praised his accuracy. Blake Sims, 65%. Jake Coker, 67%. You seeing a trend with Alabama quarterbacks? Their accuracy. You know, folks, when you got six seconds, you have a great running game. You're throwing on second and three or third and one.

your receivers are wide open, even in the SEC, because they're all first rounders. It's amazing how every quarterback at Alabama, A.J. McCarran, guys I like. Greg McElroy, good broadcaster, too. Blake Sims, Tua, Mack Jones, oh, the accuracy. I need something beyond that. The accuracy is kind of, when you go to a restaurant, the restrooms are closed. You probably shouldn't advertise that. It's the minimum I'm expecting at a restaurant.

The bathrooms are clean. Five interceptions. Not everything, but keep telling me how accurate he is. Just keep telling me how accurate is. You got to get me something beyond that. And judging by yesterday, he wasn't that accurate. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. AJ McCarran, we looked it up this morning. We compared him to Drew Breeze. Mack Jones, Drew Breeze. Tua, Drew Breeze. I'm over that comp. I'm over most of these comps, but yes, I've been saying,

please stop comparing guys to Drew Breeze and Tom Brady and Aaron Rogers and Russell Wilson. Like, those are one of one. God made them, broke them old. Like, relax on those particular comps. Yeah, for 20 years I kept hearing this guy's the next tiger. Woods. The only thing close was Phil Mickelson who played alongside him and couldn't beat him. Phil is

like almost that good. Yeah. And there's not other Phil Mickelson either. Yeah. I heard 20 guys were going to be Tiger. It's like, no, there is. That meteor is all by itself. Yes. So there's like so much going on in the NBA right now. It's absolute mayhem.

I don't know what we did, NBA gods. What do we do? We don't deserve this. All right. There's just a lot going on. But let's start with Stan Van Gundy out as the Pelicans head coach. After just one season with the team, he led them to a record of 31 and 41. Not good enough. Failed to reach the postseason or the play in tournaments.

He reportedly had a rocky relationship with several of the players. Yeah. Which contributed to the decision to let him go. That's kind of been Stan's thing. He struggled with Dwight Howard. He struggles with players, and this is not a league. You can struggle with your best players. And certainly not anymore.

So now New Orleans will be looking for their third head coach. in three years. They finished 13th in the West last year, 11th this year. Looking at this situation, though, my first thought was obviously Zion, because, as I just mentioned, they'll be now looking for their third head coach. Yeah. But also, you know, John Morant was in the playoffs this year with the Grizzlies. Yeah.

They were ninth in the West last year, and he won rookie of the year. They beat the Spurs and the Warriors and the plans. tournament, obviously lost in the first round, but they made it to the playoffs, and like, they're going to be compared. You're compared in that way. No question. They finished, the Pelicans finished 13th last year and 11th this year. And Zion is doing what he's supposed to do.

Like, Zion is delivering. Zion's been great. And Brandon Ingram, it's the best he's ever been. And Lonzo Ball had his best year. So you can't miss the playoffs by that gap. No. So they need to make a major changes there, and they got to do it fast. because most players, as we know, don't turn down that first check,

but we've talked about it before. There's a lot of money outside of basketball now. It could be an unprecedented time for someone like Zion Williamson who is, again. If the Pelicans hire the wrong coach and two years from now, Zion doesn't need to sign that extension because he makes so much money in shoes that he'll just say, I'll take 60 million less, I'll make it up on the shoe side, and now I'll go to a big market, they'll market the hell out of me,

and I'll sell more shoes than I would in New Orleans. Go to an owner who has some local business stuff going on, can make it all work. Like, this is a very important hire for the Pelicans. Also, Wode's just reported Washington and coach Scott Brooks couldn't come to agreement on a new deal and are agreeing to part ways. Brooks deal expired after the playoffs.

So Scott Brooks is also out in Washington. All right. So that's the coaching news. Chris Paul has entered the NBA's COVID-19 health and safety protocols and is sidelined indefinitely. Now what is, this feels like he'll be, once the series starts between the winter of the Clippers Jazz, they'll let him play, doesn't it? Well, they have protocols in place. So I now, everyone is talking about the LeBron situation. Yeah. It feels sketchy to me.

I don't know what's happening here, but I'm trying to like sleuth my way around to figure it out. But his isolation period is unknown so far. It could depend on the medical circumstance or if he's already vaccinated because the isolation period for someone who is vaccinated might be much shorter than for someone who is not. I'm seeing from different, not official reports, but from different people that he is vaccinated. Okay, then that's good. That might help for the time period. And, of course, we don't know if he has tested positive or he's just been exposed.

Now, don't have any of that information. You can test people now to find it. immediately if they have COVID. I've been tested. I get tested all the time. I've been tested, I think over 160 times. Okay. So it's like I saw this news and I'm like, give me a break. Chris Paul should be allowed to play. If he's vaccinated, they test him. Well, he's only been exposed, but we don't know if he's tested positive. So we don't have any information. So which is they need to kind of get this out there because this is total chaos. And of course, the way that that series ended and he's playing the best basketball, like you just, you have to figure this out. So the sons are currently

waiting for the Jazz and Clippers series to end to find out who they're going to play. And so his availability for the series could be in jeopardy. So there's no official start date for the Western Conference Finals yet, because obviously we have to wait until that series ends. So if it goes to seven games, it'll be played on Sunday. So that will likely push the start of the Western Conference finals to the start of next week. So we don't know if he's going to miss any time yet, because we don't know what the situation is. Hopefully they get it sorted out and he's available to play. But it's, it's just the worst, the worst possible news, like disaster. So hopefully they get that sorted out. So the Bears traded up to get Justin Fields with the 11th pick, but he might be waiting before he

sees the field because obviously Andy Dalton is there as well, QB1, according to their Twitter. And Matt Nagy is committed to Dalton getting the start week one. Andy is our starter. And again, I can't predict anything. You know, know that that's you know how it goes i mean there's so many things that could happen between today and and that week one but that's Andy is our starter and and justin's our number two and we are going to put we're going to stick to this plan i just i don't know what's the value of digging in there yeah and i also don't think anybody in chicago believes it what a feels looks great in the preseason he'll play this is one of these stories like what is it uh june it's so much can change he looks

great in the preseason and the fans are going now It looks great in training camp. But I don't get what's the value of digging in and saying, like, he's our starter. Like, you drafted Justin Fields at 11. He actually should be the starter. You're not building anything with Andy Dolan. But somebody probably promised Andy Dalton, we'll make you our starter. We're not season long.

You know, they probably told Andy, listen, Andy, you'll start week. Somebody probably made him a promise. We'll start your week one. We are drafting a quarterback. There's no guarantees after that. That's what it feels like to me. But the bottom line is, you know, things change. The Clipper series with Utah,

Kauai's hurt. Nothing I said yesterday matters. We have new information. It's a new series. Right. The bottom line is that this kid lights it up. None of it matters. And this is irrelevant.

That's what I'm saying. Like, why even dig in on it? Like, you guys clearly are having a quarterback competition. Yeah. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Line News.

Nick right now joins us, brought to you by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing. First thing's first host. So let's just talk. KD. I don't really buy legacy game stuff. I think, you know, like I heard that for LeBron so many times. Oh, legacy. And it's like he's a

top one or two player ever. Let's move on. Kevin Durant is one of the great offensive players ever. He's got titles. He's got MVP's outplayed, some would argue, LeBron in big games. But, Katie was so great last night. There are those that are saying

maybe it was a legacy game. Where do you fall on that? Yeah, I don't I don't think KD had anything to lose last night, but I do think he had a fair amount to gain if he gave us a transcendent performance, and he gave us more than a transcendent performance. To the second most points he's ever had in a playoff game off by one of his career high, it's the second most rebounds he's ever had.

It's the most assists he's ever had. He did it all in the same game. And the most impressive number is not the 49, the 17, or the 10. It's the 48. playing all 48 minutes when of this generation, the only guy you've been able to rely on doing that in these spots is LeBron, who I think it's fair to say has a very different body and build than Kevin Durant. Colin, it's one of the most impressive playoff games any wing has played in the history of the league. I went through the archives this morning. I think it's better than any playoff game Larry Bird ever played. Larry had an unbelievable game seven against the Pistons.

I think this was better. I think it's arguably better than any playoff game Kobe's ever had. And for Durant, the reason that it adds to his legacy is because we've never really seen him in this spot where he is the superhero that is outgunned and outmanned. He's only played two series in his career where he didn't have an MVP alongside. him. The one when Russ got hurt in 20, was it 13 or 2014, and KD had to play against the Grizzlies without him and they lost. And one series against the Spurs without Steph in round one when the Warriors were clearly better. Seeing KD have to do the Jordan versus the Celtics, the LeBron versus the Warriors in 2015 with no Kyrie and no Kevin Love was enthralling. And I was there

Colin, it's the best in-person performance I've ever witnessed. And it does. When you start talking, Colin, about the best wings ever, you have LeBron, you have Michael, you have Kobe, you have Bird, and then Durant. A performance like that, I do think Durant could at some point start to elbow bird off that wing forward Mount Rushmore. Like, I think that is absolutely in play. He played a perfect basketball game last night.

So Kauai is out for game five. You know, I was telling the staff this morning, I said, if players didn't have numbers, they had symbols, Kauai would be a question mark. Personality, availability. He's the, you know, riddle wrapped in the enigma. You just, when he's there, he's great. You're not sure if he's there. And I, this morning, I just said, everything I said yesterday about Kauai and the Clippers doesn't count.

Because the new information has completely changed. I don't even know if he's going to play the rest of the series, but game five is going to be a landslide Utah win, in my opinion. Your thoughts on his injury going forward? Well, so a couple things. One is I think there might be some in the moment. Like, hey, today, now's the chance for Paul George to do what Kevin Durant did. It's totally unfair to Paul George.

Kevin Durant's one of the 15 best players ever. Paul George, in my opinion, is not one of the 15 best players currently. You cannot ask Paul George to go into Utah and carry the team. They desperately need Kauai. They're not going to have Kauai. By the way, they haven't won in Utah in the last two years with Kauai. So I don't know that they were going to win this series, even if Kauai was healthy. Without him, they're cooked.

I think so. I think they will lose tonight. and if he's not there for game six, I think they'll lose game six, certainly would lose game seven in Utah. I do think, however, Colin, and I think you and I might disagree on this, I think they could have lost to Utah with a healthy Kauai. If that happened, then I think Kauai's free agency decision is a real decision. Like, man, we've lost in the round two twice. Neither time were we playing some juggernaut team. is this the best place for me to win a championship?

But if they lose because he's out after they'd won twice and blow out fashion, I think it's actually easier for Kauai to stay with the clippers and say, we would have won the title, but I got hurt. And so I think that obviously the best thing for them is he doesn't get hurt and they win, but if they were going to lose with him healthy and lose with him injured, I think for long-term purposes, it might actually be better for. for Kauai staying with the clippers that he's going to miss a game or two. We're both dads, and I've joked before with kids.

You have to constantly adjust your expectations. When my kids were five, I thought they were going to be president of the United States. By 10, I thought I was hoping they could be president of maybe a small company, and by 15, maybe they can be president of a frat house someday. But, you know, adjust your expectations. I look at Milwaukee. That's right. We've got to readjust what they are.

They're not a great team. They're getting so many breaks. They still can't win with breaks. They're the only healthy team left. That's it. It's unbelievable. Kauai left the east. Everyone's hurt.

Yeah. Go ahead. Kauai left the east. LeBron left the east. The Celtics unraveled. Everybody on the nets has hurt. They're still unable to win. What are they now?

Well, right now they are screwed. And I don't know. By the way, I don't think they're dead in this series because I don't know if KD can do that again. I don't expect Hardin to all of a sudden be able to move. I was shocked he played last night. I was even more shocked he played 46 minutes. But that loss last night was so indefensible in every facet. Offensively, Janus, at the end of the game, was.

clearly spooked out of going to the line, which is why he took the fadeaway jumper over Hardin with a minute 20 left instead of going to the basket. And I think it's why Barclay said it after the game. He fumbled the ball on that last possession because he was trying to rush so they wouldn't foul him. Also, James Hardin is out there on one leg. How do you not attack him defensively? He's not a great perimeter defender, even a good perimeter defender, healthy. On one hamstring, it would have been a, every time they did it, they got a layup. I can't believe Budenholzer didn't have them do it repeatedly. And lastly, Colin, they didn't double team Kevin Durant once the entire game.

I know. They only sent help his way a half dozen times, and Katie took zero jump shots when they sent help. If Jeff Green's going to beat you, Jeff Green's going to beat you. But the top 15 all-time player who is shooting flames out of his eyeballs, get the ball out of his hands. Like, I couldn't believe it. And so if you're Milwaukee, you're like, all right, our superstar has a giant hole in his game. And our coach, year after year after year in the postseason, can't make a big. the obvious adjustment. That's not a great place to be. Now, they are the only healthy team left,

and maybe that is going to be what matters, and maybe Janus will have a brilliant game six. But man, up 17 with seven minutes left in the third, and the other team's got one guy. You can't lose that game, and they found a way to lose that game. One quick football topic, the NFLPA, the Players Association, released their first influencer hot list in 2020. Is this about Brady? What time out? I can finish the story.

Why do you always do this to me? Okay. So they looked at total engagement. This is, forget that Brady's number one in the league, which is kind of amazing because social media is a young person's game. He actually finished

a head of Patrick Mahomes who was viewed as much cooler and lit. So are you mad? What are you making? of the fact that old man Brady, even in the young man's game, beats Mahomes. It's kind of fascinating. Well, here's what I make of it. And I, two things. And neither of these things are going to be very professional, but this is, it was not professional of you to bring up this non-story just to troll me. Number one. First of all, Joy, if you could in the remaining two hours and 20 minutes on

the show, try to use some of your sources to dig into the actual me. metrics of this to see how many of these engagements are actually from Colin Cowherd. How many is it Colin liking and reliking and liking again Brady tweets? Comment and fire emojis? That's first of all. Second of all, I, and this is the part that is not really fair to my friend Colin, but whatever. I'm not on a lot of sleep. I was at the game last night and this is unnecessary. I would just like the audience to pretend for a moment that ranked number one by the NFLPA and social media engagements was not Tom Brady, was not Patrick Mahomes,

was say, Baker Mayfield. Would Colin think it's a good thing? Or did Colin be like, oh, Baker, more interested in the old Twitter-twatter than he is the old quarterbacking? But no, is his patron St. Brady's doing it. So it's great. It's why he's the goat. It's so ridiculous. I can't believe you squeezed this topic into this. It's unbelievable. He makes a good point. If it was Baker, you know, I may have been a little, well, Tom's also got six rings, so you're allowed. When you have seven, my bad, I lost count. Seven. You're allowed to do the Twitter, twatter.

Yeah, she makes a good, she makes. Nice yellow guys. Thank you. I missed the memo today. Tell me next time. Not do this on purpose. Nick, right, good stuff. First things first.

Yeah, Brady finished number one. It is interesting. Some of these guys finishing high, like, I'm surprised Lamar Jackson's top ten because he doesn't seem interested in that stuff at all, but he finished. Baker's not in it. He has a lot of endorsements, though. Oh, okay. So JJ Watt, obviously, Russell Wilson, who's very good, always has the right. Gronk, Beckham, Cam, Juju Smith Schuster, probably more than he should. D.K. Metcalfe, insane, an athlete, he's young. Lamar Jackson 10. Baker's not in it, which is a little...

That actually is surprising because Baker has so many commercials. Yeah, you'd think he'd be in it. All right. But, yeah. Yeah. Aaron Rogers was a little too glib for me. my taste yesterday. That is coming up. The Hurt. Be sure to catch live

editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 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. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager.

And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the Hipsons High School. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later,

We're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drink. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo.

Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? I would. I would buy it.

Cut through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds. That sounds good. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team, and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on.

Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Bo. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines.

I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. 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. The World Cup is almost here.

Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Okay, this is noteworthy. This is kind of breaking. Shams Chiranya, who breaks a lot of NBA stories, say the Clippers Fear, Kauai Leonard suffered an ACL injury done for the season. That changes everything.

Utah wins the series. Listen, Utah is a good team now. Mike Conley's getting healthier. Donovan Mitchell has some rest. Utah's got the best home record. This changes a series. This is one of these classic, you can't hold us to yesterday's discussion. We have new information.

Utah's going to win this series. So Utah, three games left, who's going to win two? Utah gets two home games. Now they're healthier. The best total player in the series is out. He's the best defender. He's the best offensive player in late game situation. situations, torn ACL, that's what the clippers fear.

And so that's the very latest. Tragedy. If you have an ACL, you're out indefinitely. Yeah, you have to have surgery. You can't play on the torn ACL. Kauai will be the eighth different All-Star to miss a playoff game this year. That's the most in a season in NBA history. Chris Paul will be the ninth.

But the NBA was in, so let's say, like I think it's more than just condensed schedule, but that's part of it. The NBA was trapped because what Adam Silver told the players is, if you don't want to start till this date, the owners are going to have so much power in the next CBA. There were certain dates that were important. You have to play a certain number of games for, you know, owners have, you got to play like 70 games or owners get,

and I forget the exact wording, but they get more power. There's revenue advantages to the owner. So Adam Silver said, we're going to have to suck it up. here. It's a pandemic. We're going to have a short off season. We're just going to have to get to 70 games minimum. Now, a lot of the stars sat out games, and a lot of people criticized stars for doing that, but they wanted, they didn't have off seasons. They usually get 120 days, even to get the playoffs. Yet a lot of days. Now they get 70. And for the teams in the bubble, like Miami, they had a lot of injuries early. Lakers, the team's Boston. So a lot of the teams, Denver,

the last four teams, had a lot of injuries. So, and I do think that's some of it. But we've seen a lot of injuries over the last three or four years. I mean, the Toronto Raptors are NBA champs because of injuries. Clay Thompson, KD. got hurt. Yeah, I mean, the injuries aren't new, but this is extreme. This is a lot. And I think it's a combination of, you know, guys just get injured and condensed schedule

and coming back so quickly from the bubble. And matched with, we probably picked the worst time to start hating load management. Like this was, load management probably needed to be carried on for a few more years until we were out of the situation. Because you have stars and secondary stars hurt, the stars that are healthy are asked to play more minutes. Like Katie had to play 48 minutes. So there's a con there's a convergence of a lot of things here. But Kauai, they fear, is out indefinitely. That completely changes the playoff series.

feels like sons, jazz. By the way, they were the top two seeds. It's not the end of the world. They were the top two seeds.

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 helped 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. 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 part of you.

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.

Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcasts presents Soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip.

Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. with all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? They hit a bogo. Well, then you got it. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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