The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 06/25/2021 - HOUR 1 - Chris Paul, Kevin Love

Episode Date: June 25, 2021

Doug Gottlieb in for ColinChris Paul doesn’t make the Suns worse, but he did last night Why did Kevin Love make the USA basketball roster?Guest: Amin Elhassan 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. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to.

Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversation.

with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for The Heard at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Herd.

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. What up? Welcome in. This is the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be making as part of your day. Thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlie, filling in for Colin Cowherd. Happy Friday to you. Hope you're great. Hope you're ready for a big weekend.

The world is open. I am fully vaccinated. and I'm loving it. Let's get after it. Cowherd with his, hey, congrats to Cowherd, followed him on IG, nailed it on his pick last night, little gambling pick,

gave you Clippers, who, you know, kind of dominated late in the game and ended up taking the series to a two games to one lead. Of course, this is a, these are uncharted territory for the Clippers. Uncharted.

Now, outside of Marcellus Wiley, there's no real, like, real clipper fans out there. I grew up in Southern California, and I can just tell you, like, when I was, there's no clipper fan. We actually had a, this is a true story, when I was in high school, went to Tustin High School,

which is in Orange County, that's the county, just south of Los Angeles County. You ever had, like, a scavenger hunt? We kind of did a scavenger hunt one night. We were bored. and so we decided two cars full of basketball dudes, my high school teammates at Tustin High School.

And we decided the first of us to find Clippers gear in any of the sporting goods shop. You know, there's the big fives of the world. And this is before the Dick's sporting goods or whatever. The first of us to find Clippers gear won. That was basically it. And you know what? We drove around all night.

And this is mid-90. and early 90s, the clippers were actually good. Larry Brown was the coach. They went to the playoffs. They had to play in the Anaheim Convention Center because the riots in L.A., like all of these things. But you couldn't find Clipper gear anywhere. Of course, with Kauai Leonard, all thoughts were you could,

now all of a sudden they could win a championship. Last year they came up short. They collapsed after three games to one lead. They changed coaches. And this year, they've come back from two games to none down in the first two series. And of course, they promptly hop down. out to a two games to none deficit in this series, and they do so without Kauai Leonard. But a funny thing happened on the way to a Phoenix Suns sweep, right?

The Suns win the first two, and they do so without their future Hall of Fame point guard, Chris Paul. You add in Chris Paul. And here's the simple takeaway. In math, addition is addition. In math, subtraction is subtraction. in sports, there's addition by subtraction and subtraction by addition.

It doesn't make any sense in a mathematical problem, right? I mean, like, look, I try and tell people all the time. Do you guys know what the transitive property is? The transitive property. No? You're like, wait, I was told there would be no math. Cowherds, cowards analogy.

are so much easier to follow. Okay, but just stick with me for a second here. Okay. So the transitive property. Okay. So go ahead, look it up. Transitive property is is, is if A equals B and B equals C, well then a must equal C, right? That's simple math. Or here's an easier way. If the sons are better in two different games than the Clippers without Chris Paul. And look, there are players you can add to any of your rosters or whatever. If the Sons are a better franchise this year because of the addition of Chris Paul. Do I think Devin Booker's a star? Absolutely. Do I think Dianne Drayton's coming into his own? Sure. Sure.

You know, the addition of Jay Crowder gives the perfect amount of versatility, toughness. Occasionally, it's a shot. He made a great pass, obviously the other night. McHale Bridges, a hybrid three-and-dee player can guard anybody, stand in the corner, make a three. Like all of it. But it all comes together when you have a quality coach like Monty Williams and you have point guard play in Chris Paul. Chris Paul is a two-way player. He's a tremendous defender.

He's a pass-first point guard. He makes people better. Yada, yada, yada. I do believe I have listened to Colin's show in which he said Chris Paul should be the MVP of the entire MBA. Am I right? I'm getting nods from everybody in the show. Okay. So if you add, it's not just an MVP candidate or by Collins' estimation, the most valuable player in the league and somebody who makes everybody else better and plays both ends.

Well, I mean, like the transit property should tell you that if. You're better with Chris Paul. You beat the clippers without Chris Paul. You add Chris Paul. You should be better than that it's addition. Right. It's not just the transit property. It's simple addition.

If three is greater than two, well, then you add four. Four is all still greater than two. I ain't the way sports works, bro. It just isn't. Chris Paul screwed the whole thing up. And when I say he screwed up, wasn't just the shot poorly.

The pace is different. The shots are different. The style of plays. The matchups are different. And you had the clippers reeling. In the grand scheme of things, Chris Paul doesn't make the sons worse as a franchise.

But within the context of a series, the only real change was Chris Paul. And the clippers were the better team, despite the fact that the Sun had better talent in game three than they had in game two. He only made 26% of his shots. He was a minus 15 and plus minus. He scored 15 points.

This was Chris Paul describing why they lost and how he played. They outplayed this tonight. We didn't make shots. You can tell they had, you know, a lot more energy. I got to be better. I shot terrible. I got to pick up the pace. We'll be ready to game four.

And I have no doubt that you can have a bad game. No doubt that you can have a bad game. You can be a great player and have a bad game. But the thing that's unique about sports is addition is not always addition and subtraction is not always subtraction. It's just odd. If you've coached, if you've played, if you've been around it enough, sometimes getting rid of one guy makes everybody else better. And sometimes adding one guy no matter how talented that guy is, no matter how much he tries to make everybody better, no matter how much he plays defense,

it screws things up. Think about that for a second. The Clippers are without probably the second best player in the league. I think Kevin Durant's the best. Kauai Leonard's the second best. They're without the second best player in the league. He plays both ends of the floor.

And I don't think they're better, but they're Paul George playing better. And I don't think. think grand scheme of things, again, it's addition by subtraction that they would be better throughout the season. They would be better throughout the playoffs if you didn't have Kauai Leonard. But there is something to Reggie Jackson being able to emerge because there's more shots and more opportunities, right?

Luke Kennard and Patrick Beverly and like all of their roles change. And that you heard Chris Paul talk about energy. I mean, think about your energy if you go to an arena. If you know that Kauai and Paul George are going to take somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 to 50 shots and you might get a couple of looks. Now, you take Kauai out no matter how much you know your team isn't as strong, but your role is going to be made to be more important and more involved. You're going to play harder.

You're probably going to play better. Maybe even play above your level. Cameron Payne had kind of dominated this series. Campaign was seen as a bust, as a guy who was drafted to be a starting point guard and could never, never evolve into that. They were playing faster. He was attacking the glass. He wasn't the mid-range shooter that Chris Paul is. And I don't know.

Listen, I understand. Look, dude, I've turned into radio shows and listen to fill in dudes all the time. And I get it. You're like, I don't know this guy. You may know me when I, my show is 12 to 3 Pacific, 3 to 6 Eastern Time. The Doug Gottlieb show. There's also the all ball podcast. Me and Fran Frasilla this week broke down all the topics in the NBA.

But if you don't know me, I was a Chris Paul fan before it was cool to be a Chris Paul fan. It's like my, my, my infatuation with the way Chris Paul plays is like, remember if you, Here's the example. My brother was in college at Drake. Okay, Drake is a school in Des Moines, Iowa. He went to see Big Head Todd, the Monsters in the fall of 1994. And he called me from the show, and he's like, dude, go down to the record store, okay, and get this CD. It's Hooty and the Blowfish.

They're awesome. They opened for Big Head Todd and the Monsters. They're going to be the next big thing. I'm telling him, the name's Greg Gottlieb. He's my brother. And he called it in 94. He was like, they're going to be the next big thing. And you know what?

They were the biggest thing on earth. Like, that's how I was about Chris Paul. Part of it is Chris Paul plays point guard as a former point guard the way I wish I could have played. He does all the things that I could do. only does him a lot better. He's just, he's awesome. He's a point, God. So this is not even me telling you,

I think Chris Paul stinks or he's overrated. He's not. He's rightfully rated. He is a first ballot as soon as he retires and he's eligible, put him in the Hall of Fame. And I do believe that there will be a moment, whether it's in this series or maybe in the next series, where you will see the real Chris Paul.

And I'm hoping for him, a guy who he's been hurt. He's been in some dysfunctional situations. Gets a chance to compete for a championship. But sports is not math. Sports is life. He ever heard less is more? More is not more.

Less is more. The transitive property, A equals B equals C, A must. It doesn't work in sports. In sports, there's addition by subtraction and there's subtraction by addition. The sons were better.

before they added Chris Paul. And now, as I told you, a series doesn't start with the clippers until they're down O2. All right. Was it the addition of Chris Paul? Do you go back to Cameron Payne because of the matchups? What does Monty Williams do? And, oh yeah, by the way, what do we make of playoff P?

He's terrible. He's a choker. No way he scores nine points. You know, know that he misses two free throws, know that he plays great in game three. What do we make of Paul George? Amina O'Sonnell, join us upcoming next. We'll get his take on these sons, these clippers,

and oh yeah, by the way, how do you stop Trey Young with all the pressure on the bucks tonight? That's next time. I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is The Hurt. Be sure to catch live editions of The HARD 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

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

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

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

Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

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

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app, Search learn the hard way and listen now. Casper's Fourth of July sale is here,

and they're celebrating the bed, white, and blue with up to 30% off bundles, mattresses, and more. Enjoy some of the best products and a great price when you shop at the best selling bundle. Exclusions apply. See casper.com slash promo for offer details and end date. Doug Gottlieb, been for Colin. This is The Hurt.

Hope you're having a great Friday. Enjoying an unbelievable, I believe, just truly, truly enjoyable postseason of NBA hoops. Amina Al-Hasson, of course, former member of the Sun's front office, and you can hear his work in the Metal Arc Media Network. He joins us here in The Hurt on Fox Sports Radio in the IHeart Radio app. I mean, first, I hope you're doing well. I hypothesized that last night was simple subtraction by addition, right?

Like the sons are rolling Campaign's playing great. I love Chris Paul. He's as a former point guard, that's how I wanted to play at the highest level, right? But it felt like he screwed him up last night and pace of play, style of shots,

just like the whole thing, is that a fair statement for what went wrong for the sons? I think a couple of things happened. First of all, obviously Chris Paul, he's been off the court for 11 days. days away from his team. There was going to be some amount of rust and lack of timing going on there. I think Devin Booker playing with a mask, people kind of underestimate how difficult that is

to do how bothers some of the mask is. And I'm not taking anything away from the clippers, but obviously Devin Booker was not comfortable with that thing on his face. And then again, then you got to give credit to the clippers. They defended. They defended with a lot of purpose and a lot more energy than they did. in the first two games. I don't know what everyone was going to say.

Like, well, I mean, they almost won those two games. They had a chance to win those two games. Yeah. But there was a certain lackadaisical vibe to them that has been consistent throughout these playoffs in the first two series. They start off too cool for school, and then they smell the toast burning. And they play harder. And that's what happened in game three.

I think the clippers played a lot harder with a lot more purpose and were forceful with their defensive scheme. Do you remember a player named Jorge Gutierrez in your time in the league? Of course, from Cal. Okay, yeah. So my brother recruit him to Cal, right? And when my brother first, my brother was in San Diego State under Steve Fisher for eight years. And when he first got to Cal, he's like, all right, now I'm in the PAC 10, a little higher level recruit.

He goes to Henderson, Nevada, Finley Prep to go to watch workouts. And he's like asking the coaches like, all right, who should I be looking at? They're like the Mexican kid with the ponytail. He's like, really? Like, trust me. Okay, trust me. Every game he's in, somebody in the other team wants to fight him, right? And that's a good thing.

And Jorge Guadiers became Pac-10 player of the year. Obviously played several years in the NBA. I think he's still playing in Mexico. That's the Pat Beverly thing, right? Like he's, I don't know if you can win a championship with Pat Bev as your starting guard, right? because he does have, there's a ceiling there in terms of his talent. And, you know, when he gets caught on switches, he's still little. But I do feel like that Pat Beverly that,

if Devin Booker would, if Devin Booker could put a legal hit out for Pat Beverly in a basketball style, he would do it. It feels like the nuisance that is Pat Beverly is finally starting to have some effect in this series. Yeah, it's funny because typically I've been one who's not quite as enamored with Beverly's antics. I think he's a guy that gets caught up in the ridiculous mono-imano that he's going through rather than committing to an overall defensive scheme. I think also that, you know, he's got some sort of delusion about him at times when he talks about like no one's hard to guard or anything.

So usually I'm not amused by it. But last night, I watched and I said, holy hell it's working. He was absolutely in Devin Booker's under a Devin Booker's skin. It worked. All of that talking, all of that kind of, you know, instigation and just being an overall pest and annoyance. It worked. It helped their game plan, and it absolutely helped them win. For one night at least, Patrick Beverly was very successful at being Patrick Beverly.

All right. What's the adjustment? I mean, Moni has been amazing at what he's been able to do with this franchise and what they've been able to do in the playoffs. They haven't lost in forever. What do you think the adjustment that Monty Williams makes heading into game for? Well, I mean, one of the things I think that they need to do is they need to do a more concerted effort on Reggie Jackson. Like, I don't know how many people walked living in that game last night thinking. Reggie Jackson kind of saved them because they had a lead and they started to blow the lead

and things were going the wrong way and their Reggie Jackson came up big. And that's not the first time in this playoff that he's done that, where he's hit the timely three, where he's gotten all the way to the rim and made the layup when they, they needed to stop the bleeding. And so I think he's averaging about 18 points. He's shooting 50% from the field, 40% from 3. He's having a phenomenal playoff. To me, I think that's a concern if I'm Monty Williams.

I want to be able to get him off the snide, basically, and not let him have free reign like that. I think they're doing a great job on Paul George. I wouldn't change a thing right there. And then finally, we just got to get book going, right? I think this fault is going to be fine. I think that was just kind of the rust of book needs to get going and he needs easier shots.

What happened in game three, that had happened in games one and two, is that the clippers forced him out of his comfort zone and made him take tough contested shots. They've got to hand up a lot of times. The only time he was going to get blocked last night. So for me, if I'm Monty Williams, I've got to find ways to get booked to his comfort zone to his kill spot on the floor and try to get him going.

I mean, Alhaston, join us in the Metal Arc Network. Doug Gottliebant for calling this is the herd. Let me go to the other series where, I mean, I think there's two different things. Let's start with the Trey Young problem. Now you got the pressure on the bucks. You lost home court advantage. You don't want to go down 02. What do you think they do as an adjustment?

Because, I mean, he was killing them in getting. I mean, Trey Young was just doing Trey Young things. Floaters, shimmy threes, getting to the rim, throwing off the backboard alley-ups, way too comfortable. What are the bucks do? You just put the nail on the head, right?

He hit the nail on the head. He's comfortable. He's having fun out there. It's a conference finals. He can't have fun. The first adjustment, get the hell rid of the drop coverage. He's too good of a shooter

for you to have your big drop back as far as they did. First of all, the floater that he had going, I believe when they played Milwaukee in the regular season, he shot very poorly on that floater. And that's why they kind of felt comfortable giving him that shot. The reality is, he's really good at it on a day-to-day basis. He's one of the best in the league on those little runners and floater.

And so the drop coverage is giving him a nice, clean, open, unobstructed view of the basket on a shot that he's really good at. They've got to be able to get up and meet the screener at ball level and containing corral him and force the ball out of his hand. If Kevin Herder is going to beat us off the dribble, so be it. If Bogdan Bogdanovich, who's clearly not himself, is still dealing with the after effects of that knee injury. If he's going to beat us on the dribble, so be it.

But you can't have Trey Young getting clean, wide open look at the basket, either from the floaters or from his man getting screened off and the big knot meeting him right there. I mean, that Shimmee 3 is so embarrassing. It's so embarrassing, though. You know he's a shooter. How does he get that open? How are you, Bobby Portis, laying that far back off him?

So do you not play Lopez? Are you not play Lopez and Trays in the game? No, I think he can. I think Brooke can move out there. And if he gets beat, here's the thing. If he gets beat, if Brooke comes out. rotate. To meet him.

Then you got to rotate, right? Now, ideally, yet you don't even let it get to that point. You are trapping them and get the ball out of his hands early. But the reality is they basically played the defense that. Trey Young could have picked any defense in the world he'd want to play again. It would be that. Like, the only way it could get worse is the Jew was going under on the screen. Maybe that would have been easier for Ray.

So, but this is the flaw to Bud, though, right? Is that Bud is not, he has not shown himself. to be a huge change adjustment guy. He has been a, we are who we are. And I also think not having Divencenzho hurts them some as well. But that's one of the things, the criticisms that's been fair about Boodnholzer, he didn't really adjust with the Nets. He ended up winning, playing big, and he survived, despite the fact that Nets didn't have

one and a half of their stars. But isn't that a fair criticism of Bud in the past is that he has not really been an adjustment guy? Yeah, I mean, that is the main criticism of him. He is not willing. And by the way, that's not because he's not good at it. It is literally a philosophy of his. We don't adjust.

If we do what we're supposed to do, there doesn't matter what they do, they can't beat it. That is a Bud kind of approach. And so the problem, I was on NBA radio with Zach Harper earlier this morning when we were talking about it, little Bud making adjustment.

The problem is, I think Tray shot one for seven at the end of that game and 0 for 4 and his threes, I believe Buzz probably sitting back, said, see ya? I told you. Like, he can't keep doing that forever. But the reality is that second half, that one to seven is probably less indicative of what trade would do against that kind of defense than that first half was.

And so I keep going back to, man, if you're going to play the defense, if this guy probably wants to see, you're kind of doing the playoffs wrong. That's not the chest moved. I tend to agree. I'll tell you the other part that, and I'm watching Marcus Johnson on Twitter. Of course, he calls Bucks games as an analyst for the Bally's Network, is they got killed in the boards, right?

If you're going to have Lopez in there and Janice in there and PJ Tucker in there, you can't be giving up run to rebounds for John. Like these guys, they got extra shots. They didn't. Atlanta didn't even shoot the basketball well, but they got too many opportunities because they didn't rebound well. Yeah, and that's a non-negotiable, right?

Even if you go small as Milwaukee, so small for Milwaukee is Janice at the five and what, Middleton at the four? Those are big guys. Those aren't little guys trying to masquerade and play a position up. Those are large human beings playing there. And I think that brings me to the other thing is that I didn't think they hunted Trey Young enough on the other end. They didn't, I mean, and the time they got the switch, they didn't do anything about it. at it, right? Like, yeah, Janice Chita fade away, you know,

13, 14 feet away from, where he's got Che Young on it. That can't be. He's got to get punished for being out there physically. He can't guard anybody on the floor. One through five from Milwaukee. So I think the bucks need to do a better job for that, and a better job of testing Bug Donovic. Again, this is a guy who's coming off

of a pretty bad knee injury. Make him test it. Make him see, make him see if he can stay in front of somebody. And then finally, Chris Middleton. look, 23 shots and only four free throw at 10. That can't be. He had 17 shots outside of the paint. And I believe he missed every single last one of them.

That can't be. You've got to get them in the paint for nothing else, just to get fouled and get to the free throw line and maybe see the ball go through the hoop a couple of times. He who makes the most layups usually wins. Amino Asson joining us here. Doug Gottliebun, he's been for Colin. This is the herd.

I want to play for you something that Jalen Rose said yesterday that we're all kind of reacting to. This was Jalen on his radio show, I believe. Kevin Love is on the team because of tokenism. Don't be scared to make an all-black team representing the United States of America. I'm disappointed by that. Anybody that watched the league this year knows

Kevin Love did not have a stellar season, was not the best player on his team, and did not necessarily deserve to be on his squad. Okay, so look, his, critique of Kevin Love and his season is absolutely fair. Okay? And the idea of the token

white guy has been a thing going back to the 70s and 80s in the league. But do you believe and I'm open to the discussion about it, but do you believe that that's the case? That's why Kevin Love is on USA basketball. With Jaylen, and I

think the thing to keep in mind is the context of who's making the selection, Jerry Kalandula. Two things that Mr. Calangelo has done since he's taken over USA basketball. One is they've not always gone for the best of the best. And someone says, oh, what sense does that make? Well, they understood, based on the failures of prior USA basketball teams, is that if you have a team of all-stars, it's hard to figure out who's going to defer.

Who's not going to be a star on this one? Who's going to be just a guy to fill in the role? that's how you get Tashon Prince on Team USA that's how you get Mason Plumley on Team USA Derek White on Team USA it's because you need someone

who's okay with maybe not getting as much touches as I usually get or maybe not or maybe just being or not playing or maybe like like hey we might not play you can be over there

are you are you going to have are you going to be as into it if you're not playing And I also, situational guy. Right. Plus, plus they're also,

like, look, you pointed out Plumley, part of that is the Duke thing with Coach K and there's relationships there, but also he'd been a part of USA basketball before. That's,

Kevin Love is, go ahead, I'm sorry. No, no, that was the second point, which is, uh,

Mr. Colangelo frequently rewards people who have served before, right? They like to go back to the well. The guys have the experience, we've been there, and we're good soldiers, the first time around because they don't want guys to come in.

And like you said, kind of be complaining, well, I thought it was going to be one thing. You saw what happened with Deerrin Fox a couple of years ago for the World Cup where he was kind of nifted by his lack of playing time. And then the end of saying, oh, I got to go, you know, I have to get ready for this season because we're going to make the playoff, even though his teammate Harrison Barnes was on Team USA. And that's the duality there of A, you want people who can accept the role.

And B, you reward people who have done it before. for because you know they can accept the role. Yeah, I just, I don't know. I just think it's a bad look to fall back on the, it's racial thing, especially in a sport like basketball where that, that's a, it's a hard one. And I, it also like, imagine if you're Kevin Love and you hear that. You're like, are you kidding me?

Like, I'm giving up my summer here. Yeah. Well, I mean, like, I think, I think like you said at the beginning, like, Galen has a point, and what he's talking about is real. This is something made up or fictitious. It's just that this is a bad example to you. But you've been an NBA front office. Does tokenism still happen?

I believe so. I absolutely believe so. Now, it's been a while for me because it's been almost, or man, it's been a decade since I was in a front office. But I believe, yes, it absolutely happened. And it doesn't always happen in the way you think it is. where it's like, hey, we need a white guy. Usually it's, hey, we need

a guy, and he's repped by this guy who reps the other guy, and that couldn't hurt. And you know what? Him, you know, giving something that the quote-unquote home fans can feel comfortable about doesn't hurt either. So it's never a deciding factor, but it is

a factor, I believe, sometimes in the decisions that we make at the end of the roster. I mean, great stuff, man. Look forward to your next piece in the Metal Arc Media Network. Thanks so much for doing us in the herd. Thanks a lot, Doug. All right, that was, that was a,

it's a good, thoughtful discussion. Let's get to Ryan Music with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Good morning, Doug. What up, Brian? Happy little reunion.

Always good to be with you. Plenty of great NBA discussion there with you and Amin. And we're going to do a little bit of NFL here. So pro football focus all week long in increments of 10 have released their top 50 players in the NFL. No positional value, just strictly how they evaluate each player based off of how good they are. So the top 10 came out today. Number one was Aaron Donald, and then I'll save you the rest.

We'll just talk some quarterbacks here. Number two was Patrick Mahomes. Number seven was Tom Brady, and number 10 was Aaron Ronald. Rogers. Now this is based on last year? It's a combination of how they performed last year and where they think they'll be in 2021. That's a horrible list. It's a horrible list. Like, look, I understand the intangibles of Tom Brady. The guy just figures out a way to win. And when he walks in that building in Tampa where they haven't won anything since they really won a Super Bowl, right? I mean, I get it.

But Aaron Rogers was the best quarterback in the league last year. They had the best offensive league. And if you watch the game, Tom Brady's opening drive was incredible. The last throw of the first half was remarkable. Part of it was, I don't know what the cornerback was doing. I don't know. I don't understand the defensive play call. That said, he threw three picks in the second half.

They won despite not because of him. Who really thinks Tom Brady is still the second best quarterback in the league? I'll give you a... And they're supposed to be a buy-the-numbers and they're projecting it. He's going to get better this year in his 40s? This is their... This makes the whole list erroneous.

Erroneous on all accounts. Erroneous! Erroneous! This was their short description of Brady and then I will read you, Rogers. The seven-time Super Bowl champion did this in his first season with a completely new team,

a brand-new offensive scheme for the first time in two decades, with no pre-season to work through the issues that would usually be present. Brady is still as good as any quarterback in the game. The only question is how long can he keep defying time? And Aaron Rogers, they said, Rogers would have been slipping down this list a season ago, but perhaps motivated by the team drafting his successor. He not only went out and had the best season of his career, he put on one of the best single season performances we have

ever seen. Rogers led the NFL with a PFF passing grade of 94.3. He came away with 48 touchdowns along with the highest big time throw rate in the league with just five interceptions, the second lowest turnover worthy play rate working against him. Okay, so the only person who had a better turnover worthy play rate by their analysis was Tom Brady. So maybe that's why they ranked Brady ahead of Rogers. He had turnovers in the NFC championship. I don't know.

I get it. I like Tom Brady the whole thing. Tom Brady, by the way, the whole thing in the offseason has been incredible, making fun of himself for the fourth down thing. You know, the golf match, which is coming up this weekend, is awesome. Like all this, like, there's no negatives to Tom Brady. Getting hammered, I mean, getting just, you know what, canned at the victory parade is amazing. Getting white boy wasted the victory parade and throwing the Lombardi trophy is incredible. But nobody actually thinks he's better than Aaron Rogers right now.

in terms of, you know, pro football focus is not supposed to be about feelings. It's supposed to be about facts. That's a hard one. That makes the whole list calling the question. Although they have Aaron Donald the best player in the league, which is hard. That does lend some credence that they did name

the most dominant player in the NFL, the best player. And Doug, I'm just going to tease ahead a little bit. We have got a great, great Kevin Durant story coming up next hour in the herd line news. That's the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News.

So Amin Elhassen and I discussed what Jalen Rose said. I will tell you, by my estimation, why Kevin Love is on Team USA representing our country, despite the fact he had his worst season as a pro. That's next in The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben, host of the fifth hour with Ben Mallor, along with my trusty sidekick, David Descon,

would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mather show, a cult hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry, in media, sports, and more every week, explore some amazing facts about human nature and more.

Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw,

unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at Tickford. TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid?

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Doug Gottlieb in for Colin. This is The Hurd, Fox Sports Radio, the IHeart Radio app. So I'm going to play for you this sound again that you may have heard and people have taken and kind of run with it. And we'll have kind of an open, a little bit of open discussion about it. I thought Amina Al Hassan who joined us from the Metal Art Network who used to work, obviously,

at ESPN. I used to work at ESPN. I had some very interesting thoughts. We'll get to in a second. Summer's here. Get active shed pounds with MDrive boost and burn. The supplement that helps you look and feel good. Visit mDrive.com for men.

Excuse me, MDrive for Men.com for free shipping a 60-day guarantee. Refined your prime with M-Drive. This was Jalen Rose. Talking about Kevin Love making the USA basketball roster. Kevin Love is on the team because of tokenism. Don't be scared to make an all-black team

representing the United States of America. I'm disappointed by that. Anybody that watched the league this year knows Kevin Love did not have a stellar season, was not the best player on his team, and did not necessarily... That's what he... Kevin Love is only on the team because of tokenism.

Okay, that that's what he... Kevin Love is only on the team because of tokenism. Okay, that that's what he led. with. Then he said he didn't have a good season. It's fair. Good season. Wasn't the best player on his team? Okay. It's arguable, right? I mean, he didn't have the best season, but his team was a mess. They stunk. And then he said, I believe at the end, that it could be why he was on the team, right? Like, he started strong and then tried to support it. But the whole thing, the whole thing's honestly offensive. And I'm never offended.

I'm like the least, I'm one of those guys is like, really, that's offensive. Like, I don't, I struggle to find things that are offensive. But it's offensive to say Kevin Love. And look, he's not wrong. Kevin Love did not have a good year. He's talked about struggling with mental health. He wasn't physically healthy the entire season. That thing is a disaster. But here's the first thing. This is the, this is the big part that we need to take a breath and think about. Tokenism has happened in basketball. Now, I don't believe what Amin al-Hasson labeled as tokenism is tokenism, because in the NBA, you get favors. There are favors. Second round picks are drafting the second round oftentimes because of a favor. An agent reps the guy

that you want to have, so you draft that guy to take care of the agent so that the free agent that you're going to sign already has kind of a working conversation with you and there's good feelings and good vibes. That really happens. Look, I'll be honest with you. I was in the Lakers summer league team one year and I was at a free agent vet minicamp three different times. It wasn't because it was tokenism. It was because my dad was Tex Winner's assistant at Long Beach State. Tex winner was basically the offensive coordinator, the genius behind the triangle offense, right?

So, text did me a solid. He liked me as a player. He liked me as a person. He liked my dad. I'm from Southern California. They're not to fly me in. Although one time I had to fly in from Italy when I was playing. because I wanted a shot to play with the Lakers.

And I didn't make it. I got beat out the first year by Mike Pemberthie and then by Joe Crispin and Mike Pemberthie. And it was because they were, not because they were white, but because they were better shooters. They were better fits for the triangle offense. For the third point guard with the L.A. Lakers, they needed a dude who could just stand out there 35 feet from the basket.

And if they got it, lace it. and splash it. That's it. So I know what what Amin is talking about, but a favor is not tokenism. Tokenism is, boy,

like there actually used to be a discussion in basketball. You haven't heard this anywhere. Okay. It used to be a discussion in basketball, college basketball. It used to be a pushback over how many black players did you play?

Three at home, four in the road, and five when you're in deep doo-doo. That's an actual basketball phrase from the 1970s. We're in 2021. USA basketball coached by Greg Popovich, who, without any question, is the most woke coach in the history of woke coaches. Do you think for one second he's like, you know, we got out a white guy?

Or maybe, or maybe they needed a guy. Like, who had a better season? Julius Randall or Kevin Love? Well, Julius Randall, it's not close. but who's a better shooter? Kevin Love. Who's played international basketball for Team USA before? Kevin Love. Who's going to adjust to?

Hey, man, listen, we just need you for two or four minutes here. Go in, bang around. Kevin Love. You have to build a team. And this is no different than Steve Nash getting the Nets head coaching job. Why do you get it? He's close friends with the GM. And he can relate to the players because he was a superstar in his own right.

So if there's anybody on earth, who can try and relate to Kyrie Irving and speak to his sensibilities of what it's like to try and navigate all this stuff. It's Steve Nash. And look, I said this on my radio show and I mean it to be true. I mean, imagine if a white guy were to say that the only reason a black guy was to get an opportunity was because of tokenism. How would, and my point is not that not that Jalen Roche should be fired, but that other guys shouldn't be. It should be a legit discussion. More to come. I'm Doug Gottlie, this to hurt.

Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an

a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics

where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games.

This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to.

Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors.

Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.