The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 07/01/2021 - HOUR 2 - College athletes, Bucks, PGs

Episode Date: July 1, 2021

College athletes can now make money off their name, image, and likenessThe Bucks will have to win tonight without Giannis AntetokounmpoThe point guard is the quarterback of the NBAGuest: Justin Turner 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.

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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. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard,

but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio, Here we go. It's hour two live in Los Angeles. It's the herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio FS1. Justin Turner, who is going to get a lot of Hall of Fame votes. He holds every Dodger postseason hitting record. He leads him in everything right now. He's inches behind. And the All-Star voting ends in one hour from now. It's about one hour from now. So if you vote for Justin Turner, obviously the Dodgers, he's in second place right now. behind the Cardinals, third baseman, the guy that left the Rockies.

Why am I forgetting his name? Nolan Aeronado of the Cardinals. Cardinals are no good. Brewers are good. Cubs are good. Cardinals no good. Dodgers are good, but they trail the Giants who, it's amazing. If you took the Giants and Dodgers and looked at their roster, the Dodgers have all the better players, and the Giants are ahead of them. Giants are a weird team this year.

So Justin Turner joins us in a few minutes. He's been on it before. He's a great, great player. It's a chance to be an All-Star at 36 years. the old all-stars. A little gray hair. I am loyal to gray hair now in my life. By the way, now college athletes can be bait. Can I just give you two minutes on this? I've thought about this for years. So in college sports, let's just talk college football, because that's what drives all the revenue in college sports. College basketball is fine, but college football

drives all the revenue. College football pays in 95% of college athletic programs, college football pays all the bill. Everything else loses money except men's and women's basketball. In the South baseball makes some money, but mostly everything loses money. in college football, the South has an advantage. They have more great high school football players. Like they care about it, they spend money on it, the coaches make $100,000. When you get about Houston East, that's where all the great players are, the great programs, and they're just more good players.

And most kids want to stay close to home. I totally get that. So the South has always had great players, but then once they got great commissioners and kind of synchronized it, they're really a powerhouse. But the West, now with the ability to pay athletes, has all the money. YouTube, California, Google, California, Apple, California, Facebook, California. There's a reason the state of California, in a pandemic, had a $75 billion dollar surplus. Netflix, that's ours too.

Zoom, that's ours too. doc you sign. Yep, California. Why doesn't the PAC 12 commissioner, knowing that he's got a player disadvantage, I mean, California funds the whole, you know, Denver West, they all get their players in California, right? And we got pro sports here. People are distracted. Kids play lacrosse. They play baseball, basketball, a lot of things to do in California. Surf, skateboard. Like in the South, you play football if you're an athlete. That's what you do. Here, there's a bunch of stuff to do.

So the PAC 12, if I was the PAC 12 commissioner, I would have meetings with Google. And these companies have $10 billion hours on the stock market. There have been days that Silicon Valley makes a trillion dollars in a 24-hour period. In fact, in like a 12-hour trading period. I would go if I was a PAC-12 commissioner to Google, to Facebook, to Apple, to Yahoo. And I'd say, you have PAC-12 students all over your companies. You don't have a lot of big 12 students. You don't have a lot of ACC students.

You don't have a lot of SEC students. You got PAC 12 graduates all over YouTube, all over Google, all over Apple, all over Facebook. By the way, Nike, all over Nike up in Beaverton, Oregon. Do us a solid. Let's get this name, image, likeness thing going. And then we can go get the best players in the country. I mean, what's Alabama going to do? Well, we've got a car dealership over here.

We've got piggily wiggly. We've got a grocery store chain. Yeah, we got Apple. Like the PAC 12 should literally go to Silicon Valley and just say, your companies have all these PAC 12 Stanford, Cal, Washington, USC, UCLA graduates. Do you want college sports to matter out here? Let's create something. I mean, gosh, name image likeness.

That's what Google does. That's what YouTube does. That's what Facebook does. I mean, to me, that's the great equalizer. Because the South's got more good players, more good programs, more passion, they care more about it, and they deserve to win all the games, right? Like they, to me in life, if you care about something, I root for you, I like that the SEC dominates because it matters more to them.

I used to cover the SEC. I covered the Florida Gators in Florida State. They literally get in their Winnebagoes on Wednesday morning, cocktail. They arrive in Gainesville Wednesday night, and they stay there until Sunday morning. I mean, that's how they live. That's awesome. When people care about something that much, I root for them. Like Phoenix, the sons really want to win.

They've been bad forever. They finally have it all together. It's easy to root for the Suns. It's not always easy to root for the Yankees, you know, the Lakers. It was easy to root for the Suns. I mean, Yankee fans, the minute they lose a going a four-game losing streak, they're always like, oh, we got to pay $8 billion for a short. We're not good enough.

The answer for Yankee fans is always, we didn't pay enough for this star. Oh, be quiet. You spend more than everybody except the Dodgers in baseball. So, anyway, I think. That's my takeaway on this name image-likeness stuff. I grew up with a PAC-12, but we don't have the athletes outside of California. Most of these states, Washington, Wyoming, Oregon, Utah, Phoenix. You know, they got 8, 9, 10 Division I studs.

But California's got like 240. I mean, you haven't even mentioned Hollywood. Boom. I mean, USC is not in Silicon Valley. The film school at USC. The film, I think UCLA is a film school, too. I mean, it's like this is built for the PAC-12 to put a stake in do it and go, we can now compete.

And again, before everyone starts panicking, some kids are still going to want to play in the SEC and still play in the South. Of course. They're still going to want to go to certain programs because they have certain coaches and certain schemes. And they, by the way, their parents are closed. They can go to all the games. I'm not saying everybody's going to leave, but I'm saying for the elite. But that's what everyone pushes back.

I'm like, well, now, now it's going to be an advantage. The California, you don't get enough? But I don't know. I just, listen, I'm a Pac-12 guy. No, it makes perfect sense. And it does, some things do tilt advantage to other places and other things. Changes mean something. But it's not going to be anything, everything in all. And that's what the reaction to this is.

Like, okay, now college sports is going to be pro sports. No, it's not. Now all the kids are only going to go to the big schools. No, they're not. Oh, it's only going to benefit the top athletes. No, it's not. Everything is not all. Like, just relax a little bit.

It's going to be clunky at first. And maybe it will benefit the PAC 12. Maybe everything you're saying will come to pass. And guess what? Won't that be good for the sport? Because isn't all we ever hear about is parody? By the way, wasn't college football better when UCLA, or excuse me, when USC and Miami hurricanes, big city teams had swag and attitude? Now you have a bigger playoff so you can spread the talent around more.

So when we do have more teams in the playoffs, it's not going to be three blowouts before we get to the championship. Just have a little vision, guys. College athletes are going to get paid. As they should. Kids who go to school for academic scholarships. They work for those scholarships. They can have jobs. They get paid.

That's right. Why wouldn't the athletes? Justin Turner's been paid. He should be. He basically holds every Dodger postseason. Home runs, hits, RBI's runs. He holds all of them. All-Star voting ends in 50 minutes.

He's an inch behind Nolan Aeronado. Go vote for Justin Turner. He's 36, by the way. Old Guy All-Star has a nice ring to it. Let's bring Justin Turner in live. They start Dodgers. by the way, start of a four-game series here with the Nats tonight. By the way, at 36 years old, I see a lot of red and not a lot of gray in that beard.

Let's be honest, though. 36-year-old All-Star, Justin, that'd be pretty cool, right? Like, that would be something when your career's over. That would be way up top, right? Like, that kind of honor? Yeah, absolutely. And the way I've kind of been looking at it is, you know, MLB loves to promote the young guys, and there's a lot of exciting.

young guys in the game right now, but at some point in their career, especially these guys that are signed these 12, 13, 14-year deals, they're going to be 36-year-olds as well and want to be all-stars too. So I might as well be the first one to get the ball rolling. Me and Yadi, and there's a couple other guys, Buster Posey, who are on the back end trying to represent for the old guys. You know, it's interesting. You're having another great year. There's no surprise with that. Right now you lead the Dodgers and hits, batting average RBI's total bases. What's fascinating though is you're the most talented team in baseball, but the Giants lead. And if you looked at the Giants roster and the Dodgers roster, you'd almost take a Dodger at every position. And here are the

Giants, and that's what makes baseball crazy. Guys are playing over their skis. The Dodgers season's been interesting. Bellinger's hurt and then Mokies hurt and then guys come back is even though you're playing well, since the no-hitter, you guys are playing well, it feels like it's been a little bit of an odd season where it can't, it's not like sinking up at the perfect time. Does it now, does it now feel like it's sinking up? It's getting close. You know, we've been carried all season long by our starting pitching and our bullpen's been really good for us. The offense has kind of been in and out, hit and miss. Like you said, we've had belly down, Seeger down, Muncie missed a couple weeks. So we, I think we've only played three games with our actual opening day starting

lineup. But that's the case for everyone around the league, right? There's injuries going on all over the place. And I think you said it best. The beauty of baseball is on paper, you know, one team can look way better than another, but that doesn't matter. You still have to, you still have to go on the field, you still have to compete, you still have to do it in between the lines. And honestly, for baseball, the Giants and the Dodgers being at the top of the division and the top of the National League is great because that's, you know, that's the ultimate rivalry, right? You know what's interesting with you? You're just a hitter. So you're hitting 285. That leads all third baseman. You lead it in war. You lead it in batting average. And we've had this, this tack situation where it's pretty understood. Everybody knows it. You know, it used to be weightlifters and baseball pitchers are always looking for grip. They use the tack. It spins. And I read a story about a month ago where it was like, And batterers were saying, I can hear. I can hear the ball snapping.

And I'm thinking, well, you're still hitting $2.90. So, you know, who the hell cares? So you're fine. But when it was happening, and Major League Baseball's average dip to like 237, why were you still hitting? I mean, you obviously, Justin, have been in this game long enough. You heard, I mean, you heard the rumors. You saw the stuff.

But you still maintained your average. You didn't let it get into your head. Was there a reason why you made? maintained your average and a lot of guys didn't? You know, I'm not sure. I think ultimately, like you said, I'm a hitter over a slugger. I obviously enjoy extra base hits and home runs as much as the next guy. But once I get to two strikes, you know, it turns into, you know, survivor mode, battling, scrapping, finding ways to move the ball forward, put the ball in play, and just finding

holes. And also, you know, I'm a guy that understands when I don't have my ace swing. I don't have my best swing. I'm not going to go out there and try to hit home runs and hit doubles because I know I'm not feeling my best. So I'm just going to go and try to grind out on that bat and hit the ball the other way, move a runner, do something to help the team win. And I think that has benefited me a lot this year. You know, it's interesting. You and Kershaw, you're kind of the, like the soul of the team, right? Like, and you're older dudes. And then the Dodgers, though, bring up a lot of young guys. When you go on a road trip, I mean, you and Kershaw look like to me, you'd listen to classic rock and roll. Like is Kershaw, do you ever look at Kershaw sometimes and be like, sometimes we're the parents here?

There's just so many young, great players with the Dodgers. It is different. You're getting, you're closer to 40 than 30. Yeah, yeah. We, you know, especially this year, we've had a lot of young guys come up with the Andrew. and a lot of guys trying to step in and fill roles. So there's been a lot of stuff going on. And, you know, one thing that's really helped us is another old guy who recently joined us, Albert Pooleholz, who has been huge for us in the locker room and talking to guys and helping guys out. So it's fun.

It's fun to be on this side of my career and be able to have conversations with young guys and try to help them along and see them develop and go through their process every day of getting better. Obviously, the talent in our game, especially for the younger guys, is off the charts. And, you know, we're just here to try to keep them on track and keep them moving in the right direction and hopefully help them, you know, see their full potential because there are a lot of dynamic young players in this game who are going to carry us for a while. By the way, you're starting a four-game series with the Nats tonight. and it when you, and again, you can do all-star voting.

He's right behind Nolan Aeronado. Go to MLB.com slash vote. Last minute votes in. We got nothing against Nolan, by the way, but, you know, we're in Los Angeles. So Justin's a good get for us. When you sort of look, you guys are now World Series champs. And I remember reading the story years and years ago about, you know, when Muhammad Ali was a champ, he got everybody's best fight. You know, everybody's best fight.

Peyton Manning got every defensive coordinator's best effort. That's when you slept on the couch in the office as a defensive coordinator. Your World Series champs. Have you noticed, Justin, when you're a World Series champ, the crowds are a little bigger, the taunts are a little louder, and it is different. It is just as hard defending that as it is attaining that. Yeah, 100%. I think that when you win a World Championship, it comes with a target on your back, especially

the season immediately following. But at the same time, I feel like, you know, my eight years here with the Dodgers, winning the division seven years in a row, being into the World Series 3 of the last four years, I feel like we kind of constantly have a target on our back. It doesn't matter. The only difference is last year we actually won the last game of the year where in the years past we fell a little short. So I think it's something we're used to.

We're used to the fans, you know, wanting it a little more against us. And obviously, players and teams kind of lining up their pitching to have their best guys go against us. And we just kind of embrace it. By the way, you're in some fancy, bougie hotel in D.C. I can see right now. It looks very, very nice. By the way, I don't know if you're aware of this, it gets hot in D.C. in the summer. It's like playing inside of a sock. It's going to be so bad.

It's going to be so brutal there the weather this weekend. Yeah, it's supposed to rain tonight. So I've had my windows open in my room, and it's bright and sunny right now. So I don't know what these forecasters are talking about. But it's supposed to rain today and tomorrow, which is a recipe for extreme humidity and miserableness on the field. So we're looking forward to that one. I've got about 12 bottles of water over here that I'm getting printed a drink and hydrate up before we go into theories. All right, MLB.com.

slash vote last minute votes in uh Justin Turner what a treat 13 years in the big's an all star world series champ right now leading the Dodgers in every category that matters in a year nobody can hit he can still hit uh great senior Justin thanks again man thanks Colin I appreciate you have me on you bet he really is the soul of the Dodgers he looks like a baseball player he plays like a baseball player there's a lot you know there there there is something about guys there are just certain athletes in sports they just like there are certain guys in the NFL, you're just like, that's what a football player would look like. That is a football player. And it's sometimes, remember the guy that the late Kevin Green who played for the Minnesota

Vikings, that's how you played football. A hundred percent, every play, hair out of your helmet, almost crazy. Troy Pal Malo reminds him of that. Just that's what a football player is. Maybe it's where we're just talking about hair out of the helmet thing. There are, Justin Turner is this. The hair's going everywhere. He's just a hitter. That's a professional baseball hitter. Tony Gwynn was like that. Tony's one of the great hitters of all time. But Turner is one of the great Dodgers of all time.

All right, good stuff. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-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 a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you're all right. But just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed correct.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast. Learn the Hardway with me, your host. and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field

and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or 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, Keir Gaines, as 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 Hardway and listen now.

Saturday, the last two World Series champs collide as mooky bets and the Dodgers take on Juan Soto and the Nationals or Bogarts and the Red Sox take on the A's. Saturday, 7 Eastern only on Fox. Check local listings for the game in your area. How are the Astros doing now they can't use garbage cans as signal amplifiers? How are the Astros this year? What's the story on that? Oh, they're first place. All right.

I'd make Greg Toohey on our show happy. So it wasn't all garbage cans. so there was some, I mean, it wasn't all institutional, industrial level cheating. There's actually good players over there. But news flash, they're still good. Yeah, I mean, the teams that are good are good. Nats have been good for years. Dodgers have been good for years.

Astro's been good for years. We just can't figure the Giants out. By the way, college athletes officially can get paid. We're not quite sure how it's all going to work, but we're not quite sure how legalized pot was going to work in the first year and the repercussions of that. And we're not quite sure how sports gambling is all going to turn out, but we have that too.

And sometimes folks, things that are new are not definitive. There's going to be bumps with the, there have been bumps with a legalization of pot. There have been bumps with a legalization of sports gambling. And this will be bumpy. And that's part of the ride. You don't get in a roller coaster if it goes straight. Miraculously, the entire country is not a bunch of potheads. Amazing.

And not everybody. And we're all still able to pay our mortgages, even though once in a while we might put a couple bucks on the Mets. How exhausting must it be? And I'm not blaming because the liberals do it and conservatives do it. But how exhausting must it be to believe that your side is always right? And when they're not and they get voted out or you lose or something doesn't work for you, you immediately get into the panic porn line and the world's going to end. None of that stuff matters, by the way, because from all the video I'm seeing,

there's aliens about 1,500 miles from us up in space. And they're about here in 15 minutes. It's going to take the world over anyway. And the government now acknowledges... I don't think they want to take this one over. The government, I read a story yesterday where stuff's disappeared into black holes in space. I mean, I don't even know why invest in the 401k anymore. Between aliens and the black holes, it's all going to end here soon anyway.

The hell. I mean, I'm sitting here worrying about my account. You don't have as much control over everything in the universe as you think you do. You also don't need it. Everything is not the end of the world. Some things might be. But if it's the end of the world, you know, you probably should enjoy your life and stop worrying about it so much. There's nothing you can do about it.

I saw a couple days ago, a star, bigger than the sun, just disappeared into a black hole in space. And I was like, I am taking my 401K and I'm going to Vegas for the weekend because none of it matters. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. I love talking to people who think that they need to know everything. You don't know everything. Don't you want to know what's going on?

I'm like, absolutely not. How about the people that try to control, and men and women both do this? They want to have control in the marriage. Get out of that space. No, thank you. You don't need to control everything. You don't need to know everything.

There's a reason your parents didn't tell you everything. There's a reason your boss doesn't tell you everything. It's because they want you to enjoy your life. Go to Vegas to spend a couple dollars, you know, see a show, go have some brunch. Enjoy your life. You're not supposed to know everything. It's the reason why there's a top secret.

secret files. It's not for everybody to know. Yeah. Like, you know, there's, that's a great point. And I don't want to know everything. Neither do I. I don't. I don't want to go to brunch with my friends and have too many mimosa's an Uber home. Yeah. I want to have a nice dinner. I want to see some movies. Maybe travel a little bit, see the world.

Come here to work. Enjoy my job. There's stuff happening upstairs in this building. They got big plans. Could be bad news for us. I don't want to know. Big plans. Great. Big plans. Problems. We're here to talk sports. That's our job. People are like, would you ever go to politics?

Why would I want to make decisions that could affect millions of people's lives and the rest of history? Why do I want to do that? I struggle to make decisions decisions for Buddy and Yosi. I don't know what I want to do for lunch. I got them the wrong dog food two weeks ago. And they looked at me like, do better. My dogs. Like, look at me like. With your dogs that special food? It was like, because my wife buys this amazing stuff that comes to the door like once every couple weeks. And if I, sometimes I'll feed him stuff. And they'll look at me like, that's why we like mom more, because you don't even know how to feed us. I don't want those problems.

So LeBron will not be joining Team USA in Tokyo for the Olympics this summer. Some of that has a little bit to do with Space Jam, but he also opted out of the 2016 games in Rio. And now that LeBron's 36, Team USA director, Jerry Colangelo, believes that we've seen the last of King James in the Olympic Games. Father time takes its toll. If your human being, your body is built to go so long, depending on what your sport is, and then it's a downhill situation. And LeBron made choices these last couple of Olympics not to participate because he's got a lot of things going on in his life. And so he put in his time, he made a contribution that is appreciated, but I think his time is over. LeBron does not need to play in another Olympic games.

No, no, I think you do it once in your career, maybe twice max, and it's fine. He's played in three. And he's one of three U.S. players to do that. He won bronze in 2004 and gold in 2008 and 2012. He has 68 games with Team USA. He's first and assists, second in games played, three in points, three in rebounds, and three in steals all time for our men's Olympic team. He does not need to contribute to the Olympics anymore. And when you consider how many games LeBron has played, not.

just in his career, but if you tag on all of the playoff games, he's played three extra seasons. That's not even including the Olympics. So he's definitely, he's given his contribution to the country when it comes to the Olympic Games, which was very much appreciated. And listen, I'm all in on space jam this summer. Can't wait to see it. Yeah. So he's absolutely deserving to hang up the Olympic hat. So Ben Simmons could be on the trading block this summer, especially after the poor performance in the postseason. The athletic laid out a potential trade of Simmons for Damian Lillard, but an anonymous NBA executive said that would be

a very risky move for Portland to make when discussing Simmons. The exec told David Aldridge, he's still really good, but he's so broken right now. You're going to get killed if you do that. And you're the guy who replaces Dame. I also think what Dame's great at

Simmons can't do. Yeah, that's what's one. Like you're replacing Dame. It's just a weird thing. It'd be like one thing if you got a lesser Dame, Jalen Brown of the Celtics, isn't Dame, but he's pretty darn good and a better defender than Dame. And I got two draft picks. Like, that's it, that's aesthetically. Yes. Blazer fans will be like, well, Jalen is bigger and stronger, so he's a better defender, and he's a pretty good offensive player, and we got two draft picks. So you get good, instead of a great player, and you get

great hope, draft picks. But if you start going to Ben Simmons, where you're like, he can't shoot, period, and you're watching Dame scored 38 down the street for the Mavericks, that just doesn't sit well with fans. Well, that's the executive's point is. Everyone's always trying to win trades and all of that. And how things look to your fans and how they play out on the court are not necessarily the same thing. Like it might be a good move to get Ben Simmons if Dame wants out,

like Ben Simmons is a star, but Ben doesn't do what Dame does. And Ben comes with high-level expectations because it's his name. So you don't want to put Ben in a situation where he's expected to do what Dame did or he's expected to take them further than what Dame did because Dame is a star and they love him and then he'd be leaving. You've got to manage expectations with things too, which is why that trade that you just mentioned would actually be a better trade for them. Because the expectations would not be as high. You've got a little bit of hope. You've got a little space. Ben comes in replacing Dame.

It's like, all right, let's go. Like this is, we should have more now. Not that Ben is a better player than Dame, but he is a big name. And those expectations change things. So speaking of expectations, the Cardinals improved between Cliff Kingsbury's first and second seasons as head coach. They made some big offseason moves, including the signings of JJ Watt and AJ Green. So expectations are even higher for season three. And wide receiver Christian Kirk believes it's do or die for Arizona in 2021.

I think no, it's now or never for us. And that's the attitude in the locker room. You know, I think we finally feel like we have all the pieces. to put it together and really, really make a push, you know, for the playoffs and for a championship. And I know guys in the locker room aren't expecting anything less than that. We know the opportunity is here, and, you know, we have to rush to the occasion. And we have the right guys and the right leadership to do it. If you question whether that's the best division or not, don't.

That's the fourth best roster in that division. And they have J.J. Watt and DeAndre Hopkins and Kyler Murray, Christian Kirk. Christian Kirk. Like it's a... AJ Green. Yeah. And Malcolm Butler.

It's really, really... That division is a handful. Yeah, it's... It is an interesting year for Cliff Kingsbury, though, because even though they did improve... They did. Got to give me fair. They improved. 13, 18 and one record.

They had an 8-8 record last year. He gets no break, though. He has to face Pete Carroll twice, McVeigh twice, and Shanahan twice. So it's like, you really have to sit down and think about that if you own the Cardinals, and he goes one in five in division. Okay, so I lost to Pete Carolyn Russell Wilson twice. All right. I lost to Shanahan and Garoppolo twice.

Okay, Stafford McBay. He may well be a good coach, but I mean, think about what other division. I mean, if you are Andy Reid, and now you have Brandon Staley, who's 18 years old, Vic Fangio, we're not sure, Gruden was gone for 10 years. That's not a knock on Andy Reid, but I'm saying you have to have context for Cliff Kingsbury. This is the greatest coaching division in the NFL. You have to play all of them twice. They've all got quarterbacks and there's no days off.

No, it is. That's all true. But at what point do you start taking chunks out of that? That's right. Well, they got better last year. Yeah. So, right. So they're trending in the right direction.

And look, it was 8 and 8 record, but like there were some very close games there. Like, not, look, you win and you lose, right? There's not like another column for like, but they played really well in this game. I'll tell you, we've had something weird happening in the country. A few years ago, all the Boston teams won. And then last year, all the Tampa teams were really good. And remember a couple years ago, the Dodgers teams really won. And now the Phoenix Suns are in the finals.

Keep your eye on the Arizona card. It's weird how it works. There's a synergy where cities have these little bubble years where everybody wins. Well, they also have a little more expectations because, you know, when the fans start getting a taste of some success with one organization and one sport, they start to hold the other teams of those standards. I think Cliff Kingsbury has a little bit more runway than it might be insinuated, but they have made a lot of aggressive moves this offseason.

It's just tough. That is a really impossible division. Yep. Joy with the news. All right, the Bucks just announced Janice is out for game five tonight against Atlanta. And my takeaway is, all right, he's not out for the series. He's out for tonight. Well, Atlanta won a game without Trey Young.

And you have a better roster than Atlanta, so go win the game. There's no excuses. The Clippers went to five. Phoenix and beat the Suns without Quine Leonard. I don't want to hear any excuses for Milwaukee. You've gotten every injury break in the world over the last several years. Janus is out. Go win the game.

Let's go win the game. Atlantis has no business beating anybody without Trey Young. They did. So go win the game. No excuse at all. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, what's up everybody?

It's me. time Pro Bowl of LeVar Arrington and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game. What is Up on Game, you ask? Along with my fellow Pro Bowler, T.J. Hushman Zada and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right. Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it.

Up on Game. We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with me, LaVar Arrington, T. Hushmanzada and Plexico Burrits on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast from. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

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

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

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan, Ryan, Korn, 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 iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jersey Mike's new grilled portabella mushroom

and Swiss sub, delicious, try it now. Fresh ingredients, make a sub above. Jersey mics, be a sub above. I love taking rigid people and forcing them to be flexible. College athletes are getting paid now. Oh, boy. Not by the school.

They can make money off of their image and likeness and time and, you know, just like all the other students to go to school with them. Reggie Bush and Tim Tebow would have made a lot of money. Vince Young would have made a lot of money. Well, they did. It's not like they didn't mean. By the way, Nick Wright said, Chris Paul last night, getting the sons to the finals,

makes him one of the five greatest point guards ever. Magic, Oscar Robertson, Steph, Isaiah, Chris Paul. I did not see Oscar Robertson play. He and Sandy Kofax, I've seen brief images of. They're all very unique. I think one of the things I've always compared the point guard to the quarterback. More is expected of you. You have to have a high IQ and a high EQ to be all-time great.

Magic was his sheer size, six, eight and a half, the great distributor. Oscar could give you everything, triple doubles. Steph's the great shooter and score. Isaiah and Chris Paul were feisty and demanding and tough and could drop 30 like last night, but could give you 15 assists, neither turned the ball over much. You can do it a lot of different ways. But it is interesting.

When Russell Westbrook said, my best friend's the ball, boy, that's an advertisement for you. Don't get it. Your best friend can't be the ball. Your best friend has to be Clay Thompson if you're Steph or Kareem and James worthy if you're magic. You have to have an incredibly high EQ, not just IQ, EQ, to be a quarterback or a point guard. Let's say you're a wide receiver. We'll just go run a route. You have to know your route tree, right? Like the play. But a quarterback has to read the defense. And then the

offensive line audibles, you know, their protection. Then the quarterback's got to look over the defense and who's blitzing. And then when the plays happen, things are happening and people are moving at the snap. And then you've got, okay, that wide receiver got jammed. You are in control of the entire offense every second of it. You're distributing. You're running. You're scoring. You're elevating.

And that's the point guard. And that's why you can do it a lot of different ways. Patrick Mahomes doesn't play it like Kyler Murray. Doesn't play it like Eli Manning did or Philip Rivers or Drew B's. There's a lot of different ways to be a point guard. You can be the score. You can be the distributor. But all of them, the great quarterbacks have self-awareness.

The great point guards have self-awareness. the great point guards have self-awareness. Steph Curry's got to make sure Clay Thompson's getting his touches, and Kevin Durant was getting his touches, and Magic had to make sure that Kareem, he was here before Magic, Kareem gets his touches. James Worthy and Byron Scott get their touches.

You're doing some psychology. You're doing some babysitting. I mean, Chris Paul, I got to get Devin Booker 20 shots. He's one of the best young players in the league. I got to make sure DeAndre Aiton for all his hard work on the defensive end is getting some love on the offensive end because he's doing a lot of the dirty work. So you want to make sure DeAndre Aiton, who's got to be playing against these seven-foot guys leaning on him, that's a hard physical position.

You've got to make sure he gets some lobs, some freebies, and some dunks. You are constantly having to evaluate, cognitively reevaluate the moment, the time, the game. There's a lot of guys I've watched Stevie Francis and Marbury, who are just incredible talents. But I never felt they understood that you can't live in a tunnel being a point. guard or a quarterback. You can't just head down and go. You can do that with a lot of positions in football and basketball. If you're a wing and you score and Ray Allen at the end of his career, hit jumpers. That's all we're asking. Go hit jumpers. Nothing wrong with that. That was his role. But it's a highly demanding position. And I think Chris Paul does it. I mean, you know,

some of the things we talk about, I don't think Scotty Pippen had a great self-awareness writing that book against Michael Jordan. He wrote that book because, of Michael Jordan's 10-part documentary, which didn't make Pippin always look great, didn't make Pippin look bad, but it told a story of Scotty Pippin. So Scotty writes a vindictive book on Michael Jordan's documentary and just gets crushed. Kind of lack self-awareness. I always said, Westbrooks talented, lacked a little self-awareness sometimes about his teammates, and they, you know, sometimes you got to let them control the game too. So I think Chris Paul does it. You know, Tom Brady's first commercial when he was a patriot, he wouldn't do it unless Visa put all the office.

offensive lineman in the commercial with him. Baker Mayfield's first commercials, all 12, all about Baker. Little, just little stuff. Just kind of be aware. Be aware you're already the quarterback. You're the star. You're getting the love. You get all the credit.

I want to spread that. You don't want to rip the medical staff. Don't want to Rick Duke Johnson, the third string running back when he talks about touches. We ask a lot of quarterbacks and point guards. And I'm tough on them. I am tough on Westbrook. I've been tough on Baker and Jay Cutlers, and we demand more, we ask more. And frankly, you need more.

You got to do more. I'm going to be tougher on point guards. I'm going to be tougher on quarterbacks. It's harder. You control the tempo, the clock, who gets the shots? And you've got to be a balancing game constantly. I mean, if you're Chris Paul, Devon's your best offensive player, but DeAndre Aiton's got to guard Biggs. He's got Biggs leaning on.

So you've got to make sure DeA. rate and get some freebies. You got to make sure some of his points are easy because he's doing all the dirty work in the trenches. That's something you have to be aware of all the time. And I think Chris Paul's brilliant at it. So I don't know if these are the best five point guards of all time. John Stockton was pretty good, but he wasn't the scorer. That's a pretty good list by Nick Wright. Magic Oscar, Steph, Isaiah, Chris Paul. But it is cool. They all do something different. Steph's the score. Magic distributor. Oscar triple doubles. Isaiah and Chris Paul to me are very, very. similar. You could get 28 a night. You could get 28 from them. You can get 12 assists. They're both

feisty. I mean, Isaiah Thomas and college push back on Bobby Knight. Chris Paul, push back on Doc Rivers. They're Isaiah and Chris Paul are, are feisty, demanding, tough, smart, not for everybody. Whereas Steph Curry's for everybody. Everybody's for everybody. Everybody likes Jeff Curry. And not everybody like Isaiah Thomas. Not everybody likes Chris Paul. there's a lot of different ways to do it and they do it great. Now, Patrick Beverly, let's talk about that. So there is something about sports. I don't know why it's basketball so much.

Maybe it's because in basketball I'm touching you all the time. Like Brady's not really coming in contact with the guys that are defending him. And not touching him much, right? And in baseball, I'm on the mound. You're at the plate. There is something about basketball and the proximity. touching you. I'm next to your ears. I'm looking you in the eye. I'm sweating on you. It really becomes psychological in basketball. I'm right on top of you. We're banging,

we're rubbing, we're exchanging sweat. And there it becomes very, you know, like it's uncomfortably close sometimes. And there's a lot of chatter and you see guys are talkers and Gary Payton and Michael or John each other. You don't get a lot of that in football and baseball. In hockey, you're on the line really quick. You're to the bench. You're on the line. The game's too fast to waste time being verbal. But basketball is different, and Chris Paul broke Patrick Beverly last night. Not just physically, he broke him mentally. And we'll show the play where Patrick Beverly comes up and pushes him aggressively after this play.

And Chris Paul, after the game, talked about the Patrick Beverly shove. Over the years, you know, people talk junk to me. A lot of times, I usually say something back. but I didn't change a little, a little, a little. And I just kept thinking, you know what I mean? If we do what we're supposed to do, I'll get the last laugh. You know what I mean? So you stayed, of course, long enough, you break them.

And that's what we did. Yeah. It was a tantrum. Nobody got hurt. There's a lot of Rodman to Patrick Beverly. I don't think it's a great look for the Clippers. When you're in a town with the Dodgers who have always sort of been elegant, the stadium's elegant. Vince Scully was elegant. The Dodgers are kind of an elegant franchise,

winning franchise. The Lakers are always glamorous and sturdy. USC football has got seven national championships. The Clippers are, now the Rams, by the way, they have the most beautiful stadium, the richest or second richest owner. They're cool. Sean McVeigh, Matt Stafford. The Clippers are fighting an uphill battle for respect in Los Angeles, and that was kind of a chippy moment. It just didn't look very good. Like, that's my defining moment of the clippers. Kauai's not on the court. Say what you want about Kauai's not on the court. Pat Bev is shoving Chris Paul violently. Pretty violently. I just thought it was a bad look. It's embarrassing. We like tough. We like gritty. You like a little chippiness. They like a little

talkback. But nobody likes a cheap shot. Nobody respects that. Right. You can face to face with somebody and then you shove them. They can see it coming. That's different. We're running up on somebody's back pushing them. It's like he said. Like you can't say he didn't break him. he did. Chris Paul broke him physically and mentally in the building he once dominated yet never got the credit. Enjoy spa-like comfort. Tankless made simple.com. Tankless made simple.com. Check it out. Navian water filter. Save you time, money in space. 15-year limited warranty. Hour three on a Thursday. Next. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and

friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob O. to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and headwriter, 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say it. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard 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. On The Look Back at it podcast For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year.

It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your 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. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.