The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 07/07/2021 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: July 7, 2021

Colin knows that in sports, the most comfortable team always wins the game, and the Suns are that team. Aaron Rodgers keeps it cool even while golfing at The Match yesterday not budging even the slightest over Packers questions. Chris Paul knows this is his time to win but after this season, there's no need for the Suns to run it back with the same team next year. Everyone needs to stop saying injuries are playing a big part in the playoffs, everyone playing is hurt in some way at this stage. 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, S&L's Mikey Day

and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This season on Dear Chelsea, with me, Chelsea Handler, we have some fantastic guests like

Amelia Clark. When, like, young people come up to me and they want to be an actor or whatever, and my first thing is always, can you think of anything else that you can do? Rather be disappointed in. Do that. David O'Yello-O. I love this podcast, whether it's therapy or relationships or religion or sex. or addiction or you just go straight for the guts.

Dennis Leary, Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things, Tena Monsu, Camilla Morone, Carrie Kenny Silver, and more. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the Chip. Score!

I'm Tav Ramos. I'm Tom Boca. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions, and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season.

And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to you. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love.

This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the best of heard podcasts. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9. noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at

Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, it is a, what, Wednesday today? Game 1 NBA Finals in the books. Live in Los Angeles, it's the

herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. All day today, three hours. I Heart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Nick Wright's on today, former Phoenix son Tom Chambers on today. Dana White, huge UFC fight this weekend. I'll be watching that. Take a little vacate with the kids.

Joey Taylor, how are you? I'm great. What a great game last night. It was. I like watching the sun. I think they're fun. Nothing gets Milwaukee, but Milwaukee's an older team. You know what I mean?

Like Phoenix is new and fresh and, you know. We got a little flair to them. A little flair to them. The fans definitely make it fun. they do it's nice you know as i've told you many times when i was a little kid growing up i loved the seattle sonics those that was my team and phoenix was great back then and uh that we we the sonics my team we always struggled in phoenix so it's good to see them good again the warriors were great when i was a kid then they were lousy for 30 years they're great again

so it's all coming full circle um if you if you really look at sports the most comfortable team over the course of a game almost always wins. We talk about officiating, you know, this call and that call. We talk about rebounding. We talk about spacing. The most comfortable team wins. In the Super Bowl, Patrick Mahomes was uncomfortable. Tom Brady was more comfortable in Tampa won. Wasn't that Brady played great? It was that Tampa's defense was great. The two tackles were missing for the Chiefs, and Mahomes was virtually uncomfortable for the entire game, 60 snaps. That was the game. You can talk about anything else.

That was the game. Last night, Phoenix was really comfortable. Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and DeAndre Aiton did whatever they wanted to, and those are their three stars. And Milwaukee didn't make any of them uncomfortable. They went 28 for 50, 20 for 20 from the free throw line. That's the ball game. Real simple. You got to make one or two of them struggle.

The bucks needed to look in the mirror. Stop whining about free throw disparity. You made no coaching. adjustments. Chris Paul and the pick and roll ate you alive. Janus only took 11 shots, didn't make the sun's uncomfortable there. Phoenix was more aggressive. Phoenix set the tone. I always love when teams complain about the free throw disparity. You got to be aggressive to get to the free throw line, not jack up almost 43s, not have Janus only take 11 shots. The sons, by the way, took the second fewest free throws in the NBA this year and made the finals.

If you're complaining that you didn't get enough free throws, look in the mirror. Milwaukee, you don't make them when you get them. The sons were second fewest free throw shooting team in the league and second in free throw percentage. So they didn't shoot many of them. When they did, they make them. Milwaukee, you shot a lot more free throws. You were 23rd in the NBA and making them. Milwaukee essentially last night was Milwaukee.

What are the two general themes we've talked about with the Bucks all playoffs? They kind of start slow. One or two games every series, they're totally flat. They don't come out with a ton of energy. Yonnes had it. Nobody else did. And the second thing is they don't make a ton of coaching adjustments. They don't.

And they didn't last night. You saw what Milwaukee is and you also saw what Phoenix is. Phoenix did this with the Lakers. They did it with the Nuggets and they did it with the Clippers. They seize control first game of the series. They play kind of a relentless style possession to possession. I don't remember an NBA team. And maybe it's their youth.

Every single time down the floor, Phoenix plays with this urgency. Every basket matters. And it's probably the naivete of youth. Like everything matters, this is a big spot. We got to play hard. And they do. They don't wait for the game to come to them. we saw it with the Mavs or Lakers.

We saw it with the Nuggets. We saw it with the clippers. They get on top of the teams. And Milwaukee last night, they get on top of you. And now you're playing catch up. Well, that's not what Milwaukee does. They're the Ravens of the NBA. They're not a great free throw shooting team.

They're best players of liability late. Milwaukee's very good. We said this during the regular season. Milwaukee and the Baltimore Ravens play downhill. They get a lead on you. You're in big trouble. But trailing? they don't feel like the same team.

And that's the reality of basketball. The Kansas City Chiefs and the Golden State Warriors in their prime. Lead trailing didn't matter. So, Milwaukee's not that explosive. Baltimore throwing the football, not that explosive. So they have to play a certain way to win. And Phoenix doesn't allow you to play a certain way because they attack. They're fast.

They're quick. They're urgent. They're relentless. I mean, everything went on script. If you had written a script and you'd say, yeah, Chris Paul will take over the game. He'll feel it out for the first half, come out in the third quarter,

score 16 of his 32 and take total control of the tempo. And that's exactly what happened. And Milwaukee made no adjustments, never made them uncomfortable, threw up almost 43s, didn't create free throw opportunities because they didn't attack the basket enough. Janus only had 11 shots.

I mean, if I would have told you before the game, if I had just told you this, Chris Paul has 32 points, Nine assists, almost no turnovers, perfect from the free throw line. What do you think happened? You'd be like, well, you let Chris Paul do what Chris Paul does. You've got to take him out of the game a little, make him a little uncomfortable. Even Mike Boodenholzer admitted as much after the game.

He's a good player. You know, they're pick and roll game. It's tough to guard. And, you know, so I think we just got to keep getting better. We'll look at the film. you know, see how we can maybe take away some of the rhythm, you know, to just take it where, or make it where he's not getting to his spots as easily. You know, that'll be a big part of looking between game one and game two.

So Chris Paul isn't getting to his spot as easily. That was the game. He just, Chris went where he wanted to go. If you let a quarterback drop back with time, roll left, roll right, play action, never uncomfortable. That's Brady in the Super Bowl. He's going to eat you alive. This is a Chris Paul first ballot Hall of Fame top five point guard. You can't let him do whatever he wants in Milwaukee did.

All right. So I didn't see a ton of the match yesterday. I did not. Probably getting a big workout in or something. I don't know. Anyway, it was Brady. It was Aaron Rogers. I thought the winner from what I did see was the state of Montana.

That was a three-hour commercial for the Montana Chamber of Commerce. I got to imagine tens of thousands of people called a real estate agent or went to zillow.com to look up real estate in Montana. The other winner was Aaron Rogers putting. Good Lord, he's good at that. But ask yourself this. Wasn't it kind of jokey? I mean, wasn't it kind of like fun and chill? if Aaron Rogers was going through a real divorce,

you think all the guys would joke about it? Like, if you went golfing with your buddies and you were going through a divorce and it was imminent and everybody knew it, wouldn't you offer more sympathy than pokes in the ribs? When I watched this whole thing, first of all, we didn't get any grand announcement. Aaron's not going to make a grand announcement

on a celebrity golf event that steals the thunder from the celebrity golf event. He's with his guys, he's with his buddies, So that's the first thing. The second thing is, Aaron wears his feelings on his sleeve. And he was chill, laughing, relaxed. He's probably reveling in some of this. He's made a decision.

He knows to some degree right now contractually. He is trapped like Brady was four years ago in New England. So you just deal with the stuff that wears you out. You know, I said this earlier about Aaron Rogers. About a month ago, I think, Joy and I talked about this. In life, if you know, you're kind of trapped in your job. You have a contract you can't get out. You have a boss you don't like. And you can complain about it and bang your head in the wall all day. Or you can at some point come to

terms with, well, I want to be happy. So I'm just going to take a more casual approach. I can't solve every problem at my company. There's nothing I can do to get out of my contract. And that's the Aaron Rogers I watched yesterday. It's like he's come to terms with it. He's going back to Green Bay. he probably, if this was serious and he was breaking up, don't you think he'd call Brady or Mickelson to shambo and say, guys, this is sensitive? This is kind of, can we just be cool about it? That's what you would do with your guys if you were going golfing and having a divorce.

Guys, I'm exhausted. This is brutal. I can't take four hours of crap. I'm just, your guys would offer sympathy. Nobody was offering sympathy. They were just poking and poking and poking and poking and poking and poking. because Aaron was cool with it. I don't think Aaron's happy with the situation,

but, I mean, here was a big moment where he could have unveiled the truth. Packers Bears, any idea who's going to be there? Anybody's going to be quarterbacking in the number 12 jersey? Yeah, I don't know, B.A. and let's see. How about September 12th then? Will you go for that one? What's that one?

That would be the opener again. the Saints. All Cheezers Resort rejoice. Yeah, I don't know. B.A. We'll see. I don't know. It looked too casual, too jockey, too fun. My feeling is anybody in life that knows they're kind of trapped, I mean, let's be

honest. It isn't the worst problem in the world being a starting quarterback for Green Bay and making $35 million a year. Aaron could bang his head against the wall, but I think he's come to terms with it. I probably have a year left. I wanted to kind of sign off for the offseason, get this out of my head, take care of me mentally, play a lot of golf, go to Hawaii, let my hair grow. He looks happy to me. I think he's come to some resolution with himself that, listen, what am I going to do?

Yell and scream all off season. I want to escape one more year in Green Bay and let Jordan have the team. That's what it feels like to me. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows, without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like

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

Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to point game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramers sending on to Ernie. I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, inside American

soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. You're going to look at stats numbers. He has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen to Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, wherever you get your podcast. Hey, everyone. It's Ryder Strong and Wilfredell from

PodMeets World. And now the Podmeets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, who now have covered Dancing with the Stars, traitors, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Like, what was just because we? Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion at the 15.

season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of ha, ooh, ha, ooh, ha, ooh, again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into PodMeets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, Chris Paul can smell blood in the water, okay? You know, you've watched these boxing matches, even for like defensive fighters, like a, like a Floyd Mayweather. And they can sense weakness.

They sense the fatigue or the opening. And they go into attack mode. And they leave themselves a little vulnerable to get hit back. But you can sense the great fighters. It's all about you're sensing the weakness of your opponent. And then you attack quickly, get out. That's where Chris Paul is. Like this is attack mode for Chris.

Chris Paul, the distributor. Last two games has become Chris Paul, the score. Last two games, 37, 36 points, nine assists. He's gotten hyper-aggressive. And I think Chris Paul knows this, because Chris Paul knows Chris Paul better than all of us do. This is the perfect moment for Phoenix. It will not look just like this next year. Let me explain.

It's a young team. They're hungry. They're listening. All right? They needed Chris. None of them have a title. None of them have big money. If the sons win the title, you all get the temperature in the room changes.

It's called the disease of more, Pat Riley. A little more credit, a little more money, a little more. It's very human. Go ask the Chicago Cubs. They won their championship with all these young players. The World Series talk. Came back the next year, they were good. Everybody took a little more credit for it.

That's my World Series. Everybody wants a little more money. The Cubs were good. Didn't quite have that hunger. If Devin Booker and DeAndre Aiton won a championship, you think they want to get barked at as much? by Chris Paul. Chris wears out everybody.

He's got a little Jim Harbaugh on him. It's good early. This football team needs Harbaugh. We need his guidance. We are young. He is tough on us. After about three years of Jim Harbaugh, you're like, all right, we won a Rose Bowl.

We got to the Super Bowl. I'm tired of Jim Harbaugh yelling at me. That's Chris Paul's personality. The temperature in the room changes. And I think, I mean, Anthony Davis won a title. The following year, the same player. The idea that is to be the same son's team.

They won't be as young. They'll have more confidence. They'll have hitting big shots. They'll have a ring. Everybody in Phoenix tell them all day, you the man. Now you're not quite as willing to every day get the bark from Chris. It's okay.

So there's an argument to be made. Chris Paul is the president of the players association. He's not taking a pay cut. When Drew Breeze was the president of the Players Association. He wanted to take him pay cuts. When he wasn't the president, I'll take a pay cut, right? So Chris isn't going to take a pay cut. Not saying he should. I'm saying he won't. A lot of guys in the NBA, a lot of Chris Bosch's DeWaids have said, he'll take a little less. Kevin Durant, taking a little less. Chris isn't

going to do that. Chris wants four years because he's 36 and he has a history of injuries. Same reason AD signed a five-year deal with the Lakers. I've been hurt. I want my money. I would do the same thing. But there's an argument to be made. If Chris wants four and that's what he's going to demand, you sell the stock. Like you won a championship. Our future is Devin, Boehner, and Mikhail Bridges. That's the future.

We'll always be able to supplement that with, you know, the J. Crowders of the world. And I know everybody said, media always does this. You've got to let him run it back. No, you don't. No, you don't. You do not do that. What Tampa's doing in the NFL is almost unheard of where everybody comes back. It's why I like the Chiefs to meet the bucks this year.

Tampa will not quite be as hungry. Young players got their money. That workout, you cut short after an hour and a half, you don't go to two. The disease of more, it's okay. It's real. We've seen the Cubs. I don't think the Buccaneers win the Super Bowl this year. I think the Chiefs do.

Or Buffalo does. The workouts are longer. You stay longer for practice. And so I think there is an interesting time. Now, if Chris took two years, I'd sign him tomorrow. three, I'd have a couple meetings. Four, I'd let him go. And I love Chris Paul.

I'm Mr. Chris Paul. But there is an argument to be made. This is the perfect moment. And Chris totally understands. I'm a score now. Saw it against the clippers. You see it against the bucks. It's like, okay, I'm this far away now.

I'm going to take a few more shots now. I'm not letting anybody score. I'm going to take a few more shots. Completely understandable. But you can ask the Cubs. and you go look back in these championship teams, this thing about you always got to let them run it back.

There are times when it all comes together and teams change. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. What's up, everyone? It's me three-time NFL All-Pro Sean Murray. And I have a new sports podcast called The Lights Out Podcast with Sean

Murray. This podcast is special. to me as I get a chance to talk to some of the best who've ever done it on the field or the track. So whether it's talking to a Super Bowl champion or a NASCAR Cup Series champion, the Lights Out podcast will bring it to you the only way I know how to.

I'm giving you the best insight from the best who's ever done it. Listen to Lights Out with Sean Merriman on the IHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast 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. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. I'm Taboramos. I'm Tom Boone. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines.

I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here.

Experience it all with us. Listen to Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game.

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

he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying.

man, he running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Oh, yeah. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone, it's Ryder Strong, and Will Ferdell from PodMeets World. And now the Pod Meets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, who now have covered Dancing with the Stars, traders, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts.

I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Yeah. Just because we?

Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion of the 50th season. From the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of Ha, who, ha, ha, ooh. Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into Pod Meets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, it's funny about this. There's been a lot made LeBron's, you know, tweak the NBA.

It's these injuries. It's the condensed season. Okay, so here we are. We're in the finals. Buck Sons. 30 available players. All but one is here. Devencenzzo, the guard for Milwaukee, Dante Devencenzzo, he played at Villanova.

He got hurt. That's it. 29 of 30 players are available. The injury thing, there's injuries every year. It's being overplayed. I mean, Janus, I watched him last night. I thought it was really good. He's not 100%, but again, it's a long season.

Chris Paul, I don't think he's 100%. We found his story the other day. He's not 100%. Devin Booker's nose, probably still sore. He broke it last week. These seasons are really long. These are contact sports. These are large men colliding with each other all year for five months and then falling to a hard floor.

Folks, if you've never gone to an NBA playoff game and sat close to the floor, you do not understand the amount of physical. duress on your body. Every single one of these guys, including Chris Paul, he's tiny by NBA standards. Every one of these guys would walk into any room you're in and be significantly bigger than every other

guy in the room. These are 6'5, 6.7, 6.9. They're hammering into each other for three hours. They have all year long. They travel on planes. Will they make a lot of money? Still 33,000 feet. It's still arriving in Cleveland and Boston at 3 in the morning. Five hours.

sleep, shoot around. So resting, by the way, is not the answer. That load management thing is not the answer because Phoenix in Milwaukee played, created chemistry. These teams did not load manage at all. Phoenix never did. And so the answer is working out, getting in the best shape of your life. You want to know who's hurt? James Hardin came into the season out of shape. Anthony Davis came into the season out of shape. A lot of the guys that got hurt came into the season out of shape. These teams didn't, were focused, and they played together all season long. So availability is a skill.

By this time, forget NFL in hockey, where you're just, you're smashing into each other. In basketball, but the end of the season, this morning, between these two teams, everybody's either got a jam finger, a tight calf, a sore back, a nose that just got broken, a thumb that's Chris Paul not right, or just hyper-extended their knee. That's other than, you know, Lannon Galloway of the Suns, he's played like 10 minutes. He's probably 100%. Nobody else is.

I mean, that's just the reality of pro sports. By the end of seasons, you, I talk to Trent Dillfer about this. He's like, by week four in the NFL, you're just asking teammates, what's hurt? It's not a matter of if you're hurt, what's hurt? Pro sports, highest level. That's why LeBron and Brady and Russell Wilson spent over a million dollars a year, just for like pliometrics,

just to get through these seasons. 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. From time to time, Joy and I, I'm sure I don't want to speak for Joy, but I'll go speak to a college campus or a high school group. You know, you go somewhere a couple times a year,

and you always get, you know, ask for advice on this stuff. And I always say, I don't really have advice because my life's not yours. What work for me may not work for you. But I do have an opinion. And my opinion's always been the same thing. If you're pretty smart and totally committed, you'll break through. Years ago when I was a little kid, I wanted to be a baseball announcer. I wanted to be Vince Scully or Bob Costas.

and I went to the Seattle Mariners, the kingdom, the old kingdom. Eventually the ceiling tiles were falling on people, but the kingdom. And they had an announcer named Dave Nehouse. He was a legend in Seattle, probably the biggest sportscaster of my life in my city, Dave Nehouse, beloved. And I got up to the booth. I was a college kid, and I was all nervous. And he grabbed, I said, I've never asked for an autograph in my life. I don't think I've ever asked for one since then.

And I said, could you just write something down for me on the picture of Dave Nehouse and the media guide? and it always stuck with me. He wrote with a felt pen, If you want it bad enough, you will sit here one day. Always stuck with me. Kid from divorce, didn't have any money. How badly do you want it?

If you're pretty smart and fully committed, you will break through. If you don't, you weren't as smart as you thought or as committed as you should have been. And I thought about this. If Chris Paul wins this title, and I think he will, these players in the last 20 years will have won a title.

Steph, KD, LeBron, A.D., Kauai, Chris Paul, Dirk, D. Wade, Kobe Shack, Duncan, K.G. That's the 12 best players. I don't want to hear about Hardin and Mellow. Never is committed in the offseason, often played their way in shape, not committed on the defensive end, not as coachable. Westbrook. totally erratic. He's not one of the 12 best players

last 20 years. What about Iverson? Again, didn't practice. The stories are legendary. They used to put a chair out at Sixers practice with his jersey on it. If he showed up, he had it. But a lot of times he didn't show up. I'm talking about the things that matter. Talent, committed,

leadership, both ends of the floor. Call teammates in the offseason. Come into the season in shape. Last 20 years, Steph, KD, LeBron, A.D. Kauai, DP3, D. Wade, Kobe, Shack, Duncan, KG, who I leave out. I'm not saying Iverson and Hardin and Westbrook and Mello, Dame, but they're, and I'm not saying Dame won't win one.

But there's also something to think about. Do you have an ego? You have to have the ego for the confidence to work through your critics, but it can't be too big of an ego. I thought Carmelo's ego sometimes, it should have been closer to D. Wade's ego. De Wade had an ego has to, but it wasn't too big. big that he couldn't go, hey, Shaq, hey LeBron, come on down to aqua water. I need help. You also have to have a certain belief that they always say about L.A.

People that live in L.A. thought they were too good for their hometown. You have to be a dreamer. So LeBron's like, hey, I got to be mobile. Cleveland's not good enough. He was right. And KD. is like, I can't win with Westbrook. I got to be more mobile. He was right. So maybe that's Dame's sticking point. Dame's too loyal. That's part of that total commitment. It's your offseason. Can you look at the room and go, hey, I'm doing my part.

They're not. I got to leave. There's a lot of things that are about that commitment. It is, do you come in shape, ready to play? Are you willing to bark occasionally at teammates? Are you willing to make people uncomfortable and be a leader? LeBron is and Chris Paul is and it's hard. So, I mean, I just, when I look at Chris Paul, he's a great example.

It's had bad owners, bad situations, faced Katrina, a tanking team. You'll break through. In my life in this business, everybody, man and woman, you're smart enough. Not to be a genius. We're not asking, this is not Elon Musk territory. Are you smart enough? And are you fully committed? You'll break through.

And so that's why I think the Chris Paul story. story is great. Not the tallest, not the most vertical, but when you add all the components of what it takes to be truly great, and sometimes it's making teammates uncomfortable, Doc Rivers told me, it's like, Chris is hard to coach. It's worth it, but he's hard to coach. He is sure he's always right. And Doc's like, and I think I'm always right. So, you know, but I, that's why I think the story is fun. It's a story of perseverance. And I think that's always something to wrap your around. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Folks, if you never saw

Tom Chambers play, you missed out. 16 years. I grew up with him, Sonics and Sons in his prime years. The teams were so much fun to watch. And there was a little Janus there. He was 6'10. He could run the floor. He was an unbelievable dunking machine and finisher. He was a is now joining us. He's a son's TV analyst. He is joining us live, four-time All-Star. You know, it is interesting. I remember, Tom, you were a unicorn. There were not six-ten guys running the floor, shooting jumpers, and they figured out how to use you. And this Yonis situation is, you were a better shooter than him, obviously. But when you came into the league, were you a challenge for some coaches because there were no other Tom Chambers?

Well, I certainly was, and back then my position was called the power forward, and now it's a stretch four, so it's a completely different thing, but you had to go in there and bang and get bruised around and bruised up a lot in my position. Now, I mean, 610 guys are all over the place, point guard, shooting guards, small forward, you know, it's all interchangeable now, if you will, but yeah, back then, there weren't a whole lot of 610 guys that were going out and shooting jumpers. Tom, did you know early in this season? It's a very, young team and young teams, as you know, don't win championships. Did you sense in the first four to five weeks? Boy, we're pretty good. Well, I sense that boy, we're pretty good,

but you look around the West and everybody else is pretty good, too. So having the experience they had in the bubble, the team really grew together. Obviously, that attracted Jake Crowler, that attracted Chris Paul. People were saying, you know, that this team is going to be really good. And I was a little apprehensive, only that I didn't want to just be too excited about what I was seeing out there on the court. But it's a special group of guys. They play so well together. They have so much fun. And you can say team, but I call this this.

This is a unit. I mean, these guys know how to play the game together, you know, right up there with the leaders in the league in assists. The open guy gets the ball, and the open guy typically knocks down the shot. That's why they're so tough to beat. You know, you played with a guy that Nate McMillan isn't Chris Paul, but they were feisty. They played defense. They made everybody better. They were kind of leaders in the huddle.

And that's kind of a comp. And they're different players. Nate was a taller guy. But with Chris Paul, you know, Tom, he'll call players out. Pro athletes don't always love that. Are you surprised how this thing is all gelled so quickly? Well, I'm surprised how quickly it jell, but I absolutely love Chris Paul being here. I mean, it's like Jimmy Butler when he was in Minnesota, and nobody wanted to listen.

And you go to Miami, and he almost went to the championship last year. So you have to have the right type of guys around him. But DeAndre Aden's growth this year because of Chris Paul, and he's the first one that will tell you he's made the biggest difference on him. He will call you out, absolutely. But he's not calling you out to do anything that he wouldn't do or is already doing. doing. And the guys see the results of his leadership abilities and what he does out there on the corner. And, man, I love this guy, Colin. I mean, I absolutely love what Chris Paul is doing.

I don't think that there's been a time in my NBA career or since then, but I've been more excited than when they closed out the West. I mean, to see the emotion on that man, I mean, he's playing at that level when I was done playing because I couldn't play anymore. It's just remarkable. It's remarkable. Yeah, and he's a little athlete. You were 610. You were 610, 2.30. He's a smaller guy, and he's had multiple injuries. You know, we were talking about this

in that the NBA is such a physical sport, and we've talked a lot this year about all the condensed season and the injuries, but there's 30 available players, and Milwaukee's missing one. Everybody else is available. Was the injury stuff overplayed?

I mean, you guys are all big men. Every room you walk in, you're the biggest. you're colliding for three hours, you're on these overnight flights. I don't like using, well, Phoenix is healthy, and my takeaway is the reason they're so good because they played all the games together. So, I mean, the answer to staying healthy is not days off. It's working. That's my takeaway.

What do you make of the storyline this year, the narrative that it's not a normal season, the condensed schedule, nobody's healthy? Well, that's ridiculous as far as I'm. concern. Obviously, you're exactly right. Play the games. I mean, we used to try and play 82 games every single season. And, you know, now, I mean, a lot of games are being missed because of what, load management, because of, you know, X, Y, Z. Go out there and play if you can. I'm not, you know, making any excuses for what this Sun's team has done. They've been spectacular. I like the way they've built. You look at teams in the West. I mean, you look at Utah, you look at Denver,

you know, the Portland. I mean, the good teams are the ones that have played their players and kept playing all the season long if they've had injuries. And even this Milwaukee team, they were at their best. I thought the last two games against Atlanta and Yonest didn't even play. So, I mean, if you built a solid team, guys, you can afford to miss a guy here and there. I mean, you don't want to lose your star players, but what the sons have done has just been special. And, you know, to have really some luck involved with Chris Paul because he's had some bad luck in other playoff situations with injuries and he's healthy now. And I'm just so happy for the guy. And I'm just so happy for the guy. I'm so happy for this team. They've done it the right way.

You know, it's interesting. We talked about you were a 610 guy that ran the floor. You could finish. You could shoot. And you, that was, I remember those days, you were a power forward. Most guys that in your contemporaries, go rebound the ball. Other guys will shoot. With the honest, though, could I make the argument, Tom? He's really best served to be a five, to be close to the basket. They keep trying to make him a shooter. And I'm like, listen, we're eight years into this thing. He's not a great shooter. He's not a...

I mean, sometimes I feel like we're trying to make everybody, Tom, LeBron. Everybody's a Swiss Army knife. And I'm like, now that's LeBron. Like some guys can do some things. How would you play, Janus, if you coached him? Well, I mean, they play him right. You know, everybody says he needs to shoot a three. Obviously, he's not good at the free throw line either.

But I would just go to his strengths. I mean, I'd work him on the block. Who can stop him in the paint? Nobody. I mean, you try him back off of him. He's coming at you with a head. his team and he's going to be the best finisher there is in basketball. But focusing on the free throw and focusing on the three-point shot, that's not him. Me, I would just put him in there

where he can get the ball inside the paint a lot of times at 15 feet, one dribble, and he can finish. I mean, he's an absolutely spectacular athlete, but the free throws and also the three-point shooting is, you know, he's not the mold of, okay, he's got to be a three-point shooter. He will never be that. You know, you played with Charles Barkley. I asked you this off. the air and I want you to share this. I had a couple of interactions covering Charles as a player. He was very funny. He was just always giving you. I remember one time he came to Portland. Phoenix, you were on that team and came to Portland and they won. And I was a reporter and he looked at me and he goes, what do you do on a Saturday night in Portland, Oregon? What are you going to do

tonight? I'm married. I'm going to go out with my wife and have dinner. When you played with Barkley, did you know he would become this star? Yes, I did. He was a star not only on the court, but off the court. I mean, he was so kind to people, gave people so much of their time. I mean, after 15 or 20 minutes of them dominated his time, he would say, can I get back to my friends now? And that's usually when he threw somebody through a plate glass window or something like that. But he was just fun with my family, with your friends, with your mom, with whomever. He's just that person all the time. He's just that person. and you absolutely got to love him.

But yeah, you're right. When the games are over, he's got to find a place to go wind down, if you will. By the way, you played on that son's team that played Michael Jordan and the Bulls. They were so much fun to watch. When you were on that team, I mean, what's funny is people didn't shoot the three, and you guys scored 130 regularly. I mean, I went back on Google about two years ago, and I went back to that team, and I'm like, good God, you're like the Globetrotters.

There was a 135. When you were in that moment, you gave Jordan a lot more trouble. Can we admit it now? That series was closer than people think. It was close. It really was. The one thing that team did, our team did, is we went down 02 to the Lakers. We went down 02 to the Sonics.

We did the same thing with the Bulls. It seemed like that team only played hard when they had to, and that was kind of Charles. I mean, when he had to play hard, his back was against the wall, there was not a better player. But we dug ourselves some holes. but we were pretty good. And certainly we could have beat that team. I still don't forgive Danny Aange for leaving John Paxson. Tom, it's a pleasure to see you.

You look great. Continued success. Thank you so much. Thanks, Colin. 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 Hempark.

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The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart, the chip. Score! I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boca. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions,

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It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got.

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