The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 07/07/2021 - HOUR 1 - Suns, Rodgers, Chris Paul

Episode Date: July 7, 2021

The Suns looked more comfortable in Game 1It looks like Aaron Rodgers knows he's coming back to the PackersIf the Suns win the NBA FinalsGuest: Nick Wright Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions, and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple 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 hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis came 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. Hey, everyone. It's Ryder Strong and Wilfredel from PodMeets World. And now the PodMeets Twirled podcast.

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Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the Heard at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to 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, IHeart 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 suns. 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've 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 Sonic. That was my team. And Phoenix was great back then. and 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. 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 ballgame. 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. Yannis 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 40-3s, 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 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. You know, they get one or two games every series.

They're totally flat. They don't come out with a ton of energy. Yonis 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 think I've, 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. Their best players are 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 explosive. 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 40. three-threats 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 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, their 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. 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. Lee. 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. And Milwaukee did. All right, so I didn't see a ton of the match yesterday. I did 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 joky?

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 and 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, you guys would offer sympathy. Nobody was offering sympathy. They were just 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's 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 quarterbacked in the number 12 jersey? Yeah, I don't know. B.A. and see. How about September 12th then?

Will you go for that one? What's that one? That would be the opener against the Saints. All Cheezers Resort rejoice. Yeah, I don't know. 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. The herd today brought to you by Jersey Mike's subs, be a sub above. You know, we talked about this yesterday. This is really interesting. There's an old saying. All of you have heard this saying, you know, buy low, sell high.

Like we all know that, right? It doesn't matter if it's your real estate, your car, a stock, pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered. There are times in life where you get a really good run on something. and you're like, it's probably time. You always want to do what Belichick did. Sell a little early, not a little late. You see this all the time in the NBA we've talked about this. If there's a problem in the locker room, keep it quiet, resolve it, move on quickly.

Phoenix is going to have a decision to make. Chris Paul's older. He wants four years. Last couple would be bad. Something came to me this morning thinking about the sun's next year. And Chris Paul's future with the team. That coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boe.

On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Polisic. 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,

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What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by,

like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get to fly. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out. real quick. Get your ass up and down the court and you're going to get the ball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, it's Ryder Strong and Wilfordell 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, 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, um, 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 in the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists

to a bunch of ha-hoo. Ha-ha-hoo. Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into 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. Great to have you in Discover Card. Canadians Lightning, Game 5.

My guest, Tampa finishes off the Canadians tonight. Discover matches all the cashback. You earn credit card into your first year. No limits. Do it automatically. Discover.com slash yes. So, 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 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 Suns 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 win 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. personality. The temperature in the room changes. And I think, I mean, Anthony Davis won a title. The following year is not 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 D-Waids 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 three. 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, Booker, and D'And Andre and McHale Bridges. That's the future.

We'll always be able to supplement that with, you know, the J-Crouders of the world. And I know everybody said, media always does this. You've got to let them 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 got. 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 at 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.

Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So, the match was yesterday. not quite the buzz that it had last year. What was a crowded day?

It was a crowded day. We had literally no sports on last year. We were all watching it. It's like Sunday the Masters. Well, Tom Brady has cemented himself as the goat of football, but the debate over who is the greatest athletes

across all sports continues. Charles Barkley was one of the commentators on the match yesterday and gave his opinion on the matter after Brady landed a nice shot on the green. He said he thinks Brady is the greatest athletes of all time, not just the greatest football player. And we've talked about this a lot. And I was actually thinking about this morning about what and how we find, like,

we're never going to really find a common ground on this. But I think, like, when you have the conversation of who's the greatest athlete of all time, we have to decide what the criteria for that is. Like, I mean, what do we all agree on nothing? but are football players the best athletes of sports? Is he in the running for greatest team sport athlete of all time? I think team sport is an importance qualifier. Yes, it is.

And then, you know, one of the knocks on Brady has always been that he's not actually that athletic. Now, I think that's wildly unfair and exaggerated. Well, he was drafted by a major league baseball team in high school, so he's pretty athletic. Well, everyone points to his, you know, his draft picture and his time. Combine and, you know, I would argue also that, you know, you can develop a little bit, but that's, you know, that's what's thrown out there when I'm talking about how athletic he actually is. We'll probably never agree on what the criteria for this is. I think it's fair to say he is the greatest sport, the greatest team athlete. But then, you know, you have Jordan who

never lost in the finals. Like, you know, the conversation is really never going to be agreed on. I think it's just a matter of preference. Well, the other thing is, like, greatest athlete. Like, if I said to you, greatest house in America, a lot of it would be where is it located? Do I get a water in a sunset view? Do I have a big kitchen? Do I have some space for my animals? Do it is, oh, the greatest house isn't just, it's the biggest. No, no, there's a lot of things you contextualize for, like the greatest car isn't the fastest.

I remember years ago when I was dumb, well, I still am, but I was in my 20s, I test drove a Porsche. And I'm like, I'm six to and it's got no air conditioning. Everybody's like, I got a Porsche. I finally made money and I'm like, I'm totally uncomfortable. I live in Vegas and it has no air conditioning. This is a bad car. And so I bought your typical mid-sized car that had great air conditioning and I had space to put, you know, kids or whatever. The whole point being is greatest athlete.

Do we count leadership? Do we count your ability to inspire others? And it can't be who has the most championships. I guess in football, he does, but like certainly not in team sports. Well, we always talk about Jordan. Bill Russell has 11 championships. He won 11 and 13 years. The two years he didn't win.

He was hurt. Or Bill Russell would have won 13 straight championships. Exactly. And Bill scored 19 in game. Best rebounder. Best defender. A man's man, he would lead. Nobody screwed around with Bill Russell.

And I was listening to an old NBA coach talk about him yesterday. And he's like, does everybody understand when Bill was healthy, the Celtics won every championship? And Bill was so much beyond just the sky hook, flaky wilt and his dunks. So what do we call him? great here. Great. Like Chris Paul's great. Part of it is he makes everybody on the floor better. Everybody. He had over a hundred assists to three different sons players. And that can't even be the qualifier because LeBron, I think, is the ultimate to make everybody better

guy and he has championships and Chris Paul does it. He's probably the greatest athlete. Just not saying, but if you said who's the best athlete, LeBron absolutely could have been a star in the NFL, no question, star in the NBA. But then like, what is athleticism? Is a gymnast more athletic? than a football player, some may argue, yes. It requires more skill and body control and core power,

just because they might be smaller. So it really is just an absolute matter of preference. And then I actually think that boxers and fighters should be considered some of the best athletes because you're doing all of this while also getting hits. I don't know. How about the people, the heptathlon, what do you call that thing in the Olympics

where you have to do pole vaulting, long jumping, sprinting distance? Yeah. That to me, like, I can do everything. That's essentially the world's greatest. And then you win that so you're like the best. Was it that what Bruce.

Bruce Jenner won, yes. I mean, it's like, well, he was the best athlete. He could do everything. It's totally a matter of preference. But I think we can all agree is the best quarterback of all time. So at least we can agree on that since we agree on nothing else. So Janus missed two games after hyper extending his knee and was questionable heading into game one of the finals.

He was able to play and put up 20 points with 17 rebounds and four assists. But he said he thought his season. was over when the injury happens. You know, when I went down, I thought I'm going to be out for a year. I thought I'm going. I'm just happy that I'm out there, you know, and I'm able to help my teammate in any way possible and participate in NBA fans, my first NBA finals. I thought it was great.

Yeah, I thought he looked good. I mean, obviously, he's not 100%. Right. But I thought he looked, he looked like he was. So if he's in pain, he's certainly hiding it well and he's playing well. enough for showing the block that he had last night, which was so long. Amazing. Yeah, I mean, I'm glad he was able to play.

Like, that's the number one thing. I was very nervous about them kind of rushing him back, obviously, because it is the finals, and he, I'm sure, wants to be out there, as he mentions. But we've seen what happens when players say they're okay so they can get out there, and then they do end up having what he mentioned, which is you're done for the year. DeAndre Aiton has been the longest guy on the floor his entire life until last night. Janus. Yeah, Janice feels like he is like, well, you didn't see Space Jam, but in Space Jam,

Michael Jordan just stretches half court to dunk. He just has like an extra couple inches. Foxbet has the Sun's favorite by five in game two. Also hit the over last night, 223 points. They added at 219.5. And the over for Game 2 is 221, which I'm going to guess they're going to hit also. I like the Suns in game two. I do feel like the Bucks will play with a little,

not that they weren't urgent yesterday, but they did feel like there's like some unnecessary turnovers and just, they weren't fully at the same speed that the suns are, which is obviously tough. They play fast, but I'll expect that a little more urgency in the game too. So wide receiver, Nikiel Harry has requested a trade from the Patriots.

He was drafted in the first round by the Patriots in 2019, but hasn't lived up to those first round expectations in his two seasons, regular and postseason. He's only had 47 catches for 435 yards and four touchdowns. They have invested more in the wide receiver position this year, Nelson Agalore and Kendrick Bourne. So he may not even make the 53-man roster. Well, yeah, I mean, he's better than he's shown with New England, but he doesn't separate. So he needs the right system to scheme him open. If you put him with the 49ers, for instance, he could be a nice three. I thought he was going to be a better pro. He just can't

separate from people. go to the Chiefs and the Chiefs seem to figure out a place for everybody. If you go to a place where there's a really creative offense, then he, you know, how I'll have an opportunity to be better there. He's not, he's the only wide receiver that the Patriots have taken in the first round in the Belichick era. So, I mean, we know what they've done in the draft of the past couple years. I don't think he's necessarily a bus. Where you're drafted generally determines what your expectations are. If he goes somewhere else, again, to the right system, he's a, he could be a nice two, three receiver. I just think New England

does it. It's not a good fit. We see it all the time. The quarterbacks. Not a good fit. This isn't a good fit for him. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. Nick right now joining us, my buddy, First Things First, brought to you by Mercedes-Benz the best or nothing. So let's talk about the Sun's win in game one.

Should the Bucks feel demoralized, or should the Bucks feel like, that wasn't bad all things considered. Where do they land today? Yeah, all things considered, I think Milwaukee's got to feel about as good as a team can feel being down 01. And there's a number of reasons. The first one is Milwaukee's been here before. First series of the playoffs when they annihilated the heat, the one game they almost lost was game one. They needed overtime to beat them. Game one against Brooklyn they lost. Game one against in the conference finals against the Hawks they lost. And so they have been here before. Also, last night,

and I'm not blaming the officials, but that whistle absolutely benefited the Sons in a way I don't think it will throughout the rest of the postseason. It's not only that the Sons shot 26 free throws, it's that Milwaukee, aside from Yannis, it was Drew Holiday got one shooting foul, Brooke Lopez got one shooting foul,

and that was it. So that will even out. But the biggest reason they should feel good is this. There was real trepidation about whether or not Janice would be back at all. I think most people thought the earliest he would be back was game three. And not only was he back, he looked like about 90% of himself, Colin. I don't know how it's possible that we all saw him suffer that injury. Yeah. Janus is not the only one who thought he was out for the year. Everyone thought he was out for the year. And for him to be

doing that a week later after having his knee goes. the wrong way. And for the bucks, it's like, hey, Janus played 35 minutes. In those 35 minutes, Milwaukee outscored Phoenix. The 13 minutes he sat, they got annihilated. So I think this is a long series. And I think that if Janus continues to ramp up and keep in mind, there's two days between games, two, three, four, five, and six, that I think that works in their favor. I think Milwaukee should feel pretty good and pretty confident despite being down 01. Companies would rather pay you big money for what you will do going forward, not for what you did, right, to make sense. If Chris Paul said, I'm going to take four years or not, I'm out,

I think there's an argument to be made that you just say, we won, we're still going to be viable, but he's not the future at 36. It's a really interesting debate. There are moments in time where you think, you got to run it back. And I'm like, not a four years is what's demanded, right? Yeah, but I think it'll be, my guess is he'll end up getting three years, $100 million. And even though the owner of the Phoenix Sons has been notorious for, let's call it, his thriftiness over the years, Robert Sarver, I think he'll cut that check. If you remember during the Nash era, the Sons weren't trading first round picks to get talent. They were selling first round picks for cash.

Like when they could win a title, it's like, no, give me $2 million for the 27th pick of the draft. So there is the Robert Sarver factor. But the other thing is this, if you're Chris, after finally tasting the highest level of success, do you really want to go to the Knicks? Like, is that something you really want to do? Now, Miami, Joy Taylor's ears perk up, Miami could make sense, and Miami, I think, is like a borderline possibility, but I do think they ultimately run it back unless ownership there is, you know,

just says won the title, who cares? And I don't think Chris is going to demand the max, max. But it is kind of remarkable, Colin, that we're talking about what Chris Paul's next contract is going to be. when the owner of the Rockets, Tillman Furtita bought the team and reportedly said that Chris Paul's contract is the worst he has ever seen in business or sports. He's now, Chris is going to opt out of it at the end of it for more money. You know, it's interesting.

If the bucks lose this finals, they still probably, at this moment, would be the favorite to get to the finals in the east. If the sons win the finals, would they necessarily. be the favorite to win the West. It just shows you the difference between the West and the East. Like, I don't think the Suns will be favored next year, would they? No. And listen, that might not be fair to them to give the Suns credit. Now that we have like, you know, the benefit of hindsight, we can look at the teams that were the top contenders throughout the year. And the two that are left standing were the two with the least red flags. So like Utah's red flag was their Utah.

We've seen them in the playoffs. We know it doesn't work. The Lakers red flag was health. The Clippers red flag was a bit of health and a bit of his last year going to bite them. His last year's end going to bite them. That in them not being the case. Health got them. In the east, Philly couldn't close quarters and couldn't close games.

That ended up killing them. And with Brooklyn, it was, are these three ever going to be on the court together? That ended up killing them. Milwaukee and Phoenix, top 10 offense, top 10 defense, relatively healthy throughout the year, just kind of handled their business. So I do want to give Phoenix credit. With that said, I do think folks will say, okay, they played the Lakers three games when the Lakers were healthy-ish, not even fully healthy because LeBron clearly wasn't right.

And they lost two of those three. Then Anthony Davis went down, obviously in the conference finals. They go against a team without Kauai. And then we thought in the finals they were going to go against the Bucks without Yannis, but now he's there. Now they deserve a ton of credit, and they have an excellent roster. They've drafted well. Cam Johnson's an unsung guy.

McHale Bridges has been great for them. Obviously, Aiton has ascended massively, and Booker's a legitimate star. But the other reason that they wouldn't be the favorites is Chris Paul, the reason he hasn't had massive playoff success has not been because of, you know, downs or chokes aside from the one game against OKC in 2015, it's because little guys bodies break down and he's been very fortunate that his body is not broken down this year. He had the scare against the Lakers, but aside from that, it's been clean. So yeah, I don't think they'd be the

favorites, but they've got to be at least considered one of those top tier contenders. By the way, do you watch the match at all? I just saw bits and pieces of it. Aaron Rogers can putt. Did you make anything other comments? I thought your point was really interesting. And full disclosure, I've only seen the clips of it. I thought it was odd for it to go up against the NBA finals with, by the way, Barclay involved. It's like, the people that love Barclay, aren't they watching basketball? The whole thing was odd.

But to set that aside, I thought your points were interesting, which is if you thought, I used the term divorce, if you thought my wife and I were actually like in real trouble, you wouldn't be joking about it with me. You would talk to me about it privately. And so the fact that it was in a kind of wink and a nod makes it feel like Aaron knows that he's played his cards and it didn't come out his way. Or he knows, and I don't even know if that's the right way to put it.

It almost feels like Aaron knows I could have played a stronger hand but I didn't want to go nuclear on it. So I made it clear. I was a little unhappy. At the very least, I've made Packer fans know that I expect this to be my last year, maybe have a bit of an unspoken farewell. But I no longer think that it's likely at all, Colin, that Aaron is not going to be the Packers quarterback in week one,

even though he was cagey about it last night when he was asked about it. All right, Nick, well-appointed, well-dressed as always. You look happy and healthy, my friend. And we will talk soon. Thanks, buddy. Absolutely great to see you guys. Nick Wright. Boy, I've got a stack of things to talk about today.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. What's up, everyone? It's me three-time NFL All-Pro Sean Marion. 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 for a next game, 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 IHeart Radio 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'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. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramers sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Bo. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Polisic.

I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise

if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, podcast 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 gonna be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court licking his fingers while he got the ball. Like, 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 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 social. 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

in the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of ha, ooh, ha, ha, oh, again, we are experts. So make sure to tune at a Pod Meets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to Podmeets Tworled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Spa-like comfort, tankless made simple.com, tankless maidsimble.com. Look up Navian tankless water heaters, 15-year limited warranty. Save money, save space. So, you know, 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 know, 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 Vin 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. 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. 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. 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, CP3, D. Wade, Kobe, Shack, Duncan, K. K. 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, I thought Carmelo's ego sometimes. It should have been closer to De Wade's ego. De Wade at an ego has to, but it wasn't too big that he couldn't go, hey, Shaq, hey, LeBron. Come on down to Aquamo.

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 is great. Not the tallest, it's 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 arms around. Hour 2 in LA 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 Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an

a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends. on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs.

We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that Game 7, Marquis keep coming to him. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

American Soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramers sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. Score! I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. 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 quarter.

quarter finals are 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. Hey, everyone, it's Ryder Strong and Wilfridell from PodMeets World. And now the PodMeets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. 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.

Again, we are experts. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.