The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 07/07/2021 - HOUR 2 - NBA Finals, Suns

Episode Date: July 7, 2021

More on game 1 of the NBA FinalsChris Paul mixes well with the young Suns playersGuests: Antoine Walker, Tom Chambers Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car and drove off. And that was the last time I saw him. Listen to season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the Heard at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Wednesday live. in Los Angeles, game one of the NBA finals in the books.

That's the herd, wherever you may be, however you may be listening. We're on IHeart Radio, a Fox Sports Radio, and right here on your television, FS1. Nice to have you in. Joy and I are matching today. Didn't mean to. It's just the way it worked. Happens about twice a week. I think it's the strangest thing in the world.

We have no idea until we get out to the set what we're going to be dressed like. And I generally have a lot of bright colors, so it's usually when you're wearing. color guy. Well, it's kind of like... Today. Yeah. Because the last time we matched, I think we both had yellow on, which we said you wear like once every six months.

I don't even wear yellow. I don't even look good in yellow. That's Joey Taylor, of course. It's good to have you in Antoine Walker. Tom Chambers, former Phoenix Sun's great is on the show today. He was a great, great player. And those sons' teams he were on, he was on were so good. 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's 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, Janice, 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 six five, six seven, six nine. 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 three in the morning, five-hour 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 was 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 soft, a soft. 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. Antoine Walker played in the NBA for 12 years. He's now joining us live at a championship in Miami with the heat three-time All-Star. So, you know, it's funny, Antoine, when we talk about injuries. I mean, you know it well. 12 years in the NBA, especially your last four or five years, I think most of these pro sports feel like attrition. Who's the most, right?

I mean, I watched that game last night, and I thought Janice played pretty well, right? Oh, he played great. It was unknown how good he could be. If you want, the only people that had that injury would understand that. I worried about him going east and west, and he probably worried about it as well. but he was terrific. I thought he showed athletic ability. I thought he still was able to move and compete at a very, very high level.

And I think he probably got over the fear. He had to get over that fear. You saw late in the game, even when the game probably was out of reach, I thought he made three aggressive moves at top speed. And I think that's important as this series goes along. Now, what does Milwaukee have to do, Antoine? They're not great at making adjustments all the time, but what adjustment or two do they have to make? Well, they're going to have to play Yonis at the 5.

I think you saw that makes them have a lot of success because of the switching defense that they want to play. It's just not a great series for Brooke Lopez. Chris Paul and Devin Booker, those guys are going to take advantage of him. And they did that. Chris was terrific with the mismatches in the pick and roll. So I think they're going to play Janice at the 5, which is going to create a different lineup and they used to have it. Bobby Portis usually comes in and subs in for Janus.

You're going to have to play him and Janus together, I think, throughout this series. And those adjustments, they're going to have to make game in and a game out. But it's tough because Brooke Lopez shot the basketball well last night. Yeah. And he can play. He's playing good basketball. But this is not a great series for him. This is a series where Yonis, they're going to have to play a little small ball.

And we saw the Clippers have success against Phoenix playing small ball. So this is going to be a different series for, Brooke Lopez. Yeah, Jay Crowder didn't play well. Everybody else for the Suns pretty much played well, and Jay just didn't shoot particularly well. You know, it is interesting. When I look at Chris Paul, he's now become a score in the last couple of games for Phoenix. That's not as natural affinity, is more light scoring, distribution, annoying defender. Have we undervalued Chris Paul the score? or, I mean, do you do you believe that he kind of senses, okay, this is the moment in my career to get a title.

I'm going to take more shots. What do you make of his elevated scoring over the last couple weeks? Well, I think the last couple years, I think even in OKC, he really did a terrific job of picking the spots scoring. But he does win the picking spots with his team. He relies heavily on getting Devin' book involved, and then obviously getting aiding for layups and making sure guys get open threes. But that's what makes Chris Paul special is he knows when he needs to take over games.

And if he gets a mismatch and the situation throughout the game where he has an advantage, he's been money, he's been lights out. And that's what you saw in the third quarter. He came out and really dominated it and put his step on the game, increased that lead, really took advantage in the pick-and-roll. But that's what separates yourself right now. And I do think, too, Colin, it is a little desperation, and he's waited 16 years for this moment. And he's going to empty his clip.

You know what I mean? He's going to make sure he's empty his clip. You know, it's funny. We were talking about this earlier, Antoine, is that, and to that point, I think Chris realizes, hey, I'm not getting younger. These young guys are listening to me. My personality can wear people out. And I'm serious about this.

If the suns win, Antoine, the temperature in the locker room won't be the same. It's like when the Cubs won a couple years ago with those young guys, they came back the next year. they all have a little more money. You know, they are a little more empowered. And I do think it's not that the sons won't be good next year, but this team needed to be led and Chris is a leader. But I think he's smart enough to know as the players get better and they win titles.

Is it possible next year? The locker room won't be quite as willing to be led by Chris all the time. Is that fair? No, I agree with you 100%. And the locker room may be a little different. You got Cameron Paine, who's just had a career year. You don't know who's going to come knocking at his door. So he may not be in the locker room.

You may lose him. Aidan is going to be looking at a big contract. It'll be different. And when you win it all, I mean, you get a different swag about yourself. You kind of feel like you have arrived and you may not be as willing to learn. Do you get in the gym as hard as you got in the gym this year to get ready for the season? Do you put that same effort and energy? you want to win multiple titles? Do you believe you can win multiple titles? So it definitely

can be a difference come locker room time. But I think Chris Powell understands this is their window to win the title because next year, the Western Conference will be back stacked. Go to State will be back in the mix. LeBron will have a chip on the shoulder. They'll be ready to go. And Utah still be good and Portland. So you still will have good quality teams in there. Jamal Murray will be back for Denver. So the Western Conference will be right backs up again. And I think Chris Paul understands that. You know, it's interesting. We've talked about health.

And I kind of look at both these teams, and I think to myself, well, I mean, everybody's a little banged up, but Janice and Chris Paul have made it through. It's an interesting situation. If you own the sons, Chris Paul's 36, he's had injuries. And if Cameron Payne did leave, he'd have to play more minutes. I would love to have Chris Paul back. But if he demanded four years, I'd probably say we want a title. My futures, Devin Booker and DeAndre Aiton.

I am never for advocating players take less. But could you make the argument if you're Chris that you could settle on three years and closer to $100 million? Because it's just been a nice landing spot for you. But if he demands four, I don't know if I'd give Chris four, right? Would you? this is a tough part about the business because you're in a great spot basketball-wise you've got a good team this is the team that you can be successful with for the next couple years if i'm chris paul he's got forty four million dollars left on his contract you have to opt out just as a business decision he couldn't write the script no better so he has to opt out because it is a little bit more money left out there for him now obviously chris has to be very smart and strategic in this situation because he could go to a bad team and you get overpaid and just finish out his career. But I think if I'm Chris,

I look at more at maybe 50 million, maybe the two years or 50, onto that 44 million that's going to come to me regardless because I can opt into my deal and make 44. So that gets you right around that 100, three years for 100 million. And you bring that number down a little bit instead of being on the cap at 44 million for one year.

You at 30 that maybe opens up some room to sign a camera and pain and keep him alive on a team. So you got to put it. those things in perspective, I think. And Chris would do that. He won't understand that. And I don't think Chris will want to start over again. Believe me, the champagne, he tasted right now.

It's great compared to going to a bad team and have to start over again. Yeah, and I think you make a really good point. Cameron Payne allows him to play only 30 minutes, not 42 like Kevin Durant's doing. So you take a little less, you get a few games off. Cameron Payne

grows. Antoine Walker, joining us. Great to see you as always. man. Thanks for having me come. You bet. Game two of the finals, by the way, is tomorrow night. That would be Thursday. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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.

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He's the smartest player to ever play. 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. He running up the court, licking his fingers why 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. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming.

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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.

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By the way, Heard brought to you by Jersey Mike's subs, be a sub above. Boy, we have, I watched that match yesterday, bits and pieces of it. I was with my kids yesterday. And the West has so many scenic views. Montana is just absolutely stunning. You're going to see the All-Star game on Fox Tuesday, the Rockies in the background. I'm going to this weekend. I'm heading into Wyoming with my kids.

Like, it's the one thing the West has, we do mountains well. Montana, it was so absolutely picturesque yesterday. there used to be a saying that they never, when they play the Rose Bowl, they play it like January 1st, right? And the rest of the country, most of it had bad weather. And you'd be sitting there in New York, Boston, and you watch the Rose Bowl with USC and Ohio State or whatever. And they used to always say it was you had more people buy homes in L.A. Or move to Los Angeles on that day where people went, what are we doing here? What are we doing here?

They got palm trees. That that was always, the Rose Bowl was. so good for California's economy because so many people like literally booked a vacation watching that. And I watched the match yesterday and I thought, I guarantee you Montana hotels, car rentals, flights to Montana yesterday, people were all on that. You could not watch that if you live in a Texas is flat. If you live in Texas and it's hot, you looked at that and the, honey, we got to go there with the kids. Well, there's just also, you know, a lot of beautiful places around the country.

There are. Joy with the news. No. No. No. Turn on the news. This is the Herd Line News. Sponsored by Mercedes-Bets. The Best or Nothing. High taxes. Got a lot going on.

California is still pretty amazing. Nice stuff costs money. You ain't getting a Mercedes for free. It does. It does. It costs money. It's 72 every day. No bugs. No humidity. Except for these fruit flies we got going on around here.

So Aaron Rogers and Bryson DeShambo beat Tom Brady and Phil. Michaelson in that match you were just discussing yesterday they were all tied up at the turn but Rogers put a seam ahead with three straight birdies he then clinched the three and two victory for himself and DeShambo with another birdie put on the 16th but the moment everyone was talking about is when he was asked about his future in Green Bay 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 we'll see how about he won't How about September 12th then?

Will you go for that one? What's that one? That would be the opener against the Saints. All cheesers rejoice. Yeah, I don't know, we'll be able to say. I think your point about this is the right observation, especially when you consider the kind of personality that Aaron Rogers is, where it's like, you know, you cross him,

you're off the list, you're out. It's like a circle of trust, you're either in or you're out. Right. Very Jack Burns. And see, he's not letting them ask this if this is an extremely sensitive subject for him. He would tell them ahead of time. Like, this is a charity tournament. This isn't, like, some serious thing that, you know, like, he's got to answer the tough questions.

Like, he can very easily go in and be like, look, leave the Packers situation out of it. Like, you can talk about the Packers, but don't ask me about it. How about this one? So golfers don't really have, they're not part of a unit. They're themselves. right? So they're really independent contractors. Brady has ultimate power in Tampa. The only guy there

that doesn't have a lot of options or power right now is Aaron Rogers, and they joked him about that. But you know that they've all got his back. Because three of the four guys there can do kind of what they want with their... I mean, Phil Mickelson can turn down sponsors, play tournaments, not

be in a tournament. And Brady's gone through this. Right. So I mean, they're all kind of joking, but in the end, listen, Aaron's going to be fine. Aaron's going to be fine, but I do think that this is a bit telling because to your point, somebody's going through a divorce or they're going through a tough thing.

You're not going to joke with them about it because you know it's sensitive. On national television? And you're not going to do it on on national television. When you know everyone has been talking about what's going on with you and this team the entire off season. So I think it's a good sign that he will be with the Packers this year and it's not going to do anything explosive between now and training camp that they even asked him about it. So Steve Kerr was interviewed by writer Matt Sullivan

for his book Can't Knock the Hustle. One thing Kerr spoke about was how he wanted Kevin Durant to spend less time worrying about what people said to him on Twitter back when KD was with the Warriors. But Durant was not happy about those comments and he defended his actions. He tweeted, I don't see a problem with me interacting with basketball fans. It should be encouraged.

Steve should have also said that I'm never late and I work through every rep and practice with game speed. That should be more interesting than what I do on Twitter. The author, Matt Sullivan, responded to Durant and saying that Kerr did also note that KD did a great job of handling backlash on the court. We talked about that before a few weeks ago that Steve Kerr said that he was actually very astonished with how KD handled the amount of criticism that was levied his way when he went to the Warriors. I wouldn't say it was at the same level that LeBron dealt with when he came to the heat because he was the first one to really do it. But it was very intense.

I can understand Katie being very defensive of that. Now, you and I are a little different. We've moved around. We don't have this same old school rigidness about changing teams, which, again, I can't get into how people still hold on to that notion at this point. But Katie did get a lot of criticism for going to the Warriors. Listen, here's a losing. There are certain things I ask of my kids.

And then there are losing battles. Here's a losing battle. Don't be on your phone as much. They grow up with it. I grew up with video games. I didn't grow up with a phone. It's very easy for me last night for the first two and a half hours of that game to literally put my phone down and not even think about it until like fourth quarter I pick it up.

A couple tweets go, I can easily. I don't keep my phone with. me most days on my desk. I don't have to. It's very difficult to tell somebody in their teen years, their 20s or early 30s, stay off the phone. They grew up with it. And so as a parent, it's a losing battle. Kids will figure out way. It's like this. My mom said this year, years ago, my late mom, she once bought me and my friend a six-pack. It was a rainy night in the coast of Washington. And I didn't tell the other dad, but she bought us a six-pack. And she said, Well, you were going to get it.

It's a losing battle to say, oh, the high school quarterback and the star running back aren't going to get beer from somebody. So I'd rather you drink it at home, have it here, and I can take him home telling your kids, don't drink through high school. If they want to drink, they're going to drink. They're going to get a beer from somebody. And so, like, they're losing battles. And I think for Steve Kerr generationally older to tell KD, stay off the phone or Twitter. it's impossible. It's just not a winnable situation.

Well, no, I agree with that mentality on it. I will say that it's, I don't think that there's anything wrong with encouraging or pointing out some of the negativity that can permeate through constantly reading criticism, which is not normal. You've talked about this before that Obama was the first president who dealt with social media. It changes things. It changes how you perceive yourself. It changes how you perceive your accomplishments and your decisions. Whether these people matter or not, it's still not normal to get that level of unsolicited opinions on everything that you do. Right.

Like, it's hard to sort through that. And you have to have a very thick callous to be able to read all of that and be like, I'm going to do what I want anyway. And 90% of people who say they can, can't. It hurts. Nobody wants to say, you know. Right. And you have to know when to turn it off. Like, I agree with him. I like interacting with fans.

But there comes a point where it's like, what is the value in this? Like, nobody is listening to what I have to say. There's no nuance in this argument. I'm not going to win this. I'm going to move on. By the way, I didn't drink in high school. You didn't drink in high school? I didn't. Not once? Nope. I was an athlete. Yeah, but you, but the point is you could have if you wanted to. Oh yeah, I had plenty of access to it. That and anything else. Like in Miami you couldn't get. Well, I was in Pittsburgh, but Oh, that's even worse. You couldn't get a beer in Pittsburgh. Very easy access to beer.

But don't worry. I made up for it in college. So Janus was cleared to play last night after just a week after hypers extending his knee. He looked good, putting up 20 points and 17 rebounds. But his highlight of the night came at the end of the first half when he had an incredible chase down block on McHaw Bridges. And look, this was an incredible highlight. I enjoyed it. It was very aggressive and it was an awesome play. Awesome moment, right?

Boom. I was drawing some comparisons to LeBron's block on Iguodala. Oh, give me a break. Game 7, 2016 finals. The biggest block in the history of the league. Yeah, I think we should calm down. Okay. And listen, this block really gave me a lot of distress for a long time. I was rooting very hard for the Warriors. By the way, we should do sound up on that. Mike Green.

Being a salty heat fan. Yeah, it was an unbelievable call. That's one of the best calls and best moments in the NBA in a decade. I mean, that game, it was a weird series. It was all blowouts. And then the second half of that game, I think, is the best two hours of basketball I've seen in a decade. Yep. I remember exactly where I was. Oh, my God. It was incredible. Look at the fans. Everybody's standing from every point.

Yeah, it was, I mean, it was just, it's an all-time sports moment. So let's just maybe just calm down on game one. Even goosebumps to watch it now. Yeah. Oh, my Lord. Two minutes left in game seven, game tied. You know, if the NBA, if the NBA wants a logo, that should be it. LeBron pinning a block shot from Andre Iguidala on the glass.

That's the new logo for 10 years. God, that is an incredible play. Yeah, it was a nice block by honest, but let's just calm down a little bit. All right. Lose myself. And thanks for that. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News.

Yeah, that was a great, that was a great two hours of television. Cleveland's first championship. Cleveland's first championship, you're taking down the greatest regular season team of all time. It's game seven. I mean, yeah. You couldn't draw it up. Hollywood couldn't draw it up. You wouldn't believe it.

Well, it reminds me a little bit, not as much, but that, the Seattle Seahawk New England Patriot Super Bowl, which came down to a play. It was just insane. You're just like all season. And it comes down to a singular play between two incredibly even teams. And you're like, you know, like that was one of those years where I grew up in Seattle, love the Seahawks, lived in Connecticut 10 years, loved the Patriots. I had said before, I didn't care who.

I just wanted to see Russell Wilson Brady play. I want a good, clean game. And you get to these moments sometimes. You think to yourself. I never felt New England was significantly better than Seattle. I thought they were just even teams. I really did it. If I played five times,

three, two, somebody would win. And I felt the same way with Golden State. It's a game of inches. It's a game of inches. You know, I was thinking about this, that one of the reasons I like the sons,

and this is one of the reasons during a bowl season, college football ball season, I bet SEC teams. You know, they play pretty much each other. There's occasional out-of-conference games. They play each other. But when a Big 10 or a Big 12 team has to play and SEC team and the speed and the

physicality of it. It's like, oh, it's shocking. The West is so much better than the East, the Western team, I'm picking over the Eastern team because they have home court, the better coach, healthier, more rested. Just say it out loud. The West is better than the East. It's not really been

close for 25 years. I mean, think about this. If the Bucks lose the finals, like in five games, even if they were swept, it would be them in Brooklyn favored to win it again next year. If the Suns win the finals in four or five. They won't be favored next year. They won't because the Clippers took them six without Kauai. The Lakers took them six with no AD and LeBron wasn't 100%. Golden States

got two great draft picks. Clay comes back and Steph Curry looked like an MVP last year. They're going to make a big move and they got a lot of trading pieces. Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman. Luca could get a star and the West is just so much better than the East. I mean, just take these two teams. Phoenix is not even peaking. I mean, their players are all getting better. Just in terms of a young talent, it's not even close in these two leagues. Booker's 24.

McHale Bridges is 24. DeAndre Aiton's 22. Cam Johnson's 25. They're all getting better. Like, the bucks are old. I mean, Janus is their only young star. And this is his eighth year in the league. And he is a flawed player.

They don't have another young star on the roster. This is as good as they're going to be. And that's one of the reasons it's so weird that they're not as good situationally as Phoenix. Because Phoenix is young. Phoenix should not be this good situationally. Chris Paul solves that. Milwaukee should be great situationally. Their free throws kill them.

I mean, just to give you an example between the West and the East, even the bad teams in the West, the Pelicans, have a superstar, Zion. That if he was on the market today, 20 teams would go after him. 28 would go after him. That's one of the bad teams. In the East, you can make the playoffs without really an elite player, the Knicks. You can get to the finals without an all-star.

Atlanta. In fact, I would say Atlanta is the only rising team in the entire Eastern Conference. I think Miami, the Celtics, the Raptors, and the Sixers, there are arguments to be made. They need to be blown up. They need to make a massive move to even get into discussion. I mean, listen, Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum are not winning a title together. They're not. Like, you've got to make a big move with Jalen Brown.

Now, Jason, Tatum, and Dame, that feels like a finals team. Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown feels like a good team. So Miami right now, Jimmy Butler's a great two. He had the lowest field goal percentage of anybody in the playoffs. Probably needs another star. Dame and Jimmy Butler with Bam. That's pretty interesting. But, you know, one of the reasons I like Phoenix is it's the same reason I bet on SEC football teams in the bowl season.

You know, Phoenix is out here grinding against the West. Milwaukee to them doesn't make the adjustments. They don't have the depth. They're star player. I mean, one of the things I said yesterday is if you just think about the last two minutes of this finals of every game, Phoenix is the best free throw shooting team in the world. Milwaukee's best player can't shoot free throws. Chris Paul, Booker, and DeAndre Aiton did not mess a free throw last night.

All things taken out. Forget officiating, forget coaching. If I told you, man, one of the teams in the finals, don't trust them at the free throw line late, the other one's the best in the world. Who would you take? Oh, they also have the best coach, home court advantage, healthier, more rested, momentum, and now a series.

All right. Tom Chambers, former great for the Phoenix Suns joins us next. 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. 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 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 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. Ramos 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 Polisic, I'm not worried about Balligan, I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team.

It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. 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 Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like,

After you go through a training camp with that, I said, 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 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, traitors, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. 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 in the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of, ha, who. Again, we are experts. Make sure to tune into Pod Meets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirl on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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 6-10 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 forward. 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. It's all interchangeable now, if you will. But 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, you know, having the experience they had in the bubble, the team really grew together. Obviously, that attracted Jake Crowder, 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 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 gelled. 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 Aten'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. 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. 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 concerned. And 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 son'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 look at 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 Yonis 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 is 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. 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, 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 yonis if you coached him well i mean they play him right i 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 and back off of him He's coming at you with a head of steam, 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, the 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.

I 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 Barclay, 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. 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. Yeah. 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 Globe

troders. 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, I still don't forgive Danny H for leaving John Faxon. Tom, it's a pleasure to see you. You look great. Continued success. Thank you so much. Thanks, Colin. All right. Tom Chambers, who was a joy to watch. He really was. That was the era of a power forward.

He was 6'10 out of the University of Utah. And like Janus, he was the best finisher. You know, it's really funny. He just said this. I never thought about this. You do become the personality of your team. Like Chris Paul's intense.

Like, nobody would, Chris is intense. Chris is intense having lunch. The sons are intense. They're kind of a relentless intense team. Like they don't mess around, right? Charles was laid back. And those sons teams, Tom said, they played hard when Charles wanted to, when they played.

And that was always the difference with Michael and Charles. Michael and Kobe were obsessed. Charles wasn't. He was just gifted. He wasn't obsessed. Charles wasn't always going to practice hard. And you really do become the personality of your team. And when you look at Phoenix, they are Chris Paul. They play. I mean, for a young team, they're so good situationally. That's not the way it works in this league. Young teams, athletic, they run, but God, they're awful in tight spots. Phoenix is the opposite. And I think a lot of that is just the general basketball acumen of of Chris Paul. They have adopted that.

Discover matches all the cash back you earn on your credit card automatically end of the first year. And there is no limit. Discover.com slash yes, get used to hearing a less, yes, more often. The herd. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with

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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 CJ 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 hiring. You just understood. That's how personal again. Wow. Then after that, Game 7,

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Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of Family Secrets. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car and drove off. And that was the last time I saw him. Listen to season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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