The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 07/08/2021 - HOUR 3 - Suns-Bucks, MLB

Episode Date: July 8, 2021

What do you do with Chris Paul after the Finals?How MLB has seriously hurt itselfGuest: Mo Dahkil Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. What up? Welcome in. This is The Herd, wherever you may be. And however you may be making this part of your day, thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlieb.

In for Colin Cowherd. Lots of stuff going on here in the world of sports. Believe it or not, I have what I believe to be the best baseball take, the best baseball take, maybe ever in the history of the hurt. I know he doesn't talk baseball a ton. I'm not going to talk a ton. Bottom of the hour, we'll get to that.

Back end to the hour, we'll get to that. I have some thoughts for you on tonight's game. Got to give you a pick, right? We'll get to that. We'll go to Bet Rivers and check that out. Okay. There is some, there is a quote from Kyle Kuzma, which I want to get to momentarily. Really, really interesting telling stuff that I think people will, people will take and run with a million different ways. Now, I'll give you my sense of what to make of it.

But as we get ready for game two of the NBA finals, right? You're watching Chris Paul, and it's impossible to not think, what if. what if David Stern had not overturned the trade to the Lakers? What if? Right. What if? What would they win championships? What would it look like?

Like all the different machinations of, I know Kobe went on to win championships anyway, but what would the world have looked like if Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant? Would they have been able to coexist? The two very strong personalities. And Chris Paul is a ball dominant guy. There's a lot to it. What if Chris Paul didn't get hurt with the Clippers?

What if he didn't get hurt with the Rockets? Or what if the Rockets didn't trade in Oklahoma City for Russell Westbrook? What if that hadn't happened? There's lots of what ifs. Obviously, we can do the what if Anthony Davis didn't get hurt. What if Jamal Murray didn't get hurt? What if Kauai Leonard didn't get hurt? Would they even be here?

But you watch Chris Paul take over. And then with the last two games, remember, ending the series and beginning the series. And you had to wonder, like, here's a guy who's been waiting his entire career to get to the NBA finals. How would you play? How do you manage those emotions? Like, it's one of those things where I'm very respectful of people saying they need a mental health break, guys saying they're going, women saying they're going through depression. I just want to point out, and this is, and everyone in sports kind of,

and knows it, but we're kind of, it's taboo to bit. But one of the things that makes athletes better than all of us is their ability, for the most part, to manage the pressure and the anxiety. I don't know how they do it. Have you guys ever, have you ever teed off in front of a group of people? You ever done that? Not your buddies on a Saturday when you're playing wolf. okay no no I'm talking about if you ever teed off in front of like a group of people a gallery of

people I mean and part of it is I'm not a great golfer I'm gonna go play this afternoon not a great golfer self-admitted you know I'm one of those guys that everyone says like you know if you played more you would be really good like yeah actually no because if I played more then I put more pressure on myself than the mental game and I would be bad and it would be more frustrating I've kind of reached the happy medium to where I'm like, I'm good enough where I'm decent, and I don't play enough to where I don't take it that seriously. And as long as I'm not stupid enough to bet on it,

like I'm okay. Like I hit one of the woods like, ah, I'm seeing the whole course. Like I can, you know what I mean? But I've played these pro ams, and we played pretty well. Like we actually won the pro am at Torrey Pines, going back a couple years ago on the South course.

And other people played the North. But that initiative teeing off in front of, people. Oh my God. You want to talk about pressure. What about making a, like everybody like, can you imagine making a six foot putt? When these things are rolling that, like, you're basically putting on cement, downhill, you know, you can't get the thing to stop. The pressure that golfers have to put on themselves, the pressure of the moment, amazing. And what separates those guys from you and me is they can do it. What separates athletes from you and me is they can do it. What makes Derek Jeter great is not that he was actually statistically, he wasn't Babe Ruth,

but Derek Jeter in the playoffs, Derek Jeter in the regular season, same guy. Go look at the numbers. So obviously Chris Paul is incredibly impressive with what he was able to do, what he was able to do in his first NBA finals game. Take a look at these numbers. Last two games combined, this is game six, elimination game of the Clippers, game one against the bucks, 35 and a half, excuse me, 36 and a half points per game,

65% field goal percentage, 73% 3. I mean, dude's running a heater right now. I throw some ice water on him because he's hot. So you're riding with Chris Paul, but this is, these are outlier games. This is not who he is. He ain't a 35, 40 a night guy. Now, what makes him the true point guard is he can read the game

and when you need me to score, I'll score. If you don't need me to score, I won't score. The defense determines, the defense dictates what you do. It's like one of the things that I actually found to be kind of embarrassing with LeBron James over the weekend. You know, who's at his son's game. They played like an AAU matchup in his old high school.

But, you know, he's there yelling with his, you know, buddies in the stands. And he's like, Brani, get the ball and make a bucket. Like, I, I, LeBron knows better than that. Like, you don't be that parent. Make the right play. That's how he's made his career. Make the right play.

Chris Paul makes the right play. But what inevitably happens after a championship run, and I don't know if the sons are going to win this series, obviously they're one game closer than the bucks are. But let's say they win this thing. Maybe even if they don't, right? You hear all these comments that all the bucks are making like, this dude is the best leader ever had.

He's so dedicated to basketball. All these things are accurate. The offseason, he could cash in three more years, $100 million. You know? And therein kind of lies the rub. I want you to take a guess. Don't look. I can look.

Don't look. How much money do you think Chris Paul has made in his career? Don't look. Do not look. This is a really hard one. How much do you think he's bade 16 seasons in the NBA? Ryan Music, without looking. Have you looked?

Don't look. I have not looked today, but I think I've probably looked somewhat recently, but I'm willing to make a guess. Okay, go for a guess. I'm going to say somewhere in the $260, $260 million. $295 million. Yeah. That's a lot of money.

That's not counting, not counting, the money he makes in commercials and he's in a lot of commercials. Only a couple here and there. No, he's, I mean, for a guy who hasn't won a title and it's his first NBA, like he is, one is he's good in commercials, right? He's good actor.

Secondly, he was in L.A. And they were kind of a thing in L.A. And I think he capitalized on that greatly. He's made $295 million in salary alone. This year, it's $4.4.000. it's $41.358 million. So look, he'd never do it, but the truth is he can work for like, hey, man, I'll just take the mid-level exemption and I'll stay here and you guys spend all that money.

But as the head of the Players Association, as a vet, as an old head, like it's your kind of job to go and get paid. So he can opt out. It's a player option. Otherwise, he's going to make $44 million. So like, why would you opt out? You'd opt out to lengthen a deal three years, $1,000. $10 million whatever, which would put him over the $400 million career earning, which is just,

that's crazy. Again, that's only in salary. And while everyone watches and goes like, well, you just do it. You just pay, you just do it. You just do it. You know what Chris Paul is? He's your iPhone 3, your iPhone 3. Your iPhone 3.

Right? Like he's hitting mid-range shots. You're like, man, that mid-range stuff still works. He's still got all the tricks. all the, like, look, I have 15, actually 16 now years of data. 16 years of data. And remember, you're listening to arguably the biggest fan of Chris Paul throughout the other 15 years of work you're ever going to hear in national radio and national TV.

Like I could go back and point out things that he does that other people just miss that are so good. I mean, so good. It's like, man, that's God-given. He can just do some things that's just unbelievable. I mean, he doesn't, they forced him to go left, and he did a good job of making shots going left. But if you go and look, you use it, it's called Synergy.

You go back and look, use a Synergy account at the percentage of times in which he finishes either a layup or a jump shot, dribbling the basketball with his right hand, it's like three or four to one, maybe even more. That dude goes right. And like Manu Genobli going left, he goes left. There's nothing much you can do about it. He's going right. There's not much.

He'll go left and then come back to his right. It's really hard to keep him off that right hand. But I'm a huge fan, and I'm sitting there telling you that at some point, you cannot update the 3S iPhone. At some point, and I know some of you guys, you get like, I've got my old iPhone. I don't need all these cameras. I don't need the gigantic one. If I wanted an iPad, I would get an iPad. had. I just like my old phone.

Like, that sounds great. But every device you have ever gotten, you know, has a limit. You can tell me like my surround sound stereo. I don't need Bluetooth. It gets the airplanes overhead and it gets to, that's fine. At some point, everybody's going digital. At some point, everybody's going to Bluetooth. At some point, all the wires are going to be cut.

You're just, you can be in denial of, at some point, he's going to not be able to do it. And during the previous 15 years, and even in years 16, there have been times in which, like, it was just a couple weeks ago he hurt his shoulder in some bizarre collision where you're like, dude, he may never play basketball again. And I know some of it he sells it. But look, look, he was legit hurt.

This guy gets hurt all the time. He's only six feet tall. It's kind of an acquired taste. he's gotten hurt in every big year ever, it seems like. And he's already 36 years old at a size disadvantage. You can tell me, like, I'm just going to ride or die with my iPhone 3. At some point, the iPhone 3 is going to die. And it's not just because Apple's slowed your downloading speed.

Wasn't that the worst when they did that? Remember that? It was like two years ago they were doing that. Like, why is everything so slow? It was like, yeah, Apple did it. Bastards. The point is, I can love the Sons. Love CP3.

But three more years of it? Tell me a dude at 39 at point guard. Who's dominating and playing well in the league. I come up next. Do the Sons take a commanding 2-0 lead tonight? We'll discuss next in The Hurt. Be sure to catch live editions of the HARD weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

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Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? I'm Ms. Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed.

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

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After you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the, IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming.

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So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Like, what was just because we?

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for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Doug Gottlieben for Colin. This is The Hurt, Fox Sports Radio, IHeart Radio app. Are you guys got Mo? Sweet. Mo Dockill joins us. He works for Bleach Report, but he used to be a video coordinator with the clips and the Spurs.

So I just like this. Mo, thanks so much for joining us. I love your stuff on social media and obviously the stuff with Bleach Report. It's, you know, to those of us who are just junkies and hoop guys, it's awesome what you're able to show, what you're able to see. Okay, so here's what happens. We're watching a game and we're like, oh, Milwaukee's switching. Why are they switching? Why don't they just have Drew a holiday guard Chris Paul the whole time?

Like it used to, we get this feeling like that's how it used to be, right? Used to guard one guy. They would match up the whole time. Is it possible in this NBA to not switch? For the nice words at the start of it, I think it's definitely possible in this NBA to not switch. It's not necessarily easy. But I just think it takes a level of more fight from the guards staying out of the switch instead of just we see it all the time, right? As soon as the screen comes, the guy goes like, okay, you got it.

You know, I think it's because we're giving so many lazy switches. It's really ridiculous. Like switching was good when you're the Golden State Warriors because teams would have to go from, okay, I have Clay Thompson on me. I'm going to set a screen. Oh, now it's Andre Agu Dahligarding me. It made sense for the Warriors. I think teams have become too reliant on switching, and I think we've got to start getting back a little bit more

to some of the other defensive principles that we've had in the league. Okay, so what did Milwaukee specifically do when you watch the film? I think people say switching. There was also some drop coverage. I understand Hard's radio. You can't back it up with, and you're in as simple as terms as possible, What were they doing against the Sun's defensively? Well, so besides the obvious switching, they were switching and trying to stay home with the other guys, right?

They weren't giving, they were trying not to give up rotation threes, where somebody would rotate over and Chris Paul would find guys in the corner and so on. That's very hard to do. Eventually they switched back to their normal coverage, which was drop coverage, but the problem was then you had Brooke Lopez too far back and against guys who hunt the mid-range shot, in particular Chris Paul, that's like a dream coverage for him. You know, he's coming off the screen and going,

Brooke Lopez is in the paint, great. I'm not trying to get to the paint. I'm trying to get to the elbow to get my shot off. So I think just all of those things with what Milwaukee was doing defensively kind of just played into the hands of Phoenix, Doug, and it allowed their offense to really go. Like I kind of just called them a willing participant in Phoenix his offense. Okay, so how difficult, if you play Brooke Lopez, how difficult is it for them to

adjust their coverage? I don't think it's that difficult because honestly, I think you can play drop coverage against the Sons. The Clippers proved it, but Brooke Lopez has to be higher up. He has to be at minimum above the free throw line, one Chris Paul is coming off those screens. And so at that point, it gives the guard a chance to fight back and get back into position so that Lopez could then go to Aiton as he rolls. I think it's not like a crazy adjustment. I actually think the Bucks psyched themselves out with game one by starting out with switching. I think if they stayed in their normal coverage and just tweaked it, they would have been okay.

I think that's really the simplest thing. And then after that, you know, the guards just got to do a better job fighting over the screen. They can't just keep getting screened off and then basically dying on the screens. Mo Dackle joined us. Of course, you can read his work in Bleach Report, follow him on social media. He used to work in the film room with the spurs, with the clippers. If you follow his work, you're like, oh, okay, that's what. How much of Chris Paul's success?

And I agree with you, right? I mean, like, look, there's lots of guys you can give up the mid-range jumper to. Chris Paul is not one of them. That's actually what he wants to do. not just at this stage in his career, most any stage in his career. I thought they did a good job of sitting on his right hand. He still showed that he can make some shots going left as well. But how much of his success is, hey, look, he's just fresher than everybody else, right?

That's his fifth game basically in a month. How much of conditioning and freshness do you think played into it? I think it plays into it. So there's no way to deny it, right? Like the guy is just a little more happiness step and things like that. He hasn't had to go through seven-game series. six-game series and battles and things like that. It definitely plays a role into it.

But I think also just part of it is he knows this is his chance. Like he's driven right now. Like, let's just be honest, do we really think Chris Paul is going to make another finals after this? Like, the odds are pretty low. He knows this is his one shot to win the title. So I think he's given it everything he has. And, you know, we might see some real special games out of him throughout this series.

Okay, with that in mind, what do you do in the office? You're the son. And I know, I want to get back to this series. But I was just talking about, like, the likelihood he's 36 now, turns 37 next May. Let's say he opts out. He's supposed to make 44 million. Let's say he opts out, and he wants three over $100 million. Like, do you do that of your Phoenix?

You know what? I think I do. And actually, I know I do. And the reasons why are, one, I don't know if you can replace him. him. It's not like you can go use that money elsewhere and replace him. If you just let him walk, there's

nobody out there that you could really bring in that's going to replicate, or at least bring in like 60% of what Chris Paul did this season, that it's going to make you feel like we're still in it for the repeat or another run to the finals.

I think you do it. And we were saying this about his last contract. Right? We were saying, man, you're going to be paying him $36, $38, $44 million towards the end of his years. Like, you know, he's not going to be worth that at the end. You know, the way he's taking care of his body, you know, there's a possibility that it may not be such a brutal contract towards the end. So if you're the sons, I don't think you have much of a choice. You really do have to go after him.

And I'm for it. I think they got to max them out. What did you think of how Janus looked? I thought Janice was okay, coming back from injury. I think this was one of those games where he's trying to figure out what he can and can't do with his knee. You know, it sucks because it's the first game of the finals, but he's also kind of experimenting a little bit. He had some flashes where he had some Janus moments. I mean, that block in transition was gorgeous.

He had a play where he faced up and then went through Aiton for a big dunk. you know overall I think it's just him trying to get comfortable I felt like defensively he was a little bit slow and I think that's where we're going to see most of the times where his knee is going to be questionable a little bit late on rotations a little bit late on getting out to shooters I think that's going to be something to keep an eye on but overall considering what it looked like when he did hurt his knee I think we're just lucky he's out there do you think we're going to have a good series? I think we're going to have a pretty good series. I think still it's going to be a six-game

series. I think we're going to have some interesting battles. I mean, the Dario Sarich injury is an interesting one for the suns because that just means the rotations have to be jiggered a little bit. And with that means you're going to have guys who probably aren't as good playing. You're going to have, you know, Frank Kamiski's coming in the game having to eat minutes. You're going to go small in certain instances, and I don't think any of that's really been fruitful for the sun. So I think those are questions that they're going to have to answer. I think we're going to still have a pretty good series. Yeah, I don't know if they use Frank Minsky.

I think that part's going to be super interesting too, right? Like, do they use him or they just go small the entire time? I think getting cam back really helps them in terms of kind of the change of pace, getting that legit backup point guard. He's played some of his best basketball of his, of his, of his, of his, of his, of his NBA career. If it goes bad in a hurry for the bucks, like let's remember,

they're down two games and none to the Nets. They were not better than the Nets were going to beat them. And I don't know what happens against the Hawks if Trey Young doesn't get hurt. Let's say they get embarrassed by the Sons. Are we absolutely sure Bud keeps his job? I think everything you said, like the Nets would have won that.

series of Kyrie doesn't land on Janus's input. Like, there's no doubt to me. But I just look at it going, like, I don't know if there's a solid replacement out there. I would have been more interested had Rick Carlisle still being available, would have made the question more interesting to me. But I don't know if there's somebody you're going to get out there that's going to be able to just sort of transform everything, you know, and making it to the finals, I think Bud deserves at least another shot at it. You know, he has made a lot. He has made a film adjustments. It's not been the greatest. It's not been stuff we've liked,

but for the most part, though, he is trying to make adjustments for just something he didn't do in playoffs past. So you've got to give them a little bit of credit there, and they did make it to the final, so I think that buys them a season. Okay. Okay.

What do the Lakers look like next year? They're going to be interesting, but I think they're going to look pretty similar to what they have. I still think they'll end up bringing in Dennis Schroeder. I don't think despite the, I won a hundred, a $120 million contract. I don't think he's worth that. I don't think that's what he would get, even on the open market. So I think he'll end up coming back. I just think if the Lakers are

healthy, I still think you're going to look at them going like this is a team that can win a championship, because they're dependent just on LeBron and AD's health. If they're healthy, they're going to be just fine. Granted, they could use some other pieces, build some stuff around the edges and things like that. But overall, like, let me ask you, Doug, like, if the Lakers, if AD

doesn't get hurt in game four, do you think the Sons win that series? I don't. I think the Lakers win it, but the Lakers had some inherent issues there. Schroeder was a big issue. Remember, a year ago, he gets there, the initial

press conference that announces that he's the starting point guard. Like, that didn't. Yeah, I don't think Shrewder's back. I do think they win that series, but I don't think, and the guys I talked to, they were like, well, we hope we go on a run here. There just wasn't, some was missing with that team this year, and I can't tell if it was all on Shruder or, you know, they didn't make the Kyle Lowry move before the trade deadline.

Whatever, whatever happened to that team, the year before, great chemistry, and they almost fizzled out in the bubble, and they got recharged in time, the Clippers lost, but it was the opposite. of that this year. Yeah, and I think some of that had to do with just you know, LeBron missed a ton of games. You know, AD missed practically

half the season. I think that had a lot to do with that, and at that point the Lakers were scrambling. I think if those guys are fully healthy all year, you end up working out the Kings. You know, they were 23 and 7 when AD got hurt. I think they were second in the west at that point. You know, they were rolling pretty well. So

I think it's I'm with you on. There was stuff missing, but I think a lot of that had to do with, you know, your main pieces were out. And this is, this is, when those guys are out, the team is built on them being. Oh, no question. They're not, no. Yeah, it's not, it's not, it's, they're not built, you know, yeah, they're not built like some of these other teams where guys out and you just slide them over.

They are a top heavy team, a lot like the Nets, right? They're top heavy team. And when you lose one of those, those top guys, it just absolutely decimates you. Um, where, what, give me the most logical scenario. for Ben Simmons to play somewhere else next year? I think to me the most logical one and easiest one. It's the one everybody puts out there is Portland and for C.J. McCollum, not for Dame. I don't think

game's going to demand a trade this season. I think he's going to see how this one plays out with Jonti Billets. But I think the most easy one because of the money works, things like that, it helps both teams. Ultimately, I don't think it's great for either team, but I think that's the a philosophical place for him to end up, because I don't see where else you would send him, and Philly would get pieces back where they can continue to try to make a run at the championship. People who are talking about Philly trying to get picks and things like that,

that's not what Philadelphia is looking for right now. They're trying to win a championship. That's their goal. So they've got to bring in a piece that's pretty much finished. They're not looking to bring in a young guy that has question marks or things like that. They're coming in and trying to bring in somebody that can plug in right away, and they can start making a run as a title. Where were you 11 years ago today when LeBron James announced he was going to the Miami Heat?

I was in the San Antonio film room watching it with a couple of assistant coaches, actually with Mike Voodenholzer at the time, and I was getting ready to head to Australia to work with the national team there. Okay, so what did you guys discuss? What was it like in that room? I'm not allowed to curse, but I think we all were just like, damn. It just kind of walked out. I don't think there was anything.

We didn't go into a deep discussion in terms of how it would work or whatnot. I think we all just kind of looked at it and we're like, all right, well, that's what it's going to be. You mentioned your work with the Australian national team. I think it's a mistake for Simmons to not play with them. he needs to play, be around those guys, play more basketball, their culture is good for him. Am I wrong to think that? I mean, it's either or I don't think either decision is wrong.

It's only wrong if he's not working in the gym right now as we're speaking, Doug. Right, like the whole idea for him not going with, I'm going to go work on my game in my stuff in particular and spend time and focus on that, which is something he wouldn't be able to do with Team Australia at the current moment. They're obviously going to work on practice and things like that. So he's trying to work on his stuff. Now, if he's not working on his game, this is a massive mistake. You do want him playing more games and things like that.

But we would have just seen more of the same Ben Simmons. And he went and played for the Olympics. And then to be honest, after that, he's not going to have, you're going to want him to rest instead of working in the gym all that much getting ready. for next season. So I think, you know, I'm not, I feel bad for my mates in Australia because I think this would have, I think this is their best chance to win a medal and Ben Simmons could help out. But ultimately, I don't think it's that big of a deal only if he's really putting in the time

in the gym right now. Yeah, I don't know if he's put in the gym in time in London when he's at Wimbledon. Not sure that was the time. You can take a break? I just disagree because I think you can put in that time. and I also think you need you need game reps. You need game reps. If you're going to become a, you know,

you got to get rid of all that, those negative thoughts and the only way to do it is game reps. Yeah, and maybe he's not ready for game reps. I understand, but I would have been, if you're a ball guy, if you really want to change your game, that would be a good place to start. Modakio, follow him on Twitter, read his work and bleach report.

It's excellent. It's informed. It's a different level than some of the other commentary, which doesn't actually match with what's happening in the sport. Mo, enjoy the game tonight. Thanks for joining us. Thank you for having me. All right, let's get to Ryan Music with the news. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. Picking up where you and Mo left off, Doug. You touched on the Lakers a little bit. Well, there is some news out in Lakerland involving one of their, I guess, star players, just not Anthony Davis or LeBron James and his name would be Kyle Kuzma. He did an exclusive interview with Tyler Conway of Bleacher Report. Asked about some of his up and down struggles from last season. Kuzma said my biggest thing is I just want to play with a consistent role.

If I have that ability, I'll be able to showcase what I can really do. There are parts of this year and even anywhere else in my career where I'm in a consistent space. I'm out there handling the ball, making teammates better, scoring, shooting, defending, rebounding, I think if I'm in this space, I'll be good. When asked if he thinks he could be a player capable of averaging about 25 per game and reaching All-Star Heights, quote, I definitely can. I definitely believe that too. I don't really care what nobody thinks or says. I know myself. I know my ability. I know it's hard to be consistent in an inconsistent role. I'm excited for a consistent space next year. Very on message. He has one clear message, Doug. He wants a consistent role

next year. Well, there's a couple of things. I don't care what nobody thinks. So does that mean he cares what everybody else thinks? Again, it's a bit of a double negative. I don't think that Kyle Kuzma is speaking about a situation

other than the Lakers. Do I think they would trade Kyle Kuzma if they could package him with THT and with some others and sign in trade, Dennis Trudor? Yeah. But Cal Kuzma is one of their few homegrown products. He's pretty well liked. And I think what he's saying is the truth.

It's like, look, he didn't get consistent minutes. And there was a feeling from a lot of people that, like, Dennis Schrooter announced he's a starting point guard, but he hadn't necessarily earned it. And Kyle Kuzma had earned a chance at more meaningful minutes. So there's a connection there. I know what people say about. Look at his number. And they took it like, yeah, but if you're not getting, the numbers are, you can't, you can only do so much based upon the time in which you're given.

So I think what he's trying to say is like, look, I want to be the Lakers. Somebody tell me my role and let me flourish in that role. Until I get that role, like you're still going to, you're going to have it up and down me when I have it up and down minutes. And I don't think that's crazy to say. So if you're the Lakers and you had mentioned you probably let Schrooter go, but are you. You feeling good about the situation if you have LeBron James and Anthony Davis and let's just say a Kyle Kuzma in a defined role, is that enough to be a title contender and then just some ancillary pieces around them? Or do you think they still need to work on if you're letting

Schrooter walk? Oh, you need a point guard. Okay. You need a point guard. You just, Dennis Schroeder's not that guy. Who do you think that guy could be? I don't know. I like I don't know of Lowry for a whole year now, right? Coming out of that deal is a better fit. You know, obviously you're going to take a big swing in a Damien Lillard, but I just don't see Portland. Like we're going to give you our best player and you're in the same division.

Like, yeah, we're not doing that. So I think you got to look, you got to look to one of the other franchises, which is trying to rebuild or somebody that's going to take Shrewder. with a shooter's contract, but I don't think it's a shooter that returns. We'll transition and wrap things up in the NFL, Doug. Patrick Mahomes, in addition to his offensive lineman, clearly not being healthy in the Super Bowl,

which led to him running for his life. He also was dealing with a foot injury, which we found out was a toe injury, which turned into off-season surgery on that toe. He has recovered from it. He is partaking in that televised celebrity golf tournament, which features many athletes, current, former, actors and actresses this weekend. He was speaking with the NFL Network just about their offseason and approach to next season.

He said for us, win or lose that Super Bowl, the past two years, we still have the same mentality of where we're going to start from scratch, build, and try and find a way to get back into that game. Interesting that they returned a lot of their starters from the year before, got back to the Super Bowl. It seemed as though the main reason they lost was. was just due to health. Now, that doesn't necessarily excuse anything, but without a healthy offensive line against that Tampa Bay defensive front, they didn't stand a chance. On the other side

of it, Tampa Bay seems to be doing the same thing, returning all their starters. So it should, it'll be interesting to see if Tampa Bay finds himself in the same situation as the Chiefs did, which is probably a very successful regular season, but maybe those injuries finally catch up. No question. Look, they, I mean, I think everybody completely respects, completely, respects what they're trying to do in Kansas City. The question is, can they find the right mix? With that contract becoming live in the next couple years and really sapping up the salary cap,

can they continue to put the pieces around him? Because he obviously had the coaching staff and they had great offensive weaponry. And they still, for the most part, you know, you still have Kelsey, still have Tyree Kill. They seem to have figured out the running back position. now they've reworked the offensive line.

If that works, the offensive works, and then can you fill out the defense with enough quality draft picks and underpaid guys to make up for the fact that you're spending so much money in other places? That's a TBD. And that's right. Music with the News. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Line News. The truth about baseball you haven't heard from anyone else. That's next. In The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd. days at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. What's up, everyone?

It's me three-time NFL All-Pro Sean Marriam. And I have a new sports podcast called the Lights Out Podcast with Sean Mariner. 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 Murrayman or the Aheart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping

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10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 Boe. On our podcast, inside American soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions.

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, this Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Brian 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 the flying. 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 Wilfredel from PodMeets World. And now the Podmeets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV,

who now have covered Dancing with the Stars, traitors, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor.

I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Like what was... Yeah. 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. Ah, ha, ooh. Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into PodMeets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirl on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Doug Gottlieb, in for Colin. This is the... heard. So usually Colin does the best for last, right? Something he's been saving all day. I have, I have the perfect rant for this. It's not a list. It's not a top 10. It's not a top five. It's not a bagel with bagel hierarchy, although I do miss those meetings we've had at Fox where we do the bagel hierarchy. Salt bagel, by the way, is the proper number one in anybody's list. Everything bagel quality number two. Let's give

give me the best for last. It's almost the end of the show, but that doesn't mean we're phoning it in. Nope, we grind to the very last segment. It's time for best for last. Okay, Shohay Otani is the best

player in baseball. He's an all-star as a pitcher and a hitter. We have never seen this in modern day sports, especially baseball. We just have it. It would be, obviously, you guys understand the equation in football.

If a guy was one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL, maybe even the best quarterback in the NFL, and he was a top 20 defensive player playing both ways. You just don't see it. You don't see it. Shohei Otani hit his 32nd home run to break Hideke Matsui's record by home runs by a Japanese player in a major league season. We're not yet, we're basically halfway through the year, and he broke Hideki Matsui's record.

He's got 32 home runs, which is the most in the league. And again, based upon games, plays and home runs hit, he's on pace to hit 60 home runs, which puts him on pace to challenge Roger Maris's record, who's the rightful home run king, except for the fact that we have McGuire, Sosa, Barry Bonds, steroid guys. Well, you'll hear from people who follow and like baseball. Like, man, baseball was better with steroids because, man, we had all those home runs. And yeah, you know, it wasn't illegal. First of all, it was illegal.

They didn't test for it, but everyone knew it was illegal. You weren't supposed to do it. Please don't give me the baseball doesn't help you. Steroids doesn't help you hit a baseball. Every number would tell you that steroids absolutely help you hit a baseball. You train longer. Your body reacts better, recovers better, 162 game season, and HGH can help your eyesight. We can go kind of through it, but the basic is the raw data.

Hey, no one's hitting 65, 70 home runs anymore. They were during the steroid era. If everyone is, everything is better than before, why are we not better in baseball? There's your answer. There's your answer. But this is what the steroid era did. It didn't just rob quality players who were trying to ascend to the major leagues. Because what I'm was like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, they were on the downside of their career.

And now you give guys who's, you know, as we all like, your body doesn't produce as much testosterone. You're not the same guy. We cheat nature and it elongates your career. And by the way, they saw career spikes in their late 30s, which you never see. Why? Because the normal composition of a body. So not only did it keep players out of Major League Baseball who would have made it while those guys retired,

like there's a whole generation of very average baseball players who weren't able to play Major League Baseball because these guys kept their roster spot and actually continued their stardom because of what they were doing. That ain't even the half of it. I want you to try and do something. This is an exercise I want you to.

If you can imagine a world in which the steroid era didn't take place, imagine how we'd look at Shohei Otani right now. Not only is he a two-way all-star, the first we've had in modern day baseball. Not only is that true, but he's on pace to break Roger Maris's home run record of 61 home runs in a year. Now, I don't know about you, but that's some theater I would watch. Now it's like 60, what is that?

60 is actually the rightful mark. That's about the limit to what human beings apparently are able to do with 162 games based upon how the height of the mound, the distance of the pitching mound, like they've been doing it for 100 years, and the guys that have done it the right way, about 60 or 61 is about the most you can possibly. do, he's got a chance. That's what steroids did. It now only ruined our ability to have guys rightful career arcs and curves and appreciate

that, eh, just pass their prime and change it and put a ceiling to people with basically baseball, but we can't even appreciate how great these dudes are now. Shohei Otani is not good. He is otherworldly great. We don't need an all-star game to appreciate. We should have the raw data of duties on pace to hit 60-61 home runs. You can tell me about the joys of steroid baseball. I can tell you that everything that surrounds it tells you otherwise.

I like the bucks to win tonight. I do. I like the bucks to win tonight. I think they're loading up for game two. It doesn't mean that Phoenix loses the series. I feel like this is a bounce back game. They weren't really in game one. They didn't really know if they had Janus or what they were facing.

now they do. There'll be some slight adjustments. More shots made. Fewer from Chris Paul. I'm taking the bucks. Back tomorrow. I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is The Hurt. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retired. In my husband homes. We perform.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This season on Dear Chelsea, with me, Chelsea Handler, we have some fantastic guests like Amelia Clark. When like young people come up to me and they want to be an actor or whatever, and my first thing is always, can you think of anything else that you can do. Rather be disappointed in. Do that. David O'Yellow-O. I love this podcast, whether it's therapy or relationships or religion or sex or addiction or you just go straight for the guts.

Dennis Leary, Gaten Moderato from Stranger Things, Tiana Monjou, Camilla Morone, Carrie Kenny Silver, and more. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 come in 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. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramo sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boehler. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.