The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Anthony Davis, NBA stories, Baker Mayfield, and free agents

Episode Date: May 30, 2019

Colin questions why New Orleans Pelicans F Anthony Davis isn't pushing to leave, what gets his attention while watching the NBA, more on his twitter feud with Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield, and where he believes the top NBA free agents are headed. Guests include De'Aaron Fox, Alexi Lalas, Rob Parker, and Urban Meyer. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Thursday. Final start tonight in the NBA. This is The Heard. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1.

Joy Taylor is joining me. We are ready for the finals to begin in earnest tonight. We're also getting ready for the biggest player movement, potentially in NBA or professional sports history. Joy, how are you? I'm great. Very excited for, tonight. So I talked about this yesterday. Yesterday was going to be a big breakup lunch for Anthony

Davis. Anthony Davis plays for the Pelicans. He's a big star. He is going to control free agency. Or at least he could. So yesterday, the Pelicans general manager, David Griffin, met with Anthony Davis. And I've said for, you know, I've been saying this for months. What I don't like about Anthony Davis is, I think he's soft. He's not. He's not. non-confrontational. Michael Jordan wasn't. Kobe Bryant wasn't. LeBron James isn't. He's non-confrontational. So yesterday, it was perfect. The Pelicans actually took him to breakfast. It's always easier to break up over breakfast. I mean, the later in the day, alcohol gets served, people get more agitated the morning. Who argues over oatmeal and pancakes? I mean, they even call it, break fast. It's

quick. It's one course. It's over in 30 minutes. It's oatmeal. Nobody's ever got into a fight over oatmeal. So the Pelicans gave him a big break. Pelicans were like, yeah, let's go out and meet for breakfast. And Anthony Davis still couldn't break up. He doesn't have any alpha. Wozhenowski, Adrian Wojohnowicz, Adrian Woj came out and said, well, yeah, David Griffin and Anthony Davis met. They're expected to continue dialogue moving forward. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? You're not happy. You've already said that. David Griffin gave you a great break. It was breakfast. This is the easiest time of the day to break up. I mean, you go to a breakfast. You're like, hey, listen, I got a bunch of stuff planned today.

Listen, we don't work out together. I love you. I got to go. I'm going to go work out. And I've got a big lunch today. Boom, out. Everybody knows dinner. Alcohol served. Big steak's there. You're going home. You got nowhere to go. Couldn't do it. This is the easiest breakup ever. This is the easiest breakup ever and Anthony Davis can't do it. He needs his agent to come in and do it for him. Think about this. You've got a guy replacing you five days after you're traded, Zion, with way more Magnusism.

I think he's going to be potentially even a greater player. So you got that. Secondly, everybody knows you want out. So you're not like dropping a bombshell. They're just praying they can keep you. And third, your team's going to get a bunch of picks and players and assets when you leave. You're not leaving them high and dry. I mean, you're giving them picks, you're giving them players, you're giving a, and he still couldn't do it.

This was the easiest breakup in league history. And if a guy struggles to break up, it makes me wonder about his game, his personality. Can I put a franchise on his back? Breakups have to be fast, clean, to the point, clear, and strong. I mean, really, Anthony, you want another rebuild? This is an easy one. You show up over pancakes and you say, listen, I've had a great time. but I'm a pro athlete.

I got six prime years left. I don't want to go to another rebuild. What could I say? What could David Griffin say? David be like, you got me there. Because even David Griffin knows we are rebuilding. You got a bunch of 19-year-olds coming. Zion Williams is a baby.

Going to be great, but a baby. You know, Damon Stodemar was on our show, former Raptor Blazer yesterday, and he said he just, you can look and watch Anthony Davis. He's just so darn uncomfortable with all of this. When I look at Anthony Davis, he looks like he's uncomfortable with being the villain. You kind of have to alienate and be a really tough-minded, strong, thick-skinned individual to basically do what he did. And I'm saying from afar, he looks like a great guy.

And I don't know if he's comfortable with that. Listen, the Pelicans really set it up for him to go. They weren't manipulative. Rick Buecker was on yesterday on the show. and he said when Orlando was trying to keep, remember when Orlando was trying to keep Dwight Howard? They made it virtually impossible for Dwight Howard to leave. Do you remember what Rick Buecker said yesterday about this?

Dwight Howard with Orlando. He was all ready to go on. He wanted out. They got him into a room. They got a bunch of the sponsors in a room. They just, and they isolated him. They did it without his agent. And Dwight caved.

And he, because he was going to get on a plane with his teammates. And then the next thing you see is Instagram. You see a photo of him with the guys on the plane is, yaha, you know. But he'd handed the keys back to Orlando. And he immediately regretted it as soon as he did it. Okay. That, though, that's a tough breakup. That'd be like telling your wife you're divorcing her.

And she brings her dad or mom, their cousins, the family, the kids. And you're like, yeah, I'm breaking up the family. I'm going to go throw up. That would be hard. David Griffin invited Anthony Davis out for pancakes. And he's like, ah, it's too hostile. I'm too uncomfortable. Pass the syrup.

I want to stay forever. That's why I doubt Anthony Davis. By the way, his agent was there. Rich Paul was with him holding his hand. Still couldn't do it. Anthony could have said, I just don't want to rebuild again. Rich take it from here. Walkouts.

Thanks for flying United. Amazing. That was the easiest potential. They didn't even have a breakup lunch. It was a breakup breakfast. He couldn't do it. We'll keep monitoring going forward. We'll keep monitoring it going forward.

All right. So I want to move to this. So I'm driving home yesterday and I'm listening to radio. AM radio. Love it. And it's a sports radio host. And he's an old guy and he's complaining about how the NBA and a guy calls the show and they're complaining.

Yeah, nobody talks about the games in the NBA. It's always about it's always about the soap. opera and the stars and who's going to play. And I'm sitting there thinking, yeah? What's wrong with that? You do get in politics. The campaign is way more interesting than talking about government. The presidential campaigns are fascinating.

People are arguing. They're having debates. You don't know who's going to be president. Who's going where? What office is fascinating. That's why Fox News and MSNBC crushed C-SPans ratings. because campaigns are way more interesting than government. Government is eight-hour tax code briefing.

Not that fascinating. Campaigns, Trump on Twitter, who, fireworks show. Joe Biden versus Trump debate. That's way more interesting than the tax code meeting. So our American politics, to some degrees like the NBA, what people say in the campaigns much more interesting and what they'll do as a politician. And you're worried because the NBA does that kit, folks.

The dirty little secret about the NBA, and the NBA knows this and would admit it behind closed doors. Nobody really watches the games until the conference finals and the finals. The Pro Bowl crushes NBA ratings all year long, even the first round of the playoffs off in the second round. But it's great soap opera. And the two sports in America that give us headlines are the NFL and the NBA. The two leagues that don't, hockey and baseball.

and those commissioners and those sports would die for a guy like me to go on for three hours a day yapping about soap operas. And by the way, all you crusty major league baseball fans who are complaining that nobody talks about the games, it should be noted. When baseball was at its best, you had the hot stove league. Where's A-Rod going? Where's Josh Hamilton going? That was great. It was an added component to baseball. Now guys signed 10, 12-year deals.

They're locked in forever. You don't get as much as that. So, you know, this idea that the NBA, it's bad for business, you never forget this about the NBA. The kid in Pakistan or Beijing that buys a jersey is every bit as valuable because it's a global league is the guy sitting in Indiana watching the Pacers. That kid in Beijing that buys a jersey, a Raptor jersey, or a Laker jersey or a Clipper jersey or a Maverick or a Hawk or a Timberwolf jersey, he's not buying, he's not watching or going to the game, Phoenix against Denver on a Tuesday night. but he's buying jerseys and shoes and he loves Steph, but he's on Twitter and he's on Instagram. It's a global league. This is great.

This is why Americans watch European soccer. Why Rinaldo's a household name everywhere and Messi and Steph and Durant. It's okay. And I hear this all the time. It's about the game. Really? I have friends who own recruiting websites. USC.com, rolltie.com, Ohio State Bucknuts.com.

Ask them their number one traffic day. It's not game day. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It is not game day. It is National Letter of Intent Recruiting Day. Oh, Collins right again. You care about a 17-year-old that runs a 4-440 from Beaumont, Texas. But an NBA fan can't care where Kevin Durant's going?

What are you talking about? We've always been fascinated in political campaigns and where the stars are going. even if they're high school basketball and football players. The NBA is a headline sport. There's nothing at all wrong with that. It's why Fox News and MSNBC beat C-SPAN. The campaign, the comments, the headlines beat actual government. It is okay.

No reason to be grumpy. Baseball was at its best when it had a dynamic, vibrant hot stove league. And the biggest day in college sports is never game day. Ask the people who run the website. It's National Letter of Recruit Day. And yes, I will admit, I'm watching with a buddy at my house tonight. He's from San Francisco. I'm going to watch the Warriors and the Raptors, and I'm going to love it, and it's going to be fun.

But I'll tell you this, I am more interested to find out where KD goes July 1st. I'm not going to lie. I'm fascinated by that. I want to know where Kairie goes. Absolutely. I like the campaign more than I like governance. And I'm not going to apologize for that, and nor should the NBA. Coming up next, I absolutely love what the Houston Rockets did.

I wish the Utah Jazz would have done it years ago, and I wish the Celtics would have done it a few years ago. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness.

So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history.

You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness,

professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it.

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Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.

Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

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And for more, follow Timbo Slice Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't

realize that we are in possession of the thing. and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth?

Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose

on my new podcast. Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Great to have you in. By the way, Baker Mayfield took more shots at me yesterday. I swear to guys, last five tweets he's ripping me. I'll address it later in the hour. I don't want to. But whatever. Joey's joining me. It's the herd deer in Fox in about 10 minutes. The Houston Rockets yesterday, basically Darry came out and kind of leaked it and just said, I'm going to, I'll trade everybody. James Harden, I would, trade him too. Now, probably not, but I'll trade everybody. And I actually, I love this, is that,

you know, my sports belief system is pretty simple. Be aggressive, always evolve, championship, or bust. I mean, that to me is sports is real simple. Just get after it. Always try to learn and be curious and go after titles. You know, Michael Jordan's Bulls, after titles, kept adding people. They were adding really good all-star level players after titles in the middle of their dynasty. The Warriors had a title and they added KD. They're constantly growing. The Houston Rockets, by the way, back in the 90s, 94-95, won a title with Akimelajuan. They added Clyde Drexler anyway the following year.

Darry is basically saying, listen, we lost to these guys in the playoffs with KD. We lost at the end without KD. This isn't good enough. We're going to go for it. And the owner, Tillman Fertita, who I don't know, but I know the family because they were kind of the two or three Vegas families of note when I lived there. He said, I can promise you. We're going to win championships with Hardin because we're not going to sit here. I can promise you that.

We're not going to sit in our hands here. Listen, the Boston Celtics had KG, Paul Pierce, Rondo, Rayon, and Doc Rivers. And they won one title. They won it in 2008 and they didn't make enough moves. and they sat on their hands until 2013 before they blew it up five years. And they were good, but they didn't tweak enough. And I'm not blaming any individual person, but that group of guys should have won more than one title.

And by the way, the Utah Jazz, never forget that. They made the finals in 97 and 98. MJ retired. Now is the time to, they didn't make any big moves. And they never got back to the finals again. So they got there for a couple years. MJ takes some time off. Everybody's like, yeah.

had no reason to mess this up. No, keep getting better. That's why I like the Toronto story this year. You know, I didn't think they'd make the finals, but they were a number one seed, and they fired their head coach. He was a coach in the year. They're like, nah, we don't think he's good enough. It's not working.

Boom. What? He just won the plaque. And then they had DeMarie de Rose, the most popular player ever for the Raptors. No, we're moving on. He's an all-star. What are you doing? And we're going to get Kauai Leonard.

Well, he may not play. He's a rental. Oh, okay. Like Toronto just said we're going to be totally aggressive. By the way, trading deadline. We're going to take away some of our depth. And we're going to get Mark Gasol. Oh, you need depth in the playoffs.

No, we need Markisaw more than depth. They fired a coach, went and got a potential rental. Trademark assault, the trading deadline. Aggressive, aggressive, evolving, aggressive, evolving. What they're telling is championship robust. And I love this. This is, you know, there's one of my favorite sayings And I've said this on the show before.

There's a guy named Andy Grove, and he ran this company called Intel. And it's a great business saying, only the paranoid survive. And Andy Grove said, no, be paranoid. They do want your job. If you have a great job and run a great company, people do want to knock it off its perch. They do want your job. Colin, that's no way to live to be paranoid. It's better than being unemployed.

It's better than losing. I can live with a little paranoia. If I wake up every morning, I'm like, man, I got to keep working hard or I'll get replaced at Fox. I can live with that. What I can't live with is, hey, your rating stink, you're gone. That's why I can't live with. I got mouse to feed. So Tom Brady, by the way, was paranoid about Jimmy Garoppolo.

He's like, you're trying to replace me. Get him out of here. Bob Kraft. By the way, Brady was right. He went back to Bass Cooper Bowles. Brady's like, I'm paranoid. I don't like him around here. So what Houston is saying and Houston is doing, there is a history in sports.

Even when you're winning titles, MJ's Bulls and the Warriors, add pieces. Because they're all coming after you. Be paranoid. A little paranoia is okay. It's healthy. And it keeps you on your toes. But what you don't want to do is, oh, we're this close. We're this close.

We're fine. We just need a couple of break. Because I felt Houston came into the playoffs this year. Kind of like, okay, let's make it a math equation. We'll get to the free throw line more than Golden State. And the NBA said, no, no, no, no, no. We're not going to have 65 free throws in these games. We're not letting that analytic stuff.

So it's time to evolve. Now, if they can get somebody to buy the Chris Paul contract, I'm not sure they will. But I love their mindset. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So a lot has been made about Steph Curry's lack of a finals MVP

throughout the Warriors dynasty. Despite having two regular season MVP awards, the finals MVP trophy has been elusive for Steph, and he was asked about it yesterday on T&T. Yeah, I understand that's the conversation, and I like that conversation because it means I've been here plenty of times and we're still winning. For us to win championships, I know I have to be playing at a very high level.

Whether that means a final MVP or not, I'll let that kind of work is. self out, but in terms of, you know, chasing rings and banners, that's the first and foremost. You can't cheat the game that way. Here's the updated finals MVP odds. Oh, okay.

Steph Curry. Yeah. Minus 140. Yeah. Kauai Leonard plus 300. Jamon Green plus 600. Maya, I don't know if you would call it a sleeper, but I think I'm going with Clay Thompson. It's got a little feeling.

Kind of so do I. Right? Well, you got to, you got to. A lot can happen in a series. He tends to be streaky. When he gets hot, he takes over games. He is the basketball tsunami. He hits six, seven, threes in a row.

He'll change a series. I think he's just going to be playing with a little chip on his shoulder after the all-MBA snub. I'm going with Clay Thompson there. How about Draymond Green third? That's a lot of respect for Draymond Green. Yeah, he'd have to have a pretty tremendous series, I think, too. That's kind of actually surprising to me.

Not that Draymond isn't great, and he has been playing great. But still, also, just as a note, Mark Radina just tweeted that Steve Kerr said to Marcus Cousins will be active for game one. Oh, so boogie is going to be available. Boogie is going to be available. I think that I will say this between Gasol and Pascal Seyakum. Golden State could use a little size. I'm not saying for long periods, but there is a length advantage for Toronto tonight. and what does that mean?

That means getting offensive boards, getting another shot. So Golden State's the better shooting team. But I do think without KD and Boogie, they have no length at all. He hasn't been around for so long. Doesn't that make you a little nervous with the rhythm? You know, Golden State never makes me nervous. They just figure stuff out. I don't know.

I don't know. You know I'm going for the Raptors anyway. All right. So the Clippers have been pegged to be a potential Kauai landing spot this summer. They currently have the highest odds to do so. And now they've apparently tried to take another unique approach to pursue him. According to Mark Stein of the New York Times, Oh, I love this.

They have quietly looked into the feasibility of purchasing the portion of the rights to Leonard's Claw logo that is still owned by Nike. Such an acquisition would theoretically enable them to bestow full control of the logo upon Leonard as part of their anticipated free agency pitch meeting with the Toronto superstar. That was a good article yesterday. I read that. Yeah, no, that's kind of fascinating, isn't it? It really is.

Nike's likely not going to give this up because they don't want to see it on any new balance clothing. This is part of the article as well. It's kind of unique how the Clippers would be able to delegate the money to do this as well. Even if you're not doing it, could I just say by getting this story out, it shows you how much love they have for Kauai. And if I'm Kauai reading that, I'm like, man, they really like me a lot. It is very creative. Yeah. It's interesting.

I mean, they could also, if they were actually able to get it before the free agency period started, they could also use it for billboards and things like that. Can we put it up one more time for our FS1 audience to watch? It's a really cool logo. This is the hand logo, right? That is a great. Whoever made, Nike made that? That is a great logo.

Well, it's also a great logo because Kawhi Leonard's hands are ridiculous. Yeah, I mean, they just go on forever. actually kind of makes sense that he is with the rafters. His hands are ginormous. He is his raptor hands. Yes. So it's a perfect logo for him. But it's likely going to stay with Nike.

And finally, after a long anticipated wait, Zion Williamson has signed with an agency. He signed with CAA Sports. Yes. It was being reported that he was also considering Klet Sports and Rich Paul. But CAA is the landing spots, Powerhouse Agency, obviously.

And it's no surprise that Zion team with them ahead of the draft. and he is obviously a once-in-a-generation player who's going to bring in a lot of ticket sales and national interests. Who are you repped by? I'm wrapped by CAA. Who are you rep by CAA? I have no idea right now.

Oh, okay. We are all rep by CAA. I saw that yesterday and I was going to give love. I'm like, well, welcome to the family. Right. I thought that would be a little ostentatious. Whatever. I don't care.

Welcome to the family sign. But I do think I'm coming around to the Soul Pelicans idea. This was before this story that I had come out. come around to this. I saw that Master P and Romeo offered Zion a $20 million shoe deal away from basketball. It's like a leisure shoe deal. I really think that there could be something there with the Pelicans. I know we all initially had kind of our shock reaction to them getting the number one overall pick. But New Orleans is a fun city. A lot of people go there. Okay, so this is interesting. So Joy, at the top of next hour, we'll go through this. I'm going to

make my predictions on where guys go. And to that point, I'm not going to give it up yet, but there's it's very interesting. Okay. I am coming around to it. I think it's going to be a cultural experience and Zion has the magnetism that Anthony Davis lacks that he wasn't able to

bring to that franchise. Yeah, that's not disputable. This kid is a walking billboard smile. I think there could be something there. Yeah. Good stuff. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Live News. I had this young man on a year ago.

and we said, you can't not like him. He's just, I know that's a double negative. You can't not like him. But he's a terrific player, most improved player in the NBA, and he had a good rookie year, better as second year, De Aaron Fox, the former Kentucky Wildcat, let us bring him on. Sacramento Kings, who, by the way,

because I watch a lot of NBA basketball, the Sacramento Kings, as we noted several times on this show, were probably, well, they were the most interesting team not to make the playoffs, but a fun, fast, wild, crazy, team and how are you? I'm doing well. First I want to say thank you guys for having me on.

Oh, we love having you. Last time, in fact, you had the glasses. You looked like the young professor. Now, you've been in the league two years now. We're just talking about Zion. So if you could go to Zion and say, okay, dude, here's how it works. You know, you went to Kentucky.

He goes to Duke. If you could do your rookie season just a little bit over, what is the most jarring, crazy thing about being a rookie in the league? Oh, man. Well, first is just the speed of the game, but I think he's going to, there are some people who just adjusted things like that.

Right. Like I felt like I was fast, but the speed of the game kind of caught me by surprise. Sure. And I think just being prepared for that, I think he's going to be fine. I think he's definitely going to be great. Yeah, he's got a magnetism. He'd be fun to play with. So I want to talk about the Warriors because, you know, you play the Warriors regularly.

So take my audience to when you play Golden State. You were a great AAU player. You're a great college player. You're a great young NBA player. but the Warriors can be different. There's a certain, take my audience into a game or two this year against the Warriors late in games because I think what really separates them

is the last four minutes of games. Take us there. But one thing, I think that everybody talks about their ball movement. Once you get to the last four minutes of every game, I think most teams play the same. You either have somebody that can isolate or you have someone that can operate in a pick and roll. And I think that that's where they become dangerous,

where you have KD and Draymond in a pick and roll, and then you have Steph and Clay on the wing. And I think that that's where they're different because they don't turn the ball over in crunch time. They're going to make tough shots, and they're going to defend. People say Steph's not a good defender. He's guarded you before.

Can he defend a little? He can definitely defend. And he's a lot bigger and stronger than people give him credit for. Because you see him switch on a James, who's 6-6-220, and then you see him switch on to LeBron. who's 6-8-2-60. He's a lot stronger than people are giving him critical for

because you guys where everybody, the games that everybody are watching are the games where he's being switched on to bigger and stronger people. But he's not a bad defender. He's definitely not a bad defender. Let me ask this. You've played the Warriors with KD and you've played without.

So let's start when you play the Warriors with KD. What's it like? With KD, I think it's almost, well, We played four great games against them this past year. You did. And it's extremely hard because do you, I think he's the best offensive player in the league. Do you double him? Then who do you leave?

Because they have five guys on the court that know how to play the game of basketball. They really do. And I think that it's extremely different. You have a lot of guys who are good basketball players, but then you have people who's IQ and don't really know how to play the game. They made it, they could make it somewhere because of their athleticism or their talent. Yeah. They have guys where if you double off of them, who do you double off of?

Kavana. Kavana knows to dive if you double off of him where he's going to get a shot that's a layup or a dunk. If you double off of Dremont, he's going to cut, then he's going to catch the ball, and he's going to either make a pass, he's going to shoot a layup or he's going to dribble the ball and get someone else a shot. You definitely don't double off of Clay or Steph, so it's kind of pick your poison whenever he's playing.

Okay, so now the Warriors, when KD's not there, I see a lot more movement. That's another thing. When he's not playing, the ball pops more, then you kind of see Steph getting more. shots. You see Clay getting more shots and you see guys are getting off more. Now, Deeran, for you, when Katie doesn't play, it seems to me it would be harder for you because you're

chasing. Because when I watch them without KD, Steph is in constant motion. Oh, no, you're chasing them rather Katie's playing or not. I had to guard Steph four times this year. It's hard. Is it? Yeah. It's extremely hard to guard. Because he's, like, you have guys like Kyrie and Dame who do everything off the dribble. I think it's kind of easier to guard a guy like that. It's not easy to guard it at all. But you're not using as much energy as when Steph throws a ball, runs to the other corner, catches it, does a couple of drivet moves, come off a pick and roll, throws it again, and then gets three downscreens. And it's not even a play. It's just them knowing what each other wants to do.

So I think it's so hard guarding Steph. You have to be in the best shape of your life. Well, you're obviously, you have an incredibly high basketball IQ. How old are you? 20 years old? I'm 21. I mean, it's incredible. You're like you're saying a coach. And it is interesting. I've always said this about the NBA. The last two dynasties, Golden State and the Miami Heat. Look at the IQs. Badiere, Wade, Haslam,

LeBron, Ray Allen, Steph, dad played, Clay, dad played, Durant, Draymond. Intelligence in this league is wildly underrated because unlike football where there are breaks in between plays or baseball where I pitch and we wait,

basketball is fluid. And everything's a reaction. Everything's a reaction. So I think the Warriors I will say this about Toronto. Let's talk about your games against Toronto. They don't have as much talent, but they got a lot of dudes, Dearen, that have been in this league for a long time.

That is a smart Raptor team. Now, you've played them. What are those games like? So I actually only played Toronto once this year. So because the one game, I played 81 games this year. So that game, I sat that game. But, man, that's a great team.

And you have guys that come off the bench, like Fred Van Leak had a great game against us as well. That team isn't as talented, as you said, as you said, just like the Warriors, but, man, they play well together. Kyle Lari, even if he's not putting the ball in the basket, he's drawing charges, he's getting rebounds, he's setting screens. We didn't play him when Mark Gassault, when Mark was there just yet, but you have Serge. Serge, he's going to, he's going to make shots, he's going to block shots, he's going to rebound. Kauai is going to do what Kauai does. He's going to defend, he's going to get still.

He's going to rebound. He's going to put the ball in the basket. Pascal, man, he's been great this year. He's one of the fastest guys in the league at the 4, 6-10. For his size, he runs great. Like a deer, just down getting down the court. If he's not making shots, he's going to get to his spots. He's still going to rebound.

And they have just a group that plays hard. Everybody on their team plays hard. They defend. They take charges as they play as a unit. And I think I had Warriors in six because I think Kauai will will them to one game at least. Even if the team doesn't play, well, I think Kauai can win them a game. and I think they're a good enough team to when they're playing well

I think that they can beat the war Plus Toronto's got that young, loud, lubricated crowd. It's a great. It's a great place. Man, one thing, I haven't played in Toronto yet because my rookie year I was hurt when we played in Toronto. So I haven't played in Toronto yet.

That's the one city that I haven't played in there. Crazy. Young. We were talking about yesterday. It's a young franchise. Toronto's a young city. You know, it's like a crazy, diverse, wild, loud. And they want it so. bad. We went to Eat and I hear people speaking French.

You hear a bunch of different. It's a, man, Toronto's a great city. I think it's definitely one of the best NBA cities in the league. So I got to ask you about, I got to ask you about Sacramento because I really do think you guys are on the come. I think you're a very interesting franchise. Playing in Sacramento is kind of quiet. You went from Kentucky, which is glamour, eyes, media to kind of sleepy Sacramento. But you have flourished there.

You know, we talk about all these guys like Durant wants to go to New York and Kauai wants to go to Los Angeles. But Paul George is like, I want to stay in Oklahoma City. What is it like? People always kind of look at all these small towns, you know, or smaller cities, Portland, Milwaukee. Playing in a smaller NBA city, do you like it? I definitely do like it. But the thing is, there's a lot more similarities in a small town team and a Blue Blood School. Now the thing is we might not have as many fans outside of the city

But in Sacramento, like we have a Our soccer team might be going MLS. Yeah But other than that, like as far as professional sports, We have a AAA baseball team. So we're the only major sport that's there. So it's like Kentucky. Everybody's a Kings fan.

So if you go to Kentucky, there's no major sport. You're either a Kings, I mean, you're either a Kentucky fan or you're a Louisville fan. We sell out every game because that's the event. That's what's to do in Sacramento. people come. So I think that there's a lot more similarities than people know than people think of. Like if you go to New York, some games feel like there's no one there because there's a lot more stuff that people are doing. Two NBA, two NFL, two major league baseball teams.

So it's like everybody's not there. Like you, like we played a game in Atlanta. It's different. But if you go to a small team or a small town, you go to OKC, every game sold out. Everybody's there. And I think that's why people love it. Like the fans are truly fans. Like, we, Sacramento fans have gone through a lot.

So the loyalty that that's there, you just see it. Like, you go, you can't go out. I can't go to Walmart without someone being a Kingsman. Like, it's different in every part of Sacramento. It's like that. By the way, you just, you have a new agent. And everybody talks about these agents and players meeting. Who is your new agent?

My agent is Chris Gaston. And he was, where do you know him from? Who I've known since the seventh grade. He was my trainer. But he's been through, he's had a lot of guys who he's either trained with been friends with that have been in the NBA. So he's kind of, of course he doesn't have the agent experience, but from my standpoint, you trust him.

I trust him with everything. I trust him with everything. That's all it's about. I have an agent. That's all it's about. Do I trust him? My dad used to have an old saying, he goes, your bosses will make most of their decisions when you're out of the room.

So the agent, you better have somebody that shares your morals and values. Because those bosses are going to decide. on you and he's going to talk for you. And it doesn't matter how gliby is and how funny. If he doesn't have your same values when you're in that room and you're not in the room and your agent's in the room, you're going to not like

your agent. And it's really true. You picked your buddy that you respect, you trust. Yeah. And there'll be things that he won't bring to me because he know I won't like it. So I just think it's, I think it's great for me to have somebody that knows me as best as anybody. You're going to have an amazing career.

You really are. You're just going to want to, you're going to be one of these guys that plays in this league forever. And you're easy to root for, and Sacramento was rolling. Love having you on it. You're a 21-year-old kid, you sound like a coach. I don't know if you ever wanted to be a coach, but when you're done playing, go into coaching or broadcasting. I've played at every level, so I don't know if I want to be a coach.

Great seeing you again. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life.

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards.

If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals.

At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. For wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies,

and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls,

we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it.

And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now.

Go further than ever. Discover at Miles card automatically match the miles you earn. At the end of the first year, $35,000 could be 70,000 miles. Discover.com slash travel, learn more. Boy, Deeran Fox got a future. That kid's got a future. You know, honestly, he sounds like a 10-year veteran. That's like he sounds like Ray Allen.

He sounds like a coach. He can clearly see the game. He really did. So, yesterday, Baker Mayfield talked about me yesterday. And I've been reluctant to get into this because, first of all, this is great for me. I had a league personnel person two days ago. God, text me. He's like, God, you've got to be loving this.

The kid talks about you nonstop on social media. His last five tweets are all me. I didn't even respond yesterday to one of them or two of them. So here's the one yesterday. He goes, I've never been worried about you. You're laughable. I've always done it differently. I won't change for anybody.

And I sure won't change for a big tough guy behind him, Mike. you really are in your feelings. It is hilarious. Thanks for the idea for the T-shirts. You wear a small. Man, you got me. Aren't you bigger than bigger? He says, by the way, this quote isn't new.

He's talking about some quote. I'm happy. I give you a new storyline. Also, do you accept checks for the rent I have in your head, or is it still free? By the way, you've responded, your last five tweets are about me. My last five are not about you. So I'm not sure who's in whose head. But I will say this.

This is so predictably Cleveland. They've always been the loser brother in the first. family that finally gets a decent job and now brags how great his job is. It's like you've been a loser forever. You were 7, 8, and 1, and you can't stop chatting. Pittsburgh's got Super Bowl trophies and rings and titles and legends. You're the loser brother in a family, not Baker, but the Browns, who finally, after all these years of embarrassment and disappointment and dysfunctional, you get a pretty good job and you go out and party all night and want to tell everybody how great you are. It's like, how about you just work in the offseason and not worry about

Instagram. By the way, this is why Vegas has them at nine on the over and under, which is an incredibly low number. With all their talent, Cleveland should be a 10 and a half to an 11 over an under team. Think about this. Cleveland won seven games last year. Their coach got fired. Their offensive coordinator got fired. Baker Mayfield was a rookie, and they were still rebuilding their wide receiving core, their defensive line, and their secondary. And they won seven games in a division where Baltimore shocked the world and played really good. Now, if you look at Cleveland, through their additions in the draft, they've upgraded their defensive line, which was already good. Now it's spectacular. Their offensive line at the end of last year was top three in the

league according to pro football focus. With the addition of OBJ, I don't even think you can argue it. It's the most explosive, explosive wide receiver core in the NFL. I don't even think you can argue it. It's the best wide receiving court. Now, will it be the best, but it's the most. explosive. It's the deepest running back group in the league when Kareem Hunt gets back at Thanksgiving and Baker's in his second year. How are they a nine-win team? How has Vegas have been nine wins? Why this? OBJ Baker building brands. This talent, you put this talent in Philadelphia, they're over and under's 10 and a half, 11. Cleveland's got all sorts of talent. Now, you know, that doesn't mean everything, but in terms of most teams with this much

talent have a higher over-underwin than nine. I mean, you look at San Francisco doesn't have close to this talent in terms of O-line, D-Land, running back, wide receiver. I mean, Jimmy Garoppolo didn't even play last year most of it. So Garoppolo's coming back. Baker, you know, big games, big moments, played the last three months of the year. nice off season. So if you want to know, everybody's got the Browns at nine wins over under,

which is where I have them. It's because some people, it's harder to handle success than failure. Failure's easy to handle. You know why? Because everybody fails, so you're not the only one. And when you fail,

you're like, oh, that stunk. I'm going to work really hard and try not to. But success is hard. Like when you're successful, you start getting gassed up, believing in yourself. And when you've been unsuccessful forever, and then you get a little taste of success.

And for Cleveland, that's 7, 8, and 1, what you get worried about is this nonsense. So you can tweet me, Baker, all day long. I don't care. Believe me, our ratings in May were up 32%. You're probably helping that. I don't care. But this is why everybody with Cleveland,

I mean, if a second-year quarterback, Belichick was in Instagram fights. What do you think Bill would do? He'd be like, shut that down. What do you think, you know, what do you think Sean McVeigh would do? Sean Payton would do? What do you think?

So it's not about some battle between Baker and I. I don't care. I don't respond to all his tweets. I'm not into this Twitter stuff. I'm really not. I'm not good at Twitter. I'm not good at Instagram. I'm not good at all this stuff. I'm, it's generationally. I'm just, it's not my thing.

I like doing radio. I like doing TV. I'll do a podcast, but I'm not a Twitter guy. But this is why this team with all this talent, Vegas has them over under at nine. They got way too much. They should be at 10 and a half. And it's actually one of the best values if you're a better on over under is Cleveland. This talent is 10, 11, 12 win. Vegas has them at 9 because of this nonsense.

Hour 2 next. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect.

We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of them.

most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levan this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small.

The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions, to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout, Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you,

but don't ever feel like you don't feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ledecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world.

Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters, to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by

the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch life becomes about wins and losses

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Ah, this is The Heard. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live in Los Angeles, which could be the home of many top free agents. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, I've said for years and years, people will often say, one of the criticisms of this show is, you know, Colin flip-flops. I mean, Colin said this on Tuesday, and he said that on Thursday, and my argument's always been, if I was a pilot and you were going to get on the plane,

and I said, listen, we have major thunderstorms moved into our area. Would you want me to change my flight plan? Yes, please. Okay. If I was a surgeon and you were coming in, and you had something that could be a near-death experience. This is a very serious surgery. Would you want me as a doctor to use new drugs on the market that could save your life?

I believe so, yes. Okay. When new information comes in, I'm going to use it. You can be old cranky baseball guy. This is the way they've always played. I'm not on the opposite. it. If you held a stock and your stockbroker called you and said, hey, there's insider trading here. The CEO just sold all his stock. I would tell my stockbroker. I love that company yesterday.

I hated today. Sell my stock. Can you get a deal for that? Yeah, maybe. The point is, the point is, new and don't get stuck in the month. This free agency in the NBA stuff, people complain, well, every day it changes. That's because information changes. day. Injuries change. I mean, Kevin Durant, we all had going to New York, and then he gets hurt, and Rick Bucher came on our show and said, now KD's wondering, should I go to New York now? I said it here. Like when you asked me, I have yet to hear one person say to me, no, he's staying in Golden State. In the last 48 hours concerning the injury, I've had somebody say, I think he might stay at Golden State. That's the first time I've heard that since this entire narrative began. And the reason being he's hurt now and he's wondering, do I want to go to New York with an injury that's worse than people think and have to play 40 minutes a night? I can't take any nights off because I'm playing with kids. In Golden State, you can take some nights off.

He only played 26 minutes a game end of the year, 33 minutes a game during the year. So as information comes in that's new, I change my opinion. Alabama is going to win the national title potentially if Tua starts at quarterback. Breaks his leg fourth game, they're not winning the national championship. You want me to just stick to my opinion? I'm changing constantly. So I thought I'd start this hour, hour or two, with what I would call the big six. I'm not going to count Chris Paul because he's got two years left on his contract, two or three.

I'm not going to count Bradley Beale because we don't know if the Wizards would make a deal with anybody. But the six, the big six, and I'm not going to count Clay Thompson because he's not going anywhere. Golden State's going to give him as much money as they possibly can. But the big six in the league, I'm going to give you my opinion on where they go. I want to be held to this. So I may do this one more time, but as of today, this is where I think. the big six are going to go. So let's start with a Kauai Leonard for the Toronto Raptors.

Now, there's a lot of people that believe, hey, if he wins, he stays and if he loses, he doesn't, I don't think it matters. I think you have an out either way. I think if he wins, he can say, hey, I left on top. I gave you everything Canada you deserved. And if he loses, he can say, man, I just, this is, we don't get free agents here. We're too good to get a good draft pick. I can't keep carrying this team.

So my guess is, Kauai Leonard ends up in Los Angeles, my first guess, with the Clippers. I live in this city. They have done a remarkable job building an infrastructure. This year, they've already beat the Warriors twice in the playoffs. They're a tough out. They are one player away from being a real pain in the butt. And I think Jerry West still has incredible gravitas in this league, Lawrence Frank, Michael Winger, Steve Balmer, Doc Rivers.

That's a very impressive room. I think Kauai Leonard ends up, not at the easiest decision, but ends up as a clipper. Let's go down to Anthony Davis, who is not a free agent. But Shams Choranya is a very good NBA reporter, said that during breakfast yesterday, after it was done, his belief is it's unlikely Anthony Davis' stance will change, and he will eventually say, I want out. But they're going to talk some more, but that's what Shams Charnia saying we bring him on the show as well. So Anthony Davis, here's what I believe is going to happen with the Pelicans.

They're going to find out here eventually pretty quick here. You can't make a trade yet until the season's over, right? They're going to find out that Anthony Davis wants out. And if all their trade partners, I believe David Griffin is most excited about getting Zion at number one and the Knicks pick at number three, which would be R.J. Barrett. Joy and I both believe this. That's a 20-point-a-game guy very early. I think Anthony Davis gets traded to the New York Knicks because I think then you can bring two

superstars at Duke to the Pelicans. Duke's a Southern school largely. The Pelicans in the South. It's incredibly brandable. Easy to do it. And I think with Drew Holiday, you've got a future. It's fun. It's magnetic.

There's magnetism. So I think Anthony Davis gets traded. By the way, Gail Benson, this story has been out twice now with legitimate reporters, does not want to trade Anthony Davis to the Lakers or the West. They can trade him to New York. Then let's talk Kevin Durant. The injury is fascinating. Now, I've always said the same thing on Kevin Durant.

What are you doing? You can make more money in Golden State, better owner in Golden State, better coach in in Golden State, better roster in Golden State, what are you doing? But I do believe if Anthony Davis goes to the Knicks, it would happen before Kevin Durant would have to make a decision. I think that trade is going to happen as soon as possible. That trade is going to happen AD to the Knicks. I think Kevin Durant then goes, okay, I got some reservations about Kyrie Irving. He's a little flaky.

Kevin Durant goes to the next. I've been told this by a current player and a former All-Star player. So I think that. Now, I'm not saying it's what I would do. I am projecting the Big Six what I think will happen. Kaui Clippers, A.D. New York, KD., New York. Now, what about Kyrie? I think Kevin Durant won't say it, but I think he has reservations about Kyrie Irving,

who's a small player. He's not a one. He gets hurt. He can be difficult. He's a little erratic sometimes, his personality. But he grew up a Nets fan. He just bought a house in South Orange in New Jersey. Kyrie, I think, will make a decision crossing his fingers that somebody joins him, but I think he will go to the Brooklyn Nets. This is something I've had backed up by somebody who I trust in the league that Kyrie Irving will go to the Brooklyn Nets. Now that leaves two more players in my big six. So in review, Kauai to the Clippers, A.D. to New York, KD. to New York. Kari to the Brook.

Let's go Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler's very talented. He can be a little combative, doesn't love playing with young guys. But I just got video yesterday. He was in Los Angeles yesterday. He is in this town constantly. And, you know, Jimmy Butler's not a young guy. He doesn't have, he's got to make money on this contract, and he's got to make, he's got to do his shoe deal.

He's got to make money. He's got to be with a big brand. And I don't think the chemistry is perfect in Philadelphia. Now, I do think there's a chance. They just pay him the max and he stays. And I think if I was Philadelphia, that's what I would do. I try to keep him. He's a little erratic Philadelphia, but all your guys are erratic.

M. B. is a little erratic. Simmons, I don't know. My gut feeling is Jimmy Butler goes to the Lakers. That's my feeling today. He goes to the Lakers. Now, again, if I'm Philadelphia, I don't let him go, but Philadelphia's got some choices here to make, and they're not going to pay Max to everybody.

I would pay Butler not Tobias Harris. I would move Joel Embed. I've told you that before, before he breaks down more. So that leaves Boogie Cousins, my final big six. Now, Boogie, they brought him on and go, Golden State, and it hasn't really been good or bad. It's just been it. Smart veteran player coming off an injury.

I think they're going to try to save money in Golden State and go after a Brooke Lopez, because they're going to have to pay Clay a lot of money and Draymond a lot of money, and they pay staff a lot of money, and they do lose KD so they need size. But I don't think they're going to pay boogie a ton, and I don't think there's a lot of takers on the market coming off another injury for him. He can be, I would just say, difficult. is his label. Fair or not, I don't know him, but he can be, some people see him as difficult. And I think he's going to end up with the Lakers.

Because I think a lot of the top teams are not going to roll the dice on him. But I think the Lakers are going to be fairly desperate. Now, that means LeBron will have Jimmy Butler and Boogie Cousins. That is a lot of noise and it's a lot of combative and it's a lot of difficult. But these are my guesses, the information I have now. Kawhi Leonard Clippers over the Raptors, Anthony Davis, Knicks, because that's where they trade him, because I think David Griffin and Gail Benson would prefer East,

and I think the Knicks have a better draft pick, and that number three draft pick is going to be a star in the NBA. There's no guarantee the number four draft pick in this pick as a star could be, but I think RJ Barrett's pretty much a 25-point-of-game guy guarantee. He's a real player. Then I think Kevin watches that and says, okay, I don't have to protect the rim. I've got a very good defender.

I've got a veteran guy. I got another horse. He made it for, it makes Kevin's moved in New York much easier. And by the way, Anthony Davis traded there, take some parts. But Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant as a front court, that's going to be the best front court, arguably, in the NBA. In the East, that's a playoff team. And then I think Kyrie Irving goes to the Nets because of his history in that area. And I think Jimmy and DeMarcus go to the Lakers.

I don't think that makes the Lakers a championship team. I think it makes them wildly entertained. I don't think it makes them great. So there you go. That's what I see right now. I could change by tomorrow based on the story that comes out, but that's what I see as of today. All right. Coming up next,

Rob Parker is all fired up. All fired up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life.

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the Aihar Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WMBA standout, Kate Martin and rising hockey star, Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't.

Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't. Don't fill on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world.

Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source. the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs,

the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person

while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing,

growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Rob Parker, the odd couple with Chris Broussard. You're a flamethrower. And I, so tonight the NBA finals begins.

My buddy's coming over from San Francisco. My buddy, Dan, we're going to watch the game tonight, have some pizza, you know, big night at the house. And here's my fear that Toronto, if they win this series, everybody's going to go, well, KD didn't play. And they're going to be the Detroit. Pistons back in like 2004 when they beat Shaq and Kobe, but because Carl Malone was a shell of himself due to injuries in that series, and because Phil Jackson left three days after the series,

all we talked about was the implosion of the Lakers. And if the Warriors lose, we're going to talk about, well, KD was hurt, and then Kauai is going to bolt to Los Angeles. And an hour after they win, nobody will be talking about Toronto. All right, you have a good point, but it's not the best point. First of all, the Warriors will lose to Toronto. I got Toronto and six. Kauai is the reason why.

But it's bigger than that. I've always said LeBron ruined the NBA. You do. Yeah, you believe that. Kauai can save the NBA. And I think this is what you have to look. I just wrote a whole column about this on shadowleague.com. And it's about he's bucking the trend.

What the Raptors did is against what we've been seeing, which is building super teams. and going after free agents and players like that. What they did was they had a good team that won 60 games a year before just couldn't have any success in the playoffs, and they swapped via a trade for a star, right? DeRosen went to San Antonio, and they got Kawhi Leonard. So what they did is the old school trade.

You give up something to get something to show other teams that going the free agent route and trying to get three or four friends to get together to win isn't always the way to win. You can win the old-fashioned way. This is a turning point in the NBA if Kauai Leonard can get them to that point. It's already a success because they're in the finals

for the first time in their franchise history. But if they win, which I believe they will, other teams can now rethink on how you go forward. What do you think we'll say about the Warriors if they lose? What will be the narrative on the Golden State Warriors. To me, it'll be a legacy issue for Steph Curry. For all the people who want

to crown Steph Curry as the greatest thing since sliced bread, it'll change because, think about it, Colin. The last time we saw Steph Curry without KD, they were choking down a 3-1 lead to the Cavaliers in the NBA finals. That was the first time that

has ever happened. And the one championship that he did win again without KD was the one that he won where Kaiwi and Kevin Love were both hurt and he didn't even win the NBA finals MVP. It was Andre Iguidawa. So this is a big set for him because if it's all about

how great he is, greatest shooter ever, he changed the game, he needs to be able to win this championship to win over our, they're heavily favored to win this thing. Some people are saying a sweep, five games. Yeah, I don't see that. I don't even see that. But I mean a lot of people think Toronto's filled with a lot of veterans, a lot of guys who have been there done that. Great length.

Yes. And defensively, they're a good team. This is why that comparison about 2004 is real. The Pistons were a great defensive team. And the Lakers, remember, they had one three in a row, then they had lost, and then they played the Pistons and lost. Everybody thought it was a layup that they were going to beat the Pistons, and it didn't happen. So I think it's a great comparison. I think this was going to change the NBA.

I think this is good for the NBA. Okay, so it's funny. I was saying this, that the Pelicans actually made it really easy on Anthony Davis to leave. First of all, they're going to draft Zion. So when you leave, there's going to be a more magnetic star coming to town.

You're not catching them by surprise. If you tell them you can get a haul of draft picks and players. Also, let's be honest about this, David Griffin called a breakfast. He didn't surround him with advertisers and executives. He said, let's go have some pancakes and talk. That's why they call it Breckfast. It's only one course.

It's quick. He could have yesterday walked up and just said, hey, pass the syrup. I'm leaving. And it'd be easy, right? The later in a day, cocktails, martinis, advertisers, owners. It could have been very, very tough for AD. And yet, AD could not break it off in that meeting yesterday. Because I don't believe he's an alpha.

I think he's just a great talent. What do you make of him not yesterday just saying, guys, I told you a year ago, I won out. I still want out. I think you're right about his personnel. He's not that guy because why even go? I would just say, I'm not interested. You know what, thank you very much.

I know you just took the job. I've already made my demands known. I don't want to be here. So let's just skip the breakfast and pancakes. I don't want to rebuild again. Exactly. I don't want to be there. But I don't think that's it.

And I think that's the reason why New Orleans has such a, you know, a thing for the Lakers and don't want to deal with them because they feel like he was coerced, right? Coerced into moving like with Rich Paul and LeBron that maybe this wasn't him. Because I heard other players say, this really is an AD. This surprises me a little bit that he's demanding to be, you know, let go from New Orleans and he doesn't want to be there anymore. So I think that's further proof that maybe he's been. No, it's a certain way, and it's not always the way he really feels. Okay. So I love the Houston Rockets.

Back, the Boston Celtics had the big three. They had KG. They had Pierce. They had Ray. They had Doc. They had Rondo. And they got one title out of it. Because they didn't keep evolving and getting better and better and better.

The Utah Jazz had that great team. Michael retired, and they didn't keep building. And they never got a title. I like teams, MJ's Bulls, current warriors. You don't like this, but they're great. They win a title, and they say, we want another star. I love the rocket saying, all right, we're good. We're maybe the second best team in the league.

We're going to blow this thing up. Darryl Morey's like, this isn't good enough. And you don't like it. Darry and his actions showed me, or told me, I should say, he's a fraud. And Colin, listen. Because here's the issue I have with what he just came out with, basically, which was leaking that every player is available. And for one minute, do I not believe that Hardin and Chris Paul and Capella all will be back on that team next year?

Here's the other part. Mike Dantone, why don't you just fire him? You're trying to make him quit. You've gotten rid of his assistance, even blame the video guy. You know, got to get rid of him because he's the reason. We didn't beat the Warriors, so you got to get rid of that guy as well. So where's he going with this? This to me is another example of, hey, I'm Mr. Analytics.

I'm Mr. Cool, Hip. I know all these other things. But again, you don't win anything. He's no better than what we've seen with Billy Bean in Oakland. You know what? They made movies about Billy Bean. That's nice. That they won 20 games in a row, and they left out the movie that they had three of the best

pictures in baseball at that time. it's a phony analytical thing and I'm not against all analytics all I'm saying is those two teams Houston and Oakland look at those two teams haven't been able to win the big one well yeah no I would say in both

they were disappointing at the end of the season they are and that's I just think that at some point Daryl Morey is like taking the blame away from himself I'm going to throw everybody else overboard it's the coaches fault it's the players hey you know what the players

are the blame so all of you guys are available. But what about him? Where's his blame on his analytics and he brought in Mike Dantone right? Did he not bring in all the players? So if those guys are no good, how are you any good? You brought them all in.

Well, that's a very harsh stance. I would say this. You know I'm right, Colin? No, I would say this. I am for analytics, but I have been pleasantly surprised on teams like the Red Sox

and teams like the Warriors and the Raptors who can put the computer down and just play. You just said it. They have talent, though. When you talk about the Red Sox, the highest payroll in baseball, you can say, oh, well, they incorporate analytics too. Here's why you shouldn't follow the Oakland A's game plan. All right, they might win some games.

Get to the playoffs. They can't win a championship, and they have the worst attendance in the league or next to the bottom. because people don't even want to go see it. Winning's supposed to cure all, right? It doesn't. It doesn't because you still want to see the stars. The Warriors, too. They have the best players.

That's why they win. It's not just analytics. So you believe the Raptors win this championship? I really do. And I think that they win it in six games. Kauai Lenna could do whatever he wants after that, but he is going to be a changing point in the NBA. And I think it's great because I think people are totally under

underestimating what he's been able to do. And what sold me was how he stopped Janus. You remember after Janus and then won the first two games against Milwaukee, it was like, oh, he's going to run the east and he's going to be the face of the NBA. Do you remember all that talk? Everybody went crazy over Yon. And what do you do? Shut down Yonis, win four straight games against that guy and turn it around.

This guy has been there, done that. He's not afraid of the big stage. And they got a lot of veterans on that team. I love Toronto in this series. Rob Parker. It's great seeing you. Always. Throwing haymakers today.

Hey, come on. No, no jabbing. You don't even have a jab. You're like, not even a jab. You're like Tyson at the end. You're just trying to knock out. I'm trying to go knock people out. That's right.

Very good. Joy with the news. No. No. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. The Raptors made a somewhat controversial decision when they fired during Casey last year after his third straight season with 50 plus wins.

Yeah. But it seems to have been the right move. If you ask Masayu Diri, Casey's influence is still felt with the team, though. To give Duane Casey credit, he prepared us for this too. This is, it's not something that started in one year. I don't know that a team can just start in one year. So I think I want to say that Duane Casey and Dumas de Rosen are part of this. They are part of our journey.

and how far this has come. It's a classy move by Toronto. They also have Chris Bosch up there. He was in Jurassic Park this morning. He's working with the Canadian broadcaster TSN for the series. So they're bringing a lot of the old players back. And I like that they are giving credit to Dwayne Casey and Demar de Rosen. Where is Dwayne Casey now?

I'm not sure where he is now. But they were in six straight, in the playoffs for six straight years. I went to Eastern Conference Finals. But that's, that to me, this is an example of the right way to build a team. Make the playoffs consistently. Build a winning franchise.

Reward your fans with competitive basketball. And then be aggressive and make the right moves to get you over the hump. This whole tanking and you know, the process, like I this is what I always preach. You can't grow

an organization by accepting failure and losing and then one day just flip a switch and expect everyone that's there in the organization, not even just on the court, just the whole organization, to change their mindset to be champions. It just doesn't work that way.

That's why I love what Toronto's done. I love that they're giving credit to doing Dwayne Casey. Doing Casey is with the Pistons now. And not to take a jab at Golden State, but I do wish that they would give more credit to Mark Jackson for developing them because it's similar to what happened with Steve Kerr. I remember the first year they talked a lot about that.

The first year they did. They don't need more because it's been like six years. And Larry Riley for drafting Stefan Clay. Like there's, organizations that are successful and that build dynasties do it over time by consistently being good and then taking the next step. The whole flipping the switch, the sons, the Knicks, and the Knicks might get lucky.

But I just like when organizations build it this way. It's the right way to do it. So, LeBron and D. Wade were pretty successful. is a pair with the Keats. And now we're going to see something similar maybe. Their sons, Bronny James and Zaire Wade will be teaming up on the court next season at Sierra Canyon. Sierra Canyon is a California Powerhouse High School program that produces perennial college

talents. Bronny was at Crossroads. He's 14 years old, so he's in the 2023 class. Zaire Wade's a little older. He's 17, so he'll be in the class of 2020. He's already been recruited to Nebraska. and he was previously at American Heritage in Fort Lauderdale. Now this Kenya Martin Jr. and Scotty Pippin Jr.

played there last year. They won the state championship, went 32 and 3. So it's going to be kind of interesting. So basically Sierra Canyon landed the first two big free agents in basketball. It would appear so. It would appear so. This is really interesting to me, though. I mean, Sierra Canyon has a reputation already.

Marvin Bagley went there. We had Deeran Fox on earlier. Oh, he did? Yeah. So having the two of them on, I mean, that's going to be a game you have to be at, right? I mean, LeBron and Wade are on the sidelines. You know, and coaching their sons on the court together.

It's strange, but it's part of basketball culture now because AAU and grassroots basketball has just exploded as our appetite for live sports and just sports in general has grown. And now we're going to get to see the second generation of LeBron James and Thuying Way, which is cool. Finally, five-star college prospect, RJ Hampton, announced earlier this week that he is choosing to play in Australia's NBL over the NBA G-League or the NCAA. And while praising Australia's fantastic development system, Adam Silver says he is a little jealous. I am a little jealous because we are in our G-League trying to create our own professional track.

And to the extent that, and I haven't talked to him yet or his advisors, but the extent he decided he was better off in Australia than our G-League, I think I'm going to talk to Commissioner Sharif of the G-League and say, what should we be looking at differently? He also said that Australia's development system inspired the NBA to establish its own basketball academies in China, India, and Africa. It's supposed to be good. Right. And as you said, this is a global game. So this is a good thing that they are working on all this.

And I would love for the NBA to get the G-League on track so that it is a viable option for players. If you want to be a chef, why go to college? There's a lot of people out there that have a skill and they go to a trade school instead of a university because it gets them quicker to their trade so they can make money. If you're a basketball player, what do you need a four-year university for?

If I can go play a professional league, it's like a New Zealand's like a... If you're a one and done player, yes. You are a one and done player that's going to be in college for several years, and it makes perfect sense. And it makes sense if you're a one and done player too.

You're going to get visibility. You're going to be here in the States. But I get this route. I totally do too. And I know everyone's freaking out. It's going to be the end of college basketball. I assure you that it is not. It's definitely not.

But the G League developing into a viable option, improving their travel, improving the pay of the players, the play of the coach, the pay of the coaches. And, you know, marketing the G League teams, the way that the AAA baseball and the minor league baseball teams do would be wonderful. So I hope that Adam Silver and the NBA put some serious effort into that. Enjoy it with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. This is really interesting because Baker Mayfield in the last week has taken a couple shots at me.

And I'm like, Baker, you don't care about this stuff. And I have a theory on this is that Baker knows there's a problem right now inside Cleveland. Odell Beckham's not showing up to practice. And Freddie Kitchens is pissed. And Baker knows that if Baker gets a lot of attention toward me, I won't pay attention to OBJ. They got a real crisis on their hands. And if you don't think so, Freddie Kitchens, this morning on what he wants to see from Odell Beckham Jr. next week, quote,

I just want to see him. He was asked, what did he miss? The coach said a lot. On what specifically did he miss? The coach said, uh, the offense. This is a real issue in Cleveland. Baker doesn't want people to talk about this and draw attention away from it. I'm not going to get into a Twitter war with Baker.

Mayfield. I couldn't give a rip. This is a story. 75 days since the trade. He's been in Cleveland three days. It's a story and the coach is pissed and now the coach is going public with it. This, by the way, has been a story for the last 10, 15 days inside the building. This is the story in Cleveland. Baker can take shots at me so I fall for it and get into arguments with Baker. I'm not going to get into a Twitter war with Baker Mayfield. It's I don't give a rip. It's silly. It's nonsense.

When he attacks me and calls me a liar, I'll defend myself. But I think he's doing some of this. Hey, look over here. I'm coming after you. He doesn't want us to talk about this. This is a situation in Cleveland. When a head coach comes out and says, what do you want from OBJ? I'd like to see him.

What did he miss? A lot? What did he miss specifically? the offense. I'm going to read this here. He appears to be perturbed. Kitchen spoke to the media, gave very short answers.

We are working to get sound on this. Yeah, this is a story, and this is why Vegas has them at nine wins. This is why Vegas, because all this talent, this is an 11-win team. This is a team that I should be saying, they're going to win the division. Vegas should be saying,

easy win the division. This is why they're not. This is a real story. This isn't Twitter beefing. This is, Mary Kay Cabot's a legitimate NFL reporter. She's as legitimate as they get. I've talked to Mary Kay. I've used her social media.

I've used her reports for a decade. The other place, this place. Rookie head coach, upset with a superstar. Okay, that's not something he wanted to do. That is not something Freddie Kitchens wanted, didn't want to go there. But if he's perturbed publicly, then what is he saying inside? I always say this. If you see a couple fighting in a dinner party,

what do you think the fights are like at their house when nobody's watching? For a coach to get this upset publicly about a superstar that can be a little, you know, you got to watch out what you say about Odell Beckham. He can be very emotional guy. So the coach doesn't want to criticize him publicly. If a coach is criticizing OBJ publicly, what's happening in-house? We always said this. If you were seeing all the stuff that was happening to the Giants publicly,

that's why we knew and everybody said they weren't going to trade him, they were going to trade him. There's almost 10 times more garbage in somebody's house if you see stuff outside of the house. So that's a real thing. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app.

Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian business, man catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world. He doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know.

Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going.

From the WMBA standout, Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel like. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs, Gabby Thomas, and Katie Ladeki.

The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. and that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard.

Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies,

and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsCise on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross.

Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way.

Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup kicks off in eight days, and all eyes will be on Alex Morgan, Carly Lloyd, Megan Rapino, and the U.S. Women's National Team as the defending champions head of France looking to win a historic fourth World Cup. All the matches will be live on Fox and FS1. Member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Alexei Lollis, my friend. Our wives are both named Ann. And he was a World Cup for five, six, seven years, something like that.

Okay, you don't think the United States is going to win. First of all, I tell everybody, I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. So soccer was a bigger deal. I grew up with the Seattle Sounders as a kid, Tony Chersky, and goal. And then I went to Portland. The University of Portland was vying for national titles. And my mom's from England. So I grew up and got a soccer set when I was a kid.

And then my stepson started playing soccer video games. So about seven, eight years ago I got the bug. I'm into soccer. Women's World Cup is unbelievable. And we are dominant in this. But Alexi Lawless, you do not think they're going to win the World Cup. I don't. I don't think that they are going to win the World Cup.

And to expound on what you just said, you have been wonderful in terms of soccer. You have it as part of your palate, unlike some of your colleagues out there. And I love that about you. By the way, I love the hair over here. We were discussing it backstage. It looks wonderful. Congratulations to all of you on the ratings news. Oh, that's wonderful.

I'm trying not going to screw it up here in this segment here and have a huge dip. But why don't you like them? All right. So look, I think that the U.S. is taking the most depth in terms of the talent that they have. They are going to a World Cup where the most amount of teams can possibly win it in history. Yeah. Yet, I think that the way it is set up, if the U.S. wins their group and France wins their group, they are set up for a collision course in the course.

quarter finals in France. And I worry, sorry, in Paris, which is in France, I worry about that matchup. And I think ultimately that is going to be where the U.S. do rail and go out in the quarterfinals. By the way, it's interesting. France is a younger team. They are, they're perennials

in terms of choking. They have not. They're the opposite of their men's national team. Exactly. Exactly. But now now you wonder, does a host team, is that an albatross? Is that a pressure on them hosting it? Or is it something that motivates them and they get this groundswell support and they ride that to the championship. By the way, when Brazil hosted the World Cup,

didn't they get smoked? They didn't get smoked, but it didn't ultimately... They lost to Germany, didn't they? Yes. Yes. In the game, they got smoked, absolutely. But it's always this question as to whether hosting a World Cup is a positive or a negative. I think in this instance, it's going to be a positive for a team that, despite the fact that they have choked in the past, incredibly talented, and not just France, you have France, you have England, you have Australia, You have Germany, which is always going to be there. There are more teams now that don't fear the U.S. than in the past. And I think that's a problem for the U.S.

because they used to be able to rely on the fact that even when they were playing teams that maybe could have beat them, that fear factor set in. Okay, so the bottom line is soccer is a lot like the NBA. It is star-driven, and you can talk about analytics, but sometimes you just need, with nine minutes left, a goal score. Who are we going to rely on if we're tied with France? We're tied with England. It is late. There's eight minutes left. who is our Kauai Leonard?

Who do we go to? All right. So from a starting perspective in terms of goal scoring, you have an incredible trio up top with Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath on the right hand side, and Megan Rapino, all healthy, all playing some of the best soccer of their career right now. That only gets you so far. On the bench, you have someone like Carly Lloyd.

Hey, hello, Carly Lloyd coming off the bench. She's not happy about it, but that's a wonderful substitute to have as is Morgan Press. I think right now I think Tobin Heath, from an individual standpoint, is worth the price of admission. She does things with the ball that are magical. She is a star in that when the ball gets to her foot, you sit up in your seat a little bit, you hold your breath, which for me is the definition.

That's what Christian Pulisic has for the Americans. Because the potential for something magical to happen, whether it's in the back of the net or whether it's her putting the ball through somebody's legs or just doing something beautiful. That's how good she is. So she is a game changer, along, as I said, with the other players that they have.

We are not a great defensive team. the United States, if we've got a liability, an albatross, we are an attacking aggressive team. By the way, you know, Italy, Italy tends to be defensive-minded. That is their culture. Our American women's culture is very aggressive and very offensive attacking-minded, more than our men, I would say. I would say our American culture, period, is more offensive and aggressive and wants to see the final product, wants to see balls in the back of the net, wants to see baskets, wants to see. It wants to see results. If we were going to lose this World Cup, it's our back end.

I think, look, I think we can score lots of goals. That's what I think. We're just be running gun. We're going to let in goals, but we're going to score more than you. But as you know, in all sports, defense wins championships, that type of mantra. And the U.S. in 2015, when they did win the World Cup, they went on a run of a lot of shutouts. So I worry from a defensive standpoint if this team is built to get that type of consistency defensively, not least of which is because there is no Hope Solo.

Hope Solo is not in this World Cup. She, for my money, is the best American goalkeeper ever to play the game. She is not going to be in goal. A listener, huge, huge shoes to fill. She comes in. And look, soccer isn't fair. Life isn't fair. Sports aren't fair.

Every single time the ball goes in the back of the net, people are going to be thinking, maybe some people on set will be saying when we're over there in Paris on our wonderful set broadcasting, what would Hope Solo have done in that moment? And that's, she understands that. Well, she was a great big game goalie. She made the big save. And especially for a U.S. team, which doesn't face a lot of shots, sometimes it's more difficult for a goalkeeper to save one or two shots on goal

than when they're getting peppered throughout the entire game. Okay, so Alexei Lollis joining us. You've been in a World Cup, 1996 World Cup. No, 94 and 98. 94 and 98. Okay. So when you're in a World Cup and you're an American, and you didn't face pressure, you know, you got to the World Cup.

And at that stage in our growth, you know, you win a match, you tried to get out of the group. Sure. This American team goes in with a lot of pressure. Give me the sense. Compare it to another sport if you could. Or the World Cup, despite what many of my audience will believe, is the world's biggest sports championship.

It'll be the most watched tournament by far. I mean, the Super Bowl has 100 million people watch. You could be 300 million globally, 500 million. A billion could watch this. What's it like to be in a cup? It is, look, for me, I never, it was the only time I ever got to represent me. my country was when I put on that jersey, I put my hand over my heart, I sang that national anthem, and then I ran around with the red, white, and blue on. That's how I got to represent my country

from a sporting perspective. And so with that comes pride. And look, I know there's people watching right now that don't like to watch soccer, or let alone don't like to watch women's soccer. I know that some people are tuning out. I hope I'm not screwing up your ratings here. The fact is, this summer, with this World Cup, the World Cup will grab you in one way or another. It might be you like a player, might be like a story of a player, it might be like the jerseys. It might like the way this player looks or what this player does. It might be you don't like what this player says or does or something like that,

but it will grab and you have that moment, not the least of which is it is bringing people into the tent. And we know from a USA perspective, when you get to put on the red, white, and blue, you get to sing that song, you get to cheer your team, not just a team, but a team that, let's be honest, first off, is at a World Cup, which last summer we couldn't say. And second off is the defending champions

and has the opportunity to go and win two in a row here, that's something that people want to be a part of. Listen, I always said this with the Olympics. I would watch luge. I've never lusged. Soccer is our new Olympics with a ball. A lot of winter Olympics and a lot of summer Olympics are sports we never play. Almost everybody's kicked around a soccer ball.

The fact that we're favorites, it's in France. They're the co-favorites. Great stuff. Alexi Lollas. Women's World Cup starts June 7th. Great energy, my friend. Thank you. We need to knock down a beer soon, hour three next.

What was the last day we did, one beer? 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. By the way, I want you to go to awaytravel.com slash Colin. Awaytravel.com slash Colin, 20 bucks off when you enter the promo code, Colin at checkout. Aluminum Carri-on is the best piece of luggage I have.

Well, he won three national championships. He was 187 and 32 as a head coach in 15 bowl games. He's got the greatest winning percentage ever. He was 12 and 3 in Fox football. College football is releasing their college football schedule on the family of networks today. And with that, via the Coward Global Satellite Network, we go to my friend Urban Meyer. Okay, so, Urban, I want to start with this. It's kind of an NFL college football question, is that I just saw a story come out of Ohio, Cleveland,

where, you know, OBJ is not there for OTAs. Now, in college you don't have OTAs, you have spring football, which has never felt as important to me as fall camp. So if you ever had players, maybe a new player or veteran player, miss spring ball, does it mean that much? Or am I, is it just no big deal? No, I think you have to look at college football is about development of the player because you're getting them at 17, 18, 19 years old.

A lot of them have played one or two years at, football. So it's, it's, you know, for safety precautions, just learning how to play the game. You take a player that's been there, you know, for example, Nick Bosa last year or, you know, a Paris Campbell who's been there three, four years. It's not uncommon for me to sit them out, you know, scrimmages, they won't do the active. So my biggest concern is, you know, they're not there, you know, even if they're not practicing much, just to be around their teammates, be part of a team. So that's always, whenever I see people not be part of it, my, you know, I'm all into the team. You know, if we're all there, we're all there. Now, the workload is a little different for

veterans and guys who've been playing the game for a long time. Of course, it's going to be different than for a rookie. But when I see that, I just always think about the team first. You know, you know, I like to be around great teams, great teams around each other all the time. By the way, there are certain positions. Like I think an offensive line, it takes time to build cohesion. Is there an individual position? OBJ is a wide receiver that is harder, does need more time to get down timing, routes, and the playbook. Absolutely. Look at Tom Brady, and what a great story that I think it's Tom

versus Time. I've watched that over and over again. I watched it with our players. And you're talking about, you know, what positions, the offense line, of course, but did you get your tight ends, wide receivers and quarterbacks? Those people, they have to think alike. They have to get along. They have to. Those, that's a very unique set of players that have to be on the same page. And I don't, you know, you know, well, better than I do about the history of the NFL. But I can't imagine a better group of, you know, than Tom with those receivers, just the way Tom Brady

with those receivers. And that's not by accident. Those guys are spent a lot of time together, even when they're on their own, I saw that. By the way, it's interesting. College or pro, every year we see seven, eight new high profile coaches. You are, and I've told you this, the Bill Parcells of college football where you go to a program and they win immediately. And that's very, very rare. Even for the legends, the Sabins, the Pete Carroll's. It's hard to win immediately. So Ohio State now has a coach replacing you. There's five or six NFL college profile, high profile jobs.

So go back again. We've talked about this. For the guy replacing you at Ohio State, you were winning. So how much do I change at Ohio State if I'm Ryan Day? I want to be my own team and my own man, but I'm not making a lot of changes because it was, you know, your record there was 83 and 9. What do I do if I replace a coach that's winning? That's hard.

Yeah, I think it has his own set of challenges. You know, the most important thing, he has to change what he thinks needs to be changed. And Ryan is a brilliant guy. That's one of the reasons that, you know, we all felt that he was the next head coach, really unchallenged because he's a very smart guy. He was, one of the first things he did is keep the infrastructure in place, which is, you know, that's the backbone of any organization. And, but he's going to, he's going to put his stamp on it.

He's a very smart person. You know, like I said, he's going to change what he believes needs to be changed. And what exactly is that? You know, that's going to be up to Coach Day. And, you know, we're all here to help him. You know, Alabama's dynasty, people think, oh, you know, it's just rolling at Alabama. But if you look at what has been very difficult for dynasties, yours at Florida, Sabin, Mac Brown at Texas. If you start looking at these, I always contend the hardest part urban is not recruited.

it's keeping your top assistance because Florida with you became a glamour job. I mean, Pete Carroll, Mac Brown, they couldn't keep their, I think you lost Charlie Strong at one point. There's just, there's not a lot of Charlie Strong's out there as a coordinator. Are you surprised that Alabama, it's lasted this long despite losing really good assistance? Yeah, I think that's one of the great jobs. You know, Coach Haven has done is not, it takes energy, enthusiasm to climb the mountain. And it's exhaustion to stay at the top. And when you start losing people,

you know, you start losing players after the junior year, you start losing your top assistant coaches. And that happened to me at Florida and Ohio State. Yeah. That's really hard. And you have to give coach credit. You know, the other opposite is the Clemson really doesn't lose many coaches. They don't.

And that's another enigma. How does that happen where, you know, their defense coordinator, I think is one of the best there is. we've gone against him a few times. And for him to still be there, that's something, you know, he must enjoy it. Obviously, they're paying them well. But staff transition, you're absolutely right.

Recruiting is critical. Player development is critical, but retention, and then also hiring the right guys when you lose an elite coach. That's, that's very difficult to do because how many elite coaches are really out there. It's funny. Dwayne Haskins is really a classic dropback guy. In fact, I've told you before, the only time I don't like him is when he moves. I like him in the pocket throwing strikes.

I think he's very accurate. But we do have a sea change coming now. And maybe it started with Russell Wilson. Baker Mayfield moves around. Kyler Murray. We got Tua and Alabama moves around. You know, it's funny, Urban. When you were recruiting quarterbacks,

you want the quarterback to run your offense. But boy, it's nice if sometimes they can go off the playbook and make their own plays. Tell me about the new wave of quarterbacks, the Kyler Murrays, the Tua's, because you've had those guys as well that run around, Do you like traditional or the new style as a coach? We took the approach of recruit the best player out there and fit our system around it.

And that goes all the way back to Alex Smith. And then obviously, he had Chris Leak, Tim Tebow, Braxton, Miller, Cardell, J.T. Now, Dwayne. And Dwayne was by far the best quarterback available for us to go recruit. He didn't fit exactly the J.T. Barrett or Braxton Miller model. But he was more of a Cardell. and he was the best guy out there. So it was our job to fit personnel around him.

We recruited very well receiver. The receivers wanted to come because they knew what was coming with Dwayne Haskins. So, you know, the systems that really struggle are the systems that don't adapt to the personnel. And you hear someone say he just doesn't fit their system in college football.

You can't cut him and go draft someone else. You change your system. And those are the coach. And I think, like you mentioned, Nick's Avey, he's done a heck of a job. And so, you know, the top programs or Ohio State Alabama, Clemson, and those are the top three or four.

Oklahoma's done a great job. They fit their personnel. They fit the scheme to the personnel. And that's easy to say, difficult to do, but it's a mandate. You have to do that. By the way, everybody thinks you're going to hate everything Michigan, but I know you don't.

It's a rival, and that's the reality of it. It's, you know, Nick Saban can go have lunch with Gus Malzon. The fans wouldn't want it, but it's the reality of life with Harbaugh. Jim is quirky. I had to once hang up on him on the air because he's quirky. and he's different and it's okay and I still love him. I put my arms around him.

But when you were going up against him, there was this sense it was, oh, it was, there must have been things about Harbaugh that you admired or liked. I mean, he is a very good football coach. Excellent coach and a really good person. He called me when, I can't dog on it, one of his

former coaches was actually very ill and we wanted to honor him before the Ohio State game and the rivalry game. And very genuine person. I know his father from back of the days when he coached at Western Kentucky. I actually know his brother very well at the Eagles. So we get along fine.

And, you know, you don't spend much time together just because you're very busy. And the rivalry is real. There's dislike there. But the one thing I've always said is, I can guarantee at Ohio State, it's always going to be their respect for all those people. And that rivalry is there can be no greater respect. By the way, there's, I mean, I look at the seven or eight teams I like in college football this year. You know, there's a Georgian, Ohio State, and Oklahoma.

I think Washington's a team to keep your eye on. If I said there's a team out there, give me a Big Ten team that you think is sneaky good. Well, I think Penn State's not sneaky good. I think they are good. They recruited well. The one thing to watch there is they had some players leave the program. You know, the one that was supposed to start left. So Penn State's recruited very well.

And so the Big Ten, Wisconsin, I think, has done. They had a little bit of a step backwards last year. but I anticipate they'll be there. The one to watch is the Northwestern has a five-star recruit transfer the quarterback from Clemson. And I know Ohio State has to go up there on a Friday night. That's not a good place to play. And I think Coach Fitzgerald does a heck of a job with his players.

And they're getting better players than they ever have. They're a brand-new facility. And watch for Northwestern to be pushing, especially in that west side of the conference. All right, Fox releasing our college football schedule on the family and networks today. Urban, you know I love having you on. and go watch Tiger Woods. I think he's playing in your town. He's a couple under today in Ohio.

I'm going to go out there right now and check it out. Great tournament. If tigers in your town, go watch and play golf. Thanks, coach. Thank you. All right, good stuff. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So the Washington Redskins are one of five teams that could be forced to do HBO's hard knocks along with the 49ers, the Giants, the Raiders, and the Lions. And even though Jay Gruden wants nothing to do with the show, he agreed with you, and he has a pitch for what team should. I think really, if they were smart, they would go to Oakland.

I mean, seriously, I mean, what an entertainment value that would be. Tonyo Brown, John Gruden, Paul Gunther, Montezber, Perfect. I mean, incognito. These guys got to be crazy not to go to Oakland. I mean, I think it'd do us next year, maybe. Not that you make the playoffs. If we don't make the playoffs, I probably won't be here anyway. That's funny.

He's making a little pitch for his brother to get the bid. He's not wrong. Well, I think everyone kind of wants the Raiders. I would have liked to see the Raiders. I guess it would be two years from now after they are in Las Vegas, after they make the move. Because they wouldn't do the move or they wouldn't do the show the first year that you move. Because it has to be a year after that or a year after a new coach.

The Redskins have never been on hard knocks, but Gruden has some experience because he was with the Bengals when they featured them in 2013. You know who I want to see, honestly? Mike Tomlin. If there's any coach you're telling me I could Mike, I think Mike Tomlin. Steelers would be interesting. He is the closest thing to a player coaching an American professional sports. He is so man. He is all alpha.

First of all, there's never been in my lifetime. In my lifetime. There has never been. Gruden's close. there's never been a better coach at the podium than Mike Tomlin. Oh, he's very good. Oh, he is literally talks in eight-second sound bites. Listen, we win or I'm fired.

He edits the comments for your TV station. He's perfect. Other than the Raiders of this list of the Niners, Giants, Raiders, Lions, and Redskins, I would like to see the 49ers. If it's not the Raiders, I'd like to see the 49ers. But teams hate having hard knocks there. Nobody wants it. Of course it's a distraction.

It's a huge distraction. As soon as you see cameras, people start turning on. It's great for us. It's an excellent show. You know, it's funny. It's a much-watch TV. To tell our audience, they don't know about this. So about a week ago, the athletic, Armand Catan's, because, you know, legendary 60-minute sports

journalist and journalist in general, they came and taped our show. What they did that was amazing is they had all these, these are like high-end, veteran, 50-year-old photographers. So they sat in our production. room and I told my wife to see her night, what was amazing is I forgot they were there because they were behind chairs and over-angles. And if Armin would not have been in the room to the right where I could see him, one of them was perched in the corner. And at one point, I'm sitting there, you know, half picking my nose and I'm like, oh, crap, there's a camera on.

If they didn't make a noise for two hours. Well, that's kind of where it gets dangerous, too, right? Right. You forget that they're there. Not that, you know, we can't have cameras in there all the time. But, yeah, I don't blame teams for not wanting them there. So a lot of them made about Steph Curry's lack of a finals MVP throughout the Warriors Dynasty. He has two regular season MVP's but not a finals MVP trophy. And he was asked about that by T&T yesterday. Yeah, I understand that's the conversation and I like that conversation because it means I've been here plenty of times and we're still winning. For us to win championships, I know I have to

be playing at a very high level. Whether that means a finalist MVP or not, I'll let that kind of, you know, work itself out. But in terms of, you know, chasing rings and banners, that's the first and foremost, you can't cheat the game that way. Can't wait tonight, game one. I'm having... I'm so excited. I don't know what. I think I'm going to do pizza and beers tonight.

Pizza and beer. Pizza and diet Pepsi, maybe. We'll see. A low-carb diet. Diet Pepsi. Well, I don't drink a lot of soda, but I got to be clear when I watch the games. I can't be fuzzy. I can't have alcohol.

I got to watch the games, break them down. Well, you only drink one beer anyway. It gets you fuzzy and one beer? No, I drink, you know, it's not that I don't like it. I just don't like a lot of it. I like a lot of things. I like, you know, but I got to be clear. I am a broadcaster.

I'm like a pilot. I'm flying tomorrow. I can't be out there getting whacked. Diet Pepsi is your soda of choice? Yeah, yeah. I mean, if I got to do that a little bit, you know? You know what I'm going to do tonight? I think I'm going to grill burgers.

God, I love burgers. Oh, I love burgers. It was national burger day the other day. It was? Yeah. Although, you don't need an excuse to eat a burger. Finally, the Clippers have been pegged to be a potential Kauai landing spot this summer, and they have the highest odds to do that.

They've also taken a unique approach to try and pursue him. According to Mark Stein of the New York Times, they have quietly looked into the feasibility of purchasing the portion of the rights to Leonard's Claw logo that is still owned by Nike. Such an acquisition would theoretically enable them to bestow full control of the logo upon Leonard as part of their anticipated free agency pitch meeting with the Toronto superstar. Very smart. It is actually, it is one of the great logos.

It's a very good logo. For our television audience. I think LeBron has a good logo. What's LeBron's? LeBron is like the, it's like the king, the crown. Yeah, I like this better. Well, it's very Kauai, because Kauai has ginormous raptor hands. He is the claw.

But Nike's not going to give it up because they don't want to see it on new balance clothing. And possibly the Clippers might have been doing this to get on billboards and, you know, their campaign to get Kauai to come here. But even just leaking it that they are trying and that they'd be willing to do. something like that is smart. The free agency pitches are going to get extensive. This is going to be outside of LeBron and that

summer coming to Miami. What if nobody leaves? What if Philadelphia says, we're going to pay Jimmy Butler the Max, and Kauai says, you can make more money here. And then Kevin Durant says this injury. What if nobody moves? Well, Kyrie is pretty much

out of there. June? I think we all feel like Kyrie is a lock to be. July 1st. Kemba Walker's the big free agent. Chris Middleton? I'm sorry. I'm not staying up for Chris. I like Chris Middleton. I'm not staying up at night.

I'm going to my Twitter account for Chris Middleton. I don't think everybody stays. But I'm, no. I'm rooting for a tire fire on the interstate. I just want billows of smoke coming up. I can't wait for it. And I don't feel guilty at all saying, I'll watch the NBA finals.

I am more excited. Clay Travis did that. He did a poll today on radio and he said, What are you more excited for? Kevin Durant changing teams or the finals. And overwhelmingly, people are like, the Kevin Durant changing teams, it's fascinating. Well, because a lot of people aren't really giving the Raptors a chance in this series.

I think they may after tonight. Yeah. No, I think Toronto takes the game tonight. Yeah, so do I. I like Toronto tonight. A joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The third line news. By the way, did you guys, I don't know if you've seen this yet. The interview hasn't come out with Draymond Green. But you know how we've been arguing about are the Warriors better or worse without KD? He had two great quotes here. Draymond Green had two quotes. One of them he says, I have to be more of a scoring threat when Kevin's not out there. I really try to push the pace more when he's not here.

When Kevin's out there, we all have the luxury of just saying, all right, that set didn't work. We still got this guy, just throw a ball into it and get out of his way. He goes on to say, when Kevin's with us, I walk into the arena. and I know how the game is going to go. I know we're going to win. And whatever else you want to add into that. By the way, basically he is telling you, listen, when Kevin's not there,

we play harder, we're more focused and we're more intense. And this goes back to something, trust fun kids are rich. But they almost never change the world. When you wake up rich and comfortable, you don't change the world. Jeff Bezos was not a trust fund kid. Bill Gates was not a trust fund kid. Steve Jobs, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Messi.

They weren't trust fund kids. Trust fun kids are rich and comfortable. They don't change the world. They don't wake up with that drive. I've known one trust fund kid in my life. Great guy. But he's 45 and there's no real urgency when you wake up with silk sheets. your entire life. And with Kevin Durant, he's like a human trust fund. Like, you wake up,

rich and comfortable. And Draymond's telling you, he's like, yeah, when he's out there, I drive to the arena and no one, it's just, we're going to win. By the way, not only are the Warriors 32 and 1, or 33 and 1 last 34 games that he's played, they were blown out eight times this year alone by over 20 points when Kevin Durant did play, proving they may not be better without KD, but they're absolutely more focused. They're absolutely more driven. They're absolutely more intense. Draymond Green's telling you, yeah, when Kevin's there,

we drive to the arena with a different mindset. And Kevin's got that, and that's not a criticism. It's, I mean, most people would say, I'd love to be a trust fund kid, but trust fund people don't change the world because you're just, you just can't wake up comfortable and content and have that drive. It's just not human. And I do think Durant is so, he's the greatest bucket maker in the game,

that you do end up a lot of times kind of getting a little unfocused. Think about this, eight times this year. Warriors were shelled by over 20 points with KD. Never last two years been shelled without him. So that's not about talent. That's about mindset. Because when the team that good gets blown out by 29, you just didn't show up. You just didn't come to the arena to play that night.

You're thinking about post game, pregame. Good stuff. Coming up, the Raptors, do you know why they're called the Raptors? A lot of people don't even know why, outside of Toronto, why they're called the Raptors. And it's a crazy story. And we were talking about coming up next and best for last. The team names in American Sports College are pro that are really brilliant. And the ones that don't make any darn sense. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, the I Heart Radio app.

Great to have you in today. The Raptors are an interesting team. You know, they play in Canada. Kauai Leonard's sort of an incredibly uniquely quiet NBA star in a league where a lot of the stars are sort of have a magnetism. He's very quiet. The weirdest part is their nickname. Now, they're called the Raptors, if you're wondering,

because not because of the history of dinosaurs in Canada. I'm sure there were plenty up there. T. Rex was roaming around, you know, doing his thing. it's because they had a name game. When they got the team, they asked fans to vote on the name. And at the time, Jurassic Park had just been released. So dinosaurs were all the rage. And so two of the finalists were T-Rexes and the Raptors.

They went with the right one. Although T-Rex is an awesome dinosaur. Jurassic Park changed my life. First of all, was the scariest movie I'd ever seen ever at that point. And I thought that I wanted to become a paleontologist. Oh, really? Yeah, I made the right choice there. Well, you ever gone to the Yale Dinosaur Museum?

I've not. Oh, my God. It's incredible. That's the most amazing dinosaur exhibit in North America, the Yale University of Yale, New Haven, dinosaur exhibit. So anyway, I thought to myself, there are some nicknames I think are really clever. Right. And some that are really odd. And so let's start with my favorite team names in Best for Last today.

Houston Rockets is really good, and here's why. They were originally the San Diego Rockets, and that's because San Diego had a missile and rocket development program. Then they moved to Houston in the early 70s, and NASA Mission Control is in Houston. So it actually makes perfect sense. And now it's a perfect metaphor because they launched the most three-pointers in the league.

So I actually think it's one of the more clever nicknames, the Houston Rockets. The Portland Trailblazers. It reflected Lewis, and Clark and other explorers. Prometed Harry Glickman is your first owner, and he said it reflected the ruggedness of the Pacific Northwest

and kind of a trailblazing new era for sports in the state, and also Lewis and Clark and Oregon. By the way, Blazer also has another meaning in Portland. I covered a team with a lot of that. Pittsburgh Steelers

actually are very fitting. They play in the Steel City. Football is a hard, rugged, tough sport. But the steel mark logo on their helmet was originated by U.S. Steel, and the team incorporated it. This is why this team travels better than any in the country, like a college football team, as many of the steel workers were displaced as we became less reliant on steel. And they moved all over the country. There are Steelers fans everywhere, not just because they're great in a big brand, but they're former steel workers.

San Francisco 49ers. The peak year for the gold rush in the Bay Area was about 1849. 49ers. Uniforms are scarlet and gold. That was the gold rush. And hunting gold is a good metaphor for chasing rings. So 49ers is one of the smarter team names. I'll also give credit to the Tampa Bay Lightning. So I'd never lived in a part of the country with Lightning until he moved to Tampa and almost got hit by it about six times. You almost got hit by Lightning? It is everywhere in Tampa. Every day in the summer at 5 o'clock is off the Gulf. A lightning storm moves in. And there are bolts. I've been in, I was in buildings that got, you know, pow. You're driving down

the road, pow, it's every. It's kind of fascinating, actually. And hockey's fast-paced, moves like lightning. So I think Tampa Bay Lightning is one of the great nicknames in sports. Now my least favorite, Utah Jazz. Now, they were New Orleans Jazz all the way through the, you know, 60s 70s. And New Orleans is known for jazz clubs. The problem is you listen to jazz in nightclubs, and Utah doesn't have night clubs because everything closed at 7.45 at night. Right. They wanted to change this nickname, actually,

when they moved, but there wasn't enough time to receive League approval for the name change, so they just kept it. I've always thought it to... Jazz clubs are wine and nightclubs. That doesn't say salt like. Sacramento Kings. Now, they used to be the Kansas City Kings,

and then the Cincinnati Kings, and Cincinnati's the King City. The problem is, Sacramento, you have not won a championship since 1951, which is the longest drought in the NBA, you're not kings of anything. It's not a good nickname. Philadelphia Phillies is officially the laziest nickname.

The Philadelphia Phillies. In fact, they used to be called the Philadelphia Philadelphias. I'm not joking. And sports writers said, that's just too easy. Can you imagine having a team, the Washington, Washingtonians? I mean, talk about not clever. That actually would be more fitting. The Phillies is just lazy.

Let's call them the Philadelphia Phillies. There's nothing to it. Chicago White Sox. Originally the white stockings, because players wore long white stockings, they went out of fashion a century ago, and the only people who wear those now are grandmas and ballerinas mostly,

and the team even wears long black socks nowadays. So that's not really a fitting Chicago White Sox. Now, Green Bay Packers is odd. Do you know why they're called the Packers? Is that something to do with T's? Go to Wikipedia. If you have to go to Wikipedia, you to find out why a team has a nickname, not great.

They're named after their team's first sponsor. The Indian packing company was a meat packing plant. And Curly Lambo was the head coach, was a shipping clerk for the company and needed money for jerseys and used to the company's athletic field. And so they just called them the packers. There was a meat packing company. Well, so I was close.

It had to do with food. How about the Cleveland Browns? They were named after Paul Brown, which I think is odd. And they were named the Brown. rounds while he was coaching. Can you imagine the Dallas Joneses, the New York Steinbrenners, the Houston Fertitas? That's a weird nickname. You can't change it now, though.

I think it is too late, right? Like the Utah Jazz. The Utah Jazz, you could change, I think. You know what I'd call Utah the range? There's mountains everywhere. The Range. Utah Range. That's not very great. A Rangers. How about this? The Stanford Cardinal. They're not the Cardinals. they're the cardinal. They're named after a color,

which is a shade of red. They have no mascot. Well, they sort of do. It's a tree, which is green. It's the unofficial mascot. And their band does inappropriate things than has been banned regularly. So they don't have much of a brand

besides, if you're smart enough to be offered a scholarship there, you're not dumb enough to turn it down. Just go, by all means, to Stanford. But not a great nickname. It's a good list. Yeah. Tampa Bay, the lightning in Tampa Bay is... I think the Dolphins is pretty good.

Dolphins is great. The dolphins in the heat were pretty good. And by the way, the Dolphins logo has endured for how many years? No, they've changed it a couple times. Have they? Yeah. Because remember back in the day, like, the original logo was like a little lighter. The dolphin had more, like, realistic features.

Now it's more... Then it was like a super-cartoony version, and now it's more like an angry... I always felt like the Raiders. It doesn't look like an official uniform. It looks like a really nice practice uniform. because it doesn't have all this. But it just has that classic. It does.

Charm. It is a, like I hated when they did the bumblebee Steeler uniforms because I'm like, that's the best uniform arguably in the league. Don't mess with it. Like, don't mess with USC, Penn State, Dodgers home uniforms. Like, don't mess with clean, simple classics. The worst I've looking I've ever seen was the Houston Astros back in the 70.

That was a monstros. That was a video game gone wrong. All right. We'll see you tomorrow. Game one, Raptors, Warriors. Oh, Canada, tonight. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud.

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