The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Baker Betters Burrow in 2020

Episode Date: June 17, 2020

In this edition of The Herd, Colin explains how trading someone in their prime can still be beneficial to a team, a deep dive into the NBA's bubble plans as players head to Orlando, Baker Mayfield will have better numbers than Joe Burrow despite what some think, Gronk's not about catches, he's about culture, and why Baltimore is once again primed for a Super Bowl run. Guests include: Nick Wright, Seth Joyner, Ric Bucher and Kevin Clark. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find your local station for the Hurt at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the IHartRadio app by searching Hurd. Fox Sports Radio. Here we are. We are jammed today. It is a Wednesday. We're live in Los Angeles, and this is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening,

we're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me today. Nick Wright in 15, 20 minutes. Joy, how are you? I'm great. How are you? I am great. You know, none of us, Joy. I've got a big dilemma I'm going to talk to you about in 10 minutes, by the way.

I found a dive restaurant last night. It's the best I've ever had, but I can't tell anybody because they'll fill the dive restaurant, and I won't be able to get back in more than that in the moment. You know how it is. You know how it is. You tell everybody about your dentist. I had the best dentist. You call a year later.

You can't get into the dentist because all your friends booked to the dentist. So now I found a dive restaurant, the best in L.A. I can't tell anybody. Yeah, do you be selfish or not? I could even help the business. I can't. It's that good. I got to think about that.

Yeah, really. America's got a problem. So nobody, one of the things I've always supported professional athletes. And I don't think we think about this all the time because we're like, well, they make a lot of money. So to doctors. So to attorneys. So to media people. So to executives.

So to movie stars. A lot of people make money. Can you imagine being traded? Think about that. You go to work one day. Colin Coward has been traded for an overnight radio host in Des Moines, Iowa. How would I feel? I got to move my family?

Oh, you make a lot of money! A lot of people make a lot of money. Wall Street, Silicon Valley, movie stars, executives, business owners. Can you imagine literally you live in Iowa, you got a nice family, your kids go to school, your wife's got a social network, you've been traded to Kansas City. I don't know anybody there. But we always say, well, a lot of money. Athletes make a lot of money so that I think this is the Orlando bubble thing some of the NBA players

are struggling with. I want to be with my family. I don't want to be pulled away from people I love. And I was thinking about this. Remember that Jimmy Garoppolo, Tom Brady trade rumor? Remember that? Like, Brady's going to San Francisco. Garapolo could go to New England.

We all freaked out. Well, I didn't buy into it. I thought it was the craziest thing I've ever heard. But two or three days after it didn't happen, I called a general manager. And he said, oh, yeah, it was on the table. For like 48 hours. I'm like, come on. He's like, no, no, no.

It was on the table. This is a very tight-in guy. He's like, listen, it was on the table for 48 hours. And just think about the sports history that could have happened. That didn't. Tom Brady goes to the best young offensive mind and football. Excellent O-line. Best young defensive front.

And the next gronk, he's gotten George Kittle. I mean, let's not kid ourselves. Tom Brady would be the Super Bowl favorite this morning. I mean, it would be Mahomes and Brady meeting again. that's what it would be for the next three years. Nothing against Lamar, Russell, Wilson, Aaron Rogers, but it would be Mahomes and Brady. Now, it didn't happen, and it wouldn't have been amazing, and it wouldn't have been awful for Jimmy Garoppolo.

He could have gone to New England. That would have been a happy ending for everybody. But it got me thinking there's only one untradable player in the NFL. I mean, we've seen DeAndre Hopkins just got traded. Some think he's the best receiver. Odell Beckham got traded. I mean, it's hard to find a great young left tackle. Laramie Tunzel got traded.

Jalen Ramsey, the best pure corner, traded. You can trade any non-quarterback in this league. And I'd argue you can trade every quarterback in this league, except one, Patrick Mahomes. If you got a call and you were Andy Reid, you'd have to say, hello, excuse me, wrong number, click. But let's talk about Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson because I know that's what you were thinking.

Come on, Colin, you can't. John Schneider and Pete Carroll are two of the NFL's biggest Wheeler Deaers. They got to a Super Bowl when Russell Wilson made no money. Made no money. The big concern in Seattle is we're paying Russell Wilson $35 million. We can't get in players. If Baltimore called and said, we'll give you the next Russell Wilson, his salary cap hit is $2 million. And they'd save $30 million on the cap hit. You don't think Seattle would consider it? I wouldn't because I think Russell's the best football player in America. And I still think Lamar's got a way to go to be as good as Russell.

But if you don't think Seattle would consider it, have you watched how they've traded it in the last five years? They've traded away Max Unger. They can't get the offensive line right. You and I know. Cam Newton, backup story. Kaepernick's coming to town. You think they've treated him with respect?

Now you're saying to yourself, well, Baltimore wouldn't do it. John Harbaugh's like, how many more years I got coaching on this contract for? I think Lamar will be good in the playoffs, but he's owing two. I know Russell Wilson with this group of dudes. We win in the Super Bowl. I mean, let's ask yourself today.

If Russell Wilson was the quarterback of Baltimore today, ask yourself, who's winning the Super Bowl? It's over. Mahomes is the only thing close to win its way. It is over. Lamar we all like, but aren't we all acknowledging, can he take that next jump? Russell's done that and then two other jumps above that. What about Aaron Rogers? If Jordan Love came into this year's camp, 6-4, 4,000,

225, mobile with a huge arm. That's the given. And had a great camp. Did you watch the Packers draft? Did you read the ESPN article? The shots taking it, Aaron? And somebody called and said, we'll give you three first rounders, Aaron Rogers. And I get Jordan Love and six first rounders in the next three years to help him out.

Green Bay doesn't have an owner. It's got a GM who's frustrated with Aaron. I watched the draft, did you? Deshawn Watson. She's had two ACL tears. I'd move him. You could get me to move off to Sean. I wouldn't love it.

But if you throw up three first round picks and I got six in the next few years, I'd consider it. Mahomes is the only guy in the NFL. You hang the phone up and say, sorry, wrong number. So when I think of this Garoppolo Brady thing, it didn't happen. It would have been fantastic in terms of interesting had it happened. But at the time I was so outraged by it, I'm like, this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. And then I started thinking about it. I think outside of my homes, I think every GM in the league would take the phone call for every

single player. All right, so I saw this. We're going to have an NBA season. It's going to be abridged, but I'm really, I'm excited for it. The league's not going to listen to Kyrie or Dwight Howard. LeBron wants to play. Yonis wants to play. Kauai wants to play.

We're going to play. We're going to play. And we should, and it's going to be great. And if the players didn't play, it would screw with their salary cap and left. leverage in power for decades. Maybe not decades, but a decade. It would be terrible for the players. The owners would have all the leverage because they have the ability, if you don't play, to blow up the CBA and start over. It would be horrible for the players. And they've worked for a long time. LeBron's been in this league 16, 17 years. He's got power. He's got leverage. He's got

everything. He didn't want the last four or five in this year playing with his son, and his son has no leverage. That's not what LeBron wants. LeBron's a giver, not just a taker. He didn't want. He didn't want to give his son that NBA. They're going to play. Darrell Morey's a very smart general manager for the Houston Rockets, and he's talking about Westbrook and Hardin and the postseason, and here's what he said. Basketball pressure-wise, yeah, it's a lot. Again, two of the greatest players ever on our team, we should win this thing. All right, that's not going to happen, and there's no data that tells you they're going to win this thing. First of all, James Hardin needs the whistle. He doesn't get it

in the postseason because that's the postseason. And Russell Westbrook, three's become a big deal in the NBA now. Three's, he's the worst shooting three-point player in the league 25%. There's nothing here that tells you they're going to win the championship. But let me put my tinfoil hat on. One of the things I'm proudest of as a sports talk show host is seeing things earlier than others. It's almost like I'm a music scout and I find the garage band before they become the Beatles.

I like it. I liked saying three years ago. Russell Wilson is going to be one of the great quarterbacks ever. I like three years ago saying Aaron Rogers is declining. I liked saying Andrew Luck freshman year at Stanford is the next great quarterback. I liked saying two years ago, I saw a kid in high school, Trevor Lawrence, he's the next great thing. I'm into it. That's my thing, right? I like to do that.

Let me tell you why Houston's dangerous. So we're going into an NBA season. the sport, baseball hadn't started, NFL hasn't started, college football hadn't started. This tsunami, this pandemic caught the NBA three quarters the way through the season. It's brutal. And they're going to play in empty arenas with no fans.

And it's a star-driven league. And three or four or six players are going to get COVID and have to sit out games. And three or four or six players are going to get hurt because we're rushing them back to play. This could be an unrightly. mess. But there's one thing that can save this NBA season.

The stars advance. Houston opens up with Denver. Houston's going to roll because they're going to get the whistle. Colin, that is illegal. No, no, no, no, no. Not everything needs a memo. You do not tackle Drew Brees during training camp. Nobody needs a memo.

You do not take a shot at Tom Brady in training camp. Nobody needs a memo. If you go out golfing with your buddies on a Saturday for five hours, come home at five at night a little buzzed, and your wife's been with the four kids all day, after making dinner most of the week and working herself, Sunday's Mom's Day. You don't need a memo, fellas.

There doesn't need to be a memo. You're going to have a half dozen guys get COVID. have to miss games, screw up series. You're going to have a half dozen athletes get hurt because we're rushing them back. The thing, you're not going to have any fans at these games. The thing that will ensure this works is lots of Hardin and lots of Westbrook and lots of Embed and lots of LeBron. That's not a shot at Denver.

But I think in a regular season, without a pandemic, I take. take Denver in the series. I think they're going to get knocked out early against Houston. I don't think it's a tinfoil hat. I don't think you need a memo. I think there are certain things in life and in sports and in business that are completely

understood. Houston is going to have a nice playoff run. Hardin's going to get the whistle. Westbrook still won't hit a three, but Hardin will get the whistle for maybe the only time in his career in the playoffs.

Okay, coming up next, pro football focus did it. They have made me a Baker-Mayfield fan. And I'll explain that coming up next. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Hurd to listen live. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

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It's great to have you in. So pro football focus is now officially turning me into a Baker-Mayfield fan. So pro football focus, Chris Collinsworth owns that thing. It's a data, analytical look. They grade every player. They have projections for Baker Mayfield and Joe Burrow this year. And the projections are that Joe Burrough is going to throw for more yards and more touchdowns than Baker Mayfield. I cannot sit here and just let this go undiscussed. Forget the fact that Baker has better weapons, maybe a better coach.

more experience and an infinitely better offensive line. Outside of maybe safety, Cleveland's better everywhere than Cincinnati. Safety's probably the spot. But Uncle Colin, considered largely by America, a sage full of wisdom, that's me, is going to make my own projections and explain them. Baker Mayfield's going to go 9 and 7. He's going to throw for 3,9809 yards, just shy of 4,000. He's going to have 27 touchdown.

a pass-a-rating of 94 and complete 66% of his throws. 66% is a key number. Kevin Stefansky wants ball control and running games. Baker was wildly inefficient last year. He's going to be very efficient this year. He won't be as explosive as everybody thinks. 27 touchdowns is nice. It's not 35.

It's not as many as James Winston have. Baker's going to have a nice year, not an MVP year, but a very nice year. And his efficiency numbers, passer rating and completion percentage, are going to go way up. Joe Burrow is going to go four and 12. He's going to throw for 3,300 yards, 19 touchdown,

61% completion percentage with an 82 passer rating. And before you freak out, we will say at years end, I will say, not bad considering, damn, he doubled the bingo wins totals. You know what? Give him some help. We may have a pro bowler on our hands.

the idea that a quarterback alone, Joe Burroughs hype now is the train is off the tracks. Average arm, bad old line, dysfunction in the front office, worst roster easily in his division. When you look at the numbers I'm projecting, if the numbers pro football focus on Baker are accurate, that he will throw for fewer touchdowns than Gardner Minshew last year, then pro football focus is acknowledging they whiffed on Baker Mayfield because they loved him out of college.

If Gardner Minshu has more touchdowns last year than Baker has this year with that cast in Cleveland, I think you have to consider moving off Baker Mayfield. You can't beat Lamar Jackson, Big Ben, and if Joe Burroughs better as a rookie with that cast, what are you doing with Baker Mayfield? You've got to make a move. and I don't think that's what will happen. I think when the year's over, Cincinnati will realize Burroughs really talented

but needs way more help, and Cleveland will realize if you give Baker the right coach in a running game, it's pretty good. You can get to the playoffs. But I cannot sit here idly without talking about this. Burrow will not have better numbers.

The hype train has derailed officially. Even at PFF. Here's Joy with the News. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Thank you, pro football focus. First segment. Well, I mean, there's no way you were not going to address that, so it's perfect.

So the Saints have gotten used to seeing James Winston on the field. They haven't seen him on the field yet this offseason. But the offensive coordinator, Pete Carmichael, says James is already making a great impression on the organization. I think that he's a talented football player. and, you know, he's done a lot of great things in this league already. And we're excited to have him. The one thing I've, you know, just in these meetings that we've been having with these virtual meetings, and the one thing that stands out to me right away is that he's sharp, he's smart,

he asked the right questions. And so he has that experience. And then, you know, he's got the ability. You see him throw the ball downfield. He's got excellent arm strength. So there's a lot to be excited about and we're looking forward to working with him. If you look at James Winston's career, and there's no perfect player, right?

And you just took off nine interceptions a year. Now that sounds ridiculous, right? But that's saying every third interception he throws, just take it away. You'd look at him and think, wow, he's a borderline Pro Bowl quarterback. James's issue is singular. It's not size. It's not arm. It's not athletic ability.

It's not that he doesn't work hard. It's not that people don't like him. He has a judgment about every second to third pick. you're like, oh, God, that's awful. He is, this is a guy, I'm a little surprised, didn't have more of a market. I'm surprised he had less of a market than Nick Foles. Because I actually think, James, there's something there. It's just now he gets finally the arguably best offensive coach and an elite offensive line.

So I think his efficiency again will go up. Well, it doesn't surprise me necessarily that Nick Foles had more of a market, because, I mean, if you really think about what you just said, that's very drastic. Nine interceptions? A year, less than one a game. But that's nine interceptions a year. That's a lot of interceptions. Yeah, but I get the arm, the size, the work ethic, the product.

I get everything good. But it's so much productivity for the other team. What if I had, what if my son got A's? He was kind. He just was occasionally had really horrible judgment and stole stuff in the neighborhood. I'd feel like... Eventually he would probably end up in jail, which is, which doesn't mean that you don't have good qualities as a person,

but you have really bad judgment that can put you in really bad situations. Okay, stealing stuff from neighbors is bad. And other people's situations. I do think that he will improve this year. The one thing I do think is interesting is that they also plan on dialing back breezes, reps, and practice to provide him extra rest, which means that Winston will be getting a lot of reps with the first team in practice, which will be great for him as well.

Because obviously, we're not planning on seeing him on the field at all this year unless, of course, it's a blowout situation or, you know, God forbid, Drew Brees gets hurt. But that's going to be very beneficial for him as well. I think he's going to have a market somewhere next year as a starting quarterback, James Winston. This is a great situation for him. Also, you know, you have to consider that he had the surgery, the eye surgery, which seems like it was significant. And he's lost a lot of weight.

He went vegan as well. So he's putting in the effort to make significant changes. You know, everybody says vegans lose weight. I'm not, I got nothing against you vegans. My wife's vegan, kind of. You know, this whole thing that you go vegan and lose a bunch of weight. Well, vegan and vegetarian aren't the same thing. So there's like two extremes there, right?

Like, vegans don't eat eggs and cheese and... The bottom line is if you eat chicken and fish, you can lose weight. Protein's good for losing weight. I'm not into this whole vegan thing. By the way, it might have been literally a health thing for him. Like, he went to a doctor and he was like recommended that he, you know, do go vegetarian for a little while or whatever. It's not always about necessarily losing weight, although he did lose weight because of it.

You know, if we didn't eat chickens, they ate us. If they were six feet tall and we were size of chickens, they'd go around pecking us on the head eating us. But chickens aren't six feet tall. That's what I'm saying. But if they were, everybody's like sympathetic for chickens. If they were six feet tall and we were the size of chickens, they'd chase us around the country and eat us.

But they're not six feet tall. And even if they were six feet tall, chickens don't eat meat. Okay, dinosaurs. They want to eat us? Yeah. We can't, we got, I think we've gotten too sympathetic on, I'm not, you know, we've gotten a little sympathetic on the whole what you eat. I'm not going vegetarian at all, but I don't know if that's the analogy.

So Baltimore got bounced in the playoffs much earlier than they expected last season when the Titans came to town and shocked the top-seeded Ravens 28 to 12. And Lamar Jackson says he's learned from that loss and not to look far ahead this time around. That's the goal. I got to play. Like, you're taking the one game at a time. I'm not peeking ahead. That's what happened in the playoffs. And we ended up losing to the team. People had us favorite over. But it's going to give a Sunday. You can't underestimate no team, no opponent. And that's what we did. So I'm looking for this 2020 season and the Browns first. It's kind of interesting that he said that that's what happens. Well, we haven't upset in the

playoffs every year. This is our upset. By the way, he doesn't have that many starts as an NFL quarterback. I mean, let's be honest here. Like, it's, You know, Baltimore loss surprised me. But at the end of the year, if you watch them, not that the NFL figured them out, but San Francisco gave them a rough week. And Baltimore was unbelievable, like September, October, November, and December. And then people start watching schematically.

There's some things that work and some that don't. And I just think it's part of, I don't think in eight years we'll think at all about that loss. No. I mean, no team is perfect, right? I mean, even the chiefs trailed on every single game. So if any of those teams had gone the distance, the chiefs wouldn't have been in the Super Bowl. So no team is perfect.

But to his point, you have to focus on the next team. Like, it's a very Belichickian response. Like, we're on to Cincinnati. Like, focus on one team at a time, one game at a time. Don't look ahead just because it's the Titans. I mean, Titans, in my opinion, caught lightning in a bottle last year. But once you get into the playoffs, like he said, any given Sunday, I think it can happen.

By the way, Tennessee beat New England, too. Foxboro. So it's like it's not, it's okay. Like it happens. Yeah. So NBA players are free to choose whether they will play in the season restart or not, but they will not receive any punishment if they choose to do so, but their pay will be reduced due to miss games. And players reportedly have until June 24th a week from today to inform teams of their decisions. There's a lot of guys that are still split on whether they want to come back. I could not bail on my teammates. There's no way I could do that. If I'm Kyle Kuzma, I could not bail on LeBron James and Danny Green and like, I just couldn't do it. No, I mean, I wouldn't, I don't see someone

like Kyle Kuzma doing that, but you have to consider a couple things that's going on with the restart. I know there's a lot of stories out there and a lot of narratives about what's going on, but this is an extreme situation that they are being asked to participate in. Like, it is not like they're going away to summer camp. Like, they are not allowed to leave the bubble at all. I'm going to get to a little. story later in the show where now they've like set up a hotline to essentially snitch on each other if they do leave the bubble it's they can't have visitors it's in extreme situation some people have wives and kids some people might be pregnant like there's a lot there's a lot going on like

it's not just as simple as i need to come back and play to finish the season and support my teammates like these guys have families they've got who knows sick relatives like there's a there's a lot that's going that people are considering on a human level to what going into this isolated bubble is going to entail. So I don't think it's going to be as simple as if a guy sits out just because he doesn't want to come back and play because obviously there's a lot of money

on the line and a lot of really heavy discussions. But I think if guys do end up not coming back, it'll be for a serious personal reason. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. The one thing about the NBA is that

Bobby Marks is a former general manager in the NBA, and he's talked about this, is the owners have a right, the league has a right. It's force majeure. I think it's what it's called, is that the NBA owners, if the players don't play and it doesn't work and they just sit out,

they can just, it's over. They just blow up the contract. They start a new CBA. It would be disastrous for the players, because what the NBA players have, and I don't think the NFL players are close to this, is they have leverage and to go.

We really like certain star players. And that has been something the NBA has worked players union. And the last negotiations, I thought were very formidable for the players. The last baseball negotiations, the players got taken to the bank. The owners crushed the baseball players. But in the last NBA negotiations, players did pretty well, especially star players. They make a bigger percentage of the cap. So the question becomes, if there's a short-term

difficulty in short-term obstacles and short-term sadness. It depends on where you are. If you're almost out of the league, I'm a veteran. I'm 37. I may say, like, I'm not doing it. I'm not giving my family up. But if you're a younger star player, and there's plenty of them, these are really tough decisions because one thing, employees in America rarely have.

It used to be in America, 70% of jobs were union jobs. now it's seven okay so very few people just regular people have like leverage a union negotiating in mass in power behind them now i'm i'm not saying you know a typical fireman is lebron james but i'm saying is unions create leverage and power and you work a long time it's very hard to get a really good union job you know in america a fireman in los angeles lifeguards uh the pension for a lifeguard is six figures those are gold bar jobs. You put 20 years in, you retire, you go to the beach, and you make 100,000

a year going to the beach and not working. Those are great jobs. So for the NBA, you've worked so long to get, and it takes star players. The NBA's been very fortunate. Their star players have been good guys. Michael Jordan, into Magic, into Bird, into Kobe, into Shaq, into LeBron.

They've been smart. They've been business people. They've understood their leverage. They've worked for years to build it. And if you play and I know it's difficult and I know it's isolation and I know there's concerns, but it should be noted. Zero to 17 years old in a state of California, 40 million people, nobody's died of COVID. It's that you're the safest person. Now, it could be a cousin.

It could be a relative. But just things to consider here, the owners almost always have leverage because the NBA is not their only income. They've got like 36 corporations. I mean, you watch Mark Cuban on Shark Tank. He buys another company every week. So they've always had the. ability to say, well, just shut it down.

In fact, I would make an argument. There are some medium to small market teams in baseball and the NBA that are probably rooting for a shutdown. So if you're a LeBron-level player, do you want to take the side of the small market owner who really wants leverage more than he cares about basketball? So these are tough decisions. It's not perfect for the NBA.

But to me, if you blow it up and you just say, we're not going to play. Wow. I don't know how you overcome that leverage loss, that power loss, that CBA loss in a decade. And the players have worked so hard to get it and so hard to maintain it. And these are not easy decisions, but I think we're going to have NBA. Nick writes around the corner, plus Russell Wilson, we are now all acknowledging the truth between him and Russell Wilson. Fascinating article today via Bleacher Report on Russell Wilson. 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 IHeart Radio app. 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. down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes 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 Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. What's up, guys?

This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents soccer moms.

So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip, just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast we're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey With all the snacks and drink

Sidebar why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? They had a bogo. Well then you got it. Do you want a white claw or something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album?

Oh, I would. I would buy it. Cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky I'm not a killer.

I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game.

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

And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball.

Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Seth Joyner, Super Bowl champ for the Eagles next hour. Rick Buecker, Kevin Clark, reporter for the ringer.

We think Nick Rytle will join us here in a couple of minutes. So Byron Leftwich played in the NFL for a long time. You know, kind of a marginal quarterback. He's now into coaching. You may have heard that story a while back where Tom Brady broke into the wrong house. Didn't really break into it. He walked into the wrong house in Tampa. Byron Leftwich was the house next door.

Brady walked in, got the wrong address, then walked across the street, blah, blah, blah. Leftwich was talking about Tom Brady and how he thinks the first year in Tampa will be. And one of the things he talked about that I think is really interesting, he said, I think the greatest challenge is this. He's been somewhere for 20 years. You work at the same job for 20 years, said Byron Lefich, and you've done something for 20 years in one spot with one group, and then you're asked to change totally. He goes, it's just automatically different, and all the stuff you take for granted doesn't happen. So he goes, the communication. This is why I thought gronk was really violent.

vital. Gronk is not about catches. Gronk's about culture. And my first year at ESPN and my first year at Fox Sports 1, we're bumpy. I'm building a staff. I'm building a culture. I'm building a set. I'm building an identity. I'm working with people I've never really worked with before. They don't know how I think, how I work, how I operate. It's hard. And I'm not Tom Brady, but I brought people with me to help me. Why? So they could preach the way I see the world. That's why, gronk is not about catches. Gronk's really about culture. And what I think is fascinating for Brady here.

I have lived in Tampa and I have lived near Boston. I'm not sure in America. There are two fairly major cities that are more opposite. Boston is an intellectual, driven, intense political and sports hub. The Red Sox were early on analytics. The Bruins were. The Patriots were. The Celtics were.

It's wildly competitive. It is academic. It's full of political and sports history. Tampa is flip-flops. Tampa is laid back. Tampa is chill with no history. Tom will be able to lighten up a little bit for Tampa. You know what I mean?

Even intense guys can chill out for the weekend, go golfing in Nantucket. But can chill guys. ramp it up for four months and be intense. And I don't know the answer there. I think it'll be easier for Tom to chill out than it will be for some of Tampa execs and players to get more intense, which is who Tom is and what he demands.

Nick Wright is joining us via the Coward Global Satellite Network lots to talk about. Let me start with this. Darry says we should win a title. And I said, I've never been a Westbrook Harden postseason fan, but my conspiracy theory is we're going to have players miss games for COVID, players miss games for injuries. There's an unspoken non-memo that's been passed around the league.

Give stars the whistle. Keep them in the playoffs. It's the only thing that guarantees this Orlando bubble problematic as it is works, which is more Harden, more Westbrook, more Janus, more Anthony, less Denver Nuggets. So I buy the Rockets a little this year. Do you think they're a championship team? Well, listen, I think they have the second best chance of anyone in the West of winning the title. And nobody thinks that except me.

I think they're better teaming the Clippers. I've watched them play the Clippers. I think they have more ways to beat you than the Clippers. And I actually think if this ends up being a second round matchup, Rockets Clippers, that it's a really tough matchup for the Clippers because the Rockets' weakness obviously. is the lack of an interior rim defender and the Clippers interior score, I think, is Evita Zubach, so I'm not that worried about that. Now, it is true that the Rockets needed more time to jail.

They made a major mid-season, you know, acquisition and departure and removing Capella bringing in Covington, and then the season stops. So that could work against them. But what I think could work for them as far as the pause of the. of the season, Colin, is what we've seen with Hardin over the last six years is he has such a workload during the regular season. By the end of the regular season and into the postseason, he wears down a bit. I think it's a little overblown, but he wears down a bit.

Now you've had a three-month break, and Westbrook is there to take some of the pressure off him and take some of the not mental pressure, but physical pressure of having to be the only generator of offense. So for all those reasons, I would rank the championship contenders at Lakers won, Bucks 2, Rockets 3. So yeah, I think they're a contender. I don't know if I'd pick them. But if you got two of the nine best players in basketball, you got a shot. So you love Patrick Mahomes.

And Lamar Jackson said there's no rivalry with Patrick Mahomes, which I agree. I don't see it right now. I think Lamar is really kind of in the AFC kind of his own galaxy. but it got you thinking about quarterback rivalries this morning. I'd like you to share it with the audience. Yeah, so I just think if we, this is kind of something to take a page out of your book, if you want to look into the crystal ball, so to speak, what are going to be the best rivalries of the next decade in the NFL?

And everyone does top fives. I prefer top six. I think Mahomes versus Deshaun Watson. We've seen them play in the playoffs once before Deshaun played well early. Mahomes obviously took over late. And then they're mostly in her division. Your great friend, and I believe Godson Baker Mayfield against Joe Burrow, kind of battling for the AFC North alongside Lamar, Tua versus Darnold,

two of who I think is going to be the best of the rookie quarterbacks, Darnold, who is your other actual godson battling for the AFC East. Russ, listen, I think Russ is older than all these guys by a while, but I think Russ is going to play the entirety of the 20s. 20s. Kyler Murray, number one overall pick, battling for the NFC West. And then you have DAC versus Went in the NFC East.

And of course, Mahomes versus Lamar as a potential Brady Manning, not in the same division, but battling for the conference. Like, to me, those are the quarterback rivalries that will determine the next decade in the NFL. And I think what is maybe most noteworthy there, Colin, is you look at, wait, there is no one from, for example, the NFC North or the NFC South on those lists,

meaning those are the two divisions where it's older quarterbacks or unproving quarterbacks on their way out, and you wonder if those divisions could be up for grabs over the next decade. Shifting gears, three minutes left. Jimmy Garoppolo said he was unfazed by the Brady rumors. I don't know if I would have been. Do you think less of Jimmy Garoppolo for saying, yeah, I don't care.

It's the NFL. Or would you like him to be outraged that the Niners did actually consider moving him for a 42-year-old Tom Brady? Yeah, I mean, Colin, it's not that I think less of him. I just don't believe him. I mean, if the bosses at FS1 were just publicly like, listen, we seriously considered and had a lot of conversations about kicking out Colin for Costas, I think it'd bother you. And you might be like, well, yeah, listen, Kostas might be the goat, but I think he's 70. Like, I'm in my prime still. What's going on?

And so I just don't believe him, Colin. It's not that I think more or less. There is, Jimmy Garoppolo has to have, have, still lose sleep over the fact that the NFL version of hitting the game-winning jump shot as time expires he had in his hand. Super Bowl, inside of two minutes, down less than a touch. down player open streaking down the field and he overthrew him by six yards. That's got to have kept him up all offseason. And now he finds out that his team considered strongly for multiple days, multiple meetings, moving on from him for the oldest quarterback we've seen this side of George Blanda.

That would bother me. That's just me. So I don't know that I can believe Jimmy Garoppolo, it didn't bother him. By the way, you were so succinct. They got one more with one and a half minutes. Kyrie Irving, we want perhaps to have our own league to which I would say, league minimums a million. It's not like players don't have leverage and great accommodations now. What did you make of Kyrie saying maybe we should just form our own league?

Listen, Kyrie is a different type of cat. I think we all know that. I think Kyrie's heart is in the right place on this. I think there is a reason the more cogent. quotes and thoughts on this, though, have come from Avery Bradley. I think Avery Bradley's point that, listen, raising awareness is great. But the whole reason you raise awareness is to then create action. That is the direction the NBA needs to be going. Every single owner in the league is richer than LeBron. Look at what LeBron has been able to do for his hometown of Akron.

Actual boots on the ground impact in the community. NBA guys, superstars such as Kyrie, putting pressure on owners to actually try to make positive change in the inner cities of the communities where the teams are, I think is a great thing. I think the NBA guys breaking off and starting their own, you know, USFL of the NBA, I think that might be a little pie in the skyish. But I know everyone's kind of crushing Kyrie. I want to give Kyrie credit because I do think he helped get this conversation going. to where when we're talking NBA, Colin, we were just talking COVID or we were talking about the restrictions of the bubble. And now we are talking about the issue of the moment, which is not just systemic racism,

but more specifically, police brutality against minority communities and the NBA trying to take a leadership role in that. But no, I don't think the NBA guys are going to break off and start their own league. I don't see that coming. Nick Wright, brought to you my Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing, my friend. Kossis is about 65, by the way. him a little bit there. But, you know, your point is well, thank you. Oh, my apologies. You know,

Costas inspired me to get into this business when I was 12. Told me where to go to college. I've known him forever. My apologies, Mr. Costas. But still, I'd be angry if I were you, Colin. You're still in your prime, my friend. All right. Nick Wright. Thanks, buddy. First things first. There we go. Yeah. I didn't even know that story. How about that?

Bob got Nick into sportscasting. A lot to talk about. We are now acknowledging the truth on the Aaron Rogers, Russell, Wilson comparisons. I love this story. It's coming up next hour two. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. 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. SportsSlice 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. What's up guys? This is Clifford Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Clifford Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Come on my. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to The Cliffer Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time.

You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening. On my own. I was like, what the hell is that?

I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How high can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard. Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try.

So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it unfiltered and unbothered and ask, How hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcasts presents Soccer Moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah.

This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip, just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast we're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey

with all the snacks and drink. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would. Come on.

Could you move? I would buy it. Cutts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You are. I'm not a killer. I love this team, and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Ah, here we go. It's our two. We're live in Los Angeles. This is The Hurt. Wherever you may be, However you may be listening, we're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. Seth Joyner, former Super Bowl champ Philadelphia Eagles, Rick Buecker this hour, and the very funny Kevin Clark from the ringer final hour. Great NFL guy. Joy, how are you? I'm great.

How are you? I needed coffee this morning. Did not get my coffee this morning? I bring my coffee. Yeah, I should start doing that. Now, I went to a restaurant last night, buddy called me up, Eric, and he said, you want to go to this dive Mexican restaurant. And I'm like, sure.

I love going to dive restaurants. It was unbelievable. I'd driven past it 100 times. I didn't even know what it was. It just says restaurant on it. That's all it says. Those are the best ones. It just says restaurant.

They didn't even have the name. So I go to it last night. It's unbelievable. I try to be a, I graze all day, as you know. I don't eat big meals. I gorge myself. It was unbelievable. The problem being is that if I tell anybody,

especially if I went to Twitter or something or announced it now, forget it. I know how it works. I've done this before. I say something nice on the air. You know, we've got enough people listening in Los Angeles. I can't get into my dentist's office. I can't get into a doctor. Yeah, I mean, you have that power. Well, I mean, we both do. If you went on the air right now and said, I've just went to the best restaurant in Los Angeles, it would have, they get 30 reservations. That's the way it works. You might have a little more pool than me, but yeah.

Well, I am America's media icon. I do see what you're saying, though, because you are, you're conflicted because you want to. I want to tell people how great it was. But it's a dive, and it's got about six stools. Six like tables, maybe eight, and like two outdoors. And now with COVID, they got less and less. And I'm not filling the place up because I'm going to go there tonight. And it's like... Mexican food is my favorite food.

Oh, my Lord, it was good. Are you going to tell me? Off here. And you would never guess it. That's fine. You would never... Where did you have? Oh, this thing.

It was like a better version of a fajito. They had seasoned chicken on top of rice and vegetables and a red sauce with just a little cheese. It was just drippy enough and gooey enough. And, oh, it was, I went home and I laid next to my cat and fell asleep at like 808. It was unbelievable. So you're not going to, you're not going to shout them out. That's not a lot of tables. They just don't have enough. Yeah. I think. It's like when you get a good dentist, don't tell anybody. You'll never get back into the dentist. I think you got to be selfish. Yeah. So, which is easy for me. So I want to talk about this. Bleacher report, Mike, T-A-N-I-E-R. Tainer has an article. He makes a very compelling

point. He goes, you know, this year, we're getting to a point where everybody's going to watch Brady and Breeze. Could they set the all-time touchdown record? Could they set the all-time yardage record? We're kind of looking at them as Breeze and Brady are now battling. They're just filling up the record book. But Mike at Bleacher Report says, what's more interesting is not the old guys. And it's not even the young guys. It's the two guys. It's the two guys. in the middle of the NFL, Wilson and Aaron Rogers. Aaron has the highest passer rating in league history.

Russell's second. And if Russell and Aaron have the exact same years they did last year, they are tied at 101.8. How remarkable is that? And by the way,

the difference is Aaron's numbers last three years are declining. Russell's are going up. Translation. They won't have the same year this year, and Russell will be ahead, and we now have consensus from other people beyond me. Russell is going to end up being the better quarterback all time than Aaron, and he's right now better than Aaron.

Aaron, and he's earned it, has been riding the nostalgia train for several years. Never forget Aaron's three best passer rating years are 2011, 2012, and 2014. Folks, that is a long time ago. That is not to say Aaron didn't deserve it and hasn't earned it. He is a first ballot Hall of Famer, and for several years, you call him the goat. I didn't, but I got the argument based on Dan Marino-level talent. But whereas Aaron's declining and Russell is not, Russell is now younger, healthier, elevates teammates, and appears to be easier to coach.

There I said it. Sorry, it feels obvious. to me. There is one number with Aaron I've never been able to get over and Green Bay fans get really defensive about this. They put on their cheese heads and argue.

When you look at great quarterbacks, John Elway was defined by fourth quarter comebacks. That was why he was better than Marino. He was better late. Tom Brady for most of his career was better in big games than Peyton Manning. This is not about touchdown. I mean,

If I ask you, Tom Brady all-time touchdown passes, hell, you don't even know. I don't know. I'm not sure Tom knows. It's not a stat sport. You got to win games. And as a quarterback, you are judged. Jimmy Garapolo outplayed Patrick Mahomes for three quarters of the Super Bowl. We call Garapolo a whiff because he had a bad fourth quarter.

We don't care about the first three quarters. We care about the last for quarterbacks. Are you great late? That's what defined Montana. Montana wasn't the biggest. Montana didn't have the biggest stats. Montana wasn't a stat machine. Montana doesn't have...

Montana was great in Super Bowls, the last game of the year. There's a stat with Aaron I've never been able to get over. Fourth quarter comebacks. Russell Wilson 21 Aaron 16. And Aaron's played 46 more games. What the hell? Derek Carr's got more fourth quarter comebacks.

Ryan Tannehill's got more. Andy Dalton has more. Matt Ryan's got more than Aaron Rogers. Well, it's the defense. Right. Matt Ryan's always had a great defense. Derek Carr and Oakland's had a great defense. Andy Dalton last three years starting had a great defense.

Well, I mean, it's coaching. Andy Dalton always had a great coach. Ryan Tannahill always had a great coach. Aaron's not as great late as Russell Wilson. And that's how you define him. By the way, Russell, zero losing seasons, never hurt. Aaron, both of those recently. So I think we now have a consensus for anybody that's honest.

Russell's slightly better now. And after the year, it's Russell is the better quarterback. So Lamar Jackson said yesterday, he was talking about, you know, we kind of blew it against Tennessee. You know, to be honest, they shocked us. We got a little ahead of ourselves. I don't think the loss by Lamar Jackson defines him or means really anything. I mean, Tom Brady got beat by Tennessee. We see this every year in the NFL playoffs.

There's a team that shocks us, Philadelphia and Nick Foles. How? Rams and Jared Goff. What? It happens every year. It's no big deal. You've got a surprise. It doesn't mean they get to the Super Bowl.

It doesn't mean they win the Super Bowl. But there's always a surprise team. Last year it was Tennessee. I don't think it means anything Baltimore lost. Baltimore had a better season. I'd make the argument Baltimore was a better team. They just weren't a better team that Saturday. And that's okay.

It happens. It's no big deal. There have been Denver teams that beat Tom Brady. I don't necessarily think they've always been better, but it's high altitude. It's at Denver. They were better in that moment. Tim Tebow at one time beat Big Ben and the Steelers. I don't think Tebow's better, but in that moment, on that Sunday, he was.

But when I look at Baltimore, here's the one thing I will say. I always do my NFL predictions, and I never make anybody like undefeated or Owen 16. I mean, I did a couple years ago. Even a good team, I think winning 12 games in the NFL is. really hard. Baltimore is the first team, the more I think about it. Baltimore is the first team maybe I've ever thought that I'm starting to think they're going to go 16 and 0, and it's not ridiculous. First of all, Kansas City plays in a division with the Chargers. They have one of the top three rosters in the NFL. Denver's highly explosive on offense. They also are off a

Super Bowl win. Kansas City have a little bit of a September hangover. Also, Kansas City has to go to Baltimore for Monday night football, good luck. To the Saints, to Tom Brady and Tampa late in the year when Tom should have his act together. At Buffalo in October when it gets cold and windy and brings down both offenses. If you look at Baltimore, they bring back everybody. They upgraded their secondary. They now have the best secondary, the best running game in the NFL. Their toughest road games at Philadelphia, they could take a bus there.

They don't go west. Seattle next year travels 30,000 miles. Baltimore travels 6,000 miles. They're in a division where Cincinnati's got a rookie quarterback, Cleveland's got a rookie coach, and Pittsburgh has an old quarterback off an injury, who looks like he hasn't shaved in years. I don't know what to make the Steelers.

I do know what to make a Cincinnati. They're bad, and as far as Cleveland goes, none of us know, but they got a rookie head coach in a rookie system in a year of pandemic when there's no OTAs and an abridged preseason. Baltimore doesn't travel. Baltimore's got continuity. Baltimore schedule. The two teams on Baltimore's schedule that have what I would call equal talent or close,

Cleveland and Kansas City. They host Kansas City and Kansas City beat them last year, so they got a chip on their shoulder. And Cleveland beat them last year too and shocked them. And they've got a chip on their shoulder in the opener against Cleveland. Baltimore is a rare team for me. I think it is very possible. They steamroll Cleveland.

Evelyn early, and they just start rolling, and they don't slow down. And even as good as Kansas City is, they're going to have three or four missteps. As good as those great New England teams are. I never thought they'd go undefeated. Undefeated to me just doesn't make – I think the Niners next year are going to lose half a dozen games to four or five games. I think Baltimore, no continuity, no OTAs, chip on their shoulder, schedule perfect. We may be looking at a 16-and-0 football team, and I don't think it's crazy.

They got the best O line in the league, arguably. Best running game, best secondary, easiest schedule, and a quarterback who was great last year and appears to be getting better. Coming up next, Seth Joyner, All-timer, Super Bowl champ, Philadelphia Eagles, Rick Buecker this hour as well. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHard Radio app. Search Hurd to listen live. 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 happens. 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 athletes 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 SportsLice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show,

I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you know. to wave at her. What? Come out.

Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Brett. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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

And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stopped by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, I said. You figure it out real quick.

Oh, yeah. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through, life one hot flash and hormonal crying

jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a paramedipausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be with the Anamanea Arriva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden I'd had

hanginess happening on my I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45.

How hard can it be getting naked at 50 with a new guy? That one's kind of hard now. Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura Podcast Network available on the Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Or on demand, whenever you'd like. This weekend, NASCAR returns to Talladega. First on Saturday, it's Xfinity Series racing at 530 Eastern on FS1. Then Sunday on Fox. Catch the Geico 500 at 3 Eastern.

Both races are also on the Fox Sports app. Good stuff. He's a Super Bowl champ. 13 NFL seasons. Friend of mine, three Pro Bowls, always got opinion. Seth Joyner is now joining me from his home in Arizona via the Coward global satellite networks, that joiner. You know, it's interesting.

Jimmy Garapolo said yesterday, he said, listen, man, if I was going to get traded, you know, it didn't phase me. It's the NFL. And part of me thinks, man, if I was going to get traded from Fox Sports for another sportscaster and I was in my prime, I don't think I'd sleep as well tonight. But I guess as a pro athlete, it's just built into your guy's psyche. I mean, would it bother you in your prime if you were on the trading block? Hey, listen, for 100 million bucks, they can trade them wherever they want to trade him.

He's still going to get his money. I think as players, you know, we're sensitive to things like that because everybody wants to be wanted wherever they are. But if you play in the NFL long enough, you know that the end is coming sooner or later. So it's a smart way for him to approach this thing, especially with all the information it was swirling about how interested the 49s were in Tom Brady. Speaking of Brady, it's interesting. So you make your mark with the Eagles. And then you had a couple other stops. And Byron left which said, Seth, he goes, for Tom, it's not about figuring the offense out.

But when you live in a town and you have a drive to work and you have the same protocol and you do it for 20 years. And then all of a sudden you go to Lucy Goosey Tampa and cocktails at five with Bruce Ariens. And the players aren't, they're not used to Tom's intensity. and that it's the day-to-day stuff. You know, Philadelphia is intense. That doesn't mean everybody's like Philadelphia, where they expect you to win, and they yell at you, and there's talk radio, and they're demanding,

and then you go to Tampa, and all of a sudden it's like, hey, let's go fishing. It's 4.30. Do you think Brady will struggle a little bit going from the most intense NFL system, which he helped create, to kind of a laid-back chill, hang out, hope we win market and city and franchise. No, because I think that, you know, you got to evaluate why you play the game.

Why are you playing football? If you're not playing to win championships and here you have a guy in Tom Brady, who's been to nine Super Bowls and won three. And at 42 years old, the fire is still burning to win more and to prove that he was just as important in winning those Super Bowls in New England

as Bill Belichick. is. Okay. Now, I know Bruce Aaron's. He is a intense guy. Okay. And he's going to implement that mentality on his football team. I also know that Todd Bowles is going to put a phenomenal product defensively. He's building towards it on that field. Now, listen, if those players and the people of Tampa Bay can't get behind that intensity with all the lacklust of play that they've had with the exception of the one Super Bowl that they won, then they need to sell the franchise and move on. Because at the end of the day, you're there as a football player to win championships. You know, and if the rest of the guys can't buy into that, then I promise you, Bruce

will get rid of the ones that camp and everybody else will fall in line. So I am in the camp with Lamar Jackson, that he's a hard worker. He's a unique dynamic athlete. When Zion Williamson came into the NBA, I just kept saying, he doesn't look like anybody else. It's going to work. And it did. Lamar Jackson just doesn't play like anybody else. It's going to work. But there is also a camp that thinks, okay, this runaround stuff has limitations. Kaepernick had two or three years. And then the league kind of figured it out. What camp are you in with Lamar Jackson going forward? I do think he's a unique skill set. But I also believe I've always been of the opinion that, you know, when you have a question,

like Lamar Jackson, you know physically that he's gifted and you see what he can do when he has the football in his hand. I would rather see the total development of a quarterback like him and then have him use these skill sets when necessary. When you look at Patrick Mahomes, Patrick Mahomes can do some of this stuff. He's not as athletic as Lamar Jackson, but he is a complete quarterback who plays the game from the pocket first and then use his action. athleticism only when he has to. And I would love to see that happen with Lamar Jackson. This is the problem that I have with these offensive

coordinators that formulate or develop an offense strictly for a quarterback. Because defenses at some point, they're going to figure it out. They're going to figure out how to stop him from running all over the place. He's going to take some blows. So for longevity purposes,

I would love to see them develop him and then coach him to use his abilities. Only when necessary out of the pocket. So one thing you and I, I think, agree with, and we have a lot of things we don't agree on. But I think Carson Wentz is special. And I think throughout the course of this last three months, I've seen about seven polls. And they've all got Carson Wentz as the 11th best quarterback and the ninth best and

the second most true talent in this division in this conference. And as somebody who does Eagles games is in. in the city regularly. There was this first impressions matter. He got hurt early. Foles won a Super Bowl without him. There are stories that not everybody liked him. What's the true Carson Wentz you hear about and defend from the players?

Well, let me preface this, you know, with, listen, I cover the team. I play for the team. But you know me, Colin, I speak, you know, straight from the hip. I'm not going to sugar-coded. If I didn't think Carson Wentz was a great quarterback, I'd say it. And I have no bits about that. I think that he's had to grow up. And I thought that towards the end of last season,

we saw him grow up right before our eyes. Because I believe that he had some young guys around him that just wanted to play. They didn't care who was getting the ball. They didn't care how many targets were coming to him. They didn't care about any of that stuff. They saw an opportunity to get on the field and make some plays and make a name for themselves,

and they look to him for leadership. And he stepped into his rightful place as leader on that football team. Now, he has to continue to do that. A lot of people are down on him because of injury. Let's talk about the injury. How many ACL injuries do, you know, happens on a yearly basis? You know, let's not forget the kid not only tore his ACL, but he tore his LCL too.

And then he rushed him back the following year, in my opinion, and he fractures the back. In my opinion, that's about them rushing him back too fast because there's one thing to be physically ready. It's another thing to be psychologically ready. And then you're making these compensations. And then he gets injured. Not because somebody hit him.

He's just, you know what? I got something's going on in my back. You know, they check it out. Nothing, nothing on the scan. And then all of a sudden they go back and they do another one. And now you can see the calcification. And you know that, you know what? If you see the calcification, it's already healing.

Okay. Then you fast forward to last season. Gets through 16 games, gets to the playoffs. Debian Clowny hits him in the back of the head. What are you going to do about a concussion? Because once you go in the blue tent, they take your helmet. Your day is over. It's not the NFL that I once played in.

But when you watch this kid play, you see that when he has the weapons and he's fully engaged and he's healthy, he's a top flight quarterback. I don't care what anybody says. And I saw that same list that he's the top 50 players and he's not even on the list. Name me 20 to 25 players that are better than Carson Wins and a quarterback-driven league. Yeah, there aren't. There are not.

Finally, I haven't gotten your opinion on, I know it happened a while back. Jordan Love drafted over Aaron Rogers. Now, I believe if Aaron Russell Wilson have the same years they had last. year, identical years. Russell's now tied with Aaron for the greatest passer rating in league history. I think this moment today, Russell, today is better

than Aaron. I don't think that four years ago. Aaron's last great passer rating year was six years ago. It was two best two, 2011, 2012. I think we've seen the best of Aaron, though I think he's still unbelievably talented. But when they drafted Jordan Love, I haven't gotten your take on this yet. My takeaway is there are things

behind the scenes that wear people out. Aaron wears people out. We've had family members. We've had Martellus Bennett recently. We've had Jeff Saturday. We've had Greg Jennings, people I know and respect. Today, where is Aaron Rogers in your eyes in the NFL as a quarterback? Where does he stand to you? I still think that Aaron Rogers is an elite level quarterback. You know, did they get a little too big for his britches, you know, with Mike McCarthy, probably. You know, that relationship deteriorated. Matt LaFleur comes in and he implements a run first offense, something that Aaron Rogers has never had to deal with because, you know,

that offense has been predicated on what Aaron Rogers does in the past game. I think with the right weapons around him, and I get it, you know, Russell Wilson has been phenomenal, but let's not. you get it twisted. At the end of the day, that first Super Bowl that the Seattle Seahawks won was because of the Legion of Boom. It wasn't because of Russell Wilson. It was in spite of Russell Wilson, in my opinion. Now, they get him back there, and they make the wrong call, and he throws the interception. But when you look at what Russell Wilson does, he's a different animal, and that team is built differently. And now when you look at the Green Bay Packers,

they're kind of building this team the way that the Seattle Seahawks have built. And that's something that Aaron's not used to. He's used to shouldering all the, you know, all the weight as far as the football team. They're trying to run the ball first. And then they're building the defense has been phenomenal last year. So, yeah, Roger, you know, Aaron Rogers is, you know, he didn't have the numbers he had last year. So that's going to make everybody pause. And he's a little teed off because, you know, they went and they drafted a quarterback rather than going to get him some skill positions that, some skill guys.

and wide receiver. But in my opinion, Aaron Rogers is still Aaron Rogers. If you put all the pieces around him, you give him an offensive line that protects him, and you give him some weapons that he can throw the ball to, he can still be just as dangerous as he's always been. It's a good scene. You're going to play golf today, by the way?

I haven't yet, but, you know, after I get done with speak, you can best believe I'm getting out there and out 100 and 102 weather to play. Seth does not care about heat. He is playing golf. every day in Tempe, Arizona. Good seeing you, bud.

Same, my friend. Take care. All right, Seth Joyner, former Philadelphia Eagle. Great Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herd Line News.

Sponsored by Mercedes-Bets, the best or nothing. So the NBA is enforcing strict protocols in Orlando to make sure that the health and well-being of all their bubble participants are protected. Anyone who leaves the NBA campus will reportedly be subject to enhance testing, quarantined for 10 to 14 days.

Just for leaving it? Yes. And will lose pay for any games missed. So if you leave the NBA campus, you will get the deep nasal testing. Okay, so I can deal with that. And I won't be able to play? You'll be quarantined for 10 to 14 days and you will lose pay for any of the games that you miss during that time.

That's brutal. So I can't. You cannot leave the NBA campus. The league will also create an anonymous hotline. boy for anyone to report potential violations of the bubble protocols. I saw that, yeah. Kind of narkey. I mean, it's a snitch line.

But how does that work? So it's anonymous. So, I mean, wouldn't you, of course, just snitch on the other team just to put them in that situation? No, I think what it is is if a guy's out having fun in Orlando at a restaurant and a fan sees him, they can call the line. Isn't that what it means? I don't know. I don't know if it's open to everyone. But even if it is open to fans and not just other players and personnel,

wouldn't the fans, like if you're a fan of another team, wouldn't you be like, yeah, I saw so-and-so-out? Have you ever snitched on anybody that got him in trouble? I've done it once. I mean, my brothers and sisters, but... You did? I mean, look, if it's going to get me out of a whoop, of course, but, like, that was a long time ago.

I'm not a snitch. I'm not a big gossip person. I know this. No, you and I are not. I'm not into all that. But I, yeah. I'm on my own business. I'm a little bit like a mobster is

I have a lot of information I do too I just don't feel I don't see the value in sharing my information with a lot of people if I didn't have to whack people I could be a I could be a mobster because I don't rat a lot I've only done it once in my life you're not a rat I'm definitely not a rat but this is this is a wild setup

so everyone else has to wear a mask unless they're eating working out or in their rooms they obviously stay six feet apart except during team workouts. They can wear a smart ring that may help with the detection of the coronavirus. Oh, I like that. Why don't we all have smart rings? I don't, I don't have one. Where do you get one of those? I don't ever heard of this. I think that's great. By the way, I saw yesterday there's a steroid, uh, over-the-counter steroid available that is wildly successful in limiting deaths. No, I don't, NBA players are not going to die, but it's in limiting ventilator deaths. How about

Well, they have a lot of amenities and entertainment on the campus. So they have a players-only lounge, pools, trails, barbers, manicurists, and pedicurist, 24-hour VIP concierge, daily entertainment, which includes movie screenings, DJ sets, video games, ping pong, pool, and lawn games. And the players can also attend other games. I think that's what I would do. I'm just, listen, we all make sacrifices in life. It's going to be a bit of a sacrifice.

It's not a good. Look, it's not an ideal situation. Could you snitch on a player if he was out? Could you do that? No. I couldn't either. I've only snitched on one employee ever. It was like 10 years ago. Bad person. No, but this is, but we're not talking about, like, if someone's leaving the campus to go do whatever it is they're going to do. You know what they're going to do. They're putting the rest of the league in jeopardy.

Not leaving the campus to play lawn darts. But how are you going to determine whether this snitch is legitimate or not? How do you know they're just not saying that somebody is out there? By the way, it was not Goulet. So-and-so is going on a hike. This is a perfect time to call into the hotline and say that they went off the campus to do whatever. Like how did they police that? It just seems really crazy.

I did not turn in Goulet. That's not who it was. Well, after 20 years of the Patriots, Tom Brady is looking to find success without Bill Belichick. And according to former patriot, Rodney Harrison, Belichick and the rest of the team are just is motivated to win without Brady as well. He said, Belichick might bring up a couple of articles. Everybody's saying it's over. Brady this, Brady that.

And of course, he'll have something to say about that. But at the end of the day, whether he makes the point or not, he knows the team will be motivated to prove they can win without Tom. I know I would be pissed. So these guys are going to be motivated, pumped up, and ready to go. You know, great. You still don't have enough dynamic athletes. None of that stuff matters to me.

Line up against Baltimore. They got better players. Line up against Kansas City, the Chargers, the Eagles, the Rams, All this motivation stuff, they don't have enough players. I'm 1,000 percent. I don't want to hear about motive. You know what it's like? Do you remember when the dolphins, I forget who they fired, but they had Dan Campbell.

Do you remember that? And it was like, motivation central, run through walls. Eight plays in, you're not good enough. And it was super fun. Don't get me wrong. But like, it was still not a great team. And of course, what inevitably is going to happen is going to happen. Isn't the movies.

This is what Mike Tyson said. Everybody's got a game plan until they get punched in the face. Everybody's got a game plan until you're like, you know, our receivers can't create separation. Again, I'm happy to be wrong about Jared Stidham. I will happily walk up here and say I was wrong. I don't think I'm going to have to do that. But I just don't, I don't see it. It's not about the rest of the team.

Of course, there's still great players on that team. But the pieces that are the most important, like the quarterback are not there. Finally, Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn already has a full quarterback room with Tyrod Taylor, Justin Herbert, and Easton Stick, but he hasn't ruled out taking a look at Colin Kaepernick as well. That's something that's probably on the workout list. I haven't spoken with Colin. I'm not sure where he's at as far as in his career.

What do you want to do? But Colin definitely fits the style of quarterback. for the system that we're going to be running. And I'm very confident and happy with the three quarterbacks that I have. But you can never have too many people waiting on the runway. Well, I know this as fact Anthony would like to move the pocket more. I think he got frustrated, being totally limited. Anthony wants to roll out.

He sees what's happening in the league. And Anthony want, this is why Justin Herbert was a big turn on. They liked that Justin Herbert, to them, it was more athletic than Tua. They think he moves better than Tua. They want to move their pocket because everybody, Mahomes is moving and Lamar's moving. And Jared Goss, one of the few like pocket guys that's young.

So I'm not saying this would happen, but what he's saying is I know to be true. Inside the organization, they were frustrated at the last three years as the league was evolving for the quarterback's position. Yeah, that's not what Philip Rivers is. They couldn't do any of the movement quarterback stuff. It was driving him nuts. This actually would be a great place for him,

Because when you're bringing Colin Kaepernick in, this is this is a situation where you know like the future of the team is Justin Herbert. You just took him. Tyrod Taylor is the starter right now. But has been hurt more than once. Has been hurt. And he's in the organization already. You're coming off of a pandemic.

He already knows the system. They feel comfortable with him. So this actually would be a great place for him. We'll talk more about this on Joy Chat this afternoon at 330 Eastern on caffeine, free app and go download it and subscribe to the Fox Sports channel. Good stuff. way Taylor has, by the way, flipped her hair from one side to the other over the course of the show. We keep you on your toes, folks. This is not just same thing. Same old, same old. Joy with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. All right, Rick Buecker, very latest NBA. I think we're going to have a season. I think it'd be a disaster not to. I think it's going to be fun. I can't wait. I no longer trust baseball. NBA come back. MLS, NBA into football. That may be what I get. I'm down with it. That's coming up. Rick Bueker next. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand when... 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 Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations

about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this guy walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42.

Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Park. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. American Soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on the Army Stewart. I'm Tom Bow.

On our podcast, inside American soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team.

And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. This is my best friend Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school.

Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drink. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer?

Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just hit it. Oh, what are y'all doing? Microphones? Making a rap album? Oh, I would.

Come on. Could you believe? I would buy it. Cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic.

You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or. wherever you get your podcasts. Whatever you'd like. It's good to have you in. Rick Buecker's been covering the NBA for a long time since the early 90s,

so over 25 year, and he is now joining us now via the Coward Global Satellite Network, my friend Rick Bueker, Fox Sports NBA analyst. All right, so Kyrie Irving talks about now, he's been very erratic. He talks about, hey, we should just start our own league. There's the, I don't think we should play, there's bigger issues. My takeaway is he's become increasingly erratic. I think his heart may be in the right place. You talk to players in a daily basis.

What do they feel about where Kyrie has gone in the last 10 days? Obviously, there's a couple of guys who do feel the way that Kyrie does in terms of should we be playing, should we be asking for things before we agree to play. But when it comes to Kyrie being a thought leader or the guy that is leading this, particular cause, I can not only tell you that what I heard a couple of players say after the Friday call, which it was Kyrie talking to hear Kyrie talk, that there is a fascination that Kyrie has with the idea of being a thought leader and being a leader. Guys respect the hell out of him as a player on the court and what his abilities are. When you go beyond that,

especially the guys who have played with him, they're not feeling that so much. And I will tell you just from my stand. Look, I admire the hell out of what he is as a player, and I like guys who think out of the box. But when it comes to carrying the torch for something this important, he's not in my first 200 choices to be that guy. You know, one of the, I didn't want to be cynical, but, I mean, he doesn't get along with LeBron. You know, I mean, you could make the argument. Are the motives totally pure? Is this just to be a little bit of a little shot at LeBron, let's shut down the season? Because Kyrie's not going to play in the playoffs and LeBron's favored in the playoffs.

Is that a fair question? Come on, Colin. Let's just go full conspiracy theory here. LeBron wants to play. LeBron knows, I think, on some level, as most of us do, that this is probably his last best chance to win a championship in L.A. That's not a good thing for Kyrie if he is competing with LeBron and wants to be considered to be on his level. And Kyrie is not going to play and is certainly not playing for a championship.

So it benefits Kyrie, one, if there is no resumption of play this year, he loses nothing. And meanwhile, some of his rivals certainly do the opportunity to win another ring. And then it's a matter of simply he has long wanted to be regarded as being on the same plane as LeBron. So if LeBron's saying, we should play, and Kyrie says, well, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'm not so sure about that and is able to gather some attention to that. Then by default, it puts him on the same level as far as influence is concerned. So again, this is just a theory. But I will say I ran it by somebody close to Kyrie because basically they had the same question I did.

Why do you think Kyrie is doing this? And the fact that there's a question about exactly what the motive is goes to the heart of the problem here. It was simply, hey, Kyrie wants to make sure that the Black Lives Matter movement is not being interrupted or disrupted or being distracted from. but everybody is kind of thinking, okay, what's Kyrie really after? And I ran it by this person who knows Kyrie very well. I said, what about this? What if this is the rivalry with Chris Paul and LeBron and all these stars? And the guy goes, that could be it.

So it's got a little bit of fodder. It's got, let's put it in the box of crazy ideas, but nonetheless, an idea. So Darrell Mori comes out and says, we should win the title this year with Hardin and Westbrook. There's no data that proves or illustrates they should be favored or in the conversation. Speaking of motives, Darrell has really steadfastly defended James Harden multiple times this year. Why? What's behind that? There's a lot of things going on here with the Houston Rockets. Number one, financially, this hit with Tillman Fertita, the owner. A new owner, by the way, did not. He's acquired, inherited Darry. They've got financial issues. And let's not forget, Darrell had the dust up with the whole Hong Kong China incident at the beginning of the year. Also cost the rockets a ton of money. I can make the argument that the way that the rocket, its play does give them an advantage under these circumstances. But that said, it's also their last

best chance because if what I'm hearing about their financial situation is accurate, they may very well be pressed to move one of those guys at the end of the year when everything is said and done before we come into next season. And so there's reason to say this is our, ultimately our opportunity. And I guess if we're going to go conspiracy theories, we can throw this, we can throw this out there too, is that these are going to be unusual circumstances with how the game is officiated. And Darrell could be greasing the skids for that as well. I mean, no fans, no home court.

I'll be interested to see how the stars are officiated. Yeah, I think they're going to get the whistle. I'll tell you that. finally NBA players can opt out of this season. It's June 24th, which begs the question, do you believe, I doubt any stars would, but do you think there'd be a dozen players for various reasons that would simply say, this doesn't work for me and my family, I'm opting out? I imagine there may be a couple, but I think the guys that are at the lower end of the spectrum are more likely to come back and play

because this may be money that they never see again. That's the reality of it. Adam Silver has estimated that if they don't come back and play, that they could lose as much as $4 billion. Wow. Now, that's why you have to come back and play. Because I spoke to a GM yesterday. He said, look, this is why the players understand.

The players like LeBron James understand. We have to come back and play. Because if they don't, the owners are going to blow up the collective bargaining agreement, and it's not going to be anywhere close to 50-50. It's going to be 80-20. Wow. And they're going to utilize the pandemic and the economy and all of that to put things back in their favor, in a dramatic way.

The guys that are at the lower end of the spectrum, unless they have some sort of health concern, This is money that they may never see again because it still stands. The question still stands. What is next season going to look like? How much revenue are they going to recoup? And what's the salary cap going to look like? And whenever there are salary cap issues, the superstars inevitably get their money. It's everybody else who takes the fall.

Good talking to you, Rick Buecker. We'll talk soon. I'll call you this afternoon. Thanks, buddy. Sounds good, Colin. By the way, former front office exec, Bobby Marks, talked to the New York Daily News this week, as Rick was pointing out, if Orlando is canceled, you have to consider this. Rick said it goes from 50-50 split to 80-20. The NBA can impose the force majeure clause and rip up the CBA.

It's called the nuclear option. You never want to give owners the nuclear option. Like, you don't want to give that up. So the current CBA is considered to be very favorable to the players. Baseballs is not. The baseball, the owners took the players to the woodshed. Okay. That may be why they're not getting along now because the players are like,

you took, you housed us last time. We're not letting you do it again. And I defend the players. But the NBA players got the better of the owners. the belief is the CBA's very strong to the players and very strong to LeBron and Janus and the star players, Kevin Durant. So, listen, it is so hard in life to get power and leverage. Even if you're talented, forget if you're not talented.

If you're talented, it's hard to get it from the corporation, the bosses, you know, whoever. You don't want to give it back because you give it back. You'll never get it back. So, you know, this is going to be, you know, I think the NBA is doing about as good as you can do. I think Adam Silver is doing about as good as you can do. I still think they should have played in Orlando, Dallas, and L.A. They should have had three cities instead of one Disney bubble.

But we'll see. Hour three coming up next. 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. Joy Taylor and I have some crazy, not even crazy. Joy has, I got a team. The joy has made an unbelievable point, and I'm going to get to it before the end of the show.

I think it's one of your great points. Thank you. I'm doing some more research on it now because we talked about it. About what we talked about. Yes. Okay. I think it's really, I think it's so bottom line and honest. And I think we're an honest show.

We try to, yeah. Yeah. I think it's the topic nobody wants to talk about. I'm free to talk about it. Not going to bother me. Let's just talk about it. One minute. Talk about it for one minute.

So the thing nobody wants to talk about the bubble is that you're asking guys to go in the bubble for two months, maybe two and a half months. Right. And all ask this to you. What we're not talking about is 20-year-old professional males in the best shape of their life. Testosterone flowing. Correct. You're asking them for two and a half months. No sex.

Why can't we acknowledge that's a topic? let's not be immature. I mean, I think it's absurd. So I'm reading some of the rules now. They will be allowed to have guests on campus after the first round of the playoffs is completed. So the eight, so up until the first round of the playoffs is completed, other than medical emergencies, like family medical emergencies or like your wife is giving birth, you can't leave campus.

So you have to have approval and those are like. So you can have a girlfriend or a wife visits after the first round of playoffs. So only with the 18. they'll be allowed to reserve between 15 and 17 rooms for players guests. Players have to pay for the rooms, obviously. Yeah, but they get... To be allowed on campus, guests will have to self-quarantine for a week, then quarantine and be tested at least every other day for three days

in either the home market or outside of the MBA's campus in Orlando. Anyone who is test positive won't be allowed. So it's going to be still a very extreme situation that you would imagine they would only be bringing in family. But I think what you had brought up to me, I think this is. But even still, that's still, if they go down in a week, that's still through the first round of the playoffs. Like, two weeks. Or more? Three weeks. Yeah. For a 24-year-old athlete, that's different. Your testosterone levels at 23 are greater than at 30, 40, 50, 53.

Let's safely say it's a month that this is what we're- That's not realistic to ask professional athletes to do that. I mean, I don't think it's realistic to at least. Normal. people are not doing that. Right. Like we are in quarantine. You're not supposed to be seeing other people. That's not how it's working. In fact, the opposite. If you read stories happened in America. We'll have a baby boom. Yeah, I believe so. I mean, I don't, I don't, I, the repercussions because we were talking about the snitch line that the NBA is setting up so that if anyone leaves the campus, they can't, they're not going to let anyone on campus. So getting someone on campus is going to be impossible, right? This is a bubble that we're talking about. I like that we're talking about a grown-up subject. Yeah. I mean, I don't think it's a, I don't think it's a realistic ask. Yeah. It's, I mean, to be quite honest, it's the first thing I thought about. Like, wait a minute.

You're just going to send the entire, like, 22 teams, the NBA into this bubble, and there's no women? There's no women. I mean, I think we are an essential part of life. So I'm, I don't understand how that's going to work. I don't think it's going to work. These are questions. This could be a new show.

I wasn't on the call, so I don't know if that question was asked. I'm sure they were asked if you were allowed visitors. If we don't get any games in July, this is the new show. Hopefully it's advertiser-friendly. I don't know if, I don't, I mean, this is this life, right? Like, how did we get here? So I don't know how that's, I don't know how that's going to work. Yeah, I'd tell you that.

The new show, a lot of stuff percolating. If I was on the call, that would be a question I would ask. Okay, Kevin, poor, poor Kevin Clark's going to walk himself right into this thing. He's got to give us the answer. For Kevin Clark. 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. Well, he's one of the really smart young reporters out there and fairly recently married, which matters a lot because our topics today have been very unique on the show with Joy and I. He works for the ringer, formerly the Wall Street Journal. I just love having him. Kevin Clark is joining us via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Okay, he just went to the Sequoias, by the way.

So I'm going to go to the Sequoias because he just went, and he said they're unbelievable. This guy has so much information. He's just fantastic. So you had Lamar Jackson on a podcast recently. There's two schools of camp. Seth Joyner came on an hour ago and said, I think the league's going to figure him out. I do not. I had the same opinion of Zion.

If you watch an athlete and go, wow, that doesn't look like anyone else. That's what a star looks like. I can't explain Kyler Murray or Zion. on. So I think Lamar not only improves, I looked at the schedule this morning, Kevin. I think Baltimore is the first team in a decade that I'm going to say, I think they could go 16 and O, and it doesn't feel contrarian. It doesn't, do you know they don't go west? Seattle travels 30,000 miles. They travel six. So you had Lamar on recently. Am I unrealistic? Is it sound too hot takey to you? I don't think it's unrealistic that they're going to get a lot better because, listen, Lamar Jackson led the NFL last year in touchdown passes from the pocket.

I think that he can take another step with that passing and defenses don't know what to do with them. I mean, John Harbaugh said last week, he said the pressure that Lamar puts on defenses, cornerbacks are in one-on-one coverage, safeties are in one-on-one coverage or just selling out to stop Lamar. And so what do you do? You advance the deep passing game. And then at some point, defenses just have to give up. because this guy can run, unlike anybody you've ever seen in the history of quarterback play, at least in last 20 or 30 years.

And he can pass and deep pass, and that will take the next step this year. And so I think that there's a real possibility that just because, by the way, this quarantine off season, how are teams going to catch up with Lamar Jackson? How are teams who are going to sell out because you hear it every year? They say every team in the division wants to sell out to stop the superstar who's running things in that division. How do you do it without OTAs? How do you do with that in-person meetings and walk-throughs? I think Lamar Jackson is a huge advantage.

Not only is he going to take a step forward, but defenses are going to take a step back because they can't prepare because they're not even practicing right now. You know, Byron Leftwich said something interesting. Kevin, he said the problem for Tom isn't the personnel. It's that when you work somewhere for 20 years and then you don't work there, there's a lot to unpack the communication from the parking spot to your relationship. And I've moved around enough and you've moved around enough.

The first year, anywhere you go, it's just not quite the same. Gronk feels like a culture changer, not a catch changer. That's why he brought him down. And it's funny because I was talking about there's no, I've lived near Boston and in Tampa. The cities are opposite. One is intense, historic. One is chill, flip-flops. Do you think the transition for Tom, he's going to bring this incredibly intense personality and system,

and Tampa is cocktails at 430, loose, hope we win, not sure we will. Do you think that's problematic for Tom? I think the culture turnaround is going to be bigger than we are talking about, quite frankly. I think that the Tampa Buccaneer is going to want double-digit games once in 2006, and in that time frame, the Browns, the Cleveland Browns, have won double-digit games that many times, okay? And so I think that we aren't looking enough about how long that's going to take to change the culture, it's not an overnight thing. I think they have a lot of talent, so it's going to be easier.

And obviously, Tom Brady is the best quarterback of all time. So there's going to be some benefits there. But I think it's going to take a little bit longer than we think to just change everything, change the culture over. I mean, Tom Brady, again, not being able to go to the facility for this offseason, get to know everybody's names. I mean, I think that one of the things I've talked about with old quarterbacks or quarterbacks who know what Tom Brady is going through is that when you have a

infrastructure, like you had New England, You can do things. He can go up to Josh McDaniels and say, hey, I, what that's that, that, that, that play we ran 2007 that we don't even have in the playbook, but just do it right now. We'll just draw it on the dirt. The institutional knowledge in New England and the chemistry there was so important. That's not replicated overnight. It might take a couple months.

It might take a year. And it won't get ever to what it was in New England. And so I think that it's going to be baby steps for Tom Brady. I think it'll be good because of the talent on that roster and the coaching staff. But I think if you're expecting New England 2.0 immediately, I just think that's impossible. This morning, pro football focus, which I think does a good job in grading, made a revelation or a prediction I couldn't go with, that Joe Burrow will outperform Baker Mayfield. So they make pretty good predictions on this, and they've liked Baker from the beginning,

but they downgraded it. They said he'd finished with 20 touchdowns. That's fewer than Gardner and Minshew last year. And that's less than Baker had. I looked at that list and I thought what pro football focus is saying is that after this year, Cleveland's going to have a version of Case Keenham. And that doesn't feel like a guy you're going to put the wheelbarrow out full of cash. I think Baker pops a little this year.

Do you? And let me ask a second question. I know this is not the way to do it as a talk show host. But if Baker struggles with his off-field missteps, could the building shift that they're just no longer a Baker building? I think that Baker-Mathield will have a better season than Joe Burrow, to answer your first question. I think that the Browns, listen, we're always a year too early in hyping up teams, and the Browns got the benefit of seeing what went wrong with a pretty talented roster overall,

with a bad head coach who ruined a lot of things, and they were able to plug holes. I think the fact that they upgraded their offensive line is massive. And I think that now it gets into the contract stuff where I'm intrigued to see any of those extensions. What does Josh Allen's extension look like? What does Sam Donald's extension look like? Do we know besides Lamar Jackson that any of that class should be getting $120 million like so many of these young quarterbacks have been getting? I'm intrigued to see what that looks like across the landscape. I think that's still a Baker building.

I think that the Baker will be decent this year and earn himself obviously the fifth year option and then going forward and extension. but I think that they just, I think a post-hype Browns will be good for them, not having the intention they had last year. Baker can't say anything that would maybe cause some sort of ripple effect in the building. And so I think that this will be a good year for him. I think with Burrow, there's still a lot of holes in that roster, even though I like the receivers. And it's always been said, Vision is his superpower. And he'll be able to get five guys into a route and basically play LSU ball in Cincinnati. But I think it's going to take a couple of years for that roster to get to where it needs to be.

The Browns have a much better roster. Baker is still a good quarterback. I believe in that team to at least be in the hunt for that last IFC wildcard team. Do we know the latest, by the way, Kevin Clark joining us the ringer? Do we know the latest on practices? What in rehab building guys now only? Where are we at all that stuff? Yeah, it is completely up in the air.

And there was a call last week. Essentially, a union official, union doctor said this is a kind of. contact virus in a contact sport and everything flows from there. They don't know what the protocol needs to be. They're trying to set it up. Do you have full contact practice if not everybody's tested? There's no social distancing possibilities despite what everybody says in locker rooms. Those locker rooms are filled to the brim and training camp.

There's 90 guys. You have it in the stadium and you can do a little bit of it where you get different guys in different locker rooms and spread them out. But, hey, the locker room culture is going to be a little bit different because everybody spread out. But then B, you just can't do it. You can't get six feet of space between everybody in an NFL facility. Those guys are on top of each other all the time. And so the fascinating dynamic is going to be how this all happens. Do they have to delay training camp to implement the protocols? Do guys have to self-quarantine at the beginning of camp? It is

going to be really fascinating. And not enough has been released. This is not the NBA. We don't know what that looks like yet. Finally, Kevin, there's a story out. Jimmy Garoppolo, said yesterday, he is unfazed that he was in trade rumors with Tom Brady. I was told after the fact, because I could not believe it was true, I was told by a general manager weeks later, it was true for about 48

hours. They fished around. That's what I was told. Are you shocked? Are you shocked that it appears to have been a real thing and that Garoppolo's unfazed by it? I'm not shocked by either of those things because, first of all, John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan are really

good at their job and they're always going to be trying to improve. I think that there was some question about whether or not Tom Brady would fit the Shanahan system or whatever. It's Tom Brady. He'd figure it out. And Kyle Shanahan is one of the best play callers in football. And he'd figure it out. So I'm not shocked in any of that stuff. I think you're always going to be trying to improve, especially if Jimmy Garoppolo was not the elite elite quarterback. And I'm not surprised that Jimmy Garoppolo took it well. Listen, I talked to him in December. He's the perfect guy for that team. Super low key. He's not an attention hog or anything like that. I'm not surprised he's taking this in stride.

John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan are a top three, top five duo between GM and coach that we've seen in the last decade. And I think that I'm not surprised that they're really trying to improve their team. And it's not going to stop. And it's a good test case because Jimmy Garoppolo is not going to be starter for life. They're going to keep trying to improve the team. And it's good that Jimmy Garoppel is handling this well because there's a lot of rumors they can, quite frankly, destroy a building. And this wasn't one of them. NFL writer for the ringer, sharp dude.

good talking to you. You've handled the quarantine and the whole thing greatly. Your content continues to be exemplary, and I love having you on, buddy, thanks. Thanks, Carla, anytime. You bet. He's got good stuff. Always got different angles, different ideas. Here is Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. While we were just discussing this, Tom Brady has 20 years of NFL experience, but Buck's offensive coordinator, Byron Lefich, thinks that starting over after so much time

in one place is still going to be a challenge for him. I think the greatest challenge is just, I mean, he's been somewhere for 20 years. You guys know some of you guys may have worked at the same job for 20 years. When you've done something for 20 years in one spot and there's a change, it's automatically different. Don't matter if it's for better or for worse, it's just different. And I try to communicate with him.

I want him to just talk football. Now we just got to figure out what he does well and make sure we run a lot more of those plays on Sunday than that. Well, he's very accurate and efficient, so do a bunch of those plays. Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of the things that you've been saying today makes sense. Tampa is just a different city. It's a different culture, different energy. Playing in Florida is very different than playing in the Northeast.

It's humidity to adjust to. Like, that takes some time. If you lived there before, I lived there for 10 years. Like, it does, it takes a little time to get used to the weather there, too. You and I have talked about this. I literally get off a plane in Miami and feel different. Like when I go to Miami, it's party calling. It's stay out late, Colin.

It really is. But when I come home, it's 8.45 and I'm, you know, I'm chilling down and going to bed. So, I mean, it's just the vibe in Tampa is loose and it's not historic and it's not intense. And Brady came from the opposite of all those. Right. Now, I think he's going to bring that experience with him. And I do think him and Bruce Ariens and Ryan Leffwood, which are going to be on the same pages as far as to how to implement some of those things in the Patriots culture in Tampa Bay. So that it is less loose.

And there are more expectations and accountability and those type of things that you need to have in place in order to be a championship level team, right? Focusing on the small things, getting good at fundamentals, all those things. But again, it's just a different, it's a different vibe there. It's going to be an adjustment. Like he said, he was there for a very long time. And it's the little things. How do you get to work? How long does it take you to get to work?

Well, old Michael and young Wizards team, players resented him. And Michael was, people forget how good Michael was the first years of Washington. He had 40-point games. Young players didn't like it. So this is a young roster that Tom's going to bark. Guys, this is how you do it. And I just- I think that the,

I mean, it's also going to be, to your point, a completely different cultural turnaround from James. You know what I mean? Like, James is a young guy. He's very fun. Tom is fun, but he likes to win when he's having fun. The losing part is not really in his wheelhouse. So you'll like this. Tua is giving back to his high school in a big way.

He announced that he is establishing a $300,000 scholarship fund at St. Louis School in Honolulu. Honolulu, he is giving out an additional four scholarships over the next four years, each to be named in honor of his four grandparents. So my hope is that these scholarships will give deserving Hawaii students the same opportunities at St. Louis School gave me. It's a blessing to honor my family and high school through this gift. He's a great kid, great family. By the way, that's a great high school program.

This is the kind of thing I love when athletes do. I love when they go back to their high schools. that I have a soft spot for that. You go back to your high school. And by the way, that school produces a bunch of Division I football players. He didn't have to get a scullie to those guys. You know, it's going to be scholarships maybe not a superstar, five star, four star athlete.

So I have a soft spot. It doesn't surprise me. This is the kind of kid he is. No, this is how to it is. This is why he's going to be great in the community in Miami as well. Finally, we have a little bit of news, I think. The report at least. So after appearing to reach a standstill in negotiations to the 2020 season,

season. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Players Union Chief Tony Clark reportedly had a productive face-to-face meeting. And according to John Heyman, two sides are closing in an agreement to play the 2020 season. The deal is expected to be for prorated pay and include expanded playoffs. And Jeff Bassan just tweeted, Major League Baseball sent a new proposal to the MLB Players Association. No deal is done. But with Rob Manfred and Tony Clark having met, this has seen a a significant progress considering where the parties were 48 hours ago. There we go. I was told going into the weekend it was close and then something happened.

I had dinner with a friend last night and he goes, you know, I'm so tired of baseball, I don't care if they don't have a season. And I thought, no, actually, all the teams, there's a lot of historic franchises that are good this year. You could have a Dodger Yankee World Series. I would miss that. I live in Los Angeles. My friends are all Dodger fans.

Dodger Yankee World Series. There's a lot of really good. There's also a couple of great dark horse stories. Minnesota's supposed to be really good. Let's get baseball. We could, let's just, I tell you, I would start televising NBA practices. I would start televising spring training for baseball.

Yeah, they totally should. I would put it on the air. I want to watch. All the practices should be televised. I mean, the entire world watched a documentary about Michael Jordan, as if it was live, live sports reliving it. Everyone's going to watch practice for sure. A million people watch the Bruce Lee documentary.

I love the Bruce Lee documentary. There was no fight footage. It was two hours of no fight footage. We need sports. We're going to watch whatever they put on. Good stuff. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Best for Last is coming up. Today we're doing a contender, pretender, dark horse with NBA teams. As we know now, we got 22 teams in the NBA. Who's a pretender? Who's a contender and who's a dark horse?

could be surprised by the answer. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Imagine picking up your smartphone, opening an app, starting your grill.

You can. Rectecgrills with ns.com. Rectechgrills with s.com. Built by grillers, four grillers. It's really good. Last one you'll ever own. It's like a tank. All right, so 22 teams going to Orlando. Eight weeks, no visitors.

Anywho, we're going to take the teams of note. Are they contenders for the title, Pretenders, or Dark Horse? Joy, here we go. The 76ers. I think they're actually an interesting Dark Horse. Not only are they healthy, M. Bede and Ben Simmons, but this is a team that's very good at home, and we wonder how they get along. They've been separated for three months.

I could make an argument that being apart, the heart grows fonder. That's true. And that Simmons and Embed together quickly, urgently, will not only be healthy physically, but better emotionally. Dark horse to win it. All right. The Bucks. They're a contender. It's probably the best defensive team in the NBA.

Everybody is healthy. What I don't love is that when you're really playing well, you don't want time off. And they're still young, and I still think this is kind of a building organization. They don't have a ton of playoff success, but I think they're a contender. The Celtics. Yeah, I think they're a contender. They're second in the NBA in defense. They're the only team that has three players that average over 20.

I don't get the deniers on this. I think Jason Tatum's the second best player in the East. Gordon Hayward could give you 22. Jalen could give you 22. Jason Tatum could give you 32 in any night. So I think this is a real team. Campbell Walker could give you 22. There's no other team in the NBA.

You have four guys that could give you over 20, and you would not be surprised. It wouldn't be a shocking performance for Jalen Brown. I also think they have probably the best coach. He and Eric Spolstra in the East. The Clippers. Contender. They're built to beat LeBron.

When they play everybody, when they've been completely healthy, they've played 12 games where everybody's healthy. They're 11 and 1. And really, the only team in the league that clearly controlled the Lakers when they played them. They were clearly the better team. All right, my Miami Heat. I think they're total. Pretenders. 14 and 19 on the road.

They start two undrafted players. They're a streaky team. They can get hot from the outside, and all of a sudden you look up and they go in a 12-0 run. And I love Spolstra. But I think this was a great, this was one of the classic, better story than playoff team. How about the Jazz? Pretender.

Once Bogdanovich out for the playoffs, they're done. They don't have enough. What they are good. They're athletic and interesting in the back court. And they have Rudy Gobert's a great rim defender. What they don't have is athletic wings. And when you lose one of your 20-point-a-game wings, you know, they remind me a little of Boston.

They're not as good as Boston, but they remind me of Boston. And it would be like Boston losing a Gordon Hayward or Jason Tatum. They lose one of their top scores. How about the Lakers? Total contender. Anthony Davis, who can be brittle, is totally rested and healthy. They got four players, I know, will, deliver. LeBron, Anthony Davis, I know there's some critics on Kyle Kuzma, but I think he'll

be sturdy and Danny Green. Four good players. And by the way, two of them, LeBron and Danny Green, a ton of playoff experience. The Nuggets. And I, and again, I like where they're going. I think they're a pretender. They're an incredibly young team. Paul Millsap is the only player 30 are older on this roster. And again, when you're young and you're building and you're playing well, you don't want to take three months off. LeBron can hand. We were always amazed by how good the chemistry was for the Lakers immediately. That's because smart veteran players can lubricate everything.

But for a young team, you can't take two and three months off. Regular season, I would have gotten them at least one playoff series win. I think they're one and done. The Pelicans. Again, pretender, totally young. So Zion is 19. Lonzo's 22 and Brandon Ingram, who had a great year is 22. And they would probably be an eighth seed.

They play like the Lakers, and they do not match up particularly well with the Lakers, so they're a pretender. The Raptors. Interesting Dark Horse. So again, what are the playoffs? Focus, veteran roster. They're going to go down to Disneyland, and it's going to be all focused. These are married guys. These guys are going down there, and they're like basketball, focus, they're very good defensive team.

They're well-coached. And also, they know how to manipulate the refs. Veteran teams are always good in the playoffs. They can manipulate the officials, manipulate the quarters, end of halves. This is a dark horse team. Don't be shocked if they get out of the east. Don't be shocked. And they also, I think, match up pretty well with both Boston and Janus in Milwaukee.

The Rockets. My surprise contender pick, Westbrook and Hardin can wear each other out, just their styles. Well, that's funny they've had three months off. They're also incredibly well-rested. We know that Hardin's kind of ball-centric style is not great for like at the end of the season, well-rested. And again, I think Westbrook can be so intense he can wear you out, but I don't think he's worn his teammates out. Everybody's going to look forward to his energy. They're also number one in the NBA in three-point makes.

And I don't think this will be the greatest defense ever played. I think these playoffs are going to be a lot about offense and not about defense. And I think Houston's going to fill it up. Scores some points. There you go. A lot discussed on the show today. A very dangerous topics. And can you believe Joy would not tell me if my wife was having an affair with a mailman?

Or a garage man, garbage man. Yeah. Mailman goes either way. Garbage man is my problem. It's all your problem. We'll see you tomorrow. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

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