The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 02/20/2019

Episode Date: February 20, 2019

Colin says the Packers need to just go get Antonio Brown right now.  He says the best negotiating strategy the Cowboys can use with Dak Prescott is patience.  Plus, Actor/Producer Michael Rapaport comes in studio to yell at Colin about his constant Russell Westbrook criticism.  Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and right here on FS1, it is a Wednesday. Joy Taylor is joining me. We have had a surprisingly active week.

Another very good show today. Joy, how are you? I'm great. This is usually a slow time. It is. Thank you to NFL wide receivers. We've got all sorts of stuff happening today. Yesterday, we talked about this on the show.

Antonio Brown is an all-time historically relevant wide receiver talent. He really is. He won't end up as Jerry Rice, but he looks and plays a lot like Jerry Rice. He's an all-time talent. 11,000 yards, 74 touchdowns, 6-round. draft pick. He's a remarkable, remarkable player. And he's just out there. And we all know yesterday, Pittsburgh, the owners, the Rooney family said, listen, it's been great, Antonio, but we're going to move on. And Antonio went to Twitter and said, okay, it's cool, let's move on. I get it for the

Steelers. They've got the quarterback. They got the O-line. They've got their other wide receiver. Pittsburgh will be fine. And Antonio Brown is what I really worry about, because I think when you're that gifted in anything, you deserve the best organization for you. And I think Antonio Brown scared off some teams. And I was sitting there thinking this morning, Green Bay Packers, in the conveyor belt of quarterbacks, you're never going to get another Aaron Rogers. It's almost unthinkable. You went Farve to Rogers.

In between Bart Starr and Brett Farve, you went 20 years at nothing. Go get Antonio Brown. And there's a lot of different reasons. Number one, the Chicago Bears are your rival. They went out and got a superstar. Good luck against that Chicago defense with a third. 35-year-old often hobbled Aaron Rogers and Devante Adams, one weapon. Congrats.

Good luck on that. Number two is, what was the one move in the NFL last year that really changed an offense? The Dallas Cowboys went out and got Amari Cooper. Wide receivers mattered more. If Amari Cooper can elevate Dak Prescott, what can Antonio Brown do for Aaron Rogers? Number three is, Green Bay's got two first-round picks. Give one up. It's going to take a first-round pick and maybe a backup player, some kind of player,

maybe a later pick to get Antonio Brown. This is the year. You've got two first round picks. Give one up. And four, Green Bay can't land generally top free agents. You got the pick. Make a trade. Make it happen.

You know, I'm reading stories. I read a story this morning, the Packers quarterback coach. Aaron Rogers wants to be coached. That was the article. You know what Aaron Rogers wants? More good players around him. Of course, Aaron Rogers wants. to be coach. Everybody needs and wants. LeBron wants to be coach. Kevin Durant wants to be coach. Michael

Jordan wanted to be coach. Kobe wanted to be coach. What Aaron Rogers wants is more good players around him. And Aaron Rogers may only have a couple, two, three max years left in his prime. I mean, to really hit it, he gets hurt more and more. You know what Green Bay feels like to me? They feel like they max their 401K. No risky investments. We don't do tech stocks over here. We pay off our house and we drive dependable cars. Great. Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, Cowboys, Rams, you know, playoff teams. They're like, yeah, we do some tech stocks.

Yeah, sometimes we make investments and stuff that could fail, but you can get rich. And we're not going to pay off our house. We're just going to move into a bigger house because we have enough security in ourselves that we'll be able to make a decent mortgage payment. We're confident enough. I mean, the Packers always feel so Midwest, they feel so safe, and they feel so prudent, and they feel so reasonable, and they feel so wholesome, and they use coupons. The Packers, boy, the Packers, they literally use every time they get a coupon.

They are using that coupon, and that is, they are always balancing their checkbook. Nobody balances their checkbook like Green Bay, down to the penny. 2019, even the Patriots went out and tried Josh Gordon. Green Bay, it's time to get comfortable with a little discomfort. And Antonio Brown will make you a little uncomfortable. He'll go and do tweet stuff and a Facebook live. And you do remember Green Bay what Moss did with Tom Brady for two and a half years. It rocked the league.

You do get Green Bay. You got two first round picks. You're not going to have that again. You do get Green Bay. You don't land free agents. You do get Green Bay. You went far to Aaron Rogers. That never happens.

That just doesn't happen. Okay, Lakers had to go out and get LeBron in his 16th year. You don't draft Kobe. 10 years later, you draft another Kobe. It doesn't work that way. I mean, everything is perfect for Green Bay. You have an extra first. You already have one good receiver.

Devante Adams as a number two receiver, spectacular. Aaron Rogers has a 35-year-old coach who's been a coordinator for one year. Of course, he wants to be coach. but what he wants is players at his level. Make it happen. Nothing against maxing your 401K, but instead of being consumed with paying off your house, you got a good job.

You got Aaron Rogers. Moving to a nicer house. You live once. Make a mortgage payment. You get to write it off anyway. It's one of the last write-offs for regular people. Antonio Brown and the Packers makes way, way too much. sense.

All right, yesterday we talked about this. And what do you know? The day after we talked about it, about two hours later, Damien Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers came out and really picked up where we left off. Damian Lillard, great player, came out yesterday and said, I'm not willing to sell myself out for championships. I want to stay here. Here he is.

Here's Damian Lillard. I do want to win a championship, but it's other stuff that means more to me. Got you. I understand. It's almost like I'm not willing to sell myself out for that. My career is over. I'm going to know the relationships that I'm going to have that I did it the right way. And I took people's situations and their families and what could be into consideration before I just made a decision based off. All right, this is what would be best for me.

By the way, this is what we talked about yesterday. LeBron has created this myth that all stars want to be global. and all stars are seeking super teams and all stars are politically engaged and all stars dreams are limitless no they're not no they're not by the way tim duncan never had an interest in leaving cobi never left dirk never left duane way did for an hour came back kevin garnett never wanted to leave minnesota and he's a hall of fame first ballot guy he left and and said i don't want to do this i just want to win more There is a handful, and I mean a small handful of guys that really think like LeBron. By the way, Damien Lillard doesn't want to leave.

Russell Westbrook doesn't want to leave. Remember when we had Janus, the MVP this year probably? Remember what he said on our show a year ago? I like finishing the stuff that I have in Milwaukee. My goal is to win in Milwaukee, so I will never leave for, LA. I can't judge every situation. KD. thought it was the right move to move to Gold State, so he did it. I think the right move for me is to stay in Milwaukee. So that's what I'm going to do. And I believe him. And I believe Damien Lillard. Folks, before Michael

Jordan, did you ever really think there was going to be a basketball player who really had aspirations to own a team? That was Michael's aspiration. I'd never heard of a player before that that talked about it, but Michael's the greatest player probably that ever played. And before Michael, nobody talked about owning a team. Michael was uniquely gifted and uniquely aspirational and uniquely driven to be successful in business. Michael was an outlier. Even LeBron now in his 16th year signed a four-year deal with the Lakers. Why? Because he's in the 16th year. And he knows as you get older, even the world's best player wants a little security.

The truth is LeBron's title runs are mostly over. But Colin, what about Kevin Durant? I've said it all year. I don't think he's leaving. What about Kyrie Irving? 75-25, I think he stays. He's flaky. He talks.

He says a lot of things. I think he stays. What about Anthony Davis? He was in a crappy organization for six and a half years until he said, I'm over this crap. I would have done the same. So would you. What about Kowai Leonard?

I don't know. He doesn't talk. He's got a weird laugh. I have no idea what he's doing. I'm told it's a 50-50 coin flip, Toronto and the Clippers. But just because Michael, Jordan and LeBron, probably the two greatest basketball players I've ever seen, just because they briefly alter the power structure in the NBA, where a player single-handedly is more important than a big chunk of the league, don't think that is the league. Last year we had five, six big free agents. One, one moved.

What a shock. It was LeBron. Damien Lillard is overwhelmingly what most players are. Pretty loyal, comfortable, making a lot of money, being in a city with their family, don't have to move their kids. As long as the team doesn't completely screw it up, like the Pelicans, like the calves for six years with LeBron the first time. As long as the team gets a decent coach and shows some stability in the organization

and can win and surround said superstar with some pretty nice pieces. Players don't want to leave. D.D. never wanted to leave. Duncan never wanted to leave. Kobe threatened. It never left. D. Wade shouldn't have and did for an hour. Kevin Garnett did one in title but said at the time it was the hardest decision he ever made. don't take MJ and LeBron and think that's the league. It's not. I mean, I've moved around the country,

but I wanted to eventually find the spot and just stay. Okay? Took me a while in my goofy business. But Damian Lillard said, and I believe him, and Yonis said, and I believe him, this is where I want to live, Portland, Milwaukee. And that is the majority of players, even stars in the NBA. 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.

In the NBA, there's player movement. One of the things I have said for years, I don't understand how a college quarterback can have more leverage than an NFL quarterback. A college quarterback could transfer any day. An NFL quarterback. I mean, Andrew Luck, Indianapolis, first couple of years, bad GM, trapped. Aaron Rogers, won't get you. him a defense, trapped. I've never understood why we don't have an NFL quarterback that says, hey man, for my business, for my career, I want to move. Otto Porter, nice kid,

good player, has more leverage than Aaron Rogers. Now, some of this is just the collective bargaining because the NFL can franchise tag a quarterback for two or three years, but that gets very, very expensive. So the rumor I'm going to tell you

about, I was told this yesterday, this is happening in the entertainment agent world. Everybody will deny it. It's not good to be out now. But Russell Wilson's wife is Sierra. She is a singer and an entertainer. She would prefer to live in New York. And the Giants need a quarterback. And there's nobody in the draft they love. So just remember this. A lot of things add up. Last year of Russell's contract, his wife would prefer New York. Seattle is not an entertainment mecca. Okay. New York needs the Giants need a star quarterback to replace Eli. You can get a lot of pushback on Eli.

Remember when Tebow was in Denver? Who did Elway get? Peyton Manning. Nobody complained about Peyton replacing Tebow. Tebow disappeared into the ether. Also, Russell Wilson, good-looking guy, classy guy, incredibly marketable and kind of buried in the Pacific Northwest. And the Giants also have an offensive.

head coach, not a 66-year-old defensive head coach. Now Seattle could franchise Russell, but that would mean you're paying him $31 million a year. Would Pete Carroll in that division, which I'm arguing now is the best division in football, certainly in the argument, you want to pay your quarterback $31 million a year and not be able to sign other important players? I'm not saying it's going to happen. I'm saying stuff I hear You know, I heard some Jimmy Butler stuff, and then Jimmy Butler ends up in Philadelphia, and I heard some LeBron stuff a year out, and LeBron ends up in Los Angeles. This stuff starts behind the scene with agents.

And I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I'm saying one of the things that's fairly remarkable to me is that in America, the two biggest stars in sports are NBA stars and quarterbacks. those of your that's the royal family in united states you know in europe it's the soccer star and then maybe the tennis star in america it's NBA star durant lebron you know and then it's like NFL quarterback and a lot of times the quarterback's bigger than the star if it's not named lebron seahawks want to pay 31 32 and franchise them wives have power in relationships russell's got his super bowl you know we always talk about for professional athletes and russell wilson's a first ballot hall famer. Don't kid yourself. He's Steve Young. He's a right-handed shorter Steve

Young. He's a first ballot hall famer. Russell, there's always for pro athletes, the show-off stage. Then there's the championship level stage. Then you start thinking about stuff like your wife, her career, endorsements. That's not to say Russell Wilson doesn't want to win. But there's a lot of things that add up here. Final year of his deal. Wife. Giants need a star to replace Eli. marketability somewhat wasted in Seattle. Giants have an offensive head coach, and that appears to be kind of the future of the NFL. I'm not saying it's going to happen.

I'm saying when I hear these things, I come out on my show and I tell you, I hear these things. And I think it's an interesting proposition. I would love to see Aaron, Russell Wilson. I want to see these guys, nothing worse than seeing a superstar quarterback that's got a bad old line that's running for his life, that doesn't have the coach. You don't get many Russell Wilson's.

You don't get many Aaron Rogers. You don't get many Tom Brady's. You don't get many Joe Montana's and Big Benz. When you get them, I root for them to get support. I'm just telling you, in the entertainment agent world, this is something I heard yesterday. For the record, the last time I heard a rumor this big, Mark Madden in Pittsburgh, a popular radio host, can confirm it because I sent him a DM. I slid into his DMs.

And I said, Christian Pulisic is going to sign a massive deal in the English Premier League. And two months later, he did. I did not report that. I think I may have said it once on the air. It was a massive deal. I was sworn to secrecy. This one, I wasn't sworn to secrecy. I'm not saying it's going to happen.

I'm saying a discussion was had. in the agent world. What do you think of that, Joy? I think that would shake up the NFL just a little bit. I'm just telling you, if I hear stuff. It will become of your Seahawks. They're not your Seahawks. They get very upset when people say that.

When they won the Super Bowl, they were my Seahawks. From that point on, they're everybody Seahawks. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the Internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. Opinions are flying. and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

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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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardaway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase

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Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clivert 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.

Minebacker 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? Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic.

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

surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen to Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. I'm reading Bob Stern, writes for the athletic, and they're talking about the largest contract quandary in Dallas Cowboy history, what to do with Dak Prescott's extension. Jerry Jones, like Stack Prescott. But I was sitting there thinking today is negotiations are all about leverage, even when you're buying or selling a house. And the best advice I could ever give anybody, because I've played around with real estate for years, had 26 homes, bought, sold, whatever,

sometimes stayed in a while, sometimes flipped, is weight. It's amazing how much happens quickly in real estate. Markets crash. The guy you want to buy the house from, loses his job, gets a divorce, all of a sudden you have the leverage when you didn't have any. Right now, DAC has all the leverage.

Two division titles in three years. Playoff win. He's won 70% of his games almost. Perfect quarterback leadership intangibles. Jerry's getting older. Does he want to rebuild? Playing for pennies for the last three years. He can go in with his agent and say, I've made you a fortune, you've paid me nothing.

That's a lot of leverage for DAC. The Cowboys leverage really comes down to this. Dak only makes $700,000 a year and is only going to make $726,000 from the Cowboys this year. Got another year in his contract left, his rookie deal. The Cowboys leverage is, why not we just give you $20 million now? Why don't we do a four or five year deal, mostly guaranteed, you know, $20,000? million a year. So it gives us a discount, but get you money now. Now, Dac appears to have the personality that he would be patient. I think he's a grown-up. But when you don't have leverage,

wait. You want to buy that house and the market's hot and the seller's not budging. Wait. He gets a divorce. He gets demoted. The market crashes. Waiting is an underrated. tool in leverage. What's the worst thing that can happen for the Dallas Cowboys? Joe Flacco happens. Dac gets hot, plays the greatest month of his life, and the Cowboys win a Super Bowl, and Dax's the MVP. That's the worst case scenario.

You're a cowboy fan, you got a trophy. But you're also going to have to pay a B-minus quarterback, Dak, Joe Flacco, A-plus money. All right. So you won't make the playoffs next few years after that. Remember, Baltimore wins the Super Bowl, pays Flacko, a fortune suddenly can't afford offensive linemen, can't afford receivers, can't keep their best corner, and they 7 to 9, 7 to 9, 7 to 9, 3 straight years. That's with a good owner, good GM, good coach.

The worst case scenario is Dak goes on the run of his life like Flacco did for a month and plays completely over his skis. And Flacco and Dak, to me, are B minus quarterbacks. And Flacco played A plus. He was just great for a month. He was great. And then you had to pay him a fortune. all right, but you got the trophy.

And you know how fans are in Dallas. They just want a trophy. So, you know, I look at this and let him sit for another year and play. The Cowboys offensive line, this is not disputable. John, you'll acknowledge this. It's getting old, fast. Okay. How's that going to be behind an offensive line that's not the top eight,

not even the best in his own division? Let's let it. Wait, here's the other thing. is that if you sign DAC to a long-term contract, Jason Garrett did not get an extension. You may have a new coach in a year and be looking for a new coach. And a new coach may say, I'm locked into DAC for four years. I mean, Josh McDaniels had Tom Brady.

If Jason Garrett got run out of town, Josh McDaniels looking at that thinking, I got a lot of options, I'm not going to DAC for four years. I'm not saying he would say. that, but I'm saying it's a possibility if you had an Urban Meyer, you had a Lincoln Riley, you had a Josh McDaniel in one year if the Cowboys kind of putter around and go 8 and 8, and Jerry gets impetuous and says, Garrett's out of here, he got Dak already locked in for five years. There may be some coaches that say, why would I want to go up against Carson Wentz twice a year?

And I got back. It's a possibility. So if I'm the Cowb... Now, Michael Irvin came on this show. He disagrees with me. He said this about two months ago in our show. It's not about performance. It's just about, hey, you're the next guy up.

You get to be the highest paid. It doesn't matter like it does in every other position. So now you got to go to DAC before he becomes up. We got to work together in this. We're going to give you, well, I'm going to come early. I'm going to give you a long enough deal with enough upfront money so you can be happy. But we're going to get a little bit of a break so we can put some other people around you. There's a lot of people that think that.

There's a lot of people that think you go to DAP. You pay them off early and you get a break. 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. So Rob Polenka does not run the Lakers, but he kind of runs the Lakers. Not to say that magic's a figurehead or LeBron isn't important, but Rob Polinkka's making the phone calls and doing the scouting, international scouting, drafting the players.

And Rob Polinka said recently about his Lakers is you don't want to play us in the first round. We could be dangerous. And I know I live in Los Angeles and you think I'm a Laker and a LeBron Homer, but I'm not really. I told you he was going to end up here. And he did. I'd be a homer if I told you he was going to end up here and he ended up in Philadelphia. I would be a homer if I told you Tom Brady's the greatest and he couldn't make the playoffs. I generally support great.

Be great. The rest of it's up to you, not me to not talk about great. I don't think the Lakers are great. I do think they're going to make the playoffs because the Clippers treaded Tobias Harris. and here's the current Western Conference standings. Warriors Nuggets, Thunderblazers, rockets, they're all playoff teams. The Jazz Spurs should be playoff teams unless they melt. And my guess here is the Lakers and the Kings, not the Clippers, battle for the final spot.

I think the Lakers get in. I think LeBron in the last two, three weeks kind of does his Superman thing and carries them to some close wins instead of close losses. But I do think Sacramento is a worthy adversary down the stretch, because Sacramento is fun to watch, young, going to be fantastic in the next four or five years. But I think they get in. But the argument Polinka says is you don't want to play us in the playoffs.

So I think the West has one great team with all the answers and seven to eight other teams with nothing but questions. If the Western Conference playoffs started today, I would do the East, but the East is jumbled and will not look anything like it looks today. I think the Western Conference playoffs, as they're constituted today, will look very similar to this. One seed warriors play eight seed clippers. I'll take Golden State in an absolute sweep.

They don't tend to, they overlook teams and can get nipped occasionally, but they will roll through the clippers. Then I think the four seed blazers play the five seed rockets, and I'll take Houston. They are weaker defensively than last year. But this is a Star League. Portland last year got swept by a star, Anthony Davis. I think James Hardin and the Rockets win.

Portland's also a terrible road team. So to win a series, you've got to win some roadies, and I don't think Portland would. Denver, two-seed takes on San Antonio. Neither has a transcendent star. Denver shoots the ball much better and is much deeper, so Denver wins that series, I think, quickly. And then Oklahoma City and the Jazz, I'll take the thunder. The Jazz just don't shoot well enough. Now, they do have Rudy Gobert, which is problematic for Russell Westbrook.

He'll drive the basket and not be able to finish at the rim. So it'll be up to Paul George to carry him, but I think he will, and I think the thunder prevail. Then it would be the one-seed Warriors against the five-seed Rockets. I think it's an interesting series, but I don't think Houston's good enough defensively to win. I also, Chris Paul late in the season, you cross your fingers, he doesn't get hurt. I think it's an interesting series. Four or five, five or six, excuse me, Warriors win. Nuggets Thunder, it's a star-driven sport for the playoffs.

depth does not matter much. Now, Denver's depth will beat San Antonio's depth, but I think the thunder would beat Denver. You've got two stars. They'll get the calls. And I think Paul George right now is the league MVP with Janus. Then it's the thunder taken on Golden State. And I think that's a bad matchup. I think you can put Draymond on Paul George, knock down his field goal percentage.

And then the ever relentless Westbrook shoots his way to infamy. and I think that's a pretty ugly fast series. Not a sweet, but maybe one win, and the Warriors win it. But let's now look at the teams outside of Golden State. We know if the Lakers get in, it's probably an eight seed, and they will get completely rolled by Golden State. But if they got hot and finished and a seven seat, and by the way, these teams at the bottom of the West are jumbled up.

They could go from an eight to a six very quickly. Let's look at all the teams they would face. LeBron against Denver. Well, A, Denver's never been here before. the best player in the floor easily is LeBron and depth doesn't matter when you get to the second and third rounds of play. It doesn't really matter in the playoffs, to be honest with you.

Everybody tightens up their rotation. I'd take the Lakers to beat Denver close. I would. Oklahoma City. Again, LeBron's the best player on the floor. Westbrook has a history of going Westbrook, shooting too much. Right now, Westbrook's the perfect teammate.

I have a history of the last two years. He goes off the rails. He did last year. I could see it happening again. Portland. Again, they got swept last year when they faced a team that had a superstar, Anthony Davis, Houston. James Harden, very James Hardin dependent in the half court. And James, like Westbrook, sometimes can go off the rails and just have one of those games

where he decided waking up and driving to the arena. He wanted to shoot 29, 30 times, and he's off. He was last year. I also don't think they're very good defensively. They don't really have an answer for LeBron. and I think Utah can't shoot, the spurs can't shoot, and the clippers won't end up there. So I do think if they got in, LeBron would put on the Superman cape. We all acknowledge that LeBron doesn't give you the 42 minutes of effort he used to.

He plays sporadically. He plays in spurts. And we also know that in January, February, LeBron always down shifts. I do think if the Lakers can sneak in. Now, Vegas doesn't think they will because they have 25 less, 17 against playoff teams. I'll have the eight non-playoff teams they face. Six are on the road. I just have a hunch.

LeBron puts on the cape and gets them in. But I do think outside of Golden State, all it takes is for the jazz and the spurs to go in to get mired in little slumps here, which is very possible. Neither can really shoot. They don't have shooters on the roster. You can end up in a four-game losing streak really quickly if you don't have somebody to save you on a nightly basis shooting.

And I think the Lakers could make it uncomfortable for everybody except Golden State. I want to shift to this. I saw this story. There was a narrative last year. You remember that when Philadelphia won the Super Bowl, dog masks, politics, a lot of fun, cocky, football. We don't want to do it the way New England does it. New England doesn't have any fun. Over here in Philadelphia, we have fun.

Party. Put on a mask. Party. Well, that lasted about an hour. and Philadelphia is not as good as New England. And I never bought into that long term, and Philadelphia hated me and sent me all sorts of ugly stuff, because I think football's hard, I think practice is hard, I think film study is endless. I think your body is never 100% healthy.

I think football's highly repetitive. And I think it's the only sport where you have five to six times more practices than games. If you want to have fun, get a dog, go skiing. Okay, football's hard. it's like the media is not built to be liked. We're the IRS. We're not meant to be liked. We audit.

That's what we do. Sometimes we give you a check back. Mostly we ask for more money. The media and the IRS are not built to be liked. Football was never built to be fun. Football's hard and repetitive and endless and you're hurt. And yesterday, Trent Brown came out. He was a new left tackle for the Patriots.

And he said, got to be honest with you. The Patriot way is fun. You win. Tom Brady's cool. I like playing here. What? Philadelphia. What?

Folks, your life is built into three sections. You sleep eight, you work nine, you have fun for seven. But there's a reason they call the work part, work. You make seven figures. Your job can't all be fun. That's just not the way it works. And I thought the dog mask eagles were adorable. It was an easy story to put your arms around.

The patriots of the villain of the league. So it was kind of fun to see him get knocked off and everybody embraced it. But somebody who's very smart once told me this. Even in comedy, serious people win. The five richest people in comedy are Howard Stern, Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Harvey, Jay Leno, and maybe Bill Maher. They're all serious people who write comedy, who tell jokes. in Hollywood.

A lot of guys with a Lambo driving around L.A. eating at the Ivy. Spielberg, James Cameron, Hanks. They're Scorsese. They're serious people. Want to have fun by a dog. Football's hard. Just like the media has never been built to be likable like the IRS.

We're in the audit business. Nobody likes the IRS. Most of you don't like the media. We're not built to be liked. Okay? Football's not built to be fun. Trent Brown, he said, it's kind of fun here, because we win. Football has moments that can be fun slash funny, but they almost always come with one thing, winning.

Average and losing football stinks. The sport is at its best, endlessly repetitive, physically daunting, and hard. 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. I will say this. And Michael Rappaport joining us. I am Rappaport podcast, stereo podcast on iTunes. Crazy Michael. I say that with great respect and admiration, but you're an artist. You're a producer. You're a talent. You're a comedian. You see the world. You're like my wife. The arguments are good, but she's an artist. She's a creative type. And I am more strong. structured and dependable. You're all over the map, but I love you for that. Thank you. I do. I am deeply bothered by Russell Westbrook's inconsistency and wild showmanship.

You, I would imagine, love it as an artist because he is, he spills a lot of paint and you love Westbrook. Can you acknowledge now, even he admits. Paul George, it's his team. Colin? Yeah. I was working out on Monday. You were? It was in the hills. I mean working out. running, jogging, pushups, burpees, these sorts of things. Okay, burpees. Listening to you on my headphones, and I wanted to run off the mountain and run over here live. Okay, and stop you for what you said about Russell Westbrook.

Yes, I like the artistry of Russell Westbrook because one of the things that makes him so great, whether he's, whether you love him or not love him, it is a artistic expression. for somebody to play that hard, no matter what, night after night. That has nothing to do with talent. That's an inner thing. It's an Alan Iverson thing. So we can say Russell Westbrook this, Russell Westbrook, that. He may not be the best this. He may not be the best that.

But one of the things he does do that is the best is how hard he plays. That being said, Monday morning in my workout, my meditative sat. During your burpees. Doing my burpees. And you probably say, why during your private time and your meditative state would you be listening to me? That's my own sickness. Okay.

You said on this show, and I quote, Russell Westbrook is a shell of himself. And then you went on to talk about how he passed up shots during the NBA All-Star game. Yeah. That in itself shows me that maybe, maybe you got a little sun poisoning over the weekend. Maybe you've gone a little nuts. Maybe your artistic nature is getting the best of you,

and you've lost a step, Colin, because first of all, for you to analyze any player during an All-Star game shows, there's not a lot of sports going on. But the fact that the man, you've been berating this gentleman for years, the fact that you can call a guy averaging a triple double for the third straight season,

and I've been on this show, this show, this couch. Yeah, yeah. Smells nice over here. Yeah. And I have said that these stats are a little bit different. Sometimes he pads his stats. but the fact of the matter is three straight years he's averaging 21,

11 and 11. 11 and 11 in assist and rebounds are more in both categories. He's averaging four less points than he did last year. You said be a better teammate, be a better teammate. He's a better teammate and what do you do?

You call the guy a shell of himself. He is, I will say. You called the man a shell. You said be a better teammate. Now he's letting, now he's number two, to Paul George. MVP, possible MVP. And now all of a sudden, after you've rioted him, judged him, humiliated him, shamed him,

interrupted people's workouts. Burpees. Burpees. Yeah. Now he's a shell of himself. Colin? What? Not fair.

Okay. So yesterday on the show. Can I do burpees while you go? Do one. No, no, just go ahead. I did say on yesterday's show, he is a better teammate, but he's a better teammate because he knows his shots broken. and Russell, knowing that I'm shooting 65% from the line, he is now relinquishing the ball late.

It's not because he's altruistic. It's because he knows. I'm not the same guy. I'm messed up. He's not Mark L. Foltz messed up, but you don't go 82% free throw to 64 as a guard. If you were a center, you know, you get banged up, it's a wrist issue. No, his shot is broken.

His free throw. Well, he's never been great. He was always a great free throw shooter. he's now a poor free throw show. That's mental. So I don't think it's altruistic. It would be like, let's say for instance. But that doesn't mean a shell of yourself because he's in a poor.

They mean shell of himself as a free throw shirt, yes. But a shell of himself as a player. That's what you said. That's what interrupted my workout. Two years ago, OKC, three years ago, chose Westbrook over KD. Now, they'll say we didn't choose it, but they babied and enabled them. They're not even close now. They don't even look like the same.

Kevin Durant is playing at a different level than even LaBron. on, Westbrook's one for eight on threes in All-Star games. He can't shoot. All-Star games? What are we talking about all-star games? Alan Averson, the great Alan Averson, said practice, and I say, all-star games, I'm on the herd with joy and con. Are we talking about All-Star games? Okay, let me ask you this, though. If I got learned, let's say I lost my voice. Like, let's say my voice is shooting for Russell Westbrook. And I lost my voice. My voice was going and I was losing energy. I'm getting, let's say I was getting very old.

That'll never happen. and I let Joy do 50% of the talking. Would it be because altruistic or be because I just can't do it anymore? Westbrook can't shoot. Therefore, now he's such a great passer. No, he knows guys like me crush him. So he wants to at least get triple doubles. So the narrative is, God, he's setting a record on triple doubles,

which are mostly meaningless, don't really, I mean, come on. You're not into that kind of stat. But the triple double is literally 10 passes, right? Ten assists. Ten rebounds. Who cares how many rebounds a guard guess? But I mean, he has been great at passing. He's a lot of fluff to those numbers. He's a reluctant passer. I'm, listen, I've been, I've been frustrated with Russell Westbrook, but for you to say, shell of himself. What is he then? What's the word I should use? He's not as good as he was a year ago. I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that. He's still, he's still tenacious. He's still full tilt. He still plays hard as crap. He's averaging a triple double. And I'll tell you. I'll tell you. tell you something, I'll tell you something, if the Lakers somehow get into the playoffs, and if they somehow get into the seventh and to the seventh spot, and OKC continues, then everybody stays healthy. Oh, OKC would roll them.

Roll them. They'll have a better, they're going to get beaten worse by OKC than they would by Golden State in the first round because I think that LeBron might, you know, do a he did last year win one game. OKC, they're going to be like, yo. I just picked him to get to the Western Conference finals. You guys think, people in Arizona think I don't like them. It's like, do I like the Sooners?

Yeah, do I like Lincoln Riley? Yeah. Did I like Johnny Bench? Yeah. Do I love Paul? I said Paul George should be MVP. It's not like I don't like him. I'm just, everybody's waving a pom-pom for Westbrook. Somebody is out here's got to go, hey, he can't shoot. But he's never been a great, great shooter.

Now he's terrible. But at one point now, I'm not saying now, but at one point, Derek Rose was a shell of himself. He's reinvented himself. And I said that. And I never like Derek Rose. Okay, but we're not, you're talking about like Russell Westbrook is at where Derek Rose was when he was really struggling west brooks westbrook's better than Derek Rose ever thought of being but you're saying that that word shell himself it's like a guy who's like who's done if I lose my voice triple double if I'm a shell of myself yes okay russell would if you if you let me tell you something

Colin if you lose your voice and you're averaging a triple double you should you should wake up and thank your lucky stars you should see my ratings or a quadruple double ha I like that I could go down to a triple double you know what your ratings are fantastic and and I'm I just want to say something. Maybe it has something to do with some of the great guests you pick. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

How about this? How about this one? This is a real one. Hey, Sammy, throw up the standings again. You know, I generally, I used to live in Vegas,

but I do believe everybody's got bias. We're all human. Yes. The only place that's really without bias is Vegas. They don't care. Vegas is like, we want them in money. So, you know,

you can say this host is liberal. This is conservative. This is, I've got bias. You know, I'm a social. liberal. So I tell people, I'm a fiscal, moderate, a conservative, I'm a social liberal. It even shapes my sports opinion. Okay? Financially, I tend to be about organization, not star player.

Handful of exceptions. But if you look at the Western Conference right now, the Lakers are three games out. They got to get past the Kings. I think you can make a real argument. They do match up with some of the Western teams. I'm not sure they're getting in. I agree. This guy, Polinka, maybe he's putting too much hair gel. Maybe he needs to natural hair drug because he's always got the hair. He's got the hair. Very handsome. He's confident. You ain't confident.

I don't think you can be. Here's the other thing. Michael, if there's no identity on that team. Think about this. You're a podcast, a comedian, a producer. You're a creative. Multi-talented. You're multi-talented.

And you know this in Hollywood. Yes. As you age as an actor, you can have a bomb. Marlon Brando had him. Tom Hanks had the Larry Crown. What was that? Hank's had a terminal. Yes.

Yeah, he had terminal. An old actor can have a bomb, but if you have two, ask Kevin Costner in a row, they stop calling, and you've got to take roles that aren't ideal. Is Hanks has had a couple of bombs. He always follows with a home run.

LeBron doesn't make the playoffs this year. And Anthony Davis does not come to the Lakers. to me it's the aging actor, it's a tipping point. I agree. People are just saying, well, I had just Sam Amick on, good reporter. He's like, I think he's not going to go to L.A. I think we're watching the end outside of Brady. These things happen.

We just saw Farr if we had Peyton. We're watching Big Ben. I think if they don't make the playoffs, and I think it's a coin flip. It's a coin flip. How do we view LeBron if 80 doesn't arrive and they don't make the playoffs? How do you view him? Well, we view him as,

This is the beginning of the end. And let me say this. I'm hard on LeBron, but I don't wish injuries on any play in any sport. Clear on that. Listen, they don't make the playoffs. I came on this couch in the beginning of the season, and I said I thought they were going to make it to the Western Conference finals. Yeah.

They don't make the playoffs and this injury, and he's starting, I think he's already planning for failure. He said a quote before the All-Star break, I don't have to achieve anything else. I'm not chasing anything else in basketball. basketball. You get injured. You're producing TV shows, movies. Now you're Quincy Jones. You're producing a music record. He always said more than an athlete. God bless you. He can compartmentalize. When he gets on a court, he's going to go full tilt. But your body does what the body does.

And that one injury gets to another injury. I think that LeBron James will not play through his entire Laker contract. I think LeBron James will wind up retiring early. Think about this, Joy, and Michael, this could all happen in like a four-month stretch. He misses he's hurt. He misses the playoffs and he doesn't land AD. If those three things happen. He ain't coming here in the summer. I'm just telling you, for the aging actor, you have a second bomb. You lose out to a young star Ryan Gosling in a movie you thought you had.

You start the domino effect. We could go from injury, no playoffs, misses AD. I'm telling you, it is we have reached a. complete tipping point. You're smiling at me. I don't think it's, we're already at one. I'm smiling because it's LeBron James and there's not an option for the sports guys to allow us to have the NBA playoffs without him. You know what, Joy? It's going to happen. We have to get used to it because just like Jordan, just like Kobe, just like in all sports, if he didn't make the playoffs this year, and I think that they will. If I had to bet money, I think that they will make the playoffs. But if he didn't, good. You know why? Because we get to, like last year, Kyrie, with the Celtics. We learned all about these great Celtics players, Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown, Terry Rozier. We're going to have to, at some point, whether you're a LeBron fan or a LeBron

hater, we're going to have to get ready for the end of this era. And there's the Janus's, there's the Tatum's, the Philly guys, there's the Toronto guys, there's the Donovan Mitchells, there's the Aaron Gordes, whoever you're into, there's the Knicks guys. We're going to have to get ready for the NBA without them. And this is a little litmus test. I do think they're going to make the planets. They're getting bumped. And you know what? What's going to happen when they get bumped?

I'm going to come on this show with my broom because it ain't going to be pretty. I'm going to have that broom out. And I'm going to sweep up. I'm going to go right down to the staples. And I'm going to start sweeping. Well, in between your burpees. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah, Colin. I was really upset about that. Really upset. I know I can tell you. A lot of it. You're getting very emotional right now. All right. It's been nice having you.

I gave you 14 minutes or something. That's a lot on this show. And I liked when you called me crazy Michael Rappapaport. I'm like the guy at 7-Eleven who you're trying to avoid. But I got you. But I got you. Really? Is that what you've become?

You've been reduced to the crazy guy at 7-11. When you say crazy, my grandpa, first I'm like, oh, that, and then I'm like, no, I like that. The guy that buys antifreeze and actually thinks it's a beverage. Yeah, that's right. That's right. I've been behind the line at 7-Eleven with that guy. Yeah, I'll see it. I'll see it the deli later.

I'll be there. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline.

And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12

in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy, Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. 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 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, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Eye Heart Radio. app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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