The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 05/06/2019

Episode Date: May 6, 2019

Colin says Kawhi Leonard is great but not valuable because he does not elevate his teammates.  He thinks Joel Embiid creates too much noise and does not fit with Ben Simmons.  He talks about where he was right and wrong over the weekend.  Plus, Bleach Report's Howard Beck agrees with Colin that the Knicks are not a contender even if they sign Durant and Kyrie.  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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This is the Best of the Herd. with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a great Monday. In Los Angeles, this is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Today we're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, Channel 83 Sirius XM, not on FS1. Go over to FS2 if you want us. One hour from now, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, and Joy Taylor's joining me fresh off a weekend in Kansas City.

Yes. You got Chiefs Red on today. I do actually. That was coincidental. Good to have you in. Yeah, you had a crazy weekend also. Yeah, doing all sorts of stuff. Went to Vegas and a daughter showed up last night.

Unannounced, surprised dad to the house. So it's a great week coming up. Tonight's an unbelievable NBA night. We have NBA playoffs tonight, Celtics, Milwaukee, Warriors in Houston. I want to start, though, with this. do not confuse talent with valuable. Do not even confuse production with valuable. Now, in most instances, if you're talented, you're valuable.

And if you're productive, you're valuable. But not all the time. A Lamborghini, if it was a person, would be very, very talented. but I couldn't even get my kids in the car grocery bags. You know, if it was a tight little Porsche, Lamborghini. Don't confuse the two. Kauai Leonard's talented and he's productive. Everybody's talking about him this morning being the second best player in the NBA to Kevin Durant.

He's not that valuable. Toronto was 17 and 5 when he didn't play. He doesn't communicate. He doesn't pass. He doesn't elevate others. LeBron James leaves a franchise and they disintegrate the next day. Pat Riley, Eric Spolstra, Miami. Awful, great, awful.

Twice in Cleveland. Finals, finals. Oh, we're awful. LeBron gets hurt with the Lakers. At the end of the year, they were the worst team in the league. They were losing to teams like Phoenix in New York that were tanking. LeBron's great, talented, productive, and bizarrely valuable. Kauai is just really talented.

And damn, he's productive. How valuable is he? Toronto made the playoffs last year. Toronto was the number one seed last year. Toronto last year in the regular season was 58 and 24. And then Kauai came and they were 59 and 23. And 17 and 5 when he didn't play this year. He's just talented.

He reminds me of the running back Adrian Peterson. They have these weird, weird, unique similarities. both their hands are a topic. Kauai's got abnormally large hands. Adrian Peterson has a legendarily almost violent handshake. They're both strong for their size. They're both awe-inspiring. And neither makes their team necessarily much better.

Vikings got better when Adrian Peterson left. And by the way, San Antonio, they're in the playoffs again. it should be noted both have one flaw. Adrian Peterson could never catch. Kauai Leonard doesn't pass. The guy in these playoffs that's actually talented, productive, and valuable is the guy for Denver, the Joker, Jokic? Folks, he's a center.

They run their offense through him. Denver is the youngest playoff team in my life I think I've ever seen in the second round. He leads them in everything. He leads them in points, rebounds, a center. They give him the ball late, top of the key, down low. He has three times the assists of Kauai Leonard and double almost the rebounds. They're both very good players and points and field goal percentage. Jokic elevates every Denver Nugget.

Denver should have no business being in the playoffs with this roster. It's a bunch of guys. Is Denver historically relevant? This is a bunch of kids. they're going to be great if they can get one more player. Denver's going to be good for 10 years. They're all kids. Toronto's good always with Kauai without Kauai. People are confusing this. I don't think Kauai is a wildly valuable player because I think he's the NBA's silent assassin. He comes to your job. Nobody really knows him. He doesn't talk with anybody. He hits his targets.

He leaves and frankly would rather work alone and does his best work. work alone. The assassin is simply that. Working by himself, in San Antonio, there used to be this criticism about him. They asked Greg Popovich once, what was the best advice you could give Kauai Leonard. Do you remember what he said? Popovich said that when I call a play for Kauai, I'm actually calling a play for the Spurs. Kauai doesn't communicate. Of course he's not a great passer because passing's communicating on the floor. It's playing well with others. He doesn't. He just arrives, hits his targets, works alone, leaves the building. Anybody really know Kauai?

No, he never talked. The silent assassin never talks either. It's against his job description. Better serve working alone. I'm not denying Kauai is great. Toronto was great without him. They'll be fine with him. They didn't win a title without him, but they were good.

They won't win the championship without him, but they're good. And the kid in Denver is, he doesn't have an NBA body. We don't know much about him. He didn't play college basketball here. And Denver's not a historically relevant. It's a football city. You could argue it's a hockey city and a baseball city third. But that guy, if you take him out of Denver, Portland's winning these games, blowouts,

four for four in the series is over. He may take this bunch of kids to the Western Conference finals. He's an incredible talent. And I'll say this about Adrian Peterson. Adrian Peterson may have been just a better, harder runner than Ezekiel Elliott of the Cowboys. But Zeke, when he leaves the Cowboys for a three-game stretch, they can't get first downs. The Vikings were better without Adrian Peterson because Zeke can catch. Zeke can run.

Zeke can block. Adrian Peterson left the Vikings. They got better. Zeke takes two weeks off. The team can't function with the best offensive line in football. the Cowboys can't function without Zeke. Don't confuse talent and valuable. Ezekiel Elliott is both.

Peterson was just talented. And that's what I think about Kauai Leonard. The kid in Denver is an unbelievable talent. And he makes everybody on the Nuggets better. Let me shift to this. Philadelphia. Philadelphia fans are like all fans. When they're right, they rush to Twitter.

When they're wrong, it's crickets. So Joel L. M. B. has wild swings. He's great. He's awful. He's amazing. He's hurt. He's healthy. He's not. And whenever he's great, Philadelphia meatballs, run to their Twitter accounts. Told you, man, face of the franchise. Of course, they didn't run to the thing yesterday because he was awful. But here's my takeaway on Joe L. M.B. If you're somebody at work, and we've all worked with somebody like this, that has a temper, that has outbursts, a little bit of a screamer and a yell. That's his reputation because he's shown it before. Now, he can be funny like Alec Baldwin, but Alec Baldwin in an airport, even when he's smiling and handsome and funny and glib with TMZ, you know he's this close to popping. Same with Christian Bale.

That's their reality, even in the times they're not yelling and strangling a TMZ reporter at the airport. Joe L.M.B's reality, good or bad game is, he didn't play for two years because he was hurt. and he needs six treatments a game because he's always hurt. And he's got a bad diet and he's always hurt. Did I mention he's always hurt? And he missed 14 to the last 24 games.

Did I mention he gets hurt a lot? He's a liability to the franchise. I don't care that he played terrible yesterday. Just like I don't care that he played great the previous game. Yesterday wasn't even his worst game in this series. He is a high-maintenance, noisy guy. I don't care what his games are. I don't rush to Twitter for validation when he's bad.

I could have spent all day yesterday on M.B. I'm Bid crushing him on Twitter. I didn't. I talked about Jokic and nobody cares. M.B.D.'s reality, like the guy with a temper at work, is, doesn't mean he always has a temper. Doesn't mean he's always yelling at cameramen. Doesn't mean he's always picking fights with his bosses.

But we all know it's right below the surface and so you walk on eggshells around him. It doesn't matter that M. Bede was terrible yesterday. or great the game before. If you build your franchise around him, this is what you get. He's calling his coach in the morning. I may not play. He's hurt. He's sick.

They want him to lose weight. He needs a nutritionist. He's just too damn noisy for me. So you go ahead and build this Sixer team around and beat him Butler. But I'll tell you, I'll take Simmons. Because Simmons may be quiet and he can't shoot. And right now he's flawed, but he's quiet. I don't get a lot of noise and social media.

talking and calling his coach at 3 in the morning. Yesterday, Charles Shack and Kenny after the game, they didn't want to hear about Joel M. B. Feeling under the weather. Did you watch that game? I watched that whole first half before we, and I watched the whole game before I came over here. He had nothing.

Well, I've seen superstars that had great sick games. You know, this is the time. Maybe it was sick, maybe it wasn't. This ain't the time to be sick. When you step on that court, during this time of the year, Kenny, this is where you make it. It's okay.

No, they're okay. But the acknowledgement of the sickness is not time. Like you said, the greatest player we've ever seen in our generation. One of the best games when he was getting. So either you're on the floor, because this is how we evaluate you as analysts and coaches and even players against you.

If you're on the floor, what did you do? Don't rush to Twitter every time he drops 32 and looks great. And I'll promise you, I won't rush to Twitter when he's as awful as he was yesterday. And that wasn't even his worst game in this series. Embed is a fragile, inconsistent, wildly popular big man. Even during his great stretches, six treatments per day to get on the floor, Ivy at six in the morning, 63% of games in Philly he's missed, an incredibly likable social star.

But folks, bad back, bad die. Not always a great teammate. You can keep rushing to Twitter to confirm it. You want to build around that guy. You got choices in Philadelphia. I'm going to take the quiet guy. I'm going to take the guy who's one of the greatest passing young players, Ben Simmons, I've ever seen.

He's not refined. He's not a polished product. He's not as good as Embed now. But I don't get all the inconsistency. I don't get, and by the way, M.B. and Simmons can't play together. So you're going to have to choose one at some point. but it's just this constant up, down, noise, back, diet, hurts. It's too much.

Just because, by the way, here was the headline before this series, before the Sixers Raptors series. Here's the guy that everybody loves. Here's the guy that's missed 63% of games. Here's the guy that didn't play for his first two years. Here was the headline. Embedd wants to play more, but knee tendonitis will last all playoffs. That's what it's going to be for the next eight years.

So whether the guy, whether Alec Baldwin attacks the TMZ guy at the airport, we all know it's in him because he's done it a bunch. Just because he's not doing it now doesn't mean Alex wouldn't do it. It's who he is. He's got a temper. He pops. I mean, we know who Ambid is.

Why are we arguing about it? Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, The I-Hard 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, 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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen, kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey.

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

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

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

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

learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? them. On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WMBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star

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

Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts for wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. L.A. is a city that sells dreams, but don't forget most actors.

They come from the Midwest, and they come from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois, and Missouri, and they're good kids. And their mom and dad were good-looking, so they got good DNA, and they get out here, and they end up bartending. And if it wasn't for a strong union sag, they couldn't pay their bills. They're renters, not homeowners. That's what the reality of Hollywood is. There's an occasional guns and roses and Tom Hanks story, but that's not the reality. The reality is there's a lot of actors out here bartending and they're good people and they work hard and they're handsome and they've got talent, but that's the reality of it.

The Dodgers have figured that out in Los Angeles. The Dodgers keep saying no to big contracts. The Dodgers are built on their farm system. They're in a wildly glamorous city in Los Angeles and they just go out and they have a bunch of guys named Seeger and Justin Turner and a bunch of grinders, not a bunch of stars. They're about their farm system, analytics. They grow their own, and the Dodgers are going to win their division for the seventh straight year.

The Lakers are built on dreams and fables, and we're going to steal the other people's best players, and we'll take their draft picks, and it's just a bunch of actors who get marginal work. The reality is the Lakers-Lebron story has become a fable. Remember the movie Aladdin? The magic lamp and this genie that would grant you wishes? A magic carpet ride to the finals? You remember that. LeBron's been lured to the kingdom with a genie. His wishes and dreams fulfilled TV shows, business moguls, fame, free agents coming to join you. You do realize Disney movies always have a happy ending. But the reality of Los Angeles is they

sell that dream with a magic carpet ride and a genie, in this case, bus. But this magic quit the team and this genie doesn't have any answers. And the whole new world is the Cleveland Cavaliers West. That's what the Lakers are. A bad roster, a bad team, chaotic front office. It's funny, I live in Los Angeles, and there's a bunch of movie stars, and there's a bunch of big names. but it's the baseball team, the Dodgers, who just keep their head down,

have a farm system, do their analytics, say no to Machado, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout contracts, and dominate their division. And get to the NLCS and the World Series, and the Lakers are all in on that L.A. dream, Aladdin, magic carpet, magic genie, just a bunch of BS.

How do I know this? Did you hear LeBron James on its new show The Shop this weekend talking about the magic situation? My right hand comes to me and say, magic just stepped down. I'm like, man, get a bit of my face. You b***. I go check my phone. I look at it. F*** it happened.

Personally, for me, I came here to be a part of the Lakers organization, having a conversation, having a conversation with magic. So it was just weird for him to just be like, I'm out of here. and not even have no like, hey, Brian, kiss my I'm gone. It's not, it wasn't even next. LeBron's not happy. LeBron's disappointed because there's no there there. Go watch how the Dodgers do it. Farm system, build their own, not interested in big flashy contracts.

Let's get our kind of guys. Analytics. Lakers, analytics. Nah, second best NBA. analytic department in town. A lot of chaos, a lot of dreams, a lot of the Aladdin, the magic genie, the wild magic carpet ride.

Lakers are a mess. Okay, I don't care how glamorous your city. Sports is hard work. That's all it is. The patriots are grinders. Alabama's grinders. The Dodgers are grinders. You know who doesn't grind enough?

The Giants. You know who does? Philadelphia. Like sports, I don't give a rip about I don't give a rip about all your glamour. Go look at who has dominated sports in my lifetime in the last 20 years. Yukon women's basketball. Is that glamorous? San Antonio Spurs.

New England Patriots, the hoodie. The Dodgers right now. I mean, it's for magic not even to give LeBron a call. If I'm a free agent, I'm like, time out. They're not even communicating with LeBron. Talk about a turnoff. If I was Kauai, If I was KD, if I was Clay Thompson, you're not even giving a LeBron James a heads up?

Isn't he the franchise? Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. But it's a Monday, Joy. And you know what that means. That means we get to talk about how right and wrong you've been. And I was a lot of both all this week. So let's do it right wrong. Where Colin was right?

Okay. We can keep running to Twitter and saying how great M.B. But M. Bid and Simmons don't work together. Outside of Golden State, Philadelphia has got the second most talent in the league. Ambide and Simmons are oil and water. Simmons can't play with the dominant big because it clogs the lane and he's not a perimeter player. And Ambide is absolutely at his best on the low block, but with Simmons sometimes needing to score low, Ambide moves out and that's not really a strain.

They're never going to work together. Now, they do have moments. The Sixers will have these four and six minute spurts, or they look like the world's best team. They're like the Warriors with some globetrotters. I mean, they're so much fun to watch. But they are struggling. They lost home court again yesterday.

Embed for the second time in this series was invisible. Simmons has been throughout the series at times invisible. They don't work together. Win or lose this series, Simmons and Embed, oil and water. Where Colin was wrong. The shock of the playoffs isn't Kauai. He's always been good. The shock of the playoffs is the Denver Nuggets.

Jokic has been a monster. They have one guy in their entire roster with playoffs of experience, Paul Millsap. They have the youngest playoff team I can ever remember, and now they have home court advantage. Three games left, two in Denver against Portland, and they have shown unbelievable resilience in this series. Listen, we all knew the East is weaker than the West, and Toronto would win a playoff series. We knew that's not a shock. We knew Milwaukee was going to win a playoff series or two. Denver blows me away.

You're not supposed to win in this league in the playoffs with one star and a bunch of kids. It doesn't work that way. They've been, to me, the shock of the playoffs. Where Colin was right. Monty Williams took the Phoenix son's job over the Lakers job last week. If you're the Lakers and that doesn't terrify you, I don't know what does. Sons have had six coaches in six years.

It's a poorly owned franchise. Folks, the Lakers are exactly what we've been telling you for six months. It is a circus. LeBron James has a TV show with Maverick Carter called The Shop. And here's an illustration of how little communication happens at the top of the franchise. My right hand comes to me and say, magic just stepped down. And I'm like, man, get a-go-out-my face. You b-ha-ha-ha.

I go check my phone, I look at it. It happened. Personally, for me, I came here to be a part of the Lakers organization, having a conversation with Magic. So it was just weird for him to just be like, I'm out of here. And not even have no like, hey, Bron, kiss my ass. I'm gone. It's not, it wasn't even that.

LeBron's not happy. He's the biggest star in the city on a sports team. and they didn't text him. CEO, the owner, the GM, the president. They didn't get a text. It is a rudderless ship. Where Colin was wrong. Jason Tatum's one of my favorite young NBA players.

Smart, long, athletic, can shoot, can dry, put it on the deck. He's averaging less than 10 points a game in this series and shooting 35% against Milwaukee. Now, some of it is Milwaukee plays real defense. You don't get any cheap points down low with Yonistan in there. but he has got to be more aggressive. I really like his game. I think he's a tremendous young player.

And I would acknowledge that Kyrie is not always the easiest guy in the world to play with. But Jason Tatum has completely disappeared in this series. He is out of rhythm. He doesn't look confident. And it's remarkably because last year, without Kyrie on the court, when it was kind of his and Al Horford's team in the playoffs, he rose as a rookie. He played his best basketball the year in the playoffs.

Now in his second year, he has disappeared in this series. Where Colin was right? I said, I don't believe in conspiracy theories, but watch the Rockets and Warriors. That no call on the James Harden charge, that's the Saints Rams pass interference call. You've got to be kidding me. 41 seconds left when that thing starts. 40 what, 49. You're not calling that a charge.

I'm watching that on television right now. Come on now. Did that not feel like the NBA with three referees staring at it? Wanted a game five? I mean, that's Rams Saints right there. And you know how much heat the Rams Saints got? And I know the NFL is way more popular than the NBA,

but that's what I said about this game. I thought it would come early. It came late. there would be a call where we'd be going, oh, I get it. That's as bad a call in a big spot as I can remember in the NBA. That's what I worried about. I've defended the NBA for years. I'm not at a conspiracy theories.

They butchered that moment. Where Colin was right? We've been saying since the NFL season ended, two or three teams in the NFL are going to be pullback teams. Bear Saints Ravens. And last week, Vegas came out where they're over under. and agreed on all of them. Saints won 13 games last year. I predicted nine. Vegas is at 10. Chicago 12. I predict nine. Vegas at nine. Baltimore at 10 last year. I predict seven. Vegas has

them higher eight and a half. But in all three, especially the Bears, Vegas clearly sees what I saw late last year with Chicago, which is in the last month of starts for Mitch Trubisky, he was incredibly pedestrian. And I think Aaron Rogers and Green Bay's defense is better. I think Detroit's better. I think Minnesota has a little bounce back year. Vegas agrees on all three teams, all three in the playoffs, Saints, Bears, Ravens. They're pulling back. Where Colin was wrong.

Chris Middleton, I said last week, he shouldn't be a two. You can't get to the finals with Chris Middleton as a two. He's not a good enough ball handler. He can shoot. Well, he's been great. 24 points. He's shooting 63% from three against the Celtics. five and a half rebounds, 86% at the line.

He's been great. Now, I still think Middleton on a championship team is a three, on some teams maybe a four, but since I said he was not a number two star, he's been fantastic. And because you have to double and spend so much time on Janus, it leaves Middleton open. And I thought going into this series,

Tatum would end up elevating like last year in the playoffs. He's vanished. and Middleton, who I think I thought would kind of shrink in the playoffs, has actually played his best basketball of the year. Where Colin was right? Everybody tells me instant replay is great. And my belief is too much instant replay adds confusion, delays, and doesn't make sports better.

It's sports version of micromanaging. So the favorite horse at the Kentucky Derby, wire-to-wire lead, they went to replay. We sat around for 15 minutes. It was an embarrassing messian. ending and maximum security because it drifted out of its lane on a turn. You know, it is a horse. They kind of have their own way of doing things.

And replay took away the wire-to-wire winner. I don't know, folks. I mean, I got nothing against horses. They're beautiful. But, you know, they have a piece of metal in their mouth and they get whipped. They're not humans. They may drift a little in a race, especially when the tracks a mess. And we go to replay in 144 Kentucky Derbys, that's the rebut.

that's the replay center that looks like me at home on a Sunday watching NFL and that you upturned a Kentucky Derby but Colin Colin if it was a horse race in Illinois it's not it's the Kentucky Derby it's why you don't throw pass interference

flags in the Super Bowl in a Hail Mary it's the Kentucky Derby sports has always had situational officiating and muddy track it's a horse drifted a little this is where

I don't like replay. This is where I don't like replay. If officials in NFL football can make a mistake, a horse can't drift a little? A little? I don't know. You horse people probably hate me on this. You're experts. I'm not. But that was a disastrous ending to the greatest, what they call the greatest two minutes in sports, greatest three minutes in sports. That was a mess. I didn't like it at all. Where Colin was right? Best high school quarterback in the country plays in California. didn't even acknowledge USC and UCLA or the PAC 12. He's going to play at Clemson. I said a couple of years ago, I love college football.

There was a time it was my favorite sport. But when Clemson and Alabama can now come out west and take the top Western players, it tells you the sports become lobsided and overly regional. I'm sorry, but you shouldn't have USC going to Florida and getting their best players and going to Ohio and getting their best players and going to Georgia and get them. all their best players. College football has become too regional. This is nothing against Clemson. They're awesome. It's nothing against Alabama. But you have something going on right now. College basketball, as good as Duke is, there's no guarantees. I can guarantee you the championship

game next year. Alabama has nine first rounders projected in the draft, and Clemson, I think, is better. Best High School quarterback didn't acknowledge the West Coast. He's going to Clemson, which until Davosweeney wasn't even considered a national university. It was kind of a regional, you know, ACCC university. Colin right, calling wrong, good to have you in. 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.

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 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 beaders 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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive?

The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

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

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

about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them?

On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions. To talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WMBA standout, Kate Martin and rising hockey star, Layla Edwards.

If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs, Gabby Thomas, and Katie Ledecky. The ability to show a gold medal to someone

and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win. more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world, like, I can do anything. I can, like, I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Howard Beck covered the Lakers during their three-peat, former New York Times NBA reporter for

the Knicks, one of the really smart guys who covers the league now at the Bleacher Report, NBA senior writer there. And Howard Beck is joining us. Howard, thanks for spending a few minutes with us. The end of the heard, I appreciate it. Hey, Con, how are you? I'm doing great. I want to start with the one that'll get everybody the most upset. And I said this earlier. I'll throw you an analogy I used. Adrian Peterson was a great running back. But Minnesota got better when he left. He couldn't catch. Zekeel Elliott's a great running back. If he takes a series off, the cowboys can't function. He can catch. He can run. He can block. There's a difference between talented and valuable. Kalai Leonard is great, but the Raptors are 17 and 5 this

year when he didn't play. He doesn't pass. He doesn't really communicate. He's the silent assassin of the NBA. He comes in, does his work, produced, works better alone than in groups, leaves, and you're awestruck by his accuracy and his greatness. But I feel like the Joker for Denver elevates every teammate and himself. I watch Kauai and I'm like, I love his game, but is he making people better? Well, I mean, it depends on how we want to define it. Let's put it this way. If not for him, this series is already over. If they're still in a DeMar de Rosen centric universe, the Raptors, they're probably done in this series. And that's not really a knock to Marjorosen as much as it is a statement about how much more dominant and versatile

Kawhi Leonard is overall as a score. Now, we've seen this through the course of NBA history, Colin. There are some great scores who are not necessarily great playmakers, and some of them develop it over time. And actually, Kevin Durant, who, you know, it's Kawhi and Kevin Durant, who are now, like, you know, buying for title of, you know, best player this postseason, depending on which day and who just played recently. but Kevin Durant wasn't always a great assist guy.

He's developed over the course of his career. And I think Kauai has, that is a step he still needs to take. He's incredible. He can score almost from every place on the court. He's got a great mid-range game that feels like a throwback to Jordan or Kobe. He's got the three-point range. He's powerful and can get to the rack. But I agree with you.

There's more he could do as a playmaker. I don't think that necessarily means that his team's not better off for having him. or that he's limiting them in some way. I think it's more about the fact that they don't have anybody else who's necessarily a next-level playmaker on that team, and Kyle Lowry really varies from day to day. You know, so I said this last week, Harrod, I find the Sixers to be my favorite team to watch,

and some of it is because of their dysfunction. I don't think Simmons and Embed play together. I think there's an oil-water component here where Simmons can't shoot, so he needs a clear lane. you don't want him beat outside where he thinks he's a shooter. You want him on the low block where he is almost impossible to defend. I look at these two and I think to myself, their sheer talent will get him to the playoffs and occasionally will win a playoff series.

But man, when I watch the Sixers, there are spurts when it's joyful and wonderful. But I just don't see these four, Tobias, M. Bid, Simmons, Butler. I don't think it works together. I think it'll always underachieve. Am I reaching? Are you seeing any of that? I think where you started on this one, Colin, is actually where I am. It's not about the four. It's about the two. You know, Simmons and Embed, look, the buzz around the league has been for the last couple of years

that these guys, I don't want to say they dislike each other, but there's not great chemistry there. They coexist. They're fine. But it's interesting that when we talk about the best combinations on this team and when we start, you know, really zoning in on what works in a given game, we watch the great two-man game between Embed and Reddick or Butler and Embed. You rarely talk about Simmons and Embed other than that, well, that's the young core of this team. We don't really think of them as a great one-two punch. And without them having acquired Tobias Harrison, Jimmy Butler, they're not where they are right now. There's a reason that that team went all in, traded almost every available asset they had to get those guys, even knowing that both would be

free agent, because they knew they needed somebody else who could get their own shot, create and function well in combination with one of the two original guys in beating Simmons. And until and unless Simmons gets that outside game, that jump shot down, there is a limitation to him. And all that said, they have such a great sheer amount of talent that I think the six are still have a shot to win this series and get to the conference finals or even get to the finals. I mean, I've gone back and forth on all four of these teams. They all have the potential.

Yeah. I find him so much fun to watch. So Steph struggled in his last game. I've always felt there's a difference, Howard Beck joining us, between reasons and excuses. You know, dog ate my homework's an excuse. Dislocated finger and I'm a shooter is a reason. I think Steph's hurt. He just doesn't look 100% to me.

What do you make of what we've seen so far? Yeah, I mean, look, it's the last game that's most glaring, right? and that was, you know, missing a layup and missing a dunk, blowing a dunk. That's more legs than finger, I would think. But the finger isn't helping, and it's certainly not helping on the shooting part of it. What I've seen from guys in the past in the playoffs, and this is different for everybody, and especially when you're such an elite shooter, maybe it's a little bit more of an adjustment. But guys will get hurt in the playoffs, whether it's a finger, whether it's something else,

things will be off, and then they find a way to adjust and get their shot right, even though it's not ideal, right? And so Curry may just need a couple of games to get used to how it feels right now with the finger taped up and just kind of, you know, reacclimate to his own game. But he also has Durant to lean on. And so I think it doesn't matter maybe quite as much as it would have been a prior postseason. Now, they still need him, obviously, at a high level. But Durant is playing at such an incredible level right now that if Curry,

wants to hang back and play Playmaker, which he's very capable of doing. There's still a lot of damage that team can do with Durant's scoring, Clay Thompson's outside shooting, Curry contributing, maybe he's at 80% of what he would normally be. They've got the luxury of Kevin Durant. I'm going to throw, I'm going to show about this, and everybody's got Kevin Durant going to the Knicks. And I said, all right, so Kevin Durant did not have a great experience with Westbrook. There is a certain stigma in his mind about Westbrook.

let's say the Knicks get the number two pick next Tuesday in the ping pong lottery. They don't get Zion. That would be too perfect for the world. That's just too perfect, right? So let's say the Knicks get the number two pick. I think they'd be making a catastrophic error not to draft John Morant, who I think has Westbrook's athletic ability, but is a better shooter and I think has better court vision. Then if you draft him, Westbrook, excuse me, Durant's sitting there in San Francisco thinking,

Well, he's the one they say is Westbrook. I've done Westbrook. I've done that Westbrook thing. I'm not into that, a ball-centric guard. I think it's a fascinating quandary, Howard, that if the Knicks get the two, I think they would be insane not to take John Morant. And I think that's a turn off to KD.

What's your takeaway on that? I think it's a fascinating psychological analysis of it, that if he's too closely associated with Westbrook, then Jha all of a sudden becomes less attractive. I don't know. I think there's a more fundamental question here for Kevin Durant, Colin, and it's about this. If he's leaving the Warriors,

if he's leaving a team that will have gone to probably three straight finals, maybe won three straight championships, he's won two finals MVP, could win a third. If he's going to leave a great historic team to try something else, what is it that he wants? Does he want to be on another contender immediately? because if he does, I don't know that the Knicks are the right choice there. I understand that people are talking about, well, it'll be him and Kyrie and they'll sign a couple of other guys.

The Knicks have a team that won 17 games. I know, I know, you say it out loud. It's striking every time. 17 games. They don't have a lot of talent, and the talent that they do have is young and unpolished, and you don't know where it's going. Mitchell Robinson, great rookie season. Is he going to be a great player, an All-Star caliber player?

that's yet to be determined. Kevin Knox had a horrific season, statistically, as a rookie. One of the worst we've seen in a while for a pick in the top 10, there's a lot of doubts about Kevin Knox around the league. There's a lot of doubts about Dennis Smith Jr. around the league. And if you did draft John Morant, by the way, of course,

you're now pushing Dennis Smith Jr. to the side. He didn't really appreciate being pushed to the side in Dallas by Luca Donchich. So where is the rest of the talent? Where's the surrounding cast? If you get Katie and Kyrie Irving, that's two max guys for your two max guys, for your two max slots. By definition, I think the math is you now have no cap room.

So where are you getting a supporting cast? The Knicks don't have one. Now, it's not to say they couldn't build one on the fly, but it's going to take a lot, lot more than just signing Durant and another All-Star. And depending on what else happens in the East, look, if the Sixers keep their guys, the Sixers are still great. If the Bucks re-sign Middleton and Brogden and Lopez, they're still great. if the Raptors don't lose Kawhi, they're still great.

The Celtics, maybe they lose Korea, maybe they don't. They've still got a lot of talent. Are the Knicks leapfrogging all of those teams, if those teams more or less stay who they are? I mean, it's a big, big climb. And so I think people are oversimplifying the idea that just getting KD and another guy turns them into contenders. You and I totally agree with you.

And I said this last week, and people think I'm nuts. I'm like, folks, the East isn't the East six years ago. All these teams are good. good and young. And Philadelphia, Boston, God, even Indiana's a, when Nola Depot's healthy is a real team. And by the way, I think this has to be noted. KD. and Kyrie, if they did both join the Knicks, they're over the regular season. Like those guys are postseason players now.

They don't want to play 82. They want to play 64. And frankly, they both have rabbit ears. They both bother by the media. So when they're not playing, they're getting beat up. Howard Beck Bleacher Report, senior writer, former New York Times reporter covering the Nix, LA Daily News, during the Lakers 3 Pete. It's great talking to you. I love that you took time for us this morning, Howard, and best wishes to you and Bleacher Report.

You as well, Colin. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. 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. So everybody knows, first of all, I always think it's funny. I do not get paid for clicks. I have a guaranteed contract. I imagine Joy does too.

We don't get paid for clicks. No. It's kind of a cliche out there for people who don't get the business. Click bait. I get paid nothing for clicks. In fact, the only thing that count is clicks is Twitter, and it's the only thing I don't monetize. I don't make a penny off Twitter.

Facebook, yeah, TV, radio, podcast. Nobody makes any money on clicks. Well, it adds to your relevance. I have a guaranteed contract. I'm relevant. I have been for years. I don't get paid on clicks. So a lot of you think I'd go after Baker Mayfield to get clicks.

Folks, if I want to get clicks, I'd go after the Dallas Cowboys, Tom Brady, Drew Breeze, Peyton Manning. I'd go after beloved figures. I have mostly until the last six months been a huge fan of LeBron James, and I still think he's the second best player in the world, and I still love LeBron. And his guys, I just think he had a bad optical year distracted in L.A. Nobody talks about crappy teams to get clicks.

You don't have national fan bases. You know why people, when I say something bad about the bill, it's not to get clicks. It's because you're crappy. The same with the Cleveland Browns. People in Ohio think, oh, you just need clicks at a Baker. I don't get paid in clicks. I have a guaranteed salary.

And if I was going to pick on anybody, it wouldn't be a rookie quarterback. Baker Mayfield's not going to change my life. I'd pick on Big Ben. Okay? You know, the best quarterback in that division. So anyway, Baker Mayfield and I, he came on the show. I was critical of him. Police videos in quarterbacks I'm not a big fan of.

Grabbing your junk, I'm not a big fan of. but I did say he's talented. I wouldn't draft him, but he's talented. So Baker came on the show. He was great. I loved him on the show. I liked him more on the show than I did before and after it. After it, he's now going after me.

I said something last week on the show. I had kind of an opinion. I said, you know, John Dorsey got fired in Kansas City. Baker Mayfield had to walk on a couple times. Cleveland's been a laughing stock of the NFL. By the way, check, check, check all three true. I said, these guys actually work. The Cleveland thing works.

Everybody, they all have a chip on their shoulder. Baker's got a chip in his shoulder. Dorsey's got a chip in his shoulder. Cleveland's got a chip on his shoulder. I thought it was complimentary. Baker Mayfield did not think it was complimentary. He went and hurt my feelings on Twitter. His reaction was, you're a donkey man.

And it hurt my feelings. So I fired back, obviously, in jest. I said, I wish you would listen before ruining my weekend. I worked very hard on this sad. Still hope we're friends, despite our differences. Good luck against Tennessee. They're terrible. You guys will win 50-0.

Obviously, tongue-in-cheek. Baker took it seriously. Why would I listen to you instead of just reading the quote? That's exactly what you do when you go on the air. Skip all the details and important stuff. Then go for the irrational opinion for clicks. Baker, we don't get paid in clicks. By the way, Baker, you don't get paid in clicks either.

You get paid for doubles, just like I get paid for, you know, commerce. This relationship, nobody. he's benefiting from it, but it is fun for me. It is fun that an NFL franchise quarterback and I can go back and forth. I'm very tongue-on-cheek in this whole thing. This to me is just funny. I would like to believe that Baker doesn't take it as seriously either. Those look serious to me.

I mean, I do think that he read that and probably rolled his eyes and like showed a few people. When you read my response to him, you get that it's tongue-in-cheek. Yes, you sound very much like Trump at 2 o'clock in the morning. in that, although he is very serious and you are very much joking. But the caption, and this is why people should read, you know, the article or watch the video instead of just reading the headline because you may find out that there's actually further information in not just what we can fit on Twitter. Yeah, there's no. Because what you said overall was, A, a compliment. It was a compliment when you hear it in its entirety.

Yeah. Like you said you were going to say a nice thing, having a chip on your shoulder, being. having that be a part of your personality is a good thing. It's a very motivating thing. And it works in the NFL for quarterbacks. Aaron's got one. Tom's got one. By the way, everyone fails.

So if you don't have a chip on your shoulder, you're not going to be successful because you'll give up. But I think a lot of people in Ohio, oh, he is so in your head. No, no, no, no. I'm not in Baker's head. He's not in my head. Folks, this is all fun. The idea of Westbrook taking a shot at me on social media, good or bad,

it doesn't change my world. I do think Baker Mayfield's police video grabbing his junk and he's a little too much for me. But I think he's an accurate quarterback and I do as I said in the piece. I think he works for Cleveland. I don't think Andrew Lux, Polish, Tom Brady's Aaron Rogers, they just don't feel like Cleveland. Baker feels like Cleveland. He got a chip a mile wide in his shoulder. So does John Dorsey.

The franchise has been, you know, it's been kind of the NFL's butt of jokes for the last 20 years. I don't think that's a shot by me. that's what it's been. So it was a compliment. And by the way, Freddie Kitchens, the coach, came out this weekend. And this is exactly what I've said from day one about this Cleveland team, which has a collection of some really interesting players, but nothing else. Last year is last year, and last year doesn't make no two teams are the same.

All right? I've said that numerous times. You're not going to be the same. I don't care. You're not going to pick up where you left off. And we're not interested in revisiting last year at all. We were 7, 8, and 1. We didn't do that last year.

All right, we didn't win anything. We were third in the division. And I don't know where all this is coming from. Just because the Super Bowl is our goal doesn't mean that's what we're at right now. We're a team just like the other 31 teams. And we're focused on training camp, OTAs, mini camp, and getting better when those guys get back in the building. By the way, thank you. That's all I've said is that you were 1 in 5 against playoff teams.

You have a second year quarterback. It's a good division. The AFC's packed. I mean, Houston now is a legit quarterback. Andrew Luck, Tom Brady, Donald can play. Baker, Big Ben, Lamar won games, Philip Rivers, Patrick Mahomes, Derek Carr. Like, you were 7-8-1.

And by the way, that's not taking anything away from being 7-8-1, which is an incredible improvement from where you were the year before. And they do have some... So I said, I've picked him to win nine games. They've got an interesting collection of talent. But that's not what it's on. all about. There's a lot of teams with talent. Jacksonville has had a very interesting collection of talent for about four years. They've had one great year. 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, and 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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on.

A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going?

On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey, 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.