The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 06/03/2019

Episode Date: June 3, 2019

Colin says that if the Raptors win the title it will come with an asterisk because the Warriors have so many injuries it’s become the Raptors vs. an MRI.  He explains where he was right and where he was wrong over the last week.  Plus, FS1 NBA Analyst Ric Bucher comes in studio and explains why he has a problem with nearly everything Colin has said the entire show.  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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From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1, find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go, loaded on a Monday. Live in Los Angeles, this is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're on IHeart Radio, we're on Fox Sports Radio, and we are right here, firmly planted. On FS1, Love Mondays during the NBA Finals, one hour from now where Colin was right,

where Colin was wrong. Got some crazy ones this week. It was a wild weekend in sports. Not just NBA. And Joy Taylor is joining me. You'll have some stuff in about 25 minutes. It was a bordered on bizarre weekend for a lot of reasons. Some might call it an all-timer.

Yes. Of a weekend. I would, for a lot of reasons. Let's start with a basketball. It has been established. This morning, Golden State's the better team. Kevin Durant's out. Clay Thompson didn't finish the game.

Kavana Luni, who's become a very reliable big for them, did not finish the game. Iggy is hobbled. Boogie Cousins is not fully healthy. He has no lateral quickness. I mean, can't move. By the way, Steph Curry was sick. They didn't score for five and a half minutes on the road and won. Golden State's the better team.

Okay, reverse these injuries. Kauai couldn't play. Mark Gassal. Lowry don't finish the game. You think it would be close? Last night established the best team in the NBA. One team has far more talent. One team can withstand the most bizarre series of injuries I've ever seen before a finals into the finals.

This series is no longer Toronto against Golden State. This series now is the Raptors versus an MRI. Can guys play? If Clay Thompson doesn't play in game three, Toronto's going to win the game. You can't possibly win a game with Kevin Durant and Clayton out and relying on an Australian center late who wasn't in the league a couple of months ago. We have an asterisk's final.

I don't remember the last one, but that's what we have. And that's what it is. And that's just what it is. It's an older, hobbled, injury-plagued, legendary dynasty against a cool story. And you see this, one of them is going to be in the history books. One of them is memorable. One of them's the Eagles. One of them's you two.

One of them's the Beatles. One of them's the Who. The other one is the Macarena. It was really catchy for a summer, and I don't remember what happened to it. And then I have a story that comes out this morning. Kauai Leonard rumors, he's all but gone. The kid wants to live in California. So now we're potentially nine days away from a complete rebuild for the Raptors.

And that's okay. It's not a shot at Toronto. This is the way it works. You almost never have concurrent dynasties in basketball. You can't, right? Because if I'm a dynasty, you can't be a dynasty. Works that way in golf, works that way in the NFL. We did have the Lakers and Celtics in the 80s, both dynasties, in their prime at the same time.

And they played volleyball back and forth. Magic wins, Mikhail Bird wins, Magic wins, Bird wins, Magic wins, Magic wins, Then a kid named Michael Jordan showed up and knocked them both off. But the truth is, this is the way it usually works. MJ's Bulls beat a series of forgettable teams, right? They beat Utah a couple times. They beat Seattle. They beat Phoenix.

They beat Portland. The teams they beat never won a title. Shack and Kobe's Lakers. Remember that? They beat the Sixers. They beat the Nets. They beat the Pacers. None of those team ever won finals.

And they're not in the record books. And they're completely forgettable. That wasn't even the best Sixers team. That wasn't even the best Pacers team. That wasn't even the best Nets team. So the point being is, you don't get concurrent dynasties. You get one, and that one is memorable. But as those dynasties get older, this happened to magic, and this happens to all the great teams.

You play these 20 extra playoff games. They're very intense. I mean, the Warriors got blown out eight times during the regular season when they were healthy. What does that tell you? They can't wait to get to the playoff. playoffs. The problem is they're now in the playoffs and they're falling apart. Golden State's the better team. Reverse these injuries. For Golden State to go on the road and withstand what happened last night. Clay starts the game can't finish. Looney starts the game can't finish. They got big

baskets late from Andrew Bogot. I mean, it is a testament to how deep Golden State is. It is a testament that they can go eight guys to the bench and still win a road game while not scoring for five and a half minutes. And Steph Curry didn't score in the fourth quarter. We have established the best team in the NBA this year. And they were the best team last year and the best team the year before that. But the difference is this year, it's now just Toronto against an MRI. Let me transition to this. Boogie Cousins was unbelievable last night.

I think Boogie Cousins got himself a contract. No, no, not with the Warriors. I think Boogie Cousins got himself a contract with a team like the Lakers. Let me explain. Bad teams, poorly run organizations like the Lakers, will give big contracts to people who have a good moment or have a good series. Well-run teams, you know, like the Patriots, bail on players, realizing after one great year, that's an outlier.

We can't depend on that said athlete. Let me give you four examples. The 1995 Super Bowl. There was a cornerback for the Cowboys named Larry Brown. He was fine. He wasn't elite, but he had two interceptions and got named the Super Bowl MVP. One right there I'm showing our FS1 viewers was thrown right at him. So Larry Brown, a good solid corner, not spectacular.

was the Super Bowl MVP. What happened? A franchise the Raiders that was becoming increasingly dysfunctional drove the Brinks truck up to his house and paid him a fortune. And he was never, ever, ever worth half of his contract. Let me go to baseball, 2004 National League playoffs. A very solid player named Carlos Beltran. He had a monster playoff run.

Eight home runs, 12 games. He batted over 400. Carlos Beltran in 2004 owned the National League playoffs. He put up numbers that were way beyond. He got hot. Way beyond him. What happened? The dysfunctional New York Mets paid him a fortune.

And Beltron went to New York, where he had a couple of decent seasons. He was a good solid player, but he wasn't worth the $120 million they paid him. How about Daryl Revin? he'd bounced around the NFL. The Patriots brought him in for a year. And with Crowder on the other side, he had a Pro Bowl season. He was very, very valuable. Bill Belichick knows his corners and loves his corners.

And he brought Dorello Rivas in for a season. He had a great year. But Bill realized, you know what? Man-to-man coverage, he's eroding. We're going to let him go. What happened? The New York Jets came in and paid him $70 million. I don't believe he even finished.

the contract. And finally, the fourth example is Timofh May Mosgoff, who I saw recently at a restaurant I like. He had a decent championship finals series with the Cavaliers. Not great but decent. We suddenly all heard of Timofay Mosgoff. He was a big. He was powerful. He was sort of reliable in small doses.

And guess what? The Lakers went out and paid him a fortune. They couldn't get out of that contract eight months later fast enough and they found another sucker to buy it off. Four examples of poorly run dysfunctional teams always overpay for somebody who has a good moment or a good series. And last night, Boogie Cousins was terrific.

He was terrific. But Boogie Cousins is hard on locker rooms. Golden State's always seen him as a guy long-term that really doesn't fit their style of offense or defense. In fact, he's a defensive liability at this point. But he gave you as an incredibly skilled big a wonderful night of basketball. And you could make the argument, and I think it's a good one, he actually won the game for him. He was incredibly valuable last night. And I think he got himself a contract.

But the Warriors are simply too well wrong. to be the team that gives it to him. Keep your eye on the Lakers, as I've said, so dysfunctional. They can't land a top free agent. They don't have the assets to trade for Anthony Davis, and they're going to have to settle. Watch them pony up the big dough for Boogie Cousins. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app.

Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion-dollar fraud.

But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them?

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

An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeki. The ability to show gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

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

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer 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 Sports Slice on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tript 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 that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person join me Kear games is we have real conversations about healing growth Poverhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. There's a story out from somebody. I trust Ramona Shelburne. I know her. I trust her. If she says something, she's, you know, she knows what she's doing. So I'm going to put this up. She said, she had a quote about Kauai Leonard.

And I think we all know that it's a, you know, he's leaning to coming back to California. She said, listen, I just think the guy has made it pretty clear. He wants to come back home to California. He has a house there. He always wanted the entire time. He wanted that before anything went south with the spurs. It's pretty consistent desire. It's not like Paul George, where Paul George, he's from Palmdale, but he likes fishing in that kind of lifestyle.

That's very Oklahoma. Here's the thing that, and I keep going back to when you do make a big move, I've done this three or four times in my life. Joy has done this. You know, people think you know miles out when you make these moves, but it comes down to a day, a car ride, an epiphany, a conversation. Here's something to consider with Kauai Leonard. His field goal percentage has gone down significantly in every series. He shot 55% against the Magic, 53 against the Sixers, 44 against the bucks, 38 against the Warriors, and that's a beat-up Warriors with until last night no size.

Dude is shot. He's a shot fighter. He is incredibly tired. Last night he had 34 points and 14 rebounds, and I don't remember much. He was a minus 14 plus minus. I don't remember a lot of the shots. He's just playing minutes. He's getting points, but he's not elevating.

He's not the same level. He's finding spots to rest, and I don't blame him. And here's the thing about Kauai Leonard is he makes this decision. The best case scenario for Toronto is they're stuck with this roster for a year because Kyle Lowry's contract and Serge Abakka's contract have one year left. Well, they're not going to get rid of them at the trading deadline. even though they could because they'll be if Kauai stayed in a playoff run. You're not going to get rid of those two veterans.

You've got to keep those guys if you're in the middle. You're a third seed, which they would be a second or a third or a first seat in the east. So you can't bail on those contracts at the trading deadline, though you could because they're expiring contracts and teams would line up for them. Everybody's looking for expiring contracts. But they can't. Then at the end of next year, those contracts for Lowry and Abatka, they're up and you got big money for free agency.

But as Kauai Leonard's sitting there in this series thinking, my knee hurts, I'm tired. The old guys are just going to be a year older. Pascal Seaccombe, he'll keep growing, but he's a wildly inconsistent player. Of course he is. He's a kid. He's a kid. And so like two or three things we know about Kauai Leonard.

One, his knee is not healthy, and two, he's being doubled and tripled by the Warriors. And even though he had good numbers last night, he looks tired. He looks, and the numbers don't lie. Kauai Leonard's field goal percentage has gone down in four straight series. And so I think next year, you know, Toronto's got to sell him on, old guys past his prime, and a really talented long number two, that's inconsistent. And next year will be better, but still inconsistent. Now, the clippers are a lot of the same thing, but the difference is L.A. is more attractive to most free agents, and they have the money now, now for a second guy beyond Kauai. The clippers right now are the Raptors, a bunch of role players, solid guys, one really good young player, a lot of role guys, a lot of smart KG veterans, good chemistry in the locker room, well coached, well run.

but the difference is he can make a move in two weeks, go to the clippers, and they have more money to offer another guy now. Because next year, Toronto, they don't have a first round draft pick, I don't think, and they don't have any cap space, so they're not going to land a free agent, and you've got to sell them on this.

And what this is is four straight series, field goal percentage dropping, knee isn't healthy. And he looks, in every series, he is getting doubled. and last night at times tripled. I think that's a hard sell for Toronto. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd

weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Every Monday at this time, hey, I make mistakes. I hold myself accountable. So when people say, Colin, you never admit you're wrong. What you're telling me is you don't watch the show. We do it every Monday at this time. Where Colin was right. Where Colin was wrong.

Where Colin was right? I said Cleveland's got a lot of talent, but I question whether Freddie Kitchens, a rookie head coach, can get his armor. around it and manage it from, you know, July when camp opens, you know, until like late December, January when his season ends. So this week, he had to go out and take a shot at OBJ, which he didn't want to do. You know, OBJ has a history of, you know, being a little fragile, little high maintenance. But this is my question with Cleveland. They're an interesting mix of

talent, ego, and youth. Now, talent, ego, and youth can win a bunch of games. But talent, ego, and are really hard on coaches. That's why New England teams tend to be veteran teams. It's why like Andy Reid generally like some secure veterans on his team. Cleveland and Hamiddy. They're like young. And Freddie Kitchens last week came out. And by the way, you don't think O'Dell Beckham heard that stuff?

That Freddy's like, yeah, we miss him because, you know, the offense and stuff. This is my concern. It's not their talent. But it's the youth, the talent, the egos, and a rookie head coach. This would be for Pete Carroll, Mike Tomlin, Belichick. It would be a lot to get your arms around. Where Colin was wrong. The Warriors' depth, I thought, was their biggest liability.

Last night was, like, incredible. They had 25 bench points last night, and that doesn't count Boogie Cousins because he started. Quinn Cook had three huge threes. Sean Livingston was vital. Boogie Cousins did not count as a. bench guy, but, you know, we kind of feel like at this point he's a bench guy. Andrew Bogot had six points in seven minutes. I really thought this was the one way to beat them.

You know, Katie's out and they can't depend on their bench. It was magnificent last night. It was a showcase of Next Man Up. Where Colin was right. Hate these big contracts in baseball. And I said Bryce Harper Phillies, that thing ain't last in 12 years. he had a miserable weekend. He was two for 12. The Phillies got sweat by the Dodgers. He had a really bad air, which led to a seven-run inning. And by the way, did you see what the Phillies did over the weekend? And I like Bryce Harper. And I think the Phillies have a lot of talent. Do you see what happened this weekend? The Phillies made a trade for Jay Bruce, who is a left-handed power-hitting outfielder that plays right field. Oh, wait, that's exactly what Bryce Harper plays. So they went and got a cheaper Bryce Harper. This is not working, and I love Bryce Harper, but if you think this thing is going to last 12 years,

by the way, the Dodgers completely passed on this, and they are running away, seven games up on the rest of the National League. Big, long, 12-year deals for home run hitters. It gets in their head. Fan expectations are Babe Ruth. And you've got a guy right now, Bryce Harper just isn't right, too much pressure, and bad weekend. where Colin was wrong. Boogie cousins. I mean, listen, I just not a boogie guy.

I don't believe in the NBA. When you got about seven guys who play and 12 men on a team, you're in that metal tube called an airplane all year. One corrosive guy can just, you know, the whole locker room implodes. He was great last night. And, you know, he's always been a little selfish, in my opinion. He was selfless last night. Not a boogie guy.

But I honestly think this morning, he's, why they won. I think Boogie Cousins won the game for him. I really do. I mean, they didn't have Steph didn't have a field goal in the fourth. Clay was gone with seven minutes to go in the fourth. I mean, Quinn Cook had a couple of jumpers, but Boogie's passing was unbelievable. You know, he came in and just set screens, got guys open. He actually was generally a terrible defensive player. Considering he's about 75%, he was not a liability defensively either. He altered shots. Huge night for Boogie. Where Colin was right. But Pascal, Seyakum. Okay, I kept saying, he's a nice young player.

He's a baby. So game one, he was unbelievable. He was wilt. It was like 14 of 17 in game one. Last night he's 5 for 18. Okay, and this is the reality of what he is as a player. I think you could make the argument he would come off the bench for the Warriors. If they were fully healthy, he would be a bench player for the Warriors.

He's the Raptor's second best player. And this is what I said about Chris Middleton. Chris Middleton, I do not believe. necessarily starts for Golden State. The NBA, when you get to the playoffs, it's not about your star, because everybody's got one. Once you get to the conference finals, who can you depend on as your second score?

And Seyalkham's a nice player. I'd love to have him on my roster. But he's not a legit two for a championship level team. Where Colin was wrong. I said for the last several years, I thought boxing was dead. For sports that are not weekly like the NFL or daily like baseball, hockey, or the NBA, you need headlines. And for the last seven, eight years, UFC has dominated the headlines.

But they feel like they've run out of gas to some point. And boxing is getting headline after headline and headline. Saturday night was a win for boxing, a win for the zone. I win for anybody connected with that fight. Doesn't matter the champion loss. He's going to come back and give him a real. rematch in the fall. And I kind of thought boxing, listen, boxing will always have a diehard element that watches every fight. But when you are a sport that lives off, quote, events like daredevil jumping,

like boxing, like UFC, you got to win headlines. Boxing didn't get them for about seven years. I just read this morning that between ESPN Fox and DeZone, they have put $400 million. into boxing. Okay, that is a win for the sport, which I thought felt like seven, eight years ago, was dead. Where Colin was right? The NFL rules competition committee chairman, Rich McKay, wants to insulate Hail Mary plays

from pass interference. Finally, they're coming to our side. These past interference rules, you can't count Hail Marys. We've been saying this for years. A Hail Mary plays. in football is what Black Friday is to shopping. It's not, you change all the rules for Black Friday.

You open the store at midnight, you know, you load up things for people to rush in and buy stuff. It's almost like the mosh pit of concerts. When you have a concert, you do realize there are going to be about 80 people to 200 people in a mosh pit. And you let the security back off a little and you let them have fun in the mosh pit. But you can't have a mosh pit in the upper deck in 100,000 people at MetLife Stadium. the Hail Mary is a infrequently used jump ball in the NFL. And if you are to use pass interference regulations, you would call a pass interference on every one of these.

And remember in the NFL, pass interference is spotted where the interference not like college where it's a 15-yard penalty. It could be a 60-yard penalty. So the NFL has finally come into our side. It has to be viewed as a different play. where Colin was wrong. I said when Gronk retired, I said, come on, man. Brady loves this guy.

He was so good in the Super Bowl. He was so good in the AFC Championship. He is now a great situational player, and the Patriots are a great situational football team. Don't kid yourself. He's going to think about coming back. Gronk said this weekend, I'm not coming back. I'm 30, I'm retired, I'm on TV shows,

I'm having a blast. My body feels great. I really did think, you know, you go to Gronk. It's November. He's done some wrestling shows. He's bored out of his mind and somebody offers him $5 million. He was so valuable on like two or three plays in the Super Bowl and two or three plays against the Chiefs.

I figure Brady could talk him back into it. But he says he's done. He's having a blast. He'll still make the Hall of Fame. Gronk is not coming back, he says. where Colin was right? When Drake grabbed a coach's shoulders a couple of weeks ago, people freaked out. And I said, Drake is the NBA.

He is the NBA. Okay, he's hip-hop, he's youthful, he's fun, he's trash-talking. To love a sport, you first have to be comfortable with the culture of the sport. And I got to be honest, with Kevin Durant out and Clay may be out, Drake's become a talking point for a Canadian team whose star is on a constant mute button. And you can say what you want. The NHL would die to have the biggest star in the country getting into kind of faux squabbles with NBA stars. Listen, he did make me mad last week when he was trash talking Draymond.

But yesterday he wore the Home Alone hoodie. for Canada's second sport basketball to have its biggest stars embrace it has been a win, a huge win, for the NBA and for the Raptors. 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. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud.

But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them?

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

feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeke. 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, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down,

give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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, you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jake Glazer has this NFL mailbag on The Athletic. That's the pay website which has good sports writing. So the NFL season's fewer than 100 days away,

and he had a mailbag and people ask Glazer a bunch of questions. And I think he's now officially banned from our show because this is one of his answers. Somebody asked him about you have the keys to an NFL franchise. How many quarterbacks are you taking over Baker Mayfield? Give me your top five list in order. And he said, listen, I'm going to put Brady up there. And then Aaron Rogers, Patrick Mahomes, Andrew Luck, Deshawn Watson. but honestly, I think I'd put Baker right in the middle of that list, even over Russell Wilson.

The hell? Okay. That's like blasphemy to you. Okay, listen. I am going to state some facts. Let's just talk about Baker Mayfield for a second. This is not a shot at him. These are only going to be facts.

Baker Mayfield last year with excellent running backs, above average receivers, and what pro football focus thought was a top five online. offensive line. Against winning teams was one in five, completed 59% of his throws, 10 touchdowns, 11 picks, and a pass a rating of 77. I'm not saying playing winning teams is easy. But now I'm a hater if I don't acknowledge that Baker Mayfield, who by the way will be quarterbacking the youngest team in the NFL. Do you realize the three youngest teams in the NFL last year were Cleveland Cincinnati and Minnesota, and they finished 21, 25, and 2. He's got a rookie head coach.

Okay, Sam Darnold, who played, and this is a fact, with a significantly worse O-line running back and wide receiver set. Sam Darnold's record against winning teams, not as bad one in three, completed slightly less, but had a better touchdown interception ratio and a better passer rating. with significantly less talent around him. And I'm not saying, I told you before, Darnold over 12 years, I'll take him over Baker.

Big Ben, and again, it's hard if you're not Tom Brady to beat winning teams. Here's Ben Rathesberger last year against winning teams. By the way, most of this with a ton of drama in the locker room, completed 63% of his throws, 13 touchdowns, four picks, and a pass at Redding in 92, with a defensive head coach. Okay. So nobody's saying Baker can't play. That is not the point. Cleveland was one, six, and one against winning teams. Baker was one in five and completed

59 percent of his throws. That is with an excellent set of running backs. Excellent. Not good. Excellent. That's with very good receivers, a star tied-in, probably the best young tied-in in football. I would say probably the best time in football in an offensive line that had a good grade. Sam Darnold playing with basically a garage sale of parts that the jets have tried to move off of had actually better numbers passer rating, better numbers TD interception ratio. Are we crazy on this?

Can we slow down a little? Not to mention most people, facts. Cleveland's going to be the youngest team in the league. Fact. They have a rookie head coach. Opinion. Most believe their offensive line is, the liability of their team and won't be quite as good as last year, not very good at the

tackles. That's an opinion. That's not a fact. But that has to be considered. Good Lord, better than Russell Wilson. What? What? Come on. Russell Wilson. He gets disrespecting quite a bit. It's incredible to me. I don't know if it's disrespect. It's just he doesn't. Jack Glazer already put him ahead of Russell Wilson. He just doesn't get acknowledged as much for for what he has actually accomplished. It's like the people that criticize Steph Curry, is my TV giving me,

is my television emitting a different video than your TV at home is? How do people watch Steph Curry and not go, oh my God. The hater shades make it very difficult. How are people watching Russell Wilson with the worst line in the NFL two years ago, led the NFL in touchdowns?

He took Doug Baldwin undrafted, a running back you've never heard of, never watched on college football, and led the NFL and touchdown passes with Pete Carroll as his head coach as a defensive head coach. Not like they had Sean McVeigh or Kyle Shanahan or one of these offensive gurus, Andy Reid. Maybe is he saying like projecting forward? I think Jake Laser said he's better right now or something. I'm not comfortable with that opinion. And I don't think I'm a hater.

Lord. I mean, I think that Baker is going to be a great quarterback in this league. Oh, God. Can we slow down on great? How about let's just give him another year. He was a 59% completion with 10 touchdowns, 11 picks with good people around him. Can we slow down a little? Better than Russell Wilson?

The hell. It's like these people, Steph Curry. Steph Curry is, I don't know, greatest shooter in the history of the world. 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. Rick Bueker, who apparently is mad at me, so you disagree with what I said today? Man, every take you've had has just annoyed me to no end. Let's start with the asterisks.

This final is an asterisk's final. What championship is not affected by injury in some way, shape, or form? The Super Bowl last year. Well, I guess Gurley was hurt. Thank you very much. That's the example I was going to make. What about the finals last year? That's so long ago. It's not the final.

You mean the Western Conference finals because that was the real finals? So you don't think I'm supposed to look at this and Clay won't play and Katie is out and Steph has hurt and Biggie? How do I not think about that? Kauai Leonard is clearly not 100%. Kyle Lowry is playing with a bad thumb. It is a battle of attrition. there are always going to be, and probably your stars when it comes to basketball, carrying the load, you're going to have guys that are compromised. And it really becomes a survival of the fittest or the deepest.

And so I just, it's part and parcel with what happens. And I feel as if we are advertising everything that's going on with the Warriors, which is, by the way, understandable because this is their fifth straight finals. This is the way physiology normally works outside of LeBron James. is that bodies break down when you play this many games this many times in a row. That said, the Raptors are far from 100%. You could say, you could make the argument that their two best players are not anywhere close to 100%. And yet we haven't talked about that at all. You don't think this series is over.

Golden Stick. No. The Raptors had open shot after open shot watching the Warriors. I do not believe that they can stop the Raptors. The Raptors can stop the Raptors. the raptors can stop the raptors, but they have the opportunity to take wide open shots, and I would fully expect that they're going to make more than they're going to miss. Okay, let's talk about Clay Thompson.

What's your gut feeling, your info this morning? Because I don't think they can beat Toronto of Katie and Clay don't play. When's the next game? Wednesday? Yes, Wednesday is the next game. I would expect that Clay will play. It wasn't a, because he continued to play after the initial injury, which tells me that the leg locked up more. than there was a tear.

Okay. And so I would expect that they can get him right. But they are playing a high-risk game with the long-term health of any number of players. Andre Aguadala, he said it himself. It's not smart that he's playing. DeMarcus cousins, 28 minutes, not smart. If KD actually comes back, I can tell you there's people close to KD who said he should not play. This is not a smart move by him.

Now, KD is a gamer. I'm sure it's killing him. But if you were planning on playing him in game three and four, then why are you sending him across the country and back again with a soft tissue injury? It makes no sense. You would keep him at home, allow him to rehab, save him that trip on a flight with everything that goes along with that and allow him to get ready. So I don't know, and I'm not disputing, I believe that Chris Haynes is tied into the KD net, work. What he says, I believe, but I believe this is KD pushing the envelope because he wants to

be part of this. And Steve Kerr playing on that to let the warriors know, hey, the cavalry's coming. Just hold on. If we can get one in Toronto. To the most psychology. Absolutely. Makes Toronto prepare for KD and tells the team, we don't have to win this all by ourselves. KD. is going to get here eventually, just keep playing. That's interesting. You bring Katie to Toronto just so. Raptors have to prepare for him. Yes, absolutely. And you have to. Even though he never got, I don't know that he ever got out of his shower sandals.

I don't think he did. And he has shot to this point. I've talked to a couple of people with this who have had this injury, and they said, there is a high risk. You know, depending on where you are in the recovery period, there's a high risk of redoing it if you get out there and you're not right. You know, it's the Kauai story is interesting. The last four series, his field goal percentage has gone down every series. Do you think he's aware of that?

And that plays a part in him leaving Toronto the sense that this is all I got. We can't make it. We can't make a move for a year. Now in a year, Lowry's contract, Abacca's contract. But he's hurt. His knee isn't 100%. His numbers are going down. You know how it is when you leave and make one of these big moves, married, divorce,

whatever it is, pros, cons. What do you make of his body, his fatigue, and how it plays in his future? I can only go by what I know of Alex McKekney, who works for the Raptors, worked for the Lakers once upon a time, a lot of faith in him, and Kauai has a lot of faith in him.

So that would be actually a plus in the Raptors' favor. You also have some younger players like Pascal Seacom, who you would expect are going to get better and are on the rise. and you are in the Eastern Conference, which is infinitely easier to get through than the West. So as far as his shooting percentage, Kauai doesn't, I think he's oblivious to that.

I think he has the Derek Rose mentality of, it's my job to bring us home, and I am going to try to do that. What's been disappointing for me is that Nick Nurse was hired to be an offensive guru. That was his label. That's what the Raptors were supposed to get out of him. he's done a tremendous job in setting them up defensively,

but offensively they get very predictable at times. And part of it's Kauai gets it. He feels the responsibility. I have to go get something and everything bogs down. Let me defend Nick Nurse. Defense's effort, okay, if you get guys to play hard, most of these guys are athletic. Offense is skill. Toronto's limited skill-wise, regardless of his great coaching.

But they lost game two, not because they missed shots. but because they allowed the missed shots to affect them getting back. The Warriors are great, but they got so much in transition. You talked about how physically hampered they are. I think you would agree with me. Toronto is the better athletic team. Yeah, they're longer for sure. Right, right.

There's no excuse. It wasn't where the turnovers were, the length of the missed shots. There weren't enough of those for me to say, you know, the reason that the Warriors got everything they got, transition was because the turnovers at the top of the key or the long three missed threes created long rebounds. The raptors were missing shots, open shots, and did not play with the same energy getting back. And that to me is how they lost this game. What do you do with boogie cousins, highly skilled, can be a little temperamental, massively vital last night.

What do they do with them? I would, you can bring him back. it's not, I mean, you're limited in terms of how much you can pay. Well, Bogot's probably done. If Kevin Durant left, you have no size. I mean, you have no size. Yes. Eventually, you're going to have to play a Clint Capella, a Janus, Toronto again. This is what's interesting about boogie situation.

So I've talked to both him and Kavanaugh-Luny about where they want to play, where they would continue their careers. Right. Kavanaughn indicated that he would, all things being, equal, he'd rather stay with the Warriors. In fact, kind of insinuated, he might even give him a little hometown discount to stay. Boogie made no such commitment. So I don't know where he is. I also don't believe that the market is going to be that great for him. The GMs that I've talked to have said, nobody's given him a long-term deal. Somebody might load up on him for one year.

And the question is then going to be, does Boogie want to get, say, eight figures when he can't get that with the Warriors. Is that going to prompt him to go someplace else? Or does he look at this situation and say, let me get one more year with these guys and really rehab my image and physically show everybody I can play a full season? I thought last night, I mean,

I would make this argument. If Kevin Durant doesn't come back, Boogie becomes an essential size. I mean, because Toronto's about as long as the league gets. I would make an argument, Kevin Durant doesn't come back. Boogie's going to have a nice series. He's going to be crucial. He will, if I am

Toronto, I'm making Boogie Cousins beat me. I'm saying, you want to post him up, you want to give him multiple runs at the rim, have that it. He's not going to be able to sustain that energy, and that's going to slow everything down. They didn't really

do that. And as a result, he was able to, as soon as the double team came, he's passing it and finding the open cutters. Again, there were so many cuts and plays made at the basket that was a lack of effort and execution defensively by the Raptors. All right.

A couple quick questions. Will Kevin Durant play in this series? Yes, because I believe it's going to be a long series now. So do I think he's going to play game three? I don't think he's going to play in game three. My guess is game five. That sounds about right. Again, part of this, what I'm wrestling with,

is what I've heard from people who don't think he should play, but knowing that KD wants to play. And we'll probably push the end of it. By the way, Joy, if you could look at this up quickly, game five is when? So game three is Wednesday. Game four is Friday. Yes.

Would be Sunday. Is it Sunday or Monday? It would be Sunday. Okay, so we got six days for KD's calf. No, game five is Monday. Okay, so game five is Monday. So we're a week away. See, I believe Kevin Durant,

plays in a week. That's six days, seven days of treatment. So Thursday is four weeks. You're almost getting to five. Game three is on Wednesday. Game four is Friday. And game five is on Monday. Right. They're screwing with the schedule this year. Yeah, I'm okay with it. It used to be. I mean, they want game seven to be on Sunday night. Generally, I thought it was. Oh, I see what you're saying. So it's spaced out. Yeah. All right. Anything else you're mad at me about? No, you know what? Thank you for letting me clear the air. Hey, listen, you know, there's gospel up here. Occasionally, there's some dissenters. There are some dissenters for my gospel. For the record, I said, just put the asterisk away. Just, it is. I got to tell you, I'm on Rick's eye with this. You guys don't think it's an asterisk.

No, I don't, because there's injuries all the time. I mean, we don't talk about Golden States championships that way. Kyrie was out. Yeah, exactly. Their first one. Their first one? There's no asterisk there. Or the calves, when they got one in Cleveland? Is anybody saying the LeBron's championship in Cleveland was an asterisk? Can you imagine Wednesday?

Kevin Durant and Clay don't play. Yeah. I mean, it's a long season. That's the breaks. And that's what's kind of making this really intriguing is that You're one of those series. Even if Katie doesn't play,

like the speculation of whether he's going to play or not has added some spice to this. See, because I think the series needs KD for juice. I think it needs juice. Like I want the Willis Reed moment. I want the Paul Pierce on a stretch moment. I want Kevin, what Iguadoll was it enough? Clay, if he comes out and play, it's not going to be enough. I want Kevin Durant to come back. I think it adds a,

I think it adds to the juice of the series. Some, some finals don't have as much juice. You could have Demarchus, Clay, Iggy, and KD, all. None of them healthy. All stumping out there. I know. And with a Willis Reed. I'm Michelle McPhee. And I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Irish. Armenian businessman. Multimillion-dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis,

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