The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 07/08/2019

Episode Date: July 8, 2019

Colin reassures over dramatic NBA fans by explaining there is no competitive balance issue within the league, just let the market bake and wait for it to cool down. LeBron James is truly an unique breed of athlete that qualifies as more than just an athlete just like the great Muhammad Ali and was one of the reasons Kawhi Leonard didn't choose the Lakers. Russell Westbrook chases off another star teammate by becoming a brand that simply revolves around stats.Guests: Alex Rodriguez & David Griffin Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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 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.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played. with and just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to listen to learn the hard way on the iha radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast what's up guys

this is clivert taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert show i'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff like being an internet famous referee we're in the middle of a game this linebacker this linebacker walks up to me he goes a ref my mom wants you to wave at her what Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to the best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. 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 iHeart radio app by searching herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we are on a marvelous Monday. Live in Los Angeles, this is the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. One hour from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, plenty of both. Joy Taylor is joining me in a Monday. when we had amazing soccer, amazing NBA. It was actually an incredible sports weekend. Unbelievable. It is a marvelous Monday. You're right about that.

Let's just start rhyming all our days. So let me start with the obvious thing. Kauai Leonard chose the Clippers along with Paul George. Well, well, well, well, well, player movement didn't kill the NBA now, did it all you fearmongers. This morning, I've got the Clippers, the Lakers, the Jazz, the Bucks, the Celtics, the Sixers,

the Nuggets, the Blazers, the Rockets, the Rockets and the Warriors, 10 loaded, legitimate NBA playoff teams. And I think about eight to nine of those could win the NBA championship. Maybe all 10. I love Denver. All the fearmongers. Killing the NBA, super teams. Nah, didn't work.

Leagues never had more parity. Seven to the last 10 years, a new champion. And I've got no idea who's winning next year. A, salary cap league, they can't all go to the same place. B, the market corrected itself. Toronto won with one star. C, I do think LeBron was the sole of the NBA for about a decade. He's no longer the Pied Piper.

People don't follow his every move. Folks, we live in a country now where everybody is in such a rush to race to Twitter and social media, to win the argument. We never let anything bake. Player movement. Let it bake for a few years. Yes, LeBron comes in. Player empowerment.

You had the Miami Big Three. And KD goes to the Warriors, kind of copies him. You got the Warrior Dynasty. But then players started looking around going, well, Miami was lucky to win a second title in four years, probably outside of Ray Allen. Shot should have won one. And a KD thing, it ended quickly.

And everybody was ripping KD. and LeBron and it baked a little bit. And then Toronto with one star one and everybody was like, yeah, you just team up with one other good guy. And you don't need to really go with the super team. You can just team up with one star and then a bunch of good players. And Toronto corrected the market. And it was allowed to bake a little.

This is what we do now. Colin Kaepernick-Synexines with Nike. Let's run to Twitter. Get my phone. Nike stock is going down. The company's dead and nobody likes it. And four days later, the Nike stock is up. Let stuff bake.

Politics, sports, business. Everybody rushes to their phone. They've got to win the argument. And everything comes out a hot opinion and like a microwave, the first time you touch the tea, the coffee, whatever you put in the microwave. It's a little hot. Ooh, ye, let it cool down a little bit. Folks, look at sports in America today.

You want to know who has a competitive balance problem? You want to know who's got a dynasty problem? It's not stars in big cities. It's college football. Hey, Joy, guess who will play for the national title again this year? Hmm. What it might be, maybe, is it Clemson and Alabama? Well, they played last year.

The M. Vard. The M. Vard. The Rural America. It's just like American wealth today. We're all scared that New York and L.A. and Silicon Valley has all the money. The leading economy in America this morning, the fastest growing economy. in America today is Salt Lake City. A lot of people making money in small towns too.

Listen, look around the NBA. Let it bake a little bit. There's no competitive balance issue. We had player mobility and guys lined up. The big three in Boston won once. Miami won twice. Thanks to Ray Allen, should have won once. Two years into the warrior situation, it was already restless.

That's blown up, and this morning I got players everywhere. I got two good players, three good players in Utah, in Denver and Portland. By the way, Portland's got three centers. They'll probably make a huge deal at the trading deadline to get better. Golden State may trade, DeAngelo Russell, get another good play that fits back. We got all sorts of movement. This league has always been controlled for the record by trades. That's how Paul George got to the clippers, which allowed Kauai to then choose the clippers.

right? Kauai told the clippers you got to get another star so an 81 year old executive engineered a trade and then Kauai said okay now come so as much as we get concerned about free agent it's trade

engineered this whole puppy we're all good the NBA is fine just like the rest of us in America we should have a right to be mobile change coast change bosses change brands change companies NBA players do. There is no competitive balance issue. Last 10 years, NBA has seven different champions,

and you go ahead and bet on the Clippers and Lakers. I have no idea who's winning the NBA title next year. Let me shift to this. A lot of people are saying this morning, Kauai Leonard Dis LaBron. is a very unique American athlete. I would put him in the Muhammad Ali class. We've seen Megan Rapino, although most of us didn't know her that well a month ago, but let's just say Megan Rapino, Muhammad Ali, LeBron James. They are athletes. They're disruptors. They're outspoken. They're political. They're dissenters. And they are incredibly rare. Most women, soccer stars just want to play soccer.

They don't want the blowback. Most NBA guys don't want to be more than an athlete. They like being an athlete. And Muhammad Ali, he was not typical. When you look at LeBron, Megan Rapina, when you look at Muhammad Ali, these are unique athletes in America. Look at who's dominating sports today.

Brooks Kepka doesn't talk. Mike Trout doesn't talk. Christian Pulisic doesn't talk. Kauai Leonard doesn't talk. Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, mostly avoid politics. In fact, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are the two biggest stars in the last probably 30 years in sports. I mean, literally, they left their sport and the ratings died. Michael Jordan and Tiger got ripped because they didn't want anything to do with politics.

Michael Jordan today gets ripped. Republicans buy shoes. Tiger gets ripped. Why won't you talk about social change? Because I don't want to. politics are messy. But LeBron's different. LeBron's worldview is, I'm going to do more than just play basketball.

I'm going to be a disruptor. I'm going to change player mobility. Kauai Leonard didn't choose today to diss LeBron. Kauai Leonard's worldview just isn't the same as LeBron's. As KD said, LeBron comes to your team. It's a little bit of a circus. By the way, I've gone to the circus. I like the circus.

but the circus is noise and its narratives and its stories and its media and its press. And Kevin Durant said it's a circus. Well, not many players actually want to go play with Ringling Brothers. The reality is, Kauai, according to stories this morning, didn't choose the Lakers for two reasons. He was concerned about the super team label, probably because he watched Durant and LeBron get ripped and he also didn't like the Lakers dysfunction, which LeBron has added to. When you add superstar, disruptor, political, dissenter, Muhammad Ali, Megan Rapino and LeBron are very comfortable in that space. LeBron's brand is more than an athlete.

But in my lifetime, most great superstars would rather just be a great athlete. And that's okay, too. LeBron's worldview is the stuff we'll write about, but it's rare. And it always has been. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

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, calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

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

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

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, 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. What's up, guys? This is Cliver Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find

clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world. that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart

Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Joining us from the Summer League, it's our pleasure via the Coward Global Satellite Network to David Griffin. David, first of all, congratulations. It's been remarkable. It's been fun. Listen, when a star comes to you and says, I don't want to play here, again, it's brutal. But you made it work. When you knew Anthony wanted out, what were the next 48 hours like for you?

Yeah, I think we were in a situation, and we said from the beginning when we held our press conference, you're either all the way in or you're all the way out. It was very clear that he was not all the way in, basically throughout the summer. We had very good conversations. Anthony asked really good questions. But it was clear he wasn't with us, Mrs. Benson and our ownership group and myself and our basketball team, we recognized that it was time to move on, and we tried to create the best opportunity for ourselves we could, and we're very, very pleased with the way everything unfolded.

Yeah, you have a very nice mix of veterans. I know what I get with JJ, Drew Holliday, Dary, Derek Favors. Now, it's interesting. I love Zion. I think he's magnetic. He has a Magic Johnson appeal where I think veterans will embrace him immediately. There's no resent here. He's a wonderful kid. But the current culture of basketball is, you draft guys, they're 18 years old. They got a lot of room to grow emotionally. What do you like about Zion and where is the growth for him in your opinion? Well, I think going back to Alvin Gentry and I, the night of the lottery, the NBA had arranged for us to sit with Zion that night.

So 9.30 following the lottery, we had a chance to sit with Zion. And we were so taken with him as a kid in probably the first 20 minutes of the conversation that we asked if his parents were there. And he had his parents come down. And we sat together as a group for about an hour and a half. And it was really striking to us that his family has raised him to be all about team, to be all about others, and to be all about the right things. This is a great kid.

kid who cares about his teammates. He recognizes this isn't about him. He wanted to be part of a family. And so we told him that night, when you choose us, we choose you. And we're going to raise a family that loves each other enough to tell each other what they need to hear. And he wanted that. It's why he went to Duke. It's what he appreciated about Coach Kay's leadership.

It's who we wanted to be natively. So we feel like it's a really good fit. Well, I can't wait to watch him play. Now, here's the downside. Everybody in the West apparently got better. you could have a very good basketball team but could still end up ninth or eighth. Listen, Dallas is loaded.

I don't know if they stack up. What is the timeline? How do you sell patience? How long do you think this thing takes to really pop, David? Yeah, in terms of timing, we're not going to put a timeline on it. I don't think we want to limit ourselves either. What we wanted to do with the veterans that we brought in who were all extremely selfless, all about winning friends,

from JJ's standpoint, a very vocal leader who's going to model all of the right things professionally. It lines up very well with who Drew Holiday is. Drew's the face of this franchise, and we're going to go as far as Drew and our veterans take us. Zion's going to be contributing to that as are all our young kids, but this is not something where we expect him to be the one leading us there. We expect our leaders to lead us there, if that makes sense. And I think when you look at what we have the potential to be, coming into free agency, We looked around the West and we said, tell me who's clearly better than we are.

And then everybody started making their moves, and you can start to see that it's going to be a tough road to hoe, but you can't raise young players in our opinion in an environment where winning doesn't matter. We want to be playing meaningful games in April and May, and we hope to put ourselves in that position. By the way, you have worked with LeBron. He trusts you. He likes you. A rich Paul, we know as well. You know, LeBron is in the Muhammad Ali class. I said this earlier, Megan Rapino, where he's not just a star, he's political, he's a disruptor,

he's a dissenter, he is global, he sees the world differently. And there are those who have said, listen, not everybody wants to get into that space. It's just noisy and it's dramatic. When you were with LeBron, obviously you want a title with him. You got a big ring. Are there challenges to being with a modern day superstar who is also more than just an athlete? Yeah, I think so, and it's because of the noise around him. It's not noise that he generates.

It's because you have embedded national media with his team always. There's always going to be more coverage. There's more interest. There's more social media. Obviously, the things he does that get taken as cryptic tweets and people claim he's passive-aggressive. LeBron's not that. He's aggressive-aggressive.

And you always know where you stand with LeBron. So his teammates, if you're able to help them ignore the noise, all are in a space where they feel pretty good around it. Where the lack of comfort comes in is from people like me who want to try to control more of that noise. And frankly, you just have to get comfortable in your lack of comfort because you're never going to control the noise. You just have to be appreciative of the fact that he's about all the right things. And at the end of the day, he wants to win. And I think the reason we had a good relationship was he understood that our recognition of our role really is caretaking for that legacy.

You know, 100 years from now, everybody knows Babe Ruth. They don't know who cost them World Series. You're going to know who cost LeBron championships, and we didn't want to be that group. Finally, when you executive types walk around and you see Jerry West, who at 81 just pulled off another shocker, how is Jerry viewed among executives? Well, I mean, he's the gold standard, obviously. I think we all have a very keen awareness of the fact that if you can ever model any of the things he's done in his career, you would want to. I think having had the opportunity at one time to meet Jerry and actually have him

offer me the job to replace him in Memphis, he holds a really special place in my heart personally. But everyone who does what we do in this business look at ourselves and hope that one day we can achieve anything that he has because there's just no better than Jerry. Yeah, by the way, we've got video of you. I went through my first earthquake last Thursday, and I've got video of you. You had a very similar reaction. What? Lord's name is going on. Was it your first earthquake experience, David? No, that's the thing. It's why my reaction was so profound was because the day before during our film session, we were interrupted in the film session by the chandeliers, swaying, and light bulbs falling out

of them at the conference room we were in. So we had to all run for the doorway. So I was actually, when that happened, I started looking up thinking, oh boy, which one of these fixtures is coming down? Congratulations. You've done a remarkable job. You've got my favorite young player on the Earth and Zion. Good for you, David Griffin. Congrats. Thank you so much, Colin. Appreciate it. Yeah. What a job he's done. Just a tremendous job. 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 the 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 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 Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations.

with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, is 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rec, my mama wants you to wave at her.

What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself about. how love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month,

tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected.

We're becoming more individualized, but we actually need people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. So the Raptors, by the way, had a chance. to get Russell Westbrook this weekend. And the best GM in the NBA, some say, said, no thank you.

And Sam Presti, by the way, couldn't keep Paul George. He couldn't keep Kevin Durant. Both Kevin Durant and Paul George, while playing with Westbrook, we're calling other teams. I said this. The triple double and the embrace of it and the pursuit of it would come back to haunt Westbrook. It now defines him.

for all you young broadcasters and you young athletes, be careful of the brand you embrace. Magic Johnson and LeBron James have the record for most playoff triple doubles. But they've never embraced it. They never wanted to be defined by it. It's a stat and they're not stat guys. Magic Johnson triple doubles. Never talks about that.

LeBron James triple doubles. No interest in embracing that. Carmelo Anthony acknowledged in OKC, they were goosing Westbrook's rebounding stats. He embraced it. He put his arms around it and it shifted his brand. When Russell Westbrook came into the NBA,

his brand, go back, his first seven, eight years in the league, it was, oh my God, crazy hops, crazy fun, unbelievably hyper-athletic, unbelievably dynamic. Have you seen this Westbrook guy? In the last three years, his brand has become triple double, triple double.

And the NBA has never been more about playing well with others, and his brand has never been more about an individual stat. I said it at the time. The triple double, the media pushed it, promoted it, market it, sell it. He hurt him. He's a stat guy now. He's a stat guy.

And the NBA players are not only more about winning than stats, good God. How many of the NBA players gave up 190 million guaranteed over the last week? I count like six of them, five of them. And not about the money. It's not about the individual stats. It's about joining another star and winning a bunch of games. Be careful embracing the brand you think is great. He put his arms around it.

It's about the number. His brand now is an individual stat. Not what it was years ago, which is, oh, I'd love to play with that guy. I'd love to watch that guy. I'd love to see that guy. By the way, Hardin's better without him. Durant's better without him. Sabona's better without him.

Ola Depot better without him. Want to bet Paul George is better without him? Triple double. Turn off. NBA today is not about getting your number. It's not even, by the way, load management. it's not even about getting your minutes. It's not even about getting cash.

Stars are giving up millions. I would never do it. It's about winning and playing well with others. His brand now is triple double and exhausted by the time the playoffs get here. Remember this piece of videotape? Westwood. Got the screen, the switch on D. It's a three over button, and it's no good.

He is one of nine shooting in the fourth. Again, he's got it. Again, he'll challenge. This time a two. Another miss. He's tired. He's got nothing in the tank. Nothing.

Nothing. He's played 40 excruciating heavily leaned on minutes. You got to play 40 minutes to get triple doubles. Winning January means exhausted in May. He embraced the wrong brand. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHard Radio app.

Let's go to via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Alex Rodriguez, Fox Baseball analyst, three-time MVP, 14-time All-Star. You know, let's talk about the Dodgers. The Dodgers, Alex, did not spend big money outside of Kirschaw a few years ago. They've said no to Machado, no to Harper. Now, the young talent's wonderful, but this is May and June and early July. Do you think the teams that say no to the big stars pay a price later, or do you like what the Dodgers have done?

I love what the Dodgers have done. I mean, their front office has been incredible. Obviously, Doc Roberts has done a fantastic job circling that roster. And they're not 25 men deep. They're really 40 men deep. And the one issue they're going to have to deal with is they still have to praise Brandon Morrow from a couple of years ago, who was locked down seventh and eighth inning guy. Kenley Janssen is a couple of years older.

So you have to help him fill in that gap. He needs more help, not less help. help. You know, it's funny, we're watching these NBA guys team up. Now, Philadelphia did add a bunch of veteran star players, but it's interesting. Do baseball players call in the off season? Do they talk about joining each other, or is that just an NBA thing? I think there's some of that that goes on, not as much as the NBA, of course, calling with Major League Baseball. You need to have six full years of Major League Baseball service before becoming a free agent. So free agency becomes kind of your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the big bucks.

So not as much as the NBA. Bryce Harper is one of my favorite players in baseball, but I've always been a little reluctant to give a power hitter a 10-year deal because he comes into a city and the fans in the media want 45 jacks, and if you don't deliver it, it's a failure. And I think sometimes there's pressure on Joey Votto and Joe Mauer. And now Bryce Harper, where are the home runs? And I think hitting home runs can be very psychological.

Did you love the Harper deal for the Phillies? Would you have made that move? I mean, home runs a high risk, high reward. I do like the deal for the Phillies. So yes, I would have done that deal. But understanding the gift and the curse of the Philadelphia Philly fans, they're smart, they're passionate. They show up every day.

That's also the curse for Bryce Harper. He has to show up. You're not going to trick them. You're not going to fool them. They're too smart. But Bryce Harper, he's too young, too good, not to work out. the only thing I caution is the 13 years without a divorce option, an opt-out could be challenging. And right now it looks like potentially it could be a long 12 and a half years left.

Okay, NBA, everybody freaks out. All the stars going to the same place. But we've got a bunch of teams that can win. Right now, big market New York, big market L.A., appear to have the best teams. But going forward, again, this is summer baseball. You tighten the rotations, a lot more pressure. When you look at the Dodgers and the Yankees, if I said today, pick one that plays and is built for October. Which one would it be for you?

I think right now they're both the best teams in baseball for a macro, a marathon. I think both of them still have a challenge when it comes down winning 11 games in October. And in order to do that, I have one concern and it applies to both teams. In a short series, the Dodgers can run into a team. that's feisty, that's young, that has great pitching, where 90 feet actually means something, that's the San Diego Padres. They just got swept at home. When you look at the Yankees, at a Macko, they're going to home run you to death.

High risk, high reward. The Yankees, when they score two runs or less, are 0 and 13. Wow. Both examples for the Dodgers and the Yankees scream postseason baseball. If you're Cashman and you're the Dodgers front office, you have to address who pitches game one, four, and seven for the Yankees, and for the Dodgers, who's going to be the Fernando Valenzuela, who's going to be the Bob Welch of 1981, the Hersheiser of 88. Until those two questions are answered, I think the Dodgers and Yankees still have a lot of questions to answer.

Listen, we all, we have what they, you know, everybody now, because of analytics, I've heard a million times in my life. Oh, the baseball's juiced, blah, blah, blah. And my Iowa's takeaway is, no, analytics have changed. The game changes. to me, athletes are bigger and stronger. Everybody throws 96. You know, because of analytics, everybody's got that upgrade, the launch angle on the swing.

I don't think it's the baseball. I'm seeing all these big, strong athletes and guys throw in 96. That's why we're setting records for home runs. I mean, what do you see? I mean, look, Commissioner Rob Manfred has been on the record that he's going to look at the balls. I think we just have to wait and see. We don't have enough of a large sample size. I just wish that I stuck in there for four more home runs the way the balls are flying.

out of here. Right. Look, I think home runs are good for baseball. They're fun. We're always trying to make the game better. We just came back from London. The Yankees and Red Sox absolutely killed it. Right.

It was a global thing. We had the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Royals. We had Prince Harry. Megan. It was fantastic. And now we're here at the All-Star game with some of the best, youngest players. It's really what we should be talking about and leading with our greatest stories.

By the way, there is a wave of great young players. And it seems to me. me that it's quicker. It used to be, you get drafted, even if you were like a Wade Boggs. You go to the minor leagues, you disappear for a few years, then you reemerge a September call-up, then you play. It feels like baseball players are getting drafted and getting to the big sooner. Am I missing something or is that happening?

100%. I mean, in Saber metrics, big data is suggesting that the way to go is younger is better. And that's not always the case because you have a guy like Jersey. Verlander who's going to start here tomorrow night. He's 36 years old. He's never been better. And he's already said, Colin, that he wants to play into his 40s, like Tom Brady, like I did, Jeter, Mariano.

So if you take care of yourself, you can still play into your 40s, but you're just more of an anomaly. Big data's telling you that earlier is better, and they're double and triple downing on kids that are in their young 20s and the early 30s. You know, Mike Trout, when the Angels signed him, they're not a, they're a good revenue team. They're not the Yankees. You sign Mike Trout. And by the way, the twins did this with Joe Mower, the Reds with Joey Votto. It does limit some other moves. If you ran a baseball team, and I'm not sure if that's an aspiration for you over time, but if you had a Mike Trout talent

where you know you could move him and get an all-star shortstop, four draft picks, a reliever, what is your take on a Mike Trout talent? You develop him. You're not a huge major market revenue team. Maybe you're like eighth in baseball. Would you keep Trout and sign him? Would you move Trout and get a boatload of picks? What would you do if you got an all-time talent like Trout? First of all-day Moreno, the owner of the Angels is one of the smartest owners in our game and the only Hispanic, which I'm very proud of him. But the thing you've got to think about is Mike Trout is the easiest decision in baseball. So is Clayne Kershaw. So is Derek Jeter. So is LeBron James. When you have the best, you pay up and you just forget about it in the long term.

there's going to be no better investment the angels have than Mike Trout. The reason why is when you go sit down with Fox and you go negotiate that contract, the executive as Fox are going to start and end with Mike Trout. And that is your anchor tenant. Think of Mike Trout like Walmart. It starts and ends. The things you have to worry about is a secondary and tertiary moves after Mike Trout, is the Albert Pujos, is the guys that you bring in after that can make you or kill you.

By the way, finally, speaking of London, it was an amazing TV event where you, you shocked how much positive reception, you know, England, the UK gave to baseball? Like, I was shocked by, they were, they wrapped their arms around it. What was it like to be there? Colin, I got to tell you, I was there on the ground, and I went down for Commissioner Manfred in November to promote, did about 55 interviews in a couple of days. I heard from many Brits on the ground that they were more excited about baseball. Yankee Red Sox, then they were about the NBA and the NFL.

Now, those were just the people on the streets talking. The next day I went to Wimbledon and did a little tennis with McEnroe. I counted tens and tens and tens of different hats, Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Cardinals. And what it is, baseball has an opportunity to be huge in international. We had over 700 media members, 120,000 people watching live, 30,000 in the lawn watching outside. and the league has, the commissioner's office has many, many dozens of cities in Europe. Yeah. Calling to say, when is Major League Baseball coming to our city next?

So it was a huge, huge success for Major League Baseball. Alex Rodriguez, Fox has the All-Star game. He is our analyst. Obviously, you know A-Rod, great talking to you. And when you're in L.A., stop by, coming to the couch, we want to talk again. Next time we talk Lakers, University of Miami, and anything you want to talk about. All right, thanks, A-Rod. Appreciate it.

All right, Colin. 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 SportsSlice 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 Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

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Listen to humor me with Robert. Michael and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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