The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 07/09/2019

Episode Date: July 9, 2019

Colin has great appreciation for LeBron James's ability to adapt his game not only to evolve with the league but pivot to a point guard role for the Los Angeles Lakers and it's a perfect fit. Most of us aren't born with super star talent but don't be discouraged because even though LeBron hit the stage like a meteor out of high school, Kawhi Leonard was slowly developing himself into one of the greatest basketball players. Enough of these conspiracy theories stating that the MLB Baseballs are being juiced and tampered with until you can show me proof.Guest: George Karl - Former NBA Head Coach 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 Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go in a Tuesday. Baseball, All-Star game, little NBA news.

Grong, Brady, this is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio on FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me after a crazy weekend and a crazy Monday. Everything's coming down a little bit. There's a lot of sports going on here. for the next few days. Joy, how are you? I'm great. It was marvelous Monday.

So today's a terrific Tuesday? Yeah, terrific Tuesday. Turn up Tuesday. Turn up Tuesday. Yeah. Throwback Thursday or something. So yesterday, I want to start your show with this. Yesterday, I had to do an interview after the show. Didn't have to. I was asked to do an interview with Dennis Miller, the comedian.

And before I went on the interview, you know, you go and do like a prep room, a makeup room. And the lady was, she put on makeup. started talking to her, and she was a military kid. And I always love talking to kids whose parents were in the military because they bounced around the country and they had to go into schools and out of schools. And what I find with kids that go into the military, and maybe the parents feel a little guilt bouncing around the country and stuff, but you know what I find with military kids, they're adaptable. They make friends quickly. They're not reticent to change. They kind of embrace it. They like new stuff.

they don't romanticize the past. They're not traditionalists. They're really good at adapting and moving. And the world's never moved faster because technology and sports and analytics, everything moves fast. Sports move fast. NBA centers, they've disappeared. Fullbacks in the NFL.

Where'd they go? And I was thinking about this. LeBron James, as far as I know, nobody in his family, you know, he didn't bounce around with the military, but LeBron had a different childhood or maybe similar to a lot of people. He didn't go to the perfect prep school. It wasn't the old, you know, perfect family. He had a lot of change. He moved around a lot.

And like a military kid, it's one of the reasons I think maybe LeBron has always been great at adapting. For all Kobe Bryant's gifts, his game was his game. LeBron James is now going to be a point guard for the Lakers. That was announced yesterday. Chris Haynes is like, yeah, they're going to play a point guard. And my takeaway is, oh, this is perfect for LeBron. LeBron is a great pivoter.

Tom Brady, by the way. great pivoter. Aaron Rogers, little rigid, doesn't want to change. It's amazing when I sat yesterday and talked to the young lady as I was getting ready to go on the Dennis Miller show, right? And she just, oh, I just been here and she'd lived there and she'd had that job and that job. She seemed incredibly carefree and happy, no stress. She's like, I'm a military kid. We just learned to adapt. LeBron James in the middle of his career, the game changed. It changed. LeBron James in high school and his first six years was afraid, train. Basketball, bully ball, bulldoze, get to the basket. All of a sudden, about six years in,

from now on, shoot threes. He's a six, nine and a half forward. And LeBron James goes to Miami and changes the game. And he just keeps working on his game and adapting his game. Michael Jordan never had to pivot in the middle of his career. Michael Jordan never. Michael Jordan face centers as a rookie and centers when he left. Kobe Bryant faced centers as a rookie. And then at the end of Kobe's career, the game changed. And Kobe was kind of my game is my game. LeBron has been a great adapter. I don't know why. I really don't know why.

But he is, if you look at his businesses, if you look at his basketball, he's constantly evolving his game. This is a perfect move for him. Some people, you know, they have a life they grow up in, and they go to the same church, and they go to the same school, and they've got the same set of parents. Oh, I change. They don't want to move out of their area code. 40% of Americans won't move out of their area code. life. They like that. By the way, change. My childhood was all sorts of movement. People,

dads, stuff. So I'm used to it. Joy's bounced around the country, had a lot of different jobs. So I find I like people who've moved a lot because they're not rigid. LeBron point guard's perfect. This is what's really made him as a basketball player. And I've said of the many gifts LeBron James has. Chapter one is he may be the best we've ever seen. chapter two is the dude was almost never hurt and chapter three is he's an early adapter by the way because of technology everything changes faster i mean it's just technology plus analytics and sports and the early adapters win in baseball the astros the red sox the cubs the dodgers early adapters win basketball lebron very quickly saw the three-point shot even as a six nine guy

saw it as crucial eight seven years ago lebron's like oh oh moved into it by the way Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, moved into the three ball. And when I look at LeBron, he doesn't have what I consider to be a dangerous personality trait. And maybe this used to be a great trait, but I think it's a dangerous personality trait now, romanticizing the past, not willing to change. LeBron moving to point guard, I'm like, oh, this would be great. He's got a big, he's got wings. The Lakers signed a bunch of shooters.

Now I got Jared Dutley, Avery Bradley, Danny Green, Quinn Cook. I think it'll be easy. And I'll say this. A lot of my favorite athletes, Brett Farve, not a great adapter. This is my offense. This is why I'm going to run it. Aaron Rogers is great. A little bit stubborn. You know, Peyton Manning had his way to play football. And that was kind of the way Peyton May was going to play football. But I think LeBron will be perfect. I think he's built for this. I don't know where it comes from. I think it's an amazing quality. And I got to tell you, LeBron at point guard may struggle to stop some of the tiny, small, quick guys. He is going to be a handful to deal with if you have to face him.

Speaking of families, let me shift to this. It is very early. Most of us don't have a perfect childhood, right? Even the people who do, do they really? Some of you, I would call you late developers. And it can be discouraging. when you're young, you're in your teens, and you see people flying past you, schools a little easier for them. You know, they're better athletically, they're better academically. And you're sitting there thinking, man, I'm falling behind. It's discouraging.

But I'm here to tell you, don't get discouraged, okay? This is dad talking. Everybody evolves differently. Some people are late groomers, okay? I was thinking about Kauai Leonard this morning. So LeBron James was a meteor. Cover of Sports Illustrated. All-Star by a second year.

Rookie of the Year. The chosen one in his teens. And here's Kauai Leonard. Pack 12 schools didn't recruit him. Largely ignored. Traded to Canada. Ends up with the underdog shoe brand. And yet, if Kauai Leonard wins a title with the Clippers and they're favored next year,

you do get he is moving into MJ and LeBron's class. Won a title at 22 MVP, youngest besides Magic ever, goes to Canada, and have we ever had a guy win an NBA championship like this by himself? Tell me the last guy, no. Now he goes to a third team. Michael Jordan couldn't win with a second and wins another title. Folks, he's getting into a very rarefied basketball air in my life. Third team title.

And what I think is encouraging about Kauai Leonard is that when you juxtapose him with Michael Jordan, who went to North Carolina and McDonald's All-American and Phil Jackson and one team for so. And LeBron James is a meteor. He's the number one player. And here's Kauai Leonard moving right into their class. Nobody on the West Coast. Forget the East. He played in California.

Nobody wanted him. It happened in football. Peyton Manning was the number one high school quarterback and the number one college quarterback and the number one pick. And he started as a rookie. And he set the rookie scoring touchdown passing record. And then Tom Brady was actually in high school. He wanted to go to USC and they weren't interested.

And then he went to Michigan and he struggled to start. And then he got drafted in the sixth round. And he backed up Drew Bledsoe. He's the classic Kauai Leonard, the slow build. In baseball, there's Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper's on the cover of a magazine at 15, 16. He's the chosen one. He's the phenom.

He gets the shoe deal. Minor League Baseball, Pasha. And then there's Kristen Yelich. Yelich for the Milwaukee Brewers. Didn't make an All-Star team until 26. six years in the minors. It took people in Milwaukee to figure out who he was. Right now, Yelich is a better player than Bryce Harper.

Tiger Woods was a phenom at 15 and 16, winning juniors. 11 years old was represented by IMG. At 3, he was on television with his late father on the Michael Douglas show, putting. And yet here's Brooks Kepka. Didn't get his card until he was 24. didn't really explode until he was 27. Years of struggle and irrelevance.

Kauai Leonard, the slow build. Tom Brady, the slow build. Christian Yellich, the slow build. Brooks Kepka, the slow build. Success doesn't look the same for people. Don't get discouraged. Don't get bummed out. Some people have more support early.

Some people take a while to evolve, to connect, to grow up, to mature physically, to mature emotionally. You look around sports right now. It's a very, very even combination of slow builders, late to star, and phenoms at 16. There is no one path to greatness. Maybe in business it's different. maybe in other fields politics it's different but the world i'm watching in sports yelich keppka kawai brady don't face the early pressure have that chip on their shoulder because all the doubters maybe don't get the support and the and the relevance early but they

the late adapters and the slow builders you know what not everybody evolves at the same speed They're doing just fine. Remember Steve Fisher? San Diego State coach that recruited as much as you could recruit Kauai Leonard. They never saw this coming. Well, we don't say that often about guys that we've recruited. Our thought was if he stays healthy and keeps growing his game, which we think he will, he could be a long-time pro.

But to say he would be an elite top five player in the world right now, no one I think could say that they saw that coming. So by the way, Zion Williamson, he'll be the Meteor. John Morant just drafted. He may be the meteor. But there's going to be somebody in last year's draft, this year's draft, or next year's draft that will be just as good a player. And you didn't watch them play for a second in high school or a second in college.

Or maybe a second in the first three years in the NBA. It took Kauai Leonard four years to pop. and he wasn't as All-Star until year seven. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, 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 Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic 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, 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, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th.

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

Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref. My mom, I want you. shoot away better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clipper Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy

who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian, and recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, hope from a hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian.

I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff rant and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Oh, cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream, cream a chicken suit. This is help from a hair. Hippocrat, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know.

Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Coulthura Podcast Network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Justin Verlander's a great pitcher. But he said something yesterday. Home runs are exploding in baseball. Much like the three-point shot exploded in basketball over the last seven, eight, nine years. And Justin Verlander's a pitcher doesn't like it. And he ripped the commissioner and he ripped the sport and he came out.

And Justin Verlander's a first belt hall of fame. or he said baseball is turning this game into a joke. They own Rawlings. They own the effing company. It's not a guess what happened. Manfred the first time he came in and said, we want more offense. Suddenly the balls are juiced.

It's not a coincidence. We're not idiots. No, but you're a stubborn man and you're a pitcher, and I've seen this my entire life in sports. All believe there are UFOs. Show me the alien. I don't want to see the fuzzy video. Show me the alien.

All believe balls are juiced. Show me proof. Well, the balls are. are going out there juice. Joe Morgan years ago in a broadcast said, balls are juiced. You know what Bob Costa said? Not as much as the players. But juiced is an easy explanation.

You know what's not an easy explanation? Nuance, context, data, launch angle, defensive shift, analytics. That's a hard answer. The easy answer is, hey, I'm great. Guys are whacking it out of here. Ball's juiced. Let me give you four reasons why we're getting more home runs.

And let me show you a graph over the last 100 years in baseball. Home runs have been going up mostly forever. Now they've gotten over the last seven, eight years, they've gone crazy, right? Why would that be? Same reason three point shooting's gone crazy. Because stubborn men in sports don't like to evolve. And you could shoot a three point shot 30 years ago. But about eight, nine years ago in the NBA, analytics came in and everybody said, shoot threes or else. Guess what? Two teams bought into it. Five, six, nine. Then suddenly seven years later, the three-point chart looks just like the home run chart. Everybody either shot threes or you got fired unless you were Greg Popovich.

Same in baseball. Defensive shifts. Joe Badden starts it in Tampa. People push back on Moneyball, Billy Bean. People push back on the defensive shift. Then six teams buy in. Then eight, then 12. Now you're winning.

Now if you don't do it, you're fired. If you're not into analytics, you're a has-been. You're a dinosaur. If you don't do occasional defensive shifts, you're out of touch. Home runs are the three-point shift. shot. Technology has quickened the pace of change in sports. Analytics are here to stay. And analytics always get pushback. NBA three point shot got pushed back. Look at athletes are bigger. Balls are coming in at mid-90s from everybody on the staff. Did you watch the

home run derby last night? Guys are bigger. Guys are stronger. Pitches coming in at 95 in baseball games. Defensive shift. Analytics of force big hitters. Cody Bellinger, you don't want line drives. You don't want ground balls. There's no bunts. Swing for the fence. Strikeouts aren't evil. Again, show me the alien. I don't want to see fuzzy pictures of things that look like frisbys. I don't care if it's an experienced pilot telling me. Show me the little green man. Show me the juice balls. Joel Morgan was talking about this years ago on baseball and Bob Costas inserted some nuance. You know, and nuance is hard and context is hard, and analytics and data and metrics aren't easy explanation. Bulls juiced.

I've been hearing that for 30 years. I've been seeing grainy videos of UFOs for 30 years. Show me the money. Okay. Show me the money. This is what baseball is. It's all home runs now. And finally, everybody is all in on the defensive shifts and the launch angle

and the analytics. So you're seeing an explosion of home runs. It's the same chart for NBA three point shots. A bunch of wealthy, older guys, stubborn, don't want to listen, push back on moneyball, push back defensive shifts, push back on three ball, then you either embrace it or you get fired. And that's a lot of money you're making in the NBA or baseball. So everybody goes in on it and what happens? The chart goes, whoo-three-point shots, whew-home runs,

show me the alien. I'm tired of the juice ball argument. The rise of home runs has been the rise. of embracing analytics. NBA baseball, same issue. By the way, I don't think three-point shots. I like some nuance to my basketball. I like a mid-range jumper.

I also like stolen bases, buntz in my baseball. But this is the future of basketball, shoot at three, and this is the future of baseball. Launch angle, swing for the fence. That's how home run hitters still get paid. Line drives are outs. Ground balls are outs. Get it in the air.

even if your average drops. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.

Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. 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 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 hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

What's up, guys? this is Clever Taylor the 4th. 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, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifference.

show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Joe Rodano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian! I'm not qualified to give good advice.

Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Oh, cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite,

the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the My Cultura Puck Network available on the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So something yesterday happened, Tom Brady played catch with Gronk. And Gronk retired. And of course, everybody's freaking out. What does it say about Gronk? And to me, it doesn't say anything about Gronk.

What it says is Tom Brady's smart and obsessed with football and loves to have Gronk and Josh Gordon as workout buddies in the offseason just in case. And I think this is what truly separates Tom. from anybody that's ever played football. He is completely addicted to it. He's not embarrassed by it. So many pro athletes today, and you can do this too. This is okay.

I want to tell you about their politics and what they're experts at, their wardrobe and their style and their fashion and their politics and I know why. And Brady has no interest in any of it. Tom Brady's into his football and Tom Brady's into his family. He's not embarrassed about it. He's obsessed by it. It's kind of funny. He's married to a supermodel.

He's one of the richest American athletes ever. and remember during his documentary, do you remember watching him do this? I watch tape all day Monday, all day Tuesday, and Saturday before the game I watch film, and then Sunday morning I watch film. I don't know why I can sit here and watch it and process information quickly, but I can.

Running and lifting has been much harder to develop than this. This has kind of been in me. I mean, I could literally like just watch film all day. Not embarrassed, put it on tape, Remember, he had ultimate editing control, drink smoothies, watch tape all day long. And what I like about Tom is, it's a very simple life in a world of choices and options. Tom's into family, Tom's into football. He's not here to tell you that he knows wine, politics, fashion.

He's not embarrassed about it. Don't be embarrassed about being obsessed about something. It is okay. Like my son says all the time, dad, you like sports. I'm into electronics. I'm like, all right, don't be embarrassed about it. And, you know, it's one of those things Bill O'Brien used to coach him, now they'll coach the Houston Texans. And he talked about this couple years ago.

He said, Tom's hard to coach. Not because he doesn't like coaching, because he's obsessed. And he demands every day you teach him stuff. Tom Brady demands. He said he's a phenomenal guy, but he's obsessed with football. And I like people who are obsessed with things. I think Steve Jobs was obsessed, the late Steve Jobs, with this phone, which now controls my life. And everyone's lives.

I like people who are obsessed. Kobe Bryant was obsessed. Peyton Manning was obsessed. There's this whole thing about having work-life balance. And when you Google happiness, what makes people happy? There's a lot of things that make people happy. Giving to others, social situations, being loved, loving. You know what they never say?

Work-life balance. The ski instructor slash poet slash web designer is way happier than Tom Brady. And my argument is, ah, I don't buy it. Obsession equals great and great is fun. And the other thing is, I think Brady's become

the most important person in NFL history. For my entire life, football's been loved by America. We bet it, we watch it, we talk it. Football, we party to it, we drink to it, we eat to it, we watch it. But over the last

five years and every sport has obstacles. Football's dealing with a violence issue. And it's brutal. And it doesn't last. And it beats up your body and CTE. And there's movies with Will Smith. And there's books about it. And I don't want my kids to play. And Tom Brady is, I feel great. I don't get hurt. I'm 41. I look better than you do at 41. I run faster. I eat better. I never get hurt. Tom Brady is now a symbol for football. What happens when you take care of yourself, when you take care of your body, when you're disciplined, when you practice falling and getting hit, when you spend some of that money on nutritionists and discipline and lifestyle and diet?

And I think he's the face of football. And I think he's an incredibly powerful face of football. Listen, Michael Jordan was really good for basketball for a lot of reasons. He was global and he was great. But Michael had a certain dignity and the way he dressed and the way he looked. He was elegant. Michael Jordan made basketball feel big and corporate and gigantic and cool. Michael Jordan wasn't just a basketball player.

Michael Jordan was like the best dressed man in America who played basketball who had great relationships with business. He made basketball players corporations. Michael was bigger than a jump shot. Michael was a great face for the league. When he left, ratings dropped 50%. Brady's a great face for the league. He's not the most talented. He's not the most gifted.

But being obsessed with football is good. You can have a great family. You don't have to get hurt. You don't have to be beat up. You don't have to be beat up. You don't have to be all in on the sport and it pays you back. Jay Glazer always talks about what makes Tom Brady, Tom Brady. Tom Brady works as hard as anybody in this league.

He is, he has the sickness. I call it the sickness, right? If you want to be great, you got to have a sickness. You got to be great. You got to be sick about it. You have to constantly, nonstop. Obsessed. Work, work, work. Absolutely.

It's an obsession. And he does. We just don't know about it because he doesn't talk to anybody. If you're obsessed with it and you put the work in, usually you're going to be, I don't say you're going to be great, but you're certainly on the right path because so many other guys are not willing to put the work in. Let me shift to this. I just love Brady.

Anytime I can get Brady into the show, I will. Joy's over there thinking, what about Ryan Tannahill? No, I am not. When is the segment on Ryan Tannihil? We have moved on from that. He's no longer our problem. Okay, I got another thing I want to talk about here.

So I'm from the Pacific Northwest. And I grew up as a kid, we had the Sonics. We didn't have the Seahawks when I was young. We didn't have the Mariners. We had the University of Washington, and we had the Sonics. Downtown Freddie Brown, Jack Sigma. Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson, Paul Silas, John Johnson, Lonnie Shelton, Lenny Wilkins was the coach. I don't know who owned it, but I'll tell you this.

That was the team I loved. Green, hot, and smoking, they used to say. Sonics were green. And then they left. Guy that owned Starbucks bought him. He didn't want to spend the money in an arena. And I left. And they went to Oklahoma City.

And everybody's been like, oh, Oklahoma City is a great basketball city. Oh, I don't believe everybody there loves basketball. be very interesting now to see if Oklahoma City, five years from today, is a great basketball city. I know it's a great football state. I know they love college football. I'm not saying Oklahoma City can't be a sports town, but it's real easy to steal an NBA team and sell out the arena when you have James Hardin, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, winning seasons, all the momentum. Durant gone, Hardin gone, Stephen Adams on the trade block, Westbrook wants out, congratulations on the 10 to 12 draft picks.

Hopefully two turn out. Danny Aange is supposed to be a brilliant drafter. One's been a star, Jason Tatum, and he had a plateau year. This league's built on stars at Phil's Arena. The Warriors were garbage for two decades. They were still top 10 in attendance. Chicago's been a mess for years. last year top three in attendance.

Philadelphia has had decades where they were irrelevant. Top half of the league in attendance. Philly is a great basketball town. Chicago's a great basketball town. Oakland. Great basketball town. They've been awful for decades. People show up.

Top 10 in attendance. Top two. We'll see now about Oklahoma City. Because you're going to be a, you're going to be younger than Atlanta and worse than Sacramento. six years ago now for the next six years. Because free agents, they don't really want to go there.

So whenever I hear about a great basketball city, no, no, you want to know great basketball city, Philadelphia. Dr. Jay to two years ago, they were mostly, you know, little Iverson here and there. Eh, I'm not that good. Chicago, unwatchable, sellouts. And Chicago, that arena is hard to get to. It's not cheap.

Chicago's expensive. Sellouts. It's like I got nothing against Vegas. the Golden Knights, they get a hockey team. Everybody's like, oh, Vegas is a hockey city. Really? Why did it take 100 years to get a team? No, you got a team. The arena's awesome, and your team is great.

What happens if you finish last place for the next seven years? Because in Toronto, they'll still sell at the arena. Detroit will still sell it out. Chicago Blackhawks will sell it out. Flyers and the Penguins will sell it out. Golden Knights go into the tank for nine years. Is that arena sold out? I'm not bitter about losing my embassy.

team. I'm not saying I'm bitter. I'm just saying Seattle was a great NBA city. Seattle was a great NBA city. And they ditched it. And it's like, and you know what? Seattle would go to games and there were a lot of bad teams. I got one title as a kid. There's a lot of bad teams. It's all I'm saying. 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. And with that, we go to the summer league. We go to Las Vegas. George Carl coached in the NBA for 27 years, a former coach of the year. Six most wins all time. George Carl is joining us. So, you know, we got all this mobility, and it didn't start yesterday. Players have been moving around the league, George, forever.

You know that. Are you a fan of this player movement and this wild free agency stuff we just had in the last two weeks? Well, I think I'm old school more. and I'd like to see more organizations have more loyalty to players, but that's the day of the past. So am I a fan of it? I'm a fan because it's going to be exciting. There's going to be a lot of good basketball teams this year,

a lot of changes, and I'm anxious to see where it goes. What's going to happen? Frank Vogel has got a bunch of new pieces. I mean, there's a lot of situational players. How long is realistic to give a new coach with a bunch of new players before they gel. Is it trading deadline or does it take more than a year?

I would say there'll be a lot of answers by trading deadline, but the best is probably a year away. But with LeBron and the talent they have, they can be a threat this year to win the championship. But the piece has got to fit well. There probably has to be a change. Maybe one more trade, one more tinkering, somewhere around January or February to make the team ready for the playoffs.

You know, Doc Rivers has coached big stars. Last year he had a team that was mostly B guys, but they played really hard. And many people thought it was Doc Rivers' best coaching job. Now he gets Paul George and Kauai Leonard, very good two-way players. This feels like, to me, it's going to work. The chemistry is going to be good. Are you worried at all that Kauai and Paul George kind of do the same things? a little bit? Just a little bit. I think it's a great, what I see in L.A. Clipperland is an organization

that's really together. I think Balmer as an owner wants to win a championship. I think Lawrence Frank is a student of the game, and he's done a nice job transmitting himself into a good general manager. And then you got Doc in a place in his life that he's really energized. He's really into it. He has the best bench in the NBA, and he's got a lot of good pieces. I think they're going to be a very good team very early in the season. Yeah, I agree with that. Coach, we were just talking about Russell Westbrook, and they're kind of blowing things up in OKC, and I understand that.

Westbrook is a dynamic athlete, but I've never felt he always plays winning basketball. In your career, you had a lot of great players. What do you do when you have a unique talent, but sometimes he's not perfectly suited, maybe for other teammates. You know, what do you make of Westbrook's game? Well, I love how hard he plays. He plays the game with such intensity and enthusiasm. It's contagious.

I've always admired him for being one of the hardest working guys in the NBA. But you're right. Yeah, you know, his numbers don't translate into wins all the time. His attitude sometimes turns the team off. You can almost see their team's body language go out the window. I really would like to see Westbrook play off the ball a little bit more. I've said this for about four or five years, and maybe that'll happen if he stays in O'KC,

but it looks like he's going someplace else. You know, Coach, when I look at the Lakers roster, KCP, Rondo, and Boogie Cousins have not always been the easiest guys to get along with, but I do believe that LeBron has some really good leadership skills and may be able to put his arms around him. You know, when you get a roster, how big is chemistry? I think it's huge, and I like the Clippers chemistry. I'm not sure if this Laker team will have chemistry.

Is it up to a coach or a star player to develop it? Well, it helps when your star player is good at it. It hurts when your star player might be a little jealous of it. And you're right, chemistry. There's a lot of teams in the league that have enough talent to win a championship, but they don't have a connection. They don't have a togetherness. They don't have a belief in each other.

And that's what you're talking about in chemistry. And LeBron has been great at making average players good, good players really good, and really good players special. Anthony Davis, obviously really talented. Do you think he'll play well with LeBron, Coach? I think he's the key to the Lakers. I think he's got to break out. He's got to have a breakout season.

He's had a lot of great years where his numbers say a lot of good stuff, but he's never led a team to winning big games or winning in the playoffs. And I think, I know we're all looking at LeBron, but I really think it's Anthony Davis's year to break out and show the world that he is one of the best players in the world by winning in the playoffs. Finally, you know the Pacific Northwest well. Damian Lillard is one of my favorite athletes in America. and Damien has said,

listen, I don't want to leave. And Janice and Milwaukee has said, I don't want to leave. Joey and I were just talking about this. I think most players don't want to leave, but they get mad at the coach, mad at the GM, they listen to their agent. Did you find in your NBA career

that if most players were reluctant to leave, but sometimes circumstances take over? What I found is they usually are talked into it. It takes a process of, as you said, his agent, his girlfriend, his wife, that they see

the other side of the fence being better. And I think in general, you're right in your analysis, but in the same sense, the history tells us that these guys leave most of the time. Yeah, no, they do.

What'd you make a Kevin Durant going to Brooklyn and leaving the Warriors? Did that catch off base a little bit? I don't understand it. I think it's kind of crazy. I have no idea. I don't think they're a championship team, even though I love what Brooklyn did this year.

I think they're going to be better next year. I think they're going to be an interesting team to follow. But I look at Kevin Durant's. He should be searching for championships. And I don't think he's going to have one in Brooklyn with the team he has right now. Coach, it's great seeing you. Congrats to your son, Kobe Carl, like her associate head coach at Summer League.

If you're in L.A., give us a call. Stop by. I love to take you out for dinner. Good enough, Colin. Thank you, man. George Carl. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

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