The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 08/02/2019

Episode Date: August 2, 2019

Doug Gottlieb fills in for Colin and says there is too many people talking about the difficulties of playing with LeBron to think that they're all wrong at this point. He thinks Ezekiel Elliott and Melvin Gordon are holding out because they know the RB market is only getting worse. Plus, Chris Broussard of FS1 has a heated discussion with Doug about LeBron's commitment and Carmelo Anthony deserving to stay in the league  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. 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, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

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Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, 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 IHeartRadio app by searching Herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherg on Fox Sports Radio. What up? Welcome in. This is The Herd, wherever you may be in, however you may be making this part of your day. Thanks so much on the IHeart Radio app on Fox Sports Radio.

here televised on Fox Sports One. I'm Doug Gottlieb, filling in for Colin Cowherd, who I'm sure at some point in time will invite me to hang out with him today, like he usually does. Hey, why don't you come up to Utah on Friday? Because I'm filling in for you, big boy. Appreciate the invite, though.

Oh, but did he miss the smorgasbord of topics we have today, including LeBron James, the gift that keeps giving. I mean, the gift that keeps giving. So I don't know why David Griffin did it. Maybe it's to steal from Carmelo Anthony who was on TV today. Trying to deny what everybody knows to be true.

Speaking his truth, it is, it's a bit odd that David Griffin, who is employed in the NBA as a general manager now with New Orleans Pelicans, who just pulled off a blockbuster deal to trade with Rich Paul, LeBron James, L.A. Lakers, Anthony Davis, for all the guys LeBron didn't want, airs out at least some form of dirty laundry in his work that helped secure a championship for LeBron James in Cleveland. But he did, and we will reap the benefits of it. Thank you very much. So apparently, it ain't all that much fun to work with LeBron James.

This has been uttered by people in Miami. This, when he left, there were hard feelings. It wasn't a sullen goodbye. This has been uttered by Phil Jackson, who talked about how much Miami still didn't really like the culture that LeBron James brought to Miami and how he fought how Pat Riley wanted to run that organization. It's why we were told Kyrie Irving left Cleveland, not because of playing with LeBron James,

but everything that went into playing with and for LeBron James. It's why Kevin Durant, early in this last season, said, hey, thanks, but no thanks. I don't want to play around LeBron James because it's an environment filled with toxicity. So David Griffin sat down with two different parts to it. One was Sports Illustrated. And of course he was on the WojPod as well. But the Sports Illustrated article has some money quotes.

quote, everything we did was so inorganic and unsustainable, frankly, not fun. I was miserable. Literally, the moment we won the championship, I knew I was going to leave. There was no way I was going to stay for any amount of money. Well, that's just David Griffin speaking out of his backside. That couldn't be the case in dealing with LeBron James. He's most people's greatest player in the generation and some people's greatest player of all time. It has to be fun to finally win a championship for LeBron and for the city of Cleveland,

especially David Griffin, who, by the way, is from Cleveland. Magic Johnson had a good time working with LeBron, right? Remember when Magic Johnson decided to quit the last day of the season with the Lakers? He did mention how much fun it was. I was happier when I wasn't the president. I like to be free. And then I got a great life. like, damn, I got a great life outside of this.

What am I doing? You know, I got a beautiful life. I want to do the things I used to do. So I had to weigh both situations, and so this is better for me. Oh, okay, listen, Magic's saying he'd rather tweet about other NBA players than actually work in the front office is a little off-putting and maybe tells you more about his work ethic. But when enough people say the same thing about a job.

similar situation working with the same guy. His friends and his teammates can deny it all they want, but this is a narrative because it's true. Colin says it all the time. Reputations after a while, they are earned, not given. When Pat Riley and David Griffin and Magic Johnson all walk away going, that was not fun. in nowhere did they say he's not a great player

in no part did they not say that they weren't on some point successful although LeBron has yet to be successful in a Lakers uniform the assumption is that if he stays healthy they're going to be good this year whether they win a championship or not you got LeBron you got Anthony Davis you got a better team around him but it's not fun and no matter how much you want to run onto a court during an AAU game no matter how much you want to smile and joke and do the Taco Tuesday.

It's just not fun. Again, that doesn't mean it doesn't ultimately end up in competing for a championship because he is that good. But this is who he is. This is what it's like to work with LeBron James. People are bothered by the quote that David Griffin gave them when he said, you know, it's everyone else's fault. Everyone else has taken the blame except for LeBron James. That couldn't have possibly happened in Los Angeles, right?

Well, okay, Luke Walton took a little blame. He lost his job. Magic Johnson took a little blame. He quit and was deemed to be inept. Rob Palinca's caught a little blame. He doesn't know what he's doing. Lanzo Ball and Brandon Ingram and, heck, name A. Laker. They're not good enough.

yes, that's what happened. Is it a bit of an overstatement to say LeBron James gets no blame? A little bit. But when they lost to the Warriors the second time. The first time, okay, Kyrie gets hurt, Kevin Love gets hurt, what are you going to do when you lose two of your

big three? But when they lost to the Warriors, it was, well, they have Kevin Durant and we don't. Okay, well, you still had Kyrie Irving. you still had Kevin Love, you still had Tristan Thompson, you still had the makeup of the team that won the championship the previous year, LeBron James was the guy who was bested by Kevin Durant at the same position, even going back to his last year with the Cavs. I will grant it, it was J.R. Smith's fault that he didn't know time and score.

But as I said on this very set at the time, LeBron James' body language when they went to overtime in game one was one of, I can't believe I'm working with idiots. I can't believe he does, which is not what you're supposed to do as a leader. You're supposed to do, hey, it's okay. Next play. Let's keep going. Get your heads up. Instead, he was done.

He was finished. He's not wrong to feel like it was J.R.'s fault. He's not wrong to feel like the other team had better players because Kyrie Irving had said, it's not fun. I want out. but this whole idea that LeBron James takes all the blame is a complete departure from the truth. Complete departure from the truth.

The only time he took a healthy amount of the blame was when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks. And in all honesty, might not have been all that much his fault. Right. That team wasn't ready. It was his first year. and oh yeah by the way

Mike Baby was the starting point guards game one through five didn't even play in game six because he was so inept nobody pointed that out he actually took the blame in that loss but didn't take the blame after that when they lost the final time to the spurs it was not LeBron's fault

Duane Wade's aged roster's not good enough around him and so he left and went to Cleveland I don't I'm not sure I know the win here for David Griffin, you're still in the league. Rich Paul is close friends with his client and longtime friend LeBron James. So you're going to have to do business with Rich Paul.

So that also means there's no reason for him to have to lie. And that's probably why he said it. I'm tired of lying. And if you actually read the quotes in the context of the quotes, he talks about how they won a championship and he was Pauling crying because he knew there was no way he was coming back because the process, the inorganic way in which they were doing it was unsustainable. David Griffin is saying, yeah, I had to do the Tristan Thompson deal. I had to do the J.R. Smith deal. I had to do the Kevin Love deal. Long-term deals that weren't good deals,

that weren't good business that in his heart of hearts he knew would not prolong the run of the Cleveland Cavaliers. But he had to work with the ego of LeBron James. James, the desire to only work with certain people. I don't want to work with David Blatt. I don't want to play with that player. LeBron operates in a world in which he doesn't even have to say what he wants. He is the king of being passive-aggressives. So you have to try and read his mind.

He's surrounded by sycophans who won't tell him the truth. Even his tweet yesterday, after this David Griffin story came out, shows you how passive-aggressive he is. I'd, I'd, enough is enough. The throne has been played with too much. And I ain't for horseplay, ether coming soon. I don't know what any of that means. Does anyone know what any of that means? A lot of emojis.

Fire emoji, smiley face emoji, crown emoji, hashtag James gang, hashtag brown fist. I got nothing for you. Like a smile and ether in flames combined. Like, look, LeBron James last year, when he was injured, when he hurt his groin, disappeared from the team, would show up at the games, wouldn't show up on time, would come out to the court after the game was already taking place so he could get his own standing ovation, walked into work with a goblet of wine, which is completely and totally unacceptable. He's done his own thing. And you know what? It ain't that much fun.

and Pat Riley said it, and David Griffin said it, and Magic Johnson said it, and the people defending him are just like the argument about AAU basketball and parenting. They're moving the line. No one talked about him as a parent. You don't know if he's a good parent? I don't know if he's a good parent. I like that he shows up and he roots for his kid. And his kid seems like he handles it with a ton of grace.

but dude you can't be on the court during a game i don't care who you are and don't hop into lay-up lines with your son like what are you doing what you doing in what world is that acceptable it's not especially when you're arguably the greatest basketball player on earth you're held to a higher standard than everybody else not a lower standard so look lebron james is a great player he's been a remarkably successful player in multiple stops. And he has a chance to win a third championship with the third franchise, the most storied franchise in NBA

history. But you want to put a team around him? It's about the now. You have to figure out what he wants and it's not going to be fun. No matter how much he tweets out, smiles, and emojis about Taco Tuesday. 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. 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 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. person. Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway and listen now. 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, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, A, ref, my mom, won. My mom, won't.

want you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, Wreck, Mom, I want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam, Ms. Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron. heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game.

His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us. on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get to fly. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, I said. You figure it out real quick.

Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Yeah, how dare David Griffin, right? How dare he not want to have a team that was in the luxury tax that didn't develop young players that didn't get, you know, a GM that didn't get to pick his coach,

and a team that didn't practice? Like, how dare he not want to be the general manager of a team that doesn't practice? So you're talking about with the culture. Before we get to that, though, Ezekiel, it's still a no-show. he's in Cabo and Jerry Jones said this in regards to his level of confidence that they'll get a deal done. Do you worry at all by this not getting done?

I don't consider, no. I don't, I don't in any way whenever ever not done one. You just keep plugging. I don't want to be a cliche, but it's what we tell these guys. It's just one foot in front of the other

and go and do what you have to do the next play, which has put somebody else in there and just keep going. So Jerry Jones offered a non-answer answer, but did say, when have I ever not gotten a deal done? You might ask yourself, and I have, why would Ezekieland cut in line? Why would he cut in line? Like, Dak Prescott's his quarterback.

He's made Bubkiss the past couple of years. Jerry has said he's in line for a contract extension. The question is not if, it's how much. right amari cooper comes over and completely changes the dynamic of the offense he's set to make $14 million this year he too is in for a contract extension on the defensive side you got bairn jones among others you got jalen smith you have other guys who you're cutting in line and remember in the national football league it's not like stephen jones and jerry jones go oh we saved a couple million dollars on Zeke, let's put it in our pocket. No, there's a pie, and if you take a

bigger slice of the pie, somebody else's pie is shrunk, right? But there's a reason that Ezekia Elliott wants his pie now. It's because of the market. This is the same reason that in real estate driven markets like Southern California, you're seeing so many more for sale signs. on average, I believe it's every six to eight years historically we've had recession. And like we're entering into year 10 with no recession. We've been going housing prices up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up and up. But just yesterday, Fed, they're going to lower rates, right? And what are they saying?

When our GDP is down, when our growth is down, is now below 3%. we're creeping closer and closer into the R word. Recession. And so people want to cash in now. Hey, if I sell my house now, maybe I'll rent and then I'll buy once the market either levels off and it's a market correction or it's a downright recession. But I don't want to hold on to a house and when I bought out the peak, I could have sold, made some money.

And instead, I had to rat it out through the down and then the backup. up. That's a five, six-year deal. The difference is the running back market is not only dipping, but it may never recover. And the wide receiver market is spiking, right? Quarterbacks up. Aaron Rogers is over $30 million, now the highest paid quarterback. Michael Thomas, wide receivers up, right? Last year, it was Sammy Watkins, who's making over $14 million. St. Milwaukee was like the fourth best wide receiver, fourth best pass catcher on the Rams, and probably the same on the Chiefs.

And he's having like $14 million, which, by the way, is the same amount that Todd Gurley makes. Now you've got Michael Thomas making $20 million. Zeke Elliott is cutting in line because he knows that running backs are becoming a depreciating asset. Like, look, the big story yesterday was

the chargers won't even offer the opportunity. to trade Melvin Gordon. Why do you think that is? Because nobody wants to trade for Melvin Gordon. It's not that he's not good, but if you trade for Melvin Gordon, you have to do so. Keep in mind, you're going to pay him somewhere between Levion Bell and Todd Gurley money. And they don't want to do that. They don't want to do that.

The top three running backs, salary-wise, are Todd Gurley, who was replaced by C.J. Anderson late in the season, and C.J. Anderson was on his couch, on his third team of the year was Levyon Bell. How good is that Levy on Bell contract? Mike McAgnit negotiated it. He was fired shortly there afterwards. And David Johnson. David Johnson's contract so good with the Arizona Cardinals that they went through two offensive coordinators last year. They got rid of their rookie top 10 quarterback. Their head coach got fired as well. And by the way, Jerry Jones saying you don't have to have the number one, you know, top running back in the league. How would he know? He's had it three of the past five years. Hasn't won a Super Bowl. DeMarco Murray led the world in

rushing. Had that work out for the Cowboys. And Zeke's better than DeMarco Murray. I'm not, Zeke's a tremendous talent. He can play at all three downs. He can block and pass protect. He can catch out of the back foot that he can run the football. But Zeke is cutting in line not because of any other factor, then he sees the running back market plummeting. And teams aren't stupid, right? The franchise tag is the average of the top five salaries. And if that comes down, as it may,

or it doesn't spike as it looks like it will not, the franchise tag is going to be less than $13 million. And so if you're Melvin Gordon, who is reportedly offered 10 a year, going to make five this year, franchise tag next year, you might want to take that money. Melvin Gordon and Zeke Elliott are not free agents. They are under contract. And by the way, they can be under contract for the next three, four,

even technically five years if they wanted to transition tag them. They won't, but at least four years. And these dudes are cutting in line. for one reason. It's a selfish reason, but it's they see the recession coming in the running back market. Compare that with the wide receiver market.

The wide receiver market is spiking. Michael Thomas, OBJ, Antonio Brown, Mike Evans. The league is spoken. Hell, they even put in a new rule in the off season, which you finally saw implemented last night, which is like,

If at first there's no pass interference, maybe you missed past interference, you can throw a challenge flag because there's got to be past interference, right? Zieg's cutting in line because he sees the recession coming. What's going on, everybody? It's John Middlough for the three and out podcast. Brought to you by my main man, Colin Coward, and his podcast network. If you like football, if you like Colin Show, you'll like mine because you better believe, I'm talking Melvin Gordon and his holdout.

Go sign the contract, my man. And is Davo Sweeney really the... the next Nick Saban? I think so. The three and out podcast with me, former scout, now media member. Go subscribe. But let's go to the Herd Global Satellite Network. Let's go live to New York, where Chris Broussard joins us. Oh, there's just, the NBA just keeps giving and giving and giving.

Any idea why David Griffin would now tell us about how miserable he was during his time in Cleveland? Well, Doug, I texted with Briff this morning, and he said that the quotes, you know, everything was taken out of context. He said his misery stemmed not from LeBron himself, but from the constant media scrutiny. And he also said he's going to speak on this publicly later today. So I guess he'll make some type of statement or appearance or something later and discuss it in more. more detail.

But, you know, I don't know if the writer took stuff out of context or not, but what shocked me the most, Doug, was I felt like the lack of appreciation for what LeBron had done, I don't want to say it like just for Griff, but, you know, the fact that he got to serve in the front office for a player like LeBron, because of LeBron, David Griffin has on his resume three trips to the finals, one NBA championship, the first in the city's history, the first championship of any kind in 52 years. And largely because of that success, Griff, who is a good general manager, but he's very highly respected, got a very good job with New Orleans. And I would tell you, if LeBron James never goes to Cleveland, Griff probably isn't in this position. The article

kind of came off like Griff, at least the way it was written, like he would have been happier maybe if LeBron doesn't come and he builds around Kyrie Irving. He gets to mold the team organically. He kind of used that word

inorganic. He gets to mold the type of team he wants and he gets to relish in the challenge and the small victories of maybe making the playoffs. Of can we become a second round team? Can we become a conference contend? can we get to the finals, that type of thing.

But here's the deal. There's a high likelihood that if LeBron doesn't go to Cleveland, Griff gets to build the team his own way, and they never make the playoffs. And ultimately, after a few years, Griff gets fired, and then he's not in this position to get the job with the Pelican. I know, but this is the control group, right? I mean, the control group is in New Orleans,

where we think he'll be able to build organically in a small market, where no one's been able to have any sort of success, let alone sustained success, and we'll find out. Some of that is how the article is written. But even in his, like I understand LeBron's, his comment about LeBron isn't an animal about winning like he used to be. LeBron himself said, I have nothing more to prove. I mean, he has in fact said that. He has changed some of his focus in the offseason. He was the one who showed up at work while injured with the Lakers with a glass of wine.

Like, he isn't the, like, these are inarguable facts and simply telling you how it felt. And by the way, doesn't the toxicity of the media and the coverage of him, doesn't that mirror what Kevin Durant said? This is a widely held perception, isn't it? All right, let me first address LeBron isn't an animal about winning anymore. after 2016, which is when Griff said this trend began, if you will, the next year LeBron has a great individual season, 2017, leads them back to the finals. They run through the East.

I think they're 12 and 1 in the playoffs, and they just run into a far superior Golden State team. The next year, didn't he lead the league in minutes or no, played all 82 games? Right. And then gets them back to the NBA finals. Yes. So I just can't buy this notion that after 2016, LeBron wasn't that interested in winning.

I will give this, I will lend credence to the notion that after 12 straight years of finals or bust, really championship or busts from 2007 when he first reached the finals to 2018, 12 straight seasons of championship or failure for LeBron James. I will buy the notion that there was a part of him that was, Kind of looking forward to a season, the first in LA of the not, doesn't have to win the championship, isn't expected to get to the finals. And, you know, hopefully we'll make the playoffs, make a little noise. But this year I get to kind of take a deep breath and get away from that.

And then when we get a free agent, they ended up getting Anthony Davis, but he probably thought they'd get another free agent at some point. Then they can compete for titles. If he wasn't about winning anymore, why in the world would he essentially ruin the locker room this year by making such a stink about getting Anthony Davis? So I do think, now, I think he has other interests. I think he moved out to L.A. because of family and business and stuff too. But I do think he still wants to win. Chris, it didn't say he doesn't.

And has reason to win. It didn't say he doesn't want to win. Like you're taking it a step that it doesn't say. He said he wasn't... Where's the evidence that he's not in... He didn't practice. When he was in Cleveland, they didn't practice anymore. He would not practice.

Again, but he didn't show up to practice. No, did not. What did you say? Could not? Would not? They did not practice. That was part of the culture problem. That's what made it unsustainable.

That's what made it hard to make adjustments. He didn't practice. He's an older player. Again, I'm not arguing about that. He's an older player. There are a lot of guys at that stage and don't practice. He didn't. But hold on.

He didn't, not the whole year. He didn't say he didn't want to win. He said he wasn't the same animal about winning, right? He said he didn't like the culture. I'm sure he didn't like doing all those deals with Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith that they were pressured to do because they were rep by Rich Paul. Like he didn't, in no way did he indict LeBron James the player or LeBron James the competitor. He just said one thing.

He's not done really in the animal as far as winning anymore. Isn't the same animal. How many more years is he going to play? after 2016. He might play seven more years after, you know, dating back to 2016, six years, whatever. None of them he was really trying to win anymore? Not at the same level. He doesn't play defense at the same level.

He doesn't have the same level of attention to detail. Is none of that because of age, Doug? Maybe, but it's the amount of effort you put into it. Let's shift really quickly to Carmelo Anthony, who just went on TV and said, hey, Chris Paul said he had nothing to do with it, but Darry walked in 10 games in and said, your services are no longer needed. He claims to not have a problem now with coming off the bench,

thinks he belongs in the NBA. What's your takeaway from Carmelo Anthony? Well, look, I will agree with this. I think Mello is better than 60, 70% of the players in the NBA. There's no question he's good enough to play in the NBA. The question and the problem is where does he feel? fit. A young team that is going nowhere wants to develop its young players and see who's a keeper, see who they can build around. They don't want to give 15 shots, you know, 30 minutes to Carmelo

Anthony. They need to see what their young guys can do. A challenger, a contender, you know, how do they fit Carmelo Anthony into their system? You know, it's easier to fit a role player in than a ball-dominant former star who, you know, is going to want to play a certain way and get a certain amount of minutes and shots. So I can only look at a couple, a handful of teams that he might fit. And I don't have evidence that any of them want him. I don't think he's getting back in the league. But a Miami, a Detroit, a Washington, a Charlotte, you know, teams that aren't at the bottom

and aren't full of young players, but certainly aren't content. they're kind of sputtering. They're not going anywhere. You know, it's amazing. But I think a Carmelo Anthony maybe could go there. But it's just, I said a year ago on this show, The Hurt, that Carmelo Anthony should retire because this, I hate to see a guy that I consider a first ballot Hall of Famer

begging like this. Now, I think he says some great stuff and represented himself well on the show. But ultimately, there's a problem. part of this that just bothered me because it felt like he's desperate and he's begging people to put him back in the league. And it feels beneath a player that great. Oh, I don't have any problem with him begging and get back in the league, but he didn't. He didn't say he's willing to do the little things it takes.

He's willing to practice. He's willing to play defense. He's willing to understand that his role and to help. He said other things. He did. You're right. He didn't say, he didn't mention defense and things like that. He mentioned, I'll come off the bit.

You can hide one guy, but you can't hide a role player, and he's a mid-range shooter. He doesn't fit in today's NBA. And like you said, like, he may statistically be better because he scores more points, but what does he do to the chemistry of the team? Does he truly accept the role? And how much does he hurt you on defense? Like, look, LeBron James is one of his closest friends. He's had multiple opportunities in Cleveland and in L.A. last year.

And in L.A. this year to say, hey, sign him for a minimum deal. and he hasn't wanted to, if your best friend doesn't want you to fit any sort of role, why should the rest of the league? That's, I think, the take, you have 15 seconds. Now, it reminds me of Alan Iverson. I mean, now it's getting beyond what Iverson went through, but they couldn't accept not being a star and a superstar. Iverson could, to me, become a Lou Williams, a Jamal Crawford off the bench,

but he couldn't accept that role. And I get it. That's fine, being a superstar. I don't want to be a role player. It's really hard. But if you don't want to be Vince Carfell, than you're going out. 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 SportsSlice 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. moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters 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 Slicelife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kyr 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, Keir 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 Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliver Show, I'm bringing you. conversations about all kinds of stuff.

Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her.

What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about Defying the Odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted at this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.

Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball, like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah. You figure it out real quick. Oh, yeah. Get your ass up and down.

court and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. It's fascinating to watch the Dallas Cowboys. Right?

You have Jalen Smith and Byron Jones that at some point need a new contract. You got Amari Cooper who's making $14 million this year. And then you have Zeke Elliott who's holding out Dak Prescott, who's there.

Dak, of course, has made very little money because of where he was drafted. And I find it interesting. Like, Dak wasn't listed among the top 100 NFL players, which would put him not in the top 15 quarterbacks in the National Football League in the NFL network's top hundred guys. Now, if wins and losses are a quarterback stat, he's 32, to 16 and zero. He's never had a losing record.

But if we're honest, when he didn't have Zeke, they fell apart two years ago. He walked into a tailor-made Super Bowl team three years ago as a rookie. And last year had an up and down season, which was solid yet unspectacular. 22 touchdowns, eight interceptions. He threw for 3,800 yards. And the team got better and better, better down the stretch when they had. had Zeke and when they added Amari Cooper and when their offensive line was the healthiest

it had been. If everything is right, tax a good quarterback. He's fine. It's good. Like, would you rather have Pat Mahomes? You'd rather have Pat Mahomes. Right? Would you rather had Jared Goff? You'd rather have Jared Goff? Would you rather

have Matt Ryan? You'd rather have Matt Ryan. Would you rather have Tom Brady, Drew Brees? Would you rather have Philip Rivers? You know? but that doesn't mean he's a bum, but let's be honest, he's an average quarterback,

which considering where you got him in the fourth round, considering how bad a shape you look like you're in when Tony Romo went down with a broken bone in his back after just one preseason hit, it looked bad and he was solid, even if unspectacular. So now you're trying to evaluate like, how much do we pay him?

and I actually think I have the parallel. Well, two parallels. First, here's Dak Prescott on his level of personal motivation because he wasn't named in the NFL network's top hundred players. 100% it motivates me. Motivate you, makes that chip bigger. One of the biggest compliments is from a peer. So it's also, I guess you can take that the other way,

as if when you're not getting it, it should motivate you. motivate anybody. And even those guys on that list, I'm sure all of them are motivated for wanting to be higher. But yeah, when you see that list comes out, come out and there's 100 guys, yeah, it lights a fire. You know, it's interesting. Everybody points out the 13 and 3 rookie year when he threw for over 300 yards just twice. Right? Like, I get that he was better than we expected, but it wasn't like he was lighten up the world. last year he had the one game against Philadelphia where he threw it 54 times and 455 yards but he had two games over 300 yards passing that's it in the entirety of the season

now some of it is based upon the construction of the team but if you thought the cowboys were super happy with their offense why'd they change play callers in the offseason right I would offer to you that Dak Prescott's career parallels two guys Draymond Green and Kirk Cousins. Here's why he's Draymond Green. Draymond Green is an integral part of the Golden State Warriors. They don't win three championships if they don't have Draymond Green. I would guess because he does all of the little things that Steph Curry doesn't want to do,

that Clay Thompson doesn't want to do, that so many big guys can't do. He can guard positions one through five. He can play some point guard, play some center. He'll score just enough. He'll get just enough rebounds and just enough steals and play just good enough defense at each one of these positions. But he also doesn't need the ball in order to be great. Dak Prescott, when surrounded by Zeke,

who's in the conversation of best running back in the league, supported by the best offensive line at times when healthy in the league. when he has a talented wide receiver. And now they've brought back in Jason Whitten because they were without a starred tight end going back to last year. When all of these things, and they have a good enough, they have a very good defense.

When all of those things are right, Dak Prescott, he does the little things in terms of leadership, runs for a first down, doesn't turn the football over, just solid and steady. Put Dak Prescott in his own team, put five guys out wide, trying to have them win football games at his own, can't do it.

Same thing with Aaron Ross, same thing with, same thing with Draymond Green. Like Draymond Green, next year's free agent, put him on his own team, say, hey, dude, we need you to score 25, 30 a night. He may, you're not going to win because of it. Which brings it to Kirk Cousins. Right? Like, we're comparing his contract to Aaron Rogers and the 30 million a year guys.

Kirk Cousins was a fourth round pick. Kirk Cousins was franchise tagged a couple times, and he got a three-year guaranteed deal at, what did we say it was? It was $84 million? It's basically three years guaranteed $84 million. And if you compare numbers, Kirk Cousins pale and compares nearly a thousand more yards passing

through the life of the season. Now, DAC might be better in a big spot. Dak may be more solid, more steady than Kirk Cousins, who seems to struggle and break moments, but Kirk Cousins is a better pure quarterback. And if he's worth 84 over 3, isn't that about what Dax worth? Why are we comparing him to the top five quarterbacks in the league? He's not a top five quarterback.

No one believes that. Whereas if I said compare his career arc to that of Kirk Cousins, you go, okay, yeah. Fourth round pick who deserves to get paid, leader of a team, does the right things, not a superstar, don't necessarily win because of him, but he helps you during the process of winning? That to me is the accurate comparison. He's both Draymond Green and Kirk Cousin. 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 Smygel 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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 lineback coach is. 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 Clifford show on the Iheart radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast. point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to him, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.