The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd for 06/18/2019

Episode Date: June 18, 2019

Doug Gottlieb fills in for Colin and explains why Kyrie Irving is the hot woman who looks good but is single for a reason. He defends the Lakers trading for Anthony Davis because big brands take big swings. Plus, Nick Wright of FS1's "First Things First" talks about the entire landscape of the NBA changing in just 1 week  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

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This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. What up? Welcome in. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be making it as part of your day. Thanks so much. On the IHeart Radio at Fox Sports Radio. I'm Doug Gottlieb.

Trying to do the Colin Cowherd, welcome in. I tried to do it simultaneously with him yesterday in this very same student. I kind of think I freaked him out. He was a little freaked out by it. He was just like, wait, what is, is that an echo? Is that a cowherd on vacation? Whitewater rafting. If anybody in Utah gets video of cowherd whitewater rafting,

please, please put it on social media. Please send it to all of us. Because Colin will claim, oh, it's amazing. It was great. It was unbelievable. But I have friends that work out at the gym that he works out at, and they're like, we do kind of make fun of him. But like for a man his age, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, right? There's a picture of Colin when he's like 28 years old working in Vegas, and he literally looks like he's 50 at 28.

But now at 75, he looks like he's 50. So it does, in fact, even out. It's one of the great things, you know, to any of you guys that, especially if you go gray early or bald early, you look old. early, you look old young, you look young when you're old. There you go. All right, welcome in. We got a lot to get to. Our pal Nick Wright from first things first.

We'll join us in 15 minutes. We'll argue about basketball, probably about LeBron James. He'll say he's the greatest. I'll say he won't. Hilarity will ensue. We'll also talk about just the massive change within the NBA in the last week. I'll kind of go through it. And I would wonder,

if he could think of a week where there was more change than there has been in the last week. Rick Buecker joined us. We got a bunch of things to get to. But I want to start with this. Supposedly, Kyrie Irving has ghosted the Celtics. One of my favorite terms in the New Age dictionary is being ghosted, right? Somebody texts you and you don't respond. somebody text you and you don't respond.

And of course, everybody has the jerk friend that every once in a while will text you so the dots appear, but nothing actually comes through. What? What are you sending? Finish the sentence. We're having a discussion here. But being ghosted is

it's not even responding who dis, new phone, right? It's sending a text and it's saying that it's delivered and never saying that it's read. It is, by definition, cruel and unusual punishment. And the Constitution protects us,

the bill rights protects us from cruel and unusual punishment. Being ghosted by somebody who used to be your bestie is cruel and unusual punishment. So supposedly the Celtics are being ghosted by Kyrie Irving. And I was thinking about something yesterday. Con has really good info. I've received the same info and you look around on all your TV screens and they seem to have the same info that the Lakers,

number one focus now, because they don't have a point card, is spending all of that money on the best possible guy. Now, look, you're going to hear people say, well, you know, I would rather than spread it around. Here's what they're going to do. They're going to go after a primary target. If they don't get it, well, then, you know, there's only a couple of elite-level guys out there.

Then you go to the secondary, the Patrick Beverley's, the Darren Collison's. You know, maybe you work your way down to Jeremy Lidge. and you just spread it around. Some of it's by choice, some of it's by choice, but a lot of it is by necessity. But here's the bigger thing. Do you remember mid-season when Kyrie Irving said, yeah, you know, I called LeBron,

and I apologized and we made up. He's my big bro again. Do you guys remember that? Remember how there's always been this rumor of, you never know, Kari could end up back in Los Angeles. And then all of a sudden, the Lakers make the blockbuster trade to land themselves Anthony Davis. And you're like, it's on.

All they need is a point card. And guess who's available? Kyrie Irving. And guess who they're going after? Kemba Walker. What? Wait. Kamba starts with a K.

But he's from L.A. No, actually, he's from New York. Actually, he's from Brooklyn. Wait, how did we go from? How did we get from? Kyrie could reunite with LeBron to if the Lakers don't get Kemba. It's Patrick Beverly or Darren Collison or somebody of that oak. They're just like skipping over.

And it's because, have you guys ever seen the crazy hot matrix? You can Google it during a break if you would like. But the idea is this. It's every guy thinks they want a 10. The problem with the 10 is they've been told they're a 10. And if a 10 is not under someone else's care, there's a reason she's available, right? How many times does Halliberry have to be married to where we're like,

wait, somebody would divorce Hallie Barry? Hallie Barry's got to be crazy. You ever seen these dating apps and these dating sites? And you look and the ads like, the beautiful women, You're like, well, she's crazy. It's the only possible explanation. And that's what Kyrie Irving is. The Boston Celtics are in this perfect position.

You know, they're reaching out. They're texting, hey, want to grab coffee, and he's ghosting them. So they look like the good guys. But the truth is that the Celtics thought this was too good to be true. Just too good to be true. Kyrie Irving, burgeoning superstar. Get him for two years. He's bright.

He's zapable. He's been, you know, he's been pushed aside because of team LeBron. He's found a way to kind of navigate with social jiu-jitsu, kind of that dicey path of playing with LeBron, not calling out the king, but it's not always easy, right? So I sit here and I'm thinking the Celtics are getting out. They're cutting. Celtics had talent-wise a better team and a worst product or a worst result. And the Lakers could go after Kyrie Irving.

I mean, look, Kyrie reached out to LeBron. Why can't LeBron reach out to Kyrie? Hey, man, you want to do this again? On the other hand, everything you're hearing is we'd prefer Kemba or Patrick Beverly. Like completely skipping over the idea of either. even having a conversation with Kyrie Irving, which tells you all you need to know about why Kyrie is single. And then the Brooklyn Nets are sitting there and guys are telling them,

dude, she's crazy. Dude, she's crazy. Nah, man. No, no, no. No, we had dinner. We had dinner. She was in jeans and like a T-shirt. She's cool.

I asked her what she's doing afterwards and she said, I'm going home to watch SportsCenter and Van Peezy. She even said Van Peezy. She's cool. Why is she available? She's got kids and doesn't have custody. It's one of those type of deals. You're like, something ain't right.

That's Kyrie Irving. In his physical prime, has been fully healthy this year, has hit essentially the game-winning shot in game seven of the NBA finals, has played with LeBron. The Lakers need a point guard. The Lakers have a spot for his contract,

can figure out a way to make the financials work, and they ain't even going to call. And the Celtics are like, oh, you ghosted me? Okay. People that ghost other people that they were in relationships with are crazy. Because normal people, when you reach out to them and text them, and things just went wrong,

you just go like, hey, I'm good, hope you're good. How's the family? Good, good, good. you do the, it's almost like when you see somebody at a party and you do that really uncomfortable side kiss thing. Why do we do that? Why do we do that? We are not in Europe, okay? Some people do wear tight jeans. We don't smoke in public places, nearly as much as they do. We all of us really have much better dental care. Why do we do the side kiss thing? Anyway, that is an aside. The world is telling you that Kyrie Irving in that crazy hot,

Crazy Hot Matrix is just 10 that knows he's a 10 that's been told he's a 10. I'll give you a story real quick from Boston. A friend of mine told me this story, that Kyrie came in one day just to film. And again, it's not that Kyrie shows up late. He actually was the first one in film room. Walked up to Brad Stevens and said, and Brad always morning, morning, what does government mean to you? That was Kyrie's good morning question.

What does the word government mean to you? Not, hey, did you see that Laker game last night? Man, are they a mess? Not, how are we going to fix our ball screen coverage? Not, man, my knee feels great. Not, how are your kids? It was, what does the word government mean to you? And so Brad Stevens at 8 in the morning

on his first cup of dunk. and took a long sip and went into some soliloquy saying absolutely nothing because he didn't know what sort of trapdoor any sort of word was. And then he turned it around on Kyrie and said, What's it mean to you, Kyrie? Cairo. Kyrie said control. Very deep. Very, very, very deep. Also very transparent. And Kyrie's one of these guys that he's smart, but he's as smart as a young guy can be that went to school for a half a year and then has been a professional athlete for the rest of his life and been told that he's a 10. There's a reason Hallie Berry has been through three marriages. There's a reason that one of those marriages, she had, one of her

ex-husbands, had an addiction to, yeah, and it wasn't with her, which does, like, you're married to Halliberry, you're addicted to that. That doesn't seem like a problem. Some Sometimes the single girl is hot and single for a reason. And that's Kyrie Irving. And the Brooklyn Nets are sitting there going like, nah, she was cool. And the Lakers are telling you all you need to know. They need a point guard. There's a repaired relationship between the two.

And everyone is telling you that the Lakers are, we would really like Kemba Walker. because Kemba Walker is probably an 8. But at some point in Kemba Walker's life, Kemba actually was told he was a 5 or a 6. And then he went to the gym, and then he got his hair done, started dressing better, and now he's in 8.

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 the table. 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 Hard Way 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.

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This is Clever 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 guy. 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 of 42.

Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? 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, this Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about Default. find 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 Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, 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. Colin is doing rich guy stuff in rich guy territory. The rest of us just grinding it out. That's what we do. I took public transportation to get here. Okay, that part wasn't true. That part wasn't true.

Nick Wright joins us. His show is first things. First today they had Shaquille O'Neal on. I want to get to some of things that Shaq said. But Nick, it's kind of a remarkable week if you really think of it, right? I mean, if you go back to before game five of the NBA finals, There was this thought that I had that, hey, Kevin Durant can come back and ride it in on his white horse and the Warriors can win again. And then he goes off to Brooklyn or the Knicks and changes that franchise forever.

Then he comes back and does that for 12 minutes, tears his Achilles tendon. Somehow the Warriors win that game. They go to game six. Clay Thompson tears his ACL. The Raptors win that game. And now the sudden we're left with, well, the Warriors are done for at least. a year, if not forever. KD's done for at least

a year. He may never be the same, but that takes him probably out of the mix of Brooklyn or teams looking to win right away. And then you have Kauai, which I don't know if winning a championship changes his perspective, but at least has to make him think about the possibility of owning an entire country. And then you

have the Anthony Davis trade, which has shaken up the landscape so much that they're now a favorite to get to the NBA finals in Vegas. Nick Wright, you followed and studied the NBA, your entire life. Can you think of a week that changed the league as much? I would say Jordan's original retirement, just the shockwaves that sent across basketball, opening up the east, making it seem like we just knew someone was going to break through

that hadn't. I think that one, I think the week of LeBron's decision, that one obviously did, and the week of Durant deciding to go to Golden State. But this is up there. with all of them, and it might be the biggest, because you're right. The Warriors are done. I mean, that is, before even Anthony Davis gets to the Lakers, what we learned was tragically, sports-wise, the best thing that could have happened to the Warriors would have been them not have an 18-0 run in game two of the third quarter just simply be swept. If they were swept, Kevin Durant Achilles is intact, Clay Thompson's knee is intact,

And at worst case scenario, they come back to next season with an older, much older, but an older version of the team that won 73 games. Instead, the entire landscape of the NBA has changed forever. Now, no matter what happened with the Warriors, I believe the Lakers were still getting Anthony Davis. That was done because Anthony Davis wanted to be there, and that was done because he's got a really good agent. But that wouldn't have made them favorites.

It wouldn't have put them in the position they are now. And maybe the Knicks are more aggressive in pursuing Anthony Davis if they believe they're getting Kevin Durant, which I think they do. But where they can pair Anthony Davis with Kevin Durant for at least the season. So, yeah, I mean, these waves will be felt forever. And the next time Clay Thompson plays basketball, Steph Curry will be 32. Clay and Draymond will be 30 and Iguadala will be 36 which is one of the big reasons I think

the Warriors are finished. I'm with you. Like everybody, they fail to take it. Everybody thinks that like if you take a year off you come back and then you do it again. Like, look, Steph's going to be two years older the next time they're competitive and he's going to take a beating having to just try and score 50 every night

playing on his own team. The idea that, and then the league will change and they'll be new players and more formed teams. Okay, let's get to Kevin Durant. What do you think he does? Because it appears that he could stay in Golden State, lay in the cut, take the Supermax, and try and make another go of it.

They finally seem to respect him there and maybe nationally. He could still go to New York, but that means the team tanks another year and you're going to change the culture. And Father Time is creeping up on Kevin Durant. We don't know what he'll look like. What do you think he'll do? I think he signed with the Knicks. I don't think that has changed.

I don't think that if you're Kevin Durant, while we might not know who it was whispering in the ear of Tim Kawakami and Sam Amick, the weekend before he tore his Achilles, that if this were Clay dealing with a cap, he'd already be back, questioning his rehab and his heart. I imagine Kevin Durant does know that. and I don't know that he wants to spend a year rehabbing with those people around those people. I don't think it's nothing that he had the surgery done here in New York City. And I think his plan all along was to come here to New York City. I don't think that changes. Now, do the Knicks go after a max-level free agent to pair with him, even though that guy's going to have to wait a year,

or do they roll that cap space over a season, develop their young guys, develop R.J. Barrett, develop, you know, Alonjo, Trir, Mitchell Robinson, Kevin Knox, Dennis Smith, Jr., and then potentially use cap space or the draft pick next season to try to trade for a star. I don't know, but I think Kevin or answer Nick. Nick Wright, joining us here. I'm Doug Gottlie, feeling for Collins, The Hurd on Fox Sports Radio on the IHeart Radio app. expectations are that Kyrie Irving becomes a Brooklyn net. There was a lot of talk that he and KD would link up in New York or in Brooklyn. And I found it at least curious that even if it was a stretch to think Kyrie would want to play with LeBron again, every story you're hearing and everything I'm hearing is the Lakers' primary target for a point guard is Kemba Walker, not Kyrie Irving. You factor in that the way it ended in Brooklyn, he's now kind of, he's ghosting, excuse me, the way it ended in Boston, he's ghosting now the Celtics. Kyrie feels like a 10 that's been told he's a 10 and is single for a reason.

Tell me I'm wrong. Well, listen, I think the Lakers would very, very happily take Kyrie Irving, and I think LeBron would very, very happily play with Kyrie Irving. I don't think they're going to get the $32 million, you know, the max cap space. I don't think the pelicans are going to let this thing delay 30 days. And I think people are concerned about Kyrie Irving's long-term health and not just his knee. I think that's the fairest way to put it. And I think people are, I think Tyree is a free spirit in a lot of ways. and I think he's mercurial, and I think that he is a great, great player.

Listen, he's not one of the seven difference makers in the league, but he is in that next tier of player, and you're better with him. But Kyrie Irving at this point, this is going to be the biggest off season of his life, not just because the first time he's a real free agent, but he's going to decide what level of basketball player he wants to be. Is he going to look at what happened in Boston, while it wasn't all his fault, try to fix the things that were because if he doesn't and he goes to Boston, that is just a similar situation with a less talented core and a worst coach. So why on earth? And nothing is Kenny Atkins,

but I don't believe he's Brad Stevens. What on earth would make that situation different than the one he just was in and it did not work out? And he's not going back to Boston. And by the way, and he shouldn't go back to Boston. Boston got beat. four straight by the team that then got beat for straight. They are not close. And I was trying to tell people that all year long. And finally, maybe now people will believe me on it. And Danny Age for the seventh consecutive offseason was this close to getting his guy,

but the other team, damn it, they just wanted too much. And so Boston is stuck in neutral. And Kyrie needs to figure out how much it matters to him to try to break into that next tier because right now he's not going to. It's going to be fasting. We've talked around the Lakers a little bit. Okay, so they have two of the, you said seven difference makers in the NBA? Yep.

Two of the seven difference makers in the NBA, two great players. Can they put a good enough team around them considering they don't have a first round pick, not that that would affect their team this year. And they just, they have to create an entirely new team, even if they bring back Alex Caruso is a backup point guard, and Javelle McGee, like, do they have the financial resources to go out and get guys that can win games for LeBron James?

Yeah, listen, if, and I say this, it's, I suppose, as arrogant as it sounds, but I mean, if I were the GM, they could, and Rob Polink has got to know as much as I do, right? You go out and you call up Darren Collison, he shoots 40% from 3s and above average defender, he's never played on a super high-level winner. He's battled against LeBron.

You offer him $8.5.9 million per season. You call it Patrick Beverly. You say you don't even have to move. You see if he's interested. Terrence Ross, you gauge his interest. Danny Green, you gauge his interest. You try to get two of those four or three of those four. You go to the next level, which is you hit up Rudy Gay, and you say, listen, man, you've made

$134 million in your career. When you die, you're going to have money left over that you make. made in the early 2000s, are you interested in playing for a title and you make that same pitch to Jamal Crawford? And then all of a sudden you've got a team built. Like it's with this is one of the, everyone, I'm old enough to remember all the LeBron went to L.A. to make movies. All the LeBron's, the Laker like MJ was a wizard takes. Those were all as stupid then as they are now. And the reality is that one of the reasons you go to L.A. is because it's almost as if LeBron had insight that Anthony Davis would force his way to L.A.

And the other reason you go to L.A. is because guys like to play in Los Angeles, in the sunshine for that franchise. It's also, if you do free agency right, it's an argument against going after Kimball Walker. Because while you would be the only team with three stars in the NBA, your bench would be non-existent. If you could get Kauai or Kyrie, so obviously you do that. You deal with not very good bench. You probably do it for Kimba. But for Jimmy Butler or Chris Middleton, I would not. I would go after 3-and-D guys.

I would go after debt. And you already have the best duo in the NBA by an enormous margin. Like, let me ask you just if I may. As we sit here today, the second best duo in the NBA is what? I don't know. Is it Embedd and Simmons? Yes, except for again, yes. But you have serious injury concerns about Embed, shooting concerns about Ben Simmons,

and-Simmons, and-Mitts, and chemistry concerns, right? Right. So then we're to Janice and Middleton. No, no, listen, I'm with you. And I'm with you on a multitude of levels. You know, Colossons from L.A. Like, it all makes sense. Went to UCLA.

Right. I mean, it all, all that makes sense. I just, I do wonder like there, there's always somebody out there willing to give guys more money. And though they all say they want to play for a championship, they also want to make a lot more money. And, you know, so we will, we will see. All right, let's get to Kauai Leonard, who did make fun of himself and his own laugh yesterday at the victory parade. I don't take victory parades into account in terms of keeping somebody in a city because they're all awesome, right? They're all amazing, and they all feel bigger than the next, and this one feels big.

Does anyone have any real feel for what Kauai Leonard wants to do? I think Chris Carter does, and I talk with him every day. I mean, Chris Carter is one of the only people that seems to have an open line of communication with the ever-elusive Uncle Denny and with Kauai's agent. Chris's football agent is Kauai's basketball agent. And Chris will tell you he's considering only, he's considering five teams. Those are the two New York teams and the two LA teams. And it sure seems like where we were a few months ago is where we are now with the

clippers and the Raptors being in the pole position and any of the other teams having to play substantial catch up with to me the real news in that being he would even consider the New York teams, which in a hypothetical of hypotheticals raises a really interesting basketball question, which is if Kauai Leonard were to pick the Knicks and they then were to have the option between signing Kevin Durant with their second

max spot or signing one of those two guards, Kyrie or Kimba, which one do you do if you already have Kauai in the fold and you know Katie is not going to be available for the first season of that contract? That's a hypothetical of a hypothetical, but

it's kind of an interesting Roar Shark test for what you value in basketball. It's going to be fascinating. Our last thing, one, an organization you do have a lot of ties to, a place you used to do local sports radio before doing your own national show, is Houston. And there's new details out. Daryl has come out and said, Chris Ball's not on the market, although maybe that's because they shopped Chris Paul and no one wanted that contract. Yeah. Right?

That leads you believe that Clint Capella is. But the details that came out of a story yesterday where, you know, Chris Paul wants to coach James. James Harden. He wants to play more without James Hardin on the floor. That those two, it is not as seamless a marriage as the Rockets at times would lead you to believe. There are some that believe they're in the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes. How does it, how does it end or how does it maybe begin next season with the Rockets? Well, listen, they certainly were in the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes. They offered reportedly four first round picks for him. I know Daryl a lot, and I really, really like Darrell. I believe him that they are not currently shopping Chris Paul. It would be hard

for me to believe they never shopped Chris Paul to end this where this began. If you're the Rockets, you needed a massive overhaul and then Golden State fell apart. Like there is an element of, wait, we did have to change everything. We did need to shop Clint Capella because much like Kevin Love for the Cavs, he's useful against all the teams. except for the one that matters. Clint Capello's useful player against everyone seemingly except Golden State. But now Golden State's not in your way anymore. And I do, who am I describing when I say?

A really good team, consistently good in the regular season, even got the one seed once, but could not be one specific team in their conference, questions about their coach of the year-level coach, shop their second best player. Is that the 2019 Houston Rockets or is that the 2018 Toronto Raptors? And the Raptors are now champions. Now the Rockets don't have a Kwai Leonard walking through that door. But their version of LeBron leaving the conference, I think it's just happened with Golden State.

So I think the Rockets at this point should be looking around and saying, okay, let's run it back one more time. And the reality is, I don't think they have much choice because no one is taking Chris Paul. Now, here is one more thought exercise. I'm curious your thoughts on because I respect your basketball opinion, even though we disagree a lot. If Houston calls up and offers Clint Capella straight up for Draymond Green, Draymond Green, who's on one year left on his deal, and then we'll be expecting the max from Golden State,

which party says no to that? I think the Warriors say no to it. So you think the Warriors are ready to offer Draymond Green the Max in a year? No. I mean, I just, I don't think they want, even though Clint Capella doesn't make a ton of money. I just, I don't think he does, I don't think he does it for them, you know, as a, I mean, they think they probably think, look, we got Kavon Looney. We would rather manage that salary. I mean, he's a tremendous rim protector, but he can't play at the end of a series if you're playing small ball.

He just, he has, he has no, he doesn't have the value to them. So if the Rockets don't make a move like that, what they do have going for them, and Darrell's right when he says this, they're one of the only team. in the league that knows if they, as long as they want to, which they do, they will return their entire starting five next year. Right. And that is valuable for a team that is the best record in the NBA after the break. No, look, I think the reason, as you pointed out, like, look, their reason for wanting to make a change was anyone who said they couldn't beat the Warriors with KD, they couldn't

beat the Warriors without KD at home in game six. And this is like, what are we doing? You know, fool me one, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. But now it changes. They are stuck with Chris Paul. I do think Chris Paul can still be effective if you give him the ball and you let him run ball screen stuff with Capella where he can get those mismatches. He's just not a great fit with James Hardin.

And I think James Hardin still has those flaws of only being able to play one way and not shoring up the little thing. There's a lot to it. I just don't know if it's, I'm with you. I don't know if it's fixable. I think you just hope you're the healthiest team come end of the year and maybe hope the Lakers have flaws and you can expose them at the right time

with your three-point shooting. I don't know. Anyway, it's an absolutely fascinating week to those of us who love and follow and cover the NBA as you do. It's first things first. Plus, he has a national radio show. He's the one and only Nick Wright.

Nick, great stuff. Great picture today with your little girl, your wife, and with Shaquille O'Neal. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you so much. Continued success, Doug. And listen, I heard the intro to the segment, which is you talking about Colin Coward doing

rich guy stuff. I am curious. Do you think you are closer to Collins' income or the average guy stuck on the 405 listening to you is closer to your income? I'm curious that we're where we were, what level of rich guy we're getting to? Because I've seen your palational estate. You ain't exactly struggling, my friend. I would say I'm actually closer. I'm, I'm a check to check guy. I'm much closer to the guy. And it's not even the 405. I'm much closer to the guy on the 210 or the 60. if you know Los Angeles. I'm more of an I-E sort of income. Inland Empire.

I'll talk to you later, brother. Thanks so much, Inland Empire. Of course, the birth home and where Kauai Leonard was raised. The 909, if you're from Southern California. 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 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 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, 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 Clever 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 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 of my. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. 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 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 Reed. 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 run up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, 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. Look, I went in a little bit on Kyrie Irving, who I actually think is a freak talent.

I don't know. Nick Wright has this like seven most impactful guys. I don't know. That guy is a walking bucket. But there's a reason the Lakers aren't picking up the phone. But I was talking with Colin yesterday. I was listening to Nick earlier today on First Things First. I was listening to Clay Travis and Patrick.

I said, everybody's talking about, well, you know, it was a. spend too much spend too much on a on a too many draft picks and it's like oh okay like I'm not going to disagree with you

I think it's a very very risky proposition it is there is just a ton that is unloaded and they have to find a way to smartly put together a team and let's also remember like look

I'm not I'm not going to be anti or pro Rob Polinka because I don't have any negative or positive history with Rob Polinka determining what he's going to do. And truth is, neither do you. All you have is what you've read. But if there's a mistake the Lakers have made,

it's here's a guy who is inexperienced from this side of the table. He doesn't have, he's the only NBA GM to not have an assistant GM alongside. They do have a cap specialist. They do have other people that have been doing this a while, but there's no, hey, I've been doing this a long time, let's put together the team. So this is the first time. And it's a big franchise and a big swing. And I've seen the comparison to this deal to when Dwight Howard came aboard. Do you guys see that one?

That was on the internet earlier today, where Kobe Bryant was 34, much like LeBron James is 34. And Dwight Howard's 26, much the way that Anthony Day. Davis is 26. I mean, it should be pointed out that Dwight Howard was coming off of back surgery. Anthony Davis is not. There was also the debacle, like, of the worst trades of all time, the Steve Nash trade is arguably the worst trade of all time. Do you guys remember the Steve Nash trade?

Did you know that Steve Nash was traded for four draft picks and he was a free agent? it was a sign and trade, but you didn't have to have a sign and trade. I mean, it was just a horrific trade. Forget about the fact that Steve Nash was hurt. Do you know how many games Steve Nash played? He played combined two seasons, 65 games in Los Angeles. That's it, at 38 and 39 years old. So if there was a mistake that was made, was Dwight Howard off of back surgery a mistake?

Sure. But so was Steve Nash. for four draft picks when he was an unrestricted free agent, and he was 38 years old. It felt like a bigger mistake. Oh, yeah, and you had Mike Brown who let Eddie Jordan run the Princeton offense when you had got, when he had Dwight Howard who can't pass, and Steve Nash, who has to have the ball in his hands to create.

And Kobe Ryan, who'd succeeded in the triangle. Outside of that, it was a perfect plan. But this is not just what the Lakers do. This is what big franchises do. I mean, I don't know if you remember, what was it, 2008, the Yankees went out, and they signed Mark DeShera and C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, they were the three highest paid free agents out in the market. They took a huge swing. Anybody remember what happened after they did that? They won the World Series. Doesn't mean that this is an NBA championship team, but this is what big franchises

do. You need a process when you're not at one of the big franchise. The other one just go like, hey, let's just get a bunch of money and a bunch of big names and see if it works. The Knicks have done this for years. Obviously, to not they haven't been as successful as they need to be.

But the Knicks also got to the NBA finals. 25 years ago. They were in the NBA finals. They had Pat Riley. That was a big swing to go along with Pat Ewing. And they got to the NBA finals and the post-Jordan couple years there. They had that one year where they went there.

And the Knicks have tried to replicate that. Larry Brown. Remember Larry Brown as the coach? Got $25 million to not coach the Knicks anymore. I get that deal. They've had Rick Petino even before they had Pat Riley. They had Phil Jackson. They've had Amari Stademey and Penny Hardaway and Carmelo Anthony.

Like, they've done this. This is what big franchises do. Remember the Dodgers one year? The Dodgers one year went out and signed Kevin Brown and they gave him access to, at the time, Fox owned a portion of the Dodgers. And Kevin Brown had limited access, but he had access to the Fox plane. I mean, how ball or a move is that? Yeah, listen, I want $100 million.

And I want that plane. You can't have the plane. I want to use the plane. Okay, we can do that. Right? That's just, I mean, look, by the way, the Yankees traded for Kevin Brown, even after they knew he sucked with the Dodgers and he couldn't get along in a clubhouse.

Movie studios do this. They have to, why do they have these big budget movies? Because when they hit, they make a crazy amount of money. Like, what's the big blockbuster of the year? Avengers Infinity War, right? No, it's Endgame? No, sorry. Well, Infinity War was a big game.

and then endgame, Endgame is the big, big one this year, right? I mean, think about it. How much money do you think was laid out to make that movie? Not how much money has the movie made. How much money was laid out to make that movie? $356 million. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo,

who Colin has this weird thing from Mark Ruffalo, right? I heard him, was it last week, Goulet? What he was like, anytime he's on the screen, he just don't like, really? I think Mike Revelo is good, but I think he kind of does the Awshucks average guy really, really well. You know, Josh Brolin, Bradley Cooper, Brie Larson, Paul Rudd, Don Cheadle, like Scarlett Johansson. They're not working. They're not just doing it because, like, they want to be in the movie.

They're all getting paid, probably on the front and some on the back end as well. Right? Then there's this long and winding script. And you're like, man. I mean, think about you're in the pitch meeting for Infinity War. There's this and there's this and you got to know this and you got to know all these other movies. Oh, God, I watched Infinity War. I'm just going to warn you here.

I didn't actually love it because I haven't watched all the Avenger movies, right? Like I haven't seen Captain Avenger. Like I didn't know, like she parachutes in and people are cheering. And I'm like, who's she? It's Captain Avenger. Do you want to have Captain? Like, I have, sorry. I have wife, kids.

life, Captain Marvel, sorry, Captain Avenger, Captain Marvel. Like, I don't even know. I didn't even know her name. Captain Marvel comes in. Like, all right. Is she a new one? Was she in the con? I've never looked at a comic book in my life. I like Infinity Wars. I liked Endgame. I got it. I understood it. Snap your fingers. Had the people die. Get the stones. They're back. You know, all of a sudden the world was repopulated. Sorry, I spoiled it for you. If you haven't seen it by now, that's on you.

not on me. Okay. But I mean, like, look, it's a, it was a gamble. And it was one that hit, much like the Yankees when they went out and got to share at C.C. and A.J. Burnett. End games made $2.74 billion. Billion dollars. That's crazy money. But, you know, we've seen Waterworld flop before. Right. And what was Waterworld? Kevin Costner at the peak of Kevin Costner. And oh yeah, by the way, it's kind of a look at what our future could, like, there's maybe a little bit of reality to it. Like, I don't know if the world were turning into water world, but sea levels are rising,

polarized caps are, I'm not trying to freak you out here with being global warming, dude, but I'm just like, hey, there's some environmental changes going on, which are kind of troubling. It could have been a snapshot into our future with Kevin Costner leading the way. And this is Kevin Costner off of dances with the wolves, Kevin Costner. How did it do? They don't all hit. But big studios, take big swings, and sometimes have big hits.

Hell, what's the issue with baseball right now in terms of watchability? More than one third of the time in Major League Baseball, no one touches the ball other than the pitcher, the hitter, or the catcher. Right? Because more than a third of, it's either walkout, strike, or home run. Because that's what baseball has become because of analytics, right? It's taking big swings. And there's no longer, hey, choke up, two strikes, choke up, get close to the plate, and punch something out. Those days are done.

Nobody bunts anymore. Working my son on bunting there. They're like, what are you doing? It's like, well, he's got to learn how to bun. He's 10 years old. He's an all-star, you know? You get a pitcher that you guys are struggling to get on base. like let's not just take some big hacks.

Let's find a way to get on base. No, they don't do that anymore. Bunting should be outlawed by some people. You know how to beat the shift? Hit it over the shift. Baseball, they take big swings. Heck in basketball. Why do we shoot so many threes?

Because the analytics tell you that three points is more than two points. We take big shots. I mean, like, I would defend Steph Curry. People are like, well, Steph Curry hasn't hit a big shot in the fourth quarter under 24 seconds to go down a couple of points. I've come up with some stats to show you that Steph Curry somehow is not as good to end-the-game player as LeBron James. That's because he's taking 30-footers with two hands in his face.

He takes big swings. And if you're LA Lakers, they've tried the rebuild thing. They did the whole draft pick thing. How did DeAngelo Russell work out for you? They hated him. He was the worst teammate that one coach told me he had ever seen in the NBA. He was young, he was immature, he didn't practice hard, and he got other young guys to go out with him at night.

Oh, and he sold one of his teammates out on social media for cheating on his girl. Outside of that, DeAngelo Russell was awesome with the Lakers. He had Julius Randall. I know he scored a bunch of points in New Orleans. Did they win any more games this year with Julius Randall? The answer is no. No.

They liked him, but he wouldn't roll on a pick and roll, which wouldn't set up other people being open, so they bid a do to Julius Randall because he played a essentially the same position as LeBron James and doesn't really change the game of the defense event. They just got rid of Alonzo Ball, who they think could be really good. Like they've tried the draft pick thing. For the last six years, they've tried to draft pick thing.

How has that worked out? So they looked around and they're like, well, we could go through this whole process thing. Or, F it, we could just go out and get two of the five best players in the NBA. What do you think? And you look at baseball. and you look at basketball and you look at movies

and you look at industry I mean what did Disney do to try and combat Netflix? You know we could get our own shows that get super popular or get our own movies or we could buy all of Fox's shows and combine them with ours

that was a whole hell of a lot easier than having our own Netflix that's a genius plan. Let's just buy the competition, combine the two, and then go against Netflix. How is that any different? It's not. This is what big companies, big franchises do. And it doesn't always work because LeBron is 34.

He's 34 years old. He could very well get hurt. He got hurt for the first time. It's a soft tissue injury. It was a groin. But a groin this year could be an Achilles or could be a knee or could be a hip. Could be a million things next year. Anthony Davis has had some Nixon bruses.

Or, you know, look, they're two big guys. It's kind of become a guards game if they don't pick the right guards or if the guards get hurt. Like all these things could, but there is enough history that tells you that when you're one of the preeminent franchises in sports, you take a big swing. You don't always hit, but sometimes you end up with end game. Sometimes you end up with end. 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 SportsClyce 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. 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 I-Heart 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. What? Time out. Quarterback on office.

Blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, Mom, I want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? 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 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 crying. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, 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.