The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd for May 18, 2020

Episode Date: May 18, 2020

It's better that Michael Jordan didn't come back with the Bulls to try and win a 7th titleScottie Pippen was portrayed accurately despite what he saysColin disagrees with some parts of a Jordan vs LeBron pollWhere Colin was right and wrongGuest: Jerry West, 9x NBA Champion Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. We are live in Los Angeles on a Monday. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1 right here in studio. Joy Taylor is joining me one hour from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. Jerry West joins us next hour. Can't wait for that. The logo.

It's great to have you in this weekend in California. People now a little bit, sort of kind of on the beaches. Looks like mostly families to me. We're all going to be okay. Hopefully, right, going forward. Joy, how are you down my neck of the woods this weekend? I was a little stroll around Manhattan Beach. Yeah.

Beautiful place. It is. Played some tennis this weekend poorly, but I played it nonetheless. Got some sun. Well, it was beautiful. It's raining now, but it was a beautiful weekend here. So let's start with this. the 10-part MJ documentary is over.

I loved it. It was a walk-down memory lane. I can't think of anybody in sports outside of Tiger Woods. I'd probably watch a 10-part documentary. He's had enough controversy and greatness, and there's a combination of stuff. What made Jordan so fascinating is there was controversy. He was fighting his GM. There was the Rodman Factor.

Not all great teams are fascinating. I'm not sure I could watch 30 minutes of a one-part document. on the Tim Duncan Spurs. I'm not sure I could get through it. I don't want to watch a documentary on Alabama football. They're just great. They're not fascinating. I can watch a five-fart documentary in the Miami Hurricanes or Pete Carroll's Trojans.

Not all documentaries are fascinating. Michaels was. One of the takeaways and one of the things that's frustrating for fans, and I've always had this belief, leave a party too early than late. Nothing but more cocktails and more dumb. comments in trouble the later you stay at a party. Come late, leave early, make an appearance, have some fun, shake some hands, leave early.

You don't want to be the last guy around the keg. You don't. And to me, the bulls left at the perfect time, 98. Now, there's a lot of people, Michael Jordan at the end saying, I wish we could have come back for one more. No, no, no, no, no. This is perfect. It adds to the mythology.

One of the cool things about Michael Jordan's legend, there's a lot of what if with it. Not with Bird, not with Magic, you know, not with LeBron and Cleveland. It's kind of pathetic. It unravels. It is time. But there's a lot of what if with Jordan.

Ooh, six for six, but what if he didn't play baseball? Ooh. He could have got eight for eight. What if Jerry Krause didn't break him up? Ooh. Ooh. Michael and the Bulls left. the party just a little early. And it adds to his shoe sales and mythology. The following year,

Pippin was not going to stay because Houston was offering him a contract of $80 million. He wasn't going to stay for 14 in Chicago for one year. Rodman was getting older and distracted and less consistent. Tony Koo-coach was not the kind of player Michael was ever close to or could rely on. If you go back to it, the 98 season, never forget this. Phil Jackson figured it out too. Phil Jackson told Jerry Krause, I'm not rebuilt it. I'm out. Phil Jackson, who came off great in this documentary, he's like, boom, clean, out, six.

Is that the Spurs dynasty had arrived. So in 99, the year Michael says, I want to come back for one more year. The Spurs went in the playoffs. They swept the Lakers. They swept the Blazers and destroyed the Knicks in five. It was Duncan and Robinson, and frankly, you think Carl Malone was a bad matchup for Chicago? How would have Duncan and Robinson been? It was over.

You watched this. How many close games were there? It was over. They were old. They were the best team, but they were winning a lot of those games, let's be honest, over Utah and over Indiana. They were winning some of those games on Moxie, championship medal, an individual play by Michael late. It wasn't they were steamrolling teams. In fact, against Utah, they didn't score 100 points in the finals.

Why? Because they were offensively challenged. They were only ninth in the NBA in 1998. Ninth in offense. That's with the greatest offensive player ever. Ninth. Okay? So the idea, oh, they'd have come back.

No, no, no. The push off. Michael hits it. He's holding the trophy. They're six for six. Seacrest out. It's the perfect way to do. it. This is why the mythology of Michael is almost as great as the reality of Michael.

Like Michael had a lot of struggles, a lot antagonized by his own GM. Pippin could be unreliable. Rodman was flaky and increasingly distracted. Coot coach was never really like one of the guys. You know, Steve Kerr, Paxson, their career averages are six points a game. It was perfect. They were old, tired, offensively challenged, and Michael and the Bulls left the party just a little early, never too late. Now, let me shift to this, Scotty Pippen. I covered him in Portland. Apparently, Scotty Pippen has been wounded, is the word, by the documentary. And I've said this before.

I don't think I've ever met anybody in their life that didn't deserve their reputation. I mean, we earn our reputations. maybe not when you're 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 years old, but at the time you're 30, 40, 50, 60, you are what you are, good or bad. I've never seen a pro athlete who was a great guy with a terrible reputation. You know, Jay Cutler's difficult. That's his reputation.

Aaron Rogers, talented, but can be difficult. That's his reputation. Dennis Rodman, talented, but flaky. That's his reputation. I'd say those are spot on. Okay. So Scotty Pippen doesn't like how he's portrayed in this. But having covered him, I think it's been,

as accurate with Scotty as anybody. Scotty has seen as super talented, vital to Michael Jordan's success, sometimes immature, pouted. You know, they didn't bring up the DUI and the dock or the gun charge against Scotty. They showed the pouting on the bench. They showed him when he basically decided,

I'm not going to get rehab and a surgery in the summer because I want to have a fun summer to hurt the team. When I covered Scotty, I thought he was really talented. I thought he was tough as hell. I thought he was a nice guy. But I never thought he was a leader. I thought he was the classic great vice president.

And it should be noted, most great athletes are not great leaders. Jeter was. Arod was just talented. Peyton Manning and Brady are. Russell Wilson is. But I can name lots of quarterbacks. I've said with Aaron Rogers, he's great. I don't know if he's a great leader.

He's just really talented. But to be a great leader, you generally need examples of great leadership. Look at Scotty's background and look at Michael. One of the great advantages Michael had was rock-solid parents into Dean Smith, into David Falk, into David Stern. Michael had so many amazing examples of leadership. Michael's too smart not to have gleaned some of that off that.

Scotty Pippin's background, he didn't go to a classic college basketball power with a Dean Smith. his upbringing from the documentary was tougher. His father had a stroke very early. He went to a small college. So when I look at Scotty Pippen, I think he's an amazing American story, is that if you look at his childhood, he didn't grow up with much, and he became an unbelievable.

Now he's a broadcaster. He was a great player. He's a top 30 player I've ever seen. Maybe a top 20 player. I don't know. But to ask every athlete to be a great leader is like asking every human being on the plan it to be a great leader. Isn't that the thing we always complain about every presidential election? These are the candidates? This is what we're left with? Those are grown-ups. He was a

kid. Scotty was a great player. He's a great story, but the documentary has not been unfair. It's been reasonable that Michael was the better player and the better leader. Scotty was super talented, but sometimes you couldn't count on them in big situations. I don't think that's inappropriate, nor do I think it's unfair. I think it's what Scotty is. Super talented, like a lot of pro athletes, but not built or not comfortable. Maybe that's a better word, to take the burden of a franchise on his shoulders. That wouldn't be abnormal.

That would be normal. most 21, 24, 27, 32-year-olds are not ready to carry like Russell Wilson an NFL franchise. They're simply not. And if you look at Russell Wilson and you look at Jeter and you look at Peyton Manning, much of the credit goes to when they were kids and the people giving them great leadership ideas and paths. And so I don't think Scottie's been inappropriately or unfairly labeled. I think it showed him as a great teammate at times, sometimes a little moody and pouty. And in crisis, sometimes he was great.

Sometimes he wasn't. He was not always bad in crisis. He was often great in crisis. The one thing that thing showed last night was how tough he was. And I can say this having covered him, Scotty played through a lot of injuries. He hit the deck a lot, was on the floor a lot, was never 100% healthy, took care of his body, played hurt. Said this about Cam Newton. I don't love Cam. Cam, Cam is hurt a lot and playing through pain a lot. That and Scotty, I'll always give him credit for.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

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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

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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 wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better.

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Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. So there was 17 categories. Michael Jordan won everyone. They posed a poll. I think it was on the SBN.

73% of people on the poll chose Michael over LeBron. But he won every category. So I got 16 of the 17 categories. One was just stupid. So here's where I agree. This is where I agree with the fans. Better sneaker for fashion.

Yeah, I mean, Jordan sells a lot of shoes. Pick for a game-winning shot. I think LeBron's underrated here, but Michael's the better offensive player and the best mid-range schooner in the history. of the game. Come through in the clutch. Again, LeBron's underrated here. It's closer to 60, 40, but I'd take Michael.

Spectacular to watch play. That ain't close. Michael Jordan's game had much more cool factor. LeBron came into the league as a freight train. In fact, I remember criticizing him the first four or five years. I'm like, I know he's great, but he's boring. The first run in Cleveland was mostly boring. Better offensive player.

Yeah, that's Michael. Michael is a relentless offensive player. Better look. I'm not sure what that means. Is that glamour fashion look, cool? Yeah, I mean, Jordan's probably the coolest player ever. Better defensive player. Again, I think LeBron and his prime was really, really good.

But Michael was the best one-on-one defensive player for a long stretch in the NBA. Here's a toss-up. Better overall player. Jordan dominated this one. There's a lot. There's a lot LeBron does. LeBron's a bigger, stronger athlete. Way better passer.

Better rebounder. better overall player be careful about that one NBA was better all around people say well it's more skilled now years ago it was more physical the rivalries were more bitter

there was more trash talking and they weren't all buddies so you could make an argument but you know there's things about the old days I like and there's things about the new game I like Michael would win one-on-one to 21 LeBron's got three and a half inches and 35 pounds of muscle

You ever played one-on-one? Guy with a big butt, 35 pounds heavier? Hard to beat. They can back in on you. I'm not so sure LeBron James wouldn't get the ball first and just back in on Michael. He's got a great left hand and a great right hand. He can use the glass. LeBron would be tough one-on-one.

Top pick to start a team. Well, let's be honest about this. Michael Jordan quit twice. He, where'd Michael go? Baseball. Where'd Michael go? Wizards. I could make an argument.

LeBron's the better choice to start a franchise. Have a drink with. Not even sure what that means. To be honest with you, who would tell better stories? Probably Michael, but I'm not sure about that. Now, here's where I disagree with the 17 questions, all favoring Michael. And by the way, for those on radio, Michael usually won 60 to 75% on all these. So I disagree on this.

Choose as a teammate. I think I'd choose LeBron as a teammate. I think he's more fun to be around. He's more inclusive. He's not on your butt all the time. And he's just kind of a, he's an easy hang. Michael's a difficult hang. Could be a great hang, could be overbearing.

Positive impact off the court. Michael's very private. He sells shoes. LeBron's done an amazing thing. The school's just one of amazing things LeBron's done. LeBron's better off the court. Better passer. This ain't close.

LeBron is second or third best passer I've seen in my life. Magic and Bird. I'm not even sure after. LeBron's an unbelievable passer. For a six, nine and a half guy to be able to pass 20 feet across court and literally get the ball in the perfect shooting position every time is unbelievable. That ain't close. Michael wasn't a terrible passer.

He was a reluctant passer. LeBron's an unbelievable passer. Trust to pass you the ball. No, that's LeBron. In fact, LeBron got knocked his first seven, eight years in the league because he passed the ball too much. So, you know, some of its recency bias. You know, I would say this. Was the league better back then?

Just here's the way I would state it. Years ago, back in the MJ, the league allowed hand checks, meaning it was very physical and guys hit the deck and guys got pissed and guys got in fights and it was intense. The league was more intense than physically. It was really, I mean, you saw MJ and Bird meet last night and the words they used. It was a very alpha male man's life. league. In hockey, you have like, you know how in hockey you'd have a fight guy on your roster years ago? In the NBA, everybody had like Dale Davis. Like you had to have a couple guys that were

just willing to knock you on your butt. 6-9, 258, 260 tough dudes. It was a tougher league. It was a harder league. It was a combative league. And there was a lot of fights and pushing and shoving. I mean, people were pushing Michael. And so, I mean, everybody looks like Reggie Miller today. Everybody's long, handsome, skinny, runs around. Like, he looked like a toothpick because everybody was, it was a lift weights, bang into people, knock them over, take their head off league. And there's a part of that that's very fun. It's like SEC football.

It's just more physical. It just matters more. Today's more of a cardio league, a little everybody's buddies league and everybody's getting rich league. But the players are far more skilled now. I mean, you can't have, you can't have two guys on a floor who can't shoot to three. I mean, Trent Thompson, years ago, Tristan Thompson, he'd been a good player in the NBA. Now it's like, oh, good, where do we put Tristan Thompson? So I always put athletes are bigger,

better and stronger than they've ever been, but there are parts. I mean, not all sports are better now. I mean, college basketball was way better in the 80s. Because guys like Patrick Ewing would come back for his sophomore year, his junior year, stars would come back for their senior year. So you knew them. You had an emotional connection to athletes in college basketball. Now it's a bunch of guys I've never met. They're here for an hour. If they come at all to college basketball, they're off to the NBA. I don't think the quality is very good in college basketball.

I don't think my connectivity to college basketball is nearly as good. I know the coaches, more than I know the players. That's generally not good for a sport. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. All right. Colin right. Where Colin was right? Aaron Rogers had his press conference Friday.

It was what we guessed. he was authentic, he was honest, he addressed the tough questions, here was one of his bites going right after the Jordan Love situation, which everybody was waiting for. You know, the general reaction at first was surprised, I think like many people, you know, obviously I'm not going to say that I was, you know, thrilled by the pick necessarily, but I understand he didn't get asked to be drafted by the package. He's not to blame at all.

You know, he's just coming in excited about his opportunity. We had a great conversation the day after the draft, and I'm excited to work with him. He addressed everything the way he should. He was honest. He didn't duck anything. We predicted it. We thought he was smart, and he would handle it well. He did.

Now where Colin was wrong. Where Colin was wrong. He continues to predict something that I don't think's going to happen. Here it is. The goal is, obviously, to play in my 40s. That's kind of what I've been talking about for the last few years. But, you know, I know the key for that is my. physical body and that's what I focus on. That's really my motivation is to give myself physically

the opportunity to play as long as I want to play and that's going to be my continued motivation. I've never seen him as a guy that's going to play in his 40s. I don't think he's defined by football. He's got a lot of interests. Music to finance the travel. I've never seen him as a guy that's going to play forever, but he keeps bringing it back, so I'm wrong on that. Where Colin was right? Once again, the New Orleans Saints had to play the victim last week. This has become their de facto personality. Nobody likes us, the world's picking on us. When a story came out that James Harrison was once handed an envelope by Mike Tomlin,

which Mike Tomlin and the Steelers denied. Sean Payton came out to say, well, I doubt they'll say anything. Nobody's picking on the Saints. The league caught them red-handed on Bounty Gate. Yes, other teams may have had bounties, but they weren't caught. You rob a bank. there's not going to be equal punishment. Some get away with it and some don't.

But if you get caught, you're going to get whacked. And there's a reason Sean Payton got whacked. They had a bounty. Nobody's picking on the Saints. Peyton's likable. Drew Breeze is likable. They're one of the more post-Katrina. There's a sense of resilience to the city, the American spirit.

This idea, the league last year, created an instant replay on pass interference to make sure they didn't have their feelings hurt. They already got rid of it because it was so dopey and corny. Where Colin was wrong. ESPN to the poll, Michael or Jordan or LeBron, who's better? I'm not surprised that Michael won the poll. I am surprised that 18 to 34-year-olds,

66% preferred Michael Jordan. I always figured younger fans equaled LeBron fans. clearly those old YouTube videos work. I do think the documentary has been jet fuel for Michael Jordan's brand. I bet his shoe sales go up even higher. He already is worth $3.1 billion a year annually for Nike sales, which is about 8 to 9% of the overall sales for Nike. But young people prefer MJ2 over LeBron.

Where Colin was right? Well, SEC football, our prediction. My one sports prediction is going to be the SEC is going to play football. I don't know about the NBA baseball that I know. Well, the SEC is already saying publicly, listen, if all of our teams can't play, then we can just have Bama and Auburn play two times. They're not getting in the way of it. They have conservative governors in the South.

The University of Florida is already offering their facilities to pro teams to come on down and play in Gainesville. Listen, the branding of the SEC, you've seen the commercials. it matters more and it does. And when this virus hit, and as it's gone on and on and on, the people who are willing to take a few risks on blowback from the media and Twitter

are the ones succeeding now and the SEC has made no bones about it. We're playing regardless of if every southern team can play. Where Colin was wrong. I was starting to feel pretty pessimistic about the NBA returning, but Adam Silver surprised me last week. He's very pro player. David Stern was too, but Silver came out last week and with real urgency and acknowledged, we are not built for a multi-year pandemic. This will change the salary cap and revenues for decades. It was a call

for urgency. It was a call to the biggest stars. Silver said, somebody gets the virus, We can't break it down and stop the league. It was a real shift in tenor by Adam Silver, one I think is necessary and one that surprised me. Where Colin was right? James Hardin's annoying. Nobody likes him. So last week, the NBA got all their big stars on the phone,

including Kauai Leonard, who doesn't talk, and they got the Rockets number two player, Russell Westbrook, on the phone, noticeably missing James Harden, whose game is annoying, not considered a team guy, so, so on the defensive end, a solo act. I think his legacy, he'll have a lot of street cred, and he will be one of the all-time scoring greats. But I've come around on Hardin.

I like him more now than I used to, because I think he's worked on being at least a indifferent teammate, if not a great one. But I don't think this is random. I mean, there are just certain players other players don't like. A lot of guys didn't like Isaiah Thomas. It wasn't just MJ. A lot of players don't like Hardin.

where Colin was wrong. Yet another quarterback expert loves Jared Stidham, New England's heir apparent to Tom Brady. Cliff Kingsbury came out last week and talked about how he recruited him, how amazing is him, he is. Listen, I watched him playing college. He had 18 touchdown passes for Auburn. Auburn's got pro receivers and backs.

He got drafted in the fourth round. Nobody was outraged by it. Size, meh, athletic ability, meh, you're watching the tape, is it blow you away? Belichick, for the record, was willing to get rid of Tom Brady after he won the Super Bowl against Atlanta for Garoppolo. Belichick this year wanted Brady back. An older Brady, a less effective Brady.

Belichick watched every practice. If Stead him so good, why did Belichick want Brady back? I don't get it. Where Colin was right. By the way, you know I'm not a fan of Cam Newton. and people make a lot of excuses why they don't get Cam Newton. And I've always said it's drama. I've been told for years he's distracted and there's a lot of drama.

Anthony Lynn, when discussing why they didn't get Cam, is trying to sell me on this, quote, I really feel good about Tyrod Taylor and Easton Stick. Nobody talks about Easton Stick. He won three national championships at 1 AA. He's a hell of a leader, hell of a professional. He's going to be a great player one day. Time out. You're trying to sell me on Easton Stick over Cam Newton?

Come on. Tyrod Taylor, I get. This just proves people just didn't want Cam. When you're arguing Easton Stick is making the quarterback room complete. What you're telling me is you don't want any part of Cam, too much drama, too many distractions. And I got nothing against Easton Stick. but you can't sell me on that. You want to sell me on other guys. You like your Sam Darnold.

You know, you'll... You want to sell me on you like you Derek Carr. I get it. You like Kirk Cousins. I get it. Easton Stick. He's a hell of a leader. Come on now.

Come on now. He just didn't want Cam. You don't want the baggage of Cam and the drama of Cam. I get it. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the I-Heart Radio app. Search Herd to listen live

or on demand whenever you'd like. 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 highlights, 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. SportsClyce brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier 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, Ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid. Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free I 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 Clifford 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? Come on out. Quarterback on office blue with 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down. Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man.

They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives show. I think it looks like it's going to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite shows, including the Real Housewives franchise, the drama, the alliances, and the team everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it.

I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. West, his resume, it looks like Michael Jordans, as a player and as an executive. Jerry is one of the seminal figures in NBA history. He's a humble

guy, so he doesn't probably want to talk about that. But I am interested in his perspective on the documentary and all things NBA, and so Jerry West is joining me now live via the Coward Global Satellite Network. So I watched Jerry. I watched this documentary and I loved every second

of it. I was fascinated by it. I love NBA history. I was a kid who collected basketball cards, not baseball cards. Did you learn anything, Jerry, from it, or did you just enjoy the walk down memory lane? Well, Colin, I was obviously know a awful lot about what went on then at that point in time. And I think the biggest thing that I got from it is that this was like the ultimately driven athlete who had enormous skills, okay, enormous. When you watch his physical ability, even at that point in time, I'm not sure we've seen an athlete like him in this league ever.

But combine that with the skill level, the intensity level, but more importantly, he had enormous belief in himself. And I don't care how great you are. There's sometimes when you lose games that are really important for you, you have a question in your mind. I don't think Michael in his life has ever had a question in his mind about whether or not he was going to succeed before. And I don't think I've seen another athlete like him in my life. You know, Jerry, Scotty Pippen, some have said it's been unfair. You played with Elgin Baylor and Wilt. You were a leader.

But it's tough being sometimes a leader because you have to include people and everybody's got a different personality. Do we undervalue Scottie Pippen's ability to be Robin to Batman? is that, you know, having been in a role where you were the guy and played with other stars, can that be difficult? Well, you know what? No. I think it really depends on the person, okay, and their particular personality. You know, after watching this, the one thing that I communicated today with Lawrence Frank,

we've been watching the thing, and he's in New Jersey. Obviously, we're separated. We work together with the Clippers now. And one of the things that, you know, I just want to bring up something in my career, and I don't want to talk about myself, but we were in NBA finals nine times, nine times, and we won once. And Michael had said something that I think is really, really compelling to me. He said, winning has a price, and it does have a price. and that price for me has been completely the opposite of that great feeling that he has. You go through the summers, you worry about some of the things that you have no control over,

and yet you look to your impact, you think you have an impact on a game and you lose. For me, it's all my life. Sometimes I felt like a loser, and I had a pretty, pretty amazing career for someone during my era. And we all take it differently. And we can be competitive. We can be quiet. We can be a lot of different ways with our personalities.

But his personality, you watch it. He's one of my favorite people that I've ever been around my life. I know Michael. I've been around him. I've enjoyed some really fun times with him. That documentary, when you see him interacting with the players, a lot of it, he was kidding. Yes, yeah. Something he was not.

Some of him, he was not. And I think you have to have a certain kind of personality to do what he did with his life. But this is one of the, he's a man's man. Trust me, a man's man. I love being around him. He doesn't change. I wonder if we had all the social media today. Would he be someone to get on there and extol his virtues?

don't know. I don't think he would have. His play, his play dictated who he really was. And a remarkable player, as I say, I love to be around him. He's just a great guy. You know, Jerry, you are, boy, there's just, I'm not sure there's anybody better at judging talent, and it's very difficult. You traded for Kobe Bryant, a high school player on draft day, Jerry. And that was a real gamble. When you watched Kobe, now years later, all of us said, oh, he looks a little like Michael. But when you traded for Kobe, was part of it you saying, I see Michael, or did that develop for you as an executive? No, I just saw an extraordinary gifted player. Obviously, there's other factors leading into it. We were trying to acquire

Shaquille O'Neal, which we were lucky enough to get. And we tried to like crazy to trade him, but I thought he really was the best player in the draft. I saw him perform in workouts, a lot of film on him in high school, but he was a uniquely gifted athlete, okay? But the other thing, I think the things that he had that maybe were somewhat like Michael was his fierce desire to be the best. and if you watch that documentary, okay, and when they won, I would guarantee you the last

image that I remembered last night, Michael Jordan was standing on a table exulting the fans and trying to get everyone involved. And if you look, you see Kobe Bryant doing the very same thing. He loved Michael Jordan. He emulated Michael Jordan, and he was very much kind of the same personality as Michael Jordan, but he was not Michael Jordan. He was Kobe Bryant, and his thirst and desire to gain information to get better was almost like Michael Jordan was his hero, and he was going to go everything he could to have the same success, but more importantly, not let anyone to outwork him. Jerry West joining us.

Jerry, sometimes we romanticize the past and we ignore how great people are now. I think the skill level of NBA players is absolutely remarkable, ball handling, shooting. I think it's unbelievable. But there is something about Michael's era and your era, which I grew up on. First NBA game I saw was you and Gail Goodrich and wilt with a headband. And I can remember being in my bunk bed as a kid. There is something about the older times, Jerry, where there was, less money, guys were fighting for a small piece of the pie.

It was a more physical league. I understand people liking the old days better. We tend to go, this is better, that is better. Do you compare the two eras, Jerry? What do you like about Michael's era and what do you like about today's players in era? Well, Michael's era, Michael started this era, okay, to be honest with it. He was in a look at players, and the way the way that was, rules have changed. You know, at one time, Colin, you, players that were really good had to work

in the summer to support their families with the enormity of the money, the enormity of the equipment, the teaching ability, the facilities, the training, the players today have such an advantage. It's a joke, okay? They can really, if they're willing to work hard enough and they want to be something special, we see an incredible. We see an incredible, amount of great, great athletes. But in watching them, they get to a certain point, and you see that they improve some because naturally the experience and playing against great players, but these truly, really great ones come back with something different every year.

You know, I see people raiding players of all different eras, and I see players that are ranked like 24th, 25th, and stuff like that all times. great players. They made the all-pro team one time. One time. And to me, you're not you're not a top 25 player unless you've made it

a minimum of five, a minimum. And this guy here is, and I'm talking about Michael, I'm talking about Kobe Bryant. They have a long, illustrious careers, and Michael could have continued to play. But I'm not so sure that the

enormous pressure on him, And if you watched him go anywhere, he was like the pipe piper. You could not keep people away from him. He just had that incredible charisma. But when he played, every night he played, he was not going to take a night off. And they see that kind of harsh side with his interacting of the other players? The other side is what the death of his father. Oh, my goodness.

How that affected him. how much he admired him, how much he depended upon him. And then the thing that no one ever considers are the people that would be considered menial that work for organization that players get attracted to and his security guard, the gentleman who had lung cancer and passed away. For a player of Michael Stature,

who has seemingly, is just so, obsessed with his family, his career. To go out of his way, to go visit this gentleman, it really tells you who he is. As I say, I love Michael Jordan. I absolutely love Michael Jordan. He's the best, he's the best athlete I've ever seen in basketball. People are going to make comparisons.

But I wonder today with the rules having changed. today. You can't hand check, you can't touch anyone. You can walk all over the place. You can carry the basketball all over the place. And this is the evolution of the game. If he could have added that to his game, my goodness, what would we see today? Yeah. You know, Jerry, it's interesting. Again, generationally, I remember this well. As I watched the documentary, I saw Dennis Rodman. Dennis is terrific, but was his own spirit. Well, you inherited Wilts, Chamberlain, who was a very, very, Wilk today was social media lord. And I want to talk about that.

Michael was able to harness Dennis's uniqueness, and it worked, although it could be distracting. You did the exact same thing with Wilts Chamberlain, Jerry. You were very mature and very focused. If you'd like to talk about Wilt and Rodman, but I think that's, we don't look at Rodman. I thought Michael made Rodman work and let him be Rodman. And I don't think that's easy if you could talk about that. Well, you know, obviously Dennis Rodman is a great player. And I really like Dennis personally.

He was with us in Los Angeles for a short period of time. I didn't work out there. He was, you know, he was really troubled during that period of time. But I think Phil Jackson should get an enormous amount of credit for being able to handle him. But I think along with Michael, and I think Dennis, if he respects you, he's going to do anything for it. He really is. But I think the respect he had for Michael because no one was going to outwork Michael, but Dennis Rodman's work ethic, his basketball instinct, his basketball intelligence was off the chart. But Phil Jackson did a great job, even in Los Angeles, when you had two distinctly different persons.

personality, Kobe Bryant and also Shaquille O'Neill. The way Phil handled that, I'm sure that any coach, any coach that had Dennis Rodman, if he would leave to go to, he needed to go to have a vacation in the middle of season, I've never seen anything like that. And then to watch him, I think the funniest thing, because to go to the WWW, the World Wrestling Association, or whatever it was at that point in time, and no one knew where he was,

I think the way Phil handled that was absolutely unbelievable. And the team, because they knew of his importance on their team, that Michael would, I never saw him say anything to Dennis Rodman on this broadcast. He accepted Dennis for who he was. and how important he was for winning. Yep, that's well put. Hey, by the way, finally, I have said, Joy and I have said,

I think the Clippers are built to win a championship. I don't worry too much about seeding. I think your team has enough veterans and coaching to overcome having to play some games on the road. We got a couple minutes left. How much fun has it been for you? It's a unique roster of young, old, veterans, new kids. It's a fascinating culture you have developed there.

And I have to imagine this really lands well for you because it's not been easy. You've got another big brand in town, which you help create. If you could talk about the growth of the clippers and what it's meant for you. Well, I think an awful lot of, Colin, as you're well aware, is that, you know, Jerry Krauss mentioned organizations win championships. That's not true, okay? It is not true. Players win championships.

But it's up to the people internally to go get those players. And if you can't do that, and if you don't have the right support group around you, you can't do it. You have to have smart people. You have to have real committed people. Steve Bomber, there's never been a better owner. I work for Jerry Buss, very much like him, a man of the people. Michael Heisley, who I work for in Memphis, an unbelievable guy. But we do have a very capable team.

The age group of this team is incredible. And this could be a dominant defensive team with the work of Lawrence Frank, our staff, Michael Winger. Steve has allowed them to bring in players that others would not want to pay. And we feel very fortunate that we have a team that can be really competitive, but it's kind of, you know, you get up to the top of the mountain and you want to go down. the other side of the mountain. As the season was wearing along, you could see all these teams. There weren't that many games left to the regular season.

And we just got on top of the mountain, and we were going to go down the easy side of the mountain, not the hard part. Every team in the league faces that. But this team was getting better and better and better. And our coaching staff was very positive about this team. And that, to me, says a lot. But I think it would be great if we could have a series,

if we're going to have a season, if we can have a series, the Lakers and the Clippers, that would really be fun for me. But more importantly, with everyone looking for competition, I mean, it's sad. I mean, I look for anything

to watch this competition. I can't find anything. There's no people there. There's something about having a crowd there, but can you imagine if we'd have a Western Conference championship with the Lakers and the Clippers,

the two teams and the finals? Can you imagine what the ratings would be like that series? It would do wonders for the people who are just roping for things to try to find it's competitive. I mean, you can get on the air and talk about how you want to, but people are just creating stories today, creating content that has little or no interest to what America is about. That's about competition. And I think it would be fun, as I say, the Lakers were my life, okay?

They were my life. And they're no longer part of my life. And as I say, I'm thrilled that someone like Steve Bomber thought I could help a little bit. He's a great owner. More importantly, he's a great guy. And I'm lucky at this point in my life to be able to hopefully finish my career with the Clippers. I'm not going anywhere else. But I would love to see the Clippers get into the finals and win the NBA championship

and see what would happen in Los Angeles. I think it would be a lot of fun. Jerry, you look fantastic. I love hearing you and seeing you, and I'm so thankful you stopped by our show on a Monday. Congrats on all your success going forward, Jerry. Thank you so much. Colin, great to spend time with it. 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 headlines. 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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical 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, S&Lis. N. L. 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. On the Look Back at it podcast.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. Eighty-four was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. It was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor?

It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast, Guaranteed Human.