The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Charles Barkley, Kevin Durant, Antonio Brown, Patriots, and Odell Beckham Jr.

Episode Date: February 19, 2019

Colin discusses Charles Barkley's recent comments on the state of the NBA, why he feels F Kevin Durant will stay with the Golden State Warriors, why Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown is making a mistake, and why it's possible the New England Patriots might get New York Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr.. Guests include Doug Gottlieb, Rob Parker, C. J. Anderson, and Cuttino Mobley. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Heard. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Tuesday. This is The Hurd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. We're in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, on FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me on a Tuesday. We have, I know it's a slow week.

I was listening to radio driving in this morning. The topics were bizarre to not really topics. We are packed today. We're going to have a great show today. There's actually a lot going on. There's a lot going on today. And I want to start with something. I can like Whole Foods.

It's organic. And I can like my local grocery store that's not organic. I like choices. I like choices in life. I like the NFL, but it's mostly like the TV show Meet the Press. It's been around forever. Regardless who's the host. It gets a rating.

It's important in D.C. It's important to the country. It's not real flashy. The NBA is more of a reality show. It'll be around two. They're not going anywhere, but it's as popular as the stars and celebrities in the reality show. It fluctuates. And the NBA is a soap opera.

And it's a fun soap opera. And I like the way the NFL runs its business. They're not nearly as beholden to one or two players and stars that drive their business. But I also like the NBA for its soap opera qualities. I think the playoffs and the free agency is way better than the regular season. I really do. I don't even think it's close. I like the soap opera.

So let's discuss the soap opera. There are eight free agents. I'm not going to count Anthony Davis because he's not a free agent. So there's eight free agents, you know, big name guys who are going to be available on the market. And I believe six of the eight are going nowhere. It's fun to speculate, but I think Kevin Durant stays. Kauai Leonard leaning to staying in Toronto. I don't believe all the rumors.

Kiree stays in Boston. I think Clay Thompson stays. Jimmy Butler stays in Philadelphia. Chris Middleton stays in Milwaukee. I do think Boogie cousins. sort of a consolation prize, ends up somewhere for about $10 million. And I think Campbell Walker ends up with a Knicks. He's from New York.

He played at Yukon. That's who I think the Knicks get. And he'll be fun, not transformative, but a good player. So I think six of the eight aren't going anywhere. And the two guys that are leaving Campbell Walker and Boogie Cousins aren't changing anything other than their own zip codes. But let's talk about Kevin Durant. because he's really the only guy in the market that changes everything.

If he leaves Golden State, oh, it is not the same team. And if he goes to another place, he brings somebody with him and they contend for a title. Just this weekend, he was hanging out. They caught on camera him talking to Kyrie Irving, and people freaked out and are now suggesting it's a done deal. Well, if I bump into my neighbor's wife at the grocery store, are we having an affair? it was an All-Star game. They were both there. It was a hallway. They were walking in it. It means nothing. But it shows you the intrigue around Kevin Durant. Because he really is the only guy in the market, including Jimmy Butler and Clay Thompson and Kyrie Irving and they're very good players. But I watched

Kyrie Irving before LeBron arrived in Cleveland and he didn't do squat. He's not going to do anything by himself. Durant's the story. And Kevin Durant, according to multiple sources, people I trust that cover the NBA, it matters to him to be viewed as an equal or better than LeBron. So if you start with that premise, which I believe to be true, and there's nothing wrong with that. Tom Brady wanted to be better than Montana, there is nothing wrong with that. That's what I like about Kevin Durant. He's competitive.

He wants to be an all-timer. I want you to think about this. In three months, Kevin Durant's going to win his third straight title. In three months, Kevin Durant will be a good. the finals MVP. Now, let's take a step back and remember that he wants to be seen as superior to LeBron. The first title for Kevin Durant beating LeBron, about 10% of you were like, Durant's better.

About 10, 15% of you. But you were very quickly washed away. That's silly. And then last year, he won his second and was MVP over LeBron. About 25% of you, maybe 30 or 30 or. like, Durant's better than LeBron. And that had a little more staying power, but a couple weeks later, it washed away. This year when Kevin Durant wins a title and his MVP and LeBron either gets washed out early

in the playoffs or doesn't make them, that number's going to rise to 50%. Half the people are going to say, come on, LeBron can't make the playoffs. And this guy just won his third straight championship? finals MVP and he will be third straight time. The number will rise to about half of you. And you will not go away. But that's not where the story ends. If Kevin Durant stays and wins a fourth straight title,

and I believe the Warriors would, oh, then the number is no longer 10% or 25 or 50. the number leans toward Durant and we have ourselves a second conversation beyond MJ and LeBron and it becomes LeBron and Durant and that argument will last forever because as Chris Broussard said

on our show recently that would be territory not even MJ got to assuming they win the championship this year I think he should stay for the fourth year and see if they can win four straight because Magic, Michael, Bird, Kareem, Duncan, Kobe, Shack, nobody other than Bill Russell has won four straight championships. Why in the world would Kevin Durant when he wins this year

when he's got the golden egg of affirmation within his sights? Steph, Clay, Kerr, Dremond probably don't have boogie, probably won't need it. LeBron's struggling in Los Angeles, and he will be unless he gets AD and maybe struggling some, even if he does in his 17th year. You don't go away from that.

And how do I know he wouldn't go away from that? Because Kevin Durant will have seen what happens to stars, i.e. LeBron, when you go to the big city and try to do it by yourself. The man he's chasing is doing that now, and it's not working. The soap opera of the NBA is a different strategy and business deal than the NFL. I like both. But let's be honest about the soap opera.

There's one guy that matters, Kevin Durant, and he's not going anywhere. Let me shift to this. Charles Barkley took a shot at me. Well, not directly, but it was kind of a shot. He had two strong comments yesterday. I'm going to read both. The first one I totally agree with. He said this in Tony Anthony Davis situation is a bad deal. Bad look for the league.

Kid can't go out there, give it 100% because he's worried about getting hurt. The Pelicans aren't trying to win. And you see already, he's had less than three points in the last few weeks. It's just ridiculous. on that opinion, Charles is right. This is bad for the league. This is not great. I mean, it was always destined to be a little ugly,

but it's not good, and I totally agree with it. Let's go to Sir Charles' second comment. I hear all these clowns on TV saying it's great for players getting all this power. What in the world? That appears to be a shot at me. Anyway, let me tell you guys something. Workers are never going to have power over the ownership, ever. It might work for a couple of guys, but in the history of the world,

workers don't overtake people who own a business. Charles is also right on that one. I defend players' mobility because I've been mobile, and I would be an utter hypocrite to come on the air and not defend players' mobility when all I've done is zigzag around the country for commerce. So I support players. But LeBron is a little like Steve Jobs. Remember Steve Jobs, the late Steve Jobs.

He was handsome, dynamic, had a personality, witty, funny, kind of an artist, he made tech cool. Don't think he is what Silicon Valley is. Silicon Valley is mostly tech nerds. Kids who grow up face buried in a screen. Don't ask the pretty girl out. Not cool or remotely hip. That's what Silicon Valley is.

And now they're very rich. Steve Jobs was cool. Steve Jobs was good looking. Women love Steve Jobs. He was dashing in funny and artistic and creative and clever and everything. Silicon Valley really truly isn't. Similarly with LeBron James, LeBron's created a mythology that the players

bigger than the team and the coach and the league and the logo and it's just not. Remember, LeBron James is political. Kauai's not. Hardin's not. Paul George is not. Westbrook is not. Carl Anthony Towns is not. Ben Simmons is not. LeBron is a TV mogul. Russell Westbrook hates the media.

James Harden broke up with a Kardashian, didn't want to be part of the circus. LeBron has one-year deals. Most stars want security. LeBron gets coaches fired. Most players don't want anything, including stars, to do with that. Don't kid yourself on this. LeBron changes ratings. James Hardin doesn't.

Chris Paul doesn't. Blake Griffin didn't. Ken Milwaukee doesn't, Yonnes doesn't. Much like Steve Jobs in Silicon Valley, don't confuse an outlier, a dashing creative figure for what Silicon Valley is. Charles Barkley's right here. Kevin Durant has said, his quote, not mine,

I just want to play basketball. Kauai Leonard doesn't talk. Westbrook avoids the media. Paul George had a choice to be a star. And he chose Applebee's. in Oklahoma City. Janice loves Milwaukee and never wants to leave. Charles Berkeley's right about this.

Ownership, general managers, the logo, the commissioner, they run the league. But about every decade, we get a player, Michael Jordan comes to mind, who is so great and so gifted, he alters the power balance briefly. But if LeBron retired tomorrow, Who would be the next LeBron? Not just physically, emotionally, politically. There is none. Most NBA stars are much closer to Kauai Leonard and Kevin Durant.

They want to hoop it, have fun with their friends, girlfriend, family, or wife. Rinse and repeat. Steve Jobs is an outlier. LeBron's an outlier. And Charles Barkley, even though he blasted me, is right. Good stuff today. Joy will have after the break the latest on Antonio Brown, which if nothing else is a fun story for us to cover. And why Odell Beckham, Jr., to the New England Patriots, should be taken seriously. That's coming up.

Be sure to catch live editions of The HARD 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.

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Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

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Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Tonight, Maple Leafs take on the St. Louis Blues. Discover card key matchup. Get your free credit scorecard today, even if you're not a Discover customer. Won't affect your FICA credit score. Learn more. Discover.com slash credit scorecard. Limitations apply. Great to have you in today. Great to have you in. Doug Gottlieb's coming up today. We're packed. I love today show. CJ Anderson and the Rams coming up today. Catino Mobley on the show today and crazy Rob Parker.

Joy Taylor, of course, is not crazy and she's joining me. She has the update on... Well, that's debatable. I don't know you're crazy. Give it time, Colin. Petty, yes. But yeah, I do have the update on Antonio Brown. I want to say something about a story that broke yesterday.

Chris Sims came out, was a brief patriot employee. He made friends, very affable guy. Any building he's in for any extended time, he'll make friends, connections. He said last year, the New England Patriots were very interested in O'Dell Beckham Jr. And it was that interest which scared the New York Giants into retaining him. I don't think that pursuit is done because I think OBJ is on the market for anybody who would make an aggressive offer and the Patriots have 12 draft picks. Let me tell you why this is a real thing.

And we all know Randy Moss worked for about two and a half, three years in New England. A little bit of dysfunction proposing to a kicking neck can work in New England. is that Bill Belichick, like all great coaches, has a hole. He can't draft wide receivers. I'll give you the list of guys they have drafted in the last 9, 10 years. There are a lot more P.K. Sam's, Bethel Johnson's, Taylor Prices, Brandon Tates, and Jeremy Gallons. They've had one home run, Julian Edelman.

And I believe there's a reason that Julian Edelman worked. Because Bill Belichick loves versatility from his players. Julian Edelman is versatile. In fact, he was a college quarterback. That's why he and Belichick work. Belichick is great when players have versatility. College-wide receivers are generally college-wide receivers. Most don't even block.

They're not versatile. And versatility is Belichick's specialty. Belichick also lives on the technical minutia and details of players, and that's hard in college, because if you're big, strong, and fast, you just get open in college. you don't have to be great on technical details, which really Belichick spots and lives on. Belichick knows this is a weakness.

That's why he's not drafted a receiver in the first three rounds in half a decade. And frankly, at 41 years old, Tom Brady is probably lacking the patience a three, four-year growth relationship would take with a college-wide receiver. So there are three things working here. which lead me to believe the Beckham story is real, and the pursuit has not stopped. Number one, Belichick is much better finding his receivers already in the pros. Wes Welker, Randy Moss, Dante Stallworth, Danny Amandola, Chris Hogan, Roshay Caldwell.

It's much better at that. Number two is, as Tom Brady has aged, the clock is ticking. He does not want to be in the developmental stage. with his wide receivers. And number three, the Patriots have 12 draft picks. There are not 12 starters that could make this team. Remember, they had three great draft picks last year, all flourished in camp, and they all got hurt.

They don't have 12 draft picks to use. They've got about 6 to 8 that could play regularly. My guess is they'd shop a few or push them to other. years if they could. I think this is real. I think Belichick has a hole. Wide receivers aren't generally versatile. He thrives on versatility.

It's why the only receiver he's hit on is Julian Edelman. Because he noticed Edelman's versatility, and that's what Bill's specialty has always been. And a lot of positions, he's great finding a running back who can catch in block two and a linebacker who can play coverage or Rush. the passer. So I think O'Dell Beckham's a real thing. I don't think the pursuit is over, and I don't think grabbing a dynamic playmaker for Tom in his final two years with Gronk retiring soon is a crazy thought. Joy Taylor with the news.

No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So Antonio Brown is done in Pittsburgh. He apparently met with Steelers owner Art Rooney the second this morning in Florida. And according to a tweet from Brown, that had a picture with Mr. Rooney. He said it had a great meeting with Mr. Rooney today. We discussed a lot of things and we cleared the air on several issues. We both agreed that it is time to move on. But I'll always have appreciation and gratitude towards the Rooney family and the Steelers organization.

Hashtag Call God. Hashtag boom-in. So despite the Rocky breakup, though, he is going to go down as one of the best players in Steelers history. He has 11,207 receiving guards, which ranks only behind Heinz Ward, with over 12,000 yards. So moving forward, he is going to be on a different team. Adam Shepter reported that the meeting with the Steelers' GM and executive

Omar Khan was cordial and everyone agreed the trade would be for the best. Listen, there's an old saying. Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered. They got him in the sixth round. He had 11,000 yards and 74 touchdowns. He's now in his 30s. You have another star receiver. It's time to move on.

This is not like... It's not the end of the franchise. No, it's fine. Everyone's going to go their separate ways and be okay. That's how these things generally work out. My only concern is by kind of going off the rails on Twitter, has Antonio Brown turned off quality teams? Well, he would like for you to stop referring to him as Antonio Brown.

Oh, really? Yes. Adam Schaefter also reported that on Instagram Live. A.B. said if your team got guaranteed money, they want to get to know me and work with me, tell them to call me. and he also wants to be known not as A-B anymore, but as Mr. Big Chess. So we have to abide by that.

Coincidentally, that's how I'd like to be recognized in all social settings as Mr. Big Chess. I don't think I'm going to oblige. Look, Antonio Brown is, as I've said before, the top, if not top three, depending on your personal opinion, receivers in the league. The Steelers are certainly not better without him,

although they will be okay long-term. Yeah. And Antonio Brown's going to hopefully wind up somewhere with a great quarterback so he can continue to enjoy his talent. Now, as far as everything else goes, that's going to depend on whatever team takes him. My personal concern is how the Steelers are going to fix their whole situation, because this is not just Antonio Brown's fault that all this happened. This is a culture problem. He's blaming Ben Rathesberger. We talked before all this started to happen, we talked many times about Ben Rathosberger, passing the blame onto other people and getting up in press conferences and not taking accountability.

and it's really easy. When you're the leader of something, it's always your fault. That's what happens when you're the leader. You don't get to say it's the other person's fault. Even if they are a great component to your team or a very important element to it, it's your fault. That's what leaders do. It's my responsibility. It's on me. I'll fix it. Even if we saw with our own eyes, it wasn't your fault because it just deads the story. And you refuse to do that in many situations. So that's what needs to change moving forward in that situation. So during Kyler Murray's Davey O'Brien, award ceremony yesterday. He made some very

interesting reveals. First, he is training with his father, Kevin, for the scouting combine and his pro day. And more importantly, he is not decided whether he will throw next week during drills in Indy. Now, in my opinion, there's no point in him throwing. Yeah, he's a good thrower. I don't worry about his throwing.

There's no precedent for this. It's a small part of the evaluation process, and it doesn't dramatically impact a prospect. Standing in Indy. Matthew Stafford didn't throw. Sam Bradford and Andrew Luck. He's also got all the momentum. He's going to be a first round pick.

Don't screw it up. Yeah, I don't, I never think that doing anything extra at the combine, and to me throwing at the combine is only going to, anything that's going to hurt you. It's not like someone's going to be like, wow, never saw that past any game. You know what it is? The combine's great. If you were a tight end from Boston College who didn't get on TV, and you're actually kind of a physical freak, and you want to go up there and you want to show up a 37-inch vertical,

and everybody goes, holy hell, that kid can jump. It's for a kid that hasn't gotten the press. If you're an under-the-radar prospect, the combine is a great place for you to do everything and shine. Especially if you're a physical, like when Vernon Davis for Maryland went there and you're like, oh, I've got to draft him. When you're a combine, some guys go to the combine and, you know, other guys take the shirt off, not impressive. Some guys go to the combine, take the shirt off and move up two rounds. You know, Vernon Davis was like, oh, Lord. I mean, the most notorious combine performance and appearance is.

Tom Brady. Yes. I mean, he's the best point. But he had to go because. I mean, you pull up the combine footage. It's like, who is that? It's a different person. But yeah, this is not,

that people, some people will make a big deal about it. It's not a big deal. He doesn't need to throw at the combine. There's plenty of tape. People know what it looks like when he throws. He can only hurt himself by doing that. So don't do it. Finally, Luke Walton told TMC sports yesterday.

There's no truth to any rumors that he and LeBron are at odds. He said, I don't know anything about that. LeBron and I get along just fine. Now, the other. L.A. Times reported last week that LeBron's associates had not been happy with Walton's coaching this season, but an anonymous front office source said, nothing is going to happen with Luke. There hasn't even been any talk about it, and there won't be any talks about it. Luke will definitely finish the season, and he has the full support. So any talk in the media or on social media can he put to bed about Luke,

he's not going anywhere. Yeah, for the time being, you're right. I do think he's going to finish the season. Yes. Now, after the season, different conversation. because I think there's going to be a lot of changes made with the Wakers. And there's a lot that we still have to see what happens. They may win a playoff series in everyone's opinion changes. Like, if they don't make the playoffs, there are going to be significant changes around the entire team.

So we have to see that all the rest of the season plays out. It seems like he has the full support of most importantly Jeannie Bus, who seems to be fighting for him. Everybody has support until they don't. Right. So I post-ports. That's anything. But I think in this situation, it is important that at least the mantra from the front

office seems to be he's not going anywhere, he's not going anywhere. And at this point in the season, what would it change anyway? The person you're going to bring in is likely not the person that would be there next year. It just deads the season. You still have to get to the playoffs. This is not an option for LeBron James. So shaking up that situation to me doesn't fix anything. After the season, we'll talk. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. I do think Luke Walton is dead coach walking, though. I think if they don't make the playoffs he's out. And if they do, it's probably as an eight seed. They get dominated by Golden State. And it's easy for the LeBron camp and anti-Luc factions to point and say, see, we're not even close.

And with that, I go to New York via the Coward Global Satellite Network, Doug Gottlie, co-hosting first things first. I mean, you have good contacts throughout the organization. I just don't see any way that Luke Walton's the coach in a year from now. Do you, Doug? Yeah, I mean, if they make a run, make the playoffs, get out of the first round, I think there's still a possibility there. I think it's a lot like Joyce said. They're going to make some changes. They're trying to figure out who's with us and who we want.

I mean, remember, I think the Rathesberger note from Joy was amazing. She's right that whoever the quarterback is, whoever the leader is, has to take some of the blame. Some of this blame does go to LeBron James. Remember, not just in the fact that he got hurt. I mean, things you can't control. But also, some of these players are the ones he selected. We can talk all we want about Magic and Rob Polinka. But Magic and Rob Polinka met for three hours the night he signed.

And then these players were signed right afterwards. This was part of a plan. And I don't think that for the first time in his career, LeBron James had a hands-off approach to who was going to play alongside him when he had a chance to rebuild a team. So they made some bad choice. choices, chose guys that he felt like were competitors, overshooters, and what they've been missing so far in the season is shooting.

But look, Luke will fall on the sword if they come up short. Let's see how the last month and a half, two months of the season play out, how the playoffs play out, because when they're healthy, they're playing great basketball from a coach's perspective. And here's what I mean. Coaches can't make shots. He can't. They should have held on to Brooke Lopez. That wasn't his call.

So they have essentially two backup centers. But they're playing great defense before LeBron got hurt, top seven in every defensive category that's coaching. And they get pretty good shots when they run their offense. And they've evolved into a team that plays the way LeBron wants to play when LeBron has the ball and is dominating in the second quarter and the fourth quarter. So I think he's done a good job. I agree with you. He probably falls on the sword, probably loses his job at the end of this year. But there's still a lot of ball game left.

Let's see how it plays out. In the history of sports, only two athletes I can think of. were very successful by their fourth team. Roger Clemens Astros, I would submit to you, steroids played a factor, and Brett Farr, fourth team being Minnesota, where he had one great year followed by an awful year, and he was done. This is LeBron's fourth team. I saw a story yesterday.

Lakers a little concerned about the groin injury. Let's be honest, Doug. You and I are not sports historians, but we follow history. Is it quite possible after 200 extra playoff games over the last eight years? We've seen the best of LeBron. He now plays in spurts. And, you know, it's topped out. It's quite possible.

Our expectations are not aligned where they should be. Yes. Yes. I mean, it's possible that Father Time is catching up to him. It doesn't mean he can't play. Now, does that mean we have to adjust our expectations? Sure. It also means that he's got to use his head.

And Kobe Bryant suggests that he play from the post more. But can he continue to facilitate? That's the thing I'm fascinated by. Look, Kobe's game had no second gear. He has no second pitch. It's fastball, fastball, fastball, fastball. He couldn't evolve to being the second best or third best player on his team. LeBron, what's amazing about him is LeBron is probably going to go down as the all-time scoring king in the history of the NBA, and scoring's not actually what he enjoys doing the most. He enjoys setting teammates up. So the question becomes, if he has lost a step, and if this is healthy LeBron where he doesn't go by anybody.

And I don't know if you saw the stat, 41% of his shots since coming off the groin injury have been three-pointers as opposed to 29% beforehand, meaning he's staying outside shooting a bunch of threes. If this version of LeBron, it still could be good enough. My questions are actually

what does he do at the defensive end? He used to be the magic elixir. Put him on anything defense. Put him on Derek Rose in the NBA playoffs. And now you're trying to hide LeBron James defensively. That's a dramatic change. You can still get a lot out of him, but I do think a blind man can see he's not blowing by anybody anymore, and there's a lot less double teams coming his way. Kevin Durant and it's been documented, Doug, wants to be considered superior to LeBron.

I like that about him. I think Brady felt that way with Montana. I think it's an awesome thing when athletes are aspirational. That is not a criticism of KD. When he beat LeBron in the first finals, 10 to 15 percent of the people said he's better. They washed away. last year, about 30% of the people said he may be better. If he wins this year, I would submit to you, it's probably closer to about half who say,

LeBron couldn't make the playoffs. Katie's the final MVP. But if he stays in Golden State and wins a fourth in a row which Michael couldn't do, I would argue, Doug, a lot of people like you and I are having to fend off people who are arguing, uh, that guy's better than LeBron. why would you leave that? Look, LeBron's chasing ghosts and Katie's chasing a guy

who's right in front of him and even when he hits him, people like, nah, he didn't hit him hard enough. Why would he leave it? I think because he's chasing that LeBron Cleveland title. You know, hey, LeBron went to Cleveland where they hadn't won in half a century

and he won it, why can't you go to New York? You know, why can't you go to New York? I think that would be it. And I would think that, you know, at some point it tops out in this clay and stuff, and they seem to have their own language and have their own relationship. You're like, and then the Dremont thing, you know, Dremont is right now a shell of the player he was two or three years ago. But because he's created this image of who he is, Dremont kind of gets a pass. I don't know why you would leave.

Maybe just looking for something new. I think he's chasing the LeBron title, and that LeBron won one for Cleveland, look how the place went crazy. if you can be the guy who wins one in New York, you put yourself head and tails above really anybody outside of maybe Jordan if you can win a title in New York. It's always been that way. But look at the names that have tried, coaches and players, and they have all come up short since 1973.

So Antonio Brown, as Joy just told us, had a... No, no, no, that's Mr. Big Chess. Yeah, by bad. Mr. Big Chess. Okay, Mr. Big Chess met with Mr. Rooney, Mr. Average Chast, and it does appear. They have both acknowledged they're separating. Would you roll the dice on A.B.?

Oh, Mr. Big Chest. It depends what the makeup of my organization is. You were talking about Bill Belichick, right? Like, as much as Bill Belichick has the perfect organization, they could not make it work with Chad Johnson, who, by the way, that's the guy that Antonio Brown grew up idolizing. And that's because Chad Johnson was never where he was supposed to be. The whole thing is you have to have talent, but you also have to understand what they're trying to accomplish and where you're supposed to be.

But you have to have the head coach on board, the general manager on board, and the quarterback on board. And oh yeah, by the way, Antonio Brown today let the cat out of the bag. Does he have a problem with Ben Ronsberger? Sure. Should Mike Tomlin have been more disciplined-oriented? Sure. But what's the real reason all this has taken place? He has three years left in a contract with no guaranteed money.

That's the deal that he signed. That's the rework contract that he and Drew Rosenhaus negotiated. This deal isn't about anything else other than getting paid. At his age, he'll be 31 next year. He saw Des Bryant plant one step, hadn't even played a game at 30 years old for the New Orleans Saints, Torres-Ekely's tendon may never play football again. If he does, it'll be at pennies on the dollar. He wants guaranteed money.

That's what this is about. This isn't about all this other stuff that he's making it about. It's about money. more though than about respect or getting along with people. The problem is there's very few organizations that are going to take a shot in a guy 31 who wants a new contract who, when things go bad or if somebody bothers him, he may bail on the team

like Antonio Brown did. I'm not arguing his talent, even his competitive nature when he's on the field, but walking away from his own team when you got one game to win to get in the Super Bowl and then some of the act afterwards, he seems mentally unbalanced and one guy which you have to have everything lined up,

want to make a move to go sign him. Yeah, he's leaving. I think the best spot for him in the league. Doug Gottlieb, first things first, co-hosting this week with Chris Broussard. Good seeing you, bud. Great to see you. It is very hard for two alphas to exist in the same room, especially when one's a person and one's a franchise.

That about LeBron next. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Peloton's a game-changing indoor cycling bike brings the energy of live studio classes to your house. Learn more about Peloton bike at Onepelleton.com or visit your local showroom. By the way, Mani Machado signed with the Podrace. $300 million, 10 years. That's the last we'll talk about the Padres for a decade because they won't be able to afford even Bat Boys. He always bang on NBA guys when they change teams to win.

Baseball guys go to get rich and everybody's like, yeah, don't get it. I'd rather win. So certain franchises are probably, there's probably a dozen of these if you took all the leagues. If you took NHL, NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball, there's probably a dozen in total of like what I would call low self-esteem sport franchises. They don't have any titles, Detroit Lions, you know, Buffalo Bills, you know, Cleveland Browns were big 70 years ago. And so these franchises, if you give them a glimpse of hope, you tell them you like them. they fall in love. They have low self-esteem. And they're also just willing to give you the franchise if you're great. The Cleveland Cavaliers before LeBron James arrived were, you know, a blip. They just,

they don't matter, right? Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Sixers, been a lot of franchises, heat that matter. They didn't. And so LeBron shows up and they were really the perfect organization for LeBron. The Cavs had no history. He was the biggest star in the state. You had a new NBA owner. They gave him the franchise. You're not going to do better than LeBron. And so LeBron, if you go look at LeBron's childhood at Psychology 101, LeBron is always pushed back a little bit on authority figures because LeBron had a pretty disrupted, chaotic young childhood. And when you do, you tend to seek control because you didn't have it as a kid. And that's just psychology 101. That's why people go to therapy based on childhood experiences. So LeBron wants control. And LeBron has pushed back on

authority figures. David Blatt. Pat Riley, Mickey Erison, Eric's Bolstra, the Lakers now. So LeBron is a control seeker, and that's okay. That's very human considering his life. And that was a perfect relationship to be in with Cleveland. He would have never left Cleveland the first time if they could get him any players. He would have never left Cleveland the second time if they made a deal to get him more players and Kyrie didn't leave. What's interesting, though, is Miami and the Lakers are not ideal fits for him.

The Miami Heat have Pat Riley. They're the one Eastern seaboard, Eastern team that gets free agents. They've had success. They've won titles. They feel good about themselves. They're never desperate. So as LeBron, the Alpha, is seeking control and power, Miami wasn't willing to give him all of it, and he didn't like it.

They won two titles in four years, and he didn't like it. He wanted more power. That's who LeBron is. similarly, the Lakers are not an ideal fit. They're not giving him the franchise. This is not a low self-esteem franchise. They've got titles. There's lots of stars in Los Angeles, just like there are lots of big stars in Miami.

D. Wade's a star. Dan Marino's a star. Real estate, SARS, celebrity stars. Every weekend there's a party with stars. It's the same in Los Angeles. What's interesting about LeBron, it's very hard for two alphas to coexist. The perfect place for LeBron has always been Cleveland, but they butcher it both times.

The first time they couldn't get him one of their All-Star, the second time he had an All-Star, and Kyrie left, and Kevin Love was aging. He wouldn't have left Cleveland. Cleveland's perfect for him. What LeBron has always been seeking, the Cavaliers were willing to furnish. Miami was briefly, but then pulled back and said,

Hey, we're not giving you everything. LeBron didn't like it. And then the Lakers now, why do you keep hearing stories from reputable sources like Jackie McMullen and Woj? There's tension in the building. There's tension because you have an alpha seeking power in control and an alpha called the Lakers not willing to give it all up. So what's interesting about this situation to meet with LeBron, who knows how it turns out? I've always felt he'd win a title in Los Angeles, if he could cobble together one more star, possibly a third. And so far it's been okay.

If LeBron didn't get hurt, they'd probably be in fifth place in the West, not three games out of the final playoff spot in the West. But it is interesting, is that I don't think Miami was ever the perfect spot. I thought initially it was, but the more I look at it, it's not. And I don't think, frankly, Los Angeles is the perfect spot. The perfect relationship was the girl he fell in love with in high school. but at some point twice, Cleveland, they grew apart. Once because Cleveland couldn't get it done for him and once because LeBron and Kyrie didn't get along.

By the way, as far as the Western Conference standings go today, the Lakers are three games out of the final playoff spot. That means if they made the playoffs, which Las Vegas today says they won't, 25 games left, 17 against playoff teams, of the eight games with non-playoff teams, six are on the road. If they got in, if they'd face the Warriors, possibly the Nuggets or the Thunder. If they got in and moved up to a six or a five seed,

I absolutely think they could beat a Blazers. They could beat a Jazz or a Spurs, certainly a Clippers. I don't think they're getting there. I think they get in final spot and face the Warriors, and it's just quick work. is interesting though to me good stuff today CJ Anderson of the Rams who's interesting dude met him in the hallway before our show today is joining us

Catino Mobley stops by and crazy Rob Parker also Luke Walton was trapped by TMZ and talked about his relationship with LeBron James there's also a rumor here the Lakers quote privately concerned with LeBron James mobility I'm going to ask you a question next And it's not a hot take. I think it's the opposite of a hot take. And I'm going to let you provide the hot take.

I'll try to throw a wet blanket on what could be a hot take. As Hour 2, coming up, we continue live in Los Angeles. It's The Herd. 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. Ah, here we go, Hour 2.

Loaded up. This in Los Angeles is the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, C.J. Anderson and the Rams, interesting dude. Going to be joining us in 15 minutes. Coutino Mobley, Rob Parker. Joy Taylor is joining me for hour number two today. Joy, how are you? Doing great? My wife's out of town. Just me, the dog, my son. And your cats? Cats.

It's just the house. I told my son yesterday. It's weird. here, it's quiet. He's like, it's awesome. It's like you have the whole house. So much fun. You know, anger comes from expectations not met. You know, you expect something. Somebody doesn't deliver something. Could be your boss, could be your wife, and you get upset. That's where anger comes from. Like you, you expect something, you don't get something. Somebody failed you in your opinion, in your worldview, and you're ticked off. Is it possible the guys like me who predict did LeBron would win a title in Los Angeles. I thought he'd win one.

I just wasn't very realistic that I was wrong. Name one pro athlete in any sport where his fourth team was really dynamic. Go ahead. Yeah, Wayne Gretzky, New York Rangers, but the New York Rangers didn't win the Stanley Cup. He and Mark Messier were both older, less dynamic. he would occasionally have great nights, but he wasn't nearly as good at that point

as Yarmir Yager or Eric Lindross. There was Roger Clemens with the Houston Astros. I would throw this in. Steroids probably helped. And then there's Brett Farr with Minnesota four-stop. Good one year, awful. The next, Seacrest out. By and large, if you are on a fourth team,

and especially if you've spent considerable time at each, Not a month, not half a season. You could argue that with Randy Johnson, but I mean real stops. Seven here, four there, five there. You tell me when the fourth stop is dynamic. I mean, never forget this. D. Wade, Mello, and Chris Bosch were in LeBron's class shot fighters. His coach, Luke Walton, also in his draft class.

A story today, NBA rumors, Lakers privately concerned with LeBron and his mobility, since he got injured. Is it crazy to suggest that the last eight years, because he's made the finals, he's played 168 additional games? Two extra years? Two, three Team USA appearances? First real injury? Is it possible?

We're all just unrealistic here. That LeBron is still the NBA's best Swiss Army knife, but like Gretzky with the Rangers, it's only occasionally. He doesn't have the juice or the energy to bring it every night or every moment. Now, I do believe playoff LeBron, if he gets there, will have more energy and will be less sporadic. But Superman LeBron, he leaps some shorter buildings now. Isn't that reasonable to say that he needs more days as Clark Kent? fourth team LeBron, maybe myself included,

we're all being a tad unrealistic. Matt Barnes likes LeBron, and he said this yesterday on our show. Probably the most efficient player, one of the most efficient players ever to play the game. I think it's safe to say he's the best player in the game right now. It doesn't make it better than LeBron overall. Just, you know, age is catching up with LeBron.

Katie is younger. He's the best player in the game right now. That's Kevin D. Durant's better, best player in the game right now. And by the way, I still think KD is in his prime. I do. I think he's got about two more prime years left. And then you see, you know, a little erosion.

But I think sometimes anger comes from expectations not met. Maybe guys like me are just totally unrealistic. Eight straight finals, seven straight finals, three team USA's coming off an injury. You watch the Atlanta game. I mean, maybe it's just a January. February LeBron. You see the story, Lakers are even concerned about it. Something to think about. Let me shift gears to Antonio Brown. There was a tweet today. He is with the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they have both decided it's time to move on. I think it's fine. I think the Steelers

will be fine. The Steelers have always moved off great receivers. Heinz Ward, Plaxico Burris, Santonio Holmes, Mike Wallace. They're always fine. They draft the position very well, just like Denver drafts running backs very well, and the Patriots draft offensive linemen very well. There are certain organizations. Chicago Bears draft linebackers very well. Certain organizations, maybe it's a scout. Maybe it's a, you know, their analytics.

Who knows? Certain organizations draft positions. Well, Steelers will be fine. Draft them in the sixth round. Got 11,000 yards, 74 touchdowns. And by the way, Antonio Brown hopefully is fine. here's the tweet. Had a great meeting with Mr. Rooney.

We'd assessed a lot of issues. Time to move on. We agreed. I agree. Here's the thing, though. Once you let business get personal, you make really bad decisions. This is why pro athletes have agents and why actors have agents and why media people have agents to take the emotion out of it. I don't want to sit in front of my boss telling me I'm not worth this and I'm not worth that.

Who would want that? In our business, everybody's got an agent. We have to pay the agents. It's often paying the agent a lot of money, but it takes the emotion out of business. Once you allow emotion to get into business, like Antonio Brown, Mr. Big Chest, Del Demps, Pelicans General Manager, took the Anthony Davis News personally. He got fired. clutch sports

when the Lakers released an update on LeBron's health took it personally created a fracture within LeBron and the Lakers A.B. Mr. Big Chest don't let it be personal. It's business. That's why you have an agent.

You can't take it personally. You can't let it get into your feelings. You can't let it do it. You make mistakes. You lose judgment. I mean, Rich Paul, when the Lakers released a press release, saying LeBron will be back here. Rich Paul came out taking big swings, taking big cuts at the organization.

We don't give a blank what nobody thinks. We're going to do what's best for him. We're not on nobody else's timeline. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. It was just a random pedestrian press release. And from that, ego, Rich Paul, Anthony Davis, got a little aggressive. Just got to take a deep breath. what happens now with Antonio Brown because he's let it get personal

is that he's now gone off the rails, little crazy town, gone to Twitter. And the problem with that is really well coached teams and smartly quarterback teams and really good organizations, a lot of them have been scared off. And if you're Antonio Brown, I get wanting the money. Go for it, dude. I get it.

But you also want to play for a team that's fun and good and a quarterback who can get you the ball, not Jacksonville. So there's a reason people in entertainment hire agents. And so this doesn't happen. So you're not ticked off. So you're not mad. So it doesn't get into your feelings. And even if you're in a relationship that's going to be severed,

you take the emotion out of it. Antonio Brown. If Antonio Brown never goes to Twitter, why wouldn't the Patriots make a run? Why wouldn't every good team in this league make a run? I mean, there's a reason Amari Cooper was a, and Mari Cooper's not nearly as good as Antonio Brown, but there were teams interested in Amari Cooper.

Why? He doesn't let the business get in his feelings. I think it's a big mistake by AB, also known as Mr. Big Chest. I think he'll land on a team, but my gut feeling is it won't be a great team with a great coach, a great organization, a great scouting department, and a great quarterback.

He is scared off a lot of those. Coming up next, C.J. Anderson. Little secret sauce why the Rams beat the Cowboys and why they didn't beat the Patriots. A guy that became the MVP of the running game, the last month of the season, stops by, joins us on the couch. That's coming up.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I Heart 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.

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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 or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that that's two different levels of trust i want you to just

really be a good person join me keer gains as we have real conversations about healing growth fatherhood pressure and purpose on my new podcast learn the hard way open your free i heart radio app search learn the hard way and listen now life throws hurdles big and small the question is how do you conquer them. On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout, Kate Martin, and rising hockey star, Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that

no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs, Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything.

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Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets,

meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shodagh. shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history.

You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. It's a Big East Basketball doubleheader on FS1. First, the showdown between number 17, Villanova and Georgetown at 630 Eastern.

Then St. John's takes on Providence. Catch all the action on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. Villanova's got all new dudes. Got to make that work by the tournament. C.J. Anderson's a Super Bowl champ Broncos a few years ago in a pro bowler. He walked into the L.A. Rams and literally changed the offense. I met you for the first time earlier today. You've been in the NFL a half dozen years.

You know, I want to start with this. The running back position is the only position in American football, okay, that you can be hit from any angle and it's completely legal. You know, they've always said it's a little bit like a car wreck over and over. You take a month off when the season ends, and all you do is swim and cycle? That's it. After about in that time and then swimming cycle all the way up to off-season workouts when we can start, you know, that's when I start lifting and getting my body backwards. needs to be. But you eat pizza like the rest of us. Oh yeah, pizza, ice cream hamburgers. I do it all.

And you gain how many pounds? At least 20. At least? Yeah. That's a bad year. That's, yeah, that's a bad year. So you basically, it's over. You take a big break and you're like, I'm going to be a citizen. I'll do a little spin cycle. I'll do a little swim. I'm going to put on weight, feel good, and let my body heal. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. You know, it's funny because you came to the Rams. You got a call from the Rams and you were with the Panthers. And I remember seeing that and I'm like, oh yeah, CJ can play. Were you surprised at all by the effect you had

immediately on the team? It was remarkable. No, not really. It's kind of up and down. When I got the call, you know, it was another opportunity. I was excited for that. And then when I got in a building, it reminded me so much of 2015 when we won it all

the acceptance and the accountability from the locker room. And then there's me being a vet a veteran in my room alone, you know, trying to help TG and John Kelly and J.D. and a bunch of those guys. And I just took that veteran presence of my experience because I played a lot of games early in my career with playoff runs and been to two Super Bowls at the time. And I just tried to help out any way I can.

And it felt like a winning locker room. Yeah. As soon as you walked in, you can feel the vibe of what their mission was and what their goal is. And you don't really get that. You know, I was obviously, I didn't get a chance to spend this time in Denver locker room. I was released and then Carolina locker room. It started that way, but things start to vary, and there were some up and downs. And in Oakland, they were already completely out of the playoffs when I got there.

And then when I got to L.A., I was like, oh, okay, this is, you know, it changes everything. When you, it's interesting because you're a veteran presence. I could see a team like New England liking you, teams that want a grown-up in the room. And I don't say that because all players aren't grown-ups, but largely the NFL's 24-year-old kids. And you've been around, you went to Cal Berkeley, you've had a lot of coaches. What about McVeigh? Is it for a running back? Was it an advantage going from defensive Ron Rivera to offensive coach McVeigh?

I think there's a good, you know, I've had, I started off with John Fox. Defense. And then we moved on to Gary Kubiak. Offense. And then I went back to, you know, I went to Vijay, Vance Joseph. And then you went to Ron defense. And then I went to Ron. So you've had mostly defensive.

So I've had the mixture of both. I think like what I saw with McVeigh, it's kind of like with Kubiak and then with John Gruton, like the head coach's office of mind, but they're in the offensive meetings. They are. You know, John Fox was never in our offensive meetings, you know. Foxy knew the offense, though. Vijay was in our office of meetings in and out, but he spent more time on the defensive end. So, you know, and Ron wasn't really in our offensive meetings a lot either.

So I think that helps, you know, because obviously, He's also the play caller. You know, Coach McVeigh is seeing the things, but he's giving us, you know, instead of bringing it down or telling his coaches one thing and then playing telephone, you know, he's telling us what he wants and how it needs to be seeing. And then all of us as an officer unit is on the same page, so I think it helps out a lot. The game, let's talk two games. The Cowboy game was interesting because Daleks appeared flummoxed.

Dallas, the story came out that, like, you guys were chirping. They were chirping, you heard signs. Take us to why the Rams offense had so much success running the ball. There were signs that you were able to learn or garner during the game. I think the accountability of our all-in-took the challenge. I think that was great. I think during a football game, there's so many plays or so many plays and so many times where you can hear a call or see a call.

And if you hear it and you see it, the first time it's like, okay. But then if you hear it and see it over and over, you know, that's the tell. And I think, you know, what makes Coach McVeigh special is the receptiveness that he takes from players. You know, myself, Whitworth, John Sullivan, players who's been in this league and have success. And go to the sideline and talk to him. Because we're out there playing the game. Obviously, he sees the game from one angle.

We're playing it. So we see it from another angle. So when we kind of told him what we was hearing and what was going on, you know, and helping Jared in that situation of changes in plays, helped us with some explosive for us. Then in the Super Bowl, it was if the Patriots knew your plays. At what point in the Super Bowl, offensively, did you feel like this is a struggle? Like, we're not moving the chains at all. Well, early, I mean, I think we opened up three and out after the turnover or just five-play drive

and then a couple three-in-outs, you know, which is tough. You know, I said that early in the week. Like, we got a win on third down. But I think what the Patriots do is what they've done well for the last eight games. games I've ever played them. You know, they're fundamentally sound. They don't give up too many explosive big plays, which us as an offense, that's what we thrive on. And then they find a way to take some things away, and they slowed the run game around,

which took away kind of our play action pass. So, you know, you've got to give credit to them. Sucks losing to them. But I've had my share success against them, and I've had my losses against them, and I just count this in the loss. By the way, you've played them eight times? Eight times. What are you?

Right now, I'm four. four and four. I'm actually even. Wow. Broke even. So I want to thank you should just, thanks Peyton and get the hell out of there. Nah, I got to go get them. Got to go get them again.

Let's talk about Todd Gurley. I had said during the season, I don't believe any running back in this league should touch it more than 18 times. I don't. 16 carries two catches. Sequin Barkley Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott. This is 16 game season. 18's my number.

I thought the Rams, not blaming them, but they did not have a legitimate backup overused Gurley. Can we at least acknowledge that physically he didn't appear to be the same light? It's like a picture that threw too many innings. That's what it looked like to me. Am I wrong? I don't know. He wasn't hurt.

When I got there, I think the injury was more serious than what we all thought in the building. And I got there was like, okay, CJ, you know, you're going to play. And then when 30s back and ready to go, it's 30s, which I was like, that's perfectly fine. I get an opportunity to start. Like I've had before, get opportunity to put some games on tape. And I can earn my opportunity and working away in a row because he didn't play a lot of snaps before I got there because Malcolm Brown was coming in and spelling him too.

So, you know, he was on the outside, you know, and watching him at practice and stuff. He looked perfectly fine, but who knows how he really felt? You know, he wouldn't tell nobody that. That's just the type of the guy and the player he is. And, you know, thank God football is the ultimate team sport. Yeah. By the end, though, you did think.

I think he was healthy against New England. I do. I think he was healthy against New England, healthy against Dallas, healthy against New Orleans. You just couldn't run the ball. I just think we couldn't get going the way we wanted to get going. And maybe some things have changed when I got there as far as.

Blocking schemes, maybe. I wouldn't want to say blocking schemes, but rhythm-wise, you know, maybe, and I wouldn't notice because I didn't watch. You know, obviously I was like I was a Panther and I didn't get a chance to, unless they was on prime time. You know, maybe the way he gets into a rhythm was different.

Like with me, you know, I can get going right away. Maybe it takes a while to get going. I wouldn't know that. You know, but, you know, 30's best back in the game. That's my opinion. He's been the best back in the game for a very long time. And, you know, a guy who can put up 15, 16 plus touchdowns a year is very dangerous with the football. By the way, the play I've said this before is that I think we forget sometimes the NFL has a playbook.

Now, the NBA has got plays and baseball and soccer have plays. The NFL's got a play ball. book. You were able to walk into the Rams and pick it up fast. Listen, you've got to be a smart guy to get into Cal. You're obviously quick, quick, quick guy. Is the Rams playbook? Is it

complex? Is it simple? I've heard both. Because you picked it up fast. I think it's super complex. I think what helped I have the familiarity with Gary Kubiak offense. I think the roots of the Shanahan, Gruton, Kubiak, the roots of the West Coast. Two is I'm the type of player.

I'm a football junkie. So, you know, I knew a lot about Coach McVeigh and some of the coaches on that coaching staff before I jumped in, like, oh, this is where they came from, this is who they learned from. That kind of helps me, you know, on the deepest side of the football, you know, when you playing D-Corporonators, you know, like Bill Belichick and who he learned from and why he's a defensive-minded coach and, you know, who he takes in from. Or like Dennis Allen when we played New Orleans and who, you know, the Greg Williams background

that he has, and they put their own wrinkles and twists into it. I think that, and then another, I mean, I play with one of the greatest preparers on the planet, and, you know, your whole playbook's open when you're playing with Peyton. And, you know, I think that was an advantage in the help in my career, you know, pushing me to that cerebral point. And I also think, you know, if you get a chance to play with Peyton, you know, it might be February, you know, but he might call an audible something way back in April. So everything's open.

And if you can learn from Peyton and if you can learn his playbook, then I think you can pick up anybody's in the league. far as Jared Goff, forget Peyton Manning, that's like comparing everything to the sun, but Jared's still an infant. He's a newbie. He's a kid. Do you think three more years, four more? Because I feel like Brady in the last five years is just intellectually has taken it to another level. He's seen everything. I don't feel like Tom first eight years was that. How far is got to go? I mean, he's obviously a nice armed talent. It was a great deep ball, but he's a baby. He can throw everything. He's close. I mean, obviously, you know, it's crazy.

We were talking, you know, right after the Super Bowl in the shower, me and him was, which this sounds weird, but don't take it that way. But me and him was in the shower. The last two in the shower together, and he was just saying that, you know, there's things that he wish he could have done when he was reflecting back, like changing the plays. And the good thing is he's starting to see it. You know, now it's the conversation whether if he can do it all the way. And I think Coach McVeigh will let him do it because he is that type of player.

He is very smart and he can't make all the throws. But I think, you know, he's taking that to the next level. And I think that's, you know, the above the neck is what's going to, you know, push to be the Brady's and the breeze and Philip Rivers. And, you know, the elite quarterbacks that you see in his league, you know, he has that ability. And I think he's seeing it and going into year four to be able to do more and then going to year five and then going to year six.

So who knows when it will completely break out. But the good thing is he's seeing and he notices it now. And, you know, hopefully if I'm a ram again, and hopefully we can do that together next year. So you stood next to me. I'm 6-2 and about a buck 93. It's good, man. I know.

Okay, now you are, how tall? 5-8. And how much you weigh? Right now, about 2.30. Okay, so I want to do a little role play. Okay. If I was a free safety. Woo.

Good luck. And you break through and here I come as a safety. Do you get more joy out of rolling over me, putting a move on me? like do you you when you break free you look so much bigger than your weight by the way there's a lot of backs your weight but you what do you like when that box opens up we have a picture against the rams would you rather roll a guy or juke a guy depend on the game the part of the game in the beginning I want to set the tone so I want to let you know that I'm going to come here I'm going to own you today like I'm going to hit you in the mouth move and then when you come on bliss is I get a chance to hit you in the mouth again and I get a chance to hit you in the mouth again and And then when I get you on that second half, the third quarter, and you on your heels, then I can try to, you know, get by you. But, you know, I'm not world-class speed.

So, you know, my game is getting on edges and breaking tackles and making it hard for you. So I got to hit you in the mouth first. And then it makes the break tackle place a little easier later. No, I think once you hit me in the mouth, I just wave a flag and get the hell off the field. I don't think you'd have to fake me out later. See, I just quit. I don't have it. You think you could take one hit?

Oh, hell no. the NFL? Yeah, he can't. Oh, God, oh, God, no. You can't tackle like Emmanuel Sanders or Brandon Cooks? No disrespect to them. They're good, great players. I mean, you got to catch them first.

Deshaun Jackson, Odell. I'll say this. Okay, this is going to sound ridiculous. Don't think I'm an egomaniac. But I do believe if Brady was rolling to a sideline, I could come and cut his legs. That's fair. I didn't say Cam. That's fair.

I didn't say Sam Darnold. I didn't say Aaron Rogers. But Tom is 41. I'm 55. If he was going to the sidelines, I could go a forearm, shimmy to his leg and kind of roll him out. Would you be mad if Tom face, face, you know what I mean not face, but stiff arm you into the ground? Would you be like, oh, I didn't expect that?

I'd get up and ask for an autograph. He's still 6'4 or 225 pounds. Yeah, that sounded stupid. Did I sound like an idiot there? I sounded like an idiot there. I mean, it's like it's harder than it, the law. They're all really good out there, so they make it. You should go, you know what?

By the way, what do you make of Antonio Brown? Like, my whole thing is, dude, this is why you have agents. Don't get your feelings all caught up in this stuff. It's not personal. You made money. You're going to make more money. I worry that Antonio Brown is scaring off good organizations that are like, dude, he's off the rails, because he's a great player, and that he won't end up with a great quarterback.

He'll end up with a second-tier organization. Have you ever been so mad? What do you make of what he's doing? because he's clearly great and he's going to get paid. Should he just stayed off Twitter? No, I think he's taking control of his career. I mean, I look at it. Obviously, like you guys, I'm talking about it from the outside end,

but from the outside end and just when things flurred up, we didn't really hear nothing until after the season. Now he had blow up on the sidelines. I don't worry too much about that. We've seen all receivers do that. Yeah, I don't care about that. You know, T.O. O'Dell. Yeah.

But as far as from the outside end, it was about the team. He never, you know, disrespected any of his teammates, you know, during the season. He kept it about the team of, you know, obviously the last game of the season was that's when things start to take a turn. But, you know, he played for Pittsburgh. You know, he gave his heart and everything to him. And, you know, after the season, that's when he started to, you know, make the Twitter and the Instagrams and things like that. I don't agree with you about running good teams, good organizations off because during the 16 games season, it was about Pittsburgh.

Just this last month or so, you know, when they didn't make the playoffs. And then free agency is coming around. That's when he started to, you know, open up about how he really felt. But he kept it, you know, he kept in-house compared to what was going on over there with other players that I would not say. I hope the Rams keep you just so you can come on our show more. Selfishly. I hope the Rams keep me because it's fun.

And I like what they're doing. We got unfinished business, of course. It's great meeting you. Thank you. It really is. C.J. Anderson, this was an absolute pleasure. Joy Taylor with the News. No, no, no, no, turn on the news.

This is the Herd Line News. So you can use a lot of words to describe the next strategy this season. Some have called it developmental. However, the most common term is tanking. and Adam Silver spoke about the overall concept of tanking over the weekends. Oh, we did. I personally don't think it's a winning system. I'm sorry, a winning strategy over the long term

to engage in multiple years of rebuilding. There's a mindset that if you're going to be bad, you might as well be really bad. I believe personally that's corrosive, you know, for those organizations, putting aside my personal view of what the impact it has on the league overall. But again, we'll see how this plays out. God, totally agree with him. It stinks for fans.

I think it's bad for the team. How many years have the Phoenix Sun's been rebuilding? I'm with him totally. This idea that we're going to get bad and get a number one pick. Yeah, if Zion Williams and every seven years is available, but most drafts, you've got about six guys who can help you, but they're not going to change the league or your team. Well, it worked for the Cavs, and that was LeBron James.

Right. who was once in a, not even a lifetime, once in the universe player. Patrick Ewing, I think Zion Williamson's going to walk in and change your organization. But I think, I agree with Adam Silver. This tank, by the way, this doesn't matter, I guess, to teams, but it's a crappy thing to do to fans. If you are a season ticket holder, the last half of the season is meaningless. Meaningless. You're not going to see what stars you do have on the team play.

You know that they're playing to lose. now the players themselves aren't playing to lose necessarily, but the overall atmosphere and vibe is it doesn't matter if we win or lose. I will say. I will say Sacramento was awful and got two players I love, Marvin Bagley and Deeran Fox, and they're really both are incredibly exciting players. Eventually, you're going to get good players

because you're going to get the number one overall pick or a high draft pick. But the bigger picture with these situations, and people can say, well, it's work with the Sixers. The Sixers have not won a championship yet. And the Knicks haven't been successful at this yet. We just talked about Phoenix. This is an overall macro bad strategy for your franchise. You can't keep year after year drafting young players that you are then supposed to be developing

and teaching a winning mindset and how to be professionals and how to close games and the basics of being a great player in the NBA while also telling them it's okay to lose. In fact, we prefer that you lose. It's counterproductive. It makes no sense. I agree. You can't just all of a sudden flip a switch like, all right, we're champions now. It's a constant mantra.

It's a mindset. It's an atmosphere like CJ was just talking about. As soon as he walked in the room, as soon as he was in the building, oh, this is a place where winners are. You can feel it. Everyone around you feels it. It's not just the players. It's not just the front office.

It's not the coaches. Everyone in the building has a mindset of winning. You can't just flip a switch. And that's why his thinking doesn't work. And really, the NBA should find a way to discourage. teams from doing it. Figure it out. Because it really is bad for fans. It's bad for the league. It's a bad look. If seven NFL teams were tanking, you'd be like, God, this is awful.

That means basically every other night, every third night, a home game for a team, you have a tanking team. It's a lob. It's just bad sports. It's bad for business. It's not good. So in the least surprising development ever, speaking of tanking for a number one overall pick, Zion Williamson is opening as the heavy favorite to be the number one pick in 2019 draft. In fact, in order to win money on Zion, you'd have to bet just $2,000 to win $100. And RJ Barrett, John Morant's, and Cam Reddish are also favorite to be. And they're all, by the way, the Morant Kid is a great player.

Those are all really good players. Physically, you have to take Zion Williamson first. And by the way, if you're an owner? Well, I think optically also at this point, you have to take Zion. If you own a team, who's selling tickets? Well, I mean, yes, Zion is going to sell tickets. Now, I think I've told you many times, I think R.J. Barrett is a, going to be a transformative player

and he fits in this new NBA and John Moran is going to be great as well. Cameras is having a great year but just optically if you have the number one overall pick you're taking Zion Williamson and Zion is going to be great I have some concerns about his physicality on the long term

but he's going to be the number one overall there's some Carl Malone there that's the guy's going to be at the free throw line and get a lot of shit Zion's going to score a lot of points around the basket and he's still he's got time to develop also so finally Antonio Brown is done in Pittsburgh. He apparently met with Steelers owner Art Rooney the second this morning in Florida

and posted this tweet. Had a great meeting with Mr. Rooney today. We discussed a lot of things and we cleared the air on several issues. We both agreed that it is time to move on. But I'll always have appreciation and gratitude towards the Rooney family and Steelers organization. He also went on Instagram live and said if your team has guaranteed money, they want to get

to know me and work with me, tell them to call me, and he would also prefer that you refer to to him as Mr. Big Chest. Pass on that. You're not going to oblige. I don't have a problem with Antonio Brown wanting to take control of his career or wanting guaranteed money or being done with a situation that he personally feels like he can't be successful in anymore.

Not that I would have gone about it this way. But there was clearly some corrosion in the relationships in that locker room. And I think it's been going on for a couple years now. It's not all one person's fault. It's not Antonio Brown's fault. It's not all Ben's fault. It's not all Tomlin's fault. Although I do tend to put the blame at the highest.

level of authority, which is Mike Tomlin, and then trickle down. Obviously, we know the quarterback is untouchable. You know that. You have to try and do your best to maintain relationships with people like your, I don't know, your number one receiver. Isn't it possible? Antonio Brown's going to be fine and the Steelers are going to be fine. It's just been really noisy.

But Antonio is going to somebody. But my thing is, yes, Antonio is going to be fine. And yes, the Steelers are going to be fine. But the bigger picture to me is the Steelers, because we've seen noisy wide receivers. before and we've seen them move on to other teams and everybody does okay. My thing is it's not just Antonio Brown that was noisy with the Steelers. Ben Rothesberger's been noisy with the Steelers.

Tomlin's been noisy with the Steelers. The situation with Levy on Bell, and every time something comes up, we're like, oh, it's that person's fault, making the noise. There's a culture breakdown in Pittsburgh. This is not the Steelers brand. This is supposed to be a blue-collar city cornerstone franchise with standards

and excellence, and we make the playoffs every year and we're not happy with that. It's Super Bowl or nothing. And it's like, Where did all that go? It's just chaos to me. That's what needs to be fixed. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. Rob Parker, sometimes crazy Rob Parker. Next, Luke Walton in trouble. How long will he last? He has the answers in L.A., The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

Ah, the instigator at FS1, Rob Parker, still sore after the Patriots dynasty continued. but Rob, USC sports commentary, very proud of you. Okay, Lakers, story comes out. They're concerned about LeBron's injury. Who planted that story? Probably his people. The LeBron people put that out there. I'm almost positive, Colin.

Why? Because now you have an excuse. If the Lakers don't make the playoffs or LeBron needs to take a couple of games off, or some situation down the stretch, you'll say, it's the groin. This is why he's not playing. To me, it's a smart plant so that they can have an out when they don't make the playoffs. And I don't believe the Lakers are going to make the playoffs. By the way, so you think it's actually, you would think that's counterintuitive.

You think the LeBron group leaks it, giving him an out if he missed the playoffs. Why don't you think they'll make the playoffs? Just look at their schedule. Here's my issue. And everybody says, oh, LeBron's back now. He's been back for six games. Now, one, he didn't play in that load management game he set out. Yeah.

But Colin, they're two and three since he's been back. And I don't know if you've watched closely. Yeah. LeBron's not playing any defense. You're going to ask the other guys to roll up their sleeves and play defense. won't play well. He played 43 minutes and they still lost. So you're telling me when I look at this team, the Lakers aren't good with LeBron and aren't good without LeBron.

We saw this team without LeBron lose to the Knicks and the Cavaliers at home back to back. That Nick game, after they lost that game, the Knicks went on to lose 18 straight. Yeah. That team is not, the Lakers aren't that good. I know everybody's looking at the past. Well, he made it to eight straight finals. That was in the Eastern Conference.

The Western Conference is a different animal, and everybody can poo-poo the Sacramento Kings and that they don't matter, and yeah, LeBron's going to beat the Kings and the Clippers. I just saw a Clippers team. They don't want to give up their pick. I get it, right? So they have an incentive to tank.

They came back from 28 points in Boston. Is that the game you come back to win? Right. When you're down 28. the organization might want the players to tank, but don't tell me the players are not going to go out there and play with some pride. LeBron Walton relationship.

Jeannie Buss has said Luke's my guy. My takeaway is LeBron doesn't love that because LeBron likes to have control. It's in his DNA. It's who he is, and there's nothing wrong with that. What do you make of Luke and LeBron? I think that there is some problem there. And here's the other thing.

Again, he's going to be made to be the scapegoat. when they don't make the playoffs, or if they make the playoffs and get knocked out in the first round by the Warriors, because that's what it's looking like. It's one or the other. Right. So Magic and Polinka,

they didn't hire him. I get Jeannie Bus. She can love him, Luke, alt to death. The bottom line is, if you're going to turn the organization over to those guys, they got to have their guy. He's not their guy. They might like him.

If things are going well, you could stay with the guy, but once you don't make the playoffs or you get swept in the first round, all bets are off. So I think Luke is in a tough spot, and I think he's going to wind up being the – LeBron's the goat, and Luke Walton will be the scapegoat. It's just so simple. That's actually funny. By the way, did it bother you at your core, Odell Beckham, Jr. and the Patriots,

Bill does not draft college receivers well. They have 12 draft picks. Brady could use a dynamic playmaker and doesn't have perhaps the patience to develop a wide receiver out of college football. What do you make of that story? First of all, shame on the Giants that it took the Patriots having interest in your guy for you to realize maybe we should sign them and not trade them. Because remember, this was last year before they signed them to the big deal. Number two, I believe this, Colin, if the Giants don't upgrade their quarterback situation, which is to get away from Eli Manning.

And before Giants fans have a baby, we all got it. He won the two Super Bowls. He beat Brady, the 18 and old Patriots. You gave him two parades in New York. Those are years ago. Right. He's done. So if they don't upgrade that position,

I believe there's a chance the Giants could trade him because Eli can't get him the ball. He's being wasted. So if you could get something and build your team, I could see that definitely happen. I wouldn't trade a guy of that talent. The one thing about it, he might be emotional, he might be a prima donna and a diva and all that, but he's not a bad spirited guy, not a mean guy or like a problem.

And you've never heard teammates say he doesn't work hard or he's not trying to win. So you'd take Antonio Brown too. I would for those exact reasons. He's a talent. It's a difference of a guy. I've never heard one bad thing about Antonio Brown from teammates, have you? Big Ben and he's... Well, other than Big Ben, but Big Ben has some issues with other teammates as well.

Yeah, he and Aaron are a little dramatic. Right. But other than that, the talent outweighs. Antonio Brown, 15 touchdowns in 15 games. Not many guys doing that. They can't even get Julio Jones a touchdown in Atlanta. That's a good point. By the way, you are a baseball Hall of Fame voter,

and we were just talking about that about something. Mani Machado's Simon the Padres today. it's 10 years, it's 300 million, it's 30 million. If you can get 4,000 people into the stadium at 35, 40 bucks ahead, if he count parking, then he's a $20 million player. By the way, you just bought tickets because of him. No doubt about it. A buddy of mine, my best friend's coming to town the first weekend when the season opens.

And I'm like, wait a minute, we're going to the Lakers game of Friday night. Then we're going to the Dodgers game Sunday afternoon. When this signing just happened, I said, we can take the train down from L.A., go to a Padres game and see Manny. So I went right on their website, and this is what the Padres is business, Colin. People could say, why would Manny go there? Why would they do this? $300 million. Their payroll of Padres was $106 million before today.

That's nothing. So now it's $136 million. And you argue that, again, it comes down. I heard this years ago about A-Rod. the Yankees were selling out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But the Yankees were not selling out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday night home games. And the Yankees said, listen, we're paying A-Rod all this money. But A-Rod's going to put 4,000 people to 5,000 people in the seats, Tuesday, Wednesday games and Thursday games.

So in the end, you're not paying him $25 million. You're paying him $15 million because what, the Yankees charged for beers, Heinekenes, parking. All that. So, by the way, Mani's not, now, again, I don't think 10-year contract. tracks make sense, but I think economically, he's not a $30 million a year player. He becomes a $20 million a year player because he creates so much commerce. I got to go. Rob Parker, Hall of Fame voter, loves his baseball stuff. Cold and flu season, try Vic Synex nasal spray. Couple of squirts up there, 12 hours, use as directed. It gets rid of that congestion. Don't eat it.

I did as a kid. It's not a good call. Hour three. Contino Mobli next. Want 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. Ah, this is The Herd. Live in L.A. Hour 3, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. By the way, Joy, Butcherbox, clean eating is great eating.

Butcherbox.com slash herd. Two free cuts of filet mignon, free bacon, $20 off your first box, butcherbox.com slash herd. I had to get that in. We're on a little short on spots today. I had to jam that thing in there right there. Butcher box, I use it.

Good salmon, too. Welcome back to the herd. We're on Channel 83, Sirius XM. Coming up in 15 minutes, the well-dressed, the well-appointed man, Catino Mowgli. Also, in best for last, I have my mid-season NBA awards.

Those will be fun. But over All-Star Weekend, which I thought was really well done by the NBA, All-Star Weekend, dunk contest, skills challenge, really entertaining. There was a lot of rumors about Kyrie and KD., etc. But I'm looking at a list of notable free agents coming up. And outside of Kemmel Walker and Boogie, I think most of these guys are staying put. But let's talk about Kevin Durant. Because he's really the only guy in the market that changes everything.

If he leaves Golden State, oh, it is not the same. team. And if he goes to another place, he brings somebody with him and they contend for a title. Just this weekend, he was hanging out. They caught on camera him talking to Kyrie Irving, and people freaked out and are now suggesting it's a done deal. Well, if I bump into my neighbor's wife at the grocery store, are we having an affair? It was an all-star game. They were both there. It was a hallway. They were walking in it. It means nothing. But it shows you the intrigue around Kevin Durant. Because he really is the only guy in the market, including Jimmy Butler and Clay Thompson and Kyrie Irving and they're very good players. But I watch Kyrie Irving before

LeBron arrived in Cleveland and he didn't do squat. He's not going to do anything by himself. Durant's the story. And Kevin Durant, according to multiple sources, people I trust that cover the NBA, it matters to him to be viewed as an equal. or better than LeBron. So if you start with that premise, which I believe to be true, and there's nothing wrong with that. Tom Brady wanted to be better than Montana. There is nothing wrong with that. That's what I like about Kevin Durant.

He's competitive. He wants to be an all-timer. I want you to think about this. In three months, Kevin Durant's going to win his third straight title. In three months, Kevin Durant will be the finals MVP. Now, let's take a step back and remember that he wants to be seen as superior year to LeBron. The first title for Kevin Durant

beating LeBron, about 10% of you were like, Durant's better. About 10, 15% of you, but you were very quickly washed away. That's silly. And then last year, he won his second and was MVP over LeBron. About 25% of you,

maybe 30, were like, Durant's better than LeBron. And that had a little more staying power, but a couple weeks later at washed away. This year when Kevin Durant wins a title and his MVP and LeBron either gets washed out early in the playoffs or doesn't make them, that number is going to rise to 50%. Half the people are going to say, come on, LeBron can't make the playoffs. And this guy just won his third straight championship? Finals MVP and he will be third straight time. The number will rise to about half of you.

and you will not go away. But that's not where the story ends. If Kevin Durant stays and wins a fourth straight title, and I believe the Warriors would, oh, then the number is no longer 10% or 25 or 50. The number leans toward Durant. And we have ourselves a second conversation. beyond MJ and LeBron.

And it becomes LeBron and Durant. And that argument will last forever. Because as Chris Broussard said, on our show recently, that would be territory not even MJ got to. Assuming they win the championship this year, I think he should stay for the fourth year and see if they can win four straight. Because Magic, Michael, Bird,

Kareem, Duncan, Kobe, Shack. Nobody other than Bill Russell has won four straight championships. Why in the world would Kevin Durant when he wins this year when he's got the golden egg of affirmation within his sights? Steph, Clay, Kerr, Dremond probably don't have boogie, probably won't need it. LeBron struggling in Los Angeles, and he will be unless he gets AD and maybe struggling some, even if he does in his 17th year.

You don't go away from that. And how do I know he wouldn't go away from that? Because Kevin Durant will have seen what happens to stars, i.e. LeBron, when you go to the big city and try to do it by yourself. The man he's chasing is doing that now, and it's not working. The soap opera of the NBA is a different strategy and business deal than the NFL. I like both. But let's be honest about the soap opera. There's one guy that matters, Kevin Durant, and he's not going anywhere.

Let me shift to this. Charles Barkley took a shot at me. Well, not directly, but it was kind of a shot. He had two strong comments yesterday. I'm going to read both. The first one I totally agree with. He said this Anthony Davis situation is a bad deal. Bad look for the league.

Kid can't go out there, give it 100% because he's worried about getting hurt. The pelicans aren't trying to win. And you see already, he's had less than three points in the last few weeks. It's just ridiculous. On that opinion, Charles is right. This is bad for the league. This is not great. I mean, it was always destined to be a little ugly, but it's not good.

And I totally agree with him. Let's go to Sir Charles' second comment. I hear all these clowns on TV saying it's great for players getting all this power. What in the world? That appears to be a shot at me. Anyway, let me tell you guys something. Workers are never going to have power over the ownership, ever. It might work for a couple of guys, but in the history of the world,

workers don't overtake people who own a business. Charles is also right on that one. I defend players' mobility because I've been mobile. and I would be an utter hypocrite to come on the air and not defend players' mobility when all I've done is zigzag around the country for commerce. So I support players. But LeBron is a little like Steve Jobs. Remember Steve Jobs, the late Steve Jobs.

He was handsome, dynamic, had a personality, witty, funny, kind of an artist. He made tech cool. Don't think he is what Silicon Valley is. Silicon Valley is mostly tech nerds, kids who grow up, face buried in a screen. Don't ask the pretty girl out. Not cool or remotely hip. That's what Silicon Valley is. And now they're very rich. Steve Jobs was cool. Steve Jobs was good looking. Women love Steve Jobs. He was dashing in funny and artistic and creative and clever and everything Silicon Valley really truly isn't. Similarly with LeBron James, LeBron's created a mythology that the players

bigger than the team and the coach and the league and the logo and it just not remember lebron james is political kawai's not hardens not paul george is not westbrook is not carl anthony towns is not ben simmons is not lebron is a tv mogul russell westbrook hates the media james hardin broke up with a Kardashian, didn't want to be part of the circus. LeBron has one-year deals. Most stars want security. LeBron gets coaches fired. Most players don't want anything, including stars, to do with that.

Don't kid yourself on this. LeBron changes ratings. James Hardin doesn't. Chris Paul doesn't. Blake Griffin didn't. Kemma Walker doesn't. Yonis doesn't. Much like Steve Jobs in Silicon Valley, don't confuse

an outlier, a dashing creative figure for what Silicon Valley is. Charles Barkley's right here. Kevin Durant has said his quote, not mine, I just want to play basketball. Kauai Leonard doesn't talk. Westbrook avoids the media. Paul George had a choice to be a star. And he chose Applebee's in Oklahoma City. Janice loves Milwaukee and never wants to leave.

Charles Barkley's right about this. ownership, general managers, the logo, the commissioner, they run the league. But about every decade we get a player, Michael Jordan comes to mind, who is so great and so gifted, he alters the power balance briefly. But if LeBron retired tomorrow, who would be the next LeBron, not just physically, emotionally, politically, there is none. Most NBA stars are much

closer to Kauai Leonard and Kevin Durant. They want to hoop it, have fun with their friends, girlfriend, family, or wife, rinse and repeat. Steve Jobs is an outlier. LeBron's an outlier. And Charles Barkley,

even though he blasted me, is right. Little breaking news, baseball, Mani Machado, signed for $300 million for the San Diego Padres. Vegas says they'll go from 67 wins to 69 and a half. He's not going to change the standings. He's going to change the stands in San Diego. Yes, he'll put more people in the seats, and that's where you can validate this just strictly on commerce. This is not Fenway Park. It's not Wrigley Field where there's no season tickets available. It's San Diego, where he can put 5,500

people in that stadium on a nightly basis at 50 bucks ahead, parking a couple of Heinikins, hot dogs with your kids. And a $30 million a year deal becomes 18 to 20 million. And the Padres, by the way, have four of the top 30 minor league prospects in baseball. Eric Cosmer, they got some players, Will Myers. So it makes sense financially, although I would never in a million years sign anybody to a 10-year contract. I think it's insane. I don't think this is about the standings. I think this is about the stands. He puts butts in. seats. Katino Mobley, a well-dressed man, and more coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. 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. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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, Keer 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

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Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extreme, ordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee,

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Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Apple leaves blues tonight. Discover card key matchup. Get your free credit score today. It won't affect your FICA score. Discover.com slash credit score card. Limitations apply. Man, look at you. You look like a million dollars.

Seriously. Have you ever worn sweats or warm on? at home. Actually, I just came off the plane. I rushed to see you. I truthfully did. Were you wearing that? On the plane? No, no. I was wearing sweats. Okay, I was going to say, because Joy, her and Earl hang out in sweats all day. Yeah, she told, yeah, we spoke about it. Ten minutes off the air. He buys her to sweats, right? It's outrageous. I wore sweatpants this morning. Do you guys drive a minivan together? Do you not drive minivan? You guys are almost giving up and you haven't even started. I like minivans, though.

Oh, Lord. I do not like minivans. Not in that outfit. This is Los Angeles. It's okay. You can't wear that suit and be in a minivan. No, you can't. And I don't think you should fly in that suit either. It's wrinkle it. It's stretchable. The suit's stretchable too.

You're a well-appointed man. So Charles Barkley came out and he said, this AD thing looks terrible for the league and the owners are always going to have all the power. What do you make of that? I mean, Charles said something that finally made sense to me. Come on. He doesn't. Come on.

I mean, it was my teammate, so I love him to death. You know, my rookie year, my name was dummy. That's what he called you. Yeah, dummy. And listening to him for the past 20-something years, I think, you know, the dummy is the one that was speaking. But, you know, Charles is my guy. But, yeah, you know, for AD, it does look a certain.

First of all, AD's never been healthy. 82 games in seven years. That's a fact. So, I mean, what are we really doing? Like, he's, it's going to look bad because if he doesn't play, right? It makes the Pelicans look bad. It makes him look bad. The fans will get restless, whatever the case is.

But if I was AD, I wouldn't, I would play because I'm young and I feel like playing, but I'm not healthy all the time. So, and I don't want to be here. So if I get hurt, what do I do then? I'm stuck. You know, Charles made another point. He said, you know, he goes, all these clowns on TV saying it's great for the players getting all this power. Let me tell you something.

It doesn't work that way. The boss never relinquishes power to the employee. It is interesting, though. There's been three athletes in my life where that wasn't true. Tiger Woods was as big as golf, if not bigger as big. Michael Jordan was as big as the league. That is true. And I don't think LeBron's quite in that class.

I don't think he's as powerful as Tiger was or as MJ in terms of he is the ratings for the sport. But I do think if LeBron retired tomorrow would be a 25% hit, 20% hit to the league. But I do agree with Charles that LeBron is one of these national, one of these global, I guess, you know, Rinaldo could be like that. Mike Tyson in boxing for about a seven-year stretch. Allie was certainly that in boxing. Yes, yes. That we think that, you know what, the athletes bigger than management, generally it's not. I mean, Charles Barkley was a huge star, and he's just a player.

Don't you think we all sort of, we look at LeBron and think this is the new NBA, but if LeBron retired tomorrow, most stars don't want to talk politics, most are not going to be TV moguls, most are not going to do one-year deals, most don't love the media. I mean, even James Harden broke up with the Kardashian, and he's like, I don't want the TV circus. Right, right. That LeBron's just a historic outlier. He's definitely an outlier. Love Malcolm Gladwell.

Because LeBron does it doesn't mean everybody else can do it. Charles wasn't like that. Yeah. Right? Like he was outspoken. I'm not a role model. All these different things. LeBron is just different.

I don't think if, like you said, if LeBron retires tomorrow, there's nobody else is going to carry that torch like he does. Kevin Durant has said, I just want to play basketball. Yeah. Which, by the way, one of the reasons I don't talk politics a lot, I just want to do sports. I am okay with people in this divided world. I'm okay with you not going into politics, going to your Twitter and have death threats.

Well, it's different too, right? Because see, in sports you can analyze because you see all the information. In politics, religion, things like that. There's so many different things that are hidden that you don't know of, but you're only speaking your opinion on what you do know. So it's not really factual. It's just an opinion. Most of the time, yes.

Most of the time, right? You know, when there's a story out today, Rob Parker said he thinks that LeBron and his grave, are the ones that put the story out that LeBron's groin injuries bad, so they've got an out if he loses. I've always, you know, Joy and I've been journalists long enough. Stories only get out when somebody wants them out. Somebody leaked that story because they wanted it out.

Do you buy the argument? It's interesting that that story is leaked by the LeBron side. If they don't make the playoffs, it's a little bit of an out. LeBron was hurt. It's very interesting to me. Now, if someone did leak that from his side, which they possibly could have, right? It's a 50-50. We don't know.

But, I mean, we have to take an accountability that LeBron missed 18 games. He's never done that before. So they were in fourth place. If you switch that around, why are we, what kind of conversation are we really talking about here? Because he's doing exactly what he's supposed to do when he came to L.A. from the very beginning. It's to keep these guys on that winning, kind of, you know, wheel or whatever you want to call it, where they're in fourth place. Now, they're in 10th place, and now you're looking for this guy to exert as much energy

as possible. Tweak is growing again, right? And then now where we left that? You got to heal during the summer, and you got to worry about next year. No, I don't think they, I don't think it's a big issue, and I don't think that's an excuse. it's a factual thing that he missed those games. And if he did miss, I'm betting on LeBron and the Lakers are in the playoff hunt. You know, I said when Durant won his first title against LeBron,

about 10% of the people are like, Durant's better than LeBron, but nobody bought it. And last year, it was about 30% of the people said, you know, Durant's better than LeBron, but I didn't buy it. They're going to win this year. You're not going to beat LeBron. LeBron and may not make the playoffs. And I think you're going to get about half the fans are going to,

he yell, Durant's better than LeBron. Doesn't mean I think he is. But if they win this year and then he goes into a season where he could do something Jordan couldn't do and win a fourth, it's going to be a hard argument that the last seven or eight years of his career, he simply was better than LeBron. You're going to have a lot of people, Catino, that are going to say, okay, time out. LeBron's an eighth seed. This guy's the finals MVP four years in a row.

I do think in every argument there are tipping points. They're going to win this year. I'm going to go to New York. I've got a new arena. I got Steph, Clay, Kerr, Bob Myers, Draymond Green. Buggy will probably be gone. Don't you think if they win this year, you go into a season where there is a growing debate?

Or do you think LeBron is miles ahead? Okay, so first of all, this isn't golf. It's not tennis. And in tennis you have doubles sometimes. Kevin Durant, to me, is amazing. The best score in the history of the game. There's nobody that's better than him when it comes to how he scores, seven feet tall.

The last time I checked, basketball is a team sport. So who would you rather lead your team? Kevin Durant or Lebron James? Now, it's unfair to me, this is my opinion, it's unfair that you would, that great, it's a great debate. Barbershop, you know, cookouts, all this stuff, the old Dorett's better than LeBron. Look what he's done. Well, guess what? He's playing with three or four future Hall of Famers also.

And before he got on that team, they won 73 games and they won a championship. So go to New York. If you do go to New York after you win this championship this year, take them to the finals, win it, and then we can had that debate. Right now, LeBron James is taking cats. No disrespect to everybody else he plays with, but he's taking, you know, the get-along gang in Cleveland,

Home Depot. He picks four guys from Home Depot up and he goes to the playoffs. I just don't understand why this is the comparison at the moment. Do you think the Lakers roster is even good? I do. Take LeBron out. They lost the Knicks and Cavs. How good's their roster?

I just think that's youth. I don't think it's not. They're not good. I just think they don't know how to win. Like when I was with the Clippers, I got recruited, I signed with the Clippers, and you had Elton Brand, who was 20 and 10 in his sleep, Corey McGettie, 20 points a game, in his sleep. You had a really good team, but they weren't making the playoffs. 14 years in a row. I come, boom, we make the playoffs. You add one with Sam Cassell as well, and we teach them how to win. We taught them how to win. What does that mean? Is it, Is it on the road, the hotel, the locker room?

What does that mean? It's just about being a professional. They've lost the game. The year before Sam and I got to the Clippers in 0506, I looked at their roster and I looked at the games that they've lost, and they were losing games, two, three possession games, where that's mental. That's judgment.

That's bad decision. Yeah, it's all it is. So all you have to do is now you correct those little mistakes, and now the doubt in the fourth quarter, and when you're down a possession or two possessions is different because now you have guys that can hold you down. Okay, listen, we're not going to do this, Corey. We're not going to do this Elton.

We're going to dump it down to Elton. Everybody's spread out. It's more organized. There's less doubt for an individual. So when LeBron's on that court with those younger guys, that's what he's giving them. Yeah, he's not the 28, 29-year-old LeBron anymore, but he knows how to win. And that helps them out, just like Kyrie Irvin.

To me, Kyrie Irvin is amazing. But guess what? The Boston Celtics went without you to the finals, to the Eastern Conference finals. It's a struggle right now, pretty much. I need you by yourself to see if you can lead people. And you are. Right now you're Boston.

Lead them. That's all. Most guys, that's not what most players are. No, it's hard. In basketball, and also basketball's always been, play with your friends, it's a group thing. Most guys want to hoop it. They don't want to deal with the media.

I mean, people forget, Michael Jordan at times had his own locker room. Michael Jordan was dealing with, you know, I mean, let's be honest about it. Even Kyrie Irving, I want to go play, I want to hoop it, I want to go out and hang out. Leading's hard. Playing for these guys is almost natural. It's very hard, and I don't think people really understand because when you're looking, when you're a fan and you're looking at the game, you're like, oh, wow, that's easy. I can go do that.

Why did you miss that shot? Why did you do this? But the greats, like a LeBron James, like a Michael Jordan, even Scotty Pippen was so amazing to me. You have to think the game. Joyce, smart. Earl Watson. He thought the game.

Wasn't the most talented. Couldn't dunk on people. He was smart. And you have to be smart. LeBron James is super intelligent, especially on that court. Yeah. What was it like traveling with Barclay? Was he just funny back then?

He's always funny. Charles, Charles is always, Charles just, you know, he has no filter. He's just, he's Charles. I interviewed him once as a player, and he was funny. Yeah, he's super fun. He loves telling stories. We'll go someplace and he'll sit and he'll talk to people for hours. You know, he'll crack on people, he'll make fun of people.

You know, but he's a big teddy bear. He's the coolest guy. I love him. I love him. But he does say some crazy stuff. He called you dummy. Yeah, my first year he called me dummy. He hit the, he passed me the ball.

my very first game in the NBA against Golden State. He passed me the ball for a game winner. And that was my first game. I had a game winner at top of the key in Golden State. You hit it? I hit the game winner. And the reporter's asked him out to the game.

They said, did you know you passed to the catino? Oh, no, if I knew if I was passed to the dummy, I would have shot it myself. I said, it's cool. Great seeing you, bud. Thanks for having me. By the way, don't let age beat you. Go to mDrive. Today, code herd, refine your prime.

Here's Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. So, for all the good publicity of the Alliance of American Football that they received early on, it took a little hit today. The athletic is reporting that the AAF was in danger of not making payroll last week, which was just the second week of the league's existence.

Not great. Crisis was averted. Carolina Hurricanes majority owner, Tom Dundon, will be introduced as the AAS. AAF's new chairman after investing $250 million. Okay. His investment allowed the league to meet its financial obligations. Yeah, that wouldn't be great if you couldn't make payroll. Have you ever worked at a place like that?

Yep. I did too. Yeah, not for long. Yeah, in fact, I was told I got my check and they said, can you wait until tomorrow morning to cash it? It was a minor league baseball team. Yeah. Yeah.

My thing about those working at those kind of places is that I'm not doing that. No. No, that's not, yeah, that's not, I would like be able to. If I'm going to work for free it's going to be volunteer work. Yeah. I don't volunteer. So did you work? Did you, so did you, was it a TV or radio station? It was, it was part of, I'm not going to get into it. But

I did not stay there along, is the point. I mean, I mean, look, you can't have a, the biggest part of this, the conversation that we had last week is that these leagues were well-funded, right? Like, this is just not, it's not how it works. You can't have these guys out. out of your playing and they're not getting paid. Okay, Catino, you were on the Clipper team.

That was Donald Sterling's team, right? It was Donald Steele. And they were not as well funded. There was never a check-bouncing thing there, right? No, no, no. But it wasn't, did you stay at the Marriott or the four seasons? Did you fly crappier planes? No, you know it's funny.

I went from Houston to there, okay? And our gym, my first year, we shared a gym at the spectrum of a Sepovola or something like that. I know where it's at. And I'm like in the, I'm in like the hot tub and the showers with like these older men. I'm like, where are we doing here? I know exactly what you're talking about. Guys like feeling his leg kind of like, man, this is crazy.

I'm like, yeah, it is crazy. I don't know why they got me. What did I sign up for? Think about this. Before you had team planes, NBA teams got on the first commercial flight out of town. You would get on a plane and sit. next to Wilt. Yes.

Yeah. You'd be in the state and you'd be like, hey, there's Wilt Chamberlain. And you'd be flying to, you know, Omaha as an insurance guy. You couldn't do that now. No, no, no. I have to rush back today. Seriously, and my family would tell you, I love you so much. I literally booked the, they booked me to fly it because I had to do something

for Nancy Lieberman. Her charity event last night was amazing. Oh, she's great. Dreamball. It was amazing. It was amazing. It was amazing. All of us were there.

and I booked, I changed the flight so I can come in to do your show earlier. And they put me, and it was first class, and then they changed it. And last minute, and they put me row 16 in the middle, and I literally, for like three hours, I'm like sitting like this. And it was like two big dudes literally on both sides of me. So I couldn't really lean like near one of them. And I felt like, oh, my goodness. That was 1970 NBA travel.

I was. Will Chamberlain in our middle row seat. Yeah, I get stuck in the middle seat a lot. But I'm 5 foot too, so it's not. Well, thanks for making the effort for the show. We love you.

No, thanks for having me. But you know, the middle seat rule, though. What's the middle seat? You get both armrests. Oh, is that what it is? Not really. I was literally like this. That's nice of you.

Yeah, I was like that. I'm an elbow warrior. If I'm in the middle seat, I get both of the arms. That's just, that's how it works. Everybody knows that. That's what you do, huh? You get the aisle or the window and you get my arm. She takes all the covers from Earl.

She takes all the covers from Earl. She takes all the covers. That's what you do. Bogard. I always sit in the aisle. I love it. Okay. I sit in the aisle.

Well, Earl's next to me, then I can just lean. They're not to worry about it. But if it's not, I mean, you get both honors. That's the rules. All right. So, Kyler Murray was at the Davey O'Brien Award ceremony yesterday, and he made some interesting reveals. He's training with his father, Kevin, for the scouting combine and his pro day.

And he has not decided whether he will throw next week during drills in Indianapolis. Don't. I don't think he should throw either. There are plenty of examples of guys who haven't thrown. Matthew Stafford, Sam Bradford, and Andrew Luck all chose not to throw. At this point, in the process, it's only going to hurt him. He has more than enough game tape, and I'm sure plenty of scouts have watched him physically throw during the game in practice. He's great at the throwing part.

It's not the part of his game anyone is questioning. He's going to go through everything else assuming, and this is just something that if you're a quarterback, unless you're a prospect that's trying to get discovered that you don't have that people haven't paid a lot of attention to then that's a situation where you want to throw. But don't do anything at the combine that could lessen your draft stock. Finally, Luke Walton told Team Z Sports yesterday. There's no truth to any rumors that he and LeBron are at odds.

He said, I don't know anything about that. LeBron and I get along just fine. The LA Times reported last week that LeBron's associates had not been happy with Walton's coaching this season, but an anonymous front office source said Nothing is going to happen with Luke. There hasn't even been any talk about it, and there won't be any talks about it. Luke will definitely finish the season, and he has full support.

So any talk in the media or on social media can be put to bed about Luke. He's not going anywhere right now. Well, that's our part of the quote. That's my own opinion. Right now. There's no point in firing Luke while in this point in the season. There's like 25 games left. LeBron's been injured.

You're coming off the All-Star break. They have to make the playoffs. it's going to be a disaster for LeBron's overall image in this league. I mean, Rob Parker was talking about it earlier. The first thing that people are going to start saying, all LeBron haters are going to get on is that, oh, well, the reason he went to all those finals was because he was playing in the East, and he's at a cakewalk us entire time,

and it discredits all of those numbers and everything else because his first year in the West, he didn't make the playoffs. And nobody's going to pay attention to the fact that he was injured. Nobody's going to pay attention to the fact that Rondo was injured and Lonzo and Kuzma's been out and there's been this insane trade talks that's mentally affected the team. Nobody's going to focus on any of that.

It's just going to be that they didn't make the playoffs. What are you going to do if you bring someone else in for Luke Walton right now? There's no guarantee that's going to be who they are who they stick with moving forward. There'll probably be a lot of changes once the off season hits, but for right now it doesn't make any sense to me to change out of Luke Walton. Agree totally, completely. Joy with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line. So great to have Catino Moble. You know how some guys just look good in suits? I don't. Cotino Mobley. How often do you wear suits?

Not much. Funerals and even my own. That's about it. That'll be the funeral I'll wear it at. I'm not a suit guy. I have to wear it on Sunday on Fox NFL kickoff. You know Larry David who created Seinfeld? I went to a dinner once and he was there and he came up to me and he goes,

hey, stop wearing ties. You don't look good in a tie. Nobody thinks you like ties. And I'm like, you're right. I hate ties, but they make me wear a tie on Sunday. I don't like it at all, but I'm part of the company and I do it. But I'm not a suit guy. I just don't look good at them and I, you know.

You wear a button-down shirt all day. I know. Well, I do. This is my formal. And I do that because once I get home, it's all business. You go into a minivan and sweatsuits. I do not drive a minivan. I don't wear sweatsuits.

When I get home, I did wear a sweatsuit this morning. It's very cold in the morning. I'm making a statement. I come here with no... My hair is not done and I have no makeup on. I have to get completely transformed. There's no point in me getting ready in the morning. That's not a logical use of my time.

You don't think I get transformed? You think I wake up this handsome? Come on. It's a lot of work. Holy moly. Coming up, we're kind of just past midseason and we're going to hand out our kind of midseason NBA awards. That is next and best for last. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m.

Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I Hard Radio app. Car shopping can be confusing. Not a true car. Newer used. Check it out. Save three grand off MSRP. I love, if you're watching our TV telecast right now at FS1,

don't you love that the curtain look? Isn't that amazing? We were going to call it the NBA mid-season awards, but the NBA has 82 games, so mid-season would be 41 games. And they've played like 57. So we're going to call it the Hurds kind of mid-season NBA awards, because it's not really.

mid-season. So Joy, please announce our first category. Our first category is best strategy. The winner is Russell Westbrook giving up control to Paul George. I know you think I don't like him. But Westbrook is taking four fewer shots a game. Paul George is taking four more shots a game than last year, and Russell Westbrook has clearly relinquished the closing role in late-game situations to Paul George. As much as you all think, I don't like Westbrook, he has clearly altered his game. Some of that's because his shot is broken. But nonetheless, he is my mid-season, kind of mid-season award winner for Best Strategy. This is a very nice thing he said about Russell, Westbrook. I've really grown. I'm showing some growth. You are. It's important. All right, our next category is worst strategy.

Whatever Rich Paul was thinking with the Anthony Davis trade and calling out the Lakers, I got nothing against clutch sports and Rich Paul, but it was a little too aggressive, a little too much. And he got pushed back and clapped back from everybody in the NBA. And now suddenly Anthony Davis, I'm supposed to believe, wants to play for everybody, including, you know, Boston. Dusseldorf. So that was a bad strategy. All right.

Best acquisition involving Los Angeles is our next category. The winner is Tobias Harris. being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. By the way, even Ben Simmons said he's a silent assassin. In the four games with the Sixers, you predicted this, he's been great. He's not as dominant as Embed. He's not the passer as Simmons. He's not as talented as Jimmy Butler.

But if the fourth best player on your team is Tobias Harris, you're good enough to win an NBA championship. I know LeBron to the Lakers got the press, but Tobias Harris from L.A. to Philadelphia is a great L.A. transaction. Best conference rant. Best press conference rant. Oh, oh.

I'll let you listen. Kevin Durant. Here it is. Kevin Durant. We don't have it. You'll have to trust me. It was Kevin Durant. It's the one where he got mad at free agency and people complain. You're coming here every day. Asked me about free agency.

I ask my teammates, my coaches. You rile up the fans about it. And now when I don't want to talk to y'all, it's a problem with me. Come on, man. Grow up. How are you playing? How was a team playing in the last couple weeks? I'm done.

You know you don't care about that. I just asked you. I didn't have it down verbatim, so I didn't want to do it my impression of it. Best press conference. It was very good. At the almost kind of sort of midway point. And I wasn't mad at him for it.

All right, most impressive rule violation. This is an easy one. This is Bradley Beale. The winner is Bradley Beal of the Wizards. His five-step travel. Yeah, this was a travel. And the referee said, well, he lost control of the basketball. So we're not going to count it as actual traveling.

But our staff did a very nice job to show it. And there does appear. You're allowed a couple of steps. And he took five. And there was no call. And you can see the officials. One, two, there's two, three. And he lost control.

And then they gave him another one. That's four. And that's five. And I think, by the way, it was actually five and a half. but that that's the most impressive rule violation. It's kind of a sleeper because James Hardin has quite a few travels. But this is pretty egregious. Although I will say I'm not mad at Bradley Beale.

I would just run around the court and not dribble either. Now, Magic got honorable mention for his tampering. That was second rule violation. But nobody could top Bradley Beale. Yes. Plus, magic doesn't really mean to tamper. Yeah, it's just his personality. Right.

All right. Special achievement in tanking. The winner is a tie, Joy. The winner is the Knicks and the Phoenix Suns. They're both awful. The Suns have the NBA's current longest losing streak at 15. And the Knicks had the longest losing streak in the history of their franchise at 17. Both teams have 11 wins, so we had to hand this out to both organizations. And to be fair. They're mostly both unwatchable. The Knicks, though, it's adorable. They think they're going to get Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant next year. And the Phoenix does not believe that, so they're more realistic.

The suns are more realistic. I think the sun are at least a little more realistic. All right. Best Picture. This, we gave this great thought. The Best Picture Award in our NBA, the Herds kind of mid-season award. It's LeBron, after the trade deadline, sitting on the end of the bench, removed from all of his teammates. Biggest loss of LeBron's career, 42 points.

The excuse was LeBron had a special cushion. He does have a special cushion, but I'm pretty sure that cushion can move. Yeah, it was two weeks ago at the Pacers game. And, yeah, that was not a, now, there were a lot excuses for this, but LeBron kind of, that was when all the Laker teammates, all their names had been in the trades, in all the papers and the internets and the blogs, they were all getting traded.

And LeBron was kind of a separate entity in that picture. That was the best. That's our best picture. That's our Oscar. It's strong for best picture. That concludes the Hurts kind of mid-season. NBA awards. I don't, MVP, I would go

Paul George over Janice because I do think late in games Paul George, the ability to hit a three, great free throw shooter, plays. Yeah, that's where I'd give it out. So good stuff today. Doug Gottlieb stopped by from New York. He was spectacular.

CJ Anderson for the Rams. What a fine he was. Boy, I hope the Rams re-sign him so he comes on our show. Still no answer on Todd Gurley either. Yeah, Rob Parker and a Catino Mobley, the well-appointed pointed man stopped by. We'll see you tomorrow. Speak for yourself next. 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,

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