The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Bears Stadium Fight, Can Wemby Be The Face Of The NBA? Luka’s Liabilities, Colin As An AI

Episode Date: March 1, 2026

Colin’s joined by Danny Parkins, host of “First Thing’s First” on FS1. They start with the ongoing posturing over the location of the new Bears stadium and the potential threat of moving the stadium just over the border into northern Indiana, which Colin argues is ludicrous and the idea that Indiana taxpayers would fit the bill for a Chicago based team is nuts (2:00).  They debate how much time sportscasters should devote to the NBA during the regular season when fan interest isn’t very high, but both agree that the NBA playoffs are still one of the best events on the sports calendar (11:30). Colin argues that there have only been a few “faces” of the NBA throughout its history and discuss whether Wemby will become the next one (21:15). Colin revisits his take that Luka Doncic is just a better version of Carmelo Anthony and feels that the narrative has started to catch on, with Luka’s effort and lack of defense coming into focus nationally (28:00). Colin argues that it won’t be hard for the Lakers to move on from LeBron after the season because he hasn’t spent his career there, and Danny argues that LeBron means more to the league than the Lakers (32:30). Colin reacts to the new Fox Sports product, Colin Cowherd AI where an automated Colin answers sports questions and they discuss their long term view of AI and how it will impact society (47:00). They agree that they’re both “out” on the NFL Draft Combine and talk about which other sports events they just can’t get behind anymore with Danny pointing out regular season college hoops & shares a story about the time Jim Boeheim called in to his radio show (55:30).  Finally, they preview the highly touted upcoming NBA draft class prospects (1:07:00). (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to him. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.

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very, very smart guy. And, you know, so the McCaskies, when you hear these threats by Kevin Warren and the McCaskies of moving, you know, the Bears Stadium, good luck negotiating against J.B. Pritzker, who's a very, very sharp guy. He was a businessman, very successful before he was the governor of the state. And I think he would run circles around the McCaskey family. But what is so insane to me, like I hear the stories. First of all, Chicago is a blue blood American sports market.

It's in the Boston, Philly, Chicago. You could end the list there. I've always said, people think New York City is a great sports city. But yet, 30% of the people are from, you know, Europe, Russia. I've seen the Rose Bowl ratings in Chicago, and I've seen them in New York. You know, New York likes New York. Chicago watches everything. College football, bowling, NASCAR, NBA. Chicago watches everything. It's a great, maybe the best American sports town. And the idea that you pull a stadium out and put it in northern Indiana. And again, for people that don't know what's in northern Indiana, the answer is nothing. South Bend, Gary Hammond, Fort Wayne's probably got 300,000 people. The people in Indiana would have to pay for the stadium. There'd be taxes obviously assessed to build a $2.5 billion stadium. So I look at it and I think this is nonsense.

J.B. Pritzker is going to run circles around the McCasky fan. family and all the kids. How do you view it as somebody that worked here and is a Bears fan? Well, so first of all, I find this story to be joyless because, and so when I get, when I go on the score and, you know, I still follow all those people on social media and they're, they're all my friends and colleagues in Chicago media. I hate how much they feel like they have to talk about it because, yes, it didn't, like, it matters where the Bears play football. But this is a story of billionaires trying to get a better tax rate for a stadium to make them. Yes.

Like they're going to be the Chicago Bears, whether they're on the lakefront, northwest Indiana, or Arlington Heights. They will be the Chicago Bears, just like they are the New York Giants, even though they play in Jersey. They're the Dallas Cowboys, even though they play in Arlington. And so this is just about a family, the McCaskies, who inherited a football team. They are not wealthy like the Pritzkers from Hyatt. No. Some of the poorest owners. Among the poorest owners, their wealth is a team in which they inherited and there's a ton of kids, some of whom want to sell the team and cash in, others of whom feel an obligation to keep it in the family.

And it seems like they're going to. But they don't have, you know, millions and billions of dollars of their own outside of football. And they've played in Soldier Field, small stadium in the NFL, and they didn't own, they didn't own it. I remember Kanye West had a concert the weekend of a Bears game where he brought his childhood home onto Soldier Field and lit it on fire. And so the Bears then played a game like 18 hours later with just a patch of dead grass in the middle because they didn't own the stadium. High school kids would play soccer tournaments and the, you know what I mean?

So it was just it's. It's been known as the worst surface in the league. Parks and Rec in Chicago. runs and it's atrocious. Correct. And it's finally gotten better recently after like literally decades of being the worst. So the point is it's impossible to get in and out of. The renovation was pretty ugly. The field was terrible and it wasn't big enough to host a Super Bowl and it didn't have a roof so you can host the Final Four. Other than that, they nailed it. And so then now it's okay, so the McCaskies want to own their stadium. Fine, but they don't have the money to do it.

Well, J.B. Pritzker, as you mentioned, smart business guy, Illinois, Blue State, it's not very politically popular to have publicly funded stadiums. Right. You saw what happened with the Chiefs in Missouri and Kansas, a couple of red states, and they're getting laughed at for how much public funding they're going to pony up for the new Chief Stadium. So Indiana, Red State, they're going to do it. it or they're going to offer to do it. But my gut tells me they go to Arlington Heights. I don't think George McCaskey has it in them to have the bears leave the state of Illinois when he inherited it from, you know, Virginia McCasky, marries, George Alice, the whole thing. Like, I just, they bought Arlington Racetrack. They spent $300 million, or no, they spent more

than that. It's 320 acres of land for however any hundreds of millions of dollars they bought it for. They're not. real estate developers. Like, they bought that land for a reason. So this is all just the game of chicken. It's all just to get Arlington Heights to lower their property tax rate. And so I find the story to be joyless because it's literally just about can the McCaskies increase their net worth by building an entertainment complex around the new stadium that they will finally own. I just don't care about it that much to be totally can't. Right. It just, who cares? Who cares? They're going to be the show. Caleb Williams is going to the quarterback of the Chicago Bears with Ben Johnson calling the plays.

Whether it's an Arlington Heights or Northwest Indiana, I honestly don't care very much. Yeah, Arlington Heights is close to my house. So I'm obviously don't feel like going to Hammond, Indiana. Can I tell you one thing about Hammond, Indiana? It's where the casinos were. And there's probably only one thing about Hammond, Indiana. Okay. So it's where I would gamble because that's where

that you can that's where there were casinos. So it's right over the border. Like it's Northwest Indiana is Chicago land. It's the really they call it the region. Like I had radio partners, you know, who lived there because of the taxes and it was so much you could work in Chicago pay the $9 toll and then pay way fewer taxes in Indiana. But I would I would live in Wrigleyville and drive there every day and play poker when I was 22 years old because that's where all the casinos were. Now, it's just. It's Gary. It smells bad. It's smokestacks. It's prison. It's terrible. But, you know, cheap land and property taxes. So maybe they'll build a stadium there. I doubt it. I doubt it.

Where do you think you're going to go? Arlington Heights. I don't buy it at all. This is a blue. But, I mean, the Niners play out in Santa Clara. So California is such a massive state. But there's nothing in Indiana. Even Indianapolis is a snooze. I mean, you know a state's a bad food state when you say, where do you go to eat in Indianapolis? And everybody gives you one restaurant, St. Elmo's. Yeah, right. It's just, and there's nothing against Indiana. But, I mean, the state's not wealthy.

The states, it's just not a place that local taxpayers in Indiana don't care about the bears. They love the Colts. You know what? The best part about Indiana is Bloomington. That is a great town. Bloomington's a great college town. Sure. And listen, and I've had plenty of good times in South.

South Bend's going to football games. It's just, I don't, they hired Kevin Warren to get this thing done because he helped spearhead the stadium for the Vikings, which is arguably the best stadium in the NFL. And he just came in with a lot of bluster being like, we're going to get shovels in the ground. He promised shovels in the ground in 2025. We're recording this on March 1st of 2026. and we're still playing one state against another and three different locations against each other

and there's no shovels in the ground happen in any time soon. So it's just, it's a manipulative story. The bears are leaking a ton of stuff to a ton of local meat. Oh, yeah. That's eating it up, which drives me insane. Like, this is just a game of political chicken

and just let it play out. They'll end up in Arlington Heights and everything will be fine. So this is the slowest time of the year. I was thinking about it. And I think I've told the, maybe you or the audience before, but to a large degree, the audience drives my show. I love college football. But when it got very regional for about 12 years when USC went down and Texas went down and Miami was irrelevant, glamour programs. And the Big Ten was miles behind outside of Ohio State, miles behind the SEC.

It became a very regional conference. It was, I mean, every year it was like Clemson, Georgia, Bama, maybe all. Ohio State. And so I've always said I always root for Texas, the Miami Hurricanes, and USC to be good because those are glamour programs. They haven't, they're college football, but they feel like 30% NFL. And now with NIL, Miami does feel like pro football. Like, I mean, honestly, they're like, you know, you're watching them play Indiana and you're like, half of these guys are first round, second round picks. Yeah. So, so I tend to kind of let the audience, I watch ratings, I watch response and I kind of go where they go.

So, for instance, I'm back on college football now because Notre Dame's good, Michigan's good, Texas is good, Ohio, the Big Ten right in the center of the country where massive schools, graduates go all over the place. I predicted it two, three years ago. I said, NIL is going to change everything. The SEC has car dealers. The Big Ten's got car makers. It's going to change the whole landscape. And it has. but so I looked once I let the audience drive the bus once football ends I did my top five things that I will talk about and I've told my staff this NFL draft is number one until following football season and then it'll probably be baseball playoffs March Madness and the Masters those are your four baseball playoffs are in October.

they'll get a lot of love. For you in this time of the year, what do you do? I'm interested in a talk show host perspective. What do you do with the NBA? I mean, I watched the entire Spurs Knicks today. I watched the entire game. What do you do with the NBA when increasingly it's parody driven? There's nothing close to a face of the league.

Hell, it may be wendy in a year. LeBron's on his way out, seemingly. Steph's on an atrocious team, how much do you cover the NBA? Or do you just say the hell with it? I love it. It's big enough. I'm covering it. So that is what I want to be the case, because I do love it. And what I will say is, I still think the playoffs are a great product. They are. I agree with you. It's physical. It's feisty. You know what? The reason it's good is it's got a little hockey football field.

There's animosity every possession. Yeah, absolutely. And by game three or game four, the teams, like, they know each other, they hate each other. It gets chippy. You know, you start counting technical fouls for guys. Like, I just, seriously, like, it's great. And so, and because there is a little bit more parody now, it makes the playoffs even better. It makes the regular season mean less because home court advantage doesn't mean anything

anymore. But it does make the playoffs better because you're like, oh, Indiana can go to the finals. The Timberwolves have been in the Western Conference finals back-to-back years. Like, can the Spurs actually do this, having never won a playoff series before? Like, the Spurs look good against the thunder so the thunder aren't a shoe in anymore. The Nuggets took the thunder to the brink last year, so maybe that series would be compelling again. Like, coming into the year and the first, you know, six weeks of this season, it looked like this was just going to be, oh, the thunder are going to set the wins record and blitz through the playoffs. And there's going to be nothing intriguing about this basketball season. That's no longer the case. And so while I think the Western Conference

finals will be the equivalent of the NFC championship in football, where like Ram C Hawks was the real Super Bowl, because they were clearly better than the AFC this year. And I think the West is clearly better than the East. Like, I do think that, like, round one playoff series are going to be pretty compelling talk, talk items for us on our shows. So for me, like, NFL draft, NFL off season is always number one because it's a 360-wide-day sport. But I would say NBA playoffs is two. And then if you're asking, like, my personal enjoyment, I love March Madness and the Masters as much as any sporting event, but they're not as good a national talker. Today's show brought to you by our presenting sponsor Hard Rock Bet,

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New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers.

This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive.

Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard, you know? Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of My Cultura Podcast Network Available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. man, he running up the court, licking his fingers

while he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body.

On the podcast, cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30, you shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing

to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real, honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not.

During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing empowerment and resilience aren't just ideas. They're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. You know, it's interesting. I was thinking about this this morning watching Wembe. And so I've made this argument multiple times that the NBA has only had about five faces of a lot. league. Wilt was too flaky and not relatable. Dr. Jay spent too many great years in the ABA. Kareem was stoic and unapproachable. Kobe had off-the-court issues. Duncan was boring. Wade was never the best player. Shack may have been the most fascinating player. I'm not sure he was

face of the league, but he was, Kobe took a little bit away from that. Phil Jackson. The Lakers were kind of sharing it. The owner was interesting. He was a playboy. The coach was interesting. The GM in that the faces of the league. Larry Bird, again, was kind of too feisty and kind of a rural feisty, not like a, you know, he wasn't a happy guy. The faces have been Magic Johnson, very unique game, Michael Jordan, the greatest game, Steph, wildly innovative game, and LeBron James, the Swiss Army knife. And I was watching Wembe today. And he's clearly so defensively disruptive, Danny. And it's just, I don't think there's ever been anybody quite like him. I mean, steals, blocks.

He alters every shot. Yeah. I've never, I've never seen basketball players dribble into the lane and then dribble backwards. It's seriously, because like, it's a league where like a legitimate criticism has been like foul hunting. Like everybody just like, oh, I'm going into the lane. I'm going to attack the rim and hope to get fouled. And they're like, nope.

And they just like turn around. It's like they put it in reverse. He's a remarkable defensive talent. He is. But I was thinking about this today because he, you know, Yokic is the best player, but has, he's just not, again, he falls into the Duncan category. He's just not that interesting. SGA, his game's not exciting enough. He's just to score.

It's like Alex English with a higher average, right, on a better team. And I loved Alex English. But I was thinking about Wembe is if his three balls not hitting, in the history of basketball, almost All great players. It's an offensive league. Almost every great player, if you said, hey, man, we need 36 tonight. Magic once played center and scored 42 in a final game. Magic Bird, Wilt, Kareem, even Carmelo, LeBron, Steph, all the great players could just get you Duncan, could get you 35, Luca now, SGA. Wembe, if he's not hitting his three-point shot, he could give you 17, he could give you 24. It's an interesting game. Like, as I watch the game, I'm in awe of it.

But Michael Jordan, an inch shorter or two inches taller, I never thought about his height. Like with Wembe, it's not a game that I fall in love with. It's incredibly disruptive on defense. It's kind of fascinating on offense, but the lob dunks aren't, you know, it's like you look at him and go, Well, yeah, it's like the big kid playing Nerf hoop. Like, it's, of course he dominates. Yeah, but it's the NBA. Well, I know, but as I watch him today, I'm like, I'm not denying his greatness. And I think they'll probably win multiple titles and disruptive defensively like I've never seen.

Maybe Kareem was like that or Russell or Chamberlain. But when I watch his game, I'm not fascinated by it. I'm just impressed by it because of the sheer length of him as a player. And his ability with that size to pull up. It reminds me of a much better Sam Bowie. You don't remember him. I do. YouTube him.

Sam Boy was insane before I got hurt. I mean, he was insane. 7-4 Kentucky could pull up on the wing and shoot a jumper. Right. No bigs did that. So as I watch him, I'm like, I appreciate the greatness. But he doesn't feel like a face of the league guy to me. Okay.

So let me, maybe this is a distinction without a difference. And you tell me, because like, you just said that it looks like, you know, an 8th, grader out there playing on a Nerfoo. It's the NBA. I know. You're not supposed to be able to make it look that easy. And I think him making it look that easy is the thing that it's like, is that a, like, Yokic had him sign his All Star Game jersey with his name and then he had him draw a picture of a face of an alien.

Like these guys are in awe of a literal alien on the jersey because we have never seen anything like it. And I would just, I would just remind you when you talk about his offensive game, he is 22 years old. Now, now, now, true, but it's interesting because he's an ascending player. All of his offensive numbers came down this year. Now, it's slight. But you would think he would take another 8 to 12% lead. They actually all came down. Points, rebounds, field goal percentage. They all came down. Yeah. I mean, listen, he, he's not playing a ton of minutes. they have a surprising amount of talent. They play almost to like an arrogant level so unselfish.

Like Brew has made this point many times, Chris Broussard. And I think it's a correct one. He's like, I want to see them play through Wembe more. Like he's like, I want to see him be more selfish. Great. No, watching today, it's a great point. There are times, I mean, he never disappears on the floor. But there are times, there are times I'm much more, his defense, it's just like, wow, he's as a force onto himself.

Offensively, there are times like, oh, he didn't get a touch on that possession. Yeah, or a stretch of possessions. And that, but that feels like something I've seen before that will come. And they're really good. Like, their efficiency numbers are really good. Their win, their win-loss record is really good. They got hammered today. They couldn't make stops. They just didn't. Cat played well. When the Knicks shoot well, Knicks are good offensively. They got players.

They're very good offensively. I still think they're drawing dead in the playoffs. But I don't think your top two guys can be defensive liabilities. And they are. Same. So I don't think the Knicks can win a title as presently constructed. I am not denying Wemby is the best prospect since LeBron. He's the most disrupted defender ever. And he's going to average 24 points a game. But when I watch him, I'm like, his offensive game is like, I enjoyed watching Steph more, Magic more, Birdmore, Wiltmore.

I just, I don't love the game. Oh, okay. I mean, I guess I would just say, like, give him time and I will be floored if he, if like his peak offensively is averaging 24 a game. Like I, I. For the record. Yeah. Yeah.

For the record, two, three years ago, I was very critical of Luca. And I said, everybody loved him. Yeah. And I got shit because I said, he's a better Carmelo Anthony. He's going to age quickly. I remember that. He doesn't defend. I remember that take.

Yeah. And people pushed back this last week. I must have read that 12 times. And I'm like, guys, if you don't play defense, Harden, Mello, Luca, it will create resentment, number one. It will create resentment in locker room. It's a small locker room, Danny. You know, in baseball, 10 guys go down to the bullpen.

They're not even part of the team in the locker room. Yeah. In basketball, it's a small roster, seven to eight. guys play. I mean, hell, it's sometimes you have more coaches on the bench than guys that actually get in the rotation. And so, like, word travels fast if you're a dog. So if you don't play defense, Hardin's head, Carmelo, Luca, not a lot of playoff success. The second thing is, in a long series, the coaching's too good in the NBA. They hunt you. If I got to play Luca five straight games, well, I know, and by the way, the more you get hunted, the more effort you put, by the end of a series,

I've seen Luca before at the end of a series. He's shot, Harden at the end of a series, because they hunt him for five games. Yeah, right. Whoever he's guarding, that guy sets the screen on the ball, right? And so you just bring him into the action every single time and you make him run and you make him do a ton of things there. Listen, to me, Luca can be the best player on a title team. I still believe that. I do, too.

I do too. Okay. But I think you need to have like a very specific roster. constructed around him. And it's the same point. It's the cousin of the point I was just making about towns and Brunson. Like, you can't, everyone else around Luca needs to be an amazing athlete and a great defensive player and long and able to switch and cover and cover. And preferably catch and shoot because he's always got the ball. Yes. Right. Like three and D guys. You want, you want as many. Now, the whole league wants three and the guys. But like, you want you want, you want long

athletic wings who can switch who are going to be catch and shoot three guys and all that. But he's going to get you your offense. And why I kind of push back against your mellow thing is like, Luca is a great passer. Like he, he is a great passer. Like he will, like, Luca, when he's got the screen and roll and he's like throwing the lobs to guys, it's why DeAndre Aiton's so frustrating. Like, he's like, oh, do you want to make me Clint Capella, that thing that was going around the other day? It's like, that, that'd be good for you. Like, go. Go, be seven feet tall with two of the best passers in the world and go catch lobs all day. Like, you should, like, you, that, like, the Lakers need a rim running center who's, like,

actually willing to be a rim running center. And so, but they, but because LeBron is what he is at this age defensively, and Reeves is what he is defensively, which is like he gives effort, but he's not a plus defender. Yeah. And obviously, Luca is what he is. like they can't win. Like people like ask us to talk about the Lakers on the shows. And it's like, are they a contender or a pretender? It's like, no, they're, the only way they win is if they are like the best offensive team in the sport by like, you know, but they have to just out shoot you. Yeah.

And that's, you can't, you can't do that in the West. The teams are too good. So I, I think they're also drawing dead for, for winning more than one series. Yeah. It's interesting with LeBron, you know, the Dodgers owners now on the Lakers. And, um, You know, they let go of Cody Bellinger and Scott Sager and Trey Turner on the batting title and Mani Machado in his prime, which I was surprised with Zach Grinky. They don't. They'll let go of people. And by the way, all the analytics tell you that Luke and LeBron on the floor don't work because, and for obvious reasons, one, they both need the ball. Two, both are, I mean, LeBron is now the second slowest player in the league. So like the tandem of Luke and LeBron is like it's a disaster on the floor. But not to include myself in this, but I saw this week, like Chris Berman announced his retirement, and it'll be like in a year, and he'll have worked like 50 years at ESPN.

And that's Jeter. That's Kobe when you play for one team. That's Dan Marino, right? So there's this love. You know, I've bounced around to different companies. I've been a bit of a mercenary, you know, have microphone, we'll travel. What's the best offer? What's the best commerce?

That was best for my family. That's why I did it. I could have stayed everywhere if things worked out. But the downside of being a mercenary in basketball and broadcasting in politics, the downside to being a mercenary is there's not a lot of romanticism about it. Right. Like, so LeBron, you could show him the door tomorrow. Magic Johnson walks into that arena.

He's still more beloved than LeBron. To this day, he walks into Staples, and it's fascinating to watch. The crowd stands. It's like, ooh, there's magic. It's like, you've never seen him. You're all seasoned. Headholders. So my take is the advantage the Dodgers have is you can let LeBron go. And people will be like, well, I'll build them a statue. And I don't think like, like, it's not Jordan. It's not Pippen. It's, it's not the 85 bears. It's well, and I defended LeBron's mobility. But like, L.A.'s distracted. Like, nobody's going to care. No. So a couple things. First of all, we will romanticize you, Colin. Whenever you want to hang it up, I promise you, I promise you, we will give you your flowers. And don't worry, you're very important to all of us at episode.

Blah, blah, blah. And the volume. So yeah, you are, you are the son of which we all know. So don't worry. You'll get your flowers and your goodbye to her, but you're not, you're not going anywhere anytime soon. LeBron means more to the NBA than he means to the Lakers. I totally agree.

But, you know, like, I wouldn't worry if I were, if I owned the Lakers, about saying goodbye to LeBron, but I would worry if I was Adam Silver about saying goodbye to LeBron. LeBron still matters. He is still interesting. People still care about him. I went to the Bulls game with LeBron. He was the most popular player. I mean, of course he was the most popular.

He's one of the most famous people in the world. He's one of the most famous. He's one of the greatest athletes ever any sport. he's it's remarkable it's remarkable like he he's taking up golf and i can't get enough of it like i like watching the clips of lebron trying to learn golf because it's like oh man lebron he's just like me he's yeah duffing it out of the rough like he's i would imagine like obviously i have no idea what it's like to be lebron obviously but i've got to think if i was him or in his camp there would be a sinister of me that when he retires would wonder what shows like ours on both networks would talk about.

We've spent, I mean, you've been at this long with me. I've been doing national TV for a year and a half. How many thousands of hours between the two networks do you think LeBron has programmed? Oh, I said, 50,000. I said this to a baseball executive 10 years ago. I was about a year before I left ESPN. And I told this baseball executive, it was in Connecticut and there were a bunch of baseball people there. I said, do you understand

nobody talks about your sport? And you may look at first take and you may, you know, my show wasn't a thing at FS1 yet. But I mentioned four or five popular hosts and Tony and Mike and all the, you know, I don't even think GetUp was a show yet. But I said, you know, Mike and Mike, I think was. Mike and I said, nobody talks baseball.

I said, do you understand how many free hours the NFL and the NBA get on these networks. It's insane. Now, baseball, Otani, the Dodgers, you and I have said this, they're great for baseball. They've got a villain again for the first time of 20 years. Like, they need a villain.

They need a bad guy. So, yeah, no, I think there isn't really, in fact, I've noticed, Danny, when I talk NBA now, I talk Knicks. I don't talk players. I talk Knicks. I talk, oh, I don't talk warriors. I would say Celtics, Knicks, Lakers.

I don't really talk a player. I really don't. And I think that's one of the challenges the NBA has because it's always been its most popular when there's a galvanizing or a polarizing figure to lead the way. Yeah. And so to circle back to Wembe,

because I do think he can be that, because he might just start breaking all of the rules. Like, the whole thing in the NBA was like, you have to, like, crawl before you can walk before you can run. Like it happened with Michael Jordan. It happened with LeBron in terms of like he would lose to the pistons and the Celtics.

And then he would beat them. And then he would win his title. And that was like the progression of the whole thing. Like if Wembe just enters the playoffs at 22 and beats Yokic and beats the thunder and wins it, they'll be like, oh, well, that's different. You know? Yeah. Yeah.

Like there are just things about him that are different. And like I as a longtime basketball fan, you was a long time basketball fan, I can't appreciate it. I've seen Wemby, and I've said this before, I don't think to you, but it's just, it's a highlight that sticks in my mind, and I'm a nerd about this stuff, but like, not like a trailing three where his momentum is carrying him towards the basket because he's running in transition. A catch and shoot, standstill three-pointer. I've seen this alien, catch a ball, shoot it, recognize that it was long, run, catch the rebound and tip slam his own missed three point shot.

That's not supposed to be physically possible. Like, like, Jordan would do it off of a missed free throw when someone else would miss a free throw. And he would have a running start and jump and tip slam and put it back. Like this guy, he can get from half court to dunking and two dribbles. Like, it's just a, I do think that Wembe can capture our. basketball curiosity. But you, but you do know this, the big guys don't sell shoes, for instance. Yeah.

Right. Yeah. I mean, so. Like, I want to be like Mike or I want to, or, you know, staff, I can shoot threes. I want to be like Mike was a moment in time with campaigning. Everyone wanted to fly. No one thinks their kid could grow up and be wendy. And that's when I watch him.

It might be the least relatable physical specimen ever. That's fair. Yeah. And I think that's, it's like, and then that's, That's when I watch Wemby. I'm not disputing any of it, but it doesn't feel necessarily relatable. It's not always artistic. It's just almost genetically fantastic.

Listen, I watch Shaq in Orlando. I actually covered them a few times, Shaq in Orlando. And when Shaq first came into the league, the best part about Shaq is when you get a rebound, take it the length of the floor and like almost break the backboard. It was the power. Yeah. And I think Wemby's not as much power. He's just length and dexterity. And so it's not that I don't appreciate it.

But I look at him and I think, I don't know, does the kids relate to that? Is it fun? Is it, I mean, because Jordan was cool. Magic, the no look passes. Bird was actually kind of cool. Curry's cool. There is a cool factor in the NBA. You know, I've said this to you before.

One of the reasons I don't like the three-point shot because the basketball is the most artistic sport in the world. Yeah. But I don't want Ant shooting 13 threes. Of course. No, listen, we're in... I want to dunking.

I honestly think everybody is in agreement on that. Including the players and the teams, they just know that they have to shoot threes in order to win, so they do it. But I think everybody, like,

artistically agrees with that. But so, like, when LeBron's step and KD retire, which is, you know, we probably have another five years before like the last of them is out of the yeah maybe you know i mean katie's talking about playing the 2028 olympics so like we yeah four or five years i would say with those guys with at least one of them do you like i guess i just i think cooper flag cooper flags it to me okay yeah because

i but i guess my point is like i i don't there's so much talent and basketball is such a popular sport that i don't i don't really worry about it Like I think if I was Adam Silver, I'd be much more concerned about stuff we talked about a couple podcast episodes ago. Like too many threes, guys getting injured too much, not knowing if a star is going to play when you buy your tickets in advance, tanking, like, which I know you and I disagree on a little bit. But like, I would be more worried about like macro issues than I would be about stars. Like I I think they will find stars because basketball is just really good at creating stars. even if there isn't a singular LeBron, Michael, Magic, in face of the league,

I still think there will be enough high-level talents that will sell jerseys and shoes. Well, the other thing we have to be fair to all these sports and all these athletes is they're not fighting over a tiny slice of the pie. I mean, go look at Michael Jordan and Magic's contracts. They're like what a popular DJ makes in New York City. Like, it was like they were fighting over a, you know,

Magic signed a 25-year, $25 million deal. that would be a horrendous IG account now for an NBA player. Right. Like so I think the reality is it is hard to get worked up when you, you know, signed a $300 million contract or a $100 million contract. It's like even in the NFL, you're being tackled by players. And the NFL games over, players are shaking hands and their fist bump. And hey, I'll see you in the golf tournament at Hilton Head this year. We have homes next to each other. It's like Chris Paul and Steph Curry. They have places. in Mexico. They're fighting on the court. They both have mansions. And I think it's hard to get, it's hard to muster up that angst when everybody's eating. Yeah. Yeah. Right. There's a lot of money in this in this stuff. There's a lot of money in professional sports. But this, I mean, this all began because you were talking to me about like what I'm most interested in in the dead period of sports. Like, even with all of the issues, I'll still take the two and a half months of the NBA playoffs of every night one, two, three games of these, these athletes going 100% against each

other. Like I still think it's great theater. I love Thursday to Sunday opening weekend of March Madness going from 64 teams to 16. It's fantastic. Single elimination is amazing. You know, I want to play Augusta more than basically anything in the world, but I don't know anybody. So anyone wants to invite me.

Any members listening to the herd podcast? No, but like I, so the masters will get me from start to finish like every year. But, you know, we're a splintered society, Colin. You know that. Like, so the things that everybody cares about really are football at this point. So that's why you're going to hear a lot of Fernando Mendoza talk. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what?

We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. First people to do podcasts.

Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was...

This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast. We could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game.

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

And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball, like,

after you go through a training camp with that, Isa, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman

walking through life, one hot flash and hormonal crying jack. at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with the Adamia Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, Sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How hard can it be? Getting naked at 50 with the new guy.

That one's kind of hard, you know? Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcasts. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard.

I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30. You shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have all. Wow. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right?

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So this week, it's something Fox had been working on for like 10 or 11 months. They took all my opening rants and they threw them into this AI machine. Yeah. And they came out 11 months later and they're like, okay, listen to I didn't know they were doing it. And Eric Shanks during a commercial break says, listen to this. And he asked it a question and it was me spitting it out except I could see a picture of me. this version, you just hear me, you don't see me. His version, you could see me. And frankly, it was way better looking than me. I was like, oh, I was listening. I looked like David Hasselhoff.

I had all this hair. But the point was, is I thought to myself, you know, some people won't like it. You know, people will say, oh, well, you're just, you know, you're eliminating jobs. Well, it has nothing to do with the show or the volume. It's just basically like a trivia app. You know, you go to Fox Sports app. You go to the AI. But it is interesting because in my entire life, and maybe the media really does think this, the media tends to veer to chaotic and worst case scenario. So when I did this AI thing, my takeaway was, the smartest people in the world do not know the outcomes. Nobody really knows.

We're not going to have 38% unemployment. I'm absolutely sure of just that. There'll be shoulder economies. I mean, like I've said before, even if it did a better job than my accountant, I still like my accountant and trust my accountant and call my accountant every day. I'm not replacing my accountant. I may ask my accountant to be able to use AI, but I'm not getting rid of my realtor, my accountant, my lawyer,

like none of that stuff. So just as a starting point for this, as a member of the media, when you look at AI, are you, do you think, oh, it could replace me? Holy crap, what are my kids are going to do? Oh, Jesus. I mean, how do you view it? Apocalyptic? No.

No, listen, it's a tool. And I think that like anything, there is good and bad. So I'll get back to AI in a second. But like social media, net positive for the world, net negative for the world. There's a lot of arguments on both sides. I'd say slight negative. Okay. Right.

And I think I would too. Right? Like you can read stories about how like in some places in the world they don't really have the internet, but they have Facebook. And so their only access to news is misinformation and it has led to civil war. And it's like, that is mortifying. And it's, and it's influenced elections. And it's like really toxic internet brained a lot of people.

And that would be in the negative column. It also is how people meet and how people see pictures of their grandkids when they live far away. And has created careers and launched new media empire. And you know what I mean? Like it's a lot of good and a lot of bad with social media. Like I think I think net negative, net positive social media is a I think it's close. It's a little of both. Yeah, of course.

Of course. Because the world is gray. The world needs nuance. So like AI. I am thrilled that you know I do a lot of fundraising. I'm very proud of it for brain cancer research and on our. of my brother who passed away. I'm thrilled that I read about and occasionally talk to and know people in the space

that, like, are really, really, really optimistic about what AI might be able to do to help figure out ways, because the brain is the most complicated computer, of like, delivering medicine to portions of the brain that have previously not been available through normal medical science. I absolutely want the medicinal field to be using AI if they think it can help, right?

Do I love the idea that like you, one of the greatest takesman of all time, have given all of your takes to the big brain machine who maybe, just maybe won't replace Colin Cowherd, he of many homes

and many companies, but that like that might somewhere down the line replace a guy like me a few rungs lower than you on the totem pole like the thought crossed my mind um but so like it's will it have negative impacts absolutely like will it cost people jobs absolutely but will it also like cure a disease and like save millions of lives yeah i think inevitably And so I don't, I don't, I don't try to get too apocalyptic on either side. And I tend to think that like, I actually have a job that is like in a pretty good spot for it. Pretty immune. Pretty immune for it, right? Like live, live TV is pretty safe. Yeah.

Yeah, it feels like live TV is pretty safe. So, yeah. So like I selfishly personally feel okay. but like the person who writes the catchy headlines for the bottom line on our TV show, I don't know. That job might be able to be done by AI if I'm being totally candid with you. So like, you know, I again, like net negative, net positive. Like I think I we're going to, we're going to see.

And so I'm not, I'm not apocalyptic, but I'm not also like totally. bullish, like I'm the most excited about it that I've ever been. Like, I think there's going to be good and bad that comes from it. Yeah. I mean, it's, I, I, I just like the social lubrication of, I like to call my attorney. I like to call. Like, but just sometimes I'm like, I need an answer. I want to talk to a human.

It's more comforting than a computer. So I, I, you know, there's a lot of things. But you're, you're 60. Like, right. Like, will, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, someone who's 25, who doesn't have an accountant yet because they're not making any money yet, like, will they feel the need to do that? I have no idea. Well, I mean, listen, I have no idea. We had an entire industry, the cab industry. I mean, you got replaced. Yeah. Like, yeah,

I mean, like just it does happen. The typewriter went away, cabs went away. I mean, it's made our job. The internet's made our job. thousand times easier instead of like reading seven newspapers what I used to do in Las Vegas where I I mean literally I had two newspapers I mean it was insane what you had to do to do a sports talk show host and sports anchor when I was an intern for ESPN 1000 uh in Chicago one of my jobs every day was to like print out the baseball standings and like hang them in the studio and then like take the like agate page of the newspaper and like magnified and blow it up and put it at each of the host stations so that they could see like the box scores from the night before because you couldn't like just pull it up on the computer easily. So yeah. Like now if I'm filling in for you doing a solo

three hour radio and television show and I can't think of a fact, I'm a good enough speaker and thinker and typeer that I literally can be looking into a camera. on national TV talking into a microphone. And I know I could say something and your producers would help me out with it. But like I can Google like, you know, Anthony Edwards age. Because I'm like, I can't remember if you 24 or 25. And it'll pop up. So yeah, the technology is amazing.

And it's made our job a lot easier. Sorry. I was just yes, ending you there. The NFL Combine is something. And I think I, we touched on this earlier. I, it evin flows on what I talk about. College football got too regional. I stopped talking about it to a large degree.

Now it's back. Jim Harborough brought it back. The Big Ten brought it back. Now I talk about it all the time. The NFL Combine, I am out on. I am out on the NFL. The last two years... Were you ever in on it?

Yes. You were. Yeah, I think for a long time, it was just NFL. And I loved the, I like the convergence of college and pro. I love the draft. That makes sense. But it's so rehearsed. Many of the stars don't show up.

I don't care about people's hand size. I really don't care. And the truth is, I think one of the things that's really smart, one of the reasons I love the way the L.A. Rams do business is they're not, they're willing to say things and do things that other people won't. They just said several years ago, we're not going. That we do our own homework. We have tape.

We can go to the senior bowl. We're not doing a quick 15-minute interview where Johnny Mansell had NFL all teams believing. He was Peyton Manning. It's like, let's ride. I never want, it's a bullshit seminar. And it's just polished vis-a-vis agents. These guys come in with talking points. They train in Phoenix. You know, everybody runs their fastest 40. Everybody's got abs. You know, it's like nobody, everybody has their best vertical. It's football. By October 12th, nobody runs a 4-3. Not even the four-three guys. They've got a bad hip. They've got an ankle sprain. Like the whole, like the whole leagues beat up by week six. It's just a, it's a sport of attrition. You're just trying to get your

best players available, like, down the stretch. So I find myself, like we know who's going to go number one, is there anything that you have moved out of? Like, I'm just not, I was never a home run derby guy, for instance. I was never, so that I was never in, I didn't leave it. Pro Bowl, I've joked. I've never watched four plays. I think the last time I watched the Pro Bowl, Walter Abercrombie was a running back for the Baylor Bears and the Steelers briefly. I don't even know where he played. Like I remember watching it. He had a big run.

I think it was him. So I don't watch that. Combine I used to, it doesn't do a thing for me now. I turned it on for 20 minutes today and I moved over to the NBA and said, more interested. Yeah. So the Combine, like, that was one that I always, I understood it because the NFL is just the cash cow and it's the thing that makes the whole business go. But, like, man, these networks really invested in their combine coverage.

They're on live for the whole time. Rich Eisen is running the 40, like he's participating. Like, you know what I mean? Like, they made it into like big business and big TV. And the whole time was like, this is the underwear Olympics for a draft that like, I'm not sure we like should be having. And it's just like they, it's between all the college football tape and the in-person interviews and the pro days. and like the number one pick never throws.

Like it's just like it's just go get your height and your weight measured basically. Like so I just, I never was that enthralled by it and was kind of amazed that these networks could get. Yeah. Eight hours a day of televised content out of it. So I've never been a huge combine guy. Regular season college basketball is something that I very much used to love and now. Yeah, really. I think America did.

Yeah. I used to love it. And part of it was age, too, to be honest with you, like, just like, I went to Syracuse. That program mattered. Then I worked in Kansas City. So I was around KU. That program mattered. Good college basketball markets.

But then, like, you grow further, you grow up. You grew further away from your alma mater. You moved to a pro sport market. You realize that, like, you know, it doesn't matter. Like, you can go. 10 and 8 in the Big 10 and make the tournament and then make a run. So one game doesn't mean all of that much. So regular season college basketball has lost me tremendously.

Yeah, you know, it's really interesting. The advantage to age is hopefully over the course of your life, you've consumed enough interesting things and had interesting relationships that you have a little bit. You can impart a little bit of wisdom. And I've said this before. For a 20, for any sportscaster that's 18 to 35. the two things you missed out on, boxing was freaking unbelievable. Yeah.

Like great athletes, big personalities, Hagler, Hearns, Leonard, Duran, Ali. I mean, it was just insane, young Tyson. The second thing is, God damn, the Big East was unbelievable. Oh, it's one of the best 30 for 30s ever. Of all kinds. The coaches hated each other. Oh, yeah. The coaches were Patino and Thompson.

and Beheim and PJ Carlissimo and Louis Carnaceca. I was a West Coast kid. I never watched the Pac-12. I was like, I watched the Big East. And so it's very hard for you and I, because you know the Big East, you're old enough. It is hard now to watch what college basketball is now. I mean, I love watching Gonzaga, Duke, or the, you know, like to go watch this kid at BYU or Darren Peterson. But you tell 30-year-old sportscasters, yeah, there would be like Georgetown would have four NBA.

guys and there would be fights regularly in games. Often the coaches were already to their throat. Oh, like, yeah, Matt, yeah, the, the old Big East was incredible. And then when I was, when I was there, it was when the Big East, like, before, you know, the schools left to go to the ACC, but the Big East blew up and it was a 16-team conference. It was still, I still feel like I caught the end of it because John Thompson's kid was coaching Georgetown. Yeah. Jay Wright was at Villanova. Patina was at. Louisville. Bayheim was still at Syracuse. Jay Wright was at Villanova. Bob Huggins was at West Virginia. And so I'm a student reporter going down to Madison Square Garden to cover Big East Media Day.

And all of those coaches are sitting there at tables. I'm like, man, this is a big deal. So that's 2006, seven, eight, you know, like that. But post-conference realignment and football driving the bus for everything and it broke up the basketball super conferences. and then you add in NIL, which I am in general in favor for, but it's changed that aspect of it. And then a lot of the famous coaches, you know, Jay Wright's like, I don't want to do this. I don't want to recruit my freshman to stay for my sophomore year.

I can make more money in TV. You know, Coach K retires, Jay Wright leaves, Roy Williams leaves, Beheim leaves, a lot of the big personality, coaches leave. And it's still as a, again, March Madness, I used to joke in Chicago because it's not a big enough college sports market. I would say, like, when I was doing mornings or like middays, I was like, I'll work because I'm off the air at one. I was like, but you guys don't deserve to have me on the air in the afternoon during the opening

of the tournament because you don't care enough. But you guys want me to like spring training Cubs baseball. And I'm like, I'm like, I got six bets going on on these. Yeah, that's J-Mack. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, the opening. It's the best, man.

64 down to 16 over four days, single elimination, upsets, four games at a time, starting at noon, ending at 11 p. That is the best. Like, I still get totally amped up for it. I just now come into it with a lot less regular season body of work knowledge because of the job. Like, we're doing more NBA. We're doing NFL year round in Chicago. I was doing baseball year round. And so I just, you know, my team sucks. Syracuse is terrible.

So I fully admit that I parachute in to college basketball now in a way that I used to never before. I used to be like into it and be watching early season tournaments and going to games and the whole thing, man. And it was great. It was great like, I mean, this is again a little inside baseball, but I know you'll like it. Like Jim Beheim, he used to have open practices. You could just go. You could go as a student reporter. You could just, the whole thing, you can just walk in and watch and practice.

I watched dozens of Syracuse basketball practices from second row. It was the greatest. It was like a real cool, like, then you could ask questions at the press conferences and he would chew you out like he was a real guy. He used to call in, Colin, to my post-game show. He would be driving home and he'd hear me say something. He was so, like, he had such rabid. years that if the local, if national media ever criticized him, he never said anything.

But if local media ever criticized him, he was like, I'm the biggest game in town. And he was. And he left and look at him now. Yeah, exactly. You know, he was 100% right. But I used to be like, oh, man, Beheim's over the hill. He's got his kids playing on the team. I'm like, we need some new blood in there.

Now the school can't even, they can't even make the NIT. It's pathetic. But he, I once had a take, this is so stupid. They had two names that Super College basketball has. Brandon Trish and Scoop Jardine. I was like, you got to name one of them the point guard. You know, it's like it's like it's, you know, the old football adage. You had two quarterbacks, you have none.

You got to have a point guard. Phone line rings for my post game show. Call screen, screen, and it's like, it's Jim in Syracuse. I'm like, he's like, that gym. I'm like, what? Put him on. He goes, Danny. I go, Jim, is this you?

He goes, listening to your show driving home from our win, by the way. He goes, I just want you to know that you say I need to name a point guard. If they're not pressing, you could bring the ball up across half of course. It doesn't matter. It was incredible. It was incredible. One of the greatest moments of my career. I was like, oh, my God, that's such a good point.

That's why you're a Hall of Famer. Thanks for calling Jim. My first time, long time. Don't be a stranger. And it was the greatest. And we've had a pretty good relationship ever since. Yeah, no, he would come on and be feisty. Yeah.

It's great. I always liked him. And, you know, people say all these coaches are overrated. Villanova's not the same. Syracuse is not the same. Don't tell me they're overrated. I mean, Arizona. And what Petino has turned St. John's into.

I mean, just... Petino's one of the greatest coaches ever. Like, yeah. Listen, I don't know if you know Doug Gottlie, but I know Doug Gottlie. So he takes over a program in a big conference, smaller conference, but it's not a great conference. And the programs are mess. Yeah. Last time I looked at the standings, they were in second in year two.

So it's like, you know, and I'm thinking he was doing a radio show and coaching. But he was, you know, he's a bit of a savant with college basketball. I mean, he knows everybody. He lives it. He breathes it. He sleeps it. But my takeaway is, yes, coaching matters. Like, like, let's stop.

Like, Beheim. Syracuse was fascinating because I know you went to college there and are probably proud of it. But I remember going to that campus and thinking, man, it's not the prettiest thing. Like, what does he sell kids? I mean, it's kind of in the middle of nowhere. Oh, yeah. How did he? Well, I mean, listen, it was, I mean, they, the dome.

Well, they paid players. You know what I mean? There were recruiting violations, right? Like NIL before NIL. So that was a part of it for sure. But everybody was doing that. He sold a brand of basketball. Come play my two, three zone.

Yeah, matchup zone. So you can, but you don't have to use as much energy on defense. And then run on offense. Not a lot of design plays, a lot of pick and rolls, a lot of transition. a lot of like NBA style a lot of NBA style well they all yeah I mean his his is the key to him

he always had incredible length his teams were fast and long and looked like pro teams yeah so he would recruit for his system so he would his selling point was basically like go get your numbers however you can get your numbers like play your brand of basketball on offense play my brand of basketball

on defense and you will play in front of more people than you'll play in front of it, Madison Square Guard or Staples Center. They put 30,000 people in there for college basketball games in November with three feet of snow outside. Like the dome in its hey day would rock. And it was just like a, and it was like a singular thing. Like Cameron is an is an amazing place. And Allen Fieldhouse is maybe the best venue I've ever seen a sporting event at. Like it's, you know, the smaller, loud places are very, very special.

the dome is a one-of-one thing. You know, like 30,000 people for regular season college hoops games was a regular occurrence. You would set the, they set the attendance record every year. They would pick a game. They'd sell just a few extra tickets. It was like, oh, we're going to set the record against Duke. We're going to set the record against Louisville.

We're going to set the record against Villanova. And 33,000, 34,000 people. And so it was just, that's what it was. And he would recruit like a very Baltimore, D.C., New York. Like, he would just, he had his area of the country that he recruited from. And it was a pipeline. Yeah. What would you do with Darren Peterson, who had missed at one point 11 of 27 games?

Jeff Goodman was on my show last week and said, I think it's gotten into his head. And what would worry me is Markell Fultz and Royce White, Jordan Speath and David Duvall and some of Biles and when stuff gets into an athlete's head, that's, I used to have a therapist that used to say this. He said, be careful what you put on the merry go around upstairs because it's hard to get it off. And then you're 19 or you're 20 and you're on a college campus and you're getting crucified on social media. And we didn't deal with that stuff. Like, do you think it's a, like, I mean, it's obviously a really talented player. But it does, in my take is if he goes into the tournament, doesn't play, plays poorly, it's like, I think I think I'm.

I'd struggle to draft him number one. Like in a loaded draft with like eight really good players, it's like, I may take him three. I don't know. It's like right now it's number one. But when you hear it's in his head, I'm like, that's not a great place for young people to be basketball or not. Yeah. So I think when you watch him, I'm like, oh, is that Anthony Edwards or Kobe Bryant or Dwayne Wade? Like he looks like he is going to be like an NBA All-Star for a decade, elite score.

Oh, it's got some Kobe comps, yes. You know, so it's like, so I'm interested in that at number one, like as a basketball talent. He needs to explain it. Like, like this is one where the pre-draft workouts and interviews and what he does the rest of the way and the tournament to your point, like they're going to matter a lot. Now, you said three, I tend to think the floor is two. Like, I think, you know, DeBansta looks awesome, right? Like, 6-8, length, plays hard, can score. Well, Booser, Cameron Boozer's got a lower ceiling.

I think he's a really, really good player. Plays for 20 years, 18. I mean, it looks hands, feet, but the ceiling's low. Right. Well, exactly, though. But that's kind of my point is that, like, there's a lot of good players in this draft. But if you get the number one pick, like, you're trying to get the franchise alterer.

You're trying to get the face of the league, the face of the franchise, the best player on the title team. And Peterson clearly has the ceiling of that. So I think you're still going to see teams be willing to strike out on it. And like the phrase boom or bust for prospects exists for a reason. Like he's got boom and he's got bust. DeBansta might have enough of the ceiling where he goes one and Peterson goes two because of this. Like, I do think that's in play, but I don't think him going any lower than two is realistic, barring like a, I don't even want to like, a serious medical issue, a serious admission on his part of like, I don't know if I love basketball, which I don't think is the case.

Right. Nobody says that. No, that's not the case. But I'm just saying, like, I think that there would have to be something shocking to come out in the next few months for him to fall any lower than two. I think one is the ceiling and two is the floor. Right, Danny Parkins, are you back from vacation in the Bahamas, which is an unbelievable place? And I don't go to on vacation for a while, a couple weeks. Yeah, I'm heading east.

It is, I will say this, that vacation thing, golf, sun, beach, cocktails, it doesn't get old. You know, used to, when I was in my 20s, I was like, I want to get back to work. I never think that anymore. Yeah. No, when you say like you're going again in a couple of weeks, I don't know what I'm going again. Like you have more time off than me, but not it was, listen, I mean, it was, I love our job. I absolutely love it. But yeah, this, the week off was necessary. And like, I think I found my perfect day as like a married man with young kids. First guy off on the golf course. So the first tea time that they would let me have is seven 50 in the morning. So I'd wake up. Kids and wife are still asleep, out the door, go, stretch, driving range, warm up.

First guy off. Colin, I played this course in the Bahamas. I played three times. Two and a half hours, because I would play solo. So I played in two and a half hours by myself. Come back. Wife and kids are up. They had a big breakfast. They're down at the pool. I meet them. I'm back by 11. I'm a hero. I got 18. 18 holes in and I still have the full day. Then water park, water slides with my boys. What's more fun than a water slide with a six-year-old? It's great.

Skiing and water slides where your young kids are the best. I went down the same two dueling water slides that like you could like go at the same time and race down with like that my kid was tall enough for. We counted. We went down 27 times in a row. It was he was so tired. It was incredible. just like, I would get the bottom and he'd be like, again. And I'm like, again. And then we went out to dinner at a great place at the resort. And then the-

And the kids crashed. And the kids crashed. And the resort had accredited child care. And so we would pay for a babysitter to come sit in the room while the kids sleep. And then my wife would get dressed up. And we would go and we would like play Blackjack and have cocktails and listen to some music. I mean, just what a day. And I did it six days in a row. It was incredible. Incredible. Good for you. Thank you, sir. You've earned a great football season, and I love when you come on a podcast, buddy. Thanks, Colin.

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