The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Nick Wright Part 2, Shorten NBA Playoffs, LeBron’s Longevity, Jalen Hurts The Best Ever “Face of the Franchise”?

Episode Date: November 22, 2023

Colin is joined by Nick Wright, the host of First Things First, and Colin proposes the one change he’d like to see most in sports (3:30). They talk about the absolutely ridiculous level of play we�...�re seeing from LeBron James in year 21 and why it’s overshadowing incredible seasons from Steph Curry and Kevin Durant at age 35 (7:50). They laud Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts as potentially the greatest ‘face of the franchise’ in NFL history (16:50), why his situational awareness is elite both on and off the field (29:00), and the invaluable trait Hurts shares with Michael Jordan (35:50). (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.
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Starting point is 00:03:05 terms and responsible gaming resources. So last time we were together, Nick, we had this thing where I said, if you could change one thing in sports, what would it be? Oh, yeah. Because I think both of us, we love sports and we think about new ways to improve it. Last night's Chief Eagles result. That's the... That doesn't sound.
Starting point is 00:03:27 That's the answer. All right, but, sorry. But I thought about this because we both. love the NBA. And I was thinking that the NBA over the last 20 years has lost some audience, although they picked it up on streaming. And there's so many platforms now, younger people watch it differently than, you know, linear TV and all that stuff. So the losses, I think, are overstated. It's still incredibly valuable, pulls me in, pulls my friends, and all my friends of my age still got their teams. But I thought about this. It could help. So it takes a long time to
Starting point is 00:04:00 become an icon. I would argue LeBron was not a true global icon until he was humiliated in Miami and then came back and won his first. And that was really this this crescendo it had built to. He was well known. He was most talented. Yeah, I agree with that. It was when he joined the stars. He lost and was was humiliated. It was the NBA's villain. Everybody loves a villain. And then he won the following year. He's crying. It's like, okay, now he's global. Now he's Nikon. So it takes a long time, even if you're the best. And then almost got to a different level when he did it in Cleveland. He did get to a different and that was a whole different thing. Yep. And so I thought, so what the NBA has always been was when it has its stars who even Magic Bird take a while to become iconic. Steph, Steph wasn't iconic when he
Starting point is 00:04:53 won his first title pre-KD. He wasn't. step maybe honestly you're going to interrupt you could argue step wasn't truly iconic until the last ring he was
Starting point is 00:05:09 he was he was going to be I would argue the 73 win season and then because it ended the way it did and then he didn't reach the mountain top again or when he did reach
Starting point is 00:05:23 the mountain top again it was alongside a guy of equal statue that like maybe he already was iconic, but Steph, what really cemented step in a different way was the title post-KD which, by the way,
Starting point is 00:05:37 if anyone's been watching Jordan Poole lately, Steph gets his ring. You know what? I know I'm a LeBron guy. Steph has five rings now. Jordan Poole has zero. Steph has his and Jordan Pools. He has five rings.
Starting point is 00:05:46 But go ahead. Sorry. You were doing something. Yeah, that's been a mess. So I was thinking leagues do better when they have, especially star-driven leagues, the English Premier League.
Starting point is 00:05:56 the NBA when they have iconic stars. I think the NBA and owners would have to sign off on this because short turn they'd make less money. Is that if LeBron James could win a title this year, if he had a three-game first round series, a three-game second, a five-game conference, and a seven-game finals. When you ask LeBron to have a seven gamer and his team, it's hard to sweep even crappy teams. So LeBron can't give you 20 great postseason games. He could give you 11. Sure. He could give you 11. And when I watched LeBron the other night in what was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen against Dylan Brooks, where he was easily the best player on the floor and virtually unstoppable.
Starting point is 00:06:45 And I'm like, oh, he can still do that. he cannot do it 11, he cannot do it 21 times in the postseason, is that if you pulled back and people say, well, what if stars would lose? Well, stars lose in March Madness. Mark Madness gets exceptional ratings because there's sudden death is that you went to a three game series and another three, the best players would still win. You'd start with two games, home floor, whatever you had to do. It would ensure that your biggest stars as they age had to. a greater chance in singular games to be amazing. Injuries happen as you get older, lethargy, you lose energy. And I thought to myself, the NBA should, and I think Daryl Morey has discussed this, should share a page from March Mad. I mean, March Mad, the quality of college basketball is awful, but March Madness gets big numbers on guys that can't play at a high level because of the urgency. So my takeaway is the NBA should consider shortening the series dramatically to elevate not just the urgency, but to extend LeBron, Steph, great old players to win kindness. And we are, there is a funny thing, so I don't dislike that idea at all.
Starting point is 00:08:03 There is also a funny thing that is happening because of what LeBron's doing right now. people don't no one is making the point what step and k d are doing is damn near unprecedented at their age because a guy so much older than them is doing what lebron's doing step is 35 he might be the best he's ever been kd is 35 he he is not quite the best he's ever been but still the most reliable best player on that team. The only reason the sons have a real chance is because he's there, obviously, alongside Devin Booker, when Booker's able to play, which is not, those guys are not, it is not normal for those guys.
Starting point is 00:08:56 I mean, Michael Jordan was 36 in his last game, was he 36 or 35 in his last game of the Chicago Bulls? But again, like, those co-things, people don't believe this when I say it. I'm going to, I want to make sure I get it exactly right. Kobe Bryant and was born in August of 78. So the reason I'm saying that is this. And again, keep in mind the context of how old step in KDR. So he was born in August of 78.
Starting point is 00:09:28 Kobe Bryant, the last playoff game he ever played, the last playoff game he ever played, was in April of 2012. So Kobe's last playoff game ever, he was 33. Kobe, who we feel like played and was great forever, was 33 in his final playoff game. Stefan Durant are unbelievable at 35.
Starting point is 00:09:54 LeBron turns 39 in 40 days and is still, there's not six guys in the league. Nick, he'd make right now, he'd make all NBA first team here. Right now. Right. That's what I... Absolutely.
Starting point is 00:10:12 Absolutely. Listen, he is, there are a, there is a very select few guys who have clearly surpassed him. It's Yokic has. Yonis has an impede in the regular season has. I'd rather have 39-year-old LeBron than in the postseason. I flatly would. No, but right now, all NBA first team would be Tatum's having a great year. Sure.
Starting point is 00:10:34 Yokic, LeBron, probably Luca. Absolutely, Luca. And the other guard. Yeah, I mean, if you didn't have to do positions, I was going to say, Steph would be the other guard. And then like, yeah, the Janus has to be on there as well. So maybe somebody, the point is he's one of the guys. He's at that age, he's still one of the guys.
Starting point is 00:10:55 And because he's doing it at this age, I mean, only six other guys ever played in year 21. Like the LeBron stuff is, and I tweeted about it, that Dylan Brooks night, I was like, we are just, he had back to back around 35 point games on crazy high efficiency. And I'm like, man, LeBron, if we were to be like, hey, year 20 or later, show me any player the best 30 games in NBA history. LeBron's got like 26 of them now. And last year, so last year, the oldest player in the league was Yadonis Haslam, who was a coach, who they just left on the roster. LeBron is not like, you know, almost or whatever, he's literally, now that I did Guadal retired, he's literally the oldest player in the league. The oldest player.
Starting point is 00:11:58 And I understand, I think the other thing that made us maybe a little numb to it, even though it's different sport is, well, what Brady did, which is totally remarkable. And Brady is what he did. It's unimpeachable. It also feels to me different in that because he was a quarterback, the athleticism being an old guy, if you could stay upright, is totally different. LeBron is doing fucking, pardon me, chase down blocks.
Starting point is 00:12:27 He is bullying Dylan Brooks. He, like, it was a big deal that out. in Shingoon, who's a hell of a player, muscled LeBron off the block for the game tying shot. And I thought, I'm like, Shingoon is a guy who's 22, who people are like, he's a future All-Star, and everyone's amazed that he was able to out-muscle the oldest player in the league.
Starting point is 00:12:53 It's just, and I don't, I, yeah, you can get hurt and get dinged up. I, I, people, this is one of those things people will clip and mean me for and make fun of me for, but I don't care. I just don't think he'll ever be bad. I don't see what he might, he's not always going to be this, but I don't see a scenario where he plays and he's bad. Like all the other legends,
Starting point is 00:13:17 Jordan wasn't, to be fair, Jordan was never bad. He was inefficient at the end with the Wizards, wasn't great, but he wasn't bad. Kobe at the end, rest of soul, was bad. Dirk at the end was bad.
Starting point is 00:13:27 Like most of the guys who played at the end, KG at the end was bad. Jbar was, had bad posture. He was slumbering down the floor. Javar was still really good almost to the end, but at the very end, was bad.
Starting point is 00:13:39 Yeah. Yeah. I don't, is, I can't, if he's this at 39 in year 21, even if he falls off by 50, like,
Starting point is 00:13:51 I don't know. I think he could just keep playing, and I don't think he'll be bad. I just don't think he'll ever be bad. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced, Games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast
Starting point is 00:14:08 Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.
Starting point is 00:14:44 And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life. mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations,
Starting point is 00:15:09 stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,
Starting point is 00:15:25 follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek.
Starting point is 00:15:44 And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we picket here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day but just so y'all know
Starting point is 00:16:03 I mean at this point Mark this is the second episode where we've discussed crack so I'm starting to see there's a through line We also have AIDS on the table right now So Thank you finishing that sentence
Starting point is 00:16:13 And yes I don't think there's a more important year for black people Really? Yeah for me It's one of the most important years For black people In American history
Starting point is 00:16:22 Listen to look back at it On the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcast I've never said anything I don't believe, but I do believe in being theatrical. I am a performer, right? And when I did the hat on backwards stuff, I believed it. I like keep bringing it up because I thought it was so obnoxious and funny because we've all put our hat on backwards,
Starting point is 00:16:51 cleaning the garage or hitting a golf ball. Like, we've all done it. But I leaned into it, but I truly believed it that if you stand at the podium on Wednesday, that it does matter. You have the bank behind you. Citibank for the Baltimore Ravens, what you say and how you say it matters. It's why if a CEO goes on MSNBC and looks drunk or tired, the stock price goes down. Like it matters. You're the face of the franchise. I'm going to make the argument that in the history of the league, Jalen Hertz is the
Starting point is 00:17:24 single best podium quarterback I have ever seen. Go watch the tape last night. Pretty good, man. He is so insanely articulate, so succinct, so, the words almost manicured. I mean, I've watched them, I'm like, I've never looked that good. No, that's that. And by the way, you, it's incredible. It's incredible. And people, people, people make, make fun of me. He is so good at the podium. I, if I own the Eagles, I am like, that's my face of the franchise. He is so buttoned up, so on point, so, so So confident. Of respectful. I've never seen, even Brady had days where he looked like a disheveled or.
Starting point is 00:18:10 I've never seen. I totally agree with this. And it matters. It matters. It matters. It matters. It matters. It absolutely matters.
Starting point is 00:18:17 And, you know, it's so, Colin, this came up actually in the commercial break of our show today. Because in, we played sound from Hertz. We played sound from Mahomes. and during the one of the commercial breaks wild said he was like mohomes is one of the only quarterbacks in the league that after this stretch for his team when mahomes was like i believe in these receivers we will get it right where he was like i totally believe him like that what mahomes is the mahomes believes he will fix this and then with hurts every time hurts talks we're like well that was perfect you the perfect and you one of your old bits that actually was used as an FS1 commercial was the quarterback face thing, that the better looking kid gets more snaps and then it leads to all these things than being the quarterback. Him being good looking helps. It matters.
Starting point is 00:19:18 Oh, there's no question. This goes back to the charisma thing I was saying about the movie stars. And if people think we're overstating it, the flip side is go watch Mac Jones. at the podium. You know, oh my God. He doesn't, he, it's not that he thinks
Starting point is 00:19:35 his team is good or whatever. He is questioning, am I any good? And it is, it is oozing out of him. Just absolutely losing out of him. So like Jalen, I think Jalen,
Starting point is 00:19:48 I didn't actually hear this take on your show today because I didn't consume any of your show today except for the part I was on because I was in mourning from my chiefs. But I think Jalen, I don't want to say he's getting a pass this year because he's not playing poorly. So he doesn't need a pass. But Jalen, in my opinion, and maybe it's because his knee is hurt, despite the Eagles being 9 and 1, his play has taken a hit from where it was last season. And I truly believe one of the reasons in a world where we criticize every one.
Starting point is 00:20:28 one, especially quarterbacks, there is almost no J. Allen Mertz criticism is because everyone respects him so much and looks at him and is like, yes, oh, I believe in him. I believe in that kid. I saw a video of him and I tried to stay off X, but I saw a video of him with, I think, a date or a girlfriend. She was gorgeous. And I looked at him and I was like, that guy, he looked. if you told me, oh, he's running, he's a CEO. Tonight is a foundation dinner. He looked so, you believe it, professional. It was a date.
Starting point is 00:21:08 And I've said this. There are certain people that are just better in front of people. I, and I know I got shit for years, it matters. That Carson Wentz, hat on backwards. Not good enough. It's not good enough. Listen, I'm glad you said the thing you said off the top, which is we say what we believe, and if we truly believe it, this is, I shouldn't speak for you, for me. I say what I believe.
Starting point is 00:21:40 And if I am steadfast in that belief and it generates a reaction, I really lean into it. If I am, if I am so in a total non, you know, totally different than the Hertz thing or the hat on backwards thing, I know, I know my opinion on Brock Purdy irritates people. But I believe it in the marrow of my bones. So I talk about it probably more often than I would have to because to me it threads the needle of it's topical. I deeply believe it and generate its reaction. What I found so interesting about, not to rehash shit from eight years ago, however long it was, but the blowback to your backwards hat thing as you put it is every single person to varying degrees agrees with you. not on the specific necessary trigger of a backwards hat,
Starting point is 00:22:52 but the point of if you are the face of my franchise, running my company, the forward-facing guy, how you present yourself not only matters, but tells me about how much I can trust you, that is a universally accepted tenet of life. And whether or not people actually thought a backwards hat was actually actually these days, Colin, it's like a pinky ring. It's fine. Like whatever. That wasn't the point. But there's a lot of. Let me ask you this. If I was hiring, Logan Swain runs the volume. Logan retires or Logan moves on. Logan makes a great living from me. If you were interviewing for that job, which pays a lot of money, would you show up with a hat on backwards for the interview? So even if you push back on it, you know deep down. That's what I'm saying.
Starting point is 00:23:49 And the it is. So I don't the and I don't actually even think the specifics matter because the the backwards hat could also be a ripped jeans or like in that in that instance, that specific instance of I'm showing up to a job. interview. Or, like, I thought personally that, you know, so Cam Newton, I thought unfairly caught shit for his fashion sets. And the reason I thought it was unfair is, he clearly put a lot of thought into me. You can't, I wouldn't, I'm not, like, Philip Rivers wore a bolow tie, nobody cares. Cam's wearing a feather boa. You might say he's a little eccentric, whatever. it is, but it wasn't haphazard thrown together. The Carson Wentz stuff,
Starting point is 00:24:48 it's like, oh, that seems haphazard. That seems... Absolutely. It bothered me... When I saw Carson Wentz once with a hat backwards, I'm like, you're mailing in, so you have no respect for the bank behind you, the owner, the coach. You are mailing it in. This isn't a duck
Starting point is 00:25:04 hunting trip. But... And where you were, and where on the wins thing, again, I can't believe we're talking about this. This is funny. ultimately vindicated in my opinion is that picture that he allowed to be taken of him practicing with the four different teams he's been on wearing it's like oh you don't get it buddy like people see that i think teams see that and are they obviously know you played for those teams. But there is to be an instant reaction of, oh, what do all those teams have in common?
Starting point is 00:25:42 They all had you in the building and couldn't wait to get you out of it. And like that, and it's almost, and you don't get that that is actually something working against you. You know what I mean? You don't understand that that is a negative for you. Like I do think, one of the things you used to say, maybe you still do, but you say all the time, and I'm going to butcher it, but that the shorthand version of it is, There's get it guys and don't get it guys.
Starting point is 00:26:10 I don't know what you actually. I used to always say people that don't get it, don't get it. Exactly right. That's exactly right. And there are certain, I believe, things that have nothing to do with race, wealth, class, anything. It's purely, do you understand. wherever you're at, the environment that you're in, and what that calls for.
Starting point is 00:26:43 And are you able to, in those environments, adjust anything up to including how loudly you speak, do you or do you not curse, how you present yourself? Those things are, to me, very telling traits of people. and if I, you know, I haven't got, I mean, I can't even imagine like being on a date, but they, because I've been married for so long, even though I'm actually getting married. But if, if, if when you were first meeting someone and they, you happen to be like in an elevator with an elderly person. I know this sounds ridiculous, but just follow me. and they casually dropped, like, either talked something sexual or dropped an F-bomb with like an old lady standing there. I'd be like, oh, you don't get it.
Starting point is 00:27:46 Like, oh, you don't understand your environment about, there are just certain things right or wrong that just everybody who gets it knows, well, you don't do that. you don't like, you know what I mean, the first time you meet someone comment on, you know, make, there's certain things. And I think your, that was the point I believe, I always believed you were making about the backwards hats, which became a, really a symbol for, are you going to represent me and my company the way I want you to represent me and to circle back to Jalen Hertz? I think he is, you said he's the best ever. He's certainly the best in the league.
Starting point is 00:28:27 He's the best in the league, and I can't think of someone who was better in it. I think that is totally correct, totally correct. Yeah. And by the way, let me, maybe this is a bridge too far, but do you think it's coincidental that he understands time and place so well off field? He's also situationally, not only one of the great chess pieces we've ever had a quarterback, He's a marvelous situational quarterback. He doesn't throw the prettiest ball.
Starting point is 00:29:04 He's not the fastest. Situationally, he's brilliant. He, it transcends. So what I think. Off field on, he gets it. So what I'm most impressed by Jalen is Jalen, and I don't know, you know, about his high school career, but he ended up being the starting quarterback at Alabama, so I imagine he was pretty awesome. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:28 and that shit went left on it. Just flatly did in really the most publicly embarrassing way possible. Whether he didn't seem to view it that way at the time, but a lot of people did that like, oh, that was the worst. That's kind of the worst case scenario. You're at Alabama. You're the starting quarterback. They consider you kind of the weak link.
Starting point is 00:29:50 You get benched. And then the guy who comes in throws the game winning touchdown. It's like, oh, you're out. Like, that's kind of sucks. he and maybe this is credit to the people around him i don't know who's around him or maybe it's just his own intuition i don't know he took all that information and had a lot of options i can fight my way out of here i can stay i can quit i can raise stank and he i think selflessly maybe for the team but also selfish not in a bad way what was best for him was
Starting point is 00:30:26 No, I'll stay. I'll stay and show that I'm available. That's what's best for me and my career. And then after I do that, and everyone, I have now universal approval. Everyone is like, and it got to come on the field. I remember correctly and helped him out when Tua got hurt, you know, did that stuff. Then he's like, all right, what's the smartest move next? let me go play for someone that could accentuate that I can throw because that's what everybody doubts. Yep.
Starting point is 00:31:01 Okay, let me go do that. And then, once he does that and he gets his shot in the NFL, okay, what is the way for me to show these guys that I am valuable, the real deal, all of it? Well, one thing is, and again, I don't know him at all. So maybe I'm assigning things to him. But this is what happened as far as the timeline of it. Well, they had drafted a quarterback super high who they got rid of because everybody hated them in part. There's other reasons. So let me be the ultimate guy, leader, forward-facing guy.
Starting point is 00:31:44 And when it comes to how I play, my style will be, what do you need? What do you need? you want me to get beat up the way a quarterback really doesn't get beat up. You want to design a signature play that the strategy behind it is, 17 of the 22 people on the field hit me from different angles. I will not complain. And guess what? It led to a second round pick who got benched in college to having a quarter of a billion
Starting point is 00:32:12 dollar contract and the entire football world respecting it. So that's like that's not coincidence. man. That is not it, and that is a level of forethought and intellect that we don't typically assign to athletes. Like, no, this wasn't happenstance or chance. It was, there are like, Josh Allen Mahomes, I happen to think Mahomes is actually incredibly, incredibly bright. I think Josh maybe gets in his own head too much. But those guys, their raw physical ability, As long as they were given a chance to just show it. It was going to, it wasn't going to go super left on them.
Starting point is 00:32:55 Even with Josh, he had two terrible years with not a lot of help, all those things. He was so physically gifted, he was going to be able to show it. There were, Colin, there were 10 different forks in the road where Jalen Hertz never starts a single game at quarterback in the NFL. Never a single game. And he just kept choosing correctly. Yeah, I'm impressed by the kid. It's going to be so sad when the Chiefs beat him in the Super Bowl. I find him so easy to root for.
Starting point is 00:33:25 Have you ever interviewed it? When I watch, I haven't. I just, I mean, again, I try to, I always see myself as the judge, fans of the jury. You know, the sports figures are the prosecuting attorney and the DA, right? Like, I'm the judge. I find it impossible not to root for Jalen Hertz. Impossible. You should send this.
Starting point is 00:33:45 I would like, because here's the one thing, I don't think I've, obviously not during the season, I would, just the more I think about it, like, I don't think I've seen like a long form sit down, like in the world of podcasts and, you know, where you can do these things. I don't know if I've seen like a 45 minute conversation with Jalen Hertz. I'd be interested, you know what I mean? It's like, that's a guy I'd be interested in because I would also. be interested in. Like, those guys, I always wonder,
Starting point is 00:34:20 my favorite question, it's a cliche question, I didn't come up with it. But like, what age did you know you were special? Like, at what age were you like, oh, like, not only could I, you know, be a great athlete,
Starting point is 00:34:33 but I can be a pro athlete, like, at what age? And how early were you, like, trying to, like, plan for this life? You know what I mean? Like, making decisions en route to it. Because he's, seems like a planner. He seems like someone that had it very meticulously laid out because it wasn't going to be given to him because physically and skill set wise, he's a tweener. You know, Jalen Hertz is like a tweener on a lot of these things. There's no question. He fell to the second just on just on size, you know, stature. That leads me. We'll close with this. That leads me to, um,
Starting point is 00:35:15 Something I've talked about with people before. People talk about the greatest quality of successful people. And I absolutely believe, without a shadow of a doubt, it's resilience. And my example is always Michael Jordan. So Michael Jordan was arguably the best looking player. Bobby Knight said he was the best basketball player. He'd ever seen Knight's word carried weight. Most stylish, most clutch, most gifted. And people knew it. instantly in the NBA. And yet, when you watch that documentary, it was a, he had to fight with his owner, fight with his GM.
Starting point is 00:35:58 And I've told my kids that. He literally was the most stylish, the greatest talent, strong family, completely formidable, winning. Even after three, he's like, I'm going to go to baseball. That's too much. The GM and him battled. the owner, Ryan's door, it was a horrible one-sided contract. And then at the end, in Washington, the fight Jordan had to get ownership, just the nonsense he dealt with.
Starting point is 00:36:31 And I tell people this all the time, look how hard it was for Michael. Literally, the basketball gods gave him the hand size. I mean, just perfect facial symmetry, style, great sense of humor, cool. I mean, like, not all basketball players that are good are cool. Jordan was, yeah, I said this here a day. LeBron may be better to many people. Michael made me feel a certain way. Sure.
Starting point is 00:36:58 LeBron doesn't. Michael made me feel something. That's what great politicians do. And yet, Michael battled. Try retired early. Try retired twice. Three times. He battled.
Starting point is 00:37:13 And I think Jalen Hertz is a great example of this, but we can talk about. more Jordan, is that, I mean, God, Yokic, second round, Janus, late developer, Steph Curry, Too Small, Davidson. I don't think we realize Peyton Manning is one of the only five-star, number one high school, number one college, number one pick grade. I mean, it is a list of about three human beings. Peyton, it doesn't work. I mean, I think there's a few hockey players who I don't know, Tiger, Harper. I mean, it's, yeah, It's like six people is that resilience is really the key to it. Are you thick-skinned?
Starting point is 00:37:52 Do you use that jet fuel, that chip, to elevate you, not corrode your talent? And I think that's what Hertz has. And it's what Jordan really embodies that even if you get the gifts, that's how hard. So let me ask you the, let me just, like, as you said, as we're closing, let me give you a, I don't want to say a counterpoint, but maybe an addendum. that. Yeah. Resilience and slash or never being satisfied. Like what I think in almost any industry separates the good from the great
Starting point is 00:38:42 are the best people I've ever met in anything are. are always focused on what they are striving for still at this point. And the people who maybe could have been in that area are the people who actually reach a finish line and say, made it. And that to me is the, that to me is the, and by the way, the people who take a deep breath and say, it might be happier. They might be. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:39:22 That might be better in a lot of ways. I don't know. But the, and I know I put you in a weird spot sometimes. I don't mean to, but where I use you as an example on things. But this enterprise is an example, to be honest,
Starting point is 00:39:38 of what I'm talking about. Like, you reached, I believe the pinnacle, you don't have to say it, but certainly pinnacle adjacent of the profession of what you've done, dedicate your life to,
Starting point is 00:39:51 and you didn't say, fucking look at me. You said, okay, if I've reached this pinnacle, let me create, let me do, see what's next.
Starting point is 00:40:02 You created a company, you're trying to do that. And my guess is, if at one point, you know, you moved on from the volume or whatever, there'd be a different thing. I don't know what it would be,
Starting point is 00:40:13 a real estate magnate or something, but whatever it is. I, I think, I think LeBron, it's not only that he's still playing, it's that he has made it very clear. Yeah, and then I want to own a team. And by the way, I don't think he's going to be hands off.
Starting point is 00:40:31 I think that, you know, whether he will admit this or not, I think somewhere in LeBron's psyche is, well, if people think, like, me and Jordan are coin flip, does it break the tie if I'm an owner, that wins championships and he was the worst ever? Maybe. Like, you know what I mean? Like, do I, and so magic, you know,
Starting point is 00:40:58 one of the greatest players in the history of the league, one of the most famous people ever, I beat a disease that at the time, no one did not satisfied. How about I become, you know, a billionaire off business? So many of these, these folks, it is, and that is to me, like, it's almost self-filling prophecy.
Starting point is 00:41:24 It's why they became them, because they had that in them from the beginning. It's why the, the almost pathological need to always be attempting to accomplish a goal is what distinguishes and to your point about resilience being able to overcome all the bullshit that comes in your way and not and this is the last point I'll make and not even when it would be legitimate to say ever allow yourself to believe oh it wasn't meant to be you know what I mean like nope it has to be meant to be. Well, Martin Scorsese is still to this minute looking for the perfect script trying to make movies. Is that it's it's the Irishman was not the final one. No. Is that he's moved by the art. He's challenged by making the perfect scene of the perfect movie.
Starting point is 00:42:31 Like I've, I told, it was my ex-wife who I, we get along with fine. It's pleasant. At one time she said to me, she was a really good triathlete. just a college basketball player, good athlete. And she said, you know, with my career, because we'd move, she said, when is it enough for you? And I said, when do you stop running? Well, right. I said, this is in my blood.
Starting point is 00:42:57 I will talk until I'm not. And this is. I don't know the platform. This is. And then we should leave because we're talking too long. But when Colin says he'll talk, this is my favorite story to tell about you. And I don't know if you know, I tell it. but there
Starting point is 00:43:14 it doesn't happen so much any pre-volume before you add the volume I and it was the first couple years I lived in New York I you know I would get off the air and your show was the
Starting point is 00:43:30 two shows after my because I was in the mornings then Skip was on was Shannon and then you were on and so I would get off the air and I would eat and I'd take a nap. That was basically every single day. And I'd take a nap right around the time your show started. So I wouldn't always know if you were on or off the air, except I did know because like clockwork, if you had a day off, not because you were going out of town, but because you were preempted,
Starting point is 00:44:02 I got a phone call and you didn't even say hi. You just launched into a take because there was something in you. It would be like, it would be like, oh, Colin must not be on the air today and I'd answer. And you'd be like,
Starting point is 00:44:16 so here's the thing. And you would just go. And I was like, but that's why he's Colin Coward. Because he had this, this thing in him. He knew I would be a wrapped audience. And those phone calls,
Starting point is 00:44:30 I don't know if you remember them, but I remember him vividly. They weren't conversations. They were just us, kind of like a tennis, like tennis partners. batting takes back at each other. You would give me a take.
Starting point is 00:44:43 I would give you one back. We'd go back and forth. And then it'd be like, all right, talk to you later. And I was like, okay, he got it out of his system. I was like, that's why he's Colin Coward. That's true. My wife, sometimes, you know,
Starting point is 00:44:57 it doesn't happen much anymore. I'll tell the story with some therapy down the road that we, several years ago, we had hit a really neat place. But we don't argue much. We laugh a lot. But she occasionally, you know, once twice a year, we'll get into it.
Starting point is 00:45:12 And she'll go, I'm not a caller on your show. Oh my God. So hold up. Maybe this will happen at the wedding. I don't know. Maybe we'll come to L.A. My wife, and then we do have to go because now we're talking about our wives are two cocktails and it's too much.
Starting point is 00:45:25 My wife, when we argue, and it's, you know, it's not a lot, but it's more than twice a year, says, and I quote, I'm not Bruce Hart. Like, I'm not. And I quote, she's like, you want to argue. I don't. You argue for a living. I don't want to. She was like, you just want it.
Starting point is 00:45:48 Like, you're not on TV. I'm not your co-host. Like that is. So, yeah, I'm not a caller. That is Ann and Danielle, I guarantee if they got in a room without the two of us, they're just a talk. They would have the same stories just from different vantage points. It's unbelievable.
Starting point is 00:46:06 That's great. Yeah, they don't, they don't. They don't suffer fools. There's no bullshit with either of them at all. Absolutely. I love you, man. We'll do this again very soon. The volume.
Starting point is 00:46:20 Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.
Starting point is 00:46:39 Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.
Starting point is 00:47:01 Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days I'd put on 10 pounds, I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.
Starting point is 00:47:29 Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the... 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:47:51 This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.

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