The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Prime Cuts: Aqib Talib Super Bowl 56 Reaction, Daryl Morey on Harden/Simmons Trade & Marcus Thompson on Warriors, Lakers

Episode Date: February 19, 2022

It's the best of The Colin Cowherd Podcast! First, Colin's top takes of the week (3:00), including if he's buying all the Rams retirement talk leading up to the game, explains how Kevin Durant put himself in the NBA's Bermuda Triangle, and sticks up for Kyler Murray after his recent social media tantrums.Then, Super Bowl Champ - and host of Catchin' Fades - Aqib Talib gives his Super Bowl 56 reaction, why Cooper Kupp was able to dominate despite being the sole focus of the Cincy D (17:00), if the late defensive holding call against the Bengals was justified (18:00), if there's any truth to Aaron Donald (20:00) and Sean McVay (22:00) retirement rumors, why Aqib has so much respect for McVay as a coach (23:00), and how Jalen Ramsey can bounce back from his rough night (25:00).Sixers GM Daryl Morey goes behind the scenes of the blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to Philly and Ben Simmons to Brooklyn (27:00), discusses stories from inside the Sixers decision making (29:00), why the trade is good for NBA (33:00), and how long their title window will remain open (38:00).Finally, The Athletic NBA Writer Marcus Thompson discusses what flaw could prevent the Warriors from winning the West (40:00), if Klay Thompson can regain his pre-injury level of play (42:00), when the Warriors were convinced Andrew Wiggins was a building block instead of a trade piece (44:00), if KD has regrets about his decision to leave the Warriors (47:00), if Ben Simmons can fit in with KD and Kyrie (49:00), if James Harden makes the Sixers legitimate contenders in the East (50:00), the quickest way for the struggling Lakers to rebuild (51:00), and if Zion Williamson is on the verge of being considered a bust (54:00)Subscribe NOW and follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. 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.

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.

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. In 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This episode is brought to you by CarMax. Our friends at CarMax have reimagined car buying to deliver a truly flexible shopping experience that puts you in control. Because at CarMax, you have the freedom to shop online and on the lot.

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Fandul Sportsbook app, sign up. This is Prime Cuts, the best of the Colin Coward podcast. Another week, more great guests. Akeed to leave. Great reaction to the Rams and Matt Stafford winning the Lombardi. Sixer GM, Daryl Morey, behind the scenes on how he pulled off the Ben Simmons, James Hardin, Blockbuster. Top NBA insider, Marcus Thompson, trade deadline, Lakers struggles, and man, those warriors are interesting. But first, my top takes of the week.

When I look at the Rams, I look at them differently than I do Cincinnati. First of all, McVeigh is not going to retire. It's absolute nonsense. He's trying to get a contract extension. His last contract negotiation was rough and he didn't get what he wanted. Stan Cronky, the owner is a tough negotiator. By the way, less need. The GM of the Rams is paid significantly less than somebody with his resume.

McVey is paid significantly less than. somebody with his resume. Aaron Donald is not going to retire. I'm not sure where everybody's getting these stories. I'll ask Akib Talib about Aaron Donald, but I don't buy it. I just think Aaron Donald's too good. He's too passionate. He loves the game. He's hyper competitive. You can see when guys, you can hear when guys are done with the game. I don't think Aaron Donald's retiring. But I look at these two teams differently. I think the best days of the Bengals are obviously ahead. I think the division now, we don't know what Cleveland's going to do eventually at quarterback or the Steelers. I think Cincinnati could dominate their division for years.

You know, the Rams were in a tougher division. My guess is if Pete Carroll doesn't win this year, Russell Wilson will get an offensive coach in Seattle. Kyler Murray. The Niners, Kyle Shanahan, has had McVeigh's number for most of it. I think it'll be a tougher ask to get the Rams back into the Super Bowl because it's hard. L.A. people get gassed up. They get endorsements. I think they're in a tougher division. And I think Shanahan is arguably the first or second best young coach in football and McVeigh's first or second. So, you know, if you'd have put Andy Reed and Bill Belichick's division,

you know, for a decade, Bill Belichick's not winning all those divisions, not getting home field, not getting a buy. And some years not getting out of it. So it's not that the Rams won't be really good. But that division, I think, is only getting better. Trey Langell. Lance has the chance to be an upgrade over Jimmy G. Kyler Murray, despite what you're reading this weekend, he's coming back to Arizona. Russell Wilson will eventually, if he stays, get an offensive coach.

And I'm not saying the tarmac doesn't have some length to it. But I could see Cincinnati dominating their division for most of the next 10 years with Joe Burrow and Zach Taylor. And those receivers, absolutely. You know what's funny about these Super Bowls? If the Rams didn't drive for the winning touchdown, The story would have been McVeigh's insistence on running the football in the second half, right? Like narratives change based on the outcome, but the winners write the final chapter.

And I kept thinking in the second half, the story's going to be McVeigh and his sort of stubborn rigidity running the ball on second and three, turning it into third and six and third and seven over and over and over again. But Stafford changes all that. That's why they upgraded. And I also think what you see with Stafford, and I hope this is not undersold, third string tight end, a four string wide receiver in,

no Higbee in the Super Bowl, OBJ out at halftime. Those are significant losses. They couldn't even use their backup tight end. He had a shoulder injury. You're talking about these are timing routes, timing positions, and he's going to third and four string guys.

That is a big ask against a defense in Cincinnati. We all got to be honest here. That pass rush gave the Rams more trouble than I think certainly I predicted. You know, the story of the game going in was the Rams defensive line, and it was an issue. I mean, Aaron Donald in the second half was unblockable. But the Bengals, I thought, did just about as impressive a job, especially from the edges on Matt Stafford against the tackle. against the Rams, the strength of their offensive line.

So I think the best team won, I'm not going to get too much into the calls. Riffs whiffed on one in the first half against the Bengals and the holding stuff deep in the red zone. They're going to call that stuff. They're just going to call that in that situation. You ever meet anybody and they complain that they can never meet the right person?

And could be a man, could be a woman, perpetually single or have had bumpy relationships. And then the more you listen to them talk and confide in you, you think to yourself, maybe they're part of the problem. You know, I was thinking about Kevin Durant. His career started with Westbrook and Hardin, but Kevin's very passive aggressive. He's not real confrontational. And because of that, even though Westbrook drove him nuts, he never went to the front office

and demanded a move by them. Therefore, he broke him up. Then he goes to Golden State, San Francisco, right? It's great. Gets into some fights with Draymond Green. But instead of confronting Draymond Green, he left the dynasty. And what is he left with?

Wacky Kyrie Irving, bizarre, end-of-game liability, Ben Simmons, and a roster that's not close to Milwaukee's chemistry and Miami's chemistry and certainly not Philadelphia's chemistry. I kind of feel with Kevin Durant,

it's on Kevin Durant. I mean, the Westbrook situation in OKC, if you would have gone to management and said, me or Westbrook, you think they would have chosen Durant, right? Like there was arguments already being made

that he was the second best player in the league to LeBron. In Golden State, if he'd have said, dude, let's spend a couple of days, Draymond, hashing this thing out. I'll pay for the therapist. He'd be right now on the best team arguably in the league. I like Kevin Durant, but this is why confrontation is good

and passive aggressive is not. I mean, Kobe Bryant went to the Lakers and said, get me another star or I'll go to Chicago. They got him Pau Gasol. You know, Michael Jordan did this on multiple occasions. Get me this and get rid of this guy. Kevin Durant's situation is the Bermuda Triangle of Weirdness, anti-vaxxer, flat earther, sage in the locker room, Kyrie Irving,

Ben Simmons afraid to shoot free throws, doesn't want the ball in key situations in the playoffs, even though he's in his prime. It's hard to feel sorry for people who don't confront their problems. if you end up in another bad relationship, look in the mirror. Other thoughts. Kyler Murray making a lot of noise for the Arizona Cardinals. He scrubbed the Arizona Cardinals from social media. They took some shots of him leaked it to Adam Schaefter.

He went back on social media. It doesn't happen very often, but we saw something happen during the pandemic. A big chunk of employees retired. And employees now, for the only time in my life that I can recall, employees, even young talented employees, young employees have leverage sometimes over companies. ZipRecruiter, you've heard a ZipRecruiter, they have job openings, they post job openings. Since the pandemic started, the percentage of companies offering retirement plans to employees has jumped 30%, almost a third. Like, that had mostly gone away.

Pensions had gone away. A lot of benefits had evaporated. Oh, not anymore because now employees with a remote work, with a lot of people getting into early retirement, the employees now have the power or at least equal footing with employers. And that's what Kyler Murray has. Kyler Murray looks around and goes, okay, Russell Wilson's in my division, Matt Stafford's in my division, Kyle Shanahan's in my division. What was Arizona before I got here? The GM and the coach were going to get fired. So Kyler Murray is just saying, pay me early.

Josh Allen got money early. Like Josh Allen, I'm getting better every year. I've taken a franchise that lost a lot and made them more viable. This doesn't happen a lot. It hasn't happened a lot in my life. And I'm, you know, 58 years old. But I think Kyler Murray is doing what a lot of employees are now doing. Hey, I got the leverage.

It doesn't happen much. I'm going to take advantage of it. And he's right. I mean, Baker, Mayfield and Lamar Jackson did not get the bag early and both got hurt. Josh Allen got the bag early, but he's 6.6.250. Kyler Murray looks in a mirror and goes, I'm 510, 210. I want the money. I want it now.

I have leverage. And I'll say this. In my history with dealing with corporations, I've rarely had leverage other than, you know, I have a decent size audience. But when you do have leverage, As an employee, you best take it because you may never have it again. College basketball is heating up. Fandall Sportsbook has an offer you don't want to miss.

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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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the 4th.

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. 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, 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, 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 says, Said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it 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. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. 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. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth,

or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Same game parlay bets. Jump into action with live betting. Fanduel, by the way, now live in New York. Just don't bet too much on the Giants next season. The app's easy to use. Hooking up with great odds. When you get paid, if you win, little as two hours.

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and Colorado, Indiana, Jersey, and Virginia. Virginia, 18777-7-7-1-1-7 for confidential help in Michigan. 1877, H-O-P-E-N-Y, or text H-O-P-E-N-Y-4-6-6-9 in New York, Tennessee. Redline, 1-800-9-9-7-8-9 Tennessee. Visit 1-800-Gambler.net in West Virginia. It's the sound of another sale on Shopify, the all-in-one commerce platform I love to start run and grow your business. Shopify gives entrepreneurs the resources once reserved for big business.

So upstarts, startups, and established businesses alike can sell everywhere. Synchronize online and in-person sales and effortlessly stay informed. I love Shopify. Have for years the tools and resources that make it easy for any business to succeed from down the street to around the globe. Shopify is more than a store. Connect with your customers. Drive sales. Manage your day-to-day.

Reach customers online with an ever-growing suite of channel integrations and apps. including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest, and more. More than a store, Shopify grows with you. Go to Shopify.com slash Colin, all lowercase. Shopify.com slash Colin for a free 14-day trial, full access at Shopify's entire suite of features. Shopify.com slash C-O-L-I-N. And we're live here outside the Perez family home just waiting for the...

And there they go. Almost on time this morning. Mom is coming out the front door strong with a double-armed kid carry. Looks like Dad has the bags, daughter is bringing up the rear. Oh, but the diaper bag wasn't closed. Diapers and toys are everywhere. Ooh, but Mom has just nailed the perfect car seat buckle for the toddler. And now, the eldest daughter, who looks to be about nine or ten,

has secured herself in the booster seat. Dad zips the bag closed, and they're off. Ah, but looks like Mom doesn't realize her coffee cup is still. on the roof of the car, and there it goes! Oh, that's a shame. That mug was a fam favorite. Don't sweat the small stuff. Just nail the big stuff. Like making sure your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size. Learn more at nhtsa.gov slash the right seat.

Visit nhtsa.gov slash the right seat. Brought to you by Nitzha and the Ad Council. Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that could lead to adventure.

And they see you. Their fearless guide is this fascinating world. Find a forest near you and start exploring at discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. All right, Akebe. My first takeaway, let's go to the final drive of the game. Listen, Stafford had the highest passer rating in the NFL this year in the second half and fourth quarter. So he and Cup do what they do, which I think is interesting, they were using a third string tied end and had a fourth string wide receiver on the game.

And I think that's important because this game's all about timing. And I thought that part of the game we weren't talking about enough. They had a Notre Dame rookie on the field. He didn't play during the season. I mean, I will say this. the final drive to me, it was pretty damn clutch. I mean, how'd you see? And then you see what he resorted to, right?

He ain't go to the guy or every guy you named, he ain't throw them guys to ball. He went straight to Cooper Cup. I don't care. I know you double team. You just got to win. And he trusted Cooper Cup. Cooper Cup won them routes for him, man. That was huge.

Even on the holding calls, those were real holds. Cooper Cup made you hold him. He crossed his face. 55 had to hold him. Eli Apple had to grab him to hold him or he would have scored or he would have I won those rocks, man. So Cooper Cup won for him. You know, it's interesting.

Some people will complain about the holding call on Logan Wilson, but my takeaway, in a situation like that, regardless of how the game has been called, he had his hands all over. Right. I mean, it's holding, man. Hey, it's, if you let up, if you don't, if you don't get your body over there and stop him with your body, with your body position, then it's holding, man. If you cross your face and you got to grab them in order to pull yourself back through, it's holding.

and they got a call that. So they caught it, it was a holding. When you played in the league, and I went on Twitter and I said, listen, it's the season. I would hold two. Like, I would rather hold and you not get a touchdown. Like, if you've been in situations where you don't have an option. Hey, it's part of the game. Sometimes you've got to hold.

Sometimes you got to hold and give them a fresh set of downs and stand up three more time. So you got to win to your leverage. That's what you got to do, Colin. You don't win to your leverage. then bad things happen. So there was a discussion before the game. Rodney Harrison said, Aaron Donald, if he wins a ring, may retire.

And I thought, damn, he's a best D tackle in the game by a mile. I don't know if I, I mean, seriously, I don't know. If I was McVeigh, I would go to him and just say a key, I'd just say, dude, I'm going to give you no pads during practice during the season. Man. I don't know. I don't know if I could lose that guy. I think I would go to him to say, listen, what do you want to stay?

Yeah, I think me personally just being around AD too much, I don't know where Rodney Harrison got it from, but he loved it too much, man. He's so competitive. He's the most competitive guy on the team. He'll sit at home one year. Oh, he'll be back the next year. So, I mean, if you take a year off, he'd take a year off. But, hey, AD, the most competitive guy, he'll miss it too much.

So tell me about him. You were on this team. What? I mean, obviously he's got great speed for his size, but just his personality. What's it like in the locker room? Man, he's just a regular guy. You know, he really, he's not one of the louder guys in the locker room. He's just, you know, he, A.D., man, he going to chime in on a few jokes.

AD ain't the loudest guy in the locker room, man, but he lead the, he lead the building and effort, man. He's the last one out of the locker room, like, and I'm not just saying this. He's the last one out of the weight room. And the first one in the weight room after practice getting extra work. So he's super good at leading by example, man. He's going to show you the work that I put in. Y'all see all the work that I put in. Y'all see what I do on the field?

It's because I do all this. So you like the, you need somebody in your building like that, Colley. You need somebody who's going to lead the whole team by example. You got to be the dog or our work ethic. And it's crazy when it's your best player who do that for you. What do you make? Can you explain to me, Cooper Cup? He is, I mean, listen, there are just guys that get open.

I grew up, you don't remember this guy. When I was a kid, there was a guy named Steve Largent. He played for the Seahawks. I never got to watch. I heard about him, but I never got to watch. was a great route runner always faster than people thought your takeaway on what makes cooper cup a pain in the butt to defend uh i think it's i think it's at the top of his routes he got he got about three or four different moves at the top of his route so he could run a corner he could run a

regular corner route like three different ways you know what i'm saying he could speed run it he can give you like a one two or he can give you the one two three you i'm saying so he got i think he he's probably the top in the league right now at just the top of his route. So you know it's an option route. You know I got to pick away, right? And you know you got this leverage, but he still could, he still could win to that leverage. So if I had to pinpoint one thing, I'll say,

is what do you do at the top of the routes? And it's his size, man. That size gets that yak up. He a tough tackle. So you don't think he's 6-215. He a big guy. So that size with that shiftingness, man. It's hard to deal with in that slot.

So there's been reports that Sean McVeigh may retire. I don't buy it for a second. Man, why everybody retiring, man? Come on, college. They win the tip of everybody retiring. Come on now. You know what he wants? I saw that extend Stafford.

They can't extend Stafford if McVeigh retire. I can't, if McVeigh retire, I might have retired. I'm gone too. You know what it is? The last time McVeigh had a contract negotiation, it was rough. Yes.

And so this one, He's got two years left. Shouldn't be that rough this time. That shouldn't be this right, right? It shouldn't be that rough this time, Colin. I mean, hey, Sean is a great leader, man. Shout out to Sean, man. He deserved it.

He create that vibe that all the players want, man. What you think the NFL is, that's the vibe that Sean create, man. A lot of guys get to the NFL and they think it's going to be one thing, and they get a rude awakening. There's nothing like what you think it is, you know what I'm saying? But the vibe there is exactly what you're going to be. think it is, man, that real professional type treatment. That's exactly what Sean is, man.

So that's why guys love to play for him. That's why I love to play for him. That's why I got a lot of respect for him. He really deserved a Super Bowl. You said Akiba, he treated you like a man. Yeah. What do you mean by that? Man, I'll tell you some of the stuff that I had in the past.

Like, come in the building, take your hats off. Like, take coming to building. you know, don't bring your phones in the eating area or the treatment area. Like, it's like little kid rooms. We're collar polos around home games, around the locker room. If you leave out your hotel room, have a polo shirt on and be dressed. Like it's just little stuff like that. That's little stuff, right?

Colin, but we like grown men here. I got, I got like freshman in high school kids. You know what I'm saying? And you nitpicking at the little small stuff, man. It's bigger than that. Just it's a certain way that, man, that a player could be treated around that building. And you don't get it everywhere.

I had a, I had, what, three, six, seven, eight different head coaches. And you don't get it all the time, Colin, I'm telling you. And Sean do a great job creating that vibe that players love. Jalen Ramsey, your buddy had a pretty rough, I mean, listen, tough assignments. Jamar Chase, T. Higgins. I thought that T. Higgins face mask, that was a pretty bad miss by the officials. Yeah. But when you're a corner, the reality is you can't lose your confidence.

I mean, I'm sorry, but you just got to have a short memory. What do you think Jalen's thinking? He won? Do you think he's just happy? Let me see. Higgins, 4-400 Chase, 5-88. Higgins had the long touchdown on him, 75. He's mad.

He happy he won, but Jalen is a top-tier competitor, man. You know what I'm saying? And he wanted to be successful in games like this, man. But he's going to see some more, man. He's young. He's going to see some more. He's going to get in this game again. that's going to be his passion now.

Now he's going to want to get back to this game and play well in this game. So it is what it is. He definitely was passing a fear where God grabbed him and threw him down. You got to call that, man. You take that 75 yards off. I don't know if his day would be that bad. That's right. He looks a lot better without that touchdown.

You know what I'm saying? So I just know what type of guy he is. That's one of my little homies in the league. And he don't want his game to look like that. He won his game to be come out the game. And there's no question. He had three paths, breakups, or interception or, you know, a lot of plays.

So he's not happy with the game. He'd definitely be happy with the ring, though. I ain't mean to do that, but definitely. Akeve, in the end, you know, people often say did the best team win the Super Bowl. You know what the Rams did, which is really impressive. Dude, they were the most resilient team. Robert Woods, Cam Acres lost, OBJ, this game, Tyler Higbee. They were not at full strength.

They had to win. at Tampa. They fought, man. That's the credit to Sean, man. He got all the guys ready, man. I'm telling you, he's certain coaches, how you're really ready to play for him.

When you believe it's next man up and you always got to be ready. Sometimes they go through one ear and out of the other. Some coaches said to you, he gave you them looks and he knows how to touch everybody in the building. So, guys got to step in, man. Guys stepped up today, man.

Big time, man. It was crazy. All right, Darry, Sixer GM, former Rocket GM, a Bon Vivant, a world traveler. On Vivant, you have to explain that one. Fancy guy. So you're in Philadelphia. Let's start with this. Like Houston's a nice sports town, but there's something about the cold winters, the intensity,

Northeast America. And I think this is a great quality. Philadelphia, they're hard on their GMs. They're hard on their players. and excellence. When you're driving to work and the Sixers are a topic on WIP radio, do you find it aggravating or wildly entertaining? I love it. I think my last places I've worked, you could only hear a football talk. So like we actually in Houston one year, we were, I think, in the Western conference finals and the only talk was the NFL draft. So it gives you a

sense of how exciting it is here. The cities of cities of buzz. Joelle Bede's the favor for MVP. We got a past MVP. We got a stack team. We got a championship coach. Let's go. Yeah, I said when the trade came down,

I said it because it broke during my show. And I said, I think Philadelphia won the trade, two reasons. One. And I don't think winning the trade, you know, that's a media term. But I said, generally in my life, get the best player. I thought you did. I said, secondly, this is a really joyful team. The chemistry is good.

I'm just adding a really great piece. I said, listen, they gave up a lot, but that's a lot of moving parts. And this is the middle of a season. So, Darrell, my takeaway was, I do think it's easier to ask one great player to fit into a great locker room than a bunch of parts. Is that how you saw? Yeah, I obviously have a real good sense of how good James Hardin is. And look, we have Joel Embed, I think he's going to finish his career being talked of as one of the all-time great big man. I think James Hardin's already being talked about as one of the all-time great perimeter players, you know, put them together in terms of what you give up.

I don't think you need to focus on that as much when you have an MVP level player. I have a short trade deadline story about what we gave up. I like to hear it. Yeah, yeah. So it was the line of our trade deadline. So obviously we were trying to keep, you know, Tyrese Maxie and, yeah,

and, uh, thiable, uh, out of the deal. Um, you know, and obviously my job is to keep track of the future.

And we ended up, you know, they ended up insisting on, you know, two first round picks if we didn't include them. And, uh, you know,

they were pretty steadfast. And at the end of the day, you have to either decide to make a deal or pass. And, you know, we've passed many times. So anyway, to get to the point of the story, we're debating whether we give up two first-arm picks,

and I'll rewind a couple of days. And I was talking to a Western Conference team who we liked a player on their team. We offered one first for that player. They said no. And I got a little bothered with the GM. I'm like, this guy's never going to give this player up. But I'm just going to offer two first to see what happens. You know, and very quickly he's like, no, to two first.

This is a player, by the way, that every 2K player, Colin Cowherd, Nick Wright, every human on earth would have said, oh, my God, you have to give that player up for two first. So I just did it just to like see. And he said no immediately. So fast forward to the final day. We're debating two first. And one of our great front office people were like, like three days ago, we couldn't even get this player for two first. Why are we debating this? Why are we even talking about this?

We can get James Harden. He's a Hall of Fame player. And we're worried about a first in the future that's protected. You know, that's the thing. I am very careful. I've never given up an unprotected future first. I think that can hurt franchises. But, you know, protected first.

So even if things fall apart, you know, in 20085 or whatever when we gave it up, you know, it won't be a pick in the top of the drop. You know, I said on the air, I said, listen. Seth Curry, maybe you guys prize draft picks more. You know, I live in Los Angeles where the Rams just give away first round picks and their takeaway as hell. We're drafting bottom of the first round anyway. And I looked at the deal and I thought what I wouldn't want to give up, what I would

have fought for, because I mean, you never want to give up two picks, right? The Curry is interesting because I do think in today's modern game, he's a nice rotational piece. Is that something you lost a night's sleep on? the Curry component? Yeah, you have to give up something to get something. Seth Curry was amazing for us. I mean,

one of the best shooters of all time. He's actually getting better, even though he's 32 or whatever he is. He came to his career later, and he's improving. So that was a very tough piece. So was Drummond who was giving us probably the best minutes behind Joel Abed ever.

But, you know, we thought to take advantage of Joel and his prime over the next several years, you know, to win it, we had to have a player like James Harden. So we don't mind, like, let's say people even are right. Let's say we quote unquote overpaid. First off, I don't know what that means. We went from 2% title odds to I think we're sitting at 13% right now.

So to me, it's like very straightforward. Our job is to give ourselves a chance to win the championship. This does it. And you're going to have to give up something to get a player of James Hardin's caliber. are you worried a little bit you gave up Ben Simmons. I mean, he wasn't playing this year. So you're not really giving up his length. You know, Drummond's a big.

You know, Ben is a lot of length when he did play. Hardin's not a great defender. You still have, to me, I guess you have Ambide, Thibble. I guess probably that's not. I always think of, I don't know why I always think about this, but many of the great teams, it's tips. It's a possession. You're battling for the ball.

That stuff I think about all the time. What is something in this draft or in this trade that most of us in the media wouldn't think about? Like, late is something bizarre I think about all the time in this league. Well, you should. I mean, obviously you have to have a top defense. We had, I think, the second best defense last year. We had fallen to nine this year. I think what you're describing is why we love Ben Simmons.

Like, he is a very good player. Like, that is why, you know, we would have. preferred this didn't happen. It obviously happened. But having his ability to rebound, set the pace, deflections. I mean, he's an unbelievable defender. So lots of reasons why. Look, it was a win-win trade. You know, I take a step back, and you know this, Colin, because you're a student of multiple sports. A trade is sort of a North American creation. That's not totally true, but it's mostly true. It's mostly big in North America. It's not really something big in the other sports. sports that are big in the world. And the re like some people question like, why do you have trades?

It's weird or whatever. You couldn't design a more, you know, Adam Silver should be so happy. You couldn't design a better reason for a trade than what just happened to players who wanted to be in a new situation, who are extremely good players, who will play very well in the other place and not this place. If this isn't the perfectly designed trade where both us and Brooklyn can get better and the rest of the east I think is nervous right now both of us both of us are a lot better and the rest of the east you know did did moves and moves that improved them but not like the sort of significant moves that Brooklyn and we did you know Daryl it's interesting I said this on the air join Taylor and I you're both NBA fans and I said it's a bad year I said this week ago it's a bad

year for stories I said the Simmons story is not it's not any fun kairy's not any fun James isn't happy it's not fun Westbrook's not working in L.A I said this is always always has been a story league, right? Well, today I said on the air, I said, I can't wait to watch Hardin play with Embed. And I'm fascinated, Ben Simmons surrounded by all these shooters. It's kind of a perfect place for him. And so, you know, my takeaway was, yeah, this is, they just engineered two stories. Hardin's an interesting player because in international soccer, if you look at Maradonna, Rinaldo, Messi, big personalities, everything from Tashon, tax evasion to we know who their girlfriends are.

Europe's ahead of us on this. We understand the stars are dramatic. And they're like international royalty. In America, when a player's quirky, we're like, 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's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athlete, 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 which I'll say it. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. 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.

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

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where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, 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 I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it 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. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. So, Thank you finishing that sentence. 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.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversational. with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase

that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth.

Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions. bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. A teammate. So when I look at Hardin, I'm like, well, when he's engaged, 90% of his career, he's a Hall of Famer. He is not a guy. He's a little bit of an artist. he can be moody. But I think to myself, well, that's international soccer. All the great players are sometimes, it's our media naive to realize these are the world's

greatest artists, athletes are now. It's where all global wealth goes to buy teams and that we have to bake in. They have needs. They have short careers. They are sensitive because they're hyper-criticized and hardens just what global sports are. Yeah, I think, look, if you take a step back, we're an entertainment business, and there's a lot of similarities to where you live, if you're still living in L.A. I assume you are in Hollywood, where you have your Robert Dunnard Juniors, you have your, you have your, you have

your, you know, the Christian Bale, Christian Bales, Johnny Depp, you have these like hyper-talented guys. They're just different. A lot of what makes them great is because they are different. And I think that's, I think that's absolutely true. And I think I love the notion of a team. I think we've all played teams generally. And I think the teams that you or I, on Paul, I'm not trying to diss your sports career, whatever it might have been. But I'm guessing, I'm guessing you probably didn't play like Elton Brand played with, you know, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom when he was a kid. Like the teams I'm on, everyone's, there's some better players, some worse players. But there's no, there's no. There's. no like, you know, future Mozart playing on my teams when I'm growing up. And, you know, these guys like James Harden and the players I can't mention because they're on other teams, but only you can mention, they are, they are artists, you know, they're not Matisse, they're not Matisse, they're not Matisse Thibles, but they're, that was a terrible joke. Yeah. Um,

but they're, they are artists. They're different. And, you know, I think you probably see more of it in Hollywood than anybody. When you look at this team right now, Embed has a little bit of an injury history. Do you feel, and Hardin is now not 24 years old, do you feel, listen, this is a two or three year window. How do you view the whole thing? I view it as what, look, the most important years this year.

Like, we're in this phase where I've never seen the NBA so wide open. I don't know what you think, Colin. It's like basically Phoenix, Golden State, Brooklyn, us, Milwaukee. If you look in Vegas right now, pretty much all of us have about the same odds, and they're all about one and six. So it's wide open. You don't see a Golden State, which we kept banging against that wall, you know, our Houston teams.

And prior to that, there was a Miami that everyone had to bang their head against. There's not a team like that that's sitting at four. 40, 50% title odds, which can happen in basketball. It's really rare. So it's wide open. This year's the most important. But we've got a good run. Hall of Fame players like James, they age well.

I mean, I think if you look at both the modern techniques that are out there, Hall of Fame level ball handlers and basketball IQ players, there's a few in the league. I can't mention it, but you can say, are playing at a very high level late into their 30s. And so we feel very good. look, Joel's a big. Biggs generally don't last quite as long, especially as you get over seven feet. These years are critical, like the next few years. And we have, I think, arguably, for sure, the best perimeter, interior combination in the league. Northern Ireland supplies products and services to more than 100 countries. We're innovative and forward thinking with the track record of working with global business.

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Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. Well, I bring him on a few times a year. I absolutely love him. He's Marcus Thompson. He's the Bay Area columnist for The Athletic. He's written a couple of three books now that are fantastic. KD. Golden about Steph Curry and Dynasties. the top 10 goat teams that change the NBA forever.

He's Marcus Thompson. So let's first talk about Golden State. So I think there's two teams that we would both acknowledge are going to be a handful in the playoffs. Phoenix bring back a lot of chemistry. Oh, yeah. From coach to Chris Paul ascending players. Milwaukee, similarly. Coach, culture, ascending players, Janus.

The third team we talk about is Golden State. My pushback would be, and I like him a lot, I get the coach, I get the culture, I get the culture, I get the stars, but there are two things I have to ask you about. One, the size or lack thereof, because as you know, the playoffs get more physical. Size matters. And secondly, Clay is not shooting the ball particularly well. So let's address the first. Will size end up being too big a liability to win a championship for the Warriors?

Well, you know, size doesn't matter with the Warriors, right? That's always been the case. I do wonder if this is the year catches up to them, right? I do wonder if after year, after year of running big guys off the league, of, you know, being too quick and shooting too well, I wonder if like, okay, this is a lot to ask. The real issue isn't really the playoffs, though. The question I have is because they're playing small now, what will they have when the playoffs come? because we've seen this team do this before, but they have like four or five centers to get them through the regular season.

Then a playoff come and it's like, all right, Draymond's center. But Draymond hadn't played center all year. So now you get guys like Kavanaugh-Luny and Draymond. And the rest is like, you know, a bunch of small forwards and power forward. So what does Kavanaughan-Luny have left at the end of the year? What will Draymond have left come playoff time? They're just banking on what they always bank on. It's Steph, it's Clay.

is Draymond, and they're going to make enough shots. They're going to run fast enough. And then the crunch time are going to play good enough defense, and they'll win. That's been the bet the whole time. So they're doubling down on it now. It's going to be tough, I think. Clay, listen, we all had a question. What kind of year would it be for Clay?

He's shooting 42% from the field and 37% from three. You watch him every game. You see him at practice. Is there another gear this year? There is. You could see part of his issue is. it was almost like Clay's like, what's my man,

Chris Evans, you know, you know, Captain America. Like, remember he was in the freezing chamber, right? He's like frozen.

And he comes back. He's like, what year is this? And Clay's mind is 2019. Like he, it's like he was frozen. So he's still thinking, yo,

I got this 20 foot step back. I got to pull up three in transition. I hit these shots. But he's got these time to get that. So he's, he's a time to get that. He's not really doing the thing where it's like, all right, let me work myself back. Let me kind of pace myself.

Let me find my spots on the floor, get my rhythm. Clay came back like, nah, bro. I'm the same guy from 2019. And I think he's having a little clash with that reality that maybe he's not. And there's moments where he is that's kind of egging him on, right? Like, I guess the Lakers, he was that guy. But since then, he hasn't been. So it's just, I think it's all kind of expected for a guy who haven't been two and a half years playing.

but look, I'll tell you this, if they don't have another gear out of Clay Thompson, that's going to be really difficult to overcome. He's too important. They need him to take another gear to get closer to the guy we remember than where he is right now. You know, it's interesting because I always felt Andrew Wiggins had the personality of a great three or a solid two. I never thought he was a one. I've said the same thing. I think Anthony Davis is the best two potentially in the league.

He doesn't want to be a one. He doesn't put the time in. He doesn't want that kind of burden. But when Wiggins got there initially, he was viewed kind of as an eventual trade piece. Marcus, when was the moment that you think the brain trust in Golden State said, shit, he's a great three. Some nights he's the world's best four. Like what was the stretch? Because I feel like now he'll be a valuable piece in the playoffs.

Yeah. I think they believed it. I think they were convinced last year. the Warriors went 15 and 5 down the stretch. He made a lot of big shots. Keep in mind, Steph didn't have much with him, right? Draymond was not an offensive weapon last year by even his own admission. So you know he was pretty bad if Draymond was like, yo, I sucked.

And that was it, no clay. They were banking on like Jordan Poole was a youngster, like not really in this prime yet. And it was it was Steph and he needed some help. And it was Wiggins. But I do think they always thought it. would be him. I don't know how much of it is because of Wiggins or because they like this idea that when you come to the Warriors, you reach another level, right? So it's not, it's not, it's like, hey, man, Wiggins, we saw who you were. Everybody doubted you. But now you with us,

right? So we want to show that our system, our culture is different. And he's kind of the poster child for that. So I think they always believe that I personally had this debate in the locker room with Warriors owner Joe Laker. Right, where he's telling me I'm going to be wrong. I even had to say I was wrong. Like, all right, I didn't think Wiggins would be this good. I just didn't see it. So I know they've thought this from the beginning.

They thought they had a steal. They thought they got a great player. They thought he'd be perfect. But I think it was convincing last year because he played the best ball he'd ever play. And he committed to defense in a way you just didn't see. You're right. Right. Plus they get the one-up Minnesota, right?

You'd be like, man, it was Minnesota's fault. So now this is like the Warriors version of member Shug Knight when he got on the stage and he was like, if you don't want the executive producer all in the video, they come to death row. That's essentially, Wiggins is their way of saying that to the rest of the league. You don't like how your career is going? You think you're being underutilized? Come to the Warriors. We will rejuvenate your career.

Come play with Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, and Dr. Mark Green, and watch your career take off. Well, it's a little staffer to the Rams. Dante Fowler. Yes, absolutely. OBJ, Matt Stafford. I don't think it's, I think Steve Kerr's collaborative. I think Sean McVey is. I think it's the California way.

I think that's the way the world, the California economy, we're not authoritarian. It's a more collaborative kind of mission. It's a more tolerant state. And I think the Rams do that. It's interesting with the Warriors because they're real twitchy. I look at the Kevin Durant thing now and I think, God,

he's got to be looking at this thinking, if I was with Golden State right now, I mean, seriously. Now, when you wrote the book KD, and I think we've talked about this, do you think he is the kind of guy that has regret? I mean, do you think he would allow himself to have these moments by himself thinking,

man, all that team needs is length? I mean, that team would be, I can now it would be crazy so they would the Jordan pool pick was the year after he left so they would they would have Jordan pool if he stayed right yeah 20 2018 they wouldn't have wisemen they wouldn't have wise men they wouldn't have wiggins I mean they'd still have Kevin Durant which is better than whatever they would have had right but do you think do you think he looks at that Kyrie's staff exchange now with any regret I don't know I think I think Katie's still too stubborn to do that right I still think he's like, I'm the best of the league.

So let me show you why it don't matter. There might be that voice. I think the other voice is louder. The other voice that I'm the best in the game, like the other voice that says, I deserve this, right? Like, I'm too nice to be part of this collaborative situation. And I also think he's just tight with Kyrie. Like in the end, Katie, you know, I think he likes playing with his friends.

He likes the relationships. He likes the off-the-court stuff too. and Kyrie's his friend. So I can't say what's happening privately. I think it would be crazy to think he's not thinking that I just, what I do here? But there is a louder voice that says, I'm the best in the game.

And I'm going to show you. I almost showed y'all last year in the playoffs, but I wore a size 18 instead of 17, right? So you watch what I'm going to do in the playoffs. And if I got anything with me, I'm going to prove to y'all how great I am. To me, I'd feel like that's the pervasive mindset of KD. It's just he's going to be great.

Do you think the Ben Simmons thing works? Absolutely. Absolutely. What better could you put next to KD and Kyrie besides a guy who don't need shots? I mean, here's a guy who's going to play defense, work hard, and he's got a chip on the shoulder. He's got something to prove. And he's 6 foot 10. And in the fourth quarter, there is no question where that ball is going, right? There's no other possible person to say you don't have to worry about Ben Simmons saying,

I got this, y'all. He's going to look to pass. And I do think when they were working, it's because Hardin had the ball and he was like a point guard. Remember Kyrie was like, hey, man, you're the point guard because Hardin's got that in this game where he can just say, look, I'm just going to distribute. That's Ben Simmons, right?

And I do feel like that's a better fit because it's better defensively. It's better size. And he's got something to prove. He ain't trying to get out of there like James Hardin was. I do think that's a big difference. See, I think I just worry about. all the, there's so many moving parts with Brooklyn. I look at Harden to Philadelphia and I'm like, shit, good locker room, star big, veteran coach.

I do wish they would have retained Steph Curry, Seth Curry. That's a big blow. That's a big blow. It really is. But I think Philadelphia is going to work pretty quick. Your thoughts on that? Yes, I do think so. The only worry I have, I agree 1,000 percent.

Seth Curry, that hurt. Like, that's the part of the deal. You kind of got it. do to do it, but it's like, you know, the best deal hurt both parties, right? So that's one of the situations where that hurts a little bit. The only remaining worry I

have is what happens with Tyrese Maxie, because he was kind of flourishing as the point guard, right, as the playmaker. And now he's pretty much got to step aside. One of those dudes have to go off the ball and kind of be like a spot-up-ish type of player. So I'm interested to see how this works.

It didn't work that well with Chris Paul. and James Harden, and it didn't work that well with James Hardin and Kyrie. But Tyrese isn't a superstar to be able to kind of demand anything out of the situation, right? So James Hardin is going to get to do whatever he wants. So what happens to Tyreeks Maxie? If they figure that out, if Maxie can be good off the ball, if he can be some kind of slasher, if he can knock down open shots, then it's fine. But they're kind of, I mean, they're like ready-baked cookies, man.

Like you put them in the oven. They're going to go just because it's all. right there. And they have the big. They have the dominant big man. I do think that's a big difference than the dominant guard, per se. How do you look at the Lakers? Listen, the roster's old. The chemistry's average. Westbrook can't play off the ball. 80 can't stay healthy. It is a weak front office, man. Like post-Cobi, any problem, they call an ex-Laker. It's the opposite of the Warriors. Like I said, I've been saying this now for a couple of months. The Rams had a parade yesterday. The Lakers are ninth in the West. And there's a story out that they're going to bring the same team back.

I would move AD. That sounds crazy. I think, I honestly, Marcus think the pandemic did them a huge favor. It gave four months off to AD. He's never proven he can play in the last four years, a full season. He got healthy. LeBron old got healthy. Like, it's not like the trade didn't work.

You got a title. I would move AD and blow the damn thing up. How do you view them going forward? I think they need a piece, another piece, that prevents LeBron having to carry this team on his back in February. Right. And that's what Westbrook was supposed to be. A guy who would be like, all right, man, look, I'm not about to go all out right now. Right.

I'm 37 years old. Right. I'm like, not only smiles on me. you need me in the playoffs. And here he does, he has to be this Herculean figure in the fourth quarter, right? AD goes down now. Now he's, now he's pretty much screwed. Like LeBron can't afford to tweak anything.

So I think they need another player who can carry the load and both Anthony Davis has proven he can't stay healthy. And Russell Westbrook seems to be past the moment where he's carrying teams. So that's the difficult part. How do you get that other player? if you got to do AD to get them, then that player needs to be pretty young, right? He needs to be somebody who can carry the ship

because that was the plan. It was supposed to be a torch passing, right? It was supposed to be LeBron pass the church. Now it's very clear that you cannot pass the torch to Anthony Davis. He's incredible. He's just not reliable. You just can't keep him on the court.

So I don't know if I give him up because like you said, he's the best number two player. But then how are you going to get that other figure without giving them up. Like, they don't have anything else to move. Make sure to check out the Dremont Green Show. I brought Dramon Green into the volume because one of the more entertaining voices in sports,

unique perspective, understands behind the rope. Also chops up with guests like Gary Payton, Zach Levine, Tracy McGrady. Make sure download the Dramon Green Show wherever you get your podcast, only on the volume podcast network. By the way, I understood taking. taking Zion over Ja Morant, because here's my theory. Iverson, John Wall, Westbrook, John Morant, Steph Marbury, no titles. Bigs? Steph Curry got one without a big. But in the last 20 years, Duncan's got four, Shaq's got three, Gasol, even Kobe needed Biggs.

Like, I got it. Like, I was one of these, I got a lot of stuff with Zion. But I also said his torque, his power, his weight is an issue. Do you classify, is Zion a, bust if you consider everything from the family to this health to the injuries in your space in this league to people think bust now i think you seem too much of the potential right um it's it's hard to tell these days how much of this is like actual and how much of it is i don't want to play for new orleans anymore right like we could we you just don't know these days but when you saw him and he's shooting 67% sent from the field.

I know it. It was like, it was like, if you just get him on the court, he don't even know how to play basketball yet. So I think it's too early. And we're starting to see these things in the league where maybe a guy five years later figure it out. He gets to say, you guys wrote me off. I think so there's a bit of hesitant.

I mean, you look at Andrew Wiggins is one of them, right? Where it's like, he's an all-star starter now. I mean, it happens seven years. Julius Randall a little bit. Julius Randall, yeah. So I think there's a far more patience. But it's tough. It does feel a little.

Greg Oden KD, right? Ja and Zion, where it's like, you got to go big. Like, it's a big league. You got to go big. But, man, that perimeter dude looks really good. And so now you see Jai looks like an MVP candidate. We ain't seen Zion since, you know, since before the pandemic. So it's tough.

I don't think it's bus label yet. I think he, we just need to know what the injury status is and when he's coming back. But I don't know a player that were rushed back to New Orleans. Like, I don't know. Is it the worst culture in the league? Do you think it's the worst culture in the league? I think the management is a little, I think the ownership and management. I mean, first off, like the Saints are the priority of the franchise of the ownership, right?

Like, that's a tough pill to swallow. Like, you know, the most lit New Orleans is, is Mardi Gras, Saints games, the LSU games, right? So I think it's just tough. But I do think the team is pretty good. And I do think Pelicans fans are pretty good. Like, I've been to playoff games there. Like, they ride with their team. So I do think they have some issues with the fact that the Saints owner owns the Pelicans.

And it's very clear what the priority is, right? And it's tough to kind of put everything behind your Pelicans guy. So we've seen Anthony Davis leave and we're seeing Zion or we're not seeing them in New Orleans, right? So there's got to be something behind the scenes. But I do think they're a really good young team and they're really engaged and when they're good, the place is great. And maybe it's just, you know,

I like going to New Orleans. So I'm hoping the Pelicans are good again. All right, Marcus Thompson, touched all the bases. Three books. Golden, story about Steph Curry, KD, great book. And dynasties,

the top 10 goat teams that change the NBA forever. He is Marcus Thompson, Bay Area for the athletic, one of my favorite guys. And I love having you, man. Now, you're standing for this thing. I am worried about your back. I stand for Kyle. You know what I'm saying?

Any other party? No, I'm having a seat. But for Kyle and Kyle, we out here, we standing up, man. We're in the energy. You know what I'm saying? I'm ready. Let's go. I really appreciate that.

Thank you. That's dedication right there. Look at that. I'm on two feet. That's funny. It's the kind of guy you are. I'm a stand-up gentleman. Yes, sir.

That's right. Boom. And we close with that. Thanks, man. No problem. Thank you. The volume. What does the chicken say?

Dog. Cat. Giraff. Giraff. Giraff, really? Giraffe. You're not going to get it all right. Just make sure you know the big stuff.

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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. 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.

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