The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts - Dr. J Talks Talks A.B.A., Done With The Draft Combine, Bears Aren’t Moving To Indiana, LeBron’s Importance To NBA

Episode Date: March 7, 2026

Colin’s top takes of the week. First, he’s joined by NBA legend Julius Irving to discuss his new documentary Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association (2:30). Then, he’s joined by Danny Parkins, host of “First Things First” on FS1. They discuss the absurd posturing over the Chicago Bears and the potential threat to move their new stadium across state lines to Hammond, Indiana (25:00). They also break down why LeBron means far more to the NBA than he does to the Lakers (34:15), and Colin explains why he’s OUT on the NFL Draft Combine as a TV product (39:30). (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis'clock, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the, IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Therapy is fantastic, but once again, it does not have a monopoly on healing. That's why I create the resources and that's why I create the community because I really just want you to have more access. On the podcast, Cultivating Her Space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. It's tough because we're suppressing our emotions and so many of us are like high-achieving individuals. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app.

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. The volume. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor American beverage. If you think about some of the most iconic drinks in the country, the ones you grab at a barbecue, the ones you raise to celebrate your team that have been part of your story for decades, Coke, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, there's something people don't always think about.

The companies behind those brands are still making their drinks right here in the U.S. While there's a lot of talk about bringing manufacturing, back, America's beverage companies never left. They're American companies making American products with American workers in America's hometown. So 275,000 men and women across all 50 states, real jobs, good paying jobs, the kind of jobs you can raise a family on. So more than 100 years, those brands have been part of everyday lives and they're still here, still investing, still operating in communities around the country. So if you care about strong local economies and companies that walk the walk, check out the good work and what they're doing at

We Deliverforamerica.org. Well, like the rest of you, I love a good sports documentary. And when I heard there was a doc on Amazon Prime about the ABA, for many reasons, I was fascinated. It's called Soul Power, the legends of the ABA. So I've said many times on my show The Herd, 10 times, 15 times, the first basketball player I fell in love with was Julius Irving. But I was born in 1964, as Julius now joins us. And I didn't watch sports until 1972. I remember it clearly on a black and white TV, Julius. I watched the Miami Dolphins at the time Washington Redskinned Super Bowl, Dolphins won 14 to

seven. It was about that time. I, you know, I'm six years old, seven years old. I'm getting into sports. So my mom bought me a subscription to Sports Illustrated. So I could watch baseball was the national pastime on TV, college football, college basketball was big. But like anything else in life, the one thing I couldn't get was the ABA. So I had to rely on the sporting news, which actually did ABA guides, and Sports Illustrated twice put you on the cover. I remember this. So I'm in my formative years, and I'm like, who's Dr. J? Nobody's called Dr. J. So because I didn't get, you didn't have a TV contract. Because I didn't get ABA games as a Seattle kid, my parents bought me an ABA ball.

So it's fascinating to me. So let's go back. And I've always felt that the NBA should include ABA numbers and stats. And the reason I do is something I think you'll believe in, that I didn't know this about the ABA, Julius. I knew about the nuggets and the spurs. I knew about you. I knew about how many good players there were. I did not know much about the exhibition games with the NBA in which the ABA teams clobbered them regularly. So let's let's talk. Let's start with that. The NBA in the 70s was considered a little white and overcoached.

And the ABA was more stylistic. It was more fun. It was more fashionable. It was a little rowdy. When you matched up against those NBA teams, was there a chip on you, I know, your league's shoulder facing like the adult, the parent league that you knew in many instances you were superior to. Yeah, I played in two of those games and ABA versus NBA. And the excitement surrounding it was unbelievable because it was just the exhibition season. And, you know,

we had training camp, play exhibition games and then played a regular season. So everyone would always look forward to the regular season and the playoffs. And that was the big deal. But these exhibition games against the NBA, you know, became a big deal more so for the ABA than the NBA because the ABA was the league that was trying to establish itself, also trying to prove it and self-worthy. And, you know, wanted to have some bragging rates.

So you beat an NBA team, they're going to make excuses. They're going to say, well, our guy is aren't in shape. Right. It's only a practice game or whatever, but, you know, the ABA guys who were probably younger and more excitable, kind of like the young NBA players are now, you know, looking forward to having the chip on their shoulder and all of that good stuff. So winning those games, especially if you're playing on your home court, because the city that you're in, you know, would always stick the chest out a little bit and say, hey, yeah, you know, we knocked those guys off. And, you know, the league's been around longer. And, you know, those names are known. People know Oscar Robinson's name, Clyde Frazier, Will Chamberlain, you know, West Unsel.

They know those guys' names. And, you know, we took them down. Those are the same guys. You know what, guys? If they cut, they bleed just like we do. If they get elbowed, they bend over and they act like they hurt just like we do or whatever. So, you know, we're all human beings. And because you wear a title.

and you wear a monica or whatever, that's not going to make you different. That's going to necessarily make you greater. So it was a good confidence boosted for us. And, you know, a lot of people who went to those games alive, became believers. And also, you know, that served to feed the cause. And the cause was, you know, we had seen the NFL and the NFL, you know,

merged in one league. So we had witnessed that. And globally, this same type of thing was happening. It was happening in soccer and it was happening in other sports that have played universally, not necessarily in the United States. So that became a mission for the ownership. The players, you know, my opinion was I came out of school after my junior year. I played two varsity seasons.

And our team had been invited to the NIT, even though our record was good enough to be invited to the NCAA tournament. We weren't. And it felt like we were snubbed. And after that, after my junior year, I got approached by an agent. And the numbers that they started talking about, you know, were comparable to the best players in the NBA. And they said, this is going to go away. I mean, if the league folds, it's going to go away. And if the NBA continues to, you know, maybe put you out of business or, you know, maintains a superiority complex, then those numbers are going to go away.

And, you know, 100,000 is going to turn into 25, 30,000 or whatever. So, you know, I took the deal. I took the deal. It cost me a lot because I was, I had to forego. being an Olympian and I had played in the Olympic development program and you know at my size and with my game I was leading score and rebounder in the Olympic development program we went over to Russia Poland and Finland played and you know I was a shoe to make the team but that in that area the representing your country and playing for the United States of American in

in 1771, 72, was not the most popular thing to do. It's not like we were just dying to do it. So I chose the pro route, pro root. And at that time, you know, this is 20 years before pros were allowed to play in the Olympics. So you had to be an amateur to play.

And, you know, sorry about, you know, getting off the subject, but I'm just kind of, this fill space is very, very important in terms of the ABA story in the ABA as a hockey series because there's so much to it beyond just basketball.

There's the culture that we have. There's the racial tension, you know, that was evident. And then there's, you know, just the global situation where, you know, we're still learning things and there are a lot of things that have gone on for hundreds of years. that haven't been fixed yet. So who's going to fix this?

Who's going to fix this? So basketball couldn't be the most important thing for me in my life, but it was it was the path that I needed to take. Yeah. Yeah. What's interesting, because I grew up in the 70s, you know, the NBA was not a rich league in the 70s. In fact, I can remember the NBA finals being on

tape delay after the 11 o'clock news. Young fans now that can watch every game every night. So I remember NBA teams at that time, Julius, traveled on commercial, first flight out of town out of Seattle. They traveled. So what was travel, right? That's right. So what was travel like hotels travel in the ABA, which was financially in a tougher spot than even the NBA in the early 70s? Yeah, so, you know, we didn't have the top-notch hotels. We had what was available to us. We had roommates. You know, everybody had to pick a roommate.

So no single rooms. I didn't experience a single room until I got in the NBA and I was in Philadelphia. And I didn't want a single room. Actually, Steve Mix was my roommate for five seasons. That was my boy. And I learned a lot from him. And he learned a lot from me. So, yeah, the accommodation piece, I don't know.

You know, if your college team was in the Big Ten or maybe, you know, out there in a PAC 12 or whatever, you know, maybe the travel was a little better. Maybe the hotel accommodations were a little better, you know, but, you know, I played with the Minutemen, formerly the UMass Redmond, and we were in the Yankee Conference. Right. So I travel. I travel with a lot by bus. I mean, we bused over to Buffalo. We bused down to Penn, Pennsylvania, to play Penn. And then all throughout New England, we played Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, you know, all of those schools. And you were built for it. And we took buses. So the move to the ABA was actually a step up in terms of travel and in terms of hotel accommodation. So I'm from Seattle. So another player who was groundbreaking. with Spencer Haywood. So I, yeah. So, you know, I grew up not only with a downtown Freddie Brown, DJ, Gus Williams, Jack

Sigma Sonics, I grew up with Spencer Haywood, John Brisker, the young teams. And I tell people this because for young fans, the ABA, this is why I supported the Live Tour to the PGA. My takeaway is, folks, watch what Lyft and Uber did to taxis. You need disruptors in society. And the ABA was really the... one of the first disruptors in sports in this country. And when, I mean, you were a nine-time All-Star, five in the NBA, four in the ABA.

You were a three-time, you were a four-time NBA. 16-time All-Star. So you were six-old. I was an All-Star every season, but in terms of all-pro, that was five in the NBA. And four, first team in the NBA. I already played there five years. So I was second team the other year. So in the history of American basketball, professional basketball,

there's a real argument that the most unrewarded, overlooked player is you. That you were, you spent probably 40% of your best days, you know, you're in your athletic prime in the ABA. Have you ever thought about, I mean, do you regret that decision? Have you ever thought, man? because the Olympics back in 72 wasn't what they are now. We watched for gymnastics. We watched for a lot of things.

The dream team kind of made Olympic basketball a showcase. But when I look at you, I think, of all the great players, you probably have been overlooked more than any great player. Because I remember in the 70s turning on the TV, I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and watching you against the Blazers and thinking, what am I? watching. Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever had regrets about your journey? It's an excellent question. And I kind of stand on the ground that the journey that I took, the path that I took made me who I am today. You know, never one to ego trip and feel like

I deserve more than I've received. I'm more sensitive to the guys who get no recognition. I at least get some recognition. I was on eight covers of Sports Illustrated and multiple colors of Sport Magazine and, you know, participated in a lot of charitable endeavities which led to endorsements. Yeah, shoe deal with converts. My shoe deal with converts and Fitzfalding. and, you know, my invitation to become a Coca-Cola bottleer with Bruce Llewellyn.

And so there were things that happened. I've had a good life. I've had a very, very good life. And could it be better? I don't know. It could be different. It could be different. But my empathy goes, you know, to the guys who have passed on,

don't have the recognition, their families. They don't have the financials. support, you know, of pensions and gifting. And so there's things that are more important than my ego. And I think that my statistics can be matched with anybody's. I mean, you know, the guys who came after me and played better in the NBA than they played in the ABA. And my stats in the ABA were probably a little better than the NBA.

but I was playing with a different team. I paid my whole career with the Philadelphia 76ers. The first day I got there, the general manager came in and said, look, we got George McGuinness here. We got Doug Collins. So we don't need you to score 30 points a game. And I've never experienced that where I've gone and the coaches told me to tone it down.

Or general manager has said tone it down. And so that were burst in which, you know the doctor jay of the aBA came out but most of the time it was as you had said about the NBA you know it was to slow down structure structure playing a certain type of game so I was encouraged to play that type of game although inside of me you know there was always that ability to do more and who asked who asked an athlete to do less nobody kind of crazy. Well, it's interesting because

so much of your journey is fascinating. And the aforementioned Philadelphia 76ers is one of the first teams I loved. And they had Steve Mix ABA, you, ABA, George McGinnis, ABA, Bobby Jones, ABA. It was an

ABA All-Star team. Call Well, Jones. Called Well Jones. Yeah. So essentially, that 76ers team was an ABA team winning the NBA finals, was it not? Absolutely. Going and losing to Portland and winning ultimately in 83 against the Lakers.

We had much ABA representation there. Plus, you know, the guys who didn't get the ABA experience, I always, you know, taught them things that I brought over from the ABA, you know, and I used to tell Andrew Tony. I'd say, you know, George Gervin came in my second year in Virginia. And the practice was over, and he wanted to go home. And I was like, gee, we got work to do. You ever here overtime?

So we would stay in the gym, and it was at this Jewish community center. We would stay in the gym and we'd play one-on-one and, you know, maybe put in an extra hour, an extra hour and a half and go home. it. And when Andrew Tony came in, it was the same thing with him. I said, look, you know, you're going to be my new Iceman Gervin because you're really good. And I could use the work myself. So, you know, I would keep him afterwards. And that was something that Ray Scott showed me in the ABA about, you know, staying after putting in the extra time. And, you know, really, the other things about taking care of yourself and then the other things about just some fundamental

things that you need to do during the course of the game. You don't have to always jump as high as you possibly can. And you see it in today's game where guys, they step back and shoot set shots. Yeah. Whatever. So the jump shot, you know, is a little bit overstated because, you know, the true jump shot where you go to your pinnacle and your peak and then you let it go, you don't have to do that. It actually takes more energy.

and it's actually a risk reward shot because you probably you probably will shoot less of a percentage from shooting that way as opposed to stepping back and shooting the set shot. Today's show brought to you by our presenting sponsor Hard Rock Bet, Florida Sportsbook, March is here. You know what that means.

College basketball are going to take center stage. The stakes are rising, the shots are falling. Hey, now's the time to use Hard Rock Bet's app. With basketball on every night, every night, every night a shot to build the same game parley and score a major bucket. If you ever miss like tip off, don't worry about it. Hard Rock bet lets you bet live all game long. First basket to the buzzer.

So you're never too late to find a winner or grab that player prop you head circle. But if you're more into baseball, Hard Rock bet has you covered there too. You can bet, you know, America or whatever country you think will win the world baseball classic, which is a great watch. Join me by stepping up to the plate. Sign up today. Double your winnings. First 10 bets, maximum 50 bucks.

That's right. If you would have won $100 on your same game parlay, that would make it $200. Plus Hard Rock Bet offers new promos daily. So whenever you're listening, just open the app, Hard Rock Bet app. Check out what you've got any day of the week.

Download that app, Hard Rock Bet app, and make your first deposit today. Payable and bonus bets, not a cash offer. Offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida, offered by Seminole Hard Rock Digital LLC in Alder States. Must be 21 plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana,

New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concern about gambling in Florida, call 1-888. Admit it. In Indiana, if you or somebody you know has a problem, wants help, call 1-800-9 with it. Gambling problem. Call 1-800 gambler, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. Danny Parkins, my guy, FS1, formerly Chicago radio icon. This is the slowest three weeks of the year, as you well know, is that football season ends.

We don't take any days off for six months. Nobody cares. It's lightlifting. Then you get about four days after the Super Bowl to chop it up. And then there's like a three-week stretch until NFL free agency. And, you know, college basketball pivots into March Madness where it's pretty dead. But I wanted to start today. I was watching J.B. Pritzker is the governor of Illinois. It's for the uninitiated here. He's one of the richest, one of the richest families in America is the Pritzker family. It's probably top four or five richest families in America. A lot of their, you know, net worth. was in the Hyatt chain and hotels.

And in fact, I have a place in downtown Chicago and J.B. Pritzker, somebody's grandfather has a plaque on the wall. I see it every time I go out the door. And he is the governor. I think he's a Northwestern Duke guy, very, very smart guy. And, you know, so the McCaskies, when you hear these threats by Kevin Warren and the McCaskies of moving, you know, the Bear Stadium, good luck negotiating against J.B. Pritzker, who's a very, very sharp guy. He was a businessman, very successful before he was the governor of the state, and I think he would run circles around the McCaskey family. But what is so insane to me, like I hear the stories. First of all, Chicago is a blue blood American sports market.

It's in the Boston, Philly, Chicago. You could end the list there. I've always said people think New York City is a great sports city. But yet 30% of the people are from, you know, Europe. Russia. I've seen the Rose Bowl ratings in Chicago, and I've seen them in New York. You know, New York likes New York. Chicago watches everything. College football, bowling, NASCAR, NBA. Chicago watches everything. It's a great, maybe the best American sports town. And the idea that you pull a stadium out and put it in Northern Indiana. And again,

for people that don't know what's in Northern Indiana, the answer is nothing. South Bend, Gary Hammond, Fort Wayne's probably got 300,000 people. The people in Indiana would have to pay for the stadium. There'd be taxes obviously assessed to build a $2.5 billion stadium. So I look at it and I think this is nonsense. J.B. Pritzker is going to run circles around the McCaskey family and all the kids. How do you view it as somebody that worked here and is a Bears fan? Well, so first of all, I find the story to be joyless.

because and so when I get when I go on the score and you know I still follow all those people on social media and they're they're all my friends and colleagues in Chicago media I hate how much they feel like they have to talk about it because yes it didn't like it matters where the bears play football but this is this is a story of billionaires trying to get a better tax rate for a stadium to make them yes like they're they're going to be the Chicago Bears, whether they're on the lakefront, northwest Indiana, or Arlington Heights. They will be the Chicago Bears, just like they are the New York Giants, even though they play in Jersey. They're the Dallas Cowboys, even though they play in Arlington. And so this is just about a family, the McCaskies, who inherited a football team. They are not wealthy like the Pritzker's from Hyatt. No, some of the poorest owners. Among the poorest owners, their wealth is a team in which they inherited, and there's a ton of kids,

some of whom want to sell the team and cash in, others of whom feel an obligation to keep it in the family, and it seems like they're going to. But they don't have millions and billions of dollars of their own outside of football. And they've played in Soldier Field, small stadium in the NFL, and they didn't own it. Like I remember Kanye West had a concert the weekend of a Bears game

where he brought his childhood home onto Soldier Field. and lit it on fire. And so the bears then played a game like 18 hours later with just a patch of dead grass in the middle because they didn't own the stadium. High school kids would play soccer tournaments. And yeah, you know what I mean? So it's just it's been known as the worst surface in the league. Parks and Rec and Chicago runs it's atrocious. Correct. And it's finally gotten better recently after like literally decades of being the worst. But so the point is it's impossible to get in and out of. The renovation was pretty ugly. The field was terrible and it wasn't big enough to host a Super Bowl and it didn't have a roof so you can host the Final Four. Other than that,

they nailed it. And so then now it's like, okay, so the McCaskies want to own their stadium. Fine, but they don't have the money to do it. Well, J.B. Pritzker, as you mentioned, smart business guy, Illinois, Blue State, it's not very politically popular to have to have publicly funded stadiums. Right. You saw what happened with the chiefs in Missouri and Kansas, a couple of red states, and they're getting

laughed at for how much public funding they're going to pony up for the new chief stadium. So Indiana, red state, they're going to do it or they're going to offer to do it. But my gut tells me they go to Arlington Heights. I don't think George McCaskey

has it in them to have the bears leave the state of Illinois when he inherited it from, you know, Virginia, McCasky, marries, George Alice, the whole thing. Like, I just, they bought Arlington Racetrack. They spent $300 million, or no, they spent more than that. It's 320 acres of land for however any hundreds of millions of dollars they bought it for. They're not real estate developers. Like, they bought that land for a reason.

So this is all just the game of chicken. It's all just to get Arlington Heights to lower their property tax rate. And so I find the story to be. joyless because it's literally just about can the McCaskys increase their net worth by building an entertainment complex around the new stadium that they will finally own. I just don't care about it that much to be totally can't. Right. It just, who cares? Who cares? They're going to be the Caleb Williams is going to be the quarterback and the Chicago Bears call with Ben Johnson calling the plays. Whether it's an Arlington Heights or Northwest Indiana, I honestly don't care very much.

Yeah, Arlington Heights is close to my house, so I'm obviously don't feel like going to Hammond, Indiana. Can I tell you one thing about Hammond, Indiana? Yeah. It's where the casinos. And there's probably only one thing about Hammond, Indiana. Okay. So it's where I would gamble because that's where there were casinos. So it's right over the border.

Like, it's Northwest Indiana is Chicago land. It's the, they call it the region. Like I had radio partners, you know, who lived there because of the taxes and it was so much, you could work in Chicago, pay the $9 toll and then pay way fewer taxes in Indiana. But I would, I would live in Wrigleyville and drive there every day and play poker when I was 22 years old because that's where all the casinos were. Now, it's disgusting. It's Gary. It smells bad. It's smokestacks.

It's prison. It's terrible. But, you know, cheap land and property. property taxes. So maybe they'll build a state in there. I doubt it. I doubt it. Where do you think they're going to go? Arlington Heights. I don't buy it at all. Of course. This is a blue, but I mean, the Niners play out in Santa Clara. So California is such a massive state. But there's nothing in Indiana. Even Indianapolis is a snooze. I mean, you know a state's a bad food state when you say, where do you go to eat in Indianapolis? And everybody gives you one restaurant,

St. Elmo. Yeah, right. Yeah. It's just, and there's nothing against Indiana. But I mean, the state's not wealthy. The states, it's just not a place that local taxpayers in Indiana don't care about the bears. They love the Colts. You know what? The best part about Indiana is Bloomington. That is a great town. Bloomington's a great college town.

Sure. And I've had plenty of good times in South Bend going to football games. It's just, I don't. They hired Kevin Warren to get this thing done because he helped spearhead the stadium. for the Vikings, which is arguably the best stadium in the NFL. And he just came in with a lot of bluster being like, we're going to get shovels in the ground. He promised shovels in the ground in 2025.

We're recording this on March 1st of 2026. And we're still playing one state against another and three different locations against each other. And there's no shovels in the ground happening anytime soon. So it's just, it's a manipulative story. The bears are leaking a ton of stuff to a ton of local. Oh, yeah. That's eating it up, which drives me insane. Like, it's, this is just a game of political chicken and just let it play out. They'll end up in Arlington

Heights and everything will be fine. It's interesting with LeBron, you know, the Dodgers owners now on the Lakers. And, you know, they let go of Cody Bellinger and Scott Sager and Trey Turner on the batting title and Manny Machado in his prime, which I was surprised with Zach Grinkey. They don't, they'll let go of people. And they, and by the way, all the analytics tell you that Luke and LeBron on the floor don't work because, and for obvious reasons, one, they both need the ball. Two, both are, I mean, LeBron is now the second slowest player in the league. So, like, the tandem of Luke and LeBron is like it's a disaster on the floor.

But not to include myself in this, but I saw this week, like Chris Berman announced his retirement and it'll be like in a year and he'll have worked like 50 years at ESPN. And that's Jeter. That's Kobe when you play for one team. That's Dan Marino, right? So there's this love. You know, I've bounced around to different companies. I've been a bit of a mercenary, you know, have microphone, we'll travel.

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

Magic Johnson walks into that arena. He's still more beloved than LeBron. To this day, he walks into Staples and it's fascinating to watch. The crowd stands. It's like, ooh, there's magic. It's like, you've never seen him. You're all seasoned ticket holders. So my take is the advantage the Dodgers have is you can let LeBron go.

And people will be like, well, I'll build him a statue. And I don't think, like, it's not Jordan. It's not Pipp. No. It's not the 85 bears. And I defended LeBron's mobility, but like L.A. is distracted. Like nobody's going to care. No.

So a couple things. First of all, we will romanticize you, Colin. Whenever you want to hang it up, I promise you, I promise you, we will give you your flowers. No. Don't worry. You're very important to all of us. Blah, blah, blah. And the volume.

So yeah, you are the son of which we all. no. So don't worry, you'll get, you'll get your flowers and your goodbye to her, but you're, you're not, you're not going anywhere anytime soon. Um, LeBron means more to the NBA than he means to the Lakers. I totally agree. But, you know, like, I wouldn't worry if I were, if I owned the Lakers about saying goodbye to LeBron, but I would worry if I was Adam Silver about saying goodbye to LeBron. LeBron still matters. He is still interesting. People still care about him. I went to the Bulls game with LeBron.

He was the most popular player. I mean, of course he was the most popular. He's one of the most famous people in the world. He's one of the most famous. He's one of the greatest athletes ever any sport. He's, it's remarkable. It's remarkable. Like, he's taking up golf and I can't get enough of it.

Like, I like watching the clips of LeBron trying to learn golf. because it's like, oh, man, LeBron, he's just like me. He's, yeah, duffing it out of the rough. Like, he's, I would imagine, like, obviously, I have no idea what it's like to be LeBron. Obviously. But I've got to think if I was him or in his camp, there would be a sinister part of me that when he retires would wonder what shows like ours on both networks would talk about. We've spent, I mean, you've been at this long with me. I've been doing national TV for a year and a half.

How many thousands of hours between the two networks do you think LeBron has programmed? Oh, I said this to a baseball executive 10 years ago. I was about a year before I left ESPN. And I told this baseball executive, it was in Connecticut and there were a bunch of baseball people there. I said, do you understand nobody talks about your sport? And you may look at first take and you may, you know, my show wasn't a thing at FS1 yet, but I mentioned four or five popular hosts and Tony and Mike and all the, you know, I don't even think GetUp was a show yet.

But I said, you know, Mike and Mike, I think was, Mike and I said, nobody talks baseball. I said, do you understand how many free hours the NFL and the NBA get on these networks? It's insane. Now baseball, Otani, the Dodgers, you and I have said this, they're great for baseball. They got a villain again for the first time of 20 years. They need a villain. They need a bad guy. So, yeah, no, I think there isn't really, in fact, I've noticed, Danny, when I talk NBA now,

I talk Knicks. I don't talk players. I talk Knicks. I talk, oh, I don't talk warriors. I would say Celtics, Knicks, Lakers. I don't really talk a player. I really don't. And I think that's one of the challenges the NBA has because it's, it's a lot of the NBA has because

it's always been its most popular when there's a galvanizing or a polarizing figure to lead the way. NFL Combine is something, and I think we touched on this earlier, it ebb and flows on what I talk about. College football got too regional. I stopped talking about it to a large degree. Now it's back. Jim Harbour brought it back. The Big Ten brought it back. Now I talk about it all the time. The NFL Combine, I am out on. I am out on the NFL. The last two days, the last two days, years. Were you ever in NFL? Were you ever in us? You were. Yeah. I think, I think, probably I think for a long time it was just NFL and I loved, I like the convergence of college and pro. I love the draft. I love the combine. That makes sense. But it is, it's so rehearsed. Many of the

stars don't show up. I don't care about people's hand size. I really don't care. And the truth is, I think one of the things that's really smart, one of the reasons I love the way the L.A. Rams do business is they're not they're willing to say things and do things that other people won't they just said several years ago we're not going that we do our own homework we have tape we can go to the senior bowl we're not doing a quick 15 minute interview where johnny mansell had NFL teams believing he was Peyton manning it's like let's ride i never want it's a bullshit seminar and it's just polished vis-a-vis agents these guys come in with talking points they train in Phoenix, you know, everybody runs their fastest 40. Everybody's got abs. You know, it's like nobody,

everybody has their best vertical. It's football. By October 12th, nobody runs a four three. Not even the four three guys. They've got a bad hip. They've got an ankle sprain. Like the whole league's beat up by week six. It's just a sport of attrition. You're just trying to get your best players available like down the stretch. So I find myself, like we know who's going to go number one. Is there anything that you have moved out of. Like, I'm just not, I was never a home run derby guy, for instance. I was never, so that I was never in, I didn't leave it. Pro Bowl, I've joked. I've never watched four plays. I think the last time I watched the Pro Bowl, Walter Abercrombie was a running back for the Baylor Bears and the Steelers briefly. I don't even know where he played. Like, I remember watching it,

he had a big run. I think it was him. So I don't, I don't watch that. Combine I used to, it doesn't do a thing for me now. I turned it on for 20 minutes today, and I, I moved over to the NBA and said more interested. Yeah. So the combine, like, that was one that I always, I understood it because the NFL is just the cash cow and it's the thing that makes the whole business go. But like, man, these networks really invested in their combine coverage. They're on live for the whole time. Rich Eisen is running the 40, like he's participating.

Like, you know what I mean? Like they made it into like big business and big TV. And the whole time, I was like, this is the underwear Olympics for a draft that, like, I'm not sure we, like, should be having. And it's just like they, it's between all the college football tape and the in-person interviews and the pro days and like the number one pick never throws. Like, it's just like it's just go get your height and your weight measured, basically. Like, so I just, I never was that enthralled by it and was kind of amazed that these networks could get. Yeah. eight hours a day of televised content out of it.

So I've never been a huge combine guy. Regular season college basketball is something that I very much used to love. Yeah. I think America did. Yeah. I used to love it. And part of it was age, too, to be honest with you. Like, just like I went to Syracuse.

That program mattered. Then I worked in Kansas City. So I was around KU. That program mattered. good college basketball markets. But then, like, you grow further, you grow up, you grew further away from your alma mater, you move to a pro sport market, you realize that, like, you know, it doesn't matter. Like, you can go 10 and 8 in the Big 10 and make the tournament and then make a run.

So like one game doesn't mean all of that much. So regular season college basketball has lost me tremendously. Shoot your shot, get paid double, only on hard rock bet. Hard Rock bet is Florida's only legal way to bet the NBA, teams, players, points, and more. He shoots, he scores. And when you sign up for Hard Rock Bet, your bets paid double winnings.

Don't just count the basket. Count it twice. He's on fire now. Yes, new customers get paid double on your first 10 bets. Try Hard Rock Bet today. Max bet of $50 per bet, offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida

must be 21 plus and physically present in Florida to wager. Terms and conditions apply. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, please call 1-833 Playwise. Hey guys, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin.

And I'm Nick, and guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know.

Tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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.

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. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toll. Donno, it's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs.

We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season, and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Therapy is fantastic. But once again, it does not have them a

on healing. That's why I create the resources and that's why I create the community because I really just want you to have more access. On the podcast, Cultivating HerSpace, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. It's tough because we're suppressing our emotions and so many of us are like high achieving individuals. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.