The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Draft Lottery, Jets, Zion Williamson, Warriors, and Kevin Durant

Episode Date: May 15, 2019

Colin recaps the NBA Draft Lottery and what F Zion Williamson should do going forward, the Golden State Warriors winning game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, F Kevin Durant not being a factor for Golden State, and the New York Jets firing their GM. Guests include Nick Wright, Stephen Jackson, Rob Parker, and Ian Begley. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them

and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the Heard at Fox Sports Radio.com Or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, this is the herd. Wherever you may be in, however you may be listening,

we are live in Los Angeles on Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and right here on the magic of FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me on an unbelievable day today. The Jets just blew up their front office, right thing to do. Joy will have that in 25 minutes. Yep. So the Jets finally figured out. Their GM didn't know what he's doing.

I'll have strong opinions on that because I think it's the right thing to do going forward. Joy, how are you? I'm great. Well, I have some opinions, but I am good. Okay, let's start with this. Zion Williamson. Going to the Pelicans. Man, it's a disappointment.

Well, not for New Orleans, right? I am going to propose something this morning that is going to upset lots of people. but actually everybody wins. Zion Williamson has not been drafted yet. He does not have an agent. There's a reason for it. He can go back to Duke. I would not suggest that, but I have a plan.

If I'm Zion Williamson, I do not go to New Orleans. I have not been drafted yet. I can take my name out of the draft. Oh, this has happened multiple times. I'll give you an example coming up. I would call the Pelicans and say, I'm taking my name out of the draft. So trade me. If they do not elect to do that, takes his name out of the draft, he's the number one pick next year.

He calls Greg Popovich and says, can I play for the national team for a year? This happened in hockey. Eric Lindross was Zion. They were calling him the greatest young hockey prospect ever. He was a Canadian. and he said, no, I'm not playing for Quebec. I don't like their management. I'm not playing.

He played for the national team in Canada. They won a silver, I believe, and everybody still sort of liked him. Then he ended up leaving the country and playing for Philadelphia. And it was the right move, by the way. Zion Williamson can go play for the national team. You will not hold it against him. By the way, New Orleans, this ends up good for you. I'll get to that in a second.

This is what John Elway and Eli Manning did. The NFL has never been the individual star league. The NFL's about the flag in America, the military and patriotism and the shield, and it's all about us. And yet, Elway and Eli Manning said, no, we're individuals. We're not going to our teams. Four Super Bowls. And everybody got over it.

And we don't talk about it. The NBA, my friends, is the Player Empowerment League. You don't think we'd get over it? We understand when guys leave now. In fact, Kevin Durant not leaving a great team. People are like, you got to go to New York. What? People now have you leaving from great organizations to band one,

great owners to band one, great rosters to bad ones. Folks, we live in a time where college athletes, they have a transfer portal. Players transfer, they decommit. It's their right. That's the new era we grow up. And I've seen coaches in the last year in college sports take a job. And then four weeks later, take another job.

They transfer before they've got to. their office finished. It's the era we grow up in. Zion Williamson. Did he look happy? Do you think Nike's happy? He's seen this. It's called Anthony Davis.

Seven years in New Orleans is what you want. Take your name out of the draft. You're number one next year. You're not going to hold it against him after one monster dunk for the USA national team. I love that guy. I love that guy my team. Or, now I know New Orleans right now is like, this is outrageous. You hate our city.

I don't hate the Saints. Packers, Saints, Oklahoma City. Small market's not the issue. It's your issue is you're a bad organization. If Zion goes to the Pelicans and David Griffin and says, okay, I'm not playing here, what team in the NBA now has four really good players and they don't fit? Philadelphia. Philadelphia goes, give us Zion.

Take who you want. Zion goes to Philadelphia. New Orleans gets Simmons. Where did Ben Simmons play college, Joy? LSU. Louisiana. Ben Simmons, I'll argue all day, is a 22 and 10 guy for the rest of his career. As long as you don't have a big fella in the middle clog in the lane.

Then you have Anthony Davis in New Orleans and you go to whoever gives you the highest and you get a bunch of picks and a bunch of players. And yeah, you don't get Zion, but we've seen Zion. It's called Anthony Davis. It didn't do anything for you. He's got a better personality, but many would say he won't be as good as Anthony Davis. It didn't do anything for you in the West. But if you could get a Ben Simmons and picks,

and then you could already have Drew Holiday, and then you go with Anthony Davis and you trade it and you get more picks and more players, you are battling for a playoff next year with multiple picks, a star guard, a two guard, Biggs, maybe a Coosma, maybe an Ingram. New Orleans doesn't lose here. They're actually better. You just have to get over it.

Kiki Van DeWay did this in the NBA, by the way. Dominique Wilkins did this in the NBA. Dominique Wilkins said, I'm not playing for the Utah Jazz. Force their hand. You know where he ended up? Right next to where he played college basketball at Georgia, the Atlanta Hawks.

Nike'd support it. The league privately likes it. David Griffin, who's a deal maker, could end up with eight new players for Zion and Anthony Davis. He's, we live in the empowerment culture. Take your name out of the draft. You haven't been drafted yet. You haven't put on a jersey yet. Teams just have the right to pick you.

The kid could go back to Duke. He didn't have an agent. Now, he does love college basketball, but I think that's a step backwards, right? That's a step backwards. I wouldn't do that. But overseas, work out for a year. The enter is a number one pick, call Greg Popovich. This is what Eric Lindrosse did.

I'll play for the national team. I'm not going to a bad organization. And Lindross left the country to play for Philadelphia. We got over it. This makes so much sense to me. You could get an LSU kid Ben Simmons and more. Maybe you get Embed. But the bottom line is, if I wake up this morning, let me ask you, you watched the draft last night.

did Zion seem happy to you? There's reports he wanted to play for New York. Here was the interview. When you saw New Orleans got the number one pick, you didn't think for a second, oh, I could be in New Orleans? It's definitely a possibility, but, I mean, it's not sure until it actually happens. Elway and Eli Manning did it. Dominique did it.

Kiki did it. Lindrosse did it. And those were in leagues. hockey's about the team, not the guy. Football's about the team, not the guy. NBA is about the guy. We don't hold it against guys very long if the superstar of a generation goes,

I'm out. You guys all hated LeBron for an hour. Miami didn't hate him. TV ratings didn't hate him. LeBron was not a villain for very long in Miami. They went back to Cleveland. Now he's in Los Angeles. We're still talking LeBron. KD, that is outrageous.

I don't know. He keeps holding trophies. at the end of the year is finals MVP. These players, Elway, Eli, K.D., LeBron, Lindross, they're right. Dominique, Atlanta. He's still an icon in the South. And it's not a loss for New Orleans, and it's not anything against small markets. Green Bay's well-run.

The Saints are well-run. Oklahoma City's relevant. Portland's in the Western Conference Finals. It's a small market combined with, this is an organization. It just isn't well-run. They've got NFL guys in the NBA front of. office. It's not the way you do it. But if I'm Zion this morning, I've seen what seven years looks like. It's not good. I'm not doing it. I'm a generational talent. I'm not doing it. And this kid is

incredibly likable. Eric Lindross wasn't as likable. Eli didn't have a big personality. Elway was never likable. He was a cocky Stanford kid. This kid is lovable. The smile, the game, the passion, the love. You'll be. mad at him for one minute. And then you'll see him for the USA national team. You'll see him training overseas or you'll see him in Phoenix or Dallas training, getting ready for the... And you'll be like, you think a team's not going to pick him number one because he didn't

want to go play for the Pelicans? You've got to be kidding me. You don't think you're going to be number one next year. I don't think this is an option. I think it's the only option that makes sense. New Orleans is a playoff challenging team next year by moving Zion in a I've got to get six picks and three players and you could have a Ben Simmons, a Kyle Kuzma, a Brandon Ingram. You could have four picks.

You could maybe get better than that. But I'm not going to New Orleans if I'm Zion. Nope. Kids have a right. I'm a broadcaster. I can do this for 50 years. This kid's got nine years of peak talent. He's trained his whole life for this.

He gets an opinion too. Elway got one. Eli got one. Lindross got one. He doesn't get one. And you know privately, Nike, be all in on this. New Orleans, you think my idea is a negative. Is Ben Simmons, Kyle Kuzman, seven picks a negative? And that's just one of my ideas. David Griffin's a sharp cat. He could get a tonnage for AD and Zion. A lot of people are freaking out about what happened to the New York Knicks last night. And a lot of people think the Lakers, who, 11 to 4 winners. That's not what I see.

That's coming up. Plus, Nick Wright this hour. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker

room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions

to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WMBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you,

but don't ever feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs, Gabby Thomas, and Katie Ladeke. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world.

Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. 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 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? 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. Welcome back. It's good to have you in. remember this about the NBA draft. We went and looked it up last night. At the last 20 NBA

drafts, the draft every other year gives you one great transformational player. Durant, LeBron, D. Wade, I count Westbrook in that. The NBA draft on average gives you five all-stars. And when I say all-star, I mean like one-time all-star, Kyle Corver, Mo Williams. That's all the draft gives you. In fact, it looks like it's trending that it's giving you less than that. So don't kid yourself about this draft. All my NBA scouts have said the same thing. There's two stars in this draft. Zion and John Morant.

There's a third kid, R.J. Barrett at Duke, who's really going to score a lot of points. He may not have the Zion or John Morant, but the kid averaged 22 at Duke with a bunch of NBA guys and sharing the ball. RJ Barrett. The gap after three to four is a silhouette. It is a crap shoot. and that's not my opinion. Never forget what this draft gives you. This is not the NFL draft where you can find Tom Brady in the sixth.

You got two rounds. Historically, there's almost nothing after about the 16th pick. I went and looked at last 20 drafts. Every other year you get a game changer. Okay. Then you get about five, one, two-time all-stars every draft. And so everybody this morning is like, oh, the Knicks lost. The Lakers won because the Lakers went from 11 to 4.

The gap between the third pick, R.J. Barrett, the Knicks could get that. And the fourth pick, the Lakers, is a silhouette. Rob Polinkin's saying yesterday's quote, he said, oh, my God, we went from 11 to 4. That sounds good on Twitter. But guys in the NBA know that the gap from 4 to 11, you may get a better player at 10 than you do at 4. It's just a crapshoot. A crap shoot means you don't know exactly what you're getting. A lot of guys like, two of my scouts love the center, the late developing center,

Jackson Hayes at Texas. Everybody says he's going to go 11th. I got scouts saying that's the sleeper in the draft. That's the Clay Thompson. That's the guy that's going to pop. And he's going 11th. So the Knicks third pick is of much greater value than the Lakers' fourth pick. And both of them won Anthony Davis.

And Anthony Davis will go to New York or L.A. And Rich Paul would take either one of those, although he'd probably prefer L.A. Because LeBron's there. But the Knicks, if I'm not. I'm the Pelicans, and I get Zion, and Zion elects to play for the Pelicans. And I look from a marketing standpoint. New Orleans is a party in football city.

It's one of the great college football cities in the country. It's probably the number one party city in America. It's one of the best NFL cities. Brough, not an NBA town. Marketing matters. They can't sell tickets with Anthony Davis. They can't sell tickets the year they made the playoffs. If you could give me Zion and RJ Barrett best friends at Duke, Duke's the number one program,

And then you throw in a couple picks, Kevin Knox. I'd take that over a number four pick, which is a crapshoot. Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball and his dad. Now, the Lakers do have a better roster than the Knicks currently have. But R.J. Barrett, if you ask any scout in this league, has a much higher ceiling than Kyle Kuzma. And many, mostly Brandon Ingram. them. So if I'm David Griffin and Zion did elect to play for me in a city that's a party city, a college football city, an NFL city where I can't sell tickets with Anthony Davis,

the New York third player, third pick, is infinitely more captivating from a marketing standpoint than the Lakers' fourth and a bunch of guys that LeBron doesn't want to play with. I mean, there's a reason all those Laker names came out during the trading deadline, because LeBron told Magic can't win big with these guys. LeBron's not into these guys. Why should the Pelicans be? So, you know, this idea, the Lakers won last night, the gap between three and four in this draft is a mile wide. And never forget what the NBA draft is. I went back and looked at the last 20. You get a difference maker every other draft won. And then you average

about five All-Stars, and I'm talking it's, it is a lot of Kyle Corver All-Stars, not Steph Curry All-Stars. So, the idea the Lakers won, people inside the league are not going, ooh, the fourth pick. Everybody in the league knew last night, top three picks, those are guarantees. After that, there's a lot of finger crossing. And I'm not saying there won't be another five guys that make it, but it's a crapshoot. That's what I'm hearing from my scouts all over the league. After three, it's a crapshoot.

Could, wood, depends on the system, the coach, the attitude, the injuries, crap shoot. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, we have some breaking news, Colin. The Jets have fired their general manager, Mike McCogman.

Yep. And the interim GM is interesting. Jets CEO Christopher Johnson wrote in a statement, this morning I informed Mike that he was being relieved of his duties, his general manager of the team, effective immediately. I came to the decision to make a change after much thought and a careful assessment of what would be in the best long-term interests of the New York Jets. I will start a search for our new general manager immediately in the interim.

Coach Gase will be the acting general manager. Yeah, Coach Gase will not be the GM long term. This is the right move to make. After the draft, I said this. Remember the day after the draft? I came out and I said, I don't know who has the best draft. I know who has the worst draft, the Jets. This guy, I had a general manager in the league and a director of scouting.

The Sunday after the draft text me and say the Jets have no idea what they're doing. Now, he's done a good job on his first pick. Jamal Adams, Leonard Williams, Sam Darnal dropped in his lap. They had no game plan in this draft. Okay, they took medical issue guys and character issue guys. The Colts don't take either. It was a draft that had no direction. Listen, when you get the third pick, it's not hard to get a great player.

The great teams in this draft find talent, mid to late, second, third, fourth, fifths. Their third round picks are a disaster. They're character guys who could be high. or could be whiffs, and that's not what you do when you're building a franchise. He just does it. They still, they needed a center,

didn't address it. They needed a number one receiver and a great receiver draft didn't address it. He doesn't know what he's doing. He did you not have a plan and this is the right move going forward. We had two years left on his contract

and there's also rumors that he had a spat with Coach Gase. So that's probably not the best environment to begin with anyway. And you're trying to launch the career of Sam Darnold and you have Levy on Bell and you should be in a good positive trending position so I guess they're just clearing out because they also fired the VP of

player personnel as well. For the record, anybody can get the number one pick right and anybody going to draft Sam Darnold when he falls into your lap. Don't give him credit for Sam Darnold and Jamal Adams. No, no, you get, like you said, you get credit for the later rounds, finding guys that are not the obvious picks and building your team from the ground up. So they had a draft.

That's not the way we go. All my NFL sources, they're not going to bang a guy, but all my NFL sources were like, this guy's on an island. He's not connected to people. To make deals in this league, like Andy Reed, Sean Peyton, Belichick, to make deals in this league, Joy, you have to have friends in the league. You have to have connections. Because, you know, Belichick's got guys in the league that work with him, right?

Like Shanahan. So he calls Kyle Shanahan. This Jets GM, nobody knows him. You have to have relationships and have conversations about players and be in the know. You work in the information business. That's how it goes. So, Knicks fans apparently weren't the only ones disappointed when the team ended up with a third pick. According to Mark Spears of the undefeated, Zion Williamson was definitely rooting for the Knicks to get the top spot so he could end up in New York.

Zion reportedly quickly left the room after the Pelicans were announced as the lottery winners. look, it kind of felt like a collective overall just air out of the room when the top four picks were even announced because as soon as they announced that it was Memphis, New Orleans, New York, and L.A. It had the feeling like this could go very badly, and it did go very badly. And this is not enough on New Orleans. I love New Orleans. It's a great city. It's not even about the city.

There's just no history. with that organization. There's no culture with that organization. We talk about small market teams that are having success right now, the Blazers. Incredible NBA history with the Blazers. The Nuggets, not really that small of a market. And they have a history and culture there as well.

Oklahoma City is not new to success. They were in the finals with three MVP. If the Saints got the number one pick, nobody would be bummed out. Because we know Mickey Loomis and Sean Payton, we know they're well-run. It's not market. We've seen this.

We've seen this. they have Anthony Davis. We don't talk about Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis is a great player. There's no movement with him. And it's, we sound like we're being elitist and we only care about the big markets. The small market teams are doing well right now. We talk about Cleveland every day for how many years.

The small market teams are dominating the league. Right. It's not about that. It's about the specific organization. It feels like he's going to go there and disappear into the miss. And nobody wants that. I don't even think Pelicans fans want that because we're still. not going, they're still not going to be relevant.

Finally, there was a game last night. Steph Curry looked like Steph Curry last night. He had nine threes and scored 36 points in 35 minutes. He was wild. He was. And he led the Warriors to a 116-94 win over Portland. The game overall kind of felt like a regular season game. There was no real sense of urgency.

I didn't feel like from either team. It was just the Warriors kind of playing great. And the Blazers just looked a little tired and sluggish and just sort of off. You notice something? Steph and Clay's games have stepped up. in recent days without KD. Well, they have more space to do that. KD is out again with his right calf strain.

But despite the fact that they lost game one, three playoff teams have already won seven-game series, four to one after losing the opener, the Raptors, the Sixers, and the Buck. So Portland does have time to regroup for game two. It just kind of felt like they were tired a little off. And they were there for most of the game anyway, despite that. So I'm not discouraged at this.

I mean, Golden State won game one. Like, shocker, not the end of the world. Yeah, Portland looked gassed. Yeah, but Steph did look incredible. He did. And Clay in the second half was incredible. Joy with the News. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. I'm not sure if Nick Wright heard my open, but I do believe the NBA and basketball in general from AAU to college to the NBA is the Player Empowerment League. I have no problem with that. I don't think the NFL is that.

And I've seen Elway and Eli I say, nah, bro, I'm going elsewhere. Hockey's very much about the team, not about the individual. And I saw Eric Lindraugh say, nah, I'm not playing here. I'm Zion. I say, trade me, or I'm sitting out,

and I don't think we'd hold it against him for a minute. Vee the Coward Global Satellite Network, my buddy Nick Wright. So let's start with that. I do not think my idea is crazy and loony. I was disappointed for the kid. What do you make of my idea? Yeah, I think it's pretty crazy

him pretty loony. So if he were to re-enter, go back to Duke, re-enter the draft, he is assured of what, that he now has the opportunity to be drafted by the sons, to be drafted by the kings, to be drafted by a team that does not all of a sudden have a really good general manager like David Griffin is. Zion Williamson was like, once we heard who had the first four picks were going to be, the Knicks or Lakers likely would have then traded him to New Orleans. The New Orleans would draft him. He was probably, if he's been following this at all, he's known even if the Knicks get the pick, they might then trade me.

Because they got the pick, they can now surround him with talent by trading Anthony Davis. I don't understand this take. Now, I do agree that you can make the argument the entire draft system is unfair. If you're a prodigy and anything else, you get to pick your city, you get to pick who you work for. We can go down that road. But this specific instance, to be young, rich, and single, and live in New Orleans, and play for a good GM, have Drew Holiday. And whatever you get for Anthony Davis doesn't seem bad to me. He didn't get drafted by the Kings.

Like, I don't, I just, I don't know why he would do it. And I don't know that it would guarantee anything other than him potentially having to give up. a year of earning potential to roll the dice that a worst team could get him. Well, first of all, I don't think Sacramento is bad at all anymore. And by the way, New Orleans can't sell tickets. It's an NFL city. And by the way, Zion would not go unpaid. I'm sure Nike would find an internship that paid $15 million a year and he could go do whatever he wanted to do.

Okay, so a couple of things on that. You're absolutely right. Deerrin, Fox and Buddy Heald are excellent young players. I love Fox. I watched him in high school when I was living in Houston, but my point when I brought them up was they are the worst run organization in the NBA. Vladay DeVats will never get the hang of this and still has not gotten the hang of this. But Nike wants Zion on the court.

You act like Nike wasn't paying Anthony Davis. They were. They want Zion to continue the buzz he built up at Duke. And playing for the national team does not accomplish that. He's not going to go back and play another season at Duke where Nike couldn't be paying him. I just, I understand the sentiment of what you're saying, but I don't think he's in a bad spot. I think David Griffin's great, and I think they are going to be able to surround him with young blue chip talent once they trade Anthony Davis. So now let's say, by the way, a lot of people thought the Lakers won last night with the four pick.

And all my scouts are saying there's a gap from three to four. and that four on is there's players, but there's some crapshoot. Whereas there's not a crapshoot with Zion, John, Jomarant, and Barrett. These guys, Barrett averaged 22 at Duke, and that was sharing the ball in the spotlight with Zion. The kid's going to be a score. Some have said he's hard and asked, so that's a little much, but he can score. I mean, I don't know. Like, what do the Lakers give you?

Nobody wants Lonzo. He can't stay healthy in the dad. Brandon Ingram has a clot blood issue. Kyle Kuzma and a silhouette four pick. Anthony Davis is not Dale Davis. Hold on. Hold on. Let's talk about this for a second. Because I heard you saying the Lakers, you know, going from 11 to 4, he's not winning. I know you almost assuredly, you don't play Powerball, you don't play the lottery.

You already have hit the Powerball, so why would you play it? But so someone that does occasionally play it, let me tell you how it works. If you get all five numbers and the Powerball, you get like 200 million. dollars, whatever it is. If you get all five numbers, but not the power ball, you get one million dollars. If you do that, you won the lottery that day. You hit the lottery. You didn't win everything, but you won a lot. Going from 11, which is an absolute crapshoot, there is no, there are no blue chippers. If you get a blue chipper there, it's dumb luck. Up to four is an enormous upgrade. So now let's just look at the Knicks versus Lakers, the two teams really

in this Anthony Davis thing because Boston, they don't have the Memphis pick now. Their best picked off for his nine. Obviously, three is better than four. And we can talk more about RJ in a moment. But now let's go player for player. No matter what you say about Brandon Ingram, no matter your questions about his health, he's a better asset than Kevin Knox. No matter what you think Alonzo Ball, he's a better asset than Dennis Smith, Jr.

No matter what you think of Kyle Kuzma, he's a better asset than Mitchell Robinson. I don't know if they are enough better to overcome three versus 11. They are definitely enough to overcome three versus four. And David Griffin was hired and empowered to make the best deal out there. I think this is a superstar draft with Zion, a perennial all-star draft in John Morant, and then a bunch of unknown quantities. In RJ, in Cam, in Darius Garland,

the kid that played five games for Vanderbilt, bowl, bowl, the son of manure, boot bowl is going to go somewhere in the late 10s early teens. He's interesting to me. He won't go number four. But of course the Lakers are in such a better position. Now, Colin, they do not have to make it to where Brandon Ingram with his health history is the centerpiece of your trade. The centerpiece that you sell say to New Orleans, we will give you the fourth pick and two former number two overall picks. There is your rebuild. There is your young core to go ahead, to go forward with Zion, the Knicks would have to be totally in love with R.J. Barrett to take the

Knicks offer, which does not have a player as good as Ingram or Lonzo over the Lakers offer, but maybe they are. But Gail Benson does not like the Lakers. They badmouthed her franchise. She'd rather send Anthony Davis East, not West, and watch him in the playoffs with LeBron. That's a real. That's a real, that's a thing. I was told, just to be fair, I was told David Griffin was told under no uncertain terms by Mickey Loomis, if we do trade Anthony Davis, we are empowering you to make the best trade, that they are not going to put handcuffs on him or else he wasn't going to take that job. Now, maybe they'll renege on that at the last minute, but I've been told David Griffin is empowered to make the best deal available.

Okay, you know, nobody wants to say this because Kevin Durant's great, and the media has a lot of people that are on the fence and they're safe takers. You have strong opinions. I have strong opinions. I think it explains why we've had some success, right? Like, nobody wants to say this, but I'm watching the Warriors without Kevin Durant, and I'm going to say it. They're going to be fine without Kevin Durant. Clay and Steph, am I crazy?

I mean, I'm not saying better. I'm not saying better, but they look good to me. The 31 and 4, when Steph plays in Katie D. in the last three years. I said this in one of my very first times ever filling in for you. In fact, the very first time I think I was filling in for you was the day Katie went to Golden State. And I said the Warriors, it was a mistake, that the Warriors should have just run back the 73-win team. They've since then won two titles, probably going to win a third. So it wasn't a mistake, obviously. I was wrong about that.

But they don't need him. The most important warrior is Steph. You can say Katie's better. You can say Katie's the best player in the league. don't care. Steph is the guy they cannot do without. When Katie plays and Steph doesn't, they win 60% of their games. When Steph plays and Katie doesn't, they win 90% of their games. The results are in. Katie's going to leave, and they are going to be the favorites in the West next year. Yes. He is an insurance policy. He is a luxury. He is a Maserati when you already have a couple Porsches. It's nice to have, but you never needed it. And so Kevin Durant, Now, I've also heard you say Kevin Durant plus Kyrie, you need more out east.

Not if you're right in Kevin Durant's the best player in the world. We have seen the best player in the world plus Kyrie. What have we seen them do? Oh, yeah, win a title against the 73 win warriors. So we'll get to see if Kevin Durant's the best player in the world or the third or fourth or fifth best player in the world when he goes out on his own, when he goes east to try to do something without these guys. But of course the Warriors will be fine without him. They've always been fine without him.

They were fine before he got there. They're going to be the favorites once he leaves, and they would be the favorites. I think Milwaukee's great. I think they'll have trouble with Milwaukee no matter what. But they'll be the favorites of the co-favorits with or without him. By the way, you're right. And I've talked to somebody in Vegas about this, ironically, about a week ago. And he said, no, the Golden State would be favored to win the championship with or without KD.

So we're not saying better. They're different. But this idea they're going to fall off a cliff is nonsense. Nick Reich firing stuff today. you got anything else and you know who is better step curry's better without him step curry the team might not be but we get original splash brother step when katy's not there the ball is moving it runs through him we get MVP step when katy's not there it is a testament to step selflessness he knew we would start to forget how absolutely amazing he is once katy came he did it anyway to help win championships

He's reminding us now and he'll remind us next year. He was the guy that was supposed to take the torch from LeBron before KD got there. He had that opportunity kind of taken from him. He'll have the opportunity again next season. Nick, good seeing you, buddy. First things first co-host. Thanks, bud. Later, man.

See you. All right. Yeah, I agree with that. This idea of falling off cliff stuff, it's just not. Listen, we got 35 games without it. They've won 31. But the media, a lot of people in the media, don't want to get ripped on Twitter. They don't want to get, and they sit in the fence. And well, I don't know that. Just say it.

Golden State be the favorite to win it without him. They would. Vegas would. Not saying they would. And I'm not saying they'd be better without him. But they're different and they're different is unbelievable. Steph and Clay are so much freer. By the way, it's way, it's way more fun to watch than sort of give it to Kevin, watch him work. And it's not that it's ugly to watch. But this Warriors team is smaller, faster, quicker, more fluid, better passing. more guard-centric. I find it a blast to watch. It feels like the original warriors that made us fall in love with the Splash Brothers to begin with and embrace that style of basketball.

We've never loved this version of them as much as that version of them. Absolutely. Coming up more on the New York Jets making the right move. Plus, I'll tell you who really lost in the draft last night. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen. earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an

extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion-dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds. Just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trend. opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions

everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life throws hurdles big and small.

The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't.

Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel like you don't feel like you don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ledecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light. up and smile. That means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do

anything. I can, like, I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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. 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, as we have real conversations about healing,

growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. It's great to have you in today. Absolutely great. I can't believe the Jets fire their GM. I think it's the right move. I'll get to that in a second. You want to know who lost last night. It's not the New York Knicks. They're going to get Kevin Durant. Durant's sitting watching the Warriors win big without him, finish off Houston, take a 1-0 lead, and they're more fun to watch. And you can go to the Internet, which Kevin Durant lives on. Everybody's saying it this morning, I like this Warriors, more than the old Warriors. And they're going to win the West and get to the finals. And if Kevin Durant comes back and they lose to Milwaukee, that's just not going to play well. So, I mean, and I told you yesterday, I had a player currently in the NBA

who I'm close to and who I respect tell me KD to New York has done and he's recruiting players. So New York didn't lose. They're going to get probably KD. They'll be fine. I wouldn't do it if I was KD, but I'm telling you that's what's going to happen. I'd stay in Golden State and went a fourth,

but that'd be that as it may. The loser last night in the NBA was tanking. New York tanked, dropped a third, and then Phoenix, Cavs, and Chicago all fell in the draft and they were tanking. I don't buy tanking. I don't like it. And I never have. And I'd said that ad nauseum.

Number one, it's totally unfair to fans. Half a decade, I got to spend $600 a night and I get nothing. Number two is players now come out after one year of college. They're 19. They're not ready. You're not building around Patrick Ewing or Tim Duncan. We're guys, 23, physically and emotionally, ready to be an NBAer and be a playoff player now. Tray Young is a baby.

You know, these guys are babies. So by the time they do develop, see, you have such a losing culture that the top free agents are like, I don't want to play for a losing franchise. So there's six teams on average last several years that have been tanking. Adam Silver smartly saw this as a major problem. And every league has an issue. Baseball's pace of play.

Hockey's not great on TV. Football's got injury concerns. And the NBA has a tanking. issue and a parody issue. But the parody thing, it's always been around. The NBA is fine. The tanking was a problem. NFL doesn't have tanking. What about Miami? What about him? They went out and got Josh Rosen. That's not tanking. You can win games with Josh Rosen. They went out and got their future quarterback. But last night, Adam Silver wakes up this morning. Nobody's mad at him. New York's not mad at him. They got the three pick and they'll get Kevin Durant.

You know who's been mad at Adam Silver since he became commissioner? The bottom owners in the league. We can't get stars. Players are leaving. Well, Memphis and New Orleans are like, you know, bottom of the league in revenue, bottom of the league in attendance, bottom of the league in local TV ratings. They both just got stars, Zion and John Morant. So Adam Silver wakes up this morning and tanking doesn't work and you'll be punished for doing it.

Because the draft only gives you a handful of great players a year. and by the time he get to the six pick, this year the fourth pick, it's just a crap shoot. And so good for Adam Silver. By the way, Rudy Gobert went to Twitter last night and just said we witnessed the end of tanking. We should be happy about it. Absolutely. Don't buy into it. Adam Silver doesn't make any more money if the Lakers or the Knicks win.

He doesn't. That's not how commissioners get paid. But he does wake up every morning and the bottom four owners in the league are complaining, I can't get a star. those guys taking care of last night. Good for Adam Silver and good for the league. Tanking, lost. I don't buy into it. Unfair to fans.

You're getting 19-year-olds who take years to develop. And by the time they develop, you have such a losing crappy culture like Phoenix. None of the good players want to play for you anyway. Let me go to this. The Jets have fired their general manager and should have.

The general manager of the Jets is not terrible at players in the league. He has a good sense. He was a former scout. He's not a good drafter. He's not. To be a general manager, you've got to have a lot of different relationships around the league. Nobody knows this guy. All my sources in the league are like, yeah, I don't know much about him. He's really, his personality was not built to be a general manager. And you could tell he had no confidence in his ability to run this team because after the first pick, he kept butchering drafts.

And he went and spent a bunch of money on Levian Bell. I liked it in terms of it gives Sam Darnold help. But Lavian Bell doesn't love football. Lavian Bell's not showing up to OTAs. Lavian Bell took a year off and Adam Gase reportedly didn't want Lavian Bell. Adam Gase went to the owner and Mike McCagman and said, you watch on the Patriots? You don't pay money for a running back.

You don't pay $15 million for a running back. I can find a running back all through this draft. You don't draft them in the first round. You just don't pay that kind of money for him. So there was a report about a month ago that Gaste and this GM didn't get along. And Gase said, ah, it's a bunch of hooey. Now we find out it's not hooey. Lavian Bell was at the crux of it.

And Adam Gase is like, ah, we can spend money in a lot of places. Don't spend it on a running back. And I'll tell you, with very few exceptions, Zecchio Elliott, Todd Gurley before last year, I totally agree. I don't believe you build around running backs. There are occasionally outliers. I've said this. Calvin Johnson out of college, out of drafted him. Number one is a wide receiver. Just unbelievable. In a running program, he was unbelievable at Georgia Tech. In running back, Zeke, I wouldn't get number ones. Zieg can block. He can catch. He can run.

He looks like he's going to last for 20 years. I mean, the guy, that is very, very rare. Zeke's is good a college running back prospect as I've seen. And I'm counting Adrian Peterson, Herschel Walker, ever. But there was a riff. They got rid of the right guy. So Sam Darnold, you got your quarterback. Got a new coach, getting a new GM. Let's not waste time and let's not waste Sam Darnold's first 10 years. Love what the Jets did. Hour 2 coming up next. One more herd?

The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action. with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. from the WMBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that.

Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs, Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me.

And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. at our level at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports.

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. 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 iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

Ah, here we go. This is... The herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we're live in Los Angeles. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. One of my buddies may get that Jets GM job. Very fired up.

Not going to get in it right now. Very fired up for him. Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you? I'm great. Okay. I did something yesterday at this time on the show. And a lot of people are like,

way, Z. And I was like, no, it's obvious. I said, if I could have Zion or every star in the league, there's only four guys I would take over Zion going forward for a decade. James Harden, KD., Stefan Yannis,

and people said Kauai. And I said, he's got no magnetism. I don't see people lining up to play with Kauai. He doesn't talk. He doesn't pass. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in 2020 of the NBA joy, isn't it about joining forces?

He didn't have any friends in the NBA. It seems like that's what people are doing. He doesn't have an agent. He doesn't talk to anybody. I mean, Nike's like pass shoe deal. Like this league isn't about you doing your own thing. This league is about you joining forces like LeBron and Wade and Bosch and KD and Steph and Kauai's on an island. He couldn't get along with the Spurs.

I'm not, Zion Williamson has what they call it. He's got magnetism. You don't think that matters in the NBA? Are you watching the league? It's about joining forces. He's not Zion's not ball centric. He's not going to turn people off.

You'll get the ball with him. RJ Barrett averaged 22 at Duke playing with him. He's not going to steal the ball of me. You get yours. He'll get his, the smile, the magnetism. Zion, to me, you keep telling me that Anthony Davis is going to wreck this league. Zion's a better prospect all in than Anthony Davis. The smile, the tickets, the marketing, the game, the power.

Against the unibrow? He has no personality. He's boring. His game is boring. He's hurt. He's got no alpha. Zion's nothing but alpha. Nothing but fun.

Nothing but passion. I don't even think that's close. I've been sitting here waiting forever for Anthony Davis to wreck this league. He's not a one personality. He's not an alpha. There's no magnetism. There's no it with him. He's a great player, but he's a two in terms of personality.

Don't kid yourself. Kauai and Anthony Davis are great, but people are not drawn to them. People aren't drawn to them. It's 2020, dude. Being a great player by yourself on an island doesn't mean anything. Anthony David, watch Toronto and Milwaukee play for the next two weeks. Watch how players are drawn to Janus, how they play together with Janus. You can sense that everybody's all in on Janus.

They hover around him in the huddle. They hover. Yonis is a star that's got it. there's a likability, a relatability, there's a personality, he's a communicator. Then watch Kauai with Toronto the next two weeks. He's on an island doing his thing. He doesn't pass. He doesn't talk.

He doesn't communicate. If you don't think magnetism matters, let me ask you this, I could make a very legitimate argument that in the last 40 years in the NBA, the five most important, not always best, but the five most important players have been magic, Michael, Shaq, LeBron and Steph. Well, isn't that funny? I could say they have the five most biggest magnetism

of all of them. Kobe? Five most magnetic, sorry. I could argue those are the five most magnetic personality. Guys wanted to play with them. Guys wanted to be them. Guys where their... Players in the league are wearing Michael's stuff. Guys imitated them. Those five are magnetic. Kevin Durant's just talented.

talented. Kauai is just talented. Anthony Davis is just talented. Watch Milwaukee and Toronto play. Watch how players revolve around Janus. And watch Kauai just do his thing by himself. So when people were saying, how can you say this? How can you say that about Zion? There is an it quality with that kid. It's very much Magic Johnson. I mean, he's handsome, the smile, the fun. You cannot watch him play and not love him. I mean, he is just got it.

That shoe deal, that smile? I mean, and you ask him questions at the draft. He's got a good sense of humor. That is a, that is Broadway. That's what's disappointing because New York, you know, they have Broadway. So yesterday, when I was doing this, and how can you take him over Kauai? easily. You don't think marketing matters,

ticket sales matter? You don't think leadership matters? Alpha matters. The ability to communicate matters. Zion can pass, defend, play, sell tickets, market. Kauai's not doing a lot of that stuff. Let me talk about this.

Last night, the Warriors won. I think the series will get more interesting, but it was not that competitive last night. And I think Portland was gassed. But I think game two will be fun. Could go either way. I think Golden State is going to win the series with or without KD. But when you're watching Golden State like last night,

it takes you back to like three years ago. You're like, I forgot how much fun they were. We kind of fell in love with the Warriors, right? Little guys, little Steph and Clay, where did Clay play? And this tough guy, Draymon. And it was kind of like you kind of found yourself rooting for him, beating LeBron, whoa. And now you don't root for it as much.

But they are 31 and 4 with Steph and no KD. May not be better, but the different isn't much worse. Nobody in the media will say this, but they're going to be fine without KD. They're going to be favored to win the West without KD. Houston's old. Chris Paul's out of his prime. Steph isn't. Dremont's not.

Clay's not. I thought Dremont was. Then I watched the playoffs. He's not. They're fine. Boogie Cousins, by the way. And here's the thing. When Kevin Durant leaves,

Boogie Cousins just had another injury. It's not like he can demand a lot of money. Not like Boogie Cousins can go to the Warriors and demand a lot of money. They may just say, here's what you get. Then I got Steph. Clay, Drayman, and size. By the way, mid-level exemptions. You don't think guys around the league will play with these guys, don't want to play with

Steph? You don't think guys around this league don't want to play with Steph, Clay, Steve Kerr? We've seen it with New England. Once you got the coach, once you got the stars, and once you have the system, you can get C-plus guys and elevate them briefly. New England does this. Wes Welker. Chris Hogan, Dion Branch.

When they were, you were like, oh, that's a B player. West Walker was an A. They leave. Generally not the same. So you can put, once you have the coach, the system, and the stars, warriors, Kerr, Clay, Steph, the system, never forget this. Festus Azeli got paid because he played in the system. Left, where'd he go? most spates got paid because he looked really good in their system Harrison Barnes got paid watched him lately

this is the Patriots this idea KD is going to leave and oh I don't know what we're going to you got two stars two best shooters in the league you got a guy that always delivers in the playoffs Draymond Green you got a great coach you got a great system you ever notice this with the Warriors Mo Spates, Zeeley, Harrison Barnes. You ever notice this?

Guys playing the system, then go get paid. Malcolm Butler with the Patriots. Dionne Lewis with the Patriots. Dionne Branch with the Patriots. Danny Amandola with the Patriots. They sure look a lot better when they got Belichick Brady in the system, don't they? Most Spates looked a lot better when he had Kerr, Clay, Steph, Dr. Yeah, it's funny how it works.

They're going to be fine. nobody's saying they're better without KD. They're a different team. And that different, I'd still argue, is the best in the league. Now, we'll see it against Milwaukee. I do think they could use Durant's size with Milwaukee. So much good stuff. I will say this.

You know, a lot of people, I was bummed out last night. It's nothing against New Orleans because small markets work all over the you know, OKC's relevant, Portland's relevant, Green Bay Packers relevant, Saints relevant. It's not, there's all sorts of relevant small markets, especially in the NBA. It's about the, you know, market size, Nixon-Likers bad, league's still doing fine.

Milwaukee right now, Denver right now. It's not about New Orleans. I was bummed out for the kid. I'm rooting for the kid. Now, I've been doing this now 30 years. And so I said this yesterday. I'm looking for juice. I don't care about regular season baseball.

Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, playoffs, I'm in. I don't care about regular season stuff. I want juice. That's why I'm a football guy. Saturdays feel big. Every Saturdays, Sundays feel big. It's hard for me to get jacked up for January NBA. I'm not going to lie to you.

I've seen James Hardin and Westbrook dominate in December. Doesn't do a ton for me. The other thing, so I'm looking for juice all the time to stay interested, right? I want the big stuff. I love World Cup. I love the U.S. Open. I love the Masters. I may not talk golf.

I love the majors. I may not talk a ton of soccer. I love the World Cup. I don't talk boxing, but I go to fights. I don't talk UFC, but I go to the fights. I like big juice. The second thing I've noticed in my career is I find myself rooting more for individuals over teams. I just want to see what's best for Zion.

Because I'm very lucky. I grew up in an era that outside of Sandy Kofax, I grew up in the perfect era. I didn't see Sandy Kofax pitch, and there's not a lot of video of him. His career was really short. Outside of that, I've seen everybody. I got Bo Jackson. I got Wilt.

I got Jerry West. I got everybody. I got Mark Fidrich. I got Reggie Jackson. I get Mike Trout. I get Bryce Harper. You know, the only great player that I really wish I could have seen as Sandy Kofx, who was so good. I mean, there's an old joke in baseball.

You talk about all these great pitchers, Bob Gibson, all these pitchers. And you ask great hitters, and they're like, yeah, you could hit his curve. And you ask great hitters about Sandy Kofax. They're like, oh, nobody could hit Sandy Kofax. Like nobody could hit Sandy Kofax for three years. I was like a no hitter every time he went out, chance for a no hitter. I didn't see him. I've seen everybody else.

So the teams, the owners, they don't care. But the stars, I want to see Tiger flourish. I'm bummed out when his life curtailed. I'm crying when he's winning it to Masters. I felt bad for Zion because I thought New York was magic. And I've seen Star go to the Pelicans. I'm not a Saints fan. I'm a breeze fan.

By the way, if Tom Brady retired tomorrow, I couldn't give a rip about the Patriots. I didn't care about him with Tony Eason and Steve Rogan. I'm a Brady fan. I don't care about the Lakers. I like watching LeBron win with the Lakers. So I felt bad for Zion. on.

Good for the NBA, bad for the NBA, that's not my problem. But I'll tell you what is my solution. Great young players flourishing in well-run organizations. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire start? survive. The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost

its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions

everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action, with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped

them and the mindset that keeps them going. from the WMBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it.

An Olympic champs, Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything.

Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier 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, Keir Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose. On my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, I Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup kicks off June 7th and all eyes will be on Alex Morgan, Carly Lloyd, and Megan Rapino, and the U.S. Women's National Team as the defending

champions head to France, looking to win an historic Fourth World Cup. All the matches will be live here on Fox and FS1. This is going to be the greatest women's World Cup ever. We are a veteran team. France is super talented and young. Great World Cup, Women's World Cup. Stephen Jackson, 14 years in the NBA. Let's start with this. I've, I said to open my show. John Elway said, I'm not going to your organization. Eric Lindross, a hockey guy said, I'm I'm not playing for your organization. Eli Manning said, I'm not playing for your organization. But Zion Williamson, the best basketball prospect in 10 years,

has to go to an organization that can't get a tack together. I got to tell you, I feel bad for players, and it's nothing against New Orleans. If the Saints got a number one pick, they've shown the ability to build a super team. What do you make a Zion going to New Orleans? I just don't think it will happen. You know, I think today's time a lot of players are,

using social media to let out their frustrations and say what they want to be and who they want to play with and stuff like that. If you look at Terry Rozier, use social media or an interview saying that if Boston Celtics team comes back to the same, I want to lead. So players can speak up, but I don't think it's a great place for him. Me personally, I love New Orleans. My hometown is five hours from New Orleans. I love the city, but as far as basketball-wise, if you know anything about sports,

it's a football town. They love the Saints. LSU. They love LSU as well. Shout out to my cousin, Marcus Spears, who played there. But I don't think it's the place for him. And I think some type of way, he don't have representation now, but I think either he or his representation will come out and say that that won't be the place for him and he won't be happy there.

By the way, sometimes in life, short-term loss, long-term gain. New Orleans hears that and is just outrage, right? But I could get a haul for Zion, the pick. I could get a haul for Anthony Davis. You could have eight draft picks and four players in two hours of trade deals that would set you up better than Zion, who you know will never last to a third contract and may say no after a second contract. Because he's going to make so much money with shoes, he's not going to need to make his big money in the NBA. He'll make double his shoe money than he will NBA money. My takeaway is he's going to be there three or four years.

He's going to say I'm not resigning. So do you want that or four draft picks in two? two players. Yeah, the bad, the bad part of it, you can definitely make a lot of moves to get a lot for AD. That's without saying. But do you want, it's a bad look to have AD want to leave and having the number one pick. That's the clearest day. But hopefully he might switch it up and have an attitude like Damon Lillard. I want to build right here. I don't mind being in a small market. I'm going to make it happen right here. I love guys who have that attitude. That's the tough-nosed guys. That's the guys that are the steals in the draft.

the way, though. He went to Weber State, did I mean? He was not a marketing icon. Right, exactly. This guy is, this kid is Elvis. Right, already. I mean, he's Michael Jackson. He's Elvis. And I'm with you on this. New Orleans will be offended by this, but if you take your emotion out of it, what do you want to be if you're the Pelicans? You want to be viable for the next 20 years. What guarantees that? A good GM, you got it. A bunch of draft picks. Great GM. So great GM, a bunch of draft picks. Do you know how many draft picks and players I can get for Zion and Anthony Davis?

A ton. You could set yourself up for 10 years. Zion is not signing a second deal there. No, I don't think so. I don't think so either, but one thing about it, I have confidence in the GM now that they have that he's going to get it done regardless if it's trading him,

regardless if it's catering to Zion and getting him to come, whatever it is, I feel good about him being in control of that because a lot of players respect him. I worked on him with a couple of shows, and the way he looks at the game is close to how players think, and those type of guys have a lot of success. Okay, so the loser

last night was not the Knicks, it was tanking. The teams that tanked, now New York only dropped to third, but there's a big gap between third and Zion. So, I'm not a fan of tanking. Do you like tanking? How do you tank? I don't know, I've never, I've always asked people, how do you tank? I don't know how to lose.

I was never taught that. So I can never show up in any game, any event, and lose on purpose because I don't know how. I only know how to compete and to do my best. But they would sit you. They'd say, Stephen, you're not going to play tonight. I couldn't be on that team because I'm going straight to the media. I want to be out of here. I don't want to be on the team that's teaching losing.

Like, you bring young guys in the sand, we're going automatically lose. Like, what are you paying me for? I want to earn my money. I wouldn't want to be in that situation. I would be a nuisance. I would be a problem because I'm going to go public with it. I couldn't be a part of nothing like that. So you, I mean, you never were on a team that even for a short term tried to lose a few games to get a better pick?

No. No, never. No. I was able to, I play with some crazy guys that were like-minded like me. And I don't think they would be on a part of a team that's tanking either. The guys that I played with in my career, no. So listen, Warriors are now 31 and 4 without KD. that's hard to argue.

You can't argue. When Steph plays, Katie doesn't. They're 31 and 4. I don't think they're falling off a cliff if Katie goes to the Knicks. No, they're not falling off the cliff, but it's a difference between being the championship team and guaranteed winning the championship. It's a big difference. With Katie, they're guaranteed to win a championship.

Without him, they're a championship team. They're still good. They're still threats. They have two of the best shooters ever of all time. So they're going to be good. can add players, you know, Dreemona is still a Hall of Famer. You know, Iggy's going to be a Hall of Famer. A lot of people don't think so, but I think he's going to be a Hall of Famer.

But not having KD, it definitely takes a lot away from that team. They're dangerous. You give it the ball to KD in the fourth quarter, as you've seen in the last two finals. And the game is guaranteed. He ices the game. And Steph can do that too. Steph averages 35 points without KD and 18 with KD on the court. So it's a big difference.

But at the same time, you need KD. Ain't no question about that. Anybody saying they don't need KD, they don't know basketball. They need KD. 31 and 4. They can win regular season of games, but not championships. Well, they did one one without him. Yep, they did.

That was five years ago. They're not the same team. Well, they don't have the bench. I will argue this, though. Mid-level exceptions, you know, a Brooke Lopez kind of player. A lot of guys, I think a lot of guys want to play with Stefan Clay. It's fun guys. I would.

I was going to say, I can find a lot of good smart veterans who play defense, who are smart, who can come in. They're at the end of their career. they're like a C plus player and they play B level with them Like I don't think if Katie leaves Aren't they the favorites to win it all next year? If when I when Steph

was my rookie but when he was there They got rid of Barron Jason Rich to add so I wanted to get traded then but if I was on that team where we had Clay Steph Draymond there's no way I would leave that team if it's not broke don't fix it If I was Katie I would stay there

but like you said they'll still be one of the top teams in the West without Katie I just don't know about championship. By the way, so I said this about Zion. There's a magnetic quality about him. I could make an argument last 40 years. The players with the most magnetism are Michael, magic,

Shaq, Stefan LeBron, not just good players. Pied Piper, you want to play with them? You dress like them? They changed style. They changed the way you thought. The way they talk politics. There was an it. Kauai Leonard's talented.

Doesn't pass, doesn't talk, and no magnetism. When I watch Zion, he fits in that group. Yeah. I know everybody loves AD. Not an alpha. Nobody's following him. Like I think this is something, I said this yesterday. If today I could trade Kauai for Zion the pick.

I'm like, again, tell me who Kauai makes better. Who are his friends? He doesn't have an agent. He's on an island, man. It's 2020. Like Zion, I mean, if you could play, wouldn't it be fun to play with Zion? Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I would love to, but I think the situation, Kauai is at right now, I don't think he's going to be in Toronto next year. I think this year was a year for him to prove himself to get that big money and get a situation where he can come back home with Kauai. But I think any players should want to play with Zion.

This kid is going to be great. He's going to be one of the top players in this league. I think the first time he dunk on somebody and make an example out of somebody in the game, his name going to go through the roof and a guy's going to start being attracted to him. But as of now, he still has a lot to prove as far as his game. The only thing we know right now, he's super athletic.

Stephen, how much do you weigh? I weigh 235. Okay. He's 285. I know. And I'll never even jump nowhere closer as high as he can. I mean, if he dunks on an NBA veteran, this league is going to explode. I can't wait.

I can't wait to see it. Yeah. Good to seeing you. Joy with the news. No. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, pretty much everyone feels like the best player in this draft is Zion Williamson.

But if you ask his teammate, R.J. Barrett, he will say R.J. Barrett. Here's what he had to say yesterday on ESPN. You know, I believe in myself. I believe in my abilities. So, you know, who doesn't think that they're, you know, the best? I've put it in work in time just like everybody else. So I guess I do believe that, you know, I'm the best way. I've always been very high on RJ Barrett.

His one season at Duke, he had 18.5 shots per game, 45% from the field, 31% from three, average 22.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.3 assists. and he had a team high 22.6 points over 38 games. So he finished the season with 860 points. It's a school record for a freshman. That's more than Jabari Parker, Jal Okafor, Brandon Ingram, and more than Jason Tatum. Most kids come out of college. They don't have a really kind of beautiful, refined shot.

He's got a beautiful shot. He is, to me, he is the most NBA-ready prospect. Now, Zion obviously is transcendent talent, but like we were just discussing, no one really knows exactly how his game is going to translate, what kind of adjustments he's going to make, what kind of skill he's going to develop for the NBA long term, because we know athleticism is not the one skill that you want to have in this league.

Right. Athleticism is gone, so is your game. But RJ Barrett, to me, is that player. I mean, it's just become a shooter's league, and that's what he is. And I don't think it's a consensus that John Moran is going to go number two. Well, no, I mean, I think he's great. Listen, I think there's three players in the league. I feel very confident saying they're going to be really good NBA players.

I don't have a fourth player. I really don't. I don't have a fourth player. I think the kid at Vanderbilt, I watched him play twice. I'm like, oh, he'll play on the NBA. But I trust my scouts, and they're like, my scouts are all like, there's three. After three, you really don't know. It becomes a silhouette.

You're just like, well, maybe. And that's not to say there aren't great players. Though they will be. There will likely be one, two, maybe three of these players in this draft that become great players. Play Thompson. For a team. Yeah. But we just don't know who they are.

So Janus systematically dismantled the Celtics and their season in a very disappointing fashion. And now the Bucks are facing the Raptors with a trip to the NBA finals on the line. But before things get going, Janus wanted to fire one last shot at Boston. You know, against Boston, you can go down one and no and you still be fine. but I guess Toronto, you know, it's hard to build us, but, you know, we lose the first game in your home. Yonnas ain't worried about no Boston. They lost badly against Boston 12-90 was their worst loss of the season. Crushed.

They looked horrible. And we thought that we were all right about Boston, and then they came back and sent Boston home in a bad, bad way. I like this out of Yonis. I like a little trash-talk. He's not trash talking anybody that's still in the playoffs. I'm sure Boston's not going to appreciate that, other there's nothing they can say because they got the gentleman's sweep. But you know what?

This NBA playoffs is really lacking a villain. The Warriors were kind of that with Kevin Durant's. But now the Kevin Durant's out, I think everyone's kind of just enjoying the way that the Warriors are playing. We had a little bit of it with Houston. But overall, there's no one to root against. I need a black hat. I need an anti-hero.

Yeah, no, I get it. No, I don't. I thought the rockets were a little bit of that. Yeah, they were. James Hardin was easy to root against. But I feel like we always do that, though. No, that's not new. Simon Cowell was a villain.

Villains are good for TV. Gordon Ramsey's a villain. They work on TV. Yeah, you just need it. And, you're honest, is not going to transform. No, he's just a nice guy. Right. So finally, during the pre-NFL draft process,

rumors around the Cardinals and Kyler and George Rosen, and we talked about it almost every day. Yeah. And a lot of us were focused on how Josh Rosen was handling it and conducting himself throughout the process. Well, he had an appearance on the Rich Eisen show, and Rosen revealed how he was kept in the dark by the organization, specifically by the GM, Steve Kime.

The only thing that, like, truly did kind of frustrate me through this whole process that I still haven't heard from my old GM. I didn't talk to him for months before, still haven't talked to him much after, but that was kind of frustrating. I'm just ready to put that whole chapter behind me and keep pushing on and playing football. But I just really appreciated how Cliff just kind of acted like a man

and very respectful. He was wishing me the best. Literally, he's like, hey, so we're about to draft Kyler. I don't really know what happens now. At least he gave me the courtesy, you give me a call. I mean, I love everyone in that building, with the exception of maybe one or two guys there. It's a very revealing interview.

He also said that he texts Kyler immediately when he was drafted and called him and wished him best of luck. So the GM never talked to him before this and never called him after. Not one time? I always maintain. I do not understand this type. of behavior by professionals when you have things like this level. It's always going to come out.

And no one is saying you have to say anything in particular. You don't have to tell Josh Rosen, this is what we're doing and this is what we're not doing. But a simple conversation of, look, we have to conduct business. You're here with us now. At this moment, you know, we appreciate you being around. I really can't give you answers. And I hope that you understand that. But just respectfully as a man, I want you to know that we are considering all options.

And, like, I can't give you anything worth that. Tom Brady and Josh McDaniel have screamed at each other and they're friends. I would much rather you yell at me or me yell at you and we have a real relationship that's authentic. The idea that my boss has no relationship with me, I don't like that. I mean, everyone hates the silent treatment, right? Because it leaves nothing but unknowns. And then on top of it, once you've moved on to not have a conversation like, hey, sorry,

I couldn't talk to you about beforehand. We felt like we didn't want to, you know, have it. any leaks or reveal anything, but we wish you the best and we appreciate your time here. Like, it's just, it's always going to get out that there was no conversation. I have seen this firsthand how badly this can deteriorate. Not only just relationships you have with a particular individual in an organization, but relationships with the entire organization. It's just not worth it.

Just have a simple conversation. It solves so much. It's, you don't have to reveal anything. You don't have to give away your secrets or your plans. It's just not a good look. And all of this that's coming out is making Josh Rosen look better by the day. By the day. Enjoy with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. By the way, I was bummed out because I wanted to see Zion in New York, not because I'm some big Knicks fan, because I thought it would be great for Zion. You can't fake magic. You can't fake it. Zion, too, the Knicks is magic.

Hollywood tries to do it, but the Bachelors had 50 couples. Two have actually lasted. They can't even fake it. You know, that's why the right actor and the right script so rarely happens. Maybe six, seven times a year you get a magical script, a magical director, and a magical story, and a magical cast. It's hard. Even when you're spending billions, there's maybe five good movies a year. The reality is, last night had a chance to be a magical moment.

It had a chance to be Tiger winning the Masters. The Cubs winning the World Series in Game 7. Miracle on Ice. Tyree Kills Helmet Catch. Steph 33 in the second half, none in the first half. That was really magical. Cubs, the 2004 Red Sox. Zion to the Knicks would have been magical.

Instead, it'll just be successful. And successful is good too. But sports, it teased us last night. He gave us a little Lakers, Knicks, Zion, four left, the Pelicans. I root for magical. That's not to say Zion can't work and won't be an All-Star and won't. But we had a, you don't get magical very much in sports. Hollywood tries to write it every day and you get it five times a year.

It was right there for us last night. I got magical and day. I got, we'll eventually work. A little bummed out for Zion. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness.

So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levan this went to a billion-dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them

and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki.

The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast.

For wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase

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, as 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 hard way and listen now. Oh, Rob Parker. Teach a sports commentary at USC. Odd Couple with Chris Broussard, host of Inside the Parker podcast on the Heard Podcast Network. All right, what about my idea? Zion. I'm not spending seven years in New Orleans.

Here's a list of people who have said I'm not playing for a franchise. Kiki, Dominique, Elway, Beau, Danny Ferry, Lindross, Eli Manning. What about Zion saying, listen, trade me. You know what? Your idea is not a bad one, and I understand because you and everybody else in NBA America last night saw that Zion got sent to NBA Siberia. Yeah. You want to talk about a letdown? Was that not a letdown last night?

No, it was a dud, yes. It was a dud. I don't care what anybody's saying. Sorry, New Orleans, but that's what it felt like. Right. I just don't think he has that makeup to do what you're talking about. What do you mean? He just doesn't seem like that kind of kid to me

that he's very humble. I don't think he would be able to stand up and say, I'm not going to New Orleans. It takes special people to be able to do that. Well, John Elway was, I mean, John Elway came out of the womb, confident and arrogant. That's what I mean. And in Manning's case, his dad had been an NFL quarterback.

Do you know what I mean? His dad knew and then his brother. So there's a whole different dynamic there. No, that's it. He just doesn't have the person. personality for it. I don't think so. To really take a stand like that, that would send shockwaves that he don't, you know what I mean? He's going to stick around and played for the national team and then re-enter the draft the next year. Let me talk about this. It's funny last night. The Knicks

feel they lost dropping from one to three. And the Lakers feel like 11 to 4 they won, but I think it's a three-player draft. Three guaranteed Zion, John Morant, and Barrett are going to score, score early, be very good. There'll be other players, but by four, it's a crapshoot. If I was New Orleans, and I'm David Griffin, and I got to get rid of Anthony Davis, you give me R.J. Barrett with Zion, I can sell that all day long. What do the Lakers sell me? A crapshoot draft pick and Kyle Kuzma?

I don't think the Knicks, I don't think, and by the way, then I can trade Anthony Davis to the east, not the West. I don't think the Lakers necessarily won last night. I totally agree. I think it's so overblown. It is a three-player draft. Nobody knows for sure who would be that fourth player. And LeBron, Colin, he needs Adwater Sturr and a player to play right now.

He doesn't have three years for a guy to develop. He already has kids. Those kids didn't work out. And also the Lakers pieces that go with. they're damaged goods now. Let's just be honest. No, Longo has been... He's been hurt every year's first two years.

I think there's a stat. I could be wrong on this, Joy. I think he's missed as many games as he's played. So he's not... And he's got a dad issue. Brandon Ingram with the blood clots, you just don't know which way that's going? I was told he was off the trade market

that teams would just pass on him. Because you don't know, and Josh Hart has an issue. So Kyle Kuzma's the only guy. And a number four pick. Right. Now, if you're the Knicks, to me, I know every... Everybody in New York were bummed out that they didn't get Zion.

But now if I'm the Knicks, I focus in on trading for Anthony Davis. Give them the number three pick. Remember, they got a first and second from Dallas, right? Give them up. So give them number three this year, first and second round next year, and then say on my roster, you want Dennis Smith, Jr., you want Knox? Who do you want? Kevin Knox.

Right? Give them all up. Whoever you want. I'm with you on that. I think New York did fine. And if you're the Knicks and you come out of this with AD, KD, and Kyrie, you're good. Are you kidding me, those three in the East with the chance? I'm telling you, the Knicks didn't lose last night.

They still have a great chance. I agree. Okay, let's go to something that's going to get me angry. What? Steph Curry's overrated, right? Is that what you're going to say? You know he is. No, I don't know that.

Yes, you do. And here's the other thing. he's a great player nobody's saying he's not okay unanimous MVP first time in the league I'll give you all that yeah it's kind of a big deal

but this whole notion that they're better and that he didn't need KD and all that other stuff is just not true and that's why I got a new nickname for him what

he's the gamote the greatest mirage of all time oh come on he just is that's what he's not that player that everybody tries to paint him out to be, and I'll tell you why. Why? All right, first of all, he's the author of the first team in history to lose a 3-1 advantage

in the NBA finals. That's true. The one final he did win when Kyrie and Kevin Love were hurt. That was the championship they did win. If he is that greatest shooter of all time, who's that player, there's no way you're welcome in KD. He had to sign off on KD. He could have easily said, we don't need KD, right?

He could have easily said that. And then if he's this player that we're seeing now and he's that great, why was his talent over-covered up by KD? You know why? Because KD's better. Everybody knows KD's better. That's why he has a sniffed the NBA finals MVP those two years. KD is the reason why.

Everybody jump on the stuff bandwagon. lose in the NBA finals. You know what his resume will say? You'll all back off. He will have lost without KD in the finals. He will have lost the three to one advantage to the Cavaliers, which had never happened in the NBA. And the one championship they did win was when the Cavaliers were down two of their three stars. So then what is the resume? And if you just want to say, if he is the greatest shooter the NBA's ever seen, what did he need KD for? Why did he agree for KD to join his team and outshine him. Well, that is, you have, you and I have a complete disagreement.

I do not think it's a weakness. For instance, I don't think it's a weakness to marry a strong woman. I don't think it's a weakness as a CEO to hire a vice president who I think could be smarter than me. I think the key to success is hiring people who challenge you, who may be smarter than you, who have better ideas than you. That's when companies flourish. When companies don't flourish is when the CEO is in.

secure and hires people he can control. I agree with that 100%. My point is everybody's saying his talent is now being, we were robbed these last few years. Well, your buddy's saying that, Chris Broussard. That we were robbed. That's a false police report. Because if Steph Curry is that guy,

KD can't outshine him just because he's playing on the same team. I don't understand you're telling me, while he took a back seat, there's still those shots to be taken as the second guy. Did Kyrie Irving in that fourth quarter made the shot? LeBron didn't for that Cab's title. He outshined LeBron in that last possession. No, I get that, but I'm saying that we haven't seen this stuff for years. Where has this stuff been?

Because Steph is a good teammate. Steph is willing to accept the greatness of others. If you have the talent, it can't be put on the back burner if you're that guy that everybody claims him to be. That's all I'm saying. And we'll wait and see. Keep bringing up that phony stat about what they are without KD. I'll tell you it's phony. You know why?

They would not have these two championships, the last two, without KD. Do not kid yourself. He's that good. By the way, I approved of you coming to the network. Am I less of a broadcaster? I brought joy on the show. I appreciate that. Does it make me weaker that I wanted?

I literally go to management and say, I write names down, hire them, them, they're all talented people. I think the way franchises die, and I've seen, by the way, I have seen this, is when CEOs, when guys marry people that won't challenge them, and when CEOs hire people that won't challenge them. I think the great CEOs are like, you know what, I think this guy's actually, he's smarter than I am. I may be the CEO, but he can replace me. Who's the best play on that team? I don't know.

I think KD will go down among some people as the greater player. I think Steph's the most revolutionary player. We've got to go out of time. I'm just done with you. You're done with me for the day. Get out. Rob Parker. Hour three next.

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart Radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Don't skip meals. Go to Soylent.com. Complete meal in a bottle. Plant protein, essential nutrients.

Want to get 20% off your first case? Go to Soylent.com, put in the code, heard 20, heard 2.0. You know, it's funny about the draft. I went back to the last 20 NBA drafts. You get a transcendent star every other draft, one. And you get about five all-stars a draft. And most of them are like one-time all-stars. The last great year was 2011.

When you got Kyrie Irving, who, by the way, what's his career without LeBron? Clay Thompson, a great number two. Kauai Leonard, really, really good, but odd. Jimmy Butler, again, difficult, but 10. talented. Isaiah Thomas kind of falling apart. Vucevic for Orlando is a nice player. That's a great draft. That gave you seven guys. And Campbell Walker. That gave you seven guys. Most drafts, I mean, if you go to the last four or five drafts, you're getting two guys a draft who are like, look like they're all-stars. And I'm not talking dominating all-stars. So, you know, sometimes

we make too much of this. But it is a crazy day in New York. I thought it was going to be like Tiger winning the Masters, Zion to the Knicks, and it just didn't feel. feel that way, so they're freaking out in New York. And I want to go via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Ian Begley, formerly ESPN New York Daily News, excellent reporter, S&Y now NBA Insider. So they're freaking out in New York. I don't think it's the end of the world. I think a third pick, you're going to get a real player, R.J. Barrett.

I think the gap three to four next to the Lakers, I don't know what you're getting there. So give me the sense of New York City this morning. Or have they come off the ledge a little bit? I think it depends on the Nick fan you're talking to. You know, this fan base can be pretty schizophrenic. I think I feel bad for the fan that sat through this 17-win season and was hoping for Zion or was hoping for John Moran. So that fan is probably destroyed.

But listen, the disaster scenario here for the Knicks, as you said, was falling to four or five. So the idea that they landed at three, I think this puts them in a good spot. They're either going to get a good player or they get a good player, or they get a very good trade ship to talk to New Orleans about for potential Anthony Davis trade. So listen, this was not the worst case scenario. I think the Nick fan is conditioned to expect the worst case scenario.

This was not that. It was not the dream scenario. It was somewhere in between. Let me ask about that because the Knicks have been so bad there's a sense they're tanking. So now they have the number three pick. That's a real thing. I don't think Dennis Smith Jr. is much of a trade piece. I think he's his own guy.

I think he's difficult. Poor Zingis was. he's gone, there's Kevin Knox. If they wanted Anthony Davis, they got some draft picks, they could give away this pick. Like, what would a trade package look like to get Anthony Davis compared to what the Lakers would do? So if you look at the Lakers and even the Celtics, their younger players are much more established than what the Knicks have on their roster. I mean, you mentioned Kevin Knox, you have Alonzo, a tree or two, Mitchell Robinson, who showed a lot of promise in his rookie season. But in my mind, what would put the Knicks over the top

in any Anthony Davis trade package would. be those future firsts that they could include. They have seven first round picks in the next five years. And if they're willing to push some of those in, I think that gives David Griffin something to think about because if you're New York, you're not going to beat the trade packages that include maybe a Jalen Brown or a Jason Tatum or Alonzo Ball or Brandon Ingram, but you can give Griffin more picks than these other teams. That's where I think the Knicks can separate themselves. By the way, the Kevin Durant rumors, that's all they are at this point. Two days ago, I did have a current NBA player tell me it's done Katie's recruiting people.

What are your sources say about Kevin Durant? Because you're in the city. Many speculate he'll end up in. So, Colin, I will say this. First of all, you have put out a lot of these Kevin Durant rumors. Every time you say something on your show, I either hear it or I see it on Twitter. I have people ask me about it. So I think you're the biggest source of this rumor real right now.

But in all seriousness, I've heard similar things all year. that it's going to happen, that the Knicks feel confident about the idea of Kevin coming to New York. But I don't treat this as a foregone conclusion because in my mind, if Kevin were to sit in the room with the Golden State Warriors, if they win another title and Steph Curry says to him, hey, just come back for one more year. Let's run it back, stay until you lose. I think that's appealing. And then if he sits in a room with either Brooklyn or the Los Angeles Clippers, they talk about the rosters they have in place and the additional pieces they can bring in this summer. That's an attractive pitch as well. And we know, going back to Kevin's last free agency,

listen, days before he made that decision to go to Golden State, he was telling people that he thought he was going to come back to Oklahoma City. So there's a chance that he changes his mind here, which is perfectly normal. I think we all would change our mind a couple times if we're facing with this big decision. But that's why I don't treat this as 100% done until I see his name put to paper because there are too many variables here when you're talking about Kevin Durant and the Knicks. James Dolan people say Kevin I'm one of them be careful don't go there's a sea of money out there don't go from great ownership to sketchy ownership is there a sense Dolan would step away now that he has

more trust of his front office execs well I think if you go back to even the Phil Jackson era by and large Jim Dolan has kind of stepped off and he let Phil run the show mostly I think there a couple of things here and there where he stepped in on. But by and large, Phil had the keys to the car. Same thing with Steve Mills and Scott Perry. He's not involved as day-to-day as he was before Phil Jackson. He's acknowledged that mistake. So ownership certainly matters.

We all say it. That might be the most important component to a winning organization. But to me, I don't think Kevin Durant is factoring Jim Dolan in heavily to his decision one way or the other. Do you believe, Ian Beggley joining us, do you believe? that, let's just talk Anthony Davis, do you believe the Knicks will move the number three piece and give up all those first rounders to get AD? What do you think happens in the next month? To me, it depends on Kevin Durant or another player that the Knicks could potentially land in free agency. If you get Kevin Durant or you get Coahe Leonard, you're on the clock. It's winning now time.

So I don't think you value those young players and those future picks as much as you would in Anthony Davis because it's on you to put a star or stars around Kevin Durant or Kauai Leonard, whoever that top free agent is. So I think if they do get Durant, if they have a commitment from Durant, that makes them more eager to make that Anthony Davis trade. If they don't get a top free agent, though, I think the prudent thing to do would be to be patient, to punt the summer, maybe to take back a bad contract and a first-round pick and a trade, as we've seen the Brooklyn Nets do, and just to keep going forward with this young core.

But again, if you get that one star in free agency, I think that makes them much more aggressive in the Anthony Davis pursuit. But for the record of all the other guys, Kyrie, Kamba Butler, in the New York papers in your area, we all hear AD. We all hear KD. What's the other name you keep hearing? It's Kyrie. It's Kyrie. And I think it'll come down to Kevin Durant. And if he tells the Knicks, listen, I'm coming, but I want Kyrie here.

The Knicks go and get Kyrie. I think it's as simple as that. But Kyrie is on record as talking about, you know, how he thought of the Knicks as a potential free agent destination before he committed to Boston before the season. So we know that Kyrie thinks about the Knicks as a free agent destination. A lot of people think he's going to leave Boston. I think that's why the Knicks will be strong suitors for Kyrie come July 1

if he indeed decides to leave the Celtics. Ian Begley, great stuff. Congratulations. Your career ascension. And when you're out to L.A., give us a call. Stop by. Thanks, Ian. Appreciate it, Colin. Thank you.

You bet. Yeah, I don't think it's the end of the world. And I will say this is, I've been texting during breaks today in between getting locked out of the studio. I've been texting my scouts on who's the best fourth player. I got five different answers. I mean, that tells you everything you need to know. Every scout I talk to who has got a different number four. Four different responses today, four different number fours. that's why it's called a crapshoot. We know Zion's going to be terrific. We know John Morant's going to be terrific.

Barrett's going to score a bunch of points. He's got a nice jumper. He's long. He can handle a ball. He averaged 22 at Duke, surrounded by all those NBA guys in a college system. Okay, so he's going to score. But the gap to three to four,

I'm not saying the fourth pick could not be great. But when I'm texting my guys and I'm getting four different answers, that's what crapshoot means. It just, it's eye of the behold. everybody's eyes like Zion, everybody's eyes like Jha, everybody's eyes like Barrett. That's not eye of the beholder. Everybody likes those guys.

After that, it's just like the NFL draft. Everybody like Quinn and William to the Jets. Everybody like Bosa. Then Raiders' fourth pick, everybody thought would go 22nd. Most, you'd be amazed. Even in the NFL, I've been told this for years, in the NFL, most teams believe there's about 13 to 15 really first round locks.

After that, teams would mostly rather get second, third, and fourth guys and pay them less. Think about all the college players, most, and I talked to several, I mean, I had dinner with the GM a month ago. He said, we had 13 what we considered great players in the draft, like really special, right out of the suit, boom, special guy. They didn't have 14, didn't have 15, didn't have 16. So NBA draft, I'm looking at the NBA draft right here. I'm going 20 years in.

If you go back 20 years, there is one game changer every other year. And I'll give you an example. 1999, there was not a game changer. I mean, Baron Davis was great. Richard Hamilton was really good. It wasn't a game changer. In 2000, there wasn't a game changer.

In 2001, there was Tony Parker. He got a title for the Spurs. 2002, not a game changer. 2003, LeBron and D. Wade. Game changer. 2004, 2005, 2006. Bunch of good guys, not a game changer. 2007, Kevin Durant.

2008, I'll give you Russell Westbrook. I don't have to, by the way. I will. 2009, James Harden, Steph Curry. 2010, wasn't one. 2011, a couple. 2012, is Anthony Davis a game changer? Not yet.

One playoff win. 2013, one, Janus. 2014, 2015, 2015, 2016, I don't see one. So that tells you, you're getting about every other draft, you get a Durant-ish. And then you get about five All-Stars a draft. And there's a lot more Moe Williams All-Stars or a Paul Millsap All-Star than there is a LeBron all-star. Joy of the News. No, no, no, no, turn on the news.

This is the Herdline News. So, Adam Silver announced today that Kathy Engelbert, who is the current CEO of the has been named the commissioner of the WMBA. She is the first ever actual WMBA commissioner. In the past, they've had presidents. They haven't had the full title and autonomy and authority. She's the CEO of Deloitte, which is one of the, it's a big four professional services firm in the United States. So she's the CEO of it.

So very, very qualified. They've never had a commissioner? They've had presidents, but never an actual commissioner with the full authority that a commissioner of a league would have. This is the WMBA's 23rd season, and it tips off. Isn't that a good picture? Whenever you see a CEO picture, that's my favorite. Over the boardroom. When you're over the boardroom and you're standing, that's like the classic CEO picture.

Like I'm in charge. I'm excited about this. I hope that the new commissioner takes some steps to get the players, at least a bigger share of the revenue. They've been asking for better pay, obviously, because a lot of WMBA players, almost all of them have to go and play overseas in the off season to compensate. What is the split? salaries. Well, the WMBA or the NBA gets about 50% of the revenue and WMBA gets less than 21%. The players do? Yes, the players do. Oh, wow. Yeah. I didn't know that. So there's a huge. Wow. I had no idea about that. Yeah. I mean, whenever WMA players, whenever women in

general ask for fair pay, it's like, you know, brains start exploding at the thought of it. What are you guys suggesting? I mean, we can't do the same job. But in all, like, jokes aside, people make the assumption that WMBA players are asking for NBA max contract money and that's just not true. They're just asking for the fair pay base off of the revenue that their league makes. So I hope that those steps are made and then also I just hope that they start marketing the WMBA better. I love the WMBA growing up like Cheryl Sloops, Shama

Holeslaw, Teresa Witherspoon, Lisa Leslie. Like there's a lot of stars in the WMBA right now that really just need the marketing. It's a huge open space. They just got a deal with CBS sports. We talk about all the time. The women have Did they get shoe deals? Yeah. Do the WNBA start to get shoe deals? Yeah.

All right. Yeah. So it's just a marketing thing. Like you have to put money into marketing. We get advertising. I mean, big shoe deals. Yeah. I mean, I know they get shoe deals.

Well, I mean, it's big. You can't compare it to what the men's shoe deals. Right, right. But they do have Nike deals and, okay. Yeah. So the Knicks fans apparently were the only ones who were disappointed when the team ended up with the third pick. According to Mark J. Spears is undefeated.

Zion Williamson was definitely rooting for the Knicks to get the top spot so he could end up in New York. We're showing some. reaction. I wish I had recorded my reaction. It wasn't that bad. It wasn't that bad. And neither was Zion's reaction either. But look, the Knicks and the Pelicans are both in a really interesting situation because there's still some moves that could be made. Zion's response saying that he's, you know, he can't really sing anything until it happens is true.

Anthony Davis could still not want to be there and the Knicks could make a move and trade Anthony Davis to New York. Look at that bar. Yeah, I mean, it's just, it's a perfect reaction. I don't know why I'm laughing. There's something it just... Well, I mean, it's funny. Like, this is sports. We all really care. We can laugh at ourselves. We're getting involved in it. But if they did get New York's, if the Pelicans got New York's number three pick for Anthony Davis and Anthony Davis wound up in New York, having Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett together or Zion Williamson and John Moran, like that's how I would like the Pelicans to build this. Never forget this. the owner of they would prefer not to trade Anthony Davis to the Lakers and the West. I think deep down if it was even, they'd rather trade them to New York and the East so they don't have to play them as much.

And if the Knicks could give you the number three pick and three number ones, it's hard. That's that takes. Or a few other young players. To me, the way that the Pelicans do this, because we all have this feeling of like, oh, now it's going to take some time for them to be interesting and then to do some winning. Zion's going to play this year. He's not going to sit out, even though that is an option for him. He's going to play this year. He's a hooper.

Everyone told him to stop playing whenever he blew his shoe out and he played. He's not going to do it. But if they put someone like John Moran or RJ Barrett threw a trade around him, they still have Drew Holiday. They could build it up just the way that OKC did. Finally, Steph Curry looked like Seth Curry last night. There was a playoff game last night, Washington Conference Finals. It felt like a regular season game.

It did. It did feel like a regular season game. Not even a good regular season, like a February. Yeah, there was not like a regular season. lot of sense of urgency, really on either side. By the crowd was dead. Yeah. The crowd wasn't into it. Well, because, I mean, I feel like also it's game

one. You kind of expect Golden State to win. It's not like the end of the world that they won. And you also feel going in the Rockets, you just came off a series where there was real tension in the Bay Area. This is sort of like okay, we'll win this. And if I'm Portland, I'm not

freaking out either. They didn't look like themselves. They just came off of a long, very hard series. So they They felt kind of sluggish. The defense was really lacking. And three teams this playoffs have already run seven-game series after losing game one. So it's a lot more basketball to play. Good stuff.

Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. By the way, I saw this. Can I say this? Peter King, of course I can. Yesterday, Peter King released his power rankings.

And he had the Packers at 14th. I love Peter. I think we're crazy on this. So LeBron and Aaron Rogers have some similarities. You know, people have argued in the last 10 years, greatest ever, iconic American advertising stars, sports stars. They're both now in their back nine. Both have come off injuries. And both are in leagues where there's these new young, exciting stars.

Patrick Mahomes, a little flashier than Aaron, Janus, a little more dominating down low than LeBron. People think I've given up on LeBron James, including the people that represent them, have told me that recently in-person or via text, that I've bailed on LeBron. No, I haven't. I've said I think LeBron's going to be a top

two to three player in the league next year. I have not bailed on LeBron. Although I think Kevin Durant now is the best player in the league. I think Yonis 3, LeBron 2, Kauai, 4. But one of the reasons I've moved LeBron to the back page of the sports section is because I don't trust the Laker ownership,

I don't trust the Laker roster. I don't trust the Laker front office, and I don't trust their momentum. People bailing on Aaron Rogers are making a huge mistake because roster owner front office, I think they figured it out a year and a half ago with Aaron Rogers. And I think Green Bay is poised to be for the first time in Aaron Rogers' career, a Super Bowl sleeper.

If you go to their left, they realized two years ago, 18 months ago, not this draft, last draft. Aaron's contract's coming up. We got to load the defense up. They went all in on defense with all their top picks. They have added, if you count this draft, the last draft in free agency, seven new defensive starters. Rishon Gary, Darnel Savage, Alexander, Josh Jackson, Adrian Amos,

Cedaria Smith, Preston Smith. That's to go along with a couple of guys like Kenny Clark and Blake Martinez they already have. So their defense now is young and a full. And they've also added offensive linemen, one this year in free agency and one in the draft. So we have all sort of moved LeBron and Aaron Rogers a little bit into 1A or page two. The difference is I don't think I trust what's around LeBron. I think Green Bay has brilliantly built a defense quietly and smartly for two years, actually 18 months, knowing they were going to have to pay Aaron Rogers.

The two things older players need, they need support and they need protection. The Lakers can't get LeBron a single shooter. They haven't gotten LeBron a shooter. It's a shooter's league. It's a roster full of guys that can't shoot. What does Aaron need? Protection O-line and support defensively

so he doesn't have to win a shootout every Sunday. So I have moved LeBron off the front page. I'm right. Aaron, the same thing. Don't forget about him just because of an injury and because he's on the back nine.

There's no way. Peter King's got him 14th. I can make an argument. This is the best, most talented, youngest, most affordable defense Aaron's ever had. And they also upgraded

their O-line with Billy Turner and one of their draft picks out of Mississippi State. All right. For me, the Knicks, not getting the top pick, I said it last night, was a massive,

Oh, it was a complete tease. And I thought, there have been these moments in the last decade where I'm expecting something. And I try not to get too emotional, but I get all worked up in anticipation. And I'm like, I feel like a fan. And I'll give you four or five of those situations. And best for last coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app.

Discover is going further with Miles rewards than they've ever gone because the Discover It Miles card matches all the miles you earn end of the year. Limitations. Apply Discover match for new card members only. Discover.com slash travel. Nick Wright, Stephen Jackson, Rob Parker, Ian Begley. It has been absolutely a pleasure for you to join us today. So last night was one of those moments where, you know, expectations. I was saying when you're a little kid in California and you think you're going to get Disneyland for the day

and you get like Knott'sbury Farm for the day. It's just not quite Disneyland for the day, although Natsbury Farm is great, but it's, you know, it kind of felt like. And so this was, instead of Zion in New York, this is what I got. The second pick will be made by the Memphis Grizzlies. And that means that the number one pick

And the 2019 Edmade draft goes to the New Orleans Pelicans. You know, that was not, you know, it wasn't great. And the Knicks got third, which I don't think is the end of the world. But it was one of the sadder moments

where I kind of was being a fan. I try not to be a fan, but there are moments every few years. I'm just looking for something magical and special. You know, Tiger at the Masters, I'm not going to lie. I was rooting for Tiger on Sunday, okay? Cubs in the world,

series against the Indians. I'm not going to lie. I was rooting for the Cubs. So cue the sad music. These are the five biggest letdowns in my life. Number five, Patriots failing to complete the perfect 19 and 0 season. Okay, listen. 35 years I've been hearing about the Miami Dolphins. Yep, and you will continue to. And so perfect season is everything. Then David Tyree, who never had another catch in his life

that mattered. Ball sticks to his super glue to his helmet. Giants were 10 and 6. They were a wildcard team. I had watched the Patriots beat the Giants to end the season a month earlier in an Irish bar in New York City. And I got to watch it again and have the superior team lose. And the Giants

won an ugly 17 to 14 game. I couldn't agree with you, Wes. This was a glorious day. It was awful. Number four. Mike Tyson and George Foreman, never meeting. Okay, Foreman is 18 years older.

They could have fought because he made the big comeback, right? And in 1987, Foreman went back into boxing, and he stated his intention was to fight Mike Tyson. So that was the talk. Oh, Mike and Foreman going to fight, and I waited for it. And I got nothing. And then in 1990, HBO announced Foreman and Tyson would fight on the same night with different opponents.

and then Buster Douglas and Amanda Holyfield kept changing the boxing landscape and affecting the possibility of the fight. This was the fight that never happened. I think it hurt boxing. I think a lot of us out there were waiting for the greatest puncher of all time Tyson against the greatest old puncher of all time foreman,

and it never happened, and it really turned me off to boxing for a long time. Number three, this past year, LeBron with the Lakers. Listen, I wasn't looking for a title, but a dumpster fire? I remember about two months ago, it was at the end of the regular season, about 20 games left. I'm in a lounge in Los Angeles. Lakers are on with LeBron, and nobody's watching.

And I came in the next day to the staff, and I'm like, that's no longer a topic. People in L.A. don't care about this. When he got injured on Christmas, they were a four seed. They finished as a 10 seed. And now it does feel like to some degree, I don't think I'm embellishing here. It feels like LeBron somewhat trapped. I don't know if they have the pieces to get Anthony Davis. And even if they get Anthony Davis, they're good.

I don't think they're special. LeBron's never played exceptionally well with Biggs. He plays well with shooters. And there's a story today he's not getting Kyrie and Kyrie's not remotely interested. So this has been a big disappointment for me. Number two, 18 years ago, the movie Hannibal. Silence of the Lambs, my favorite movie of all time. 20 years in the making, they were talking about, okay, now we get the second,

the sequel to Silence of the Lambs. One review said Silence of the Lambs was marvelous. This by contrast is barely okey dokey. I've got to be honest with you, it was so bad it made me want to eat my own face. It was, you have no idea how long. I waited two decades. And it's not a terrible movie. It's got a really weird scene in the end.

I've watched it twice. I've watched Silence of the Lambs 42 times. I've watched Hannibal twice. It was not terrible. It was just signs of the lambs are so good. Oh, it's the best thing I've ever. ever seen. Red Dragon was good. Red Dragon was better than Hannibal. Yeah. And finally, last night's NBA lottery. I'm not joking. I was so bummed out. It's the, listen,

the Pelicans, it's not New Orleans. They're dysfunctional. They're not interesting. If the Saints got the number one pick, Packers, OKC, Portland, it's not a market thing. It's just basketball's different in New York. Zion's different. The smile, the face, the game, the power. I can't be the only person. Outside of the ticket office for the Pelicans. Wasn't this a massive letdown? It was very disappointing.

And then again, it's nothing about New Orleans. To me, it's not even about the Pelicans because I think David Griffin is a great hire for them. I think they have a couple good pieces and a good coach. I just, for me, I would have liked to see Zion go somewhere, either a market like New York or L.A. or to a team that has some history you could look to. You know what I mean? Like it doesn't have to be the best situation. Chicago wasn't necessarily the best situation.

No, Chicago's been a mess for a decade. But there's history there. Atlanta's not the best situation, but there's a city there. There's an energy there. I mean, the Super Bowl was just there. Like, there's a lot going on in Atlanta. They also have Trey Young. Yeah.

So it just felt like he's going to have to go there and create the Pelicans. Like he is going to now be responsible for making the Pelicans a. We've seen that. But Anthony Davis. Well, you can only hope that Zion is bigger than Anthony Davis. Well, I think he has a magnetism, so I think he can attract people. I will say this. People think it's crazy.

But listen, if you're Zion Williamson and you just simply say, I'm not going to enter the draft, just go call Greg Popovich, do what Eric Lindra said, and just say, listen, I'm going to go play for the national team, stay in shape for a year. I got news for you. He's playing basketball. He's playing for the national team. people forget Eric Lindross was Zion in hockey. He was Canada's best prospect since like Gretzky. And he said, I'm not going to play for Quebec.

I am going to play for the Canadian national team. And then I'm going to put myself back in. And he ended up going to another country. Kiki Vandeway, Dominique Wilkins, John Elway, Bo Jackson, Danny Ferry, Eric Lindross, Eli Manning have all said, I'm not playing for an organization. And by the way, I find Zion incredibly much more. likable than Lindross, Danny Ferry, John Elway.

I don't remember Dominique likable or not likable in college. I don't remember that draft. He'd take a reputation hit up front, but in the long run, I wouldn't be mad at him. I think you should handle your career however you want to. You have no obligation to anyone.

If you took the emotion out of it, and I just said to everybody listening or watching, your career that you're choosing you've worked your whole life for is probably going to last 14 years. Are you willing to give up seven of it. Half. I'm not. I'm not. I mean, I agree with you. I don't think he's going to do it. I think he's going to play and figure it out. I agree. I would not be mad at him if he did.

I agreed one time to an extension with the place I worked at and then came in and got a better offer and said, yeah, I'm going to pull. I'm going to rescind my, I didn't, how you hadn't signed the contract yet. I did it one time in my career. I remember saying, I don't have very long to talk. You know, I mean, just don't have forever. And I agree to a place. And about two days later, somebody offered. And I said, you know what? I'm rescinding it.

I didn't sign anything. And they were mad. And I'm like, all right, you'll get over it. You'll be fine. Well, you're going to make a bunch of money without me. And I hopefully all be happy. All right, good stuff. See you tomorrow.

Don't go anywhere. Speak for yourself right around the corner in LA. Joy and I, this has been the herd. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness. From professional athletes,

coaches and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world, like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house,

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you, exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight

to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

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 podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.