The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - Bold Predictions

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

Colin analyzes Cooper Flagg ahead of tomorrow's NBA draft and why the Flagg comparison to LeBron is fair despite both players never having a "go to move" He shares his "Bold AFC Predictions" for the upcoming NFL season and why the Chiefs are in a precarious position for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes eraSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood.

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We are ready to roll live in Los Angeles. It's the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for Meganas part of your day. Nick Wright one hour from now. My buddy John Middilcoff is joining me yesterday, today, and tomorrow. John made a great show yesterday. It flew by.

There's a lot of things going on. The draft is tomorrow. Rick Petino's going to join us, which is how lucky are we? really smart guy and a great personnel guy. Rick Patino joins us tomorrow and we're going to go through the top eight or nine picks. Nobody's smarter than Rick on all this stuff. He faced a lot of those guys. But John, did you enjoy your first stand-a-chair? I did. I was surprised my key card worked this morning, but I'm here. So I made it in the building. Bagel ready to roll. His key card worked again. So I saw this story. The draft is tomorrow and Cooper Flag is going to go number one.

So he played at Duke. So obviously you, me, and our dogs watch Cooper Flag play a few times. And he was in the tournament. He's a great player. I think he's a better version of eventually, not now, but eventually of like a Jason Tatum. Brian Scalabrini, who does a really good job. He's a broadcaster in Boston. We've had him on the show before. He was talking about what is game, what

Cooper Flagg's game is like? LeBron has scored 50,000 points, doesn't have a go-to shot. I'm not sure he has a go-to shot. It's just a basketball player that makes things happen. LeBron's a freak of nature defensively. He's a freak of nature defensively. The Bronc can run point. He can run point. Six eight point cards. Six eight point

card. He trends like that. I have never been into guys with an absolute go-to move. The best restaurants I've ever been at don't have a signature dish. They just do everything well. You can get a Cobb salad. You can get a chicken parm. The cocktails are good. So are the desserts. Everything's good. That's a good restaurant. And I always remember this. When I was in college, when I was in college, I wanted to be a baseball announcer. I wanted to be like, you know, like a Vince Scully or something, right, or a Dick Enberg. And I remember everybody had a home run call. Everybody had a home run call.

And the two favorite guys, when I was in college, my two favorite broadcasters were a young Bob Costas and a young Al Michaels. And they didn't. They didn't need a gimmick. I didn't need a fly ball to left followed by, get out through spatula, grandma. We're making fried potatoes and hash. Just call the game. Be good at everything. I don't need a signature home run call. When I started watching UFC, 20 years ago,

every fighter had like one style. They were a kickboxer, a wrestler, or a boxer. Now the best fighters can do everything. Quarterbacks, I want mobility. I want you to be good in the pocket. I want you to be good pre-snap. Jaden Daniels is good at everything. Yeah, he can run.

He's great in the pocket. He's smart. He's good pre-snap. He's good early in games. He's good in the two-minute drill. I'm not looking for specialization. I don't need a bag. James Hardin's game feels sticky.

He'll finish as one of the great scores of all time. Carmelo Anthony would never take two steps back and hit a three. Like he didn't play defense. I think he'll be a good broadcaster, but his game, I don't need definition on one move. if you have one like Kareem well Colin what about Kareem yeah but Kareem wasn't a ball handler he wasn't a playmaker

he didn't have the ball in his hands much back in his era the point guard ran the show and always had the ball you would never let the center or the power forward touch it until they got the ball down low so Kareem had to develop a signature move

and it was great for him but the best guys now like Wemby Wemby can put it on the floor he can shoot it three. He can drive. He can do everything. And that's Cooper Flag. I look at it this way. If I want specialization, it'll be for a surgeon, a heart surgeon, a brain surgeon. But I want my basketball players to be like a general practitioner. I got poison ivy. I broke my wrist. Can you help me with both? I got a rash. Help me fix it. I broke my ankle. Can you mend it? That's what I'm

looking for. So I don't need a go-to move. I think Cooper Flag is a more aggressive version of Jason Tatum. And what have I always said about Jason Tatum? He's an A player. If he was more aggressive, he'd be an A-plus player. So that's what I think he's going to be. I don't need a signature dish at a restaurant, and I don't need a signature move. Kareem had to have one. But in today's basketball, LeBron James led the NBA last year. Think about this. LeBron James at his age led the NBA in getting a bucket in the fourth quarter and the knock on LeBron is, well, he doesn't have a signature move. That's because he's a better ball handler than Michael Jordan or Kareem. He's a better ball handler. He elevates others. He's smart. LeBron always gets

a really good shot when you need him to get a good shot. He's not limited or boxed in or marginalized by having to go to his signature move. So I think Cooper Flagg is going to get drafted. I think he's going to average almost 20 a game as a rookie. I think he's going to have a great backwall of defense in Dallas and their bigs behind him. And the thing I like most about him, he doesn't have a go-to move. He's not concerned about having a bag. And now this story, and I feel like it's the 13th time I've done this story, the Boston Celtics worked another

NBA team on a trade as soon as the season ended. Between Danny Aange and Brad Stevens, they seemingly work every team. It's like Howie Roseman and the Eagles. Don't pick the phone up. Just don't pick it up. So Drew Holliday, I've always liked Drew Holiday, but he got really old, really fast. And the Celtics have new owners, and their books are all messed up. They got to go work on their cap sheet. So yesterday they called Portland. Portland took his monstrous contract, and he's not the same player. He didn't make an all defensive team last year. And this happens with guys that play defense at a high level. You can age very quickly. Defense is hard. Defense becomes injuries. Defense you're on the floor. Defense is hard work. And Drew Holliday has been a great

defensive player. And for five years, I think it was all defense, right? He didn't make it. He didn't make it last year. suddenly kind of old. So the Celtics have to clean up their books. They move him and they get a younger player, a cheaper player, a better offensive player from Portland and Anthony Simons, who they're going to rent for one year because Tatum's gone and they need his scoring and then he's out. Now Simons doesn't really necessarily fit Boston's culture. He's not a great defender. He doesn't elevate others, but he can shoot threes and nobody shoots more threes than Boston, so he'll be a good fit. But mostly what they did is got Drew Hall. all day off the books. They got second rounders in this deal, a couple of them. They got a younger,

cheaper player with an expiring contract. How do they do it? But I'll tell you what's happening in the NFL and in the NBA. It's not just the big swing. You've got to win on the margins. Because the salary cap in the NFL is pretty tight. And with the new aprons and CBA and the NBA, Phoenix went big with KD and Bradley Beale, and it was a disaster. Dame Lillard that Milwaukee didn't work. But look at what Indiana did with Obie Topin for a couple second round picks. That was a great

move. T.J. McConnell. And go look at Sam Presti's getting Isaiah Hartinstein or Alex Caruso. It's winning on the margins now. You are limited on the big swings. And I said this yesterday. Most of our lives in the

NBA, we knew like Jerry West was a general manager. Or Pat Riley became a GM. We didn't talk GMs. We didn't talk. I mean, one of the great GMs in league history, 90% of sports fans wouldn't know who San Antonio's GM was R.C. Buford. He was like the Howie Roseman of the NBA. We didn't talk about it.

Now, figure out who the GMs are. You have got to make these smart moves. Remember Denver wins a title a couple years ago? And I fell for it. I'm like, okay, Yokic is the best player in the world. Gordon's a great defensive player. By the way, Gordon was one of those margin moves. But all of a sudden, they lost KCP.

Well, KCP was their shotmaker late if Yokic wasn't. And they lose, was it Bruce Brown, they lost another. And you start losing those guys. Well, Yokic is still great. Gordon's still great. Porter's still Porter. Jamal Murray still, Jamal Murray. Malone can still coach.

It was the guys on the edges. They got bad. They got worse defensively. They became two Yokich dependent. If Murray got hurt, they didn't have another shot creator. So it is now becoming a margins league, and this is what Boston just did. They got a guy who's aging off the books. They get draft picks.

Boston always gets multiple draft picks. They get a younger, cheaper player with an expiring contract who can shoot a bunch of threes. The day the season ends, the minute the season ends, they don't do it during, like Phoenix. They don't do it, you know, Houston and Phoenix. They're doing it day of the finals. League does not like that. that minute the season ends. Brad Stevens, boom, next day got a deal.

Draft picks, younger, cheaper player, off the books in a year as Tatum's hurt. So you can go big game hunting, and I'm not opposed to big game hunting, but I don't consider KD to Houston big game hunting. Yonis is big game hunting. But when I look at KD, you are accentuating a strength,

you move some pieces, but you don't have to pay a five-year max for KD. That doesn't feel like big game hunting. It's smart hunting. But boy, Boston does it. Danny Ains, Brad Stevens. It's got, this is what the NFL is really all about. You know, it's like, that's why I kept saying for Chicago,

they went and got a DJ Moore, didn't win any more games, watched Joe Tunney, Drew Dahlman the center, Jonah, Dack, all those interior offensive linemen, those feel more like, what kind of marginal moves? We don't talk guards on this show. Watch Chicago improve dramatically. It's not just the wide receiver, the left tackle, and the quarterback. So the Celtics do it again.

You know this. You work for the Philadelphia Eagles. You know this is that the media, myself included, we love the big swing. But a lot of times it's fixing your guard, center guard combination. And in the NBA, it's getting that first guy off the bench and adding depth. It's becoming a depth league because you can't stack your rosters. I was with the Eagles when they signed Nandbigh-Assomwa. Didn't go well.

Last year, how he signed Zach Bonn, all pro, Super Bowl. Special teams guy. $4 million. That's a remarkable how this stuff works, so good for Boston. We got a lot of stuff today. Caitlin Clark smartly turns down an offer we find out today. Draft tomorrow, and one player, I think, is pulling a little bit of a Shadour Sanders, and I don't love it.

We'll talk about that. 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. Hi, this is Jay. I'm the producer of the Pauli and Tony Fuscoe show. Usually in these promos, they ask you to listen to the show. I'm here to ask you, please don't listen to this show.

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

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

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

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 acapella 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 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.

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The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. Yeah, she's an outsider to win the first.

French, me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Leonard Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. All right, welcome back.

So, I said this yesterday. Picking on the Oklahoma City Thunder, it may have felt like it, but I said in the last seven years, I thought they were probably the fifth or the sixth best championship team. They had one true, dependable elite score, and he had multiple bad games in the tournament. But I think the thing I'm struck with with SGA is what an adult he is, how mature he is, what a nice guy he is, how consistent his personality is. He doesn't take the bait from the media looking for quotes. He's just a real grown-up, a nice guy to build your team around.

reminds me of Jalen Hertz of the Philadelphia Eagles. I always trust him at the podium. I know he's giving me his best effort. I know he's coming in focus. Even when Jalen Hertz has a bad Sunday and he had one against the Rams, I know he was focused. I know he was concentrating. I know it was the most important thing in his life.

And I like that. And I was thinking about this this morning. If you watch the NBA in the 80s and 90s, you could see how angry the players often were by their dunks. Like Michael Jordan's career is largely fueled by animosity and being cut by his high school basketball team. Sean Kemp. You notice how many good players now don't dunk a lot?

Or you don't even remember their dunks, even though they're bigger, more athletic. They don't do it. And years ago in the 80s, 90s, everybody had a nickname, Larry Legend, Air Jones. Jordan, Akeem the Dream, the microwave, the admiral, round mound, rebound, human highlight reel. Every star had a nickname. Well, Colin, what about the Greek freak?

A teammate started that because they couldn't pronounce his name. Nicknames now often go to international guys, so it's easier to remember, and it's given to them by teammates. Players don't need nicknames now. Dunks and nicknames, when Magic Johnson signed a 25-year... $25 million contract. You had to make money elsewhere. You had to make it in shoes. There was no social media.

So a nickname got your poster, it got your brand, it got your car deal, it got your deals and more money. Bench guys in the NBA now, they make $15 million a year. SGA, we just use that to shorten his name. It's the same with Joker. I don't think I've ever, in his entire career, said Janus's last name on the air. I don't think I have it. The Greek freak. Janus. So I think it shows the growth of the NBA. I think it's a global international wealthy league. I've always compared it to Premier League

Soccer or Barcelona, Real Madrid. It's grown up. It's adult. It's sophisticated. You don't have to have a catchy nickname. Players aren't angry. They all go on each other's podcasts. And that's my favorite part of the young generation of players. They don't. have to have a signature move they don't they don't play angry now maybe maybe many people miss that and i and i'll be honest i like dr jays dunks and the round mound or rebound and angry charles barclay on and off the court was kind of fun but it's a new league and here's alex caruso talking about why sGA is a potential face of the league as far as you know like face of the league and uh best player on best team he he's got that capability

I mean, clearly the year he's had, MVP, Western Conference Finals MVP, champion. I don't think anybody in here would question his ability, and I think the thing that sets him apart is he'll probably be hungry for more. Listen, star players today, Wembe, do you know what he did? Do you know what Wembe did this off-season? He went to China, a Buddhist temple, to practice as a monk. Yokic, by the way, did not want to be in the Nuggets parade. He wanted to go back home.

He wanted to hide. And, you know, any time I see like, you'll see sometimes like athletes doing something, they're at a fan fest or something. And I always think to myself, why? You don't have to join every club. Why? And this new NBA, players don't get into a lot of trouble. You don't hear about it a lot.

They're not at clubs as often. They're on Match.com or Tinder or wherever young guys go. But it really does show a pivot to the NBA, the start. cars are hiding. They don't need ancillary income to make it after their shoes and after their game. And SGA's the, he's like the poster for that. It's like never lights the fire. He is Jalen Hertz at a podium. If there's a fire, he's the cooler. If there's impending trouble, he brings everybody down. That's modern NBA basketball. That's my quarterback as an NBA star. And you know I like that. John Middlough with the news.

No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news! This is the herd line news. Speaking of quarterbacks, Colin, Josh Allen coming off an MVP season, but his season ended before he would have liked. Losing a tight game to the Chiefs in the AFC title game, Alan said that while the MVP award was a great honor, his resume still has a hole in it until he wins the ring.

Adding, that is the only goal. is, you know, I look at him, and I've thought about this. Let's say he doesn't win a ring. I think he will, and I think he'll win a couple. But then he'll be in that Jim Kelly, Dan Marino class. He'll still be a Hall of Famer, but you just won't talk about him as much. And, I mean, if you ask quarterbacks today, in fact, I heard Brady talking about this a month ago, who had the best arm, he's like, Marino.

And what I don't want, because Marino got a lot of the. attention when he played. He had Don Shulet with Dan Marino. He was a star. He was on national commercials. I don't think Josh is that interested in doing that stuff. Again, he's the modern star. Like he makes enough money this. He's just got married. He didn't need to do a lot of commercials. I hope he doesn't, and I say this respectfully to Dan. I hope he doesn't become Dan Marino because I do think there's an argument, including Elway Marino and Mahomes. He's the most physically gifted quarterback in the history of the league. Well, think about it. We're coming off an era.

Obviously, Brady surpasses Montana, but Peyton was winning. Peyton won multiple rings. Rogers won a ring. Breeze, Rathesbue, they're all champions. This era, Mahomes is the king. We know the two next best quarterbacks are Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. And Burrell. Burrell's close. These guys are winning MVPs or great players. Who knows?

I mean, what if Jared Gough wins a ring this year? What if Purdy gets one in a couple of years? I mean, it's hard to get them now. these guys, one of these two guys, Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson, could go ringless and have a marino-like career where we go. He's one of the greatest players I've ever seen. He just couldn't get it done. Yeah, and I also think Josh and Lamar both, and I'm guessing here because players' careers last longer, I would say Josh and Lamar have probably four more prime years and then three to four after that where they just don't want to get hit as much.

But you are getting to a point with Josh now. He's expensive. there are limitations on the roster. You got about four more prime years, and then it gets trickier because you're not going to be paying him less, because you're not going to have, there's no other Josh Allen on the market. He could play until 45 if he wanted, do he won't, but he could. So these years are important.

And Josh, unlike Lamar, has played well against the Chiefs in these playoff games, right? The defense just didn't make a play. The coach screwed up. They've been right there. I'm with you. I believe that Josh Allen will get a Super Bowl ring before it's all said and done. Yeah. Okay.

onto a team right down the road, the Rams. They're fresh off a Hawaiian minicamp that we discussed yesterday. One thing that came up in the Maui trip were some comments that the president, Kevin Demoff, and he discussed one of the team's goals going forward outside of a Super Bowl. We already have America's team in the Cowboys and more recently the Chiefs. But according to Demoff, the Rams are looking to become the world's team. Is that possible, Colin? Well, I mean, you know, it's funny.

They play in a lot of different places. Have they played a game in Southeast Asia yet? I don't know if they had. Not a little. I mean, they used to do that. I remember when I was a kid in the 90s, but I think they've been over there for a couple. Well, they're not the most popular team in their division.

The Niners, by far. They're not the most popular team in Los Angeles. I've been to a Niner Rams game. The Niners sold them. I think this is, and again, I think in the NFL, to some degree, you are as popular as your quarterback. I mean, the Philadelphia Eagles went a lot of years on this show

when I didn't talk about it. Then they get the owner. I mean, they had a bad owner. They had weird wonky owners for a long time. Then they get Jeff Lurie. Then it's Howie Roseman. I mean, if they didn't have Jalen Hertz and they were banging around looking for a quarterback, they're not on the show.

So I think in the NFL, because of the rule changes, it really comes down to do you have an offensive coach and a star quarterback. I mean, let's take Green Bay. Green Bay felt huge during Farv's tenure. Gigantic. Madden was in love with them. And then they felt not quite. as big, kind of underachieving with Aaron Rogers, but they were still a huge brand.

I mean, like in their division, I think people are more excited about the bears this year than Green Bay because they're not, at this point, we're not sure if they're good at quarterback. Before we become the world's team, can we just become the city's team? I mean, they're the third biggest brand here, right? We've got the Dodgers, the Lakers. That's true. The Niners, biggest brand in Northern California. I've lived in Philly, the Philly.

You've got to be the biggest brand in your own city before you can take on the world, right? I think that's fair. I like the big thinking, though. Last but not least, your guy used to be your guy, maybe you've pivoted. Russell Wilson is a member now of the Giants as he lands his third team in his many seasons, bouncing around a little bit. Speaking at the Fanatics Fest over the weekend, Russ broke down his reasoning for signing with the New York Giants.

Because of him, a big reason of it. You know, I really wanted to play the guy that was special like him. I think also too, we've got a lot of guys that put a lot of hard work into it. We've got a really good defense rushing the fast, and we've got a lot of dudes. Yeah, I'm not an anti-Russ guy. I was a big Russ guy because I never thought he got quite the credit, but at some point you would have to be loyal to honesty. Pete Carroll moved off him.

Sean Payton moved off him. And last year, another team moved off him, Mike Tomlin. So those are three Hall of Fame level coaches all moved off him. And so my take is they're seeing something on tape. there's something about him that people aren't willing to put the hooks in going forward and so I just, I think I've watched

and reassessed my earlier opinions. There's no disputing for the six, seven years in his prime. He was one of the best players in the league. He was one of the more dynamic players. I've seen him live. He got guys drafted. He was incredible. But whatever version this guy is now

is no longer that. And he's on the Giants, that was his only option. Where was he going? And let's face it, if this doesn't go well, which I don't think many people think it will. Could this be his last season in the NFL?

You talk about this forever, these big brands, these big names. It's hard for them to be backups. Could this be it? Well, it's interesting. I had dinner with a Giants fan last night, and we were talking about Jackson Dart. And my take is I didn't love the draft of Jackson Dart because Russell's going to start,

and let's say they win a couple early games. You're going to keep playing him. Well, then Jackson Dart plays only later, and next year there's six potential first-round draft picks at quarterback, and I don't think Dart is as good a prospect as most of those. So by drafting Jackson Dart, unless they flush out the GM and the coach, you're going to have to give Jackson Dart more runway. So it's a weird thing.

If you're Brian Daibel and you start winning with Russ, you can make an argument if you start, I don't think they will, compiling wins. Don't play Jackson Dart, right? So don't have people see the glimpses of excellence, or else your owner's like going to be, no, don't draft this quarterback, and you're like, they're much better prospects. So I think their quarterback situation's odd.

What if they're not compiling wins, though? I don't think they are. That's where the owner's going to want to see them. Dayball, you know, Tomlin had this weird loyalty last year to Russ as the season went on and wouldn't go back to Justin Fields. I don't think Dayball and Joe Shane will. So I would expect, we talked about this yesterday, Jackson Dart to be inserted much earlier than later.

Yeah. You know, I was thinking about this, as I was talking about, talking to a Giants fan last night, I looked up the schedule. It shows you the depth in this league right now. I mean, there's some really bad teams at the bottom, but if you look at the giant schedule, I don't have high hopes for Dallas, but Washington was a tire fire for 15 years. They're now special. Look at their first four or five games. Chargers always underachieved, won't anymore with Harbaugh. I mean, you get Washington, Kansas City, then you go into the chargers. Two weeks later, well, Sean Payton's turned around the Broncos in Denver, Philadelphia,

Philadelphia, San Francisco. There are, John, there are some bad teams in this league. But because there's more and more good offensive coaches, more good GMs, you talked about coaches in the NFC, there are not a lot of, there are not a lot of rest stops in this league. New Orleans is one of the teams we know will not be good. It's a short list perhaps. Still not an easy place to play. in that dome and they're going to the Chicago Bears, who knows how good, that's not an easy place to play at the Patriots. I mean, later in the season, that gets cold.

This is a, this is tough schedule, Colin. I mean, this is got four or five wins written all over it again. I was going to say, three and 14 is not off the radar. No. John Middlough with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news.

There's always been criticism with LeBron James, and, you know, he can be polarizing. I understand that. But I've always thought he elevates others. He's very unselfish when it comes to basketball. He always works for the best shot. I defended him early in his career when people are like, well, how come he doesn't take the shot? Because he's always been more magic than Michael Jordan. He's a great distributor, one of the great passers ever. Not just, I'm not talking, I mean, I'm

talking in the magic bird class. He's a great passer. It's not always clever, but it's great. He gets the ball right in the shooter's hands at the perfect spot, at the perfect time. The other thing I always defended LeBron James on is he didn't join the slam dunk. contest. And people were like, why not? Michael Jordan did? Well, Michael Jordan's brand was dunking. He leaned into it because of his hand size and his vertical. Michael, again, was like David Thompson. For those of you in your 20s and 30s, before Michael, there was a player named David Thompson with injuries. He had a 48-inch vertical. His vertical was better than Michael Jordan's. He was an unbelievable player. He didn't look like any player. He was a better jumper than Dr. J. And Michael, but he didn't

have quite the hand size, apparently. But Michael leaned into the dunk contest. It was great for his brand and Dr. Jay. But Magic didn't do it. Bird didn't do it. LeBron could have done it, but I always felt he was too big for it. The same way I feel about Shohei Otani and Aaron Judge now. Yeah, they did a home run derby once. They're too big for it. And the story came out about Caitlin Clark yesterday, that she turned down a chance for the three-on-three team at the 2024 Olympics. And it seems like an honor until you realize Jimmer Ferdat played on Team USA's three-on-three-on-three-team. We have to be honest with Caitlin Clark now. She is not part of the moment for the WNBA. She is the moment. Ratings drop 55 percent, not just on fever games

league-wide. She's too big for this. And Tom Cruise should not be on. on Love Island. You know, whenever I see celebrities, you know, on these, you've seen these celebrity shows like Celebrity Island or Celebrity Dance competitions, I always think, ah, career's not going well. Christian Pulisic, I defended him. Why should Christian Pulisic be at the Gold Cup? Olympics and Europe.

That's what Yolkits does. He makes his money in the NBA. he plays for his country. There's no reason for Yokic to play for the Feebo World Championships, and there's no reason for Pulisic to be in the Gold Cup. Tiger Woods, very early in his career was like, I'm not going to play every tournament. Scotty Sheffler now uses great discretion when choosing tournaments.

Rory McElroy has moved off some. So I think we have to be honest about this. Caitlin Clark should be doing the Olympics. She should be playing for the Indiana fever. That's it. I don't even want, I wonder now at this point, should she be in the shooting contest at the All-Star game? We know she's the best shooter in the league. Why risk losing?

Like, what's the value? She's not going to make any more money. She's not going to get any more merch. Like for her, it has to be strategy. Years ago, years ago, David Falk was Michael Jordan's agent. He told me a fascinating story. I'm sure some of you have heard it. Some of you have not.

But years ago, Nike, and they were going to make money on this, offered Michael Jordan to play a one-on-one televised tournament against Magic Johnson. And Michael turned it down, like LeBron has turned down the dunk contest. Michael Jordan, not Magic, Michael turned it down, because Michael was smart enough to know he told David Fault. He goes, Magic seen as the team guy. If he beats me at one-on-one, and I don't think he will, but if he did, Then he's a better one-on-one guy and the better team guy. We can't do that to my brand.

Did Michael Jordan lack courage? No, Michael's smart. Michael knew Michael better than Nike and David Falk. Really, really talented people knew Michael. Falk later admitted, Michael was right. Michael knew his brand better than even Falk and Nike. So Michael Jordan, I'm not playing Magic one-on-one. show a tonny is bigger than the home run derby

Tom Cruise can't be on celebrity cookoffs I don't want to see it I want to see him in Mission Impossible and at the con film festival that's it with his arm around Brad Pitt photo op that's it okay we got a lot of stuff today so we're gonna John and I are going to go we're going to do the aFC today we're going to do the NFC tomorrow

our three surprises in the AFC. Now the AFC is viewed now, better quarterbacks, better conference. What will be three surprises? I don't know his. Maybe he doesn't know mine. That is next. It's the Hurt.

Be sure to catch live editions of the HARD weekdays in noon eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

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

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

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman,

Help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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 beaders 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 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay.

Jenchian went. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast 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. Sunday on Fox with the Gold Cup quarterfinal. As the U.S. men's national team takes on Costa Rica, no easy path, no second chances. Coverage began Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern on Fox. Nick Wright, joining us top of next hour. So a lot of things going on. Rick Petino will join us tomorrow, I am told. It is a very good draft.

Last year was very international. You know my take on this. I think going forward, college basketball players will mostly dominate the draft, where it's been very internationally driven many times, and my theory is, is that the NIL, not that it saved college basketball, but it has made college basketball much better.

NIL now, American colleges are able to go by the best European players at 18. And there's been stories that they may consider shuddering the Spanish League because American colleges now with the NIL are buying up their best players. So they come over here and play. They get excellent coaching. Also, the G League, which I've always thought is nonsense. It was like trying to hurt college basketball and marginalize it. Very few G League players. Amen Thompson is one of the few G League guys I really, really love. Most of them never kind of define their games. These finals were all about guys that went to college for at least two years. SGA is an exception. a Chet Holmgren was an exception, but it was a lot of two and three-year players. So I think college basketball is being empowered, and Rick Petino, we'll talk about the draft. It is Rutger guys, and it's Arizona guys, and it's Duke guys, and I think that helps the NBA. That's what makes college football in the NFL so great is the marriage,

is that you're rooting four against Baker Mayfield, but you know who he is. You're viscerally connected to Baker Mayfield or Caleb Williams. You may not like Lincoln Riley, but you were interested in Kayla Williams because of Lincoln Riley. And these college guys, there's just, you know, they're either not, they're going international, they're going G League. They're going to play college basketball. You're going to see them at least one year in March. But like a Zach Eadie, Purdue can pony up some money and he can stay another year. And I was interested to watch Zach Eadie last year in college basketball.

If Purdue was on, I was watching. So I think this is going to empower college basketball, the dream. graphs going forward are going to be more it's not that they're going to be more domestic, but there's going to be higher quality, more mature players like Cooper Flagg that can help you immediately. And I think Cooper Flagg, with that great

back front line for Dallas, I think he comes in, averages 18 a game, they're a playoff team. I think Dallas of Healthy will be the second best team in the West next year. It'll go O'KC, Houston, and Dallas. It could be very good. John, you're looking at me. You ready to go? I'm ready. Okay. I'm just

Gab Fest over here. So we're going to do AFC today. We're going to do NFC tomorrow. These are our surprises. These would be surprising moves and big headlines if they happen. All start. I think Kansas City is a wild card team and Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers. Now they have their running back situation and offensive tackle set, upgrade at receiver. Last year, the only thing they were missing was juice offensively.

Their defense finish almost near the top of the league. went from last to near first in one year. They built the culture last year, but free agency and a draft, and you know, you know, Harbaugh's good at the draft, I think they're going to be one of the better teams in the league. I think they're an 11-12 win team, and the Chiefs come into the season, which would concern me with offensive line issues. So I like the Chargers to win the division.

You're going to think I'm nuts. Daniel Jones leads the Colts to the playoffs. This race is over. He's going to be the starting quarterback. You would have said two years ago, Baker Mayfield leads Tampa to the playoffs, no chance. Last year, Sam Darnold leads the Minnesota Vikings,

the 14 wins, no chance. What does he get in Indy? An offensive coach who created the start of Jalen Hertz's career. A great running game. A lot like a couple years ago when he had a healthy Saquan Barclay. Jonathan Taylor almost had 1,500 yards last year.

The division stinks. The Jags haven't been good ever. Obviously, the Tucson, Texas, A lot of moving parts. A lot of question marks with the offense, and the Titans no depth. So when you just look at the division, you look at recent high picks who've resurrected their career. The Colts have pretty good players. And just a couple of years ago, Lou Amaruno, their new defensive coordinator,

one of the best defensive coordinators in the league. Did he just get dumb overnight? No, the Bengals let all their players go. So I think the Colts, Daniel Jones, a little like Alex Smith. When Jim Harbaugh got to the Niners, they're not going to ask them to do some. They're not looking for 40 touchdowns here. Throw me 20. interesting um

Mike Tomlin and the Steelers after 18 years without a losing record we'll have one first of all I think Baltimore now they've upgraded their secondary may have the second best roster to Philadelphia in the sport I think Joe Burrow may be the best quarterback on any Sunday in the sport

Aaron Rogers the quarterback well he was 5 and 12 last year he didn't do well with a defensive culture in New York there's less dysfunction in Pittsburgh but not necessarily on the offensive side they lost their leading rusher their left tackle, their leading receiver. I like D.K. Metcalf, but he can be booty too.

I just think the reality is they spend too much money on defense, not enough on offense. The T.J. Watt contract extension will be hovering over their head. I don't think they're going to be a six-win team, but I think eight is probably the number. Mike Tomlin finally losing record. Zach Taylor seems like a good guy, but I think this will be his last season in Cincinnati.

The Bengals will have a new coach in 26. This team feels like an NBA. team. Star players everywhere, high price, something's missing. I mean, they're star defensive player, which you kind of need a pass rusher, nowhere to be found. The guy they drafted to replace them, showed up,

said, I'm out. I mean, classic Bengals. Joe Burrow, pressure, we saw him throw a bunch of touchdowns last year have an incredible offensive season. They still couldn't make the playoffs. Crazy. Division's hard. We're all going to pick the Ravens. The conference is really hard, how good the AFC West is. Now the Patriots are going to be much better. We think that

the AFC South would be a little more competitive. I just think this Bengals thing, you could see it coming from a mile away. And the other thing, when you have Joe Burrow and you have Jamar Chase, some of these guys under contract, think how desirable that job would be for some of these coaches. And I just think that Zach Taylor, again, seems like a nice guy. They always start slow. They do. A lot of negative momentum, I feel like, coming into this season for the Bengals.

And my final one, Dolphins blowout Mike McDaniel and the GM. They went from number two scoring offense to 22 last year. Inexplicably, bad offensive line and no backup to Tua. If you have Tua as a quarterback, the two things you have to have are a good old line and a capable backup. They have neither. They overpaid for Jalen Ramsey. Now they're looking, you know, Tyreek Hill, a lot of splashy moves. I don't feel like there's a lot of steak.

It's a lot of sizzle. The best teams in this league, none of them have bad old lines. They just lost. Armstead just retired. So I don't like their direction. I think McDaniels, this is a team that's run through coaches. Scott Greer, don't know him, but I haven't loved the moves. I think both Greer, Chris Greer. I think Chris Greer and Mike McDaniel are gone after a member.

New England now is really good, potentially really good. Buffalo is winning the division. Third place gets both the GM and the coach removed. Speaking of the Patriots, I think they make the playoffs. I mean, is there a bigger coaching upgrade? I mean, Pete Carroll and Mike Frable, but Mike Frable's got more to work with, like you said, the defense stinks. And the other thing is they got an offensive coordinator to go with Drake May. Josh McDaniels, not a great head coach, excellent offensive coordinator.

Patriots schedule, not very difficult. I like the Patriots to be playing some games in January like old times. You know, so here we go. I got the Chargers winning the AFC West. The Steelers will have a losing record, probably eight and nine. The Dolphins start over, totally. to reboot. And then John, I don't think Daniel Jones leading the Colts to the playoffs. He made the playoffs in New York. I know. And way more talent on this roster. Again, they're just looking 9, 10

wins. I'm not talking 12-13. Could he save Chris Ballard and Shane Sykin's career owners? You passed away recently. Obviously, the girls are now in charge. I've said that, you know, I think I've said this. You've heard me say this. I like everything about the Colts. When Andrew Luck retired, they get wins. It was pretty good. And then they get Philip Rivers for a year. It was actually excellent. But they felt like the late owner had a strong opinion on the quarterback situation. And Andrew Luck leaving really illustrates how hard it is to find a quarterback because their old lines good. They get a pass rush. They've got nice receivers. They have a star backfield. They have maybe the first or second best guard in the

league in Quentin House. They have really good pieces. But when Andrew Luck retired, they did a remarkable job went into Phillip Rivers. They're just trying. It's a life preserver offensive situation. And Daniel Jones may be it. We're not talking 13 wins, but playoffs in that division may be nine. For sure. Nick right around the corner. Hey guys, it's us and the Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be?

I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sacks. Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.