The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - Durant, Nets, NBA

Episode Date: April 25, 2022

Kevin Durant is now trapped with the Nets Brandon Ingram proves you need to be patient in the NBA Durant needs to get away from Kyrie Irving and recruit other players Guest: Antoine WalkerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com Or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Monday, live in Los Angeles. It's the hurt. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1, one hour from now. Where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, plenty of both.

We are jammed today. Milwaukee Box looked better than ever. Phoenix sounds in a little trouble. Joy Taylor back from a wine drinking weekend in Napa It was beautiful

It always is isn't it? Yeah we had some We have some viewers in Napa too Really? That's nice Yeah that's a nice I was literally no alcohol Staring at the television

For clarity Let's start with this Okay Yeah one of the right wrongs thing I thought in seven games The Brooklyn Nets We're going to beat the Southics, yeah, kind of whiffed on that one.

But it is, I mean, I always root for star players. I told you this with Russell Wilson. I felt bad for Russell Wilson. I wanted Russell Wilson to be in a better environment with an offensive coach and better weapons. I want to see Brady with better weapons. Matt Stafford with a better franchise. I like seeing stars be great, right?

If you're into music, you don't want Jay-Z to have a bad producer. You want to see the greatest of the great be elevated. and Kevin Durant trails the Celtics three love and they're done. And I said it after the second game. It's over. They have to work too hard for shots. So in about five minutes, I'll let you hear some sound from Kevin Durant. But one of the things Kevin Durant said was, you know, I'm thinking too much.

No, no, no, no, time out. You didn't think enough. Kevin, you're not down 30 because you're thinking too much. You're down 30 because you didn't give it enough thought. You left Steve Kerr for Steve Nash. Steve Nash had never been an assistant coach. Steve Kerr's a championship winning coach. He was a great broadcaster, a very good GM.

It's a terrible decision. You left Steph Curry, the most selfless superstar, maybe in any sport ever. Dude's coming off the bench now against Denver to give Jordan Poole more minutes. For Kyrie Irving. you're not thinking too much. You didn't think enough. At one point, you and Kyrie were on a podcast and you said, we don't need coaches.

In the history of sports, college and pro, there's never been a dynasty without a great coach. Not one. Look it up. Bill Walsh, Chuck Knoll, Popovich, Sabin, Gino Oriama, Pat Summit, men's sports, women's sports, college, pro.

Never been in dynasty without a great coach. You and Kyrie, we'll coach. Come on, man. Listen, I am not. NBA media and NBA agents are terrified to lose access to the stars. And it is a star-driven league. Increasingly for the record, so is the NFL. But the NFL agents would go to their clients and say,

don't do that. It's idiotic. The NFL media crushes its players. What would we do if Patrick Mahomes decided, I'm going to leave Andy Reid, Brett Veach, that roster, those fans, and go to the Jets. Because, you know, I got a buddy, a slot receiver. You'd be like, his agent would go, no, I'm not going to represent you. I'm not going to sign off on that move.

NFL media would crush him. Fans would roll their eyes at him. In the NBA, Kevin Durant leaves the Warriors for Brooklyn, and I was one of the, I think I was the only national person that was like, what are you doing? This is a terrible move. It's an awful move. What are you doing, man? You're picking the wrong guy to go to Vegas for the weekend with. You're going to end up broke.

So it's like it's time. And by the way, the more power you give these NBA superstars, and not many have this power, but some do. The more power you give these NBA superstars, anybody noticing a trend, their team gets worse. I'm not a shut up and dribble guy. I like my athletes to have opinions. But for all athletes and all sports, cool it on thinking you know, personnel. Remember Harden? I love Westbrook. We're guys. That's fine. That's one thing to be friends. It's another to play well together. And by the way, this isn't just for athletes. Anytime a

coach in the NFL gets too much personnel power, Belichick, Pete Carroll, what happens to their drafts? Bill Belichick last year. Best Patriot draft in about seven years. Why? Belichick backed off. Let the scouts do it. Coaching's hard. Playing's hard. Scouting's hard. Owning. I don't know if it's hard. But it's a reward for years and years of doing stuff with your capital and making a lot of money. But this stuff's all individually very difficult. I rip owners when they try to be a GM and coach. I rip owners. I rip the billionaires.

Like, get out of the GM. Stop this stuff. Stop coaching. You're a billionaire. You're a business guy. You're not a GM. So I'm going to rip players like LeBron who wanted Westbrook and KD who left Steph or Kyrie. What are you doing?

You're not a personnel guy. You're not watching college games for the draft. So, you know, Kevin Durant is a remarkable player, and he is now trapped. First of all, he stuck with Ben Simmons. You can't trade that guy now. In fact, there's a story this morning. The Brooklyn Nets organization made sure Woj had this story, quote, were exasperated with Ben Simmons.

Exasperated. The contract just started. He hasn't played yet near exasperated. In Kyrie Irving, they're trapped because Kyrie's going to opt out and they're either going to have to trade him what I would do, or give him a max extension. 50 million a year for five years. I can't do that with Kyrie. I can't.

So Kevin Durant, after falling behind 3-0, he had a very somber post-game press conference. I mean, he was searching for answers, and here you go. I was just thinking too much, to be honest, this whole series, like, how I'm going to approach the game, you know what I'm saying? So we got another game. game to play. Another opportunity. I'm looking forward to that. You got good teammates around you as well. You're trying to figure out. I try to figure out how I can be the best version of myself, and also not getting in my teammates way. Sometimes I think too much about it.

His agent did him a disservice. Patrick Mahomes' agent would have said, time out. You're not doing that. It's time to stop coddling. At one point, a new newspaper retracted a headline because Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City was bothered by it. So, you know how many ugly articles have been written about people in America? NBA media, NBA agents, do your clients and those who seek access from these stars, do them a favor, occasionally hold them accountable. We hold NFL stars accountable. Why can't we hold NBA stars accountable?

the second Kevin Durant thought Steve Nash could do a Steve Kerr. I know both. They're both brilliant guys. But the idea that you can coach in the NBA without ever being an assistant for several years, there's a reason the Celtics have a really good young coach because he sat in a bench for years. That's the way the game works. There's a reason Jason Kidd was terrible in his first two jobs and now he's better.

Because he was on the bench for years. So this is not a. about, this is not about thinking too much. This is about coddling, not holding people accountable, and KD now is absolutely trapped. I want to talk about this. So, Brandon

Ingram, now I think the Phoenix Suns are going to beat the Pelicans, but it's a fun story, right? Devin Booker gets hurt, and you're like, well, this will be close. All right, this is a little closer than I thought. Devin Booker is more valuable than we think. So Brandon Ingram has been on a tear. Last three games, he's averaging like 30

points, 55% from the field. But what it really is, you know, culture changes a lot of stuff, right? And the one and done in college basketball is our reality. The best players, high school, college one year, off to the NBA. Not all these NBA teams are equally patient. Villanova guys come out of college after three or four years, and you can see their ceiling by year two. Kyle Kuzma stayed at Utah for three years. second year is a Laker.

He was averaging 18 points. You saw his ceiling. He was a 23-year-old kid, 24. But Brandon Ingram, the Lakers bailed after three, and he popped in year four. By the way, Jalen Brown of the Celtics, one year at Cal was a very good player early. Popped in year four. Average 20 a game. James Harden, Arizona State came out.

Two years at ASU popped in year four, a perennial all-star. Yonis entered the NBA at 19. popped in year four, 23 and a half a game and All-Star. Pastel Seyakum for Toronto. First year in the league, he came in, first year in the league, he averaged four. The next year in the league, he averaged seven. Year four, what was he?

Scoring 20 in playoff games. So I have been somebody that has suggested, what do you do with Zion? Well, I don't know what you do with Zion, but he averaged 21 points and 24 points his first two years in the league. I'd be patient. Brandon Ingram is your classic one-and-done. He looked really skinny.

He couldn't literally have a glass of wine at the hotel he was staying at. He was locked in his room. He was kind of a shy kid. Even now, people are saying, like, he's in year five or six. People are saying now he's just blossoming, just getting his confidence. That is what the one-and-done does. Now, there are some guys, Villanova guys come in just because of the culture Jay Wright created. They've stayed three years.

By the end of year two, you kind of know what you're going. got. McHale Bridges came in. He was never going to be a 28 point in game guy. Smart kid, played good defense. Can he give you 14 a night? You kind of knew at the end of year two. That was his ceiling. Kyle Kuzma stayed in college three years. You kind of knew what he was by year two. But man, you've got to be really, really patient. Now, I think the sons will win this series, but you start looking around this league and the people who are dominating it, it's a lot of one-and-dunners. And none of the success has come as fast as we thought it would come. Pascal Seagot. Even Jason Tatum.

You know, Jason Tatum was a one and none guy at Duke. And he was really, really good by the middle of a second year. But like he wasn't a very good defensive player. Jason Tatum now is an elite wing defender, top five wing defender in the league. Absolute closer. And I don't know if you paid attention has outplayed Kevin Durant in the series. It takes time emotionally. It takes time physically.

A lot of these young guys come in. They go through second and third coach because of the way the NBA runs. through its head coaches. But good for Brandon Ingram. Zion Williamson comes back. That ceiling is much higher than we thought with the Pelicans. And Phoenix now goes back home. Take a deep breath. Cross your fingers.

I do think they will figure it out. But you're seeing this all over the league. Patience is a real virtue in this league. All right. I have an interesting question for you next. What happens when you love two things? but you've got to choose one. Two things, both great, you've got to choose one.

I'll give you that dilemma 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 IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast.

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1-800flowers.com code herd. So the interesting series is Memphis and Minnesota. It's the two youngest teams. They're not championship teams, but it's fun. Usually you get a young team, plays a veteran team. They're out in the first round. But now you have the two youngest teams, both great futures. I think Memphis has a better overall roster.

I feel like they're a year ahead of the T-Wolves. But here, we know this. The future of these two franchises is Ant, Anthony Edwards, Minnesota, and John Moran. There's other great players around. I mean, Carl Anthony Towns, very good. They've got nice players over on Memphis. They've drafted really well. But if you had to choose two great young players, they're certainly in the class, right?

Best players under like 22 years old. Which one would you take? And I think most people would take John Morant. Now, let's just say this. They're both going to be Hall of Famers if they stay healthy. They're both great kids. They're totally into basketball, totally into winning. They're fun.

They're exciting. Their games are made for highlights. So they're going to be half a billion dollar players. I love both of them. But here's why I would choose Ant. Muscular, strong athletic. His comp is Dwayne Wade. Dwayne Wade's prime was 10 to 11 years.

Dwayne was a 13th I'm All-Star. Now, Ant has some advantages over Dwayne. He's a better shooter. Translation, won't drive. arrived to the rim as much and have collisions with bigger bodies. He is a much better shooter from the outside than Dwayne Wade was. Secondly, he came into the NBA one year earlier. Third, nutrition and training standards much higher today than 15, 20 years ago when

Dwayne Wade walked into the league. Ant is a big, strong player who's not going to get hurt much. And his comp, Duane Wade, had a 10 to 11 year prime and 13 all-stars. John Morant is an inch shorter and 50 pounds lighter. His comp is D. Rose and John Wall combined. They made eight All-Star teams, both injured early. Now, I think John's much better than Westbrook, much better than Wall, but I don't think he's miles different than Derek Rose.

They both remind me of the same, although I think Jaws a better passer. And again, when I look at Jha and Anthony Edwards, these could be the next two great young stars in our league. But if you had to choose either, with Jha, I see a little bit of OBJ. When he's spectacular, it's the talk of the internet. With Anthony Edwards, I see more Mike Evans. It won't be the talk as often. He won't control the ball as much.

He'll play off ball more. He won't have it in his hands as much. But that kid is a 16-year NBA career and 14 All-Star game. when I watch him. Body, durability, style. His comp is D-Wade. If D-Wade was a better shooter,

he'd have pulled up more, and there's an argument to be made, he'd still be playing. LeBron James figured that out very early, and LeBron's much bigger than D-Wate. LeBron started shooting jumpers. Like 10 years ago, LeBron started moving his game to the outside.

Why? Because LeBron understood, that's why LeBron always loves playing with Biggs. he wants Kevin Love to get the rebounds and Bosch to get the rebounds, Anthony Davis to get the rebounds. LeBron's like, I want to extend my career. I'm going to shoot a few more fallaways, a few more things from the outside. Anybody that watched Michael Jordan would tell you this.

Michael Jordan played hard. Michael Jordan finished at the rim a lot. Michael Jordan got tackled a lot. It cut down his career. He aged pretty quickly after that six championship. But Ja and Aunt are remarkable players. If I had to choose one today, based on his career, history and precedent, I'd probably choose Ant. Joy with the news.

No, no, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. Oh, Miami Heat overwhelmingly defeated the Hawks yesterday, 110, 86. This game was over early. Trey Young scored nine points and had five turnovers. So far this series, they've pretty much gone how Trey has gone. He had eight points in game one, six turnovers, game two, 24. five points, 10 turnovers. Game three, 24 points and three turnovers. And this last game, he had nine points, five turnovers. He leads all players with 24 turnovers this postseason. And his first two career playoff games being held under 10 points.

So they're kind of going how Trey Young goes, which is sort of the issue with the Hawks. They are way too dependent on Trey Young. And also Miami's really well coached. Miami's got a Belichekian field. They always take away what you do best. and say, okay, go play left-handed, and they made Trey work for every shots. What Boston's done with Kevin Durant. Every shot, Kevin Durant has not had three easy shots in the entire series. Well, when you have a veteran team that has postseason experience,

you're generally going to have to be a really balanced team or your star is going to have to be a superstar because they're going to play tough defense and make things uncomfortable for you in the postseason. Let's be honest, it's a really long, regular season. Yes. Guys who play in the postseason know what you mean. need to have ready in the postseason. So you're just not going to get the same defensive performances night in and night out in

the NBA that you're going to see on a veteran team and the well-coached team in the postseason. And that's what the Hawks are running into. Now, obviously, Miami is a better team. They're the number one seat in the east for a reason. But they outscored Atlanta 30 to 15 in the second quarter and never lost the lead after that. They now have a 3-1 lead in the series.

Game 5 is tomorrow. And the heat are favored by seven, according to Fox Betts. seven is a lot, but the way that the games of Glammer Trey hasn't been contributing, it's been a wide margin. I do think the heat will close it out tomorrow night. So the Nuggets were able to avoid a sweep by the Warriors yesterday, winning 126-121. Yokic fed Will Barton for a three-pointer from the left corner with 8.3 seconds left to secure the lead. I will say this about Yokic.

His passes are unbelievable. Yeah, he's the best passing big. since a bonus. Also, this came down to me as Warriors just couldn't make a stop. I mean, listen, Draymond's like six inches shorter and Draymond's a great defensive player, but they went to Yokic, he used his size late and he set guys up for school. I just, Golden State could not make a stop in the last four minutes. Their offense was, they were getting great looks. Clay Thompson was great all afternoon. Well, Yon was just the MVP favorite for a reason. I mean, they've had a lot of injuries this year and he is the reason why they're there. He had 37 points and 14 of 21

shooting, eight rebounds and six assists. And Aaron Gordon also had 21 points. And he helped stifle Jordan Poole, who came in averaging 28.7 points and was held to 11. So that was a huge factor in this game as well. So we'll see how this goes. Game five is Wednesday. The Warriors are favored by eight and a half. I also think that the Warriors will tighten it up and close this out. But it was a nice effort by the Nuggets. I will say this first round of the NBA playoffs has been the best in a very long time. If you look at the second round matchups in the east,

because I think we feel like, you know, Philly's going to win it. Miami's going to win it. Milwaukee has dusted off Chicago. And so those we know, and Boston's going to win. Yeah. So the second round of the east, wow. Milwaukee, Boston. Wow. Well, we got great matchups in the first round.

obviously, you know, Celtics and the Nets. Yeah. But they've all been really competitive, for the most part, close games. Yeah. And even when it starts to feel like they're pulling away, like the Nuggets will get a game. The Hawks will get a game and make it all interesting. So it's been a great first round series for the playoffs. And we've dealt with some pretty disappointing injury.

So Joelle Embed's who are a ligament in his thumb during game three against the Raptors. And it's something he's going to have to take care of after the playoffs. I mean, it's painful. So in the basketball, you need to use your hand a lot. I want to play. So obviously, I listen to what they have to say. So I would imagine that I keep playing and probably do something after the season. He said his thumb impacts him the most when it comes to rebounding and passing.

He had 21 points, eight rebounds, three assists in 39 minutes in game four. Boy, I'll tell you, did they fleece Brooklyn in that deal? deal, though. That team has such good chemistry. I really like, you know what? I don't think they'll win the East, but I really like Philly. I think Philly's really interesting. And Hardin now has not even played great, and

it still works. Well, that's what you need from Hardin. You need him to give whatever the team needs in each individual series to win. People bang on Hardin because he, you know, listen, he doesn't look as quick as he did about three years ago when he got past people. But in the end, when he was scoring 30,

and running out of gas, we all ripped him. So now he's, let's say he scores 18 and lets Maxi emerge and it's more dependable in the fourth quarter. I'm like, I'm good. Like we can't keep, he's a different player on this team. He's not needed to be the one. So it's like if he facilitates and gives me 18, totally okay with it. And when he did have to be the one, they had some success, but it's not like he won a championship that way. Yeah.

He ran out of it. I mean, he acknowledged he was so ball-centric and so ball-dominate. by the end of a series he was shot. Do what needs to be done to win games. At the end of the day, this is still a team game. You're seeing the teams that have the good cultures, that have the good coaching, that have the veterans. They're the ones that are rising.

You have to have a little bit of balance to your roster. This is the issue with the Hawks. It can't all be how Tray Young goes. Other people have to step up. So, you know, that's what the Philadelphia, I think, has. I'm with you. I don't know if they have enough to win the East, but this is obviously very disappointing news

because Jovalim Bita at an MVP-level season. He is the juice and the leader of that team. So hopefully he's able to play through it. He did have the fewest rebounds in the last 14 games played because of the thumb. But the Raptors were able to avoid the sweep. And game five is tonight in Philly. And the Sixers have a chance to close out the series, which I'm sure they would like to do to give Duelan Bede some rest on that thumb.

They're currently favored by seven and a half, according to Fox Bet. Good stuff, Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Kevin Clark, top of next hour, Antoine Walker, Colin Wright, Colin wrong. A fun weekend. We are getting some clarity on who's going to win, but it's interesting.

So I said this about Kevin Durant. He's a little bit trapped. And so Brooklyn, at the end of this season here, right, Kyrie Irving is going to opt out. And then you're trapped if you're Brooklyn. You either sign him to a five-year max deal for like $240 million, like $50 million. dollars, like 50 million a year. Or you trade him. I would choose B.

Now, I've said from the very beginning, his personnel, I don't think Katie and Kyrie fit like everybody does. I don't. They're both, I mean, Kyrie is not really a facilitator. He's a closer. Well, there's an argument to be made. Kevin Durant's one of the two or three best closers in the game. They got the closer thing fine.

They need a little bit more of a facilitator who can also score, like a Chris Paul. So Kyrie's not a distributor. He's not a facilitator. The other thing is, I think KD deserves better, but he's trapped. Because Ben Simmons, nobody's going to want him. And Kyrie, not many are going to want him.

And, I mean, you can, in Brooklyn now, you can keep doing this. You can keep pointing fingers at Steve Nash. Will that solve it? You can keep saying, you know, Ben Simmons, he's going to come out of this abyss and change everything. Do you believe it? Do you think Kyrie is going to become now emotionally dependable and physically more durable.

We know what Ben Simmons is. This is not like somebody that inspects a house you're going to buy and misses a leaky roof. Like we know what Ben Simmons is. Kyrie's been in the league 11 years. We know the game. He's not emotionally dependable or physically durable. Kevin Durant, and I've said this about LeBron, at this point in Kevin's career, he needs emotionally and physically dependable people.

he's got neither. It's like LeBron. Everybody's like, oh, LeBron's this. LeBron's like, LeBron does not need CoIRAD. At this point, he needs Anthony Edwards. He's not going to get him. He needs a guy that's going to play Yokic, 74 games, be there every night and rest for the playoffs and then here you go.

And guys that in LeBron's case, they can play off the ball because he needs the ball. That's the offense with LeBron. It will be to the day he retires. He's going to have the ball in his hands. A great ball handler. He's a mismatch for anybody trying to defend him at the top of the circle. So, you know, my point is, Kevin Durant already made a really bad decision to end up in Brooklyn. Like, we all know that.

That's not arguable anymore. Now what do you do? If I'm Kevin Durant, I go to the organization, and I'm not sure if Kevin Durant has this in him. But I go to the organization and I say, trade Kyrie. Let's cross our fingers with Simmons. If he defends and distributes, I would just tell the organization, all make calls, all go recruit players to play. I mean, guys want to play with Kevin Durant. I want to play with Kevin Durant.

He's like a star, but he's not a terribly selfish star. He defends. A lot of these stars don't defend. Kevin Durant's a willing defender. He's a willing passer. He's a good guy. People, so when you make a huge mistake in life and you get trapped, what you generally have to do to get out of it is take control of it and make really,

really, really hard phone calls and make really, really hard decisions. Go talk to your boss. Go talk to your agent. go talk to the president. I screwed up. I got to make this work. We've got to make tough decisions. You can't finesse your way out of this stuff.

Kevin's got to go to his agent, go to the president, go to the owner of the Nets. I got to move off my guy. Otherwise, you're trapped because you can't depend on Ben Simmons. You can cross your fingers on him, but he has no market now. Nobody wants Ben Simmons. Kyrie, Kyrie's pretty good. But I've said this. I don't think he's the fit everybody thinks he is.

won't play defense. Physically, he's going to miss some games, you know, for a variety of personal reasons. Not always the most dependable. And let's face it, he's a small finisher. Well, you're a big finisher. I want the ball in KD's hands. So, I mean, you can change coaches and you can. Kevin Durant is not an overly confrontational guy.

That's why he left Golden State. He wouldn't sit down, break bread, and have lunch with Draymond. and just say, hey, dude, you piss me off. We got to get through this because I don't want to leave. And you got to apologize for what you said about me. Remember that, Draymond went a little over the line. High five, buy my Maserati. You're off for the off season you meet.

I mean, you do whatever you got to do, right? Like you do what you got to do when you have a $250 million net worth. You just figure it out. But you got to confront stuff. And if I'm KD, I go and I move off him and I say, I'll get on the phone and I'll call guys. trust me on this. They're going to have cap room and there's guys want to play with Kevin Durant.

I'll tell you this. I don't think there's a lot of guys that want to play with Kyrie. LeBron tried. Brad Stevens tried. The Celtics tried. You watch the Celtics. They're about to sweep Brooklyn. They tried.

LeBron tried. Didn't work. So, but this stuff's hard. Once you make a really bad career decision and you go to another place and you're trapped, there's no easy answers. It's hard. It's really, hey, hey, listen, sometimes you get into a situation where, you know, you can tell your bosses, hey, go fix that thing. Go fix that.

But they're going to ask for your help too. And if players want all this leverage, and they do, they want to pick the coach and pick the player and pick the draft pick and pick the team. If you want all that stuff, well, then if it goes wrong, you've got to get on the phone too. You've got to make tough decisions too. This is now, it's not on the GM of Brooklyn or the owner. It's on KD. Get on the phone. Get Kyrie out of there because it's not working.

Three years, two first round exits. One of sweep. Like, it's over. You can blame Nash. You can cross your fingers on Simmons. You tell me what elite coach in the NBA would want this job? You tell me, the Celtics, when they were looking for a coach, could say, hey, we got Marcus Smart plays defense.

We have a great culture. People, you know, we have draft picks. We got Jason Tatum's A Rising Superstar. We got Jalen Brown. That's an easy sell. The Celtics job was a good job. Brad Stevens is like a smart guy. I'll just go upstairs.

If you have any questions, I'm here. Well, that's how Boston got a great coach. If Katie doesn't make some calls and use his leverage and go upstairs and say, we've got to start over a little bit. You're not getting an elite coach for that. Because Steve Nash knows a lot of people, and he's going to tell everybody, get me out of here. Steve Nash is one of the smartest guys that's played in the league in a long time.

He was overwhelmed, and he's got a high EQ, completely overwhelmed by it. Drama 24, a fire hose of drama. Well, moms, this is pretty straightforward description of moms. They are always there and dependable. Be sure to catch live edition. of the herd weekdays in noon eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's me, Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast Inside the Parker

for 22 minutes of pipe and hot baseball talk featuring the biggest names and newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the I-Test, we've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the IHartRadio app

or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman

documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman

on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream,

this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode, with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we,

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

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. You know, when things are meant to work in life, they're pretty seamless. Chris Paul to the Sons worked instantly. Kevin Durant to the Warriors worked instantly.

LeBron D. Wade, Miami worked after about 15 games. LeBron, in all of his stops in his career by year two, drew Holiday with the bucks. Like if a relationship's going to work, You can't be fighting by the third week. Like Brooklyn's now three years into this thing. It's just too much work. It's just too bumpy.

It wasn't meant to be. And with that Antoine Walker, 12 years in the NBA joins us, and he joins us live from Chicago. Two first round exits, a second round exit. Now, Kyrie, I wouldn't sign him to a long-term deal. Like, if I'm Kevin Durant and I got three great years left or four, I'm not riding with him. What would you do if you were Brooklyn?

How do you fix this mess? Brooklyn, if I'm the ownership group, I'm basically starting Nova up top and working my way down. I'm the GM, the head coach, they got to go. You don't trade for a marquee player like Ben Simmons and come up with zero like this. And I actually thought, just like the rest of us, most of us, that they got the better of the trade.

And for this guy not to play and not seeming like he does want to play. Somebody dropped the ball on their intel. When you trade for a guy like this, you do your research, you figure out everything about him, you call around the league, you ask his college coaches, you ask Philly, you find out to try to find out the truth. And they didn't do their due diligence because when he first got there, they was talking about him playing in 10 days. Yeah. And now of a sudden, this guy doesn't show up and doesn't even want to play at all. they dropped the ball with this trade. I've never seen one like this before for a young guy, as young as he is,

and as good as he is, that doesn't want to play. Do you think he's scared, honestly? I think he's scared of not being able to perform at the level that he needs to perform at. And what I mean by that is he has to make free throws, go to the free throw line. He has to start taking jump shots and things that he probably hasn't really worked on to improve on. He's got to do those things, and teams are going to play on that.

when he plays it'll be Hacker Ben when he comes back. They'll see if he's worked on his game. They'll make sure they'll leave him wide open see if he's worked on his jump shot or if he's even willing to take jump shots. I don't think he's ready for that. And coming back in the playoffs would have been a huge mistake because the pressure is even high. Wow.

You know, I was saying to Joy, you know when a defense is great in football because every yard is hard to get. Kevin Durant, I'm not sure if he's had too easy baskets in this series. I mean, he's got a grind for every basket. I watched Boston this regular season and I thought, okay, they play really hard, but they're not going to shut down playoff teams like they're shutting down NBA regular season games. I don't know. I mean, I look at Boston. Can you win with one star and being the best defensive team easily in the league? Is that good enough to beat a Milwaukee, a Philly, a golden state of Phoenix?

I think they got enough. If they're healthy and their hole, they've got it. They got. got enough because Jalen Brown is an all-star. He does a terrific job of playing off Tatum. It took them a while to figure it out, but I think they figured it out. Those guys do not get in each other's way anymore. And then the X factor to me is Mark is smart at the point guard position. He gives them so much versatility, defensively and offensively, that makes them a much better team. So Robert Williams is back. He'll get his legs back up under him. Al Horford's been great. I like what the Seltas at. They're doing a terrific job.

But the key ingredient that the Seltas have over most teams, your doctor was the assistant coach at Brooklyn last year. He's been around KD. He knows KD's game. So he's put together a great scheme and guard him, and we've got to get Jason Tatum a lot of credit.

That he's decided to take that. We don't see stars guard each other much anymore in the NBA. But this guy has decided that he's going to take the challenge on and guard him and make him work. and also go score 30. That's what superstars do when he's doing that. Surprised at all that Booker's injury and departure for the Sons have put them in peril

against the very young Pelican team. Are you surprised? I'm not surprised. Obviously, I believe Finnis is going to win this series. I didn't think they would have to go six or seven games to win it. I thought it would probably be a gentleman's suite. but I got to give New Orleans a lot of credit. As we just talked about Jason Tatum,

we got to give Ingram a lot of credit. He's another star that's coming in our own eyes right now. He's becoming that star. And we talk about trades and decision-making. New Orleans made probably the best trade of any team in picking up C.J. McCullough. He's been terrific for them. They don't get enough credit for that.

So we got to put that in perspective. But for Phoenix, it's tough because Chris Paul, I don't think is able to go get you 30 every night. So they're missing Devin Booker's scoring, and they got to do it for more of a balanced attack. And you saw that the two games they won. Chris was terrific offensively in scoring the basketball. And the games they lost, obviously the last game with only four points.

So he has to be more aggressive for them to be able to get out this series, and hopefully they can get Devin Booker back. Listen, Golden State, they got a surplus of riches. Jordan Poole's become a go-to player. Clay had a great shooting day yesterday. Curry, they can be small and Yokic, they couldn't make stops down the stretch. Yokic kind of his size was a factor. What do you make of the whole Steph coming off the bench thing?

That just, you know what, man, a lot, you know, that just doesn't happen. That's just not a normal thing. What do you make of it? I'm not reading too much into it right now. If they continually do it throughout the playoffs, then obviously that would be actually, you know, I've never seen a guy who's top five. in the NBA and willing to come off the bench. So, I mean, that'll be historic in itself,

especially a guy that's in his prime and playing as good as step as playing. So I don't know if this is going to continue. But I think this is the perfect series for them to ease step back into the rotation to get itself back, get his feedback under them. Denver playing without three, four players. They knew they had this series one.

Obviously, they could have swept yesterday, but a gentleman sweep is still good. and this series was good for them because they got an opportunity to bring Steph back slowly and then have to force it and have to play big, long minutes in the series that they won the two home games

handily. Obviously, the road games were pretty good, but I just think this was the perfect series. I got to step is coming back to that star lineup. I can't see him. I just can't see a top-fire guy sitting out. Yeah, but I do appreciate the fact, Antoine, that he, like, he sees that it helps the team.

Like there is some self-awareness there, right? Like, listen, Jordan's playing well. I'm not 100%. I just like the ability that a coach could go to him and say, hey, we're playing well. What do you make? Like most guys wouldn't do that. Oh, no, without question.

That's what I said. We saw Camelo Anthony, didn't want to come off the bench. Late in his career, you saw Alan Iveson at the end, didn't want to come off the bench. It's tough for guys that are, you know, Hall of Fame players to say come off the bench. And the fact that he's doing it speaks values on one time. type of player he is. He understands Jordan Poole and they need to try to figure out a way to keep him. They may lose

him. So he's doing everything he can. Steph wants to win and compete for championship. So he's doing whatever he can to keep guys around. Good stuff. Antoine Walker. Fox Sports. Good seeing you, buddy. All right. Yeah, Golden State's fine. Scoring's not the issue with Golden State. They can get really

small. And it was in Denver. Yokic is a handful. and I will say this, that it does feel a little bit to me like it's, you know, it's sort of the end of an era. Like, Janus right now is the best player in the league both ends of the floor. He can distribute. He can facilitate. He can shoot.

He can defend. He can score. He's a great fourth quarter score. And he's healthy. And Beads always got an injury. Janus is always healthy. And so, you know, there was all these years that we loved Janus, but we had a like, yeah, I have a KD. I'll take KD with a minute left. I'll take LeBron. No, I'll take Yonis now.

He's my MVP. I'll take Yonis is the best player in the league. And, you know, it's interesting. Chris Middleton leaves. Janus is like, I got this. We're good. Now, Drew Holiday played really well yesterday. But we have moved past the Kauai, KD, LeBron, even Steph Curry. It's like, no, it's Yonis's league. He's the champ. He loses Middleton. I'm good. Because I I thought that Chicago series was going to get really uncomfortable. They had blown them out back-to-back games. Hour two on a Monday, live in Los Angeles. Stick around.

It's The Hurt. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and hosts Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you not to be played with.

And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a gal. far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two.

Listen to Stuff to Bole your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.