The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - Florida shocks Houston

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

Jason McIntyre fills in for Colin discussing the Florida Gators mounting another comeback and winning the National Championship over Houston Will Browns take Shedeur or Travis Hunter?  Who’s more influential - LeBron James or Steph Curry?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Florida Gators are national champions. Oh, yeah. Gotta love it. It's me, Jason McIntyre in for Colin Coward. I'm joined today with Alex Curry, Alex. How are you? No, Dodger Blue today. We got to mix it up a bit.

But did you pick Florida? I did, yes. I'm like, do we talk about that yesterday? You kind of just talked about how sad you were about Duke. So I'm like, I don't even know if we actually talked about who you were taking. I had Florida. I think I mentioned it briefly. Okay.

But it was a bit of a thriller. Dude. You got to love when it comes down to the last minute of the game. That's all you can hope for in like a championship final game. So good job. Yeah. That was great. We got a big show ahead.

Former NBA Center, Ryan Hollins on the show joining us in studio. NFL running back, Aaron Jones in the house. I'm very excited to talk to a guy who's played with Aaron Rogers. What does he know about J.J. McCarthy? We'll do some NFL draft stuff. But obviously, folks, we have to start with the Florida Houston thriller in the national championship last night. I mean, what a game. It went from bad to, oh, this is gross.

The refs are ruining it to. Holy cow, what a comeback by Florida. And folks, I'm sure you've heard about the great bestselling book, Grit, right? the passion and perseverance in life. And essentially, one of the big takeaways from the book is those who are going to succeed in life, one of the great predictors of success is, do you have grit? Are you just throwing in the towel at the first sign of a problem? Are you bailing?

Are you going to figure out how to solve the problem and get through it? And this season in college basketball, we saw the Florida Gators lose three really close games. They were excellent all season. Only lost four games. One was a blowout. but three close ones. And what happened in the NCAA tournament? Comebacks in the second half four times by the Gators, the cardiac gators.

They came back when they were trailing Yukon, Texas Tech. They were down 10. Auburn on Saturday, they were down nine in the second half. And then last night, down 12 against Houston. I'm told by all the guys who cover college basketball all season, you can't come back against Houston. The defense is just too tough. Florida said, hold my beer, please.

and the Gators stormback with a thrilling final minute. Folks, look at these comeback that they've had all tournament, and the game against Houston last night was just the perfect capper. Houston had three possessions in the final minute. They didn't get a shot off, and they turned the ball over three times. That, my friends, was incredible. And how about the grit displayed by the great Walter Clayton? Now, he's a divisive figure in NBA circles.

What's he going to be? You know, you got a punant at ESPN saying, you've got to take him third in the draft. What? Let's not go that overboard. Listen, I like Walter Clayton a lot. He had zero baskets. Zero for the first 32 minutes of the national championship.

This is a guy who had back-to-back 30-point games. He had 34 against Albert. He had no baskets. Did he panic? No. No. He just attacked the basket. Burry to three, had nine clutch points in the final eight minutes.

And Florida is a champ. Here's their coach. Scott Golden talking about how defense rode the way. We've been a top 10 defense all year also. And we've been able to stand up against really good offensive teams and find a way to get stops. We held them scoreless the last 220. And Walter, great closeout and Condo, great hustle play to win the game. And that's what made this team special all year is that we could win different ways.

And we show that again tonight. I got to be honest, guys. I'm not going to lie. I was on Florida. I was extremely nervous down 12. I thought, how are they going to pull this off? Even when Houston had the ball in the final 20 seconds with a chance to win the game, I love the Florida adjustments defensively.

They blitzed both of the Houston guards, Usanne and Cryer. We're not letting you shoot it. We're going to double you. And they get it over to Sharp, who has, for my money, just the most unfortunate, memorable mistake at the end of a college basketball national championship since Chris Weber called timeout, a timeout he did not have against North Carolina. I felt so bad for the kid Sharp. He had two turnovers in the final 25 seconds, dribbled it off his leg.

I was like, oh, my gosh, that's devastating. I felt really bad for Houston. But at the same time, Houston Cougars fans, now you know how us Duke fans felt on Saturday night as Duke was melting the game away, just handing it to Houston. Duke was up nine with three minutes left and gagged. Houston up 12 in the second half and then can't even get a shot off in the fight. Look at that. Clayton, of course, with the close out.

Clayton Heroic, a quick word on the refs. And I don't want to be bag on the refs guy. And anytime somebody says that, they're going to be bag on the refs guy. The refs called four total fouls in the first half. That's it. They let Houston do what they wanted defensively. Houston is grabby and Hansy. It's why than the number one defense in the country. Well, what happened in the second half? The reps came out and we're like, oh, wait, we can't allow this. We got to call everything. 26 fouls in the second half. So from four to 26. Well, what's the impact of 26 fouls in the second half? Well, Florida is able to actually run an offense, you know, without being held and jostled. And then Florida starts getting to the line. They hit

their free throws. An amazing comeback. A great capper to folks, I'm going to go ahead and say, I think this was the greatest final for this century. You had three games all determined in the final 90 seconds and three games all the team that won had trailed at halftime. I think it was a phenomenal final four. All right, let's pivot to the NFL draft. And oh boy, things are getting spicy at the top. Now, I do want to preface this by saying, by nature, I think I'm a risk taker. I can tell you stories about my family coming from the Caribbean to America back in the 60s and 70s, but I won't bore you with that. However, I myself am a risk taker. Many of you know my story, I was at a magazine in New York City. I decided to quit to run a sports blog full-time

You can imagine how that went over to the future in-laws. Oh, so Jason, how's work? Yeah, I quit my job to run a sports blog. And I get this blank stare. What's that? You know, this was like 2006, seven. And I obviously got a little lucky with it, and it paid off. But taking a risk worked.

So nine years ago, you know, Colin Cowherd and Fox come to me, and they're like, hey, would you move across the country to try your hand at TV? Risk taker, Jason. Yeah, let's give it a shot. Why not? Family was like, are you sure about this? So far, so good, we'll see what the future holds. But taking risks in life, you know, high reward, high risk.

I like being a risk taker. I do some gambling. I don't mind playing the card games in Vegas. Enter the Cleveland Browns who are in risky territory at number two. If we assume Cam Ward is going one to Tennessee, which everybody has, what's happening at two is all over the place. So everybody knows one of the best newsbreakers in the NFL's Adam Schaefter. He does a great job.

In February, he said, it made sense for the Browns to draft Shadur, a quarterback, not Shadur, a quarterback at two. In March, he came out and said, you know what, Abdul Carter is the lean right now for the Browns. Here we are in April, and Schaefter comes out this week and says, you know, it looks like Travis Hunter is going to go to the Browns. folks, nobody knows what Cleveland's going to do. Let's stop pretending like anyone has a clue. It all comes down to what would you do. And this is where I get risky and I say, I'm taking Shador Sanders. I understand he doesn't have elite arm strength. He doesn't have elite escapability. He doesn't have elite size. I mean, you know, frankly, he didn't have elite

protection at Colorado. So I don't think we've seen the best Shador Sanders. Could he be to a highly accurate quarterback who's kind of sort of limited by his size. Sure, he could be Tua. I don't think that would be the worst thing in the world. Tuwa's a good quarterback. He's had a couple good runs if he could stay healthy. You know, he's been paid. Dolphins got to the playoffs with him. Could he be Tua, sure. Could Chedore Sanders be Zach Wilson? Yeah, that would not surprise me either. Could he be Trey Lance, who the 49ers riskily, is that even a word, traded up in the draft? They went up to get Trey Lance, who I believe is out of the league currently.

He may end up on a roster, but I think the Cowboys have moved on with this new Joe Milton move. So folks, do you risk it by going Shador Sanders at two? I keep hearing Abdul Carter. He's safest picking the draft. Okay, well, you start to drill down on Carter. He's coming off a surgery. He's got like a foot thing.

And then there are reports about, like, was he the hardest worker at Penn State? You know, maybe there's people trying to poison the water for Abdul Carter. I think he looks like a great football player. But safe? You know who else was safe? Chase Young coming out of Ohio State, remember him? One of the Bosa twins, not twins, sorry, boats of brothers who was with the Chargers for a long time. I thought he was supposed to be safe.

Like, they just moved on from him. You know, good player, but he was supposed to be safe. What does safe mean? Is Travis Hunter that safe? Okay, great. You've got a wonderful wide receiver. What are you going to do with him? Go ask the Giants how that worked out with Malik neighbors.

they got three different quarterbacks throwing to them and they're not winning anything. So what is safe? And I'll counter that with, I take the risk and I go Shedor Sanders because you know what? If I get Hunter and I got no quarterback throwing to him, I'm probably getting fired if I'm the front office. If I got Abdul Carter and Miles Garrett coming off the edge, ooh, exciting. I got no quarterback. But Jay, you're forgetting. Kirk Cousins to Cleveland.

What about the rumors? Well, guys, I looked it up. Kurt Cousins, his last five games in Atlanta. He had one touchdown in nine picks. He was benched. Now, could that be because of the Atlanta offense? Maybe. Could it be that Kirk Cousins is washed?

That's also possible. Is he going to work out in Cleveland and the outdoor situations in that division? I don't know. He seems like an indoor quarterback to me. I know he went to Michigan State, but I don't think Kirk Cousins is a slam dunk. Let's not pretend. that that magical run by Joe Flacco, where he won, what, five games, they got to the playoffs, and they got smashed by 50 because he threw two pick sixes?

Let's not act like that is definitely going to duplicate itself with whoever you put in a quarterback. I take a risk, and I grab Shadour. Could you wait until the second round and get Cowherd's favorite guy, Mr. McCord from Syracuse? Sure, you could do that. Guys, I just went down the list of the best second round quarterbacks ever drafted. Brett Favre home run with Green Bay, not his first team. Gino Smith, kind of sort of thriving now in a late season surge. It didn't happen with the Jets when they drafted him.

He was a risk. Second round. He didn't work out with the Jets. Andy Dalton. I won't even say Cowhert's nickname for him, but he has zero career playoff wins. Could he be Jalen Hertz or Drew Breeze, a second round quarterback? Who thrives and wins a Super Bowl? Sure.

Two quarterbacks won Super Bowls. Boomer Osce was the second round pick, you can hit on them. But this idea that, hey, Shadour is a huge risk, isn't everyone a risk? I mean, guys, I hate to break it to you. Cam Ward at one as much as I like him. He's a risk. He's good at Washington State, great at Miami. Is he going to work in the NFL?

Nobody knows. And that's why we could talk about the NFL draft for nine months out of the year, because nobody knows a damn thing. But I'm telling you right now, if you want to be a risk taker, Shador Sanders is your guy at number two in the draft. Cleveland, I'm just here to help. That's all we do, Alex. We're trying to help these teams out.

And I think you've got to go Shadur Sanders, too, in the draft. It's also like the most important position on the team. And if you have a gaping hole at the most – who's driving your ship? The most important position. You have to go after it if the option is there, especially at number two. You know, and I hear all this talk, oh, well, you could draft Travis Hunter, then trade back in the first to get Shadour. You don't know if he's going to be there.

I know that the saints love him at nine. Yeah. You're going to jump it up to eight? You giving up all that draft capital? It just feels like too many gymnastics. I think that like when you say like safe, I think the safest thing about both Travis and Chador is their leader, their coach. Dion Sanders, who is obviously Shador's father, but a father figure for Travis. Like we heard him talk about that and cry about that at his Heisman acceptance speech.

He knows what it takes to. win in the NFL. So he's preparing these guys to be able to be successful at that level. So I think when you say like safe, that might be the closest like mentally. I think they'll be ready for it. Safe or risk, you know, take chances in life. It's fun. All right. Coming up next, wait to hear what a former NBA, we'll call them a superstar, we're going to call him a superstar, said about the most influential debate between LeBron and Steph Curry. That's next. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays and noon Easter. 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app.

Hey, it's us, the 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 a podcast. 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. And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers.

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 note pad, 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 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. 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.

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about my top five NBA title contenders at the top of the hour. The list is narrowing, folks. And by the way, keep an eye on the clippers. I don't know if you notice what they're doing lately. Good things, but who knows if Kauai's going to even be around. I saw my main man Shaq. Gosh, I was such a Shaq fan back in the day. I'm not kidding. I got to keep it real, keep it fully authentic. My LA fans hate when I, my LA fan friends hate when I say this. I was a Shaq guy over a Kobe guy. I was so distraught when the Lakers traded Shaq. But obviously, it worked out for both.

Kobe won without him with Pao Gasol. Shaq won got one in Miami. And now Shaq is thriving with Inside the NBA. And now he's got a podcast called The Big Pod with Shaq. And since everybody's got a podcast now, you have to weigh in on the big topics, you know, that TV shows like this one weigh in on. So Shaq was asked Who's been more influential in basketball

On the court seems to be where it was specific to LeBron or Steph Curry Two guys who have dominated the league for about a decade now Here's what Shaq had to say LeBron was always there But when Kobe was fading out That's when LeBron Pugh and then you got Steph Curry

Pium actually I'm gonna go with Steph Curry is more influential because A double hot take If you look at all basketball, it's being played like Gold's Say Warriors now. Lot to chew on there. So I need to back it up.

You know, come back a little. So how do you define influential in basketball? Like, it's a tough word. Like, if you want to just measure someone's accomplishments, MVP's titles, blah, blah, blah, scoring, whatever, that's easy.

You could stack those. But how do you measure influence? And I do think Shaq makes a rare good point that Steph Curry's three-pointers ushered in the three-point era. I mean, technically you could say, you know, the spreadsheet jockeys who were like, hey, guys, hey, hey, three points is more than two. We should be shooting more threes. You could argue that that was the case.

And that led to more threes from Curry. Also, the Houston Rockets and Darrell Moore, they deserve credit for being at the forefront of that as well. I would say Curry has made defending 30-foot three-pointers and logo threes. He's made that hugely influential in the league. Dame Lillard has been doing those now. But like you have to guard Steph Curry 25, 30 feet from the hoop or he'll kill you. Look at what the Houston Rockets did on Sunday night.

They're double teaming and trapping them all over the half court. You've never seen that before. If you want to laugh at something, and I love bringing this up and, oh, boy, did the Jordan sycophants hate it. Go to the Jordan Bulls versus Clyde Drexler Blazers's playoff series. You can look it up on YouTube. The game where Jordan hit like 15 threes, it wasn't 15, obviously, in the first half. Go look at the defense on Michael Jordan. They are not even putting a hand up on over half his threes.

They're like, you want to shoot the three? Go for it. We're going to pack the lane. We're going to pack it in and prevent you from getting to the rim. They weren't even putting a hand up on most of the threes Jordan made. Now they're guarding Curry 30 feet from the basket because he'll drain them like it's nothing. Same deal with Luca. that to me has been hugely influential.

Now, if Shaq wants to involve off the court stuff, I think that tilts the pendulum toward LeBron. The player empowerment era, which a lot of people don't like, and maybe ending because of the new salary cap rules and the aprons, LeBron completely changed that. And I think for the better, remember, LeBron was ticked off that the Celtics created a big three with Paul Peers, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen.

One guy in Cleveland, he can't get by that big three. Right? So Danny Ains puts that group together. LeBron can't get by him and is like, I got to go create my own super team. So he went to Miami and started, I believe, the player empowerment era. Danny Ains got the big three started. LeBron put his team together. And since then, everybody's been trying to, hey, let's buddy up.

It's the Olympics. Hey, hey, what do you think? Let's get together? Famously, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durraco and Brooklyn, which was a train wreck. but we're seeing a lot of that, and that's all a testament to LeBron off the court. You could also factor in the bubble that happened during COVID. That only happened because LeBron pushed it.

If you guys want to go back and do the research, Kyrie Irving tried to scuttle it. He was very unhappy. That was when Kyrie and LeBron weren't getting along. LeBron made that happen, ended up winning the championship. So off the court, LeBron has done a ton to warrant, hey man, he's more influential. But on the court, yes, I can see the argument from Shaq that Steph, because of the gravity where he sucks the defense all the way out to him at mid court and opens up three on twos for Draymond and four on threes.

Yes, that has been more influential. That being said, isn't it kind of sort of impossible to duplicate 6-9 LeBron or 6-8, whatever you want to call him, who has the speed of John Wall and the power of Carl Malone? You can't duplicate that on the playground. Steph Curry, you can't. You know? You go to any youth league basketball game and you're going to see kids just jacking threes. I instruct my kid.

Hey, we want threes or layups. I don't care if you missed her for seven threes. Just keep shooting. Who cares? Threes are layups. That's what the NBA has become now. I know some purists don't like that. I think Curry's influence, and Shaq is correct,

is definitely a big edge on the court over LeBron James. Let's go to Alex Curry with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. I think you nailed it there. Like, with Curry, his influence is with the younger generation, right? Because you can actually see yourself.

A lot of these kids can see themselves in Curry. Oh, I am, Steph Curry. I wear number 30 in my men's leagues, Alex. I'm not kidding. I am, Curry, all right? We got custom jerseys. I got 30. I'm not kidding.

My whole family does, too. Like, obviously. Guys, my cousin. I tell everybody he's my cousin. All right, let's get started with your jets, because Newark has had nine straight losing seasons and five straight double-digit loss seasons. But new head coach Aaron Glenn has a new message for the team,

and here's what he had to say. I understand what phase one is really about. I mean, we're trying to get bigger, faster, stronger, and more explosive. And that's the only thing I want the players worrying about at that point. All right, we have a lot of time for skiing. We have a lot of time to talk about Super Bowl and playoffs. But right now, man, building our culture to build our environment and that build is the most important thing right now to me.

This is smart because with the jets, you have to go back to the basics, right? You haven't been to the playoffs in 14 seasons, which is the longest active streak in the NFL, just to rub it in a little more. But you can't talk about Super Bowls until you create a winning culture, until you create a winning environment. And I think that if people don't want to hear that, this is the right attitude you have to have to come in and really start. start from the ground up with an organization.

Do you think he's... Okay, this is your team. I know it's like... It's a little sensitive. It's hard, but do you feel like Glenn's the right guy? Well, I don't know. Is that okay to say? I don't really have a hot day.

I mean, like, it sounds good. Is it too close to home? Well, I think right out of the gate, he's like, Aaron, we're building a culture. Aaron Rogers is not for us. Yes. Like, that became obvious, right? Yeah, that's good.

Rogers wants to do his thing. Yeah. He's going to, whatever. That doesn't work for us. We want a core group of guys to get together and develop something together. It's easier said than done, right? Would you agree with that? Yeah, but I mean, you have to start with that kind of an attitude.

I've covered a bunch of different championship teams across all the sports, right? And every championship team has the same, like the same recipe, the same three things. First thing is like everyone buys in to the coach or the leader, the captain's message, right? And then two, everyone believes that this is the group that can get you there. There is like that, just that unconditional belief that we can do this. And then there's a lightness. Like, everyone's having fun. So it really sounds like a basic, like a basic thing.

But this is what Glenn is talking about. You have to create that winning culture where everyone buys in to the idea. Everyone believes that this is the group and you're having fun doing it because you're still playing a game. Like remember, you are getting paid millions of dollars to play a game. Have fun doing it. And then you're going to be successful. I just, I wonder, you were covering like the angels, right? How many guys on a baseball roster, like, 25, something like that?

No, 40-man roster? 40, okay. There's a lot. NFL is like over 50. Yeah. That's super, super difficult to instill a culture with that many dudes. And guess what? This is, a lot of guys in there have not won jack squat in the NFL.

Yeah. A lot of guys, like, they're quarterback, Justin Fields. He basically has a one-year deal. But he's hungry for it. He's on a prove-it deal, right? and you know that there is potential there. He wasn't, it was not the right fit in Chicago. He's on a prove it deal.

He is. Justin Fields, you have to prove it. You know what else? Garrett Wilson, you're going to be up for a contract soon. Breast Hall, you're going to be up for a contract soon. Everyone's on to prove it. So everyone needs to do well. Or it could be great because everybody needs success.

Or is everybody looking out for number one? I mean, but it's not a looking out for number one kind of sport. Like, it's a team sport. You have to rely on each other. Like, you're not going to be great if your quarterback's not great. If you're a wide receiver, like, if you don't have your wide receiver on your same page as a quarterback, you're not going to be great. Like, it's a different situation. I think it can work in their favor.

But everyone, again, everyone has to buy in. And everyone has to buy in to Aaron Glenn's message. How do you think they're buying into that report that the Jets won a multiple two-headed backfield when Bruce Hall is one of the best backs in the league and looking at a big contract? I think Garrett-Wilson feels when they bring in Devante Adams last year. He's like, what's the United States? I know it sounds great to be like everybody's got to buy in, but like it's, they do. But that's the culture.

I know. But that's what he's talking about. It starts with building the culture. That's what you have to do. Yeah. Oh, you're, you're, you're beating up. You're beating up about your chest. You did you say 14 years, no playoffs, Alex?

Yeah, the longest active streak. Brutal. Not fun. All right. Let's move on to Tyree Kill, who was back online yesterday. The Dolphins wide receiver tweeted a piece sign, which set off. waves of speculation among NFL fans. Now, Tyreeks been back and forth on his commitment to the dolphins over the last few months.

And this is the latest example. And you know what, J-Mack? This is the classic example of you don't know what you got till it's gone. Right? Like, he was in the best situation with the dynasty, with the Chiefs. And Patrick Mahomes, like, you literally had it as good as it's going to get in the NFL. and you chose for a money grab over that, which as an athlete, no one is going to get mad at you for that.

That is your decision. It's a very small window for an athlete to make all of your money. And there are two ways you can go. You can take less money and be on a championship team, or you can take the most money and probably not be on a winning team. But he made this decision. So you, I don't feel bad for him. You chose to leave the dynasty.

I mean, the chiefs kind of made it easy way we can't. That's what I'm saying. You have to take less money if you want to stay with a championship team. I don't know. I just, if I'm Mike McDaniel, you know, how do you build a culture in Miami when you've got this clown out here saying I'm out, deuces, you know? Like this is what the third time he, I think he ended the season by saying it. Then he did some social media nonsense and now he's doing it again. Yeah.

So he likes to create. Yeah. Very Odell Beckham of him. He likes to create drama. You didn't get in her locker rooms like that? No. Absolutely not Like you also want a guy that wants to be there

I just I was trying to make a trade option to Where do you think you'd go I just don't know who wants to add this disgruntal Like Overpaid wide No and listen I know Healthy and locked in he's he's hella good If the Steelers didn't just sign

Metcalf He's like Tomlin can handle this Great because that's what he does At his age too he's getting up there in age I know He's still though A number one I thought the chargers could have taken a chance with Jim Harbaugh, being like, dude, get your acting.

That could work. But that could work. I mean, they still are missing receivers. Yeah. They do. And I feel like Harbaugh is a guy that you coach, the leader that you would respect. He creates a culture. That's what he did last year.

Immediately turned them into a winning team. So my only advice to Tyree Kill, not that he asked. Yep. Is clean up your life off the field. I'm sure you've read about all his, I mean, oh, yeah. Bro. It's bad. It's bad.

And then you worry about the team. and the culture. So like he is, again, I'm not bashing the guy. The reality is he's got like, yeah, he's got a lot of noise. A lot of noise. He's got a low noise

in the locker room, off the field, and back at home. Yeah. And it's not good noise. Just put it that way. Okay, let's switch to the NBA. When the Lakers treated for Luka Donchich,

it also cleared a lot of space for Austin Reeves to be the clear third option. And he has delivered. The Lakers are 26 and 8. And when Reeves scores 20 or more points, they are 18 and 18 when he doesn't. So I don't know if you remember, Reeves talked about this a little bit ago, but LeBron saw his potential very early on.

And Austin credits LeBron for it. He said, ever since day one, I remember my rookie year. He was on my booty for a two-week stretch, and I was getting frustrated. When I would mess up in games, he would critique me a lot. I would get frustrated, and he kept coming after me, and he just wanted me to be better. And I can't express how much this. helped Austin Reeves become the player that he is, to have one of the greatest of all time,

be hard on you and push you to be the best that you can be. You can't ask for a better teammate and leader and someone that's willing to invest their time in you because they see that potential. And he is a part of the Lakers Big Three. Yeah, LeBron has a decent eye for talent, All right? You think? A little bit about it.

Just a little bit. My favorite thing about Austin Reeves, and I've been a president of the Austin Reeves fan club for quite some time. Yeah. He's like a big golfer too, isn't he? It's like a, I think on social media he's a big goal. He's got like outside interests.

I just love everything about this, too. Yeah. And I remember in the NCAA tournament, he was at Oklahoma, and he was playing undefeated Gonzaga. You guys can look it up. Okay. It's on YouTube. And Gonzaga, with Jalen Suggs,

who's an amazing defender in the NBA, could not stop him. Yeah. They had Nemhard, who's with the Pacers, could not stop him. Drew Timmy, the big guy. They had like four pros on that team. Nobody could stop Austin,

He cooked for, hold on, 27 points. I remember, and I tweeted out that day. Austin Reeves is a pro. That guy's good. Dude, he's great. And his story with the Lakers, he is outstanding. He credits LeBron James. Like that, like, to have the greatest in our game right now, literally,

push you to be the best that you could be your rookie year. That is the reason he is where he is right now. That is the reason. Yeah, you know, we're in the take business. Alex, I will not forget when I came on this show and I said, oh, Austin Reeves, he's better than Mark Price, who was the Cavs point guard in the 80s, who won, who went to all-star games, he was all NBA. Yeah.

And all these people jumped down my throat. Some guy did a specific video about how great Mark Price was. Folks, Austin Reeves is a real deal. He is. He can do everything. He's also carried this team on nights that Luca and LeBroner off. Yeah. Like, he is putting up same numbers.

as one of the greatest in LeBron James and the future of the league in Luca Donchich like Austin Reeves is the real deal and a part of this big three on the Lakers huge fit. Yeah, big, me too. All right, Alex Curry with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurdline News. All right, coming up, there was a report late yesterday about the sons. They don't want to trade Kevin Durant. Oh boy, wait to you. I hear the rest of that story. That's coming up next.

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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. And we were thinking I'm originally calling it. one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers

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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.

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I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So since Kevin Durant popped his Achilles against the Raptors in the finals, he has had two playoff series wins. That's it. He's also been swept twice. He's on his second team. So Brian Winhorst, who's a great reporter, he went out yesterday and said that the sons do not want to trade Kevin Durant.

And it was very puzzling for a really quality reporter in Winhorse to come out and say that. It's like, wait, why is he saying that now? I wonder what's going on? And then I looked at it. I was like, oh, the sons could get eliminated from the play in if they lose tonight. And other things happen. They play the Warriors. Sons are probably going to lose.

KD. will not play. So it's interesting. On the eve of the sons getting eliminated, that huge luxury tax bill, the Brad Biel untradable contract, Devin Booker, who went from being in the finals and nearly beat the bucks to now, oh my gosh, we can't even make the freaking play-in.

And Kevin Duran, who they tried to trade last month. Folks, it's all pointing to the sons are trying to get ahead of damage control and prevent this from being like a two-month, where's Kevin Duran going to go? Because that's what's headed for the next two-month. months in the NBA. He's the big name. He's 36 turns 37 in September. Okay. So we're batting around ideas in the morning meeting about where KD could go. I pushed the rockets a little while

ago. A lot of people like the rockets. Other people say, well, maybe the Warriors, maybe the Knicks. And one of our guys had a really good one. He goes, what about the Minnesota Timberwolves? I said, damn, that's good. Do you remember what Anthony Edwards said about his guy? Kevin Durant earlier this year. Kevin Durant, yeah. Anywhere as Kevin Durant plays, I'm going to be ready to play him. Not because, like, me versus him. Yeah, me versus him, but more so just like, that's my favorite player of all time.

He's the greatest player to me of all. You know what I'm saying? So it's just like, I want to beat him. Now, that is spicy. I did not put it together until this morning. And I'm like, well, K.D. and Anthony Edwards, does that work? Hell yeah. It works on multiple levels because,

A, it's you're keeping your superstar happy, which you have to do in the league now. Remember, we just saw the map straight, Luca Donchich, a few months after we got them to the finals. Still crazy. Do you keep Anthony Edwards happy? Yes. Is there new ownership in Minnesota? Yes. What does new ownership typically like to do in sports?

As a minority owner of a soccer team in Mexico, I can tell you the answer is, go out and get superstars, makes big waves, do interesting things. it would be very interesting if the Timberwolves made a play for KD. Now, here's the problem. What's the trade looking like? So I've been tinkering on the trade machines that are out there on social media. It ain't easy. But some sort of package involving Julius Randall probably who's, listen, I like him, but I don't.

It just, it never seems to work out anywhere he goes. Maybe you get off the Rudy Gobert contract. maybe you have to include Rob Dillingham I wouldn't want to but the sons are not in great shape and they have to do something they cannot have the biggest

luxury tax bill in the league and not even make the playoffs so yesterday Rick Buecker came on remember I've been pushing this Houston if Houston loses in the first round they've got young pieces and they've got picks

picks are important because I'm going to turn back the clock real quick Rudy Gobert went for four first round picks McHale Bridges went for five first round picks. But the calculus changed when Luca Donchitz was traded. Maybe the picks aren't as good as everybody thinks they are. I mean, hell, if Kevin Durant goes to Minnesota,

like, they're going to be good. The picks aren't going to be valuable. So you kind of want stars in return, which is what Dallas got for Luca. Anthony Davis, super Max Christie, who, again, Max Christie's good. You guys can poo them all you want. And a pick.

they should have probably tried to get Austin Rees as well, but that's neither here nor there. And Rick Buecker came on, and here's what he said about the Rockets maybe making a move for KD. His committed lack of leadership, his committed, I just want to hoop. And you take a player of that talent

and bring them into your team, it just screws up the dynamic. And I love this dynamic of the rockets. And yes, I do think they need to upgrade there, but I wouldn't sacrifice that for a roll of the dice on a Kevin Durant. Now, that's interesting that he would not sacrifice all the youth they have. It feels like they have a culture. I don't know if Durant would clash with Ime Udoka,

who is spicy as hell and will say whatever's on his mind, which I respect because I like the thing on the same way sometimes. But Kevin Durant is an interesting, divisive figure. So he was in Oklahoma City. He had James Hardin and Russell Westbrook. Who do you think the leader of that team was? Because Kevin Durant, as Rick said, is on record. I don't want to be a leader.

I just want to go out and play basketball. Well, unfortunately, buddy, that's part of the deal when you become a franchise player, face of the franchise, and you're a superstar. You've got to be a leader. And he just didn't really embrace that. So Russell Westbrook's like, I'm the leader. And then Russell Westbrook said, well, if I says, I'm the leader, I get all the shots. and it just didn't quite work out between KD and Ross. And if you remember famously, the Cupcake Saga,

there's a thought around the league that KD's soft and he's mentally fragile. I don't totally agree with all of that, but some of the stuff laid out by other players, reporters, pundits, it kind of sort of makes sense. Now, I'm rooting for KD. Again, I thought he was the best player on the planet. It was a perfect, seamless fit in Golden State. He didn't have to be the leader.

Leader was either Curry, the quiet leader, or Draymond, the Alpha, who kind of ran KD out of town. So is there a team that KD fits where he could just seamlessly slide in? I think Houston, maybe Minnesota would be perfect because guess what? Anthony Edwards is the leader of that team. He's the man. It all goes through. Is Rudy kind of getting in the way?

Sort of, but he's been a good defender, no doubt. I just think this is going to be a summer of Kevin Durant. The biggest problem that people overlooking is, What are you giving up for a guy who's 36, going to be 37 in September? You're not giving up four or five first round picks. You're just not doing that. Are you mortgaging your future for a year or two with KD? And let's be real, even with Durant in Houston or Minnesota, they're not the favorites.

There's no way they're the favors. OK, C, he's still got a much more well-rounded roster. Boston vastly superior to anything KD and Ant would put together, but from like a marketing perspective and a branding, oh my gosh, Timberwolves games are going to be a show. KD and Ant, those are two electrifying players.

And you kind of sort of have the Luca LeBron vibe with LeBron at 40, KD 37, Luca in his prime, Ant in his prime. You've got those, you know, big gaps in years of age,

but also the talent gap combined should be able to push teams like Denver, OK. see, I think it's a winning situation. I haven't heard other people mention Minnesota's Atlantic spot. Got a shout out, Zach, really well done, floating. And this is why we do a collaborative effort, Alex. Like, I like to think I have all the answers. I don't. It's a collaborative effort. And I don't know, your thoughts, KD and Anthony Edwards in Minnesota. I think it could work.

It's a fun, it's a fun thought. It's just, is KD. going to have the right attitude? And he's going to mesh there. That's what it's going to come down to. Is he going to feel like it's the right fit for him, and is he going to give it all he's got? Because he makes it very clear when he's not happy. What do they say you never want to meet your heroes? Is that what the saying is? Yeah. I wonder if Ait wants to play with his hero.

Didn't he say he wants to beat his hero? I think he does. Yeah. He said he wants to beat him. Do you want to prove? That would be cool. It could be. All right, coming up next here on the herd, my top five NBA title contenders,

you have to know who's going to be at one, right? hint it's not okayc Hey guys it's us The Jonas Brothers I'm Joe I'm Kevin And I'm Nick and guess what We created our own podcast Called Hey Jonas

We invented a podcast Well we didn't invent it We just contributed to it We're the first people to do podcasts We get to ask other people questions Because we're sick and tired To be and ask 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

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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, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo,

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