The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - Lakers are blaming the wrong people

Episode Date: April 23, 2024

Colin explains why the Lakers continue to come up short against the Nuggets after losing a 20-point lead to fall behind 0-2 in the first round of the playoffs The one constant thing in the 76ers playoff failures is Joel EmbiidSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Nick Wright today, LSU football coach Brian Kelly stops by today. J. Mack, that was an all-timer. Nick's at home with the Madison Square Garden crowd seemingly on the floor as the players were on the floor late. That was an all-time ending. And then the Lakers Nuggets, I said yesterday in the show, Lakers losing overtime. It was almost that. Lakers' season was on the line.

But those were two great playoff games. Great. I mean, I was exa-I had to go out and have a cigarette after the... I had the first cigarette in like 25 years. I mean, it was just an amazing night of sports, Colin. So the Lakers this morning and last night, they want to blame the refs. They want to blame the replay system. Okay. Not the LeBron James 16 seconds left missed wide open three. Nah, that wasn't it.

Or the fact that Anthony Davis had no points in the fourth quarter. Darvin Ham couldn't dial up a play. Or the fact that once again, a Laker starter gave you a nothing burger. Rui, three points. Not that in the last 10 minutes, the Lakers went away from the pick and roll with AD and LeBron. I think LeBron just gets tired. We know the Lakers don't have the talent or the versatility of Denver. Last night's a great example.

Yokic did not play well in the first half. Murray was awful in the first three quarters. But because of their surrounding talent, they can keep it close and make runs. These teams have played 10 straight times. The games all look the same. They're all close. We've said all year, Lakers aren't going to beat them, but they match out with them well. the difference is though last night

last nine possessions for Denver they scored on eight of them why because LeBron and AD in both games have had to overcome a starter that gave you nothing DeLo was awful in game one and Rui was awful in game two Jamal Murray wasn't good last night in the first three quarters but he was remarkable in the fourth Yokic had a rare bad half but he was money in the second half

Denver always wins this game because Denver, their two stars can have a bad quarter, can have a bad half. They don't have to be gasped. Yokic just lets the game come to him. He doesn't press when things are going awry. He's got Gordon and Porter and KCP. He doesn't have to press. If LeBron doesn't get Dilo help, he's got to empty the tank. If AD doesn't get Rui help, he's got to empty the tank.

And so, I mean, again, last night, Yokinchen-Murie didn't do anything in the first half. But in the last nine possessions, Denver scored in eight. And those are the crunch time numbers. That's the best defense you'll face. That's the most pressure you'll face. And this is what championship teams like Denver deliver. It's not just that they have the best player in the world. Because LeBron and AD aren't far behind.

It's the ability for their star teammates who often have bad halves to see. still be brilliant like Jamal Murray when you need him deliver. And in that fourth quarter, whereas Deelow was bad the entire game won. And Rui was awful last night the entire game. Jamal Murray as a star and three bad quarters later came in and sealed the game with this. Now, they're going to go back to L.A. The games will be close. The Lakers will empty the tank.

but this has been the most predictable series of all of them. The Lakers match up well. The Lakers have two stars, but LeBron and AD are always have to overcome a weak bench, sometimes regrettable substitution patterns by Darwin Ham, and by the end of the game, what's AD have left? Not much offensively, and here was AD when asked about Murray's game winner.

Can you take us through that? last play, just what happened and what unfolded? I don't know if you were screened or what happened on that last play. Jamal Murray made a shot. Yeah, that sums it up. Jamal Murray hit a shot. Okay, what is the constant

been in Philadelphia for eight years? They've had multiple GMs. Nick Nurse is M.B.'s third coach. We had the trial balloon with Ben Simmons, James Hardin. Now it's Tyrese Matt. Taxi, Tobias Harriers, draft picks, the process. The constant is Embed.

And superstars, that's what he's been labeled. He's a superstar. I don't know. I've got a higher standard. To be a superstar in the NBA, you have to, you know, once win a second round playoff series in the much, much weaker Eastern Conference. I don't know, just one time. GMs, coaches, teammates, stars, Simmons, Hardin.

now he's got Maxie and these Knicks though Gutty are hardly the Shack Kobe Lakers they're doing it on Gile Moxie toughness they want it more they care more that last sequence for the Knicks it was all desire and effort

I mean Mbbed first two games no rebounds in the fourth quarter through two games is a youwing on the floor what am I missing no rebounds

Rebounds is an effort staff. Dennis Rodman wasn't skilled. Ben Wallace wasn't a world class. Ask it's effort. Rebounds or effort? Embed, 7-2, superstar. Did Shaq ever have two games with no rebounds in the fourth quarter through two? I don't think so.

Did Akeem? He has the talent. He doesn't shrink. He has the size. He lacks effort. If you go look at Joel Embedd's playoff career, his numbers plummet in the fourth, his plus minus, his feelings. field goals, his rebound, everything goes down.

That's effort. I understand bigs get tired, bigs get beat up. I get that. But when Tyrae's maxi, with 109 left, hit a three, the score was 196 Philadelphia. In fact, the Knicks' next two possessions, they didn't get a field goal. It was their game. Now, Kyle Lowry missed a free throw. That was big.

And Jalen Brunson got a bit of a break on that bounce on the three, absolutely. But in the NBA, you're a superstar if you win an eight. April, May, and June, and you have a big personality. Kauai doesn't, Yokic doesn't. They're stars. But you're a superstar. If you win in April, May, and June, and you have a big personality. And M.B.'s got plenty of personality.

But I, I waited through Trust the Process and Ben Simmons and James Hardin and now Tyrese Maxie and multiple coaches and Nick Nurses III and multiple GMs and draft picks and moving. And I get the same thing. Big games in the East, in the playoffs, late. Where's M.B.? I just didn't see the effort. I watched that last sequence by the Knicks. They were done.

It was over. Maxie hits a three next two times down under a minute. They don't get a field goal. It's over. And then it became rugby on the floor. Did you have any doubt with that ball went on the floor the Knicks would come up with it? Was there any doubt for a second who was going to come up with the basketball? Even Genzo's second three.

It was about effort. Nobody blocked out the Knicks. So here's Joel Embed on that crazy final sequence. Everybody on the floor was trying to call a time mile, myself including Nico, coach on the sideline. But that didn't give it to us. But, you know, forget about the time mile. There's a bunch of files. You know, that's, yeah, like I said, that's unacceptable.

Yeah, I keep hearing the Sixers last night and this morning complain about there was no time out. You know what I saw? Nobody blocking out. No effort. That last night was all about desire. That game was over. Nicks were cooked. 196, didn't score on their next two possessions.

Dame was over. It's over. Embed, no rebounds. First two games in the series, fourth quarter. That was all effort, all desire. These nicks, Jalen Brunson is not playing well. Julius Randall isn't available, and they're beating two stars in this league, one that has been labeled a superstar.

I don't want to hear about timeouts. I don't want to hear about time. I don't want to hear about you miss this, you miss that. I miss the effort. Where is it? It is all on the Knicks. You can watch a sporting event. You don't see this a lot in hockey.

You don't see a lot in baseball. But you do see in the NBA some load management teams wanting it more, more physicality. That was an effort win. It wasn't a talent win. Don't give me talent. Even Jenzo's bounce around the league. It's not a talent thing. That was an effort thing.

J. Mack, that was so much fun last night. Some nights, I just know I'm going to stay home. I'm going to order out. and I'm going to stay home. And sometimes it's work. Sometimes I don't necessarily want to watch a Thursday night football game on Amazon. Carolina Panthers involved. It's work.

Last night was not work. Last night is why we do this job. Sitting home, watching those games, having a blast. I mean, the Knicks game came out of nowhere. I thought they were cooked, you know, down five with like 30 seconds. Philly outplayed him for three quarters. Philadelphia for two and a half quarters was a bad. Brunson looked at Brunson is not having a great start to the series.

Well, that's because they've relied on him so much. Too much, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I mean, Brunson is to a large degree looks. He's lost his legs. I think he's shooting 29% through two. That's not sustainable. I thought it was over. When the Knicks were down five, I'm like,

I don't know how you go to Philly and steal one with no offense, but the Lakers one, Colin, I don't know that I've been that gutted from a loss in sports since maybe, maybe the Jets and the AFC championship game way back when against the Steelers was Sanchez a quarterback. That's how long it's been. 20-point lead, 10 in the fourth quarter.

You got to remember the 20-point lead. lead was like 6848. You can build, people will say this. Well, Michael Jordan never lost 20 point leads. The three point shot. Totally different. Fine. 10 point lead to open the fourth, Colin. That 10 point to open

the fourth is a couple bad possessions and they hit two threes and you're down to four. Time out. It's not a couple bad possessions. Darwinham totally botched the rotations. You can't start the fourth up 10 on the road, season on the line with Dinwiddie Jackson A's and Tori and Prince on the court. You cannot do it. I'm

I text a bunch of Laker fans. They were like all caps. Darfin Ham, what are you? You know, like, but again, they had the game. Jamal Murray. Jamal Murray is him. He is him. I mean, that shot over AD, I was speechless.

I mean, I'll say this, though. A.D., the fact that he didn't get top three in voting for defensive player of the year, I would have voted him number one. He is, Yokic has very few bad halves. Yolkich was irrelevant in the first. first half. AD was, AD and Yokin's in the first half, AD may have played the best half of basketball in a year by a big man. Wouldn't you rather have a better second half than a first half? I would, but when Rui doesn't show up and it takes a while for teammates, now, D. Lowe in the first half was money,

but Anthony Davis is having to kind of emptied the tank in the first half. Fourth quarter, that's when he shoots his one three-pointer from the quarter. AD, what are you doing? Take him downtown. Take him inside. AD, zero points in the fourth column. That was an MB-like disappearing. I'll almost give LeBron and AD a little bit of a break in the fourth because they're gassed because they have to carry the team. Yokic had a bad first half. He wasn't gassed because he has people to pick up for him. Gordon and Porter and KCP and eventually Murray. Well, Reeves chased around Murray.

He had nothing. Rui guarding Yokic did a good job first half, right? But one of seven offense, like, it's just the nuggets are good, man. They are. Great team. By the way, 45 minutes from now, we're going to take all the potential first round quarterbacks and play the high-low game. What is their high comp? What if it doesn't work?

What is their low comp? It's a lot of fun. You know, you put yourself out there. It's one of my favorite segments of the year. We do it once. We take the quarterbacks. We play high, low. At the best, what is Michael Penix?

At the worst, what is Pennix? We'll play the high low game in 45 minutes. 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. 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

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Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your part. podcast. All right, welcome back. More on the Lakers' loss. Top of next hour, 40 minutes away. Our game of high, low. We take all these first round quarterbacks.

At best, who are they at worst? What does it become? So yesterday, during the show, the Jets traded Zach Wilson. It was a miss. Number two pick. Didn't like him coming out of college. COVID quarterback. Didn't buy it.

Jets loved him. Miss. So they got a six-rounder for him. So here's the thing to think about. There's a message in all of this. My wife always says, you're right in life or you're learning. You don't have to be wrong. Just learn from it.

If you make the same mistake over and over, then you're right and you're wrong. But if you make mistakes but you learn from them, you're right in life and then you're learning. So the Jets only got a sixth round pick for Zach Wilson. Justin Fields Bears, three years of starting. got a sixth round pick. Lots of losses and a six round pick for Justin Fields. The 15th pick. Mack Jones.

A lot of starts. Only got a six round pick. How in the world is it, though, that Trey Lance, who barely played and has less wins and talent than all of them, arguably, got a fourth round pick? How is that possible?

Because San Francisco didn't get into their ego, their pride, they weren't stubborn, they moved off him quicker, letting the marketplace see less of him. The Niners, because they have a brilliant offensive coach, made a lot of their evaluation at practice. And they realized very early, I was told, he struggles with accuracy. You can't in this league. Teams get into their ego. Men, as a general rule, do this. They don't want to be wrong. So they double down on it, trying to prove their right.

As we say on their show, get it right. Don't worry about being right. We're all wrong all the time. San Francisco, with a less talented quarterback, got actually a fourth-round pickback. Fourth-round picks are good picks. A lot of starters in this league that are fourth-round picks. You get into the sixth and the seventh round, a lot of special teams guys, low-ceiling backups. and yet the Niners, who have missed on plenty of picks, just said, hey, we see it.

It doesn't work. Brock Purdy's better in practice. We're moving on. The seventh round guy is better than the first round guy we gave up picks for. Too many general managers in this league and coaches are trying to protect their genius, protect their picks. I mean, the New York Giants, even worse to that, they doubled down on Daniel Jones, which was a reach as a pick, and then they paid him a small fortune. That's unforgivable.

That gets you fire. If the guys in New York get fired, I mean, you've got to push back on that. You got to go to the owner and say, I'm not signing him. We'll keep Sey Juan Barclay. I'm not signing him to that deal. But this is a great example and a life message. Don't double down on wrong to prove your right. Get out of it.

By Thanksgiving of the second year, everybody in the least, knows. If not for film during the games, film at practice. You film all the practices. You have camps. You have exhibitions. You have games against other teams that don't get televised. You have exhibition games. If you

can't tell, if you're quarterback's a guy by Thanksgiving of the second year, get out of the league. Go sell cars. Do something else. You can't do it. It doesn't take that long to figure it out. And so the Niners, they draft Brock Purdy and they're like, yeah,

I mean, we already heard the story. Kyle goes to the owner. He's better. Move off him. Salvage the pick. Don't double down on stubborn. Stop being trying to be right. Get it right.

Purdy's better than Trey. Move him. Maybe Trey gets a second chance. But isn't it interesting that the quarterback that has the fewest wins, the less time, I mean, appears to be somebody that really is at this point not going to be a starter at all. doesn't have a big win of note. They got more for him, a legitimate pick. Here was Tom Velasaro yesterday breaking the Zach Wilson trade on our show.

Jetty just traded Zach Wilson to the Broncos. They are going to send a 2024 sixth round pick for Wilson and a 2024 seventh rounder. Teams are going to divide up his bonus. You get them for virtually nothing in terms of a late round pick swap. The Jets are paying, I don't know the exact numbers, but they're paying a significant amount of his training camp roster bonus too. So this is a low-risk flyer on a guy who a few years ago, I mean, I had many coaches make the case to me that Zach Wilson's tape was better than Trevor Lawrence. If anybody can get the most out of Zach Wilson, it's going to be Sean Payton.

How about that? How about that? J-Mack, a great lesson. It's about getting it right, not being right. Niners weren't stubborn, got more for less. J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. There's probably also an element of job security there, right? Like the 49ers brass. They're not going anywhere. Hey, we screwed up the Trey Lance Pick. No big deal, guys, we're winning games. It's fine. Jets, Joe Douglas.

Well, I don't want to admit I screwed up with Zach Wilson. Probably a little more reluctant to deal him, right? Job security. Let's be real. People are afraid. They want to keep their jobs. They don't want to try new stuff. Well, I mean, general managers often don't get a second chance.

Good coaches do. I mean, at Day Bowl will get a second run. But GMs don't. So it's, yeah, I mean, it's just, it is, Trey Lance basically from, when Kyle Shanahan says, yeah, I can't save him, what does that tell you? Kyle Shanahan made Matt Schaubb a Pro Bowl or Matt Ryan an MVP. Brock Purdy, a fledgling star in the league. Kyle's like, like a dealer in Vegas, I'm out. Yeah.

And they got a fourth for him, yeah. Because they didn't let you see. They made evaluations in practice. I wonder how Dallas Cowboys fans feel that they paid the most. For Trayland. Well, I mean, there's talent there. There's definitely talent. That's not it.

But the key is he barely played in San Francisco and they got a four. And Shanahan's offensive history would lead you to believe he just bailed. I don't know. You say he's got talent. Really? I mean, is Traylands going to make ten more starts on his NFL? I don't know. I mean, I don't know.

If he had talent, he probably would. All right, let's get started with the Kansas City Chiefs. Three Super Bowl wins in the last five seasons. and now Andy Reid is sticking around until 2029. He got a new contract extension. Chiefs have not announced the terms of the deal, but he reportedly is going to be the highest paid coach in the NFL. The Chiefs have also extended team president Mark Donovan and GM Brett Veach.

Kansas City Chiefs fans keeping the band back together. As they should. A couple more Super Bowl runs in them, probably. As they should. So what's for Reid walking away, huh? Well, it would have gone out on top. Well, they're still on top Belichick, you could argue, after Brady,

could have given it a year, and made Mac Jones a pro bowler, split, and said, hey, I didn't stay around, but I made Mac Jones a pro bowler. I think the Belichick Brady is more of, I'm going to prove I can do it without Tom. I don't know, there's nothing to prove here. Oh, so pride again gets in the way.

Well, yeah, right? What would be pride you talk about on the show for years, Who was more important, Belichick or Brady? That's a normal conversation. I'm not surprised. Belichick want to stick around. Are you? No, I understand, but he was 70, and Tom did win a Super Bowl somewhere else. You could have sucked it up and said.

That certainly hurts. This isn't a great look. I think I'm going to exit stage right. I mean, again, at practice, if you were watching at practice and you watch Mac Jones and you had Tom, did you look and evaluate and say, yeah, that's not Tom? We got ourselves a guy. In year one, Mac Jones, would. was kind of good.

But he was kind of brady, and he wouldn't take to hard coaching, and it turned off teammates, the opposite of Tom. So if you evaluate and practice based on personality, what you see, could you have not said, this thing don't work? This might be a whole new generation of non-Tom Brady-type quarterbacks. Hard coaching. When I see with the transfer portal. When I see these young quarterbacks, I think they want to be coached.

I think the young athletes are great. I think they want to be coached. I think all great athletes my entire life want to be coached hard. There's a lot of posers out there you think. are great and they're not, but every great, every great, you don't think those Alabama, when you go to Alabama, Georgia, you think you're going to be soft coached? When you go to hardball, you think he's going to soft coach? The hardest coaches, Tom Izzo, coaches the hell out of you. Mike Shoshchewski did. These kids want to be, Bill Self is no day at the park. These guys

coach hard. Dan Hurley in Connecticut, like that's a serious, intense program, and they get great players. Yeah, the whole, like, coached hard thing. Okay, so if they want to be coached hard, why is any quarterback transferring if they're not playing after one year? Everyone's out. Well, they're not playing. Yeah. There's a difference between not sitting on the bench and being coached hard. Well, Tom Brady sat on the bench, was coached hard.

He was seventh on the depth chart and slowly worked his way out. That was a different time. He gets to New England. Right. And he's third string and, you know, Belichick. Well, you're not going to retire in the NFL. You can argue Brady would have transferred in college. That's certainly a fair argument.

But I will push back as most kids transfer in. now are just not getting to play and they're saying i got to get snaps to get to the nfl i totally get that but i think overwhelming i don't buy this that the new athletes don't want to be coached hard they don't care i think they care more than anybody i think they take care of their bodies better than old athletes lebron takes care of his body way better than jordan but that's that's different than coached hard all right um i like indy reed doesn't coach hard oh hey oh and he's one of the last guys that use pads. Andy coach is super hard.

Andy's a barker and a yeller. Like, I'd not mean, but Andy is high volume. Give me the coach hard guys. Is McVeigh a coached hard guy? McVeigh's intense. I don't know if he's coaching hard. I would say Shanahan doesn't screw around. You're going to hit it practice.

Andy Reed coaches hard. Like Andy coach is hard. But he's respected by the players because they want to be coached hard. I think who else coach is hard. So when you say All the college guy, all the great college coach is coach hard. Well, you can ask Brian Kelly.

Dan Hurley at Yukon. Coach Hard, I think of Belichick undressing Brady in the film room every week. Well, that to me is coached hard. That almost felt if you listen to Patriot players, that almost got personal and petty. That's not coaching hard. That's just not, that's just being difficult because Tom doesn't want to do everything you say. Well, it's also telling everybody, listen, I know he's the golden boy, but I'm going to come down on hard on him. you know how I'm going to come down on you.

You're not the golden boy. To me, that's coaching hard. The pad stuff, eh. But like, you know. Andy Reid is not, Andy Reid is. You think Andy Reid's destroying Patrick Mahomes in the zone room? I think Andy, I know this because I know people in the building. Andy is one of the old school guys.

And I say that affectionately, lovingly, is that Andy's not going to, no nonsense with Andy. If you can't get it right, they move off you fast. By the way, Brett Veach, signs guys. willing to be co-part of the whole Kansas City story here, part of their DNA is they draft guys that can be coached hard because they're going to be coached hard. Well, he's

going to be around for a while. Next up is Caleb Williams. He's going to be the number one pick in the NFL draft. We won't even mention the odd. They're so astronomical. Expectations are very high. Caleb is setting things even higher, saying he wants to chase the legacy and longevity

Tom Brady had in New England. Now that I want to play at one place for 20 years and chase one guy number 12 I want a place that loves ball you know that's all I've heard about Chicago so far which is which is exciting for me because LA was great but there is probably double digits of teams here and so I mean it's a lot of it's a big pool of you know so you have to be winning championships you have to be playoffs every year to have you know the fans and things like that show up. And so one thing, you know, if Chicago's a place that I've heard that they love ball,

which is really excited for me. It's something that I'm looking forward to and embracing. Very excited. Looks like a franchise quarterback. Sounds like it. I get the attitude I want. I don't know. What else is he supposed to say there?

I think I want to bounce around. You know what? But there is value in saying the right stuff. Yeah, he said the right stuff. A lot of guys get to that podium. Get a little squirrelly. Not him. Yeah, as you've said the right thing.

Final story is John Lynch had his annual pre-draft news conference yesterday, and one of the big questions was about Brandon Ayuk's contract situation. Speaking of saying the right thing, John Lynch dispelled all the rumors about a potential trade. Here he is. All right, well, I guess we botched the audio. But anyway, he said, I've communicated on many occasions. Our wish is that he's here and part of the Niners for the rest of his career. We're working through that.

I can say we're having good talks. 49ers and Iyuk, and I'm just going to leave it at that. Yeah, for the record, this stuff's not easy. This is not easy stuff. I think it's a perfect time to move him. I think they'll still consider it. But Ayuk's gone public with it. He's gone to Instagram with it.

He's talked about it, which adds some contentious nature to the talk. So this isn't easy. I still contend that there's so many receivers in these drafts. You can get a first or a couple seconds for IUC. I would consider moving him. With Debo and Kittle and McCaffrey, I think you have to consider. Jennings, by the way, can be productive as well. I think he's a great player.

But Starwide receivers, the history is they can wear people out over time. And as good as Iyuk is, they may make an argument. I think if Purdy was Josh Allen or Lamar or Mahalms was a better quarter. was Stafford, they'd move off IU. I think the feeling is they've got to protect Purdy with as many weapons as they have because Detroit's coming, Green Bay's coming, you know, the Rams are coming. So I think if you had a quarterback who they felt was a top five level talent, you could move off IUK and be fine with the weapons you have.

But I do think with Purdy, there's a sense that, hey, listen, he's not going to make up a lot of ground if he's going toe-to-to-to with Matt Stafford in the playoffs or Jordan Love in the playoffs or Jared Goff in the playoffs or a Super Bowl against Mahomes, Alan Lamar. So I think part of it is they don't want to move in just because of who the current quarterback is. Okay, so how's this trade? I'm just spitballing here. Carolina Panthers call up the Niners. Oh, I would do it. They need a player so bad.

They need to stop. Carolina has the 33rd overall pick, not a first rounder, and will give you a 2,025 third. So a second and a third. Now the second round pick this year is number 33 overall. That's almost basically the first. Would you do that for Iyuk? If I'm Carolina and I have to figure out my Thanksgiving if my quarterback can play, absolutely.

So you have Deontay Johnson who you got from Pittsburgh and IU. Yeah, I have to figure out if Bryce Young can play. You can't just get me Deontay Johnson. So for Carolina, I would make that move in a second. In a second. Now the Niners fans are surely going to say we want a first, you know. But the 33rd pick overall and another pick next year, that's not bad. You have to pay Ayyuk.

So it's not that he's not... So what? Do you get the quarterback on the rookie deal? You still have to pay him. If I have to pay and give you a first, that works in my favor if I'm Carolina. I'm like, it'd be one thing if I got him for free for two years first. But I already have to pay him like a superstar and give you a first. So that works in Carolina's advantage. That's a big part of negotiation.

You give me a pick, but do I already have to pay the pick? So it doesn't matter if I'm paying Bryce Young or not. You're going to be paying your wide receiver top of the market money. So to me, Carolina's mission until Thanksgiving, this is their entire mission as a franchise. Can Bryce Young play? You don't know if you have one number two receiver, maybe a one, probably a two. Now you give me I, you can Deontay Johnson. I have a star one and a great two.

And I know I'll discover by Thanksgiving. We've got to draft another quarterback where we got the dude. Worst case scenario, if it goes sideways again for Carolina, you're drafting top five, right? Yeah. What's a big deal? I think we just made a trade happen. John Lynch, give me credit when you pull the trigger on. J&C Consulting delivers.

J-MAC with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Live. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, what's up, everybody? It's me, three-time Pro Bowl of LaVar Arrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce a podcast called Up on Game.

What is Up on Game, you ask? Along with my fellow Pro Bowler, T.J. Hushman Zata, and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right. Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on game.

We're going to be sharing our real-life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up On Game with me, LaVar Arington, T.J. Hushmanzada, and Plexico Burris on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast from. 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win.

A win is a win. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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. It's in 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, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The United Football League continues in prime time as Birmingham battles Houston or San Antonio takes on Arlington. It all kicks off Saturday at 7 Eastern on Fox. Check local listings for the game in your area. So the Lakers are very upset with the officiating last night, especially at the end of the third quarter, third quarter when DeAngelo Russell, leading by 10, 39 seconds left, got fouled apparently. play center and and they kind of reversed it. They called it marginal contact. And that's a term now that's being used, marginal contact. Darwin had used that marginal contract by LeBron with 57 seconds left.

He didn't. LeBron foul, it was marginal contact. Why didn't he use the replay? Adjust. The theme of the playoffs, fewer whistles. Let the guys play. playoff scoring, and it's a small sample size, playoff scoring is down 10 points a game.

The referees have decided. Baseball decided this. We're going to make it a better TV product. We're going to make the bases bigger, more stolen bases. We're going to speed the game up. Put a pitch clock on it. Baseball did this. It's a TV show.

The ratings are in the tank. Attendance is dwindling, seven to eight years in a row. So baseball is like, it's a television product. That's where all the money comes from. We're going to make it a better TV product. By the way, what happened? Attendance up. Rating's up.

So the NBA has said fewer whistles. And by the way, if you listen to this show for 20, 25 years or a year, you know the NBA playoffs. As the audience swells, nobody watches the regular season, as the audience swells in the postseason, they swallow the whistle. It's why veteran teams tend to win in the playoffs. Because they're bigger, stronger athletes who have been in the NBA weight room for seven or eight years, NBA nutrition for seven or eight years, and they push the kids around. It's why I think Oklahoma City is going to be great, but they're not going to win this year. year because they're just kids. They get bigger and stronger and, you know,

we'll be able to marginalize refs and kind of manipulate the games as they get older. So anyway, marginal contact is a thing and it's the right thing. This idea that the NBA's out to get the Lakers. Yeah, the NBA Adam Silver's there. Listen, let's get rid of Steph and LeBron in the playoffs.

And why we're at it, Embed, out of here, Luca, KD, they could leave two. What I want is Minnesota, Denver, and Oklahoma City. that's who I want on television in May and June. NBA's rigged guy, you're a moron and always have been. They don't want Stefan LeBron out of the playoffs. It's marginal contact.

And when you looked at the DeAngelo Russell play, I get the argument. Now, LeBron was not having any of it. I don't understand what's going on in a replay center, to be honest. I said it all. I think I said it this year or last year or whatever. DeLo clearly just hit in the face on the drive. What the fuck? We have a replacement of this is going to go.

That doesn't, it doesn't make sense to me. Makes no sense to me. It bothers me. Sorry to answer your question, but that is like, and then I just saw what happened with the Sixers Nick game too. What are we doing? Okay, you could call a foul. Every time LeBron drives to the basket,

same with Luca. Do you want a four-hour game? I don't. Do you want a game with nothing but free throws? Like the Pacers, Knicks games they used to romanticize in 30 for 30s that were 72.68? No. You want a fast-paced game, fewer whistles, physicality. By the way, Yukon won the national title in basketball, college basketball.

Why? Because they're the most physical team. The refs let the players, the physical players, win. And that's what's going to happen in the NBA. Physicality is going to win. Big, strong physical players. and they swallow the whistle. You could call a foul.

I remember when I covered Shaq, and he and Sabonis were playing. It's the best playoff series I've ever watched in person. Seven gamer, Lakers and Kobe beat Savonis. I remember in Portland after a game going into the locker room, and Sabonis, who was a huge guy, like Yokic side, had blood marks all over his chest from facing Shaq. He was literally bleeding.

And he didn't foul out, and Shaq didn't foul out. They let him play. You could have called a foul. time Shaq touched the ball. You could call it every time Luca touches the ball, every time LeBron touches the ball, every time AD touches the ball. These are television shows. At some point, you want pace of play. And so, you know, I know Laker fans are all freaking out, but the NBA did not want Zion to end in New Orleans. They wanted him to end up in New York. They didn't want Wemby in San Antonio. They would have loved him in L.A., right? And the NBA is not rooting

for D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, and big markets to stink most of the last. 20 years and New York, by the way, until this year. So this is just, they're calling it marginal contact, where there's contact, but does it affect dramatically the play? And I've always said, the NBA is the hardest sport to officiate. Every call is pass interference. What is the one call in football that we argue over? Pass interference.

Because if you go watch, I mean, Bill Belichick historically used to have his team wear white gloves when they wore the white uniforms, so the gloves, the Patriots, blend it into the uniforms and referees couldn't see all the grabbing. So every corner in the NFL grabs, that's just what you do. You grab, you push, a pull. So there's a very fine line between pass interference and let them play. Well, that's every NBA foul. These are the world's best athletes.

LeBron can be fouled every time he goes to the basket. And by the way, Magic Johnson and LeBron, I mean, Magic complained about every play. Luca complains about every play. And they probably are fouled. The only way to stop Magic, who was a six, eight and a half point guard, was to physicality and fouled him. It was so much bigger than all the guards. So Magic used to say, I'm getting fouled every play.

He probably was. But you can't have a four-and-a-half-hour game. You can't do that. All the revenue now comes from television. Or eventually streaming, Amazon, Apple. That's where all the money comes from. I've always said this about CBS and March Madness. I'm paying you $4 billion.

I can't decide the seating chart. You can pick the teams who get in. But if I want, in the second round, UCLA facing Arizona, or Gonzaga against Arizona in the second round, I'm paying for the wedding. I can't have a couple things in the seating chart. But I'm paying for the wedding. I'm not going to have the crazy uncle next to the crazy mother-in-law.

I want the wedding to work. So again, I know all you do-gooders and you idealists, all the money in the NBA is coming from television. They want to create, and by the way, when the ratings are plummeting and going down, Adam Silver smartly said at the All-Star break, let's call fewer fouls, pace of play goes, well, what do you know? The playing game ratings were very good.

I guarantee you last night's ratings were very good. That's what commissioners have to do. It's not a ball. I know a lot of you old-time baseball people. I like six-hour games. Yeah, because you don't have a life. You have nothing to do. The rest of us have kids and jobs and things.

So we can't sit around watching six-hour baseball games. So baseball puts in a shot clock, pitch clock. It immediately ratings up. 10%. Attendance up 10%. You could actually watch a Dodger game now and it goes two hours and 25 minutes. If you get good starting pitching, it flies by. My entire night isn't sitting

in front of a television. I can watch it at 7.30 by 9.30. Watch something else. Go to bed, do what I want. So it's this marginal contact thing. It's up to Darwin Ham to challenge it. Mike Malone's challenging it. Darwin Ham's got to challenge it. You've got to pivot

off this stuff. You've got a new sport, new sensibility, new rules. The NBA to its credit has said, we're trying to speed up the pace of play. We don't want to sit at the free throw line. Those games last night, you know what the result of that's been? Those games were unbelievable.

You could have called multiple fouls at the end of the Knicks game. They didn't. I mean, the Knicks are banging and it's scrum and it's rugby and the ball's on the floor. Refs just step back and let them play. These are pro athletes. Let them play.

And the Knicks wanted it more. And the Knicks came out of that scrum with a ball. And they got two threes. And Embeded leacked effort and didn't lock out. And the Knicks earned it. that win-on effort. You've got to call fouls on that stuff on the floor. That doesn't make good sports. Good sports is athletes competing, banging into each other, physicality. Basketball's great with physicality. Didn't we love the bad boy pistons? Well, we didn't love the aesthetic.

We didn't love that they were pretty. We love the fact they were tough. They were physical. Tackle Rambas. It made for great sports, physical, tough, banging on the floor. swallow the whistle marginal contact i'm great with it last thing i want to watch is free throws it's like 49ers fans saying hey in the super bowl how many holding flags on the chiefs there's holding on every play you could call a lot of contact i have argued they should eliminate off ball holding if there's a run left you can't call the right tackle on holding another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on humor 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 IHeart 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tantons and wampas on the ice planet hot,

or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.