The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - LeBron James earned the right

Episode Date: July 10, 2024

Colin reflects on his time off and explains why sports are great and politics can be so frustrating People are overreacting to Bronny James being drafted by the Lakers His thoughts on Klay Thompson leaving the Warriors to play for the MavericksSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to Pod Meets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day in the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, welcome back. It is great to have you in live in Los Angeles. It's the hurt.

Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, thanks for making us part of your day. First of all, tip of the cap, thank you. Danny Parkins, Ashley Brewer filled in last couple of days. Totally appreciate that. Jordan Schultz filling in for J-Mack rest of the week. How are things? My man, doing great. Not as good as Rhode Island, though.

Rhode Island was wonderful, but it is good to be back. And it got me thinking. I would have every day to myself in the mornings. I'd go take the new dog, go out. And it got me thinking about why I love sports and talking to a lot of people in Rhode Island. One of the things I was listening to Sports Radio in Boston for a couple days, one of the things I love about sports, the pressure, the adult conversations, it's not too mean to talk about somebody's age.

There's a lot of pressure. and you got to win now. I was thinking outside of Andy Reid, Sean McVeigh, Jim Harbaugh, and Matt LaFleur. Four coaches in the entire sport. If any other coach had a bad season, they're in big trouble. Kyle Shanahan has a losing record without Christian McCaffrey. That roster goes 7 and 10.

You don't think there's heat on Kyle Shanahan. What about John Harbaugh? They wanted to run them out of town three years ago. You think they finished third or fourth in that division? There's not heat. Even the rookie coaches. You get off to a bad start by Thanksgiving. Uh-oh, we got the wrong guy.

You can even make the criticism in sports personal. Pete Carroll, though he has the energy of a 17-year-old after a bag of Skittles. You know, he is in his 70s. That's an adult conversation. Not a lot of coaches got into their 70s and were at their best. Bill Belichick, six rings, even named a boat after it. He feels a bit like a dinosaur. You can have those conversations.

Brian Daibol, not only got Daniel Jones to the playoffs, he won a game with Daniel Jones. He want a game. He goes six and 11, he probably gets fired. And I think he's a great coach. That's what's great about sports. That's not the downside. Five of the last eight.

NBA coaches of the year, got fired from the team they won the award. Expectations, adult conversations, win now, you're paid a lot. Yet in the Democratic Party, it's considered agist, harsh mean, to have discussions about Joe Biden's age? His mental acuity? I don't know. It feels like the president's a fairly important job. I read that people were caught off guard by his regression. You don't have iPhones?

Grow up. Have a real conversation. People were having conversations and questioning it four years ago. But in politics, I'm uncomfortable. Not in sports. Not in sports. Dak Prescott. You make Patrick Mahomes money.

Win more when it counts. I love Lamar Jackson. Other stinker in the playoffs? Time for real heat. Sean McDermott keeps winning his division. I'm sorry, Josh Allen's too good not to end up in Super Bowls. Those aren't the downsides to it. It's why I defended vigorously the Angel Reese,

Caitlin Clark discussions. The girls could handle it. The women were fine. It was all the fragile sports media asking weird, dorky questions, and being uncomfortable with it. The women were great. Caitlin's going to be fine. Angel Reese is crushing it.

And you should push back on fragile sports media. If they're outraged by things that are happening to everybody, I enjoy politics every four years, but the reason I love sports is accountability and adult conversations and debate at home on a show in a bar, real people talking about real things. Pressurized situations. Don't let sports become politics.

Again, five of the last eight NBA head coaches. Gonzo, we want more. Dak Prescott, yes, you win 12 games a year, just none when it matters. So that's my takeaway, 17 days off. Sports has some politics in it. Let's never let it become politics. I like what it is now, and sometimes it's harsh and tough and almost mean and a little rude, and we debate sometimes over a beer, and it's what I love about sports and what drives me crazy about politics.

I'm sorry, for the last four years, I don't watch a lot of TikTok, but I either have singing goats or Joe Biden gaffes. it's okay to talk about it really the democracy thing it's kind of important the other thing that was notable to me and i don't know why it gets people worked up but man i must have had a half dozen people ask me about this they were talking about it coast to coast on sports radio Colin, what do you make of brawny James being drafted? I don't know. Isn't it kind of an understanding in America?

You do me well, I owe you a solid. That's like a given, right? I take you to the airport. You're buying the next dinner. I help you move. I get a little something, something back. like that's the American way LeBron James has carried the NBA

for 20 years he didn't he didn't have a long playoff run this year did you see the NBA ratings as every other sport WNBA, COPA, Euros, college football up up up up up NBA ratings tank no LeBron he carried the Lakers

not a well-run franchise for six years got him a title number one brand in the league carried the calves for 11 years they've never mattered except when he played there got him a title you owe me dinner if I help you move

if I carry your sport get you a new TV contract worth $7 billion you got a problem with Brony James getting drafted by the Lakers it's the weakest NBA draft and maybe ever in fact what's funny is the Milwaukee

bucks 30 picks earlier drafted a kid out of Australia that played eight minutes a game in Australia, an average less than Brony. It shows how polarizing LeBron James is. I had more people ask me about that on the East Coast. And my takeaway is, you're really bothered by it? Let me ask you this. Let's say you've done well in your life and you have a favorite steakhouse in your small,

middle size or big town and you go to that steakhouse or the pasta joint and you buy a lot of wine for years you spend a lot of money at that steakhouse you know what I mean you're taking a lot of business dinners at that steakhouse you didn't have to you chose to don't you after a few years feel like you get a little better pour on that pinot maybe get you a better table damn straight you do and so do I we all have expectations. We seek favors. We all get a little entitled if we give you something.

LeBron James has carried the league for 20 years. He and Steph Curry have carried the league. Neither made a playoff run this year. Ratings went to the tank as everything else is the Copa and the Euros are going through the roof. NBA with a lot of good players. Global sport tanked. No LeBron, no, Steph. Yeah, I'm okay in the weakest draft.

ever, the Lakers going, we'll do you solid. In the five previous years before LeBron got to the Lakers, I couldn't be wrong on this, I think they had the worst record in the league. They were a circus. They were leaking everywhere. He won him a title. Got him to another Western Conference finals. In the weakest draft ever, his son, who, by the way, I think his son's a G-leager.

I think at best he's a low-end roeager. rotational player. But this draft was horrible. After the 36th or 37th pick, you can argue it's a G-League draft. I'm not losing sleep over it. And nor should you. Here was LeBron on the selection. Obviously, it's a dream come true.

For me, just to see my son to be able to, you know, be in an NBA alone. And then it's always been a dream of his. And for us to be a side-by-side. There's a lot of words have lost. I don't know. I mean, the kid has worked so hard to get back to this point. There's just so much has happened over the last year with him to have this happen less than a year from his incident

to be with our friends and our family. When they announced his name, it was something that was super surreal. By the way, how many sons who aren't qualified or at minimum aren't the best candidate end up on their father's staffs in the NFL or college. Nobody gets too worked up over that. There's other far more qualified candidates. I think it's something about America that's understood and I'm okay with it.

You do me a solid. I got dinner. You help me move. Maybe I'm going through a tough time emotionally, and you're there for me. I owe you. I mean, how many owners take over for their parents that actually live up to expectations? Not many, we'll start with that. Don't get worked up over it. It's the world we live in.

Inspect your own life, put a microscope on it. And if you really thought about the things you expect, after you help others at a favorite restaurant, We all do it. It's okay. It's not worth losing 15 minutes of sleepover. All right. We got all sorts of stuff. Clay Thompson, that got very touchy-feely.

The Yankees are a mess. The NFC, I think, is better than people think. And there were two NBA-free agent moves. I wasn't here. One, I thought, was stupendous, better than every other move. And one loss, I think, really will be punitive for a team. So we'll talk about that. Jordan Shultz in today. J. Mack's somewhere in the world. He's abroad, I believe. It's great to be back.

Hope to have you interested here for the next several hours. 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. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us

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Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back. Everybody got in their fields. Clay Thompson leaving the Warriors. And as I watched it, I thought to myself, this was not a shocking, separate. This was not you and your wife were married for 18 years, great family, kids going into high school, and she leaves you a note, she's gone. That's not what this was. This was you were already sleeping in separate bedrooms.

You'd been in counseling for six years, and it was a dignified separation and divorce. And that's okay. New CBA, older player passed his prime, really expensive. Tough choices. I've seen him before. We'll see it again. the warriors publicly almost apologize for the move. I get it.

He's beloved. He's part of history and the Splash Brothers. But the truth is, and this goes for a lot of people and a lot of professions, Clay's going to a better team, an ascending team. He's a very shy kid. He won't be the star or even the number two. He won't be the young ascending player or the star in their prime. it's actually a perfect spot for Clay Thompson,

who at this point in his career is preferably the fourth best player on a championship team, maybe the third. He still does have some really good nights, but he is like a Derek White, but doesn't defend like that for the Celtics. He doesn't defend like Derek anymore. At one point, he did, maybe even better.

And all of this is okay. This goes back to my opening rant. Real tough decisions. we all saw this coming for a year. I think people would be surprised how often that move that you're uncomfortable making, six months later you're like, I could have done this two years ago.

Here's Steve Kerr on Clay Thompson's exit from Golden State and entrance to the Mavericks. Sometimes in life we all need a shift. We need, you know, just a fresh start, whatever it is, you know, no matter what profession you're in, sometimes you just need a change. And I think, you know, that's it. It's never easy when these things start to run out. But the biggest thing is the relationships endure, the memories endure. You know, Clay is going to have a statue outside Chase someday.

He'll be beloved by his teammates and coaches and our fans. Yeah, he is a warrior forever. Marcus Thompson, you can look it up, has a great article on this. It'll get into your fields. But I remember when I started watching the NBA in the early 70s, it's the first sport I can really remember watching, and there was a back court of Jerry West and Gail Goodrich, the late Jerry West and Gail Goodrich,

Goodrich, number 25, smaller guard, UCLA, real score. And it was like the back court. There was also Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe in New York. I didn't feel they were as prodigious, maybe offensive scoring. I thought Jerry West was the best of all four of those guards. And then there were the Splash Brothers. The greatest shooting back court of all time. At one point, Clay Thompson was also an elite defender, both ends of the floor.

You'll get a statue. You made a fortune. But the new CBA makes this really punitive. Here's Clay Thompson, a little uncomfortable on moving to Dallas. I'm very grateful for my time at Golden State. state, but I just felt like, you know, moving on could just re-energize me and do something special for the rest of my career. Sometimes, you know, breakups are necessary to do what's right. And when I was watching the playoffs and I'm watching the Mazz, you know, make a run for the championship,

I just saw myself fitting in really well with this team and the personnel and they look like they have fun playing with each other and they play for each other. And that was very very, very good. attractive for me and that's really all I needed to see and there's mutual interest there and that's why I'm here. By the way, he's a perfect fit for them because both Kyrie and Luca can be a little ball dominant and Clay is a perfect catch and shoot player. So Nico Harrison, very sharp guy running the Mavericks, literally finds an aged but a perfect player. Luke is in the prime, he's the star, Kyrie's out of it, but still dangerous. Clay doesn't need the ball. He'll get you points, catch and shoot, perfect fit. His second chapter, my guess is, will be a really good one.

Here's Jordan with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Colin, Tua, and the Dolphins have yet to reach a long-term extension, but reports indicate the two sides have remained in consistent contract talks since last month. The The report also adds that both Tua and Miami are taking a very amical approach and things don't look like they'll go south. Colin, I don't understand it because if you're really considering who the dolphins are, what the reality is. They have been searching for a franchise quarterback since Dan Marino. The guy retired 25 years ago.

The dolphins have not won a playoff game since 2000. You're staring at your franchise cornerstone who's 26 years old right in front. of you. What is the holdup? He's a model citizen. He led the NFL in passing yards last year. He's a pro bowler. What are they waiting for? Well, I think a lot of it is he feels very weather vulnerable. You're not going to get him cold when he if you look at the best teams in the AFC, Kansas City outside, Baltimore outside, Cincinnati outside, Buffalo outside. You're going to be playing in late January up north potentially. And he is a weather restricted quarterback. I think they want to keep him. And I think it's the same thing with Dallas and Kirk Cousins in Minnesota

for years. They want to keep them. It's a numbers game. With Mahomes, with Josh Allen, you're going to lose. They're going to get what they want to get. LeBron and his prime. You're going to get what you want to get. But in the NFL, there's a big difference between 48 and 59. And so I think they want him, but there are realities with his game. If you are looking around corners, Josh Allen's in his prime Mahalms in his prime Burl of Healthy in his prime Lamar in his prime

That's a lot of cold weather teams in January And this is a guy that doesn't throw the ball In windy weather especially well I'm not saying that he's Dan Marino No But he is to me The perfect instrument for Mike McDaniel

And I think he's still getting better He's an ascending player Yeah he is that's what he is He's a perfect Well I mean not he's very much Drew Breeze Who is his comp coming out of college Drew was perfect for Sean Peyton mind. And I think the difference is Breeze had one major injury early, but I don't feel like he had

a history of injuries. And I think that's the concern with too. I think the dolphins want to sign him, but they want to be protected if he goes south physically. Fair enough. Speaking of quarterbacks, looking for a new deal. You just mentioned Dallas. Dak Prescott is still waiting on a long-term extension calling from the Cowboys. We most recently saw him in a walking boot around the 4th of July, which caused a lot of concern amongst the media. What's what Dack had to say about it. Honestly, I'm getting older. It's the same ankle right that I snapped and had a nasty surgery on four years ago.

So, yeah, a couple of hard days of training and you get a little sore and then you're going on a fishing trip and you want to protect it and make sure that things don't get worse. So literally it's absolutely nothing. That's why I'm supposed to people are reaching, trying to make things that they aren't. I'm getting older, have to take care of my body, have to be smart. And if I can take precautions and lessening something about putting on a book, boot, I'm going to do it. And so, sorry that it calls such a whirlwind. Yeah, well, I mean, listen, you're the coach of the Dallas Cowboys. If a picture like that, we're showing our TV audience comes out, you know, people are going to

react to it. That's the, you're a Yankee shortstop or a Laker guard or, you know, Notre Dame quarterback or your Dak Prescott, and you're in a walking boot before camp, shocker, it's going to be a story. He also does have the leverage. There's a no trade clause. Yeah. He just saw that, and also a no tag clause, and he just saw, that Kirk Cousins at 35 coming off of torn Achilles got $185 million. So he knows the worst case scenario for him really is to play it out and get paid next year as a 31-year-old court.

I've said this. I'm not hypercritical of DAC. I would pay him. I'm just not going to pay him 58. I'm not paying. So what's a fair number for debt? And he's going to get more than this. But I think when you look at DAC and Tua, you've had some injuries that have mounted.

I think the number's in the 40s. you know, Jared Goff never gets injured. He got 212 over 4. Yeah, and Jared throws a better ball than DAC, is healthier than both, doesn't move as well as Dak, but moves about like Tua. And everybody pushed back on Goff, and I think Goff is a better thrower of the football, bigger, healthier than Dak and Tua. So, Goff is somebody that if you have to pay in the 5s, that's the first number.

I'm more comfortable with that. I get so much pushback on him, but Dax had some injuries now. 100%. And he has struggled in January. Two has a history of injuries, albeit healthy last year, and we see he's weather restricted. So to me, the new reality is you're paying closer to 60 with the great quarterbacks, but it's not that these teams don't like their player. It's like it's a numbers game.

It's a math equation at this point. Well, they also have Micah. They also have CD-LAM. and if you're thinking about Detroit, they have set up golf much better in terms of the offensive line, the running game than what Dallas had. You know Osul, Gibbs, Amon Ra.

By the way, the Dolphins and the Cowboys are both finger crossers on the O line. Detroit's got easily the best old line in the school. Dallas just lost their center as well as Tyrant Smith who's potential Hall of Famer. So there's a lot there in terms of the weaknesses of that offensive line. The Vikings call and made the decision

to let Kirk Cousins walk this offseason and instead made Justin Jefferson the league's highest paid receiver. And in appearance on the rich eyes and showed Jefferson addressed whether he was surprised by Cousins departure to Atlanta. I always knew, you know, Kirk was going to do whatever he needs to do for, you know, his business-wise. And I just knew that, you know, everything just wasn't, you know, the way he wanted it to be here. I'm not mad at him at all for that. I'm grateful for what he has brought to me and the things that we have accomplished together.

But, you know, at the end of the day, it's a business. So Sam Darnold, your guy. You love Sammy. I do. J.J. McCarthy. So let's assume that Darnold is the QB1 to start the season. Maybe McCarthy plays at some point. But whether or not you like Kirk Cousins is almost immaterial

when you consider that all of Jefferson's success Jordan Addison, a lot of T.J. Hawkinson comes from Kirk Cousins under center. Yeah. By the way, I ran into Sam Donald out east. Looks healthy, ready to go. Fired up in Minnesota. Yeah, I mean, very infrequently has Minnesota been a mess. I tend to think they're smartly owned, well-coached. Even coaches like Mike Zimmer who got let go, I thought were really good coaches. It shows you the value of quarterback in this league.

They're over and under is like six. Right. I could make an argument. Elite offensive talent. They have the best receiver in the game, the second best offensive tackle, a top five tied end, one of the ascending stars at running back,

and the tall Sean McVeget coach. Kevin O'Connell. I tell you, last year, everybody had the Rams as a rebuild at five or six wins, and they made the playoffs. If you told me there was a team in the NFL that you look up and they're like

eight and four through 12, it's an offensive league true i love their coach their left tackle they're running back their o lines better their tight end their star receipts they even have jordan addison a two really good young player yep yeah and there's not a great defense in their division chicagoes could be

but green bay and detroit don't have great defenses if there's a team in the league that Vegas missed Vegas missed on the rams last year if there's a team they're missing on it's denver in the a fc i think is more than capable of winning nine games and it's minnesota and the nfc See, the pushback would be Darnold hasn't really been, ever been

that guy. And the division is still really good. But Kyle Shanahan and this head coach, two of the four or five smartest coaches in the league offensively, both really like Sam Darnold. It's a pretty good indication. Everyone likes Sam Darnold until

he has to play a full season and really show it. I mean, that's your guy. If it's ever going to happen for Sam, it's going to be this year. No, it'd be no excuses. Yeah. You can make arguments about The Jets and Adam Gase and Carolina's lack of weapons. A hundred percent. If Sam can't win games here, it's on Sam.

There's no great defenses outside of perhaps Chicago in that division. So he'll get six divisional games. Four of the games are against, at best, average defenses. Okay, I like it. Let's go to Team USA Basketball, Colin, where we had some breaking news ahead of tonight's matchup with Canada on FS1. Shams Sharana reports that Kauai Leonard is withdrawing from the Olympic roster. What a shock.

Yeah. And will be replaced. Malta reports indicate that Celtics guard Derek White will replace him. Oh, I love that. On the roster. Oh, I love that. You like the Derek White at. I would have taken Derek White over him.

I think Derek White's on a short list of the most underrated players in the league. I think Derek White's fantastic. Both ends of the floor, willing teammate, great defender, can get buckets. Yeah, I mean, the Kauai Leonard thing, I just do not understand this fascination. I mean, you could be the best herd line news guy ever. If you're here only two out of five days a week, at some point, I'm over.

Like, I need you to be available at my quarterback or my star basketball player. That's part of the deal, being available. He also said before, because this is an odd story, another odd story was when he said, you know, losing Paul George to Philly, it doesn't really change my approach.

I don't really understand what the Clippers are doing. I don't at all. I definitely don't understand what Kawhi Leonard's doing when he says yesterday, I'm looking forward to the Canada game. I'll be ready to go.

Yeah, and he's now with drawing. Jordan with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. You know, it's all these sports except baseball have salary caps. Right? And the feeling with salary caps is you don't want just the richest owners

and the biggest cities to dominate sports. never seems to matter in Milwaukee, where the Packers are perpetually excellent, the Brewers are in first place, and the bucks will make the playoffs, and maybe contest to get into the finals. Little old Milwaukee. The town, not the beer. It's so funny about New York, because baseball is the sport with no salary cap. Oh, man, what an advantage for New York.

They are 6 and 17. The Yankees. in their last 23 games. That's the worst in the sport. Run differential, batting average, they can't hit. They're completely top-heavy. Aaron Judge is great. Juan Soto started the year on fire.

He's come back to Earth. And nobody else can consistently hit. John Carlos Stanton injured. It's a bad baseball team now. And it's crazy. I was thinking about this. There are so many cities right now in America that don't have New York's power or money. ability to lure certain players, just pay them more money, especially in baseball.

I mean, in L.A., the Dodgers and Rams feel like they're good every year. In Miami, dolphins are viable. Hetero is excellent Panthers. Philadelphia. Bryce Harper and the Phillies, I think they'll end up in the World Series. The Eagles pivot when things get ugly, quick, end up in Super Bowls a lot. I thought the Sixers had an amazing offseason. They're a playoff team.

Warriors, Niners in San Francisco. Francisco, avalanche and Nuggets in Denver. I mean, you start looking Dallas, the Mavs, a great franchise. Cowboys say what you want. They make the playoffs. The Mavs, the stars, and then there's New York. The last time New York had two teams that were like championship level. You got to go back like 24 years.

The Rangers made a Stanley Cup, wasn't it? What year? The Super Bowl, the Giants. were in the Super Bowl and that Subway Series. Right. So Subway Series is 2000. 94 was Rangers win the cup. Rangers. Okay, but 2000 was the last year.

Right. 100%. That you had two teams viable championship. Not the Rangers. That was 94. Yeah. So just think about that. And Little Old Milwaukee has three teams that are all capable.

Yeah. Winning. And to me, it all starts at the top. James Dolan isn't considered a terribly strong owner, although since creating the sphere, he seems distracted. and the Knicks are finally well-run. The Maras and Woody Johnson don't seem strong. Steve Cohen now had a lot of money, but gets pushed back.

Steinbrenner's kids. So you don't have great ownership. The coach is, I like Brian Dayball, but he's gruffin and tense and turns some off. Salas like 18 and 33. You know, Tom Tibado's good, but he comes with a caution label. This is a Yankee team. It's hard to explain. They've lost 17 to 23 games outside of Aaron Judge and kind of one.

on Soto. Nobody can hit. Aaron Boone's considered a little two-player-friendly. Robert Sala in the city. Can't win games. Two-player-friendly. That's the criticism. Yeah. So it's just incredible. You know, the salary caps are so the big cities don't dominate.

New York has been a hazmat spill for about 25 years. This was supposed to be the breakthrough team. I mean, you're watching that New York Giants hard knocks. That's not great. It's actually, it's good to watch. Oh, it's good to watch. It leaves me with a lot of questions about how they're run. This team should not be this bad.

Mark DeRose is the face of the Major League Baseball Network. He's going to join us next to talk about what is wrong with the Yankees? Everything's right with Otani. He's having a year. What would the Yankees be without Aaron Judge? Who's just remarkable? Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pauli Fusco here with Tony Fusco.

Yo, as everybody knows, we're the host of the award-winning Pauley and Tony Fusco show. Yeah. But instead of us telling you how great we are, here's how Dan Patrick described us when he came on our show. Quick, knowledgeable, and funny, opinionated. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing? You're interrupting our promo. Yeah.

He wasn't talking about you. You took those clips totally out of context. Oh, yeah, well, after this promo, I'm going to take you out and beat you. Let me put this into context. Shut up! Yeah, anyway, just listen to the Pauli and Tony Fusco show on IHart Radio, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves,

I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most. popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

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My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen to Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos

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your podcasts. Well, attendance is up. Game time is down. You know, listen, I would argue that the Major League Baseball should lower the mound. They did it years ago in the Bob Gibson era. There's so many dominating pitchers now. You're finding teams. You know,

Sho Hay Otani, Mookie Betts, Aaron, Judge. There's certain guys that are just going to hit. They're all players. But other than that, baseball's got a lot to be happy with. Mark DeRosa played in the Biggs for a long time. He is to me the face of the Major League Baseball Network. I've said before of all the league networks, Major League Baseball Network to me is the best by far. You hear discussions, you don't hear everywhere else. And so let's talk about the Yankees, Mark, and I appreciate you coming on. They're a little top heavy. I watched every moment of the Dodgers

series, and my takeaway is, man, they need Aaron Judge. They need him to be the catalyst. Aaron Boone is a friend. I know him well. The criticism is he's too nice to the players. He's not hard enough. Is it a fair criticism, Mark? Well, first off, thanks for having me on. All right. Huge fan. I've watched you for a long time. To get into the Yankees, this is why you play 162, right? They came out like gangbusters. Everything that could go right, did go right. Their entire starting rotation had sub-3 ERAs. You knew at some point

it was going to regress to the mean. As far as the offense is concerned, then I'll get to Boone's point. Yeah, they are built around Judge and Soto, obviously, but Stanton injury's been huge. Verdugo's taken a step back and gotten

cold. Volpe's taken a step back and gotten cold. They've inserted Ben Rice into the lead-off spot in that lineup. So they got an Ivy Leagueer from Dartmouth leading off. And then he's covering Soto and Judge, and then it kind of falls off a cliff a little bit. Their bullpen hasn't been striking anybody out. They might need to address that with Clay Holmes' recent struggles. But, you know, going back to Aaron Boone, I've known him for a long time. I think that's probably the toughest thing for a manager when you first get in there,

like how disciplinary are you going to be? I think everything, Colin, is case by case. There was another day when Anthony Volpe was running home from third base, didn't touch home before DJ LeMay, he was tagged out. And I felt like in that moment, that was a teaching moment, right? Volpe's been a model citizen since day one of showing up. He hustles on and off the field. He does everything right. So that's maybe you put your arm around them and say,

hey, that can't happen. The Trent Grisham play in center field, I would handle that a little different because it's a fourth outfielder. it's not a guy adding tremendous value to my roster. Maybe you can make a little bit more of a point to the big boys that, hey, if you're not one of my top tier guys, you got to show me a little bit more. I remember I'm a huge cowboy fan, Colin, I want to take this to NFL,

but I'm a huge cowboy fan, and I remember reading a book and Jimmy Johnson talked about releasing a special teams player because he fell asleep in meetings. And that player asked him what he would do if Troy Aikman fell asleep and he said I'd get him a pillow and a blanket. I think that's the way you got to handle it. It's like you carry weight. You can get away with a little bit more.

You know, the best baseball team, in my opinion, we said this about two months ago, is the Phillies. I think Bryce Harper is a remarkable player. It is interesting to watch a Shohei Otani and Aaron Judge, a Bryce Harper, that a singular power player has so much influence. Now, a lot of this, Phillies got like seven all-stars, so it's beyond Bryce Harper. In the times I've seen them play. And during the course of a baseball season, I catch innings, I don't catch entire games. I think Philadelphia is the best team I've seen. Where do you land with them and your thoughts on Harper? Yeah, I agree with you. I think right now

they're the best team in baseball. They have the least amount of flaws. Guys like Matt Strom and Jeff Hoffman have stepped up in their bullpen to give them some wipe out stuff in the back end. the lineups as deep as you can possibly take it. The starting rotation, Ranger Suarez got off to that amazing start. You can make the argument, Zach Wheeler's the best pitcher in the National League. Throw in guaranteed, consistent Aaron Nola. Rob Thompson seems like steady-eddy. And Dave Dombrovsky's been doing this for a long time.

Their general manager and president, he always finds a way to put teams together that play well together chemistry-wise and feed off each other. So it's not just one guy. Kyle Schwerber is probably the chemistry leader in there, but you add in the Trey Turner's and like you said, Bryce Harper, Real Muto, and then the young guy Stott, Boom, Marsh, they all seem to play a part. So I would agree with you. I think right now they're the best team. Mark, a final question.

Let's talk Shohei Otani. I defended him when the allegations came up. I thought it would be distracting. It's hard enough to be a player outside of the country, language barriers, enormous pressure, moved up I-5, Angels, Dodgers. Instead, he's better than ever. Are you surprised at the early stories, the potential to be completely distracted? How is he viewed by you and others at the baseball network and the sport? Yeah, I think he's viewed by me is the most talented baseball player of Walt.

time. I don't think you can deny it, Colin. I mean, he's a top 10 pitcher when he's right. Now he'll be coming back from his second elbow surgery, so that remains to be seen. But even if he pitched to a number three in a rotation and gave you like sub four ERA and made a bunch of starts, with his offense, he's still worth every dime of that 700 million. I agree with you. not only all the stuff allegations-wise he was dealing with in the off-season, but the relationship he had with his translator obviously goes by the wayside. And then you're moving teams and you're walking into putting on Dodgers where you have bets and Freeman already established.

And for you to stand so far ahead of that, it's crazy. It's kind of crazy what he's been. And a DH is a full-time DH has never won the MVP. And I sit up here and you try and find ways to devalue the fact that he doesn't play the field. And unless Harper comes back and he came back yesterday and gets extremely hot or someone does something crazy in the second half, Mookie comes back, it looks like Shohei is the favorite right now on paper to win the MVP. Think about that.

It's pure DH. Yeah, not pitching pure DH and can be the MVP. It really is remarked. It does help the guys batting in front and behind him. We've got to be honest here. It's a bit of an all-star team. Mark DeRosa, MLB Network, does a sensational job for them. We want to have you on again.

We appreciate it. The attendance is up. The time is down. I still think they have to look at lowering the mount at some point. There are so many guys throwing 98 with movement. It is hard. Right now, outside of Judge, Yankees are struggling at the plate. Mark, I appreciate having you on and love to see you again.

No, thanks for having me. Appreciate it. You bet. Yeah. Major League Baseball has raised the mound and lowered the mound. Back in the Bob Gibson era, late 60s, and Bob Gibson was unhittable for long stretches. They lowered the mound. I think you have so many great athletes, so many guys, 6'5, throwing downhill, throwing high 90s, some over 100.

I think you have to consider it because baseball, the games are shorter. It's a better television product, to better TV product. But it is. Very few guys are hitting. I checked last week. Only 12 players are hitting over 300. in the sport. And again, let's solve it.

Like the game time, they have solved it down to 235. You watch a baseball game now, like it's, they fly by. The action's quick, it's fast. They've got to get the offense moving. And I think there's an explanation. Lower the mound, about six inches, give hitters a chance. Aaron, Judge, and Shohei Otani and Milky Bats and Freddie Freeman, they're going to hit against anybody. But it does feel like there's some quick at bats.

Some really quick advance. Dionne Dawkins, Lane Johnson. It is a Wednesday. I'm back. Hopefully you're joining us and enjoying it. Hour to next. 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 acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement home. 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. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to you. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah.

This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey.

with all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? They had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Listen to soccer moms on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone, it's Ryder Strong and Wilfredel from PodMeets World. And now the Pod Meets Twirled podcast.

We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of Survivor. knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. Again, we are experts. Listen to Podmeads twirled on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.