The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 – LeBron James, Lance Zierlein

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

Colin Cowherd talks about LeBron James looking like he’s 27 again after the acquisition of Luka Doncic, how Steph Curry looks rejuvenated by the team’s acquisition of Jimmy Butler, and Lance Zierlein joins the show from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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It is the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. J. Mack, we got a loaded show today. NFL season ends. We take a vacation. Come back. There's going to be NBA March Madness, Free Agency. but the NBA did us a solid this year.

Jimmy Butler to the Warriors has been 7-1. It's a new staff and a new team. And LeBron and Luca now converging in Los Angeles, they beat another good Western team. The West is much deeper than the East. So you start beating these Dallas, Kyrie, you start beating Denver, you start beat Minnesota.

These are impressive wins. Yeah, a little bit. A little bit. Lakers are decent, yeah. They're pretty good. So I'm going to start with this. Luca's not playing that well. Let's just say it out loud.

He's not in great shape. Never been a good defender. Looks a little soft. One for nine last night on shooting threes. And everybody sort of hedges their bet. We've all been doing this, myself included, for the last two years. We've all been doing this in the media. We just don't want to say, you know, is LeBron like the second best player in the league?

Nobody wants to say that. Right? It's, hey, Yokic, Janus, I have watched LeBron in the last week outplay Aunt Edwards, Luca, Yokic, and Kyrie Irving. He has been the best player in the NBA in the last week. On every single night is LeBron the best player in the league? No, on any given night is LeBron the best player in the league.

Yeah, his defense right now, it looks like he's 27. It's insane. His energy, better than Luca. He's shooting right now, better than Luca. His on-ball defense, his scoring. LeBron at 40 years old has better consistent energy than any other Laker. Now, Austin Reeves is close. Austin plays hard all the time.

But LeBron's fourth quarter energy, it doesn't even make sense. His on-ball defense right now, this is the best defense he's played in eight years. He's a better defender at 40 than Luca is at 26. His energy, I'm telling you right now, is LeBron showing off? And I'll get to Steph in a second. I feel like Steph is kind of showing off the Jimmy Butler, like, listen to old man, you know. And I feel when Tom Brady beat Mahomes at Arrowhead Stadium in the AFC championship,

and then he beat him in the Super Bowl, everybody by then was falling in love and sort of was saying it, you know, like Brady's old. Brady, you know, not a lot left in the tank for old Tommy. Mahomes is the new king, and Brady beat him twice. in Arrowhead and overtime and in the Super Bowl. Tom Brady reminding you, yeah, it goes through me. And LeBron is reminding everybody right now, yeah, the West, for 10 years, the East went through me, 10, 12 years, however long he was over there,

now the West is going to go through me. So at minimum, and I understand that Luca got hurt, hadn't played for a long time, he's playing himself back into shape. Like, I get it. And he'll be a better shooter. His jumper right now is short consistently. That's like cardio, that's legs, his jumper short. But at 40 years old, LeBron James, last year had, last year at 39 years old, LeBron had 84 dunks.

When Michael Jordan was 39, MJ had 21, four times the dunks of a guy known for dunks, Michael Jordan, at the same age. And I think LeBron this year is better than LeBron last year. And the other thing is because AD was traded to Dallas, LeBron is hyper aware that he has to play better defense because Luca is a lousy defensive player. And Austin Reeves is limited. So LeBron is like, oh, you need me to do that too. All right.

His defense is insane. So he's averaging 25, 8, and 9. That's not the part that's blowing me away. It's the energy and the defense. And, you know, this, it's, I feel like, I've said this for years. I think the NBA playoffs should be a three-game first round, and then five games, even through the finals. I think create urgency. I mean, March madness, college basketball doesn't have much talent, and it gets tremendous ratings. Why? There's

urgency. I mean, you know, Cooper Flagg, take him off Duke. They got a couple of decent players, but a Duke game with Cooper Flag against Xavier will get a better rating maybe than like the Western Conference or Eastern Conference finals, because it's like you have to watch. You got two and a half hours. Somebody's out. Could be Duke and Cooper Flag. And so I think there needs to be no more urgency. And I also think in the NBA regular season,

I'd cut it down to 68 games, start it six weeks later, get away from college and pro football. You know, start playing Christmas. Start playing Christmas. Not your first TV game. Start plan then. So I understand that if you're LeBron, you're Steph Curry, and you're not with a championship team,

you're on a treadmill to nowhere. It is so clear between Steph and Lerner. LeBron that these moves have absolutely energized these guys and just watched LeBron's defense. It is elite, and he has outplayed Aunt Luca, Kyrie, and Yokic in the last week. He has been the best player on the floor, and here is, here's LeBron after. We know we could have been a lot better offensively, but we've been hanging our head on our defense under the defensive end. You know, when you don't shoot the ball well, you got to be able to.

get stops and they made a run. They're really good team. We saw what they did a couple nights ago against OKC when they was down big and those young guys came in, sparked them, gave them good energy. So, you know, they cut it down to three, I believe at one point, but we was able to execute after that, get some timely stops and was able to come out with the win. So LeBron in February, 29 and a half points, 10 rebounds, 7 and a half assists, shooting 55% from the floor, 46% on three-pointers and playing elite on-ball defense. At 40, at 39, he had 84 dunks. At 39, MJ had 21.

Like, you're watching, this is unprecedented. You know, we're always looking ahead. Don't, just live in this moment. What you're watching doesn't make any sense. It makes, it's Brady in Tampa. It makes no sense that Brady was that year, first, second best quarterback in the league. All right, so I want to give you an update.

This according to Diana Rusini. The Rams are meeting with Matt Stafford at their facility in person today, regarding the future. So the Raiders and the Giants, and I think the Raiders are in play here, have discussed a two-year contract that includes 90 to 100 million guaranteed, and a decision is expected soon. So I was thinking about this. I think if it's only two years and the Raiders are not giving you a third, then I would stay with the Rams and take less. If the Rams can get you to 75, 85, 80, 85, I would take that over 100 on a two-year deal if they're both offering two years. Raiders go to a third year, 45 million, no state tax, I'd probably consider that.

But it's really interesting. And what I'm about to say won't, you'll think it's ridiculous initially, but just think about this. The Rams are not far off from winning a Super Bowl. They're really close. They had, they were driving to beat Philly in a snowstorm. and that defense got better every other week. And they're all coming back and they're super talented. So you're not going to score a lot of points on the Rams going forward.

If they get a corner in the draft of the first pick or second, they don't have a hole. That defense is good everywhere and young and cheap. If Matt Stafford stays and wins a second Super Bowl, and I know legacies are all about ego, but if you put 15, 20, 25 years into being a politician, a talk show host, a quarterback, a landscaper, legacies matter. You want to be remembered fondly, not just as a husband and as a dad,

but what did you do professionally in your community? If he wins a second Super Bowl, that's the same as Elway, Peyton Manning, and Big Ben, but it's more than Aaron Rogers, Steve Young, and Farve. And I've said this for years. Matt Stafford was better in high school than Aaron Rogers, much better in college, better his first four years in the NFL,

and much better now in his last three. Now, there were 10 years where he was in dysfunctional Detroit and put up a lot of stats, but didn't get much to the playoffs and do much. And meanwhile, Aaron Rogers was in Green Bay, highly functional, great draft and develop organization, good coaching, and had a better middle of 10 years. But if you had to put Aaron in Detroit and Matt in Green Bay,

I think he has more than one ring. But my take is, legacy matters. If Stafford wins, A second Super Bowl, that means he would go four and O in the playoffs in the Super Bowl. He would have more rings than Aaron. He'd have a better playoff percentage than Aaron. He would be better late than Aaron, better early than Aaron, as a former number one pick. There's a real argument you'd take Matt Stafford.

More Super Bowls? I mean, Super Bowls alone are going to get Eli Manning eventually into the Hall of Fame. and he was an average regular season quarterback. How a movie ends and how a quarterback's career ends absolutely shapes how we think of you. When Brady went to Tampa in one, 50% of you watching and listening for years, and I saw it on Twitter, it's a system quarterback. He left New England one, Belichick regressed. Brady is unquestionably the goat.

beat Mahomes last two times they played. He is head and shoulders above the crowd. John Elway, never forget. Elway 0 and 3 in Super Bowls got hammered. John can't win the big game. Last two years, two Super Bowl wins with Terrell Davis the running back, and we viewed him number two all time to Joe Montana. Peyton Manning goes to Denver.

Let's be honest. He goes to Denver. His reputation was he's not good in big games. One Super Bowl. Brady owns him. All of a sudden he beat Brady in a playoff game or two, wins in Denver, and now that Brady Manning thing is like, oh,

uh, Peyton kind of got the best of him last couple of years. If Matt Stafford stays in a lot, you're not getting a ring with Las Vegas. You're not getting a ring with the Giants. It makes those franchises respectable and probably winning franchises very quickly. Matt Stafford has a chance to get to another level.

As many Super Bowls as Elway, and Peyton Manning in that class. And more than Farr of an Aaron Rogers. And so to me, when you put, I mean, think about when Matt Stafford started playing football. Six years old, seven years old, he's 38 years old. He has given 30 years of his life to football. Number one high school player, number one pick out of Georgia, had to endure a lot of nonsense in Detroit. the idea that if he could get another Super Bowl in the next two years with the Rams,

and people, a lot of people would look at him, and there's an argument, he's better than Steve Young, Aaron Rogers, maybe Fav, that'd be hard for me to walk away from. I know it's just legacy, and a lot of people think that's vanity. I don't care if you're a mailman, a quarterback, a politician, a landscaper, a lawyer. It matters. You want to be remembered for committing to something. And when you've been doing it at a high level like Stafford, you're going to whizze it away for money in Vegas?

That'd be hard for me. So if the Raiders are not going to give you three years, I don't care if it's more money. I think the legacy matters too much to a guy that's totally been committed to football, sits in the pocket until the end, takes more shots than almost anybody in the league. I mean, that's the thing about Stafford and Aaron. Aaron don't want to get hit anymore. I get it. I get it. Brady didn't want to get any hit anymore.

Stafford sits there and gets hammered every Sunday. Some part of him is always banged up or bleeding. He is committed totally to this career. Be hard to walk away if I don't get extra years and an extra 50 to 70 million bucks. All right, J. Mack. Steph Curry put on a little clinic last night. He was okay.

56? Not bad at all. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's Steve Kavino. And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Kavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio

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We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how 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. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, 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 Smygel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are

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Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across.

When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So Steph Curry had 56 points last night, had a dozen threes.

Orlando is a pretty good defensive team. So I don't think it's a coincidence that LeBron gets Luca and Steph gets Jimmy Butler and both players explode. So Steph Curry's been to the mountaintop, hard to get fired up and get the engine humming to be a number 10 seed. So it's got that new relationship feel. He's showing off a little bit. The Warriors are 7 and 1 since Jimmy Butler arrived, and the numbers are insane. We can put them on the screen. Miami, for the record, three and six without Jimmy Butler.

So we said this the other day. Jimmy Butler wins. You don't have to love him, but EQ, IQ effort, a very intentional basketball player. Listen, the NBA is very lucky. Sometimes leagues get lucky. LeBron and Steph have been great stewards for the league. And they're still literally on any given night that are the best player in the league, which is insane at their age.

But it did feel like for LeBron and Steph that they were, you know, they had cameo roles in average movies, and now once again, Stefan LeBron feel like leading men in blockbusters. It looks like the Lakers and the Warriors could absolutely be a viable Western Conference champion. That's what it looks like. And remember, if you add Jimmy Butler to Steph and Draymond Green, the West is very young at the top,

OKC is young. Memphis is young. Houston is young. Draymond, Steph, and Jimmy Butler have 423 playoff games and 14 finals. So you don't want to play Golden State in the playoffs if you're OKC. OKC when they get Chet Holmgrenback's going to be a very good offensive team, but they're kids. And right now they are in the seven spot and half a game out of the six spot. I'm telling you, if I'm Memphis and I'm Oklahoma City, Houston, I have no interest playing this team. And it does. It feels like Steph, when you've been this great for this long, it is hard to get revved up driving to that arena,

knowing you're maybe at best a playing team. Steve Kerr on last night's 56-point outburst. Steph just wants to play meaningful basketball and you can see we're now in the fight we're in the mix and this is what Steph loves he's as great of a player and shooter is his competitiveness is probably his most underrated quality

and he was dying to be back in the mix and we're back in the mix and you can tell he's energized by that. For the record he took 25 shots that is tied for the second fewest shots ever taken to score 56 points. So LeBron, LeBron got a great teammate, his energy's exploded. Steph Curry got a new teammate. His efficiency, his energy exploded.

When you've been to the mountaintop, it's hard to get revved up. Walking into the arena, playing Minnesota, and the game doesn't mean anything. So this is really good news for the year. The NBA, which its critics are assailing it and nobody cares. I'm telling you, watching the Warriors. I watched the Warriors and the Lakers last night. It's good basketball. It's good product with two leading men now in blockbusters.

J. Mack with the News. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, my man. Let's start with Miles Garrett. He says he's Adam and he's not going back to Cleveland. So the rest of the NFL world is trying to figure out who's going in.

in on the six-time pro bowler. NFL insider Diana Rusini says one of the most aggressive GMs in the league could be making a play for the edge rusher. Take a listen. I think they're going to make an effort here, but here's what some people are saying right now,

that Howie's willing to move on from some of these guys, because he's looking to make a big swing and take a big swing. And that big swing would be for Miles Garrett. Yeah. It's logical. No, why not?

By the way, Dallas still out of money using Groupons. I mean, Philly makes a lot of sense. I think you might have floated. I don't know why Green Bay doesn't go all in. I don't get it. I'm Green Bay. Maybe they don't think they're close enough. Well, they haven't had a consistent pass rush in forever.

Last time they went big, Reggie White for a dominant defensive player. Twice in their existence that I remember, Charles Woodson, Reggie White, they went big, paid off both-time Super Bowls. What about Washington? Again, Washington would be a great place to go. I mean, Green Bay feels... I think Buffalo makes sense. I think Green Bay makes the most sense.

I think Washington makes sense. If you're one of the seven contenders in the league, I think you've got to be picking up a phone and calling Cleveland and just at least floating something. And by the way, what it will cost. Okay, so we've watched LeBron and Steph, who everybody thinks past their prime, what they've done with a new teammate.

Do you not believe that Miles Garrett, playing for the Green Bay Packers or the Philadelphia Eagles. You think he's good now. What if every game's televised? I mean, they are literally Cleveland is the fourth most interesting team in their division. Philadelphia Eagles are arguably the most interesting team in the league. So if you take Miles Garrett and you're like, bro, every game is on Fox. Every game is Sunday night football.

Every game is Monday night football. You are at the centerpiece of one of America's great sports football cities. I think you'll get an elevate. I think Miles Garrett will be better than he is now. If you're looking right outside the contender batch, we saw the Chargers allegedly are going to be moving off Bosa. There's a lot of chatter about that. What if you make a move on Miles Garrett?

Have him opposite Khalil Mack out here in L.A. I mean, if you're in like the top 10, you're good, I think you've got to make a move on Miles Gary. You just have to. I mean, you don't have to if you're the Niners because of Bosa. I mean, there are teams that have, like the Rams right now have Jaredverse. You don't need it. You're not, you know, there are about.

about five teams that have a pass rush. Don't worry about it. Outside of that, this guy's a generational defensive player. I don't think he's that far behind Aaron Donald, Reggie White. I really don't. All right, next story is NFL draft. Combines happening. A lot of people talking. Well, the

Titans have made no real indication where they're going with the number one pick. I do believe it'll be Cam Ward, and Cam Ward sounds like he's going to be ready to go number one. We had good interactions. myself with Coach Colleen and the quarterback's coach and also the GM it's a great staff they put together

I think I know a decent amount I was able to watch a couple of their games this past season a lot of their route concepts with similar stuff that we do so you know if I'm drafted there I just think it would be plug and play well it would be plug and play I like it well he is easily the most dynamic quarterback in the draft he's got a great

arm he moves well a little backyard football but he would start day one less backyard football than Caleb Williams came into the league. Yes, and he's more consistently, in my opinion, he's more consistently accurate than Caleb Williams. I think Caleb is all-time talent, but Cam's a really good player.

You know, if I'm so bullish on Cam Ward that maybe we do a head-to-head, you love the Patriots next year with Drake Bay, and we'll go head-to-head. I'll take the Titans, you have the Patriots, who's going to win more games? I'm telling you, Cam Ward will invigorate that franchise. Yes. Because they were in a bunch of games last year, that Will Levis kept just throwing the football.

No, no, no, no. I don't think... He literally lost them like four games. Well, if I told you, that Cam Ward won that division next year. You wouldn't be outraged. Indianapolis doesn't know who their quarterback is. Texans are sagging back a little bit.

They did not look as good this past season, and we don't know what a dig's probably not returning there. No, that's a good, that's a good call. Cam Ward is the kind of player. And Tennessee feels like for the last, even during Brables years, they're just not terribly dynamic on offense. Now, they've been powerful,

but they've never been really like a team that you feel like once they fall behind 17-0-0, Tennessee's over. They don't have any of that. They have to take control of the game with Derek Henry and Tannehill. So, I mean, this kid would add spice to what I believe is a very physical football operation. They've always been tough and physical. They haven't always been efficient,

but they've almost never been dynamic offensively. Let me ask you one question. I like Cam Ward a lot with his makeup as a quarterback. There are going to be people in the Titans organization who say, you know, Chador is going to instantly sell us tickets. He comes in with the name, obviously his father. Do we just look at him because, you know, maybe you get 80% of Cam Ward with Chado? You just go get the best player.

The NFL's just go win games. It's not about shoe sales or getting, just go get the best player possible. I would guarantee you if they took Chador, they get at least one prime, maybe two. What does that mean? Again, you're the Tennessee Titans. You're largely irrelevant. Well, you can't worry about that stuff. I just pose a question.

I'm not saying I would do that, but I'm... You got to worry about the thing is the thing. And in football, it's winning games. Final story, Colin, is some positive news in the NBA. Somebody has to be positive about the NBA. And that's us. Yeah, that's a shot. Zion Williamson.

My gosh. I almost forgot he plays basketball. He had his first career triple double, 27, 10, and 11 against the hapless sons last night. Pelicans with the dub. Suns are a mess. We'll talk about them later on the show, I'm sure. But Colin, the Zion Williams and show, when he was coming into the league, do you remember the excitement?

It was like not quite one bignamah, but it was like, oh, man, there's a guy who got to be new from college. He got a million people on a Facebook page to watch an AAU game. That's right. No, there's no, but the shoe exploding made him more interesting. Yeah. And now he just, you know, it just hasn't panned out. He's always hurt.

He's always. Now, remember this. I believe his first year, his numbers were the best since wilt as a rookie. Yeah, I think, no, he's something like in the paint, he was scoring at shack-like levels. And he just can't say healthy. And off the court, been a bit of a mess. We're not going to revisit some of his issues, shall we say. But if he could get healthy, that would be great.

And he's still only like 25 years old. No, no, I mean, there's a young guy. In the right environment, I think you have to get him out of New Orleans and all at good food. Send him to Indianapolis, a very average food city. In New Orleans is, well, I'm sorry. I spent five days in New Orleans. It's my tenth time there. All you do is eat.

Drink and eat. You did put on some weight there. Yeah, of course, had stomach flu, so it all came back out. J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Line news. Well, there were the few things that Jay Mack and I have disagreed with on the years of Brock Purdy.

He views him as better than Brett Farr. of I view them as a bit of a Hammondegger. But another one is that the inside the NBA crew was Shaq and Kenny, Ernie, and Sir Charles. It's hurting the league. It's so hypercritical. So LeBron James was talking about face of the league stuff, and he made this comment, because LeBron's obviously been face of the league for 15 years. He had this to say.

Why do you want to be the face of the league when all the people that, you know, that cover our game and talk about our game? on a day-to-day base on everybody. I had that responsibility. That's just weird, it's weird energy from the people that, you know, I don't know. But Channing, he said it, he said it perfectly. Okay. All these people who cover the league.

I may not talk about the NBA as much as Stephen A, but I talk a lot about it, and I have big platforms, okay? I've been critical of LeBron James twice in his career. I thought his first year in Los Angeles, he was distracted. It was like business more than basketball. He didn't like the roster. I get it. And the brawny thing feels forced to me.

But, you know, I had one rant on that. Savannah and LeBron are great parents. But the NBA actually, the players have the most power. And because of that, even their coaches walk on eggshell with stars. They don't get hard coaching in AAU basketball. It's more of a circus than a developmental league. And there's one show in the NBA that is very critical of the players, occasionally. It's more of an entertainment

vehicle. That's the inside the NBA. That's it. And it's often better than the games. It wins the most awards, and it's easily the most watched. Lamar Jackson wins 76% of his games, and the commentary on him is ruthless. Messy in his search for his First World Cup. Brutal. Like death

threat stuff, like brutal. So the NBA media outside of one show is, I would say, is mostly fawning. So this idea that Everybody picks on the NBA. NBA players have so much power starting in AAU basketball. Everybody walks on eggshells around him. I mean, Mahomes gets ripped, Josh Allen gets ripped, Lamar Jackson gets ripped, Justin Herbert gets ripped.

Everybody in the NFL gets ripped. The majority of things that were critical, like guys like me are critical about the NBA, Adam Silver is actually critical of and is concerned about like, you know, like the load management stuff. and LeBron himself has been critical of something I have. There's too many damn threes. It's a bigger conversation. It's not just the All-Star game. It's our game in general.

Our game is a lot of threes being shot. So it's a bigger conversation. It's just an All-Star game. So LeBron is addressing my primary criticism of the league. Load management's bad for fans. as too many threes. And Jason Tatum is the one player in the NBA that wants to be the face of the league, but the truth is he doesn't have the aura or the charisma.

He's just a great player. It's not hate. Just being honest. It's just being honest. So I don't buy this nonsense that I would argue that the football culture in America, the coaching's tougher and the media is much harsher. Even in college football, players get down. death threats in college football when they drop passes and miss kicks.

That's not happening a lot in college basketball. It doesn't happen in AAU. It doesn't happen in the NBA. So let's stop this whole. Oh, Barclay is so I watched that show last night. It's a comedy show. That's what that show is. It's a comedy show that sometimes is willing to poke some of the NBA superstars

gently in the ribs. Gently. So I don't think Brock Purdy is Joe Montana, and I don't think the inside the NBA show is turning people off. I don't buy it. I would argue negative opinions. I mean, if you go look at the algorithms of YouTube, Facebook, negativity helps popularity. I mean, who's president for the second time?

The most polarizing person who the media. attacks 24-7. I mean, the media has, there's not, except for the network called Fox, media attacks our president. That makes his followers more strident. So, so the idea that criticism hurts a rating, I'm, I would argue when you're critical of somebody, it makes people defend them to a greater degree. And I, I just don't buy that the NBA media, I think it's pretty fawning, by and large. Coming up next. And for the, and for the What did I lead my show with for the third time this week? How great LeBron is.

All right. I know I'm not Barclay, but, you know, I got a few followers. Coming up next, we'll go to the NFL Combine with one of the guys that I think does as good a job as anybody in the country. His dad was a former coach. He'll join us live from Indy on breaking down players. You can go back and look at his thoughts and picks. He doesn't miss much. We'll go to Indy next.

Live in Atlanta, it's the hurt. Be sure to catch live at. of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news.

We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to us. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend.

But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes.

I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you

funnier. This week, my guest, 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete

themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth.

He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know.

Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, I was thinking about this, before we go to Indy for the Combine, that Travis Hunter said he wanted to play 100% of the snaps. He wants to go both ways. So when the NBA guys want the night off, Travis Hunter's like, I don't want to snap off. It does matter. But, you know, I was thinking about this is last year, 12 million people watched the first round of the draft.

That was better than the NBA finals that had Jason Tatum and the big brand Celtics. Why? How is that possible? How is the beginning of a career? By the way, the first round is long. You sit there for 10 minutes waiting for picks. It's people on phones. It's highlights from their college careers. It got 12 million viewers. That's beating stuff like, you know, like big bowl games. That's beating the NBA finals with the Celtics in it. And I think the reason is, and this is why the WNBA draft last year, was more interesting than the NBA. draft stories. I mean, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese came into the league. They had

stories. Baker Mayfield came into the league. He had a story. Travis Hunter, Shadour Sanders, Cam Ward, Carter, the defensive end for Penn State. You've got to follow all these guys. And I think

I really do is the draft is in late April and it's getting monster numbers. And this is why I've said for years, college basketball is the NBA's ally. It is their best friend. And Adam Silver, when he first got that job, saw him as the enemy, and the G League hurts the NBA. It hurts the NBA.

The players disappear and then end up on bad teams. I have no story. I have no visceral connection at all. So the truth is, Colorado wasn't even a good team. And yet, Shadour Sanders and Travis Hunt, Hunter come into this league, this program three years ago was the worst in college football. But because guys stay in college, because the NFL's always understood the power of college football, I can't wait to watch it.

I don't know how Travis Hunter's going to do. I don't know how Shedor's going to do, but I'm into their stories. I said it this year. Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, I knew the first seven people taken in the WNBA draft. Do you remember the first player taken in the NBA draft unless you're like a diehard? It was a French guy, I think. And I'm a sportscaster. I mean, it just didn't have any impact.

I didn't want to watch it. I didn't care. I knew he wouldn't have an impact. He goes to a bad team. It wouldn't matter. Okay. So Lance Zerline has worked for... I've been working in the NFL draft for 25 years at NFL.com.

He does about a good job as anybody in this country. I am sitting on his draft previews. The minute he starts... writing him. So I want to talk about this about Shadur Sanders. Yesterday, Daniel Jeremiah came on the show and he said, what is his great trait? And I said, my favorite part, he had no run game and an awful offensive line. So he has had to initiate

offense. That is a real NFL experience because you're going to go to a team with a bad old line that doesn't have great weapons. You quarterback at Ohio State, that's not the real world where a drag route from underneath becomes a 60-yard game. When you look at Shadur, I think he's a B to a B plus prospect. What is his superpower?

Well, his superpower, and I can give DJ a call if we need to get this thing settled. I can call him, Colin. But what he, you know, if you're talking about the traits, the arm to this or that, no. But what he has are those intangibles that we always speak of all the time, the accuracy, the calm in the pocket, the poise, the confidence. That's what he has. And to me, that's really where you start with, you know, with Shador Sanders. Cam Ward's going to be the physical stuff.

But Shador Sanders is really more of the intangibles that, frankly, we end up spotlighting for a lot of players that, you know, end up being better than we expect them to be. So I think when you talk about superpowers, I think he's kind of a Clark Kent in the sense that, you know, he's got the ability to do some things. But what really helps him to stand out, in my opinion, is the way he manages the pocket. He is very calm. He's very confident, and he's going to throw up the accuracy. And those are three very big items. Does he have a comp in the NFL? Because I've heard people talk about Cam Warden say, and I can see it.

There's a little Caleb Williams. What is Shador's comp? Didn't put one. Couldn't come up with one. And I think, but I did today. I was thinking about it because I was anticipating you ask me about Shador. And I thought, you know who he needs to be. He needs to be DJ Stroud and Jared Gough.

And you know, those are my comps for each other. I thought CJ's a lot like Jared Gough and I still think that's true. And I think that's a good thing, by the way. I think that's who Shador Sanders has to be. Be those guys. Be game managers who can dissect defenses and who can keep the game on track. Don't try to be something you're not, which is a guy throwing off platform. You're not Patrick Mahomes.

Don't try to be Patrick Mahomes. Be Jared Gough. That's a really good player to be. And that can win a lot of football games. You know, when the CTE stuff hit the NFL, there was the NFL, you were hearing a lot of stories that moms didn't want their sons to play football. And I remember hearing that. The NFL was very aggressive, pursuing moms and marketing and promoting,

and women viewership in the NFL has gone up. But there was this sense that that CTE discussion, there was like a feeling like, boy, this is too dangerous. And I remember that. And I hear how weak this draft is. And I just wonder, are we getting to a point where numbers are down kids playing football? and you know in the NBA about every third draft is a clunker. Like in the NFL, they're all good drafts. Some are just better than others.

Does this feel like it is the first of what will become a little more consistently, kind of average drafts, fewer kids are playing high school football? Does that make any sense? It makes sense. I hadn't really thought about it. I'm going to keep an eye on it. I've got a counter to that, really, because I write all these players. If I look at their bios,

This is the fewest amount of players we've had declare early for the NFL draft in a long, long time. So I think the talent pool is watered down because NIL is keeping more players in school. It's better for us as sports fans, Colin. We get to see better college basketball. Frankly, we get to see better college football in terms of players staying a little bit longer. I think the flip side of that is there's also a lot of COVID players in this. And what I mean by that is I have never in my entire life other than when I write up BYU players who typically do more missions and it takes them a little longer. I cannot tell you the last time I wrote up somebody 23 and

24 year old. So many players who played six years. And I think this draft is populated with the very end of the players who got the extra year from COVID. So they're older players. They're players who have been there longer. They're kind of average players, I think, who are maybe better than the competition because they're frankly older, stronger. They're just, you know, they're more physically mature, but also, you've got to remember, NIL is keeping more of the talented juniors in school than we've ever seen. Okay, I think you can make an argument. Carter's and Travis Hunter are the most explosive athletes I saw. But I'm not sure that Mason Graham and Team Act, the receiver at Arizona, aren't the best football players. I, and tell me how wrong I am. I think those guys

are impact players day one. I think Carter's got more talent. I think Travis is generational. But Mason Graham and T-Mack from Arizona. I think those guys plug play star very early. Tell me I'm wrong. I tell you, you might be wrong. It's so funny because people who watch the tape on Tett McMillan, they don't love it, and I didn't love it. Here's why.

He just cruised on deep routes. He doesn't run to his top speed. He had a little bit of a foot injury in the offseason, so he was slow getting back into it. I want to see him out here working out. I want to see him drop his weight, get in and out of breaks quicker, get some separation. more of a Drake London type player, which is fine. I don't mind Drake London, but I don't think

Drake London's ever going to be considered the best player in the draft. And while this isn't a great draft, I think Tedmy Millen has some things to prove out here, either at the Combine or at his Pro Day, depending on how he works. I thought his 23 tape is better than his 24 tape. And you can see right here, this is a guy when he's striding and when he gets his speed up, he's got buildup speed. So let's just see some of that out here at the Combine. As far as, you know, and there's some good wide receivers, but it's not a great wide receiver draft. I don't know. that there's a true wide receiver one in this draft, a guy who's going to be a star in a team.

As far as the other player you mentioned, Mason Graham, Mason is one of the safest players you can find in the draft, one of the absolute safest, high, high floor. I think his ceiling is a little bit more solid than unbelievable football player. People around the Michigan program will tell you that Kenneth Grant, the other defensive tackle, if they both play at their very best, that he could have the higher ceiling than Mason Graham.

And really, it's not a slam on Graham. It's really talking about how good both of those guys have a chance to be. But, you know, for me, Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland, the two tight ends, I think those guys and Ashton Genty are the three you really have to hone in on. Besides, obviously, Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter, who you mentioned. I think Loveland is going to be a star in the making. I think Travis, you know who Tyler Warren reminds me of? He reminds me of Jeremy Shockey when he came out.

Yeah. I see a lot of Jeremy Shockey confidence in his game when he came out. And then Ashton Jenty, for me, I mean, I'm looking at Ladani. and Tomlinson, a guy who can create with speed, wiggle, and power, a guy who can do it on his own. So I think Gentie's going to end up being a really special running back. My only problem with it is that, you know, he's had so many carries and touches over the last two years. Yeah. Okay.

Lance Zerline, NFL.com does great stuff. He likes Ashton, Jenny. I think it's such a great running back draft. I'd be a little reluctant to go first round back. Caroline is also going to great one. We're going to go. It's our two next. 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 in 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 from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines.

And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place. I'm Akila Hughes, and Rebel Spirit season two is about both of those things. As I was watching these statues come down, I was thinking about what it meant that I grew up in a

majority black city in which there were more homages to enslavers than there were to enslave people. Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.