The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - Luka vs the Mavericks

Episode Date: February 25, 2025

Thoughts on the Luka Doncic facing the Mavericks for the first time tonight  Shedeur Sanders has fallen off down the upcoming drafting rating to #7 The NBA talking heads need to stop living in the past glories and appreciate nowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks to making us part of your day. Tonight is the night. Tonight is the night. Luca Dantage, the newest Laker in Los Angeles, and the team that traded him away, shockingly, the Dallas Mavericks, limp into town. with all their bigs injured. This has the potential to get really ugly.

J. Mack is going to this one. I'll be locked on a TV, smoking a stoke, maybe knocking down a gin and soda, checking out what will be a spectacle in Los Angeles tonight. And this is a city over the last several years between Mookie Betts and Freeman and Shoah O'Haw Tani and Lincoln Riley and Jim Harbaugh. A lot of stars coming to town, Jemak. Tonight is going to be interesting. So Luca Dantich at home hosting the Mavs.

You're going to officially see how awful this trade was. Luca's going to be inspired. He's going to be ticked off. And J.J. Reddick and LeBron James are going to make sure he eats. They're going to feed him the ball all night. This is going to be the New York Giants against Sequin Barclay. This is going to be dinner with your ex and she upgraded. You're going to be wondering if you're Dallas, what was I thinking?

Where did it all go wrong? It sets up to be a bloodbath, potentially, because Dallas, all their bigs are hurt, so Lucas is going to score any way he wants. And I said this. If the Mavericks would have gotten Anthony Davis, Austin Reeves, and three first-round picks, I still wouldn't have made the deal. But I could, you know, he's hurt, conditioning. Maybe I'd sleep a little better at night. But giving him away for one pick for Anthony Davis, and he is not. 26 years old yet. He's got two more days to be 25. And here's the thing. The thing I'm thinking

about this morning. Yes, Sequin Barclay to the Eagles was a huge gaffe by Joe Shane the Giants gym. But Sequin Barclays are running back. They don't last forever. 32 years old, they can be out of the game. 33 years old. They retire soon. So you don't have to sit and watch this forever. Look is 25. If he gets the conditioning right, he could be dropping 33 points a night for the next 14 years. And the other thing, he's in the Western Conference. So Luca could be keeping Dallas, because I actually like Dallas's roster. AD, Kyrie, their size, their coach, I actually like Dallas's roster.

But there's a real opportunity here for the Lakers to bounce the Mavericks out for years. and this is a player that is just in two days turning 26. So years ago, about 15 straight years out of college, I used to have a dream that haunted me. And it may have lasted 20 years. And this thing woke me up in a sweat about three times a month. I had this dream that I was going to take a college final and I wasn't prepared. And I had this dream all the time.

And just think about it this way. Luca is advanced calculus and the Mavericks, Nico Harrison, is going to spend the next 12 to 13 years waking up at least two to three times a month in a sweat. That's why, if you're going to trade Luca, you've got to get assets, you got to get ammo, you got to get him out of your conference. He can't get in the way of keeping you from trophies. So tonight's the night, Dirk Novitsky, previously in Dallas, their greatest player ever, he'll be here tonight, and he has been in L.A. several times to support Luca. I felt a little disappointed and sad for him, you know. I think he obviously didn't see this coming.

So he invited me to come out to his first game in L.A. And I felt like I had to support him. It was reported that he was pretty, obviously, down and disappointed how, how. it went down and so I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to be there for his family and then show support. It was weird. It was surreal to see him play for the Lakers. So at the other day, I mean, I'll ever be a Lakers fan, but it was always a Luka fan.

Tonight is a spectacle. We've been lucky in Los Angeles. We've just had big coaches and, you know, Stafford in town and Harbauda town and Shohei moves up the I-5. and here comes Freddie Freeman from Atlanta, and here comes Mookie Betts, and now it's Luca in our lap and facing his Mavericks hobbling into town tonight. Can't wait. So Mel Kuiper, maybe you've heard of him, has a big mock draft, and he released it today.

And a lot of people are surprised that Shadour Sanders, who people, you know, during the college football season, many people speculated he'd go number one. He's going number seven in the mock draft of the New York Jets. and I was thinking about this this morning. That's about where he should go. I think he's a good B-plus prospect. I think he's a good kid. He's accurate.

But my favorite part about Shadur Sanders is not. It's not that his dad is Dion. It's not that he was one of the first guys that made big NIL money. Actually, my favorite part isn't his strength. He's really accurate. You want to know my favorite part of Shadur Sanders? the last two years, he has been the most sacked college quarterback out of every single Power 5 school. Oh, it gets worse.

In the last two years, he had the worst running game of any other quarterback in Power 5 conferences. This is Andy Dufrain escaping from Shawshank. This kid has been through a tunnel. Okay, this kid has swam through a tunnel and you know what. And there's a reason that there aren't a lot of great Ohio state quarterbacks in the NFL. And not a lot of great Notre Dame quarterbacks, USC quarterbacks, Texas quarterbacks, Georgia quarterbacks. Why is that? Why is that?

Yet Cal, the Golden Bears, have given us Gough and Aaron Rogers. North Carolina State gave us Philip Rivers. Gave us Russell Wilson. Eastern Illinois gave us Garoppolo and Tony Romo. Why is that? Josh Allen's from Wyoming? Patrick Mahomes is from Texas Tech. Lamar Jackson from a basketball school, Louisville.

Why is that? It's because of what Chodor Sanders faced, a tunnel of crap, is that the reality is when you go to an Ohio state, you take a three-step drop, hit a receiver, a five-star receiver on a drag route, he goes for 48 yards. It's easy living. go back to Matt Liner at USC. How many times was he sacked?

I mean, one year it was 11 times. It's not a real life that you'll face in the NFL, especially if you're a top 10 lottery pick. You go to bad teams and battle lines and bad receivers and often really bad coaches. That is why Big Ben didn't go to Ohio State. He was overlooked by them.

Miami of Ohio. Drew Brees didn't go to Texas. He was overlooked by them. went to Purdue. Mahomes, all those guys from Cal, Chador Sanders, has had to manufacture offense. And that's what happens in the NFL, even if you're Patrick Mahomes, because you make so much money, you don't have an elite offensive left tackle. And you have to manufacture stuff because you have to let Tyreek Hill go. Philadelphia is an outlier. They pay the quarterback and they're loaded. The reality is in the NFL, if you're a top 10 quarterback, you usually go to a lousy roster or a really bad smell in the organization.

And then once you do get paid, you're going to be limited on actually what they can put around you. I mean, that's the downside to be in a lottery pick. But Sodor Sanders, the most sack quarterback, the worst running game, this kid's ready for it. It's not that his dad's Dian. It's not that he was the first NIL star or second. It's not that he's really accurate. He's lived a real life in the NFL. I mean, Caleb Williams, high school and college, everything was easy.

He goes to Chicago. That's a real life. The coach, the coordinators, the roster, your O-line, the media is not in your corner. So I look at Shudor Sanders, and I looked it up this morning. and he's seventh in Mel Kuyper's draft. That's exactly. That's exactly. By the way, if you look at the top seven teams in the NFL draft, I could argue the Jets

have the best roster. You're going to fall a little? Oh, they got a number one receiver and a number one back. And they have a left tackle from Penn State. And they've got maybe the best corner or second best corner in the league. And they've got a top linebacker. Now, they got a new coaching staff, but I would argue falling in the draft of the Jets. It's a better roster than Tennessee or the Giants or Cleveland or the Raiders.

So I looked up the composite rankings of Colorado that Shadur Sanders played with. It was even with BYU, SMU, and Arizona State. And there are two quarterbacks in this draft that are ready to play day one, Cam Ward and Shadur Sanders. And the biggest reason is he's lived a real NFL life, running for his life with no running game for two years and having to manufacture offense. J. Mack, you are very fired up. I would ask you where you got your tickets. Hopefully you had to pay for him. You didn't get freebies so you can relate to people.

But you are going to the game tonight, and I'm a little jealous, but I'm going to sit back, watch, and my guess is, Luca goes for 44. 44. Well, they don't have any rim protection. Dallas's bigs are all hurt. But the other thing is, you know J.J. Reddick and LeBron James are going to feed him the ball for 40 minutes. He is going to get the ball. They're going to initiate offense. This is going to be one of those. You know, you just do guys a solid. It's almost like when LeBron would play Cleveland in Miami. It's like, we're going to make sure we get him the ball.

We're going to make sure it's a solid. Yeah, you think he's maybe dieting today, a little intermittent fasting, not eating a little, look, a little slimmer to just shove it in the face of the mass. Boy, it's tough to be a Dallas Mavericks fan right now. How about a Dallas sports fan right now, Colin? Cowboys are in turmoil. I was in Chicago this weekend, and I was talking to a couple of Chicago sports fans. They are going through. People in Los Angeles are spoiled.

We are. I mean, there's been about an eight-year run. I mean, think of our football coaches. We've had Chip Kelly, Lincoln Riley, Jim Harbaugh, Sean McVeigh. Our quarterbacks have been Caleb Williams, Matt Stafford, Jared Goff got shipped out of town He wasn't good enough And Justin Herbert

Not bad No so it's And all of a sudden Luca falls in the lap of the Lakers So it is Tonight's going to be a big night in L.A. Huge, massive I'll go triple double for Luca

32 point triple double 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 Hey it's us to Jonas Brothers and guess what?

We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. 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, 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.

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,

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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 SportsSlice 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 and 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 Levant this plant 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. Is that you've seen everything like four times and that you tend not to overreact to stuff and you realize that sports is very cyclical. And let me just give you an advantage. boxing used to be a much bigger deal, but it was poorly run.

UFC was brilliantly run by Dana White and the Fratita family. UFC killed boxing. It'll never return. Horse racing used to be bigger. Too many controversies. Tennis just went through a 20-year run of Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, maybe the three best players ever. Men's tennis will never duplicate that again.

That will never happen. Sometimes great happens. Tiger Woods in golf. Literally, the Sopranos, the NFL and Tiger Woods, the only thing that got me to a TV on Sunday, I would race home to see Tiger Woods if I did stuff in the morning on a Saturday or a Sunday. I've never done that in my entire life. There'll be no more tigers. I mean, I love Dustin Johnson.

Brooks Kepka. I like all of them. It's not Tiger Woods. He was a meteor for 10 to 12 years. It's okay. Sports are cyclical. Take the NFL. out. It's our English Premier League. We watch it. It's perfect for TV, and we bet it like crazy.

And many of us played it. Take the English Premier League out? Cricket used to be much bigger in England. It's called their national pastime. It takes four days. Nobody's waiting four days for a result from a sworn event. It's died mostly. Baseball up and down, huge in the 70s, not as big in the 80s, really quiet for 20 years, and now they've got all the stars lined up in the big markets, and they just set ratings, and they've sped the game up. There's been a lot of talk about the NBA, and it should be noted before I give you this soundbite. They just signed an 11-year, $76 billion-billion-dollar deal. There's an old saying about the Bible, treat others as you want to be treated. Everything else in it is just commentary. And there's a little. And there's a little saying,

is saying in sports, just get the contract. Everything else is noise. Adam Silver, the owners and the players, 11 years, 76 billion. But there's a lot of critics about the NBA, and Channing Fry, never afraid to have a strong opinion, says this is what's killing the league. Nostalgia is killing the NBA, the 90s basketball, Michael Jordan and Kobe, was not as clean as y'all think it was. Every great player, whether that's Aunt, Wembe, Braun, you know, Steph, this, that, this, that, you know, they compare them to a month 40 years ago. The rules weren't even the same. Nobody celebrates these new people.

So why the f*** would anybody want to be the face of this league? We're going to get sh-a-on on every network for not being somebody from 40-fion years ago. Braun is one of the greatest players ever to play. Stefan Curry is one of the greatest players ever to play. Janice is one of the great. Yokic. And you know what we do? We talk about Michael Jordan.

All this superstar era is over. Well, yes, this is true. And TV ratings are down. but I saw this this morning that basketball this past year had 18 billion views across social media far and away the most. People are watching it differently. The NBA isn't hockey. I talked about it yesterday, the first time in two years. You know what I'm not talking about on today's show?

Hockey. We talk basketball. Every show like mine talks basketball. We played it. If we don't like pro basketball, we used to. If we don't like it now, we still like March Madness. We all shot a ball. Few of us shot a puck.

The NBA is part gossip, infighting, drama, rumors. It's like those magazines at the cashier at every grocery store. The NBA is the Kardashians plus People magazine plus us weekly. Yes, they need to do some tweaking. Like baseball, they're slow to it. They need to shorten the playoffs. series from seven games in her first rounder to three, five, make the games more urgent. 82 games feels long?

How about 68? How about fine players seven figures? Suspend them for two and three week periods without pay for load management, which is just egregiously, nauseating. NFL players play hurt every Sunday in blizzards. You have an ice cream headache and you have to sit out? Give me a break. It's gross.

but the good news is the Knicks, the Celtics and the Lakers, the three biggest brands are now all good and they're all ascending. The number one player in this next draft is Cooper Flagg from Duke. By the way, this next draft is a domestic draft. Lots of kids from Duke and Carolina. So, yes, I think there's too many three-point shots. I think they should cap it at maybe 15 or 8. team. Then, no matter where you shoot it, it's worth two points. Yes, I think they should shorten either the season or playoffs. But we talk basketball. They just signed an 11-year,

$76 billion deal. If I sell my house and I get the bag on it and it goes down when you own it, that's a you problem. I got it. It was nice when I lived it. They got the bag. They got the contract. Adam Silver's happy, the players are happy, the owners are happy. Do I think NBC overpaid for it? I do. Do I think Amazon overpaid for it? I do. But in the end, this is a sport that we watched it in high school.

One of the best sports movies arguably is Hoosiers. We still watch March Madness. Women's basketball has Caitlin Clark and it's growing. The NBA is well-financed and love it or hate it like the Kardashians. it's relevant. We talk about it all the time. And yesterday was the first time in two years. This show and many others talks hockey.

What you want to be in sports, because everybody knows the NFL is the sun. Everything gets its heat from the NFL. Everything rotates around it. Get the NFL out of here. And in England and the UK, get the English Premier League out. Everything is second place. So starting in second place, college football. football. I love it. Baseball, on a heater. NBA, at least socially and culturally, very relevant.

Yes, we talk too much about Michael Jordan. But Michael Jordan's the greatest basketball player probably ever. Michael Jordan was the coolest. He was the best dressed. He was the best looking. He was the most relentless. He went six for six in the finals. It's okay. But this idea that we don't talk about Steph. Yeah, we do all the time. I've done 500 segments on Steph. Well, we don't reward Yokic. He should have won three straight MVP's. He's just kind of a boring player.

So was Kareem and his prime. Sometimes bigs don't want to talk. Shacks an outlier. The league's fine. Ratings are down. It needs to be tweaked. But when Michael Jordan left, the ratings went down 50%. And it wasn't about politics.

It was about they missed Michael. Take the NFL out and look at it. how cyclical sports is. Boxing's dead. Horse racing's less relevant. Radio is not the water cooler topic it used to be. Soccer is bigger. World Cup ratings are huge. Networks, Netflix, Fox, everybody's fighting to get the World Cup. What they're not fighting for is baseball. So everything changes. It's highly cyclical. The English Premier League in the NFL, those are different discussions, and everybody's chasing those. But tennis, men,

tennis will never be as big as it was for the last 20 years. And golf will never have another Tiger Woods. That would scare me. The NBA, ratings are down on TV, most of it on cable TV. Everything outside of talking Trump is down on cable TV, isn't it? It'll survive. J. Mack with a news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. This is good stuff from you. Fired up today on a Tuesday. I like it, coward. Let's go to the Philadelphia Eagles. Colin, their defense was spectacular in the Super Bowl win over the Chiefs,

the beatdown of the Kansas City Chiefs, that is. However, Philly did give up 22 points in the second half. And this is kind of bizarre, but according to Jalick's Hunt, a edge rusher slash linebacker, he says the defensive coordinator, Vic Fongio called a team meeting the day before the Super Bowl parade. Okay, before the parade. To talk about how unacceptable the team's defense was, After halftime against Patrick Mahomes, Hunt added that Fongio expects perfection.

And our staff has some stats in the second half. Patrick Mahomes did kind of sort of cook. It was down 34-0. You know, they posted a bunch of points in yards, but I don't get this at all from Fongio. What's he doing? You know, yeah, I think this is just one of those stories that sports radio in Philadelphia ignited. I don't think anybody watched the Eagles and thought, you know what? They've got band-aids everywhere defensively.

I think they have drafted it so well. Between the Rams and the Eagles, they're just not missing on defensive draft picks. They just kept hitting on all of them. They're all exceptional. And I think that's such a key to this league because I think the really good teams in this league stay young and nimble on defense

and cheap and spend their money on offense. So, I mean, what's scary about Philadelphia, this is not an old team that's falling apart. Jalen Carter, Dean, the two corners. They're not even getting paid yet. I saw a story today where Miles Garrett and the Eagles, it might happen. So the scary part about Philadelphia is that they have hit on so many good defensive players. They can keep paying.

Sequin, AJ, Goddard, Hertz, Devonte Smith. All goes back to the draft. If you hit on players on the defensive side, you can pay and keep your big on. offensive stars. Listen, they're keeping Vic Fongio. He's not out there interviewing for head coaching jobs. That continuity is massive. I'll point to the Lions. Lose their O.C., lose their D.C. I don't think the Lions are coming into the next season as good as the Eagles. I know the Lions were the team that everybody loved this year, but Colin, this Philly team's going to keep intact. I think their arrows pointing up. They're going to be good next year. Let's go to the Lions,

who were 15 and 2 last year, but did get shell by the commanders in the divisional round. They gave up 45 points in that game. So after the loss, Peyton Manning, sent an encouraging text to Dan Campbell saying, I know how you feel, I've been there, but we did win the whole thing the next year. You just keep sawing wood. It's nice of Peyton Manning to send that note to. They'll be fine. They're going to be just fine.

Listen, when your problems as a Detroit Lion fan are we got blown out, you know, we underachieved in a playoff game, that's a great problem to have. And again, they're a team that's drafted exceptionally well. So like Philadelphia or the Rams or the Eagles, when you draft at that kind of level, it ensures you can go pay for free agents and keep your offensive stars. However, and I know you love this guy, Jared Goff. He's, you know, L.A. resident in the offseason. He was rotten against Washington.

What do you have, nine interceptions? He was terrible. Now, I don't, he did take a big hit. Briefly left. Maybe he was concussed. But Colin, you have to wonder, Jaden Daniels is better than Jared Goff. We only did one year. You would agree with that, right?

Yes, absolutely. So, like, do they have a. ceiling with Goff. I think they've kind of hit it. I think there's a real sense that the last two pocket quarterbacks in this league that work are Goff and Stafford. I will say, both are excellent, and I also think Shadour Sanders is coming into this league, and he'll be an excellent pocket passer. So not everybody can run around. Not every team is built similarly. Detroit is going to be fine. They draft well. I mean, again, their big problem is we wish Jared Goff had more mobility. If that's the biggest problem

with your offense, you're in a good space. Okay. Humor me real quick and rank the quarterbacks in the NFC North. Getting into next season. You got Gough, Caleb, Love, and McCarthy. Ranked them top four. Goff's number one. No. I thought you're infatuation with Jordan Love.

I am infatuated, but he was a bit reckless and we'll see what happens next year, but Goff's number one, right now. Unequivocally. Right now today. And also, So forget his O line, forget everything. If you're asking me who the best quarterback, we don't know what Caleb is. We don't know what J.J. McCarthy is.

We have no idea. I think Jordan loves ridiculously talented. But, you know, I thought he had a little bit of a step back year. So we'll see what happens in the offseason. Okay. Let's head to the NBA big game last night. OKC. Everybody's darling in the West.

OKC. They face Minnesota. And check this out. Anthony Edwards with the game saving block on SGA. Look at him come from behind here. This was an incredible game. Look at that block. One of the greatest comeback.

They went on a 16-0-0 run in the fourth quarter. We have Chris Finch on our show today. Look at that block by Ann and then flexed on him. It was an awesome victory for the wolves. Listen, I know everybody loves OKC. I'm going to be real. They're going to be limited in the playoffs. They've got SGA and a bunch of guys.

And listen, after the game, Chris Finch popped off about SGA getting all the calls. And I call him free throw a merchant. Listen to Chris Finch. It's so frustrating to play this team because they've foul a ton. You know, they really do, they foul, they foul all the time. And then, you know, you can't really touch Shea.

And it's a very frustrating thing and it takes a lot of mental toughness to try to play through it. And, you know, we just eventually were able to get downhill and force, you know, force the issue ourselves and we're rewarded for it. Yeah. Folks,

he's on later today. It is one of the best Every year there's like five or six regular season games, and we keep thinking the Knicks and Celtics are going to be those games, and then Boston, it's over in the first quarter. This was a great. I mean, like eight, nine moments in the game late. Minnesota just caught total fire in this game. They did.

Now, let's just drill down on SGA for a quick second. He took 17 free throw attempts yesterday. Yeah. Everybody wants him to win the MVP. Fine, give it to him. I don't care. But Colin, if you watched any of OKC last night, you see one awesome player in SGA and a bunch of guys who are good.

Now, I'm going to test you on this. This is a tough one. In a hypothetical Lakers Thunder series, who are the four best players right now on the court? Lakers Thunder. Luca, SGA, LeBron. Take your time on this final one. I would say Jared Williams for Jalen Williams for O'KC. I would go Austin Reeves. Well, of course you would.

So the Lakers have three of the four best players. I can't believe you didn't put Brock Purdy in there. I would just, Jalen Williams on Reach, dexterity, number four. Go look at his playoff numbers last year. Mediocre at best. He's your number two. I'm just telling you, the Lakers will beat OKC in a playoff series if they beat. Can I just say this, and I'll press Chris Finch on this.

Carl Malone shot a lot of free throws too. NBA officials didn't huddle and say, you know what we want to do? We want to give this guy in Salt Lake that's got kind of a boring game, a bunch of free throws. SGA is very good. at manipulating space and getting to the free throw line. By the way, Jimmy Butler shows up in Golden State. Suddenly the Warriors lead the league in free throw attempts. The league is not saying before games, hey, you guys, Jimmy Butler, let's call a bunch of fouls.

There are players in this league, and SGA is one of them, that are unbelievably deft at creating contact. Austin Reeves does a really good job of this. Jimmy Butler's great at this. LeBron for years has been great at it. You know, a guy that's not necessarily great at is Steph, who does. doesn't initiate a lot of contact, he'd rather fall away and hit Dirk Novitsky. Although he got to the line, Dirk Novitsky is a guy that would fall away. So SGA deserves a lot of credit.

He gets to the line. He manipulates defenders. You want to guess who the, okay, so Janus leads the league in free throw attempts, which is obvious he's a freak, you know. Guess who number two is? Take a guess. SGA. And the rest of the list is basically big guys, wings and bigs. And yet SGA somehow magically on the list. Why in the world would the NBA pick a player?

from Canada that plays an O KC and give him the whistle. I'm not saying it's a conspiracy. But it's annoying that he gets every freaking call. Any time he drives he can't breathe on SGA. You got to protect him. He's like Patrick Mahomes. Can't touch him. Can't touch him. Maybe

the player deserves a little credit. He's good. SGA is good. Jay Mack with a news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Line News. Think about it. If the league really was going to pick somebody to get to the line, They'd pick Jalen Brunson, the point guard for New York.

Let's just get him to the line. They wouldn't pick a Canadian playing in Oklahoma City, nor would they pick Carl Malone, who lived at the line. Another guy, I don't know where Luca is on that list, but Luca initiates a ton of contact. A ton of contact. Is he on the free throw, top free throw shooters? He's not. Also, he hasn't played this year, so it's hard to judge him. So it's Janus SGA, followed by AD, then once.

Mallgard, Tray Young, D. Book, and Jalen Brunson is eighth on free throw attempts. So, like, he gets to the line, but SGA's is a little, little aggressive. Come on. Coming up next, you know, I'm not somebody that romanticizes sports, and something happened yesterday, and it made me so happy, and maybe I'm just being obnoxious, but it feels like one of our sports that I love is growing up, and we'll talk about that next. Live in LA, it's the Hurd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays, and New York. New Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Steve Kavino.

And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Kavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the IHeart Radio app. Why should you listen to Kavino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world? We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss.

And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved too. Take your phone calls, chop it up as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio. Maybe the most interactive show on Planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino & Rich live on Fox Sports Radio

on the IHeart Radio app from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich, wherever you get your podcast and, of course, on social media. That's Covino and Rich. 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 a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, a 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 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, S&L'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 athletes 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 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 IHeartRadio 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 plant to a billion dollar fraud.

But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can they're 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This Friday tips off at 8 Eastern with a Big Ten showdown as 20th ranked Purdue, looks to stake their claim for the conference crown against UC. LA. So I'm watching on the video last night. I'm watching some AI robot do these amazing things and it's like 90% human. And yet we still have grown men that collect baseball cards. Oh boy. Some of you just love romanticizing the past and I'm just not here for it. Nothing wears me out like sports guy reliving the good old days. Yes, you can occasionally bring up Michael Jordan and LeBron James in that debate. but there's so much great right in front of us.

And I saw this five major college football programs, USC, Texas, Florida State, Nebraska, Missouri, and several others are going to follow. They're canceling their spring game, and they should. There's no need for it. Steve Sarkesian was on with Kay Adams recently and said, it's now a pro football format. Over the last two years, we played 30 games. Yeah, we're a lot for college football. The development that's needed for these guys to get ready for the fall is a little bit different than it used to be. And so our approach is going to be a little bit more NFL driven, kind of more of an OTA style early on,

and as we grow into more of the scrimmage formats and the second half of spring ball. That I just don't know rolling the ball out, playing the game, and when we only get 15 practices is the best for us. I think college football is changing right now. And we need to do a great job as coaches of adapting to college football. Yes. Stop complaining about the NIL. Stop complaining about the transfer portal. College football now looks a lot as it should like pro football. General managers. Yep. Everybody's hiring a general manager. So a coach doesn't have to figure out the budget.

Salaries, a playoff format. Computers and sports writers aren't figuring out the national championship. We're not hinging on bad bowl games sponsored by Pop-Tarts. The reality is you've got to beat three or four great teams down the stretch to be a national champion. That's the way it should be. Now, the NFL tweaks every year. College football so far behind and outdated, it has to make some seismic moves. More big games, a real playoff format, real free agency. Bill Belichick is now in college football.

Chip Kelly left college, went back to the pros. Why not? They're the same thing. I'll just take the bigger check. There was always this big gap between college pro football. And my take was always why. The reason boxing died,

it was potentially a billion dollar business and it was poorly run. College football's attendance and ratings were going down. That's why Fox and ESPN and the NBC stepped in and said, let's make it more NFL. Let's have two major conferences. The PAC 12, the games are empty,

there's one or two programs that matter. Let's move the big conferences. Together, pack 12, why don't you join the Big Ten and make one Supercomfit? And let's take Texas, Oklahoma, and let's put them into the SEC. That's not to say you can't make the playoff from the ACC or the Big 12 of the Mountain West. But it's like grown-up sports now. Free agency, playoff format, transfer portal. You can either complain about stuff or put your arms around it and go, okay, the world's changing.

And I'm watching AI robots last night. Some of you are collecting baseball cards in your 49-year-old. years old. It's time to stop looking in the rearview mirror. This is the future of college football. Big games. Playoff at the end. Sometimes playing in bad weather. Physicality rules. I love it. And, you know, it's like I watched the Dodgers defer these payments. And people are complaining that the Dodgers are deferring payments to show hey and mooky bets. Well, it's legal. That's a you problem. Grow up. I mean, I mean, analytics in sports force old. farts out of work.

Like NBA people that don't put their arms around the three-point shot, unless you're Greg Popovich, you get fired. And baseball GMs that don't pay attention to analytics and now deferring payments, you're going to get fired. So spring football is a relic. It doesn't. Man,

what about the fans? What about them? Ratings were up this year. What about the fans? 90% of people that love college football do not go to the games. They watch it on television. And TV was better than ever. All right. So, So J. Mack's been on this heater for a while, and I don't agree. But when I ran that clip and we went to a commercial, J.MAC was giddy.

So he thinks Channing Fry is basically just taking a shot at Charles Barkley and Shaq on inside the NBA who constantly hammer the players. And here was the – is Channing Fry taking a shot at Shaq and Charles? Nostalgia is killing the NBA. The 90s basketball, Michael Jordan and Kobe, was not as clean as y'all think it was. Every great player, whether that's Aunt, Wembe, Braun, you know, step, this, that. You know what they compare them to? A month 40 years ago.

The rules weren't even the same. Nobody celebrates these new people. So why the fuck would anybody want to be the face of this league? where you're going to get on on every network for not being somebody from 40 years ago. Braun is one of the greatest players ever to play. Stefan Curry is one of the greatest players ever to play. Janice is one of the great.

Yokic. And you know what we do? We talk about Michael Jordan. All this superstar era is over. Okay. So let me start with this. We don't celebrate LeBron James. We haven't celebrated, celebrated Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.

Of course we've celebrated them. But the bigger picture with Barclay. So I've always felt this. NFL media is tough. NFL media criticizes rookies. They criticize coaches. They criticize players. It's very similar to the way the media in the UK treats the English Premier League.

It's vicious. And our football media is grown-ups and they're tough and they hammer everybody. Our basketball media, college and pro, is very soft. and overwhelmingly tries to curry favor with the stars. Barkley is the only, Barkley and Shaq and that show are the only show that holds players and load management accountable. By and large, the NBA media,

because everybody's trying to curry favor with, you know, Rich Paul, and he's very, very, very talented. And they're trying to curry favor with the stars and the top agents. Very little critical media. I've stopped bringing on certain NBA reporters who are good people, but it's all fluff. Everybody's great. Well, let's address load management. Like baseball's got this problem, too, where too many of the reporters are romanticizing baseball.

Tom Verducci, who I think's brilliant, Verduci was the first guy to say, there's steroids all over the sport. Verduci was also the first guy to say, the game's too slow. Too many pitchers, three and a half hours. it takes sometimes a strong opinion from a very notable person to push back on a sport. And I think Barclay and Shaq are the guys that are like, why aren't you playing? Why are you arrested? I want a show that is hard and has teeth and bite into the players. They're not PR firms.

My job isn't to be a PR guy. Barclay's the opposite of that. Now, is Barclay too critical? Certainly can argue that. but if you take that show out, ESPN, mostly fluff, mostly pro player, pro NBA, everything's great, and it's not. I'm not saying everybody on ESPN is, but the broadcast sometimes feel like it's owned by the teams. It's like, guys, it's okay to criticize players. I think Barclay and Shaq provide, they're the outlier, they're the dogs on TV that criticize players.

Now, J-Mac, you think the opposite. Yeah, I do. Come on. The reason these guys want to sit out is so they're rested for the playoffs. Why? Because you've got these guys on TV every night there's NBA games. Well, he doesn't have the rings. He doesn't have a championship. He's this. He's that. Why would I want to play in January and February when all that matters is the playoffs? And if I can win a championship. These guys have bashed Curry and Clay the Splash Brothers. They blast Kevin Durant like he's like a bum. I mean, they're like not counting Kevin Durant's championships in Golden State. Well, he doesn't really have a title. He joined the war.

Like, that's the crap they say. Well, that's a little over the top. Yeah, that's the nonsense. They say, I've tuned them out. Obviously, they're entertaining and fun. But you've heard the phrase, young snakes have the most venom, right? You've heard that.

Right. Okay. There's so many good young players in the league right now that have accomplished more than Michael Jordan did in his first five years. And we don't give these guys any props. We're like, oh, you know, Anthony Edwards? Ah, come on. But isn't that what PR firms do?

Isn't that what teams do? I'm not asking for fluff. I'm just not asking to rip guys every night for what they. for what they haven't accomplished when they're like 24-25. Luca, by the way, Luca, first five years in his career, has done more than any other player ever. Lamar Jackson's won 77% of his games. I have to literally defend him weekly.

He gets eaten alive by everybody. In January, you got to defend him because he always shows up and kind of poops his pants in the playoffs. My point is, I defend Lamar. I feel like I'm in a small group of defenders because he wins 76% of his games. but there's no national concern that we're too hard on Lamar Jackson. It's football. Deal with it. You're going to get criticized if you're a quarterback.

Well, wait a minute. He's awesome in the regular season. We've said that in nausea. What happens in January? Tell me, where are the results? Where are the results from Aunt Edwards? He's like 24 years old. Lamar's like 27. He's a two-time MVP.

Anthony Edwards has never been anything. Lamar's 26. Yeah, but Anthony Edwards has been ripped day one and now. Well, he wins the MVP every year. expect the best player to win championships. Well, Aunt is one of the best players in the league, and it is certainly in the MVP consideration, and we're worried that he's getting too much criticism? I would agree.

That's a great question for Chris Finch. Is Anthony Edwards getting too much criticism? We crush quarterbacks. It's part of the game. We crush politicians. It's part of the game. Why can NBA stars be crushed? I think they are getting crushed.

It's just unfair. Unfair. One show. 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 of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it.

But, you know, 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 on humor. me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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. The story I told myself can then shape my behavior and, That can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast Deeply Well with Debbie Brown. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole,

this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're watching the latest season of the Real House As a Malanta, you already know, there's a lot to break down. Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man.

They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise, the drama, the alliances, M&T, everybody's talking about. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.