The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - The future of LeBron James

Episode Date: April 30, 2024

Colin reacts to the Lakers getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the reigning champion Nuggets Thoughts on Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant no longer being in the playoffs and the face of the leagueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRedio.com or stream us live every day in the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. We're listening to Fox Sports Radio. All right, here we go. It is a Tuesday. All I hear is the impending doom of the Lakers and LeBron leaving Los Angeles. It's the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

Thanks for making us part of your day. J. Mack, well, well, J.Mack. LeBron James 39, 21st season in the books. What do you make of it? What a game, what a series. I mean, goodness gracious. That was just tremendous theater last night. And I feel for LeBron and Lakers.

Denver was only plus 11 in the entire series, plus 11. Lakers played great. Yeah, all the games feel the same between these two. So a lot of people wondering this morning if, you know, LeBron James, that was his last game as a Laker. Let's add some context to it. Believe it or not, despite the biggest brand Jeannie Buss, who's really wonderful at what she does,

She is the poorest NBA owner. Steve Balmer, who owns the Clippers, is the first or second richest. He could buy, if you look at his net worth, 27 of the other owners combined. So LeBron's not only important for basketball, he's important for business. He sells tickets. They're sold out, and they're winning about 45 games a year. So there's a reason Kobe Bryant was paid top of the market until the end. Those local cable deals, whoever the cable provider is in Los Angeles,

pay tens of millions of dollars a year. They need LeBron. L.A. is not Indianapolis or San Antonio. People here make a lot of money. We're a 40-minute flight to Vegas. We have beaches, mountains. The Dodgers draw $5 million. Two NFL teams, two NBA teams, U.S.C., UCLA.

You can't tank in L.A. You can't tank. You can't be starless. You can't even really truly rebuild. People have things to do here and a lot of money. And LeBron, in terms of basketball, was out of this, world good this year. He was great in this series. His three-point shooting this year, best of his career. His field goal percentage, best yet as a Laker. He led the team in assists.

Ticket sales. He played 71 total games. I think he had 26 per night. It was fantastic. Many nights, he's the best player on the floor in the games he plays. Many nights, more than half. And that includes AD. And he and AD play well together. And he, He and AD get along really, really well. LeBron's always loved the guy that'll do the dirty work on rebounding in defense. LeBron doesn't want to do that stuff. He wants to get out in the break and shoot his threes. And AD is banged up and playing 70-plus games.

He's a great defender, in my opinion, the best defender in the league. And AD just had his best year ever as a pro. He was fantastic. Yokic had to work for every point in this series. So LeBron wants to be a Laker. And here's the good news. When they made that AD trade with a pelicans, It kind of trapped them for a couple of years, NBA regulations.

They now can trade three first round picks this year. They only have one, but they can trade three without getting into the weeds. It's due to the AD deal. And Delo's coming off the books. So they're going to need a star, and they're going to go get a star. Donald and Mitchell, Trey Young. So my guess is LeBron stays. There's no reason to move him for business, no reason to move him for basketball.

I would absolutely have no problem committing for two or three more years. He's going nowhere. You know, you can draft his son if you want, but LeBron's still a really, really elite player. And he was in this series against a physical Denver team. But if you start looking at the West, just the West, forget the Celtics. Denver, Mini, OKC, you start looking at these teams out West. They're better than the Lakers. I mean, here's a prime example.

The Denver Nuggets do not have a single player of their best four that ever have a horrible game. They have horrible halves. Jamal Murray can have a bad half, but Jamal Marie will then have a great second half. The Lakers Delo disappears for games at a time. Rui disappears for games at a time. Even Anthony Davis, as great as he is, can be a no-show sometimes offensively. I mean, Michael Porter's their third best player for Denver. He shot 48% from three in this series.

He's an agile 6-10 athlete with a dead-eye three-point touch. He's their third best player. Okay? He is significantly more talented, gifted, and better than the Lakers' third best player, Dilo, or Austin Reeves. Their fourth best players, one of the better defenders, one of the longer bodies in the NBA, hustle guy Aaron Gordon. Way better, I would argue, and more valuable and more consistent than the Lakers' third best player, and he's their fourth. not to mention they have KCP, who is just a big shot maker. So you can blame Darwin Ham all you want for this.

The fact that they outplayed Denver most of the series says something. Eric Spolster is one of the best coaches in this league. Over the last 15 years, 10 years, one of the best coaches. He's getting worked in his series. Why? The reality of his roster. The Lakers roster is top-heavy. There's no bench.

Their third best player, Delos, sometimes is a no-show, almost always against Denver. Well, what do you want from Darvinham? He got the Lakers ready to play. I thought they outplayed Denver again last night. But at no point, even when the Lakers led, that I think, oh, Denver's in trouble. Every time these two teams play, it always looks the same. Denver's better late because Denver's got better players and better closers and coffees for closers. Here was LeBron about his future after.

Any thought at all that, you know, this could have been your last game with the Lakers? I'm not going to answer that. Ah, the sly smile by LeBron. He wants to be a Laker, but he wants the Laker to make big moves. He'll put the pressure on. I think they'll retain LeBron and D. D's here for the long run, and they'll go get a Trey Young or a Donovan Mitchell.

So, LeBron, Curry, and Durant out of the playoffs. We're just moving into the second round. Since 2005, one of those guys, sometimes all three, one of those three, had made the second round of the playoffs. They're all gone. So who's the next face of the league? Who's the next face? Yokic, Tatum, Janus, Luca, SGA, Wemby, Aunt Edwards, all vying, some vying, Yokch

doesn't want to be the face of the league. Who's the face of the league? Who's going to carry the torch? Now, they're all talented, but there is no Patrick Mahomes to replace Brady Maniom. and breeze. It's not there. He was marketable. He was the best player. He's the best quarterback. He plays the most important position. NBA diehards will tell you it's going to be Aunt Edwards.

It's going to be this guy. It's going to be that guy. The truth is they thought Iverson, Stevie Francis, and Marbury would replace Jordan and half the league ratings disappeared. I don't think any of these guys may be Wemby, although I'm not sure he wants it. will be the face of the league. And this, like, international soccer, is a face of the league sport. You don't need it in the NFL, although they've always had it, but it's a big part of this league. Now they're going to Amazon reportedly, so a lot of people aren't going to watch them

when you go to streaming. Your numbers can go down. They generally do significantly. So a lot of people forget this. They always think, it doesn't matter what market you're in. Yes, it does. LeBron is the only small market face of the league ever. think I'm lying?

Go back to the 70s. It was like Jerry West, the logo, Los Angeles. And then right after that, I felt like Dr. Jay, big market Philadelphia. And then Magic, L.A., Bird, Boston, Steph, Shaq, Kobe, all big market.

LeBron's the only one in Cleveland. Michael Jordan, Chicago. And when Michael Jordan was the face of the league, the look, the game, the style, the earrings, the smile. And at that time, Chicago had the number one NFL team, the Bears. Oprah was the biggest star in daytime TV. And Siskel and Ebert were driving people to theaters when people used to go to theaters.

Chicago has never been bigger than then. The Bears, Oprah, Jordan, Siskel and Ebert, it was flying. And then there's LeBron from Cleveland, who, for the record, was a headline in high school. The chosen one, the king. We don't have anybody like that now. So I don't know who the face of the league is, but market size matters. Now, could it be Jalen Brunson? He's not dynamic enough.

His game is excellent. I love him. But that doesn't feel like magic played different. Bird, Kareem, Dr. J, most of the faces of the league. I mean, Tim Duncan was the best player for about five years. The big fundamental was never close to the face of the league. You've got to have some pow, some verticals, some Shazam. And I do think Aunt Edwards has a lot of that.

but Minnesota is a football market more than a basketball market. But this stuff matters. I don't know who the face of the league is. I love what I've watched in the playoffs. People always bang on the NBA. I thought last night was one of the best games I've seen in a year. I thought the couple of nights earlier, Dallas Clippers' second half was one of the great nights I've seen basketball in this country anywhere globally. That's great basketball.

Nick Sixers has been unbelievable. I love the league. I love the games. The fans, the reunits are sold out, the stars. It's international, but face of the league, I guess I'd go Aunt Edwards and Wambi vive for it, but I don't feel it yet. J-Mack, they want Darwin Ham out of here.

It cracks me up. You can keep blaming LeBron's coaches. If you get rid of Darwin, what's he on his seventh, eighth coach? You can keep blaming the coaches. The Lakers match up pretty well and led for most of the series. but in the end, the better players, Jamal Murray, Yow Gets, Porter, hit baskets, and we have DeLo, Reeves, LeBron. And for the record, AD, because he plays such great defense, does usually feel a little gassed late in the fourth quarter offensively. Because he actually is banging on guys that are bigger than him.

So if you watch AD with the Lakers, he is giving you such an enormous effort defensively. I never feel like late in games. I can depend on him offensively. I'll just take the defense against Yokic. Give me 18. I'll be happy with it. LeBron's not playing that level of defense. He's kind of hanging out in the perimeter. It's a tough one. I banged on Darvinham all year.

I don't think he's the reason they lost his series. I mean, honestly, Jamal Murray had two fluke shots in the final four seconds to knock him out. But I'll say this, Colin, you had a healthy Anthony Davis, healthy LeBron, healthy Austin Reeves. Like, the team was healthy, and they were in the playing. That's kind of sort of unacceptable. That's on the coach for in-season maneuvering. Like if you're a top five seed, you don't have to face Denver to start the playoffs. And the Lakers would be advancing.

You know that, right? Well, I don't know that. I think OKC has been better in Minnesota. We kind of both had questions about the Thunder and the T-Wolves as playoff teams. They look really good. T-Wolf swept their guys, and OKC has been better than I thought. T-Wolfs look great. Don't you say the Lakers have been the third best team in the West in these playoffs so far,

despite losing 4-1? I don't know if they could, I do not think the Lakers, I think Minnesota would beat them pretty quickly. OKC, I do think they match up better against, but OKCs look great. They're a really talented team. The Lakers went toe to toe with the defending champs and were minus 11 in a five game series. Yeah, but they've done toe to toe 12, 13 games with them and lost 11. I don't want to hear about last year. But that's the reality.

All these games look the same. The better team always, this is the NBA. It's a long season. minutes of NBA games decide the winners, Denver always wins these games. Well, they're also at home for the two buzzers shot. It doesn't matter. 12 of 13.

They've won them all the same way. Again, you blame who you want. Denver's got better players. I don't disagree with that. Although my guy Austin Reeves showed up in the fourth quarter, how good is you. Boston has better players than Miami. Well, we'll see what the poor Zanes.

Indiana right now, because Dameshurt has better players than Milwaukee. Better players usually win the series. Philly, New York feels like an outlier. It does feel like Philly's got more high-end players, but Jalen Brunson looks like the best player in the series. I'm waiting for the Joel and Bid excuses to start. I mean, you know, there's always something for that guy.

All right, top of next hour. Okay, coaching hires done, free agency done, the draft is complete. We do one of our final herd hierarchies before the NFL season starts. One through 10, who do we like? The draft can absolutely change. It may be not take you from bad to great, but it can change very good teams, good teams to very good, very good to maybe Super Bowl teams.

That's coming up top of the hour. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from Bathurst. basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down. Hughes and Kelly of sleeping with a merry man.

They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives show. I think it looks like it's going to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real Housewise franchise. The drama, the alliances, and the team everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day,

when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. All right, welcome back. Celtics are rolling Miami. By the way, they're not asking for Eric Spolster to be fired. You know, no Jimmy Butler. There's roster realities with the Miami Heat right now, and They're just one great shooting night away from getting rolled completely in this series. So if you're a Celtics fan, all you really care about is Porzingis's health. Christop's Porzingis has like a non-contact calf sprain. You know, Jamal Murray's been dealing with it.

Yonnis, you can go either way. It's very fluky. You're not kind of sure how to deal with it. But nobody has beaten the Celtics in the East. A great example is last night. Derek White is the fifth best player. for the Celtics. He's a number two or a number three on most NBA teams. He's a five for them. Analytically, he's great. He's a top two-way player in the league. Under Popovich, he played

great defense. He learned how to do it. He's a terrific player. He was the best player on the floor last night. Nobody from Miami could stop him. And, I mean, again, now, Miami's got no Jimmy Butler, and Bede's going to get rolled. He'll be out. Yannis isn't playing. Either's dame. We knew the East was going to be, you know, pretty easy work. for the Celtics, it's easier. And I feel like I'm watching one of those vintage Nick Saban Alabama teams. I'm just waiting for them to get to the

national championship. Nobody in the East was going to beat the Celtics regardless. But Derek White, taking over last night's game is a great example of how good they are. Boston's number one concern, frankly, is concentration. You know, if they're not ready to play, you know, it's the NBA.

The Knicks could give them trouble. But it's not close here. The Cavs' for Porzingas because they're not beaten Denver and they're not beating Minnesota. They don't match up particularly well without Porzengis. They don't have the size. Al Horford's not going to do it. So they need size to beat Denver, Minnesota.

Minnesota's Twin Towers, giant team. So, but I, when you watch that last night, all you need to know, everybody talks about rosters and Darvinham and Spolstra. Derek White's the Celtics fifth best player. And he is a top two-way player in the league. Who's the lake? is the Lakers' fifth best player.

That's the fifth best player. Michael Porter on some nights is the Nuggets' fourth best player. Who's the Lakers' most dependable third player? This stuff comes down to dudes. Who's got more good dudes? New York, Philly, what we've discovered is M.B.'s overrated. Brunson's underrated. So the best player in that series is actually a Nick,

and generally the best player in a series wins the series if he has competent people around him. Boston is beyond competent. Tatum, Brown, Porcings, Drew Holiday. You know, last night was just a clinic, and there's nothing Spoh can do about it. By the way, here is Tatum on Derek White's game. When he's being aggressive, it just opens everything up, right? You know, whatever they try and take away, maybe for myself,

when, you know, your teammates are, you know, hitting shots and being aggressive and attacking clothes out and making plays. It kind of, it really makes us very, very hard to guard. And you want everybody to be assertive and be aggressive and try to make plays. It just makes us a better team. 38 points from their fifth best player. Jay Mack with a news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. 38 points, a lot of points. Yeah, Derek White's nice. I'm not just saying this because I have a Boston. futures ticket in the East and to win the title. But without Porzingis this year, they're 21 and 4.

That's regular season. I know regular season. I get it. Postseason is different, truncated game, defense. I think they're going to be all right. I'll be shocked. I'll tell you, Minnesota, Denver's going to find out they're a hard matchup. Did you see the gambling markets on this one?

Denver, 70% chance to win the series, essentially. I was like, that seems high. Well, they're better, and they're proven. We'll see. Jamal Murray has to be healthy. It'll be a great. I watched them play three weeks ago in a regular season game. It was like at 1.02, 102 or something like that.

That was very close game 104, 104, and it was like go either way. And then as expected, Denver figures out a way to win those close clutch time games. But, you know, Minnesota is just a, I mean, Phoenix looked not competitive. They got run off the court. Four straight games. The problem in that series is I love Murray. he's a chucker, talks some trash. I love Anthony Edwards.

Also, Chucker, talks some trash. So I don't know who to root for. Well, Murray's a better shooter, ants the more dynamic athlete. He's just amazing. All right, let's go to some crappy news. The Milwaukee Bucks on the brink of elimination tonight at home,

and it looks like they will be without Janus and Dame. Nothing official, but Sharm Sharania says Milwaukee has them as doubtful for game five. Yonis hasn't played a game in the entire series. that's two straight playoff series, seasons in which he has been injured. And now Dame has an Achilles tendon strain. Everybody in the league is hurt. Pacers, though, are four-point favorites on the road.

That is a little rich for me. Okay, see's young. They're not injured. Indiana's young. They're not injured. Minnesota's younger. They don't have injuries. You know who's injured?

The oldest team in the league is Milwaukee. That's the oldest roster in the league, and their two stars are out. So the NBA has always been a little bit of a dangerous tap dance. You want a veteran team. You don't want an old team. Milwaukee crossed that line two years ago. They're now old. And old teams don't win finals.

They don't win them. That's why the last old team to do it was the Warriors beat the Celtics. And Wiggins didn't really, first of all, Steph's still... He wasn't old. No. And Wiggins, at that point, was still really a good player. And it felt like he was in his prime. He's aged.

But by and large, there's a difference between experienced and old. The Lakers now, LeBron's old. You know, AD is great, but he's moving toward because of the injuries a little old. Milwaukee's officially old, and I think they crossed that like a year and a half to two years ago, and this is what happens to old teams. You fall apart. By the way, the clippers are an old team. Kauai Leonard.

You never know if he's going to play or not. Well, listen, we saw this in the NFL. How many quarterbacks got hurt? And every week there's like four to five games with crap, not good quarterbacks. And that's frustrating. And now we get to the NBA playoffs and it's like, all right, Porzingis is down, Jimmy Butler's down. Guys are hurt left. Ad played second half last night with one arm.

Like, I don't know if you could just shorten all the seasons. No owner wants to take less money. I just, it stinks when you got to start. Janice and Dame Lillard are down. Major League Baseball is having this issue where none of the pitchers. Yeah. You know, the pitchers are all the start. pitchers are injured. So athletes are never been in better shape. They've never trained harder and

played harder and worked harder, but the games are harder. They're all global now. You're facing the world's best. You've got to bring it every night. You can't do steak, potato, cigars, and wine like MJ after games and play 18 holes of golf. It's a different world now. Cardio-wise, the game's never been faster. Hockey's never been faster. MLS, NBA. So it's like you've got more injuries. And these guys are like finely tuned like violins. Like their bodies are tight. They're in great shape. I mean, you go back and look at 70s baseball.

Like, nobody lifted weights. Like, these guys now are finely tuned, and sometimes you get hurt more. Do you have a play on tonight's game? Pacers minus four. Indiana is going to win the game. I think the smart play is... But we knew it was a tough matchup for Milwaukee. Yeah, we like the Pacers.

But did you be careful with the Bucks here. They got some guys here who have won a championship. They're not going to roll over. No. I would look at the Bucks first quarter. Going to come out, home court. Guys, energy vibes.

Maybe we get Damon Yonis back for game six. Come on, it's not over, and they fight hard early in the first quarter. All right. Next up, speaking of elimination, Joelle Embed and the Sixers on the verge of a first round exit. And Joel Embed says there's no pressure on Philly ahead of tonight's game at the Garden. Give me a break. We got no pressure.

We're the 7-6, about 3-1. You know, a lot of guys aren't hurt. I don't know probably feel the pressure so we should just go out there and go out and play our best basketball and you know one other time win one

come back home win another one and then game seven over there so yeah I'm looking forward to to it no pressure no pressure no pressure Joel Mbitt

moments ago it was reported that he is suffering from a migraine and he missed you around today no pressure Joel. Well, I don't think shoot-around's that big of a deal. A migraine headache on the day of elimination game? Well, I think migraine headaches can be mitigated.

Is that going to be tough in the garden when every person's screaming their lungs out for three hours? I think, you know, water, rest, ibuprofen, he'll be fine. Yeah. Migraine. By the way, we have a graphic here of the last time in B-Face elimination. I don't know. Do you remember it last year against Boston? I do.

Yeah. How do you think he did? He was terrible. Yeah. Here we go. 15 points of 5 of 18. shooting minus 28. He's really in this series

been shockingly bad in the fourth. No rebounds. They're going to say he's hurt. He's dealt with the injury. All right. Fine. Again, again, hurt early, hurt often is a big. Going to move off him? You can't keep selling me on Embed. Like, what I see and what you're selling me on are two different

things. Yonis when healthy is still dominant. M.B.'s not. He's not. And I was remembering a game seven against the Hawks. Remember the Ben Simmons pass game? At home, Embedde, I know he had 31 points. He had eight turnovers. Eight turnovers that elimination gave him home and they lost.

I'm just saying, when he gets bounced tonight and you're hard on him tomorrow, and I come off the top rope with another elbow. Well, I think everybody. Guys, I don't want to hear it Sixers fans. They're all like, you're so mean to Joelle and Bede. Listen, it's like, honestly, LeBron left the East. The East has never been weaker than this season. Like, you've got to win a second playoff.

series. When you have Maxie as the best two in the series. Whether Embed or Brunton or better, Maxi's the best two, I think. He's talking about, Embed mentioned we got guys hurt. What about Julius Randall's not even playing? He's a next second best player. And the Knicks

also made a trade at the deadline, which sometimes with chemistry, that's hard. It usually takes a full season to get there. So the Knicks, the Knicks could use that excuse all they want. Can we get Darrell Mori on the show once they, one, two, three, K can't do you? This is bad. It's not good for Philly. All right, let's close up with the NFL.

Interesting, like, sourced release here. So the Vikings and Patriots did draft quarterbacks, obviously, last week at the draft. But things could have panned out differently. According to reports, the Vikings offered the Patriots 11 and 23, along with the 2025 first to move up to third overall. Vikings. The deal fell apart, as Minnesota also wanted more second round picks. The Giants also wanted to move up to third.

They offered the sixth and a 225 first to move up. Patriots declined. Who were these teams going after, Colin? Got to be Drake May, right? Yeah, Drake May. So I think New England could have had three first for one first. So New England could have gotten Harrison at wide receiver. Later in the draft, 23rd.

They probably would have gotten an elite edge rusher. And then next year, obviously, they'd have. I don't think, I think the Cardinals were taking Harrison, right? I mean, it feels like... Well, no, but time out. Oh, you're right. My bad. My bad.

So the Vikings weren't to go up and get... So New England would have moved to 11 and 23. So 11 gets you Brock Bowers. 11 probably gets you Brock Bowers and an elite edge rusher. I said you could go either way. Listen, if you gave me Brock Bowers and Jared Verse and another number one pick next year, which I could use on a quarterback, That's not terrible because New England's going to be,

New England's going to be near the top of the next several drafts, even with Drake May. I don't know. But what does it tell you that the Vikings? I would have had to have slept on it. If I was the Patriots and I could have gotten the 11 and the 23rd and another first, along with my first, so I'd have two first this year, two first next year. You've got to sleep on that. Wait a minute.

That tells you that the Patriots absolutely love Drake May, right? Their scouting department thinks he is the man. Well, the people I trust, I told you Caleb would go one, Jaden Daniels 2. Okay, that's what I was told. We predicted that. We were right. I was told most of the people I talked to thought Drake May actually had the best traits, including Caleb. Size arm movement.

They thought there's a Herbert thing. He just isn't quite ready to play. So that's interesting. I mean, would you, okay, let me ask you. You run New England. The 11th, the 23rd, and then you get another first next year. I like Drake May. I would have taken a second.

Oh, that's fine. And I don't have a problem with that answer either. I would have slept on it. This is the tricky part. So the Vikings claim they got their guy in J.J. McCarthy. When in reality, they tried to move up to three to get Drake May. So they settled for their second quarterback, right? Was that fair to say?

Well, no, no. So that's a great point. Because I've been arguing this whole time that the J.J. McCarthy narrative was false. False smokes. It's Michael Pennix and Drake Mayer, the quarterback. people want. I do not believe the Giants were going to move up for J.J. McCarthy. No. And I don't believe it would have been smart to move up for J.J. McCarthy. Drake May, because of his side, he's a bigger athlete.

Drake May I would move up for. I'd have a hard time with J.J. McCarthy. So this whole narrative that the world wanted J.J. McCarthy. No. Minnesota. So according to this story, the Vikings were willing to move up, give up two firsts. Hold on. And three firsts. to get three, but they were willing to give up a fourth and fifth rounder to get McCarthy. So the truth is, they like May, we would guess more than... Because if the Patriots said no, wouldn't the Vikings have tried to move up to six with the Giants thinking they would take their guy? Yeah, the Vikings tried to get second round picks back from the Patriots.

And they were like, no, we're not doing that. Right, right. But doesn't it confirm that the Giants? J.J. McCarthy narrative was way overblown. Of course. The team that got him basically wanted to scramble to get to the third spot and then was willing to wait once they didn't get that quarterback. Obviously somebody's going to be way wrong on Drake May.

Not just you and I, but a lot of people around the league. They will either, oh, how did we pass on Drake May or, boy, should have taken those picks for Drake May. And I think it's going to be fascinating to watch. I like him a lot. Drake May and the Vikings have a connection. We talked about this before the draft. There's a coach on that staff that is connected to Drake May.

Remember, Cliff Kingsbury, like Antonio Pierce Raiders had a connection to Jaden Daniels. He wanted him. You know, Cliff Kingsbury liked the style of Jaden McDaniels because he had similar quarterback, so there's often this connectivity that makes a team want to move up for a specific guy. J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News.

So it's interesting. We're talking about LeBron James. People are saying he's going to retire. But I was thinking about this driving in this morning. Right now this second today. Who is, without a doubt, unquestionably, on a night-by-night consistency production basis, better than LeBron and the NBA?

I would say, Yokic Tatum, Luca, Janus, SGA, Jalen Brunson, on a regular basis, six guys on those nights are consistently more productive. And I would take LeBron over half those guys if you gave me last possession or one game. LeBron, to me, is in the very next level, like six or seven through 12, A, D, KD, Jalen Brown, Aunt Karee, Steph, MB, that level of guy. But there's a reason that Tom Brady kept playing and would have maybe played even longer If he wasn't going through some, you know, the personal situation. He was very good.

And LeBron's very good. So LeBron James made the most fourth quarter baskets in the entire league this year in the regular season and the playoffs. So LeBron's still really good. Retire to what? Make another space jam movie? What's he going to retire to? This is why Brady kept playing. So there's only three guys in this league that went 25, 7 and 7.

Three. Luca Yokic and LeBron. So I have no. idea why you'd want him to retire. I think he's good for the league. Lakers have LeBron. When the games are on, I stick around and watch. So they're not in terrible shape. The Lakers are not in terrible shape. There's no reason to go. They're not in championship shape. And that's the difference. Right now, the Lakers, last couple of years, here's their roster. LeBron plus AD plus guys. That's what they are. LeBron plus AD plus guys. Different names,

same dudes. So they've got to go, LeBron A.D. Donovan Mitchell. LeBron A.D. Tray Young. Then you can have maybe a fourth guy that's a hit and miss, a Rui and Austin Reeves or whatever it is. But this summer, if you want to change the results, you have to change the roster. And they do have the ability to move three first round picks, one this year and down the road, two others, and then de-lose off the books. But here was LeBron's confidence on the current roster.

of the Lakers. The way that you guys did, does that give you or still any further confidence in this group? No. Because we lost. I don't, I'm not a participation guy. We lost and, you know, you move on and see how you can get better. But, you know, our season has been derailed all season with just like injuries and guys in and out. And, you know, I talked about it all year.

He was around us all year. I said, I don't, it's hard to say who we are, what we can be. because we have yet to be whole. Yeah, that's why the Lakers, in my opinion, need to go out and get a star in his 20s. You may not get AD playing this many games again. You may not get LeBron playing this many games again. So all these teams in the West, Minnesota's got an ant, and the Phoenix has Booker, O'KC's got SGA, and Dallas has Luke.

All these teams in the West have a 20-year-old star. that's what Golden State's dilemma is. Who's their 20-year-old star? Right? You're going to get fewer minutes from Clay if you keep him, or a Draymond or a Steph Curry, or a Wiggins. You're going to get fewer minutes from AD hasn't played this long, this hard, and this many games in forever.

Like, I mean, since like a year two in the league. So it's, you want different results. Change the roster. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, this is Tom Verducci from Fox Sports, MLB Network and Sports Illustrated. And I'm Joe Madden, and we're going to be around to talk a little bit about managerial decisions and what may have occurred into the dugout, maybe in the 1980s.

It's the Book of Joe podcast. I can't wait for this, Joe. We're going to dive into what goes on in the dugout and behind the scenes in Major League Baseball. Cars, whined, whatever else we want to talk about. Yeah, well, there are no boundaries, right? Listen to the Book of Joe podcast on the IHeart Radio app, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok. Podcast Network on TikTok. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, 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. I like the bougie style of Housewives show. I think it looks like it's going to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House. Housewise franchise, the drama, the alliances, and the T, everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it.

I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Football League takes center stage as the Houston roughnecks battle A.J. McCarran and the St. Louis Battlehawks. It all kicks off Saturday at three Eastern on Fox. So Travis Kelsey signed a new deal.

Two-year deal with Kansas City. Listen, he's creative and he's in sync with Mahalms. They're the number one kind of tight-end quarterback duo, playoff history. In fact, number one duo, I think, in playoff history. So he's just one of those guys. the playoffs and you get to really situational football and it's third and seven it just feels like mahomes and kelsey are brady and gronk it's hard to explain they always know where the other's at both are creative both are in sync and you get these occasional edelman brady had it as well

briefly uh west welker and brady had it um you just got to resign it until the wheels come off you know it is interesting though when i look at kansas city Two teams have dominated the NFL for 23 seasons. Yet everybody else thinks they've got a shot. I want you to think about this. And that's what's great about the NFL. It's the League of Hope. Everybody thinks they've got a shot.

But if you have the best coach and the best quarterback, which Brady had for years and now Kansas City has, you'll dominate the league. Kansas City and New England, last 23 years, have been to 13 Super Bowls. In the last 23 years, the Patriots or the Chiefs won nine of the 23 Super Bowls. about 40%.

Kansas City is favored again next year. Should be. New England, Kansas City, those two have been in the AFC Championship. 13 straight years. Think about that. That's better than Alabama dominance, with Sabin.

So Mahalms, Brady, and Peyton Manning, in a 23-year span, we're in 17 of the Super Bowls. That's insane. That's like, you know, in Yukon women, when you get sometimes in sports, like a star, you know, Roger Federer in his prime, you just kind of know what you're getting. But we understand those sports are dynasty driven or individual sports,

which are individually led Tiger Woods in his prime. That's what the NFL is. If you have an A coach and an A quarterback, you're going to be really good. And that's why increasingly it's become easier and easier and easier as I do this job, making NFL predictions. The AFC's gotten very easy predicting who's going to make the playoffs. Who's the best quarterback in the division? And do they have a plus coach?

So my Super Bowl bubble this morning, and it really comes down to who of the quarterbacks, in my Super Bowl bubble, I have Mahomes in Kansas City, Lamar, Jackson, and Baltimore, Matt Stafford and the Rams, the Lions roster, which I think is sick, San Francisco, Green Bay. and I have Joe Burrow on the bubble and Josh Allen on the bubble. I want to kind of see what Buffalo looks like on the perimeter offensively. They went and drafted a great young player in college. We'll see if it works.

Joe Burrow trying to get healthy. I'm not sure about T. Higgins right now. But basically, right there, you've got really high-end quarterbacks and Brock Purdy and really, really high-end coaches across the board. Sean McDermott I may push back on, but he was making the playoffs pre-Josh Allen, and so he obviously knows what he's doing. But I think sometimes you forget this league is like, it's much closer to the NBA and baseball than you think.

If you get the A coach and you get the A quarterback, it's very repetitive. Just think about this, Manning Mahomes and Brady, 17 of 23 Super Bowls. You just don't think of NFL in that space. That's what it is. Here's Brett Veach, GM of the Chiefs, on Travis Kelsey's new contract.

Every now and then you have one of these guys that are outliers. And certainly Travis is one of those players. It's funny, it's not even May yet. And today we had a chance to get out there in phase two, and guys were out there running around, and Travis was the first guy in line. And, I mean, he looked like he was 28 years old. And again, I mean, the odds of someone playing this far into the 30s are very low,

but it does happen. And it happens with just, you know, unicorns in the profession and Travis is one of those. I think what you're seeing, two things with players in health. Anytime I see this, player injured back in eight weeks,

it always feels like they're back in six. Players get healthier faster. The medical profession, the methods, the practices, the procedures, it's just better than ever. And the second thing is, guys are lasting longer.

I mean, last year, I kind of felt like, man, Travis Kelsey, he'd getting a little long in the tooth. And then I watched the playoffs. And he was unbelievable. So I think what happens, you see it with LeBron. You know, you saw it with Brady at the end. You see it with Travis Kelsey.

You may not always be great. You may not always have your fastball in the middle of the season. But situationally, at the end of seasons, you're still an A-plus-plus performer. All right. Nick writes around the corner, J-Mack. So I've got only a couple of herd hierarchies before the NFL season starts. We're now in late April.

May's around the corner. So we have all the coaches and all the staffs in, all the free agent signings. We have all the draft picks in. We will have the herd hierarchy top ten. Looking forward to it. On the Super Bowl bubble, I went and looked at the odds. It seems like you're missing some teams, Colin.

You have the Packers. You're bullish on the Packers. Love them. So ahead of the Packers, Super Bowl odds are the Dallas Cowboys. I saw him play last year in Dallas, blowout. Philadelphia. Eagles. I have questions about Nick Sariani. And the Houston Texans. I like the Houston Texans.

I'll see if I love them. Super Bowl bubbles love. To get into the bubble, I need love, not like. I saw the Jets getting rebuffed at the door. They didn't have cover. It didn't afford 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 headwriter Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me.

Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. it grotesque, others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.