The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - The NBA has a problem

Episode Date: February 27, 2024

Colin is worried the NBA has a big problem which they might not have an obvious solution for More thoughts on the overreaction to college fans storming the courtSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of Tontons and Wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go. It's Tuesday. Ready for three hours. We are live in Los Angeles. It's the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Merrill Hodge on the show today. Does not like Caleb Williams as a prospect. Very controversial. That will be coming up. A couple hours from now, J-Mack. You know, I saw a story yesterday. And a lot of people are saying LeBron should take a pay cut with his new deal. And sometimes in the NFL you get that from like star quarterback so you can surround them with better players. And I have seen in NBA players, D. Wade, Bosch, LeBron all took less than they could have to form a great team. What are they called a hometown discount?

I'm never going to tell an athlete to take less. Nor would I. But I saw that story this morning. Brian Winhorse, no him, trust him, said LeBron is going to sign a deal for the Lakers in the offseason. And it's going to be nine figures. And again, I'm 60 million bucks a year. year. LeBron's still a top five player in the league on any given night. He's the second,

third best player in the league. But deep down, the NBA would love to find their Patrick Mahomes. Here you had Peyton Manning and Brady, dominating the league. And then a Midwest-based franchise, Kansas City, lands Mahomes. He's fun.

He's lively. He's amazing. He's on 10 commercials. And he totally leans into being the face of the NFL. And he is, and he's a great face. He's great. The NFL's always searching for the face of the league because they've always got one. But the NBA doesn't.

They've had four since the 80s, where a guy was the best player and had the charisma to also be the face of the league. Bird didn't have that charisma either to Duncan. Kareem for a time was the best player. Pushed back, very private individual. Only been four since the 80s. Magic, MJ, Shaq, and LeBron. The best players for a stretch and leaned into it. Steph was never the best player, though I love him.

Kobe, let's be honest, he was MJ Light, and Shaq was a much, much bigger star in Los Angeles. Shaq's sheer size and personality overwhelmed Kobe. Yokic now is the best player in the league. He didn't even want to go to the Nuggets Championship parade last year. wanted to go home. Overwhelmingly, the best players are international. They do not seek the spotlight.

Our best domestic player, in my opinion, in his prime, is Jason Tatum, and he's understated. But the NBA ratings are down severely over the last 10 to 15 years. You can say it's politics. I don't buy that. NBA's always been somewhat political. I think it's they don't have a face for the league. When Michael Jordan retired, they didn't have a face. They didn't have one.

They lost 50% of their ratings. It had nothing to do with politics. They just didn't have a guy ready that had Michael Jordan's class, his look, his style, and his talent. But when the NBA does have a face of the league, the ratings spike. But LeBron sucks so much oxygen out of the room

because he's a great businessman and is not going to give up face of the league easily. And there doesn't appear to be a Mahomes on the horizon. My guess is, over the next five years, the two best players in the league will be Yokic and Wembe.

And international players, you ever get in a plane and they ask you some survey, is this personal or business travel? International players like Wembe and Yokic are all business. It is all basketball. They come into this country.

They want to get in their game, their practice, their sleep. They hang with sometimes cousins, friends, family from their country. It is all business. They're not distracted. They like to stay away from the spotlight. They don't seek it.

I think LeBron, Winhorst saying, could play another five to six years, and it's going to take an incredibly special player to come in like a Patrick Mahomes and seize it. Brady and Manning were businessmen. They carried that face of the league thing as long as they could. Totally appropriate.

I totally get it. I would have done the same thing. it took Mahomes to come in and grab it and seize it. And right now, I don't buy its politics. It wasn't politics when the NBA lost 50% of its audience post-MJ, but MJ was so cool and good-looking and stylish and dominant and relentless. And he also loved being the face of the league and all that came with it, the glamour, the fame, the money, the net worth.

The NBA, they see this story on LeBron. They're happy for him. Adam Silver communicates with LeBron in his camp regularly, but deep down I think they're looking for their Mahomes. And the league now is so internationally viable, I don't see one on the horizon, willing to not only be the best player, but want,

the want, Brady, Manning, MJ, Magic, LeBron, the want to be the face of the league. So yesterday we had Peter King on. He retired. great career, help many people sort of coronated yesterday on social media. Deservidly so.

At the end of his column, I saw this, I didn't make a big deal of it, because it was buried at the bottom of the column, and he didn't really have it sourced, but he did say, quote, I suppose the bears are going to trade the top pick. I know nothing. That's why I didn't take much into it,

but he says it seems to be the way the wind is blowing. And Peter talks about the bears taking lots of picks and moving down and moving down again and getting all these picks, dominating the next two drafts. And I thought about this this morning. What is the only difference in the last 32 years between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears? They play in the same division, same crappy weather in the winter, both huge brands.

Same division, same conference. They've both had legendary coaches at least for a year or two over the last 32 years, Mike Dittgen, Mike Holgren. I mean, they both had a lot of pro bowlers. The Packers, over the last 32 years, have had 51 pro bowlers. The Bears have had 43. What's the difference? The Bears can't get quarterback right, and the Packers always get quarterback right.

Farrv, Rogers, and Jordan Love in 32 years have taken 96% of the snaps. Love looks really good. They've done it again. The Bears in that time in 32 years have had 38 different quarterbacks take a snap. That's embarrassing. And once again, here is Chicago with an opportunity to change their quarterback franchise, fortunes, momentum, inertia. And already you're hearing Peter King say, I suppose they'll trade out of the number one pick.

here's two things to know about Caleb Williams. Over the last two years, he's led the nation in offense. The Pack 12 is probably the best it's been over those last two years and 30 years. And he has had one elite player, one in two years, at either wide receiver, tight end, running back, or O'Line. One, Jordan Addison. One! That's it. They ain't Georgia, Texas, Bama, Michigan, Ohio State, Clemson.

One. And he's led the nation in offense. The second thing to know is he's a lot. is he's lost eight games in two years. And in those eight losses, USC's defense surrendered 43 points a game. He lost by shootouts. The only difference in 32 years between the Packers and the Bears, one never gets the quarterback right and one always gets the quarterback right.

Both have had close to 45 pro bowlers in 32 years. Both have had a legendary coach. both same division, same conference, same weather, northern tier teams. Big brands. Fox loves putting the bears on. Fox loves putting the Packers on. Not just the Cowboys Network, not just an Eagles network. We love the Bears. We love the Packers.

The difference is, ask yourself this, Chicago. What would Green Bay do with the number one pick? First, they wouldn't have it because they're competent. Secondly, they would draft Caleb Williams because it's what Green Bay does always gets the quarterback right. I hear this all the time, but you can trade it down and get dozens of picks.

When you get the quarterback right, draft picks become much less important. Lamar Jackson in six years has had one one legitimate big-time playmaking receiver. He's won 75% of his games. Josh Allen's won 75% of his games as a starter, and he finally this year had a running game emerge. Those are pretty important.

Patrick Mahomes' wide receivers led the NFL in drops. He won the Super Bowl. If you get the quarterback right, never forget this. Even if you took out the seventh round and just counted six, over 35% of draft picks miss over 25% of first round picks

miss it's not about draft picks it's about getting the quarterback right Green Bay always does Chicago never does what would the Packers do they'd take Caleb Williams

all right lots and lots going on, J-Mack. Still a lot of Russell Wilson chatter bubbling in my social circles. I just watched the video of that podcast

he did. Man, I don't know if I can let you get away with some of that NBA slander to open the show. Slander, I like the league. I don't know. I go Warriors' Nicks Thursday. I'm going to make a bet on that. Celtic Sixers coming up. Don't get you gambling on NBA in February? Absolutely. Wow.

Why not college hoops? I had another winner last Well, the shamanade or something? Baylor Bears getting points. It's not slander. Four players since the 80s have been the best player for a substantial amount of time and have also been the faith of the league. Okay. So, Bird and Magic, bird, it was a grumpy, kind of a, you know, kind of tough working class dive on the floor.

He didn't embrace it. That wasn't who he was. Magic completely embraced it. Shaq Kobe. Shack's sheer size and personality was in movies. In fact, the knock on Shaq was he was distracted. Kobe was all basketball. MJ, no question.

And LeBron for 16 years now. First three or four he was. Since Miami, it's been the total face of the league. I think I need to take a crowbar and just jam Steph Curry in there. Steph Curry was a two. Oh my goodness. A two-time MVP, the only unanimous MVP in the history of of the league. But remember, MVP,

Russell Westbrook won, an MVP. He's never been the best player, I would say, in a division. So when the Warriors won 73 games, Steph Curry was not the best player of the league. So to be a star, Shaq came out of college star, Magic Star, LeBrona to High School star. Steph Curry went to Davidson. Nobody knew who he was for three years. Fair.

When he started winning, started becoming a star, Kevin Durant supplanted him as the best player on the team. He leaves, and by that point, Steph's not in his. prime, still excellent, never been the best player in the league. Don't go MVP's. Don't go MVP. There's a lot of guys that win MVP. How about the best player?

Well, Curry kind of changed the league, the dynamic. Any arena you went to for like a three-year stretch, I don't care who was playing. LeBron, it doesn't matter. Curry jerseys were everywhere. He was the number one jersey seller. I'm not to nine. I think he was the best player in the league for two years. The rest of these guys were best player for six years, seven years, eight years, nine years.

Yeah. You can argue. And by the way, was Kobe ever the best player in the league? Really tough call. I would say, you know, there's a lot of arguments he wasn't. I never thought he was the face of the league. He also had an off-court incident. So that really eliminates you from that.

So I don't, when you were in Los Angeles at the time, I didn't live here at the time. I didn't either. Shack was so enormous. He was so big out of, you know, Kobe grew up in Italy. Shack, I literally had a beer with the late Jerry Tarkhanian. at a restaurant in Las Vegas. And Jerry Tarkhanian told me, he said, this kid at LSU is going to be the greatest player in league history.

And I never even heard of Shaquille O'Neal. And he said, you know, Tark liked recruiting. And he was like, you know, we tried to get him. He's like, he'll be the greatest player in the NBA. People knew about Shaq when he was 16 years old. They didn't with Kobe. They knew about Kobe. He was high school.

came out and he was always, let's be honest, his first five or six years in the league, he sounded like MJ. He was imitating MJ, but he wasn't MJ. And then he gets to LA with Shaq, and they both explode, and Shaq is so big and so, and by the way, Kobe

could be, and I, you know, the late Kobe Bryant, we all loved him. But he could be a little off-putting. He could be, go read the book by Jeff Perlman. Kobe was a lot. He wore out Shaq. He wore out Phil. He's a legend. He's great. He's an all-timer. But Everybody loved Shaq.

Everybody loves Shaq. And to this day, Shaq is like on the most popular. I mean, the show he does with Barclay is more popular than the games. So, I mean, again, this is not slander on Kobe. He's one of the 20 best players I've ever seen. One of the 12 best players I've ever seen, arguably top 10, or Duncan or. But Luow Cinder, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He never embraced it.

He's a very somber, private, academic person. He didn't want it. Duncan didn't want it. Bird wasn't into it. So very few guys. Now, you can argue Steph for a brief time. But remember, it was not a college star. But the time he became a star, he was part of a back court duo called the Splash Brothers. Splash Brothers.

So the back court duo was bigger than Steph. That was then they bring in KD. He supplants Steph as the most talented player. And then nobody denies Steph's an all-time great player and a culture changer for the sport. But I never thought he was the best player in the league. So Kobe, Steph, and Durant probably never, according to you, the never the best player in the league. Well, never the face of the league.

Arguably for a year or two. There was a time when Kevin Durant was an OKC. I didn't buy into it. No, no, no. People were saying it was better than LeBron, and I'm like, what, getting a basket? No. Distribution, leadership, toughness, defense. LeBron was the better player always.

Kevin may have been a better get-a-basket guy. Like, just go get a hoop. I mean, he's probably one of the great offensive players of my lifetime. Yeah, yeah. That's a good topic. I like that. All right. 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'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 IHard 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, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back. Maybe it's because I'm older. The hair is grayer and I've just seen a lot. But it feels like to me we overreact to everything. Perhaps it's social media, avalanches, start quack. quickly, finish strong. Big controversy this week.

The opinions have been radical and at times silly and loony, even from respected people. There was a court-storming accident, small one, Duke Wake Forest. Everybody is now suggesting legislation, policing, lawsuits. Give me a break. Give me a list of college basketball players severely injured from court-storming in my life. Let's start with none and go from there. Men's college basketball players on average are 6-5 and 6-6, 6-8, 7-footers. They bang around for 2.5 hours, and that's just games, not mentioning practice.

So they can't handle bumping into Ethan the theater major once a year? Or Josh, the comm major at 5-8, 164 pounds? Again, maybe it's social media. I just argue there's cameras everywhere. We see everything. officiating is not that much worse, but there's 74 cameras at a Super Bowl. There used to be four. I'm not joking. In fact, when I watched the Duke accident, there was a camera angle that I first saw the accident from on Kyle Flipowski, and I saw the piece of video, and I swear to God, it came from

a satellite or an eagle's nest inside the arena. It was like vertical looking down, and my take is, where in the world of that camera angle come from? Listen, I said this yesterday. You have to manage. certain things and prepare for certain things. It's like retirement. If you don't manage it and prepare for it, shocker at 65, you're living check to check. Everything can be managed. Bill Self, in my opinion, the current smartest person in college basketball, the Kansas coach. He's had to deal with it because Kansas is, in my opinion, now the best college basketball program. Self is the best coach in the sport. It's a short list, but he's at the top of it in my opinion, and having dealt with it for years, his take was our take.

We've actually gotten better at it because of the way you can prep your team in certain ways. And a lot of the safety measures up until recently, I think, has been with the visiting team educating their own players how to handle it and I mean like calling the timeout with 15 seconds left and it's a 10 point game just to get guys out of the game or whatever or tell them

okay, don't go out there by stand next to sideline. I didn't have cancel culture goes after court storming on my bingo card. Take a deep breath. If you're in your 20s and 30s rushing to social media, all this crap has happened for five decades.

nobody's getting severely injured. It happens. Kids now can drink in arenas. Manage your players if you're Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Yukon, you go on the road. Tell your kids, call a timeout. Tell them, hey, it's going to get a little surly and a little rough here. Watch out for Ethan coming down from row four. He's a sociology major. He's two bud lights in and he's on a heater.

But you're 6'8. Just step out of the way. take a deep breath manage prepare for things you'll be ready when it happens J-Mack with the news no no no no turn on the news

this is the herd line news how did you come upon Ethan the sociology major the theater major that's kind of it feels like a little derogatory I love theater Oh yeah I bet you do that was funny I love Broadway Did you write that yourself or what?

Yeah oh yeah no I have I called Conan and Jimmy Kimmel. They sent riders over the phone. I thought that was funny. I got Ryan doing hockey scores all day. He's not giving me anything. He's looking at Bengals depth charts back here.

I know he is. Sadly, you're right on it. Let's get started with the Buffalo Bills. Listen, they've been really, really good for the last five seasons, but the postseason has been another story. In an interview with the athletic, coach Sean McDermott says, it's not a matter of if,

it's just a matter of when Buffalo will lift the Lombardi trophy. I'm going to go ahead and disagree with him here. You think the bills got a title? Josh Allen's too good not to win a Super Bowl. Of course, Jim Kelly was great, but I think they'll win a Super Bowl. I do believe that. They have a run game now. I think they've done a really good job in the front office to give Josh a really good tight end,

a really good running game. I mean, they felt more whole this year. They felt more complete. They weren't just Josh make a great play. I think they'll win. You know, if you have a great quarterback and a defensive coach, as much as I like offensive coaches,

there's a history of Super Bowl's great defensive coach, great quarterback. You take care of that side. I'll take care of this side. Dungee, Peyton, Manning, Belichick, Brady. That's happening less and less. But I just think Buffalo's too good at key spots

to not win eventually. They're getting by Mahomes, huh? You know, Mahomes is not winning the AFC for 12 straight years. It's not going to happen. Are we sure? I mean, he's been in like six straight AFC title games.

Well, the only guy has to beat him. One's retired. Brady went 10 years without winning a Super Bowl. Like, it happens. There's injuries. You get the wrong coordinator. You just get beat by a very good team. Joe Burrow and Buffalo both, one did beat Kansas City to get to a Super Bowl.

Joe Burrow did. And Buffalo had him beat with 13 seconds left. So we're 13 seconds from Buffalo and Cincinnati both getting passed. Again, that was like, Two years ago. Oh, two years ago. You don't think the... Two years ago.

If you look at the Buffalo depth chart from that two years, that game, versus what they're going to trot out week one this season, totally different. No, no. Actually, much better offensively. Really? Oh, absolutely. They have the best young tied in in the sport, arguably. Now they have an excellent running back.

O-Line had their best year in about six years. Stefan Diggs, and they also found that Boisey State receiver I like. He's a good, too. They'll have... They're a much better offensive team today than they were, too. years ago. They're not as good defensively. No, they're still so reliant upon Josh Allen in the biggest spots.

That's a problem. By the way, in the Super Bowl, who were the Chiefs reliant in the last three drives? Patrick Mahomes, Mahomes. I mean, come. You're not comparing Mahomes to Allen, are you? I think they're both great. Patrick's better. They're one and two. Best players in the league. Mahomes won, Allen, too. Can't quibble with much there.

But give me the under on Super Bowl wins in the next five years for the bills, whatever the number is. Next up, Dak Prescott, we haven't talked about him lately. he's entering the final year of his deal. Currently has a $59.5 million cap hit for 2024. That's the second highest in the league behind Deshawn Watson. Dallas obviously had some holes on the roster,

and the athletic reports, the most likely scenario is Dax signs a new deal in March. Absolutely. Once I saw that the NFL salary cap was going up $31 million per team, the first thing I thought of is Dax getting his money in March. That is the first thing I thought of, is that Chris Jones, the Chiefs can keep him, and Dak Prescott's getting his money. Well, now, I think he's a beat quarterback, but Dallas wins a lot of games with him, so they're not moving off him. There's no chaos with Dak. They're always viable.

Yeah, by the way, let's just be clear. They didn't lose to the Packers because Dak Prescott sunk up the joint. He wasn't great, obviously. But that defense could not get any stops against Jordan Love and Wicks and whoever these wide receivers are that nobody's heard of. That mighty Dan Quinn defense got torched at home. That's not, I know Jack didn't win the game, but I don't think he lost it. Did he? He wasn't great. He was not great. He had the interception early.

He was clearly outplayed by Jordan Love at home as a favorite. That's troubling given the Packers' defense was so bad. We've said this before with Jerry. Jerry tells you he wants to win. A lot of people tell you the thing. Oh, I'm going to, this year I'm going to lose weight. I'm going to work out. By February, they don't go to the gym.

They join in January by February 20th, they don't go to the gym. I'm going to start eating right. I'm going to be more committed at work. Jerry Jones always says it's about winning No it's not, it's about the brand It is about the brand And DAC is excellent for the brand He's likable

He's a professional He's an adult He wins games Dak is great for the brand Now do I think winning Super Bowls Is better for the brand yes But with Dak and Tony Romo You have a very viable

B plus quarterback talent You're on TV every week Getting big ratings great for the brand This is good That's a good new mention Romo Okay without looking at the stats better Cowboys career, Dack or Roma? I like them both. I think they're both about the same.

I think Tony was a better pure thrower of the football, a more natural thrower of the football. I think Dack is a very formidable leader. Tony was always sort of, I always felt kind of doing his own thing. He's kind of a solo act, doing his own thing, but a great talent. I think Dack's a more formidable leader. If you said, Intangibles, Dac. Tangibles, Roma.

I think Romo's the better sit in the pocket throw darts, but intangibles, I think DAC is exactly what I want my franchise guy to be. Podium every Wednesday, hat facing forward, grown-up comments. Anytime they're controversy, he pulls it down, puts a blanket on the controversy, always says the right thing. Dak's like the model of the podium quarterback, the model. I felt like Romo was almost underrated when he was in the league. And now it's almost like the way you talk about him, a little. overrated. He had a solid career. Yeah, B NFL career, right? He had a B plus. He was a very good quarterback. Very good quarterback. There's a generous teacher Colin Cowherd handing out B pluses.

I mean, that puts, I mean, every other quarterback in like an A, huh? Tony Romo was good. He was very good. Solid. He also didn't get the offensive lines that Dak did. Dak got 10 years or how many years you've been in the league, eight, seven, eight years, Tyron Smith and his prime, Zach Martin in his prime. Tony got those guys. at the very end of it, but Tony got the you know what beat out of him for years because they had bad O lines. That's why the Cowboys went and spent all their draft picks in the first round on offensive linemen. So Romo's career ended quickly because he just got crushed for years, running for his life. And then Dak gets these great offensive, when Dak entered the league,

Cowboys had easily the most talented O-line for like a five-year period, easily. Tyron Smith is a top five left tackle ever. Zach Martin's a top five offensive guard ever. Cowherty is. Woof, you're hot today. Final story, the Celtics are the best team in the league. Massive lead in the East over the second place calves. But my guy, Jason Tatum, is still not getting the respect on the MVP level.

Colin, there's a latest MVP straw poll, and Jason Tatum is ranked, wait for it, six. Which has Draymond Green saying the goalposts have shifted. JT will not be taking serious for the MVP until he went a championship. And it just hasn't been that way for everybody else. I must say, it was not that way for Joker. It's not that way for Yonis. It's not that way for Joel. It just ain't really been that way for everybody else.

Maybe it's because he got to the NBA finals in Lawson. Everybody's like, oh, like, you had your chance, but, I mean, golly, that is brutal. I don't know if it's that or just. Tatum's never been the best player in the league. He's not as good as Yokic. He's not as good as... Stifle some F-bombs here.

Listen, let's be real. I don't agree with Draymond on a lot, Colin. He is dead right here. Jason Tatum is getting totally shafted. Usually, the best team in the league, the best player from that team gets the MVP or is in the mix for it. Yolkich. Yeah, Yolkich.

They're not the best team in the league. They have not been this season. Did they win the title last year? Yeah. Are they maybe half-butting it this year? Sure. They're not going all out because they won the title. What helps him a lot is that Boston is a great team.

So I do think this year he's a little underappreciated this year. But I also think we've been trying to make. I had this discussion with Ryan Rosillo. And he's from the Northeast and he knows all the NBA. But Boston, and I said, you know, we want because he trained early with Kobe. A lot of people have said like Tatum's got a little Kobe, a little Michael, and above the shoulders he doesn't, physically he does. He doesn't, I don't trust him in big spots.

He's real hit and miss for me in big spots. I trusted Bird. I trusted Magic. I trusted Michael. Duncan, I trust. Yokic, I trust. In Tatum in big spots, I'm 50-50. I had to look this up.

Tatum's 25 turns 26 next week. We should have a birthday party for him here on the show. By the way, Michael Jordan didn't do jack squat by the age of 26. He was nothing. He didn't do anything. He was scoring 37 a game. He scoring points. Whoopty damn do.

Everybody scores points in the NBA. Jason Tatum has accomplished more by the age of 25 than Jordan. and did, and it's not even close. Well, you have to remember, when Jordan entered the league, there were real dynasties. One in Detroit, one in Boston, one in Los Angeles. Nobody was getting through the Pistons, Celtics, and Lakers. There's no dynasty

now. The league is wide open for Tatum. How about you get me a trophy? One, there's no dynasties now. He entered the league and the Warriors dynasty was at the end, so that's fair. And then, LeBron moved west. Kawhi

came over for a year. He moved. Kauai walks into the east for an hour, wins a title leaves. Oh, stop it, stop. Listen, time out. Hold up. When Tatum was in the east as a young pup, right out of Duke, there was a dynasty. His name was LeBron James. He went to eight straight finals in the east.

Like, Tatum's not getting by at 19 years old with Isaiah Thomas and those guys. I didn't demand that. I said, you've been like six, seven years now. You had a home game against old Golden State, and Steph Curry took it over. an all-time great player, top 10 player in the history of the league took over. By the way, did you see the clip that circulated where Curry, after that loss, told the Celtics, I hope you enjoy your final win of the finals, and then the Warriors won the rest of the games?

Curry's just such a bad, bad, you know what, he's awesome. He is. J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. By the way, at the top of the hour, I'm going to make your head explode. You're not going to believe what I'm going to set up for you.

I'm going to force you the audience to make a couple of guesses on things. It's going to make everybody very uncomfortable. So don't go anywhere. Coming up next, finally, an NFL executive on J.J. McCarthy appears to come to his senses. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all the time,

but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talk to coaches, we talk to players, we tell you stories. You download it, you listen to it, I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Gottlieb

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 which I'm saying. Yep, that's me,

Clifford 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 IHeard 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. He continues his path towards back-to-back player of the year awards when he leads number two, Purdue, against Michigan State. Coverage begins Saturday at 70s turn on Fox and the Fox Sports app. Every year, there's generally a quarterback in the first round that I really like, and I'll tell you about it. And then there's one I don't really get. I don't want to pick on him.

But this year, the J.J. McCarthy stuff at Michigan, I don't see what everybody else sees. So finally, finally, an NFL executive told Albert Breer called him a stretched-out Bryce Young. He said, for how tall he comes in at, weight has to be a factor. He's taken back by how narrow and lanky the Wolverine's quarterback is. How much bigger can he actually get? This has been my criticism of the two or three I have. He is 6.3202. I'm 6-1.1.5, 195, and I'm thin.

So he's an inch and a half taller than me and five pounds more. He looks thin to me. And go back to the last seven or eight quarterbacks who have been a little short or a little thin. Bryce Young, Josh Rosen, Kyler Murray, Tua, Johnny Mansell, Baker Mayfield. Not a great track record. look around the league right now i know it's i know it's been cool russell wilson came in got to a couple super bowls you can be a small guy herbert six six josh allen six five two forty trevorrence six six six six two two twenty five erin rogers six two twenty three joe burrow six four two eighteen

dac six two two forty a big difference between two oh two and two twenty eight as a pro athlete that's not pop tarts wait that's not put it weight. That's muscle. And so J.J. McCarthy, 6.3 and 202 at Michigan. That's number one. The second thing is this Michigan National Championship team was really known for defense, harbaw and the run

game, not the quarterback. Seven of the 15 games for J.J. McCarthy, half. He threw for under 160 yards. Half. And by the way, and those were big games, Penn State, Washington, Iowa, Ohio State, right? The big games. So, in fact,

He didn't throw a touchdown pass. This is with Michigan's O line. He didn't throw a touchdown pass in five of his last seven games. Half of his touchdown passes came against three teams, all awful. Indiana, East Carolina, and Michigan State. And people are banging on Jaden Daniels because he had a couple of warm-up games where he threw a lot of touchdowns. Half of J.J. McCarthy's touchdowns came against three awful teams. He had one 300-yard passing game.

One. Michael Pennix had 10. Bo Nix had seven. J.J. McCarthy had one. Just look at the size. He's 6.3 and 202. I know, this has been my takeaway. I don't know how much weight you can put on.

I've seen this for years and years and years that players come into a league and we talk ourselves into, well, you can put on weight. I mean, I watch Bryce Young this year. That's his size. I mean, J. Mack, to his credit, set in camp, he looks tiny. The helmet looks huge. on him. He just, and that's what I see with J.J. McCarthy. Didn't, he had his biggest game against Purdue.

He didn't play behind very much. You get these minimal passing numbers without a ton of rushing numbers. He's not hyper athletic like a Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson. He can move, but Bo Nix can move and give you seven, 300 yard games. So I

don't know. I'm not, I'm not saying he won't play in the league. I can see somebody drafting him like second round very, very late first. If you sit him for two years and let him grow into something. But I'm hearing all this top ten stuff. And I'm just looking at all these undersized quarterbacks

who were, Bridgewater came into the league. I like Teddy, but he was spindly. Bryce Young comes in, small, spindly. Josh Rosen, again, I thought he was going to be very talented, but a guy that could get ragdoll by a 260 pound defensive ed in college. So I just don't quite see what

everybody else sees. Something else I thought about regarding LeBron James. And generally, I think I've been very fair with LeBron. And also, you know, nobody is nobody's totally realistic about their kids. You know, I joke with friends is when your kid is, when my son was five years old, he's going to be president of the United States.

By the time he was 12, I was hoping he'd be president of a frat house. And then by like 17, you're like, I hope he's a happy kid. And that's not to say my kid's not a home run and a great kid. but like we're not we're not reasonable as parents like everybody thinks their kids going to be this that this you know kids are kids very few people accelerate to the top of anything and um lebron james has been upset because people have been pushing back in mock drafts that his son brawny uh is is he doesn't make he doesn't make these mock drafts he's not getting drafted and lebron james goes to social media twitter x and says can y'all please let the kid be a kid and

enjoy college basketball put the work in because this all started ESPN had removed Brony James from its 2024 mock draft. It now projects him to go in 2025. So let's be honest about this. LeBron James started it. LeBron's the guy in January that said, Brody could start for the Lakers right now. Okay, you started the expectations.

Right now, USC is a bad team. They're 11th in the Pack 12th. Brony doesn't start for USC. USC and UCLA, I think they played this weekend. Two teams can't score. Okay. Brony's not an NBA player. He may become one, but LeBron's got to be honest. He's the one that put it out there.

He could start for the Lakers right now. I want to play with my son. He said it three years ago. So dad ramped up the expectations. My takeaway on Brony, I've watched him play twice. I don't think he's explosive at the NBA level. I don't think he jumps off the television when you watch USC. Sometimes you can't even tell he's on the floor,

and he had a cardiac arrest before the season, which I think is the most important thing by a mile. I just don't think at this point he's an NBA player. I think he's athletic. I'm sure he's got some intangible, smart kid like his dad. I don't see it. I don't see an NBA guy right now. But let's be fair about this.

You know, when you put your kid out there, I've had people send me tapes of their son 11 years old, high school football. Hey, can you give them some publicity? Yeah, I can. They're not as good as you think. Are you comfortable with that? Are you, dad, comfortable with that? So you put your kids out there.

I've worked with people who want their kids to be broadcasters. They're like 12, and they send me tapes. Hey, could you help him? Yeah, I tell him to work harder. He's not very good at 12. Are you comfortable with that? So you put your kid out there, you've got to be ready for, like, mock drafts. I'm not joking.

I've had people send me tapes on their high school athlete kids. Can you give them some pub? No, I can't because it wouldn't be nice in their 12. So I'm trying to be fair with LeBron, but you put a kid out there and USC's bad. And I don't believe he starts for them. So of course he's not in a mock draft. All right? I think that's fair.

But I also understand that dads are dads. And none of us are reasonable with our kids. Over the course of time, we're like, hey, they're happy kids, they're great kids, they're curious kids. I know, it's kids, it's hard. Hour two, live in L.A. It's the herd. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far far away, such as the biology of time, tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.