The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - Tom Brady, NBA playoffs, NFL

Episode Date: May 10, 2022

Joy Taylor in for Colin   Tom Brady will be the lead analyst for Fox Sports when he retires Thoughts on the NBA playoff games last night Is it a good idea for the NFL to have another team in Dallas? Guest: Ric BucherSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome to the Herd. Joy Taylor in for Colin Cowherd all week. He is enjoying his vacation. Alongside Alex Curry, we have a huge show for you today. Got a little bit of news this morning. What a morning. Just wake up with the goat. Just some casual news. Joining the fam. Thank you so much for joining us today and hanging out with us all week. We have a very exciting show today. lots of NBA talk, a little NFL to sneak in here. But yeah, I got to say, I've spent a lot of time in my career talking about Tom Brady, discussing various aspects of his career, his successes, and it is pretty surreal now

to be talking about him as a co-worker. He's going to join the fam. Which is very exciting. So if you haven't heard the news, Tom Brady is. Tom Brady is joining Fox Sports as our lead NFL analyst when he retires. Very important to mention when he retires. Although this is very big news for today, this is not an announcement that he is coming right now. Here is our announcement from Fox Sports NFL.

We are pleased to announce that immediately following his playing career, seven-time Super Bowl champion, Tom Brady, will be joining us at Fox Sports as our lead analyst. And he responded to the news on Twitter saying, excited, but a lot of unfinished business on the field with the Buccaneers. Hashtag, LFG. Everyone knows what that means. I'd like to keep my job here at Fox, so I'm not going to read that one.

You'll figure it out. It's very exciting, though. And, you know, him coming here is, you know, as Shannon just mentioned, if you were listening before the break, it's like Michael Jordan walking off the court and immediately joining as an analyst. I mean, this is the greatest player of all time joining the Fox Sports family as the lead analyst. It doesn't get bigger. It does not get bigger.

No, it does not get bigger than Tom Brady joining a broadcast team. No. And there's levels to this, obviously. Like him joining is very important and it's impactful and it's exciting. But this is also an answer to something that we have all discussed when it comes to Tom Brady for a very long time. What is Tom Brady going to do when he retires? Now, he did have a bit of a retirement announcement, obviously, not too long ago, a few months ago. And it was very short-lived, and we weren't really sure what direction he was going in.

But we've always discussed what's going to be the next chapter for Tom Brady. Because Tom Brady is a very unique athletes and superstar in many different ways. But aside from his greatness, his obvious goat status and Hall of Fame status and legend status, he also is a uniquely obsessive superstar. He is in that class of Michael Jordan and Kobe and the guys that we know absolutely obsess over the game. He is extremely competitive, insanely competitive. He is a guy that has held on to that chip on his shoulder from being a sixth round pick for his. entire career. So we now have an answer for what the next chapter will be. And I got to be honest, I don't know that I expected him to go into broadcasting. I think a lot of us expected him to

really dive into the business side of things. But he's sort of been chipping away at the media side of things for quite a while. He has obviously completely leaned into social media since he's joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had a pretty, I don't want to say laid back, but reserved persona when he was with the Patriots because that was asked of him for 20 years with the Death Star. That was their motto, do your job. And he was the model citizen for that Patriots persona. Since he's been with the Buccaneers, he's been all over social media. He's been all over Instagram. He's completely leaned into being a much more public personality. We have so much more access to him. And that kind of started at the ends of his time with the Patriots, but now it has

completely exploded. He obviously had the Tom versus Time documentary. He's been doing a whole lot more interviews. You've seen him more at celebrity events. He had the man in the arena. He has the Let's Go podcast. It's a part of the match. He's doing a movie right now, 80 for Brady, obviously as a production company. So this is sort of the way he's been trending lately with his, at least his public persona for quite some time. So this is a perfect transition for him. I never thought he was going to sail off into the sunset and pick up crocheting. He was obviously going to do something that was huge and impactful because that is the type of person that he has shown us to be. But even if he were to dive into the businesses that he's already started, that doesn't necessarily

provide the routine that we know Tom is obsessed with. There's a clip that we play all the time from Tom Brady on his Tom versus Time documentary. And I think this is a great hint to how he's going to be as a broadcaster. I watch tape all day Monday, all day Tuesday, and Saturday before the game I watch film, and then Sunday morning I watch film. I don't know why I can sit here and watch it and, you know, process information quickly,

but I can. Running and lifting has been much harder to develop than this. This has kind of been in me. I mean, I could literally like, just watch film all day. Well, you'll have plenty of film to watch as the lead analyst,

and you don't have to do any of the running or lifting in order to do that job. So this is the perfect place for him. We're very excited to have Tom Brady. It's hard for players to just walk away from the game. And I imagine it would be very difficult for Tom Brady to not only walk away from the game, not have any closeness or proximity to the game, but also not have any type of routine. He is obviously obsessed with the game of football.

Family and football is what Brady is. And being an analyst requires that you be very close to the game. You do a lot of what we just showed, which is watching a lot. lot of tape and, you know, it provides a, it provides a lot of responsibility and a routine, which I know me personally not that I'm comparing myself to Tom Brady right before everyone starts freaking out. I do like having a routine. Collin and I talk about this a lot. We're routine people. I like knowing I have this to do tomorrow. I have this schedule. I'm going to park in this parking spot. I'm going to have this for breakfast. And I like the routine of things.

I like building towards something over a period of time. And that's exactly what this, this role is going to provide him. And it's just really special. special that we're going to be able to get the perspective of the greatest player of all time while we watch the biggest games in football every week. So congratulations. Very excited to have you here at Fox Sports. And I think this is so much more than just an announcement for the company. We have now an answer about what Tom Brady is going to do upon retiring, which again, not yet, unfinished business, according to Brady. So it could be this year, it could be next year. he will let us know when he's going to retire,

but now we know where he will be, and that is here with us at Fox Sports. So very excited to hear that, and that's big news this morning. Now, switching to the NBA playoffs, two games last night, two very good games. The late game was a little clunkier than the first, but illuminating nonetheless.

And as I'm watching the NBA playoffs progress, and I really got this feeling going into the playoffs in the first round, and now you're really seeing it develop in the second round of the playoffs. I think we're seeing some significant trends with the NBA, and I think it's really healthy for the league. One, we're seeing really well-developed, well-run, well-coached teams that are deep,

go far in the playoffs, and be there consistently. I think that's great for fans. I think it's great for the league as far as the development of young players and of establishing new stars goes. And we're seeing some real rivalries develop, because, these teams are consistently there. They see each other a lot. We're able to see the storylines of the players

develop and really thrive. And the animosity level that we've seen throughout this playoffs is adding to those rivalries. So those are two big complaints about the NBA, right? Like it's all star-driven. Everyone's changing teams. There's no consistency.

You can't be a fan of anyone. You've got to change jerseys all the time. All the players, all the stars make all the decisions. Well, you're not seeing that with the teams that are in the playoffs now. In fact, Philadelphia is the only team in the playoffs right now that's made a drastic move for a superstar as of recent and James Harden. And that wasn't even something they really wanted to do originally. They wanted to run it with Ben Simmons and it wasn't working out. So I would argue their hand was forced in that space. They've been the one that's trust the process that's wanted to

develop year after year after year. So what we're seeing with all these teams, if you look at the teams that are remaining is that there's a lot of parity, there's a lot of balance, and it is really benefiting teams that are consistent, that are loyal, that are patience, that develop players, that of course are aggressive in moves when they need to be. They're not complacent, but they're also not panicking. And I think that's really important for the NBA right now. There's been so many critics of the NBA poking at these specific things. There's no rivalries anymore. I don't know. We need villains. Well, you're getting rivalries and you're getting animosity and you're getting, you know, some borderline dirty play in these playoffs right now. I can't argue that. Oh, it's all

about the stars. Everybody's superstars changing teams. AAU pairing up together. You're not seeing that this year either. And you didn't really see it last year. These teams are developing. They're well coached. They're well run. Even when they make moves like Brad Stevens moving into the front office. They're not drastic. They're not explosive. Everyone is consistently working. towards the goal. And if it doesn't work out, it's not an explosion. It's not panic. It's not drama. And you're getting the rewards in that from the fans. The ratings are up 23% this year. That is significant. So everything is pointing to the league is in a really healthy place. We're always talking about who's the face of the league and what's going to happen when LeBron retires.

And listen, you need superstars. I am a superstar person. You need storylines. You need narratives, you need villains, you need all that. I agree. But I think what you're seeing in the NBA playoffs is not only great basketball, you're seeing well-developed, well-coached teams, players having the opportunity to rise up and have big moments on the biggest stage, and a lot of success is being rewarded to teams that have been patient. And I think that's great for the league overall,

and I think we're going to continue to see this trend moving forward. Of course, there's always going to be a team that pops up, that puts together a bunch of stars. But the team that we thought was that team this year was Brooklyn, and they were nowhere to be found and got swept in the first round. So the trend for the NBA, very much like the NFL in some ways, is that you continuously tinker.

You continuously make adjustments. You continue to grow. Panicking, firing coaches every two years, making these big swings with no guarantee of any kind of ROI is moving out the window, which I think is really flying in the face of everything that we as a society are with instant gratification. You have to be patient.

You've got to build. You've got to allow young players to develop. You've got to add veterans that fit into systems that are willing to be selfless and sacrifice and have the big star that works with what you do. And that's what you're seeing in these NBA playoffs. And I think it's great. So really exciting show for you today.

We'll talk to Rick Buecker about the NBA playoffs coming up in a little bit. Mary Kay Cabot. Cleveland is, of course, in the storylines, again with their quarterback situation, so we'll get more from her. Amy Dash, there was an NIL notice that was released yesterday. She's a legal analyst. She'll break down what's going on with the NIL and a little bit more on the Deshawn Watson

situation as well. And Amina Smith, NBC Sports Boston reporter and host, the Celtics had a big win last night. We'll talk to her about that and a lot more coming up on The Herd. Joy Taylor and Alex Curry in for Colin Cowherd. 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. Welcome back to the herd. Joy Taylor in for Colin Cowherd all week.

He is on vacation. We'll be back on Monday. So Alex and I are holding it down while he is in Italy. I wonder how much wine he's enjoying in Italy. He's not a big wine guy. I hope all the wine. I know, but wine gives him snake dreams. Wait, that's fascinating.

I love that so much. So maybe he's having, what's the drink? A lemoncello? Lemoncello's delicious. Yeah. I had a lot of lemoncello. Apparel spritz. April sprits.

That's it. Everybody can't make those, though. You got to get the right combination. Make a little too sweet. That's a fave. Well, Tom Brady is our co-worker, so that's exciting. Huge. That was huge news this morning.

Tom Brady will be joining the Fox Sports family as our lead NFL analyst. Upon retirement, he's not announcing his retirement right now. This is what he's going to do upon retirements. So that was the big news this morning, but the NBA playoffs are in full swing, and we talked a little bit about some of the dirty plays, depending on how you feel about these plays, I felt like they were dirty plays, but that doesn't make them dirty players. You can have a dirty play and not be a dirty player. You can do something wrong and not be a bad person.

Your reputation and what you do consistently, I think, matters. But there were some incidents in the Warriors Grizzlies series, obviously the Dylan Brooks foul on Gary Payton Jr., and most recently the Jordan pull knee grab on John Morant, which inevitably led to him being out last night and the Grizzlies losing to the Warriors and going down 3-1. So it wasn't obviously extremely significant. I don't want to get into the conversation with you about whether or not he hurt John Morant. It doesn't matter. You're not God. You don't know. If John Morant says, that's what hurt him. That's what hurt him. I don't want to have not having that conversation with you. So if you're

upset about that, I don't know, talk to someone else about it. But we did talk a lot about that animosity yesterday. And what it all really means? again, as I started the show, there's this constant conversation about how soft the NBA is now. There's no rivalries. There's no edge. In the 80s, everyone was competing.

Now everyone's friends. Well, now I think you're kind of starting to see, you're starting to see the modern version of this, the modern players version of what the animosity and rivalries are going to look like. It's not going to be the bad boy pistons who were, obviously what they were and did not apologize for it.

And they were unique for that and immortalized for that. And that is that is them. And there were obviously some branches throughout those eras of basketball in the 80s and 90s where people completely leaned into that and it worked for them. And sometimes it didn't work. And that was that era. We're not in that era now. So there has to be some sort of modern evolution of playing tough, having rivalries,

having animosity, having tension without it crossing the line that, Today's MBA is not going to allow you to cross through fine suspensions and whatever else, but also the relationships that these guys have, which I have no problem with. I think you can leave things on the court and it be okay. We don't need to have everything be a fight and war and all of that. But Dylan Brooks obviously had the foul on Gary Payton, Jr., and we've been talking a lot about that. And he spoke about it.

He said, I was just trying to make a play on the ball, and he was running full speed. I jumped and he adjusted. It's in the past. I didn't mean for it to hurt somebody. If I were to take it back in a moment, I would. But it's the past. He said this after Grizzlies shoot around before game four yesterday. If I could take it back, I would.

That's the modern version's player's version of this tension and animosity. I'm going to make the play, but then I'm going to apologize for it. So I'm going to play tough, but if it hurt someone, I'm going to apologize. which I'm okay with. I'm okay with apologizing. This whole idea that you could just do something wrong and stand by it forever, apologize. It doesn't hurt you as a man or as a woman or as a person to apologize. You can play tough and apologize. You can play tough and be empathetic. And we also saw last night Jordan Poole walk up to John Morant. Now, Jha was a little, you know, begrudging in his response to Jordan Poole. It's not like they stopped and hugged it out. But this is something.

shook hands, okay, like it happens. We had a moment. Obviously, it hurt John Morant, but this is where we are. Be tough, but be empathetic. I'm okay with this modern version of rivalries. And that's, that's where we are. I think we need it. I do think we do need tough play. I think you need a little tension. You need villains. I very much believe in that. But it's also, if you hurt someone, just go ahead and apologize. Don't think less of you. Actually, I think more of you. Let's get to Alex Curry with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd-life. news. Well, the NBA announced the Sons coach, Monty Williams, as the 2022 coach of the year yesterday. Williams led the Sons to a franchise league best 64 and 18 records securing the top overall seat in the playoffs. But Williams didn't want to take all the credit. Take a listen. If there's one award that exemplifies team, it's the coach of the year award because there's so many people that help us have a consistent day and they create a bubble for us to have success. Yeah, my name will go on the plaque or whatever, but my name represents a lot of names. I love this and I love Monty so much. Anytime I hear him miced up during the game, I just think to myself, I wish he was my life coach.

Everything he says, you can hear his passion and his respect for the game and for the players and you can see the respect that the players have for him. And he's taking him. And he's taking. taken this young group, obviously, with the help of Chris Paul, and he's turned them into rock stars. He's done an incredible job. Well, Moni, I think, is the perfect coach for this organization. Yeah. The sons were a disaster for a long time. And we know all about the issues with the owner, the structure there, how people were treated.

It was insane. Moni is that captain of the ship. he's not going to tolerate any kind of shenanigans. No. You're not getting out of line in this situation in a respectful way. Yeah. But he is somebody that speaks and you respect what he has to say, both as a person and when it comes to basketball. Yeah.

And I think the sons have really shown that if the owner has now removed his influence on the situation and allowed James Jones and Monty Williams to run the team. And they've shown, let us be. Let us do this basketball. thing and we can do this properly. And with respect and treating people well, and you know, it sounds all, you know, kumbaya, but this is what you have to do. If you want to establish a culture with an organization that has been dysfunctional for a long time. It's not just getting things right on the court. You have to establish something, a standard for how things are done and Manny has done an unbelievable job. And you need the respect. And you can see that, you can feel

it, and then we are all seeing the results. This is what happens. And you're, and you're, You have to earn respect, which Monty has. Oh, yeah. Your reputation precede you when it come into a place. Very well deserves. Congratulations. All right, moving on. Almost all of this year's big name quarterback, Domino's,

have fallen except for Jimmy G. And reports indicate that the 49ers don't expect to deal the QB until just before training camp. Aiming to shop Garoppolo again after he completes his rehab sometime this summer. Nick Wagoner of ESPN reports, after losing to the Rams in the NFC championship, the expectation was that the first big piece of business, trading Garoppolo would happen quickly. That was before it was known. Garapolo needed right shoulder surgery, a procedure that wiped out his trade value.

Garopolo's shoulder is slated to get the all clear in late June or early July, at which point the Niners will again seek a trade. Now, he is under contract next year. He's owed $25 million in 2022. Not that much when you consider what quarterbacks are making right now. now. And when you look at Jimmy's, I guess, career in what he's been able to do with the 49ers, he took him to a Super Bowl. He's done well in the playoffs. He's a good piece to pick up if you need him. But who needs him? That's the big cue. And I understand the surgery thing

wiped out the trade value. But we know what Jimmy G is at this point. We know that he is injury prone. What are teams waiting for to see how he is off surgery? Well, you're not going to see that on this timeline. I am just very suspicious of what's going on with the 49ers. I don't trust it. Kyle Shanahan is always playing all these little shell games with everything.

I don't believe it. I don't, we're constantly hearing these little things about Trey Lance that he's not 100% there yet. So I think they're hanging on to Jimmy G because they don't know if Trey Lance can play yet. On top of the fact that there is

not a big market for Jimmy G or Baker Mayfield because as you said the dominoes have fallen the draft is over people have made their trades and made their moves now if I'm in desperate need of a quarterback yeah I'm going with Jimmy over Baker for multiple reasons but they got him for a second round pick

yep now he's way exceeded what they got for him and I don't doubt I mean when I think people are untradable these moves get made all the time and I'm like okay you know these gems GMs know what they're doing some of them so I'm not going to say that they're not going to get more for him, especially in a quarterback market where everyone can become desperate very quickly if there are multiple injuries and, you know, things fall

apart. You never know what's going to happen once you get the training camp. But I don't know. I'm also, I wouldn't be surprised if they held on to him just because of all the stuff we've been hearing about Trey Lance. Yes, they need to give him the shot. Yes, they need to just push him out there and see what they have and what he can do. But we've also heard rumors that the coaching staff is underwhelmed. Right. With this throwing. And like there, there are things that are leaking that are kind of a big deal and a big

look into why they kept Jimmy all of last year. Well, yeah, because we keep hearing them talk about, you know, he's such a good player. You can't let go of such a good player. It's not, he's not a cornerback. This is a quarterback. Yeah. This is a one man job.

The number one job on the team. And it's for one person. Yep. And Jimmy is taking them to a Super Bowl. I know 49ers fans are all in. on Trey Lance and wanting to see him. And I am too. I think that they should give him to Trey Lance. If you

want a cautionary tale, look at what the dolphins did with Tua. They still have no idea what Tua is because they keep playing these little games with giving him the starting job. Which is why I'm glad it's his job finally. Finally now, he is uninhibited as the starter in Miami. Don't play those games with Trey Lance. And they gave up a lot

to get Trey Lance. So eventually you have to let him play. You have to let him rise or fall. There's nothing wrong with failing. But you We can't not try. Yeah. And that's what the dolphins were doing for a while. And it's, I don't know, because we have to wait and see. But I'm a little suspicious of that's what they're sort of leaning towards in San Francisco.

I guess we'll see. I don't know about the trade market. Like, what difference does it make at this point? He's always injured. It's not a big reveal. Yeah. You know. Yeah.

Downside. It's one big downside. His injuries? Yeah. Best ability is available. Well, yeah. I mean, he's not available. That's a huge deal.

especially at the quarterback position. All right, well, let's switch gears because the reigning ALMVP, Shohay Otani, added another stat to his growing resume last night, recording his first ever grand slam in either his Major League Baseball or his career in Japan. It was one of two home runs on the night for Otani in an 11 to 3 blowout to the Tampa Bay raise by the Angels. Now, I had a front row seat to Shoha O'Tonnie's career into Major League Baseball.

and he was rookie of the year when he entered the league in 2018. People are finally, finally making a big deal about this guy and talking about him as much as he should. He is changing the game of baseball. He is an incredible two-way player who not only is an ace pitcher who throws 100 miles per hour. And then, like last night, hits two home runs, power hitter, grand slam. Oh, and he's on the mountain again tomorrow.

So huge congratulations. Big shout out to my Angels family who was first in the A.O. West right now. Congrats to Otani. Miss you guys. Much love. No, he's such an incredible player. I love his commercial also. Oh, he's great. He's totally moving into superstar status and it's fun to watch. And that's what MLB needs. They need. Is these young superstars that they allow to be personality. So I love that he's thriving. That's Alex Curry with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. So we'll talk to Rick Buecker about the NBA playoffs, and I'm going to float some of my theories with him in a few minutes. But we got this story about a possible another team in Dallas, the idea of adding another team to the Dallas area. And, I mean, first of all, let's just start with absolutely not. That's where my opinion is on that. So the Dallas mayor said he wants to add another NFL franchise in the city.

Now, look, the NFL is king of everything. We just got Tom Brady here at Fox. It's the king of everything. And we know that. And we love the NFL. But what's perfect about the NFL, especially for today's society where we are all distracted, is every single game matters at the highest level. So the idea of expanding the NFL would not be as simple as adding one more team.

you'd likely have to add multiple teams, and then that changes the entire landscape of the league. You could argue we could have less teams in the NFL. But adding another team to particularly the city of Dallas is really a different conversation. If you're talking about adding another team, I mean, obviously New York has two teams. We have two teams here in L.A. That was a big conversation, even bringing another team to the Los Angeles area. But Jerry Jones, I do not believe, would be interested in this. at all. Now the pushback on that is

if they did add another team to Dallas, the Dallas area, Jerry would make a lot of money because they would play it in Jerry's world. That would be a certainty. They're going to build another stadium. So they would play at Jerry's world and he would make a lot of money from that. But it would also distract and take away from the Dallas Cowboys,

which is obviously Jerry's heart and soul outside of his family, of course. This is not necessary. They do not need another team in Dallas. If you are realistically talking about adding another team to the NFL, it would be international, which we've already had these conversations about, which is why the NFL plays in London, why they're playing in Germany this year, why they're playing

in Mexico City. If you were going to add another team, add one in Mexico City. That's a realistic flight for everyone. I mean, if you got to fly from L.A. to Miami, I just did that. It's a really long flight. It's five hours. It's a lot on your body. What's the difference in flying to Mexico City. Toronto. Huge, huge sports fan base in Toronto or London. You got to mess with the schedule a little bit for the West Coast teams. But if you're going to add another team, do it internationally. It expands the brand of the NFL and set roots internationally. There's no point in adding another team to Dallas. First of all, I don't think that Jerry would ever go for this. I think he would fight it to the end of time to add another team to Dallas. But what would they be? They'd be,

like, no offense, but they'd be the clippers. like it's the Dallas Cowboys. It's America's team. And the argument is like are there enough humans or enough human beings to sustain another franchise in this city? Like that was the conversation with having two teams in Los Angeles. Obviously New York has done it successfully. But you've got to have butts in the seats. It's a television, television products, obviously, but you also have to have people there. You have to have a fan base. You have to sell season tickets in order to sustain this. You have to sell merch. Like there is a whole other side of this, not the majority side. The majority side is the television product. But this is not a,

this is not a thing that I think Jerry would ever even entertain. I don't think it's possible logistically for the NFL to add another team to Dallas. And I don't think that Dallas would be the place where they would do it. Yeah, especially like we're here. We're in L.A. We almost have two of every team here. Fans, the mayor was saying like maybe, you know, different leagues, they'd be fans of both teams. It doesn't happen that way. You are either a Laker fan. You're a Clipper fan. Fan of both teams. You are a Dodger fan or an angel fan, and you don't have Rams and Chargers fans together. Fan of both teams.

Yeah, it's not going to happen. Oh. It's not going to happen. Could you imagine the person with the split jersey with the Lakers and the clippers? Not in the same city. Oh, I have a headache even thinking about it. It just doesn't make sense. No.

And there's always one that's king and one's like the little brother. It's just what it is. Yeah, that's just how it happens. That's how it happens through winning mostly. like that's what the Lakers and Clippers. The Lakers have the banners. The Clippers do not. Yeah, but Lakers were also like here.

Like the giants have had the success more recently. The Jets have not. Yeah. You can go down the list in these multiple team cities. But like that's, it's just, that's not even a question. There's not going to be a split cowboys and whatever they would name the other team in Dallas.

That's, this is not happening. This is not happening. But it's an interesting thought, but there's not going to be split fans. and I don't think that Jerry Jones would ever, ever want any kind of competition for football in his town, which is Dallas. We'll talk to Rick Bueger on the other side to get his thoughts on the NBA playoffs. And my theory that the NBA is in the healthiest place that it's been in for a long time. That's coming up on the herd.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines,

accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book, and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to The Herd, Joy Taylor, in for calling Cowherd all week, as he is enjoying the countryside of Italy.

Let's go out to Rick Buecker, Fox Sports MBA analyst, and now also a co-worker of Tom Brady's. We will welcome Tom Brady to the Fox Sports family upon retirement. But let's start with the NBA playoffs. So I spoke about it earlier on the show today. I think that the NBA is in the healthiest place it's been in a long time. If you look at the teams that are remaining in the playoffs, the competition level that we're getting in the playoffs,

outside of the Grizzlies losing last night. We would have had long series, obviously John not being in it, which we'll get to. And the teams that are in the playoffs are all well-coached, for the most part, very well-run and have developed players. And you're seeing this in the ratings. The ratings up 23%.

I think you're getting great basketball and you're seeing patience, well-run organizations being rewarded with success. And I think that's great for the league. I agree. Now if they can just get the officiating right, Well, yeah. We can't have everything, Rick.

Obviously, we can't. You know what's unique about this situation, though, Joy, is generally the NBA enjoys its greatest popularity when it has a team that everybody's gunning for, when it has that super team and it has it in the major markets. And what we're seeing is while the major markets are, well, let's say bigger markets are engaged, We don't have L.A., we don't have New York, and yet the numbers are going up. And I don't know whether this is a reflection of some sort of shift or whether it's the impact of social media. But the fact that you would have a John Moran in Memphis, a relatively new star leading the social media engagement and the replays of videos,

I think we're seeing maybe a sea change when it comes to sports, but certainly the NBA, and how it gains traction and popularity. Because what we have right now where we don't have really a favorite to win it all, and yet everybody is engaged and excited, that works for the NFL when there's parity. It generally has not worked for the NBA, and yet we are seeing a rise. in popularity when we don't have that. So I don't know whether this is just an outlier or whether it's something new.

But just as a sports fan, I would rather see the NBA pair at the NFL and make it about parity, make the Memphis Grizzlies being great. John Morant being able to stay in Memphis and have all of the success and attention and celebrity that comes with being a great player in the NBA. I'd love to see that model work.

It just hasn't in the past. Yeah, it's interesting because the NBA tends to trend younger with the fans than the NFL. And maybe that has something to do with it because the younger fans didn't grow up watching the bad boy pistons. They didn't even really see, you know, Kobe's Lakers. They really are, you know, the LeBron generation of fans that are now getting older. They're, you know, they're in the purchasing age is mostly the Bronn fans. Like, certainly did not see all of that and forget Jordan. So there's a little bit of a different energy when it comes to what these younger fans are consuming and what they like.

I do think rivalries are still important. But it's like I said earlier. Like, it's kind of like soft rivalries. Like, yeah, we're going to play tough. Someone might step over the line. But then we're going to apologize for it. And that's just not something that you would see or hear in, you know, the 80s or 90s. Yeah.

Well, and the other problem is that when we talk about rivalries or we talk about, you know, back and forths, guys have to stay in one place for that to happen. The rivalries have to happen between teams, not players. And so are we going to see a sea change in that? Normally, at this point, job blowing up, people would be asking, okay, so where's you going to go next? When's he going to go to L.A.? When's you going to go to the NICS? And we're not hearing that. And generally, we haven't heard that with international players. They're more likely to stay put. A Yanis Tocompo staying in Milwaukee, that's generally the trend there. A player like John Moran would mean, well, he has to go to a big market. We've been hearing that for years with Donovan Mitchell being in

Utah. So again, I'm hoping that we're arriving in a new place where a guy doesn't feel the need to have to go to a big market or an established franchise in order to compete for titles. And I also hope that Jha and the Memphis Grizzlies are able to keep together that group because I just, I think it's ready made for the warriors and the grizzlies for the next three, four, five years to have these battles. They're already building history right now. And when you look at whether it's Jordan Poole or Steph Curry, the battle between them and John rant at the point guard spot, the way they play, very similar.

Similarly, James Wiseman comes along and now he's going up against Jaron Jackson Jr. It's like all the storylines are there for the Grizzlies Warriors to be a great rivalry for years to come if everybody stays in place. Yeah, I agree. I was saying in the meeting this morning, I feel like this series has been going on for a month. There's just been so much that's happened in this series that it's absolutely establishing history. I'm with you there that they do need to stay together. Well, Boston got a big win last night, so now that series is even. What is your expectation for that series moving forward?

I did not expect it to go seven. I expected the Bucks to win last night in this to be a six-game series. I'd now expected to go seven, and I'm going to stay with the Bucks, but they need some guys to step up and they need to put a muzzle on Hal Horford at 35 years old. If you had told me, yeah, you know what? You know what's going to happen? Al is going to not only dunk on Janice Antacompo, he's going to drive past him and dunk on him. And he's going to get a career playoff high, 30 points in a game four where the Bucks have an opportunity to put a stranglehold on the series.

Did not expect any of that. I do believe Yonis is playing well. He's not playing great. The three's not falling. The free throws have been a little iffy. But more than anything else, nobody's coming along to join the party. Jason Tatum is getting an Al Horford. He's getting a Marcus Smart.

He's getting help. And I look to Bobby Portis as the biggest absentee to this point. I expected, look, when PJ Tucker left and went to Miami, I was not worried about it because I thought Bobby Portis was ready to step in. I thought he was a better offensive weapon. And I thought defensively he could do enough to make up for it. He did that against Chicago, when he did it against Chicago. they won in a walk.

I expected to see more of that in this series, and I think it's more vital that he give them that in this series, but 15 minutes and four points in the last game is not going to get it done. So we'll have to see whether Mr. Googly-Eyes, Bobby Buckets, is able to step up and give them a little more in this next game. Somebody has to. Drew Holiday, Bobby Portis, Grayson Allen, another big big game.

somebody has to join the party with Janus if the bucks are going to get this done. We're talking to Rick Buecker on the herd. Someone said that that PJ Tucker move was going to be significant. I don't know who that could possibly be, but when it happened, someone said it. It's not significant yet, doctor. She might be a doctor now. Don't start assuming Miami is in a dog fight themselves. They sure are.

Let's not jump to conclusions. They sure are. We have two minutes. left, so let's go there then. What do you think of Hardin? Is he going to string together a series of these performances? We know Miami Hardin is very different than some other cities. Yeah. No, I mean, this has been the problem. I'd never doubted that Hardin could have a game like this. But what we expect from the James Hardens, what we expect from guys who've been named to the 70 all-time greats, is that they are consistently great. And that has not been in. And I don't know about, you know, I don't, you know, I

hate to downplay what Hardin did. But the three was falling and he was getting calls at the rim. And the Philadelphia 76ers seemed to have bought into the idea that Hardin was washed. I don't think they played him particularly hard. I believe that that is a, or the he played him particularly hard. I expect that that is going to be different in this next game and that Hardin is going to be tested and that lack of conditioning is going to show itself once again. So I'm not buying that Hardin has suddenly leaped into, you know, a time machine and is going back to the Hardin that we're used to who gave us consistent performances. I would be more likely to bet on that this was a one-off and we'll see Miami Hardin once again. Well, for the heat's sake, I hope you're right. But it

was fun to watch James Hardin back as himself for that game. And he was playing with a lot of energy. It was fun to watch. Thanks so much for jumping on, Rick. Appreciate you. Have a great week. You have it, doctor. You too. Thanks, Eric. Joy Taylor in for calling Cowherd alongside Alex Curry all week. If you don't know what Rick is talking about, I got an honorary doctorate from my alma mater this weekend after I gave the commencement speech, which I was very nervous about, but did it. You know, it was a checklist, like a thing. Bucket list. It was. I mean, I don't know that I had ever planned on it because I didn't think that I would ever get to the point where someone wants to. Yeah. But you do. But you

did great. Stop saying you were nervous because you did an amazing job. Let's put that narrative behind us. You did amazing. You inspired a bunch of young children and now you're a doctor. Thank you. Dr. Joy. Thank you very much, Alex. We'll talk to Mary Kay Cabot, one of my favorite reporters, Cleveland Brown's reporter. She does an amazing job. We'll talk to her and discuss this new wave of Lakers information that we just got from a Bill Plashke article coming up next on The Herd. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. A win is a win. Yep, that's me, Cliford 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 Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford 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.

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