The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - Warriors, Lakers, NIL

Episode Date: May 25, 2022

How analytics are changing sports The Warriors play different when they lead in a series What the Lakers should do to fix the mess they are in Name, image, and likeness rules are sustainable but they need some tweaking Guest: Nick WrightSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is a Wednesday, and we are live in Los Angeles. It's the herd. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. It is great to have you in today. Yesterday, I got hacked on a social media account. I do apologize for anybody that linked anything, clicked anything with me. I spent the entire night dealing with that. And Joy Taylor is joining me today. So that's no fun. It could have been worse. Yeah, it could have been worse. And the game was no fun either.

Yeah, there's been some blowouts, huh? Yeah, it's a little bit of the three-point thing. I went back this morning, and we looked up the Bulls series with Utah. You know, it was the highest rated NBA finals ever. Six of the seven games were like 88, 84, and 89, 87, and there was one blowout because you didn't have the onslaught of three. threes. Right. And so you're seeing this more and more. One team gets hot. One team falls behind, tries to shoot threes to catch up. They're cold. And the game's over, seven, eight minutes in.

So congrats to Dallas. You know, there's Biggie Smalls once had a line, mo money, more problems. In professional sports, it's more offense, more ego, more apathy, and more cap issues. Offense is great. Everybody's drafting it. Everybody wants it. NFL drafts are better when there are star receivers and star quarterbacks, right? Like, offense is what everybody's trying to find. And analytics has hurt defense in basketball, has made it more challenging rules and stuff has made it more challenging for defenses in the NFL. So everybody's looking for offense.

Everybody's looking for Mahomes. Everybody's looking for Steph Curry and Luca. But you're going to have cap issues because you've got to pay them. You're going to have more egos because those are the guys that get the sneaker deals and the headlines, right, and the movies and the commercials. And you're going to have also more apathy. Ask any warrior fan, their biggest knock on this team. And it's they get really sloppy and really apathetic and lazy and cocky when they take leads in series.

You can go back to the KD Warriors. Remember that the first year? They started 15 and 0 in the playoffs, hyperfocus. And then a year two with KD, they were still a mile better than everybody else. But they won nine fewer games. in the regular season, and they started, like, losing playoff games, and Siri started going longer. Year three with Katie and Steph, still a mile better than everybody. They went six games in the first round of the playoffs, and six games in the second round of the playoffs,

and they weren't the same team. They were good, but not the same team. Same players, but more money, more egos, more cap issues, and more apathy, and that's what you saw last night. Of the eight games played in both conference finals, seven times in eight games, the winner has been the team that has been more efficient on three-pointers. And the Mavericks were more efficient because they got more open looks. And why did they get more open looks? Because there were breakdowns on the Warriors, and they do what the Warriors do.

When they get a series lead, when they're comfortable, when they know they're better, they get less intense. Now, you see this with the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL all the time. The defense knows Mahomes is going to bail them out. And so Kansas City's defense sometimes, when you watch that Buffalo Kansas City game, now those are great quarterbacks and great offenses. But Buffalo had a good pass rush. Buffalo has a great defensive coach.

But when you keep getting bailed out time after time after time with Josh Allen, it is hard to convince the guys on the defensive sideline. Hey, you've got to make a stop. This is the season because they see Mahomes. They see Josh Allen. And now, some of this is also the NBA's fault and the owner's fault. You never see this kind of apis in March Madness because it's won and you're done. College basketball gets great ratings in the March Madness tournament because there's urgency.

Everybody plays with the same intensity and passion. Do we really need seven games to figure out who's the better team? No, we don't. We don't. Darry-Sixir GM. I was talking to him a few months ago. he said, I do the college route. He goes, if you look at March Madness ratings and you look at NFL ratings, the one and done thing is why you get the ratings.

He said often baseball and basketball with seven games series, there's no urgency. So owners could solve this. We always blame the players. They're human beings. If you don't have to be somewhere until a certain time, you generally don't leave until you have to be there. If you kind of know a teacher's pushover in college, you know, we just don't work. It's hard. We take advantage of situations and time. It's that intensity that the Warriors lack. The Mavericks took advantage of it. They got better open looks and they're pro players. Dallas is a good basketball team. They shoot a lot of threes. They hit a lot. But in the first several games, those were contested. The offense was discombobulated. The Warriors defensive intensity. You didn't see any of it last night. And Steph talked about it afterwards. It was almost like an ego win.

Like you come out and really have nothing to lose. So that confidence started early. We didn't really do nothing to slow it down. And then that's where the avalanche starts. So it's a good lesson learned in terms of you tipped a hat, you know, your hat to them because they made a lot of shots. We had a couple breakdowns in our zone that gave them easy looks. And they made us pay.

So I'm not sure this is the second most. interesting story today, and we've got some really good ones today. But the Westbrook-Laker situation was written about in the athletic today. And the Lakers have a lot of options on this, and I'm not sure. More options would be better if I thought the Lakers were brilliantly run. I think any time a really well-run business has options, I feel good about it. Sometimes when I don't trust a business, options just confuses them and they make the wrong choices. So I don't know if the Lakers are going to make the right choice here. I'd feel much better if

the Warriors had a Westbrook dilemma and several options. The Lakers do have several options. Reportedly here, according to the athletic, though, they're not going to give up number one picks. And so they may have to just stomach Westbrook. So here's my basic Westbrook take. It's not going to work. Stop trying to convince yourself. He lacks self-awareness. He's incredibly stubborn and rigid. It's not going to work. He can't play off ball. So just shelf that one. If you think it's going to work, you don't get basketball. less, listen more about basketball, because it's not going to work. It can be better than it was this year.

It's not going to work. It didn't work in Houston. It didn't work in D.C. much. It doesn't work here. It didn't work at Oklahoma City with Durant. It really didn't at the end. So it's not going to work. Let's get past that.

So the Lakers are not going to lose their season ticket base if they're bad again. They've been bad many times in the last nine years, like really, really bad. And every time I go to a Laker game, it's sold out. So they're not going to lose their fan base. They have a lot of equity. It's a huge brand. People love NBA in this. and the Lakers are always going to be okay.

This is not the Rams where they're building a fan base. It's not the chargers in L.A. where they're building a fan base. Or it's not even the clippers that were so bad for so long and so poorly owned that they still don't have a ton of equity in the market. The Lakers are the Dodgers. They're well-run. They know what they're usually doing.

Even when they have lulls, the fans don't go anywhere. So you don't have to worry about that. And that is something. That is something. It sold out the revenue's good. We also know that. the Lakers are not a championship team. Stop listening to that.

They're old. It's a bad roster with several iffy contracts, including Westbrooks. So my takeaway is not every problem in life is solvable quickly. This is not a problem that may be solvable quickly. What I would do is buy Westbrook out, not play them and stink for another year. Because you're not a championship team. And nobody's going anywhere. And the other thing is, you really have more power.

and leverage with LeBron than you think. Because I hear a lot about this. Well, how will it land with LeBron? I don't know. He'll be in his 20th year. He's playing 55 games. Remember this about LeBron. He loves L.A.

The city has been unbelievable for his brand. He's doubled his net worth. He wouldn't be able to sell his house in Akron now. He couldn't sell that thing. There's no buyers. It's like $40 million. $40 million in Beverly Hills where LeBron leaves. It's a discount.

He loves L.A. he loves the branding, the money, the movies, the attention. He's not going anywhere. Other things, he's in his 20th year. Other things he's only playing 55 games. And we know how the Lakers could get great. And the answer isn't LeBron. It's not.

He's playing 55 games. Anthony Davis is not the answer to be great. The answer to be great is get rid of all these contracts, clear the books. Because Los Angeles just stole Oklahoma's football. team and Bobby Wagner and Matt Stafford and AD a couple years ago and LeBron chose Los Angeles. He didn't choose it because it was the best organization. Lakers haven't been brilliantly run for seven or eight years before he got here. He didn't choose it because they had the best roster, best championship of winning. He chose it because of the city and because of the business and because

of the branding opportunities. That's why Matt Stafford chose here and Paul George and Kauai Leonard and AD and Lincoln Riley and Bobby Wagner, despite what conservative news outlets will tell you people like living here, stars like living here, more than any city in America. It's New York with better entertainment, better beach, and better weather. Both have lousy taxes. So this idea, you're paralyzed by this. What will LeBron think? Who cares? Got one year left, 20th year, playing 55 games? The answer to the championship could be LeBron, but it's not definitively LeBron. The answer definitively would be the Westbrook contract's done. LeBron after a year decides I'm done with it.

And then you just say, anybody want to move to Los Angeles? Because that keeps working for everybody here. Freddie Freeman played with a great organization in Atlanta. They win a World Series. He's like, no, I'll pay more taxes. I want to go to the Dodgers. That's the answer to win here. That's it.

The answer isn't make LeBron happy, just get rid of Westbrook. And then, well, it still doesn't solve LeBron's 20 year in the league. LeBron playing 55 games a year. Anthony Davis can't stay healthy. Doesn't solve any of that stuff. I mean, Milwaukee won a title. They have Janus in his prime. Chris Middleton got hurt. Can't make the Eastern Conference finals. So the answer is clear the books if you want to be a championship team. And these are the Yankees. This is Alabama football. This is Duke basketball. The standard is titles, not making the playoffs. So if you're looking for the solution and the answer here.

Clearing the books is how you win it and be wide open and have the stars line up. Who wants to play in Los Angeles? Folks, Kauai and Paul George chose the Clippers. The Clippers? There's no history. But I keep reading this. Oh, boy, what will LeBron think?

I don't know. He'll think, you know what? It's 74 degrees in Los Angeles and it's, you know, in the middle of the NBA season. It's February. That's probably what I'll think. It's like, view of downtown Los Angeles. It's 74 degrees.

That's what he'll think in February. Or he'll look at his net worth, you know, on whatever a county has and goes, oh, I'm worth a billion one. I was worth $450 million when I got here. Or he'll look at his 75,000 square foot house and his beautiful family and go, I got three basketball courts on the property. That's what he'll think. LeBron's in the mogul stage.

He's not defined now by winning another championship. He's one of the three best basketball players, non-center ever. Michael Magic LeBron. Some think he's the best player ever. Good argument. I'm not going to make it. You can make it. I'm not offended by it.

Certainly plausible. But what LeBron will think is, man, this is pretty good place to play professional sports. Because that's what Matt Stafford thinks. That's what Kauai thinks and Paul George thinks and AD thinks. And I know all these conservative media outlets are. telling you, nobody wants to live here. Well, maybe people, you know, that do normal jobs, don't or something. But the people that make a lot of money, they just keep moving here. And these athletes love it here. And they get marketing deals here and shoe deals here and

movies here and podcasts here and production companies here. And when you ask, what do they think about it? They think, ah, it's 74 degrees in winter. So like, like the Lakers, despite all their nonsense, have leverage. It's the city they play in. It's leverage. All right. A lot of stuff. today. A lot of stuff today. A Baker topic, we're now back to once a week Baker topics. I know it's discouraging for many of you. We went two months without one.

And also the NBA. Does the NBA have a blowout problem? We'll talk about that. 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you'll say. 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.

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Search learn the hard way and listen now. Few things wear me out. Like the not sustainable crowd. Oh, this is not sustainable. This is not sustainable. What I'm hearing about the NIL, name image likeness, paying players is not sustainable. Lane Kiffin said it's 100% sustainable.

He was quoted yesterday saying, and I love these three quotes, I don't even have to agree with. all of them. He said, we're professional sport now and they're professional players. Well, he's right. He also went on to say about the NIL in Sports Illustrated. It's totally changed recruiting. I joke all the time about it. Facilities and all that. Go ahead, built facilities, great weight rooms, training rooms. Which ain't going to have any good players if you don't have NIL money. He's right. And number three, when people argue and say there's no way donors

are going to come up with money to pay players this much weight. Those are the same donors that pay coaches 30 to 40 million bucks and they fire him halfway through the contract. But they're not going to raise 20 million a year for players. It is sustainable. Listen, my whole life, the not sustainable crowd has told me this. These television networks cannot keep paying this kind of money for programming. No, they have my whole life. Six different networks pay the NFL billions.

You cannot keep gouging fans. They won't go to games. No, the owners keep gouging them. All those NBA games, Chase Center, Mavericks Warriors will be totally sold out. Dallas was sold out. Boston sold out. Miami shows up late, but it sold out. They've been gouging fans forever.

Beers are now sometimes $15. They keep gouging them. Oh, the American economy cannot sustain, not sustainable with this debt. What is it, a trillion dollars now? I don't know. It's been like 25 years. We've had a huge debt. It's sustainable.

It's all sustainable. Yes, paying players, it's here to stay. Go ahead. Get up tight about it. Now, do I think there needs to be tweaks? Yeah, I don't think you should be buying high school players. I think that's kind of gross. That's why the NBA said one year of college.

It wasn't really that they wanted to make sure you went to college. They just didn't want to have their general managers recruiting in high school gyms. I don't think you want to be bidding on 16-year-olds. I don't think it's the end of the world. but I would do this. You have to be on the campus to be paid. You've got to be a player. You've got to be in the program.

And maybe you have to play like four games. You've got to be on the field for four games and then I'll pay you. I don't like bidding for high school players. I think that feels a little unseemly. But it wouldn't be the end of the world if that stays the same. Because as joy often points out, it's all cyclical. You're going to pay all these players this money. And then donors after a while are going to say, you know,

or a hit rate on this stuff is about 20 percent. and we're going to be very selective on who we pay. But the not sustainable crowd, my whole life in sports, it's all sustainable. Five years ago, there were literally respected media people because of the CTE lawsuit saying the NFL was done. It has never been more popular than today. The ratings have never been higher. Now you can gamble on it. The NFL is pulling away from other leagues.

I had a GM in the NBA tell me at lunch one day. NBA is going to be the most popular sport. And I'm like, do you bet on it? Do you play only 16, 17 games? Because that's the NFL. urgency stars and we bet on it. NBA will never beat the NFL. We watch what we bet.

We're viscerally connected to what we bet. So it's not sustainable crowd. As Lane Kiffin points out, college football my entire life has been what I'm about to explain. 7-8 big dogs. Another 20 really good programs, Iowa, Wisconsin, B. Utah, and then the rest. That won't change.

I can guarantee you seven or eight teams will dominate college football for the rest of my life. I can also guarantee you that the second tier teams, which include Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan State. You know what? Those big 10 teams care about college football and they're going to be really good and they're going to get really good players. and they're going to grab their own transfer portals, maybe not as many as USC or Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, maybe not as many as those schools, Notre Dame. But all the fear mongering, all it's not sustainable,

every time I hear that, whatever they're talking about, it's almost always sustainable. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Probably time to treat that billion-dollar sport like a professional sport. In general, anyway, get a commissioner,

something like that. I mean, realistically, college football should be separate from the rest of college sports at this point. We talked about this years ago. Don Yee is Brady's agent. I once did a forum with him talking to the NCAA, and his theory was, just privatize college football, and then have the rest of the NCAA. And everybody's like, well, college football is the only thing that pays for anything.

And it's like, yeah, so why do they have to give it all away? So you can make an argument, just make it a private, a separate business now. And I think the NIL is making it more. It's not pro football, but it has, by the way, the NFL steals all sorts of stuff from college football. Coaches, systems, it's okay for college football to go to the NFL and go, we're going to take a little bit of this. We're going to compensate our quarterbacks down here. Why is everybody okay with the NFL taken from college, but college can't take a little bit of the sensibility of pro football? Because education.

Oh, boy. Okay. So the NFL Pro Bowl is genuinely viewed. generally viewed as non-competitive. Players don't want to get injured. They're up for new contracts. It's not a place where you really want to go all out, which makes it virtually unwatchable.

And the league is apparently looking into changing the format. So according to Ian Rappaport, they are discussing ways to improve it, including possibly getting rid of its. Yes. The day could be used to showcase the players in it instead. Okay, can I vote for this? Mm-hmm.

I may be a small, minority of fans in America. But when they host those goofy quarterback drills with tires and moot. I think it's fascinating. I love it. Well, that's the home run derby. You don't like the home run derby. Everyone else likes the home run.

No, no. I get why it's popular. Right. Totally get it. I don't really care too much about the MLB All-Star game in general, although it does matter more than all the other ones. It's still fun to watch. And in baseball, obviously, you know, it's, it's still.

not this, you're not colliding into other men like they are in football, it's not collision sport so they can still play hard. So it really is the most watchable and by the ratings as well. They had 8.24 million viewers in last year's All-Star game. The Pro Bowl drew 6.69 million viewers, which was the lowest since 2006 and there's a 17% drop from 2019. So viewers will also tell you MLB is the best All-Star game. Yeah.

But the home run derby is so much fun. Yeah. It's really not a lot of pressure. You're seeing the camaraderie. The guy's got their kids down there. There's a little more sense of urgency with the clock now. So it's really like a fun watch. I'm not into it like everybody else is.

I watch parts of it. But it's really well done for what it is. And to your point, the chemistry part of it, players like ogling other guys like reacting. Yeah. It's got a dunk contest feel to it. Yes. Which is also the best part of the NBA all-star weekend.

It often has been. the skill and the three-point shooting contest and the dunk contest. The All-Star game is like 200 points. It's absurd, although it has gotten a little bit better because of the tweaks that they've made to it. So I'm all for this. The reality is you don't want guys out there trying to get injured. They're not going to play hard like they did 20 years ago in the Pro Bowl. I do think there should still be that honor of making it to the Pro Bowl, of being a Pro Bowl-Bull-level player.

Yes, so do I. And so just make it into a fan weekend, the same way that they've made, the draft into a fan weekend. The NFL is quite smart at doing this. Yes. Implement fans the way that you always have with Pro Bowl in a more intimate way, honor the players, have a party or whatever, and do the skills contest. Yeah.

Listen, there you go. The draft is so much better now that fans are part of it. Yes. It's such a fun watch. Oh, it's the draft is you get all the drama of the kids and then the passion of the fans booing the commissioner and you get people going up there and over the top. The NFL, to your point, is really good at moments. Yes.

I mean, they've made the combine. Guys in shorts working out is a thing now. Yeah. Not my thing. That's another one of the overrated parts of American sports, but they do a good job at that. But our appetite for any type of sports content is so high. So if you make that skills contest something and put a little more urgency on it and raise the stakes in some kind of way, Maybe it's, you know, the winner gets a certain amount of money donated to their charity or whatever.

Like, guys will compete for that. So put some sort of stakes on it that make it worth competing in. And there you go. There's a solve. So Tyree Kill has only been catching passes from Tua for a short time. He was previously catching passes from Patrick Mahomes. But he seems to have complete faith in his new quarterback. We have the sound.

Yes. You know, probably one of the prettiest balls. I've been caught in my life, so it's very catchable. I just feel like football is all about confidence, you know, and I'm very confident in my quarterback. The sky's the limit for the guy, you know, because he's a heck of a talent, you know, has crazy arm strength, arm talent, you know. So like I say, man, we're all excited, you know,

just to watch him sling the ball each and every day. So the first part of it said, at first I thought it was going to be something crazy, the ball going all over the place, but Tua actually has probably one of the prettiest balls I've ever caught in my life. I think it's kind of interesting that he wasn't so sure how it was going to go with Tua. Like that's a pretty telling quote. I was expecting the ball to be all over the place. I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it is.

I think there's a lot of optimism in Miami. I think this is a really predictable and fascinating situation because I went this morning and we looked at Tua's numbers. Now that's with a defensive coach that didn't like him. I mean, they didn't like each other. Yeah. A bad old line and limited weapons and two his numbers are certainly competent. Now with a better line, offensive coach, unbelievable weapons, his numbers are going to go up. So the question's going to be, because I have Miami is, I think they're going to be a playoff team.

So the question's going to be at the end of this, now do we have to pay him 35 million? Because there's no doubt in my mind, if you look at what he plays, played with, by the way, he also played with Ryan Fitzpatrick hovering over him. So now he gets an offensive coach, better weapons. And it is Sean Watson rumors for a year. I don't think New England's any better. And they beat him twice last year. And the Jets are the Jets.

So like he gets support, better weapons, better protection. If you go look at Kyle Shanahan's offense, this is what this will be. It is built for comfort for quarterbacks. You don't get hit a lot. You move out. It's easy throws. I mean, you start looking at Garoppolo's success. and the lack of market for him.

Like everybody understands what this offense does for quarterbacks. I think the issue with Tua isn't that he's competent. It's going to be after this year, you're going to look at his numbers, and we'll do this later. You're going to sit around and go, do we got to pay him back money? And it's really hard, Joy, to move off Kirk Cousins' numbers. Oh, yeah. It's really hard.

You can say what you want about Kirk Cousins. You look at those numbers and you're like, that's kind of good. competency and availability will get you paid. Availability is a question with Tua. Is he going to be healthy for the entire season? That's a question. But they do have the fifth year option after this season. Right.

No, no. They have a run right here. I have to pay him right now. But to your point, it is going to come up that if he is competent, which he has been competent, it's not like he's been a disaster. It's just a matter of is he able to elevate a bad situation. That we know. He had a bad situation. Actually, not a bad situation. He had a great defense and a competent coach.

But it wasn't a quarterback friendly system. It wasn't a quarterback friendly system or situation. He wasn't able to elevate that or be consistent in that. Is he a franchise guy? I think his numbers this year are going to your point show that and then the dolphins are going to have to make a decision. But he's going to be better. Everything around him is better. If he's not better, then he's definitely not the guy. So the 2022, all NBA teams were announced yesterday. some young players dominated the list. Devin Booker, Luca Donchich, Janice Antecumpo, he was the only unanimous vote getter. Jason Tatum and Nicola Yokic were all-MBA first team. Janus is the first player over the last 50 years

to be a unanimous selection for all NBA first team in four consecutive seasons. I was going to say, not in one year. LeBron got a couple. So that's four consecutive years. Janus is a unanimous choice. Yes. Really impressive. It's the first time since 195. All five players made the first team

or 27 years old or younger, which I think is great for the league. The league's future is in really good hands. This whole panic about who's going to be the face of the league. I think the trend that you're seeing in this particular postseason is that you don't need a face of the league. You just need young, exciting players, consistent play, and you're fine.

The ratings are showing that. LeBron is not in the playoffs. Kevin Durant is not in the playoffs. You know what? And this is important. International players are now so devastating. statingly good that you're not beholden to the draft to find your next ewing is that to your point, and I think it's right, is the face of the league rewards a player. It's not good for business.

Right. What if he gets hurt? I mean, like face of the league with LeBron, he's out of the playoffs. They're up 23%. That's not a knock at LeBron. That's a wonderful. That's a wonderful development for the NBA. The NFL is not dependent on the Holmes. Yeah, what you don't want is Michael Jordan retiring and the ratings going in the 10. They did. 50% when he left. You don't, you don't want that. And I think there has been a fear for a while that what's going to happen when LeBron is

not in the playoffs, what's going to happen when LeBron retires. And you have five young players who are contributing at all NBA first team who are all in the playoffs. Like that's a great thing. You're seeing the future of the league right now. And so

congrats to all them. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. Thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lie News. I want to get one question into Nick Wright. Then we're going to hold him over. Nick Wright. Co-host, First Things First is now joining us live.

Now, listen, I'll say this, Nick. You're acknowledging you did love the Mavericks. In the end, Wiggins, Draymond, they've thrown a lot of stuff at Luca. I want to focus on Luca for a second. Many suggest he is Larry Bird. Those are pretty good comps. But I said a couple days ago, what worries me, he's got some hardened ball usage and some mellow plays himself into shape doesn't play defense oh stop it a little

stop it stop it okay first of all you said you said something in the beginning like i conceded or i was high on the maps is the series over i'm sorry i thought they won last night i thought it's three one oh golden safe would never lose a three one lead oh except we've seen them do it so i maybe i'm wrong maybe i hallucinated that that series is still going. But yes, I was high on the Mavs. I was maybe the only person in America had the courage to pick the Mabbs to beat the Sons. I am sure you didn't. And now you're saying he's mellow and hardened. Here's the thing, Colin, you're making me mad. Anger than the fact that I lost a quarter of a million dollars buying the crypto you were shilling the other day, but evidently you were hacked. They owe me a lot of money, my friend.

Here's the deal. James Hardin would be awesome if he was able to do a the regular season, or in the playoffs, what he did in the regular season? Luca is hardened in the regular season and then gets better in the playoffs, as opposed to it gets 30% worse than the playoffs. You're saying he's a little mellow with him. Now, it is fair to say that he has not come into the season in the greatest shape possible. But I don't think it's because he wasn't playing basketball. I think his diet could use some work.

I mean, he took Slovenia to the medal round of the Olympics. That seems good. Luca already has more career 40-point playoff games than Larry Bird did. So stop it. Luca is right now as we sit here today already, the second best player in basketball. You just mentioned the all-MBA team. Here's a fun fact for you, Colin. Luca at age 23 now has the same amount of first-team all-MBAs as Dame Lillard,

Russell Westbrook, and Kyrie Irving combined. He has one fewer first-team all-MBA than 10. Steph Curry and Chris Paul. The same number of first team all NBAs is your beloved Kauai Leonard. So stop it. I'm not going to allow you to slander him because they're down 3-1 in the series. You guys averaging 32, 9, and 8 this postseason. I think he's doing pretty well.

Yeah, it'd be nice if he came. I don't even know if I want to come back for a second segment. Be nice if he came into his sport and shape. But we'll get to that. More with Nick Wright coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd, weekdays, and noonie. Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben, host of the fifth hour with Ben Mallor, along with my trusty sidekick,

David Gascon, would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mallor show, a cult hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry, in media, sports, and more every week, explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

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I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, CliverTaylor 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,

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growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. All right, let's get back to Nick Wright. Joining us live from New York. Co-hosts, First Things First. You know, I was saying this the other day

is that I do feel like Golden State looks different offensively. They're more skilled. There's a certain apathy. I joked earlier, more money, more problems. But in pro sports, more offense, more ego, more apathy, more cap issues. The Chief's defense sometimes doesn't play with the urgency. Why?

Because they have Patrick Mahomes. I think Golden State gets really sloppy and really apathetic. Boston, Miami, to me, are good teams not special. I think Boston's clearly the better team. And I do think if they lose the series, it is a not a disappointment. it is a disaster because Middleton hurt. Oh. No.

Brooklyn amass. Harden in Philly. Like you, Miami's got two undrafted players playing a lot. I think if Boston loses, and I'm getting pushed back on this, I think you have to make moves in that organization. That's my takeaway. Your thoughts. Okay. So let's say on Boston and then if we have time, we can get to Miami.

It's a very interesting take from you there on Boston. You know how the NBA just named their, their, they're. giving the Eastern Conference trophy. I think it's called the Bob Coosy trophy. And the Eastern Conference MVP is going to be called the Larry Bird MVP. Those are both obviously great Celtics. I do think

if the Celtics lose this series, they could maybe start calling the Eastern Conference Runner Up trophy, the Boston Celtics trophy. Because they lose a lot of these conference finals. I mean, it's been a long time. They're in them a lot. But they sure do lose a lot of them if they don't close

this one out. I think that Boston is an excellent team. I disagree. It seems like what you're saying is that if the Warriors are able to get past the Mavericks, which is not a sure thing just yet, Uncle Colin, but if they are, that you think the Warriors are massive favorites in the finals. I don't necessarily agree with that. I do think Miami, like, let me ask you this. You said just kind of as a matter of fact that Boston's a better team than Miami. Yeah. Everyone agrees with that. I mean. Everyone agrees What is that based on? Miami went to the finals two years ago and beat Boston on its way there. Miami, this year, the better record. They've both been banged up this series and the series is

two games apiece. Why is it that everyone just says Boston's better than Miami? What's the evidence of it? 16 quarters, they've won 13. They have several elite defenders, younger, generally healthier. I think Miami is holding on by a thread. Lourie. The knee of Jimmy Butler, two undrafted players. I think they win through culture and coaching and Jimmy Butler. I think the Celtics have more quality players most in their athletic prime. Okay, but I think you're right on some of that. I think they do have more quality players.

But winning on culture and coaching and consistency seems like something Colin Coward loves. Not only is it all C's like your name, it's like that's vintage Colin Coward stuff. I would think you would love them. Now, I am worried about Jimmy Butler's knee. Miami barely has enough offense with Jimmy. If Jimmy is compromised, then yes, they're in big trouble. But there's an element to me of because of the way the heat play, it's a little boring, it's a little ugly, it mucks things up that people don't want to fully respect what they've done.

And the fact that Butler prior to the knee injury has been sensational this postseason. So I just, I think the heat have been a little underrated. My pick was the heat in seven. Butler's injury concerns me. But I'll stick with the heat and seven. But one thing is you mentioned the quarters thing. Which Kevin Wilde keeps mentioning on my show. The quarters, won the quarters, won the quarters.

For all you quarters, folks, I'll just remind you not to bring her the Western Conference finals, but you're, you know, you're already given the Warriors the trophy. Eight to eight, Mavs Warriors, quarters in that series. Can I sell you that bill of goods? Oh, maybe that series is a little close. than you're acknowledging if we're counting quarters, dead even. Oh, you're so obnoxious. All right, so I said yesterday, the Lobb City team with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre

Jordan. It was the most fun team to watch, but they were never a championship team. They were late into the three. Nobody could hit a three. Blake Griffin couldn't shoot. DeAndre Jordan was totally dependent on Chris Ball. But Doc Rivers got crushed like he should have been beating Steph and the Warriors. And my takeaway is in the last decade, he's won 62% of his games, mostly in the West.

Eric Spolstra has won 59 in the east. He had LeBron, Wade, and Pat Riley. Doc Rivers is the best choice for the Lakers. A grown-up, a veteran, he wins everywhere. Oh, my gosh. You've somehow, I think, made a comp that was more offensive to me than the Luca one earlier. Did you just negatively compare Eric Spolstra to Doc Rivers? Yes.

That ain't right, Colin. Come on. Listen, no one kills Doc for losing to the Warriors. People might kill him a bit for blowing a 3-1 lead to Josh Smith and company in Houston when James Hardin was plastered to the bench, and they were up 20-some points in a close-out game. People might kill him for that. They might kill him for losing a game 7 at home to Trey Young and Bogdan Bogdanovich.

That might be a bit of what they kill him for. I am very sad that LeBron James plays for the Lakers. They don't seem to have a steady hand at the helm of the ship. You'll watch these playoffs and you're like, hey, young athletic wings, three-point shooting. That seems to be the currency of the NBA. Who's the best defensive wing the Lakers have? Is it year 20, LeBron?

I think it might be. So I don't love any of that. And I don't think they're a coach away. I think they need to make some major changes. and I know you've advocated for them trading Anthony Davis or trading LeBron James. I don't think they're going to do that. But I don't think that they are a coach and a Russell Westbrook trade away. Next year in the West, Phoenix will be good again.

Nuggets will be healthier. The Clippers will be healthier. The Warriors are right there. Dallas is right there. Minnesota's on the come up and New Orleans is on the come up. That's seven teams already. Yeah. So, yeah.

I wish they would trade LeBron. I don't think they will. All right. That was good stuff. He really likes Luca. Oh, you cut me short because I was so obnoxious. No, no, no, I like Luca. I like Luca, too.

But there are sometimes concerning things. See, you're a young broadcaster. Young people, they get a lot of love and they just don't see the flaws as I've had to live through my flaws. So that's the difference. Can I just tell you something real quick before we go? Sure, yeah. Before we start killing Luca for not getting other guys more involved,

enough. Is he not letting Maxi Kleba live his best life? Does he need to be feeding Dorian, Finney Smith more? Like what are we talking about? The guy, the only All-Star Luca has ever played a single game with was Dirk, who was an honorary All-Star because it was year 20. Like, hey, let's see him if he ices out a good player before we kill Luca. My God. All right. Nick Wright, very good point. Very funny today. Thank you, Nick. Appreciate it. Yeah, I think, I'm not saying he wouldn't play with the number two. I just think his style could be problematic.

James Hardin is a good passer. He's a willing distributor. It's just you dribble the air out of the ball and there's not much time on the shot clock. And that gets very frustrating to the great player, KD, or the great player, somebody else sitting there waiting for the rock. It's not that Luke is not willing to do it. But your game is your game, as Chris Broussard says. Hour two on a Wednesday next. 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to.

Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get, your podcast. 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 tauntons 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.

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