The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - Westbrook, Lakers, Brady

Episode Date: April 12, 2022

Russell Westbrook lacks self awareness Colin is cheering for the Nets to win it all Tom Brady was frustrated with Bruce Arians   Guest: Dan WoikieSee 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 Hurd. Now let's get this party. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is a Tuesday NBA playoff star tonight. I'm all fired up. Live in Los Angeles, it's the herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

IHeart Radio. Fox Sports Radio and FS1. It is great to have you in today, Joy Taylor. I'm very excited. I'll be rooting for the villains of the NBA, the Brooklyn Nets. I'll try to explain that in five minutes. You have a lot of faith in me. eight seeds. I do. I like the clippers and the Brooklyn Nets. I like all the teams that had no

chemistry and didn't play together all year. We'll see. It's been a wild year. It has been. Nobody, I think sometimes people think, Colin, you talk about this athlete or that athlete because it gets you clicks and are good for ratings. And I've said this before. If Baker Mayfield retired today, my show is going to do okay. If Russell Westbrook retired today, and I kind of wish he would, my show is going to be okay for another 10, 15 years. I've never needed an athlete. My opening rant is me. You've listened to it for 25 years.

Hopefully many of you have. I'm over Russell Westbrook. I think he's kind of sad now. I think this is the way it ends for people that lack self-awareness. So Russell Westbrook held his exit interview yesterday for the Lakers. Now remember, he's played more games this year than any other Laker, 73. He played more minutes than any other Laker. So he had the most opportunities to prove to us what he was.

But yet once again at his exit interview yesterday, he blamed somebody else. So when I first got here, I just felt that I never was given a fair chance just to be who I needed to be to be able to help this team. LeBron and Aeney were very clear with that Russ with us. Like we heard that a lot.

Yeah, but that wasn't true. That's what I was going to say. I mean, so let's be honest. Do you ever feel like yourself this season on the court? Ah, very rarely. Not like, you know,

there were times and spurts, but I was just trying to find my way, honestly. Played the most games and the most minutes, but, you know, he was never given a chance to show who he was. The most games, the most minutes.

as if the Lakers were rooting against him the whole time. Yeah, we brought him in. We're going to pay him 40 million. We hope he fails. It's always somebody else's fault. You know, in basketball, there's players who get it immediately, LeBron James. Players who get it eventually, Carmel O'Anthony. And players who never get it, Westbrook.

KD. is played with lots of stars. He's worked with all of them, except Westbrook. LeBron is played with lots of stars. of stars. He's worked with all of them, except Westbrook, but it's somebody else's fault. Full disclosure, I never got him. My favorite point guard ever is Magic Johnson. I loved Isaiah Thomas, John Stockton, you know how I feel about Chris Paul. He's been my favorite point guard the last decade in the NBA. I love me some Chris Paul. Westbrook, unlike those great point guards, never made anybody better. He can't shoot. He's got brutal hands. And most of all, he

self-awareness. And as I said years ago, and I said this about Cam Newton and Russell Westbrook, when your game has no clever, when it has no nuance, when it has no crafty, and it's simply built on a fire hose of athletic ability, you age quickly and you age poorly, and he has. But I feel bad for Westbrook now. I really do. I feel bad for him. Like I feel bad for certain Americans. Some people get it immediately, some people get it eventually, and some people never get it. there's people out there still think the election went to one side. It didn't. It's over. Move on. And January 6th was really bad. Most of us get it. Even the stubborn eventually got it.

Westbrook earlier this year was asked about people, fans who were ripping up in the arena. Fans were being critical. They were screaming things like West Brick. Once again, no accountability. Here it was. My family has reached a point to where it's really weighing on them. When it comes to basketball, I don't mind the criticism of missing and making shots. But the moment it becomes where my name is getting shamed, it becomes an issue. I can't no longer allow people, you know, for example, Westbrook to me is now shaming. Like it's shaming my name is my legacy for my kids.

We literally have nicknames for our presidents and people can't for a guard. no accountability. That brick part is because you're the worst shooting guard in the league, and you've had your worst year ever, and you're lacking any self-awareness, and your game's never been clever or nuanced, and therefore you've aged quickly. I really do wish this is the last time I talked about, West,

Brooke, whatever you want to call them. I really wish it was the last time. I feel bad for them. I feel bad for people who don't use mirrors. They still work. They're in our bathrooms. You should stare at them occasionally. but I don't want to make fun of him.

I don't want to poke him. I feel bad for him. I like people who are often stubborn to eventually go, wow, light came on. It never has for Russ. If I was the Lakers, I would move him as soon as I can. There's a lot of average players in the league. They're just not toxic. With Russ, that's simply what he's been reduced to.

Toxic. All right. Now let's talk about something that. is more fun, rooting for the bad guy. So there are some harsh realities in life. Uncle Colin is going to deliver some harsh realities. Now, children, if you're watching, your parents will never tell you this. Your uncles won't tell you this.

Grandpa won't tell you this. Your teacher won't tell you this. Uncle Colin is going to deliver some harsh news today for all you kids. Hard work doesn't always pay off. Now, if you're talented and you work hard, that always. always pays off. But some of you aren't that talented. You'll work really hard and it still won't amount too much. Hard work has limitations. Sorry, it does. And the second thing is being selfish can get you what you want. Not always and nobody likes those people, but being selfless

often gets you trampled in life. Sometimes occasionally being selfish is okay. Nobody's going to tell you that except Uncle Colin. And the Brooklyn Nets are everything that's bad with basketball. The Celtics are everything that's good. The Celtics draft their players. They're patient with their players. They develop their players. They play the same guys every night. They develop chemistry. They're coachable. They play great defense. They defend the three. They defend the interior. The Celtics are what basketball is all about. The Brooklyn Nets aren't. They had the most starting lineups. One of their stars refused to get vaxed. So selfishly, he wasn't available for home games.

They never play together. They're bad defensively. Their bench stinks. There's really no chemistry. They never play together. And yet I'm rooting for them to win. I'm sorry, sometimes Uncle Colin roots for the bad guy. Listen, Hannibal Lecter, Darth Vader, the Joker.

Villains make movies more fun. I can't like everybody in the playoffs. Isn't there somebody I have to kind of root against? Brooklyn goes back to the opening of this rant. Sometimes selfish works and sometimes talent is really the key, not just hard work. And Brooklyn's going to play, the Boston Celtics, and this country is going to be rooting for the good guys here, and it's going to be Boston.

And I am fascinated that Ben Simmons may be inserted for eight minutes to half. He's been very difficult. over the last year to a couple of different teams and to add a layer to the villainous Brooklyn Nets, he may be the difference. I don't know what it is. Is there something in me? Do I root against the do-gooders of society?

I don't know what it is. But as we head into the playoffs, I'm fascinated with the Nets. And they do everything that's not good for basketball long-term. I can't wait to watch them. And I think they're going to win a lot of games. and I don't think we're going to know what to do with them, and they're going to be really, really hard to root for as a basketball organization.

But I think they're going to surprise all of us. Sometimes talent, just talent, despite selfish, lack of chemistry, hard work. Sometimes talent just wins. I think Brooklyn's going to. Play in game tonight, by the way. I like the Clippers as well. I like the Nets and the Clippers to get in on playing games. Cavs eventually, I think, get in.

Who else? There's another playing winner, I forget who. Brooklyn, the Clippers, Spurs, I think eventually they get in. Cabs are great. Now, cabs are easy to root for. They draft and develop players. They work really hard.

But if there's something about this Nets team, I can't take my eyes off when they're on television. At 4.30 in the afternoon, I usually go home here in L.A., and I work out. A little small gym, and I turn the TV on, and I watch Eastern teams because that's who's playing. And the nets are on a lot. And I just can't take my eyes off them.

KD's unbelievable. Kiree is unbelievable. I don't know what I'm getting with Ben Simmons. Here we go, starting tonight. Can't wait. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced game. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. of the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

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Go to tanklessmade symbol.com, 15-year limited warranties. So as I said, I would prefer Westbrooks moved. I don't have to talk about him. They're just athletes. You don't want to sit here and just beat up on athletes who are clearly declining, past their prime, don't get it. It's just a waste of time. There's so many great athletes.

I'd rather talk about the great ascending athletes. All the young quarterbacks, the Josh Allen's, and the Lamarge and the Justin Herberts and the Joe Burroughs. That's so much more fun to me than beating up on declining athletes who don't get it. I will say this, though. They're going to have to trade Westbrook. Everybody knows it. There's a couple of stories out today on possible trade destinations.

One, the Pacers. Pacers are in a total rebuild, right? So they're kind of tanking in a total rebuild. They have two players, Buddy Healed, and Malcolm Brogden, both solid role players. When you're poorly run and make big mistakes, this is what you're left with. as the Lakers. Bad options. Like this is where the NBA is very inferior to the NFL.

The NFL, you can just cut and trade guys. You don't have to guarantee anything. The Vikings, Kirk Cousins, got an NBA deal fully guaranteed. And the Vikings have been trapped for three or four years since. And that's why they keep restructuring it. They can't get out of it. You don't want that. It's bad for the fans.

I never understand when fans root for the players to get guaranteed money. As a fan root for teams to be able to manipulate late, be twitchy, move. You don't want to be trapped. You don't want to be in quicksand. In the NBA, you're always in quicksand. And of course, general managers make mistakes. Jerry West made mistakes. The best GMs have made mistakes. It's hard. You're judging 18-year-old, 19-year-old kids at a college. You're going to make some mistakes. Even in college football, where a kid's 23 years old, and you have four years a tape, 30 percent of the players bust. It's hard. It's imperfect. So I don't think leagues should be in the business of punishing executives who make the occasional

random mistake. Now, the Lakers make a lot of them in the last decade, but here's where we're at. So the question really becomes, if you're the Lakers, do you want one outrageously priced declining star that works with nobody for one more year? Or two overpriced role players for several years who may or may not work? That's what you're left with. A toxic one-year relationship, declining player doesn't fit, just keep them for a year and get out of it. Or go get Buddy Healed, who you want it anyway in a trade, and Malcolm Brogden, he's got a three-year deal and you're, you know, you're kind of in this thing for several years. You don't know if they'll be great.

I would make the deal. Why? Because LeBron makes everybody in the world better except Westbrook. Secondly, Westbrook now has become toxic. I think nothing ruins a workplace like toxic. You can have lazy co-workers. They don't ruin a workplace. You can have average co-workers.

You can have declining co-workers. Toxic coworkers, ruin the room. I'd move him. But these are the options you're left with. Longer contracts, marginal players,

hope they're better, but they're not stars, and they're expensive. Or just one more year. Now, this is where the city of Los Angeles and the brand of the Lakers works against them. 90% of pro sports teams, when you're awful, nobody cares. The Sacramento Kings haven't made the playoffs for 16 straight years. I don't mention them.

Nobody cares. The Cincinnati Reds and the Mariners won't be good again this year. Nobody cares. But when you're in Los Angeles where there's a lot of options, the World Series champion Dodgers, the Super Bowl champion Rams, these teams in the last couple years, there's just so many great teams. The beach, the mountain, the economy's rolling.

people will just stop going to games very quickly, very quickly. The second thing is, when the Yankees are bad, or Duke basketball, or Notre Dame football, or Ohio State football, or Kansas basketball, or the Lakers, they get pummeled by the national media. Because they matter more. There's about 12 of those in the country. They matter more. And so are the Lakers willing to just say, we're just going to eat the Russell thing for one more year? And get crushed by me and every talk show host, national.

they don't like that because they listen to radio too and they read the papers too and these big brands don't like getting clubbed. When I used to live in Connecticut, I watched the Yankees, the Mets, the Giants, the Jets react to sports talk radio. Callers calling in ripping the GM's name. Owners and general managers don't like to be ripped. James Dolan once called the SBN and complain about what I said about him. He's a billionaire.

They don't like it. So the Lakers want to sit there for a year and just get crushed by everybody. their fans, Twitter, the media, Instagram. No. So they probably want to get out of this thing as fast as they can. But what's my rule with sports? Pay big money infrequently and never pay players early. You're going to get trapped.

And in the NBA, it's quicksand. In the NFL, you can get out of stuff, usually. Your best option is Buddy Healed and Malcolm Brogden for a combined five years and a lot of money. But I think I'd do it. I think toxicity is the killer. in a workplace, not declining players, not expensive employees that are overpaid, not lazy employees, whatever workplace you're in. But Russell's gotten so toxic, I think you have to move on. Joy with the news.

No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, to say the Lakers had a disappointing end of their season would be putting it lightly, but LeBron talked about the result of the season during his exit interview yesterday. I mean, at the end of the day, it didn't do. Reasoning why we were not very good together because we weren't on the damn floor again. I played more games with my high school teammates in the season. We only play 27 games.

All right, so there it is. I came here to win a championship. I want to win more. So I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish, but I'm still hungry for more. So, you know, and I'm confident that this organization wants the same. It's really frustrating to hear them talk about injuries. I know.

So the Clippers are better than you. The Clippers are much, much better than the Lakers. Because the Clippers had their stars almost zero games. Correct. And are in the playoffs or playing for the playing game. Correct. Yeah. Well, I do think.

No drama all season long. Anybody. No one's arguing. There's no questions about the head coach or who's in control of the organization. By the way. The Clippers are better run in a better overall team than the L.A. Lakers fans can be upset about it, but that's, that's, that's, the truth because if you're going to blame it on injuries, what's the difference?

Well, you brought up something that was very interesting to me today. We go to the makeup room, believe it or not, this face isn't this beautiful all the time. Hers is, mine isn't. And you brought up something that's very interesting. In the debate with LeBron and Michael, who's better, the one thing that LeBron is and LeBron isn't and Michael is, Michael's confrontational. He punched teammates. Like, he demanded greatness. By the way, Brady does this. Peyton Manning did this. You brought this. You brought this. up about LeBron. He just won't confront reality. No, because he is very player first. You called him a country. You called him Switzerland. Yeah, he's very neutral. He is. I mean, this is very obvious.

Like, if you are, and this is why I think it's very tricky how the Lakers and LeBron move forward over the next couple months, because I keep saying this is the Lakers. It's the Lakers. It's not the heat. It's not the calves. There are consequences to leaving a team like the Lakers in disarray. Yes. They are lasting for your legacy. This is Kobe Bryant's Lakers. Kobe, who was just like Jordan, Mamba mentality, not accepting of losing. There's no tolerance for any of this. Michael Jordan, and I've been critical of him, but Michael Jordan would get in Russell Westbrook's face and say, grow up. He would get in AD's face and say, be in better shape. It's on you. you. He would confront those players. He'd do it publicly. He would rip them. He, Michael confronted

issues. LeBron is very Switzerland. I love all my guys. It's all good. He moves away from, LeBron's never gotten into a fight in his NBA career. Like, I mean, like a confrontation. Michael punched teammates. Yeah. And I don't need you to be physically confrontational. But when things go as badly as they've gone in L.A., be a leader. You have to step up and say, it's not just the injuries. Everyone's dealing with injuries. It's not exclusive to your team. And you can look at your neighbors in the building and the clippers who did not have their stars all season long. And they're not deal with the drama. They're in the playoffs. They're not talking about firing their coach. If it was injuries, why is Frank Vogel fired?

No, I mean, it's injuries, right? So why would you fire the coach? Why would you fire the coach? If it's an injury problem. LeBron, part of this leadership thing is confrontation. To everyone. Like, he needs to call out. yourself first, of course, there's a way to do it, take accountability for what you didn't do this year. LeBron uses back channels, his agency. It's like, come. And that's fine to do that, but then you leave the narrative open to everyone else to paint it for you. Because we don't know what those back channels are. We all know that LeBron's wildly frustrated with the situation. Who wouldn't be? But you can't expect anything to change when you are moving things behind the scenes,

and you're not even moving what really matters, which is the structure. of the organization. Yeah. So I just don't like everyone coming out and saying that it's injury, like him saying that it's injuries and that's it. It was just injuries. It wasn't the fact that Russell Westbrook was terrible this year. It wasn't the fact that Anthony Davis can't stay healthy

because he also doesn't take care of his body. It wasn't the fact that you guys put together this roster that was the oldest in NBA history. It wasn't the fact that nobody stepped up at any point during the season and took any accountability. It was just injuries. No. That's what they say.

just injuries. Why'd Frank Fogel go fired then? Yeah. It doesn't make any sense. Math's not mathing. So the nuts traded James Hardin in February, but a divide had been reportedly brewing between him and Kevin Durant for a while. According to a report, the discontent between the two began when Hardin showed up to training camp out of shape. Said Durant was astonished in the opening weeks of the season at Hardin's lack of explosiveness and sluggish play, something he attributed in large part to Hardens being out of shape as he did the ensuing hamstring injuries. That's Kevin Arnowitz's report. Things did not improve after the slow start, and he averaged just 18.6 points

per game in October and shot 39.8% from the field in seven games, and the nets were 29 and 26 when they traded Hardin. So this is not actually terribly surprising either. No, this is not. This is a pretty common report on James Hardin, but it would explain. why things started to fall apart. Again, I don't think KD would ever admit it publicly, but maybe eventually that it was a mistake to leave Golden State. Oh, no, if he was with Golden State, they'd be favored to win the championship with Phoenix.

Those two in Milwaukee would be favored. Like, nobody wants to admit, and it happens sometimes, right? Most of the time the star leaves, and there's some success. I mean, LeBron goes to Miami, it works. You know, I mean, Brady goes to Tampa, it works. This has been a disaster. Now, they may still write the ship next year. Well, I'm with you.

Like, I'm very interested to see them in the playoffs this year. Oh, I think they're fascinating. I think KD. is on any given night the best or second best player in the league. I just, I think it's very, very, very difficult to overcome bad structure. Everything that we're talking about the Lakers. There's no one in charge at the Lakers. We have no idea who to blame this on. Seriously.

Frank Vogel's taking the L for it. but LeBron is saying it's injuries. Why is Frank Vogel fired if there's injuries? Who is responsible for putting together the roster? We don't know if it's Polinka. We don't know if it's Jeannie. We don't know if it's Rambas. We don't know if it's LeBron.

Was it Vogel? Well, it wasn't Vogel because he had to ask for permission to change his lineup. What's happening with Phoenix, I think, is actually fascinating. Because Phoenix, as we know, is not a well-owned organization. No, one of the worst owners. But they've managed to put personnel in place at the top who have overcome that. Yeah. So I don't think unless you have that much great structure put in place and patience as well that you can overcome a bad structural situation.

Well, it's interesting. You bring this up, Joy, because I was thinking about this. I don't think we talked about this in the air. In fact, I know he didn't. I was thinking about this. You can overcome bad ownership. The Cincinnati Reds had one of the poorest worst owners ever Marge shot. But the Reds, remember that was the Lou Pinella?

They were actually a viable franchise back there. And she was a disaster. But they had good players because they had good scout. And so if you look at the Yankees, there's arguments to be made. Steinbrenner at times was a great owner. At other times, he was a chaotic disaster, and they still won games. You don't have to have great ownership. So I could blame Jeannie Bus.

But the truth is, there's several examples where there's been shaky ownership, but a good GM, a good quarterback, a good coach, writes the ship. And so that's why I don't want to crush Jeannie Buss. My takeaway is, I don't know if she's more of an operational side than a personnel side person, right? But in the end, I've seen okay to bad ownership in my life still win a bunch of games and still win championships. Well, I think you can rise above it to win a championship. I don't think that you can have a dynasty with that structure. Much harder.

You can overcome for a year. You might be able to get a star that kind of puts your on a surrey track and carries you over things. but, you know, there's a makeup for the situation. But I don't think you can create a vice. I don't think Dan Gilbert, who owns the Cavs, knew what the hell he was doing in his first 10 years owning the team. I think Dan Gilbert's a better owner today because he's just smart guys, one of the richest guys in America. I think Dan's become a much better owner. I don't think Dan knew exactly what he was doing when he took it over.

He was a mortgage guy. And so, but they were getting to the finals. They won championships. Yeah, I mean, LeBron was so talented, he was able to overcome it. It's like Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow was so talented. He was able to overcome not having an offensive line and being with a habitually dysfunctional organization for all those years.

That's a great example. Mike Brown's one of the weakest poorest owners. They're just now building a indoor facility. Yeah. But Joe Burrow overcame it. So you can win if the ownership is not great. Now, again, to Joy's point, the duration, longevity of it, good luck. At some point, you'll just be, you know, they'll just.

Something's going to go off the rails. They'll do something really dumb as a bad owner. Right. So an MRI yesterday confirmed that Luca suffered a left calf strain in the team's regular season finale. So this is disappointing news. The source said there's no timetable to be set for his return.

They were asked if he could return for game one and the team's first round playoff series against the Jabs on Saturday. And the source said no. So this, I mean, this sucks. You want everybody healthy for the playoffs, especially a player like Luca. I don't know what to do with this team

because I thought they were going to be really interesting. the playoffs. Calf strains are an enigma. You could almost play with one. You think they're healed. They can last up to three and a half, four weeks. Sometimes you start leaning into the other calf and that can get strained. Like groin pulls and calf strains, the athlete or the person tends to think it's better sooner than it is. So you push yourself through it and re-injure it. I told, now, obviously I'm an old guy, but I played tennis and pulled a calf muscle. like a year and a half ago. I swear three times I thought I was over it.

And a year later, it still hurt. Yeah, this is a soft tissue injuries. It's really tough. I mean, you could give me any answer on. Now, again, the Mavericks have world-class trainers. And he's young. Yes. It's just disappointing heading into the postseason

and the way he's been playing this season, averaging 28.5 points, nine rebounds, eight assists. He was seen wearing a protective boot on his left foot as he walked into the hospital before the MRI was. posted. This was posted on Twitter. So hopefully he's back, or if they make it into the next round, he's able to come back. But, you know, you

want all your stars healthy for the playoffs. This is disappointing. You do, Joy with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. So the truth always comes out. It usually makes a great sports book or a sports documentary. But the truth always

eventually comes out. Sometimes political truth doesn't. Because people can go to prison. There's stuff in politics that never comes out because you're protecting people. Like people can get in big trouble. But in sports, you know, the truth comes out. Here's the latest. David Hyde, South Florida Sun Sentinel reporter.

Brady was frustrated with the way Aryans prepared for games. That's why Bruce is no longer the coach. Brady in New England showed up each Tuesday morning with a game plan for the following Sunday. He expected coaches to do the same. Aryans busy with other work wasn't ready at that point early in a work week to complete a full game plan. It became representative of smallish but significant problems between them. That's what Rich Ornberger came out. Remember our friend on the show came out and said Bruce would kind of helicopter in later in the week make changes and it frustrated Byron Leftwich and more specifically Tom Brady.

And we always said, we thought Brady would succeed in Tampa. My question was, New England and Belichick, it's intense, it's obsessed, it's academic. I've lived in both Connecticut, New England area, and Tampa. Tampa's cocktails, early, casual, not as academic. And Ariens is sort of a let it rip guy, not that he's unprepared, but not as prepared. So Tom Brady's entire career is about work ethic and obsessed and being a grinder and relentlessness. and that's not, that feels Belichekian. It doesn't feel Tampa and Ariens.

So yes, Tom was frustrated. Rich Orrenberger didn't make stuff up. The truth, as David Hyde reports, eventually does come out. By the way, I'll make my NBA playoff predictions at the top of the hour. Of course, they won't all be right. But, you know, in March madness, it's impossible because it's sudden death basketball. Playoffs, seven games, best team usually wins. Be sure to catch last.

Live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. I'm George Reister, host of the Reister or Wrong podcast. This is the intersection where sports, business, society, and pop culture meet the truth. Absolute fire on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Facts only. Make sure you check your feelings at the door because no BS is allowed. We keep it 100. This is where real conversations happen.

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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'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,

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One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, This is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

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Interesting story on Jordan Love and the Packers and Russell Wilson and the Broncos. I'll get to those next hour. NBA playoffs start tonight. Looking forward to it. Great to have you in today. So Dan Wojke works for the LA Times. He had the, uh, the misfortune of covering this Laker team all year, an exhausting experience where the stars mostly weren't available to play. You know, it's the most disappointing season in terms of Vegas expectations and reality. When did you realize, Dan, yeah, this isn't going to work. It's old. When did you know this could be really bad, really for a long time?

So I want to say like the preseason in itself was an issue. So this team went winless in the preseason. Normally preseason games don't matter. But if you don't win any, it kind of matters. And like I remember just thinking to myself, like this just always looks way hard. Like they never got easy baskets. They never got easy stops. Nothing looked effortless.

Everything always looked like a real challenge, a real struggle. So I think on one hand, I want to say I kind of got it pretty early. But the thing about them, Colin, was that there was always like this, just like they were sort of like a tease too, because you had LeBron James and Anthony Davis and you had sort of this narrative about Russell Westbrook as the second half of the season player. And so there was always like this ability to kind of just like kick the ball down the field a little bit. You know, like it'll be okay once we get healthy, you know, as long as we're the five scene, it'll be. fine. And then it was like, as long as we're the sixth seed, it'll be fine. And then it was, you know, well, if we're at the top end of the play in and we're hosting the plane, like, we'll be all right as long as we're peeking at the right time. And then it became, well,

okay, if we get to the 10 and we're peeking at the right time as the 10, then it'll be okay. And then all of a sudden it was like there was no time left. There was, there were never any peaks, nothing but valleys. It was like, you kept wanting to write like, well, they've hit rock bottom. But then you learn your lesson because, guess what, like a new rock bottom will unveil itself. at some point here in the next week or so. It was a wild year. There's a lot of speculation. I said earlier today, you don't have to have a bunch of great employees. You can have some bad employees pass their prime, don't work terribly hard. It doesn't ruin a workplace, but toxicity ruins a workplace. That's Westbrook. I would move them as

soon as I could, even for a buddy healed, Malcolm Brogden. You know, LeBron tends to make everybody in the world better except Westbrook. What do you make of some of the trade ideas, rumors, speculation on moving Westbrook to tanking teams and getting a couple of their contracts? Yeah. I mean, I think so, first of all, in terms of like the employee thing, like, one of the weird things, Colin, about this team as just a general rule, was that, like, off the court, like, they had tremendous chemistry.

Like, everybody. like people liked Westbrook like you know staff members like Russell Westbrook you know coaches generally liked Russell Westbrook it was like though as soon as they went on the court it was like just this horrible combination like they were total strangers

it's one of the really bizarre things about this team is that like they had wonderful off court chemistry and just zero of it on you know like that part of it was really strange but you know in terms of in terms of trades for him I mean you know what you just mentioned with Indiana. I mean, that would be great news for the Lakers, right? Like, you get a point guarder Malcolm Brogden who also has, you know, played off the ball around stars before

earlier in his career. Milwaukee played with Yonis. You know, and you get a guy, and buddy healed who obviously they were interested in before, a flawed player, but a guy who has a very specific skill, he's a high volume three-point shooter. Like, that'd be great. Now, look, I don't think Indiana does that without, like, I understand why they have the incentive being, you know, you can get off some contracts and stuff like that, but look, the, the Lakers have a very distressed asset in Russell Westbro. They are going to have to include sweeteners in these trades. And it'll be what is the Lakers appetite like for that?

Is that one first round pick in 2027? Is it a 2029 first round pick? Now we're trading picks from LeBron's 50. I mean, I think that's the real challenge. And it cuts to the core of the big issue with the Lakers. And that's Colin, not to turn the conversation too much, is that when you have LeBron James, you are in constant win now mode, right? Because he is one of the only players in the league that if he is on your roster,

you have a, you have a very credible shot of winning. It is why, you know, despite some pretty obvious roster flaws that they were in the Vegas favorites, they've got LeBron James. And even as he's, but as he gets older every season, you know, and you start keep sacrificing future assets to kind of satisfy that win now thing. At a certain point, organizationally, you have to look at it and say, you know, when does 2027 matter? Like, I mean, maybe this is going to really matter for us, you know, five years down the line when LeBron isn't in an organization. And maybe when now doesn't

make as much sense now. You're constantly stuck between these two things. Generally speaking, I think you go for it. You figure out the future in the future. They're the Lakers. Like, they've always, even when it's been bleak, have been able to, by and large, recruit talented players. I just think that it's a real challenge to know, like, kind of how much do you want to sacrifice to move off for Russell Westbrook, you know, especially if you get back pieces that maybe don't move the needle for you. I think Indiana, like that, that package I think is interesting. I really do. And I think like those two players, Michael Brogman is a terrific defender. It would fix some roster flaws, but if it costs you two first round picks, too, you got to think

about that at a certain point. And that's the real challenge. challenge for Rob Plink in this front office. I was told by somebody I trust that LeBron was very frustrated a couple years ago when AD came back after the bubble and was not in shape, maybe not the hardened level, but he's never been a great, you know, grinder. That's not his thing. It reminds me a little of Rashid Wallace, who would pay a fine before the season started when I covered him.

I'm not going to be lifting weights every day. Anthony Davis maybe isn't that level, but he's not really, I didn't have the leadership thing. He's not durable. He's talented. He's not a grinder. And people in the building now, they know the reality of him. We got about a minute and a half left. Is there any chance or any discussion in that front office of, listen, man, let's keep LeBron, be willing to move everything else? I think it should all be on the table. You know, I do think you look at like sort of what you're talking about with AD. When he came back from the bubble, admittedly, it was not. not in great shape. The super short off season, you know, the fact that they just won the title,

I think those two things, he didn't come in. He was out of shape and he got hurt. You know, he really did put it in, Colin, a lot of work this off season and kind of just was on the weird end of two really fluky plays. But I think at a certain point, though, you have to, I mean, if you're the lake, you have to look at this and say, like, bad luck or not, these things keep happening. Yes. Yes. And we'd like, we need this guy. Yeah, we need this guy on the court. He has to be on the floor, right like they don't have a chance unless he plays 60 70 games right like so um if they don't believe he can do that like they they should look into moving but but i mean i think it's the same issue as

everything else right like the rest of the league also knows that he has these durability issues right it's not this is not secret lakers information um you talk to scouts and they talk about what a high mileage player he already is um at his best he is such a perfect compliment for lebron james it's just like they're just not on the court nearly enough together. And so, you know, it's, again, it's a situation where you don't really have great options. You know, you're just kind of, you're just sort of in it. And you just kind of have to hope that these things truly were bad luck and you're going to have this guy on the floor much more than he's been on the court the last two years. L.A. Times, Dan Wojke, good seeing you again, buddy. Appreciate it.

Thanks, Colin. You bet. Yeah, everything's on the table. That's a good way to look at it. Everything's on the table. You know, it is, it's funny, though, kind of in life that, like, if you, if you let somebody, if somebody borrowed money from you and didn't pay you back, you would think, well, I'm not going to lend them money again. But there are people that just keep doing it, right? Like if, I mean, that's, some people are very, very forgiving.

I look at it, if I was a general manager of a team and I had an injury prone player, I would always move off him earlier than later. because I feel like with Anthony Davis, his legacy is formed. He's good enough to be a championship player, but he's not really a leader, doesn't love to play through injuries and gets hurt a lot. Like I think it's formed. This is what he is. Like there's not, he's not going to, in six years, we're going to go, wow, we really

undervalued him. He never got hurt again. So to me, it's like move him. Like, like, I don't get it. But there are people that, you know, we talk about this all the time. There's a lot of saviors in sports. I'll save this guy. I'll save her.

I'll save him. I'll be the right coach. It almost never works. Well, they also see the greatness in those players when they are available and get blinded by the idea that that is going to be the norm instead of the outlier, which it clearly is with Anthony Davis. But that happens too. Yeah. Everybody I bring on.

He'll convince themselves that they're the norm and not the outlier. And they are. Everybody I bring on. Oh, but when he is healthy, he's not. I think that's a very dangerous thing to say about a player. When he is healthy. Yeah. Find me the list of players when they're healthy.

The following eight years were healthy all the time. Like it's almost none ever, all time history. Hour two on a Tuesday, live in L.A. It's The Hurt. 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 unleashed. leashing 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, 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 taun 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.

On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

It was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.