The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - NBA, Mayfield

Episode Date: April 6, 2022

More on the Lakers not making the playoffsIt shouldn't be a surprise Baker Mayfield hasn't been traded yetGuest: Ric Bucher Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 Clifers Show.

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From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's 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. 84 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. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go, live in Los Angeles.

Hour 2, it's the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. Great to have you. Joy Taylor is joining me. I'm going through a house remodel last night for the last eight months. Yes.

Very tedious. I'm over it. But when you're, remodeling a house. There are certain areas you should spend big money because you'll get your money back. Well, yes. The kitchen. You spend a lot of time there. Yes. Kitchen. Kitchen. Bathrooms, by the way. Guys, I know you love the garage. Don't spend a lot of money on the garage. You know, don't spend a lot of money on your media room or a pool. Spend it on the kitchen, especially the master bath. There are places to spend your money when you're redoing a house. And I saw the Rams, Bobby Wagner is now part of the Rams.

It was all over social media. It's going to be a Hall of Fame first ballot guy. You know, a lot of fans are like, how are the Rams doing it? What bank are they using? I don't understand it. They draft well and they pay the right positions. So Wagner's a terrific bet. So I want you to think about this.

And this is really a thing. Let me use as an example, the Chicago Bears and the Rams. Now look at this. Here's who the Bears pay. A safety is their highest paid guy, a backup quarterback Nick Foles, a guard, Cody White Hare. What the hell are you doing? The Rams highest paid players are quarterback, star receiver, star corner, star defensive

tackle, and a pass rusher. That's who you want to pay in the NFL today. Quarterbacks, receivers, edge rushes. Great corner. Leonard Floyd's a linebacker, but he's an edge rush, right? Like, I'll pay that guy. Four Hall of Fame talents and Leonard Floyd really good. Now think about that. They're paying the wrong people. If you're going to redo your house, don't worry about the garage. Don't overspend on landscaping. Get the kitchen right. So how are the Rams doing it? The bears don't even know who to pay. Nick Foles is a backup quarterback. You should be paying him a nickel.

And I'll give you another example on this. The really well-run teams know who to pay. The really smart, you know, people that build homes, they know where to put the money. So, in fact, Eddie Jackson for the Bears at Safety is a bigger cap hit to the Bears than Matt Stafford, the quarterback is for the Rams. What are you doing? By the way, the Seahawks, the Vikings, and the Bears spent a lot of money on safeties. That's not where you spend your money.

The Rams had a good safety. John Johnson, let him go to Cleveland. It was really good. Call defensive play, let him go. Why? He's a safety. They've also let tight ends go because they're tight ends. So this is why I say, be very careful about the brilliant patriots.

Look at the bills in New England. New England, Matthew Judon, all pay. Gets to the quarterback. The next four biggest salaries are two tight ends and two number three receivers. What are you doing? Look at who the bills pay. A star quarterback,

edge rusher, corner, left tackle, and receiver. Buffalo has figured out the new league. The Rams have figured out the new league. The Bears are lost and the Patriots are living in 1997. You can't be paying two average tight ends and two average wide receivers for your top five paid guys. It is remarkable whatsoever. When you wonder, well, what do they do?

Folks, in every single industry in the world, 5% of the realtors sell 80% of the homes. Reed Hastings, Netflix, is smarter than virtually everybody else in the streaming business. Jeff Bezos is smarter than you. I always tell the story. When I, you know, I was younger, Microsoft kind of developed like late 70s, I think, you know, Bill Gates, Paul Allen. People used to make fun of them, you know, because they were kind of dorky kids.

The dorky kids took over the world, right? And so there's a lot of money in Cs. Seattle based on a lot of people that have worked at Microsoft for 30 and 40 years. So Seattle's a very wealthy city because of they were sort of, you know, pioneers and all the tech stuff. And I've known a handful of Microsoft people, not well, but have known them. And years ago, Jeff Bezos created a business to sell books online. And he was looking for money. And he went to some of the Microsoft guys and said, hey, could you give me $100,000 or $50,000?

dollars. And to a person, the Microsoft millionaires, we're all like, that's the smartest guy we've ever met, not Bill Gates. Bezos is the smartest guy. Bill Gates is the second smartest guy. Bezos is the smartest guy we've ever met. He's now the richest man in the world. So, smart wins. And they're just certain teams in the NFL, they're just smarter. Buffalo's front office ownership, really smart. Rams, really smart. And let's be honest about the bears. They've been lost. for decades. They are paying the wrong people. You can pay five players in this league a ton of money.

It better be a quarterback, somebody that gets to the quarterback, maybe somebody that protects the quarterback, a weapon for the quarterback, and throw it in Jalen Ramsey, somebody that can neutralize their biggest weapon on a good day. With that, we bring in Rick Buecker. I don't know where he spends his money. It's probably on suits. Look at him.

He is well appointed. sharply dressed as always, my friend. Look at you. Thank you. Thank you, Colin. Yeah, I don't know that spending money on suits this day and age is the right way to go. It's like spending money on your garage. Yeah.

I think you look very nice. It's a guy thing. Thank you very much. Okay, let's start with this. The Lakers disastrous season. Nick Wright just said something 30 minutes ago. You have to go back like 20, 25 years. The teams that were either favored or co-favored to win the championship.

championship all made the playoffs. Lakers are the first one in like 25 years didn't make the playing game. Have you checked on Nick by the way? Is he okay? Barely. Because it's, winter is coming. It's not only now, but for the next couple of years, we need to keep an eye on it. Your takeaway this morning on the Lakers season. It is, it has tarnished the brand as much as any year that I've ever seen. Number one, because they didn't make the playoffs. I mean, even in the, 11, 12, when we had Steve Nash and Dwight Howard and Kobe and that whole Paugasol, that whole group. Yeah, they disappointed and injuries undercut them, but they still made the postseason. What they have done with this team is that they have undermined the L.A. Hollywood metric,

which is the belief in stars. Remember that? Remember the movie Gile? Yeah, it was disaster. It was an absolute disaster. And the reason that it was so venomously hated was not just that it was a bad movie, because we get a lot of bad movies. It was that it had Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken. It had stars and it was bad. And you do that in L.A., you are defying what the formula is that everybody believes in in terms of success. So when you have four all-time greats on your roster

and should have been five with Dwight Howard, and you can't even make the postseason. The play-in game. The play-in game, you are, you're doing more than just having a bad season. You're undermining what L.A. believes it's all about. I think you could have Ty Lou and Eric Spolstra be co-coaches and couldn't win with this mess. No.

What's the solution there? I wouldn't. What you need more than anything. other than you need a roster change. I wouldn't wish this team on any coach. There is no coach available, and I'm not sure there's a coach alive. I don't think so.

Steve Kerr couldn't come in here and change this. The one thing I will say is I've seen Mark Jackson change a culture. I was there firsthand when he took the Warriors who had been bad for years, not a playoff team, just didn't understand what it took to play winning basketball. That's where the Lakers are right now. So they need a roster change and they need a coach who will come in and change the entire culture and approach. But to be able to do that, you need the players that are going to buy in.

And this was my concern from the very beginning was that Frank Vogel wasn't going to be able to ride roughshod on Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis and LeBron James and Dwight Howard. He wasn't accomplished enough. He didn't have the personality to do it. But again, I don't know that anybody. does. These are accomplished guys. And to get them to make the sacrifices necessary to win is, you have to be a special multi-champion winning type coach to even begin to think you can do that. Yeah. You can move Westbrook because in the NBA, I'll throw this theory at you. And we'll go back and forth on this. So there is, the NBA has been paralyzed for years forever about

competitive balance. It doesn't exist. The Celtics and Lakers have 34 titles, teams don't have one. They're paralyzed by it. They're paralyzed by tanking. People that want to tank R. Get over it. So the biggest leagues in Europe, I mean, La Liga, English Premier League, two teams dominate, maybe three. F1 racing now is exploding. Two teams have won the last 12 championships. Baseball, Yankees, 27 titles, Mariners, none. It doesn't exist. College football, tennis, it doesn't exist anywhere. The league is paralyzed by it. And I, competitive balance, and I would argue now, there was a time in the 70s, 80s, 90s, if a Ewing or a Duncan went to a franchise, an adult, a man, a 24-year-old,

it could alter the course of basketball history. You're getting a 19-year-old now. Mm-hmm. Okay. Forget altering history. They'll barely alter your record. Right. Now is a time to not worry about tanking and drafting.

The kids you're getting, they're just, the NBA is a progressive, league. The reason the NFL is pulling away is hope. The NBA makes it virtually impossible to fix a Laker roster. You are trapped. I think it's a huge, I think hope is a powerful drug. For sure. And the NFL, I want to watch Jacksonville next year. Coach, free agents. I live in L.A. I'm not sure I can stomach the Lakers for the next three years. What do you make of as much as we both like the NBA, and I watched it last night and I watched it every night? night. They make it really hard to trade. Do you see, and you're really good at this, give me a best case scenario for the Lakers and the Westbrook contract. I mean,

you're going to, you're going to move it. Is there a best case scenario? No, getting off of the contract is the best case scenario. But then I have to take two other bad contracts. Yeah, you're going to have to take, you just want short-term contracts. I mean, that's what you're hoping to. You're just trying to get out from under. You're salving. at this point. You're not improving. Thank you. That's the whole, that's the whole deal. Now, this has, you know, the NBA has found itself in this place because they accommodated the stars. And the stars, and this is the dirty little secret when it comes to the Players Association and how they negotiated. Everybody was all excited because Chris Paul and LeBron James and all the

stars got involved. Well, they skewed the system for the stars. The stars now get 25% of the salary cap. They get all the money. Well, if that star falls off and it happened to be negotiated by older stars. So we got stars in their mid to late 30s negotiating a salary cap that benefits the older stars. Right. Right? They got themselves paid. Yeah.

But they're now getting paid at a point in their careers where they can't justify that money. And so now they all have these big. hefty contracts, and you can't move them. By the way, think about this. KD and LeBron may not make the real playoffs. On any given night, top two or three players in the league, you gave these guys power and money, and sometimes it is to your detriment.

Throw Kauai Leonard in there, too. He did the same thing in terms of the clippers. Leveraged, this is the team I want, this is how I'm going to build it, and that's where I wonder, and it's going to come down to the owners. The owners are the ones who are going to decide. Do we want to take back the control and give it to our GMs and allow them to build teams? Or are we still going to star chase?

Because you get the immediate dividends of corporate financing, season tickets, all of that stuff, but at what expense to the success of your team on the floor? Yeah, I love the NBA. I think it's way more broken than people think. I think the NFL has always been able to quickly pivot off rule changes. They're going to fix it, though. I guarantee you that all of the... this players missing games and all of that that is going to change in the next collective bargain

agreement i assure you it's going to happen it's amazing how we've normalized six stars a night out yeah it's crazy um so uh we're about ready to go in the playoffs yeah so i think phoenix is by far and away the best team i've seen um i'm not really sure a beat up golden state matches i actually think the clippers would be a pain in the butt, wouldn't beat him, but would be a pain in the butt. So let's just say the sons are the best team in the West. They've proven it. The construct of the team, as long as Chris Paul's healthy, that is a handful. They don't have any weaknesses. They got a great defender on the wing. McHale, they got a good big, they got a great guard, they got a classic two, they got a good bench, they have a great chemistry.

Yep. And they have hunger. Absolutely. They got there. They had the experience of getting there, but everybody is discounting. I mean, Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis, like, if they They had made the play in. The worst thing he could have said was, yeah, you know, we know we would have beaten them. They know we would have beaten them last year. I'm like, dude, if you ever thought that Phoenix might sleepwalk on you a little bit and give you a shot, if you happen to get in and face them, you just erase that because Phoenix has already been carrying a grudge from last year. So in the east, though, it's very interesting.

I do not see Miami or Chicago. Chicago is just not, they're just, they got injuries now. I just don't think they're good enough. They don't beat the top teams. Chicago's fun, regular season story. Miami, nice bench, won't matter. I don't think Jimmy Butler's a great closer. I think he's a great athlete.

I don't think that wins in the playoffs. So it comes down to Milwaukee, top to bottom. I mean, Middleton's become more dependable. Janice is the most valuable guy. Then you have Brooklyn really, really star powery, horrible defensively. And Philadelphia, where Hardin now has had a two-week stretch where he's a mess.

So it feels like it's my three are Milwaukee 1, Philly 2, and Brooklyn, keep your eye on a couple snipers out there. I wouldn't want to play. You're looking at me like I'm, no, what do you make in Brooklyn? No, I'm thinking that you've been reading my mail or you're talking to the same scouts and executives that I am because that's exactly what they have said. They're, they're not believing in Miami. They think if Brooklyn gets in through the play in and faces Miami, that's not something Miami wants. No, I think Brooklyn beat round. Yeah, I mean, okay, how about this? Brooklyn played the Celtics. I take Brooklyn.

It just depends on which Boston team shows up. But Miami and Boston, and I just wrote a piece for Fox Sports.com, you should check it out. That was the Scouts' reaction. Miami and Boston right now technically are the first and second seed. They don't believe in them as much as they do, Milwaukee and Philadelphia. And they think Brooklyn is dangerous.

They also think Toronto is dangerous. You don't want to get matched up against Toronto. Okay, so let's talk about this. I was very much on the United States. the Sixers side with James Hardin, came in, flourished early. He's in a funk. What's happened to Harden? He's flaky. It's, well, it's also, I mean, you always have the honeymoon when you first come in. Did he discover all the strip clubs in Philly? Well, seriously, not that honeymoon. Try to, no, just trying to make it work with Joelle Embed. Joell Embedde is, again,

Hardin is used to having the ball in his hands. So when things get dead, difficult, what does he do? It's not, I'm not going to, I'm not going to move off the ball. I'm not going to, like, I need the ball in my hands. Well, that's not going to work on a consistent basis with the sixers. At the best, you're going to have to mix and match with Joelle M. Bede. And this was the question from the very beginning was, can you integrate Joelle M. Bid's game with James Harden's game? And I don't believe that you can any more than you can integrate Kyrie and KD's game. And this is the secret sauce for the Milwaukee Bucks. And we've seen it.

Drew Holliday and Janice, they complement each other. They can both be threats on the same possession. Throw Chris Middleton in, you can still make it all work. You can't with those other guys. So you have the star power, you have the go-to guys, but they can't. It's still, we're going to take a number. It's your turn, my turn. You know what I really like about Milwaukee and Phoenix is for all this mobility and big market nonsense.

I watched Milwaukee play. I was last night against the Bulls. I watched the first half. Milwaukee and Phoenix feel old school to me. Loyal players. Everybody's got kind of a role. This is what you do. Mikhail, you're our best wing defender.

Devin, you're the classic two scoring guard. Chris, we don't need points. Distribution, toughness, leadership. Milwaukee and Phoenix feel really. really old school to me. I love watching Milwaukee play now. I love watching Phoenix play. So who runs those organizations? The GMs run those organizations. They built those rosters. They made the decisions. And you have old school leaders on that team. Chris Paul and Yonnell can be a handful. But Chris Paul has an old school mentality. Oh, completely. Yonis has an old school

mentality. And anytime I get guys like Drew Holiday or Chris Middleton or just about anybody who says, yeah, I want to go to Milwaukee to play, I know why they're there. They're there to play basketball. They're not there for anything else. And that's not always the case and certainly wasn't the case with these Lakers. By the way, let's circle back to the Lakers. You live in the Bay Area. Joe Montana's, every area of the country, it's probably a Joe Montana-Berry-Bondon's region. in LA Magic's the biggest star by a mile. Miami's Marino D. Wade, Chicago's Jordan. Every city has Aikman Staubeck in Dallas, whatever.

This is a magic town. I mean, he comes into Staples, and if you're in the arena, the crowd rises, all these years later. He hammers LeBron. He had all that information for six months. Why did he deliver it Monday? Did you like what he said? You're asking me to explain why Magic says what he says. says a lot of things, and they don't, oh, I don't, it just occurred to him at the time.

Okay. Honestly, because I don't see any other way. There's, and there's been so much fodder out there about the decisions made by the Lakers and who has made those decisions by the Lakers. But I, you know, I'm supposed to give you a definitive answer on this. Okay, let me ask you. This is one I can't. Okay. I don't understand the timing of the timing.

I would say the timing is bad. I got a lot of heat yesterday from a group of people. Was he wrong? De Rosen said, I was done dirty by the Lakers. Yeah. Buddy Healed deal. A source I trust in the NBA said, is done. Yeah.

No, no, no. I was told the same thing. So, Magic wasn't wrong, was he? No. Okay. So there's a lot of pushback that LeBron did not say, get me Westbrook. No. Can we just stop that?

Can we stop with the trying to give cover for? for LeBron James and his authority and ability? I mean, just wear it, okay? And I said at the time, I understand why you're doing it. This is the heart of it, is that they found out, and LeBron found out, that Anthony Davis is not the guy. They found that out a year ago. And rather than moving Anthony Davis, they tried to find somebody to come in and change

Anthony Davis. This is a great, by the way, you won't hear this on other shows. This is a great point. So I was told that when after the bubble championship, Anthony Davis came back out of shape. Yep. LeBron was like, yeah, not the right guy. Yeah. This is not, this guy is not committed. So you were told the same thing. Yes. So in-house, LeBron was totally discouraged. They, look, the Lakers could solve AD. Not just LeBron. The Lakers all know this. I've really disappointed when Frank Vogel comes out and says Anthony Davis is doing everything he can to get back.

The criticism I've heard over and over and over again from inside the Lakers organization is that AD does not, is not a worker. Does not work hard. And then when you get injured all the time, that raises the question,

is it because you're injury prone or because you're not doing everything to get your body in the premier shape? Zion, take carry your diet. That's why you're hurt. By the way, a lot of these guys that are hurt, LeBron and Tom Brady, it's not a coincidence. They're literally, LeBron didn't have an injury until you're 17. He's obsessed with his body. Russell Wilson's had an injured finger. He runs around, never gets hurt. Like how you treat your body is how your body will treat you.

I've been hearing this for years on AD. He's not committed to strength training. He shows up to seasons playing himself in shape. That now, now some of the injuries are, he slashes, he's big. Sure. It's a long way to the floor. Porcings is built to be injured. But you just don't know. Like you leave the question out there. Is this because your body is compromised or that you're not doing everything you can? You solve the riddle.

Is that they were totally discouraged on AD instead of shipping him. And they tried to patch around him rather than move him out. We'll solve AD with Westbrook instead of just moving him. Yeah. Look at that. See, that suit was worth that commentary. That well-appointed suit. All right, Rick Buecker, it is great seeing you.

Good to see you, Colin. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

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

I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment,

and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right what you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill?

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

so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. 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. Saturday, one of the most famous rivalries in sports is on FS1. As Xander Bogart's in the Red Sox take on Aaron, Judge, and the Yankees. Yankees. Baseball is back. Saturday at 3.30 Eastern on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. Is that regular season? Are we ready to go?

Wow. We are ready to go. My Mariners, keep your eye on them. Third place, got a real shot this year. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, the Lakers are officially eliminated from the postseason. One of the reasons, there are several, but one of the reasons they have struggled is they have had some injuries, most notably, to Anthony Davis. Yeah. And AD recently addressed those who have criticized him for being injured too much. Okay.

He said, this is what I've learned about injuries. Last year when I wasn't playing, people were saying AD is giving up on his team. It's the playoffs. AD has to play. He's got to play. And when I was out there, got hurt again. they said who was his trainer, who let him play. So what the bleeps do you want me to do? When I play, it's a problem. It's a problem when I don't play.

Here's the thing. And we were just discussing it with Rick Bueger. You know who's never hurt? Workout freak, Janus. Never hurt. I mean, listen, sometimes guys are just injury prone and there's no explanation for it. That's right.

That's right. But the way to proactively stay ahead of the narrative around you being injured is to not show up the training camp out of shape. is for the scout on you not to be that you don't care about taking care of your body. That's right. So if that's the reputation that you have from multiple places and then you're also frequently injured, well, you can't be upset when people are questioning if you take care of your body or not.

Yeah, I've watched Zion's massive weight game. Some of the injuries, in my opinion, are Zion's fault. And maybe they are, and maybe they aren't. You've opened it up. because you've opened it up for this type of criticism. Yeah, this is where Rick was really accurate. Rick and I may have the same source. I've been hearing this,

that LeBron was unbelievably bummed when AD came out of shape to the camp after the bubble because LeBron felt it was like, okay, we're boys here, we're going to run for the next three years. He doesn't put time into strength training. By the way, James Harden now is getting more and more injuries. He's not a grinder. He's just gifted.

By the way, Luca Donchich admitted he came into this season, out of shape, he struggled, and now Luca played himself in shape, he's doing great. Like, it matters. Yeah, but Luca, unlike Hardin and AD, is a very young player. Yeah, he's not falling apart. But he has time, but he also has time to correct those habits. Yes. This is who AD is.

Yes, this is. Now, for as great as he is when he is healthy, to me, when you are unavailable at the capacity in which AD is unavailable at the money in which you're making and the impact that you have your injuries have on the team as a whole with you not being available, it's too much. It's not like you're a role player. It's not like you're taking a team friendly deal. It's not like you're not expected to carry a massive amount of responsibility for the winning on this organization.

So when you're unavailable, it is impactful. I don't think it's the main reason why they weren't good this year. But it certainly played a massive role that Anthony Davis was once again. not available for a big part of the season. I'm watching winning time on HBO about the Lakers' great teams. And there's a reason Kareem played for 20 years. He was incredibly disciplined. Yes.

I mean, you didn't have to love him, but his body never changed. He got stronger. He never got heavy. AD reminds me a lot of Rashid Wallace. Rashid Wallace, when I covered him in Portland, would pay a fine before the season started for missing lifting sessions. And it was like, that's why he fell apart at the end. So when I see athletes like Russell Wilson, who's never hurt, except for his hand,

there's a reason. He's obsessed with his body, Brady, LeBron for the first 17 years. So AD can make a lot of claims. Dude, this is, mirrors work. Still use them. Look in the mirror. Yeah, I don't think that all of the injuries are his fault. No.

But when you're consistently injured, you have to be aware. that's the reputation that you have, whether it's your fault or not. And when you don't take care of your body and it's reported that you come in out of shape, then you can't be upset when people are accusing you of being responsible for your body. Whether someone rolled up on your ankle or not, it's the amount of time that you're missing. He missed 39 games to injury this season, played in 40. He missed 36 out of the 72 games last year. He's never played a full season, whether due to injury or rest.

Okay, just think about it. Let me go back to winning time on HBO about the Lakers. So it's got all these stories on dirt, the owner, magic Kareem. Folks, whether you're winning or losing, the story always comes out. We have six books on Belichick and Brady. When you're playing for the Lakers, yeah, whether it comes out now or later, it's coming out. The AD stuff is well known for anybody with NBA sources. The Lakers are discouraged by his lack of commitment to his body.

and that's why he's falling apart. So, you know, again, this thing is, I was so glad that Buehker brought it up is they were really bummed out when he came out of shape after the bubble. They were, as a franchise, they were like, it was like, dude, this is your, you have the Laker franchise. It is yours now. Take it over. And he wasn't ready for it.

I mean, crime your river. Yeah. Do something then. Yeah. Yeah, they should have moved him. That's when I said move him. Because I was starting to hear they were frustrated. my takeaway was he's a stock, sell high, championship bubble, move him.

They thought they could solve him. My argument was move him. Don't we all think we can solve them? We do. I am unsolvable. Kauai Leonard was seen working out of the Clippers facility yesterday, and he had a request for reporters in attendance. He requested that they not record him while he was shooting.

He was messing around before the team's practice and then started to shoot, some free throws, some elbow jumpers, some three-pointers. Now, he's notoriously private. it. So he also probably didn't want to build up any hype around him possibly coming back. He's recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee. There was a report earlier. There was some optimism that he would be returning this season, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen as the regular season is wrapping up when we're heading into the playoffs. Clippers of the eight seed in the West and will be in the play in tournament. The Clippers are such an interesting team to me. And I think

it's such a wild, it's such a wild comparison being here in Los Angeles. If you compare the season that the Clippers had to the season that the Lakers had. I think it's very interesting study because they're in the same building. They're in the same city. They in no way have the same amount of pressure or attention on them. But the Clippers roster outside of their stars was so well constructed that they are the eight seed without their stars all season long, right? They just got Paul George back.

So they were able to play without the scrutiny, without the pressure, without the panic from the front office of the owner. Or the two stars the whole season. Or there's two stars the entire season. So this has been something, again, the clippers are really well run. They were missing both their stars all season. They'll make the playoffs. The Lakers had AD in LeBron and Westbrook.

They can't make the play in game. So that goes to culture. Balmer. I think that goes to culture and I think it goes to roster construction. Yes. No, I said this to you the other day. Outside of your stars. Even without Kowai Leonard.

Paul George Tailu, that group, I think they're the Sun's biggest adversary. I think they'll give the Sun's fits. I think the Suns will beat them. But I wouldn't be shocked if they took the Sun's six or seven. That's without Kauai. That tells you how good the roster. I think the Clippers roster is great. They're just missing their guy.

But I think that's also a reflection of they looked at the reality of the situation from the beginning of the season. And up top, there wasn't this insane pressure to do something that was an unrealistic ask of the roster. Anthony Davis missed so many games this season. At no point did anyone, because I don't know who runs the Lakers, did someone come out and say, hey, just let's just like, oh, take a second here, take a breather. We don't have our guy.

So we need to be honest and reflective about what the rest of this roster is and what we can actually accomplish this season, rather than trying to put all these patches on this sinking ship. Where is the accountability? You didn't have that with the Clippers also. season long. There's no panic. There's no drama. So look, it is what it is. We're going to do our best. And next year we'll be better because we have a culture that's together and we're aligned. So Kyrie Irving is used to feeling pressure in the playoffs, but the Nets are preparing to be in the

play-in tournament. And he said that is the type of pressure he isn't used to. I've never been in a situation like this where late in the season, all these games matter. You know, usually you're just trying to fine-tune your game, you know, just work on details, and get some rest. But I've been playing 40 minutes for the end of the season. So first, probably a few times in my career, it's just this must-win now mentality. And though it is there, but we're in it for the long run.

So we're just going to play free and do everything we can to prepare for this playing tournament. Could have been cool if you were available for all the games this season. You might not be in that situation. But what's done is done. Yeah. Well, they won against the Rockas, 118, 105 last night. So they're 41.38. and eighth in the east.

So there are three games left in the regular season. Tonight the Knicks, Friday Cavs, and Sunday against the Pacers. Well, they'll win two of those games. I'm not sure if they'll be. Caves are fun. The Cavs aren't going to win the championship, but you've got to be happy for them. Caves the Seed right now. Post-Lebron, both the Cavs and the Heat have built really nice team.

You can when LeBron leaves get good. It may take you a couple years, but you can get good. It took the Caps a little longer than the heat. But they hit on two and three draft picks. And they got Jared Allen. The calves are good this year. They're competitive. fun, they're young.

Yeah. And I, you know, I think they'll give some pushback, if you will. Yeah. But I actually, I mean, the Eastern Conference to me is, is wide open, especially when you look at the standings and how things could play out throughout the postseason. Yeah, I think the Eastern Conference playoffs are going to be far more interesting than the Western Conference playoffs. This is just more parity. Yeah.

I think Phoenix is going to fly through everybody except the Clippers. I think that would be, if they ever met, that would be fun. But I think there's a lot of stuff. A lot of these, a lot of Celtics buying a lot. a lot of Celtic stock. I mean, look at the bulls. They, they, yeah, I know. I mean, it's a good story.

I think we're going to have long series. Yes. And by the way, the East has got a lot of stars, a lot of drama, a lot of hope. I don't buy Miami, Chicago. I buy Boston winning a series, potentially taking a second series a long way. We'll see. I think I've kind of seen Marcus Smart, Tatum, Jalen Brown before. We'll see.

They play good defense and they've been playing great in the second half. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping. I'm back. The HARD line. 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.

Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller, 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 Maller 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say it. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard,

but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

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 Boil Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got? to do a little kill. Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So there's a report today that NFL League executives are, quote, shocked, shocked that Baker Mayfield is just hanging out there without a time. team. I don't know why anybody would be shocked. He cost 19 million a year almost. He's got a little

bit of a toxic personality and he had a bunch of injuries at the end of the year. So all of this was incredibly predictable. We said when the Browns went and got Deshawn Watson, they're upgrading a quarterback. Seattle is the only place that fits. But I also think Baker Mayfield made a mistake. And it's a mistake some have made not many. Most quarterbacks, that are great or boring. Joe Montana, Tom, Brady, when they were playing, were into football. They're good-looking guys, but, I mean, Brady only recently started doing national commercials.

Andrew Luck is boring. Russell Wilson sort of boring. Matt Stafford's sort of boring. Most of the great quarterbacks were. Peyton Manning, again, got really funny after he played. But you have to be totally committed and you have to be a serious person. James Winston was never serious. Cam was into Cam, Johnny Mansell into Johnny Mansell.

And when Baker Mayfield did 20 commercials and magazine covers before he'd ever done anything, he sent a message. Money and personality matters to me. Now, you can get away with that when you're the franchise quarterback. But when they let you go like Cam or Baker, then league executives are asking themselves a question. Can we fold Cam into our culture? Or is he his own culture?

Can we fold Baker Mayfield into our culture? Or is he his own culture? That's the downside to lots of commercials and a big personality and magazine covers. You're kind of your own thing. And so Cam Newton very quickly went from franchise quarterback to bridge. And that's what I think Baker is viewed as. A bridge. A talented bridge.

Cam Newton, a talented bridge. We're not going to build around it. We're not going to, we've got a culture. We don't think we can fold you neatly. into our culture. You are your own culture. The downside to personality. Right? Like Magic Johnson had a big personality. And when he went to the Lakers, it was very combative in the first camp. Like it just didn't work. Norm Nixon could, but he was so great and such a winning player that even Kareem lightened up. Norm Nixon's like,

hey, it works. I'll just slide over. Baker's not great. Cam was never great. He had an MVP season. He never had back-to-back winning seasons. But when you developed a this big personality. Everybody loves Johnny Mansell's personality, the money signs. You'll get a chance to be a franchise guy. But the minute you're looking for a second job, Johnny, Cam, Baker, nah, you're just a bridge guy. That's why Trubisky had multiple suitors. Because the Steelers believe they can fold Trubisky into their culture. Marcus Marietta, good kid. We'll kind of fold him into what we do. So, Whenever I criticize the college quarterback with the big personality,

here's another example why. That's why I say Malik Willis. I mean, all these, you can look at him like, oh, that's a good kid. I can fold him right into what we are. Dak Prescott. I can fault Justin Herbert. We're building the culture here. We can put this kid right into it.

So you'll get away with it. Baker got away with it. Johnny got away with it. Cam got away with it when you're the guy. But the minute you're looking for a second job, teams are out there like, well, we got our GM, our online. We got to have, like, the Rams are like, can you fold Baker into us? Now, they folded Jalen Ramsey into their culture.

He's outspoken, but he's a corner. Not touching the ball 70 times. So I'm not shocked by this. Baker is one of the 32 best quarterbacks in America. He's probably one of the top 26 or 27. Whatever he is. He's not top 10. He's not top 12, but he's somewhere around, you know, 15 to 25, whatever.

But I'm not shocked by this. He showed us. It mattered. And I think it turned a lot of people off. Hour three around the corner on a Wednesday. It's the herd. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. In 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 hear, 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. 84 was a wild. 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.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, 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 Clifers 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 Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.