The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - NFL, Lakers, Packers

Episode Date: May 17, 2022

Colin gives more NFL predictions  The Lakers need to move on from Russell Westbrook Davante Adams took less money to play for the Raiders Guest: Cedric Ceballos See 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.

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Yep, that's me, Clivert 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 Clifford 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 IHard 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. 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 put on 10. I was having trouble

stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere,

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Find your local station for the Hurt at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It's hour two. We're in L.A. It's the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. My bag finally came from Lufthansa last night. So three days later, I got my bag. It was all clothes anyway. That's the worst. Well, whenever I don't pack a bag, it's the first time I packed a bag in 25 years. Yeah, you just travel with the clothes on your back. Yeah, and then I buy stuff and send it home. I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't pack. Now, this is the first time I packed a suitcase and I lost it. Well, at least they lost it on the way back.

Yeah, that's right. So there's a silver lining in that. Yeah, so it took three days. Losing it on the way there is a nightmare. Well, and also I took a backpack with all the valuable stuff. So I didn't, if I lost it, it was closed. Yeah, if I'm traveling really far, I always pack a carry-on with, like, essentials for at least two days. Yeah.

I say this before. People complain about air travel. I was thinking about this. I think it's amazing that I get to Europe in 10 hours. I got two meals, a glass of wine. slippers for my feet. It was quiet. I got headphones.

I watched the Anthony Bourdain, the late Anthony Bordane documentary. Unbelievable. I watched the movie. And then I woke up and they gave me a piece of chocolate. We landed and I was done and I thought to myself 10 hours from Los Angeles to Europe. And people complain all the time. Oh, travel. And I'm like, try taking a car or a train over there and see how long it takes you.

Oh, yeah. I mean, air travel is. over that ocean. Air travel is unbelievable. It's unbelievable. It's the humans that you have to interact with. I was on a plane the other day.

And there's a new thing, I guess, because this has happened on several flights that I'm on now, where people just watch TikTok with no headphones on. Oh, interesting. It's fascinating behavior to me. Thoughtful, yeah. What are you doing? What are you doing?

It's your phone? You're just listening on your phone? It's those people and the people that talk about. talk on the speaker in public. I mean. I don't know. I just, I look at air travel and I'm like, I think it's unbelievable. No, they do an amazing job. Lost my bag. I got it three days later. Flight attendants are unbelievable. There was a medical emergency on my flight on the way to Miami last week. What happened?

There was an actual doctor, not a doctor like me, on the flight right behind me. And he saved the day. I don't know, I don't know exactly what happened with the woman, but she was very sick. And everyone was freaking out. And he went back there and fixed her up. And then we didn't have to have an emergency landing. And the flight attendants did an amazing job, kept everyone calm. And all anybody does is complain about it. Nothing worse than when the media complains about it, then it's really ugly. Yeah, I've had to do that once, but we've got to sort it out.

So I do some NFL predictions, and I did one March 22nd. That was after free agency. There's no question. Free agency make team is better. Like Miami, by getting Tyreek Hill and Cedric Wilson, as going to be a better team. Right? They're going to be a better offense for Tua. And then now, seven weeks later, I give you my post-draft and my post-schedual prediction for the NFL.

I have the right to make several amendments. Our Constitution has 24, 26, something like that. I get some amendments. Here we go. This is my March 22nd NFL standing prediction. Let's start AFC. So initially I said, Bill's Patriots, Dolphins, Jets. I'm going to flip that.

Dolphins will leap the Patriots. Patriots go down to third. The jets are an easy fourth. The bills were an easy one. Why? I thought the Patriots had a pathetic draft. Belichick's calling offensive plays. And the truth of the matter is, I think the momentum in this division is with Buffalo

and Miami. They have pivoted to an offensive franchise. And I think two is going to be, listen, two have beat them twice last year. Now he's got actual weapons. Broncos, chiefs, chargers, raiders, nothing changes. I made another change in the AASC North. I had Bengals first, Brown's fourth, because I don't know when Deshawn plays. I have flipped the Steelers and Ravens.

Why? Hollywood Brown got moved. I do not like Baltimore's early schedule. In a five-week period, late September to late October, they go to New England and then face Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Deshawn Watson, and Tom Brady. They also end the season at Joe Burrow, and they face Denver. Pittsburgh doesn't face Denver. Yes, they face Belich.

and Brady Early, both at home. I'll take the Steelers second, Ravens Third, also like the Steelers draft. And then in the South, no changes. I'm going to have the Colts, the Titans, the Texans, and the Jaguars with no A.J. Brown, Tennessee becomes very Ryan Tannihil and Derek Henry Reliant. I don't like it. So I've got the Bills, Broncos, Bengals, Colts winning their divisions. In the NFC, a major change in the NFC East.

I thought the Philadelphia Eagles had an exceptional draft weekend. I did not think the Cowboys or the commanders did. So I have the Eagles going from third to first. Philadelphia wins the division. Commanders, again, I like Carson Wentz as an upgraded quarterback and Ron Rivera. I do not see Dallas as a playoff team. I thought they had a weird draft with several reaches. Didn't answer the questions I wanted to.

Giants are an easy pick for four. I'm going to make another switch. I looked at San Francisco schedule. I had at Rams, Niners, Cardinals, Seahawks. Ram Seahawks the easy choice. I think Arizona's made good moves. They're going to get the Kyler stuff wrapped up. It's all going to be good. He's going to get his money. And the Niners' schedule in the middle of the season is absolutely brutal. I also did not like San Francisco's draft. Vikings, Packers, Bears, Lions, that's my prediction early. I think Minnesota will be the most

improved team in the NFL. Kirk Cousins, though limited, will get an offensive coach. I like their draft as well. Buck, Saints, Panthers, Falcons. I feel stronger today about the Saints. I think the Saints Jarvis Landry acquisitions, a real one. I think they draft about as well as anybody in the NFC. So there you go. A major flip in the NFC East. Philadelphia had a great draft weekend. I like the way their schedule works out. I showed it to you yesterday. They only face two elite quarterbacks. They're spread out eight weeks apart or close to that. There go. All right. Cedric Sabalos played 11 years in the NBA. He is now a broadcaster in Phoenix, and he watched what was a shocking mess, a disaster Sunday. And, you know, I guess, I said this earlier.

I said, did I get fooled by Phoenix? Because Phoenix played a lot of their starters, said. They played their starters. And because of a lot of teams don't in the NBA, they led a lot of games. They had the most blowouts in the league. I didn't see them. trail much. And then you get in a playoff series and you trail and DeAndre Aiton becomes a very limited resource when you need threes. It's also a team that

doesn't shoot threes said particularly well, which didn't bother them in the regular season because they led, they played their starters, they played with great chemistry. Did we find the hole in Phoenix? Cedric, which is, listen, you get into these situations, everybody's

playing their starters, the games get closer, you often trail late and maybe they're not built for that? Or is that, am I being hypercritical here? No, but when you put the ball in C.P's hands in the fourth quarter, it can't get a little difficult for teams to try to guard him and stop that. I just think the situation happened with the frustration and just being tired. You got to think they went to the finals, game six against Milwaukee, obviously losing to the Bucks being a champion. 37-year-old Chris Paul, I think it just really wore out on them. And when they got up to zero, I thought a little bit too much party in was

going on, meaning that this will be an easy situation with Dallas because they weren't predicted to get that far. And they haven't figured it out, so to speak, on paper on what to do with Luca Donchis and Dinwiddie. But I think the biggest measure of this is just the fact, Jason Kidd, I mean, he never allowed them to accept 2O. He never allowed them to keep their confidence low. He kept them high, telling him this is not a problem. They did what they were supposed to do,

home court in which both teams did until game seven. DeAndre Aiton's a very nice player. They've gotten a lot of value out of him. But, I mean, that position is not as valuable now as guards and wings. The league has changed. He doesn't answer to their biggest issue, which is more outside shooting and three-point shooting. I think there's an argument to be made that you got a lot out of him.

You move him and you go find a shooter and a really high-end guy that you're going to have to pay for. I don't know what's his future there. Do you lock him in for four or five years? Yeah, you lock him in because, you know, your MVP candidates are all big men. M. B. Joker got it. M. B. was runner up. You got Yonis. You have to take care of that middle.

You don't have a chance if you don't take care of that middle. The wonderful thing about Boston did with Janus is let Janus be honest. It was the others that they take care of. Obviously, having Milton out was a big piece of that. And then the same thing in Denver. I mean, you couldn't stop Yolkidge, but you have to, you got to shut down the others, make sure they are. Switch it around with Phoenix.

They put the pressure on Devin Booker game seven, two, three people on them at a time. And they went big with those traps where he couldn't see over and it get good passes and get everybody else open. So the wonderful thing about having somebody as big as Aidan is, is he's not your worst. passer on the team, but he can see over, and he also can solve a lot of problems because you just throw the ball up. He's a great, he has great hands and can finish. Can you compare, go back to your career. Does Luca remind you of anybody? What did you make of his performance and his growth? Wow, I mean, you got to put them all together. You got to put

bird in this pot, magic. I didn't play with LeBron. You put a little LeBron in there. very confident, very arrogant. But, you know, he started 14, 15 years old. This is nothing that he hasn't seen before. He knows how to play the game. His pace is unbelievable, see, and he has the ability to, because of his size and his footwork,

to spin off big defenders, get his space and still shoot over him. But then if you try to match him up with a point guard, he just bullies him down in the paint. And Jason Kidd makes it aware and the team makes it aware that somebody small is guarding him. I think the only deficiency that he has is sometimes he forgets how good and great he's going to be later on and doesn't just punish people 48 minutes of the game.

Yeah. So you look around, you know, as a former Laker, there's a story out today that they're interviewing candidates for the job and the big question they're asking, or one of them is how can you fix Westbrook? To that, I say, you know, I don't think it's fixable at this point. As a former Laker, who was a big deal for the franchise for several years, and now you're with a more viable franchise, right? You're in Phoenix with that franchise. How do you view the Lakers today?

Well, it's tough because, you know, Westbrook is a very dangerous player. He has a huge contract. It's going to be hard for the buses to move if they want to move that. So they do need to figure out, and they're asking, I've been hearing that they're asking, what are your plans for Westbrook? One, they had the problem with him and the coach earlier. Are you going to play him or you're not going to play him?

Is he going to start? He's going to come off the bench. Does he have the ball? Is he playing off the ball? And that's a big part of that. I mean, just like you would do if, you know, you're hiring a new coach for LeBron or KD or somebody else, they want to know the plans that you have for this maxed-out player.

And, you know, he's going to be a Hall of Famer. I don't think he's done. I don't think he has not even close. to being down him, but he's not, you know, obviously as young as the Westbrook that we all know and going to the hole and smashing on everybody every play. But he's going to be effective on his team. They just have to figure out the scheming of how to play them and where. I look at these teams now left in the playoffs, and I see really good teams. I don't see great teams. They've all got one special, special Hall of Fame level guy. Boston, I think a lot of

people like Boston to win it because it's the best defensive team. And I said this about Jason Tatum is that if you told me, pick three guys in this league to build your franchise around the next 10 years. So I need to know their injury history. They've got to be in their primer just moving into it. No baggage, not a lot of ego can help me on both ends. I said I'd take Janus one, Luca, two, and Tatum. And I said, Luca can't defend like Tatum.

Janus can't shoot like him. But he does everything well. He's great at the free throw line. So late in games, he's great. He can hit threes. He defends the wing. He doesn't have an injury history. I think he's actually undervalued.

I look at all these lists of players people want, and I'm like, if you told me 10 years, I'd go Janus Luca Tatum. Am I overvaluing him? Well, I think he's out of those three that you pick, you know, Luca obviously is unstoppable. You just got to hope he's having a bad day. With Janus, he's just unstoppable and I don't think he ever

has a bad day because he goes to the basket so many times. He's so long for layups. There is a capability of stopping Tatum. You can have somebody guard him. I mean, obviously it has not happened, but there is a possibility like, I mean, I can

guarantee him 30 points every game. Those other two, you can get 30 points out of them on their bad nights. He is very effective. No baggage has a great sense of himself and what he wants. I think he really doesn't show it a lot, but he unites that team and makes them well. I think one of the key plays is I thought in game six when they were going to win this series against the bucks is after the game, no celebration after game six. It wasn't a big hoopie.

I mean, you see him right here on the bench. He's taking an in great high fives, great job, grabs his partner Brown. Hey, man, we're not done yet. And it goes back to Jerry West, teaching Kobe Bryant after game two, going up game two in the finals. And he quotes, no reason to smile. The job's not done yet. And I saw that in a young Tatum, who was a student of Kobe Bryant and a guy, a lot of teaching from him. I want to circle back finally to Chris Paul.

I said, I would try to find somebody. I don't know what you can do financially if you sign Aiton. But I do think you'd want to limit Chris's minutes the next time. years because you're going to pay him, you know, get him in the 26 minutes a night because he looked exhausted at the end of that series. Yes. This morning in Phoenix, what's the view of Chris Paul? Yeah, Chris has definitely went a long way.

He has never been in his career to the finals. You know, and maybe he has a regimen in the summertime that it usually takes that that was thrown off because he went in the finals. That's a tough scenario. I thought that, you know, just as I explained to Bob, Tatum not celebrating. I thought his backup pain celebrated a little bit too much.

It didn't focus in on Chris not being in the best condition and being tired and his minutes would go up. And you saw a lot of turnovers by the sons that second unit, a lot of sloppy turnovers because mentally, I don't think that bench was locked in as they should have been

as they made their run to the finals last year. Chris Paul is a great teacher. He's going to play up maybe three to five more. years and be content 20 to 25 minutes a game if you really put him in a situation where he can win your fourth quarter. I think his legs will be enough. And then Patrick Beverly getting on him was not right. I don't think that's a situation where he's going to be a Hall of Famer. He's going to be talked about in this league for a while even after he's gone. And to try to put him

on blast saying that he doesn't do this, doesn't do that. I mean, he was on all defensive teams. you know, so it's kind of hard to say he's a cone. Yeah. Cedric Sabalos, now down in Phoenix. Great seeing you again. Appreciate it, man. All right. See you guys.

All right. Yeah, the Chris Paul haters, I think they overvalue his greatest teammates ever. Blake Griffin, who couldn't shoot, hyper-athletic, James Harden, enigmatic, sometimes engaged. And Devin Booker, who's a great two, that doesn't create his own shot. So, you know, again, Jordan never won a playoff series without Pippen. And I'm not saying Chris Paul is Jordan. But if you look at who wins championships, the two questions I always have is, who blocked you?

Did you play in Tiger Woods' prime as a golfer? Did you play in Joe Montana's prime? Like, who blocked you? Who was in your way? Was it a dynasty? That goes the long way. By the way, Chris Paul played in the Heedles dynasty, but he also played in the Warriors' dynasty. The Warriors have been a better run-in franchise than Phoenix has,

has, and Oklahoma City was and Houston's been. I mean, the Warriors have been the Patriots of the NBA. They've been brilliantly run for like 12 years right in the heart of Chris Paul's career. They've had better drafts, develop better players, had better coaches. That's who blocked you. And the second thing is who's your best teammate? Blake Griffin, James Harden, Devin, Becker. I mean, they can make the Hall of Fame, but those are, you know, those are the best Robin of all time is arguably Scotty Pippen.

And totally understood his role. Blake Griffin and Hardin thought they were better than Chris Paul. did not get the role. A Devin Booker now is better than Chris Ball in Mote's nights. But that's the difference. Pippin-O is understood. McHale understood my guy. Like, he's the guy, he's going to take the shot. Chris Paul's also had to deal with that.

Blake Griffin thought, I should be taking the shots. I'm the one jumping over cars and when it's slam dunk contest. And James Harden thought, I'm the guy that should be taking the shots. So Chris Paul had to deal with that his entire career. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the I-Hard 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 what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

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

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

podcast network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick 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 all day, but just so you all know.

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

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we, are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it.

And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. There's tag team matches in history. The Uso's take on arcade bra in the tag team championship unification match. It's an all-new Friday night Smackdown, live at 80stern on Fox. By the way, a good rule for any business is don't buy stuff that can trap you. I've always been a big believer. Lease your fun. Lease your boats. Lease your jet skis.

Lease your convertible sports car if you have one of those or can afford one of those. Lease your fun. Just don't get trapped with stuff. Leave yourself the ability to be flexible and nimble. And so the Lakers are according to a report asking, according to Sam Amick of the athletic, they're asking coaching candidates how they'd use Russell Westbrook. Good luck. This is what Philadelphia is going to have to do if they sign James Harden to a long-term contract.

They're going to have to ask the coach once Doc Rivers gets fired because he will if you coach James Harden. How are you going to make James Harden work? You can't. He's James Harden. Child psychologists will tell you that by nine years old, your daughter or son's personality has been formed. If they're a brat at nine, they're a brat. If they're thoughtful at nine, they're thoughtful. kind, loud, whatever the personality trait, it is what it is.

Memo to NBA general managers. There's a reason Pat Riley's better than almost all of you or all of you because he never gets trapped. Right? Like they don't get trapped on stuff. And it's very, now I'm not saying every contract the Heat have is great. It's the NBA, even the best GMs. Jerry West has had a bad contract.

Pat Riley's had an occasional bad contract. contract. Sometimes, you know, you just got to pay a guy. You need a wing defender. He's on the market. There's nothing in the draft. Increasingly, the drafts are spotty. But it's not that complicated. Don't sign headaches to long contracts. James Hardin's a headache. Westbrook's toxic. He's a headache. John Wall's a headache. You can't sign James Harden to a long contract. You'll be asking yourself an hour and a half into it, yeah, Doc, we appreciate your service. We've got to hire a new coach. asking him, how can you make Harden Work? What's amazing about Westbrook is nobody was in the Lakers offices. I'm always fascinated by this. You ever watch a movie comes out a movie and it's

boring? And you're like, oh, that's going to bomb. And I always think to myself, did nobody at Paramount, you know, just raise their hand in a room and go, yeah, none of my friends would watch this movie. This is not an interesting movie. And they green light movies, give them hundreds of millions of dollars. And you're like, did nobody stand up and go, yeah, nobody's going to watch this movie in my social circle. Not one person. Did nobody in the Lakers ever do this? Hey, yeah, if we sign Westbrook and it doesn't work and the chances are, since he's not a good player off ball, it won't. How will we get rid of him?

It's not hard. Just don't get trapped as a business. Sign shorter contracts. Don't go, you know, you look around the NBA. Pant Riley doesn't get trapped a lot. If you look at the warriors, they don't get trapped a lot. I mean, does anybody raise their hand ever in these meeting rooms and just go, yeah, I'd like to say this is not going to work with Westbrook. Like if it does kind of work, but we know it probably won't if you look to analytics and him playing off ball, how do we move him? That would be the same thing when James Harden.

How would you move him? It doesn't work. He's a shot fighter. So I don't think it's not that. complicated. If you look at who's working in these sports leagues, now baseball you throw out because they have no salary cap and the Yankee revenue is 25 times as big as the A's or, you know, the Padres or Pirates or Kansas City or Cincinnati. But in these salary cap leagues, just try not to get trapped. That's it. Now the NFL, you don't have to get trapped because

the league has more power than the players union. The baseball, you're constantly trapped because the players union is so strong. But at the NBA, I can't be the only person that watches some of these moves and thinks, if this doesn't go well, how the hell do you get out of it? The Westbrook thing is a great example of that. How would you get out of that? Now they can't. They're literally after asking candidates.

How do you make this work? Trade him. It's not going to. He can't play off ball. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

never had a great number two. I think to answer your question, nobody does, because then they would be outside of the power circle and essentially lose their job because everyone that works at the Lakers is friends. Well, I remember when I worked for ESPN. They did ESPN the phone. Remember ESPN the phone?

And my question was, I remember saying, listen, I do think when you're the leader in an industry, you have to take chances. Because if you don't, nobody else will. But nobody in those meeting rooms, for the phone idea, apparently nobody raised their hand and asked the question that my friends did and I did. Well, I have a contract with my phone service. I have Verizon.

My kids are all Verizon. So I'm going to have to eliminate that and get my kids all on your phone service. Like nobody raised a hand in that room at ESPN and went, you do realize that when you have a phone, your family's on it, your kids are on it, you're going to have to unravel all that and then go, who wants to do that work? Do we get significantly better rates? Is it half off? Because that's a lot of work. Well, a lot of times with these moves, there aren't people on the ground

that are involved in those conversations. Like, it's such a tight group of the same type of people that you're not really actually getting, you're not getting information and feedback from the consumer that you're actually going to put this out to. Similar to the Lakers, it's such an inclusive group of people who all have ties to the Lakers.

there's no one like a Pat Riley who's going to be like, no, this doesn't work. And despite the fact that we care about this person, we're going to treat them right on the way out, it doesn't work for what we're doing. And that's not how we do business. And many other organizations as well that you mentioned, the Warriors, the Bucks. Like they let go of people, the Bucks let go of PJ Tucker. I don't think it was bad blood. It's like, we have to make moves here.

And PJ's doing great in Miami. It's the perfect player for that. You can make moves. You can move off of people. That's what this business is. It's a very transactional business. That's why free agency is such a big deal. But you've got to be able to participate in that.

Someone's got to make the call. Yeah. So Chris Paul is getting some backlash from how things ended this season. It was ugly. And he does deserve some criticism for how things ended. But following Phoenix's elimination from the postseason, Patrick Beverly had some strong words about how CP3 is viewed around the league. Oh, boy.

I ain't nobody worry about Chris Paul when he played Phoenix Suns. Nobody in the NBA. And I'm just letting you know how NBA players feel. And that's the game to a point where he gets all the petty calls, all the swipe-throughs at the end. I mean, this guy is out, man. We're going to be honest.

We want to be really honest. He can't guard. Okay. So I'm going to also be put in the position of having to defend Chris Paul here. Chris Paul has seven all-defensive first-team selections, two second-team selections, four all NBA, first team selections, five second team, one third team selection. He's a 12-time All-Star.

He is a Hall of Famer, period. Yes. One of the best point guards the game has ever seen. Does he fall short in the playoffs? Yes. Does he get petty calls? Yes. Are there people that don't like Chris Paul, including Patrick Beverly?

Yes. But Patrick Beverly is not Chris Paul. Not close. I feel like I have to say that. Yeah. I'm looking at the reaction on social media yesterday, and I get it. fans love a spicy comment and trash talk, and so do I. But I also can compartmentalize what we're talking about here. I'm old enough to remember Patrick Beverly crying after winning a play-in game

over the Clippers. That Chris Paul is a Hall of Famer. Let's not get crazy. Now, obviously, Patrick Beverly and Chris Paul have some animosity between them. You remember Patrick Beverly pushed Chris Paul last year. It was an ugly scene. That's fine. Everybody doesn't have to get along. But just because Patrick Beverly said this does not erase the history of what Chris Paul is as a player. It's not comparable. Patrick Beverly is one all defensive first team selection

and two second team selections. They're not in the same category as players. I don't think that a lot of people were afraid of the sons this year. I think a lot of teams thought that the sons were a bit of a front-running team. Well, Chris has made a lot of money in his career and Patrick Beverly has not made that kind of money. So there's also that animosity is that Chris is one of the... There's no reason that Pat Beverly should be in this.

that's right. That's right. That conversation with Chris Paul. Yeah. But it's, listen, there's a lot of reasons. Just don't mistake,

don't mistake people being boisterous and saying aggressive things with being right or being good. Yeah. Like, we can still watch. Like, Pat Beverly has enormous value as a disruptor. He can be a good defensive player.

He is not Chris Paul on either end of the court. Like, whatever Chris Paul is at this point in his career, he is still a Hall of Famer. And I just, I just disagree. Like, not pretty. They still went to seven games with the Mavs.

Everyone was acting like the Mavs swept them or something. He was good in the previous series. Chris was fine in the previous series. Remember he had that good closeout game number? It was very good. I mean, we only remember the last thing we saw, right? That's what we focus on. But let's not forget what Chris Paul is overall as a player. So the Heat and Celtics kick off the Eastern Conference finals tonight. And Eric Spolstra is expecting to see an old school showdown between these two teams in the series.

Pat probably is really going to enjoy this. This is like a throwback series. I mean, if both teams are really on top of their games, you know, this shouldn't be a series where either team is scoring 130 points. Both of us, both teams hang their hats on rock solid team defense and making multiple efforts and being disciplined to schemes. You know, so it'll be a lot of plays and things in the margins. and that's what you expect.

I expect this series to go seven. Spowe is right. These are two teams that... The heater favored by two and a half tonight in game one, according to Fox Bed. Celtics are favored by 175 to win the series. He played great at home, obviously, and that is a loud environment,

despite the fact that everyone on social media thinks that no one goes there. I'm so tired of having that conversation. It's going to be a good environment tonight for game one. And, you know, you have two great options. Offensive players, two great two-way players, and Jimmy Butler and Jason Tatum. Jimmy Butler is averaging 28.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. He's the only player remaining in the playoffs, averaging over 25 points per game and shooting over 50%.

So Jimmy doesn't get a lot of credit for what he does in the offensive side of the ball because we think of Jimmy is such a tough player and a heart and soul player. But he's actually... He's actually... He's actually... more than a great score. Yes, but he's actually been the most efficient score in the playoffs. He is. Over 25 points per game shooting 50%. Jason Tatum is 28.3 points per game.

So I think this is going to be a long series. I think it is going to be, as Spos said, an old school series. These teams have history, not obviously these sets of players, but these organizations have a lot of history. The fans are definitely going to dig into that. And I'm really excited for this matchup. Yeah. I think it's going to be low scoring.

Yeah, that's just to Spos point. Like this is going to be a series. where they're going to hang their hats on defense. It's going to be chippy. Expect a lot of that. And it's going to be fun to watch. So I'm looking forward to game one tonight. So Kyrie and LeBron had a successful partnership in Cleveland's,

bringing the city, their first NBA championship. But Kyrie thinks that they would have won even more had he been in the right frame of mind when they were teammates. I definitely feel like if I was in the same maturity level I am now and understanding who I am and I look back on that time then we definitely definitely would have won more championship together because there would have been a better man-to-man understanding about what I'm going through I couldn't I didn't know how to share my emotions I didn't know how to do that so instead of sharing I isolated myself and I and I just started pouring myself

more into the game of basketball and I had one of my better seasons but I wasn't connecting with everybody as much during our championship year. Kyrie is kind of an interesting place right now. You mentioned Sean Mark's comments about wanting players that are all bought in. Not a surprising comment coming from a team when Kyrie missed half the games by choice this season. And the season ended catastrophically. You were the only team to get swept in the playoffs with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, healthy and on the floor.

That's an embarrassment. Yeah. That's a failure. It's a total failure. Now, I didn't have any expectations for this team because I didn't. didn't think they were deep at all, but this is a situation. You come in as a seventh seed. You didn't have to be that way because Kyrie could have played and he chose not to.

Now you have the Nike story. There's a lot of things that are sort of trending to. You don't want to give Kyrie five years $240 million. Do you. He's just not a reliable player. And obviously, I don't, whatever Kyrie is as a person, I don't think he's a bad guy. I think he has interests outside of basketball, which is totally fine. everyone does, everyone. LeBron does. Luca does. Everyone does. But you have to come to work. I have

things I'm interested in outside of work. If I'm supposed to be here, then this is where I am. I would have taken another week off in Rome easily. We had the playoffs. You want to start taking marches off. But like if I'm supposed to be here, this is where you are. This is what you get paid to do. And however, you know, philosophically, we want to get into it or not, at the end of the day, there's an exchange of money. for services. That's right. That's how the whole world works. And I mean, if I'm a team, Kyrie obviously has extreme value. When he's on the court, engaged, he is still a great player.

When is the question? And to me, just like anything else, whether it's injury, whether it's, you know, personality, whether it's a situation like Ben Simmons, however great you are matched with the amount of availability you have, brings down your value as a player to you. Like, you can be an unbelievable player. If you're never on the court, it is meaningless.

You know, it's funny in all my years of doing this and working at multiple companies, local, regional, national brands, one of the things I think is underrated is reliability. I think it's the most important asset that you can have as a professional. When my dad used to always say this, my late father, that most employment decisions will be made when you're out of the room. So can you have a majority of hands raised? Should we give Joy a contract?

Well, she's always available. She never calls in sick. She's always there. She gets along with everybody. Like, that's so undervalued that there's just, don't get me wrong, sometimes you'll sacrifice some of that for stars, NFL stars. But like, do you play? Like, say what you want about Eli Manning and Philip Rivers.

Brett Farve. They just... I think it's Eli's... I think it's his best argument for the Hall of Fame. That dude was always... on the field. Always. Every Sunday. Always available. Whether he was good or bad or whatever, I would take a consistent manning on the field.

And with Eli, you got the same personality for 17 years or however long you've played. And when you have built up that kind of equity with people, that you are available, that you do go above and beyond, that you are an even killed person, that when you do have something that you're going through, you get an enormous amount of grace. Because people know what it is. They know who you are. That's right. And by the way, you not only got the body of Eli, you got the same personality. With Kyrie, sometimes I don't get the body, and sometimes I don't get the personality consistency. So I get, it's literally, I don't know who walks in the door every day at work.

And you just can't. Is it World is Flat guy today? Is it I'm not going to get Vax guy? Forget not being available physically. Emotionally, Kyrie is not available. Yeah, I just, I don't know how you build a, I don't know how you build a championship team with him as the number two guy that you have to rely on. If he's three or four? Sure.

Yeah. But like KD may be injured. I always get the exact same KD every day at work. Every day KD is like balling, ready to play, give you 28, I'll go to the fan. I know exactly what I get. Now, he's hurt more than I'd like, but I get the same dude every time. Yes. Joy with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line. Mike check. Mike check. Do you want exclusive insight from the biggest names in the sports? game? What's good? This is national champion and former pro baller Chris Johnson. Let me tell you a little bit about my new series, KJ Live.

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

A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliford 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, Untax. filtered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only

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So I saw this story. Devante Adams apparently was offered more money by the Green Bay Packers than the Raiders, but he wanted out according to a report. basically Ian Rappaport saying he wanted family. Packers offered him more money and now Green Bay is sort of stuck. They have no number one receiver and I'd argue no number two. They're old, young, cheap and average all over their receiving core. Green Bay is one of those things.

The Green Bay Packers are one of those things in America that shouldn't work and they do. And there's all sorts of businesses like that. You can't quite figure out how it works, but it does. It's ingrained. They have no owner, the only pro franchise without an owner. It's a small, uninspiring market that pro athletes mostly don't want to play in. They don't pay top of the market. The weather's not great.

But in 30 years, 30 years, they've had four losing seasons. There's two reasons for that. Number one, 80% of that is Aaron Rogers and Brett Farve. And then probably about 20% of that is the dysfunction throughout the organization. The Lions can't get there. You know what together. Either can the Bears and Minnesota is perpetually average. But I do think, I do think they're going to start resembling the Wisconsin Badgers,

and those will be the two biggest football programs in that state. They'll be able to compete against anybody, but not be dynamic enough to ever win the early big games. And we've seen that over the last 15, 16 playoff games with Aaron Rogers, is that I think the Super Bowl window with Devonte Adams leaving is closed. And people forget this about the Green Bay Packers. When I was a kid and starting to watch football, they were never on television and they were never good. Between Bart Starr retiring and Brett Favar arriving, like 30 years, they won a single playoff game.

Like in the 70s and 80s, they were just not a factor. And as entertainment becomes more and more important for sports, that's why Los Angeles can attract all these great players and Lincoln Riley. and I mean, just literally the L.A. sports market right now, we've got, I think I counted before I left on my trip, like 29 A-listers. 29. Why? We're the entertainment capital of the world. I mean, New York plays a deep second to Los Angeles now for free agents. It's not close. We get who we want. New York gets nobody. And that's New York. Chicago can't compete with L.A. So is that not only emerges but explodes in sports the importance of entertainment. because these athletes now make so much money in social media, production companies, podcast companies. Green Bay should not work at all.

In the baseball, the smaller markets like Oakland are pathetic. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, pathetic. In the NBA, smaller markets like Sacramento are just historically bad franchises. But Green Bay works. But they don't have an answer after Favre. The league is getting more dynamic. They don't attract stars on the perimeter. to draft and develop and cross their fingers.

And even when they do it right, like Devante Adams, that player often chooses less money to play elsewhere. So I don't know if it's going to be the post-Bart Star Packers, but it's very rare you can go far to Aaron Rogers. Do you think you're going to do far to Aaron Rogers to Andrew Luck-ish? I just don't see it. They've tried with Jordan Love. It's not there.

It's not close. And I think Minnesota wins the division this year. All right, hour three around the corner. Stephen Jackson, 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, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert 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, unfilled 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Care Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.