The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - Right & wrong, NBA

Episode Date: March 28, 2022

Where Colin was right and wrongThe NCAA Tournament over the weekendThe NBA teams that should be taken seriouslyGuests: Antoine Walker, Alexi Lalas 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule. of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay.

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. 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. 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 Herd.

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. It's hour two. It is Los Angeles, and this is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. March has truly been a gift. Soccer, the Oscars, the NFL Free Agency, the tournament.

It has been the daffiest, wackiest march. I can ever remember, and I'd like to thank, eccentric personalities and crazy good athletes and daring executives. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my ratings heart for impatient owners. It's been the greatest March of my life. You know, when I got into this business, March was always sort of like some college basketball, but it's slow.

This feels like September, October. It has been crazy fun, capped off by a bizarre moment. from Hollywood last night. It was not staged. That's the only thing I know it wasn't staged. Alex Curry is joining me. Have you ever done the red carpet before? Yeah, I've done the red carpet.

It's chaos. Well, you know, it's interesting. So I had a friend that did this years ago. And in sports, I can criticize an athlete. Are you saying what side of the walking or interviewing people? Like interviewing people? Yes. Yeah.

So, you know, you can criticize athletes and we should be able to criticize coaches, even though they're rich in stars, you know, half of Hollywood's broke, but you can't really criticize them on the red carpet. It's a suck-up fest. I mean, that's just way it is. Yeah. And a friend of mine had to do it for about six months. He said it was the most obnoxious thing in the world.

So when these comedians get on stage and they take joke, Ricklervace, Chris Rock, those stars hate it. Oh, yeah. You're not supposed to make fun. You know, it's very pretentious, very pious. And so in sports, we get ripped all the time. I get ripped. I get ripped.

We have thick skin. This is the life we live. In Hollywood, it's always. it's always tense when the comedians come in and take shots at these sort of pretentious, over the top, very pious, increasingly wokey, actors, actresses, and there's people today in Hollywood defending Will Smith. Like that's, it's a really weird dynamic. It's really uncomfortable in that space, mocking the people who never get mocked,

and it just sort of unraveled in front of our eyes. I think the hardest thing is we don't know if Chris Rock knew that Jada has a condition where she actually can't grow her hair. And I think that is where Will Smith. It's hard because I don't condone violence in any way. It's never the right choice. But I understand the frustration. Definitely wasn't the right move that he made.

But again, do we know that we don't know the full backstory? Yeah. Yeah. Crazy. All right. We call it Colin right. Colin wrong. We do it every Monday at this time.

There's always plenty of both. And here we go. Where Colin was right? I don't like underdogs. and I think the NCAA selection committee overwhelmingly year after year nails it with their seating. And what do you know? We end up with four blue bloods. Yes, Duke is in, Nova's in, Kansas is in.

And even though North Carolina is in, they're really playing their best basketball now. It wasn't that they were poorly seated. Nothing against St. Peters, but I don't want to see St. Peters. I think the story's fine. TV ratings indicate this will be a highly rated Final Four because it has has big brands. The NCAA selection committee, I just think it's too easy to rip the NCAA. It's just low-hanging fruit.

Let's rip them. They overwhelmingly do an amazing job organizing this tournament, creating this tournament. It pays for everything they do all year. So let me be the first person, maybe the only person to say the NCAA does a lot of good things for young people in America. This has been an amazing tournament. And once again, they got the seating right for Blue Blood. where Colin was wrong. I was shocked to see Deshawn Watson go to Cleveland.

I thought Atlanta was a better fit. His quarterback coach lives there. He played collegiately in that footprint geographically. He was a ballboy for the Atlanta Falcons. Cleveland to me was a total outlier. But you know what? I can admit Cleveland is better in terms of personnel. Atlanta's in a rebuild.

Carolina's in a rebuild. Cleveland's not. Cleveland has a Super Bowl roster. if they can get the quarterback position right. So I didn't see it coming, came out of the blue, and I was wrong. Where Colin was right? Bronco head coach Nathaniel Hackett yesterday quoted saying Russell Wilson and I communicate nonstop constantly all day.

We're joined at the hip. This has been something this show has been on for several years. Mike Zimmer and Kirk Cousins didn't get along. Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson had their battles. Vic Fangio, allergic to offense. If you're going to make a mistake in coaching and you have a really good quarterback, go offensive. And Nathaniel Hackett acknowledging we are basically inseparable. There is something about quarterback and quarterback coaches and offensive guys.

They speak a different language. They're more daring. They're more comfortable around each other. And this proving it once again. Where Colin was wrong. When Brad Stevens moved upstairs for the Celtics and Danny Ains left, I thought the Celtics window was closed and they were kind of a drift. What were they?

Well, what they are in the last 25 games is 22 and 3. You know, it is the regular season. But they have hammered good teams like Utah and Memphis. Their chemistry is fantastic. I just didn't know what to make. They were signaling it's over. Brad Stevens, a great young coach. Go upstairs and wear a tie.

What? Danny Aange made good moves. See ya. I thought it felt like they were going to move the pieces. Nope, they doubled down on Marcus and Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, and they are a fantastic team. Now, I don't think they'll win. They are a number one seat.

I don't think they'll win the East, but clearly, clearly they knew what they were doing with their choices. Where Colin was right? Longtime Packer Beat writer Tom Silverstein wrote a story last week that highlighted something I've talked about for years. Devonte Adams and Aaron Rogers were not close. That's why it was much easier for Devante Adams to leave. Devonte Adams, according to the story, was not into the celebrity stuff, not into the publicity.

He's a family guy. He just wanted to be close to family. And once again, it paints Aaron Rogers as disconnected and aloof and into Aaron. Listen, the contract he signed meant a lot to Aaron. He wanted to get paid. I don't hold it against him. But that was always going to be an issue if you want to sign great. state wide receiver talent, including Devante Adams.

But the story painted a picture with great access of something I've said for years. Aaron's often on his own island, not part of a collective. Where Colin was right? Matt Ryan to the Colts, a lot of rumors that Baker Mayfield was going there, and I said, wait a minute, the Carson Wentz thing felt toxic. Why would they do toxic again? It doesn't make sense. I predicted Matt Ryan was the perfect fit.

He's quiet. He's understated. he's reliable. Yeah, Matt Ryan is not in his prime. I don't think he's that far out of his prime. I still think he's a really good quarterback and I feel like there'll be a playoff team, but I never bought into Baker Mayfield having a huge market and in Indy. If you know Chris Ballard and you know Frank Reich, they're not into headlines. They are understated. Let's build this roster. Let's do it together. The toxicity that Baker would bring. And I do think he has a market. I think he'd fit in Seattle, but I never bought into the

Colts. Where Colin was wrong. A tip of the cap to anybody that can bet successfully the tournament. It's like 19-year-old kids growing in front of your eyes. I thought Arizona would win it. Best team I saw all year. They got bounced. I thought the best dark horse was Tennessee. They couldn't get out of the first weekend. Gonzaga, one of the few teams I didn't love. They got bounced. But by and large, I don't know how you folks do it. I love Houston overville and over this weekend. They were one for 20 on threes. The thing about the NBA, it's mature players. We kind of know what we get in the NBA playoffs.

Plus, if you have a bad game, it's a seven-game series. In college basketball, it's sudden death, one bad whistle, one ankle injury. It changes everything. And it's a bunch of young kids. North Carolina has played probably three of the four best games all year in the tournament. It's the opposite of the NBA. It's kids. They're 19.

They're growing. Many of the best players are won in Dunners. so they were on a high school campus a year ago. Now they're in the final four. The chemistry is building in front of your eyes. And once again, my bracket was on fire, 45 minutes into the tournament. Where Colin was right? John Morant got hurt.

He's fine, but got hurt. The Grizzlies are 17 and 2 without John Morant. Yes, he's great. He's not the face of the league and he's not an MVP. We fall for this all the time. He is fun, brilliantly talented, fantastic dolead. watch and a credit to his family in the league. But ball-centric, flashy guards don't always make your team better.

Years ago, John Wall got hurt. The Wizards went 10-0 without him. Russell Westbrook, does he make your teams better? Derek Rose. John Morant is spectacular, deserves to be highly compensated, and I love watching him play. But if you look at the history of point guards, Magic Johnson, Chris Paul, distribution, over Flash will win you more games long term. term. I've seen this Memphis team without John Morant not only win, but blow out quality teams,

not a bunch of them, but some, and it highlights something I believed in. We fall in love over and over with flashy and gifted point guards. Sometimes they don't elevate others, which like a quarterback really is the job and role of a point guard. Get it to your wings and bigs. Where Colin was right. Christian Pulisic in the biggest soccer game for the American United States men's team in four years was so much better than every player we've ever had in this country. Listen, soccer fans bless their idealistic hearts, want us to believe that this team can win the World Cup.

No, they can't. But what we do have is our Magic Johnson. Magic Johnson, even more than Michael Jordan, could score 13. or give you 20 assists. Magic would give you whatever you need, and that is Pulisic. He can score, he can assist. His energy is so much greater than any other United States soccer player currently on the team, and in my opinion, so much greater than anybody we've ever had.

We've been on this for a year. Stop talking about coaching. Stop talking about the roster. If Christian Pulisic is healthy, we have a shot to win multiple games, regardless of where we are put in what group in the World Cup. He is one of one all time in the history of U.S. men's soccer. He was brilliant last night. Boy, and Panama got a little chippy.

Very chippy. The ultimate respect for Christian Pulisic is other teams are picking on him and pushing him. It's the ultimate respect in soccer is they go after him. You can tell instantly, instantly Christian Pulisic, is the target of trash talk and bumping and pushing. And it's a credit to him. He is so much fun to watch.

He is so incredibly gifted. We'll have Alexei Lawless on this hour. Congrats to the U.S. men's national team. They don't have to win against Costa Rica, Wednesday. But they can't lose by more than what? Six goals. Just don't give up six. I will be celebrating a five-nothing loss.

We just want to get in. And then I believe on Friday, it is the announcement. It's the draw. So Friday's the draw, which, listen, they're all tough. You get to the World Cup. If you're a favorite, you're going to be the target. If you're the underdog, you'll probably play over your head. You prefer not to play Brazil and your best teams in the world.

But there's no, really, it's hard. You get to the World Cup. It is just intense and press. and it's so much fun. Like college basketball, the World Cup, is a three-week event that is mesmerizing if you give it a chance. Good stuff. Want 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 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. 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 Podcasts, 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 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 y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed cracks.

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

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 hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. The USFL is coming starting on April 16th and kicks off with a history. historic first game as the New Jersey generals take on the Birmingham Sallions in primetime on Fox and NBC. All right. We've got, this is a really interesting time of the year because the playoffs are around the corner. So now you start to see, you know, in college basketball, you can feel it when the conference tournament start. Okay, now it's serious. Then you watch these teams start playing, you know, little fewer people, the rotations tighten up. It's serious time in the NBA. We've gone up to the trading deadline. We're past it. People now positioning for seating, and we bring in Antoine Walker, three all-stars, NBA champ, 12 years in the league.

You know, the Celtics, when Brad Stevens moved upstairs and Danny Ains left, I was like, wow, they're kind of a drift. I don't know what they are, and they had a really bad first month, you know, as they're trying to form chemistry. And then I watch them, and now they're just blowing people out, good teams, Utah, Memphis. But I do think to myself, Antoine, I think time out. I've seen this postseason act before, and there's a ceiling. If Jason Tatum's off, they're not, they don't have a lot of ammo offensively. Do you buy the Celtics, or is this just a classic? Play hard, talented team, rolling in the regular season,

but they will have an absolute ceiling once the playoffs start. No, I'm buying in. I think they can make a deep, deep run. I think seating is very important. You don't want to have to face the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round. I think the Milwaukee Bucks is the best team in the Eastern Conference, even with the way the Celtics are playing. So you want to avoid them, and hopefully you see them in the Western Conference,

I mean, in the Eastern Conference finals. That's where you probably want to see them at. But I think the Celtics reassertions is because early in the season, if you really think about Jaylen Brown missed a ton of games. Obviously, Jason Tatum and Markets Smart, they were struggling offensively. As far as shots selection, who's going to get? get the ball. I think the trade was huge to add Derek White to the team. And things are starting to click. Our Warford missed some time early in the season. So they finally put it together. And then you got

a new coach who had to instill his system too. Players had to get used to him. The turnaround came quicker than we all thought. But the Celtics are legit. I believe they can make a deep run into the playoffs. But I do believe the Milwaukee Bucks are the best team. So you want to avoid them and see them in the West and the Eastern Conference fight. You know, listen, I'm not the biggest Kyrie Irving fan, but I will say the NBA historically is about closers. One of the reasons I don't buy the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler's a great athlete.

It's not a great closer. Bam's a great athlete. It's not a great closer. It doesn't create his own shot. Kyrie and Durant, that could be the best big closer and small closer in the NBA. So even though the architecture of it, I don't know if Steve Nash is a great coach, smart guy, I don't know.

You know, I could see Durant and Kyrie Irving running through a couple series. And now that the mandate's off and he can play all the home games, they do feel different, right? Oh, without question. No team up top wants to

play them. The Celtics, the heat, sixers, bucks, you don't want to play them first round because they have the talent of those two guys who can win games by themselves. And you don't want to have to play them. I do believe they can make a deep run.

problem as we saw last night is that if carrie and darenna and are having great offensive nights, they struggle because they're not that great of a defensive team. No. And that's where Ben Simmons comes in and you wish Ben Simmons was healthy because now you get a real big time defender to go along on the floor. So they're going to have to play small ball right now and that's going to hurt them. So I don't know if they're defensively good enough to make a deep run to the Eastern Conference finals, but they're a scary team to play against me. because these two guys can get hot and beat you on any given night. So, you know, I said this.

I've been watching, I don't know if you've watched the HBO series winning time about the Lakers. It's funny. It's crazy how daring Jerry Buss was the owner. I mean, he was just a big risk taker. And that was a dead franchise when he took it over. And they're starting to feel old and rickety. And in that series, they brought Magic in and he pushed back on Kareem. he took the ball out of Karim's hands.

The Lakers were willing to hire a coach who sped the tempo up, took the ball sometimes out of Karim's hands. An older Karim, still great, but older. Well, LeBron's older and still great. And I said to myself, I think they have to take a big swing. I think they have to push back. They can't be run by clutch sports in LeBron. They've got to bring people in that will challenge LeBron

and move off LeBron, who is still great, but once again, he's hurt. he'll be in his 20th year. To me, can you, what solves the Lakers dilemma? They're old on the bench. They're old. They're trapped by contract. Is there a solution here?

I think the solution is, and I think one, you have a talk with LeBron James out of respect. And if LeBron is, feels like his body is good and he can make a legitimate run and get to the playoffs and be competitive, then you bring LeBron back. But you start, you're probably going to, you're going to have to trade Anthony Davis and probably, Russell Westbrook. And the team I look at is OKC because they have the most picks. You've got to try to get as much value as you can get for AD and Russell Westbrook. And then you start over. And LeBron's got to be willing to probably play with a younger group of guys, maybe not get quite a superstar, but you can get a B-List guy, a C-List guy, or maybe two C-guides to go along with LeBron James and be competitive.

because maybe it's important to the Lakers franchise and maybe it's important for LeBron to break all the records that he's breaking in the Laker uniform. He'll pass, you know, obviously he'll pass Kareem next season and the Lakers may feel like they want that in their uniform. We saw Carl Malone, break the record

in the Lakers uniform. So that may be important, but you have to trade AD and Russell Westbrook and get some picks. You've got to start over fresh. I just do Oklahoma City out there because they have so many picks over the next four or five years. they need a superstar, another superstar to go along with Shea Gickles Alexander.

They're probably not going to be able to get a superstar assigned as a free agent to play an OKC. And this might be a perfect chance to get an AD who's still in his prime. We know he's injury prone. But this guy probably can come in and be that second guy or even be the first guy, which is OKC team. And now they can start to turn the corner and start back winning the way they were winning with Westbrook and that group. Okay, so you're a former Kentucky Wildcat. and you have to be totally honest. When Duke gets to the final four and you guys get bounced,

does it hurt your heart? Does it drive you nuts when Duke wins? Yeah, it's been tough for me to watch the tournament, I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. It's been very tough for me to watch the tournament. I'm, you know, I'm Kentucky to my heart, Big Blue Nation.

I mean, that's my, you know, obviously how much I care about the school. So it was a tough of me. But I did watch the elite eight. I am happy for Coach K and it ain't so much about Duke, I'm happy for him. I think it's always nice to see those kind of fairy books,

you know, the story that he's kind of paying them. They win it all, and this is last year, I mean, unbelievable. It's only so many people get an opportunity

to do like this in sports. So I'm happy for Coach K. I know he's touched a lot of, a lot of players, but I'm not rooting for Duke. I'm not a Duke guy. I'm being honest with you to have. I'm all Kentucky, man.

So I've been hurting watching this playoff. But also, So, though, I got to add this, though, real quick. I was excited, though, to see St. Pete's into the final weight. I felt a little better about my... No, I feel like, okay. At least they made it to the elite eight.

They ain't just knocked us off. That's so good. You're being honest. It hurts. I get it. Yeah. Yeah, it hurts. I mean, I was hurt for a strong week where I need...

My brackets were messed up because my heart wouldn't let me pick anybody else, so I had Kentucky all the way through, so... At least you're honest. But I'm okay now, though. Okay. I'm okay now, though. Okay, you look good. You look happy.

Love you. Antoine Walker. Great seeing you. All right, thanks. You bet. Well, you know, listen, this stuff is personal for these guys. I get the animosity with Duke. My takeaway is everybody always tells me to love the underdog.

I like Duke. I like him. I remember years ago I covered UNLV and they were fun to cover Jerry Tarkhanian. And, you know, they were transfers and, you know, run and gun. And it was like the blackhacks against the villain. and the white hat, you know, black hat thing. And it was everybody's, but the truth was, if you watched them play, Mike Shoshchevsky and Jerry Tarkhanian were actually a lot of similarities.

They cared deeply about defense. Their players love them. They had this great ability. Tark and Shoshchevsky had this great ability to yell at you, and you still loved them. Shishvsky yells at officials. He yells at coaches. He yells at players. Players still love him.

Tark was brutal to officials. bark and bark at player players still loved him and i remember the duke and you and lv thing was framed as uh you know these kids from the desert and tarkey you know shady and all these uh choir boys out in duke and it was like you know like you talk to coach i remember talking to coach k that was like a 20 year old sports reporter and i never forget this uh i don't think i asked him i think there was a bunch of us there and somebody asked him about unelv and they were kind of asking the question for Coach K to kind of badmouth them. He's like, I'm in awe of them. He goes, I've never seen a team play defense that hard for two and a half hours. He goes,

I'm not sure how they do it. And so you can frame this stuff as good guy, bad guy, black hat, white hat, you know, it's this. It's the tradition. It's the underdog. Let's be honest about this. If you look at the history of this tournament, the great coaches with the best town. overwhelmingly win, and you have to have a couple of NBA guys on your roster to usually win. So the St. Peter's story is great, and they may work for NBA teams. They're not going to play for them, and Duke should be favored to win this thing. They got four first-round picks, prospects, and the draft, and their point guard is a second-round pick.

Something he won't get drafted. My guess is mid-to-deep second round. But there's so much angst and anti-duke stuff. But it's such a good story. And it's it, by the way, great school, great kids. Duke athletes, I've had multiple Duke players, great guy. It's funny, the animosity, because they're wildly successful. Yeah.

They don't get caught cheating. A lot of programs get caught cheating. They're doing it as much the right way as you can't. It's like Alabama. Everybody says, oh, Alabama, I don't know how they're doing it. They have a great coach and a great system, and they're demanding of their players. I don't know why anybody roots against that. Why would you root against people that are obsessed, driven, willful,

and their players go on to have generational money. Like Duke and Alabama, how many kids' lives have been changed? That to me is impossible to root against. Duke has changed lives, not just scores. Alabama football is changing lives. I can't root against that. Alex for the news. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, Colin, it's obviously probably because they beat their team numerous times. And it's, yeah, it hurts your heart. Well, this hurts my heart. The Lakers fell to the Pelicans on Saturday, 116 to 101. But the bigger storyline was LeBron suffering an ankle injury in the first half of the game. And he was asked about the possibility of having to miss games after the game.

Take a listen. But I wasn't, I didn't want to come out of the game because I understood it. I mean, I just wanted to win the game. Understood how big of a game it was. For me, personally, I just lost all explosive in this, obviously. So a lot of my game tonight was played on the perimeter after that fact. You know, couldn't really, you know, get into the lane like I would have loved to put a bit more pressure on them. I mean, when we saw 16 free throws as a team.

I have no idea how to finish the game. To be honest, I have to watch in their replay. It's pretty nasty. This was really a tale of two halves because they had the largest halftime lead. at the half. And LeBron became the second player ever to score 37,000 points. That was all in the first half. And then second half, they blew a 23-point lead.

They dropped to the 10 spot, a half game behind the Pelicans. Yeah, and Brandon Ingram lit them up. Yeah, they've eight games left. They are only favored, Colin, in one of those eight games. Yeah. Well, we knew this about a month ago, that the Lakers faced a pretty appealing schedule in the first half of the season. They got a lot of their weaker opponents early

and the tougher opponents late. And they didn't take advantage when they played those bad teams in the first half. First like six weeks had a week schedule. They didn't do very well. They were very up and down and choppy. So they didn't, they should have won a lot more games in the first 60 days.

They didn't. And now they're left as an injury ravaged old team playing better teams off and on the road. But even this game, they were up 20 points in the first half. Yeah. You can't blow that kind of a lead. Well, moving to the East Coast, Kyrie Irving made his home debut

yesterday for the Nets in their 119-110 loss to the Hornets. And after the game, he talked about how happy he was to be able to play in front of the home crowd. So I was just trying to ground myself as much as possible today and just prepare for the warm reception

from a lot of supporters of the organization of me, just the journey thus far. So I don't take it for granted. Granted, what happened tonight, it was historic. I'm grateful that I got a chance to be out there with my brothers and, you know, just leave it all out there. You got a big standing ovation from a sold-out crowd, but they lost. They now drop to ninth in the eastern, but the good thing... There is, I would have no interest playing them.

I mean, again, they're playing with house money. Yep. You know, I thought Antoine brought up a great point. I don't know what's going on with Ben Simmons, but if Ben Simmons played for them and never took a shot and just distributed and defended. It would be so valuable to this team because at 6-10, he is such a long athletic defender. That part was shocking how good of a defender he was, how quickly in the NBA. We all knew he could pass and handle the ball.

But Ben Simmons is not without talent. And, you know, you feel guilty saying anything because nobody knows exactly where he is upstairs. But I thought Antoine's point was if you, if they played Boston, in a week. Yeah. And I knew Ben Simmons was on the floor to defend. I would take Brooklyn to beat Boston. Because I think you could put him on Jason Tatum and just say, be an annoyance.

Just make Jason Tatum shoot 41%, not 48. And we have the two best closers in the series. I mean, I'm dead serious. If I just had Simmons to defend against Boston, just be a blanket. Don't worry about the offensive end. What an advantage he is. It's, you know, that's why I keep saying. Everybody said he's probably not going to play this season.

and does Ben Simmons understand how valuable he would be? Like Kyrie and Kevin Durant, they don't have a lot of these big games left. Like, right? Both have had injuries. I mean, if I was Ben Simmons, I would figure out a way to be available as soon as I could just on the defense event. It's a good point. And if they're all healthy, this is a dangerous team. No one, no one would want to play them. Well, switching gears, the Packers were hoping to be able to retain Devonte Adams,

but they ended up trading him to the Raiders and, head coach Matt Lafleur acknowledged that it was hard for the team to part with one of their best weapons. He said, certainly he's a guy that's going to be tough to replace. It's just one of those deals where some tough decisions had to be made. Unfortunately, in the NFL, there's a thing called the salary cap and you got to get below that as well. We're going to do absolutely, we're going to have to absolutely add someone and some pieces to that room. Now, the Packers used the franchise tag on Adams, but he wouldn't play on the $20.1 million tag. He ended up getting the five-year 1-41.3 million with the Raiders.

But I think recently, as we've been talking about, the stories that came out, it became very clear that he just was not in Aaron Rogers' inner circle. And that's a big deal. Well, they, Alan Lazard is their number one in an increasingly valuable position. Alan Lazard should be a three or a four. Nothing against him, but that's what he should be. The Rams in the box, who are obstacles, are loaded with weapons. And the other thing is, the Packers have a couple of first round picks,

but they're later in the first round. So the top four or five receivers, Drake London from USC, Chris Olivae from Ohio State. Those guys are long gone. Garrett Wilson, Ohio State. Those guys are all gone. They'll be gone in the first 10 picks because these executives now know the value of receivers. So you're going to be taking the second tier of college receivers.

There's a kid out of Arkansas, Berks. He's a really good player. You may get him. But if I was Green Bay, I would move up in the draft to get a wide receiver. I mean, I think it's that important. If you look at the cultural change, I would give up two picks. I would get one of my first round picks up to move up and go get around. And I'd probably do it on draft day.

I would kind of watch how it works. And if two or three of those guys are off the board and I like a guy, I would move up. Because you cannot right now compete against the Rams, the Chiefs, the Bucks, Buffalo. You can't compete against those teams with what they have at wide receiver. People are going to defend the Packers differently knowing their limitations. Oh, yeah. Alex, for the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. 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. Mic check. If 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. And let me tell you a little bit about my new series, KJ Live.

is the only show featuring me going one-on-one with the brightest basketball minds on the planet to get the real. And when I say real, I mean that real. I got legendary Hall of Famers, elite coaches, and the top basketball insiders bringing you a unique perspective on all things hoops culture that you will not find anywhere else. So make your next move, your best move, and tap in with me on KJ Live, wherever you get your podcast from. 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 you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert 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-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 with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast. I'm Sam Jek. 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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way 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, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Former defender and a great one for the U.S. national team.

He was the first American to play in Italy's top division. He's a Hall of Famer. He's a friend. He's a two-time Olympian. And I love his ability to cut through the nonsense, Alexei Lawless. Okay. Greetings, greetings, my friend. Greetings from the wilds of Florida here.

I got a fox over my head. But I'm feeling good. I'm feeling proud. excited and American. Now, here's what scares me. We were literally flawless for 40, 45 minutes. Are you concerned we lay an egg? We fall in love with ourselves. We get a little soft at Costa Rica. Are you concerned at all? I'm not concerned. I'm not concerned. We're going to the World Cup. All right. I'm telling you right now. We're going to the World Cup. And for those that don't know, US won last night, which for all intents of purposes puts them in the World Cup in Qatar,

defying that incredible failure from 2017 and not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. They got to go to Costa Rica this week. And unless something ridiculous happened, then they lose by more than six goals, then they're going to be just fine. So you can book your ticket as far as I'm concerned. I know famous last words, but you know what? If we can't figure this out, then we don't deserve. Not only do we not deserve if we go to the World Cup, we might as well just shut the entire

program down. Okay. So I'm going to say something. Please push back if I'm wrong. I've been watching soccer since Kyle Rote Jr. I was a Seattle Sounders kid, Portland Timbers, all this. To NASL, NASL. This is the most, the youngest, most talented group of players we've had.

Chemistry is always a work in progress for all athletes. But it is from an offensive skill set. It's the most talented young group of players I've ever seen for our team. Tell me what you think of that opinion. No, I'm not going to push back. I mean, I think that there is a real argument, and I can certainly make the argument, and many have that this is, like you said, the most talented generation that we have ever seen, not just in terms of the level of talent, but the depth of talent. I mean, Coach Greg Burholter right now, I mean, when he comes out just with the roster for these camps, everybody's heads explode, and why didn't you pull this guy in him? This guy. Well, that's because there's so much talent out there. Many of them are playing some of the great leagues and some of the great teams around the world. And then when he actually has to put 11 players on this, the field. Again, everybody's head explodes. Well, why aren't you playing this guy? Why aren't you playing this guy? That has not always been the case. We've had some wonderful players. And I would put up,

you know, when you're talking about your Landon Donovans and your Clint Dempsey's and your Brian McBrides. And I would put them up against the talent that we have, but just the sheer number that we have. And therefore, the options that Greg Burrhalter has, that makes me, I mean, we were missing potentially six starters yesterday with, you know, people like Weston McKinney, who were injured and still didn't miss a beat. Money of talent. Talent coming off the bench with a young Gio Raina. So, yeah, I agree.

I can't fight back on that as much as I would love to. Yeah, Giorana is a really special little player. So let me throw this at you. Burrhalter gets criticized a lot. And this is something that drives me nuts about soccer fans. We've shared beers in this discussion. That when we lose, it's always the coach's fault. And when we win, our players are great.

And the truth is, no coach is flawless. And our roster's very strong for us. I don't know if it's better than Canada now, but it's definitely better than Mexico in our group, right? Like, it is. They're kind of cyclically, Mexico's sort of having a down cycle. So here's the quote. When Burrhalter said, I want to play some old MLS guys.

Oh, my God, the soccer world freaked out. And my takeaway, there was a plan for that. And yesterday, you know, I go on Twitter and he decided I'm going to play some of these MLS guys. And our soccer fans don't like it. Why did he do that? I think Greg Burrhalter, I mean, look, he takes a lot of crap as any coach. And look, you talk and deal with coaches in all different sports. And it's no different in a lot of sports, except for when it comes to soccer, we're getting more and more people that are coming into the tent. And with that comes more and more opinions. And look, I will fight for you to have your opinion, even if I disagree with it. I want everybody talking about soccer. And whether it's about Greg Burhalter, in a positive or negative way, I want people talking about it. Doesn't mean I can't push back. And I'll tell you, what? When you look at this guy's resuming and what he has done, I think he has made his country

proud. I think he has made his sport proud. I am proud of him. He has brought belief back to this team, but he's done it his way. And at times it ruffles feathers. And whether it's playing MLS players or not necessarily calling in players from outside, the interesting phenomenon with Greg Berhalter, and maybe you've seen this with other sports, is that there is a whole faction that doesn't matter what Greg Berhalter does. They don't like him. They don't think he's a good, good coach. or they don't think he's a good enough coach for that talent that we were talking about. And so my question to them is, listen, if you believe that, fine. But be honest about it.

Because in order for change to happen, you have to want this team to fail. And I don't want any of the BS that goes out there. But, oh, I want the team to do well. I just don't think Burrhalter is good. If you don't think that this team is going to do and be the best with this coach, then you have to want this team to fail. And people, I think, hide behind things when it comes to that. And it probably happens in other sports.

too. It's okay. It's okay if you don't like Greg Burrhalter, but I'll tell you what, he deserves at the very least your respect for what he has done so far. And perspective is an order. We've been to plenty of World Cups in the past. So this is just checking a box. The real test ultimately is going to come in Qatar for the World Cup, but so far, so good for Greg Burr. Listen, you generally need a star. It doesn't guarantee success in the World Cup, but you have to have some clarity. Where do you put the ball? And if I said to you, now I can be sound very provincial. We got two minutes left. If I I said, Pulisic is a top 12 young talent in the world. Do I sound like an ugly American or do you

buy that? No, you may be ugly. And I'm pretty sure you're American, but it doesn't make you an ugly American to say that. It makes you actually incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable about how good this player is. But he is in Inaba at times. And last night, those penalties, when he put those in, you could just see his confidence grow and you could see his spirit and his fight. And he wanted to be the star. Too often in the past he's been a shrinking violet. He's lucky that he's playing with a bunch of talent that at times has picked him up and carried him. And I think he's gone through some things where he's felt he's had to carry the team. And that's a burden on it doesn't matter who you are. He is a star. He is worth the price of admission. We are going to

rely on him going forward. But he's going to be a very different type of star than maybe we associate with other sports. Yes. Well, you look happy. Okay, Wednesday is Costa Rica. Let's not get cocky here. We can do that in America. I am settling for a draw. 30 seconds left. They are, I don't know how good they are. You tell me, is it draw satisfactory to you? Yeah, a draw we go through. I mean, a tie we go through. We lose, we go through. We just like, you know, we just can't lose by more than six. We're going through. All right? It's done. It's over. We're qualified. Have a drink. It's going to be fun. I love that American confidence from Alexei Lollas. Damn straight. America.

That's right. Great seeing you, buddy. Good to see you. Hi, Alex. All right. Hi, Lexi. First time in 36 years. Canada qualified as well. Way to go. Our neighbors to the north. And they beat us two nothing in a qualifying match about a month and a half ago. Canada is, this is the best Canadian team of my life. Mexico, a little down cycle. We have our last four or five matches. We've had our kind of way with them. Canada is for real. What do U.S. News, PC Magazine, popular science have in common? Best Home Security of 2021. That's where they were ranked. SimplySafecollan.com. Free indoor security camera.

Simply safe colin.com, code heard. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guide, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan,

so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two.

Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, 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, 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 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. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.