The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 2 - The Chiefs will take a step back

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

Jason has some bad news news for the Chiefs NBA analyst Rachel Nichols joins the show in studio to tell Jason what makes the Thunder so special during their dominant run to the NBA FinalsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com, or stream us live every day on the IHart radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back. Hour number two here on the herd. A nice old Friday full of fun stuff on the show. Kansas City cheese fans are going to love our next segment, Alex. Join today by Alex Curry.

Colin Coward is vacationing outside of the country. Taking a little sojourn. So Alex and I filling in. Alex, do you have a big weekend? plans? Oh, yeah. Moving weekend. Oh.

So we're fun. Just for a bit. I don't need to go into details. Yeah, we've had a couple. It's fun. It's going to be fun stuff. A couple people on staff have moved recently and I told them, it's a nightmare. It's a nightmare.

It's a nightmare. Two of my. It's okay. The wife won't want me saying this, but two of our biggest arguments are both big moves. Oh, yeah. It's just moving sucks. We surrender. We're making it fun, making it positive.

I'm going to have a good time. We're going to be watching games. We have games off. But that's why I can't be at Dodgers, Yankees. this weekend, because normally I'd be working it or I'd be there watching it. I'm pumped for you. You're in for a treat. Very excited.

Dinger City. Dodgers Yankees this weekend. And then Saturday night, I think we get Nick's Pacers. Before we get to the NBA, got to talk NFL real quick. So, you know, we got a great staff. I walk into the staff meeting a little late, of course, because I got a bit of a drive. And I see this Kansas City Chief story. I was going on here.

Patrick Mahomes says, if this is the last ride, you would never know for Travis Kelsey. Instantly, I started laughing. And my mind goes back to, I think the last time I hosted, I said, she started going to the playoffs next year, guys. And, you know, I get these Yahoo's from Kansas City sending me stuff on social media, got like two million views. I'm a hater. I'm an idiot, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, I got some news for Patrick Mahomes, and it's not great. Let's play the audio. Here's Patrick Mahomes talking about Travis Kelsey saying, this is probably not his last ride. If it's the last ride, you would never know. I mean, the way he's talking about football, the way he's talking about working and trying to be even better this year than

he was last year. I mean, he's not, it doesn't seem like a guy that it's his last ride, like he's tired of the job. I mean, he's in here, he's working, and I know his body feels good. I think it feels better than even last year before going into last season, just because I think he's motivated to go out there and have an even better year than he had this last. Last ride, that was six months ago in the Super Bowl. It's over for the Chiefs, guys. You had a great run. And I know you're saying, Jay, you're hating.

Let me just remind you. Tom Brady won in 2004. He had, I believe, three Super Bowls at the time. It took him a decade to win another one. This stuff is not easy. Just because you have Mahomes and Reid, it doesn't guarantee you a spot in the Super Bowl. I mean, again, history is just a guide here. But it took Brady a decade before winning another.

They were favored against the Giants in two more Super Bowl trips and lost both of them. We know recent history of Super Bowl losers ain't pretty. Go ask the Niners who fell apart injury-wise after losing that overtime game to the Chiefs. Super Bowl loser. Chiefs lost a few years ago in the Super Bowl. Chiefs beat the Eagles, I'm sorry. Chiefs beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl. And what happened to the Eagles?

They fell apart the next year. There is a bit of a curse for the Super Bowl loser. And, oh, by the way, 12 and 1-score games last year? good luck duplicating that one. And, you know, I've got to mention it. I know Travis Kelsey and Taylor Swift are not going to like to hear this. But in the final two games of last year, Travis Kelsey looked lost. I don't want to use the word watch.

That's a little bit harsh. But he had two for 19, two catches for 19 yards against Buffalo. And there are a lot of highlights, or I guess I should say low lights, from the Super Bowl of Kelsey kind of going through the motions when they were getting their butts kicked. He ended up with four catches. for 39 yards. He's starting to look his age. What do you want?

Like, that's what happens when you get old. The guy's a Hall of Fame lock. We know that. He's had a great career, but endings are not always pretty. And I'm just saying, this whole talk about a last ride, I think that was the last ride.

They were going for the three-peat, and they failed. They got their butts kicked. And this idea that they're going to go 12-0 and one-score games again, that's not happening. You know, the offensive line has a lot of questions. The wide receiver room has a lot of questions.

I'm not as big of a believer in the Chiefs next year. And, you know, I got to say, I don't like the Raiders a lot, but they got better. You look at the schedule here for the Chiefs. Like right out the gate, you got the tough game against the Chargers. Then you got the Eagles, the defending Super Bowl chance who whooped you. You got to lay up with the Giants, but then it's Lamar Jackson, skip a game. Jared Goff, that ain't going to be easy. You got to face Jane Daniels.

You've got to go to Buffalo for seemingly the 10th straight year. Folks, that is a tough schedule. I'm calling for eight or nine wins and no playoffs. I know I'm in the minority. And Jay, you are so wrong about OKC. Fine. Rachel Nichols are yelling me in a minute if she wants. You can't bat a thousand when you're in this spot.

But all the numbers to me line up with Chiefs. And if all you've got is, well, we've got Reed and Mahomes, fine. I'll take that bet. All right, let's bring in Rachel Nichols, NBA Insider. She's covered the league forever. I was a young guy picking up the newspaper from the driveway before school. And I would read the Rachel Nichols byline with like J.A. Adande, Wilbon, Cornheiser.

You read me and I when I was a kid in the Washington, D.C. area, read Wilbon and Coronizer. I was like, this is why I want to get into the business. And here we are. Yeah. It's good for us. How do we do? We did okay, right? We did okay.

We did okay. I don't want to say I made it. You certainly made it. I'm trying still to make it. But I see what, is that Nick's blue today? Well, look, it's all the blues, right? I mean, you got the Thunderblue. No, it's not Thunder Blue.

It's got so many blues. It's not Thunderblue. So many blues. So little time. So I guess I don't want to be too negative. I just crushed the Chiefs. Tyreece Halliburton was kind of sort of bad last night. What was going on?

Yeah, passive for sure, right? I mean, look, he is not a 50 points-a-game guy typically, so it's not like, oh, man, he didn't score 50, but he should not be taking seven shots in 32 minutes. That should never happen. And, by the way, he missed five of them. I would not expect any of that to happen again. I don't know what was going on with a lot of the pacer's sort of rhythm.

the other, you know, they're not paying at the pace they normally play at. One thing I like to listen for on a NICS broadcast is, can the organists get into the like, do, do, defense, right? That chant. And if he can get into the whole do-do defense chant, that means the pacer's are not playing at their correct style and pace of play. Because he should be, it should be so fast to the other end that he can't even get into the, like, the whole thing.

And so we were getting a lot of organ last night. And if you have a lot of organ that does not favor Tyrese Halliburton and the Pacers. I'm interested to see when they get back to their own court. You are not going to have all five starters only totaling, what, 37 points? Something like that. I mean, that's not going to happen. The Knicks force 20 turnovers. I don't expect that to happen again. So it'll be interesting to see if the scale is even out and it really does become a brawl. Who's going to come out of game six? So let me ask, what took Tibido so long to pick up Halliburton full court? It feels kind of basic.

Tibbs, what was going on? Well, look, there's a lot there, too. What took him so long to play more of bench here you go okay that's another thing I listen to on the broadcast I heard Landry Shammit cheers from the Garden Faithful do you know what has to happen for there to be Landry Shammit cheers down 20 Landry Shammit has to play that's what has to happen and so we are seeing him go deeper into his rotation we're seeing a pick up Halberton as you said he he's getting a little tweaking and tinkery there which is not the Tibb style but you know look we said the first couple games of the series it felt like he was being

outcoached by Rick Carlisle and there's no shame in that Rick Carlisle is a champion, a Hall of Fame coach. Tom Tibido, obviously an exceptional, long-tenured coach. But it's nice to see him also tinkering and sort of seeing what he can do with this team because it's a fascinating series as we go. Yeah, so this is a tough one, but like, you know, I know the players and coaches, we don't listen to the media, tune it out. I wonder, Tibito made so many changes.

I wonder if he heard, like, there's been taught, hey, Michael Malone could be the next coach of the next. Like, Tibbs wasn't pushing the right buttons. Do you think that there was some outside noise that changed things? or do you see analytics? I don't know. I don't know. I don't think Tim's really pays a lot of attention to what so-and-so in the New York Post is saying. Like, it's just not how he's operated. So what about Brunson then? I do. Yeah. Look, I do think that players hear it a lot more. You're absolutely right. And look, the thing about

Tibbs is interesting. When things were looking not dicey, but like rougher than expected in that Piston series, there were people around the league being like, man, if they get upset against Detroit and they lose in the first round, Tom could lose his job. Yeah. And we are way obviously past that. Now, he will be, regardless of the outcome of Saturday night's game, Tom Thibberto will be fine and he will be the coach in New York Knicks. All right, I want to play some sound here from Pascal Seacom last night.

Take a listen and I'm curious your thoughts on. They played harder than us, I think. I think they played harder than us. You know, lose balls, like rebounds, like all that. How is that possible? What do you mean? How is it possible not fight hard enough in games? What are you talking about? They played harder than us. It's okay. We played hard, but they played harder.

What's your point? I don't get it. What is you saying you got out fought? That happens in the game, though. That's basketball. You're good? You're good, bro? You're looking for something I know. I'm at, but damn. No, no, but I'm telling you, though. I told you. What else you want me to tell you? Well, what you come to town? That's all that's all basketball. What about you tell?

me. So go ahead. Who is this guy? Who's this guy? All right. First of all, Rachel, I love that. I know the reporter in question, Greg Doyle. I don't want to blast. I got whatever, irrelevant. I do wonder, though, is this the first sign that maybe pressure is getting to the Pacers? Because Seacom didn't like the line of questioning that, like, we got outplayed, and he was

pushing back. And I don't know that Pascal Seaccombe has showed anything like that in the press conference all season. So I wonder if the pressures may be getting to them, or is this, am I reaching here? Well, I liked what he said when he said, what do you mean? We did play hard. They just played harder. I like that part.

Because, like, to pretend that these are elite-level athletes, to pretend that anyone out there in the Eastern Conference finals isn't trying, I'm not saying that's what Greg said, but, I mean, that's just such a crazy sort of notion I hear fans say sometimes. Of course, they were trying. It just was not their night. I do think the pressure is now on them, though, whether it started in the post-game press conference, or whether it extends to Saturday night. I know that they played a game 7 in Madison Square Garden last year. I know that. I remember that.

However, that game was not a pressure game because the Knicks were so battered and bruised. They were wheeling OG Annanobie out there practically at like a walker under the basket. Like everybody was hurt. You knew the Pacers were winning that game. This game, this game six at home with a game seven in the garden looming and teams relatively at full strength, that's the pressure.

And I think this is where we will see where the rubber meets the road with these. pacer. 100%. All right, we're going to come back from break with Rachel.

I'm going to tell her why I've got the Knicks winning game six. I'm shocked to hear this. But I don't know if they got a better chance to win the finals

than the Pacers. We'll be back after this. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day seven days a week within the IHeard radio app. Search Herd to listen live

or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news.

We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special.

So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys. remember it going down? Yes.

I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis,

and I know firsthand because I, competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenschen win. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court-side seat to the French Open.

Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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. Welcome back. Rachel Nichols in studio talking NBA, Nick's triumphant last night, the big game six.

So, Rachel, the last time I can remember a big team coming back from down 3-1, besides the Cavs Warriors was that Warriors team that won 73 games. They were down 3-1 to the Thunder. They went on the road in game 6, and Clay went for 41, hit 11-3s. Do you think the Knicks have somebody on that roster who can deliver a Clay-type performance on the road? But this series is very close. In fact, if you look at the point differential,

the Knicks are actually ahead. They've scored more points in this series than Indiana. If game one had gone differently, we would be having a very different conversation and 10 things had to happen for game one to go the way it did. And I'm not saying the Pacers got lucky. Seven of those 10 things were things the Pacers did. But it still required 10 things, right?

So that's how close the Knicks are. That's how close this series is. And I don't have any question that it's possible they could win the next two games. I just think it's hard to win three in a row against an evenly matched opponent. They've won the first of those three, but can they win the next two?

And to your point, does it take a Clay Thompson-like 40-point performance? Someone shoot the lights out. And by the way, the thing we forget about that game in Game 6 Clay, he still had Steph Curry scoring next to it. He did it. It's not as if he did it all by himself. So it's like, oh, yeah, man, Jalen Brunson can drop 50. He can, but then who else is there? And that's where we get back into the Carl Anthony Towns conversation, a conversation.

I know you have had plenty both on this show and with your friends in the group chat. And what I loved about what we saw last night from Kat and which would give me hope if I was a Knicks fan. is that he was in full bodega cat mode. He was scratching and crawling, you know, all the things that you want to see him do, playing so physical, face to the basket, being aggressive. If he is that kind of player, if he can be that consistent, if Jalen Brunson not only lights it up offensively, but also plays decent defense, which he has not been playing for all of this series,

but certainly played last night, that's where you start to be like, oh, could they have a game six, could they have a game seven, that kind of thing. All right, so before we get to OKC, everybody's favorite, team, the new darling. So, you know, there's this whole big small market narrative around the league. Right. And I just wonder, like, we've seen changes in the league with the CBA. They want small market teams to thrive, right? They've adjusted the CBA. So if you draft a superstar, he's incentivized to stay with you. And now we've got the aprons. And I'm reading about the Minnesota Timberwolves, apparently, like, they're not going to be able to afford everybody. Nassery, Randall, they're going to

lose Alexander Walker. Like, this is what the league wants. seven different champs in the seven years. Yeah, parody. But Rachel, I go back to the 2010s or teens, however you call it. I love the super team era. Right. I mean, it was like stacked teams. I don't care if they're in Cleveland or Miami or Golden State.

Like, to me, I love that. I know you've been around the league forever. But like, who do you, did you prefer the Super League, super teams? Or do you prefer now with like everybody has a chance? It's just important to think back through who's making these decisions. Because you think about what the league wants. It's not really Adam Silver in the league. office. He has bosses. Adam Silver's bosses are the 30 owners, right? And the 30 owners, they want

parity. They want more than three or four teams in it, because guess what? If there's only three or four teams in it, then 25, 26, the teams, they don't have a shot. They want seven champions in seven years because that means more of them have a chance to hoist up a championship trophy. So that is who is making these decisions. That's who's making the rules about the aprons and all of this other stuff. And yeah, they want to incentivize players to stay in markets where. they can't necessarily grab and attract free agents. But I just think it kind of, it goes in cycles. When we have dynasties, it's frankly good for the league in terms of people outside the game

because that's what attracts non-basketball fans. After a few years of Steph Curry and the Warriors winning, your grandmother knows who Steph Curry is. Exactly. When there's a different champion every year, your grandmother does not have time to learn who Nicoliochich or SGA is. And as I've said on this network, some grandmas know who Nicoliochich is, and I applaud those grandmas. But it's not the same. It's not the same. So I think that's what you're feeling a little bit.

If you are a fan, if you are an in-it everyday basketball fan, I think you probably like that there is a little more parody because your team might be able to get there. And that, so who are we catering to, the 25 billionaire owners who own teams and want a profit, or the casual fans, the grandmas, or the diehards who are going to watch, regardless, whether it's a super team or Denver winning the title or a small bar. Jason, you read the newspaper. We cater to billionaires in this country. That's what we do.

Oh, I like that. So let me ask along that line, like, do you think OKC is set up for a dynasty? Because I will say, Rachel, we heard this about Denver when they want. Oh, Murray and Yokic in their prime. Yeah. And we heard this about Boston. Amazing roster. Now we're hearing the same about OKC.

And I'm like, I've heard this before. Look, the advantage OKC has, and the reason everyone is so excited is because they are a young team with players playing on smaller rookie contracts. because it will be a couple years until some of their younger players like Jalen Williams Chet Holmgren need to really get paid. They will have the chance to keep this team together. SGA's Supermax doesn't kick in right away, that kind of thing. Boston was certainly set up,

even though they were into the second apron, they were set up to be a team because they kept their guys who could win a couple championships. They just had some bad play, first of all, against the Knicks, and then also some bad luck with the Tatum injury. If the Oklahoma City Thunder continue as they are and all of the assets that they have. That's the other ingredient in this.

Oh, the draft picks. Yes, they are set up for a run. But to your point, this is such a competitive Western conference. It is ridiculous. And now we're talking about rumors that Janus is going to now join this. Just getting out of the West is going to be so hard for so many teams, including even the Thunder, even if they win the title this year, even if they look unstoppable, they will still have to go through such a gauntlet next year.

And I'll add, like, I had to look this up, but the story. second highest paid player on the Thunder is Isaiah Hartenstein. And $30 million is like, wow, that is a crazy roster. So let me, one more thing on SGA. So Jeff Teague, I'm sure you're familiar with his work, said that SGA has saved the league with his mid-range assassin stuff. I agree with some of that. The mid-range's back is interesting because Brunson's doing the same thing. But saving the NBA,

Rachel, does the NBA need saving? No, I mean, look, everything in our hot take world is sort of so extreme. You know, the NBA is on death store. O.G. SBA has come and nursed us back to health. Look, I like Jeff, by the way. But yes, I think that there's no question, that there's a little bit more mid-range game in the NBA. I have been saying for years, yes, three is more than two,

but two is more than zero. So if you don't have a good three to take, take the two, because two is more than zero. And I think we are getting a little bit of that back. Everything is swings, right? So when analytics became so effective, that people were like, only do this, only do that. And now we're seeing a little bit of swings back of like a little flexibility within some games.

In Boston Celtics, by the way, which will still take only threes and shoot you, try to shoot you out of the building. So not every team is the same. I think SGA is a good player because he is a good player. It is not because he is taking mid-range shots. Yes, he is very good at them, and he's taking them and he's using them effectively. But he's doing so many other things on the court effectively, too. And that is what he's powering this team. He's a great defender.

I mean, it's not just, oh, that one shot, that's saving the NBA, and that's what SGA does. He does a lot of things. So the Pacers were in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Yes. The Thunder were the number one seat, I think, in the West last year. Neither of them got Christmas Day games this past season. Will we see either of them on Christmas next year, Rachel? I mean, look, certainly the NBA champion has to play.

Has to, are we sure? And I would think that the NBA finalist plays on Christmas as well. But look, the league is programming for the grandma's. that day, right? They want, who does your whole entire family, not just you who normally sits on the couch at 945 at night addicted to the NBA, but who does your whole family that's there on Christmas want to watch play? And I don't care how they finish as long as Steph and LeBron and those guys and KD are still in the league. They will be playing on Christmas Day because that is who the larger extended family wants. So someone's smart in our meeting this morning

compared this OKC Thunder team. I'm pushing there. They're boring. No good sound bites. You hate this to you? I don't hate them. You don't have them. I just, I'm bored by them. And then someone said they're the Spurs 2.0. Just like Tim Duncan, Manu, Parker, they didn't give crazy sound bites.

Their coach actually gave the best stuff. And they weren't flashy. There was no in your face dunts, no Anthony Edwards stuff. And I said, that's not, are they Spurs 2.0? Is there the potential for that? I know. I think they're pretty different. I mean, this has that more feel of like that young college team that's a lot of fun without as many individuals.

without as many individual sort of huge media standouts the way Anthony Edwards is or something like that. She also sounds like Alexander has a ton of personality. He has got swag for days. When you see him walk into the arena, I wish he would wear some of that stuff in the press conferences after the game because he is 100% stylish. He's got the whole look going. He's just not as loud a guy and he plays in Oklahoma City. I think this is a fun team to watch.

And it's okay to have a finals or have a tournament. team in the finals that is for the hoop heads that is for the authentic basketball fans sometimes that's okay it's not good for the league if that happens all the time if there isn't a team or a player that the larger public who aren't day-to-day NBA fans can't relate to that that's not good for the NBA they need everybody to watch the finals but once in a while it is okay to have if you know you know yes star if you know you know team it makes fans feel good right it makes you feel like you can tell your friends oh you don't know this

about them, but blah, whatever. And about the Thunder, you should get to like them, Jason, because here's what they are with the regular season in the playoffs so far this season, adding them together. They're 80 and 18. They're 80 and 18. You know what they are against the Eastern Conference? They're 29 and 1. So it's great to watch this Pacer's next series. I hope all series go to seven. So I hope this series goes to seven. Both of these teams are really fun for me. I hope both of them win if it was possible. It's all great. they're not going to be the favorites in the finals. I'm trying to hold my tongue a little bit,

and that's it. They're going to get crushed. But I celebrate your wins, boys, over the next few days, because I'm not sure it's going to continue. So if my wife says, hey, we got a Saturday night thing with this other couple we got,

we're going to dinner, and it's game two of the finals. Do I say, hey, I'm sorry? I can't go. I got to watch the finals. Now, if it was LeBron versus Curry, babe, I'm out. I'm watching the game.

Right. But if it's OKC, Indiana, I got to be honest. I'll catch a lot. highlights. Like, is that okay to say? Can I say that as an NBA fan? Yeah. Rachel? Look, look. Again, you don't make more money personally as a fan if a high market or high sort of media team is in it. You don't. It does not affect you. So it is okay to feel like, okay, this is a smaller one or this is a bigger one. It's not going to hit your bottom line or

your wallet as a fan, right? So it's okay. We just don't have to have so much hand wringing over this. You know, if the rating is a little lower or a little higher, if you're a fan, it does not matter to you at all, right? So just sometimes there's going to be huge big stars and fireworks. Sometimes it's going to be more of a like authentic, if you know, you know series and players. That variety I actually think is good for the game. And maybe, you know, they'll adopt some people who didn't think they would stay home on a Saturday night. But Tyreys Halliburton, man, if he's the one who's in there and he hits one of those, if in game one, he hits another, oh my God. God, how did he do that? Last second, come from behind shot. You might be canceling those plans

on Game 2. By the way, Halloween night, everybody I know had a TV on at Halloween parties for the World Series game one. Remember that ended? Of course. Last one, real quick. If I said Kevin Durant winds up in Minnesota, they do some sign and trade, not read, whatever, would that shock you? Anthony Edwards and Durant are friends. I mean, we're not shocked me at all. And, Jose, Anne thinks the world revolves around KD. And so it would not shock me at all. there's been a lot of reporting out there that the wolves were hotly pursuing a Kevin Durant trade as we got to the deadline this past season. So yeah, it wouldn't surprise me at all. I mean, the irony is Kevin Durant, who is, you know, Hall of Famer upon Hall of Famers and all of the things,

multiple rings, finals MVP is going to have to wait until the Yannis and Sukuco situation settles to see where he is going to go. Because any team that is in the Kevin Durant chase is at least going to kick the tires on a Yonis chase. and I just think for say Houston, which is a team that we hear a lot as sort of maybe a KD destination. Well, they're also maybe a Yannis destination. So we have to see, A, does Janus want to leave Milwaukee? Because I'm not sending him away

unless he asks for a trade. If he says he wants to leave, where is he going to go? Where are the Bucks going to send him? Again, if I'm the Bucks and I've learned from the Drew Holiday experience, I am not sending him anywhere where he could end up east.

And I know they didn't send him to Boston, but nobody thought he was playing in Portland. They were just sending him to Boston. Portland as, okay, great, you distributed him, and then he ended up being on the team that beat them, right, and beat them out for another title. So they are not going to send him east. They're going to send him west, which means Kevin Durant has to wait and see what happens. If Janus ass out, if the bucks trade him, if he goes somewhere that KD was also looking to go, then what happens to Kevin Durant. Yeah, so he's kind of waiting. So Janus could go Houston, San Antonio.

Is there a world where he stays east? Obviously, Knicks would be difficult, but what about my I keep hearing that's a team to watch. Certainly, Miami. It could blow it all up. I'm going to say. Miami covets him. They would give all of the things in the cupboard for Janice and Kumpo. It's just, is there enough in the cupboard?

Yeah. Right? Compared to some of what those other teams. And again, if you're the books, I would think very hard about dealing him to a team in the Eastern Conference. If I'm Yonis, by the way, I would think very hard about leaving the Eastern Conference. And when he has this decision to make of do I stay in Milwaukee or not, I think there's a lot of sort of basketball people who look at the cap sheet and look at this, ah, he can't

the next few years what's the point he should go somewhere else i get it i understand and i agree he cannot win in milwaukee the next few years they do not have the resources or assets but there is more than winning i know that is a dirty thing to say in sports there is and by the way you're not guaranteed to win anywhere else you go there right the boston celtics were set up to win and they're not even in the last two rounds of the playoffs so you have to think about everything do you have a chance to win yes but you also have to think about where do you play what's your day-to-day life what What city are you in and what's the love and relationship with that city? And are you going to have more fun playing basketball and winning more basketball games?

If you are, winning is everything guy in the Eastern Conference, playing for they can't win at all, Milwaukee Bucks, then you are battling an island in the West where every night is going to be a war, and you can have a winning record and still end up like battling for the playing. Yeah, no, great stuff. Rachel Nichols, it knows everything about the league. Sorry to keep you so long, Rachel, because it was phenomenal. Let's go to Alex Curry with the news.

No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Jay Mack, we're going to start in the NFL with Brock Purdy, who went from Mr. Irrelevant to one of the highest paid quarterbacks in football. Now, despite the fact that his bank account is much bigger than head coach, Kyle Shanahan, he says that Purdy has the same amount of responsibility. I want to be a leader. He's always been. But there's no worse thing to ask people to do some of the actual just because of our contract.

And that's when you start making stuff up. Brock's earned his contract, and he's going to earn what he gets going forward. Pretty be a lesson to everybody that it's not how you start. It's how you finish. Yeah, yeah. Because it's insane. I think we're on a similar page with Brock Purdy. Like, look at his body of work, right?

His first season takes a team to an NFC championship game, gets injured. That's one of the reasons I think they lost. And then the next season, they're in the Super Bowl. Last year was a wash. all around for the 49ers just completely wet the bet it was not a good season for them no playoff obviously

but he's heading into season four he just got paid he just got his contract they have an extremely easy schedule like we talked about in the first hour and I think he just needs to get back to where they were those first two seasons

yeah look at all those moves they made retain now they're trying I think a chief's model where you really only keep one or two defenders who were and then just rotate them in so they keep Bosa and Warner. I mean, but they still have kiddle. They still have Ayup. They still have McAfry.

So they still have some of their big playmakers on offense and weapons. I was looking. I forgot. I was looking at some Purdy stats. He was in the MVP running two years ago. Yes. I mean, I think Lamar ended up getting it. He was in the Super Bowl two years ago.

Yeah. He was in the NFC championship game, his rookie season. The guy's good. People can doubt him, you know. He is good. Seventh round pick. He has the confidence. Like we talked about.

He believes he can do it, and he's a leader in that locker room that we've heard from his teammates, his coach, everyone around him. Like, he probably made more money on his endorsement deals, I think, his first couple of years than he did. He's making like $800,000, which is a great amount of money, but not to play quarterback in the NFL. No. So insane. This is, I don't think it's like a group of ear more responsibility. It's just get back to where they were in the first two seasons. All right, let's move to the Ravens who have tried to add weapons for quarterback Lamar Jackson.

and most recently adding veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and head coach John Harbaugh talked about the Hopkins impact. First of all, I think he's a heck of a football player. You know, he's obviously, you saw him today, right? He's a gifted guy, talented guy. But he's going to be a big body contested catch receiver for us, you know, certainly.

And he's moving great. Plus he brings all that experience. He's been in the big games before he's made plays in the big games. He knows how to make plays. It's not going to be any situation. It's going to be too big for him. But, you know, I just thought he and Lamar looked really good today out there together, and it was nice to see.

He's going to be a good veteran presence, I think, for the locker room. Another weapon. But, I mean, they still have Derek Henry. I don't think that's the issue for Lamar Jackson and getting over the hump. I think he's got to get over the Patrick Mahomes hump in the playoffs. That's the issue. I mean, you don't think that's going to be an issue this year because you don't think the chiefs are getting to the playoffs.

Why do you look at it? Which I think is crazy because I'm going to keep calling you out every single time. Like, there's no way they're not getting to the playoffs. I don't know if they're going to get to the Super Bowl again this year, but they're definitely getting to the playoffs. So I'm looking at the Raven's Dept chart. Yeah. I mean, Zay Flowers is very good. He's like a top 15 receiver already.

They got weapons. Rashad Bateman, eh. But Hopkins is good. He's good. They were a Mark Andrews drop. Remember that? Yes. Sorry to bring it up, Mark.

A Mark Andrews drop away from beating Buffalo? Like, they're close. It's the playoff hump. Lamarney's a good over the playoff, huh? But it's funny, all I hear, Alex, is, well, Brock Purdy, you know, he's not that good. Lamar's awesome. Jalen Hertz, he's not top five. Lamar's awesome.

When is Lamar going to win a big playoff game? Can you answer that? When is he going to win, deliver in a big playoff spot? That's the hard part when you talked about, like, Legacy and he's won multiple entities. He has an insane regular season, but we need to see that same success in the post. He's James Harden. Yeah. Without strip clubs.

I mean, by the way, Lamar asking for a new contract. Lamar asking for a new contract again? Bro. It's just there needs to be the playoff success needs to match the regular season success. He is an insanely talented, super gifted. Dual threat quarterback,

and he has the weapons. He can run. What do you want to show? Get their schedule on the screen? Oh, my God. I'm looking at it now. So the Ravens, three of their first, I'm sorry, she's.

Look at this early schedule. Bruton. At the bills. That's tough. Now it's not going to be cold. It's going to be tough. We'll give them the Cleveland win. But look at that after that.

Detroit, which is one of the highest win totals in the league. Chief is going to be wild just because they're going to come out. They're going to play hard. CJ Stroud. Then Matt Stafford in a huge game out here at Sofi. Brutle. So five of their first six opponents were playoff teams from last year. Yeah.

Yeah. That is not going to be easy. And also like, new and improved bears with Ben Johnson. A refresh Caleb Williams? I think Minnesota's tough. Ravens are going to win the division. They should. Yeah.

They should. I'm a bandos fan over there admitting, yeah, it's their division. Browns are non-factor, steal or stink. But this is not going to be. It's not a cakewalk. Let's say the Ravens start two and four. Would you be surprised? No, but they had a weird start to last year too, right?

They lost the first two games. It was the toe game on the line to the cheese. Oh, yeah, yeah. And then to the Raiders, right? Like, it was like weird. I think they started only two, right? I don't remember that. Yeah.

You're good. And then they came back and had an incredible season. So it's, again, like, as long as you don't dig yourself in too deep of a hole, like, Burrow and the Bengals did, you can fight back and you can be okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Let's switch to the Broncos because they surprised a lot of people last season, but won't sneak up on people this year. Second year, quarterback, Bo Nitz was impressive as a rookie, but he knows still got some work to do.

And I got a lot to prove, lots of shows. So, you know, every day it's working. Every day it's finding a way to get better because you don't want to get to, you know, year two or go down the road. And, you know, all of a sudden you got stuck and didn't get any better. So that's my focus right now is just not even worried about what people are saying. Just internally, you know, I know I got a long way to go. He's just so lucky he has a legendary coach in Sean.

What do you say? Like, believes in him, drafted him. and just kind of put his job on the line for him, right? Because he was like, hey, by rest, we're going to pay you a ton of money to go play somewhere else. Now I'm going to draft this kid who I don't know if many people had as high on their draft selection as the Broncos did. But the way last season ended, exceeded expectations. It was their first playoff berth since they won the Super Bowl in the 2015-2016 season with Peyton Manning. So that was that was a huge, big rookie.

season for Bo Nix. And he's only going to get better. All I've heard from team reporters and everyone around the team is how confident he is. Like, he acts and carries himself like a veteran. Goes back to the conversation we had off the top of the show. Like, if you have that confidence, people, it's going to be infectious and people are going to believe you and want to follow you and take you on as a leader. And it feels like he did that in year one. And when you have a good coach, legendary coach like he does, like he's in a good position. And it helps to have that defense.

They might have a top five defense in the league. And I like the draft pick the kid out of Texas Barron, opposite Certan. Like their defense is going to carry him. And that means you don't have to do a ton, Bo. Just don't make mistakes. And he's good at that. It's all you got to do.

All right. Alex Story with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. Coming up, did Brian Schottenheimer, what, take a shot at DAC before the season even started? That's next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports

Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, Steve Kavino. And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Kavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio, and of course, the IHeart Radio app. Why should you listen to Kavino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world?

We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved too. Take your phone calls, chop it up as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio. Maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth.

Be sure to check out Covino & Rich live on Fox Sports Radio and the IHeart Radio app from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich wherever you get your podcast and, of course, on social media. That's Kavino and Rich. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, dude?

We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. starting a trend. But this one's extra special.

So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down?

Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little Notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, 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 occupier Pella 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. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris.

every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchen won. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck.

Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts. or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. 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. Tomorrow night, the stage is set.

The Yankees face the Dodgers in a World Series rematch or its Twins versus Mariners baseball night in America tomorrow. At 7 p.m. Eastern check local listing for the game in your area, only on Fox. Fired up for Dodgers Yankees this weekend. Should be a good one. All right. So, you know, anytime I fill in for Coward, I'm always like,

I'm not really into the Cowboys. I know America's team, blah, blah, blah. But there is something interesting that went down this week. Brian Schottenheimer is the new coach of the Cowboys. He's taken over for McCarthy. Everybody thinks he's just a placeholder, right, until they get the real coach, whether it's Dion or whomever. So Schottenheimer was asked this week about Joe Milton.

I don't know why the hell they're asking about Joe Milton, okay? He ain't going to play. and Schottenheimer bizarrely turned it into Dack Prescott. Listen to what the coach had to say. I think DAC is in the developmental phase, and that sounds crazy for guys played that much, but there's things that we're tweaking with DAC. The bones of it is still very similar.

You know, there's going to be changes. That's part of football. That's whether there's a coaching change or not. I think it's a little bit where if you have to have your system, then I think to me, just my opinion, not disagreeing with Zoom, to me your system should be flexible enough to where you adjust something, things, but you keep some things in place because it's our job as coaches to, we spend more time on it than the players do.

All right. So we got David Hellman coming on in final hour. I'm sure he'll love to talk about that. He knows the Cowboys well. I'm just going to say this. So I started a website. It was called The Big Lead. And then I sold it.

And then they kept me on to run it. And it went to USA Today Sports. And then another company bought it. And they come to me and they're like, hey, Jay, so how do you plan on running the website now that we've taken over? And I said, well, guys, I've been running the P&L report, you know, we're profitable, our numbers are up, we got a great system in place, okay? It's rolling smoothly.

And they were like, yeah, we don't think so. And I said, well, here's all the evidence. And they're like, okay, we want to change some things, so you're out. So they fired me. I was kind of stunned. I started the website. It hurt for like eight minutes, and then I got a new job here at Fox writing for their digital side. So it didn't sting that badly. Of course, the website went under like a few years later because

they don't know how to run a site, but I digress. This to me is similar to what's going on in Dallas. If you, Brian Schottenheimer, look at DAC and say, oh, we got to tweak some things. You think that's the problem? Two years ago, this guy was an MVP candidate until like the final three weeks of the season. I think he finished second or third. Dak ain't the problem. He's got 122 career starts in Dallas. He's the least of your worries. But that's what you're talking about. Brian Schottenheimer? Similar to my website, like we had a good system. You could have just trotted it out and we would have kept it going smoothly.

Maybe it would still be working. But if you're going in there thinking, oh, we got to tweak some stuff with, with Dak, that's my job as a coach. Uh-uh. You've been handed a pretty damn good team. If you guys recall, they were an 11-win team for several years. Last year, obviously, it bottomed out and there were some injuries that played a factor. But if you think DAC is the problem in Dallas?

maybe you guys are going to battle the Giants for last place. Now, I don't want to rip Schottenheimer too hard, but he was the OC when I was a diehard Jets fan. And a guy who works here at the network, maybe we can get him in next week, knows Brian Schottnheimer pretty well. I'm not going to say his name, I'll text him after the show.

But all I know is watching Schottenheimer with the Jets, I couldn't get over that guy quick enough. And then I saw he landed in another spot, and he was gone pretty, quickly. And then there was another spot. And then you start wondering, man, is this guy that good of a coach? Oh, wait, what's his last name? Oh, now I got NEPO baby. Sorry. Cowboys fans, this could be a rough season. I don't see a lot of optimism other than the schedule, okay? And if we, I think we can get on the screen here. I know cowards way out on Dallas and I don't

think they're a playoff team. However, if they can get this schedule early on and get the ball rolling and get some chemistry with CD and pickings on the outside, maybe there's a world where Dallas is more competitive than people think. Obviously, the Eagles game, we could chalk that up to a likely loss, okay? But the Giants aren't projected to be good. The Bears are 500 at best. That Packers game at home is going to be winnable. My jets aren't great.

Carolina's rebuilding. You start out four and two, and there's some optimism. And then it's like, hey, maybe Pickens playing in a contract year shows up and is not half-ass in it and not wanting to block. And opposite lamb, he's something. And maybe the offensive line gels quicker than expected. And there's Star Defender last year. Damn it, his name's escaping me. Maybe he's healthy before Thanksgiving and back and things are rolling.

But some of the stuff coming out of Schopenheimer's mouth, like tweaking stuff with Dak Prescott? What? I don't know. Alex, maybe I'm being too harsh. But Dallas fans, this could be a brutal, brutal season if they don't get off to a good start. All right, coming up next to start the final hour. Did SGA really save the NBA? Hell, did the NBA need saving?

Final hour coming up next year on the herd. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent a podcast. It's it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, 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, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, 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. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know.

I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis. podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments set to find Roland Garris. She's an outsider to win the French frame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lernerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface.

Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcasts on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.