The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - Tom Brady, Nets

Episode Date: June 22, 2022

Players like Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski know when it's time to leave Rumor is Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving aren't as close as people think Guest: Nick WrightSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ah, here we go. It's hour two, live in Los Angeles. It's the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. Live in L.I. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. Nick Wright in about five minutes. You know, Joy Taylor's joining me. I was thinking about this.

There is an art to knowing when to leave a party. Yes, I have mastered it. Yeah. And so, like Rupert Murdoch, the Murdoch family owns Fox, they got out of the movie business. It literally the exact time. The Oscars are eating themselves alive. People don't go to the theaters anymore. Take out Top Gun, which is going to make literally, it made $900 million.

It's going to make $2 billion globally. Those don't happen anymore. I mean, there's way more whiffs than hits. People just, they have home theaters. The streaming companies now are doing better stuff than the movies are creating. with very few exceptions. They have a reputation. They know when to get out of stuff.

Now, getting into stuff is, you know, it's speculation, right? Like in technology, even the most brilliant people in Silicon Valley, for every 10 investments, maybe two hit. Maybe one out of 20 hit. Yeah, you take risks. Yeah, you take risks. But getting out of it, you know an industry. You are in an industry.

You understand the terrain. There's an art to not falling in love with stuff, falling in like with stuff, and knowing when to just leave the party. I've always thought Gronk's now retiring. He and Brady both really understand that. Brady's really, really smart about this. A great example. And I always theorized that when Brady left New England, he looked around the AFC and Josh Allen had been in his division for two years. And he was like, that's what I got to beat. And then Mahomes.

And he's Lamar Jackson. And he's looking at these rising stars in the AFC and he has no weapons because Belichick, he watches the draft. They don't have any weapons. These young quarterback stars are emerging and they have weapons. And he's like, I don't go to the airside. And there were a lot of teams, you know, four or five teams that had a previous record. Chargers had been to the playoffs, the Colts had been. No, it's interesting the division he went to.

Breeze was about ready to hang it up. Matt Ryan had peaked and never has a great support. cast and Carolina is dysfunctional. And he's like, I'm going to go to that division with all these little weapons. And it's like he knew the perfect time. And even now with Gronk retiring, I think he's been in Gronks here, Gronk knows this is it for Tom. You can sense the timing again is perfect.

Is that, you know, they got about one more year for all these receivers in Tampa. Chris Godwin now getting hurt a little too much. They're paying Russell Gage, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin. They're paying a lot of money to receivers. they're a little top heavy, it feels like to me. They got about a year left. They're getting a little top heavy at the top of the franchise. And I think Tom's going to step out after the year and Tampa's going to kind of go disappear into the ether.

But Brady's got, he really does, he looks, it's much harder to speculate on what's going to hit if you're not in an industry. It's much easier if you're honest with yourself and you fall in like, not love, to leave an industry you've crushed in knowing the timing. And I think Tom's got one year left. But when you heard him on the Dan Patrick show, if you did about a week ago or two, I mean, you can tell the competitive fire, Tom knows. Like, I'm kind of tired of doing this stuff. Time went by and then you just get super competitive, you know, and I think I'm part crazy. I mean, I think that's the reality.

45 years old. And I'm out here with a lot of young guys that are trying to take my head off. and I see Aaron Donald work out on my Instagram. I'm like, damn, maybe I should have retired, you know? He's a beast. But, you know, I had the appetite to compete, and it's going to be gone soon. I mean, there's no doubt about it. And I got to, you know, just really appreciate what the time I have left, because it's not a lot.

So now, again, the timing. Gronks retired. A.B.'s gone. Bruce Ariens is upstairs. They're getting a little expensive, but wide receiver. And at the top of the budget for that team. by the way Atlanta and Carolina and Carolina

they may get the top picks in the draft have great quarterback so Brady's always had and I think there's a little bit of an art to it when to leave the party you know when to move out of an industry and the people that own this company were really good with the movies they really understood like it's not the same streaming theaters

home theaters politically just time there's too many options for the consumer, let's get out of the movie business. And the brilliant people in Hollywood, Barry Diller is one of the most brilliant people. He's like, thing died like eight years ago. He was like, it's a much tougher business now than the romanticized version of movies was even 10 years ago.

Well, if I go, I don't go to a lot of them. I say bye to the person that invited me and then I am out. We are not doing a tour. No, no tour of the house. So yesterday, Chris Mannix was on the show. I theorized, I said, you know, Kyrie to the Lakers, AD to the Nets, kind of works. Nets need size and defense.

They don't need shooting. Lakers need shooting. And Kyrie's career, the one time it's hit was with LeBron. And then Nick came out and said, I got even bigger deal. Let's go Simmons and Kyrie to the Lakers. And let's go AD and Westbro. to the net, and Chris Manix responded to that. It makes zero sense.

And I said this to you off the air, and I'll say it to you right now. Why is it that every trade that comes from our friend Nick Wright seems to benefit LeBron James? I don't understand it. And with that, co-host, first things first, Nick Wright joins us. It is a fun game to play. I know you're perplexed by that. It did make me laugh.

No, I just, I didn't see the. Manix interview. I'm curious if you asked him if he'd still rather have Brad Stevens than Janice. I'm curious about that. But here's the deal. You posited Kyrie for Anthony Davis. I did. And I simply

believe you can't give up Anthony Davis and only get back Kyrie Irving. Anthony Davis is too good of a player to only get back Kyrie Irving. So then you and I were on your podcast, the only other than Jenkins and Jones, volume

podcast I listen to. I know it's old media, Colin, but I still, I'm not yet to download the old Draymond Green Show. And I was like, well, let's continue it. If you want to really shake the snow globe, so to speak, I think the way you would do it is the Lakers have to get more. So you would have to include Anthony David, or you'd have to include Ben Simmons, and then you would see if the Nets would want Russell Westbrook either as an expiring contract as a piece to flip elsewhere or just as a guy to see if you could make it work. The reason that I said it was because I don't think, Colin, that it is responsible to trade Anthony Davis straight up for Kyrie Irving.

And I don't think that at this point, the Lakers would, even with Kyrie, they still wouldn't have enough shooting to deal with the fact that now you are a team that got rid of its best defensive player. The reason the Simmons part of it works is because you're adding a job, defensive player. And with respect to my buddy Chris Mannix, who's absolutely the best in the business when it comes to boxing, obviously his basketball takes could use a little bit of work. But with respect to Mannix, what I would say is, do the Nets not have a 10-hour meeting about that? That guys, we can get Anthony Davis. And what we are giving up is, Kyrie Irving,

who might not want to be here anymore, and Ben Simmons, who's never played for us. If it was Kyrie for Ben Simmons, Kyrie and Ben Simmons just for Anthony Davis. They talk about it. People get hung up on the Westbrook part of it. That's not the point, but it's not going to happen. Lakers are going to be cheap and they're going to stick with Russ. It's going to be a disaster.

That's probably what's going to have. You're probably right. So Draymond Green, he had a press conference. His own press conference. Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. So here's what he said, and I'm going to let you respond to it. Here's Dream on Green. Nick Wright comes out.

and say, uh, Steph Curry's, that's it. He'll never see the finals again. Andrew Wiggins, three years, $95 million left on his deal. Why would they go do that worst trade and blah, blah, blah?

I hope you willing to stand on that word, brother. Tell us why this whole series you've been yapping and yapping, and then all of a sudden you want to switch to the dubs. Tell us why. Well, Nick gets Duran all worked up. He's got Dremon worked up. So how do you defend yourself there? Well, all right, let me just do it in reverse order.

First of all, Dremont, I'm not sure what section of new media classes you're in yet, but it is important to be accurate. I did not switch to the dubs. It was worse than that. I started with the dubs than switched away from that. So I wasn't talking all this trash on Golden State and then flipped to them. No, no, no, no. I said going into the finals, I thought Steph would win finals,

average close to 35 a game and the Warriors would win because the Celtics would melt down at the end of fourth quarters. That was exactly right. Unfortunately, after two games, I flipped. So, Dremont, it's worse than what you think. So I didn't switch to the Warriors. As far as to the first thing, I have two points on the Andrew Wiggins thing. The first one is this. I am out of pounds of flesh to give up for a bad take from two and a half years ago.

I apologize for it. I said I was wrong. I tweeted it out. I now got to hear Draymond podcasting about it, D.L. Hugley TikToking about it. Like I was the only person who three years ago said, Hey, Andrew Wiggins, that's a bad contract for a disappointing player. And I'm really annoyed, even more annoyed than with Draymond,

with other media members who had the same Andrew Wiggins take as me and are using me as some type of meat shield so I get all the Andrew Wiggins criticism. Like everyone else was like, oh, Wiggins, that's a great player. High motor, awesome efficiency, hell of a contract. Nobody thought that. That's second of all. And third of all is this. When he said, when Draymond says stand on this, and again, I am welcoming in all forms of media and me, a member of old media, maybe can help some of the new media. It is important to admit when you were wrong. And it is easy to do so when you're wrong as rarely as I am. I was clearly wrong. I said Steph would never make another finals. Well, he just won

finals MVP. So when he says, stand on it. Stand on what? I'm the, I'm Wiley Coyote looking down. There's no ground beneath me. None to stand on. I was wrong. Yeah. I am, as Draymond would say, I'm man enough to admit it. Now, hopefully, Colin, since again, you know, Dremont, you know, works for you. You can maybe set up a meeting of the mind. Yeah. You need share a glass of Lobos tequila and figure out, you know, what we agree and disagree with. I think we should be able to do that. I think you'd actually, you both have a passion for professional basketball. It would be great. You know, it's, you were right, by the way, you've been right for years on the Celtics that you just don't feel like they're, you know, they've hoarded picks and they don't make big moves. They tried the Kyrie thing

didn't work. So when you, and you love this sport and more than anybody I know, and I love it, but it doesn't compare to you. Give me your sort of, I don't want to over. I don't want to over. react. You know, it's funny, I said after watching the playoffs, I don't know what to make of the Phoenix Suns. They can't play from behind. I wouldn't pay DeAndre Aiton. I'm not even sure if they're in my top five, and I thought they were going to win the championship. So the playoffs does, playoff basketball really does illustrate the truth about the NBA, which is you need veterans, you've got to be able to play ahead or behind. For years, Milwaukee could play downhill, but not from behind. And then Janice and Middleton were able to do it, and they won a title. So give me your

look at next year in the NBA. Well, when it comes to Boston and then I'll extrapolate from there. If I'm Boston, I don't overreact to falling apart at the end of the finals. As you see it, I think they're one of the six best teams going into next year. And there's a lot, I know there's a lot of data on that screen there. But I think Boston's got a young team aside from Horford. They're all under contract. You've got to hope that Tatum gets a little stronger with the ball and stronger physically,

that if he gets 10% better and Brown gets 10% better, better than you're right there in the east, with the exception of, I believe Milwaukee was going to roll the world in these playoffs if Middleton doesn't get hurt. They damn near beat the Celtics without Middleton. Yeah. I think Milwaukee's the prohibited favorites. I think right now the idea, the Warriors are the betting favorites. I'm not going to act like they can't win the title, but I don't think they are the favorites to me coming out of the West. I think the Clippers and the Mavs. And you, you're not going to be. You're not going to be the favorites. And you, You know, Colin, I've never been a believer in the Clippers, and I've never been wrong about the Clippers.

And this year, I do believe in the Clippers. I think Kauai, with a year of rest, is going to be dynamic. I love Tailu. And then on the next to him, I have the Mabs. Like, Luka D'Anjic is only going to get better. Yeah. This summer, he doesn't have the Olympics to deal with. I like the Christian Wood edition.

I think they're going to keep Brunson. So I, and the Grizzly series, the Grizzlies took them six, lost game one on a buzzer beater or a missed buzzer beater and John didn't play three games. So to me, those are the clear cut four best teams in the West. We'll see how healthy Denver is. We'll see what the Lakers do. But I think out east, Boston shouldn't overreact to a bad finals, but also should be realistic that Janus, I guess I would think about it like this, Colin. In the next seven years, I think Janus is going to be in the finals five times. Yeah. So there's not going to be a whole bunch of Eastern Conference championships available. Boston got one this year and then they couldn't close the deal.

Let's finalize this with a football take. You know, I said, you know, word association with Gronk is great, fun, lively, huge. But I also said the NFL is asking different things of their coaches now. You've got to be able to draft offensive talent, design offenses, and develop it. That's why Sean McVeigh keeps winning divisions and getting to Super Bowls. That's what the league demands. Gronk is the last great offensive player drafted by New England. And instead of fixing the offense, they brought Joe Judge and Matt Patricia over to help with the offense.

That's not the answer. Yeah, that's not great. That's not great. And when I think of Gronk, I said this before to you privately, and I don't know if I've said it to you in a discussion. This would make you happy. I said sports determine really what wins and what doesn't. At one point in hockey, you had to be physical, you could grab and clutch. They got rid of that.

Now it's speed. Who's got speed? Baseball now, get power hitters. Strikeouts are irrelevant. You don't want ground balls. Guys that can hit it in the air. Football has determined you've got to be able to draft, design, and develop offense. Because you can't hit the quarterback.

You can't hit receivers. The middle of the field now is not defense like the 70s, 80s, 90s. It is the offense. And that if the NFL would have done this 15 years ago, we'd call Andy Reed the best coach. We would not call Belichick the best coach. And if Belichick and Reed both coached for six years from this moment on, we're going to look at the last decade of Belichick and Reed, by the way,

Reed the only coach that had Belichick's number. And we're going to go, are we sure Belichick's the best coach? And so I guess I'm a long-winded, Gronk is illustrating a reality that it wasn't a Brady-Belichick divorce. It's a Brady-Gronk-Belichick divorce. He didn't design that relationship. he didn't develop that relationship.

Tom and Gronk did. Well, listen, I think a lot of what you're saying is fair. I also think what should be acknowledged, they won six Super Bowls in New England with Brady and Belichick. The first three, they won not because of the offense, but in some ways despite the offense, as great as Brady was for that third Super Bowl. Belichick made his name on the defensive side of the ball,

and with the Giants was unbelievable on defense, and with New England through about 06, those were defensive teams until they added Moss and Brady became this new version of himself. I do agree with you that the game is evolving and I think it's hard to evolve when you're almost 70 and when the people around you are friends and family as opposed to fresh new blood. And so I think that is a weakness for the Patriots.

And we all laughed at the Patriots war room being Belichick, hanging out. out with his dog, but there is an element of, you know, the wisdom of crowds and having as many good brains available to you as possible. I don't know the Patriots do that. And it's one thing to go your own way if you're the most successful. But drafting-wise, they have not been. And drafting-wise, they have a lot more misses than hits over the last decade. So maybe the way other teams are doing it is smarter. As far as Andy Reid being the best, I mean, you know how much I love Andy, but not unless NFL's going to go to a clockless format. You know what?

We're not going to keep time. As long as there's time, Andy's going to have some struggles. Can I say one thing quickly about Gronk's retirement? Sure. Because like so many things in sports, you know, it all started going bad with Michael Jordan. And by that I mean this. Once upon a time, Colin, you know what, retired meant? Retired.

You were done except for boxers. And then Jordan retired, unretired, retired, retired, retired again. So then Tom Brady's like, well, I'm a goat. I can do that same thing. I'll retire and then come back six weeks later. Now, Grantz is his second retirement and nobody actually thinks he's retiring. Everyone's like, when's Grant coming back? It's like, dude, he's just retired.

So here's what I propose, Colin. It's a five-year wait to make the Hall of Fame once you retire from any sport. You get an extra year tacked on it for every fake retirement. So Brady now it's going to be six for him. Grant, it's because seven years. If you come back, you've got to wait seven years post-final retirement. Each fake retirement were tack a year on the wait list. The word needs to mean something again.

Well, you know what I mean? Once upon a time, retirement meant I'm going to go play golf and hang out. Now it means I'll see you in six weeks back playing. Don't like it. Don't like it at all. Nick Wright. He's got a podcast, What's Right with Nick Wright. Sun's on it.

Great seeing you's always, buddy. You two. See you guys. Bye. All right. Nick Wright. Co-host First Things First. Good show.

Yeah. It is different, I guess. I mean, you know, I think a lot of it is, especially with football, is that you don't need the preseason like you used to. You don't need the OTAs. If you're a veteran in this league and you got a quarterback you've worked with, if you and I literally Stafford and Cooper Cup, never played a snap in the preseason, probably won't. And had about four days to get on the same page of practice. You think they'd be efficient? I kind of think they would.

I think you do get these rare relationships. Quarterback, wide receiver, quarterback tight end, quarterback left tackle. You don't forget how to ride a bike when you haven't been on it for a while. It's like I think Gronk and Brady could literally do two practices together and they'd be fine. Well, that's kind of why Drew Rosenhouse was like, well, if he gets a callder in the middle of the season, he might come back. I don't think he will because Gronk is such a collision player that. His body is playing a role in this. He enjoys not waking up and, you know, aching and, you know, putting any more miles on his body.

He doesn't need to money-wise. That part, though, is why Devante Adams and Derek Carr is so interesting. Very. Because they have a real relationship. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep. That's me, Cliver Taylor the fourth. 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 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-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 J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because,

of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'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. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host,

and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. 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, or 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, our heart radio app, Search Learn the Hard Way and listen now. The inaugural USFL playoffs kick off this weekend on Fox as the Philadelphia stars face off the New Jersey Generals for a birth in the title game from the pro football. Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. It's the USFL playoffs Saturday at 3 Eastern on Fox. Had a couple of people in the building and out of the building.

Ask me about the USFL. Do you think it's a success? And I always say it's not going to be an attendant success for a long time. But is it a TV success? Is it a gambling success? Is it a personnel success? And I'm like, yeah, don't judge the USFL like you judge college football, which has a hundred years of people going to Michigan Wolverine games. They're going to expand this.

I'm not going to get into particulars, but there's going to be some moves here that are going to elevate the TV process. It's a TV sport and it's a gambling sport eventually. And that's what it's meant for. And it's got surprisingly good television numbers. But listen, folks are busy. We got a lot of pro sports and a lot of college sports, and you've got the College World Series, and people have their kids in volleyball tournaments and baseball tournaments.

You can't just start a league up. And UFC did not fill arenas the first, you know, 20 years ago. But in terms of it's got network support, it's well capitalized. The football's not bad. They got some really quirky little inventions. The cameras are all over the place. And it's going to be used. You're going to have some gambling.

involved in this eventually? Yes, this is a success. To me it is. I've always thought spring football is going to work. Now, I'm 0 for two. I've missed on both, but I've always said there is a spot in America for eight to ten weeks of spring football. I mean, good God. Free agency, our ratings spike by 30, 40 percent during NFL free agency. That's just players trading laundry. So there is room for a spring football league in America. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. is the herd line news. Well, the Nets are said to be torn

on whether they should sign Kairie Irving to a long-term extension. Scary, scary. And his relationship with Steve Nash might have something to do with it, according to Stephen A. Smith, Karee reportedly sometimes held his own practices with Nets teammates

after the regular practices ended. Oh, that's not great. And it could be viewed that he did this because he felt like Nash's practices were ineffective. You remember when this was all being put together, Katie and Kyrie talked about how, you know, maybe one day they're the coach,

one day Steve's the coach, one day Kyrie is the coach. So the internal structure of how things work in Brooklyn could be a big breaking point for this as well. Now, Kyrie has until June 29th. That's a big story, Joey. Like that story, I know you're doing Hurtline News, but a player is holding a practice have for a practice. Yeah, it's not normal. Patrick Mahom says,

thanks, Coach Reed, guys, let's have our own practice. I'd say that that problems in Kansas City. That would not be ideal to me. Well, this isn't surprising to me. I mean, Katie and Kyrie told you what the, what the process was going to be out of their own mouths. They said they don't need a coach. They don't, they don't need it. One day, Kyrie is going to be the coach. One day, Katie's going to be the coach. And look, the result is, you were the only team swept in the playoffs this year. You and I don't need a boss. How about that be the new thing?

No, we do because I don't want to do what they do. Accounting and numbers. I don't want to do that. And so there's a reason why people have positions. And particularly, I think, when we talk about NBA coaches, because it's so transactional and it's such a player, a star league, I should say a star league, that coaches and staff sort of get undermined sometimes

with the contributions that they have to the team. And it's just kind of this assumption that, you know, the star players just go out there and do whatever they want to do. And sometimes it happens. And you get swept in the first round of the playoffs. I believe in the structure of things. I believe in the roles that people play within massive organizations with a bunch of moving parts. And that's why I think culture is so important because when people feel steady in their job, when people feel like they have upward mobility, when people feel like they're valued, when people feel like they're heard,

and when people are encouraged to do their best work, the result usually is success for everyone. That's generally how success happens. And if you look at successful organizations and successful programs, that is a connecting fiber with them. So the idea that you need to hold your own practice after your head coach, who by the way is not some buster held his practice, I mean, I don't think that that's a winning formula. So far, I'm right. It's not a winning formula. Right. But this is what the question is with Kyrie.

What are you going to get with Kyrie if you bring him in? You can't just talk about what he brings when he's on the court. We know what he's capable of. It's everything else that is the question. Yeah, you know, it's really interesting. The NFL doesn't get into this. It's so much of baseball's issue is you get locked into bad contracts. But they don't have a salary cap so you're fine.

The NFL has a hard cap. The NBA puts its teams in really tough spots. The Sixers with Hardin. They shouldn't be forced to have to do that. Now, like the Nets right now, they don't want to sign Kyrie to a long-term contract, but if there's no market for him, what do they get for him? He walks away. So a lot of this, the construct of the NFL is good.

If you sign a guy and he's enigmatic or difficult, you can move off him and it doesn't punish you forever. I don't think NFL GMs are better than NBA GMs, but they're given more. outs. Yeah. On the freeway of contracts, there's way more exits. Some of these NBA GMs, these are hard, hard decisions.

What do you do with John Wall? What do you do with Ben Simmons? I have sympathy for guys running NBA. It's like a freeway. You ever been in a freeway and you miss an exit? And there's not another exit for 11 miles. And you're like, did anybody have an overpass? You just added an hour onto your commute.

I think Brooklyn's in a brief. brutal spot with both Simmons and Kyrie. There's also a report that they are concerned that he might sign, Kyrie might sign a long-term deal and then decide to retire, which is why they're currently at an impasse when it comes to extending him. Kyrie's agent reportedly threatened that he would retire if the Nets traded him last season, to your point that he's talked about it, and he's entering his final season, final year of the contract with the Nets.

So this is something that we'll find out about within the next week what Kyrie is going to do. again, I think a lot of Kyrie's success this year also came from the fact that he was fresh. He didn't play in a lot of games this year. So by choice, so he had the ability to go out and put up those big nights. Is that going to be the same situation if he's playing every single night? So there's just a lot of questions with that situation. So the Celtics fell short in the finals and the president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens, knows they have some work to do this offseason to improve the roster.

If you ask me right now what we need, I'd like to have a little bit more scoring, consistent scoring off the bench. And, you know, I think that we have some short-term needs there. And I think we need a little bit more playmaking. Yes, those are the two things. Yeah, I think that that's real. We have to make sure that, you know, we continue to, you know, play with pace. And, you know, I just thought that we played pretty slow in that last series. This is my disagreement with Chris Mannix on this.

They're a bad ball handling team. I agree with Brad Stevens. Now, Kyrie was actually perfect, but it didn't work. Campbell Walker had his knee not gone south, he would work. They really need an initiator of offense because Tatum and Jalen Brown and Marcus smart, to me or not, that's not what they do. They're each great in what they do. Brown's the great athlete.

Tatum's the versatile defender and score. and Marcus is the great defender. I need the guy to get this puppy going. That's what Steph Curry does. I mean, he's just the fluidity, the movement. And if he didn't work, pool could do it. So they had two different guys who could initiate offense. And don't worry about the defense events.

You are more than stacked defensively. Everybody can't be a defensive stopper. You have to put the ball in the basket as well. And to Brad's point about the bench scoring, the Warriors Reserves outscored the Celtics backups 52 to 9 in games five. and six combined. Wow. Which, you know, could be the series right there.

And the Warriors bench players average 26.8 points in the finals. Celtics average 20.7. So there was a significant difference there with the bench scoring, which you don't really think about when you get late into the postseason because it becomes more and more about the stars. But they also have to sit. And when those stars are sitting, you can't fall behind, especially when you're going up against a team like Golden State.

And, you know, the turnovers were obviously a huge problem for the Celtics as well. to your point. They did not take care of the ball. At all. And they've got a bad ball handling team. Yeah. It's 78 turnovers in the finals, 265 in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They averaged 18.7 per game in the finals losses. How did they get to six games? That's what's remarkable. How do you get, you're averaging almost 20 turnovers a game and you get to game six against a great franchise? That is redeemable in a weird way.

It's pretty remarkable. So Rob Gruncowski announced his retirement yesterday. of fame career. And in reaction to Gronk's news, Drew Rosenhaus said, it would not surprise me if Tom Brady calls him during the season to come back and Rob answers the call. This is just my opinion, but I wouldn't be surprised if Rob comes back during the season or next season. And Tom Brady tweeted out a response to Drew's comments,

which is really funny. I love Tom Brady on social media. I love that he has totally leaned into this. He's really funny. Gronk has already retired for one season, and Brady lured him back and convinced him to play for Tampa Bay. He played his entire 11-year career with Brady-unner's center. Brady missed four games due to suspension in 2016. He won four Super Bowls together. And last season, Grong played 12 games at 55 receptions for 802 yards and six receiving touchdowns. Granc has nothing left to give the game as far as proving anything.

He's a first ballot hallfamer, one of the greatest ever played the position. in my opinion, the most dominant physical presence to play the tight end position. Yeah, I think that's true. And his connection with Tom Brady, I think, goes hand in hand with Tom Brady's greatness. And I think he would agree with that. Like having a target as effective and efficient as Rob Garnkowski for as long as he did certainly played a role in Tom's success. And Grunk leveled up in the playoffs, which is always another measuring.

stick for the greatness. Like when you're, when you can have huge moments in the postseason, that to me puts you in a whole other conversation. Well, you know, when I was, when I was really, really young, you know,

30, 35 years ago, Dave Casper was good for the Raiders. Benny Cunningham, not bad for the Steelers, but most tight ends were really unremarkable. I, I have almost an encyclopedic,

rain-man-ish sort of, memory on like teams in the 70s because that's when I was collecting cards and everything. I don't even remember tight ends. Kellan Newsom, no, that's Ozzie Newsom. Kellan Winslow was the first like, whoa, that's different. Like you could put him out wide. But most tight ends, the middle of the field was for defense. You scored running the football or up the sidelines.

And then all of a sudden the NFL said, you can't hit upstairs, you can't do this, you can't do that. The offense now owns the middle of the field. And that is just a gold mine for Travis Kelsey. Even guys that were basketball players, Jimmy Graham, a finesse guy. Now, he can go over the middle. So now when I look at drafting, like these tight ends, like, Oh, they're extremely valuable. And if they're good blocking tight ends or willing to block, that just completely changes what you're able to do with your offense because there's such a, there's such a valuable piece on the field. And Gronk did a lot of that as well.

So I don't know that I can see him coming back. He already retired once. He's already gotten that taste of relaxing and like what you do with your off season when you're not retired because Gronk is somebody that takes us very seriously. That's the only thing that would, it would genuinely surprise me if he came back. Yeah. Like what's the point of retiring again? Joy with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie new. 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, I'm Doug Gottlie. The podcast is called All Ball.

We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talk to coaches, we talk to players, we tell you stories. You download it, you listen to it, I think you like it.

Listen to All Ball with Doug Ghalib on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this,

is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple 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 with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. 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's 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 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. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. 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.

person. Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free Our Heart Radio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. By the way, there's a story out here yesterday. Nick Friedel of ESPN said that KD and Kyrie are not as close as everybody thinks. They're friends, but it's not always as close as they appear. It is interesting to remember that LeBron dumped his buddy D. Wade for business. MJ and Pippin, we find out we're not that close. Shack and Kobe

didn't like each other. Karim and Magic were polar opposites personality-wise. I mean, I was always told. Oh, Hardin and Chris Paul are buddies. Hardin in Westbrook are buddies. That didn't last. It's a tale as old as time. Don't go into business with friends. It's hard to be critical of friends.

You're not very objective about friends. You won't make the tough call with friends. So the bottom line here is the NBA is really hard on its general managers. It forces you sometimes to sign players. You don't really want to sign. Darryl Morey does not want to sign James Harden to a long contract.

He doesn't want to sign him to a three-year contract. He's trapped. They don't want to sign Kyrie Irving. Who wants to sign Kyrie Irving to a long contract? Nobody in the league. But, I mean, outside of the LeBron years, we've had the Duke, Cleveland, Boston, Brooklyn, didn't work for Kyrie before LeBron, Cleveland. So nobody wants to do it, but this is what the league demands.

And that's why I think one of the great. strengths of the NFL is their union. It's not very strong. And so it's run by owners and GMs and coaches. It's not run by players. And whenever I see media wanting the athletes to get paid, what you want is your athletes to, if they're great, get paid. But what you're seeing in a lot of these sports is enigmatic players, selfish players, injured players. I mean, pelicans are forced to sign his eye on. He's played 38% of his games. So the other leagues don't force you to do this. And that's one of the things with basketball. And if I was the commissioner, you know, I would step in and go,

I'm willing to pay star, star money. It's not about that. But what the NBA does is you've got to pay a Ben Simmons, a Kyrie, a James Hardin or somebody that's injured like Zion. Now you've got to give them five years. John Wall, Westbrook, these are terrible contracts. If I said to you, what's a terrible NFL contract? I can't think of one.

Honestly, give me a terrible NFL contract. You can say Kirk Cousins, but he's made the playoffs. You're not making 40. You're not making 38. You could say what, Jimmy Garoppolo. Hell, he just won in Green Bay. He'd been to a Super Bowl. It's not that terrible.

Yeah, even Jared Goff, when Jared Goff signed his contract, everyone was freaking out. And now the Rams were paying both. Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford. And say what you want by Jared Goff, DeAndre Swift, Ammer on St. Brown, Penae Sewell to left tackle, T.J. Hawkins in the tight end.

Jared Goff played in the Super Bowl. I mean, obviously it's limitations, but that was never a bad contract to me. Jared Goff and the Rams offense is not the issue. They can't stop anybody. So, you know, it's, I guess my point with KD is I think he'd move off Kyrie tomorrow if he could. And these organizations get trapped. There's just no way I could give Kyrie a long-term contract. No way.

Especially because he doesn't provide what they need, which is size and defense. They got enough shooters. The Cleveland Browns, the story out, and it's interesting, that Bay, Basically, the NFL has said, we don't care if Deshaun Watson gets all these finalized, all these off the books. It's not going to get in the way of the suspension. It has no impact what happened yesterday about cleaning up 20 of the 24 current situations, litigation. Civil lawsuits. Civil lawsuits.

So it's just not going to matter. I think I would sit them out for the year. My guess is it'll be between eight games and that somewhere. it won't be fewer than eight. You're going to get clobbered for it if he's not out for the year. But this does sort of illustrate when we've talked about this, when you run a business based on fear and panic and desperation, these are the decisions you make.

You overdraft Baker Mayfield and you guarantee all the money for Deshaun Watson. Deshawn Watson's an upgrade. But to guarantee all of it, how good is he going to have to be to make this work? I mean, it's because right now, he is costing you millions of dollars. I mean, there are people in Cleveland, women, and the NFL has got an ascending demographic of women that love the sport. Like, I'm always shocked when I see the numbers of women who go to games and love the games. It's like crazy numbers. I think it's better than any other pro sport.

And, you know, it's got a regulated level of violence. So, you know, my wife. 47% of all NFL fans are women. That's a... That's almost half. I'm not great at math, but 47% is almost half. It's really a huge number. So a lot of those women are not going to buy jerseys.

They're not going to buy merchandise. They're not going to go to games. So you're losing money right now. Forget the guaranteed money. You're losing money for a franchise that can't afford to lose anything. Coaches, games, good GMs. Dollar Shave Club, Six Blade Razor brings noticeably smooth shaves with six stainless steel blade.

You can get them at dollar-shape club.com or in stores. Two hours flying by, crossing my fingers, that my tickets will work on the airplane Friday. It's the herd. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

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

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

Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down,

and try to make sense of how we survived it. with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. It was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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. Now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.