The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 3 - The Timberwolves are for real

Episode Date: May 8, 2024

Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch joins the show to explain how he changed the culture in Minnesota from a perpetual lottery team to title contenderSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fans, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliver Show. This is a place for raw, unfills 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 IHeard 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. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Well, he's one of the smartest guys in the NBA. He's led the T-Wolves to three straight playoff appearances. Seven different players on this team, despite having people as good as Carl Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Ant. Seven guys are averaging 10 plus this postseason, which is the ultimate team. Rudy Gobert said, I've never been on a team like this

where everybody cares about themselves. Chris Finch now joining us live. So let's talk about building that culture. culture because they've always talked about heat culture and it's a real thing it's like the term villanova guys like it's a real thing when i think of minnesota and how you get those players to play that length of a season and yet are that committed defensively it looks collegiate if it was that easy to get guys to do it everybody would do it tell me the buy-in where do the buy-in start as a coach. Yeah, I mean, the buy-in started really in the off-season and in the preseason

when we realize, like, this is who we have to be if we want to be any good. I mean, we have we have Rudy, of course, defensive player of the year, but we also have Jaden McDaniels, Nekeel Alexander Walker, Anthony Edward. These guys are outstanding defenders in their own right. And if we're not maximizing like those parts of their skill sets, like we're not obviously playing to our strengths. And then, you know, Mike Connolly's got great experience, super competitive, been in the league a long time. And then, you know, developing the defensive kind of skills within Kat and Nas Reid, guys who have, like, moved from the five positions to the four positions. So getting more comfortable with playing in rotations and playing in different schemes and all that kind of stuff.

It's been a work in progress. But the want to is there. You know, these guys care. They've got a high care factor. it shows their competitiveness, and they understand that it's driven our success. Like we had success right out of the gate today. This season we started, I think, 17 and 4,

most of it driven by our defense. So it's one of the things that continues to feed itself. You know, Ant is, there's a playfulness and a joyfulness to his game that I think matters. I think sometimes, you know, some NFL NBA guys, like what I love about Patrick Mahomes

is he's having a hell of a time out there, and he likes you to be part of it. But he's demanding. When I watch Ant, I mean, there's a little YMCA trash talk to him, but he wants you to play hard. And I know that sounds kind of ethereal and weird, but when I watch Ant,

even though he has the ball in his hands a lot, I would want to play hard for him because he plays so hard on the defensive end. There is something about Ant that is contagious, and I don't know how to explain it, but that's what I see when I watch him. Can you explain that? Yeah, well, you've nailed it, Colin.

I mean, it's not just him as a player. It's him as a person. Like people, when I first got here, they asked me, can he be a good leader? And I said, absolutely, because he has this personality where people want to follow him. Every leader has one thing in common. And that is people follow him.

It doesn't matter how they get it to happen. And so that's his personality off the floor as well as on the floor. I mean, and as far as having fun, whether it's Mahomes or Anthony, I mean, when you're the best player on the floor, you're generally having fun. I mean, I mean, every days when I was the best player on the floor and basketball was a lot of fun to play. But he has a joyfulness that he does play and is competitive. And he's demanding of his teammates that they bring the same love of the game and energy, you know, and also execution.

And those parts, he's still learning and starting to just now kind of master some of that himself. And I think that's also the thing that his teammates love about him is that he'll admit what he doesn't know. He'll admit when he's wrong. And he's not looking to blame or point fingers anywhere else, but take responsibility. You know, you obviously, the players love you. So you're pro player. And you have to be, I think, in pro sports. But I thought, and Adam Silver has been more pro player than David Stern.

I don't like a reasonably small fine for Jamal Murray. I thought it was a very reckless act, especially under the. the basket with all the bigs. I think, hey, I'd probably say, I'm going to go into that in-season tournament thing in docket week or something. I don't know. I'm not asking you to be the commissioner, but I thought that that bothered me. And I like Jamal Murray. Have you talked to your team? Maybe it's a compliment, Christy, you, that you've got them so flustered and ticked off that they're losing themselves. But now in retrospect, how do you look at that moment? Yeah, I think, you know, I made my opinion.

pretty clear the other day. I think it's inexcusable. It's certainly dangerous. You know, I don't know if I've really seen it before. I've seen some people slam water bottles down and it's spilled out, but I've never seen kind of in a direct attempt

to throw something on the floor or near or at somebody, particularly in live play. I didn't expect the suspension, to be honest, Colin. And I'm fine with that. I don't think that the league wanted to to be able to have to decide anything based on players not playing and I'm fine with that.

The monetary piece, you know, it is what it is. I think, you know, Rudy had carried a big fine for us earlier this season with doing something highly inappropriate. So, yeah, I didn't think too much of it. If I'm moving on, we'll expect Jamal to play and we expect him to play extremely well, you know. I was with Jamal when he was a rookie in Denver. I love him as a guy.

He's super competitive. As you can see, it's one of the things I love most about him. He's clutch. He cares. You know, it's as strange as it sounds, it all comes from the right place. You know, I didn't see it as Ketchulant. I saw it as this is a competitive guy who's trying to do everything he can to get himself going. I want to circle back to the defense.

Charles Barkley said this. And I felt the exact same way, but here's Barclay talking about your defense. We saw one of the best defensive teams I've ever seen. You know, the stats, don't lie. They are incredible defensively. You talk about what even when they're, Rudy's not there, but on the perimeter, their guard and everything led by Ant Man, their best player is playing great defense and the rest of those perimeter players.

Even without Rudy, man, this is one of the best defensive teams I've ever seen. So it's interesting. You used to be able to hand check, lean on bigs. So it was actually easier to play defense in the old days. More was allowed. It's almost like the NFL. It was much easier to play defense 10 years ago. Then they took all the clutching, grabbing, hitting over the middle.

It's harder to play great defense. You have to exert incredible energy because you can't direct people. So I'm watching your defense the other night and I'm thinking in a weird way, and I appreciated Adam Silver doing this, Chris. The NFL's always been able to, in season, they'll kind of adapt to things if they see things happening with the rules. Adam Silver, I think correctly said, guys, scoring's getting too easy. Let's let these guys play. I think the product's better.

In a weird way, that benefited you and the Knicks greatly because you both have the personnel to play defense. Do you think it's possible that that little tweak didn't benefit the Lakers and the war? it benefited your roster. Yeah, I think, I mean, we're definitely, we've always been defensive first all season long. And really kind of what the way I see it, Colin is like the last, I don't know, 25, 30 games of the season felt a lot like playoff basketball to me. So it was good, it was good for that. And, you know, it was good for preparing those teams going into the playoffs with that type of

physicality. These players are so skilled and they're so smart. It was frustrating to watch. I think it's a product to watch players game the game over the last five, six years. You know, they knew what fouls they could easily bait. They were going to get them every single time. Defensive had, there's some fouls where you couldn't do anything about it. The guy just launches himself sideways into you. You know, they're trying to, and I think that's where it started. And to me, it makes a heck of a lot of sense. Just get out of the game the things that aren't fouls. Like we shouldn't be able to trick the officials into calling these things because we've put ourselves in a corner with the rule book. And that's kind of what happened. The league has

been asking questions over the last few years. How do we bring defense back into the league? And, you know, my standard answer is just let us play it. You know, just let teams to go back and play it a little bit more and allows some more physicality in and around the ball in particular. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd, weekdays and noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. 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. to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

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

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

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at a podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what we. went down and tried to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. 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. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of Tontons and Wampas on the Ice Planet Hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two.

Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, I would never rupture a patellar tendon because I'm not an athlete, and I stay away from physical contact. You as a baller as an alpha, you're out there like a player. The players probably appreciate Chris Finch's hot. You're like Luca. You're playing a bit hurt. And how did the players react to your injury? How's that played in the room?

Well, I mean, it's a ton of support and concern. It's been great. And thank God it's my knee and not Mike Connley's that they got hurt. That was the biggest thing. And I, like you, Colin, have avoided playing pickup basketball for the better part of 30 years to avoid such a silly injury. So I happened to get it while standing, you know, on the sidelines. And I couldn't get out of the way. So my athleticism failed me too.

Yeah. Stuff. When you get older, Chris, stuff breaks. It is. It's just the way it works. Hey, get healthy. Good luck. You got a game on your hands Friday.

The Nuggets are going to play hair on fire. So that's going to be crazy. And congrats on all your success. It's been a blast to watch. All right. Appreciate it. Thanks, Colin. Yeah.

Just a good guy. One of the smarter guys. You know what I love? He was in the D league. You know, I mean, he's like a player. In fact, he's been around for a long time doing the D league stuff, development. And in the league, you know, they're a defensive team. The league's like, you know what?

We're going to swallow the whistle. Knicks, T-Wolves, OKC. Worked right into their favor. Just like I said, when the NFL said, can't hit over the middle, advantage, Andy Reed, Sean McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan. No question. Jay Mack with the news.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, let's start with the Tampa Bay Bucks and Baker Mayfield. Pretty impressive season they had last year. In the offseason, they hired O.C. Liam Cohen to help Baker continue his success. Cohen spoke to the media and talked about how Baker is embracing his role in Tampa. There's not many days. I don't think Baker wakes up and he doesn't have a chip on his left shoulder. But there is definitely a feeling that this is his team and it's okay to fail.

It's okay. You know, go out there and let it rip and be yourself every single day no matter what because you're going to be the guy. and we believe in you. And I think that that's something that ultimately he just hasn't really had the opportunity to have all that often in his career. So you definitely feel a quiet, you know, calming confidence, but he's still the same guy. Hat on forward looked like a head coaching candidate.

Let me ask you, I sometimes wake up with a chip on my shoulder. I'm curious, how long is that sustainable for an NFL quarterback? Like, you just took your team to the playoffs. You were the number one pick. Can you really continue to do that every day? Yes. Years ago on 60 Minutes, I forget who was interviewing him. Larry Ellison, who's the founder of, I think, Oracle. Oracle. And Larry's one of the richer guys on the earth. And they asked him a question during it about he was talking about his upbringing, which he had rough family and stuff, a lot of doubt in his family about him. He said, I had all the ingredients necessary to be a billionaire. People doubted me. And he has used that as jet fuel his entire life.

The white picket fence family, the kid that goes to the prep school, this and that, there are advantages to that. But man, if you look at my life sports, media sports, which I've been in, chip on the shoulder is really valuable jet fuel. Not getting your way, being turned down, eye rolled, mocked, laughed at, you know, doubted. I think it really works. I think, and also, even if you're great, a number one pick great, you've rarely been doubted. So I think one of the problems with being a number one pick. a world-class talent is you're never doubted. And I think, I mean, so I think it even carries, like Tom Brady, by the time he was the

goat, still used it as jet fuel. I mean, Michael Jordan didn't go number one. He went third. His first contract wasn't very good. So it's like, I think it's just, I think in life a lot of us are just even, what's the difference? The difference is desire and relentlessness more than where you went to college. In my lifetime, where you went to college can help, but it's not nearly as important as your ability to don't be fragile.

Don't be easily offended. Be relentless. Be able to have thick skin and deal with bad crappy days. Can you develop that thick skin or is that just something you're born with? I know on my side, my parents, you know, both came to this country. You're not born with it. Larry Ellison's quote was, I had all the disadvantages necessary for success, meaning, you know, I had all. this drive and ascension based on my childhood. I don't think any, I don't know this. I don't think

you're born with it. I think it's an experience. And you get, you know, all the, all the, all the downs create the ups in life. How's that simple way to put it? So yeah, I had that, you know, I thought I was going to the NBA in fifth grade. I've told you this story. And then, you know, you go to try out for the freshman basketball team and you get cut and you're like, well, I'm not going to the NBA. So that's why I'm still playing basketball all these years to make up for failures of like not being. I saw a picture of you with dual earrings. You were compensating in a very early age, and I'm just glad you

ended up here. Yeah, my parents told me they were, my parents were strict. Can't have earrings. So what did I do? Beach, senior year of high school. You graduate high school, you go to the beach. I got both my ears pierced. Again, soon. My parents were strict. I think everybody's parents were strict when we grew up. I'm not allowed to be strict now. Apparently parents can't be strict now.

Like, that's like a thing. My son told me a month ago, Dad, not every phone call has to be serious. So now I send him funny stuff. And I'm like, it really hit. I was like, oh, I'm serious, dad. I want to be occasionally playful, dad. Fun dad. My son told me, said, dad, you know,

not every phone call. We have to talk about life's arcs. And I'm like, yeah, you're right. I'm kind of a buzzkill. All right. Next up is Travis Kelsey. Boy, got three Super Bowl rings. And now he's dating Taylor Swift. And according to variety, he's going to be an actor.

Travis Kelsey is set to join the cast of Ryan Murphy's new horror series grotesquieri. I hope I said that right. The show will premiere this fall on FX and will be Kelsey's first major acting role. Now, he's hosted SNL before

appeared on some showtime show that neither of us have seen. Kind of got to give Kelsey some props, right? He's, you know, capitalizing on his burgeoning fame. I'm giving him respect for this. I like this. Well, NBA guys do it.

Why can a pro football player do it? Certainly. I mean, all these NBA guys have had shoe deals for years. NFL guys don't. If this is how you capitalize, crush it. Don't listen to the haters on the internet.

Who gives a rip? You take every dollar you can take. Yeah, well, we just talked about it. You got to have the thick skin, ignore the haters. Yeah, just do what you want to do. Who gives a rip of, you know? Guy and Reddit board pushes back. Yeah, I saved the best story for last, Colin.

I don't think any other shows doing this today, but it is, I love this. Okay, so Trey Young, right? We've talked about him as a potential Lakers target. Quietly, Tray Young announced he has left-clutch sports. Saw that. And he is now joined CIA. Not going to the Lakers. There have been rumors

that Trey could be the target of the Lakers because we know the clutch connection, LeBron. However, this move, I don't want to say rules the Lakers out, but if you look at what's happening in San Antonio, they've had some clutch clients and have moved off of them.

Does Trey Young, remember Rachel Nichols was the one who came up here and said, Trey Young and Wembe in San Antonio. So did Trey Young see the writing on the wall. I'm not going to get to San Antonio if I'm with clutch. Maybe I need to move off, get to CIA, and now I get to San Antonio. I think that's a great spot for him, potentially.

Trey Young and Wembe, you like that? Well, I think they need another elite player. I like that. You can't be Wemby and a bunch of guys. You've got to have another star. So, Trey has not given any indication he wants to be traded, but he is one of the hot names. There's Donovan Mitchell potentially.

Paul George is out there. But Trey Young's the interesting one. He's only 25, turns 26 in September. I like him more than you. You do, but I like him a lot in San Antonio. I mean, that is... I think he's more of a factor in San Antonio than in L.A. He'll be the fall guy with LeBron and AD.

You know that. Well, everybody's the fall guy with him. Well, the third guy is the fall guy, or the coach. So now, Colin, this whole clutch stuff, like... Well, people ditch agents all the time. It doesn't mean anything. The timing? The timing.

The clutch bailed on Ben Simmons. They got rid of him, which they should have. should have done it earlier. So, I mean, sometimes agents bail on clients, clients, bail on agents. It's not that's transitional industry. It's okay. I don't look at it and go, oh, clutch. It's like this happens all the time.

You don't hear about it because not every client's as big as Trey Young. But agencies let go of clients all the time. I've changed agents multiple time. It's nothing personal. It's just you're looking for- So if we're to write off Trey Young, no longer a Laker target, how are the Lakers upgrading? What are they doing?

Well, he could still end up with Lakers. Seems highly unlikely if you read the T-Leaves. Well, then what are the T-Leaves saying about Donovan Mitchell? Let's see how the series goes to Boston. Because then Mitchell says no to the extension. It says, get me out of here. And, you know, is Cleveland going to want to help LeBron in L. Why does Donovan Mitchell?

Why does Donovan Mitchell have to leave Cleveland? It doesn't have to. I mean, they have good players. I don't know why Donovan Mitchell. He may just not be happy in Cleveland. They don't want him there. Donovan Mitchell can stay in Cleveland. Cleveland's got good players.

By the way, do you think Cleveland's going to help LeBron James in L.A.? Remember the owner? No. But I don't know this whole Donovan Mitchell's got a go thing. No, no, he doesn't have to go. He will be offered an extension this summer. Four years, 200 million. I would give him that.

He may not want to spend the next four years in Cleveland. Well, that's the springtime in Cleveland is, it's a wonderland. Lovely. Well, I just think Evan Mobley's a good, they got like three or four guys that can play. I watch them. They're like competitive. They're not Boston, but they're good competitive. In the east, they're not considered like a top.

top five. Well, yeah, they are. They're kind of a top five team, East. I think they are. You don't think they are? I think that team's getting broken up significantly. Whether it's Alan, the coach, Mitchell, something's happening if they get dusted here by Boston. And that's probably happening, right?

J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lide News. Have you ever been to Cleveland? I mean, you didn't like Chicago. Well, wait a minute. I had a wonderful weekend in Chicago like, I don't know, 15 years ago.

It was awesome. And it's a nicer. It's beautiful. It was fine in the spring. A winner, no thanks. Well, it's a little cold.

I've never been to Cleveland. Am I missing out? It's fine. They got the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame there? Yeah. I mean, it's fine. It's a rust belt Midwestern city.

It's fine. Chicago's the jewel of the Midwest. There's a lot of St. Louis, Indiana stuff going on. Chicago or Nashville? I like Chicago. I'm into, I like the architecture.

I like big cities. Nashville's fun. Architecture in the airport, right? Well, I like that's, I like London. I like, Chicago. I like Vancouver. I like I like architecture and I want to go to Croatia. That's what I like.

Wow. I like that, you know, when I went to Florence, Italy, I could have stayed, I could have done eight architectural tours. I thought that stuff was amazing. Yeah. We're locking in a European summer trip. You like beaches. I do, but we're locking in Europe. We're taking the kids. We'll see. Oh, in the summer? Yeah. Yeah. A little hot and a little crowded. Not my scene, but we'll see. You might as well take eight or nine of those muscle shirts because it is hot. All right. Byron Scott, taking a shot at LeBron.

We'll let you hear that next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 is.

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. Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

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

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

So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-taped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on The Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, 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. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan,

so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brain. new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith Rule of Two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tonight on FS1, two of the game's most exciting young stars go head to head as

Corbin, Carol, and the D'Ebacks. Take on Ellie, Dela Cruz, and the Reds. All the action begins tonight at 6.30 Eastern on FS1. So Byron Scott was on Undisputed this morning, the former Lakers star and coach, as they seek their eighth coach in 14 years. It's a carousel. So he gave the guys, on Undisputed,

a very interesting take on who should be the Lakers' next coach. And out of the eight or nine names that I've heard, his name wasn't known there, is make LeBron the coach. It's obvious to me, at least, that he's making a lot of decisions that's going on in this organization. From a coaching standpoint to a player standpoint. So if you're going to allow him to make those decisions, sit on the bench and make those decisions as well. Be the head coach. As far as I'm concerned, the only person that he's going to really trust is itself. And since you're making a lot of these decisions, then.

anyway, why not put him in that seat? Hmm. Very interesting. So Rick Buecker came on after that. And I asked him about Byron Scott's comments. LeBron at 39 years old is still their go-to guy. And but the fact that he's has tried to suggest that he's the same player he's always been because the numbers look familiar.

Yeah. Is that I'm not, I can't take you seriously. You know the game better than that. You know what you were at one point. You're playing no defense. You have to play big in order to be functional as an offensive player. Good point. And that screws up the rest of the team.

That's right. So it's not legit. And I think Byron is speaking for all the coaches that have been fired to say, we're going to play, if you're going to dictate when you go in and out of the game and how many minutes you play and how we're going to run our offense? Why don't you just go ahead? Well, it reminds me a little of Belichick.

So when Belichick started the dynasty, it was do your job and sacrifice for the team. Yes. I can argue at the end, Bill got very selfish. I'm going to be the GM. I'm going to be the coach. I'm only going to have guys that I want to coach. Yeah.

Well, that's not. And I'm going to only have coaches work for me that I know when I'm familiar with. LeBraw, nobody could dispute this. It was a pretty unselfish player. high school to early NBA. He elevated very marginal play. He could have scored 45 a night.

Now you can argue he's a bit of a selfish player, more finger pointing, less acknowledging. Your game has changed. I think your best point there of the many is he now dominates, he has to play big to score. He finds the weakness and bullies the smaller player more often. Yeah. In order for him to maintain the numbers and to look like he's the same player,

he has to exploit, the system has to work for him at the expense of other players, if that makes sense. Yes, it does. Because if you look at the big games that Austin Reeves and Delo and any number of play, Anthony David, like all of those guys, Rui Hachamuro, like had some really nice games when LeBron didn't play. And so when he plays, everybody is sort of catering to him, which again is okay. you lose and you're catering to a particular player,

then you have to have a little sort of self-awareness and say, hey, maybe, maybe. I mean, for example, in the Denver series, I thought that their best chance of winning is if LeBron James guarded Nicola Yokic, because then you have Anthony Davis off the ball. LeBron can't guard Aaron Gordon. He's not athletic enough anymore, right?

Or Michael Porter Jr. Or he's not going to chase around Jamal Murray. And he's not going to chase around Jamal Murray. And you see with Nas Reid against Nicola Yokic that if you have somebody who's 6-8, 6.6-9 and really strong and gets under him, that makes him uncomfortable, particularly if you have a shot blocker, Carol Anthony Towns or Rudy Gobert, lurking, that makes things difficult. But I don't believe that LeBron wanted to do the yeoman's work of I'm just going to put my energy into the defensive side of the ball. And Yolkits is probably going to score on me at times. And make you look bad. really don't like I don't want that either but for me it's like if this gives us a better chance of

winning so I was thinking about this JMA because I was watching that back from earlier is that it you know it's kind of predictable that you would be a star and you would get rich and you have championships and then you'd kind of exert some of your leverage your power like that's just very human Brady was interesting because he never did that he wanted to keep his New England reputation and sort of is standing intact, he never bullied the coach or the owner to get his way. But then he went to Tampa and said, okay, I'll tweak this culture. I want this player, that player, that coach upstairs. So Brady was different in Tampa. He was sillier, more fun, more relatable. But Tom for the first time said this, I want this. Get the coach upstairs. Get me that

tight end. He didn't do that with Belichick in New England. He didn't do it with Kraft. So Tom, did get my not selfish is the wrong word. Tom did get more demanding and punitive to those who wouldn't listen to him, but he kept his New England business separate. You could never say that about him ever. You could argue Peyton Manning did a little bit of that. Peyton did a certain way. And then when Peyton went to Denver, it was like, I'm going to take my money a little bit here. I've been one for the team guy a little bit. And so they want he, so Peyton Manning's Indianapolis reputation is always about the team. In Denver, he and Elway butted a little bit on salary,

he would not have done that in the championship windows as much. Well, two things. So, first of all, football is totally different than basketball. Football is about the team. It always has been. Basketball is the individual matters. Well, it's about the team. The individuals are the stars. They run the league.

Because it's so difficult to find a superstar. There's only five starters versus 11 on offense defense. And secondly, there were reports, and maybe Brady, once he gets here, he can clarify it, he went to Kraft and was like, what's he doing, draft to Garapolo, get him out of here?

And then Kraft went to Belichick. That's been documented multiple times. Right. So he did call his shot once. But that, yeah, you're right. Felt a little threatened. I don't know why he would. But in fairness, he was right.

Craft was right. Brady had another Super Bowl. So in fairness, Tom was like, before you replace me, I got a lot in the tank. Tom won Super Bowl in New England. And he goes to Tampa and wins it. So Tom was right.

Aaron Rogers was similar complaining about the Jordan Love and won two MVPs, but he did not get the Super Bowl. Yeah, he's not, he's not. Team sport. He made a lot of squawking and didn't deliver. Eight and nine is not good enough. Wait a minute. He got two MVP awards after Jordan Love was drafted. Oh, oh, is this the NBA awards matter? They were the number one scene.

Who cares? It's not basketball. Team sport. I don't care about MVP. I couldn't tell the last five NFL MVP's. Aaron won a couple. I'm sure Mahomes got one. Who cares?

But I'm saying they were right there. on the cusp of the Super Bowl, it just came up short. It's not like trying to think. No, the difference is Tom made it move. Tom got Super Bowls in two different places. Aaron squawked and he's like, yeah, dude, you're eight and nine in a bad NFC. Jordan Love comes and he's better than you. When Tom left, the palace burnt down.

When Aaron left, it got better. So it's a different. Aaron made demand. I don't have a problem with quarterbacks making demands. What happens when you leave? Packers are better today. New England's a tire fire. Wait a minute.

A little revisionist. They're not better. I mean, Aaron Rogers. Aaron Rogers is not his final year, but the two year before that. They were the number one or the number two seed. They were the number one or number two seed. Green Bay is absolutely better today than Aaron's last two years. They are stacked.

Last year, yes. True. But the year before that, when they had Devante Adams? Come on. They were amazing. They lost that snow game to San Fran. Remember that playoff game? Yeah.

Oh, did both teams play in the snow? They did both. It sounded like an excuse. Oh, he lost a snow game. I'm sorry, Tua can't throw a deep ball in the cold weather. It's a you problem. Damn it. How do I find my...

You back me into a corner right to defend this knucklehead Aaron Rogers. I'm not banging on him, but you can't compare Tom. Tom's different. I'm going to make a demand. And I'm going to deliver the truth after it. But I'm okay with the demands. I'm not. I'm not.

I'm okay with demands. If LeBron wants the demands, something in his prime is different than mellow demanding something in his prime. Yeah, yeah. I'm getting something for it. Right. But Rogers and Brady are both stars. Hmm.

There's a different. One's the goat and one is a star quarterback. A lot of guys won Super Bowls. A lot of quarterbacks. One's the greatest player in league history. One's a hell of a football player. That's a big gap between that. You're making the gap like,

I'm making the gap like, no, no, no. Joe Montana and one Super Bowl guy is not the same quarterback. and not the same quarterback Aaron's closer to Matt Ryan than Brady 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 Acapella band with their between songs banter Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes Those people are starving for best.

Manter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the

athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle. Grace. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith

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Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show.

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