The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Lakers, Antonio Brown, OBJ, and the Cowboys

Episode Date: February 25, 2019

Colin discusses why he feels LeBron James coming to the Los Angeles Lakers hasn't felt big, why teams should stay away from Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown and go after New York Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr., and the ups and downs of the Dallas Cowboys. Guests include Alex Rodriguez, Cuttino Mobley, and T. J. Houshmandzadeh. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

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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. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season, and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed.

you just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs.

This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the Heard at Fox SportsRadio.com Or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching

heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Monday. This is the herd. Wherever you may be, and however you may be listening, we're live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, one hour from now, not only one from now, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, good one today. Alex Rodriguez shows up at the top of next hour. We got Lott. Mani Machado, Bryce Harper, baseball. Is he? He took Oscars last night.

We did. A-Rod in the house today. So Joy Taylor, of course, joining me. Good morning. Watch the little Oscars last night. I was thinking about this, Joy. In sports, it's really important that the star buys in. Tim Duncan always bought into Greg Popovich, so much so he took pay cuts. And Tom Brady bought into New England so much so he took pay cuts.

Buy in. I mean, if Tim Duncan's taking pay cuts, I mean, If Tom Brady's taking pay cuts, D-Waid for all of his big years in Miami, bought into Pat Riley. And Pat Riley would make trades and moves. When the star buys in, it changes everything because people know. LeBron, and this is why the Laker LeBron thing hasn't worked so far, he's never bought in. Some of it's not his fault. This roster isn't guys he'd connect with.

It's young guys he doesn't really respect yet. And then it's old knuckleheads and one-year contract guys. relate to. LeBron bought into Cleveland for the first six years until he was worn down. He bought into Miami. He bought into Kevin Love and Kyrie for a couple years. He didn't buy into this team. He didn't have any close friends on it. Miami felt like an absolute buy-in day one. Duncan, Brady, you got to buy in. And let's be brutally honest, we're 59 games into the season. There's no juice. There's no energy with the Lakers. It didn't even feel big. I'll be the first to admit.

I thought this would feel big. It's not about you predicted 43 wins. I predicted 48, some predicted 45. But we all predicted, well, this would feel big. Lakers plus LeBron. This has never felt big. There's no juice. There's no energy.

I mean, LeBron looks around. He's like, Brandon Ingram, has he hit a ceiling? Lonzo Ball hurt again. Luke Walton couldn't win when I was gone. defensively, zero, zero consistency all year. I mean, you can even hear it when LeBron talks. You can tell. He's still trying to figure it out.

When the star doesn't buy in, you can feel it. It's palpable. And the players know it. Then the stories come out and the trade rumors come out where they're all basically furniture about to be moved. And they go from he didn't buy into, he really doesn't. like us. Here was LeBron after getting thrashed this weekend by the Pelicans who didn't even have AD. How many know was that state? You've never been there.

In the last few years, you know, everybody's so accustomed to the losses that I'm just not accustomed to it. I'm not accustomed to it. I would never get comfortable with losing, losing game one in Houston and feels the same way as losing game 59. Well, it's for me. That's just how I'm built. That's who I am. You know what this reminds me of a little bit? Aaron Rogers last year. Aaron Rogers, like LeBron, gets hurt, is not really playing at 100%. And there are all these stories about McCarthy and Aaron Rogers that Aaron no longer bought in.

And the team sensed it. And Green Bay got derailed after that injury. And they never, never really got momentum. It's the same thing. LeBron had a little buzz early. Then LeBron got hurt, derailed. comes back, not 100%, he doesn't buy into Luke, doesn't buy into the young guys, doesn't buy into Lance, you can sense it.

You can, Bill Plashky at the LA Times is at every Laker game. And, you know, I brought him on my radio show a couple weeks ago, and he noticed it. You can't ask anybody with that organization. It's like he's his own company, his own brand, his own element, he's his own planet. And he's orbiting around the Lakers, but he's not landed and connected with the Lakers at all. And yes, and they feel it. You know what the team leader is, is Rajan Rondo. He's their leader.

They love him. The kids love him. You saw how much he celebrated when he came back and beat Boston with that shot. That was real. But he's mentoring them. He's helping them. He's leading them. What's LeBron doing?

Putting up some good numbers and playing, but not as engaged and as invested as he should be in any of this. Yeah, I think it's really obvious. By the way, I don't think Anthony Davis, even if he comes to Los Angeles solves this, their biggest problem, which is they don't have enough shooters, and LeBron knows it. LeBron's not necessarily worked well with big guys. He didn't work great all the time with Chris Bosch. He didn't work great all the time with Kevin Love. He was great with Kyrie.

He works with shooters. Anthony Davis, he doesn't solve that. Lakers are 28th and 3-point shooting, 29th in free throw percentage. Anthony Davis doesn't solve those issues. He makes the Lakers better and more interesting, but it didn't solve their biggest issue. They're a lousy shooting team in a shooters league. This year, though, it's never,

felt big. The West was already good, and then Houston, a good team added Kenneth Farid. They're better. And then Portland was already good, and they added Rodney Hood and Enos Canter. They're better. In Oklahoma City just added Marquis Morse. Oh, they're better. Like, let's just admit it. I'm wrong on this. It's not the win total. I could still get to 48 what I predicted. But it has never, ever, ever felt big. It's disappointing. Chris Mannix, First things first talked about their biggest flaw. There are not enough guys in that locker room that have real equity in that team. LeBron knows he's a Laker for the next three, four years or whatever.

How many other guys in that locker room can say that? And I think that matters. I think when you have to dig deep in moments like this, how many of those guys think, I'm not going to be here that much longer anyway? I'm playing for myself anyway. You got half the team is on one-year contracts. They're basically mercenaries out there. I think that's a major factor in this team kind of crumbling over these last couple of weeks.

I completely agree. When the star doesn't physically and emotionally buy in Aaron Rogers this year in Green Bay, LeBron with the Lakers, everybody in the shop can sense it. Let's shift to this. Interesting comment, NFL. There's two great wide receivers in the NFL, Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. and they have been in trade rumors a lot in the last few months. I would go out and get Odell Beckham Jr.

I would not go out and get Antonio Brown. Story dropped this weekend that three teams have reached out to the Steelers, meaning 28, 29 teams, 28 teams have not reached out to the Steelers. And I think there's one big reason here. First of all, we all know that you can win Super Bowls without a superstar receiver. Seattle did it. New England just did it. Julio Jones didn't make the playoffs.

Cowboys were better without Des Bryant. New England wins a Super Bowl with a slot receiver. So the value of super, even Randy Moss, who set records in New England, when the playoffs arrived, he was really never spectacular with New England. He had a couple of one-catch games. on those super years. Weather gets colder, you know, windier, playing outdoors,

January. Big player receivers, to me, have always been more icing than cake, especially in the playoffs. But there's a reason that Antonio Brown's on the market and reportedly O'Dell Beckham is and why I'd pass on one and take the other.

Because when you look at the Pittsburgh situation, and I think this is what's happening. People are like, dude, you're in the perfect spot. Big Ben is a deep ball thrower. Mike Tomlin, incredibly tolerant of players and egos and personalities. The offensive line's good enough to allow the quarterback time to throw a deep ball. Got a really good receiver on the other side, so they can't constantly double-team you, and this is a winning organization.

People around the league look at Antonio Brown and think, you know, it's the old thing. about why are you getting a divorce, you're married to the perfect person. Odell Beckham's got arguments. Odell Beckham's with the Giants. Three coaches, four years. Quarterbacks are a shot fighter. They're about seven to eight guys minimum from winning a Super Bowl. They don't have a roster that's close to Philadelphia or close to Dallas in their own division.

I'm not sure it's as good as Washington. O'Dell Beckham has thrives statistically in chaos the last three or four years. Antonio Brown is complaining about what I perceive and many perceive as a virtually ideal situation. Again, I'll say it. Given the option, I'd take O'Dell Beckham Jr. in a heartbeat. In fact, my biggest concern with O'Dell has always been health. He's a little smaller. He broke an ankle, about a buck 92.

I worry over time, eight, nine years. Can he stay healthy? I think he's a better version of Deshawn Jackson as an athlete, though. Unbelievable. Antonio Brown, I don't worry about his health. I should love him. But if you can't work as a wide receiver in Pittsburgh, what? I am going to look at your situation.

I'm not saying it's perfect in Pittsburgh, but it is a lot better in Pittsburgh than about 80% of the teams in this league. There's a lot of dysfunction in the NFL. Odell Beckham is thriving mostly surrounded by utter chaos, a shot quarterback, a bad old line, and a merry-go-round of coaches. Antonio Bren. Can you imagine Odell Beckham, Jr. in Pittsburgh? Can you imagine OBJ in Pittsburgh?

Oh, my God. Randy Moss, your records are raced. So I think what hurts him here, sometimes you see people leave companies and you're like, what are you doing? You see people leave marriages. What are you doing? Don't confuse OBJ and Antonio Brown. A.B.'s great.

Pass. OBJ, you think he's got issues? Sign him any day. Especially if I have a quarterback like Big Ben. Good stuff today. Arod will be joining us next hour. Baseball seasons around the corner. A couple of math.

massive stars in baseball. One signed. One is unsigned Bryce Harper. Ketino Mobley, Chris Broussard this hour, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. I'm going to call my shot. People think the Celtics are dysfunctional. I'm going to call my shot next, defending Boston. And I'll just put it out there. Hold me to it. John, make sure you're taping next segment. Let's put this one on tape if we could. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

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We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumph, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down,

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Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapy. Kier 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, and 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 Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clifford Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app.

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted. this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man,

hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the bar like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Oh, yeah. Get your ass up and down the guy. court and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Cold flu season. Try Vick Sinx Sinex A nasal spray. Clears your

nose. Vick Sinex nasal spray works up to 12 hours. So I had to bat a few people around on Twitter yesterday. I was bored for like an hour. And it's amazing to me when people fall for the same thing over and over and over and over and over. NFL

by and large you've got to play hard every game. the regular season matters for your seating. It's just one of the reasons the Patriots have a dynasty is they play a lot of home games in December and January in Foxborough. They're not nearly as good on the road. They won this year in Kansas City, but generally that's a big part of their success. By the way, Alabama, you know, Alabama doesn't play any big road games anymore. You notice that out of conference in football.

But in basketball, there's the regular season and there's the playoffs. And especially for the good teams and the star players, you're just trying to get through the regular seasons. Stay in shape, stay healthy, get the chemistry good. But it just doesn't matter. To the teams like Boston who have been getting to the Eastern Conference finals, have a rich history, it doesn't matter to LeBron, Golden State. I even think Houston this year, now they have Kenneth Farid. They kind of know they're good.

They sense they're going to be okay. Let me ask you, you really think now I hear all these criticisms about Boston. They're just going to flop around like a dead fish in the playoffs. No, they're not. They're going to win the East. At minimum, they're going to get to the Eastern Conference Finals, but put it down. Three best teams in the league are Golden State 1, Houston 2, Boston 3rd. You're falling forward again.

Ooh, Denver, ooh, Toronto, ooh Milwaukee. Kyrie Irving came out yesterday and said, you're not beating us four times. We're all good. But Colin, what about the chemistry issues? Folks, the chemistry issues sort of disappear in the playoffs because everybody knows, Okay, let's get over our little TIFs, urgency here. By the way, Cleveland last year, nothing but chemistry issues. Playoffs start, sweep, sweep, sweep, seven games get to finals.

They did lose to Golden State because, I don't know, they don't have nearly as good of players. But do you really buy into Milwaukee where they have one star player, Janice, who's never won a first round playoff series? Milwaukee could not win a road playoff game last year. That's your team? I mean, you think, I watch those games against Bought. They can't win real playoff games.

You're going to go from that to what? NBA champs, Toronto. Got one star player, Kauai Leonard. Kauai Leonard, it should be noted. To get Kauai Leonard, Toronto traded away their bench. They don't have the bench they had last year. And I'm not saying the bench is everything, but it's something if you play the Celtics, so I don't buy in Toronto.

What about Denver? Denver's got one player who leads them in points, rebounds, steals, and assists. By the way, I like Milwaukee. There's a lot to like about Milwaukee. They'll win a playoff series. But is Milwaukee ever proven? Is Yonis ever proven they can go on the road and win a couple of games in the playoffs? And the East is better this year than last year.

Boston's got seven guys that can play at a B or an A level. They're great at home. They've proven to me they can win on the road. They have a great coach. They're good situationally. What about their chemistry? What about it? Golden State has chemistry issues last two years with Kevin Durant and Draymond.

disappears in the playoffs. I mean, it disappears in the playoffs. LeBron last year, major difficulty, all sorts of chemistry issue, disappears into the ether in the playoffs. Yes, I know the Bucks, Raptors, Pacers, all the... Boston's going to end up in the Eastern Conference Finals, and Boston mark it down. And they may play Milwaukee, because I think Milwaukee's got a good coach,

and Janus, Chris Middleton. They got a couple of dudes. Milwaukee's a real team. I don't buy Toronto at all. I don't buy Indiana at all. I don't buy the nets at all. I don't buy the Nets at all. I don't buy the

Philadelphia I like. I haven't played together very long. Stop falling. Here's the way it works. If a team, this is like Derek Rose's Bulls or last year's Raptors, if you've never quite had playoff success, oh, you want to show us how good you are in the regular season. This is not the NFL.

You don't get equal effort. This is not college basketball where you can have a good half and knock off Duke, knock off Kansas, knock off Kentucky. You've got to beat Brad Stevens four times. The Celtics don't lose playoff games very often at home unless they play a guy named LeBron. They've also proven unlike Milwaukee, they can go on the road and sometimes be better than they are at home. They've got a star in Kyrie Irving. Jason Tatum at times looks like a star.

They've got Gordon Hayward, Al Horford. These guys, Jalen Brown, can play at B-plus levels. I've watched it. You've seen it in the playoffs. But people are always buying it into the same thing. This is not football. It's not even hockey where if you don't go out and give it everything on every line, head on a swivel, you'll get your you know what kicked.

Stars take a deep breath. I just read a story this morning on Golden State. They're just trying to find something to interest them for the next 45 days until they get to April. But Toronto, come on. Denver, give me a break. Milwaukee, good. I'll give you that.

Good. Good. And may end up in the Eastern Conference finals. I don't think they're beating Boston four times in two weeks. They're not beating Brad Stevens four times in two weeks. Janice hasn't proven to me he can go on the road in the Eastern Conference playoffs and outperform people. Basketball is about discomfort. Milwaukee right now is comfortable.

Go to Boston on the road. Chris Middleton's hurt. Oh, oh, all the guys won't be healthy. Yeah, Chris Middleton's hurt. Chris Middleton, by the way, goes one for 11. How you do it now? Yeah. Power rankings once again.

Golden State 1, Houston 2, Boston 3. John, do you archive that? Can we put that on tape? Are we recording that segment? We're also live. We are? Yeah. Okay. Joy with the news.

No, no, no. Turn on the news. This is. the herd line news. So Antonio Brown Brown has requested a trade and used social media to highlight his frustrations with the Steelers, and he's asking for guaranteed money.

So the stage has been set for negotiations and the Steelers have a condition. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, he said with a team admitting that only three teams have expressed interests, even though it was made clear that Brown was available six weeks ago, the Steelers want to trade him only to an NFC

team. Her reports, the Steelers will avoid trading Brown to one of their AFC North rivals or to the Patriots. Now, we don't know which teams have reached out about trading for Antonio Brown, but being that it's only three, I don't know that the Steelers are in such a great position to be demanding to only send him to the NFC. Like, I think we talked about this last week. If I could get a third or a fourth round pick, I know it sounds crazy, but I feel like

I've already gotten so much out of him for the draft pick. He was a six-round pick. I got 75 touchdowns and 11,000 yards. I feel like I over-delivered on the draft pick that I think I would give him away for a third or a fourth. Pittsburgh's proven they draft well, especially at wide receiver. See, your point is that the Steelers shouldn't be greedy being that they got him in the sixth round. Stolen. I feel like being that you've already, you're already going to have another season without Levi-on-Bell.

Levy-on-Bell is gone. And now you're losing Antonio Brown. you just lost two of your top three players on your team. So you have to try and get something of significance back for him. I mean, do you feel good about a third or fourth round pick actually manifesting into a player that's half of what Antonio Brown is? Yeah, I think if they can get some of their dysfunction right in the locker room with Juju Smith-Schuster becoming, not Antonio Brown,

but a star Pro Bowl-level wide receiver, if I get a really good draft pick, they definitely need to get another running back. Their running backs now are solid. Labian Bell's an A. They're a bunch of B-minus guys. But again, I don't think this, you can be defined by star players.

It's about not having whole, if you go look at the NFL, a lot of, Tampa Bay's got star players. What you can't be is bad on your offensive line. Right. Bad in your secondary. I don't think Star. is winning this league. So if I can get picked, I can supplement the holes on my roster. I feel

good about it. I still maintain that despite the fact that you may fill roster spots or even get another star, you still have the issue of the culture is broken there. And more and more, players are putting it on Ben Rathesberger. And he's still your quarterback. Now, I'm not saying this is all Ben Rathsberger's fault. Obviously, it's not. But he is the leader of the team. So that's a tone that has to be changed before you move forward with anything, no matter what pick you get. So the Lakers fell under 500 and they lost to the Pelicans on Saturday, who were also without Antonio Anthony Davis. So with the season spiraling and LeBron's team below 500 at the latest point in the season for him since his 0405 sophomore season, LeBron doesn't view himself as the problem.

Last few years, you know, everybody's so accustomed to us. The losses that I'm just not accustomed to it. I'm not accustomed to it. I would never get comfortable with losing game one to Houston. and feels the same way as losing game 59. Well, it's for me. That's just how I'm built. That's who I am.

See, your opinion is that LeBron really hasn't fought into the Lakers. I feel like there may be a little bit of that going on, but the bigger picture to me is that the Lakers allowed losing to be acceptable for a certain amount of time, mostly towards the end of Kobe's career, and now that has dragged over into the LeBron era. We talk about it all the time, that championship organization, have a certain brand to them, right? They have a way.

It's more about the actual team and they have great ownership structure and everything starts on the top and goes down to the bottom, right? But you can't flip on and off winning and losing mindsets. That's why tanking teams are terrible despite the fact that they continue

to get all these high picks and never really manifests into a championship because you have to think championship. You have to have a championship mentality and this is what LeBron is talking about. There's no sense of urgency because it's been acceptable

to not win. Now, I'm not saying the Lankers are tanking, but you can't have dysfunction, it can't be just okay to lose. And then all of a sudden, hey guys, it's past all-star break. It's time to be disciplined and not make big offensive mistakes

and lock down on defense and get the right amount of rest and take care of your body and make sure that you're in a mindset of only winning when that's not been the environment that these guys have been in for the past couple years.

It's just, to me, that's what LeBron is saying. He's saying it's time to kick it into the next gear, not flip the switch on. Winners don't have on and off switches. They have modes. That's why LeBron said it's time to activate. You can cruise through the first half of the season because that's what LeBron's used to doing.

I just feel like that's the mentality that the Lakers are missing here. And that's what I was saying. So finally, almost one month has passed since the Knicks traded Porzengis to the Mavericks. And over the weekend, there was a curious explanation as to why he had a desire to leave New York

on Zach Lowe's podcast. He said, I don't think he was psyched about playing with Durant. I don't know how directly that was verbalized to the Knicks, but I'm confident that it wasn't something that was his plan A. He wanted to be the face of the franchise. Now, there's kind of two things to dig into here, because one is Chris Steps possibly wanting to leave the Knicks because he wants to be the face of a franchise. And then the other angle is he really felt that Durant was coming to New York, that he felt the need to leave. Yeah.

Again, there's so much ego in basketball. But, you know, this is the culture of what basketball has become. Find the talent, pay the talent, elevate the talent. But the idea that I wouldn't want Kevin Nuran on my team, I mean, I just don't get anybody. Christop's Porzengis has never done anything in this league. If I heard Kevin Nouran was coming to my team, interested, do you want to win games or not? Do you want to be playing in June? So your shoe companies now are bidding in bidding wars to get a shoe deal for you because you're on television when people actually watch the NBA, which is June.

Well, the interesting thing about it is now he's going to be playing with Luca, who is having an incredible season and is likely going to end up being the face of that franchise. Yes. So. Winning matters. I'm sorry, but playing in late May and June in this league is how you get the massive shoe deals. Joy with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurd Line News. Chris Broussard, former New York Times, NBA writer, my guy, basketball savant at FS1. So, you know, I was saying to start the show today is that I felt what happened to Green Bay last year is Aaron Rogers didn't buy in. He initially bought in, but when Brett Farrve bought into Mike McCarthy, the team bought in. And then Aaron initially bought into Mike McCarthy. Last year he didn't and the team could sense it. I think when the star, Duncan buys in, I'll take pay cuts. Brady, I buy in, I'll take pay cuts.

I don't think LeBron has bought into this team. Chris, it's not about winning 45, 48 or 50. I've never felt the juice. Some of it could be they gave him young guys that haven't proven anything and knuckleheads and one-year guys who he's not built around. Does he have a close friend on the roster? I don't feel he's bought into this team to you. Yeah, I mean, to the extent that LeBron buys in, you know,

I mean, did he buy into Cleveland when he was signing all those one-year deals? You know, he signed a four-year deal with the Lakers. That's bought in. But what about Miami? I felt he bought into that. It took him a long time to buy into Eric's bolster, a long time. And then he got upset with the whole way he couldn't have any say in the franchise. That's part of why he left.

So I just think LeBron is his own corporation, and he looks at this as a business deal. He's always in the partnerships. You know, with all his endorsements, he doesn't want to just be a client of a company. He wants to be a partner of a company. And I think he looks at it as when I was with Cleveland, I was a partner. When I'm with the Lakers, I'm a partner. And that can be tough to do when you're a player. It can rub some of the other players the wrong way.

Of course. Yes. I just thought yesterday with his comments, it was too much me and them. There's a time to drop the hammer, especially when you're the best player in the world, you got three rings. You have that right at times. But there's also a time to hug your teammates, put your arm around them, support them, encourage them, let them know you're with them.

And that was the time. You know, and look, yesterday, they talked about a sense of urgency. I didn't mind him saying we didn't have a sense of urgency. Kyle Kuzma said it too, okay? But it should have been we, not they don't, which is essentially what he was saying. They don't. We, like, who was he talking about when he said they don't know how to win? They've never been there.

Rondo's been there. Javelle McGee's got two rings. You know, Tyson Chandler's got a ring. He could, Lance Stevenson's been deep in the playoffs. All those guys got their rings actually at LeBron's expense. They beat him, you know, either in the conference playoffs or in the finals. So he was only talking about Brandon, Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma. Ingram scored 29 points.

Kuzma has 16, 8, and 7. He played, okay. The problem, yes, or Saturday, was defense. Right. It scored 115 points, 33 of cents. LeBron was spectacular offensively, but free throws, he missed four of six, and defensively, they were horrendous. They gave up 128 points, and LeBron was a part of that. He was a part of the bad defense, too.

I mean, since he's been back, well, when he was out, they were seventh in the league defensively during that stretch where he was out. Now, they couldn't score, so they couldn't win. They were six and 12th. But since he's been back, they're 25th in the league in defense since he's been back. LeBron is a part of that he's obviously the best player. He needs to carry them. But it's we. I want to hear we.

We got to step it up. We got to play with a sense of urgency. That's buying in. And again, there's a time where you can look, I need to teach you guys and say this and that every once in a while. But yes, Saturday was not the time, especially when you are part of the defensive issues. Don't go anywhere.

We got a lot of stuff to talk about Chris Broussard on Monday. Alex Rodriguez next hour. top of the hour where Colin was right where Colin was wrong. Chris is going to stay around. We'll be right back. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Welcome back. Just love it Monday. Chris Broussard stopping by. Top of the hour where Colin right, where Colin was wrong. And Arod, Alex Rodriguez stops by. I can't wait to see him again. Get him a couple times a year. All right. So Kyrie came out over the weekend and said,

we good here. And I will say this. The NBA's got a history. Locky, Toronto, Denver. This is Derek Rose Bulls, last year's Raptors. When you haven't won anything, you want to show everybody, you bring the energy every night, you brag about your depth, you play your arse off, and you end it with a one, two, or three seed. Boston's going to be fine. I've seen Kyrie Irving take over finals games. I've seen these Celtics win on the road.

Brad Stevens, good luck beating him four times. Nobody shifts a series game-to-game like Brad Stevens. Is the Kyrie fit perfect yet? No, but I'll argue this. Chris, if you look at chemistry issues, they sort of dissipate in the playoffs because stars know, okay, these games count. Guys get into their drama. Kevin Durant and Draymond, get in their drama in February, then April gets around.

All the guys were like, all right, let's ball. I think Boston's winning the east. I think Milwaukee's really good. Yannis couldn't win a road playoff game last year. You think I'm buying that for the finals? Come on. Well, they were the seventh seed last year. They got a new coach who really is good,

Mike Boonehozer. He's good. Look, I think Milwaukee, Toronto, and Boston are all neck and neck. You buy Toronto. No bench, Toronto. No bench. Coiolan. They got a bench.

Fred Van Fleet. Well, see, Alchem's not off the bench. He's playing great. They just added Jeremy Lynn. You got Marcus off surgery. Jeremy Lynn. They are as deep as anybody. Jeremy Lynn, playoffs.

Gonna put them on the floor? You don't remember Lynn Sanity? Yeah, I do for about three and a half hours. But I think those three, Philadelphia, if they meet Boston in the first round, they're going home early. You think Boston's just going to get wiped out in the first round? No, no, no, Boston will beat Philadelphia. They will wipe Philadelphia out in the first. I've said there is no way possible Philadelphia beats Boston in a series.

They just can't, they aren't, they don't execute well enough. Embed and Simmons aren't mature enough yet. Basketball-wise, they don't really have a leader because we know about Jimmy Butler in the locker room. Tobias hasn't really been in that position before. Okay. Janice is great. I've seen Kyrie take over playoff games. No, look, Kyrie is the scariest player.

Probably this, I want to couch it a little, but probably the scariest player in the league during the clutch. I mean, we saw against Milwaukee, he scored, what, 10 points in the last two and a half minutes. The last shot, the NBA admitted he got foul twice. Yeah. You know, so he is, look, I'm with you in that. Everybody looking at, oh, they're the fourth seed. It doesn't mean anything.

It means nothing. They got winners. They got guys that have been there to the game seven of the Eastern Conference against LeBron. They've shown they can win on the road. They got a great coach. I'm with you. I'm just not like I've picked Milwaukee the last few weeks in the east, so I'm going to stay

with them. But I will say this, Boston, we know their experience. Toronto, don't forget, Kauai and Danny Green have championship and championship pedigree. All right? And then, so they had, those two things have the experience factor over Milwaukee. What I like about Milwaukee, Colin. They have a very good coach and they've got guys like, you know, I mean. They do it all. They're only team in the league in the top five offense and defensive offense. They're a scary team. They can score in the paint. They can shoot the three. How many road playoff games they win last year? They were the seventh seed.

They had a different coach. You keep going back to that. I'm telling you, they're dangerous. And what I like about them down the stretch in the last moments of a game, it's equal opportunity. Like when we saw them against Boston, Bledso penetrates scores on a layup.

The last shot, 32 seconds left, the game winner, Chris Middleton hits it. It's not just give it to Janus and let him go to work. With Boston, we know Kyrie's getting it. With Lakers, we know LeBron's getting it. With Toronto, we know Kauai's getting, like every other team goes hero ball down the stretch. I like that Milwaukee draws up a set. Let's make a play, and the ball will find the open man and he can hit it.

So, look, I'm totally with you on, I am, all these people writing off Boston are ridiculous. Ridiculous. But I'm just not ready to say there a lot. Okay. Here's the other thing is that we're just so, we just like the baby dinosaurs and Janus is a great kid. It's a lot. LeBron left the east and now it's really good. And I'm like,

let me tell you something. The Houston Rockets added Kenneth Farid, Manimal. Two years ago, two and a half years ago, he was one of the five guys in the league that we were all like, have you seen this guy in play? Right.

Then he disappears. He goes over to Houston now in a trade because they lost Trevor Rees and they wanted physicality back. Yeah, I'm sorry, but I see that guy and I'm like, Chris Paul, healthy, Reed, Clint Capella, I hate to break it to everybody.

This team has shown they can beat the Warriors. You're picking them to beat the Warriors? No, I'm saying. All the teams in the league, we are now so in love with the new shiny teams. Kawai and Toronto, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, LeBron Laker. Let's remember the team that made the Warriors, the only team in two years that made them really uncomfortable is Houston, and I watch them with Farid, and I'm like,

oh, they're good again. Houston is beating them six of the last 10 games. We know they're 3-0 against them this year. Here's Houston. They play match up well with them because they switch everything. They've got defense, as you mentioned. PJ Tucker, guards Durant. Well, that doesn't stop him, but he makes it hard on him.

They got toughness now with Farid, and Alston Rivers is a little dog, too. He's got toughness. And part of beating Golden State is bumping. them getting physical with us when step and clay are running off screens Durant and Clay both average fewer points and shoot worse from the field against Golden State than most other teams in the league here's the biggest challenge for Houston and I wouldn't pick them over the Warriors but if they're going to push them

and maybe have a chance and maybe beat them this is what they have to do these next 23 games or whatever they have left have to be about getting back to what they did offensively last year. Yeah, they became... Where it's Chris and James. James and Chris. Yeah, because Hardens out Saturday. Chris has 17 assists without him, and the ball movement is exceptional.

Colin, they're five and five since in the 10 games Chris Paul has played since he's been back. Why? Because you've made him a role player, an ancillary piece in the James Hardin Show. And that was fine when Paul and Capella and Eric Gordon were out. Now that Chris is back, you need to. to become a two-star team. And once you go back to doing that like you did last year, then I think you have a shot. Yeah, I think what your early point is, Houston is the one team.

Like my power rankings in the NBA, Golden State, Houston, Boston. That's my power rankings. I don't buy, by the way, Westbrook's gone back to, I'm going to shoot 30 times a game, Westbrook, last three games, they're one and two. But the three teams in this league, I think Houston is the one team that believes or we would have beaten them. And I think there's another that believes they can beat them. Who? Boston.

I think Boston. You don't think they think they can beat Golden State? No, because Houston had them. No, I give you that. When you and I fight, you and I have boxing match, and we fight, and we go into the ninth round, and I'm beating you, and then you catch me with an uppercut and I go down. We fight again. I know.

You feel like you can beat. I had you beat. Buster Douglas had Tyson beat. Tyson knocked him down. And it really was a 10 count. It was. Golden State. Let's not kid ourselves here.

Golden State was a beaten team. Chris Paul got hurt. They were struggling with matchups. They were struggling with confidence. So I think, again, I understand the NBA is a long season, half of baseball, but still long. We fall in love with the new stuff. But I know we're all falling in love with Milwaukee and Toronto.

Houston with Kenneth Farid now is a real team. Golden State was new at one point. You remember that? When Steve Kerr's first year, they were new. You sound like you're a Bucks fan. That's what they're saying on Twitter. Well, I picked the Bucks in the last few weeks. I was all with Toronto all season.

Now I've been with the Bucks. So, yeah, I want to be right. So I want them to... One more time on LaBron. But I love Kyrie's confidence. I do like... I love him coming out and saying that. I don't agree, but I love him saying it.

I haven't had you on since this came out. Sam Amit came on the show. and said, Durant and New York's real. Kevin's people are talking. A minute, respond to that. It's real, for sure. And look, we know he's close with Kyrie. They're going to be talking.

Kyrie is close with Anthony Davis. They're going to be talking. Scott Perry, who's the GM of the New York Knicks, was in Seattle when they drafted Kevin Durant. I mean, this is definitely real. There's no question about it. And here's what I'll say. I've said if they get Kyrie and Durant,

they should trade Zion, assuming they get the number one pick. trade that for Anthony Davis. I'm starting to wonder because you know what Zion is showing at Duke? He can play without the ball. He can be 20 points and nine rebounds without

the basketball. If you've got Kyrie and Durant, you need somebody that can be effective without the ball. Now look, I'd love to have Anthony Davis too, but I'm just saying Kyrie, Durant, Anthony Davis, that's going to be a rocky transition if

you had all three of those games. Now I know I'm getting way ahead of myself. But yeah, it's real. There's no question about it. Good seeing you, man. Always good to be here. Odd couple. Rob Parker on the radio, Fox Sports Radio, later in the afternoon. All right, we got an exciting next hour. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong to top our next hour. Alex Rodriguez stops by two. Bryce Harper unsigned. Mani Machado signed. Some interesting topics with one of baseball's most captivating personalities. Alex Rodriguez coming up.

Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Ah, hour two in L.A., this is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS. Juan Joy Taylor is joining me. Very excited for Alex Rodriguez, who will join me in 10 minutes. He's got a variety of things to talk about. He was at the Oscars last night. he was. So he had the very shiny dresses, beautiful

people there. Jaylo had the shyiest dress. That dress was amazing. It was amazing. All right. So we have our, we do it every Monday at this time. Everybody can have opinions. Very few people admit when they are wrong. We have no problem doing that. We think that allows us to have stronger

opinions. Colin right, Colin wrong. Here we go on a Monday. Where Colin was right? Said it from the beginning. Kyrie Irving's an amazing player. He is an all-time finisher, left her right, hand, But I never thought he was the face of a franchise leader. I just think he's a remarkable player. And oh, by the way, last week, he melted down again when his name was mentioned in free agent discussions.

Dude, if you're a leader, if you're Steph Curry, you've got to get over name in the paper, name on the blog. That's just part of the territory. Once again, he shows that he struggles being the face of a franchise. Now, Boston's 4-0, the last four games he hasn't played. Yeah. or 0 and 4, excuse me, the last four he has played, 6 and 0 without him. So he's got to get that right. He's not getting the chemistry right.

I do think over the next 20 games, they get it right. But if you want to be a face of a franchise, you can't get worked up over Twitter posts. I mean, that's got to be the least of your troubles. He's a great talent. I don't think he's the face of a franchise guy. Where Colin was wrong. I'll be the first to admit I said it to start the show. The Laker-Lebron thing, forget the wins and losses.

There's no juice to it. It doesn't feel like LeBron has fully committed. It's a roster full of young guys he doesn't trust and old guys he's not tight with. I just don't buy it right now. And again, I think they'll win 40, 45 games. Defensively, they're all over the map. His post game comments are about them and they, not us and we. And the thing that's most remarkable to me, it just doesn't feel big.

I mean, when you say like Cowboys, Tom Brady, if Brady joined the Cowboys, that would feel big. You say LeBron and the Lakers, I thought, have 45 games, but it'll take over the NBA. It's mostly been a big disappointment. Where Colin was right? Last three games.

Remember when I told you Oklahoma City was hot? They'd win 11 of 12 because Westbrook had pulled back. Oh, the last three games, he's gone out of control, Westbrook, shot more than 30 times. Last three games, they're one and two. And their only win, is when he fouled out in overtime, and they came back to win in double overtime against Utah.

Again, this is why I don't trust Oklahoma City in the playoffs, because Russell Westbrook will not be able to manage Russell Westbrook. Last three games, he's gone out of control Westbrook, 30-plus shots. And last couple of games, he's shooting 12-3-pointers. This team is at its best when he shoots 16 times and leaves the heavy lifting, especially late in games, to Paul George. Where Colin was wrong.

Kevin Durant to the Knicks, I just never bought into it. I just said, you know, that's just board NBA riders. Then, trustable reporter Sam Amick came on the herd last week and said this. But doing it in that market in that city with that friend, he has with Jay-Z. I think that is what he's looking at. His people have gone around the league and talked in pretty, you know, kind of alarming terms about the New York possibility. That's why we're talking about it so much. Okay. Well, then I buy into it. Not just because Sam said it, but the people who are talking are KD's reps aggressively. I was wrong.

Where Colin was right. Interesting Saturday night in the NBA, James Hardin didn't play, and the Rockets beat the Warriors. And Chris Ball had some. 17 assists and the Rockets ball movement was great. This is what happens with ISO ball. Players stand around and stare at James Hardin. The real success in Houston will be tied to Chris Paul. Okay, ISO ball is stat padding. It's a sideshow.

It doesn't win. Hardin didn't play Saturday night against the Warriors. And Houston's ball movement was the best. been in weeks, and Chris Paul controlled the temple. And I'll say it again, they had Golden State beat last year. Chris Paul got hurt, and next day, not the same team. This team is not led by Hardin. It's led by Chris Paul, and Saturday night again proved it.

Where Colin was wrong. Looks like Zion Williamson of Duke is going to play. I'm not unhappy being wrong here, but I said after he got hurt, I felt it was a tipping point where social media, pressure, agents, shoe deals, he would sit it out the rest of the year. Big guy who's that fast and powerful, looked like he was in pain. We live in a time now when you have young guys making $50, $100 million in shoe deals. You know, for most of my life, I would have said, go back and play. The world's changed.

They're offering $100 million to Zion in about seven weeks. And I don't think if I was his mom or his dad, well, I'd be his dad. I would probably say you may sit it out. But it looks like he's going to play. It looks like he wants to play, which I think is great. But I didn't think there was a chance of it, so I was wrong on that. Where Colin was right? It is always going to be a quarterback over a wide receiver league.

And last week, the Steelers General Manager, Kevin Colbert, came out. and people didn't like the way he said it, but what he was saying was, my quarterback is my coach. When he came out and said, you know, we've got a guy here, 52 kids under him, and again, people didn't like the wording of it. I get that.

But what he was really saying was, my coach and my quarterback run my football team, not my wide receivers. That is always going to be this league. Colbert sees the quarterback as just simply an extension of Mike Tomlin. And that's what I've been saying for years. Brady is just an extension of Belichick. Breeze is an extension of Sean Payton. And that's how GMs and owners in this league, that's how they see it, like it or not.

Where Colin was wrong. You know, I've said the only thing good on ice is vodka, not a huge hockey guy. Don't like to bash it, but I'm not really into it. And I've said football's king. But last week, hockey saved football. Yes, the Carolina Hurricanes owner, Tom Dundon, with a 200,000. $150 million commitment allowed the American Alliance of Football to pay its bills. A hockey owner saved a football league.

Basically, it was a, though the AAF wouldn't want to admit it, a little bit of a bailout, and we'll leave it at that. Yes, hockey jumped in to save domestic football. Where Colin was right. Trent Brown left tackle, New England came out last week and said, it's fun with the Patriots. I like winning. and all they do is win here.

Thank you. Sorry Philadelphia Eagles and Lane Johnson. Football's not designed to always be fun. Even practice in football's hard. Watching film is relentless and repetitive. This anti-patriot narrative that nobody's having any fun and nobody really truly wants to play. Do you want to play for the best coach?

Do you want to play in the best system? Do you want to play for the best quarterback? New England is a lot of fun. fun because football's too hard to lose. And if you go to New England, it's the only place in the league. You're guaranteed, guaranteed to win your division, get it by, play a couple of home playoff games, and likely end up in a Super Bowl. Where Colin was wrong.

This hurts. Mission Impossible 6 did not win squat last night at the Oscars. In fact, I did not see Tom Cruise. It was not even nominated. It was not even mentioned all night. This is like pretending citizen Kane was never made. Am I the only right-thinking American that believes that Mission and Possible Six was absolutely snubbed? You are truly the only one.

Well, you and Tom. Although I think that Tom might even agree with me. Third best movie ever made. Didn't get mentioned. All right. Okay, if that's the way you want to play. Yeah, yeah. Roma.

Whatevs. Mission Impossible 6. Do yourself a favor? I mean, it was just the twist at the end where Tom Cruise saves the world. Yeah. Came out of nowhere. It was just so unexpected. Nowhere.

Godfather didn't exist. Citizen Kane, Mission Impossible 6 never made. Outrageous. It is. All right. Alex Rodriguez next. Bryce Harper, where's he going? Alex may have a little inside information.

Maybe he can get to the bottom of the Mission Impossible. sixth thing, to be honest with you. Alex Rodriguez, joining us. A lot of topics next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the I-Hard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines is we have real conversations about healing,

growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff.

Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rep.

My mom, I want you. you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliffer Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without

Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca, and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fines.

is why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 22 years and a 14-time All-Star and a three-time MVP, a World Series chant with the Yankees, all over a decade there, become a great broadcaster, insightful, does his homework, and last night, Alex Rodriguez was like a kid. He went to his first Oscars last night, and it was, I imagine, fascinating.

It was so much fun. Look at you. First of all, I thought once I got in the building, they weren't going to kick me out. But I was wearing this white cocktail, as you see there, this tuxedo, and all the big stars thought I was, you know, ordering and getting out of hors d'oeuvres. At one point, Bradley Cooper, I'm behind Cooper and Gaga, and Bradley turns around and says, hey, can you give me another vodka, D-Sota. What a night, though. Cooper, Lady Gaga, performing.

By the way, this is something in baseball, baseball has analytics. I get them. I'm not anti-intellectual here, but I believe in analytics. Is that in the end, I want Cody Beliger and big games. I don't want this sport reduced in numbers.

You were in a building last night. Like, Stars Matter. By the way, the ratings did not dip without a host. The ratings were fine because Bradley, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga were performing. What did you make of the environment last night? Yeah, it felt big, and it felt like this is something that you needed to be at.

It was special to have a ticket. I was like the Marlin Man. I was right there in the middle with his white jacket. But here's what I noticed, in all seriousness, you know, I had a chance to spend a little time with, you know, Bob Iger and his wife, Willow Bay. And Bob is probably the most powerful man in the building. He's the most powerful person in the building. But the reason why. in the past, billions of people around the world are watching it is because of stars, right?

It's because of Gaga and Bradley. And sports is no different. If you think about sports, you still need the big stars. This is why I've said this about baseball. They can at times squish fun. Like Bryce Harper, I will make the argument, even with the Padres, Alex, that Manny Machado is not a $30 million player a year. He's about 18. because they're going to sell sweet at double the rate,

$12 bucks of Heineken. Let's talk about the economics of baseball. This fear that a $30 million player is Barry's a franchise. Do you buy that? Oh, no, of course not. I mean, look, it's interesting. I'm always going to take the side of the players because what we have to do with our players

is we have to draft them, we have to develop them, and then we have to pay them. And that arc is called the American Dream. And that works in Hollywood. It works in baseball and sports. and it works in America. You know, it's funny, people scream and shout when a player signs for $300 million,

but when the Dodgers trade for north of $2 billion or the Marlins trade for north of a billion, nobody says anything. It's like big, big, bad America supposed to make all the economics. But in a world, it should be more democratic. And if the industry's gone from a billion dollars to $10 billion, it's good for it to be spread around

and for players to get paid in a big way, and it's guaranteed. Mani Machado, to the Padres, do you like it? Now, some people say it doesn't run hard to first. I couldn't give a rip. He gives me 37 and 100 and he plays 155 games. How do you think it works though? Because by the way, you know this. That

$300 million contract, baseball and golf have idle time. It's a mental game. Players have signed that, yourself included, and acknowledge there's a lot of pressure. You're driving to the ballpark thinking, I've got to go four for four tonight. Do you think it's too much for Machado? Having to carry a young Padre team? No. First of all, I think he made an interesting decision, but for me, it's pretty easy.

Someone offers you $300 million. You're going to deal with a lot, right? And San Diego and the weather's not bad either. But I like Eric Hosmer crossed the way, two Miami boys, both plus defenders. I like they have good pitching and they have the number one farm system in baseball. Yes, he does. So all of that is great. There's this kind of rhetoric going around baseball that 10-year contracts is bad.

I don't love them. I disagree. And here's why I disagree. You can't put them in a vacuum, right? I think the greatest contract maybe ever signed, maybe over the last 25 years, is Mike Trout, got a 10-year contract at probably 45 or 55 cents to the dollar, right? When you're 23, it's in your contract, great. When you're 33, is not so great. Bryce Harper, where does he work?

I mean, you know, we've got some analytics defensive shifts. He's probably not going to be a 300 hitter, but I've said this. Bryce Harper gets me to a game. Yeah. Okay. Steph Curry, my son, bought Steph Curry's shoes. there are, if I'm an owner, I want Bryce Harper over Manny Machado. If I'm a GM, it may be the opposite.

Where does he fit to you? He fits anywhere where you want to win and sell tickets. I think Bryce Harper is more valuable today than he's ever been. Really? Because the popularity of players are going down. So when you're the one anomaly or one of two or three, then you become LeBron James and there is no Steph Curry. But the game is doing so well economically.

I'll give you an example. You look at the Yes Network, which we'll start. by George Steinbren and the Yankees, right? The Yes network has 14 million people paying $7 a month. That's $98 million a month, right? Times 12, that's a little bit over a billion dollars. If you cut the expenses in half, and you say the company's netting around $450 million,

and you put a 20-time multiple on that, forget 20 times, about a 10-time multiple. You're talking about a $9 billion TV station. So if you can take that 14 million subscribed, and take that to 15 or 16, boy, a guy like Harper could be worth 50, if not $100 million per year. You know, it's funny. Most of us embrace the NBA star. We put our arms around Kevin Durant.

We fight for him. We don't fight for baseball players money. Isn't that interesting? It's interesting. But what happened is when you introduce analytics into the game of baseball in a big way, and I like analytics, but I also like the human element. And what happens is you're setting yourself up for an arbitration every year. And baseball is a game is a marathon, not a sprint.

And it takes time to develop trust with your management, with your teammates, with the media, and with the fans. And what was great about baseball when you and I grew up is you had Edgar Martinez in Seattle for 15, 20 years. You had the Dodger infield, Dave Lopez, Lopes, and, you know, Roussel, Garvey. Like, those days are over. So if you're bringing analytics and you're taking the human element and the character, there's a world where you get enough hedges you know like hedge fund guys are running teams now you get enough you get a large group to say

I no offense to chanho park chan hall park is greater than andy pettit and that may be true in numbers but if you ask someone in new york they'll say not in new york not in pinstripes and not in october so there's a place for analytics but boy you have to be able to trust your eyes Kyleor Murray chose football over baseball.

Now, you could have played football. You kind of fall into the Dave Winfield thing. Both you guys made a decision at about 13 what sport you were going to. You could have gone in a bunch of pass and you could have been a pro athlete. You could have gone to the Miami Hurricanes and been a quarterback. You chose baseball. So Kyler Murray, even though not prototypical size of a quarterback, I do think he's a first round talent.

The game's changed. It's more collegiate looking. he made a choice for football. You did baseball. Do you think he made the right choice? And why did you make yours? I don't know enough about him as a player, especially in baseball. But for me, you know, I come from Dominican background.

My father played baseball. And I think that's where my superpower, you know, laid. My mother was a humongous advocate to say, enough with football. Dominicans are not quarterbacks. They're short stops. So go play shortstop. Okay. So your family empirically was behind the baseball.

move. They don't even know how to spell football. It just wasn't part of the culture. No. When you, one of the things about the Yankees that's interesting, Yankees have a history of bringing in big stars, but they also have a history of Scott

Brocious and David Wells and guys that are good players, but sort of rise in the moment. Do you worry at all about the Yankees? A lot of money. Aaron, Judge, John Carlo Stan, it's a lot of Broadway. Do they have, like you called it, the humanity?

Do they have the guy that sacrifices? Like, when I look at the Yankees and I look at the Red Sox, I think the Red Sox have a perfect combination of grinders and David Price and Mookie bets, Rising Star Star Grindr. Do the Yankees have that? You know, everything is about balance, right? And if I have Tom Brady, I can't bring in Damarino, right? If I have magic, I can't bring in Stockton.

I need Kareem, right? And you need assets that complement each other. Exactly. Do the Yankees have that? Well, I think what was interesting when you have Judge and they bring in Stanton is almost like the same player. Exactly. One is making over $300 million, even though the Yankees only inherited only, 260 million. You know, you have a guy like Aaron Judge who is just as good making half a million dollars.

Right? I mean, it's all about capital allocation and how do you deploy your capital and how to use your resources. You know, it's it's just like building a house. And if you have a 5,000 square foot house, you can't have 12 garages, right? And if you have, it's all about complimentary. And what the Yankees did so well for so long was having the complimentary players that were comfortable with that. They could have you and Jeter and Bernie. But they had to have three starters. And I just. I watched the Red Sox last. And a closer. Well, yeah, they have to have a number three starter and a closer. But when I watch the Yankees, the greatest Yankee teams that you were part of, they always had complimentary players. I thought Boston did a great job with that last year.

And I just don't know if the Yankees have that. You know, Dombrovsky to me is the gold standard today. And he has 21 years between championships. Dave, D'Ambroski. The GM. Yeah, the GM president now of the Red Sox. he has 21 years in between championships with the Marlins in 97

and last year with the Red Sox. What's interesting about Dembrowski, while he has all the big data and Boston Red Sox are big into big data, he has one competitive advantage. He tells his manager in the World Series and the playoffs, do as you please trust your eyes. You have the numbers there as an asset,

but not as a crutch. What I want you to do is go be unconventional. And that's why he has the freedom to get Nathan Avaldi and say, you're going to pitch the fifth, the seventh, price, you bring in, it's such a competitive advantage versus the manager that he's going.

If you have a straight jacket, Colin, and you can't manage because you have to look at numbers at what guys up there are doing in the press box, and I have the total freedom to just free-fall and just go play hurry-up offense and go, Nathan, I'm going to pick my 25 guys and I'm going to use them with full autonomy, you're dead, and I'm going to beat you.

And that's what Alex Corr did last year. Propsus is Mbrowski. Bryce Harper, where's he land? USA today is reporting that Bryce Harper is expected to make his decision by the end of the week. Where do you think he lands? If it's just a guess because I don't know, I think he's he's a great fit in Philly and he's a great fit in San Francisco. But I got like Bryce Harper at his age with his talent. The best baseball is still ahead of him.

And I'm a big believer in Bryce. I'm very happy for Manny Machado. By the way, this was a big win for baseball. Getting Manny Machado $300 million is a win for the players. Association. In any business, Colin, you need equality, not just in sports, but in life. And, you know, I don't want the players to get so discouraged and I never want them to get angry with Major League Baseball. I want them to work together. The pie's at $10 billion. Commissioner Rob Manford is laser-focused and getting into $15 billion. Let's spread it around,

let the players make money, let the umpires make money. It's healthy. Let the game grow. By the way, do you miss just the guys? Do you miss the locker room? I miss the game. I miss the game every day. I mean, I wish I was at spring training right now in pinstripes, you know, hitting the middle of the lineup. There is nothing better in my life that I've ever done besides having my two beautiful daughters than playing baseball and being a New Year Yankee. It's great, isn't it?

I miss it every day. It is great. Nothing against the new Yankee Stadium, but there is nothing against it. But I got to tell you, I went to the old one more than the new one. And the old one, the echoes were different. You know, it's funny you say that. Last night I'm sitting there in this epic theater with the biggest stars in the world. And it's how I felt every time I walked into the old Yankee Stadium is the greatest place to be, the cathedral.

It was great. You couldn't find a place to watch the game and eat. It was outdated. The new stadium, there's eight restaurants I can watch. By the way, so you're at the Oscars last night. Obviously, you see a bunch of stars. Was there one person there that you saw and you were like, a little starstruck. Like, oh my God.

Besides Bob Iger. So the executive. You know what was great? I heard is one of the coolest performances I've ever seen. It doesn't say much because I'm not really, you know, kind of cool in this world of Hollywood. But, you know, we had Gaga sitting in front of us and Bradley Cooper. And Jennifer noticed that Bradley was a little nervous. Yeah.

Before we went up there and just crushed it. And then they crushed it. and Jennifer leans over and he has the ear and his right ear and leans over to the left ear and says just let the size of the song help you out

go into the momentum. It'll be like an avalanche out there, just go have fun. And the minute that people heard the song, the place erupted. It was incredible. It was the highlight of the night. It was. The highlight of the night. It was. Alex is great seeing you. Great seeing you as always. All right. Joy with the news.

This is the herd line news. So the Steelers completely fell apart internally this season. And there's a lot of factors that play into the Steelers issues. But Heinz Ward said one of the biggest issues has to do with Ben Rothesberger's leadership skills. Ben is the leader of that team. He's been there. He's done that. And I just think he has to take the initiative to kind of do more as a leader,

not just being able to call guys out on his radio show, take them behind, And treat them like a, you know, we always say we're a band of brothers. Like, fool me to the side, let me know what I can do to get better. You don't have to air it out to the public where everyone can hear. So I just think I think he needs to do a better job than that. You know, I don't know how committed Ben is to doing this radio show, but it seems like a very big issue. Brady does one in New England every Monday.

And Ben... Yeah, but Brady doesn't say anything ever. I don't know why they do it. You know what I always felt with Brady? It was his way of sort of he and Belichick sit down. Here's the narrative. I want to push during the week. It feels like...

But what narrative do they ever push? It's the same thing. Yeah. Winning. We'll be winning again. Belichick doesn't say anything. There's on Cincinnati. And Brady doesn't say anything either.

It's always... Like, it's just the most vanilla answers. Which, to me, I always think is the best approach. Don't say anything. Yeah. If you can, if you can manage that, they're the absolute best at it. I mean, Ryan Tandohill is an excellent quarterback speak. Dak Prescott, and they never say anything.

Yeah. But I just don't... I don't feel like this, whatever this is, it always keeps coming back to this situation. So this clearly seems to be a problem. The bigger star you become, almost the less you should talk. There's more landmines. Like, if I was Big Ben, I don't think I would do a Monday radio show. Like, you get me after the game and then you get me on, I think in the NFL Wednesday is the talk day with the media.

The more you talk, especially about the Steelers, where they have stars, it's a little bit dysfunctional. You're just begging for trouble on those weekly radio hits. I just feel like the situation the Steelers was so disappointing this year. And I just don't know what to expect this year because if you look at the team that they had with the stars that they had and just the pure talent, it's just a colossal disappointment. So I don't know. We will see what the problem is next year because Antonio Brown and Levion Bell will not be there to blame for the issue. So we'll find out what it is. So Lincoln Riley has been head coach of Oklahoma for two seasons.

But there's a lot of talk about potential jump to the. NFL, but Riley basically squashed any chance of that last month when he signed a contract extension with OU. And he recently told Peter King that he wasn't tempted at all. He said, I certainly wasn't tempted at all this year. I would say right now it wouldn't surprise me at all if I'm a college lifer. I think it'll be interesting how a lot of things go on from here. Football's evolving. There's a lot of changes, obviously, at the NFL level right now. I might have been tempted, honestly, had I not been at a place like Oklahoma, but this is one of the best jobs there is in football. It is, by the way, it is increasingly the West Coast.

is sort of out of the national title chase. Like, Oklahoma is the new West. You know, like that's as far west as college football has got a powerhouse. It is a great job. I contend, if I was his agent, I'd say, you know what, first of all, five years at Oklahoma, set yourself up financially for life, you know, pay that mansion off, go get a second house somewhere where you can enjoy it with your kids. And then I think in five years you'll still be young.

But the thing is, when you have a job like Lincoln Riley, you just don't go to the NFL. You go to the NFL if Andrew Luck or Patrick Mahomes is available and still in their prime. Right. But he's in a great spot. He never needs to leave. So if he does, he doesn't need to go necessarily to a Dak Prescott or a Ryan Tanniel. He goes to a star quarterback. Well, to me, and I know millennials get blamed a lot for this because, you know, we like to move around and make changes.

But to me, I really believe in building what you are before you're. you take the next step. Because I feel like if you have experience and winning and then you take the next step, not only do you get more of a benefit of a doubt if you're trying to build something on the next level, for example, maybe they won't fire you after a year if it's not a success because they've seen that you've had success at a different level. And then also you just, you have the ability to go back and you're not going to some random college.

And also, I know everyone talks about the NFL and the NBA and it's just like that's everyone's goal. First of all, it's not everyone's goal. Everyone doesn't have the same aspirations. And second, college has so much more stability. There's a human element to this. This is actually also people's jobs. They have families. They have everything else in life that you have. The only difference is that their jobs on national television. But to be able to know that you're going to be somewhere for a couple years and be able to raise your kids in the same community and not have the stress of dealing with an owner. And there's a whole different level of expectations and things that come with the NFL. He's happy and happy.

I just saw a study the other day that we think we're more mobile than ever. But over the last five years, people are becoming less mobile, that we became so mobile. Right. That it's kind of brain scrambling and that Americans are actually passing on more mobility and jobs to stay put, raise a family, which is, you know, the cyclical way the world works. Right. Got to move, and everybody's like, yeah, moving not as great as you think. It's kind of a wash financially, so he's fine.

We're just, you know, have some stability. So finally, the Lakers are trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2013. They had a promising start to the season. Obviously, some injuries and some other things happened since then. And they've slid six spots down in the standings, and Kyle Kuzma addressed the Lakers' recent struggles and said, I have

no idea, honestly, we've been like that all year. We play a big game against a big team and then play a team that's lesser. We play down to their level. Our sense of urgency isn't there. There's no way we can compete and try to win like that. Well, if you have super talent like Golden State, Golden State's

defense is a hobby, not a, you know, occupation. They play it occasionally. You can you can mail in some nights, but not when you have LA's talent. I mean, the bottom line is, you know, Golden State mails it in about 20 games a year defensively, and they probably win about 12. Lakers just aren't that talented. Well, that's what I said earlier. It's not, it's not so much about flipping the switch. Like we always say, oh, flip the switch after the All-Star. It's not a switch. Winners have modes. You can go into the beginning of the season. I've seen history, you know, 40 years of watching the NBA,

San Antonio would finish third in the West and like click it up a notch. This is a talent league. Like you have to have players. If you're second best players, Kyle Kuzma, you're a limited, you're a 15th best roster in the NBA. It is about talent, but it's also about a mentality. And I think that's what LeBron was saying earlier, that, I mean, if you haven't been there, you don't know what it is.

So there is some of that. But that's on the organization to prepare you for that. You have to have a winning mentality. You have to have a mentality that we're coming back from the all-star break. Our all-star break isn't going to get to be like everyone else's all-star break. Maybe we can't leave. We have to stay here and continue working out. We don't get to take a vacation in this all-star break because we have to come back and be in the same mode that we were in before the break.

Like there's a discipline and a level of competitiveness that is different when you are ready to win. Golden State can take a few nights off because they know what it's like to be in a game seven. Well, and they also have Clay and Stefan Duran. Those are three of the top 12 basketball players in the world. Sure, but there's a lot of teams that have great talent. It's about what you do when everything's on the line. And the Lakers clearly are not all on the same page. Yeah, that they're not.

Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. Draymond Green's got a new agent potentially. A big so what. That and Cotino Mobley. Next, in L.A.

It's The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd. weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. So Catino Mobley, over a decade in the NBA, just told me your family is a football family. You didn't pick up a basketball until you were 13. Alex Rodriguez just told me that his mother said, you're playing baseball, not football. Yeah. So you were a football kid first.

I was a football. Who talked you into hoops? I think it's, you know, when you get like 13 living in Philadelphia, it's just friends, the parks, are so available. Everybody's playing basketball. And my best friends were Alvin Williams, played for Toronto, Rashid Wallace,

Jason Lawson. When you were a kid, those were your best friends. They were my best friends. You got to be kidding me. Yeah. So you'd go play basketball in the park with Rashid Wallace and Alvin Williams.

Yeah. Hell is that! What a five? It's like the Malcolm Gladwell theory, right? It's like just being around. 10,000 hours? Yeah. So you were a football guy,

and then you moved into basketball. You know, I was saying, this with LeBron. I don't feel like he's ever really bought in, and I don't blame him all the way. He's got a bunch of young guys that he doesn't know, and he's got a bunch of one-year guys, some are knuckleheads. They don't really buy long term. I don't feel like he's ever bought into this organization yet. I heard when he first got there, he wouldn't even sign the basketballs. They were going around the room. And LeBron wouldn't sign with everybody yet. He was like, let's just wait. And Chris Broussard said earlier, he's a corporation on a basketball player. He's

become a corporation. I just don't feel like the Lakers have had any juice this year. And I think some of it's, he's never bought into it. Yeah. It's like Jay-Z's quote, I'm a businessman, not a businessman. Right. I'm a business. Man.

Man? Yeah. So, and you're spot on. LeBron James, he made a comment a few days, maybe yesterday or whatever it was. And basically, LeBron's cut from a different cloth. and it seems like Kuzma wants to be that. Sometimes he's a little erratic, but he has effort.

He has effort. But a lot of the guys are not, they don't show a sense of urgency. Like what I'm seeing from the TV. So LeBron's from practice to lunches to dinners to hanging out when they're on the road, whatever it is that they do do, LeBron has seen some lackluster

of no focus. So when you're playing, when you're young, this is the crazy thing, when you're young, you get up for Houston, you get up for Golden State, you don't get up for Atlanta,

you don't get up for the teams that are subpar. And LeBron's trying to help them learn that. Now, him not being, him not buying in at the moment, I can see it because he's watching the, how the younger guys are conducting themselves as a professional. And he doesn't, not say, I'm not putting words in his mouth, not saying he doesn't like it,

but he's just something he's not used to. No, I mean, he always liked veteran guys. But the veteran guys here are all on, he's the guy now with a four-year contract. They're all on one-year deals. You know, we can just say this about the Lakers. It's always been a year in transition. Just this whole Lakers season. It's always been kind of an audition for next year.

It hasn't gone as well as planned. Well, this is the thing, right? Great point. It's always been next year. No one knew that they would be fourth in the West before LeBron James got hurt. They thought they would be flirting, you know, eighth, seven. They overachieved early. Right.

And LeBron James said, okay, I like what I'm seeing a little bit, but I need a little bit more from Ingram. I leave a little bit more from this guy. I need a little bit more from this guy. When he gets hurt, 18 games, he's not only watching how they're playing. He's watching how they're acting after losses, before games, all these different things come into play. So then now when he comes back and now he has to exert himself, like you said, he loves veterans because veterans can pick you up. It's like a household, right? It's great to have a wife that just takes care of the kids.

But guess what? I may want somebody, too, that's working as well because now it makes it easier financially for everybody. Right. So, like, he's putting a lot on his plate right now coming back from an injury, plus. they're young and they have to learn. So it's very frustrating because when he came into Cleveland, he would have Eric Snow, he had veterans that knew how to win. So they helped them out a little bit, right?

They erased a lot of his mistakes. Somebody blows past them in Cleveland when he had veterans, they were closed together. Players are different today. Nothing against millennials, but, you know, players now are friends, they get along, they don't know the struggle. You know, you go back to the Michael Jordan era. Like, you got beat up.

You hit the deck. You did. Guys made you pay. for it. It's not the way the world works. There's so much money involved. And I, you know, players are all making a lot of money. So there isn't that like, hey, look, we're going to sacrifice. You get this. When I watch the Lakers, I just see LeBron. I kind of see a disconnected LeBron. He's faking it. Like he wants us to believe he's all in. But I, but I, Chris Broussard said it. I think he's a bit of a corporation. By the way, Draymond Green is close to hiring LeBron James

Agent Rich Paul. And I was telling my staff this morning. There was that show, Ontero. And Ari was big and E was big. And then it was Johnny Drama. And I never really liked the Johnny Drama episodes. Johnny Drama was always the guy that didn't keep up with his smarter friends. And Johnny Drama was fine and he was funny and he was recognizable. But I never thought Johnny Drama the show should be about Johnny Drama. This is what Draymond Greens become, Johnny Drama and Entourage, is that he no longer can

keep up with Durant. He can't keep up with Steph. He can't keep up with Clay. Their games evolved. He now can't shoot. now a complete liability. We have an NBA now where like nine teams shoot 32-3s a game. Draymond Green, to me, the best days are over. In this entourage, he's Johnny Drama. The show moves on without him. I don't think he's an elite player. I think in the three-ball

league, he's an absolute liability. The other night, he got hurt in front of the warrior bench, and the reaction from Steve Kerr was almost dead pain. Like they've had so many moments. Deep was in a trance. You see that? Like, they didn't even look at it. I mean, what do you? I just don't see Dremont long term with his team. I don't think he now lived up to the other stars.

Okay. So I like what you said now. I'm going to combat that a little bit. If you look at it, before Dremont Green goes to Chris Paul, the Marcus Cousins is about to be on Chris Paul. Draymond Green is doing what he's supposed to do, right? he's like, you know what? DeMarcus, you're not going to be good enough to guard, Chris.

I have a better chance. So he tried to rush over there and DeMarcette stubbed his toe, right? The antics, okay, you were hurt. Steve ignoring it. He's, like, focused on the game because you can see his eyes travel. When the, what's the kid's name, the Manamo or whatever his name is? Yeah, Kenneth Farree. Right, Farid.

He goes in, whatever the play was. Steve is watching that. So you still buy into Dremont as a warrior long term. They would not be who they are without Dremont Green. I agree previously, but going forward. I agree to this point. But the only reason they don't have another title was a Dremon Green suspension. And they were able to accumulate titles.

True. So that makes them more important. If he doesn't get suspended, they win. But he also costs them a finals. That's true. But the point is, right, this is chicken and the egg. if he don't get suspended, LeBron James don't get that championship. He's a 777 player now.

I can't pay big money for that. But 777 is so important because of the little things that he does. It's like Kyle Liry in Toronto. Yeah, by the way, they got swept last year. They did get swept last year, and he didn't have a good playoff. That's a couple years in a row. I hope that's not a... Kyle Lowry's actually perfect.

I like Kyle Lowry. I don't like him in May and June. That's the point. Draymond Green on the floor in May and June now, I don't have to guard him. I don't have to guard Draymond Green. Because it's so much there. You're losing what the, he has such an amazing gift to cover all the mistakes to make sure he doesn't have to shoot the ball. Stefan Curry will pass on the ball, run off three screens, and he'll wait for him to get open and then he'll pass it back to him.

Right? Where DeMarcus Cousins is not going to do that, right? Kevin Durant's not going to do that. You're going to go their aggressive offensive players. You need a Draymond Green for them to excel. All right, hour three coming up. Cotino Mobley. Good hour.

Arod Coutino. Next. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart Radio app. Search Heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Ah, here we go. We're live in L.A.

It's hour three. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Alex Rodriguez last hour. He just did a great job. Really, I mean, talk about a guy that knows the finances of baseball. And by the way, there's a story out that Bryce Harper just came out.

The Dodgers are in the mix. Bryce Harper is one of those rare guys. I've seen Mike Trout play live four times. I've never seen Bryce Harper outside of All-Star game. I don't think I've ever seen Bryce Harper play. No, it's the City of Stars. How crazy would that be? It would be.

Yeah, Bryce Harper is the kind of guy you pay to watch. The hair of the swing. That's what Alex was saying. It still comes down to having stars at the end of the day. Yeah. The downside analytics and baseball, fewer base runners, equals fewer times the cameras focused in on the star. I want to see Bryce Harper all the time.

I want to see A Rod in his prime all the time. The herd's also on Sirius XM Channel 83. It's the 30-year anniversary of Jerry Jones buying the Dals, Cowboys, and Best for Last. We'll talk about the highs and the lows for Jerry Jones. Over the weekend, crazy couple days for the Lakers, big win over Houston at home. But LeBron over the weekend after that loss questioned the urgency of his Laker teammates. So let me start here.

In sports, it's really important that the star buys in. Tim Duncan always bought into Greg Popovich, so much so he took pay cuts. And Tom Brady bought into New England so much so he took pay cuts. Buy in. I mean, if Tim Duncan's taking pay cuts, I mean, if Tom Brady's taking pay cuts, and pay cuts. D. Wade, for all of his big years in Miami, bought into Pat Riley. And Pat Riley would make trades and moves. When the star buys in, it changes everything. Because people know. LeBron, and this is why the Laker LeBron thing hasn't worked so far, he's

never bought in. Some of it's not his fault. This roster isn't guys he'd connect with. It's young guys he doesn't really respect yet. And then it's old knuckleheads and one-year contract guys he doesn't relate to. LeBron bought into Cleveland for the first six years until he was worn down. He bought into Miami. He bought into Kevin Love and Kyrie for a couple of years. He didn't buy into this team. And let's be brutally honest, we're 59 games into the season.

There's no juice. There's no energy with the Lakers. It didn't even feel big. I'll be the first to admit, I thought this would feel big. It's not about you predicted 43 wins. I predicted 48, some predicted 45. But we all predicted, well, this would feel big. Big. Lakers plus LeBron.

This has never felt big. There's no juice. There's no energy. I mean, LeBron looks around. He's like, Brandon Ingram, has he hit a ceiling? Lonzo Ball heard again. Luke Walton couldn't win when I was gone. Defensively, zero, zero consistency all year. I mean, you can even hear when LeBron talks, you can tell. He's still trying to figure it out. the star doesn't buy in, you can feel it. It's palpable. And the players know it. Then the

stories come out and the trade rumors come out where they're all basically furniture about to be moved and they go from he didn't buy into he really doesn't like us. Here was LeBron after getting thrashed this weekend by the Pelicans who didn't even have AD. How many know was that state? I've never been there. in the last few years everybody's so accustomed to the losses that I'm just not accustomed to I'm not accustomed to it I would never get comfortable

with losing game one to Houston and feels the same way as losing game 59 and more for me that's just how I'm built that's who I am you know what this reminds me of a little bit Aaron Rogers last year Aaron Rogers like LeBron gets hurt is not really playing at 100%

and there are all these stories about McCarthy and Aaron Rogers that Aaron no longer bought in. And the team sensed it. And Green Bay got derailed after that injury. And they never, never really got momentum. It's the same thing. LeBron had a little buzz early. Then LeBron got hurt, derailed, comes back not 100%.

He doesn't buy into Luke, doesn't buy into the young guys, doesn't buy into Lance. You can sense it. You can, Bill Plashky at the LA Times is at every lake. game. And, you know, I brought him on my radio show a couple weeks ago, and he noticed it. You can ask anybody that organization. It's like he's his own company, his own brand, his own element. He's his own planet. And he's orbiting around the Lakers, but he's not landed and connected with the Lakers at all. And yet, and they feel it. You know what the team leader is, is Rajan Rondo. He's their leader. They love him. The kids love him. You saw how much he celebrated

when he came back and beat Boston with that shot. That was real. But he's mentoring them. He's helping them. He's leading them. What's LeBron doing? Putting up some good numbers and playing, but not as engaged and as invested as he should be in any of this. Yeah, I think it's really obvious. By the way, I don't think Anthony Davis, even if he comes to Los Angeles, solves this, their biggest problem, which is they don't have enough shooters, and LeBron knows it. LeBron's not necessarily worked well with big guys. He didn't work great all the time with Chris Bosch. He didn't work great all the time with Kevin Love. He's great with Kyrie. He works with shooters. Anthony Davis, he doesn't solve that.

Lakers are 28th and 3-point shooting, 29th in free-throw percentage. Anthony Davis doesn't solve those issues. He makes the Lakers better and more interesting, but it didn't solve their biggest issue. They're a lousy shooting team in a shooters league. This year, though, it's never felt big. The West was already good, and then Houston, a good team added Kenneth Fareed, they're better. And then Portland was already good, and they added Rodney Hood and Enis Canter. they're better.

In Oklahoma City just added Marquis Morris, oh, they're better. Like, let's just admit it. I'm wrong on this. It's not the win total. I could still get to 48 what I predicted. But it has never, ever, ever felt big. It's disappointing.

Chris Mannix, first things first, talked about their biggest flaw. There are not enough guys in that locker room that have real equity in that team. LeBron knows he's a Laker for the next three, four years or whatever. How many other guys in that locker room can say that? And I think that matters.

I think when you have to dig deep in moments like this, how many of those guys think, I'm not going to be here that much longer anyway. I'm playing for myself anyway. You got half the team is on one-year contracts. They're basically mercenaries out there. I think that's a major factor in this team kind of crumbling over these last couple of weeks. I completely agree.

When the star doesn't physically and emotionally buy in, Aaron Rogers, this in Green Bay, LeBron with the Lakers, everybody in the shop can sense it. Let's shift to this. Interesting comment, NFL. There's two great wide receivers in the NFL, Antonio Brown and O'Dell Beckham Jr. And they have been in trade rumors a lot in the last few months. I would go out and get O'Dell Beckham Jr. I would not go out and get Antonio Brown.

story dropped this weekend that three teams have reached out to the Steelers, meaning 28, 29 teams, 28 teams have not reached out to the Steelers. And I think there's one big reason here. First of all, we all know that you can win Super Bowls without a superstar receiver. Seattle did it. New England just did it. Julio Jones didn't make the playoffs. Cowboys were better without Des Bryant. New England wins a Super Bowl with a slot receiver.

So the value of super, even Randy Moss, who set records in New England, when the playoffs arrived, he was really never spectacular with New England. He had a couple of one-catch games on those super years. Weather gets colder, you know, windier, playing outdoors, January. Big player receiver. to me have always been more icing than cake, especially in the playoffs. But there's a reason that Antonio Brown's on the market and reportedly O'Dell Beckham is and why I'd pass on one and take the other.

Because when you look at the Pittsburgh situation, and I think this is what's happening, people are like, dude, you're in the perfect spot. Big Ben is a deep ball thrower. Mike Tomlin, incredibly tolerant of players and egos and personalities. The offensive line's good enough to allow the quarterback time to throw a deep ball. Got a really good receiver on the other side so they can't constantly double team you. And this is a winning organization. People around the league look at Antonio Brown and think, you know, it's the old thing about,

why are you getting a divorce? You're married to the perfect person. O'Dell Beckham's got arguments. Odell Beckham's with the Giants. three coaches four years. Quarterbacks a shot fighter. They're about seven to eight guys minimum from winning a Super Bowl. They don't have a roster that's close to Philadelphia or close to Dallas in their own division.

I'm not sure it's as good as Washington. Odell Beckham has thrives statistically in chaos the last three or four years. Antonio Brown is complaining about what I'm. I perceive, and many perceive, as a virtually ideal situation. Again, I'll say it. Given the option, I'd take Odell Beckham, Jr. in a heartbeat. In fact, my biggest concern with Odell has always been health. He's a little smaller.

He broke an ankle, but a buck 92. I worry over time, eight, nine years. Can he stay healthy? I think he's a better version of Deshawn Jackson as an athlete, though. unbelievable. Antonio Brown, I don't worry about his health. I should love him. But if you can't work as a wide receiver in Pittsburgh, what?

Can you imagine OBJ in Pittsburgh? Oh my God. Randy Moss, your records are raced. Don't confuse OBJ and Antonio Brown. A.B.'s great. Pass. OBJ, you think he's got issues? Sign him any day.

especially if I have a quarterback like Big Ben. Coming up, it's the 30-year anniversary for Jerry Jones owning the Dallas Cowboys. Our next guest this close to being a Dallas Cowboy. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations. with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, 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, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her.

What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? This Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. point game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julie. it's random. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He

running up the court licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sunday, the Cup Series heats up as NASCAR superstars race to the Las Vegas checkered flag. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Sunday at 3.30 Eastern on Fox and the Fox Sports app. So T.J. Hushmanzada is joining me now. We got into this Antonio Brown, O'Tell Beckham Jr. discussion. And I said, I think what's hurting Antonio Brown is a story out today that only three teams were interested, meaning 28 teams are not interested in arguably the best wide receiving talent in football.

I think people look at Antonio Brown and say, man, if you can't work with Pittsburgh and Big Ben and you got juju on the other side, then that's a you problem. I do believe there are people that look at O'Dell Beckham and think, well, Eli's shot. There's a merry-go-round of coaches. Like, for me personally, O'Dell is struggling with the chaos of the Giants. Like, this is not a winning football team. In the last decade, they're the third losing his team. Seriously, the Giants are in the NFL. Like, it's hard to get your arms around that.

In Pittsburgh, Antonio Brown is struggling with mostly a great organization and a Hall of Fame quarterback. I wouldn't make a run at Antonio. I'm kind of out on him. I would on Odell. Where do you land on that? I would on both of them. Like with Antonio Brown, it's irreparable.

You can't, I don't think they can repair it. It's best if they try. to make it work for the Steelers and Antonio Brown because A.B., you go to a team that doesn't have a good quarterback. Miami. Miami. You're done. Done.

Over-off. But as a player, we don't think we're done. We think I'm going there and I'm going to make it happen. You need everything in order. It's, I don't know why teams are scared. The Steelers have come out and said, oh, we're not trading them to the UFC. So that automatically cuts it in half the teams that could be interested. For me, for the culture of the team, you take what you can get.

what it is. If you can get a third round pick, great. If you can get a second round pick, wow, it's highway robbery. See, that's what I believe is that if you're Pittsburgh, you wake up this morning and say, listen, man, we drafted this guy in the sixth round. We got 75 touchdowns. He probably won 13 games for us. We got 11,000 yards. Pigs

get fed, hogs get slaughtered. I'm out. It is different. I feel like sometimes you can't be paralyzed. Did you get more out of him than you spent for him? Oh, God, by five times. He's really only made big money for you for couple of years.

I would, if you came up to me tomorrow, give me a fourth round pick, I'd be like, boom, trust my scouts. You look at it too. He's come out and said he wants a new deal. So that's going to scare some teams off saying you're 31 and you want a new deal. I don't know what I'm going to get from you as a person. I don't know if I'm willing to give that up. Me personally, he goes to a new team.

It's like you get a new girlfriend. You're dating. Do everything is good for the first couple years. The honeymoon stage. I don't want to misstep because I don't want you to see some of my faults. So the first couple years with every team he's going to be fine. He's going to be on his best behavior. You're going to get a very determined, a very motivated.

I'll approve something, Antonio Brown. That's good. I don't have real any reservations with O'Dell Beckham, except he had a broken ankle. And I worry about it. O'Dell Beckham, man, that dude is the real deal. Anybody that plays receiver that knows football, the way that he can change direction and just put his foot in the ground, like he can decelerate, there's not many guys that can do that.

I think if you put him, Again, I said this last week. Never had a problem with them at LSU. Didn't hear a peat. Very coachable. Didn't have a problem with Tom Conflin. Last couple years, people are like, whoa, boat thing, it's like you guys don't understand. The Giants are now a bad franchise.

You don't think they are because the Blue and Giant Stadium. They're talked about a lot. Right, right. So you think the Giants are an elite franchise. I could make an argument. They're not close to Dallas and Philly in terms of roster. I'm not sure they've got a significantly better roster than Washington. They may have the fourth best roster in their division.

So I think, you know, to me, I guess that's this. It's like Anthony Davis and New Orleans. TJ, I'll always defend a transformative athlete with crappy bosses. I will always defend Anthony Davis in New Orleans. He gave you six years. He deserves better than New Orleans. And you get Odell Beckham with a team that's stable, good quarterback, that great head coach.

He might be one. He'll go down as one of the greatest receivers ever play if he's in that situation. As long as he's healthy, I totally agree with him. By the way, so Jordy Nelson came out to defend Aaron Rogers. Jordy's now a raider. I'm not sure if he's going to be there long term. He'd probably like to go back to Green Bay. Here's what Jordy Nelson said defending Aaron Rogers.

It doesn't make sense. I think it's comical when I read those comments. Everyone knows negativity self that in all of me. If it's social media, print media, TV media, it's all about negativity. People feel better about themselves when they hear bad things about other people. That's why that gets more pub. I mean, no one wants to hear that Aaron's obviously a great quarterback, but a great leader and does everything right. All right, there's your story.

What fun is that? So whenever they can go back to the well and get the same people saying the same stuff. Here's where I disagree. Aaron Rogers, his brand is established. If I say whole food, you think organic. If I say Rush Limbaugh, you think conservative. If I say IKEA, you think affordable furniture. If I say Aaron Rogers, you think talented and polarizing.

That's what I think. It's been established. It didn't matter if I rip him or Jordy compliments him. I have multiple people acknowledging he struggled with Fav, he struggled with McCarthy, he struggle with his brother. I don't think money's ever changed him. In the story today, it's like money's changed. I don't think money's ever changed Aaron.

I think he has a certain DNA. He can be a little condescending. He can be a little too cool for the room. And I know guys that played with him, he was that way at Cal. He rubbed people the wrong way at Cal. And then he rubbed Favreve. And he rub McCarthe. That's just who he is.

But you know what? Jordy Nelson has a different relationship with Aaron Rogers. So he's going to see him different than other guys. They got along. They clicked. And so for Jordy Nelson, he's like, what are people talking about? Me and Aaron were fine.

I thought he was a leader. But those two, their personalities meshed. They clicked. So Jordy Nelson sees him differently than others do. Did you ever get along with somebody? Others didn't. Well, Colin, I think I'm a people person. I think I pretty much get along with everybody.

Did you get along with Ocho? Yeah, very well, I mean, I understand people's personality. Excuse me. I understand people's personalities. And so I can take you and be friends with you, regardless of your friends. faults because I have my faults as well. So Ocho and you were good.

You didn't see him as a crazy person. No, never, because I knew how he is. Chad is actually a really good dude. He's a good person. He's a nice person. He just likes attention. But as far as his heart and the type of person is, he's a great dude. 30-year anniversary of Jerry

Jones buying the Cowboys. I think he's been a pretty remarkable leader. He's got three Super Bowls, two different coaches, best stadium in the country. The quarterback situation with the Cowboys is always relevant. I mean, they're always in the news. And he also, by the way, is the owner that lubricated the Rams coming to

Los Angeles. I think he's the most powerful owner in American sports. He bought them for $140 million. They're now worth $5 billion. So I think Return on your investment. No, I mean, I think Jerry's brilliant. Yeah, again, he's part of the VIP Boys Club.

And then, you know, there's a lot of egos and a lot of craziness with that stuff. You wanted to be a cowboy. I did. Why? I want number. Number one, I was a cowboy fan growing up. Number two, I wanted to play with Tony Romo. And so I was at the combine, and I was on elevator, and I saw Stephen Jones.

Yeah. And I said, man, I want to come play with the Cowboys. And he's like, oh, man, if we hadn't traded for Roy Williams, then we could probably make it happen. But they had traded for Roy Williams, so that wasn't going to happen. But I always thought Tony Romo was a really good quarterback. He was. I wanted to play with him.

Yeah. It's funny about the Cowboys, you know, you look at the Cowboys and you think they're kind of dysfunctional. But we were talking this morning, I'll name a team. I'll just name an NFL franchise. And you tell me if the word dysfunctional is one of two or three words you think of. Gotcha. Buffalo. Yes.

Miami. Yes. Okay. I want to get my list. Hold on. Cincinnati. Yes. Cleveland.

Yes. Jacksonville. Yes. Detroit. Yes. L.A. Chargers? No. Okay. Jets.

Yes. Washington? Yes. Oakland? Yes. Okay. So this is my point. Tampa Bay. Yes, but I think that will change.

Okay. Now that Arians is there. So I gave you 12 teams. Yeah, 12 teams. My point is, there is a lot more dysfunction. If I say cowboys, I think they have a great roster.

I think they've won their division two out of three years. But when you say dysfunction, and I've been thinking about this, it's the teams that aren't winning. And so when you don't win, things are going to come out. People are going to be upset. Stories are going to leak out that maybe a coach

that's unhappy with how things are going tell somebody else, tells his buddy in the media. Teams that are successful and are doing a good job, there's nothing to be upset about. There should be no dysfunction at all. Do you think the Cowboys are well-run since Jerry Bottom? Yeah, you know why they're well-run? We talk about them regardless if they're winning or losing.

His players seem to really love them. He backs his players. Great facilities. And so forward-thinking. I mean, you look at when they built that stadium. Dude, when you drive into a stadium, you get let out in the parking lot, you walk to the locker room. The Cowboy Stadium was the first one where the bus took you

straight to the locker room. You got off the bus and walked right into the locker room. We saw that like, man, the big TV screen. So he's forward-thinking, and the Cowboys are always talked about. By the way, you hung out with Dak recently. Yeah, I saw him, want to say Friday? What did you guys talk about? Just working out, and I just gave him my opinion.

I said, you know, and if he's watching this, he'll know, it's better to eat a bunch of small meals than one large meal. Get your money, but be smart. Be smart. You'd rather be the cowboy quarterback than not be the cowboy quarterback. It was basically the gist of the conversation. So take 22 instead of a monster 28, and in the end, you'll get a second for your deal. Yes.

I'd rather eat four times a day than once a day. And what was his response to that? I think he, when I said that, the analogy, he looked at me and was like, makes a lot of sense. Let's hope he was listening. We like the Cowboys to be relevant, T.J. Good seeing you, bud. Thank you. Joy with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Everyone doesn't have time to eat four times a day, you know. You're very busy. Sometimes it's easier to eat. Are you a grazer? I'm a grazer.

I eat five times a day. No, I actually, I could eat once a day. I'm like you, Joy. First of all, why are you giving out bad advice? You got you and Eric Dickerson. I didn't say what I did was right. I gave them good advice when I do myself is wrong. You eat once a day.

Well, I snack a lot, but I eat one big meal. But I'll eat a bunch of fruit throughout the day. Like today I've had an apple and a banana. That's it. All right. I don't understand. Colin does not understand. He's got to eat all day.

Yeah, people are crazy. But you're a snacker. You snack all day. All day. All day. So you're eating a lot. That's what I do. I snack all day and then I'll eat a meal.

Eric Dickerson once told me he's like, yeah, I didn't eat yesterday until midnight. I'm like, either you're a piranha or like that's how they eat. They eat like a human and they don't eat for a month. Like, who eats like that? Well, I can't eat at midnight, but... Eric Dickerson, Herschel Walker once told me. He goes, I have a smoothie a day, maybe a piece of fish. Like, what?

Yeah, I could eat breakfast, which is light, and then I could not eat again until, like, 8 o'clock tonight. I don't even understand that. I'm like that. What are your hemoglobin levels, riboflavin? I don't know. How you're not collapsing on the air? Who could go 14 hours and not eat?

I don't know. I'm a space alien. I don't know. It's just what I do. Anyway, Antonio Brown has requested a trade and used social media to highlight his frustrations with the Steelers. He also once guaranteed money, and now they are in some negotiations, and the Steelers have a condition.

According to Mike Florio, approved football talk, he said with the team admitting that only three teams have expressed interest, even though it was made clear that Brown was available six weeks ago, the Steelers want to trade him only to an NFC team per reports. The Steelers will avoid trading Brown to one of their AFC North rivals or to the Patriots. Now, the Steelers do have the option of not trading Antonio Brown. so they do kind of have control as far as that goes is not sending him to the Patriots or an AFC North team. However... I'm not trading him to Cleveland.

They're starting to stockpile players. Yeah, no. I mean, they don't want to trade them to someone that they have to play in their division. Like that makes sense, but how many options they have being that only three teams are required is something else. Listen, ask yourself this. The team that would get Antonio would probably, and I don't like to use the word desperate, it, but find a team where the general manager needs a good year to save his job. Well, Arizona.

Peter Kings has three suggestions, which is Carolina won, Washington, and Tampa Bay. Now, Carolina's interesting because the new owner is a Pittsburgh guy. He went to Pitt and then Carnegie Mellon. He donated $55 million to Carnegie Mellon, so he has a 5% stake in the seal. Had a 5% stake in the Steelers in 2009. So he has a lot of Pittsburgh ties anyway. Okay, here's what's fascinating, is that Cam physically has always resembled Big Ben. 6-5, really good out of the pocket, Superman arm.

Fascinating to see, though, Antonio Brown complains about Big Ben. Go play with Cam, who has precision and accuracy issues and see how that works. Now, I think that would be a fascinating, I don't think it would be good for Antonio Brown. It would be a great watch because they're two big personalities. I mean, he's posting about it, but they clearly have a relationship. But I don't think Cam and Antonio Brown is the best. I think he needs to go to a guy that can get him the ball quickly and let him operate. Well, I don't like Tampa Bay for that.

No. And what's going on in Washington? No. No. By the way, all three you mentioned are bad. I think actually, if you gave him Josh Rosen, who's limited physically, but as a precision thrower, you get the ball to Antonio early in the route and let him do his thing after the cat. That's where he's unbelievable.

I think the most, the best thing for everyone, for fans, for Antonio Brown, depending on what they give the Steelers would be the 49ers. Yeah. That's what I'm rooting for because I don't want to see Antonio Brown go somewhere and disappear because he is playing with a quarterback that has accuracy issues. And I think the Cam thing sounds great on paper. Cam and Antonio, I do not think that would be great. It's going to translate to the field.

So the Lakers fell to under 500. They were 2930 when they lost the Pelican. on Saturday. Pelicans were also with Anthony Davis. So the team's spiraling and LeBron's team's below 500 at the latest point in the season since his 0405 sophomore season and LeBron doesn't

feel he is the prop law. Last few years, everybody's so accustomed to the losses that I'm just not accustomed to. I'm not accustomed to it. I would never get comfortable with losing. Losing Game 1 in Houston and feels the same way of losing

game 59. It's for me. That's just how I'm built. That's where I am. No, people aren't dissecting this quote a bunch of different ways. Chris Broussard had a problem with him saying, I, instead of we. Katino's talking about how he's trying to teach these guys at these games that you don't necessarily get up for because they're not on T&T, and it's not Houston, it's not Golden State.

Those games in this part of the season actually matter. I don't have a problem with LeBron saying this at this point in the season. Now, what the Lakers felt like at the beginning of the season before his injury and what they feel like now are two different teams for a lot of different reasons. Obviously, the trade situation was a disaster, LeBron's injury, Kuzma, Alonzo, Rondo, all having injury issues. To me, what LeBron's trying to say is I'm the guy. I'm LeBron James.

I have three rings. I know how to win. Look at what I'm doing. And maybe he's not translating that in the best way to the Young Corps. And maybe there are some communication issues because of all the trade talk. By the way, LeBron dogged it on the defensive end. too, so he's got to be careful about saying watch me, because I do watch LeBron and the Lakers. LeBron mails it in defensively a lot.

I think he gets emotional sometimes. Like, he shrugs and, like, you get an air of disappointment when things aren't going the way that they're supposed to with the Lakers. But overall, he's right. Like, they are not on the same page, and they have major issues. And if they're going to make the playoffs, they have to all tighten up. How about this? How about this? This is maybe the 15th best roster in the league.

Toronto's got a better roster. Milwaukee does, Philly does, Boston does, Golden State does, Houston does, Portland now does, OKC does, I think Utah does. So I'm at five, six, I'm at nine. Oh, Denver does. Denver's deeper. So that's 10. So I'm at 10 now. And I won't even go to the teams that have a better record. Like I think Sacramento right now, maybe not have a better roster. I think Sacramento is a better team than Lakers. Well, that's, yeah. I mean, and I think that's what he's saying. Like, obviously, you need to be. talent to win in this league. We know that. You need stars. But you have to play with the championship mentality, too. And that hasn't been, what he's saying is the last couple years of the Lakers, it hasn't been a championship mentality. It hasn't been up to Lakers standards. And that's now leaking over. You can't just flip a switch and all of a sudden become winners. And finally, sticking with the Lakers, a lot was made about Kyle Kuzma's game ahead of the trade deadline.

It was picked apart by a lot of people discussing his value. But Kobe actually had some advice for Kuzma. Kobe told Sports Illustrated a lot of players concerned themselves, with things that aren't important. They shot, they just missed before and potentially missing the next one. And then what people say about them, may say about them because of it. The true art of any athlete is just to be in the moment.

Now, Kobe is known as an artist on the court. Like, he goes on to say that, you know, you can have counter moves to your counter move and, like, you have this predictable move that everyone prepares for so you can hit them with something else. And Kobe is obviously incredible dynamic, offensive player, we all know, maybe the best ever. To give me this advice

to Kuzma and trying to, you know, integrate that into his game. It's a lot. But I do feel like Kuzma feels like the guy that has that dog in him, and he wants to be Kobe, and he wants to be LeBron. Even him talking about how they feel like they didn't have a sense of urgency. Kuzma could be that guy

to me for the Lakers, but that's who I'm, that's who I'm looking to. I don't think he's nearly as talented as Kobe. I think Kobe's... No, no, no. That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that you have, to me, the issue with the Lakers is a mentality issue. Obviously, you and I disagree. I think they have a huge talent problem.

I do think that they have a talent problem. But I also think that you have to have a base energy and mentality and mantra for your organization that carries over from year to year even if you don't have the talent needed to win a championship. You just can't accept a certain level of losing. If they got Antonio, if they got Anthony Davis and didn't move any other pieces, they'd win 10 more games. Would the mentality change or would they have Anthony Davis? They'd have Anthony Davis, but are they going to win a championship? because they still need shooters and they still need everyone to get their chemistry together.

But they'd win a bunch of more games because they'd have a 25-14 guy. We've seen teams put a bunch of talents together and they're not manifest into a championship. Well, again, championship, there's one team that's going to win a championship. A lot of that's just, you know, it's like Phil Mickelson was a great golfer. He just played in Tiger's Prime. So what is? I mean, mentality is great. You could have the world's winningest mentality.

When this mic goes on, either you can fill space or you can't. Yeah. So, I mean, at some point, I am just a huge, in basketball, I don't believe this in a lot of other sports. In basketball, man, I look at that Lager roster, and it's like, we're not getting LeBron Year 8. We're getting LeBron Year 16. He plays in spots. Well, maybe that's on us. Maybe we need to have had more realistic expectations.

Yeah, no, I think that's, I don't even feel the juice this year. You know, I thought at minimum it would feel massive. This thing's felt massive about twice for about an hour. So, joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. Best and worst moments of Jerry Jones Cowboy Ownership.

Today is the 30-year anniversary of Jerry owning the Cowboys. Man, there have been some highs and there have been some lows. Overall, I think he's actually been a tremendous owner, and we'll talk about that. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Get your free credit scorecard today, even if you're not a Discover customer, FICA credit score, checks your scorecard, won't hurt your credit. Learn more. Discover.com slash credit scorecard limitations apply. It is the 30th anniversary of Jerry Jones buying the Dallas Cowboys. Now, it has been an unbelievable financial windfall for the family.

Jerry's very much an aggressive go-for-it businessman. He bought it for $140 million. It is now valued at $5 billion. And I really honestly think if it was on the market for six or seven, somebody would buy it. You know, when you get to the world's richest people, global wealth, $5 billion is the cowboys are worth more than that to me. Jerry was always a successful guy, but it's really changed his family. He's got really smart kids. Charlotte, his daughter, I think, went to Stanford.

Stephen Jones has taken over for Jerry and been very functional. You know, a lot of second generation businesses. Father hands it over to his son, and it goes sideways fast. I don't know Stephen. I know Charlotte. They're really bright, really smart, stable, trustable kids. He has leaned on them often. She runs the operation side.

Stevens more into the football side. So we thought we would do 30th anniversary. Our best for last today, the highs and lows of Jerry. After almost three hours, Colin apparently hasn't gotten to the point yet. Quit holding out on us, cowherd. It's the best for last. All right, here are the highs, the five highs, the best of Jerry Jones owning the cowboy. I think hiring Jimmy Johnson was number one.

They Jerry bought the team. He fired Tom Landry, and he hired Jimmy Johnson. At the time, I can recall, it was highly controversial. Jimmy would construct a roster that would change the Cowboys. Jimmy would create the trade value chart. Nobody made trades in the NFL before Jimmy Johnson. Johnson, which is why it's remarkable. He's not in the NFL Hall of Fame. He created the modern-day trade. He became the first coach to win a Super Bowl and a college football championship. It was a

gutsy move by Jerry. Tom Landry, in very conservative Dallas, was very faith-based, beloved, iconic, and Jerry moved on and got Jimmy. It's the greatest movie ever made. I also think the Cowboys winning three Super Bowls in four years. Jimmy left Barry Switzer. a friend of Jerry Jones came in. Not really a long-term solution, but did win a Super Bowl. I think the other thing, I would say the third thing that jumps out to me is opening Jerry's World, which is the best football stadium in America. It also hosts WWE events, boxing matches, final fours, NBA All-Star Games. I think Jerry World has been a remarkable move.

Again, cost little more than they thought, but has been worth every pay. I think another high would be finding quarterbacks out of nowhere. Tony Romo was undrafted. Dak Prescott was the fourth round. Both have been fundamentally winning quarterbacks, division winning quarterbacks. By the way, the Cowboys since Jerry bought him, the quarterback position's always been relevant. They're the ninth winning his franchise since Jerry bought them. And remember, he's never had an Aaron Rogers, never out of Tom Brady, never had a Big Ben,

never out of Peyton Manning. Tony Moe was good, not that good. To be the ninth, he did have, oh, you're right, my buddy, he had Troy initially. My bad. Yeah, last 20 years he hasn't had that. So he's had to find guys in the last 20 years, and he's done that. And I also think one of the big wins is football back in Los Angeles. Los Angeles.

He got it to Los Angeles. It wasn't St. Louis. They're going to host Super Bowls, NFL Network. Combine's going to move out here. He rallied owners to move a franchise in St. Louis. And it's the second biggest media market. So I think those are the five big wins, higher in Jimmy, Super Bowls, opening Jerry's world,

finding quarterbacks after Troy Ackman out of nowhere and getting football back in Los Angeles. Now, here are the five less than spectacular moves by Jerry. The Dave Campo years. Not great. 511, 511, 511. Those were not great. And Jerry was incredibly loyal.

He's always been far more loyal. Really has been. Some would argue in Dallas loyal to a fault with Jason Garrett. Yeah, Dave Campo came back as an assistant later. I also think, how about this one? The Leon Lett Fumble, 93 Thanksgiving game. That is John shaking his head. This is probably the most painful loss.

This was just awful. I can remember where I was sitting watching that game. Oh, that was awful. There's also the Tony Romo botched snake. which I think drove Bill Parcells out of coaching, where they had the playoff game one in Seattle. It was wet and drizzly and Romo fumbled a snap. Again, Jerry had nothing.

The wins are mostly credited to Jerry. The bad moments for the Cowboys are mostly on the players. There was also that that's my quarterback in 2007. Remember that where the Cowboys were the number one seat in the NFC and they lost their first playoff game to the Giants and Tio went here. It's not about, you know, Tony. You guys can point the finger at him. You can talk about the vacation. And if you do that, it's really unfair. It's really unfair. It's my team. It's my quarterback. That's crazy, right?

I miss Tio. It's one of the best. He got very emotional. I kind of like that about Tio. Media moments of all time. I kind of like that. I mean, it's great. Show a little personality. And finally, not to rub it in, but the Des Bryant didn't catch the ball. By the way, he did catch it. He did catch it. This honestly is the play,

which to me was like, we got to figure this out. Like, this is not acceptable. Like this is just, in what world, look at this? Both hands, both feet, knee, elbow. It's so bad. I don't understand it.

I don't know how anyone can say that that's not a catch. It's so bad. Don't forget the Jared Cook, too. Yeah, I'll rub that in. Speak for yourself next. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

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on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett. My mama want you to weigh better. What?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season.

And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff. on this. If we didn't talk ever again, I was funny. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis'clock, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love.

This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.