The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Lakers, Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, and Kevin Durant

Episode Date: June 28, 2019

With the Los Angeles Lakers now having cap space to sign another star, Colin gives possible scenarios. He explains why he would feel bad for the Clippers if Kawhi Leonard decides to sign with the Lakers. Also Colin says Kevin Durant leaving the Warriors to prove something is like Tom Brady leaving the Patriots. Guests include Chris Broussard, Chris Haynes, Chris Mannix, and Jason McIntyre.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming till. 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 Herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeart Radio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go on a lively Friday. In Los Angeles, 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, different shades of blue,

supporting America. Joy Taylor is joining me. You've got the beautiful, almost light. Blue. Yeah, it's like a summer blue, I guess. I've got the denim blue. We are supporting America. The United States Women's National

Team in a few hours takes on France. And we'll be one of the most watched women's national team games in the history of the country. Yeah, I'm very excited for this. So am I. So yesterday, last hour of our show,

crazy time. It was great. Joy and I's favorite kind of show. Just breaking news. Yeah, just live TV going off the rail. Yes, it was just absolutely wonderful. And so I wake up this morning and here's the various reports we're hearing. One report says that the Lakers,

Kauai is their first choice and Kairi is their second choice. That's what we said at the end of yesterday's show. We said we absolutely believe Kauai Leonard, that's what I've been told. What they want to get is Kauai Leonard. Second is Karee. That's not my second. That's their second. Third is Butler.

Fourth is DeAngelo Russell. Now there's other reports saying this morning, if they can't get Kauai and Leonard or Kyrie Irving, they're just going to throw a bunch of stuff together with that $32 million. But I thought this morning what is interesting, and this is where it's fun to be a sportscaster and hopefully fun to be a viewer or a listener, there are five different scenarios going forward

to play with LeBron, Anthony Davis, and Kyle Kuzma. And each has a completely different feel to them. Each would have a different vibe. And I thought, I'm going to give you the five scenarios, give each one kind of a moniker or a name and what I think they would be. So let's start with the first. This, I think, would be the best team. It would be Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, Anthony Davis,

and the very talented young player, Kyle Kuzma. Let's call this team NBA champions. This would be the greatest collection of talent ever. Kauai Leonard's arguably the best player in the game. if he's not, LeBron is, and Anthony Davis is the most skilled big, and Coosma's a terrific young player. You'd have, with no KD in the league next year, three of the top five players, I don't think you'd need an incredibly deep bench.

It would feel, it would have on its best nights an unfair feeling. Tyson in his prime, Tiger in his prime, the Warriors' first two years with KD, where you kind of felt like, okay, they're in the finals. everybody's crossing their finger for a twisted ankle. This, I think, is the best possible team. I don't think it's going to happen, but I would call that team NBA champs. The second team is Kyrie Irving, LeBron, Anthony Davis, and Kyle Kuzma. I would call that the Drama Kings.

I think they would, on their best nights, be the most offensively brilliant. I don't think they'd be as good defensively. LeBron's not the defensive player he used to be, and Kyrie doesn't like the defend. I think they would be very good. I don't think this is a sustainable unit for more than a year or two max. Kyrie Irving has bailed on Brad Stevens. He's bailed on LeBron. He'll choose the Nets over the Knicks.

He's a hard guy. I just had a conversation with two NBA guys two nights ago, and they love Kyrie and they're flummoxed by him. I would call this the Drama Kings. The third team is Jimmy Butler plus LeBron plus Anthony Davis and Kyle Kuzma. I would call this team dynamite. Athletically dynamic, emotionally dynamite as in implosion. Jimmy Butler and Kyle Kuzma, I think, would struggle. Kuzma wants to be Jimmy Butler.

Jimmy Butler is going to try to fend off Kyle Kuzma. You'd have four essential forwards and no guards. I don't think the chemistry would be great. I do think defensively it would be excellent because I think Kauai Leonard's going to take his 15 games off a night and Jimmy Butler won't. I think on a nightly basis, they would be the most consistently stellar defensive unit. AD Butler and Kuzma, I think are excellent defensive players and in spots LeBron can be. But again, Jimmy Butler, a third scoring option. This is Team Dynamite because they would be athletically dynastic.

but they would implode. The fourth is the DeAngelo Russell-Lebron A.D. Kuzma team. I would call this the redeemed team. DeAngelo Russell, back to L.A. to redeem himself. LeBron James, redeeming himself after a bad first year in L.A. Anthony Davis, proving once and for all he can be a go-to guy past the first round in the playoffs. And Kyle Kuzma showing everybody, hey, I was the right guy. of all the young guys to keep.

I would call this the Redeemed team. And then finally, the fifth team. This would be LeBron A.D. Kuzma and a collection of Darren Collison, JJ Reddick, Bogdanovich. I would call this team the Lakers, because this is the team's history. Two stars, an emerging star or very good player, and then excellent role players. This is what won a title for Wilt and Jerry West. This is what won a title for Shaq and Kobe, several.

This Kareem, Magic, several years later, James Worthy, very good role players. This feels like the Lakers I have watched my entire life. You've got two of the top players in the league, one very noteworthy, a wilt, a Shaq, a Kobe, a magic. and then another all-time great. And then you have one, a worthy accouzma, of an emerging, excellent player, and then role players that are very redeemable, very sustainable, understand their role, don't shrink in the moment,

have a history of hitting big shots, you're Robert Ories, your Derek Fischer's, your Rick Foxes, Byron Scots, that team, to me, is the most sustainable. just enough egos, not too many players that come to the arena every night, no load management, guys that want to play, half the team hungry, trying to get a first ring. Two or three of the guys already have a ring. So in review, we go from the NBA champs, the Drama Kings, Team Dynamite, the Redeemed team, and finally the Lakers.

there's only two that I really, really feel strongly about. The Kauai Leonard team, I think of all those at its best, there's never been anything quite like it, and this team, the Lakers, which is the history of the franchise I've seen. Egos, but not too many, not too many mouths to feed, not too many press conferences, not too much drama. So that this morning is where we're, at, I will say there is a development happening and it is, like, I'm not, I'm not supposed to root, right?

There are individual athletes, and a lot of it's just theater and playful. I love Tom Brady. I love the way wake-ups in the morning, wake up in the morning, it's football and family. Obviously, I think LeBron's been very valuable to my show, the great Swiss Army knife of my life in basketball. No player's ever done more at the top level. I love the NFL. I love the NBA.

So those guys have really been a part of my show for over 10, 12 years, almost every day, certainly every week. But I don't like to root. I've ripped the Lakers the last year or two. And by the way, deflategate, I was very critical of Tom Brady. But I will say there's a scenario building with Kauai Leonard. And it's going to be so uncomfortable. that I find myself rooting for an NBA franchise that I've never really, quote, rooted for before.

And I've got to tell you what that is, and 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 IHard 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.

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with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced 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. suit 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.

Kier Gains 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, 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 Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the fly. man, 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. Oh, yeah.

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. 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. 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, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I am not supposed to root, but I live in Los Angeles. I know people who work for the Clippers. and Kawhi Leonard now will interview with the Lakers as well as the Clippers and the Raptors. This, of course, is the Clippers' worst nightmare.

The Clippers all year have done everything right. It was the most overachieving team in the league. The front office, you got Balmer, the energetic semi-young owner, very pro player. You got Jerry West, the logo, the icon. Michael Winger, Lawrence Frank, smart young analytic guys. Everybody gets along in the organization. The players are, you know, you got your Lou Williams, your old guys. Everybody likes the players.

You had the best bench in the NBA. You overachieve, beat the Warriors twice. When they were healthy, they've done everything right. The Lakers, meanwhile, have been an utter tire fire for a year. And the Lakers now will get an interview with Kauai Leonard. A, it's the power of the big brand, but it would be an absolute gut punch for the Clipper franchise. It would be a gut punch. They have done everything right, recruiting him for a year.

They went to his games in Toronto, making sure he could spot them. You know what this is? This is potentially the Ray Allen shot of free agency. Remember that? James catches, puts up a three. Won't go. Rebound Bosch. Back out to Allen. His three-poena. Back! The Spurs led the series 3-2. Champaign was on ice. Security had the ropes out. Goggles were ready. Spurs led by five with 20 seconds left. They had been the better team in the series.

The trophy was in the building. And Ray Allen hits a three. Pump the brakes were going to overtime. Miami rebounds and wins the series. San Antonio never recovered from that shot. They never recovered. I don't know how the clippers recover. Somebody joked yesterday on Twitter. Maybe Steve Balmer just goes and takes a franchise back to Seattle. Never forget this.

With the Red Sox lost to the Mets. Remember the Bill Buckner air, the late Bill Buckner. 86. Red Sox didn't recover for 20 years. The next year, the Red Sox were below 500. they emotionally could not recover from that moment. The Spurs could not emotionally recover from that moment. I think this would be such an awful, emotional kick to the you know what.

And I'll tell you about Kauai Leonard. I want you to think about this for a second. He is the most unique player in my life. Think about this. If Kauai chose the Lakers, over the Raptors and the Clippers. He would have destroyed in his career, the Spurs Dynasty by leaving,

the Heat Dynasty, fourth year became the MVP, the Warriors Dynasty this year, the Raptors' future, and the Clippers' soul. He's the Thanos of the NBA. He literally is. I mean, he would have just crushed all these teams. The Clippers' soul, the Warriors' dynasty, the Raptors' future.

future, Popovich's 20-year run, and the Miami guys dynasty. Yeah, and Thanos didn't have a whole lot to say either, so they've got a lot in common. He spoke volumes in very few words. Listen, I would ideally, living in Los Angeles and knowing people in both organizations, I would like to see the Clippers get Kauai and the Lakers do the LeBron A.D. Kuzma collection of cool veterans. a raptor feel to it where I got a lot of Lowries and Sergeabotkas.

Oh, I can't imagine how devastating this would be. How devastating it would be if Kauai chose the Lakers. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Heard Line News. I almost don't want to talk about it too much and speak it into existence.

I just stay with the Raptors. It's the best choice for everyone. All right. Well, Kevin Durant is apparently, no longer the most hated player in the NBA. If Kauai does this, he might take over that spot. Sports Insider did an analysis of geo-tagged tweets, and the Bronjames

is back on top as the number one hated player on social media. He swept 25 states, including California, and the rest of the West Coast. Durant took 17 states, including Nevada and Hawaii. We've got a little Kyrie there, obviously.

The Boston fans not too happy with his exits. Anthony Davis took Two states, you know, Pelicans territory, Louisiana and Arkansas, and James Hardin slipped a little hate from Utah in there. Wow. It's interesting, right? You know, but... It's not surprising because... Also, it's just, even in our business, all the hated people, you hate what you fear.

Nobody hates the irrelevant morning disc jockey. They hated Howard Stern because he was taking away economy from people. Well, I don't think that they necessarily hate LeBron. And like all those states, LeBron has obviously had a reign over the NBA for a long time. I think Durant obviously is the Golden State move. That makes sense because Durant hasn't really dominated anyone other than his time in Golden State. So it's just the move there. Nobody fears Kevin Durant.

Right. It's more just his move to play with the dynasty. LeBron is understandable, but it's also just greatness. They're discussable and they're polarizing players. Kyrie makes sense. James Harden makes sense. But the fact that the two top players in the NBA are the most discussed, and most hated.

And we know how the hate goes. It's really like, oh, you know, during chalked all this trash from LeBron. And if you saw them in person, it would be fanboy all day. It's a badge of honor. Yeah, no, it is. It is something to be proud of.

If you're being discussed, that's a good thing. And you're feared. And you're feared, yes, at least in LeBron's case. So speaking of Kevin Durant's, re-signing Durant and Clay Thompson in free agency this summer would make Golden State the most expensive team in NBA history. But according to an ESPN report,

that is the Warriors' goal. The time free agency opens Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern. The Warriors will have offered both Thompson and Durant full five-year max contracts. For Durant, that means $221 million. And for Clay, $190 million. Even with that reality, Katie might miss all of next season, recovering from a torn Achilles and Clay might miss the bulk of it coming back from an ACL tear. That remains the Warriors' first choice.

Clay, I saw our report today, might not be back until February or March. So they're basically offering five-year maxes to two players that won't really. really be playing this season. That's what I would do. And then eventually I'd move off Draymond because Kavon Looney will be my next big. Right. So they also want to retain Kvon Looney. That's a priority for them as well. So their payroll as upcoming season could balloon to more than $375 million. That includes more than $200 million in luxury taxes. But they have the Chase Center opening later this year in San Francisco. That's estimated to generate $200 million in revenue there. And in the past the years, the Warriors have passed

the Knicks and Lakers' highest earning team in the NBA, eclipsing the $400. million mark in annual revenue. So they feel like it's worth it. I would agree. You have to spend money to make money and you got to keep Clay Thompson and Kevin Durant. It goes back to what Jerry Jones, owner of the Cowboys, he said this about a year ago. I think, yeah, we were working together. And Jerry said, when I go back and look at my life, I've never regretted overspending for the best. What I've regretted is trying to save money. And then years later, I look back and think, what was I doing? Like, Kevin Durant's great. By the way, remember, Brady missed a year, Michael Jordan missed a year, John Stockton.

We've had great players disappear for a year. Michael Jordan left for a couple and came back. So Kevin Durant is still a top five player. I don't know if he'll be ever quite what he was. But remember, his game is shooting. He could do that until he was 40. Generally, we know how Kelly's injuries goes. I don't fear that with Kevin Durant.

Maybe it's just his body type. you know, I feel like he's young enough. It's a hard injury to come back from, as we all know, but I don't really have that anxiety with him. I'm the same way. He'll be okay. But it's interesting that Jerry Jones is doing that, and he's stalling on trying to get Dax contract done.

That tells you what he thinks about truthfully about that. Right. So finally, the Lakers did it. They now have space for a potential max-level free agents. They've stripped away every player from the roster who they do not view as central to the next championship push. The question is, who do they view as targets this summer? according to Mark Stein of the New York Times,

Kyrie Irving remains just as much as the target for the Lakers as Kauai Leonard. League sources say now that the Lakers are sure that they can open a maximum cap space. They are swinging for the fences despite all the signals that have pointed Kyrie Irving to Brooklyn. I don't think it's going to happen. This is the only thing I've been told that I trust from two NBA players that Kyrie is very strongly in the Brooklyn camp. I don't see Kyrie rejoining LeBron. there would be a, there's no, there's no way there wouldn't be some backlash of him going to Boston.

It, not really necessarily being a failure, but not working out. And then he comes back to LeBron. Let's say they win a championship. It's always going to be the story that he couldn't win a championship without LeBron. And he's, I think he still wants to be his own guy. I think he's, he may have seen the value of playing alongside someone like LeBron, but I think that the storyline is too much for him to overcome if he comes there. DeAngelo Russell is a little bit different because the Lakers chose to move off

of him. So it's not, you know, him coming back is like, okay, we made a mistake. Yeah, and he doesn't, DiAngelo doesn't have any personal vendetta against Kuzma, A.D. and LeBron. No, I'm sure he has some feelings about the front office. Right. But if they bring him back, it's like, sorry, we messed up. Like, we moved off of you too quickly. Maybe we should have made it work. But I, the only thing is, I don't want Kauai there. Kauai to the Clippers or Kauai to Toronto, because that would just be, it's too much. It's too much. It's too much even for Los Angeles. Joy with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Let's bring in Chris Broussard, and we've done a lot of Chris Broussard lately for a reason. The very connected Chris Broussard. By the way, let me start. I opened the show today with a bunch of scenarios for the Lakers. Apparently, I forgot one, according to you.

Look, if I could choose one player on Earth to put with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, as great as Kauai is, and they'd be great because those three are just such great players. It would be Clay Thompson. Clay Thompson with LeBron and Anthony Davis would be phenomenal because when you have a big three, ultimately either their games need to fit perfectly or somebody needs to step back. Like Kyrie and LeBron, who stepped back, Kevin Love. LeBron and D. Wade, who stepped back, Chris Bosch.

these games fit LeBron could be himself AD could be himself and Clay could be himself. He doesn't need to dribble he can just catch. He's the best catcher shoe player in the league. Now, I don't think that's going to happen, but if I'm the Lakers, I'm like LeBron.

Get Clay on the phone and see, ask him, look, you're our number one guy. Would you come? Because I think Clay's going to stay in Golden State. They're going to offer him to max as soon as they can and he's going to resign. And Clay has no problem being the third guy. He has no problem getting, you know, less shine than Steph, KD,

Draymond even. So I don't think he has an issue with that. But if there's a part of him that would like to move from the shadow of Steph, going to the Lakers would be the way to do it. He still be the third guy, obviously, but he would have, they would win championships. He would have one, maybe two more championships without Steph. And that'd be huge for his legacy. So he would be my number one guy. Now, let's say this. Kauai Leonard spurns the clippers and goes to the Lakers. I mean, honestly, I'm uncomfortable talking about it.

It would be devastating. It would be the Red Sox losing to the Mets in 86 and they're below 500 the next year. So much of the Clippers vibe this year was optimism and hope. Build as far as we can go with this group. What a gut punch. Do you think there's any realistic possibility that Kauai would choose the Lakers? Yes.

You do. I think I said it on this show a couple weeks ago. I had heard if AD goes to join LeBron, then the Lakers are in serious play for Kauai. Now, I didn't believe it, and I don't think that will happen, but I certainly think it's a possibility. I don't think Kauai is going to waste time meeting with teams that he's got no interest in. I still think the pecking order is Clippers one, Raptors two, Lakers, a somewhat distant third. But the Lakers, I don't know if it's been reported, the Lakers better have LeBron and Anthony Davis in the meeting with Kauai. All right, you let the business people and Linda Ramazz all, they don't need to be in there.

LeBron and AD, because he has to sit there and Magic will make a call. Magic will, if he's not there, he'll make a call. Magic maybe should be there. But it's going to be a little difficult for Kauai to say no to all those three guys. Like, look, man, we can do something special. LeBron is definitely with the narrative of I'm going to be here for a few more years. Then you and AD still got plenty of time to do your thing in L.A. So, again, I think they're a third, but I do think it is something that is a possibility.

So I'm a big believer that part. of greatness. Tom Brady and LeBron, it's not just talent. I don't think LeBron's the most physically, I don't think he's the greatest pure basketball player of my life. I think his offensive game has at times been heavy and clunky and he's developed it. He might be the greatest athlete, but not the skill.

He's a way better version of Westbrook, where his game, he loses confidence in his jumper. He couldn't shoot for years. And, you know, I think Kobe is just a more athletically, naturally graceful athlete. But Brady and LeBron are very good at canceling out the noise. So this morning, say this out loud.

Kevin Durant is running from great players. LeBron for the third time is trying to play with more great players. The knock on Kevin Durant, and I think it's a fair one, he is gifted athletically but a little soft,

a little emotional, struggles to block out the noise emotionally. My belief is what creates legends, not just great players, is shoulders up. That's really what separates Brady from a lot of guys with better arms. Tom is into repetition.

He's into the process. He cancels out the noise. He's motivated, not beaten down by criticism. This morning, LeBron, recruit. Give me more great players. Get me Wiggins out. Kevin Love in.

Securing myself. Not seeking validation. Get me Wade and Bosch. Give me more good players. This morning, Kevin Durant is running from the best group of players in the league. I think the optics this morning, if another star joins LeBron, KD, running from talent, seeking validation with the second biggest franchise. and LeBron. This is why LeBron is the king upstairs.

Well, there's so much to impact there. I know there is. One, I can say, I'll tell you a story. I did a big story for ESP in the magazine on LeBron back when he was with Cleveland the first go-round. And I was told a story by the guy, Frankie Walker, who he lived with in elementary school, that the grandfather, Frankie Walker's father, went to pick up. LeBron up from school one day. I think he was in seventh grade. And the principal of the school

came out to meet the grandfather and said about LeBron. He pointed at LeBron and said, this kid, to the grandfather, this kid could be the president of the United States. Like that, that is something about LeBron. He has this intelligence that he's like a leader. Now, he's had his issues. We remember Dallas and, you know, I don't put him on the Michael Jordan scale of mental toughness. but LeBron is a leader and he sees the bigger picture. Always. That's the thing. When you talk to guys close to LeBron,

they're constantly telling you, LeBron is not necessarily just looking at competing with KD or with Kauai or something. He sees the bigger picture. He looks at players taking over the league, taking their destiny into their own hands. That's how he's like. He's tried to sell Duran on that. By the way, let me give you a minute story on Michael Jordan.

So Michael Jordan, early in his career, Magic was winning titles. Michael was considered the greater individual player. So Nike and David Falk, Michael's agent and Nike, without telling Michael, had come up with an idea. Michael against Magic for a million dollars. Now, at the time, that was a lot of money in a one-on-one game. Nike was convinced it would be through the roof. David Falk, a brilliant agent, was convinced it would be brilliant.

And they went to Michael Jordan. And Michael Jordan goes, this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. He goes, magic's already considered the great team player. I'm the great individual player. If I lose to magic, I will have neither. And David Falk and the president of Nike in that moment went,

oh my God, Michael's right. I had never heard that story. He wouldn't have lost, but still. No, right. And Michael knew that. He goes, I think I'm better. But if I did, it kills. And so to your point, LeBron and Michael, and I've heard the same thing about LeBron, they know exactly their brand.

They know how they're viewed, how they're positioned. And LeBron is not worried about the exterior noise that he needs other people because he's smart enough to know. everybody needs other people in this sport. Well, he's a historian of the game, and he looks like at Magic. Magic pretty much had the most talented team in the league every year he played. I mean, he never won it without Kareem and Worthy was there, obviously, and Jamal Wilkes.

Bird, same thing, great. I mean, Dr. Jay never wanted without Moses. LeBron knows that. So when he went to Miami while everybody was killing it, and it was different because it was player generated, he knew, look, I'm only doing what the greats have done. They were put in that position, but I'm putting myself in that position. That's the only difference.

Let me say this also about LeBron, because I do think there's, it may be more in the past than now. There's been an element of him worrying about or being concerned with what people said about him or thought. He is human. But he was smart enough to know himself. And so he started going what? Zero Dark 23. After the Dallas series, because I think it was just voices in his head that made him struggle against Dallas, after that series, what, every postseason, I'm turning off social media.

I'm not watching SportsCenter. I'm not paying attention to any of that. I'm in my zone. I'm reading my books. I'm watching my movies. That's it. Kevin Durant has not made that decision. I don't know if he doesn't know himself well enough.

I don't know if he grew up more with social media than LeBron did because of his age. but Kevin Durant needs to go zero dark 30 and turn off the social media and all that stuff just like LeBron did. So that's an example of me of knowing yourself better than someone else. There's a couple of things I want to touch on because I think starting later today,

it started actually yesterday. I mean, we've already had the AD move and now we've got the cap space move. So there's already been big moves both by the Lakers. The Lakers have so far stolen free agency. They land AD and they clear cap space. But I think by later today and tomorrow morning, you're going to start hearing things.

Things are being negotiated. I want to come back with Chris Broussard. I got a couple questions on I think a couple captivating and really smart fits that people aren't talking about enough. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 Slic Life 12 and 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. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

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

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ 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 ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, I said, 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. What's up, guys? This is Clever 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 of 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. By the way, we were just talking during the break, Chris Broussard, about a weird scenario. I don't think it'll happen. I don't either, but it's possible. You want to go there? Are we sure Kyrie is going to Brooklyn? What if he didn't?

All right. I'll give you some insight on Kyrie. I do think Brooklyn is definitely at the forefront of his mind right now. There are people close to Kyrie that will tell you he's very unpredictable and changes his mind. Like, so you might, he might plan something and then at the last minute change his mind. It could be what I'm going to do this weekend. It could be our dinner plans for the night. It could be where I'm going to play next year in free agency.

But he will change his mind or he thinks about something the second time and says, no, you know, I don't want to do that. So even people close to him are leaving open the possibility of virtually everything. So with that said, here's the scenario we were talking about. If Brooklyn doesn't get Kevin Durant and says, you know what, we're not going to bring in Kyrie by himself, which if I'm Brooklyn, Kyrie's better than DeAngelo Russell, no doubt. But I would keep DeAngelo Russell. Assuming there were no major issues with him and his teammates in the locker room, whatever, which I didn't hear of anything, I would keep DeAngelo.

He's cheaper and then go from, you know, where I was last year. if New York doesn't get Durant and says, we don't, no, we're not going to take Kyrie by himself. Then where does Kyrie go? Then that's when I think the Lakers are in play. Unless Kyrie and Durant said, you know what, why don't we go to the Clippers together? You know, so that could be a scenario.

But I think that would be the best opportunity for the Lakers to get Kyrie. You know, it's interesting. Jimmy Butler's situation is fascinating because you and I both agree. Houston is a little bit, you can see Houston in two worlds. They're a hot mess just trying to grab the most talented guy because I don't think Jimmy Butler. That's the world I see him in. Okay. I don't think Hardin and Jimmy Butler and Chris Paul work at all.

Or there's the, you know, they could just stand pat and be pretty good. I will say this, though, if I'm Philadelphia and you gave. me Tucker, Gordon, and Clint Capella, maybe? I mean, I wouldn't want Capella. Okay. Not that he's not a good player, but I already have Embed. I already have Simmons sometimes. I have to play him down low. And Capella's got a big long-term contract. If I'm, if I'm Philadelphia and I'm like, I'm not letting go of Embed, I think Simmons is still a world-class talent. And Tobias Harris, we won't give him Max, but we think it's a good locker room guy. Could Philadelphia look different next year? Look, if Houston comes to the table and we know they need to get a third team involved in that deal. So if they come to the table to Philadelphia and say, look, we'll give you Eric Gordon, P.J. Tucker,

and we've got a point guard, a Jeff Teague type, a Darren Collison type that will send you in the deal as well from a third team. I would do it if I'm Philly. Jimmy Butler is great there. but I would be hesitant about turning over my locker room to Jimmy Butler. So would I. If you give him, he was a handful going into free agency. Okay, when you're usually on your best behavior, if you give him five years max money,

he's going to run that locker room, do whatever he wants, and we know his history in that situation. So in the other situation, I've got P.J. Tucker can shoot and defend. I've got Eric Gordon is a great shooter. I bring back J.J. Redick. I bring back Tobias Harris. oh, Philly is looking good in that scenario. Ask yourself, LeBron knows players in this league.

So LeBron, while the rest of us, myself included, liked Andrew Wiggins. LeBron didn't want any piece of Andrew Wiggins. Andrew Wiggins today has been a major disappointment. LeBron knows, okay, LeBron never been close to John Wall, right? Like John Wall's something, the media gassed up. LeBron was always reticent. LeBron reticent to Wiggins. By the way, I'm told LeBron's not a huge fan of playing with Jimmy Butler.

What does that tell you about Jimmy Butler? LeBron has a very good understanding. I'm not saying he to GM, but he knows, LeBron knows the guys you want to be in the room with. Well, and here's the thing, too. He sought Kevin Love, Chris Bosch. But say what you want about him. They were willing to marginalize their own games for championships.

I don't think Jimmy Butler is. Well, and think about it, LeBron's never shot away from tough personalities. Lance Stevenson, Ray John Rondo, J.R. Smith. Like, he's usually embraced those guys. If he doesn't want to play with Butler, that does take some. Because I do think Butler would be on his better behavior with LeBron because I think he'd respect LeBron as usually he's had issues with younger guys where he's the man.

And even though they may be better players, they're younger than him. But yeah, I hear the same thing that the Lakers aren't going for Jimmy Butler. Now, there's a report that there are, but I've heard that he's not really... I was told six months ago the Clippers were not into Jimmy Butler. No, they're not. Now, look, if these teams, if the Clippers, if it was, Kauai will go there if you bring Jimmy Butler. Then you do it.

Then they take it because I do hear one of the concerns Kauai has with the Clippers is who is the second guy. Is there a second guy? It was tough for him physically to carry Toronto without a second guy. second star. So I don't know if he, that's a concern of his, do I want to put myself in that situation again? So that, that could be a situation where he says, go get Butler or whoever, and then I'll come. And you do it if you have to. By the way, Kimball Walker Celtics, you can sort of tell when something's going to happen. You can read various reports. It feels like it's going to happen. I love it. And Kyrie, I do think is a better player than Kimba,

but I think the Celtics will be better and better. off with Kimba in that locker room than Kyrie. I think Kimba will be much more in tune to Brad Stevens and what he's selling. I think Kimba will get along better with the young guys. And Kimba's very good. And again, even though I think Kyrie's better, what if Kyrie had never linked

up with LeBron? How much differently would we think of him than Kimba Walker? Because he never won. Years ago, this was before LeBron went to Cleveland. Bruce Hooley was the name of the guy. He's a sportscaster, very good sportscaster in Ohio. And so I brought him on my show. And I loved Kyrie. And he said, he goes, I'm just going to tell you, I watch him every night.

He's injury prone. Players don't like him. He's a huge diva and he's tough to coach. He's unbelievably talented. I've said this. If you take LeBron out of Kyrie's career, it's a lot of nonsense. It's a lot of struggling with coaches and struggling with teammates. And two nights ago, I was with a couple of guys who I respect.

And they like Kyrie. And they're both like, our sources tell us, Kyrie is a handful in a room. Kyrie went weeks without talking to teammates in Cleveland and Boston. Weeks. Weeks. I was told during the finals, he, for like nine days, he didn't talk to teammates. I mean, just, I don't know if Moody is the word or what.

And then sometimes he's great. So it's, that is the question people have about Kyrie. I think if he had never hooked up with LeBron, he'd be a perennial all-star. He would be somewhat iconic because of his handle. I think he's at the best handle in the NBA history. But he would probably not be viewed as a winner. Oh, he would not be viewed as a winner. And that's where you have to, I think the Celtics are going to be great with Kimba.

Good seeing you, buddy. One more, Hurd? 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. 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 athlete 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. 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice 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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

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, Dustin Ross, you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth?

Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose. On my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, fam. It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ 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 Nass 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, I said, 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.

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 walks up to me.

He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 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.

Hour 2 on a Friday, this is The Heard, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. L.A. is the place, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. We do believe our last hour yesterday, news broke on the Lakers cleared cap space for a third stop. another free agent, which was wild and fun, and this is why we love what we do. It was chaos. That's what it is fun to do live TV. I think the Kemba Celtics move will be the next shoe to drop.

I think you're going to hear a lot of rumors. I would not be surprised again. Chris Haynes told me yesterday. He left the set and said, something's going to break in 20 minutes. And sure enough, it did. There was a feeling today more news could break. I want to start our second hour with this is, you know, we pay a lot of attention. We watch sports.

And we can see almost we think everything. We can see the size of players, the speed, we can see the anger, we can see the joy, we can see the skill, and we can see the talent. Now, there's one thing we can't see, and that's the game plan, the playbook. But the other thing we can't see, but it shows itself over time is, mental toughness. And this is what really separates great from legend, good from very good. The ability for LeBron James and Tom Brady for 15 years to get rid of the noise,

to be motivated by criticism, not beaten down by it, to not listen to external noise, they keep it very tight. LeBron and Tom Brady, family, and then there's business. It's a very simple life. LeBron always jokes. He's on his, he's on his, you know, his inflatable raft in his pool, contemplating things. It's basketball, it's family for both LeBron and Tom Brady. They have businesses, but those businesses, again, there's an Uber focus.

And that's what I think separates LeBron from Kevin Durant. Is that think about this this morning, what is happening according to reports. LeBron once again is recruiting stars to join him, regardless of what people say, and Kevin Durant is running from stars because of what people say. Burner account, Kevin, seeking validation, Kevin, upset because of a small market newspaper headline, Mr. Unreliable Kevin. This is the difference. It's not just in talent.

Kevin Durant is a greater natural. offensive player than LeBron. He is. He's a better shooter. We've never seen Kevin Durant, a seven-foot-one guy who shoots like that. We never really, I mean, Dirk Novitsky's a little like him, but he's far more athletic, better defensively. And I think this separates. This is what I think separates Tom Brady from a lot of other really talented guys. I think it's what separates LeBron from really smart guys. Remember, when Magic unraveled, he didn't unravel physically. He first unraveled mentally.

This was the strength of Derek Jeter. He didn't have prolonged slumps. He didn't need a therapist. Arod was more talented, but the emotional discipline of Derek Jeter is why he's a legend. And this morning, I mean, can you imagine Tom Brady doing what Kevin Durant's doing and saying, you know, I want to prove I can do it without Belichick, I'll sign with the Detroit Lions.

You would laugh him off the planet. you would say that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. And I think I really do believe this is the difference with LeBron and KD. For 15 years, LeBron's been the king and Katie's been second. And I said this year, for the first time ever, I felt Kevin jumped ahead of him. And nine months later, after I said that, Kevin's running from the best staff in the league. The best combination of owner, coach, GM talent. And LeBron, once again, is doing what he does.

He doesn't care what you say. He's going to join forces and recruit a bunch of great players. And it's just crazy. I think the Kevin Durant, if he goes to the next, is one of the craziest things I've ever seen in sports. And I am four, you know me. I supported Kevin Durant. I am four-player mobility. You don't go to a terrible owner and a terrible roster.

That's just not smart. That's Brady going to the Lions. That's not smart. And I think Kevin Durant is smart. But smart people make bad decisions. I think this is interesting. It's not getting a lot of play. And I'm not generally somebody who cares about uniforms and numbers.

I don't. I'm into data. I'm boring. I'm kind of a dork. I like all this stuff with data and analysis and I'm nerdy with football. But LeBron James is giving Anthony Davis his number 23 jersey. And I think it's the right thing to do. And again, it shows just LeBron's willingness to adapt to bring talent in.

But I like LeBron going back to number six because I think LeBron owns six. And I think very few players own a number. When I think of number two, the only player I think of is Derek Jeter. When I think of number three, the only athlete I think of is Dale Earnhardt. That's it. When I think of number four, I think of Brett Farve. When I think of number five, I think of the greatest baseball player catcher I've ever seen. I think of Johnny Bench.

And when I think of number six, I think of LeBron James. Colin, Colin, what about Tom Brady at number 12? I don't think of Tom Brady at 12 because I grew up with Joe Namath and I grew up with Terry Bradshaw. So it gets diluted. Well, what about what about number seven? Well, seven is Joe Feisman to me. To somebody that's 60, it's Mickey Mantle. To other people, it's John Elway.

I don't think any one of those owns the number. What about number eight? Well, yes, there's Kobe Bryant. But you know who I think of number eight? I think of Troy Akeman. I think of Steve Young. There's very few numbers that athletes own. And I think LeBron is, in my mind, he's six.

and I don't think it's the end of the world, but it is special. Michael Jordan is 23. That's all I think of. It doesn't matter that LeBron Ward, it doesn't matter. Michael's 23. And I think it's part of his brand, part of what makes him special. I don't think Derek Jeter is the greatest baseball player I've ever seen, but God, he's the two. He is the captain and he's number two.

And so, Joy and I, we're talking about this this morning. you think all great players connect to a jersey individually, and they don't. You give me a number, and I'll tell. So Joy has a series of numbers, and I may whiff on some of these because I generally don't memorize, but you give me a number, and I'll tell you the first person I think of. Well, Wade is number three. So to you, you're a D-Wa, is a Miami girl. But I'm fully with you on LeBron and Six.

I never liked him wearing 23. I felt like for the level of what. LeBron is. He needed his number and also obviously, you know, he won his championships in Miami wearing six. So number seven, you said Joe Thaisman. I think of Michael Vick. Okay, there you go. See, that's generational. But you don't think of Tom Brady when you think of number 12. First thing I think of is Joe Namath. I think of Joe in the Jets jersey. Again, that's when I started loving sports. So here I am in the 70s. I'm like an eight, nine, 10 year old kid. This is when I'm getting into sports. Joe Namath was, and then after Joe in the

to late 70s, it was Terry Bradshaw. And I also think Aaron Rogers jumps out to me as a 12. Yeah, yeah. So number 13, who do you think of? Wilt Chamberlain. Dan Marino. See, again, my... That's funny.

So the first great player I ever saw on television, the first football game I watched was the 72 Super Bowl. So 1972, I was eight years old. That's when I started watching sports on TV. Wilt wore the headband for the Lakers, and it was a CBS game with Brent Musburger doing the play-by-play on CBS. Wow.

Will Chamberlain, in my mind, is 13. Number 21. I think of Dion Sanders. I don't have one. I don't have. So you have Dionne. But there's a lot. Okay, I don't have a 21.

Tim Duncan, Dion Sanders, Ezekio Elliott. It's a blur to me. Kevin Garnett. It's a bunch of guys. Yep. Number 24. Ken Griffey Jr. Kobe.

Okay. So again, I'm a kid from Seattle. He was the kid. I mean, when you were a Mariner fan, they draft him, he goes through, I mean, he was, you know, Mariners when I was, we didn't have baseball forever. So Ken Griffey to me is 24. Number 32. OJ Simpson.

I can see that. I can see that. I mean, I think of magic. Yeah. And I think, for the record, anybody, virtually everybody under 50 thinks magic. But I think of OJ Simpson. But I can understand OJ. I feel like that's a shared number there.

Number 33. Kareem. Yeah, I agree with that. Now, Larry Bird War 33. Yeah. But I don't, that doesn't jump out to me. I think of, see, again, I think of the skyhook. When I was young, Kareem after Wilt was the first dominating NBA unstoppable player.

And I used to mimic him as a kid in the driveway doing the skyhook. How'd that go? I was okay. I would beat my friends, yes. What about 34? Shack. I think Walter Payton. All right.

Okay. But see, he was on a lot of bad teams. So the teams I loved in the 70s were the Steelers, the Raiders, the Redskins, Roger Stalback, Cowboys. So Walter was on terrible bear teams. So even though he was, you know, I remember, generally, I remember the numbers on players who were in the biggest moments. Right. The bears were never in big games.

What about 88? Michael Irvin. See, I agree. I think that's one of those numbers that he. First of all, he was a star. Right. The team was awesome. They won a bunch of championships.

I mean, it's the Cowboys. It's iconic. Yeah, Mike alone's 88. All right, number 99. So that's Sam. Our producer loves hockey. You got to answer this correctly, or this could change our relationship. Everybody's going to say, Gretzky.

Who do you think it is? Jason. Jason Taylor. Oh, your brother. Yes, he failed that, miserably. I was so busy looking at his handsome face. I didn't even know what number he was. He wore a helmet.

He did a new trucey. commercial. He was actually, he was the face of Neutrigina for a while. You had a brother who was a model who tackled people. Yeah. He also did a, he also did a calendar once. Oh boy. A long time ago. Oh, brother. Yeah. I've joked with him a lot about that.

So this goes back to, I like LeBron at 6. I do too. I think when you're that great, you've got to own your number. And it's amazing to me how many great players don't. And I say that as a Brady fan. I think Tom Brady probably as a kid

growing up. He thinks of other 12s. I think over time you can ascend into that number. To me, I think Brady has passed into that number, especially if you look at the Jersey sales every year. He's always at the top. I think he has taken over 12, even though there are great quarterbacks that are still in the league now. I mean, luck and Rogers, as you said, that we're 12. But I'm so with you on 6. I think it's a great move. Coming up next, the Warriors Dynasty, if KD makes the decision, I'm told he's going to make, it is officially over and frankly it ended the way we thought

it would. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. 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 athlete 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, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ 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 game. 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 fingers, why he got the bar. 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. 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, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Brett, my mama want you to weigh better.

What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. In just a couple of hours, the U.S. puts their title defense to the test in the FIFA Women's World Cup as they take on France. And a crucial quarterfinal showdown coverage from Paris begins today at 2 Eastern on Fox or watch it live on the Fox Sports app. Times Square in New York. They're going to show it live. Yeah, that's cool.

The Big Square. The World Cup is so fun. So here's a little birdie. The Lakers may be coming to their senses. I just got a text. Here's the very latest. From somebody who has excellent connections. The Lakers are going all in on Kauai.

And if they strike out, they'll spread the money out. That, to me, is the way to do it. That's absolutely the way to do it. I totally agree with that. I'm 100% on board. If you can get Kauai, it is arguably the greatest three players. Well, it's not even arguable. I mean, I love Clay Thompson, but KD, Steph, and Clay are not three of the top five players.

LeBron, Anthony Davis, and Kauai are three of the top four or five players. To me, what the Lakers are saying. That's an interesting conversation. that depends on how much you value Clay Thompson. I like him a lot. Because I think that's pretty close. I will say this is exactly what I would do. If you can give me Kauai, LeBron, A.D. and Kuzma, just call that team the champs.

That will feel, you won't need a tremendous bench. And that's what I would do. That's big game hunting. I would go all in for Kauai. Jimmy Butler is too toxic, Kyrie's too flaky and injury prone, DeAngelo Russell's worth about in my book 18 to 20 million he'll want 27 so the word I'm getting now kawai or spread it around and to me those are the two best if you look at the Lakers history they've had two stars an emerging star and a bunch of really really really solid role guys so I think

the Lakers are for being a dumpster fire for a year they're coming to their senses took a little time took a little time oh by the way it is if you're just think about This is a, it would be awful for the clippers. You know, let's say you're the little brother in town. And you've always been the little brother. Your whole life. And your big brother finally goes to college and you're, you're the guy in the house. And you're really starting to feel your oats.

And then your big brother comes back for Christmas vacation, messes up your hair, eats the sandwich you just made and everybody laughs at you, punches you in the arm. if the Lakers land Kauai, I don't know how the clippers recover. I don't know. I just don't know. Joy with the news. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

NBA drama has always been far superior to any other sport, which is why NBA Twitter is a real thing. At Bloomberg's Players Technology Summits, Victor Oladipo shared his thoughts on the recent happenings and drama in the NBA. We're in a space basketball is like a soap opera now To be honest I mean it's kind of like a soap opera now

And all I'm kind of focused on Is trying to be the better Well NFL is the sport we watch and bet NBA is the sport we talk about It's a star driven league And yes of course it's a soap opera That soap opera The chaos that we experienced

In the last hour of yesterday's show All of the drama and the The murals we're showing right now and NBA Twitter. That's also what drives the popularity of the game, makes it global, makes it more popular, and puts more money in everyone's pockets. I was told this that David Stern always used to tell people, and Adam Silver worked under him, that they always knew nobody really watches a lot of our games. I mean, you can look at the national numbers. They don't. but people talk about our stars.

And that's why we can move merchandise as good or better than anything in the world except soccer stars. Imagine if we were able to discuss baseball every day the way that we can, the NBA. Yeah, you have to have a slot. Like, I hear this pushback all the time. Colin, you're talking a lot of NBA. I see the ratings. NBA's ratings are fine. It's not about the ratings.

It is a, in my business of cable television and, syndicated radio, you got to give me one or two things to get talked about. Urgency? Like Tiger at the Masters. Connor McGregor fight. Big college football game. March Madness One or done? Urgency or stars?

NFL's got star quarterbacks, NBA as star players. If you don't give me urgency or stars in my business, it's very difficult for me to get a number and move a needle. And the NBA gets that it's a brand. And not only is it a global brand. The NBA has the ability to span massive amounts of age groups because it relates so much to young people. And the Twitter and the social media, the NBA is completely taken over. Major League Baseball would die to be as big as the NBA on YouTube, on Facebook, on social media, on Twitter. That's where the NBA dominates.

And people say, well, people aren't watching the games. I'm not denying that outside of the conference finals. and the NBA finals, no. But they're not suffering. No, but it's the football we bet and watch, basketball we talk about. Well, I appreciate the soap opera personally. It's very good

for our business. So it's pretty fair to say that Celtics were probably the most disappointing team in the East last year. Boston was an impressive collection of talent, but not a team team. And Brad Stevens recently told Jackie McMullen, the bottom line is that we had seven perimeter guys who were all very good players

and all of them brought something different and unique to the table. If you ask any one of them, I'm sure they'll tell you it was hard to find all that they wanted this season. I don't lose any sleep over that. They were all extremely competitive, well-intentioned guys. The pieces just didn't fit. Happens all the time. There may be some truth to that. My only pushback with Brad Stevens is I don't believe that a system works in the NBA

because everything we just discussed, it's a star-driven league. and you need a massive amount of collections of talent in order to win in this league. And so the idea that you have to fit into a system in order to be successful in Boston, it doesn't give me a lot of optimism for their future. I think systems work in college because you can control a lot of more of the elements in college. You have to work with the talent that you have. John Wooden changed his system. I feel like if John Wooden can do it, it's probably something you could just

consider doing. I believe in culture. The Spurs have a culture. I wouldn't say the Spurs are a system. They are a culture. They're able to adapt every single year and they evolve and they get better and they stay 10 steps ahead of everyone else. People follow the Spurs model for everything

that they do. And there was reports earlier this week too or last week that nobody really knew what their roles were. And that was the other issue that Boston had. They had so many young guys, on top of all the perimeter guys, a lot of young guys that hadn't proven themselves yet or gotten paid yet. So there's just a lot of dynamics in Boston that we probably just ignored and assumed because there was so much talent there they'd be able to figure it out.

But it'll be interesting to how they reshape for next year and the free agents that they get. Fit matters in sports. It always has. And fit matters. I've seen my whole life 40 years of watching the NBA, there's always been guys that are talented that sometimes they're ball-centric. I thought Kobe at the end of his career was a rough fit. He was very ball-centric. He was Carmel, but way better.

The game now has become passing. screening, spacing. I mean, not every player fits. Something's probably had too much of a good thing. Too much of the same thing. Finally, Dallas has had quite a dilemma this summer. One, or of three Cowboys stars, Dak Press, got Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper.

Which one do you prioritize paying? It's difficult and virtually impossible to pay all three top dollar. Mike Freeman spoke to three team executives, and their answers were, Dak is good and talented, but he won't ever be great. Cooper is good and talented, but it's still easier to find receivers with his capabilities in the draft and they'd be cheaper.

So to these executives, Zeeke is potentially a transformational back. One said he already is. They see him as practically unstoppable. It is Zik who makes Dak and Cooper not the other way around. I agree that. I would pay Zik 1, DAC 2, Amari 3. And I like DAC,

but I think it's easier to find DAC on the market than it is Zika on the market. I don't agree. I do think that Zeke is transform. transformational and I think he may be harder to find as a talent. But I think that DAC gets, he doesn't get the respect that he deserves. They just paid Wentz, right? And everyone felt like Wentz should have been paid. Wence had three injuries.

Yes. So if you're weighing Wentz against Dak, Wence may be way more talented, but he's a liability as far as his body. Jack is available. They were four and 12 when he took over. He saved the franchise. I thought last year was really the year that he needed. to prove his value.

They won the division and won a playoff game. What more can you really ask for? Well, there's always been quarterbacks. It's funny. Did anybody really think Joe Feisman was an all-time great? No, but Manning was great with Joe Gibbs. Does anybody really think Eli Manning's a Hall of Famer? Nobody was really good in the playoffs when he got there.

We've always had a DAC that they're good. they win their division. They tend to be really good in crucial moments. But man, Joe Thaisman, the single bar, not that athletic, you're like, Joe was great in big spots. If you start looking at Dax's record in late games, he's fantastic. I just, I don't know, I feel like they're being greedy. Like you have to pay the quarterback what the market entails. And had they done it before Wince, they might have been able to even get a better deal because now Wence has made the market even better.

And as we've said, Dax's agent can argue all of those things and he's healthy. Oh, yeah, he's not taking a discount. And you talk about Zique. Like, has Zika been reliable? No, he hasn't. And I just don't, I don't understand what the struggle is. Everyone knows you have to have a quarterback. You have a franchise quarterback.

Pay the quarterback and figure it out. You know, you can roll the dice in the draft. See how that works out. Next year's a very good year for quarterbacks. Not a lot of teams need a quarterback next year. And there's like four that everybody loves. I think they're trying to. be the smartest man in the room and the answer is right there.

Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lie News. Discover up Miles card. Match the miles you earn into your first year. 35,000 could become 70. Limitations apply.

Discover match for new card members only. Learn more at Discover.com slash travel. Okay, the very latest. Let's bring in Chris Haynes, FS1 NBA analyst, senior NBA insider Yahoo Sports. You were the one that broke the story. LeBron giving his number to Anthony Davis. You broke the story, Kauai meeting with the Lakers and the Clippers.

Were you surprised at the Kauai News? Surprise. No, I'm not surprised. I wasn't surprised. They were going to take meetings here in Los Angeles. And so like, how can you be in Los Angeles not meet with the Lakers who just opened up a max cap. salary spot. You got LeBron James, who a lot of people believe probably will be a part of that meeting.

You could add Anthony Davis and then potentially Magic Johnson may be in there. I just don't see how you're in Los Angeles. They have a max slot and you don't meet with them. So I wasn't surprised from that standpoint. With that being said, I would still think probably the Raptors or the Clippers might have the edge. But no, if you get in that meeting with those guys that I mentioned, It's home.

LA is home. That's going to be a very peeling pitch, and I think it would be very enticing. So I'm interested in seeing how they feel coming out of that. I just got a text from somebody who we trust very tied into the Lakers who said he is hearing the Lakers are going to go all in on Kauai. But they are reluctant to give Kyrie, Butler, or DeAngelo Russell the max they can make, that if they don't land Kauai, they're going to go and get four, three players. And we've talked about this. Derek, Darren Collison, but what they really want is Kauai.

They think Kauai is too good to pass up, but they do have reservations about DeAngelo, what he's worth, Kyrie's personality, Jimmy Butler's difficulty being a third option on a team. Does that sound right to you? I understand it. I definitely understand it. But if you were asking Kyrie to come on to a team where it was similar to Bar, where he's expected to be a leader, and I think that's when you're asking for trouble. But he's played with LeBron.

He knows how to play alongside that guy. He knows how to play high-stakes basketball. So him coming over, I think that would be an easy transition for him. Jimmy Butler, who I think he would know he's the third option. So that's the difference. Like when Kyrie was in Cleveland, he inherited LeBron. LeBron came back. He was already there.

He had to force himself to be able to play alongside LeBron. He didn't like it at times, and that's what led to the departure, but LeBron came onto him. Kyrie or any of his other guys, Jimmy, they're coming over there. They're choosing to be the third option. They're choosing to sacrifice for the better man of the team. So that's why I think it's a little bit different. I wouldn't have so much of a reservation for Kyrie or Jimmy.

You wouldn't. I wouldn't. Not when you got LeBron on the team, no. For about two days, there was a lot of DeAngelo-Russel talk. That has slowed. why? I think the fact that they're getting the meeting with Kauai and, you know, and it looks like they'll meet with Kyrie as well, I think that changes things. Because, you know, for a while, you know, we didn't know if the Lakers are going to have a max salary spot to give.

And so then you had to look at other alternatives. And at the time, DeAngel's name was hot. I still don't think he's, I still am not dismissing him as an option because I think still the Lakers aren't the front runners for any of those players. and so that's where I think somebody DeLangelo does make sense if that's who you if that's a plan C I think that's a nice plan C to have he is an all-star player who has developed since leaving the Lakers

the Kevin Durant things fascinating to me I just don't remember in my life I'm sure there are examples where arguably the greatest athlete in a sport left a foundationally strong owner GM coach roster and went to a historically anemic franchise Brady wouldn't go to the Lions. I just can't see, you know, Peyton Manning, by the way, when he had options.

Let's think about Peyton Manning. Peyton Manning was kind of a free agent, and he turned Seattle down at the time because they didn't have a Super Bowl yet. He turned down, and Seattle had Pete Carroll, and he said, no. He turned down Jim Harbonne, San Francisco, a very good coach. And he chose Denver because of Pat Boland, John Elway,

and he loved their defense. So we've had great players, You know, he was kind of forced out of Indianapolis. But Peyton looked at offensive lines, looked at owners, looked at personnel. It's very rare in my life where the arguable greatest player would just join a team that has virtually no players. I mean, Dennis Smith Jr. is not a long-term guy, and he's our most talented guy. Okay. I don't get it.

So let me ask you this. Do you not get more Kevin Durant making a move to join the New York Knicks, a team that virtually has nobody? or do you not get more Kevin Durant leaving the team that when he was up 3-1 and joined the Golden State Wars that move that did happen? So what to you is most earth-shattering?

Which one of those moves? I think Kevin Durant leaving a dynasty for a dumpster fire, I've never seen it in my life. But we've never seen him move Kevin Durant going to the Warriors at that extent. Am I correct?

I mean a great player leaving a great team? A great player leaving the team, you know, leaving the team that they were up 3-1, lost two in the finals, to join a dynasty team in the Golden State Wars. That was unheard of as well. And I think that still will rank probably tops as the one of the most heard-of moves before. When he left O'KC and went to Golden State. Yeah. I think that's more unheard of.

You know, LeBron, people compare. pair of LeBron, a little bit different. Miami, they weren't good. You know, he came over there, then the whole band got together and turned that ship around. This is different. So I don't view this.

Like, him going to the Knicks, I think this is, if he does do that, number one, I think it'll be about comfortability and it'd be about really having his own team and establishing himself as the main guy. Because, as you know, he won two finals MVP, helped him the two championships,

but there's still people who still don't give him his just due. But why, again, so there's people that don't give him his just due. There's people that don't give me, in my opinion, my just do. I wouldn't leave here. Why would that bother me? I'm not seeking validation from people on Twitter. Well, yeah, well, I'm not saying he does, but, you know, that's why I said comfortability as well.

No, listen, he's got friends with the Knicks. That I get. Like, I get that he really feels like, listen, yesterday, Joy, or the day before, he's selling his Los Angeles stuff. I think the moves crazy. But, you know, I mean, some guys like. Kyrie Irving reportedly likes the East Coast better than the West Coast. I grew up on the West.

I was in the East, but I always prefer the weather of the West, the temperament of the West. It's just nuts. Just an update on Jimmy Butler. I still contend Philadelphia is going to pay for him. Yeah. Right? No, they're willing to do that. So they're going to pay them?

They're going to do that. So the Houston rumors are nonsense. Well, Houston, they're trying to get, I mean, look, you can make an argument like who has the better situation. I think if Jimmy were to land up in Houston, I would think, depending on how the Lakers fill out their roster, I would think Houston would have to edge up as far as being the frontrunners to represent the West in the finals. Jimmy and Tobias going back to Philly and then they were able to keep the band back,

I still put Toronto over them. I still give them the edge because I just still think there are some pieces that need to come from outside to help that team. And so that's why I think it makes sense, and I think Houston could try to tug at that. me, hey, you coming over here, better situation. We can guarantee a path to the finals now that Golden State is essentially going to punt their championship aspirations for next year.

You know, it's funny. If I'm, you know, one thing we're not talking about in all this is just being patient. Like if I'm Jimmy Butler, why wouldn't I just wait for Kauai Leonard to make his move? If Kauai stays in Toronto, maybe I'm Jimmy, I go west. But if Kauai leaves Toronto on Monday or Tuesday and I'm Jimmy Butler, I'm like, well, that's just made, if Kemba didn't sign with Boston and Kauai left Toronto, I'm Jimmy Butler

I'm like, aren't we the co-favorites in the East? Because I'm Jimmy Butler I want a shoe deal. I want to get to the conference and the NBA finals. That's where these guys make money in June on television. Yeah, but he can make more money with Philly, but that's why Houston's trying to do everything they can to engage in a sign and trade. But yeah,

no, I hear it. That might very well play out that way. Let's see where Katie and Kauai goes first and then let the Domino's fall where they may. Chris Haynes. Good seeing you. Thank you. Broke the story on LeBron and his number and also Kauai meeting with the Lakers and the Clippers.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 athlete 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 beaders 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 and 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, 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 play. 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 bases 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, 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. 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. What?

Time out. Look. quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Brett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

It is great to have you in here. Final hour, Chris Mannix. Jason McIntyre haven't had him on in a couple weeks because we've been off. Of course, obviously today, the Women's World Cup, USA, France, on Fox TV. You're going to have the Red Sox Yankees in London. You're going to have the men's United States men's national team playing

in the Gold Cup. And Saturday and Sunday hang around your phone. You're going to have major moves in the NBA. I saw this story that Stephen A. Smith said he's hearing Kevin Durant and Kyrie are headed to Brooklyn.

And I think about this. This is like a weird thought. Like if you're on, just think about this if you're watching my show or you're driving around. Now, if you're young, this is something you don't think of. But when you get to be older and, you know, I've hit probably the tenth hole of 18, right? I've hit the turn. I think about with my kids, you know, what's my lasting impression? Maybe it's just ego and vanity.

But what's the legacy I want to leave from my kids? I don't care about leaving them money, but what's the legacy, my values, my principles? and, you know, they always call it electric chair food. You're in the electric chair, your last meal. What would it be, right? Like, I think about sometimes what would be the last thing you said to loved ones, your kids before you passed. And I think about Kyrie and Kevin Durant here.

I think one of the things I would think about saying is you are in life who you hang out with. Be careful and choose carefully. Your wife or your husband, your friends, your business associates, whether you're choosing a pastor, a pasture, it doesn't matter. You are what you hang out with. What you tolerate, you deserve. And KD. and Kevin Durant are very similar. They drive a lot of people nuts, and they're joining forces in Brooklyn.

I mean, they're both rabbit ears. They're both hard to get your arms around. They both should be the happiest people in the world. One bailed on LeBron. One's bailing apparently on the Warriors. Kind of grass is greener. I've been told by people close to both. They're both kind of wanderers.

They think about things that a lot of other players don't and paths. Other players would be satisfied with. They never are. You know, they're kind of validation seekers. They've both had a competitive tension with LeBron James. Kyrie and Kevin Durant, they are each other to a large degree. Injuries have been a prominent part of their story, a connection to LeBron, a part of their story.

Unbelievable. I would say Kyrie is the greatest finisher in my lifetime under 6-2. And I would say right now, Kevin Durantwin Healthy is the greatest finisher, period, in the NBA. You know, their unique personalities, validation seekers, a little bit of media rabbit ears, leaving Brad Stevens, LeBron, leaving the Warriors, I don't get it. You know, it's not a criticism, but you are who you hang out with. if you look at LeBron James' career, he has always really worked well. I think LeBron's old for his age.

I mean, we forget LeBron's like, what, 33? He's really young, right? So, I mean, if you look at people in these Democratic debates, not a lot of 33-year-olds, I mean, right, there's a lot of 50, 48, 53, 64, whatever Biden is, Bernie is, Elizabeth Warren is. I mean, mostly it's older people 50-plus running the country. And if you look at LeBron's history, who is he really connected with? One of the first guys he connected with was Zilgascus, the really hard, smart veteran player. Then he connected with D. Wade and Chris Bosch and Ray Allen and Shane Battier and Eudonis Haslam, smart veteran players.

Then he didn't want Andrew Wiggins. He connected with Kevin Love. Cookey J.R. Smith, but a veteran. And now coming to Los Angeles, you know, he's not in. of the young guys. They kept one. That tells you what LeBron thought about all the young guys. He kept the one guy who, by the way, went to college for three years, so he's a little older than the other young guys. That's who LeBron is. Look at who LeBron hangs out with. He is a very mature for his age. A world thinker gets the big picture, like smart players. That's why J.R.

Smith drove him crazy in that series against Golden State. You are who you hang out with. the Warriors Dynasty is funny. You know, we always said what would be the Warriors' Dynasty's Achilles heel? And in the end, it was an Achilles heel, literally. I always felt

Michael Jordan's Bulls are the greatest team I've ever seen. And I thought Golden State joined a very small group, Showtime Lakers, Shaq, and Kobe, Bird Celtics. But in the end,

and this is kind of what we said. Egos and injuries break up dynasties. Egos, you break up, injuries you break down. And in the end, it's kind of both. Clay's injury, Katie's injuries, emotionally, Katie, not feeling like I'm the guy. That's what blows these things up. So, and I think the Lakers are being smart here.

If the story is true that they're going to go with Kauai or just spread the money around, I think what they're telling you is they trust Kauai's personality. They don't trust DeAngelo. They don't trust Kyrie, Jimmy Butler. LeBron, once again, who does LeBron like to hang around? AD, low maintenance, Kauai, nonverbal. LeBron's surrounding it, Kyle Kuzma, the oldest young guy.

Hour 3 next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Well, NBA reporters work all year to cover the NBA, but really the next five days are the most competitive. Everybody wants the story. It's a lot of fun. I've said this before.

The NFL is the sport we watch and bet. The NBA is the sport we talk about. And much like international soccer, it is star-driven, merchandise propelling, and Chris Manick, Sports Illustrated senior writer, cover the NBA for 15 years. All right, Chris, it's going to be a very interesting next three to four days. I imagine we'll start seeing rumors by tomorrow. Let's start with Kemba to the Celtics.

I think it's a great fit. Do you think it happens? I think what happened with the Lakers and their ability to clear cap space, you know, presents Kemba with another option, a realistic option, now that we know they can get close to that max contract number. From talking to other teams that have been in the Kemba Walker sweepstakes, they're not operating like it's over. Like they have not been given kind of a head nod or whatever about the situation with Boston.

But I think that there's still some wiggle room here where Kemba doesn't wind up with the Celtics. As far as, I mean, Kemba's not the talent that Kyrie Irving is. but he's just a cut below, and I think a far better fit for that locker room than Kyrie was. I think when you factor in all the toxicity of last year and everything that went into it, getting Kemble Walker and flipping him for Kyrie Irving is a huge win. Yeah, and you still have Jason Tatum, who's growing as a player in Jalen Brown, and a good GM that will make moves. You know, how surprised are you that the Clippers have been going after Kauai?

all year. The Lakers now have gone after him for an hour since they developed cap space. Are you surprised the Lakers got a meeting? No, if that's how it plays out, and again, I haven't been told specifically what Kauai's going to do and who he's going to sit with, you know, come July 1st or June 30th, whatever. But I'm not surprised just because of what's on the table. And, you know, when you have LeBron and Anthony Davis, you warrant at least a meeting. Now, if it turns out that Kauai Leonard chooses the Lakers over the clippers, that's a pretty devastating blow for L.A., because they've done just about everything possible within league

rules and some might argue outside of them to recruit Kauai Leonard to let it be known that he was their top shot. You know, they quite literally sent a representative to virtually every one of Kauai Leonard's games this year, in a way just to show him with a jersey on or a clipper, a polo shirt on, that they were interested. And they've done a lot of shadow recruiting of this guy. They've got a good team. They've got a great infrastructure in that front office.

And they've got a elite level coach who relates well to players. If they wind out losing out to the Lakers, who, like you said, have really only been realistic for Kauai for about an hour, that would be a pretty big blow for L.A. You know, the Lakers cleared cap space. They're, of course, saying they knew what they were doing all along. Critics like me say, it feels like they bailed water to get there. Do we know now about the language of the contract? I mean, in the end, the Lakers can say, you know, we got our space.

Now, the downside is they have nobody else. I mean, they got three players. In hindsight now, what do you think happened? I knew what they were doing all along. That's been my read of the situation that the men. machinations of it. Some of the details were a little bit when it came to this. One thing I remember about the Lakers is that, you know, they don't have a front office deep in experience. Like, there's not a lot of guys that have been longtime front office workers who have been involved

in complicated deals working for them. I mean, you contrast that with the clippers who have, you know, not only Lawrence Frank, who's running things, but, I mean, these are high-level NBA executives, not to mention Doc Rivers has ostensibly been an NBA executive for a while in the dual role he had for multiple years. So I do think that they missed out on a couple of things. All credit to them, you know, I had reported early in the week that there really wasn't a lot of interest in, you know, these Lakers, you know, quote-unquote assets, whatever you want to call the players they pawned off on the Wizards.

And because they didn't have a lot in the way of draft considerations, I didn't know how they were going to get a deal done, but the Wizards clearly had some interest in one or two of those guys. And now they have an opportunity, at the very least, to eventually get a third star. There is a report that the Lakers will go after Kauai, and if they don't land him, their second option is fill the roster out. Give me some idea of, you know, I've thrown names out like Darren Collison or JJ Reddick. If it's just LeBron A.D. Kuzma and a bunch of guys, can you give me a couple

names on the bunch of guys who would fill it out, in your opinion? Yeah, I think that's, if that's the way they go, it's 100% the right move. Because you make a play for Kauai Leonard. He's going to be 28 in September. You know, you can have a Kauai Anthony Davis core for the next five, six years, if not longer, and build the roster out from there. But after that, you know, championships are won with a great team, not necessarily great players.

And I'm not sure that Campbell Walker is worth, you know, the cost of multiple players, or Kyrie Irving is worth the cost of multiple players. I mean, there's going to be, it's going to be interesting to see on June 30th. I mean, some of the role players, I think, are going to come off the board pretty quickly, I think quickly at a big number. I think Malcolm Brogden is going to get a huge offer sheet in his first days out there. Then if you're the Lakers, you're kind of looking at some of the unrestricted role players, like the guys you mentioned.

I put Danny Green in that mix as someone that could be a good candidate, great locker room guy, selfless, has won championships, can make open jump shots at a championship level. He's someone they would consider. If they need to get another big man, I mean, Robin Lopez is out there, not a floor spacer, but a hardworking guy that can balance out. And we've seen over the years, Colin, that Anthony Davis has benefited at different times during his career having a big body play alongside. Those are two names, but I think the Lakers are going to have to let the dust settle a little bit in the first couple of days before they scoop up. up some of these role players. By the way, if KD does decide, regardless of his destination,

so you're Bob Myers and Steve Kerr, Katie announces he's leaving, you max, Clay Thompson, and then what do you do? Like what is the plan B in your opinion? If everything, I wouldn't leave, but if he leaves, regardless of the destination, what is the current NBA dynasty do? Yeah, I don't want to call it like a developmental year, but maybe it is, you know, for that team because you're just going to have Steph and a bunch of other guys. You know, Clay, not back until probably March at the earliest. And even then, who knows, we've seen, in lost years, it might just be, they might just say, Clay, take the year off.

I mean, unless something is working for him at that time when he's healthy. You know, there are some free agents out there, some younger guys that maybe you take a flyer on and see if you can develop at a low number, Stanley Johnson type out of Detroit or somebody, I'm not, I'm not sure to think of the names, but out, but the younger guys out there, that maybe you can take a fly around now in a short-term, multi-year deal, and then next year, when you get Clayback, you can have some of that depth you were lacking over the last year. Yeah, see, that makes sense to me. It's just, if you do it that way, you at least position yourself to be a player in 2020,

because it's now going to be all about, I expect Durant to go. I mean, anyone that says they knows what Kevin Durant's think, I think, is just lying. Because at this point, he's an odd guy to read. But if he does leave, it becomes all about Clay and Steff. And you want to find the best players for the next three years who can play alongside Clay and Steph. And that's what I think this next year should be about. Finally, Chris Mannix covering the NBA since 2003, friend of the show. Every year, there's a shocker, or at least every other year.

that we all kind of go, wow, and that's what makes this soap opera so much fun. I kind of think Jimmy Butler's that guy. I wouldn't be shocked if he ended up, if Kauai Leonard's like, listen, I don't want to be just the guy I just did that. And Kauai is like, bring another guy in. I kind of feel I know where Al Horford's going, but could he be a shocker? Jimmy Butler, Horford, could they potentially shock us? But Jimmy Butler has always been about the money. and I'm of the belief that as long as the Sixers come to the table with something in the five-year range that he's going to stay.

Yeah. Because the way I've been told there, they've been told there, it's logical. They've just given up too much to go get him. And the same thing with Tobias Harris. They can't allow money to get in the way of all this. Hover thinks going to be interesting. I don't know if, you know, there's a lot of talk about Horford having a four-year max on the table. I don't know if that's true.

but I know there's four or five teams that are eager to give Al Horford a four-year contract that's going to well exceed anything Boston was willing to give him. So I think he could be that second star that teams look at and say, all right, we got Kauai or we got Kevin Durant or we got even Kyrie Irving. Let's bring in Al Horford because at least we know out of Al, who's been remarkably consistent over the last four or five years of his career. You know what you're going to get. By the way, if Kyrie does go,

to the nets. Maybe the wild card is DeAngelo Russell. Now, we're hearing today, Lakers have reservations about giving him the $27 million they could give him. They have $32 million in cap. They could pay him 27.2. You know, he is immature. LeBron tends to like veterans and mature guys that he trusts. Could he be a wild card and end up finally Andrew Wiggins and Carl Anthony Towns get a guard? because DeAngelo, to me, wouldn't turn down a big Max deal. Could he be a wild card? As you mentioned, they like him a lot as adding him to that young core. But for some of the reasons you just mentioned there,

there's some skepticism around the league about what exactly DeAngelo Russell's going to be. In other words, the skepticism that this is kind of the arc that he's going to continue going on, All-Star this year, all-NBA next year. you know, they did a lot to kind of coax all this out of DeAngelo Russell in Brooklyn. I mean, Kenny Atkinson and that organization, I mean, they really rebuilt him over the last couple of years. And, you know, he can, you know, be kind of difficult to deal with himself. He shoots a lot of those floaters, which he made a lot of in this past year. I watched a lot of Nets games living in the Northeast.

I mean, I think he's certainly on the path to being a full-time starter and a top half of the league starter, but is he a consistent all-star in this league? And that's something I think there's still a number of teams that have reservations about. Yeah, it's funny about the T-Wolves, Chris. I was saying this the other day. They've been selling me, Carl Anthony Towns and Wiggins for like four years. They've been selling their fans on that. And I know that ownership group is like, all right, we've got to start.

We've got to make the playoffs. I actually think DeAngelo Russell for them is a really good fit. You can't keep selling the same thing. Like the Celtics have rebuilt, but they've won playoff series. I mean, Minnesota's not getting into the playoffs, and Denver's young, and Portland will be better. I think DiAngelo, and I'm with you on this, I watched him implode in Los Angeles. I don't know what he is. I really do not have a – by the way, I had a month ago.

The only thing I've said on the air, I believe to be true, I had an NBA player in the NBA currently, and a former NBA All-Star tell me they were told Kyrie has told people he's going to Brooklyn. That's the one thing I believe. Do you have one you feel strongest about this second? Thompson going back to the Warriors. That's cheating. It is cheating, but it's one of the more, and it's a cop-out, but even when you talk to agents and talk to different executives, it's a lot of fluidity to what's going on now.

And once the dominoes start to fall, you'll probably immediately get some clarity there. But right now it's still, there's just a lot of moving parts out there. But I agree with you just to turn it back to Russell. I agree with you on Russell because you put him in that team, they've got a terrific developmental coach. Like, don't let anyone ever say that Ryan Saunders is there because his last name is Saunders. If he didn't have this job, like Miami, Philadelphia, the Lakers, they were lining up to give him a high-level assistant job.

I think you give Ryan a full training camp and not the aborted mess that last season was at the start of the year with this group. I think that Minnesota team could surprise them, and Russell looks like a pretty good fit with that group. Good talking to you, buddy. Have an eventful and hopefully successful prediction weekend. I'll do what I can, Colin. All right. Thank you, Chris Mannix.

It's a fun time of the year. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So, Kevin Durant is apparently no longer the most hated player in the NBA. Oh, I love this story. Sports Insider did an analysis of Geotag tweets. and LeBron is back on top.

Number one hated player on social media. He swept 25 states, including California and the rest of the West Coast. Durant took 17 states, including Nevada and Hawaii. Kyrie had five states in the northeast. Anthony Davis had Pelican Territory, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Hardin owns Utah. Hey, Hardin in Utah. Yeah.

I mean, this isn't really that surprising. No. Also, Twitter, as I always say, is a vortex of insanity. So it's not necessarily the most accurate of what people's true feelings are. Those players are all great, by the way. Well, yes. And they're also all polarizing. You either love them or you hate them.

And by hate, I mean, you discuss them a lot and with great emphasis. Most of the time, if the person that says they hate LeBron actually ran into LeBron on the street. And LeBron was like, hi, hello, how are you? They would a fan boy out and lose their mind. Right. So it's not really that accurate. I don't think people really truly hate LeBron. I mean, the closest we thought that there was true actual hate for LeBron was when he went to Miami and Cleveland's.

And he didn't like, by the way, he didn't love being a villain. No, no, no, no. Got in his head. The villain is not, that does not fit him. He cannot wear the black hat. But it seemed like Cleveland truly, truly hated him. And then, of course, he went back and they all flipped in an instant. So that's my whole point.

We're showing pictures of some of the posters they were showing in Cleveland. But it's a good thing. It's a good thing to be hated and discuss when it comes to the NBA because that's the brand. So resigning Kevin Durant and Clay Thompson and Free Agency this summer would make Golden State the most expensive team in NBA history. According to an ESBM report, that is the Warriors goal. By the time free agency opens Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern, the Warriors will have offered both Thompson and Durant full five-year max contracts. For Durant, that means $221 million. And for Clay, $190 million.

Even with the reality that Katie might miss all of next season recovering from a torn Achilles and Clay might miss the bulk of it coming. back from an ACL. This remains the Warriors' first choice. They're basically both going to be out for all of next season. The report that I read today was that Clay may be back February or March, but he's not going to be in shape if he is back. And

I mean, what is that really going to change? This is a last year for the Warriors. I like what Manick said is, listen, this is the time you fill out your roster. It's kind of a step back year, but you Cave on Looney grows and you find a couple of young pieces. They want to, they want to

re-sign a free agent, Kvon Luni. That's a priority of theirs also. They're going to be paying more than $200 million in luxury taxes. New stadium, new arena gives them more money. Right. I mean, this is just, you got to eat it. Like, you have to pay for greatness.

And if they all end up staying, it'll be worth it. Finally, Dallas has a dilemma. Speaking of paying people, there are three Cowboys stars, Zach Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, and Amari Cooper, who all need to be paid. How do you prioritize them?

It's kind of difficult. And it's almost impossible to pay all three top dollar. Well, Mike Freeman spoke to three team executives and they said, Dak is good and talented, but he won't ever be great. Cooper is good and talented, but it's still easier to find receivers with his capabilities in the draft and they'd be cheaper. To these execs, Zeeke is potentially a transformational back. One said he already is. They see him as practically unstoppable. It is Zique who makes Dak and Cooper not the other way around. I would say that if we're ranking talent, then yes, Zique is the most talented out of those

three. I think it's Zeke, Amari, and then Dak. However, Jack plays the most important position. He is one of the most visible quarterbacks in the league, just being that he plays for the Dallas Cowboys, however it is what they're doing. Never gets heard. He's always available. He saved the franchise. Yes, he did. And they just paid Carson Wentz. If you compare just Dak and Carson Wentz. Now, everyone would say that Carson Wentz is more talented. And I wouldn't disagree with that. But he's one injury away from just being an injury story.

You know, I think Jerry maybe would think differently at 45. But I think Jerry now in his 70s, he's had a handful of years where they were searching for the next quarterback, and it's awful. Dak is, to some degree,

he is reliable. Now, that reliable is 221 yards passing, not 321. But at Jerry's age, do you really in a league now that is all about the quarterback, do you really want to go searching? I can see where Jerry is sitting to himself thinking, you know, I think differently now that I did at 25.

Jerry is like, listen, we just found a quarterback in the fourth round we paid nothing to. Let's just get it wrapped up. What you don't want to do at 70, because I think the Cowboys are in a very small group of, can win playoff games. Do you really want to go hunting for the next guy who's slightly better than that?

because you're not going to find Mahomes. They're going to be too many wins. They're not going to move up to the draft to a one, two, or three pick. The story really deeply bothers me. And I'm not a Cowboys fan, and I don't, I'm not a DAC fan per se. I just think that they're overthinking the situation. It's very hard to find a reliable, healthy franchise quarterback that wins in big spots. You said maybe he has 221 yards passing per game.

Does it matter? Is it a W? Is he as good as? You can have amazing numbers. and you're still losing. So it doesn't matter to me. He's reliable. He's there.

He wins in big spots. And he's had to pay nothing for him for the past four years. Is he better than Kirk Cousins? Yes. I think, no, see, I think he is. John shakes his head. I think where he's better than Kirk Cousins,

he's more mobile athletically. And I also think, though limited as a thrower, DAC is fairly clutch. I think he is. I think he's better than Kirk Cousins. I don't care about numbers. Do you get wins? It's that small.

of clutch, whatever it is, the clutch gene or whatever you want to call it. It's at the end of the game and you need a touchdown drive and you've got Kirk Cousins or Dak Prescott. I'm taking Dak Prescott. Nobody's ever said about Dak. He's not clutch. That's like a real label with Kirk Cousins. Now, we've said Dax's limited. Well, Kirk's limited. He's not an armed talent. So I think Dax better than Kirk Cousins and look at Kirk. So if you're in that ballpark, I feel better about giving Dack big than Kirk big. And I got nothing against Kirk Cousins. I think he's fine, but that... You have to pay your quarterback. It's just a fact

of life. Enjoy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurdline News. Coming up, it's tomorrow's headlines today. I love this with Jason McIntyre. While LeBron's offseason about to take another stunning turn, that's next in Best for Last... Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays

in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. So good to have Jason McIntyre here. I haven't seen you. When's the last time I saw you, Mack. Well, you went on vacation. I just got back from vacation. You went to Mexico. How was it? There was one of the biggest star athletes in the world staying at our resort. I can't mention him because he's still there.

A very famous person. Has more Instagram followers than Steph Curry, my son noted. But it was a great time in Cabo. Apparently not as good as your vacation that I was seeing about on social media. I went to Utah. I went whitewater rafting. I've never done that. That's great, cold and great.

And then I put the bodysuit on and went wake surfing with my son. Body suit. Yeah, it's cold. Because we had such great snowfall this year. And because it's been a cool winter, it's just slowly dripping into the lake. So lakes and rivers on the western part of the country are freezing. Nice. Freezing.

Does the bodysuit actually do anything? Oh, no, it helps. I couldn't jump in the water in Utah. Lake Jordanelles the lake. There's no way I could be in there. It was wide open, empty. Nobody else wanted to try it. So we got a boat, a bunch of guys, my son, and it was great.

But the bodysuit make it, you can go in the water. Your hands are numb, but the rest of your body is good. Joy, you've got to get a surfing class out in Manhattan Beach. Body suit mandatory. Oh, no, thank you. Okay, tomorrow's headlines today. Free agency starts Sunday. Let's start with this.

Tomorrow's headlines today. Will Kauai Leonard sign with the Lakers? Well, I've been watching the show, Colin. I know you're all over this, but after this weekend, the headline will be purple and sold. I do believe Kauai Leonard is coming to the Lakers. Now, we talked about this on this show. Remember about four weeks ago?

I had mentioned during the playoffs that there was a meeting between Kauai's people and New Balance sneakers. You did. And they said, hey, can we test a purple and gold sneaker for Kauai Leonard? Now, that got some pickup. I had some sneaker people reach out to me. Colin, when you look at what Kauai Leonard wants to build

with his global brand, we've mentioned the Olympics next year in Asia, that is a huge jumping off point. We also can mention load management. Colin, it is a no-brainer for Kowai Why Leonard to join LeBron and Anthony Davis in L.A. I want to add this. So, LeBron is the ultimate recruiter.

Nobody thinks that Rob Polink is picking up the phone and nailing this Kauai Leonard deal. LeBron, when Kevin Love was in Minnesota and he was going to go to Cleveland, Cleveland had called and said, hey, we want Kevin Love. They talked to his agent. No thanks. We're going to pass on Cleveland not interested. LeBron, Joy, you might remember this, picks up the phone. Kevin, I'm going to Cleveland.

What do you say? Kevin loves, oh, I'm in, I'm in. You don't think that LeBron can't pick up the phone. Talk to Kauai Leonard and say, listen, me, you, Anthony Davis. Let's take over the NBA. I will say this. Load management, if one of those three takes a night off, it goes under the radar. I mean, Kauai could take 15 games off if LeBron and AD are on the floor, to your point.

You just saw how hard it was for him to get through and win the finals. They get lucky that Kevin Durant's hurt. They get the lucky bounce against Philly. Everything broke his way. They couldn't duplicate that again in Toronto. It makes no sense for him to stay. The Lakers are the best bet for, uh, Kauai Leonard. Free agency starts Sunday.

Tomorrow's headlines today, will Katie and Clay leave the Warriors? So the first domino, obviously, is Kauai Leonard. Now, I do believe after Kauai makes his decision, it's on Kevin Durant. The headline will be Golden State Warriors. Clay Thompson and Kevin Durant, my prediction,

they will both stay in Golden State. Now, Colin, when you imagine Kauai going to the Lakers, you've got the best super team in the league, maybe in the super team era. Kevin Durant's suddenly going to look at the Knicks and say, yeah, I'm going to go play with those guys, or I'm going to go to the Nets. How could they challenge Kauai, LeBron, Anthony Davis?

It only makes sense for Kevin Durant to stay in Golden State, along with Clay. He has no chance beating the Super Team with the Lakers. And, you know, there is some people going to look back and say, hey, he ran away from problems in OKC. Imagine if the Lakers load up and Kevin Durant runs away to the East to play for the NACORN, Nix. Don't you think people will still say, man, Kevin Durant, he didn't want to face those

Lakers in the West. He had to run to the West. It's a virtual guarantee that if Kauai went to the Lakers and Kevin Durant went to the Knicks, he's done winning titles. Yeah. I mean, that, you, you. And don't think Kevin Durant doesn't see that. By the way, I know there's a lot of people, other networks, this network, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, I'm telling you, Colin. We've talked offline about this. Without question, he sees Kyrie Irving as a potential another Russell Westbrook. He's done that before. Why would you duplicate that? Tomorrow's headlines today.

What's going to happen to Kyrie Irving, Jamie? Speaking of Kyrie Irving, he's got such a bad reputation. I believe the headline after this weekend will be Kyrie irking. Really, Colin, who wants to play with Kyrie Irving right now? I think this is a, I think Kevin Durant's pausing because of this. So we talked about this also. He has now played in the league eight years. He's had five coaches.

He ran away from LeBron James. He's now run away from Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics. And you know, you look at the body of work and you're like, man, great talent. But where is this guy? I don't know. I think Joy, you probably follow him like I do on Instagram. Earth is flat guy. He is all over the place.

I can't get to read on him. He's traveling in Asia right now doing a lot of weird stuff, dropping hints as to what he may be doing. I just, I don't see Kevin Durant wanting to play with him. I don't see any stars following him to Brooklyn. I mean, Tobias Harris would be a good get for Brooklyn, maybe a JJ Reddick, but I just don't see a big name guy like Kevin Durant going to play with Kyrie Irving. Tomorrow's headlines today. Who will be the biggest loser in free agency?

Oh, my New York Knicks. I'm wearing Nick's socks today. You cannot see them. The headline will be when the Knicks Wiff in Free Agency tanks for nothing. Listen, Colin, they played this well. They tanked. They lost 17 games in a row. The one thing they've done well in the last.

decade. They were great tankers. Incredible. They made all the right moves. And then they got unlucky when the ping pong ball didn't bounce their way. And they lost Zion. And then Kevin Durant takes a false step and his Achilles is shredded. And now you're looking at what? I mean, Campbell Walker's probably going to Boston. Al Horford ain't coming to play for the Knicks. And in reality, Colin, there is going to be nothing left for New York. If Kauai says no, and Kevin Durant passes, you look at this list. I mean, DeMarcus cousins, you giving him 20 million? I think they're going to give boogie 20 for a year. Oh, God.

You know, when they let Porzingus go and they inherited Dennis Smith, Jr., I can just tell you what my scouts tell me. Dennis Smith, Jr. is toxic. It was like if you were going to take anything from the Mavs, because the problem is good luck getting rid of him until the end of his contract at a trading deadline. I play pickup basketball with a guy who's tight with Carlisle, the head coach of the Mavs. He and Dennis Smith just butted heads almost instantly.

And Dennis Smith was not loved by his teammates. Now, I'm not bashing him as a person, but he was like an I got to get mine guy. Kind of a baby Kyrie Irving. And that doesn't go over well. Now, on a tanking Knicks team, hey, man, take 20 shots a night, who cares? But Kevin Durant to play with Dennis Smith, no thank you. And I'm a Knicks fan for 25, 30 years. First Knicks game I ever saw was Ewing versus Jabbar at the garden as a young kid.

My dad took me. He's watching. He'll remember it. Way back in the early 80s. versus Jabbar, and I was, you know, born in New York, so I love the Knicks. But Colin, the futility here. It really is bad. I mean, it's two decades of nothing.

No, it's, and I don't think, again, I think James Dolan is toxic. The NBA will be sad if this happens. Very sad. They need New York number one ratings hub in the country. The biggest market. Man, I'll tell you what, man, the Western Conference, if DeAngelo Russell goes to the West, man, it's sad. By the way, do we think he's that good? I don't know.

The only thing I feel strongly about, I'll say it again, is Kyrie to Brooklyn. Everything else? Kawhi? Lakers. Lock it in, Colin. Oh, yeah, see that smile. Oh, Lord. Jason McIntyre, you are looking now live.

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