The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Lakers, Dak Prescott, Kevin Durant, Kyler Murray and the AAF

Episode Date: February 11, 2019

Colin talks about the Los Angeles Lakers getting destroyed by the Philadelphia 76ers, why Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott should take less money, why the New York Knicks shouldn't be accused of tamperi...ng with Golden State Warriors F Kevin Durant, why former Oklahoma Sooners QB Kyler Murray made the right choice, and why the Alliance of American Football may succeed. Guests include Doug Gottlieb, Cuttino Mobley, and Dahntay Jones.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:02:47 Joy Taylor is joining me one hour from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. One of my favorite ones of the year. All sorts of good stuff today. Good to have you enjoyed. Good to see you. Hope your weekend was great. It was great. Just took a day off Friday.
Starting point is 00:03:02 A little skiing back, ready to go. Nice, let's do it. Flying down that hill, flying down this hill. Here we go. So I was off Friday. So on Thursday night, the Lakers beat the Celtics for John Rondo last second win. And, you know, I watched the end of the game. And then I, Friday morning, I woke up and I went on the Internet,
Starting point is 00:03:20 and people were going crazy and headlines were unbelievable. And it saved the season. The Lakers season has been saved. They can beat anybody. they've come together. This team is for real. That is total utter nonsense. So I checked my phone and I thought, well, who do they play next?
Starting point is 00:03:40 They're out east. Sixers. And I thought to myself, well, what if they go get beat by 25 of the Sixers? LOL. They did. NBA media, settle down. Individual wins in February are irrelevant. The Lakers are a completely average team and that game didn't save any season.
Starting point is 00:03:59 They're one star and 13 possible transactions. Kyle Kuzma's their second best player, and he disappears in games. He did against the Sixers. He does it all the time, and he's their second best player. And I know they're all transactions because I read stories last week where the Lakers were willing to give up every single young player. And I scolded the Lakers, and I said, this is a big mistake. Do not get into business with the Pelicans like this.
Starting point is 00:04:29 it will get ugly. It's a cautionary tale. When a team like the Pelicans has nothing to lose, be very careful about what you offer. They're just manipulating you because the Lakers put out a list of seven players and five draft picks. They were willing to give up. All the players now know their pawns. This is an average team with one great player on the back nine of his career, though he's still remarkable. He's not as dominant as he once was. He's coming off an injury. only one other player is a true asset, Kyle Kuzma, and he disappears in games. And I thought the trade and all of it and all the nonsense in the media confused an average locker room. Javelle McGee, Magic Johnson flew out to the East Coast to talk to the kids and talked to the team after all those trade rumors were out there.
Starting point is 00:05:19 And Javale McGee was asked by the L.A. Times what he made of Magic Johnson talking to the players about all the trade rumors that never transponder. fired. Javelle McGee said, it felt good. How am I supposed to answer that? How did I feel? Tingley inside? I don't know. The reporter said, was it productive? Yeah, I got so much out of it. It's crazy. Deep exhale. I don't know what you're trying to ask. Yeah, either do I. Magic Johnson flew out to sue these young players who are freaking out which all young people, middle-aged people, or old people would do if they feel they're completely expendable. Magic Johnson talked about that meeting with the team. Quit making this about thinking these guys are babies because that's what you're treating.
Starting point is 00:06:08 They're professionals. All of them. And this is how this league works. They know it. I know it. All deals are. A lot of them remain in public. We didn't make it in public.
Starting point is 00:06:22 That's part of, that's what happens, man. We got big boys here. They bounced back. They're fine. They're not fine. They didn't look fine yesterday. This is not about kids being babies. I'll say it again. Luke Walton is in big trouble. This is a confused locker room.
Starting point is 00:06:41 And be very careful about doing business with people who have nothing to lose. The Pelicans didn't. Dirtied up all the trade rumors and manipulated magic and the last. Lakers. I don't blame the players. If you can sense your demise or the fact that you're completely expendable, that's tough for anybody to deal with. Some people are married. Some have families. Some are comfortable with their current employer. That win against the Celtics, take a deep breath. Met nothing. This is going to be an incredibly choppy second half. and Luke Walton, unfortunately, will take the hit.
Starting point is 00:07:24 Let me shift gears to this. This is really confusing because I like this player. There is a rule in professional sports. There's two things you don't talk about. You don't talk about another player's wife, and you don't talk about another player's money. Oh, wait. Dak Prescott this weekend
Starting point is 00:07:50 talked about both. Nobody's wife makes as much money as his wife does either. So make sure we know that. When Tom Brady isn't the breadwinner in the home, then that's a great problem to have. So in that case, he can do that. He can do his contracts however you want to do them. Oh, brother.
Starting point is 00:08:14 Tom Brady's wife, first of all, once you get to $100 million net worth, $150 million net worth simply doesn't matter. It doesn't change anything. It's all about ego. Tom Brady has been restructuring his contract pre-Giselle and post-Giselle. Because Tom Brady is all about winning. Kirk Cousins isn't.
Starting point is 00:08:40 Kirk Cousins is about getting his money. Kirk Coussons isn't dumb. Kirk Cousins knows that the more a quarterback makes, the less you can afford on your offensive line or in your running game, both liabilities last year for the Vikings. Players make decisions all the time. NBA stars make a boatload of money with apparel in shoes. Therefore, guys like Kevin Durant best served taking a little less to win more
Starting point is 00:09:10 and shaping his legacy. Dak Prescott has all the data in the world now. he is saying he will not take a pay cut. He has all the data in the world. It is clear that in a salary cap league, the top six paid quarterbacks, none of them made the playoffs last year. Does Dak Prescott really believe that those two major endorsement deals, he's got one with yogurt and one with Campbell's Soup,
Starting point is 00:09:37 that he would have those if not for the Dallas Cowboys? Really? He really believes that. Does Dak Prescott believe that Zeke makes him better? That front seven defensively puts him in better field position? And that Tyron Smith at left tackle has elevated his protection? Once data is provided to any American, then the choices are yours. Tom Brady has been restructuring his deal. He did it back in the Randy Moss days.
Starting point is 00:10:09 Because Tom Brady's a winner. Tom Brady knew that if I take less, we can get Randy Moss and we can keep he and Wes Welker. That's what Brady's been doing very early in his career. That's why he fits so well in New England. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if New England doesn't just pay Brady in goats since he is one. This is not about anything, about a wife, about money. That is just an excuse to take my money. money and hurt your legacy.
Starting point is 00:10:44 There's something very clear that is happening. The two biggest stars in America right now in sports are NBA stars and NFL quarterbacks. And with both, we have decisions that need to be made by those stars and quarterbacks. We know that quarterbacks are better served, Drew Breeze, a great example, of taking a little less. and since Breeze decided to do that several years ago, the Saints running game and offensive line and defense are significantly better. And it should be noted that Steph Curry made $42 million last year, off the court. Clay Thompson made 13 and has virtually no personality.
Starting point is 00:11:27 Kevin Durant makes more with Nike than he does with the Warriors. But those players know that nobody really watches the NBA from October to February, but they do watch in April, May, and June, and you want to be on TV. And you'll be on TV if you're on a team good enough to win series after series after series. So NFL quarterbacks and NBA stars, be it the wife or the shoe deal,
Starting point is 00:11:52 know that career longevity and elevation is secured by not being data now clearly provided the highest paid guy. Dak Prescott, Brady's not about his wife. It's not anything about that. Tom made a career decision pre-Jazelle. I want to constantly restructure my deal because I want to win games. The question now, Dak, do you?
Starting point is 00:12:31 Coming up next, I thought it was absolutely. brilliant, and the NBA pushed back on it. Shame on the NBA. Shame on the Warriors. That's coming up next. Want to upgrade your sleep game? Look no further than Casper. The sleep company with outrageously comfortable products at not so outrageous prices. Mattresses, pillows, sheets, duvets, transformed the way you sleep. As a Casper sleeper myself, this mattress is a game changer. Experience Casper for yourself. Get the sleep you deserve. The Casper mattress combines four layers of pressure relieving foams for all night comfort. It's softer under your shoulders, firmer under your hips for healthy alignment and extra support. Breathable foams designed to keep you
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Starting point is 00:13:59 rumored to be interested in the Knicks in that photo. By the way, I couldn't tell you who that Nick is, but I know it's Kevin Durant. This is not tampering. It is not tampering. It's brilliant. It's funny. And they should have never taken it down, though they were pressured. The NBA gases up their stars. And then they just don't like it when their stars have mobility.
Starting point is 00:14:20 This is not tampering. In fact, I'd argue it's pampering. The Knicks are pampering their season tickets. Selling them a dream and hope and optimism. That's pampering, not tampering. By the way, LeBron with Janus, they were on a TV show, Charles Barkley included Shag. And so they were drafting, they've decided to televise this. It's very, very smart, very funny, I love it.
Starting point is 00:14:44 So they televised now star players, Janus for the East, LeBron for the West, and they pick their All-Star teams. It's a great idea. They televised it. And they were joking about all the tampering stuff. With my first pick in the second round, I'm going with Anthony Davis. You sure you want him to be your teammate? I, you know, I'm very sure of that. Isn't that tempering?
Starting point is 00:15:13 No, no. Tampering rules does not imply on All-Star weekend. Well, I think the best way to do this for Janus to trade everybody on his bench for Anthony Davis. That's hilarious, Charles Barkley. This is part and parcel to the league. Being afraid of player mobility is like being afraid of technology. A, it's not going anywhere, and B, it's a whole lot of fun. Steve Kerr came out after one of his stars, Kevin Durant was pushing back
Starting point is 00:15:50 and all the rumors about where Kevin Durant was going to play. And Steve Kerr, like LeBron, was very level-headed. He said, we're all actors in a lot of people. a soap opera. Understand that's a big part of the revenue stream, the intense interest and passion that fans have, where, who, why, what team? People, it'd be nice if people just paid attention to pick and roll coverage, but they don't. Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, a huge component to their wealth is the speculation. You know, that's why TV people make more the newspaper people. We're called TV shows and there's TV stars. That's why newspapers have people
Starting point is 00:16:32 that cover television and television doesn't have people that cover newspapers and break down columns. That's the way the game works. TV is a show. The NBA is entertainment. What the Knicks did was pampering, not tampering. There is no reason to be afraid of it. What are we protecting with Anthony Davis and the Pelicans. His great legacy there? God, they were called the Hornets 15 minutes ago. I love how LeBron handled it. I love
Starting point is 00:17:02 how Steve Kerr handled it. In an ideal, perfect world, we would deeply care about the minutia of sports. And we don't. One of the reasons I like the NBA. In fact, I preferred over baseball is because of the soap operas and of the
Starting point is 00:17:18 rumors and of the speculation and of the constant elevation of storylines. It's just more fun. Tip of the cap to Janus, Barclay, Kerr, and LeBron. That's what this league's all about. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news.
Starting point is 00:17:36 This is the herd line news. Speaking of a little drama and soap opera, a lot has been made over the last couple weeks about just how the entire Lakers roster being put into trade rumors might affect the team. Magic Johnson doesn't want to hear any of that. Quit making this about thinking these guys are babies because that's what you're treating them like.
Starting point is 00:17:59 They're professionals. All of them. And this is how this lead works. They know it. I know it. All deals are, a lot of them are made in public. We didn't make it in public, but that's part of it. That's what happens, man. We got big boys here.
Starting point is 00:18:18 Did you? And they bounced back. They're fine. You know, Joy, there's also something here is that, remember, Lonzo Ball should be a junior in college. So NBA players now are younger than they've ever been. So I do think it's difficult for a 19 and 20-year-old kid playing with LeBron James and reading his name in the paper and the next night being asked to go out and play the Sixers. I think the NBA is a young man's league increasingly. Now, veterans win the titles.
Starting point is 00:18:48 But I think one thing what Magic is missing is in any workforce Joy, if you and I were in the paper about us being traded to other networks Of course I would have felt This stuff matters Right. The problem with
Starting point is 00:19:03 what Magic said to me is that's fine if that's how the Lakers want to run their organization But we can't hear one peep about loyalty then moving forward. That's off the table. There's no loyalty on either side. there's no culture of being a Laker,
Starting point is 00:19:22 because it's not really about being a Laker, it's about winning right now with LeBron James, and if you don't fit in that mold, then you've got to go. And most apparently nobody does. Right. And of course, it doesn't matter if they're big boys, or they're grown-ups, or who they are. If your name is being circulated as something that is a disposable
Starting point is 00:19:40 or an indispensable item, like, how are you supposed to feel? And then when you're being told, grow up and get over it, Okay, get up and get over and I'm going to do me. I'm going to do whatever is best for me. Yeah. What you're telling me is that you're doing it's best for you. Therefore, I would have to be out of my mind and to do anything less than what is best for me. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:19:58 It's not about us anymore. Yeah. I mean, again, this is why I think you and I have both always defended player mobility is that if this is the world I have to live in, and the world is my name is constantly in the paper, when I thought you were all into me, you'd coach me, you drafted me, mentored me, you built around me, you marketed to me, and you're going to ship me off to the worst NBA franchise. Well, guess what? It affects me.
Starting point is 00:20:20 I mean, he's right. It is part of the business. And yes, you don't want to see your name in the paper constantly. And yes, it's bothersome and it's part of the game. But you can't have it both ways. Right. So sticking with the Lakers, they were demolished last night by the Sixers. The Sixers built a core four at the trade deadline.
Starting point is 00:20:37 They got Tobias Harris to go with Joelle and Bede, Ben Simmons, and Jimmy Butler. And now people are starting to compare that lineup to the Warriors. and LeBron was quick to shut that down. Not as two different teams, two different makeups. Golden State is a well-old machine and they've been that for the last five years. They've added Katie and he fit in perfectly to that puzzle piece.
Starting point is 00:21:01 This team has been together for a couple years but they've added some key pieces to their team just recently. We can't compare for any team right now to Golden State because they've just been together for so long. Huh? Who is comparing the Sixers to Golden State?
Starting point is 00:21:17 Nobody. I mean, somebody is. They asked them about it. This is not a comparison, and that's no disrespect to the Sixers. It's just not even logical. What are you talking about? I like the Sixers now. I do think they became much better with the addition of Tobias Harris.
Starting point is 00:21:31 Yeah, I agree. But let's just pump the brakes on the NBA dynasty. It could arguably be one of the – well, it definitely is one of the best of all the time. And finally, with his brother, T.J. Watt, experiencing firsthand, the locker room drama that involves the Steelers. JJ Watt knows probably more than us, any of us ever will. And appearing on late night with Seth Myers, Watt said it does
Starting point is 00:21:51 seem very dramatic. It's like somebody that's watching the Kardashians, and I can call one of the Kardashians. I'll call my brother, I see everything on TV, and I'll be like, okay, give me the real story, and it's pretty wild. It's pretty wild. Now, he wasn't the first one to compare the Steelers and the Kardashians. Judeo Smith-Suster said the same thing
Starting point is 00:22:07 on January 31st. I think everyone needs stopping divas. I think we need to stop being Kardashians and just play ball. I would say, in defense of the Kardashians, they've got a way, I mean, definitely figured out more than the Steelers do. Because whatever formula they've got going is working, and I think there's a method to that madness. Whereas the Steelers, I think, are just trying to figure it all out. Yeah, I mean, I think the Steelers are the most underachieving team in the NFL. If you look at their overall personnel, they have star players everywhere and could not make the playoffs.
Starting point is 00:22:34 Essentially, we're beaten out by Lamar Jackson. This particular Steelers season with the stars that they had, it is truly disappointing. I don't know how they get it together and we still don't know what's happening with Antonio Brown or Levy on Bell for that matter. None of those things are sorted out. So the saga continues. It does. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news.
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Starting point is 00:23:11 So I was off Friday and I was watching a lot of of sports. I did think this is interesting. Kyrie Irving got hurt for the Celtics. And Kyrie Irving, I've said this before. He's a very good player. But a little bit of a flake, the world is flat, doesn't want to play with LeBron or Brad Stevens. I think he's a little bit of a diva. He's a point guard that doesn't pass. I mean, he doesn't really pass. And I also think he's hurt again. And I've always said, be very careful about building around Kyrie Irving. But this is what's interesting. So Boston is viewed. The Boston is viewed. The Boston Celtics are viewed as the guide rebuilding for dummies.
Starting point is 00:23:48 They're the guide in the NBA of how to rebuild. They win every trade. They hit on their draft picks. They hired a great coach. They landed two all-stars and they're very patient. If they wrote a book on how to rebuild in the NBA, rebuilding for dummies, the Boston Celtics, Brad Stevens, and the team would be on the cover. Let me ask you this morning.
Starting point is 00:24:10 Kyrie Irving's hurt again and has made no. commitment long term to Boston. Anthony Davis reportedly has no interest going there, and Gordon Hayward doesn't fit. Are we all just fooling ourselves? On all these rebuilds in the NBA, shouldn't we be embracing star player movement? How long have the sun's been rebuilding? 18 years? How about Sacramento?
Starting point is 00:24:36 It's at least seven. The Lakers of rebuilding for five. They had three number two picks in the minute. Braun got hurt? Oh, good hell. We're getting blown out again. The Celtics are seen as the guide to rebuilding. Patient, right coach, all-stars, hit on draft picks, win every trade. What are they today other than the five seed in the east? Kyrie is hurt again and will not commit. Anthony Davis is not, don't believe anybody, he's not interested. I was told that last week by somebody I trust that is close to Anthony Davis.
Starting point is 00:25:14 He ain't going to Boston. And Gordon Hayward is a shadow of himself, and I'm not sure if he really works on this team, although I know his coach likes him. You want to know who's legit in this league? Houston, they brought in Chris Paul, the Sixers when they added Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris. I think a lot of this rebuilding stuff,
Starting point is 00:25:36 let's be honest about the process in Philadelphia. They whiffed on like seven. guys. Philadelphia's process was basically for five years. Who's the tallest player available? We'll draft him as it was becoming a shooting league. I mean, even if you look at the LeBron rebuild, now think about this in Cleveland. LeBron's first seven years, that rebuild didn't work. Then it went anything. I mean, they won some games, but he eventually left. And then he won when Bosch joined he and D. Wade. And he went back to Cleveland and won. And won, with Kyrie Irving.
Starting point is 00:26:11 Oh, by the way, they had to acquire Kevin Love and get rid of a rebuilding draft pick, Andrew Wiggins. Is that stars and trades win this league. Now, people will say, Colin, what about Golden State? Colin, that is not what about, they weren't rebuilding. They were building. They'd been bad forever. They weren't breaking any dynasty down. They weren't, they weren't, they weren't, they weren't bottoming out.
Starting point is 00:26:34 The Golden State Warriors were not rebuilding. They were just building. They've been bad forever. I mean, for Monta Ellis for about an hour and a half, they were interesting. But they weren't rebuilding. They weren't tanking for years and years and years and years and years. They didn't have to recapture the glory days of the Rick Berry dynasty. They were just building.
Starting point is 00:26:54 And they fell into a couple of really, really good draft picks who were available because they played at Davidson in Washington State. But, you know, I think a lot of times in the NBA, it seems less hopeful and less optimistic. If you roll your eyes, it rebuilds. And you say, come on, give me a break. But I don't think tanking works. I really don't.
Starting point is 00:27:16 I don't think tanking works. Six teams in the league are apparently not putting out their best lineups. I don't think it works. I think rebuilds are overdone. And I think we should embrace what wins. Getting stars. Anthony Davis goes to the Celtics, then they win championships. Anthony Davis doesn't go for the Celtics.
Starting point is 00:27:33 They're not winning championships. Also, I want to mention something that happened this weekend. that, and again, Doug Gottlieb's going to be coming on in about seven minutes. Saturday night, we have an appetite for football year-round, just like in England. If you go to the UK, they have an appetite for English Premier League soccer for 12 months. Just because the season ends, doesn't mean the interest ebbs. They'd love soccer year-round in Spain. Real Madrid's a topic 12 months a year.
Starting point is 00:28:01 That's what's happened in America. We have an incredible, insatiable appetite for football. Think about the combine. It gets ratings. People watch college kids that went to McNeese State get measured. And hopefully they make somebody scout team. I don't even know who it is. And I love college football.
Starting point is 00:28:22 Saturday night, the American Alliance of Football, for the record, that's an awful name for a league. AAF's not bad. The American Alliance of Football is an awful name, debuted on CBS. And it beat the NBA. and it didn't just beat the NBA. It was like Westbrook and Paul George and James Hardin and Chris Paul. It beat the NBA. Now it won't on a nightly basis.
Starting point is 00:28:45 But they had Spiro Detus and Trent Green announcing it for CBS, so it felt big. And the football wasn't half bad. There are two spring leagues, one right here and another call the XFL that will debut a year from now. And I think one or both are going to make it. I really do. Years ago, I told my former employer, you should invest in the UFC. It was at the time worth $100 million. It was later sold for $4.4 billion.
Starting point is 00:29:21 I went on my former show at another place and said for years, MLS, I'd buy it, I'd invest if I could. It used to be $35 million to start a franchise. It's now at $185 million. If I could invest in both of these leagues, I would. Like the UFC and like the MLS, many sports fans are rigid, but we have seen leagues emerge and work. And there are five things in America now that are different. Number one, we have legalized sports gambling. We've never bet more and we've never bet on more sports.
Starting point is 00:30:01 That helps. Number two, the NFL is involved directly or indirectly with both of these leagues. They are not the enemy like the USFL was. Number three, neither one of these leagues is cash strapped. There's real money and real backing here. Number four, this league is backed by CBS. That's a real network and they'll heavily promote it. And the other league will have whoever they have get involved and they will heavily promote it.
Starting point is 00:30:29 There's all sorts of rumors who will be involved in that league. Number five, the spring is wide open right now. Again, these leagues are not going head to head during the NBA playoffs. These leagues are not going up against the fall classic or the NFL. These leagues are scheduled to be played in February and March, where the only thing you truly go up against is some NBA regular season games and about six great days of college basketball. And the other thing, and Joy and I were talking about this earlier,
Starting point is 00:31:00 about the only thing that works on television anymore is live politics and live sports. And this stuff's live, and it's sports. I would invest in all these spring football leagues. This is not 20 years ago. This is not the Donald Trump League. This is not the league that wants to compete with the NFL. I think these are going to work. One or both, potentially in 10 years they merge.
Starting point is 00:31:25 Maybe eventually the champion of one faces the champion of the other. That'd be fascinating. But I watched it, and I thought to myself, oh, that's not terrible. And I know our appetite has never been more insatiable for football in America. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, top of next hour, Doug Gottlieb, around the corner. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. One of my guys, the Doug or Doug Gottlieb, Fox Sports Radio, after our show. All right, we got all sorts of.
Starting point is 00:32:00 of stuff to talk about. You're very connected to teams and players and coaches. Congrats on doing the UCLA game this weekend. By the way, they lost a 17 point lead in five minutes. That is unbelievable. Let's move on. Okay, let's start with this. So I'm off Friday, and I go to the internet Friday morning, and you thought the Lakers won the NBA championship? And so I went to my phone and I said, well, they're playing the Sixers in two nights. What if they lose by 20? Why was everybody freaking out about that game-changing season-altering win? Well, look, here's how I kind of framed it with joy on Friday. I feel like what happened with the Lakers is a lot like what's happened at both the places that we've worked. That happens on other places in business where new boss comes in,
Starting point is 00:32:41 and in this case, LeBron James, and the first three months, he's everybody's friend. And the next three months, he kind of figures out what's what. And then six months in, somebody gets fired and somebody gets replaced. In this case, it was just FEMA, High Luke, and Zubach get moved. and they bring in Mike Muscala and they bring in Roddy Bullock. Yeah, Roddy. They bring in Reggie Bullock, sorry. And those are,
Starting point is 00:33:06 and I do think that they needed perimeter shooting. But the fact that it covered up how poor they are defensively with LeBron James. Like the one thing that LeBron gave you was this versatile defender, but he's not the same. Yeah. And then Coosma, who struggles defensively,
Starting point is 00:33:23 and Rondo is a wildly overrated defender at this point in his career as opposed to Lanzo ball. Look, on the court, the Lakers are working through. They play completely differently without LeBron as opposed to with LeBron. And then having Lanzo, not having Lanzo, having Rondo, not having Rondo. But I was alarmed at LeBron not really having juice yesterday after two days off. I know he went to the Virginia Duke game and he's allowed to do so. He's allowed to be a human being.
Starting point is 00:33:52 But you show up midday game and he just was kind of out there. And Philly had a better roster and just dumped them. Wipped them every way. Give 143 points. My goodness, that was awful. Yeah, and Ben Simmons can't shoot and they gave up that. And Markell Fultz can't either and he's gone. You know, when you listen to Magic afterwards, or excuse me, beforehand,
Starting point is 00:34:11 when he talked about how New Orleans didn't operate in good faith. I mean, that's what I'm hearing out of Lakers is, hey, all of those trades that were supposedly proposed by us, it's not close to what we proposed. All of those leaks were coming from New Orleans. They were simply trying to poison the well. And it worked. It probably poisoned Boston's well as well in that Boston, who does have interest in Anthony Davis,
Starting point is 00:34:35 the idea of who could be gone. But, you know, look, the Lakers were kind of duped into this negotiation that was never meant to be. And frankly, the media was duped into it. And Magic's lack of saying anything, magic tried to kind of operate stealthly and just really negotiate in good faith. It spiraled out of control, and they could not control the narrative.
Starting point is 00:34:56 By the way, you and I disagree on this. Steve Kerr came out. LeBron James has come out and said, listen, man, this is a soap opera. This is a big component to why we get paid so much. And the Knicks put out Kevin Durant on a season ticket renewal. And I don't, it doesn't bother me because I think rebuilds are a bunch of hooey. I think the process was a joke.
Starting point is 00:35:18 Basically, the process was we hit on the MB draft pick, but he can't play for two years. And we love Ben Simmons, but now he's dating a Jenner, and he doesn't improve. In the end, they got Jimmy Butler. That's why they, now... You just watched the Philadelphia 76ers. They're not...
Starting point is 00:35:33 They went from tanking. Tanking works. It worked with the Houston Astros. It worked with the Boston Celtics. It works with the Milwaukee Bucks. It works for the Philadelphia 76ers. What do you mean? It's working.
Starting point is 00:35:41 These teams haven't won anything seven years in. You don't have a successful season simply if you win a title or don't win a title. That's not... So Milwaukee is what? They've won one series in 19 years. It's working? Well, they're not there. yet, but right now they have the best record in the East and arguably the league's MVP.
Starting point is 00:35:58 I would say it's working pretty well. Boston Celtics have been in the Eastern Conference Finals the past two years after winning a championship, then making a couple of great trades, then tanking, then getting back. Okay, so this morning, Kyrie Irving's hurt. Anthony Davis is not going there. Gordon Hayward doesn't mesh. This is how it works? Well, look, the fact is you took on Kyrie Irving and you won that trade.
Starting point is 00:36:21 Kyrie did get hurt and he tweaked his knee again. but the Boston Celtics is pretty good. Like, could they have foreseen that Gordon Hayward would break his leg in half in the first two minutes of time in the Boston Celtics? So you don't like this tampering stuff? No. No, where is Adam Silver? It's not just that I don't like it. Nobody in the NBA outside of the Lakers and the Knicks and a couple of the teams in the big cities or, you know, teams with big name players likes it because no player is safe.
Starting point is 00:36:50 I mean, look, look, the NFL teams ask them. You have sources within both leagues. Ask them what they think about the NBA. And they'll tell you, man, where is the leadership? Where is somebody shutting this thing down? Like, you can't do that. Like, I know nobody feels bad for Golden State because they won 73 games. Right.
Starting point is 00:37:05 They lost Harrison Barnes and they went and got Kevin Durant and they upgraded. Nobody feels bad for them. But if this was any other team, mid-sized market team in the league, like there would be an uproar. He's a member of the Golden State Warriors. He's under contract. And by the way, he could be under contract next year. It's a player option. He is not just a complete free agent at the end of the season.
Starting point is 00:37:25 He's still under contract after this year. And you're openly opining for him to be on your season ticket renewal? Like, that's bad for business. That's Adam Silver. Zero leadership. Well, I mean, Adam Silver and the knock on him, I think, is fair. He is very pro player. And he is into the players.
Starting point is 00:37:42 But my argument is... He doesn't work for the players. He works for the owners. That's Roger Goodell works for the owners. Rob Manfred works for the owners. He is... He represents their... interest. And then he works with the player association.
Starting point is 00:37:54 Head of the player association works for the players. Head of the, head of the, uh, the commissioner works for the owners. And there is zero leadership there. Yes, he is,
Starting point is 00:38:03 there's a, there's a difference in player friendly, okay? And player permissive. And yes. And that's, that's the difference. It's just like,
Starting point is 00:38:11 you and I have talked to us about parenting. Right. Right. There's a difference between, you know, listen, being a little bit lax with what you make your kids do and do they have to make their bed every single day.
Starting point is 00:38:21 and hey, here's the keys to the Porsche. There's a full liquor cabinet. I'm going to be gone skiing for the weekend, try not to make anything bad happen. That's basically what Adam Silver's doing. Well, no, no, listen, it is. The media loves Adam Silver because the media hates power and the NFL has power and everybody thinks Roger Goodell is on a terrible job,
Starting point is 00:38:40 to which I say, have you seen the NBA ratings and revenue over eight to ten years with Goodell? They're doing fine. Let me segue to this. Dak Prescott. Dak Prescott did two things you should never do. Talk about a guy's wife and talk about a guy's money. He did both bringing up Giselle. I just don't get it.
Starting point is 00:38:58 And I don't, Dak, I just, so here's the sound on Dak. Nobody's wife makes as much money as his wife does either. So make sure we know that, all right? When Tom Brady isn't the breadwinner in the home, then that's a great problem to have. So in that case, he can do that. He can, you know, do his contracts, however you want to do them. All right. What do you make of that?
Starting point is 00:39:20 feeling himself, right? He's feeling himself. He's like, look, I've been working for pennies, which he has been because of where he was drafted, and I was at a place and for people who know how the CBA works, he was unable to renegotiate his contract. And so he's right to say, like, look, maybe you're going to overpay me, but you underpaid me for three years as a starter. But it misses the mark, right?
Starting point is 00:39:42 Just misses the mark, especially when it's not like you had an even season. And he has every right to feel in negotiations like, hey look, this is the way it works. You know, Matt Stafford got paid more than anybody else. And, you know, Jimmy Garoppolo started for five games in San Francisco and got more money than everybody else. That's the way the business works. But it misses the mark where you're basically saying, hey, the only reason Tom Brady took less was because how much money Giselle makes. Newsflash to Dak Prescott, he was taking less money than top dollar before he was even with Giselle Bunged in.
Starting point is 00:40:16 And oh, yeah, by the way, that's the way in which you field a great football team. The truth is that there's going to be a negotiation there between the Cowboys who don't have to give him a new contract. He's under contract next year, and they can franchise tag him the next year. They don't have to give him a next contract. And top dollar. And somewhere in between the two is where they're going to land. And that probably determines the ability to surround Dak Prescott with all of the talent he needs to succeed. I don't view Dak Prescott as a top seven, top eight, somewhere kind of middle the road.
Starting point is 00:40:45 Oh, I think 16th is generous. Okay. So if you go 12 to 18 at quarterback. like it's hard to find somebody to replace him, but let's not act like he's irreplaceable. And he's been at a value. But there does come a point where he's going to price himself out of the market. And the Cowboys can go, hey, we're good.
Starting point is 00:41:02 You can play for a couple hundred grand next year. We do not have to offer you a new deal. By the way, you know, it's interesting when you, there's a new football league, this. The AAS. Yeah. And again, I'm not saying that. But I will say this.
Starting point is 00:41:17 As I watch it, my takeaway is, these are not, the NFL wants these leagues to work. That's not the way it used to be with Donald Trump and the USFL. Donald Trump was trying to steal their players. That's right. I think I'm watching this thing, and my takeaway is one or both of these leagues are going to work.
Starting point is 00:41:36 I don't think there's any doubt. They will work on some scale level, right? Like they're making, I think in this league, 70 grand non-guaranteed first year, 80 grand non-guaranteed. So you have to keep the salaries at a lower level and have the non-guarantee deals. We see some of these hits are vicious. I do wonder, if we look at the ratings,
Starting point is 00:41:55 everybody's freaking out over the 2.9 and that they beat the NBA and the overnights. That's one night. That's one night, one week. The XFL got over an eight, nearly a nine. And those ratings. Now, the XFL also had a lot more promotion. Look, I think this is a lot like the G League.
Starting point is 00:42:13 Like, if you watch the G League, there's a lot of really good players in the G League that will play on an NBA roster. My question is, you know, as they expand the G League, as they pay a little bit more, can you keep it going? Because if you don't have the logos that we grew up and you don't have the star players, are you really, are you, you actually watched? Yeah, no, no, no, I, I, this is in, it's business to me. To me, this is all a business. I think this is going to work. I think the XFL is going to work. I think they have network backing. And I think we have an insatiable appetite. I said this. In Spain, they don't stop caring about soccer when the Real Madrid season or a season.
Starting point is 00:42:49 and ends. It's a 12-month sport. Same with the EPL. Same with professional football in America. He's Doug Gottlieb, the dugger after our show, Fox Sports Radio. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong next. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Ah, here we go, hour two. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we're live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. In about three minutes, Colin is right. Colin is wrong. And I'm both. Often. We do have breaking news, Joy. Yes, we do.
Starting point is 00:43:22 It has not been a great couple of weeks for Scott Boros, the mega agent in baseball. He can't get Bryce Harper signed, and he just lost Kyler Murray. Kyler Murray, breaking news has announced he will play football over choosing Major League Baseball. He was the quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners. He is much smaller than any quarterback that's had success in this league. I think he's slightly shorter than Doug Flutie. He is a remarkable athlete, baseball, and football.
Starting point is 00:43:46 I do believe he will be drafted in the first round. I do believe he made a very smart choice choosing football over baseball. He's going to get as a first round pick four years of guaranteed money. He is firmly and fully committed to his life to become an NFL quarterback. It's on his Twitter today. I agree with him. I think it's the smart move. I also think he's a fascinating player.
Starting point is 00:44:09 And instead of going to minor league baseball and disappearing, he will be playing on Sundays and get mega endorsement deals if he succeeds. I think this is the obvious. choice. And I think there's two things. The NFL's a copycat league. Number one, you watch Lamar Jackson come in, and he's not a totally developed thrower. Kyler Murray's a way better thrower than Lamar Jackson, but he runs around a lot and he got his team the Raven to the playoffs running around a lot. Now, Kyler Murray is a much better thrower of the football. Kyler Murray, if there's a prototype in the NFL, I'd say it's Russell Wilson. Again,
Starting point is 00:44:43 Russell Wilson's one of the best quarterbacks I've ever seen. So it's not fair to compare anybody to Russell Wilson. There's a little bit of Russell Wilson. There's a little bit of Johnny Mansell, although I think he's a much better athlete than Johnny Manzell. And I frankly think he's a better thrower of the football than Johnny Manzell. We kind of put all of the shorter quarterbacks in one category, even though they really aren't that much of like. He would never say Johnny Mansell is the same type of quarterback as Russell Wilson. What's funny is I think Russell Wilson got Johnny Manzell drafted, but it's the maturity of Russell Wilson that makes him not just running around part. He's a really bright, mature guy. So I think Murray is a, a,
Starting point is 00:45:18 draftable first round quarterback. Again, probably not a guy. My number one quarterback is Duane Haskins at Ohio State. He's not a runner at all. He is a complete 100% pocket passer. That's my favorite quarterback. He's a big, strong kid for the Buckeyes. But Kyler Murray is draftable. He's really small. He looks small in the college game. In the NFL, he'll look really small. He's listed at 5-11. And that's not true, because I'm 6-1, and he's not close to me. I'd say it's closer to to 5, 8 and a half, but I think here's the earth thing. So the NFL's a copycat league.
Starting point is 00:45:52 We had a runaround guy, Lamar Jackson, and to some degree, Mitch Trubesky lead their team to the playoffs. The second thing is the Big 12, everybody always rolled their eyes at the Big 12. Right, Big 12 quarterbacks, run and shoot, this stuff can't work in the, and then Baker Mainfield came in, you're like, oh,
Starting point is 00:46:07 oh, Big 12 quarterbacks? Because NFL looks more and more like Big 12 football. Now, everybody spread out, you know, the Super Bowl, that was standing, you know, most of the NFL this year was guys running around. Patrick Mahomes, Baker, Mayfield, Big 12 quarterbacks are now having success in the NFL. So I think the kid made the right choice. Probably not a guy I'd build around first.
Starting point is 00:46:26 But here's the NFL draft order. Here it is. I'll give it to you right now. Arizona Cardinals. Just keep your eye on Arizona. I think if I was the Buccaneers at 5, I would consider drafting him. If I was the Jacksonville Jaguars at 7, I think I would draft him. I think I would draft him.
Starting point is 00:46:43 I'm not joking. If the Denver Broncos probably not. I don't think John Gruden, by the way, said he loves him. Raiders have the fourth pick. Again, the world's changing now. Ten years ago, I would have laughed at this. But Russell Wilson's 5-11 and a half and he's going to be a first ballot Hall of Fame or he's got the best quarterback ranking in the fourth quarter
Starting point is 00:47:04 in the history of the league outside of, I think, Aaron Rogers. And I think people, Johnny Mansell got drafted because of Russell Wilson. And the idea of the, you know, you're 5-11, 5-10, you can't plan this league. The league's changed. The league's changed. Now, I would still rather have a pocket guy. Okay, my favorite quarterbacks in this league are guys who can sit in the pocket and throw darts. But the NFL gives you about, college football gives you one of those every year, one.
Starting point is 00:47:30 If you need a quarterback, the coaching staff sitting there thinking, okay, this is, Kyler Murray's really interesting. So good, congratulations to the kid. I think he made the right call. I think he's going to be exciting. And I think you can go disappear in the minor leagues in baseball or you can go be a first round pick in the NFL. It's a no-brainer.
Starting point is 00:47:47 It's a total no-brainer as a kid. Again, you can go play in Modesto or, you know, middle in Texas. Well, also, I think Tim Tebow has shown that you can try your hand at the NFL and go back to baseball if you're really that skilled at it. You know what? He's interesting. I want to see the kid play.
Starting point is 00:48:03 Yeah. I want to see the kid play. I think he made the right choice also. Yeah, good for him. All right. We do it every Monday. Colin Wright. Colin wrong. Here we go.
Starting point is 00:48:12 Where Colin was right? Well, I've said it for years and I'll say it again. The NFL and professional football is king in America. The American Alliance of Football, which is an awful name for a league, beat the NBA Saturday night. And it wasn't just an NBA game. It was Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Chris Paul, Paul George, Rockets, Thunder.
Starting point is 00:48:33 I mean, that's remarkable. It was a star-studded NBA game. Now, I don't think they're going to beat the NBA. you know, over the rest of the season. A lot of these games will not be on CBS. They'll be on their cable outfit. But I do believe, and I've said this for years, do not listen to the media.
Starting point is 00:48:50 Do not listen to the NFL as dying. It's just a bunch of absolute nonsense. This is the sport that we bet. We watch the Combine, which is people getting measured from colleges we've never seen on television, doing cone drills. We will watch a spring football league.
Starting point is 00:49:06 I think either this league, the XFL, which will be introduced, next year at this time, or both will make it. Maybe they converge over four or five years. But spring football will, I believe, absolutely work in America. Where Colin was wrong. Lebrow never happened. Listen, when I started hearing all the rumors last week, my feeling was
Starting point is 00:49:24 Lebrow's going to work. They're going to make this happen. But our Lebrow meter is officially under construction. I'm not even sure today, to be honest with you. I'm not sure today Anthony Davis would be great with LeBron, and I'm not sure he's ever going to be a Laker. I do think the Lakers have the ability to pay for a max guy and they'll get one, but it may be Jimmy Butler and not Anthony Davis.
Starting point is 00:49:46 Maybe it's a Bradley Beal and it's not an Anthony Davis. But when I saw that cachet that the Pelicans turned down reportedly, I kind of bought into it. I thought this puppy's going to happen. I don't think the pelicans are ever going to get a better deal than the one that was out there. But right now the LeBrow meter is under construction. Where Colin was right? I've never understood the triple double.
Starting point is 00:50:07 It means nothing. Here's what I know. Oklahoma City's won 10 of 11. Why? Because Russell Westbrook is shooting less. Triple doubles don't mean anything to me. What means something to me is as we predicted, Paul George would become Oklahoma City's best player. It's 2019. Westbrook can't shoot. He can't be taking 23 shots a game. Westbrook is now significantly less of a volume shooter and magically Oklahoma City is now working very well together. Paul George is their best player. Paul George is averaging 35 points over his last 11 games
Starting point is 00:50:45 and shooting 48% on threes and they're red hot. I'll say it again. You cannot win big in this league if Westbrook is shooting 25 times. You cannot win in this league big time. It's an exhausting style and he is not efficient enough and I don't give a rip about triple doubles. They don't mean anything. You know what matters?
Starting point is 00:51:04 OKC's 110 of 11. Why, Westbrook's shooting less. Paul George who can shoot is shooting more. Where Colin was wrong. Ben Simmons, Sixers. What happened? What happened? I'll tell you what happened. He's dating a Jenner.
Starting point is 00:51:18 He didn't work in the offseason. And he's completely plateaued. I thought this guy was going to take over the Philadelphia 76ers. But LeBron's defense against him yesterday was, just don't guard him. He was three for 13. There were times he looked like the seventh best player on the floor. and Joel Embede, who I like. He's funny and he's talented,
Starting point is 00:51:38 but he's a center is clearly the Sixers' best player. He's their physical leader. M. B's their emotional leader. He's their communication leader. He's the player other players like. Ben Simmons, and I don't know this, but I'm just going to say it, I don't know if basketball means enough to him right now in his life. He has not improved one iota
Starting point is 00:52:03 on his primary weakness shooting. O for 14 on threes. You think you'd work on that a little in the off-season, and he obviously did not. Where Colin was right? Kyrie Irving's hurt again. I've said, folks, it's a little bit of a diva. He's a point guard that doesn't pass.
Starting point is 00:52:21 He's a little flaky, wanted out of LeBron, and now won't commit to Brad Stevens, and he's hurt all the time. For the record, the cavaliers with Kyrie Irving before LeBron got there were awful. and the Celtics got to the Eastern Conference finals, game seven without him, I'm not saying he's not talented.
Starting point is 00:52:41 There is a ton of sizzle with Kyrie Irving. I don't see a lot of steak. I don't see the body component. I don't see the emotional discipline. I don't see a rock solid guy for 10 years. I'm all in. I'm building around him. I see that with Anthony Davis.
Starting point is 00:52:57 I see it with Janus. I even see it with Kauai Leonard. I'm seeing it now with Paul George. I see it. with LeBron. There's a lot of guys in this league. I see it with James Harden. But Kyrie Irving, be very careful about saying, that's my guy and that's what I'm going to build around. Big gap between talent and franchise player. There's a lot of talent in basketball. Not a lot of guys I'm going to build around. Where Colin was right. John Wall got hurt. That's unfortunate.
Starting point is 00:53:27 He's out for two years, and that stinks for the Wizards. But here's what's not crazy. They were 11 and 22 with him. They're now 13 and 10 without John Wall. Listen, the guy's talented, and I feel bad for the Wizards and John Wall, but let's be honest here. He's not a winner. He doesn't make people better. And frankly, now, he is the owner of the worst contract in NBA history,
Starting point is 00:53:51 and there is not a second place. It hasn't even started yet. He is going to average $44 million a year, and he's going to be coming off a debilitating surgery and I do. I feel bad for Wall because he is an exciting player. He's good for the league.
Starting point is 00:54:09 He's fun. But I never bought into John Wall as a franchise player. And I've said this for years. Hyper athletic point guards that are not great shooters do not age well. And I've never believed
Starting point is 00:54:23 Wall had the leadership component that helped his team win. They are now better officially when he's not there. Where Colin was wrong. I love. Dak Prescott's maturity, but man, I don't like his comments about Tom Brady's wife. He said yesterday, nobody's wife makes as much money as his wife does. Just don't go there.
Starting point is 00:54:45 Tom Brady's been taken restructuring and pay cuts. You know, Tom Brady's never made $20 million. Tom Brady's been underpaid his entire career. But that's because Tom Brady's been constantly restructuring it. It's not because of Giselle. He was restructuring his deal pre-Jazel. And I really do like Dak Prescott. But there's a qualifier. I like him at a price. Listen, I drove a Honda Prelude in high school and college. I wouldn't pay $40,000 for it, but I did like it.
Starting point is 00:55:15 Everything's got a price. And I think Dak Prescott did something that he's almost never done in the NFL, misstep. It's a very undack-like comment. Yes, I don't necessarily disagree with all of it, but it's very undack-dick. He'd normally be like, oh, whatever Tom makes is Tom's business. Right. where Colin was right
Starting point is 00:55:32 Markill Fultz Remember when I told you this past year I said don't buy the PR spin This guy's in the witness protection program They literally won't show you video of him shooting He's a shooting guard He is now officially Last two years
Starting point is 00:55:46 He was traded for an end table It's over Like he's a shooting guard that can't shoot And I didn't buy into this Listen he's just coming around Remember the quotes you were hearing six months ago Listen he's really found his touch. We're excited for him. Markell Fultz is going to prove everybody wrong. And then there was
Starting point is 00:56:05 this grainy, like, weird video that surfaced where he had this awful shooting motion and it ended up some gym in North Philly or something. This story has been a nightmare from the beginning. I feel bad for the kid, but I never bought for a second. The rehab was working. He was a bust. It was a bad pick. They moved up to get him, allowing the Celtics get the guy they really wanted Jason, them. It is an all-time bust. Where Colin was right. Tip of the cap to TNT. They televised their all-star
Starting point is 00:56:40 game selection with Janus and LeBron James and they should have a year ago and it was great television and this is what the NBA is about. Charles Barkley was funny and Shaq was funny and LeBron and Janus and everybody was funny and that's exactly what
Starting point is 00:56:56 the NBA should have. We have some sound of it. They didn't want to televise it last year. They were worried about how it would play, and as you'll see, it played great. With my first pick in the second round, I'm going with Anthony Davis. You sure you want him to be your teammate? You know, I'm very sure of that. Isn't that tempering?
Starting point is 00:57:22 No, no. Tempeying rules does not imply on All-Star Weekend. Well, I think the best way to do this for Janice to trade everybody on his bench for Anthony Davis. That was great. And the NBA embraced this stuff. Doug Gottlieb and I disagree on that. Just embrace all this player movement, as Steve Kerr said. It's a soap opera.
Starting point is 00:57:48 One of the real revenue stream creators in the NBA is all this soap opera stuff. Colin right, Colin wrong. Again, Kyler Murray has chosen the NFL over baseball. He's the spectacularly fun quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners. Between Patrick Mahomes and Baker-Mayfield, Big 12 quarterbacks being, you know, success stories in the NFL. It's ended that narrative. The big 12 quarterbacks don't work. And I think you had Lamar Jackson, and Kyla Murray's a much better thrower than Lamar come into this league and, you know, kind of chop it up and tear it up and leave the Ravens over the Steelers.
Starting point is 00:58:20 So I think between that momentum, I think Kyler Murray made the right choice. I think he's going to get drafted in the first round. If I'm Jacksonville, I think Jacksonville's roster with the right quarterback, I think he would be a completely game-changing dynamic player for them. He is remarkably small when compared to even other smaller quarterbacks, but I think the kid chose the right sport. Coming up next, former NBA star, Catino Mobley. Are the Lakers interesting? A real challenger for the Warriors? What's he make of all this player movement?
Starting point is 00:58:52 That's coming up. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day. Seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying,
Starting point is 00:59:09 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,
Starting point is 00:59:25 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.
Starting point is 01:00:00 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, Tript 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.
Starting point is 01:00:24 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.
Starting point is 01:00:41 Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learning a hard way and listen now. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them?
Starting point is 01:01:00 On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel on.
Starting point is 01:01:25 Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeke. The ability to show gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning.
Starting point is 01:01:51 It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world,
Starting point is 01:02:19 he doesn't look back. and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds,
Starting point is 01:02:40 just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told, Levin, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 01:03:05 Madison Square Garden comes alive for the 143rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. It all starts with Besting Group tonight at 7 Eastern. Then tomorrow it's the finale as one dog will be crowned the top dog in Bestin Show on FS1 or watch it on the Fox Sports app. My dog buddy is not disciplined enough to be in that because he chases cats around the house all the time. We have beautiful cats and he just is annoying. He doesn't want to hurt him. He wants to play with him all day. So you could
Starting point is 01:03:30 have buddy all trained in the minute he saw a cat out of his left eye, he'd fly around the corner and... You don't think he could make him go around the loop? He's not disciplined. I had an undisciplined dog. Cotino Mowley, over a decade in the NBA. Dog or cat guy? You know what? I grew up with cats. I have a dog named Boomer. Golden Retriever.
Starting point is 01:03:46 Yeah. Disciplined? He's the best. He's the best dog. Disciplined? He is. He is. He is. Unless if we leave him at the house, you know, he'll probably just mark his territory because nobody walked during the course of the day. But other than that, boomers is pretty cool. So what do you make Lakers beat the Celtics, the world explodes in glee, and then they go get hammered by the Sixers, which is the reality of it. To me, they're a young team that needs LeBron on the court. And when he's not, they're wildly inconsistent. What do you make of them as a team? Listen, they're young.
Starting point is 01:04:19 And when you're young, I think people are a little more patient with you. Now, when LeBron was out for those 17 games, they went, or whatever how many games, they were 6 and 12 or something like that. If you go, if you win 10, 10, 11 of those, we're not even talking about them. If LeBron wasn't hurt and when LeBron was in,
Starting point is 01:04:45 if you win 10, 11 those games, you're like in fourth place still. Right. Again, I just think that with all this chaos, with those guys, those younger guys, it's hard for them to play hard 100% every single day knowing something can happen, you know, behind the scenes. Oh, I think that they all see themselves as totally expendable now. Right. I think psychologically it matters.
Starting point is 01:05:12 Big time. And these kids are younger than ever. Kyle Kuzma's rare. Most of these guys come right out of college after a year. And they're not ready for it. They're just trying to figure the league out emotionally. And then you're seen as a pawn. I would say this.
Starting point is 01:05:26 You know, the NBA is funny this way. Do you think the Lakers win a playoff series? This year? Yes. You know, listen, it's like betting against Tom Brady and Belichick. I can't bet against LeBron James. So I give LeBron James the odds of winning a playoff series. I do.
Starting point is 01:05:44 Okay, so they're going to have to play either. You know they're not going to be a top three seats. So they're going to have to play Houston Golden State. or Oklahoma City, and I don't think they can beat those teams. You're right, you're right, but those teams have to beat LeBron, James, four times, right? In Houston, you're a little banged up. James, you make, as extraordinary as you are at the moment, it takes a toll on your body when the playoffs happen.
Starting point is 01:06:09 Not saying that, you know, the first round, you're not going to do well, but I'm betting on LeBron James and whoever he's playing. He's going to give him a run for their money, whoever he's playing. And you have Rondo with you. They know how to win. And if those guys stay healthy, I'm betting with those guys because they're winners. I want to go to Russell Westbrook. But he is shooting less and they're winning more.
Starting point is 01:06:31 I'm not into this triple double stuff. What I'm into is doubles. I'm not into those stats, which I think you can have a bad game and have a triple double. I mean, if LeBron went 10, 10, and 10, it would be an awful game for LeBron and he have a triple double. I don't care about it. What I care about is Westbrook is listening. He's shooting less. They're winning more.
Starting point is 01:06:48 Here's my question, though. That's fine in the regular season. We get to the playoffs. I've watched Westbrook. Is it fair for me to say, Catino, once we get to the playoffs, I don't see Westbrook as being as giving as he is today.
Starting point is 01:07:08 I agree. Because listen, what I've learned in life is I don't pay attention so much of what you say, but what you do. It's a pattern. I'm listening to the pattern. right? I'm watching. I'm listening to the pattern that you are. Now, I was speaking about this earlier.
Starting point is 01:07:27 Russell Westbrook is an amazing athlete. Yes. I think now is his 11th year, 10th 11th year. Russell has got to the point where now is like, I don't really have anything individually to prove. Now that I have to literally sacrifice my ego to win. Can you do that? That's great now in the season. But I need to see you win its finals.
Starting point is 01:07:52 And will you be the old Russell or the new one? I got to bet on a lion's going to be a lion. Russell, you're going to be Russell. Unless you prove to me wrong that you're going to defer to Paul George in the playoffs. I saw him implode last two years in the playoffs. Yeah, that's why Paul George had a bad series last year against Utah. It was inconsistent. He had no consistency.
Starting point is 01:08:16 And he needs the ball more. Yeah, I mean, I think at this point, Paul's a better two. way player. Right. I think that's not a shot at Westbrook. He is. I think Paul's one of the top three two-way players in the NBA. That is true. And I think he's about a 12th best player, but he and Kauai Leonard and to me and Clay Thompson are the best two-way players in the NBA. That's true. All right. That's true. What do you make of the Celtics? Kyrie Irving's heard again. You had kind of an interesting take on this. There is this belief if the Boston Celtics are the guide to rebuilding. But this morning, Kyrie Irving's heard again. Gordon Hayward's not working.
Starting point is 01:08:50 Anthony Davis, I've been told last week, they're not going to be a Celtic. Do you buy into the Celtics long term? Kyrie got hurt again. I don't. Why not? I don't. I think they reached a peak. It's the weirdest thing.
Starting point is 01:09:03 The other day when they lost against the Lakers, if you notice, who's their best defender, Boston Celtics? Marcus Smart. He's not in the game. One foul. He's not in the game at the end of the game. You have Gordon Hayward and no disrespect to Gordon Hayward, but, you know, you're not a stopper. So why is Marcus Smart not in,
Starting point is 01:09:24 you had timeouts? Why is Marcus smart not in the game? Kudos to the Lakers for winning it, right? And coming back. But why is Marcus Smart not in the game? That's one of the, so you have this, you have a team full of talent that don't mesh well.
Starting point is 01:09:40 Well, yesterday one of their players came out and said, it's not fun here. I feel like we're individuals. That was one of the Celtic players yesterday. And think about that. He said this yesterday, but Prior to that, a week ago prior to that, they were what? The last 12 games, 10. They won 10 and lost two.
Starting point is 01:09:57 So for him to say that right now, I don't know about that so much as far as, actually, it's going to my point with Mark is smart. Now Morris says it. Guys are a little inconsistent. It's not like last year. So it's not, you bring Gordon Hayward over, who Brad Stevens loves, not sure if the players do. Kyrie's his own dude. He's an alpha, but he's his own dude.
Starting point is 01:10:19 What you're basically saying is the collection of talent on papers impressive. But there are five seed in the east today. Right. It's not meshing. Right. And see, Brad Stevens loves Gordon Hayward. That's cool. Guess what?
Starting point is 01:10:31 I loved my high school girlfriend, too, but we all grow. We all grow. Don't we? Like, you're still loving the person that was at Butler. Like, he's totally different. And he doesn't fit well with that team. I don't think so either. That team's faster, more athletic.
Starting point is 01:10:46 And yeah, you came off an injury, and I understand that. And we want to give you time, but you still don't fit well with those guys. Yeah, I think even Celtic fans would acknowledge Gordon Hayward hasn't been a great fit. Right. Fit matters. Yeah, it does, man. The chemistry. Okay, I think the Golden State Warriors, in terms of stars, do it better than anybody.
Starting point is 01:11:08 They do. Their coach deflex criticism, he's media savvy. Steph Curry is like the world's greatest star teammate. You're in a city in San Francisco where, you know, Kevin Durant can go in and just score. drive home, put some music in the car, and the Mercedes is a good life. I think going to the Knicks, they lose with Kevin. He's going to take all the heat.
Starting point is 01:11:28 And I don't think he's one of those guys built for that. I think Kevin's a sensitive guy. He's super. That's okay. I think he's super sensitive. You've played with guys like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like you didn't deal with the social media.
Starting point is 01:11:40 Kevin's sensitive. I think he can do a little hiding in Golden State. I don't like the move to the Knicks. It's just too much pressure. The organization is a little messed up, right, when it comes to the ownership. A little? Yeah. I mean, you know, lack of better terms.
Starting point is 01:11:58 Playing with Golden State, when you have Stefan Curry as the most important player to me on that team that makes that team run. It's like Tom Brady. If I'm not whining and I'm not doing this and I'm taking these cuts and I'm doing X, Y, and Z, everybody else should fall in line. you have four guys on that team, not even counting KD, whose IQ is super high from like a point card perspective. So things are easier. You can kind of defer or you can be the leader and no one cares. If you go somewhere else and you got Golden State fans, you know, I mean, they're amazing.
Starting point is 01:12:38 Then you go to New York and it's a little harder to live. The fans, they're expecting greatness right away. it's going to be hard for you, Kevin, because you're not in a bad way, but he wears his emotions on his sleeve. Oh, yeah, Aaron Rogers. Same exact way. Yeah, that's nothing wrong with Aaron. Aaron and Kevin and Aaron are single, don't have kids, so they go home at night and they're on their device. Right.
Starting point is 01:13:03 No, I mean, seriously, you go home. You got kids, you got responsibilities, you got a wife. And I say this all the time is that I don't have time to be on the angry bird all day. Right. I can't be, I can't. I don't, I don't, what did they say? idle time is the devil's playground. If you have so much time
Starting point is 01:13:18 and something hurts you right away, my daughter will come over and give me a kiss and I'm cool. My son come and actually throw the football and I'm okay. A lot of these guys, they have so much time, they can just get on there and voice. And it gets in their head. For whatever reason, just let it go. You know, count the five or count to ten
Starting point is 01:13:34 and let it go a lot of this stuff, but they just voice it. Great seeing you, man. Thanks for having me. Are you unspeak for yourself today? Yeah. That's good. You are the best dressed guests we have.
Starting point is 01:13:44 you could take a thing or two from this guy. Be nice if Goulet dressed like this every day for the show, Joy, wouldn't that be? Nobody wears a suit better than Catina. Well, I mean, Goulet's back there. You might wear sweatpants, you know. Yeah. It's great scene. 11 NBA season, Catino Mobley, former NBA player, Joy, with the news.
Starting point is 01:14:02 No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Although, Gulee, maybe you shouldn't wear sweatpants because you know how Colin feels about sweats. Yeah, once you go to minivans and sweatpants, you've really mailed it in. I love sweatpants. I wore sweatpants this morning. Joy Taylor comes home every day.
Starting point is 01:14:18 She's about to get married to a successful, handsome, a worldly man, and she gets in sweatpants at one in the afternoon. That's love. That is something. Thank you, Patito. I don't know what is. You bought me a lot of those sweatpants. All right.
Starting point is 01:14:32 So the Lakers attempted to trade for Anthony Davis multiple times before the trade deadline. After all the offers, Pelicans declined, choosing to hold on to Davis until the summer. And before the Lakers lost to the Sixers yesterday, Magic Johnson had a little to say about New Orleans. leadership. Did you feel like the negotiation that you had? No. We knew that basically at the end of the day, what happened happened.
Starting point is 01:14:58 And we knew that when we first started. So, you know, in terms of what happened. But hey, it is what it is. Magic, so he's always great at saying something with a smile on his face, huh? Makes you feel like it's not as bad as it is. What he's basically saying, Joy, is the Pelicans dirty the water. they sent out all these trade rumors. It made us look like garbage.
Starting point is 01:15:19 We didn't release these. I don't know. I read the L.A. Times, I would imagine, has some of their best sources with the Lakers over the Pelicans. And the L.A. Times was releasing all these trade stories. So some of it had come from the Lakers. I mean, the L.A. Times was breaking the story, and they have better sources with L.A. than they do New Orleans.
Starting point is 01:15:38 I don't know. It seems like it's mostly coming from New Orleans. Because if you really think about it, how does it help the Lakers? And when does this ever happen that every single trade offer, we find out almost instantaneously at every name? It's not normal. I called Rich Paul last week and I said, who's doing all the talking? I'm not going to tell you what he told me, but I even called him and said, wait, no much talking. This is a mess.
Starting point is 01:16:09 This is terrible. There's like all these guys' names out there. They're like 13 reporters every hour we're breaking stories. I called and complained. I'm not going to tell you what he said in response, but I tried to shut that down. Well, I just said, it looks bad for LeBron. It looks bad for everybody.
Starting point is 01:16:23 It does not look good for LeBron. It does not look good for the Lakers. And I think that's what Maddie Johnson saying is that they didn't act in good faith. They're putting it on the Pelicans, which if you think about it, it makes sense that it would come from the Pelicans. It doesn't help the Lakers. And to me, that was my biggest takeaway on Fridays is this trade didn't happen. First of all, two things.
Starting point is 01:16:39 One, we do this every year with LeBron, every single year. up until the All-Star break, it is just chaos. It's over. LeBron James' career. He's walked off the edge. There's nothing good to do to fix it. And then somehow they're in the NBA finals. So I'm not saying that the Lakers are going to be in the NBA finals,
Starting point is 01:16:56 but like Cotino just said, it still is LeBron James. Everyone, maybe we just relax a little bit. We still have quite a bit of season left to play. My thing is, the trade usually happens with those LeBron James teams when we're freaking out. It didn't this time. So where do you go from here? Because if the whole talk is where you've got to be.
Starting point is 01:17:14 be grown-ups and this is part of the game. And, you know, there's not really a lot of consolation at least publicly going on. Maybe it is privately. And we don't know about it. But they now have to actually come together because this is the team that they're going to have unless they make some other, you know, move. So Tom Brady continues to fill up his personal trophy case. And Jim Harbaugh believes it's time for Michigan to get Brady another honor.
Starting point is 01:17:34 On his podcast, Harba thinks it's time for the Wolverines to build a statue of Brady somewhere on campus. Yeah. He said, I think it's time, don't you, for a Tom Brady statue to be, built right here right in front of Schembeckler Hall or do you put it in the stadium or where would you put the Tom Brady statue? The tunnel. Maybe the tunnel where do you put it? Maybe some listeners can tell us. What do you think about that?
Starting point is 01:17:55 Yeah, I agree with that. I think Tom's I mean, college campuses have I mean, they've got statues of, you know, everybody, including boosters. Why can't Tom Brady? I mean, that I can agree with. I don't think you should put it outside of the stadium or something. I mean, I understand that he did play there.
Starting point is 01:18:14 It's not like he had some, you know, incredible career with Michigan. He was a sixth round draft pick. I mean, I get it. He's the greatest quarterback of all time. But you didn't keep a little perspective here. Maybe like it's outside of the training facility or something. So outside on the north end of campus in some dingy old facility.
Starting point is 01:18:32 No, I'm actually like putting it outside of the chow hall. I'm just saying he's put it like, you know, like in front of the stadium. He's just like, when you think of like Michigan football greats, Tom Brady's will comes to mind or does it just default because he happened to go there and he happens to be the greatest quarterback of all time. I think of Tom Brady. You don't think of Tom Brady's...
Starting point is 01:18:48 That's what you think of. I think of Desmond Howard and Tom Brady. And then Michigan's a great program, but that's who I think of. I mean, it's funny. Because when you say Texas, I think of Vince Young, and he didn't work in the NFL.
Starting point is 01:19:00 And I think Texas... Well, that's not kind of my point. It's like, is this sort of default because of his NFL career that this is happening. Of course. By the way, he is Michigan's eighth all-time leading passer. I don't know.
Starting point is 01:19:15 I think what you're saying is that listen, the greatest player to ever play the game, he was one of us. Yes. This helps recruiting. It's like he was one of our guys. I get it. I get it.
Starting point is 01:19:27 You want to put it next to the chow hall. No, I don't. To be clear, I'm not outraged about the show. Can I have some sloppy joe? Cool statue. I actually like the sloppy job. Finally, Kyler Murray is going all in on his pursuit of an NFL career. He made his announcement this morning.
Starting point is 01:19:42 Just a little bit of a little bit of. go by saying on social media. Football has been my love and passion my entire life. I was raised to play quarterback and I very much look forward to dedicating 100% of myself to being the best quarterback possible in winning NFL championships. I have started an extensive training program to further prepare myself for upcoming NFL workouts and interviews and I eagerly await the opportunity to continue to provide to NFL decision makers that I am a franchise quarterback in this draft. Now he is 510, 1905 pounds, which would make him the smallest quarterback in the league, an inch shorter and 20 pounds lighter than Russell Wilson, which
Starting point is 01:20:13 The 20 pounds lighter thing doesn't bother me so much because he is still a college athlete that he's going to put on weight. He's going to be in a different training program and eating differently and all those things when he gets to the NFL. And, you know, he's going to get older, obviously, as well. So let me just say this. He does throw, he throws a really good football. Like, I always say. He was second this year in passing efficiency, which is the NCAA's QBR. Okay, so he's a significantly greater athlete than Baker Mayfield.
Starting point is 01:20:43 throws the football reasonably close to Baker and Baker work. Now, now, he's two inches shorter than Baker. Does that make a difference? I think the way the world works today, he's a first round quarterback. Quarterbacks are protected a lot more than they used to be. Thank you. And to me,
Starting point is 01:20:59 like I said with Baker, the biggest transition difficulty in transition from college to the pros is you have to throw people open as opposed to throwing to the open receiver in college. So accuracy and efficiency and efficiency is the biggest thing that I look for in college quarterbacks.
Starting point is 01:21:16 Running is fine. We've seen how that's translated. Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray can run, but they're elite throwers. Mitch Trubisky and Lamar can run. My concerns always been, I don't think they're elite throwers. I never thought Johnny Mansell, once you got him off platform, was a good enough NFL thrower. Kyler Murray can make all the throws. Ideally, I wish he was 6'3.
Starting point is 01:21:45 But I always go back to this. If you are an accurate thrower of the football, I think you make it in this league. I just think it's that simple. Again, he wouldn't be my number one pick. Dwayne Haskins would be. But I think the kid works at some level in this league now. I think he's a first-round quarterback.
Starting point is 01:22:00 I think the quarterbacks are too valuable, not for a team that needs one or needs a strong backup or is looking for someone to transition to soon to not take him. But I'm glad that he's fully committing to football. I mean, baseball, Tim Tebow is shown if it doesn't work, you can go and play baseball if you have enough skill. So I think he made the right choice. Good stuff. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news.
Starting point is 01:22:22 And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. Coming up, 401K, if you had to push it all in, there would be no reason to be afraid of Anthony Davis to the Lakers. I'll explain that next. The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays and New York. Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard radio app. Cold and flu season. Try Vic Synex nasal spray. Vic Sinx nasal spray works up to 12 hours. Be ready when congestion strikes.
Starting point is 01:22:51 Use only as directed. So LeBron this weekend went to watch Duke play. College basketball as a sport is not as dynamic as it used to be, but there's a player named Zion Williamson, who will be the unanimous number one pick. he plays for Duke and LeBron showed up and went to the game. And everybody, of course, is freaking out. This feels like LeBron is trying to sway Zion Williamson to go to clutch sports. And who cares? Who cares? The league is now petrified of LeBron James, perhaps watching a basketball game. And because of his glamour and stardom, that being an attractive thing for a young player at Duke,
Starting point is 01:23:33 signing on with clutch sports, which whether they wanted or not is connected. to LeBron James. You say clutch sports, you think of LeBron. That's the reality of it. Let me ask you about all this fear about LeBron James. Let me ask you a question. Fifteen years in the NBA, LeBron's got three titles. He is currently, Joy, in 10th place. Does it feel like LeBron's dominating the league? Let me ask you this. 401K, I've got one, you've got one. If I said today, Joy, you and I would have to go all in on one side or the other. LeBron wins a title or two or three or doesn't win a title again. Where would you go? I'm going to do it right now? Yeah, I would say no. I can't wait until the summer. No. I would say
Starting point is 01:24:21 LeBron's not winning another time. I am not sure he and Anthony Davis are great together. Yeah, I hesitate to say no because it's LeBron James, but I also think of the other teams who he's going to have to go through and the free agents that are available and then the fact that they still need other pieces besides just that free agent. So I don't know. So you'd probably go all in. If you had to choose, LeBron doesn't win another title. I'd probably say no, yeah. I totally agree. Because I don't even know if they get Anthony Davis, and I'm not sure, I'm not sure how well they mesh. I've seen Bosch. I've seen love with LeBron. He can marginalize Biggs. He's always great with shooters. LeBron's always great with Biggs.
Starting point is 01:24:59 Well, and LeBron hasn't shown any decline as of yet. I mean, this is the first real injury. I think there's a little, little defense. I don't want to overreact to that. But every year, he is getting older. Like, that's just a reality, no matter how great he takes care of his body. I don't think he's a dynamic defensive player anymore. That's been that way for a while, though.
Starting point is 01:25:19 Yeah. And I think it's really obvious now. I think he, like Kobe Bryant last six years, Kobe may have a possession, but guys could beat him off the drivel. LeBron has shown the ability to evolve. and to evolve his game. So I will give him credit in that regard. He doesn't just stick with being, you know, purely athletic.
Starting point is 01:25:36 And, you know, he is evolving. But there's a lot of factors in it that didn't exist before. There's all this palpable fear. Magic Johnson came out. There's a story out now that Ben Simmons wants to work out potentially with the Lakers. And Magic Johnson said this in regards to Ben Simmons. I love his game. I love his vision.
Starting point is 01:25:56 He reached out to me. not to me directly to the Lakers to find out if we can get together this summer. I said, hey, you got to clear it with the league. And everybody, the Sixers sign off, we sign off, the league sign off. That is not nothing going on, but he wants to know how to play the position as a big guard. Da-da-da-da-da-da. It's fine. You know, I will do that.
Starting point is 01:26:24 But if everybody doesn't sign off, then we can't get together. I can assure you the Sixers will not sign off on that. There is no chance. Elton Brand, a real smart dude who's done a great job in short time in Philly, is not signing off on that. And the NBA probably would reach out and say, no, we're not going to let that happen. But I'll go back to this. Tell me what we're protecting here. Anthony Davis's great career with the Pelicans.
Starting point is 01:26:52 I mean, all this fear about LeBron James, he is currently 10,000. in the West. I don't think anybody right now considers them a top seven team in the league, top eight. I don't. Top teams in the league are Golden State. I still think Houston with Chris Paul is really good. I think you have to put Oklahoma City in there.
Starting point is 01:27:11 I think you have to put Philly in there, Milwaukee in there. I think you put Boston in there, Toronto in there. I'm at seven. And I'm not even counting. I'm not counting Utah, which is interesting. I'm not counting. Who am I missing out east? Denver and the West. Okay, I'm an idiot. Denver in the West. I'm nine in, and I don't think the Lakers are in any of those.
Starting point is 01:27:38 Final hours coming up, Dante Jones. 1-800 Flowers.com. Valentine's is this Thursday. 18 red roses, 29, 99, or upgraded 24 plus a vase, $10 more. Go to 1,800flowers.com code H-E-R-D. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays and noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Ah, hour three. We're live in LA. Thanks for joining us. This is The Heard, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and right here, FS1. Also, you can find us on Sirius XM Channel 83. I would listen to me, but I'm on the air right now. Joy Taylor is joining me, Dante Jones at 50 minutes. How are you? We got some breaking news last hour. Let's refresh it for those just turning in.
Starting point is 01:28:25 Kyler Murray, the spectacular quarterback at Oklahoma, was given the option of signing with the Oakland days for $5 or $10 million for going to the NFL. And Kyler Murray had a big decision to make. And Kyler Murray has today announced he's going to go to the NFL over baseball. I think it's the right decision. I think you can make more money, more guaranteed money in football. I think football is a more dynamic sport that elevates its players. If I was a young athlete and I was given the choice of going to baseball,
Starting point is 01:28:53 which, you know, it's amazing about baseball. Yassil Pweig came into the sport and had some flare and was dynamic and fun, and baseball shouted him down. Like, if you're a fun baseball player and you're a prospect, then you've got some personality and you play with flair, be warned, baseball doesn't like it. I mean, Bryce Harper gets pushed back. Don't stare at a baseball.
Starting point is 01:29:12 Don't stare at a home run for two seconds. You know, it's like Kyler Murray's exciting. And the NFL likes exciting. And the NFL's now in the last couple of years said, hey, you can do some celebrations even now. So I think he, you know, again, he's a different kind of a quarterback because of his size. I mean, there are some parallels to Russell Wilson, although I think it's completely unfair to compare anybody to Russell Wilson. He's one of the 10 best quarterbacks, certainly in football, that I've seen in a long time.
Starting point is 01:29:38 But I think the kid made the right decision. Good for him. Kyler Murray's chosen the NFL. And I do think if I was Jacksonville in the first round, I think they have the seventh pick. If I was Jacksonville, I would take Kyler Murray. I would. I think their roster is good enough to win. I'd roll the dice.
Starting point is 01:29:53 By the way, let's say he doesn't work out. It's the seventh pick. It's not like years ago. If you blew the first round pick on a quarterback, you were trapped forever. We've seen all sorts of teams pick the wrong quarterback, and they're fine. So if I was Jacksonville, I'd take Kyner Murray. I'd roll the dice. A third of the first rounds of bust anyway.
Starting point is 01:30:10 At least go for a guy that is unbelievably profoundly talented at the quarterback position. Coming up in 15 minutes again, Dante Jones stops by a former friend of LeBron. Well, well, well, Lakers got a big. win Thursday night over the Celtics. And I went to the internet. I was off on Friday and look at what I'm reading. The Lakers season has been saved. They can beat anybody. They've come together. This team is for real. That is total utter nonsense. So I checked my phone and I thought, well, who do they play next? They're out east. Sixers. And I thought to myself, well, what if they go get beat by 25 by the Sixers? LOL. They did.
Starting point is 01:30:55 NBA media settle down. Individual wins in February are irrelevant. The Lakers are a completely average team, and that game didn't save any season. They're one star and 13 possible transactions. Kyle Kuzma's their second best player, and he disappears in games. He did against the Sixers. He does it all the time, and he's their second best player. And I know they're all transactions because I read stories last week where the Lakers were willing to give up every single young player.
Starting point is 01:31:30 And I scolded the Lakers and I said, this is a big mistake. Do not get into business with the Pelicans like this. It will get ugly. It's a cautionary tale. When a team like the Pelicans has nothing to lose, be very careful about what you offer. They're just manipulating you because the Lakers put out a list of seven players and five draft picks. were willing to give up, all the players now know their pawns. This is an average team with one great player on the back nine of his career, though he's still remarkable. He's not as dominant
Starting point is 01:32:02 as he once was. He's coming off an injury. Only one other player is a true asset, Kyle Kuzma, and he disappears in games. And I thought the trade and all of it and all the nonsense in the media confused an average locker room. Javelle McGee, Magic Johnson, flew out to the East Coast to talk to the kids and talked to the team after all those trade rumors were out there. And Javale McGee was asked by the LA Times what he made of Magic Johnson talking to the players about all the trade rumors that never transpired. Javelle McGee said, it felt good. How am I supposed to answer that? How did I feel? Tinglingly inside? I don't know. The reporter said, was it productive? Yeah, I got so much out of it. It's crazy. Deep exhale. I don't know what you're trying to ask.
Starting point is 01:32:49 Yeah, either do I. Magic Johnson flew out to sue these young players who are freaking out which all young people, middle-aged people, or old people would do if they feel they're completely expendable. Magic Johnson talked about that meeting with the team. Quit making this about thinking these guys are babies because that's what you're treating them. They're professionals. All of them. And this is how this league works.
Starting point is 01:33:21 They know it. I know it. All deals are... A lot of them are made in public. We didn't make it in public, but... That's part of... That's what happens, man. We got big boys here. Did you? They're fine. They're not fine. They didn't look fine yesterday.
Starting point is 01:33:40 This is not about kids being babies. I'll say it again. Luke Walton is in big trouble. This is a confused locker room. And be very careful about doing business with people who have nothing to lose. The Pelicans didn't, dirtied up all the trade rumors, and manipulated magic and the Lakers.
Starting point is 01:34:00 I don't blame the players. If you can sense your demise or the fact that you're completely expendable, that's tough for anybody to deal with. Guys are some people are married. Some have families. Some are comfortable with their current employer. That win against the Celtics, take a deep breath. meant nothing. This is going to be an incredibly choppy second half, and Luke Walton, unfortunately, will take the hit.
Starting point is 01:34:31 Let me shift gears to this. This is really confusing because I like this player. There is a rule in professional sports. There's two things you don't talk about. You don't talk about another player's wife, and you don't talk about another player's money. Oh, wait. Dak Prescott this weekend talked about both. Nobody's wife makes as much money as his wife does either. So make sure we know that, all right? When Tom Brady isn't the breadwinner in the home,
Starting point is 01:35:09 then that's a great problem to have. So in that case, he can do that. He can, you know, do his contracts however you want to do them. Oh, brother. Tom Brady's wife, first of all, once you get to $100 million net worth, $150 million net worth simply doesn't matter. It doesn't change anything. It's all about ego.
Starting point is 01:35:34 Tom Brady has been restructuring his contract pre-Giselle and post-Giselle. Because Tom Brady is all about winning. Kirk Cousins isn't. Kirk Cousins is about getting his money. Kirk Cousins isn't dumb. Kirk Cousins knows that the more a quarterback makes, the less you can afford on your offensive line or in your running game, both liabilities last year for the Vikings.
Starting point is 01:36:02 Players make decisions all the time. NBA stars make a boatload of money with apparel in shoes. Therefore, guys like Kevin Durant best served taking a little less to win more. and shaping his legacy. Dak Prescott has all the data in the world now. He is saying he will not take a pay cut. He has all the data in the world. It is clear that in a salary cap league,
Starting point is 01:36:31 the top six paid quarterbacks, none of them made the playoffs last year. Does Dak Prescott really believe that those two major endorsement deals, he's got one with yogurt and one with Campbell's Soup, that he would have those if not for the Dallas Cowboys? Really? He really believes that. Does Dak Prescott believe that Zeke makes him better?
Starting point is 01:36:53 That front seven defensively puts him in better field position? And that Tyron Smith at left tackle has elevated his protection? Once data is provided to any American, then the choices are yours. Tom Brady has been restructuring his deal. He did it back in the Randy Moss days. because Tom Brady's a winner. Tom Brady knew that if I take less, we can get Randy Moss, and we can keep he and Wes Welker.
Starting point is 01:37:26 That's what Brady's been doing very early in his career. That's why he fits so well in New England. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if New England doesn't just pay Brady in goats, since he is one. This is not about anything, about a wife, about money. that is just an excuse to take money and hurt your legacy. There's something very clear that is happening. The two biggest stars in America right now in sports are NBA stars and NFL quarterbacks.
Starting point is 01:38:00 And with both, we have decisions that need to be made by those stars and quarterbacks. We know that quarterbacks are better served, Drew Brees, a great example, of taking a little less, and since Breeze decided to do that several years ago, the Saints running game and offensive line and defense are significantly better. And it should be noted that Steph Curry made $42 million last year off the court. Clay Thompson made 13 and has virtually no personality. Kevin Durant makes more with Nike than he does with the Warriors. But those players know that nobody really watches the NBA from October to February, but they do watch an April, and June, and you want to be on TV.
Starting point is 01:38:47 And you'll be on TV if you're on a team good enough to win series after series after series. So NFL quarterbacks and NBA stars, be it the wife or the shoe deal, know that career longevity and elevation is secured by not being data now clearly provided the highest paid guy. Dan Prescott, Brady's not about his wife. It's not anything about that. Tom made a career decision pre-Giselle.
Starting point is 01:39:23 I want to constantly restructure my deal because I want to win games. The question now, Dak, do you? Coming up next, a breaking story, Dante Jones as well. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the iHeart radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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
Starting point is 01:40:00 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.
Starting point is 01:40:37 And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast. Learn the hard way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking.
Starting point is 01:40:56 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,
Starting point is 01:41:14 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.
Starting point is 01:41:27 I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Life throws hurdles big and small.
Starting point is 01:41:46 The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going from the WMBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but.
Starting point is 01:42:12 Don't ever feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeki. The ability to show gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything.
Starting point is 01:42:35 I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness.
Starting point is 01:43:01 So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive?
Starting point is 01:43:31 The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my. my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 1-800flowers.com.
Starting point is 01:43:56 Valentine's Thursday, 18 Red Roses, 2999, 24, plus a vase, $10 more. 1-800flowers.com. Code heard. Dante Jones at 13 NBA seasons, a champ with LeBron and the Cavs in 2016. By the way, they're mocking me, folks. Just know this. I was telling Dante Jones, who's just being a great dad and all that. stuff and coaching. And we were talking
Starting point is 01:44:15 about movies during the break and I said I'd seen Bohemian Rhapsody in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood and I told him I watched Star is born a week ago and I cried and he goes you cried and then Joy said you cried. You're putting an inflection on my voice that is unfair. I just asked you if you were being
Starting point is 01:44:31 in a way that you're being serious. I also cried at the end of Starzborn. I thought you meant like I it was as a figure of speech rather than did you technically cry? Right. Did a tear really come at your eyes? almost wanted to cry. There's two differences in that.
Starting point is 01:44:45 No, I cried. I could have cried, but I did. There was an actual tear that came out of Starsborn. Multiple tears or just like one. Oh, I know you're breaking it down. It was, I mean, it's a difference. Did you need a tissue? Okay.
Starting point is 01:44:56 Sob or did you like, did a tear come out and you had to get it out of there and then that was it? Two tears isn't sob. Now that's I'm told it. Sobbing is like I can't control myself. You give you one of those in our hair. I'm just checking. See how much it moved you. Here.
Starting point is 01:45:13 It. move me enough that I had to at the end of the movie wipe a moisture from... That's a good movie. That's not losing my breath. I'm just checking. I ask these questions just to find out. That's right. Accuracy. You've always been about accuracy. Your soul was affected. So Lakers beat the Celtics, lose to Philadelphia.
Starting point is 01:45:32 Could I not just say, they're a young team. When LeBron's not on the floor, you don't know what you're getting. This is who they are. LeBron has to be on the floor for this team to be relevant. If he's not on the floor, they're not a relevant team. It's 10 transactions. I like Kyle Kuzma. He dropped like 39 against the Sixers. He can play, but there's moments he disappears for quarters.
Starting point is 01:45:50 He's not a great player. He's a young good player, which like Jason Tatum, they disappear. They have moments. The Lakers are an average team, and they have moments when they're very interesting when LeBron's on the floor. Right. I think they can be very interesting defensively with all their length. With LeBron on the floor that puts them in a different stratosphere, but he can't play
Starting point is 01:46:11 every game, all game right now. in the playoffs I think they'll be an interesting team. And let me ask you like the teardot question. Is interesting men one series win max? Depends on the matchups. The playoffs are about matchups and timing and who's hot. And see, he turns into a different individual when comes to playoffs.
Starting point is 01:46:32 He does. And I think that can give them some confidence. Now it depends on what team they're playing and where they're at and their life cycle as a basketball team. But he can make it very interesting in the playoffs. You have to see them win in a championship. but I see them learning, that young core, learning how to win, learning their roles, gaining some confidence, learning how to play with him.
Starting point is 01:46:50 So I think this is a great learning year for a young core. So LeBron is at the Duke game, looking at Zion Williamson, people freak out. Here we go again. And then KD, and by the way, I defend LeBron on that. He has a right to go watch. He can go watch basketball games, right? That was like the highest rate of basketball game this year. By far.
Starting point is 01:47:08 And Cameron. He's the best player, Zion Williams, everybody wants to watch him. And he was close to it already. It's cool. Don't worry about it. And then Kevin Durant's likeness is on a next season ticket renewal, and people freak out about that. And I thought it was funny. That is funny.
Starting point is 01:47:21 So, and then, so give me the player perspective on this. You want to build your league around stars. And then when stars talk about other stars or want to watch other stars, you joke about it on your all-star game draft with Charles Barkley. Let's just be real on this. Let's keep it 100. is that this soap opera stuff is why people love basketball. It is a massive component to it, right? Right.
Starting point is 01:47:49 Baseball suppresses stories. Basketball elevate stories. Do the players think this is a bunch of hypocrisy? No, the drama of this is what NBA basketball is about. The storylines, the drama, everything that goes into it, how created, what the teams are going through, the personalities. I think that's where we have a good game in basketball because all the personalities are associated with basketball. And the storylines that go behind them too.
Starting point is 01:48:15 Were you bothered by what the Knicks did putting KD on a ticket renewal? Not at all. And even if they did it on purpose, so what? That's what I said. It just is what it is. We have fun with the game of basketball and all the storylines to go with it. And so it's what it is. Let me shift to something.
Starting point is 01:48:31 I was saying earlier that the triple double means nothing to me. Why is that? Because you don't like Russell Westbrook. No, no, no. No, but do you like Russell Westberg? I think he's really talented. The triple double is extremely hard. It's hard to do two things very well in the course of a basketball games.
Starting point is 01:48:49 To do three things very well, like people get paid high amounts of money to average double figures in two categories, right? Yeah. Like, they get loads of money to do that. But when you can do it in three, you're really doing something special. Or are you really concerned about that when there's no proof. that LeBron's had knights that he wouldn't call great knights and he's had triple doubles. And then there's nights that LeBron doesn't and has exceptional nights. Westbrook has been part of a 11-game 10-win streak.
Starting point is 01:49:21 Why? He's shooting less. That when Westbrook is less volume-driven and lets Paul shoot 20 times and he shoots 12, they win. And then when he jacks up more shots and I get more. I agree. I agree with you on that point. The scoring, he's going to average double. double figures in scoring because he's aggressive. But if he
Starting point is 01:49:40 he tames back his shots, they are a better basketball team. No question. You're right, but it takes a lot of effort to get double digit assists and a lot of effort especially as a guard to get double digit rebounds. And he brings a lot of effort to the game on the scoring in two. So he's dominant in three categories. He could go for 30 any night. He's just not shooting the ball well primarily right now. But it takes effort to do just assist in the rebounds. It takes
Starting point is 01:50:08 extreme effort to do that, especially at his side. Do you think in the playoffs, when all the lights are on and everybody's watching, that he will continue to let Paul George be the man and take a secondary role? I think so. I think he's maturing. I think he's understanding what it takes for them to win and coexist. And then I'm enjoying Paul George because you see a person at ease right now. You see his spirit is at his calm right now because he doesn't have free agency over his head.
Starting point is 01:50:33 He knows where he's going to be for the next, what, four or five years of his life. and he knows the guy he's playing next to. He's comfortable. He enjoys his surroundings. So those two are working well together. It's not just about the individuals. It's about a collaboration right now. By the way, the Boston Celtics, Kyrie's hurt.
Starting point is 01:50:53 I was told last week from somebody I trust Anthony Davis will not play for Boston. And I don't think Gordon Hayward is the player he was, nor does he fit. They're the classic rebuild for dummies. They are how you do it. They got the right coach. If you wrote a book, Rebuilding for Dummies in the NBA, you put the Celtics on the cover. They draft well. They win every trade.
Starting point is 01:51:14 They got the right coach. They're very patient. They sign all-stars. Today, Kyrie Irving's hurt. A.D. is a pipe dream. Gordon Hayward doesn't fit. Five seed in the east. Do you buy this rebuild?
Starting point is 01:51:28 I mean, I keep hearing this is how you do it this morning with Kyrie Irving hurt again. It just feels like there's a lot of. of press and not a lot of results. See, I buy the AD. I buy the rebuild without AD. Like, AD, you're shooting for defenses. You don't have to do that because you already have
Starting point is 01:51:46 the ingredients already. I don't understand the message that you're sending to your young core right now when you're involved in the AD scandal and you're telling, and you're letting this, these rumors go around. Like, the Boston is, New Orleans is basically waiting for
Starting point is 01:52:01 Boston in this offseason. Like, what are those young kids thinking? How are they able to? to concentrate. They're having internal problems because you're basically saying we're going to trade you after the playoffs. So just give us all you got and make this run. But we're getting some of you out of here. The dynamic has switched. Couldn't I argue that's what the Lakers are going through. That we as we publish all these things, Kyle Kuzma's like, what am I doing here? They went through it for 10 days. They had a 10 day stint of that. Now you have like three months
Starting point is 01:52:26 left of this for Boston because these guys know the timer has started for them. You had a 10-day timeer with the Lakers and Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram and the possibility of Lonzo. Yeah, they were under a 10-day timer. But now these guys have the rest of the season and the playoffs, and I don't think that's healthy for them. You know, I just tell my wife this over the weekend. I said, you know, it's amazing. I said, can you imagine if my name was in the paper and I was going to be traded for
Starting point is 01:52:52 two sportscasters to be named later? I'm like, people don't understand this. People have married. They have wives. They have families. Their kids are in school. This is the school time. This is not a summer league.
Starting point is 01:53:02 It's a winter league. Kids are in school. Did you ever have your name in the paper for a trade and how did it affect you? I never had my name in a paper for a trade, but I had a trade go a different way than I thought it was going to go. And I ended up going to a team that I didn't think I was going to. So then mid-season, we had to just pack our stuff up and get out of there. And my wife was left with the burden of packing the family up, getting the kids out, and finding a new space in a new place.
Starting point is 01:53:29 And that's just when your home is not in a new place, order, then you're not in order. It's hard for you to go to work and be your best and concentrate fully. Yeah, you're getting paid lots of money, but you're still a human. And human beings, when their home is not in order, they just can't be themselves. Oh, I'm totally the same way. If home's bad, I'm bad. Right. Like, I can't do it. I say this all the time. I don't think fans get this. Fans go, you make a lot of money. So do lawyers. It doesn't matter. But if you if a lawyer woke up this morning and got tried to do another law firm and then you asked him to walk into that law firm, not knowing really anybody in the law firm.
Starting point is 01:54:05 How come it doesn't work? How come on it? You're a lawyer. Do law and stuff. Litigate. And then what people don't understand is that once you stop stepping on the court with that new team, they throw unload like a half a year's worth of information on you right when you get there. Like you need to learn this, this and this, this is how we do it. So you have to reprogram and kick all that other stuff that was second nature out of your head. And you start thinking. And you start overthinking the process. And I have to be. here rather when it came second nature. That's what training camp is for. That's what all the years of
Starting point is 01:54:35 cohesive and building is for. But once you get traded and thrown to this new team, now you're not winging it. They're not telling you to go out there and winging it. No, we do it like this. You need to be here. You need to remember these. You need to remember these 10 plays. We have these adjustments off of it.
Starting point is 01:54:52 And then it's a little bit of disarray for the first week or two after you're traded. Yeah. I told my wife this weekend, I said, I don't think fans quite understand. It's difficult. It's really difficult. Family wife, I see you, I'm going to Sacramento.
Starting point is 01:55:06 Where? Yeah, look on a map. It's Northern California. It's not difficult for the guy who has the ball in his hands. So if you're going to be a scorer and they say, you know, where do you want it at? Just get, we'll fill this the rest in later. A wing guy? Yeah, a wing guy who's going to get a lot of touches, that's not who is hard for.
Starting point is 01:55:25 But a guy who has to compliment others and do things for others to make the whole machine work is extremely hard. Good seeing you. Do you think less of me that I cried at Starsborn? No, I'm really high on you for having emotions. My humanity. Yes. My humanity is more human to me today. You were a superstar in my eyes and now you're a regular guy like me, man. I cry.
Starting point is 01:55:46 Two tears. Not bawling two tears. That's being emotionally moved. Joy had the same feeling as I did when you said I cried. We just wanted to make sure you weren't joking. Right. I don't joke about crying. Always serious about tear ducks. Came out real fast.
Starting point is 01:56:01 Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, so we just discussed being traded. A lot has been made over the past several weeks about how it would affect the entire Lakers roster being put into those rumors about trades. But Magic Johnson does not want to hear it. Quit making this about thinking these guys are babies because that's what you're treating them.
Starting point is 01:56:26 They're professionals. All of them. And this is how this league works. They know it. I know it. All the deal of them are made in public. We didn't make it in public, but that's part of it. That's what happens, man.
Starting point is 01:56:44 We got big boys here. Did you? And they bounced back. They're fine. Now, I did say this before the Sixers blow out. So maybe they didn't bounce back right away. But look, everything that Dante said is true. There's a lot of human elements in being traded that fans, look, maybe rightfully so don't care about because you make a lot of money.
Starting point is 01:57:06 It is part of the business, whereas it isn't a part of our business. It isn't a part of being a lawyer's business. It's part of this business. But just because it's part of your business doesn't mean, A, that everyone experiences it, or B, that you're prepared for what it is when it happens. Just because you know it's a possibility doesn't mean that you emotionally are prepared for it or mentally prepared for it. And even guys that don't have families to move, they still have homes and stuff. And moving is difficult. And forget just the at-home personal part of it.
Starting point is 01:57:35 You're also processing being with new people. So this is a fear. All that anxiety has been living in their minds for the past couple weeks. Now it's not happening. Now you have to go back out there and pretend like none of it happens. And then it could still all happen at the end of the season. I just, I don't, it's a lot to mentally push forward through. I've moved.
Starting point is 01:57:54 a lot of different people. I've moved cross country three or four times. It's hard every time. It's hard every time. Finding the right house, finding the right schools. Everybody's stressed out. I mean, when I moved to L.A., it was for the first month or two. I was stressed out.
Starting point is 01:58:06 You're trying to figure out, I mean, and I know L.A., but I'm trying to figure out, all right, where's the dry cleaner? Where's the store? Okay, what's the dentist for your kids? And my wife, thank God, was doing 90% of it. It's still stressful. Yeah, it's a very interesting situation that the Lakers are in. Now, we don't know what the conversations are going on behind closed doors and what Magic's actually saying to them.
Starting point is 01:58:28 Maybe he's putting forth a different phase and being more personal one-on-one with them. But it's going to be interesting how the rest of this season goes. Because what started off as kind of a not throwaway, but just a very low expectation season has quickly become a expectation season. And not, you know, the finals or winning a championship. I don't think the expectations were ever that high. But certainly making it to the playoffs and winning a series or two, the expectations, at least in my mind, for this Lakers team. So it'll be interesting.
Starting point is 01:58:58 Kyle Murray, breaking news today, is going all in on his pursuit of an NFL career. He made the announcement this morning by saying on social media. Football has been my love and my passion for my entire life. I was raised to play quarterback, and I very much look forward to dedicating 100% of myself to being the best quarterback possible in winning NFL championships. I have started an extensive training program to further prepare myself for upcoming NFL workouts and interviews, and I eagerly await the opportunity to continue to provide or to proves the NFL decision makers. I'm a franchise quarterback in this draft. Now, he's very talented
Starting point is 01:59:28 and pretty accurate, but he's shorter than your average quarterback. He would be the smallest. I'll make a prediction. He'll absolutely go in the first round. I'll make this prediction. He'll go top 15 picks first round. I think he's going to go top 15 picks. That's Mike, and I don't have inside information, but if you start looking at the four or five teams that need quarterbacks and you look at the game and people think about Mitch Trubisky got to the playoffs and is not an elite thrower. This kid's a better thrower than Mitch Trubisky. And Mitch Trubisky is not 6'4. He's a way better thrower than Lamar Jackson.
Starting point is 02:00:00 He's a way better thrower than Mitch Trubisky, and those guys got to the playoffs. Well, he completed nearly 70% of his passes at Oklahoma and average 11.9 yards per attempt, and he was second in passing efficiency this year in college football, which is the biggest transition point for me with quarterbacks from college to the end. NFL, you know, there's certain positions that, you know, running back that don't have such a learning curve. Quarterbacks to me, your accuracy is the most important because the game speeds up tremendously. Yep. And that's super important.
Starting point is 02:00:30 So I think you made the right decision. And finally, Kareem Hunt has been given a second chance to continue his NFL career. The Browns announced signing this morning and John Dorsey put out a statement. The Browns put out a statement as well. But from John Dorsey, we fully understand and respect the complexity of questions and issues and signing a player with Kareem's history. and do not condone his actions. Given what we know about Kareem through our extensive research, we believe he deserves a second chance.
Starting point is 02:00:55 Well, man, they're loaded it. They have now Duke Johnson, Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt. Well, he has not actually served any of his suspension yet. He was cut by the Chiefs, but he is now on the commissioners exemptless. So at the start of the season, if he's on the Browns roster, he would then start serving whatever suspension they choose for him, which I believe would be four games because he's the first time offender. but, you know, the NFL
Starting point is 02:01:19 and picks and chooses what their suspensions are when it comes to this stuff. Yeah, I mean, listen, do you believe in life people deserve second chances? I believe Kareem Hunt deserves a second chance. I mean, I believe people deserve second chances short. What Kareem Hunt did was obviously despicable and he apologized for it and he's going through whatever, you know,
Starting point is 02:01:38 psychological process he feels like he needs to go to, therapists or whatever else. I'm not surprised by this at all. I'm a little surprised it's been so soon, but I never thought that he wasn't going to be signed by someone because it's tolerance versus performance and he's a big talent. So someone was going to take a chance on him.
Starting point is 02:01:57 How it's going to work out and the backlash that they get is something that they should expect because of the situation. So, I mean, the moral compass is, I mean, it varies based off of what you do with the NFL, obviously. So, I mean, you know, there's going to be some pushback of this. Obviously, Kaepernick has not been given a second chance if you consider that bad. Eric Reid just signed a huge contract. He signed a three-year deal.
Starting point is 02:02:17 Yeah, huge. So it'll be interesting to see with the backlash is from this. And like I said, Goodell hasn't given his suspension of him yet either. So we'll see. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News.
Starting point is 02:02:31 Yeah, Eric Reed signed a $22 million deal today. He had done some kneeling and protesting for the NFL. Carolina said, whatever's. We'll sign you. You're a good player. Coming up next, something's happening with Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers, and that should scare their fans to. death. That is next and best for last.
Starting point is 02:02:48 Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeard Radio app. In six days, the greatest event in motorsports is back. The Daytona 500 kicks off the 2019 NASCAR season Sunday at 2.30 p.m. Eastern with the pre-race beginning at 1 p.m. Only on Fox. Penguins, Flyers, 7 Eastern, Discover card key matchup. Get your free credit. scorecard today. Learn more at discover.com slash credit scorecard. Limitations apply. It doesn't affect your credit score. Well, Ben Simmons has had a very interesting year. I said last year, it may have been my
Starting point is 02:03:28 worst take of all time. I thought he would become the best player for the Sixers and a top ten player in the NBA. I don't think he has to be a world-class shooter to be a dominant six-ten point guard who defends well, passes brilliantly, and can score at the rim. Usually I do not get involved in players dating lives. That's not really something I'm interested in, but Ben Simmons has been dating Kendall Jenner. She is part, of course, of the famous Kardashian Jenner family. And if you look at the history of the Kardashian curse, let's look at the actual John history of it. Let's start with Reggie Bush, star running back at USC. A member of the Super Bowl champion saints. But after his relationship with Kim Kardashian,
Starting point is 02:04:18 He was forced to give back his Heisman, and his NFL career fizzled. How about Rashad McCants in the mid-2000s, NCAA champ at UNC, rising star for the T-Wolves. He then dated Chloe in 2008 and got traded to the Kings, left the NBA, and openly blamed Chloe for ruining his career. How about Matt Camp 2011, runner-up National League MVP? Then there were rumors he was dating Chloe, and in 2013, his average dropped 30 points. He missed half the season with injuries, and he only fully came back to form last year.
Starting point is 02:05:07 How about Miles Austin, 2009, 2010, led the Cowboys in receiving yards. Then he dated Kim in 2010. His receiving yards plummeted and joy. He retired at 30. Chris Humphreys was a top five rebounder in the NBA. He then married Kim. The marriage ended after 72 days. He got shipped around the league.
Starting point is 02:05:43 And then he retired. In 2014, there's Chandler Parsons, averaging nearly 17 points per game for the Rock. He then briefly dated Kendall. He's now a bench warmer for the Memphis Grizzlies, the saddest place to be in the NBA. There's James Harden. He was beginning his career with the Rockets. He then dated Chloe Kardashian and all you need to know, he called it, quote,
Starting point is 02:06:16 the worst year of his life, unquote. Odell Beckham Jr. was argued. was arguably the greatest wide receiver and most exciting star in the NFL. Then in 2017, there were simply rumors he was dating Chloe. After that, he was hurt, almost got traded, and also got into another bad relationship with a kicking net. Oh, we're not finished, Jordan Clarkson was a Laker. Their leading score in 2015, 2016.
Starting point is 02:06:50 Really with a promising career? The Toast of L.A. Then he dated Kendall in 2016. He's a Cleveland Cavalier. Oh, I'm not done, Joy. Tristan Thompson averaged 10-10. 2016 finals win against Golden State. Now he is in a partnership with Chloe.
Starting point is 02:07:11 All you need to know is he is off and now boot at home. Blake Griffin, 2017. Clippers signed him to a massive five-year deal. Making it clear he was the star. The best basketball player in Los Angeles. He was going nowhere. he dated Kendall. Yeah, now he's on the Pistons, lucky to be an 8th seed in the east.
Starting point is 02:07:37 And finally, Ben Simmons, number one pick on one of the hottest teams in the league. Then he hooked up with Kendall. Now he's in a sophomore slump. LeBron didn't guard him yesterday, and he hasn't improved since last year. Cursed by the Kardashians. Reggie Bush was shot in McKinney. Matt Kemp, Miles, Austin, Chris Humphreys, Chandler Parsons, James Hardin, O'Dell Beckham, Jr., Jordan, Clarkson, Tristan Thompson, Blake Griffin, Ben Simmons. I don't know, Joy. Maybe I'm reaching, or maybe it is the Kardashian curse.
Starting point is 02:08:19 What do you make of that? There's a few names in there that bounce back pretty successfully. James Hardin being one of them. I'm pretty sure he survived that. He did, I remember, actually, that's the one I remember most. Hardin came out and said, I just wasn't focused on basketball. I had to kind of get focused on basketball. Rashad McCants went out there and just blamed the Kardashian family because he couldn't hit free throws.
Starting point is 02:08:39 I mean, that guy was just all in on the blame thing. But the O'Dell's doing all right, too. He's okay. I think Matt Kemp kind of, you know, he got it back together there for a little bit. How about this? Is it possible that if you got into a relationship with somebody, as an athlete, male or female athlete,
Starting point is 02:08:57 it's kind of a selfish career? I mean, you've really got to be into you, into training to be an NBA player, NFL player, WNBA, NBA star. At some point, you sacrifice stuff. And if you got into a relationship with somebody that was perceived to be high maintenance or needy, it would not help your career. Well, I mean, I think it has a lot to do also with like, you know, actors, dating actors and musicians, dating musicians.
Starting point is 02:09:20 Like if you're in the public eye, there's a sense that it may be easier because you understand, you know, the lifestyle in that regard to some degree. But sports is different because you have a consistent travel schedule no matter what. So you are going to be on the road. There's a lot that goes with it. I think it is sort of interesting. A couple of things today. Kyler Murray, it is official.
Starting point is 02:09:42 It was breaking news about an hour and a half ago. Kyler Murray has decided to jettison his baseball offer. Kyler Murray, who is a sensational quarterback, only 5-8, listed at 5-11. That's not how tall he is, has decided he is going to opt for NFL football. I believe he'll be a first round pick. I think there's a chance he'd be a top 10 pick. Here are the teams drafting in the top 10 in the NFL. So let's break him down.
Starting point is 02:10:09 The Arizona Cardinals. Cliff Kingsbury has said he's the greatest college quarterback he's ever seen. He now coaches Arizona. And by the way, Arizona's offensive lines amess. I could make a very compelling argument that Kyler Murray solves some of those offensive line woes by being such a mobile player. 49ers won't take a quarterback, either will the Jets. I wouldn't if I was the Raiders.
Starting point is 02:10:33 Tampa Bay at 5, it's a make or break year from James Winston. I would not be shocked if Tampa Bay rolled the dice and went with them because I actually like many of the components of their roster. Giants should, well, it'd be, I don't think the giants have the guts to do it. Well, I mean, if no one that you just listed is taking a quarterback, wouldn't you imagine that Dwayne Haskins would go first? I think Duane Haskins will go. Like he makes sense to the Giants.
Starting point is 02:11:01 I think Duane Haskins is, if I was the New York Giants, I would draft Dwayne Haskins of Ohio State. Then if I was the Jaguars at 7, I would absolutely take Kiner Murray. Because I think they, here's the other thing. They've got Fournette. They're in a situation, Joy, with Leonard Fernette. They're not sure how that thing's turning out. Right. Couldn't you secure it, kind of like a Lamar Jackson?
Starting point is 02:11:20 I think Baltimore should go out and get Lafian Bell and say, listen, we're all in on this new offense. We're going to be a run-first team. And then if Lamar doesn't work out over the next couple of years, you still are a run-first team. And so I think Lavin'Bel, if I was running back for the Steelers, if I was the Ravens, I'd go all in him. I think they have a Leonard Fournett situation happening in Jacksonville, and I think they are a run-first organization.
Starting point is 02:11:44 Kiler Murray's mobility and Leonard Fernette, I think, would be a fascinating duo, and I think that's where I'd go on that. They may be stuck with Blake Bortle's contract, though. It's not great. It's not a great contract. He's only got, yeah, one more year on that thing. So you draft him and you let him sit around. There's going to be a lot of pushback.
Starting point is 02:12:05 He really is the obvious prototype. I think he's better than Johnny Mansell, who I never thought was draftable. I didn't think he was mature enough. I didn't like the way he threw the ball. I didn't think he was as athletic as people thought. I was never a Tebow fan. I think Lamar Jackson, to me, felt like a reach in the first round, but I thought he was draftable. I think Kyler Murray is a first round pick.
Starting point is 02:12:25 Not saying I'd like to build my – franchise around him. But if I was Jacksonville, I think I'd pick him at seven. I really do. I really do. Chris Bosch, T.J. Hushman's out of both on our show tomorrow. We'll see them. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes, themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to
Starting point is 02:13:02 hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.
Starting point is 02:13:33 Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wife is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward.
Starting point is 02:13:57 At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house.
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