The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Lakers, LeBron James, Antonio Brown, NBA top 10

Episode Date: March 5, 2019

Colin discusses the latest rumors about F LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, teams that want no part of Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown, and the top 10 players in the NBA. Guests include Chris Broussard, Matt Barnes, and Vernon Davis. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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Very, very busy show today. Joy Taylor is joining me. Usually at this time of the year, I am on my soapbox yelling. LeBron should be MVP. This is outrageous. In one hour from now, I will list for you who I think the 10 best players in the league have been this year. Stats, games played, productivity, wins, power. So an hour from now, I'll essentially give you my MVP voting and how I've come to terms with what this year has been for LeBron James. And Joy Taylor again, joining us on a Tuesday.

Jay Joy, how are you? I'm great. Good morning. Good morning. The LeBron Laker thing, they lost again last night to the Clippers. They're stages, right? They always talk about stages of death, right? Like, you know, like there's the grieving part.

There's the accepting part. There have been stages of this whole Laker-Lebron thing. There was the recruiting stage. Can we get him? Can we get him? And then there was the LeBronza Laker stage. And there's a power struggle stage. Who's going to get their way?

And now we have entered the fourth stage, which is the rumor stage. Season's over, now the rumors start. The big rumor out there today is Luke Walton is done. I can confirm. I've heard this from three different sources I've trusted. And I've also been told Ty Lou, 75, 80% chance will be the next coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

So we had the recruiting stage. We got LeBronza Lakers stage. We got the power struggle stage. And now we have, all right, this one's done. Rumor stage. You're going to hear a lot of rumors. The Luke Walton one is in full swing. LeBron's going to win this.

He doesn't have a close friend on the roster, not close with the coaches, not necessarily close with the ownership. He is close with Magic, who's got his own power struggle in the building with Jeannie Bus. LeBron's going to win this power struggle. He's going to get his coach. Tailu's a solid head coach. The rumors are very powerful. persistent and very strong now. We have entered the rumor stage of LeBron as a Laker.

My belief, what the Lakers, this is the highest probability this morning of what they'll look like next year, although it's not set in stone. Ty Lou is your coach. LeBron is your star. Anthony Davis, via clutch sports is also next to LeBron. And then Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingraham, one of those two will not be traded to get Anthony Davis. And that, your team. That is a good team. It is certainly a more interesting team. It is not a top five team in the league. It is not Golden State. It is not Houston. It is not Philadelphia. Joy and I both like the Sixers a lot. They're growing, but it's not Philadelphia. I don't think it's Milwaukee. I don't. And I don't think, frankly, Kyrie there or not, I think Boston would, is got more

depth, more picks, more players, and would land somebody else if Kyrie left. It is, somewhere between 6 and 12 in the NBA. LeBron's really smart. LeBron's been around a long time. Do I believe LeBron thinks my guy Ty Lou and Anthony Davis and let's say Brandon Ingram, we're winning a title. No, I do not. This rumor stage is going to get really, really tasty here over the next three months.

Kyrie Irving's name is going to start servicing. LeBron's very good with shooters. Clay Thompson's name is going to start surfacing. LeBron's great with shooters. Kevin Durant's name, many will dismiss it. I am told he doesn't want to leave California. That's what I'm told. You're going to now we have entered the rumor stage.

Some of these will be silly. Some will be more concrete. The first big rumor now that's coming out is it's over. for Luke. I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying it's fair. Many people can deny it. I'm told Ty Lou is probably the next guy. And it's interesting as I'm driving to work this morning, I'm thinking about LeBron James. And every great player in NBA history, and I'm just going to talk great ones, even they have had a hole. Magic, not a very good defender. Larry Bird, so, so athletically, Michael Jordan didn't have the greatest shooting range, to be honest with you.

Mostly a mid-range guy. Kobe Bryant. Not always the best on-floor teammate. Charles Barkley. Lord, he was talented. Practice, effort, defense. Sometimes Charles, a little apathetic. Wilts Chamberlain, kind of a flake.

LeBron James. Well, he can shoot. He can drive. He can handle. Oh, God, he can pass. He's strong physically. I've never seen LeBron as having a hole in his game. Not saying he's an A plus at everything.

But in his prime, he could defend, he could pass, he could shoot, and he could score, developed a low post game, took him about seven, eight, nine years, and developed into a really nice three-point shooter. The hole in LeBron's game to me has always been he struggles with authority. I'm not a psychologist. I'm not going to try to play one. Push back on Riley, push back on Gilbert, push back on coaches, especially when he's introduced to a new coach. David Black, get out of here. Eric Spolstra, I want you out of here.

Pat Riley won't. Luke Walton, you're not my guy. I want you out. LeBron has struggled with authority. That's the hole in his game. And this year, it has completely been on display. The difference is he can't give you 42 minutes a night. LeBron was always the player that could just sort of overwhelm you, overwhelm, take a bad roster, take a Moz Gough, take guys that didn't move well, take flaky guys, J.R. Smith, take the always enigmatic Mario Chalmers, take an older D. Wade, take a Kevin Love, who's not a great defender.

LeBron could always just burrow through all of it. He just can't anymore. But he does remain one of the smartest NBA players. Not just this year ever. And the projected Laker team next year is Ty Lou, LeBron and Anthony Davis, and one of the young guys. I do not believe that LeBron James thinks that's a title team. So we are in the beginning stages of rumors. The Luke Walton one is the hot one today.

I believe it to be true. aligning with Ty Lou, he could finally have a guy in the room on the plane that's his guy that he trusts. But you're going to hear Clay Thompson, you're going to hear Kyrie, and you're going to hear Kevin Durant. We're going to have to sift through all of this stuff. But I do not believe that a player as smart as LeBron James looks at that projected team on the picture on FS1 right now and says, those are my guys. That's a bunch of titles. No, don't believe it.

I don't believe one of the smartest NBA players looks at that. There are no shooters on that team outside of LeBron. There are no great shooters on that team. So the rumor season has started. Luke is the first carnage, but it has just begun. We're going to sift through them together. I want to segue to this. I find this interesting.

I'm not sure if you do, but when we're little boys, boys and we all got to make choices, right? You kind of make a choice. If you're kind of socially, let's say you're a little boy and girls don't like it and you're not very athletic and you hang out with kind of the techie kids, you make a choice. Or let's say you're an athlete. You have choices. I want to be a football kid or a baseball kid or a hockey kid or a basketball kid. The story is Antonio Brown, one of the five most talented wide receivers in the NFL.

some say ever. The Denver Broncos said yesterday and they're desperate for a wide receiver. No, no, thank you. By the way, the Jets and the Colts have over $100 million in cap space. They've reportedly told him, no, no, no, thank you. The two teams that want him are Oakland and Arizona. I don't know if you've heard they're not great and they're sort of dysfunctional. So when you're a little boy, you make choices.

And this lead topic today, this is for all you nine, 10-year-old kids, 11-year-old kids, 12-year-old kids, 13-year-old kids who are really, really talented. and you can pick a sport. If you want to be empowered, don't pick football. In baseball, you will make the most guaranteed money if you're great. I mean, I have a 13-year contract. In basketball, you will be promoted and marketed. You could even make money on your shoes.

In football, you're going to be really replaceable. No, I said it. You're not going to make as much money. you wear a helmet so you won't get endorsements. Your ego, nobody's really interested. You're not going to have a lot of leeway. And you're going to have very little power and leverage. So for all you 9, 10, 11, 12 year old little kids who are choosing sports, just know.

Baseball's the money. Football's the startum. Football fall in line. And what's happening now is players that are as gifted as Antonio. are watching Bryce Harper sign a 13-year contract. I want some of that. And they're watching NBA stars. LeBron, Durant, people fawn over them.

I want some of that. And that does not exist in the NFL. The business model of the NFL does not give you a 13-year deal, does not give you a 10-year deal, does not give you a 7-year deal, nor are they going to market you over team. In fact, Antonio Brown has been working out in Los Angeles. In order to be accepted and appreciated and kind of glamorized here in Los Angeles over the last month, he actually surrounded himself with basketball players.

LeBron, the TV show, is called The Shop, and here's how basketball players treated the football star. I'm a little banged up, so I meet with Coach Tomlin. I'm telling him like, hey, man, I'm a little banded up, so I'm going to need a little time to get right. So he's like, you band up, man, just, you know, you can just go home. So I'm like, damn, that's where we're at. Damn, how are you're at? We lose a game. He's like, damn, A.B. should have ran the better route.

Why would Ben do that? The type of guy he is. He feels like he the owner. Bro, you threw the shit to the D line, man. How to fucking him will get me a better ball? So Antonio Brown went to basketball people to find sympathizers. Dude, we get it. Bull.

But yet the football player, the Hall of Famer First Ballot, friend of Ann Antonio Brown, here's what the football player, the legend the star, told him. I love A.B. He's Mr. Big Chess is a good friend of mine. But I don't think he's going about it the right way, personally. You know, to be able to play with an all-time quarterback like he's able to play with,

I don't think he understands how good he has it. You know, it's... It could get tough out there. That's football. That's the business model. So when you're 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, you're a great high school athlete. Colleges are looking at you, and you got options.

You'll make your money in baseball. You'll become a star in basketball. But in football, get in line. Denver, desperate for a receiver. Pass. Jets, Colts, 100 million cap space, hard pass. Arizona and Oakland, Washington, be here to be. Very interested.

We all make choices, and we all choose industries. And if you choose football, just know, you're going to have to go to baseball and basketball guys to find sympathizers. Because one of the classiest guys in the history of the NFL and one of the smartest guys, Larry Fitzgerald. his takeaway on A-B. What are you doing? Called him out. And that's the reality of choices. And increasingly with baseball players signing these 13-year deals, 10-year deals,

and with basketball players increasingly being, and I'm for it, marketed and promoted. I'm not against either of those. I don't like 10-year contracts in baseball, but football players are watching that, and there's jealousy. Remember these pro athletes, it's the private jet club. It's really the VIP club. All pro athletes are in each other's charities and golf tournaments.

They go to the same ritzie executive clubs and they fly the same planes and they often lease planes together. And football players increasingly want the money of baseball and the fame of basketball. And that business model, I'm sorry, it doesn't exist. Tom Brady's the best ever, takes pay cuts, gets in line, gets yelled at by his coach. That's the business. model is what it is. But if you're a football player, Antonio Brown, it ain't baseball.

You're not getting that deal. And it's not basketball. That doesn't mean you can't hang out with basketball players and they can't laugh with you, but it's not hoops. All right, good stuff today. We have a, when anything goes wrong, it's just the reality of the way the world works.

It's the blame game. And so in Los Angeles now, it's the blame. You know, everybody's divvying up the blame for LeBron. We'll give you our thoughts because the season's over, lost of the clippers, really over over the weekend when they lost to Phoenix. But it's done. And now it's finger-pointing time. And so let's divvy up the blame with a delicious blame pie.

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Go with the only security system we trust, SimplySafe. Get free shipping, too, and a 60-day money-back guarantee. Just go to Simplysafe.com slash herd. Simplysafe.com slash heard. Welcome back. Yes, Lakers officially out. It is the lead story today. should be for any show, frankly, Chris Broussard in 15 minutes. It's a mess now. Officially, rumor stage has started in Los Angeles, and the worst kept secret in the league now, I'm being told last 48 hours,

Luke Walton's done, not saying he should be, but he is. And the name that will surface, and there's going to be a lot of names surfacing around the Lakers now. Remember, we came out a year ago, over a year ago, and said LeBron to the Lakers, we got a lot of pushback. But one of the reasons I heard that was from people, people in Los Angeles in the entertainment industry saying LeBron's making it clear to people beyond the velvet rope.

He's coming to Los Angeles. That's why when he signed with the Lakers, Jerry West went out publicly and said, big deal. Everybody knew he was coming to Los Angeles because Jerry West, he's also at the Bel Air Country Club. He's behind the rope. He's in that circle of big names in Los Angeles where the rumors really start from. And so the NBA has a history of blaming the coach. So as the seasons unfolded, the first carnage is going to be Luke Walton.

But I thought this morning it was time for delicious pie. It's the blame pie. And I think there's a lot of blame to go around with this first disastrous season. So where would I put the percentages? I would say we'll have a pie charge for you. 20% of the blame is on LeBron's groin. Shame on you, LeBron's groin. groin. He missed 17 straight games with a groin injury. Okay, that's the longest streak of

consecutive games missed in his career. The team has gone six and 12 without him in the lineup, and that's when the disarray really started. I think almost a quarter of the issues have been LeBron's injury. The second thing, but I'd put it at a higher percentage because I think leadership matters 30% on Magic and Rob Polinka running the team. This will be the six straight season without a playoff birth. LeBron did come to Los Angeles, so Magic landed him. But again, many people believe LeBron, entertainment, Maverick Carter, that was going to happen anyway. And by the way, the roster is kind of a mess of one-year contract, goofy guys. Michael Beasley, Rondo, can't play or stay healthy. Lance Stevenson, never been a go-to guy. Not guys that really

connect with LeBron, not LeBron's type of guys. So I think they get 30% of the blame. then I'm going to give 12.5% blame number one to clutch sports. That's the group that represents LeBron. Rich Paul leads that. It's his agency. And they represent Anthony Davis. Listen, that whole trade thing, they were too aggressive, too many leaks. I mean, it was like the White House.

There was a leak every 15 minutes. You got to put some blame on they didn't handle it well. Rich Paul, smart guy will do fine over time. But it was his first big move, his first big, and it was kind of a mess. And too many stories got out. and your job as an agent is to keep stuff out of the papers, not into it. I'd also give 12.5% blame to Luke Walton. Now, that seems very low.

But I don't care if you had Greg Popovich. How many games are you winning with Lance Stevenson, a bunch of kids, and an aging LeBron? Now, I do think Luke Walton struggles to find an offensive identity. His substitution patterns are way too random for me. I watch coaches out at timeouts. He's not great at that. Magic Johnson, according to the L.A. Times, in November, Magic Johnson had a shouting match with him and demanded it, Luke, create an offense that was identifiable.

I watch every Laker game. That's my biggest complaint. His substitution patterns are weird. They're not very good out of timeouts. And frankly, I don't know what the hell that offense is. I would also then blame 10% on Lonzo Ball's health. I'm not blaming Lonzo. I'm blaming his ambiguous health.

He can't stay healthy. And by the way, they are 20 and 14. the Lakers are when Lanzo and LeBron have both played they're pretty good he developed a better three point shot he got bigger and stronger I start I thought he started playing really well before he got hurt attacking the rim some of this is just Lonso Lonso got hurt and Lonso was developing into a really nice player on this team and much more I think dependable from the outside than Rondo five percent of the blame I'd give to Spring Hill entertainment that's Maverick Carter that's LeBron that's all his that's his entertainment company um LeBron's been involved in 20 projects since coming to Los Angeles. It's not the end of the world. But I don't love that a lot of this stuff is being done in this season and is airing in the middle of losing streaks. I do think that kind of permeates a locker room and is kind of bad.

I'm separate from everybody else. 5% I blame on the pelicans. They muddied the waters. They got ticked off. They were immature. Ade Demps, their GM got fired. They just wanted to make the Lakers hurt after the AD rumors came out. And so they just called anybody who would listen.

made stuff up, dirty the waters, but I'm not going to make the percentage huge because they have a right to do that. And you can't put blame on another team in the NBA. It's on you. And then 5% I think is father time. Folks, LeBron's in his 16th season. He turned 34 in December, including playoffs. LeBron has played almost 12,000 more minutes than the second most Joe Johnson. That's almost four NBA seasons.

So I think when you look, if you want to create the blame pie, I think the largest share goes to the people running the franchise, Magic and Rob Polinka. Then I think LeBron's injury, clutch sports, Luke Walton, fall in line, taking parts of it. Then I think there's a bunch of five percenters. But in the end, this is where we're at now. Because you know the way the world works now. It's nobody's fault individually. It's not my fault, not your fault.

God be somebody else's fault. And if you had to create the pie, to me, that's what it looked like. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So, as you mentioned, last night was basically the nail in the coffin for the Lakers. Yep.

There are lots of the clippers basically ended their playoff hopes. One of the issues plaguing L.A. is their inability to play defense. They're currently ranked 24th. And talks of those. struggles resurfaced last night when Kyle Kuzma apparently tried to shove LeBron into playing some defense. Now, this is getting a lot of circulation on the Internet, so obviously it's, and it looks very odd. It looks as if Kuzma's just pushing LeBron into Gisneri to contest a shot. It's probably more likely that they didn't do the defensive switch in Kuzm that kind of got stuck behind LeBron and was kind of giving him a nudge.

Like, I didn't make the switch get over there. but it's just kind of a visual metaphor for this entire season. Just confusion, lack of defense, LeBron not engaged. The whole thing is just, it's a crazy video to watch. So they plummeted in the Western Conference. They're now 10th at 30 and 34. Yep. Five and a half games out of the final playoff spot.

Yikes. That's rough. Yeah, rough. The Clippers are a good team, so it's not that it was a bad loss to a bad team. I like it was with the Suns. This is just a game you had to win. You had to will yourself to win in this spot. It's been a bad week.

Yes, it has. Lost to good teams, lost to bad teams last night. Lost to a average team. I mean, lost to a team that you had to beat. You needed to win that game in the playoffs. Sticking with last night's game, the Lakers were trailing in the final seconds of a 113-105 loss. And Patrick Beverly decided to get involved with the crowd. He started to wave his hands and orchestrate a course of booze from Lakers fans.

Tickless him. And the Lakers realize their fate, Patrick Beverly, taunting the crowd. Patrick Beverly is a good player, and he certainly plays the chip on his shoulder. Oh, he's one of the old school guys. Yes, yeah, for sure. But the story of the Clippers and the Lakers this season is pretty interesting, because everyone pretty much thought that the Clippers were just mailing it in for the rest of the season after that Tobias Harris Tray.

It looked like, okay, like whatever happens, happens. And they've made an incredible playoff push, and they're in seventh place in the West. at 37 and 29. It looked like it was the end of the Clippers, really. And there's a strong belief in that organization. They're landing Kawhi Leonard. It's a very strong belief. Yeah.

And, oh, I mean, we've been talking about it all year, and they're in a good position. So it'll be interesting how those two teams trend moving forward in less than it was. And finally, with the NFL Combine coming to a close, the draft is approaching. And the current betting odds are right. The Cardinals are going to take either Kyler Murray or Nick Bosa. Okay. So now Vegas has them tied. Yes.

They are co-favorites to go number one in the draft, which is interesting, because we haven't really been talking about Nick Losa at all. And Alabama defensive tackle, Quinnon Williams, is next, followed by Dwayne Haskins. So it's interesting. Now, the one thing that nobody's really talking about with Kyler Murray is he's only started one whole season. Both he and Dwayne Haskins could really use another 12 games.

But the bottom line is if I'm Kyler Murray, with my body type, I'd rather get in the league. I'd rather get it in a league. Yeah, I'm with you there. I'm not saying that he should stay or anything like that. I'm just saying nobody's talking about his lack of experience. And when you compare what Baker Mayfield did in college to Kyler Murrick, everyone's

comparing it to them. They're not comparable. You know, it's funny, Joy, years ago Bill Parcells used to have a couple of rules on quarterbacks. And this was college quarterbacks. And they were absolutely gospel in the NFL. One of them was no celebrity quarterbacks, Tim Tebow. Well, that

That's done. With social media, college quarterbacks do become stars. So that one no longer. The other one was 26 starts. And it's funny, I used to be very rigid on that. But we're seeing this in all sports now. Like NBA, one year to the pros.

I think you just have to live with it. And I do believe the college game is now being pushed into the NFL game. It translates more seamlessly now. to the pros. I used to be really rigid about that. Like, if you start one year, it's not going to work. I don't, Mitch Trubisky started one year and got to the playoffs. So I'm kind of pushing back on the have to have 28 starts

because I think these guys come into the NFL now and they run a lot of their college offense. And I also think, Joy, these guys now, these kids have these seven-on-seven camps. They didn't 15 years ago. Yeah, no, they do play a lot more. Way more. And they have different training and they have access to more information, studying, tape, all that. I'll give you all that.

He started 17 total games. It's enough. He's a little short of that. Fosa is 26. So, I mean, it really just depends on what you need. Again, I maintain that they should trade back. They should stick with Rosen. Oh, I always believe that.

You need so much more than just a quarterback. We agree with Arizona. But it's trending that way. All right, Joy with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. So I like Shaquille O'Neal.

I think Shaq's very funny. He and Barclay, that show is very funny. Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson, very, very funny. Shaq has, and Shaq tends to do this. Shaq will, he's old school, but you have to, I mean, I'm old school too. I like a lot of things that used to be big. They're not as big. That doesn't mean I don't watch my Netflix.

It doesn't mean I don't use tech. Doesn't mean I'm not, don't have my iPhone. Shaq tends to be old school, Barkley old school. And Shaq was talking about, LeBron James, the trade rumors, and how it bothered all the young kids. And here's Shaq defending LeBron and the trade rumors and how the young Laker players need to get over it. That's what the hell you're supposed to do. I did that all the time.

Why do you think me and Kobe had beef? Yeah, that's what you do. If you ain't stepping up and I'm talking about this, I'm calling you out. It's a tactic. When I call people out, they get mad. Guess what happened when they get mad? They play. Okay.

this is the classic example of in Shaq's generation players were tougher players weren't as coddled it used to be in basketball you had a high school coach and he told you what to do and then you had a college coach and you stayed there three and four years and had no leverage he told you what to do dean smith told michael jordan what to do then you went to the NBA and they didn't fire coaches like to do now now it's aAU basketball and you're coddled and recruited. And then it's college basketball for a year in your coddled and recruited. And it's the NBA and you make so much money now, they fire the coach. FAC. Coach of the year? Coach of the year last year ended up winning his award, crossed the street at Starbucks. He was unemployed. So players are different now. It's like society. We are all a little softer than years ago. We're all a little more impatient than years ago. We get information faster. You know what I mean? Like cars are nicer. You used to have to roll that thing up.

Now you just push buttons. Society's now all about pushing buttons and getting stuff on your terms. You used to make your own coffee. Now you go to a place. They make it for you. Everything's easier, right? And so you can't in 2019 use the same principles that Shaq did. Shack's like, hey, in the old days, you just told a guy.

You may get traded. Yeah, but in the old days, guys flew commercial. They would get up at 6 in the morning and be sitting next to a week. car salesman. Guys now have their jets, their privates, their teams. I mean, Adam Silver this weekend at the MIT Sloan conference was talking with Bill Simmons. I mean, this now is an NBA issue, social media and stars. When I meet with them, what strikes me is that they are truly unhappy.

A lot of these young men are genuinely unhappy. But I think it's less calculating than a lot of people think. The reality is most don't want to play together. There's enormous jealousy among star people. players. You can't treat players today like you used to. This is just the reality of it. Adam Silver's acknowledging his players who are now making hundreds of millions of dollars, they're unhappy. Okay. It used to be in this league. There wasn't as much money. And so everybody was fighting for a little piece of the pie. Now everybody gets an entire pie. Everybody's rich.

Otto Porter is probably the fifth best player on a good team. He's He's rich. So, Shaq, what you could do with a teammate in the 70s, 80s, 90s, early turn of the century, you can't do now. It's a different world. And you've got to treat players, even stars differently. You know, it's interesting because LeBron has always been sort of the player empowerment superstar. Michael Jordan, you know, magic bird saved the league.

Michael made it global. LeBron gave the players power. The downside of that is players are empowered. Players are more needy. Players are a little softer. Players get their feelings hurt more. Players demand more power. Players demand a heads up.

LeBron created a big portion of that. And now he's kind of realizing he's a little bit of a victim of that. Chris Broussard's around the corner. In L.A., it's the herd. Catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Dollar Shape Club products you like, smell, feel, look your best, right to your door, handsome discount, more you buy, more you say. Go to Dollar ShapeClub.com slash Colin for special

offer with that. We go to New York City, NBA guy for this network via the coward, global satellite network. Chris Broussard. All right, I talked about 20 minutes ago about the blame pie. When things go bad, everybody. is going to blame people. We sliced it up. Magic Polinka, injury, you know, clutch sports, Luke Walton. If I ask you,

where does the majority of the blame go for this Laker mess? How do you answer that, Chris? Well, I thought the pie was good. You had a lot of specifics, but I would focus on two main things. One, LeBron's injury, and to a lesser extent, the other injuries.

Rondo missed 34 games. Lando's been out for 17 or 18 games. The injuries have crushed them. People forget they were the fourth seed in the West before LeBron got hurt. And even with the horrible coach Luke Walton, right, they were 10th in the league defensively. So let's remember that. A sign of a good coach is a coach that has his team playing defense. So there's that.

The second thing I would focus on was the Anthony Davis trade fiasco. And that does fall mostly at the feet of Magic and Rob Polinka. You can throw in clutch sports for a little bit. You can throw in LeBron for a little bit because he never should have been talking publicly about Anthony Davis. When he's asked about it, just, hey, no comment. I'm not talking about other players. Don't go in an interview with Rachel Nichols and talk about how much you're going to recruit guys because that makes your other players in your locker room feel like, wow, he doesn't think we're good enough.

So there's that. But the front office should not have let the Anthony Davis saga become what it did. They had to get out in front of it and say, look, I don't know where these trade rumors are coming from, but we like our team. We like our young guys. We feel like they're growing. They're getting better. We were just the fourth seed before LeBron got hurt. And of course, like every other team, we're trying to improve.

But we like Kyle. We like Brandem. We feel like we can go to war with these guys. I don't care if you're lying. You might be lying through your teeth, but magic came out, basically confirmed everything. And then afterwards says, hey, you got to be big boys about it.

Yeah, of course you do, but still, they're human beings too. So the front office need to get out in front of it. And Colin, you can look at, that is huge because defensively is where they've fallen off since the trade rumors. Yep. You look at Brandon Ingram's offense.

You look at Kyle Cusman's, offense and we say, hey, the young guys are still playing well. Of course, offensively, you always want to play well on offense. Everybody wants to score and put up numbers. But where you see the lack of morale, where you see the lack of chemistry, where you see the lack of trust among teammates is on the defensive end. In the first part of the season, they were willing to cover up for LeBron. They understood he was older. He's carrying the offense. You're going to have to carry him defense and cover for him. Once the AD trade saga

happened, they're no longer willing to cover for LeBron defensively. And that's why they've sunk the way they have. There's a story this morning that LeBron would sit out games last 15, 18 games. I don't think it looks great. He hasn't squashed an aunt

yet in Los Angeles. What do you make of that story? I'm with you. I think that, look, when they're eliminated mathematically, believe it or not, it'll be a while from now. Then you can sit him if you want. It might be six, seven, eight games left in the season, whatever.

But until then, no way. Look, I don't think they're going to make the playoffs. I think they're done. But it's not over. I mean, you still have the best player in the world or one of the top players in the world. Go for it. Here's another thing, Colin. We all think this team's going to look a lot different next year.

And obviously, a lot of the one-year veterans, they'll be gone. But what if you can't trade? for Anthony Davis this summer. That would mean likely that Kuzma and Ingram are still a part of your team going forward. Maybe they try to trade one of them for a Bradley bill or something like that. But the bottom line is these two guys plus Lanzo could be a part of your team next year. So for the future, they need these games. These are their playoffs. You're not out of it. You need to go and talk about, look, they need to learn what playoff pressure-filled basketball is about. and they can get that if LeBron's still playing.

If he sits, then you're just coasting through the rest of the season and everybody's going for their individual numbers. And to your point, you're right. LeBron has some bad optical moments this season, sitting apart from the teammates in Indiana on the bench, you know, all the stuff he's got going on in Hollywood, the TV shows, the albums with two chains. And a lot of fans, Laker fans, are thinking,

starting to think, did he come here to play basketball or just to be a mogul? A lot of fans are also looking at Kobe, and they're saying, Kobe brought it every night. I'm telling you, Kobe's image is actually improving with LeBron here. Because people are comparing him to LeBron and said, Kobe brought it. We didn't have to worry about Kobe's intensity and all that from night to night, even if he missed shots or whatever, he brought it. and so this would just be another bad optic for LeBron if he sits out.

Three minutes left, I have three, four different executives, sources, people in the league saying Luke's done, Ty Lou is next. Can you confirm, deny, what are you hearing? I'm hearing the same thing, and I'm hearing that Ty Lou is going to want big money to put up with LeBron and magic. And he's smart because look, look, those are two powerful guys. Those are two guys that are going to speak their minds. so you better get some security.

Ty Lou knows, even though he and LeBron have a great relationship, it's tough to coach LeBron. And so he wants to be compensated very well, and I think he will. You know, Doc Rivers, I don't think Doc will leave the Clippers. He shouldn't if he's going to get Kawhi, and who knows who else they might get a KD or somebody like that. So I think Ty Loo is definitely what I'm hearing,

and I'm hearing he's going to want big money. And it looks like the Lake. I'll pony it up. All right, you got a radio show to do. Yeah, later with Rob Parker. You're doing a great job. First things first. Chris Brousard in New York.

Good seeing you, bud. Thanks, Colin. You bet. You know, Chris brought up an interesting point. Is that last night, during the Laker game late, fans started cheering for Kobe. It's an interesting thing. The Kobe fans pushed back on LeBron initially

because they thought it would weaken Kobe's image. in standing in Los Angeles. It's actually strengthened it. Because you're not, you got Kobe in your prime in Los Angeles. Dude dropped 60 in his last game. Kobe now has been empowered by LeBron's apathy and injuries. And you got to remember, Los Angeles is an ADD town. Like, we stop paying attention very quickly.

There's another sports team and another star driving by every 15 minutes. This is not Cleveland. We don't have low self-esteem. It's all about winning. Winning. Dodgers are getting to the World Series. Rams are getting to the Super Bowl. Chargers, two soccer teams.

It's a big city. And, you know, LeBron comes here. They're chanting Kobe's name last night during the game. Fourth quarter, what does that tell you? It reminds me, you know, sometimes weakness becomes strength. and you know like when Starbucks back in the 70s and 80s started branching out it would move to a city and if you owned a coffee shop in your city there was great fear about oh my god uh here comes Starbucks but what Starbucks did was actually elevate the culture of coffee and so it often as long as you were a well-run coffee company Starbucks would move into your city it wouldn't put you out of business it did some

but it often elevated the entire coffee culture. It was the opposite of what people thought. What everybody thought was LeBron coming to L.A., Kobe no longer exists. The opposite has happened. It's made Kobe look like the warrior playing through injuries, giving you everything he's got, bleeding for the franchise. LeBron's sipping wine, load management, I'm going to sit out games. So I do think Kobe's been empowered.

Kobe, it's like, he's like an artist. You know how art's more expensive, the longer somebody, the longer Picasso's gone, the more money the art is worth. And it's like Kobe is now more valuable than ever. His legacy is being elevated every day. All right, hour two. Next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

Ah, this is the herd hour two in L.A. Wet L.A. wherever you may be and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and F S.1. Vernon Davis. Is he going to be a Hall of Fame tied in? Good. You've got a lot of catches. Vernon Davis, Niners, Redskins. They're going to be joining us.

Also Matt Barnes today. This is an interesting time of the year. There's a story out today, and Antonio Brown is going to get traded. in the next 10 days. Raiders in there, Arizona in there. Kyler Murray could go number one. Joy told us last hour. Got a lot of football stories going on.

But I do think right now with how the Lakers have dissolved, it's kind of the story now. They lost again last night. Cross-town rivals, Clippers playing the same building. Clippers now are absolutely the better team of the Lakers. This has always been the time of the year for the last 10 years, where I get on my soapbox and I'm like, like, can we stop arguing?

LeBron's the best player in the league. Like, this is stupid. He's the best, he's a Swiss Army knife. And for 10 years, I've been saying that. And, you know, my brand, whatever that is, is very pro Tom Brady and pro LeBron. Okay, it is. When people complain about me, it's, all you ever talk about is Tom Brady and LeBron.

Well, if they were bad players and I talked about them, that'd be stupid. But they're the greatest of all time, arguably, so I think it's pretty smart. But even I have to admit, this has been LeBron's lost season. Even counting his rookie year, there's been a lot of things optically, physically. It's been his worst year. Not statistically. So I thought to myself this morning, I'm not an awards guy, but if I did my top 10 NBA players, the seasons they've had this year, not overall.

I mean, LeBron's greater than any player in the last 10 years, right? then it's Kobe and then it's but what are the 10 best years in the NBA 10 best players right now the years they have had and I'm going to so it's kind of my MVP race my top if I was going to vote for the MVP and I had 10 votes here's where I'd vote ready to go number one Paul George Paul George first of all he's at career high for him and he's playing with Westbrook this needs to be noted he's playing with ball-centric Russ Westbrook, and yet Paul George, career high and points, assists, rebounds, and steals. He is shooting over 42% from three.

Holy Lord, that's good. His plus minus is almost plus 10 a game. Second in the NBA and scoring. And by the way, when Paul scores big over 30, they're 21 and 4. He is not one of these guys that when he goes off, the team is less of a team. No, Paul is scoring over 30 or more. They're 21 and 4. He is now second, leaves the NBA in steals.

He is the best two-way player in the NBA and had not missed any games until recently had an injury. Okay, so he is the best player. He's my MVP of the league right now. Number two is Yonis. Number two. Okay, I get everybody loves Yonis. He's missed five games. The Bucks have a winning record when he's missed five games.

Oh, by the way, his bucks are just as good when he's not on the floor. I looked it up. 7.7. Now, I'm not saying he's not great. He's a remarkable rebounder. Longest player in the league. Leads the Bucks in virtually everything. Bucks have the best record in the NBA.

He's going to win the MVP. But I always go to that plus-minus thing. He's on the floor, they're not in the floor. They're like 7.7. So I don't think he matters. I'm not saying he didn't matter a time. Paul George, to me, having to play with Westbrook and doing what he's doing and shooting well into the 40% range for three-pointers,

Janus is my second best player. Number three. You know, we're forgetting Kevin Durant's amazing. You know, Kevin's had an amazing year. His best assist year ever. Do I think he coasts a little more defensively than Paul George? I do. But he's only missed one game this year.

He's averaging almost 28 a game. The Warriors do have the best record in the West. He is their best overall player. Career high in assists. I can't put him over Paul George this year because I think Paul's giving me a more intense, passionate, defensive effort. And I think Paul's had to play with a tougher teammate in Russell Westbrook. But Kevin Durant, I'd put number three. Number four.

I'd put Steph Curry. Again, because of James Hardin, we're not paying attention to Steph Curry, who, by the way, is third in the NBA, averaging 28 and a half a game. Now, I dock him because he has missed 11 games. But this is where I give him credit. When Kevin Durant misses games, and he's only missed one this year, they have a winning record. The Warriors, the reigning dynasty, are under 500. In the 11 games, Steph Curry has missed. He is just off, points assist.

He is just below his unanimous MVP. Once again, because he's not loud and dramatic. And he's not a drama king. We don't pay attention. Steph Curry is having an unbelievable NBA season. Number five. James Hardin. I know, I know, I know.

but I do think Curry's defense at least gives me a better effort consistently than James Harden. Also, when Hardin goes into I'm just going to take over the game and not pass, the Rockets are 11 and 11.

He's had the deal with some injuries. But I really believe, and I'll say it again, Steph Curry, if I started a franchise tomorrow, Steph and James Harden, I'm taking Steph Curry. Plays well with others.

Best shooter of my lifetime. Incredibly efficient. Can play with multiple stars. Unbelievably coachable. Best ball handler since Isaiah Thomas. Hardin would be my fifth best player, my fifth MVP choice. Number six.

Joel M.B. It's having a monster year. You know, listen, first couple years couldn't play. He's really into the social media stuff. But he's top five in scoring, second in rebounding, career highs and everything. Unlike Ben Simmons, his game's getting better. Ben Simmons has been a real disappointment for me this year.

Apparently, he spent the offseason hanging out with his girlfriend because he can't shoot any better than last year, and it's his big flaw. Joel M. B.'s had a monster year. Now, he has missed nine games, but when he misses, despite all their talent, they're sub-500 when he's out. That shows you the impact of Joe L.M.B. I'd make him six. Number seven. Denver Nuggets on the show.

Nicola Jokic. Leads the Nuggets and everything. Nugget fans, here you go. Second best record in the West. He's a great passing. Great passing big. When he has nine plus assists, they're 22 and 3. He plays every night.

Only miss one game. The Denver Nuggets deserve something on this show. Jokic, if you look at all the numbers, how much value to the team, how many things he does well, his availability, I have him seven. Number A. Kallai Leonard.

Listen, they're a better team than last year, and last year they were the number one seat in the east. So he has made them better. He's the second best two-way player in the NBA. He's actually having a great year, career high in points, career high in rebounds. The big knock on him, and I think it's fair is he's falling into this load management crap. He's missed 18 games this year. And by the way, the Raptors are 13 and 5 without him. I do think he is the second best two-way player in the NBA, though.

and that to me has tremendous value. I don't think there's a lot of elite two-way players. Clay Thompson is, Kauai Leonard is, Paul George is the best. LeBron used to be. Number nine. LeBron James. He's not having a terrible year.

By the way, the Lakers are still 24 and 22 when LeBron plays. He's averaging 27 a game, eight and a half rebounds, eight assists, and when he's on the floor, the Lakers are plus six-nine better. Six-point-nine points better. I know we're going to bury LeBron this year. He is not close to being defensively the same player.

Some of that, the injury came back and he's not in shape. But I'd say he's having the ninth best year in the NBA. Number 10. Damian Lillard. Again, this guy just comes every night. He's missed only one game. He's not a very good defensive player. I mean, he's really not a two-way player.

He's a gifted offensive player. He is really, it was funny. When he came into the league, we all knew he was talented. but I'm like, you know, he had kind of a quirky-looking shot. He's shooting 47% this year. That's a tremendous number in the NBA. He is a 47% from the floor guy, and the Blazers now have added Rodney Hood and Ennis Canter.

This may be a team capable of winning a couple of playoffs series. They are currently tied for third in the West. And so there you go. Paul George, to Janice, to Kevin Durant, to Curry, Hardin, Joel M.B., Nicola Jokic, Kauai Leonard, LeBron James, Damien Lillard, are my top 10. Respond, Joy. You're going to get a lot of pushback on Hardin. I would have had them in the top three. A lot of people would. I don't have the odds in front of me, but I'm pretty sure Vegas would as well. I agree with you with Kevin Durant and Seth Curry. They sort of cannibalize

each other because it's the Warriors and everyone hates the Warriors and they're so great. They kind of just cancel each other out. But they're both having incredible years. Oh, they're both having unbelievable years. And it's funny because the takeaway is LeBron has really been awful. No, he has not been awful. The games in which he's played, he came off an injury, he was not in shape, he hasn't played defense in the second half. He just hasn't. That's why I, you know, the other guy that I like a lot, Kauai Leonard is, Kauai Misses a lot of games now. And last week, Kauai Leonard went load management.

I mean, brough. Well, come on. We always complain about the Raptors being great, regular season teams and not doing what they need to do in the playoffs. All right. I'm actually proud of you. You got the Nuggets and the Raptors in there. Hey. I may think they're going to get whacked in the postseason.

I pay right my respects to Canada. You think the rappers are going to get whacked? Yep. The winner playoff series get whacked. By who? Indiana's tough. Boston may end up in that five. Sixers.

What are the Sixers now? We have not had a wager yet on the show. Believe me, after I baked that delicious blame pie earlier, I got nothing. I'm selling that thing. You were very, very fair about the slices, though. Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't brutal.

I think Luke's to blame, but, I mean, you put Brad Stevens in there. What do we think? This is a two seed. I think the best news for the Lakers is, I honestly do. I think Brandon Ingrams played really well last 10 games. He's really been good offensively. Yeah, you have to give him credit because people were giving him a very hard time this season. Yeah, I mean, I had said, this is it.

50 in a game? Right. This is it. Like, we've got a ceiling. or three, but he's burst through it. Good for him. These guys are young, which should be noted. All these guys should be like seniors in college. You know, one and done guys should be third year in the league.

You should be a senior in college. Yeah, we should probably give them a little time to develop and see what they become. By the way, Kyler Murray is lucky. Now, he's earned a lot of it, but I want to talk a little bit about how sometimes we're all a little bit lucky with timing. That's coming up. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week,

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fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. It's about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip.

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If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us.

Listen to Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast's point game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win, no matter. matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stopped by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah,

you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sunday, the Monster Energy Cup series, heads to Phoenix as the world's best drivers battle it out in the desert. It all starts at 3.30 Eastern only on Fox and the Fox

Sports app. By the way, people say how can you put Steph Curry ahead of James Harden? It's real simple. The Warriors are better, the more Steph Curry has the ball in his hands. The Rockets are actually better when Chris Paul has the ball more than James Harden. That's

really the rub on that. I think the Rockets are actually a better team when Chris Paul gets 10, 12 assists. They're 12 and 0 this year when he has over 10. means the more Chris Paul has it can set up James Harden, the less James is sitting there dribbling the ball and doing the ISO thing, the better they are. It's the opposite with Golden State. The more Curry, the more dribbles, the more shots, the more he plays, the more minutes, the better they are always, even with other stars on the team. By the way, timing is important in life. You know, it used to

be if you were like, let's say you were a little kid and you were kind of nerdy. You're kind of scrawny, and you're kind of nerdy. You get bullied at school. You'd were never cool. But nerds now, 50 years later, due to tech, run the world. We all kind of make a joke. That kid's kind of nerdy. You're like, yeah, he's going to own all of us in about 15 years. That's the reality. Timing is everything. Kyler Murray, as Joy mentioned earlier today, is projected to go number one in the draft. Good timing. Mel Kuyper's on the Dan Patrick show this morning said years ago, they wouldn't even have looked at him for the quarterback position. Lot receiver.

Round draft pick, 4-3-5-10 pounds, around a 4-5-40 and had a great career at both NC State and Wisconsin. It was the 75th pick, a third-round draft choice. Listen, baseball relief pitchers, you could have been the world's best middle reliever 10 years ago. It didn't matter. Today, the Yankees have four of them making over $10 million. Steph Curry, 25 years ago, is either an off-the-bench guy, but nobody is seeking. Steph Curry. Kyler Murray, some of it's timing.

He was born 20 years earlier. He's not getting this opportunity. And he's earned it, but he would not get this opportunity. The example I always used, I grew up watching a guy named Mark Price. Mark Price shot 40% from 3.0.9 years. Mark Price was a 95% free throw shooter. He was a second round pick. If Mark Price was available on the market today, we would be calling him the next

Steph Curry. He would be a top four pick. He's a 6-1 guy. He's the best shooter outside of Steph Curry in the history of the league. But nobody was looking for Mark Price. Ended up having a very good career before injury set it. He was a 40% three-point shooter. When you didn't

shoot him all day at practice, that was looked down upon. You're wasting time. So some of this stuff is just timing. And good for Kyler Murray. He certainly earned it. But as Mel Kuiper said, all the measurable same as Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson started for four years in college. He had Kyler numbers for four years. He dropped to 77.

It's crazy. All right, let's bring on a guy who is going to get some Hall of Fame votes. He's still a member of the NFL, Washington Redskins, got to two Super Bowls, one-one with Denver. Vernon Davis now joining us in the herd on a Tuesday. You know, it's interesting because a couple of days ago, we sat down, Vernon. Good seeing you again as a staff. And we were talking about the five greatest NFL combines. And you were two. Mike Mamula was a guy we never watched in college, went to the combine, and like blew up.

You know, bench press Delaware. You were the, you were one of the first guys that I ever saw go to the combine. I didn't watch a lot of Maryland games. And I'm like, good Lord. Do you remember it? Do you remember specifically how big? Because the combine wasn't as talked about. It wasn't as televised.

It wasn't as big of a deal. You were at the beginning of that. Yeah, I vividly remember. It was a great day. All I remember going out there and I was like, hey, I got to have to get this done. I have to get this done. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. So I have to take advantage and own it, own it.

So I went out there and I did my very best because that's all I could do. 42 inch vertical. You did like, I don't know how many times you lifted 222 pounds over 30 times. 220. I believe it was 33. 33 reps. So you jumped. Now when you watched the combine today, there are some players who sit.

it out. And I do kind of understand that. If I was number one left tackle, what's the point? Number one quarterback, what's the point? Do you sympathize with guys who go into the combine as the number one guy at their position and say, I'm a pass?

Would you do that? No, no, no. I just I try to stay in compliance and do what I'm supposed to do. And, you know, any opportunity I get, I'm going to try to take advantage of it because I know that it's going to produce good fruit. And, you know, and it did.

You know, I look back on my career and, you know, how I started up to this point now. And I'm very pleased. Okay, so 13 years in the NFL. Financially, you don't need to come back. You've done well, smart guy. You can do a lot of things. You go into broadcasting. You go into a lot of things.

Your brother, Avanti has gone down to Florida. He's starting up some sort of business, medical business or something. You could do many things. Why do you continue to play football? I play football because I'm passionate about it. I love it. It's nothing like that locker room. When you go in the locker room, you see guys who are in there,

guys who have the potential to have, you know, great careers and just guys you've cultivated a relationship with. It's the atmosphere. And I think a lot of guys who leave the game, they know that they can't get that back, that atmosphere. It's just hard to find. It's few and far between. But when you have something good and you know that, you know,

you've been doing this all your life, it's something that you always want to have. You want that to resume for, you know, as long as you're continuing to live. You know, when you broke into this league, tight ends were just emerging. There was a long time, Vernon. It was a running back league and as a quarterback league.

You came into this league about 13 years ago, and we started talking about, oh, tight ends on the middle of the field. And it's a different NFL now. I mean, Gronk was huge in the Super Bowl. Travis Kelsey, Zach Ertz. You know, Jordan Reed, one of the, the guys you play with.

Been hurt a few times, but a remarkable talent. When you look at the NFL, take my audience to the advantage of being a tight end is when you leave the line of scrimmage, say, against a zone, are there advantages to being a tight end over a wide receiver getting open? Yes, there's a ton of advantages when it comes to being a tight end. Now, usually in the past, you would have these tight ends who are 6,6, maybe 265. 270 pounds. Guys that could run, run well, but they could be covered by linebackers and

safeties and corners. Nowadays, you have the guys like Jordan Reed, Gruncowski, who are huge. I mean, these guys are 65, 6,6, 250 to 260 pounds that can run by corners. They can run by safeties. They can run by linebackers. Now, what do you do? I mean, they can take the middle. They can sit down in zone if they're going cover two.

I mean, the sky's the limit for these guys. So what do you do? Now, you have to find a safety that can run like a corner. You know, he can't be slow because he got to keep up for these guys. These guys can really run now. So you have to find that safety. Like when you go nickel, nickel, you have five defensive backs out there, right? Who are you going to put on that tight end, especially if they go two tights, right?

They come out. Like I said, you have to find those, that nickel guy that can really run. He's big, he's fast. because tight-ins nowadays, the tight-in position has really evolved. By the way, we have multiple guys now who are basketball players who move into football. And again, Colts have one of them.

They are long. You know, I want you to talk a little bit about a couple of quarterbacks because you've played with several quarterbacks. What do you do if you're the Cowboys and you have Dak Prescott? So he's won a lot of games. Yeah. He's not a huge arm talent. He's got great leadership qualities.

It appears to be like a guy you can depend on. won the division two out of three years. When you're on the sideline, when you're watching Dak Prescott, would you pay him big time franchise money? I think he has the potential to make big franchise money. I do over time if he can show that he can be consistent. He's still young in the game. We have to keep that in mind.

He has time. Just give him time and see what happens. I say one or two more years. And if he does well, he exceeds our expectations, then you pay him, pay him the money. You give him what he deserves. Jason Whitten is returning for the Cowboys. Antonio Gates returned to the Chargers this year

and actually was really good late in the year. Gronk's an old guy may retire. Very good Super Bowl AFC championship. Jason Whitten now coming back to the Cowboys. He sat out a year. How productive do you think he can be? I think Jason has, his knowledge of the game is, is unprecedented. He knows the game. He's been playing for so long. And we see

what he's done. I mean, you look at the milestones that he's been able to create. He's going to do well. I think he's going to do well. Yeah, he's a little rusty. He needs to get back into it. But I think once he finds his niche, he'll continue to blossom like he's done in the past. If I say Jason Witten, what do you think of as a tight end? I'll give you a handful. What's his strength. His strength is to be able to recognize zone coverage and sit down in that zone coverage. He's really, he's not, he's not the fastest guy on the field, but he has this innate ability to be able to create separation and get open and find that zone. That's what Tony Romo loved about Jason Witten, that he knows how to sit down because, you know, we have these routes that

we run where you look at the coverage. You see if it's zone, if it's cover one, whatever it is he just knows how to get open especially in zone coverage do you um if i say gronk to you what do you think whoa wow what what are we going to do about this guy i mean we're talking about a kid who can run really well you i think he used to be a much better runner yeah but he can still move i mean his size and the way i'm just thinking that i have to put two guys on gruncowski because there's no way we can stop this guy. I mean, this guy is a man.

He's exposed to me. He's fast. He's strong. I just think of a great football player, someone who's definitely changing the game. You know, there's a classic moment. When you were in San Francisco, you developed into a star in the league. And Mike Singletary came there, and it was pretty rough for Mike.

It kind of devolved. You could just tell fairly early in the process. It just wasn't working. It wasn't right. for whatever reasons. He got into this classic rant where I'll play the rant again and Mike Singletary.

It's probably the most famous Mike Singletary moment. Let me play the rant. I would rather play with 10 people and just get penalized all the way until we've got to do something else. Rather than play with 11 when I know that right now that person

is not sold out to be a part of this team. It is more about them than it is about the team. I cannot play with them. Cannot win with them. cannot coach with him, can't do it. I want winners. I want people that want to win.

How'd that land for you? It was, I remember going home and watching that, you know, I could, I was like, wow, my career is over. This guy is ripping me apart. But I started understanding. I just kept thinking about it. It was going back in my mind. I want winners.

I want someone that's made. more that's all about the team than about themselves. I told Vernon. And so you kind of, you kind of. I just thought about it. I went in the next day. We had a heart to heart. And I started to understand.

I was like, hey, this guy is, we're meant for each other. I mean, without him, my career probably wouldn't have lasted because I was a young guy coming in the league and I thought I had it all figured out. You know, I thought it was okay to go out there and get penalized and put my team teammates in a rough situation when it comes to advancing the ball and winning games, right? I was hindering them from doing that. So I had to be a better person. I had to be there for my team.

I had to be a leader. I had to be in compliance with the team and what the coaches wanted and expected of me. So, you know, I learned my lesson. I listened and I just started to just become a good teammate, pretty much. Yeah, I've heard the same stories about Shannon Sharp here at Fox Sports. one guys who played with him early, he said he was different later than he was early in his career. He was a different teammate. By the way, what do you do with Antonio Brown, who's a remarkable talent, but he's very outspoken? If you represented Antonio Brown, you're his agent

tomorrow. And what would you tell him? Now, he's calling out Ben. He's calling out Tomlin. He said something the other day, which I don't think is great when he said, I don't need football, which is probably true. There are certain things in life that are true. I'm not sure you should vocalize them? If you were his agent, what would you tell him? I know from the past and you know, sometimes we get these players to come in

who are, I mean, they're stars. They're unbelievable when you watch them play on Sundays. I know Antonio wants to make it known that, hey, this is what I want. This is what I expect. And you guys help me out. Give me this. I'm calling him. He's a star.

I would help him. I would give him advice. I would advise him. to do things differently. Just support, say great things about, you know, always be there to support your teammates, even though when things aren't going well for you. Because at the end of the day, you know, from learning my lesson, I learned that it's not about me.

You know, it's about the team. If we're making decisions, we're making them together. We're going to support each other. Even when I know someone's wrong, I have to encourage them and be there for them because I know that as long as I'm playing this game, I'm not going to always be who I am. At some point, my career is going to,

to decline. I'm going to decline. And someone's going to come in and say the same thing about me. So we just have to be compassionate when it comes to our teammates and others and always come from a benevolent place when we're talking about people because you never know what someone's going through. Yeah, you know, the other thing about the NFL is, and I was saying this earlier, you could have played other sports. Some of you guys at 14 years old could have played hoops and you could have done multiple things. Right. And they said A-Rod, by the way. If A-Rod wanted to he could have been a quarterback, he could have been a baseball player. Football is a sport that really tests your discipline.

Yeah. You wear a helmet, you're not going to make money, and you're going to get cut. You don't get tenure contracts. The league doesn't mostly market you. The football players, I was thinking about this the other day, that I know that are friends of mine, they almost all share a common trait. They're very disciplined. Football in a weird way has a military feel to it.

You get in line behind the sergeant. You show up every day. You play and work hurt. You know, in baseball, you get a 13-year no-cut deal. In basketball, you're promoted over the sport. I mean, often the star is bigger that Janus is the bucks. Right. But in football, you don't get a lot of leeway.

It's Vernon. It's hard emotionally. Yeah. They beat you up. Don't you feel like sometimes you're constantly giving to football? Or do you feel it gives you back? I feel like I'm constantly given to football, but I have so much respect and love for this game,

past, present, future. I respect it all. And I, you know, I've always, from the time that I was young, up until now, I learned that no matter how long I'm in this game, I can't, I have no control. Only control I have is going out on Sundays and performing. When it comes to decision-making and bringing in guys and going to coaches and,

making sure that I'm in the game plan. I have no control over that. I just have to do my part, play my part, be the best teammate I can be, support my brothers, and play this game of football, and pretty much just do my job. Nutrition brand you're part of now,

timeless sports nutrition. Tony Gonzalez, by the way, like you, very much into the nutrition. Taking up acting, new movie called Hell on the Border, a Western thriller. So you got the acting thing. You know, by the way, Tony Gonzalez, nutrition.

acting. By the way, Gronk has a nutrition brand and he's going into pro wrestling. You tight ends are made for Hollywood, man. Everybody's looking for a 6-7 cut guy, handsome guy, Vernon. Good seeing you.

Yeah, good to seeing you as well. Joy with the news. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So we've talked a lot today about how the Lakers' Nightmare season pretty much ended last night with the loss of the clippers.

Kyle Kuzma also went down with an ankle injury, added to a long list of injuries this season, whether that be Kuzma, LeBron, Rondo, Lanzo, or Ingram. And after the loss, LeBron says he's never experienced anything like this before. Haven't been a part of the season with this ton of injuries to all our key guys, to big, big key guys. You know, and it's just the way the season has been. And we've had guys step up, you know, Josh stepped up in his absence.

And I was great to see Josh play well again. You know, but, you know, for us, we kind of pride ourselves on our depth to start the season on how we can be very good, you know, with the first unit and our second unit. And obviously, our depth has dwinded over the course of weeks because of our injuries. Oh, I so desperately want to be petty right now and recall back to the days where LeBond just had to leave Miami because everyone was just so old and injured. But the reality is, I've been saying this a lot lately. The injuries are not getting enough credit for what has happened to the lake. this season. We talked about it earlier. Roussard mentioned where they were defensively before LeBron's injury.

They played a big role. Like a part of being able to come together as a team is having everyone available. I don't, their whole core was injured. I mean, Rondo, LeBron, Lonzo, Ingram, Kuzma, these are starters. It's very difficult to put your team together when your starters are all injured at one point, another for significant amount of time during the season. So it sounds like an excuse, and people will say, well, you know, you can't use injury, is an excuse. It's not an excuse. It's a reason. It's a reason. It happens. They were not literally

not available and it's not like they're purposely getting injured or they're sitting out because they want to, you know, rest. These were legitimate injuries to starting players. No, no, I mean, I think there's a LeBron's injuries real and I think Lanzo ball. I mean, I can make a very legitimate argument that LeBron and Lonso more than any other Lakers equal better plus minus the teams are better when Lonzo and LeBron are out, and they both got an injury issue. LeBron has first major one, and Lonzo's had like three now. So it's a real thing. It's definitely played a role in their season.

Like Anthony Davis' fiasco certainly killed whatever chemistry was hanging on by a string mentally and emotionally, but the on-the-court chemistry took the dent because of the injuries and them not being available. So Kyrie's been in the headlines a lot this year with the Celtics struggling in rumors of his upcoming free agent status and what moves he's going to make and he's been voicing his displeasure with the media a lot lately.

And now he's saying he has no interest in the scrutiny of fame. The next page is very unhappy. Very unhappy, I'll tell you that. I think someone told me that Adam Silver was talking the other day about how unhappy NBA players are, you know, especially nowadays because of just the scrutiny,

exploitation that we go through of, you know, everything being judged or, you know, someone being a very high stature and people are just still throwing stones at them, just trying to break him and break him and break him and break him. Words are very powerful. He's not going to get a lot of sympathy because he's a professional athlete that makes millions and millions of dollars and the superstar and millions of people around the world would

love to have the opportunity to be in his position. However, I will defend him in that. I think that the scrutiny and the media coverage and the social media response, and just the amount of media that there is these days as compared to five years ago or 10 years ago. Oh, it's exploded. 15 or 20 years ago is astronomical. And being on the level that these guys are, they do experience it on another level. Like, just the average person on Twitter might get some hate back and forth.

Multiply that by millions of people coming at you every single day, examining every single thing that you do. Now, he's not going to get sympathy again because that's the price that you pay when you're in these positions. But I do have sympathy for these guys because they are human at the end of the day. And we tend to just dismiss that because they do make a lot of money. And they are famous. And there are perks that come with that. Yeah, I mean, I have a device on my phone, which alerts me every week to my screen time. And my new, remember I talked about my New Year's resolution?

And I wouldn't talk about it on the air. Was it to be nicer? Yeah, yeah, be nicer. Except to Goulet. I have to yell at somebody. But my whole New Year's resolution really this year was reduced. my screen time and give more time to others and not be, you know, sitting on that thing. And by the way, I'm down 42% this year.

Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's yesterday I was on it an hour and some of that's prep. So the point being is that the best advice I would give young people is put the phone down. Like I think once you grab that phone, it's connected to your body, you're going to check your mentions, especially when you're 26 years old. You're a kid.

and the downside for these players is the NBA is the one league where virtually every player has a massive social media brand. Put the phones down. Because if Adam Silver is correct that all his players are unhappy, well, they're not unhappy because of their women that love them, the income they have, or they're not doing what they like. They're unhappy because they're on their phones and people are banging on them all the time.

Yeah, there is some, I'm sure there's studies been done about the psychological effect. Oh, God, it's daunting. Paying attention to. And it's not just necessarily trolls. It's just criticism in general. I mean, we talk about these guys every day. This is our job to talk about them and not in a negative way, but to give our opinion about what they do for a living.

So I totally understand it. You have to limit as much as you can of it. Oh, God. You have to. Otherwise, it just consumes you. And no matter how strong you are mentally or emotionally, you're going to be affected by something that somebody says. So it's, yeah, you have to,

the media side of it is unavoidable. It's part of what they do. But the social media side definitely can be limited. Finally, the Cowboys have a new offense coordinator in former quarterback, Kellynne Moore. And it doesn't appear that everyone at the star is thrilled that Dallas ultimately went with Moore as the next offensive coordinator. According to Calvin Watkins at the athletic, he said there's an undercurrent of uncertainty. Moore is a quiet presence, and a pair of team officials are not sure if that helped him. One questions whether he can command a room, and another indicated he's never heard him speak too loudly.

the coaching staff enter meeting rooms and walk on a practice field with presence. He's an unassuming coach who develops a good relationship with DAC. I think that's more important. I don't care if you're a salesman. If you get along with a quarterback, you... I think that's the most important part of his job is to make Dak better. Yep. The scrutiny of Linnehan is kind of curious because a lot of it had to do with their third down performance.

Linnahann has a history of being more confrontational. He's a little bit more of a barker. Kellen Moore's not. I do think that there is something to having a voice and a presence when you are a coordinator as opposed to a quarterbacks coach. You do have a lot more people that you're responsible for and that you have to get on the same page. So, I mean, personally, I'm more of a, you need to be commanding. But again, if you are on the same page with Dak, the rest I think we'll trickle down. But we'll see.

Good stuff, Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. Back in a second, L.A. heard. 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. Boy, I'll tell you, I'm reading some of these NFL trade rumors. That, not just Antonio Brown. Giants let Landon Collins walk today.

Yet they're keeping Eli. I don't get it. So the Giants, they had Odell Beckham on the market, and Landon Collins is out, but they're sticking with Eli. We're going to war with Eli again. All right, whatever. It's, okay, whatever.

By the way, there is a story out. LeBron's going to miss games. I think that's terrible. Other story is Jerry Jones today quoted as saying in a Clarence Hill Jr. article, he is comfortable paying. It says here, the Cowboys are comfortable paying, DAC in the 27. to $30 million range. And it's going to be very difficult to convince

Dak Prescott's agent that he should get to take a pay cut because the kid hasn't made anything for three years and he's won the division two times. So contracts, the way contracts work is you're either getting paid for what you've done, Joe Flacco, Albert Pool Hulse, Kobe Bryant at the end, Derek Jeter last five years. You're getting paid for what you've done, or you're going to get paid for what we think you can do.

Matt Stafford, Ryan. Tannahill, Matt Ryan, you know, Kirk Cousins. Dax's a little of both. Dack will get paid for what he's done, two division titles in three years. And he'll also get paid for what they think he can do, which is in a division with the very well-run Eagles,

continue to win it every couple years. So, Dack's going to get his money. It's funny. As an owner, I would have no problem paying Dack. He gives me stability. I think he's a hell of a leader. I think he's a good kid. and he wins a bunch of games.

As a general manager, he would scare that you know what out of me. I got to pay him what? He's a B quarterback. I got to pay him a money. So it depends on the chair I sit in. If I'm an owner, what I don't want to be is Tampa at quarterback. I don't want to be Washington. I don't want to be before Baker Mayfield, Cleveland.

Miami, where half the people in the building don't buy it. The bottom line is, as an owner, I would be very comfortable saying, oh, yeah. Listen, when the Cowboys have had a secure quarterback, Romo, Aikman, Stoback, Danny White, Dack. They're the number one brand in America. It's when they don't have that. As a GM, I'm not totally comfortable paying him double Tom Brady.

But that's the world we live in. Some guys get paid for what they've done. Some for what they're going to give you. I think he's a little bit of both with a little lower ceiling. Hour three coming up, Matt Barnes, it's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Ah, this hour. Hour three is in Los Angeles, The Hurt, wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

We're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. By the way, just got a text. You know, it's too bad. I'm not in the business. Like, what do you call the people that cover our business? Media critics? Like, wait, would you call it? Yeah.

Like a media critic. Well, I don't know what you're about to say. I just got two big, juicy stories that are going to come down the next couple of weeks. So, okay, so you mean, like a reporter. true journalists. Yeah, like, if I covered radio and television and all that stuff. Oh, okay, okay. So inside baseball stuff.

Yeah. Not stuff like anyone watching cares about. Big old cabooms coming up. Oh. Big old cabooms coming up. Well, you and I generally hear stuff before that, you know, in the building you hear, not just for us, but we all share the same six agents, right? Well, yeah.

I mean, that's what happens in sports, too. Everybody's in the know. This phone right now has got information, could make a media critic. You shouldn't do that. that thing's going to come up missing. And I think you said your pastor was like 1, 2, 3, 4 or something. Yeah. Please change that.

Colin 321. By the way, we're on Channel 83, Sirius XM. You should give us a listen. Hopefully you are. 50 minutes, Matt Barnes, one of my guys stops by the show. Laker season's another disaster. And, well, last night the Clippers. How about the Clippers?

Essentially ended LeBron's first season as a Laker last night. but it all started well before this. There have been stages of this whole Laker-Lebron thing. There was the recruiting stage. Can we get him? Can we get him? And then there was the LeBronza Laker stage. And there's a power struggle stage.

Who's going to get their way? And now we have entered the fourth stage, which is the rumor stage. Season's over. Now the rumors start. The big rumor out there today is Luke Walton is done. I can confirm. I've heard this from three different sources I've trust. And I've also been told Ty Lou,

75, 80% chance will be the next coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. So we had the recruiting stage. We got LeBronza Lakers stage. We got the power struggle stage. And now we have, all right, this one's done. Rumor stage. You're going to hear a lot of rumors. The Luke Walton one is in full sense.

swing. LeBron's going to win this. He doesn't have a close friend on the roster, not close with the coaches, not necessarily close with the ownership. He is close with Magic, who's got his own power struggle in the building with Jeannie Bus. LeBron's going to win this power struggle. He's going to get his coach. Tailu's a solid head coach. The rumors are very persistent and very strong now. We have entered the rumor stage of LeBron as a Laker. My belief, what the Lakers This is the highest probability this morning of what they'll look like next year, although it's not set in stone. Ty Lou is your coach.

LeBron is your star. Anthony Davis, via clutch sports, is also next to LeBron. And then Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingraham, one of those two will not be traded to get Anthony Davis, and that's your team. That is a good team. It is certainly a more interesting team. It is not a top five team in the league. It is not Golden State.

It is not Houston. It is not Philadelphia. Joy and I both like the Sixers a lot. They're growing, but it's not Philadelphia. I don't think it's Milwaukee. I don't. And I don't think, frankly, Kyrie there or not, I think Boston would have got more depth, more picks, more players,

and would land somebody else if Kyrie left. It is somewhere between 6 and 12 in the NBA. LeBron's really smart. LeBron's been around a long time. Do I believe LeBron thinks my guy Ty Lou and Anthony Davis and let's say Brandon Ingram, we're winning a title? No, I do not. This rumor stage is going to get really, really tasty here over the next three months.

Kyrie Irving's name is going to start surfacing. LeBron's very good with shooters. Clay Thompson's name is going to start surfacing. LeBron's great with shooters. Kevin Durant's name. Many will dismiss it. I am told he doesn't want to leave California. That's what I'm told.

You're going to now we have entered the rumor stage. Some of these will be silly. Some will be more concrete. The first big rumor now that's coming out is it's over for Luke. I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying it's fair. Many people can deny it. I'm told Ty Lou is probably the next.

guy. And it's interesting as I'm driving to work this morning, I'm thinking about LeBron James. And every great player in NBA history, and I'm just going to talk great ones, even they have had a hole. Magic, not a very good defender. Larry Bird, so, so athletically. Michael Jordan didn't have the greatest shooting range, to be honest with you. Mostly a mid-range guy. Kobe Bryant, not always the best on-floor team. mate. Charles Barkley. Lord, he was talented. Practice, effort, defense. Sometimes Charles, a little apathetic. Will Chamberlain, kind of a flake. LeBron James. Well, he can shoot. He can drive. He can handle. Oh, God, he can pass. He's strong physically. I've never seen

LeBron is having a hole in his game. Not saying he's an A plus at everything. But in his prime, he could defend, he could pass, he could shoot, he could score, developed a low post game, took him about seven, eight, nine years, and developed into a really nice three-point shooter. The hole in LeBron's game to me has always been, he struggles with authority. I'm not a psychologist. I'm not going to try to play one. Push back on Riley, push back on Gilbert, push back on coaches, especially when he's introduced to a new coach. David Black, get out of here. Eric Spolstra, I want you out of here.

Pat Riley won't. Luke Walton, you're not my guy. I want you out. LeBron has struggled with authority. That's the hole in his game. And this year, it has completely been on display. The difference is he can't give you 42 minutes a night. LeBron was always the player that could just sort of overwhelm you,

overwhelm, take a bad roster, take a month. Maas Goff, take guys that didn't move well, take flaky guys, J.R. Smith, take the always enigmatic Mario Chalmers, take an older D. Wade, take a Kevin Love, who's not a great defender. LeBron could always just burrow through all of it. He just can't anymore. But he does remain one of the smartest NBA players, not just this year ever. And the projected Laker team next year is Ty Lou, LeBron and Anthony Davis, and one of the young guys. I do not believe that LeBron James thinks that's a title team. So we are in the beginning stages of rumors.

The Luke Walton one is the hot one today. I believe it to be true. Aligning with Ty Lou, he could finally have a guy in the room on the plane. that's his guy that he trusts. But you're going to hear Clay Thompson, you're going to hear Kyrie, and you're going to hear Kevin Durant. We're going to have to sift through all of this stuff.

But I do not believe that a player as smart as LeBron James looks at that projected team on the picture on FS1 right now and says, those are my guys. That's a bunch of titles. Nope. Don't believe it. I don't believe one of the smartest NBA players looks at that. There are no shooters. on that team outside of LeBron.

There are no great shooters on that team. So the rumor season has started. Luke is the first carnage, but it has just begun. We're going to sift through them together. Coming up, Matt Barnes, straight shooter, knows L.A., know these teams, both of them last night. His thoughts, who do you blame for what has been,

let's be honest. I just read a headline from somebody I trust in the business. It's been a disaster. It's been a disaster for LeBron and the Lakers. That's coming up. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app.

Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlic on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped. up in the chase, that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing, and we're still

chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. I'm Ty Bramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balligan.

I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals.

The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall.

And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah. You figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Cold and flu season. Try Vic Synex nasal spray. Use his direct. A little sniff up there. Don't eat it. Did as a kid, bad mistake. I did it one time. Don't not eat Vick's nasal spray. Matt Barnes played for a decade and a half of the NBA. I love having them on the show. So let's do, we're going to break down the whole Laker mess. Lost to the Clippers, lost to the Sons, lost to Milwaukee. One of those is legit. The other two, they shouldn't lose to with LeBron James. So Luke Walton, I was told last night, we're in the rumor stage now. Right. Where you're going to hear a lot. The rumor I hear now, it's pretty solid from people I trust. Luke Walton's in trouble. Tailu's probably the front runner.

What would you make of that? You know Luke, you like Luke? Yeah. What do you make of those rumors? I like Luke a lot. And I think he's been dealt with a tough hand, but he's going to be a casualty of war, unfortunately. You know, with the drama that surrounded this season, the not living up to expectations, which to me were way out of the origin.

and a long shot to begin with are, you know, virtually impossible. You know, LeBron came here and it was supposed to, you know, change the world. You know, murals start going up and big giant pictures of him and he's coming to save L.A. And this is the Western Conference. It's not that easy. It's a lot different. He's never had such a young team. He's never had a team where there wasn't some LeBron guys, whether that be coaching, coaching,

he doesn't have one. Teammates, no LeBron guys. So it's a different mix. So I think as a situation of all that, Luke will probably be fired, which is unfortunate. I did earlier, I did my delicious pie of blame. And I think there's a lot of different people. I think Magic and Polinka didn't create a lineup with enough shooters. I've always thought LeBron's best, not with Biggs, but with shooters.

They don't have enough. And some of it is just, you know, I mean, Lanzo got hurt. LeBron got hurt. I think you can argue Luke could have tried to forge a greater relationship with LeBron. That's no day at the beach. LeBron genuinely pushes back on authority, whole as has. Who do you blame? Where does it go?

I think the first situation you've got to take into consideration is injuries. I think we're not even having this conversation at this point of the year if Lamar doesn't get hurt. I think they're fourth in the West and starting to develop chemistry when he goes down. If you think about it, they've had key guys. miss critical moments in large stretches throughout the season. So people think because LeBron comes is going to change. Chemistry has to be developed. Relationships have to be developed.

You have to understand your teammate on and off the court somewhat. And they never really got a full chance of that because of injuries. Two, I would say management. I would say, like you said, management, knowing what LeBron's game is, they have too many guys that kind of clog up the middle area. You know what I mean? And don't knock down shot. So it keeps LeBron's, you know, the floor is not as spaced.

Yeah, no, that's a good point. when you defend the Lakers, you can kind of sit in the paint. No question. And LeBron loves to score at the basket. And if you don't have shooters... Right. He can't kick to those guys once he gets by him. They're all... That's why he always loved Chris Bosch and Kevin Love.

Space guys. They would move outside forcing the big... Remember when Roy Hibbert gave LeBron trouble for two years? He just sat in the middle, right? Yeah. So when you don't have shooters, you can defend LeBron more easily. And then I think, you know, like I said, management didn't surround him with shooters, you know, made this whole trade deadline mess and debacle and kind of shook the locker room up and then traded a good young piece in Zubox, I think, you know, solid big seven-foot

skilled 20-year-old, 21-year-old and gave him away. You know what I mean? And that's what last night they got bullied. You know what I mean? So you could have definitely used them last night. And then third, I would give it to LeBron and Rich Paul because I think, like I said, I think, you know, the way they went about the trade deadline situation destroyed the locker room, completely destroyed the locker room. And Magic wants to say, this is the business, get over it. LeBron will say what he wants, but neither of those guys have ever been in that kind of situation where every single day they're talked about being traded. You know, they've always been the alpha male, two of the greatest players of all times. So they don't really know what it feels like to be

scared to look at your phone the next morning or scared to get a call that night because you don't know if you're going to be gone. You have been there. Yeah, yeah. And it's it's it's uneasy. You know, fortunately, I was a little bit older when I went through it for young, second, third year guy, rookie guys to have that uncertainty is a tough thing to just say, get over and be a professional and play through it because it's not we're all human by the way shack defended lebron and said young guys are soft now would you acknowledge the world has changed though and you do have to you got to kind of buddy up to players don't you have to cater i think it starts with the aAU programs i think that uh you know these kids are all you know pampered so much to that they want to think

that this is what the real life is and you know you're supposed to go through college like we talked off off the air you're supposed to get yelled at in high school yelled at in college and at least listen to your coach in the NBA. And now coaches have to kind of be careful the way they look at players, you know, because they could be fired, you know, if you're looking at the star the wrong way. So I think the culture of basketball has changed, I think, with the physicality and the way they want to call the game. So I think it starts, like I said, the AU and the upbringing guys are a little bit softer

and more pampered to, but basketball as a whole, the toughness has changed. But at the same time, there's never been this much scrutiny on athletes, especially on basketball players. There's never been this many outlets, this many 24-hour news sources where every single day every single minute, whatever you're doing is under the magnifying glass and it's reported. So I think it does start to wear on guys. And, you know, like I said, no one's looking to feel sorry for them. But at the end of the day, these guys are human. And it gets to some of these guys. And you can definitely tell that. There's a story out that LeBron would consider

sitting out the rest of the games. And it's, I think Joy and I, Joy may have brought this up. When LeBron was coming to L.A., Kobe fans push back because it would shrink Kobe's brand. image. It's actually enhanced it because, as Joy said, Mamba gave you 60 the last game he played. No matter what. LeBron's coming to games with wine and load

management. In a weird way, LeBron arriving in L.A., his elevated Kobe. No one thought it would happen that way either. Nobody. I don't like LeBron sitting out games. I think it's a... I think there's, last night, people were chanting Kobe. I don't like it. What do you make of LeBron potentially sitting last

15 games. I don't think he will. I think what LeBron's going to do is he's going to turn up more. I think he's going to go out there and be that monster that I thought he thought he would have to save until the playoffs. There's nothing to save anymore. I think LeBron's going to come out and play extremely well this last two and a half, three weeks of the season to kind of slow down the world win of criticism he's going to get this summer. It's going to be an ugly summer. But like I said, I think he came in with expectations through the roof. Just adding him to this roster didn't really make them. I know everyone wanted to get caught up in the hype and I even said at one point I could see them. Chemistry clicking, no injuries, possibly playing the Warriors in the Western

Conference finals. But at the end of the day, like you said, you add LeBron to this roster. They never get a chance to get their chemistry. People are hurt. They're all throughout the season. So it was really going to be a no win for him, you know, because the Lakers are championship and busts. And it's crazy. We're making such a big deal about are the Lakers going to make the playoffs? It shows just where they, you know, how far they've dropped. Because true Laker fans don't care about the playoffs. They care about championship rings and we're debating the last two and a half months will they even make the playoffs so the times have changed. Isn't that crazy? Times have definitely changed.

Listen, this league is, you know, chemistry is an interesting thing. What was the best chemistry locker room you were ever in and why was it the best? I see. The two best were actually the Golden State Warrior locker rooms, the We Believe team because we came together as kind of a gang of misfits. What year was that? 2007, we beat Dallas in the playoffs when we got Stephen Jackson out here. Harrington late in the season. Monta Ellis was there. He was young though. So that was Baron Davis, Monta. And so that was

a different. Amazing. Why? Because once those guys came with, we just all became brothers on and off the floor. You saw one of us. You saw 10 of us. Like we went eight together. We hung out. We watched film together outside of practice. Were your ages close? Yeah, similar in age. Absolutely. That's a big difference. There's a huge gap disparity between LeBron's age. Rondo, Lance, Javelle, LeBronzo, Coosma. There's a, There's almost two Laker teams. Huge disconnect.

Old dudes, young dudes. And like I said before, LeBron's never been on a team that's had this many young guys. You know what I mean? And him almost have to play. I don't know if you want to call it a father figure. But a lot of these guys looked up to LeBron as they were coming into the league. You know, now they're finally here with them, but they're babies at, you know,

and people don't realize 20, 21. You know, Paul George doesn't blossom until he's mid-20s. Victor Oladipo doesn't blossom until he's, what, you know, he blossomed maybe two years ago and he's an outstanding player now. I think there's so much scrutiny day in, day out on the. these young Laker players because they want them to be incredible overnight, and it doesn't happen that way. What was the worst chemistry you ever had and why? Unfortunately, it was probably the Clipper locker room.

And it was weird because off the court, we were friends that we had hang out, but there were just too many egos once the game started. That was Blake, Chris Paul. Chris and DeAndre and when Doc came. I always heard that Chris is rough. Chris is old school. Chris is more like, I'm going to yell. Chris's problem, I think, was his tone he would address guys with, not what he was saying, because what he was saying was right.

Just I think his tone. And it goes back to the AU, like these guys are coming up being pampered. He's old school. Chris is old school, one of those 80s, 90s. I'm going to yell at you, but what I'm telling you is right, just listen to me. And I was kind of like the buffer. I'd be like, okay, well, what Chris is trying to say is, you know what I mean. So that's what I would go between, you know, Blake and DJ and with Chris sometimes.

And because we had the most talented. And we ever had the most talented in the NBA for, you know, a year or two with the Clippers. And when it was, you know, Chris, Blake, DJ, JJ, J.J. J. Reddick, Jamal, Lamar, Odom. Loaded. We were loaded. Eric Bledsoe. We had some very talented teams. We were our own worst enemies. Isn't that incredible?

By the way, are you surprised that Chris Paul and Hardin have worked? Because they've worked I think Chris is kind of doing what Russ is doing, taking a back seat. You know, like Chris is an alpha guy and Russ was an alpha guy but realizing that James is the man there and Paul is the man in OKC,

like he's taking a back seat for the betterment of the team. I think it's great because Chris is still very talented. Hopefully I just talked to him the other day. I told him the only chance they have is him being healthy. You know what I mean? Oh, that's it. So, you know, play the marathon, not the sprint.

But I'm not surprised because at the end of the day, Chris wants to win. You know, I just think in this situation, he's going to a new team. It's not his team. It's not his team. It's James' team. So he's kind of taking the backseat and done what's needed to be done. Yeah. Well, you, how often do you talk? Like, if Luke Walton called you tomorrow, you know Luke's in trouble.

Like, do you think, how is it landing for Luke? Does he understand, I'm smart, dude, been around. I mean, I just, he's, I mean, Luke is such a good guy. And been in LA for a long time. Funny. He knows what it is. He knows the game. Like I said, he's going to be a casualty of war, unfortunately.

I know he'll land on his feet, whether or that's another head coach job right away, a college job or an assistant and get himself right back to a head coach in position. But, you know, coming into this situation, the Lakers is always a hot seat. You know, but outside of Phil Jackson, the Laker job has always been a hot seat. You know what I mean? And if you don't perform, you're gone. And they didn't perform this year for a very, you know, a bevy of reasons. But like I said, Luke would be a casualty of war, unfortunately.

Good seeing you, man. Good to be seen. By the way, a lot of confusing terms. Invoice, very confusing term. Go to Truecar.com. Check out the true price. Save three grand off MSRP. Joy with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. The Celtics have lost seven of the last 10 games. Oh, Lord. Just dropped them to fifth in the east. three games behind the Pacers for the third seed. And now Jalen Brown says one of the issues is a toxic environment around the team.

Wow. He said, to be honest, I'm not feeling at all. The losing, it's not a good feeling. I'm not too good about that because right now it's not good. It's toxic. I can't really point out one thing. I don't have all the answers. I'm just going to try to be a part of the change.

Damn. I'm going to try to do my best. That's all I've got to say. What happened? I mean, seriously. Food fight. This thing just imploded in the last three weeks, two weeks. I don't know.

God. Apparently, Jalen Brown doesn't know either, but. I saw a story this morning where they said, Kyrie's only friend that he communicates with is Jason Tatum, that is it. I'm not blaming him. I'm just saying that's the reality of it. Like, Kyrie's his own dude. He's close with Tatum.

He's not close with other people. There's clearly a chemistry issue with the Celtics, and it's unfortunate because they do have a lot of talent. I think everyone just keeps kind of glossing over this, whatever this thing is. And it's like, yeah, they're going to be fine in the playoffs because they have so much talent. They'll just figure it out. Can I acknowledge, can we just acknowledge this, though? Everybody, when Kyrie left LeBron, it was, yeah, Kyrie's career without LeBron.

Take it away. Didn't do anything in Duke. Didn't do anything in Cleveland. And appears to be hurting the Celtics. Can we just admit that when you take LeBron, that component out of Kyrie's career? It's messy. I would like to wait to agree with that until after this season is over. Because even though...

When they drop to the eighth seed? Well, while this concerns me greatly going into the postseason, I still do feel like they have a ton of talent and they may be able to figure it out. But if they don't, then I may have to agree with you because it's looking like. a disaster. And again, like, the whole thing with the Celtics is that they built the team the right way. Right. They have all the picks. And this is how you do a rebuild. Like, until you got the rings, is it a success? Because at a place like Boston and a place like L.A., like Matt just said, it's not about making the playoffs. It's about championships. You know, I

bang on Westbrook all the time, because I say it's hard to play with. Let's, we're very close to just putting Kyrie in the Westbrook category where maybe I should peel back on Westbrook, because Because Paul George doesn't appear to be in the last 40 games having any trouble playing with Westbrook. I don't think that you can really say that about Westbrook this year if Paul George is an MVP candidate. Clearly, Westbrook can't be that hard to play with if he's got Paul George playing alongside him the way that he is. So, yeah, I think that's definitely a conversation that you can have, but not about Westbrook this year. So last night was basically the nail in the coffin for the Lakers. Their loss of the Clippers, basically ending their playoff hopes.

and one of their issues this year was their inability to play defense. They're currently ranked 24th. And it's a weird video that's going around right now that kind of has everyone talking about just those woes. It's an interesting piece of video. It is. So it appears like Kyle Kuzma is pushing LeBron into Gallenari. Shubing?

Yeah, just shoving him. So like, please go and contest the shot. Play defense. It really kind of, in reality, is that they didn't do the defensive switch. so he's just, LeBron's in his way. He's trying to get over there, and LeBron missed the switch as well. Boy, it doesn't look good, though.

It just, no, it looks a mess. And it's, it kind of just encapsules the entire, I don't know if that's a word, but it just gets, puts together the whole theme of this season. It's funny. All right, finally, with the NFL Combine coming to a close, the draft is approaching April 25th through 27th in Nashville, Tennessee. And if the current betting odds are right,

the Cardinals are going to take, either Kyler Murray or Nick Bosa with the first overall pick in the draft. They are co-favorites right now with Alabama defensive tackle Quinn Williams next, followed by Dwayne Haskins. Now, if I were in that spot with the Cardinals, I would trade back, keep Josh Rosen, and get more picks, more players because they need more than just quarterback. And I know everyone keeps saying, well, if you take Kyler Murray, it kind of fixes the offensive line problem and the quarterback problem at the same time.

I just fundamentally disagree with that. I think that championship level teams have the guys in the trenches taken care of. They maybe not be the very best, but they're in the top 10 area. Those guys on the line are taken care of. Maybe you have a weak spot here or there, but that's where you have your veterans. I mean, look at the Rams. I would never, this year, as good as Nick Bosa projects to be, there are so many good defensive linemen.

It's the best defensive lineman draft that I remember. I couldn't take Nick Bosa won. I could go to the second round and get a guy. Kyler Murray may be the only quarterback in your belief system if you're Arizona that fits your coach. That's the problem. Well, yeah, they do have a new coach in Cliff Kingsbury. And maybe that's what he's interested in. I just feel like they need so much that even, I mean, you want a young guy to be protected.

He's not going to be able to run every single play. And if he's taking shots the way that Josh Rosen did, I don't know if that's a recipe for success, but it's looking like he's going to go number one. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. You know, it's funny.

When I always felt the cruelest thing if you were a sports radio host, if you loved hockey. Because hockey is something unless you live in Buffalo as a sports radio host, you probably shouldn't spend a ton of time talking about. Nothing to get hockey. I go to hockey games. It's not big enough nationally to accumulate audience. I have come to, I have come, I've been sent something today. I could literally do mock draft shows, NFL draft shows, all day. I'm literally, this is the time of the year.

I struggle paying attention. I'm online. I'm trying to reduce my screen time. I just saw the best mock draft I've seen so far this year. Daniel Jeremiah, I can't take my eyes off it. it's really I'm having a problem I can't stop it's the one thing I can look at mock drafts in the NFL all day you really do love the draft I love and by the way he's got he's got Kyler Murray going to Arizona I love the draft I love the draft the public loves it I love it more I know you

like you actually love the draft oh I can watch I can go home tonight for four hours my wife's like what are you doing I'm on the Indianapolis Colts website going through their mock Half picks, Seventh rounder from Tulade. I love mocked. I love the NFL draft. I love it. I think it's because NFL and college converge. And then you're giving me the Kyler Murray story this year, so I'm freaking out with that.

And then I got a bunch of teams I like a lot are near the top. Yeah, you're living your best life. I am living my best life right now. It's a heck of a life. I am living my best life. Coming up next, soapbox time. I always, this is the time of the year. You know what I do.

LeBron should be MVP. Coming up next, my top 10 MVP picks. I'll lay them out and why I have a surprise one and if LeBron's even in it. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Welterweight World Champion.

Showtime Sean Porter defends his belt for the first time as he battles top-rated contender, Udenis, Ugas, live in primetime Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific only on Fox. Get your free credit scorecard today. Learn more, Discover.com slash credit scorecard. Limitations apply. Discover card. By the way, I don't want a name drop or anything. I'm not a big guy. I don't want a name drop. But during the break, I was at a charity ski event in Beaver Creek, Colorado this weekend. I just, I buried the lead. I hung out with Colton Underwood. He was the handsome guy. Very nice guy. Very pleasant. Didn't hang out with him. We talked.

He's the bachelor. What did I say? You just described him as a handsome guy. He was the bachelor. He was the bachelor. America's talking about the bachelor. I hung out with a bachelor this weekend. Hung out a little strong, but I...

He asked you about your mock draft. He asked me about my mock draft. He wanted to know who the Jags had at like eight or something. It's very nice, very pleasant. Who do they have at eight? I don't know. I don't have my draft with me. Oh, okay.

But I hung out with Colton Underwood. Women like him. He's very handsome. Cheekbones or everything. And then you spent nine hours in an airport. I spent nine hours. I just happened to be in the state that was having avalanches all around me all weekend. Yeah, that's unfortunate. All right.

Well, this is usually the time of the year that I sit there and I tell everybody, this is stupid. LeBron's the MVP. Stop giving it the Westbrook and Hardin. And so this morning I thought, if I had an MVP vote this year, and I consider a lot of stuff, do your points mean wins? When you score more, does your team win more? Do you play defense? How many games have you missed?

You know, I'm not one of these guys. I mean, James Hardin is going to have the best scoring average in like 20 years. Does he play defense? When he shoots a bunch, does his team win? To me, most valuable isn't most points. Or it would be called the MPP, most points player. It's called the most valuable player. And here, I thought, if I was voting today, and I probably should have a vote,

I'm a significant American media icon. Ask the Bachelor. He acknowledged my presence. So here is my top 10 MVP votes in the NBA. Because I think we're getting close to it. Number one would be Paul George. By the way, when he scores a bunch, they're 21 and 4. So his points mean wins.

He is the best two-way player in the NBA. He is shooting 40% from three. He has been tremendously important. And let me tell you something else about him. He is playing with a guy who historically is not always the easiest guy to play with. Russell Westbrook is pretty rigid, is pretty relentless. Paul George has been able to wrestle away the last four minutes of the fourth quarter from Westbrook. 40% from threes, leads the NBA and steals.

He is the best available on a nightly basis, two-way. player in the NBA. Paul George is my MVP. Number two. Janus. Okay, Janus is a phenom, the Greek freak. Bucks have the best record. Here's why I have him too. He's missed five games this year and the Bucks have a winning record without him. It matters. The Bucs are just as good with him on the court as they are without it. Now, you don't have a huge sample size without him because he's mostly playing, but they're a

plus 7.7 with him on the court and they're a plus plus 7.7 without him on the court. He's my number two. Number three. We're overlooking that Kevin Durant, you could make an argument, is having, you know, one of his great years. I mean, Kevin Durant's his best assist year ever. He's the healthiest he's been.

He's only missed one game this year. The Warriors, despite being the favorites every night, apathy setting in, have the best record in the very deep West. He's averaging the most points he's ever scored in Golden State. he's averaging almost 28 points a game. Kevin Durant right now is a better player than LeBron James this season. Not saying greater overall. Kevin Durant's having a great year.

Number four. So Steph Curry. I give the slight edge to Durant because I do think on the defensive end, he's a better player. Curry, by the way, all his numbers are just off his unanimous MVP season, but because Hardin and Westbrook are more dramatic, uh, tend to be. be a little more offensively relentless or in the news more. We're forgetting that Steph Curry is having an unbelievable game. And for the record, he's missed 11 games. This dynasty has a losing record when he's out. It's one of the great things about Steph Curry that you can't deny.

Durant may be the greater overall player, but they win without Durant. They do not win without Steph Curry. He's my number four. Number five. Yes, James Hardin is going to average 35 a game, and he's going to win the scoring title. But this team is actually better when Chris Paul gets the controls, is allowed to have somewhere between 10, 11 assists, they're 12 and 0 when James gives the ball up. There's a little less ISO. That's not to say he's not tremendous.

I don't think he's a good defensive player, although I think his effort is improved over the last two years. He got a lot of heat, a lot of YouTube videos making fun of it. He does play a better defense. and he has one of these amazing years, but most of these NBA fanboys, oh, triple double, a million straight 30-point games. That doesn't equal value. It's not a stat-only award I have Harden at 5.

Number 6. Joe L.M.B. to the Sixers. Ben Simmons hasn't gotten better. This is Joe L.M.B.'s team, and he's having his best year. Now, he's missed nine games, but to his credit, in the nine games he's missed, even though they've got Redick. M. Butler, and Tobias Harris, and Ben Simmons, he's missed nine games. They're four and five. His presence on the court absolutely matters. Top five scoring. You know, arguably the best

rebounder in the NBA, Joel Embed at six. Number seven. Yeah, Denver Nuggets. Breaking news, you're on the show. Nicola Jokic is their best player. By far, in fact, I think the problem with Denver is he leads them in everything, points, rebounds, assists, steals. He's also a very willing teammate. They're 22 and 3 when he has 9 plus assists. He's there every night. He's only missed one game. And the Nuggets, he's clearly carrying this team.

The key to this team is they've got, how many guys do they have that average over 10 points? They've got like 7. It's a very, very deep team. I think they're two jokic centralized. I think they need more of him, more guys at his level. But he's there every night. When he plays well, they win.

Their second best in the West, so he's my seven. Number eight. Kauai Leonard's the second best two-way player in the NBA. Paul George is number one. The problem with Kauai Leonard now, he's missing more and more games. He's missed 18 games this year. And the problem is, Raptors are 13 and 5 when he doesn't play. Kauai is a fascinating player.

He doesn't pass. He's not a great communicator. he's just a great old school basketball player that gives you 100% on both ends of the floor. But one of the remarkable things about Kauai and why I struggle with him and MVP conversations, teams win with him, teams win without him. Like the Raptors and the Spurs, they won games without him. So I put him at 8. Number 9.

Ahead of LeBron James barely. Let's not pretend that LeBron is a stiff. He's averaging 27, 9, and 8. 16th season. And he still has helped the Lakers. When he plays, believe it or not, they have a winning record this year, 24 and 22. He has missed 18 games, but it should be duly noted. They're 6 and 12 when he doesn't play. So LeBron is ninth in my voting. Let's not go crazy. It's been a really disappointing year. Almost every other player in the year in the NBA would take LeBron's numbers this year. They're fantastic numbers. But he has,

He has really dropped off precipitously on the defensive end. Number 10. Damian Lillard. Only missed one game. He's having a great year shooting. You know, they added Rodney Hood and Ennis Canter. Going to be kind of an interesting team. They've got about four or five real players now.

They got swept last year in the playoffs. But Damien, career high in field goal percentage, 47%. He has absolutely led this team, top three in the West. came out this year and said, I'm not interested in running around the country. I want to be in Portland. I like to see that from players. I don't think everybody has to be super mobile,

although I'm not going to criticize the guy when he is. But I think Damien's a top 10 player in the league, and he's got a top 10 year. There have been a couple of guys I'm disappointed with. Ben Simmons has been a bummer this year. Just didn't get better. Donovan Mitchell's been better of late. Utah was a little disappointing as a team in the first half.

I think Utah's kind of finding their way. So there's my top 10 guys. Joy, you can go ahead and respond. You didn't like one of my picks. Well, I just think you're going to get major pushback on putting James Harden at five because he's been in the MVP conversation all year, just basically swapping places with Janice and Paul George. I have no problem with Paul George.

So you don't either. You don't know. I mean, I think it will go to Janus because they have the best record. And he deserves it. It's not like it's... And by the way, incredibly likable guy. Right. I mean, in the NBA, let's be honest,

we've seen this with Hall of Fame votes. If you're a jerk, the media can tweak their votes. Yonnes is as liked as anybody in the NBA. No, and I think he's deserving on top of my being like. But I do think that Steph and Katie sort of cancel each other out. They're both having great seasons and they're just not going to get MVP credit for it because they play the... How about... I was thinking about this today.

How about a show of hands? I've been very tough on Westbrook. but I got to say this. He has not gradually. He has handed over late game shooting responsibility to Paul George. And he deserves credit for that. Westbrook is very rigid and can be very relentless. He has these moments.

Is Kyrie Irving becoming my new Westbrook? I think it depends on how it goes in the postseason. It's getting very close, Joy. I'm sorry. Like, this is a disaster. This team was winning without Kyrie. Like, he's becoming my new Westbrook. I'm going to sleep on that. He may be the new Westbrook. Seriously, it's embarrassing. So you're willing to admit that you were wrong about Westbrook? No, no, no, I'm just willing to move off him. I was totally right. He's Westbrook with a jumper. Speak for yourself next. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you

exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions

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Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys, this is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes,

hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Palm. Mark,

listen to the Cliffer Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.

If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come up to him. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs.

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