The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Lakers, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, NFL schedule, and the Browns

Episode Date: April 18, 2019

Colin goes over the Los Angeles Lakers coaching search, why he feels LeBron James should have taken a year off, Kevin Durant's recent comments, the NFL Schedule, and why the Cleveland Browns don't have it easy. Guests include Chris Broussard, Stephen Jackson, Marcus Thompson, Albert Breer, and Berry Tramel. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. 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. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Wherever you may be and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. Last night was amazing. I got the NFL schedules. I got NBA playoffs last night, but mostly I got the NFL schedules.

It was a nerd fast. I've never been happier. I sat there with my dog and a corona and just broke down schedules for two hours. It's so fun. We have no idea what's going to happen, but the wind loss is the best part. So much fun. And I want to talk about this morning, Joy, expectations.

Right. If you were a movie director and you were given $35 million to direct a movie for a studio, that's a rounding error, they're going to leave you alone. Edit, do what you want. but if they give you $140 million to make a movie as a director, that's not a rounding air. That's got to be a hit. And so the CEO of Paramount and Sony and Disney,

all these companies, the CEOs in the editing room, they're on the set every day. How's it going? How's it look? How are the story arcs? How's the editing? How are the budgets?

Expectations, my friends, change everything. They change everything. Cleveland has going to be on, prime time, four times this year. Oh, they are no longer a movie with a $35 million budget. The Cleveland Browns now expectations. They're a movie with $150 million budget. Baker Mayfield's silliness, not so fun on a two-game losing streak.

Now, is it? They threw a parade last year when they were 7, 8, and 1. They don't go 9 and 7, heads going to roll, namely Freddie Kitchens, the rookie head coach, who's never even. been hired by any other team as a coordinator. So I looked at the NFL schedules yesterday, and oh my, isn't this interesting? I don't think it's the toughest schedule because it lightens up in the last month, and that is crucial.

But go look at the early schedule for the Cleveland Browns with all these new pieces, a lot of mouths to feed, a rookie head coach, and a very talented young quarterback in his second year. Oh, Lord. Rams, Seattle, at New England, at Baltimore, at Denver. Well, calling a couple easy ones at the Jets and at San Francisco. Really? You ever gone on the road for a Monday night football game? Of course, Cleveland, you haven't because nobody wanted to put you on Monday night.

But now they're going to put you on the road. You're a big attraction. You know what those Monday night football crowds are like? Drunk, loud, lubricated. Give the home team an extra point in a half. And Darnold, frankly, can play, and so can Jimmy Garapolo. And Adam Gase is a good offensive coach, and so has Kyle Shanahan. They're the two guys closest friends in the league. They're smart. They trade secrets.

All of a sudden now, you're, oh, you're two and four. So Cleveland this morning is looking at their schedule and they're like, hey, we're realistic. We know it's kind of tough early, but it's a lot of W's late. All right. So let's just concentrate on one game in your schedule. Tennessee. Everybody in Ohio this morning grabbed a little pocket schedule like Joy talked about yesterday. W. W. W on Tennessee. Okay. Okay. D. W, Rams, Seattle, New England, W on Tennessee. Well, let's just examine Tennessee. They finish with a better record than you did last year.

Unlike the Browns who beat one playoff team, one in five against playoff teams, only went against Baltimore, Joe Flacco, who was later benched. Oh, Tennessee throttled Dallas, humiliated New England, clobbered Philadelphia. Well, but we added a lot of new pieces. Oh, so did Tennessee. Tennessee. Adam Humphreys was the most expensive slot receiver. Cameron Wake's old, but he'll be a pass rusher. And they upgraded their offensive line, taking a ram, who is now a Tennessee Titan. You know, by the way, they do not have a rookie coach. They have maybe the smartest and most successful of Bill's coordinators. Mike Vrable, the former player. My sources tell me Mike Vrable, of all the New England Belichick guys, of all of them, Vrable.

is going to work. Now, he was never a top assistant for Belichick. He was a player for him. But my guys in the NFL, my scouts, my guys say Tennessee's well coached. They were a Blaine Gabbert start from making the playoffs last year. And they have a history of going into places and stunning people. They're a very physical football team. Cleveland, you are not in a position to just discard teams as W's. Belichick and Brady can. They can put a W if they're hosting Miami, if they're hosting Houston even a good team, there are no automatic wins for the Cleveland Browns. They do not exist.

And Cleveland, you have always been the $35 million movie budget. Nobody really cares. It's a rounding error. But now you're a primetime team. We're going to put you on the road. I'm going to have you play Pittsburgh on Thursday night football and Patriots, Rams, and television. at Niners and

everybody in Cleveland this morning has Tennessee as a W. That's going to be one of your toughest games in the first month, I'd argue, your toughest game. Good luck. Expectations change everything.

All right, let's shift to this. Celtics won last night. Actually, Kyrie Irving won the game last night. I've been saying all year long as people fell in love with Toronto and Milwaukee, and the Philadelphia 76ers, I think it's all about ingredients. It's not about your regular season.

Do you have the two things you have to have to win a conference? A great star who's a closer and a great coach. Historically, that matters. Depth doesn't, play hard doesn't, good defenders don't. Doesn't matter. Milwaukee, Toronto, Philadelphia, to me, the Eastern Conference is really easy to figure out. If you look at the eight teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs, pretty easy. four bad rosters, indie, Detroit, Orlando, Brooklyn. Those are not great rosters. Then you have

two pretty good rosters that are unproven rosters, Toronto and Milwaukee. Then you have a great roster that's got chemistry issues, Philadelphia. Then you have the Celtics. The Celtics have the coach. The Celtics have the star. The Celtics have the depth. They have playoff experience. But the difference between Indiana and Boston in this entire series has been one player. You've got 15 guys on a roster. There's 30, 30 guys available. One guy can. Kyrie Irving has stolen the show. And what happened in a playoff series, when you play somebody over and over and over and over,

system guys, shrink. Guys who need plays designed for them, shrink. Guys who need a screen to get open, shrink. You need guys who can get a bucket. And there's not four guys on planet Earth who are better at getting a bucket. James Hardens better, maybe Kevin Durant's better. They're not four guys on planet Earth who are better at, quote,

getting a bucket with a minute to go than Kyrie Irving. Kenny Smith talked about that last night. We need a guy who's talented enough to say we don't have to run a play, just go make a play. So if you're Indiana, there is no one right now. Those guys are great guys who can run plays and they make great decisions when running a play. But when it comes down to this situation, situation, these situations, Boston will always have the advantage because not only Kyrie, they could throw it to Tatum as well.

So the best player in this series has been the difference, Kyrie. The second best player is Jason Tatum, but he's not yet great. He's really good. Well, what happened to Tatum? He was average in game one. He was tremendous in game two. The difference between good and great is consistency. Kobe gave you the same game every night.

LeBron in his prime, DeWade in his prime, Bosch in his prime. Steph Curry in his prime. They have a stinker about once a month. So everybody gets fooled over and over on this. Whenever you play the same team over and over and over and over, you can't fool anybody. Everybody's seen the plays. I mean, LeBron James in his prime, if you remember this,

when he was with Miami and Cleveland at the end, he'd be calling out your plays. He'd been in the NBA so long. He'd like go, oh, they're running that because you couldn't fool LeBron. So when you get into a series, in the NFL, college basketball, other sports, you're in town, you're out of town. fool you. I can win a game on schematics. But when you get into a seven-game basketball series, I know everything you do. You can't fool me on your inbound. You can't fool me on your screen.

You can't fool me on your pick and roll. You can't fool me out of a timeout. You know what I need? Guy can get me a bucket. And this Boston team, there's not a better player in the Eastern conference to get a bucket with a minute left because Yonnas can't shoot. And he doesn't handle the ball in crunch time. Kyrie's the best get a bucket guy. Most of the best guys in the league at that are on the West. There's one guy in the East is unbelievable. It's Kyrie

Irving. He's the difference in this series. We have a packed show today. Fascinating stuff. Marcus Thompson from the athletic covers the Warriors. I just got a little scoop on the Warriors last night from an NBA star that

I'll deliver later in the show. Barry Trammell, who Russell Westbrook refuses to answer a question from. Rights for the Oklahoma and stops by Stephen Jackson, Albert Brewer, Chris Broussard. Coming up next, though, the Philadelphia 76ers are the second most talented team in the NBA to Golden State. Embed, Simmons, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, JJ Redick. That's a lot of good players.

That's the second best starting five in the NBA. But they're starting to remind me of the Oklahoma City Thunder. They've got these great players, and they're going to choose the wrong guys. You can feel it. They're going to be Oklahoma City East. I'll talk about that coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants, answer. 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 Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a

decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen, kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant, this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness. professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that.

Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeke. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light. up and smile. That means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do

anything. I can, like, I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Great to have you back today. Absolutely loaded show. Joy Taylor is joining me here on a Thursday. Chris Broussard coming up, Albert Breer 2. All sorts of good guests today. She's got Sixers blue on tonight. Joy does inadvertently or on purpose. The Sixers play Brooklyn tonight. It's a very big series. It's one to one now. Philadelphia is a loaded team. They are an absolutely loaded team. So if you look at what the NBA was, is and where it's going, the Houston Rockets are the team of the future. in the NBA. Now, the future may not start this year, but they're doing it right. You dunk it or you shoot threes. That's it. And everybody on the floor can either get it to a three-ball shooter or hit a three. That's the future of the NBA. Leagues tell you, governments tell you, Wall Street tells you where they're going. Believe them. Don't fight the current. Go with the current.

Okay. I'll give you an example. Philadelphia, I think, is going to end up potentially being Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City had three great players. Kevin Durant Harden Westbrook. And two of them are great shooters. And the league was moving into great shooters. And they chose Westbrook, who does a lot

of things well, shooting's not one of them. And now they're kind of a dysfunctional mess. They're kind of a dysfunctional mess. Philadelphia, similarly, Embedeed, Simmons, Butler. Now, I like Tobias Harris. I wouldn't put him in that class. And I think they're going to choose the wrong guy.

They're going to choose Embed. Mbeat is more popular. Mbid is better in the moment. Mbid is easy to embrace. He's good at a microphone. He's good on the floor. He's fun. Where was the league?

Where is the league and where is the league going? Wings, ball handlers, and three-point shooters. But Colin Simmons can't shoot. You're right. What you need to surround him with is shooters. he and MB don't work together. And there's a story that came out yesterday that Elton Brand, very smart guy, player, Duke, good dude, thought about trading Ben Simmons.

And I would caution him, go look at Oklahoma City. Yes, Westbrook was better than Hardin when they moved him. But where was the league going? The league was going to shooters. Ben Simmons is top three player in the league at getting the ball to shooters in the right spot. He doesn't need to be a great shooter. He'll become your M. Bede. He'll score low.

He will get the ball to a Butler. Get it to Tobias Harris. Get it to a J.J. Reddick. Okay? Where are leagues going? Now, Elton Brand argues, and these are not bad arguments, that Simmons is tough to coach. Lots of guys are. Kevin Durant's not always easy to coach.

LeBron's not always easy to coach. You can make the argument that Simmons never wanted to be a sixer. He didn't work out until the day before the draft. Fine. You can argue that he can't shoot and it's a shooters league. Look into your analytics. Okay. He does a great job of getting the ball to shooters in the perfect spot.

Reddick Harris Butler. So Oklahoma City had choices. And in the moment, they're like, Westbrook's better today. M.B., it is better today than Simmons. But where are leagues going? You don't need Simmons. He is so proficient scoring around the basket for his size. He doesn't need, you'd prefer he can shoot threes, but it doesn't look like he will.

He is unbelievable at handling the ball and getting it to guys who can shoot threes. And he and M.B. don't play well together. I don't think they love each other, and their games don't work. because M.B. needs to be low. That clogs up the middle, and that's where Ben Simmons scores. It's like LeBron James. LeBron was always best when his big, Chris Bosch, Kevin Love, moved out, it cleared the lane, and LeBron could score at the basket or shoot a three. LeBron's not good with the big that camps down low because then it clogs up the middle and then suddenly what do you got? LeBron can't score down low against a seven-foot guy. Remember Roy Hibbert gave him troubles. So it's a very interesting situation. I think Philadelphia is going to choose M. Bid long term.

considering here, according to a story, moving Ben Simmons. I don't think they'll ever play perfectly together. Be careful about falling in love with now. What the league is now, what the moment is now. Where is the league going? Houston is where the league is going. Just a bunch of three-point shooters. If you can't shoot it, have a great elite guy who can get it to him.

I'm still a Simmons guy. He's been a big disappointment, but the more you deep dive in analytics, Simmons is the guy you keep. Even if in this moment, like Westbrook Harden, it appears Harden, or excuse me, it appears Embedid is the better player. Embedd's been hurt. M. Bede's a center. Look at Carl Anthony Towns.

Look at Anthony Davis. Look at where are these guys all winning series? Where are all these big guys? Where's the league going? It's going toward people who can shoot threes or Ben Simmons who can get the ball to guys who can shoot threes. And not many guys in the NBA already in his early career. are better than Simmons at that.

Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So the Pelicans officially introduced David Griffin as their president of basketball operations yesterday, and it looks like he's already getting to work on their most pressing issue, which is Anthony Davis.

Griffin said he has a plan moving forward after speaking with AD's agent, Rich Paul. We have a very long, successful history together with Clutch Sports. Rich Paul and I have spoken about Anthony And I think we're both excited about what we could potentially build here. I think Rich is genuinely excited about this situation. Rich is, rich represents the greatest player of his generation. And he saw LeBron buy into what we were doing in our direction

and the respect he had for what we did. Does David Griffin believe that? Yeah, I think he does. I mean, he was part of the front office in Cleveland that got LeBron back to Cleveland from Miami. which is a very big deal. And I'm sure he does have a very close working relationship with Rich Paul and Clutch Sports because he was managing that situation with LeBron there in Cleveland. You think Anthony Davis wants to play in New Orleans?

I don't know. Maybe they've had a change of heart. I don't know. It just seems like a weird pivot to come out and speak so openly and confidently about possibly keeping Anthony Davis in New Orleans after everything that's happened. Maybe they thought about it. they're like, yeah, this actually is the right spot for Anthony Davis. And he can come out and apologize and build a, I mean, what, New Orleans is going to say no?

No, thanks. Sorry, goodbye. I didn't buy any of that press conference. I don't know. I'm not fully convinced that he's all the way out of there now. After everything that happened with the Lakers, I think that they got their GM out of there. And I think they hired David Griffin for a reason. I think they hired him for that press conference.

Maybe. We'll see. A lot can happen. So one of the biggest criticisms of James Hardin has been his postseason resume and collapses on the biggest stage. His playoff endings have left plenty to be desired. But Mike D. Antonio thinks Hardin has made the necessary adjustments to push through. He's reshaped his body. He's eating the right way.

He's focused in on the playoffs and making sure he's got enough energy all the way through. Well, he had enough energy last night. They beat the Jazz 118 to 98. I tried to watch that game for a while. It got so ugly, so fast. It did. It went down how quickly for the jazz. That is definitely true.

I mean, look, Hardin has been incredibly impressive this year. He's had an MVP caliber season again, even though we all feel kind of like it's the honest as MVP this year. But, I mean, his playoff does have been really bad. I mean, even in last year's Western Conference final, the final three games, he shot 36 percent, six of 36 from three and turned it over a seven times a night. But I will say he had to do everything. So, I mean, this is a, the playoffs is a long time. Like, it's a lot of basketball and a lot can happen. They look great right now. I mean, obviously, this is not a great matchup for Utah. I think Houston looks better this year than last. I got to give Darrell. I think Houston's a better team this year than last. I did not

think it was possible. I told Darrell Mori at lunch, I'm like, I don't like the mellow move. You got to get them off that roster. And of course, he listened to me a week later. He was gone. Not really. Yes, of course. But I, I'm watching. I'm watching, this should be a very close series. Utah's a real team. They're efficient. They're well coached. They've got a big. This is not even a competitive series. They don't have the shooting to keep up with this.

No, they don't, but it should be a reasonably competitive. I mean, Indiana's got nothing in there competitive with Boston. The Clippers are competitive with the... I don't think Boston matches up with Houston's offensively either. I think Houston is... They're playing great right now, but we've seen this before. So there is a little bit of a cloud hanging over them when it gets to. later in the Western Conference finals.

So it's comforting that Mike Ntoni's saying that he has made some changes, although I don't really feel like it's all on him. He had a pretty heavy workload. So finally, how do you feel about baby gender reveals? Because you have kids. They're kind of fun. We did, no, we wanted to know because we wanted to paint room certain colors. So we wanted to know.

Oh, no, no, no. I mean, I'm not against you finding out what the sex of the baby is. I'm saying like the big dramatic social media reveal. They're kind of fun. So I'm usually out on them because that usually comes with another party and it's a lot. So Zion Williamson participated in a gender reveal. So I think we can finally wrap these all up now. So this is a Duke Athletics employee got him to participate in it.

And they found out that it was a boy. Yeah, it's really fun. It's a cute video. It's on Duke men's basketball Twitter if you want to. check it out but Zion basically does a monster dunk and as it goes through the hoop it explodes and there's all this blue confetti and they're having a baby boy by the way not only is zion great but magic johnson walked into this league with a personality and it was a big part of it and zion williamson is walking into this league as the smile the energy this kid's got a magic feel to

him he does actually he's just big he does god who doesn't i know he's i mean like somebody said it during the tournament. He made Duke lovable. Yeah. No, no, no. I mean, that's probably his, the biggest accomplishment from this year, like the most fascinating thing about him is that he turned one of the most hated programs in all of sports, not just college sports, into

a must watch and people are literally rooting for them. That just shows you how big his personality is. I'm totally with you. He does have a magic feel. But he has a magic feel with a killer kind of air about him because he is so athletic

and dominant. It's an interesting... I just can't take my eyes off the kid. I think he's so much fun. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News.

Former New York Times writer, my buddy, Chris Broussard, part of the odd couple. Fox Sports Radio. I have not argued with Bruce Ard in a good four or five days. Let's get him in here. So, I said I picked Boston

in the East because I think once you go, unlike March Madness, or you can fool people. I mean, listen, an official calls a tight game, Zion gets in foul trouble, you can be out of a tournament. In the NBA, I play a seven times. I just need guys who can get a bucket. Kyrie's just a guy can get me a bucket. I don't need an inbound play.

I don't need a great coach. The only difference in the Celtics Indiana series is Kyrie Irving. He can just get a bucket. I mean, come on now. You watch that Celtic team. Who gets a bucket better than the East than him? Nobody. I'm with you on Kyrie.

He is fantastic. He is. one of two or three, the two or three best clutch players in the league right now? Harden, if you just said, okay, 30 seconds, I need a bucket. Harden, Durant, Steph, Kyrie, Damien Lillard, hovering around there. But, yeah, Kyrie's right there. I mean, because he can get a shot anytime he wants.

His handle, I've said his handle is the best in the history of the league. So he can get wherever he wants to go. A good shot. A good shot. Right, right, right, a good shot. And he can finish. Like, he's got the entire package. However, slow your roll on the Celtics.

What? They're going down in five or six to Milwaukee in the next round. Book it. And when it happens, the uninformed are going to say, oh, they went further without Kyrie. They're better without Kyrie. No, it will have nothing to do with Kyrie Irving. If you look at their past, last year, they go to games.

They go seven with Milwaukee in the, the first round. All this talk about them getting to the Eastern Conference finals, they could have easily been done in the first round. Why did they beat Milwaukee last year? Because they had a tremendous coaching advantage. It was Joe Prunty, the interim coach at that time for the Bucks. When they meet Milwaukee in the next round, they're not going to have a coaching advantage. Boothin is as good as Brad Stevens. Talent is even. And even though Kyrie's the better clutch player, Janus is the better overall player. Now, I'll give you this. I want to won't be shocked if Boston wins the East.

We apologize for all the mean things you just said to me. I won't be shocked. They're really good team. By the way, you know when Boston's good in the last three or four years, just, I know, LeBron beat him. Just take out LeBron. He's gone now. Boston's the best team in the East.

If you just take out LeBron James, a player in the last minute of halves and games, if you just take LeBron out, they're so, you give Philadelphia no chance to Boston. Why? Because you don't trust Philly with a minute left. Right. And you do trust Boston. No question. And that's where when I watched Boston last night, there was even late, I'm like, oh, Boston's going to seal this thing up. Well, they

could have lost that game. Of course they could have. Because if you're a better, that was the tough. Right. That three-pointer that Wesley Matthews took with 30 seconds left. That was the best shot they could get and then he threw it out of bounds, of course, on the next possession. So, but you're right. Look, they won sometimes in the playoffs.

I mean, Cleveland went seven with Indiana in the first round. What I will give you is this. Hopefully for the Celtics, for Celtics fans, the other guys finally understood the pecking order. Hopefully the young guys who all year long have been thinking, we went to game seven without you, Kyrie. We can do it without you, Kyrie. You shouldn't be the number one guy. We should all be together equal, Kyrie.

Hopefully last night that, oh, okay. That's why he's Kyrie. Exactly. See, this is what I say about Kyle Lowry. Kyle Lowry's built for the regular season. Needs a screen, needs a design play, works his butt off. He's an excellent system guy. But if I get to see Kyle Lowry seven times in two weeks, I can marginalize him.

No question. So a lot of these Celtic players, all of them I would say, except a little bit with Tatum and Kyrie, I can marginalize Marcus Smart. Al Horford, Gordon Hayward. Yep. The playoffs are about guys who can get the bucket regardless. And Kyrie's a monster on that. Yeah, I agree.

Now, let's segue into Philadelphia. So I said to start my show, Philadelphia, I think, is at a real interesting spot. They're becoming Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City had Durant, Hardin, and Westbrook. And they chose Westbrook because at the moment he was better than Hardin. And he was more exciting, aesthetically more pleasing than Durant. than Durant. So here's Philadelphia.

And I think O.K.C. chose the wrong guy. The league was headed to three-point shooting, and he was your worst shooter. So here's Philadelphia. They're locked into Embedde. They got Butler. Let's not count Tobias Harris right now, or JJ. They're both good players. But let's talk about Embed, Butler, and Simmons.

Embed is better than Simmons now. Right. But if you look at where the league has been where it is and where it's going, Houston's got it right. You just have to have four three-point shooters. Simmons is great at getting the ball to them, and he can close. If you keep Embed, it's not an elite ball handler. So you're saying you would pick Simmons over Embed,

if you had to pick one or the two to build around. Westbrook was better in the moment than Hardin. But where was the league going? Embedd is better today than Simmons. but M. B. He doesn't shoot threes. He doesn't kick the ball perfectly too. He shoots him better than Simmons.

Okay, but again, but he's not elite. So where are the leads going? So Mbid doesn't shoot great threes. He's not a ball handler that gets him to threes. So to me, forking the road, OKC, fork in the road, Philadelphia. Go ahead and Barry Simmons today. Reddick, Harris, Butler.

You could get a ton moving Mbid. That's an interesting. Okay. Let me just say this. about your point about Hardin and Westbrook. I remember doing an informal poll of about 70 people around the league, coaches, scouts, executives, and so on. And asking them, if you're OKC, would you trade Westbrook or Hardin? And most said, it was close, but most said Westbrook, even back then.

And they tried to keep Hardin. They just didn't want to max him out, super maximum. So most of the guys in the league saw. They saw where the league was going. Yep, yep. there's that. First of all, I don't think I have to make the decision, right? I'm not saying it's one or the other.

If I'm Philly right now, I'm trying to keep both. Okay, they don't play very well together. Yeah, but they're young. They're both closers at the rim, neither shoots threes. But here's my point. If I'm running the Sixers, and even if we get beat in this round, but if we get beat, which I think will happen in the second round, I'm changing my coach, okay?

So I'm bringing in a new coach who can probably hopefully put in a better system that maximizes those two guys and everyone else. But I'm also giving, this is Simmons second year. He came back this season with no jump shot and no more confidence in his jump shot than the season before. I don't like that. But I'm going to give you one more shot. I'm going to give you this off season to see, look, Ben, you've seen it two playoff series in a row. They can take you out. I need you to work day and night on this jumper.

Don't come back here next season with the same jump shot or lack thereof. And if he doesn't come back with a better jump or at least the confidence to start taking them in games, then I'm going to probably have to move on for him. Unless you want to put him, look, you can put him, if you want to get rid of MB and make Simmons what, like a newfangled center or power forward? I think Westbrook and Durant didn't work together. I think you had to move one. I don't think M. Bid and Simmons work together.

They don't work right now because Simmons can't shoot. So I have to put him on the block to have somebody guarding, and that forces M.Bed out. M.B.'s got, look, the issues with M.B., from what I'm told, he's not a huge worker. He's 15 pounds overweight, and people think that's the problem with his needs. That's why I'd move him. So I get you there, but what I will say about Mbid is this. For today's game, you're right.

What is Houston? Houston's got it right. Houston shoots threes or paint shots. He can kill you with paint shots. But the problem is... And if I don't have Simmons having to hover on the other block, I can just have him be down there most of the game and nobody can stop him.

If I can get the mentality in B'd of, look, if they don't double you, you score 40 on them. If he'll take that mentality and he can pass out of the double when they do, put shooters around him, you can win in this league with that. And he can shoot. Like he's going to get better at shooting threes too and jumpers. My only concern about Embed is his health and the work ethic going forward. Heavy work ethic, been hurt, doesn't shoot threes.

You say that right now. They're going to become Oklahoma City. They're going to make the wrong choice on this. Where is the league going? So this summer. You cannot have two guys who can't shoot threes. I'll give you that. Okay, so you get one.

I'll take Simmons as the one. And put him down low? Ben, I want 13 assist to shooters, and you score in the paint. Ben will be your interior score. You can't, no hand-checking this league, you can't stop it. So this summer, you're making the move. This summer, I'm making the move. I would give it another year, but I give it another year.

They both got their issues. Yeah, no, no, I mean, I'm just not ready to break them up after two years. Okay. Hey, journalism. Part of journalism is tough decisions. Okay. Hey, wait, I got a couple questions. I don't want to go yet. Coming up next, I got to like a question for you. Also, very interesting. I'll tell you, the NFL schedules came out yesterday.

Two of them, I think, are brutal. Two of them, I think, are cupcake, and one looks tough but isn't. Chris Broussard next. Don't go anywhere. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the Internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies,

and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you content. and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

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

thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing,

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You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness. professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions

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Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. All right, got Chris Broussard on Albert Brunekst Hour. Marcus Thompson, Barry Trammell, good stuff today. I've got to get to the NFL schedules. The two toughest, the two easiest, and a very interesting one. I don't know if I'll get it to it here. I'll get to a top of the show.

Chris Broussard joining me. So we talked about I would keep Ben Simmons, move MBE going forward. You and I disagree on that. You think you keep both. I think it's a fun to make. At least for a year, Kevin, one more shot. I do think Philadelphia is in danger of becoming Oklahoma City, where they keep the more popular star, but going forward,

Westbrook and Embed, I think, are problematic for the league. We've talked about the Celtics. Let's move to the Lakers. A story came out from somebody, Ramona Shelburne, I know, George Sedano, I know, and I trust both. And they both came out and said, people are telling Tailu and Monty Williams, don't take the Laker job.

I'm not asking you to validate their sources, but I do believe we've reached a tipping point. This year was a bad PR year for LeBron. First time, like even people like me who liked him, kind of moved off him. Where do you stand on all this? I thought about this this morning, Chris. I'm LeBron James. I'm in my Brentwood mansion.

I wake up. LeBron, his whole career never wanted to give up flexibility. One year deal, one year deal. So this year he goes, I'm going to give up flexibility. He's waking up this morning. He's got no GM. His young players are hurt. Magic quit.

He doesn't trust Polinka. LeBron's whole career was, I'm not giving up flexibility. He did? Is he waking up this morning going, What the hell did I do? Well, look, it's a mess with the Lakers. There's no question. First of all, as difficult and challenging as it may be to coach LeBron,

if a coach doesn't want to coach him, knowing you're going to have a chance to win a championship, I don't want that coach. Because was Shaq difficult? Was Kobe difficult? Was Michael at times difficult? So a superstar can be difficult. The problem with the Lakers job is the front.

office. They're doing it backwards. What coach is taking that job not knowing who the president is? Or who the, is it, the Lakers need to either, I said they need to go out and settle their front office situation, hire a president and let him and Polinka hire the new coach. Let me ask you this. Or announce that it's Polinka. Okay, so I could be crazy on this, but you don't need an NBA coach. You don't care what you coach isn't going to dictate your personnel. Why do I have to hire a coach in the next month? Can I just wait and get the right GM first?

Yes. It's not like the NFL. Like if you had a draft coming up, you want to get your coach in before the NFL draft because if you have an offensive guy, Greg Williams defensively, he's got a system. There's offensive coaches. Sean McVeigh has a system.

But in the NBA, I don't need my coach for the draft. That's my point. They're doing it backwards. And if I'm looking at the Lakers job, my main problem is what's going on with the front office. because if you're the coach, if you have a president who believes in you and who empowers you, you can coach LeBron James. And if LeBron say doesn't like the coach or has issues with him, if the president says,

look, if you're going to win in L.A. LeBron is going to be with this guy. Just like Pat Riley did in Miami, LeBron's got no choice but to go out and work with that coach. And so if I'm a coach looking at the Lakers job, I always said this about Luke Walton. and I wasn't the only one, everybody was saying it. His challenge with the Lakers is that Magic and Polinka did not hire him. So when things go wrong, he's not their guy. They're not tied to him. If the Lakers hire their coach now and then later bring in a president who's not tied to Tai Liu,

then how much, or whoever the coach is, that coach could eventually become a scapegoat and you've got problems. And if you're the president going in, let's say they hired a coach first and then later they bring in the president. What power does that president have? A president wants to be able to hire his basketball operation staff and his coach. Magic we know now wanted not only Luke out but Polinka out, Rob Polinka out. What Magic did wrong was when he was hired as president,

there were already rumors circulating that Palinka was the GM and two weeks later they announced it. That tells you magic really didn't have the power of a president. And he didn't realize it until a couple weeks ago. And he was like, I'm just a figurehead. Let me get out of this job. But if he's the president and you already have the GM in place, your coach is already there, what power does that president have?

So the problem with the Lakers job is the front office instability right now. I know some people may say they don't want to play with LeBron, but again, for all the challenges it brings, Tyloo has a ring, and any superstar can be challenging. You've got to have the guts to be able to coach him if you got the front office backing you. You have a chance to win a championship with LeBron

or at least get there. Why wouldn't you want that? How about this story? So Joy had this in Herdline News, where David Griffin's the new GM of the Pelicans, he's like, yeah, I mean, we got Anthony Davis. I don't have to trade him. I'm going to keep him here. Blah, blah, blah. I didn't buy it. Right. But if David Griffin and people respect him can sell Anthony Davis on staying, my takeaway is,

oh, then Anthony Davis can't be traded. Kyrie's not coming to the Lakers. Kawhis not. Duran's not. Cross your fingers on Jimmy Butler. If David Griffin is as good as salesman and LeBron likes him, but if his, their whole franchise is down to this. They got to keep Anthony Davis. because I don't think the Lakers going to land a free agent. Did you buy that press conference yesterday? Well, I think Griffin did a great job at it. But here's the key phrase,

sentence that he said that everybody needs to look at. The key sentence, you're either all the way in or you're all the way out. There's no in between. He said that's going to be his message to Anthony Davis. Now, I believe Griff means that but it also gives them an out to trade Davis because Anthony Davis is not going to be all the way in.

At best, you'll get Anthony Davis to say, all right, Griff, I'll give you a year. I'll give you the trading. Let's see what happens this year. If you can build us a winner this year, maybe I'll stay. Here's the thing for David Griffin, and he knows this. He can't bank on I'll give you a year. because he's got one major asset to strengthen this, to make this job work, Anthony Davis.

Ideally, you would keep him as a player and build around him, but if you're going to lose him, he's a tremendous trade asset. He is. And I can get what I need to build the team going forward. So Griffin can't bank on, I'll give you a year. Got to go. Chris Broussard hour to next.

Thanks, bud. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart Radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying,

and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, 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 therapy. Kier Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns,

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, Keir Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose. On my new podcast, Learn the Hardway.

Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life.

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards.

If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't. belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals.

At our level at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abbot. on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Ah, this is The Heard Hour 2. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1.

Joy Taylor is joining me. Very, very fast first hour. Yesterday was a big nerd fest for me. Went home, opened to Corona, and watched NFL schedules for two hours. Joy, it's embarrassing. Everybody likes certain things. A lot of people like Game of Thrones and Ice Zombies.

I like NFL schedules. I mean, people like what they like. Yeah, I mean, that's true. I can't be critical of that. NFL schedules are so fun. Playing win and loss is so fun. It's the one time you get to actually feel like you are, you know, you know what's going to happen.

And then, you know, we have the drafts and everything changes. By the way, you and I have Dallas Cowboy colors on today. You know what I kind of do, actually. Kind of, it kind of do. Well, Philadelphia Six are colors, too. We both have that on. So I hear this, Joy, all the time. People say, schedules don't matter.

And I'm like, really, if you're married and you went to your wife and said, I'm going to be out of town for the next five weekends, you think she'd be like, oh, that's perfect. What about the kids? I'll be gone. What about Little League practice? I'll be gone. What about dinner? All be gone. Of course schedules matter.

Schedule matters in your life, my life. Of course schedules matter. You think any of these teams wants to go to London? You don't think teams, the first thing they look at is where do we get our buy? Tampa Bay has to play like five straight games. They travel 18,000 miles in five weeks season over. No way. So I thought there were two schedules that were brutal,

two schedules that worked out perfectly, and one that looks tough is actually one of the easiest schedules in the NFL. So let's go to the toughest schedule in the NFL, the Oakland Raiders. This is absolutely brutal. First of all, they face eight very talented quarterbacks. And here's the order. They got to face Mahomes. Then they go and face at Andrew.

luck. Then they have to go at Aaron Rogers, at Deshawn Watson, Philip Rivers, at Sam Darnold, at Patrick Mahomes, at Philip Rivers. Oh, by the way, their international game, best defense in the NFL, Chicago Bears. Oh, by the way, five-week stretch early in the year, they're not home. This schedule's brutal. I mean, this organization's already got some, you know, lame duck dysfunctional issues. They just figured out what stadium they're planning. This is a brutal schedule. Good night, over. The division's tough to begin with. You're rebuilding to begin with. You've got a bunch of new guys to begin with an offense,

so you think you'd hope, oh, we can get this thing going. Brutal. I mean, one of the games I didn't even mention is at Minnesota. That's now, people say, the second loudest stadium in the NFL after the Saints. It's just good quarterbacks, the Bears in London, five weeks are not home. Brutal. Let's go to the second top of schedule. New Orleans.

Holy Lord. Four straight playoff teams to start. Houston at the Rams, at Seattle. Dallas, back-to-back West Coast road trips to start. This is a franchise last two years that's come off super emotional playoff losses. You'd like it to be a little easier to start. It's the roughest first month of the NFL. Then the middle of the schedules workable.

At the end of the year, five of the last six quarterbacks they face, Cam at Matt Ryan, Jimmy G, at Andrew Luck, at Cam Newton. That's not easy. those are you know cam newton's had some success there so i think this is a really rough schedule raiders toughest saint second now let's go to the two easiest schedules philadelphia lord do they have somebody in the front and the NFL front office they only face first of all they went out and upgraded their defensive line which was already good and they went and got malik jackson so that defensive line's going to travel well if you have an

average quarterback you're in big trouble against philadelphia they only face two top quarterbacks on the road all year, both early at Matt Ryan and at Green Bay. And Jim Ryan, if I recalls, had success against Matt Ryan. I think he has. By the way, their toughest stretch of the year is Chicago, New England, Seattle. They get them all at home and they get New England off a buy. Great break. And again, you're talking about a great defensive line that only faces two elite

quarterbacks on the road. Their toughest stretch is off a buy. And they're in a division where Washington and New York don't appear to have very athletic quarterbacks. They're probably going four and oh in those games. I love Philadelphia's schedule. I like them to win the NFC East. I really like it now. I like the way it shapes up. Here's another schedule. I told you, everybody's beating on the Packers, including me. I think the Packers are going to win their division. I love their schedule. So they have a new head coach, right? And they got some mid-level free agent guys. They got some new guys on the roster. And they got two first-round picks.

That means two starters. So Green Bay needs a little bit of a break early. They got it. Five of their first seven games are at home. I love that. So they got a new coach. They're going to have two first-round picks that probably start. They have a young secondary.

They brought in some new free agents. I think they have a brutal opening game at Chicago. And then it's Minnesota, Denver, Philly. at home, at Dallas, Detroit, Oakland at home. And then at the end of the year, they get some of the weakest quarterback teams in the NFL down the stretch. Giants, Washington, I'm not a Trubisky fan, Kirk Cousins, and Detroit will be long gone. So early, love it.

They can get the new staff, give Aaron Rogers some time. They have a new offensive linemen. They got some new defense of the secondary is young. Love Green Bay schedule. So, Raiders, Saints, Brutal. Eagles Packers, love it. Here's a schedule that at first glance, ooh, is a fascinating schedule.

Look at the New York Jets. So you look at it, and you see here in September, October, at New England, at Philly, Dallas, New England, whoa, that's brutal. They never leave the eastern time zone. Their longest flight all year is Miami. The last, now remember,

Adam Gase had a winning record in Miami with Ryan Tannahill. Sam Darnold's more talented than Ryan Tannahill. Here's the last 10 quarterbacks the Jets face. And the Jets' defense can play now. Leonard Williams, C.J. Mosley, Jamal Adams, defensive coordinator, Greg Williams. Jets defense can play. The Jets defense is going to face these quarterbacks last 10.

Foles, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Eli, Colt McCoy, Derek Carr, Andy Dalton, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Ben Rathesberger. Boy, that's nine out of ten weeks. You're not facing, I like Derek Carr. Big Ben I like. But that's eight out of ten guys. That defense is going to eat up those quarterbacks.

And I will say this. They open at home with two games. That's nice. You got Adam Gays' new coach. You get two home games, Buffalo and Cleveland. And the toughest part of your schedule, I'm not denying that, is at New England by at Philadelphia. You get a buy before Philadelphia.

And you get New England twice. You never have to face New England in late October, November, December. You get both your games against New England are done but the third week of October. So Raiders, Saints, brutal, Packers, Eagles love it. Jets never leave the Eastern Time Zone. Furthest trip is Miami and your last 10 quarterbacks, eight of them. Your defense has a chance with Greg Williams to beat them up a little. All right.

go to this. Kevin Durant should talk more because I find him fascinating. I've always had two really strong opinions on Kevin Durant. One of them is, forever he was the second best player in the league. I think he's the best player in the league. If I need a bucket, number one guy in the league, I think if I had to choose him or LeBron to make a stop, I would choose Durant at this point. So the two strong opinions I have in Durant, I think he's been the second best basketball player for a decade and I think he's the best basketball player in the league. The second thing is he's really sensitive. That's okay.

Most of the really sensitive people I know are smart and thoughtful and compassionate. Smart people are not ignorant. They think about stuff that dumb people don't. Kevin Durant and Aaron Rogers are smart guys. They're very sensitive. They got rabbit ears. They hear stuff. They think about stuff.

Stuff gets them worked up. That's often the, you know, the dynamic you have with smart people. They think about stuff that a lot of not smart people don't think about. So Kevin Durant was talking yesterday about the series so far and that he's not shooting as much because Patrick Beverly is kind of playing a sticky defense on him and Patrick Beverly is very good defensive player. So Durant went elaborated on this for a minute and a half.

It's very fascinating. Go ahead. I'm not going to go out there and just go shoot 20 or 30 shots. You know, I don't play like that. So, I mean, we were up 30 points. So I had five shots. Everybody's shots were kind of evenly distributed around that time. We were up 30. So me taking two more shots after that wasn't a reason why we lost.

They're playing a gimmick defense, which has been working, top-blocking everything on the perimeter. So guys not even looking at a three-point line, they're just forcing guys inside the three-point line. So for us, when I get the ball in my spots, you know, I got a pest, Patrick Beverly, who was up underneath me. Well, I could definitely shoot over top in score every time if it's a one-on-one situation. But we got a guy that's dropping and helping, and then we got another guy that's just sitting on me waiting for me to dribble the basketball. If I put the basketball on the floor, I can, you know, I could probably make 43% of my shots if I shoot them like that. But that's not really going to do nothing for us at the outcome of the game, you know,

because we got a nice flow, everybody touching the rock, everybody's shooting the score. We hear David and Goliath a lot growing up, you know, so that story is pretty much prominent in people's minds. So when you put that out there on the court against me, then the ref's going to give him a little bit more. So when he run up on me like a pit bull, grab me, hold me, I don't mind it. That's why he make his money. That's how he feed his family.

But if I throw something back, then let us play. I'm not going to get in the way of the game because, you know, I want to have a little back and forth with Patrick Beverly. I'm Kevin Durant. You know who I am. I find him fascinating. By the way, I criticize Aaron Rogers and Kevin Durant sometimes, but I find them both fascinating and both smart.

So let me defend Kevin Durant. So Steve Kerr came out and said, I want him shooting 30 times a game. And I think Steve Kerr's smart. But I think Steve Kerr's wrong here. Here's why. I always defended LeBron James on this. LeBron always made the winning basketball play. LeBron's not Michael Jordan.

LeBron's not Kobe. He's not. He's more Magic Johnson. LeBron got criticized because, hey, Michael, you almost always took the final shot. First of all, he didn't. He let Coot Coach and Steve Kerr and Jim Paxson take a lot of shots. Michael Jordan did. Don't tell me Michael always took the right shot.

But LeBron came into the world, you know, post-MJ. in the middle of Kobe's career, and LeBron's like, I got a guy wide open and I'm a double team. Why wouldn't I? And I always supported LeBron. Let me support Kevin Durant here. They were up by 30 doing it Kevin's way. Don't blame Kevin for the loss.

No team in the history of the NBA has had what Kevin has. Kevin has Clay Thompson and Steph Curry. The three best shooters on the planet are arguably Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and then throw Kyrie Irvin in there. So I disagree with Curry. idea that you have to just generalize and say, hey, I want my star player shooting 30. The Warriors are different.

They have arguably the two best shooting guards. It's the best back court in league history. Curry Clay Thompson is better than Jerry West Gale Goodrich, which I grew up with. It's the best back court, shooting back court, in the history of the NBA. So it's a completely different paradigm. And Kevin Durant is saying, listen, I can shoot you 43% over Patrick Beverly and get the hard two. but isn't this sport now about the easy three, not the hard two? And Durant's the best hard two shooter in the world.

But Kevin's got it right. It's like, I can do that and I can hit that. But I got wide open world class shooters. I think there's been a way to play basketball, and everybody knows now, the worst shot in the league now, even though Durant's best at it, is a hard two. And Durant's the best hard two shooter in the world. but the better shot's the easy three. And Durant's saying,

I'm going to distribute to these world-class shooters. If Clay wasn't on this team or Steph wasn't, I would say shoot 30. But I always defended LeBron on this. I'm going to defend Durant on this. They're both the same guy. They're saying, I'm going to make the right basketball play. And I will always, we've got too many guys in this league that don't do the right basketball

play. They take bad shots. When you can get a star like LeBron and Durant, go, no, I'm going to do the right basketball play. I love that. I'll defend that for the rest of my life. That's the way I love the NBA. Make the right basketball play, even if you have a better shoe deal. Even if you have a bigger brand, make the right basketball play.

Albert Breers around the corner, we are loaded today. What did he make of the schedules? Everybody's saying the Patriots got an easy one. I'll also tell you a team that I think's coming down this year. I think their schedule has something to do with it. They were a playoff team last year. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves,

their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking.

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

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

Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth.

He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant, this went to a billion-dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know.

Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness. professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them

and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel like you don't feel on.

Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile. That means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything.

I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart. women's sports. The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup kicks off in just 50 days in all eyes will be on Alex Morgan, Carly Lloyd, and the U.S. women's national team.

Yeah. As a defending champions head to France looking to win a historic fourth World Cup. All the matches will be live on Fox and FS1. Can't wait for it. France, by the way, is the second best team in the country and they host, so they're going to get all the calls. America's going to get robbed. You watch! This is going to be great, by the way.

I'm very excited. Oh, love it. I just love the World Cup. And we have the, you know, where the guys, we're not very good yet. And we're not the favorites, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, all this stuff. Women, we have the best team. But France is the host country. And France is really good.

So this is going to be unbelievable this year. All right. Without further ado, via the Coward Global Satellite Network, let's go to Albert Breer, lead content dude, Monday morning quarterback. All right. So I look at the schedules this morning. And there's a couple of teams that look like Albert, that we used to not want.

want near a television set, but are all over the national TV games Thursday, Sunday, Monday. What do you make of that? It was interesting. Yesterday, I was at the league office and I got to sit down with the five people who were responsible for putting the schedule together. And they flat out told me that in March, the movement of three different players really affected what they were doing. It was Antonio Brown going to the Raiders. It was Levyon Bell going to the jet. Okay, we got an audio problem again with Albert Breer, all that our guys figured out. I think it's a Wi-Fi issue. Second day in a row, never happened.

Two different places. Sorry, it doesn't work. I will say this. Let me say this, that the NFL has always been the league that takes scheduling very seriously. Baseball was doing it on cards, two guys in Cape Cod forever. And you would get all these great series during the week until, Finally, networks like ours came and said, guys, figure your schedule out. Put the biggest games on the weekends.

That's when people watch baseball. They got time off. So I'll give you an example of, a couple of examples of how the NFL plays the schedule. Number one, the Dallas Cowboys schedule. It's a prime example. So the NFL doesn't need the Dallas Cowboys early in the year. We're all excited. It's September.

Here comes football. They'll stagger some games already. The NFL doesn't need the Cowboys early. So it's Giants, Washington, Miami. Then the baseball playoffs start in October, and what do you know? They have the Cowboys playing Aaron Rogers, the Cowboys playing rival Philadelphia, and the Cowboys against Sam Darnold in New York. And then at the end of the year, when you really need momentum in a distracted country

with Thanksgiving and Christmas and movement and travel and holidays, they got the Cowboys at New England on Thanksgiving at Chicago Rams and at Philadelphia. Prime example of how the NFL works to schedule. Look at Thursday night football. So Thursday night football started, in the first 10 years they did it, it was on the NFL network, it was second-tier announcers, they had the goofy uniforms. It felt like second class. The NFL has decided this Thursday night football thing, they wanted to feel like Sunday. What do you know?

Fox's four biggest, four first games on Thursday. Eagles at Packers, Rams at Seahawks, Giants at Patriots, and Patrick Mahomes at Denver. Then they also put Ben against Baker Mayfield, Andrew Luck against Deshawn Watson, and they have the Cowboys. boys and the Bears late in the year. The NFL wants Thursday night football to work. They make it work. And then look at Sunday night football. The games that aren't totally intriguing on Sunday night football are the late ones.

You can flex those. You're not going to flex. You can't flex the first seven or eight weeks, right? Look at the first seven or eight weeks of Sunday night football on NBC. Pro Bowl quarterbacks or well-known quarterbacks in every game. Big Ben against Brady. Carson won against Matt Ryan. Rams at Baker Mayfield.

Cowboys at Drew Brees. Andrew Luck at Patrick Mahomes. Big Ben at Philip Rivers. Carson Wentz at Dak. Aaron Rogers at Mahomes. Brady at Lamar Jackson. And then it gets a little weaker with quarterbacks, but you can flex out of those games.

For instance, the Ram Cowboys is not on the Sunday night schedule. You know, that's a game the NFL could flex for NBC. We, of course, would not like that at Fox because we want that game. but the NFL has always done a very, very good job when it comes to paying attention. And you can clearly see how they work the Cowboys schedule when the country gets distracted. Thanksgiving, Christmas, more travel. They got a lot of Cowboy games against great quarterbacks. Thursday night football clearly matters, especially the first four games to get everybody's attention.

And I don't think it's a coincidence. They put Baker against Ben later on that in a Cowboy game. And then Sunday night football, weaker late, great early, allowing them to flex to more great later. Here's Joy with the News. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So, LeBron and the Lakers are not in the playoffs, but as a businessman and a philanthropist, his reach is only growing.

For the fourth time, he was named as one of the 100 most influential people by Time Magazine, and he reacted to the news on Twitter. Warren Buffett tweeted, well, Time tweeted a quote from Warren Buffett. Early heroes will mold a person's future. LeBron has justified the adulation of millions and millions of young people. And LeBron retweeted that and said, honored and humble to being the company of such great leaders. Thank you for the kind words. Warren Buffett.

It's all for my kids. Hashtag I Promise, which is the name of his school in Akron. Yes. So this is the fourth time. He's been named in Time 100. other four-time honorees are George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, George Clooney, among some others. But it is a good reminder of all the things that LeBron is off the court. He should be on this list.

Yeah. I mean, he's taken a lot of heat this year, obviously, with everything that's happened with the Lakers and all of his other off-the-court endeavors. But it is a good reminder that he has done a lot of great things in the community. And despite not being in Cleveland still has an incredible... You don't have to live in a city to have impact on a city. Well, this is just a tremendous thing that he's done. Like, he's always been great about getting back to whatever community he is in. But it's nice that we're, you know, being reminded of the influence that he has had.

And the school's doing well also. So that's good. All right. So speaking of a city that LeBron played in, Miami, Dolphins new quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick made the rounds on social media when some pictures surfaced of a noticeable weight gain. and that led reporters to asking questions, of course, and that led to this answer. I have seven kids. So in January, we have three birthdays. So we've got, you know, a family birthday party, which includes cake.

And then we've got a friend's birthday party, which includes cake. So that's six times in January. We've got three birthdays in March, March 1st, March 6th, and March 11th, which, again, that's a tough stretch. That's cake six out of, what is that 10 or 11 days. And so then we've got an April birthday, so it doesn't slow down. But now that the birthdays are behind me, and I think I'm going to try to go from peak off-season form, maybe down to peak in-season form, I'll be okay. Funny, a long year. Funny guy.

I will say this, though, as a parent, he's not wrong on the cake conversation. How much cake can you eat? Let me tell you something. You have no idea. When I was in Connecticut, my kids were in the cake funnel. and they were in that cake thing when they were all having birthday parties, it's just cake around you all day. I mean, seven kids, that's a lot of birthday cakes, plus their friends.

Plus, you're in Miami. You lose weight real quick in that humidity. He'll be fine. Your body kind of is your job. Maybe you just pass on the extra slice of vanilla and chocolate. Anyway, I don't know what to make of the dolphins this year. I think it's going to be a long year for the Joy Taylor team watching this year. I don't know what's expected to stealers and the dolphins of...

Well, it should be. Noted, the only team that's absolutely tanking in the league is Miami. And I think, by the way, this is funny. So John told me this this morning. Of all the bloggers that cover NFL teams, only one blogger said, my local team is going to win fewer than Vegas predicted. Miami.

All the local media in the country is so predictable. Oh, we're going to win more than Vegas says. all but one local media predicted their ESPN did a story on this today what is it John say it again 26 of the 32 beat writers predicted their team that they cover would do better than

Vegas predicted. And the other only one predicted worse and that was Miami and they're tanking. Everyone else was right on the number. I mean it's so predictable. I mean I will say this about Miami media. We keep it real about our teams. If it's not going well, Miami Media, will say it because there's a long history of greatness, especially with the dolphins. And it's just every year we have these expectations.

And then, you know, this year, it's just, it's time to just keep it real. This is not the situation. But I don't really, I don't really like who. What are we tanking for? Because you want to get the number one quarterback next year. I love it. Is there a quarterback? Yes.

Yeah, good quarterback here. Justin Herbert. Jake Fromm. And George is really good. Jay Patterson. I just don't want to, I am not a believer. Well, a lot of people are like, the bottom line is you're going to, have choices. So Miami's figured it out.

The Sixers tank for seven years. I got nothing. Man, that's a long season. Miami's going to tank for one year and get a quarterback. And finally, time to see who's going places. Sponsored by Toyota. Let's Go Places. Speaking of quarterbacks, it looks like Josh Rosen may be going places. The Cardinals released their 2019 hype video.

What? Rosen is pretty noticeably not featured in the video. At all? I think you can see him in the far background. in one clip really quickly. What joy? Yeah. I don't know what they thought

people were going to say about that. And this is my point. By the way. What exactly is the win and not putting him in there at this point? Like, do you think people are going to go back and pull up the hype video? Like, you fooled us.

You put Rosen in the hype video. Like, this is just evidence that you've moved on from him. Because what difference does it make? He's on the team. Why not put him in the hype video? So far I've seen. seen more Russell Wilson than I have Josh Rosen.

Right. Like you'll see lots of other quarterbacks besides Josh Rosen. This is a reveal. This is what this is. This is the soft reveal that Josh Rosen's not. Because what is this? It's a social media video. Like, is anyone going to freak out if all of a sudden you move off of them because you put them

in the preseason hype video? Yeah, if Fox did an annual, they went to the up front of New York and I was not in their video of FS-1. But literally everyone else was. I'd be like, I have to call my agent. We may have a problem. here. They didn't put me in the video. What is the win there?

Like it's a tiny little social media hype video. If you watch that video, Joy, I try to count quickly. I could be wrong. I think they showed 13 quarterbacks. None of them Rosen. Oh yeah, he's not in there. Maybe in the corner inside for a second.

This is the soft reveal. Facts. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Stephen Jackson around the corner. Let me say this about NFL schedules. I've heard this for years. Oh, Con. Con. Patriots. Let's get the easiest schedule. No, the Patriots are in one of the easier divisions.

The Jets and the Bills and the Dolphins can't get their quarterback act together or their coach act together. So six times a year, it looks like they have an easy schedule. If you look at New England schedule, they open up with Pittsburgh. Is that easy? There's a stretch where they have to play. This to me is arguably the toughest five-game gauntlet in the NFL at Baltimore, at Philly, Dallas, at Houston, and Kansas City. That's brutal. That's a brutal five-game stretch. Now, it just so happens they've owned Houston and owned Kansas City through the years. New England's schedule isn't easy. It's easy for New England. Okay, I'll give you an example, the Chicago Bears. The Chicago Bears schedule, if you gave it to New England, would look pretty workable. But I

have Mitch Trubisky. And Mitch Trubisky, in 10 of the 16 games for the Bears, will be the inferior quarterback. Their schedule goes, Aaron Rogers, a month later, Derek Carr, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, Matt Stafford, Jared Goff, skip a week, Stafford, skip a week, Aaron, Rogers, Patrick Mahomes. Okay, with Mitch Trubisky a quarterback, that's a brutal schedule. 10 of the 16 games, I go in with what I believe is the less talented quarterback.

And by the way, I didn't mention this game, week two, at Denver. That's just a loss. Nobody beats Denver at Denver the first two weeks of the year. There's like some goofy stat out there. So it goes back to, you know, for years and years, people have complained about Alabama's schedule. It's too easy. It's too easy. Really?

Here's Alabama schedule at South Carolina, at Texas A&M, LSU, at Mississippi State, and at Auburn. You could give me the best PAC-12 team. They go one and four with that. Okay. Alabama makes that schedule look very easy. How many people are beating LSU that are not SEC teams? How about we start with not many? Who's beating Mississippi State at Mississippi State or Auburn at Auburn or South Carolina

at South Carolina? The only people who are beating them are other SEC teams. So don't tell me Bama's schedule is easy. Bama's schedule is easy for Bama. It's not easy for Stanford. It's not easy for Oregon. It's not easy for UCLA. It's not easy for Michigan State.

So New England's schedule is not easy. What New England has had, and this you can't deny, whereas Oakland has to face Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes twice, and Philip Rivers twice, the big break for New England, and this sometimes happens. The Jets, the bills in Miami, can't get the quarterback and can't get the coach right, and it's been 15 years of it. And so they're generally five and one in division. And that's a real thing. I'm not going to deny that. But don't tell me the schedule is easy. It's got a rough five game gauntlet.

They open with Pittsburgh. It's not an easy schedule. It looks easy because it's New England. Stephen Jackson's going to be joining us right around the corner. A lot of different things here. Kevin Durant says, why should I shoot? Why shouldn't I pass? What to make of the Sixers dysfunction?

They played the night series tied at one. Stephen Jackson around the corner. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. Opinions are flying. Nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer-beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answers.

Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsLice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way.

Open your free Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering our meaning, businessman, catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world.

He doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in America. in history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan,

you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that.

Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeke. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile. That means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do

anything. I can, like, I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. All right, welcome back. Nice to have you in. Discover card, by the way, they alert you to find your social security number if it ends up in the wrong place. Go to Discover.com slash free alerts limitations apply. Good to have you in.

So it's very interesting. Brian Winhorst, NBA reporter, talked yesterday about Kauai Leonard. Kauai plays for the Toronto Raptors. He's from California. He bought a $15 million mansion down near San Diego Orange County. And Brian Windhorst talked about sort of the uneasiness with Toronto because they don't know what he's going to do. Here it is. A lot of people in the NBA think that Kauai is out of there.

But it's not because of anything that the Raptors did. It's just that Kauai kind of wants to be on the West Coast. Right. The difficulty is that Kauai doesn't really articulate his feelings to people. So here's the reality with Toronto. It's cold in a winter league. They've got brutal taxes and it feels isolated. Now, California's got bad taxes.

but it's warm and sunny with palm trees and it doesn't feel isolated. Canada feels like sometimes what Portland gets tagged for way up there. And it's a winter league and it's really cold and Kauai is from Southern California. Chris Bosch left there in his prime, T-Mack left early, Vince Carter left in his prime, a Canadian Steve Nash had a chance to go and passed. Kauai Leonard appears to be incredibly indifferent. That's just the Raptors brand. I'm not picking on him.

That's the reality. I do think it's hard for players. I've supported players. It's hard for Mello to leave Denver because you know you're always going to be booed when you go back. It's hard for Dwight Howard to leave Orlando. I know everybody just says these players make a lot of money. I don't care. Listen, man, when you get drafted by somebody, you spend four or five years somewhere.

It's hard. When you get traded to somebody like Kauai Leonard did, whatever decision Kauai makes, I feel like some of his spurs years were a little wasted. I think he needs to find a home and a right home. I don't think it's Toronto, and I think he's got an out here. Messiah, Jerry, is the GM for the Toronto Raptors, and reportedly he is highly coveted by the Lakers and others. He's going to leave potentially, and if he does, that gives Kauai Leonard an absolute out.

He can go, hey, my guy left. They don't have a GM. I'm following my guy out west. But I will say this. Of all the free agent destinations I hear, Kyrie to the Nix and Kevin Durant to the Nix and Kimball Walker. to the Lakers and Jimmy Butler here. The one that feels like a perfect fit is Kauai Leonard to the Clippers.

Okay, it's, you got to remember in Los Angeles, it's Mike Trout to the Angels. You would think if you play baseball in L.A., you'll be a star, but you can hide with the angels because the Dodgers are so popular. So Mike Trout, who's a pretty quiet kid, a reserve kid, signs with the Angels. Highest paid player in baseball, you never see him in L.A. except for the freeway series. You never see them in L.A. Kauai Leonard goes to the Clippers, even though they share the Lakers building,

it doesn't matter. They're not the Lakers. The Clippers don't even compare to the Mets in New York. They are a, or the White Sox in Chicago. They're a distant second. Now, I do think they have a good owner and a good organization now. But Kauai to the Lakers feels dramatic and loud and microphone. If I just said Kauai to the Lakers, LeBron,

it just feels like all sorts of stuff. You've got all sorts of expectations, microphones drop. If I say Kauai Leonard to the Clippers, it feels a little bit like Trout to the Angels. We're like, oh, he'll hide there, be very productive. But that's kind of Kauai's personality. That's right. That's why I say it's a perfect fit. Right.

Like Kauai to the Clippers, of all these free agent things I hear about, I roll my eyes at half of them. I don't think Kyrie Irving should leave Brad Stevens. I don't think Kevin Durant should leave the Warriors. Kauai, warm weather, number two team in L.A. of the Clippers feels so absolutely perfect to me. Okay, so here's the other story that Monty Williams and Tyron Liu are the leading candidates for the Lakers job. Now, I told you yesterday, out of source I trust, the Lakers would like to hire Monty Williams.

That's their number one pick I was told that two days ago, two nights ago. They don't know if they're going to get Monty Williams because if the Sixers don't beat Brooklyn or Toronto after the Sixers are going to offer the job to Monty Williams, meaning the Lakeholders will get Tyron Liu, their second choice. So I think Tyrone's going to get the job. The Lakers are absolutely concerned about the optics that it's becoming LeBron and the Cavaliers West. They're concerned about it. Jeannie Bust does not want this to be the case.

But a story today is that Monty Williams' closest friends and Tyron Loo's, closest friends are telling them this place, it's a mess in L.A., don't take the job. You know, it's funny. When Magic Johnson stepped down, we were like, good, glad he's gone. But you get a situation now. Yesterday, Arash Marcosi, new columnist L.A. Times, talked about Rob Polinka, who now runs the Lakers. I don't know Rob, but I'm just, I mean, everybody that talks about him, I was surprised Arash went here yesterday. Listen. There's no trust from people outside of this genie bus, Linda circle. They don't think Rob knows what he's doing and they don't trust Rob.

Rob is not the guy that teams want to trade with. You got to bring in a guy that if you get that phone call and you see that color ID, some teams aren't picking up a phone if it says Rob Polinka. Nobody realizes how big of a problem. Rob Polinka, I think, is for this team. Okay, it's a pretty surprising place he went there. I don't know Rob enough to have a strong opinion. I really don't. I've talked to him one time for 15 minutes. That's it.

But I will tell you, my take away on all this, the first thing I thought of was LeBron James was always the guy that had flexibility. LeBron, you know, I always said, Magic and Larry Bird saved the NBA. Michael Jordan made the league global. And LeBron is the player empowerment movement. He's the guy that said, talk politics. the franchise. You should be flexible. I don't think Kevin Durant leaves OKC unless LeBron leaves Cleveland first. LeBron open the door. It is now considered in the NBA if you don't leave. You're like, well, what's wrong with you? LeBron was the first guy who took all the arrows,

said, I'm going to leave. And people freaked out, but LeBron opened the door for everybody. And LeBron didn't like to give up his flexibility. It's smart. LeBron's like, I'm not giving you two, three years. I'll give you your deal. So LeBron comes to L.A. and he finally says, okay, I'll give you four years. is LeBron waking up this morning with this story thinking, what the hell did I give up my flexibility for? I mean, they don't have a GM. Polinka's not liked.

Coaches are being told not to go there. David Griffin now says we're keeping Anthony Davis. The media is hammering you. Your young guys, Lonzo and Brandon Ingram, are hurt and not as good at trade assets as they were. I just wonder, is LeBron James thinking, Jesus. It almost, the Lakers, to LeBron almost feels like he bought this really big

mansion and now it's a money pit and you found out it's on a marsh and there's no buyers and the top contractor just left you and you're stuck with a big fat beautiful money pit and i just i do wonder if lebron sitting there thinking Jesus my whole life my brand was don't give up leverage and flexibility and i did and i'm just stuck here you know i said something about a year ago and i got a lot of heat for it a lot of crap. But I've always felt my job is, 50% of my job is to tell you what happened last night. And then the other 50% of my job is to tell you what I think's going to happen tomorrow. I could do a very safe show. There's a lot of guys in my business, Captain Safe Takes. They just tell you what happened yesterday. You never make a mistake if I just tell you,

hey, that team won last night. Half of my job is to tell you what I think the future of sports is. And I said a year ago, I don't think it's a terrible idea for LeBron to retire for a year. Michael left. We still love Michael. Michael left. We love Michael. If LeBron would have left Cleveland and said, you know what? I'm going to let everybody sort this crap out. Because Philadelphia's not right. Lakers not right. Nobody was quite right. Durant's still in Golden State. I can't beat them. Chris Paul and Harden. I believe this. If LeBron would have just said, man, I've been to the finals straight years. My body needs a rest. It needs a break. I said it. I said it. I don't think it's a terrible idea. I think today LeBron probably should have taken a year off.

And again, I'm not rearview mirror this thing. I said it. I got crap for it. That's why I never give anybody on Twitter crap for having an idea that could be wrong. Because I think when we crush people for swinging hard and missing, you take away people who want to swing for the fence and give us great creative ideas. And I love one of my talk show host on the air says, I got a theory on this. It's crazy. And he's wrong. So what? That's entertainment. That's what I'm doing. You look at LeBron.

He's got a money pit of a house. There's no buyers. They're on a sacred burial ground or something. Or on a marsh. His contractor left. It's a mess. It's a mess. It is a wonderful setup for a great comeback story, though.

You know, Hollywood loves those. And I do think LeBron next year is going to be very effective. I think he's going to go 28-8-8. You know, you cross your fingers on the injuries. but, you know, it is, it is, you know, LeBron sat there and probably thought, listen, I'm getting older, this is a lot of money. I have a house in Brentwood. I love my city. I'm just, my buddy Maverick Carter lives there.

I'm just going to commit to it. But, I mean, just think if LeBron had a one-year deal. Today, think of LeBron had the deal he had in Cleveland. He had a one-year deal. LeBron could pick his spots. think about what LeBron could do this morning. He could look at all these guys and go, I'm going to be part of this.

And by the way, we would never hold it against him. We didn't hold baseball against Michael. We wouldn't hold it against LeBron. If he was in L.A. for a year, it was a grease fire and he left. We'd be like, well, of course it was. Look at the Lakers. They were bad before he got there. They were bad after.

You can't blame him. It wouldn't stick to LeBron. There have been a lot of guys that go to a play. I mean, Brett Farve left. We still think he's great. Hour 2's coming up. Absolutely packed on a Thursday. In L.A., it's the herd.

One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Ah, here we go, hour three, baby. We are live in Los Angeles. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening.

IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. We have a great next hour. Packed. Marcus Thompson for the athletic. Subscribe, please. It is, he's as close to the Warriors as anybody. And he's going to be on the couch. Stephen Jackson, also by the end of the hour and best for last.

A fascinating guest, Westbrook has an enemy, and it's not me. It's Barry Trammell who writes for the Oklahoma, and he keeps asking him questions at press conference, and he, and Russell won't answer him. He just says, next question, please. So I love reporters who are annoying. What? What? Well, it's no, we are, the media is the IRS. We're not built to be...

Oh, I vehemently deny that accusation. We're the IRS. I am not claiming that. No. I am not the IRS. I am auditing people every day. And I love it. We're also, Joad's Joy Taylor, Sirius XM Channel 83.

Again, Warriors reporter, Marcus Thompson. He'll be joining us tonight, by the way, Warriors Clippers, game three of the series. Very interesting, because no boogie. cousin. So you got a little shift there and the clippers feel great about themselves. And then end of the show, Russell Westbrook hates one reporter more than me and he'll be joining us. Well, well, well, the NFL, I freaked out. You know, I love this. Two hours with a Corona and an iPad released schedules for the upcoming season last night and it got me thinking about expectations. If you were a movie director and you were given $35 million to direct a movie

for a studio, that's a rounding error. They're going to leave you alone. Edit, do what you want. But if they give you $140 million to make a movie as a director, that's not a rounding error. That's got to be a hit. And so the CEO of Paramount and Sony and Disney, all these companies, the CEO's in the editing room.

They're on the set every day. How's it going? How's it look? How are the story arcs? How's the editing? How are the budgets? Expectations, my friends. change everything.

They change everything. Cleveland has going to be on prime time, four times this year. They are no longer a movie with a $35 million budget. The Cleveland Browns now expectations. They're a movie with $150 million budget. Baker Mayfield's silliness, not so fun on a two-game losing streak. Now, is it? They threw a parade last year when they were 7, 8, and 1.

they don't go nine and seven, heads going to roll, namely Freddie Kitchens, the rookie head coach, who's never even been hired by any other team as a coordinator. So I looked at the NFL schedules yesterday, and oh my, isn't this interesting? I don't think it's the toughest schedule because it lightens up in the last month, and that is crucial. But go look at the early schedule for the Cleveland Browns with all these new pieces, a lot of mouths to feed, a rookie head coach, and a very talented young quarterback in his second year. Oh, Lord. Rams, Seattle, at New England, at Baltimore, at Denver. Well, calling a couple

easy ones at the Jets and at San Francisco. Really? You ever gone on the road for a Monday night football game? Of course, Cleveland, you haven't because nobody wanted to put you on Monday night. But now they're going to put you on the road. You're a big attraction. You know what those Monday night football crowds are like? Drunk, loud, lubricated. Give the home team an extra point in a half. And Donald, frankly, can play, and so can Jimmy Garoppolo. And Adam Gase is a good offensive coach, and so is Kyle Shanahan. They're the two guys closest friends in the league.

They're smart. They trade secrets. All of a sudden, now, you're, oh, you're two and four. So Cleveland this morning is looking at their schedule, and they're like, hey, we're realistic. We know it's kind of tough early, but it's a lot of doubles late. All right. So let's just concentrate on one game in your schedule.

Tennessee. Everybody in Ohio this morning grabbed a little pocket schedule like Joy talked about yesterday. W. W on Tennessee. Okay. Okay. W. Rams, Seattle, New England. W.

On Tennessee. Well, let's just examine Tennessee. They finish with a better record than you did last year. Unlike the Browns who beat one playoff team, one in five against playoff teams, only went against Baltimore, Joe Flacko, who was later benched. Oh, Tennessee throttled Dallas. humiliated New England, clobbered Philadelphia. Well, but we added a lot of new pieces. Oh, so did Tennessee.

Adam Humphreys was the most expensive slot receiver. Cameron Wake's old, but he'll be a pass rusher. And they upgraded their offensive line, taking a ram, who is now a Tennessee Titan. And oh, by the way, they do not have a rookie coach. They have maybe the smartest and most successful of Bill's coordinators. Mike Vrable, the former player. My sources tell me Mike Vrable,

of all the New England Belichick guys, of all of them, Vrable's going to work. Now, he was never a top assistant for Belichick. He was a player for him. But my guys in the NFL, my scouts, my guys say Tennessee's well-coached. They were a Blaine-Gabbert start from making the playoffs last year.

And they have a history of going into places and stunning people. They're a very physical football team. Cleveland, you are not in a position to just discard teams as W's. Belichick and Brady can. They can put a W if they're hosting Miami, if they're hosting Houston, even a good team. There are no automatic wins for the Cleveland Browns. They do not exist.

And Cleveland, you have always been the $35 million movie budget. Nobody really cares. It's a rounding error. But now you're a primetime team. We're going to put you on the wrong. road. I'm going to have you play Pittsburgh on Thursday night football and Patriots,

Rams, and television and Niners and everybody in Cleveland this morning has Tennessee as a W. That's going to be one of your toughest games in the first month. I'd argue your toughest game.

Good luck. Expectations change everything. All right, let's shift gears. We're going to go to the coward. Global Satellite Network. My buddy, Stephen Jackson. All right, I got a couple NBA things I want to touch on. Boston, who I picked to win the East.

I don't think they're a perfect team, but they have the Eastern Conference's best closer, Kyrie. And I think the Eastern Conference's best coach, Stephen Brad Stevens. And I think a great coach and a great star closer are the difference in the Eastern Conference playoffs. What did you make a Boston last night winning in Kyrie? Well, I think the plus side of it was they made it to the Eastern Conference Finns last year without him. You know, a lot of those young guys got experience. A lot of those young guys know what it feels like to bend the playoffs and playing big games and won't be nervous,

and they can knock down shots. But the biggest plus side is, Kyrie, like you said, he's the one of the best closers in the game. Not one of the best closer, him and KD, best closer in the game. I think this one is going to really realize how much how important he is to this team and how great of a player he is. he's been looking forward to this moment to go out and play with his team and to show what he can do in the playoffs. But everybody knows that he can close games. He closed, as you know, he closed the championship of Cleveland against Golden State. So this is the moment that he's been longing for, and I'm glad to see him healthy.

If you look last night, his legs were real live. He was real fast last night, real light on his feet, and he looks real healthy. And I know it's a great feeling to go out there and be healthy playing the game. You know, it's interesting. Philadelphia is loaded. Series tied with Brooklyn they play tonight. years ago, Oklahoma City had James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and KD, and they chose Westbrook. And the game was becoming...

I'm late against him, I know. Yep. And the game was becoming a three-point shooting contest. I argue they picked the wrong guy. So Philadelphia's got Jimmy Butler and Joel M. B. and Ben Simmons. We know it's becoming a three-point game. Simmons can't shoot a three, but analytically, he gets the ball to three-point shooters as well as all but two-point players. as well as all but two players in the league.

Are we being too critical going forward of Ben Simmons? If you get him three-pointers shooters, he does not have to be a great shooter. Because this morning, everybody's like, Ben Simmons can't shoot. Are you giving up on him? Well, it's, you know, it's an old saying we say it's deeper than rap. Well, it's deeper than who.

You can't be in the NBA and not even attempt a shot. Like, where's the confidence? And it's like, what is the coach is telling him in practice or after practice or before practice? Like, you're not even an attempt in a shot. You're a professional athlete, a top draft pick. There's no way that you should be in the game and the player backs all the way to the paint off you and you don't even attempt a shot and you drive it. Then to the flip side of it, this is the flip side. Embed and Jimmy Butler get real frustrated.

Embed demands double teams. He demands double teams. So when the ball comes out of the double team, it's supposed to be swing, swing shot. But when Simmons case, he dives to the basket, diving into the defense, it messes up the whole offense. So he had a great game, too. I'm pretty sure Brooklyn is going to stop him from getting the ball off the room and going full court and making playing a half court. But it's just frustrating to see today's NBA, you have a point, you have a guard that can't shoot, and you have another guard that in OKC that gets Hackashack.

It's a bad look for guards in the league right now. So Patrick Beverly is an annoying player. He reminds me a little bit of Tony Allen who plays. that he can knock down a basket, but his job is tough physical, tough mentally, and Kevin Durant is shooting less. Now, they're still winning. They were up by 30 when they fell asleep. And Kevin Durant said yesterday, listen, I got Steph and I got Clay.

It's not about me dropping 30 shots. If guys are open and they double me, I'm passing the ball. Do you defend Kevin Durant on shooting less, or do you agree with Steve Kerr that he's Kevin Durant and shoot 30 times regardless? Well, being a basketball player, I agree with both of them because I understand what Steve Kerr is saying he's not saying Katie go out there in ball hog. He's not saying Katie go out there in four shots. He just simply tell him to be more aggressive.

Now, you have to give Patrick Beverly his props. He's getting the job done. He's competing. This is what it looks like when you love the game. This what it looks like when you come to play every night and you want to earn your check. This is what it looked like. That's Patrick Bevelli in a nutshell.

Now, K.D, you have to listen to the whole interview. He said a lot of things. He also said that if he did go on a one-on-one battle with Patrick Beverly, I'm pretty sure I win. We all know who Katie is. But at the same time, he's so intelligent. He explained a lot. There was up 31 points with him. We're having five shots.

So it's not about them shit shots. It's about them playing the game the right way, which they do. And he will continue to, but he knows when to be aggressive. Like I said, he's one of the best closes in the game. And we all know if it gets to that West Conference Finals and the finals, we know who are going to have a ball in the fourth quarter. And he does know how to close game. By the way, a report yesterday that Kauai Leonard is leaning coming back to the West. Toronto is a very good team, but it's a cold city.

It's isolated. There's Canadian taxes. If I ask you today, Kauai Leonard, where is he in two, three months? What's your guest, Stephen? I'm saying California, how could you not? You're from California. Every team wants you. I mean, the contract you're going to get is going to be outrageous regardless where you go.

But, I mean, I definitely see him somewhere in California. California. I don't know where, but California going home and being able to play in your home state, that looks real interesting to anybody. All right. We got to run. Stephen, appreciate you stopping by the studio, bud. Thank you so much. Anytime, my man. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. I have a problem, Joy, Taylor. What's that? I have a major problem. Have you looked at the Indianapolis Colts schedule?

They play the Chargers here in L.A.? They opened September 8th, 15 minutes from my house. Who is my favorite quarterback in the world? Tom Brady. Okay, number two. Russell Wilson. Three. Andrew Luck's way up there.

So Andrew Luck's going to be playing 15 minutes from my house. And here's the problem. I love the Colts. They're my team. But I love the guys that run the Chargers. They're awesome. They let me in their war room. Where's the Chargers War Room?

Last draft. Yeah. So the best thing, the best thing, I've done in the history of my career, the best three hours in my life ever in this whole career was being in the Chargers draft room. They let me in their draft room. It was unbelievable. So I can't, if I go to the game, I can't root against the Chargers. There's no way I can root against the Colts and Andrew Luck. You know what I'm going to do? You know what I try to get? I'm going to call Mr. Goodell, Roger, and see if I can get a sideline pass.

I got a juice like that, huh? I'm going to try to get a sideline pass and just make eye contact for three and a half hours with Andrew Luck. Asking the commission for favors. God, I cannot believe I get Andrew Luck 15 minutes from my couch week one. It's... Andrew. What's going on? Just cough.

It's so your bore for personality. Oh, my God. This is, if you ask me... They're all about the idea of that. The perfect game 15 minutes from my house. I'd say, like, give me Andrew Luck and the Colts. And the Chargers will be very good this year. Yeah, they're going to be very good this year.

Interdivision. And the charges are as well. Are you going to do it? Are you really going to go? Oh, absolutely. Oh, see Addu Luck live? Absolutely. Not even close. But you got to be down on the field, though. You know what? It's not a very good view on the field. Yeah, I don't prefer to be on the field. I don't like the field. I'd rather be in a big cushy booth. I mean, it sounds pretentious, but you can't watch the game.

No, I want to get a hamburger and drink a beer upstairs. I have no, you know, but I want to be on the sideline. So if interluck gets in duress, you can look at me and we can connect emotionally. Maybe they can, you know, hook you up with like a day assistant job or something. He can give him his towel or something. I have goosebumps, the size of an Advil, on my arm. I'm so excited. Joy Taylor with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. David Griffin is the new president of basketball operations for the Pelicans. Yes. And he is already getting to work on their most pressing issue, which is Anthony Davis. Griffin says he has a plan moving forward. And after speaking with 80's agent, Rich Paul, he had this to say.

We have a very long successful history together with Clutch Sports. Rich Paul and I have spoken about Anthony, and I think we are both excited about what we could potentially build here. I think Rich is genuinely excited about this situation. Rich represents the greatest player of his generation, and he saw LeBron buy into what we were doing in our direction and the respect he had for what we did. I know you think that this is,

PR spin. I thought it was PR spin. I don't know. I'm kind of, I'm buying it a little bit. It was just so like Anthony Davis's last game he played there. His shirt said, that's all folks. Here's a thing, though. Does he want to go to the Lakers? Well, now that's, that is a legitimate question. They're a different team than three months ago.

A lot has changed. Take the Lakers from when LeBron didn't get injured yet to now. It's a whole different ball year. Right. The rumors came out pre-Lebron hurt. And now it's a different team. The world is a whole different place now than it was then. So a lot, a lot could have changed. She may really be thinking, like, I could have a legacy here in New Orleans that of, you know,

Drew Bree's level if we can put together some sort of championship organization here. And I'm going to get paid no matter what. Maybe the Lakers isn't the best place. Maybe looking at what's happening with LeBron, like, do I want that kind of pressure? Do I want that kind of scrutiny? And if we don't do well, you know, if we don't do well in New Orleans, fans are still going to love me here. It's a lot to think about.

This whole NBA free agency period. Oh my gosh, it's going to be amazing. It's going to be July is going to be crazy town. Enjoy the NBA the way it looks right now because it's going to be completely differently. Could be. Next season. So one of the biggest criticisms of James Harden has been his postseason resume and his collapses on the biggest stages there. His playoff endings have left plenty to be desired.

But Mike D. Antony thinks that Hardin has made a lot of adjustments to help push through. He's reshaped his body. He's eating in the right way. way he's focused in on the playoffs and making sure he's got enough energy all the way through. Now, Chris Paul did miss games six and seven against the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals last year. And the final three games of the Western Conference Finals, James Hardin, shot 36%, six of 36, and had about seven turnovers a night.

He's had some other collapses as well, as we know, but I think at least last year had a lot to do with fatigue because Chris Paul wasn't there and he's having to do everything. I think they're a different team this year, and if they stay healthy, they have a, they have the best chance of anyone. Oh, yeah. They, listen, basically everybody in the NBA has to react to the Warriors. Right. Houston's the only team in the NBA that will occasionally make the Warriors react to them. And that's a great place to be. Yeah.

I don't know that it's going to happen. But like you said earlier, they've built their team for the future. And the Warriors could look very different next year. The Patriots do that to you. constantly feel like you're reacting to New England. Philadelphia and the Super Bowl, remember they did all those tricks. Philadelphia's like, no, no, no, we're going to be aggressive and make New England react to what we do.

And I think when you play teams like Golden State of the Patriots, you've got to be super aggressive, put them on their heels, and make them occasionally react to what you do. And I think Houston can do that. So Josh Rosen was not featured in the Cardinals 2019 hype video. This is crazy. They released it on Twitter, and he is nowhere to be seen. I think you see him for like a quick flash in the background for a split second. You see a lot more footage from other quarterbacks around the league than you do of Josh Rosen.

It's a really weird thing to do. I don't know how this isn't just a sign that he's gone because who cares about if you put him in this video or not? What difference does it make? It's a Twitter hype video. 13 quarterbacks. So him not being in there is really extra. I get the thinking of it like, well, we don't know if we're going to have him here, so maybe we shouldn't put him in it.

But it's like, what difference does it make? If you put him in it and then you end up moving off of him, how does that affect anything? And this is back to my original point of how do you sell him to the fans again after everything that's happened? You're not even putting him in the Twitter hype video. So I counted it. There are 15 quarterbacks shown in this video. None are Arizona's. Because at the end they edit like 12 really quickly.

Right. They're basically showing their schedule. Yeah, I know. They don't show Josh Rosen at all. I don't. This is too much to pitch to fans to get back into the situation. Like it's, to me, it's very obvious that they're moving off of him. I don't get why you wouldn't just put, just a quick clip.

Just for a second. Weird. Funny. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line. excited to have my next guest. He wrote a book. That's initially how I heard of him.

It was about Steph Curry. The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry. It's called Golden. He's now at The Athletic. Nobody is closer to the Warriors than Marcus Thompson. Please subscribe. It's great reading. Marcus, have we ever met before? You would know. Have we? No, we never met. I don't think we have. Listen, I'm getting old. Some guys just, I forget people and faces and everything. So your Steph Curry book is when I was first introduced. Now, Warriors. So you cover the Warriors as close as everybody.

I find Kevin Durant to be fascinating. Me too. He's crazy. He's incredible. Okay. So my comp to him, Marcus, is Aaron Rogers. Smart people in general. Overtink stuff are more aware of stuff.

And stuff ruminates that wouldn't if you're just kind of a regular dude. Kevin and Aaron are bothered more easily because I think about more stuff. They get into those discussions in their head that other people don't. So I just keep hearing that he's leaving Golden State. Let's start with this. Do you buy it to done deal? I don't buy it to a done deal even if it might be a done deal, right? I feel like it's one of those things.

I'm not buying that at the last moment he's sitting at a meeting with somebody and he can't be swayed. Either way, to stay or go. Because that's his personality. Yeah. He could think it's done right now. whether that's staying or going. I still think later on, like, he can be swayed. Like, he's a guy.

He feels everything. He sits in the room. He's present. He's got to weigh this stuff. We still have three or four more series, if they win a championship, of data to insert into this equation, right? Like, I don't know. I don't know if even if he thinks he knows the answer. I don't think he knows the answer.

I'm not buying it. So, Joe Lake of the owner, part of the sales pitch was I'll get you. you as an early investor on this tech stuff. I've been told he's in on good tech stuff. Do you buy that that helps the Warriors? Oh, no question. Silicon Valley is the new, you know, New York or L.A. No question.

It's like, hey, I'm going to get you in. I can have you meet people. Oracle is like, you know, the celebrity row at Staples. At Oracle is a bunch of billionaires you never heard of, right? It's tech row. It's Silicon Valley. So it's a different kind of, you know, elitism. and oh, they love being around that stuff.

They do. Oh, no question. What's the difference between covering Steph and covering KD? Because they're both bright. They both in front of a microphone can be fascinating guys. What's the difference as a reporter? Well, Kevin Durant, you got to work to get to him, right? Like, he makes you work.

He is so personable. Like, he's a human. Like, he's the most human guy I've ever covered. Really? Yes, no question. He feels like he talks. you, he feels what you're saying. Like you can have a, you can have an

existential conversation with him. No question. Like he loves to talk. You know, when he gets mad at you, he's going to let you know. When he, uh, when you say something funny, he's going to laugh. Like, he's that way. Steph is much more like reserved and guarded and professional, right? The best conversations with Steph

are like off the record. But, you know, he is definitely more, you can tell his father was in the NBA with Steph, right? Like, you know he's, he is so well seasoned. Corporate. well groomed and he knows exactly what he wants to say. Like you kind of got to read him and know him to understand what he really means. It takes time.

Kevin Durant is like, you go in there, you pride him. You know, you're going to get something from him off the bat. I've never heard anybody say it that way that Kevin feels everything you say. He's in the moment. Man, I've never experienced it before. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. No question.

I've gotten text messages from him. Like, how could you do that? How could you write that? We've argued about stuff with no question. I love that. He, like, he is a guy. No question. It makes a lot of sense, like digging into his life.

I learned a lot about him. He makes so much sense when you know him. What does that mean? Explain that to me. Who he is and where he comes from or what he grew up. He's this, he's a kid who grew up, like, in a really, like, rough situation. And he never really had the foundation. Like, his life was so unsettled.

So I think he's still finding that. I think he's still looking for that. A little bit of a wander. Yeah, yeah. He's still looking for, I mean, he went to six high schools. Like, he played for six teams, I'm sorry, in six years. From, he went to four high schools, college, then Seattle, then the thund, like, he just nonstop moving. So why would he leave a thinking man's paradise, San Francisco?

It's the smartest city in the country. You know what is? There's a simple answer to this, though. Why? Because you can. Right. Because when you, look, I don't have options, right? No, I'm like, look, I'm good.

Nobody's knocking down my door. Come on, Martin. But if they start knocking down my door, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to listen. I'm going to weigh my options. So I think because he can. So I've argued that basketball in the Bay Area is Nirvana. Nobody's perfect.

You've got salary caps. Steve Kerr's a protective shield. How does this land for Steve Kerr? Because Steve is an intellect. And he obviously appreciates Kevin's thoughtfulness, but it's probably frustrated by his wandering quality. How does it land for him? I think it's a struggle. I think this is the difficulty of coaching a super team, right?

We've seen Phil Jackson go through this. We've seen Eric Spolster goes through this. Like, these are situations coaches don't go through. Like, this is a rare. This is an anomaly, right? Not every coach. This is not a normal coaching situation. He's got Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, who.

who's like as fiery as they come and it's going to tell you the absolute truth. Wrong. Right. Steph Curry, who's like the ultimate professional and this guy trying to make everything work. And Clay Thompson is just Clay. And you've got to manage all of that. So for Steve, like, it's difficult. Like, no question. Everything that happens is a big deal.

And you can see him and him and KD have philosophical differences about basketball. So let's go to that. So how does Kerr see the world and how does Durant see it? I think from a basket. So, you know, Steve is big on strength and numbers, right? He's big on, like, the 14th guy on the bench, you're going to need that guy. So you need to take care of him. You need to groom him for that moment.

And you buy into the system. KD is like, yo, I'm a beast, right? I'm the system. And I think there's a, KD's pretty much of a dichotomy, right? He loves, that's why he's with the Warriors is the moving the ball, the team aspect. Like, he loves that stuff. It's thoughtful. He's very sappy about that, about that pure.

of basketball. He's very sappy about that. But he's also like Kevin Durant. Like he said, yo, I'm Kevin Durant. Y'all know who I am. He's also a dude who can like, I can go dominate this any time I want to. So I think he wars about that. And he definitely, him and Steve have a philosophical different.

I've never seen a star player in the post game, like disagree with the coach more than Kevin Durant disagrees with Steve Kerr. But see, Steve Kerr should be okay with that. Oh, he is. Yeah. Steve likes that. He is. He's okay with it.

Especially if you have. have a good reason, right? If you've got an explanation, like, look, privately, he's probably like, I'm so, you know, this dude needs to run to play, right? Privately, he's probably thinking that, but, you know, he's created the environment where you can say something. Like, that's, that's who they are. In one year, what is the roster? What is the starting five in a year, in your opinion? Man, that's a tough. Am I putting you on a spot? No, I mean, I've thought about this all year, right? Like, two months ago, I had a different answer. In a month, I'm going to have a different answer, right? But there's a part of me that

thinks they're going to run this thing back. Thank you. There's a part of me that thinks, like, in the end, it's going to be tough to just pull the trigger and walk away from it. But there's another part that thing, hey, it's going to be Rudy Gay and Steph Curry or something like that, or Terrence Ross or whatever they get in. Well, they're going to re-sign Clay. Yes.

They're not going to give Draymond massive money, or are they because boogie's now gone. I think if, if KD leaves, like, you might as well just cash in on the big three. why not? Remember, they got a new stadium to sell out. That's one of the reasons, Marcus, I say. I know it sounds like it doesn't matter, but people wanted to open the new Yankee Stadium. People want to be in that new. It's going to be the world's best basketball facility. No question. So, I mean, to me, why would you walk away from that?

That's so uplifting and so fun and so celebrated. You wrote, you're the author, for the record, folks, I can't wait, just listening to you, of the upcoming Kevin Durant biography, KD, Kevin Durant, relentless pursuit to be the greatest comes out in a month basically, May 14th. Yep. God, this is, this is, so you have been just exhausted. So you cover the team and you've been going to his home. Now, I know of Kevin Durant's mother.

I've seen her before. And she's a powerful force in his life. Yeah, oh yeah. She's, she was the foundation of his life. Like she was a single mom. His dad left and the crazy part is his dad is back. And his dad is like a part of his life. Wow.

And accepted? Oh, yeah, no question. Yeah, Kevin Durant loves his father. His father is important to him. It's amazing. I mean, partly I understand this because I kind of grew up in a similar situation. But, like, people who grow up the way Kevin Durant grew up, they don't end up like Kevin Durant. They end up in jail.

They end up in a gang. They end up hooked on something. So I understand this idea of like, all right, if you're sensitive and that's the worst thing that you turn out, like, that's a golf clap, you know? You know what I'm saying? Because it could have been a lot worse, and it is a lot worse sometimes. So, like, seeing it from that perspective really changed. Because I was the same way, like, dude, you're Kevin Durant. Why do you care what somebody says on Twitter?

But when you've been kind of unsettled your whole life and you've been fighting and you've been having to kind of fight for every ounce of it, why would he not fight? This is what he is. This is who he is. It's fascinating stuff. Marcus Thompson, The Athletic. I'll just throw this at you.

When you did the book on Steph Curry, I think I know most of the story. What was the surprise in it for you? The real surprise was that was how, like, central his mother was to everything. Like, the connection is always Dale and Steph, right? And obviously it makes sense. His dad playing the NBA. His dad's a shooter. Man, that dude is his mother's child.

Like, it's without question. His tenacity, his athleticism, like his faith, the way he approaches. the way he approaches like he's his mother's child and like researching it and like digging into his life he's like wow you're he's definitely sonya's kid like they have so many similar traits and then you know you get to know sonia you're like a lot of stuff makes sense a lot of step makes sense when you know sonia like it's clear to me and i i know you know his mother's pretty and she gets known for that but man she is she's a bulldog like she's not messing around like she really raised them kids.

And Steph is like the shining example of that. Well, the dad was an NBA player, so you travel a lot. No question. It's a reality of it. No question. And she's the rock. Like she was Steph's rock. She was Seth's rock.

But he is a lot like her. And I didn't realize that. I just presume like, yo, you shoot like your dad. You got to be like your dad, right? I remember his dad. Dad was a hell of a shooter. Yeah, yeah. I mean, him and his dad, his dad is like his professional example, right?

That's why he's so smooth. Yeah. That's why he's so smooth. smooth and media and all that because his dad showed him in the way. But like the stuff that refuses to quit, the stuff that like is quietly as competitive as Russell Westbrook just without the theatrics, like that's that Sonia. Sonia's like ready. She's ready to go.

Marcus Thompson, you get this kind of information. If you go to the athletic, subscribe, great stuff. Absolute pleasure to meet you. This was fascinating. Yeah, that's why I knew if you met me before, you would know. It would be fascinating, right? Right? That's a very good point, Marcus.

I love to have you again on the show. When your book's coming out, get back on the show. I need a reason to come to LA. Let's do it. Listen, this show can sell books. Right? We sell books. We're like Oprah for sports guy.

Big J. Journalism and we sell books. Speaking of, we have a little bit of breaking news on the other end for you. What? It's breaking news. It's a tease. Yeah, you kind of got to wait for it. What I mean? So I can't do it now?

No. We're going to do it next? Yeah. The hell. Yeah, I kind of want to know now. Yeah, so do I. It's a world. Stick around and find out.

Oh, Lord. Hate teasing. 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. All right, welcome back. Our breaking news is the Arizona Cardinals clearly watch this show because they have altered Joy. Their videotape they presented today. Yes.

I'm sure they would argue it was already ready. but they put out their video of their away games and Rosen is in it like three times. Oh. So Joy, they have altered the video they released this morning. Yeah. So our rumors about him being gone, maybe not completely, you know, full. Fully vetted. There you go.

Joy Taylor breaks a story. It moves America. So suddenly an hour later they've changed their tape and they have Josh Rosen all over. Yeah. Okay. Let's go. Interesting story via the Coward Global Satellite Network. I want to go to a columnist for the Oklahoma.

I've read for years Barry Trammell, born and raised in Oklahoma. This is what we call a Big J. Journalist. He'll take his swings. He goes after local national. He's tough. And Russell Westbrook, there's one guy in America he likes less than me, and it's Barry Trammell. And Barry is joining us. So I want to show this tape all year of what Barry last couple of years has been dealing with with Russell Westbrook.

Let's roll this thing. I ask Stephen a question. It's a legitimate question. It's a legitimate question. It's a legitimate question. Next question. Next question. Next question. Next question. No, I think we're going to keep the microphone. I had a question for Steve. I had a question for Stephen and it wasn't answered. Next question, please. Are you upset with something? I just don't like you.

Okay. Barry, let's start with that. Why doesn't he like you? Oh, I don't know. I actually don't believe Russell. I don't think he likes me or dislikes me. He doesn't know me. You got to know me to dislike me. So, um, I just think I'm sort of the figurehead for the media in general, and Russell likes to have enemies, and the media is his enemy. What do you mean he likes to have enemies? What does that mean? Well, you see it on the court. You know, Russell, he likes to have feuds.

He likes to have rivalries. You see it with Damien Lillard, his current contemporary in this playoff series. He's been at war with Damian Lillard for six, seven years, and as far as I know, Lillard's never done anything to Westbrook. He likes to invent enemies. I think it fuels him. motivates him and that's just sort of the way he goes about his basketball business. You know, initially he was embraced.

Are people tiring of the act? You know what? Two or three years ago, I would have been a very unpopular guy in town if I was at war with Russell Westbrook. People are a little tired of his act. Part of that's they're not winning as much. Part of that is they just sort of see that he's being obstinate. I really haven't done anything.

Russell Westbrook. I haven't even really reached. can be much bad about the guy. So I think it is a little bit tiresome. All right. Do we lose Barry Trammell? Do we still have him? I think, you know, I think I'm discovering we have a remote

microphone issue. What do you make of that? We've got to get that fix in the cloud. Our people in back have to get that. I don't think it's Barry Trammell's fault or Albert Breers. Maybe they do have the wrong Wi-Fi password. I was so looking forward to this. It bums me out.

It's fascinating. I think something he touched on is that if you'd have gone after Westbrook three years ago. Yeah, it's interesting. I think people are tiring of it. You know, and the other thing, Oklahoma City wasn't a very good team

in the last like 12 games. And this has always been my thing with Westbrook. I think he's always great until the All-Star break. There's not a lot of pressure. It's kind of the experimental part of the season. And then you get to the All-Star break and the trading deadline. And games matter more in positioning.

I don't know if Russell's DNA, he is built for the intensity of the playoffs. Because I think he is, how about if I throw this at you? Joy, he is so intense. When you add a layer of intensity, it implodes. Well, yeah, I think that when it comes down to in the playoffs in any sport, it comes down to making the right decision in the right moment and being clutch in very small moments, as opposed to being an intense all game long.

Like it usually comes down to one or two plays or one or two moments in big series, right? So you don't want a full steam ahead train going down the court with no control and turnover. Like that's not something that you want in those moments. So, yeah, there could be something to do that. Like if you were an – just think about this and just everybody watching or listening. If you're an intense person, like I tend to be somebody – I don't love stress. So I avoid stress. And so I'm not into, I grew up with some conflict in my life and my parents.

So I don't love conflict. Now, I've gone to therapy for it, and I'm older. Russell's still like 29, 30 years old. So if you grow up in conflict psychologically, you generally don't like conflict, right? That's just psychology 101. So Russell has this incredibly intense relationship and psychology. He's a very intense guy. He does everything intense.

So when you add intensity to that intensity, he goes, midways. And that's all the playoffs is. The playoffs are about every shot magnified, every possession magnified. And I think I, and I, it's, it's funny because Steph Curry tends to be chill. Steph Curry has bad games all the time, but he tends to elevate in the playoffs. Well, yeah, you want someone with ice in their veins, right? You want somebody you can take that big shot who can be calm in the biggest moments where the entire world and all this pressure is on you, you're not adding to it. You're, you're, you're centralizing and taking away from that, that pressure and intensity. But I also think this particular year with Russell Westbrook, he has

Paul George. So there's a little bit more expectations than just him being the MVP or, you know, dealing with Kevin Durant leaving. Like they really should be winning. Oh, God, yeah. I mean, they're the only team. I said this earlier. I really feel like the Philadelphia 76ers are becoming the Thunder where the Thunder had three great players, hardened KV. Westbrook, and they chose the wrong guy. And I think the Sixers are choosing him beat. I think he's the wrong guy. He doesn't handle the ball or shoot threes. That's the game now. It's hardened. It's Curry. It's Durant. And you may not like Ben Simmons as a shooter, but he's a world-class ball handler. And he is top three or four in the league in getting the ball two three-point shooters. And also, Ben Simmons is technically in his second year. Yes.

Like I think Philadelphia, if you ask them today, a story came out that Elton Brand considered moving Simmons. I think you're moving the wrong guy. It is very hard to see. not only what the game is, but what it's going to be. And if Sam Presti and the Thunder had said, okay, here's what the game is going to be. It's going to be the Houston Rockets. They would have kept Hardin and Durant, the better shooters. I mean, it's moving away from athleticism.

It is. And moving towards skill and finesse. Exactly. It's not that athleticism doesn't matter. But I mean, James Hardin is not a world-class vertical athlete. Steph Curry is a small athlete. It's moving away from the Iverson, the, you know, I would say Russell Westbrook.

I mean, by the way, LeBron had to massively alter his game. LeBron was a power player for years and it's like, okay, I've got to shoot. LeBron's first six years in the league wouldn't work as well. Athleticism goes away. Skill doesn't it?

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Wanted to hear Barry Trammell, maybe next time. Speak for Yourself is right around the corner on NFL schedule and NBA playoff today. All sorts of good stuff. And the Arizona Cardinals we discovered watch our show. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite.

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