The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Lakers, Mike Trout, long term deals, and Russell Westbrook

Episode Date: March 19, 2019

Colin explains where the latest Los Angeles Lakers rumor about Clippers HC Doc Rivers came from, why long term deals like Los Angeles Angels OF Mike Trout is bad for MLB, and more on the one game suspension of Oklahoma City Thunder G Russell Westbook. Guests include Chris Broussard, Steve Beuerlein, Kenyon Martin, and Cousin Sal. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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 Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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

Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for The Heard at Fox Sports Radio.com Or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching Herd. Now let's get this party started.

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, we're going to Tuesday. We're packed. This live at L.A. is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me.

Packed today. You know, Joy, we've been in this business a long time. And when stuff leaks, there's a reason it leaks. is because people, Joy, want it out. Oh, it's not an accident? No. Oh.

You find in our business, when people want stuff out, it gets to get out. And if people don't want stuff out, it's amazing how many things happen, and we're surprised by it because nobody wants it out. So suddenly, thank you, Joy, suddenly, all sorts of stuff's leaking, leaking for the Lakers. Doc Rivers may be the next Laker coach. That story was broken by a series of people. one Peter Vessie. This is, by the way, no shot on the reporters.

Peter's terrific Hall of Fame writer. That story just now coming out multiple sources. Oh, it makes the Lakers look desirable, doesn't it? The Great Doc Rivers. Another story comes out in the last 24 hours. Kobe Bryant bashes the young guys and says, of course you trade Coos Malonzo and Brandon Ingram for Anthony Davis. He's one of the best players ever.

One of the best players in the world. why did these come out? Because somebody wants them out. Okay, I live in Los Angeles. The last two weeks, this has become an anti-Laker town, anti-Lebron. I've never seen this team get this kind of press. It's been a disaster.

Words like, you know, Titanic, disaster, hopeless, over, as the clippers in the same building are going to make the playoffs. So the Lakers have a narrative problem. right now. They've got a narrative problem. So they send that word out about Doc Rivers, and I don't think Doc Rivers is going to coach the Lakers, but it makes it look like the Lakers jobs now very desirable. I mean, Doc Rivers won titles. He's up for coach of the year. He's an all-time NBA guy. Oh, he'd leave Steve Ballmer and Jerry West. He'd leave a playoff team for the Lakers. Do I think he's going to leave the Clippers for the Lakers? No.

I don't. But they put a face and a name on the coaching search. It's now exciting. People talking about Doc. Similarly, Kobe Bryant still has a lot of juice in Los Angeles. One of his best friends is Rob Polinka. That was his agent forever. Polinka, there's no way Kobe would have said that to hurt his friend Rob Polinka.

But the Laker front office, Magic and Polinka, have gotten clobbered in the press, nationally, regionally locally for all those trade rooms. Not saying it's all their fault, but it made the papers. And the sense is it's crushed the season. So when Kobe comes out and he has juice and he says, hey, come on, of course you trade those guys. It's like, yeah, yeah, well, Kobe's right. Yeah, like, I mean, obviously, you can blame the trade rumors, but this is called spinning. This is why companies put out PR and they drop bad news on Friday and give you good news on Monday so the media can talk about it.

Listen, the last six years, the Lakers have the worst record in the NBA. I'm not joking. Worse than the Knicks, worse than the Sons, worse than Orlando, worse than Sacramento, worse than the Hawks. They do. I'm not joking. They were swept this year by the Knicks. Last six years, Steve Ballmer across town with the Clippers is a billionaire. Jeannie feels like a really rich millionaire.

The Clippers have traded their four best players in the last three years. They're still making the playoffs. Lakers have LeBron. Can't make the playoffs. Roster advantage Clippers. Front office, Jerry West against a former agent and magic, advantage clippers. Listen, in their own city, it's been a bad year. So when I see stories come out, and congratulations to all the reporters included in this,

this is not an indictment on them. Stories leak when people want them out. And this is a classic Doc is interested in the Lakers. Do I think Doc would leave the Clippers for the Lakers? No, I think he has a very strong relationship with the clipper owner, Steve Ballmer. I think Doc and Jerry West are very respectful of each other. I don't think Doc and LeBron would work, to be honest. Doc has a strong point of view.

Doc's not going to count out anybody. Doc's one of those guys that comes in your building, and he brings his own guy, sort of like LeBron. I don't think it would be a perfect fit. LeBron likes to have a little power over his coach. LeBron is not going to control a team and a bench or that flight when docks on it. I don't think it would work. I think it's a tasty rumor.

And I do think docs in his mid-50s and 55-year-old men, Notre Dame football, Yankee baseball, Laker basketball, those are powerful, romanticized brands. But I think what you have with the Lakers is a massive power struggle where Jeannie Bus, likes the young guys, owns the team, likes Luke Walton, and wants growth and stability. And Magic and Rob Polinka want to win. So they go to Kobe, they can put stuff out, and it's a power struggle. And when you have power struggles, my entire life, as a reporter, Joy's a reporter, you seize on those and people give you messages they want out.

This last couple of months, I've had more texts, more calls, more people, connected to LeBron and the Lakers and magic, they want their stuff sold to the public. So I just think it's more than a little coincidental that docked to the Lakers and Kobe blasting the young guys. And I shouldn't say he's blasting the young guys. Wildly over the top supporting publicly Anthony Davis move is not a coincidence. So here's a story that broke this morning.

Holy moly. Mike Trout of the Angels is going to sign a deal $430 million in like 12 years and stuff. Oh, that's a lot of money. I never begrudge people for making the most they can. Bryce Harper to the Phillies, Mani Machado to the Padres, Mike Trout to the Angels. Great players, unruly, really mediocre to below average rosters. In the NFL, if you overpay a guy, Kurt Cousins, you can get rid of him in a year or two. in baseball, it's 12 years of quicksand.

Congratulations to the Padres, the Phillies, and the Angels. You will not be in the playoffs anytime soon. This is why I always support NBA stars who move. The public crushes Kevin Durant for joining a winner. But Kevin Durant wants to be rich, but he wants to be relevant. And Steph Curry recruited him because Steph Curry likes being rich, but he likes being rich. Eleventh. 162 games, 12 years, losing another series in Texas.

Congrats on being rich and irrelevant. This is why I always support NBA stars. What we want our athletes to be is care as much about winning as we do as fans, right? Like, that means something. We get mad when our teams lose. We want our players to be mad too. NBA guys take less money, short windows, because they want to win and they want to be known as a winner. And it's not just about the money.

This is why I support Kevin Durant and Steph Curry and Chris Paul and LeBron James and guys that move. This is not an anti-Mike Trout take. But I don't think Robinson Kano when he was a kid grew up saying, God, I want to be a Seattle Mariner. He was the second baseman for the New York Yankees. They have 27 World Series titles. The Mariners are the third or fourth most popular team in their own city. When he went and got the money, a couple years into it, he realized,

I want to go back to the city I was really into. And he goes to New York, not the Yankees, but the Mets, but the point being, every time people bang on these NBA players, you should be putting your arms around them. They want to go play for a winner. They want to play in the playoffs. They want to be in the finals. They want to be relevant.

It's not just about paying NBA guys. Major League guys, they're not dopes. Mike Trout knows that contract will limit what the Angels can do, this point forward and free agency. Albert Pujols knew it. Josh Hamilton knew it. Joey Votto knew it. Baseball guys.

High as bitter. I'm in. Congrats. Congrats. But I look at this Mike Trout thing. If I'm the commissioner of baseball, it's not a win for us. I would love baseball to have four and five stars converge on one or two teams, take a little less and win a little more. I really think that'd be great for the sport instead of Machado to a bad team, Harper to the increasingly awful Phillies. Trout re-signing to the second most popular team in Los Angeles. Is it good? I will argue forever.

The Warriors may at times bore you. The Warriors frustrate you. Katie joining Golden State seems a bit much. But they're not irrelevant. Warriors are a lot of things. They're not irrelevant. Baseball stars increasingly are two things. rich and irrelevant.

Nice to have you in. Everybody noticing, I don't know if you paid attention to this, something happened last night. And it was not a great thing for a great player or one that you like more than me. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. 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 tri-es, 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. 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12

and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite there. Care Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the 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 Levan 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 hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them

and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WMBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't. Don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeki.

The ability to show gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. 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. By the way, Mike Trout just signed a $400-some million contract. Seven years is baseball's best player. One playoff hit, no stolen bases. I mean, again, a lot of rich, irrelevant people in America that own waste management companies, but NBA guys want to make some money and they want to be relevant. They want to win games. They care.

baseball guys, give me the money, highest bidder I'm out. Nothing against Mike. He's a nice kid. He could be in a mall in Los Angeles, though, and nobody would know. Because when you're not on the playoffs in baseball, nobody knows who you are. And that's why I always support these NBA guys. Well, except, you know, Westbrook. So, by the way, last night, Oklahoma City lost at home to Miami.

Oklahoma City was a third seed not long ago. They are now shrinking. They're down to a six seed, one game out of eight place. and everybody in the West is hot, except Oklahoma City. Houston's hot? Oh, Houston's on fire. Utah's on fire. The Clippers are on fire.

Houston's won nine and ten. Denver four straight. San Antonio nine straight. Jazz 7 of 10. Clippers won eight of 10. Oklahoma City. Longest current losing streak in the NBA. Four wins last 13 games.

It coincides with the time that Westbrook decided to shoot a lot. Westbrook got a technical the other night. banged into Clay Thompson, inexplicably, got a technical. He knew it would suspend him for a game, and that game was last night, and they lost. This is on Westbrook, not able to play because he can't control himself. Self-awareness is an underrated talent. He doesn't have a ton of it. Westbrook, I always suspected, can play great, play nice for 60 games.

Post-trading deadline, down the stretch, intensity in the NBA increases, winds matter, he unravels, and he's officially unraveling. And so are the thunder, who now, as of this morning, would open up against the Houston rockets

on the road, and they're absolutely healthy and on fire. Games now start to matter. Being available, not suspended. Face of the franchise, controlling your temper, Sort of matters. As I've said, don't hate Westbrook.

Hate his game. I don't always love Steph Curry. Love his game. You are your game. And right now, Oklahoma City is the only really, really good NBA team with really good players that is ice cold. Who are you going to blame? You're going to pay the star all the money.

Got to take a couple hits. That's what I've said. His DNA unravels. Add a little pressure to it, but last night you're losing it home to Miami. Come on. Not good enough. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. It's a very interesting remix to don't hate the player, hate the game there, Colin. I actually sometimes do hate the player and his game. You do not hate Westwood. Don't say you hate Westbro. No, no, no, I like it. I don't know him, but his game wears me out.

I don't know what, by the way, Stevie Francis. hated his game. They're just guys, some guys, John Wall's game drives me crazy. I love Shane Badié's game, but it was a limited game. Ray Allen was a shooter,

but I loved Ray Allen's game. You know, some games just, like there's certain... They're just not for your aesthetic. It was not, exactly. Johnny Mansell didn't love the way he played quarterback. Just didn't like his game. Andrew Luck, love his game.

Part of the bore for. So O'Dell Beckham, Jr. is going off the grid, maybe. He wrote a lengthy message on Instagram this morning, alongside an image of just a black box, just black. He said, PSA, I love you all so much for the ones that follow and

support. I thank you all for that. I'm taking an emotional, mental, physical vacation. I appreciate the love, honestly, but at this point, for the next couple of days, I'm going dark. I won't be around. Phone is gone. With all due respect, please don't text, call, FaceTime, unless it's of the utmost importance.

I really need some time to vibe and just get away. process, reevaluate some of the things in my life as much has changed for me recently. Then he recently deleted that post that he posted this morning, which is kind of weird, because I don't have any problem with this at all. By the way, he's announcing he's leaving Instagram for two days. That's a little needy. Well, I don't see anything about two days. I thought you said for days.

The next couple of days. I think couple is more of like three to five. It can vary, like two to five. Okay, so let me, I like him, but let me say this. Are you one of those people that thinks the couple specifically means two? Well, yeah, like if you and I were a couple, that would be two. But like when you're talking about taking a couple of days, like if you took three days, I wouldn't be like, well, you said you were taking a couple. Well, if I knocked on your door and you're my neighbor, I'm liking a cake and I need a couple of eggs.

How many would you give me? Two to three. Okay, I'd give two. Because a couple. Well, you would just ask for three? Okay, anyway, the point is, okay, so he said he's going away for two days. All right. And he changed his mind, so maybe he isn't.

don't know. But the point is, I don't have a problem with this. Now, he did have some interesting comments to NFL networks, Kimberly Jones, when the trade actually happened. He said, she spoke to him, and he said it's bittersweet, but it is what it is. It's life. At this point, I have no idea what to think I'm trying to

process it right now. Now, granted, that was right after the trade happened. But look, we talk about all the time. We are talking about this trade because we're excited and we're going to see you with Baker Mayfield, and the Browns are going to be interesting. But it is still a very jarring change to go from New York City. to Cleveland, Ohio and a completely different team in space.

But you're more willing to support the player where, like, I think people in the media are incredibly needy when they do this. I can't take Twitter. It's too vile. I'm signing off. Bye-bye. You don't need to announce it. Yeah, you did a fake quitting of Twitter.

Yeah, I do that all the time. I'm like, I am leaving Twitter for an hour. I think people, media people, are incredibly needy when you have to announce you're leaving for a couple of weeks. But Twitter's not going to miss me if I say, off tomorrow. If I leave Twitter, I'll just not post. I won't announce I'm leaving

Twitter. I understand. It's kind of self-important. I know you guys have been wondering why I haven't posted in a few days. It's like OBJ. I need to take some time. But I don't think that's really what Odell's doing, though. I think he's just kind of saying he's in a different space right now and he needs to process everything that's happening. Which I'm fine with. I'm very old.

We freak out on guys when they go overboard and they act extra and emotional. And when they say they need some space, we freak out too. So They can't win. I'm old school. You didn't have to announce or take pictures of what you were having for lunch. Well, we're in a new world now.

And if you don't take a picture of what you had for lunch and you didn't meet, that's how it works. I mean, you got to announce every. If it wasn't for relatives, I wouldn't have announced I got married. I mean, if it wasn't for people being, like, dismayed and angry and wanting a new blender for my mother-in-law, I wouldn't have announced I'm leaving Instagram for 40-bed. is very crucial, though. It's no secret that Luke Walton's days are pretty much numbered as head coach of the Lakers, but their next candidate might be in the same city.

Peter Vestey is reporting that Doc Rivers has a reported mutual interest in the job. He wrote, according to a confidant, he almost always wanted to leash the Lakers. In conversations over the years, Doc frequently expressed an ardent ambition to coach either them or the Knicks before retiring if no other motivation than their worldwide brands. I don't know that I see this happening. I wouldn't do it. For multiple reasons. One, why.

The Clippers are a good team that just cleared more space to sign a big free agent next year. And they got a great owner. A great owner. They're completely rebranding. I don't understand this at all. Also, not happening because, as I said before, LeBron has three more years left on his Lakers contract. He has to win a championship here. I don't see the Lakers moving off of LeBron James.

So who do you bring in? You have to bring in somebody that LeBron has already worked with or is extremely comfortable with, who he knows he's going to have an open conversation and dialogue with. Well, Doc. Probably Ty Lou. Yeah, Doc comes with, and I love Doc. I'm a huge Doc supporter. But Doc, it's been in the game a long time, got his money.

You're not going to push Doc around. Doc's going to come in and tell you what to do. And Doc's very pro player. Players play hard for Doc. They love Doc. But Doc barks and Doc gets after you and Doc has a point of view and Doc's not going to be pushed around. And Doc is a great coach. I'm not saying any of those things are wrong.

I'm just saying there can't be any adjustment period for LeBron and the Lakers. Finally, the Spurs beat the Warriors last night. They extended their winning streak to nine games with 10 games left in the season. San Antonio is now the five seed in the West. San Antonio's playoff streak will reach 22 in a couple of weeks, 22 years when the Spurs officially clinch their spot. Do the Spurs worry you at all in this postseason race? Well, I watched this game last night, and San Antonio is going to win a playoff series. I don't think they're good enough to win a couple.

But, you know, this is Steve Kerr after the game lamenting. Steve Kerr press conferences this year, Joy, they're one of two things. Defusing a Kevin Durant story or lamenting how his team's not focused. That's what Steve Kerr talks about. And Golden State knows, unlike March Madness, where you have a bad half, your season's over. even in the first round, it's a seven-game series. So it's been very hard. When I watched this game last night, it was a classic.

It meant more for San Antonio. They played really hard, a little better defensively. And this is the NBA. I do think San Antonio should be very happy with their product right now because they're shooting the ball well. They're playing well. They looked last night like a really nice NBA team that can win a playoff series. I think whoever matches up with them should be worried.

Because every single year we do this, we forget that the spurs even exists. And then all of a sudden, they're in the play. And they make noise. I don't think that they have a championship level team, but they could mess some things up for some people. Yeah, they show you the true depth of the West. We've forgotten about San Antonio. They've got two All-Stars on the team, Aldridge, DeRosen, and a Hall of Fame coach. Joy with the News.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Line News. By the way, I had dinner with an NFL executive in town last night, a big shot. I'll get to that at the top of next hour. Some interesting things about NFL free agency. Before we get to that, though, Chris Brousard, let's bring him in. former New York Times guy, Fox Sports Radio, I Heart Radio.

All right, my theory on this stuff, you're a dogged reporter, New York Times. I mean, you can't work for the New York Times unless you're a real pro. You're a pro's pro. That place doesn't just hire any old, you know, loudmouth. Right. So you've broken stories before, and I've always had a theory. Stories are broken when somebody wants them broken, is that they can close doors very easily to joy you and me. So the Lakers, the narrative's bad.

Luke's getting fired. Clippers are fun. bad two weeks of press for the Lakers. Suddenly, in a two-day stretch, oh, dog's interested. Makes the Laker job seem very desirable. Number one. Secondly, Kobe comes out, best friends with Rob Polinka,

and says, of course you trade all the young guys. Why? Because Kobe still has juice, and it sort of looks like, you know, the rumors, the little guy's got to get over it. It shifts narratives positively for the front office. Kobe, and Kobe's juice in L.A. is rising. Right? I mean, he obviously was all-time great and beloved by everybody in L.A. before. But seeing LeBron fail to lead them to the playoffs, seeing all the extra stuff LeBron is brought,

people are now looking at Kobe in even higher regard than they did before. So, yeah, for him to come out. And look, I think I've said it on this show. I was told that everybody was like, oh, the Pelicans were leaking everything. I was told the Lakers were leaking stuff too because they wanted people to, know, oh, we're all in on this. People didn't think we went all in on Paul George. People didn't think we went all in on Kauai.

Good point. We are all in on Anthony Davis. We're trying to get it done. This is a great point, is that, listen, the Lakers, this is a big media market. When I used to live out in Connecticut, there was no question that teams reacted to WFA and radio, the fan. There's no question they were leaking stuff and reacting. In Los Angeles, this big market, trial balloons get pushed out.

and I think your point's a very, very good point, which is they got knocked for being sloppy on Paul George, so the Lakers leaked a few stories. Hey, we are going hard after it. Everybody's available. No, I think it's a great point. And now Kobe backing it up that, yeah, everybody should have been available. Why are you ripping the Lakers for going after him?

So, yeah, that's your point. What do you make of the doc rumor? Well, Doc, you've been hearing his name around the league. you hear Jason Kidd, Ty Lou, and Doc Rivers. I think Mark Jackson's name should be in there too, but I don't think that's going to happen. I like Mark. Yeah, I think he'd do a good job with them. But Doc, I agree with you guys.

I think the Clippers is just a better job. Now, we'll see obviously how things pan out this summer with free agents. If the Lakers get Anthony Davis, then now I really like that job if I'm Doc Rivers. So can I just sit back and wait for free agency? if I'm Doc and say, I'm just going to wait and see who gets a better player. Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how quickly the Lakers want to move. Because that may play a role in who you get in free agency, but Anthony Davis obviously would be a trade. So if I'm Steve Ballmer this morning and I read this, I'm like, I'm not rolling the dice on us not getting Kauai and them getting Anthony Davis.

I'm re-signing Doc to a contract this week. Yeah, that could be a part. Well, he already has the extension that carries him for a few more years. Do it again? I don't buy this because I don't think going forward, I feel better about the clipper. No, I think the clippers, look, if they get Kauai Leonard, which most people think they will, they immediately become the Taranto Raptors, which means you're a contender. Yeah.

Because that's what they, they have the same type of players around Kauai or right now that the Raptors have around him. They got some couple shooters, they got some dogs, some role players that play hard, that know their role, that aren't trying to usurp the star and all. I mean, they would be really good. I don't know if they'll get to. You know, does KD want to play with Kauai? A lot of people around the league are saying, I don't think they want to play together. Another name to keep open, we all have associated Kyrie with New York, and that's with good reason.

But maybe the Clippers. What about Kyrie and Kauai playing together? Like if you're Kyrie, if you don't stay in Boston and you, you know, does he want to go into that New York media market, maybe he would look at the Clippers. You know, Kyrie's starting his own media company too. Yeah. And, you know, it helps to be in L.A. if you're doing something like that. So the bottom line is the Clippers is, I think, a better job right now.

And the one guy, with all due respect to Doc, that the Lakers should be trying to poach from the Clippers is Jerry West. They could have had Jerry West. They wanted to show we could do it without Jerry. Magic and Polinka want the credit. Bring in Jerry West. Try. If you can't, you can't, but try. Yeah, the Lakers, I was told, had an opportunity to bring in Cherry West. They did.

And they passed. It's amazing. Other guys want to shine. Now, let's address something. This could get very uncomfortable for both you enjoy. So last night, Oklahoma City loses it home to Miami. Without Westbrook, he didn't play. Of course they lost. Okay. Why didn't he play? Look, I'm going to say this to you.

I've told you he is going to be an icon. Oh, really? 25 years from now, he will be iconic. He's like Alan Iverson. Oh, great. And I'm going to admit he's never going to win a championship. But you know what? That just puts him in the class of Iverson, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, got Charles Malone and Stockton.

That's all right. Oh, great class. That's a great class. It's the second class. Well, that's what he's going to be. That's what he is. His game is tremendous. He's a ball of energy.

He's going to put up great numbers. He's going to be a first ballot hall of famer. And like I said, iconic, but he's not going to win you a champion. The Nike swoosh is iconic. But if the stock plummets 28 points tomorrow, I'm an investor. I'm selling my stock. What is iconic mean? This is not slam magazine.

This is a show of national relevance. You have a problem with Alan Iverson's legacy? We don't talk about Iverson. Didn't win any titles. We talk about Shaq. Alan Iverson is iconic. Pistol Pete Marevich is iconic. And he wasn't as good as Westwood.

That in the 350 gets me a coffee at Starbucks. He is a crucial part of what, Almond Iverson, of basketball culture. Right. You cannot tell the story of basketball without Alan Iverson. And guess what? You cannot tell the story of basketball without Russell Westbro. You cannot. He's average a triple double for three straight years.

Nobody else in the history has done that. I'll tell you the story of basketball. May Smith, Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, LeBron, Michael, Magic, Seacrest out. I just told the story. Please. I just told the story of basketball. You cannot tell the story of basketball without Russell Westbrook. I'm sorry.

All right. I know it doesn't go with your narrative, but it's true. My narrative is almost always right. Okay, let's shift to this. I was joking with joy that Steve Kerr press conference this year, there's only two kinds. there's the everybody's happy here. Kevin Durant rumor's not true. And the second one is him lamenting they didn't come to play.

This is, and I love the NBA, but March madness for all college basketball's problems gives me urgency. Duke is significantly better than every team. But if Zion gets in foul trouble and Duke's not a great shooting team, season over, I got to watch that. Right. The NBA having a seven-game first and second round playoff series. I think Steve Kerr is seeing, I think he knows this is why going forward, it's tough. It's impossible to get these guys, and I'm not banging on Kevin Durant. Duke has four NBA guys.

If Zion gets in foul trouble, they're in trouble because they can't shoot. They need interior points. There's no urgency. And I think this is my only downside to diamond. dynasties is that you can sense it's palpable the disinterest with the warriors. I don't think they're in any trouble at all. Do you? No, they're still the heavy favorite. Houston is dangerous, but they're the heavy favorite.

Let me say quickly, before I answer your question, you say Houston will meet Oklahoma City right now in the first round. And they'd crush him. Russell Westbrook gives Chris Paul problems. Now, the question is, how big of a role does Paul have to play for them to win? because Westbrook's athleticism wears Paul out and gets him out of sorts. You know who matches up poorly? You know who Westbrook matches up poorly with?

His personality. I think Westbrook's battle is with Westbrook. I don't think it's with an opponent. Well, I'm just saying that would be an interesting series. I would pick Houston, but that would be an interesting series. But to get to your point, look, there's a reason that there are only three teams in NBA history or since in the last 52 years. have won three straight, have three-peded.

And you could even say it's two teams. Jordan did it twice and Shaq and Kobe. That's it. Because it's hard. You get bored. Once you've won two straight, the third one, it's all about May and June,

and you're just trying to get through the 82 games without getting hurt. And Jordan's last two, three-peats, the last year of each three-peet, his regular season record was the worst of the trio in both times. Good call. That's what you're saying is absolutely right. I'll tell you this, too.

Kevin Durant, again, everybody in the league thinks he's out of there. He's in New York or if not the Clippers. The Warriors are not going away when Kevin Durant leaves. Thank you. Now, the league will be better because now it'll be a few teams on the same level. The Warriors will, if Draymond can still be a good player, they're going to be right there with everybody else. How do we know that if KD left, they wouldn't move off Draymond and go get another really high-end player?

It's hard to get that type of playmaker who also defends, you know, who does all the little things that Draymond did. And Drayman and Steph are really close. Steph knows what Draymond brings to the team, even though they're different personalities. But I'm telling you what, Golden State is going to be just fine. They're going to have a great chance to win it even without- King. Coach, star.

And remember how good. The numbers even still show that they're great without Durant. Yeah. They beat Houston and OKC without Duran. Good stuff. Chris Broussard, I love arguing. I love being right. Give him some alive.

I'm just not. Icon means nothing to me. I'm not a big icon guy. I like winning. I'm sorry I'm old school. I like winning. Would you rather be Russell Westbrook or Robert Ory? Robert Ory.

Really? Let me think about that. Give me a better example. Charles Barkley or Robert Orr. Charles Barkley. Okay. Barclay's iconic. No, Barclay's green.

Great. Barclay's a great broad. He was a great player. But as a player, whose career would you rather have? I can give you a several names. Alan Iverson or Robert Ory. Stop giving me Robert Ory. You're like San Gioran.

You'd rather drive a Lamborghini or a Volkswagen bug. How about Mike Miller? Mike Miller. That's a terrible example. Okay, a decent player who won rings. You're like, you're literally said. Didn't Bogie get a ring? Did he get a ring with the Warriors?

Okay, so give me. Boke, it was pretty good. How about this? What, Genoble, Genoble, or Russ? What, Janobli? He's a Hall of Famer! Borderline.

Great individually and team-wise. You gave me, he gave me Robert Ory. He has seven rings. Yeah, but he's not a... Some people think... I don't think he should be in the Hall of Fame, but some people think... Steve Kerr, how about that? Not the coach.

Okay. Would you rather have the playing career of Alan Iverson or Steve Kerr? Well, you can't say I want the whole thing. I want Steve Kerr's life. GM broadcast. But we're not talking about that. We're just talking about players. I'm always talking about life.

How about, okay, how about Paxson? John Paxon. Oh, that's a cruddy one. He hit a big final shot. You're making my point. Russell Westbrook, you would rather be Russell Westbrook than a role player who won a bunch of wins. You're giving me, would you rather be the iPhone or an old marker?

That's not fair. What we are arguing is that someone like Alan Iverson had an incredible influence on the culture. D influence. And the history of basketball. Overstated. No,

it's not. I like winning. That's why you don't. That's why I said. Would you rather be Ory, Kerr, Paxon, BJ Armstrong, or Iverson,

Barkley, Westbrook. I would be very proud to be Charles Barkley. I would love to be Charles. Just the player. Not the broadcaster, just the player. Hell, I think,

yes. That one I like. I don't know if Bar, I mean, Westbrook's going to get as much love as Barclay in terms of their playing careers. All I'm saying is that you get into this iconic stuff. Yes. Berkeley's not iconic.

Barclay was just a great player and a great. Like Westbrook's iconic to a stat sheet, a triple double. Barkley is a personality, a flair, a legend. No, Westbrook is a constant motor. He's a nonstop player. He's exciting to watch. He has energy. He has personality.

It matters. Fans? He's getting into it. to him. I mean, he's an icon. You don't like that word. I don't like it. But it's a great word. Say it with you. You know, most icons are icons because they got trophies.

Not some, you know. You got to appreciate the cult. When you think of Oscar Robertson, do you think of the one championship he won or the fact that he averaged a triple double four season? I don't ever think of Oscar Robertson. When somebody brings up the name, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? He average a triple double four season. It's just the big O.

I don't think anything with Oscar. Nothing against the guy. I just don't. Dr. Jay. Dr. Jay, he won the championship, but Dr. Jay was an icon. Yeah, but I think of his titles. Even without the title. Without, he only won one in the NBA.

Even without that title, he was an icon. I see Dr. Jay as a winner, not a dunk guy. I saw him. It's not iconic dunk guy. I see him as a winner. I like winners. If you want to support stats, like one of us on this show is about winners. Triple double.

Back in a second, the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. By the way, just baseball fans crack me up. Like every one of these monster contracts has been a disaster. You're three years into it. You're like, this is an awful deal. I mean, Knoe's already left Seattle. Poolhole Steel was awful.

Josh Hamilton. They're all awful. I mean, what business would you ever sign anybody to a 13, 12-year contract? That's so stupid. I mean, Mike Trout's the best player in baseball, never get better. He's only got one hit in the history of his career seven years. five years from now, he'll be 12 years into his sport, he'll have peaked and he'll be going down, and you have seven years left on a contract or eight years.

They're terrible contracts. You know, nothing against Mani Machado, Mike Trout, and Bryce Harper. I know Bryce is great. I mean, they're all great players, but don't try to validate any of these contracts. You sign a 13-year contract for an NFL player. Who's the best young player in the NFL? Patrick Mahomes. Not signing him to a 13-year contract.

He gets hurt. by the way he'll probably peak in about four years and then you know what is he 23 years old right now I want him at I mean this idea that 13 year contracts are good they're not in any business I wouldn't even want a I wouldn't want a 13 year contract as a radio person TV person I want to be motivated I want my deal to come up every two or three years so I can go you know on the market what's happened to the market is the market grown and but baseball people are always celebrating and trying to validate all these awful contracts. The Angels, you know, I mean, by the way, the Phillies and the Angels actually have some good players.

But that big contract, you always forget this with these big contracts for these sluggers. Like Mani Machado and Bryce Harper are going to come into the stadium every day, feeling like they have to carry their team. Because when you're so much better than everybody else on that team, there's an immense pressure. And a lot of these guys, it messes with their head for the first year of the deal. they they mean Alex Rodriguez has admitted it he went to the Yankees in Texas and got all that money and he felt this incredible pressure to deliver three RBIs and two hits every night in a home run and so there's there's this added dimension when you sign a 400 330 million dollar contract that you got to go to the game and you got to play 162 and you're in you're robbing the fans and all of a sudden you go in a one for 27 slump and it gets into your head and everybody's saying look how much you make I don't think it's good psych psychologically. You can probably validate it financially because of all the money in baseball, but I don't think it's good for teams. I don't think it's good for the sport. I don't think

it's good for the player other than just dollar bills in the bank. But I think it adds a lot of pressure. Fans, the minute you go in a slump, fans, you take a couple days off, fan go right back to your money. I don't think it's good for the sport. And I'm not somebody that resents money. But in Philadelphia, don't try to validate a great big contract because none of them have worked. I mean, none of them. John Carlos Stanton to the Yankees. He was a dud last year. Pool host.

Canoe with the Mariners. I mean, by the way, didn't Canoe get a tag for taking something? Didn't Canoe get suspended? Okay, what happened? Guy gets hurt, feels pressure, got to live up to the contract. I mean, that's the psychology of these massive deals. I don't think they're good for the sport at all. I really don't.

By the way, I had a big dinner last night. there was an NFL executive of note in Los Angeles last night, and he had texted me, and I had texted him, and I got some good information on stuff. Very good stuff. It was a very big dinner. Steak and beer, you get a lot out of your sources. It's very heavy. Steak and a beer. That's what I had last night.

That was it. Steak beer out. And so top of next hour, I love the NFL draft. I'm a big fan of the NFL draft. But let's be honest. All the top teams in the league, what are you going to get one starter out of the draft? Maybe two.

But let's be honest, between special teams, offense, and defense, you know, you got like 40 guys who start in the NFL. The draft adds depth, and they are crucial because it's cheaper depth. It's young guys. And so the draft matters a lot, and I love the draft. But for the good teams that will make the playoffs, it maybe adds a starter. Maybe two, but probably one. And so the teams you have now, I'm going to talk about, I'm going to go through every division in football. You're looking at your team.

Draft or not, I'll make predictions next. 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, this is the herd, wherever you may be in, however you may be listening to, live in L.A. This is the herd. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me.

I guess my point on all this stuff. None of the 10-year baseball contracts have worked. Now you think the 12-and-13-year deals will be great. Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Manning Machado. Halfway through these contracts will be out of their prime, and you've got six and seven years left to pay them. You're telling me that's good business? No, it's not a terrible business.

But, you know, I'm happy for the dude. I'm happy for Bryce, Mike, and Mani. They're great players. But you're going to be five years into this deal. For all of these guys, and they're out of their prime, and you have seven and eight years left on contracts. Don't tell me that's a good deal. And I don't think it's good for baseball. I think there's enormous pressure when a guy walks into a clubhouse making $350 million.

Bryce Harper goes in a one-for-27 slump or misses 26 games because of an injury. Philadelphia Media Sports Radio is going to eat him alive. No way he's in Philadelphia in six years. It'll work for a couple, but he won't be there for 13 years, 12 years. Nope, not going to happen. head and argue the fact that I have all the data on my side, which is none of these 10-year deals have been worth it, none have worked, suddenly 12-year deals, 13-year deals, they're all going to work. No, they're not. No, they're not. All right. So Joy Taylor is joining me.

I'm all while, you know, Mike Trout signed a new deal. Four hundred million dollars. These big deals are goofy. Steve Burline's coming up. Super Bowl champs, CBS football analyst, great guy. He'll be joining us today. Also, Kenyon Martin. Cousin Sal Lockettins on. March Madness around the court. All fired up for March Madness. All fired up to watch Duke. I'm so excited for the tournament. Yeah, so am I.

I just urgency. That's why I love the tournament. You have a bad half. Zion gets in foul trouble and you have to watch the next 35 minutes of basketball, 40 minutes. I mean, I can't wait for it. Now, so I had dinner last night with an executive. Big NFL hot shot was in town. And, you know, when big NFL hot shots come to Los Angeles, they got to look you up for

saying beer. They reach me out. reach out to me for steak and beer. And we were talking about the draft. And as this person I was talking to said, and his team made the playoffs. And about a month ago, I had dinner with somebody before the free agency and his team was a playoff team. And he said, listen, the draft is great. It's crucial. It's cheap labor. You can add depth. He said, but for the really good football teams, what's happening in the NFL now is free agency. We've had four superstars in the NFL changed teams. I'm not talking some linebacker from, you know, Ole Miss. We're talking about

like C.J. Mosley, Lavian Bell, Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham, Juan Alexander. These are world-class football players already in the NFL, already can play, already pro bowlers. So the NFL is a little bit now like the NBA where before I see a team play, I know who can play. And so I said, the draft is great, and the draft will add depth and maybe a starter or two. But to the good teams, I mean, how many guys are going to come out of college football and just start for the Patriots offense.

Not many. Maybe one. Max. And so I thought, I'll do a prediction based on what you see now in the NFL, which is teams, the coaches are all set, the coordinators are all set, and the stars are all set. 90% of the guys that are going to impact games this year, they're here. The draft is the 10% stuff that adds low-cost labor, a handful of home run stars, but not a lot of guys that change games.

I mean, really, who's going to win and lose games next year out of this draft? Maybe Kyler Murray if he goes to Arizona. Maybe. The second best quarterback, DeWain Haskins, isn't even scheduled to start if he goes to the New York Giants. So here we go. Little music, here are my predictions in the NFL, because I think 90% of the teams and the games, this is what you got. I would start in the NFC East. I think Philadelphia, Malik Jackson next to Fletcher Cox in the Interior,

best defensive line in football. Deshawn Jackson to steal for what they're paying him, a home run guy with Carlin. I think Dallas lost Cole Beasley and David Irving. They bring in Jason Whitten, but I think Philadelphia is by far and away the best team in that division. They'll win at 12 and 4. Dallas will be a wildcard team at 10 and 6. I think they'll be a lot like last year. Competent, good, capable of beating everybody they play, but with a ceiling that's lower than Philadelphia's, Washington Giants round out the division. NFC West, I think San Francisco is the one team that doubles their wins. Why? They added

D. Ford, an elite pass rusher. Kwan Alexander, one of the top athletic linebackers in football. Tevin Coleman. They now have a one-two punch at running back in Jason Verrett at Corner. They went out, spent some money, but upgraded the team. Rams, I think, take a step back. Roger Stafford,

Lamarcus Joyner, offensive lines just getting older. Todd Gurley arthritis story. I think Seattle and Arizona are fine, though not special. NFC North, I think the Bears will win it. But I do think A lot of what Chicago did last year was Matt Nagy's smoke and mirrors, hiding a little bit of what Mitch Trubisky can do. I have the Bears winning the NFC North.

They added Ha-ha Clinton Dix, who's a very good safety. Vic Fangio, they lost him, their defensive coordinator. You can move the graphic at any time. Bears winning the division. I think Green Bay is second. I will give Green Bay a lot of credit. A lot of people are bailing on the Packers. Excellent free agent moves.

They went and got three defensive. starters. I have questions, though, about Matt LaFleur, the coach. So I have them as a borderline playoff team in Green Bay. Bears win the division. I think Minnesota with Kirk Cousins, they are what we think they are. Great receivers, good coach, lower ceiling in big games against better quarterbacks with Kirk Cousins. Matt Patricia is sort of a mess in Detroit right now. I don't trust them. NFC South. New Orleans, I think they take a step back. I think they win their division. Max Unger retired.

Mark Ingram gone. Those are power players to support Drew Brees. I think they've had back-to-back years with wildly emotional playoff losses. This division, I think, is sort of a weaker division this year. Atlanta, Carolina are fine. I don't know Cam's health. I just don't know what I get from Cam. And I think there's people in the building that are kind of worn out of Cam.

I don't think it's the greatest vibe in the building. They want a little more from Cam. He comes in the least healthy he's ever been. Tampa Bay Bruce Ariens rounds out the bottom. Let's go to the AFC. New England's got 12 draft picks. The word out of New England is Gronk is actually going to stay. And by the way, college tight ends can't block anymore

because college football is all spread out. So the fact that Gronk is now an elite blocking tight end is not lost on people around football who I've talked to. They got the best blocking tight end in football who can actually catch. I think the Jets had the most impactful acquisitions of any team in the National Football League. You can't bring in Lavian Bell, C.J. Mosley. Those are star players for the Jets.

Jameson Crowder, an all-pro left guard, and Adam Gase. The Jets fight for a playoff spot. Buffalo's close seven and nine dolphins. I think the dolphins are in a total rebuild. Four and twelve? I think they're in a rebuild. I think they're in a complete utter rebuild for the number one pick. Somebody's going to go four and 12 in this league.

Why not Miami? But again, I think they know rookie coach bringing in Fitzpatrick, moving off Tanna Hill. I think they're tired of 8 and 8. I think Miami's like, all right, we're in a complete and utter rebuild with Ryan Fitzpatrick. It's going to be a long year for me between the Steelers and Dolphins. But you'll have the number one of the number two pick next year. On the AFC West, Kansas City's not going to be as dominant offensive. Lee Kareem Hunt's out of town.

Tyreek Hill will be. I still think it's a great coach, a great quarterback. There are so much I like about them. Kansas City's interesting. They've had the guts in recent years to move off people like Alex Smith. They moved off D. Ford, Justin Houston, Eric Berry. Those are hard moves to make in a small market like Kansas City. But they've got the guts to do it because they got Andy Reid and they got Patrick Mahomes.

They have Travis Kelsey. They have three stars. And they're moving off a lot of the expensive guys. I have a lot of respect for that. Chargers, again, I think the Chargers are good. Here's what I worry about with the Chargers. You keep playing in this small stadium, and psychologically, how long can you keep playing in a soccer stadium? It's novel for a year or two, but I think there is some fatigue them feeling like we're the road team for 16 games a year.

Denver and the Raiders round out. I think Flacko will be fine. They'll fight for 500. I don't buy a lot of the Raiders stuff. I think a lot of it's just been overpaying for people. The most controversial pick I'll make today. I have Pittsburgh still winning the division. Let's go to the AFC North.

Cleveland will be better, but Joey and I talked about this yesterday. They finished in third last year. They had a losing record. They got blown out four times. They added OBJ. I like him. And Kareem Hunt by week eight. I like them.

This is still a losing culture with a rookie headcoat that I'm not sure is not going to be totally in golf. I think Cleveland's better and fight for a playoff spot. I'll take Pittsburgh's owner, their quarterback, Kevin Colbert, their general manager, and they still have the best. offensive line in that division. I'll take Pittsburgh to win it. Lamar Jackson takes a step back. Cincinnati's a mess. And finally, the AFC South, I think it'll look a lot like last year.

I think Nick Foles is going to figure out that once he loses Doug Peterson and his great owner and his great GM in Philadelphia, Nick Foles reverts back to Nick Foles. They round out the rear. I think the Colts have a ton of picks. Seventy-five million left in cap space. The Colts need a number two receiver. They got Devin Funch. They need to get an edge rusher. They will in the draft. I hope they draft another corner. But they're a very good team, getting better.

Never forget, they won nine of their last 11. Marlon Mac emerged as a real running back. So here's how my NFL playoff predictions would look today. And again, we've got a draft. Somebody may make a splashy move and pick up two or three great college players. But I think your division winners in the NFC are Philly, San Francisco, Chicago, and the Saints, Cowboys, Rams, and the Wild Card. I think in the AFC, it's Patriots, Chief Steelers Colts, Chargers, Texans wild card. I think two teams in the NFL will double their wins, San Francisco and the Jets.

And I think a couple of teams, obviously I've picked a couple of teams to take a step back. Like Baltimore, I think, takes a step back. And who else did I have taken a step back? Jags, well, they'll be the Jax. So there you go. Rams. I have the Rams taking a little step back. Wild card, they'll go on the road for the playoffs. How was that? That was like seven minutes of NFL football. I had this dinner last night. Well, the dolphins took a step back too. Well, but I will say this about the dolphins. They're going to rebuild. They're like, hey, we're going to rebuild and be awful.

I have respect for that. Well, listen, it's not like I had big aspirations for this year. It hurts. Painful. Yeah. It was almost hurtful. It's very, it's not good on the eyes. By the way, Josh Rosen, I've had two people I trust say, they have called the Arizona

Cardinals on Josh Rosen. There is league interest in Josh Rosen. Arizona, I'm told, wants more for Josh Rosen, but there is a sense around the NFL, I'm told, people are interested in Josh Rosen of Arizona. Arizona, and I've been told this now by two people, Arizona is aware of the interest, but is driving a hard bargain if indeed you want him. They like Josh Rosen. Arizona likes Josh Rosen. They're not giving him away. But the story that I have learned in the last 72 hours is

there is Josh Rosen is being discussed by teams in this league. There are people looking at Josh Rosen as a guy. If Arizona decides at some point, we're moving off. And the teams I've heard that are interested in Rosen, are all good teams. These are good teams. These are not like, they're good teams that would use him eventually as the starter.

These are good teams that want Rosen. They think he needs to develop. So like the Patriots. Teams that are good teams with an older quarterback, they want Rosen to come in. Or maybe the Steelers. Learned. Could be. I'm just telling you. Who else? Giants.

Just, yes. Every team that's interested in Rosen. Since you clearly can't say it, I'll just start listening and then you give you a reaction. There's multiple teams interested in Rosen. It is all I've been told, teams with an aging veteran quarterback. It's not like they're bringing him in Miami to start. No, no. It's people that think he needs to come in house. Learn how to be a leader. Watch a respected leader. that's what I'm hearing. Steve Burline's next. I haven't talked to Steve either in a long time or never,

but he does a, I'm not sure if I, when's that last time, Gannon and I talked to a lot. I haven't seen Steve. He does a good job, so he's going to join us. I'm excited for that. He knows Rosen, by the way. A little connection there. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays

in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies,

and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

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

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, Keir 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 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 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 on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Check it out. The FIFA Women's World Cup trophy is here in L.A.

We'll be broadcasting the FIFA Women's World Cup from Friday, June 7th through Sunday, July 7th, with unprecedented coverage live from Paris. All 52 matches air live, including 22 on broadcast television, more than any ever, and 27 on FS1. Be great. World Cup is my new Olympics. As a kid, I grew up with the Olympics and soccer emerged. All my kids have kind of a flare in an interest in soccer, and suddenly all of a sudden the World Cup is my new Olympic.

Steve Berline played at Notre Dame, now a CBS broadcaster for 15 years. He was a pro bowler and a Super Bowl champ with the early 1992 Dallas Cowboys. Steve is joining us. Good to see you. Yes, you do look a little like Joe Thysman, and you've been told that a million times, right? By the man himself. By the man himself, Joe Thysman has always referred to me as his little brother.

So, yeah, there are some similarities there. I like to say I'm the good-looking one of the two. Absolutely. I concur. So this is strange. Last three years, Steve, we've had almost an NBA feel to NFL free agency. Stars, superstars moving teams. Some of it's just the cap went up. Teams have room.

And let's be honest, the NFL's a copycat league. Philadelphia did it, had success. Rams are like, we like that. We did it. They had success. And there is a momentum in the NFL for free agency, which I think is great. I like to see stars move around. I'm a sports talk show host.

Let's start with this. Lavian Bell to the Jets. Impact or not? Oh, yeah, big time. I mean, Levy on Bell going anywhere was going to be a big impact for any team because of his versatility of the things. Any creative offensive coach is going to love having a guy like Lavian Bell because of all the different things you can do, all the matchups you can create.

But for a quarterback, a young quarterback like Sam Darnold to have the safety valve of a guy like Lavon Bell that can make. the explosive plays off a checkdown passes when you're in trouble. I guarantee you that's what Adam Gase is going to be telling Sam Darnold. If you get in trouble, if you have any doubt in your mind, 26 is always going to be there. Always know that he's going to be there for you. You covered the Miami Dolphins. You know Adam Gase.

You said something to me during the break about Gase. One of the things you liked about him. Yeah. I think with an offensive coach as creative as Adam Gase is, And you can rip him about his personality and the way he handled the press conference in New York when they announced him and all that kind of stuff. I don't think he enjoys that part of the role.

But when you talk about him and his track record of producing effective offenses and putting numbers up, as a quarterback, he's going to be a guy that is going to make all quarterbacks, I think, look as good as they can possibly look. And I think with Sam Darnold, he's going to know that going into every game, He's going to have a good game plan. He's going to know that his coach is going to be able to make the adjustments during the game to give him a chance to make plays during the course of the game.

The track record kind of speaks for itself. And as a quarterback, you're always looking for that. When you go into a game, you want to know that you're going to be able to match up with that defensive coach, X's and O's, and you're going to have a chance to make some plays. And that's Gase, that's his reputation. Exactly right. He'll get you in, like a Kyle Shanahan, he'll get you into the right formations and mismatches. Then it just comes down can the quarterback make the plays.

you know, I've always felt like quarterback-wide receiver relationships get the headlines but quarterback running back relationships generally get the wins. Dak is better with Zeke. Mahomes was better with Karim Hunt. Darnold will be better with Levian Bell.

Antonio Brown to the Raiders. It sounds great. My concern is, and you know the Raiders well, you played for the Raiders, is that there'll be a sense, that you've got to get Antonio Brown the ball. That's easy with a running back.

That's not easy for a star receiver on the perimeter who's being bracketed. Do you worry a little bit? OBJ to Cleveland, Antonio Brown to Pittsburgh, the pressure to get these challenging players the ball a lot. Well, and who make it clear that they want to have the ball. They need to have those 10 plus targets every week, or they're not going to be happy. There's no doubt about that. So it's an issue.

But I think you also have to look at the other factors involved. And Antonio Brown now coming to the Raiders, with all that he's been through the last couple years of Pittsburgh, his mentality, I think, is going to be one of just trying to be a positive influence, and trying not to draw any of that negativity toward him. He's excited about the new opportunity he wanted out of Pittsburgh. Derek Carr, I think, is an absolutely perfect fit for dealing with his type of personality with that,

that kind of diva type of personality. And I think because of that, they're going to get along and communicate very well. Derek Carr is going to know how to manage that relationship very well. Having Tyrell Williams on the other side is going to do a lot for Antonio Brown as well. Also, J.J. Nelson picking up, that's not as high profile in acquisition, but they've got him now as the third receiver. That's going to allow John Gruden and his offensive staff to kind of create matchups. You talked about the brackets that Antonio Brown is always going to face.

There are things you can do formation-wise, personnel-wise, movement-wise, motion before the snap to kind of make it very difficult for a defense to bracket a guy like Antonio Brown. So having those other threats on the field will work in his favor. And I think Derek Carr is a perfect match, and I know he's very excited about having Antonio Brown to throw it to. You're a former Raider. 14 years in the league, Odell Beckham's a world-class talent, but the kicking net, the peeing on the field thing, there is a – you have to manage Odell Beckham a little bit.

did you ever, and by the way, some people can do it, but I don't think we can deny O'Dell Beckham can be a handful at times. I thought Ben McAdo at times felt engulfed by him. Shermer didn't quite know always what to say after games. Eli's very, Eli was probably a perfect personality for him. What do you make of O'Dell Beckham? Now, young guy, young star off a broken ankle, so there's a sense of urgency. I got to make this happen.

Freddie Kitchens, baker's a young kid. How do you think it works? I think it works great. I really do think it was a huge move for the Cleveland Browns. Number one, getting Odell Beckham Jr. back with Jarvis Landry, his best friend. They played together at LSU. They have a history together. They're going to really make each other better and push each other the way they did in college.

I know that they're both excited about that. Another weapon for Baker Mayfield in that offense within Joku and with Chubb at the running back. You got Jarvis Lander now and Odell Beckham Jr. That's going to be an explosive offense. And I think O'Dell Beckham Jr.'s got a lot of proving to do, too, as far as similar to Antonio Brown, the track record, the history, the negative press, the negative attention that these guys have drawn most of itself induced because of how they handle themselves in these different situations. But I think both of those guys are going to go into their new situation saying, I am not going to be a negative influence. I'm going to try and be a positive force on this football team and let the rest of it take care of itself. Steve, you were an old-school Notre Dame quarterback, sit in the pocket, throw darts.

That's what Josh Rosen is. The NFL has changed. It looks like the Big 12 increasingly. All of a sudden, Arizona is sitting here at number one, and people are calling Arizona, I'm told, an offering not first-round picks, but a package for Josh Rosen. There is interest around the league on Josh, I'm told, by three quality teams with aging veteran quarterbacks. And then you have Kyler Murray. His tape's amazing. He can run around.

He throws a beautiful ball. A little small. You run Arizona today. You hire Cliff Kingsbury. Don't you have to consider going with Kyler Murray and starting over again? He's kind of what you would recruit if you were a coach. Well, he's come out and said it. We know Cleansberry's already come out and said that.

Now, the question is he going to back up what his statement was prior to being in this situation. So I really believe it's going to happen. I do believe that Josh Rosen is going to be moved prior to the job. draft and I believe or maybe even on draft day who knows how it's going to work out but I do believe Josh Rosen deserves a chance I think he's still going to be a good quarterback I mean Tom Brady's done pretty well for himself over the course of his career is not a very mobile guy Drew Brees is not a runner you can go down the list of all these guys Matt Ryan that have had great success in the NFL by knowing where to go with the football by being accurate and by being able to stand in there at the

key moments of the game and make plays make the right throw Rosen need to be made. So I think Josh Rosen can play in this league. He'll get another chance. He should get another chance. As far as Kyle Murray goes, my only real concern is the size. Now, I know they measured him at, what, 510? 5'10. I cannot believe that. I was told

that he was closer to 5'8 than he was to 510. But obviously they measured him, and I'm not questioning the validity of that. But he does look small. He does not look 5'10. And I showed video of Russell Wilson in college. Russell Wilson did not look small. He looked strong,

compact. Some guys, Russell played at 220, came down to 205 for the Combine to be fast. I kind of feel like Kyler plays at 180. Right. He went up a little bit. Yeah. So they don't look like the same athlete, and I am concerned about that, but I do think he's a first round quarterback. And I love him. I think he's got

all the tools. Now, the difference is, and you know this, coming from that offense in Oklahoma, players are running open all over the football field. It's not the same in the NFL. You're not going to have guys running two or three steps ahead of the nearest defenders. So he's going to have to stand in there and make

throws on time accurately, and I think he is an accurate guy. So the question is, can he do it? Can he find the lanes to get those balls delivered on time and in tight coverage? That's where the height becomes an issue for me. Story broke yesterday. It was jaw dropping to me. I have defendant Ben Rothlessberger to a point. I do think he can be passive aggressive. I've said this about Aaron Rogers and Big Ben. They're remarkable. Little passive aggressive. You've had in both instances, you know, players former current, take a few veiled shots, which is very rare. That doesn't happen with Peyton Manning. No.

So they're great. But, you know, the story came out Monday. Josh Harris, who's going to be on our show, by the way, and 20 minutes came out and said, he intentionally fumbled despite Todd Haley. I thought it was, listen, I don't know if it's true or not. So I'm not going to say it's true or not. But a guy said it, so when I have him on the show, what do you make of that claim? Well, I mean, we're talking about it. He said, she said type of thing, because I'm sure that Ben Rothesburg is never going to admit to something like that.

You know, it's one of those things where it just kind of more fuel to the fire. And I agree with what you're saying. And Ben, I think he's had tremendous progress from a maturity standpoint since all of his legal, the motorcycle accident, the assault charges, all that stuff. It really woke him up. And I've noticed in meeting with him several times since doing games, I've noticed a maturity and a presence that he's improved significantly, but he still is what he is. And he still sometimes kind of puts his foot in his mouth

and doesn't step up and take that leadership role like a quarterback should. There's a lot of talented guys, Steve. Doesn't mean they're leaders. Exactly. Like we forget this. These are 23-year-old kids often. Some are just talented. Now, you get lucky with Andrew Luck or Russell Wilson,

talented slash leader. But you played in this league. Not every guy playing in the quarterback. I don't see Ben as a great leader. I see him as a great player. Well, and a lot of that, I think, has been facilitated by the management around him and some of the things, the comments that have been made recently by the general manager, you know, about how the kids around Ben need to pick it up and follow his lead.

Well, you know, his lead has not always been the best example to follow, I don't think. Thank you. So, but I'm not two-time Super Bowl chance. You can't ever take that away from Ben. And again, I think he's made tremendous progress, but he still does when the pressure's on, when the media is in his face, he does have a tendency to deflect instead of what I think

the true quarterback leaders do, and that's taken on the chin. They step up and they say, you know what, I got to get better. We're not playing well enough. It starts with me. We're going to get back to work this week. You think about Drew Brees and Tom Brady

and all these guys that consistently handle those situations well. Ben has not been that guy. Yeah. It's great seeing you, great meeting you. Steve Berline, CBS, 15 years. We'd love to have you back. Anytime. I'm right down the road in Orange County, so happy to do it. Congrats on that Mike Trout deal. He signed for 27 years, I think, this morning. My God. We love Trout out there for sure, yes, sir. All right, Steve, Joy Taylor, with the news.

No, no, no, turn on the news. This is the Hurdline News. Well, the Southexter one game away from advancing to the NBA finals last season, And according to Isaiah Thomas, an 18th NBA championship banner might be hanging in TD Garden if they hadn't traded him. Do you ever think about what could have been, like, long term, if you stayed? Yeah, but I would probably want a championship. Yeah, let's slow down on that a little bit. That's easy to say.

It's hard to win NBA championships when Golden States in the other bracket. Yeah, maybe I would, maybe I could be more on his side if he was like we would be in the NBA finals already, even though the facts kind of point to otherwise in that situation as well. They did get Kyrie for Isaiah, and he's played in Cleveland, they were with the Lakers. For the record, I know it felt mean at the time, but Boston made the right move. You know, I supported Isaiah Thomas in the moment

because I do feel like he lost his payday by playing through that hip injury. And that's why I don't, everything that happened with Kauai, I completely supported because of Kauai felt like he was not, in the right shape to be playing. He should not risk his career. And millions and millions of guaranteed dollars for an organization to then move off of him. Now that the spurs would have done that necessarily. But he is an example of why you don't do that.

Now, whether a team was going to give him that money and then regret it, I mean, those things happen. But I do feel like that was a reason why I supported Isaiah. Since then, he's gone back and forth with the public and the public guy being embraced. Although they did give him a nice tribute the other night. He's a good player that wanted a great contract. in Boston said, we're not going to do that. And it wasn't the best exit from Boston, considering everything that happened with him there. But I don't agree that they would have won a championship if he was still there.

So last week, the Giants traded Odell to the Browns, which pretty much proves the Giants are building a new roster. But Dave Gettleman says they can still win games while they're rebuilding. We're building. The object of this is to win as many games as possible every year. Okay? So we're building. We were 3 and 13. When I took over, we were 5 and 11 last year.

12 of those games were a touchdown or less. We're building. I don't understand why that's a question. And really and truly, you can win while you're building. Look, the thing about it is, is it's kind of hard to believe that you're really trying to win when Eli is still the quarterback. And the whole situation with benching Eli two years ago, I thought was a disaster. I didn't think it was necessary. They weren't going to the up-and-coming rookie quarterback that they drafted.

It was not a situation where him being benched was going to change anything for the season. I feel like a little bit of last year was residue from that. Now I have no idea what the Giants are doing in this situation. Is it a money thing? It doesn't make sense. And I don't have a problem with them trading Odell because they got pieces back and they felt like they needed to move on from him. And Odell's going to go on to a successful career and everything's fine.

but fans don't want to just win. That shouldn't be your standard. Like, we're going to win some games. They don't have a plan. You've got to show fans you're headed in a direction. And he's saying basically that fans need to be patient. And New York is just not a patient place. Everyone knows that.

Finally, we can add Blake Bortles to the list of Shaw McVeigh believers. He signed at the Rams last night to be the backup for Jared Gough. And Bortles, who's throwing motion has been picked apart by a lot of people, believes that McVeigh can revive his career. I mean, it's a one-year contract, so it's not something in the world. It's a good, solid backup for Jared Goff. At this point in his career, he's going to be a vagabond that signs for one year. That's what he is.

That's what he's not against him. He made a lot of money, but this is what he should be signing, one-year deals. Right. I mean, he had more than enough time in Jacksonville to prove that he was viable starting for. And good players around him, by the way. It wasn't like he was on an island out there. Joy with the News. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Live News. Josh Harris is the running back who called out Big Ben for intentionally fumbling. I think it's a jaw-dropping claim. I don't know if it's true or not, but he's going to join us next via Skype. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Men and women across America upgrading from the tattered multi-pack underwitted Tommyjohn.

Tommyjohn.com. Code Hurd gets you 20% off your first order. So there's a story, Ezekiel Elliott's been with the Dallas Cowboys for three years. They're not paying him anything. One more year than an option year. And there's discussions in Dallas what you should do with Zeke long term because you're going to have to pay him a fortune. Let me tell you one of the secrets the smart teams in the NFL do, and I watched it in free agency. If I was a Dallas Cowboys today, I would sign Ezekiel Elliott now before I have to.

One of the secrets to smart teams, and they do it in the NFL, sign your own. stars early. Take it on the chin for a year, but by year two, three, and four for a running back, you're stealing money. Zeke is great. And this whole thing about we pay so much attention to quarterbacks and wide receivers, A, B, and Derek Carr, Baker Mayfield, and OBJ, but quarterback and star running back equals wins. It just doesn't get the headlines. Drew Breeze was just patting stats in New Orleans. They got Alvin Camera. They're good enough to win the Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes with Andy Reid is one of the most talented young quarterback since Brett Farr.

When Kareem Hunt got hurt, that's with Tyree Kill, with Andy Reed, with Travis Kelsey, with all those guys. When Kareem Hunt got hurt, his completion percentage dropped 5%, passer rating down 15 points, passing yards went down 40 a game, and they were four and three without him. And that's Patrick Mahomes with great players around him. DAC without Zeke two years ago, five touchdown seven picks. Pass a rating dropped to the mid-70s. Andrew Luck last year, last 11 games went nine and two.

Why? Remember he got off to a bad start. Then the Colts got red hot. Why? The emergence of Marlon Mack. At the end of the year, Colts got a running game. Marlon Mack emerged as a running back for them, and Andrew Luck's numbers exploded. Quarterback wide receiver will always get the headlines.

perimeter players, OBJ, Antonio Brandenor like track stars. Big 60, 70-yard touchdowns. Those don't produce wins. OBJ's last 16 games were the Giants that were 4 and 12. His biggest games, his 10 biggest games, they were 3 and 7. Running back quarterback equals wins. Mahomes never the same last year when Mahomes left. Dax's not the same without Zeke.

Jared Goff was not nearly as dynamic in the last seven weeks when Todd Gurley had his arthritis that just got reported. Andrew Luck popped when Marlon Mac emerged. And by the way, the Steelers had Antonio Brown for 15 weeks. What they didn't have is Labian Bell. They missed the playoffs. All right. So if I was Dallas and Zeke, I'd sign him early.

I'd sign him early. Second story, you know, a couple years ago, I took my, I used to work for Disney. And I took my kids to, like, Disney World. And, you know, when you're an employee, I bought the VIP pass and stuff, and you got like behind the scenes look at Disney, right? And the good news is we could go on the roller coasters over and over and over, didn't have to wait in lines. It was awesome.

The bad news is it doesn't feel quite as magical when you see goofy with his head off smoking during lunch break. It's just a place with roller coasters. The magic wears off. And Paul Pierce yesterday talked about LeBron James. And much like Jeff Van Gundy said, well, here it is. If the Lakers get the number one pick, what are they going to do? What should they do?

If the Lakers got the number one thing. The Lakers got the number one pick. Here we go. I would trade LeBron James. At least he kept it real out here. Sometimes he doesn't say that. You're talking about three years left of LeBron or 15 years left of Zion. Let's go.

And here's what's interesting about it. Paul Pierce and Jeff Van Gundy have suggested, move on. Walt Frasher called him a bad leader. Unnamed NBA executives last week said they wouldn't trade for him. Local L.A. media is saying he's disengaged. For the first time in 15 years, the magic's gone, and it's not returning. Once you see Goofy and Snow White out of their outfits smoking during lunch break, Disneyland's still cool. But it's not as magical.

And that's the reality of where we are with LeBron James. Wow. Titles. Mortal. Don't get me wrong. They may add a player. They're not going to add two. They may add one.

It'll be fun. But we've seen goofy smoking. We've seen Snow White knocking down a butt light at lunch. They're just characters now. And they're mortal. And they're not magical. And LeBron for 15. years there was an armor, there was an impenetrability, there was a bulletproof vest.

It was magical. Like, we used to say this all the time. You could put LeBron on any team and they get to the finals. He is on any team and they can't make the playoffs. In fact, they may end up as the second worst team in the national basketball association, third worst, fourth. So the magic's gone, the body armor, the superhero. It's all been exposed this year.

It doesn't mean goofy and snow white and LeBron. It still works. LeBron's a 28-8-8 guy. But you can't deny this. It's not the same. Like this year exposed stuff. It's not the same. And the qualities of LeBron, like when Michael Jordan moved to the Wizards, he was still really good.

But he wasn't bulletproof. Like he lost the armor. He couldn't finish in first or second in his division. Forget the conference. He couldn't make the playoffs. And Kobe in the end with all those players, he scored 60. He was still great. But they were awful.

And that's where we're at with LeBron. They're going to reboot this and they're going to add a player. It's going to be Anthony Davis. And they're going to be more interesting. But, you know, you see a Disney character having a smoke break. It's hard to convince your 12. 12 year olds. Really, it's a goofy likes nicotine. It doesn't work. Just, you know, believe me, I was there. It just, it's, and yeah, yeah, Snow White's got an addiction. It's not pretty kids, but, you know,

but by the way, my kids still like going there. They still like the rides. They still like the log flume. They still love the food. It's not like, it's not like we won't watch LeBron and it won't be entertaining. It will be. It's just magical. No, it's not magical. All right. We moved out of the magical stage, and that's okay. By the way, did I tell you I had dinner with a key NFL executive joy last night? You did. You mentioned singing beers. Do you know I picked up the check?

I know. Well, you should. Should I? Because I was the one looking for information. Correct. So if you're the one seeking something from the dinner, you should pick up the tab. Is that how it works? Because I kind of wanted Roger Goodell to pay for it.

So I was trying to secure information. for the show. Right. So how do you do it? Did you go into the dinner with that in the forefront? Or you just went as yourself and then people should just assume that if they say. No, I had a goofy mask. What do you mean?

Did I go as myself? I mean, everyone knows you are, you pick up your phone every day and say like someone just text me and this is what they text me. You don't ever say who. Right. No, I went. No, I went because I like this person. But he's also a valuable resource full of brilliant knowledge.

Right. So he knew that you were going to use some of that brilliant knowledge for the show. I'm not sure. Okay. Well, then, yeah, you were right to pick up the time. We actually invited each other. Greg said who invited who. So if he would have invited me, should he have paid?

Is that how it works? Yeah, I think that's fair. I think he did. Well, you can just split it. You know, I'm very giving. Hour three is coming up. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app.

Search Hurd to listen live or on demand when whatever you'd like. Hour three, here we go. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, live in LA. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. I gotta read this, Joy. Cold and flu season, try Vic Synex nasal spray.

12 hours when congestion strikes. Out of the winter now, kind of moving into the spring. A lot of colds out there and flus stuff. Cousin Sal is coming up at the end of the show. New show, Lock It In. here and he's going to come in. I'm very excited for the tournament. I make note, Joy and I are more NBA fan than college fan, but there is something incredibly magical about the bracket. I love watching the tournament. You love watching it. It's great. It's so much five. Million games

at once and upset. I just love urgency. So it's, and the feeling that there will be an upset and you're getting to see players that you don't normally get to watch on the highest level. And you really get to watch a lot of the future of the NBA. So it's a good. It's great. So Duke should win best players. Cousin Sal. Kenyon Martin, former number one overall pick,

Kenyon Martin on all the Doc Rivers rumors. Cousin Sal again, going to be here. But pretty interesting Lakers story that I woke up to this morning. So I'm going to start there. Suddenly, all sorts of stuff's leaking for the Lakers. Doc Rivers may be the next Laker coach. That story was broken by a series of people,

won Peter Vessie. This is, by the way, no shot on the reporters. Peter's terrific Hall of Fame writer. That story just now coming out multiple sources. Oh, it makes the Lakers look desirable, doesn't it? The Great Doc Rivers. Another story comes out in the last 24 hours. Kobe Bryant bashes the young guys and says,

of course you trade Coos Malonzo and Brandon Ingram for Anthony Davis. It's one of the best players ever. One of the best players in the world. Why did these come out? Because somebody wants them out. Okay, I live in Los Angeles. The last two weeks, this has become an anti-Laker town, anti-Lebron. I've never seen this team get this kind of press.

It's been a disaster. Words like, you know, Titanic, disaster, hopeless, over as the clippers in the same building are going to make the playoffs. So the Lakers have a narrative problem right now. They've got a narrative problem. So they send that word out about Doc Rivers, and I don't think Doc Rivers is going to coach the Lakers, but it makes it look like the Lakers jobs now very desirable. I mean, Doc Rivers won titles. He's up for coach of the year.

He's an all-time NBA guy. Oh, he'd leave Steve Ballmer and Jerry West. He'd leave a playoff team for the Lakers. Do I think he's going to leave the Clippers for the Lakers? No, I don't. But they put a face and a name. on the coaching search. It's now exciting.

People talking about Doc. Similarly, Kobe Bryant still has a lot of juice in Los Angeles. One of his best friends is Rob Polinka. That was his agent forever. Polinka, there's no way Kobe would have said that to hurt his friend Rob Polinka. But the Laker front office, Magic and Polinka,

have gotten clobbered in the press nationally, regionally, locally for all those trade rumors, not saying it's all their fault, but it made the papers and the sense is it's crushed the season. So when Kobe comes out and he has juice and he says, hey, come on, of course you trade those guys. It's like, yeah, yeah, well, Kobe's right. Yeah, like, I mean, obviously, you can blame the trade rumors, but this is called spinning. This is why companies put out PR and they drop bad news on Friday and give you good news on Monday so the media can talk about it.

Listen, the last six years, the Lakers have the worst record in the NBA. I'm not joking. Worse than the Knicks, worse than the Sons, worse than Orlando, worse than Sacramento, worse than the Hawks. They do.

I'm not joking. They were swept this year by the Knicks. Last six years, Steve Balmer crossed down with the Clippers is a billionaire. Jeannie feels like a really rich millionaire.

The Clippers have traded their four best players in the last three years. They're still making the playoffs. Lakers have LeBron can't make the playoffs. Roster advantage Clippers. Front office, Jerry West,

against a former agent and magic. Advantage Clippers. Listen, in their own city, it's been a bad year. So when I see stories come out, and congratulations to all the reporters included in this, this is not an indictment on them. Stories leak when people want them out. And this is a classic Doc is interested in the Lakers. Do I think Doc would leave the Clippers for the Lakers?

No, I think he has a very strong relationship with the clipper owner, Steve Ballmer. I think Doc and Jerry West are very respectful of each other. I don't think Doc and LeBron would work, to be honest. Doc has a strong point of view. Doc's not going to count out anybody. Doc's one of those guys that comes in your building, and he brings his own guy, sort of like LeBron. I don't think it would be a perfect fit.

LeBron likes to have a little power over his coach. LeBron is not going to control a team and a bench or that flight when Doc's on it. I don't think it would work. I think it's a tasty rumor. And I do think Docs in his mid-50s and 55-year-old men, Notre Dame football, Yankee baseball, Laker basketball, those are powerful, romanticized brands. But I think what you have with the Lakers is a massive power struggle

where Jeannie Bus likes the young guys, owns the team, likes Luke Walton, and wants growth and stability. And Magic and Rob Polinkin, want to win. So they go to Kobe, they can put stuff out, and it's a power struggle. And when you have power struggles, my entire life, as a reporter, Joy's a reporter, you seize on those, and people give you messages they want out. This last couple of months, I've had more texts, more calls, more people connected to

LeBron and the Lakers and magic. They want their stuff sold to the public. So I just think it's more than a little coincidental that docked to the Lakers and Kobe blasting the young guys. And I shouldn't say he's blasting the young guys wildly over the top supporting publicly Anthony Davis move is not a coincidence. By the way, stuff yesterday that was happening in New York on Eli Manning, the franchise, speaking of, you know, Lakers, giants, these big iconic franchises, the giants are kind of melting down. with Eli. You know, my takeaway on it, Dave Gettleman came out and he said, as Joy played the bite earlier, you know, we're rebuilding and you don't have to lose. Here's the thing about Eli.

I mean, you can go look at the league average and Eli's numbers. Eli is not always terrible. But if you look at completion percentage, passing yards a game, pass-er rating, and TD interception ratio, and I'll put it on the screen for our FS1 audience, he's literally at the league average. He is on all of those. He is like the completion percentage in the league. Eli's at 63.C3.

The league averages 63.1. He's not atrocious, but he's mostly a shadow of himself and he's very expensive. Here's the thing about the New York Giants. And I'm surprised by this. If you look, I'm a big believer and go to history. What has history told you? NFL teams that have moved off popular aging quarterbacks have always been rewarded. Kansas City had Alex Smith and was winning.

was going to the playoffs. Alex Smith was winning enough games to go to the playoffs. They moved off him, gutsy move for a kid from Texas Tech. It paid off. The Cowboys moved off wildly popular Tony Romo for DAC. They've won the division two of three years. Baltimore, Flacco, Super Bowl MVP, Gondlamar Inn.

Oh, I know. I got better. Peyton Manning to Andrew Luck. Now, Peyton Manning had a couple good years. but what would they be today if they still had Peyton? They would be awful because he's retired. That worked. Far gone, Rogers in.

That worked. Find me the veteran quarterback passed his prime and aging that a team moved off of and it was a failure. There's not a lot of examples. In most instances, when you move off the veteran quarterback, even a guy like Flacco, Super Bowl MVP, Alex Smith gets you to the playoffs. Farve, still the best arm in football when he retired.

I mean, he was still, there was no Cam Newton. He still the best arm in football. Joe Montana, Steve Young, find me the examples of moving off an aging veteran quarterback past his prime, replacing him with a talented young guy, and it just blows up. It almost never does. That's why he said, you draft Sam Darnold last year, you sit him on the bench all year

and reports start emerging in New York. Darnold looks great at practice. Sam Darnold is amazing. Giants go 5 and 11. Move him out of town. You draft Sam Darnold sit him. You make sure the reporters start leaking stories. Darnold is unbelievable.

You play salmon preseason. You play salmon situations to excel. He looks good. You get the narrative. Then you lose with Eli and you say, we love you, bye-bye. And maybe Eli goes, moves down to Louisiana, backs up, Breeze, Saints, hometown, whatever. But the whole point is, look at history. History tells you how stuff works.

You move off the veteran guy. You almost always, you almost always do okay. I mean, you're sure you could find me one. But the Eagles moved off Donovan McNabb, and they won some games, and now they're as good as anybody in the NFC. You can move off the icons. It's okay. Farr, McNabb, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana.

I said before, had they moved off Brady a year ago to Garoppel, you probably don't win the Super Bowl. You probably don't, but you wouldn't have known that at the time. But you don't have won games, and you'd have been fine. You want to move off earlier than later in this sport, like almost always, earlier than later. Sometimes the Giants just wear me out on some of this stuff. They're so fear-based. Like, stop trying to validate what Eli is. I just showed it to you.

He's the league average, and you're paying him $26 million. He's average. You don't want to be average when you're going up against Carson Wentz. You don't want to be average going up against Sean McVeigh. You don't want to be average going up against Brady and Ben and Deshawn Watson. You don't want to be average. That's all he is. Stop trying to validate keeping Eli and not drafting Sam.

Arnold. Coming up next, Kenyon Martin thinks Paul Pierce is out of his gourd trading LeBron. That's up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. 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 or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12

and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

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

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

real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. 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 Levin 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 hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain.

It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ledecki. 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. Welcome back, Butcherbox.

If you haven't tried the delicious high-quality meat butcherbox.com slash heard, free ground beef for the life of your subscription, 20 bucks off. So I'm bringing in Kenyon Martin. And by the way, Kmart, listen to this. I read this. I saw this this morning. You're the last American-born college senior to be drafted number one, because everybody leaves now. Yeah, early. You have to. And you would leave now.

I would have to. Why? And I probably wouldn't be ready as a freshman. I wasn't ready as a freshman. Yeah. Or a sophomore. Like, I couldn't, I played hard. I was athletic and gifted, but I had to work on my offensive game.

So that's why I stayed around college. and it benefited me. I went from averaging three points as a freshman to 19 as a senior. What about Zion? Would you leave or stay? I'm out of there. Like all the hype and all the things that's surrounding basketball nowadays, it doesn't get more better than that. He's going to go no more, no matter who, because it's at this day and age,

it's about putting bodies in the seats. And people want to see him play. So you wouldn't stick around if you're Zion? No, not at all. There's no need to right now. because they're going to pick holes in this game. The longer you stay in college, no matter how gifted you are right now,

it tells you to leave because they're going to just pick holes in your game. It's everything that you can't do. Just say if he doesn't develop into a good shooter, well, I'm saying within the next three years. The NBA is going to say, all right, we're done with you. But if you're in college, they just, oh, well, he can't shoot. He hasn't got better, so his draft stock will fall. What do you think about his game?

I like him. He's aggressive. He imposes his will on people. I need to see more because right now you just have this 25 game analysis that you have to go on right now. I just need to see more. But I like his energy. I like how he approaches the game. I like his attitude, how he speaks about his teammates, how he wants to be there with them.

And the fact, he could have shut it down. He could have easily shut it down and listen to critics, listen to people. But he's a competitor. And he improves that every time he steps on the floor from what I've seen. By the way, you made a comparison during the break. People forget there was skinny Shaq and then LA Shaq. When Shaq broke into the league, you were there. Yeah, he was dominant.

Like, he was. Shack would get the rebound. And push it. I'm saying, them Orlando clips, like you said, you cover the magic. So I'm saying, them clips of him and Orlando getting the ball off the rim, pushing it. Taking up the floor. Yeah, making passes and making plays on the break. Looks a little like Zion.

Because Zion is just 6'6. So that might be a knock. I'm saying somebody might have a knock on that that he's 6, 6, 6, 6, 7, however tall he is. But he plays big. Yeah, he plays beyond his size. Still has body, I'm saying baby fat on it, man. You get to the league, you really start eating

and paying the attention until you diet. And, like, so he's going to thin out. He might grow some more because he's only 18. By the way. 18 years old. So he might grow some more. You never know. Kenyon, Charles Barkley's only about 6, 4 and a half.

Yeah, and he dominated the league. And he imposed his will at a time where basketball was more physical. So we'll see, man, but he's gifted as they come. Not too many people can jump off each foot and attack the rim in that manner. He moves without the ball too. Yeah, which gives him an advantage. But now he has a motor man that you can't teach that. You can't coach that.

So you can help him become a better shooter. But that's something he can work at, getting up a thousand shots a day. Right. Things like that. You know, he can get better at that. But you can't teach people how to play hard or that mode or that will to want to to go out and compete. You can't teach that. Well, you've told me this before. Not everybody loves

the game. Not at all. Not at all. Like LeBron comes into the league, you're like, oh, this kid loves the game. Yeah, he loves the game of basketball. Zion loves the game of basketball. So his upside is tremendous. So I'm excited for him, man. Hopefully that it translates, and then the skies the limit for him with a lot of work.

All right. Big rumor in the NBA. I read it this morning, so it has to be true. Doc Rivers rumored, potentially headed to the Lakers. Would you do it if you were, Doc? would you do it if he was the Lakers? Would you do it if you were the Lakers? Like, Doc is good coach, good motivator, great person. But what has Doc done with the talent that he's had besides the one Celtics team?

And you got potentially four Hall of Famers, great defensive mind and tips. You thought he underachieved a little? With the talent that he's had? I'm just saying, if I'm the Lakers, I just don't see the need. for Doc Rivers. I'm saying? So you'd go Tailu, you'd go kid. Just the other way.

I'm not saying those guys. I got great relationship with those guys, but I'm going to explore other options. So maybe a new face. I'm saying you never know. I just... Do you think Doc, you know his personality? Do you think Doc and LeBron work?

Because Doc's not going to get pushed around. Doc's got an ego. Doc going to do it his way. So with that aspect work, you know? I don't know. So it's a lot to go into that, but I just don't... I don't see.

it. I think it's just moving furniture, to be honest with you. That's good call. I'm saying? I think you're just moving the chair here, moving the table, and calling me a new look. I'm saying? Like, hey, I got a new apartment. Like, no, you just move your furniture around. You're adding a chandelier. Like, no, that's just, but Doc's a great motivated, good people person. I get all that.

So maybe they're looking at that aspect. Maybe he can develop the young guys, but you're trying to ship the young guys. So what is it? I'm saying, what are you doing here? You know what's the plan? What is the plan? What is the plan? If that is the choice, like, what is the plan there? I like that moving furniture.

Paul Pierce, he was a very good player. He's out of the league now. He's a broadcaster. I was talking, some think it's nonsense. Others may buy into it, but it's increasingly we're hearing stuff like this. Here's Paul Pierce. If the Lakers get the number one pick, what are they going to do? What should they do?

If the Lakers got the- They're going to take Zion, but what should they do? The Lakers got the number one pick. Here we go. I would trade LeBron James. At least he kept it real out here. I'm just... Oh, my God.

You're talking about three years left of LeBron or 15 years left of Zion. Let's go. Where do you make of that? Paul out his mind, man. Like, Paul, you just give people some time to think, man, and you overthink.

And this is one of them situations of overthinking. Like, why would... If you need a LeBron James with a Zion Williamson. Like, LeBron can make Zion better. His best attribute is what? Passing. LeBron James.

He wants to get off the ball. Zions, an athlete, likes to run, get out on the wing. Hey, here you go, young fella, go do your thing. I get in the half court, but I'm going to help you get better in transition and all that. No, it's absurd, man, to think that you would trade LeBron James if you had the number one pick. Unless you're getting some, who else you're going to, unless you get in Katie, Anthony Day, all is back for that pick. Multiple teams involved. and Paul is out of his mind.

Well, I will say this. LeBron and Zion, I actually think, I didn't think this was a great year for LeBron as a leader. I thought he was a little distracted this year. There's a lot going on. A lot of projects. And then the injury happened. It was a bad year.

It's a bad, yeah, so it's a lot going on. But actually, if you told me there's an NBA star that will play with Zion for the first three years in his career, I'd probably pick LeBron. Yeah, definitely. Why wouldn't you? Smart guy. the league. Here's how to grow up.

I've been as... Came in with the same hype. Like, dude, he would be a great... Like, Kauai Leonard doesn't talk. Kyrie's a little flaky. Kevin Durant's a little odd. Steph or LeBron would be perfect for him. Yeah, so why not? I just, yeah.

Or going to a situation where you got a Greg Popper's as your coach. Like, but... That's not going to happen. That's not going to happen. So, but, no, I just think it'll be the right fit if if the Lakers were somehow to get the number one pick, but they're not going to get the number one pick.

So, all right. Here we go. So now it's time to get uncomfortable. Everybody I bring on in the NBA, I'm the bad guy because I'm critical that I've said this, Westbrook's a talent, but he's unhinged. Okay. And when you get into the playoffs,

composure, self-awareness, you know, control your emotions. These are close games, the best coach is the best players. So Westbrook has a technical the other night. It loses it against Clay Thompson, who's not an easy guy to like, gets suspended because it's a 16 technical. They lose last night at home.

They're one game out of the eight spot. That was a big lot. Now they play Toronto back-to-back games. Would you at least acknowledge that composure is a part of basketball and that Westbrook at times is unhinged? I'm glad you started with one key words you used in your first statement. What? Playoffs, right?

Okay. I would bet money. The same situation, he could be at that technical threshold, whatever it is for the playoffs, and he would react different. You think he knew he was doing that? Yeah. To make a point. Yeah, to make a point.

Like, he didn't get the tech because he hit Clay. He got the tech because of what he said to the ref, called a bleep and fire. And he said it again. that's what got him to take. You know what I'm saying? So you think he's got more control than I do. Yeah, I do. People don't get like, he's smarter than what people give him credit for.

I'm not, no, no, I'm not saying it's not intelligent. It's not a smart thing. Yeah, so that situation, I think he knew what it was. And then the fact that he was kicking himself after the game, trust me. Like, man, I'm saying, now I got to deal with this. And then they turn around and lose to the Miami Heat. It's nice, even more. kicking himself. I'm saying like he's mad at himself. Trust me.

Like I didn't be in the situation where I'm, I ain't get suspended, but like I got kicked out the game. We probably need it again. Whatever the case may be and I'm mad at myself. Trust me, he's mad at himself for the whole situation or putting himself in that situation. Then you got to answer the questions and then your team mess around and lose. And now you say you're one game out of eighth. So now it's a lot of implications with that suspension other than you just getting suspended. Trust me, he regrets it. But you would rather have him that way than not. I like the not part

No you can't like the not part I don't like the unhinged part You have to He wouldn't be the same Russell Rusbrook Well James Harden is more Layback James not the same kind of

It's a different approach Right I'm saying like I wouldn't have been the same I was without that edge Like I wouldn't have been in the league If I didn't have that edge My talent wasn't enough Just to get me there

His talent not just enough to get him But you had a It's something other, like it's intangibles that come with that talent. Did you ever play with a guy that was on the edge and sometimes the edge heard him? You know, I covered Rashid Wallace. No, more than me. On the edge more on the team? No, two of us wouldn't work on the same team.

Rashid Wallace. Right, two, two of me on the edge? No, that wouldn't work. So that's just on enough room for one Canyon, one Russ, one Rashid, one Dennis Rodman, one, Draymond, green on the team. Well, they got two now. like the boogie. But there's only one room. It's only room for one of us on each team, I think.

And so when you were going through these things and getting T's, were you aware of it or was it I've lost a little control? Sometimes I'm aware of it and you're making a statement. All right. Like I didn't did stuff to, like, like I felt like I got filed on one end, right? Like they didn't call it. Yeah. So the person who filed me got the ball on the other end.

So I'll make it blatant what a foul is. And look at the rev to you, that that's a file. That's not. But it might be a hard file where resorted to tech. I'm saying? Like, that's a fight. I'm making a statement. That's not a great statement.

It's a great, for me, at the time, it's an immaculate statement. Because you understand what I'm doing, what I'm saying to you at that time. I'm saying? Like, so you blew that call on another end. It might have been a touch file. Okay, I get it. But it was a file. I'd have said Kenyon, if I was a coach, I'd have said fewer statements.

Give me 15 points. And guess what I would have told you? What? Sit your down and leave me. Yeah. That's what you had told me. What? Straight up. Man, leave me alone, man.

You're very tough to coach. Straight up. No, no, I'm easy to get along with it. But if I'm out to listen, if I'm making a statement that I'm doing my job each and every night, listen, when the night that I didn't show up, I didn't do my job. Now, you always played hard. I did my job.

Each and every time I stepped on the floor. I knew the game plan. I was going to bring it each and every night. So, like, easy to coach. I only have a problem with one coach. Who? Who cares? Not saying his name.

He doesn't marry me saying his name ever again. One coach ever in life. Everybody else. I've been playing basketball since I've been nine years old. One coach. I'm 41. One coach that I had a problem with. So what does that tell you?

Most liked your statements. And the way I play the game of basketball. It ain't about my statement. It's the what I can do for you. and that 94-50 is what Kenya can do for you. I get it. You got to like me.

That's fine. I might not like you. I would have sat you down a few times. I made my statement. Then you would have had another problem to deal with. And that's management. Because listen. And that's management, though.

It's about wins and losses. I can't make a statement as a coach. And you lose it? Kenyon, I'm going to make a statement after your statement. Come sit next to me. And you lose it? Whatever. Yeah, Jack.

Sometimes you got to make a statement. Yeah, okay. Me too. Kmart. Good to seeing you, bud. Joy with the news. No. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

You are not confrontational enough to have to do any of that. I would say, Kenyon, please would you come sit next to me? Oh, there is not. Well, he's doing statements. I want to do statements. Yeah, I know. All right. So coming into the season post-Kauai trade, a lot of people thought the Spurs would be struggling this season. They beat the Warriors last night.

Pop and the Spurs clinched their. 22nd straight season with a winning record. Nine straight wins. Yes. The last time as sports didn't have a winning record was 97, which led them to drafting Tim Duncan with the number one. I always wonder, like, when you're Greg Popovich, obviously the best years are when you win a title. But there's got to be something pretty cool for Popp.

I lose Kauai. I've got to kind of reboot my franchise. When a coach goes, like I've heard coaches say this. Jerry Tarkhanian once told me this. He said, you guys always in the media think. My favorite teams are my best teams. He goes, my favorite teams are my teams where my guys play hard, and I get every bit of energy out of every player.

It's not just my best teams. For Popovich, we buried this team this year. This kind of feel great for him. Like, Kauai went to Toronto and they kept DeMarr. Like, no, they got something back. Oh, I know, but that's what I'm saying. Like, no, tomorrow ain't no slouch. More to your all-star.

Like, he ain't no slouch. So Papa, great coach. He's going to make sure he gets the best out of this guy. each and every time they step on the floor. I'm not surprised. Are they going to end up in third in the West? I mean, they may. The West is very close.

It's game to game how the standings are moving around. Yeah, but I mean, the Spurs are also a very quiet team in general. Last year they weren't. They don't shoot a lot of three. Right. So, I mean, as far as like the media burying them, it felt like they were going to be struggling more than they are. And they quietly do this every single year.

But as much as we talk about watching the playoffs, or what the league is going to be like without LeBron James. What's the league going to be like without pop? It's going to be strange, right? Like, we never really think about it. He's just so consistent. He's 70, too, I think, right? He's a 70 year.

I'm obviously not talking about poverty or anything like that, but it's just like, it's never really a conversation, and they're so consistent. So Luke Walton's days are likely numbered with the Lakers and their next candidate might be in the same city. Peter Vesey is reporting that Doc Rivers has reported mutual interest in the job. He wrote, according to a confident, he almost always has wanted to leash the Lakers.

In conversations over the years, Doc frequently expressed an ardent ambition to coach either them or the Knicks before retiring if for no other motivation than there are worldwide brands. We were just discussing this with Kenyon. I don't understand this. Is it possible? And again, this is not an attack on Peter Vessie. I'm not invalidating his story. But is it possible, Doc's looking for a raise in an extension or something? This would get it, right?

I'm not saying that's true. It's a mutually, sometimes, again, stuff leaks when somebody wants it leaked. Is that possible? I mean, sure. I'm sure it's possible. I don't know why the Lakers would be interested in Doc Rivers. Doc Rivers is a great coach, but there can't be any transition period or adjustment period with whatever coach they bring in with LeBron. It has to be seamless, which is why it's either got to be a former LeBron guy. or someone that LeBron has a very, very close relationship with.

I don't know what his relationship is with Doc Rivers, but I imagine that since he's coaching the Clippers and they're having some success this year, even after moving off was arguably the best player in Tobias Harris, what's going to happen there? It has to be seen this. We watched what happened with LeBron and the Lakers this year. It's win now time.

So I just don't see how this makes sense. And finally, Odell claims he's going off the grid. He wrote a lengthy message on Instagram this morning. with an image of a just black box. He said, PSA, I love you all so much. For the ones that follow and support, I thank you all for that. I'm taking an emotional, mental, physical vacation. I appreciate the love, honestly, but at this moment for the next couple of days,

I'm going dark. I won't be around. Phone is gone, with all due respect, please don't text, call, FaceTime, unless it's up the utmost importance. I really need some time to vibe and just get away, process, reevaluate some of the things in my life, as much has changed for me recently. Seems needy. I'm going to announce for two days I'm off Instagram.

Just go. Yeah, I mean, I think everyone, I don't know, I mean, I don't know how often O'Dell posts, but I think everyone would probably just assume that he's taking a little vacation if he just didn't post for two days. Yeah. But maybe he just really needs a break. I don't know. I sympathize with players when they're traded just in general. Now, this, while we're all talking about it, like it's, oh, Adel to Cleveland, he's going to be with Baker and playing with Jarvis.

And, you know, they have other great offensive pieces and it's exciting. It might not be that necessarily for O'Dell. We haven't really heard from him. All we've heard from him is immediately when the trade happened that he's still processing it. He is moving from New York to Cleveland. Oh, that's quite a move. His whole life is being uprooted. Now, no one's shedding any tears from him, I understand, but there is a personal transition that's going on there.

And I don't think that as fans and as media, we take enough time to recognize that that that's happening. I get it, but it feels very Hollywood needy. Hollywood people always announced they're leaving Twitter. And I'm always like just... No, I'm with you on that. Like, it's okay. Everything's going to be all right. that you're not on social media for a few days.

But I do think bigger picture, this is what he's alluding to, that there is a lot of things changing, and this is the space that he's taking. Like, whether you need to announce that or not. If you could announce you're leaving Twitter for two days, if I announced I'm leaving Twitter for 30 minutes, is that needy? Like, what's the line of just... I think if you are going to be significantly absent from social media for a few months,

then you can make that announcement. Like, well, LeBron always goes dark, during the playoffs. Like that I get. Make an announcement. You know, it's time to lock down for the playoffs. I love y'all. I love you guys. Not going to be around. Two days, though. You know, that to me makes sense. But I'm also not criticizing him because I really think that that's what's going on.

All right. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. By the way, my New Year's resolution, I didn't announce it at the time, but my New Year's resolution was to cut down my phone time. And I have a thing on my phone which tells me that I'm reducing it. week I get an announcement. You're down this, this, this, this. I have been down, uh, I would say 10 straight weeks. I'm down to like a minute or an hour 14 a day. And I know, save that all for

big J journalism. Well, I know when I do it. When I get home, I work out, sometimes shower up, grab something to eat. And that's when I'll spend an hour on my phone reading kind of like, you know, the columnist I want to read and and getting stuff in my head before I go pick up my son, go, you know, do whatever. So I'm down to an hour 14 a day. That's pretty good. It's not terrible. I was almost at four to start the year. I should have mentioned, Odell does have 12.8

million followers on Instagram. That's a lot. There might be a few people that want to know where he is. Coming up next, cousin, Sal, on the tournament, he bets for a living. He's a professional better. He'll tell you who he's betting on. He's also a comedian.

So he's a funny professional better. Most are angry and isolated loners, he's the opposite of that, so he's very rare. Cousin Salle is coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Today we're doing bets for last.

Cousin Sal, who is, it should be noted, a professional gambler. I asked him off the air a couple of minutes ago. Do you bet every day of your life and you said, oh, absolutely. Yeah, I have to. I have to. You ask me what I do best at? I'm scouting the college wrestling

lines this week for the tournament. It's not joking, Joy. He said he bets lacrosse and college wrestling. It's not a joke, Joy. I take Iowa in college wrestling, always. It doesn't matter. They're going to pin and they're going to win all their matches. I love coming on here. I've tweeted this is like when Laverne and Shirley used to visit Happy Days, but with a little less making out. I hope. I don't know, right? That went way over every millennial's head and it totally landed for me. Thank you. You've got a bet the house contest on Lock It In. Now, you've done this before. I did. I did this two years ago. I am way. Well, I'm not wagering, but you could fill out a bracket on foxports.com.

Marco's Pizza is sponsoring it. The best bracket gets $10,000. If you fill out a perfect bracket, you get my house. And I did this, like you said, two years ago. And I almost got divorced. But then through therapy, the therapist actually said it brought us closer. So here I am. We're doing it again.

So you will get your house, which is, by the way, in a beach community. That's right. Not far from where I live in Los Angeles. That's right. By the way, some of its luck. Warren Buffett's done something similar to this. Let's talk for a second about, like Duke. Four NBA players, clearly the most transformative college player in, you know,

since like Leightner or Shack or whatever. Odds, Duke should win, right? I think so. Zion's most amazing talent is getting people to root for Duke. He has the ability. And you know what's wrong, but it's like when the eclipse comes out and you're like, I shouldn't look at it, but I have to. I know it's morally wrong and it's going to blind me, but here we are looking at Zion.

Okay, so Joy, are we doing a game here called What Are the Odds? Yes, we are. All right, we're doing, here we go. Here's our game. Here's how it's going to work. I'm going to tell you about something crazy that could potentially happen in sports and you tell me the odds of how likely you think it is. Okay.

So what are the odds of LeBron getting traded in the off season, Sal? Oh, man. I mean, it just can't happen, but I'm going to put it at 50 to one odds, only because these players, they wake up unhappy. He might just say, I don't like the way my quinoa is prepared in L.A. I want to be traded. So 50 to 1. Yeah, you're again the expert.

I would say 100 to 1. I think culturally it would be hard to do because it would be acknowledging if you're Magic Johnson. Remember, Magic gave himself two years. Right. You'd basically be acknowledging that your first plan whiffed. I think that's hard for people of magnitude and stature like LeBron. What's the next one? I'm going to put that impossible.

What are the odds of any team but Duke winning this? the men's NCAA tournament, Sal. All right, so Duke is like plus 225, plus 250. So tell the audience what that means. So that means if you put a dollar down, you'll win $2.50 on Duke right now if you get it at a shop, it at the best place. So if you're going against Duke, you probably have to put $4.5 down to win a dollar. I think Duke's a fairly secure pick.

Yeah. You know, without Zion, I think they're three and three. With them, they've got two losses. One was bizarre. One was to Gonzaga when they went hero ball late in the game. I think they're an overwhelming pick. I will tell you, Carolina matches up with them surprisingly well. Yeah, that's who they want to avoid.

But those two teams, and I think like three or four others, are the only ones who could really put together a stretch of six wins. All right. What's another one? What are the odds of Baker and Odell winning a Super Bowl for Cleveland, not just this season, but any season? What would you as an odds maker put that? This season, I mean, they are the betting darlings.

Everybody loves Cleveland, which is weird. because they were a square pick. They were a sharp pick before that. They're about 15 to 1 to win the Super Bowl this year. So if you go over, let's say this is a four or five year plan. I say eight or nine, I'm 10 to 1, I would say. Wow. Okay, so I have a theory.

I would say 50 to 1 and here's why. The last 20 years, think about who's won the Super Bowl. Yeah. Either the last name is Belichick, a Harbaugh, Sean Payton, an Andy Reed disciple, Tony Dungey, you're seeing a plan here. Sure. We get caught up on quarterbacks. Freddie Kitchens is their coach.

To win the Super Bowl, you have to win Sean Payton, Belichick, Pete Carroll, Mike Tomlin, Tony Dungey, or somebody close to Andy Reed, or a hardball. I think they have very little chance because I think end of the year they're going to face in the AFC, a Belichick, a Tomlin, and Andy Reed, and an emerging Frank Reich as a good coach, I'd say 50. Maybe they need to get one of those guys. Kitchens might be on a short leash one or two years. I think you're probably right.

All right, what are the odds of the dolphins winning their division with their new quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Sal? Oh, Fitzmaidic. Oh, man, I would say something like 50 to 1. What do I have it at? I think 50 to 1. I don't know. He can't do it, right? That's a upside is a 7 or 8 wins. season, right? My takeaway

to one. If Brady doesn't get hit enough, if the O-line for the Patriots was a year-to-year proposition, Tom gets hurt, he's out, then you got a real shot. But you have a first year quarterback, Brady never gets hit. Brady's a three-step, get it out to Edelman. I think it's

50 to 75 to 1 is probably where I go. Would you give him four wins this year? Yeah, I think they're a four-win team. I want to ask you about a couple of things about this. So lock it in is going to Vegas, right? So for years and years, I knew you as a friend to Bill Simmons and then a friend to Jimmy Kimmel. Cousin, actually.

You're a cousin to Jimmy Kimmel. And before, now you have to explain him. We only have a minute or so. You were a gambling degenerate. Sure. Related to Kimmel. Right. Then how did you get into comedy and that stuff?

You know what? I always just, Jimmy did, he was fired from seven different cities in 10 years on the radio. And I would always do like bits, parts. I would do impersonations and stuff like that. And he said, why don't you come out to Hollywood and you can get a writing job? And from there, you know, it helped me pay for my terrible gambling problem. So that was nice. So who do you have in your final four?

I have Duke, Kentucky, Purdue, and I'm going Nevada. The last six years, there's been a seven-seater higher in the final four. So that's my- Nevada's got Eric Musselman as a coach. Yes. Really smart, really intense. They have pretty good size. That's right. I didn't watch a ton of them.

When you go home tonight, well, You just watch a random college wrestling match? No, I might. I might go on YouTube and do some investigation. But you do that. Yeah, of course. Yeah. You have to stay on top of things.

You bet every day. Yeah. I'm betting my house. How stupid is that? That really is. Yeah. You're taking it to a different level. I think I'm going to move in with you.

You have 14 rooms, right? Yeah, that was my final question. Where are the odds of cell moving in your guest room after someone takes his house. By the way, we have a theater downstairs. You do? Yeah, I mean, it succeeds. Okay. It's not go crazy.

It's not IMAX. College wrestling finals on you? No, we don't do YouTube. We only watch like Super Bowls and Big Ten Championships. All right, we'll make it work. Okay, lock it in live from Vegas tomorrow through Friday here on FS1. It's Cousin, Sal, that was our bets for last. Watch Lockett in, great show, great chemistry, Clay Travis, Rachel, and Todd.

Todd is a gambler, but I think more sensical. Not a shot at you. No, no, no, I understand. Todd's coming out of his basement for the first time in 11 years to join us. We're good. We'll see you tomorrow. 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 SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear.

Listen to Sports Slice on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Time out. Quarterback on office. Blue with 42. Hey, Red. My mama want you to weigh better. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker.

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

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.