The Herd with Colin Cowherd - LeBron James is distracted, Antonio Brown rejects the Bills and Colin's NBA Playoff predictions!

Episode Date: March 8, 2019

Colin discusses what the main problem Los Angeles Lakers F LeBron James faced this season, teams that have backed away from Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown, the best scorers in NBA history, and his NBA playoff predictions. Guests include Albert Breer, Stephen Jackson, Chris Haynes, and Jason McIntyre.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find your local station for The Heard at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the Iheart Radio app by searching heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. On a Friday, we're in L.A., we're live. This is the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. We're on IHeart Radio, we're on Fox Sports Radio, we're on FS1. It is great to have you in today. The very latest on Antonio Brown, Albert Breer, in 25 minutes.

Joy Taylor is joining me. How are you, Joy? I'm doing great. Good morning. Good morning. everybody. We are packed today on a Friday. It is great to be here. It's a very busy march. We expected Antonio Brown to be traded today. Late last night, the Buffalo bills got close, but backed off because Antonio Brown told his agent, I'm not going to Buffalo. would just seem so sad of your Buffalo.

But I wanted to talk about something that is, yesterday I spoke to some radio executives, and the week before I spoke to some radio and TV executives, and I always have the same message, do not run your business through Twitter and social media. It is overwhelmingly nonsense. It is politically far left than most people in America. And the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seedars

and the Seattle Seahawks and the Philadelphia Eagles. Oh, they are just great on Twitter and stars and politics and everybody's gassing them up. You do realize Antonio Brown would not exist in New England. He didn't come into the league like this. He was enabled. That's why it's important when you're a parent to set the tone, set a culture in the house.

Antonio Brown was a six-round pick. He was known as the hardest working Pittsburgh Steeler. He does not exist in New England. They don't enable stars. They don't empower the individual. It is team. It is us. Antonio Brown did not enter the league.

Outspoken, demanding. I'm not saying it's perfect there, but I don't think Big Ben has been always aided by the culture. I've been saying this for years. Pete Carroll and Seattle and Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh are really good coaches. But they are pro player to a fault, almost an end. NBA field, be loud, speak out, anonymous sources, talking after games, Facebook life, and both have blown up. Steelers are trapped now because now nobody's going to give you a first or a second round

pick for Antonio Brown. Everybody in the league's going to wait until you drop your demands to about a fifth rounder and then somebody's going to come in. But nobody's giving you a first or second for that. By the way, we've got nine teams now that have been reported that are out of it. Green Bay was never in it. Some suggested they were. I was hoping they were.

They were not. But now Denver's out. Jets are out. Oakland's still in. We think kind of. But now Buffalo is out. But I go back to this. The Philadelphia Eagles won a Super Bowl.

And they kept saying, remember when they won the Super Bowl? Yeah, fun. We don't do it like New England. And they blew up. And halfway through the year, players for the Eagles came out and said, you know, we're not being. We're not buttoned up. multiple players.

This is not the NBA. This is a completely different business model. Players in the NFL just don't matter as much. Outside of about six to eight quarterbacks in this league, no player is worth a point. A point in a game. In the NBA, Antonio Brown is so gifted, people wouldn't care.

He'd be worse seven wins, 24 points a game, nine assists. I mean, Westbrook's got all sorts of issues. Plenty of people want Westbrook. James Hardin doesn't always play anything other than ISO ball. A bunch of people would want him. You can be outspoken. When you go into a business, they're not all the same.

You have to understand the business you're going into. And the NBA is about promoting and marketing stars. The basketball culture in America is find the talent and get him paid, get him elevated. We'll work about the maturity and the emotional and physical development. later. That's what it is in basketball. Not saying it's right or wrong. That's the American basketball culture. Find him, pay him, develop him emotionally, physically later. Let's get him, get him, locked in. He's ours. Let's pay him and let's go. And if you don't do that, it's law. Pushback. Baseball and football are different. Find, develop, teach, practice.

Second contract, we'll pay you. And we can still cut you with very little guaranteed money. this goes back to something I believe forever. You can keep getting gassed up, never run your business through Twitter, get your players mostly off social media. The NFL's never going to be the NBA. The NFL is not beholden to one player like LeBron James or one team like the Warriors to get ratings. It's not about the individual.

It's about the whole. And Antonio Brown has put the Steelers who have enabled their stars in a bad spot. You think it's a coincidence that Lavian Bell and Antonio Brown and Big Ben are three of the most outspoken temperamental guys in the league? That's just a coincidence? They would not be enabled in New England. I want to shift gears to this. It's a huge discussion point in L.A. and around the country as well, the Lakers season was a disaster. But it's more than that. LeBron James, who was always really good at PR for almost all of his first 15 years in the league this year was completely tone deaf. Optics are terrible, disengaged,

doing projects during the season, going to Instagram after personal achievements. And I got into this discussion yesterday with a friend and I said, what happened to LeBron in a year. Did he get dumb? No. He doesn't play defense. Did he get lazy? No. Did he forget how to play team basketball? No. What happened to LeBron is what happens to a lot of executives and people, high-powered people. He got caught up in the L.A. thing. Kobe Bryant, for people that don't live in Los Angeles never lived in Los Angeles County. He helicopters in from Orange County. So does Mike Trout isn't in L.A. County. LeBron James, I know exactly where he lives, lives in the heart of agents, industry insiders, producers, directors, and heavyweights.

Lives right around the corner from Beverly Hills. LeBron's a nine-minute drive depending on the time of day to lunch with Leonardo DiCaprio. Kobe Bryant to two-hour drive. Kobe Bryant never, ever, ever allowed himself to be distracted by the LA thing. Shaq did, and that's why when the Lakers had to make a choice, Shaq and Kobe, they chose Kobe. Shaq was too often distracted. You know, there's more choices than ever in this country. the economy is better than ever, health care is better than ever, poverty numbers down, hunger down.

But yet depression statistics indicate we've never been sadder. And that's because choices for a lot of people create anxiety. And they also create distractions. I don't think it's a coincidence that virtually all the New York teams, despite their power and leverage, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Jets, Jets, giants are poorly run. There's too many options, too much money, too many distractions. And I don't think it's a coincidence that LeBron was completely tone deaf this year. Colin, come on, he's always had TV projects.

Yes, and you can gamble in a lot of places. But when you move to Las Vegas, it's different. LeBron got caught up in the L.A. thing. I've seen guys blow their marriages up, guys end their careers this way. L.A. has got lots of options. It's one of the reasons Kobe Bryant helicoptered in for games and then helicoptered out. He never got sucked into L.A. I was told, as LeBron moved here, the first week by a high-powered agent, not mine, although mine's good too,

but I was told by an agent that LeBron already had four billionaires lined up who wanted to do business with him. LeBron's a 34-year-old kid from Akron, Ohio. How do you say no to that? Of course you don't say no to that. People get sucked into the L.A. thing. Shaq did, and in the end, the Lakers had to make a choice, and they went with a less distracted player, the kid living down in Orange County, Kobe Bryant. LeBron didn't get dumb.

LeBron didn't get lazy. LeBron didn't become a bad teammate. Those go against everything I believe to be true. But he did get sucked in. He's got his house right in the middle of agents, an eight, nine minute drive to meeting the biggest stars around the corner from the guy that runs, my former company. I know exactly where he lives. it's just too easy to get sucked in and gassed up and distracted. It happens to a lot of people.

It even happened to LeBron. He didn't suddenly become a bad teammate. He didn't suddenly get terrible on defense. LeBron looks like this year, he's aged eight years. He looks tired. He doesn't look in great shape. He looks distracted. And he's not the first person to deal with.

with that in Los Angeles. Nice to have you in on a Friday. This week has just absolutely flown by. You know, it was interesting. LeBron James is now fourth all time in scoring. And I went to the list today of the top 10 scores in NBA history. And it used to be that if you sent your kid to college, it was a very redeemable idea to send them to a liberal arts college where you would know a little bit about everything.

But we've sort of moved into a generation of specialization. You like got it. I mean, here, Joy and I, you know, when we do our morning meetings, we've got a graphic person, we've got a writer, we've got a producer. We're looking for specialists. The world right now is paying a lot of money for specialists, not just, He's got a general understanding of the top 35 books that have ever been written. But it's interesting when you look at the top 10 all-time NBA scoring list. They were all specialists, 10 for 10.

And I'll get to that coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet. lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff

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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. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. This is my best friend Janet. And we have been joined at the Hipsons High School. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider.

This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here?

Just hit it. Oh, what are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would. Come on. Could you believe? I would buy it.

Cut through the defense like a hot. Hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You are. I'm lucky I'm not a killer.

I love this team, and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a parapetopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with the Adamania Arriva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like,

what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be mood swings night sweats fupas sex drive wait what sex dating at 45 how high can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy that one's kind of hard well that's lighting they say we can't polish a turd but we're sure going to try so let's get blunt with laughs tears or tears of laughter and dive into it unfiltered and unbothered and ask how hard can it be i cannot believe i'm about to say this out loud in public listen to how hard can it be with diana maria riva as part of my culture podcast network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Great to have you back. Own a sports team. Need to be informed, make smart decisions.

Sammy, if you're getting a car, newer use, go to Truecar.com. Check out True Price. Could save $3,000 off MSRP. It is nice to have you in. Joy, Taylor, myself. Albert Breer's is going to join us in 10 minutes. So the story today on Kyler Murray, increasingly people think he's going to go number one, Arizona or somebody. On March 13th, about five days from now, he's going to get remeasured, he's going to weigh in again for all the doubters. I think this is a good decision by him. The story's out yesterday in the day before. He was a bad interview, not great at the whiteboard.

Some of that I was told is true. I never thought it was going to affect, listen, if you need a playmaker at quarterback, he's the only one really in the draft, you're going to go get him. I do think he throws a great football, a little tiny for me. There's been some weird Dan Patrick interview stuff I don't love. But here's the two things to remember about. Kyler Murray. First of all, there's going to be a difference of opinion. Talent evaluation is hard. Kobe Bryant went 13th. 12 NBA teams passed. Then the team that drafted him, Charlotte,

traded him. Kobe Bryant. Kawhi Leonard went 15th. Yannis went 15th. Tom Brady went to the six round. Russell Wilson third. Steph Curry seventh. The Minnesota Timberwolves picked two point guards over Steph Curry in the same draft. Talent evaluation's hard. You can argue about it all day. Just think about that. Twelve teams passed on Kobe. And the one that drafted him, traded him. And they were looking for a star.

And they traded him to the Lakers. Okay, so that's the first thing. Talent evaluation, we're going to argue over it. Outside of Andrew Luck, I couldn't tell you the last quarterback that came into the NFL that didn't really have a red flag. They all have red flags. The second thing is, he's just a really unique player. He's uniquely small, uniquely athletic.

he could play baseball or NFL and be near a first round pick in both. He's a very unique NFL prospect. I don't even know if he's a great prospect, but he's unique. And my takeaway is he just fits, you know, the best football culture in the NFL is New England. They once drafted a rugby player. They consider kickers to be really important. The bottom line is, aren't they the franchise where it's all about fit? They pass up on a lot of guys.

They do analytics. What fits? Kyler Murray's a really good fit for Arizona. He is, and they have the first pick. First of all, it's a division where they feel further from the top than they've ever felt. They could use a jolt. They have a bad offensive line. Wouldn't hurt to have some mobility back there to solve that issue.

Cliff Kingsbury is the coach. He tried to recruit him in college. There's just a lot of places and a lot of reasons he fits on this one franchise. And we just got to come to terms with this. Talent evaluation is an argument business to begin with. It's not an exact science. It's not math. There's no right answer.

Steph, Kauai, Janice, Brady, Russell Wilson, Montana, Dak, Breeze. These are first round guys. when you have a player this unique, that's just going to double on the arguments. So as Peter Schrager said, Arizona makes a lot of sense. I talk to every team just about, and I know two teams for sure that have top 15 picks that spoke with Kyler Murray in their 15-minute interviews at the Combine and absolutely love the kid. Came out saying this kid was lights out. He was awesome. They put the film on. He was able to dissect what was going on in the film. It was tremendous. This is a kid who's been a leader.

He was the best player in high school football. He was the best player in college football, and he will be the top draft pick if all of the rumors that we are hearing are true and all the insight that I have is true. I believe Kyle Murray aced his combine experience. The next step is the pro day. I wouldn't acknowledge any of those ridiculous stories.

And by the way, here's the other thing about interviews. I'll just tell you a personal story. So years ago, I worked in Tampa, and then I got a job interview in the Pacific Northwest at a station. And so the day I was supposed to interview, I flew from Tampa to New Orleans and then New Orleans to Salt Lake and Salt Lake to Portland. By the time I got to the station, I was cast. I interviewed with the news director.

I hit it out of the park. Then the general manager went really well. So I knew I had the job. I had to sit around an hour and wait, getting really sleepy in the lobby, waiting for the human resources director. She came in, we interviewed. I was terrible. I knew I had the job. I was exhausted.

I didn't really want to deal with it. And I walked out knowing that's a worst interview I've ever had. But my point is, not all interviews are the same. You're not in the same mood. You don't have the same interest. You can be tired. The questions can be weird. On one day, I had two great interviews and the worst interview I've ever had.

I remember at one point saying during the interview, you know, between newscasts sometimes, I like to go out sometimes and drink wine. She did not like that answer. but to be honest with you, I thought it was funny because I was so tired. I was getting loopy and I wanted a glass of wine because it was almost time to go have dinner. So the interviews to me, yeah, I heard it wasn't all great, but I just don't think it matters. Joy Taylor with the News. No, no, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. Yeah, I bet she didn't appreciate that. She didn't like that at all. And told me, by the way, after I got the job, she said, I didn't like that answer at all. But did you really do it? Did you tell her you were serious? Yeah, it was like 5.30. I wanted out of the building. I've been flying all day. I had two interviews, and I wanted to go have a glass of wine, a piece of salmon, and go to bed.

And I just thought about wine, and she asked. Yes, I thought, no, it was like having a nice glass of wine. She just kind of stared, and there was no noise in the room. Yeah, that's not what you want to say. So it appears that Rondo has one major regret about his decisions that stood away from his teammates and Wednesday's loss. And that is that all the attention is going on him instead of LeBron's big achievement. He is more annoyed at the people who are criticizing him rather than praising LeBron. He wrote on Instagram,

Let me help you all out. Since everyone wants to overanalyze gaslight and overinterpret situations, let me help you all with your due diligence. The real story that everyone should be talking about right now is how my teammate LeBron James accomplished a huge milestone in last night's game. It shows little kids that don't come from privilege that success is attainable. It shows that no one can tell you how great you can be. Most of y'all made a career out of discussing LeBron James,

and y'all can't pay the man some respect. Since y'all missed it, Let me do it publicly. Congratulations, LeBron, on everything. You deserve all the success and happiness that God and the universe has to offer. Congratulations, my brother, keep being great. Well, I think LeBron's received a lot of congratulations over his career. He's earned all of it. So I think yesterday, or, excuse me, two nights ago, was a little bit of a dud. And I think we are in the opinion business and stated, as did the LA Times and the L.A. stations, that it kind of felt underwhelming for the moment. Well, I mean, we did talk, we did not talk as much about Rondo as we did about LeBron, although Rondo was a story, him sitting away from his teammates. He's also been informed that he can't do that. That's league rules.

You can't sit in those seats. So he said he's not going to do that moving forward. I get the point that he's trying to make. Like, we're kind of focusing on everything else except for this incredible accomplishment. But it's hard to focus on that incredible accomplishment amidst what's going on with the season. And LeBron's made it pretty known that he has a lot of power. a lot of say in what's going on, so he has to bear some of the blame of this. Like, sometimes you have great moments in the midst of a valley, and that's just what it is.

Like, that should have been celebrated. I agree. And it should have been a huge moment in sports. We all watched history, someone who's been debated with Michael for basically his entire career, passing him in the all-time scoring list is a big deal. But it's not a good season. Like, there's a lot going on. It's hard to just pop out of that and be like,

Wow, incredible. And then, you know, you're going to be on limited minutes for the rest of the year. It's just been... Optically, physically, emotionally. It's just been a bad year. Andrew Luck had a lost season. Michael Jordan broke a leg. This was just LeBron's one dud season.

He gets one. 16 years, he gets a dud. This was a dud. That's actually... That's pretty good. Yeah. So the thunder moved ahead of the Blazers and the standings last night with a thrilling 129-121. overtime victory. Paul George

finished with 32 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Wild game. Westbrook, yeah, it was. Westbrook out of 37 points and seven rebounds, also had eight turnovers. They could meet in the playoffs. Yes, and that would be a great series. Oh, it'd be a great. These two are a really interesting matchup. You have a star guards,

very good wings. This could end up being, to me, the best first round series, playoff series of all of them in the NBA. Yeah, it would be must watch for sure. Well, Billy Donovan had high praise for Paul George. He said, I'm happy for Paul. Last year was a transition for him playing his first year for us and having free agency at the end of the season. He's gotten settled in and has played the best basketball of his career. No, I think he's had the best

season by any player in the NBA. Yonnes and Paul George to me have had the two players. Now, again, everybody's into James Harden. I feel with Yonis and Paul George, I get true two-way players. I don't know. I kind of feel like everyone isn't on James Hardin, obviously, but I think for the MVP conversation, it's kind of come down to Paul George and Janus. I do think that it will go to Janus just because of the standings. Yeah, and people feel like he's the next thing. It's kind of a cool

award for Janus. No, it's good. He's fully deserving of it. It's not a knock on either one of them if they don't win. Janus is fully deserving of it. Paul George's has an incredible season. But I do think it's going to go to Janus. And we talked a lot about Janus yesterday. Great player. He's just, he's not polarizing.

No. So it's hard to put him in that category with LeBron and Jordan and for that reason. Finally, Antonio Brown will not be traded to the bills, as GM Brandon Bean confirmed. And according to pro football talk, there are very few options left for the Steelers to trade Brown. Mike Thorio wrote the Steelers currently don't have many suitors for Antonio Brown. And apparently that's because the Steelers are still holding out for a first round pick for Brown's services per source with knowledge of the situation.

Several teams are waiting for the Steelers to reduce their asking price before pursuing Brown aggressively. That makes sense. That's my gut feeling is somebody's just waiting to drop him to a third. I mean every other team But the Steelers have leverage in this department Because the Steelers clearly want to get to move away from him Antonio Brown doesn't want to be there

So every team that wants them can just I mean just wait Really until until the draft Like they have time to hold out on this situation Yeah So good stuff Joy with the news Well that's the news And thanks for stopping by

The Hurd Lie News So one of the guys we really depend on is Albert Breer, lead content strategist at the Monday morning quarterback. And let's go right now to Albert Breer via the Coward Global Satellite Network. So, okay, let's, let's, Pittsburgh today. Joy just had the story. People are looking for the Steelers to move off a first-round pick. You know, I still go back to Albert.

He's a six-rounder. You got 74 touchdowns at 11,000 yards. Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered. If you gave me a second or a third, I'd move off him. what are you hearing what the Steelers are demanding? Well, if the Steelers had a first-round pick, I think he'd already be gone. That's the sense I get at least, and what the bills were working with the Steelers on over the last few days was just a little bit less than that. I also don't think that the Steelers are going to give them away.

And I think it goes beyond the compensation, Colin. Part of this for the Steelers is about setting precedent. They've always been one of the more player-friendly teams in the league. They've always been willing to accept big personalities in their building. And this is the first time in a while that's really boiled over, both with Leveon Bell and with Antonio Brown. And so I think part of this is about setting the right tone going forward for the Steelers, too. And that means not giving them away.

If they were going to give him away for, say, a fourth or a fifth round pick, let's just say that hypothetically. What sort of message does that send to the rest of the locker room? Yeah. He's under contract for the next three years. Like, he raises a stink, and then they give him away. and they let him sort of dictate where he wants to go. I just think for the Steelers, a big piece of this isn't just about getting the right kind

of compensation back. It's also about saying the right sort of tone going forward because the way they've set up their organization over the last four or five decades has always been a place where they can take on big personalities where players can be themselves. And part of this, again, is going to be about drawing lines. That's why I think they're being very, very careful about where they go in these talks. By the way, the Raiders name surfaced, and it was interesting. It was interesting. I said, you know, you could have kept a younger Amari Cooper. He's not as good as Antonio Brown, but he's younger and cheaper.

I feel like if the Raiders went out and got him, it would feel like they're just kind of making it up as they go. At this point, there is a New England feel to them where they'll pay their quarterback Derek Carr, but outside of that, they're not paying for a gigantic star. They want draft picks and younger, cheaper labor. So when I look at them and the Gruden rumors with Brown, I think, okay, if you go get him then, then you're just making it up as you go. You don't really have a plan because you had a younger, cheaper receiver. Do you buy the Gruden Rumors with A-B? Well, I'll tell you what.

I'll take you back to last week. You know, twice last week I was given a set of three teams that are interested or that were talking with Pittsburgh. And in both cases, I was able to rule two of those teams out. It was four teams across the board. And the one team in both cases that I wasn't able to rule out was the Raiders. So look, I think that they'd be interested in Antonio Brown. I think the price tag, as is the case with a lot of other teams, is the issue here.

And maybe not just the draft pick compensation, but also the contractual price. And I think that that's something that's worth looking at here because that came into play with Buffalo. The bills were given permission, I'm told, to talk to Agent Drew Rosenhouse, and they balked the idea of giving him a new contract. I'm told there was another team that was deep involved in this that backed out after they discussed a new deal with the agent. My understanding is Antonio Brown wants a completely new contract, wants to be the highest paid receiver in the league once again. And that's what's making this even more difficult.

Not only do you have to take on Brown the person, not only do you have to give up the draft pick compensation to get him, but you're also probably going to have to give him a brand new contract on his terms. And that's a lot to ask, Colin. not only are you taking the risk of, again, you know, everything that Brown brings with them, but you're also giving up draft picks and a new contract. That's a big part of the issue here. And so I think the Raiders are one of the teams that's genuinely interested. It's just going to take the price coming down a little bit for them to really, really be at the point where they'd be comfortable going forward.

Listen, generally when I hear rumors, there are things, I connect the dots. And there is one connect the dot scenario I just, I keep thinking about it. out. And so just hear me out. It'll take 40 seconds. Arizona absolutely has a connection to Kyler Murray through Cliff Kingsbury. They have a bad offensive line. It wouldn't hurt to get a jolt playmaking quarterback back there to at least momentarily solve it as you rebuild the old line and don't get Rosen hurt. Josh Rosen now, Arizona's paid him the guaranteed stuff. He is cheap. And New England needs a backup. And I bet you he grades higher than every quarterback in this draft. They have 12

draft picks. Albert, this seems so obvious that New England would give up a second or a third to get Rosen, who cost you nothing for three years. He's got a Brady intellect capability. This Josh Rosen thing of all

the teams, where do you think he, now that Washington's out, what do you think? I think you're going down the right path. Now, I think part of the issue here might be just sort of who Josh Rosen was coming out of UCLA. and the Patriots would have to wrap their heads around that. Remember, Josh McDaniels worked with Jay Cutler in Denver,

and a lot of the comparisons from a personality standpoint that Rosen is drawn have been right to Cutler. But I think you're thinking the right way here, Colin. If you're one of these teams, if you're a New England or a Green Bay, or a Pittsburgh, or the Chargers, you're one of these teams that has an older, experienced, franchise quarterback and isn't going to be drafting high enough to get his replacement, you're going to have to think creatively sometime soon about getting the next one

because you're probably not going to be able to do it the conventional way and spending a top 10 pick to get one. This is an answer for all of those teams. If you're the Los Angeles Chargers, why wouldn't you look at the idea of dealing off the 28th overall pick to bring Josh Rosen home to Los Angeles and sit for a year or two behind Phillip Rivers? I think for all of those teams, it actually does make some sense because you're looking at it, again, you won't be in a position where you're going to be able to draft the next one

because you're too good for that. So if I'm one of those teams, I very seriously look at that at the worst, at the worst. What this will get you is a very, very competent backup with starting experience at a cheap rate over the next three years. And the upside is that you have the answer for the next 10 to 15. Finally, Jay Glazer, you know him, I know him. He's a guy I trust. He puts something out there. It's almost, you know, it's valid, right?

And he has said this OBJ thing, when the Giants say we're not trading him, he doesn't necessarily buy it. Odell Beckham Jr. to me is not Antonio Brown disruptive. Now, I do have concerns physically. He's missed 20, 21 games over his career. That concerns me. Do you believe the Giants who are rebuilding, regardless of what they want to admit to their fan base,

do you think Odell Beckham could be pulled away for the right picks from New York? Okay, my understanding is the Giants aren't going to, to shop him, but they will listen if other teams call them. Okay. And it's exactly what you're talking about, Colin. It's where they are as a franchise. And quietly in the middle of last season, they took a turn. For the last two years, for most of the last two years, they'd really been chasing

2016, which, you know, they win 11 games that year. They get in the playoffs. They'd been operating as if they were close when a lot of things went right for them that season. You know, they sign Olivier Vernon and Janoris Jenkins. and Snacks Harrison and Eli Manning has a good year. Odell Beckham breaks out. A lot of things went right for them that year.

They've been chasing that season for two years. At the end of the season last year, they made a turn. And you even heard John Maris say it. This might not be a quick fix. So everything in that organization now is about turning things over, taking the long view, and building it the right way. And the question becomes, is Odell Beckham going to be there for all of that? When you get good again, is Odell Beckham still going to be the same player?

Do you want Odell Beckham around the young guys? Is Odell Beckham the kind of guy that you want all the younger players looking towards for guidance? All of those questions have been asked in the Giants organization. And so I think that they are okay with the idea of going forward with Odell Beckham. But if another team calls and blows them away, I think they'd be all ears. Great stuff. That's a great way to put it. They're not shopping him, but they'll take your call.

Albert Breer, Monday morning quarterback. Have a great weekend. Nice stuff. Thanks, man. All right, thanks, Colin. You know, who else is lost in this? That's kind of fascinating. You know, you've got Antonio Brown, O'Dell Beckham,

but lost in all of this is we have a running back in Lavin Bell who caught 80 passes and carried 250 times. He's a machine. He's a machine. He's out there for anybody that wants him. I'm sorry, but Lavin Bell can play football. I am, I'm not shocked that people aren't backing it up for A, B, and O'Dell Beckham. I don't tell me running backs don't matter.

Don't tell me. And Leveon Bell is not just any running back. James White, a rookie for New England, was a difference maker. Todd Gurley, the Rams went from one offense to another without him. The fact that Levy and Bell, I look for stories every day in Levy and Bell, I don't see any. I don't get it. There is incredible. And I don't think Levyon's a bad guy at all.

I don't think he's a bad guy. I just think, you know, the culture in Pittsburgh. These players get enabled and empowered. They go a little sideways. I just think he wants a lot of money. Yeah. That's probably the big part of it. Coming up next, the top 10 scoring list in the NBA.

It's amazing when you look. LeBron just became the fourth all-time leading score, surpassing Michael Jordan. We'll look at the list. And it's amazing how specialized each player is. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Welcome back. Good to have you in. So LeBron James just surpass Michael Jordan, sort of a dud night on the scoring list of fourth all time. And this morning I was just going up and down the all time scoring list of the 10 greatest scorers in NBA history. And it kind of struck me how each one was the greatest or the most something, that they were all specialists. Or at least if they weren't a specialist like LeBron, they were the greatest at being very good at everything. Let's see.

Let's go back and look at the top 10 scoring list as it stands now. The number one all-time leading score is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, formerly L. Sinder with a box. He created the most unstoppable shot ever, The Skyhook. In the history of the NBA, the unblockable, unstoppable, unstoppable put his shoulder in. Even as you look at images of it, the idea of blocking that, there is 19-time All-Star, most in NBA history, six-time MVP, most in NBA history, but it was the shot where he scored roughly 90% of his points. The all-time leading score had the most unstoppable shot ever.

Carl Malone is number two. He was part of the most unstoppable play ever. The pick and roll, where he scored 75 to 80% of his points off one play with John Stockton, one of the all-time assist leaders. He was a 14-time All-Star, and for the record, played great defense for most of his career. But they scored on a pick-and-roll, and it's the greatest pick-and-roll, Jerry Sloan coaching it, John Stockton leading it, and Carl Malone finishing it. It was that play that has him number two all-time. Number three is Kobe Bryant.

I've said he has the most moves ever. Jordan had some stock four or five moves that he went to in the mid-range. Kobe's the greatest artist that's ever played in. He never really had a stock move. He had the widest range of shots. He had much greater range than Michael Jordan. He would work on the baseline. He would work on angles.

He would get you low. The 18-time All-Star, five-time NBA champ, only one-time MVP. But I believe he's the most creative score. with fewer stock moves, kind of the opposite of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he had more variety of scoring moves than any player, and he's third. Number four, LeBron James. I think he's the most positionless player that does the most things well. I've called him the Swiss Army knife.

He's an above-average passer, ball handler, way above-average size. He is now a more efficient player than most. He can score low. he had now developed a nice three-point shot, there are a lot of players who do a couple of things well. Steph Curry is a great shooter and ball handler. LeBron to me is the best all-around basketball player ever. So in his own form, sort of a specialist, he'd be number four. Number five on the scoring list is Michael Jordan. I believe he's the most relentless player ever. I don't think anybody played harder on both ends, was more competitive, was more physical for his size, was a greater trash talker.

I don't think there's ever been a player that played as relentless as Michael Jordan. And many of you think he's the goat. He's the greatest player of all time. Number six would be Wilk Chamberlain. I think he's the most physically unstoppable player, certainly of his era and probably ever. going against six, eight and a half centers. Yeah, the Boston Celtics were a rival. Dave Cowens was six-eight.

There's never been a player that physically didn't look like the rest of the league. Now, we know he scored 100 points, but he also averaged over 50 in 1962. Number seven, Dirk Nevinsky. Specialty, best European player ever, best Euro ever. and also he was the first great shooter over seven feet. Listen, I grew up where the guys that shot the basketball at the NBA were two guards and small forwards. Point guards weren't big shooters, centers weren't, and power forwards just rebounded. He was the first great seven-foot shooter and the best Euro ever, a 14-time All-Star.

Number eight, Shaq. I think he's the most dominant physical specimen. in the last 30 years. He is Wilt, modern day. Now, the matchups with Shaq don't look like the matchups with Wilt because there's a lot of seven-footers and he faced big guys like Arvita Sabonis.

Four-time NBA champ, 15-time All-Star, led the NBA in scoring twice, but his specialty was, for his era, the most unstoppable physical specimen. Number nine, Moses Malone. It's the best rebounder I've ever seen. Simply put, Dennis Rodman was a rebounder, but not a score. Nobody turned rebounds into points in NBA history, more than Moses Malone, who played for a variety of teams.

He led the NBA in rebounding six times, was in the top three multiple other times, a 13-time All-Star, finals MVP, greatest rebounder ever who turned it into points. And number 10, Elvin Hayes, most under. underrated player in NBA history, and the master more than any player in league history of the bank shot. The great Elvin Hayes, who was a 12-time All-Star and a scoring champ, by the way, one of those years. Top 10 scores, all in their own right, sort of specialist. Hour two coming up, Chris Hayne, Stephen Jackson. We've got a great show today. We'll update you on A.B. Antonio Brown. Hour two next, The Herd. One more Herd? The Herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week,

within the IHeart Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Ah, this is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. It's great to have you in. Fridays, you know. Slow time of the year. No, I came today.

I'm saying to myself, Antonio Brown's story is going to break for that. just know it. I got to be here, Joy. You're from Pittsburgh. I love the NFL. Come on. Make it happen. Make it rain. So you just came to work because it was a busy day. I just had this feeling that it was going to be some NFL stuff. Well, we're, we are on watch. We'll make it trade today. We'll see. By the way, a story came out last night. Lakers are going to scale back on LeBron James Minutes. He will also have a minute restriction in the playoffs. None. I think it's ironic that LeBron got hurt on Christmas Day because Christmas Day has always been seen as the first official day of the NBA.

They put three or four games on television. LeBron got hurt on Christmas Day. So essentially, this season was over on the unofficial first day of the NBA season and his season was over. It's a disaster. Any way to look at it optically. I communicated with a couple of different people in and around LeBron's camp yesterday. and their pushback was, listen, this year wasn't great, we admit it, but it did create clarity.

We know who we can roll with and who we can't. They wouldn't give specifics. I also think it created clarity, not the good kind. I don't think Anthony Davis solves this roster. He makes them better and more interesting. The Lakers have a problem. They don't have any shooters. It is now a shooters league, Golden State in Houston and Boston.

It's a shooters league. They don't have any. And you don't go from not having any to having a roster full of them next year. They don't have any shooters. Anthony Davis doesn't solve that. They were 29th and three-point shooting. In fact, who do I trust shooting threes? LeBron.

And he's hit and miss. Kuzma shoots him, doesn't hit him. Josh Hart had him early, not late. Brandon Ingram, not his specialty. Lonzo ball, cross your fingers. Listen, LeBron was ahead of the curve on three-point shooting. LeBron has acknowledged that late in his first seven-year stint in Cleveland, he started improving his three-point shooting game.

And that Miami team was full of three-point shooters. Badiere, Miller, Ray Allen, Bosch, LeBron. But as the league has become more about shooting and less about everything else, LeBron's never been in a team with fewer shooters. And everybody in the league is looking for more except maybe Golden State and maybe even Golden State. So this year created clarity to me. I don't know if this is the front office capable of turning things around quickly, but I don't think even if it was a perfect front office,

you can go from no three-point shooters to a bunch of them. And I don't think Anthony Davis solves any of a. of their primary issues. LeBron's never worked particularly well with Biggs. He marginalized Chris Bosch, did the same for Kevin Love. That's not really his forte. His forte is give me the ball. I'm going to shoot a three, score at the rack, or I'm going to find somebody and dish it.

He's very good at all three. But the person you dish it to has to hit a three because mid-range jumpers are out and have been for about seven years in the league. So, you know, I'm not trying to be overly cynical or doomsday or hyperbolic. But the clarity I see is that this front office is not going to be able to give LeBron the asset he has worked particularly well with throughout his career. Dudes who can spot up, create, or hit threes. They don't have any. He's the best they've got. I don't think LeBron's all that elite at it.

Many more in the league, much better. So I saw this story in terms of Antonio Brown, where is he going? And last night, the Steelers and the Buffalo Bills were negotiating. And then Antonio Brown told his agent that he refused to go to Buffalo. Buffalo is one of those handful of cities in the NFL that's in the I refuse to go to that city list. There's not a lot of them. Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Jacksonville. You've heard players say, I refuse to go there.

What is interesting, I've said for years that when it comes to voting for the most valuable player, people make it a statistical award. That's not what valuable is. No, the most valuable player in the NFL is Aaron Rogers. Because the only reason Green Bay is not on that I refuse to play their list is Aaron Rogers. Remember, Green Bay is Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, cold weather, remote, small town. They only had two playoff wins from the late 60s to the early 90s, you know, post-Bart Star. What Green Bay has done really well is draft the quarterback position. Bart Starr, Brett Farr, Aaron Rogers, or the Cleveland Browns.

That's it. You never hear anybody say, I refuse to play in Dallas. I've never heard that. I refuse to play in Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles. There is a, I refuse to play blank. Yesterday it was Buffalo. That's why Baker Mayfield is so important. Baker Mayfield has a chance.

And you know, I wouldn't have drafted him. He didn't work for my DNA. He could very well become Aaron Rogers, not in terms of talent, in terms of value. Baker Mayfield has to work because it's not about the coach and the GM. Bill Belichick got fired in Cleveland. Coaches don't work without the quarterback. And Cleveland and Green Bay, people think they're disparate. They're two different organizations.

No, they're not. The difference between Cleveland and Green Bay is Green Bay has nailed three times the quarterback position. By the way, even the great Pittsburgh Steelers, in between Terry Bradshaw and Big Ben, didn't win a lot of games. They weren't the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, I mean, if Baker Mayfield hits, and last year they finished third, let's not go crazy. If Baker Mayfield hits, it doesn't matter about John Dorsey.

It doesn't matter about the coach. If Baker's is good as all the Baker fanboys tell me, then you can be Green Bay. He can be your first or second great quarterback. And Joe Kim Noah then will not be able to say things like this. Joe Kim Noah. Every time I look out my window, it's pretty depressing out here, man. It's bad.

It's bad. So you're not going out? No. No going out in Cleveland, man. It's all factories. Do you regret anything that you said about Cleveland? Not at all. Do you like it?

You think Cleveland's cool? I mean, I never heard anybody say I'm going to Cleveland on vacation. I mean, you know why they say that? Because you've never had the great quarterback. By the way, Buffalo, one of the 10 years they mattered, Jim Kelly, who for the record initially refused to play in Buffalo. Like if you're wondering why teams give up eight, you know, four, six, eight draft picks, get a quarterback. I've said before, I would give up, I would give up every draft pick in a year

draft to get the right quarterback. The reason the Packers are not the Browns, Bart Star, Farr, Aaron Rogers. And the reason the bills for 10 years weren't the bills, Jim Kelly. It just, you know, cold weather, rust belt cities, like, you think there's a big gap between all the, The gap is always the quarterback. That's why Baker is so important. Because, listen, the Cleveland Tourism Bureau, this is, before Baker Mayfield got to the city, this is their Tourism Bureau video.

Fun times in Cleveland again. Still Cleveland. Come on down to Cleveland Town, everyone. Under construction since 1868, our economy's based on LeBron James. Buy a house for the price of a B.C.R. Our main export is crippling depression. It could be worse, though, at least we're not Detroit.

We're not Detroit. Baker Mayfield could change all of that joy. No more Joe Kim Noah, no more mocking Cleveland. You think there's a big gap. There is not. Buffalo Jim Kelly, the exception. Well, I was raised to mock Cleveland, so. You hated Cleveland?

I'm born in Pittsburgh. Born and Raised in Pittsburgh. Why would you hate Cleveland? They're not even a threat. I mean, well, yeah, that's kind of the point. Like, would Pittsburgh and Cleveland have a thing? They do? Yeah, always.

And then Cleveland was so bad, the Browns were so bad. Now the Ravens and the Steelers kind of took over that rivalry, but it's always still kind of there. If Baker hits, they're not. I totally agree, though. And I always respect Browns fans because, I mean, it's tough and they are very loyal. Incredibly. But I think Baker was. Well. Packers could be that.

They didn't have a quarterback, yeah. In fact, what is the stat? Hold on. 1968 to 1992. 25 years, Packers playoffs twice. Why? In between their great quarterbacks. In between Bart Starr and Favre.

Packers could be Cleveland. That's why Aaron Rogers is the most valuable player. And Jim Kelly wasn't the best player. He was the most valuable quarterback. and if Baker Mayfield hits like everybody tells me he's going to hit, he won't be the best quarterback. He'll be the most valuable quarterback for a franchise. Baker has more elements to him than just being a good starting quarterback.

He has a star factor to him that if he can get them to the playoffs or get them at championship, I told you last year. World changing. Of the two or three teams I watched every week, Cleveland was one of them. Yeah, it's Baker. I thought he was fascinating. I thought hot or cold. I thought he was a great watch.

Coming up next, Stephen Jackson, is it time for LeBron to just shut it down? I mean, just say, listen, season over, season lost, I'm out. Michael broke his leg, Brady missed a year, Andrew Lock had a season. Is it time to just shut it down and acknowledge? Years over, lose 16 to the next 17, get into the NBA lottery, maybe get Zion Williamson.

It's not the craziest idea, Stephen Jackson next. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays and noon Eastern, 9 a.m. 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing

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

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keir 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. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip.

I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balligan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions.

If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do.

So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be with the Adamani Areva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How high can it be getting naked at 50?

with the new guy. That one's kind of hard. Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of My Cultura Podcast Network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well to Weight World Champion Showtime, Sean, quarter defense his belt for the first time as his battles top-rated contender. You're Dennis Ugas, live in primetime tomorrow at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific only on Fox. By the way, little NFL trade benefited both teams. The New York Giants have sent pass rusher

Olivier Vernon to the Cleveland Browns. The Browns need a pass rush, more of one. And the Giants in return got an offensive lineman, Kevin Zitler from Cleveland. Interior Offensive lineman played at Wisconsin, All-American. Good player. Really a win-win for both teams. Giants, Interior Offensive. lines, not a strength. It got better. And the Browns, you know, they got, they need a pass rusher. They got one. Olivier Vernon, kind of underwhelming in New York, but he has talent. He used to play in Miami. So, I mean, the Brown's got what they need. Not a great player, but a good player. Giants got more of what they need. Good player, not a great player. Win-win for both teams.

With that, we bring in Stephen Jackson, a decade and a half in the NBA, NBA chant with the Spurs. So the Lakers announced last night, minutes restriction. I'm driving to work. thinking this morning, I could make an argument, just sit him, get up into the lottery. It's a lost season. What would you do if you ran the Lakers? I'm not even going as far as the lottery. I'm just thinking of next year and what you're building. Like if it ain't beneficial, it's artificial.

Why play him now? You're not playing for anything. You know what LeBron's going to do. The most important thing for this team now is to find out what the other piece is going to do. So you have guys on the team right now that you're going to either use his trade pieces or guys is going to be a part of your bench next year. let these guys play, let these young guys play

so you can see who's going to be professional, who's going to finish the year on the right note, who's going to play the right way, and see what guys that you can bring back next year that can help you build for a championship. You know what LeBron going to bring. Whoever you trade for you, know what they're going to bring. Use these young guys, give them a time

to get experience and be professional and see what you're going to bring back next year. Do you think your regrets coming to Los Angeles? Not at all. You don't break records and all of a sudden have regrets. That just don't happen. I'm pretty sure he knew. The only thing that he's saying that, okay, now I realize what it is,

he sees the wrestling conference is not a joke. He was dominant. He can have a bad season and make it to the Eastern Conference finals. You can't do that in the West. You can't do it by yourself. So that's the only thing that's probably surprising him, but everything else, he knew it was going to be harder to get a championship. You know, I said, Stephen, Kobe Bryant always lived down in Orange County,

helicoptered in. He never got sucked into the L.A. thing. The L.A. Ram players, many of them live up, thousand oaks. That's like an hour, you know, 45 minutes away. LeBron lives right in the heart of agents, producers, and when he moved to town, I had somebody

kind of around the Lakers circle said, listen, billionaires are lining up to have lunch with him. We saw him with Al Pacino, Leonardo DiCaprio, that he got sucked in a little. Like, listen, if you're a gambler, it's one thing to be a gambler, and then move to Vegas and be a gambler.

When you're into the Hollywood thing, which LeBron has tipped his toe in the pool, Then you moved to Beverly Hills. Could I argue that he kind of got sucked into the L.A. thing a little bit? Because I think he looks like a distracted player this year. Well, a lot has went on that he didn't take credit for, you know, with the players and the young guys kind of turning their back and not knowing if they're going to come in and they're playing, giving up on the team.

You know, at the end of the day, you can't fault a man for building stuff right after basketball. I mean, who wouldn't? I applaud him. I don't think everything he's doing off the card is knocking off his focus from basketball. He's still the best player in the game. Him and KD, the best players in the game. A Greek freak now.

But I think everything he's doing is great, man. I don't think he's losing focus at all. Well, what do you make? Adam Silver came out this week and said at a Sloan MIT conference, a bunch of smart people. My players are unhappy, social media. Charles Barkley came out and said, Kyrie Irving is the most miserable human being I've ever seen.

What do you make of the unhappy? guys, social media, the new millennial DNA. Well, a lot of guys in the NBA now, and I see it, you know, most guys are more into what the game can do for them than loving to play the game. Kyrie loves to play basketball, you know, and we are, guys like Kyrie, yeah, we know the money's great and the money's changed our lives, but the game of basketball is the reason. So I played this game, and I show up here to play this game and be the best at this game.

You got some guys, all they care about is walking through the tunnel on IG and being seen on the cameras. So the girls can see them on IG. You know, you got those type of guys. Then you got those guys that come in the game. Okay, once I get the contract, I don't even want to play. I don't even care as long as I can stack this money up. See, that sounds crazy to me. But it's the truth.

You played with guys who didn't love the game. What? Every team has at least two guys that don't love the game. And I've heard this from guys that's playing now and me being on outside of the league. and I'm hearing guys say this now, they got young guys that come in that don't even work, show up to practice late, you know, don't even approach the game. And I blame that on a lot of the veterans.

Because when I was in the league and I didn't work, I had guys like Steve Nash, Steve Smith, Danny Ferry, Steve Kerr, Jack, you got to get in him work. Tim Duncan, you got to get in him work. I don't care. You're young, you got to get in him work. They forced us. I couldn't show up late.

I wouldn't play. I wouldn't even get a chance to get on the court if I showed up late. These days, these kids can do what they want, like Donnie Wash call them. They're bonus baby. They're getting bonuses and I can like babies. We got a lot of money. Got a lot of leverage.

I'm happy they're getting that money. You got to credit that to LeBron too. LeBron is a big reason why a lot of these guys are getting paid. Guys that's not, that's a six, seven man on the bench making $10 million a year because of LeBron. So, you know, he's done a lot for the game. And the reason why I give him so much props because he didn't care. It wasn't just about him. He did it for all the guys in the league.

I want to go to the top 10 all-time scoring list. LeBron is now four. And I'm going to go through the list. and I'm going to ask you about some of the individual players. Okay. So the all-time greatest score in NBA history is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I'm older. I grew up watching him.

The most unstoppable shot ever. The sky hook between his size, the way he shot it and his left hand. It really was an indefensible shot. About 75 to 80 percent of his points came from that shot. If I say Carl Malone, number two score, were you a Carl Malone fan? Not at all. Why not? I, we never got Utah games on our feed in Texas.

Like, Utah wasn't a big team that, nobody wasn't buying Utah jerseys. You didn't see nobody with a Carmelon or John Stockton jersey on the rap videos. Nobody knew nothing about Utah. No, I was not a Charmallon fan. Really? No. His game didn't do anything for you? No.

It wasn't above the rim. I like Barclay, but I think Barclay was better than Carmelon. So do I. Kobe Bryant. What do you make of Kobe Bryant? Did you love him? The best score ever. Huh?

He had so much in his. in this game. Like most moves ever. The best scorer ever to me. You guarded him a lot? Yes. How'd it go? I had some good nights to get him,

but he never gave me 50. And he probably gave me 40 a couple times. But LeBron is the only player. I feel like if he had the attitude of Kobe have, he could have gave me 50 every night. And I've never been giving 50 in my career. But if LeBron had Kobe attitude, he could have destroyed me every time.

So Kobe's attitude was a big part of it. Relentless. I'm coming at you all game on both ends of the court. If I need to guard you, I will. But I'm coming at you all night, every night. Let's go to five, Michael Jordan. You didn't face a ton of him. I played him once one time when he was with the Wizards.

And he was not nearly his vertical then. He wasn't that vertical, but he still was getting a shot off. He still was Michael Jordan. Every time he got to buy, everybody. You know, he's still Michael Jordan. You know what I mean? I mean, Mike is my favorite, man. I mean, if I had to put players out, I go Kareem, Jordan, Kobe,

but Mike is my favorite player of all time. Dirk Novitsky, number seven, what do you make of him? I say it's the best Euro ever and the first seven-footer who was an elite shooter. Well, he's probably the best Euro ever, but you got to think, go back to Jersey, the number three, Petrovich, he was a problem. Did you, Dirk didn't do much for you? Well, I look at it different. I guarded Dirk. I locked Dirk up a lot of times.

We beat them when they was the number one seat as the eight seats. So I look at stuff different when I played against these guys. You see what I'm saying? Dirk is great. Don't get me wrong. But I stopped Dirk a lot and I served him a lot. So I look at it different. Dirk's a great player, but he wasn't a problem to me.

By the way, you played with Tim Duncan, not on this list. It always surprises me that Duncan, but Duncan also played within a system. Like a Tom Brady, he played within a system. It wasn't reliant simply on Duncan, although he was a remarkable player. See the best teammate you ever had? I think as far as careers, I think Tim Duncan had the best career of anybody I've played with. He's the best player I've ever played with by far. The best player I've ever played with.

How much was attitude? How much was game? It was everything. Leadership, teammate, leading by example, being a brother on and off the court. Tim, he did everything. He did everything. And he gave me a title that I hold on to rest of my life being an ultimate teammate. Finally, I talked to somebody inside of LeBron's circle yesterday, and they said this year gave them clarity,

and that they know who they can depend on and who they can't. It gave them clarity, even though they acknowledged it was a really bad season, injury, optics, all that. It gave me clarity, too, and here's what it showed me. LeBron's always played well with shooters. This is a shooters league, and the Lakers don't have any. don't think you can go from no shooters on a roster to several in one year because everybody in the league's trying to get shooters. I don't see Anthony Davis as solving their biggest problem. They're 29th in threes. That's not the game anymore. I always say that. If they traded Anthony

Davis, that still's not guaranteeing the championship. Oh, God, no. Not even close. You got to make other moves. And even though we all knew that brought one of shooters here, what shooters did they bring in? They didn't bring in no shooters. They brought in some guys that were veterans. They didn't bring in no shooter. They had Brooke Lopez, let him go. And I don't even consider him a shooter. I mean, he can knock down shots, but I'm talking about Kyle Carvers. I'm talking about guys, that's the guys that LeBron

need around him because he brings, he takes in so much attention, guys have wide open shots. If you can't make a wide open shot playing with LeBron, you don't need to be on the court. Good seeing you, bud. Thanks for having. Stephen Jackson, Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the

herd line news. So Westbrook went off last night against the Blazers early in the first quarter. He splashed a mid-raged jumper over Damien Lillard. And always ready with a celebration. Russ pulled out his favorite taunts. After drilling a shot on Dame, it's a rock the baby. And he explained this gesture to Jimmy Fallon. He said, I'm pretty big for my position. And I would say I'm probably stronger than the other guys in my position. So when I have smaller guys on me, you've got to treat them like babies. The guys guarding me don't love it so much, but everyone else loves it. And he had eight turnovers last night.

He also had what, like 37 points? Three assists, eight turnovers. He did score a lot. Paul George was not good from the field last night. Paul struggled. Paul had one of his rare bad nights last night, shooting the ball. They did okay. They did all right.

They scored a bunch points. This is going to be a great matchup, by the way. This is a potential first round matchup in the NBA. This would be Portland OKC would be a great first round matchup. Yes. I mean, Portland's been just quietly awesome all season. Yeah. We talked to Ennis Cantor yesterday, just about the winning culture they have there.

But I like Westbrook when he does. I mean, the thing about Damian Lillers is pretty much the same size. But, you know, it's Westbrook just basically saying, like, he's bigger. I would say Westbrook's thicker. Yes. But Damien this year shooting 46 or 47 percent from the floor. Damian Lurors having a better year than Russell Westbrook is. Damien's having a great year.

Well, this is a great game. And I actually hope they do end up. going against each other in the first round because it's going to be an awesome series. So LeBron is no longer in playoff mode. We were just talking about it. LeBron's camp in the Lakers' front office reportedly agreed on a minutes restriction

for the rest of the season. He will play in the range of 28 to 32 minutes per game. He's averaging 35.6 minutes per game this season, which ties a career low. He may sit out some games also when the Lakers play back to back, depending on how he feels. And this is, to me, just the

it's kind of just the most ironic button to end this season for LeBron and so now he's on a minute's restriction. I really don't know what to make of it. It just feels like it feels like every story with the Lakers now is just like more. I feel like we may have put the expectations just too high with the Lakers. Yeah, I mean, I think we've had this before. There are just Brady broke his leg year. Michael broke his leg.

Not Brady didn't break his leg, but Brady. Andrew Luck had a lost season. I just feel like this is, listen, Michael left NBA, and then he left it again, and then he had the Wizards. The greatest player of all time in most opinions, Kobe Bryant had a couple of awful years between Shaq and Palgisal and two, three awful years at the end. This is the first awful year for LeBron.

I just think that people would be able to process it more clearly if it was an awful year for LeBron and the Lakers, and there wasn't all this extra stuff going. on. Like if LeBron wasn't involved, and I have no problem with him doing all of these projects. People always want to get on athletes' cases when they're getting in trouble when they're off the court. When they're doing something positive, they want to be critical too. So it's like, can they win? So I don't have a problem with them doing any of these projects. But it's like when you come to L.A. for your first year and you have all these issues with on the court, and you have all these young players not knowing what's happening and looking to you for guidance and not getting it.

And then you have the Anthony Davis thing and you had the injuries and Luke Walton. And it's just, I think it would be easier to process if it was all focused on basketball. Minimal distraction. And then it was disappointing because it was like, okay, now we can figure out what the real issue is. But there's so much going on, it's hard to narrow it down. I agree. Finally, Case Keenham was supposed to get a two-year tryout with the Broncos to prove his breakout 2017 season wasn't a fluke. And one season was all John Elway needed to see.

They are trading him to Washington. The deal can't become official until the new lead year starts on March 13th. but they're basically paving the way for Joe Flacco to enter as the Broncos. I'm sorry, but Dallas and Philadelphia are the best two teams in that division in case Keenham's not changing anything. I just, it doesn't feel hopeful. It doesn't feel big.

I mean, Washington's a great NFL market. No, but it feels like they need a solid quarterback there. Just solid. Can't be solid and beat the Cowboys and Eagles. No, but that's, I mean, what's your options? Josh Rosen I read that story Nothing against Case

It felt like a big dud And Case is fine They just felt like a big nothing It just felt like it made sense Because they need a quarterback He's awfully expensive Just a big nothing burger That didn't do anything for me

I just wanted more from Washington I really did I like I like the idea of Josh Rosen Rosen going to The Chargers though The Chargers I thought that was interesting

too Very interesting Brilliant. And they have a roster where, you know, they have seven or eight draft picks. There's not seven guys that can make the team. I mean, Chargers' rosters, they've got some needs on the O line, but they don't have a ton of needs. But they're so consistently good. They're not going to get into position without making a major... To get a quarterback. Trade to get up to get a quarterback. So it makes sense to get someone for less money on the rookie contract that you can have behind Phillip Rivers. I agree. Joy Taylor with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. Speaking of that, pretty interesting two stories out today. First of all, Tom Brady and O'Dell Beckham, Jr. took their bromance to a new level. Tom last night sent OBJ something on Instagram. He said, hey, why don't you come to Foxborough and drive my,

what are they, Aston Martin, and OBJ is like, wow, I'd love to have one of those. And Tom's like, why don't you come to Foxborough and drive it? So they were playing around last night. Obviously, Brady and OBJ have a relationship here. And, you know, a little bromance. Then this story came out this morning. The Patriots reportedly tried to acquire wide receiver Randall Cobb last year. And why both these stories are interesting is New England does not do everything well.

They do not draft wide receivers out of college very well. They don't. They whiff. I could show you the list. They don't do it well. But they know they don't do it well. So they get Wes Welker from Miami. Chris Hogan already in the league from Buffalo.

Brandon Cook's in the league from New Orleans. Josh Gordon already in the league. New England does not draft college-wide receivers well. Edelman is an outlier, and he was a college quarterback who they made into a receiver. So the Cobb story comes out. I think there's something to Odell Beckham Jr. And I will say this. Albert Breer was on earlier, and he said this.

The Giants aren't shopping, Odell, but they're taking calls. New England has 12 draft picks, a couple of seconds, a couple of seconds, It's a couple of thirds. The New York Giants are rebuilding. They don't want to admit it to their fan base. The Giants are rebuilding. They need more draft picks. If you look at who the Patriots have drafted out of college,

I'll put the list for our TV viewers. It's a bunch of nothing. I mean, it's a bunch of nothing. And they absolutely do a better job going to places in the league where you find wide receivers. You know, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Chris Hoke, guys were already in the league. So I think there's something to it.

I think the Patriots and Brady know it. They're trying to entice him. They're playing around on Instagram. New England's got 12 draft picks. The Giants are rebuilding and could use several more draft picks. In fact, Giants today already upgraded their O-line, trading Olivier Vernon to the Cleveland Browns. So I think there's something there. I think there's something there.

Coming up next, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith picked a team to win the NBA championship, last night, and it was not the Golden State Warriors, and it was not the Houston Rockets. And we'll lay out what we think's going to happen in the NBA playoffs every series coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. By the way, get your free credit scorecard today. New Jersey Devils Battle of Caps. Discover card key matchup. Learn more. Discover.com slash credit score.

Limitations apply. Check out your FICA score. So last night watching TNT NBA night Blazers played Oklahoma City. Very interesting teams. One thing that Stephen Jackson said, LeBron James found out this year, the Western Conference is a lot tougher than the Eastern Conference. He took a bunch of valets and luggage carriers to the Eastern Conference Championship, seven, eight straight years. He can't make the playoffs this year. And the Lakers do have some good young talent. So Kenny and Charles last night made a bold prediction last night.

night on TNT. In the Western Conference finals, the Portland Trailblazers will be playing the Golden State Warriors. Are you nibbling on that bait, too? Put it on the board. The Portland Trailblazer going to the finals.

The NBA Finals. We are in agreement. Okay, I don't know if that's true. But we thought today, for about five, six minutes, we'd roll out the playoffs as they're constituted today and tell you kind of how we feel they would go. I'll start first with the Western Conference playoffs.

The number one seed would be Golden State. They'd play the Clippers. It's kind of remarkable that as we've all watched the Lakers turmoil, the Clippers traded away their best player, Tobias Harris, and right now they're locked into a playoff spot. They've got two free agent availabilities next year, leading candidate for Kauai Leonard. Golden State obviously wins that series, much better team.

More firepower. Then Houston takes on the Trailblazers. Kenneth Farid has been a nice addition for Houston, although he has not played for about four or five games. Chris Paul's back. They're undefeated, 12 and 0 when he has over 10 assists. Portland, I don't think, matches up brilliantly with this team because I think Houston neutralizes Portland straight their back court. But they added Ennis Canter and his Canter and Rodney Hood. Portland's going to be a really, really tough out this year.

So I would take Houston in about six games. Remember, the Blazers were swept last year by Anthony Davis. and the Pelicans, bad taste in their mouth, and they've had a really nice season, and I like their trading deadline acquisitions. Denver against the Spurs, I take the nugget. San Antonio, though, is capable of upsetting them. Here's their problem. Lamarckis Aldridge averages 21 a game. Demar Dorosen averages 21 a game, a two-headed basketball team. They don't shoot threes. They lead the NBA in long twos, which is not a prescription for NBA championship, but they're well-coached. They've got two big-time.

players who have been in the playoffs. I'll take the nuggets, but I think they'll get pushback. Oklahoma City and the Jazz, that was a great series last year. Utah prevailed. Listen, Utah's got some assets. Joe Ingalls can get really hot. Donovan Mitchell is a spectacular second year player. Rudy Gobert is the best defensive center in the NBA.

Quinn Snyder's a great coach. I think Utah's played better basketball. They've solved some of their problems. They don't shoot the ball well enough. But neither does Oklahoma City except Paul George. And Paul George, Joy, you know this. Does not have a history as a great playoff performer. Paul is my MVP this year, but he's never proven to me he can hit the big shot in the big spot.

So I think this is a fascinating first round playoff series. I think the Rockets struggle with Portland but beat him. I think the Thunder struggle mightily with the Jazz, but I think they'd be. beat him. Then it's Golden State in Houston. I think it's a real series. I think the physicality of Kenneth Farid and Chris Paul can give Golden State trouble. I'll take the Warriors to win. But again, I think it's ugly and bumpy. I will take Oklahoma City and Paul George then to narrowly get past the Denver Nuggets. And my guess is Golden State beats the Thunder pretty Handley. I don't think the Thunder match up at all against Golden State. I think Houston

matches up very well with Golden State. So I think Golden State will have a much tougher time with the Rockets in the semis than they will in the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, where I think Golden State, the reigning offensive dynasty prevails. Let's go over to the Eastern Conference where it's not nearly as interesting. Milwaukee is the One seed led by Yannis, who's probably going to win the MVP and Chris Middleton. They got a nice roster. You know, it's funny about Yonis. They're plus 7-7 with him on the court, plus 7-7 without him.

It tells you they actually have some depth. They'll roll through Miami. It won't be terribly competitive. Then this is the best first round series in the east, Boston and Philadelphia. Boston is very good situationally. The Sixers are awful late in games, awful with leads. I really like Philadelphia's lineup, not a ton of maturity. Simmons, Jimmy Butler, I like that they added Tobias Harris.

I don't think those four guys will last forever. JJ Reddick in the playoffs has sometimes been spotty. I don't think this is a particularly good matchup for Philadelphia. Philadelphia has beat up on a lot of average teams. They can struggle with the better teams than the Eastern Conference. I'd take the Celtics here rather quickly. Then the Nets against the Raptors, listen. Who do I trust?

Kauai Leonard or DeAngelo Russell? By the way, Joel N.B. It's been banged up since the All-Star break. Don't forget that. I'll take the Raptors to win this series. I think the Nets are a nice story. Totally in a real building mode. It's nice to see somebody in New York City that can actually play competent basketball,

but the Raptors win easily. Pacers, Pistons. Listen, they lost Victor Oladipo. Give the Pacers credit. I don't watch a ton of their games since Oladipo got hurt. Well, coached, play hard. Pistons are fairly unwatchable. This will not be a highly viewed series.

I'd probably go Indiana. The home court advantage, I'd probably take the Pacers. Then from there you get the bucks against the Celtics. You know how I feel. I think the advantage in coaching goes to the Celtics. Advantage in playoff experience goes to the Celtics. And I would take Boston to beat Milwaukee in a highly competitive series. think the best late game closer either hand is Kyrie Irving. Gordon Hayward has played very,

very well over the last couple of weeks. You know, listen, stars usually get their chemistry act together in the playoffs. You know, they get past the pettiness. I think Boston remains the best team in the east and they will beat Milwaukee. I think the Raptors put a sledgehammer to the Pacers. I mean, listen, the Raptors are a really good team. Added Mark Gassal, not sure if that'll be a difference maker, but I think you'll end up with the Raptors facing the Boston Celtics, and I think the Boston Celtics will make pretty quick work of them. So I think in both the Western Conference Finals, I suspect Golden State beats OKC, and it's not a particularly good matchup, the best shooting team against a streaky shooting team in the West. And I think Boston

again is the team that, to me, has seven players who are somewhere between B-minus and A, Kyrie Irving being the best. I don't buy the swoon. I think it's about. coach, your star, and your experience, and Boston has more than anybody in the Eastern Conference. And I think we see a Boston Celtic team feeling good about themselves against a warrior team fighting some apathy that's had a really tough series against Houston. And I think Boston's got a fighting chance. Golden State should be the favorite, will be the favorite. But I think Boston will be okay.

And there's my breakdown of the Eastern Western Conference finals. I will tell you this. OKC, Utah, I'd pay to watch those games. Those are good games. OKC, Utah is a great, great series. Portland, Houston's not quite as good, but Boston, Portland will push back. Added in his canter, Rodney Hood. You know, great back court, good at home.

There you go. Stuffy, cold, flu season, you don't want to get sick. If you do, try Vix, Synex, nasal spray, up to 12 hours. a little squeeze, when congestion strikes, use as directed. That's VIX, Cynax nasal spray. Chris Haynes, Jason McIntyre, Monday's headlines today as we fly on a Friday through our second hour, hour three and a fun one coming up in L.A. It's the herd. Want 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 whenever you'd like. Ah, here we are hour three in Los Angeles. This is The Hurt, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We are live on IHeart Radio, live on Fox Sports Radio, and live right here on FS1 on a Friday. What are your big plans for the weekend, Joey? It is Baby EJ's fourth birthday this weekend. All right. So we will be having birthday parties.

Nice. Multiple days. That's nice. I got buddies in town. I'm going to hang out, have dinner at the house. I played pool last night into the wee hours. Are you good at pool? No, but my wife beat me. Is anyone really good at pool?

Probably. Yeah, I think I've gone. My mother is sneakily good at pool. Is she? Yeah, she tells everyone she's not. So I guess that kind of makes her like a hustler, huh? She's a hustler. Is that what you do?

That's what you do. Yeah. No, my wife beat me four out of five games last night. We just poured a cocktail and played pool. It's a good night. Yeah, it was a great. night. By the way, 15 minutes, Chris Haynes, NBA Yahoo Insider on things happening around the league, including the Lakers reducing LeBron's minutes. Is it a possibility he would just cash it in for the season?

Lakers get into the lottery. One of my favorite segments on Friday, we call it Monday's headlines today. Jason McIntyre, founder of the biglead.com, stops by. Well, last night, Antonio Brown, apparently now he's a Buffalo Bill. No, he said he don't want to be a Buffalo Bill, so he's still a Pittsburgh Steelers. he now would like to tell us where he wants to play. And that's precisely why he'll never be a New England patriot. He didn't come into the league like this. He was enabled. That's why it's important when you're a parent to set the tone, set a culture in the house.

Antonio Brown was a six-round pick. He was known as the hardest working Pittsburgh Steeler. He does not exist in New England. They don't enable stars. They don't empower the individual. team. It is us. Antonio Brown did not enter the league. Outspoken, demanding.

I'm not saying it's perfect there, but I don't think Big Ben has been always aided by the culture. I've been saying this for years. Pete Carroll in Seattle and Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh are really good coaches. But they are pro player to a fault, almost an NBA field. Be loud, speak out, anonymous sources, talking after. after games, Facebook Live, and both have blown up. Steelers are trapped now because now nobody's going to give you a first or a second round pick for Antonio Brown. Everybody in the league's going to wait until you drop your demands to about a fifth rounder,

and then somebody's going to come in. But nobody's giving you a first or second for that. But I go back to this. The Philadelphia Eagles won a Super Bowl, and they kept saying, remember when they won the Super Bowl? Yeah, fun! We don't do it like New England! And they blew up. And halfway through the year, players for the Eagles came out and said, you know, we're not being. We're not buttoned up.

Multiple players. This is not the NBA. This is a completely different business model. Players in the NFL just don't matter as much. Outside of about six to eight quarterbacks in this league, no player is worth a point. A point in a game. in the NBA, Antonio Brown is so gifted, people wouldn't care. He'd be worse seven wins, 24 points a game, nine assists.

I mean, Westbrook's got all sorts of issues. Plenty of people want Westbrook. James Harden doesn't always play anything other than ISO ball. A bunch of people would want him. You can be outspoken. When you go into a business, they're not all the same. You have to understand the business you're going into. and the NBA is about promoting and marketing stars.

The basketball culture in America is find the talent and get him paid, get him elevated. We'll work about the maturity and the emotional and physical development later. Baseball and football are different. Find, develop, teach, practice. Second contract, we'll pay you. And we can still cut you with very little guaranteed money. So this goes back to something I believe forever. You can keep getting gassed up, never run your business through Twitter,

get your players mostly off social media. The NFL's never going to be the NBA. The NFL is not beholden to one player like LeBron James or one team like the Warriors to get ratings. It's not about the individual. It's about the whole. And Antonio Brown has put the Steelers, who have enabled their stars in a bad spot.

You think it's a coincidence that Lavian Bell and Antonio Brown and Big Ben are three of the most outspoken temperamental guys in the league? That's just a coincidence? They would not be enabled in New England. I want to shift gears to this. It's a huge discussion point in L.A. And around the country as well, the Lakers season, was a disaster. But it's more than that. LeBron James, who was always really good at PR for almost all of his

first 15 years in the league this year was completely tone deaf. Optics are terrible, disengaged, doing projects during the season, going to Instagram after personal achievements. And I got into this discussion yesterday with a friend, and I said, what happened to LeBron in a year? Did he get dumb? No. He doesn't play defense. Did he get lazy?

No. Did he forget how to play team basketball? No. What happened to LeBron is what happens to a lot of executives and people, high-powered people. He got caught up in the L.A. thing. Kobe Bryant, for people that don't live in Los Angeles, never live. lived in Los Angeles County. He helicopters in from Orange County.

So does Mike Trout isn't in L.A. County. LeBron James, I know exactly where he lives, lives in the heart of agents, industry insiders, producers, directors, and heavyweights. Lives right around the corner from Beverly Hills. LeBron's a nine-minute drive depending on the time of day to lunch with Leonardo DiCaprio. Kobe Bryant to two-hour drive.

Kobe Bryant never, ever, ever allowed himself to be distracted by the L.A. thing. Shaq did, and that's why when the Lakers had to make a choice, Shaq and Kobe, they chose Kobe. Shaq was too often distracted. You know, there's more choices than ever in this country. Choices for a lot of people create anxiety. and they also create distractions. And I don't think it's a coincidence that LeBron was completely tone deaf this year. Colin, come on, he's always had TV projects.

Yes, and you can gamble in a lot of places. But when you move to Las Vegas, it's different. LeBron got caught up in the L.A. thing. I've seen guys blow their marriages up, guys end their careers this way. L.A. has got lots of options. It's one of the reasons Kobe Bryant helicoptered in for games and then helicoptered out. He never got sucked into L.A. I was told, as LeBron moved here, the first week by a high-powered agent, not mine, although mine's good too,

but I was told by an agent that LeBron already had four billionaires lined up who wanted to do business with him. LeBron's a 34-year-old kid from Akron, Ohio. How do you say no to that? Of course you don't say no to that. LeBron didn't get dumb. LeBron didn't get lazy. LeBron didn't become a bad teammate. Those go against everything I believe to be true.

But he did get sucked in. He's got his house right in the middle of agents and eight, nine-minute drive to meeting the biggest stars. around the corner from the guy that runs, my former company, I know exactly where he lives. It's just too easy to get sucked in and gassed up and distracted. It happens to a lot of people. It even happened to LeBron.

He didn't suddenly become a bad teammate. He didn't suddenly get terrible on defense. LeBron looks like this year, he's aged eight years. He looks tired. He doesn't look in great shit. shape. He looks distracted, and he's not the first person to deal with that in Los Angeles. Chris Haynes broke the story about the Lakers reducing LeBron James minutes. I don't think it's a terrible thing to sit him down for the year and increase your lottery odds. I don't think. It's supposed to be

a fairly good lottery of the top five or six picks. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at 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 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

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What's up, fam? This Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano and our podcast, Point game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reed. He has to guard Julius R. Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court, licking his fingers,

why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Boe.

On our podcast, inside American soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Polic. I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team.

and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back. Chris Haynes broke the story.

Senior NBA insider Yahoo Sports used to cover the cab for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Warriors for the place I used to work at. So you broke the story on the minute restrictions. What are we talking? 22 minutes, 24, how much LeBron we get? I was told that it was around 2832 is what they agreed upon. And on back-to-backs, whether it's the first game or the second, you know, his trainer, Mike Macy will consult with LeBron and see where he feels

and they'll let the organization know which games they'll be sitting up, you know, as it pertains to those. Now look, I've covered LeBron, been around here. him a while. There's one thing to have something planned. This is the plan moving forward. It's not a shutdown. I'm dubbing it a cool down for the rest of the way. Now it's one thing to have it planned, but they actually have LeBron go and follow through with this minute restriction. That's another thing because numerous coaches have tried to get him to play under a certain amount of minutes and he's always fought through it and still end up playing close to 40 minutes. So I'm

looking forward to see if he'll stick with the script. You have covered him for a long time. I was talking to somebody in his circle yesterday that said, you know, this year kind of provided clarity who we can count on who we can't. It created clarity for me, which is the Lakers don't have any shooters. It's a shooters league, and you can't go from no shooters to a bunch of them in one-off season. I don't think Anthony Davis solves it if they land him. And I'm not trying to overreact here, but I look at what they have. I look at what they'd have to give up to get Anthony Davis. I look at the lottery, which they're in right now,

but a very little possibility to get a top four or five player. I don't see a ton of light at the end of the tunnel. I really don't. Well, the thing is, if they're able to land Anthony Davis, and I think that's going to be the big home run that they have to try to knock out over the off season or at some point into next season, once you get those two on board,

if you can get those two on boards, then shooters can come, you know, you can get those on relatively cheap basis. You know, LeBron, He handles the ball so much. He does it all in the offense that you need a shooter because a lot of times he's only going to give you the ball with, you know, a couple seconds left on a shot clock, and you have to shoot. You can't be like this team. Like I understood their plan moving forward with the way they designed this team this year.

But it didn't make sense from the get-go. You just knew it was not going to work. You have too many ball-dominant players and not enough shooters. LeBron needs shooters around him. It only makes all the sense in the world. So I didn't think we'll be here when we're talking about the Lakers not being in the postseason, but I definitely thought we'll be talking about them struggling. I've always felt that this is a weird team.

I was told LeBron had complained and complained a strong word. He had said to people close to him in January, this roster doesn't make any sense. It's young guys I don't know. It's kind of old, weird guys who I don't connect with. Does he have a best friend on this team? A best friend. Well, the guy, you know, who we see him communicating with the most is, you know, Ray John Rondo, as a veteran, a proven guy, guy who is a championship experience.

I mean, but look, you look at the core group of players on this team when you're talking about Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzman, that's almost a decade gap between them, a little bit over a decade, between them and LeBron James. And so there's a disconnect there. You know, on the court, you know, everything's fine. They're basketball players. you would think that they would figure it out. But just jelling beyond that is kind of impossible.

You know, even when LeBron and Kyrie were playing together, the gap wasn't that large like it is now, but it took their time. It took time for them to kind of blend and form some chemistry and try to develop a bond off the court. It wasn't the best, as we know, but, you know, it was better. They were more together than what LeBron is right now. There are Chris Haynes joining us.

They're varying reports. on LeBron's influence over the roster. Can you confirm or deny his influence? How much say does he have on personnel? Well, I think obviously, you know, he's LeBron James. They're going to come with him, come to him before a decision is made and get his opinion. Now, I don't know that LeBron has the overall say on yay or nay, but no, definitely they're going to get his input and get his feedback. And look, you would think, you will hope, you know, LeBron always talks about this.

He's like, I just play. I just play the game. So you will hope that if Magic or Polinka feels strongly about a certain player, and then they do go to LeBron to get his input, and LeBron says no, you will hope that Polika or Magic, if they feel strongly, will stick by it. Because this is their team, this is their roster. I haven't heard anything saying that this season that LeBron did anything like that. But look, he does get input.

You know, he doesn't want it. He doesn't want to have overall say-so on roster personnel. But he does have say-so on the coach, and it does look like he's never connected with Luke Walton, especially post-injury. Well, look, I covered LeBron when he was over in Cleveland when he came back and when they hired David Black. Could you sense immediately it didn't work? Well, for sure. You couldn't practice? No, it was probably after the first week.

You knew it. Yeah, you just knew it. Why? It wasn't just Bronn, but it was the way they interacted, the way they responded to him, the way, you know, usually like when there's a revert figure, revered figure, that's a coaching figure. Usually when he says something, like take Golden State, for example, which kind of blew up what KD said about Steve Kerr. usually when the post game, when the Steve Kerr or Popovich, when they say something at the postgame, well, we didn't play with fire, we didn't play with vigor, whatever it is. Usually that sets the theme for the rest of your postgame coverage.

So now you start asking all these other players on the team, the coach said this, and then they kind of expound all that. So it was real quick, well, you know, when David Black's tenure, he'll say something, and then you'll see the players going completely opposite of that, contradicting what the coach said. And so that's when you knew, okay, there's a disconnect here. And David Black, to his credit, he didn't sign up to Coach LeBron. He signed up for a young team sitting around Dionne Waiters,

Kyrie Irvin, Tristan Thompson, same with Luke Walton. He didn't sign up for LeBron James. So he was in a no-win situation from the get-go. Yeah. You trust the Laker front office to get players, shooters? Do you trust them? Do I trust them? Magic's never done this.

The Link has never done this. I need more body of work to fully, for me to fully say I trust that they can pull this through. Now, I trust the city of Los Angeles that this is just a hot destination that players will want to come to. But, you know, I need more about it work, you know, before I can go out and say that. By the way, the Celtics played great against Golden State the other night. I prescribed to the theory that chemistry, once the playoffs start, always figures itself out.

I mean, you got to remember last year at the end of the year, the Warriors were like 10 and 7 and 10 down the stretch. and there was a lot of squabbling, and the playoffs started and they, you know, go 15 and 2. You know, my gut feeling is Boston will get their act together. I still think they win the East. Milwaukee, I think the Celtics have an experience, edge and depth of talent advantage over Milwaukee. If I said today, give me your Western Eastern Conference finals, what do you look at? Oh, man. I do think Houston matches up well with Golden State.

I don't think they'll beat him, but if Kenneth Farid is healthy, he's a physical presence. Houston is the only threat in the West, in my opinion, to Golden State. Yeah. How about in the East? In the East, look, as of right now, I'm going to go with Toronto. You like Toronto. I like Toronto. I like Toronto.

And I think we're dismissing them because they're history. Yeah, their history. They shrink. They shrink. They're in Toronto. But it's a new regime there. Kaui, Kauiliners over there now. So I'm going with Toronto.

But I will say this, Colin. Being around Kairi, love him or hate him. He's difficult at times. He's difficult at times. You covered him. I covered him. But the boy is a killer. He's an assassin.

And he said it about a week ago that he was bored with the regular season, and he wanted to get straight to the playoffs. So if Kyrie has another level, which I've seen him get to before. Oh, yeah. Then I have all the confidence. You want to talk about confidence. I got confidence that when he takes his game up, that's going to elevate everybody else. And so I'm not dismissing Boston, but as a right now,

I just like how Toronto is being consistent throughout. But, man, when you talk about Kyrie and big games, man. When you watch that first half the other night, the Celtics against the Warriors. Yeah, I was there. I mean, I was there. They looked. That was the best I've seen Boston play in two years. They looked incredible.

Hayward's playing well last two or three games. Yep. If Kyrie can take that next step, which he's more than capable, if Gordon Hayward could get any resemblance back to the form he was in Utah, man, I mean, if that happens, we haven't seen the real Boston team all year. By the way, I had this topic earlier this week, Joy and I did. I've been watching the NBA

since the 70s, and I said, here are the faces of the NBA. And it's always been a great player. Now, you have to be a great player. You have to have either a huge flare to your game or your personality, usually. Kareem has never been the face of the league because he had sort of an aloof, brittle,

personality. Barkley had the personality, not quite the game, although he was great. Wilt, Dr. J. Bird, Magic. Michael, Shaq, Kobe, LeBron, and I said, who's the next face of the league? Kevin Durant, similarly, is a little brittle, has a little bit of an odd personality. Some say Janus, although Milwaukee, no playoff success, didn't domestically play high school or college. I didn't know who he was until year three.

Who is to you the face of the league next five years? So in order to be the face of the league, obviously you have to be a top of your game, one of the top three players in the league. These guys all won titles. They all won titles. You have to be personal, but you have to be somebody who is wholesome. Well, it's interesting because wholesome matters. It's an interesting word. Whereas Iverson wasn't seen as wholesome, and it hurt the ratings.

Joy argues that Janus is not polarizing and that all of these players, maybe not Dr. Jay, but they were all kind of polarizing. Yeah. So in that case, Colin, so I would say this, if we're dismissing LeBron, we're taking LeBron out of the equation, I would say Steph, that's my go-to right now. Steph, the face of the lead, because it's polarizing, three-point shooting. We've never seen anybody shoot like that. He's a wholesome guy.

Somebody to lead can push. Kevin Durant has the temper, moody. You know, Lee really can't push somebody like that. But let's bring up, be honest. I know people can't pronounce his last name. But I will say this. There's never been a foreigner who's been the face of the NBA. Ever.

Ever. He has the chance to potentially. to get to that point. Well, if he shows a little bit more personality and wins on the court. You know, it's interesting. Durant and Steph, because there's been two tandem since the 70s, since the 60s that have been the face of the league. Shaq Kobe, Magic Bird. It could really be Durant and Steph.

I mean, if you just say it out loud, Durant, Steph win the championship this year. The Lakers are a train wreck, and Steph Durant win the title again next year four times. They're the face of the league. They are the face of the league. The only question is, we don't think they're going to be together. But if they win, I said this before, when Durant won his first championship, 5% of the people, 10% said, Durant's better than LeBron, and it washed away in a week. Then last year, about 20% of the people, 25, for about two weeks, Durant's better than LeBron, it washed away.

If he wins this year, Durant and is the MVP in the finals, about half the people with LeBron not making the playoffs. So my takeaway is if you don't leave and go for a fourth, more people than not will be on the, man, LeBron can barely make the playoffs. That would be the difference. LeBron not making the playoffs. And then Kevin Durant goes on and has a tremendous performance in the finals, win the championship,

finals MVP for the third straight year. That's when you'll see more people jumping on the badwagon and saying Kevin Durant is the best player in the league and is the face of the franchise. But no, the tandums, I mean, if you're talking about tantums right now, that's Steph and Katie That's the only one That's it right now

That's it But still Even with KD You know He's not He's Katie It's He's prickly

He's prickly Steph is the guy who smiles And You know He has his routine Before games Everybody wants to come and see him Do dribbling and shooting

That's why I think You know He would be the face But remember Steph's You know He's up there It's not like he's going to have it

to be the face the next five years. You've got to be somebody younger. And that's where you've got the guys like Janus, potentially Anthony Davis, you know, guys like that. Yeah, I feel like I've been waiting for Anthony Davis. I'm just waiting for him to be special in the postseason. Good seeing you, Chris. Thank you, John.

Chris Haynes, Joy with the News. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, let's stick with Janus. He is possibly on his way to his first MVP award at 24 years old. The Bucks also have the best record in the league. league and his coach, Mike Boodenholzer, sees a similarity between he and Tim Duncan. He told the athletic, I think personality-wise and approach-wise, he is similar to Tim Duncan.

He's such a great, he's so humble but hungry, so humble, but wants to be great and wants the team to be great. Those are all kind of the characteristics of Timmy, and it's just amazing how his teammates loved him, and it's very similar with Janus. I totally get it. He's right on the money there. Well, this is kind of why I argued yesterday that this... He can't be the face of the league. the face of the league. And really, when you put up that list of faces of the league, how many of them would you describe as wholesome?

Well, I would say this. How about the word marketable? Magic bird, Dr. Jay. You've got to be marketable. Very, very different than wholesome. Yeah, yeah, you're right. And I do think that Yannis is wholesome and marketable. I just think that he is not polarizing.

And in order to be a superstar in any thing, thing, you have to be polarizing because that is what generates discussion. Who's going to say anything bad about Janus? Who's going to say anything bad about Tim Duncan? No one. And that's part of why they are who they are. Tim Duncan is an all-time great. And you know exactly what his personality is.

And his personality was perfect and necessary for that dynasty to exist. But he was never considered the face of the league, despite how legendary he was. No, I think the Janus Duncan comparisons are great. I think they're right on the money. humble, hungry, great, long, rebound, defend, score. I mean, I think... I mean, he has to win

quite a few championships to be on the level of... What if Milwaukee becomes the next 10 years? I don't know if it's good for ratings. They become the San Antonio. I mean, we've got... It's not a big market. No, it's I'm saying. We have a history in the NBA where a small market San Antonio dominated the league for 10 years.

Milwaukee could be the northern version of it. I mean, listen, they've got a nice roster. I mean, they've got star and a co-star. They've spent 19 seasons as a Spurs assistant coach. It's possible. Didn't they just give an extension to Eric Bledsoe? Yeah, they just gave an extra. So they locked him up.

So Janice, Middleton, Eric Bledsoe, not bad. And I think the difference between Duncan and Janus, because we're talking about guys who are quiet and just go about their business. But, Joe, Duncan plays don't make the highlight real. Janice is a highlight real. Yeah, that helps. defensively and offensively. is, but he's also Janice.

He wants to stay in Milwaukee. He's a low-key guy. He's self-described low-key guy. This, like, I'm sorry, this is what sells. We're in L.A. I'm telling you what sells. And what we discuss every single day is not because we just want to discuss LeBron every day. It's because we have to discuss LeBron every day.

Yeah. LeBron bores us sometimes, but we know it gets a number. People like it and they're interesting. It's not even about numbers. It's what everyone's talking about. Everyone's not lining up to argue about Janus. Yonis is great, and he's a good guy, and that's great. So DeAngelo Russell has already earned his first all-star game nod this season.

And he's reportedly on his way to his big paycheck as well. Anonymous NBA executives told the athletic, I think DeAngelo is worth around $20 million annually. I think he turned the corner. I think he has a chip on his shoulder. He will be in high demand and will get close to the max with his overall improvements. He'll end up being about a $20 million year player. He's been good for them this year.

It's interesting what's happened with DeAngelo Russell and Julius Randall? Yeah, they're both better now. I left the Lakers. Well, I think DeAngelo Russell was always talented. I liked when the Lakers drafted him. You know, I say this all the time. I was a late bloomer in life. You know, we get these kids.

They're 19 years old, and some of them don't click until they're 24 years old. Forget physically. They're just not emotionally. DeAngelo Russell was not emotionally ready. only not be in the NBA, to be a Laker on television every night in Los Angeles. There were some things going on there. I would agree. But it's also interesting what the Lakers are doing to develop young players. Not much. Brandon Ingram until the last month. Has it gotten any better? Well, in the last month he played well. He had some nice offensive.

DeAngelo Russell was always talented. He was always talented. That was never the question. He wasn't mature enough for the Lakers. But, but, you know, some of these guys. the Lakers didn't provide an environment for him to too mature and to the player you need to be. Finally, the Thunder have moved ahead of the Blazers in the standings last night with a great game, 129, 121,

one-21 overtime victory. Paul George had 32 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and three steals. Westbrook also added 38 points and seven rebounds. He had eight turnovers, though. And Billy Donovan had high praise for George. He said, I'm happy for Paul. Last year was a transition for him playing his first year for us and having free agency

at the end of the season. He's gotten settled in and has played the best basketball of his career. And he's right. He is having career highs and points per game, rebounds per game, assists for game, and steals. Good game last year. He didn't shoot particularly well. Westbrook had a bunch of points and a bunch of turnovers.

I'm really pulling for this as a first round match. It would be great first round. Oklahoma City against almost anybody in the first round would be good, except the clippers and they won't meet them. But the blazers in them are so chippy. It would really be great physical basketball. Jazz O.K.C. or Portland O.K.C. Houston O KC would be a great.

Jazz, I mean, for, it didn't go seven games, but it was an intense. Utah, OKC was an intense series. Joy with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurdline News. Mondays, Headlines today with Jason McIntyre, one of my favorite segments every week and best for last.

That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Welterweight World Champion's Showtime. Sean Porter defends his belt for the first time as he battles top-rated contender. Your Dennis Ugas live in primetime tomorrow at 8 p.m. Eastern 5 p.m. Pacific only on Fox. Boxing is making a comeback. When's the last time you went to a big boxing match? I don't think I've ever been to one, actually.

Oh, my God, they're great. Yeah, I was too young when Tyson was in Vegas and you were front row at all those fights. I wasn't front row or what I was right behind for about six Tyson fights. a couple sugar rays, couple hernes, couple hagglers, couple Durand. It was great. First job out of college. How lucky was I?

I was lucky. I was in fifth grade winning like a spelling bee maybe or something like that. Really? Yeah, something like that. I was a good speller. Still am, yeah. Okay. Jason McIntyre is the founder of the big lead every Friday.

We do something called Tomorrow's Headlines Today. Let's start with Antonio Brown Trade Market. Tomorrow's Headlines Today. So I think the headline tomorrow is going to be. And Colin, this one's a fun. one, A, B disappears into black hole. There's really only one place for him to go at this point, right? We were just talking before the show about what happened last night, and Antonio Brown can just say, I'm not going to sign in Buffalo. I don't want to sign in Cincinnati.

You're not sending me to, you know, outer Mongolia. I will only go here, and the Steelers are kind of stuck with him. So I think a situation is setting up where John Gruden is, you know, he loves to roll the dice, talking about Kyler Murray in the draft. Why not? roll the dice with Antonio Brown. I mean, it makes sense. The receivers are bad, but I do want to call and tell you a quick story about Antonio Brown. This is the kind of diva, as you see here on FS1, arguing on the sideline, chucking a Gatorade. So he came out here in L.A. within the last seven months and was on the set of a TV show. Yeah. So Antonio Brown, you know, they're filming this TV show, goes up to them and says, hey, I need to use the restroom. Like, okay, we'll show you to the private

bathroom, Mr. Brown. He goes, no, I've got to go home. I don't use a public restroom. and Antonio Brown holds up this TV show, goes home. Of course, they follow him to the house. Antonio Brown shuts the door 45 minutes later. He emerges, goes back to the TV set. Okay, I'm ready to go. That's the kind of diva that some of these teams are going to be looking at. He's just a weird guy.

He's a strange individual. And the fact that he would do that, and you know these teams, My Jets, Tampa Bay, they're all going to call around and they're going to hear these Antonio Brown stories coming out of the Pittsburgh locker room. I think there's only one chance, and that's the Oakland Raiders. And they have three first round picks.

There you go. All right, Levy and Bell free agency, tomorrow's headlines today. I'm surprised you haven't been all over this one. You love this team. Levian Bell seems, I don't understand why nobody's talking about him. If you notice, he's stopped prattling on on social media. He's dialed it back. Levion Bell, tomorrow's headline, today, believe in the Colts.

Now, you're a Colts guy. you're in with the Colts front office. Love them. I'm ready to go on record that they will be the favorites in the AFC to get to the Super Bowl if they get Levyon Bell. Think about this. Andrew Luck has had some pretty good players that he's had on the skill positions. Never a great player.

This is the best skill position player Andrew Luck would have. Think back to that playoff loss to the Chiefs, Colin. Did you see that offense? How bad it? Well, they couldn't move the football. Teams just load up on the tight ends and tight T.Y. Hilton. You know what's interesting? I don't know if Chris Ballard, the GM, would bring him into their culture, which is very much

we over me. But I will say this. They have over $100 million in cap space. They're going to be able to solve most of their problems because of their draft picks. There you go. I don't know. You know, it's funny. I started looking all their money.

They're going to re-sign some of their own guys. I know they would have made a run at D. Ford, but he got franchised. I'm fascinated to watch where they spend their money because they need a number two receiver. well, they drafted one and he got hurt last year. You can get that in the draft. They need another corner. They need an edge rusher. And there's a ton of them.

It's going to be funny to see what the Colts do with their money. My gut feeling with Chris Ballard is he may go spend a little money on a corner. They have a couple of decent corners. But I think if you're in the division, if you're in the AFC against Patrick Mahomes, you've got to be better than good at corner. You've got to get past rushers and corners. And just to hammer home the bell point, when you think back to their regular season, You know, it's one thing for the running back to go off against the Tennessee Titans or these mediocre teams.

You get to the playoffs. You need a bell cow like Levy on Bell to just take over. Just remember, he is one of the most electric backs in the league, totally fresh, having not played last year. I love it in Indianapolis. Earl Thomas Free Agency tomorrow's headlines today. A lot of people initially just pegged him to Dallas because of all the chatter. But I believe another team that you know well is going to be the Earl Thomas. mix. I believe the headline will be the Bay of Boom.

Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas back together again. If you're looking for a by-low team right now for next year, San Francisco 49ers. Jimmy G. coming off the injury. We've got about $65 million in cap space. Remember, Jerich McKinnon, the running back, he's coming back from injury. This team has a good front seven, the number two pick in the draft. So they're going to get, they're probably going to get that Kentucky. kid, Alan, Josh out, or Boza. The edge rusher. Yeah. So they're going to get a great edge rusher,

solve that. What they have to, it's interesting because really their number one concern to me, because their right tackle last year from Notre Dame was a home run. They need big time secondary help. Yes, badly. And Earl Thomas's knowledge of that division. Okay. And the payback factor, Colin, the last image of Earl Thomas in Seattle was on that cart. Remember coming off, flicking the middle finger to the, here here's a video, to the sideline. he was angry at what happened that they played him and he got injured. I think there's a revenge factor that Richard Sherman had as well. Sherman and Earl Thomas, 49ers, oh, that's a tough video to watch.

And I know you're big on the Rams and friendly with them. I think they could be pulling back a little next year. Keep an eye on that offensive line. The early chatter is they're going to lose two offensive linemen. John Sullivan's already gone. Yeah, one's gone. I would not be surprised if the 49ers won that division next year. Either would I.

LeBron passes Jordan. We'll play a restricted minutes rest of the season. Tomorrow's headline today. Boy, this one, I know it's going to upset you, Nick Wright, Doug Gottlie, a lot of folks. Colin, tomorrow's headline will be Goat Talk timeout. It's official. We cannot discuss Jordan and LeBron anymore. We have to take a one-year timeout.

I'm calling for a hiatus. And here's why, Colin. I don't want to anger LeBron. I know he watches your show. You're in with Maverick Carter. they're going to finish 10th in the West. It's bad. The first year he leaves the East,

remember, a decrepit East that he ran roughshot over for eight years. At what point do we say, well, boy, maybe that East was bad. Boy, what, I mean, it was awful. I mean, Joy, like, when you think about this, as soon as LeBron, this is the playoffs, this is going to be the conversation.

They can't pass the Sacramento Kings. They can't pass the Clippers. The Clippers are starting two rookies and the Lakers third string center. And they traded Tobias Harris. You got to give the Clippers credit. They're going to make the playoffs. They're going to make the playoffs.

One more point. When you look at this Lakers roster, it is better than what LeBron had last year in Cleveland. Remember, it was Kevin Love, LeBron, J.R. Smith. There's more talent on this roster than the Cleveland roster. And he's 10th in the West? Colin, so that's why I refuse to entertain any Jordan LeBron stuff. Are you with me on this? Will you stop Jordan LeBron talk for one year?

Oh, I'd stop it forever. Oh, here we go. I'm tired of talking about that. Now you're going to have to pass it on to Gottlieb, Nick Wright, whoever else at this now. We've got to stop it. Brousard is on board with me. I know he is. Okay.

Kyrie Irving tomorrow's headlines today. I am a huge Kyrie Irving fan. I own a Kyrie throwback jersey. You know, I'll wear to the beach sometimes. I got to say, tomorrow's headline will be, and this is not a good one, unlucky charm. So we've already established that the Celtics says they're on the screen, 10 and 2 without Kyrie this year. I've got a mind-blowing stat I haven't heard anywhere else.

Kyrie turns 27 this month. Yeah. He's already had five head coaches. If he leaves the Celtics, he's going to have six NBA head coaches by the time he's 27. At what point do we look at a guy who left LeBron? And now maybe he leaves Brad Stevens. No, it's a very legitimate. And it's like, who are we dealing with here?

Who leaves LeBron? And then it's like, okay, who is? leaves Brad Stevens. If he moves on, Colin. Listen, I've been critical of Russell Westbrook. I think I told Joy this the other day. You do get to a point that Westbrook this year has relinquished the baton. Now, he's not in his prime. He's had surgeries. But you get into a thing with Kyrie, you start taking out the LeBron years, and it's all enigma. I mean, there's a lot of questions about him. As I pitched this to the producer of this segment, he goes, you know, Kyrie's never won a playoff game without LeBron.

He was hurt last year, didn't get to the playoffs before LeBron got there. There's some pressure on Kyrie to deliver here. And again, I'm a big Kyrie fan. But this whole like jumping around, about to be on his sixth coach if he leaves Boston, he's almost like one of those guys who just dates around and can never commit to any girl. You know one of those guys, I'm sure. Yes, those are not good people. Yeah, it's like, what's wrong with you, dude?

Just settle down. Move on. And Kyrie Irving, if he leaves Brad Stevens' collar, I will be shocked. If he has to like the Knicks. The good thing Boston has going for him, Gordon Hayward's playing better. They got over there a little tizzy, and they match up great with Philadelphia. You used to live by Philadelphia. Philadelphia is a weird team where if you look at it and I said, Joel M. Beed, Ben Simmons,

Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, veteran coach, you'd be like home run, J.J. Reddick. They're terrible late in games. They struggle against good teams. They're not real mature. M. Bede's been beat up recently. That's a bad match. for the Sixers. I mean, Horford owned M-Bed last year

in the playoffs. It was bad. Good stuff. Great to have you on the show today. Yeah, thank you. By the way, if you haven't tried the delicious high-quality meat from Butcher Box, going to be blown away. Go to butcherbox.com slash h-E-R-D, free ground beef. For the life of your subscription and $20 off your first

box. All right, Monday, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, there will be plenty of both. Chris Roussard will stop by for Jason McIntyre, Chris Haynes, Stephen Jackson, and Albert Breer. Probably should put him on the archive today. All sorts of good stuff, NFL stuff.

We'll keep you abreast of A, B, here at FS1. See you Monday. It's the herd. 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

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