The Herd with Colin Cowherd - NBA All-Star Weekend, Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kyler Murray

Episode Date: February 18, 2019

Colin explains what he liked during the NBA All-Star weekend, why New Orleans Pelicans F Anthony Davis is changing his tune, what it means to Los Angeles Lakers F LeBron James if Anthony Davis doesn't come to the Lakers, why Golden State Warriors F Kevin Durant should be happy, and why he believes everyone should be cheering for QB Kyler Murray. Guests include Chris Broussard, Albert Breer, and Matt Barnes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I can see it coming. This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening, live in Los Angeles, Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Packed today, Matt Barnes, Albert Breer, Chris Broussard, NBA All-Star weekend. Joy Taylor is joining me. Looks like, Joy, you had a great weekend. I was in the wind and rain. Looks like you had a warm weekend.

I had a very nice Valentine's Day. A little Mexico? Yes. Or Alto, we know Mexico to Cabo. You guys are in that stagia relationship. It's just all fun. Oh, changes? Yes.

That's not the plan. I mean, they're still loving stuff. It's just a lot more variables. Great to have you and everybody. You know, it's funny about, you know, I've said before I'm divorced and remarried very happy. And sports divorces are interesting. Generally, when you have a big sports divorce, and this is the way it would be great if this always worked in life, both sides can reasonably claim they won. Remember Shaq and Kobe.

Shaq and Kobe broke up. They won three championships. We thought it would be eight. They broke up. But in the end, Shaq won a tie. Kobe Bryant won two titles. It was pretty good, right? I mean, Shaq went on to have another three or four great years.

He's had a remarkable post-NBA career. Kobe won a couple of championships. That was a very good divorce. You know, I'm watching Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. They had a divorce too. Has there ever been a more lob-sided divorce than that one? Two and a half years after they broke up, Kevin Durantz now got two titles, two MVP finals, favored for a third.

This weekend he was named the All-Star Game MVP. It's like he's playing a different game. If he has a great second half, he's getting into that territory that he's being argued now as the best current player in the NBA on perhaps the greatest team we've ever seen in the NBA. I think it's probably second to MJ's Bulls. And then the last two and a half years, Westbrook did win in the NBA. MVP, but has had two ugly first-round playoff exits, one where he was imploding with Utah fans. He had another surgery. His shot is completely broken. And as Durant yesterday was winning

the MVP in the All-Star game joyfully, having fun, it's like he's playing a different game. Westbrook was one for eight on threes. And it looked like he stole the MVP from Janus and gave it to Kevin Durant because Janus was winning it. Westbrook came in, took a lot of shots, and killed the momentum for Janus. Am I crazy here? This is like as bad as a divorce gets in sports. I mean, think about it. Peyton Manning left the Colts.

Everybody was freaking out. Yes, Peyton Manning won a Super Bowl. But the Colts have made the playoffs four times, including one AFC championship with Andrew Luck. And it looks like they got nine draft picks and $150 million. Indianapolis and Andrew Luck are set. for the next half decade. I mean, Brett Farve and the Packers.

Brett Farve went to an NFC championship with Minnesota, where he arguably had his best season ever with the Vikings. The Packers went on to win a championship, so they were fine with Aaron Rogers. And Montana and the 49ers. Everybody thought that was going to be the ugliest divorce. Montana got the Chiefs to the AFC Championship. A couple of really good years in KC.

And Steve Young won another Super Bowl title for the 49ers. but when I watch this KD. Westbrook thing, Westbrook for about an hour, you thought, okay, maybe this will work out. It's getting worse by the week. Four years from now, four years from now, you're going to owe Westbrook $47 million. Four years from now. He's a broken player now. And every time they play together, I sit to myself and I think, man, you enabled the wrong.

wrong guy, O'KC. You enabled the wrong guy. Kevin Durant said in a published story when they broke up, OKC enabled Westbrook, wouldn't coach him up, wouldn't tell him he was difficult to play with. So whether or not OKC wants to blame itself, the way it landed for Durant is, you enabled the wrong guy. But you got Westbrook now, who was awful yesterday, had a plus minus of minus 19, difficult, broken, rigid, fights with the press, uncertainly with fans, and you watch him yesterday, he's a shell of himself. He's just not the same player. And we still got four big years on that contract. And Kevin Durant, in his prime, never been better.

He's floating above the floor, is going to win another championship. This is going to be called the greatest basketball. team ever, and then he's going to have multiple teams fighting over him. Knicks, Celtics, Kyrie, Lakers, Warriors. Man, most of these sports divorces, actually, both teams win. You better hope in OKC, Westbrook continues to pass more than shoot, and they can get past the first round. Because yesterday, KD and Westbrook in the same All-Star game, Kevin

Durant is pulling away in that divorce. Adam Silver, let me shift gears, is the commissioner of the NBA. He stated, and I think this is true, quote, nobody likes to see players demanding trades while under contract. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said this weekend that Anthony Davis's team mishandled the trade request, and Kevin Garnett, Anthony Davis's trade was a bit unprofessional. Let me ask everybody this.

Do you like honesty? I do. You know how somebody says, hey, do you want the good news or the bad news first? Joy, what do you say? Bad news? I'm the same way. I think most people are like, okay, give me the crap. Just tell me the bad stuff.

Well, because also I may decide what the good news is from it. So if you start with the good news, you may be. twisting the narrative. So just tell me what it is. Okay. And I think I agree with Joy. And the reason we want that is, listen, we're almost everybody watching this show and listening takes the bad news first. And the reason is, okay, be honest, be up front. It can't be that bad. Let me solve the problem.

That's what you're basically saying. Okay, let me solve the problem. So Anthony Davis could have done it the way LeBron did. no warning whatsoever. Out of town, you get nothing for him. In Cleveland, they burn his jersey. Anthony Davis could have been done it the way Carmelo did. Carmelo's like, I'm out of here, and I'll give you a little warning. And you burn his jersey too.

Or he could do like Co-I Leonard. Literally, you're missing. What country's he in? What hospital? Where'd he go? And the Spurs wanted to burn his jersey. But clutch sports and Anthony Davis were high. hyper-aggressive. What they were is the opposite of passive-aggressive. And now everybody's

hammering them. So let me ask you, as a fan, as a consumer, as a GM, as an owner, don't you want your star to be brutally honest? Give me the bad news first. So therefore, you have a heads up and you have time to get draft picks and players. Because you burn LeBron's jersey, you burn Mello's jersey, so Anthony Davis told you a year or a half out. This is not working for me. NFL people running our NBA

team. You're not committed. Don't like the GM coach. I'm out. And you want to burn his jersey. There's a reason everybody says, good news or bad news. We all say, I'll take the bad news first. Because you want the ability

to get the time to make it the least bad it will be. And the Pelicans acted like children. Lakers offered them multiple picks and multiple players. The Indiana Pacers, by the way, had no emotion. When Paul George said, we're out of here, I'm out of here, I'm leaving. What do the Pacers do? All right, an hour later, they were on the phone, Kevin Pritchard, they got Victorola Depot, They got Sabonis.

They got a bunch of good players. Indiana took the emotion out of it. Indiana said, give me the bad news. Paul George said, I want out. Indiana went, damn. All right, let's make it work. The Pelican said, give me the good news, give me the bad news first. And Anthony Davis said, I want out.

And the Pelicans pouted. You don't get it, do you? Do the Pelicans not get this? There is never, aren't we all? seeking honesty? Don't we all want bad news up front? So we have time to engineer a good trade, good therapy, good pieces to reassemble what we had.

It's amazing to me. I will always take a superstar coming up to me and saying, this is a bad organization. I want out. What terrifies me is I literally, like Pat Riley's said in Miami, he said that last couple months with LeBron, nobody was communicating. You're having to guess what the superstar's thinking. Is he staying? Is he going? Can I move him? Can I depend? Can I commit?

Well, what's worse than the silent treatment? Nothing in the world is worse. When my wife and I used to argue, I just eventually gave up. But when we used to have real fights, I used to always say, come on, scream at me. Let's go. Let's go. Tell me what the worst is when she's, simmering and there's steam coming out and she's not talking to me. So everybody out here is Kevin Garnett, the commissioner, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Everybody's upset with Kevin with Anthony Davis. And my takeaway, as always, there is a reason.

What do you want? The good news is the bad news. We all say, give me the bad news. So you can, okay, let me reassemble this puppy as much as I possibly can because we're broken here. I just don't get it. What do you want these athletes and these superstars to do? By the way, Anthony Davis, this weekend talked about where he's going. Wink, wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

All 29 of the teams are on my list. Everyone's on the list. I don't have a preferred destination. Like I said, I just want to win. You know, they actually big market, small market. I don't care. You know, I want to win, you know, and obviously whatever team, you know, I get traded to, you know, play for that year or whatever. if I did try, I'm not sure, but just make the best up there, and then, you know,

with free age you come see what happens, you know, I can't tell the future, but all 29 teams are on the list. So just to follow real quick, so people who had reported, it's the Lakers and then it's the Knicks. I never gave the, I never gave a destination. Well, we all know it's not 29 teams, because if you want to go to somebody that can win, it bails, it knocks it down to about seven, eight teams, ten maybe, but there you go. Don't blow. Don't blow it. the star because you have a lousy organization and he's brutally aggressively up front and honest. He gave you bad news. Your job to be unemotional and fix it.

Coming up next, not all relationships are even. And Antonio Brown or the Steelers, he's got to figure that out. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the 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.

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By the way, cold and flu season. Trivixinex nasal spray. Works up to 12 hours when congestion strikes. As always, don't eat it. I once it as a child. Good to have you in. So yesterday, you know, Anthony Davis came out. And there's always two stories.

There's the story you're being sold. And then there's the real story. and Anthony Davis came out. I'd just let you listen to that bite. It's, hey, all 29 teams. I'm out there. I'm open for business. And that's a bunch of nonsense. Anthony Davis is represented by clutch sports. LeBron is represented by clutch sports.

Clutch sports exists, though Rich Paul is the head of it. It exists because of LeBron. If LeBron wasn't one of the greatest basketball players, maybe the best of all time, and this whole story would not be here, right? okay so lebron's been cool brings along friends along for the ride they're more than competent but it has been created because of the empire of lebron just i just want you to think about this so clutch sports was very hyper aggressive maybe too much but i didn't have a problem with it they came out and they said we want out and the NBA pushed back and stars pushed back and everybody

pushes back and it was kind of you know it was kind of uncomfortable i didn't have a problem with it a lot of people did i'd rather be aggressive than passive aggressive but now Now they're going the other way. Well, you know, it will play for anybody because they got their hands slapped. They were a little aggressive. Clutch sports connected to LeBron, like it or not, was too aggressive. And people clapped back and said, no, no, no, no, no, you're not running the league. And they felt it.

And clutch sports was calling everybody around the league, all the media and saying, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, let's slow this thing down. We got in a little trouble. Commissioner didn't like it. League didn't like it. Ticked off the Pelicans. Broadcasters didn't like it. Charles Barkley said it was collusion.

It was ugly, right? So now they're overcompensating. But one of the reasons I think Anthony Davis is probably 90% of Laker is really simple. LeBron James has been the face of this league. Warriors are the best team. LeBron's been the face of this league for now 10 to 12 years. Whether you think he's this or think he's that, Michael Jordan was the face of the league for about 10 years. There were a bunch of other good players around.

Charles Barkley was a good player. Akeem was a good player. A lot of good teams around. Okay, but Michael was kind of the face of the league for about 10 years. LeBron's been the face of the league. And during that, Kobe was great. You know, we've had Paul Pierce, we've had good teams, big three. LeBron's been the face of the league.

And for 15 years, this has been a real big boy business. LeBron's going to end up owning one of these teams. That's Big Boy money. That's Michael Jordan, LeBron, Magic. Not many guys have done that, right? Well, what happens if Clutch Sports and Anthony Davis don't go to the Lakers? It is a really, really frightening tipping point for LeBron's career. He'll be in year 17, had an injury on a week to slightly below average team.

Luke Walton will probably be getting fired. and the narrative that nobody wants to play with LeBron will be heightened. There's a reason multiple stories have said there is tension in the Laker building because LeBron knows what I just said is absolutely true. LeBron's on the back nine of his career, but like Tom Brady, he wants to extend it. Kobe wanted to extend it. Shaq wanted to extend it. Stars want to extend it.

You know, car racing, NASCAR, Daytona 500, that's one of the only sports. Guys have 15 years of prime left and they're like, I'm out. Generally, you're trying to extend the championship window and just extend the big money window and the U matter window. If Anthony Davis doesn't go to LeBron, there's other guys out there. But that is overwhelmingly because Anthony Davis and his connection to clutch sports, that is overwhelmingly the best option. Perhaps the best fit, I'm not sure of that.

But there's a reason all these reports are out there. There's tension in that building. Everybody can feel it. Because if we get to the end of this season and the Lakers are a first and out playoff team or not a playoff team, and Anthony Davis does not come to Los Angeles and LeBron, it is a tipping point moment in his career.

The guy who's run the league is no longer the most important guy in the league. That would be a massive moment for this sport. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So Antonio Brown continues to make news over the weekend he took to Twitter to answer some fan questions and to address his differences with Ben Rathesburger.

when he was asked what caused the conflict between them, he said, no conflict, just a matter of respect, mutual respect. He has an owner mentality like he can call anybody, including coaches out. Players know, but they can't say anything about it. Otherwise, their mail ticket is gone. It's a dirty game within a game. Hashtag truth. And then he was asked, what would you tell people that say you only want a new team to get a new contract?

He said, not for the money, it's for the love of the sport. The commitment to win relentlessly and consistently, passionately, plus I made $70 million. It's public record, not coffee, just truth. Time to play for my own team. AB 84, the family. So he still has a whole lot to say. I do think this is very interesting, though,

that the narrative has turned back on Ben Rathesberger. I still maintain that this is a little bit on Mike Tomlin as well because he should have some sort of relationship with Ben Rothesberger to go to him and say the way that you're treating everybody or the way that you're having a major lack of accountability is affecting the locker room. Again, there's enough flame to go around. Antonio Brown can have private conversations as well.

And who's to say he hasn't. Maybe he has had this conversation with Tomlin. But you know how things work on any team. The quarterback is the most important position. And it's the face of the franchise. And Ben Ruffisberger does have two Super Bowl rings. So he does have a little bit of authority around there. And he's not replaceable.

And Antonio Brown will not be on this team next year. So I'm not on Ben's side. I'm just saying that he and Tomlin and Antonio Brown clearly were not on the same page. And I don't know who to put that on except for the guy, which to me is Mike Tomlin. Well, yeah, but the thing is Antonio Brown, not all relationships are even. You know, my boss and I have a relationship. It's not even. He can fire me.

I can't fire him. You know, it's the reality is the Steelers have had two great quarterbacks in the history of the franchise. They've had 20 great receivers. In fact, they have two great receivers now. and the reality is in the NFL, if you're a star receiver, here's what you want to play with, a great quarterback. And if you have a great quarterback, he'll always have more power.

Now, you hope that he's a great teammate. You hope he's braided. But sometimes you get Aaron Rogers and sometimes you get Big Ben and they're not the greatest and they're tough and they're vocal. I mean, ideally, Antonio Brown is in a dilemma. What he wants is to be with a great quarterback

and though most are easy to get along with, some bring drama. Aaron does, Jay Cutler did, and Ben does. Cam does a little, but I don't think the Big Ben's level. So it's like, Antonio, if you're looking for an even relationship in this league, I mean, if the Atlanta Falcons had to choose Julio Jones or Matt Ryan, you go Matt Ryan, and Julio Jones will be a better historical player. Right. But you would go Matt Ryan because...

Well, because when in the NFL, you have to go with the guy that has the ball in his hands every single play, that's the quarterback. That's just, that's just the way that it works. I just, I feel like Antonio, well, we were talking about, you know, how, how breakups, you know, in sports work. Antonio Brown may end up with a great quarterback. He may end up with Jimmy Garoppolo and go on and, you know, do a lot more with the rest of his career. And Ben Ruffisberger may too, but it just feels like this was a place where Antonio Brown could really thrive. And I don't know what happened with their relationship that it got this. Think about this. Pete Carroll's a defensive coach. Earl Thomas won't be there next year. Richard Sherman got sent packing. So did Michael Bennett. Because there was noise

in the locker room sometimes directed at Russell Wilson. And Pete Carroll had to make a choice as a defensive guy and said, I'll keep my quarterback. I'll move Marshawn Lynch. Well, most of the time is going to come down so you've got to keep the quarterback. Absolutely. So the Lakers have a tough but not impossible road ahead. Three games back of the Clippers for the eighth seed. And after a second consecutive win for his team at All-Star Weekend, LeBron says he's ready to get back to work and try to get to the playoffs. I feel great. Looking forward to the second half of the season and looking forward to seeing what we can do to get back in this playoff race. That's my only mindset. That's the only thing that's going to have my mental space for this next two months, you know, pretty much on how I can

get this team, you know, playing the type of level of basketball we were playing before my injury. Let me ask you, when you've been as great as LeBron has been at basketball, just to defend LeBron here? When you're on a team with no chance to win a championship, is it harder to go to work? If you've been a supermodel and now you're reduced and you're still beautiful to working at the local mall, a fashion show at the mall, isn't it, what's it like to be LeBron today knowing I have literally been at the top of the league and now I'm praying I can get us into the playoffs? I think getting into the playoffs thing is more of a struggle for LeBron than not winning a championship. Because I don't think anybody felt like they were going to win a championship last year with the team that he had.

I think that LeBron probably had some realistic expectations going into this season like most of us did. And then we all remembered, oh, the Lakers are in Los Angeles since LeBron James. So there's still going to be some noise and talk about how the team is playing. I do think that they're going to make the playoffs because it's going to be a disaster for LeBron if they don't make the playoffs. Oh, God, it'll be bad. It just is. You can't talk about how many finals he's gone to consistently in the east. And then as soon as he goes to the West, he doesn't make the playoffs.

And the other thing is, it will give the people that don't like LeBron. It'll give him ammo to say, he wouldn't have made all those finals if he was in the West. That's what I'm saying. He goes to the West. He can't even make the playoffs. He can't make the playoffs. It's not good. So they're going to find a way to get into the playoffs.

And finally, Kevin Durant earned his second All-Star MVP award yesterday. After his 31 points led Team LeBron to a win, and KD was asked to rank this achievement. It's all sweet to me. I mean, it's hard to rank, you know, everything is special. But it's cool to be out there with some of the best players that ever played a game and to win an MVP. Front of my family and friends is pretty sweet.

He is playing great. He's trying to keep racking them up, I guess. He is. And he's now an elite company with multiple All-Star MVP's and Finals MVP's. Shaq, Jordan, Kobe, Magic, and LeBron. Yeah, he, yesterday. He's climbing up there. His efficiency is absurd.

His efficiency. Like, when Kevin rarely takes a bad shot. If Kevin gets the ball and feels like it's time to score, good luck. Six to 11 and a half. He's impossible to guard. He's just all-time tough. He's impossible to guard. It's, man, it's going to be an interesting free agent season.

Yeah. That's for sure. Joy, Taylor, news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Well, Matt Barnes played for a decade and a half, won a title with the Warriors. You know, as a Laker and a warrior and a clipper. Let's bring on Matt Barnes, NBA champ. Great to have him. Stylish as always on a Monday. Matt Barnes. Hey, hey, hey, you know, I was saying this earlier, is that when Shaq and Kobe split, Matt, Shaq won a title. Lakers kind of had to eat it for about a year.

but then Kobe won a couple titles. And I felt like both of them won. Like in the end, Shaq's had a great career. Shaq got another ring with Dee Wade. And then Kobe had a great ending. It worked out well for everybody. The Russell Westbrook-Dorant divorce, I mean, I think Kevin, when I watch him yesterday,

I think he's got seven years left of great player. Russell looks like a broken shooter. It looks like that post-surgery, something's upstairs. You can't go from 82% free throws to 64 and tell me some of it's not mental. What do you make of the Durant and Westbro? I mean, OKC at one point. OKC will argue this, Matt.

We didn't choose Westbrook. But organizations enable certain things, so they kind of do choose. The Lakers kind of chose Kobe over Shack in their own way. What do you make a Durant and OKC in Westbrook and how it's landed? It's a tough situation. You know, at the time, they were both two of the probably top five players in the game at the time. you know, I know knowing both of them, I'm sure Russell is a more outgoing personality, so maybe they let some things slide that, you know, should have been addressed.

But what I see from KD now is he's just happy. He's having fun. He's playing. He's probably the most efficient player, one of the most efficient players ever to play the game. I think it's safe to say he's the best player in the game right now. Today, the best player. Doesn't make him better than LeBron overall. Just, you know, age is catching up with LeBron. Katie is younger. he's the best player in the game right now. But I think what I like at OKC and West right now is he's finally okay with being Robin. You know what I mean? And I think that's going to be huge for not only him but the franchise, especially Paul George. Paul George is playing out of his mind right now.

Out of his mind. And should be obviously in the MVP consideration. But Restbrook is still special. You know, I think a lot of it is mental right now. And, you know, when you have the world telling you what you can and can't do, I like what he said he has that gene. That's an important gene to have. that made me laugh.

But I think Russell bounced back next year. But, I mean, it's no fault to OKC or whatever. Just Katie is that good. And, you know, if they made a choice between the two and he was the one that chose, I think they're looking back like, okay, well, maybe we would have did it this way. But it's hard to say in hindsight, 50-50. You know, Matt, you said something, and I was talking to a friend about this the other day. And you said right now Kevin Durant's the better player.

And I've always said there'll be a time when Katie's better. on the floor than LeBron, but not greater than LeBron in total. It's a whole package. Holistically. Yeah, when you judge in history and where they rank, but KD is a better player as we stand now. And I'll throw this at you. And I notice this with LeBron that LeBron understands his body.

You guys all know your bodies. LeBron doesn't have the continuous juice. He takes more time off. It's more sporadic. He picks his spots, especially on the defensive end. when you watch the two, where do you see LeBron's age? I just think from a standpoint of since he's been in the league in his Cleveland years, he's always carried the team.

He's always carried the franchise. So, I mean, that's going to catch up to you, not only mentioning, you know, making the playoffs every year, playing the Olympics, playing on All-Star games, pick-up games in the summer. That's just a lot of wear and tear. And he came right out of high school. You know what, a year or two in college? You're not playing as many games. You get to save your legs.

And then he's always had an amazing sidekick. Now he's got two amazing sidekicks, three when, you know, Boogie gets healthy. So KD has been able to preserve himself. That's why you see him in the finals. He's at his absolute best, where everyone else might be tired. Katie is full of juice because he's only doing what he needs to do. You know, people talk about James Harden MVP, Paul George MVP. They have to be amazing every single night for those guys to win.

Even though Katie is pretty amazing every single night, if he has an off night, the Warriors can still win a game. So that's where Katie is able to save his legs. So LeBron just has always had to do so much. and with the Laker team this year is no different. You know, I feel this Laker team in the East would be top three. You do? I think so.

You know, maybe top four, excuse me, not to disrespect the top, you know, Toronto, Boston, Philly, Milwaukee. So maybe, you know, top five, excuse me. Yeah. But, you know what I mean? But he's always been able to, he's always had to carry the franchise, and this year is no different. So I just think it's finally catching up to him as much money as he spends and as much times he takes off. There's no denying that he just has a lot of money. miles on his body. You know, Anthony Davis, I didn't buy this. Anthony Davis said 29 teams.

I'm open to the world. And my takeaway is listen, you and Rich Paul in clutch sports came out hyper-aggressive and the league didn't like it and you got your hand slapped. And now you're trying to play nice. Backdraft, yeah. He's just trying to say what's right. So hopefully the story dies down a little bit. Like you said, I saw what you said earlier. I respect the fact that he came out and said what he said because I don't, Pelicans don't build your team around me anymore because I don't want to be here. So you have to respect that now. Whether, you know, Rich Paul went above and beyond and wanted a lot of attention to the situation and came out.

And maybe they approached it the wrong way, excuse me, but I got to respect AD for being honest. You know what I mean? Like, I don't want to be here. You know, and I think when that happened, instead of putting their business hats on, like, let's make this deal, the Pelicans got in their feelings. And the GM was fired over that. You know, I'm glad that Lakers didn't make that trade because I thought they were giving up too much.

So did I. You know, you're giving up way too much. You're never going to get an AD back. AD is a generational player, but you had five solid players with draft picks and you turn your nose up to it. Like, you're not in a position to turn your nose up to a situation like that. You know what I mean? So it didn't work out.

The GM got fired. But to me, they've been in their feelings. And now you're going to play him 20 minutes, 25 minutes. Don't play him in the four. If you don't want him to get hurt, don't play him. But if you're going to play him, let him play. If you ran the Pelicans, you could make an argument. just sit Anthony for the year.

And I'm not mad at that, but if you're going to decide to play him, play him. You're putting Alvin Gentry in a messed up spot. You know, I know how good coach and he's probably going to, you know, he's probably on the hot seat. He probably won't be back next year. And it's unfortunate because to me, as the president of the team or whoever is running, calling the shots, if you want to save your piece, which is AD and don't want to get, don't play him at all. But don't play him, 15 minutes. Don't play him 25 minutes.

You have to play him or don't play him. So, but I think, you know, that situation, is going to have to be dealt with this summer because it's an uncomfortable work environment. And I'm sure players are getting frustrated, coaches are getting frustrated, AD is probably frustrated. So, you know, at the end of the day, they're going to have to make a move this summer on that situation. Finally, something I mentioned, I said, if you were a supermodel and then after 20 years of doing that, you've been reduced, even though you're beautiful, you've been reduced to go into the local mall

at a fashion show, it doesn't feel the same. When you're LeBron and you're the centerpiece of the league, and you know for the next 30 games, This is not a championship team. Right. I mean, it's not close. Is it hard to go to work? I don't think it's hard to go to work. I think because he loves the game,

but I think it's an understanding. And I think everyone's making a big deal with the Lakers make the playoffs. They care about championships, not making the playoffs. You know what I mean? So if they make the playoffs this year, it'll probably be a short exit.

You know, they'll probably end up playing Golden State. I think they know that they're really banking on this summer. And one thing I like to say, even if they don't get AD, it won't be a failed summer because I still feel they're going to get somebody, maybe a player or two. Ideally, it would be AD, and I know AD wants to be there and LeBron wants them there, but if it's not AD, I think it'll be somebody. But I think they're looking for, you know, take a look at this next year and the year after and judge us.

But unfortunately, we live in a society where you're judged every single day and you're L.A. and you're the Lakers, so you're going to be judged. And like Joy said earlier, it's going to be a hot summer if they don't make the playoffs. And there's going to be a lot of criticism on LeBron. But I think he knew coming here. there was a chance of that and he has to be ready for it if it doesn't happen. Yeah. Great seeing you, man.

Love having you. Are you like a regular now? Can we depend on you? I think so, yeah. I like that. I need to start getting my suits tail. All my suits that I wore in games don't fit no more. I think I'm like 15 pounds over my playing weight, so I need to get some more suits.

I can come back more. This place is good with a clothes thing. They'll take care of you here. Let's do it. Good seeing you, man. Thank you. NBA champ Matt Barnes. Coming up next, why Kyler Murray is great for you as a fan.

why 5-8-59 Kyler Murray, Oklahoma quarterback, is great for all of us. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. One hour, Albert Breer, Monday morning quarterback will join us. Great to have you in. Matt Barnes, terrific. Chris Broussard, Albert Breer today, a Monday morning quarterback. So Albert Breer is writing an article, and he's writing about Kyler Murray. He is the quarterback for Oklahoma that's going to enter the draft.

Now, I've said before, I think he's a first round talent in 2019. You know, ideally, I'd rather have a six, three and a half, 220-bound guy who runs a little less. A big component to Kyler Murray's game is running. It's why I'm very cautious about Mitch Trubisky. I'm very cautious about Lamar Jackson. Now, Russell Wilson can do it. I've never seen anybody as gifted at Russell Wilson. And Steve Young did it.

So you can have running as an essential part of your game. But I think athletes are bigger. and stronger than ever in the NFL, I'd rather you not run a ton. You know, a couple times you take off, I'd rather you run to throw, run to get space. But three different people, scouts, GMs talk to Albert Breer and hear the quotes about Kyler Murray and why he is so valuable to all of us. First, AFC executive said, kids way better than Lamar Jackson, better arm, more accurate, better anticipation, better processor, better athlete.

I think he's better across the board than Lamar. Let me just say this. I think he is a better thrower than Lamar. That to me is not disputable. So I agree with that executive. Will he be as transformative as Lamar was? I don't know. But is he a better prospect.

I think he is as a thrower. I do worry about his size. The second AFC college scouting director said, listen, he's really good. He throws the ball well. There's no throws he can't make. I don't think him being small is a big factor. Let me address that.

Small is a factor, but I had Lincoln Riley on the radio Friday talking about his size, and here's what his college coach said. I'm not saying he's speed, elite quickness, and as a feel for not taking big. Then Albert Breyer got a third opinion from another AFC executive. And that executive said, basically a little caution to the way. saying great offensive line hasn't been hit a ton the passing skills are there but he didn't get hit much in college i agree with that as well that's what worries me but here's the thing and we do this a lot not just in sports but in life we're always looking for the next blank you also have to

look for the new blank uber is not the next taxi it's a new way to get around town. We had an issue in the NFL for years that 50% of the first round quarterbacks were busts because they all had to fit this one prototype, six, three and a half, two 25, stay in the pocket. But the more variables that work, the more types of quarterbacks that work, we should root for Kyler Murray because it'll mean fewer crappy quarterbacks and fewer dead teams. Cincinnati with Andy Dalton kind of feels dead. Jacksonville, Blake Bortles, kind of feels dead.

If Kyler Murray works, I mean, let's be honest, he looks like a punt returner. When I look at him, I think he'd be a great punt returner. If guys that play a little bit like a punt returner with an arm work, that is a huge win for all of us, if you love football. It's a huge win for GMs, fewer bus, coaches, fewer bus, fans, better product. So I find myself, he may not be my ideal quarterback,

but God, I'm rooting for him to win. God, I'm rooting for him to be interesting. There's got to be more than one prototype that works in this league. Listen, Tribisky wouldn't be my guy. But Mitch Trubisky got to the playoffs. And Lamar Jackson wouldn't be my guy. But Lamar Jackson got to the playoffs.

You know who didn't? Joe Flacco. Sit in the pocket six, three and a half guy that throws darts. So Kyler Murray, like even if you wouldn't draft him, root for him. You know, I was saying this, driving to work this morning, thinking this, the great thing about Whole Foods, you don't have to like organic. Sometimes I think it's overrated. Sometimes I like it.

I think it's a bit too expensive. But it's important that Whole Foods worked because it added another type of grocery store. And all I'm looking for is options. That's all I'm looking for. If I was a general manager in the NFL, I'm just looking for options. What if we only had one type of receiver? He runs fast and straight down the field. We don't. Sometimes you have possession guys, slot guys, small guys, OBJ, finesse guys, power guys. There's really the only position that you would think of, or positions is the offensive line. Like in general, you got to have a big, large, strong offensive line that's not really interchangeable.

But even on the defensive line, they don't necessarily have to be the same. Aaron Donald's six feet tall. That's all he is. He's six feet tall. He's not towering. Some guys are, to your point, we should all be rooting for Kyler Murray because if I, for the next 50 years, if I can also use five, eight quarterbacks who look like punt returners, you guys.

Imagine the talent pool you've just expected into. Oh, exactly. The talent pool explodes. That's all I want. Steph Curry was a mold breaker. Steph Curry. Russell Wilson was a mold. Tiger Woods.

Golfers weren't ripped. Now it's like Tiger competes against himself. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Ah, here we go, hour two. This is the herd, wherever you may be.

However you may be listening, live in Los Angeles on a Monday. President's Day, I Heart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. You know, she's at the time in her life in a great relationship where she's just vacationing in the sunny places every weekend. Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Mexico. And Pittsburgh are not sunny places, especially right now. I believe Kansas City is getting hit with the blizzard right now, but not in Cabo, yes. Good for you.

I'm jelly, as I say. I'm very spoiled. Well, now you've earned everything in life. You're a hard worker and a great teammate. Great to have you in. Well, we do it every Monday at this time. I make mistakes. I whiff.

I have strong opinions. Where Colin was right. Where Colin was wrong. Let's not waste any time. Where Colin was right? Luke Walton shouldn't be fired. And Jeannie Bus stepped up and rightly said, Luke Walton's finishing the season as a Laker coach.

Listen, LeBron arrives and there's always tension with the coach. He got to the finals with David Blatt. He got to the finals with Ty Luke. when he got to the finals with Mike Brown. I think Luke Walton is maybe not as good as Ty Lou, but he's certainly in that class of coach. And I think Jeannie Bus is saying, okay, all you alpha males, okay, all you egos.

I'm with Jeannie on this one. LeBron is not easy to coach. By the way, Kobe maybe wasn't, and MJ wasn't, and Magic ran out Paul Westhead. I'm not saying superstars are easy to coach. I'm not being tough on LeBron here. But Luke Walton, and I totally defendants, defend him here. Do you really want to blow him out and bring in with all these young players

another coach and who's on the market right now that's significantly better? Jason Kidd? Are you sure Jason? Why is he on the market if he's so great? Let me ask you that. Didn't he if he's so great, why is he potentially out there? Luke Walton should be the Laker coach for the rest of the year. Jeannie Buss made the right decision. Where Colin was wrong. Outside of the baseball, all-star game, I think these all-star games are mostly totally unwatchable, but I thought yesterday was pretty good. There was actual pride. I know the score feels like nobody played defense, but late in the game, people play defense.

I thought the dunk contest Saturday night was the best dunk contest in a long, long time. I thought the skills challenge was kind of oddly entertaining. And I also think the NBA with the stars picking the teams is really funny and very transparent. I thought the All-Star weekend was a lot of joy, a lot of laughs. Again, I thought the dunk contest, that's about as good a dunk contest as we have seen in a long time. And as a television product, I thought it was pretty good. Where Colin was right? Listen, I've been saying it this year.

Russell Westbrook's a Hall of Famer, but is he an All-Star right now? Because I watched that game yesterday, he's like the least effective player. He had a minus-19 plus. He was one for eight on threes. I mean, he honestly, he was like throwing garlic into an apple pie. Some ingredient, he was the ingredient that just did not work. And again, he's a Hall of Famer. I'm not denying that.

And he was an MVP, and I'm not denying that. But is he an All-Star right now? Is he? Are you absolutely sure? Because I see a bunch of great players out there. And I thought yesterday he kind of played into what I think he is now. A lot of energy. not always

it's sometimes ill-placed activity instead of smart activity and I thought yesterday Yannis was on his way to win in the MVP and Westbrook came in and sort of blew it for him where Colin was wrong You know I thought the Celtics rebuild If you made a book called Rebuilding for Dummies You do it the way the Celtics did it get the coach, draft the right guys

I gotta be honest with you Right now they're fourth in the east Jason Tatum came out this weekend and guaranteed they're going to win it all. And then Jason Tatum a week ago came out and there were rumors he said, I wouldn't mind playing for the Pelicans. And Kyrie Irving's hurt again. And, you know, Brad Stevens, the head coach, do we know that he works with stars?

Now, Gordon Hayward did play better last four or five games before the All-Star break. But this situation in Boston does not feel as rock-solid as it did. I predicted before the year, I said, this team's going to win the championship. They're going to upset the Warriors in seven games. Right now, I think Toronto is better. I think Philadelphia, I agree with Joy. I think they have more high-end players if they can get their chemistry right.

And Boston isn't going forward. Isn't the lock I thought they would be. Where Colin was right? Bryce Harper and Mani Machado were great baseball players. But they're unsigned right now. And they will sign, and they'll make a lot of money. But finally, baseball general managers have caught on to an obvious truth. None of these 10-year contracts work.

Miguel Cabrera signed for eight. They'd get out of that thing yesterday. Robinson Canoe, Albert Pooleholes, Joey Votto. Now, these guys will get money and they'll get paid, but GMs, now, 90% of the teams have no interest signing star players. These are great players. Mani Machado's giving you 37 rips. He's giving you 110 RBI and he plays every game. Doesn't play hard every moment.

And Bryce Harper's an all-time first ballot Hall of Fame power hitter. Finally baseball GMs. I don't buy into this collusion. It's just called intelligence. But if something doesn't work, then you stop doing the something. And 10-year contracts in what industry? I don't care if it was Janus. I wouldn't sign Janice to a 10-year contract

because what if he rips his knee up, dunking in your four of it? You're trapped for six years. Where Colin was wrong. Gulfer Matt Coocher folded like a cheap tent. Friday I supported him. I did a radio show only and I said, listen, he's a little cheap.

He won a tournament and only gave his caddy $5,000, which is a very small percentage, but he offered him 15, and frankly, it wasn't a full-time caddy. It was a part-time caddy. He was a rent a caddy, not somebody he leaned on, like Phil Mickelson leaned on bones or Jordan Speed leans on his caddy. Now, I would have paid more than an extra $1,000 for winning a tournament, and I probably would have given him $25,000 to $50,000. But I thought the outrage on social media was generally what social media is just over the top. But Coocher felt the heat.

Literally, Saturday morning got up and said, I'm a horrible person. I cringed, and I'm sorry, and I'm writing the dude to check, which is the nice thing to do. But I was surprised. I thought Matt Coocher had an opinion, not a popular one. Wouldn't be what I would do. But he's known as a pretty tough, you know, strong opinion dude, and he folded Saturday morning. A couple of days of Twitter, and Matt Coocher was out. Where Colin was right?

So I watched the American Alliance of Football again yesterday, A-A-F. And I've got to be honest, on television, it's a pretty good product. I got legitimate announcers. I got coaches, Mike Riley, Steve Spurrier yesterday, guys I've heard of. I think the quarterback plays decent. You know, it's better than college. It's better than Canadian football. I love that backwards.

Yes. Lob pass. And by the way, the game I watched, there was a nice crowd in San Antonio. There's something there. You can't have both teams need different colored jerseys. Yeah, that was odd. That's got to fix. But I'll tell you something.

I'll say with this, I think spring football is going to work. and I am more convinced every time I watch this league, I'm absolutely convinced spring football is going to work. Now, the XFL is going to be introduced a year from now, so you'll have two concurrent leagues running, and I'm not sure if they'll both make it, but either they're both going to make it or they're going to join and one's going to make it.

But the quality on television, it's not half bad. I think the XFL is going to have a different approach. They're going to be more theatrical. A little bit. I mean, if they're going to keep back. any of their traditional original XFL style. Where Colin was right? I always told you I love Bradley Beal.

I think Bradley Beal is the most underrated player in the NBA. And Bradley Beal, thank you, admitted. All he did this weekend, recruit guys. For the record, his teammate John Wall, who I'm not a fan of, refuses to recruit. It's an ego thing. Bradley Beal's like, you kidding me? It's like a convention here. It's all I'm doing recruiting guys.

folks, the tampering charges against players are unfair, unjust, and ridiculous. Listen, man, I was on the phone the minute I landed at Fox Sports 1 calling anybody who would listen. That's what everybody's doing in the country. I don't care if it's Wall Street or Main Street. And you're going to tell me you're going to have an all-star weekend. Guys are partying together, playing together, hanging out together, and they can't have conversations about, hey, dude, you won't come in D.C., you want to come to San Francisco, you want to come to Phoenix,

You want to come to Charlotte. I love that Bradley Beal did this. It confirms what I've always thought about Bradley Beal. He is a complete get-it guy. Bradley, you keep recruiting. Don't listen to the tampering. I don't know how many people DC can afford with Wall's contract and your contract. I don't know many stars you can get there.

And I'm not sure if it'll ever happen. But it made me love Bradley Beal even more. This tampering stuff is ridiculous. If you want to get on the owners and GMs, I get it. But getting on players for it, give me a break. Unfair. I think it's just an anti-Lebron thing, to be honest with you. I think, you know, you NBA commissioners and you NBA owners,

you gas up all the players, you make them stars. And then you're shocked. Everybody wants to talk and hang out with stars. Well, that's the league. Courts guys won't play with James Hardin. Courts guys want to play with Anthony Davis. I mean, you market the stars. Come watch the stars.

Be with the stars. Yeah, guys, even players, one. hang out with the stars. It's not tampering. It's reality. Chris Broussard, Albert Breer, both around the corner. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning,

the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where sports slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down,

give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice. On the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, 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 that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person join me Keer games is we have real conversations about healing growth fathers pressure and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now.

Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout, Kate Martin

and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. if a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ledecky.

The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning.

It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire serve? survive. The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wednesday, it's a Big East Basketball double header on FS1. First is a showdown

between No. 7th, Vinova and Georgetown at 630 Eastern. Then St. John's takes on Providence. Catch all the action on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. By the way, don't let your age beat you. You want to feel stronger. Go to buy mDrive.com today and refine your prime. I want to go to New York. He is co-hosting First Things First with Doug Gottlieb this week. My friend Chris Broussard via the Coward Global Satellite Network.

You know, Anthony Davis is getting clobbered, and I defended him this morning. Kevin Garnett said it wasn't classy and Kareem didn't like it. You know, my takeaway is what are these guys supposed to do? I'd rather have somebody be up front with me and say, hey, I want a divorce, so I have time to get picks and players. What do you make of what Kareem said and Garnett said with Anthony Davis? Well, first of all, Kevin Garnett told Anthony a few months ago to his face, look, get out of New Orleans. Go somewhere you can win. He did it when he left Minnesota and went to Boston and found out it was the best thing for his career.

Here was the problem for Anthony Davis that maybe Garnett didn't take into consideration. It had to get ugly. Otherwise, he would have had to just wait until the summer of 2020. So he'd have played another year and a half or maybe another year in New Orleans. The only way for him to get out of there early was to make it messy. And that's what happened. As far as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he did ask for his trade from Milwaukee at the start of the season. Now, I'm told Anthony Davis's representation, Rich Paul, the agent,

they would have been happy to make the trade request. at the beginning of this season. But Anthony Davis wanted to give the Pelicans a chance to win and see what he could do there. Obviously, they were coming off a nice postseason run last year where they got to the second round. And Anthony wanted to see, look, let's see if we can have another good year here in the West before we make a trade request.

When he realized that the season was going downhill, they were third from the bottom in the West, that's when he made his trade demand in the decision to leave. He felt they couldn't win. And so that's why the time. timing was as it was. And it has gotten messy, no question about it. I'm always a little reluctant to, you know, I like Kareem, really smart guy. I like his worldview on a lot of things. But those old guys, Barclay and Kareem did not face the social media avalanche today where literally

fans are directly reaching out to you. I think it's much harder for an Anthony Davis or a LeBron or a Kauai Leonard than it was their predecessors. Now, you know, Friday I have to had Bill Plashky on the air, and I offered this to him. I said, maybe it's LeBron's age, but there are times I watched LeBron about two weeks before the All-Star game, and I thought he's not engaged. I feel like he picks his spots. I know he was hurt. I don't feel the juice all year with LeBron and the Lakers, and I offered this. I said, I don't know if he's all in emotionally with the Lakers right now. And by the way, Bill Plashky, I'm going to play this sound and let you listen to it.

You can ask anybody with that organization. It's like he's his own company, his own brand, his own element. He's his own planet. And he's orbiting around the Lakers, but he's not landed and connected with the Lakers at all. And yet, and they feel it. You know what the team leader is,

is Rajan Rondo. He's their leader. They love him. The kids love him. You saw how about you celebrating when he came back and beat Boston with that shot, that was real. But he's mentoring them.

He's helping them. He's leading them. What's Lebron doing? putting up some good numbers and playing, but not as engaged and as invested as he should be in any of this. Now, I could defend him, Chris, and I could say, listen, the guy's been at the top of the world. Now he's fighting for a Western Conference playoff spot. Maybe it's just emotionally he's worn down. How many straight finals?

You know, I mean, do you feel like he's all in? Well, I think there's two things going on. When you talk about you looking at him on the court, what you're seeing is, an older player who has to pace himself. We could look back last year in Cleveland, heck, maybe the last two years in Cleveland and see the same thing. Times when he's not defending,

times when he's not engaged offensively. When you say not engaged offensively, the only time LeBron, for the most part, looks engaged offensively is when he has the ball in his hands. And that's because he really doesn't know how to play off the ball. So now that he's older,

it really is pronounced. So that's the one thing. It's just age-related. The second thing is Plashke is right. The Lakers signed another corporation. That's what LeBron James is. And just like the Lakers are looking at him as somebody I can use, let's use him to get what we want, he's looking at the Lakers that same way.

And he looked at Miami that way. And he looked at Cleveland that way. I would say the last time LeBron James was fully, totally 100% all in with the franchise was his first. Stint in Cleveland. And then that's when he realized, man, I need some superstars to help me win a championship. Other than that, Miami, Cleveland the second time around, and now the Lakers, it's a business relationship. So he's using the Lakers to get what he wants, just like they're using him to get what he

wants. So that's the reality when you're dealing with the LeBron James. I've sat on your couch before last year and said, look, LeBron has to recognize, when you go to the Lakers, they're expecting a championship. Now, LeBron is like, if I win one, great. Of course, he wants to win, but if I don't win one, my legacy is set.

He's already said that. I don't think Lakers fans are seeing it that way. They're saying Magic, Kareem, Kobe, Shaq, Wilte even. Jerry West, they all delivered a championship. If you don't

deliver a championship, we're going to view it as a failure. His legacy is what it is, top five player of all time in most people's eyes, second best or maybe the goat. But if he doesn't win a championship, it's not going to sit well with the Lakers fans. Yeah. Finally, I think that Anthony Davis in Clutch Sports and Rich Paul came out really aggressive. I did not fault him for that. But they got their hand slapped.

And now Anthony Davis is parading around going, y'all play for all 29. I've got no favorites. I'm sorry, Chris. I'm cynical on that. are you? Look, of course he doesn't mean all 29 teams. The interesting thing is, does he mean Boston? He said they're on my list.

Now, technically, he also said I never said Boston wasn't on my list. And of course, he didn't personally, at least not publicly, but, you know, his representation, that came from somewhere. All right. Here's the thing, though, if he really is like, look, I want to win. That's what he said. I don't care about market size. I don't care about market. If he's like, I want to win, if Kyrie, if he really believes that, and if Kyrie Irving stays in Boston, then Anthony Davis will go to the Celtics.

And LeBron James will never get him. Because a year in Boston with Kyrie signed to a long-term deal, they're going to be very good. They may win the East. If the Warriors break up, they may win it all. And then a year in that organization with the great front office, the great coaching staff, being in a professional organization like the Celtics compared to where he's coming from, New Orleans, he's going to stay long term in Boston. Just like Kevin Garnett, we talked about earlier. He didn't want to go to Boston. He was very skeptical about going there.

And once he got there, he realized it was the best thing he could have done for his career. Anthony Davis would end up staying long term in Boston and LeBron would never get. getting. By the way, he'll be on first things first with Doug Gottlieb all week. Chris Broussard, my buddy. Good seeing you, man. You too. You know, Joy, I was thinking about this. If you were, how old's Anthony Davis, like 26, 27, something like that, 28, if you were Anthony Davis, and again, he's got stacks. He's 25. He's only 25. Yeah, he's got like eight years left. Great eight. Where would you go? Wouldn't you go to Boston? Forget City. Do you want to win. I want to be playing basketball in June. If I'm an NBA star, I want to be on the court in June.

There's only one way. Get to the finals. Forget LA. I would go to Boston. They have more good players in their prime. To me, it seems so easy. I mean, Boston has the best stuff. And Boston has, I mean, again, LeBron's great. But after LeBron, it's a bunch of stuff. It's a bunch of, I mean, Boston's got real rock solid. I got veterans Al Horford. I've got good. I've got good. I've got good. good players, Gordon Haywood. I got a star Karee. I've got an emerging star. Isn't it an easy choice? Well, sure,

but you also have to think macro when you're making decisions like this because, I mean, do you want to do the LeBron route where you, you know, you have your first big move in your career and then you go to Miami and then you don't end up staying there. But you want a bunch of titles. You're the

center of the universe. Sure. Sure. But some people don't want to move that much. and you want to establish a legacy in one major city? I don't know. Where is that city? What is the culture of that city? Are you comfortable in that city? Maybe we're all overvaluing the brand of the Lakers.

And it just doesn't matter. Now, in baseball, we know the Yankees and the Red Sox and the Dodgers. They've got more income. They have more revenue because of their cable deals. But maybe in basketball, it just doesn't matter. I mean, if Paul George chose Oklahoma City, I mean, if that, I mean, I've always thought certain markets matter. Like in college football, the South, you can win more, more good players.

But also, Anthony Davis is 25. One player can swing the fate of a franchise. I don't know. That's weird. I mean, you sign a four to five-year deal with the Lakers. Halfway through it, LeBron's on his 19th year, 18th year. Well, who's to say he's going to sign a four-year deal? Would you give up a bunch of stuff to get a one-year deal?

I wouldn't. No way. I don't know. If I'm Anthony Davis, this looks so easy. I would want to go play with the way. I got the Al Horford, Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving, Jason Tatum, a good coach, smart. It seems so obvious to me. Just go win a bunch of games.

Now, the weather stinks. Yeah, I get that. Boston Chowda. It's cold. But I live in Los Angeles. It's raining nonstop for eight weeks. It's not going to be like this year. I think it's the new Los Angeles.

It's not the new Los Angeles. I don't know, global warming. Maybe it is. That could be wrong. Enjoy it with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

All right, so let's stick with Anthony Davis. Before the trade deadline, it was rumored, well, not really rumored, was discussed that he did not want to go to the Celtics. His father said he didn't want him playing with the Celtics. Right. And it was also because, you know, reportedly obviously, Kyrie Irving hadn't committed to resigning in Boston the summer. Well, AD seemed to have changed his tune this weekend.

I never said Boston wasn't on my list I never said it wasn't on my list I never said they was not on my list I never said they was not on my list I was a little unfair to say he changes soon because it never really came from him his dad did right but you know that's what happens when you hear from family

or people close to players can't always trust mom or dad on the recruiting tips well the Celtics do have the most amount of assets to get By far. Anthony Davis. By far. And Gordon Hayward and Anthony Davis would be a good fit, even if Kyrie is not there.

And Kyrie could go somewhere else and know he can get another player to go there and play with him. So I don't actually hate this for Anthony Davis. Now, like I said, a few minutes ago, Anthony Davis is probably making a macro decision. What's going to be best for my career long term? Am I actually going to win a championship with Boston? What pieces are they going to give away moving forward? are they still going to be able to build? Now, they do have a lot of assets as we just showed.

Let me ask you this. But Jason Tatum will likely be a part of that trade. Let me ask you this. What's best for a player? Isn't what's best in the NBA always playing in June? It's good for your shoe deal? Because remember, if you are playing in June, Nike and Adidas and Under Armour are like, got to give you bigger shoe deals because you're on television for three weeks when other players are not.

That's how you get a man. That's why Kobe goes to China in the offseason. Shoe deals, exposure. I mean, I'm sorry, but when Westbrook's won and done, you're not playing the last six weeks of the NBA playoff season. No, and Boston is like we're kind of underplaying the size of the Boston market and the brand of the Celtics is obviously huge. I just think that if he ends up going there,

the landscape of the Celtics is going to look different. Jason Tatum is likely going to be in that trade. Kyrie may end up in New York. So it's going to be a slightly different team there with Anthony Davis. and Gordon Hayward, which I think will still be in the finals in the East, depending on how those other teams assemble. But the bigger picture to me is that it looks like the Lakers may be really out of it. I just don't.

I think there's a reason there's tension in that Laker building. I think they know they don't have nearly the asset. That's why they tried so hard to get in before the trade deadline, because now Boston is in plays with a lot of other teams. Do you know what they have a lot more assets than the Lakers? This world's going to implode. If LeBron doesn't get A.D., Who's LeBron going to play with?

That's what I'm saying. I mean, there are a lot of free agents out there, but... It's almost more fascinating if LeBron doesn't get him. Sometimes just watching the world implode in sports is fascinating. I know I live in Los Angeles. I should root for... Is that what we want? I don't know.

You know what I want? I would like to see the Warriors have competition. I would like to see... Like, when Clemson beat Alabama, I was like, that was good for me, the sport. It was actually good for everybody, except Alamos. Alabama. Yeah, except for the Warriors that said they're going to spend whatever they need to spend to keep it assembled the way it is. So we've talked about Antonio Brown's question and answer session on Twitter with his followers over the weekends.

And even though it gave us some good material, it probably wasn't the kind of thing NFL coaches in front office people want to see. In fact, Peter King wrote in his column, I think the more Antonio Brown tweets, the more he scares off potential suitors. That's not just something I think in the case of one team. It's something I know. Now, this could be a strategy by Antonio Brown because he may be trying to get kind. by the Steelers and then he can pick the team he wants to go to. It's worth of being traded to me to them. I don't think they're going to do that. But I don't think they're

going to do that because you want to get something back for Antonio Brown. But look, at the end of the day, a receiver of Antonio Brown's level, they aren't just walking around. Like there's very few. He is the top, if not one of the top three wide receivers in the league.

In a league that is very offensive friendly now, he be a huge asset to any team. I just think that the situation with the Steelers deteriorated as relationship sometimes do when there's a lack of structure, which comes from Tomlins who Ben Rathesberger down. You're never going to be bigger than the quarterback. Never. And listen, in the fight club known as the NFL, quarterback always wins. Always. I'll say it again. Julio Jones will be a Hall of Fame wide receiver.

Matt Ryan, probably on the outlooking in. Maybe he gets in. But today, if I'm Arthur Blank and I had to choose, I would choose Matt Ryan because he's the quarterback. I mean, go look at what Pete Carroll did. He got rid of Marshawn Lynch. He's going to get rid of Earl Thomas. Michael Bennett, who was still a good pass rusher, Richard Sherman, you take the quarterback's side. And if it came down to Bobby... In a lot of cases, you don't have a choice.

How are you going to replace them? There's only one. There's multiple receivers on the field. We've had years where college football did not give the NFL one workable, legitimate quarterback in the entire draft. It's just not an option. Finally, speaking of good off-season material, O'Dall Beckham Jr. left an interesting comment on Tom Brady's Instagram yesterday.

I love this story. He posted a picture Tom Brady did of his kids and said, Goodnight, son. And OBJ wrote, love you brother, which obviously got everybody talking about. Odell Beckham and Tom Brady playing together, although there's a lot of things that would still have to happen for that to be a thing. But Chris Sims said on pro football talk, he just said that the Giants almost traded O'Dall during the season to the Patriot.

What? So this is a thing. What? Now, he does have a massive contract, as we know, but the Patriots do have room to absorb it. They have over $15 million in cap space, which could grow after moving a few players off. And they also have a bunch of extra draft picks, which could help facilitate the deal. And they did give up a first round draft pick for Brandon Cooks two seasons ago, so they are willing to come off as draft fix. You know how we're not supposed to root for teams because we're supposed to be above board?

I'm tired of that. I want to see Brady play with a star receiver. Can I have that? I don't know who made that rule because I don't consider myself to be a journalist. I'm television host, so I can root for whatever I want. I love what you're saying. Just keep it real. Now, that doesn't affect how I report things if things need to be reported.

You can be honest. But I can give you the honest and then get my opinion about it, which is like I thought what we do. So yeah, if you want to root for this happen, that's fine. No, listen, here's what I root for. I want to see Tom Brady play with something besides a slot receiver. Can I root for one star receiver? I want, you know what I mean? When we talk about the Randy Moss days, it seems like a million years ago.

By the way, I love Carson Wentz. I want to see Carson Wentz. Nothing against Golden Tate, but he's better yards after the catch. And I think that Odell would fit with the Patriots, actually. I know everyone talks about like the personalities get, you know, muted. No, Granc has every bit of the personality he had his entire life with the Patriots. They do allow it. It just has to fit within you're going to do the work.

And O'Dell Beckham Jr. is a hardworking athlete. Like, he puts in the training time. So I didn't think it would work. Listen, is it really fair that Baker Mayfield has like seven all-pro talents? He's been in the league an hour. Brady's been in the league since 1947. Well, they've also had a lot of high traffic. God.

Good stuff. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Line news. I'll go with Albert Breer next. It's his good timing. I mean, he's tied to the Patriots. Odell Beckham and New England's fascinating.

and I'm serious. I like to see great quarterbacks have great weapons. I want to see Jimmy Garrow. I'd love to see Antonio Brown go to San Francisco. I get Kyle Shanahan's brain, Jimmy Garoppolo's arm, Antonio Brown, and that tight end George Kittle. Are you kidding me as a fan? I'm dying to watch that.

I don't want to stand Antonio Brown to Jacksonville or Cincinnati and nobody can get him the ball down field. I want home runs. I want quarterback and star receiver. Albert Breer next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Senior NFL reporter, Monday morning quarterback, one of our faves.

Let's go to him, not waste any time via the Cowher Global Satellite Network. Albert Breer. All right, three things I got to touch on. We just talked about the Patriots and Odell Beckham. They've got 12 draft picks. Gronk, long in the tooth, doesn't run down the middle as much. Don't have a deep threat. Brandon Cooks has gone.

Do you buy they would roll the dice on a big personality like Odell Beckham with one of their picks or two of their picks? I do think they're going to be looking to get younger at the receiver position. I'd be skeptical that they would spend that much just because of how it would upset their salary structure. What do you say to Julian Edelman who's making a fraction of what OBJ is making if you do bring OBJ in? So I tend to doubt they do that, but I do think they're going to be looking at some younger receivers, maybe a guy like a Jameson Crowder or an Adam Humphreys in the free agent market. And I will tell you that I think that there are going to be some big receiver names that will be thrown around, Colin.

I can tell you that a number of teams have looked at the free agent market. It's not great. Have looked at the draft class. It's not great. And said to themselves, let's kick the tires on some bigger names, maybe in reaction to what the Rams were able to do last year. And so I think teams are going to be making calls on guys like Odell Beckham, Julio Jones, and AJ Green over the next few weeks.

So let's segue to Antonio. Brown. You know, everybody, it's funny, Niners keeps getting talked about, so that tells me there's some smoke. Is there smoke anywhere else with the Steeler great receiver? Look, I think one team that at least the Steelers are keeping an eye on here, if they are going to move on from them and they haven't made that decision yet, everything's pending Art Rooney's meeting with Antonio Brown later in the week. The one team that they're keeping a close eye on is the Oakland Raiders. The Steelers have internally done all these comps on what they should get for Antonio. Brown, and they're looking at recent receiver trades.

Brandon Cooks got traded for a one twice. Last year, of course, Amari Cooper gets traded for a one. And so they're looking at and saying themselves, we should at least get a one. Look at the Oakland Raiders. They need a number one receiver. John Gruden has said that. John Gruden loves veteran players. He's never been shy about taking on big personalities.

The Raiders have cap space and three first round picks. And so that's the one team I know, at least the Steelers are keeping an eye on if this situation does prove itself to be untenable. All right, Joe Flacco trade. I looked at the weather, and I watched Denver play last year, and I thought if the AFC over the next three years is going through Foxborough, maybe Pittsburgh, maybe Kansas City, and Denver would like to include themselves in December and January, Flacco's a big arm. He's one on the road.

He's often better on the road than at home. I got the Flacco move. I think it's better than Case Keenham, how much I'm not sure. What's your intel say? I think there are four reasons why the Broncos made this move. And four reasons why I think it's a reasonable move. One, they believe he's an upgrade over Case Keenum. I think that's an easy case to make.

Two, the money's reasonable. 21 million per over the next three years. None of it's guaranteed. Three, the draft pick compensation is reasonable. It's only a fourth round pick, and they're already getting a four back for Demarius Thomas from Houston. And then number four, this gives them flexibility going forward. Colin, the spot that you don't want to be and you never want to be

pigeonhold into a year when you've got to go find a quarterback. That's where the Broncos found themselves in 2016 when they drafted Paxton Lynch in the first round. That's how E.J. Manuel goes in the first round. That's how Christian Ponder goes in the first round. And so having Joe Flacco on the team right now doesn't preclude them from taking a quarterback in the first round in 2019. The way they're looking at it, though, if either their guy doesn't fall to them or they don't wind up really loving this draft class, they can wait now. And so for the next three years, they've got flexibility at the quarterback position where they've got a guy they can win with who doesn't preclude them from taking one in the first round. So say they love Drew Locke, and I know they've

been all over Drew Locke over the last six weeks. They love Drew Locke. Having Joe Flacko on the roster is not going to preclude them from taking them. It just gives them the freedom and the flexibility not to have to reach on a quarterback if they don't like the guys who are coming back coming out in any particular year. So I'm reading stories about Kyler Murray, your story in fact. And my takeaway is somebody's going to take him number one. I read all your, the quotes in your story, Albert, and it's a lot of people that are, I do think he's a much better thrower of the football than Lamar Jackson and Mitch Trebisky. I think he's a better thrower than Mitch Trubisky, and he went number one.

So is Kyler going one? If he was number one, if he was six foot four and 225 pounds, he would without question be the number one pick of the 2019 draft, whether it was Arizona taking him or someone trading up to come and get him. If he had that sort of size, he'd be the number one picked. Size is not a non-issue here. He's shorter than Baker-Mayfield. He's shorter than Russell Wilson. He's also smaller than those guys. And there are questions about how he'll be able to take punishment. The size comp that I've gotten most often, Colin, for Kyler Murray, is Doug Flutie. And there's just not a lot of history of players that size holding up in the NFL.

We don't know how well he takes hits. Remember, last year he was playing behind the best offensive line in college football against pretty mediocre defenses in the big 12. So he wasn't getting hit a lot. We don't know how he's going to hold up to getting hit. If you play him a certain way to maximize who he is as an athlete, he's probably going to get hit. And so the size thing is a big issue for a lot of teams. But just looking at it on balance, I mean, I talked to one scouting director who said in every single way, he's better than Lamar Jackson was last year coming out. And Lamar Jackson, of course was a first round pick. So I believe that if if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if,

four, 225 pounds, he would absolutely be the number one pick in the draft. The question is how big a problem the size thing is for him over the next two months. Finally, gronk. You know, I just look at him and I think to myself, he became, you know, he did have two great games to end the season, which, you know, I mean, you know, there is that kind of, yeah, he's still valuable when it matters, but he was a blocking tight end. It felt like for a big. of the year coming back or not? I think there are two pieces of this that are important to watch.

One, this was a tough year for him to get through. I mean, it took a lot of fight, a lot of determination. He had to reinvent himself at a certain point in the year because he couldn't play the way he used to be able to play. It took a lot out of him. So that's certainly a piece of this. The other piece of it, of course, is going to be whether or not the Patriots are willing

to pay him the $10 million they have on the books for next year and $12 million in cap. I've been under the impression for the last four or five months. that that was going to be a non-starter. The way he played in the playoffs, the way he came on, came through for them, you wonder if the Patriots may be willing to bite the bullet on that and say, you know what, you've been a great player for us. We're going to bring him back at this number,

even if we don't think that you're totally at that level anymore. And so I think that's going to be the big thing to watch here is how he feels physically two, three weeks out from the Super Bowl, which is where we are now. And then whether or not the Patriots are going to be willing to bring him back at the number he's on the books for right now. I still think this is very much up in the year. Yeah, by the way, it's not a bad tight end class. Iowa's got a couple.

It's about four really nice tight ends. Good stuff, Albert, as always. Money Morning quarterback. Thank you, sir. All right, you got, Colin. By the way, you know, the Flacco thing, I didn't spend a ton of time talking about this, Joy. You know, Flacco is okay.

But, you know, I've always had this rule, is that it's like the real estate rule. If you were a real estate salesperson, a realtor, and you worked for 15 years or 12 years, I would take away, and I wanted to know what kind of realtor are you? I'd say, give me your 15 years. What did you do? I'd take away your worst year.

Maybe you had a sickness, or maybe it was your first year in the business. I'd take away your best year. Maybe you had a friend who knew a friend who sold a mansion. Then I get a picture of what you are. I always said this about Matt Ryan. Take out Matt Ryan's rookie year in Atlanta. Take out his MVP year with Kyle Shanahan. What he is, a B plus quarterback.

For a year he was A plus. Another year he was C-minus, but he's a B-plus quarterback. People that think Case Keenham's better than Flacco, time out. You can take out Flacco's worst year and best year. He's still kind of the same quarterback. If you take out the best year for Case Keenham's career, the one in Minnesota, where he had two great receivers and a great tight-in and a great offensive coordinator playing indoors, and Aaron Rogers was hurt, and the Bears didn't have Khalil Mack yet,

he's 17 and 25 as a starter. That's what Case Keenham is. 44 TDs, 37 picks. I got nothing against him. I'm just saying, my take out your best, worst year, everybody has a great year at work, and everybody has a bad year. Case Keenham, take out the Vikings,

that unbelievable year when everything worked, he's below average. And Flacco is average to barely above average. Flacco's better. Hour 3 coming up live in Los Angeles, 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. Tower 3 live in L.A. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. FS2 now, I think. I'm going to shift it over. I have no idea what's on one right now. Soccer? Yeah, no, whatever.

Hey, John, do you watch the Daytona 500 yesterday? It was not bad. I did. Massive wreck. There was a huge wreck. Yes. Costs me a lot of money on draft kings. Did it?

Well, I'm glad you patronize our sponsor. Joy Taylor, I watched AAAF yesterday. I watched the All-Star game, some of it, and then I watch billions. I'm binge-watching billions. Oh, yeah? Well, I watched the first. a few episodes, but I just got a bunch of stuff in my life, and sometimes I just get behind stuff. You try and just do, like, one show at a time is the best way I do it. Yeah.

Yeah, and so right now I'm in a billions marathon, so I'll watch like two episodes a day, two or three, and I'm through season one. I'm halfway through season two. And, uh, you know, that show cracks me up because the people that you think are awful have some really great, endearing qualities. And then the people you think are like moralistic are creeps and then just egomaniacs. So it sounds like it's well written. It's, it's content. It's got nuance and layers to it. It's not like people aren't all bad or all good, which is the way it is in life. Right.

Like the billionaire guy who's supposed to be this hedge fund, a pirate, he like won't cheat on his wife and he's good looking and women hit on him and he's like into his wife. You're like, that's a redeeming quality. And then the prosecuting guy that everybody thinks the moralist, he's a whack-a-do egomaniac. I like everybody's not good or bad. Everyone is complex. So characters should be that way too. We're watching Punisher right now.

That's supposed to be very good. Season 2 is not as good as season one. But we're almost done with it. I always feel like you get to about my wife always has this thing. She wants a series with eight episodes. Because her theory is after about eight episodes, you start jumping the shark. Like you ever see the bodyguard, the British show?

Per your recommendation, I tried to watch that show. You didn't like it? I'm not getting through it, yeah. Well, that's because I'm British, so I relate to it. Okay. Is that what it is? Everybody in my house is like A tea.

Is that a British accent? That's what we say all day at my house. Cup of tea. Bangers and mash. I don't even know what I'm saying. So you didn't like bodyguard? I mean, it's okay. Well, I thought it was more than okay.

And you're watching The Punisher. Yeah, we're almost done with The Punisher. And you like that? I do like the Punisher, actually. But I liked Season 1 much better than season 2. Yeah, that happens a lot. The Herd is also on Channel 83 XM and Sirius. Coming up later and best for last.

We talk about Kyler Murray being a mold breaker, and we look at the 10 great mold breakers in sports in the history of American sports. Well, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant were on the floor together during the All-Star game, but the gap between them has never been greater. Two and a half years after they broke up, Kevin Durant's now got two titles, two MVP finals, favored for a third. This weekend he was named the All-Star Game MVP. It's like he's playing a different game. If he has a great second half, he's getting into that territory that he's being argued now as the best current player in the NBA on perhaps the greatest team we've ever seen in the NBA. I think it's probably second to MJ's Bulls.

And then the last two and a half years, Westbrook did win an MVP, but has had two ugly first-round playoff exits. one where he was imploding with Utah fans. He had another surgery. His shot is completely broken. And as Durant yesterday was winning the MVP in the All-Star game joyfully, having fun, it's like he's playing a different game. Westbrook was one for eight on threes. And it looked like he stole the MVP from Janus and gave it to Kevin Durant because

Yonis was winning it. Westbrook came in, took a lot of shots and killed the momentum. him for Janice. Am I crazy here? This is like as bad as a divorce gets in sports. I mean, think about it. Peyton Manning left the Colts. Everybody was freaking out. Yes, Peyton Manning won a Super Bowl. But the Colts have made the playoffs four times, including one AFC championship with Andrew Luck, and it looks like they got nine draft picks and $15 million. Indianapolis and Andrew Luck are set for the next half decade. I mean, Brett Farve and the Packers. Brett Farve went to an NFC championship with Minnesota, where he arguably had his best season ever with the Vikings.

The Packers went on to win a championship, so they were fine with Aaron Rogers. And Montana and the 49ers, everybody thought that was going to be the ugliest divorce. Montana got the Chiefs to the AFC Championship. A couple of really good years in KC. And Steve Young won another Super Bowl title for the 49ers. But when I watch this KD. Westbrook thing, Westbrook for about an hour, you thought, okay, maybe this will work out. It's getting worse by the week.

Four years from now, four years from now, you're going to owe Westbrook $47 million. Four years from now. He's a broken player now. And every time they play together, I sit to myself and I think, man, you enabled the wrong guy, okay, see? You enabled the wrong guy.

Kevin Durant said, in a published story, When they broke up, OKC enabled Westbrook, wouldn't coach him up, wouldn't tell him he was difficult to play with. So whether or not OKC wants to blame itself, the way it landed for Durant is you enabled the wrong guy. But you got Westbrook now, who was awful yesterday, had a plus minus of minus 19, difficult, broken, rigid, fights with the press,

unsurty with fans, and you watch him yesterday, he's a shell of himself. He's just not the same player. And we still got four big years on that contract. And Kevin Durant, in his prime, never been better. He's floating above the floor, is going to win another championship. This is going to be called the greatest basketball team ever. And then he's going to have multiple teams fighting over him. Knicks, Celtics, Kairi, Lakers, Warriors.

Man, most of these sports divorces, actually, both teams win. You better hope in OKC, Westbrook continues to pass more than shoot, and they can get past the first round. Because yesterday, KD and Westbrook, in the same All-Star game, Kevin Durant is pulling away in that divorce. Adam Silver, let me shift gears, is the commissioner of the NBA. He stated, and I think, think this is true, quote, nobody likes to see players demanding trades while under contract.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said this weekend that Anthony Davis's team mishandled the trade request, and Kevin Garnett, Anthony Davis's trade was a bit unprofessional. Let me ask everybody this. Do you like honesty? I do. You know how somebody says, hey, do you want the good news or the bad news first? Joy, what do you say? Bad news?

I'm the same way. I think most people are like, okay, give me the crap. Just tell me the bad stuff. Well, because also I may decide what the good news is from it. So if you start with the good news, you may be twisting the narrative. So just tell me what it is. Okay. And I think I agree with Joy.

And the reason we want that is, listen, we're almost everybody watching the show and listening takes the bad news first. And the reason is, okay. Be honest, be up front. It can't be that bad. Let me solve the problem. That's what you're basically saying. Okay, let me solve the problem. So Anthony Davis could have done it the way LeBron did.

No warning whatsoever. Out of town, you get nothing for him. In Cleveland, they burn his jersey. Anthony Davis could have been done it the way Carmelo did. Carmelo's like, I'm out of here. And I'll give you a lot. little warning. And you burn his jersey too. Or he could do like Kauai Leonard. Literally, you're missing. What country is he in? What hospital? Where'd he go? And the Spurs wanted to burn

his jersey. But clutch sports and Anthony Davis were hyper-aggressive. What they were is the opposite of passive aggressive. And now everybody's hammering them. So let me ask you, as a fan, as a consumer, as a GM, as an owner. Don't you want your star to be brutally honest? Give me the bad news first. So therefore, you have a heads up and you have time to get draft picks and players. Because you burn LeBron's jersey. You burn Mello's jersey.

So Anthony Davis told you a year and a half out. This is not working for me. NFL people running our NBA team. You're not committed. don't like the GM coach, I'm out. And you want to burn his jersey. There's a reason everybody says, good news or bad news. We all say, I'll take the bad news first.

Because you want the ability to get the time to make it the least bad it will be. And the Pelicans acted like children. Lakers offered them multiple picks and multiple players. The Indiana Pacers, by the way, had no emotion. When Paul George said, we're out of here, I'm out of here, I'm leaving. What do the Pacers do? All right, an hour later, they were on the phone, Kevin Pritchard, they got Victorola Depot, they got Sabonis. They got a bunch of good players.

Indiana took the emotion out of it. Indiana said, give me the bad news. Paul George said, I want out. Indiana went, damn. All right, let's make it work. The Pelican said, give me the good news, give me the bad news first. And Anthony Davis said, I want out. And the Pelicans pouted.

You don't get it, do you? Do the pelicans not get this? There is never, aren't we all seeking honesty? Don't we all want bad news up front? So we have time to engineer a good trade. Good therapy. Good pieces to reassemble what we had. It's amazing to me.

I will always take a superstar coming up to me and saying, this is a bad organization. I want out. What terrifies me is I literally, like Pat Riley said in Miami, he said that last couple months with LeBron, nobody was communicating. You're having to guess what the superstars thinking. Is he staying? Is he going?

Can I move him? Can I depend? Can I commit? Well, what's worse than the silent treatment? Nothing. In the world is worse. When my wife and I used to argue, I just eventually gave up. But when we used to have real fights, I used to always say, come on, scream at me.

Let's go. Let's go. Tell me what the worst is when she's simmering and there's steam coming out and she's not talking to me. So everybody out here is Kevin Garnett, the commissioner, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Everybody's upset with Anthony Davis. And my takeaway is always, there is a reason. What do you want? The good news is the bad news. We all say, give me the bad news.

So you can, okay, let me reassemble this puppy as much as I possibly can because we're broken here. I just don't get it. What do you want these athletes and these superstars to do? By the way, Anthony Davis, this weekend talked about where he's going. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. All 29 the teams are on my list. Everyone's on the list. I don't have a preferred destination.

Like I said, I just want to win. You know, they actually big market, small market. I don't care. You know, I want to win, you know. And obviously whatever team, you know, I get traded to, you know, play for that year or whatever. If I did try, I'm not sure. But just make the best up there. And then, you know, we're free each come see what happens.

You know, I can't tell the future. But all 29 teams are on the list. So just to follow real quick. So people who had reported, it's the Lakers and then it's the Knicks. I never gave the – I never gave a destination. You know Anthony Davis, he's going to be a liker. Or one other team, the Celtics. That's just the way it's going to work.

All right, a lot of different stuff. If you didn't see Matt Barnes earlier, had a couple of really interesting comments on this and other stuff. He actually believes Kevin Durant has surpassed LeBron as a player, which on certain nights is indisputable. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I hard radio app.

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. 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, Kier Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

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

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, our heart radio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? them. On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WMBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you,

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

It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. Podcasts for wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world,

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

Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Try Vic Synex nasal spray, cold and flu season. A couple of inhales when congestion strikes works up to 12 hours. Good to have you in. By the way, I don't get all these stories. I don't get them that everybody's going to sign Kaepernick.

NFL settled with Kaepernick. They would prefer that player not be in the league. They did business. He was annoying at the end. They paid him a zillion dollars to. go. I don't get all those stories. I don't think he's going to be a patriot. I think he has an attorney who's a celebrity attorney who wants to create certain narratives. I don't think Kaepernick's ever going to play in the NFL. Again, he made his money. Good for him.

So yesterday, Dwayne Wade was talking about, you know, he and Dirk Novitsky are about the end of their careers. And Dwayne Wade came out and said, the game's in good hands. It's easy to walk away right now, which I totally agree with. The NFL's always been lasagna. You know, It's Italian food. It's not necessarily everybody's favorite, but everybody eats pizza. Everybody's had lasagna. It's in your top three. The NBA is like seafood, sushi.

Some people just won't eat it. You love it. I love it. I grew up next to a dock on the beach. Some people don't like it and they won't give it a chance. But when I watched the NBA All-Star weekend, what I saw was community, fun, laughs, players, supporting other players, personality, creativity, style, some ego. I think those are all good for sports.

I know there's NBA haters that say, well, when KD joined the Warriors, nobody can beat them. Well, when those recruits sign with Clemson and Alabama every year, nobody in their conference can beat them. College football fans don't have a problem with it. I think the NBA is very communal. I think players root for other players. I think the players are overwhelmingly good guys.

You know, I can name other sports and the issues the athletes have. NBA players don't have big issues. They love their sport. They're young. You know, they don't have face masks, so you see their face. They're usually smiling. They're having fun. Yeah, there's a little ego, but there's also a lot of personality and a lot of style.

I don't think it's bad for sports when stars join. Basically, what stars are telling you, we can't do this alone. I think what's worse for sports is when Joe Maurer signs for a big. billion dollars in Minnesota and they can no longer afford good pitching. Same with Joey Votto, Albert Pooleholz, when guys sign for a zillion dollars and they're loyal to their team, but it's a medium-sized to small-sized market and they can't afford any good players. So I think the NBA is in good hands.

I don't think it, you know, it's like it does have a tanking problem, which is going to be, I think it's being exercised this year, especially because of Zion Williamson at Duke. that's a game-changing player and you get one of those type of players about every four or five years where they're automatically 20-point-a-game guys I thought the dunk contest was the best it's been in years. I think they have

the best free agency period of any sport. I think they have the best all-star weekend of any sport. Way better than the NFL is not even close. I think they've reworked it a couple times. The skills challenge was good. The dunk contest was great. It's a star star-driven, celebrity-driven league

and a celebrity-driven culture. I think the NBA is in good shape. Now, the one knock I have on the NBA and where the NFL is much better is there's urgency in the NFL. Every weekend feels like it matters, and that's an advantage. Some of that's just the number of games. And the other thing is the NBA sometimes becomes very beholden to one or two people. Michael Jordan left. They lost half their ratings.

LeBron leaves the Eastern Conference. They lose 30% of their ratings. That's not the ideal business. If you own a business, you would never want to be beholden to one or two employees. you'd want to be able to withstand Peyton Manning retiring or Brett Farr of retiring. So that's the downside to boxing or UFC or NBA when you're kind of, you're as popular as your biggest stars.

And right now the NBA has got a lot of stars and they're likable. Janice is likable. Durant's likable. LeBron's mostly likable. You know, some people, once an athlete goes to politics, you know, that turns some people off. I think Kauai is likable. He just doesn't talk much.

And I think even the dynasty is likable. So I think the NBA is in good shape. I think Dwayne Wade's right. I think fundamentally it's got one massive disadvantage to the NFL, and that is there's a lot of games. It's like baseball. We think the NBA season's long. Baseball's double that.

So you get no urgency. I don't ever have to watch a baseball game before October. But that's just the way that it's always been that way for the NBA. But I do think that the urgency and the NBA, picks up more quickly than it does with baseball. Like the Lakers are in an urgent situation right now. Yes. Moving forward.

So the urgency, even though there are a lot of games, it does kick in earlier than it does with baseball. Yeah. But overall, I think Dwayne Wade is right. You know, the NBA's experimented with things. They went to a new basketball. That did not work. You know, after Jordan, you know, David Stern did some marketing things that really didn't connect with the public, most of the public.

but by and large, the league's in good shape. It's incredibly well-funded. All these leagues now are incredibly well-funded because of the TV deals and the bidding wars to get games. That includes international sports. I mean, God, you know, skiing has more money than it's ever had. That's just the reality of sports. But I think it's in a good spot. You know, if LeBron quit tomorrow, it would rock the league for a couple years.

But I think they'd be fine. I think Zion Williamson, I say this in all sincerity, I think he is going to be a massive marketing star. And if he lands in New York, that is going to be a B-12 shot to the NBA in that city. They have needed for 20 years. And I'm frankly rooting for it. I would love to see Zion Williamson end up a New York Knick. It would just be a six-pack of Red Bulls.

I roofing chaos. So that's perfect. By the way, there's some James Dolan rumors out there. He's selling the Knicks today. Is that in your update? No, because it wasn't validated enough. But it's been kind of a drumbeat that's picking up for the past couple months. I looked around today and it's not Big J. journalism.

No, it's not. It's not. But if that were to happen, that'd be some. I mean, the Knicks even being talked about being on the market is a big deal. I mean, that's like buying the cowboys. Think about this. Both L.A. franchises, ma'am. Both New York franchises, ma'er.

Chicago franchise, ma'am. Atlanta, me. Those are the big cities. Washington, meh. Philadelphia just now good. The NBA is working with the wrong markets controlling the league. I mean, you know, don't kid you. I mean, that's the power of the NFL. If Green Bay and the Saints are in the NFC championship, tiny markets, that's great for ratings. And the NBA has been very popular for 15, 20 years. And the wrong markets.

Well, I mean, with the NBA packages now and all the different ways you can watch, it's not the same as it was before. Yeah, Joy with News. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So this is an interesting report. While the Giants were shopping O'Dell last offseason,

the Patriots were apparently the most aggressive in pursuing the trade. Here's Chris Sims on Pro Football Talk Live. Wow. The Giants were going to trade him, and I think they were really looking and listening to all offers. The thing that stopped the trade conversation with Odell Beckham Jr. is because the team that was most aggressive in pursuing, doing him was the New England Patriots.

The New England Patriots were trying to get Odell Beckham Jr. All last offseason. That didn't work out. And I think the Giants got cold feet and said, wait, New England wants him. Uh-oh. Maybe he's better than we thought. Maybe we should just keep him on our own instead of it being thrown in our face and him going to win a Super Bowl with the Pats.

Hmm. That's actually not a bad approach. If the Patriots are trying aggressively to do anything, there's a tell there. Like if they're aggressively trying to get rid of someone, then that's probably for a reason and get someone that's probably for a reason. Obviously, O'Dell is still great and has many years of greatness left in him. But he does have a massive contract, which the Patriots could fit. They have over 15 million in cap space. Oh, they do?

And they could have a few more players come off their books. And they also have a bunch of draft fix. If Gronk comes off their books at 15, because he's a $10 million cap hit, then O'Dell slides right in and you're fine. Well, they're not afraid to give up draft picks. Remember the game of a first rounder for Brandon Cooks two years ago? So they are willing to pay for an elite receiver. They just usually don't. But this would be really interesting.

And I don't think that O'Dow would have a problem fitting in with Don Brady. He's shown that he's a workout warrior. So I don't think he's one of those players that won't fit into that system necessarily. And having a personality is not something. The Patriots have this brand that nobody's allowed to have a personality. And then I just, I give you gronk. I think what New England wants to make sure is that you're in for the win, not the number, the stats. New England has been okay with some personality.

I think what they really, you have to be an assignment football player. Here's your assignment. Do it for us. No, you have to do your job. Do your job first and foremost above everything else. It's not about you or your numbers, that's for sure. But this would be crazy. So Antonio Brown, the other big-time receiver out there making the news, he took to Twitter to answer fans' questions and addresses differences with Ben Rothersberger.

When he was asked what caused the conflict between them, he said, no conflict, just a matter of respect, mutual respect. He has an owner mentality like he can call anybody out, including coaches. Players know, but if they can't say anything about it, otherwise, their meal tickets gone. It's a dirty game within a game. Hashtag truth. Now, he also said it's not for the money. It's for the love of the sport. He was asked if he

what would he say to people who say that he just wants to get a new team for new contract because he made $70 million. It's public record. He's just time to play for his own team. This is really interesting with A.B. to me because we talk about it all the time. He's not going to get a better situation

than the Steelers as far as him just being allowed to be himself. For the past couple years, Antonio Brown just does what he does. He has a Hall of Fame quarterback with two rings throwing to him. He has Mike Tomlin, who's a player-friendly coach in a solid organization in the Steelers.

He could end up somewhere where he's very unhappy which is the risk of these situations but sometimes you just need a new situation. You need a new fresh start mentally and emotionally. So it's not so much about all of the other factors for players, which I understand.

I just feel like again, it comes down to the culture is just broken in Pittsburgh. Like there's no way that you should even feel like you're going to replace the quarterback in the hierarchy. That's just how.

it works. You play a dependent position and this is Ben Rathusberger. Now that's not an excuse for Ben Rathesberger to call people out publicly and call coaches out and talk about retiring. And he has a responsibility also as the leader of the team to set the tone and Mike Chalmonds as well. So there's plenty of blame to go around here. I just, I think the deterioration with this relationship, your number one receiver, you kind of got to fix that. So I put a lot of that on Rathesberger. So finally, before the trade deadline, Anthony Davis's dad talked about him not wanting to go to the Celtics. Obviously, there was the talk about Kyrie Irving, not resigning with Boston this summer, which is still going on.

Now, ADI has seemed to change his tune on that this weekend. He said he never said he didn't want to go to Boston, never said they went on his list and said all 29 teams, other than the Pelicans are on his list. But the Celtics do have a ton of assets. They have the King's top number one protected pick, Grizzlies, if the pick is outside of the top eight. The Clippers is the pick outside of the top 14 and their own pick, and then they have a bunch of picks moving into the next three years after that. Lakers can't compete with that. No, they can't.

They do not have the same amount of assets. So if this happens, if AD does end up going to Boston, Kyrie, let's say Kyrie moves and he's there with Gordon Hayward and the rest of the team is assembled. Now, assuming Jason Tatum would go to the Pelicans, who is left for LeBron and the Lakers in L.A.? I mean, I think the Lakers are one of two teams. and the other being Boston.

But if it came down to assets, and I run the franchise in New Orleans, my job is to protect the franchise. You give me Jason Tatum. There's nothing the Lakers can give you better. In a couple picks? There's nothing the Lakers. The Lakers, Kyle Kuzma's good.

I don't think he's viewed as Jason Tatum, sealing good. If the Celtics say, we'll give you Jason Tatum, the deal's done. Well, I do think that the offer that the Lakers reportedly had on the table with all of those players and picks was just ridiculous,

And you're not going to get that from Boston, actually. Everyone's talking about this young court. The Lakers, like they're washed up or something. There were major injuries this year. There's a lot that happened in the past couple months. Lakers would have to win the volume game. The Celtics have the quality game. Celtics have the more elite.

And the building for the future game. Like you kind of, like I said, you kind of feel like you know at least what direction these young players with the Lakers are going. But there are a lot of free agents out there still. And we don't know where anyone's going. You've Durant, you have Kyrie, Boogie, Clay Thompson, Kemba Walker, Chris Middleton. Chris Middleton and Kemba Walker in L.A. would be very interesting. Well, Boogie Cousins has been rumored to come here.

Boogie's just a lot of stuff. I don't think that Boogie is necessarily a great fit with LeBron. I don't think that's good. He needs shooters, and Kemba and Chris Middleton are both three-point shooters and defenders. So that would be an interesting combination with LeBron there. Because there are a lot of free agents. Like I said, this free agency period? Yeah.

It's going to be wild. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. Matt Barnes joined us earlier today, and we talked about a lot of things. We kind of put a bow on the All-Star weekend. And we talked about KD and Russ, who were on the court at the same time.

And I asked him, has there ever been a more lob-sided divorce in sports than Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook? It's a tough situation. You know, at the time, they were both two of the probably top five. players in the game at the time. You know, I know, knowing both of them, I'm sure Russell is a more outgoing personality, so maybe they let some things slide that, you know, should have been addressed. But what I see from KD now is he's just happy. He's having fun.

He's playing. He's probably the most efficient player, one of the most efficient players ever to play the game. I think it's safe to say he's the best player in the game right now. Today, the best player. It doesn't make him better than LeBron overall. Just, you know, age is catching up with LeBron. Katie is younger. He's the best player in the game right now.

But I think what I like at OKC and West right now is he's finally okay with being Robin. You know what I mean? And I think that's going to be huge for not only him but the franchise, especially Paul George. Paul George is playing out of his mind right now. Out of his mind. And should be obviously in the MVP consideration. But Restbrook is still special. You know, I think a lot of it is mental right now. And, you know, when you have the world telling you what you can and can't do,

I like what he said. He has that gene. That's an important gene to have. that that made me laugh. But I think Russell bounced back next year. But, I mean, it's no fault to OKC or whatever. Just Katie is that good. And, you know, if they made a choice between the two and he was the one that chose,

I think they're looking back like, okay, well, maybe we would have did it this way. But it's hard to say in hindsight, 50-50. You know, Matt, you said something, and I was talking to a friend about this the other day. And you said right now Kevin Durant's the better player. And I've always said there'll be a time when Katie's better on the floor. than LeBron, but not greater than LeBron in total. It's a whole package. Holistically.

Yeah, when you judge in history and where they rank, but KD is a better player as we stand now. And I'll throw this at you. And I notice this with LeBron, that LeBron understands his body. You guys all know your bodies. LeBron doesn't have the continuous juice. He takes more time off.

It's more sporadic. He picks his spots, especially on the defensive end. When you watch the two, where do you see LeBron's age? I just think from a standpoint of since he's been in the league in his Cleveland years, he's always carried the team. He's always carried the franchise. So, I mean, that's going to catch up to you,

not only mentioning, you know, making the playoffs every year, playing the Olympics, playing on All-Star games, pickup games in the summer. That's just a lot of wear and tear. And he came right out of high school. You know what, a year or two in college? You're not playing as many games. You get to save your legs.

And then he's always had an amazing sidekick. Now he's got two amazing sidekicks, three, when, you know, Boogie gets healthy. So KD has been able to preserve himself. That's why you see him in the finals. He's at his absolute best where everyone else might be tired. Katie is full of juice because he's only doing what he needs to do. You know, people talk about James Harden, MVP,

Paul George MVP. They have to be amazing every single night for those guys to win. Even though Katie is pretty amazing every single night, if he has an off night, the Warriors can still win a game. So that's where Katie is able to save his legs. So LeBron just has always had to do so much. And with the Laker team this year is no different. You know, I feel this Laker team in the East would be top three.

You do? I think so. You know, maybe top four, excuse me, not to disrespect the top, you know, Toronto, Boston, Philly, Milwaukee. So maybe, you know, top five, excuse me. Yeah. But, you know what I mean? But he's always been able to, he's always had to carry the franchise, and this year is no difference. So I just think it's finally catching up to him as much money as he spends and as much times he takes off.

There's no denying that he just has a lot of miles on his body. You know, Anthony Davis, I didn't buy this. Anthony Davis said 29 teams. I'm open to the world. And my takeaway is, listen, you and Rich Paul in clutch sports came out hyper-aggressive, and the league didn't like it, and you got your hand slapped. And now you're trying to play nice. Backdraft, yeah.

He's just trying to say what's right, so hopefully the story dies down a little bit. Like you said, I saw what you said earlier. I respect the fact that he came out and said what he said. So right. Because I don't, Pelicans don't build your team around me anymore because I don't want to be here. So you have to respect that now. Whether, you know, Rich Paul went above and beyond and wanted a lot of attention to the situation and came out. And maybe they approached it the wrong way, excuse me.

But I got to respect AD for being honest. You know what I mean? Like, I don't want to be here. You know, and I think when that happened, instead of putting their business hats on, like, let's make this deal, the Pelicans got in their feelings. And the GM was fired over that. You know, I'm glad that Lakers didn't make that trade because I thought they were giving up too much. So did I. You know, you're giving up way too much.

You're never going to get an AD back. AD is a generational player, but you had five solid players with draft picks and you turn your nose up to it. You're not in a position to turn your nose up to a situation like that. Coming up next, the 10, top 10 mold-breaking athletes in sports history. We talked about Kyler Murray. If a five, eight-and-a-half quarterback broke into the NFL, small by any position, but quarterback's historically been above 6-2-6-3. We talk about the 10 mold breakers in the history of sports,

and that's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. The WBC Super Middleweight title fight is on FS1, former champion and number one contender. Anthony Durrell looks to reclaim the title as he battles the number two contender, Avney Yildurham, Saturday at 10 p.m. Eastern on FS1

and the Fox Sports app. We were talking about it, Joy Taylor. Earlier today about Kyler Murray is good for all fans because Kyler Murray means we no longer have a prototype of what a quarterback has to be. He is 5-8-and-a-half, 5-9. He plays sometimes and looks like a punt returner. And if he works, and I think he's a first-round pick, I think he's a much better thrower than Mitch Trubisky or Lamar Jackson, who have a running component to their games as a vital part of their game. I think it's good for all of us.

And we were talking this morning as a staff about people who are what I would call mold breakers. And it's not about what's next. It's about what's new. And so I said, here are my top 10 that I haven't seen all of them play most mold breakers in the history of sports. I would say number 10, and this could surprise some people, Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson took away how tall is a quarterback? Baker Mayfield, Johnny Mansell, to some degree, Kyler Murray. For a long time, you had to be this tall and this big.

He's second all-time in passerating to Aaron Rogers. He's got the most wins ever for anybody in their first seven years, 73. He's the shortest quarterback to ever win at 5-11. If you looked at his college numbers at Wisconsin, it is almost embarrassing that everybody in the league passed on him. But I think Russell Wilson has gotten so many players drafted and paid at his position and given opportunities at the high school or college level that were never given opportunities. I think he's that important. I'd say number nine is Mariano Rivera.

You know, relief pitchers. You couldn't put them in the Hall of Fame. You know, they were kind of second class citizens in baseball for years. You know, you wanted your starter to go as long as they could. and then Mariano with one pitch, a cut fastball, none of those Yankees World Series champions happen. None of those championships without Mariano so respected for his elegance and dominance that he's the first player that got 100% of the votes to get into the Hall of Fame. I think he really refined the position and redefined the position that it mattered, that it was important, that you could. couldn't really win a World Series.

Again, he got a lot of guys, including himself, paid and elevated in the sport. Number eight, I think, is LeBron James, the greatest athlete, arguably in league history. LeBron James took away positions. He is a 6-9 Swiss Army knife. We're not really all caught up on he's a one, he's a three. It's can he play, can he handle the ball? He also created player mobility. Now, players had opinions dating back to Spencer Haywood wanting to play,

but I think shorter contracts and player movement will always be associated with LeBron James. Number seven, really underrated to me as Martina Navratilova. Women's tennis went from finesse to power. She's a predecessor to Steffi, Venus, and Serena. We don't think of her as a women's tennis player. We just think of them as great tennis players. She won 98% of her matches, 98% over a five-year period. And I mean physically dominated other tennis players.

She was just seen as an athlete, much like Serena's seen now or Stevie. She's just a world-class athlete. I think number six would be Michael Vick. Again, opportunities. Running quarterbacks can't work. I remember Bobby Bowden, after Florida State beat Virginia Tech and Michael Vick, saying, I've got to get a Michael Vick. I think he changed and gave opportunities to young high school and college quarterbacks

who became NFL quarterbacks that did not previously exist. I think Michael will always have a, he is still the only quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in the season. I feel bad for people who didn't see him introduced into football. It was crazy. That's a good picture there. He was the fastest football player on his team, not just the fastest quarterback. He and Alan Rossum for the Falcons.

Notre Dame punt return with the fastest players on the team. Number five, Billy Bean, age GM. Everybody uses Sabre Metrics. Everybody uses Saber Metrics. When he came out, it was major pushback that walks for as important as hits. And he creates Saber Metrics. He turned the sport upside down. A lot of people to this day still don't want to give him credit.

He was Mr. Moneyball. He saw the world differently. And the term Sabre Metrics was coined by baseball historian Bill James, but I think every major league baseball team owes a debt of gratitude to Billy Bean. Number four is Tiger Woods. Golfers became more health-focused, more muscular, leaner. Perses have gone up 352% since Tiger arrived, which is absolutely unbelievable. Courses had to be tiger-proof.

Augusta is now 500 yards longer. Just think about that. Augusta's 500. He kind of broke the stereotype of a little bit of a gut, poorly dressed, not really an athlete. Golfers are now athletes, thanks to Tiger. Number three to me is Steph Curry. Everybody in the NBA, he eliminated the center position. You can't be a back-to-the-basket guy that a small-frame, 6-3 guy could dominate the league, unanimous NBA, MVP, never happened in NBA history.

And he's also, this will never be, he'll never be given credit, but his ability, to recruit Kevin Durant is really cool to say, I'm going to get a player that's arguably better than me. I'd say number two is Muhammad Ali. Not only did he develop Ropa Dope, but he was really the first athlete of massive stature who went into politics, who pushed back, who pushed back at our government. He was boxing's first self-promoter. I've said this before.

If Muhammad Ali existed today, he would make LeBron James less relevant. He was the funniest, quickest, greatest self-promoting athlete of all time. My dad didn't like sports, and he had an opinion on Muhammad Ali. And number one, I think, has to be Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in baseball in 1947. That's obviously massively important. Lost in Jackie Robinson, though, was how good of a baseball player he was. The Dodgers had been to one-world series before he arrived. They got to six in ten years.

The great Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in the late 40s, 1947. To me, these are the mold breakers, in my opinion. Very strong this. Yeah, for different reasons, by the way. For different reasons. All started with our thoughts on Kyler Murray. Car shopping can be very, very difficult. Dealer price, list price.

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