The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Russell Westbrook, Lakers, NFL draft, Josh Rosen, and Kyler Murray

Episode Date: April 17, 2019

Colin discusses how the game has passed Oklahoma City Thunder G Russell Westbrook by, who the Los Angeles Lakers want as their next Head Coach, the NFL draft, why the Arizona Cardinals shouldn't trade QB Josh Rosen, and the fact teams are not trying to move up the draft to get QB Kyler Murray. Guests include Chris Canty, Chris Haynes, and Arash Markazi. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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We are live in beautiful Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. She doesn't carry a wallet if she did. Hers would have more money in it than mine. I'm officially, after betting the most money I've ever bet on a pro basketball. basketball game on the Thunder. My children will no longer go to college. All right. Let's let's let's not be too dramatic. You did lose big last night. I did big.

I told you it's going to be some reverse karma there or just regular karma. I felt so good five minutes into the second half and then I felt terrible and then it was over. So no pizza for us, huh? I know. Bummer. You guys were kind of rooting for me in a weird sort of way. Kind of. pizza or the satisfaction of Westbrook. Your shame tastes better than pizza. Let me start with this.

I could crush Westbrook today. You know, they always say on the internet, on the internet, Facebook won. Okay, they won. I could crush Westbrook all day today. He's been awful in the series. Damien Lillard is significantly better than him now as a basketball player. He is. I'm sorry about the triple doubles he is.

But I have a little sympathy for Westbrook because I've seen this happen my entire life in sports and out of sports. The current basketball culture has moved away from Russell Westbrook. I mean, last night, Lillard was plus 27. Westbrook was minus 27. Lillard is unstoppable. Westbrook is awful again in the playoffs. I can bring out the hammer all day. But this is what happens in a lot of businesses.

Russell Westbrook now starting to remind me of Derek Rose and a much better John Wall. The game he practice as a kid, high school, AAU, college, early NBA. It no longer exists. Nobody wants a slasher, a guy that drives to the basket, a guy that shoots mid-range jumpers. John Wall, Derek Rose, and Westbrook are not three-point shooters. They did not build their games to be that. They're mid-range guys. They're beat you off the dribble guys.

They're relentlessly athletic guys. They're energy slash juice guys. They're not three-point shooters. Basketball has moved toward Kyrie Irving and toward Steph Curry. It has moved toward them. Damian Lillard, Clay Thompson. Shooters first. Everything else second.

Westbrook is not built to win in the playoffs today. Either is Derek Rose. You saw it at the end of his career. Either is John Wall. You see this in football all the time. Where running backs, it used to be for 60 years. Here's ball, grab ball, run forward. And that was enough.

You were the centerpiece of the team. Now it's, we pass a lot. Can you block? Oh, you can't. You can't catch. We can't give you big money. You're a part-time running back. Now, it's easier for a running back who's 16 years old today to develop those

catching skills and develop Ezekiel. Elliott, those blocking skills. But what if you're 10 years into your career and they say, you got to catch 45 balls a year? Well, I don't work on that in high school and college. That's what's happened to Russell Westbrook. It's very difficult. I saw this at a company I used to work at.

Once you're great and you're awarded and you're paid and you're told you're great, and then the culture changes in your business, it's very hard to pivot. I work at a company now Fox that just made a major pivot. We got out of the movie business. We do now live news, live sports, live politics. That's what we do. We have pivoted with the emergence of Netflix out of certain businesses and into live. That's good management.

But it's hard. When you've been successful like a Belichick and a Brady and people say, let's change the things you do, it takes a lot of work. coaches I've seen do it. General managers can do it. It's hard for players. Part of me feels bad for Westbrook. It's easier now because if you go into a gym in America today, a college gym and AAU gym or a high school gym,

all those kids are shooting threes. So that is the game they're learning to play. Westbrook has another game. And right at the ninth hole on this 18-hole course, maybe in the 10th, 11th hole, the course changed, and he's struggling with the pivot. He is completely deteriorated as a player. I feel bad for him. He's like a running back who was the best in the league, and now we're a passing league, and he can't catch.

Westbrook can't shoot. I saw this happen with John Wall. I've seen it happen with Derek Rose, and I'm watching it with Westbrook. And he's so darn athletic and so absolutely relentlessly hyper-athletic, he'll probably go back to OKC and have a good game. But there's a reason now he's unraveling for the third straight year in the playoffs. Sometimes business moves toward you. I got lucky.

I'm an opinionist. That's the thing now. And sometimes business moves away from you. If you're 55 years old and suddenly you have to know tech and you didn't grow up when you were 8, 18, 28, on devices, you feel like a complete outsider. That Stanford degree, that Harvard degree, doesn't feel as important. We're seeing this all over America. The country due to technology, analytics is changing rapidly.

And there's a part of me that feels bad for Westbrook. The sports moved away from him. Russell, we're not into the, we don't watch it, the free throw line, you're not a great show. Just shoot threes. Kyrie's like, moving toward me. Steph's like, moving toward me. Lillard's like, that's my game. Clay Thompson's like, this is perfect. Russell Westbrook's like, that's not what I do. This has not only happened to Westbrook, by the way.

It's happened to centers who were told their entire life. Do not shoot threes. Carl Anthony Town. Now it's, Carl, what are you doing back to the basket? Get out there and hoist them up. I can hammer Westbrook all day. And I will criticize him a little later, but there is a part of me. I should be furious after I lost all that money. But there's a part of me that feels bad for the guy because he's deteriorating right in front of our eyes. By the way, when Westbrook came into this league, two teams, two, shot 25 threes a game. Last year, everybody did. The team that shoots the fewest shot 25 a game.

Time to pivot. I just don't think he ever will. Or frankly, I don't think he can. It's too late. Let's shift to this. As you know, Joy and I perform Big J journalism regularly on this show. Sometimes it's little J. One source. We try to do Big J journalism a couple sources.

This is some pretty good Big J journalism. I was told last night from a great source, the Lakers interviewed Monty Williams last night on the East Coast, and he is their number one choice to be their head coach. Monty Williams, the current assistant for the Philadelphia 76ers. That's the Lakers number one choice. They interviewed him and they want him. But they don't know if they're going to get him.

Because Philadelphia wants him, and if Philadelphia loses to Brooklyn in this series, I don't think they will. I think they'll beat him. Or if Philadelphia loses in the next series to Toronto, and I think they may, they struggled with him regular season, then the Sixers are going to get rid of Brett Brown and they're going to hire Monty Williams. and that will leave the Lakers with their second choice,

Ty Lou. Their third, I'm told, is Joan Howard. That's not news. So my gut feeling this morning is Ty Lou is the next Laker coach. He is not their first choice. Of course, they will say he's their first choice if they have to hire him, but they're going to wait for the Monty Williams situation to work out. Monty Williams is going to have two offers.

Philadelphia is if the Sixers get bagged here in the first round or the second round. If Philadelphia goes to the Eastern Conference finals, then maybe Brett Brown keeps his gig. Philadelphia is not an easy team to coach. It's got weird chemistry, some immaturity. I'm not sure Jimmy Butler gets along with anybody. I am also told, I'm also told this, that the Lakers already have somebody to replace Magic Johnson. And they are communicating with him, and he is okaying all these moves. he is not currently in the Laker building

because he is currently running another team in the NBA that's in the playoffs. Now that could be a handful of people. It could be a Michael Winger with the Clippers. It could be a Bob Myers with Golden State, young, young smart guy in Toronto. There's a couple other guys out there. But that's what I'm told this morning.

So the Lakers want Monty Williams. Ty Lewis second. Monty Williams probably gets the Sixers. job, though. Monty Williams, I told, if given the option, would take the Sixers job. He thinks they have more players. He likes the organization. He likes the front office. He likes the ownership. Monty Williams. You know, nobody's going to talk about this publicly. You're not going to talk as an assistant about the coaching job. But the Lakers want Monty. Ty is second, but my gut is, Ty will get the job. And it should be noted that the Lakers are concerned,

and perhaps the reason Ty Lou is not the number one candidate is, because they could hire him today. The Lakers could hire Tailu today. They could hire him today. And I'm not sure exactly how the dinner went last night. I know the Lakers showed very keen interest. Monty Williams may wake up in a couple of days and say, I can't do this. Stories are leaking and they may just go to Tailu. They may not sit around and wait. That's very possible because you're going to see a lot of rumors coming out now about Monty Williams. Monty Williams may not like that it's disrupting the Sixers and Monty Williams may back himself out of this thing and Tyloo may get it. My gut is Tyloo is going to get this job.

But the Lakers, I'm told, are very concerned about the optics that now Tyloon LeBron, it's just it's clutch sports, it's LeBron's team. They are concerned about that. They do not ideally want that to happen, but they may not have a choice. My gut feeling this morning, Monty Williams is who they want, Tyloo is who they will get. And I think the Lakers would wait for Monty Williams, but this story is going to start surfacing with multiple reports.

And Monty Williams may not like the distraction it creates for Brett Brown and the team and may just pull himself out of it. That's what I was told last night. Coming up next, you know, it's interesting, Joy. I've had, we've talked about the Arizona, Kyler Murray number one pick thing. And I've given you a lot of opinions on it. I'm not sure I've told. you what I would do. I've had opinions on what I see and what I observe. Coming up next,

there's a story that's out. I'm going to tell you what I would do with I was Arizona, so you can hold me to it. Just like this morning, you're holding me to that awful bet I made last night on the thunder. I whiffed on that. You can hold me to the Arizona thing. I'm going to tell you what I would do with new information coming out today. 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.

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Go to Soylent.com code Heard 20. Stuff is great. Had one yesterday. It's very interesting. This Arizona situation, the number one pick in the NFL draft is Arizona. Starts next Thursday. I love the draft. Total nerd.

I admit it, I'm totally into it. This is a weird year. It's mostly great defensive players. The quarterbacks to me are all okay. The most electric is Kyler Murray. And Arizona has a bad old line, and boy, could Kyler Murray fix the offensive line? Totally get it. But I feel like here comes the draft.

Here's a new story. And I'm just going to put my opinion down on this so everybody, myself included, I can keep myself accountable on this. I would not trade Josh Rosen. As we get closer to the draft, I get why Cliff King's and that offensive line, I get people say Kingsbury loves him. I would not trade Josh Rosen. Story came out yesterday.

Carr's general manager came out and said, we have not made a decision on number one. That tells you they've got questions about Kyler Murray. If Kyler Murray was as great as everybody keeps telling me, why aren't there multiple teams bidding moving up in the draft to get Kyler Murray? We haven't had a single rumor of that, not one. Arizona's not sure on Kyler. Murray. If Sam Darnold was number one, there'd be teams bidding to get him. If Andrew Luck was number one coming out, this kid next year from Oregon, Bobby Herbert, there's a couple kids in

college, Justin Herbert from Oregon. There'd be teams bidding, trading to get up. Nobody's doing that with Kyler Murray so far. The only rumor there's been about Kyler Murray, New York Giants in February, we think he's a little small. So I don't think is the prospect everybody thinks. And the other thing is Arizona said yesterday, Kingsbury said about Josh Rosen, his current quarterback. He's been unbelievably phenomenal. He couldn't have been better through all of this honestly. First one to show up at camp. Engaging, sharp, everybody knows.

Can't say enough good things about my interactions with Josh Rosen. Good communication. Pros, pro. I appreciate the most since we've drafted him. The kid is unbelievable amount of mental toughness. Okay. If you said that about any quarterback, why are you getting rid of? of him. Okay, I'm not getting rid of Josh Rosen. I'm taking that number one pick. I'm trying to

trade down to get more people, but the bottom line this year is that we don't have a dominating quarterback. If we did everybody move up to get Kyler Murray and they're not, Arizona's not even decided, and they have the perfect coach for Kyler Murray. And they're like, eh. The other thing is Kingsbury works with all quarterbacks. This idea that Cliff Kingsbury only works with guys that run around, do some homework. He works with all his quarterbacks. He's like Kyle Shanahan. They all get better. He's like Sean McVeigh, Washington, L.A. They all get better.

Kingsbury works with all quarterbacks. He elevates all of them, not just guys that run around. So I don't buy that. Patrick Mahomes can move, but he's a pocket guy. So I'll ask the question. A few years ago, I came on the air, and I said, I don't get it. Jimmy Garoppolo was a number two to Brady, and I kept saying, Joy wasn't on the show yet.

I kept saying, this was like a pattern for a year. I'm like, there's eight teams that need a quarterback. Garopolo is better than all the college guys. Why won't anybody trade for him? and finally San Francisco stole him and the smart offensive guy in the league, Kyle Shannon, is like, yeah, we're going to give him $27 million. We've already seen him play. Let me ask a question.

I don't understand teams not making bids on Josh Rosen, like big bids. Giants, Miami, Washington, Cincinnati. You don't think Denver this morning wishes they would have made that move on Jimmy Garoppolo? You don't think Miami this morning wishes two years ago that I made that move on Jimmy Garoppolo? The Saints are going to need to quarterback, the Patriots, the Chargers, the Chargers. I got news for you. If Cam Newton doesn't kick it up this year,

they may be looking. Tampa Bay and James Winston. Marcus Moriota in Tennessee. Josh Rosen, 6'4, high IQ. They say an Aikman ball. It's perfect. And oh, by the way, he's free for three years. These teams that passed on Garoppolo,

isn't this the same thing? Rosen's been a little banged up and hurt before. People are concerned. Garopolo in New England. had been hurt. There were concerns. Hurt again. But Garapolo can play. It doesn't take a scientist to figure this.

I don't take an NFL GM to figure it out. Rosen can play. By the way, the stats last year in Arizona. This was with a coach that got fired mid-season, a coordinator who was over his head and got fired. They were significantly better with Josh Rosen, more than doubled the points, 30% upgrade in total yards,

25% upgrade in passing yards, and they didn't win without him. They won three with him. with a terrible O line, this team's not built for him right now. He needs really good tackles. So I'm putting it down. I'm a Josh Rosen guy. If he endured last year a mess,

he had the worst pass blocking line, no running game, a coach fired midseason, a coordinator fired midseason. And his numbers were not terrible. If Kyler Murray is such a great prospect, Why aren't teams? Because this is a year in the NFL draft

where there's a lot of duplication. There's a lot of good receivers, but they're all kind of similar. There's no superstar Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss. There's a lot of good defensive linemen. A lot are real close. There's four or five really good edge rushers. There's a lot of duplication in this draft. So if a quarterback was really great,

there's five teams in the league that need one. I could make an argument nine do if you talk about teams that need somebody in the next two or three years. I'm sticking with Josh Rosen. And I think ideally, I'll tell you this is interesting. You know, New England's got, well, they're not going to move up to number one. They like value. I'm just, I'm sticking with Josh Rosen.

He reminds me a lot of Garoppolo. You've got a guy sitting there and everybody is trying to find the next gem and the kid is right in front of you. And Garopolo is right in front of you. And don't tell me Kingsbury only works with mobile quarterbacks. Just do your homework. That's not true. He works with all quarterbacks. Joy of the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on a news. This is the herd line news. So the Lakers looked like a playoff team in December when they blew the Warriors out in their Christmas Day showdown. But then it went on a downward spiral since the start of 2019. And even though injuries played a huge part in their collapse, Lonzo admitted in an interview with House of Highlights that the trade rumors surrounding Anthony Davis were also a big factor. That week, was that constantly like all the guys were kind of thinking about it?

Yeah, I think that kind of leading to our downfall, I think, a little bit, just because, you know, everybody's name was in it. So, yeah, kind of messed up with some things. Like, a lot of stuff just started coming out. You know, obviously, I wanted to be in L.A. Yeah. You know, but at the end of the day, I just want to play. Yeah, well, this story was told, and it's now confirmed. Those trade rumors were not good for the kids.

Yeah, well, I mean, we all, like you said, we all assumed that this was probably not going over very well in the locker room. but I just think they panicked. I think they panicked and I think it was handled poorly. Obviously, New Orleans did their part in getting all of that out. I don't think they ever really intended on making this trade to begin with. I think they were really angry at Anthony Davis for saying that he wanted out and they didn't want to help the Lakers. And I don't think that they're going to help the Lakers when the season's over either. Well, there's always been a feeling in the NBA.

NBA is different. In the NFL, everybody sort of understands. Cowboys, Steeders, Packers, Good, League Good, you'll do a deal with those teams. The NBA's different. Because stars have generally gravitated to one or two teams, nobody's going to help the Lakers out. I'm not saying there's not an understanding

that Lakers good, league good, but the league now is rolling financially and the Lakers in the next stink. So to your point, nobody's going to do the Lakers any favors here. No. And look, it was obviously a disaster in the locker room, but this is just more to the, Lakers saga. It's just another example of how they need to completely rebrands and start over for

next season. Like you can't have any of this kind of energy lingering around. You're not going to be successful. And it's a confirmation of a story. I know everybody says fake news, but this is a confirmation by Lonzo Ball of what was being reported. This was lousy for the locker. No, it was. And obviously the injuries were the biggest part of it, but this clearly was number two. So New King's coach, Luke Walton was officially introduced yesterday. And after reporters asked him about his tenure with the Warriors, Luke chose to take the defensive road. I would love to watch them go in there and coach that group. I won a championship with that group and I love them, but I'd love to see some people walk

in there and try to do that. When you're talking about a game that has so much to do with individual talent, that's not an easy job to do. I don't know what the purpose of defending your tenure with the Warriors is if you're Luke did coach the Warriors in 2015-16 when Kerr heard is back and had to take that leave of absence and they had a 24-0 start and then he ended his interim head coach stint with a 39 and 4 record. But also Mike Brown was the head coach for a little while and led the Warriors to 12 and0 record

in the postseason while Kerr was absent. So not the best example of anybody can do that job. I don't think I can walk in there and do that job. I don't think you can walk in there and do that job. But let's be serious. This is a situation that is anyone who is qualified to be a head coach could step in there and not mess it up. Well, because Steph Curry essentially is the coach on the floor. I would say the Warriors remind me a lot of the late 90 Yankees where you knew they had the best players.

And they had the best closer and they had the best shortstop. And they had the best staff. And Joe Torrey came in. And it wasn't about analytics or schematics. could you get all these massive stars in New York City? Could you keep the locker room sort of? Well, to me, that's a bigger part of it. The X is a nose part.

Like, really him saying that is more of an indictment of Steve Kerr, because he stepped in and did it, and Mike Brown stepped in and did it. It's kind of a back-handed compliment to Steve Kerr. Kerr's job here is to make sure the train rolls. And that's not an easy job to do. It's very difficult to manage egos, and just because, you know, Steph Curry is likable,

and Clay Thompson doesn't, you know, talk a lot. It doesn't mean that that's not a whole locker room of different personalities that you have to maintain and keep on track and keep the mantra and motivated and all that stuff. That's not easy, but the on-the-court stuff, it's rolling pretty well. Finally, Zion Williamson is one of the most dominant

college basketball players in recent memory, and he's expected to go number one overall in this summer's draft. And Hoops hype talked to current and former players about Zion's game and potential and one current Eastern Conference All-Star said, His athletic ability is obviously crazy and he has so much potential,

but it all depends on how he's going to develop his skills. He won't be able to just rely on athleticism in the NBA. His shot will need to improve. Yeah, absolutely. No question. This is the biggest question mark that I have with Zion. And it sounds as if you're hating if you have any critique of Zion's game. Yeah. But we just talked about Russell Westbrook and the game moving away from athletic players.

Yeah. It's just a fact. This is a skill league now. I mean, James Harden is the best, most unstoppable offensive player. Is he a great athlete? He's not a vertical player. It's skill. No, no, I mean, again, it used to be like in golf.

It's not about off the tea. Can you putt? You know, I mean, so in golf, if you go to a golf club, like a public, everybody's trying to hit it 400 yards off the tea. The reason guys are on the tour is because they're good 80 yards in. The NBA now, look at your guys. It's Harden a great athlete. It's not about that. Hardin's a great shooter.

And so to this, it's a totally legitimate criticism of Zion. And that's not saying that I don't think that Zion is going to develop. It's why I think it's very important where he goes if they have the pieces in place and the plan in place to develop him. And are they able to execute that? And it's not that Zion's not going to come in and be good. He'll be good, yeah.

There's going to be an adjustment period. It's just a fact. Like, he is an athletic player. And in college, it's why he was so dominant. And in the NBA, it's going to have to change. There is one thing. There is one advantage, though. And this sounds weird.

But the NBA game in a weird way, Joey, is almost a little more tailored for him. Because in college, you can pack a zone in. And so Zion finishes a ton at the rim. In the NBA, you can't. Right. So the six foot bubble around the rim in the NBA is pretty open. And so he's going to score a lot of points really close. And a lot of times I watched Duke play 15 times this year.

There was a way to play Duke. Pack it in and make him shoot. They could not shoot. I don't think he's going to see that in the NBA. So I think he'll score early. But to your point, to develop, to go from 20 a game to a star, you've got to hit a jumper. You've got to hit a jumper in this league.

It's just the way the world is. And he's going to be able to shoot from the outside. Yep. Yeah. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News.

Senior NBA insider for Yahoo Sports. And now a teammate here at FS1. Let's bring in Chris Haynes. It is great to have him in here today. Look at a wave to the crowd, Chris. Now, member of the family. Great to have you. And how are you?

I'm doing fine. So I could have brought out the hammer on Westbrook this morning. I thought you were. But I did not. And I believe it is very hard in life. You're a 45-year-old executive. And all of a sudden, 10 years ago, tech takes over the, world and your son now, he's 15, he's on tech all day. He's on Fortnite all day.

But a 48-year-old executive, hey, be great at tech. I didn't grow up with tech. And so it's hard to pivot. Westbrook, the game now is not designed for him. It's designed for Clay, Steph, Kyrie, Lillard, shoot. No mid-range. I don't care. And I look at Westbrook and he's not a broken player. He's a hyper-athletic guard who is a relentless athlete. You're going to tell me the next five years he's going to click and become a great shooter. It's not who he is. Derek Rose. That's not who Derek Rose is. There's part of me that feels bad for Westbrook. The game has moved in a different direction, and it's not built perfectly for him anymore. You are being lenient here. I saw you, I saw you tweeting last night and saying, what would you say?

Wait, wait, wait, wait, is he hit a triple-double? I was for sure you're going to be relentless this morning. and vicious. Couldn't I argue, though, you know, what do you do with Westbrook now? Okay. Let me say this.

I get your point, but I will say this. There are still, I will still say, you know, the majority of the leagues, the majority of the point guards can't shoot like a Stephen Curry,

like a Damien Lillet. So there's still, there's still a spot for players, such as Westbrook who has freakish athleticism, quick speed, burst of, you know,

of everything. So I would just say this. It's still up to Westbrook as key points in the game to make the right play. And if you're not such a shooter, they don't shoot a lot of threes. Go in and attack. Be relentless on the glass. And I think the problem with him is that, look, that three point ball is killing OKC right now. They were never good at it.

They've been awful. They're awful. And the fact that Portland is making so many, like, threes hurt. Three's hurt. And when you can't match that, you can't combat that, there's a real problem. And then that deficit gets higher and higher. And so I think for Westbrook, look, you know, I get what you're saying. He's never going to be those type of guys.

We're talking about Steph and Dane. But what he can do, do it to the best of his ability and stay away from shooting eight, seven, three-pointers a game. And so if you want to be efficient in your own right, play your own game. That's all he has to do. Here's a criticism I would levy on Westbrook. I don't like the defensive effort. First of all, Lillard's getting uncontested jumpers. Curry is left wide open.

Some of this, is it possible, and I'm not just blaming Westbrook, that when your offense goes in the NBA, your defense can suffer? Because it gets into your head. I mean, let's be honest. Defense matters, but it's probably a 75-25 split. Offense is more important than defense. I don't like Russell's defense. I don't like OKZ's defense. You're letting a good three-point shooting team.

Last night must have had seven wide open threes. Paying attention to detail has always been an issue of Russ, particularly when you're talking about the defensive end. You look at, you know, look at his frame and everything. Like there's no reason why he shouldn't be an all-NBA defender out there from year to year. But he's not. And I don't know necessarily if it's his offense struggling on that end is why he's struggling on the defensive end as well. But you're seeing it.

Like, Seth Curry can't get off. He can't get wide open shots. You can't allow guys like Faruka Minu to his. to hit three pointers on you. Those are demoralizing shots. And so that's what I'm saying. Like, I get your point. You're being lenient, Kyle.

Like, you're evolving as a person. Because you're talking about, you just mentioned that. You're talking about 45-year-olds, can't adapt to time. You're adapting and changed the evolving because I was expected. I thought I was going to defend Russ. I thought I was going to defend them. I thought you were coming with the heat today. But now I find myself, I got a pal on because the lack of you not doing so.

Yeah. I had the anvil in the car. I left it there. I just thought, I thought, you know, it's easy today. He was minus 27, Lillard's plus 27. I could have brought up the hand. Like, I won the argument. The old, does all the sake about the internet, they say Facebook won the internet.

Stop arguing. I won the argument. Russ is hard to play with. He's not built for the playoffs. But in the end, I've just seen this so many times. I saw it with Derek Rose a lot. I'm like, the game's moving away from Derek Rose's strength. It's Ezekiel Elliott, the game moved right into his wheelhouse.

He can cat, Leavion Bell. The game moved right into Lavian. And Lavian's not the fastest back. God, he's got great hands. And so all of a sudden, Labian Bell goes from, yeah, he's a good runner. He doesn't have breakaway speed to you.

Oh, my God, you get 85 catches, 200 carries. And let's move to this, though. If Oklahoma City loses the series, and I don't think Portland's ever lost a series when they lead 2-0. Okay. Billy Donovan gets run, right? And I'm saying this.

Okay, at some point, Sam Presti had Harden, chose Westbrook. Had Durant, didn't hug him. Victor Oladipo, let him go. At some point, Billy Donovan's taking the hits here. There's one shooter on this roster. That's not Billy Donovan's fault. Is he going to get whacked? Look, they gave him extension before this season. You know, I was surprised that they did that.

So was I. Because I'm like, what did he do? What is the team done to warrant that? But at the same time, when you're talking about the holes that's in this roster, shoot you need shooting in this game today if you don't have premium shooting then you don't have a chance because threes add up and when they keep adding up that that margin is a 10 point margin 15 point margin

20 point margin it happens faster faster than has ever happened in the game before Oklahoma City is not built to go in a 14-0-0 run Portland is yes you know Golden State is Boston can be Houston can be Utah's good but they're not the teams that don't shoot threes it's hard to go in a 4 run. That used to be seven possessions. And that's why getting to your point, I think you were alluding to it. That's a management.

That's not Billy Donovan's issue. That's not Billy Dobbin. That's the kind of the, the way they constructed their team is the similar route and the way the Lakers went about doing business. Tough guys, defensive guys, not enough shooters. Chris Haynes stay here, more stuff. Laker rumors out there. What are we going to make of a couple of the other series that are transpiring? That's next.

Chris Haynes, don't go anywhere live in L.A. It's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 The drafts, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast. Learn the hard way with me. your host and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

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

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

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way.

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

When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life throws hurdles big and small.

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

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

Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. All right, welcome back. The things we talk about off air. All right, Chris Haynes, Johnny.

Oh, by the way, listen, Hainesie, I got to tell you, give me 30 seconds on camera here. Tonight's one of the greatest nights in America. You're not going to understand this. You're going to think of a weirdo. Tonight, the NFL releases its schedule. Oh, so fun. glad my wife's under the weather. I don't have to entertain anybody. I can go home.

That's mean. No, I love her to death. Just get upstairs. I got to watch this. I got to see who the Jaguars play. Tonight is the best night for nerds in America. I'm going to be sitting there all night. Just taking no... You get to play win-loss. It's the best. The best night. All right, let's move to Chris Haynes. NBA guys are like, I don't get it. It's just a schedule.

You lost me there, Cole. Okay. I was told last night, From a source I really trust, Monty Williams' interview with the Lakers, he is their number one choice. That doesn't mean he'll get the job because Monty's probably going to get the Sixers gig if they lose to Brooklyn or the Raptors. So let me just start with this. That means I think Tailu is the Lakers second choice. I think Tailu is going to get it. I was told last night, Chris, the Lakers are concerned about the optics that it's now LeBron's team.

Have you heard stuff like that? I wrote that last week, actually, when Magic. Johnson relieved himself. But yeah, that was always concerned. And, you know, I was told, you know, and I wrote that for Yahoo, I was told that when Magic and Polinkin were compiling potential coaching candidates, obviously they brought up Ty Rod Liu and Mark Jackson. And I was told at one point, Ginny Bus said, you know, I'm concerned with the perception

of LeBron running things. This is a bus ran organization. We want to make sure that is clear. And so I understand all that. But at the same time, Colin, I think it's very important, especially where the Lakers are right now. It's very important to screw optics, screw perception, bring in the right candidate, bringing somebody who you think is going to be able to do this job at a high level and bring this franchise back to prominence. If optics and if perception is something that's concerning you and that's going to deter you from hiring the right guy, then I think that's, the Lakers franchise is going to continue to be in disarray.

I want to go to the Warriors for a second because I think Golden State's going to win that series. I think the Clippers, and I said this repeatedly through the season, they're really one of the best stories in the league this year. Milwaukee is a great story. The Clippers shouldn't be here. They traded their best player in the middle of the season. In the last several years, they've traded their four best players, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Tobias Harris, and DeAndre Jordan. They shouldn't be here. Lou Williams is their best player.

I love Lou. These are best player. You're probably not a playoff team. They are. Their bench is the best in the league. Doc Rivers has done a remarkable job. But I'm watching this Warriors Clippers series, and you know what I'm seeing, Chris? I'm thinking, Kauai Leonard's looking at that team saying, man, the only thing they're missing is me.

Could I make the argument that even losing this series by the Clippers, this has been an incredible advertisement as a free agent destination that we may have reached a tipping point with the lowly clippers. They are now seen as a viable place to go for stars. I mean, even before this series started, you know, we all picked. Golden State to advance. I actually pick Golden State to sweep them. I have some Clippers execs killing me about that prediction. But hey, I think right now the Clippers are putting themselves in great position, not just the lure of Kauai, but have some other free agents, you know, start looking

their way. Because there one, you know, you can look at them at them at one piece away from going to that next level. I don't know if Kauai puts it to that next level of championship contending team, but definitely if you get Kauai signature, you go to, you're going to to get other guys on board willing to come over for cheaper. And Clippers have cap space where they can get two max guys. So right now you look at it, great coaching.

They got a great culture. They got guys who play their roles and know how to stay within themselves. A tremendous giving culture. Nobody's seeking minutes and points. Nope. So you bring a couple stars on board. All of a sudden, the clippers are in a place where they've never been before. Yeah, I think we're there.

I want to talk about a team that is fast. for a lot of reasons, the Philadelphia 76ers. Now, they're not really a national story yet, but I find them to be absolutely fascinating. I think outside of the Warriors, they have the best talent in the league, slightly over Boston and Houston. You have the Monty Williams situation, Brett Brown.

When I watch the Sixers play, I don't know what I'm getting night tonight. I don't know what I'm getting night tonight with Simmons. Jimmy Butler doesn't get along with people. If I said to you one year from today, what are the Sixers? First of all, do you think they beat Brooklyn? I do. I think their size is too much.

I think they do. I think they've got a chance against Toronto. But a year from now, who is in Philly and who is not in Philly? Because this team's got four legitimate high-end players. That's a good question. obviously they gave up a lot to acquire Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler. No question. So it's hard to believe that they will let even one of those guys walk away in free agency this summer.

With that being said, I think they bring back one of those guys. And if I had the pick, probably they bring back Tobias. So this time next year, I think Jimmy Butler is probably somewhere else. That's just my thoughts. I'm going to throw something at you. You trade Simmons. Now it sounds crazy. I'll have my big and I have two pretty good shooters on the wing.

You can get a ton for Ben Simmons. Ben Simmons does not, I've been told, get along great with teammates. He didn't make the Australian national team. Now, I'm not saying this because I don't like Ben Simmons. But if you look at Ben Simmons game, I don't think it fits MBE.B. And Jimmy Butler doesn't fit anybody. I'm just throwing this out there. If you at Embed, your center anchor is there.

You have two athletes, Butler and Tobias on the wing. You need more shooters. J.J. Reddick's aging. Is it impossible to think they'd make that move? I don't think Simmons fits their team. I don't see them making that move within a year's time. Because I think you've got to let Ben, let the maturation process evolve. Look, this is the thing.

Ben wants to be a point guard and he can't handle that position he thrives in that position but in that position nowadays you need spacing at that position he's somebody who's reluctant to shoot and so I think it's going to get to a point that if

Ben Simmons if they don't trade Ben Simmons if he's a mainstay there he has to obviously develop some range but also he has to be open to move into the small four spot so So then you can have a shooter at the point guard spot and shooting guard spot. You know, so because they really, you know, Jimmy Butler and Tobias, they're decent, but they're not, you need premium shooters. Yeah, this, Philadelphia is a really fascinating team.

I don't think these pieces work and I love, three of the pieces I love. And Bede Simmons and Butler are unbelievable talents. Chris Haynes, FS1, great to have you. Our two, we're loaded next. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHard radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

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

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

realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid?

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

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

Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going from the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Laila Edwards.

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

that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Ah, this is The Heard. Hour 2. We're live in L.A., wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, yes, I made the biggest bet of my life. I bragged about it yesterday that all that money in that wallet,

I was going to bet on the OKC Thunder. Not much money left. It was a humbling experience for me last night. Joy Taylor is joining me. I mean, you do know that the Blazers are the three seed. Not that, like, you know, it didn't move around there pretty closely at the end of the season, but... But the OKC has two all-stars,

and generally in the NBA, if you have two all-stars, you don't fall down to love in a series. I think maybe it's just because it's Portland, like, out of sight, out of mind thing. But Dame's got to start getting some real respects. Yeah, he's always been good. It's not like Portland, Siberia. No, but I mean, well, you know, you don't want to acknowledge Toronto. Well, Toronto is at least out of the country.

We talk about them all the time. But I mean, Portland's like, you know, it's just up there. It's a two-hour flight from where I'm sitting right now. No, it's not far. I'm just saying that in general as the national media goes, I don't think Portland gets the attention that they deserve for how good they are. Well, they got swept last year. And so I think a lot of us, myself included,

they're like, okay, Nurkich got hurt. They got swept last year. West is really good. But, you know, this is the NBA is one of those leagues where a lot of stuff changes in a year. And I want to shift to that to start our show the second hour. What makes a great basketball player? I think I disagree.

What I think makes a great basketball player is what I think a lot of executives think makes a great basketball player. What I think is what I think is a lot of executives think makes a great basketball player. What I think is. a lot of fans think is a great basketball player is different. Fans are into stats. The media, I think, I see it differently than the media. The media gave Russell Westbrook an MVP because of a triple double. Well, he had a triple double last year and didn't get many votes. And this year he averaged the triple double. He didn't get any votes. If the triple

doubles that big, why is he not getting at least a vote? The triple doubles is a stat. I do not think it makes you anything other than statistically, statistically captivating and interesting. But I'll give you an example. Was Scotty Pippin a great player? Scottie Pippin's career averages 16 points. He was not a great passer. Six rebounds. But to me, what makes a great player, are you great at something? Scotty Pippin was a great defender. He had great length. He was a great number two. He was a great finisher. He was incredible. incredibly, greatly versatile. Scotty Pippin was not a stat monster.

Scotty Pippin was a great player in the NBA. His stats offensively will never be close to Westbrook. He is a much better player than Russell Westbrook. Does stats make the player? I don't think they do. I'll give you another guy. Manu Genoblee is a Hall of Famer. His stats are average.

He came off the bench. He won in Argentina. He won in San Antonio. Manu Genoobli is a great. player. Scotty Pippin and Manu Ginoble were not great statistically. By the way, you know who was great statistically? Dominique Wilkins. I take Scottie Pippen over Dominique Wilkins. Dominic Wilkins average 25 a game. Great dunker. Didn't pass. I mean, you think Kauai Leonard doesn't pass? Doesn't elevate others. Didn't play defense. Didn't have a lot of shooting range. He could dunk and he

could score. I think Pippin's better than Kniek. And they're both all-timers. I mean, they're both great players. But what makes a great player? I don't buy into the triple double. It's a fascinating offensive statistic. But I think it can be manipulated. You can goose your stats. And I don't give a rip if my point guard rebounds. I don't care. In fact, I don't want him rebounding. I don't want him around the bigs. I don't want them around the basket. I want a big to rebound. Get it out to my point guard who's 18 feet up the floor and let's get moving on the break. I don't want my rebounding point guard. I don't want that. So what makes last year, I did a top 10 players in the NBA. And I did not include Westbrook. He was like 13th. And I got a ton of pushback.

And so I thought, okay, this year, I'll go top 12 players in the NBA. And Westbrook still doesn't make it. And yet he's Mr. Triple Double. I think Kevin Durant's the best player. LeBron will rebound next year and be the second best player. Janus third, Steph Curry Harden, Kauai Anthony Davis, Paul, George, Kyrie, Damia Lillard, and Clay Thompson. By the way, Russell didn't make the 10. He didn't make the 12. And I also don't include

Jimmy Butler because he can't get along with anybody. I'm sorry, it matters. Scotty Pippin and Manu Janobli were willing to take roles. Scotty was willing. He could have been the number one guy in 25 teams. Scottie was like, I'll be the number two. That makes you a great player. Coachability.

fit. Manu could have started for every team, including San Antonio. And he came off the bench. So, I ask you, what makes a great player? My stamp is never into the triple double. It can be manipulated. Certain stats, it's almost like when I hear quarterbacks. Oh, Cam Newton leads the NFL and rushing for quarterbacks. Great. I'd rather he actually throws strikes from the pocket. there are certain stats I don't want to have. I don't love that Russell Wilson, last several years has often been the Seahawks leading rusher.

But in his defense, they've had no running game. He's had to run for his life. Russell Wilson, when Marshawn Lynch was there, was handing the ball to Marshawn Lynch. Marchon left, the offensive line deteriorated. Russell was trapped. He was running for his life. Cam's had decent old lines.

Cam's had running backs. I don't care if your quarterback leads blank in rushing. We never talk about that with Russell Wilson. I talk about his mobility. I don't talk about his rushing yards. I don't want Cam leading the NFL in rushing. I don't want my guard getting 11 rebounds a game because he's juicing his numbers. I want him up the floor, letting Stephen Adams grab it.

Wes Unseld it down the floor. And we got ourselves a two-second fast break, not a five-second fast break. And by the way, Russell Westbrook's not a great shooter. So I would love for him to be up the floor, allowing him more advantages, more number advantages. big rebound up. Instead, Russell gets the rebound and has to go 94 feet and everybody can catch up, forcing Russell to shoot perimeter shots. I'd rather Russell get the ball at half court, boom, fly up the court and have number advantages and get more layups and dunks. That's his strength. So, you know, my 12 players in the NBA, it's not a shot at Westbrook. It's just I didn't have them in the 10,

but I don't have them in the 12. And yes, I have eliminated Ben Simmons from my top 10 and 12. All right, I want to, I want to, the NFL schedule is coming out. It's coming out, tonight, a bunch of it's leaking. I'm just going to give you, here's some of the things that are currently leaking on the NFL schedule. The Packers at the Bears, that's a rough spot for Green Bay to open the season with a new coach. That is the opening Thursday night game, Packers at the Bears. That's confirmed.

This is also confirmed. Steelers at the Patriots, Sunday night football week one. Those are good TV games. New England always gets those big games in the regular season at home. Doesn't it feel like that? This also confirmed Giants against the Cowboys week one. Sam Darnold and the Jets take on Baker, Mayfield, and the Browns, Monday night football week two, and Chiefs Chargers, Week 11 in Mexico City.

That would be fun. Those are good teams. So we got some games lined up. I'll say this. The NFL, the schedule comes out tonight. I don't know how many of you know this. One of the reasons the NFL's the number one sport in this country, and it's not really that close, right? Like, it's not close.

is we gamble on it a lot. Okay? And it's also perfect for our TV. But the one thing the NFL does so brilliantly well is their schedule. So I have a little insight on this because I know our president here at the company and I knew the other president at the other company. And one of the things they talked about was the NFL is manic about their schedule. They completely lined it up.

Do you know baseball's schedule until two? years ago. Was done on cards. They didn't use a computer. I'm not joking. Baseball didn't know how to do a base. Sophisticated baseball. They're so smart.

They were doing it on cards. Two guys at a Cape Cod. I'm not joking. They weren't using computers. So you'd have like Cubs Cardinals Tuesday. What? Finally, executives, some at this company, went to baseball and said, you know, we work with the NFL.

Like they spend nine months on their schedule. They take it really seriously. You guys ever thought about taking your schedule a little more seriously, baseballs this year's kind of finally figured it out where they're putting these big series always on the weekend. Yankees Red So the schedule tonight, when it comes out, the NFL, more than any league is totally into their schedule. They've got you in mind.

They want rivalries on TV games. They manipulate the one o'clock window, the late window. And I think it's a big deal. A lot of people say the NFL schedule. doesn't matter. John, you've been working with me long enough. My theory on the schedule is this. If you don't have what I would call a top 10 quarterback and you face seven or more Pro Bowl quarterbacks, you're not a playoff team. What I look like, what I look at the schedule tonight is how many Pro Bowl level quarterbacks you will face as a team. If you go look at New England

over the last decade, the biggest advantage New England has had is quarterbacks. Disfunction in Buffalo, New York, and Miami. There have been good coaches and good players. New England's had, they've had a quarterback advantage six times a year in their own division. That's very difficult to lose. So tonight, that's what I look at. If you have Patrick Mahomes and you only face four to five Pro Bowl quarterbacks, you're a playoff team.

I've been pretty good through the years picking playoff teams. If you have Russell Wilson, now Russell Wilson, and we know, hey, he's going to face golf twice, and he's going to face Garoppolo twice, and those guys both have great offensive coaches. He's not going four in those games. So I'm looking at quarterbacks and coordinators tonight. How many Pro Bowl quarterbacks do you face?

And that tells you generally how things are going to end up. By the way, I can tell you right now, Philadelphia. So Washington doesn't have a Pro Bowl quarterback, Dallas didn't have a Pro Bowl quarterback, and the New York Giants don't have a Pro Bowl quarterback. So I can tell you right now, Philadelphia gets a break. In division, they don't face a Pro Bowl quarterback.

That's a huge break. By the way, New England in division doesn't face a Pro Bowl quarterback. Huge break. So I'll tell you right now, New England, Philadelphia are winning their divisions because they both have elite quarterbacks and they don't face any in their division. Meanwhile, it'll be interesting with Patrick Mahomes. He's got to face Derek Carr twice. He's got to face Philip Rivers twice. So that division is tougher to call.

You know, by the way, I would take Andrew Luck to win his division for the next 15 years, but Deshawn Watson, if he's healthy, can play at a pro bowl level. But the big advantage Peyton Manning had and Andrew Luck have had, you know, you got this elevated player and you don't face an equal at the quarterback position. So that's coming up. Also coming up, Charles Barkley said something last night, and it is a really fascinating point. That is coming up next.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 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. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Welcome to my new podcast. learn the hard way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

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

wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect.

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

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

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

and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile that means the world to me and that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything.

I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abbey. on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Saturday, it's an MLB doubleheader on FS1. Coverage begins at 3 Eastern as the Pirates host the Giants.

Then Cody Bellinger and the Dodgers take on Kristen Yellich and the Brewers. Catch it all on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. Christian Yelich is the best athlete in America, best player in American sports that really has no brand yet. He's an unbelievable player. Like he is just Brewers in first place, by the way. Yellow, he needs about two, three more years of postseason. Then you'll know who he is. He's an incredible player, both those teams in first place.

By the way, here's a number interesting, Joy. Russell Westbrook's 13 playoff games since Kevin Durant left him. Russell Westbrook's the star. The 13 playoff game since Katie left. Three in 10, 38% shooting, 28% three-point field goal. Yikes. That is rough. And Damian Lillard is really exposing him because the NBA is now built for Damien, shoot threes.

And Lillard and Steph Curry appear to have no limitations on range. I mean, you have to pick up Damian Lillard the second he crosses half court. It's just absurd. So good for him. Blazers went up 2-0. And by the way, we know Oklahoma City couldn't shoot during the regular season. They were 22nd. Of all the playoff teams, they're the worst three-point shooting team.

This is an issue. It's going to get Billy Donovan probably four. fired this year or next, and it's probably why I think Oklahoma City will lose the series. I do think they'll win some games. I don't think they're going to win the series now down to the Blazers. But Charles Barkley asked a very legitimate question last night about OKC and how they play. They are five for 33 and then five for 28. And they're not good shooters. So why the hell they're shooting them? Paul George is a three-point shooter. There's not one other player on that team that you would say, hey, I want you to shoot threes. Why would you shoot 63s if you're not a good

three-point shooting team? Other than Paul George, there's not a great three-point shooter. Wait, let me refer to it. That's not a good three-point shooter on their team. It's fascinating. In every other sport, it's really understood that you play to your strengths. You would never ask Tom Brady to do his own read. Okay, you ask Cam to do it or Russell Wilson. You would not ask. ask, obviously, a young quarterback like Blake Bortles to throw it 50 times, right? You build an offense that plays to Blake Bortle's strengths. The NBA is different. You're asking basically lousy three-point shooters, apparently to shoot threes.

And what's remarkable about this is, does everybody realize the Warriors, Rockets, Pacers, all their best players used to be on the Thunder? the Warriors Rockets, Pacer's best player, all were on the thunder, and Sam Presti chose Westbrook over Harden, Kevin Durant and Victor Oladipo. They really don't get enough credit for that. It's incredible.

Three playoff teams. By the way, Oladipo popped when he left. I never thought he would average in the 20s. I didn't think he was that offensively gifted. So it's like Sam Presti's making, reportedly he's like the highest pay GM in the league. You know, north of $8 million a year, that's a lot of lettuce. And he doesn't get any hits for this.

He also chose, by the way, Stephen Adams over Janus and Rudy Gobert. Gobert, I don't blame him. I mean, both those were developing players. Gobert is better than people thought. Janus is way better than people thought. Stephen Adams is, you know, probably also better than people thought. But, you know, we can blame a lot of people here. I said, I got a little bit of sympathy for Westbrook.

The games moved away from him, not into him. And Donovan, the head coach, what does he got to work with? They got no shooters here. And it's really, really interesting. Basketball is becoming increasingly analytical. One of the things I like about football is that they've got analytics, but you still kind of, you play to your core strengths. You can't be silly with the numbers.

In the NBA, there are teams that are just silly with the numbers. They're just hoisting up threes. O'KC can't shoot. I mean, make an adjustment, though. Isn't there some analytic that tells you if you shoot 47% on your twos, it's better than 18% on your threes? Play better defense. I don't get it.

Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Now, look at those baby dinosaurs. What about the, you know what? I saw a little of them last night. Kauai was great.

Oh, Kauai Leonard's still good at basketball. Who'd they beat? Who knew? Okay. But everyone was flipping out about game one. So let's not act like it's not a big deal that they, you know, turned it around. Anyway, it was the appearance we expected. They stomped the magic into oblivion, all-time performance by Kauai, 37 points on 22 shots.

Four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Their defense was also great. They forced 17 turnovers, deflected 16 passes, recovered nine loose balls, and drew two charges. Kyle Lowry had 22 points, seven assists, four. rebounds and two steals and see Ackham at 19 points to 10 boards. Orlando doesn't really, I mean, I'm not taking a shot at Orlando. I think Orlando's got a really good coach. I don't have a lot of players.

Well, no, I mean, this isn't, this is the performance that we expected from Toronto, at least that I expected from Toronto. But it's just a reminder, I shouldn't freak out game to game. Like, it's a very, there's series. There's, they're going to be ups and downs. And going into the postseason when you are a great regular season team, maybe you sleep through your first game. But you do lose home court advantage.

That's not great. No, no, every game counts. I'm not saying it's not impactful. I'm just saying that the Raptors are still going to win the series and everyone needs to call out. Yeah, I think they are too, yes. All right. So Lonzo Ball recently sat down with House of Highlights.

He revealed wanting to be in LeBron's upcoming Space Jam 2. He wants to be? He would like a role. Okay. And he also gave us the glimpse of LeBron's first practice as a Laker. He came in, like, yeah, like this, I'm in Brown, I'm here. We played five on five. I remember he had his team.

I had my team. And I swear we lost 21 to 7. and he had 21. Oh my God. So I was like, because I don't remember him ever hitting threes like that. Yeah. He had seven threes and was doubt. Like, I was like, that was a shock to me.

Yeah. And he was one million and a half court. I'm like, all right, right. He's on the team now. All right, cool. Yeah, LeBron did not come into this sport as a good three-point shooter. He developed that. LeBron worked.

LeBron, to his credit, was very smart on this. He started doing it in Miami. His last year in Cleveland, he started shifting to threes. And then he went into Miami. He went all in on. threes. And LeBron, he's a streak shooter, but when LeBron's hot, I always feel when he lets go of a three

ball, I always feel pretty good with LeBron. Yeah. And I mean, LeBron, for being as athletic and powerful of a player as he is, it's kind of what we were talking about with Zion last hour. He has the ability and has made it a priority to develop skill

and evolve while also being an athletic player. Now, they're starting to show a little more concern now because he's had his first injury. So the athletic is going to continue to deteriorate, as it does with all athletic players and the league is more skill now. But the bigger takeaway from this situation with Lonzo and him is that, man, they're really good together. Oh, the data shows you that when LeBron and Lonzo play... They were at a plus 3.1 net rating. It's a second best on team among highly used tandums.

Yes. So no question. And what's funny is, I didn't know if they were built for each other, but they actually, they kind of work. Yes, and Lonzo was crucial defensively, so him being out had a big effect on that. Finally, Russell Wilson had 140 million reasons to celebrate his new contract that made him the highest paid player in the NFL. So he announced in the middle of the night, the video from his bed that also starred his wife, Sierra. Beautiful. And the Seahawks teammates had a little fun with a reenactment of their video. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Hey, Seattle.

We got a deal. Go Hawks Hey Seattle We got a deal Go Hawks Sierra actually talked about the video She said that they were

They went to sleep right afterwards And she talked about it on the Andy Cohen show So it was in the middle of the night That they decided to do that video Apparently Russell Wilson sleeps with his chains on Which is an interesting development What's that? What's that?

he has chains on. Look, I'm all for a very, you know, interesting announcement. I feel, I wish I hadn't had to watch that video as many times as I have. But it is a funny, it is a funny reenactment by his teammates. And like I said yesterday, he deserved every dollar of it. Yeah, you get, anytime we play it. She doesn't even look at. Sierra and Russell Wilson, you stop listening to me and just watch the video.

Does that picture of her in the White House? No, not this. I mean, she's stunning there. they're celebrities. They go celebrity places together while looking like celebrities. This is, she's stunning. Okay, but let's go to the one that doesn't even look. All right, hold on. Okay, that doesn't even look real. Okay, let's go

to the next one though. Yes, Sierra is beautiful. I mean, come on. Singer, dancer. That is not a real person. Yes, she is. Some, I mean, she's in a different class of human, you know, God took a little extra time. But yeah. God, he really passed over me. Hey, dude. You-hoo.

Come back. I mean, she looked more like Sierra. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. Super Bowl champ with the New York Giants over the New England Patriots seven years ago, drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, wearing the orange tie to celebrate his Virginia Cavaliers.

I acknowledge that, Chris Canty. How are you, Chris Canty? How are you doing? Good to you again. All right. to see you have been a couple of years. It's been a while. We got a couple of things in here.

Russell Wilson's contract, to me, makes me think of Dak, Prescott, and the Cowboys, because this happens a lot in our business and every business. There are kind of market setters. So the market's been set $33 million for a Russell Wilson or an Aaron Rogers. That, I would think, pulls DAC into the $26 million a year range, and that's a lot of money for DAC, right?

That's a whole lot of money for Dak Prescott. Okay, I don't think he's that far removed as a quarterback from Kirk Cousins, and 28 for Kirk feels heavy now. Dallas, did the Russell Wilson deal make life uncomfortable for the Cowboys? Well, I don't think it made it uncomfortable. I think this creates some more gymnastics in terms of being able to work out a long-term deal with Dak Prescott, because Dak is looking at it in his first three years as the starting quarterback. They've won the division twice, and he's at an opportunity to win a playoff game.

So we've seen that. And looking at what he's been able to do, I think Dak Prescott is one of those quarterbacks that can utilize the talent that's around him, but he's not a quarterback that can elevate the play of everybody around him. That's why Jerry Jones had to make the decision to trade a first-round draft pick to bring in Amari Cooper, somebody else that could help Dak Prescott along,

help that offense. I think we've seen what Dak Prescott is without different smakers on the offensive side of the ball. Six-game suspension for Ezekiel Elliott back in 2017, how the Dallas Cowboys look. They were a three-and-three ball club, and it was a situation where Dak Prescott. Scott had seven total touchdowns to 10 total turnovers.

To me, that's an average quarterback. So I look at Dak Prescott and I say, this is a quarterback that the Dallas Cowboys need because they're in win now mode, but I don't think it's a quarterback that the Dallas Cowboys can justify paying north of $30 million a year. I don't think that Jack Prescott can take up 15% of your salary cap or more. I think he has to fit in that 10 to 15% range for Jerry Jones to make sure that he can work out some of those other contracts that he has to get on the hook for. You know, Chris, nobody's brought this up.

Dallas has six draft picks. I actually think Jerry needs leverage and doesn't have a ton now because DAC has won the division twice. I think Jerry drafts a quarterback. First of all, I think they need a legit backup. Secondly, I think it gives you a little leverage. Dallas has an elite number one receiver, an elite back, a top five offensive line, excellent defensive personnel, a number one corner, and the best linebacking duo in the

sport. I would not be shocked in the draft. A, they need it, and B, it's a little leverage. their second or third pick, they go pick a quarterback. Just to let, hey, Dak, you're a fourth rounder, because I think Dallas right now in this negotiation, they don't have a ton of leverage. This is not a good quarterback year.

No, they don't have a ton of leverage, Colin. You're absolutely right with that, but I think that the Dallas Cowboys can't afford to deal with a quarterback that's getting on-the-job training. They're trying to win a championship now. That's what Jerry Jones said at the scouting combine. I don't think they have enough time to be able to break another young quarterback in.

I think they've got to ride with Dak Prescott. They've got to dance with the girl that's brought them to this point if they plan on competing for a championship. If they're going to take that next step, the only problem is with the going rate for the quarterback market, Dak Prescott is looking at it and saying, you know what? I have maximum leverage in this situation just based on the composition of the roster. Because you mentioned it. You got a top five offensive line, not only in performance, but in pay scale. Defensive line, same thing.

You're going to have to pay Marry Cooper his money. You traded a first round drafting for him. So you know that extension is coming. The bill is going to be due on Jalen Smith and Ezekiel Elliott. At some point, you got to pay those guys. Byron Jones is another guy you got to pay. So there are a lot of core guys, key contributors that you've got to take care of, but none of them are going to impact winning to the level that Dak Prescott can

just because of the nature of the position. Let's go to the Giants, a team you played for and won a Super Bowl with. I thought they should have taken Darnold last year, didn't. So that story moves on. They need a quarterback. I think they'll take one. I don't know if they love Dwayne Haskins. What is your gut feeling on what they do with their two first round picks?

I think they have the six and the 17th. Six and the 17th. What do you think the Giants do? Well, I think they should take Dwayne Haskins, but I actually talk to somebody in the organization and currently the Giants are leaning on taking a position player at six and then coming back and getting the quarterback with the latter of the two first round draft picks. To me, the quarterback,

position is not one of those positions where I want to settle for second best. And clearly, if you wait until 17, you're getting what's left over. There are going to be teams that are trying to position themselves to get to the top of this draft to be able to take one of those quarterbacks in the top 10. And that's typically where we see franchise quarterbacks drafted, right, Colin? You're talking about first round draft picks at the quarterback position. There are 21 of them. 21 starters out of the 32 starting quarterbacks are first round draft picks, and the majority of those quarterbacks are in the top 10. That's where you see franchise quarterback's drafted. So to me, it makes sense if you have that type of draft capital

to go ahead and make the move to get the very best quarterback prospect available. Yeah, I like Haskins too, although I don't think he's much of an athlete. I don't like it when he moves. I think he needs a clean pocket. And I think with the offensive line play deteriorating over the last five years with a new CBA, I don't think you get clean pockets. And that's what worries me. I think Dwayne Haskins was built for about 15 years ago when you got longer practice, better offensive lines. so many battle lines in this league now, Chris. I worry about Haskins being forced to move. I was talking about this, how Russell Westbrook, the games moved away from him.

Now, shoot three, shoot threes. It's great for Karee. It's great for Damian Lillard. The NFL now is can you move as a quarterback? Can you reset? There's no good old lines. There's like four in the league. And I think Haskins is a guy that if you ask him to reset, move around, and throw, I think

he's a limited guy. Well, here's the thing. I don't necessarily need Kyler Murray to be my quarterback. what I'm looking for is functional mobility, the ability to manipulate the pocket and buy that extra second of time so your receiver can uncover downfield. From what I've seen in Duane Haskins,

granted a small sample size, he's capable of being able to do those things and he can make off-platform throws. He doesn't have to necessarily have the clean pocket in order to deliver the football down the field with accuracy. That's one of the things that I saw as the season progresses. He got better at doing. And then, of course, him in the pre-draft process,

some of the things that we've seen throwing to other NFL caliber receivers. But yeah, if I'm the New York Giants, I want to give myself the very best chance to be able to hit on the potential successor for Eli Manning. And to me, that doesn't mean waiting until the 17th overall pick.

Chris Canty, former New York Giants, Super Bowl seven years ago against New England, drafted by the Cowboys and a Virginia Cavalier wearing the orange, the pride of the calves. Tony Bennett won the national championship. Aaron Rogers is very important. interesting. I actually think he'll rebound. I think the Packers have done a really smart job. About two years ago, they realized they were going to have to pay Aaron a lot of money,

and they got ahead of it. And they went heavy drafting corners. This year, they went mid-level free agents. I think they have two first-rounders this year. I think they may go defense with both, allowing cheap labor on the defensive side as we're paying Aaron a ton. I think Green Bay got ahead of this. Not sure Seattle did with Russell Wilson. He kind of put a deadline on him. the question becomes Aaron's a very strong personality how does 35-year-old never been a head coach, been a coordinator

Matt Lafleur, work with maybe the strongest personality at quarterback in this league? Well, I think you might have to look at it the other way around. I think there's a lot of pressure on Aaron Rogers to make this work because the organization has gotten rid of all the excuses as to why Aaron Rogers can't have success at the highest level. I think it comes down to, okay, you had friction with

your head coach Mike McCarthy, we've moved on from him. Okay, you didn't like that the organization, Ted Thompson, their general manager, what an aggressive in pro-free agency, moved on from him. Brian Gutakunz, what did we see from him? He was aggressive and going out and getting Zadaria Smith and Preston Smith to add to that defense.

And you mentioned the trend and what they're doing draft-wise the last several years. They've been investing on that side of the ball. The knock on the Green Bay Packers was they're asking Aaron Rogers to do too much. Now they're trying to fortify that defense. They're trying to improve that side of the ball so Aaron Rogers doesn't have to win

a 35-31 shootout every single week. And so for me, I look at this and say the pressure has to be shifted to Aaron Rogers in order to deliver because they've made the decision to side with him and invest in everything around him so he can have success. And oh, by the way, we gave you a contract extension paying your $34 million a year last summer. So now you have to produce. Finally, Arizona. I said earlier today, I'd stick with Rosen. I think Kingsbury works with any quarterback. I don't think he just works with a runaround guys. I think he's a really, I think he's McVeigh. I think he's Shanahan. I think there's certain offensive guys.

They just elevate the position. They just make – Shanahan worked with Matt Shob, Matt Ryan, Garoppolo moves a little. What would you do if you're Arizona? Well, I think you'd do everything to empower your new head coach. Steve Kimes swung and miss on Steve Wilkes last year. I think it wasn't a fair shake for Steve Wilkes, but you made the decision to move on. You wanted to get a young offensive mind in there to work with what we thought was your young franchise quarterback in Josh Rosen. But now that Cliff Kingsbury is in there, you have to talk to him and give him the autonomy.

me to make this type of evaluation and ultimately the decision on who the quarterback for his system is going to be. Now, on the surface, it feels like Kyler Murray is a better fit for Cliffs Kingsbury offense than Josh Rosen. But ultimately, you have to do what your head coach wants to do if you're Steve Kime, because you've made some mistakes in terms of constructing this organization and this roster. It's probably the least talented roster in the NFC West, and it's been that way for several years now. So if you're Steve Kime, you've got to do everything that you can to get your head coaching a position we could have as much success as possible. Great seeing you again.

Chris Canty, Giant Cowboy, Raven, and Virginia Cavalier. Hope we see more of you, man. I appreciate you having me on. I've been seeing you on first things first. Great guys. Chris, Nick, Jenna, those guys are great. Warmer weather is finally here. Coming up next, by the way, Patriots made an interesting move,

and we'll talk about that plus by Seller Holt. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your Facebook. favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month,

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

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

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect.

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

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

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

The ability to show gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Calgary Flames take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight.

Discover Card Key Matchup alerts you if they find your social security number on any one of the thousand risky websites, free for card members. Sign up. Discover.com slash free alerts. Limitations apply. NFL draft. One week from today, the NFL draft, we're on the eve of it. So the NFL schedules are also coming out tonight. Some are leaking out some games. I'm not going to guess on games. There's a couple that have been confirmed. We told you Patriots will host the Steelers on the first Sunday night football game.

That's Super Bowl champs. That's the way it works. We also know it's been confirmed. The Packers are at the Bears, the first game of the season. This year it's on a Thursday. It's usually on a Sunday. So those two have been confirmed. Chargers Chiefs, Mexico, City playing.

That's been confirmed. Everything else is guessing. and I'm not going to make stuff up. We'll talk about that extensively. I will tell you the draft, the team that's fascinating, and I'm not just saying this because it's the Patriots, New England's draft is fascinating. They have 12 picks.

They have a ton of draft capital. I'm told from a source I trust. New England does not move up in the draft generally. They're willing to move up this year. They believe, and I've been told, most teams believe there's about 18 really special players in this draft, and New England has 12 draft picks, and they don't have 12 guys that can make their roster.

They also have three very good players. they drafted last year who were all scheduled to start this year. The Patriots drafted three players last year, and it just so happens, three of them got hurt. Joanne Bentley was a linebacker. He was going to start. He got hurt. He'll start this year. Isaiah Wynn was an offensive lineman.

He was scheduled to start last year, got hurt. They went and got Trent Brown, who they let go to the Raiders. He's going to start. And Duke Dawson is a corner that's good enough to start. Not sure he will, but he has a chance to start this year. So if you look at what New England added last year in the draft, they've already got three young starters. They're not going to add seven new young starters. Belichick doesn't like teams that young.

So this is a year where they're willing to move up, I'm told. They like two or three players a lot, I'm told, in the first 18. And they need two or three players. They need an edge rusher. They need a wide receiver, which they generally don't draft, but they need one. They really need a tight end. So it's going to be very interesting. They have a ton of draft capital.

And there's also, this is an interesting year, you get a lot of duplication in this draft. It's a very good defensive line draft, a good edge rusher draft, a good tight end draft, good wide receiver draft. And there's duplication of it. There's a handful of great players. Then there's a lot of guys that are kind of equal, second, third, fourth. And so a lot of teams in this draft, almost every team in this draft is looking to trade down. Because nobody really, really, Arizona. would trade out of the number one pick if you could give them three picks.

They would. I mean, they would have made the move already. So this draft, a bunch of people want to draft trade down, New England, as usual, contrary into the rest of the league, would actually, with their draft capital, I'm told, they would be willing to move up this year. They love one of the Iowa tight ends. They love one of the interior linemen, Quinn and Williams.

They could use one. so it's a very, very interesting draft. New England is always seeking value. You know that and I know that. So they don't want to move to the number one spot. That's not what New England would do. They don't want Arizona's pick because they don't want to pay that much money. Detroit's got the eight pick.

I think New England would trade two picks to get to eight and get the edge rusher that'll probably be gone by the end of the first round that they want. So very interesting team. You know, the other thing I was thinking about this, about if you look at Russell Wilson's contract, actually, it's going to make it tough. Seattle's not going to be as flexible and nimble going forward. We know that. Dallas Cowboys are in an interesting situation. I think it moved up Dak Prescott from $24 million a year to probably $27 to $28, and that's not where you want to be.

I'm a big believer that I pay my quarterback based on three things. talent, your value, and replaceability. I think the three quarterbacks in the NFL that should be the three highest paid. Aaron Rogers is talented. We've seen Green Bay without him. His values huge and replaceability. I mean, he's worth eight wins. So I think Aaron should be the highest paid guy in the league.

I think Andrew Luck should be second. Russell Wilson should be third. Now, what about Drew Brees? Sean Peyton takes away some of the value of Drew Brees because Peyton's a brilliant offensive guy. Same with McVan Gough. Same with Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes. Andy Reid made the playoffs four to five years

before Patrick Mahomes was there. Andy Reid can get you to the playoffs with a bunch of different quarterbacks. There's no proof that Pete Carroll can win his division without Russell Wilson in his NFL career. There's no proof Frank Wright. can do that. And we know what Green Bay was without Aaron Rogers. So to me, Aaron Rogers, Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson should be they're the most valuable. They have talent. They have value. And the replaceability is through the roof. They're impossible

to replace. I think Dak Prescott is as a talent, C plus to B minus value. He's got some. But let's be honest, replaceability. He's probably the 17th best quarterback in the Some would say 14th, I'd say 17th, some say lower. It's not that I don't like deck. I do think he adds value. I think he's level-headed. I think he's a leader. I think he's a rock-solid kid.

He's got value. Talent and replaceability, you can replace him. He's going to stay there. Jerry likes him. I do think the Cowboys should draft a quarterback as just a little leverage in camp. Reminder, Dak, you're a fourth-round pick. And most of the quarterbacks this draft, frankly, our second, third, and fourth round talents. The kid at Duke's a second round talent.

Didn't have a big enough arm. Kyler Murray's size probably should be a late first second round talent. So there you go. Schedule's come out tonight. I got to tell you, my wife's been, you know, a little under the weather. That's terrible, right? But she picked the right week to be, you know, not at full strength. Because I got NBA playoffs.

I got Tiger Woods. I was allowed to watch golf all weekend. I watch NBA playoffs all weekend. And tonight, I'm going to nerd out and watch the NFL schedule release. And I'm going to have the greatest time in my life. Win loss. I'm going to go home. Best game.

That's all I'm going to do. I'm going to be a gigantic national football league nerd all night. I'll probably be on Twitter. Talking about the Jags Week 7 opponent. Hour 3 in L.A. Next. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week,

within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Ah, this is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live in Los Angeles. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. By the way, a handful of schedules leaking out. I'm not going to go with them until tomorrow,

and it doesn't serve me well to do it for a variety of reasons. yet. I will say this. Whoever made the NFL schedule does not like the Oakland Raiders. Or John Gruden. That is rough. That is a rough schedule for the Raiders. It looks like the Raiders will be rebuilding. That is not a good schedule. And some teams got, I will say this, the New York Jets schedule is good. You might as well, you know what? Are Jets playoff tickets? available yet? Am I getting a little ahead of myself? Yes. Okay. Fifteen minutes,

the latest on the Laker search for a coach and a president. Coming up in Best for Last, the Chargers unveiled some new uniforms. They're going with a powder blues now. That's their primary. So we'll have some fun at the end of the show. My five favorite sports uniforms, all sports of all time, and my five least favorite sports uniforms of all time. And there are some hideous decisions through the years made on uniforms. But first, lost a lot of money last night.

I got to start with the Oklahoma City Thunder, letting me down against the Blazers. I could crush Westbrook all day today. He's been awful in the series. Damien Lillard is significantly better than him now as a basketball player. He is. I'm sorry about the triple doubles he is. But I have a little sympathy for Westbrook because I've seen this happen my entire life in sports and out of sports.

The current basketball culture has moved away from Russell Westbrook. I mean, last night, Lillard was plus 27. Westbrook was minus 27. Lillard is unstoppable. Westbrook is awful again in the playoffs. I could bring out the hammer all day. But this is what happens in a lot of businesses. Russell Westbrook now starting to remind me of Derek Rose and a much better John Wall.

The game he practice as a kid, high school, AAU, college, early NBA. It no longer exists. Nobody wants a slasher, a guy that drives to the basket, a guy that shoots mid-range jumpers. John Wall, Derek Rose, and Westbrook are not three-point shooters. They did not build their games to be that. They're mid-range guys. They're beat you off the dribble guys. They're relentlessly athletic guys.

They're energy slash juice guys. They're not three-point shooters. Basketball has moved toward Kyrie Irving and toward Steph Curry. It has moved toward them. Damian Lillard, Clay Thompson. Shooters first. Everything else second. Westbrook is not built to win in the playoffs today.

Either is Derek Rose. You saw it at the end of his career. Either is John Wall. You see this in football all the time. Where running backs, it used to be for 60 years. Here's ball, grab ball, run forward. And that was enough. You were the centerpiece of the team.

Now it's, we pass a lot. Can you block? Oh, you can't. You can't catch. We can't give you big money. You're a part-time running back. Now, it's easier for a running back who's 16 years old today to develop those catching skills and develop Ezekiel.

Elliott, those blocking skills. But what if you're 10 years into your career and they say, you got to catch 45 balls a year? Well, I don't work on that in high school and college. And that's what's happened to Russell Westbrook. It's very difficult. I saw this at a company I used to work at. Once you're great and you're awarded and you're paid and you're told you're great,

and then the culture changes in your business, it's very hard to pivot. I work at a company now Fox that just made a major pivot. We got out of the movie business. We do now live news, live sports, live politics. That's what we do. We have pivoted with the emergence of Netflix out of certain businesses and into live. That's good management. But it's hard.

When you've been successful like a Belichick and a Brady and people say, let's change the things you do, it takes a lot of work. coaches I've seen do it. General managers can do it. It's hard for players. Part of me feels bad for Westbrook. It's easier now because if you go into a gym in America today, a college gym and AAU gym or a high school gym,

all those kids are shooting threes. So that is the game they're learning to play. Westbrook has another game. And right at the ninth hole on this 18-hole course, maybe in the 10th, 11th hole, the course changed, and he's struggling with the pivot. He has completely deteriorated as a player. I feel bad for him. He's like a running back who was the best in the league, and now we're a passing league, and he can't catch.

Westbrook can't shoot. I saw this happen with John Wall. I've seen it happen with Derek Rose, and I'm watching it with Westbrook. And he's so darn athletic and so absolutely relentlessly hyper-athletic, he'll probably go back to OKC and have a good game. But there's a reason now he's unraveling for the third straight year in the playoffs. Sometimes business moves toward you. I got lucky.

I'm an opinionist. That's the thing now. And sometimes business moves away from you. And there's a part of me that feels bad for Westbrook. The sports moved away from him. Russell, we're not into the... We don't watch it at the free throw line. You're not a great show.

Just shoot threes. Kyrie's like, moving toward me. Steph's like, moving toward me. Lillard's like, that's my game. Clay Thompson's like, this is perfect. By the way, when Westbrook came into this league, two teams, two, shot 25 threes a game.

Last year, everybody did. The team that shoots the fewest, shot 25 a game. Time to pivot. I just don't think he ever will. Or frankly, I don't think he can. It's too late. Let's shift to this.

As you know, Joy and I perform Big J journalism regularly on the show. Sometimes it's Little J. One Source. We try to do Big J. journalism a couple sources. This is some pretty good Big J. journalism. I was told last night from a great source, the Lakers interviewed Monty Williams last night on the East Coast, and he is their number one choice to be their head coach.

Monty Williams, the current assistant for the Philadelphia 76ers. That's the Lakers number one choice. They interviewed him and they want him. But they don't know if they're going to get him. Because Philadelphia wants him and if Philadelphia loses to Brooklyn in this series, I don't think they will. I think they'll beat him. Or if Philadelphia loses in the next series to Toronto, and I think they may, they struggled with him regular season, then the Sixers are going to get rid of Brett Brown and they're going to hire Monty Williams. and that will leave the Lakers with their second choice, Ty Lou.

Their third, I'm told, is Joan Howard. That's not news. So my gut feeling this morning is Ty Lou is the next Laker coach. He is not their first choice. Of course, they will say he's their first choice if they have to hire him, but they're going to wait for the Monty Williams situation to work out. Monty Williams is going to have two offers. Philadelphia is if the Sixers get bagged here in the first round or the second round.

If Philadelphia goes to the Eastern Conference finals, then maybe Brett Brown keeps his gig. Philadelphia is not an easy team to coach. It's got weird chemistry, some immaturity. I'm not sure Jimmy Butler gets along with anybody. I am also told, I'm also told this, that the Lakers already have somebody to replace Magic Johnson. And they are communicating with him, and he is okaying all these moves. he is not currently in the Laker building because he is currently running another team in the NBA

that's in the playoffs. Now that could be a handful of people. It could be a Michael Winger with the Clippers. It could be a Bob Myers with Golden State, young smart guy in Toronto. There's a couple other guys out there. But that's what I'm told this morning. So the Lakers want Monty Williams.

Ty Lewis second. Monty Williams probably gets the Sixers. job, though. Monty Williams, I told, if given the option, would take the Sixers job. He thinks they have more players. He likes the organization. He likes the front office. He likes the ownership. Monty Williams, you know, nobody's going to talk about this publicly. You're not going to talk as an assistant about the coaching job. But the Lakers want Monty. Ty is second, but my gut is, Ty will get the job. And it should be noted that the Lakers are concerned, and perhaps the reason Ty Lou is not the number one candidate is, because they could hire

him today. The Lakers could hire Tailu today. They could hire him today. And I'm not sure exactly how the dinner went last night. I know the Lakers showed very keen interest. Monty Williams may wake up in a couple of days and say, I can't do this. Stories are leaking and they may just go to Tailu. They may not sit around and wait. That's very possible because you're going to see a lot of rumors coming out now about Monty Williams. Monty Williams may not like that it's disrupting the Sixers and Monty Williams may back himself out of this thing and Tyloo may get it. My gut is Tyloo is going to get this job. But the Lakers, I'm told, are very concerned about the optics that now Tyloon LeBron,

it's just it's clutch sports, it's LeBron's team. They are concerned about that. They do not ideally want that to happen, but they may not have a choice. Very few teams that should be noted in pro sports get everything they want outside of New England. even Golden States got their issues. Pugie Cousins now gone. Kevin Durant may leave. So if you look at the NBA, it's always been kind of a series of concessions.

You have to overpay for some people. Lakers have some things that are not ideal. They don't want to be seen as LeBron's team. But LeBron's on the team and Tileu's out there and he's the best candidate with Monty Williams and they'll probably won't get Monty Williams and that's the reality of it. So, you know, life's about concessions. Marriage is about concessions. If you don't want to have concessions, be single the rest of your life.

Once you join teams and marriages and relationships, you're making sacrifices. So Lakers are doing some things they like, some things they don't. But even Golden State's got things, you know, and they're the basketball nirvana of the sport. And they've got some things they got to work around. They don't want to pay Drayman a lot. He wants a lot. They'd rather not pay Clay Thompson Max. But if they don't pay Clay Thompson Max, he's going to leave.

So, I mean, the sports is concessions. Nobody, New England's about the only team that their star takes a pay cut, and they've always got draft capital and they don't pay anybody. That is a complete outlier in professional sports. Arash Marcosi, new writer for the LA Times. A friend, going to stop by the show, give us updates there. Buy, seller hold around the corner as well. 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. Welcome back, MDrive, Stronger, More Energy, Drive. Learn more MDrive from N.com. Refine your Prime with MDrive. Arash Marcosi is well known for us in Los Angeles. He's done a lot of media things.

He's a new columnist at the LA Times. By the way, the LA Times just won a Pulitzer. It is also one of the only newspapers in America hiring people, 150 new employees. Their investigative units are unbelievable. If you're a celebrity, watch out because the LA Times has a huge investigative group. Arash is good seeing you again, former senior writer at SI and ESPN. All right, let's get down to the Lakers. I proposed something the other day.

I just said, listen, magic personality. didn't work to be the CEO. Kobe's, interestingly enough, does. He is a grinder. He speaks multiple languages internationally. He's very comfortable. Many of the current free agents, Kyrie Kauai, grew up idolizing him.

I just threw it out there. I had no sourcing on that. Is there any chance Kobe would come into the building? I don't think so. I think Kobe has too much happening right now with what he wants to do. And he's like magic. He wants to do a variety of things.

He's won an Academy Award. He's done all these things. So for him to show up to the facility at 6 a.m., which is what he would do if he took that job. That's right. Yeah, he would show up in the morning, be the first one there, the last one to leave. He's not going to do that anymore. I think right now he wants to produce movies. He wants to do shows.

He wants to do films. This is not something that he wants to do. Yeah, I almost think he'll do the Hollywood thing for about three to four years, get somewhat bored with it. He'll, like, achieve, you know, he'll have an Oscar in books. And I think, I think Kobe will eventually come. back to basketball is I would make the argument, Arash, he needs to get a little Hollywood out of his system. He lived in Orange County. He was not one of these guys. Like LeBron lives in Brentwood, right? That's in the heart, the belly of the beast. I do think, to your point, Kobe is going to

do about five years of Hollywood stuff, but I swear he's coming back to basketball. Yeah, but for this particular job, you need to be a grinder. And he would be, but he knows that this is not something that he wants to do. And so it's a nice title to have. You could at courtside. You could be talking to free agents. The recruiting aspect he can do, but the showing up to games, going to Yugoslavia, going to Kentucky, that's not something that he wants to do. Okay. Let's move into a story I was told by a source I trust. Monty Williams is their favorite. He's their number one choice. The Lakers don't know if they'll get him simply because Philadelphia, he's an assistant, is a weird group of chemistry issues, young players who,

who aren't quite mature enough. And the sense is Philadelphia can't get through Boston, Milwaukee, or Toronto. And with all their talent, Brett Brown will be whacked. And Moni will get that job, which right now is a better job than Los Angeles. Can you give us an update? If your sources say the opposite, it's fine, on not only the coach, but the front office situation. First of all, what an amazing position that this team is in. The storied franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers, Luke Walton really left.

He said, listen, my best case scenario here is, to be a lame duck coach. I'm going to go to the Sacramento Kings. And Monty Williams will not take the job to be the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers because there's a chance. There's a chance he could be the coach of the Sixers. So that's where the Lakers are at right now. They're your like second place team.

Like if I can't get this job, maybe he'll take the Lakers top. They love Monty. Monty would be their guy. I don't think Monty's going to go there. I think he's hurt from enough people that that situation is toxic. It's a mess. It's a no-win situation. So Tailu's my choice.

And that's my guy that I think will go there. What about the optics of, okay, now it's clutch sports team? That's what they have to deal with right now. And from everyone I've talked to, Rob Polinka will, like, he's doing the coaching search technically. Rob is. Rob is. Rob Polinka is, no, there's no trust from people outside of this genie bus, Linda circle. Like, they don't think Rob knows what he's doing and they don't trust Rob.

And so it's a tough spot right now for that franchise to be in. When Luke didn't trust Rob, Magic didn't trust Rob, you know, they didn't have a relationship. What Jeannie did was she put two friends together that she liked, that she trusted. They didn't like or trust each other. So that was a toxic relationship. So Polinka, I'm told, will not get the number one job. Or you told that. Exactly.

He will not get the number one job. Yeah. It's interesting because he's a handsome guy. He's a smart guy. But, you know, and I don't know him well enough to have a strong opinion about him as a guy. I know he's very tight with Kobe. Kobe's a very bright guy. Kobe surrounds himself. Kobe's life is surrounded by smart, get it people. I know Rob's smart. For some reason, there is this underlying message that he's not always great with people, I guess.

I mean, here's the thing. If I was negotiating my contract, I would want Rob to negotiate that contract for me. That's not saying I want Rob to run my franchise or to be the team president. And here's the situation with that. It's not Rob's fault that he's never done this job before. So the next person that comes in here has to have a track record. And to your point, Colin, I think it's someone who's currently working for a playoff team, who's built a playoff team. Yeah, so that's what I'm hearing.

It's somebody currently the Lakers are going to wait it out. They are communicating with that person, but he's running a franchise. And finally, you know, the free agent thing is interesting. Arash Marcosi, new columnist, L.A. Times, one of the great newspapers in the country, just one of Pulitzer, congrats to our people there, and a former senior writer, ESPNNSI. The free agent situation is interesting. There are tipping points all the time in business. And there was a time, there was about a 15-year time where I was a big believer, just give LeBron the franchise. Even in Miami with D. Wade, I'm like, D. Wade, step aside, just give it to

LeBron. Now, this is not because I don't like LeBron. I'm not there now. There's an injury, there's age, there's reality. And I think he's a... heavy. I think he comes with some baggage now. Who do you think if the Lakers had a choice, who would they want to come here? Well, Kevin Durant or Kauai Leonard, but they're not in the mix for those two guys. When you look at this summer and you look at what they did with this team, they kicked the can down the road one year for the chance to get KD, Kauai. They're not getting those guys. So now you're talking about Jimmy Butler, you know, Campbell Walker and Colin. You know, I mean, those are not championship players.

if you put this team with a Kamba or a Jimmy Butler, maybe they're a playoff team, maybe they're the 6-C, but they're not a championship team. I agree. Yeah, no, my feeling is they're going to have to trade to get somebody. Exactly. And so then... And here's the thing.

Rob is not the guy that teams want to trade with. You got to bring in a guy that if you get that phone call and you see that caller ID, some teams aren't picking up a phone. This is a real... This is a problem. This is a problem right now. Well, and I think this is a, this of all the points you've made, there is this growing narrative that there are teams that, because remember, Rob Polenko was an agent. Yeah.

And he stole player agent. He was a rough guy, right? And agents by design are not loved by everybody. They're trying to extract money from teams and owners. So most owners, David Falk in his prime, had people that didn't want to work with him. He got in shouting matches with owners. So you have, this is why Rob, I don't think can be the number one guy because there's a, there's, there's. eight, ten teams that won't take a call from him.

Exactly. So you have to bring in a likable figure that everybody will at least pick the phone up. So if I said to you, who do you think the Lakers will land? You think it will be? Jimmy Butler, because he wants to come to Los Angeles. But again, that's not a championship signing. That is a good signing. That makes you a playoff team. But what I wouldn't have to give up anything to get him? Exactly. So that's the good thing. Now, can they package some of these young guys in trade for, superstar. That's what they would like to do. Okay, now, Joey brought up something interesting.

I didn't know how LeBron and Lonzo would work. The data says LeBron and Lonzo actually work really well together. Where does the organization sit on Lonzo who, you know, is making, his dad now has had kind of a disruptive situation with him. He also had a goofy comment the other day, got to be all three sons. Where do the Lakers, are you told, where do they sit with Lanzo? They like Lanzo if he can stay healthy. That's a huge if.

And they like where he's at as a man. He's moved on. You know, he's saying, like, I'm not going to let my dad speak for me. I'm not going to let him take care of my, my, you know, my, yeah, exactly. So here's the thing. But they want to package these young guys, Kuzma, Lonzo, Brandon Ingram, for a superstar player. And by the way, everyone talked about that New Orleans Pelicans trade. That was a Rob Polinka problem, too.

They did not want to help the Lakers, partly because of Rob. Everyone was like, Magic Johnson, Magic Johnson. Yes. he was a problem too. Rob, nobody realizes how big of a problem. Rob Polinka, I think, is for this team. Wow. They got a lot of obstacles.

Congrats to you and the new LA Times job. Say hi to my buddy, Bill Plasky. I will. He's won a few awards. He's got a big award closet. Good to seeing you, man. Thank you. Joy of the news.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, let's pal on the Lakers some more. Why not? The Lakers look like a playoff team. in December. They blew out the Warriors on their Christmas Day showdown, but then they went on a downward spiral since the start of this year. And even though injuries did play a big part, particularly with Lonzo. Lonzo also admitted in an interview with House of Highlights that the trade rumors surrounding Anthony Davis were also a huge factor.

That week, was that constantly like all the guys were kind of thinking about it? Yeah, I think that kind of leading to our downfall, I think, a little bit just because, you know, everybody's name was. in it. So yeah, it kind of messed up with some things. Like a lot of stuff just started coming out. You know, obviously I wanted to be in L.A. Yeah. You know, but at the end of the day, I just want to play. I think we are all collectively in agreeance that that was the, the injury is obviously

out of everyone's control. The one thing in their control was the situation being the biggest disaster for this season. I mean, you could tell even the way that Lanzo was talking about it, it was clearly a hard time for everyone in that locker room. I'm having your name being thrown into a trade rumor in any level, no matter what type of player you are, a rookie or second year or a veteran, is difficult to deal with.

But this particular situation, I think, will go down in history as one of the biggest trade disasters in all of sports. I don't think it can be really, we can't put enough emphasis on how cataclysmic it was. I mean, the Pelicans fired their GM. Magic is now gone. They don't have, Lakers don't have a head coach. They have no idea what direction they're going in the future. They don't have another superstar, so we don't even know if these guys are going to end up getting traded.

And the Clippers are in the playoffs. So it just... Beating the Warriors. Yeah, you just lost your job and your neighbor bought a new Lexus. Like, it's real... The Clippers have never ever... We're beating the Warriors, I would say, is like you just lost your job and your neighbor just bought a new... I don't know.

Rolls-Royce. That's a pretty big win for them. I don't know. It's a bad. situation for the Lakers. They're going to have to make some major moves this off season. So Zion Williamson was one of the most dominant college basketball players in recent memory, and he's expected to go number one overall in this summer's draft. And Hoops Hype talked to current and former players about Zion's game and potential,

and one current Eastern Conference All-Star said his athletic ability is obviously crazy and he has so much potential, but it all depends on how he's going to develop his skills. He won't be able to just rely on his athleticism in the NBA. His shot will need to improve. Yeah, I think that's obvious. I'll go back to something, and I'll tell you something that's gaining steam. A lot of people really love John Morant. Zion will go number one, because I think Zion's got, you know, the Duke connection, the internet fascination.

Well, Zion is just has an X factor. Yeah, he's commerce. Exactly. He's commerce. I believe what I'm about to say is the biggest concern. It's not the shot. people in the league because of the power and surge and torque on Zion are really concerned. They saw what he did to the shoe.

They see how unbelievably hard he explodes and plays. People in the NBA are worried about ligaments tearing ACLs. It's not a game thing. Most people think he has a nice start to a nice shot. I've talked to now three different NBA people that are like, because I brought this up about two weeks ago in the air. And I had a couple guys text me. It's a real talking point, not publicly.

Nobody wants to diss the kid. People are worried. And I remember when Michael Jordan broke in the league. The big concern was Michael was. He was developing a jumper. Dee Wade. They were crashing to the floor for like four years. Zion plays with such explosion.

People wonder if his body at 285 can handle it. His knees can handle it. And that's a fair, I guess, criticism to have or fear. Yeah, concern to have. I think you're right. Nobody wants to come out and be critical of Zion in any way, which we don't know what he's going to be. So there's no reason to. The only concerns you have would be the ones that you mentioned.

But I think that's why it's so important that he goes to a situation where he has people around him that are good at developing young players. Also, we see a lot of young players, Joy, get hurt because you play 36 games in college. It's regional travel. Yeah. I mean, your rookie year is... You hit a wall. Yeah. It'd be nice.

change. It would be nice if he came into the league and you needed him to play 28 minutes, not 39, because when do you tear things? When do you get hurt? It's like what they say with skiing. You always get hurt on the last run when your body's shot. All these guys hit a wall about 60 games in. If you're playing Zion 42 minutes and you need to sell tickets and he's your best player, I worry about like I would, if I had Zion, I tell our guys, listen, we're going to sell a bunch of tickets. Let's play him 27 and a half a night. I don't want him out there 38 minutes. You have to look at the long-term plan for Zion.

And that's why it's so important where he goes. And finally, the new face of the New York football giant, Sequin Barclay said earlier this month that he wanted to grow as a leader. And that role entails standing up for the other veteran leader in the locker room. In a recent interview with Bleacher reports, Taylor Rooks, Barkley defended Eli Manning amidst the criticism. Is it difficult for you to hear a lot of the... the criticism that Eli Manning gets as a quarterback?

Yeah, it bothers me. I'm not going to lie because it's not his fault. It's not the reason why. We love to put the blame on one person, but it takes 11 men and a team and organization all together to win. That's the right answer out of Sequin. He's going to defend his quarterback.

I don't think it's all Eli's fault. Did you hear Eli this week? Eli actually did the Giants of Solid this week. By saying? He came out and said, oh, I expect him to draft a quarterback. Oh, yeah. Which is a big like, okay, we're allowed now. We've got to pass from Eli.

We're allowed to draft a quarterback. It actually is the right thing for Eli to say because that shows some self-awareness. Yes. And sometimes that's all people really want. Just be aware of the situation. You don't have to take all the blame or try and take all the credit. Just be aware that they do need to draft the young quarterback. And this would be the perfect situation for someone like Josh Rosen.

Come to New York, learn the system and sit behind Eli for a year because they're clearly not moving off of Eli. learn how to be a pro. It's the right time for them to drop the quarterback or get a young quarterback. It's still remarkable to me. It really is. New York is this big tough town. That the fact that he was benched two years ago, after four straight bad years, that New York's like lost there, you know what.

It's like in any other city, I mean, if Brady had three bad years, Boston's bitter enough. They'd be like, get him out of here. We got the rings. It's amazing to me that tough talking news. York literally came unraveled because somebody had the audacity to bench the fourth best quarterback at the time in his own division. I was on Eli's side in that situation, but I think it's time to move on from that, yes. I mean, at some point, let's just move on. Yes.

Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. So it's, this will be fun. Chargers came out and unveiled new uniforms. They're going to use the powder blues as their primary uniform now. And we started talking as a staff.

I'm not a guy that ever talks about uniforms much. I think there are some really good-looking uniform. I think Duke basketball has really classic. I like clean. I think Duke basketball's got really good uniforms. They look clean. I'm not into sticky stuff. And I thought I'd give you my five favorite all-time uniforms,

the five worst in my life. And, man, there have been some remarkably bad decisions on uniforms, to the point of comedy. 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 IHeard Radio app. Chris Haynes, Chris Canney, Arash Mark Kazi, all stopped by today. It's good to have you in.

We do it every day at this time. We call it best for last. After almost three hours, Colin apparently hasn't gotten to the point yet. Quit holding out on us, cowherd. It's the best for last. LA Chargers have moved from San Diego up north about an hour and a half to Los Angeles. They announced yesterday they're making their powder blue uniforms, their primary uniform. And, you know, I said the first uniform I ever got as a kid years ago was the Cleveland Brown jersey.

My parents gave it to me. I was seven years old. I can remember wearing the helmet and all the pants and everything. I've never been like, you know, I'm not a guy that buys or wears jerseys all the time. But the powder blues for the chargers are good looking. They are very popular. They got to, you know, it's very Southern California, Miami-looking. It's a great jersey.

Yeah, it's just a great-looking. And there's just not a lot of jerseys like this in professional sports, that color scheme. But I thought I would go into are the five best uniforms, in my opinion, in sports, and the five ugliest. Let's go with the five best. I think the best uniform, fifth-best uniform is Michigan. Blue and Mays. Mays is a shade of yellow. They were adopted in the 1860s.

Unfortunately, so was Jim Harbaugh's offense. These are classy. Just, again, they don't look like anybody else. From the fight song to the look to the color scheme, blue and maize. I think it's very unique. I love the helmet. And I kind of consider in football the helmet part of the uniform. I think that's the best looking, yeah.

I mean, it's just, this thing will look good in 100 years. It looked good 100 years ago. It's very classic. And it looks good now. I'd say number four. Again, unique color scheme. Lakers home, iconic. purple and golds. I think it's a really good look. I think it looked good on Shaq. It looked good on

Kobe. It looks good on magic. It looks good on average players. It's just not a color scheme that's used. It was introduced by the owner Jack Kent Cook, who was sort of a crazy, crazy guy. He owned the Redskins. He owned the Lakers. He created the fabulous forum in 1970. I can remember a kid when I was a kid like 7, 8 years old. I like the Lakers because I like their uniforms. I think you're partial to yellow. Yeah, maybe that's it. They've won a lot of titles in those uniforms. And again, I just think when a uniform was good 50 years ago today and you know it's good 50 years from now, that is a great uniform. Number three, I think the Yankees home uniforms don't like their road grays at all. Don't like their road gray. Sorry, Goulet, I don't like

them. But their home pinstripes, by the way, legend says they introduced a pinstripes to make Babe Ruth look slimmer because, you know, pinstripes make people look thin. They were actually the first used way back in 1912. They're just classic. Yeah, that's a big book. And they've been ripped off a lot. Now there's a, I mean, you can go back to a lot of team. Milwaukee Brewer's home uni used to have pinstripes.

Now they've been stolen. The greatest compliment is when somebody is stealing something. They've been stolen by a lot of different teams. Number two, I think the cowboys are clean, no frills, big boy uniforms. And again, I think in football you count the helmet. I think the star is the best helmet in the NFL. That is just a double piping. on the sleeves.

Little Nike swoosh these days. White, blue, clean. Now, the Cowboys have never played on the grassy field, so they're never stained at home. They're always clean looking. I just think when you include the helmet and the wristbands and the blue gloves, that is as good as a football uniform in America looks. That's as good as they look. I think the best uniform in sports history is Tiger Woods Red Sunday.

does he look, first of all, the Nike hat, the red shirt, the black pants. I mean, it's definitely a look. It is a, by the way, that tight shirt would not look good on all golfers. So it is kind of tiger-specific. But God, does he look, that looked at the Masters. And it looks good at the Masters, looks good at the Ryder Cup, it looks good at the U.S. Open. It looks good. Leading, trailing.

To me, the best uniform in sports is Tiger Woods Sunday Red. That's a strong list. All right. How about the worst? Sorry to announce as one of the five worst, the bumblebee Steelers. The throwback uniform started in... Everyone hates those. They're awful.

Started in 1934 when they were known as the Pittsburgh pilot. What is that? I don't really know. I mean, what in God's name? I don't love them. The hamburger designed these. They have since decided these got so much pushback. The nude bands are the best part.

They're just... The whole look is just a no. It's a mess. Horizontal stripes. It is, it looks like a rugby uniform. It's not great. Yeah, there's nothing good you can say about it. All right.

Number four, the Jaguars mustard color rush uniforms. As Blake Bortles called them, quote, ugly as hell, unquote. It looks like somebody threw up on your football team. They were worn initially. Remember on Thursday night football? And I always thought it made Thursday night football look hokey. They tried to change the uniforms on Thursday night football to get a splash. It was the color rush.

I thought it made Thursday night football look hokey. I think what you do on Thursday night football, you want to make it look as big as Sunday. So I want the Cowboys and the Steelers and the P... I don't want the sticky because Thursday night football was different anyway. Why make it look stickier? It was literally hard on the eyes. Jags uniforms aren't my favorite to begin with, but yeah, these are a nice, like, booger color. Listen, anybody that's ever had children when they throw up?

Yeah. I'm not joking. That's kind of the color. Number three, the Astros rainbow stripes in Houston. These had all the nuance of a 12-car pile-up. They were designed by McCann Erickson, a Houston-based ad agency. We hope they're still in service. There's nothing from the orange helmet.

They were supposed to be, they were designed. You know, it's funny about this. I remember these. They had a picture named J.R. Richard. There he is right there. Those Houston teams were kind of fascinating. Not a good look. The numbers on the pants.

Come on. My eyes can't take that. How about number two? I remember these two. August 1976. Chicago White Sox, we have video of this. War shorts. Sliding became problematic.

They looked like a softball team. Yes. And Bill Vec was the owner. And Bill Vec was a very. creative marketing guy. So he had the team. He created Disco Demolition Night where it tore up the field at Kamiski. They had exploding scoreboards.

And they went two and one in these shorts. I mean, the timeout, look at this. That looks like a Milwaukee Beer League team. Yeah. It's no. It's not a, no. I remember as a kid. I remember those uniforms. And then they got the collar thing

going on. It's you know what it's like? It reminds me of the t-shirt. Now, the t-shirt in the right setting can be quite a hit, but everybody can't wear t-shirts. And finally, I covered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a few years. They wore these. The first jar I was in Tampa, the cream sickle uniforms. They were designed to represent the vibrant sun-splashed vibe of Florida.

Instead, they lasted for 20 years. And because the team was so bad initially, they had John McKay as a coach and they went, oh, for their first 26, that the uniforms, and they were really a 10%. terrible offensive team. They had the Selman brothers. They actually were a very, very good, they broke out when the Seahawks did. In Seattle, the Seahawks had all the good offense. Sherman Smith, Jim Zorn, Steve Largett, and the Bucks had all the defense. If you get, if you had the Bucs defense and the Seahawks offense in 76 together, it would have been a playoff team. But Seattle's defense was atrocious. Tampa Bay's offense was unbearable. And so these uniforms were ultimately connected to those teams. My first year, I think Trent

Dilfer got drafted. And Warren Sapp, the first year they wore these. Then they went to pewter, which I actually liked their uniforms now. Yeah, I like computer. I don't know. I don't hate these as much. I mean, they're not great, but. Remember the Vancouver Canucks?

Those like, those Vs. Oh, wow. We missed. Those were bad. Those were atrocious. Those look like sweaters. They looked like they put a hockey jersey on top of those half sweaters that you buy. You're right.

You weren't here for, you had already gone. for hair and makeup today. You weren't in our... Oh, there they are. Somebody just put them up. Good God, those are awful. Yeah, they're really bad. Can we put those on the screen?

They call them the flying V jerseys, the Vancouver Canucks. Oh, sorry for our radio audience. Those are bad sweaters. That looks like a family... Yeah, like a bad family picture from the 70s. Oh, wow. Good stuff today.

Best for less. We had Chris Canney on, the former New York Giant, won a Super Bowl seven years ago with the New York Giants over the New England Patriots. I've known Chris for a long time. Good dude. We were talking about did Russell Wilson's contract? Actually, was it really bad news for the Cowboys? Because it moved all the market up.

So Aaron Rogers' contract, he's Aaron Rogers. That's not going to move everybody else up. But there is a feeling that Russell Wilson has been aided by coaching and aided by Seattle and aided by defense and aided by Marshaun Lynch and blah, blah, blah. So now when you pay Russell this, does it move everybody up $4 million? And Dak Prescott goes from like a 24 million. Suddenly he's going to want 28 million. And Chris Canney talked about that.

I think Dak Prescott is one of those quarterbacks that can utilize the talent that's around him. But he's not a quarterback that can elevate the play of everybody around him. I think we've seen what Dak Prescott is without different smakers on the offensive side of the ball. Six-game suspension for Ezekiel Elliott back in 2017, how the Dallas Cowboys look. I look at Dak Prescott and I say, this is a quarterback that the Dallas Cowboys need because they're in win-now mode. but I don't think it's a quarterback that the Dallas Cowboys can justify paying north of $30 million a year. I don't think that Prescott can take up 15% of your salary cap or more. Yeah, I do think this is a good year for the Cowboys to draft a quarterback.

Number one, they've got a pretty solid roster. They got the receivers set now. They need a tight end and a safety, and that's about it. And they've got six picks. So if they don't have a first round pick, they gave out for Amari Cooper. So my gut feeling is they'll take a safety. with their first pick in the second round or a tight end. But after that, I think they have a little wiggle room,

and I'd go get yourself a quarterback, a backup to DAC. See you tomorrow, SFY next. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports

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