The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Steph Curry, Peyton Manning, Magic Johnson, and where Colin was right and wrong

Episode Date: May 20, 2019

Colin talks about how Golden State Warriors G Steph Curry is better than most people think, why Peyton Manning would be a bad GM for the New York Jets, Magic Johnson's comments on him leaving the Los Angeles Lakers, and where he was right and wrong over the weekend. Guests include Chris Broussard, Kendrick Perkins, and Geoff Schwartz. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Monday. This is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live in Los Angeles on IHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1 right here. One hour from now where Colin is right, where Colin is wrong. I'm just trying to rebound this week. A lot of wrongs last week.

Just trying to rebound, bailing a lot of water a week ago on that segment. Joy Taylor is joining me, fresh up another vacation weekend. You went to Miami. It looks like you went to Miami. I got a little son. It wasn't all vacation. Of course. I was hosting my brother's foundation event.

Labor-intensive trip to Miami. Yes, it was both. It's great to see you. Great to see you. Thanks. Good Monday. NBA is crazy. We've got a Peyton Manning story coming up.

But let me start with this. Is that one of the things I've noticed in my career, and I think Joy and I have talked about this before, we are now in the affirmation. era, not the information era. It used to be I could present you with data and stats and win an argument. And it doesn't work that way. People just liberals go to this channel.

Conservatives go to that channel. I can give you data. People just live in echo chambers. It's very frustrating. It's one of the reasons I don't take calls anymore. You could present me with a fact. I'd be going, oh, that's interesting. I'll change my mind.

I can't change anybody's mind anymore. Nobody can change anybody's mind. And it wears me out. And Steph Curry is a great example of this. So, Steph Curry, I just, if 15 years ago, if 15 years ago, I would have said this. So there's going to be this guy that comes into the NBA, right? He's going to essentially eliminate the center position. What is he, a wizard, a sorcerer?

No, he's just a player. What do you mean eliminates it? There'll be no more back to the basket centers. Well, how? Well, I'll get to that in a second. He will change the math and geometry of the sports. board. I don't even understand what that means. What do you mean? Like a basket won't mean as much. Precisely. I'll get to that in a second. He will change college basketball and every gym in the

country with every 13-year-old who now practices. And you'd be like, Game of Thrones, Sorcerer, what is this? His name is Steph Curry. He's eliminated the back to the basket center. He's made teams smaller as humans get bigger. He's changed the math of the sport. And oh, by the way, now, this is what basketball looks like at the college, high school, and AAU level. And I guarantee you by the beginning of next year, here's what you'll say. You hardens better than Steph.

Yeah, I'm more of a Westbrook guy. Really? I love Michael Jordan. Did he change the math? I love Magic Johnson. Did he eliminate centers? And by the way, if you want to see this meteor called Steph Curry, information over affirmation, he's on TV again tonight,

without the best player on the team, right? Are we sure KD's better than Steph? KD didn't eliminate centers. KD didn't change the math. KD didn't change gyms. Folks, we all know of the term called disruptors. Like the most famous is Uber's disrupted the taxi industry. For years and years, you know, you get off an airport or you go somewhere in New York or L.A.

Or any city in America, you get taxi, taxi. And then Uber is going to my phone. And now the idea of getting a taxi for a lot of people's like, well, why? I can just do an Uber. They go where I want to go. It's a cleaner car, blah, blah, blah. We also know that Netflix has done this, a television, been a disruptor. Amazon's done this for retail.

We've talked about this before, right? They're disruptors. Could I make the argument? And I'm not counting Jackie Robinson with social ramifications. I'm just talking the actual game. Steph's the greatest disruptor, certainly in basketball, in sports history.

I mean, Tom Brady didn't change the way football's played. I mean, Mike Trout's good and stuff. So was Willie Mays and Mickey Mantley. He didn't change the way the game was played. It is remarkable that Steph Curry, half of you would take Hardin over him. Half of you would take Westbrook. are we watching the same thing?

Are we? Think about this. Dwight Howard. Now, think about this. I can remember when Dwight Howard was 16 years old and I got a call from a guy named Brian Berger worked at Nike. He said there was this kid. There's this center.

Oh, my guy's going to change the game. Dwight Howard 10 years ago, that was the last time he made an All-Star game. And it was ironically the, or coincidentally, the first time Steph made an All-Star team. Dwight Howard was your classic back. to the basket. 22 points, 15 rebound, shot, block. Remember his shoulders? It didn't look like anybody else.

And he's the taxi. And Steph was the Uber. Now you look at Dwight Howard. His last eight years, it's like four teams, four years. It's not that Dwight Howard shrunk. He got less skilled. He was less talented. I mean, he had some surgeries, but he became the taxi,

and Steph was the Uber. Andre Aguadala was saying it yesterday. He said, Curry and Draymond Green, they're Brady and Gronk. They're Brady and Gronk. It's sometimes difficult to wrap your brain around things that you've never seen before. It's very possible the best presidential candidates, this little guy who's a mayor in South Bend, Indiana. What? He's not a governor.

He's not in the military. He's not a titan. He's a mayor in South Bend. I got a standing ovation yesterday in a rival network, right? I know it doesn't make any sense, but this little kid from Davidson who looks like one of your brother's friends in the neighborhood, like he's kind of slight and he's kind of small.

It's the most relevant, the most game-altering revolutionary basketball player ever. I'm done hearing how everybody's better. Information over affirmation. He's on TV again tonight. Watch. And this is not a shot at Charles Barkley, who I think is pretty talented.

But a week ago, Charles Barkley's a smart guy. Remember, and Charles Barkley's opinion a week ago, I think was a mainstream opinion shared by almost everybody. The Warriors ain't got no chance of winning without Kevin Durant. This series? This series or any other series. He made them a dynasty.

unless don't sleep on that. People said, well, they won one. They did. They was terrific. And they won 772. They lost that series. But that was like five years ago. People acted like that was two years ago.

They did not become a juggernaut until KD got there. Everybody who knows basketball, he's the guy who made them a dynasty. By the way, I think that's mostly what everybody thinks. Tonight, on display, again, the best ball handler, the best shooter, the most revolution, visionary player, a tremendous leader, virtually egos. I know it doesn't fit what you think the best player in the world should look like are the most important player, but Steph Curry's it. Let me shift gears to this.

This is crazy, right? Crazy fun. Peyton Manning, according to his story this morning, rumors flying that the New York Jets are pursuing Peyton Manning. All right, let's establish a couple of things. Peyton Manning is great. Peyton Manning is smart. Peyton Manning could run a company and then let me establish this.

I think it'd be a bad move. It's almost disrespectful now. People say this all the time. That guy is smart. She's really smart. Those people are smart. But are they experts? Do we understand how hard it is to be an expert at one thing?

Michael Jordan was great at one thing. He tried the second baseball. Then he tried a third being a front office executive. Look at Magic Johnson's career. Talk show, coach, president. If you can just be great at one thing, good luck being great at two, because I almost don't think it's possible. I'm going to give you Chris Ballard's considered one of the best general managers, if not the best general manager in football. He's smart too, although he didn't play quarterback.

He was an area scout. an area scout. Not a glamorous position, by the way. There's probably six living next to your house right now. He was an area scout for a decade. And then was given the director of player personnel. Then he was given the director of pro scouting. Then he was another football.

And then all these years later, oh, he's a big shot. How about Les Sneed of the L.A. Rams? Less need grad assistant, pro scout, pro scout, director of player. 18 years of grinding. Folks, John Elway went to Stanford. John Elway, like Peyton Manning, came from a football family. Go look up the Elway family's history.

John Elway, one of the most cerebral quarterbacks of our time. You're watching John Elway in Denver? Back-to-back losing seasons? That doesn't happen in Denver. By the way, Magic Lakers, Michael Jordan, President Wizards, Phil Jackson, GM Nix, John Lynch, San Francisco, good, not special yet. It's almost like we're forgetting the rule. It's not about being smart.

It's are you smart enough and are you an expert at something? It's really, really hard. Peyton Manning's brilliant. But if you go look at the guys in this league, the Howie Roseman in Philadelphia, the Chris Ballard's, the less needs, you start looking around these guys. They were grinding in the weeds in town. you hope your car doesn't break down in for 15 years before they got the job. These jobs are hard.

Here's what this feels like to me. Is that Adam Gase and Peyton Manning are buddies. They're friends. They respect each other. The Jets are kind of falling apart. Gase runs the GM out. And it kind of feels like the owner of the Jets feels, listen, I'll pay him a bunch of money. I'll bring in Peyton Manning.

And it will feel like optically, you know what, they always had this plan going on. This is perfect. This feels like a little bit like a little bit of a Hail Mary. And by the way, that's not disrespectful to Peyton Manning because he's one of the smartest guys. But this feels like Levian Bell could be leaving. GM gets fired. Oh, my Lord, nobody gets along. Oh, Peyton Manning's in.

It's all good. No, Peyton Manning's in, and this was never the plan. This is not an opinion anti-Paten Manning. He could succeed at a million things. do we understand how hard it is to scout and to scour the country and to find talent at, you know, Towson State? Half this league is undrafted. Does Peyton Manning want to go on scouting trips to Division 2 in rural Colorado to find the next great running back? I don't like the move.

I don't. And you would think, I like Peyton Manning, he's smart. But I think we're getting to the point now. it is not a celebrity position. It is a grinder position. And I think it's hard when you find people with $2 to $300 million of net worth. I think it's a tough ask. All right, good stuff. Raptors, Milwaukee. I had one big takeaway watching that series yesterday. I'll have that coming up. Chris Broussard, Kendrick Perkins, Jeff Schwartz, and 45 minutes from now, top of the second hour where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9 a.

and Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking,

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

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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more,

follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout, Kate Martin and rising hockey star, Layla Edwards.

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

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Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing

and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch life becomes about wins and losses Steve Burns Dustin Ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. It's great to have you in a Monday. Chris Brouss stopping by, Perk, Kendrick Perkins, Jeff Schwartz in studio, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong.

40 minutes from now, Joy Taylor is joining me. It is great to have you in. So I sat and watched every second yesterday. The Raptors, Milwaukee. It's my job. It's what we do. And my big conclusion, and I felt this by about the middle of the second quarter on, these teams aren't beating Golden State. Come on. Come on.

Stop. Love you, Drake. Love you, the people of Canada. Love Tim Hortons. It's Kauai Leonard and four guys terrified to shoot in a big spot. This isn't even the NBA finals. This is just the conference finals. You're at home.

If you don't have confidence, there. I mean, Fred Van Bleet, the miss free throws, they are terrified. I mean, at some point, Kauai Leonard, who is even more amazing than the word amazing, just took the game over, and it's remarkable a guy can dominate in small doses against other great players like that. Toronto's, they're not ready to win the NBA finals. Come on now. And I'm watching this yesterday, and I'm thinking, what do we know about Milwaukee? The East is weaker than the West. the Celtics couldn't get their act together all year long, and Toronto's a one-man team.

What do we know about Milwaukee? Well, during the regular season, Denver was great during the regular season. They couldn't be beat at home during the regular season. Then Denver couldn't get out of the second round and lost three games at home in the Mile High City. These are teams are not beating the Warriors. Warriors are going to have rest.

They're more experienced. You know, I was thinking about this. If the Warriors win tonight, And they're all beat up. Not just Katie and Boogie. I mean, Andre Iguadala, he played 18 minutes less than he did on average his playoffs, so he's hurt. They get nine days off if they went in Portland tonight.

Well, young teams like Milwaukee don't want nine days off. They want to keep playing. Young teams have the energy. They overcome injuries. The Warriors have Steph's got a finger issue. Andre Iguodala had to go to the training room in the first half. KD isn't even practical. yet. Boogie is but isn't ready to play. In nine days, you're going to get a healthy

stuff, a healthy Iggy, a healthy boogie, and we'll see on KD. I imagine he'll play. They're getting a huge, huge sabbatical here that plays clearly in favor of the better team, the more rested team, the more experienced team, and then will be an equally healthy team. It's nothing against Toronto. It's nothing against Milwaukee, but you cannot watch Toronto and tell me they're anything more than a one-man team. You can't tell me they're more than that. You can't. And what do we know about Milwaukee? Well, during the regular season, young teams that don't have a title play their butt off in the regular season. I think Milwaukee's better than Toronto. I think they'll win the next two games and win the series. They beat

the Celtics. Celtics couldn't get their act together all year. Oh, they're dominating Toronto. And I just, I've seen enough of Toronto. This act is going to be, this is going to be so bad if they get to the finals and I think they'd need an injury on the bucks to get there. But that's my takeaway. This, I think this warrior team without boogie and KD with a beat up Iggy, was Steph having a slightly dislocated finger? I think that version would beat Milwaukee and sweep Toronto. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News.

Well, it's the Rob Polinka and Kurt Rambis show in L.A. for this foreseeable future after finally landing a head coach in Frank Vogel and Jason Kidd is an assistant and is landing the number four pick in the draft. Jeannie Bus apparently doesn't see any reason to mess with the Lakers front office. According to Ramona Shelburne, the Lakers have decided they will not hire a president of basketball operations to replace Magic Johnson. GM Rob Polinka will continue in his role reporting directly to ownership. He had previously reported to Johnson. Jeannie Bus considered several options after Johnson's departure. however, she has since decided to continue with Polinka as her top basketball decision maker Kurt Rambis will remain as a special advisor.

Does this sound good to you, Joy? No, it does not, actually. I don't think that the Lakers are the organization to reinvent how the front offices are constructed in professional basketball. You don't trust them? No, I don't. I don't know. To be honest with you, no, I do not. I think that in general, we're going to talk a lot today about why they should not be trusted. I think just this is the problem.

It's not about Rob Polinkin not knowing how to evaluate players or run a basketball operation or Kurt Rambis. It's that it's what we discussed many times. Whenever you have an organization that has a bunch of leaks, whenever you have a political office that has a bunch of leaks, when you have any kind of business that has a bunch of stories going out there that are contradicting each other, there's no direction and there's complete dysfunction.

That doesn't happen at well-run places. No, because what that means is nobody understands their role, No one understands who's in charge. No one understands what's coming next or what the direction is. Who's making all the decisions? So everyone has to get their story out so they're protected and that story is going to act that story. And then it's just no one knows what's going on.

So once again, I mean, at least we have an answer on who's in charge or who's not getting replaced. But it's just nothing has changed. It gets worse by the day. Sticking with the Lakers, Jackie McMullen reported on Friday that the Pelicans were not open for business involving the Lakers. Quote, we have been told, I think, through channels, most of us have heard the same scuttle butt that Gail Benson has basically told him

to the Lakers over my dead body. So she spoke with WDSU, Benson did in New Orleans, and she apparently laughed at the report, calling it totally absurd. Speaking of organizations having leaks, you really don't want to eliminate trade partners before you get to the part of the year where you're going to start making those moves.

Yeah, the over my dead body is strong, but I, and I don't know, Gail, but I would say this, the Lakers would have to, is it fair to say this? They'd have to win the trade. If it's even, she'll send the player to the Eastern Conference. If it's even, and everybody comes in and David Griffin's like, it's kind of even, he's going to New York. The Lakers are going to have to win this outright where David Griffin goes, okay, I'm getting, you gave me Kyle Kuzma and Ingram and the pick and two draft pick.

I feel the Lakers have to win. Yeah, they have to give up everything to get Anthony Davis. Right. Because if it's even, he's not going to be a Laker. I don't think that they're going to trade him to the Lakers. I do not believe that at all. But I do believe that this is, again, similar to the Lakers. Did the Pelicans learn anything? There should be no discussion about where Anthony Davis is going at this point whatsoever.

I thought we learned this, Pelicans and Lakers. There's no discussion about what we're doing yet. We don't know what we're doing. There's other trade partners out there. you want to have the most leverage. You don't want to eliminate people just because of how emotions went down during the trade deadline. And finally, rumor has it that the Jets would like to hire Peyton Manning to run the team's football operations. With no front office experience, he would not be a traditional hire, but that seems to fit Christopher Johnson's M.O.

This is what Johnson said the Jets are looking for. It's more than a talent evaluation guy. I want a great strategic thinker, a great manager, a communicator, someone who can collaborate well. with the building, and I'm convinced we're going to find that person. A lot of reports that are coming out about the situation with the Jets are not very favorable. Matt Miller, Bleacher Report, provided some context on the jet situation, saying Gase is now the interim GM of the Jets, which is one high level evaluator with another team said, it is the biggest mistake anyone the NFL has made in years. Gase is crazy.

He's the most paranoid person in the world. This will be like Todd Haley on crack. Oh, Lord. That seems like a little bit of an exaggeration. God. And then also there was a report from pro football talk that the GM that was fired, Mike McGogman, did not have a lot of conversations with Adam Gase about their draft picks. Basically none. He was separated from that process. Yeah, I mean, listen, I think Gase can coach, but where there's smoke, there's fire.

He is getting the reputation. And by the way, this also worries me. why are people so willing to bag on Gase privately? That means he's made enemies in the business? Like if you decided tomorrow, I'm stepping down from this business. I don't think it'd be a lot of people taking shots at you. If you, when people are taking shots at you anonymously... And it doesn't serve them in any way. It doesn't serve them in any way.

It's telling you he's made a lot of enemies. Well, Adam Gase is not Bill Belichick. By the way, I would get people that don't bad mouth Belichick because he has more power. Right. But Gase has no power. There's no reason. His intensity has always been the issue with him,

you know, the old crazy eyes at the press conference. But, I mean, there are people just dropping haymakers on gates left and right. I don't know. It's not, it's all these stories kind of have the same string of like, if there's this much stuff coming out of your organization, it's not being very well run. I don't think that Peyton Manning is the guy to step in there and make that particular change for the Jets,

being that he's never been in that position. And as you discussed earlier, the best ones have kind of gone through the process. process. But that seems more of like a public fix than an actual fix for the Jets at this point. Good stuff. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping

by. The herd line news. I'm feeling Chris Broussard and I are going to disagree on everything today. I mean, you just might as well come on in. Get ready because you and I are just not going to agree on stuff. So listen. The NBA, we have a history in the NBA. Michael Jordan

lost, lost, lost, lost, lost. And all of a sudden, after all these losses, you build up a medal, a body armor, and then he finally conquered the Pistons. And these great Detroit teams couldn't beat the Celtics. And LeBron couldn't beat the Celtics. Generally, this league is a baby step league. And so I think there's a lot of people now, this narrative's building. Milwaukee's going to beat Golden State.

And I just want to remind everybody, they were a team that last year could not win a road game in the Eastern Conference playoffs. and we think they're going to go because they're beating Toronto that doesn't have a dependable second score and they're going to walk in and beat this dynasty. I'm watching Toronto Milwaukee yesterday, Chris, and I'm like, these look like nice runner-up teams. That's what they look like to me. To your point, you heard Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson both say

Golden State is the prohibitive underdog against Milwaukee. Oh, come on. I'm with you. Look, if Kevin Durant's healthy, I'm definitely picking Golden State without hesitation, I'd say 90, 95% chance they win. If KD is not healthy, I'm still picking Golden State.

It's a little closer. Look, Milwaukee's length, their depth, their shooting ability, their defensive ability, they present some match-up problems for Golden State. However, they're slow, so I think defensively they're going to have trouble chasing around the Warriors. So do I. Especially if they play the way they have been playing without KD. How much length can they have on the floor if the Warriors go small? Exactly.

So that's a serious question. The experience, the lack of experience, you know, on that stage is an issue. So I would go with Golden State. And look, in the East, they faced one-man shows. Detroit had Blake Griffin. Kauai turned the Celtics into a one-man show. And now Toronto, you got Kauai Leonard. They're not, I mean, what they're viewing offensively is, it's like,

addition and subtraction compared to calculus with what they'll face with Golden State. Yeah, I think it's a different ballgame. How surprised are you? Just how effective they've been Golden State. I mean, I got to be honest with you.

They are, you know, they're like a champion boxer. They kind of win the end of the round, the end of the quarter, the end of the game. They play decoy. Like, they have not lost an out of their confidence. I'm with you on what you just said about.

A lot of people are saying, well, Portland is winning these games and then they're falling apart. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Golden State is pacing itself. They know, look, stay close. Even when they're down 13, 17, just stay in there. And then when we need to, we'll turn it on and win the series. They have to kind of pace themselves a little more without Kevin Durant.

As far as surprise, if you were going to ask me how surprised I am how they're playing without KD, I'm not surprised. I mean, when he went out the first year, remember he missed like the last 20 games or something like that? In the first year, he was there last 13 or something. And they went on just like this. At the end of the regular season, they did the same thing as Steph who had been really good, but not the old Steph in KD's first year. He all of a sudden gets back to playing the old Steph way.

So people are wondering, are they better without KD? The thing is this, they don't have to be better without KD. They just have to be better than everybody else without KD. If they're the best team in the world without KD, that diminishes his stature. Doesn't mean he's not a great player. It doesn't mean he's not the best player in the world, perhaps. But people already look at those two rings.

I've talked to players in the league who said, look, there's nobody that denies how great KD is, how great of a player he is. But dudes do look at the rings like, I mean, you went to the best team in the league and got those rings. We've heard Clyde Frazier, we heard his own teammate, Draymond, we don't need you, leave. We heard his general manager, Bob Myers, at the parade last year. KD hadn't been here as long as Steph and hadn't been here from the beginning. KD, but here's the thing, Colin. all that KD was hearing,

he could look, he could look back, tell himself, but hold up, I was the two-time finals MVP. Right. People saying I'm the best player in the world now. All my teammates are saying, we need KD, he's our best player. You could rationalize to yourself. In that internal debate,

nah, these critics don't know what they talk about. But now it's right in front of your face. You're watching with your own eyes. Oh, my gosh. They do look better without me. Like, I mean, he's a smart basketball player. He sees the ball movement. He knows they're winning now by 10 points a game,

whereas with him they were winning by four points a game. In the playoffs. And theoretically, he was playing an easier playoff games because it was a first and second round. During the later rounds, winning by double digits without you. And so for KD, this has to be tough for him. He's a human being, so it has to be tough for him.

And it's why he's got to leave, especially if they win it without him. You know what I keep thinking about? Whenever I watch Golden State win, I keep thinking about Houston. Houston thinks they're this close. And they're sitting there and they're like, they're going to sweep Portland without KD, without boogie. Iggy's not healthy. Like, you know how sometimes you think you're close in sports? And then, you know, oh, we're getting right.

We're right up next to Alabama. And we're right up next to the Patriots. You know how many teams, the Houston Texans a couple years ago? Man, we're just this close. Then they go up there and it's like, no, like JJ Watt is completely irrelevant against the Patriots because Brady gets rid of the ball so fast. Houston has to be watching this. And I love Darry, but they're shooting fewer threes.

They don't have their guys. I think it shows the dexterity, how nimble, how smart. You know what they're showing, Colin, for everyone out there in the basketball world. That basketball is about more than an accumulums. of talent. You need a certain degree of talent. Right. But if you've got talent, teamwork, chemistry, trust,

finding the perfect system for your talent, your players, that's more important. Go back to 2014. When San Antonio blew out Miami by, I think, of record margin in the finals with LeBron, Wade, and Bosch, I could argue Miami had more talent. Tim Duncan was a shell of himself. Manu and Tony Parker were at the,

the end of their primes, if that. They may have been just out of their primes. And Coah Islander was a baby. And they ran circles around Miami because they played team basketball. They passed the ball. They shared. We're so used to ISO basketball that we've forgotten that. And Golden State shows us that again.

Look at Team USA in 2004. Tim Duncan, Alan Iverson, LeBron, Wade, Carmelow, Richard Jefferson, Stefan Marbury. And they're getting beaten by Puerto Rico. and all these other teams in Europe because basketball is still a team game. And Golden State is showing everybody that. All right, we got some stuff.

Magic Johnson went on ESPN today and had some things to say. We'll address that with Chris Broussard coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey.

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

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 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

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 WMBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't.

Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't 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 a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile,

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

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

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

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

Open your free Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. All right, welcome back. Chris Brousard. Kendrick Perkins next hour. Jeff Schwartz talking football last hour. It's great to have you on a Monday. Joy Taylor is joining us.

So Magic Johnson went on ESPN today, and he said some things. And probably the most noteworthy thing. Magic's not the kind of guy that's going to create controversy. If you watch his Twitter feed, he's not a wildly crazy out there guy. His Twitter feeds become kind of everybody kind of laughs about it. Staff can shoot. It's kind of generic. And Magic's a good guy, and he's not trying to bury people.

didn't think he'd go on TV today and, you know, Barry Lonzo and Barry, you know, LeBron and and Jeannie. And I, but he went after Rob Polinka, who looks like Rob Lowe. And he basically said, people around the Laker front office were telling me, Rob was saying things. I didn't like those things being said behind my back, that I wasn't in the office enough. So I started getting calls from, you know, my friends saying those things now were said to them outside of basketball.

And let's start Chris Broussard with that. Were you surprised he went directly after Rob Polinka, who now is. According to Joy's story this morning, runs the Lakers. Yeah, well, this is what we were hearing, you know, all the scuttle butt around the league was that he had had issues with Polinka. Polinka, I mean, for months you've been hearing that he was, just going up to people like knowing Magic's not in office, where's magic?

You see, man? Just to highlight the fact that he's not there, never around. So you were hearing all these things. I give magic props for coming out publicly and confirming it and just getting things out in the, open because you stop all the speculation when you're open and honest. And obviously the Lakers haven't said a word about anything else. Here's the problem, though.

I thought Magic was supposed to be helping the Lakers recruit. Like, players are more sophisticated nowadays. Oh, yeah. Players are looking at front offices and saying, hmm, I'm telling you, and I do think the Knicks still get players, they're going to get players this summer. But players are looking at James Dolan and saying, yeah, I like Scott Perry, the GM and Steve Mills is there and Fisdale, but they're looking at the hierarchy and saying,

can I trust that organization? And with the players doing it, you know who else is doing it? They're agents. Agents are telling the players, giving them the rundown of each situation. And a lot of these agents had issues with Rob Polinka, in addition to other people in the league.

And so now Magic comes out and gives even more ammunition. confirms. Right. So if a guy would bad mouth magic, who else would he bad mouth? Yeah. It's another obstacle to Lakers may have to overcome. You know what I feel like, and I, and I respect Magic for this. Magic's like got a brand. And Magic's brand is he's a helper. He was a passer as a player. He's a person. He's human LinkedIn. He's always trying to elevate. And Magic is offended. If you come to Los Angeles, even if you're a clipper or a Dodger, and you don't come to him and say, hey, man, can I do

some business in this town? Like, Magic loves elevating people. He really does. He's one of the greatest people person you'll have people people you'll ever meet. I've been in a room four or five times with Magic. He lights it up. I mean, he just takes the oxygen out of the room. Charles Barclay has that ability, right? Whereas Shaq's

bigger and doesn't have quite that ability. Kobe didn't have that ability. So, I think what Magic's doing here, and I'm okay with it. Magic's saying, hey, I'm going to protect my brand. You're making me look incompetent. I'm a businessman here. You're not going to make me look like I'm a fool.

That's a great point because watching that interview did make me say, you know what, Magic was doing like the right thing. He had told Jeannie, you understand, I got a lot of other things going on. Don't expect me be in the office all the time. Okay, so you don't take that away from him. And then Tim Harris is helping make basketball decisions. You're right. came away thinking, you know what, magic wasn't the problem there.

You know, they got a lot of other issues, as we've seen. And like even now, they're not going to hire a replacement for magic. That's fine. It was clear Rob Polinka was going to hedge your basketball operations. But can you be professional and give them the proper titles? Make Polinka the president, the executive vice president, basketball operation, whatever you want to call it, and make Kurt Rambis the general manager or something number two.

Right now you have no titles for these. Kurt Rambuss is a special advisor. What does that mean? Linda Rambis is the special projects coordinator or something like that. Like it makes it look like you don't understand the importance of infrastructure and structure and that is something that free agents are going to look like.

Believe me, one of the selling points for the Clippers and Free Agency is the structure of their front office and how well it's run. And that is going to hurt the Lakers if they don't get this thing straight down. So now I want to address Anthony Davis. Joy doesn't believe it'll happen. I've argued I don't think he's the best fit.

I take Bradley Beal in a second. I think LeBron works with shooters. I don't think LeBron necessarily always works with Biggs. I think the world's changing. And Anthony Davis, you know, he may knock down a three or two occasionally, but I don't think that in this current NBA, teams are getting smaller, not larger, right? And so, you know, the Gail Benson. she won't do a deal with the Laker.

She denies it this morning. Chris Broussard, where are we at on this? What are your sources telling you? As far as New Orleans, like you said earlier, the Lakers are going to have to win the deal. And that not only comes from Gail Benson, but from David Griffin. If he had his druthers,

he'd get a better deal elsewhere and send Anthony Davis to the east. Don't blame it all. Now, Alvin Gentry likes the Lakers players. And Alvin Gentry and Griff have a great relationship. Griff almost hired him in Cleveland. He likes Lanzo ball.

You know how Alvin likes to play up and down running? He loves the idea of Lanzo ball, Drew Holliday, Zion Williamson, Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram, offensively and defensively. I mean, those are some good defensive players. So that is something in here as well. how much of a sway gentry can have. Then Brooklyn is going as hard after Anthony Davis as anybody.

Brooklyn? Yeah, a package of like DeAngelo Russell, Jared Allen, who's a nice piece shot blocker, athletic at the rim. Nice for this day and age in basketball. They've got the 17th to 27th pick. Now, Brooklyn, their dream is to pair AD with Kyrie. They really only want to try to get AD if they got Kyrie because they, that'll help him keep AD.

So if they can get Kyrie to agree, I'll go to Brooklyn. If you get AD, then Brooklyn makes that type of offer for Anthony Davis. And they try to pair those two. Kyrie grew up a Nets fan. He grew up in Jersey. He grew up a Nets fan and the selling point to Kyrie. And one thing I'm told he's looking at is you don't have to deal with the media as much in Brooklyn as you do with the NICS. No, it's Mets to the Yankees.

It's Clippers to the Lakers. Right. But nationally, the gap between the Knicks and Nets isn't nearly as wide as it is in New York. Well, not if they land Kyrie and Anthony Davis. Around the country, people could be like, oh, I could get behind Brooklyn more so than the Nix. But in New York, the Knicks are king, and nothing will change that. So Brooklyn's trying to make some noise in this. They also, look, Kevin Durant, they're on his radar.

Let's just put it that way. So it's, now, let me throw this in, too, with the Duran. thing. I'm hearing, I'm told he's already recruiting players. I know you said this too. I'm told the same thing. He's already recruiting players to New York. No, I was told this last week. In fact, I was

listening to a rival show to ours. And they, how can I say this diplomatically, we're not scoffing at my report, but they almost like, well, I mean, this is another fringe report. We are not fringe.

No. I was told by a current NBA player, and I've been told by a former all-star, high-level player who lives in Los Angeles, KD's done. Now, again, I think we both believe he can be swayed. Well, here's the thing, Colin. If you and I are hearing these things, don't tell me the Warriors players aren't hearing them. If we're hearing from players, KD's recruiting other guys to go to New York, you don't think the Roy, Drayminds, and Steph and Clay are hearing this.

Now, they're being very classy and professional when they go out and say we need KD. I think they even go overboard when Clay says to win a championship, we need KD. Now, I would just say he's our best player. Of course we need him. I wouldn't say we need him to win a championship because I don't think they do.

And I don't think they do. But they're being very classy going out, you know. And so if that's true. But inside, you know, they're thinking, look, we're going to show the world and KD that we can win it without it. Chris Broussard, great seeing you, buddy. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong in a Monday.

Coming up 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. 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 sweat, A staggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world. He doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud.

But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi,

we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout, Kate Martin, and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't.

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

that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail, in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard.

Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. 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 middle health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

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

while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast,

learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Oh, here we go. Hour 2 live in Los Angeles. This is The HARD, wherever you may. Maybe and however, you may be listening. We are live on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1.

Baker Mayfield is talking about me on Cleveland Radio. I'll get to that. I love it. I love Baker Mayfield. Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy Miss Friday when I demanded an apology from Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham for the horrible things they had said about me on Twitter. I barely slept all weekend long.

Crazy, was it not? It was crazy. I was really like, what is happening? I leave town for one day, and it's a solid. All hell breaks loose. Well, you're the grown-up in the room. When you leave, this is what happens. The kids throw stuff.

They break lamps. Everyone's angry at each other. It got a little wild. Breaking furniture when mom leaves. So did you settle it? Well, I guess we'll see what Baker says. We have not settle it, but we got some good Baker stuff. We got a great, great hour coming up.

So don't go anywhere. You know, every Monday, I talk a lot, but I always feel that I have to be honest. Sometimes I whiff, and when I do, I got to get called out on it. And so Colin right, Colin wrong on a Monday, here we go. Where Colin was right? Listen, I've been saying this now for at least three weeks. Can we stop with the... Without KD, they're just not the same team.

No, they're not. I'm not so sure they're not really, really special and won't win without him. Steph Curry's unbelievable. Since KD left, he's averaging 36, six rebounds, five and a half assists, six made three-pointers a game, shooting 47% from the floor, 97% at the free throw line. Folks, stop talking James Hardin and Russell Westbrook. This kid is revolutionary.

This kid is changing the game and the math that's accompanied with it. There's no superstar in my life that's ever been dispensed as quickly as Steph Curry, and he is proving what I've always believed. He is one of the fundamentally four to five most unique, important, structure-changing players in the history of the NBA. Where Colin was wrong. Like, I liked Adam Gase getting the Jets job. He had a winning record in Miami as long as Ryan Tannehill was healthy.

But I had said he has a reputation of being intense. Lord, like scale it back, have a green tea. Can we go to a yoga session? It's too much. You got stories this weekend coming out that Lavian Bell, he doesn't want him. He's going to trade. I mean, it's very hard right now for as dysfunctional as the Knicks and the New York Giants are to steal the back page in New York and the Jets did it this weekend. Now I got a Peyton Manning story.

Labian Bell is going to get traded story. Adam Gase is working behind the scenes. I think the guy's really smart. I really do. But this is too much. Hello, it's the off season. Let's ratchet the noise in the intensity down. just a little.

Where Colin was right? All the NFL rookies this weekend in Los Angeles took that rookie class photo. Anybody notice Kyler Murray to the right? The guy he's standing next to is a receiver that's 5-9 Mark East Brown of Oklahoma. Kyler Murray appears to be like

two inches shorter than 5-9 Marquise Brown. Okay, I'm just going to say it again. I never bought the Russell Wilson comparisons. I think the kid at Alabama Tua, is Russell Wilson, left-handed. Russell Wilson is bigger. Look at these two pictures now, Joy. Russell, shoulders, arms, bigger, stronger.

Russell also put on weight for the combine. Or excuse me, my bad. Russell Wilson lost weight before the combine to run a faster 40. Kyler put it on to show girth and size. That picture this weekend, I could not, I can't wait for to watch this team, by the way. Oh, they're going to be interesting. They're going to be fascinating, but I've said from day one, I don't buy all the measurables I'm hearing.

And this, this has got a little crazy look to it, if you're asking me. Where Colin was wrong. One of these days, I'm going to get a Zion Williamson story right. I love this kid. He is the most magnetic college basketball player since magic? I don't remember Michael Jordan being this fascinating in college. Kobe and LeBron didn't play college, but I thought he was going to go to the Knicks.

I was wrong. I thought he would never come back when he blew the shoe up. I was wrong. And I thought he would give the Pelicans at least a one to two week stiff arm to weigh his options. Next day, everybody's like he's going to play for them. I think, you know, it's the same thing that happens to your kids. When you love your kids so much, you lose perspective.

Zion, I have to recalibrate on it. I have to reboot my Zion opinions. Where Colin was right? How about Big Ben? What do you know? First time in several years, Big Ben spent last week on a lake with his teammates. Oh, this sort of what we said would happen. Antonio Brown leaves, Levy and Bell gives the Steelers, you know, the stiff arm.

I said, Big Ben's going to come out and you watch this offseason. He is going to be the leader. You wish he always was. he's going to be all about the team. He's going to be all about the skill people. Well, he did this early in his career and then he stopped doing it. Well, it's interesting. This is the year that he started taking teammates to his lakehouse again.

Sort of funny how that works, isn't I believe, between Lamar Jackson and Baker getting all the love and between Ben getting all the blame for the dysfunction in Pittsburgh, he is going to play as well as he has played and as precise as he has played for years, and this was a very telling tale. First time in several years, he's back to being the teammate. Everybody wants to be around. Where Colin was wrong. You know, Dremont Green has been ridiculous against Portland.

And I said during the regular season, he drives me nuts. I can't depend on him. He's getting in fights with his teammates. Night to night, I don't even know what I'm getting. He has not only been Dennis Rodman with actual skill. Golden State's not only 29 and 1 when, he gets a triple double, which I don't care much about, but it is a remarkable number. But he also showed leadership qualities during this game, which were great when a teammate missed a dunk.

Listen. He missed the shot tonight. Did he? I did it. He did too. It's okay. Keep it moving. It's okay.

You missed a shot. All of us have. Nobody's perfect. 24 assists in three games against Portland. By the way. 12 blocks in three games against Portland. Forget the points. Forget the fact he's averaging 11 and a half rebounds.

Leadership, dependability hitting jumpers. He has been unbelievable in this series. Where Colin was right. Well, the three finalists for MVP were announced this weekend, Hardin, Janice, and Paul George. Officially Russell Westbrook is not the most valuable or the best player for Oklahoma City. still think he's great and I still think he's talented and I still think he has value.

But this is one of these things I said a couple of years ago. The MVP in this league has become like a reward for a good story. And when KD bailed on Westbrook, it was a good story. Like we were rooting for Westbrook to show KD loyalty matters. And so because he had a triple double, we gave him an award. And then we gave James Harden an award for stats. And in the end, he, Paul George is now the go-to player. and I think it's a better locker room when he is the go-to player for the OKC Thunder.

Where Colin was right? Bryce Harper had a nice weekend, but I said when he signed this massive 13-year deal, I said I'd never give a power hitter a 13-year deal. Now, a contact hitter Mike Trout, I get, legs, glove, but Bryce Harper, despite this weekend, is batting under 200 in May, batting 235, is getting booed at home, and leads Major League Baseball in strikeouts. And for the record, he has never led Major League Baseball in. strikeouts. So I'm not saying he doesn't strike out. But when you give a power hitter, the kind of

money you gave Bryce Harper, Bryce Harper isn't an idiot. He knows he's got to deliver 42 jacks a year, or he is underachieving. So now he's striking out more, getting on base less, and you can defend him all you want, because he did have a really nice weekend, but this has been worse than all of us expected and it's been exactly what I thought would happen. Initial struggles, struggles when you give a power hitter, a monster deal. Where Colin was wrong. I was told about five weeks ago the Lakers were going to bring in somebody once Magic left, a professional, a current GM to run the franchise.

Rob Polinka would be number two. But since I said that, the Lakers have announced they're not going to do that. And now the Rambus family is kind of conjoined with Jeannie Buss, and they have major influence. And I've got to be honest, I'm struggling to keep up day to day with what I would perceive as chaos. I don't know. I mean, I have people that cover the Lakers for a living. And they're just, there are times they're guessing. This is an organization.

You know, it's actually easy to predict what well. run organizations do, right? The common sense thing. I have no idea day-to-day what I get from the Lakers. I was told they were in discussions with a GM in the league, and they went exit stage right on that. Where Colin was right? I'm not going to deny that Brooks Kepka is amazing.

I watched the PGA championship for two hours yesterday, but I don't feel like he lets me in. He doesn't emote. When Tiger Woods was mad, he'd pump a fist, he'd swear he'd throw a club. I felt his struggles. With Brooks Kepka, I get nothing. By the way, he pumped his fist after he won this. Now, he pumped his fist, and for a second, I thought, all right.

And then after pumping his fist, he said this. Today was definitely the most satisfying out of all of them for how stressful. that round was. How stressful DJ made that. That was probably definitely, I know for a fact, that was the most excited I've ever been in a long, ever in my life right there on 18. A fist pump is the most excited you've been ever.

Listen, I can know somebody's great, but it doesn't fascinate me. And I say this with Brooks. I'm not denying he's just a monster out there. He's got alpha. But I'm interested to see the ratings over the weekend. I don't get enough. You got to let me in.

You got to be vulnerable. I don't have a problem throwing a club swearing because I know you're freaking out. And then I'm with you and I'm along for the journey. I don't feel, even though he may surpass many of the greats with this run of majors, I don't feel an it quality which changes golf like Tiger Woods. I just don't feel it. Where Colin was right. Finally, when Odell Beckham came to the Cleveland Browns, I said, like the kid,

I worry about his injuries. but Cleveland is now getting really noisy and he's a noisy player and they're collecting talent and I don't know how it's going to work and last week I did a harmless segment about his 10 most memorable plays

and OBJ went on Twitter and was just firing shots at me which is fine. It's his Twitter account but this is what I worried about. The noise. You don't hear noise from really well-run teams and if you do it's brief. This is not that Odell Beckham's not a good kid

It's not that he's not talented. Check, check. But in this league, you notice the two noisiest teams over the last two weeks? Cleveland and the Jets, you look at what they've done the last decade. What he did, I actually will defend Baker a little because Baker went to defend OBJ. And I think I'm kind of, I kind of get why he did it. It was a little man overboard and he was trying to throw him a life preserver a little bit here. But this is exactly what I predicted.

It's going to be noisy. It's going to be so. social media, and that is not the recipe for winning big time in this league. By the way, I have something coming up. Apparently, Baker Mayfield was talking about me this morning on Cleveland Radio, Joy. Cleveland Radio is, did I tell you, I was in, I was in Cabo. About a month ago, I took a weekend off. Remember I left him in Cabo?

And a guy came up to me. He was a real nice guy from Cleveland. He goes, man, they really hate you in my city. I'm like, really? He goes, yeah, I was just reading the Cleveland newspaper, plain dealer. Man, you're all over the newspaper today. So apparently... You make the newspaper up there, huh?

Ah, newspaper. Did I forget how nice you were to LeBron for all these years when he was in Cleveland? Apparently, they forgot about amnesia. So apparently I was a topic with Baker Mayfield this morning, and I'll play a little bit of that coming up. Plus Kendrick Perkins, Jeff Schwartz. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. 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. 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 beaders 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 Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

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

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

Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts for wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience

in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch life becomes about wins and losses Steve Burns Dustin Ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person

join me Keer games is we have real conversations about healing growth fathers pressure and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Our next fight is going to be a good one as former super welterweight champion, Austin, No Doubt,

faces Olympian Terrell Gashay Saturday at 8 Eastern on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. Did you see the knockout by Dante Wilder this weekend? I did. It is frightening to look at. We have ourselves a Tyson-esque knockout fighter on our hands here. Somebody that is just physically more powerful than most everybody on the planet.

That was something to watch. Did you see the slow-mo reactions of everyone in the fronts of the rain? Even in slow-mo, it was incredible. I mean, it really made me think of Tyson, where two men walked in and it was over with the first landed punch. It was unbelievable. So let me give you an update. You know, Baker Mayfield came out of college, Oklahoma. Great program.

And I said, listen, if I was GM, he's undraftable, although I think he'll get drafted. I think he'll be fine. He's accurate. He's smart. He'll do fine. I don't want to deal with the nonsense. The grabbing, the throwing, you know, it's not my stuff.

But I brought him on the show because if I criticize somebody, I'd take Westbrook on the show. I want you to come on, fire back at me. And I did lie. And I've said this before. I think Baker's a good kid. I think he's a little immature in college. So was I, but I'm not a franchise quarterback, right?

So I've always said, you know, franchise quarterbacks, I like boring guys. I like Andrew Luck. I like Russell Wilson. I mean, Tom Brady's married to a supermodel, and he's pretty much watching film all day. And so Baker Mayfield last week, went back and forth. And, you know, a lot of my stuff is tongue-in-cheek with Baker. I'm not here to, you know, I thought it was pretty obviously tongue-in-cheek. He took shots at me, called me irrational.

Anyway, so he was on Cleveland Radio this morning. and he was asked about me, and I just want to, can I just play the tape? Let's just play the tape. It's on Cleveland Radio somewhere in the atmosphere. Go ahead. I don't know. I can't decide with him. He's just a character.

You know, you'll go on the show and he'll be nice to you in person, then he'll bite his tongue and say something else the next week. So I don't know. I think I'm done with him, but I'm not going to make any promises. You've got to prove something to him, though, this year, don't you? Baker, how about the expectations? You know, I'm not, I don't have to prove anything to him. To be honest with you, he doesn't really matter.

his opinion doesn't matter either. Well, I mean, that's certainly literally true. My opinion doesn't matter, and nor should it, by the way. By the way, this relationship, Baker, is not hard to figure out. You're a very talented quarterback. I'm a very opinionated generalist or opinion guy. And I didn't like your college junk. I still think you're a little noisy for me.

But I do think you're talented. And I think you throw a better deep ball than I thought you would in the NFL. and I still believe you're going to have to overcome some dysfunction with that organization to get to your very best, which I think is higher than I thought. But I never thought you were a bust. I said that a million times. By the way, I talk about you,

and much of the time it's very positive, but yes, sometimes you put yourself out there and Russell Wilson doesn't, and Jared Goff doesn't. And sometimes I feel like you're building a brand before you build a career, which is kind of, I guess, guess what athletes do today, which I don't love. Build a career, the brand will come.

Not build a brand while you're building your career. Mark Sanchez did a little bit of that. GQ magazine before he played. I'm not a big fan of that stuff. But I don't think I've always said. Baker's always welcome on the show. He can rip me. I'm okay with it.

I like him. But he puts himself out there. The downside to building a brand before you've built a career is this. I mean, if you had two Super Bowls, what am I going to say? But when you've had a third place finish and everybody in Cleveland's guarantee in a Super Bowl and you're building your brand,

you put yourself out there. You put your chin out there and sometimes, you know, I'll take a swing at it. But for the record, my opinion doesn't matter, and that is true. Right? I mean, it doesn't matter. No, no one's opinion matters.

The only opinion that should matter to anyone is your opinion of yourself. We're being literal here. So no, your opinion doesn't matter. My opinion doesn't matter. We're in the opinion business, so we give our opinions. So literally what we get paid to do is give our opinions.

And what Baker gets paid to do is play football. That is not insinuating. We don't have a... That doesn't mean we're not right. Yeah, almost always. Joy with the News. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the Heard Line News. I just wanted to be known that I was very supportive of Baker before all this started. You were? Yes, I said he should start from the beginning, remember? It's fuzzy at this point. It's, well, we'll have to get the tapes. Yeah, I did. All right, so the Lakers have said that they want Jason Kidd on their coaching staff to serve as a veteran assistant for Frank Vogel and to mentor Alonzo.

But they may have another more ambitious reason as well. According to Steve Popper of Newsday, a person familiar with the Lakers process said that Kid was brought to Los Angeles to attract Janus Antecompo to the Lakers when he becomes a free agent in two years and the Bucstar could become an unrestricted free agent. Oh, boy. Yon has played for kid in Milwaukee for three and a half seasons beginning in his second season in the league. And that's a little pipe dream, isn't it? Just hire a good coach. Well, here's a problem with this idea. If they add a max-level player this year and Anthony Davis via trade that would take them out of the Yonis contention in 2021,

they also have LeBron still, and he has a $41 million player option for 21-22. So it's possible that LeBron chooses to opt out. Maybe. And leave the Lakers at that time, and then they had Janus as they're, you know, in his prime replacement. But my issue is, Janus has already come out this year and said he's not leaving the bucks. Yeah, no, he's not. I don't feel, I do not feel with Janus, listen, there's no reason to leave. The world's changed.

You can make money anywhere. He's got a way better coach in Milwaukee than potentially he'd have anywhere else. For the record, like Damien Lillard, if you trust the GM, if you like the city, if you trust the coach and you're winning, what's the point? There is no point. You're traveling for half the games anyway. You can live wherever you want in the offseason if that's the issue. Yonis is clearly a low-key guy.

And he already has all the commercials he needs. He's on every other commercial I see. He is. So what is the point? At this point, the idea that a free agent like Yonis would want to come to the Lakers is just arrogance. If you keep this coach and this star, it's very possible. I'm not saying probable, but possible.

Milwaukee could be a cold weather version of the San Antonio Spurs. 12 years of relevance and multiple titles. That's not, that's, now I don't think it's going to happen this year, but I don't think the Warriors last forever. So, I mean, we've always had, even in the heyday, even in the magic bird years, there's always a smaller market team that's great. Right. There always is in the NBA.

may have, you know, back when Magic and Bird, the Celtics, but back in those days, you know, Portland was very good, or Utah was very good. It looks like Utah has a chance to be that one smaller market team that for 12 years is completely relevant and will win multiple

titles. Plus their coach in Milwaukee is a top of its disciple. Exactly. That works there. Also, I don't know if the Lakers had an actual process in the hiring of any one who's been hired there. All right, so Kyrie Irvington do himself any favors this past season when it came to his free agency.

According to a report from the Boston Herald, teams interested in Kyrie as a free agent are now a great deal more wary based on the way things played out with the Celtics and his role both off the court all year and on it. Clubs are concerned about putting too many eggs in his basket right away. Two teams for certain are saying they will only go after him if they land another marquee free agents and that says and one that says he wants Kyrie. He was 30.1 percent shooting and 18.5% from the three over the final four games. So he did not have a great series. But he is great.

As we know, but it's still Kyrie. And I think that the one thing we learned about Kyrie, which is something that I feel like we already knew with every team in the NBA is, you need two stars and you need two stars that can work together. And Boston did not have that. It was Kyrie's team. And Kyrie might be just a 1A. And that's fine.

There's nothing wrong with that at all. And I don't think that Kyrie doesn't realize that either. It's why all the rumors are that he's going to team up with Kevin Durant or be with Anthony Davis. I just don't buy that all these teams are frightened of him. I think there's drama with him, but he's good. There's drama with everybody. That's the way it goes. It's still Kyrie Irving.

Nobody's just going to pass up on Kyrie Irving. I mean, unless they are for sure that they're getting two pieces that are strong enough to pass up on him. And finally, this is kind of good news for us because we're in the content business. If you were wondering if Ben Ruffisberger was ever going to break his silence about this disaster of an offseason, We have our answer tonight. We will be doing an interview with KDKA, and he will address the Antonio Brown offseason drama, the criticism of his leadership, his new contract,

and the future of his radio show. With KDKA. Yes. I could be wrong on this. Here's some useless trivia. I believe that was the first radio station in America. It could be. You're from there.

Sounds right. Yes. That's why it has a. Yes, it is. There you go. There we go. Why do you know that? because it has a K instead of a W.

West Coast is W. West Coast is K for radio stations. East Coast is W. So why would Pittsburgh have a KDKA? Because... Yeah. I guess I should probably know that. It's like one of those Marconi trivia

trivia questions. You want a beer at a really bad bar. This is very interesting, though. We will have to keep an eye on what Ben says. And it's interesting that he's saying anything at all. Because at this point, why do you need to? All of the dramas kind of died down. So maybe there's something in there.

We don't know yet. Good stuff. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lying News. That's bringing him in without further ado. Perk. Kendrick Perkins will cut through the nonsense. Absolutely cut through the nonsense.

So Perk, great to see you. Again, 15 NBA season. I always said you've played with fascinating teams. You played with the big three in Boston. You played with Hardin and the guys in Oklahoma City. You play with LeBron and the Cavs. You have played. You're like the movie star that's been in like four big hits.

and you have a lot of connections in this league. And so right now what Golden State's doing is remarkable. And it's a different game. But as a big, it's very weird. So Durant and Boogie are their bigs. They leave. And Golden State is a perpetual motion offense. That offense has made it more difficult for the Kendrick Perkins of the world

when you're running around chasing six, five guys. the new basketball is increasingly a smaller basketball. That's what it looks like to me. Yes. It feels like it's a smaller game. Your takeaway on this version of Golden State without KD. Well, I think they're playing well. They're back to the Golden State that actually changed the whole league.

When Golden State won the championship, their first championship, everybody was like, hold on, we're going to have to switch it up, Biggs don't exist no more. Short my NBA career. They did? Yeah, because I probably could have win 17, 18 years instead of 15. So what I'm saying is, is they, you're right, the way they run their offense and, you know, they playing the small ball and moving 6-6-Dremont to the 5, you know, that changed the game.

And right now it's going away from Biggs. It's just basically putting out five players that skilled and, make plays. Yeah, I mean, Milwaukee is an interesting matchup because Milwaukee's got great depth and great size. Right. And my question is, Janice is athletic enough. He's athletic enough. You'll keep

him on the floor. But I don't know how big Milwaukee can go when they face Golden State. Now, when I watch Milwaukee Toronto, Milwaukee looks like the better team clearly to me. What does it look like to you? Well, I think they're even. I don't see it either way. I think

they're even. I think Toronto is really good. I think they have a lot of experience over there. Saul, Lowry. Yeah. You know, finals MVP. Abaka. Danny Green champion.

And you look at Milwaukee, they're very versatile. You know, they slide Yonis to the five. And even getting bragging back was huge. The way George Hills has been playing. Great. Great. You know, and they're shooting the three ball. They're extremely high level.

you got Chris Millerton. So they're deep. You even have Eric Bliss, so he haven't been playing well, but he's still a guy who's capable of going out and having an impact. This series of coin flip to you? Yes, this series is a coin flip. I think it's a coin flip.

I don't think it's one side of it at all. And just look, like Powell and Larry filed out early in the game last night. Right. And Toronto, where Kauai willed them to victory. I see them winning game four. and I see this series going seven games.

It is. When you look at Toronto, it's amazing how much age they have between Lowry and Green and Gasol. And you forget because a lot of these guys were not the number one guy on their team. Toronto is kind of an old team. Abaka? Absolutely. So, I mean, but they got all their eggs in one basket. So when they made the off-season trade to get Kawhi, they said what?

That means we're going out to win the championship. I mean, I'm pretty sure in that locker room they preach a championship. So at the end of the day, I think these teams are evenly matched. I love what Kauai Lina did last night and taking pride in Garnas. Because usually you don't get that out of your best player because he has to do so much offensively for him to go and take on the challenge and goyana's and actually lock him up. I mean, really put the clamps on him and do what he did offensively.

That was great. and it shows he's ready to be a leader and shows that he's top five, one of the best players in the league right now. Story came out yesterday. There are GMs that are wary of Kyrie and the drama. We also know stories come out that KD would like to go to New York or the East Coast.

So, you know, you start looking at the four teams that are left, and their star player is low-key, Damian Lillard, pretty low-key, Steph Curry, low-key, Kauai, low-key Janus. the four teams, their best player, it's not a drama guy. He's kind of just a coachable, work, talent, and dude.

And then I look at Katie and Kyrie, and I see all sorts of talent, but I see all sorts of drama. Are we sure they'd work together? Are we sure that Katie and Kyrie wouldn't just be headline after headline, after chaos? You think it's going to work if they go together?

I think it'll work. I think it'll be exciting for New York basketball. I mean, would they deliver a championship? Probably not in the first year, but I think it would be exciting for New York. I think it would be exciting for the NBA period. I think Kyrie needs a guy like Kevin Durant, because I said this once before, he's not a Batman.

He's a guy that he needs to be playing with a superstar in order for him to flourish. So Kyrie don't need to be the number one option. He needs to be the number two option to succeed. And I think it would work because KD, In his mind right now, he wants his own team. And he wants the responsibility and want to be able to carry the load on his shoulders and just let Kyle replay basketball.

So I think LeBron did. I'm going to throw a theory at you. Okay. So pretend you're Kevin Durant. All right. Why in the world would you come back, even if you're healthy, until Golden State trails in a series? So hear me out on this.

If Kevin Durant, so let's say, the Warriors wrap it up tonight. They have nine days rest until the final. Katie will probably be ready. Right. I wouldn't play. I would see what Golden State would do in the first game. If they

lose, I come in and I save the team. But if I play in the opener of the finals and we lose to Milwaukee, that is a bad hit. And if I'm Katie, I'm thinking to myself, listen,

we're winning without me. I would rather just stay away until we trail in a series. And then I can come in be seen as beneficial to the process. Well, I don't know about that one, Colin. And I don't disagree with you on a lot of stuff. Listen, if KD's healthy, he got to come back to start the game one. Listen, at the end of the day, I don't think Golden State will want to go to the finals and get down a game or be down in the series to either one of these teams, Milwaukee or

Toronto and is Golden State playing beautiful basketball yes but look let's not we all forget that Golden State went out and recruited Kevin Durant for a reason after 73 and 9 season and they recruited Kevin Durant and there's no knock on your guy Steph Curry right he get credit he should get out get get a lot of credit he's been playing well since Katie been out but he do have a history of disappearing in finals. Some big games. Yeah, especially in the finals. So, you know, it was at one point of time with a guy by the name of Matthew Deladova, but borderline outplayed Steph Curry in the finals, even though they lost. They gave Iguidala their year got the finals MVP. And

they was thinking about giving it to Bron. So at the end of the day, Golden State is a great team, but they need Kevin Durant to win the championship. What do you make of magic? went on TV this morning and kind of ripped Polanka. It kind of felt like to me Magic was tired of hearing what a fool he was with the Lakers. And Magic's like, enough of this nonsense. I'm going to go and defend myself. Well, he was right. I'm with Magic.

I mean, because the Lakers didn't come out and defend him. So he had to. He had to protect his name. He had to protect his brand. You know, at the end of the day, over the past couple weeks, he'd been getting a lot of heat. And not once did the Lakers come out and, you know, protect him. protect magic or whatever. So he had to do what he had to do.

And loyalty is a huge thing in this league, especially when working in the front office. You know, if you have, if you a GM and you're working with your assistant GM and y'all working, y'all have to be on the same page. He can't be backstabbing or none of that because it would never work out. And like I said, nobody protected magic in this situation

when he stepped down. Nobody at all. The Lakers didn't come out and protect them. So I think I'm with Magic on this one. He had to come out and protect himself today. Yeah. He's got a brand too. Yes.

And Magic's getting bad. He's been clobbered on this show. He's been clobbered on every debate show. And Magic said enough of this stuff. Went out and went after the Rob Load guy, Rob Blanco. And on top of that, Colin, Magic is a great guy. He's not a guy that's selfish, by the way, too, in life. Like, he always want everyone to succeed.

No question. So at the end of the day, when you have a guy with that type of character like Magic Johnson, and like he walks in a room, he brightens up a room. He always want to see how he can help somebody or he's not selfish with his business ideas. He want to bring people alone. And he had to go out there today, and I'm glad he did because he had to protect his character

and he had to protect his brand. Good stuff, Perk. Thank you. You always deliver, man. Kendrick Perkins, new. You see him all the time on FS1 and we love it. Coming up next, where KD is actually better than Michael and LeBron. I'll give you that story next.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd Weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness,

professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel like you don't 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 a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning.

It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast. For wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer 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, Tript 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 hard way and listen now. Welcome back. Don't skip meals anymore. Drink Soylent. Complete meal in a bottle.

Plant protein, essential nutrients. Limited time, first time customers. Go to Soylent.com put in Herd 2. Heard 20. Get 20% off your first case. Great to have you in a Monday. You know, I tell my daughter this all the time is, you know, People only put the best parts of their life on Facebook.

And I'm sure every parent listening tells their kids the same thing. That's not really life. Tom Hanks has had bad movies. So did James Dean. Marlon Brando had six utter bombs. Great bands had bad albums. Facebook and social media wants you to believe that everybody eats every great meal and everybody's friends are gorgeous.

And every sunset's perfect. I live in Los Angeles. I haven't seen the sun in four days. Okay? That's not the way life is. It's the same with NBA legends. Like, does everybody realize it's not linear? Eva, I'll take the greatest players of all time.

Magic Johnson. One year, he was called Tragic Johnson because he whiffed in the finals. Michael Jordan's books got a couple ugly chapters. Couldn't win without Pippin. Quit for minor league baseball. Gambling rumors. Punch Steve Kerr in the face. You write the book on.

LeBron James. The decision wasn't great. He was afraid to post up J.J. Bray in the finals and they lost to a Dallas team without a second dominating player. Those are the best players in the league. Those are the best. So let's go to Kevin Durant's book. I got to be honest, the worst chapter in Kevin Durant's book. I think we can officially say now is Warriors were good before him. Warriors are good after him. that's the ugly truth chapter 10 outside of that the first nine chapters rings titles adulation money fame amazing good dude you know tom hanks did terminal it's there on the resume you can go to google it his worst chapter so far is yeah golden state won before him and it looks like they could probably win without him all right by the way my favorite band of all times the eagles they were great

for Joe Walsh, and they were great with Joe Walsh. I don't think less of Joe Walsh. Like, it's okay. It's, this is going to be the little slight ding on Kevin Durant's career. Because by the way, there used to be another ding, Joy, which was, it couldn't win in Oklahoma City. But now since he's left, we're all kind of like, well, Westbrook is kind of hard to play with. So I don't even think that's a chapter anymore.

Some things take a few years to actually see clearly. I don't know why everyone forgot that Golden State was good. You realize they went seven games and was one Kyrie shot away from winning that championship. And remember this. There's either a misunderstanding or people forget this. Why did Kevin Durant come to the Warriors? It wasn't because they needed him to win. No, remember what had happened.

The Warriors had faced LeBron in back-to-back finals. And LeBron was a lot of last. better against the Warriors than any other team. In the two series, 33 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, shot 55%. Golden State could not stop LeBron. LeBron and Matthew Delvedova, without Kyrie and Kevin Love, who got hurt, almost beat the Warriors. So Golden State's like, yeah, we can win without Kevin Durant. But we got to make LeBron play some defense on the other end.

We got to get some size and length here. So Kevin Durant was never brought here to win a title. There was this thing called LeBron in his prime, and Golden State couldn't stop him. And they wanted to force LeBron to play a little defense. LeBron not have an answer every time he came down the floor. He would never brought in here. You know, Kenny Smith, I thought put it perfectly yesterday. They're a dynasty with Kevin Durant, but they're still a champion without him.

Yeah. I think social media has created this. belief system that there's no bumps in life. I mean, years ago, there was this thing called Occupy Wall Street where a bunch of 20-year-olds camped out in Wall Street and said, we want money. And I was thinking, you're 24. Who had money at 24? None of the guys on Wall Street.

They're all 58 with gray hair. The reality is life's full of bumps and full of turbulence. And, I mean, Warren Buffett's the best investor of my life. 10 years ago, he bought newspapers. Not a great decision. Don't believe in Facebook. That's not the way what the world works. People aren't all beautiful.

Not every meal is picture perfect. Sometimes you have a corn dog for dinner because it's the only thing in the refrigerator and you don't feel like getting in your car and driving over to Ralph's. It's okay. But I think a lot of people think this is a ding on Kevin Durant. And I'm like, yeah, it's that little chapter. And I do believe now, I do believe it's a real chapter, which is Golden State won before him.

And, I mean, if you go look at Steph and Dremont's numbers, since he left, this I think is not really disputable. When Steph has to be the centerpiece of the offense, oh, he is. And he elevates his game. And when Draymond, when they need a more adult Dremont, not just quirky tough guy Dremont, and when they really need him to be a valuable cog, he kind of shapes up and he is.

So, you know, Dremon's an interesting piece. He's more of an accessory. When you have Steph, Clay, and Durant, Draymond's personality, he's this annoyance. He's poking everybody in the ribs. But what's funny about Draymond, when Kevin Durant's gone, and you now need 17 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, and three blocks, it's amazing that Draymond goes, okay, I'll shift into the player I'm capable of, now they need me. So it's a little thing on Kevin Durant, but of all the legends bad chapters, it's the best bad chapter.

Hour 3, Jeff Schwartz, football, and more. Next. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Great to have you in. Discover's going further with mile

rewards than they ever have before. It's called Discover at Miles card automatically matches all the miles you earn at the end of your first year. Limitations apply. Discover match for new card members only. Learn more at Discover.com.com slash travel. I read that as fast as as I can possibly read anything. I don't even know I was just flying out of my mouth right there. Joy Taylor is joining us.

Jeff Swartz in about 10 minutes. He's fantastic and funny and all that stuff. His brother is an offensive lineman of the very good chiefs, and he was a great offensive lineman for years in the NFL. So Magic Johnson went on the other network today, ESPN, and decided, you know what, I'm going to come out publicly and defend myself. Magic Johnson's had an interesting career. We were talking earlier about it's not linear in life.

Magic was one of the greatest players I've ever seen. I think he's the second or third best player I've ever seen and really carried this league for about 10 years with Larry Bird. I didn't work as a coach, didn't work as a talk show host, clearly didn't work, you know, running the Lakers. And Magic just wanted to defend himself today and say, okay, I got a brand here and I got a reputation and everybody's taking shots at me and I want to come out and defend myself. And he did not go on there to bang LeBron. People were saying, oh, magic's going to just throw grenades and that's not who Magic Johnson is. Magic's a good guy.

But he did come out and he dropped this little caveat. He said people around the Laker office were telling me Rob Polinka was saying things. and I didn't like those things being said behind my back. And, you know, so I started getting calls from people around the league saying things were being talked about me outside of basketball. And he pretty much went after Rob Polinka, who, by the way, now runs the Lakers. And we've been told we'll run the Lakers. It was, you know, I know a lot of people listen or watch this show. And the U-Media guys, you're a bunch of gas bags and this and that.

This was what everybody was saying for like two months, is that Palinka and Magic didn't get along. and Polinka was, you know, walking into the office saying, where's magic? And everybody knew Magic was out of town or on a business trip or whatever. Magic's a busy guy. He's, you know, I don't even know, is he a billionaire? He's one of those guys. He's got his own planes.

He takes August off. And I never thought he was a good fit for this job, although he's obviously a wildly smart, successful guy. But go back. Remember when Magic quit and he had that rambling soliloquy, the filibuster for like 90 minutes? And it was classic magic. He's just talking.

And magic lights a room up. He's a good talker, very verbal. And he's just talking, talking, talking. And then it was this one question where he answered it very, very quickly. Have you really not told me? No, I haven't. Did you tell Rob Polinka? Nope.

Excuse me. That was, that's it? It was rather, let's do it again. There was a quick question about Rob Polinka. The answer was very quick. Did you tell Rob Polinka? Nope. that was the only question

magic didn't elaborate on even in slow motion you can listen in slow motion nope did you tell about Polico nope it's just in out done

you saw it right there like this thing was fractured it wasn't going to work and magic today just wanted to come out and defend himself he just wanted to defend himself he's got a massive business you got a little money in the Dodgers.

I think he was the first franchisee at Starbucks. He's a human length and he knows everybody in every league and ambassadors and presidents and governors. And I think he has a right to come out. I'll say this. And, you know, when Magic went on today, here's what's remarkable. If you want to know about the Lakers dysfunction,

I want you to think about this. So there's no bigger star in L.A. than Magic. Because Kobe lives down in Orange County. It's about an hour away. So Magic's the biggest star in L.A., right? I mean, even counting like movie stars. Magic walks in with Ryan Gossling. Magic's a bigger star in L.A.

So Magic's a legend. He's been successful in business. The Lakers had a coach who couldn't win any games. And according to Magic today, went on TV and said they wouldn't allow me to fire Luke Walton. Time out. So if Magic in L.A. With his business acumen and success and resume, can't fire a coach who's struggling.

And I like Luke, but he was struggling. And what does that tell you? If Magic wasn't given power, Who's going to be given power? Who's running it? I mean, if Magic couldn't get rid of the coach, they're going to let Rob Polinka have a lot of say. For the record, Frank Vogel is holding a press conference today with the Lakers,

and I'm told LeBron is there not talking, but is there in support. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, Kevin Durant is out on Twitter today. Oh, he is. He is often criticized for social media habits.

He fired back at our own Chris Broussard today on Twitter. What? Excuse me? Mm-hmm. Roussard said Katie's worst nightmare was having the general public discount his two rings because of the team around him. And Durant responded and said, well, Chris said, if the Warriors won the title without Katie, does that diminish his two rings?

He's quoting a bit that we posted on Fox Sports. radio from his show. And Kevin Durant's respondent and said, I see a little exaggeration there, buddy, my worst nightmare. You sure that that is the worst than it can get? Obviously, they're both being a little bit exaggerators here. It's not his worst nightmare. But it is something to discuss, as we were just discussing, this is going to be a chapter

in the Kevin Durant book that the Warriors were better without him. Again, I don't know why everyone thought that the Warriors were going to be terrible without Kevin Durant. they were game seven and one Kyrie shot away from winning that championship. There wasn't that much falloff. Like what happened that was that dramatic? Obviously, Kevin Durant puts them on another plateau as we've seen. But I don't even really think that this is an indictment of Kevin Durant.

This is just how good the Warriors are. It's not like the Warriors were losing with Kevin Durant. I don't understand why everyone's panicking. A good example. Let's say, let's say Brady retires in two years, and the Patriots win a Super Bowl without Brady. What we knew Belichick was great. It doesn't lessen Tom's greatness.

What it's saying is their system is so damn good. You can win with both. Brady and Durant made it easier, and they're both Hall of Famers. But does anybody really think Brady is carrying a bad coach and a bad system? Well, I mean, there's some idea that Brady does elevate all of his receivers and the offense and things like that. but we know that they have a great offensive line every single year. And Belichick is one of the greatest, if not the greatest football coach of all time.

So, yeah, they should still be good without Tom Brady or it's a huge indictment of their organization. Right. So I don't, and again, they weren't bad with Kevin Durant. So this is not an indictment of Kevin Durant. It's not an indictment of anyone. They can be greater and still great. Like, there's nothing wrong on either side here. It's the Eagles pre-Joe Walsh.

Great without him, great with him. They're both great. discredit his rings either. People, if you want to discredit Kevin Durant, you're going to find a way to do that. Kevin Durant was still the finals MVP of both of those finals and outplayed LeBron and his prime in both of them. So it's all going to be fine. So rumor has it that the Jets would like to hire Peyton Manning to run the team's football operations. He has no front office experience and it would not be a traditional hire. Yeah. That seems to fit Christopher Johnson's M.O. this hiring cycle. Yeah. So Matt Miller, Bleacher report is also providing some context on the Jets situation, which has been

much discussed over the past week or so. Oh, I love this. Because they made Adam Gase the interim GM of the Jets. Gase is now the interim GM of the Jets, which is now one higher, which is one, which one, which one high level evaluators with another team said is the biggest mistake anyone in the NFL has made in years. Gase is crazy. He's the most paranoid person in the world.

Yikes. Pro football talk put out a story about the GM that they just fired and Adam Gase not having a lot of communication before the draft and that being a big problem for Gase, which I feel like it's a big problem, period. You probably want your coach to have a significant say in the players that he's going to coach and have in his system over just what the GM wants to happen. But it's like we've been talking about the Lakers. I just don't like all the noises coming out of the Jets. They have Sam Donald.

They have Levy on Bell. Adam Gase was supposed to be a good hire for them. I think they, I mean, they are going to find a GM, but it's just a lot. It's not comforting. It's a mass. And we all know Adam Gase is intense, but it. Like, dude, scale back. It's May.

Scale. What's the season going to be like? I don't know. Very noisy, probably. And finally, Deonté Wilder added another violent finish to his career highlight reel with a brutal one-punch knockout at 2-17 of round one. This was, look at this. Look at this.

Yeah. Oh, it even moved the guy's ears. It moved his ears. It rattled his earlobes. Yeah. Well, that K-O. And Dominic Brazil got quite the reaction from everyone, including the spectators. And this guy in the front here with the rest of the red,

tie has gone viral, although everyone's face is kind of the same. It's really dramatic. Wow. To knock out with gloves, a guy that big, the velocity of that punch? Well, Deonté Wilde's a pretty big guy himself. But this is good, though. This is good for boxing. We, you know, we always talk about how boring the style of Floyd Mayweather was for so many years.

So I like that the heavyweights are back in. And now everyone's talking about a possible fight with Anthony Joshua as a three-belt title holder. Okay. So that's the next great fight. Well, they also want to, everyone wants a rematch with Tyson, Fury, which I would like to see as well. There's obviously some negotiating issues on both of those fights. We got three heavyweights now that can fight.

Yeah, I mean, either of those fights would be great. Anthony Joshua would be the best. And then I would like to see the rematch, though. Good stuff. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. Played almost a decade in the NFL.

His brother now is an outstanding Pro Bowl offensive linemen for the Kansas City Chiefs. They co-authored a book called Eat My Schwartz. Mitch, this is Jeff. It is a pleasure to have you on today. Oh, you don't have to button that, Jackie. You're an offensive lineman for God's sake. I know it's unbuttoned. It's unbuttoned.

Yeah, it's more comfortable that way. So what do you make of Peyton Manning? Somebody told me today. Somebody texts me during the show on this device and said, Peyton wants the job. Why? Why do you want the job? I don't get it.

He can do better, right? Or does he like Sam Darnold and think for 12 years? I got my guy. Or he doesn't have to do it at all and just live his retired life, doing the 50-part ESPN series he's doing, and just enjoy retirement. Maybe he loves Adam Gase. Maybe they're close.

They've worked together before. And your point, maybe like Sam Darnal, too, and he feels this is the opportunity to get in. I will have a lot of control if I come here because ownership wants me, obviously, Payne Manning. But great players often don't make great general managers and often don't put in the work. We saw with Maddo Johnson today speaking about

the Lakers in this function. He didn't put in the work to do it. Not all these guys want to put in the work. I personally, if I was many, I wouldn't take the job, but I guess with Gase and Darnold, there's some familiarity there. I just wouldn't do it. Why would you want to do Payne Manning? Hire someone who is young and up and coming, who's been in the business, who's a great scouting director. We've seen that work with Chris Ballard. We've seen it work with a bunch of guys. Go ahead and do that. Well, I think also, here's my concern. Because Sam Darnold's on a rookie contract, what the Jets need to do for the next two years because they're going to have to pay salmon

two more years. They're going to have to nail the draft in the next two years. This is what Green Bay has done before they had to pay Aaron Rogers, because you're going to have to get cheap labor. Well, Peyton may be very good at a lot of things, but do I really think he's great at finding slot receivers

at Central Washington University? What will you need now for the next two years is just a scouting expert because you're going to have to pay Donald a fortune in two years. 100% agree. Manning was going to know quarterbacks, obviously,

but they don't need a quarterback. They need him to find another left tackle eventually. They need him to find more weapons for Sam Daryl. They need him to continue to find pass rushers. He has not done this before. Now you're going to throw him in here. I mean, maybe you hire a great scouting director, guy could do pro and college personnel stuff. But why don't you go find a young up-and-coming guy who's been

doing it for a while and bring him in now? Maybe they're not enticed by this opportunity either. That's part of this as well. Maybe you don't want to play or should me be, you know, coach somewhere, work somewhere with an ownership that's kind of dysfunctional like this. Yeah, to me in the NFL, if you get the quarterback, I'd take a job. I think that's the one most attractive thing. If I, you know, Sam Donald, I can look at that and go,

I can ride with him for a decade. If you don't have a quarterback, I don't care how smart you are. Andrew Luck succeeded even with a GM before Chris Ballard that was considered man overboard. If you get the quarterback right, it takes care of everything. It does. But again, like, I just, I enjoy retired life so much. I couldn't imagine working the hours that we needed to be a general manager.

You have to watch that film. You have to go travel everywhere to colleges and watch these guys play. You have to do the combine stuff. To me, it's so many hours for a guy who's just retired and he's doing, he's staying busy, right? He's doing the ESPN series. He's having appearances, whatnot. To me, does he want to go back to living that life of being in the office at six, leaving at midnight every single day?

To me, it doesn't sound enticing. You have been a supporter of Odell Beckham Jr. I like him. I think he's a good kid. I don't think he was chaotic at LSU or his first year in New York. I think as the Giants got chaotic, he got chaotic. I was surprised at what I perceived to be an overreaction on Twitter last night toward me. What do you make of this?

He signs with Cleveland and their coach says last week, you know, I'd rather not have him here if he can't get his mind right. It's 65 days. I'm not even going to have an opinion on it. How did it land for you? Yeah, I don't quite understand this. I understand, I think Odell's out in Los Angeles now, right? He's here working out. I get it.

It's beautiful weather. The use of the facilities are nice. He was at USC2. They're nice. I get you want to be here. But I'd be with your teammates. You're traded to a new team, brand new offense, young quarterback.

You've got to figure out how to work with all these pieces in place. Same with Levi-on Bell. I think he should be there too in New York. Both these guys should be there working out with their guys. It gets voluntary. I get you don't want to get hurt, but learn the playbook with your guys. How long does it take to learn a playbook? So, different for every position, obviously,

but I've contended this for a while. Now, and I've actually asked Bruce Aaron's this. So he's backed me up on this, on another program. It takes eight to ten weeks of the regular season for your offense to fully function properly. Because you have to see every look against every play and different conditions of the game and different things. It takes eight to ten weeks to really get that offense going. What Sean McVeigh did is not normal. to come in right away, but that was because they were so bad the year before.

It's going to take Freddie Kitchens now, who's not just an O.C. He's the head coach. He's got to manage the entire team. He's got to manage situations differently now, being the head coach, not the O.C. It's going to take time for this offense to fully function. And with O'Dell not being there, it's not the biggest thing. He's a wide receiver. He's not a left tackle.

He's not a quarterback. But the timing, you don't get that timing as much in camp anymore because you don't practice as often anymore. So I think he's got to be there. The limited reps matter. and do the similar thing on Bell, not being in New York. They just page it, man. Show up and be with your teammates.

So this is, I don't want to make too much of this. But it is interesting. I think Kyler Murray is going to be fascinating to watch in Arizona. I do not believe he's Russell Wilson. I don't think he's that thick. I don't think he's that tall. I don't care what the combine number said. So a picture came out this weekend, a rookie class.

And he is next to a receiver who's listed at 5'9. and he looks significantly shorter than the guy that's 5-9. Am I making too much of this to say if I'm Arizona right now, I'm a little worried? Murray's the only player I've ever seen at the Combine be taller than his listed weight. Remember, the Oklahoma Strength Coach came out and said he is 5-9 and 3-4th. I promise you that. And obviously, he was 5-10. Look, it doesn't really matter, honestly, because if you're 5-10 or 5-9, it doesn't matter, my opinion.

It's not being 6-1 or 5-10, right? But it's just a funny story to keep talking about because, remember, He refused to get heightened weight at his pro day in Oklahoma, right? I think he's probably back down to 190. You know, Russell Wilson got to 205 from 220 in college. Remember, he lost weight and went back up. He didn't get to gain 15 pounds. Yeah, because Russell wanted to lose weight to run a faster 40.

Correct. His stature worries me a little bit, but I just, I'm not sold on Cliff Kingsbury and the offense working in national football league. See, that's the bigger issue. Four wide receivers, you know, we, We've seen all the reports. I get it. People want so badly for the NFL game to look like the college game, and it doesn't.

The best offenses, the top five offenses last year, where as pro-style as you get, there are some wrinkles, right? The chiefs do some things a little bit from the college game, but their base offense is what Bill Walsh installed in the 1970s, right? That is what they do. New Orleans, not the West Coast, but they have the same system, and they incorporate little wrinkles here and there. It does not work on a full scale for many.

reasons. One is because the depth of your team, you only dressed 40, you know, 46 guys, including the third quarterback sometimes. You don't have, you can't rotate as much. Guys get hurt on the edge. Like, you just don't have the opportunities you do in college in the NFL. And this offense worries me. You're going to put your defense, we saw with Chip Kelly, when you have a bunch of three and outs, your defense on the field way too long. They're going to get gashed. And so I want to see what Kingsbury does, but I just, I don't buy four wide receivers, even if one of them is a tied end as being a base offense that you can win consistently national football league.

Jeff Schwartz joining us almost a decade in the NFL. Big Ben, we predicted on this show, watch him curry favor with his new teammates, is that he got married, had kids, and wasn't as great a teammate, right? Yes. And now suddenly, after the A-B situation in Levian, my prediction is you watch him go back to being, like,

like a guy's guy. Yeah. So video of him at his lake house and his receivers and his running backs. And my takeaway is Jeff, he's going to have a great year. I think he's going to have a great year even outside of this. It's the first time in his career, at least in a long time, let's say, where this entire team, including him, has been motivated and also been able to say no one thinks we're going to win.

They have the underdog card for once in a long, long time. And obviously, he heard the criticism. He heard what Levyon Bell said, what obviously Antonio. Brown said, and he's going out and trying to fix that. He's trying to be a better leader, be closer to his players. He's heard that and it's good. It means he's listening to criticism about himself. But to me, I've said this since the odds came out.

The Steelers to win the AFC North is stealing. The plus money on that is unbelievable value over the Browns that are even money to win the South. What are they? They haven't been the playoffs just 2002. Now we're crowning them champs of the AFC North. So you like the Steelers to win the division? Yes.

I love the value of the bet, too. at like plus 200 plus 180. It was at plus 250 at one point as well. They have a great offensive line of Hall of Fame quarterback. They still have weapons. They lost Antonio Brown, but they still have Juju, James Washington. They have James Connor.

Their defense, that Bush was a huge draft pick for them to add him. They can still rush the passer. Got to get better in the back end. The first time and forever, a veteran team with a great coach is motivated like this to show people they can do without their star-wide receiver, which we've seen teams win without star-wide receivers.

Do you, by the way, do you bet the NBA? Yes. That's what I noticed. It was good yesterday. I had a good day yesterday. So you took, was it a big bet yesterday? No, I took the Raptors first quarter, first half, and Buck's third quarter. Oh, you're one of those gamblers.

Yeah. It's sometimes not good, but yeah. You're all in on quarter betting and, Doug. I think the NBA playoffs quarter betting is almost better than game betting. Because I feel like it ebbs and flows. Like you have a home team, the Raptors, down over. to going back home. They're going to play well in the first half. And then the better team at

times takes over. I bet Portland first quarter of game three, which they won, I bet the Warriors money line to win the game. Portland comes out, hot, and then the better team wins in the end. You're very smart, Jeff Forge. You're very, very smart. Good to see you, buddy. Yeah, same here. Coming up next and best for last,

if you're a game of throne fans and you're just beside yourself today with the anticlimactic, ugly, dumb, poorly written ending, I'm going to show you why sports fans have suffered even more this year. That's coming up as we close the door on today's show and best for last. 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. It's great to have you in today.

By the way, I was just reading this story, Kevin Durant to the New York Knicks. You know, there's a story in New York today about how he's leaning Knicks. and then I see a story about Kyrie Irving has gone from lovable sidekick to NBA pariah and people are suggesting KD and Kevin Kyrie and KD will play in New York there are certain things in life I know are great but I don't like them. French food

I know French food is great all the critics say it's the best I can't eat French food don't like it too much cream Jeremy Irons movies I know he's the best actor ever I can't get through 30 minutes I know Kevin Durant and Kyrie are great I don't think it would work.

I think it's too much drama. The four players in the NBA leading their teams right now are Janus, Kauai, Stefan Lillard. Low maintenance. I could argue Durant and Kyrie are great, but two are the higher maintenance players in the league. I'm reading all these stories today. There's a lot of things I know are great, but I don't think they work together. You know, people like Maroon 5, Bob Dylan's a great songwriter. Bob Dylan would not have been good with Maroon 5.

He just wouldn't have been. It's okay. I can like two things separately. Don't like him together. I can not like things, but everybody else likes him. This Kyrie, Kevin Durant thing, it just feels so combustible. And with that, people are upset with the Game of Thrones final. The finale was awful.

Apparently the sorcerers ate the she wolves and the she wolves ate the wizards. And it just, it was good. There was a lot of loose ends. It just nobody liked it. And I thought to myself, listen, we've had years like this. I could make an argument. This has been the year of the bad finale. If you go back 365 days, not only was the Game of Thrones a clunker,

let's go back a year in sports. Last June, Warriors Cabs final. Do you remember game one? It was the fourth meeting between the Warriors' Cavs. We could not wait. This was going to be an all-time classic. Cleveland outplays them. Remember that?

On the road. J.R. Smith forgets the clock. Cavs are furious, losing overtime. And the series never felt the same. It was an absolute dud from that point forward. Massive hype didn't live up to it. How about last October, World Series, Sox Dodgers? I mean, analytically, arguably the two best organizations.

Dodgers flew through the National League. Red Sox, many called them one of the great teams of all time. Huge buildup. But the Dodgers blew that lead in game three, and you could just kind of sense the series never felt the same. How about January last year? Actually, January of this year. Alabama Clemson. Now, they'd met twice.

And they had been classic games. They split. So here comes the third game. Clemson won 44-16. Probably the worst national championship game since Bama beat Notre Dame. It was, I know a lot of you liked Alabama losing, but it was awful. It was like two and a half. It was two and a half hours of bad football.

How about the Super Bowl? Ram, Sean McBaz's a genius. Bill Belichick, an elder statesman. fireworks with Brady and the Rams and it was the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever. I'm glad we're finally admitting this, so we can all stop pretending like we enjoyed watching that. I'm from L.A. and used to live next to the Patriots. I got to admit, I like defense, but it was a tough watch.

How about April? We had Zion, the most dynamic college player in 15 years. You even get to the final. I got Virginia against Texas. Texas tech. I mean, I guess it was nice and everything, but Carolina, Duke, Zion, we got none of it. How about the NBA playoffs? LeBron to the Lakers.

We've got a Bucks Raptors final in the east. LeBron's out of the playoffs. Katie's been hurt. He's no longer playing in the playoffs. Nothing against the fine people of Canada or Milwaukee, but or Portland. but it doesn't quite feel like the it quality of previous years. How about hockey? NHL number one seeds.

All of them lost. The Lightning, the Capitals, the Predators, the Flames. Lightning had tied the NHL record with 62 wins. The greatest team of all time tied. The lost of the Blue Jackets that didn't win a playoff game. How about the Kentucky Derby? Maximum Security, Triple Crown. became the first horse to ever cross the finish line first and not be crowned the winner.

Disqualification, which also took the air out of the peakness and out of the Belmont. I mean, preakness, excuse me, and the Belmont and the Kentucky Derby and the delay. Dudd. And then last week, Zion's going to the Knicks. He's going to revolutionize the NBA. And he goes to the NBA second least valuable franchise, mostly a football and college football state. It has been a bad year for all you game of throners. You are not alone.

It has been the year of the bad finale. In contrast, between March 2016 and March 2017, you may remember, we had Villanova beating Carolina, two powerhouses at the buzzer. We had Kobe going for 60 in his final game. Caves came back from 3-1 to beat the Warriors. Usain Bolt, Usain Bolt, and Michael Phelps dominate the Olympics. The Cubs and 108-year drought in the World Series and the Patriots in one of the craziest Super Bowls of all time. Go to overtime and beat the Falcons.

Some years, Game of Thrones fans, not as good as others. It was a bad finale. Can't win them all. Can't win them all. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last?

Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline.

And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the 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. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an

a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with. Robert Smygel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.