The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd-HOUR-1-Clippers, Luka Doncic, Cowboys

Episode Date: August 26, 2020

Colin explains why he has no problem with the Clippers being rough with Mavericks G Luka Doncic, why he's more excited about Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, and the major difference between the 49ers and the Cowboys.Guest: Nick Wright Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com 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 Wednesday.

I think it's going to be the best show of the week. Live in Los Angeles, this is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Great to have you in on a Wednesday. Nick Wright, Warren Moon, Rob Parker, Rick Buecker, and Joy Taylor is joining me. Quite a blowout last night with some controversy, a side of controversy as well. Yeah. Who thought there'd be some of a story?

lines that's such a terrible game. I know it was. So Marcus Morris of the Clippers was no accident stepped on Lucas' sprained ankle. Can't be that bad of an ankle. Guys dropping 35 a night. You know, it cracks me up about the hypocrisy

of America. By the way, both political parties, both coasts, many countries. In America, we buy our children video games of people getting killed randomly. And then we're shocked. at the numbing of the coarseness and the violence in America, we turn on Netflix every night.

Green lit by Hollywood, love their violence. And then Democrats argue, what is America's course? It's that president's fault. No, maybe it's all the violence you green light on your productions and the video games we buy for our kids. And then you can't believe why America is numb to violence. We do this in sports, too. We romanticize the Knicks and the Pistons that tackled Michael Jordan. Very low-skilled.

But we love romanticizing the Celtics that tackled Kurt Rambas. But you got your feelings hurt last night in Dallas because somebody stepped on Lucas' ankle. You're going to watch a 30 for 30 a couple years on that and you brag to your friends how great it was. I'm supposed to get worked up over this. I'm supposed to get worked up. The Pistons tackled Michael Jordan for five years. The Knicks had nobody that could shoot. Their only way to beat Jordan was tackling him.

The Pistons had Reggie Miller and a bunch of guys who couldn't get a free throw. And they tackled him. And they do 30 for 30s on it. And everybody watches and everybody talks about it. And that I'm worked up over. Can you give me one player in NBA history who had his career ended? because somebody, you know, kind of stepped on his hurt ankle. It's called sports.

It's when when Montrez-Herald talked trash to Luca, I didn't freak out. Your naivete is not my problem. That's how players talk. But, Colin, if Luca would have said, yeah, we're a little more sensitive on the white guy talking to the black guy like that because, you know, the country's history. Crazy time. Don't tell on yourself. guys YMCA college pro they talk trash that's your problem if you don't know it

Luca wasn't bothered by it and by the way was Luca deeply bothered by last night he can't be that bothered he's averaged in 33 a night the reality is the ultimate compliment to Michael Jordan is that the Knicks and the Pacers and the Pistons couldn't stop him so they had to try to tackle him do you think it's a a coincidence that the two tough guys currently available for the clippers, Montrez, Harold, and Marcus Morris. Now, Patrick Beverly's the third, but he's out. These are the two tough guys. Do you think it's a coincidence? They set the two tough guys to the same player, Luca. It's the greatest compliment in the world. This is why the Draymond Green went after LeBron, because Golden State's

like, we can't stop him. We can't stop LeBron. They sent Draymond after him to Neiman and the you know what. The greatest compliment was Lambere had to tackle. tackle Lakers, and they had to tackle Michael. And the Clippers have two tough guys. Now, they're not going to send Kauai Leonard after Luca. They need his points. But they send the two other guys, the toughest guys they got in the team, they send him after Luca.

You think it's a coincidence. It's after Luca. This is why Larry Bird got punched in the face by Dr. Jay, because the Sixers couldn't figure out Larry Bird. And the Celtics were now overtaking the older Sixers. I'm not bothered by this. I'm not bothered by trash talk. Your naivete is not my problem.

It's yours. This is, even in golf, intimidation wins. Intimidation is hitting the quarterback a second late. Yeah, the clippers will get fined. All they cared about, get into Lucas' head. That's all they cared about. Hey, you have baseball managers that tell pitchers throw at him.

All pay the fine. You know it, I know it. You know it and I know it. That's what they do. I want to get into somebody's head. give me the list of guys in baseball who've been hit by a pitch, even in a noggin, careers over. Give me a list of NBA guy. Colin, are you saying, I'll make it real clear?

Intimidation wins. UFC, Tiger Woods in golf, NASCAR, bumping cars. You bump into a guy's car, you come around the next lap and the driver's out of the car, giving the guy that it's all about intimidation. That is the difference between the late Kobe Bryant and Rudy Gay. Kobe intimidated people. Got in your face. Talk trash.

gay same size super talented some guys don't want to go there by the way luka was so distraught in unravel here's luca after the game after what was obviously a purposeful step on an ankle i have my own thoughts but you know i would i hope it wasn't intentional tell me what do you think i just hope it wasn't intentional but you know every every person is have their own thoughts and just one off from him. He's just a wreck there. By the way, for years,

I heard TV analysts brag about Bruce Bowen. Oh, I love the way Bruce Bowen plays. That is the way you play defense. You mean when he'd slide his foot under a shooter so the shooter would land on his foot and spread? Didn't all you television analysts tell me how great Bruce Bowen was? Don't you

tell me how great those Knicks teams were that couldn't shoot? Or the pistons that had Reggie Miller and a bunch of guys that couldn't at a free throw. Aren't we glamorizing the Celtics? Larry Bird was the really talented guy. The rest of them were kind of gritty. Aren't we glamorizing all these teams? They're going to write books and do documentaries on the tough guys, not the nice guys. Luca's fine. It's an ultimate compliment. I didn't lose sleep and I didn't lose any sleep on the trash talk. By the way, when Montrez-Harrel and Luca met after the trash talk, Luca, Luca was a little bit.

surprised that he came over. It was like, dude, it's basketball. I was 15 years old. What do you think it was like for Luca playing in Europe when he was 14 years old and scoring on 29-year-olds? Do you think all the European guys guarding him were like, we, we, cigarettes after the game. We make love with our socks on in Paris. His very fine, a 14-year-old just embarrassed me in front of my wife. This is all wonderful. Luca has been a target for eight years. European dudes who he embarrassed when he was 14 were going after him. This is why Lucas is a star.

This is why Luca's not going away. I said this the other day. This kid's going to end up one or two all-time scoring because they went after him and it didn't bother him. And they went after him in Europe when he was 15 and they're going after him in the NBA. It's just part of the process. MJ went through it. LeBron went through it when they can't figure.

figure out how to stop you. They go to the next tactic, which is talk trash, intimidate, step in an ankle, little rib there. And you know what? Luca is going to drop 33 in his next game because that is what you do when you can't stop somebody. You do that. Oh, let me shift to this.

Very good day yesterday. One of the reasons I had an amazing day yesterday, we picked the Clippers to win big. We said Paul George is going to play great and they're going to. across ship. But that's not why we had a great day. I had a great day because Russell Wilson apparently is going to play football into his 50s. Here it is. I just turned 31. Right in the beginning of my prime, I got so many more years left. I got at least 10 plus more years left in me. And so for me, I'm just getting started. That's the fun part for me. You know, I'm just getting started. And so I want to keep going. You know, I'm going to keep challenging myself and continue to be

better, better and better and better. And, you know, my goal is to play at least another 15 years. So that's my, that's my mission. That's my goal. Good day for me. 15 more years of my favorite NFL player. Two things are happening in all of sports. You know, let's talk football here.

Players are getting better earlier, especially quarterbacks. Camps, they got 10,000 throws by the time they're 12 years old, 365-day commitment. The quarterback no longer plays this sport, that sport, this sport, that sport. They're into football. They're into camps. They're in elite 11. So they're getting better earlier. The second thing is they're lasting way longer.

Personal trainers, personal chefs. Russell Wilson spends $1.5 million has for years on his body. There's no losers on this. I mean, it's great for the fans. You get your star players like Mahomes for 15 years, not nine, not 10. It's great for the league because they don't have to keep looking for the next star. They get their stars for two decades, not one. It's great for general managers because if you do have to rebuild,

it's always easier to rebuild with Lamar Jackson or Russell Wilson or Aaron Roger. So the rebuilds don't take it. A rebuild is like, we don't have a quarterback. That rebuild, you can miss on four quarterbacks. It's great for everybody. It's great for the league. It's great for fans.

It's great for fantasy. There's no losers. And I do think Russell Wilson, LeBron year 17, Brady year 2021, I think he's got a lot of their habits and traits. He's really smart. He takes care of his body. He gets the big picture. Brady's always stayed away from politics mostly.

Not that he doesn't have opinions. He just wasn't good for his brand, which was very corporate. LeBron's into politics. For him, that's great for his brand in Hollywood. Russell Wilson takes care of his body. He sees it as a long-term investment. But you know what I thought when I saw this? The first thing I thought when I saw this was, oh, so he's not ending his career in Seattle.

because why did LeBron leave Cleveland? The Cavs were no longer good for his brand. Why did Brady leave New England? They couldn't get him the kind of players to elevate him as he aged. And what's happening in Seattle, once again this year, battle line and insistence to run a 1988 offense, and Russell is the life preserver saving drive after drive and game after game.

Seattle has never understood. It's never been Richard Sherman's team or Marshawn Lynch's or Pete Carroll's. It's been Russell. And they'll get it like New England or the Cavs and it will be too late. Nick apparently is very angry

with me on my Marcus Morris steak. Well, Nick's soft. He's a millennial. I'm not soft. I step on ankles. If Nick Wright was trying to take my job and he walked right by here i'd go step on his ankle that's what i'd do right now that's how i play we intimidate others we go after other hosts we step on their sore ankles that's what we do on this show not a lot of nonsense uh by the way i i don't want to i'm not into being right or anything but we kind of called that thing yesterday that game didn't we don't we said blow out paul george will be

great it's a it's a seven game series the better team's gonna win yeah that's what's the way to nine. I mean, even in March madness, you get a handful of upsets, but you always end up with your one, two, three, and four seeds. You have an occasional seven seed make it to the elite eight. And you're like, oh, the upsets. And that's just one game. Lukah is hurt, playing incredible, but playing hurt. So imagine how great he'd be playing if he wasn't hurt. And Chris Thompson is out. You know, I want more, I want new branding on our show. The show that steps on hurt ankles. That is the- You want our brand to be. I'm actually kind of okay with that. All right. Get Nick right. That's his Twitter account. He'll be joining us around the corner. Let me talk about the actual

game and what we saw last night and what we continually see in the NBA that's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman, it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't. don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right

where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little bit?

Kim, well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't have plenty.

But just so you y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on this. table right now. That you're finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Care Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations

with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as 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.

Last few weeks, home project, do it yourself project. Thanks to Lowe's. Go to Lowe's. Go to Lowe's.com. Made a bar cart, tray, everything, very good. Only one cocktail last night. game was over early. I went to bed early. So Lakers are going to wrap things up. Clippers are going to wrap things up. You know, it's funny. So the Blazers made the Lakers kind of uncomfortable for a couple

days. And then yesterday, day before yesterday, Lakers knocked them out. And Orlando, the magic made Milwaukee uncomfortable for a couple days. And today they'll knock them out. And the Dallas Mavericks made the clippers uncomfortable for a few days. And last night, they basically knocked him out. The fans in the media always freak out when a clear underdog, we know what these teams are now. There's no big surprises. Chris Middleton's inconsistent. Dallas

doesn't play defense. James Hardin gets tired sometimes because he's so ball centric, especially without Westbrook to help him out. We know what these teams are. They make people uncomfortable for a while. This is the Western Conference. It happens all the time. Golden State was uncomfortable in the first round last year. Happens all the time.

The bottom line is Dallas doesn't play any defense. You're not going to beat the Clippers four times in two weeks. And the Blazers are just too small and beat up. They don't have any forwards. They're not going to beat the Lakers four times in two weeks. Now, the Jazz and Nuggets are different. Those are not title teams.

They're very even. It could go either way. Rockets without Westbrook, OKC. That's very even. I'll take the Rockets eventually because I think they have a higher ceiling and the best player score in the world right now. But what you saw from the Clippers last night, was when they play well, they have the highest ceiling of any team.

They shot 63% from the floor. They got into Luca a little bit. The game was never really competitive. Multiple players scored. They didn't even have Patrick Beverly. Lou Williams didn't score a bunch. This is what they are. When they play great, which, okay, they overlooked Dallas,

and the Lakers overlooked Portland, and Milwaukee overlooked Orlando. It happens. I love all these young stars, but who is now going to be left in the West? LeBron, A, D, and Kauai. Lucas is just figuring this league out. Kauai's been there and done that, and the playoffs are different. You know what last night was?

The kids are at home. They're throwing a party. Last couple of weeks are having a good time. Beer pong party. Music is loud at home. Having a good time. Beer pong, your drink. and then Dad walked in.

All right, kids, time to go to bed, put the beer away. Kauai dropped a 17-footer, then a 19-footer, then an 18-footer, made two defensive stops and a 17-footer, then Paul George, then Lou Williams, and the game is over. The kids played Beer Pong and had some loud music for a couple days. Dad walked in, and Dad, now this is the way it works in the playoffs. LeBron, A.D., James Hardin is going to get through this. and Kauai and Paul George and Yannas

and this is the way it works. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, the Nuggets weren't ready for their season to be over last night. Yokic started the game against the Jazz Strong, making all eight shots he took in the first quarter,

including five three-pointers for 21 points. But the team fell behind by 15 and the third, and then Jamal Murray took over. scored 33 of his 42. God, is he playing great. Unbelievable. God, he is such a, you know, he's a little inconsistent sometimes for me. But he's another one of these young guys like Devin Booker in the bubble.

You're like, whatever it is psychologically, it's happening in the bubble. Like Jamal Murray and Devin Booker like every night, I was just getting an all star. Donovan Mitchell, too, at 30 last night. Yep. This, this series is really, it's just like great fundamental basketball. Like, we're really kind of focusing on all the other. series because, you know, they have the stars that you just mentioned that we expect to go all the way to the, you know, Western Eastern Finals and the championship. But this is really just

a great display of basketball. Let me see. Denver, if Michael Porter Jr. becomes what they think eventually. You're going to have Yokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter, Jr., three elite scores and all-star level players, if he's as good as eventually we think. And Denver's got the right coach. they obviously draft well. Like Denver's not a city we talk a lot about an NBA. It's a football city. It's in that time zone in the mountains. Watch out for Denver.

Watch out going forward for Denver. Both of these organizations kind of remind me of the Raptors a little bit. Yeah. They don't have a lot of pressure on them to be championship level teams. But they develop guys. They do a great job drafting. They have great coaching. Well, it's a little Toronto.

Just what I'm saying? Yeah. A little Raptors. Like you're just kind of under the radar, but great every year. If they can get one star to take it to the next level, they're going to be a problem. So Janus has won defensive player of the year this season. He won in a landslide receiving 75 of the 100 first place votes. Anthony Davis was a distant second with only 14.

Yonis led the NBA in defensive rebounds this season and obviously help the Bucks keep their opponents to the lowest field goal percentage in the league. He is now the fifth player to win both MVP and defensive player of the year in his. career and they have them on at one o'clock and he will likely win MVP this yeah MVP defensive player number one seed league puts them at one o'clock and you're telling me you can't consider leaving one o'clock that 10 o'clock pacific time literally people just get to work they're going to their first meeting and the bucks are on television that it is you think it's Milwaukee no no no I just think whatever it is the league don't argue with me the league I don't know I fully with you. I think that you, it's not that I don't think that Janus is a star, but there's a fine

line between superstar and star. How many times? We don't decide who the superstars are. No, the public does. Public decides. Okay, Zion three times the league engineered the schedule. The summer, the bubble in the regular season. They engineered it for Zion. This kid's been in the league seven years. This will be a second MVP, defensive player of the year, number one seed, put him on at 10 Pacific. The league's telling you, it's not my opinion. So my takeaway is, he when you're an MVP of this league you got to shoe company an agent either get the titles right or get the branding in the in the lettuce he's got to get one of them and i just think he's not very polarizing and maybe if they lose this year he will become that because whatever decision he decides to make or whatever moves are made you know obviously the warriors have been in that conversation if that happens like the whole world's going to fall apart but i i think what happens after this year where we're really be a big determining factor for his legacy in this league because he's an incredible player like it's it's fantastic at two MVP and he's hit the player of the year already he's still

young very young but that next level that next step has to has to happen okay this story drives me crazy so there's no preseason games so quarterbacks are not going to be getting hit until week one but joe judge might take a different approach and have daniel jones face more contact before the season starts with quarterbacks you want to go ahead and be calculated and how you start banging him around. I don't think we're going to throw him in any, you know, you know, royal rumbles or anything like that. But, you know, at some point, we'll pop his pads a little bit in the controlled environment.

Yep. I'm not in a hurry to go ahead and just beat the hell out of him, Tom. But, you know, at some point, we'll prepare his body for him to take him first game. Thank you. Love it. He's suggesting that they take the red jersey. Yeah, at some point, it's football. You're going to get hit.

I didn't wear that red jersey in high school. Come hit me. Very intimidating. Listen, these guys get hit. Can we stop babying everybody? Ooh, he stepped on Lucas' ankle. Don't baby anybody, except for that guy. Oh, so what Andrew Luck used to say?

I remember when he said this. You know what Andrew Luck is right now? Well, he had a bad ending, but he used to say, I like getting popped. Make me feel like I'm in the game. Yeah, he did. Where's Andrew Luck right now? He didn't say he wanted to get popped 68 times a season. Okay, but that's my point.

Listen, I'm not unaware of how football works, but this is calm down with taking the red jersey off of the, the franchise quarterback in training camp. I was up at 145 in the morning firing off emails. I'm in a mood today. The new Colin is about contact. Okay. I, I, oh, your hands on now.

You get news. I get one. My new mood today. I've been five and up since 140 firing off stuff. I am contact Colin. I am against this. Look, if you want to, you know, make people run laps, okay, that's cute, you know, whatever it is you want to do in training camp, all those old school tough guy stuff, run through a wall, football cliches.

Fine. All right, play around. Play around with your franchise quarterback if you want to. Yeah. I will be right here. Patrick Mahomes was banged up last year. This is why. We can run this back.

This is a bad idea. I'm not saying don't put a little contact on your quarterback, but taking the red jersey off of him, a bad idea. A bad idea is roughing him up a little bit. It's not the way to go. In the summer, knocking, running into a jet ski on a beach because he want to play.

I didn't think that was a good idea either. That was a bad idea. Exactly. Protect your quarterback. All right. Let's soften the show up and go to Nick Wright. Joy Taylor, the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. Marcus Morris, an intimidating

guy tried to intimidate Luca. So did Montrez-Harrell with Trash Talk. It's the ultimate compliment. It's the ultimate compliment. Nobody's career ends because you stepped on their hurt ankle. Nick Wright. Boy, this will be interesting. Mercedes-Benz the best or nothing. Apparently, my producers put on the board, he is furious. So, Yeah, I am. For the record. And disappointed. Well, whatever.

So is my wife. So Marcus Morris literally came after you on Twitter last night because you called him what? What did you do? I said what is obvious that it was intentional. And you are taking where takes have never gone before, which is you are acknowledging seemingly that it was intentional, yet defending him. I was prepared for you to say it was an accident, which I don't buy, but that's what Marcus is trying to sell. Unfortunately for Marcus, and he can tweet whatever he wants at me in the middle of the night. But I covered him when he was at Kansas, when Bill Self had to sit him down in the midst of a player of the year race,

because he was doing nonsense like this as an amateur player. He's done nonsense like this at every stop along the way. He need Ben Simmons in the head last season. He boinked a guy on the head with a basketball this preseason. We know who he is. But you're saying you're fine with it because you're conflating it with trash talk or with a hard foul. This is none of the above. And Colin, you're saying no one's career has been ended by an ankle injury.

Okay, maybe. but the best player on Marcus' team had his career in San Antonio inextricably changed because of an ankle injury. He is, Kauai in 2017, was having one of the greatest playoff runs we've ever seen. You've got Zaza put his foot underneath him. He never plays another game for the spurs in the playoffs,

and the NBA changed the rules. Made that a flagrant foul. How can you defend this? This isn't intimidation. This is going after an injured player's ankle after the play is over. Well, by the way, Patrick Mahomes is going to face that this year where people are going to go after him a little bit high. Why? Because they can't stop him.

The ultimate compliment is we can't stop Michael. We can't stop Byrd. We can't stop Mahomes. This is why I've said this. In the NFL, get a quarterback, job two, protect him. Take guys, nobody's heard of him. from Wisconsin that blocked for quarterbacks. And the reality is he stepped on his shoe.

He'll get fined. But the trash talk, get in his head, step on his shoe, get in his head. This is what I've seen for 30 years, 40 years in the league. Well, then I'm just curious. Then I'm just curious. Like how, what is your line? Because what another option is before game six, start Joe Kim Noah, who doesn't play for you and have him punch Luke in the face.

Well, no, that I don't. Maybe you'll punch back and get thrown out. Now, that feels... Maybe you'll just get a black eye? Well, I mean, it's a line. And we can argue about... It's fuzzy. Even when you drive on the road, the speed limits 55.

You can go 62 and not get a ticket. We move the line all the time to expedite, to intimidate. I'm comfortable with it. Yeah. Yeah, I am. And that's fine. And maybe it makes me as soft millennial, as you put it, I think that the line should be...

should be during the course of play, hard fouls, a little extra elbows, leaning, all that stuff's totally in bounds. The sideline camera angle of this, the clippers make a shot. Marcus Morris, it takes a B line to Luca, to Luca to what, pick him up 94 feet, and then you try to flat tire his bad ankle. I draw the line somewhere before that. You draw the line anything short of what happened in the movie, the program, evident. And so that's fine.

That's, or I'm sorry, not the program, the last Boy Scout. That's your prerogative. I assume it's your tough, you know, your tough upbringing in the Pacific Northwest. Yeah, it was. Very rough, very tough childhood in the Pacific Northwest. So now, you have to admit last night, the ceiling of the clippers, Lord. Very high. I mean, now, I mean, Lakers was nice, but we know, we know Coosem is not going to do that again.

When I look at the Clippers, I think, oh, I could get this five or six times in a series with The Lakers, I know that KSMA, KCP, Danny Green, Dwight Howard, Javelle McGee are all going to play great in the same night because they don't do that during the season. Didn't this feel like, oh, that's, you could duplicate that multiple times if you're the Clippers? Oh, listen, their ceiling has always been super high. The problem is they haven't shown a willingness to give the requisite effort consistently to reach that ceiling. And you might love the Clippers as a basketball team, but you'd hate them as a,

an employee or a coworker because I know enough about you to know, okay, you're a super high ceiling's great, but what do you give me day in, day out? What can I rely on from you? And the clippers are not a reliable team. They're just flatly not. They were up 21 in the second quarter of game four and they blew the whole thing off, they blew the game off almost. And game five, they're up 21 in the second quarter of game five, and they blew the Mavs out. So are you fully confident you're going to get that level of effort in game six? Because I'm not, like, the Clippers are come and go, and we heard Doc say it. So I agree with you.

It wasn't, this was their biggest game of the year, and they showed that when they all show up, how dangerous they can be. But we've had 75 games of Clippers basketball this year, and they've shown that few and far between, at least to me, compared to what you get from the Lakers, who are the actual favorite. So I don't worry about the Rockets. I think it's a pretty even series without Westbrook, who gives a real energy latent games. Hardin looked a little gassed a little bit in the last game, but I think they'll win this game. But, you know, I'm going to ask you the question.

I don't like asking questions. I know the answer. But I have a feeling I know what you're going to say. But I want to ask it anyway. If Houston does not get through this series, and Hardin did look. tired the other night. Can I make the argument that Hardin is the greatest score in 20 years in the league, but he may not be a championship level player based on his style and based on the current length of the season, that you can be great, but not a guy that necessarily is going to win titles.

Because I watch him and I think that this is not going to win. This is not going to win championship, but he's going to score 308 a game. Is that a fair criticism? I think it's a reasonable criticism, even if I disagree with it. And here, if you can be in, if you can be the Vegas favorite to win the title, playing that style, you can win the title. And in 2018, up 3-2, they were the Vegas favorite. If you can be up 15 in game seven of a conference finals against an all-time team without your second best player playing that style, you can win a.

a title playing that style. Now they haven't and so people will always be able to throw that out there. I think that's been more circumstantial and I don't think they're going to win it this year and he's getting older, not younger. But I think when it comes to the Rockets and when it comes to

Harden, it's sometimes the old Bill James thing, which is teams have a bad habit of blaming their best players when things go wrong. And I know in the NBA we expect the best of the best to step up. But something very interesting is going to happen, Colin.

And I'm very curious to see what the media does with this, which is Damien Lillard, whose team was below 500 this year, played the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs and lost in five. James Hardin, whose team wins 50-some games every year, is going to play the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs and probably losing six or seven. And somehow this year is going to, elevate Dame and denigrate Hardin.

Dame's going to get more credit for his team almost getting to 500, squeaking into the playoffs and getting blasted off the floor, then Hardin is for once again making it through the first round, once again averaging 30 plus a game, and then just not quite getting over the hump. Like if people want to say, listen, Hardin isn't LeBron, he's not KD, one could argue he's not even Kauai. But other than that, those three guys,

those are the only guys that we know, and I guess throw Stefan as well, that they can be the best player on a championship team in the entire league. And so I feel like if you're comparing Hardin to anybody else, he stacks up pretty favor. No, I think it's a fair argument. Stylistically, we like Dame and Steph more than Hardin. Stylistically, but Hardin right now is the more durable player and the better player. I think that's a very, I'm going to end it on that because that's a very good point. after, I mean, I really took you to the woodshed for a couple topics.

So I like you ending on a positive note because as your mentor, you know, I don't feel like bullying you on the show. Former. X. Ex mentor. You told America you try to kneecap me if I was coming for your job. Hey. Hey. I thought it was, I thought it was coincidental.

I got shipped out to New York. Turns out the old McAvelli and coward was working behind the scenes. Always. Mick Wright, good seeing you, buddy. First things first. Congratulations on your new teammate. Show, look and sound great. All right, coming up next,

the San Francisco 49ers show you how it's done. The Dallas Cowboys show you how it's not done. That is coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and

with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show is. isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like Black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode.

where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month,

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

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

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, 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.

New website, Noom. N-O-O-O-M. free trial check it out go to noom.com slash her it's about health goals and habits tools you need to psychologically change your eating habits it's interesting check that out yesterday noom.com slash heard so um one of the things I really like about sports it's getting smarter I like that it's preserving players rules you know the training smarter, the coaching smarter, analytics. Sports has gotten smarter.

And the early adapters, the teams that get that, like the Warriors and the Patriots, Kansas City that get the analytics and don't get stubborn, win more. Cubs won analytics. Red Sox won titles. They were early adapters. Now they're rebuilding, but for years. Yankees, after watching the Red Sox, they were not into analytics. then poured in 2018,

made the biggest analytic department in Major League Baseball. San Francisco, Kyle Shanahan, very much into data. Yesterday on Earl Thomas, he said, not interested. No pause, no hesitation, no filter. No, we're not interested.

Jerry Jones denied they were not interested. Because Jerry wanted to make it known that it was his call and these reports out there, Jerry, keep the story alive. Jerry created a distraction in a year with a new coach and no preseason when distractions could be mushroomed into much bigger issues. Jerry is not quite into the data thing. And it's very funny. Maybe it's a Dallas thing.

I read a story this morning. They call them $30,000 millionaires. Dallas is a city that kind of flaunts what it owns and flaunts. That's kind of the reputation. It was a very interesting story. It's called Home Sweet Home of the $30,000 millionaire. there. And the mayor of Dallas was acknowledging, he said we're both rich and we're poor. We flaunt what we have. That's fine. But what's funny is sports is getting smarter and it's more

data and it's less vanity and it's more analytics and it's less ego and it's more about what the numbers say, not what your owner thinks. And I watched this story with Earl Thomas and San Francisco just squelched it. San Francisco's really good. Super Bowl bubble. Earl Thomas came out that could probably use his safety. Didn't give it a, just get it out. No. Dallas, let's talk about it. And I really do think, this is why I've kind of sold my stock on the Dallas Cowboys,

is that the first round of the draft, Dallas did not need a wide receiver. What did they do? Had multiple needs on their team. Let's get a flashy wide receiver. It's about brand. It's about excitement. It's not about data. Data didn't tell you that was the best decision to make.

They already had Michael Gallup. They had Randallup. They had, at the time, they have Mari Cooper. They got a great old line. They got death. Offense wasn't their issue. They can't stop anybody. And their secondary loss, multiple players.

And their defensive line has one really highly paid player that kind of get sacks, but not really. And they cross their fingers on Van der Wresh and Jalen Smith's health. But increasingly, when I watch, and this is funny about this. And I've seen this for a long time in sports. We always fear the big markets and the big brands. Because we think as sports fans, it's. unfair. New York's got all the advantages. The

advantage to being the Colts and the Green Bay Packers and the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints and the Buffalo Bills and the Baltimore Ravens and not being in these rich markets and

these massive cities. The advantage to it is every employee knows you've got to save your pennies, you've got to work a little harder. Look in sports right now in America. The New York Giants, the New York Jets, the New York Knicks, the New York Mets,

a mess. Chicago's got a couple things going on, but bears, we keep waiting, bulls. Washington, seventh biggest city in the country. The Washington football team's a mess. I mean, the wizards are a mess. Dallas, the Lakers, and the Yankees are the three biggest brands in American sports.

Dallas and the Lakers late to analytics. More about ego and vanity. Where are the titles? Where are they? In fact, the last great title Dallas had was Mark Cuban, an analytic guy and not flashy and showy, a billionaire that wears T-shirts and cheap tennis shoes to games. Mark Cuban is the opposite of Jerry. He's like T-shirts,

lets his players be stars, low-key, very much into analytics. All into analytics. That's the last title in Dallas. And I think what's happening in spite. And by the way, the Yankees for years and years, a lot of vanity playing a hunch, overspending.

And then they watched the rival Red Sox start picking up titles without their budget, didn't have close to the Yankee budget, and they were doing analytics. And then the Yankees in 2018, said, okay, enough of this, and pour their money back into it. That's why when you can get the combination of big market and analytics, like the Dodgers, you have seven division titles in a row.

The Dodgers haven't won a World Series, but they have passed on so many big contracts until Mookie Betts. They passed on a lot. So when you can get the big glamorous market, the Boston Red Sox, a big market, and they're into analytics, Chicago, Cubs, into analytics, Boston Patriots, into analytics. San Francisco is the fourth biggest, you know, market in the country, San Francisco Bay Area very much into analytics. That's when it's great.

When the big market that's got the advantages of free agents and money and power and prestige, they go into it. But it's amazing how often the big flashy brands are late to it. The Lakers were late to it. Dallas is late to it. Dallas is still playing too many vanity games and ego games. The Yankees were late to it initially. So Kyle Shanahan just squash Earl Thomas.

Dallas is, you know, elevating that. story. I mean, that's the difference to me. That's the difference in organizations. It's the off season. It's the nonsense. It's the daily radio shows for owners. Lord, our two next. Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild. It was a wild year.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show.

This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.