The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - Game 1 of Nuggets vs Lakers

Episode Date: May 17, 2023

Colin believes the Lakers should feel good about their game 1 loss to the Nuggets and why this is shaping up to be a competitive seven game series Nikola Jokic should get more respect after another stellar performance and why he's clearly a better player than Joel Embiid Thoughts on the Spurs winning the NBA draft lotterySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find your local station for the Heard at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go on a Wednesday. Ready to roll live in Los Angeles. It's the hurt. Wherever you may be and however, you may be watching or listening. Thanks for making that part of your day. Jamek, that was a lot of basketball talent on the floor last night.

Woo-hoo! Tremendous game. Murray, outstanding. Yokic. Porter, KCP. LeBron. Rui played well. Austin Reeves played well.

I mean, you watch those two teams, and you're like, okay, I get it. That was such a collection of great basketball town. You know, we thought the East was better than the West all year. When the Celtics and the Heat play tonight, you're not going to have that many great players on the floor. Not even close. By the way, KCP winner last night, we told you the overpoints hit in the third quarter. Yeah. Colin, I know Laker fans are excited.

Oh, we found we unlocked how to slow down Yokic. A little tougher than that in this series. Okay, so Denver is very much a number one seed. They are loaded. It was a great night. But I will say they led by 18 at half. That was round one of a seven-round fight. And the Nuggets won it.

But it should be noted. They played basically a flawless first half. And in the end, after the Lakers adjusted, Rui A.D. Made some moves on Yokic. Second half did not look quite like the first half. Now, the nuggets in many ways are the opposite of the Warriors. They're huge.

Their guards are big. They're big. They move. Their size everywhere. Their center, not Steph Curry, leads the offense. And they're young. I haven't been in these big games that many times. The Warriors were small.

And by the way, the Grizzlies, because, they were missing Brandon Clark and Stephen Adams were kind of small. So, I mean, they were pushing people around the ring. And last night, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That was a wave of height and size and they punched the Lakers right in the forehead.

And it was a bit, it was a bit eye-opening. They outrebounded the Lakers 3613 in the first half. And then the Lakers adjusted. It should be noted, the Lakers shot 55% in the game. They got great looks. They shot 46% on threes, and they're not a good three-ball team. They got great looks.

To me, it looked like two very big basketball teams who don't rely on the three who are going to go six or seven rounds. The Lakers' concern is Yokic. He had 15, 7, and 5, even after the adjustments. He is a machine. But he did play 42 minutes. and he usually plays in the regular season 33. So they really leaned on him.

So I think what you're looking at are two really big teams. One's better offensively, Nuggets. One's better defensively Lakers. And you're looking at right now the two best bigs maybe in the world. Yokic and A.D. One is a defensive stud A.D. who's a little inconsistent with the ball. Yokic is offensively a marvel who's okay defensively.

It is your classic prize fight. I can't wait. But I think the Lakers this morning after last night are saying, all right, we took their best punch. We adjusted. They hit a bunch of shots. They won't normally hit at the buzzer. They couldn't miss.

They were virtually perfect. And in the end, we lost by six. And at one point, we had a chance to tie. And we got outplayed. And we feel pretty good. And it's the first game on the road. And it's at 5,200 feet. I mean, Denver crushed Minnesota and Phoenix in the first two games.

Remember the first game against Minnesota, they won by 29. First game against Phoenix. They won by 18. And the Lakers are like, yeah, we saw that in the first half. And then we adjusted. And then we came back. And we lost by six. And we had a chance to, at one point,

tie it, take a lead. I think, I think the Lakers look at this. As LeBron said after, they feel about as good as you can feel after an awful first half being pushed around and losing game one.

Here's LeBron after. Took us a half the end to the game, and that was pretty much the ballgame right there. We got to understand that we got to start from the tip off, you know, and they punched us in the mouth to start. I know the game is won in 48 minutes, but they set the tone of 24 minutes, and we're playing catch-up for the next 24.

We'll be better. You know, we know we didn't play up to our capabilities in that first half. They were just making some shots with hands in their faces, the bodies on bodies. But, you know, we'll be better in game, too, that's for sure. Denver's absolutely last night the better team. Denver is a completely worthy, well-coached. deep, talented number one seed. But I'm saying, I've watched Denver roll people.

And I'm looking at the Lakers and I'm thinking, you know, LeBron and A.D. are not young. They went on the road, 5,200 feet, took their first best punch, tweaked. Second half, Lakers pretty good. Lakers pretty good. Got a lot of open shots. Shot the ball well. Denver's not a great defensive team.

They've got length, but they're not a great defensive team. Yolkits is not a great defensive player. Let's shift gears, though, to Yokic. So Anthony Davis is the best remaining big in terms defensively. He's arguably the best defensive player big in the world. And Yokic worked him. Embed in game seven had two points in the second half against the Celtics. Yocuch could not have a two point half.

He's just too layered and too skilled. It would be impossible unless he was in foul trouble. It should be noted in two of the Sixers wins. It was Hardin who carried the day. I know it's a regular season award, but I said before, the vote for Embedd was as much an anti-Yokic vote as it was a pro-M-Beed vote. Yolkich is far more valuable to the offense. Embed can be plotting.

Go look at the Sixers net rating when Embed's off the floor. He takes the movement and the air out of the basketball at times. Yes, he's fun and flashy, but he's also fragile. He doesn't play as often. In the last eight years, Yokic in seven of those eight has played 70 plus games. Don't we say that about quarterbacks? Availability is the best ability. Yokic plays more.

Is better analytically. Is more skilled offensively. Is more layered. It's easier to play with. Elevates people. M.B. doesn't necessarily elevate people. When Hardin was great, he wasn't as. And again, Hardin led them in two.

There were three wins in the playoffs against the Celtics. He passes, he facilitates. I don't care who wins MVP awards or Heismans. I really don't. I never have. If you're being intellectually honest, I've never rooted for it. I never cared about it. I couldn't tell you how many Brady won, Manning won, Mahomes is one.

I just don't care. But that was an anti-yokage vote. That's what it was. He has the number one seed, not Embed. He's better analytically. He was better. He makes everybody around him better. You watched him last night.

AD was helpless. AD is the best defensive center in the world. Could not stop him. Got worked by him. Yokic has become the P.B. and J of the NBA. Fantastic. Every night, O was a little underserved, underdiscust. The P.B. and J works any era, any generation, any time.

Yokic is old school, current school, middle school, high school, this school. That game works forever. available passing. It reminds me of a combination of Bill Walton, who would be great today, and Arvita Sabonis, who would be great today? He is a fantastic player, but he's not fun, and he's not flashy, but he's also not fragile, and that is something that needs to be discussed. I get that Embed won the award. I'm not hostile. I'm not bothered. I don't care. But I did feel it's fair to at least acknowledge that it was an anti-yokage vote. to a lot of people.

Because, you know, you start talking about a third straight MVP, man, that's got to be one of the greatest players of all time. Isn't he? Isn't that what we're watching? You tell me the centers who can do all this. Walton passed like that. I mean, he scores like shackish in these big games. He defends OK.

A lot of the great centers necessary. Was Pat Ewing O is a great defender? No. I mean, I don't know. I watch him and I think to myself, if you look at his layered, nuanced, skilled game, I mean, he grabs a rebound like Shaq. He takes it right up the floor. And he's a brilliant passer.

I mean, maybe he should have won three straight. I think my point is, because his game isn't aesthetically as pleasing, we have a hard time saying, well, I mean, this guy didn't win three MVP's and that guy didn't win three MVP's. I don't know. I watch him. What doesn't he do well? Well, defensively, we don't hold defense against many of the great centers.

We don't talk defense on this show very much. We want buckets. We never lament Jason Tatum getting beat on the baseline. We lament when he doesn't dominate offensively the fourth. Let's be fair. We've spent about two hours in 20 years on LeBron's defense. We talked about Kobe's offense and Michael's offense and Barclay's offense and Dirk's offense and Katie's offense. Now everybody's like, well, Yokic's defense, whatever. 80 couldn't stop him.

Oh, by the way, 80's going to get his every other night. But here's the code to the nuggets on what he witnessed. Nicola was great, you know, 34 points, 21 rebounds, 14 assists, two blocks. And as you mentioned, Harrison, his aggression, him driving the ball, dunking the ball in traffic. And we always talk about an aggressive Nicole Yokic is a very effective Nicole Yokic. So, you know, a hell of a job by him. You know, it's funny after the game. KCP, he's repped by LeBron's people who played for the Lakers. And now he plays for the Nuggets. And one thing I always loved about KCP when he was a Laker and a nugget. He's never afraid to take a big shot. He had a huge layup off the glass last night down the stretch. KCP is one of those guys never, ever afraid to take the big shot. And those

guys matter in the playoffs. You know, guys get a little tight in the postseason. KCP, he doesn't care. He will always take a big shot. And he did last night. He had a, Lakers were cutting it back, cutting it down, cutting it down. And KCP came and floater off the glass and in. And he talked about Yokic after the game.

I feel like the only difference is that, you know, Don's Bron can jump higher than Yokch. That's the only difference that I can see. That's a really offensive. I'm joking. I mean, to be compared with one of the best ever, or the best ever, I think it's really cool. It's really cool.

We affect the game in different ways, but he's a really good player. Listen, we just have to be fair about this, is that we don't watch a lot of Denver. Denver's in that weird mountain time zone, and they're not, they're efficient, and Yokic is not flashy. He felt so out of place at the All-Star game. But, folks, what you're watching here, what we're all watching, with Yokic. This is all-time stuff. I mean, this guy made two passes last night that looked like Manjic Johnson. He is a, he and Bill Walton are the best passing bigs I've ever seen in my life. And I covered Arvita Sabonis, who was also a tremendous passer. But Yokic is just his entire,

the layers and layers, jumpers, threes, twos, left hand, right hand, passing, moving the ball up the floor, outlet passing. That he is all-time stuff. And again, this isn't an anti-M-B. He had two points in the second half against the Celtic. I don't think Yokech is capable of that. At least not this Yokage. Watching him last night, it's like,

that's a number one seed and that's a dominant all-time player you're watching. Fun, fun series, though. I mean, just tonight, I'm going to watch the heat in the Celtics. And there are going to be some really good players, Butler, Tatum, Brown. I'm watching that thing last night, and it is Porter and Gordon and A.D. and LeBron and Yokic and Jamal Murray. I'm like, man, there is a lot of talent on that floor. It's going to be a great series. 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 a lot. Others say it's a lot. 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, 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 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 with a little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. 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're just so you're not. But just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed correct. 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. 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. Victor Wembenyama. They are calling him a better prospect than Magic Johnson. LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Shack. I don't know. That is a lot.

I think he's going to be a really good player. His body type, we talked about this yesterday, worries me a little. Shaq was so big and thick and strong and so was Magic and so was LeBron and so Duncan and so formidable. And seven foot three and still growing worries me a little bit. but I will say this. I think he landed in the right spot in San Antonio. They won't screw it up. They've done transformational bigs, David Robinson, Tim Duncan.

They've done international stars. Tony Parker, Manu Genoobli, they know what they're doing. They're grown-ups. They're the parents you want to drop your kids at. Not the party parents. They're the grown-ups. You got your kid. You got to drop them off for a couple hours, newsome errands.

You want to drop them off at the Spurs. If you look at the final teams, the final eight teams that were bidding for Victor Webbenyama, that had the ping pong balls in. And I'll read these to you. Hornets, blazers, rockets, pistons, magic, pacer, wizards. In the last 10 years, those seven teams have had 25 coaches. Tire fires, chaos, poorly run, poorly run. owned, maybe both. The Spurs have had one coach. He's older. He should have embraced the three ball,

but they had a plan. They went into full tank in the preseason. They're not supposed to say that, but they went into full tank, and they won. And they'll do very well. There's certain places and people that you should connect with if you want to succeed. If you're a high school quarterback, you should strongly consider Lincoln Riley. If you're a high school defensive end, you should strongly consider Nick Saban. They do quarterbacks and defense events really, really well. The Spurs do international players well. They do transformational bigs well.

They're the grownups in the room. They're a little like the Pittsburgh Steelers. Whenever the Steelers get the quarterback right, Brad, Sean, Ben, they win Super Bowls. They're never terrible. either as San Antonio until they really wanted to be because that's how you get Victor Wembeyanama. But I looked at all the teams last night and I thought to myself, okay, I'd like to see Portland.

I got a soft spot for Portland. Their Odin injury, Walton injury, Bowie injury, Brandon Roy injury. They would have been probably the second team that would have done him right. But the spurs are really good at this. I know, I know many of you saying it's got to be rigged. It's 2023. If you lose an election, if you lose Victor Wembenyama, you lose a playoff series.

Of course, it's rigged. That's how losers validate losing. They're willing to look at anything except a mirror. This wasn't rigged. They went full tank. They had a plan. They had great odds. And they got it.

And it's probably better he landed there. I'm sorry than Detroit or Charlotte. Probably just is. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Colin, I love when you go on these little rants, calling people losers.

It's always a little bit funny. But, you know, let's be honest. Yes. That's the world we live in now. If you lose a playoff series, it's rig. Last night, Victor Webb and Yama, it's rig. It's rigged that he got to San Antonio. If you lose, your senator loser, we live in a world now where nobody will just look in the mirror and go,

maybe my election strategy wasn't good. Maybe we weren't prepared or have the right cover. coach, Philadelphia against Boston. You know, by the way, well, the Lakers are in the playoffs. Yes, so are the Nuggets. Milwaukee just won a championship. Miami's not a flashy team. By the way, if you're losing in life, can we just acknowledge sometimes we're the reason we're losing?

Maybe our candidate didn't have the best plan or our team. A lot of these teams, we thought we're going to go full tank like Utah. And Utah ended up being good. Yeah. Well, you and I have worked with a conspiracy theorist before. It's not fun. You don't want to be hanging around that guy. That guy is bad news and just don't hang around conspiracy theory guy. All right, let's get started with John Morant, Colin. Oh, boy. Suspended from all team activities by the Grizzlies. I don't know what that even means. They're in the summer. They're, you know, offseason because he was in that video on Instagram over the weekend holding a firearm. Yesterday, John Morant put out a statement. Okay, I'm going to read it for you. I know I've disappointed a lot of people who have supported me. This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I'm committed to continuing to work on myself.

Now, Colin, in a stunning development, some guys on social media claim that John Morant got his statement from chat GPT. He was like so desperate. I mean, I think they're mocking him. That they ask like the algorithm, hey, can you figure out what I can say to make these people happy? Because this statement is kind of a joke, right? I mean, given what John Morant's been through and he's now embarrassed the league, you embarrass the league like he's done? gun? I think he's looking at like a 25-ish game suspension, maybe more. There were some people. I've seen this pushback.

Is that, I mean, people can carry guns. Why are we so hard on him? And I had this discussion the other day. Where you work matters. I'll give you an example. Only fans is legal. There are people on only fans. But if you were a kindergarten teacher on only fans, your school district would let you go because you're in a role that many people look up to you and you watch children. So a school district, though it's legal, would say, you can't work here. If you're an NBA star and you're a role model of kids and you're the face of a franchise, can't be waving guns around. So it's okay.

There are different jobs that have different standards. A kindergarten teacher, a high school teacher, a high school principal, Sometimes league stars. When you're compensated at that level, people look up to you in a face of a franchise and you're impressionable. The league, I hear this all the time. Well, what about politicians? No, no, no. Yeah, that's a silly argument.

Let me ask you, though. You said role model. That's an interesting phrase because Charles Barkley, back in the day, I was a fan of Barclay way back. He famously did that commercial, I am not a role model. I did not sign up to be a role model. Okay. And it was an interesting point that he made at the time, right? He didn't sign up to be a role model.

there's things I didn't sign up for. Like, you know, somebody calls me at two in the morning and has to bail them out of blankety blank blank. You got to go do it if it's in the family. I didn't sign up for it. The reality is there's lots of things in life that we as parents don't sign up for, as employees we don't sign up for, and you just have to be an adult and do it right. So it comes with the territory. I say this, whenever I say a guy saying, you know, I see an athlete do something and it's really bad. and people say, I can't believe, I can't believe. It's no big deal. And I'm like, you may work

at a warehouse, you don't have a lot of responsibility, you aren't working with kids, you aren't the face of your company. There are standards for certain jobs and positions, and it comes with the territory. So you can't wave, you know, you can't wave guns around as a professional athlete, especially when the NBA is very sensitive to it. And so, um, You know, the whole argument, I'll say it again, there's lots of legal platforms that anybody could be on and take their clothes off. And it's legal. Depending on your job, you're going to get fired for doing that. It's totally legal.

And for 90% of people, maybe it would be fine. Not a teacher. And remember, David Stern back in that it had to clean up the narrative around the NBA. Years ago, yeah. They're good guys. There's a T word that I probably shouldn't use. I'm not going to say it. But like there was that perception that all these guys are bad dudes.

And, you know, he installed the dress code and nobody liked it, but, you know, David Stern put it in place, right? It worked. It seemed to have a good impact. I tell this to people who are ever critical of the NBA players. I watch baseball players getting a lot of trouble. I watch football players getting a lot of trouble. I watch UFC fighters. This is not a knock on any league. Very rarely do you see an NBA player.

They go hide in the offseason. They do shoot commercials. They do movies. the NBA in my experience has some of the best guys I've ever covered. The funniest, the easiest to get it. I put a lot of NBA guys when I can get them on my show. I love NBA guys. I've covered NBA guys in Portland.

I know multiple NBA guys. I love NBA guys. They're completely real. But the league also has an issue that because they don't go to college for four or five years, they come into the league very young. And a lot of people are pulling on them and grabbing on them. You've got to grow up pretty quick. You've got to grow up.

It's tough. really hard. So let's with John Morant, he's responsible. But there was a parental situation that wasn't good enough, a shoe apparel company that didn't do a good enough job, the Grizzlies didn't do a good enough job. It's easy to blame the 20-year-old. You know who didn't do a good job? Who? Jahn's parents. That's what I said. There's a parental issue at play here. Like, come on, don't be his friend. Be a dad. Take care of it. This is not, it's not all Jha. It mostly is, but the NBA asks a lot of its 20-year-olds. You're...

Yeah. That's accurate. They do ask a lot, but again, you're getting a lot. You know how much money this guy's making an advertisement from all the shoes and Nike and the Gatorade, all these people? He's making a ton of money and he's jeopardizing all of it to try to be some cool gangster. It's a bummer. It's, he needs help.

So this is kind of strike two, right? In the last six months for John Morin. Well, he's going to... know if there's a strike three you're out. Here's the thing. He could get in trouble again and still remain in the league. But what happens is you become one of those guys. Like we talked about it yesterday, you become the actor.

You can still get work, but nobody's going to build a franchise around you. You can't stand up in the huddle in a playoff game and say, guys, listen in it. I got this. People are they going to look at, what are you talking about? You're no leader? That's right. Look what you're doing the off season. So I just think, I think he's fine.

I think he'll get it right. But you don't want to become the actor that you, everybody kind of rolls their eyes and goes, yeah, you can't build a franchiser. Now, now, now, let me just throw this out. Robert Downey, who's... Iron Man! Hey, go back to Robert Downey when he was young in Hollywood. He was a mess. He was a mess. Robert Downey

cleaned his act up and was given the opportunity to build the massive franchise around. But Robert Downey, be the first to tell you. It was very immature, spoiled, petulant. So this happens to our entertainers. They're 21 years old. They get rich. They're good looking. They're stars. My takeaway is a dad is we put a lot on these young people.

They go child actors, it's a litany of disasters. And so it's like, I'm not going to, I don't think the world should come down on John Morant. He's got to grow up. But man, do we, our football players come out at 23, 24 years old. A lot of them are married. Well, there have been a lot in recent years that have totally screwed up. Oh, they have. But there's also, remember, there's also 55 guys a team.

But it's fair. There's only 12, 13. and so there's a lot more football playing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Next up, Easter Conference Finals tonight, Tatum and the Celtics hosting Jimmy Buckets and the Heat. Hey, do you see this line? I don't think it's that shocking.

Totally disrespectful to Miami. It's Celtics eight and a half. I'm taking the points. Well, there's some heat money has been showing in the last couple hours. It's down to eight. For sure. You think Boston played its best offensive game maybe ever. Miami saw that and thinks, hell,

we got to get this thing right. Boston's going to come in feeling good about themselves. Well, they should. I'm taking Miami in the eight and a half. Absolutely. Now, I don't know if they'll win. That is disrespectful to spolster them. Eight and a half.

These guys have... All right, so hold on. This is the third meeting in four seasons in the playoffs for these guys. Jalen Brown is not taking the match up lightly. It's not the same team as last year. Jimmy is still Jimmy and Spoe is still Spoe. But we got to make sure that we're aware of everybody else. Colin, I just want to hammer this home.

Miami has vastly exceeded expectations, taking down the bucks. The New York Knicks couldn't shoot the basketball. Time out. This is a really, really difficult task, and I know everybody loves the heat is pols. So you're giving them no credit for beating Milwaukee in five? They do.

I mean, listen, Janice got hurt. By the way. I know Tyler Hero got hurt. I got it. New York had all sorts of shots against Cleveland. But they suddenly couldn't shoot against Miami? Maybe Miami's defense had a part to do with that. Well, Nick's offensive rebounded as well.

against Cleveland, which was stunning. But, no, Miami's just, they're not that good. Come on. You can't get to the Eastern Conference Finals to be bad. They're better than Philly. I didn't say they were bad. They're just not that good. The market is telling you, Boston is by far the better team here.

They should roll. Who's stepping up for Miami? Caleb Barton? I don't know. Struce and Vincent? Kevin Love? Really? That's your options?

How about Spolstra? Totally works. Totally wins coaching. Butler's better than Tate. So I got way better coach. Wait, wait, wait, finish that. Butler, what? I have a way better coach. You say Butler's better than Tatum?

If you had a series, who would you take? One series. You take Jimmy Butler all day long. I love Butler. I've been, I took Butler over Kauai when it was not popular like four years ago. I go Tatum. I get the better, more dependable star. I get the better coach.

So fine, rank the five best players in the series. I don't care. The coach counts for a game. Who's one? Butler. Two. Tatum. Three.

I like Cody Zeller. Well, stop it. Jalen Brown, by the way, you want props? Jalen Brown over points tonight. Because Tatum went off at game seven. Jalen Brown's turn in game one. Tatum, two, Jalen Brown three, Bam at a Bayou, four.

So your first four players are even, and I get the best coach. And eight and a half tonight. Take dinner, let's go. I guess it's a double or nothing since you owe me for the Jalen Ramsey. So I got nothing to lose, right? I'm just saying. Eight and a half point is disrespectful to that culture.

that coach those stars. And by the way, and you know Spolstra, is feeding that to him all day to that. By the way, if memory serves, Boston was something in the neighborhood of 10 in game one and two against Philly. Now, Embed missed, I think, game one, but game two, it was like nine or ten. And even game five was like seven. And anyway, let's move on. Final story, Joe Burrow,

his rookie deal goes through the 2024 season. Bengals are in talks for an extension. There's certainly a chance. His next deal could make him the highest paid quarterback in the end. NFL. As Burrow goes through negotiations, he wants to keep his other teammates' extensions under consideration. You know, whenever you have guys on the team that I need to be paid, that's always on your mind. You want that to be a focal point, and so we're working to make that happen. Yeah, you've got to have good players. You know, you can't. You see, I mean, it doesn't matter

how good your quarterback is if you don't have good players around them. You're not going to be a very good to you. Smart. By the way, Mahalms, team friendly, Burrell, take a team friendly. Smart guys. I mean, Mahalms, success. Don't kid yourself.

It's a team friendly deal that is you can, it's very, the cheeps are very capable of manipulating around it. He won championships. Brady, team friendly. You know who wasn't team friendly? Go look at, and I love Eli Manning, but at the end, they were paying him a fortune,

not team friendly. He lost a lot of football games. Kobe, not team friendly with the Lakers at the end. Aaron Rogers not team friendly. Russell Wilson not team friendly. So I've interviewed historically two Bengals who have told me straight up that this organization is very cheap. Oh, beyond. They are penny pinching and the owner.

They are. There's a small chance, a non-zero chance that they totally screw this up with Joe Burrow. There is a real legit chance that they're like, oh, you want to take a team friendly deal? Yeah, okay. We'll make you the sixth highest pay court or something dumb. Like there's a chance they screw this up. I know your producer's a big Bengals fan. He's getting worked up right now.

But you look at the history. I mean, a lot of former Bengals, we'll talk about this. Okay. He's an Ohio kid. Ohio takes care of Ohio. They're going to take care of him. Mike Brown, there will be, if they screw Burrow, they'll lose 10,000 season ticket holders. Ohio is always taken care of Ohio.

That's why Ohio State plays Youngstown State and all these Ohio's, schools. Ohio's economy takes care of Ohio. They're not going to screw it up. The Brown family has at times driven me crazy, but they didn't get talked out of Burrow. They didn't get impatient. They kept Marvin Lewis on for years. Brown's been patient with his coaches. He has been. Marvin Lewis, everybody wanted him fired. He kept him. Marvin did. Never won a playoff game. But you know what? Say what you want about the Bengals is the Jets that fire a coach every 15 minutes or Cleveland that fires a coach every 15 minutes. It sends a message throughout the league is don't move your family there.

Zach Taylor had a lot of people questioning it. Oh, well, that was understandable. Come on. His first two years won an abomination. He was the worst. He was like the odds on favor to be the first coach fired in year three. And they didn't do it. Well, they did not.

And Joe Burrow carried into the Super Bowl. I'm sure Burrow will, it'll be fine. But like with Patrick Mahomes, you knew the chiefs were not going to screw that up. There was no chance. Yeah, the Hunt family's right. There's a little bit of a chance. A little this gets squirreible. Right? Would you agree?

3%. Yeah, I mean, there's a 3% brown clause. So you're saying there's a chance. But they went out and paid money for a left tackle. So at least they, this league's not that. And an edge rusher a couple years ago. Listen, and they moved off two safeties. So it's like, it is possible the Hollywood bad boy got his crap together and figured it out.

Maybe the Browns, maybe the Bengals now. After all these years of ineptitude, ineptitude, they're building. an indoor practice facility. We get it. The Bengals fans are all over you there. No, I'm just saying, I'm just saying, there is, it looks like a move that they've cleaned their act up

as an organization. The bad boy, the dysfunctional actor, has gotten his act together and actually now goes to bed before three in the morning twice a week. Actions, not words. Let's see it with Burrow. Well, they got to a Super Bowl. I'm not saying they're going to screw it up. I'm with you, 97% chance they get it right. But, ooh, it would be fun if they screwed this up.

Not really. It wouldn't be. I want to see Joe Burrow win. J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Line. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlie. The podcast is called All Ball.

We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talk to coaches. We talk to players. We tell you stories. You download it.

listen to it, I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Ghalib on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 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, 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 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 with Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. 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 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 the table right now, so... Thank you for finishing this. sentence. 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. Sunday on FS1 with a million bucks on the line, NASCAR's

best take on the historic track at North Wilkesboro. For the All-Star Race, it all begins at 5 Eastern with the All-Star Open. with engines firing at 8. Don't miss the heart-pumping action Sunday on FS1. By the way, two things can be true at the same time. You can absolutely adore and love your children,

but be disappointed with some of their decisions and actions. Two things can be true. I know it's difficult. But Steve Kerr was talking about the value of Draymond Green as people consider what the warriors are going to do next. And here's the brilliant head coach. If Dremont's not back, we're not a championship contender, we know that. I mean, he's that important to winning and to who we are.

So I absolutely want him back. He's a competitor. He's an incredible defensive player. I mean, we can check all those boxes. And he and I have built a really, special relationship. Very important. I've said Stefan Dremont, not Clay, are the soul of this team, the superstar, and his de facto screen setter, catalyst, and bodyguard.

But this, as Steve Kerr pointed out, is also true. There was some of that that was lost this year, for sure. you know and you know it's no there's no hiding from it the incident with Tramont and Jordan at the beginning of the year played a role in that it's hard for that not to impact a team anytime some trust is lost then it makes the process much more difficult and there was some trust lost and that's as blunt as I can be he knows that he also compromised things by what happened back in October. And so part of him coming back next year has to be about, you know, rebuilding some of that

trust and respect that he's earned here, you know, for a long period of time. Both are completely true, and that's okay. many believed after the Warriors beat the Celtics last year, that was the end of the dynasty. I did not. Many of you believed it and said all year long, this wasn't a title team. They won one pre-KD. They won two titles with KD. And they won last year without KD.

That feels like the closure to the dynasty. Guys are getting older. And you were right. it probably was with this current group the last big hurrah. So they've got to reboot it. But they will reboot it with Steph and Draymond without question. Clay, I don't know. Jordan Poole, we'll see.

Andrew Wiggins, they hope to keep him. Looney, I'd maybe consider moving him, though he doesn't make much. If you look at the history of NBA dynasties, Kobe and Shaq, three, four years, blows up. Michael Jordan, two three-year dynasties. He needed a break, quit twice. And, I mean, go look at the Spurs. They had a break in theirs. Like, that's the way it works.

Eventually, your star gets hurt. Your star gets old. You've got to bridge the gap between the young guys and the old guys. And that's what happened this year. James Wiseman, they just moved off him. They gave up. Cumminga, they like him, don't love him. Moses Moody.

finally got some real minutes in the playoffs. Jordan Poole still hasn't and hadn't at the time of the punch grown up. So the big issue with this team was how do they bridge, and all championship teams usually face this, how do you bridge the gap between these draft picks who are talented, and you can play in the regular season, but can you trust them in the postseason, and the old guys who are on a different timeline? And what happened was, with Wiseman they gave up, with Coominga in the postseason, didn't play him hurt his feeling.

Moses Moody's probably the happiest. Jordan Poole got his bag, but it didn't initially sit well when he taunted teammates. So two things can be true. Draymond's incredibly valuable. I said this during the season. Draymond was at some point responsible for the awful road record. I was told, got a good source,

that the team was not as close on the road. Old guys go there, young guys go there. And on the road, you can make fewer mistakes. You've got to be tighter as a team. Teams that play well on the road are usually really tight teams, chemistry-wise. The Warriors for years were very, very good on the road. This team was not. So I do think they'll be very good next year. I think they have to go get a big, maybe a Carl Anthony towns. I think they have to get some scoring from somebody over 6'8, somewhere. But it's okay.

Two things can be true. You love your kids. They drive you crazy. It's okay. Dremont made a big mistake. People in the room knew why he made it. It hurt chemistry, but he's completely invaluable going forward and over the last seven to eight, nine years. Jemak, I know what you're thinking. Gosh, this Dremont discussion. I love Rodman. I love Bruce Bowen. I've defended all of them.

I defend all these, every single Barney's a bouncer. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Bruce Bowen, you're comparing to Dremont Green? What are we talking about? Well, I'm saying when he was with the Spurs, he was the defensive guy. He was the annoying guy. He was the, get that.

Dremont's more than annoying. He punched out a teammate. Yeah. Sucker punched a teammate at practice. So did Michael Jordan. Yes, yes. There's no video. We just don't have video.

My friends love when we talk about this because they know you like Dremont and they know I like Curry and they know you work with Dremont. And there's something here. Neither of us is wrong, but neither of us is right. I don't know if that makes any sense at all. And that's why the show is just on fire lately. But I want to point out, Colin, what you've done in the past is not a predictor of what you're going to do in the future. Just because Dremon was a historically great defensive guy for a decade. Doesn't mean he's going to be that going forward. doesn't mean he's still going to be the high IQ passing point forward.

Yeah, he's not going to get dumb, trust me. He's not going to get dumb, but he's getting old. And he's losing his mind clearly stomping out an opponent. He did the same thing years ago. You got to be bold in life. You make a lot of bold decisions. I've made some bold moves. You think they're going to move him.

I don't think. But if you're asking me what I would do, I'm exploring all options, baby. Hey, does Victor Wambaynama need an enforcer in San Antonio? A bodyguard? Well, that's interesting. He'd have value. Ooh, spicy. 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 I-Heart 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 I-Hard Radio app. 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.