The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - Ja Morant needs to grow up

Episode Date: June 16, 2023

Colin reacts to breaking NBA news where superstar Ja Morant is suspended for the first 25 games of next season Nikola Jokic celebrating his first NBA championship and why we can expect a battle between Jokic and Giannis for the best player in the league for years to come A surprise team to make the playoffs in the NFL after giving his first round of predications for the upcoming seasonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we are on a Friday and a busy one with Breaking News live in Los Angeles. It's the herd wherever you may be and however you may be watching or listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. J-MAC, we've got breaking news. We knew it was coming. It seems fair.

Pretty reasonable to me. John Morant, 25-game suspension, feel fair to you? Right in the wheelhouse, I think the only surprise is that the NBA announced it in the morning. I thought they would bury this at like 5 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. Yeah. But, you know, John Moran now not eligible for a lot of the postseason awards due to the new rules in the NBA. So Adam Silver has been viewed through the years as sort of player-friendly comes down. It feels just about right to me, 25-game suspension for John Morant, another transgression,

off the court, Adam Silver's quote, the potential for other young people to emulate Jaws' conduct is primarily, particularly concerning. Let me say that again, the potential for other young people to emulate his conduct. That's what worried the NBA. Now it sends a message obviously to Jha. Grow up. Now, you're the face of a franchise. big boy jobs have like standards and repercussions for bad actions.

You're a corporation. You're a franchise. Ditch some of your loser friends. They don't have your best interests at heart. That's the obvious stuff. And I often see young fans, not older fans, but young fans, say stuff like, it doesn't matter. Come on, man.

It's no big deal to you. You're not a star, a face of a franchise, or have a job that has really high standards. standards. The first sign you have a good job in life, it has standards. A principal can't be getting DUIs. A school teacher can't be on only fans. A senior vice president of marketing can't show up routinely late for big meetings. The second sign you have a really good job is that people look up to you, often young people, like a school teacher or an NBA star. Yes, they look up to you. copy you, emulate you, and you have influence on people. Yes, you have influence. An NBA star,

a school teacher, a principal. Those people have influence, often on younger people. Younger people are followers. They join clubs and frats and sororities. As you get older, you ditch all that crap. You don't care, but young people do care and they follow and they join. And Adam Silver's wording here, particularly concerning Jaws' conduct on other people to emulate him, waving a gun around in a society that's got too many guns and gun violence everywhere. Danny Green yesterday said, don't blame Nike, don't blame the Grizzlies, don't blame anybody but Jop. I put a little bit of blame on the people around them,

but at some point, you know, I have to look at them, at the person, they have to look at themselves in the mirror and say, you know, this is on me. So yeah, I gave a little bit of blame to the people around them. They're surrounding groups, their foundations. But for me, if you're over, you know, 22 years old, I feel like you've been through it. I'm saying enough, but it's really upon them to take it

and, you know, to actually learn from it and try to be better. Listen, we've all got to grow up at some point. Some people, it takes a long time. That's okay. We all have different routes. Some people have chaos at home. takes him a while to figure it out. They didn't have great role models. It was just sort of a freewheeling house you lived in. Some people, big strong families,

there for support, hold you accountable. A lot of it's parenting. Some people take longer. John Morant's not there yet. Hopefully this gets him there. But again, good jobs generally have an impact on not only you but others. And John Morant right now has influence. Now it's time to finally embrace the response. responsibility of having that influence among the other great things the NBA furnishes you with. All right. So I saw something yesterday. Before the breaking news, this is what I was going to leave my show with. The Nuggets had a parade, and the Kansas City chiefs were getting their rings last night. And it's interesting. Everybody's afraid of the rich and the power.

powerful, the big markets and the big cities. New York sports have been a mess for the last decade. It's a five-alarm fire every day, a revolving door of coaches and GMs and high expectations and pressure from the media. There is value in being in small market Kansas City or in the Rocky Mountain time zone of Denver or being the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Michael Malone was the fourth longest tenured coach in the NBA. The only people in this sport that had had their jobs longer are Hall of Famers, Steve Kerr, Spolstra, and Greg Popovich. They'll all get there.

But Stan Cronky was patient. Jamal Murray got hurt. They didn't ditch him. Yokic took a while. Patient surrounded him. Michael Malone has an exit perhaps around earlier than you hope. They stay with him. The Bucks did this and won a title.

Now, the Bucks now fired their coach, but it was time. They're rebooting. Milwaukee got very old, very quickly. It is time for Milwaukee to reboot. But that patience with Janice and others, Chris Middleton, was part of that championship. We live in a country where there's all sorts of conspiracy theory weirdos right now, and unfortunately, they have a voice. Elections are rigged. No, get a better candidate.

NBA and NFL are rigged. No, get a better quarterback. back. Get a better GM coach and stars. Kansas City, Denver, and the Las Vegas Golden Knights. That's not who leagues would pick to be champions. They'd want the Dallas Cowboys to be a champion, right? Last time they got just to a conference championship, 28 years ago. The NBA would die to have the Boston Celtics in the finals. They regress this year. One championship 35 years. And you know Major League Baseball is pulling for the Yankees, right? 23 years, one World Series title.

In fact, the Knicks, the Mets, the Giants and the Jets, last 10 years combined. That's 40 years of seasons, right? 21 different head coaches, 21 different coaches in just 40 seasons. only seven playoff appearances and no titles. Everybody's always afraid of the big markets and the Yankees and the Celtics and the NBA's pulling for them and the NFL is pulling for them. You really think the NFL said, we've got all these markets. Let's go make Kansas City the champs. Let's make them the dominant dynasty for the last four to five, six years.

No. No, but you know what, Brett Veach and Andy Reid? You could sit Mahomes for an entire year. And it was okay. Alex Smith was a playoff quarterback. Talk radio wasn't ripping you. There wasn't this outside narrative from the national media. You got to play Mahomes now.

They took their time. They missed on some draft picks. A couple years ago, they picked a running back first round. He was replaced by a seventh round running back. Nobody called for Brett Veach's job, the GM, because he's really good. and everybody knows the draft. Come on, man. Everybody whiffs.

Belichick wiffs a lot. That's the value of Kansas City and of Denver in the Rocky Mountain Time Zone where Mike Malone says we don't get enough attention. Don't see it as a burden. Don't see it as a negative. It's great. Even Mike Malone after. Look like he had a little sauce, was having fun.

Nobody cares. It's Denver. It's theirs. They earned it patiently in the right way. Here was the coach. You're a part of this. I have dreamed about this day since I got here eight years ago. So I want to say, Nuggets Nation, I love you.

Nuggets Nation, let's do it again. We're not satisfied. We don't want one. We want two. We don't want one. We want two. We don't want one. We want one.

They had a good time. Nobody in the world dared to judge them. Cowboys, Celtics, Yankees, not Chiefs, Golden Knights, and the Denver Nuggets. You can be patient. Every day is not a four-alarm fire. You whiff in a draft pick, it's okay. You sit a star quarterback for a year. It's fine.

It's valued. The right teams right now are champions. J-Mack, J-Morant. You know, you know this as a father. I really know it as a father that this is physiologically true. Maybe that's a wrong word. Is it girls mature faster than boys? 100%.

Yeah. So that's not an opinion. Girls mature faster than boys. And among boys, just boys, some boys mature much faster than other boys. My sons had friends. My stepkids have had friends. and, you know, they're just not there yet, and they make bad decisions. So it's like, as a parent, I've always sort of baked in, the boys are going to make more mistakes.

Very lucky. I have a son, two step-sons. Their mistakes were mostly 13 years old, 14 years old by 16, 17, you know, doing the right stuff. John Morant, hopefully this is a wake-up call, but some of these guys come into the league. You know, Steph Curry's dad was a pro athlete. He understood their responsibility. He understood the pressure. Like Steph Curry came in, not a lot of missteps, but he also had a dad who played in the league,

could explain to him the travel, the responsibility, the rigidity of the league. There's certain things asked. So a lot I've said before is it's not all Jha. Like we're all products of our environment. And it's quite possible, though I'm not saying it's certain. It's quite possible that the moments leading up to this for Jha were problematic. There were obstacles. He couldn't overcome him by himself.

but I do think it's a wake-up call. It's necessary, and 25 games feels reasonable to me. Yeah, I totally agree. I wonder what this will do to Memphis. Remember, they're losing Dylan Brooks. That's a lot of change in this team. And we don't know how John's going to bounce back from this, Colin. I mean, are you certain he's going to be fine?

Like, this is Strike 2, if you will. I think he's learned any lessons here? I mean, I don't know him personally, but... Well, he's got an off-season. Remember the first time he had an eight-game suspension, then he did it again. Now he's got an entire offseason to think about it. And by the way, there'll be some money lost. There'll be some awards lost. You've got a lot of offseason to think about it. If the sponsors don't bail, does he go around thinking, ah, 25 games, I'll be fine. Because, you know,

he's in a small town there, you know? Memphis has to kind of kiss his butt a little bit to keep him, right? You're in these small markets. You can't lose a superstar like this? Can you? I don't know. You think Memphis has ever been this much of a contenders? I think a player like John Morant is wildly attractive to big desperate markets, and there are a lot of of Chicago's and D.C.s in the league that need some juice and a team like Memphis. Look at Oklahoma City. You'd think they were desperate. Moved off of KD., moved off a Hardin, moved off of Westbrook. Everybody thinks, oh, Oklahoma City small market. By the way, what team in the league has more draft picks than Oklahoma City? And they've got an all-NBA-level player. So

Oklahoma City never showed any desperation. I don't think the idea that Memphis is desperate, this idea that small markets are desperate. I don't buy that. Wait a second. Big markets have their own desperation, meaning, yeah, expectations, media, get us a star. I mean, I used to live in Connecticut.

I would listen to WFAN radio. Oh, geez. And listening to them bang on teams that had made the playoffs the year before, we need another star receiver. We need it. Green Bay got two Super Bowls, That's it with Farvin Rogers.

There was no sense of desperation. You could slowly build an offensive line. So this idea that Memphis is desperate to keep John, I don't think they are. I think you're going to find, there's a lot of big markets that are desperate. Chicago is a highly competitive market. They need to get some juice in that franchise. So OKC had the big stars, KD, and Westbrook and Hardin, and they trade Hardin and then slowly start to dissipate. And, I mean, when was the last time they made a playoff series, Colin?

Well, they made it a couple years ago, didn't they? with Chris Paul. Didn't they make the play? I don't think they want around, though, like Lou Dort and company. Yeah. And it's like, you don't think they're desperate to get back to where they were with KD? I don't, I don't think small markets are desperate because I don't think they face the pressure of the big cities. I've seen the Lakers take big swings on Russell Westbrook that felt desperate.

I never see OKC do desperate things. Yeah, there's the idea that like the big market teams, the Lakers, Nick, they cannot rebuild. The fans won't be patient for six years of the OECC. I mean, I remember when the Yankees had Aaron Judge. and he went and bought John Carlos Stanton. And I'm like, you've got Aaron Judge. He's a cheaper, better version of John Carlos Stanton. Why are you doing that?

Because they had the money. Like, I thought that was a bad move. It's like, you've got that. That's not what you need. You don't need to duplicate that and spend a fortune. Judge is a better, cheaper version of that. I don't think you would do that in a medium-sized, smaller market. I mean, I think if you go look at how Denver is built,

it's like they could have caved on Jamal Murray. If you're in New York, let's get him to Jamal Murray. he's all banged up and it's like Denver's like, no, we're going to stick with Jamal Murray. They go get Aaron Gordon. Aaron Gorn's doing nothing in Memphis or in Orlando. He's doing a big nothing, but he's a bust. Yet they brought him in, had a plan, believed in it. The media didn't crush him for that in Denver.

You're allowed to have a plan and patiently execute it. And in these big cities, if you make a mistake, you get crushed. Yeah. Because there's, I mean, you go to Philadelphia, WIP, New York, WFAN, W-E-E-I in Boston. They'll spend months ripping GMs. The owner hears it. The coaches here.

There's a lot of, it's a powder keg. It's a four-alarm blaze every morning. I don't think you face that. I mean, if you go look at how Denver built, if you put that in a big city, Malone lost that city. You've got to get rid of Malone. And Stan Cronkey's like,

take your time. I mean, and the other thing is you do things you would do. Like when the Rams basically got rid of first round picks to get Stafford, because they were in a city, highly competitive Los Angeles, the new stadium cost overruns, they went all in for a Super Bowl and sort of gave up some of their future. I also think that can work, but right now they're reeling in their own division trying to get back and get draft picks. So you also, you have more money.

Stan Cronky makes a lot of money at SoFi Stadium so you can just guaranteed money, early money. But there's just as many pratt falls to big markets as there are. I mean, I've talked to a lot of pro athletes. You'd be shocked how few want to play in New York. The taxes, the weather, the pressure. It's amazing how many guys want to play

in Phoenix. You miss a game ending shot and there's 20 reporters at your locker and you're all over the radio and TV next day. I don't think that's happening in Denver. I just don't think it is. I mean, I've talked to multiple baseball players and they're like they love Milwaukee. I can go hide, make money. I can buy for my wife, a house by a lake.

It's this idea that living in the big cities to be all end all for pro athletes, remember, most pro athletes grow up in the burbs. They don't grow up in New York City or L.A. They grow up in small towns. They were on great prodigious Texas high school football teams in Odessa. And then grow up in downtown Houston or Dallas. I just think there's so much value to medium-sized cities and small towns in America. And I think a lot of pro athletes come from.

from there and they want to land there. Most guys are loyal in this league. Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal are not alone. LeBron's an outlier. He's bouncing around all over the place. But D. Wade didn't want to leave. Yonis doesn't want to leave. Yonkis doesn't want to leave. Jamal Murray don't want to leave.

Devin Booker don't want to leave. Dame didn't want to leave. Most guys don't want to leave. They want to be just, you go do the New York thing. Dame Lillard, Weber State, Portland, couldn't be happier. I think that's most athletes. Yeah. You know?

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 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 which I'll say. 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 what 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 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all 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.

Then you're 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. Welcome back. Yeah, the Denver Nuggets had their parade yesterday.

And it's interesting. I don't have any real connection to the Denver Nuggets. But I found myself, and I try not to do this, but really rooting for them to win the championship when you got to a game five at Denver. I think this is cool. I've watched this franchise forever. They can win it at home. I like when teams win at home. It's better for the fans.

I was watching Russell Wilson. I'm watching Peyton Manning. I'm watching all the old nuggets. And it was emotional. I'm NBA fan back in the 70s. And I've yet to see Denver win a championship. And it's an absolutely amazing sports city in America. Detroit and Denver are the two most underrated sports towns in America.

They like everything. Bowling, NASCAR, college pro. They're great. And Yokic initially said, I don't want to go to these parades. I want to go home. But he changed his mind yesterday. You know that I told that I don't want to stay on parade, but I want to stay on parade. This is amazing. This is we all going to remember this our whole lives. And when we see you guys that came out on the streets and actually this one is for you. We love you, Denver. This one is for you. Thank you,

He is now the best player in the NBA. It's been interesting. Take Michael Jordan out and probably LeBron, but usually there's been two players who were vying for the best player in the league. Magic and Bird went back and forth. The coastal players, Celtics Lakers. Their games had some similarity that they were both great passers and they became great friends. But Bird and Magic jockeyed back and forth.

Wilt and Russell won the great winning player, defensive rebounding guy. the other. Kind of a flake didn't win as much, but boy, could he stack points, wilt. Kobe and Duncan, one was a solo act, mostly hard to get along with others, very willful. And then there was Duncan, who was methodical and quiet. A team player avoided the press. Again, LeBron and Steph, LeBron's the better player, but Steph was smaller, more skillful, the great shooter. LeBron was a power player, into efficiency, great on both ends. I think Yokic and Yonis are going to both 28 years old, both finally made an all-star team in year four. I think they're going to go back and forth as the best player.

We forget that when Yonis was healthy the previous two years, he won a title and was perceived as the best player. But he and Yokic, like a bird in magic, may have some similarities. Size, humble, team first, but they're very unique players. One guy lobs the alley-U, but is allergic to him, Yokic, the other one catches. is it, the Greek freak. They're both really interesting people in terms of good guy, team first, international, overlooked by many early, took about year four until they were great. But I think when you go back and forth, Janus doesn't have quite the skill, but athletically length, the ability to chase down people who beat him off the dribble, the willingness and ability

to catch the alley-up, to dominate inside of eight feet. There's nothing on it. There's nothing on on the planet Earth. And I think Yokic's ability to hit a 26-footer to pass, to screen, to make others better is historically unique. So I think we're going to go back and forth with these, and these guys, by the way, for all the lamenting of what the NBA does wrong, great guy. I don't care that they're not the most popular. Team first, love their cities, incredibly loyal, all about winning, not worried about

shoe deals, not paralyzed by their brand. Maybe they're not as dynamic as other great players. Love these guys be in the face of the league. Jay Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is

the herd line news. Start with the NFL where Chiefs Bengals, we talked about it yesterday. I think it's the great, best rivalry in the league right now. We talked about Jamar Chase calling Joe Burrow, the NFL's best QB, taking a shot at Mahomes by saying, Pat, who?

But it looks like Mahomes got the last laugh during the Chief's ring ceremony tweeting, That's Who, with two ring emojis. They're having fun out there. Listen, there's an NBA element to this. You know, the NBA guys are huge on social media. Culturally, they're a big deal. This is pretty awesome for Patrick Mahomes. I love it.

I love it. And I have said this. I just said it about the NBA. You know how lucky we are, how lucky the NFL is, that the stars of our league, are Mahomes and Burrow. I mean, our quarterbacks are Herbert, like good dudes, like really good dudes. Embed, Yokic, like team first.

They're not going to leave Milwaukee in Denver. It's like you could, there's been times when Michael Jordan left, the NBA could not find a face of the league and lost 50% of their ratings. They just could not find somebody who corporate America liked, the suburbs liked, the city like they couldn't find the player. It's hard. There have been a lot of time. I think Aaron Judge is a great face of baseball.

Really good face of baseball. But it's hard. His personality is just not as vibrant as some of the other. Baseball, everybody's different. Baseball tends to step on personality. Yeah, I don't like that. I don't like it either. But I think there have been times where, like, the best player hasn't been the best guy.

It's amazing. The percentage of professional star athletes with baggage is tiny. It's much better than the rest of society. I mean, if you really look at these, if you look at 24-year-old men that are in life, that's where a lot of problems occur in life. Like, we're so lucky to have the players we have. Otani, no issues. Moki Betts, unbelievable. Aaron, Judge, quality guy.

You go all through sports. Easy guys to root for. Just the Mahomes getting social media. Do you remember how many times over the years LeBron would do cryptic tweets? Yeah. And so, like, I know people didn't love it, but that's fodder for TV, radio, web. goes a long way with fans. And this Mahomes thing, you know, I'm just telling you already, December 31st, circling on the calendar, Chiefs Bengals. I mean, look, this is fun. Yeah, I was

surprised they put that game so late, because my takeaway is they're going to meet three weeks later. Well, that's a fair point. I thought they should have put that like early in the season, because, you know, early in the season in September, a lot of people, yourself included, you're still getting good weather on the weekends with your kids. You're at the beach. Like you're outside in September. So the NFL September ratings, it takes until the weather cools for people to come inside and the ratings to explode. So I thought, oh, what a

great late September game. And then when they play again in January, you can go, oh, remember that. But they ended up putting it late. Maybe late December, it means more for playoff jockey. And like, you're going for it on every fourth down because you want home field advantage or something like

that. But Chief Spangles, well done guys. Next up, your favorite new quarterback in the league, Bryce Young. Boy, we're in that big helmet at camp, just slaying. Oh, my gosh, he looks so incredible. He does. Here's what some of his teammates had to say about Bryce Young at camp. Sometimes it can be easy in this time of the year when you're not getting hit, no pads on and things like that,

to kind of just sit there and no fear and just throw it around. But you can tell that he practices like a game. And I've always been a firm believer that when you do that, it makes the games a lot easier. And that's been really impressive. It's hard not to like that kid. I don't know. He put quite a stamp on the locker room. He walks around with this kind of humble,

excuse my language, he's like humble, but I know him the type of swag, you know what I'm saying? He know he got it, but he's humble with it. Yeah, I like him. It's possible that I was wrong. I would not have taken him first overall. By the way, I know you like to chide him for his helmet. I'm just joking around.

But that video, either he got a bigger head or a smaller helmet, it looks very appropriate. Might just be a different angle. Or like, is that, is that 4K or whatever? I don't even know. All I know is this is my team to win the division. You got to have a wow pick. This is my pick. Carolina wins the division.

Listen, that's not out on like a deep whiskey brand. Two of the teams are in two of the teams, Atlanta and Tampa. Well, actually, it's funny. You say that. A buddy of mine who is a pretty big gambler, pretty successful gambler, he just bet this week, Falcons over eight and a half wins. And I haven't texted him yet to find out what's going on here. You're rubbing your temple. You don't like Falcons, huh? I mean, they're not very good defensively, and I have no idea of Desmond Ritters, the guy. They have some really good skill people,

and their schedule is anemic. They're young. Most of their, they're not terribly big. They've got most of their talents at like receiver, tied in, running back. It feels boomer, bust, right? What is this? Year 3 for the head coach? It doesn't feel boom to me. It feels kind of bust or bust. I don't see the book. Third year coach, he's betting on his guy Ritter. Ritter will have a chance. I think the coach will have a chance. He's fine. He's fine. He'll have his third year if he doesn't make the playoffs or at least show, what do they want? Seven games the last two years? Well, I mean, what did he get? They handed him

a mess. Okay, fair enough. But listen, if they go out and win five or six games, it is clear Ritter's not the guy. Do we want to keep rolling with the head coach? Yeah, I would. I don't think he's the problem. I think the personnel's the problem. Well, isn't the coach part of picking the personnel? No, the GM does.

Oh, come on. These guys work together. Not necessarily. You don't think we collaborate on topics on the show? No, we don't. I pick them. You got everything. I want to lead with soccer today, but that's just me.

All right, final story, Calhurt. NBA Warriors made a big move. Remember, Bob Myers either stepped away or was told you ain't got to go home. You got to get up out of here. The new GM in Golden State is Mike Dunleavy Jr., VP of basketball operations elevated to GM. Covered him in high school. Did you? Yeah, he went to Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon.

I know his dad very, very well. He was a wonderful kid. He was a great high school basketball player. Great player, Duke? Yeah. Good NBA player. I think he played 10 years. Really smart kids, smart parents, good mom, dad, smart people.

Really good kid. Give it all that you know and have read about him. He'll be great. You think they keep the core, but it sounds like Cuminga's being dangled. Yeah, I mean, Warriors' issue is they're trying to bridge the young and the old guys, and everything's going to be on Steph's timeline. So I think they'd like to move Cominga and maybe get another young piece, but a young piece that fits what they want to do.

I think they have to get bigger. I think they're just, I think when you look at Denver and look at Milwaukee, and you even look at Boston and look at Philadelphia, I feel like the small ball thing was wonderful when, Clay and Steph were in their prime. But now that small ball is at times small and not fast enough ball. Yeah. And I just think they need...

They struggle with AD and Rui and LeBron in that Lakers series. Oh, absolutely. I mean, would the... I don't want to be harsh. You know, I'm a curry guy, but... No, he's fine. Would the nuggets have swept the Warriors? I mean...

I think probably so. That had to be on the table. Now, Curry has done extremely well against them. Porter, Gordon, and Yokic's size. It would have been a mismatch. I don't even know. Could Golden State have gone bigger? No, Looney's their only big

So they had to play Looney and Dremont And then you have two guys Well, I mean one guy that doesn't shoot And another guy that's more of a catalyst than he is a shooter No, I mean, that's why the Carl Anthony Towns to the Warriors thing has to be considered I don't need a world beater I need 17 points from the paint

You go pool, comminga and like two Two future ones for Carl Anthony Towns? I don't know what it is but you got to get big Maybe I'm wrong on this But I think the whole small ball was wonderful when all those guys were younger and in their prime. But I think as they get older and slower, small ball is small and not that athletic ball.

I know they moved off of Wiseman, and I think we would agree it was a clunky fit, but I'm not ready to bail on Cominga yet unless you're getting somebody. That dude is about his athletic. I know the potential is there, but how long is he going to take to extract it? Can he be an Aaron Gordon in two more years? I mean, he's like 21 years old or something. He's super young.

I don't think he's Gordon, but he's just. strong shoulders, twitchy. He's an athlete. You know, you talk about going up against the nuggets. They would need a guy like Cuminga. I don't know if he can hang with Aaron Gordon, but he can at least bang. He's a big shoulder dude.

Would Denver give, you know, their salaries don't matter? Denver could give you Porter. Why are they moving off? They just won the title. Well, I'm saying, you're proposing something. I said, if I have to move off anybody, I'm not moving off Gordon, Murray, and Yokic. No.

If I moved off Porter and I could get Cominga. No, I'm not doing a deal with the Warriors. I'm not saying they're going to do. I'm just, we're just, yeah. But if I'm Golden State, I need to see this Denver team. And if Steph wants another title, we've got to kind of match up with what they can do up front. And right now, we don't have that. Warriors need guys, man.

Damn, I'm starting to get worried about Steph. I need another chip for Curry. Plus, we need to talk about them on the show. That's an ambassador for the NBA. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news.

I don't know if I'm going to talk about this next or top of the hour, but Jay Mack and my friend John Middletkoff have influenced me on a pick. And this morning, I changed a pick. Last year you did it with me on the New York Giants. You have done it with me on another NFL team. And then Middilkoff last night, the NFL Scout, podcaster for my volume, he finally, he convinced me. And I think I'll do it next.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, this is Tom Verducci from Fox Sports, MLB Network and Sports Illustrated. And I'm Joe Madden, and we're going to be around to talk a little bit about managerial decisions and what may have occurred into the dugout, maybe in the 1980s. It's the Book of Joe podcast. I can't wait for this, Joe. We're going to dive into what goes on in the dugout and behind the scenes in Major League Baseball. Cars, whined, whatever else we want to talk about.

Yeah, well, there are no boundaries, right? Listen to the Book of Joe podcast on the IHeart Radio app, on 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, 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,

Clifford 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, Follow at Clifford and a 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 you all know. I mean, at this point, 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. Week number nine is underway on a beautiful day for football. Looking for the end zone. What a throw. What a catch.

Daylight across the 30 hurdles his way. Wow. What a return. Here we go. We got some jets going right now. 85-yard kickoff return. Oh, my goodness. How about that?

He did absolutely random over. To the core, strong hands for six. Alex McGoole. Wow, what a game. This weekend, it's the final push for the USFL playoffs. First tomorrow at 4 Eastern on Fox. Birmingham takes on Memphis, then Sunday at 4, New Orleans, battles Houston on FS1,

followed by Philly taking on Michigan at 7 on Fox. Catch all the action this weekend on Fox and FS1. So J-Max influence on the show, to this point is he talked me into the New York Giants. I mean, he's been more than that, but that was a biggie. And he and John Middilkoff have talked me into, it's probably the right call, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here's why.

So I made my pre-NFL preseason predictions. My playoff teams in the AFC look a lot like last year's playoff teams. And the reason that is, because I believe the AFC is all the best quarterback, and quarterbacks now in a quarterback-centric league win their divisions and get to the playoffs. But the NFC doesn't have nearly as many great quarterbacks. So the Eagles do, and I have them being the number one seed. But I only have four new playoff teams, Lions, Panthers, Rams, Saints, all in the NFC. So I've got to find two more because the average is six and a half, seven, and I'm at four.

So I got to find two other teams to go along with the historic average. And I'm going to go with the Steelers over Baltimore. Cincinnati still wins the division. And I have three reasons. Are you ready for this, J. Mack? If T.J. Watt plays, they win. Last year, eight and two when T.J. Watt played. Last two years, 17 and seven when T.J. Watt plays. He's healthy.

He plays. They win. The second reason is their top seven or eight players don't get hurt much. Cameron Hayward. Minka Fitzpatrick. T.J. Watts only had one year with injuries. Pat Friarmuth. Nagee Harris, Alex Highsmith, Kenny Pickett, they don't get hurt. They play.

Their chief rival, the Ravens' top six players outside of Mark Andrews, the tight end, all get hurt. Tackles, running backs, Lamar Jackson, wide receivers. So, A, when T.J. Watts healthy, they win. B, their top six or seven players are very durable. And the third reason is they finish winning six of seven and four straight. Why? Their defense was unbelievable. Last seven opponents held under 20 points.

Combine that with Kenny Pickett, who had some come from behind late game wins, I would guess with that coaching staff and the upgrade to the O line, he's probably going to get better in year two since he didn't even start last year. And every two, three weeks he got better last year. Add this. if you look at the Steelers defense and look at their schedule, six games minimum on the Steelers schedule, six minimum. San Francisco, Houston, Tennessee, Green Bay, Arizona, Indiana, Indianapolis.

They are facing a rookie at quarterback of first year. Starter at quarterback. Niners Brock Purdy didn't start last year. Houston rookie, Tennessee, very early, Levis will play. Green Bay, Jordan Love, first year starter, Arizona probably still in a backup. And Indianapolis, Anthony Richardson, you know he may not start the season, but he's going to finish the season quarterbacking for Indianapolis. That defense held more legitimate quarterbacks at 17 points, at 14 points, at 10 points. Rookie quarterbacks, young

quarterbacks, average quarterbacks, the Pittsburgh Steelers, not the Baltimore Ravens, as of this morning, are a playoff team. I am now down, I'm up to five. I got to find one more. So, yeah, finally one in the AFC. Lions, Panthers, Rams, St. Steelers. I'm at five.

I got to find one more. I will tell you, I'm not going to let you just keep influencing me, but you made me, I had a Restless night's sleep on your charger nugget at the end of yesterday's show. Well, it's funny you say that. I was just looking at the quarterbacks that they're facing this year. I did not know it was that favorable for them. Oh, my gosh. Now, we don't know where Kyler Murray will be December 3rd.

But if you look at the Steelers defense, which we know is going to be good. They should. And these guys stay healthy. Look at the quarterbacks they face. And by the way, Arizona could be tanking in December. There's no incentive to get Kyler Murray back. What's the point of winning a game in December? We've talked about this.

That, that, that, Las Vegas and Arizona, because of the quarterback situation, could be very well saying, let's just go get a quarterback. Let's just not play Garoppolo and Kyler. I would totally get it. Yeah, and the Green Bay game, like, who are they have to face tough on the road when you call up that schedule? Right. Jimmy Garapolo. Okay, let's look at it. CJ Stroud.

Okay, so they have to go, they have to go to L.A. and face Stafford. That's a real quarterback. Yeah, yeah. And they're off a buy week. They're off a buy week. That's good. Okay. Then they get, at home, they get Trevor Lawrence.

on the road, Joe Burrow, on the road, Lamar. Those are four very tough game. Let's just Sean Watson in there. That's not an easy layup. Well, you get him at home, well, it's home and away. Also, by the way, Lamar Jackson,

like last two end of the seasons, he's been hurt. So that final game could be, we don't know who the starter's going to be in deep junior. You know how fired up I am that I found my fifth new team? Feels good, doesn't it? Well, everybody always pushes back on this. Folks, it's six minimum,

seven usually. You got to find new. playoff teams. You have to. So you got me thinking about my sick, because I feel like I have to find another AFC, and you've talked me in. That's not hard. I mean, it's got to be Jets or Broncos. Has to be one of those two.

I think you're right. Okay, but the problem is who you booting. You seem irrationally high on Miami. I don't think it's irrational. They made the playoffs last year. Can you tell me who talked you into the Vic Fangio thing? Like, he's going to turn around that defense? Is he going to help the trenches? Former NFL quarterback.

Ryan Leaf? I'm not going to get into particulars. I'm a journalist. I protect my sources. Obviously, obviously. But you turn me on the Giants about this time last year. We were going in to get you. You turn me on the Giants.

See, the problem is you and I like Herbert, and I know you have a lot of relationships with the Chargers. But there's a world where they're just not as good as we think they are. Now, we'll see. Kellen Moore should be a massive upgrade. I was looking at some stuff with Lombardi. last year the O.C. He was basically running the offense like Drew Breeze was his quarterback in New Orleans.

And you don't need that with Justin Herber. He's got a massive arm. So they go get the big kid from TCU who constructs the field. And the progressive coordinator who multiple sets likes to throw it deep more often. They should be better. But we know the chiefs aren't falling back. You cannot drop them. Can you drop the bills? Oh, I absolutely. Absolutely. dropping like a bad habit. Okay, outward two is 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, S&L'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. 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.

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.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.