The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - Kevin Durant's career

Episode Date: May 16, 2023

Despite all his talent, Colin points out a major flaw in Kevin Durant's career Looking ahead at tonight's NBA draft lottery Previewing game 1 of Nuggets-WarriorsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is 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. I mean, 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. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd.

Now let's get this party started. listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go. Ready to go. Lakers Nuggets. Game 1 Western Conference Finals tonight live in Los Angeles. It's the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Nick Wright one hour from now.

Well, in the NFL, if you're a coach and you get your team to the playoffs, that usually guarantees you're coming back. It helps you a lot. In the NBA, getting to the playoffs doesn't mean anything. Mike Boonehulzer fired. Monty Williams yesterday fired. Doc Rivers just fired. The playoffs do not guarantee anything.

In fact, getting to the playoffs and underachieving is an automatic pink slip for a lot of coaches in the NBA. So Doc's out today. Surprise to you. Oh, yeah. Shocker. I'm just floored. I had no idea this was coming, Colin. I cannot believe it.

James Hardin got another coach fired. Part for the course in the NBA. I know. Isn't it interesting how often the coaches sort of embrace the unique talent and they end up not working great? It's awful. Tailu reportedly, you know, he's going to move on. And the Kauai Leonard thing where you had sort of an enigmatic star,

be careful who you embrace as a player in the NBA. Yeah. And so Boodin-Hols are out, Monty out, dock out. Yeah, I mean, I think Monty Williams, to me, is a very hireable coach. I think he's really really good. So I want to start with this, though. This is interesting. So Kevin Durant, it says here, according to Sham Sharanya, it was an organizational decision to fire Monty Williams.

But Devin Booker and Kevin Durant had a say in it. And I think this is a bad look for Kevin Durant, who I've defended many times. So remember, he got tired of Steve Kerr. Yeah, Steve's really good. He got tired of Steve Nash. he got Kenny Atkinson let go of his duties before that. And Atkinson is right now one of the leading candidates to get a job. The Warriors gobbled him up immediately as an assistant.

Jock Vaughn, he recently said, no thanks. Scott Brooks he worked with for years. Can't really count him, but he got tired of Monty Williams. So there's Steve Kerr, there's Monty Williams, Jock Vaughn, Kenny Atkinson. These are really, you know, thought of as really good coaches, and he can't work with any of them. And now there's a story today that James Harden, the surprise team in the mix,

is the Phoenix Suns. Put a kbosch to this, KD. This is a bad look. You're becoming weird and eccentric. It's okay to make poor decisions. LeBron James, great basketball IQ, has made poor decisions. Remember he wanted Shabazz Napier drafted? He wanted Westbrook to the Lakers.

But LeBron moves off bad decisions and then generally doesn't do them again. James Harden after Kyrian Hardin? You talk about a bad sequel. Like there's a big difference between being wrong. Anybody who's an entrepreneur, Rupert Murdox had this company. He's taking big swings, had some misses, a lot of successes. That's part of being a business person. You take big swings.

Basketball players, coaches, take big swings. Nick Saban got fired. So what? Belichick got run. Andy Reid got let go in Philadelphia. It's not the end of the world to get fired. in any business. A lot of very successful people.

They're mavericks. They're outspoken. They take chances. I love those sort of entrepreneurs who often swing and miss. It's okay to be wrong. But you don't want to be old and eccentric and have long fingernails like Howard Hughes and be cooped up in a hotel. You don't want to be that actor nobody wants to work with on the set because you're

odd and you're erratic. I mean, it's one thing to not be able to work with. Steve Kerr and Kenny Atkinson and Monty Williams. It's another to double down on James Hardin. End this thing today. It's a bad look. You look unpredictable. And again, I like my artist.

Just not the crazy ones. This is a lot of people have made mistakes. And that's okay. And I'm for big swings. But when he left the Warriors for Brooklyn, that looked eccentric. If he doubles down, I mean, he's already run through another coach. If he doubles down on James Hardin, then you kind of move into the weird space.

Not a good place as you age. Nobody wants the weird actor who's trouble on the set. Really talented, but I'm going to pass on that offer. Lee Jenkins now works with the Clippers, used to be a reporter. He talked about this years ago about Katie's personality. Durant's still a searcher. He's still somebody who seeks things out. When I think about LeBron and they've sort of traveled a bit of a similar course where it took them a while to win that first, when they had to go somewhere where it was a little, it was more favorable, right? The odds were a little bit

more favorable for them. They learn how to win somewhere. I think he's still the kind of person, just knowing him a little bit and the way he sort of seeks out different challenges. Yeah, I'm all for that. He has got to put an immediate end to the James Hardin to Phoenix rumors. End it today. It's one thing now you're running through coaches, good coaches, Kerr and Monty Williams, Kenny Atkinson. It's another thing to embrace James Hardin again.

All right. Tonight should be a massive night in the NBA, not just Lakers Nuggets. That's obviously the key story. But tonight's the ping pong lottery, and we will discover who gets the greatest NBA prospect. Again, prospect kind of in that Magic Johnson class, that Kareem class, that LeBron class. That's what they are saying about the young man, Victor Wembeñon. They are saying he's that good.

Should be a huge buzz about it. Unless you're an NBA diehard, there isn't. I mean, we're already discussing teams in the NFL that could land USC quarterback Caleb Williams. That's like a monthly week. And that thing's going to heat up the minute the season starts. The minute a team goes on a four-game losing streak. Who's getting Caleb Williams? Why aren't we talking about the next magic?

The next Kareem, the next LeBron. He's in that class. Two reasons. One, he didn't play college basketball. Had he scored 29 a game this past year for Kansas? Duke, Carolina, UCLA, there would be a frenzy. But the NBA once again views college basketball as an enemy and has marginalized their brand for years. I know he's an international player.

But if the NBA truly supported college basketball, you'd see more of these young international players go to Duke in Kansas. They would have that pull. Number two is basketball, and this is one of the things I don't like about their culture, is in a mad rush to get everybody paid in the NBA. That's why guys end up 19, 20 years old, immature, and you see what happens to John Morant. The whole Zion Williamson, health, PR, emotional, been a mess. I mean, even LeBron James, as great as he was, didn't win a title until his ninth year, and he had to join Pat Riley and D. Wade in a great organization.

Dwight Howard got to the finals in a fifth year, but never won. But if you go back to the 60s and then. 70s, in the 80s and the 90s, number one pick Bill Walton, Kareem, then you get into Magic and James Worthy and Akeem and Duncan and David Robinson and Shaq. And they all were not only great the first day in, but they gave you championships soon thereafter. Look at the guys now, Kate Cunningham, zero impact. Not a bust, zero impact. Nobody watches, nobody cares, and the pistons are lousy again picking near the top. How about Paulo Bencaro?

Very good. No bust. Nobody cares. Bad team, Orlando's near the top of the draft. In the NFL, Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence went to tire-fire organizations. Immediately by year two, oh-oh, they're taking teams to playoffs. Burroughs, after the injuries, gets a team to a Super Bowl. Trevor Lawrence, year two after that year one with Urban Meyer, got this team rolling,

win a playoff game. Because they come in as men, not kids. They're emotionally more mature. They've been in a campus. But the NBA has done this for years. They see college basketball, and it's mind-blowing as a business. They see college basketball as the enemy. The idea that Bill's self for two years,

be a bad deal. No, go overseas. Go G League. You got to be kidding me. You can get Bill's self. You can get a Tom Mizzow. You can get some of these great coaches. Nah, once again, why isn't tonight a massive story? This is the next LeBron. Have you seen the video on this kid? I mean, people will pick him apart. They picked apart Andrew Locke. You can pick these guys apart. He's seven foot forward. Nobody's going to stop his shot. Now, will he get pushed around? Of course he'll get pushed around. He's a kid. Will he make mistakes? Absolutely. But he's a remarkable talent. 7 foot 3 19 year old phenom from France. This should be a huge story. But college basketball, where we'd be introduced to him, sorry, most of us with a life aren't watching clips of high school

basketball players. I know some of you knew who Zion was at 16. Okay, great. The rest of us had jobs. You know, it's great. It's set on the internet all day. We're not all there fishing. the internet for high school basketball talent. There's people that do that. They're scouts and stuff. They're professionals. The rest of us are doing stuff. College basketball, turn on my TV at night, pop open a beer.

What do you know? Watch some college basketball. Big 10, SEC, ACC. Big 12 was good this year. Pack 12. I meet the kids. So as the NBA continues to do this, I mean, I can't wait to see who gets this guy. He'll be young.

He won't quite be ready. He could have used a couple years of Bill Self, but I'm excited. All right, Jay Mack, I've been on that tangent for a couple of days. Wow. Coward just taking, I mean, you are on fire this morning. I'm cracking up over here. I am. Wow.

I love the NBA. Yeah. I watch March Madness. But this is Caleb Williams. This is, people are saying 7-4-19-year-old. I mean, literally the people that do this for a living are like, this is magic. This is Walton. This is Kareem. We've been talking about Wemba Nama on the show for a while, and I did look it up.

Burrow, after they drafted, the Bengals drafted top five the next year. And Trevor Lawrence, after he got drafted, they drafted first the next year. But Burrow got hurt, and Urban Meyer was a historic disaster. True. And in year three, both popped a little bit. Now, I did look up LeBron, just for sake of argument. LeBron's second year, they just missed the playoffs. Third year, made the conference semifinals. Yeah.

I think Wembe Gama can. And he's the greatest player ever. Yes. And the following year he got to the finals, remember it with that awful Cavs team. Webid Yamma's going to have an instant impact. I don't know if it'll be year one playoffs. But year two, he should get there.

By the way, you just call him 7-3. There's reports that he's grown now to 7-4, maybe 7-5. And handles the ball. He can use both hands. I'm excited. Listen, you've got to get more fired up about it. Tonight might be a two-drink night for you. Lakers and the Webid Yamma sweepstakes.

That's why I'm talking about it. I think it's, I mean, we'll be on Caleb Williams the minute the football season. I mean, by the way, if a team goes on, as I said earlier, a long losing streak in the regular season, Caleb Williams will become the talk of the draft in December, September, October if somebody starts 0 and 5, 1 and 6. And oh, by the way, the Dallas Mavericks have a 3% chance of landing Wembeeniyama. Wembenyama plus Luca. I'm going to be insufferable tomorrow if that happens. I don't know how everybody, this is going to be.

It's five Pacific. 8 Eastern. Oh, it's very exciting. This is one of the great in the, I love ping pong. This is the greatest ping pong moment in the history of my life. This is huge. You can go ahead and admit, I've been lobbying the staff for a ping pong table on set. I know. Because I'm very good. Your social media guy claims he could beat me. We'll see. But Portland, what if Damiener gets Wembeenama tonight? Does he want to stick around? Or does Portland say, you know, we'll retool around the big guy. I'm so jack for this. Like, this is exciting.

should be more exciting. Played at Duke or Kansas, we'd be going nuts. He probably would have won the title with Duke. Yeah. Yeah. They wouldn't have lost to. Who'd they lose to in like the...

And I'm not banging on all you guys who sit around all day and watch high school dunk contests. It's fine. But that's not what the majority of people do who are watching sports. We're married. We have kids. We have work. We have stuff to do.

We're not sitting on the internet all day. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports, Radio, FS1 and the IHard Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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 Jek. 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 you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that

there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so... 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. Good to Avian. This is very interesting. Bob Costas was on a New York Sports Talk radio show, and he was talking about analytics and basketball. He used to announce games for NBC, and he was saying, you know, it should be part of basketball, but now it's sort of the focus of basketball. His basic taste, baseball and the NBA have been hurt by analytics.

it doesn't make it a better entertainment product. It may give you a competitive edge. And I think that term competitive edge is key. We have been led to believe if you shoot three-point shots a lot and are good at it, you will win. And that's just simply becoming not true with more evidence. There are four teams left in the NBA. Denver and Boston are very efficient at hitting the three ball.

Miami and the Lakers aren't. In fact, the Lakers are terrible. The Lakers were bad in the race. season, they're worse in the playoffs. Their two best three-point shooters are LeBron who keeps jacking them up and missing, 27 percent, and AD at 25 percent. Last year's final, the Celtics were on fire from three-point range, 41 percent. They got beat by the Warriors in six who didn't shoot the three particularly well in the

finals, right? That we're finding out, we're led to believe if you hit more threes, you win. and it's coaching and rim protection and adjustments, defense, mid-range works too. That stuff that's always worked still works. If you look at the top five scores, the top 10 scores in the series, five for the Lakers, five for Denver. There's only one high-volume elite three-point shooter, Jamal Murray. Rui Hachamora is really shooting the lights out.

He's on a heater for the Lakers, but that's above his career average. Jamal Murray's elite at it. shoots a lot and he's good at it. Yokers doesn't shoot a ton of them pretty good, but again, we don't think of him as a, you know, a Steph Curry. So the Nuggets, by the way, had the second fewest, the second fewest three attempts in the NBA. One of these teams of the four,

one of four, Boston, shoots a lot and hits a lot. That's it. Last year, they outshot the Warriors dramatically in threes in the finals, got beaten six. So this happens all the time in politics, where we're led to believe on the outrage machines, oh, that's a devastating blow to Biden. That's a devastating blow to Trump or DeSantis.

And you're like, eh, not really. It maybe matters a little. But you look at the focus groups and it doesn't really matter nearly as much as the Twitter machine will believe, make you believe it matters. I'm not saying the three-point shot, having a guy that can hit him works. But I mean, we didn't think of the Warriors as a championship team all year long because they didn't have enough bigs. They didn't have enough big scoring in the front court.

From 2012 to 2020, the Houston Rockets led the NBA, seven of eight season and threes. Once in a game seven, they missed 27 straight. Their claim to fame, twice they got to the Western Conference finals. They lost both times. Nobody's saying it doesn't matter, just like a politician may make a mistake, and it dings them two or three percent.

But you win elections when you outwork people, when you're on the right side, don't buy him to all the outrage machines on those social media platforms. A lot of stuff just doesn't really matter to people who have lives. And the truth is, on the three ball, Denver doesn't shoot many.

The Lakers shoot very few and are lousy at it. Miami's not necessarily great at it. And those are three of the four teams that are left. J-MAC with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. We've got to go to the big story and the firing of Doc Rivers.

Three seasons with the Sixers, lost in the Eastern Conference semis, all three seasons. The one against Atlanta really hurt. This one against Boston with the three-two lead was bad. He had a 154 and 82 record in his tenure in Philly. Daryl Morey, who was hired and then instantly brought on Doc Rivers, said some really nice things about him in the Your Fired press release. I don't want to crush Doc Rivers here, but I think he's lost 10 straight elimination games in the NBA play. How is that possible, Colin?

Well, 10 straight. You know what LeBron's record is in game sevens? Let me ask you this. I think he's 5 and 0. So I was reading a story the other day on The Athletic, and I forget the name of the writer. And a Canadian team hasn't won the Stanley Cup for like 25 or something years. They've been in several game sevens, and they keep losing it. It's because of the taxes in Canada or the cold weather in a winter league or the,

the free agents don't want to play in Canada. Well, first, they only have a quarter of the teams. And secondly, they've been in several game sevens and several Stanley Cups and haven't won. Maybe they've had bad breaks. Now, what I'm saying with Doc Rivers, similarly to that is he is getting his team to the playoffs. He gets his teams to game sevens. So if you get a team to game seven, I mean, Boonth and Holzer got rolled in five games with Janice and Drew Holiday. Now, he got a title two years ago.

Okay. But Janice and his prime was about. player. Embed, we both acknowledge, is overrated. Hardin's now, he's basically a fashionable role player, and although he's ascending, Tyrese is not yet a two in the league. He's a very talented young dynamic three about to become a two, and nobody trusts Tobias Harris. Wait a minute. At three, two, they were favored in the series. At three, two, all you got to do is win one game. Some of those Canadian teams were favored in those Stanley Cups. Unfortunately, I don't have the Domain expertise in NHL to dive deep and know what the hell's going on in Canada.

But I can tell you this. I watch at game six, Philly at home, leading in the fourth quarter. And Doc could not close it out. And I know it's relying upon your superstars. But scheme matters. Darvin Ham made some good adjustments for the Lakers. Like coaching matters, Colin. Okay.

I'm not disputing it matters. But would Monty Williams have been a better coach if he had any semblance of a bench? And Chris Paul didn't get hurt? I bet he'd be a better coach. I think the Monty Williams. one was difficult. I personally would not have fired him. We got to see what happens with this. I wouldn't have fired him. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker had some say, according to one report. We'll see. That's a tough one. I am not, but I'm saying getting to a game seven is hard

and winning game sevens are really hard. Think about the quality of the Celtics. Brad Stevens, a brilliant guy. Umia aduca was really, we don't know if this coach is great, But last year's coach, before the personal issues, was very, very good. They were losing a lot of playoffs series, very difficult. So it's like, let's just be honest about this. Winning game sevens is not easy. Now you say, well, what about Steve Kerr? It helps that you had the best defensive player, the best offensive player,

the Splash Brothers, the greatest offensive back court. Kevin Durant came for a couple years and won't. It's like all these coaches, Spolstra is amazing. He's very, very good. Okay, so let's just take Spolstra out of it. He is overachieving every year almost of his career. But for a lot of these coaches, you're as good as your player. So as I've bang on him beat in Hardin, if Hardin was in his prime,

I bet you those last couple games maybe go different. Well, it's not like he's out of his prime. He scored 40 plus points in two games. I know he can't finish at the rim like he could. But it's interesting. Greg Popovich, his name never floats to the top, with Tim Duncan and Manor. and Parker, he's incredible.

Without players, he's not so good, is he? What does Popper Fitzun lately? I'm not hammering the guy. You're making my argument, which is you're as good as your players. And I think you and I both admit, when we did our draft off on this show, neither one of us took Ambide. And all these gibronies on the internet came after us. Oh, how do you not to have Embeddeed? But you and I, both the things we were concerned about came to fruition.

Yeah. So my point is, Embeddead's not a closer. Pre-doc or post-doc, with Doc. Hardin's never been a playoff closer. Pre-Doc, with Doc, or if he goes to Phoenix. So we're banging, and I'm not, I mean, Doc was going to get fired. But it's easy to bang on all these coaches. Monty Williams would have been a way better coach if he had Norman Powell coming off the bench.

McHale Bridges didn't get traded in the KD trade, and Chris Paul was healthy. But he would have been a way better coach. Yeah, even if they kept Cam Johnson, it would have helped. So I got to ask, names that are going to come up. I see Mike Dantone, who's 72 years old, knows offense, knows Hardin, well from Houston, knows Mbide a little bit, Nick Nourse, Booneholt, all these names are going to come up. But you're going to basically be going into the situation where it's like, help Joel Mbid win a championship. And I think that's like the wrong tact to take.

I would approach it as we need to reshape things where Embed is not the focal center point of this team. Well, he's going to be the focal point. Well, okay, fine. Well, you're going to expect to lose in the second round every year. I mean, Colin, okay, hold on. I know people are going to get upset at this, and I don't really care. Anthony Davis was in New Orleans. He was really, really awesome.

Number one pick, really good player. Knocked out in the first or second round every year. We realize you can't build around him. He can be your two. So he goes to the Lakers, wins a title, now they're on the cusp of going back to the finals. Maybe that's Embed's path. He's in Anthony Davis.

He's not a one. Make him your number two. Be a defensive dude. Don't run through everything through Joel and B. What's wrong with saying that? You and I agree with that. I absolutely believe AD, although right now I think there's an argument he's the best player in the playoffs. His personality through his career has mostly been he's the best.

I've said this before. He's the best two in the league. Now, now he's playing like a one now. But even now every other game offensively, he kind of floats and disappears. And there's nothing wrong with being a two or a one B. Like people get all worked up about that. Like, you can't build around your own B. You just can't do it.

You could do it around Yannis. We've seen that. you can't do it around Joel. I think you can do it around Yokic because he elevates others so well. He's been in the conference finals twice. And they're favorite in the series. Unlike Embed, he does elevate others. And it's not like Yolkis is a great defender.

He's not a great passer. One of the great passing. He's like Bill Walton good. Yeah. All right. Good luck to the Sixers in this search. One more NBA story. Nuggets.

Lakers starts tonight. Weird tip time. I think I saw 530. Is that accurate? 530 Pacific? I mean, I like it. I don't. ate it. Yeah, we got the ping pong ball at five. And then we go right into the Nuggets Lakers.

Okay. I'm so fired up for it. Nuggets and Lakers split the season series two, two, but it does. I mean, you can't read much into it. You haven't made a prediction. January 9th. I'm waiting. I'm, you know, what I mean waiting? You want it now? Yeah, who do you like? Okay, we'll do it now. Lakers, you know, in the last media they had Westbrook and all that stuff, Yokic is looking forward to meeting this brand new Lakers team. we didn't play this kind of Lakers team. So this is going to be basically a new team for us. Probably everything is new, everything is different.

They're playing amazing in these playoffs since the deadline. They're playing really well. He's right. So who do you like? I got Lakers in six. Nuggets in seven. My prediction at the beginning of the playoffs was Nuggets Celtics. Oh, look at you.

I'm in this nerdy player points pool run by somebody who used to work here. And I have two nuggets on it, so I'm in second place. and probably going to collect a lot of money. So my Buck's son's final didn't work out. Not quite. And again, I know Lakers fans are going to get upset with that pick, but you've got to win a game in Denver. And they're smashing people in Denver. I will say, I will say, when the Lakers wrap the series up in six, not seven, that's a bigger deal than people think.

Now I get LeBron in AD because you've got to go to elevation now. What is it, 5,300 feet or something in Denver. 7,000 or something like that. Park City. Mile. I think it's a mile high stadium in Denver. Yeah, okay. So it's like $5,300 or whatever it is.

I think that's it. So that's a big deal. So that extra day rest or two-day extra rest, I think is huge. But the Nuggets closed out on Thursday. So they get rest and they're home. No, but they're used to playing in that elevation. Let me give you two quick point totals for gambling purposes. Yokic is at 27.5 points.

Do you go over or under? Under. Because Vanderbilt, AD. I have a feeling Vanderbilt's going to play on Yokic and they'll have Anthony Davis and like the help roll. The Lakers have a ton of length. Rui Hachimura. Yeah, yeah. DeAndre Aten's not the great defender.

He's a terrible defender. Anthony Davis, 23 and a half points over under. Over. It was bet up from, I think, 22 and a half yesterday. Yeah, over. He'll be, I think Anthony Davis and Yokic, I think they'll both do really well. The difference is the Lakers can throw more length. at the Nuggets.

So I think Yokic will spend a little less, you know, Yokic gets a lot of freebies, like against Phoenix, you know, it's that little six-footer. It's automatic. You're not going to get as many of those against AD and the length of the Lakers. I hit KCP over nine and a half points, Caldwell Pope, who has talked some trash about, remember he's a former Laker, was in the Lakers' bubble team, and over Jamal Murray points.

That's my guy. You know, Jamal Murray. I'm a big fan. Yeah, you're a big fan. Yeah, yeah. He's the best three-point shooter in the series. He's fun to watch. Final story, Devante Adams in the NFL took a risk leaving Aaron Rogers and Grebe to go to the Raiders.

In an interview with The Ringer, he spoke about the frustration he felt when people thought he was only successful because of Rogers. And how happy he is that he proved his worth with another all-pro season in 2022. That'll never be the narrative again, Adams said. It proved that I am me. A quarterback doesn't make me, I make me. And I can do it consistently at this level. level. That's why last season meant a lot. Even if I went and played like dog bleep next year, they can't say it. Because now, I've already proved it throughout the

course of the season, played every game, put together a resume. You can erase all the numbers. You can just write in. He didn't need Aaron Rogers. Wow. He seems angry. No, it just seems defiant. I'm not sure what to make of that. I like him a lot. By the way, was that he was made by Aaron Rogers? I mean, his route running is among the best in the league. Yeah, I don't think it was. I think we all thought he would do well. In fact, I think I don't remember, but I do remember saying once that I thought he would do just fine, that Aaron would miss him more than he would miss Aaron. I said that.

I think I said that. So, Devante Adams is the best receiver, in my opinion, arguably, I think Justin Jefferson and Devonte Adams are but the two best receivers in the league. And there's a bunch of good ones. Cooper Cups up there. Jemar Chase, there's a bunch. So I think Devonte and Justin Jefferson, to me, are just, they just, it's different. Does this feel like that Michael. I don't think Aaron's a top five quarterback in the

AFC. AFC. Does this feel like that Michael Jordan thing where you're like making up narratives to like pop up yourself? Like who was saying? Devante Adams was made by Aaron Roddy. I don't remember reading that. Well, he probably, you know, there's a lot of opinions out there. If you go on social media, yeah, you can find every freaking opinion on planet Earth.

But Delante Adams is, if you did a pro bowl, if you and I did a pro bowl offense, I would have Justin Jefferson, one of my receivers, Devante Adams, the other, and I'm Jemar Chase, my third. Yeah, we picked an NBA team. We should do an NFL. Offensively, you go, Mahomes is your quarterback. Well, who got, I get first pick at NFL

because you had first pick an NBA. And that Travis Kelsey's the tight end. Well, wait, I'm going Aaron Rogers. No. No, you're not. But yeah, like, Devante Adams would be a top three. Like, Cooper Cup is, I love to be. Jefferson would be my big playmaker.

My perfect route runner in hands is Devante Adams. can also be a playmaker. Yeah. But those are my two guys. I think I booed Jamar Chase 3. Garrett Wilson, 4? No. No.

On the Jets depth chart by October. Aaron ghost him. J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. 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, you listen to it, I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Alib 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, 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 at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped 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 Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because.

of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but 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. Thank you 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. Saturday on Fox, Mookie Betts and the Dodgers take on Nolan, Aeronado, and the Cardinals, or Julio Rodriguez lead the Mariners against Ronald Acuna, Jr., and the Braids. Saturday at 7 Eastern 4 Pacific on Fox and the Fox Sports Act. Boy, there was some bad umpiring last night in that Dodger game.

I was watching the Internet. Of course, it's the Internet now. I don't know if the game was played last night, the night before two days ago, because now they do that thing on the Internet, Twitter, where they rerun stuff that's a day old. Twitter just is too many ads and they're rerunning stuff. How about when you tweet, it shows up? And then it goes back to the end of the line. Can you talk to Elon Musk? He has no clue what the hell he's doing.

I'm so confused on what just happened and what happened a day ago. Who knows? So I saw this story. I don't like noise in the off season. We're getting ready for the Lakers Spurs tonight. The Weminaima draft, ping pong ball draft. Very exciting. Nick Wright joins his top of next hour.

Quinn and Williams changed his Twitter bio yesterday for the Jets. He basically, you know, he's in a contract squabble with a New York. Jets. He wants a new deal. They don't want to give him one yet. They say they're working on it. And I know everybody thinks Aaron Rogers is going to solve all the issues, but we get into this discussion this morning. And some of it's because of Jay Mack, it's his favorite team. So Russell Wilson, by the way, who I think like Aaron Rogers a couple of years ago, they were both over 100 passer rating level quarterbacks. Aaron's an MVP. Russell was a really, really good quarterback. So Russell, before Aaron this year, Russell last year, moved to

the AFC. He was an elite NFC quarterback. He moved to the AFC. Joined a great defense. Broncos were eight the year before him and eight last year with him. Nathaniel Hackett. Colin plays. Just like Aaron's going to see.

A promising young group of wide receivers and running backs. The O line of question. How'd that work out? The Broncos were on a streak of losing and the jets have been in a long streak of losing. How did it work out? A lot of similarities. Nathaniel Hackett, O-lines a question, promising young players, no real inertia.

You dominated as an NFC quarterback. You moved to the AFC. It's a whole different ballgame. Ask yourself, taking the current Aaron Rogers, what we saw last year. Is he just a middle of the pack AFC quarterback? The best quarterback in his NFC divisions, Kirk Cousins, last five times he faced him, Aaron went two and three against Kirk Cousins, who would not be a top eight, nine quarterback in the AFC and is an argument for number three in the NFC.

Also last year, the Jets only beat two good quarterbacks, Aaron, who's now on their team and Josh Allen. It was a steady diet of a lot of average quarterbacks. This year, the Jets will face 11 B to B plus or better quarterbacks. Josh Allen twice, Dak Prescott, Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Jalen Hertz, Justin. Herbert Garoppolo, Tua twice, Deshawn Watson. They face better quarterbacks this year. And so I asked the question this morning.

I did a top 10 AFC NFC quarterback list a couple of weeks ago, but Lamar Jackson I did not include because Lamar had not signed. So I said, let's just not count Lamar Jackson. We don't know if he's going to play. So now that you include Lamar Jackson in the AFC, and you can't dispute that there's some Russell Wilson comps with Denver, the same comps you would get with Aaron with the Jets. Mahomes is the best quarterback.

Nobody disputes that. Burrow and Allen, you can argue, but they're two or three in some order. I think Justin Herbert, people absolutely get how good Justin Herbert is. With a coach that didn't work in a bad old line, he's put up historic numbers for a young guy. Trevor Lawrence led a circus of a franchise the Jags last year to a playoff. I don't think anybody dispute. He and Andrew Luck are arguably the best quarter. prospect in the last decade.

And then you get into a group of five of the next guys. And I think Lamar, because he is so gifted and unique as an athlete, and he's always been, as Jay Mack and I have never disagreed on this, Lamar's a better thrower to the football than anybody wants to give him credit for. All the numbers tell you he throws it better than people think. Now, he's better with a lead than trailing, but so are most quarterbacks, not named Patrick Mahomes. I would put Lamar six.

He's got more juice. He's in his athletic prom. Aaron 7, Russell 8, 2, and a 9, and DeShan 10. But it should be noted that people below Russell or people below Aaron. Is it reasonable to argue, I think it is, that Russell could have an absolutely different season with Sean Peyton. I'm going to roll the dice and say Russell Wilson looks nothing like last year. He went from 100 passerating, four straight years to last year looking washed. I'm going to go with these not washed.

So Russell could be better than we think. 2-0 when healthy led Pro Bowl votes, led the league in passer rating. The Dolphins, I would think, will be better this year. Another draft, another year in Mike McDaniels system. I'm not a huge Dachan Watson fan, but it's reasonable to think a full year of him. He's going to be better. I'm not going to count the Kenny Pickets. You know, I'm not, there's a lot of guys here that I could, I'm not going to count

the Tanna Hills. Can he pick? Keep those out. The top five is hard to argue. They're all in their prime. They're all ascending. Nobody's disputing that. The next five, I mean, Russell Wilson has Sean Payton. Aaron Rogers has Robert Sala. In an offensive leaning year, it's reasonable to think Russell Wilson with an offensive coach, Tua with an offensive coach. Deshawn Watson with an offensive coach could be at least as good as Aaron Rogers, who also may have all things consistent. one of the weaker O lines of all those quarterbacks. I'm just saying the current errand, two and three in his last five against Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson in the NFC, we consider elite. He pivots over. It's like SEC and Big Ten football.

They all look the same September, October, November. Then you go to the bowl games. You're like, time out. outside of, you know, it's like, football looks a little different down south. The AFC is not the NFC. And a lot of the Russell Wilson, Aaron comps, are the same. Hackett's involved.

O-lines the concern. Promising young offensive players. Very good defense. Tougher conference, tougher division, and no real momentum as a franchise. It's a lot of the same stuff. I think you view Aaron up here and Russell down here. but we would all admit that Russell is far more committed in the offseason today than Aaron is. Russell, most of us would believe, because he did it in Seattle,

is much better working with younger new players than Aaron is. I mean, Russell's always, no, he may not connect with all players, but those Seattle years, he was working with kids. He was working with a lot of young players in Seattle. because Pete is a great mentor with younger players. When that team aged, he wasn't as good, but he was good with young guys. Just stuff to think about. I don't think I'm being outrageous.

The idea that this is going to be, I've seen the great NFC quarterback pivot to the AFC. I've seen a Big Ten team go play the SEC in a bowl game and you're like, yeah, that's a whole different ballgame. That's a whole different speed and level of excellence. So can I ask where you're headed with this? because it is just a statement and an observation, or are you trying to draw a conclusion? I, the more I think about it, I think they're going to be on the outside looking in.

So 8 and 9, 9 and 8, and not make the playoffs. Let me just put out something here for you. So pro football focus, which is just one data point, it's not end all be all. They ranked rosters in the NFL. You want to guess where the Jets came? Oh, God. Well, I'm just, it's a data point. Well, you wouldn't bring it up unless it was stupend all.

Correct. Let me guess seventh. Oh my gosh. Did you read it? No. They are seventh. Well done. They are seventh ahead of Miami, which no doubt to me, ahead of the Chargers,

ahead of the Ravens. What's the best part of the Jets roster? The best unit. Okay. So they broke it down. And again, this is them, not me. It's corners. And I would argue Miami's are better.

They say the pass rush is unbelievable. And with a lead, Robert Sala will be able to unleash. They have seven. guys who are pass rushers, including Will McDonald, Quinn and Williams, who's going to be signed, Franklin Myers, Carl Lawson, who had a really good year, Jermaine Johnson, the rookie last year, who was pretty good, with a lead.

Yeah. Remember, Sala in San Francisco with that defensive line, just relentless getting after the quarterback when they got to the Super Bowl. Listen, I'm not going to deny Sala knows defense, and that defensive front is good. Nasty. No, I am not denying that. So I say, nine and ten feels right to me for the gym.

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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. On The Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay.

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.