The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - Lakers are contenders, WBC continues to be a hit

Episode Date: March 16, 2026

With Colin Cowherd out, Jason McIntyre steps in to discuss the state of the Lakers. J-Mac explains why he’s all in on the Lakers as title contenders in the Western Conference behind Luka Doncic, LeBron James & Austin Reaves. WBC continues to be a hit / US beats DR moves to Final   Guest: Ken RosenthalSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Winning on Clay is an art.

The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She's a good to win. She's an outsider to win the French for me.

And she likes. Listen, Leonard Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcasts on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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. Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio

and noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day in the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Happy Monday, everybody. Welcome to the herd. It's me, Jason McIntyre in for, yes, vacationing once again, Colin Cowherd. I'm joined by Rachel Nichols, and I'm just going to say right out the gate,

holy cow! We have a monster show. It is an incredible week. You need to match my energy, people. so much happening. I just learned of a huge NFL trade. Fine, not huge, but involving my Jets and the team I dislike the most.

The Kansas City Chiefs, we got March Madness starting Thursday. Rachel Nichols, I know you're fired up. I know your Northwestern Wildcats did not make the tournament, but you still love March Madness. Absolutely. I used to be a silent reporter for March Madness with CBS. I love that gig. I remember. So, yeah. March Madness,

World Baseball Classic. I mean, folks, we are just so blessed to be sports fans. I'm going to start the show by, turning back the clock a couple of days to Saturday night. My family, you know, we had plans, so I couldn't go to the Lakers game, the Lakers Nuggets game. I mean, I'm not embarrassed to say, you know, we went to the cheesecake factory. You haven't done that in a decade.

Took the kids. It was great. But I had to queue up Lakers Nuggets because it was arguably one of the biggest games of the season. And folks, I don't know, two weeks ago maybe on this show, other shows out there, people were saying, Lakers are not a championship team. What are you guys talking about? You can't win a title with Luca.

Well, here we go. Lakers in overtime stunned the nuggets for their third straight, impressive win. They take down the Knicks, they take down the Timberwolves, and they beat the Nuggets. And, oh, by the way, they swept the Timberwolves this season, 3 and O, and they're two and one against the nuggets. So all that talk, Lakers can't beat the good teams. Well, they've beaten three in a row now. So are they contenders? And I ask this because the consensus seems to be,

Ah, Luca, come on, he's overweight. What are we talking about? Look at that game winning shot, folks, with less than a second left over Spencer Jones, Luca's first game winner with the Lakers. Okay? And now everybody's back on the Laker bandwagon. A lot of people are hopping off.

You know your boy. I went nowhere. Okay? Now, some things have changed in the last few weeks for the Lakers. But I want to start with the positive. Let's go to J.J. Reddick after the win. Look at the same. smile from the Lakers head coach.

Is Coalesce a word? I think so. Is it the right word for coming together? Yeah. Jelling? Coalesce. You read my work. I don't use words like that.

Okay. I think it feels like we're coalescing right now in a really nice way. Still got a long way to go. We've still got a long way to go. But certainly optimistic with how we've handled this stretch of games. going eight and nine over the stretch is it's big time. Big time is one way to put it, that's for sure. I love this Lakers team.

I do think they're going to be dangerous. But what has changed? And that's the interesting angle here. We know Luke is the man. All this, he's not first team, all NBA. Stop, folks. He leads the league in scoring, averaging 32, 8, and 8. He's having a tremendous season.

One of the best scores we've seen in the NBA history. Okay, he's unstoppable. Austin Reeves is starting to become the wingman that we thought he could be. And why is all this happening? It's in part due to LeBron James. So if you guys recall back on February 9th, after the Lakers lost of the Thunder, LeBron was asked, hey, OKC, they won the championship. That's a championship team.

Are you guys a championship team? Here's what LeBron said on February 9th. Do you want me to compare us to down? No, I want to know where you was. Same thought of that like, you sort of his team. is on it. It's like... That's a championship team right there. We're not. So, I'm understanding.

What are the biggest things you think that are keeping this team as this? We can't sustain energy and effort for 48 minutes. And they can. That's why I won a championship. So that was dispiriting at the time. And I remembered it because I was like, why is LeBron selling here? What's going on? Now, his buddy, Rich Paul, had been parroting this a week or so before. And it was like, huh, what's going on in Lakerland? guess what? The Lakers have adjusted and LeBron's been a big adjustment. If you guys have noticed, it's a small sample size, but LeBron's numbers this month are way down when it comes to shots

and three point attempts. His minutes are the same. He's just not the offensive threat he used to be. Now, he can still score. We know he makes big plays. He's a smart player. He's the greatest player in basketball history, but he has 41 years old. Okay. Now, here's where it gets fascinating. Listen to how LeBron's tone has changed from February 9th. This was him after the win over the Nuggets when they were carried by Luca and Austin Reeves. We just want to continue to keep building good habits, continue to playing the game the right way. In Denver's a championship, you know, ball club.

They, they quarrel with AG and Jamal and Yoke. They want a champion Christian Brown. They won a championship of you. So they have that championship DNA. So, you know, that's what we're trying to, that's what we strive for. Mm-hmm. So before we're not a championship team. Now we're striving for it.

It's all changed. Folks, I don't know if you've watched closely. I know a lot of you, like, Ah, Wikers, I'm so sick of them. They're a great show. You've got to pay attention. LeBron has shifted into full-on role player. Now, J.J. Redick, we admit he's a great coach.

Has he got LeBron to buy in? So I mentioned the stats. There was a moment in the fourth quarter of that Nuggets game where LeBron did the full Superman extension dive, okay, for a loose ball. I leapt out of my little, we were in like a little cubicle there. Not a cubicle, obviously, but here's the play right there on the screen. LeBron diving for a loose ball.

He kind of pulled a groin or whatever. He's old, man, that's what happens. But look at this. Now, him and Reddick joked about it afterward. I'm telling you, I kind of laughed about it in the morning meeting. Remember, Luca went to the finals with the Mavs. We've been saying for months in that Kyrie Irving role can be Austin Reeves. that makes LeBron like P.J. Washington.

Now, don't scoff, okay, don't scoff. PJ Washington was integral. He had one win over the thunder in that postseason run by himself with the corner threes and defense. LeBron, he seems to have been bought into his new role. He's taking fewer shots. He's playing more defense. Obviously, there are questions, can you have him on the court in the final minute of a pivotal game as a defender, given he's 41 years old people want to attack him?

I would say, fine, I trust LeBron. One of the smartest players the league has ever seen. We're talking about a guy who memorizes plays from the opponents and calls them out before they happen. I'm just telling you, Lakers have a massive game tonight in Houston and they play Houston again Wednesday. Okay, Lakers are third in the West for all this. Oh, they're not contenders nonsense from some, shall we say,

some people that are paid by the league to talk about the league but aren't nice about the league. Lakers are contenders. There's 17 games over 500. Okay? LeBron's bought in. Lucas cooking. I can't wait for Lakers Rockets tonight.

All right, let's pivot to the World Baseball Classic. And guys, I'm watching that game last night against the Dominican Republic. And I do not know when the World Baseball Classic became such a huge deal. I had to look this up. It only started 20 years ago. So it doesn't have the length in the history of the Olympics

or the World Cup. Side note. Oh, my gosh. How good is this year for sports? You had the winner Olympics, USA, Canada hockey. What a game. Now you've got the World Baseball Classic, another USA team that everybody's enjoying the throw ride.

And then we got the World Cup this summer here on American Turf. This is going to be maybe one of these sports years of the century, folks. When you align all that stuff up and the growth of the World Baseball Classic. So the USA wins two to one to advance to the final. They will play the winner of the year. of Italy, Venezuela tonight. Now, obviously, everybody loves the vibes and the energy. It just jumps off the screen.

Look at that plane, just gutting him out at third. Just phenomenal stuff, okay? This is what Aaron Judge said last night after the win, and I will admit I was gobsmacked by this comment. Figure up better than the series. It's just, like I said, the fashion that these fans have, representing our country, representing some of their favorite players, There's nothing like it.

And that's what you dream of as a kid. I was betting my backyards, playing with football. This is the moments of green. I was big spots, big situations. And it just gives me chills right now and thinking about how special that was. All right. Listen, you guys know I love hot take happy hour? Come on.

Is that a little bit much bigger than the World Series? Now, some jokers in our morning meeting this morning to peel back the curtain just a little bit. We're like, well, Aaron Judge is never going to win a world series. series. So he's saying this. Oh, he's 34 years old. Lakers, not the Lakers. Yankees are going to be there for sure in the postseason and in the mix. I don't know if they'll pull off a World Series, but for him to say that about the World Baseball Classic, that says a lot. And obviously Wednesday's final is going to be enormous regardless of who we play. Obviously, Italy is on quite a run. But here's Mark DeRosa after last night's win, talking about the

thrilling victory. That was high-level baseball. its finest. I mean, for our bullpen to come in and do the job they did. Dominican never stopped. It was like constant traffic. Never relaxed. Just a game will remember forever, right? Boy,

that was unforgettable. Now, I will admit, you know, you look in the archives and see who played in previous years in the World Baseball Classic, and obviously the talent this year is off the charts. And I did see that Wembenyama played in the

All-Star game and was talking about it back in February. He wants to compete. And you saw it raise the level of everyone else. And I just wonder if so many good players are in it in the World Baseball Classic now that everybody's stoked for it. And obviously the final is the semifinal is tonight and the final is tomorrow night. The USA will play the winner of Italy, Venezuela. It'll be thrilling. It's on Fox tomorrow.

Tonight's game is on FS1. I don't know about you guys. I'm extremely fired up for it. and the USA chance will be ringing loudly on Tuesday night. Coming up next here on the herd, NCAA tournament. We'll do our bracket picks later in the show. But I have an interesting comparison for a certain Mr. Boozer on Duke. You're probably not going to like it.

He doesn't have the sizzle and the flash of Cooper Flag and Zion Williamson, but there's a certain MVP who he reminds me of. That's next. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekday. in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire, with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book, and all the best guests.

Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight. Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to our first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with the name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember I think it was on a call about what we should call it and we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band

before Jonas Brothers This is how you guys remember it going down Yes I have a very different memory of this We were talking about a thing A bit for the podcast where people could call in and say hey Jonas And then I wrote down on my little notepad Hey Jonas and offered it up as a potential title Oh no

But thanks for remembering that guys listen to hey jonas on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast just listen we don't care where you hear it another podcast from some s nl late night comedy guy not quite unhumored me with robert smigel and friends me and hilarious guests from bob odenkirk to david letterman help make you funnier this week my guest s nl's mikey day and head writer streeter sidel help an acapella 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. Last night,

a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs,

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay.

Jen should win. I mean, she went down in three to Rovachina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. She likes Clay. Listen, Lennar Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open.

Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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. Back here on the herd, if Rachel and I were not enough for you today, folks, We have some great guests lined up. Ken Rosenthal to talk World Baseball Classic here shortly.

Casey Jacobson, come on. Stanford Legend. Unbelievable basketball player, Fox Analyst. We got him coming up. My guy, Yovon Bouha. We are going to talk Lakers here in a little bit. But first, let me go to NCAA tournament. Okay, so you guys know I nerd out totally over the NCAA tournament.

I could tell stories for days on this show about how I would fake sickness to get out of work so I could watch Thursday and Friday the NCAA tournament. I would like come in on Monday with like a little cough so I wasn't feeling great. I wouldn't add it on Wednesday. You would build it up Monday. You're not feeling great. Tuesday. Oh, man, I'm not good.

I'm going to empower through Wednesday, but then Thursday you're out, right? And you get to watch the games. I've never actually been to an NCAA tournament game in my life. Just don't really. I would rather watch a billion games at the same time. And part of that's because you got teams like Duke led by the immortal Camboozer. and they are the number one overall seat. I think they're a little vulnerable due to two injuries to starters.

One of them just had surgery. The other has foot soreness. So it's now the Cam Boozer show. And I want to preface his statement by saying Cam Boosur is 18 and a half years old. He should technically be a high school senior. Okay? He's 18 and a half. He is having, according to Ken Pomeroy, which is, you know, these analytical models,

Ken Pomeroy's stats have Mr. Boozer. as the most efficient player in college basketball in the last 25 years, because that's how far the database goes back. Most efficient. You understand that, right? Yes, that means more efficient than Cooper Flagg. Yes, that means more efficient than Zion Williamson. Those guys were dunking machines.

And this is where it gets interesting. I know, come on, Jay Mack, how are you going to open with Duke? Arizona's better. Don't tell anyone. I'm picking Arizona to win the title. We'll do bracket picks in 30 minutes. But this is an interesting. story because here's what's fascinating about Boozer.

Folks, you're not going to believe this. So he's averaging 22, 10, and 4 as an 18 and a half year old freshman. He's shooting 62% on twos, 40% on threes. That's unbelievable. He's not even 19. And this is where I love the comparison. So he doesn't have the sizzle of Darren Peterson of Kansas, where he's dunking on people. he doesn't have AJ DeBanza flushing on multiple people through the lane.

He does not have that athleticism. He also isn't Darius Aikoff, who, yes, we're going to build a segment around later in the show. He doesn't have that crossover, flash, killer threes from 27 feet out. He don't have that. I don't know if Camboosier could jump over a yellow page's phone book. I don't. He's not athletic. But you know who else wasn't athletic when they came into the NBA?

this guy named Nicola Yokic. He was not. Now, I like to look this up. He was overseas at 19. Yokic came into the league at 20. He averaged 10, 7, and 2 at 20 years old. He was getting adjusted to the league. Cam Booser is going to walk into the league next year

and probably average 18 and 10, for most of it, 18 years old. He's ahead of Nikola Yokic at this age. Now, he's only a teen. A lot can happen. But I did look this up, too. The best estimates were when Yokic came into the league, he was 250. 6-11, 250. I don't know if that's true because he was doughy, if you guys remember.

Boozer listed a little shorter than 6-11, but also 250. I'm just, I know people are going to dislike this. Jay, he's a two-time, he's an MVP. Why are you doing this? Stop. I'm not comparing him to 30-year-old Nicole Yokic. Actually, Yokic is now 31. I'm comparing him to at that age at 18.

He is ahead of Nicole Yokitj's pace. That's how good this guy is. And as somebody reminded me this morning, you know, Boozer's dad was a decent NBA player for many years. If you watch Cam Boosur play, his bag is ridiculous. He'll take Biggs off the bounce from the three point line. The spin moves. I mean, he's really, really talented.

And I think we're selling him a little short because he doesn't have the sizzle and the flash of a Cooper flag of a Zion Williamson. Folks, you know, I'm not a huge Duke fan. I did love me some Jason Tatum back in the day. But I loved Zion Williamson. I mean, Kim Booger, I looked this up, has one block in the last five games. He has no vertical to speak of none. Look at the steel on the breakaway.

He barely gets up for the dunk. He's not going to wow you with the athleticism like Zion. When Zion lost to Michigan State in the elite eight, your boy didn't cry, but I was definitely down. I obviously had Duke winning the title that year. I needed more Zion in my life. And we see his NBA career is flamed out. Cooper flag, another guy.

He will flush on you. Boozer's not doing that. But the way he creates the vision, the skill, I'm telling you, he plays to me like a European. And I know people are going to make this huge. Oh, Jay, come on. You're bashing Americans. No, I'm not. Listen to what Tom Izzo said on the show last week about Camboosur.

I love Camboozer. You know, they beat us here. We had a lead with about two or three minutes left. that he just kind of takes over a game. Basketball IQ is off the charts. That's number one. And I think winning is extremely important to him. Give credit to his coach down there, give credit to his dad. But not everybody puts winning on the top. I think Camboozer does. I think whatever team he goes to, he helps him win. And he's going to be a very good pro, in my humble opinion. Yeah, it's interesting. Del Curry was a solid NBA

player. Very good for many years. He was never an all-NBA guy. His son, watching NBA locker rooms, watching NBA games forever, became the immortal Steph Curry. Carlos Boozer was a really good NBA player. I don't think he was all-N-B-A, maybe made an All-Star game or two. I think his son has the chance to be one of these all-time greats. He's just a special player. Look at that. That's a great move. I like me, some Camboosier and Duke. And I know. No, you're not going to like the Yokic comparisons, but keep an eye on him. Again, not to the 30-year-old MVP, but to young Yokic, Will Boozer continue to improve his skill set? We shall see.

Let's go to Rachel Nichols with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. I don't know how to follow that take. I know. Not everybody was sold on that, believe it or not, Rachel, I know. I know.

I'm going to get some hate online. Bring it on. I want all the smoke. All right. Let's talk about my favorite MB. player these days, Victor Webbenyama, dropping 32 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 blocks, and 2 steals in San Antonio's win over Charlotte. It was Wemby's second career outing with at least 30, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, multiple blocks. It ties them for the third most in franchise history.

The Spurs are a league best 17 and 2 since February 1st, including 5 and 1 during this recent six-game homestand. So what do you think, Jason? What's the ceiling for the Spurs here? Do you think they can win a title, go against all NBA, regular common sense? You can't win a title your first way through the playoffs. You've got to have that playoff experience first. Those highlights, defensively, we didn't show any, but did you see what he was doing? A guy? Guys were scared to shoot against him.

It's ridiculous. Jalen Brown, did you see what he said the other day? Jalen Brown came out and said, I'm the best two-way player in the league, non-Wembee division. Right? So guys around the league are saying, like, it's like wilt, right? Like, I can't even get in that category, so we're going to have a competition for second. I don't know, man. You can look at the numbers here, right?

Look at that. Jeez. 19 blocks and five. Yeah, I think the first. Second, second. I think they're going to win the title. You do. I think they're better.

I mean, they prove head to head they're better than OKC. Who's stopping them in the West? I mean, look, there is that experience factor, right? Yeah. And Wembe, it's interesting, you know, we'll see what he does in these next, you know, of games. He sat out one of these games in this homestand hurt.

He warmed up, couldn't go, that kind of thing. And Miss Johnson came out last night and he said, he's like, look, Wembe has the longest list of career goals of anyone in NBA history. And this is a franchise that had you know, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Greg Popovich, right?

And Wembe does. He says he wants to win MVP. He wants to win defensive player of the year, this year. And so he wants to play, but he's only got like a few games to play with to be even in the postseason awards. It's just going to be interesting to see how they treat him

the next month of the season in terms of his health. So those comments, if a lot of players make them, oh gosh, that guy's so cocky and arrogant. It doesn't sound that way with women. He's just being honest.

He's brutally honest. He also has this way of talking, right? He's just sort of, you know, so intelligent and kind of common sense the way he talks that if, you know, someone came out and was like

brash and bold and said all those things, you'd be like, okay. But he's just, you're right. It just sounds like. There's a lot to like about it. He just seems like a good dude.

You know where I am. I think he's going to be a top five 10 player of all time. He could easily make this whole LeBron MJ discussion a moot point. I think that's how good he is. And it's just obviously an injury, you know, would change that. That's spicy. I thought the Yon gets booser was spicy. Could make LeBron MJ move.

Kobe fans are upset with me. Oh, I know. Okay. All right. Kobe fans, Kareem fans. Anyway, all right, you just mentioned Jason Tatum, right? Let's talk about him. passed another milestone in his recovery over the weekend.

He played the full third quarter and Celtics went over Washington. And after the game, he said, that wasn't the initial plan to play the whole quarter. But he feels more comfortable in game four of his comeback than he did in game one. Jason, I think that Tatum being back like this, they are the favorites in the east. What do you think? What happened to the Pistons? I'm just telling you.

King Cunningham sinking like a ship. You don't get to rip on other teams. I know. I know. I just. the Detroit fans were a little insufferable when they were smashing my Knicks. I still, listen, the Knicks were up on them last year

before Tadem got hurt. No, before the Tatum injury. But this is a different Celtics team than last year. Yeah, that's a good point. Are they better than last year? It's interesting. They cut a bunch of salary. Yeah.

And everyone was like, yeah, it's a gap year, that kind of thing. Joe Mazula doesn't do gap years. No, no. Jalen Brown doesn't do gap years. And then to get Tatum back for this stretch run is pretty incredible. You know, obviously it's going to depend. on their center play a little bit and like whether it holds up during the postseason. But I don't know.

I feel like for you guys, the Knicks fans, it's hard. You watch that window open and then maybe close again in six month period. I mean, so it's a small sample size. How many games do you play? Like six. Four. Four. Okay.

I don't. We'll see. Who's their third best player, by the way? So it's Brown, Tatum, and is it Pritchard or white? I think it's probably, well, it's tie. Maybe I was going to say Pritchard, but it's probably tie. I think the Knicks match up good with them, Rachel? They do.

Bridges and OG. I'm not saying it's like, oh my God, runaway favorite Michael Jordan and the Bulls. I just, I think they're the favorite now. Yeah, I mean, Hart, Brunson, if Mitchell Robinson can never get his make a free throw, what's it, like 40% this year? But it's Celtics, that's going to be a great series. So what is, what's the order now is it's, who's number one? You know, I don't know today. I think they're, yeah, and Celtics are two, I think.

So the, and the Knicks are three because the calves are fading. Damn, that would not be good. I don't want to face the Celtics second round if I'm the Knicks. No, I mean, exactly. I don't know. By the way, also, what a testament to modern medicine, right? Think about when Kobe injured his Achilles, right, 10 years ago. Obviously, he was older. But there was no way treatment was this good.

And now they've made some significant changes in the way they treat an Achilles injury. Yeah. Look at this guy. It's incredible. Looks pretty damn good. The shot is a little off, which is 100% what you expect and will 100% be fine by midseason form in the playoffs. But like, everything else looks good. So regarding Nick Celtics real quick,

rough night for Timothy Chalameh last night. Man. And if the Knicks don't make the finals, he's going to be, not his year. Will you blame him? Will you blame him if the Knicks don't make the finals? Is there going to be a curse of, I didn't say, Kardashian curse, baby.

You know how I feel. Don't bring the Kardashians to your basketball game. It's not going to go well. There you go. All right, let's talk about your New York Jets. Oh, yeah, here we go. There you go. Finalizing a deal that will send quarterback Justin Fields,

to Kansas City. Chiefs are going to send back their 2027 sixth round pick. Chiefs, interestingly, are only going to be on the hook for three million of his 10 million guaranteed contract. You, on the other hand, your team is going to be on the hook for 7 million. It's fine. But this is super

fascinating to me because our producer Martin was talking about the comparisons with Sam Darnold. Do you feel like this could be kind of a Sam Darnold experience for Justin Field? Because I love that take. Right? Whoa. Sit for a year. Okay.

The way Donald sat behind Purdy, be in a winning organization, just get to work on your game because no one's going to, is he going to be the starter over Mahomes? No. I mean, as soon as Mahomes is healthy, he's the starter. Yeah. And then, you know, it could be another case, Jason, of your jets. Sending away a quarterback and then watching him win the Super Bowl one day.

Bashed the jet session. All right, so wait, so Fields was drafted by, was it Chicago, right? Chicago, yeah. And then he went Pittsburgh and then jets. So by far the worst culture he was in was with the Jets, right? Going to the cheese. You said it out loud. I mean, it's fine to say that.

Woody Johnson cleaned it up. I thought we could get more than a sixth round pig. Goodness, gracious. But yeah, listen, Fields had a great opener last year against Pittsburgh. That game right there. I think they lost 34, 32. Yeah. It was like, oh.

And then it went downhill quickly. Is he going to start week one? Well, that's the question. So Mahomes has said the whole time. He's like, I'm going to start week one. I'm going to start week one. I'm going to start week one. They play the early game.

It's not like they play on Monday, football. They play, I think, Thursday, right? Oh, yeah, yeah. So even that's, like, you know, pushes the calendar back. He says he's going to start. I'm watching Jason Tatum doing what he does.

It's not the same injury I know, but still, you know, I don't know. But if Fields did have to start game one, I'd feel fine about that because here's the thing. Fields is going to get almost all the reps in training camp, right? I mean, the homes will work his way back in there eventually, but this is such an unusual case where he is, going to have starter reps with all of these players that, you know, normally a backup quarterback

just popping in wouldn't have had chemistry with these guys. He's going to build it over a month more. $3 million for your backup quarterback is not terrible. So the Mahomes injury, I haven't looked at the timetable lately. Do you think it's realistic? He'll be his back. I do. I do. I don't think I can't guarantee it. It depends on how he responds and how he feels. But I don't think it's crazy for him to keep saying this. I get it. One of us is hoping the Chiefs missed the playoffs. I was going to say, well, look, you were right.

I made fun of you. In our preseason picks. And you were right, but I do think this will work out. I'm actually pretty excited about this for the Chiefs. Yeah. All right. Rachel Nichols with the News. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. All right, we got Ken Rosenthal stopping by to talk. Is the World Baseball Classic actually more exciting than the World Series? talk about that next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts.

We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with the name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

SportsClyce brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClace on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay.

Jenchian win. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now and I actually can win on any surface because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open.

Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque, Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tonight, after knocking off depending champion, Japan, Ronald Ocuna Jr. and Venezuela, look to

and Italy's Cinderella run in the semifinal of the World Baseball Classic. Can they beat the Expresso Team? That's my question. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. Eastern, right here on FS1. The Espresso team. All right, World Baseball Classic. Let's bring in Ken Rosenthal, one of the, obviously the most plugged-in folks in baseball, sideline reporter, writer, extraordinaire.

Ken, let's get us started. I mean, the vibes and energy are just off the charts for the World Baseball Classic. Just tell us what it's like what you feel being there. It's electric. There's no question about it. And this tournament brings out passion that we don't see in the regular season or even in the postseason. Because players are playing for the countries and the Latin American players in particular have incredible pride in what they're doing. And we've seen it at times.

We saw it last night from the Americans as well. So it's a different kind of vibe than we're used to seeing. and it is absolutely, the word is electric. That's the only word I can use. So Aaron Judge kind of went off and made a World Series reference. Obviously, can it match the energy of the World Series? Like, are you feeling that kind of excitement? I mean, the crowd clearly is into it.

The crowd is one thing. And certainly in Miami, when you have a large Dominican population, a large Venezuelan population, a large Puerto Rican population, it adds to the energy in the building. compared to a World Series, it's just a little bit different. It's a little bit more intense, perhaps, but my goodness, last year's Toronto, L.A. series was incredible. The fans were incredible in both cities.

I don't know that I would say this tops that. It's kind of different. I think that's the best way to put it. Different, yeah, yeah, agreed. So Paul Skeens was just tremendous last night. Obviously, he's becoming one of the great pitchers in the sport. I guess just talk about what he showed last night to you. he showed that he could handle a lineup that we all thought could not be stopped.

The Dominican Republic had scored 51 runs in its first five games. They hit a home run off skis last night, Junior Cameronero did, and that made it 15 for the tournament. That's the most ever in a single WBC. The tournament dates back 20 years. This was seen the Dominican Republic offense as something of an unstoppable force. And skiing stopped them. So among his many achievements, rookie,

of the year. National League Cy Young Award winner last year. This to me stood at the top. He has yet to pitch in the postseason. This was the closest thing to it outside of the Mexico game. He pitched earlier in the tournament. And he, for the most part, was magnificent. Even though he said afterward on our

broadcast that it wasn't his prettiest or cleanest. That's true. But he still got it done. Yeah. Let's talk about the end of the game. The final strike. Obviously, Dominican Republic, not happy. What were they saying after the game? I mean, you could see the just annoyance, maybe is the right word, frustration. Tell me about it.

Both of those words and a few more. And certainly they had every right to be upset. There was a call on Soto that should have been ball four leading off the eighth. The call on Pardomo, of course, in the ninth. That was with a runner on third. And it became the final out of the game. It would have been first and third, two out, four Tatis. So that's a world of difference. And we have coming into the sport this year in the regular season, an automatic ball strike system, and players and teams will be allowed to challenge calls. And in these cases, you can clearly see from the stat cast imaging that both these calls would have been overturned. And who knows where the game goes from there?

So, yes, the Dominican players were frustrated, but Albert Poole, their manager and Geraldo Pardomo, the guy who struck out to end the game, handled it with a lot of class. And they said, that's not what the game was decided on. we had a great tournament. There were a lot of things that happened. And I thought, frankly, that their reaction was incredibly professional. Maybe even more professional than it deserved to be, if you know what I mean. Yeah.

Now, it's interesting. The whole challenge system you mentioned, you know, the energy and the excitement of these games has been thrilling. In basketball, I know people are annoyed with all these constant challenges and stoppages at the end. Who touched the ball last? It takes forever. Takes the excitement out. Do you think, you know, challenging some of that stuff? Mike do the same in baseball?

That's a great question. And the answer is yes. Just as instant replay has done that to an extent in baseball. At the same time, I guess I would come back to this. Which would you prefer? The game ending last night on a call like the one that it ended on, or a correct call with a delay and a little bit of excitement zapped in that moment. I would hope that the correct call would win the day.

And that is what is going to happen in the future. So it's a tough question, and certainly the entertainment aspect is part of this. But as with instant replay, when that was introduced, the idea was to get the egregious calls right. Now, some other things have happened, some unintended consequences as a result of that, but they mostly get the egregious calls right, and that is what is most important. I can't believe we talked baseball for five minutes and haven't mentioned Shohei Otani. I personally thought his home run and telling his dugout to settle down was one of the cooler things I've seen in the tour. Just I guess talk to a little bit about

what you thought of Japan getting bounced. Otani was tremendous. Otani was tremendous as he always is. He did not pitch as he did in the last classic, which they won. I did not see the Japan team as being quite as strong as that team in 23. And certainly

they played a team from Venezuela that is very good. Stocked with major leaguers and not just fringe major leaguers, quality major leaguers, all stars. In one case, Sal Perez, a potential hall of famer. another case. Ronald LeCunia Jr., a likely Hall of Famer if he continues to perform at the level he has in his career. So I was not necessarily surprised to see them lose, but it's always shocking to see Otani walk off a baseball field, not in triumph. It doesn't happen all that often.

Yeah, it is interesting. I mean, I'm assuming you had a pick before the World Baseball Classic. You thought Japan would be there. Everybody did, right? Well, my picks are always terrible, so they're not even worth discussing. The three best teams were considered to be the Dominican Republic, the U.S. and Japan. Those were the three. Only one of them is going to be in the final.

And that's the U.S. And it will be against Venezuela or Italy. And by saying those were the three best teams going in in the estimation of many, that probably sold Venezuela short. Now, Italy came out of nowhere. That's a whole different story. But Venezuela, as we will see tonight, I am sure, it's an impressive group of players.

And that's why they're where they are. Yeah, it's interesting on the screen. I'm sure you could see, you know, a question about Otani being the biggest baseball star ever. But there is a global, this is a global event. And it's weird because we don't have this in football. We have it in basketball's become international. This feels like it's expanding baseball's reach globally to, like, kind of blow up. And I don't know, I guess just talk a little bit about Otani and helping the sport glow globally.

That is the entire goal of the tournament, to expand baseball's international reach. Now, I don't know that it needed much help in Japan, where it already is the most popular sport, but certainly Otani has elevated that even to another level. Then you have European countries like Italy, and that to me is where maybe the greatest mark will be felt. I don't know if Italy's run here will have a dramatic impact on the growth of baseball in that country. It's hard to know. Soccer obviously is king. But at the same time, John Marosi of MLAE Network pointed out that, it was on the front page of the leading Italian sports section yesterday when they made it to

the semifinals. That's a big deal. That's something. And maybe if there are, I don't know, 20, 25, 50, 100 kids in Italy who decide to play baseball because of this. And if that happens in Great Britain and other countries and you get some of those athletes, that only helps the sport. Yeah. Interesting. All right. So Italy, Venezuela tonight, I guess a quick breakdown. It's on FS1. Breakdown of the game. Who do you like in this one? And then to piggyback off that, who's a better matchup for the U.S.? I like Venezuela, but I've said that every time Italy has played in this tournament just about and they keep winning. And not only do they keep winning, they keep scoring in a big way, three straight games with eight or more runs. So it's hard

to go against them right now, as hot as they are. They're going to start Aaron Nola, the great Philadelphia Phillies pitcher who has had a great career and pitched really well in the classic so far. So again, it's hard to go against them, but I just believe Venezuela is the stronger team and ultimately they will win. I said that when Italy played the US, Italy won. I said that when Italy played Mexico, Italy won. So let's not count out Italy. Now, as for the stronger matchup for the US, it seems to me that because they lost to Italy, getting them again and having that particular motivation to kind of bring this thing full circle for them, that would be good. And again, I see Venezuela as the stronger team. So Italy probably is the better matchup.

Yeah, it's interesting because Italy, you know, the whole espresso jokes are flying, but they're an underdog. This is like not quite a 16 seed in March Madness or something, but this is a serious underdog making a monster run here. Do we know how they're doing it, or is they just getting hot at the right time? It is pretty close to a 16 seed, actually, making this kind of run. And they're doing it in a couple of different ways. But the main thing that has stood out to me, besides Vinnie Pasquantino, who is one of the games better sluggers and Jack Caglione, who is an emerging slugger, they have four or five young position players who are fast, who play really hard, who just have kind of a good way about them. And those guys have brought Italy energy. They've made Italy much more of a force than any of us thought they could be.

And they've also gotten good pitching from Nola and Michael Lorenzen and Sam Aldegiri. So it's been a nice combination, and it's been great to see them play this game at such a high level when it was unexpected. But it's not a fluke either. The guys that they have, there's young guys. They're not considered top 100 prospects in the sport. But they're top 10 prospects in their own organizations, and they've proven to be really good players. Do you think this is the kind of stage that could elevate some of these prospects to be like, hey, we got to give this guy a look. Our fans now want to see him because he popped in the world baseball class.

Yes. And I don't know that it's for the fans, but what it has done for these players is kind of open the eyes of their organizations, maybe in a greater way than before. Maybe they'll be looked at a little bit differently to play like this on this stage. And I know I talked to the Chicago White Sox about Sam Antenacci. He's one of those young guys. And they said, oh, no, no, no, we have him highly ranked. It's everybody else who does it. Right, of course. But certainly it's changed the perceptions of, I don't know, the organizations themselves, but maybe in the industry. Yeah. And finally, do you have an MVP lean so far for the tournament? I mean, assuming the U.S. wins it all tomorrow? I don't believe that has been decided yet. And what I mean by that is what happens on the field the next two nights is probably going to go a long way toward determining who is the MVP. Yeah, that's fair.

All right. Ken Rosenthal, obviously a great insider reporter, writes for the athletic. He's written three sports books. Ken, congrats on all your success. Enjoy the games. Thanks a lot. World baseball classic, Rachel. It's... I have been riveted. It's pretty, yeah. Yeah, I mean, and just the talent. I mean, you guys, we were talking about it this morning. It's crazy. Did you see the list? So there's, of the two teams, just in last night's game,

56 all-star appearances between the two teams. I have some of the other numbers here. You've got 31 silver sluggers, nine gold gloves, five MVPs, and one Syong winner, just in that game. So if the players are telling us this is a big deal,

and they're so competitive, it's a big deal. I think the timing of the sport, the event, is perfect. It's in that window after the Super Bowl before March madness starts, where their NBA games don't really matter as much, right?

And spring training, people don't pay as close attention to. So this is like, getting all the attention. I mean, it's really been perfect by... Plus, you're coming off a seven-game World Series. Yeah. You know, I hate to say it, but it's true.

A big market wins, right? I'm a Dodger fan, but whatever. But you know what I mean? Like the interest in the sport, and this is taking... You know, it's here, and then spring training usually puts it here, and instead we're just keeping up here. So I think it's great for baseball. Exciting stuff.

Italy, Venezuela tonight. All right, coming off next. Final four picks. We got the brackets. Well, like 15 hours ago. Obviously. Three are locks. one kind of up in the air.

Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves,

their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get to your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerner Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I,

actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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.