The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD – HOUR 1 – LeBron James & The Decision 2.0, Sam Darnold Remains Underrated

Episode Date: July 13, 2026

Colin Cowherd discusses LeBron James continuing to assess which team he’ll sign with in free agency for his 24th NBA season. Colin believes he will end up back with the Cavaliers but explains why that is not the best landing spot for the 4-time champion. Colin also talks about a survey featuring league executives, coaches and scouts ranking Josh Allen ahead of Patrick Mahomes as the best QB in the NFL right now and why Colin has been right about Allen for years. He also talks about the WNBA continuing to shoot themselves in the footSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.

Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Monday, man, there's a lot to talk about. Alexi Lawless, Derek Jeter, stop on by. We are live. In Chicago, it's the hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day, that stupid stomach virus I had.

Out of here. He's brushed it aside. Steaking a martini later, feel like a million bucks. So let me tell you the thing where fans can be hypocrites. the dumbest argument in the world. If you took a job at invidia, would your buddies, your wife, your friend say, oh, what a ring chaser. That's the easy way out. In every profession in America, Otani goes to the Dodgers. He selects the Dodgers. He's not called a ring chaser. If you're a high school football five-star recruit, you decide, I want to go to Ohio State instead

of Purdue. We celebrate it. NIL. Kid goes, I want to go play for Michigan and Dusty May. We celebrate it. But in professional basketball, it's the only part of America. If you join a better option, what a ring chaser. LeBron James reportedly is going to make a decision in 48 hours where he's going. He should go to Philadelphia. He should go to Philadelphia. He should go to Philadelphia. It's the best team by far, best chance to win a championship. Who cares what bots say on the internet? Chase Philadelphia. The problem is he doesn't have great connection to the city of Philadelphia. It doesn't know a lot of guys in the roster, but it's by far and away the best situation. I'd go in one second. Dude, it's Navidia. Go ahead and work at Bob's local

computer store in Cleveland. The Cavaliers aren't the best fit. It's the Lakers with better rim protection. Hardin and Donovan Mitchell don't play defense and need the ball. That's Austin Reeves and Luca. And by the way, LeBron's last several years in Los Angeles, for the record, when he chose the Lakers, it was the opposite of ring chasing. The four previous years, the Lakers, who had one of the poorest ownership groups in the NBA, had the worst record in the NBA and the worst point differential. He went the opposite.

How did it work out? In the end, frustrated. Nobody could stay healthy. Luca couldn't stay healthy. AD couldn't stay healthy. Austin Reeves in the playoffs couldn't stay healthy. average bench. So what did he get him?

A COVID ring. In Miami, he got to four straight finals. Oh, ring chasing. He wanted to play and work with good coworkers. I don't even get ring chasing. What does that mean? Every other person on the plant. When I had opportunities to leave in my entire career,

I've never once said, I want to go work with lesser management. You know what I like is bad teammates that need the ball and don't play defense? That's what I'd like to do. The whole fear about Philadelphia from the Rich Paul group is, and they're already sending messages, it would be viewed as ring chasing. No, it would be viewed as meeting contemporaries that have put the commitment in you have.

By the way, the Lakers in Cleveland, it's the same team with rim protection. The last several years in L.A., Austin Reeves and Luke and Anthony Davis, they can't stay healthy. If you go play for Philadelphia, Tyrese Maxie has led the NBA in minutes played the last years. Durable, reliable, ascending, committed, impeccable shape. Jalen Brown's in great shape. Edgecombe's a dog, man. He is fantastic. Yeah, M. Bede.

M. B's not necessarily healthy. Some of that's his body breaking down. But the idea of the gold, golden state. Golden State's nostalgia. I understand. But if you make the playoffs for the Warriors, the starting five's average age is going to be 37 seven years old. Give me a break. That's not viable.

And again, Cleveland, chemistry issues, too many guys that need the basketball, too many guys outside of Allen and Mowgli that don't want to play defense. They got swept by the Knicks, and three of the games were embarrassing. They quit.

That's not the best place to go. Going to the Warriors, we'll have a lot of nostalgia, but it'll be like a boys trip in your 50s to Vegas. The first night, you stay out a little late, and the rest of the vacation, just recovery.

And Cleveland's like moving back in with your parents. It's cool for about a night, but man, does that get old? Philadelphia is easily the best choice. But there's this whole thing. We punish pro basketball players in ring chasing. We don't punish stockbrokers that go to the better firm or lawyers that go to the better firm or a surgeon that goes to a better, more capitalized, more supportive hospital. We don't even, we don't bang on high school or college kids.

who join a big brand. We don't crush soccer players because they want to play for Real Madrid or Manchester United. We don't criticize Otani going to the Dodgers so we can have better players hitting in front and behind him in the lineup. There's something about pro basketball players. Oh, ring chasing. You want to join that circus in Cleveland?

You've already bailed on them twice. You want to go to the old warriors? I admit, that would be fun. I would love to watch Draymond and St. and LeBron. I'd love to watch it. I'm a sucker for that. That's like watching that Shawshank Redemption for the 13th time, or Oceans 11.

Like, I'd watch it. I'd watch it. Rich Paul on the notion, and I've been, you know, the word is LeBron's making a decision in two days here, 48 hours. I think one of the reasons he's waiting, I really believe this, is LeBron knows Philadelphia is the best choice, but he didn't have a real visceral, emotional connection there. But LeBron's smart. He knows the best choice. And I don't think he loves, you know, the ring chasing stuff.

Rich Paul discussed that. The team he chooses, I don't know yet. There's a seriousness that comes with this. There's a competitiveness that comes. We know how hard it is to win championships. No roster, no organization is guaranteed to win a championship. But you do want to be competitive. You do want to have an opportunity to come late April and early May to compete at a high level

and give yourself the best chance of winning. He's not chasing the ring. You know, you hear these things. Like, why do we have to chase? He got four. There's nothing to chase. He's not chasing the ghosts or anything like that. But when you've worked as hard to position yourself the way you have

and you can actually decide what you want to do, who wouldn't take advantage of that? Exactly. Go take a job at invidia. Go from the angels to the Dodgers. Choose the Yankees. Choose the easiest route. Choose Ohio State. choose, you know, Michigan State basketball over a directional school.

Get the better coach. Get the better facilities. I don't get the ring chasing. I don't know why we punish just pro basketball players. We don't punish anybody else in the world for taking a better job with a better company, with better management, better momentum. All right. So we're down to the final four teams in the World Cup.

It's big brands and big stars. You got Mbapap, Maul, Messi, and Kane. And it's been really fun to watch. In my opinion, the two most difficult sports clubs to join in the world are Augusta National and elite World Cup level soccer franchises. The Spains, the England's, the Brazil's and the Argentinas. I mean, Gary Player, a three-time Masters champ was denied playing. recently his grandson. He wanted to play with his grandkids at Augusta. They turned him now.

Bill Gates in the 90s was the richest man in the world. Before we even talked about the richest man in the world, he couldn't get it in the 90s. He's a member now. They'd probably like to get rid of him. Money can buy you a lot of things. In baseball, the Dodgers money, payroll, plus the brilliant deferred payment plan has put them a leg ahead of the sport. In college sports, Michigan basketball, Indiana football, you can buy championships. Pay for the coach, pay for the players. In the NFL, you can buy immediate success, if not a Super Bowl. Hire a Harbaugh, that usually helps.

But you cannot do it in international soccer. England makes a fortune. England, endless, bottomless pit of revenue for soccer. One World Cup. One World Cup. And I think that's tough for Americans to swallow. But I was thinking about this yesterday, I went on a big walk, trying to get rid of this stomach crap, which I finally did.

And I was thinking about how it's almost like technology. Like in the 70s and 80s, Japan was a mile ahead of us in personal computers, in semiconductors. And I mean a mile ahead of us. It felt like we'd never catch up. And then now China now is ahead of us in EVs. I mean, robotics, they're a mile ahead of us in robotics, electronic vehicles, the 5G network stuff, which I don't know much about, but they're ahead of us there. So even when you have money in international soccer like Brazil or England, you can go decades of having a World Cup drought. Even though, and the reason is because soccer is so important, it is so important for revenue, viability, relevance, and for the culture of countries.

It's just like technology. Technology is so important to everybody on the face of the planet is that sometimes we lead, but not for very long. We have big gaps. We have droughts. We've had them in personal computers and semiconductors and 5G and electronic vehicles. Nobody leads everything forever. When's the last time we had back-to-back World Cup champions? It's been forever.

Brazil, remember several years ago when they hosted the World Cup? They lost a home game 7 to 1 to Germany. Brazil. We've got the most titles ever. So international soccer and Augusta are the hardest clubs to get into. And it does remind me a little bit of technology where you don't lead everything forever. You can lead and suddenly a trail. But there's so much relevant, so much money, so much of every country's futurist high to it. AI is now the big race. You hope you win. Even if America wins the initial surge into AI. Will we lead five years later? Will we lead? We lead 20 years later. It's too important for countries not to pour all their resources into it. This is not hockey or like a baseball. This is global soccer. And we are just fine.

It's not that we lost. It's the way we lost. We're going to be okay. Here's John Strong last week. We were always going to face this sort of bleak moment of retrospection. And like we said, it's amplified by the manner in which they lost to Belgium. If you compare it to where we were eight years ago, if you compare this team to what it was a year ago, it's in a great spot. It's going forward. But yeah, it's really, really hard

to crack into that top ten globally. Few nations bust into the top ten. It's not like college football where Indiana can buy their way into a national title. And I'm not being disrespectful to Indiana. The dynamics are different. Yeah, Augusta, international soccer. Money has a ceiling. And for Americans, we don't like to hear that. All right, WNBA steps in it again. NFL executives, scouts, coaches, survey on the top 10 quarterbacks in the league. Very interesting. Victor Wembenyama, taking a cue from Tom Brady and Jalen Brunson,

gets the big picture of sports going forward. All that coming up. Colin right, calling wrong, 45 minutes from now. Be sure to catch live edition. of the herd weekdays in noon eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's Ben, host to The Fifth Hour with Ben Mallor, and would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a

spinoff of the Ben Mallor show, a cult hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world when we chat with captains of industry, in media, sports, and more every week, explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Ruby Carr, the host of the podcast, Encore. Check out our brand new episodes featuring music from the show that everyone is reheating as we speak.

Heated rivalry. Join me as I go behind the songs that brought Shane and Elia together. I'll tell you the stories of Fice, My Moon, My Man, Wolf Parades, I'll Believe in Anything, and tattoos, all the things. thing she said and how they all became a part of this global phenomenon. Stream encore on IHeart Radio, crave, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Munga shit together and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones and brain

replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever for all of us. I learned about some rad science. I can make a brain for you, and then we can test what draw is the best for your brain, as opposed to his brain. Here are some hard truths. I would expect Indians to age faster,

but I did not expect it to be almost a four to five-year acceleration. And get myself into a world of trouble. I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. make it look more defined. They say it works. I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive

How to Live Forever on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Mainstream media is full of cruel depictions of the unhoused, stories that shame and blame

and paint the unhoused as a monolith. We The UnHouse is the podcast that's changing that. I'm Theo Henderson, creator, and host. And for years, I've created a space

where the unhoused and their advocates can tell their own stories. In the last few months alone, I've interviewed unhoused parents, immigrants, mutual aid organizers, veterans, the LGBTQTIA plus community, and the policymakers who make the laws that impact the unhoused existence. Whedian Houses a two-time Webby and Signal Award-winning show with many exciting guests on the horizon. Tune in this week for my interview with Dr. Jill Whitcher, a street doctor turned influencer

whose work with the unhoused community has made a huge impact online and in her community. Listen to Wey and Housed on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The Declaration, which is full of these beautifully rendered sentences and paragraphs about enlightenment ideals, does also have this darker history to it. Why is it important for the darker part of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution. Why is it important that Americans know about it? Well, if we don't understand the full context in which our nation was founded, we won't understand the full context in which our nation now finds itself.

I'm Rebecca Nagel. Gohine, Dawadon, Jalike Yat, Lai, citizen of Cherokee Nation. Are you guys big chiefs fans? Hell yeah. This is First America, the true story of how the United States came to be and how we got to this present moment. Listen to First America on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Glorious day. Never rains in Chicago.

Sunny again. Six, seven straight days. I think I'll go out to my Apple Orchard after the show. Take a big bite of the life. What a city. What a weekend. Survey from East. SBN, they went to NFL coaches, executives, general managers, and scouts.

And they asked them, who are the 10 best quarterbacks in the league? And so, you know, it's a lot of predictable people. Josh Allen above Mahomes, we've been on that for several years now. Burrow doesn't make the playoffs anymore. He's at four. Dak Prescott has one playoff whenever at six. Oh, I like to see Jared Goff and Caleb Williams in there. Where's Sam Darnold?

And that's what's really interesting. Even the GMs in this league don't know what the hell to do with Sam Darnold. Back-to-back 14 wins seasons, totally different players, offensive linemen, coordinators, coaches, back-to-back 14 wins and a Super Bowl. Since 22, that's four years ago. He has the highest win percentage of any quarterback in the league, more than Mahomes, Lamar Jackson. He's 32 and 9.

Four coaches, four coordinators, four teams, four rosters, four owners, 32 and 9. Almost 100 passer rating. All started once he was Benston, Carolina, got the job back, went four and two. Christian McCaffrey, one of the great players in league history, was there in Carolina and talked about when Darnold first arrived the Panthers. When I first met him in Carolina, from the jump, I was like, this guy's a dude. And the more and more you see him at practice, that you see the throws. You make you understand why he's the top pick in the draft.

And then you're around them more. You're like, this is one of the best players I've been around, period. And it's because of how talented his arm is, he's way more athletic than people give him credit for. And he's really good at taking what's given to him and doing his job. Christian McCaffrey's like, that's one of the best football players I've been around. Carolina's had some good ones. McCaffrey's been around some good ones in San Francisco, like six Hall of Famers with the Niners. Yet Darnel's one of the best football players I've been around.

So when he came out of college, I said there's a little Brett Fav and a little Andrew Luck. He can be reckless. Arm, athleticism, toughness, leadership, guys A++. I loved him out of college. I admit in Carolina when he got benched, I was like, I'm not sure what to do. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't think I'm wrong. I see like a little Andrew Luck and a little bit of Ratt Fav

and people, oh, that's ridiculous. Well, how many Super Bowls does Fav have total? Oh, one. How many is Andrew Luck have? None. Sorry, this is football. It's not baseball. We don't care about your batting average.

The bottom line is executives don't know what to do. And I'll give you an example. I say this all the time. It's not just what happens when you enter a company. What happens to the one you leave? The Minnesota Vikings, when Sam Darnold left, same coach, same coordinators, same left tackle, same receivers, won five fewer games, missed the playoffs. With Sam, they had their greatest year in 26 years. I mean, that included like Randy Moss years, right?

He leaves Minnesota. Their bottom feel for their division. They don't feel like they're nearly as good now as Detroit, Green Bayer, Chicago. They would with Darnold. He goes to Seattle. They hadn't won a playoff game in six years. They hadn't made the playoffs in back-to-back years. They win the Super Bowl.

And simultaneously, let go of their star receiver, D.K. Metcalfe did not better. Did not matter. J.S.N. became a one with Sam Darnold. Right? Like, so I'm watching Minnesota. Before he gets there, meh, gets there while, leaves there. Mets. I'm watching Seattle.

May. Gets there wins the Super Bowl. what's the thread line what what what's what do we have in common here so you know people love Joe Burrell and they should Joe Burrell's amazing he's number four in the list Donald's not on it people love Burrell and the reason they love Burrell the most

is he had a two year period where he won 22 games and got to a Super Bowl Donald's in a two year period where he's won 28 games and won a Super Bowl and he's not on the list they don't know what to do people they don't know what to do. Herbert's never won a playoff game.

Back has one. Burl can't stay healthy. Can't make the playoffs. Again, images are powerful. Those first images are incredibly powerful. You see it with Jalen Hertz. He comes on to the scene. He gets to a Super Bowl.

All the dad is telling you, he struggles to throw the ball over the middle of the field. Greg CoSell's been telling us for two years. He can't see it. But years ago, He had a perfect team. He had a stacked roster.

You have a great running back. And that's the reality. The league's executives do not know what to do with Sam Darnold. Four teams, four years, 32 and nine. That's more impressive. Right? The old Bill Parcells, parcells, whatever team he went to, he won. Whatever the environment won.

Whatever, you could put Bill Parcells anywhere. Rebuilding jobs. He won. Didn't have to win Super Bowls. He won. I love this so much. Where is he? Where is Donald?

Let me get my bifocals, my binoculars. Where is? They can't find him on the list. One guy's four. One guy's not on the list. I'm just saying it feels like it's closer to me. I mean, Burrell's more expensive. Darnold's healthier.

I mean, deep ball arm. I'd take Darnold. J. Mack with the news. No. This is the herd line news. I'm going to stand down. Just a lot of laughter from this roof on Hapin, Coward. Hey, you know what?

No laughing matter? Argentina, Switzerland Saturday night. Oh, wow. I'm going to try to contain my outrage here. This game was actually phenomenal or low-key phenomenal, as the kids like to say. But the referee screwed up. Let's be real here. He calls a foul on Argentina here, gives the gentleman a yellow card.

Yeah. It was very clear on replays. there was no foul. That's a terrible yellow card. So he goes to VAR and says, oh, I got it wrong. It's simulation because the Switzerland Star was diving. So you get the yellow, and he had a yellow prior, and he was given a red and sent off.

Colin, there was outrage everywhere. Very controversial. Yes. I just don't think you can send someone off with 20 minutes left on a red card in a tie game in the quarterfinals. How could you do that? Well, and again, VAR is proving what our replay proves in pro football, which is 95% of the time it's an asset. And then about 5% of the time, it adds more confusion.

And I think we saw it. We've seen it multiple times with Balligan and this instance where whenever you introduce replay, we think it solves the issues, but it clouds and muddies. a smaller percentage of issues. That interception in the Broncos game against Buffalo, honestly, I would have been better without replay. It made it more confusing and more maddening. The Des Bryant Catch No Catch.

Replay was more infuriating. I would have rather seen it once and moved on. So, you know, I agree with you here. I didn't buy what they settled on, But I just, I've gone into replay. I didn't think this way years ago. I've just come to terms with about, about once every weekend in the NFL, replay makes it worse. Yeah.

And the rest of the times it does make it better. The only problem is this is every four years, right? You get a small chance to make the World Cup. This is a quarterfinals. Yes, it's a dive. That's obvious. Everybody can watch, no. It's a good attempt at a dive.

I mean, NBA stars are out here like, oh, do I need to add that to my bag? that's an amazing dive and initially it worked but i don't know this is on the referee man and it's disappointing anyway argentina huh there is a rule you're not supposed to die yes it's called simulation yep right uh let's go let's go to the call by ian dark the game winner in overtime this is an absolute banger from alvarez alverette argentina just sensational julian out to break the hearts of switzerland that's a tough one for switzerland and Argentina added another one to move on for the 3-1 win. So now are you pro-dive, I guess what I'm asking.

Are you pro-dive? I don't love diving. I understand it. I mean, you could call this the SGA rule. So what would you have done if you were the official? I would have said, I got it wrong. There's no yellow card on Argentina. It's a dive.

Don't do that crap again or you're out of here. I want to see the players decide the game, don't you? Oh, of course I do. Yeah. So unless it's a member of the Wembee elbow to the face of Nasreed, That's obvious. You've got to eject him. But a dive in a tie game with 20 minutes left? I don't know. Anyways, Argentina, England, Colin, massive semifinal game.

You know that history. I like England. Interesting. So if you look at some of the gambling lines to advance, England is minus 144. That's a significant. They think England will advance the books. Now, that could be a hedge because so much money is being bet out of England. But then again, Messi's the most public player in the sport.

The great advantage England has, they played poorly and won. What does Sean Payton always say? The best time to be a coach is you play poorly and you win. And so you can coach harder. So I think, I thought England was fine. I don't understand people not acknowledging. It was the hottest World Cup game for a country that does not plan those temperatures. England was affected.

I think both teams were affected, Erling Holland, by the incredible humidity and temperature on the field. It was not necessarily a well-played game by many of the stars. I just think you chalk it up to. Listen, we saw it in the Brazil World Cup, the Brazilian World Cup. There were just moments where teams were playing in the middle of the day or early afternoon

in just outrageous, simmering temperatures, and they didn't play particularly well. Fatigue sets in. So I think England playing poorly and winning comes out. That's the side for me. And I'll be honest, I hear some people online being like, hey, we need to move the World Cup to the winter. in these warm weather locales.

I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, don't mess with my NFL season. I can't handle NFL and World Cup. Also, these networks buying for it have NFL schedules. So that's just, if you want networks to vie for it, they, and by the way, if I'm a streaming service, and I want to own it, and you want to move it to the football season, that is absolutely going to hurt.

No. Revenues and viewership. If you think if you're Netflix and you can buy it and move it to the football season, a lot of people aren't going to watch just because it's on a streamer. That's a good point, yeah. Now the time zones are screwed up. Remember, the next two World Cups, the time zones aren't as favorable. It's not in America.

So if a streamer goes and buys it, you don't get the time zones. If I have to move it to the football season against the NFL and CBS and Fox and ABC and the SBN and NBC running football, the number's going to get cut in half. Yeah, that's an issue. And it's next in Portugal, Spain. and you know, as you just went there, Spain can be a little warm in June and July. Not terribly humid, but it is.

It's arid, but it's hot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, let's move on to the NFL, Colin. Listen, we haven't talked about Aaron Rogers in a while. It's been a glorious month. He's back. Look at him. He's going on social media and now posting that he's hanging out.

A big bro trip. He's calling it the last rodeo, hashtag bonding week, with his wide receivers. And they're not in a darkness retreat. They are somewhere in some mess. Mountains. Michael Pittman Jr., Ben Skoronic, Roman Wilson, Mason Rudolph, D.K. Metcalf, and Pat Friermute, the tight end. That pretty good group of players.

Yeah, it's a honeymoon phase, huh? You remember that well. Honeymoon phase, the early days. Everything's happy and peachy. Oh, Aaron, what a guy. He's so nice. He paid for this whole trip. He's just such a great human. Listen, it's his last year in the league. Let's celebrate the greatness of Aaron Rogers. Let's be positive about this. I'll let you handle that. I'll tackle the negative. I am not looking forward to the Steelers this season.

Final story, Colin, that's the NBA, of course, and LeBron James. You say he's supposed to decide in the next 48 hours. That's fascinating. It's the Cavs, Sixers, and Heat with the Warriors and Draymond Green making a pitch. Here's Draymond on his pitch to LeBron. I'd be remissed if I don't take the opportunity to throw my pitch in there. You know, I'd be crazy if... We're together for X amount of days, and at no point am I like, yo, we need to chop it up.

Like, what the hell is going on? What's what we doing? The things that I shared in it, I believe it definitely is going to make the brain work a little bit. Yeah, he should make the pitch, and I do think there are positives to Cleveland. It's not the basketball part. It's the fact that it's home. There's a positive to the Warriors. He is really close with Draymond Green.

Love Steph Curry, Steve Curry, he respects that. And then there's the positive with Philadelphia, which is it's by far and away the best group of young players that can protect LeBron's age. They're durable. They play defense. I mean, when you get older, right, as a pro athlete, when Tom Brady chose Tampa,

they had young athletic offensive linemen, they had young tight ends. They had, he went and brought. Gronk, but they had Chris Godwin, they had Mike Evans. Brady was very smart. Brady is like, I'm choosing as I age, age equals wisdom. I'm going to choose players to elevate me. Maybe, maybe, you know, I've got some weak spots as I've aged. It was a new conference. It's a new coach. It's like I want to bring in gronk. Gronk helps me with familiarity. I want to bring in a veteran running back. Lenny Fernette helps me with some familiarity, an older player.

So I think when you're an older player and you look at it, you think what are my limitations? LeBron's like, I'm not playing the same defense I used to. M. Beads are rim protector. Jalen Brown defends. Edgecombs a good defender. So I think LeBron looks at that and thinks, oh, that checks on boxes. I really think Golden State's fun and Cleveland's home. I think Philadelphia by a mile.

I don't think he'll choose the Sixers, but I think it's easily the best situation for him. So we've known this for about a month that the only way the warrior is, happens is if Rich Paul can convince Golden State to trade for Anthony Davis and then pay him. That's what's holding this up. Essentially, hey, guys, come on. You want Anthony Davis. You want to pay him. And then you get LeBron.

Now, LeBron, A.D., Draymond, Curry, Porzingis, that's actually not terrible. But without AD, who's the room protector in Golden State? They have no defense. You know? Now, I did see some comments about your Sixers thing. And I don't know how accurate they are, but LeBron don't want to play with Joel and B. because he's always hurt, and you know, he's a little bit of an egomaniac. Would the Sixers move off and bead?

I wish they would. I don't think anybody would take the contract. That's the problem. So I keep falling back on Cleveland. I think it'll be the Cavs. I do like that he's stretching this out, though, Colin. If he wants to wait until next week, that works too. Like, what's the rush, LeBron?

Good content. J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Uh, the WNBA steps in it again. We'll talk about that coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of The HARD weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Listen.

And you're there for heart-wrenching knockouts. The world's biggest stage. And breathtaking triumph. 2026 FIFA World Cup. The knockout stage. Every match, every moment. Listen on TSN Radio. Join the globe.

On the road to the July 19th final. 2026 FIFA World Cup. Stream it all live on TSN Radio. Available on IHeard Radio. I'm Mungesha Together and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about. And what it really means to live forever for all of us. I learned about some rad science.

I can make a brain for you, and then we can test what draw is the best for your brain, as opposed to his brain. Here are some hard truths. I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to be almost a four to five-year acceleration. And get myself into a world of trouble. I'd say probably start bone smashing.

That doesn't work. look more defined. They say it works. I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive, How to Live Forever on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Declaration, which is full of these beautifully rendered, you know, sentences and paragraphs about enlightenment ideals, does also have this darker history to it. Why is it important for the darker part of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution? why is it important that Americans know about it? Well, if we don't understand the full context in which our nation was founded,

we won't understand the full context in which our nation now finds itself. I'm Rebecca Nagel. Gohine, Dawadol, Jalike Yat, Lai, citizen of Cherokee Nation. Are you guys big chiefs fans? Hell yeah. This is First America, the true story of how the United States came to be, and how we got to this present moment. Listen to First America on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Mainstream media is full of cruel depictions of the unhoused, stories that shame and blame and paint the unhoused as a monolith. We The UnHouse is the podcast that's changing that. I'm Theo Henderson, creator and host, and for years I've created a space. where the un-housed and their advocates can tell their own stories. In the last few months alone, I've interviewed unhoused parents, immigrants, mutual aid organizers, veterans, the LGBTQTIA-plus community, and the policymakers who make the laws that impact the unhoused existence. Woody Enhous is a two-time webby and signal award-winning show with many exciting guests on the

horizon. Tune in this week for my interview with Dr. Jill Whittler, a street doctor turned in Lourencer, whose work with the unhoused community, has made a huge impact online and in her community. Listen to Wey &House on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. We're down to the semifinals in FIFA World Cup, 2026. Best of the Best. Tomorrow, France takes on Spain in Arlington, Texas with pregame at 1130 on AM 570. The official broadcast partner of FIFA World Cup, 2026, is true.

I Heart Radio. If you're living with constant knee pain and you're dreading surgery, no fun, let me tell you about Hogue Orthopedic Institute. Their award-winning knee specialists are changing how knee pain is treated. Call 800919-2,000, or visit Hogue Orthopedic Institute.com, that's Hogue Orthopedic Institute.com, locations throughout Southern California proudly physician-owned. That's Hogue orthopedic institute.com. Call 800. 919, 2000. You've got a big day. So you use unstoppable sin boosters to give your laundry non-stop freshness. So no matter how

long the day goes, you can't stop this power, this walk, this pose this, this, struck this talk. Your clothes will be so fresh you can confidently strut into that end of the day meeting like a boss, boss, boss, boss, boss, boss, bosses. Let's talk business in my office. Add new Unstoppable speeds to your wash

for 24-hour non-stop freshness so you can smell unstoppable. I'm Dr. Travis Vandenberg. I'm a veterinarian. A client of mine had a cat that was not eating, had lost a lot of weight. We recommended gentle giants, natural non-GMO cat and kitten food. Simba has suffered for years howling in pain.

Doc recommended gentle giants cat food and just almost immediately gained weight that he lost. The gastrineritis of vomiting and all cleared up as far as natural non-GMO cat food. I don't think you can find a better food than gentle giants. The Dodgers are celebrating the rich culture and traditions of Guatemala on Thursday, July 30th, when they take on the Mariners. With the purchase of a special ticket pack, you'll receive an exclusive Guatemalan Heritage Night Jersey. For tickets, visit Dodgers.com slash promotions. Push the red mic button when you want to walk by.

No waiting on hold. You're the front of the line. It's a two-way street, and we close the loop. Talk back to us. We'll talk back to you. Take it to the talk back. Is there something you've been dying to tell us? All right, Bob, I'm ready. It's as simple as listening to AM 570 LA Sports on the IHard Radio app. Now I need you to be doing the talkback, all right?

And pushing the red talkback button in the top right corner. Testing 1-2. Is this thing on? And while you're there, station preset added. Make us a preset. Hi, this is Dave Roberts. Heading into summer without a medical emergency kit, that's a risk. That's why everyone needs a medical emergency kit at urgent care kit.com slash blue.

Use Polymarket to trade the world soccer semifinals. Delete that sportsbook app that's robbing you and join the millions using Polymarket. Polymarket is a prediction market, not a sports book. You trade against other fans, not the house. Polymarket, your go-to prediction market for soccer's biggest stage available in all 50 states. Download the Polymarket app, use promo code Fox to unlock $50 free for your first trade. That's promo code Fox. Trading not available in all jurisdictions.

Check local regulations before trading, restrictions and eligibility apply. dive in Saturdays at Oasis Pool. It's just like going to the movies, except the floor's a lot wetter. And now the top five reasons to visit Morongo. Number five. Grab a daybed or cabana for SoCal's best outdoor movie theater. Dive in movie night at Oasis Pool every Saturday. Number four.

The biggest soccer watch party of the year is at sideline sports bar, the 19th. Great prizes, food, and meet the players from Avala. Three. IZOT gift giveaway. A classic, timeless IZad saddleback is yours when you earn 500 points on your rewards card, the 21st. And the number two. See a winning fine dining steakhouse. And the number one reason. We're giving away a Chevy Silverado truck. Earn entries now. And you could drive off a winner, the 26th. Morongo Casino Resort and Spa. Marongo, good times. Too many families face a widening gap between what they can afford and what they need to thrive.

More than half of families in the U.S. today are one paycheck away from financial crisis. At Good 360, we deliver hope when families need it most. Providing essentials like clothing, hygiene items, and household goods. Put help within reach. Learn more at Good360. Accident or injury. Call Jacob and Ronnie. Call Jacob 1-800-3-4-5-6-7-8-9. Call Jacob. Ellen Kay's Therapy Thursday is a podcast. The stories are real. The drama is messy and the advice is life-changing. Catch it now on the IHeart Radio app and wherever you get your podcasts. Ellen Case Therapy Thursday, the podcast. One thousand times. Hour after, hour day after

day. It could be yours. With bonus bucks, listen for the keyword every hour each weekday for your chance to win $1,000. When you hear it, enter it at AM570, LASports.com. Brought to you by Sweet James Accident Attorneys, Offices in Los Angeles, California, and Sweet James. Just call Sweet James, your accident attorneys. We're on to the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup. Tomorrow, Killian Mbapé and a dominant French team take on the reigning kings of Europe, rival Spain. Kickoff is right after The Herd tomorrow on Fox. So I think it was about a year ago or so. I forget exactly when it was, but Adam Silver came on our show The Herd.

And I've had Roger Goodell and Rob Manfred. I've had Don Garber. I've had all the commissioners except for the WNBA commissioner. I don't think I've ever had Gary Bettman on. But when I had Adam Silver on, I asked him about the third. three-point shot getting too repetitive. I asked him about load management. I asked him about tanking.

And he was great. And he answered all of them with a smile. And we went back and forth. And that's what being a commissioner is all about. Otherwise, you know, it would be just, I would work for the NBA. But Silver didn't have to come on, Fox. We don't have a contract with him. I mean, that's some other network.

He didn't have to come on this, but he knows I like the NBA. And he never asked what questions I would ask. care. And he was great. He was unbelievable. One of my favorite 20 minutes I've had on the air. I would love to have Adam Silver every year. He's a super smart guy. He's totally monetized the league. So the WNBA has stepped in a lot, and a lot of people, myself included, have been critical. So Dan Patrick, you know Dan Patrick. He had scheduled his staff, good staff. They had scheduled Kathy Engelbert, the commissioner of the WNBA. Now, all of us in this business have people bail on us. lost people, you know, some people get busy, they forget, whatever, or they just don't want to do it.

Commissioners should not bail on scheduled interviews. I mean, that part of being a commissioner is being responsible and taking tough questions. So Kathy Engelbert, the Dan Patrick staff booked her, and she bailed. And apparently, I didn't see it, but it was, you know, 100 yards off just playing golf. That would add to it. So Dan Patrick went on the air, and he was very upset about it. We're just trying to be a journalist here. That's all. We're just trying to ask questions. But don't say yes. And then all of a sudden, somebody probably said, in my opinion, oh, maybe we shouldn't do this. Well, at some point, you have to do this. This is an important league. There's expansion. There's conversation. It's been agendaized. Everybody has something to say about it. Now you have a chance to answer these questions. I think that is a totally reasonable response.

Dan's been doing this for 100 years. He does a great job. He's a total pro. He was upset and voiced it. When you're doing a three-hour radio show live, we don't have a copy editor in this business. We don't have tape editors. You go on the air live.

If you emote because you're upset, I want to hear about it. That's good broadcasting to me. He has every right to have that opinion. And he has a very good staff and guys been around forever. And commissioners don't bail on interviews. I just don't do it. So it's interesting because I was watching the WNBA yesterday.

And I thought about this yesterday. And I watched a WNBA game. And I got to tell you, the product, it was in Dallas. Very good TV, very good energy. And here's the thing. And I was thinking, you know, why is the WNBA just keep stepping in it? I can keep bashing them. But why?

And I came to the conclusion that there's all these leagues. They all have owners. They all have commissioners. They're all covered by the media. Since Caitlin Clark has arrived, the WNBA is. exploded. They're now flying private. They've introduced three new teams. The Golden State Valkyries have a billion dollar valuation. They're drawn like 20,000 a night. The Portland Fire, Home Run, Toronto Tempo, Home Run. You got three new franchises. That takes a lot of work.

You have a superstar in the league. That takes a lot of work. The other night, Toronto played Monterey. We all had like 20,000 people at the game. You got posters now that even create controversy. You have exploding revenue, exploding attendance, massive star power in Caitlin Clark, very strong growth. And I think all of it is, it's a little too much for them to handle. It's like any business listening, anybody listening to me that owns a business is that part of the problem of hyper growth as a business, any business is just getting your business. damn arms around it. And they have stepped in it so many times and they beat hockey now, the NHL and ratings. Caitlin Clark is as well known as almost any hockey star. Maybe that's not

even argue. Maybe it's by a lot. She sells merchandise. She moves TV ratings. There's nobody in hockey doing that. And hockey's a legit sport, like it's one of the big four. So you've got bigger arenas, bigger attendance, bigger revenue, different travel, superstar, massive media criticism. They can't get their arms around it. Like, you've got, And if Gordon Ramsey opens a restaurant in London and it tanks, it makes the newspapers. It's talked about. If your buddy Joe opens a restaurant west side of Chicago and it tanks, nobody cares. That's the downside of popularity.

It is a privilege to be criticized. It is a privilege to deal with pressure. And I'm just thinking about it this weekend. I'm like, God, they keep stepping in it. It's not like they're a bunch of dummies. I think they have such hyper growth. They can't get their arms around it. It is surging.

It would be like if a Caitlin Clark level hockey star was introduced and literally tripled the ratings for the league and you opened up three new, very successful franchises over a one, two-year period, you change the way you travel. You're now talked about regularly. We don't talk NHL much. You're now talked about regularly. And you got executives, you know, trying to put a fence around it and a commissioner trying to put a fence around it. and I think they've grown so fast, it is like any business that is surging quickly over a two-year period.

And, you know, I'd love to have any commissioner on. If Betman called tomorrow and had something, I'd ask him questions about hockey. But, you know, it is almost, and I'm not defending the WNBA here, or Kathy Engelberg, it's almost a predictable outcome. It's like somebody is listening to my, show right now, man, woman, they're watching me, they're listening, and they own a business.

And the business is going really well. And it's surging. And somebody told me years ago when I started the volume, they said, you want to know what ownership and management really is, putting out small fires so they don't become infernos? Because every day with a new business, especially if it's growing quickly, every day there's a fire. You don't want the campfire to spread to the tents and the trees 15 feet away. And they just haven't done a very good job to put out their fires. So people want success. They're not always prepared for the success they get.

And I'm not defending anybody, but they have stepped in it so many times. This is just another example of they got a little bit paranoid. I said this a couple weeks ago. The league's a little paranoid. It's a little insular. The quality of the play is good. Paige Becker star, Caitlin star. They've got Asia Wilson's, and they're Michael Jordan, an unbelievable talent.

I'm sitting there watching that game yesterday, and I was just going around the television. There was no World Cup games. Couldn't find a good baseball game. So I'm going around the TV. And the WNBA game was excellent. Like, it was in Dallas. They looked like they had 13, 14, 15,000 people. There was great energy jumped off the TV.

And I was like, oh, this is good TV. And I was doing stuff on the computer. So I wasn't paying full attention to it. there was a summer league game and the WNBA game had more energy. I was like, this is kind of interesting. So something else that I, that, well, okay, I'll just, I'm going to save this for the top of the hour. There's been a lot of different stuff happening this weekend. It was so funny.

One of the things, you know how like when the Patriots were winning and Belichick was grumpy? And when Alabama would win a national title and the next day Sabin was grumpy. and the spurs were dominating, but Popovich was grumpy. That's called standards. Can I just play the one bite? This is the England manager after winning a World Cup game in 107 degree heat over Norway. The commitment is there, but we made life very, very difficult for us in the way we played, how we played. Slopping, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough.

not repetitive enough. We were lucky today. There's no mentality problem. This is pure mentality. This is pure mentality. You can bottle it up and sell it. Absolutely. Yeah, so why is the problem for mentality?

It's the quality of our games. That's it. Now, my take is the interviewer didn't ask him about the heat. To me, the heat was a huge issue. England and Norway do not play in that level of heat and that intensity and that state. So I think it got sloppy. But I love the fact. It's called standards.

That's Belichick after winning like an AFC championship. He'd go on and be like, you know, we're just lucky we won. And, you know, he was like, I mean, how many times did Belichick do that? My God, he must have done it 100 times during the dynasty complain after a huge win. And Saban. Sabin won in a national championship. People would compliment Alabama. And he'd be like, that's rat poison.

compliment or rat poison. I tell my guys, don't drink rat poison. You're like, you just want a natty. It's one of your second in three years, Nick. Belichick's famous for saying no days off after winning a Super Bowl. So just to watch the British manager go out and he was just totally disgusted by the performance, I'm like, they got their Sabin. They got their Popovich.

That's Dan Hurley at Yukon after getting into the final four. You're like, that's what coaching is. Standards. Sean Payton-N-Ois says the best time to coach is when you win but play poorly. He goes, man, I can really beat on the team after that. That's a great week of coaching. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.