The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - LeBron's future

Episode Date: May 23, 2023

Thoughts on the Lakers getting swept by the Nuggets Is retirement a real possibility for LeBron James? Is Kyrie Irving the missing piece for the Lakers?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. What a big Tuesday. Live in Los Angeles, it's the hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening or watching, thanks for making us part of your day. Well, well, well, Denver moves on.

LeBron maybe does two to business, leaves basketball, a clean sweep. The games, three of those Laker losses were close. What do you do with this franchise? Denver maybe adds a defensive piece in the offseason, but they're going to be around a while. Jemak, we have had, if you look back at history, if Miami wins tonight, two sweeps in the conference finals. For the record, both for their own reasons have been fascinating. The Celtics meltdown and potentially now LeBron's last game.

What do you make of that? Yeah, melancholy vibes this morning off the LeBron Lollon. loss. It was just sad. I'm sure you watched a press conference last night. It was riveting stuff. I don't think he's retiring, but it was just a little sad because there's not many of these left for King James, the greatest player of all time. All right. Let's start with this. Listen, just think of many of our great bigs. Shaq, Akeem, Wilt. They didn't shoot like Yokic. They don't pass like Yokic. They don't grab the ball and lead the break regularly like Yokic. He is the best basketball player in the world right now.

He is so skilled and so smart. Shooting, passing, rebounding, facilitating, spacing. He doesn't ponder. He doesn't waste dribbles. He's the best of European basketball. Tremendous skill. No silly ego. High IQ.

Think how dominant AD was against Golden State in Memphis. He disappeared. for long stretches. Where was he last night? The gap between Yokic and Anthony Davis, an all-time great, is massive. With AD, you're never quite sure which one shows up. Yokic, same guy, shows up every night. Even when he gets tired, it's an easy pivot to a facilitator. The screens, the passing. Wow. I mean, put him next to AD. AD was the best player in the warrior. series. The Warriors had to do, even with Steph, everything was to how to mitigate, how to move around, how to AD, none of that, AD shrank, and he's great. With Janus, with a Tim Duncan,

you don't want him at the free throw line late. Same with Shaq. Yokic, oh, he's great there. 83% career free throw shooter. And that no ego thing is substantial. It really, is. European basketball more about the team. Egos have broken up some of our dynasties. He goes in, he plays, he delivers, unselfish. He is selfless and skilled. That's a great combination. All the nuggets need, in my opinion, to get even better, because a lot of these games were close. They're not a great defensive team. Yokuch is never going to be a great defender. Jamal Murray, okay. They need to go get somebody off the bench, go get a defensive stopper. somewhere, somebody that doesn't need the ball, doesn't need shots, they need a little depth on

the bench. Who wouldn't want to play for this team? Who wouldn't want to play with a center who gets you great looks? What a fun group Denver is. And Yokic is now falling into historic category. If he wins the championship and they'll be favored over Miami, I mean, I think they're a better, deeper team. I think it'll be an interesting series. But you got two great coaches now. Not a great coach with Miami and a kid in Boston. Eric Spolster is not going to pull off two or three wins himself, so I would take Denver in the final. Again, if Miami wins tonight and I think they will at home against Boston that's reeling,

Yokic is now entering historic category. If he wins a championship, he's the only guy to do it without an All-Star. Never had an All-Star. And I think LeBron, who's always been very thoughtful, a thinking man's basketball player, LeBron talked about what he witnessed from Yokic and the Nuggets in this series. NAD was just talking in the locker room for a little bit. I think we came to the consensus of this. If not, one of the best, probably the best team that we've placed is

we've been together for our four years. They're just well orchestrated, well put together. They have scoring, they have shooting, they have playmaking, they have smarts, they have length, they have depth. And one thing about their team, when you have a guy like Joker who, as big as he is, but also as cerebral he is, you can't really make many mistakes versus a guy like that. So now the question is, LeBron talked after the game about retirement, and it would be, it would be the perfect time, right? It would be clean. Even the great Michael Jordan.

What a clunky, clunky ending in Washington. LeBron broke Kareem's record. They just beat Steph, the dynasty out west, and the Warriors. He had a great last game. They exceeded expectations. And maybe most of all, Anthony Davis just had his longest stretch of healthy basketball as a Laker. Think that's going to last? Not to be cynical, but if AD crumbles down in December and January for a two or three week stretch,

you got LeBron carrying this group of guys, that'd be kind of a sad ending, wouldn't it? he had to do it this year. Why wouldn't he have to do it next year? You know, LeBron is often compared to Michael Jordan. I think he does far more well than Michael Jordan. I don't want to hear about eras. He's a bigger, stronger player, not the offensive player probably, but does everything else probably at a better rate, bigger, stronger.

It would be a much cleaner ending than Michael Jordan. It could feel like John Elway or the great overlooked quarterback Roger Staubach, where both were very, very good at the end. You could sense their aid. and then Elway and Staubach went into business and got really, really rich. I know, I know. He wants to play with his son. It's kind of odd, right?

Like, anytime LeBron plays with anybody, like they're in his shadow, think about the great players LeBron has played with. D. Wade, ah, D. Wade got old on LeBron. Bosch and Kevin Love, going to be Hall of Famers, marginalized. Kyrie Irving, he broke up LeBron's dynasty. in Cleveland. Anthony Davis. That's ridiculous. LeBron, 38 years old, was great last night.

Where was AD? Those are Hall of Fame level players. Bronny's probably not. So, great players get compared to LeBron and often marginalized. I mean, my guess is he wants to play with his son, but then we'd start comparing Brony to his dad, and that's just unfair. That's unfair to almost anybody.

if it's ever played the game. And I kind of look at LeBron right now, and I think the league is finally kind of ready to move off LeBron. Steph's the biggest TV draw. Here comes Victor Wenbignama. The Knicks are now good and about a piece away from being really good. So you've got the New York market, the Boston market. There are several really interesting, fun young teams,

Cleveland and Sacramento, the Nuggets. Like you could argue, the league's ready for it. It's time for it. I mean, Tom Brady, when Tom Brady left, he was still very good in certain games, but there were like four or five guys that were clearly better in their prime, Burma Holmes. And LeBron is still great for a half like last night or spurts. But there's four or five guys consistently who are better.

And isn't LeBron too big and too big? too regal for a cheesy retirement tour. Let's be honest. That's like what a 298 major league baseball hitter does who played for 19 years. You get the retirement thing. You get a motorcycle in this city and you get a gold-plated bat in that city. And it's nice and everything. But this is like the best basketball player in the history of the world.

A retirement tour. What are they going to give him a cowbell in Sacramento? I mean, come on. It's LeBron James. I get he wants to play with his son. I get it. I do. But, man, he casts a big shadow.

His son will immediately be compared. Well, he's not going to be his dad. He's not nearly as good as we thought. He's got the last name, but he's not LeBron. You know, that's what's going to happen. That's what happened. Dee Wade, Bosch, Kevin Love, A.D., all-time Hall of Fame level, great players.

you know, they shrink next to LeBron. It is a perfect time to move away. My gut feeling. He won't. And one of the reasons he won't was at Crypto Arena last night. And we'll talk about that. I'll say this. The games were close.

It's not like that Boston series where it's just man overboard. There's some close games, right? I still contend that two-minute Jamal Murray Torch Fest in Denver game two, one point game to 12, Jamal Murray took it over. That was the tipping point in the series. Lakers had outplayed him. The crowd was subdued. Lakers had a chance to even it.

Jamal Murray went off and it was like, you kind of felt like, that's a lot to overcome. Can the Lakers beat Denver four out of the next five games we set it that day on the show? That was the moment in the series, and it's fitting, Yokic's best teammate, a young player in his prime, took it over. A lot of those young players, Tate him out east. Maybe not ready for a moment like that. J-Max guy, Jamal Murray, was ready for that moment. And maybe that speaks to Denver. They are ready for this moment.

How crazy is it, Colin, that Jamal Murray's never been an All-Star, and he just had a series where he went 50% shooting, 40% from 3's 90% free throws. He's never been an all-star. This league is incredible. Yeah, there's a lot of talent. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

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So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS. on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So LeBron hinted at retirement last night. Hinted at retirement last night. Said he's not sure what he's going to do. my guess is it's the perfect time to do it, but he won't. And the reason he won't was at crypto last night, Kyrie Irving. I know, I know, I know what you're saying. But Kyrie Irving provides what the Lakers actually need.

They don't need defense and he doesn't play it. What they need is a ball handler, a three-point shooter. He and Austin Reeves can run the offense when LeBron's sitting or misses a game. If I said to you next year, Kyrie Irving, Austin Reeves, LeBron, Anthony Davis, Rui Hachamora, that ain't bad.

Move off Dilo, Fanderbilt, Malik Beasley, go find a rotational shooter off the bench. LeBron, AD, and Kyrie, you'd cross your fingers a little bit on health. None of them probably play more than 60 games, but we just watched LeBron have a good playoff run, and Anthony Davis, though no Yocch, have a very strong, healthy playoff run.

You know, you'd measure minutes. You'd do a Jimmy Butler in Miami with an eye on the postseason. You'd get a lot of buzz and a lot of wins. I said when Dallas got Kyrie, I didn't think it would work, but I thought it would be interesting. But he doesn't fit in Dallas. And Dallas reportedly has a four-year offer on the table. But he doesn't work with Luca. They're both lousy defenders.

They both need the ball. Kyrie knows it doesn't work. And is Dallas where he wants to play? The owner's a star. Lucas is the star. He's played with LeBron. He fits this team. People won't lament his defense because if Rui's there and Anthony Davis is there,

you're going to be fine defensively. Darvindham's a defensive coach. But in Dallas, the two things he gets ripped for, he needs the ball all the time. That's okay. LeBron's going to miss 30 games. Well, he didn't play any defense. That's fine.

Anthony Davis in town, Rui, you've got length and rim protectors. Seems to me they lost to Denver by six points, five points, and two points. You could certainly talk yourself into Kyrie, A.D., LeBron, Austin, Reeves, Rui Hachamora, and go get somebody off the bench who can hit a three. again, what Kyrie does well, he gets criticized for in Dallas. I mean, we got Luca to score. Why does he always have the ball in his hands? That's his game.

Your game's your game. He wouldn't get ripped for that. Rui doesn't need the ball in his hands. AD doesn't need the ball in his hands. Austin Reeves can shoot. He doesn't know his need the ball in his hands. And LeBron's taking 30 night off, 30 nights off. I mean, what he does well, the team absolutely needs.

And it's L.A. it's a star town. Kyrie's a star. You would cross your fingers on the health thing. But you know what? You wouldn't need Kyrie to play 65 games. You wouldn't. Because if LeBron and Kyrie are out, Austin Reeves can run this offense.

We saw it this year. If Kyrie's out, Austin and LeBron can run it. If LeBron's out, Austin and Kyrie can run it. It works. It fits. I know, I know, I know. It's Kyrie. He wouldn't be the backbone of the franchise.

A.D. would be your great defensive player. LeBron would be your leader. He'd be a shotmaker, a playmaker, and give the Lakers what they need. I don't know. I mean, I'm watching him and I'm thinking LeBron's looking at that. LeBron's a smart guy. He's like a Kyrie.

Shotmaker. Me? I can still be great for halves and moments. AD's a great defender. Every other game's great. Rui Hachamara. Austin Reeves. It's better than this team.

More dependable than this team. team, more talented than this team, Kyrie Irving led the NBA this year in fourth quarter scoring. About the time LeBron wears down on a night AD's not showing up, Kyrie led the NBA in fourth quarter scoring. I don't have to love you as a build around the franchise guy. We can blame Kyrie for Dallas, but Porzingas didn't work there. Jalen Brunson got a lot better.

Kyrie doesn't love it. Some of that's Luca. I know, I know, I know. But in Brooklyn, Kyrie felt like they were building around him. No, they're not. This is not a build-around moment. LeBron's the leader.

A.D. is the defensive rim protector. Kyrie, we need shot making. And late in games. That's exactly what he does. That's why LeBron's not retiring. J. Mack with a news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

I could poo-poo this. But I will tell you, a lot in life is fit. He does not fit Dallas. He perfectly fits LeBron at this point. What is LeBron? Often gassed in the fourth? What is A.D.? Every other game not available for big points in the fourth.

That's what Kyrie is great at. Get a bucket, take over the game, four and a half to go, six and a half to go. The concerns, obviously, Kyrie Irving, a little wacky, but also the injuries. LeBron, AD, and Kyrie have all missed at least 15 games in the last three seasons. Okay, that's fine. Kyrie's always hurt in the playoffs. Okay, but we know, you know, and I know, that they all three won't miss games on the same night. So again, AD plays, if one of them, let's just say this, one of them doesn't play for like 75% of the games.

Now you say, well, calling that happen in Brooklyn. The difference was it was Cookeytown. You had Harden, you had Simmons, you had Cairie. It's not what you get here. 80's not crazy. He's inconsistent. He's not crazy. LeBron's one of the great leaders, along with Magic Johnson, in the history of the sport.

Remember, James Hardin reportedly saw Kyrie Irving burning sage in the locker. and was like, I'm out on this guy. I didn't sign up for this crap. Imagine if AD sees this and it's just like, what do we do. Kyrie can be a little eccentric. A little? And when you put him around other eccentric people, Hardin and Simmons, it brings it out.

Powder keg. But if you put him around more stable environment, Darwin Ham, stable, AD stable, LeBron stable, people get in line. Okay, what if I told you the only way you could get Kyrie, and this is not 100%, but you would have to say, we got to lose Austin Reeves to make it work, Because Kyrie wants the max. That's not who they want.

The Dallas Mavericks are interested in Anthony Davis. There's no question. He solves all their issues. Does it need the ball and can give you 24? Great rim protector. Luca plays no defense. And a kind of personality that doesn't want to be the star. Go let Luca run the franchise.

So the problem with this whole Kyrie thing. I was told it at the trade deadline this year. The Mavericks look at Anthony Davis as the guy. And Lakers don't want to give him up. Well, all Kyrie has to do is say, yeah, Dallas, I'm going to sign with you. Give me the max deal. And then six months later goes to him, I demand to be traded. You know that's going to happen.

He's just going to ask for out. And they're going to be like, what can we do? Because that's what this guy does. And he's going to get his way and get to play with LeBron. He could walk and get a little less money and have a lot more fun. You think he's taking less money? I will say this. I don't.

A lot more NBA players take less money than people want to admit. Even James Harden this year. Yeah. He took less money. A lot of players in the NBA, we always think, they're all about the money. No, they're not. Okay. You go look at the NBA, a lot of start. Bosch took less money. Remember the Miami guys? Duncan took less money. Those are different dudes. What if I told you, Kyrie Irving was going

on a darkness retreat this summer to decide. That would not surprise me at all. You're out here celebrating Aaron Rogers in New York. Well, we got some negative news here in about five minutes on Aaron Rogers. Why? We'll talk about it. But continue. Continue. No, I mean, if we're going to celebrate the ethereal, deep-thinking Aaron Rogers, for a darkness retreat. Why can't Kyrie have his stuff? I was making a joke. But okay, fine. Let's get started here. Russell Wilson in Denver, second season with the Broncos. There's some pressure for him to deliver for Sean Peyton. Obviously, they were a disaster last year, Ford 12. According to reports,

if Wilson struggles again, Denver will look for an exit strategy from the contract they gave him last summer. Now, I don't know how feasible this is. I looked at Spottrack has his contract. there's not an out for three more seasons. Yeah. So, I mean, I don't know how reliable this is. Like, I'm sure Sean Payton's trying to motivate him by saying, hey, we're bringing in Stidham as the backup. And I'm not going to put up with the crap that the last coach put up with.

But come on, Kyle. Is this realistic? Well, didn't you and I kind of step back when they signed Jared Stidham? It was surprising. Why did they sign Jared Stidham? I think when we had Sean Payton here, on the air and off. There are those that are concerned that Russell Wilson, because of his running style like Kyler Murray, is he aging very, very quickly. So Russell plays at his best

basketball on grass. He's like basketball on grass. He's kind of running around in playmaking. I think Russell wants to do less of that and throw from the pocket where he's very, very okay. He's not a great pocket guy. He's not Herbert, Mahalms, bro. It's not what he is. Okay, that's what made Russell is what he's got to lean back into, which is movement and mobility, eyes downfield, great in the moment crisis quarterback play.

Smart guy. That's what he is. Lean into that. If he's unwilling to do that or incapable of it, Sean Payton's not going to sit there for three years. Now, now you say to yourself, what do you do with that deal? A, you can move. people, believe me you can.

Secondly is, you hit on draft picks. It's amazing how you can maintain quality if you hit on four or five. I mean, you go look at the Seattle Seahawks. They had one great draft. We thought they were tanking last year. Yeah. Like you hit on five

draft picks and you can accumulate draft picks very quickly in this league. Denver opens with the Raiders and Washington at home. That should be 2 and 0. They will be 2 and 0. And then they go to Miami for what will be big game against Tua and the Dolphins. That's a really funny.

It's not out of the realm. And after Miami is Chicago, you get Chicago, which can be a tough road game in December. You get him in October. There's a chance, 4-0 to start for Peyton and Russell Wilson. I think Denver's going to be a 9-to-a-10-win team. I think Russell will be significantly better. But when you compare him to the – here's the question. With Aaron now in the AFC,

Lamar is going to play now. Herbert, Lawrence, Burma. I don't doubt Russell's going to be better. And I don't doubt Denver's going to win nine or ten games. The question for both of us and that organization will be, at the end of the year, are you saying he's good? And he's the ninth best quarterback in the AFC and the most expensive. So the question is, is Russell going to get better? Yes.

Is Peyton a great coach? Yes. Is Denver going to be better? Yes. That's the easy stuff. How much better is better? Russell. Because he did play a little better at the end of the year. A little bit. With a really bad coach.

So it's, I don't, none of it, there's a lot of, with Denver I know. They'll be better. He'll be better. Sean Payton's great coach. I know I like their roster. But the question is, are we going to watch him and think he can't get away from guys? He can move, but he can't really move like he could. That's the question. We saw it from Aaron Rogers. And let's go to Aaron Rogers. So he showed up at OTAs looking to, you know, click with his teammates. but according to reporter Diana Rossini, Rogers was seen off to the side in workouts favoring his ankle and something clearly is not right. Between this, the Mackay Beckton chirping, I'm a left tackle I want to be paid like one.

They're making me be right tackle so they can pay me less. Let's just say it's off to a rocky week in New York for my Jets. Now, I didn't, I wasn't aware of a bad ankle for Aaron Roger. There's no other details on it. The Jets have not spoken about it as of right now. They have not. Listen, he's getting old. His escapeability was questioned last year.

I think he had his fewest rushing yards ever. He's not escaping for those first downs on like third and six that you need. Listen, these are the Jets we're talking about. Historical ineptitude all around. I'm ready for, listen, yesterday I was all excited. Devante Adams is coming to the Jets. The reality is this could go south. It could.

Well, it's an ankle. It could be sore. He could have had a golf cart run over it. We don't know anything. This doesn't mean anything. Yeah, my back is kind of hurting right now. I mean, it happens, you know? Sometimes it hurts when I go to the bathroom at 2 in the morning.

I mean, you get to a point when you age, stuff hurts. All right. One more football story. Bryce Young, your guy, you love this Carolina Panthers. Oh, my God. Well, it's not about his big helmet this time. his OTAs, there's some buzz that they've looked good. The Panthers brought in Andy Dalton, obviously, to help ease the transition for the kid out of Alabama.

And Andy Dalton, oh my gosh, listen to him speak glowingly about the rookie quarterback. Bryce has been great from the day he got here. I think that's the reason why we picked him because of his makeup. He's smart kid. He's nothing seems too big for him. He's studied really well. He's done a great job of learning the offense so far and being on top of everything. And, I mean, natural throw, or all the stuff that you want.

And so I've been really impressed with him. I think his understanding of football is really high level. And so, you know, you can tell early on that he's got it. You know what? Can I say this? I like how Andy Dalton is aging. Like for years and years, he came off as a really nice guy. And we used to, like, roll our eyes at it.

It was like too nice of a guy. Look at him now. He's got a little edge. What? The hat backwards is that? He's got a little edge to him. He's now a mentor. He had to deal with a lot of crap in Chicago.

He had to deal with you calling him the beige water pistol. No, listen, I feel bad about that now. You do. Well, everybody kept telling me the red rifle. I'm like, guys, come on, that's a little much. He's not the red rifle. But my point is, this is, he is perfect. He's securing himself.

He's made his money. He's been to the playoffs. He's a great guy, family man. You got Frank Reich. You got Andy Dalton. This thing's going to work. This thing is going to work. I don't know how long.

And would you stop talking about how big Bryce Young's helmet is? The contrast of the size of his helmet, the size of him compared to the offensive linemen, listen, it's May. We're going to make some jokes about the NFL. I am picking them this morning. Now, I may not stick to this to win this division. No shot. I'm so excited for this.

No shot. I am so excited for... Saints or Falcons. Well, that's what Vegas says. Vegas is wrong. Also, I say the Saints by far are the best team. Look at the roster. No, no, no.

It's a good roster. Yeah, but I get a better... You don't like the coach. I get a better coach. I think coaching's about 35, 40% of the sport. I mean, if you don't think coaching matters, go watch the heat in the Celtics tonight. And that's basketball.

I didn't say coaching doesn't matter. It's... I'm saying Derek Clark can overcome some mediocre coaching. That's what he does. That's why he's 16 games under 500. Interesting. How many playoff appearances with mediocre coaching in Vegas and Oakland? Not many.

Derek Carr is not Mahomes. I like him, but he's not able to overcome bad coaching. I'm trying to think of the coaches in the playoffs last year. Any bad coaches make it. Todd Bowles, made it with Brady? Well, bad coach. I would say this. Mike McCarthy in Dallas?

It's impossible to win championships in any sport with a bad coach. Like Joe Missoula now, and I'm going to talk, I'm going to defend Joe Missoula a little. Oh, really? A little. Multiple days of hammering the guy. Now you're going to defend him. Okay, time out. Time out.

Can I throw this Jets thing at you? Oh, no. Tell me it's positive news. I can't take any negativity. Jets writer Brian Costello. It's my guy. Yeah, I know. Your guy.

Okay. Well, we've known each other for 20 years. Okay. Quote, Zach Wilson just threw a beautiful pass to Garrett Wilson down the sideline. Perfectly placed. Oh, yeah. Is it possible? Zach Wilson, you know, small town Utah kid thrust into New York.

Here's the other benefit of Aaron. He sits back. Aaron sat and watched Farr for years and like kind of changed his mechanics. Zach Wilson sits behind somebody that Zach knows. I don't have his arm and his talent. What if they save Zach Wilson? What if they save? What?

When they saved like Zach Wilson just through osmosis being around here and Rogers will become a better player? Could he become a great two-year backup? And I mean the most talented backup in the league. I mean, there was a time I thought he was better than Mack Jones, your guy. It's clearly not the case. Well, but Mac Jones regressed when he didn't have the support system. I'm just saying, we can all take shots at Zach Wilson. Two years under Aaron Rogers, he's as talented as any backup in the league. What if he starts to kind of like, we start looking at Zach and going, you know, dude in small spots, that dude can throw it. How about Jordan Love? Is he going to get that? He was with Aaron Rogers, I believe, three years.

Zach Wilson's got a better arm than Jordan Love? Yeah. Zach's got a, Zach's got a big boy. We never saw it in the NFL in the last two years. Well, no, we saw it. He did. Decision making. I said, Zach Wilson is a, is a classic. We see this a lot now, the YouTube quarterback, where the highlights are great, but misses the layups. This is something we talk about with John Morant. And John Morant's obviously a great player. But if you look at Patrick Mahomes, if he makes 36 throws, 31 are just mid-range, out in the flat, drag route. And about four to five times, you go, whoa, same with Herbert. Rolling left, throwing across his body, you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

But 93% of Mahomes is the easy stuff. Michael Jordan would score 30, 24, 22 to 24 were mid-range jumpers. And then he would hang and do stuff and switch hands. It's like, Zach Wilson, he's got really interesting highlight package. He's missing layups. He can't do this. And so, like, in two years, could he clean that up watching one of the great quarterbacks of all time? Didn't Brian Daibble do that with Daniel Jones?

Daniel Jones was a turnover machine, his first few years in league. I've been harder on Zach Wilson than I think anybody in the American sports media. Two years under Aaron Rogers, no pressure to play. watch Aaron, his wisdom, his IQ, lean on him. This is glass half full calling on a Tuesday. I'll take it. I am here to support young Americans. J-Mack with the News.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Speaking of somebody we've been critical of, but deserves a little support, the Celtics head coach. A little support. Be sure to catch live editions of the

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Potentially two sweeps in the conference finals. Frankly, I can't wait to watch Denver in Miami. I think it would be a great final. I think it would rate a little better than people think. But Yokic is, you know, he's a European star. He's not yet, as good as he is. You know, he's not yet kind of a star here. Embed has got more star power.

Janus, who doesn't have a ton of star power, he's just great. It's more known. So we're kind of a lot of people, because the NBA, nobody watches the regular season. They don't. The numbers are true. Same with college basketball. You watch March Madness. In the NBA, you watch the second round of the playoffs on.

So the reality is a lot of people are being introduced to a steady diet of Yokic for the first time. You've seen him play. You've seen highlights. Now you're getting games of him. So he's becoming, this is his March Madness. We're being introduced. A lot of people are to a steady diet every other night of Yokic dominating a series. And so I think it'll get a decent number.

I can't wait to watch. I think the matchups are fantastic. The coaching's fantastic. you got world-class stars. But the Celtics are always more interesting when they're fading and their attire fire, because Boston is such an in-your-face, obnoxious, over-the-top, confident town that when the Red Sox or the Patriots unravel, it's wildly entertaining. And Malcolm Brogden, a smart veteran player, came this year to the Celtics.

Was he last year or this year? But he's fairly new to the Celtics. and Brogden says it's not been right all year. You know, we haven't been consistently great defensively all year long, and that was the team's identity last year. I think that slipped away from us. Honestly, we've struggled in every series we've played. So, you know, now we're playing a team that's playing, you know,

as if they're the best team in the league, and they're just incredibly disciplined, incredibly consistent, and I think we've struggled with teams that, you know, are consistent on a, you know, procession by possession basis every night. Yeah, so Brogden's been around the NBA, smart guy, he can sense it. So let me defend Joe Missoula, who's kind of seen as a disaster right now. So Mike Malone coaches hard. There's a lot of volume.

He's barking at officials. He coaches hard. Spoe coaches hard. Joe Missoula, he's not getting buy-in. Why would he? He's got no legacy? How are you going to get a buy-in? he's two years younger than Al Horford.

I'm serious. Looked it up this morning. A guy like Malone for Denver, been in the league 20 years, been a head coach for 10 years. The Nuggets have been good for like five or six years with him. He got buying. He can bark at these guys. His system works. NBA stars get very rich, very quickly, and very empowered.

This is not the NFL, right? Even with a star player outside of maybe a Mahomes or Borough, the team runs the show. It's not the way it works in the NBA. Even Steve Kerr and Spoe tread very lightly with their stars. Steve Kerr was walking on eggshells beginning to end, beginning to end with KD. Spoh was walking on eggshells with LeBron James beginning to end. And those are legendary coaches. So Joe Mizzoules gets no buy-in.

He's got no legacy. He wasn't the first choice. Who is he? He was Brad Stevens guy. and then he comes to a team that had already been to a final. So these guys feeling themselves. Tatum and Brown and Marcus Smart, you're not going to teach him basketball. And a really good coach left.

And the coach, Imi Aduka, who was there, was intense. He was a pop disciple. He didn't get buy-in. If you go back to last year, he didn't get buy-in until the All-Star break. And then all of a sudden, Boston caught fire. So when you get guys who have been around, they've been in power, they're stars, they've made some money. It's hard.

If you don't have a legacy, it's hard to get a buy-in. And so, you know, my takeaway on Joe Mozilla is this is what you should have expected. A little bit, we all should have expected, a little bit of a pullback. Just a little bit of a pullback. Now, it's been a big pullback because he's going up against the greatest coach in basketball right now, in many opinions, Spoh. But this league runs through coaches. And one of the reasons it does is because basketball's culture. Very early, stars are spotted in AAU basketball, and then they are paid very quickly,

and they are empowered. And NBA fans tend to be more passionate and loyal to their stars than other league stars because the league sells the player over the uniform and over the logo. And so the NBA, we get our hooks into these players. and like Westbrook, he's great. DeAngelo Russell, amnesia. We love him. It doesn't work that way.

Once you've been a bum in a town as a player in the NFL, you're a bum. You have to prove you're not. In the NBA, a team can move off you, you're crazy town. They'll bring you back two years later if you were good for somebody else for an hour and a half. So it's just a different league. So I think it's very, very difficult to coach in this league. And if you don't have a track record,

or a legacy or you haven't worked with a team for five or six years and you take over a team that was in the finals and pretty darn good and guys have made guys have made some money in this league that's a tough job the Celtics job is tougher than you think it's a tough town it's a tough media it's a tough region it's a tough team and they haven't won yet so there's a lot of pressure hovering over the franchise um more jet's news according to diana rusini who's a very good reporter Another Jets practice note. Alan Lazzard left the field with a trainer. He hasn't returned.

Aaron's hobbling around. Alan Lazzard left. No opinion. I'm just here as an honesty broker to give you the very latest on the Jets. I can see you're getting a little nervous. I love the May blow-blibou details of practice for the New York Jets, a team that's been a tire fire to steal your phrase. For what are we, 11 years now, 12 since Sanchez got him to the playoffs, those two years?

Yeah. Well, this is why a lot of veteran players don't want to do the OTAs for this reason. Why get banged up? You know, it's like, let's say it's extra practice. They've got four months to get better. It's going to be fine. No, I think you're right. I mean, it's a broken ankle or something's dramatic.

But, oh, yeah, here's a footage of. Is this Aaron? Is that Lazard or Rogers? No, that's Aaron Rogers. Oh, boy, that looks bad. No, it does not look bad. Come on. By the way, do you know why they separate it from the rest of the team?

It's a private conversation about that ankle. That stuff can't end up in the New York Times. Is that hack it with him, you think? It looks like a doctor, a medical professional. Oh, yeah, right. A medical doctor wearing his hat backwards. It looks like a surgeon. Absolutely not.

Surgeon. Cowherd is in rare form already. Look at the onlookers. Are you excited for the Jets to be bad this year? That's not fun. We need them to be good. No, I don't. They're in six primetime games, right?

A billion. No, I don't like bad football. Yeah. We need Healthy Rogers, health of Lazzard. Devante Adams to go to Jets. Let's get them. Bad football is. We've got, I would say the Jets,

I think Garoppolo with the Raiders is interesting. I think Rogers. Any of the world finds that interesting? Devante Adams. We floated this yesterday. It's not crazy. Devante Adams and Garapolo are an odd fit, stylistically.

Devante's already making news. I'm not happy. You and I all know Aaron and Devante have texted. That's not even an argument. You know they've texted. And Raider schedules tougher. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy,

not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 is. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having him with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit are armored. It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because

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