The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd-HOUR 1-Rockets, Lakers, Patriots

Episode Date: August 3, 2020

Colin explains why the Rockets win of the Bucks isn't a big deal, why the Lakers are not a championship team, and why Cam Newton is in a bad situation.Guest: 11 time NBA All-Star Chris Bosh Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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 podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

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

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

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

follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. We go. It feels like a normal show. It's incredible. It was a sports pack weekend. It's Monday live in Los Angeles. This is the herd.

Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, whatever the platform, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. I sat on a couch yesterday. I got up early, went in a real steamy run. Manhattan Beach. It was foggy. That was like Scooby-Doo. I was running. next to a Scooby-Doo van. And after about four miles, I'm sopping wet. And I came back home and I turned the television on. I didn't turn it off all day. Joy Taylor is joining me.

One hour from now, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, our best in months. Yesterday, I just sat there. I was so, I'm never taking sports for granted. I watched golf. Brooks Capco was great. And then I watched Yankees Red Sox. I watched two NBA games. To these NBA games, they feel like playoff games.

Absolutely. And they've done such a good job with the sound. I just honestly sometimes really forget what's going on. I did. So it's great to have you in today. So let me start with this. Houston beat Milwaukee. I'm not going to be negative.

That is not who I am. I'm going to not talk about how Chris Middleton was one for six in the fourth quarter. And the books appeared to shrink. I'm not going to go there. I am going to be uplifting, Colin. Positive, Colin, optimistic, joyful, Colin. Houston's interesting. Westbrook was great yesterday.

More than any team in the NBA, Houston has benefited from four and a half months off. Westbrook and Hardin are ball-centric. We have seen this happen several times both last couple of years. They're shot fighters by the end of the first round. They're just tired. I mean, Harden, one of the great scores in the last 12 years in the NBA has had awful stretches, awful halves, awful games. He's worn out. he's worn out by the second round.

And Westbrook just unravels. Now, neither one has ever been a great defensive player. Harden initially in the league was terrible. Westbrook was just indifferent. He spent all his energy on offense. But yesterday, I thought they were both good defensively against a very good team in Milwaukee. They played their butts off.

Westbrook played great yesterday. Now, it remains to be seen if they can beat good teams four times in a week. But here is what I think. they are. The way it works in the NBA, because players have such control over the floor and the mood of the team, you become the personality of your star. And Westbrook is so erratic and intense that really the rockets are two teams. They're really two teams. Is that, you know, the old Jekyll and Hyde, they had a great win against the Lakers this year and an ugly loss. They split. They had a great win against Milwaukee this year, and a loss.

They split. They played the Clippers in four games this year. They beat him at one point by 15. They lost by double figures. They split. Houston had horrible losses this year. They lost by 20 to Orlando. They lost to Charlotte.

They lost to the Knicks. They lost by 30 to Phoenix. They lost to Detroit. This is what they are. And last night, you got the good Houston. got all the energy of Westbrook and Hardin. You got defense, you got focus, you got intensity. This is the good Houston.

Again, I don't think in the history of the NBA, I can ever remember a team winning that was a roller coaster. But my question is, is the roller coaster element of Houston gone? They not only look refreshed and look energized, it is how they beat Dallas the other night. Watch the entire game. It's how they beat Milwaukee last night. the entire game. It is that late in the game where we've seen Westbrook unravel and Harden Unravel.

They were fantastic. They were not erratic. They were focused. They were driven. They were efficient. It's not that they won the two games over the weekend. It's how they won them. These are the two guys in the NBA that are great, but unravel at the end of games,

at the end of series, unravel at the end of moments. they were the better team only for about the last five minutes of both games. Dallas outplayed them for most of it. Milwaukee outplayed them for most of it. It was the opposite of what we've come to expect from Houston. Oh, they're great late, totally focused. So, you know, I think there are teams that probably, like a Denver, I'm not sure if the bubble helped.

Young teams playing well with good chemistry don't need four and a half months off. This is the team that has benefited from the bubble. and they're a split personality, and yesterday you got the really good personality, and they can beat anybody in the league. Can they beat them four times? I'm not sure, but the time off benefits them. All right, let's shift to a Laker team. I don't think the championship team.

I know I live in Los Angeles, and many of you think, Colin's such a homer. No, I'm not. No, I'm not. Lakers are not a championship team. And one of the reasons is they have no wiggle room. you got to have wiggle room to win championships. Bad stuff happens. Guys get hurt.

The Lakers have no wiggle room. I mean, yesterday is a prime example. AD's a little off. LeBron takes a break. Toronto goes in a 10-0-0-0-1. But in the NBA, we tend to think only about the top two players. Because, you know, we were raised in this, you know, Kareem and Magic and Shaq and Kobe and Michael and Pippen and Bird and McHale.

and LeBron and Kyrie. So we've kind of been raised in this. Okay, you got two stars. But what I would argue with you, if you look at the third best player and let's take the last seven championship teams, that is the key. Because everybody's got two stars.

You're not generally getting to the championship level without a top five player in the finals. And almost all of them have a second great player. Let's go to the last seven. championship teams. Who was their third player? Okay, so let's go to Toronto. Kyle Lowry, an Eastern All-Star. He's not a one or a two. He's a great three. Warriors, Clay Thompson twice. Best catch and shoot jump shooter, maybe in the league in 20 years. 2016, Kevin Love. Kevin Love's a perennial All-Star. Average 16 and 6 that year. Dramon Green.

Oh, he was the defensive player of the year, certainly in that class. Leonard. He was the third best player on that team that year. Duncan and Parker were better. He won the MVP. And then in Miami, Chris Bosch, Hall of Famer. Going to get a lot of votes. I'd vote him in. He's on the show today, by the way. So my point being, we spend so much time looking at the star. Oh, Yonnas-O-W-Win. The question with Milwaukee is Chris Middleton even a two? Because I think Chris Middleton would be arguably one of the league's best threes. If Clay Thompson is your two, you're a really good team. If Clay Thompson's your three, you're getting into dynasty status. When Chris Bosch is your three, here's the Texas high school player of the year. He's the first team college

All-American. He's 25 and 8 in Toronto. Oh, he's our third best player? That's what happened to the dynasties. That's when dynasties take place. You start looking at, and Dennis Rodman at one point was the fourth best bull. It's like, oh, timeout, time. Ron Harper was coming off the bench. He'd been an All-Star. Start looking at your three. You know, Kyle Lowry's taking a lot of heat because he doesn't deliver in the clutch. But last year, he was there three. It's like, oh, no, Kyle's a really good three. That's a team that wins a championship. So with the Lakers, it's Kyle Kuzma. He's having his worst year, 12 and a half a game, 30% from three-point land. And a player that is so young, he is still wildly inconsistent. He doesn't have that sort of walk into the

arena. I'm going to drop 22 field to him. He doesn't. He's young. I get it. This is a men win titles, not the young kids. So when you start looking at the Lakers, there's just no wiggle room. You know, LeBron struggles, trouble. You know, everybody took so much from the Lakers went over the Clippers.

Lou Williams and Montrez-Harrell, two of their top six guys, did not play. Did not play. So I just don't think this Laker team's a championship team. I just don't. I think they're good. I think they're fun. But yesterday, AD's off.

They big struggles. Toronto, I couldn't tell you the last time the Lakers beat Toronto, by the way. Could not tell you the last time they beat them. All right, coming up next, it felt like a rebirth. It really did. It felt in the NFL like a rebirth. Instead, it's becoming good night. It's becoming a nightmare.

and it's just sometimes in life, it's all about timing, and one NFL star is getting absolutely horrible news day after day. That's coming up, plus Chris Bosch coming up in about 20 minutes. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 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.

Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skis. hits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill,

waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so just so you, y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. So, oh. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fantine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns. Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth,

or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Lowe's. Sports are back. My new bar cart's up. Thanks to Lowe's, Do It Yourself Project. Different products and styles. Go to Lowe's.com. Show us your transformation.

The hashtag Lose Golds. Create your own sanctuary at home. Chris Bosch is going to be joining us in 10 minutes. And top of next hour, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong. So the New England Patriots had more players opt out. They've now had eight players opt out. The craftiest, shrewdest, smartest, most manipulative team in my lifetime in the NFL now has eight players opt out. opting out. Several teams have no players opting out. Most have one. Dallas has three. New England's

got eight. I'm sure it's just random. Just crazy random. It's remarkable to me. Everybody just thinks it's just just random. Folks. Players, team scout players years in advanced. New England knows next year there are three superstar quarterbacks coming out of college. You can't win in this league without a Brady, a breeze, a Mahomes, a Russell Wilson or Rogers. You can't win in this league. It's not the way it works. Even Nick Foles, Carson Wentz, was there and got in the home field advantage. They're not stupid. Anywho.

But let me talk about for a second the guy that's getting hosed. Cam Newton is getting absolutely hosed. So Cam Newton got no OTAs. He got no preseason snaps. I'm going to give you a list of players now that have been moved or opted out from last year's Patriot team. Folks, this. is a lot of production. Philip Dorset, Kyle Van Noy, Dante High Tower, Patrick Chung, Stephen Gotkowski, Jamie Collins, a fullback James Devlin, who's really important for that

offense. Marcus Cannon, a great offensive lineman, a Danny Shelton defensive tackle. Folks, that's like nine, let's see, one, two, three, four, that's nine productive, crucial players. This is not a great roster. Oh, by the way, Muhammad Sunni Sunu and Sony Michelle are on the pop list, meaning Cam can't even practice. with offensive players. They are an injury or two away from being a bottom five roster in the NFL. This is not a good football team. This morning, I'm driving to work thinking, I can't be critical of Cam.

We have to literally reboot our expectations for Camp. Nobody in the league, including Patrick Nal Holmes, could win with this football team. This is an improved division. You're losing key, heady. veteran. Oh, I didn't mention Dante Scarnicchio, the best offensive line coach, according to coaches, in the history of the league. And then Belichick comes out yesterday. Cam's not even going to get all the snaps. Here's Belichick saying, well, he'll be given an opportunity to play.

That spot's the same as all the other spots on the team. You know, we've got a long way to go and, you know, we'll see how things turn out. You know, I can't control how players perform. That's up to them. We'll give everybody an opportunity and, you know, see what happens. Okay. I've been as critical of Cam as anybody. It's time to reboot our expectations. This is not a good football team. There are no dynamic playmakers. They don't have a tight end of no. Oh, I forgot they have two rookie tight ends. Oh, there's no OTAs, no camp, no preseason. Okay. Like we've got to, if Cam can throw for a couple thousand yards, stays healthy,

focused, good, there you go. But this is now eight opt-outs. What they have until Wednesday? They're not the last opt-outs. One of the High Tower guys, Devin McCordy may still opt-out. That's their last great player. So come on now. This is a bad team in an approved division. Cam splitting snaps.

We've got to be fair here. I can be critical of Westbrook, but he played great yesterday. I can be critical to Cam. Stop. This is not going to be a good season for him. And I'm serious on this. This is why Tom Brady left. This.

Brady left when those nine guys were still on the team because Tom's like we don't have enough good play. They're all gone and they didn't go after anybody in free agency. Bad roster. Not going to be a good season in New England for Cam Newton. And we got to be fair about it. Chris Bosch around the corner, Joy Taylor with the news. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, the Clippers put on a show and there are 126-103 win over the Pelicans Saturday. One of threes. Oh, that game was a disaster for the Pelicans. LA set a franchise record with 25 three-pointers

made with eight of them coming from Paul George who had a game high, 28 points. They also tied their team record of 16 threes in the first half that helped them get a huge 77-45 half-time lead. The Pelicans on the other hand are making it very difficult to get themselves into the playoffs. They've

started 0-2 in the bubble. They have another chance to get the win tonight and we'll get a win tonight against the eight-seed Grizzlies. Okay, so it's John Morat and Zion and I? It is. Well, we're probably going to see a lot more of John Morant than we will of Zion. But yes, it's an interesting game because this is the game that we should all be very excited about seeing John Morant against Zion. But because of everything that's been going on with Zion, it doesn't really have this same thrill factor to it. I mean, I'm still going to watch.

And John Moran has been incredible. Yeah, he's had an unbelief. I had literally somebody call and complain to me, a friend of mine. He goes, my kid says the other day Zion should be the MVP. And I'm like, no, it's John Morant. And he goes, my kid says, I listen to the herd. And Colin says, Zion is more impactful. It's not about production. It's about impactful. And so I got scolded by a friend of mine.

I detoured a son. You are influencing the youth of America. Of America. In a wrong way. Is that scary? I love it. That's a lot of a... My evil mind.

That's a lot of responsibility. So according to Woge, the Bucks, Mike Boodenholzer and the Thunders, Billy Donovan were voted the National Basketball Coaches Association. co-coaches of the year. Raptors coach Nick Nurse came in third and was only one vote away from creating a three-way tie for first. So this award is voted on by the NBA's 30 head coaches with each coach voting for a single winner. It's the second time the NBA CA has had a tie.

2017, it was Mike D'Antony in Houston in Miami's Eric Spolstra. Obviously the NBA also gives the coaches of the year, Red-Auerbach trophy based on the votes from the league's media. We got some interesting coaches now. And they've had interesting pass. People in the NBA are saying now, the best coach in the East is not Brad Stevens. It's the guy in Toronto. Like in the coaching circles,

everybody's in love with the guy in Toronto. Nick Nurse. But if you look at the consistency. It's not just the championship. It's like, yeah, he's consistent. And he's done it without having a superstar every single year. And he's,

and in the NBA circles, the story on nurses, he's Belichekian. every night, every game, he will give you different looks. And coaches are now saying they go, even when they don't play them, coaches go watch Nick Nurse tapes. He's very Belichickie. Every night you're like, oh, he'll throw little tricks in latent games.

So we got the guy in Denver everybody loves, Brad Stevens, Boone Holzer, and Billy Donovan's a guy two years ago. He was almost out of work. Yeah, Billy Donovan, to me, is so impressive this year. We thought the Thunder were just, I mean, irrelevant. It's going to be irrelevant this year. You know what? I had this discussion with a friend of mine, Ryan Rusillo.

He said, I think he said it. Chris Paul should be getting MVP boats. Like Chris Paul took a bunch of kids. They were the best, Oklahoma City had the best record in the NBA in the last 25 games before the bubble hit. Oklahoma City, we thought they were a tank. Yes. I mean, Chris Paul had. It was like sending Chris Paul.

away like we thought his career was over it's it's been really we made fun of his contract yes it's been really impressive and i mean clearly they're showing it like billy donovan i watched them this weekend the national coaches association yeah coach of the year award it's definitely impressive finally too a hit a milestone in his recovery when he passed physical with the dolphins last week although you thought like he was still limping it looked like to me it was a it was a limp of some level it was just the walk and while the week one starter has not been decided ryan fitzpatrick is very aware of his role with the team this season. I don't know how much time it'll be before Tua is in the lineup.

I know that I am the placeholder and we've already had that conversation. I told him, you know, I'm going to do the best I can to lead this team and, you know, to win football games when I'm out there and whenever it is that Tua gets his chance, whether it's early or late or whenever it is, I'm going to be his biggest cheerleader. and that's what I said earlier, but I think I have a unique perspective just from the career that I've had. You know what this is, don't you?

That's what Patrick Mahomes got his first year. Alex Smith. Understood he was a placeholder. I'm going to beat you out for the job. Tua is so lucky that he has a guy, I think he's a Harvard guy, that's going to come in and go, I'm going to try beat you out for the job,

but if not, this is like the Josh McCown with Wentz. Like, I'm going to sit behind you and just give you tips and pointers and help you and I'll read defenses from the sideline. To get that, instead of having to compete with a bitter veteran. Mahomes got such a gift with Alex Smith. And he knows it. And Andy Reid talks about it all the time. I think this is a great situation for the dolphins. Obviously, Ryan Fitzpatrick is not the answer for the dolphins, right?

And we knew that last year, I knew that going into this year that they were going to draft the quarterback no matter what. Was it going to be Justin Irver? It was it going to be Tua. And the situation in Miami works because everything that's going on with COVID right now, if two is not ready, obviously he's ready to physically be out there. He's been physically cleared, but we haven't seen him in camp. If he gets out there in camp and doesn't feel physically ready or he's not picking it up quickly enough, you have a guy that's already been in your system and you can continue to build on the momentum that you had last year. While at any moment, he's not going to be, like you said, in a bitter situation or a situation where it's going to feel uncomfortable when you make that transition. It's great.

It's not like the Chargers. The Chargers are in a very different situation because Tyrault Taylor is a legitimate starter. And he's a good guy, but he wants to play. And he should play right now. He should play. So that transition to me could be much more rocky than a situation like Alex Smith or Ryan Fitzpatrick. Everything, I'm telling you, we believe this. Everything's lining up for Miami.

It feels like it's you got the quarterback. He's got a mentor. You took New England's one of their smarter defensive players. I remain cautiously optimistic. I know. But it looks good. It looks kind of good in Miami. It really does.

Oh, by the way, the jets are completely unraveling. Everybody's opting out of... That's the only thing that gives me a little more hope. Because I love what Brian Flores was doing. We love what they did last year. I'm excited about the future. But I have to remain in my little cautiously optimistic bubble because I've been through too much of this.

However, we just talked about what's going on with the Patriots, even though I'm very interested in Cam Newton. That's a bad roster. That's not a good roster. It's not a trustable roster. The Jets are a disaster. And while I think that it's the bill's the bill's division, it's still the bills.

It's still the bills. I don't see, I don't have all this, this Miami angst. Yeah. So I'm just going to say it now. I'm going to promise Miami's a playoff team. I'm going to guarantee it on the air right now.

What? I'm guaranteeing it on the air right now. No, you're not. Yes, I am. That's how good I feel about Miami. I feel great. I feel so confident. Six and no start.

You just watch. Six and O stars. Now I'm going crazy. No, I really, listen, we say this. You could, like, we said this about San Francisco. You could feel it coming. You're like, oh, the Niners are going to be way, everybody was like, Niners will go nine and seven.

We're like, no, that's probably going to be way better than people think. You can feel momentum coming. Like for Denver, I think. I think there's still about two years away from what? From playoffs? Yes. Miami? Yeah.

That division now has got one really good defense, Buffalo, a restructuring team and a tire fire. Miami's going to be a nine, 10 win team. I hope so. I mean, from your lips to God's ears. But again, like I've been through too much of this. And I don't want to put the pressure on a young developing team yet. Yeah.

All right, good stuff. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. So Chris Bosch, we're going to push him to 940, Chris Bosch, 13 years in the NBA, an 11-time All-Star. I've got a couple of things here I want to get to first. So the NBA bubble, and I'm interested to see the numbers because I think everybody's watching everything.

This week, I watched, I'm watching games beginning, middle to end, but everything is actually in the NBA bubble worked. We've had one injury. The players aren't traveling. So the energy is through the roof. The aesthetics are great. The games are close. I swear to God, the games I'm watching, I've watched four games start to end. They've all been down to the last four minutes.

The stars seem to be energized. and happy. Adam Silver's got it all working. And there is one exception to all this. And it's Zion is on a minute's restriction. And Zion yesterday saying he's equally frustrated. He is the ultimate handle with care UPS FedEx package. And I think one of the reasons about this is pretty clear. He's the next face of the league and everybody knows it. Everybody knows it. Okay. The NBA, I had this discussion with Mark Cuban once. We emailed back in fourth. The NBA is a star-driven league, and there are stars. But what Zion did in the summer league, the set of rating, there are not a lot of channel-changing stars. A-Rodd was that in baseball.

I think Lamar Jackson, Mahomes, Aaron Rogers in his prime, literally you turn the channel. Like, oh, Aaron's on. Boom, I'm to Fox. Baseball struggles with that. NBA has got a lot of stars. They don't have a lot of channel changers. LeBron's obviously won. I think Steph Curry, on good teams can change the channel. I think Zion's one. And the difference is, Steph wasn't for years. KD wasn't for years.

LeBron's the only one that's been a channel changer from day one. Shack was very quick. First year, Shaq was a channel changer. And I think everybody in the league knows it. That there's a lot of stars in this league. But Kauai is nonverbal. Janus is in Milwaukee.

Anthony Davis, like Kauai. It's not a big engaging personality. James Harden is quirky. Westbrook has no interest with the media. He's all ball. And you start looking around at the great players in this league. And Zion is the one like he's already moved the number. He totally embraces it.

He's got a unique look, smile, size, charisma game. This is the channel changer. And the NBA has been very fortunate. I started watching the NBA in 1972 with the Lakers, Wilt. and then you had like a Bill Walton, then a Dr. Jay came into it. And then it was a magic and bird arrived. And then it was Michael Jordan. Now, there was a little moment in there where before Shaq and Kobe and after,

there's a little Tim Duncan Spurs that was kind of boring. But by and large, if you look at the NBA's last 30, 35, 40 years, in fact, 45 years, most of the guys who are stars embrace it. Dr. Jay liked it, Magic liked it, Jordan liked it. Bird didn't, but we had magic simultaneously with him. Shaq really embraced it. Kobe eventually embraced it. Hardin doesn't.

Kauai doesn't. Yonis is a nice kid, but it's Milwaukee. Zion has the charisma and totally embraces being the guy. Most of these athletes in the NBA, they don't want to talk politics. They don't want to deal with the media. They're nice. They're tolerant of our stupid questions. But to get a guy who's great and his life.

like, no, I like the camera. I like the fun. And then he has charisma. It just doesn't happen very often. And that's in a star-driven league. I mean, baseball, does baseball have one? I mean, Mike Trout doesn't talk. Mookie Betts is great, but again, not a huge personality. Baseball's struggling for one.

And the NFL, we're very lucky. We've got like seven or eight or nine or ten or twelve or fifteen guys who were great. They got the look, the style, the game. And they kind of like it. They kind of like going to Twitter and messing around. Even the old guy Brady likes going to Twitter and Instagram and messing around. So I think this is a classic handle with care. LeBron is now How old's Lamont? 35. Many stars are either in Milwaukee or don't

talk. This is a handle with care situation. I totally get it. Drives me nuts. What drives me nuts is he was playing 33 minutes a night before COVID. He was playing a ton. And now I'm supposed to believe that a young man can't get on the treadmill and knock out an hour and a half, eight minute miles and be ready to play you know, like 20 minutes a night. I'm not asking for 38. How about 24? But tonight he's going to play some. I hope they extend his minutes. But I do get, I do get the bubble wrap here. Like I get the bubble wrap. I get the sense that handle with care. It's year one. It's been wacky. Let's just get to year

two with Zion. All right, Chris Bosch. By the way, Zion talked about this yesterday. He doesn't love it either, which is another reason I love him. He wants to get on the floor and play. I'm going to say it's very tough to be honest. Because, you know, as soon as I start to break that sweat, I look over and that horns for me and I have to come out of the game. Because, you know, I'm a competitor. I want to stay on the court. So, you know, when I'm coming out of the game, you know,

just my competitive side of me is telling me, man, I just want to stay in. So I guess that does affect the fun a little bit, but not too much. All right. The bubble wrap is actually the greatest compliment you could give Zion. the league knows what they have and it is it is generational you get about seriously twice a decade the look the style the charisma and they embrace it i mean you can see him there like he looks like the star of a league the smile you just don't you got everything has to line up production personality charisma that's it tray young's good jaw moran's good this is different it's different

chris bosch around the corner be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays and noon eastern 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 podcast. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw,

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Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, Follow at Clifford and a TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know.

I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we, are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it.

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Open your free, I Heart Radio app, search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Well, Chris Bosch is going to be a Hall of Famer. It's not just the fact that he played for 13 seasons as well as an all-star in 11 of them. He is also part of one of the most memorable brief dynasties, the Miami Heat with two rings and a gold medalist, from the best high school player in Texas

to a All-American at Georgia Tech to a All-Star in Toronto. One of the classier, smarter guys, it's played in this league for a long time, and he is now joining us on the phone. Brought to you my Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing. So, first of all, Mr. Bosch, I see you in the virtual fan category. I'm watching Lakers, clickers, and your face is in the crowd. So, Mr. Big Shot, how did that happen? Explain it to the audience.

Well, that was, you know, an opportunity, you know, with Mickalove, actually. You know, I'm sure I'm not the only person intrigued by this situation. Right. You know, trying to figure out how to keep the league going and the season going and keep people with jobs and stuff like that. But, you know, trying to play the game and stuff like that. So, you know, I thought it was a very interesting experience and really seeing how it's really sticking and how guys and girls are tuning in. pretty much to every game. I mean, it's like, it's almost like the NCAA tournament. Yes, yes. Basketball every day. You know, Chris, it's interesting. I said this. Joy and I talked

about this. I said, we forget how brutal NBA travel is. These guys aren't going to 33,000 feet. No turbulence, no vans at 2 in the morning, no hotel. Chris, are you shocked at the energy of these games? God, they feel like playoff games. Yeah, no, you know what? I'm not shocked. I'm, you know, I'm very happy with it. I think that was one thing everybody was going to be a little skeptical over, was the intensity and, you know, just getting the rust off and getting back. But these guys are, you know, they're coming in and playing very hard, and they seem to be in a lot, in a great rhythm. I mean, after four or five months off, you know,

that's very difficult to do. It's essentially like playing another season. But you have to give credit to all the players for being prepared and picking up right where they left off. Yeah, it's been great. It's interesting. I was saying this. If you went to the last seven NBA champions, of Heat twice, Warriors twice, all of them had what was as a two or a three player, either a Hall of Famer, a Clay Thompson, somebody exceptional, Draymond Green defensive player of the year.

We too often go, who are your best two players. But the third player, there's almost Kyle Lowry last year, is a hell of a third player because Sey Akum and Kauai Leonard. So I put it up on my board here. Kevin Love, you were often perceived as the three, although you had a, you're going to be a Hall of Famer. I look at the Lakers right now. Chris, Kyle Kuzma's a kid. He's averaging 12 a game. I feel like the team is too LeBron A.D.centric. They don't feel like a championship team to me. Do they do you? I mean, they do. And, you know, that's one of the challenges all the time, right? I mean, if you're going to be a championship team, you have to do which you do well, right?

You have to be the best team in the league. You definitely have to spread the wealth. And at the same time, your top two guys, top three guys, they have to be, they have to do their job and make their averages and exceed their averages in order to be successful. I think this is a very interesting point in time for Kyle Kufma. I think, you know, he's expected to fill that role. I think everybody's looking for him to fill that role. But at the same time, it's not easy. you know, you have to adjust in so many different ways.

And him being a young player, you know, it's a challenge. But I think they can figure things out. I think they do do a good job of getting AD the ball quite a bit. LeBron's going to be LeBron. You know, they're going to have to, they do have to have that guy to step up and just be consistent, really. And as a team, I think, you know, with J.R. Smith, Dionne Waiters, they're still trying to figure some things out. But, you know, that's what these eight games are for. I think they played a third one tonight or tomorrow. And, you know, we'll see what happens. But I think this is kind of like

another situation and we're going to have to, you know, just redo everything and they're going to have to relearn everything and kind of come back together as a team. Let me ask you, you had a physical situation at the end of your career, Zion Williamson. He played 33 minutes pre-bubble. Now he's playing 15, 16. he's frustrated. Are the Pelicans being too cautious with what appears to be one of the next faces of the league, Zion Williamson? You know, that's one of the interesting things with the league. You know, in the what's it called the maintenance program? Yeah. You know, it's a slippery slope. I mean, you're trying to mitigate injury and make sure your best players don't get hurt. but I feel that at the same time,

there is a, when do you learn to push through things? Right. You know, I think we get, or the league gets too caught up with some players and teams get too caught up and saying, well, hey, for later, for that championship,

we're going to compete for later. And, you know, they never get to it because everybody was resting and chilling. You know, and he wants to play. And I'm sure, you know, I'm sure he'll be fine out there playing. But, and maybe they know, some things that we don't know. But, you know, you definitely, I mean, when you're 19, 20 years old, putting a minute

restriction, I mean, you know, I guess, you know, I'm from a little bit of a different generation, you know, and I know things change, and that's great. But I would like to see Zion out there more. I mean, you know, he's a great player. He has a great upside, and I want to see him play. I haven't, come on, Tyler, I haven't seen him play. I mean, I wanted to watch him at D. he got hurt, okay.

They only played a couple tournament games and then, you know, played one summer league game. And then he was injured for the season. So, you know, I want to see him play consistent. So you left Toronto, despite it being a good organization and to join a super team. And I said this about Janus. I said, I love Janus. And I think he's earnest when he says, I want to stay in Milwaukee. But if they can't get to the finals, Chris Middleton's a max player.

It's not a free agent hub like a Miami. I could see Yonness. saying, listen, man, I'm in my window. I got six years in this window. I got to start putting up titles. You did that. What's going through his head? I mean, I think it's having short-term goals in the beginning, right? I'm sure he's there. He's totally present. He wants to bring a championship to Milwaukee. He wants to defend his MVP title. He wants to be the best player out there. I think that, you know, that goes without saying. But, Eventually, I mean, to get there.

And I mean, look, in my career, you know, being the number one or whatever you want to call it, we barely made the playoffs. We was fighting like hell to make the playoffs. And then, you know, then we're out of there in five or six games. You know, but to constantly knock at the door and not get through. And, yeah, that's kind of tough. Let's say they do theoretically make the finals and play the Lakers or the Clippers. I mean, when, you know, you're who you are. They're sending the whole team at you.

and you have to depend on your teammates to make plays. And, you know, and then again, on the other side, you're having the guard, LeBron and AD and Dwight Howard, and then close out to Danny Green and Beyond Waiters and J.R. Smith, you know, it's a very difficult situation. I think they still have time to put things together, but, I mean, that will definitely be a huge, huge question. And it's so fascinating because this three agency period is going to be very, very, very,

quick. So, you know, Janus could potentially be in another uniform by the end of the year, you know. There's no question. Listen, I only got a minute left. Miami Heat. I think Spolstra's always been underrated. They got two undrafted guys starting. Give me a minute. Your thoughts about the heat, their season, and what they did, which shocked everybody. I think the heat are always just going to be, one of the things about Spoh, he's going to have you ready, you're going to be in shape, you're going to move the balls. We're going to have, they're going to have the system in place. And that's going to give you a chance to win night in and night out. And I think, you know, he's getting better with delivering those messages. And, you know, the young guys, undrafted guys seem to have confidence.

I mean, they're letting the ball go shooting very well. Bam, out of bio is playing, you know, the way he should be playing as an all-star. And, you know, the franchise cornerstone of that team as well as Jimmy Butler. But I think in this situation, with this bubble situation, that's one of the most dangerous. teams out there to me because there's no home court advantage. If we're just talking about tossing the ball up and playing, man, the heater going to make it tough on you every single time. Yeah.

No, they are, it's amazing. They're one of those teams. Houston's become this now. They'll shoot 53s. They don't care. I mean, they just, they're going to let it go. They're going to let it go. Chris, you're all class.

It's great hearing from you again. Best of luck to you and your fam. Thank you very much, man. I appreciate it. All right. Chris Bosch, as good as they get as a professional. athlete. He's just as good as they get. Geico's offering an extra 15%

on motorcycle, RV and car insurance. Save an extra 15. You got to switch by October 7th. Yeah, I watched a lot of sports. I saw Aaron Judge hit a home run yesterday for the Yankees. I'm going to let you watch at the top of the hour. It was a bomb. It's amazing. He is so you talk about now, to me, he's the Zion of baseball. That's the kid.

The look, again, the size is. You can see that. He'd look. looks like a defensive end. Like Zion looks like a defensive end in the NFL. Like sometimes it is and also he's not a big talker, but the look and the smile and New York. He plays with a certain energy and joy. Yes. Very just, you know.

Like he plays with a youthful happiness for the game. Yes. All right. Come on up next. Colin Wright, Colin wrong. I have the GM of the Chiefs in the final hour. Brett Veets, one of the smartest guys. He's the one that found Patrick Mahomes and convinced Andy read go get him just start an hour or two coming up another podcast from some s nl late night comedy

guy not quite on humor me with robert smigel and friends me and hilarious guests from bob odin kirk to davidler letterman help make you funnier this week my guess s nl's mikey day and head writer streeter sidel 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'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. On The Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHart podcast.

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