The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - The career of Kevin Durant

Episode Date: April 14, 2023

Colin looks at Kevin Durant's career as he prepares to play for the Suns in the postseason and the one big mistake he has been unable to escape from He gets ahead of the NBA conspiracy theorists who are already prepared to blame the refs for the Lakers winning in the playoffs Who leaked the story about QB CJ Stroud?See 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local

station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching Heard. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is is a Friday and what a weekend we're going to have live in Los Angeles it's the herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening thanks for making us part of your day top of next hour are 10 players as the NFL playoffs have officially arrived the series start this weekend the 10 players with the most pressure on him and pressure can shrink even the greatest of players that is one hour from now

J-MAC I'm very excited a lot of television this week I felt the same way with March Madness. Get into the weekends. It's going to be a big basketball weekend. Very excited. Big gambling weekend as well for NBA. Throw down some bucks on some player props, maybe. The big weekend for LeBron?

Big game one for LeBron. Yes, I agree with you. So the Phoenix Suns and the Clippers. I have the sons winning the West and getting to the finals. Okay. And mostly because they've added Kevin Durant, who I find authentic and real, and I like him a lot. It was interesting.

He's made one big mistake in his career. He left Steph for Kyrie. Forget Warriors to Brooklyn. He left Steph for Kyrie. That's a big whiff. And we weren't backseat drivers. I said it at the time. That is Mahalms going to the Jets three years ago.

Like, what are you doing? That's not good. Other than that, his career has been spectacular, right? So he was quoted, and this is interesting, he was talking to Fox Sports, and he had some interesting quotes. And, I mean, he's a pretty vulnerable guy. He puts it out there.

And his quotes, here they are. He says, I don't see this talked about. I see Dame and LeBron and Draymond. A lot of great players in our league speak up on social media. They don't get the sensitive rep like I do. You need something. My game, you can't see any flaws with that or in my personality off the court stuff. I don't have any major blemishes.

So you've got to find something. I don't like this KD tweets too much. I don't think that's it. He continues on, because I think he is actually very likable. If there's something inaccurate that said about me and being portrayed to the fans, I want to dispute that on Twitter. It's quick where I can just say, hey, this is what I'm thinking in the moment, then it's over with.

I think it's great for fans to get insights on players. Yeah, he's a little sensitive, but that's okay. Again, that's fine. That's a good quality to have that you care about stuff. I think what it really comes down to is this. When you take big swings, they make big headlines. and if it's a mistake, it sticks with you forever. Had KD left the Warriors and gone to Chris Paul and Phoenix,

Jason Tatum and the Celtics, those are grownups, had he gone to Janice in Milwaukee, had he gone to Jimmy Butler and Miami? And even if he doesn't win, we wouldn't look at it in the same. But to go from Steph and Kerr and Clay and Draymond, a dynasty to wacko Kyrie Irving

it literally changes the perception of him. It would be Mahomes to the Jets. Ooh, he's a great player, but he's a little out there. Most all-timers, and Katie's an Alzheimer's, they feel almost they're cornerstone guys. They're almost corporate. Jeter, MJ, Kobe, Peyton Manning, Mahomes, Brady.

It's about winning. You can trust him. emotionally they're a bedrock, you can trust them physically. KD. has got the physically down. Nobody disputes that. I mean, there are players privately. They don't want to get dragged on social media.

They like him more than LeBron. But it's the emotional thing, which had he gone to the Celtics and Tatum, had he gone to the heats, Folstra, Riley, Jimmy Butler? Had he gone to Janus in Milwaukee? We get it. he was just tired, maybe Dramon wearing him out, he's not a West Coast guy, you know, Steph is always going to be the heart and soul of the franchise. But when you go from here to the penthouse to the outhouse, people are like, you know,

he's kind of his own guy emotionally. And so the downside of the big swing is the big miss and the big headline. And I think the rest of Kevin Durant's career is irrelevant. it's all about one team two times. It's about going to the Warriors and then leaving to the Warriors. When he went to the Warriors, we now know in hindsight, he was right. Westbrook was a bad fit to his game. He was right.

We would have given him a pass on that because he has elevated. Westbrook's become more toxic. But it was leaving Steph for Kyrie and that's going to stick forever. And, you know, that's when you go to dynasties in any sport, we talk about ancillary, B and C players on dynasties. You think Julian Edelman gets discussed if he's a dolphin and he has the same numbers, just not the titles? Why do we know Wes Welker? College, Miami? No, it's basically because you played with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

When you play with great, you choose great, you're traded to great, you become part of great. Rick Fox yesterday trended. that he played for the Orlando Magic, nobody would care. And I don't see Kevin as overly sensitive. I think he's sensitive. But I think he's made one mistake in his basketball career. Wasn't going to Texas. It wasn't going to Oklahoma City.

It wasn't leaving Westbrook. It's not going to Phoenix. It wasn't going to the Warriors. That wasn't a mistake. Westbrook was hard to play with. But he left it and it's who he left it for. For the record, I'll say it again. The guy hasn't lost since November.

He's virtually done everything right in his career. Little brittle in the last couple years, but his career has been overwhelmingly A++++. But you're here and you choose there. People are going to be unforgiving. And that's really what defines him now. The talent and that weird move. That's why I'm wishing him well for Phoenix.

I hope he wins. He's one of the all-time great players. Speaking of all-time great players. So we live in a world now. It's conspiracies about everything. Everybody's a wacko. I mean, it used to be there were a lot of wackos, but you didn't see him being a wacko, right?

Unless there were somebody that sent a kooky letter to the editor. You heard somebody on talk radio. Now social media, you know your neighbors are wacko. There's vaccine this and president this. and aliens this. And so the only way to diffuse all the nut jobs with conspiracies, the only way to diffuse it is predict them. Call them before they get there and say,

wacko is going to be a wacko in a couple of weeks. So let me tell you the conspiracy theory that's going to happen in the NBA playoffs, one of them. The Lakers are going to play Memphis, and the Lakers are going to get to the free throw line way more than Memphis. But it's not a conspiracy. It's not rigged. It's totally explainable.

but in two weeks if the Lakers win the series, all the it's rigged nut jobs will arrive. So the only way to defuse all the crazy people now is to call them before they happen. And then at least they feel a little guilty and can be made fun of. It's like, we told you crazy was going to get crazy. So LeBron, after he wins the first game of the series, his 27 and 2 in his career, after losing it, he's 12 and 9. So it's imperative for the Lakers and LeBron to win game one.

and Lakers Memphis series starts Sunday. So the Lakers right now are first in free throw attempts in the year. And since March and April, the attempts have gone up. Why? It's all very explainable. LeBron's back, he attacks the rim. AD's back. He's all around the rim.

So they were shooting a lot of free throws to begin with. But now that LeBron and AD are healthy and playing. the Lakers lead the league in free throw attempts and it's increasing. Meanwhile, Memphis, the worst free throw shooting team in the league is middle of the pack. But since March and April, it's going down free throw attempts. Why? Again, it's very explainable. They don't have Stephen Adams, Renan Clark, so they become more of a perimeter team on some nights.

So it's all completely explainable. When Memphis has injuries to their bigs, right? they shoot more jumpers, create less contact. As LeBron A.D. and the always aggressive Austin Reeves have played more games together, the Lakers create more contact. They all finish at the rim, therefore they get more free throws. And the Lakers are a much better free throw shooting team than Memphis. Memphis is the worst in the league.

So here's what's going to happen. It's going to be a close series. The Lakers are going to shoot about seven to eight to nine free throws more per game. and at the end of the series, when the Lakers are at the line, hitting their free throws, and Memphis is at the line less and missing theirs, you're going to say that series is rigged. So the only way to diffuse nut jobs, wackos, and it's rigged, whether it's elections or NBA playoff series, you got to call it. Bill Maher said when Trump loses, he's going to say it's rigged. Bill Maher called it a year and a half out, right? Like he spotted crazy before crazy.

I'm just telling you, this is what's going to happen. The Lakers, as LeBron and AD have gotten more healthier, are now really an interior offense. They're banging, they're creating contact, they're getting to the free throw line, they're tough, and they're doubling down on it now with Anthony Davis in. And Anthony now is going to live in the paint with Adams and Clarkout. So he's going to live in the paint in this series.

He's going to be at the free throw line in the whole series. Here they come. Just here they come. I'm calling it right. Now, the Lakers, I think, win the series, but win or lose, they'll have a decided free throw attempt and make advantage over Memphis. Oh, boy. The New York Giants are trapped suddenly. They are totally trapped.

Oh, boy. And Andrew Wiggins returns. 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 what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple, podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. Top next hour, the top 10 most pressurized players in the NBA playoffs. There's some heat on some of the guys in this league, not who you'd always think. So this story came out yesterday.

Sequin Barclay a few days ago said, I'm not showing up to camp. And now Dexter Lawrence, their best defensive player, best defensive lineman, says, I'm not showing up to camp either. I want a new contract. And Seyquan Barclay was offered a very fair contract. I want more. And the Giants are trapped. So once the Giants overpaid for an average quarterback Daniel Jones,

what it actually did is gave leverage to all the other good to very good players on the team. Because Daniel Jones can only win if he's got a bunch of good players around him. You have to retain all of them. So in a weird way, overpaying for a star actually gives the leverage back to the franchise. Kansas City with Mahomes. Hey, Tyreek Hill, take a hike. Chargers with Justin Herbert. Austin Echler, go look around. Joe Burrow. They're thinking to get rid of Joe Mixon. There's a story this morning. They're going to move off T. Higgins. And back-to-back years, they've gotten rid of a top-tied end. Brady Belichick did it for 20 years.

Moved off pro bowlers. Steelers moved off several pro bowlers. But they always had Big Ben, and they paid him well. Maybe he didn't get Super Bowls at the end, but he's got 12 playoff appearances and eight division titles. So they could move off a Levian belt or an Antonio Brown. Because the Steelers, once they paid Ben, still maintain the leverage over agents and other players on the roster. Right?

So the opposite of that is when you overpay for an average player to validate the contract, now you have to retain B, B, B, plus, A minus players and usually overpay him, and they know it. Sequin Barclay knows now. What is Daniel Jones without me? He's a 7 and 10 quarterback. His agent knows it? Sequin knows it. Dexter Lawrence.

He's a great player. But is he Chris Jones? He's going to get paid like him because Dexter Lawrence knows. We've got to win with defense here. We're not winning with a quarterback. that's the downside. You're better off overpaying a little bit for a star. I mean, go look at Kansas City.

They're going to pay Mahomes, Travis Kelsey, and Chris Jones. They let everybody else walk. It actually empowers the owner, the GM, the coach, and the franchise to overpay for a star a little bit. Right? Because then you can let anybody else walk. But by paying Daniel Jones a C quarterback, A minus to A money, now every agent in the league knows. All my giant guys?

What's Daniel Jones if my guy doesn't stay? It doesn't even have to be a star. I mean, do you think Kansas City would offer Sequin Barclay? He had three straight years. He had injuries. You just don't sign that kind of running back as good as he is to a second big contract. But now the Giants are trapped. They're trapped.

They're going to have to sign Seacuan Barclay. And he's a good player. But if you had to start quarterback, Buffalo, Philadelphia, they just moved off really good running backs. They, the franchise has the power, not the agent, not the roster. Every guy in that room knows, all the good players in New York know, they need me bad. I got the power, not the team. J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. It's like business rule 101. Pay the best whatever it takes. It'll actually, as a franchise or a company, give you more leverage with everybody else in the building. Speaking of paying, let's start with the Ravens. They have not paid Lamar Jackson, but they paid O'Dell Beckham.

One year's $15 million. Could go up to $18 million with incentives. During his press conference this week, he was asked if he had any concern with the team considering the uncertainty surrounding Lamar Jackson, here's OBJ. The goal was, you know, to come here and have that possibility to play with him.

And I'm excited about that opportunity. Lamar, I know if you're watching, you know, I would love to love to get to work with you. I'll talk to these guys over here, and hopefully that gets done. You know, I think when you think about the Ravens, you definitely think about Lamar, and I know that that's something, you know,

I was excited about that possibility. It does seem I saw another story that came out today. I'm not going to discuss it at length, but it does feel like Baltimore's got confidence they're going to sign Lamar. Well, they do. Lamar apparently after, you know, the Odell thing went down, they went clubbing together in Florida. You know, they're going to be best buddies now. He's from Miami.

Lamar's going to hang with, you know, Odell. People like Odell Beckham. He's a very popular player in the league. Yeah. Again, Lamar needs to see the money. I mean, he can, you know, put on the brave face he wants. I'm hanging with Odell, but he needs to get paid. I guarantee you he's not going to play for $32 million this year, right?

We would agree with that. Well, I don't think he should. I think he, if you're paying, I think the market now for a pro bowl-ish level quarterback or a dynamic quarterback is closer to 40 to 45. What is it for MVP quarterbacks? Well, again, let's, let's, that was three years ago. I know. But I do think he is beyond 32 million.

And I think he'll get it. Sure hope so. Next up, we want to piggyback on what you were talking about with Seekwon Barkley, not signing the tag. We have an update from Fox Sports, Ralph Fokiana. saying the Giants don't have much interest in signing Sequan to a long-term deal, I'm told. They tried and failed because the sides weren't close. That $10 million franchise tag is a good deal for them and they're content to leave things that way for now.

But here, can I take this angle? It's a little different from earlier. You were saying for the last couple months that the Giants owner loved Daniel Jones. Yeah. Hey, perfect guy. Maybe he's their Eli Manning. This is why you don't let owners get involved. This is a colossal mistake.

and the trickle down is to Leonard Williams is now to Sequin Barclay. And you don't think that Andrew Thomas, the left tackle. Some of these other guys in the locker room are seeing this. They know Daniel Jones limitations. He's been around the block for a couple years. So now what happens with the Giants is if Sequin won't take it,

it forces you to take Bejan Robinson if available early. Like now you have to change your draft strategy and go, we have to go get a running back. So now you're just throwing bad money after bad money. Well, not necessarily. Running back? That's not a premium position. Well, it's not a need of Sequin's there.

But because of the Daniel Jones contract, they have to have a premier running back behind Daniel Jones, or the contract's going to look far worse when they're 7 and 10 next year. You know why it is even worse. Look in the division, Colin. Jerry Jones's buddy with Zeke Elliott. They love Zeke Elliott more than anybody. They convinced him we have to move off Zeke.

You know Jerry Jones. By the way, have you seen a lot of interviews from Jerry Jones? He's still torn up about this in doubt. He really loved Zeke Elliott. Dallas wisely moved off of him. Zeke Kelly, by the way, still not sign anywhere. No. I mean, the Cowboys are doing smart things

and the Giants did some really dumb things this offseason. So the Giants are saying we're going to sign him to a one-year deal, which is what I would do. I would franchise tag. I would have franchised tag Daniel Jones and St. Gwan Barclay. I would have signed Dexter Lawrence to a long contract. But now by signing him,

now you're a little trapped and it's going to affect your draft. Because what you're basically saying is you can't go into camp. without Sequin Barclay eventually, because you know that Daniel Jones without a running game, it's not going to be effective. It's just not going to work. So, again, this is fine great quarterbacks and pay them, find great employees and pay them, but the bigger miss is overpaying for average.

The quarterback salaries escalating has really made it difficult to build an NFL team and a contender, unless you've got like a Patrick Mahomes, a Joe Burrow on the rookie deal, Josh Allen, like, it's super tough. All these guys who aren't like a top 10 quarterback? By the way, you can't tag two players in one year. So I would have tagged Daniel Jones. And paid sake one like a three-year deal? Or moved him and...

I was all in on get off of Daniel Jones. Do not sign him. We both said it. Explore other options. And they gave him, what, $39 million? Some insane number like that. And now the entire locker room's ticked off. Got to wonder how this is going to pan out.

for them, Colin. I don't think they're, I'm not, I'll just come out now. They're not making the playoffs next year. And I know Giants fans watching are like, oh, he's a jet. No, no, no, no. This, I think, you talked me into them this year. You're talking me out of them. And remember, Daniel Jones was in a contract year. He played well. We'll give it to him. No, not really. In spurts, he played well. He played well against the Vikings twice. Right. He needed that game, right? But that was the worst defense. The idea that he played well. No, no, no. He played great against the Vikings twice. Take those numbers out. He's a C-minus quarter. Let me amend this. Was this. Was this the best season of his

career. I mean, again, I know it's a low bar. Yeah, yeah, the best coach, and they played the Vikings twice. That's it. Zion's going down, baby. All right, back to the NBA. Collin, this has kind of slipped under the radar a little bit, but we talked about Zion Williamson dunking before the playoff loss. C.J. McCollum, after the game, sat at the podium and was taking questions on Zion. This is staggering. Go ahead. It's hard to say what we need to do other than injury because we played 10 games together with our core. So I would say availability is important, man.

We got to be available. We got to do what we need to do, you know, off the court in terms of preparation, in terms of getting treatment, in terms of getting the right sleep, the right type of hydration, having the right type of diet. I mean, everything has to matter to us for everybody, one through 15. I know this is a job that is a performance-driven job. He's calling out Zion for me an immature, eating poorly, not being prepared, and I think those are totally fair.

I mean, he knows more than we do, so what C.J. McCollum is giving you is the rare truth serum inside the building that you don't know. He's got a bad diet. He doesn't prep like other players. He doesn't get the sleep. He doesn't hydrate. He's not a grown-up yet. He's a kid.

This is the equivalent of like a wide receiver in the NFL calling out his quarterback for playing too many video games. This stuff does not happen. You don't see... CJ McCollum's an All-Star. He's a second-tier. He's a really good player. And he's an adult.

You don't see him calling out Zion, like franchise-level players. That just doesn't happen in the league? Yeah. I don't know how they move on, because guess what? Pelicans fans saw this, Colin? And they're irate at Zion Williamson.

They're siding with CJ McCollum. They should. Folks, you can't criticize anybody in America for being brutally honest. C.J. McCollum has access that none of us do. He's telling you what's happening inside the building. I'll never criticize an athlete for telling me what's really happening. Now, athletes like Aaron Rogers can have a vaccine theory. That's different. This is what he's telling you factually. He's not in shape. He doesn't work out. He's not on the system. He doesn't eat right. He doesn't prepare. Thank you.

I agree. This is a good thing for C.J. McCollum and fans. Internally, you're a small market. team. You've got a superstar who's injured all the time. Hamstrike. You don't want to run him off. When's the next time you're going to get a Zion level player in New Orleans? They had a guy named Anthony Davis. What happened? One one playoff series, he demanded a trade. Who cares if Zion's planned 26 games a year? Run him off, trade him and get players. I mean, what are you going to do? Run off a potential franchise guy like Zion Williamson? I know he's not playing a lot, but he's going to go somewhere, get healthy, get happy, get in shape, and dominate. And you're going to be like, oh, geez, we'll look at him. And then torque his

Neath four games later. See you in March. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Line News. So I saw this headline. Andrew Wiggins has been cleared to play game one for the Warriors. Sports people by nature, J. Mack and I certainly, sports people are competitive.

Like I'm competitive with my show, I'm competitive, he's competitive in his basketball league with his daughter. Sports people in general are very, very competitive people. We played sports, we love sports, we have standings, we bet sports. We do fantasy sports. Sports fans hate to admit somebody else is smarter, but Golden State is smarter than every other team in the league. Andrew Wiggins had a personal crisis. Nothing got out. Nothing got out in a major market media.

Not a peep got out. And he's back for game one of the playoffs. Gary Payton, they quietly made a move to get him because they knew there was a chance. They'd face a Deerran Fox in the playoffs, so they wanted more defensive depth, and they quietly made a move. Everybody could use Gary Payton.

The Warriors got him again. It hasn't been perfect for them in the dynasty. Kevin Durant left suddenly. Had a couple of years, they had to regain their footing. Draymond Green, Jordan Poole, the punch before the season probably did not elevate chemistry. But even when they're bad, they tank well. They got the number two pick James Wiseman. The NBA dynasties generally just do not last this long.

They don't. There's too much ego. There's not enough brainpower. They rely too much on talent. They live in the rear view mirror and celebrate too much about yesterday instead of looking forward to today, and then there's the Warriors. They don't do that. The two signs of a great dynasty, and this is very New England, they adapted well in their prime, and they move off stuff that doesn't work. James Wiseman didn't work. They moved him and went and got Gary Payton.

I mean, like, whoa, how can you move off that? It's not working. He doesn't fit our style, nor does he fit Steph Curry's timeline. We're moving off it. If you go to New England in their prime, when Kraft was younger, Belichick in his prime, Brady in his prime, and even Josh McDaniels. Belichick knew what he was and what he wasn't. He let the other guys run the offense. And that's Steve Kerr. Steve Kerr creates the culture like Belichick and runs the offense. He lets Kenny Atkinson or Ron Adams or Mike Brown, Draymond Green, take care of the defense.

He knows what he is. He knows what he's not. He doubles down on what works. He's adaptable. and he doesn't, doesn't get rigid with his mistakes. James Wiseman doesn't work. They move DeAngelo Russell. Doesn't work.

They get rid of it fast. And so, you know, there's a big chunk of American wealth. A big chunk of American wealth is up in the Bay Area, Silicon Valley. You got your Googles and you got your apples and you got all your tech companies, your oracles. Put the warriors in that group. And by the way, those companies make mistakes. Metaverse for Facebook.

Whiff. Google Glass. Whiff. Move off it. Fast. James Wiseman didn't work. DeAngelo Russell. We're done.

See you later. That's okay. Take big swings. Be adaptable. Know what you are. Know what you're not. But don't you think it's just interesting? The best offense in the league now faces

the Warriors, and what a shocker. Two of their best defensive players outside of Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton are now both available for game one of the playoff series. That is not a coincidence. It is not random. They are simply smarter like the Patriots were in their prime than everybody else in the league.

We got a lot today. D.K. Metcalf is going to stop by in studio. How about that? Gun show. Good stuff here. A little Jets talk maybe. We'll see if we have room for it in the show. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

What do you get when you combine a three-time manager of the year at a three-time national sports writer of the year? It's the Book of Joe podcast. Hey, this is Tom Perducci from Fox Sports, MLB Network, and Sports Illustrated. And I'm Joe Madden, and we're going to be around to talk a little bit about managerial decisions, playoff games, and what may have occurred in the dugout, maybe in the 1980s. I can't wait for this, Joe. We're going to dive into what goes on in the dugout and behind the scenes in Major League Baseball. Cars, whined, whatever else we want to talk about. Listen to the Booker Joe podcast on the Iheart radio app, on 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 put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skis. The reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross

double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down,

and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day But just so y'all know I mean at this point Mark this is the second episode

where we've discussed crack So I'm starting to see that there's a through line We also have AIDS on the table right now So Thank you finishing that sentence And yes I don't think there's a more important year For black people

Really? Yeah For me it's one of the most important years For black people in American history Listen to look back at it On the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcast

It is time for football U.S.FL style. I love it. Let's go. He's got running room. The ball slips through the hand and he dribbles it in. Amazing catch. Go to what he does best. Up to the end.

What a defensive stand. And it's a big play. Here's a helmet cam. I love this. Knock all the pit step. This is how it feels and looks. Tomorrow, pro football is back with the USFL kickoff weekend. The season opener begins with Philadelphia battling Memphis.

Then in prime time, New Jersey takes on Birmingham. The USFL season kicks off at 4.30 Eastern on Fox. I don't want to take a shot at the XFL, but I don't understand the XFL because only one of these is going to survive. The USFL, which Fox has, or the XFL. I never understood the XFL right after the football season. and starting, knowing we have March Madness and the Masters to take away all the, you know, all the attention for it. Right now, until the draft, the draft will take away about three days, early first round NBA playoffs doesn't get big ratings. You're going to get like six weeks

of numbers of USFL. Did you see their numbers last year? Like the week, spring football is going to work in America. I've been wrong on it twice. It's going to work. COVID knocked out once. Vince McMahon got impatient once. It's going to work, but both of these leagues aren't going to work. But I'll say this, and maybe I'm being a loyalist to Fox, I don't understand the other football league starting right after football. Give people a month, six weeks, two months break. Don't get in the way of March madness. It's like three weeks everybody's enamored. The masters, people go on their ski vacations, football's done, they start watching streaming shows.

Now you start your league. My guess is it's going to have even bigger ratings than last year, and it was a wild success last year. So I'm going to throw a theory at you. Charles Robinson works at Yahoo Sports has for years. Very good reporter knows what he's doing. So he was talking on a radio show. I don't know what the radio show was, some local show. And he had a comment about Aaron Rogers and the Jets.

And I didn't know this to be true. He said the trade parameters were set in place. But Aaron went on with Pat McAfee on YouTube and said, I'm 90% in the retirement. And it screwed it up. The Jets freaked out. So there's a reason that, like, presidents have speech writers and press secretaries. There's a reason companies have a lot of people in, like, PR, certain messaging.

You know, there's a way to present things if things are going sideways. Aaron's sort of this freewheeler ad liber guy, and he thinks he's got it all figured out, but he doesn't. He started ad livin about vaccines. He took a lot of crap, and he didn't like it. He acknowledged. He didn't like it. So the winner on that is Pat McAfee, good for him.

The loser on this sometimes is Aaron Rogers. And I have this theory, this psychological theory that I believe to be true. And if you're really honest about this, if you go 10 years ago, there was a real debate about who the best quarterback in the league was. Ten years ago. Remember Brady had gone 10 years without a Super Bowl. And here came Aaron Rogers, who threw a better ball, who had more talent, and he had his Super Bowl too and an MVP.

And there was a real discussion. I was a Brady guy over an Aaron guy because of leadership, but there was a real discussion. It was 50-50 in the country. But as Brady started separating from Aaron Rogers, started winning again and winning Super Bowls, and Aaron didn't, Aaron took two detours in his personality.

Maybe these were always part of him, but I think once he realized he lost the goat conversation in his prime to Brady, and Brady kept separating and Aaron didn't compete with him. He did two things, big two personality things. Number one, Brady's always been very corporate, very structured. Message is important. Suddenly Aaron became Lucy Goosey, non-PC. I'll talk about anything I want.

I don't care if it gets people in trouble. that wasn't early Aaron. That started to develop when Brady started completely separating from him. He went opposite of Brady as if to say, I'll be the cool guy. I may not win the Super Bowl's. I'm the cool guy. I'm the loose guy. I say whatever I want guy.

I am not beholden to corporate. And the second thing Aaron became much more of in the last seven or eight years when Brady separated was, yeah, football. I don't know. I don't know. Doesn't define me. care. I don't want to retire. I don't want to work out. And there's more to life than football, whereas Brady is obsessed with football. I think Tom's in Aaron's head. I really do. Because I think if you go back 10 years ago, I can remember being at ESPN. I was fighting off

all these fan boys for Aaron. I'm like, Brady's got all the Super Bowls. He's the best pre-snap guy ever. He's totally committed. He won't have a beer in the offseason. He's not Lucy Goosey doing his own thing, bad body language guy. but I was getting nothing but arrows. There was a strong movement in the media, especially Aaron's prettier, he's more talented. Brady's all about Belichick.

And then Brady just last seven, eight years just started separating. And suddenly, Aaron has veered into, I'll say whatever I want. I'm anti-corporate. He wasn't anti-corporate when he came into this league. That's opposite of Brady.

And then he also became, football's not that big of a deal, which is, a big deal. He was really into football at Cal early days. So I think, and by the way, if Aaron plays this year, by the end of the year, he'll be richer than Tom Brady in terms of NFL contract money. He's very aware of that. Okay. So there's things he can't beat Tom on. And that was the running for years and years. Don't kid yourself. That punctured his ego. There was a lot of Aaron's the man. Brady separated. Now, I'm the opposite. I'm the opposite.

of Brady. I don't care much about football. It's not that big of a deal. That's 90% into and by the way, Brady structured, family. Aaron's like, hey, and I'm trying to find my deeper self. I think Tommy's in Aaron's head. Just my takeaway. Okay, here's the other thing I saw. So, you know, we always say it's not just the story. It's why is the story out? Why is the story out? So in two or three days, these two stories have been out from the Houston Texans. There was a leak yesterday on C.J. Stroud, who the Texans are perceived to be taking at number two. And the leak was, a lot of people are saying he's hard to coach. Yesterday, another leak.

The Texans love edge rusher, Will Anderson. two, three days, two, why are they doing this? They don't want to take C.J. Stroud. The Texans don't want to take him and they want a softer landing from the media and the fans when they don't take him. How can you not take a quarterback? Now, for the record, if you go look at the last 10, 15 years, the hit rate on edge rushers, Will Anderson is higher than the hit rate on quarterbacks in the first round. right? Like you, if you think an edge rusher,

a boss is going to be a star, Aidan Hutchison, Chase Young, the hit rate's pretty high on the first or second best pass rusher, edge rusher. Quarterback hit rate, 50, 60%. So I look at Houston and I see a defensive head coach, no pressure year one to win, Caleb Williams or Drake May next year's draft, I get it. Build the roster, then get the star quarterback. Because there's about two great edge rushers per year, and they can get one.

Remember, there's only two ways currently in the NFL for the highest level of success. Number one is obvious. Get a superstar quarterback. Number two, as J. Mack often points to, is stack your roster and have your quarterback on your rookie deal. The less you pay him, the more good players you can get around him, and you can fall into a second round Jalen Hertz or a seventh round Brock Purdy. Now, I have no issues with Houston doing this.

I have no issues getting your edge rusher or trading down and getting the second or third best edge rusher with a defensive coach, set the culture, get the roster fixed. You're still going to be bad with, you know, their quarterbacks are backups. And the AFC's much better than the NFC. And now that Jacksonville's legitimate, those are two losses right there. So Houston has two first round picks this year and next year. So they got four starters just in the first round next couple of years. Why not guarantee Will Anderson who would start tomorrow instead of C.J. Stroud? I have no problem at all with Houston doing this.

What they're basically telling you is stuff gets out because somebody wants it out. They don't want to take C.J. Stroud because they don't see special. And I've said this. Jay Stroud for two years. He's good. But when I look at the Buckeye receivers, I go, wow. When I look at C.J. Stroud, I go, he's good. Is he the second best player in the draft? I don't think he's the second best player on Ohio State. I think their two best receivers are the two best players they have. Albert Brewery yesterday on the Texans potentially passing on the number to Pick and Stroud. So these guys have seen it done different ways. And I think they both have

confidence that they can build different ways and that they don't necessarily need to take one second overall. I think if Bryce Young were to fall to him, which is highly unlikely at this point, I think they would take Bryce Young. But if there's a guy they're less sure of there's second overall, I don't think D'Amico Ryan's would be afraid to say to his owner, we need to go take Will Anderson. I think that the history of the two guys plays into it. I think the fact that it's two guys working together for the first time plays into it. You know, and then on the other side of this, I think ownership is going to have a say too. J. Mack? Take Will Anderson.

Let somebody else roll the dice on C.J. Stroud. D'Amico Ryan says, hey, I'm a defensive coach. It's what I know. I'm going to get my edge rusher for the next five years. Okay. I'm 50% in with you. So earlier this week we talked about it, I don't think they want Stroud. The question is, is Will Anderson the guy?

And, you know, I do mock drafts for Fox Sports. After I did my last one, somebody said, you should go on YouTube and watch Will Anderson against Tennessee this season. Yes. So two years ago, Will Anderson was. incredible. He was amazing. The stats were off the charts. Everybody's saying he's the top five guy. Say, go look just at, they isolated every snap in that game. Tennessee scored like 52 points or whatever. Will Anderson did absolutely nothing. He got kind of bullied by Tennessee's tackle. This kid right, who may be a first round pick. And there's a question now is, was Will Anderson kind of

dogging it this season? Was he not as into it? Because his numbers were way down. And it's not just that he was double teamed. And there's some question about motor for Will Anderson. He ain't a Bosa, which is what, you know, he's not a boss. He's not a boss. He's not in that class of like, he's not a Chase Young. He's not, he doesn't bend. He's not Miles Garrett. He's not in that class. So is the guy, Will Anderson? Are we getting back to Jalen Carter? Maybe, hey, personal issues aside, we got to get Jalen Carter. I don't know. It's getting, the draft is getting real fascinating at the top because there's no certainty outside of maybe Bryce Younger one. Very exciting. I don't want to come off as a Will Anderson hater. He's a good player.

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

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan,

so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your mind. podcast. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.