The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - Thunder Threat to Repeat, Chiefs Should Take a Big Swing in the First Round

Episode Date: April 17, 2026

Danny Parkins from First Things First fills in for Colin Cowherd getting you ready for the start of the NBA Playoffs! He starts by arguing for the Thunder to get the respect they have earned by continuing their dominant run since winning last season’s championship and entering the postseason with the league’s best record once again. Danny explains why the Chiefs should attempt to make a splash at receiver in the first round of the NFL Draft.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. All right, let's do this. You've got the herd. But no Colin Cowherd today. You're stuck with me. I'm Danny Parkins. Live in New York, you can check me out on First Things First.

Most days from 5 to 6, but today from 3 to 6. So a little six-hour marathon for me. But what a great day to do it ahead of the NBA playoffs and the NFL draft. We have James Palmer later on. this hour. We'll see if he agrees with what I think the Chief's owe to Patrick Mahomes to do with the ninth overall pick. But there's also a fun wrinkle to today's show. The NBA awards ballot is due in two hours and 59 minutes. It is, Danny. And Rachel Nichols, FS1 analyst, esteemed journalist, longtime voter. Rachel, have you submitted your awards yet? Danny, I'm not submitted my awards yet.

It is due at the literal minute mark of the end of this show. And I think in real time over the next three hours, we are going to work out the sticky parts of my ballot because I've still got a couple things. I'm really on the fence over. So we can all do it together. I think that's really the only answer. You have no idea what a thrill this is for me. Because I do not have a ballot in my head. I feel like I deserve one.

I probably don't. But I have spent way too much time thinking about this stuff. So any questions you have, I will at least have my. somewhat informed answers on it. That's what's so crazy. I think fans sometimes think that voters, even non-voters who talk about it on TV, that we just sort of fill out the ballot willy-nilly. I have like mounds of research and stats and things I go over and video clips, and I bet you do too. It's amazing. So we will talk about that over the course of the show, get Rachel's ballot. I'm assuming defensive player of the year is locked up. So we'll get everyone. Yeah, that one's

pretty easy other than that. But I want to begin with SGA and the Thunder because while I assume SGA is about to win his second MVP, I believe this is about to be a coronation of the Oklahoma City Thunder. And frankly, it's kind of amazing. They're the preseason favorite. They're the odds-on favorite to win the title. And I still think the public and frankly the media at large underestimates what's going on with both SGA and this team. And in an era where Adam Silver and the NBA have deliberately made moves to go away from dynasties with collective bargaining and kind of spread the stars out, they've admitted that they've looked to the NFL to try to increase parity in the NBA.

I don't think people fully understand what Shea is doing and the uncomfortable conversations he's going to force people to have and what the thunder are on the verge of being able to do what we talk dynasty. Let's just start with Shea, who is, again, the favorite to be the MVP. He would get my vote. We'll see over the course of the show if you would get Rachel's vote. But SGA is coming off of one of the single greatest guard seasons in NBA history. Second in the league in scoring, 31 points per game on 55% shooting. Just absolutely absurd efficiency as the best player on the best team yet again. One of the youngest teams in the NBA, the fourth youngest by roster age, one of the most injured teams in the NBA.

And anytime you have a scoring record over the course of a year where it goes you and then Wilk Chamberlain, we should probably pay attention. It's his fourth straight season averaging 30 plus to put it into context. Michael Jordan, you've heard of him, he did it seven straight times. So SGA, one of the all-time great scoring guards at just 27 years old. But if he wins an MVP, that's two MVP. Last year he's the finals MVP. So that would be, I can do the math, two MVP's, two finals MVP's. He would join a list that is the who's who of if you did your six greatest players of, say, the last 50 years, you removed Bill Russell from the equation. Kareem, Mike, LeBron,

Magic, Larry, Duncan. That is the entirety of the list of players in NBA history with multiple finals MVPs and multiple regular season MVP's. Think about those names. Duncan, Magic, Bird, LeBron, Jordan, Kareem. And he would be doing it in back-to-back years, which has only been done by a couple of guys by the name of LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

And at 27 years old, he would have accomplished that feat earlier, younger, than either of those two all-time legends. This means he jumps Dwayne Wade, he jumps Alan Iverson, and he is comfortably within, based on accomplishment, a top 30 player in NBA history. Why do I think he's going to do it? Well, the MVP, aforementioned at the season. The team, though, once again, best record in the NBA in the toughest conference, fourth youngest team, but they've been injured all year. Now Jalen Williams is back. Chet has making the leap. Mitchell's been amazing. McCain's been amazing. They still have Dort. They still have Wallace. They still have Caruso. They still have Hartenstein. Everyone they put on

the court is a plus defensive player. Shea, one of the great scores in the NBA. I think they are, and obviously now they know what it takes to be a champion, having won it last year. Here's SGA talking about the chance at a repeat in what's in front of the thunder. I think just going through last year and realizing like that's so far down the line. Like so many things are going to happen before we get to the finals clinching game. So like, yeah, it's cool. It's an opportunity to have the opportunity to repeat an easy one before. So it's cool.

Yeah, I'll keep it there. Like it's so far. So many things have to go our way that aren't out of control. and so many things we have to control that are hard to control at this level. Well, I expect them to get to that finals clinching game and cap off one of the great two-year runs in NBA history. Only the two seasons around the 73-win Warriors season

and then the year before the 70-win bull season did a team have more than the two-year total of wins that the Thunder had this year. 132 wins for the Thunder over the last two seasons. that I'm expecting back-to-back championships and back-to-back MVPs for SGA. But if this is a coronation for the Thunder and for Shea, I'm expecting it to be a last act for the New York Knicks.

Because, listen, I'm here in New York. It's a basketball town. And the Knicks are good. They're just not good enough. They have done it a very impressive job of building a likable team led by Jalen Brunson that plays hard, that brings the celebrities out to Madison Square Garden,

makes the playoffs, and wins a lot of playoff games. But if you go over the last three years and you look at who has the most playoff wins, the Knicks are squarely with the third most playoff wins. But you will notice a glaring omission. You have the Celtics with the most playoff wins in the last three years. They've got a championship banner. You've got the Nuggets with 31 playoff wins over the last three years.

A championship ban. You got the Pacers at 23 wins. They won the East. And you've got the Thunder, who, of course, have a championship banner. And there sit the New York Knicks with the third most wins, 23 over the last three years, and they got nothing. Side note, Madison Square Garden, world's most famous arena, love going to events there. You got division titles from the Knicks in the 90s that are still hanging there. You got consecutive sold-out shows for Harry Styles and Fish and Billy Joel. Great artists. Time for the Knicks to raise a new banner. Not thinking it's going to get done this year.

I still think it's a flawed roster. And you fired Tom Dibito when he made it to game six of the conference finals last year, and you hired Mike Brown. Carl Anthony Towns has played arguably his best basketball. He's got a real shot of making, I would say, third team all NBA. Jalen Brunson is one of the great closers in the NBA. Josh Hart? Okay, great player, would be really valuable to you or anybody else.

But I think if this team ultimately falls short because if last year getting to the conference finals in six and you lose, you fire your coach, how are you going to be able to make the argument if this team wins a round or two and then ultimately falls short of a championship? How are you going to make the argument that next year would be any different? I would think Carl Anthony Towns with his $50-plus million average salary would be the one to go. I know they would love to get rid of bridges. he's probably the guy that gets the most heat here in New York because they gave up five first round picks for him. Bridges' is four-year, $150 million contract. It hasn't even

kicked in yet. It starts next year. So they would try to trade Bridges probably be unsuccessful. Hart, you could move in an instant. He'd be valuable to any team that would contend. And then Towns, I think he has played really well this year. But assuming the Knicks don't make it out of the east, all offseason. When we're talking NBA, The number one story will be, how are the Knicks going to shake it up? Is LeBron going to do the farewell tour here in New York? Are they going to figure out a way, maybe take a three-team trade to go out and get Janus? Are they going to be the landing spot for Kauai Leonard, who I do think is leaving Los Angeles?

The Knicks have been very good. I just don't think they've been good enough. Rachel, you have any more confidence than I do that this Knicks team, the Villanova Knicks, the try hard nicks are going to make it to the NBA finals this year look obviously it's on the table right and you had ownership put down the gauntlet in a way frankly i have never seen you had the owner of the team fire the coach that led them to their best performance in 25 years game six of the eastern conference finals one game away i mean like how much more do you want and look i've covered tom tibito on multiple teams i understand the tom experience wears on people but the

results are the results. So now that he has gone on to say James Dolan that they have to win a title, that they have to get to the finals, that just getting to the end of the Eastern Conference finals isn't good enough. I think that puts tremendous pressure on these guys. And I wonder if that's going to affect them at all as they go through this bracket as well. It's just sort of another factor. Well, yeah, listen, that crowd can turn on you in a heartbeat, as you will know. And they're not going to fire Mike Brown. No. I mean, they're not going to pay two coaches to go away, right? right? Well, first of all, Sacramento has paid so many coaches to go away. I can't even keep track of how many people they're paying right now. So it has been done. But no, I don't think

my Brown is out if there's a problem here. I think they like the direction he's bringing the team. I do think in terms of the Carl Anthony Towns of it all, which I know is a big talking point for Knicks fans. Some people love him. Some people hate him. He's an easy person to blame for things. I think this first round Atlanta series is actually going to be pretty hard for the New York Knicks. I still pick them to win, but I think it could be a bit more difficult than people think, but the guy who's going to come out looking great is Carl Anthony Towns because Atlanta really doesn't have anyone to defend him. So I wonder if that whole New York Knicks crowd turning on people or not, I expect there to be a lot of love for Carl Anthony Towns coming out

of the first round. And we'll see how that affects his confidence too, because he's definitely a guy who feeds off that stuff. Yeah, and he's been really good. I think it's been the best version of Carl Anthony Towns for the last couple of months. He's been doing this thing. It was a crazy idea, but he's been trying on the defensive end. It's been wild. It's like you're seven feet tall. If you just give a little bit effort on the defensive end, you're so talented. It's amazing the kind of impact you can make. Eventually, you've got to try everything, Danny.

Okay? So, you know, you got to give it a try. But I do think the fact that just the matchup favors him so much compared to the wings. I think it was really going to affect his confidence going forward, the next fan's confidence in him. And that could really have a carryover effect. I agree with you. I think you should have a good series against the Hawks, and I also think that series is going seven. So we'll get plenty of extra basketball coming up at Madison Square Garden.

But coming up next on the herd, the chiefs have a very unique opportunity here drafting inside of the top 10 for the first time since they took a guy by the name of Patrick Mahomes. I'll tell you what I think they need to do for Mahomes next. 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. I. Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from The Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio.

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We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts.

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

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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.

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

Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. All right, welcome back in to The Hurt. I'm Danny Parkins. In for Colin. James Palmer will join us later on this hour. My NBA award picks, which mean nothing. Rachel Nichols' NBA Award picks, which absolutely means something,

she actually has a real ballot. But the NBA playoffs are getting ready to go. NBA award ballots are due today. But there's also this little thing called the NFL draft coming up. And a team that is in the midst, I do not think the dynasty is at all over because they have a guy by the name of Patrick Mahomes has a very unique opportunity. The chiefs have the ninth and the 29th pick in the draft. The 29th pick they got from the Rams in the Trent McDuffie trade, the ninth pick they got

from not being very good. this year. But it's the first time the Chiefs have actually had their own pick be a top 10 pick since 2013. They of course traded up to 10th to get Mahomes back in 2017. So this is a singular opportunity in the last dozen years for this organization to draft a blue chip prospect. And before I get into what I think the Chiefs should do, Brett Veach, the Chiefs General Manager, had maybe the most interesting pre-draft quote of any GM. Take a listen. I think that the fans will be in for a treat next Thursday because I think that, you know, the grades are going to be so close from some of these tackles and DNs and other receivers. I think it should be an entertaining night and look to probably be a lot of trades.

And I think that's what a draft like this when you don't have, you know, two or three franchise quarterbacks and, you know, a Will Anderson or a Miles Garrett. I think it does lend itself to open up to a lot of fun and a lot of excitement. So I think from a fan's perspective, they should have a lot of fun next Thursday. People love trades. You love them in your fantasy football league. You love them in franchise mode and bad. And everybody loves playing and thinking about how they would improve their team, move up, move down. And most mock drafts have the chiefs addressing the defensive side of the ball. And I get it. They have serious pass rush questions and they have overhauled their entire secondary. I understand the inclination to go defense. And if they trade up big,

into the top five, it is probably because they view, you know, Bailey out of Texas Tech as maybe a Will Anderson type, who they can go really take a swing and move up. For the Chiefs to move up, you know, that high, I was looking at it, it'd be 9, 29, and 74, and you get 4 and 66 back. So you move up in the first round, you move up in the third round, and you give up the 29th pick for your trouble. So the Chiefs have the ammunition to move basically wherever they wanted to go. But to me, Chiefs owe it to Mahomes to get a playmaker. Patrick Mahomes is in the midst of, he is in his prime, but obviously coming off of an ACL injury. He has not had MVP caliber statistics in a regular season since 2022. Now, he was unbelievable in 2022 with the 5200 yards and he won the MVP.

And then he was vintage Patrick Mahomes in the 2023 playoffs where he won this little thing called Super Bowl MVP. So part of this has been Mahomes, but a lot of it has been the talent around him, the injuries, the draft picks not working out, whether it be Rishi Rice off the field, Xavier Worthy's injury, McColle Hardman not panning out how they've wanted, the Travis Kelsey aging, and then being too much of a focal point of the offense. So there have been a lot of reasons for it. But Mahomes' drop-off statistically coincides with the Chiefs winning, games, and it just feeling weird, fourth quarter comebacks, blocked kicks, penalties, and then occasionally getting blown out into Super Bowl, the figuring out a way to get Mahomes

to be able to win games with offense, and the Kenneth Walker edition was big, the drafting of Simmons last year at Left Tackle was big. But you have to prepare also for the post-Travice Kelsey era and Mahomes' 30s, my guy would be Carnell Tate. If you think Carnell Tate can be the next great Ohio statewide receiver, and he profiles out in a lot of ways like Jackson Smith and Jigba. But if he can be the next true number one, whether it, I know he doesn't play like Drake London, but like a true number one out of Ohio State,

Mahomes signs the long-term deal. He signed a $400 million deal. He didn't sign three years at a time. he didn't go with player options. He didn't sign short deals. He signed the lifetime contract. He owns a piece of the Royals. His wife owns a piece of the women's professional soccer team in Kansas City. He lives in Kansas City. He is the perfect face of the franchise. And yes, I understand football is a complimentary game and a great pass rusher helps Patrick Rahomes out as well because it closes out leads and all of those things. I get that a defense can help a quarterback too. But with

Mahomes is given the organization with the fact that, yes, there are always receivers in a draft, but if you can go up just a spot or two to lock in, we are going to give a true number one for someone for Mahomes to come back from this ACL, to head into his 30s, to be sure he knows that he's got someone he could depend on in a post-Travice Kelsey World. To me, the best outcome for the chiefs in this draft is making sure that they come out of it with Carnell Tate, so they can, you know, it's a little present for number 15, if you will. Most people have them go in defense. I think they owe it to the Chiefs and Mahomes specifically to come out on the offensive side of the ball.

I think Carnell Tate has his name called to Kansas City coming up next week. But first, here's Rachel with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, it's time. We're going to start breaking down this MVP ballot. The big categories, all the things, right?

Here we go. And look, the reason why we're still on the clock for me and it's just two hours and 30 minutes and I'm still having turned anything in is because this is not just one of the best, but it's one of the deepest candidacies for MVP. You have three guys who could legitimately win and nobody would have the right to complain, whether it's Shay, whether it's Wembe, whether it's Yokic. Each one of them turned in historic performances in their own way. So it's hard, right? And I want you to take a look at what I'm wrestling with because you'll see kind of my movement. movement here once we put the full screen off. Shea Gildress Alexander, right?

I have Shay, Wembe, Wembe, Shea, right? Shea Gildreis Alexander should probably be by vote, right? This is a guy who is so consistent that I started nicknaming him the metronome last year. I mean, he delivers every single game. He took this Oklahoma City team, wire to wire number one, and that was with his team having significant injuries. Two of the starting five have been injured for a big chunk of the year. Not to mention the fact that his scoring has been historically efficient.

He's got that 20 points a game thing going on. So there's a lot of reasons to vote for Shea, especially over Wembe, because he's played 400 more minutes than Wembe. But here's the thing. Here's why I can't just make the first half of that my ballot. I'm still debating about the right side of that, is that in 2015, Steph Curry changed basketball. He didn't just change sort of how people defended the Warriors. He changed basketball. entire defensive systems went out the window. And then you saw over the next five years a stream

of three-point shooters come into the league because it became the most valuable thing that you could have, right? Do the math. Three is more than two. That's all because of Steph Curry. He is responsible for changing the game of basketball. That's crazy for a sport that's been around for nearly a hundred years. Victor Web & Yama man is changing the sport of basketball on the other side of the ball defensively. He just is. The geometry changes, right? You have to do. defend differently, stretches the court differently. We talk about Steph stretching the floor. He stretches the floor in a different way.

And just the way, guys don't even try to shoot over him, really. You know, Yokic did the other day, but it's very rare. And you see guys avoiding the basket. They just don't go to the hoop anymore because he's right there. That's taking an enormous part of the offensive game off the table. So I am

leaning Shay. We'll talk about it throughout the show. But the fact that you have a guy who literally is in the process of changing the entire game I think that's worth something. And that's why I'm a little conflicted. And I do have Wembe 2 for that reason over Yukic. I don't know.

So I love it. And I love that this is not a bit that you legitimately haven't submitted in your NBA ballot. Listen, I'm an old school radio guy, so I'd be fine if it was a bit. But I love that it's absolutely 100% valid. I guess here's what I would say as someone who would vote for Shea over Wembe. The two things. You alluded to the minutes number. Like if you break down the minutes of nearly 400 minutes more for Shea v. Wembe,

and then you divide that number by the 29 minutes per game that Wembe plays, it's the equivalent of 13 and a half more games for Shea than Wembe. That is a considerable margin given that Shay's team also had more wins than Wembe over the course of the year, albeit Wembe having more wins head-to-head against Shea. On the changing the game front, You're no doubt about it. The geometry changes with Wembe on the floor.

I've never seen NBA players like retreat. You can't dunk. He has taken away the dunk. I want you to think about that. He has taken away the dunk in basketball. That's pretty crazy. It is. But when when Steph changed the game,

guys like Trey Young and it went all the way down to AAU, right? They're like, people are playing like Steph. because I can hit a three-point shot, I can't dunk. Is Wembe changing the game or is he just changing the game when he is on the court? Because it's not like anyone else could practice being 7-5. No, but I remember in 2015 there was a lot of, well, only Steph Curry could do this. He's shooting from the logo. Oh, my God.

Look, we've seen big men evolve over even just the last 10 years, right? The Chris Eps Porzingas unicorn. Oh, my God, there's big taking three nows. three's now. I think watching Wembe play, there will be Biggs who will play differently because of him. And I think you will see more of this. He's an alien. He's obviously, just like Steph is one of the best of all time. Top 10 player, Trey Young is not Steph Curry, right? And there will be other players who are not Victor Webbenyama. But I promise you, just with the way basketball goes, there are fads in basketball, and this will be changing the way we see the next five to 10 years. So there you go. And in the rest of my ballot, not a ton of controversy.

I have Yokic as number three. It's crazy when you think about his numbers. This guy led the league in assists and rebounds. That's never been done before. That is basically combining John Stockton with Dennis Robbins. Imagine that in your head. John Stockton, Dennis Robinson. In one person.

And leading his team the way he did. So people will vote for Yokic and I won't have any problem with them. Luke I think is slotted into fourth. I have Jalen Brown as fifth. I don't think most people will do that. I think a lot of people have Kate Cunningham there. But here's the thing. This is for most valuable player.

And we can flip over to my first all team NBA. For first team, all NBA, I have Cade Cunningham in that slot. Because I think Cade is, frankly, the better player. And that's what all NBA is to me. It is a record of who is the best players of that year. And Cade Cunningham belongs there. But for most valuable player, you take other things into account. And the way Jalen Brown took a team that had a fire sale this summer,

that was supposed to be in the lottery to number two, not just in the playoffs, not just in the top four, to number two in the Eastern Conference and close to catching the Pistons. It's more impressive leadership-wise to me than Cade, who we know is, I mean, he's the number one overall pick.

He's been on his track to develop and push his team, and this is the whole point of drafting number one. And yes, it's amazing. The Pistons had another huge leap. They went from a six-seed to a one-seed. They held that one seed. I think fire sale lottery to number two just does a little bit more for me.

So that's why I have that split. And again, I sometimes I've done it once or twice before. I've been the only one who does it that way. But I do think it's a different thing. I think that's a totally, like logically consistent rationale. I think you could parse it either way. It's a fascinating debate. And the debate was created entirely because of the exemption that allows Luca,

who's a clear first team all NBA guy. Exactly. So like we talk about like, you know, the ripple effect. Luca becomes eligible. Now Jalen Brown, we'll see if other people vote like you, but now Jalen Brown isn't first team all-NBA because of the exemption. Absolutely. And by the way, I think there's two guys who are consistently on a lot of people's ballot,

just sort of, you know, people make their ballot public before the ruling. And now because of that trickle-down Luca and Cade, they're not going to get the money that comes with having a greater All-MBA award on their table. So it is a-Jel and Duren, especially. Exactly. I mean, that's a pretty fascinating thing. It not only affects Jailen Duren, but it is a great. affects how the pistons can team build over the next couple years. So that Kate Cunningham

appeal, not so good for his teammate, but very good for the organization. So we'll see. And then I just want to get to Rookie of the Year because that is the other most controversial thing we've got going. Now, Connipple, still, I think, the betting favorite. You hear on everybody's voting. I think there's been a controversy, but a lot of people are voting for Khan. And I get it, man. Led the entire league in three-pointers, really changed for, opened up for the Charlotte Hornets, what they could do, all of that stuff. And, you know, winning. is a thing. But for me, Cooper Flag has had to do more for his team, has had to be more things and has had more defensive attention on him. I mean, your game plan when you go to play Dallas

is let's box him one Cooper Flag, basically. And I think he has shown over the course of the year, it's not just pouring in those 50-point games, it is delivering over and over again every night. And what I think is a tougher circumstance, and we can talk later in the show about how much winning should factor into this, but for me, Cooper Flag is the rookie of the year. And I don't know, I don't think I'm going to be in the majority there. Well, not that you need it, but you have my support. Again, if I had a ballot, I would vote for Cooper Flag. And I actually am really surprised at how tricky people are making. Like, yes, con being the best three-point shooter in the league, but being a rookie is obviously remarkable. It's incredible.

Cooper Flag is 19 years old and he is the first rookie to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals since Michael Jordan. Yeah, you skipped over LeBron, which is important. Better than LeBron at that age. Because he came into the league

nine days older than LeBron when LeBron came into the league and he just did something as a rookie that LeBron did not do in terms of total team contribution. And we will talk about it later, but I don't think winning should factor 1% into rookie of the year because they all go to bad teams. Yeah. So I just, I don't eat like Charlotte. Yes, they were better than Dallas, obviously. But like that to me is not, Cooper is the much, much, much better player.

And that's no knock on con. He's just a historically great rookie. I'm glad. It's you and me against the world, man. I feel much better now this morning. That's a good thought. And I want to get to LeBron James' old team, the Cavaliers. Huge move, obviously, in February, swapping Darius Garland for James Hardin.

James Hardin's, like, stats, career stats. I don't think people take them into account. This man is an 11-time All-Star, eight-time all-NBA player, three-time scoring champ, MVP, two-time assist champ, sixth man of the year, is ninth all-time in scoring. I believe they put out an NBA put out his stat yesterday talking about that he's been in the playoffs every year of his 17-year career, and there's only five players in NBA history who have done that. So his reputation as sort of being a playoff choker, which is what a lot of people think of him as, is just not backed up by everything he's done in his career.

Do you think that if these playoffs, that reputation can go away or at least be mitigated if he has a good playoffs here, and people can focus on all those other stats I just read off? If he gets to the finals. Do you think that's it? Yeah, listen, because he had, you and I are actually in lockstep on this. James Hardin's playoff narrative as a choker is belied by James Hardin having some awful series ending games. And there's way too many two for eights. Yep.

Like on the game, why did James Hardin take eight shots? Yeah. What happened there? Or 20 shots. Well, right. But like when he, okay, so the last time James, this is a pet project of mine too. Okay. Great minds.

2018 Rockets Warriors Rockets are up three games to two Chris Paul has the massive grade two hamstring pull if the Rockets

if Chris Paul doesn't get hurt and the Rockets win that series the Warriors went on to sweep Cleveland in those NBA finals seems pretty logical to say that if the Rockets could beat a Warriors team that swept the Cavs team now all of a sudden James Hardin

has a title where he went through Steph Curry and LeBron. I don't think we're talking about him the same way. He's fourth in playoff minutes since he's been in the league. And you would think based on people talk about him, he'd be like tenth in points. No, he's fourth in points.

Right. Fourth in minutes, fourth in points, third and made threes. He has bad endings of playoff series. Not going to defend it. But he is a great basketball player. And Danny, I think those endings have been affected by just the example you just gave, right? Chris Paul goes down. He's in Philadelphia

and he's supposed to be the second guy. and role change and everything. But Joe L. M.B. goes down. And Hardin was great at the beginning and middle of the series, I think it was against Boston, but he petered out in 6 and 7. The load on him has historically been a problem of why he's had trouble late in playoff series.

Donovan Mitchell is going to be taking off so much of the load on him. I think we may see a different James Hardin. We'll see. You have a high standard. I get it. Let's go over the football. Kevin Bayard left the Bears, of course, to join the Patriots this offseason. but he had very high praise for his former quarterback. Take a listen to this.

Well, he already has the nickname Ice Man. And the reason why is because obviously, young quarterbacks, they're going to need time to develop. For sure. But when you talk about game on the line and we need him to make a play, he's fearless. There's really nobody that I would rather have under sent him. The sky's limit for this guy.

I think personally, I truly believe that he's going to be an MVP one day, and I think it's probably going to be sooner than later. By the way, he said that to him, he goes, no one I would rather have under center. And then after that clip, he later said, I mean, except Drake May, of course, because he's now on a different team. What do you think Caleb's stealing is since, you know, Bears predicting MVP's. I am incredibly biased on this as a Bears fan from Chicago, but I think it is the ultimate eye test. Like, obviously. He is obviously has that talent. He is the, he is the iteration of Mahomes and Aaron Rogers. Like, the crazy. The crazy.

arm strength, the crazy mobility, the creativity. He's paired with one of the great offensive coaches in the league in Ben Johnson. I think the Bears are going to be in competition for being a top five offense this year, and I will be floored if Caleb Williams finishes his career with zero MVPs. He absolutely will get at least one. Yeah, and it's fascinating because on this show in August, remember he didn't play in a preseason game, everybody else expected him to play in, and it was, oh my God, is Caleb Williams struggling more than he should be?

I think they have brought him along slowly. Well, yeah, because they brought him. It turned out to be they just wanted to give him more time to learn a new offensive system, not that he couldn't do it. And I think we've seen that throughout this season. That's Rachel with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurd-Lie News. Coming up next, NFL insider James Palmer with the latest intel on whether or not Ty Simpson will go in the first round, and we'll see if he agrees with me. I don't know what the Chiefs owe to Patrick Mahomes, getting him some offensive help with the ninth overall pick. That's next on The Hurt. Be sure to catch live editions of the HARD weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app.

Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide. range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, hey Jonas.

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

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending. Opinions are flying. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis.

And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen should win. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay.

Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Welcome back to The HARD. I'm Danny Parkins in for Colin. But without further ado, let's get right to it. NFL draft is right around the corner and it's time to bring in James Palmer. NFL Insider at Bleacher Report, co-host of 89 with Steve Smith. James, thank you so much for joining us. We are six days away until the 2026 NFL draft. We're all very excited. And it's a real rare opportunity in Kansas City to do something with a top 10 pick. might not have it ever again in Mahomes' prime.

I think they owe it to Mahomes to get him a weapon, so I've circled Carnell Tate. Most people are mocking defense. What do you expect the chiefs to do with their most premium draft asset? Yeah, Danny, I'm not ruling out weapon by any stretch, but I do think they're like in a linchpin spot. And I think Brett Veach knows this, if you watched his press conference before this draft,

about how nimble he might have to be. There's a lot that can happen in terms of teams wanting to move out of spots ahead of them at nine, in terms of some shuffling and who gets picked because of the difference between premium talent and just really good players, not at premium positions. How does every team ahead of him think? And so I do think they're at a very interesting crossroads and might have to pivot by who they want at nine. I'm not ruling out weapon because of one thing. I do think Brett Veach really looks at Steve Spagnola and way they can coach guys on the secondary

and believes that this is a deep draft in terms of edge rushers, that they could go get guys later, they could get a guy with that second pick in the first round, that they could go offense at the top of this draft. And I'll say, you mentioned Tate, there's a chance Tate is gone. Jordan Tice remembers having his workout today. I think a lot of teams are looking at that and having their eye on a really talented receiver. I'll put one by it. What if Jeremiah loves sitting there at nine?

Would you pick Love at nine? I wouldn't put it past the Chiefs, even though they made that move for Kenneth Walker, just because of what they can do in terms of how defenses play against them, the over-the-top shell stuff. You can get explosive out of the run game that helps Mahomes come back from this. Eric B. Enemies, the new O.C., again. What does he love to do? I just think a weapon, like you mentioned, love is a weapon, not just a running back.

So I think they could go weapon on offense for sure because of how they think that defense is coached. That would be absolutely fascinating. I think just once in the last 10 years, there was a draft that went by with only one quarterback taken. It was the Kenny Pickett draft. We know Mendoza's going one. Do you expect someone to do the Jackson Dart trade back into the first round for Ty Simpson? That's the number one question. Everybody I talk to, you know, if you're not picking a quarterback in this draft and I'm talking to people in that building, oh, he's not a number one pick.

Well, they don't need a quarterback. They're looking at strictly the film. Well, it looks like we had some technical problems. Yeah, we had some technical problems there with James Palmer. It's not a problem. Listen, Ty Simpson is a fascinating prospect because it's the type of situation where, well, he had, why didn't he beat out Jalen Milrow? at Alabama. Why don't you meet Jalen Miller?

Why do you have one year of being a starter? That is a legitimate question for him going up. All right, fine. But then if you actually do watch Alabama play last year, there was a lot of film that was pretty impressive from him, whereas I'm going to scramble around and throw the ball, which is exactly what you want for an NFL player to do. You don't just scramble to run.

You want to be able to move, find a secondary throw, and make the play. So I don't think that in a normal draft with three or four quarterback prospects, he would go in the first round. But in this draft, when you factor in supply and demand, I think it's absolutely possible. We got James Palmer back from the teacher report. I hated the question, Danny, so I dipped out. I hated it, so I dipped out. Listen, no, I do think there's a chance he goes in the first round.

It would be one of those teams, whether it's the Jets or the Cardinals at the top of the second. I know he's with the Cardinals on Thursday. They had a visit with him. I know Mike's done a ton of work on the quarterbacks, says, well, the Jets have, but obviously there are two of the teams that are looking at that deep quarterback class in 27. Do the Cardinals think that the Jets could go, hey, we can take I Simpson at the top of the second here and still go after a quarterback in 27?

That's not the worst thing. And the Cardinals try to jump them and get into the back end of the first round. There's plenty of people that still believe somebody comes in, and we know that fifth year option's a big part of it. I don't think the Browns make a play for him at 24. I don't think the Steelers make a play for him in the first round. But there's enough to like in terms of what he's put on film. and really compared to Mendoza,

a little bit more of an NFL translation there and what he's put on film. But I do think some of the offensive coordinators I've talked to, Danny, do believe, like he's a probably bottom third starter in the NFL if everything goes the way they predict it. We'll see exactly what ends up happening with him in the back end of the first,

but people always get a little antsy with quarterbacks. But I look at 27 as playing a part in where Ty Simpson goes. Cowboys have 12 and 20. More likely they trade up, or trade down. You know, everybody wants them to trade up. And I was texting with some people this morning that were like, hey, we need bodies. And they need bodies on the defensive side of the ball. And I think they can get a really good player at 12. I think they can get a really good

defensive player at 20. I think they can go that side of the ball. That would be my prediction. And they could stand pat. I don't know about going up. I think everybody sees how aggressive they were towards the Max Crosby trade, sees where Jerry is in terms of being aggressive, that if there's a guy like Sunny Stiles or Caleb Downs or R. Vell Reese for that matter, all the Ohio State guys, if they want to move up for one of these premier guys. I don't know if I see that happening. Everybody's kind of predicting it. I think they want to keep both of these picks.

And the other part that nobody's mentioning is they don't have a second round pick. And so when everybody's talking about the 27 draft, talking about the depth that they need in terms of getting guys on that defensive side of the ball, I see there's a greater chance that they make two picks in the first round than if they move up and take one of these guys. Because I think there could be a really good player that could help out, Christian Parker and a new defensive coordinator there at 12. And they've done a ton of work on that side of the ball.

ball. James Palmer, NFL insider over at Bleacher Report. Thank you. We're six days away from what should be a very exciting day one of the draft. Thank you so much for the time, James. Can't come soon enough. Let's go. Yeah, trust me. It's like there's no NFL off season. The season ends and you have free agency and then someone's going to say something and do something crazy on social media. It's been an hour since the latest AJ Brown rumor. And then all of a sudden you get to the draft. But coming up, again, I don't have a, an NBA awards ballot, but I should, and I'm going to prove it to you with who I would vote for. Coming up, I'm Danny Parkins in for Colin. This is The Hurt.

Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends

on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris.

She's a win. She's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stub's tennis podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist, and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.