The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - Why the LeBron hate?

Episode Date: May 25, 2023

LeBron James is only showing us how empowered he is on all aspects of his life Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets are kind of like Tim Duncan and the Spurs    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The anti-Lebron James Factor is out again It's the hurt. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for Megan us, part of your day. Jemak, people are now saying LeBron James stole the Denver Nuggets Sweet news. The retirement is calculated. Coming out of the woodward.

I don't really have a response to that, Colin. I don't know what's wrong with people, you know. Just want to go after LeBron 24-7. They're making that like their life's journey to really just take down the king. It's sad, but predictable. Yeah. So LeBron's critics, and there are lots of them, a Western conference executive said he'll suit up.

next year. He just changed the conversation. He didn't want to talk about the sweep. He wanted to make it about him. I'll get to his quotes in a second. But there are those who will say he was asked about his future. The question wasn't about his future. He was asked to assess the season, and he made it about his future. So we'll get to that again in a second. But I hear this a lot. And I have said before, I do tend to think LeBron's pretty calculated, but what if I just change the word? And I said LeBron is very strategic. Calculated sounds cunning. Strategic sounds smart. And we do this all the time where we find a polarizing person and we take one person and we assign words to them. And the words can kind of mean the same, but not really. You see it with Elon Musk. He's impulsive. He's unhinged. He is out

there, he's crazy, or is he creative? Is he a risk taker? What is Elon Musk? Risk taker, crazy, impulsive, unhinged? You tell me, politics is involved, so nobody's going to give him a fair shot, right? One side loves him, one side hates him, and that's what we have largely with LeBron, because he has threatened Michael Jordan's all-time greatness, and Michael's the most beloved player in league history. Flashy, good looking, well-dress. I mean, he was just everything. The most stylish, the coolest, the best, the most clutch, and probably, well, to that point, the greatest. And when you threaten that, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, sports becomes polarizing. Don't tell me this guy's not the greatest. And Michael and basketball fans tend to be more loyal

than other fans because the league's always really in recent years, recent decades, pushed the player over the team. So we get our hooks into players and we love them and we'll defend Westbrook to the end and we'll defend hardened to the end even after failure, after failure, after failure. And Jordan had very few of those. So you know if you question Jordan's greatness, it becomes very polarizing. But I hear that all the time about people. That guy is arrogant. I see confident. She is demanding. I see principled. She's rigid. I see accountable. So LeBron gets called Calculated. I'd argue, could you call him strategic? I mean, you don't become a billionaire by accident. How about even a softer word than strategic? Because strategic sounds powerful. How about

prepared? He's a good planner. Not a lot of billionaires who didn't plan and prepare for stuff. So here are a couple LeBron Bites. Listen to the question in and his response. This is after a game, he comes up to the podium. He was exhausted in the second half. He's always been very good with the media. You ask a question, he'll give you an answer. So here's the question and the answer to start. Obviously, all-time scoring record, another season where you essentially defeat Father

time again on a personal level. How would you evaluate the season that you had? I let it play the game. I let it compete. I let it be out there for my guys, my teammates, wherever I have that particular year. I think it was special in the fact that having the first year of coaching the first year coaching staff to be able to take, you know, take them to the Western Conference finals. I think that's dope for Coach Ham and his coach and staff going forward.

That's pretty amazing. That young lady asked a question and he gave an answer. And LeBron paused for like three or four seconds, kept talking. Again, he's always been somebody always willing. During a game after a game, LeBron always talks. He's been more than fair with the media. And he kind of meandered and rambled around, and then it continued on. For me, I mean, I just, you know, it's all about availability for me.

And keeping my mind sharp and things of that nature. Being present on the floor, being president, you know, walkroom and bus rides and plane rides, things of that nature. It's challenging. It's challenging, you know, for sure. It was a very challenging season. you know, for me, you know, for our ball club. God, he just said more in two minutes than Kauai Leonard has in a career.

I wish every player talked like that. I don't want on to Cincinnati. He was asked a question. He gave an answer. He paused. He rambled. He talked a little more. And then he paused again after that for about eight seconds, 12.

Kind of looked at the media. He was about ready to wrap it up. And then he said this. We'll see what happens going forward. I don't know. I have to think about, to be honest. I had a lot to think about to be honest. And just for me personally, going forward with the game of basketball,

got a lot to think about. Doesn't feel that planned and calculated and strategic and prepared? Question was asked about the season. He gave a really good answer, happy for his coaches. kind of paused and talked about then his availability, seasoned or as good as his availability. And he paused again and said, I got a lot to think about.

Nick Saban walks to the podium about six times a year, and he's in a mood, and he's going to talk about whatever he wants to talk about. It doesn't matter what the question is. He'll just bring up the transfer portal. He'll bring up the NIL. And we always laugh about it on this show. It's obvious what he's doing.

Nick is sending a message to his team, to his university, to the sport, and I don't have a problem with it. Nick Saban has asked to make lots of press conference appearances. Nick can be a bit impatient and testy, but he's almost always available, and I appreciate that. If occasionally he wants to take it in his direction, he's always smart and thoughtful. I'm okay with it. I don't know. I watch that. I am a LeBron fan, not a critic.

so I see him as sort of calculated, but I've probably used the wrong word. I think it's probably more strategic. Again, not a lot of billionaires that aren't strategic. You could use planned. But I see this all the time. I remember years ago having a woman, a boss, a lot of the old school guys didn't like it. She doesn't listen. Very rigid.

I don't know. Could be prepared. if you like LeBron, you just see that as an answer, kind of rambles. So what? You have a right. If you don't like LeBron, that guy is calculated. I'm good with either, but let's be reasonable here. We keep asking athletes questions.

We make them show up after games. We interview enduring games, coaches, players. They have a right to answer it any way they want. And for LeBron to take two to three months. minutes, I'm okay with it. That didn't feel that cunning calculated to me. Now, Chris Manick's on the show. It landed differently for him. Nobody has leveraged situations through contracts and his career more than LeBron James. And LeBron's probably thinking age 39, can I do the same thing over again? Probably not. So I think in his mind, he's saying, look, I have the one,

lever I have to pull is me. I can say, I'm not going to come back unless you do exactly what I want what you want me to do. Next year is probably his last year to win a championship. And he's going to find a way through any means necessary to making sure the best possible players are on that roster. So Chris used the word leveraged. I would use the word empowered because that's how I see LeBron. his childhood bouncing around no dad a lot of chaos he has had a plan you sort of have to to get out of that environment never in trouble always prepared somewhat strategic those are not negative words for me you see leveraged i see empowered um Denver Nuggets disrespect Oh, boy.

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So Gilbert Arenas was on a JJ Reddick podcast, and they were talking about the nuggets and the disrespect and Yokic, who's a two-time MVP, and Gilbert Arena said something that is true, of course. We talked about it earlier this week, but nobody's going to like it. Here it is. Yokic can win his championship. No one's going to care. Let's just be honest. I'm sorry. He's not going to go from where he is right now to this super mega star because he's not doing anything kids want to see. It's the players, their personality. You know, Yokic is great, but he doesn't have it. That's right. That's why I compared Denver to potentially the San Antonio Spurs,

and I did not compare him to Shaq and Kobe's dynasty or the Heedles. Not every champion is fascinating. The Kansas City Royals in 2015 won a World Series. The star was their bullpen. The 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Brad Johnson, Captain Checkdown at quarterback. Their star was a defensive tackle. The Bobby Ross, Georgia Tech, 1990 national champs. Can you name a player? Forget three. for the record, not every dynasty is fascinating. Duncan Spurs lost 40% of the ratings of the preceding dynasty, Shack and Kobe.

Alabama's dynasty, the first half of it was all defense. USC and Texas played for a natty, got a 22 rating. That's an NFL playoff number. Bama was getting 15s and 16s. Just wasn't that interesting. And that's okay. I'm in the interesting business. I have to be interesting.

If I am, I can get a rating. sports is in the winning business and Denver's built to win they're young they're ascending they've got one of the great players in the league maybe all time at center he's that good shooting passing dribbling screening IQ

yokic is everything sometimes in our business dysfunctional can be wildly compelling really really compelling again that's the business we're in shack and Kobe's dynasty was dynamic the hedels dynamic the pistons physical bullies the nuggets if they become a dynasty they're efficient

yokic's jersey is the 12th biggest seller in the league behind lamello ball at 11 this is much more daniel day lewis than tom cruise it is not succession it will not be game of thrones and if i was denver I would lean into it. It is a great tool, a great advantage that Mike Malone can use over and over and over. Nobody respects us. Nobody thinks it'll last. Nobody gives us any credit. Fans always want their team to be worshipped.

That's where egos happen. When you call somebody the heedles before they win a championship, right? Shaq and Kobe, stars, all ego. should have lasted twice as long. One of the great advantages to Denver is they'll never be totally embraced. We'll call them boring. Guys like me will call them efficient. And you can use that, weaponize that in the locker room year after year, series after series.

But not all great teams and dynasties are fascinating. Alabama's better now because it's more about quarterbacks and receivers. First 10 years it was about pass rushers, inside linebackers, and corners. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Boy, way to start the show wiping out our entire audience in Denver.

Nice job there, just totally taking Denver behind the woodshed. You and I like Efficient. Efficient does it for me. Sometimes. I mean, listen, Gilbert Arenas is not wrong, you know. Not a lot of it there. Not a lot of juice. Now, Jamal Murray, you know, he's my guy.

He likes to talk a little trash. Like tonight's game's got juice because you got Jimmy Butler. You have this Celtics potential dynasty rolling down the hill. So this, the storyline in this is very interesting. Once Denver got up 3-0, the series was over. The efficient team was going to steamroll the old clunky Lakers. The story in Miami. Now, again, Boston's a bit of a national brand.

Miami, just because they've been so good for so long as two, But I think the story tonight's a fascinating story. Well, and we've got some news. About 90 minutes ago, Miami ruled Gabe Vincent starting shooting guard slash point guard out for game five. Suffered that ankle injury late. You saw him on the sideline. Did not look good. He briefly returned to the game.

Colin, this is, I know people are going to say Gabe Vincent, no big deal. He's been good for that. This guy's averaging 34 minutes a game in the series, shooting 50% from deep in that big game three win, where they went up three-nething. He had six threes, 29 points. Yeah. This is a huge loss because now, like, what do you do? Kyle Lowry's got to start. It's like a 25 minute a game guy.

Yeah. So it feels like it's going back to Miami. I do think it is, yeah. Yeah, and the heat went in six. So I was all on Miami plus eight. It's up to eight and a half now. I think I'd probably still take Miami plus eight and a half, but the thought of them winning tonight feels less inevitable.

Yeah. I mean, we're looking at what, heavy Duncan Robinson minutes off the bench? like, I mean, this could be a Jimmy Butler 40, 45 minute, you know, game. Series is not over. It's not over. There's a chance Boston comes back. It's mostly over, but it's not over. I think Boston wins tonight and it goes back to game six.

If it goes back to Boston for seven. How about? We know Tatum is a killer in game seven. 111, 106, Boston. So Miami covers. How many for Butler? 32. I go 37.

for Jimmy Buckets. And we both think the Celtics win tonight. All right, next up. Lamar Jackson, finally, finally reported to Ravens OTAs earlier this week after missing voluntary workouts. The team is installing a new offense with O.C. Todd Munkin. Lamar, though, said he's enjoying this new system. Offense is smooth.

More verbage than usual. I like it. I'm loving this so far. I mean, just being able to throw the ball down the field, you know, we sometimes, sometimes you know, we can't run. And running can only take you so far, you know, and I feel like with this new era of teams and offenses in the league, I feel like we need that and Coach Tom Munkin.

When I'm sitting his offense so far, it's looking tremendous. For the record, it's good he's now. He's going to this OTA. Nice of him to show up, yeah. Yeah, yeah. We like that. But the other thing is, in this offseason, both Josh Allen and Lamar have said,

you know, the running thing's overrated. This reminds me years ago, I asked Michael Vick. I said, you know, Mike, when you came into the league from Virginia, attack running. And I remember asking, I could have asked him on the air. It was either on or off. I forget, but I said, when did you decide I'm going to run less? And he talked about a game. It was like, it was Philadelphia or something. It was cold or something. And he got popped. And the next morning he woke up and he's like, I'm going to sit in the pocket more. And that's generally what happens is, I mean, just in high school and college, you just don't get hit like you do in

pro football. And I think Lamar, who's always passed better than people want to acknowledge, and Josh Allen, I mean, Josh Allen reminds me a lot of can. and Big Ben. It works for about six years, and then you start aging really quickly, and Lamar's not that size. So this is, I don't know. I've always thought he throws a better ball than people want to acknowledge. He throws a great ball, but the thing that makes him so dangerous is the threat of him running, right? Because if he's loose, he's beaten linebackers. He's beaten safeties. You can still run six times a game, and not nine, 12. Is that offense as good as if Lamar's only rushing six times a game? It's, first of all, the threat of running is real. That doesn't mean

And also, if you start running less, people defend the run less. You can go back to pivot to running and have more open lanes. Right now, people are waiting for him to run. I mean, they're waiting for him. Elementus surprise. Go 75, 25 passover run. It'll always be part. Justin Herbert, by the way, is not a runner.

But when he does, he often just puts his shoulder down and barrels over a guy. And I'm like, would you put Herbert in the same class of runner as Josh Allen Lamar? No. No, no. I mean, Josh Allen, like, has to run. They have no running game. He's got to run the football. And, like, it's all they want.

Like, Lamar's a little different. Like, I think their offense is geared toward the run, and because of the run, that's how they're able to pass. So, well, I don't, you're buying this stuff from Lamar? I'm not going to run as much. I am. I like, first of all, like their coach, like their defense, like their culture, they've added receivers.

If OBJ plays 12 games, feels like a play. playoff team to me. If Lamar plays in December, it feels like a playoff team. He'll be fine. You got a lot of rest last year. A lot of rest. Final story is the Buffalo Bills. You know, listen, they were 13 and 3 last year, and they still haven't reached the Super Bowl. They went into the last season. Josh Allen's going to be the MVP. They're going to win the Super Bowl. Neither happened. Josh Allen, his sixth season in Buffalo said all he wants is to finally get that Super Bowl. I want to give everything that I have for as long as I play. And, you know, I'm not saying

that I haven't done that in the past, but there's always new ways that I can find to get better and not being complacent with what I'm doing on the field, understanding that there's a lot of plays that we left out there. And statistically, you look at it, we were top three or four offense in the league last year, and it wasn't good enough. So just losing the playoffs isn't fun, you know.

And I so badly want to bring Super Bowl here to Buffalo, and I just don't want anything to get in the way of allowing me to be the best quarterback that I can be for this team. You know, so they had Jim Kelly, and they were always the second best team in the league when they got to the Super Bowls. And, you know, Cowboys were there. There were great teams. And now they get Josh Allen, and there's Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow. Does it feel like, oh, Buffalo is going to go through this again? They're going to struggle to get out of the AFC, and when they do, you know, our, our, our, our, our, our, you know, our, Buffalo is going to go through this again.

Are they going to face a loaded Niners Eagles roster? Like you could see, I mean, they were great for years with Marve Levy and Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed. Bruce Smith. I mean, it was the second best team in the league a lot. And I feel like Buffalo is starting to feel like that again. Like they're going to be the second best team in the AFC and the second best team in the league. That's why I'd like to see them break through because I really do think if they could get the O line figured out, I think it would be the difference. Like Cincinnati's got

KC had to rebuild their O line. They did in a year. Cincinnati did. They've kind of in two years. It's been like four years now and they can't get the O line right with a defensive coach. It's like get the O line fixed

and you feel like a Super Bowl team. We'll learn a lot about Buffalo early, Colin. They open, remember with the Jets on September 11th, Monday night football. If they lose that game next week at the Raiders versus the Raiders, then versus Washington, then Miami.

So there's a, you know, there's a world where it's like, oh no, are we? in trouble if we lose to the Jets. Remember, you're getting two wins over the Jets basically every year, even though the Jets split with them last year. So you think. Miami's better. New England's still kind of a bad franchise. So they open up with the Jets. Where's the game at? In New York. Aaron Rogers' home opener under the lights. Oh my God. That is great. We'll see how the Bill's offensive line is. That's good. The lines come toward the Jets in that opener. Well, I would because the Jets'

is the D-line and the Bill's weakness is the O-line. So that's, by the way, that's why the Jets last year played them very tough. Because their D-line dominated their O-line. And the Jets' D-line is much improved. Jets will win the opener. God. All right. Remember earlier this week it was like, oh, Roger's ankle? No, I mean, it's fine.

Jets are going to win that opener. Jets are going one at O, baby. It's only, what, four months away? Can't wait. We need to go on vacation, come back, watch the Denver Nuggets win the finals, take another vacation, come back in time. Nuggets are definitely winning the finals? I think they're good. Okay.

Ailer hero comes back, though, it gets interesting. And they say he's going to come back. Jason Tatum carries Boston. It gets even more interesting. All right. J-Mac with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. It's interesting. One of the knocks by the blogosphere in the media about shows like ours,

which is an opinion show. You know, the first takes, undisputed in this show is, oh, you got clickbait. But the truth is, we don't make any money off clicks. Blogs do. And so I've said before, blogs tend to, everything is outrageous. Everything is crazy. I can't believe it.

And it's like, yesterday I had a take, and it wasn't that crazy. Because the ringer, Kevin O'Connor, reputable, brought it up. Nick Wright, I didn't see this until like late yesterday. I was kind of out of pocket. Also talked about it, LeBron to the Warriors. And I said, it's not that crazy. And this morning, I read a story in the San Francisco newspaper covering that wacky trade idea I had. It's not that wacky.

Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City to go to the rival Warriors. That felt wacky. Then he left Steph and the Warriors Dynasty to go to Goofy Brooklyn. That felt wacky. Both happened. The Minnesota Timberwolves already had a very good center, Carl Anthony Towns. They traded nine picks and players to go get another center. That felt wacky. Elon Musk bought Twitter. Trump was president. The Pentagon released videos of the UFOs. That feels wacky. LeBron to the Warriors is not that wacky. Tom Brady to the pathetic buccaneers, little wacky. Kauai wouldn't go to practice in San Antonio. They trade him to Canada. Little wacky. Both happened. Both won titles. Ask yourself. LeBron, as we talked about earlier in the show, can be strategic.

LeBron wants to play for titles. LeBron has said his favorite player is Steph Curry. LeBron is exactly what the Warriors need, another dependable offensive piece. LeBron doesn't want to have to be the key defender. Oh, they've got one, Draymond Green, nor the key rebounder. Oh, they've got one of those two, Kvon Looney. LeBron can shoot fewer threes. They've got Steph and Clay.

LeBron is what they need. Now he's not young, but the Warriors, two weeks ago, acknowledge their future is Steph, 35 years old, Clay, 33, and Dremon 33. This is not exactly a youth center. They got rid of Wiseman. They don't play Cominga. Moody has to beg to get on the floor. They don't play young guys.

Even when they acquire somebody, they want some. They had DeAngelo Russell. when he was young. He lasted an hour. It's not that wacky. I think you'd be a wacko if you were LeBron got called by the Warriors and didn't take the phone call. I think you'd be a wacko if you were Rob Polenka and they said Wiggins, Jordan Poole, Jonathan Cominga, and you didn't take the phone call. And I think if LeBron called Steve Kerr, if Steve didn't give him 15 minutes, throw a few ideas around, I mean, you know, corporations do this all the time. They go to a retreat.

Like in California, we live in Los Angeles here, about two hours up the road or an hour up the road. There's a town called Ohio. And it's very spiritual. You take business retreat. You go up to Ohio. And you bring out the whiteboard and everybody relaxes and you're right. Ideas for the future of the company and most of them don't make any sense.

But you discuss them. Want to see around corners? What's happening? What did happen? What do you want to be in front of? What do you want to get out of? You take the call. Again, Elon Musk bought Twitter.

We thought it was wacky. Trump, president, I didn't buy it initially. UFOs from the Pentagon? Huh? Really? I don't think it's that crazy. The blogs all pick up on it. They get clicks.

That's how they get paid. I'm okay with it. But let's not pretend we haven't watched crazy stuff happen. I remember when I broke the story on Brady to the Buccaneers. Joy Taylor was sitting next to me. like, I'm not sure if I could break it. I've got the information. This is crazy.

That franchise is a pirate ship. Why would detail-oriented, business-minded, Tom Brady go to the pirate ship in Ebor City? He did. And in the COVID year with no preseason, they won the Super Bowl. After being seven and five, screaming at people in Chicago against the Bears as they were getting beat by an average bear team. So I don't think it's crazy.

I think if you line stuff up, LeBron wants to play for titles. The Warriors have said everything has to be on Steph's timeline. Well, LeBron can only be great for a half. If LeBron would have been on the Warriors and they were just great for a half, they wouldn't have gone seven games against Sacramento. They'd have wrapped it up in five or six. Now, I don't necessarily think it's going to happen. But you've got to discuss this stuff.

You got to, I mean, let's be honest. If one year ago I said, Aaron Rogers to the Jets, you'd be like, you mean like what Farr did? That didn't work. Aaron Rogers is now on the Jets. Going from a winning franchise in Green Bay to the longest playoff drought in the league, the New York Jets, tenuous ownership, defensive coach on the hot seat, can't get quarterback right. O-line, not that redeemable yet a year ago. He's going to go to the Jets. He's going to leave Green Bay. He's talking about retirement. No, he's going to go to New York, get a new haircut,

manifest youth, and can't wait to play. Sounds wacky. It's not that wacky. All right, good stuff. Crazy. Clickbaity. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Two NBA Insiders. Podcasts. twice a week to plug you right into the NBA grapevine. All happening in only one place. This League Uncut. The new NBA podcast with me, Chris Haines. And me, Mark Stein.

Join us as we team up to expound on everything we're covering, hearing, and chasing. Listen to This League Uncut with Chris Haynes and Mark Stein. On the IHeart 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert 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 at TikTok. Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped 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, 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. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Home to iconic wins for Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and American Pharaoh. The most famous final furlong in the history of racing is coming to Fox. Don't miss the 2003 Belmont Stakes, June 10th, only on Fox. For the record, if you were an eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback and led the 80s and touchdown passes, would you be a legend?

Yes. Alex English is an eight-time NBA All-Star and led the 1980s in the NBA in scoring. Did not make the top 75 players of all time. I've said this about the NBA. Love it. Watch a ton of it. I'll be watching tonight every second. But it is so much about Flash that sometimes it makes no sense. It is unbelievable to me that we give MVPs to people who don't play defense and never elevate a teammate. and Alex English led the 80s in scoring. He went 10 years, you got 21, 24, 26, 27. Not a top 75 player. So he's going to join us at the top of next hour.

We were talking about that with Yokic, is that Yokic is his game isn't necessarily fun. If you look at the top jersey sales in the NBA, most of these players can't hold his job. And, you know, they're good players. LeBron, understandably, Steph Curry, Tatum, Yonis, no knock, Luca, big scoring machine, Durant, Booker. But, I mean, Yolkich is a much better player than John Morant, much better player than Devin Bucker,

Kyrie Irving, lamello ball. I'm actually shocked that Yokic is ahead of Joel Embed. Centers usually don't do terribly well on this stuff because kids don't relate to big seven-footers. By the way, Jordan Poulas 15, U.S. Warrior fans, he's their least favorite player, but he's flashy and he's fun. So Alex English top of next hour, you know, that's one of those things where Yokic isn't going to sell a bunch of jerseys, and the San Antonio Spurs and Duncan didn't sell a lot of jerseys. They were just efficient, fundamental, and great. And that's what Denver is. And that's okay.

It's like I've come to terms with not every championship team is fascinating. I think not every dynasty is most are. Most dynasties have personalities because they get, you know, you start winning two and three and four championships. You get a little cocky. You get endorsement deals. You know, they start infighting, but San Antonio never did. It was like Parker and Genobley and Tim Duncan, no fighting.

Popovich had his culture. You know, by the way, I said this. Brady and the Patriots, by and large, I lived in Korni, I lived in Connecticut for 10 years. So I kind of became, you know, you become a fan of something if you watch it over and over and over again. I don't think the Patriots were that exciting. They were all about, much like Denver, they had a highly efficient star surrounded by really good players. But I mean, it was like the only time that you could say New England was really dynamic were the Randy Moss years and they never won a championship. The New York Giants have done this my entire life. The Giants have

never been captivating outside of New York, even in their championship years. Eli Manning's done a dynamic athlete. Either was Jeff Hostetler or Phil Sims. I always compare the New York Giants to the NFL's accounting firm. Good business, not fun to talk about. I mean, even in New York, you'll get more Knicks talk, Yankees talk, the Mets' tire fire talk than you will a lot of times on the Giants for years and years. They just won.

Parcells was the biggest personality. And then Lawrence Taylor was. So I don't think it's a knock on Denver. It's just they're in a highly efficient team, very much feel like San Antonio. I think you can use that as a wedge as a lever to tell your team that nobody respects you. If Tyler Hero doesn't play, I think they'd walk over Miami. I think they're going to, I think they would beat Boston because the pressure would totally be on Boston. It would not be on Denver.

So, but I'm excited to watch them play. I saw this story. I like this a lot. So there are certain things out there that seem like obvious. And that's why it's really important when you're a young athlete, often like where you come from? Do you come from a stable environment with quarterbacks, for instance? So Patrick Mahomes' family is stable. His dad was a pro athlete.

And I feel like I can tell. Right? Like the minute Mahomes got into this league, he cared about the right stuff. And that's a big deal, right? Like you want your kids to think about the right stuff. You want them to be curious and compassionate. And you don't want them to hate school. You don't want them to have the wrong friends.

You know, you want your kids to care about the right stuff. And athletes, the ones that care about the right stuff, have better careers. It's not the most talented people. I've seen a lot of talented guys. They care about the money, the ads, the fame. So Patrick Mahomes, day one in this league, is always cared about the right thing, which is guys got like 40 endorsements, making over 10 million a year just an endorsement. I would guess it's closer to 30 million a year in endorsements.

And he was asked about his new contract being the biggest of all time in the NFL. It's not about being the highest paid guy. It's not about making a ton of money. I've made enough money where I'll be set for the rest of my life. But at the same time, you've got to find that line where you're making a good of my of money, but you're still keeping a lot of great players around you so you can win these Super Bowls and you're able to compete in these games. So making the most money in any business is always temporary. It can be television, it can be

finance, it can be tech, it can be music, entertainment sports. But if you look at the highest paid quarterbacks in the league, you'll find a trend. It's the last guy to sign a contract. Lamar's the last guy to sign a contract. He's the highest paid. Jalen Hertz signed one a couple weeks earlier. He's the second highest paid. Then Aaron Rogers moved to the Jets recently. He's the third highest paid. It's temporary. Legacy is irreplaceable.

Tom Brady is the example. Money is about temporary ego. Legacy is about permanent, sustainable values and productivity and championships. And that's why one of the first things that you notice about

most of these great young quarterbacks in this league. It's a really good time to be the commissioner of the NFL. Burroughs about winning. Mahalm's about winning. Josh Allen's about winning. Herbert appears to be about winning. He needs to win more. Jalen Hertz is about winning. Doesn't mean you can't take the bag. That's not what it's about. But when I see the young media saying they deserve this and they deserve that to very clear line to winning. You need a great coach. These days, it would help if he's an offensive coach. And you can't take the most. You've got to be able to be flexible with your team.

Mahomes got that from day one. And you know what? Credit his parents, credit him. Watch athletes when they come into the league. I said this about Baker Mayfield. He wanted to do commercials. It's like, dude, you haven't done anything yet. Tom Brady wouldn't do a commercial for years after Super Bowls.

When he finally did one, he would only do it if he could include his offensive alignment. The Visa commercial. Brady got it. It was about winning. And once he strayed away offseason little endorsements, bring my guys in. Baker just wanted to be a star, which I thought always was about Baker's insecurity, knowing he wasn't great, I'm going to take what I can take when I can take it.

And so, I mean, this speaks well to Mahomes. He gets it big time, bigly. By the way, I wonder if it does worry you a little J-Mac that Aaron Rogers is so highly compensated. What it means is eventually is you have to. to hit a lot of draft picks. You could, for instance, Denver with Russell Wilson, he wanted to get paid a lot. That's fine. That, however, when you give up your draft picks to Seattle, so it's one thing to limit the team

with a big contract like Russell. It's another, Mahomes, you don't have to give up draft picks, right? He's already in town. But that's what makes the Russell Wilson, Denver situation, really tricky. So they had to give up all this draft capital to get Russell. So they have fewer picks. Now they have to hit on all of them. I mean, there's always been sort of a belief in the NFL.

Accumulate draft picks. Try to get 10 or 11 every year. Even the best GMs, Brett Veach, Chris Ballard, Howie Roseman. Howie Roseman's a great GM. He's whiffed multiple times. So you want the most draft picks you can get, right, to build in some whiffs. the great, Bill Pullian's a Hall of Famer. I remember asking him one time on the air off.

I said, did you ever have a complete whiff? He said, yeah, two days in the camp, had a guard, could not play a lick. He was one of the great personnel guys ever. Couldn't play a lick two days in. And so what Denver got into is we're going to give you a bunch of draft capital. Now we have five, six picks. Now you've got to hit on all of them. It's virtually impossible.

John Lynch has done a great job with the Niners. They drafted running back years ago. I remember texting John Lynch because I watched this kid play two games for Utah. And I don't need to call him out, but I said, I love that running back. Never played. What do I know? So, I mean, who would have guessed Kiddell would be that great in the fifth round? Who would aggressed Jennings, sixth round?

I mean, who would have guessed Brock Purdy, seventh round? Some of this stuff, you just, if people would have thought Brock Purdy was that good, he would have gone in the third round. Like, so some of this stuff is, It is really, you've done a lot of vetting, but there's some guesswork. So Denver's in a weird spot. So Kansas City, they're going to do all they can to move off people, Tyree kill and get picks, knowing 30% will underachieve her with.

It's a numbers game. I've compared it to when you're a young guy, you go to a bar, you're trying to meet girls. Yes. If you hit on three girls, your chances of getting a number, okay. If you hit on like eight different girls over the course of the night, somebody's going to give you the number, right? I do want to go back to something you said earlier.

I don't know how much time we have here. Well, in 15 seconds. All right. Well, I'll save it for later. But this idea of Yokic is boring. You know who used to be boring and changed everything about his personality and made a lot of money? Floyd Mayweather. You know his story, right?

Good boxer, boring, changed. Yeah. Made a lot of money. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'll say. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the Fourth. You might have seen the skits, my basketball, and college football journey or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not

only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at a podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me.

I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Thank you.