The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - How good is Cooper Flagg?, Michigan simply was the better team last night

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

Nick Wright from First Things First joins the show to discuss Cooper Flagg’s ascent to stardom and why the Lakers have lost all hope with the postseason approaching More on Michigan's win over UConn in the National Championship last nightSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. 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 ice.

Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope From a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff rant and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know.

Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the Eyeheart. Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest

storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRedia.com 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. Here we go. It's hour two.

Welcome in. Congrats to the Michigan Wolverines. And the women's team at UCLA. Great weekend for the Big Ten. So I remember about two years ago, I'm at a gym. And a guy comes up to him and he goes, I hate watching yoke it. He's so boring and awkward.

I'm like, I know it's not MJ and Dr. Jay and Kobe. It doesn't remind you every other night how gifted they are. And my take is just consider Yokic. Last night he went 35, 13, and 13 overcame a 16 point deficit to win. He's basically the waste management billionaire in your city. Doesn't get invited to the cool parties, but probably has the second biggest house in your city. He's the index fund. Nobody does movies about index funds.

They do them about day trading. Boiler Room. This guy leads the league in rebounds and assists, which should be in conflict with each other. He is so insanely talented. I said this yesterday. Is that I love Kareem, but he couldn't shoot outside like that or pass like that.

I love Shaq. He had power. He couldn't shoot from the outside. Even the centers I love. They couldn't do that, not even close. The guy's going to lead the NBA and assists and rebounding. And they've won nine straight games. I watched him the other night afternoon against Wembe.

And it's the only time I've ever seen anybody go right at Wemby this year. And five or six times, I'm going to go right at him. And he made it look easy. He's just an insane. And I know in the NBA, being cool and the aesthetic, He's the best player in the NBA. I think by, I mean, by a stretch. And yet, he's the worst guy to watch it in an All-Star game.

It's a lot of fundamentals. It's a lot of angles. I think he's remarkable. He talked about the ninth straight win last night. Not difficult here, but I'm consistent here. With injuries, with the lineups, with everything. And we still manage to be one of the top teams. I think that's something telling about this team and the group that we have in the locker room.

But I will say this. We've always had a Yokic. It was Moses Malone. I didn't like watching Moses Malone play. He was great. Alex English led the NBA in scoring in the 80s. There's always been players in this association who were unbelievable Hall of Fame talents, but they don't, you know, they don't have the handles of staff or they're not.

Dominique Wilkins. I think you have to appreciate. I mean, Scotty Sheffler, he doesn't have, he's not as dynamic as Tiger. He doesn't have the flare of Mickelson. I love watching Bryson to Shambo. Could be obnoxious years ago,

but I can't take my eyes off him. I love Brooks Kepka. And sometimes you got, you know, Lee Westwood out there, you know, just he and Scotty Schaeffler may not be as memorable. I think he got to appreciate it.

Greatness, and that's probably a cliche, but God, Yokic is insane. Nick Wright, who's pretty darn good himself. First things first. Let's start with Yokic. I don't want to make this a Yokic hour. But, I mean, I grew up on Kareem, and I love Kareem. And my favorite player was Dr. J, and we all loved M.J. And then LeBron and Steph.

And I said, he's like, he owns the waste management company with a big house on the hill. Where will history allot him? Oh, wow. What a great question. So you mentioned Moses. I think he over the last couple of years has jumped past Moses. Moses who won three MVPs. Moses who with respect to Dr. Jay was the final piece on what I believe to be the greatest team in NBA history, that Sixers team that couldn't get over the hump until Moses got there. So he is right now up against the Shaq Akeem Steph group. I think he's right on the outside there. I think Akeem is a little underrated.

Akeem was averaging 37 a game in the playoffs as a young player, got to the finals in year two, best defensive players for arguably post Bill Russell until Wimby, more on him maybe later in this spot. I do think, however, Joker, just to be fair, has maxed out how high he can get if he stays at only one championship. I don't think another, I don't think winning MVP this year or next year it moves him actually. Because every guy, if you talk about the 12 greatest players ever, Braun, Kreme, Michael, Russell, Magic, Wilt, Duncan, Kobe, Bird, Akeem, Shaq, Steff.

All of them are multi-title guys. And all. Wilt has two. Akeem only has two. everyone else has three or more. So I don't think Joker can elbow any of those guys out of there sitting on one ring, but he might get his second this year. And the other thing on it, and I don't think it's being unfair,

he is clearly the best player in the world. He did remind everyone that while Wimby can say defense is half the game, for a hundred years of basketball, the best defense, defensive player against the best offensive player, the best offensive player is going to get his. Bill Russell's the greatest defensive player ever. Wilt in 140 career games against Russell, average 30 and 25. You're going to get yours if you're a great offensive player.

But Joker, I just don't think the fact that he's only been to two conference finals, only been to one finals, one-one championship, I think right outside the top 12 is the ceiling, unless he gets another ring. So I was telling, I said this the other day. Sometimes you just need clarity. I mean, the hardest thing for a lot of sports teams to do is admit not what they are, but what they aren't. And obviously we don't want to see Luca and Austin hurt. But the inability to compete for five minutes with OKC was actually really important.

Because the new Laker owners watch that and go, oh, we're four players away. And you start in March, you're like, oh, all we need is Jaden McDaniels. That's not it. You watch O.Ks, and O.K.C. is a champion. So we know how it works in the NBA, Nick. Once you win a championship, the regular season, you pick about five games that matter. Oklahoma City decided, oh, Luca, you're the MVP. They annihilated them.

And I think it was a, I think the new owners needed to see that. Or do you look at it and think, Lucas's hurt, Austin's hurt, They're in big trouble. I think even LeBron needed to see that to note, bro, you either take a pay cutter. We can't bring you back. All right. So there's a lot to unpack here. It is worth noting that a year ago this week, OKC played the Lakers.

I think it was on Easter. And the Lakers annihilated OKC. They then played again a couple weeks later. The Lakers were, I think, in position to win that game. And that's when Luca got thrown out for yelling at a fan with six months. minutes left, and OKC went on to win the championship and the Lakers went out in round one. I wouldn't read quite as much as you're reading into the one game against OKC last week. I also think it is wildly unfair for anyone to, every single team in the league, if they lost

their two leading scorers heading into the playoffs are sunk. Every single team. whether the Thunder without Shea and another great player, the Nuggets without Yokic and another great player, they'd all be sunk. With that said, this was always a very mismashed roster. It didn't have the depth or youth or athleticism of other teams. The reason some of us, myself maybe most notably,

were holding out hope for the Lakers is, we have seen Luca multiple times in his career take mismatch rosters on deep playoff runs, upset the number one seed sons with the team that he took to the conference finals, Colin, against the sons, there's only two guys that were in that rotation that are still in the league. He took them to the conference finals. That map seemed he took to the finals was not a perfect team.

So I thought the strength of Luca gave them more than a puncher's chance, But obviously, you need shooters and defenders around Luca, just like you need it around LeBron, and the Lakers had done a very mediocre job at building out that roster. I think that is correct. You know, sometimes, I've always defended the media. I've always said, we're the IRS. Sometimes you get a check. Sometimes you get an audit.

We're not built or constructed to be your friend. We're built and constructed to be as honest. and without agendas as we can be, which we often fail at. But we're not your ally necessarily, although it may feel like it on some days. And so in the media, I've always tried to remember it's not about being liked, it's about being honest. And strong opinions get blowback. You know that more than anybody. And I remember when Cooper, if I watch Cooper Flag, I watch a lot of Duke games.

And I watched him and I like, he's not going to be as good as Jason Tatum in year one. He may be in year two. We're looking at this kid doesn't have a flaw. in college. He defends. He slashes. So he comes into the NBA. He's still a teenager. And he's got, I didn't know he had a left hand. Well, I didn't know he could post. Oh, catch and shoot spacing. I would argue today. I would choose him over Jason Tatum if I had to make a choice on two. And I don't know over the course of a series, Tatum probably would be more consistent. He's just older and more mature. I think Cooper flag has a chance to be outside of Wembe the best player in the league.

I think he's that. So I agree with the last piece that he, he has league MVP potential upside. He is showing that. He's 19 years old. He really should be a college freshman this year. He reclassified up. He is there. They're doing with him what they did with young LeBron, which is have him play point, even though he's not a point, just to get the rep, pardon me, the reps at doing a bit of everything. Yeah. So I do think he is a future superstar. I also think he is the rookie of the year with respect to con-knitple for rookie of the year. I don't so much care about team success. That's the one award. I don't care about team success. It's rookie of the year. I do not agree with you that I do not think he is going to be better.

than Jason Tatum at any point in the next, call it three seasons. Wow. I think if you're sitting now, if you want to say like right now this moment, Tatum coming off the Achilles where he's not fully, but if we're saying Jason Tatum at full strength next season, walks into next season, one of the seven best players in the sport, Cooper flag, in my opinion, does not approach that until probably year four.

Wow. I think that's fair. He's way closer than you. Wow. Oh, I mean, well, that is where I do need to see what it looks like when you're playing competitive basketball, what it looks like when you're on a competitive team. I think he has the whole toolkit. And if you're saying, is his, is Cooper Flagg's ceiling higher than Tatum's ceiling?

I don't think probably. Because I don't think Tatum's ever going to win league MVP, and I think Cooper could. But I don't think any time soon Cooper flag is going to be a consensus top eight player in the league. And I think Tatum, when he is fully recovered from his Achilles, he will be. I also think the Celtics might win the title this year, and that will be in large part because of Tatum's miraculous recovery and coming back as quickly as he has. So I believe this is that one of the things, this used to be a topic with my buddies. They're like if you could coach football in the NFL or college, which would you choose? And I always said, I don't want to grovel to 16-year-olds in small towns and spend 300 hours on them and then not.

One of the things I like about the NIL is, and Mike Malone takes the UNC job, Belichick goes to college. It's administrative. It's truer. Hey, let's stop beat her on the bush. Here's what we can pay. We have a really good coach. Okay, I'll sign. That's why college basketball, the old guys are flourishing.

You don't have to go to high schools and grovel. It's not an energy game anymore. It's an administrative game. And the NBA coaches are getting younger to deal with the younger NBA. It kind of goes in reverse, maybe 20 years ago. So I look at the NIL. The other thing I like about it, players get paid they deserve to. The other thing I like about it is that academics now matter.

Vanderbilt, an academic powerhouse, top ten in football, and basketball, at least at some point last year. These are universities. And I'm not saying your footprint shouldn't matter if you're in Georgia or Texas or L.A. You've got more good players. I'm not saying that. But these are universities. And what you're seeing with the Big Ten is affluent alumni matters.

Sure. Yeah. And I think it's better for the player. It's more administrative and no more groveling. And the truth is there was always this feeling about like college sports. It was like, are they going to Clare? Is it just? Now it's like, yes, the alumni matter, the school matters, the quality of academics matter to some degree.

I love NIL. What do you think about what wins in college sports? So listen, I think the way it used to be done was abhorrent. And I think there is, you know, there literally have been books written about it. It is not time to discuss a year. But there was something highly uncomfortable for me always that the two, sports that generated all the money, men's football and men's basketball, the players were vast majority, black kids from majority poor communities, they got none of the spoils. And then non-rev

sports and administrators, most of whom are not black people from poor communities, got all the spoils. I hated that. I thought it was unfair and exploitive. So it needed to be changed. It feels to be like we went from one extreme to another extreme where the only kid in Michigan's top seven rotation that started at Michigan is the freshman. And there is, there are no, there isn't the store, like what

the UCLA women's team had with those seniors growing together and winning and then losing together and then finally overcoming, that's gone in the men's game. So I wish there was something of a happy medium where the players

can get the money they deserve, but there can also be some continuity of the teams. Now, I don't have the solution. I know the president unveiled a 79-page potential solution. I'll take the under on that working, but I think there are potential ideas that need to be implemented to where the players can make money and there can still be a little more continuity of teams. With that said, Colin, it feels like the college football game, the actual product, has gotten better because of it. There are better matchups. There are better matchups. That product not only is not suffered.

The players are older. Right. It's gotten better. I do not feel that way about college basketball. You and Danny Parkins promised me, oh, no Cinderella's. We'll just wait for how great the elite eight and final four will be. We had one good game. Duke Yukon was good.

Everything else was a blowout. Last night's a rock fight. You guys promised me that as long as we didn't have family. MU mucking it up for everyone, we were going to get, you know, Blue Devils Rebels back from the 90s again. 95, 94 highly played and set a team that was two for 20 from three wins the title. And no game's close. So I, I, I, I, I, college basketball to me is in a state of flux. It's not that it's bad, but it doesn't have as much depth of character as I was used to.

college football does neither, but the games are so good and the matchups are so amazing, I don't care as much. But I don't feel exactly the same way about college hoops. All right. Well, it was a bit of a rock fight. You know, it's like, it was either rock fights or blowouts. All for three weeks. You're like, screw you, little guy.

Who needs Butler? And then we see it's 9572 Arizona in the elite eight. I'm like, sweet. You told me these games are going to be great. You're complaining about that. Did you watch the NBA last Friday? That was a... Well, I mean, no.

This is a whole other problem. That's a whole another story, what's going on in the association. Now, the NBA, definitively, these playoffs better be nothing but six and seven game epics. Because we have the last two months of the regular season have been teams trying against teams trying to lose and 30 points spread. so the playoffs better be cinema for the NBA.

I think they might be, but they need to be. All right, Nick, great stuff, buddy. You too. Good to see you, Colin. All right, Nick, right, first things first. Eric Musselman, the USC basketball coach is going to be joining us. He has a very, you know, for years when he was in his, when he's a younger guy, you know, you young guys out there, you're getting in fights and you're all feisty, and then you get gray hair and you're like, man, what am I doing?

Anybody got a golf club? Muslim was a fiery guy, maybe not Hurley level, but he's going to come on later. I think Danny Hurley's intensity was validated the entire tournament. I honestly, I've watched a lot of Yukon basketball because I lived in Connecticut for 10 years. That's the least talented national championship game Yukon team I've ever seen. And that's not a knock on and they have some players. But, I mean, Yukon's had some teams. I mean, they have had some teams.

more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Hurd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube, and you can be a part of it. Just go to YouTube and search Fox Sports Radio. Hit that subscribe button and smash that notification bell and catch all the videos from your favorite shows. Two pros and a cup of jump. Dan Patrick, Colin Cowherd, Stu Gads and Company, live, Kavino and Rich, the odd couple with Rob Parker and Kelvin The Jason Smith show with Mike Harmon And the Ben Mallor show

Fox Sports Radio on YouTube Subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon and comment away. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, nice news? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas, we invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. 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. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... 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,

where 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 s nl late night comedy guy not quite unhumor me with robert smigel and friends me and hilarious guests from bob odenkirk to david letter help make you funnier this week my guess s n l's mikey day and head writer streeter sidel help an acapella 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 athletes 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and 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. 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. Good to have you back in on a Tuesday. Without further ado, John Middilcoff with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herd Line News. Let's head to the Big Apple, Colin, where Jalen Brunson and Kat led the Knicks.

They combined 51 points to a straight win. You know, the Knicks are a year removed from playing in that awesome Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers, a little throwback to the 90s. James Dolan put out of public finals were bust. Message back in January. Obviously, the pressure is really high. They fired their coach. This offseason brought in Mike Brown.

How far do you think the Knicks can go in the East, Colin? Because let's face it, now the Lakers are in trouble. Steph Curry is probably out. They need these big brands, especially in the East, which not great. I think it's matchup based. Cade Cunningham is back. I think Detroit is a tough matchup for New York because they're super physical, and New York's not.

I still like their starting five. Their bench scoring doesn't do much for me, but I mean, they have a couple of issues that will limit their chances to win the championship, but I would not be shocked if the Knicks made the Eastern Conference Finals. It'll be match-up based. I think Boston is my pick to win the East. Detroit can struggle in the half-court offense. They're a little bit like Yukon.

They've got a way, they've got a play to win. The Knicks, if they didn't, if they're two best players, weren't a defensive liability. I don't trust Kat sometimes in big situations, though he's gifted. I just don't think the Knicks have a complete team to win a title, but they're certainly good enough to get to a conference championship,

especially in the East. Yeah, I think the hard part is, you know, Tibbs was just, you know, I thought he kind of got a raw deal. I guess sometimes you got to make a change, but if they don't make it back to the conference finals, that's a step back. Now, granted, if they play the Celtics in the second round, they beat him last

year, so it's not like they wouldn't be confident going into that series. Celtics aren't as good. I mean, Tatum's still coming back from injury. So I hope the Knicks make a run. It's more interesting from where I'm standing. Here's one of your favorite topics, Colin. Aaron Rogers.

A lot of rumblings out there. A few weeks ago, Charlie Batts speculated the hold up on this potential return, come back, however you want to phrase it, is due to money. He wants $30 million. And now a Steelers insider is admitting to that claim saying the Steelers anticipating Rogers wanting a race. Listen, I got to take Rogers' side on this. Same.

If he wants $30 million, he took $10 last year. That's two years, $40 million. That's what Justin Fields got last year. Look at what quarterbacks make now, how many guys are making over 30. Aaron Rogers last year, statistically 24 touchdowns. He played injured. It sounds a little crazy at first because my first was like $30 million. But if you do the aggregate over the two years,

Like, you need me more than I need you. Well, I don't think there's any doubt. You can say whatever you want about Aaron Rogers. They were a dysfunctional offense that were bad in the red zone, and they became a very, very good red zone offense. They were situationally a much smarter team. I think, Aaron, this is one of those all back him. He did Pittsburgh a solid.

Well, Pittsburgh fired their coach, or whatever the transactions call. now you've got Aaron's old coach. So Aaron's like, listen, I came here and a big chunk of it was Tomlin, and I took a team-friendly deal. I'm not giving you both. You change the coach, and you want me to go cheap again. I'm totally Team Aaron here.

You know, we said when he went to Pittsburgh, it wasn't a great fit. Part of it was he respected Mike. So Mike's gone. So I don't get Mike or the contract. You've got to be fair. Aaron deserves closer to 30. And here's the other thing. The Steelers ownership has said over and over. We're not doing the Miami Dolphins. We're not doing the Jets. We're not punting on a. We want to win. Well, McCarthy can talk up Will Howard all he wants at the owners meetings. Their best chance to win in 2006, right, is Aaron Rogers. So in the going rate for $10 million, we saw cousins got that. More than likely, cousin's going to be the backup. A going rate for a backup quarterback is $5 to $12 million. That's what Aaron Rogers did for the. them last year and they made the playoffs. So I think Aaron could kind of draw a hard line.

What else are the Steelers going to do? Sticking with the NFL, you know, LaFleur had some comments last week about internally in the locker room, people with their roles. Obviously, they extended them. Report surfaced about, you know, all these players, they got rid of a bunch of guys. With all that said, he did end up getting a contract extension and he talked about how he plans to change a lot of things this offseason. I think you're always evaluating and trying to make the decisions that are best for your football team, which you believe, would be best for your football team. So, yeah, I mean, you always look at ways you can improve.

And I thought the best way for us to report is we just got to strip everything down and start like it's your one all over again. I don't know, Colin. I mean, the Packers got a lot of moving parts. They don't have the first round pick because they made this mica trade. and now they're in transition. You can't be in transition once you do the mica trade. You're kind of all in, right? You know, I think about this all the time.

There's so many, like baseball made a complete pivot with rule changes. Stuff that was legal is not legal. College football, the death penalty used to be paying players. Now it's promoted. Yeah. The NFL, it's just, have you noticed in recent years, last couple years, GMs are just giving up draft picks. to go spend money in free agency.

And my take on that is it doesn't help the Packers because it's not an attractive free agent market. Here's why I believe GMs are doing this, John. It's twofold. Number one is owners are more impulsive. They don't want to see draft and develop. They want you to go get that guy from the Ravens, you know, like in Las Vegas. Go get Linderbaum.

I want good players. So the owners are running through GMs and coaches faster than ever. and coaches and GMs are on the clock by their first Thanksgiving. People are making judgments. So people are now just giving up. I mean, I love, Jaden Wall is a good player. A first and a third, and wasn't there a fifth? I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

It feels like five years ago you don't make that move. And so I wonder about now all of a sudden, Caleb's in Chicago with Ben Johnson. Kevin O'Connell, if he gets the quarterback, is going to be great. Detroit's got a great front office. This is not a knock on Green Bay, but cultures change. I think free agency, I mean, the Chiefs, look what they spent on a running back. You've got to solve things, even if you're Andy Reed and Spaggs and Brett Veach, is I wonder about the future of Green Bay.

You know, I had a GM tell me recently, he's like, you know, one thing you guys get wrong, he didn't say it like that, but he was kind of laughing. He said, there's a big difference between the salary cap and the cash spending. and when you look at the cash spending for this upcoming year, it's a lot of Niners, Broncos, Eagles, right? The bills spend a lot of these big-time owners. That's not really how the Packers operate. So just because the cap is 300 doesn't mean you can't spend 400. And the chiefs are now spending a lot of money this upcoming season.

So you can have, you know, everyone says there's parity and their salary cap. That is true, but you can manipulate it. Jeffrey Lurie's done this with Howie Roseman. for close to a decade now, right? And the Rams are making a living off this. So that's where the Packers getting aggressive. They did that with Micah Parsons, but you can't just stop there. You know, the Rams, they make a trade for Michael Parsons.

They're looking to do something else. Look at this. They trade for Trent McDuffie. How do we get A.J. Brown? It's like, geez. But that's, they have unlimited. The Broncos, they have this huge cash windfall behind them. It's going to be the one thing the Packers have going for them.

Gutikins, LaFlor, they're well run. Gutikins came up. But your margin for error now as the cash gets bigger is much smaller. Yeah, I really feel like it's becoming more of a free agency league. You know, the NBA is doing the opposite. Baseball and football feel like we don't care if there's dynasties. We don't have a tanking issue. And we like big trades.

Yeah. The NBA has gotten, you know, the NBA has become like your friends that used to be cool. And then they got really rigid. And maybe they had kids and they don't go out and party anymore. You can't make big trades. We're paralyzed by honesty. We want everybody to have the same amount of money. Sports socialism doesn't work.

You got to let the big spenders spend because the winner and all that is the consumer. People like trades. They like big swings. I don't know. I think the NFL is getting to be a bigger swing free agency league, bigger trade league, and I'm not sure it's built for Green Bay. Yeah, they're going to have to adapt. I think they tried last year with Micah, but that's just big picture.

Can they do two or three of those? You know, is that all they have? So Packers are going to be fascinated this upcoming year because they're pretty well invested into this team. They extended the floor. But your bears, Colin, they're going to try to defend that division. That's for sure. John with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. You know, I thought Dan Hurley's intensity was rewarded last night. Michigan had scored 90 points in like five straight games. They finished in the 60s. Michigan was held to its worst field goal percentage. and its worst three point percentage all season last night.

Is it a coincidence that it was against Dan Hurley and Yukon? Is that I thought this year validated everything that Dan Hurley preaches, intensity, volume. He yells overwhelmingly at refs, not the players. Hurley had a team, I think it was three years ago that had Stefan Castle, Donovan Klingin, Cam Spencer, Alex Carabam was a freshman. I thought that was the best basketball team I had seen since the back-to-back Gator Billy Donovan title team.

That team would have trounced Yukon last night. That team was stacked. I mean, that was the best defensive team I have seen since the Donovan teams. They just put handcuffed on people. They were incredible that team three years ago. I mean, they were just long and physical. They could beat you three different ways.

They could shoot. They could defend. They just took teams apart. That's not what Yukon was last night. They were about intensity, toughness, not skill. And so to me, Alex Caraband, by the way, it was a sophomore on that team. I forget he's been in college. He's been in college.

I was like, Jerry McNamara at Syracuse. For a while, I'm like, is he taking master's courses? He's there for the hot lunch program? How long can Jerry McNamara stay at Syracuse? So it's just that team was unbelievable. Yukon last night went in there's a big dog for a reason. Like, they're, this, this is what coaching's about. And, I mean, that team years ago went to the natty.

Zach Eaddy had like 37 points and they just undressed an excellent Purdue team. That team was unbelievable. Last night's team was all gut and guile and toughness and coaching. And so, you know, you can, you can argue and scream and yell and the calls. This team just lives, you know, it's an off ball, wrote off ball. movement offense. They don't initiate contract. They try to find jumpers.

And I think fans forget this. They always go to the box score. Well, we shot 12 fewer free throws. The Warriors with KD never got to the line. They lived on jumpers. Yukon didn't have the skill to attack. They didn't have the individual ISO star. It was set up jumpers and try to hit them,

and they didn't hit enough of them. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the High Heart Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? 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. 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, where 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 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 Smygel and Friends on the IHeart 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 athletes 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 beaders 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 Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and 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. 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.

Saturday night baseball night on Fox. This week, we've got Roman Anthony and the Red Sox versus the Cardinals, or Raphael Devers and the Giants against the Orioles. Baseball night in America Saturday at 7 Eastern only on Fox. Where Red So I had Nick Wright on. I think Yokic is the most unique center I've ever seen. He'll lead the NBA this year in assists and rebounding, and they're kind of a competition.

They're in conflict with each other. Generally, you know, your point guard who's got the ball all the time kind of runs point. runs the offense. He's a big assist guy. You're Chris Paul and you're Steve Nash, your Jason kid, and then your big guy's a rebounder. Well, he's both and points and just screen setting. And this year is the first year for Yokic that he has an all-star. He's never played with an all-star. Jamal Murray made the All-Star team. He and Murray have been together forever. They really fit. They're both just intellectual players. They really totally understand each other,

hand a glove, it's great. And when Gordon plays and is healthy, I think they can beat anybody, including OKC. I find myself rooting for him. And this is the one thing about being a pro athlete. Like, I know they make a bunch of money. But number one for pro athletes is that you don't get to choose where you go to work. The rest of us mostly do, right?

Especially talented people have options. It doesn't matter. You can get stuck with a terrible franchise. The second thing is, if you're an all-time great franchise, What if you have a lousy owner? What if you have a lousy GM? I mean, LeBron's like, I'm going to Miami. People are like, how outrageous?

You've been there seven years. They couldn't draft one other All-Star. Like, see, you don't have a choice of where you go. And you can get, you know, you can be the $10 million chandelier in a cruddy house. And so, and I'm not saying Denver's not well run, but this is his first All-Star. I did like the Gordon move. But Nick says there's kind of a. ceiling if he doesn't want another ring, which is a shame of how great he can be.

He is right now up against the Shaq Akeem Steff group. I think he's right on the outside there. I don't think winning MVP this year or next year, it moves him actually. Because every guy, if you talk about the 12 greatest players ever, Braun, Kareem, Michael, Russell, Magic. Wilt, Duncan, Kobe, Bird, Akeem, Shaq, Steph. All of them are multi-title guys. Well, a lot of them had great owners and great teammates and great general managers. I will say this, when Aaron Gordon plays, Denver's 26 and 9.

So you generally need three high-end players. So San Antonio's got great players, but none of them have played any playoff games except Deerrin Fox. Oklahoma City's had, you know, one great playoff run. I got Yokic, I got Murray. Murray's having a great year, and Gordon's coming back. I think if you're a gambling person, Denver winning it is a pretty good bet. And if they got to the finals, good luck Boston.

Because I, Yokic is, you know, I know it's, and this is the reality of basketball. Like the basketball Hall of Fame has all sorts of characters in it. And, I mean, they have officials in it, members of the Globetrotters. It's always been like, you know, a little bit of an optics league. If you've got a flashy fun game, you're going to, you know, and you were productive. You didn't have to be a winning player. You didn't have to be, you know, the shame in Yokic, if he never wins a second title, he really is a winning player.

He'll do the dirty work. And a lot of guys, you know, I don't even need to mention certain guys, Luca, they don't want to play defense. They don't even want to get in great shape. I mean, Yokic will do all the ugly dirty work. he'll set the screens he'll do the rebounding uh he's got to bang the body of the other big guy so he like he plays basketball the way it should be played and i i just never you know i grew up with kareem and koreen was a great defensive player and had an unstoppable shot but the game was different he was not a perimeter player yoke's going to do all of it i mean if you watch that game

saturday and i watched about half of it against wemby i was watching all sorts of stuff uh is the only guy in the league that goes right at Wemby, right at him, like six, seven times, just right at him and scores and makes it look easy. Remember, Denver last year took O KC to seven games, and Aaron Gordon was hurt, he played through it. So if Aaron Gordon's back in healthy, Aaron Gordon plays hard. Like it, I mean, he is one of those guys that sacrifices his body. I don't know. I'm kind of rooting for Denver in the playoffs. I got to be honest. Between John Payton and the Broncos and Yokic, kind of a Denver homer on this show. John, so you took Yukon last night.

You covered, if I recall, did you not? I did. Because as the game went on, did it have a football field? There was a guy on the floor every single possession. I mean, Yukon, that's the hardest I've ever seen any level of basketball team play. I think if Michigan plays, I mean, we saw him play Arizona the other time. top 15 teams, they win that game by 30. But Yukon, I mean, you talk about a gritty, tough group.

That was really impressive. They had no business being in it. No, there was a moment last night. I was telling the staff, when the cameras, a Yukon player fell to the ground. And the camera, they immediately, the director cut to a shot of like a low camera at the baseline. And it looked like this Yukon player on the floor was surrounded by Redwoods. I'm like, man. Michigan is for a college team, their front line is, it feels unprecedented.

You know, one of the cool part about sports is, you know, when you're a champion and you destroy people, Hurley got a lot of credit. I actually think he like almost earned more credibility with the team that had no business being this far and doing what he did. I think it clearly up to his legendary status and took a guy with multiple titles, kind of do another, level. I mean, that was, these last two games, I mean, they worked in Illinois. But last night, because every moment, you're like, oh, Michigan's about to blow this thing out. They just couldn't. And they just, I mean, they fouled them. It looked like every play. It was a physical game.

Duke led them by 15. I think it was 19. 19. And Duke had much more talent, but Duke didn't have the experience and they folded. Michigan does not have as much talent as Duke, but much more size physicality and toughness. And to beat Yukon, you needed a combination of both. Duke proved it's not just five-star kids. You weren't beating this Yukon team with freshmen. I mean, you had to have some, you had to have a little gray in the beard. You had to be older.

This Yukon team, so much toughness and metal. Hour three on a Tuesday, next. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The story I've told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast Deeply Well with Debbie Brown if you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole. This podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, hope from a hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions.

Psych! I'm a comedian! I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.