The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - How to stop the NBA's tanking problem, what the Chiefs should NOT do, Nick Wright

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

Colin talks to Nick Wright from First Things First joins the show to explain why the Warriors have committed a basketball crime with their handling of the roster surrounding Steph Curry and why the Chiefs would be making a mistake to bring back WR Tyreek HillSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Nick Wright in a couple of minutes. We are live. We're in Chicago. Seriously, I didn't even wear a jacket to work today. I wore a sweater. Unbelievable. You think you're going to throw seven weeks of cold weather at this guy? Nothing.

Like a 72-mile-hour fastball. Wack that out. I'm wearing sweaters and golf shirts to work now. So I was talking about an hour ago. interesting story. Dave McMinneman went and he talked about the Lakers not doing anything at the trade deadline and that's because a lot of executives think they're going to go after Yannis. And then in the article, there's this line and I'm like, wait, what? What? What? And the line is, well, according to a source, if LeBron wants to come back next year in L.A., he can. And my take is,

okay, pick a timeline, need a rim protector, multiple young athletic wing defenders, multiple shooters. It's not that LeBron's not good, but the Lakers moved off Shaq, and he was beloved in L.A. and had three titles, and they moved off him, and it hurt for a year, but they moved off him because they had a young star in Kobe Bryant, who was an obsessed in great shape player. Luke is not. Lucas 27 in a week, like Carmelo Anthony, whose last great all-N-B-A year was 28 years old. Lucas not dunking anymore. Three this year, one last year. He doesn't appear again to be in great shape. has very casual interest in defending.

It's very Carmelo. And I've said you're going to wake up very quickly with the Lakers and go, oh, Luke is 29 years old and we're playing around with LeBron's retirement tours. It's not that LeBron hasn't been a good soldier and a great player and an all-time legend and the best player ever. I'm not denying any of that. OKC said, we're picking a timeline. San Antonio said, Detroit said, we're picking a timeline.

You get into trouble when you're the warriors and you have old Steph and old Draymond. We'll try to get young, but I don't love being young. We're going to still be old. We'll try you. Pick a timeline. Which direction you're going. So to me, I mean, the Dodgers and the Rams move off stars all the time. You can't be paralyzed by this.

We're not Memphis in L.A. John Morant, we can't move off him or the Pelicans with Zion. What will the fans say? Nobody cares. It's L.A. They moved off a Super Bowl quarterback in golf. They moved off Vaughn Miller. They move off Todd Gurley.

Dodgers move off Cody Bellinger, Tray Turner, Scott Sager. Great player. Manny Machado. It's L.A. You know, you'll find somebody else. But I, the whole, I mean, Jason Timp yesterday brought the hammer on Rob Polinka. This roster has multiple holes in it. There have just been too many misses, draft misses, like wasting first round picks on Jalen Hood, Schaffino and Dalton Connect,

and getting nothing out of those guys. Can't even play them or they're out of the league. Free agent misses. Jordan Goodwin was like a really important player for them last year. They let him walk because they didn't want to spend a second round pick to clear a roster spot. So they let him walk. Now he's killing it for the Phoenix Suns this year. Letting Alex Crusoe walk, botching their mid-level exception choices every year on

Kendrick Nunn and on Gabe Vincent. Like, nobody's perfect on this stuff, Colin. It's hard. But no one's been as dreadfully bad on the margins. Yeah, and I always like bringing Nick Wright on anytime there's a connection, not only to the NBA, but to LeBron James, who is still a remarkable player. He's been a good steward. He's been a good Laker.

but this is an organization that moved off Shaq. And I remember at the time, Shaq was more popular than Kobe. And at the time in those championships, he was more dominant than Kobe. And with that Nick Wright, who's in L.A. joins us live. You know, it is interesting.

I said this earlier. As long as the king is wearing, is on the throne, the prince can't run the organization. Luke is the prince. LeBron's the king, and if he's there, your timelines are messed up, you're not really totally Lucas team, who is a flawed player, like Carmelo, he's a flawed player, he's gotten less dynamic, he doesn't dunk.

I mean, I guess we'll go back and I'll ask you again, what do you do with the LeBron component here? The article says, well, if he wants to come back, he gets to come back, and I think he's going to be 29 in two years. He's an aging player. Yeah, so I don't think I, this is, you know, I'm not reporting this. This is just my gut opinion. I do not believe LeBron James is retiring and I do not believe LeBron James will be A. Laker next year.

I think wherever the final chapter is going to be will be somewhere else. I also think to Jason Timp's point that it is a basketball crime that that that is a basketball crime that you had LeBron James on your roster who Luca modeled his game after and the types of players that you need to have around an older LeBron James to succeed are the exact types of players

you need to have around Lucanich and they trade for Lucanich and were more than a year removed and they're like, man, we sure don't have the right types of guys around him. It was, you were, you were, You should have been ready to have Luke on the team because you had a guy who offensively plays very similarly and has at this point in his career a lot of the same limitations because LeBron at 41 isn't a great defender. You do need young athletic wings.

A lot of the same things you need around Luca. And the Lakers have just whiffed on that. It feels to me like the Lakers have acted as if they have been put out. by the fact that LeBron didn't deteriorate more quickly and more precipitously. Like that their whole plan was, well,

by 2023, LeBron will be 16 points a game like every other year 20 guy. And we can start. But LeBron was sixth an MVP voting last year. And this is the danger that I think the Lakers have run. I think it is very, if they do not get,

Janus. And there is no guarantee at all they will get Janus. I think there is a very good chance that five years from now, if we say who was the best teammate Luca ever had on the Lakers, the answer would have been last year's LeBron James. And the second best teammate might be this year's Austin Reeves and third best this year's LeBron James. So you are not, the fact that they traded for Luca, punted on the last. deadline, basically punted on this offseason, and are now punted on this deadline, forget LeBron. You are giving up years of Lucas Prime and your opportunity to contend.

It's incredibly risky. It's not the moves I would make, but I have been highly critical of how Rob Belinkas run the Lakers. I give him credit. He didn't hang up on Nico Harrison. But aside from that, I don't think there have been a lot of great. moves, and this isn't about LeBron. It is about the fact that Luca, who I believe has the ability to be a multi-time

league MVP, might be at the peak of his powers. And you're like, eh, we're probably a second round team this year, and we're okay with that. You should never be okay with that when you have a player as good as Luca at the age Luca is. So, yeah, I was saying yesterday, I'm not actually pro-tanking, but when the NBA and Adam Silver create these aprons, and they literally limit with a hard cap other avenues to go from unwatchable to good,

I get Danny Aange going and the Spurs going, well, let's tank for a couple years and get players. By the way, if you look at the Spurs, well, the tanking thing worked, and the Pistons, it worked. Okay, see, didn't, but I'm looking at the Jazz, and my take is if the Jazz get Peterson from Kansas, okay, watch out next year because they have a lot of young talent. So you can tell me tanking's awful. It's been around forever. There's more of it now.

But I think there's more of it now that David Stern allowed you to rebuild your team multiple ways. You could be transactional. You could get a KD. You could trade for Shaq. Now it's like tank. And all these GMs are like, well, how do we go from the Wizards and the Jazz three years ago to this, a top team?

So what, how do you solve tanking? If it's so bad, I don't think it's bad for San Antonio, the Pistons or the Jazz. Well, so here's the thing. I do think it's bad for the jazz. Thus far, it's been bad for the jazz. We'll see. The Pistons got to the other side. San Antonio had unbelievable lottery luck and good for them.

They're a well-run organization. If someone's going to get lucky, I'm glad it's an organization that has history of trying and doing things the right way. I don't blame individual teams for doing what is logically coherent to the path. Yes. I blame the league. massively for allowing these incentives to exist. It is an untenable model that everyone says when Janus doesn't get traded. Oh, okay, the smart thing for Milwaukee is to not play Janus the rest of the year.

It is an untenable model for the Hawks to trade for Tray Young and Anthony Davis, and all of us assume, but they're not going to play this year because they don't want to win games this year. I am fine with teams making roster decisions in the offseason or the deadline that say we are looking forward to years down the road. We are going to trade away older or better players for draft picks. That's fine. What I am not fine with is teams actively, once you have the roster that you have, not trying to win games or teams sitting healthy guys that is flatly bad for business. And so I, there are, I think Adam Silver needs a bit of a harsher hand and threaten teams like suing. They take it up.

David Stern got on the phone and threatened people. Jams, everybody except owners. And so that thing that Utah did before the All-Star break, where in back-to-back games, for the fourth quarter of games sat their best players, I would be totally fine with Adam Silver, calling up the jazz after the first time they did that and say, I'm letting you know right now, if you do that or something that reminds me of that again, your pick is 30th next year. You're out of the lottery. You're picking 30th. Fight me in NBA arbitration, but I am going to make that ruling. I would be fine with Adam Silver making it

very clear. If you are doing things that are against the competitive integrity of the sport, the penalty will be Joe Smith level harsh to get people to stop doing it. I'd also be okay with them saying, here's how it's going to be. The 10 teams that are not play in or playoffs, the bottom 10 teams in the league, they all have the same lottery odds. And if we see a team tanking out of the play in to get one of those, you're picking 30th. And because right now the incentives are so misaligned that it is not, it is the smart thing to do for individual teams. And it is the worst thing to do for the overall health of the league or respect

to your customer. You can't have those things be contradictory like that. I always think to that a league has got to tweak itself when really smart people are struggling. Pat Riley now can't figure out how to make the heat good. And the warriors can't figure out how to make it work. We know that Pat Riley and Steve Kerr, Mickey Eris and the owner and Joe, like, those are really well-run organizations. Miami and Golden State have become irrelevant. That tells me, okay, this is too hard.

It's getting too hard for the smart people. I mean, if you literally went to the NFL and McVeigh's like, I can't win anymore. You've probably made it too much of a defensive league. There's things getting in the way of smart people. So now we move into the Warriors, and my take is, never fall in love with your stars, fall in like.

They've tried to make everybody fit Curry. The Kaminga thing's a disaster. There's no way out. I get, again, they're in the honest, take a gigantic swing, give up all your draft capital. Do you blame the Warriors on falling in love with Korea? Would you have moved off them years ago? What do you do? No, I would have gone the opposite.

I blame them maybe for not loving Steph enough. I think what they've done the last few years is basketball criminal. I think that you have an oblig, when you have one of, let's be, you know, know, conservative here. Fifteen greatest players in the history of the sport, and he ain't 15th. He's higher than that. Yeah. Still, at or near the peak of his powers, you have an obligation to only care about his

timeline. This was my frustration with LeBron at the end of his time in Cleveland when we knew it was ending, but he was still by a large margin, the best player in basketball. in 2018 when they had to trade Kyrie. They could have done a Kyrie Paul George trade, but the owner in Cleveland was like, no, we need a draft pick for the post-Lebron era.

And the post-Lebron era was five years of nothing, and that draft pick was Colin Sexton. The Warriors 2 timeline thing was a farce. And they ended up kind of stealing a championship in 2022, despite the fact that Wiseman, Moody, Caminga, contributed very little, and that papered over the fact that they were very fortunate, that post-KD, they had the year where Steph broke his hand

and they were awful, and they had made some shrewd moves that they then could have restocked their team with guys ready to win now. But they, I thought they had a little light years ahead arrogance thinking, we're going to be great with Steph, and then when he retires, we're going to be. Man, John, Wiseman and Jonathan Caminga were never going to be Steph and Clay. And you were dopes for the, you had, you have one of the greatest players ever and one of the greatest wingmen ever. And they didn't go all in on that era.

And now they are stuck in the middle where they traded Cominga at his, you know, lowest possible value. Jimmy got hurt. And now, Steph, who is the greatest old small player ever. He's already the greatest small player ever. but we've never seen a small guy age like this stocked in close but not as good as step he's just twisting in the wind for the final years of his excellence and that's a shame One NFL question, I wouldn't, I think been there, done that on Tyreek Hill. I think Kansas City's got to get their O-line and run game right. I'd actually trade picks if I could get love from Notre Dame, get the running game solved.

I think your O-line Simmons will be fine at left tackle. I don't think you need to go back Tyreek Hill. There's off-field stuff. He's kind of distracted. And the truth is now the way the defenses and the shells are defensively in the NFL, people aren't giving up the Tyreek Hill touchdowns like they used to. But you're a chiefs fan. You've got a sense of it.

Is there a part of you that thinks, man, he could be what worthy is, and over the top? I don't know. So, listen, I said on TV two years ago that I thought Tyree Kill would be a chief in 2026. I said on TV at the beginning of this football season that I thought Tyree Kill would be a chief next year. the combination of what is a growing volume of really, let's call them, ugly allegations to be kind off the field,

what is not allegations just on the record awful teammate stuff with the way it ended the last year in Miami and him going from being in love with Tua to a big public, you know, critic of Tua, even if that's fair, it's not good from your highest paid player and your best player. on your team and just on the field, real concern of a guy whose entire skill set was based around he was the single best athlete in the world, arguably for a period of time, certainly in the NFL, coming off a catastrophic knee injury, all of those things make it from, if he signed with the chiefs for five million bucks, okay, see if, fine. But that it is, it is. not a priority. It should not be something you base your off season around. If he wants to take a

massive discount to try to prove to people, he can still do it. And, you know, if the off-field stuff, you know, does not keep him out of football and does not continue, then I suppose. But I also, I'm an adult and I understand it's professional football and you're not going to have a team full of Walter Payton Man in the year winners. However, that right now, the guys on the Chiefs, my team, they don't have a lot of guys who have off the field concerns, but the guys they do are clustered in that wide receiver room. And then you bring Tyreek in as well, that would be concerning to say the least. And so I, it is, I thought it was a fate accompli a couple years ago. He'll finish his career in Kansas City. Now it seems like they

could have him for, you know, pretty cheap, so maybe he will. But it is not a priority. the way I would have thought it was a couple years ago. So I want to circle back to something with the Lakers, because this is, and I think we both like doing this, is that I said four years ago when the world fell in love with Luca, and I did two in the first two to three years, I said he's really become a much better version of Carmelo. He's not in great shape, doesn't want to really defend,

and most of the guys that win rings, D. Wade, LeBron, Kobe, Duncan, Shaq, at least four prime years, they defend. They send the message that we're going to play both ends. Wembe, by the way, we're going to play both ends. Steph Curry's limited, but they surrounded him with people that could. I've said this on Luca. Two things can be true.

He's an all-time great offensive talent. He's 27 in a week. Carmelo Anthony's last all-NBA year was 28. We know this to be true. Athletes age differently. Brady obsessed, LeBron obsessed, age beautifully. guys that, you know, do what I want in the off season, may have some smokes and a couple of Belgian beers. My take on Luca is, and I want to throw this out there, is you're going to look up in two years,

messing around with LeBron's retirement tour, and Luke is going to be 29, and Nick, it's going to feel like that last great year with Carmelo, you're like, he's aged really quick. I guess I'm not in love with Luca as much as everybody else is. So I would use a different comp. and this guy also has not won, but it's reason for more optimism. Because Luca does not remind me of Carmelo. He reminds me of James Hardin, except Luca is an all-time playoff riser, while Hardin was an all-time playoff faller.

Stylistically, ball-dominant, shot selection, all of that being a great passer and great score is similar to Hardin. You know, off-season work habits, maybe similar to Hardin. you know, body fat percentage, maybe similar to Hardin. But James Hardin, despite all of that, he was, and he has played a very long time, still at a very high level in the regular season. He obviously is, you know, a different type of all-time guy

when it comes to legendary athlete who are just every single year a shell of themselves in the postseason. That is not who Luke has been. Luca has been, I think, is the second all-time in NBA history and playoff points per game. He has, I think, the 14th most 40-point games in playoff history already. He's been a great playoff performer. Now, you need to surround him with the right people. You need to understand he is not the easiest guy to build around.

But the Mavs figured it out. The Mavs, they went to a conference finals. They had a down year. They were in the NBA finals ahead of. of schedule with Luca. So I disagree with you on that. I don't, I think he is, Carmelo did one thing awesome, score the

basketball. Luke is one of the greatest creators of offense and an offense unto himself similar to Hardin, but unlike Hardin, he's a great playoff player. So I think Luca will have a longer prime than you think, but I also think that it's, he

won't ever be better than he is right now. He's not going to become a great defender. No. He's not going, where, He's not going to improve, I don't believe, as a player. I think he can maintain, and you can build a contender out of that if you know what you're doing. But similarly, Hardin, all NBA stuff, seven awards, 30 and before, one since. So Hardin's actually aged very quickly. I think Nightlife, I mean, I think Hardin, you're right.

Hardin and Luca, Hardin's a very good distributor. Great vision. Lucas similarly. So maybe it's a bad comp. but I'll say Carmelo age quickly. Luca no longer dunks. It's more cerebral than athletic. Harden age very quickly.

Like this pro story. No, that's fair. Like you are, you are, it is, we need to not be tricked by LeBron's age trajectory. Or Brady. LeBron and Brady are in separate categories entirely. Yes. And then like Drew Brees, Steph Curry are in separate categories. categories also. And then there's everybody else. Like there is the once in a millennia outlier

of Brady and LeBron into their 40s still being excellent. Then there is the once in 25 years outlier of Breeze at age 40 still being good. Steph at 38 as a 6-2 guy still being really good. And then we get to okay, the modern athlete, instead of peaking at 27 might be peaking at 30, but there's still a ticking clock on that. So I agree with, like, it is foolish to think, oh, the Lakers have 10 years to figure this out with Luca. No. I think he will be an MVP candidate for the next five years.

But that means your window is right now. That means right now you should be trying to win the championship. And what's frustrating me about the Lakers is last year and this year, it did not feel like they were trying to win the championship. like, oh, we'll be good. And then we'll see when we're, and Janus might not come. And if Yonis doesn't come, they're like, we're going to have all this cap space. In the modern NBA, cap space is not that valuable because nobody comes a free agent.

Guys, guys, instead of becoming free agents, they ask for contract extensions, then demand a trade. They don't let the contract expire. So I don't know what the plan is. I hope your Dodgers guys can get the Lakers on the right track, but I am not optimistic to go under the current regime. Nick Wright, first things first in L.A. this week. Just hanging out. Good to see you, buddy. Great to see you.

All right. Yeah, I would say Luke is going to be elite for about three more years. I think, you know, 28, because he's almost, he's almost 20. Was he 27 here real quick? 27 this year, next year, following year. And then go look at James Hardin. Carmelo, 28 went down. That was his last great year.

29. Hardin, 30, not the same player. I think Luke is going to be the same thing. Everybody talking, oh, Luke is in great shape. He was coming into the season. Look at him now. He looks heavier. The data tells you he's still a very slow defender.

Like, this is what he is. I'm not anti-anything. I'm just telling you what the data tells you. Like NFL wide receiver, 34 years old, it all changes. It's called biology. In Chicago, it's the herd. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week,

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A lot of NBA tank and talk and what's wrong with the NBA. And I will say this. Every year at this time, we spend about three weeks hammering the NBA. because football season's over. March Madness isn't here yet. My wife asked me this morning, like, is this a hard week to host? I said, it's a dead week.

There's about three a year. This is one of the dead weeks. Next week's a little bit of a dead week. And then we got one maybe in like July or early August. By and large, the sports calendar doesn't give us a lot of rest stops. But this has been kind of traditionally the week everybody's like, NBA's got a lot of problems. Well, there's the tanking issue, but that's the way to get better.

By the way, the Jazz won't be doing that next year. The Spurs are done doing that. OKC and Detroit are done doing it. So I do think the middle and top of the league right now has got a bunch of good teams. J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. I mean, I loathe the tanking talk, but the only thing I dislike more than that is Aaron Rogers, Colin. We have an Aaron Rogers update because, you know, it's February, and there's nothing to talk about. Aaron Rogers' future still up in the air. reports indicate he is, quote, leaning towards coming back to Pittsburgh. I mean, goodness gracious.

Aaron Rogers again? Dude, you're not LeBron. What are we doing here? LeBron is still thriving, okay? Aaron Rogers backed into the playoffs. Just go right off into the sunset. Go be anonymous in Malibu. Take up surfing as a hobby and enjoy the ayahuasca.

I will say he made the playoffs with an organization that can't figure out offense. You know the Steelers are going to be better. offensively. That is without a question, Mike McCarthy. You know, we bang on Mike McCarthy. Mike McCarthy's got terrible branding. He's got the same winning percentage as John Harbaugh, and we all love John Harbaugh, and nobody loves Mike McCarthy. It's the same coach. They both got a trophy. Look at their playoff records. The difference is, well, well, one guy had Joe Flacco and Lamar Jackson. Those are pretty good quarterbacks. One guy had Dak Prescott and Aaron Rogers. Those are really good quarterbacks. Pittsburgh with Aaron Rogers, and I'm not saying

it's the right thing to do, but I will tell you Pittsburgh with Aaron Rogers will be a much better offensive team. They've got to hit some draft picks and move off defense so they can change their spending to the other side of the ball. But McCarthy in this offense, for the first time in years, will look like a progressive offense. Bang on him all you want. He's got John Harbaugh's resume, down the line. What are you producing now? That's a great topic. Does Mike McCarthy need better branding? Yes.

I mean, honestly, it is because Mike McCarthy cries at the introductory press conference. It's like, bro, what are you doing? You walk away from the Cowboys to go to this disaster? And I know you said the Steelers made the playoffs. They backed in like, I mean, come on. Well, you know, if you make it, you make it. There's a lot of very, I mean, listen, the Seattle Seahawks, you go look at the Seahawks, the Rams, the difference between home field, making it, not making it.

Slooky stuff. In the NFC West, I mean, you went down to the last couple of weeks and some of these good teams. We weren't sure the Rams were going to make it in with two weeks to go. We're like, well, what if they lose here in Seattle and San Francisco win here? So if you get in, you get in and they got in. Yeah. All right, let's move on to Mike Vrable and the New England Patriots, Colin. Obviously, the Super Bowl loss was a bad one.

Some people saw that beatdown coming. But one guy who's shown in the game was Christian Gonzalez. He was very, very good. and says Rable has been helping him become a better leader, adding, been trying to find my own voice, my leadership trying to grow. Gonzalez looks like probably a top five cornerback in the league. He had one of the best plays in the Super Bowl defensively.

He was probably their best player in the Super Bowl. They didn't have many good ones. Yeah. I would say he was their best player in the Super Bowl. You know, it looks like he's going to get a big extension, but it's not a lock because he has been injured, Colin. That has been a bit of a bugaboo for him.

First team all pro in 20. I would definitely bring him back. I think he's a good teammate. He was great in the big games. There's not a lot of great corners in this league. When Sauce Gardner goes for two firsts, that's telling you, there aren't a lot of, I mean, if I said to you five best corners in the league, you could mostly name them. If I said five best receivers, you and I would argue for 30 minutes. You're like Patrick Sertan, Sauce Gardner, Christian Gonzalez, like the kid, Seattle, Devin Witherspoon, there's not a lot of great corners. The Rams don't have them. The Niners don't have them. Definitely do not.

I mean, it's honestly, you go to the good teams in this league. They don't, I mean, do you see yesterday, you weren't here yesterday, but Travis Hunter, a story came out that Jags are moving Travis Hunter to corner more than receiver. Oh, gosh. Really? But my take is, it's easier to get receivers. It's impossible to find an elite corner. I bet Travis Hunter's thrilled at that.

So then you trade it up for a cornerback in the draft? But he could be a top six corner by next year. He's not going to be a top six receiver by next year. There's just too much talent at the position. No. Okay, final story. Let's save some room for this one. So Colin, Jason Tatum is working to come back from the Achilles injury, okay?

And we know Achilles injuries historically have been a year. People are trying to shrink the timeline. So your buddy, this gentleman named Bill Simmons, is theorizing the Celtics are aiming for a March 1st return. Now, that seems really ambitious. I would bet against that if you could. But here's what Simmons allegedly said. So NBC has. a comeback video ready for Jason Tatum. NBC is televising a game on March 1st. The Celtics have

been flexed into that March 1st game. So he's trying to read some tea leaves. I think that's when Tatum's coming back. Colin, you've got one of the, I know you don't think he's top five. You think he's like seven or eight. I think he's a top five player in the league before the injury. Why would you force him back? He's still very young. Why would you do that? Again, we saw other players, patience, wait, don't rush to come back. Well, because, you know, it's very easy to say that. But my question is, San Antonio, this may be the last year Boston could beat him in a finals. I mean, San Antonio right now, Oklahoma City is better right now than Boston.

But you could argue Tatum and Boston would be number two in the league. By next year, all these young Spurs players are now moving into prime. you may not beat San Antonio for eight years. So my take, if I'm them, I could see bringing Tatum back. Now, again, he's got to be 90%. I'd put him on a minute's restriction. I would not bring it. I would have him at 24 minutes for three weeks.

I would have him at 36. But my take is if Tatum is confident, the doctors give you green light, you have got to think about these things. There are these windows close much. First of all, we thought the Celtics window with Tatum and Brown was open much earlier than it was. We thought they were going to beat the Warriors, and they lost. So the window did not open up until the year they won it. And now you're thinking, oh, now Hala Burton comes back next year. The Pistons are young will be better next year. The Knicks could make a big move for Janus.

My take is the East is there for the taking. Take it. And by next year, San Antonio could go on a massive run with Wemby and all their young players. So that's a great point of view from the Boston Celtics franchise. You mentioned like if the doctors clear them, if I'm Tatum, I'm going to multiple independent doctors. I ain't jeopardizing back-to-back Achilles injuries or whatever other injury could come from an Achilles. Remember, Clay Thompson went down, back-to-back years.

Done. He has never been the same. Tatum's still in his prime, man. I'm not rushing back. I'm not making the Celtics rush me back to maybe get to the finals. Like, what is that worth? I got like seven years left. He's a competitive pro athlete.

He wants to play. I mean, can you imagine rehabbing? In the prime of your athletic gears, you can't play. Tatum wants to play. Yeah, I'm sure he does. You're going to listen to your head or the doctors, the experts? I'm giving you an argument on Bill's insider stuff. Well, he's like a big Celtics honk, right?

I mean, he's desperate to get a deal. You look up and you're like, we don't match up well. Wemby by next year. It is Halliburton comes back. Halliburton's great. I mean, I don't know. I just look at it and I think to myself, we always think these windows are open.

Like Denver, I thought Denver was going to reel off three straight titles. Then they have to move off certain players because of the hard cap and you're like, Denver's not that good. It's tough to win titles. I mean, it's damn near impossible to win multiple. I mean, listen, I know people love OKC. You mention them. That don't look like the best team in the league to me.

Not even close. Let me tell you something. Detroit's still ascending. OKC's going to be fine. San Antonio's going up. Who's your finals right now? Give me your finals here. What a February?

Detroit is an ascending. I would say Detroit makes the finals for a year. Next year it's Tatum and Halliburton, and I would take the Celtics next year. I would say pre-big moves that I don't know about. Detroit gets in and faces OKC beats the Spurs in six games. I'll go Spurs, Nick. So we're divergent, wildly divergent. Interesting.

Well, I like the Knicks. think they get to the conference. Sure. It sure sounds like it. The Pistons. Who's your second best player again? I forgot. They're an ascending young team with a superstar.

They play defense. They'll be fine. Detroit's good. What's the kid, the All-Star? Duran. Jalen Duren, yeah, he's solid. Well, he was an All-Star. Give me Mitchell Robinson any day of the week, baby.

All right. Jay Mac of the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie news. It just, you do understand when Halliburton comes back, all bets are off in the East. So, you know, some people think, and for the record, there are people now that suddenly like the calves.

Okay. So to me, if Tatum comes back, it's like, strike when the iron's hot, the East is wide open, Detroit's going to be better next year, Orlando's going to be better next year, Cleveland could be better next year. San Antonio will absolutely be better next year. Keep your eye on Dallas with Cooper flag. They're moving pieces. They can go big game hunting. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's us to 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. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did 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.

Oh, 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 Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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. 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, she went. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted.

She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lennar 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.

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 Sports Slice on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough

because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. The fastest racing on Earth returns to Fox. Alex Palo, Joseph Newgarden, and Pato Award lead the way as the 2006 indie car season launches in St. Petersburg. March 1st, live on Fox. So very interesting. Mark Cuban used to own the Dallas Mavericks, bought them for $285 million, sold them for $3.5 billion. He did very well. Smart guy, Shark Tank, 40 businesses he owned, blah, blah, blah, very smart guy.

He's talking about tanking. I think tanking is, I've been saying this all week, is that I don't think of myself as pro tanking, but I don't think it's the biggest problem in the world that's been happening forever, and it's creating the spurs, and it's created the pistons, and it's going to create my next year's draft, or the next draft, if the Jazz Get Peterson from Kansas or Boozer from Duke or the kid from BYU, Utah is going to be good for years. Mark Cuban on tanking. He said, why the NBA should embrace tanking? There's this misguided thinking that fans want to see their teams compete every night with a chance to win. It's never been that way.

When I got into the NBA, I thought I was getting into the basketball business. Uh-uh. I was getting in the business of creating experience for fans. Few fans remember the score from the last game they saw. They don't remember dunk. or shots or what they remember is who they were with, their family, their friends a date. That's what makes the entertainment vehicle work. They had a great time at the game.

The NBA should worry more about fan experience than tanking. It should worry about pricing fans out of games, not tanking. You know, who cares the least about tanking? A parent who can't afford to bring their three kids to a game. Affordability and quality of game presentation are more. important than tanking. I'll give you a story. And diehard fans who listen to sports radio, they'll go on the internet. I'm not true. I went to a game at Fenway Park years ago. It was Boston Red Sox against, I think, the Texas Rangers. It was a Sunday game. And I'm sitting

next to all these Sully's and all these, you know, all these Red Sock diehard fans drinking their Sam Adams with their Red Sock hats on. I tried to engage them on baseball. They had no idea. they knew nothing. They didn't know who was pitching for the Red Sox. You think fans, oh, I go to Laker games now. Everybody's on a phone. They're all influencers. Nobody's watching the game.

They're all getting pictures. So Mark Cuban would know more than you and I on owning an NBA team. He's like, the problem with the league is they've outpriced a big chunk of it. This is an entertainment experience. You're worried about tanking. The Utah Jazz, they're selling out game. I mean, the Chicago Bulls folks have. been selling out games since Jordan left.

They've been unwatchable for many of those years. I don't even know what they're doing now. They still sell out. They still sell out. They got one or two Josh Giddy's a pretty good player. Their draft pick last year, he's a pretty good player. They got a couple of nice young players. They got about 15 guards.

Don't have any centers, but beyond that. But the point is they sell the games out. Chicago's a good sports town. Chicago fans, they know basketball. They still sell. out. Because people have, I'm a season ticket holder for the Bulls. You go to the game, they've got lights and music and fun, and the visiting team's got stars, and you have a great time, and the next home game will be sold out to. Bulls have the biggest arena in the NBA. I think they've led

the NBA in attendance eight of the last 10 years. They've been terrible. So you're worried, this is where it's different in football. There's one game a week. But when you get to baseball, Well, part of what makes, and I've said this, part of what makes the Cubs fascinating is that, yeah, you'd like your team to win. But if I went to the typical Cubs and I said, name your starting staff, less than 1% of fans could name it. Who's your number three starter for the Cubs? Couldn't name it. Go to a Pistons game. Who's your third best player for the Pistons?

Go ask somebody in the upper deck that can afford to go to a game twice a year. Drink some bud, have a good time, knock down some nachos. They're not in fantasy basketball leagues. They have a life. They have kids. They're working. So Mark Cuban's like, stop worried about tanking.

Make the tickets more affordable. I don't think he's wrong. Nobody's going to like to hear that, especially the diehards. 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. 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 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. 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 Hypocrite Wednesdays on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 Twitter. which is 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.