The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - Luka Doncic’s 60 point performance is more impressive than you think

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

J-Mac also explains why Luka Doncic’s 60 point performance on the second night of a back-to-back was more impressive than Bam Adebayo’s 83 point performance earlier this season   Guest: Derik QueenSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart 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.

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A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. with all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they hit a bogo. Well, then you got them.

Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying.

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Unbelievable. Jason McIntyre in for Colin Cowherd. He has checked in, by the way. He stopped ghosting me. I didn't reply on purpose. You know, I'm going to act cool like, hey, I can't reply instantly. So I'm waiting a day. Don't tell me.

Enjoyed by Rachel Nichols. Who knows about texting? You don't instantly text back. Everybody. Well, you never double text. Really? Is that a rule? If you're, if you're, if you're, if you're, if like you, you are in a relationship with someone, which is apparently you and Colin, you don't want to be like, hey, how's it going?

And then if they don't answer you, be like, hey, how's it going again? Or be, you know, or whatever. So my friends who are in dating situations, I always say, you know, don't double text. If the guy doesn't answer you, he doesn't answer you. Don't then go back because that looks very desperate. So don't double text, Jason. We should start a podcast. about dating etiquette, even though we're both married.

I mean, I know some single people. I know, I know nothing about the day's current dating market. I hear dating in L.A. is very difficult. I mean, I think dating in general these days is difficult. By the way, what do you know either? Neither one of us know anything. I know nothing about dating. But I do know a little bit about NBA MVP awards.

Folks, he's on such a heater. I figure we've got to recalibrate the MVP. Now, I don't have a vote, Rachel does. So I'm going to go five to one NBA MVP candidates. Now, I know there's a straw poll out there that says SGA's a lock. Balder Dash. Things change. Results adjust matters.

Let's go. Let's start with number five. SGA. I know. Everybody thinks he's number one. No, he's not. How is he number one? Has he gotten better than last year?

Like, he's a big favorite, minus 1,000. but you know that's, I'm an underdog better. Listen, yes, they have the best record in the NBA. Yes, SGA's immensely talented and great. He's hit a couple game winners. But, but they also have like the best roster in the league by a mile and wait until the very end because I'm going to show you some stats that are going to blow your mind comparing SGA to other guys on this list.

All right, let's go SGA 5. Who's next? Number four. Nicola Yokic. You know, Denver's taken a bit of a step back. Obviously, no Aaron Gordon for a long. stretch has hurt. Nicole Yokic 4.

It's not a slight. He's been amazing. But Denver's also sixth in the West. If he were amazing, wouldn't they be third? Maybe they will end up third. And he'll rise up the charts. But I, SGA 5, and again, I have Yokic 4. And things are changing.

Things are evolving. In the last two weeks, a lot has changed. The odds, by the way, have shifted significantly. And that's why I have Yokic 4. Number three. I'm going Jalen Brown, guys. Yeah, you like that. Bop, bop, bong, bong.

Jalen Brown has been playing like that this year. I think we have some sound from him on the Celtics coming up later in the show that's just extraordinary. I like Jalen Brown a lot. I like a little flex that he was working out of my gym leading up to the draft. And I watched a lengthy line, shall we say, of NBA GMs roll in. I'm like, for Jalen Brown, I didn't think he was this guy. He's him. I mean, Jalen Brown is really carrying Boston without Tatum all season.

They're the biggest surprise in the East. I mean, we knew Detroit would be improved. Nobody thought Boston would be top two without Jason Tatum. Congratulations to Jalenbrough. Number two. I'm going with Victor Wembenyama. Victor, Big Vic. The man, the myth, the legend.

As Terran Armstrongstead just told us, as Rachel's told us, he's going to own this league for a decade. I think everybody would agree. The guy's just extraordinary. I love watching him. He's become a must watch for me in the league. For the longest time, Steph Curry was that man. and then it was kind of, well, LeBron was right there.

And Luca's up there. You know, some of the guys are this, like, Yokic for me, is not, oh my gosh, Yokic is playing, I've got to turn on the TV. SGA is certainly not. Victor Wenema? Hell yeah. Check it in at number two on the MVP list. Number one.

Let's hear it for Luca. Luca legend. His stats this month are staggering. He is absolutely off the charts. He had 40 on Wednesday and less than 24 hours. later, he had 60. Guys, I mean, he's averaging 39 points per game on the second leg of back-to-backs this season. 39.

But I was told he's an old 27 and he doesn't dunk anymore. The guy hit 9s 3s last night. He's unbelievable. There's just too many accolades for me to get into here for Luca. But I have Luca number one. He is my MVP vote as of right now, the fictitious vote that I don't have. But that's my list. I know you probably don't like it.

Real quick, here's JJ Reddick on Lucas' 60-point performance last night. We're 20 games over 500, and obviously he's missed time. LeBron's missed time. A.R.'s missed time. You know, he's, to the MVP point, like, we would not be anywhere near in the position we're in without him having the season that he's having. He's just, you know, and particularly of late, he's dominating right now. All right.

Here's the stat that I teased earlier. I know you guys, they're going to, social media team's going to put this on, and I'm going to get roasted. I don't care. I want to show you these stats of the team records without these five players. Are you ready for this? This is jaw-dropping stuff. So essentially, you pull the star out. How does the team perform?

Let's see it on the screen. Oh, would you look at that? OKC is just fine without SGA. Lakers, a little less so. The Jalen Brown one shocked me. The Yokic one surprised me, as kind of sort of did the Wembe one. Now, a lot of this is contextual, right? Like, who are we playing?

Did Wembe's spurs? Did they rest him because they were playing the, you know, the Sacramento Kings or the Pacers or another tanking team? So it kind of matters. But the fact that the Lakers without Luca struggle, I know he has the highest usage rate, shows me that without a doubt, I have Luca soaring to the top of my list.

Now, we got a great guest coming up here in a minute. Rachel, I'm just curious. Do you think I'm crazy or stupid or both for Luca number one? I think it's a good thing you don't have an MVP vote. Oh, come on. I'm so for watching this show. I'm just saying, even that stat you just put up there. Luca, a number of the games he missed, Austin Reeves also missed.

So you're just not taking all of that into account. I wouldn't judge that stat so much. Look, I think what Lucas Donchish is doing is incredible. It goes all the way back to the trade of how dumb it was of the Mavericks to get rid of this guy. I mean, it just still makes no sense. I think he is absolutely the Lakers' future. there isn't a question, though, that for a big chunk of the season, he decides not to play defense. Now, I will always tell people, when Luca wants to play defense in the playoffs, he absolutely will.

He's never going to be a lockdown defender, but he definitely can hold his own. And we saw that as the Mavericks made their run to the title. But he doesn't do it for a big chunk of the season. That's a decision on his part. And with a bunch of these other guys, Wembe, SGA, they are two-way players. It does matter what you do on the other end of the court. So I think that SGA is not fifth. Again, probably good.

You don't have a vote. And it's really going to be a race between SGA, Luca, and Wembe. Yeah. The other thing, watching these Luca highlights, he had nine threes last night. So SGA, the mid-range is just unbelievable. You know, it's impossible to stop. The Yokic high-arcing three. Lucas moves to set up his three look slow.

And I just keep asking myself, How can nobody defend that or get block his shot more? It's unbelievable. Lucas footwork is one of the best in the NBA and in a long time. Luca and Yokic have the best footwork I have seen in like a decade or plus. Speaking of great footwork, our next guest of the New Orleans Pelican says amazing footwork. Derek Queen first year in the NBA, former Maryland Terrapin legend. Fair, fair to say.

What's up, Derek? How you doing, my man? I'm doing good. How you doing? Yeah, thanks a lot. Derek, joining us, celebrating an awesome first year with the Pelicans. Listen, you're a young guy, you're in the league. I'm just curious, big picture. Is the NBA what you thought it would be so far as a rookie?

I actually get that question a lot. I think so. I didn't really have like a big idea of where it was going to be. And it's been great. It's been great bets. Been around a great staff. and have a lot of fun this year. I can only imagine it's tough going to a new city, brand new team.

I guess how have you liked New Orleans? I spent some time there. It seems like a really fun city. Yeah, New Orleans is, I actually love it. I think it's close to Baltimore where I'm from. It's everything's so close. The food is good. People say southern hospitality.

That's good. And it's a few things to do. do here. Sounds awesome. So now you're joining us courtesy of Dairy Queen. What are you working with Dairy Queen doing? Yeah, it's just a partnership

that everybody just basically wanted, I want it, the fans want it, and me just promoting that Buster Bar Trees. Yeah, DQ, obviously, Dairy Queen, great spot. I'm just curious. So the Pelicans have one of the youngest

rosters in the league. You guys are incredibly young. What's that like, you know, you're a vocal leader. You were a leader of Maryland. I'm just kidding. What's it like in that locker room with a lot of young guys? Yeah, we actually got one old guy, D'Andre. But we all like, they still got years in this in the NBA.

They all know what they talk about. So they all just keep us like three best like I'm. said. They, um, teachers a lot, help us how to get through the tough times. Um, like we ask about games or personnel or something like that. And we also ask about the city. So, so, like, it's been fun learning from guys that's older than me, but kind of all in the same age bracket, but still like, I still respect them.

They still great bets. And just, it just, it's just to keep learning from them. Yeah. Let me ask you about Zion Williamson. I assume that he's the guy you get most questions about. Herb Jones is an awesome player. Love him. But people probably ask a million things about Zion.

I guess tell the audience something about Zion Williamson. Maybe they don't know. I mean, like every game, he got me on a bench just shaking my head because it's like crazy how like athletic, how he maneuver in the air. I like how like tall and big he is. But one thing they don't know about is, I don't know about it. I don't want to keep funny. And he actually, like, he actually, like, a great bet.

Like, people might see, like, whatever the case may be. But, like, he actually, actually helps out a lot. He tells us the realm about, about the team, the lead, and how he, like, got through it and how he becoming, like, one of the best players. Yeah, he, amazing talent. As long as he's healthy, he's a major factor. We showed some Wembe highlights earlier. I am curious.

Have you had to match up with Wembe Nyama yet? What's that experience like? I've never seen a player like him. There's never been anything like him in the NBA. But was he the toughest guard for you this year? Yeah, probably one of them. He just, like, he don't see a contest. You have to, like, you have to, like, keep him out of the paint

because he probably goes dunk on you. Just got to be physical with him. It's a very tough matchup, but he's going to be one of the best. I'm trying to be one of the best. So, yeah. Yeah. Have you had a lot, you know, being a rookie, have you a lot of guys trying to talk trash to you this season, you know,

maybe taking some jabs? I know the league, guy like Luca Donchitz last night, talking to fans in Houston this week. Do you get a lot of trash talk as a rookie? No, because I don't really, sometimes, it depends on how I'm feeling. Sometimes I talk some trash I started, but I don't really get a lot of trash talk.

I know, obviously, you had a famous. moment in the March Madness NCA tournament last year. I guess circling back to that, like going back a year ago, do you still remember it vividly? Still talk to your teammates about it?

I mean, that was really one of the great moments in the tourney last year. Yeah, I still talked to my teammates, but we don't talk about it no more. Like, we all onto other things. But one thing we do talk about is like we all will reunite. I think they all will come to New Orleans

one day. Yeah, I try to get your teammates. to hang. It seems like a great city. I am curious, obviously you guys aren't playoff bound this year, but like do you think it's going to be difficult to turn it around? Some of these teams, a lot of teams at Utah Jazz,

like the conference is brutal. Do you think you guys can make the leap next year or are you more like two years away? Yeah, most definitely. Just finish this year off strong. Everybody's got to stay healthy. We all going to get better. We already believe in each other.

And we just We're just going to keep on getting better. Keep trusting each other once, like I said. And just finish the year of show. I guess we can wrap up, Derek. Let me just ask, based on everybody you've seen and faced this year, who do you expect to come out of the West and come out of the East and meet in the NBA finals?

I'm not sure. It's a little key difficult this year. Wait, what makes it difficult? Like, I, like, I feel like some teams might surprise some of the teams. I don't know. My team is just talking about this, but I'm not sure who I'm not sure of me,

like who I think are going to come out this year. I mean, the Thunder are favored, you know, the Spurs are right there. I think the Lakers are. Sometimes it's just who's hot late, and the Lakers are the hottest team in the West right now. I actually do like the Spurs. I like the Spurs.

And then the East, I'm not really sure. I probably say the Celtics. So the Spurs and Celtics. Spurs Celtics, interesting. All right, Derek Queen, the Young Center for the New Orleans Pelicans. Thanks a lot, Derek. Good luck the rest of the season, man. Thank you.

All right, Derek Queen. March legend for the Maryland Terrapins. And then he's become something of an online maven this year. People love him in New Orleans. Oh, he's been fantastic. And it's a shame because the trade that ended up with New Orleans picking him, it frankly wasn't a very smart trade for the Pelicans front office. but that has nothing to do with Derek Queen.

Yeah. Right? He has been a really great bright spot for them. And it's just, I think that people will move on from the trade aspect of it soon because he's just, he's a really fun player. And I'm not at all biased because I'm also from Maryland. Yes, obviously, the DMV representing. All right, coming up next, a big story I'm told just dropped on Janus's future in Milwaukee. Rachel has all the details.

That's next. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays. at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives

down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book, and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down?

Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, 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 Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments. that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen,

kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart 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. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerabakina 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. Thanks to Derek Queen, the young kid from the New Orleans Pelicans joining his show, DQ, Herb Jones, Ion Williams, and they should be better next year,

assuming they keep everybody together. All right, let's go to Rachel with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. Jason, the ratings are in for the World Baseball Classic, and they are eye-popping. Seriously, the tournament rated twice than the previous timeout, twice as much. Nearly 11 million people tuned into the championship game alone, and just the buzz around the whole thing was just enormous, really remarkable.

Remember Aaron Judge said the atmosphere of these games was more high. hype than it is for a World Series. And the Dodgers Kiki Hernandez, this quote really stuck out to me. He said that winning a baseball classic title would mean more to him than winning the World Series. This is a guy who has been to five World Series and won three of them. So you can't say, oh, you know, people with Aaron Judge, there's a little bit of like, oh, he's never won a World Series, that sort of thing. This is a guy who has won plenty of World Series, frankly.

Do you think it's because it's only every three years and there's a World Series? series every year and maybe he's spoiled being on the die. That's it. It's a pretty big, bold, bold claim. But I think part of it is, and that's why this tournament was so energizing and so many people tuned in. I mean, I was transfixed by this thing on TV. The vibe from those games, the crowds, the players and the way they got so excited about

things, they made it feel important. They made it feel like this was the most important thing in the world to them. You saw how the Venezuelan players celebrate. It's celebrated afterward. The interview, right, that we saw immediately postgame here on Fox. Like, I just, I think that the way a lot of these Latin American countries feel about winning something like this for their country translated to our country and the number of people who tuned in. The ratings were twice as good as the last time out. I mean, that's pretty crazy.

So when Kiki Hernandez says that, I'm like, you won the World Series. Three times. Aaron Judge said something similar. I'm looking on his resume. doesn't have a World Series. Not to win. He's that one-one now. Yeah.

Did play him on, good. Interesting. Yeah. That Yannis story you mentioned? Yes, yes. Right before the break, Ramona Shelburne just dropped an in-depth piece on Janus, who, as of right now, if he just stayed with the Bucks through next season, he would be playing on an expiring contract, which of course brings up the point.

What do you do about that? Buck's owner, Wes Edens, is quoted in the piece saying that, given that they can't afford to let that happen. They can't afford to let him play it out and then have him walk away and get nothing. He says either Janus is going to sign an extension or we're going to trade him, right? But here's the wrinkle that makes this complicated because that's just common wisdom in the NBA. But the books have this super unique ownership structure. They've got two owners that are equal partners and they rotate who makes the decisions. And so other teams have said during this whole sort of trade deadline issue. They don't even know who they're dealing with. And then here's a quote. This is a source with knowledge of the team's operations that says whether they do go ahead and trade Janus

is more of a matter of which owner ends up making the final call. The quote is, this has nothing to do with Janus and whether he asks out. It's about who's making the decision on whether to trade Janus, and I don't think anyone knows who's making that call. I deal with them all the time. And honestly, it depends on the day. They're not even close to being ready to make a decision like that.

So the weird, I read it, and it sounds like Ramona sat down with both owners. Yes, at the same time. So they're saying it's not a problem, right? Yes, correct. But everyone who deals with them said, it's a problem. Like, that is not great. So I wonder, is this a signal to Janus? Hey, Pooper get off the pop, buddy.

Do you want our extension or no? Well, there's also a lot of discussion about how to handle the situation, and that's another way that the two ownership, so you can either just offer them the extension. Right. And if he doesn't sign it, you trade him. You can trade him anyway, not offer the extension. Because here's a guy who has had multiple leg injuries in recent years.

He's kind of, you know, will he or won't he? 31 years old, I think that's relevant. And the offers were good. I mean, Golden State offered the bucks for unprotected first round draft picks. That is a crazy number, completely unprotected. But wait, wait, with Janus and Steph, those are going to be back of the first round. And you get no players. They don't have any players.

I mean, so I think the idea was to throw in a couple players and the fact that the players weren't good enough was part of the reason they didn't take them. But I'm sorry, four unprotected first round picks. Okay, let me ask. So what if the Orlando Magic were like, fine, we'll offer you three firsts and Paolo Bencaro, a guy who is a really good player, All-Star,

Olympian caliber, and you're not going to bottom out. You at least have someone that the people can go watch. would you rather get a player and picks or just a boatload of picks? I mean, I think they feel that they keep selling tickets, they need to get a player in picks, that they can't completely bottom out, that they need to be able to maintain a winning sensibility. I mean, the other way to play it,

if you do go the extension round, is to make a big deal of it to your fans, be like, we want Jan is here, we are offering an extension. It's, you know, $300 million, basically. He gets to decide if he wants to play here or not. And if they go that direction, you are putting that pressure back on Janus instead of being like, oh, we have to trade it. But who's making that decision is so fascinating.

So you would know this better than I. Is it they can't offer the extension until October 1st? I think so. Or that was that of this year. It might be in the summer. Then it becomes like, okay, do you wait until he says no on October 1st? Right. Then you make the trade.

Right before the season? Yeah. I think they have to find out over the summer. But everything's going to be done by the summer. Yeah, I mean, it will or won't. As we saw at trade deadline, the market moves Srinas. This is not like a, you know, third-tier player. I got to ask, Rachel, I tried to count the injuries here.

It looks like he's had five injuries this season. He's 31 and a half. Well, fine, December birthdays, so not a half yet, but you know where we're headed. Yeah. What's he going to look like at 35? I mean, that's part of the question, right? Now, a couple of those five injuries were just total flukes. The injury he has right now, it has nothing to do with the structure.

of his body. But to your point, look, they haven't made out of the first round of the playoffs last few seasons. Some of that is because Janus has been hurt. Yeah. And let's just remind people, Luca was traded when he was 26. Well, that was, it's not, you can't, you can't. Well, no, I'm saying, like, you're getting a guy entering his prime at 26. Yeah. Janus, he's, I'm not saying, where is he in it? Like, back end of his prime? How many years does he have as an MVP candidate? Two? It's, it's hard to tell, right? LeBron is playing at 41 years old. I mean, I mean, what we're seeing right now is a stretch of players prime. And with a guy like Janice, with big men, it's injuries that tend to shorten that prime.

And, you know, Steph Curry can shoot the ball forever. Kevin Durant, if he wants, you know, he said the other day LeBron could play until 45. If Kevin Durant wants to play until he's 45, he absolutely can. Spot up in the corner and shoot. A big guy is very different. I don't think they're going to get the hall people think they're going to get. I think they waited too long. They were offered pretty big halls just a few months ago.

Should have taken them. So that's the question is, should they have moved them earlier? You know, teams are always more desperate around the trade deadline because they have seen where they are and guys who are under pressure for their job. Outside the box team. Let's remove Lakers. Let's remove NICS. Give me someone. Well, the reason I think those two teams are the teams we're going to talk about is that by doing an expiring, by waiting until his contract was expiring,

Janus now has a huge say in where he goes. The thing about doing it at the deadline is that. that teams felt like, great, I'm getting a year and a half of Yonnas. And that's worth it to me as a GM. I'm going to rent Kawhi Leonard, that kind of deal? Well, even more so, though. You're getting more time. It's two championships, not just one.

And, you know, he'll decide that he likes it here, and he'll probably stay and all of that stuff. And especially for guys who are on the hot seat, this is just saving their job for a couple more years, right? Now it's an expiring contract. If you trade for him in an expiring contract, you're probably not going to give up for a first round traffic. Yes. Unless you've gotten a sick. no from Janus that he wants to be there. Look, he's flirted with the Warriors

if you want to have another team out there. But I don't know if that's going to happen. I just don't think they have a good... Like Jimmy Butler's still out. Well, Jimmy Butler's part of the contract that would have to get traded. So I'm trading for a guy who's coming off in Achilles at like 35?

Yeah. Is there a world where the pistons make a play with Kate Cunningham? Does that work? I just don't know that they have the pieces to trade. Yeah. I'm looking at the standings. I don't think there's a slam-dunk deal out there. I would keep an eye on the clippers,

but I do kind of like what the clippers have with Garland, Matherin, and Kauai. Well, the clippers are a big question also. So, you know, look, we'll see. Oh, yes, the Kauai stuff's really. So we'll see, we'll see what they have to offer because they don't have a lot of draft picks since the Shag trade, right? And we'll see. I literally have no idea. I'm not, you know, hinting at anything.

But if they get a bunch of draft picks taken away, they can't even be in the honest conversation. OKC is the team with a bunch of. draft picks, right? Yes. Okay, see, and the Spurs both have a boatload of trapbacks. So Spurs beat the Thunder, or Lakers beat the Thunder, and then the Thunder say, we need Yonis. We're giving up J-dub and Caruso and all these other guys. Yeah. I mean, that, I don't know if they're going to do that. But that would be a better fit than the Spurs, who also have a boatload of draft picks. I don't think Spurs are in the mix at all. No, no, so we'll see. I do want to talk to you more about LeBron James and

some of what you were discussing earlier. You know, look, he has been hooping the last few games. There is no question about that. 49 points over two games, 21 of 26 shooting. Two and no wins, right, in the last 24 hours. And after the win in Miami, he had some words for the people who have been criticizing him all season, Jay's. Sales papers are a lot easier in clippings and podcasts if you say LeBron. Their team is better off without them. A lot of people who try to like view it. So I get it. They're absolutely wrong. They're absolutely wrong with that smirk.

God bless LeBron for still thinking that newspaper clippings are important. As someone who started in newspapers, I appreciate that. Look, the question is not whether a team is better or worse with LeBron James on it. He is obviously still playing at such a high level. It's whether LeBron is willing to fulfill the role that he is clearly now willing to fill in just the last couple weeks of the season in a playoff run, right? That's very different to say, is he willing to do it all next season? because if he is, of course he's better than any other guy you're going to get in that spot. I mean, when Luca, same player, went to the NBA finals, it was with Kyrie Irving,

and the third guy who was doing the diving on the floor and the little things and was paid a much smaller amount, a guy like PJ Washington, right? Would I rather have LeBron than PJ Washington? No disrespect to PJ. Of course I would rather have LeBron than PJ Washington. But he has to be willing to fulfill that role. And that's the big question of whether it's good or not good to have LeBron on your team, because if he is trying to fulfill Luca's role, it's actually probably better not to have him on your team.

But I do, look, it's fun for people to be able to prove the critics wrong. I get it, man. It's really special what he's doing. It is. And by the way, no one is more criticized than LeBron for reasons that I don't understand. Can you, I mean, the guy's been in the spotlight, I think 16. Yeah. I met him when he was a high school senior.

I would not be meeting most people when they are high school seniors. I covered the game. Him against Carmelo Anthony, Grant Wall. Oh, that was great. I was like, this guy's amazing. He's been in the spot like that long and has largely avoided any drama,

major controversy. I wouldn't say that. Off the court. Off the court. Yes, off the court. On the court, he's been awesome. He's been a great ambassador for the league. I mean, I've been calling him the goat

since he won the title with the Lakers. Everywhere he goes, he wins. Now he's in a different. role and he's winning. Come on. The guy's unsurpassed. Yeah. But I mean, that's the question, right?

When he says, oh, it's ridiculous. People would say our team is better without LeBron on it. It is, if he's willing to play this role and get paid for it in that way. It's not if he's trying to compete with Luca when they play the same way and they both need the ball in their hands. So it's just, it's a, it's more, as with most things, it's more complex than a sound bite. For sure. But I look, as I said, no one is more criticized.

No player that good. ever seen in my career criticized as much and for him to be able to sort of look in people's faces and go how you like me now? It's kind of fun when you see athletes do that. Exactly. All right, Rachel with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News.

So Bam out of bio scored 83 points last week. Impressive. Lucas 60 last night on a back-to-back? More impressive. Yes, I said it. I'll back it up next. One more herd? The herd Streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Her to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news.

What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special.

So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember I think it was on a call about what we should call it and... Well, 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, 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 letterman help make you funnier this week my guest s n l's mikey day and head writer streeter sidel 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. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president,

of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud 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 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay.

Genshin won. 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. Retired, shmishired, come on. Tom Brady is back on the field for the Fanatics Flag Football Classic on Fox. It is a star-studded. I mean, look at the guys who are playing. Steaded three-team round Robin tournament

featuring the best in the game tomorrow 4 p.m. Eastern, only on Fox. All right, we got some time here. So two good topics. I'll go dealer's choice, Rachel. Do you want me to do Luca

or high point first? I don't want, I didn't ask the staff specifically. I was going to say. You know what they would say. But I'll ask you. Well, we just talked about LeBron and the Lakers, so let's throw a little high point in there. Yes, all right. Let's go NCAA tournament.

And then we can do a little bit more on Lucas scoring. This is awesome. So High Point took down Wisconsin yesterday. Big upset. Wisconsin, of course, looked great in the Big Ten season. High Point just refuses to die, trailed almost the entire game. The guy who scored their game winning basket didn't make a two-pointer all season. He's just a chucker like me.

So High Point gets a win. And afterward, their coach, who's on the all-name team, Flynn Clayman. Okay. By the way, I couldn't believe this. Let me triple check. First year head coach for High Point. He had never, best I can tell, never been a head coach before. Listen to how serious he is.

And this is actually a good topic. Take a listen. And it's pretty obvious to me that something needs to be done about this non-conference scheduling. High Point in Miami, Ohio are 2 and 0 in Quad 1 games. We couldn't get games. They couldn't get games. We won 22 of our last 23 games and we didn't move up one spot in the metrics. Not one.

We won 22 of our 23. We've won 25 games by double digits. That team right there is a fantastic team. That beat five top ten teams. If we can get games like this on neutral courts and some home games, I think we'd know who's really the best teams. I'm proud of these dudes, and we're not just here to win one game. We're here to get to the Sweet 16.

He's a young guy. He's a little too intense. Bro, you just got the win over Wisconsin. Can you crack a smile? But he's all business right now. And you know what? If you listen closely, he's spot on. He nailed that.

You absolutely have to set up a system where everybody's incentivized to play everyone else. It's just not fair. Because then it comes down to the tournament and the bubble, wow, this team, they have no quad one wins. Hello, nobody would play them. That's just how it works. There's zero incentive for the big dogs to play the small guy.

None. It just, I mean, it's goofy, it's a bad system, but that's how it is. I don't know the easy fix. I mean, the NBA set up an in-season tournament to like gin up interest. And I remember college basketball would do like, they named it some kind of week and it would be like Big Ten versus the SEC. And then it would be, you know, they'd have some mid-majors go head to head. But you would never get like North Carolina versus High Point because it's only a loss for North Carolina. If you win, who cares?

If you lose, oh my gosh, it's a blemish on your record. And, you know, that's got to change. I don't know how you change that. It's kind of, we're seeing this kind of in college sports a little bit. It's just the divide is massive. And that their big guys do not want to play the little guys. They can lean on what we got, our conference schedule. And where's the help?

I'm not going to your high point to take an L. That's how I get fired, you know? We lost a high point in November. Oh my gosh, he's on the hot seat. Like nobody wants to deal with that. It's a tough situation. College sports going through a lot of change in growth. They've got to figure it out.

Um, I, uh, Rachel, I know we tried to solve the NBA, uh, tanking. We tried to solve the NBA, uh, another big issue. Um, any thoughts here on what can be done? Well, de-emphasizing strength of schedule is kind of the only way to do this because big teams aren't incentivized to play small teams because it hurts their strength of schedule, right? So the small teams who are really good can't get big games. So it hurts their strength of schedule. So strength of schedule, it's a good metric. right? I mean, it helps you decide how valuable certain teams' wins are. But maybe it's just emphasized too much because right now it's an unfair system,

frankly on both sides, right? Maybe if they do a weighted, like out of 100% what matters, strength of schedule is like 10% as opposed to like 40, which it seems to be now. So, Kyle, you've got to figure it out. I mean, because high point's a hell of a story. I do think they get, I think they got Arkansas next. Yeah, they're going to get destroyed by Darius Acuff. Sorry, Mr. Flynn-Claimant.

All right, let's move on to the NBA and Luca's 60 last night. So it comes on the heels. And I actually thought, I'm like, Lucas scored 60? That's weird. Oh, it was against the heat. Oh, that's right. Bam just dropped 83. I wonder if this is a get-back.

Hey, Bam, you're not that special. Remember, Bam was, I mean, there was more criticism for his 83-point game than I think he anticipated. Some of it warranted. Some was over the top. I mean, 83 points is tough to do. But after Luca dropped 60 on BAM last night. And again, here's BAM cooking against the Washington Wizards, Rachel's tanking wizards.

That was last week he scored 18. That was an unnecessary strain. Thank you. But here's BAM on Luca after Luca scored 60. Now, tell me what you think here. I know what it's like to be in that mode. As people can see, it's not easy to get 80. A little debate among the staff here.

I think he was saying that in jest. Not everybody seems to think that he's smiling, you know, stroking the goatee. It's like, yeah, it's tough to get 80. Tough to drop an 80 burger. Luca had 60. Oh my gosh. He had nine threes. How could Luca go from 60 to 83?

Like another 23 points? No way. Now, it was on a back-to-back. It does show, yeah. 83's hard, and that's why Bam gets props. But my take was the 60s actually more impressive because it was on a back-to-back, on a brutal travel spot. And oh, by the way, it was a game that mattered against a good team.

Nobody tanking in this one. He'd had their full arsenal of guys. Tyler Hero played. Norman Powell played. And, oh, yeah, there was no gimmick stuff with, like, intentional fouls, a jacking threes that you wouldn't normally shot. Everything was within the structure of the offense. I mean, it's 9 of 17 from 3.

He only took 30 shots. He didn't get to the foul line. What was it? 44 times. A little gimmicky. And again, I'm not blasting it. This is just the reality. So let me play it one more time and then we'll get Rachel's reaction. Here's bam out of bio.

After Luca scored 60, tell me, is this a dig or is he being serious? I know what it's like to be in that mode. As people can see, it's not easy to get 80. So Rachel, is he joking or? No, he's not joking. You think he's serious? Yes. Wow.

He doesn't think it's easy to get 80. And by the way, he's right. It's not easy to get it. Like, one thing I would say about these when people are saying, oh, you know, he did it this way, he did it that way. If it was easy, everyone would do it. You know how you know it's hard? People don't do it. So it is hard no matter how he got it.

However, I also think that Luca Donchich watched Bam get that 83. And remember, Luca got 73 in a game when he was in Dallas. That's right. right, which was sort of the closest anyone had felt like was to Kobe's 81. So here's a guy who not only breaks Kobe's mark, but blast past Luca. And I'm sure Luca was sitting there going, oh, well, if I had the intentional foulant, I could have gotten 83 that night, that sort of thing. So I don't know how much Luca was thinking as he went out on the court last night.

I'll show everybody, you know, scoring points. I mean, who knows? I didn't have a personal heart to heart with him before he took the court. but I can see that little one-upsmanship on both sides and by the way we want that right that's fun it's good to have guys being like oh look at me well look at me you know that sort of thing

so I'm trying to look up the box score it looks like Lucas 73 came against the Atlanta Hawks in a close game 148 143 but I was watching the Lakers game last night

and Luca wasn't on pace for 60 at halftime It wasn't even close. No. But the third quarter, they're down bad. Luca goes off. And so that's totally different than Bam. Again, 83 is really hard to get. But Luca, when he beat the Atlanta Hawks,

25 of 33, 15 of 16 on free throws, hit eight threes. They needed all of them. It was a close game in the fourth quarter. Like, again, bam, I know it's 83. Let's say Luca plays the Wizards next week. Does he say, I'm going to go for 90? He tried. I'm just asking. The wizards are horrific, sorry. They have no guards. They have no

anything. Strays. Strays. We're not talking about the wizards. We're talking about Bama Luca. Come on. Yeah, but if Luca plays the wizards, do you think he could go for, I'm, I mean, are other guys around the league saying, 83, I could drop 84? I mean, you know, I think with the Lakers, the way their offense is working right now, we've been talking about three guys trying to decide what the distribution is on how they share things. I don't think Luca is going for a vanity score because it's just not in keeping with the way the Lakers are doing things right now. Right now. So that idea that he'd be like, oh, I can shoot this and let me show you, you know, that sort of thing.

I don't see that happening for the rest of this season with the way the team is in sort of the world they're on right now. But do I think Luca is eventually capable of scoring more than 83 in a game? Yes, with the way scoring is in today's NBA. I mean, some of these scores are just preposterous, right? I mean, I remember covering the NBA when 80-something to 80-something was like a regular night. And so scoring keeps going up. More players get better at three. Lucas obviously already, fantastic at the three.

You know, could he break that one day? Yeah, I can see that, of course. All right, so let's get my MVP guys on the screen real quick, because Rachel actually has a vote. It puts a lot of thought. I do. I do. sequesters herself from her family, crunches all the numbers. So how does the voting ballot go?

Is it, you vote for five? You vote and you rank them. So sometimes a guy who's getting a lot of second place votes, and if there's a split on first place votes, could actually hop up to first because of those second place votes. I think the thing that confuses people, I want to use last year's race as an example. It was really close, down to the wire,

on Shay versus Yokic. Remember that? And it was really split among people who were doing the prognosticating, saying, oh, I think it should be him. I think it should be him. It's so close. It's so close. I was sitting there, as you said,

looking at all the numbers, doing all the situations, and it was so close. And the thing that really helped make my decision, and I know a lot of my fellow voters helped make their decision was, Thunder had the best record in the league, and Shea led them to that.

And sometimes winning, if it's not always the most important thing, but it certainly isn't a tiebreaker, and it is a very important thing. So when the votes actually were tallied, even though it was so, close for a lot of people and I'm leading to the last second to make my decision. I am picking SGA last year and so did so many other people. Okay. It was close in people's minds, but the vote

was like 7030. 70 30. So last year SGA played 76 games. He's on pace to play closer to 68 70 this year. Injuries. Does that factor in? By the way, his numbers are down a little from last year in terms of points per game is down. Assists is up a tick. Rebound. are down, steals are down. So he's not having the great year he had last year. I mean, he's playing very well. He's playing very well. Not as good as Luca.

All right, so coming up next, fanatic CEO Michael Rubin stops by the show to talk flag football. 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

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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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.

If we didn't talk ever again, I was hiring you. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis coming to, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

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