The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - NBA Playoff Predictions, NBA Attendance at an all-time high, can KAT carry Knicks?

Episode Date: April 16, 2026

Jason shares his round-by-round predictions for the entire NBA playoffs NBA attendance is at an all time high How far can Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks go?   Guest: Ryan HollinsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Hour number two. Here we go. It's the herd. NBA playoff week. NFL draft. One week away. World Cup on the horizon.

Oh, what a time to be alive. It's me, Jason McIntyre. In for Mysterious Colin Cowherd? He's got stuff going on. You know, the guy's got stuff going on. But it's me and Rachel Nichols. Rachel's still on a. contact tie from Warriors paper clips last night.

It was such a good game. I mean, it's just like when Curry's hitting threes falling out of bounds, like that's just stuff dreams are made of, you know? I mean, there was probably one-third Warriors fans in the building. That team travels really well when they were very loud. I will say by the end of the fourth quarter, it sounded like there were more than one-third. I don't know, maybe some Clippers fans were converted in real time.

Yeah. Steph has that ability to, you know, kind of put on a robe and look, Well, now that would be a doctor. Not a, yeah, I went there. Okay, anyways, so I convinced the staff, hey, let's draw up the NBA playoff brackets and let me make my picks. And so, Rachel, they fell for it. And here are some picks.

Here we go. I'm going to go series through series real quick. And then we're going to bring in our guest, Ryan Holland. So, I don't know, guys, when you want to start east, west, wherever you want to start, I'm ready to go because in the West, I don't love OKC. And if you remember, the last, I think, seven champions, defending champion did not get out of the second round.

But I do believe OKC steamrolls, Phoenix or Golden State, that's a broom action. So advanced Golden State there. Lakers Rockets, listen, if we can get Mr. Miyagi from the grave to get Luca and Austin Reeves healthy, sure, Lakers, but the reality is they're not playing rockets comfortably. I would like to make a case for Minnesota. I want to bet Minnesota because the entire year. Universe is on Denver, but I think you've got to go with the nuggets here. We don't know the health of Jane McDaniels.

Anthony Edwards is kind of creaky. So I'll go to nuggets there. And then I'm going to go with the spurs. I love me some spurs. Denny Avdia against Wembeeniyama. By the way, I'm growing the mustache out until Wembeenjama is eliminated from the playoffs because he's French and I'm trying to look French. Okay.

At the top of the bracket, obviously O KC Rockets. I'm sorry, Kevin Durant, you're my guy. but OKC wins probably in five, maybe six. And then at the bottom, I'm going with Wembe and my guy, Steph Castle. And don't forget Harrison Barnes, Deeran Fox, setting up just a Titanic clash, and they dominated the regular season matchup, and they're going to dominate the conference finals.

Give me the San Antonio Spurs, who haven't won a damn playoff game with Wemby, and they're going to the finals. Book it, baby. Spurs coming out of the West. All right, let's go to the East. East is very choppy. Now, last year we saw, what was it,

Nick's Pacers, surprised everybody. Yes, I'm going to go with the Pistons beating probably Charlotte, but it could be Orlando. I don't know. Listen, I don't love the Pistons. You guys know that. I think they're very good.

They're a player away. I'm going with the Cavs, steamrolling, Scotty Barnes, and the Raptors. The real question is, what number is larger? Drake showing up at games or Raptors games won. I think the Cavs win for nothing. I'm going to go Knicks over the Hawks,

but Rachel talked me into the Hawks. being frisky here. They got some guys. Their roster's pretty good. I'm riding with my Knicks. And then I'm going to go Celtics, hammer the Sixers. All right, up top, I'm going upset city, baby.

Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and company, take down detois. Cade Cunningham pounds the table in the offseason for Janus or another superstar because he's going to need one. I don't think the Pistons have enough offense. Give me the Cavs. And then I'm going with another surprise. The Knicks, back-to-back years,

take down Boston in the conference. semifinals. I know Missoula is out for blood. I think the Knicks are undervalued because they've been sleepwalking through the regular season. And then the Knicks go to the conference finals and they beat the Cavs. And we got Jalen Brunson and company going to the finals, baby. OG and An Anobi. I mean, listen, and that sets up a Nick Spurs finals. Yes, a three-seed versus a two.

I'm very excited for this. Shades of David Robinson versus Patrick Ewing, although Cat versus Wemby is not quite the same. I'm going with the Spurs. I'm sorry. I don't think this has ever been done before where a team hasn't won a playoff game in like five years or been to the playoffs

and then wins the championship. But you know what? Stranger Things have happened. Give me the Spurs winning the NBA finals. Those are my playoff picks. You can mock me in, what, two months when the playoffs are over? All right, let's welcome in our guest.

Former NBA player, former UCLA Center, Ryan Holland. Everybody knows Ryan, the big seven-footer, Rockets, TV analysts played for the league. Ten seasons. Look at he's got the pocket napkin nicely folded. What's up, my man? How you doing?

What's up, Jay Mack? How are you doing in that at Men's League, man? You've been hoping lately? Yeah, you know, we want back-to-back titles, but it's no big deal. I got light on the squad. By the way, why are you still in your kitchen? You got to get out here to L.A. You've got to get to staple crypto.

for Lakers Rockets, game one, because the Lakers, they could win game one, right, Ryan? They can, Jay Mack, I'm all in. Just go ahead and pay for that flight in that hotel. You know, we'll be right there, brother. You know, I don't know if Colleen gave you that budget yet. But, you know, for the Houston Rockets right now, it's a group that's still growing. I know it's crazy to say that with Kevin Durant and how good and how talented the group is, but you have to understand when you take the glue away from a team,

when you take the Fred Van Vliet away, when you take away to stay. Stephen Adams, who was leading the team in plus minus and impact and gave the physicality and the presence and dominated the offensive glass all due to Stephen Adams. You're looking at a group that's had to redefine themselves. So I think for the Houston Rockets, obviously, you love to see a four-0 sweep. But I think if you just go out there and get a game, you have done your job. You're on the road. And now you're still home court advantage back. And here's the intriguing part, J-Mack.

There's going to be some bumps and bruises in this. and JJ kind of gave away the game plan. Remember the game. It was back to, not back to back, but it was one on, one off, right? And the Houston Rockets played against the Lakers. And JJ just threw out that old school trap on Kevin Durant at half court. And the group really, really struggled to make plays behind it. So I expect to see more of that, maybe mixed in some zones, some man,

so maybe some boxing one on Kevin Durant. But nonetheless, it forced Amin Thompson to be better. at force Reed Shepard, it'd be better. And these guys are going to have to have the chance to go through their growing planes in the playoffs. It's always great to have someone certified like Kevin Durant on the roster going into the playoffs. Yeah, we'll get to KD versus LeBron. Let me just analyze Kevin for a second. So he was with the Sons, and it didn't work out at all.

The Sons obviously were good during the regular season. Den just lost to the Blazers. And everybody's now like, whoa, look, Kevin Durant's going to get to the second round. I don't know. Do you think he's been as expected for the Rockets? He played in more games than people thought he would. He's been far more than expected for the Rockets. And here's my thing, Jay Mack.

I'm going to put out this PSA right now. There's a lot of people. I'm not going to say names. Y'all know who you are that are throwing out Rocket Slander and Durant hate. And you don't watch the games. He's had literally a historic season. He passed Michael. He passed dirt.

Like his efficiency, the numbers in which way he does it. And I know the challenge, I know the noise on the outside, but from a leadership perspective and from embracing Reed Shepard, Amin Thompson, Alprin Shungoon, and those guys, this is the most leadership I've seen from Kevin in a sense of like, hey, I want to get back. He pulls Jabari Smith Jr. under his wing, every shoot around, every practice. They go and get up shots every single day. So Kevin Durant's not a perfect individual. We're not going to claim that there's one. But he's absolutely bought in with. this group and he's been playing some unbelievable basketball. He leads the NBA also in gravity. That means when he has the ball, every team is double team and him, triple team and him looking to get the ball out of his hands and he's fourth in the NBA and scoring. So for anybody to say that this was an off year and he didn't do his job like that's insane to me. That's crazy. All right. Let's settle down. Is KD in the room with you? My God, leads the NBA in gravity.

I thought that was true. These are numbers. These are numbers. Jayback. I thought that was I didn't make this up. Fair, fair, fair. Let me ask you, though, you said leadership. And people hear leadership at Kevin Durant, they laugh. They double over laughing. So I have to ask, like an All-Star break, the burner stuff pops up. You know, Jabari Smith mentioned, Shangoon mentioned.

I know that the team hasn't really addressed it, but there were some hiccups after the All-Star break. I don't know. Does that come into play here? So for one, as me and you both address this, we know these are allegations. There's nothing that's been proven. So that's what I can say. But I can speak to how the team looked since that point, okay?

Because there was something that happened. There wasn't stuff that hit the news, whether it was accurate or not, it hit the news. Fair. Here's the reality. As a player, you're frustrated after a loss. If you have a 20-plus turnover game and you're trying to find chemistry, you're frustrated. You're trying to get things right. You know you've got to get better defensively.

When a group lost Stephen Adams, and Stephen Adams was the group was the, was the safety blanket because if you take a shot and you miss it, Stephen Adams will give you almost offensive rebound a minute that he's on the floor. So there were frustrations. Hey, put the ball in the men Thompson's hands. A man is great in a fast break situation, but he had to develop and get better in a half court. And he's been unbelievable coming down the season.

Reed Shepard had to develop as not just a spot up and knock down shooter, a dead-eye shooter. He's had the ball in his hands more as a playmaker. These are new situations that these guys have been put into. Kevin Durant had to bring the ball up court. He played a lot of point guard in a situation because you put, guess what, an NBA, you got your best player? You put the ball in your best player's hands ultimately.

So, you know, there were groin pains. There were valid frustrations. And it's a group that had been up and down. When you lose your two glue guys, those are some of the things that they look like. And I think was disappointing is that if you see frustration from a player, that doesn't mean everything. falling apart. They're frustrated because they lost the game. They're frustrated because they

missed an assignment. They're frustrated because there's expectations and you want to be great and that's not coming through at that moment. Listen, after the show, you know, we have a couple of bad segments. I'm probably sending some stuff off and texts about the producer. No, I'm just kidding. My real question... I need to ask Liner about you in this men's league.

I need to ask a doctor. You're the leader, man. You try to bring me in as a ringer, man. I did. I did text you about that. Let me ask you, though. What is the rocket's going to do to stop Luke Kinnart? I feel like he's not the X factor in the series. In our reality, I need your pick. What do you got?

Rockets in four or five? Let's say five. Let's go five. I think the challenge for the Rockets in this series, forgive me, I think you got another point, experience in the playoffs. When you lose Fred and Steveau, now you're young.

It's essentially Kevin Durant and a lot of young guys who hadn't been there and hadn't succeeded in the playoffs before. So they got to get some confidence there, moving in and I expect JJ Reddick to throw the whole house at them defensively and really ask our group to have to think on their toes. Okay, one last thing about LeBron. You got the usual suspects online. These jabrones are like, oh, LeBron loses this series, lost in the first round. Can you just help put things in perspective to everybody? He's fighting with two hands tied behind his back. Okay, without Luca and Reeves. Let's be real. Listen, man, LeBron James is as it

as it comes. There's no question what he's done in his legacy and the NBA. he's arguably the greatest player of all time that's ever played. However you describe your goat, if your goat is dominant, it's going to be Michael. Your goal is longevity and numbers and impact and silly. It may be LeBron. It may be a generational thing. But ultimately, I think another challenge is for Los Angeles Lakers fans or Laker natives is that, you know, we don't appreciate what LeBron did.

We're not happy. I think that's crazy. A guy who brought you a championship and pride of having LeBron James Day, it was a group that was struggling. That was developing. LeBron James got you a championship and gave you something to compete and cheer for. And when that man goes around the league,

he still sells out arenas around the league. He still brings in numbers. He's still a reason why your group is box office. So obviously he's getting older. He's still unbelievable at his age. But I think when loser draw, the respect has to be there for LeBron. You've got to understand this, Jemak.

When LeBron and Kevin, when they sneeze, when they do anything, group that likes LeBron that likes KD. They still like them. And there's a group that no matter what they can do, right, you have a problem, they have a problem. There's a few of us indifferent and fair, but they have a problem with everything that those two guys do at any moment.

All right. Let me buzz through a couple series real quick. Nuggets, wolves, and when Minnesota loses, how do they blow up their team? I don't know if they necessarily blow it up, because what do you blow it up to do? but I think the Nuggets win I think the Nuggets are J-Mack, the Nuggets might be the most outside of my Rockets, they might be the most

dangerous team in the playoffs right now. And they're a team that you'd like to avoid. Yeah. You know, Rachel's selling me that the Hawks are a major threat to the Knicks. I'm riding with my Knicks, who you got Atlanta, ATL, versus New York. Where's Rachel that, man?

Shout out to Rachel, by the way. Yeah. She's not wrong. they are a player away and I think Jalen Johnson can play 1A but I think he's best A Rachel he's best at a 1B but they're long

they defend they're athletic they get out in transition they have the length to put on Brunson if you guard Brunson the lengthen is a problem and you know the thing about New York you know big body Brunson he's clutch you know and he comes to him big moments but if you can keep length on him Rachel

I'm not wrong he has strong in some of those moments. So Atlanta's that team, but they just kind of are young, athletic, and running, they can make some noise. Yeah. Thank you, Ryan. Thank you.

Rachel's been all over the Hawks. Come on. Ryan, one of the issues... I still think the Knicks will win, but it's going to be really tough. Yeah, it's not going to be easy. One of the issues, I mentioned this with Minnesota and then New York,

if you lose in the first round and you've been going conference finals, there's a chance you get blown up. Like they say, hey, let's get in Janus. Let's bring in some disgruntial superstar. Kawhi Leonard, I don't know. But it feels like New York, Minnesota. Who else is anyone else under that stress that you're thinking of?

So you're absolutely on the right page with that I will agree with you. When you have a player's greatest Anthony Edwards who could be, you know, potentially the next face of the NBA, all Anthony Edwards needs to do with that boy's swagger is win a championship or have a deep run. And I'm telling you he's going to be on every single commercial that you can name of in the NBA. You love the way that he gets out and competes. So if you're Minnesota, it's hard to develop through the draft. You know, you can get a guy like that.

I love Terran Shannon. He's an absolute dog. But if you don't think they're trying to make plays to get Janus out to the coupo over there, or they're trying to make a move for any type of free agent to pair along, they were in the Durant News. So, you know, unfortunately, they have a group where they would all do respect to those guys, and I know how it is to be a player, you know, they're going to be bartering Rudy Gobert. They're going to be bartering Julius Randall. They're going to be putting guys on the block if they feel like they can get a box,

office name to play next to Anthony Edwards. In our reality, they have one job. Keep him happy. Keep him in Minnesota and go ahead and do that by winning ball games and get him someone that he deeply admires. But Anthony Edwards, again, he's box office. Again, I hate that he's not going to be coming to the playoffs at 100%. He's a little hobbled, but you know that young boy's going to get out and compete. So one of the big issues online during the season was tanking. Oh, the tanking. Everybody is just unwatchable. Too many threes. The numbers say otherwise.

TV ratings way up and attendance up. I don't know. Is taking an issue to you, Ryan? Fans, again, the ones going and paying to go to the arenas, don't seem to care based on the numbers. Here's a challenge. Rachel knows this because she covered the NBA, probably shoot, since I was playing and far before that.

One of the big things is that I'm going to say this, and this is how a lot of players feel, former players, fans, whatever. You got a couple of guys who sit out of games who shouldn't be sitting out games. I understand if you put in your work and you're injured, I understand if you hadn't played a lot. And then you look at the throwback player, the 10-year players, plus give them their kudos.

Rachel, my wrong. Give LeBron James. You got to pull LeBron off the, whether you love him, you got to pull him off the floor. I watch Kevin Durant. Listen, Kevin Durant had to be forced to sit out games. If his jersey sitting on the chair, it was hard for EMA to say you sitting out. He had an ankle injured.

He wanted to play through it. Rachel, these guys don't have that same mentality. So it's not that, you know, it's not the tanking is to sitting out. And when you have a top eight going into the draft or 10 that's this deep, we expect the teams to be doing this. First of all, KD, everyone has to realize he's 37 years old. He played 78 games this year, to your point. I mean, that's crazy. Look, I have said for a long time, tanking isn't the problem.

Tanking is the symptom. It is the symptom of the problem that teams don't have enough good ways to get. get better anymore because of all these CBA rules and they've sort of made free agency a lot different. They need to fix bad teams having an avenue to get better. And then I promise you, teams don't want to be terrible. They don't want to alienate their fans. They don't want to undevelop their young players. Give them another way. Then you won't have tanking. Ryan last one. I think about this. Real quick, the three strikes rule, because a lot of it is suspicion. When you sit out guys, you sit down, let's say if you get a lot of, if you get

three strikes of suspicion for not putting your best product on the floor, hey, you lose some draft position. You know what I'm saying? In English, if I see you do this three times, but like, listen, in fairness, I saw some ugly line that's come out down the stretch. I'm not going to say no names. I'm not snitching. Okay, but I saw some ugly linens come out down the floor.

Ryan, we had an in-game tanking. You saw that, right? Coaches calling plays that were the lowest percentage plays you could call, in-game tanking this year. Snitches get stings. but I saw it. Ryan, last one. So the NBA just within the last 90 minutes

said that even though Luca did not play 65 games, even though Kade did not play 65, they've been exempted and they are eligible for awards. This is breaking news. I personally love this. I know Luca had missed by one game. Rachel mentioned that he missed two games

for the birth of his child. Like, come on. I'm fully on board with this. I haven't looked online to see what people are saying, what's your take on this? You're such a hater, bro. So for you to be on board, this has to be, this has to be obvious.

I love it. And I even love even more that the NBA has found a way to get things right. The league will make those special exceptions to give the people what they want. And here's my challenge for the 65 game rule because guys weren't competing. They went putting their best foot forward.

There's a difference. I think we just talked about, there's a difference between rest, oh, you're not playing back-to-back, rest or a guy coming out and saying, yeah, I'm not going to play back to back to the season. Like, whoa, big fella, you didn't try. You know, player, you didn't try. So I think the challenge for guys to come out and try. And I think that there's a difference between injury and rest. And I think give them a number of days where they can rest, right? Let's say you get 10

rest days. And then if you're injured, we don't count that against you, you know? And I think the tough part now as we go in to do that is the decipher between both. But I do think guys who are legitimately injured who have gone off like Kate Hunt Cunningham got off like Luca Donchich who could be the MVP of this season if it's not SGA that boys top two or three and definitely all NBA first team. No

question for both those two guys they should be in the running but I think the league should make a difference and keep in mind as we talk about tanking we talk about rest day the league has enforced this because of the way that the players have sat out and having come out with a competitive spirit.

So shout to the league. I think these guys are taking a stand in the right way, and I don't want to see them penalized for actually being injured. All right. Ryan Hollins, NBA veteran. Final question, who is your pick to win the NBA finals? I can't let you out of here without you. I need a pick.

Who's beating who? If it's not my Houston Rockets, I mean, you know, we're going to throw that out there, first and foremost. If it's not my Houston Rockets, I think it's hard to deatone the champs. I don't know if it's Winby's time yet. I see how hot you are. I see you rolling your eyes. I have to see it in the playoffs.

And here's the thing that Wimby's going to get. He's going to see defenses that he's never seen before. He's got to be healthy through the playoffs. Teams are going to get up under him. Now, I think ultimately when he continues to add strength, he keeps that swaggering energy that he keeps that Kevin Garnett energy that we saw this season, it's going to be nothing anybody's going to be able to do with this young boy.

But at this point, I don't think he's there yet. And for OKC, they can play you in so many different ways. if they were able to throw Caruso on Nicola Yokic and switch things up and foul and get under them and bump, I think Wembe ultimately would see the same results in OKC. They just make some... It's like playing chess when you play OKC, man. The young boys are lying. They go to dinner together. They do all that. It's going to be really tough to be thrown OKC.

Yeah, they dance together at airports. All right, Ryan Hollins, good stuff. As always, my man, move to L.A., join the Men's League team. Come on, bro. Thanks for taking the time. time, Ron. Hey, hey, tell Colin that you just threw away a free flight and hotel room. I'll be there, big fella. I'll be there. I don't know Colin's going to be happy to hear that on the value budget, but you're throwing it out.

All right. Coming up next year on The Herd, Rachel has news that the Jets have made up their mind on the number two big. Maybe, maybe. What? Without consulting me? What the heck? I know I'm busy here doing the show. All right.

That's next year on The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from The Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio. And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from 7 to 10 p.m. Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show. That's right. You can now watch the Odd Couple live on YouTube every day.

All you got to do, search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube. Again, YouTube, just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out on YouTube and subscribe. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, 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 a... 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. 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 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.

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 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in town. 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 went.

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. Back here on the herd. Good stuff from Ryan Hollins, former NBA Center. I think he was on the court for that Adam Morrison game. If you go look it up on YouTube, UCLA Gonzaga. iconic stuff. Let's go to Rachel Nicholton News. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Jason, it's finally here. We've been talking about it for months.

Victor Webbian Yama will have his first foray into the playoffs on Sunday. And look, he's young, obviously. A lot of the Spurs team is young. They don't have a lot of playoff experience on the roster. So you've got Wembe, who's been so dominant this season, he's in the running for MVP. And yet, you don't have that ingredient that NBA people say you need to have before you can advance in the playoffs. And it's a cliche for a reason, right? We've seen that over, even this Thunder team had to lose in the playoffs before they got over the hump. So why do you think the spurs are going to be able to pull this off?

I actually want to hear specifically your Western Conference finals. Why are they going to take down the Thunder? I have to admit, it's a little skewed because of how badly they beat the Thunder in the regular season. And it wasn't like one game. No. I mean, and it wasn't like the Thunder were sitting guys. No. It were marquee gains, and they kept beating them.

Everything the Thunder do well, the Spurs do better, I think. Whether it's three-point shooting. I mean, defensively, Wembeñama's amazing. I know the Thunder were better as a team defensively. And some people will argue, well, J. Dub wasn't there. I don't know, guys, when he came back, he hasn't looked like the guy who was dominant against the Pacers in the NBA finals. Maybe he will be.

But I just think that Wembeeniam is the ultimate chess piece that nobody can game plan. for. And Holland's mentioned it. We've seen Caruso scrap with Yokic. That's one thing. You can't just lob it up near the rim and have Yokic catch it and dunk it. Wemben Yama, I don't see a way to stop him. Maybe teams try to get super physical with him. But like, for instance, Portland in the opening round, Donovan Kling and young guy, big upside. Looks like a good player. He's got no chance against Wembe. And I'm betting on Wembe and also Stefan Castle. That's my guy. Rachel, we all like, you kind of get pot. I mean, not you, but me as a fan. get pot committed to players. I got in early on the ground level on Curry.

I'm pot committed to Wemby, so I get it. Okay, you're pot committed to winning. Stefan Castle at Yukon so good defensively. And you watch him and he's got this swagger. So I went to the game at Crypto where they played the Lakers and Webby had like 25 in the first quarter. And if you watch Castle in warmups, you know, he just walks around the court like he owns it.

Like he's a future Hall of Famer and he's not afraid of anything. He's not worried. He's not tense. And then he goes on the court and he locks people up, full court defense, and I just, I like the Spurs a lot, man. And they were boring. I did not like the Duncan Parker Genobley Spurs. I thought they were boring.

I mean, look, I was with you. I actually picked the Spurs also, but that was before the bracket was set. I'm worried about if the Spurs end up playing the winner of Denver, Minnesota in the second round, how beat up are they going to be by the time they get to Oklahoma City, which looks like they will have sort of a cruise through the bracket until the come. conference finals. So I don't know. The other hand, though, Jason, Wembe is like a computer, right? So if so if Peruso does get under him and throws him off his game in game one, he will be able to prepare for that for the next game. The advantage of this being a series as opposed to

March Madness for a guy like Wembe Nyama is he has the ability to adjust game to game. And I definitely don't think he's going to be scared. This is a guy who played in championships before. We forget these European players, they've been in these pressure. situations playing for a championship in European leagues that are extremely competitive. You've played in the gold medal game against the U.S. The France almost won. So I feel conflicted, but I worry about that bracket, man. I'm worried.

So in the last game of the season, the Spurs sat Wembe. Is that what happened? And they played everyone else and tried to win but lost? Yes. Do I have that right? Yeah, it wasn't good because it would have made things easier for them if the Lakers had stayed in three and the Nughey. had gone back to four.

They were trying to win, and they looked disorganized enough at times and overwhelmed enough at times. It sort of made people worry again about, okay, how are they going to be in tough playoff situation? So now, we were on spring break, so I missed that game. I haven't been able to catch up on it. So what exactly happened? They just didn't play well?

Yeah. I mean, a lot of sort of moments in the game. You know, you have those inflection points in a basketball game, and you lose enough of them in a row. You've lost the basketball game, and that's what happened with them. They just, you know, look, not having Wembe, which is the sun, all the planets orbit around on that team, will throw you off. But look, Wembe's had injuries this year. You might not have him for a game or two in the playoffs.

You don't know. By the way, as an NBA reporter, I have to ask, Denny Avdia was so good. Laker fans are asking me, how can we get him to L.A. And pair him with Luka. Any answers for that? Because Denny Obdia, I mean, again, Phoenix has some defenders. They got some Royce O'Neils good. Dylan Brooks, Dilla the villain.

He cooked everyone. And it was like nobody can stay in front of them. Yeah. Can we get them to the Lakers? I'm not sure being a standout offensive player is what they should be trading for. Oh. Right? And by the way, Denny is no slouch on defense either.

But I just think that when they make a deal, whether it is, you know, Janus, they made a godfather offer on Janus at the trade deadline. They're expected to do it again. I'm sorry, the Warriors did that. But they've made bids at the trade deadline that didn't pay off. They are expected to break up. this team to an extent and do it again this summer and defensive presence will be one of

the main things that they look for. Obviously to the haters, I'm joking about Denny Avdia. The Lakers are not getting him. Well, there's Lakers. There's Janus to the Lakers. That's why I just made that mental flip. There is definitely Yonis to the Lakers talk. So I don't know, man. It's going to be an interesting summer for

the Lakers. All right, Jason, it's time. Let's talk about your New York Jets. So they've canceled their pre-draft visit with edge rusher David Bailey saying they quote have all the information that they needed. Now most Jets fans like you are taking this as a good sign, right? That means they know they're taking them at number two. The Jets are organized. We're going to get this edge rusher who's going to be good from game one. He's really NFL ready. But there are some people raising

concerns today over have all the information we needed. Is that more that they had a discussion internally about Bailey's aggressive past and decided they don't want to take the risk on something like that. I think it's probably the former, but what do you think about that idea that there might be concerns? So for the audience, you'll need to say more about the aggressive past. It's not like he's, I mean, go ahead, go ahead. There's no off-field domestic violence, anything like that. But he grabbed a photographer by the neck of what had to apologize to him. And he was thrown out when he was at Stanford, he was thrown out of a game for stomping on another player's head. So there's now been two incidents with him where they're not in the normal scope of play.

I mean, you don't run to a photographer, grab him by the neck and shake him. And stomping on a guy's head, I mean, you know, you remember what happened with Albert Hainsworth? Yeah. He did that, and the guy had his helmet off, but he did that, and he was suspended for five games. So I think they're canceled because they know who they want. They want him. but do you think there's any validity to this other theory? Well, it's interesting.

First, I'll say no regarding the off. I don't know. Is that off-field stuff or just non-football? How about non-courtball? We'll call it non-football stuff. Non-football is good. So this is similar to Mendoza versus Arch Manning and that Bailey has a ton of production.

Right? Yeah. Dominant on-field guys, all the numbers. Reese was a linebacker. They moved him to edge and they're kind of moving him around. And so the Ohio State fans I know are like, dude, look at the clips where he's an edge. He looks like Micah Parsons. The bend, the quickness, it's like, holy cow, they unlock something.

But he doesn't have the numbers and the amount of snaps at that position like Bailey does. So it's like, do you want to bet on the upside of Reese or do you want to bet on the production already of Bailey? And I am, you know, nerdy upside guy betting on the numbers. I would take Reese too. Not a slight on Bailey at all, but I would go Reese. Because he's a little more flexible. Yeah. Like you could drop him into coverage to guard some tight ends.

And their quarterbacks can be like, whoa, I thought the guy was pass rushing me. You know, I like guys who are multi-talented. Probably because, you know, I'm not like a, I wasn't like born to be a TV person. I got the web stuff. I did the newspapers, magazines. I can do it all podcasting, you know, as opposed to like, hey, I'm going to college for TV. You went to college for journalism too, right? Absolutely.

And newspapers. I thought I was going to work in news. newspapers for the rest of my life. But then newspapers mostly don't exist anymore. So had to make a change. But yeah, no, I mean, it is interesting to think about how that history on non-football history, if there are, you know, if they're like this and this on Ardell and Bailey, like, I don't know, maybe that's what tips the scales for them. I think they're taking Bailey at number two. It seems to be what they have telegraphed, but it's an interesting sort of, oh, it could be the other way. Yeah. So, I don't know. We'll see on that. LeBron and KD, Jason, facing off in the playoffs.

Again, you know TV is going to love these games, put them in prime time. The first time LeBron and Katie played each other in the playoffs, we look this up, I'm sexy and I know it, and Nikki Minaj Starships, where some of the most popular songs. That's a great song, by the way. I hope you're talking about Starships. Star ships, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sexy and I know it's kind of lame, I mean, look, Durant is excited for this matchup. He says it's always great to play against great players, but he did point out it's a team game. And we talked to Ryan about that just a few minutes ago. What do you think?

You've got a Lakers short-handed team, but they've got LeBron James. You put Ryan on the spot. I'm putting you on the spot now. Yeah. Do you think that this kind of means anything? Because, you know, when the Jordan haters come into my mentions, I'm like, hey, how did it, what's Michael Jordan's career record in the playoffs against Isaiah Thomas? Right. And they kind of, they don't have anything, right?

So like, is this- When LeBron loses his series, and then it's like, well, look, LeBron's lost three of four to KD. It's like, wait a minute. KD was the greatest team in the history of the sport. Sorry, that's what I believe. That Warriors team,

calves were massive underdogs in that series. I'll remember, I came on for the 2017 finals. I said sweep. Yeah. It went, you know, viral. People were like, are you out of your mind? It looked great at 3-0. And then, of course, the Cavs in game four hit, I think, 26 three-pointers.

And I, you know, get egg on my face. But, yeah, KD's had a great career. He's got on some great teams. I don't think this head-to-head means much at all, do you? Look, I think anyone who brings this series into the legacy conversation, I just would throw that out. I don't respect your opinion, if that is what you are doing. Everybody knows, you said it earlier.

LeBron's playing with two hands tied behind his back. I mean, it's just not the same. That being said, what I wonder in terms of long term from this series is, is this going to affect LeBron's place with or without the Lakers next season? Right? Because if the finishing kick had been, oh man, we got to the conference finals or even the finals, right? With Austin Reeves and, of course, Luca and LeBron and it was working so well, maybe they want to have him be more incorporated than they would if now they see him do this. and you sort of get the visual of what LeBron can and can't do at this age. I spoke to Rich Paul last night at the game, and we were talking about the summer, and I asked him, I said, I don't think money is going to be the main factor.

And he was like, no, no, I have not. So what I keep asking people, and I asked him last night, is roll. How much will LeBron sacrifice, be the number three guy, dive on the floor for eight months of a season compared to, like, the last month of a season and a playoff run? Those are two different things. And he pointed out that he would not be the third guy in a lot of teams. So I don't know what that means, but there you go. Look at Rachel.

Just throwing that in there. I did the reporting last night for you, Jason. Come on. I need some time to marinate on that. We'll talk about it after the break. But Rachel, with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The herd-line news. So besides Rachel's breaking news, we'll talk. There's a big sign about the NBA that popped this week. Some of you may have missed it. Hators, tune in. We'll talk about that shortly. One more HARD? The HARD streams 24 hours a day,

seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app. Search HARD to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, it's us to 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. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band

before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, Hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Side 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. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself.

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

Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. All right, get ready. We got a full weekend of football.

coming up. Tomorrow at 8 Eastern, you've got the Renegades and quarterback Austin Reed looking to stay hot as they face the Columbus Aviators. Then Saturday at 4, the Orlando Storm meet the Birmingham Stallions. The United Football League is on Fox and it's good.

All right, fun show so far. Obviously, the Warriors win last night. Just incredible theater for the league. Whether it was the drama of the play-in, Steph Curry, the Warriors. Here's Steve Kerr talking about it last night.

Job with the game planned to blitz Kauai and try to put a crowd around him. And so the preparation was good and the players really followed through. And for one night, you know, we're us. We're champions again, you know. And I know that may sound crazy to everybody out there. It's a play-in game. I don't care. It's just absolutely beautiful to watch.

I mean, he's spot on. very well said by Steve Kerr, a great ambassador for the league. Just listen, I just got to say this. I know the narrative, Rachel, you see it out there. Oh, tanking has ruined the league. Let's just stop, guys. Stop with these feeding the trolls online who constantly,

oh, the NBA is unwatchable, too many threes. Again, I said it to Ryan Hollins. The attendance is up in the NBA, up. The TV ratings are way up. Now, I know some people will say, well, they're fudging the numbers. Just keep that same energy for baseball, soccer, football, everything. Just if you're going to do that, then do it at every sport.

But the narratives don't match the reality. Folks, the play-in is an unbelievable success. We had two nights of playing games. Three of them came down to the wire. And the other was kind of close with like three minutes left. I think Orlando was within three or four points. So you were there, Rachel, you saw the vibe. I get it.

The NBA 82 game season, just like Major League Baseball, it's long. It's tough to get excited about every game. You know, I get that. And, you know, some of these teams sitting players on purpose to try to get AJ DeBanza, it probably annoys you. But you weren't going to watch Grizzlies Jazz anyway. Just like you're not watching the Colorado Rockies against whoever's in last place. Why you got to be like that, Jason?

I mean, whatever, you know, I mean, same deal. When quarterbacks are hurt in the NFL and it's a bad matchup of two five-win teams, nobody cares. So stop just going overboard. I don't like it. It's annoying. If you don't like the NBA, just say it, that's fine. Rachel, you and I, I love football.

I love sports. March Madness, World Cup is coming. Listen, we got a World Cup guest coming up. All I know is this summer when Cowherds out and World Cup's happening and we're hosting. We're doing like two hours of World Cup guys. I'm sorry, it's exciting. It's amazing. It's great theater.

All right, I'm rambling, Rachel. Go ahead. No, I mean, of all the tweaks that the NBA has made, this is the one, right? The playing game has worked the best. And it was sort of designed to make middling teams want to go for it more and not tank. And I don't know if it's done that. You've had teams actually, you know, last year you had Dallas purposely losing games and they were fine for tanking because they wanted to get into the lottery.

And that clearly was a success. But in terms of quality of product, a smashing, number one, blowout success for the NBA. And these games have been so good that our NBA ballots just hit my mailbox. They just hit my inbox, Jason. You should have you fill it out on air next hour. I will. I'll do it tomorrow. That, you know, there is concern that these playoff games have loomed so large that voters are going to be influenced by them, even though they're not supposed to be.

Yeah, listen, I don't see how you can vote concanipple over Cooper Flag. I'm sorry, not one game. Cooper Flag is the man. Anyways, Stu Holden coming up final hour, Ian Rappaport as well. Keep it locked here. On the herd. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know. Tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen.

We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless, and at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know.

I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerabachina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface.

Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast on the I-Hart Radio app. podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.