The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 2 - NFL bubble

Episode Date: May 24, 2023

The way the Nuggets got to the NBA Finals The type of player that plays well with LeBron Colin gives you his NFL Superbowl Bubble with the teams he thinks can win it all this year   Guest: Chris FinchSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Number two on a Wednesday live in Los Angeles. It's the hurt wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making it as part of your day. A lot of choices out there. Got a great night, sleep and a huge nap yesterday before the game. I slept. I don't know what it was. I got on the treadmill, did almost an hour and a half.

I was just grinding yesterday, man. Grind, grind, grind, grind yesterday. I'm not sure why. I watched the entire, you know, I watched the entire first half and halftime on a treadmill. up and wet, felt great, energized me, then crashed and slept. Hour and a half on the treadmill, man. I just played chess against my son and got smoked. He's 12.

I've been beating him lately, but he got me yesterday good, so. I'm looking for a hobby. Chess is so fun. It's super popular. I like backgammon. I don't know how to play that. Backgamon's great. Anne beats me mostly in backgammon, but I like playing.

How about this? Are you a Scrabble guy? Have you played Scrabble? I'm a wordal. backgammon those are two I like you know I'll do there's

New York Times has a couple of things they have the wordle the B thing they have Spelling B and Wirtle New York Times I play those Are you good at spelling? Well I'm good enough

I don't know if I'm good at say I one of my claims to fame was I won the spelling B in fourth grade and I made a girl cry because I kind of rubbed it in her face it was bad you can be obnoxious a little bit I was like super pumped up

that I won and then I lost like at the regional level or whatever it was. But I'm a pretty good speller if you want to ever go toe to toe this summer. Not really. Okay. Okay. Fair enough.

All right. So Rob Polinka is the GM for the Lakers. He was talking about the conjecture, the comments, conjecture, the comments by LeBron after losing. LeBron's a strategic guy, very much into business strategy. He was emotional after the game. But the comments were, hey, I got a lot to think about. You know, listen, I think it's a 90% a great. time for LeBron to retire. He broke Kareem's record. He had a great final game. He's got business set up.

I'm 90%, 10%, it's a great time to retire. I'm 10%, 90% that he's actually going to retire. I don't think he is. There's too many reasons to stay. Here's Rob Belenka. You know, coach and I'll speak to LeBron in the coming days. We all know that he speaks for himself and we'll look forward to those conversations when the time is right. But, you know, I will say this. LeBron has given as much to the game of basketball as anyone who's ever played. And when you do that, you earn a right to decide whether you're going to give more. Obviously, our hope would be that his career continues. So LeBron, still a top 10 player, can still take over games.

He's going to clean his ankle up off-season surgery. He likes Darvindham. He likes Austin Reeves. He likes AD. He likes coming to work. He said over and over, I like these guys. And if the Lakers added a Trey Young or a Kyrie Irving, hopefully Trey Young, not a Kyrie Irving, it would be a better team.

Chris Mannix had a different take on LeBron and the retirement talk. Nobody has leveraged situations through contracts and his career more than LeBron James. In Cleveland, series of one-year contracts, all designed to put maximum pressure on the Cavaliers' front office to win now. age 39, can I do the same thing over again? Can I survive a DeAngelo Russell flameout in the postseason? Probably not. So I think in his mind, he's saying, look, the one lever I have to pull is me. I can say, I'm not going to come back unless you do exactly what you want me to do. Next year is probably his last year to win a championship. Yeah. So that's why the Trey Young rumors, Trey Young to the Lakers makes sense.

a better version of Kyrie Irving. He's younger. He's ascending. He plays big minutes. He's more durable. Outside of Luca, he was the top scoring point guard. And you know, you got to be careful about branding young players one or two years out of college. Trey Young can play. There's no question. He loves the big stage. He'd not be intimidated for a second to play with LeBron AD and the Lakers. So there are some parallels between Brady and LeBron at the end. The goats, right? But they're not the best player, but Brady is one of the top. five or six quarterbacks. LeBron's one of the top five or six players. The difference is, is that Tom is seven years older than LeBron, and Tom also had a stated goal. I want to play to

45, and they realized it. LeBron's 38. His stated goal has been, I want to play with my son. He hasn't realized it. And this is another thing. When men get divorced, they feel some guilt, right? Guilt for the kids, guilt for the situation. Tom got divorced. And I think he really felt like, you know what, I got to be there for the family. LeBron's in a situation. The family's good. It's intact. So I don't think he feels that kind of pressure. So there's just too many reasons to play. LeBron's still great on a given night.

The surgery, they could add a Trey Young. And I'll be honest with you, the Western Conference outside of Denver feels incredibly wide open next year. There's a lot of talented teams. Memphis is talented. Minnesota's talented. The Clippers are talented. The Warriors have talent. Denver's really good. So the sons are talented but thin.

So it's wide open. And I think one, I really, I said this yesterday, I think the JMAQ, I think Brady looked at the NFL and he said, we don't have the Niners or the Rosters. The Niners or the Eagles roster. That's just the NFC. Forget the AFC. I think Tom realistically looked. He didn't have an offensive coach. Ariens was upstairs and Tom said, I can't win a championship.

I think LeBron really truly believes you add Trey Young, if you don't have to give away too much, Trey Young, LeBron James, AD. Maybe you move off Austin Reeves. Maybe you keep Rui. I think the West outside of Denver next year is wide open. And one of those coaches, Chris Finch of the T-Wolves, by the way, back-to-back playoff appearances in both years as the full-time head coach is now joining us. Well, there you are, Chris Finch.

It's great to see you. So let's go and talk Denver for a second. You faced them. You saw them. They've always been tough with altitude. But I said this yesterday. We knew they were good, but I thought Nash's sons, Orcadian Westbrook's Thunder, these young ascending teams, I thought they'd win a title. They didn't.

Are you surprised? Because you've watched Denver for years now. Are you surprised they not only got to the finals, but the way in which they did? Not really, Colin. I mean, they have such an understated amount of talent there. These guys don't get enough respect. And I think the other thing that people don't really, really give them enough credit for is how well their pieces fit to. together. You know, of course, when you have a guy like Jokic who just makes everybody else around him so much better, it's going to accentuate everybody's best attributes, but they just fit together seamlessly. And they seem to be able to move, like, within a game to different parts

of matchups or styles or rhythms at which they play and depend on what the defense is doing. So they're pretty sophisticated when you start picking them apart. coaching staff, they haven't had a lot of chaos, a lot of the same guys. You know, you told me last time we had you on, you said, Yokic is a handful. We were talking about how the warriors could match up and you're like, listen, Draymond's stuff, it's not going to work against Yokic. You've watched him develop from a second rounder. When did you know in this league?

When did you look at Yokic and go, we're looking at an all-timer potentially here? Well, you know, I was fortunate enough to be with him on that staff. with his second year, which was kind of his breakout year. Never could we have predicted this at that time, but we certainly could see the talent, the IQ, the ability to anticipate what's going to happen on the floor, which is a hallmark of some of the best players ever, and just the winning and tangibles.

He really doesn't care about numbers, even though he can put up 45 a night if he wanted to. He's wired to pass first. He makes all the right plays. Like that's the thing about a lot of guys, you know, that have immense talent. Sometimes they fight the game and they fight the game because they're trying to put their stamp on it. But he just moves from part of the game to part of the game and does whatever the game needs. You know, in our series, you know, when we played them big, if we put Rudy on him, he drug us to the top of the floor and they ran a lot of DHOs and actions with Jamal.

And if we put, you know, anyone smaller, they put him in the post and forced us to come and double and choose that way. And he just effortlessly moves around the floor and just makes his team go. And everyone plays so well off of that. So I want to talk about the Lakers before I pivot over to the Eastern Conference. LeBron, I think it's reasonable to say he can be dominant for a half or in spots. He can be as good as anybody in the league. But you know this. You get to be 38.

There's a lot of road trips, a lot of plane trips, a lot of practices. We all get old, right? And so I've argued that where Anthony Davis was the perfect compliment three or four years ago. But now LeBron's down to about 58 games a year and AD is going to give you about 60 that they need, I'll just throw a Trey Young out. Trey gives you minutes. He's durable for his size. He's 70 games. And I've used Aunt Edwards.

Aunt I've used your guy. I've said, that guy's going to play minutes. He's going to play games. is that LeBron now needs to be coupled with the younger dynamic players. When he's gone, they take the franchise over. When you hear all these rumors about who plays with LeBron, like when you hear a Trey Young thing, is there a certain type of player that you've witnessed

generally plays well with LeBron? Well, I think it's guys that, you know, certainly have the ability to be ready to shoot and do something when they get the ball. I think that's one of the things that made Austin Reeves a good fit for them. He wasn't afraid of playing out there and making tough shots or shots when the ball swung to him and he's open and making plays out of that situation. We all want more talent.

There's no doubt about every team is always trying to add more talent, more pieces, more depth. But it's really about how these guys played well together and guys that can play off of talented players and aren't afraid of, you know, you might not touch the ball for, for a number of possessions. But are you able to do something when you get the ball? Yeah. Guys like Steve Kerr famously made, you know, game-winning shots playing off of Michael Jordan.

And these guys, particularly in the playoffs, you know, have the ball in their hands even more and more and more. And you're right, you know, through 82, they're going to need people to carry the load. But you still have to have somebody who moves really comfortably to a complementary role and can be pretty impactful in that role, too. So I look at Miami. We always talk about the heat culture.

And I do think culture is underrated in the NBA because you're getting 19 and 20-year-old kids. If the culture is bad, those kids go sideways fast. So the warriors and the heat, the spurs in their dynasty, it was the culture. When you hear Miami heat culture, as a coach, what do you see with Miami? Seven undrafted players, four in the rotation. what makes it work? Well, I would say this. I was talking to a heat scout in the combine last week,

and they just don't believe there's not, they believe there's talent everywhere in the draft and outside the draft. So that's start, their culture starts there. Their culture starts that says that we feel like we can find guys who can help us win, no matter where they're coming from. They obviously believe mightily in the way that they do things. They're probably the best shape of the league. They develop guys into roles around star players,

which is the fastest track of developing young players. Give them pretty tight, left, right bumpers, let them know what you need them to do. They play well off of guys. And ironically, you know, oftentimes when you're getting guys outside the draft or in the late second round, you're getting guys that have been in college for three or four years. They might be a little bit more mature.

They have the connective tissue. They've fought through some adversity. They've had to prove who they are, grow into a role, all the things that you want when guys are coming into the league and guys that you need to help kind of solidify a roster with talent already. And they have that emotional maturity. Yeah, that's a great point, by the way. A second rounder is more like a college football player.

Maybe he red shirts, maybe he doesn't. But he's 22 years old and he's ready to join a Jimmy Butler can take, you know, the hard coaching the hard teammates. Great point. So in your career, you have been on staffs or coached James Harden, you know, guys that aren't afraid to shoot. You've coached Brandon Ingram. Then you've had lesser players, Jeremy Lynn, who again, offensive-minded. Have you ever had a player like Jason Tatum, who is a tremendous two-way player? But there are moments. He reminds me a little, personality-wise, of Andrew Wiggins, where sometimes I feel like he needs a little push. It's like, all right, like, take the game over.

And I think Tatum's a better two-way player. And I always liked Andrew Wiggins. But I did feel at times he could disappear a little. Not everybody's, not everybody is confrontational. Not everybody's Kobe. What would you do with the Jason Tatum, who sometimes needs a nudge to take the game over? At least it feels like that to me. Yeah, I think, um,

You know, what's important to remember these playoff journeys for all these players is that they, you know, every year they go a little bit further. They learn a little bit more, you know, not only about how the teams are guarding them and the different things that they're seeing, but they also will have opportunity to reflect on their missed opportunities of being aggressive. And I think that's what it comes down to. How do you activate a guy to, you know, whether you call his number more? but again in the playoffs sometimes it's very difficult because these guys see multiple bodies, whether it be double teams or multiple guys sitting in their lap. And they want to make the right play because they realize I got to trust my teammates if I'm going to win.

So it's a balancing act right here. You know, maybe you can move them around the floor a little bit. Maybe you try to post them a little bit more. Maybe try to play them off the elbow where it's a little bit harder for them to come with multiple bodies and double right away. I'm not sure that all different things that you can do to try to play within your system. But I think what we've seen from Tatum, and this is what proves that he's a world-class player, is that when his back has been to the wall in these elimination games, he has showed up big, and he has carried them with some of his best games.

And maybe it's just the desperation. I think sometimes guys are motivated more out of desperation than they are out of inspiration. Finally, the T-Wolves, you have a young star in Ant. And then you have a star that in Carl Anthony Towns that on the market, you're not going to move off Ant, but you've got two bigs and you've brought in Conley. And there's different parts. And some could argue, oh, there's a little bit of size like the Denver model. They got a young player like the Denver model. How active will you be?

Like, people would say from the outside, they're not there. yet. They're a move away. Your takeaway on doing that, like making too many moves, too big a swing, where are you at today in Minnesota with that roster? Yeah, I think we're pretty, you know, we're pretty happy with our core. We never thought that this move to bring in Rudy and go with the double bigs was something that was going to be, you know, a one and done or paid massive dividends right away. We knew it would be more of a move that would help us transform over a number of years. You know, I think with Ant's emergence, it certainly makes us think about, you know,

the different things that we could do. But we like our core. It's all about adding the right pieces to it. We were very, very happy bringing in Mike Connolly. We thought he was the perfect piece to help kind of bridge the gap between Rudy, Cat, and Ant. You know, we're always going to look to be creative, look to be, you know, in the dialogue of how do we improve this team, our front office here led by Tim Connolly and his guys are very heavy on the scouting piece

and know the league extremely well. And I know right now they're going through all the evaluation process, whether it be the draft where we hold the 53rd pick, where maybe we get one of those guys we were talking about earlier, that type of mature connective tissue that actually makes talented players a little bit better. And then there's obviously trade and free agency. you know, that yet to be played out. But, you know, we're not, we feel like we learned enough about what we did this year,

even though we had all the injuries and Catmiss 50-some games, that we have a better starting point coming into the next season, which to go from and build from. We liked how we kind of finished a little bit when we were healthy. We had a good identity. But, you know, again, we're going to be open, but I don't think this is something that we're looking to pivot off anytime soon. By the way, Victor Wenbanyama, one more question.

He's going to get his points. He is thin. I've said before, I look at body. I looked at Zion's body and the torque, worried me. I looked at Chet Hongren's body, worried me. I can remember Sean Bradley couldn't put weight on. Are the concerns about Victor, I've seen Biggs. Listen, human beings generally aren't 7-3 or 7-4.

What do you think? Would you be concerned? Would you put him on a minutes-in-game restriction as he adds? weight. I said with Chet Holmgren, I would play him 60. I would try to play him at home in comfort, but I don't think he was ready from Gonzaga to 82 games, eight preseason. I just don't think his body's ready for. NFL kids come in. They're 24. They've been in the SEC. They've had violent collisions. They're ready to play in the NFL. These bigs, they're like glorified high school players. Like, what is realistic for him early? Yeah, I think that, I think you're, you're very

wise in your approach. It has to be measured. You know, there has to be also a building up of some sort of ruggedness through an 82 game season. So, you know, you have to let them play. But managing that is going to be important. I think what separates him is his fluidity. You know, he's just moved so well for his size. A lot of times guys that are that size, you know, are trying to figure out But growing into their body, their coordination is a step behind. He has all that. So I don't think we'll see any of the awkwardness or the injuries that may result from that. It's going to be about the weight.

You know, he's going to get hit a lot. He's going to get hit first. You know, how does he absorb that? But by all accounts, you know, he's a great kid with an unbelievable work ethic. He's going to put the work in. He's going to be able to work on his body. And I'm sure that's, you know, going to be a point of emphasis coming in. I'm excited to see him, though.

Yeah. also played against some older European guys, so it's not kind of your classic college environment in the States domestically. Chris Finch, T-Wolves, great seeing you. It looks like, and I mean this as a compliment, you're getting rest now, you're sleeping, you look healthy. I know that season can beat you up. You look great, and it's good seeing you. I appreciate you having me on. Thanks, Colin. T-Wolves, coach, Chris Finch, that's the only upside of being bounced out of the playoffs. A coach can get at least seven hours of sleep. I remember years ago talking to Mike Dunle, He's like when you play game, day rest game, he's like, you're sleeping three hours

a night. You're literally going home and watching film of the game, making notes, breaking it down, three to four hours. You're back with your staff the next morning? Wow. You think he's losing any sleepover, potentially losing one of his stars this offseason? I would say, I would consider strongly moving Carl Anthony Towns. Yeah.

It may not be his choice. If Kat comes to him and says, I want out, trade me. By the way, he's got value. Yeah. Real value. Yeah. I've said this on the next. You could build around Anthony Edwards, but. If Jalen Brunson's my piece in New York, he's the quarterback,

Carl's a pretty good too. We're taking like R.J. Barrett. Absolutely. Give me an R.J. Randall. I don't know if I'd want Randall. I'd want R.J. Barrett. Maybe give me another one of their active.

Quickly? Yes. The guard. Yes. I would do that. And then some picks. Yeah. Carl Anthony Towns.

I mean, R.J. Barrett is good. He's like, he could be a 20-point-a-game guy easily. Yeah. But if you gave me Jalen Brunson, their length. Tibbs's culture and Carl Anthony Towns, it's pretty good team. I would want RJ Barrett and another one of your forwards that moves well. The question is, you know, Tibbs and towns have a history. I just, I don't know.

Well, Tibbs will be history if he doesn't make Jalen Brunson happy. Oh, well, said. You got to make Jalen Brunson's your guy. But I'm saying there's a market out there for it. Certainly. Cat is going to have suitors. Like people are going to space, floor spacing, you know, five who can hit threes at his clip. Yeah, he's going to be in high demand.

Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeard radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators,

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this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay and I'm Alex English Each episode we pick it here unpack what went down And try to make sense of how we survived it Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill

Waxing all about crack in the 80s To be clear, 84 was big to me Not just because of crack I'm down to talk about crack on day But just so y'all know At this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack So I'm starting to see that there's a through line

We also have AIDS on the table right now So Thank you for finishing that. sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's good to be back, Jemak. Life is good. NetSuite.com slash heard 22 years. It's their best offer yet. The leading cloud financial system. No payments, no interest, six months. NetSuite.com.

slash herd jemak with a news no no no no turn on the news this is the herd line news Celtics talked to talk yesterday Jalen Brown said some stuff at practice you don't want us to win game three don't let us win tonight and the Celtics did get the win they still have to win three more in a row

to get back to the finals here's Jalen Brown talking about how proud he was of his team bouncing back Just coming together, talking it out, and like a lot of times when you get to this point, you know, down 3-0, you see, you know, locker rooms and teams start to go in the other direction. We wanted to make sure that we stayed together. We wanted to make sure that we, you know, look each other in a eye and came out today and put our best foot forward. And I'm proud of our group for doing that because, you know, you see teams with their back against a wall and you see they just collapsed. You didn't see that tonight. You've seen us come together.

He's seen us play defense. You've seen us make the right plays. And I think like that shows a lot about our character, especially in the game where everything has on the line and everything that went wrong in the last couple of games. Cannot wait for tomorrow. As good as Tatum was, five baskets in the fourth quarter, I believe. Totally dominant, 33, 11, and 7th.

Brown, though, I thought he was a little uneven. And I don't want to reach here. Hand? You could say hand. One of five from deep. But two of five at the last. line. Colin, we know he's very socially conscious. He's aware of what's going on on social media. You think any of this, hey, trade Jalen Brown stuff, is getting to him at all? No, I think

it's his hand. Oh, it is? Well, I mean, when would he screw up free throws? It's got to be a hand thing. Like, I think he's a very strong player. You know, it's funny. If you ever travel, you're young. But if you, I think there's one thing that we don't talk about that, that hockey players and NBA guys, you get 41 road games. You don't sleep. You're facing the world's greatest athletes. These guys are all banged up.

Jason Tatum fell apart at the end of last year. I think Jalen Brown's hurt. There's no reason for Jalen Brown to suddenly can't shoot other than a hand injury. I know nobody wants to hear that. Miami's got injuries too. I'm not saying are they hand shooting hand injuries? Are they? I mean, he can't shoot free throws.

It's okay to say he had a great regular season and he's not having a good series. I don't know. It's okay to say that. I'm not crushing the guy. But we've never doubted him in big spots. We don't think he's an AA, but we know he's. I think he's a good, you could win a title with him as your two. Absolutely.

And I also think he's super strong neck up. I think he's a very, very forceful, confident, smart guy. I don't think things are going to get in his head. I think he's really appreciated in the organization. Why would suddenly this one be getting in his head? Well, a lot of this trade stuff can get to some of these guys. Remember, last year it was Kevin Durant. They trade Jalen Brown for Kevin Durant.

So why did he have a good regular season? Nobody's talking trades today. That's fair. He was also playing for that contract that all in the game money. So I'll say this. When he was coming out of Cal, he was working out at my gym with a trainer I know leading up to the draft. And he was not a great player at Cal. He was like good, but the length and the measurables.

So I roll up to the gym one day. I look in there and I see him working and I talk to the trainer afterwards. He's like, Jay, every coach is asking me about Jalen Brown. The Clippers want to trade up to get Jailen Williams. He's, I'm like, really? I looked at it. I looked at his numbers of Cal. I'm like, I don't see it.

But I remember he was super athletic, very strong and considered a smart grinder. He had that grinder's perfect. This is a guy, again, I know the trainer well. Brown, you know, he, the trainer makes you take a day off. And Brown will call him on the Sunday. The day off is like, all right, well, I need to get some shots up. We got to do something. He's like, dude, you got to just chill.

Jalen Brown works his butt off. I like him. I'm a fan. He's not having a great series. And they need him if they're going to pull off this. I'm telling you, it's got to be his hand. Okay. He's not a guy that would fold.

Like, we've seen athletes like they're not ready for the moment. This guy's been in the moment last year in the finals. There was a moment where he was their best player. So don't tell me he's going to shrink. That was the finals. This is just the Eastern Conference Finals. I think it's a hand issue. Next up, LeBron.

Oh, gosh. It's going to be the LeBron happy hour all day every week. He said after the game four loss, he had some thinking to do about his future. A lot of buzz. Will he retire? I say no way. Dennis Schrooter has chimed in. Dennis Schrooter, the immortal Dennis Schrooter.

Here's what he had to say about LeBron retiring. I can't see that. I don't know what's going on. Maybe it's personal or whatever. But, I mean, to retire and the last game in the playoffs you make 40, 10 and 9. I think you still got juice, you know, to play a couple more years. So whatever he decides, you know, he played for 20 years.

We're going to support him. I'm going to support him. Hopefully he's going to come back. I think also this matters. I think he likes Starvinham. I think he likes A.D. I think he likes Austin Reeves. I think LeBron likes going to work.

I think he's not loved every team he's on. I think he likes the guys. For the record, there was some toxicity at the trade deadline. They moved off Westbrook. The team, if you watch them, they look like they like each other. I mean, D.Lo literally vanished. He's not isolated on the bench. I think they, I think there's.

He's a cool guy. Like LeBron and D. Ansel Russell get along, but if you're not going to help LeBron win, no, no, no, thank you for your time. But they're moving off, D. Lo. Yeah, just to go back to LeBron, this idea, you know, he loves his family and being local and his son going to USC. Like, it's tough for me to imagine him leaving all that. There was some interesting chatter. Would LeBron retire for, say, a year, take a year off, come back to play with his son somewhere else?

I'm like, I don't see LeBron do it. Come on. People, listen, the Lakers are out. Denver's not a super headline team. People are going to talk about LeBron. Listen, if you have a... For the next few weeks. Every time we go through a football season, we've gone through one together.

But I mean, like this year, we had the Super Bowl at Fox. We had the World Cup. And it's not many days off. And so from Labor Day until about February 10th, I come out of a football season, and I'm like, man, how many more years can I? And then all of a sudden, about two weeks off, I go skiing, maybe we go to Mexico.

Then I come back and I'm like, Zibbidi-dudah, Zippity A. I'm going to do this until I'm 88. So I think LeBron, some of this is just like, man, it's a long season. Guys are worn out and then you lose. And a lot of stuff, I mean, literally LeBron talks 32 minutes after his season ends. Talk to us about what you want to do. And he's a very strategic measured guy, but he's human.

He's an emotional guy. He's like, I don't know how long I can do this. There's some Fridays when this show wraps. I'm just like, all right, I need next week off. I got to call in sick. I'm exhausted, drain physically. And then we threatened to fire you and then you come back Monday. Mentally. Final story, Aaron Rogers,

he is with the Jets for OTAs. Unlike some other players around the league, there was some concern from fans that Rogers tweaked his calf during pre-practice conditioning. Conditioning. He got hurt in conditioning? Yeah. But he said afterwards he didn't think it was too serious. He also

commented on how happy he was since the trade to be in New York. It's been like a dream month so far. Every day. I wake up, excited about coming to the facility. I have an excitement about coming down Jets drive, and it was surreal for sure, and it's strange to look at my locker and see a number eight, to be rocking jets gear.

It's a little bit strange for sure, but every day there's been something that's kind of been a little special sign or synchronicity or just a cool moment that reminds me that I'm in the right place. That just warms my heart. Okay, so I'm going to throw something out, J-Mack. Please do. And so Aaron's a thoughtful guy, and he talks about manifesting things, thinking things into existence. And I believe that is absolutely true.

You can talk yourself into poor health or good health. If you just are a negative person, it's the placebo effect. I'm going to have a good day. I don't feel great. And you can, you know, you have a good breakfast. You go for a good exercise. So did you notice this? I'm going to throw this out to everybody.

When Aaron was in Green Bay the last two years, he looked like a rebel, his hair, his attitude. He was literally looked like a Northern California cannabis grower. No, I mean, he did. He was manifesting it, and it kind of took over his personality. Darkness retreats. I'm my own guy. Have you noticed the physical change with Aaron in New York? More corporate.

Younger look. shorter haircut. He now looks, this is what Aaron does. He's manifesting. He's like, hey, this is a fresh start. I want to look young and energized. I've got young teammates. I'm going to be friendlier to the media and more corporate.

If you look at what Aaron did, and you think I'm out of my mind on this, if you go to Green Bay and you look at his appearance, he was becoming a rebel. The long hair, he's going to go on YouTube, take shots, opinions. and he became that. And some to his advantage, a little bit to his depraiment. He wasn't there sometimes for the young players that needed the mature veteran. Look at him now. Show that picture again.

He looks seven years younger. He looks corporate. He looks energized. His comments, I can't wait to meet you guys. Aaron's a guy that has discussed over and over manifesting the truth. What did he say last year? Don't talk negatively about these games. Don't get that crap in your head.

You can talk stuff into existence. Aaron's taking his own advice. He looks younger. He looks more urgent. He's more in the moment. He's not trying to be a rebel. He's trying to be a leader. I like this, Aaron.

And you think I'm all full of crud. But I think I'm right. That's quite a rant. Aaron strikes me as the kind of guy who probably has a vision board and he's manifesting. What's wrong with that? Hey. I know we're in California, but come on. Vision board, really.

Don't tell me you have one of those. My brother said that line to me, and I could not stop laughing. Your brother said that? You mentioned a vision board. I'm like, oh, my gosh. I don't know, come on. I don't even know what it is, but it sounds interesting. It's one of these hippie-dippy things.

Yeah, yeah. Aaron might get into it. I don't know. He dabbles in a lot of things. Show the video again. Show the press conference video. Yes, okay. Let's run it.

We should do a comp from three years ago to now. He was a scruffy hippie. He looked like Obi-1-Knoby. I mean, but again, that's what he was manifesting. Yeah. He was, hey, man, I may retire. He's not talking retirement at all now. He is in the corporate hub. Young and energized. He is a leader of other men. I think I'm right on the money. I think that was better than my. Look at that. Oh my gosh, he looks so young and spry. If you didn't know it, you'd be like, oh, hell, that's a franchise quarterback. That's a 31-year-old franchise quarterback. That's a guy who just got out of grad school.

Have you noticed how measured he is now in his conversation? Have you noticed how positive he is? is. There's no snarky. He's very, no retirement talk. He's also not talking to the former punter buddy of his. He gets a little ornery when he talks to that guy. Aaron is listened to his own advice. He's not manifesting all that rebel has a cause thing.

It's possible that darkness retreat had a positive impact. It did. And by the way, it's positive vision boards are going to change your brother's life. It might be a little more positive with your family. Jeffrey's going to kill me for that. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping.

by the herd line. My daughter says that all the time. She says, dad, you've got to manifest this. So you got to listen to your kids. Very exciting. You know I'm at the end of my contract if I start wearing a ponytail and earring. I'll be, I'll be manifesting the new Colin, the rebel. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard radio app. Two NBA insiders podcasting twice a week to plug you right into the NBA great buy. All happening in only one place. This League Uncut. The new NBA podcast with me, Chris Haines.

And me, Mark Stein. Join us as we team up to expound on everything we're covering, hearing, and chasing. Listen to This League Uncut with Chris Haines and Mark Stein. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep. That's me, Cliver Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we picket here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because, of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Then you're finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Sunday, Memorial Day weekend on Fox. It's the most patriotic day in racing. For the best of the best, let freedom ring with 600 miles of high-speed chaos. It all starts at 5.30 Eastern only on Fox and the Fox Sports app. This is not insignificant. Tyler Hero of the Heat has been cleared for shooting, dribbling basketball activities. That is not a revelation.

that should be just brushed aside. Butler is an A. Bam and Hero are B's. Spos, the best coach left in the playoffs. Plus, Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin off the bench, you could win a title with that. They won't be favored, but you go in a title with that. Denver's

got six guys who can score and a very good coach. You're not going to get the Joe Missoula edge. You know, I mean, Spow's probably not going to win a game in the finals, where he can win three games. feels like single-handedly he and Butler are winning games. But you got Yokic and Murray and Michael Porter and KCP and Gordon and Bruce Brown. You got six guys that can score. At some point, Miami is playing a little over its head offensively.

They were a bad offensive team for most of the regular season. Now suddenly they're great. Last night was more normalcy. So Tyler Hero averaged 20 points a night. He also had one game against Denver and was great. Most championship teams, have a really good coach and culture and three dudes you can depend on to score.

Bam, Hero, Butler. Most championship teams do not have seven undrafted guys and four in the rotation. It would break all analytic and historic rules. So Tyler Hero back, and he doesn't play a lick of defense, you know what? Not everybody has to be a great defensive player. Yokic isn't.

That feels significant. I would give Miami a fighting chance against Denver in the finals with Tyler Hero. That's interesting. J-MAC doesn't agree, but I think it's interesting. Now, from earlier today, Robert Sala, Jets coach said, I think we're one of the six or eight teams that can be a Super Bowl team. So here's Robert Sala, coach of the Jets, that young, good-looking, defensive,

energetic guy on his Jets. In my opinion, I think 32 teams stand in front of their teams, 32 coaches, stand in front of their teams every year, talk about winning a championship, and then realistically, there's maybe six or eight teams that have an actual chance to do it. And I do think we are one of those teams. But none of it matters unless we do it. We take care of it today. Okay, so I think there are five in my bubble that should be favorites.

And I think most of you would agree on those, which is San Francisco, Buffalo, Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia. Rosters are good. San Francisco lacks the star quarterback, but may have the best roster of all those teams. In fact, they do. Then I think Baltimore, the Chargers, the Jags, and the Cowboys are good enough at quarterback and also have really good rosters and star players. The two teams I don't put in, but I could by the middle of September, are the Jets and the

Dolphins because I think it could unravel in both. I don't see any of these teams unraveling. Now, the Chargers may only win 10 games and not 12. I think these teams are too good to completely unravel unless their quarterback got hurt. The Jets could unravel, brutal early schedule, O-line shaky. I still think they should go out and get a Devante Adams at the trade deadline and have a star number one. But I could see it becoming very pressurized if they got off to a bad start and Aaron could get frustrated. In Miami, I think they're really good.

They got better on defense. Two against concussion, fifth game of the year. They're holding them out until Thanksgiving. Whole thing unloads, excuse me. So J-Mack, you look at that. You winced a little. If you take the Jets out who you love. So it's just not talk Jets.

If you look at my Super Bowl bubble, do you have, is there anything in it you look at and you just push back strongly on? Yeah, if this were like a middle school test, I would take a red mark or put a big red X by the Cowboys. Get them the heck out of there. Come on. That was the last one I put in.

Yeah. That was a bit of desperation. Well, it's NFC. Outside of the Jets? I mean, I hate to say it, the Dolpherson. have to get some consideration, but you outline why they probably won't make it. I know this isn't going to be popular. I'm just going to go ahead and put the Pittsburgh Steelers right on the fringes, you know, maybe put their half in.

Instead of Dallas. I mean, if you won't let me put the Jets, yes, I would, Detroit Lions or Pittsburgh Steelers. All right. Not bad. Hour three, live in LA. Next. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network, On TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.