The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - Rachel Nichols stops by The Herd

Episode Date: February 26, 2026

Colin talks to NBA analyst Rachel Nichols joins the show to tell Colin why it’s become clear the Lakers are ready to move off LeBron James and go all in on Luka Doncic as their franchise playerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. All right, here we go. Unveiling a new product, very exciting. Hour 2 on a Thursday, live in Chicago, it's the herd. Rachel Nichols around the corner. Okay, so I've been talking about this for two or three days.

So the past 10 or 11 months, I have been working. with really smart people in our tech department at Fox. And we developed something. We took a couple of years of all of my shows, a poor app, and we downloaded all my shows. It's called SportsA.I. And you can find it. It just launched on the Fox Sports app. So, yeah, there it is, right there.

And they have downloaded every show of mine for the last two years. So it has my cadence. I think stylistically, it sounded like me. When I first heard that it was really raw when I first heard it 10 months ago, I just started laughing. I thought it was the craziest thing I'd ever heard in my life. You could ask it questions. It gives amazing answers, much like this show does.

And so you get the facts, you get the opinion. just go to the app, ask me anything you want about sports, and you'll get me or the AI version of me. So to give you a little bit of an example of how it works, again, it's called SportsA.I. And it's on the Fox Sports app. You can download the app. I think you'll get a good laugh out of it. So, J-MAC, let's give the audience a sense of how this puppy works.

All right, Colin, let's get it started. Every play, every stat, every storyline, I've got it all. What do you want to know? Will Fernando Mendoza be a franchise quarterback? Fernando Mendoza can be a franchise quarterback because he wins from the neck up. He's accurate. He processes fast. He protects the football.

And he's already shown he's comfortable in the biggest moments. But he's not the off-schedule superhero type. So the team that drafts him has to give him real playmakers and a real structure. If you're expecting magic tricks, you'll be disappointed. If you want a steady, high-level operator, you'll be thrilled. So tell me, do you want your quarterback to be a system driver or a system breaker? That's pretty good. Okay.

Why does Colin like Sam Darnold so much? Colin likes Sam Darnold because he's the ultimate tools plus toughness quarterback. Big arm, real athlete, and he doesn't melt when the pocket gets muddy. And Colin's always been a sucker for the guy who gets written off. takes the hits, learns, and comes back sharper. That's Darnold's whole story. Plus, when you put him with real coaching and a real structure, the ceiling shows up fast.

Seattle just got the proof in the ring. That's the bet. Talent was never the issue. The environment was. Yeah, I may take tomorrow off. Give me one more. What type of college football coach would J.M.C. J. Mack is a college football coach.

Is a culture first. CEO type, recruiting, relationships, and accountability. Then he hires a sharp play caller and lets that guy cook. He'd run a grown-up program with older, tougher players because in this era of nil, experiences currency and maturity win Saturdays. And he'd be relentless about the little stuff. Practice tempo, strength program, and not beating yourself. Real quick, do you see him more as an offensive head coach

or a walk-around program builder? Yeah, that one it may have missed on. So it's called sports AI. I want you to download it. It's on the Fox Sports app. Ask it any sports question. So we've been playing around with this thing. It is.

It's crazy. I mean, listen, I've said this before. There's all these doomsday scenarios with AI, and I don't believe it. My take is learn how to use it, figure out how to accent your industry, whatever it is. I'm not getting rid of my accountant. I'm not getting rid of the people that do things well for me. I'm not moving off my realtor. I don't care how great AI is.

But if it can augment whatever you do, and that's why Fox came to me with this, they're like, this is really fun. I mean, people sitting around at home watching the game, we're doing it all the time, and you can just ask you questions about your Philadelphia Eagles or the United States men's national hockey or soccer team asking anything you want. By the way, this this version of me really knows soccer. I mean, it is, I cooks. Like that version of me is better on soccer and hockey than this version of me. And poor Rachel Nichols has to follow that. Good stuff, Jay Mack. Rachel is joining us live and covering the NBA for 25, 30 years. That was kind of, that was

something, right? It has your tone. That's what's so incredible. I expected it to sound a little more robotic. It doesn't. It actually feels like talking to you. That's pretty amazing. Yeah, we're working on a structure in which I can take June, July, and August off

and just put a phone right here and make it work. Okay, so this has been an interesting week. And I kind of joked yesterday, the Lakers didn't know when they rolled out the red carpet for Luka. It was made of red flags. And we always knew he wasn't a great defensive player, but for the record there have been Magic Johnson wasn't a great defensive player Steph Curry wasn't you build around him but there's the jawing with the officials there is

the lack of conditioning which has kind of a mellow feel to it his game is a bit lobsided it's all offense not much in defense but it does this week rachel it's surfaced for a couple of reasons the barking and the technicals but also that final play that j j jreddick drew up And you start looking at analytics, Rachel, and there's an argument a year in that LeBron and Luca don't fit as well as we thought they were going to fit. What are you hearing around the league and within the Lakers? Yeah, I think there is a big sort of let's go to the summer, let's get there, let's move forward. And while the Lakers have said LeBron is welcome back in the organization, it's very clear that building around Luca does not involve LeBron James. And you can talk about it defensively, of course, when Luca, Austin Reeves, and LeBron are all on the court.

You know, it's a sieve. I mean, the defensive rating is terrible. But it's also offensively, as you point out. I mean, Luca modeled his game after LeBron's. Literally, it was LeBron's YouTube clips that Luca was watching as a teenager and as a kid. So they do a lot of the same things, frankly. And we know what kind of team you need to build around Luca. That's the team that we saw, get to the NBA finals with him.

So I don't really. blame some sort of the lazy plays or the not getting to the rim as much or some of the falling apart that we've seen because I think everyone's mind on that team is we're going to fight as hard as we can but we all know we're not finals contenders right now let's get to the summer where they're going to have three first round draft picks they're going to have more cap space it looks like than any other team in the league around 50 million dollars and that is with resigning austin raves that is without lebron james so so if he doesn't resign with the Lakers, then all of a sudden you have the ability to really build the kind of team

around Luca that you might have envisioned when that trade was first made. Yeah, it's, it's, it, you try to be, you don't want to be inelegant moving off LeBron. He's delivered. He's been great for sales. He got him a COVID title. You know, he's always said the right stuff publicly. He's never high, you know, he may be high maintenance, but it's behind the scenes. It's certainly not in front of it.

And I don't know if there's a right answer for this, but you're closer to it than I am. How do you move off him with some level of respect and elegance? Because he has been the face of the league for 20 years. Yeah, I mean, I think they have to, if LeBron does want to come back, which it's sounding like he wants to play another season, it is hard to tell. It's up to him to make that decision. If he does want to play another season, I think there has to be a pretty serious conversation with the Lakers, not just on money, not just on how little money they would need him to take to make everything else work, but role, right?

Because, as I said, when those three guys are on the court together, it doesn't work. You can't have that team, no matter who else is on the roster. Right. You can't have a team that is closing out NBA finals games with three defensive liabilities. Like, that just won't happen. It won't work. So are you saying to LeBron, hey, man, I don't know if you're going to be on the court at the end of games all the time. And how would he feel about that?

I mean, there may be a conversation. that is delicate enough to have where it's clear what his role would be with the team, what the salary might be, where he would sort of say, you know what, actually, let me look and see what Cleveland's offering me, that kind of thing. So you and I are on the same page in the tanking, which is, you know, and I've always felt this, is that if you really privately ask most NBA stars, because it's overwhelmingly a winter league, that they all want to play for about six places, Miami, Los Angeles, the Celtics, the Knicks, They want to be in big cities or where it's warmer.

Maybe a Houston, San Antonio. That, you know, it's harder to sell Midwest, Minnesota, Milwaukee. But if you keep adding teams, you know, all the sunny places are mostly, you know, they're taken. And so I don't know how Utah builds. I mean, the truth is, Stockton and Malone were drafted. Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell were drafted. It's not a free agent hub. Either is Milwaukee.

You have to draft well. So, you know, if you're not giving up avenues, how I can, it's not a transactional league much anymore. So the NBA, Rachel, has kind of decided abruptly, we're going to spank Indiana and Utah. And what's the reaction you're kind of getting because Utah feels like they're being singled out? I mean, Utah's tanking was pretty egregious. You see your two best players in the fourth quarter. I think you're going to get the attention to the league that way. I don't really subscribe to the Sunshine Theory quite the way you do.

I mean, look, when Michael Jordan was with the Bulls, everyone wanted to play with the Bulls in Chicago, and Orlando still isn't like the most attractive free agent destination in the country. So I'm not sure it has as much to do with Sunshine as it does to all the extra rules that have now been put on these teams through multiple collective bargaining agreements. We have the first apron. We have the second apron. There are rules about resigning your own players. There's supermaxes. Every step along the way has made it harder.

for bad teams to get better and funneled them toward that draft. We keep talking about we've got to solve tanking. Tanking isn't the problem. Tanking is the symptom. The problem is bad teams need more avenues to get better. Yes. And to me, frankly, some of the, quote, solutions that are being thrown out there for tanking, it may be treating a little bit of the symptom, but it's going to make the underlying problem worse.

They're talking about, oh, should we flatten the lottery odds even further? If you don't make the playoffs, everyone has an equal chance in the draft. That's going to make the problem worse. That will make it harder for bad teams to get better. That's going to increase the Cooper Flag is going to Dallas sort of situation. To me, get rid of the lottery entirely. Just do it like the NFL does it. Worst team gets number one, second, third, just like that.

You're not going to have as much middle of the pack taking as we see right now. And again, that is an avenue for a bad team to get better. I think the thing that sort of is missing in this tanking discussion is no team is sitting there being like, you know what would be great? It would be great if we just like lost for six months straight, alienated our fans, taught our young guys how to lose. Let's do that. That would be fun. They're doing it because they have to. Not because they want to. Make them not have to as much.

And you're going to solve that problem. The, you know, the other night on Washington, San Antonio played Detroit. And Detroit's a team that needs another score. They're not a very good half-court offensive team. You know, they're just, they're kind of the opposite of the Lakers, where they're tough, they play real defense, but they have like one guy. The Lakers play no defense. They have three creators, but they're not athletic and are not necessarily tough.

But when I watch Detroit play San Antonio, I'm like, Detroit's good, and San Antonio is having their way with them. And I wonder if, I mean, if you gave Wemby the MVP, in that game, he didn't even score until late, and he dominated the game with assists, with steals, with blocks, with rebounds. Around the league right now, is there a sense that Wembe and the Spurs are not only going to break up OKC, but they are the team going forward for the next decade? Because, boy, when they play Detroit, you're like, man, there is a gap, and Detroit's good. Absolutely. Look, Wembe is such a special player. I said it to you before he was even drafted. This guy is going

to be a top 10 player of all time. I absolutely believe that. He's only tracked further in that direction. But the thing about this first team is I would push back on the fact that there's only one guy. They won in Toronto the other night. 10th win in a row. And Wemby was pretty stifled offensively. And this is what we have to watch in the playoffs is our team's going to figure out ways to limit him offensively, Toronto did was they really didn't let him catch the ball inside, they got in front of him on the perimeter, and the guards really stepped up and won that game. I don't think that can happen through an entire playoff series, or certainly not four rounds. So it's going to be, as teams have these game plans against Webanyama, is he, is the coaching staff going to be able to figure ways to

sort of get around those, get him out of those situations and start scoring again? And I believe that they probably will. He is such a unique, incredible adapt. player who is such an open-mindedness to learn and try new things. I think that can be a success. So while we do say in the NBA, and it's a truism for a reason, that you need to play in the playoffs and get a little experience before you can win an NBA title, I think if any team could get to the NBA finals on its first run through, it could be this first team just because Victor and Webenyama is such a unique super megastar.

All right, let's end it with this. Darren Peterson, Kansas Kid. you know, I would draft him number one. I've watched him play a half dozen times, but he has missed 11 at 27 games with a cramping issue that is above and beyond a lot that we've ever seen. And I said it earlier. It's not just a basketball issue.

It is a athlete issue. If you're struggling with a mental roadblock, it could be Jordan Speath, John Lester the Great Pitcher, David Duvall, Markell Fultz, Royce White. It happens. It happens to all, a lot of, Americans. I wonder when you talk, because it's a stacked draft, and it's just right around the corner, is it enough of a concern that it's like, okay, boozer at Duke, the kid at BYU, I mean,

the first eight players are all considered immediate impact guys or impact within the first two years. Is it hurting his draft stock? I think it's not yet, but it has raised a ton of questions. All the questions you guys are having, the fans are having, NBA teams have those questions too. What is really going on here? Why are you doing this? And so I think his interviews with the top teams in the draft are going to be more important than ever before. I think teams obviously are going to work him out, try to see how he might fit into their system basketball-wise, but there are going to be a lot of questions for him in those conversations. And how he answers them is what I think is going to decide where he ends up going in the draft. Because if he has a good answer, if he has an

answer that makes sense, that doesn't point toward, as you brought up earlier, Markle Fultz situation, then teams are going to be like, all right, I get it now. We're going to draft him. If he can't really give them the answers that they're looking for, I do think that that will be a red flag for teams and you might not see him go number one. Those interviews are going to be very important. Yeah. Rachel Nichols, as always, love you on the show. Great seeing you. Thanks. You bet. By the way, another reminder, we can put it on the screen. It's called Sports AI. It's

officially launched on the Fox Sports app. Download it. ask it anything you want about sports Fox has taken a couple years worth of my shows it's got my cadence my sound it's pretty cool it's fun to play around with and you know maybe that's you know J-MAC we may have just found another segment on this show

is that it just just more of me from another angle well we're not going to cut into my time with this are we Well, cut into your time. Isn't it kind of amazing, though? It was scary. Seriously, that breakdown of Mendoza was like, oh, okay. So, I don't know, man.

It's a little troubling how good that was. Yeah. In Chicago, it's the herd. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube, and you can be a part of it.

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Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. 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 drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian went.

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Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Oh, the world's changing every day. Every day. Sports A.I, the Fox Sports app, look it up. J-MAC with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is a news.

the herd line news. All right, I, I can't answer this one. A.J. Brown drama in Philadelphia, Colin. It continues. However, Mike Vrable in New England, knows him well. Probably a high comfort level, was asked about the possibility of an A.J. Brown trade. Obviously, they've been linked.

Here we go. Mike Rable. We reach out and text each other during the things that happen good to each other. And sometimes things don't go so well for. for the people that you're close with and you text those as well. So it's been a two-way street of support and reminders of what got us to where we are here today.

Interesting. I don't know, it's almost as interesting as that bold shirt choice from Mike Rable, the all gene look. I don't know, Colin. It almost seems too obvious, doesn't it? Stefan Diggs is going through another drama. All that guy does, every stop in the NFL,

there's some issue with Stefan. Diggs. I don't know that you can count on him. Do you? I mean, I think you got to upgrade. If you could get A.J. Brown in there? Why not? Drake May, I mean, I never understood when the dolphin said, let's get Tyreek Hill because Tua doesn't throw a great deep ball. Drake May's specialty, he's not only accurate, Drake throws a great deep ball, and that's A.J. Brown's specialty. There are a lot of people, and I mean people that I trust telling me, this is not all A.J. Brown, some of it's Jalen hurts is that they don't really connect

he doesn't trust him and he can't get him the ball regularly I think you get into trouble in the NFL when you have a situation where a receiver either is saying it publicly or privately get me the ball and it almost

that was Des Bryant and Dak and then he left and then Dak spread the ball around and Dak was just fine then he got Amari Cooper a total pro I think you look at it if you look at the history of kind of receivers that need the ball to be happy, it generally doesn't turn out well for the receiver. Yeah.

But if I told you it's third year, Drake May, what can we do to get him to make the league? I guess you could maybe bolster the left tackle a little bit. The young kid Campbell struggled in the Super Bowl. The tight ends are fine. Running backs are good. I mean, it's got to be wide receiver, right? That's the one area outside of offensive line. It's a very good old tackle.

and D-end draft and New England needs both. They need a consistent pass rusher on the edge. They have to upgrade on the offensive line specifically tackle. I think when you plan that cold weather, you're not going to be defined by, you know, a sideline receiver. Their receivers, I think, are good enough. I think their big issue in the Super Bowl. They couldn't block the Seahawks front.

That was the Super Bowl. Not many people can. All right, let's go to the Raiders and the number one pick. We know this. the draft does not have a lot of drama at the top. Everybody loves Mendoza. The Raiders have not shown their hand fully yet about Mendoza, but Clint Kubiak spoke pretty glowingly about him.

I think it's a lock that they're going to take him. Here's Kubiak, Colin. Excited to keep learning about him. And it's not just me. It's our whole coach and staff, our quarterback coach. And, you know, I want all of our coaches to get involved, especially at that position. I want everybody's input.

But, you know, obviously, he's been a successful. I had a lot of success last year. He's won a national championship, and that's what you want is you want a winner. Yeah, well, you also want a big guy that's committed and stays healthy with an accurate arm, and that's what you really get. The winner thing, you know, there's a lot of quarterbacks that win. You know, JJ McCarthy won a lot. I think what Mendoza brings to the table that a J.J. McCarthy, for instance, didn't.

is that late in games, Mendoza carried his offense. Well, wait a minute. McCarthy won a national championship against an Alabama team in overtime. He was clutch. McCarthy never carried the team. He threw for 300 yards once.

That's not carrying a team. Mendoza's carrying a team. He carried them to a win over Penn State in Miami. He's been asked in Iowa, Oregon, tie game late. They had to throw the football. They trailed. That's a whole different.

J.J. McCarthy turned around with the best O-Lond in football and Jim Harbaugh on a great defense and handed the ball to Blake Corum a lot. Yes. Okay, that's fair. But he did have a huge game against Bama in the playoff, right? You remember that one? He was caught. So did Mendoza.

Yeah. I mean, I do think Mendoza is probably, I'm with you. He's probably a better NFL prospect than McCarthy, right? Oh, I think he's, I think he's miles. I think he's bigger. I think he's more accurate. I think he's been asked to basically carry the offense in big games. They both had a great college coach.

I don't think it's, I think Mendoza is the only first round quarterback in this draft. I do think if you don't have to play him immediately, I can see somebody reaching 18 down on Ty Simpson. I don't see him as a day one starter. I think Ty Simpson has to set. why the Rams late in the first round. Everybody keeps saying the Rams and Ty Simpson, because Stafford's going to sign a new two-year deal. So that makes sense if you can learn from one of the all-time great pros. I mean, Stafford's preparation, work ethic are kind of legendary, like Brady. That'd be a great place. But Mendoza, to me, is kind of it in this draft. Yeah, I would big time

agree on that one. All right, let's wrap up with some good news from the UFL column. They announced some rule changes earlier this week. One of the rules that we love here is the now, One foot catches a la college football. So amazing efforts where you can't get both feet down. It doesn't matter. Just get one foot down. And it counts. I would love to see the NFL enact this.

The UFL's head of officiating Dean Blandino said, we look at the NFL as a partner. I just wonder if this is a test bunny for the NFL. I think it's going to be a huge hit in the UFL. Would you agree? Yeah, I think, I mean, listen, remember when they altered the catch rule, and the reason they altered the catch rule.

You remember this, is that Roger Goodell came on this show, and it's like, if somebody makes an absolutely unbelievable play, you don't want to eliminate that from the sport. Right? It's, I mean, like, even for fantasy football players, you want people to celebrate greatness,

not go to a replay and try to figure out on microfilm if they had the second toe down. So what it would do with one foot down, there'd be more catches and more touchdowns. And I never think that's a bad thing. I want less field goals, fewer punts, fewer kickoff returns. Less replay review. Like, did he get his butt cheek down?

Like, I don't need that. Yeah, no, I think that's the bottom line is it would cut, it would increase touchdowns and catches, and it would shorten a lot. I mean, if you think about reviews, it's usually like fumble in a pile, or is he inbound with a cat? You go a long way and speeding and ramping that up.

So I'm kind of with you on this. Yeah, totally agree. J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd-Lie News. I've got, I thought Rachel Nichols made a really interesting point on tanking. And so I was reading an article in The Athletic this morning.

about how Oklahoma City got Chet Holmgren by tanking and the Cavs got LeBron by tanking. And what I've always felt like the bottom of the NBA, the NBA is paralyzed, completely paralyzed by tanking. And we're going to have ping pong balls and we're going to find teams that tank. The NBA's bigger problem is they make it so hard to trade, you have to have matching salaries.

You don't in football. You don't in baseball. Right? Like baseball, too often I hear this argument that, oh, you've got to have a salary cap. No, you have to have a higher salary floor forcing the pirates and the Marlins to spend $90 to $100 million. It's not about limiting what the Dodgers can do or the Cubs can do. The NBA worries so much about the bottom of the league. and they've been trying to solve it

since I started watching the NBA in the 70s and they've never solved it. The bottom of the NBA, my entire life, has been unwatchable. What is the only, and it's often the same teams. Well, what is a way for the unwatchable bottom eight in the NBA to be watchable?

To get a great player. Well, a lot of great players don't want to play in Utah. I mean, go, what's the biggest free agent signing in the history of the jazz? Carlos Boozer, he would be like, 19th biggest for the Lakers. A lot of guys want to play in Miami or L.A. and Arizona or Houston and they just do.

They want to plan big cities. They want to plan a Boston or a New York or a Philadelphia. They just do. So to me, the issue with the NBA is stop being so deeply worried about tanking. It's not working. Like in baseball, you've got a bottom, but that's just owners who won't spend money, but have it. That's a solvable problem.

Have a minimum you have to spend. It's just really possible in a sport basketball where one or two players have the ability to alter the trajectory of a franchise. For the record, football, same thing. Get the right coach quarterback, changes your franchise, ask the Bears, or the Patriots. But I think the,

reason the tanking thing is such a hot button issue, it's like, wow, it's not, it's not cheating. It's not what it. It's not cheating. It's not fixing. It's just like we're going to play more reserves late in games. Well, if that's the only way I can get Darren Peterson from Kansas, at least bad team becomes better and somebody else can be at the bottom. But I don't know. There's Rachel Nichols. She and I mostly agree on the tanking issue. Tanking isn't the problem.

Tanking is the symptom. The problem is bad teams need more avenues to get better. And to me, frankly, some of the, quote, solutions that are being thrown out there for tanking, it may be treating a little bit of the symptom, but it's going to make the underlying problem worse. no team is sitting there being like, you know what would be great? It would be great if we just like lost for six months straight, alienated our fans,

taught our young guys how to lose. Let's do that. That would be fun. They're doing it because they have to, not because they want to. Make them not have to as much, and you're going to solve that problem. Yeah. You know, it's almost like,

sometimes I think it's similar, not perfectly analogous, but it's like parenting. Like I, when I had my kids, I'm not going to be paralyzed by it. They may smoke pot. Like, I'd prefer they aren't wake and bakers. You know, I'd prefer they don't.

But I'm not going to literally a helicopter sneak in their rooms and sneak around. Like if they do, you know, it's eventually it may happen. They'll pick friends that like it. But what am I? They'll go to college. What am I going to monitor them in college? I'm just not going to lose a lot of sleep on it. I prefer.

You know, I can show them, you know, you're probably until your brain's completely formed at 24, 25. I'd probably stay away from it. But, you know, dad a couple times in college to relieve stress, you know, once, twice. And that's, you know, my point is, I just don't going to get paralyzed about that as a parent. Like, the NBA is just paralyzed with tanking. A, it's been happening forever. And B, how else is Utah? Because free agents aren't interested.

How else is Utah? a great basketball community with a great owner, a great arena. I've been to games multiple times, a great downtown. How are they going to get great? And I'll be honest with you, if you look at right now what Utah has, they're about one-star player away from being really interesting. Well, how are they going to get Darren Peterson? I mean, so it's people say, well, it's not competitive.

Sports should be competitive. No, it is competitive. You're still competing. You're just not having Laura Marketing, Lori marketed on the court in the fourth quarter for a couple games. Rick Carlisle, the coach of the Indiana Pacers, he didn't like these spines handed out to his Pacers and the Jazz. During the interview process, I was not on it, but I heard details.

We asked them if they want to talk to the doctors, our doctors about it, because it's something that was documented. by our doctors and trainers. They said, no, they didn't need to. They talked to their doctors who did not examine Aaron E. Smith. And we asked them if they wanted to talk to the kid. And they said, no, they didn't need to. So this was shocking.

This was shocking to me. Yeah. And I know on the, this is where I agree with Rachel. if you're going to limit what I can do to get better if I own or run a team, then I'm going to tank and I'm going to be a little sneaky.

I'm not cheating. I'm not betting it. It's not rigged, but I'm going to sit some guys late. And by the way, by the time you get to January and February and March, NBA guys are all nicked up and banged up. So the NFL allows all different ways.

You can draft and develop like the Packers. You can spend $250 million Free agency, you don't have to have salaries matching so the NFL doesn't have a tanking issue. When you give one exit off a freeway, don't be shocked if everybody takes the one exit off the freeway. Live in Chicago, it's The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news?

we created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. 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, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app,

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

We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer-beaters to controversial calls, We break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down. on everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted.

She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, 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 Eyeheartedly. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. You won't want to miss this one. The World Baseball Classic. Otani, Harper, Soto, Judge, an incredible lineup of superstars, putting it all on the line for their countries. March 4th through 17th on Fox and FS1. So, J-Mack and I have a disagreement, and it's that I do believe the NBA gets it right, you cannot win a lot of their awards, including most valuable player, if you do not

play at least 65 games. Now, there have been exceptions in the history of the league. Bill Walton in 1977, he had injuries his entire career. And there's been a couple of lockout shortened seasons. We're like, nobody's playing that many games. But by and large, every other MVP has played at least 65 games. So if you think I'm wrong, just consider this. Two words in the MVP he mattered, not just valuable. Most. That matters a lot. The word most and then valuable.

So to be the most valuable parent I can be, I have to be available a lot. So how can you argue that Yokic and SGA are the most valuable players in the league when they're actually both less valuable than they were a year ago. So SGA is less valuable to OKC this year, because he's missed so many games, than last year. But you want him to be the most valuable player in the league? Hell, he's less valuable this year to his own team than he was last year. Yolkich is less valuable when he's not playing to the Denver Nuggets this year

than he was to the Denver Nuggets last year. and you want to vote in most valuable player in the league. This is not saying that SGA this year isn't valuable, or that Yokic isn't valuable. The awards call the most valuable player in the entire league. And to me, Cade Cunningham, who is carrying a bunch of 21-year-olds in Detroit, he's their only really big-time, consistent score. Go-to-A-plus player.

There's about 10 great players at any one time in the league. He's one of them. I mean, even Jalen Brunson as good as he is. I mean, he's got OG. Mikhail Bridges is a veteran. Cat can drop 30 on any occasion. Like Detroit's pretty much well-coached, real physical, plays real defense, and Kate Cunningham scores 28.

That's kind of the team. So I would give Cade Cunningham. But you can't tell me that availability doesn't matter when the award is called most valuable. And that SGA and Yokic are less valuable this year to their teams, not the league, their own teams than they were last year. So give it to Cade Cunningham. And yeah, and I think it's why, like in baseball, you've got the Cy Young and then

you've got the most valuable player. And even within the Cy Young, there's been pushback through the years like Paul Skeens is great. I mean, how many games did he win? I mean, pitchers now, nobody throws a complete game. So it would be, to me it'd be ridiculous. It wouldn't matter if it was Sandy Kofax. It went 24 and 3.

I couldn't make him most valuable. He's pitching every fourth game and nobody throws complete games anymore. So really, I mean, the Dodgers all season long were scuffing. Why? Because teams don't throw complete games and their bullpen stunk. They blew like 23 saves. So even in baseball, You know, the pitcher gets that award.

The MVP is to the guy that's playing every day. And by the way, the Thunder and Nuggets had a better record last year at this point in the season when SGA and Yokic were more available. So I would go Kate Cunningham one, Wemby, 2, Jalen Brown 3. Jalen Brown is carrying a lot of guys you've never heard of. Yeah, let me back up a little. And Porzengis got moved. Drew Holiday is gone.

Mark is smart the year before us. gone. Tatum's not available. And the Celtics are playing great basketball. And it's mostly because Jaylon Brown, who plays both ends of the floor, has carried him. So let's back up and just the word valuable. So if you pull Cade off the pistons, they're bad. If you pull SGA off the thunder, are they bad? If you pull Yolkich off the nuggets, are they bad? They're not very good. Yeah. Okay. So by that metric, yes. Oh, Cade, give it to Cade. He's the most valuable to his team. But remember, this is Detroit team who's never won anything over the last 15 years. They haven't won a playoff series, I believe, in 15 years.

You can't punish Kate Cunningham because of previous incompetence. No, I'm just saying like they're trying extra hard. Their whole team, everybody, bunch of try-hards. Denver's won titles they've been. They know that this is just a dress rehearsal for the playoffs. OKC wants to go back to back. They got a lot of guys trying to fight for contracts playing time. They're not as locked in in the regular season.

Detroit hasn't done a damn thing, so they're trying super hard, Colin. So I think that should play a factor. I don't know how you quantify that, but you can't look me in the eye and say Cade Cunningham is the most valuable player in the league. Oh, I do believe he is. Oh, my. Well, think about this. Think about the New York Knicks, who Detroit has hammered.

Three times, yep. Jalen Brunson's an elite score. O.G can score. What's OG average? Kat is an elite offensive player. I mean, they've got, you can name Josh Hart, McHale Bridges. Like the Knicks have a real basketball team with multiple offensive options, and Detroit owns them.

Yeah. With really one elite option. They're both good defensive teams. I think Detroit's more physical than the Knicks are. So basically this similar, very similar Detroit team played the Knicks last year in the playoffs. Knicks beat them in six. Okay? We're going to see that play out in the playoffs again.

This Knicks team knows, Colin? the the the the pistons now think about this the Detroit Pistons are six points better offensively when Cade Cunningham plays start looking at

the Detroit Pistons in close games they're winning because of Cade Cunningham they're not winning because they have a slick half-court offense I mean you watch them against San Antonio it's like they got to score down lower they just they struggle yeah that's similar to the lake

in these close games. They stink, but they're great record-wise because they have Luca. They stink against Orlando Magic, but they have Luca one of the best guys in the league. This is tough. I mean, you couldn't even... Would you take Cade Cunningham over Luca right now to build a team? I'd give it thought. Wow. Oh, my gosh. Maybe the AI's getting to you at this point, Kyle. I don't know. I'm shot. You have Cade on the same level as Luca Donchich? Luke is a better offensive player than almost anybody in the world.

But you, you, I mean, you have to, and you inherit a lot of other stuff. The nonstop barking, not in great shape, mounting injuries, atrocious defensively. That's all part of the resume. Cade Cunningham's better defensively. Cade Cunningham is healthier. Cade's in better shape. Cade's not as good offensively. But what's Cade Cunningham averaging a night?

He's good. He's at like 25, 28 again. He's a top 10 player in the league, no doubt. He's excellent. Man, vaulting him into that. And by the way, Cade Cunningham, because he's in shape, is going to age better than Luca. Luca's turning 27 at about an hour. He's already, you can see the regression athletically.

Hour three coming up. Hater. 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 Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 name. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lennar Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. 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. 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 IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.