The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 3 - Dan Woike joins The Herd, more on the Lakers turnaround this season

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

Lakers reporter Dan Woike stops by The Herd to talk about the Lakers turning their season around and how LeBron James has changed his game during the streakSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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He's so generous to join us. Dan Wojke from the Athletic, Lakers Beat Rider. I'm reading online. It sounds like the Lakers got into Miami at like 4 a.m. Dan, probably on Team No Sleep. How are you, man? And when did you get into South Beach? The commercial travel was a little rougher than the Lakers.

This can be unmade bed behind me. I already gotten a little bit of work today. I got it around 11. Got to the hotel at noon. 8 o'clock came tonight local. But yeah, a really tough schedule, weird schedule back to back for the Lakers. They played last time at 8.30 in Houston.

Didn't get out of the arena. Think around midnight. I think they left. And then we're able to get, I got a text from someone in the travel party. Made it to their room with their bags at 5.14 in the morning, local in my... Wow.

So this is a scheduled long. tonight against the heat. It sounds like Luca LeBron and Reeves will not play. Maybe this is a Nick Smith special 30 piece against the heat or Bamatabio goes for 84. I don't know. But we want to focus on the rockets and the games that actually matter. The Lakers are torrid right now. Seven straight wins, 10 of 11. They look like a totally different team. They're beating good teams, Dan. Can you pinpoint one thing that has been the catalyst for this hot run? connection, I think, like team-wide connection is probably the biggest thing. Really clear role definition has been a huge thing for them.

The Lakers are like, this is Luca Donchich and Austin Reeves' team, and LeBron James has been tasked with helping those two players very clearly. I think, you know, he missed a couple of these games as he kind of recovered. I think, you know, he missed the first loss, Our first one I think on this was the second I of a back-to-back against Indiana and then missed the wins over the Knicks and the Timberwolves.

And I think when you see your team play that way, you know, and the Lakers have had a lot of success this season with Luca and Austin Reeves. You know, I think LeBron has come back here and has really picked his spots. He's shooting something like, I think it's like 65% from the field since he's been back here over the last four games.

That's a big thing. But Jason, here's the other part of all of this too. You're right. I mean, like, yeah, they're hot. They've won seven straight. Six of those wins have been against teams with, you know, 60% are better winning percentages. And the story of this Lakers season really until two weeks ago was that these guys couldn't beat anybody good.

Right. Right. I think it was either, they'd either lost 11 or 12 straight games as underdogs, you know, which is kind of an interesting stand and speaks to like, you know, they'd win when they were supposed to win and lose when Vegas thought they were going to lose. and all of a sudden now they've found another gear. I think Luca has been terrific.

Their defensive intensity has gone up and they're starting to offensively really find the ways that they can put unique pressure on teams. Yeah. You said at the outset, Luca and Reeves are kind of the alphas and LeBron's got a new role. But Austin Reeves was awful in the two games of Houston.

I'm seeing five for 18 on Monday. last night didn't seem to have it. It's not a bad option to have LeBron James sitting there as the third option. Coach, do you want me to start shooting now? I don't want to say that Reddick's got him in that role, but it kind of sort of feels like, hey, LeBron, pick your spots, I think, was the phrase you used.

No, I mean, it is. There's no doubt about it. And I think, you know, you point to Austin. I mean, I talked to him a little bit after the game last time. And, you know, you can look at the box score, Jason, and you're not wrong, the efficiency numbers, where they were. Houston put Amman Thompson on him for two games. You know, that's the level of fear and respect that teams have for Austin Reefs.

And what that means is they can't put on Men Thompson on LeBron James. Yeah. It means they can't put him, you know, full-time on Lucidantzich either. So I think right now this is like, this is five fingers clenched into a fist in a lot of ways for the Lakers. It's working for LeBron because, you know, DeAndre Aidan is doing his job in cleaning the glass. It's working for Luca because Austin Reeves is helping to grab attention elsewhere. You know, it's working for Aiton because Luca is looking for him and, you know, and rewarding his hustle and play.

Like I said, connection. Right now, at least, this is a team that, you know, it's sort of looks like they figured some stuff out. Yeah. Marcus Smart needs some props. I don't know if he's been the 100% primary defender, but he's bottled up Jalen Brunson recently. Jamal Murray went one for 13 and Marcus Marr was integral

Anthony Edwards was on the struggle bus it looked like Smart gave Kevin Durant some problems merely getting the basketball Smart's been a pretty good addition for them I guess your thoughts on him is like he's going to be the guy tasked when they face the thunder to guard SGA right? Yeah I mean look like I think the way

their defense is built right now Jason is that like they don't have a like we are going to put one guy on you like the shutdown corner right like they don't have that um but what they do have in marcus smart is like the guy that'll jammy at the line of scrimmage and like we'll start like as sort of the tip of the spear we'll start kind of the the uncomfortability for star players and a lot of it credited to the lakers in their scheme too right like they have gone um i don't want to say all in but like they have very clear directives um on game nights as to like where they're going to put their energy where they're going to put their effort and where they're going to put their emphasis and at and at and they're executing, right? They want to go at Kevin Duran as a ball handler. They tortured him. They tortured him.

You know, they, they, Jamal Murray made the first shot against, against Denver and just an all-time grade, like, regular, like it was such a good, I shouldn't say all-time, one of the best regular season games this year.

No. And he missed, and then I think he missed 12 straight, or 13 straight to end that game, right? And there's just like, I think, but a real intention, a real locked in energy around this group

to like do what they need to do, if Marcus Smart got second team all defensive team votes this year, it would be worthy. He's been that good. I think for a team that has really, really needed that type of player, you know, he's had two awesome months for this team. And I think offensively, too, has hit some really big shots. So I had a hot take earlier about the Lakers would rather face the thunder than the spurs. I don't need to go fully into it. I do see on the schedule, they have two meetings coming up.

But part of the calculus was, listen, they don't have any answer for Wembeeniyama. I think Castle does a better, yeah, fair point, who does? Castle's a better defender than a Lou Dort for my money. I think Castle's tough. Look what he did to Kate Cunningham this season and SGA, really bottled him up. And frankly, Luca is the last guy to knock OKC out of the playoffs back when he was with Dallas. So he's done it before. I know OKC's really good.

They're 12 deep. You know this, Dan. You play eight and trust seven in the postseason. So, again, we're projecting a little bit ahead, but like Minnesota's beat up right now. I don't think the Rockets are a major threat to the Lakers as we've seen this week. If I face the Thunder, I think the Lakers would be live in that series. And I know people are going to say you're overreacting. But last year we saw Minnesota finish the season 17 and 4 going to the playoffs hot.

Next thing you know, they're in the conference finals. So your thoughts on how the Lakers would match up with the Thunder is they've got to play here twice coming up. Yeah, I mean, I think it's sort of the final kind of mountain. for them to climb this real season. This is like the last like huge, huge test for them. You know, they're going to finish this stretch or they have finished this stretch here, a schedule where they've clinched the tiebreaker against Minnesota.

They've clinched the tiebreaker against Denver. They have now clinched the tiebreaker against Houston. They have not beaten the thunder this year, right? They've only played once. Or I'm sorry, if they played twice? I think one. Two minutes left? Yeah.

Yeah. I know in their most recent meeting, She didn't play, Luke didn't play. You know, the Lakers really felt like they should have won that game. They were leading in the fourth quarter, kind of went away from some stuff

with LeBron that was working, maybe the most frustrated I've seen LeBron the season right before the Ulster break. Yes. And I think, yeah, it's, look, neither's great matches. These are the two, clearly the two best teams in the West, in Oklahoma City and in San Antonio. I think the Thunder were, though,

if you look a year ago, we're pretty vulnerable in the place. Like, I mean, they won the championship. It was not easy for them. It was not as easy as their record would suggest that it was going to be. I think, you know, the question marks with San Antonio are this will be the first time that they've been put into this situation, really up and down the roster. You know, their best players are all young players. They have a young head coach.

They have some experience on their sidelines. You know, when a Lucas assistant in Dallas, Sean Sweeney, his coached some really big games, he's really, really important on their staff. But, yeah, I mean, from an experience standpoint, you know, you turn those lights on, nobody really knows. I mean, I think all you really want to do in the playoffs is put yourself in a position where, like, you don't have to squint too hard to see a way that you could pick up four games against a team. And I think with the way the Lakers have played over this last two weeks, like, you don't have to squint that hard.

Yeah. I mean, if you get this from DeAndre Aden, if you get this from, particularly, if you get this from Luca Donchich, this version of Luca Dantzich on both sides of the best, I mean, it's going to be hard to beat this team four times. Again, I don't want to go too much into the off season. Let's enjoy it. Let's live in the moment, as they say, Dan. But it's tough not to look at LeBron playing his butt off in a new role.

It's almost like LeBron signaling to the Lakers, guys, I want to stay here. It's not going to be about money. I want to be with this team. It's, again, it's early, but I'm just curious your thoughts on LeBron heading into a pivotal here, stretch to end the season, playoffs, and then maybe his best. biggest question mark off season ever. Yeah, I mean, definitely his biggest question mark off season ever, right? He doesn't, as far as I know, Jason, he doesn't know what he's going to do next year, whether that's play in L.A., play elsewhere, play golf every day, and retire. Like, honestly, I don't think he knows what he's doing. I think there have been times this season where he has looked very tired.

There have been times this season where I would have told you there's no way he's going to put his body through this again. and then you watch him dunk all over the Houston Rockies yesterday, and you're like, he could do this for four more years if he wanted to to as just, you know, the best role player ever, like in a lot of ways. I don't know. I think, you know, the energy around the Lakers in general has been the expectation. Like, they have treated LeBron as a player who's on an expiring contract. You know, does that mean they don't want him back?

I would say no. I think, you know, I would be surprised if it's back at the salary he has. It is tons of huge question marks. Definitely, like, one of those underlying stories here as this team kind of, you know, hits the playoffs. If you can provide, right, like real examples of how this can work and everybody is working together on this, I wouldn't see why not, right? The big question, though, I think for me, Jason, is like, just does he want to keep doing this? like does he want to put his body through this, you know, yesterday after the camera's off,

you showing me like just disgusting cuts, like the type of cuts that just aren't going to close for a while, right? Like, like gross from diving on the floor and different things like that. You know, all he does is talk about golf now. It's, you know, it's an interesting time for him, but I'll tell you, it's super exhilarating because every time you watch the play, Jason, you just don't know. You don't know what's going to be next.

Really, for the first time in his career, truly, you do not know what the next chapter is for LeBron James. And I've written about this at The Athletic. For me, it makes him must watch. And then he does stuff like last night. Can I give you a stat real quick, Jason? Please, please do. Last night, he went 8 for 8 in the first half.

You know, the only other time in his career, he'd shot 100% from the field while going at least 8 for 8 or better. Happened 15 years ago to the date. Jeez. And it happened against the Charlotte Bobcats don't exist. It happened. His current youngest teammate, or his teammate that was youngest was Brony James. He was eight.

You know, DeAndreighton was 12 years old when this happened. And it's just like the stats like that every night. Like there's another great stat always about like, hey, look at how old and good LeBron still is. They're not hard to find. He strikes me as the kind of guy who would probably want a year-long celebration of his career. So he probably- Yeah, I don't think so. No.

I don't think it's that. I don't think it's that. I think that's been sort of people kind of applying that to him. Look, he's not shy when it comes to attention. You know, and he's lived in the spotlight for, you know, this is 23 years in the NBA. He's been in the spotlight for 25 years, right? A quarter of century. He was like 16 in high school on this SI car.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's been a famous person for a quarter century. I think basically, Jason, every time he goes into an opposing arena, and this has been true, and Rachel can point to this too. it's been a fair like some level of a farewell tour that like there's no shortage of appreciation that he's felt you know he just he just doesn't get the rocking chair and i think you know he's probably good on the rocking chairs yeah all right dan woki uh the athletic great stuff hey get some sleep this afternoon buddy uh lakers may may show some fight tonight probably down some stars and then it's

off to orlando sunny orlando uh enjoy it dan thanks thanks thanks all right great stuff interesting uh the lebron retirement tour see. 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, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book, and all the

best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how 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 was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

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The retirement tour thing is completely external from fans and other people. I think you're around LeBron in these visiting arenas. He's already getting basically that. He doesn't need the Kobe, the Jabbar is enough. No athlete actually wants a rocking chair. So, just saying. All right, you guys were just talking about all the reasons that the Lakers have been on this hot streak,

I'll give you another one, Jason. DeAndre Aiton. Remember, like, a month ago, when Aiton was in the locker room saying, they want me to be Clint Capella. You know, he wasn't happy being relegated to setting picks, rebounding.

Well, after last night's win, Aitin says he is now bought in to the team's vision for him, and that things changed when he had an important conversation with himself. Here's a quote. I just started looking in the mirror

and said, yo, you're not that guy. This team, you came here to be the effort guy. you're not all that. Is that a real quote? Yeah, absolutely. He's a great quote. He's very funny.

Shout out to the Dominating. Yeah, well, there you go. Is this the moment? I mean, look, he was drafted first overall. He had a Luca, his now teammate. I don't think this is the career people imagine when they drafted him first overall. But regardless, he hasn't succeeded in the NBA, even to a lesser degree, the way people expected him to, the way he's capable of doing, frankly, because he does have those physical

gifts. Is this the Aiton that at least for the last, you know, however many years we've been waiting to see? Maybe. I'm surprised he wasn't humbled with the Portland experience. Remember when they shipped him to Portland? Yeah. And everybody's like, we don't want you. Yeah. I mean, that didn't humble him.

He's not going to the Lakers out. But I do like, hey, he had his look in the mirror moment after the Capella comments. Like, they want me to be Clint Capella, who by the way, played like, started on Monday for the Rockets and then played three minutes last night. Hey, listen, better late than never, I guess. Yeah.

I mean, I think that the Portland experience, you know, I've followed DeAndre pretty closely through his career. I don't think he was humbled by that. But I think his vision of that was like, okay, I'm really, can show them what I'm going to do in the next time. And what he really can do, especially with this team. And again, keep saying it all week, it's fit, right? With this team especially, there's a lot of fit questions. And when everyone fits, it goes well, his fit on this team is a Clint Compliance. power roll. And instead of being

like, hey, didn't quite work out the way I wanted to in Arizona, didn't quite work out the way I wanted to in Portland, I'm going to make it happen here. He's instead being like, oh, you need me to do this, I can do this. And that is ultimately more successful. Do you think he looked in the mirror, or Luca and LeBron,

two of the best players, maybe the league has ever seen, may have had a word of it. Do you think the mirror looked at him? It's a question. I think he probably, somebody in his camp was like, dude, look at the reaction. from Luca and LeBron when you fumble the ball and you don't defend the pick and roll and you don't even

freaking try. His effort was garbage at times. Reddick pulled him out of the game. I think he sat for like 25 straight minutes and then he didn't come back in. Remember he didn't come out of the locker room in the second half? Yeah, yeah. Like, is this guy quitting? But hey, listen, at some point everybody has their moment so I'm glad he's recognizing it.

All right. Let's let's move on to Bear Story off season. I've been looking forward to this all show. We all remember this play, right? What's he doing? What's he doing? He's never going to, oh my God. he scored a touchdown. How did this happen? Caleb Williams, just tremendous in the playoffs, had the incredible TD at the end of the game that nobody expected him to be able to do anything with on that play. People started calling him Iceman because teammates started calling him Iceman because it was during the snow, remember, and it was freezing. Well, Iceman has now officially made it to the trademark office. He is trademarked Iceman. He says he's going to put out

some gear. I don't know if that's like a George Gervyn kind of ice man. I don't know if it's a top gun kind of ice man. I was going to say down Kilmer. I don't know what comes into your mind when he says Iceman. But this got me thinking, what is your favorite nickname in sports? Because I love nicknames. So I want to hear some of yours. I have a list too. So obviously, you know, we got Lakers staff and Zach the Homer. You got to go Blackbombeam. But no, I'm not going with the obvious. So I wrote down a couple. So these are kind of off the board. Fantasy football players who remember the Tampa Bay

Bucks running back, Doug Martin. I don't know if you remember him. The muscle hamster. That guy was a machine in fantasy, won me a title. So that was one that I wrote down. A second one, a little more popular. When he was at LSU, Tyron, Matthew, just did everything. Punt Returns,

Defense, the Honey Badger. And then, of course, everybody's seen the Honey Badger doesn't care video, which has a lot of bad words, but I've showed my kids because it's so iconic. The last one, there was a quarterback at Kentucky. Jared Lorenzen. He was known as the hefty lefty.

He was pretty good. And then they also called him the Pillsbury Throwboy. Oh. He was, listen, he was awesome at Kentucky. He played in the NFL. I think he had a cup of coffee with the Giants. So those are just the three kind of off the board. Yeah.

But I like. I like going that way. I have the refrigerator Perry on my list. Oh, that classic. Because that's a very good one. I went a little more mainstream, but I actually didn't love Black Mamba. I felt like we could have thought of more for Kobe. So although there was a little...

So people of the staff are going to be upset with that. Well, and in L.A. First of all, the reports have come out. That was originally a Nike campaign for another player. Who was the other player? I don't know. That we don't know. But that's part of why I'm just like, oh, you know.

And Kobe was into it and that's all that needs to happen. Look, my favorite player ever is Alan Iverson. Ever? Oh, by far. How did I not know that? Oh, my God. Georgetown? Yeah, starting at Georgetown.

Were you covering the team back then? No, no, I was a kid. I'm younger than him. Come on. Wait. Oh, yeah, no, no. He was like 96, I think, at Georgetown maybe. Okay.

Anyway, yes, I love the answer. I love the nickname. I love the player. We have a great relationship. I love the guy. Anyway, all right, so the answer has to be at the top of my list no matter what. That's a good one. Here's a nickname that the player doesn't like, but I like.

The Slim Reaper. Kevin Durant doesn't like that? He's softened over it. At first, when it came out, I don't think he liked it. I don't know if he thought it was insulting. I think it's fabulous. It's not bad. The Slim Reaper?

The staff gave me two. Again, we were young Walter Payton's sweetness. Yeah, sweetness is great. The only highlights I remember of him of him looking smooth in the open field, just dodging people. And then Jerry West, the logo. Yeah. I don't know if that's a nickname so much as he is the logo. Yeah, but it became a nickname.

It became a nickname. Okay, I got a couple more. White chocolate. I don't know how that didn't make your list. Oh, Jason Williams. But come on. That is a fantastic nickname. Yes, yes.

How did I forget that? My buddy went to high school. with him. Guy went to Virginia Tech with. Yeah. And had some great stories about him and Randy Moss, who went to the same high school together in the class. Yeah, they were super tight.

And then my last one is just a little off the board, but I do love it. Time Lord. I don't know if you remember Robert Williams on the Celtics. They called him Time Lord, which is just a fantastic nickname. What is that a reference? He was late to everything all the time. His introductory press conference, he was late to his own introductory press conference. And then he was late to, oh, he missed a flight with them a couple, like a month later.

Time Lord. from a movie? I think so. One of the Chris's... Oh, no, that's Star Lord. Grewt? Star Lord. Oh, Star Lord. Oh, Star Lord. Oh, man. I'm going to get embarrassed. The one with Groot. Guardians of the Galaxy, thank you to our great stuff. I'm going to get humiliated for that online.

I don't really care. You should be humiliated in your own house for that. Fun fact, I haven't seen Guardians of the Galaxy. Okay, we've got to work on this with you. All right, let's go back to something you have seen. The Denver Broncos. Yes. Jalen Waddle and Bo Nix reportedly went to dinner last night, Jason. Waddle met with the media this week, and he

Talked a little bit about his new beginnings. It's going to be a fun group. They got a lot of talent, court, Marv, Troy, Pat, Le Jordan. I'm here to help in every, you know, fashion, making plays and learning. I'm excited to learn from them and them to learn from me. So it should be fun. It should be great. And look, you talked to Shalarth about it earlier.

How much of a difference maker can he be in Denver? I mean, again, they got the AFC championship already, but in terms of back? actually winning a Super Bowl. Significant. Okay. I'll make them the favorites coming out. Rachel with the news. Thank you.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. So he had a guest earlier who had a super hot take. Fernando Mendoza or Cam Ward. Who you got? That's next here on The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own. podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. 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. The morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where SportsSlice 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. 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 Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant, this went to a billion-dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, Just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian went. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted.

She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side scene. to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Man, what a good weekend here on Fox. On Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series is on FS1. Catch the best of the best as they go full throttle at Darlington. The checker flag for the good year 400 flies Sunday at 3 Eastern, with pre-race action beginning at 1.30 only on FS1. Jason, I don't know, you've probably never been to Darlington, I would imagine, but... Wait, I did go to one.

So I had an internship in Greensboro, North Carolina, and there was a race there. Again, this was like over 20 years ago. Well, it looks like the track is super unusual. It looks like kind of like a misshapen eggs that was left in someone's lunchbox for too long. But the reason is because when they built the track, there was a farm out there, and they could not get the farmer to give up part of his land because he had a minnow pond he liked to fish in. So it's one of the toughest tracks in NASCAR. It's one of the most exciting.

It's going to be a great race on Sunday because they have to get so close to the edge of the wall. It's the closest they get because of the farmer in his minopond. What a story. You covered every sport pretty much. Olympics, a car racing. That's cool, right? That is pretty cool. It's going to be a fun race.

Fun fact for my family listening at home. We had a yard growing up And my brother, who's listening for sure, wanted a fish pond in the backyard. So we're like, let's build a fish pond. And we put in coy fish and everything. And it was pretty amazing. And then one of these big birds,

I forget the name of it, would come and start to eat the fish. So we had to put a net over it. The days and nights of the McIntyre family. Anyways, all right, earlier in the show, we had an NFL draft analyst come on from the athletic. Nick Baumgartner. And he's surprised. me when he compared Mendoza to Cam Ward.

Take a listen to this. I will go Cam Ward because I think I do think I really like Cam Ward and if they can, I'm just going to go on the limb and say they're going to give him some guys, right? And they're not going to totally like just completely abandon him and ruin him basically. But I think if you give him some help and you continue to lean on his improvement, you watch his tape last year. Same thing. It started, you know, not so great.

By the end of the year, much better. I think we're going to see another level from him as time goes. on. He's got an extra year on Fernando. But I also, I don't want that to be a downgrade on Mendoza. I think he'll be good too. I just, Cam's athletic ceiling, I think, pushes him a little bit higher. Interestingly, so Brian Dable is the O.C. in Tennessee, and I looked and I was like, are they going to get any help this offseason?

Well, wouldn't you know it? They decided, hmm, let's go after some former guys I had with the Giants, like Wondale Robinson, like tight end Daniel Bellinger. Oh, well, they liked Brian Dates. Bowl and now they're going to go into his system. Cam Warden, year two. Tony Pollard, didn't look like what I thought he would last year.

Calvin Ridley's back, don't love him. I think they'll probably go wide receiver shopping at the draft. They were an interesting team next year. Rachel, I know you root for a team in that division. Yeah. In Washington. Again, it's early. We haven't seen the draft.

But what's your projected order in the NFC East? Look, I mean, the Philadelphia Eagles are still still the class of the NFCEs, don't you think? I mean, the Giants are exciting. I lived in New York for a long time. I covered the Giants. People love Jackson Dart. I mean, nobody's more popular than the backup quarterback.

But he kept that momentum going once he started starting. I'm still going to say, I think that the commanders, you know, I think they have the best quarterback. So I think if they can build around him, they were a really old team when he started and they've gotten younger and they've gotten more athletic. The Cowboys, I mean, Jerry Jones himself. Have you interviewed Jerry Jones? Oh, many times.

He's... He loves to get interviews. I was going to say, he's not a hard get to book. So you want to interview Jerry Jones? Can we get him tomorrow? You make that happen? I'm just saying. I bring up the NFC East because you're Washington fan.

And that draft from Nick had Jeremiah Love going to Washington. Yes. That's spicy. I feel like, you know, Dan Quinn may be on the hot seat entering the season. I mean, they went, NFC championship, missed the playoffs. Jaden Hurt, entire staff wiped out. Dance kind of got to deliver here. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Look, when the staff, when they say, hey, change a lot of your staff, there's only one way to go after that. That's kind of a sign. Yeah, so here it is Jeremiah Love, seven to Washington. And I said to Nick, which he liked, a lot of mock drafts had Jeremiah Love

going to the chiefs at nine. Yeah, you can see that. And then the combine happens. And then everyone's like, oh, maybe he's going to go before nine. Maybe no shot. What do you think for your team? Jets. Here's what I know.

You don't want Ty. I do not want Ty. I have nothing against the kid. You wouldn't know it from the conversations you've been this week. He says all the right things. He seems like a nice kid. He's like, I didn't want to transfer, you know, and the way he articulated it was good. I like Ty Simpson.

Again, we talk about this in the Amia. I'm all in tanking, Rachel. Yeah. With the jets. Yeah. And by the way, all these gibronies who are like, oh, Arch Manning won't go to the Jets. Eli Manning wouldn't go to the charts. so he could go to New York

for the Giants. Now, I know the Giants and the Jets or different organizations. Jason. But wait, what do you try to say? One's a blue blood, the other is a terrible franchise who hasn't made the playoffs in the longest drought in the NFL? I believe so, yes.

He's not going to... And even if he dodges, we'll bleep him, and then we'll go get Carr, the quarterback from Notre Dame. But I don't think Arch would dodge the Jets. You got a chance to be the franchise savior. Rachel's being very quiet. That says a lot. I want to know if Ty Simpson wrote you, like, has he written you a letter?

Did he do something to you? Did he throw a rock at your mother? I had Daniel Jeremiah on my pod in January. Right. And he says pretty flat out, it would be a shock if Ty Simpson went in the first round. And I heard that and I was like, holy cow.

So I texted just a couple people out of the combine and they're like, I don't mean, he might go first. I trust Jeremiah a lot. Yeah. And he still hasn't put Ty in the first round of his mock, and he's one of the more accurate mock drafters. Yeah. So that I'm just sticking with

If he doesn't think he's a first round Why should we Jets reach on him at 16? All right. That's too much Ty Simpson talk. I will not slander the young man. I'm rooting for him in Arizona or wherever he winds up. All right.

We're back tomorrow. Friday. 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, we are. 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, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Side. help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be?

I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sacks. Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turn, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Gianna Maria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam?

It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got.

Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne.

Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips and size. school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips.

This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got them. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.

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