The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 3 - NBA Finals grades

Episode Date: June 13, 2023

Nick Wright from First Things First joins the show to admit he was wrong about Nikola Jokic not being considered one of the all time greats.  Colin gives his grades for the NBA FinalsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me, Clivert 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled 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 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. 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 put on 10. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard Podcast.

Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRedio.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. Well, Denver had a very historic playoff run, 16 and 4. As good as the Lakers were, swept him. Phoenix gave him trouble for about three days. But by and large, Miami was absolutely red-hot,

took care of Milwaukee and Boston, and they put so many different people on Jimmy Butler. They put KCP on him, Aaron Gordon on him, Chris Brown on him. In the end, Butler looked gassed. Nick Wright, first thing is first, joining us live. How surprised are you? You know, I'll start with this. Take LeBron out.

So people often say mobility works. Well, it works with LeBron. That's correct. Warriors won before him, during him after him. Take LeBron out. He's like Mahomes. He works without a running back. You can get rid of Tyreek Hill.

That's different. But you go to Russell. Michael, Bird, Magic, Duncan. The stay where you're at model and let the organization patiently build around you, could I not argue if you just take LeBron, the greatest player ever out? What Denver's doing is what the Spurs did,

is what the Bulls did, is what the Celtics did. It's really... It's what the Bucks... Listen, I think you're... The super team model is really a LeBron James model. That's right. Now, the model that definitely works is having an excellent team already intact and adding either a great player or a final piece. The Raptors with Kauai had a team that was good but not great, a culture, all of it. Then they swap out Demarderosa for Kauai Leonard win the

title. The Warriors had already won a title, got into another finals. They swap out Harrison Barnes for Kevin Durant, they're one of the greatest teams ever. That obviously works, right? But the other thing that obviously works is what the Bucks did, what the Warriors did before Durant, what the Nuggets did,

what, to a lesser degree, the heat have done, where they add the piece in Jimmy Butler, but the rest of it is built up from within, what the Celtics are attempting to do. So, yeah, I actually agree with that wholeheartedly, that

the microwaved team out of nowhere it blew up spectacularly in Brooklyn. I'm not sure if it will ever get off the ground with the clippers. It has really only ever worked with LeBron. And to be honest, even the LeBron parts have had fits and starts with it, most notably the first year in Miami.

And so, yes, I think people, consistently, Colin, come May and June, see what it takes to win a championship, and then in December and January, totally forget about it and over the summer. And they just trick themselves in thinking, well, this team can't defend, and this team doesn't have depth, and this team doesn't like each other, but they'll be fine when those teams are never fine. Yeah, Denver's defense in the fourth quarter in their chemistry, in the end, which is hard to build either if you're not playing together for years, won it. Yokic is interesting.

So years ago, if you got 10 assists, that meant you were also creating 20 points. But in the three-ball era, 10 assists can be 24 points. And when I look at Yokic, beyond the 25 points, there's the 10 and 11 assists. His elevation of others. I said when I watch Yokic play, I don't know. I mean, all the great centers have been different. Kareem was the sky hook. Moses Malone was the rebounder.

Shack was powerful and flamboyant. There's a Duncan component to Yokic, which is it's kind of fundamental with a little Larry Bird passing. But when you hear about the Yokic historic, one of your pushbacks on three MVPs in a row was a legitimate one. Let's save that for the all-time greats. And then you watch Yokch and you're like, Okay? Has he become an all-time great? He's an all-time great. He's an all-time great. Like this is, and people, I think sometimes they might hear me say that and say, oh, Nick's being inconsistent.

I am being the definition of consistent. There is a final level he achieved it last night. Yeah. People might think this sounds ludicrous, but I believe it to the marrow. 24 hours ago, Nikola Yokic was not an all-time great. Now he is undeniably. That's how it works in this league. And the frustrating thing with me with the Yokic commentary and then the backlash and the backlash to the backlash is people pretended that he was being singled out. It is the exact to a T process Janus went through.

an MVP, people are like, he's awesome. One another MVP had a really crummy finals and people were like, hmm, let's pump the brakes a bit. Then had a start to finish, dominant, get all my back playoff run. And the whole world said, yeah, you're one of the 25 greatest players ever, undeniable. That's how it works. Those are the steps in this league.

And those of us that said, we need to see him do it over two months in the playoffs. folks, the response was, why do you need to see it? And the answer to that is not to be a jerk, but you know what the answer to that is? Because James Hardens have existed in the NBA forever. Guys who are unbelievable in the regular season and then come the postseason, either can't last or go backwards or the moment gets to him. I needed to see it. And by the way, for me to consider him one of the,

two or three best players in the league right now, he didn't need to win the title. Just getting to the finals and what they did against the legors, it's like, okay, that's undeniable. But now, having won the title, if people want to say he's the best player in the world, even if I personally still think Janus can be more impactful on both ends, and Janus, by a hair, would be my pick.

I totally get it. That's how it works in the NBA. It's how it's always worked in the NBA. By the way, we understand that in boxing, UFC, tennis, downhill skiing, any individual sport, you have to win the gold or win the fight. If Connor McGregor had never won the big fight, he would just be a flamboyant fun guy, good on pay-per-view. He wouldn't be considered the greatest UFC, you know, potential fighter of all time.

And can I add something else to it, Colin? Since 1980, and this is why my pick of the heat in hindsight was it went against history. since 1980, Colin, if you don't have one of the 25 greatest players ever, you can't win the title unless you're on the 04 pistons. Because it's Magic and Kareem, it's Moses and Dr. J, it's Bird, it's Isaiah, it's Jordan, it's Akeem, it's Duncan, it's Shaq slash Kobe, it's the O4 Pistons, it's Wade and Shaq, it's Dirk, it's KG, it's Kobe, it's LeBron, it's Steph, it's Janice. Kauai, I guess, is the other outlier, but he would have been, but injuries ruined him. It's Yokic.

So Yokic is now in that group. He is one of the 25 greatest players ever. And in the NBA, I know it's not an individual sport, but we have almost a half century of history that says you don't need, having Jason Tatum is fun and it's cool, but if you want to win a title, you need a legend, not an awesome.

awesome player. Yeah, it goes back to like the Mahomes thing we talked about earlier. You had to see the win last night. I always thought Mahomes was great. But to lose Tyreek Hill, have better numbers and win. Okay, that's different. Like that, even from the Holmes, it's like great, maybe greatest ever now. And I think those moments, speaking of this, I was talking about this earlier, is that sometimes I think we undervalue great. And think about this. So, all, All teams did for 30 years was try to stop LeBron. The whole game plan was on stopping LeBron, and they still couldn't. So the J.R. Smith can give you 21.

No game plan is trying to stop him. The gap between LeBron and J.R. Smith, we know is substantial. But the greats are so great, like Yolkich, Miami's entire game plan as a defensive team, stop him. Nobody could. And I was thinking about this with Mahomes. Mahomes is the only quarterback in the league. Burrough needed Mixon. Lamar's needed J.K. Dobbins.

Herbert needs Echler. Obviously, Daniel Jones needs Sequin. Dak needed Zeke at his prime. I can argue Mahomes is so great, the gap between him and Burrell, and we both love Burrell, is so great, he didn't need Tyreek Hill. He doesn't need a running back because of Reed's ability to create plays, and then Mahomes' ability to finalize those plays, right? Is that, do you feel like, I saw this story about the chiefs are going to have a $3 million backfield, which is just unheard of. Do you believe, and I know you're a chief's guy, but I think to myself, God, Mahomes

is even significantly better than Burrow. Oh, yeah. I don't, I think there is a real, I think Joe Burrow has earned the right to be called the second best quarterback in football, but I think there, someone wants to argue Jalen Hertz, I'll listen to him. I don't think Josh Allen's in that tier anymore, but if you want to argue you can make a compelling case, but that's where the argument has moved to

because the gap between the guy we're showing video of Patrick Mahomes and every other quarterback, I think is bigger than the gap between whoever's number two and whoever's number eight. Because he simply has no weaknesses

as a passer, and not just as a passer, but as a player. I mean, we talk about the most mobile quarterbacks in the league and no one brings up Mahomes. But some of the most legendary quarterback runs in modern playoff history were by Patrick Mahomes. The touchdown before the half against Tennessee, where he shook off three guys and ran for 30 yards to go to the Super Bowl, the one against Cincinnati to set up the field goal,

the one against the Eagles to set up the game-winning field goal on one leg. Those are all, that's with his legs, and that's like his fourth option. The thing that I find, fascinating to watch in how the chiefs are going to try to build this out is they have clearly leaned into what you're talking about, which is why spent, you know, get a seventh rounder in Pacheco, try to keep McKinnon, spend as little as possible there and bulk up the rest of it. I wonder if it's one point if the opportunity presents itself, will they counter the other direction, which is what would it look like if in a era where running backs are cheaper than ever, we had one of the four best running backs in football, where teams occasionally had to actually

respect the run. Not what would that do for our running game, but what would that do for Patrick Mahomes? Like they have a lot of other kind of punches they can pull, if you will, as they build this out over the next decade. And I do think that they're going to have to do that if and when Travis Kelsey either slows down or retires. Because while you can, that has been, you know, it's not underrated. But having arguably the greatest tight end ever with him the whole time has obviously been a massive part of his dominant. Yeah, we've never, and by the way, another credit to Mahomes, we've never really considered even with Gronk, even with Kellan Winslow.

We never considered the tight end as the number one target. Mahomes is great enough that we're going to take a mid-round tight end, and that becomes his target. It's always been a star receiver for Bradshaw, for Aikman, for everybody. Speaking of star receivers, by star receivers, speaking of star receivers, I know my guy, Josh Allen's going to be on the cover of Madden, but what's up with Stefan Diggs? I know. Why is he so unhappy? I know. Trouble in paradise. I mean, they were best buds. I don't, I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I don't have reporters on the ground in upstate New York. But, you know, it seems like there's just trouble in paradise up there, and you just hate to see it.

You just really hate to see it. Yeah, I know. For the, you know, three-time defending AFCE's second round defending champion Buffalo bills. You just hate to see it. So obnoxious. All right, Nick. First things first. Good seeing you, buddy.

See you, buddy. You bet. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. F.S1 and the IHeart Radio app. 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 you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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, 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 Cliverts 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 a podcast. I'm Sam Jek. 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 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all 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, so... Thank you for 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 podcasts. J-Mac with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So this situation in Buffalo, I teased earlier, Colin, very bizarre. All right?

So the Buffalo bills are holding mandatory minicamp today. And head coach Sean McDermott comes out and says, Stefan Diggs is not here. We're very concerned. Mandatory minicamp. So then Stefan Diggs's agent comes out and says, nope, that's not right. Stefan Diggs is at camp. He's there in Buffalo. Checked into his hotel room.

Stefan Diggs is in Buffalo, just did not go to minicamp today. I don't know what that means. A lot of Buffalo Bills fans are melting down like, contract? Like, what's, he's physically there. He just decided not to go to practice. Well, he's been highly compensated. It's not a money issue.

He's always been paid fairly. Something's going on. Well, he got very mad at the end of that game against Cincinnati. He was furious. Gabe Davis disappeared. Is that the game from five months ago? Yeah. Yeah, okay.

I mean, he just didn't make an impact. He had like 35 yards. So he was upset with that. I'll go back to the Sean McDermott defensive coach. Can we make sure we take care of our offensive stars and stop adding defensive pieces? Can we now, they've had the best defense in the league on average over the last five years. Could we take care of the offense in Josh Allen and the O line and get a another receiver. How about this? Can we not be a diva, go to camp, and then just not go to the

mandatory practice? Like, you're in the hotel room. You had dinner. Like, you're just, just not showing up. That'd be like me coming to work one day. And then just staying in my dressing room and not coming out here. Just staying down there. Like, where's McIntyre? I don't know. He's here. Like, this is bizarre. Not what you want from Buffalo at the, at mini camp here in June, right? I would agree. Not ideal. All right, next up. Cameron Jordan. of the Saints was giving some advice to young players at Vaughn Miller's pass rush summit recently. Yeah. He was explaining why speed and instincts are so important at getting to the quarterback.

And wouldn't you know it, but he took a random jab at Kirk Cousins in the process. Here's the video. And in this game, you all, like everybody knows, a fast, wrong decision could be a right decision. And a fast right decision, you're a winner. And a slow right decision, get your ass on the bench. Yeah. Because there's somebody out here that's going to be moving at a different speed. Slow right decisions.

We love him. Call him Kirk Cousins. Bizarre. Why is he going after Kurt Cousins? I don't know. Kirk Cousins just minding his business, winning 13 games in Minnesota last year, and now catching strays from Cam Jordan in June. I don't even know what that means.

Either do I. Slow right decisions? Is that meaning Kirk Cousins is like a checkdown king and he's afraid to, like, take a chance? That's what it feels like to me. You just got to get up in his grill and bother him and badger him. Yeah. It's not, I will say this throughout my life, a fast wrong decision is not terrible because I find out what doesn't work. It's fair.

Like sometimes you need to have clarity like, okay, is this going to work or not? Just let's just do it. And if it doesn't work, we can take it off the table. Exactly. I totally agree. Fast, wrong decisions are okay. Slow wrong ones. You wait around for three years to make a decision.

Find out if it works or not. I think one of the early Facebook mottos was move fast and break things. I don't know if you've heard that phrase before. But that's what they wanted to do. We're just going to try it, throw everything. Let's see what works. What doesn't? And I think what he's doing here is taking a jab at Kirk Cousins,

who's maybe a little bit slow and doesn't want to make a mistake. Risk averse. There you go. Final story, Nicole Yokic won his first title and finals MVP last night after the Nuggets beat the heat. But his post-game press conference got a lot of love. This was all over TikTok and Instagram. He is not thrilled to having to wait around for the championship parade.

You said after the Lakers when you said you were surprised that you didn't feel more. So I'm curious what you are feeling right now. And if you're looking forward to a parade coming up in Denver. Venice parade? Thursday. No. I need to go home. Just what the NBA loves.

The guy's the best player in the league. He wants to go home. He wants to buy another horse too. He must to go to Serbia and ride horses also. Yeah, I get it. I was just watching an Arnold Schwarzenegger Netflix special last night from Austria. Man, that's beautiful. Austria?

People have to go. People need to go to Europe more. Go to Europe. It's beautiful. I was mesmerized. You could have turned the sound. I was mesmerized by the optics of Austria. You know what else was beautiful?

Winning a championship in front of 20,000 people. I get it if he didn't want to sit around. You know how many people are going to be at the Nuggets Parade? Well, it's not. He wanted to go home. He wants to go home. Probably over under 500,000 people at the parade. Is that too high?

I mean, they've never won a title ever. Oh, they'll have a half million people. Okay. And you want to run home to Serbia? I mean, listen. Come on. You know, the Nuggets are desperate for this guy to like... Home is where the heart is.

He's not going anywhere. I know, but the NBA would love him to kind of lap it up, stretch this out a couple more days. I think the NBA loves a new franchise winning and a very humble star taking the trophy. I think the NBA likes what has. happened last night. I know the NBA rig crowd is mourning this morning because another

new franchise won. Yeah, the NBA wanted, they wanted the Denver Nuggets to win. That'd be like college basketball having, you know, San Diego State win a title. The NBA has had like 18 or 19 different champions.

There's a reason. Like, it's, in the last 50 years. It's, Denver is not the team you would anoint Rocky Mountain, nonverbal star, second round guy. they're fun and I get him wanting to go home. What if I gave you odds? Nuggets to repeat or you take the field and you get way better odds on the field.

Would you take nuggets? You think they got a better chance? I think I'd take the nuggets for one more year. And then all of a sudden, once you win two, then all of a sudden guys may start looking around. What if Jamal Murray got hurt again and you have to make big decisions? Yeah, I did look at the health. They were a pretty healthy team this year, Denver. Every starter played between like 62 and 70.

games. That's important. The continuity, these guys have been together for a few years. Well, once you win a championship, you can scale back about 15% on that, not load management, but the bottom line is it changes now. For Denver, it's not about being a number one seat. They can win in the road. For Denver now, it's about making sure we're healthy in May. And so you'll see this with- Did Kauai Leonard try that again? Well, Kauai's every year. He's quirky. Brittle. These guys, they don't have quirky players. I don't know if I told you

I ran into someone in the Clippers organization at the wine auction I'm not going to talk about what we talked about but I'll just say I don't think a lot of changes are coming to the paper clips this offseason I'll just I think they're stuck for one more year with their guys also the Clippers do watch this show so I have to start laying off Tailu a little bit

I like who says you don't like him but he's no Michael Malone let's be real He doesn't have Yokic. He doesn't have I think I-Lew would be. He has Kauai Leonard and Paul George. Who never play. I like Paul George. No Paul George Lander.

I like Paul. Pandemic P, playoff P? I think that's all nonsense. If you can look at Paul George's playoff numbers and his regular season numbers, the exact same. All I remember is being up 3-1 on the Nuggets in the bubble and him chucking shots off the side of the backboard in the fourth quarter. Kawhi Leonard's 6 for 22.

I had to look it up. Just to look it up. All of your anger comes from one thing. There's no anger. It all comes from one thing. You had the other side on the bed. No, no, I definitely. I don't bet on the clippers.

Are you kidding me? Those frauds? Oh, God. You just met an executive and now you're calling them fraud. I mean, listen, Kauai and Paul's World, what have they been in the last three or four years? Rehabing. Favorites. One of the best teams in the league every year.

What happens in the playoffs? Reality. J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie New. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd. weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

Hey, this is Tom Verducci from Fox Sports, MLB Network and Sports Illustrated. And I'm Joe Madden, and we're going to be around to talk a little bit about managerial decisions and what may have occurred into the dugout, maybe in the 1980s. It's the Book of Joe podcast. I can't wait for this, Joe. We're going to dive into what goes on in the dugout and behind the scenes in Major League Baseball. Cars, wine, whatever else we want to talk about. Yeah, well, there are no boundaries, right?

Listen to the Book of Joe podcast on the Iheart radio app on Apple. podcast 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 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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, 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 Cliverts 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 a 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 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 is big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you 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, 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Jay Mack, we should probably hand out some grades. What do you make? Yeah, you are just such a generous teacher. I have been through the years. Let's hand out some grades. Okay, we'll do NBA finals performance grades. Sure. Let's start with Caleb Martin.

How would you grade his finals performance? Now, you can't take into account what he did against Boston, which is great. Well, I think he got, he made himself some money. I think he was a B. He had the second highest offensive rating by any heat player, and he had the highest plus minus last night. So I thought he was, I mean, let's be honest. He was one of the only guys that could shoot last night for Miami.

Okay, let's go to Max Drews, who missed the late three from the corner. How would you grade his performance last night? C. Now, he had 15 assists in one turnover all series, but he couldn't hit his specialty. He was 19% on three. So that's what he's there for, and he couldn't hit him, so it's a C. Jimmy Buckets, the best player on the Miami Heat.

How would you grade his finals performance? I thought he kind of melted in the last call. I thought he was gassed. I'd give him a B. I thought he got really tired. He had the worst plus minus by any player in the finals and went from 29 a game to 21 in the finals. So he was dominant against Boston.

I thought he had, they just kept throwing bodies at him. Gordon, Christian Brown, KCP. I thought it wore him down. He did score 13 straight in the fourth quarter. I know, no, no. To nearly win the game. What grade would you give Bam out of bio? I thought he was great. I'd give him an A.

I thought he was fantastic. Scored 20 points in all five games. Led the heat in scoring and rebounding in the finals. He's also excellent defensively. I thought this was a really strong series by him against the team with all sorts of size to combat him. It doesn't look like a guy you can trade away. No. No.

Too good. All right. Eric Smolstra, Hote of the Heat. How do you grade his performance? A-A-minus. I mean, listen, this is the six finals appearance in 15 years. They had the worst scoring offense during the regular season in the league, and they got to a game five of the finals. They had the worst.

Not among the worst. They had the worst offense in the league, and he tweaked that at the end of the year. Got to give him some credit for that. Is it an 8C? The coach who loses 4-1 gets an A-minus. What about the winning coach? Michael Malone. He gets an A.

But you have to win the series to get it. The heat were held under 100 points in each of Denver's four wins. So I think what I noticed in the second half last night was Rudy Malone, which is, guys, we are tight. We can't hit free throws and threes. Denver was tight. I thought it was Denver's best defensive half by far in the playoffs. I mean, that fourth quarter, they were relentless.

All right, rookie Christian Brown. What would you give his grade for the Denver Nuggets? B-plus. I think he plays real defense. He shot 89% in the finals. He's a 22-year-old rookie. They'll ask him to shoot a lot of tough. shots, but I thought I'd say, again, our expectations were here. I think his energy,

and that guy is springy, like really vertical. Bouncy. What great would you give? KCP, one of the heroes in game five? I'd give him a good C plus. He plays real defense, two-time champ. He had the second best defensive rating by any player in the finals. Didn't give us a ton of offense, but I thought he was a very good teammate. He was willing to play some defense. He's kind of long, so he gets a C-plus. Two titles now for K. What about Aaron Gordon, the superstar from Orlando Monster Series? A, defensive monster, highest plus-minus, any player in the finals, leading score in the restricted area, 44 points.

I thought he was one of the most influential playoff players that we don't consider a star in East or West. I thought he was incredibly important. Next one's a little tougher. He's trending toward my guy territory. Michael Porter Jr. loves to shoot it. C-minus because he shot poorly, but he had some big, you know, I mean, listen, he was 4 or 28 in the final three-point shooter. Wow.

But he was the second leading rebounder to yoke it, so he's an excellent rebounder. He's a willing defender, and he had two huge buckets last night in game five. He had that big three, and then he had that drive. That drive at the end. He did get benched a couple times in the series. So I'm okay with that grade. All right, now, Jamal Murray, give that man a grade. That's an A.

No question. highest offensive rating in the finals, eight games with 30 points, and I probably should have gone A-plus. He gets a little sloppy for my taste. He's a one-hand pass guy. But his playmaking, like I didn't think that was part of his game.

He went a notch-up. And the finals MVP, Nicola Yolkich. Highest score I've ever given a student, A-plus, plus. Ooh, the double plus. He literally, because he does so many things well, he doesn't have off games. His off-playoff game is when he scored 40. and we didn't pass enough.

He is, he's very much Tim Duncan. Like, if Tim Duncan was a great perimeter shooter. Like, Duncan didn't have bad games. Blocks, rebounds, defense, scoring. Like, you know, a great player, Kobe Steph could have, Larry Bird could have a bad shooting night. But like, Yolkitch doesn't have bad games. He's so layered.

Good stuff. Oh, by the way, say hello to endless hot water. Go to tankless made simple.com. A Navian tankless water heater, 15-year limited warranty. well, well, well. Very exciting stuff. Nick Wright, Joel Clapblap, both stopped by today. Do appreciate that.

I was having so much fun watching that last night. I poured myself a cold one right after. Nice. To celebrate. Sounds like a fun little night. A quick update on the Stefan Diggs story we just talked about. Ian Rappaport just said on an NFL network, Stefan Diggs and the bills are dealing with an in-house situation,

not contract-related, that they expect to be resolved soon. I don't know what that could be if it's not contract-related. Is he unhappy about something? He was unhappositioning. He was, maybe he didn't like the, the room at campy. I don't know. Who knows? See you tomorrow.

It's the herd. 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.

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