The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Tiger Woods, Lakers, and Russell Wilson

Episode Date: April 15, 2019

Colin explains why the world was cheering for Tiger Woods to win the Masters, why you could say former Los Angeles Lakers HC Luke Walton fired the team, and why Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson is right to want more money. Guests include Armen Keteyian, Chris Broussard, Rick Reilly, and Cuttino Mobley. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ah, here we go on a loaded Monday. This is The Heard, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, one hour from now every Monday, and a good one this week. Colin was right, Colin was wrong, plenty of both, as Joy Taylor is joining me. Almost a much more attractive Masters Green you're wearing today. Well, appropriately so, huh? What a weekend. What an absolute weekend.

I have so many thoughts about Tiger Woods winning his first major in over 10 years. I'm going to ask you a question, and I'm not going to give you a lot of time to think about it, but here's the question. What is it about Tiger that moves us? Okay, your time's up. He shouldn't move us like this. There's lots of reasons not to like him. He got very popular and very rich early.

People resent that. he threatened a beloved legend jack we don't like that asked lebrot about the michael jordan thing he never treated his fans warmly or particularly well and he did some really bad things to his family and yet most of america sat on their couch crying yesterday only two athletes in my life have had this power michael jordan and Tiger Woods. And they have certain things in common. Michael Jordan's first three titles, I was in awe of him.

Never really felt connected. Almost worshipped him. Looked up at him. And then his father was murdered. He went and played baseball, struggled badly, came back, and now Jordan was more like family. The decade that Tiger Woods dominated golf,

I was hypnotized by him, in awe of him, pumped my fist with him, but then he fell apart physically and emotionally. And yesterday, for the first time in my life, I rooted against other golfers. Yesterday, I'm not proud to admit this, I was hoping Francisco Molinari got run over by a golf cart for most of the afternoon. We shouldn't love Tiger this much, right? 90% of us don't play golf. Several books written, not complimentary of his choices. But yesterday was the greatest comeback in the history of American sports, in my opinion. Tiger had no business even being there.

In a six-year period after his dominance, he tore an ACL, had a neck injury, sprained as MCL, tore his Achilles, three back surgeries, one a back fusion. Hell, that sounds like an autopsy. Tiger admitted two years ago he wasn't sure if he'd ever play golf again. His back was in such pain. He said, I can't even coach the President's Cup. Riding in a golf cart bouncing up and down hurts too much. I got some pushback yesterday.

Colin, you said a few years ago he's a former golfer. Of course I did. Tiger admitted he wasn't sure if he'd ever play golf again. What we saw yesterday is why we loved MJ. MJ was awe-inspiring the first run and then he suffered things that no person should have to deal with. He was humbled. Being great is really important, but being humbled is the difference between Michael Jordan and Tiger. Tiger's win didn't just say a lot about Tiger.

It actually said a lot about us. We love you even more. If you deal with the crap we do. If you deal with the family issues, we do. If your life is imperfect. And as you're at the top of the throne, you come off it, you cry, it's sad, you struggle emotionally and physically. yesterday Tiger delivered so many things.

Our favorite golfer won. We got a redemption slash comeback story. That's what Hollywood writes every day. Do we love those? It restoked the goat conversation. Personally, I love that. That's good for my business. And the Tiger in Red Sunday thing

is the best thing to happen on Sundays since the Sopranos. And let me just add this. And I'm not blaming anybody for what I'm about to say. I'm not. I'm not taking sides here. But this country is more divided than it has ever been, uncomfortably so. And I'm in my 50s. I've lived through a lot of life.

But don't ever let anybody marginalize sports in your family to you. Sports shapes us. It heals us. It empowers us. it connects us it does what government so often promises but doesn't deliver it turns poor

into rich and broken into healed yesterday sports did something else and I can't remember seriously I drove in this morning and I thought about this I can't remember the last time in America we were all pulling for the same

thing humbled fallen emotionally physically at the very bottom. What a story spoke as much about us as it did about Tiger. And never forget

that sports does so many great things. Yesterday, finally, it connected us. Thanks, Tiger. We owe you one. The great Armand Catan who wrote the book on Tiger

will be joining us in about 25 minutes. Let me shift brief to this. About five weeks ago, I came out with a story, and you people called me crazy, I'm not going to lie, it was hurtful. You people called me Zaney. I'm not going to lie. I didn't sleep that night.

I came out and I reported, Russell Wilson may be leaving Seattle, not now, but eventually. Well, this morning, it appears to be all over the Internet from reputable sources, proficient Pro football talk, Peter King. Russell Wilson and his agent, by the way, his agent Mark Rogers is a baseball agent. One football client, Russell Wilson. They are saying today, according to sources, and I trust Peter King, Russell Wilson and his agent told the Seahawks, Long-term deal today, or will never sign one?

It will be a series of one-year deals. This is what I've been hearing for a month. and let me wholeheartedly support Russell Wilson here. Russell Wilson took Pete Carroll's career and saved it. Pete had been fired twice in the NFL and was 7 and 9 and 7 and 9 in his first two years in Seattle and was looking at Matt Flynn to save his career. Russell Wilson arrived. It was never the same.

Then Pete bailed, John Snyder bailed on one of the best centers in football, Max Unger, and Russell Wilson's offensive line to 10. deteriorated, and for the next several years, he was running for his life and health. Seattle's brand over the last seven, eight years, has been the Legion of Boom, the 12th man, Pete Carroll. And Russell's tired of it and should be. I got Russell Wilson's back on this. And I know saying that that huge quarterback deals make your team less nimble, less flexible, and less viable. But Russell Wilson's the most underrated player of my life.

He saved the franchise. He put it on the map. And he's never been given the credit he deserves. He hasn't. We give Bree's credit. We gave Peyton credit. We give Brady credit. We give Mahomes credit.

We gave Eli credit. We gave Ben credit. We don't give Russell any credit because he does it differently. Little smaller, little faster, little unique. This is about respect. In Seattle, the fans, 12th man, get more credit than Russell. The defense, the architect, the ownership. This is Russell Wilson's franchise.

It has been for years. Finally, he's going to make them pay for it. This is about respect. He deserves more of it and has for years. All right, Armin Katan is around the corner. Chris Broussard, Rick Roussard, Rick Ruff. Riley, Catino Mobley, absolutely packed today. Well, Saturday, and I say this sincerely, was one of the greatest television sports days of my life. In the morning I got Tiger and Phil and

golf. Then I got three really good down to the last shot NBA playoff games with upsets everywhere. And then I got two of the best UFC fights I've seen in my life. And then Sunday topped it. wife was under the weather. I was at home. I thought this weekend was one of the great sports weekends of television viewing. I like to get out. I tend to be fairly recreational and bored and restless.

So I do want to hit on one NBA note. And it's all about ingredients. 40 minutes from now, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong. Don't go anywhere. 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

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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 plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from Indembourg,

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 podcast.

Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that.

Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals.

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Great to have you back on a Monday 40 minutes from now where Colin was right and where Colin was wrong. And also not long from now, Armand Cotay in 60 minutes. The Athletic wrote the book on Tiger, a fantastic book, by the way. There's been several books written about Tiger. And we'll touch on that. Why is it that Tiger moves us to tears? Gordon had that. Very few athletes, even the loved ones, don't do that. And I think it's just the redemption of it. I think it's what Hollywood writes in its scripts that Michael had a really

rough time personally. Tiger had a really rough time emotionally. And we just love comeback stories. I thought it was just fantastic over the weekend. And I'm not a guy that golf smudge. But I just, I was glued the whole weekend. And I thought the coverage by all the networks was fantastic. I want to talk about this. A lot of playoff games over the weekend. It was actually a great weekend of NBA playoffs. A lot of upsets, a lot of fun, a lot of interesting series with the favorites losing at home in game one. To me, the NBA playoffs, and I've said for years, I'm surprised how many smart NBA people get fooled by this. There's the regular season, then there's the playoffs. And to me, it's all about with your team ingredients. I don't

care what you're doing in the regular season. Do you have what I would call championship ingredients? It's like a restaurant. I don't care if there's drama in the kitchen. If you've got an A plus chef and fresh ingredients, you can be a Zaget rated restaurant. You can't do it with second-rate produce and a second-rate chef. Okay, Toronto does not have championship ingredients. Okay, championship ingredients are a top head coach, playoff experience, winning playoff experience, and two stars, one has to be a great closer. Celtics have that.

Celtics look great this weekend. They got Brad Stevens. They've won long playoff series. They've got two really good players, maybe three, and one, Kyrie Irving's the best closer, I would argue, outside of Kevin Durant in the NBA. Toronto doesn't have ingredients to be a champion. Their second best player is Kyle Lowry. He scored nothing.

DJ Augustine had 25. Kyle Lowry's never proven to be a step-up playoff guy, and the head coach is young and unproven. That's not a championship team in Toronto. It's a team that can win a bunch of regular season games. It's a team that plays really, really hard. It's a team that can win games. That's not a championship team. Denver doesn't have the ingredients to be a championship team.

They've got a young, unproven playoff coach, and they don't have even one A player. Nicola Yokic is a B-plus NBA player. That's what he is. Second best player is Jamal Murray. That's not championship material. Boston has the ingredients. They got the chef and Brad Stevens. They've got a great.

young player Jason Tatum, who's also shown in the playoffs you can rely on him. Kyrie Irving's arguably the best closer in the game. He's won a championship. To me, there's only three teams in the NBA with championship ingredients. Golden State, Houston, and Boston. Now, I think Philadelphia is talented but lacks chemistry and playoff mojo. And I think Milwaukee's really, really close, but I have no proof that Chris Middleton can step up and be big in a game six or a game seven repeatedly in the playoffs.

Don't get caught up in the regular season. The regular season, teams are not equally rested. You get into town at three in Denver, six hours asleep, shoot around, then play the nuggets who've been sitting there for three days, and you get sandblasted. Everybody in the playoffs is similarly rested, mostly similarly healthy, the travel all evens out, and you don't have that advantage you have in the regular season

where some teams like Toronto and Denver good without a title, play hard. Everybody in the playoff plays hard. So that advantage goes away. The Celtics, I'll say it again. May not win it, but they've got the ingredients to win it. Toronto and Denver do not. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. So the Sixers had some kind of postseason opener, huh? Yeah. Felt of the Nets, 11, 102 in game one. They appear to be out of sorts in pretty much every aspect from their pregame treatment of Joelle and Bede status to a pretty embarrassing mid-game phone incident on the bench. And then, of course, they're pretty low par playing on the court. And after landing in some hot water for telling off booing fans,

Ben Simmons is softening his stance a little bit. The crowd was frustrated. Did you guys hear that? Did I have any effect? I mean, if you're going to boo, then stay on that side. So I feel like you're a six-fing. going to boost him on the side. Well, he did also say that it's going to happen and he loves Philly.

If you can't play, then they're going to give you the bleep. They talk bleep. It is what it is. So he gets it. He's in Philadelphia. This is kind of the, it's the temperature of the town. That's how it works in Philly. They're hardcore fans and they're going to let you have it.

And that phone situation was such a bad look. I know it is. I know everybody's seeing it's a bad look, but I just want to say this. I'm a dad. If Amir Johnson, I watched him, he grabbed his phone, he was reading a text, and he put it away. There was no laughing, no joking. He's got a sick daughter. Somebody said, I'm not trying to be naive here. But if an NBA player's at the end of a bench, and he's not playing, and he looks for 12 seconds about a text, and it's not joyful and funny and goofy, I can live with it. It's a non-starter to me if there's a kid involved. Now, if he's just being a goofball, then he deserves all the heat in the world. But I can't. I can't verify that yet. If that turns out to be the actual story, it's going to change people's opinion on it. I would still say that you know what the optics are. So have an assistant coach hold it or have someone around the bench, you know, have your phone and be checking on it and giving you updates.

Because you know there's cameras on every centimeter of the court. I know, I know. That he was fine. I would love to have proof that he was just screwing off. Because I heard a story about his daughter and I'm like, okay, if I was at work for, By the way, there have been two, three days in the last year where I'm on the phone during the show because I got a kid issue. Yeah. No, I mean, of course.

Of course. I totally agree with you. But the situation is this. You have to be aware of the optics. They find him. So obviously, they felt like there was enough of an issue to do that. But in general, just not a good performance by Philadelphia. They appear to have chemistry issues.

Well, I mean, this is what we worried about with them all year. Yeah. So, I mean, it's early. I don't want to freak out about any game one results. But regardless, they're going to have their hands full tonight. So the season, Kevin Durant has had a lot of things going on with his demeanor. He clashed with some referees. He obviously had that early dust up with Raymond Green, racked up some technical fouls at an unprecedented pace for him anyway.

Had some issues with the media. And yesterday, he and Patrick Beverly got into it a little bit, which resulted in double technicals and a double ejection. Yes. I didn't love the end of this here. It kind of looked like he gave him a little extra shove. now. We know Patrick Beverly is not one to back down either. Yeah, he's feisty. But I've always felt like Kevin Durant has been feisty as well. I don't, I never felt like this wasn't who he is. And I don't have a problem with how his demeanor has been all year

anyway. I think you should be who you are and, and not try and put on some sort of front or something, if you will. But it's, regardless, I liked a little fight out of, out of the clippers either way. Yeah, it's, it's, it's, uh, the clippers are outmanned. Um, Here's how I always feel about Kevin Durant. We like Kevin Durant more than Kevin Durant thinks we like him. Because we've been sort of obsessing about LeBron, we do this, and I'm to blame. Many people, we tend to obsess about like the magic or the bird or the Michael or the shack. And LeBron's taking a lot of oxygen out of the room.

And he happens to play KD with one of the most likable stars of my life, Steph Curry. Steph Curry always has this agitational edge to him. And I always think, dude, we like you. I mean, you do happen to play with a soft cuddly puppy of the NBA, Steph Curry. But we still love you, Kevin. Sometimes I feel like Kevin doesn't feel loved. And it's like, dude, did I say last week or not? He's the best player in the NBA now.

Well, yeah, but you can kind of understand how he would feel that way because LeBron has gotten all of the love and attention. Also, all of the criticism as well. So he may feel like he is at the same level as LeBron and he's not getting the same love as LeBron. but, you know, there's... We're in the playoffs now, so... This didn't bother me at all. I'm totally okay with this KD. Technicle. This didn't bother me at all.

It was kind of... You have a right as it... Listen, LeBron doesn't get him. Michael didn't get him. Magic didn't get him. But there have been great players in this league, Iverson, who occasionally got him. And I'm...

It's just part of his... I think it's part of his... No, I have a problem with this either. My only concern is he's already got two technicals now, game one, into the playoffs. Yeah, that's the issue. You've got to be careful with that, because I think it's a...

seven, then you miss a game. Listen, Rashid Wallace got him. Westbrook gets them. Katie gets them. Iverson, I think, got some. Yeah. Finally, things did not work well for the Lakers this season. Went 37 and 45 and missed the playoffs, as we know.

And now Luke Walton has been fired and moved on to the Kings and the Lakers are looking for their next head coach. And it seems that they are prioritizing their head coaching search over the replacement for Magic Johnson. So they are looking at Monty Williams, who is the current Sixers assistant coach. and Ty Lou, Juan Howard's name is also in there as well. Now, I don't really see how they don't go with Tyloo. Monty Williams is well-liked around the league and has head coaching experiences with the Pelicans from 2010-2015.

And obviously, we know what Ty Lou has done. Juan Howard's been an assistant for quite some time, and he also has a relationship with Rob Polinka, who we're assuming is going to end up staying there. At this point, yes. It does look like somebody's got to, you know, every ship needs a californ. Captain, they got to keep somebody. So I think, right? I know, I disagree, but I, it appears that way.

As of right now, Rob Polinka seems to be with the guy who's going to end up staying there. And this is going to be the test to see what he can actually do. But to me, I feel like you have to just go all in on on calves of the West. I know everyone hates that idea. But I think that's what they're doing. People were very critical of Tailu. I really feel like that's unfair. Like, Tailu did win an NBA title.

And when they were playing well, LeBron got all the credit. And when they weren't, Ty Lou gets all the criticism. Yeah, no, no. An NBA executive, who I trust told me before Tailu had won a title. He said, guy can coach. And this is an executive who through the years has been spot on. He said, listen, you don't know much about him. But in the league, Tailu can coach.

And by the way, he used to play for the Lakers. Right. So he's got a little Laker history. And they did come back 3-1. on the greatest regular season team in NBA history and held the Warriors to 89 on their home floor in game seven. He's the first rookie head coach to win his first 10 postseason games. He gets all those criticism because everyone jokes that, you know, LeBron is really the head coach. There's a bunch of other guys on the team that's to be managed, too.

You have to make adjustments. I feel like Ty Lou is the best candidate for the job, but I've said that since it appeared that Luke Walton was leaving. Monty Williams and John Howard are certainly qualified as well. But to me, to me, Luke's the answer in that spot. Good stuff. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News.

Well, a year ago, he wrote a biography of Tiger Woods. That's just an outstanding read. Jeff Benedict and our next guest, Armand Catan, an executive producer of The Athletic. Please subscribe. It's outstanding. An 11-time Emmy Award winner, contributing correspondent to 60 Minutes.

One of the real journalists in this sports genre we cover via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Love bringing on Armin Catan. Former HBO, CBS Sports. producer and sportscaster and writer. And I, Armand, I think of you as one of the people in our business who's a storyteller. I cannot think of a greater story in my life. I sat on my couch and cried.

I did not cry with Tiger Woods dominance for a decade. I was in awe of it. Yesterday I got so emotional. I was rooting against other golfers, and I don't do that. Why did it land like that for so many people? Well, I was racking my brain. this morning to try to think of something that even compares to what we witnessed yesterday. I went back to like 1980 with the U.S. hockey team winning a gold medal, and even that

kind of paled in comparison because, you know, the personal journey here is just, it's so big and it's so deep and it's so wide. And I mean, how many people lose all the things that Tiger lost? You lose your health. You lose your marriage. You lose a lot of your sponsors. You lose your swing. You lose your way. You end up in rehab. You have drug issues. I was in that same position. I didn't leave the couch yesterday from 9-15 in the morning on Eastern Standard Time until 3 o'clock or 3.30 in the afternoon. And it was just, I think it's, you know, we're watching a genius, but we're also watching a different Tiger Woods, which I think makes it even more compelling because he's more gracious, he's more appreciative, he's more human than he's ever been and engaged.

with fans and his fellow pros. And so we're rooting for the man now. We're not rooting for the machine. And you're absolutely right, Colin. He was, you know, he was like a Terminator. But there was no emotion. There was no attachment to him other than, you know, watching greatness and watching a genius.

But this, the hug afterwards with Charlie, you know, I immediately, the words that came to my, or the number that came to my head was 1997. I was like, oh, my God, we're watching, you know, the symmetry here is just overpowering. You know, you wonder, athletes are healthier or longer. Brady's the obvious answer to this, but Phil Mickelson looks healthier than he's ever been. He's longer off the tea.

I look at Tiger and I say to myself, you know, we have the medical advancements. Tiger looked confident. He looks strong. He looked lean. Is this a one-off for Armand? Are we going to get another four or five, six majors out of this? What's your takeaway on that where he goes moving forward? Well, yeah, I mean, he looks as good as I've seen him look in the last four years.

I mean, very fit, like you said, very lean. His game is in great shape. He putted beautifully yesterday under a lot of pressure. I mean, I wasn't a believer in anything past 14. But after the Tour Championship at Eastlake, I started to have a little more belief in him. and then certainly yesterday, it was so much fun to watch. And I don't mean this in a negative way, but a lot of these guys have talked about

what it would like to be in the cauldron with Tiger on a Sunday in a major. And then one after another, they felt the pressure, they fell to the pressure, and there was Tiger doing what he's always done is make big shots in magnificent moments. And he's got the confidence now. He sent a message that he's healthier,

mentally, spiritually, physically than he's ever been. So I'm not going to say no to anything at this point in time because at 43, he looks like he's, you know, 33. Yeah, I got some pushback yesterday because I said, I called him a couple years ago. Somebody on a show asked me about him. I said, he's a former golfer. He said, I'm like he had back fusion. Like, come on, give me a break.

He's had like nine surgeries. Emotionally, he couldn't get through a weekend. He couldn't play four great rounds. He quit tournaments. When you wrote the book on him, what was, the low point? Was there a moment of time, a year? Oh, no question. What was the low point for Tiger? Well, it's amazing that it was, it's not even two years ago. I mean, rock bottom for him was the DUI arrest in Florida, where he was on the side of the road. You didn't know where he was.

He thought he was in California. He was in an unrelenting pain. He was addicted to several kinds of powerful pain medication. You know, I mean, there was a cocktail of five different drugs in his system when they found him on the side of the road. He couldn't really speak. He couldn't stand up. And then, you know, you see that mugshot that went and ricocheted all over the world. So if that's not the low point, I don't know what was. I mean, some people would have said it was 09 with the fire hydrant, no way. The low point was there. And I think that's where he changed. He went to rehab again. I think he saw in the mirror a person he did not want to be a father.

He did not want to be to his children. And it changed him. And fortunately, and as he has said, he didn't really care whether he was going to play golf again. He just wanted to be able to walk again. And the surgery, the fourth surgery, was the one that did the trick. Who knew how long and how well that surgery would take. But his children have been the most. motivating force for him without question, and this isn't just me saying, this is Tiger

saying it time and time again, to come back. And as we ended, it was funny, Colin, we ended the hardcover book where we talked about what it was like for him, having played pretty well at Torrey Pines in early 18, that he wanted to be able to show Charlie and Sam what a living legend looks like, because they had only seen these YouTube videos of him. And they, frankly, were getting a little tired of, you know, people telling him how to be. great their dad was, but what we saw at Eastlake and then certainly what we saw yesterday, that was the living legend come to life in front of his children. I can't think of a more powerful moment. And then to top it off, you have all the fellow pros. Yes. Kepka. You know,

they were all standing there. Ricky was there. They were all there. And the first thing out of their mouth wasn't like, oh, I lost the masters. It was like they were so happy for Tiger. And what what he means to the tour and what his redemption means personally for him because they like him. Ricky said he's shown more gratitude. He's lost the tunnel vision. He's more appreciative. All those things I'd mentioned before, but it's not just me saying it from the outside. It's them saying it from the inside. 11-time Emmy Award winner, Arman Cadane, HBO, CBS SportsCaster, executive producer now of The Athletic. Please, by the way, subscribe. It's fantastic. Finally, Armin, I'm going to touch back on the golfers because that's what really, you know, I'm a dad, you're a dad,

I follow you on Twitter, I see you're a dad, and I see, we're all dads, we all cry. But when I saw the resonance with the pro golfers, take my audience back, I know he was close with Marco Mira, but I don't recall other golfers rooting for him. In fact, he was almost robotic. That to me, I was taken back by that. I'm like, oh my God, Bubble Watson, who can be difficult. Go back 10, 12 years. I thought he was kind of on an island. He wasn't one of the guys. Oh, no question.

He had a mystique about him. He had an armor around him. It was like they were playing a machine. Tiger was wired, programmed. Jeff and I often thought of him almost as a computer that he had been programmed by Earl and Tita to do exactly what he did, which was become arguably the greatest individual athlete

in the history of sports. But there was such a cost involved with that. And no question. Relationships with his fellow pros was part of that equation. He did not want to get to know those guys because he wanted to retain that mystique, but still be able to crush them on a Sunday if necessary. And, you know, he lost relationships after the accident with O'Meara. I think they've since repaired that to a large degree.

but there was no love loss between Tiger and any of his fellow pros in those days. And now it's 180 degrees different. And you know what? Thank God. He's been through enough. And to see this the way we saw it yesterday, I mean, that's an emotional pitch. I don't think we're going to see in a long time again in sports. Well, Armand, you're kind of an encyclopedia when it comes to golf.

I am not. I play it poorly. I think this is Tiger's biggest win. Am I reaching? It feels like the most important. It'll be 25 years from now. That's the word, I think. Okay, important?

That's the word, Colin. I think it's his greatest achievement. It may not be his greatest win because you look at the 97 Masters or when you win by, you know, 15 at Pebble Beach in 2000, or you win at Torrey Pines in 08 at the U.S. Open on basically a broken leg. that might have been, you know, physically the most dominant, but as an achievement, as a legacy, I don't think anybody is, I think this was the most magnificent moment, spiritually, emotionally, physically, all the leaves that you could possibly imagine in his career.

Armand Cotay in the book, by the way, 2018 biography. We put it on the screen several times, New York Times bestseller, great read. Armand, we talk soon again, I hope. Thank you so much. you back Colin thank you so much all right 60 minutes HBO CBS 11 Emmys producer of the athletic executive producer uh god it's just incredible it's just incredible you know it's just Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods when they struggled when they suffered when there was pain when they were humbled the second time they both came back the last three for Michael always connected with me more than the first three

and I connected more with Tiger yesterday than I ever did in the first decade. And I was a tiger guy. I love Phil, but I was a tiger guy. He looked different. He swore. He threw his clubs. He pumped his fist. I always said he always looked like the Baltimore Ravens Ed Reed playing safety and golf.

You'd look at him and you're like, he's a free safety. He's like a safety. He was jacked. And he was emotional. And you're like, he intimidated people. I was like, he was like a football player playing golf. And it was a machine. And yesterday I'm like, oh, my God.

dad and he's human and he's just just marvelous we love a redemption story huh oh my god it's just so good calling right calling wrong top of the hour coming up next oh you think this person got fired but how do you know he didn't fire the team that's coming up next be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon eastern nine a m pacific last night a blown call changed a game this morning the internet lost its mind highlights are trending opinions are flying and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants, answer. 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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. 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 our meaning, 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 Levin this plant 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 podcast.

Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness. professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards.

If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeke. The ability to show a gold medal to someone

and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning.

It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart women's sports. You had a Discover card. It alerts you if they find your social security number on any of the thousand or risky websites, free for card members. Sign up online, discover.com slash free alerts. Limitations apply. Great to have you in. Tiger Woods was obviously

the story of the weekend. Rick Riley, one hour from now, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, top of the hour. There were actually some really, really good NBA playoff games over the weekend where the road underdog went on the road and won. I've always said the NBA, all sports in America have to get out of the greed. You're all making a fortune now. your TV contracts. If the NBA had three game series in the first round, you would absolutely have to watch games. But we know kind of Toronto is going to beat Orlando eventually. And we know Denver at home should eventually get it right and beat San Antonio.

But fun, nonetheless. So Luke Walton's now coaching the Sacramento Kings. And I read Twitter. It's this angry bird where people scream and yell at each other. And, oh, Luke Walton got fired. Oh, I mean, they ran him out of town. Okay. Don't kid yourself.

Luke Walton had a year left with LeBron James. And he chose Sacramento. You don't leave the Dallas Cowboys to coach the Buffalo Bills and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This shows you the dysfunction. This was a 50-50 split. He wanted out of the Lakers. This has been in the works for two to three weeks. Okay.

LeBron's not into him. Luke knows it. and Luke didn't, to his credit, want to be another victim in LeBron's line of bailing on coaches. This thing was in the week, works for weeks. LeBron's not into Luke. Magic wasn't into Luke. And Luke Walton is no dummy. Don't think this is helpless Luke swimming, looking for the shore.

He had this puppy planned because he's a smart dude. And he saw the writing on the wall. And I don't think he's Brad Stevens. I don't think he's, you know, Quinn Snyder at Utah or Mike Dan Tony, but I don't think he's a terrible coach. I think he's fine. And I think he's young and young people get better. And he'll get better.

Five years from now, he'll look back and go, oh, God, I wasn't very good at that. It's okay, folks. Not everybody improves at the same pace. Not everybody's a genius. A lot of people are late developers. He's becoming a very good coach. But just look at who the Lakers now have as potential coaches. Tailu, LeBron's guy.

Joanne Howard played with LeBron and Monty Williams, who by the way coached Anthony Davis, who is represented by clutch sports, and that's LeBron's dudes. There's a fork in the road. We talked about this a couple days ago, and the Lakers have chosen the LeBron path. I get it. I understand it. That's the path I would choose. Now, it should be noted, for the last 15 years of LeBron's career, I have always been a just hand the franchise to LeBron. That was my brand for 15 years.

I am less willing and more reluctant to do it now, although I think the Lakers are trapped. Age, injuries, and I've told LeBron's representatives, he's heavy now. He's weighty. There's a lot of stuff around him. Everybody's walking on eggshells. Now, it should be, I'm not ripping on LeBron.

People think I've turned on LeBron. I think he's going to have a great year next year. I am not today a hand the franchise to Tom Brady guy. I think Tom needs to take pay cuts. He is. I don't think Tom Brady should worry about who's coaching him. He doesn't. And I think Tom Brady now needs to make concessions because he's getting older.

Okay? That's what I believe LeBron needs to do. I think he needs to worry less about the coach, not try to squeeze every dollar out of every situation. He's made almost 300 million in hoops alone, another 200 million in shoes, and those things aren't stopping any time soon. like Tom, you want better players around you? You want to be viable because you're not getting younger. You got an injury.

If you get a second, it's going to be ugly. And like Brady's done really well over the last couple years, LeBron needs to, how can I say this? Get over himself a little, laughing himself a little. Be one of the dudes a little? I'm not asking you to give up your G4, bro. Just kind of be one of the dudes. But this, don't turn Luke Walton into some victim who was flailed off the side of the boat and was able to just barely grab the Kings.

Kings have a better roster this morning. May not after free agency. This morning they do. Deeran Fox is better and healthier than Lanzo Ball. Buddy healed's a better shooter, pure shooter than anybody on the Lakers. And Marvin Bagley is going to be really, really, really, really good. He needs about another 50, 60 games. And you're going to go, oh, Marvin Bagley, get that jumper in a little bit, get me really good.

So that's where we stand on that. Colin Wright, Colin wrong, top of the hour. I've got a Kevin Durant thoughts. I've got some Russell Westbrook and Oklahoma City thoughts. That was a wild game. It shouldn't have been that close. If you're Oklahoma City, let me just say this.

If you're Oklahoma City this morning, you're thinking, oh, man, we are toast. Actually, if I woke up this morning and I was Oklahoma City, I'd feel great. We shot three for 33 on three. Portland couldn't miss theirs. We were on the road. Paul George is hurt. End of the game came down to a couple of shots.

I know I always, you know, crank it up for Oklahoma City. I still think Oklahoma City is going to win the series. I think Oklahoma City's got better players. It's hard to win two games in Portland. They'll win the next one. Portland's not going to shoot that well. Oklahoma City can't possibly shoot that poorly. And I do believe over time, Paul George is going to be a little healthier.

He's got a bad shoulder. He was awful yesterday. Now, the scary part for OKC is, you know, Paul George history in the playoffs is not great. There's a little Kyle Lowry with it. Now, not that bad. Where Paul has pulled back a little in the playoffs, Kyle Lowry didn't pull back.

I mean, he just goes and hides. But I could bang on, you know, the thunder this morning. I actually didn't going to win the series. And I think they wake up this morning thinking, we can't shoot like that. Paul George gets healthier. We got the better roster. I think they win the next game, and then I think they go into Oklahoma City and win two games.

But it's pretty scary if you're OK, see, because here we go again, the first round dilemma. All right, great second hour coming up. We're Colin right. Where Colin's wrong coming up. 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. Last night, a blown call changed the 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 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 athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

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 Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversation. with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross,

because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines,

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. 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 plant 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to tell you,

talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it.

An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeke. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. and that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning.

It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Ah, here we go on a Monday. second hour, this is the herd. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me on what was not only an incredible Sunday for Tiger Woods.

It was a magnificent weekend of sports television. I watched a couple of incredible UFC fights Saturday night with my buddy Ryan Rusillo. I want a hundy off him, by the way. That felt sweet in your face. And then I watched NBA basketball with the underdogs going on the road and winning. That was great. This is a great sports weekend. Oh, God, Orlando.

Good for you. It was just great. And then, you know, the tiger thing was amazing. So we do it every Monday, joy, at this time. I'm wrong a lot. Sometimes we hit it. Right, wrong. Here we go.

All right. Where Colin was right. Russell Wilson, you mocked, you rolled your eyes. When I said a month ago, I think he's interested, potentially in New York. Well, what do you know? Peter King writes in Football Morning in America. America. Seattle either signs him long-term deal today or he's never signing a long-term deal. And it will be a series of short one-year deals and legitimate sources pro football talk with heavy speculation that Seattle believes Russell would like to play elsewhere.

He's just not going to say it publicly. By the way, Terran Matthew, former LSU star, Arizona, went on his Twitter account and said, Russ wants New York. Jane heard that from T. This is the story. We talked about a month ago. It's what my source told me that Russell Wilson

feels like everybody, Pete Carroll, 12th man, the defense has gotten their share of the credit. And he essentially saved the franchise, which for the record is the Seattle kid, he did. We were right on that one. Where Colin

was wrong. I never thought Tiger would win another major. I said it a couple years ago. He was hooked on drugs emotionally. He couldn't give you three straight rounds. He was quitting tournaments. He acknowledged a couple years ago he couldn't coach the President's Cup because it was too painful riding in a golf cart. I was wrong on that. Yesterday his iron play was unbelievable. It was the old tiger. His putting wasn't quite as good as the old tiger, but it was really good. I have no problem acknowledging. I said a couple years ago, he feels like a former golfer to me, is that emotional. emotionally, physically, it's over, especially after, I don't know, the third back surgery.

Where Colin was right? Well, we said Luke Walton was going to go to Sacramento. I had no idea it would happen 12 hours later. I had gone to dinner Thursday night and had a couple sources tell me that he was going to take the king's job, fired or not. Now, I had no idea it was going to happen within 12 hours. But Luke knew he had no support from Magic and no support from LeBron and very little support from Rob Polinka. So the idea that Luke was flailing, as we said on Thursday's show before it happened on Friday, or we said it on Friday show before it happened on Friday afternoon,

he's going to take the Sacramento King's job. And I think it's actually, for the next four or five years, I think it's a really interesting job. They have a couple of unbelievable young players, so we called that one. Where Colin was wrong. Ben Simmons has been the league's biggest disappointment. First of all, I don't think anybody likes him on the team. He has shown no leadership abilities. And oh yeah, outside of seven feet, he can't shoot.

The man upstairs, I'm not overly religious, but the guy upstairs gave him some really great gifts. Size, length, quickness, vision, and he's done nothing with him. I mean, I'm sorry, this team is so talented. Joe L.M.B., Jimmy Butler. Tobias Harris is their fourth best player. Some people thought he was going to get maxed by the Clippers. Ben Simmons, I mean, any franchise a couple years ago,

Ben Simmons was thought of as the best one and done player for a decade until Zion. I really thought this guy was going to become not Magic Johnson, but the closest thing to him. An absurdly large guard with unbelievable vision. Magic was not a great shooter his first couple years in the league. Either was Jason Kidd. But I don't like what I see in the leadership department. I don't think players like him. I've heard that from people I trust.

And that's wrong on him. Where Colin was right? Well, we've said all year, be very careful with Toronto and Denver. A lot of teams that are young, maybe have one elite player, but don't have the championship ingredients. They play their butt off in the regular season.

But that advantage of playing hard goes away because everybody in the playoff goes and plays hard. So that big advantage Denver and Toronto had, they just outplayed people most of the year because they don't have titles. They're young. They've got a young coach. We're going to, listen, Toronto is better than Denver,

I think, and Toronto's going to win their series. I'm not sure with Denver. But never, never forget. NBA basketball is not about your record. When it comes to winning championships, it's about a handful of key ingredients, and I don't think Toronto, and I know Denver doesn't have them.

Where Colin was raw. I was slow to embrace Janice. I mean, he was in Milwaukee. You know, he's a big in a league where it's all guards and wings. He doesn't handle the ball that much. I got to be honest with you. I find the kid, incredibly likable, totally focused, not into Hollywood, inside of 8 to 10 feet, lights out.

And he actually has become what I really like. You know in football where I call my favorite quarterbacks the bore for? He's become that. He's focused. He's boring. He's a grown-up. He loves basketball. He loves his teammates.

I don't get any drama. I didn't, you know, he didn't play American college basketball, so I didn't watch him. Didn't really know who he was until end of his second year, beginning of his third year in the NBA. I mean, I heard of him, but I didn't really. buy him. But I sit and watch this kid and I just everything about him I love. I love his focus. I love his length. I love his personality.

I love his giving manner. I love his lack of drama. And I like the fact he wants to stay with one team. Even though I'm pro-mobility, the Damian Lillers and Janus, that works for me too. Where Colin was right? Listen, Russell Westbrook, I'm not going to rip O'KC losing. And I'm not going to rip it

because Russell Westbrook had a bad night shooting. Russell Westbrook's not a great shooter. But come on, man. Emotional you got to be galvanized. After the game, I just don't see Magic LeBron or Michael Jordan acting like this. Where Colin was wrong. Since he left you, but could you tell he had a little extra in his step tonight trying to play against his old pals? Next question.

Russ, did you think getting down 3821 17 point deficit to come back and make it a game down the stretch? Is that a good sign for the rest of the playoffs? Thanks, question. It looked like you tweaked your ankle a little bit in the fourth quarter. How's that feeling? It's okay. Sorry. You expected to have any impact going forward?

You see? I mean, come on. Oklahoma City, you've just enabled this for years. Oh, I hear he's got an issue with one of the writers in Oklahoma City. Oh, Lord, let's move on. You're the face of the franchise. Let's show stability. People are leaning on you.

I'm not going to beat up on him for having a bad shooting night. he's not a great shooter he's relentless he's great energy uh he can absolutely put a team on his shoulders i know that so i'm not banging on him but this is what i worried about i said all year is he going to unravel in the playoffs and apparently somebody's already in his head by the way be very careful about taunting damian lillard damian lillard's really really good and he was the better guard on the floor yesterday russell so be very careful you can't give him that much space to shoot because he's going to shoot wow we're colin was wrong.

I'm one of the eight people in America that does not watch Game of Thrones. And so therefore, I'm on the wrong side of popular. Yes, last night was the Super Bowl of sorcerers, dragons, and ice zombies. Apparently, I didn't watch any of it. I'm not into Escapism TV. I watched golf. I watched NBA playoffs and UFC all weekend. I did not watch wolf people.

I did not watch wizards. I've heard of John Snow. I thought he was a middle reliever for the Milwaukee Brewers. Sorry, but it has won 715 award nominations. And so that tells me it's one of the great shows, if not the greatest show of all time. And I've not seen an episode. And by the way, I'm so far gone on this thing. Well, you can't catch up now.

I can't. I wouldn't even, I mean, one day if you, like, have literally nothing to do. One day, one year. No, I mean, like, when you retire, when you're like 87 or something, then you can maybe pick it up because it's eight seasons and they're, you know, each episode's an hour. I watched last night, though. Everybody did. Yeah, except for you. Me and like some guy in Sheboygan didn't watch.

Where Colin was right. Finally, Blake Griffin, no show for the Pistons game, one of the playoffs. Colin, he was hurt. He's always hurt. He was hurt in a playoff series against the jazz and the Blazers and the Grizzlies. I've always said about Blake. He's a super talent, but I can't build around him. Some guys are not dependable emotionally.

Some guys are not dependable physically. I always said he was the best volleyball player in NBA history. He's great at the net. He's great at spiking. I can't trust him in late games to hit a free throw. I don't want the ball in his hands. Late game to hit a shot. Physically, he plays hard, gets hurt.

He's not there for game one. I just, this is, there's been two great players in the NBA, maybe three that I just never bought into. Carmelo, John Wall, and Blake Griffin. And I'm sitting there thinking, why didn't you take the last four, five, six, seven games off? You got to be there for game one of the playoffs. I mean, come on.

You're the face of the franchise. They're paying you a zillion dollars. You got to be there. Colin right, calling wrong. A guy that knows a lot about golf, Rick Riley's around the corner. To me, again, I'm not a golf expert. I play it infrequently and poorly,

but I think it'll be the most memorable Tiger Woods golf win in his career. Maybe I'm wrong. Rick will tell me. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where

Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action

with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClyce on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month,

I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

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 plant 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. Life throws hurdles big and small.

The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain.

It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ledecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything.

Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast. Podcasts for wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. Welcome back. A friend, an 11-time national sports writer of the year, 23 years at Sports Illustrated, but back in 2014, final column as a sports writer.

He's in the Hall of Fame, by the way, as a sportscaster. Not as a sports writer, but a sportscaster? No, sports writer. Okay, I said sportscaster. And why am I down here and like you're a pharmacist up there? What is this? I'm in the person's office? You and Michael Lewis, I don't build the sets.

I'm not a carpenter. I'm a sportscaster. Well, it's very fancy. At least I get joy now. You used to be over in the corner, right? Yeah, I'm up on the stage now. Oh, you get to be up too. Okay.

I'm also up above you as well. You can just lecture me. So my first takeaway this morning is you were one of the first sports writers. I think Charles Pierce was another one that you came out and said, you know, Tiger could be a little nicer to people. You were never a fan boy. You're not paid to be a fan boy. You got a lot of pushback, I imagine, during that.

But yesterday, And again, you've watched him with a critical eye. You never denied he's unbelievable. But yesterday, how did it psychologically land to you? Different? You know, I've known him since college since he was in college, and I always felt he was too famous, too young, and he never could show his true emotions.

And I think that's why he kept such a distance from everybody. Right. Like the four or five guys in his inner circle love him, right? But he just keeps everybody in arm distance. and that was true with his emotions. Yesterday was the first time since he was a sophomore in college that I saw him really

let us see what he was feeling. And it was incredible. And I stood there in 97 when he hugged his dad. Yeah. And he's so close with his dad. And I know he's so close to his son. And so to have that, I'm getting chills just talking about it.

Just to have that moment. Like, I cried. And, you know, you know Jim Nance. I've known him for years. That's the first time I've ever seen him. He started to tear up. in the interview. Jim Nance.

That's how big the moment was. And I don't care what you say. That was a really boring round of golf he played. He hit one signature shot on 16. He made an incredible up and down on 10. Very smart golf. But he was all smart. And for a guy that's made so many mistakes,

you're a tennis player. A lot of what killed Tiger through this stretch was unforced errors. You know, you had a beautiful wife. You had 14 affairs. You wanted to be an Navy SEAL, so you hurt your knee. you got addicted to pills, you got arrested. These are all very human mistakes. And yet this whole week, he hardly made any mistakes.

And that's what brought him back. And I just, the golf itself was just very smart. He just outlasted everybody. But that moment when he won, I'll never forget it. No, no, one of the broadcasters said this is the greatest moment in golf history. And again, there's these iconic, idyllic moments with Jack and throwing the clubs and Mickelson at the Masters. but I felt it was different. And again, I see it from afar.

I mean, I'm sitting there on the couch, and I could not move for five hours. It can't be the greatest moment in golf history. Who said that? That makes no sense. Well, the guy that was on with Nance. Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this.

Jack Nicholas was 46 years old, five shots back with nine to play. Cadying with his son, he hadn't broken an egg in four years, hardly made a cut. But he never got addicted to anything. He didn't see the bottom. So his mistakes make his comeback better than, say, Ben Hogan, who got hit by a bus? No, no, no. Yes, because Michael Jordan's, what makes Tiger and Michael different than every

athlete in my life is they bottomed out. I mean, your dad gets taken from you. You decide to quit the sport, your best in the world, you play baseball, you're not good at it. And then all of a sudden we're like, oh, now it's a comeback story. Now it's Hollywood. I think Tiger's flaws is why I'm sitting on a couch. Yeah, I mean, I get that.

But, I mean, this whole blockbuster video where you go in blockbuster and there's no movies before 1980 in the old days, remember Blockb? Well, this, that's what everyone's doing now. You forget what 97 was like, Tiger Woods. We hadn't even hardly had a black member at Augusta. Right. And he won it by 12 shots. And then you forget 2000 conveniently,

where he had all four major trophies sitting on his coffee table. He went 560 and, oh, beat every guy, every guy that rises up, the Bob Mays, you know, those kind of Orville Moody guys, beat all them, beat all the best players, four straight times. That, to me, is the greatest moment in golf history, maybe sports, to have all four majors. So this was great.

But I don't see how people are going, this is the greatest golf moment of all time. But you're a golf encyclopedia. Most of us aren't. So we skim the surface. And this was the most emotionally important win for him. This connected with the guys like me. Oh, it was emotional, man. I was sitting there crying my eyes out.

Let me ask you this. That when he's holding his son, and then he takes the, them all because he didn't used to be available at all for us to see his emotions. Never let you do that. And then suddenly he was just going crazy. And I don't know, something about it. I'm still getting chills about it. When you were critical of Tiger, did he shut you out?

How was your... Because you, for people that don't know this, you've been a golfer for a long time. You make fun of tennis players because, as you always say, well, what do you get out of tennis? Every court looks the same. I don't care if you're in Singapore or... Recita, it's the same, don't you want something different? I mean, we got hot rocks and streams and, and you're just, oh, it looks like another tennis. It's a very good point.

But anyway. But when you were critical of him, how did he treat you? Because you're at every major. Oh, no, he shut me out long before that. He shut me out. He shot everybody out because Charles Pierce came in and wrote all the stuff. Because Tiger loves dirty jokes. Yeah.

So he was telling dirty jokes. And the limo driver told Pierce. And Pierce, you know, really wasn't a goal. He didn't care what happened to the rest of us. And, man, he and his dad just showed us out. And I was pretty close with the dad and him through the first couple of years. And then it was over. He was so closed in.

That's why what mattered yesterday was so amazing to see him do that and just embrace that family. And he didn't used to be like that. Do you think it's a one-off? I mean, you've had back fusion, three surgeries, torn Achilles. He's older. Do we get a string of these now? No, this guy was not an underdog. He almost won the last two.

He was leading Sunday at Karnoosti before the Italian guy. And then he was right in the hunt in St. Louis, set that whole town upside down. He almost won except Bruce, I mean, Brooks Kevka suddenly became Superman. So he's been right in it. I think he's now ranked sixth in the world. Oh, is he? He led the whole tournament in Greens and Regulation. he's one of the top 10 players in the world.

And now you've got to think. He won at Beth Page. We go there next in May. He's the greatest tournament of all time. You said this one was actually when he won by 15 at Pebble Beach in the 2000. That was great. Now he's going to Pebble Beach again. So he's got a real chance to win another one.

I have $50 bets with 10 of my friends that he'll still pass Jack. I made those bets in 2007. And I've never paid him off because I think he's still going to do it. You know, it's interesting. When Tiger dominated golf, and this is very natural. When Michael Jordan left the NBA, we're like, okay, who's the next Michael? Instead of going, oh, yeah, we're not going to see another Michael. So Tiger leaves because of all his personal stuff and his physical stuff.

And then Rory McElroy is good, but not special. Dustin's good, but not. And Justin Rose. And there's about 19 guys, and they all win one. And they don't win three and four. And then now comes Brooks, the bomber. And everybody's like, oh, he's the next guy. and I'm sitting there watching yesterday and I'm like, yeah, you know, there's a lot of money in golf now.

But he did almost win four of the last seven majors. Okay. So you think if he makes that put on 18, he's in a hunt. He's in the playoffs. So you don't think Tiger's just going to elevate beyond these guys now? No, I think he'll try to. He's 43, Colin. What do you want from the guy?

He's 43 years old. He's doing great. This is not going to go on forever, but he has a chance now to pass Jack. But, you know, you said something earlier. people just don't get how close he was to quitting, but he never quit. Jordan quit. Tiger never quit through all the shame, and he had the chip dips. He couldn't even chip it over a bunker.

Listen, he couldn't get on a cart. He said it hurt too much. Bruce Keppka got up. He got up for his 9-20 tea time yesterday, Eastern. He said he was going to get about 6.30. 7. Tiger got up at 3.45. He has to stretch for three hours. just to get that body going.

So what we're seeing, man, savor this because this is crazy. It is nuts. Are he and Mickelson closer now? Yeah. He's better with everybody now, except me, I think. By the way, you have a new book out Commander and Cheat. How Golf Explains Trump. I know Tigers played with Trump, because Trump plays with famous people.

There's got to be a Tiger Trump story. Trump loves to play with celebrities. Yes. Yeah, that's what he wants to play with. And, you know, in this book, people think it's a political book. a fun book about how much Trump cheats, not just in his golf game, but when he builds course,

is how he pays people, the political trouble he gets into that's started in golf, but he's also really fun. And then he never takes your money, but he always has to win. Trump never takes your money. Never takes your money. And then he buys, he orders 20 cheeseburgers in the corner of the grill with Diet Coke and fries, and then

anyone can come up and have lunch with him. And it's great if you're a spy, because you can be miced up. So he's playing with Tiger, and Dustin Johnson and Brad Faxon. And it's Dustin and Tiger against Faxon and Trump. They're playing the back T's. Trump and Faxon from the white T's.

Trump's getting eight shots. They hit it way left. He and Faxon are way right. Trump hits his second shot. Fats it into the water. Splash. He says to Faxon, throw me another one. They didn't see that. And Faxon is like, excuse me?

Throw me another one. Throws him another one. He is a president. That's that in the water. Oh, boy. Drives up in his super fast golf cart, hits that on the green. Meanwhile, Tiger hits it like this for kick in birdie. And Tiger gets up there and says, so what are you putting for, Mr. President?

And he says four. He's putting for seven. But he said presidents get like three strokes a hole. Absolutely. But then you don't get to say you're that. He said he's won 20 club championships. Now, that's a bit much. A bit much.

He's a stretcher. I tried for a year to prove any of them were real. Do you know how he does it? Well, how? His first, whenever he opens a new course, he has 15 courses, he plays the first round by himself and then declares that the club championship. I love that, actually.

It is kind of ingenious. You've got to kind of give it to the guy. That's pretty smart. Rick Riley, 11-time national sports writer of the year. So now you don't write sports anymore and you're in movies and you're in Italy. Will you, however, will this get you back to majors and following golf a little more?

Absolutely not. I'm going back to Italy. Okay. I'm playing my piano. I'm playing paddle. board, I'm meditating. All right. What he was saying about what a golf champion he was just got me so mad because I knew

it was a lie because I've played with him. He says he's a three and he's a 10 and he says he's this champion. Well, you guys are all, you golf guys are all about rules. But I'm talking Tiger. Will Tiger's great? If Tiger runs off three straight majors, don't you want to write about golf? Yeah, yeah, you're right. You can't not write about it.

You're right. This is the great comeback in American sports history. Modern. I would love to write about it. but I don't have a job. I don't want a job. So I don't know how the hell we're going to do this. Maybe you can make a call.

I don't have any power anywhere. You know the big winner yesterday? I just thought about this besides Tiger in America. Who has the U.S. open? Powell, we do. Pebble Beach, Fox. Yeah. You know what Fox does great?

What? You guys do great? The sound. Yeah, I like the sound. They're the only network that lays out when the caddy's talking to the player because that's what we want to hear. Oh, I love caddy talk. If you could hear what, if there was a guy standing next to

to Tom Brady at the line. And you could hear that. Wouldn't you want to hear? Oh, absolutely. But these other networks talk over that. Like, that's as intimate as you can get in golf. And Fox does a great job of that. And also the ball going into the cup. I love that sound.

Good to see you, buddy. Thank you. Rick Riley. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Thunder.

They had a little bit of struggles shooting the ball yesterday. A little. A little struggle. A little struggle in this there. They made a season low, 5-3. in the 104.99 lost to Portland. Even though Paul George led O'KC with 26 points, he went just 8 of 24 from the field,

including 4 of 15 from 3. And after the game, he gave us some insight on the severity of his injured shoulder. I want to hear that. For me, it's just rhythm. You know, four days ago, I couldn't even lift my shoulder. And then fast forward today, you know, it was the first day I shot the ball.

So with me, it's just rhythm. Tomorrow I'm going to get shots up and get back in tune. And we're going to, you know, try to get the same looks that we got tonight. That's all it is, just rhythm. Everything, sordiness, everything went down. I was good. Again, it was just, I haven't shot a ball since the Houston game, so it's all it is. I'm hoping that's all it is, is just rhythm and not actually a very, very injured shoulder because obviously they need Paul George. This is the worst time of year to have an injury like this because you're really not going to get any time off, and this is not an easy series.

So this is likely going to go six or seven. So he's not going to get to just relax for a week and rest it or rehab it. He said he could barely lift it up the other day. So the shooting overall as a team is not going to be that bad, like you said earlier. But Paul George is a big concern. This is a very tough Portland team. Yeah, he's their best player. He was an MVP for half the year.

The other thing is, you know, OKC is a, you know, I actually watch a lot of Thunder games. They're not a great shooting team. They're like 23rd in the league or 22nd. they're not going to shoot their way to a series win. They're going to win this series playing defense, dominating the glass, giving Portland no second looks. So they don't have to shoot brilliantly. They just can't go five for 30, whatever.

Which they're not going to do again. If they had gone nine for 35, they win the game. I mean, it could have been that simple. They just literally went, they had a stretch in the second half where Portland got hot and they got cold and it was like a four-minute stretch and you're like, okay, because I think they got it down when I was watched, I think they got it down to like four, then all of a sudden it's at 11, and you're like, on the road, you're not going to come back and win that in the playoffs.

Right. This is going to be a great series either way, though. So Luke Walton is officially the next coach of the Sacramento Kings. The team confirmed today. He will be the 29th coach in franchise history. His contract is a four-year deal to align with GM Blotty Divac's contract. Devok wants to play fast. He wants to have fun.

He wants players and coaches in front office executives who are all on the same page. You love basketball and get a lot. long and, you know, Kings also finished 39-43 this year. So he's not walking into the worst situation ever. Now, you mentioned earlier you feel like Luke kind of fired the Lakers and not the other way around. I think Luke knew he was going to get whacked. And so I don't think he was flailing like it was interpreted by a lot of people. I think Luke was working on this thing for a couple weeks.

I agree with you. This feels more of like a 50-50 split than it does Luke just getting fired. and landing and having a spot to land. I think Magic did the same thing. I think Magic, it just wasn't going to work. And Magic knew when to get out before it got any worse. And Luke is the same. Because if Luke had stayed with the Lakers

and say they kept him on for another year and it's more of a disaster, be very hard for him to get another MBA head coaching job. And why do you want to put yourself in that position when you know you have a contract waiting for you? It only makes sense. Now, again, what do the Lakers do moving forward? I never really thought when LeBron left Miami.

to go to Cleveland that it was going to work. He proved everyone wrong. And Tyloo was the guy that made it happen there. And, you know, a lot of people jokes about, you know, Tailu not being really the coach and LeBron is the coach. We know LeBron makes the calls here, but this is what the Lakers decide to do is go all in on LeBron. When LeBron came to the Lakers, that's what it was. And that's what they tried to do in the middle of the season when they tried to trade everyone for Anthony Davis.

Obviously, it didn't work out. But you have to go, you have to continue with LeBron. This is a situation. You can't trade him. We can talk about it, but it's just, it's not going to happen. So put the pieces around LeBron that make him comfortable, and, you know, Luke is on his way to coaching the Sacramento Kings. So finally, a once outlandish Russell Wilson to the giant scenario that one Colin Coward put out in the universe,

is suddenly gaining steam, especially if the Seahawks failed to sign him to a contract extension by his 11.59 p.m. Monday deadline. According to Peter King, Wilson will not sign a long-term contract with Seattle at all if he doesn't get one by the end of tonight. And now we also have Honey Badgers tweet. Tyrone Matthew tweeted in response to pro football talk. Russ wants New York, but you ain't heard that from T. This is becoming among players.

This is becoming a very well-known sentiment that Russell has given Seattle his body and his time. They have not taken care of the offensive line. they have not spent the money on offensive pieces. They've spent it on defensive pieces. And Russ is tired of it. And he's got a new, beautiful, smart wife. And she's in his ear saying, you need to take care of you. And again, it won't make the Seahawks better or more flexible,

because Russell is what Russell is, a really good player. But I totally get where he's coming from here. He doesn't feel respected. And I thought Steve Young felt a little bit of this in his career. and Russell feel almost everybody in this league that's good at quarterback is adored and worshipped. Russell always feels like he's fighting his own organization to get a decent offensive line. I'm 100% with you with all that, especially the offensive line. I think part of Russell Wilson's reputation of being an improviser comes a lot from the fact that he's running for his life.

So the fact that he can make those plays after having to improvise that way kind of speaks more to his greatness than him just going away from the playbook. I don't know what Seattle does here to replace him. That's what I don't understand. They don't. They may just be saying we need to risk it and try and get a young guy in the draft and build our franchises that way. I don't really believe that's how you should do it. Good luck.

I mean, I see, like, you, okay, Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff, like you have Tribisky, you have Dak Prescott. You have examples of young good quarterbacks who are on these rookie deals so that you can pay veterans. and skill players, these bigger contracts, and turn yourself into a contender. But that's four guys. Ask yourself this. Who do the Seahawks plays twice a year going forward?

Sean McVan, Jared Gough, and Kyle Shannon Garoppel. And you think you can just give up Russell? You're going to be facing offensive juggernauts. You have to score 30 to win games in that division. By the way, what if Kyler Murray gets drafted and it's really good? So you got six games a year against these dynamic Cliff Kingsbury, Kyler Murray, Gough, McVeigh, Shanan, Garoppel. Yeah, we're going to give up Bunn rustling, just kind of wing it defensively.

That's just not the position I think that you do the discount at. If you're lucky enough to have a good rookie quarterback or a good quarterback on a rookie contract, good for you. But you better hope that you draft the right one. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Chris Brousard, what did we see this weekend?

I thought it was a, because of Tiger Woods stealing all the thunder, I thought it was. It was a great NBA weekend. The gap between regular season and playoff effort was on display. He's coming up. 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. 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. down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context

and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't

realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch life becomes about wins and losses Steve Burns Dustin Ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person join me Keer games is we have real conversations about healing growth fathers pressure and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. 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. my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and

wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout, Kate Martin, and rising hockey star, Laila Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel like you don't feel on.

Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeke. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world, Like, I can do anything.

I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Saturday, it's an MLB doubleheader on FS1. Coverage begins at 3 Eastern as the Pirates host The Giants. Then Cody Bellinger and the Dodgers take on Kristen Yellich and the Brewers.

Catch it all on FS1. Fox Sports app. By the way, I found the second person on planet Earth who did not watch Game of Thrones. How are you? I haven't seen one minute of Game of Thrones in my life. Billions? You ever watch Billions? Nope.

That's good. Is it? I've heard great things about both. I think my wife and I will start watching Game of Thrones. I'm going to suggest it. We've been looking for something since Breaking Bad. That was a while ago. You're a little behind.

It's pretty good. We watched Breaking Bad like five years later. But then you can just binge it. It's actually better that way. It's great. Because if you like it, you always have something to watch. I agree. By the way, what did you make at Tiger Woods yesterday? I was in, and I'm not a huge Tiger Woods fan, certainly not a huge golf fan, but I was at the edge of my seat.

I was like Boston indie, it can wait, you know, and I was happy for him. I thought it was great comeback story. I felt like he was unfairly true. Now, I don't agree with his, you know, philandering and all that cheating on his wife. but I felt there's a lot of athletes that do that. And the only difference between them and Tiger Woods is he got caught. Right. And so to see media people who know other guys were doing it in golf and other sports

and just to pounce on Tiger the way they did, even guys in the media that do the same thing. Oh, yeah. Maybe not to that degree because they don't have the opportunities, but they pounced on him too. And I just thought the hypocrisy was ridiculous. and so I'm glad that he bounced back. And I'm just hoping now he can challenge Nicholas 18.

That'd be great. But it was great. It was just, I was all in. By the way, the tiger won his first masters. Tom Brady was a backup quarterback at Michigan. It's been a long road. It's been a long road. All right, Sixers lost.

Let's start with this. More talent. That team's a mess. Something's happening in the Sixers locker room. What is it? Who's to blame? You can't lose to the nets at home. And that's the one series that we both said had upset on it.

We both said we don't trust the Sixers chemistry. Who's to blame? They got so many issues. I'm going to start not because he's the most to blame. But Brett Brown, he's going to go. I mean, it's just he was great for the process. But now when he faces a tactical coach, this is why I said, there's no way they're beating Boston.

if they ever play. Like, there's no way because Brad Stevens is too tactical and out-coaches him. Kenny Atkinson is similar. He's got his team playing hard, 110% all the time. Tactically, he's doing, he's out-coaching Brett Brown. So that's one. Two, your two stars or two of your Ford, Embed and Simmons are not mature enough to lead this team deep into the playoffs.

I don't think they like each other. Well, yeah, there's tension there. It's not, I don't think it's not outright. you know, despising one another, but there's tension there because both want to be the man. Embed is still young and silly, and he wants to, you know, he wants to be this celebrity.

And Ben, there are people that will tell you Ben really is more concerned about being a celebrity than a superstar basketball player. Not realizing the celebrity comes with being the superstar basketball player. Look, 20 years ago, certainly in the 80s, you would have been able to get away with, not being able to shoot. But in today's NBA,

it's a major problem. It's a downright liability. No question. Because as a point guard, he's great in the open floor, but in the half court sets, he struggles. Don't have to guard him.

So they put him in the post, and you can't have two guys in the post anymore. So that forces MB to go outside, which he likes to do anyway. So that's why he's shooting threes and mid-range jumpers. Embeddead should be able to demolish them. You saw what Bowie, did in the post. They couldn't stop him.

So those are problems. Brett hasn't figured out how to get Tobias Harris involved. They've got major issues. They should still win this, even with M.B., being hampered. But they got issues, man. Okay. I read this. The Warriors took a 100 series lead. You say they have an unspoken rallying cry in the playoffs?

One last hurrah. Time out. So the Warriors in the locker room are saying one. No, no, no, no, no. I'm saying I'm in here, in here. They can't be spoken because they can't outright talk about KD, you know, we know he's leaving. But in their heart of hearts, they all know this is the last hurrah. KD is probably out. Demarcus is certainly out. Dremont. They're not paying Dremont big money. Period. No way. Okay. So maybe he's, I think they will, I think there's a number they'll go to.

to keep him in an extension. But he just signed with Clutch. And one thing about Clutch and Rich Paul, they try to get every last dollar. Oh, yeah. And they, I don't know if Draymond thinks, hey, I could go play with LeBron and the Lakers. I think Drayman is smart enough to know that most,

in most teams, he is not Drayman. Like, he could go somewhere and get exposed, you know, because if you expect too much from him, you expect he's a max guy. He's not that. He's perfect in golden states. hopefully he stays. But my point is,

they know in their harder hearts, this could be it. Let's go out with a bang. Let's win three straight. KD wants to compete with LeBron. LeBron didn't win three straight with the heat. This is another way for him to up LeBron. So that's the silent,

the unspoken rallying crowd. They just meet eyes and they know one last hurrah. Portland beats the Oklahoma City Westbrooks. He's snippy after the game. It would be easy for me to hammer on Russell Westbrook, but my takeaway is, Thunder's still going to win this series, right? Yes, I think so.

Look, Paul George, his injury is a problem. I think he's going, because it's his shooting shoulder, he's going to have to go to the hoop more and not settle for the three-point shot. He was, what, four for 15, I think from three in game one. And so I need him to penetrate more where he could probably finish at a better rate than he is from three with that injury. Westbrook, look, I've said it. I love him.

Ironic, all that. He's not going to win a title. No. If they get, I do have them going to the Western Conference finance. I think you're making it. Look at that side of the bracket. Either the Spurs, okay, either Denver was a newbie in the playoffs or Portland who's been bounced in the swept the last two years. or OKC, one of them's going to the conference finals.

It's like a bad region in the NCAA tournament. So you think it's Spurs? Because I pick Spurs over Denver. I just don't. I think they're unraveling. I think Westbrook's unraveling again. I think it's who he is. I'm not trying to pick on him,

but I think they'll win the series because they have better players. But I think Paul George will, they're not going to go five for 35. I sat there for about an hour and they didn't hit a single three. And it's bad. Finally, Lakers head coaching search. Who's it going to be a minute left? Tyloo. I mean, but I think they're doing it backwards.

Unless, I guess Rob Polink is running everything now. Because if you bring in a president to be over him, why in the world wouldn't you hire the president and he and Rob picked the coach? That's what I thought. It's ridiculous. Or if you're bringing in a GM to be under a Rob or an assistant GM, why don't you bring him in and let them work together pick the coach? I don't get it.

I said it this weekend to a friend. They're picking the coach before the general manager. It makes no sense. And that's why, look, Joanne, I think he may be great one day, but you can't experiment right now. You got two, three years with LeBron James. You better go all in. Is Polinka hiring the coach quickly because he wants to force Jeannie to know,

oh, I can't hire a GM because I got to make Polinka the GM because he hired the coach. I think Jeannie's all in on Polika because he's Kobe's guy. Because that was the sticking point with magic. It wasn't Luke so much. It was Polinka. That's Kobe's guy. Good seeing you. Good to be here.

Good, good sports stuff going on. Oh, tremendous sport stuff going on. All right, we got a final hour coming up. Kattino Mobley stops by Moron Tiger. It's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Ah, here we go live in L.A. Hour three, this is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

I Heart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1 on all three. Joy Taylor is joining me, by the way. Feel stronger, mightier, energy drive. Go to MDrive for Men.com today. Refine Your Prime with MDrive. MDrive. There it is. So I imagine I watched UFC. I watched NBA playoffs.

I watched Tiger. A wife was under the weather, so I got kind of a free pass to just do nothing. I was the luckiest guy in the world. I got a pass, Joy, to do nothing all weekend but watch television. It was the perfect weekend for that then. lose a lot of TV time this weekend. A lot. And I just devoured all of it. So Catino Mobley in 15 minutes, former NBAer for a decade thinks one NBA star needs to absolutely grow up.

In Best for Last, we do herd tub time machine, which we do from time to time. We take you back to Tiger's early successes and you forget how long ago they are. But first, I got a lot of questions about Tiger Woods. the masters yesterday, don't we all? But I want to start by asking you a question. What is it about Tiger that moves us? Okay, your time's up. He shouldn't move us like this. There's lots of reasons not to like him. He got very popular and very rich early. People resent that. He threatened a beloved legend. Jack. We don't like that. Ask LeBron about the Michael Jordan thing. He never treated his fans warmly or particularly well.

And he did some really bad things to his family. And yet most of America sat on their couch crying yesterday. Only two athletes in my life have had this power, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. And they have certain things in common. Michael Jordan's first three titles, I was in all. of him. Never really felt connected, almost worshipped him, looked up at him. And then his father was murdered. He went and played baseball, struggled badly, came back, and now Jordan was more like family. The decade that Tiger Woods dominated golf, I was hypnotized by him, in awe of him,

pumped my fist with him. But then he fell apart physically and emotionally. And yesterday, for the first time in my life, I rooted against other golfers. Yesterday, I'm not proud to admit this. I was hoping Francisco Molinari got run over by a golf cart for most of the afternoon. We shouldn't love Tiger this much, right? 90% of us don't play golf. Several books written, not complimentary.

of his choices. But yesterday was the greatest comeback in the history of American sports, in my opinion. Tiger had no business even being there. In a six-year period after his dominance, he tore an ACL, had a neck injury, sprained as MCL, tore his Achilles, three back surgeries, one a back fusion. Hell, that sounds like an autopsy. Tiger admitted two years ago, He wasn't sure if he'd ever play golf again. His back was in such pain. He said, I can't even coach the president's cup. Riding in a golf cart bouncing up and down hurts too much.

I got some pushback yesterday. Colin, you said a few years ago he's a former golfer. Of course I did. Tiger admitted he wasn't sure if he'd ever play golf again. What we saw yesterday is why we loved MJ. MJ was awe-inspiring the first run, and then he suffered things that no person should have to deal with. He was humbled. Being great is really important, but being humbled is the difference between Michael Jordan and Tiger.

Tiger's win didn't just say a lot about Tiger. It actually said a lot about us. We love you even more. If you deal with the crap we do, if you deal with the family issues, we do, if your life is imperfect, and as you're at the top of the throne, you come off it, you cry, it's sad, you struggle emotionally and physically. Yesterday, Tiger delivered so many things. Our favorite golfer won. We got a redemption slash comeback story.

That's what Hollywood writes every day. Do we love those? It restoked the goat conversation. Personally, I love that. That's good for my business. And the Tiger in Red Sunday thing is the best thing to happen on Sunday since the Sopranos. And let me just add this. And I'm not blaming anybody for what I'm about to say.

I'm not. I'm not taking sides here. But this country is more divided than it has ever been, uncomfortably so. And I'm in my 50s. I've lived through a lot of life. But don't ever let anybody marginalize sports in your family to you. Sports shapes us. It heals us.

It empowers us. It connects us. It does what government so often promises but doesn't deliver. It turns poor into rich and broken into healed. Yesterday, sports did something else. And I can't remember, seriously, I drove in this morning and I thought about this. I can't remember the last time in America, we were all pulling for the same thing. Humbolded, fallen, emotionally, physically at the very bottom.

What a story. Spoke as much about us as it did about Tiger. And never forget that sports does so many great things. yesterday, finally, it connected us. Thanks, Tiger. We owe you one. Let me shift briefly to this. About five weeks ago, I came out with a story, and you people called me crazy. I'm not going to lie, it was hurtful.

You people called me zany. I'm not going to lie. I didn't sleep that night. I came out and I reported Russell Wilson may be leaving Seattle, not now, but eventually. Well, this morning, it appears to be all over the internet

from reputable sources. Pro football talk, Peter King. Russell Wilson and his agent, by the way, his agent, Mark Rogers, is a baseball agent. One football client, Russell Wilson. They are saying today, according to sources,

and I trust Peter King, Russell Wilson and his agent told the Seahawks, Long-term deal today, or we'll never sign one, it will be a series of one-year deals. This is what I've been hearing for a month, and let me wholeheartedly support Russell Wilson here. Russell Wilson took Pete Carroll's career and saved it. Pete had been fired twice in the NFL

and was seven and nine and seven and nine in his first two years in Seattle and was looking at Matt Flynn to save his career. Russell Wilson arrived. It was never the same. Then Pete bailed, John Snyder bailed on one of the best centers in football, Max Unger, and Russell Wilson's offensive line deteriorated, and for the next several years, he was running for his life and health. Seattle's brand over the last seven, eight years,

has been the Legion of Boom, the 12th man, Pete Carroll. And Russell's tired of it. and should be. I got Russell Wilson's back on this. And I know saying that that huge quarterback deals make your team less nimble, less flexible, and less viable. But Russell Wilson's the most underrated player of my life. He saved the franchise. He put it on the map. And he's never been given the credit he deserves. He hasn't. We give Bree's credit. We gave Peyton credit. We give Brady credit. We give Brady credit. We give Mahomes credit. We gave Eli credit. We gave Ben credit. We don't give Russell any credit because he does it differently. Little smaller, little faster, little unique.

This is about respect. In Seattle, the fans, 12th man, get more credit than Russell. The defense, the architect, the ownership. This is Russell Wilson's franchise. It has been for years. Finally, he's going to make them pay for it. This is about respect. He deserves more of it and has for years. All sorts of stories coming out today about Russell Wilson. Ketino Mobley over a decade in the NBA says one star in the NBA needs to grow up.

I also have some thoughts on, and I don't know who that star is, on Kevin Durant said something this weekend to the athletic. I just can't get over it. We'll talk about that coming up. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeard radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.

Drink Soylent, complete meal in a bottle, plant protein, essential nutrients, first time customers save 20% off your first case. If you go to Soylent.com, I use it and use the code Herd 2. heard 20. 11 years in the NBA, Cotino Mobley is joining us. So I watched the entire Oklahoma City Portland game. Tiger One screen, that's the other one. And so I'm watching it. And, you know, Oklahoma City, obviously not a great shooting team. It's not what they do outside of Paul George. They have some good defenders, good rebounders. Russell's an incredible, relentless energy guy. So they just didn't shoot well. I still think they win the series. But after the game,

I want you to play, I want to play this Russell Westbrook moment. Russell, you've played against Dennis before since he left you, but could you tell he had a little extra in his step tonight trying to play against his old pals? Next question. Russ, did you think getting down 3821, 17-point deficit to come back and make it a game down the stretch? Is that a good sign for the rest of the playoffs? Thanks, question. What do you make of that? That to me is

I love Russell Westbrook. I love his energy. I love who he is. I've known him since, you know, going freshman year at UCLA, playing together at UCLA, gym, and the summertime. I mean, he's in his 11th year, right? 11th year in the NBA. I don't know what bothers him so much to a point where he can't explain

something at least just give me one sentence of something. I always have a theory, basic psychology. People who project a lot are actually very insecure. Dennis Rodman projected, he also cried more than anybody. T.O. projected, cried a lot.

Russell projects a lot. I don't care about the media. I don't care about anybody. I don't care. You can get into his head so easily. I mean, that game yesterday, there were a couple instances. He didn't guard Damien Lillard. The questions that the reporters were asking weren't attacking him. No, no.

He's trying to control things. Russell says nothing bothers him. Everything bothers him. Everything bothers him. Everything bothers him. He projects constantly. The toughest guy in the room is the guy that's protecting something. Russell, I watched that game yesterday.

Lillard hits a 30-foot bomb. Russell comes back, wide open three, air ball. He's in his head. Comes down three minutes later, doesn't guard. Liller on a three. That's all about Damien. And he shoots from like, Lillard shoots from like 35 feet out. Like literally wasn't even he was so low. Like right here, this one. Look, right here.

Like he can't shoot. That to me, I don't. Now watch this. This is Russell Westbrook kind of saying, I'm not going to give you that respect. More about his relationship with himself than the team. That's Russell just being Russell. That's Lillard

getting into Russell's hand to me. See, your first couple years in the league, right? When you're in the league in your first couple of years, you have a chip on your shoulder. Sure. Right? Okay, cool. Now you're in your 11th year. Like, you've been to the finals, Russell. Made a lot of money. You've been to the finals. You made a lot of money. You're a superstar.

You've been up 3-1. You've lost that one. So your maturity level as a person, to me, should expand, should be better, should evolve. And it's like the simplest things that's going on. I had your back. 100% in Utah.

But certain things that go on, I don't think you have to react like that. Like I always tell people this, just in life, everyday life, my sons, my friends, my daughter, everything doesn't need a response. And when I say that need a response when the reporters are talking to you after the first game meltdown, but everything in life don't have to have a reaction or a response

of what you give it. He's given so much energy when it's not needed that it's not necessary. Yeah, he's, he doesn't flip a switch. I just, I've beat up on him so much. I'm sort of over it, but this is what happens. He unravels, and I'm watching this press. We talked about this before, remember, Kyle?

This is who you. I said, you know what? He's doing really well. Remember when Paul was in the Hunts for MVP? Yeah. He was doing amazing, blah, blah, blah. And you were like, I said, who you are is who you are. And when the time comes, we said this, when the time comes, when it's a crunch time,

are you going to go back to the old Russ? This is what it is. Hopefully this next game, his poise, his I don't know. He's hard to figure out. Well, speaking of that, complicated. So Kevin Durant, Chris Broussard was on earlier and said there's an understanding in the building

in San Francisco. This Warriors team is, quote, the last hurrah. And Durant's leaving. I agree. Let me throw this at you. If I came to my wife and I said, honey, we're moving cross-country. And she said, oh, we go to a better company.

And I said, oh, no, it's a way worse company. Okay, okay, wait. Are we going for more money? Oh, no, no, I'm going to lose tens of millions. And she goes, honey, why are you leaving? If I said this, I want to be the man. She'd say, grow up. Exactly.

Like, he's going to leave a great organization and millions because Kevin Durant deep down, he had a quote in the athletic. I came here knowing that every media member, Every fan was going to call me every name in the book, and I was going to take the brunt of everything. But I wanted to be part of this, so I didn't give a blank. Same with LeBron. And my takeaway is, Kevin, what heat have you taken?

You've won two rings. You've won two trophies. You're now considered the best player. The heat he's taken is, man, you did the easy thing. Okay, stay off Twitter. 99% of us are reasonable, and we're rooting for Kevin. I like Kevin Durant. I think he's a little quirky, but I'm okay with quirky athletes.

But you know it's funny, Colin, when I was in college, one of my best friends, even to this day, Tyson Wheeler. Yeah. He would read the magazines and if we were ranked or this and then. I said, Tyson, if you can't stomach it, stay away from it. I'm not reading it because it is getting your head psychologically, regardless of who you are. Yeah. How strong you are. Colby used to take clips and he, you know, cut him out and then boom, he'd go after it.

Yeah. Understand it. But Kevin, you want to be in the mix. It's like you're a glutton for punishment, right? And you're punishing yourself every single time. Because if you're so sensitive in so many different situations that happen within the media, Twitter, papers, whatever it is, why do you put yourself in that position? Well, I always feel like there's two, I just speak for guys here.

I'm not going to speak for women. I'll speak for guys. There's two types of guys. We use criticism as jet fuel. I think that's my personality. Kobe was like that. And then there are guys who see criticism and it angers them. Aaron Rogers a little, Kevin Durant a little,

where it clearly deeply bothers them. And my takeaway on Kevin Durant is Kevin, I have a theory in life. It's called the Say It Out Loud Theory. You're going to potentially leave a great organization for a bad one, leave tens of millions on the table, and the reason is I want to be, quote, the man. So you want to be the man.

Why didn't you do that after the 3-1? You could have been the band at OKC. Y'all were up 3-1. You could have been a man there. But I defended him a little bit in OKC because the organization, Catino, really wrapped their arms around Westbrook. Okay. And he was saying, I'm the second best basketball player in the world.

So stop right there. They wrapped their stuff around Westbrook because he was more consistent with his feelings and everything. He's him. KD, it's like you're going to take up for Westbrook when Skip says something about Westbrook so you can get the ball and you go off on Skip. then you go off on someone else when they take like you don't know where you want to stand that kind of thing it's like I just want to play basketball well then don't make a movie

I just want to do this but stay off of media yeah by the way here's here's the latest grant quote and again I like Durant I love him I think he's the best basketball I was just practicing with him last summer for like two weeks in a while I love him he's great player he has this funny quote listen to this joy he goes I enjoy the way the warriors play basketball I never played with shooters that moved that versatile players I wanted to be part of that My game was talking to me, not that other blank. The spirit of the game was talking to me. It matters.

Not the spotlight of the fame. Okay. Do the Knicks have that? Because now you're telling me it's the spirit of the game. It's not like Curry and Clay Thompson are retiring. They're playing the game. You're telling me your spirit loves. And you want to leave where they don't move the ball at with no shooters.

Good luck. I have learned to be a better listener. I'm listening to KD. But his messages are all mixed. I say this all the time. You can say whatever you want to me, I'm going to listen. But I'm going to pay attention to your pattern. Your pattern in the last umpteenth years shows when you say things,

eh, I'm going on what you do. Some guys are sayers, some guys are doers. Okay, Lakers, Luke Walton leaves. I imagine you're okay with them now sort of lining up and just hiring the guy that, LeBron likes. Are you okay with that? You know what? I'm loving either Tailu or Monty Williams. I'm loving that because Monty Williams was the assistant in the Olympics.

Yeah. So he has that rapport with LeBron. And Monty's a great guy. Yeah, great guy. Legendarily good guy. Now, my thing is, David Griffin went to the Pelicans. Kind of weird to me. Let me tell you why. My conspiracy behind that last week and I was on radio talking about this. So David Griffin, by the way, was LeBron's guy in Cleveland.

GM. Got whacked. LeBronzo always liked him. He's available. Lakers need a guy, and he goes to the Pelicans. It's kind of like Jerry West when he was with Memphis, right? He gives the Lakers, wink, wink, powe gasaw, right? And then they go and win.

So David Griffin, okay, I don't go to the Lakers, but I'm going to go to Pelicans, wink, wink, you may get A.D. from me. And then I'm going to have Monty, who loves A.D. And all of us in one big, happy family, we might scoop up Kyrie Irvin, maybe. Listen, that's just a throw out there. That is a crazy theory. That's just a throwout there. So you're saying Jerry West had it all planned.

I remember where I was. I was on a plane on a tarmac when my buddy Brian called and he said, the Lakers just got Pal Gasol. I remember I was on a window seat on a plane, my buddy Brian in Portland. And I went to my phone. I'm like, how? What did they give him? There's like, draft picks and not much.

I'm like, what? Pal Gasol's now with Kobe? Yes. So you're saying. The second third best big man, in the NBA. Yeah, and classic Kobe, smart, big, moves well. Right.

You know, certain guys work for Kobe. No problem with deferring. Right. And finally, I was really wrong on this. So Ben Simmons comes into the NBA and I fall for him. I'm like 610 guard. He plays defense, dunks on people. He's like Lonzo ball except four inches taller and stronger and defense better.

I fell for it. I'm like, this is Magic Johnson. This is what Magic Johnson looks like. You're like, oh, he doesn't look like. He literally jams over centers at the rim. I'm watching him yesterday. This team's a mess. And now he's banging on the fans because they're booing.

Hello, it's Philadelphia. They boo everybody. Everybody. What do you make of Ben Simmons? Listen, I don't know the kid. I'm just watching from the TV. But how many years he's been in league three? Well, is this his fourth year?

This is his second full year playing. Second four year. So it's his third year. The third year. Yeah. It's third year. So my thing. All right, listen, I tell people this all day long.

If you're a full year, Warren Buffett, and you haven't invested, or you did, like, paper investing, right? The next year you come, you're going to be a little bit more mature and you're investing than you were the year before, correct? Right, sure. So he's in his third year, okay? Because his whole situation with Mitchell, you know, and, well, it's about wins. To me, he's like a, I don't see it.

I just don't, I don't feel it. It's his third year. I don't feel it yet from him. I don't feel that. One of the reasons I love Zion Williamson, I can sense his love of being on the floor. You can feel Zion Williamson. I bang on Westbrook. Love's being on the floor.

Right. Gets in the building. Yes. Iverson had it. Zions like that. Yes. You're right. LeBron.

The great ones generally, you can sense a love of the game. Well, Ben Simmons is on the floor. I'm just, it's impossible to say there are times I'm like, where's Ben Simmons? Not even that. Where's Ben Simmons on the floor? And how about this, Colin? Not even that. He has this.

kind of like, this kind of like this cocky, just kind of like this, this, I don't know, it's like, it's a matter of fact, kind of like. He's not real connected to teammates. You know, Doug Gottlieb told me once, I don't know that I trust Doug on this. He was the best player. In the last two, three years, the best player in Australia. He didn't make the Australian national team. They didn't want him.

It's like, what time out? Years ago, there was a quarterback for Michigan State who's now in the NFL is a backup. I forget Connor, was it Connor Cook? And I said, I remember saying this on the air. I said he's a senior, a three-year starter. And his teammates didn't vote him captain. As a senior three-year starting quarterback.

Right. They had like linebackers and I'm like, right. They, good. You don't make the Aussie national team, you're the best player in Australia? It's like, that doesn't make sense. I'm sorry, but that, isn't that, am I reaching here?

Isn't that something? He's delusional. His personality to me is kind of a delusional personality. It's like chest poked out. And yes, you're 6'10. Yes, you can dunk over people. First of all, I mean, when I played, it was seven footers on every team. There's no 7 footers.

So, of course, you're going to dunk with somebody 6'8. I'm not trying to hear that. You know what I mean? Like, I just don't, I don't see, yes, you have talent, but I don't see it growing so much right now. One, your personality, two, you can't shoot at all. In the gym by yourself. By yourself.

And you say that Giannis is, oh, he sucks, he can't shoot threes. He's better than you by far. He's better than you by far. And Giannis has to just sharpen up his long range. And I also feel with Janus, I feel a strong sense of self. Yes, yes. Yeah, like he's connected by a thread to his teammates. Well, his emotional IQ is high.

Yes. You can just tell Yonit, the team's into Yonis. Yonis is into the team. You can feel connected by a thread. I do feel like an indifference with Simmons on the floor. We got to go. Katino Mobley. Great seeing you. Joy with the news. No.

No. No. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Sticking with Ben Simmons and Philadelphia, they had a disastrous postseason opener. Feldman, that's 111-102 in game one. And they were out of sorts in every aspect from the pregame treatment of Joel and Bede status to a pretty embarrassing mid-game phone incidents to their awful play on the court. And after landing in some hot water for telling off the booing fans,

Ben Simmons is softening his stance a little bit. I love it. That's how Philly is. You can't play you, you can't. You're going to give you this shit. It's all the shit. It is what it is. If you're not playing well, you're going to let you know. But, I mean, I love being here.

I love the fans here. I wouldn't want to be in a place where they didn't really care or really showed up when times were going well. So, you mean, a few years ago, we went in 10 games. Ben Simmons had nine points on four for nine shooting. It was minus 21. That's rough. Minas 21. And Amir Johnson must find an undetermined amount for the phone on the court.

I still don't have enough clarity on the phone thing. Somebody said it's his daughter. I'm like, he doesn't look like to me he's screwing off. I don't know what it was. I don't have the answers. I don't know if we're really going to find out what it was. Obviously, if you have something where you need to be on the phone during the game, probably want to give it to an assistant coach or, you know, someone else to hold it.

Actually, I think it's an automatic fine. I could be wrong on that. I was Bobby Marks. It might be. It might be. Yeah, I was reading Bobby Marks on Twitter yesterday. He's a former GM. He does stuff for the ringer.

And I think if I recall, it was Bobby that said that's an automatic fine in the NBA. It probably is. The nets are not a game. So I really hope Philadelphia gets it together. We've had questions about their chemistry all year around. The talent disparity, Sixers Nets. The five best players for our Sixers. Like this would be a shh.

Now, we all said Friday, this is the series we thought could be an upset, but not because of talent. It's just Philly's chemistry. We have a lot of veterans, too. Oh, man. And we, I mean, we have not given the Nets a lot of attention this year. If you're the Lakers, are you not rooting for the Nets here? Because everybody for Philly will be disgruntled and Butler will peel off and go somewhere. And they won't pay out Tobias Harris.

Well, you know, DeAngelo Russell going off is probably not the best look for the Lakers. So I don't know if that's exactly what they're rooting for. But I do see your point. Jimmy Butler would probably be more. Yeah, he'll want to get out of there. He wanted to get out of there. So Kevin Durant's had some incidents this year. He had some clashes with referees, the incident with Jemann Green.

He racked up technical fouls and unprecedented pace for him. And yesterday he had another incident with Patrick Beverly. They were trash talking all game long. And then it ended up in double technicals and double ejections. Patrick Beverly is not one, two. walk away from a skirmish. Now they can both play next game. Yes, they are both going to be available next game.

No, he has, you have seven technicals in the postseason. So he's already at two, Kevin Durant is in game one. I don't have a problem with this. I'd rather see some fight and ficiness from these guys. I mean, I didn't love the little extra shove into the table. That could have gone a lot worse had Patrick Beverly Nuts been able to stop himself. If you're the Clippers, you would love Beverly. you'd love the trade of we lose Beverly, you lose Durant.

That's a good trade for the Clippers. Yeah. I mean, at this point in the game, it didn't really help so much. But either way, this is going to be a Ficey series. Finally, things did not work out so well for the Lakers this year. They went 3745 missed playoffs. As we know, Luke Walton has been fired and moved on to the Kings. And now they are looking for their next coach.

And as we just discussed with Catino, they're going for the coach first over filling magic spot, which is kind of odd. They're reportedly looking into Monty Williams, Ty Lou and Joanne Howard, who are all three, you know, kind of LeBron guys. Monty Williams is very well liked around the league. He was head coach of the Pelicans from 2010-2015.

He's currently a Sixers assistant. Obviously, we know Ty Lou's resume and Joanne Howard played with LeBron in Miami. He was with Rob Polinka in Michigan, and, you know, it's been an assistant with the heat for a while now as well. It's pretty interesting, though, that they're not going to fill the president's spot first. Now, there were names being thrown out there, like Bob Myers and Pat Riley. Pat Riley is not leaving the heat, and Bob Myers is not leaving.

And Bob Myers and Rob Polinka cannot coexist anyway, so one of the two would have to leave that situation, so that doesn't make any sense. You know what would be interesting is Neil O'Shea from Portland's. He put together Lob City. He drafted Damon C.J. They didn't miss the playoffs after losing Aldridge. Didn't he pay Evan Turner all that money or Alan Krabb? He paid a lot of money to have everything. guys.

I mean, a lot of of GMs have had to pay a lot of money to average guys to keep the things together. But I just don't think Bob Myers and Power Alley are not it's not going to happen. I think really what they're going to end up doing is sticking with Polinka

and going all in on LeBron and getting a LeBron guy. They have to do what works temporarily. That was the move with LeBron. It was an immediate fix to the franchise's woe. So they have to go all in anyway. Joy with News.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd lie news. We call it the herd tub time machine. We'll take you back to Tiger Woods

first masters. It is remarkable how, you know, you think Tiger Woods was this comet that entered our life, right, in sports? What makes yesterday

so remarkable is how long he was great, how long he was out. It's fascinating. We'll go back to his first masters and look at what was. happening in the sports world. I think you'll be shocked by it. That's coming up.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Great to have you and join I today. Armand Kittain, Chris Broussard, Rick Riley, Catino Mobley. Good NBA playoff weekend. Good UFC. The dominating story was Tiger Woods, obviously. He won his fifth masters yesterday. And, you know, usually in golf, you come into a sport, you're young, you may win an occasional major. And then, you know, over the course of your career, if you're lucky enough to win three or four majors, they're sporadic. Tiger came in and pretty much owned the world for 12 years. And then Tiger disappeared for a decade.

And yesterday, Tiger was back. It generally doesn't work that way. You're not as dominant and you don't fall off the face of the earth. But he won his fifth masters yesterday and his first since 1997. So in today's best for last, we take another trip in the Hurd Tub Time Machine. This machine. time machine. Okay.

Let's go back to 1997. What was happening when Tiger won his first masters? Mike Tyson, two months after Tiger won his first major. Mike Tyson would have his rematch against the Bander-Holyfield. It's remembered as the bite fight. Third round, Tyson bit Holyfield's ear. Spit the piece of the ear on the ring. when the fight resumed Tyson bit Holyfield's other ear.

He would be disqualified and would lose his boxing license. How about Tom Brady, 1997? Tom Brady was a sophomore at Michigan. That's how long Tiger's career has been. He was third string behind Brian Greasy and Scott Driesback. By the way, that year, Michigan won the national championship, shared it. Brady was on the bench.

The rest is history. He gets drafted in the sixth round in the 2000 draft. He won six Super Bowls, four Super Bowl MVP's, three MVPs. How about Kobe Bryant, April 97? Just finished his rookie year. Look at young Kobe. Everts seven points a game. He did win the dunk contest.

We'd go on for 19 more years, five NBA titles, 18 all-star appearances. Now he's retired, and he's winning Oscars and writing children's books. Let's go back to 97, the first masters for Tiger Woods. John Elway couldn't win the big one. God, it's so long ago. Elway won an MVP, seven Pro Bowls, but 0 and 3 in the Super Bowl with some ugly losses. They then get Terrell Davis the running back,

win 98-99 Super Bowls named Super Bowl MVP in his last game, retired. That seems so long ago, and yet Tiger's Masters doesn't seem that long ago. And how about this? Sam Darnold, the next great NFL. quarterback, not born yet. Wasn't born in 1997. He'd be born two months later.

And Zion wasn't even born. Zion would be born in another three years. So both guys, as you know, are going to be the face of the league. Sam Darnold and Zion, they were not born yet. That's how long ago Tiger Woods won his first Masters. and yesterday was obviously an emotional and professional masterpiece. I have some memories from 97. I was 10 in 97.

What was your big memory? Well, my brother, Jason, got drafted to Miami Dolphins in 1997. Big for the fam. Yeah, it was big. It was a big moment. Was he drafted later, wasn't he? Third round. Third round.

Jimmy Johnson. Jimmy Johnson drafted him. Yeah. Called the house there in Pittsburgh. And I have another good memory from, well, I don't have necessarily. I didn't know. of this memory, but it was brought up to me. What?

From 1997. Oh, there you go. So I didn't know you in 97. Look my hair. Look at tie. Strong. I was a sportscaster in Portland, Oregon. Look at that picture.

That's a baseball card. Where did you guys get that? God, what file did you? By the way, you know what I was doing back then? Same thing now, Big J. journalism. What are the Portland Rockies? They were a baseball team there. And they were right next to the TV station, KGW.

You still have that tie? I don't even have a tie, actually. I don't own a tie. That tie is so wide. I wasn't stylish, Joey. I was never stylish. By the way, shifting gears last night, Charles Barkley's a funny guy. It really was.

You know, the UFC was great this weekend. Tiger just overwhelmed the weekend. NBA playoff games were great this weekend. I mean, you know, the delta between regular season and playoffs is so great now. We'll get into this tomorrow. the effort level in the playoffs, you know, and a lot of this is you can't take regular season games off in hockey or football because you get hurt. And nobody does it in baseball, even though the season's absurdly long because it's an individual sport, you're not going to give up an at bat. In the NBA, the season's absurdly long, and it's not stat-driven.

I mean, do you know how much Kevin Durant average of the season? Nobody does. Do you know Clay Thompson's career average? Nobody with a social life does. But in baseball, you have these like, you know, Derek Jeter years, Hank Aaron's home run, stolen bases. is Lou Brock. So in basketball, you know, taking a day off or a game off or you just get ready for the playoffs. And a lot of guys, you know, you fly into Denver, you get in at three in the morning, you go to your hotel, sleep by four, up by 10, shoot around, teams are tired. But in the

playoffs, everybody's equally rested. And all of a sudden, Orlando and Toronto, the gap's not like that. Orlando's been in town a couple of days. They're rested. Toronto's rested. And I thought the NBA playoffs were just spectacular this weekend. And by the way, on TNT, Charles Barkley called out LeBron James. LeBron James, coming to the studio. You ain't got nothing to do. The playoffs started yesterday. You got free time.

I know you got to pick a coach on a general manager. You got he's picking it? I know you got to pick a coach. Just put that on the back, Brunner. Today, LeBron responded with a tweet. Sir Charles, I actually do have a ton going on, but I may take you up on that offer. We shall see King in Studio.

Don't do the King in Studio thing. I actually think this would be a great opportunity for LeBron to connect. Like, be fun, laugh, laugh with him, laugh at him. What do you think? I don't think it's a terrible idea. I think LeBron has officially, whether he is aware of it or not, passed into the territory where he needs to begin accepting of the passing of the scepter. I don't know what the kings have.

I don't say the taunt. He's at the point I think that Wade was at the second year that the big three were together in Miami where Wade notoriously handed the franchise over to LeBron and the rest of history. LeBron had his first major injury. His image has taken an incredible bump this year. Like everyone is kind of questioning where he is and even the king in studio and he's separate from his team and it's I and there's no we. this is a perfect opportunity to get back into that space that LeBron has always been in of being a good teammate and bringing

everyone together, open up to a free agent and give them the franchise, win a championship. Just even the statement where he was like, I'm excited to have someone in the car with me. No, you're excited to have someone come drive the car that you're in and not like while you're in the back seat, a chauffeur. It needs to be a togetherness. Like that's the thing that I think LeBron is missing right now. Yeah. He's had a Bad year. It's a disconnect.

Optics, disengaged. Some of it's just bad timing. He did projects and they were then on TV after his injury. And it looks like, oh, LeBron's going to a TV studio all day. Well, he'd actually done a lot of those projects earlier. But, yeah, I'd love to see LeBron do this. I just think as Tom Brady's aged, Tom Brady has made concessions. I'll take less money to get more.

And I think that's the reality. I think Tim Duncan did that really well at the end of his career. He's like, listen, I'm, I want to play fewer minutes. I want to get down to 31 minutes, not 38. I'm going to take a little less. I mean, LeBron doesn't play like he used to on the defensive end of the floor. I'd like to see him do a little more of that. Speak for yourself as next.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story. behind the headline.

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