The Herd with Colin Cowherd - What's Wright - Best Of - Nick Wright goes SCORCHED EARTH on Josh Allen's media coverage, Lamar Jackson to Raiders? LeBron James x Lakers DRAMA brewing

Episode Date: January 25, 2026

All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet.  Nick Wright reacts to the media's treatment of Josh Allen after the Buffalo Bills' loss to the Denver Broncos in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs. Nick breaks down why Josh receives different treatment from every other player in the league including Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, and the other top quarterbacks. Later, Nick discusses a hypothetical trade of Lamar Jackson to the Las Vegas Raiders for Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza and Maxx Crosby... would this help Baltimore's Super Bowl path more than most would think? Next, Nick reacts to an article by ESPN’s Baxter Holmes on Jeanie Buss' frustration with LeBron James being viewed as the "savior" of the Los Angeles Lakers. Nick breaks down how LeBron did save LA from their worst stretch in franchise history to return to NBA relevance. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to help from Hippocrite Wednesdays on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Kunky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big

tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the best of the week for What's Right with Nick Wright, the best takes and moments from this week on the show. Enjoy. Demandzee, divisional round weekend. We're going to start with the first game of the weekend.

Bill's Broncos, let's get to it. Big stuff. So the Broncos. the bill's season on Saturday, got Sean McDermott fire. So they obviously lost this game. Josh Allen had four turnovers. Do you think that the team built around him

kind of failed Josh Allen? Or do you think that Josh Allen failed the bills with his turnovers? Defending league MVP had four turnovers in a playoff game, including one of the most cartoonish fumbles in the history of the league. That happened. Okay?

Before I even get in that, that is, you don't have to be a diehard sports fan to understand, oh, that's probably, that's probably why they lost. Before I get to that piece of it, let me say this on the front end sincerely. And I know Broncos fans aren't going to want to hear this from me, and they might say I'm full of shit, whatever. I can't remember a more gutting postseason injury than the, the one the Broncos suffered.

To have won the game be celebrating that you're going to the conference championship game at home, have beaten Josh Allen and have watched Bo Nix play one of, in my opinion, best games of his life

and two separate times come through for you in just huge spots before the half to put the bills on tilt, which it's 1010 with 30 seconds left. And Josh Allen in the first half, Josh Allen has zero turnovers. The bills are feeling fine. Bo Nix hits that deep bomb to the front corner of the end zone to put the bills on their back foot and then late in the game, down four, drives them down, puts them ahead with a minute left. Like, whatever skepticism I've had about your quarterback, he was nails on Saturday afternoon.

However annoying, I have found Sean Payton to be, he called a hell of a game. And you're celebrating, you're feeling great, you really think you can win the Super Bowl. and then you find out on a somewhat nothing play that no one even noticed, your quarterback broke his ankle and needs surgery. It's just a stomach punch of all stomach punches, and I do, I legitimate, again, Broncos fans, you're allowed to hate me. It's fine. I legitimately feel sick for you guys.

And I don't, it, it, Obviously, it's in the same bucket as Halliburton game seven. And one, because he had been dealing with an injury, the kind of specter loomed. This was just so out of nowhere. I don't even know. Now, on the bright side, it shouldn't impact your next season at all, but this is, who knows what next season's going to be. So Broncos, I feel sick for you, sincerely.

And you guys have proven me wrong all year. And I just, and Bo, if Bo's going to have a comeback down to Earth moment, it ain't going to be this season, because he ended last season, or he ended this season, pardon me, with probably the best game of his career, all things considered. And in my favorite football weekend of the year, with Drake May and Matt Stafford and Josh Allen and C.J. Stratford, and Sam Darnold, all those guys playing,

Bo Nix played the best game. It just is what it is. And I wonder why that version of commentary I just did about Bo Nix, so many folks have trouble doing in the other direction.

It's one thing to say this guy, this team that I have always been down on or I have always doubted, he, with his play, proved me wrong. It does feel like people are having easier time doing that leap than the opposite one, which is this guy, this team, this player that I have elevated beyond any realistic place that is justifiable, his play proved me wrong. And instead of being able to do that after Josh Allen's four turnover playoff game, folks are just going out making fools of themselves.

So I understand the bills would not have been there without Josh Allen. No shit. That is that if the standard is, standard for criticism is, if a guy is the biggest reason a team got to a point, then criticizing his play at that point is unfair, then I guess we can. never criticize any NBA superstar for a playoff performance ever. Because every single NBA superstar is the reason their team gets to the postseason.

And so then I guess if you James Harden it, you're just an asshole if you're like, he cost his team. Because the 35 IQ response is, well, would they have been there without him? No, they wouldn't have. So I guess it's all, it's all reputational free rolls. It just doesn't. And here, this is, it is not, Demandze, it's not complicated. The analysis of Bill's Broncos.

It's really not. Go on, Josh Allen. Josh Allen, go ahead. He pooped the bed. Yeah, he definitely, he messed up pretty badly. I mean, it's, uh, it's, four turrets. Turnovers. That's a lot. I was surprised McDermott got fired, to be honest.

I mean, I know that it is. Go ahead. No, I just know that this is their year. And, you know, if they lost the Broncos or if they just lost in his playoffron, it was going to look bad. But in that instance, where it was just four turnovers, I just felt like they might have let it ride a little bit. Yeah, I thought so too, maybe. And we'll get to the McDermott piece. But, guys, I'm.

I'm listening, and I, and I DM'd Bill about this, Bill Barnwell. I'm listening to Barnwell this morning, who you guys know I have as much respect for his football opinions as anyone in the world. And I'm stunned because he's talking about how he thought McDermott screwed up by not, really impressing upon Josh Allen when they got the ball back with 20 seconds left, that he can't do something dumb. And Bill said, and I quote, you have to be aware you have a lunatic at quarterback. And the agency removal from

the soon to be 30-year-old defending league MVP. Like, well, we can't try to go get points here at the end of the half because the guy might run for no reason, by the way. The scramble was even if he hadn't been sacked, the scramble was a dumb play. I'm sorry, even if he hadn't fumbled. Because they had no timeouts, like you weren't going to. It was just a dead play the moment you don't throw the ball.

but that guy might just hold the ball like a loaf of bread and lose the football. You just got to know that. Okay. So there's four turnovers, right? The first one's right before the end of the half. It's the worst fumble of the NFL season. The second one is right after the half. It's a blind side hit him.

You'd like him to hold on to the ball, but a lot of quarterback's had problems holding on to the ball. this weekend. You want to give him a slight pass on that, so be it. The third one is right after Bo Nix makes his only mistake, you go for a kill shot, you don't need to, in a decent down and distance, on the fringe of field goal range, and you throw a bad pass. The fourth one is the allegedly controversial interception. More on that in a minute. And in between the third and the fourth, you had two passes. One was easy, one was hard, that would have won the game. You had Khalil Shakir on a wide receiver screen that I know

he would have scored a touchdown on because he did score a touchdown on it. But then we saw you one hopped it to him. And then what would have been a tough pass to Dawson Knox in the waning seconds that you missed. Now, is that asking a lot of the quarterback? Not really, but is it certainly holding him to a highish standard? Sure. But the reason this is fair and the reason some of the Josh Allen media commentary is so maddening, is because folks can't help themselves, but one up the hyperbole. It's no longer enough to say,

I think he might, even though he's never been to a Super Bowl, and even though 360 days ago, he, for the fourth time in the playoffs, shared a field with Patrick Mahomes and for the fourth time was outplayed and lost. Even though those, that happened, I think he might be the best quarterback in the league. That's not enough.

And even though two of his contemporaries have more league MVPs than him during this run, Patrick and Lamar, and those same two guys have more first team all pros than him in this run. and another one of his contemporaries has been to a Super Bowl and Burrow. Forget Patrick going to five and winning three. Even though all those things are the case, calling him hands down the best player in the league. That's not enough either.

And in the last few months, and this is not a straw man, and this is from not only people I like, But one of them, my dearest friend and boss at the volume, coward, call him the most talented player ever, ever. The most talented quarterback ever. Greeny yesterday, yesterday after the Ford turnover game, said, does it matter of fact, no one has ever, played the position better.

If that is the way he is discussed, then you can't also do a blame pie blaming McDermott and Brandon Bean and Brandon Cooks and the poor left guard who didn't fall on Allen's fumble when we're discussing them losing a game, playoff game when he had four turnovers. He's the only guy in the league that when they win,

he's an all-time legend, and when they lose, even when, it's because of his mistakes. It's got to be someone else's fault. You are not, it is not a tenable sports opinionist position

to continually call a player better than historic legends and contemporaries that have more pelts on the wall by a wide margin and then give him a full on pass for a playoff meltdown. And he's on the record saying that he feels like it let his team down. Well, that's the other thing. Josh Allen is more of a realist about what happened. Yeah.

Then his media sycophants. Josh Allen was in tears. You know why? Because he is the best player on the team, obviously. He is their leader. He is the reason they're there. And he blew it. That's okay.

It's sports. And it wouldn't be that big of a deal if I didn't have to listen to people the day after it happens, still say he's the, no one's ever played the position better. Are you fucking kidding me? Like, take Mahomes out of it. I'm going to go. go out and on a limb and say I think Tom Brady played

the position better than Josh Allen. Yeah. Like I and so I there is an element of Demonsie. Last week there was a little media or little mini media and we talked about it, Firestorm

about Lynn Jones the older black lady. Oh yeah. Who said to Liam Cohen like hold your head up high. Yep. All these folks were like Like once you turn once you become media, you don't root anymore. You don't do that. And then those same people are sending tweets.

My heart breaks for Josh Allen. He does. Why? Why? Like, I don't mean why like that. Like, I, I understand feeling empathy for a person that's a great player that you feel like can't get over the hump. I understand that. But the, the.

But he doesn't you don't think C.J. Stroud feels like shit this weekend. I, you don't. I think seeing the guy get stopped so many times. I also think people just get caught up with the physicals of Josh Allen. Like he's perfect. Like he's got the big arm. He can run around. He's a big dude.

But yeah, he obviously isn't as sound as he could be. Part of being an all-time great is being able. to harness your greatest attributes while minimizing the risk associated with them. And I have watched the, he has been incredible, the last year's playoff game against Kansas City, he fumbled three times. They recovered all of them. The year before the playoff game against Kansas City on what they thought was going to be the game-tying drive,

he fumbled running around like he did at midfield near halftime. It should have been scooped and scored by the Chiefs. One of his teammates fell on it after the Chiefs kicked it. He has been, he's loose with the ball. and when he switches his style up to not be loose with the ball, his gaudy stats go down. That's when his passing yardage numbers go down. He has not yet shown the ability to have the type of season

where you get the crazy gaudy numbers without the crazy turnovers. Which is fine. I still think he's the second best quarterback in the league. But you got to call a spade a spade on a four-turnover playoff game. And I, he was fine with it. He knew he blew it. And then the, get to the follow-ups, because there's a lot about the calls and the whining and all of it.

So you can go to all this. Yeah, so after the game, Josh Allen, Dionne Dawkins, and Brandon Cooks were all very emotional in their interviews and crying. How do you feel about players crying after a round two exit? So I think a couple things. Listen, it does now seem like the bills were going to fire McDermott if they didn't make the Super Bowl. If they hadn't made that decision after seeing how emotional the players were, I would have felt like, sorry, Sean, even it's not your fault, we have to, we can't just run this back.

This is a this is a scarred team. And, and the, Domaze, why do you think the bills were so devastated about this loss in this postseason? Because I have a theory. Well, this was their, this was their death. This was their shot this year. Like, I just feel like this was, because nobody else is, I mean, you got Drake May, you got all the, I mean, you just got Matt Stafford. Mahomes, Burrow, you know,

Lamar, they're all gone. It's, so, I think they clearly viewed it as the chiefs aren't there. And this is our moment. And that's, and by the way, certainly the media, after they reacted to the McDermott firing, kept

bringing up that this was the moment where the chiefs aren't there. And this is the other thing, if I'm being transparent here, that frustrates me about the just blowing past like Josh, past Patrick in this quarterback hierarchy. Folks simultaneously have this opinion. Josh is clearly the best quarterback in the league. He's better than Mahomes.

He's been better than Mahomes last few years. They believe that while simultaneously believing. This was such a massive missed opportunity for the Buffalo Bills because they finally would have been able to get to a Super Bowl without actually having to beat Patrick Bohams. Like that, it was, I think they did view it as the path is clear. And I don't think they viewed it as the path was clear because Lamar wasn't there because Josh has played Lamar twice in the playoffs and beat them both.

I don't think they viewed as a path that's clear because Burrow's not there because Burrow only been there the last three years. I think they viewed as the path that's clear because Patrick's not there and they didn't get there. The crying was interesting to me because I just don't remember the last like I felt like Cam cried after the Super Bowl and people killed him for it. This is a divisional round game, but they really thought they were right there. All right, today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet, Florida's sports book.

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Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend.

But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this.

We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an

a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-heartedly. Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet.

Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks.

Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of being? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white color or something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing? Microphones?

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I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You are. I'm lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team, and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs.

I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.

Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like, After you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us.

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Run! Saigon. starring Kelly Marie Tran and Rob Benedict. Sting here's madness. The world should hear about this. There's a fire coming to this country and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, DeMonze.

I threw out a trade on TV yesterday. I don't think it's dumb. Seems like I'm in the minority and not thinking my own trade. idea is dumb. Go ahead and let's talk it through. All right. So we're running out of games to talk about. So it's rumor slash trade talk time of the year.

People are throwing around trades and rumors. A trade or rumor that you co-signed was Lamar for Max Crosby and the number one pick, which were probably Mendoza to the Raiders? Yeah. I would not like that. So listen. No, well, you might just become a Raider fan. You can just follow Lamar.

But yeah, Lamar and Gentie would be pretty cool. So here's the deal. I don't, I'm not saying this. And I didn't just create this out of thin air. ESPN did like bold predictions for the offseason. And one of them was, could Tom Brady and the Raiders make a play for Lamar Jackson? I don't know that I think the Raiders, after watching them and believing in them this year, are, you know, close enough to make a move even for Lamar Jackson.

However, I am more interested in this from the Ravens side of it. And I don't know who the next Ravens head coach is going to be. But whomever it is, I think in the universe where this was available, you get the equivalent, I believe, of DeMontze, five first-round picks, the equivalent of five first-round picks for Lamar. And by that I mean Max Crosby on the open market is worth two firsts.

And we know the number one pick, given the Bryce Young trade, the equivalent that it's worth is a little more than three, you know, middle, average first round picks. I know number one pick is literally one first round pick, but in order to get it, you would have to trade like the 15th pick

and two future first to move up that far. So this is the equivalent of, you know, call five first round picks. And you would not be like, all right, well, now we're in the quarterback wilderness because, no, you might end up being if Mendoza is not the guy, but you're not trading for the number one overall pick blind,

or trading for a future year pick when you don't know who the players are that you'd be taking. You would know you are taking Fernando Mendoza. And the point that the reason I find this interesting from the Ravens perspective, this theoretical fake trade that ESPN alluded to it and then I put a fine tooth comb on, or a finer point on, I should say.

I do think that it is a legitimate discussion. What is a better path to winning a championship? Young quarterback on a rookie scale plus Max Crosby, plus the extra $40 some million of cap space to build out the rest of the roster. or Lamar Jackson, who will enter next year, undoubtedly, as the highest paid player in the league, on a 60 plus million dollar a year contract. And it is worth noting the two Super Bowls, the Ravens have won.

They won with cheap quarterbacks and stacked rosters. The Denver Broncos are attempting this right now. I know Bo Nix is now out, but young quarterback, all this talent around them. The Patriots, I don't think they actually have all that much talent around them. I think the job May and Brable have done is unbelievable, but they spent money this offseason. They have more money to spend this next off season. I'm not breaking news that good young, cheap quarterback who had, gives you franchise quarterback play on rookie quarterback salary at a bunch of pieces,

has been a very successful model. And then when you add to it, what I think could be some squeamishness for the Ravens of a brand new contract for Lamar after, at the very least we can call it, injury-riddled year, I think it's worth a real discussion. And it is, I also want to make this part clear. This is not an insult to Lamar because if I were the Raiders, I would not, like, again, this is, we're playing in double hypothetical work. here. But let's say the Raiders offered this to the Ravens.

Max Crosby and the number one pick for Lamar, and the Ravens said, no, thank you. And then the Bengals heard it had been offered, and they called the Raiders, and they said, we'll take it for Joe Burrow. If I'm the Raiders, I wouldn't do that deal. I don't think Joe Burrow is worth the number one overall pick plus Max Crosby. because even with Lamar having an injury-riddled year, Joe, to me, is an even bigger injury risk than Lamar. And Joe has not shown consistent regular season, first-team all-pro-level play.

Joe has one year like that in his career, the way Lamar has. So it is, there's, there are only three veteran quarterbacks in the league that if I were the Raiders, I would offer this package up for. Lamar, Josh, and Patrick. Obviously, the chiefs and the bills, there's nothing you could offer those teams to get them to trade Josh or Patrick. The Ravens, given how this last year went, the new head. coach Lamar's pending contract situation. I just wonder if the door is creaked open.

To the point of, if the Ravens are even considering this, why would they have fired Harbaugh? Again, now we're in like quadruple hypotheticals. What I will tell you is this. If they wanted the Harbaugh-Lamar relationship, that partnership could not continue. and had they kept Harbaugh, then Lamar really has a hammer because he also does have a no trade clause in his deal. So you might say, Nick, you're talking about a trade, he has no trade clause.

Players, again, can waive those and can make it, can decide, you know, kind of steer where they want to go potentially because of it. I just think it is not, I think the Lamar contract, is going to be a big enough story this offseason that this is of all the fake trades that exist, Amaze, this is not total whole cloth. I do think that there will be some of that discussion

over the off season. I'm not predicting it's going to happen. Crosby, Mendoza, and no more picks? Like, that's it for a more? Or like multiple other first round picks, right? No. No, no, no.

What I'm saying is the number one overall pick to acquire that by itself usually takes three first round picks. Right. And to acquire Max Crosby would take two first round picks. So I'm saying this is the equivalent and value of five first round picks. But the trade would be essentially Fernando Mendoza and Max Crosby for Lamar Jackson. Yeah. And so you're out on it. Most people are out on it.

Yeah, no. I mean, if it were multiple, I thought it was going to be multiple. But I see what you're saying in it being multiple first to equal the number one pick of the draft. But yeah, no, that's not enough. I need some more retooling if we're getting rid of Lamar. So, well, that's the thing is this. I don't think, and by the way, I guess you're off the books. You get all the money off of Lamar's contract.

Right. And it wouldn't just be, here's the other thing. You wouldn't be doing this being like, all right, we're rebuilding. You'd be doing it saying we saw the windows right now. The commanders, the Patriots, the Bears, and the Broncos in the last two years have all made the divisional rounder further with a quarterback that was either a rookie or in his second year. Like we are, we are going for this right now. By the way, if you're thinking about upgrading to the all new iPhone 17 Pro designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever, but you're also thinking about the traffic on your way to the store or transferring all your data.

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Visit boostmobile.com to get started. Delivery available for select devices purchased at boostmobile.com. Terms, of course, do apply. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas, we invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band.

Before Jonas Brothers was. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, for people could call in and say, hey Jonas, and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and headwriter Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the Hipsons High School. Absolutely.

Now a redacted amount of years later We're still joined at the hip Just a little bit bigger hips Wider This is a podcast we're recording it as we tailgate Our youth soccer games In the back of my Honda Odyssey With all the snacks and drink

Sidebar Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer Oh they had a bogo Well then you got it Do you want a white color or something here? Just take it What are y'all doing? Microphones Are you making a rap album? Oh I would

Come on Could you imagine? I would buy it Cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You are.

You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about Define. odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reed.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give him. us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball.

Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. The United States will not stand by and allow any power, however great, take over another country. From My Heart Podcasts, Saigon.

Please allow me to introduce Joseph Sherman. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? I should stop talking so much. I like hearing you talk. One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam. I've taken a hit from Japanese ground fire. They're pouring petrol all over him.

He's holding matches. I'm on a landmine. Four free time. Let's get out. Freedom. Go ahead. Scogon, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Rob Benedict. Sting, here's madness.

The world should hear about this. There's a fire coming to this country, and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. All right, I want to discuss this Baxter Holmes, Lakers,

Jeannie Bus, LeBron's story. You guys tell me, I don't mind DeManzay's background being off. We can fix that later. Oh, it's back. Look at that. Go ahead. So, yesterday, Baxter Holmes of ESPN, dropped a story about the sale of the Lakers in the piece. He also discussed how Jeannie Bus

grew frustrated with LeBron and didn't even want to sign him to a new contract in 2024. You even talked about shipping them off to the Clippers. What do you make of all this? Okay. So a couple. And Jeannie Buses today came out and, you know, basically refuted some of this.

Let me say this on the front end. The thrust of this story is not about LeBron. And everyone should read the story. It is superb reporting by a superb reporter in Baxter Holmes. who does great work, really great work for ESPN, and, you know, it is very long and very good about the bus family and the sale of the Lakers, okay? That, if I were doing Los Angeles talk radio,

that would be one of the, the major topic of the day. on this platform, I don't know how many people care about the palace intrigue of the bus family sale of the Lakers so I'm going to focus on the LeBron piece of it because I am interested in that but again, I just want to give credit to the story

and to Baxter for, and say on the front end, this is not the general plot point of the story. But I'm going to read you, the LeBron section, and then I'm going to briefly explain why it enrages me. From Baxteromes' story. Team sources told ESPN she even began to turn against the Laker star player LeBron James. Jeannie privately grumbled, people close to the team say, about what she felt was James's outsized ego and the overt control that he in clutch sports, which represents both James and Davis,

exerted over the organization. She didn't like that James was considered a savior for a floundering franchise when he arrived in 2018 and that it was he who chose the Lakers rather than the team's leadership receiving praise for landing him. More on that in a moment. Team sources have been adamant for years that James' camp in foreign the Lakers as early as 2017

that he was coming to join them when he became a free agent the following year. The distance between Jeannie and James widened, after the Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook in July of 2021. The team had made the trade an effort to appease James, but the acquisition backfired in catastrophic fashion. L.A. went 33 and 49, missed the playoffs, and James seemed to wash his hands of his role in the acquisition.

Jeannie privately bristled about what she felt was his lack of accountability and the way James would shift blame onto others after the Westbrook trade, people said. In 2022, in the aftermath of the Westbrook trade, multiple people said Jeannie privately mused about not giving James a contract extension, even about trading James, with the Clippers floated as a possibility. This was before James received a contract extension with a no trade clause for two years, $104 million. And when the Lakers drafted James' son Bronte with the 55th pick,

Jeannie privately remarked that James should be grateful for such a gesture, but she felt he wasn't. That summer, as she discussed new contract for James, Jeannie Seemore resigned to the fact that they'd have to do it, almost begrudgingly accepting they'd take a massive PR hit by not doing so. Okay. The reason, that's the piece, and now this is me not reading the piece just talking. The reason. LeBron James considered himself a savior for a floundering franchise

was simply because he was a savior for a floundering franchise. It's not complicated. It's not weird. It's not hard to fucking parse. The reason LeBron considered the Lakers a floundering franchise is because before he got there, they were a floundering franchise. And the reason he considered himself a savior, was because within two years of getting there, they won the championship.

The Los Angeles Lakers had never been bad. Back to Minneapolis, DeMonsei, their second year in existence in the league, actually no, pardon me, their first year in existence when they went from the Detroit gyms, who were bad, to the Minneapolis Lakers with George, Mikan, they won the championship. They then won a bunch more championships in the 50s. Then in the 60s, they went to the finals almost every year, lost to the Celtics, a bunch. Then in the 70s, they got Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and then in the 80s were the most successful

team in the NBA. Then in the 90s, they had their one tiny downturn, which was a 33-win team that missed the playoffs. And shortly thereafter, they got Shaquille O'Neal and drafted Kobe Bryant or traded for him. And they were awesome again. The Los Angeles Lakers, I'm giving the full context here, prior to the 2010. demands de Monse. Here is the full list of years they were not in the playoffs. Either Minneapolis or Los Angeles.

1958. Okay. 1975 and 76. That's when they traded for Kareem. 1994 and 2005. That's the list. from the 50s until the 2010s. They had always been excellent.

Flourishing. And then, in the five years before LeBron got there, they missed the playoffs five times and won the following number of games. 27, 21, 17. 26, 35. So all of Lakers history, five years missed the playoffs from Minneapolis to L.A. across damn near 65 years.

And then the five years before LeBron got there, they missed the playoffs five times. Their finishes in the Western Conference, again, 15 teams in the Western Conference. The five years before LeBron got there? 14th, 14th, 15th, 14th, 14th, 14th, 14th. They were arguably the worst team in basketball for a half decade. That is a floundering franchise that was saved

one, some people think that if you save something or someone, you might consider yourself a savior by LeBron James wanting to move to Los Angeles, not by Rob Belinka or Jeannie Bus's fancy PowerPoint presentation. So that is what happened. Now, does LeBron have an outsized ego? I've heard that. Does Clutch Sports exhibit a lot of influence over the Lakers? Seems to be. Did LeBron James want Russell Westbrook?

Yes. Did that work out? No. Well, LeBron James wanted a bunch of things. LeBron James wanted Tailu to be his coach. They said no to that. LeBron James wanted Paul Drew. forge on the Lakers. That didn't happen. LeBron, there's plenty of things LeBron wanted.

They didn't do. And plenty of things LeBron wanted they did do. The Lakers choosing to say yes to the request for Russell Westbrook because the Lakers brand is stars when they had said no to other things and yes to other things. And then acting like LeBron is the one who called it into the league office and washing their hands of it entirely, but then also whining about LeBron, helping them get Anthony Davis, which then allowed them to get Luke at Ancich and win a championship is laughable. And complaining to people a year after the guy wins finals MVP for you and you win a championship that you don't want to give him a contract extension and you might actually trade him

only to give him a two-year max contract extension with a no trade clause is laughable. Dr. Jerry Buss was one of the greatest owners in the history of pro basketball. Jeannie Buss by all accounts is an incredibly nice person who has a lot of friends

in the media. The new owners of the Lakers are going to get the team back on the track it had been for Dr. Jerry Buss's entire tenure and the track that it had fallen off of entirely until LeBron James came to Los Angeles and saved the damn team. Hey, guys, it's us and the Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick, and guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We get to ask other people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. on Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Kunky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called

The 1021 podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Podcasts. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope From a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian.

I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.