The Herd with Colin Cowherd - What's Wright - NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP REACTION, Michigan def. UConn + Lakers IN PERIL, Jokic HUMBLES Wemby | Nick Wright

Episode Date: April 8, 2026

All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet.   Nick Wright recaps the National Championship between Michigan and UConn before breaking down the injury issues facing the Los Angeles Lakers with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Then, Nick weighs in on the epic matchup between Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama from this weekend. After, Nick looks ahead to the final week of the NBA season and tells you what he has his eye on. Later, Nick and Damonza answer your questions. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

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podcasts. Welcome in, What Driving NickRite episode 442. As always, this episode of What Driving Thickrite is brought to you by our good friends at Boost Mobile. DeMonsei, good morning. Good to see you. Good morning. How's it great?

I just sent you a couple tickets that were cheaper than. I thought they were going to be when I promised them to you because the Lakers died since I promised them to you. For Lakers Thunder, we thought it would be an epic battle. Instead, it's going to be LeBron taking on the best team in the league with his son and Luke Conard as his wingman. However, you're going tonight. Let me ask you a question, because I don't think you've looked at the tickets I sent you. Would you have preferred, assuming they were the same price, would you have preferred lower level but like 20th row on the corner

or second level, so further back, dead center? If they were the same price, which would you have purchased? Closer but a worse angle, like right at where they do the tip. So like seeing 100% the side by side. Like I like being in the center. Okay. Well, then I pick the right ones. Thank you.

And so the, okay, good. I don't like the corner behind the basket. Like, oh, one of those areas. Corner can be okay, but behind the basket's a mess. And so, okay, good. Then I picked the right ones. I also, you know, I spent a lot of money this morning because I bought those tickets, but also I got shaken down for the first time.

Since, God, I don't know how long. Maybe since college. I got a quick story time before you get to the national championship game. I got legit shaken down this morning. Okay. So like two weeks ago via text message. Okay. Like two weeks ago, I get a text.

So I, um, a, I'm going to, I don't want to sound. That, whatever, I've already started. A car service takes me home from work every day. Okay? Um, and like two weeks ago, I get a text from a number I don't know saying, hey, essentially, where's my money? And so the, and then I see I've text with this person before. And this person had texted me like two weeks prior.

saying I'm outside, you know, ready to go whenever you are. And I'm like, is this the guy that drove me home? And I was realized it was. Right. I'm like, so I reply. I'm like, what are you talking? You know, what's going on? Talk to me.

And he's like, I've hit up the company multiple times. They're not responding to me. I haven't been paid. I'm like, I'm like, well, listen, like, I'm not really the person involved here. I was like, you know, my company, contracted your company. I think I know. Go ahead.

The, no, no, no. Yeah. Don't worry about all that piece of it. I was like, I don't mind like flagging this. I was like, but I just want you to know, like, I don't think, like, I don't think it'll, you might end up getting paid, but I think it'll end up being bad for your, like, future with the company. Right.

This is how it works. If I let people know, like, this is going on. and he responds he's like I don't give a damn I'm never working for those people again I just want my money and I'm like I'm like all right but I also in my head I was like I checked I was like you you drove me home like nine days prior

like you're probably getting paid and I don't you know so I don't flag it out of like because I don't want like this guy's gonna get fired like I'm not doing it so he has hit me up like every like three, four days. And finally this morning,

he hits me up. He's like, they still aren't replying. I need my money. And I reply to him, I'm like, buddy, I don't know what you want me to do unless you're asking me to pay you directly.

Like, do you have Zell or not? And, and, bro, and so he texts me back. He's like, buddy, he's like, first of all,

we're not buddies. I'm like, okay. And then I'm like, I'm like, hold on a second. This guy does have, my home address because he took me home and my phone number.

So I just replied, I'm like, how much money we're talking about here? He's like, a hundred bucks. And I'm like, so if I VINMO you $100 right now, you promise I'll never hear from you again. He said, deal. So I came off the hundred bucks. What do you want for me? I was like, I was like, if you would have told me three weeks ago, this could, this could have been handled for $100.

I mean, would you think that he was pressing you for? I didn't know. I guess I didn't think about it. I did, but I'm an easy guy to get $100 out of. If that's the end of it, I'm in need, like, and so maybe I'm an easy mark. Maybe I'll hear from the guy again, who knows, but good for him. I hope he spends it well. Straight to voicemail brought to you by our friends at Boost Mobile.

UCLA wins their first women's title. sadly the story of that final four was not this UCLA group of seniors, you know, who had done everything but win the title. Finally, you know, achieving their ultimate goal. The story was in the final four when South Carolina shockingly ended Yukon's 50 plus game winning streak. And all of a sudden, there was a moment there where, and I know I'm not. the only person who thought this where I was like it is are we going to get a Gino or Emma Don Staley fight not argument but fight like is this actually going the which by the way I would install Dawn as like a minus 280 favorite on uh and listen I don't know Don

staley well. I've met her once. I've talked with her once. I think what she's built at South Carolina is remarkable. Obviously, Gino Oriama is alongside Pat Summit as either the best or second best women's college basketball coach of all time. But I will join the choruses and saying, I thought Gino handled that terribly. And I thought he was a bit of a poor loser. And I was, I was rooting for South Carolina in the national championship game because I like Dawn so much and because to be totally candid, I bet on them. But it was nice to see those UCLA women do what they did. That team has been together basically for four, you know, the best players since they were

freshmen and to see them finally get over the hump when I think most people assumed there was a hard ceiling in college basketball this year and that hard ceiling was the Yukon Huskies. It is noteworthy before we get to the men's tournament. KW gave me this stat And so the fact that KW gave it to me means I've got to actually fact check if it's accurate But the last 11 teams to beat

Yukon are 1 in their next game Like you pour so much in to overcoming Yukon and I'm pretty like that's what happened To I think Caitlin Clark You know the year they lost in the final The South Carolina they beat Yukon and Paige Beckers and then lost. I think the year before they beat

Yukon and then lost LSU. Like beating Yukon is such a big deal and then it's hard unless you are in the final to get up for the next game. So there's that speaking of a lot of women's basketball off the top. Angel Reese traded to the Atlanta dream and UNC

hires Michael Malone which I think does speak to DeMonse right now. Now, the best college jobs are better than the average NBA job. Yeah. Because Michael Malone was going to get an NBA job if you wanted one. But I think they look at it as, if your name's not Spolstra or Kerr, five years is an amazing run. You can literally win the title like Michael Malone did and be out on your ass a couple years later.

And so the Michael Malone, Michael Malone and Bill Belichick, both at. North Carolina next year. Pretty unbelievable. All right. Reminded everybody, like, rate, subscribe, review to the show that does help us greatly. Let's get to the men's

national championship game. So, Yukon did everything they could, fought into the end. It was not enough. Michigan won this game, despite hitting only two threes. They bring their first title since 1989. How will you remember this tournament?

Yeah. Before I get to the tournament, let me just quickly give Michigan its credit. People that listen to the show, no, I am not a nightly college basketball watcher during the regular season. I would say, and this might inform some of my commentary in a bit, that my fandom of college basketball is probably at right now its lifetime lowest. That is a combination of a lot of factors, one of which probably is that my team Syracuse is at its lifetime lowest for me as far as it's relevant, but then you also

add the other factors of college basketball, but the people that are watching all the time like Danny Parkins and the people that are the real experts in this like Ken Pomeroy and his rating system has told us all year that Michigan, along with potentially Arizona and Duke, were just a cut above everyone else. And the story on Michigan was, uh, the court that they were just so much bigger than everybody and that proved out last night and over the course of this tournament listen they prior to last night they hadn't even been tested in any game they won every game by at least 13 points they won all their games going into last night by an average of greater than 20 points and by the way it was a greater than

20 point average even if you removed round one they only won round one by like 21. But when you look at the greatest margin of victories leading into a national championship game for teams, a lot of them are buttressed by a 60 point victory over high point in a 1 verse 16 in round 1. The fact that Yukon, I'm sorry, Michigan, in the round of 32, sweet 16, elite 8 final 4, and those four rounds won those four games by an average of 20 plus, made them one of only six teams to do that in the 64 team era, or the 64, the modern tournament era, and five of those six teams went on to win the national championship.

The fact that they were able to win despite making two threes and getting out rebounded is remarkable. And so they deserve massive, massive credit. They all year long, they, you know, they, Matt Painter, I just saw this clip on Twitter this morning. I didn't see it before. After one of their games against Purdue this year, he said that team's not going to lose four times all year. It ended up being quite pressing. They lost three times all year, a three-point loss to Wisconsin, a great matchup with Duke that they lost by five, and then two Matt Painter and Purdue in the Big Ten times.

title game. They were the best team. They weren't my pick. I thought Houston was going to win. Part of that was not nostalgia is the wrong word, but I just have a soft spot for Kelvin Samson. I thought it could be their time. But the right team won the national championship. And those of us that thought Michigan, Arizona was the de facto national final. I don't know if that was correct because Yukon put up a better fight than Arizona did, but it did feel like those were the two best teams in the final four, and they were on the same side of the bracket. With all that said,

there's one guy on Michigan that played more than a few minutes last night that started his career at Michigan. A freshman, who we have no, like every player that wasn't a freshman, they played, how many guys they played last night? Eight. One of them, the guy who played six minutes, is, you know, a fourth-year Michigan player. There's a freshman and then six transfers.

And I am not, I don't take issue at all with those young men making those decisions and following the money and, you know, going to better spots. And for those guys, for Yaxil and Andy Mara and, you know, that team, obviously, this was the right call. They won the championship and they all probably made real money doing it. But if I am being honest with the audience, has that movement lessened my investment in college basketball? The answer is, of course it has. One of the reasons that I find the women's college game so much more, rich with storylines is because you see these teams go on the journey.

What I said about the UCLA women, that you saw them build it, you saw them have a great year last year, and then just get smacked by Yukon, come back, and then win the title. That does not exist in the men's game anymore. And it doesn't even exist for the mid-majors in the men's game anymore because the best mid-major players get plucked like Yaxil from UAB to Michigan. And I don't, I don't know the fix, so I don't like to complain about things when I don't have a clear solution. But I do know that this felt the championship doesn't feel hollow. The sport is feeling increasing.

hollow. Credit to the kids at Michigan, credit to the head coach, credit to everybody for winning the title under the rules that are now the college hoops rules. But I can't imagine there's a lot of people that think from a viewership from a consumer perspective, this is a better model. And the other thing that I heard, as we were going through the first weekend of the tournament, and we had scant upsets, and we had literally no Cinderella's, like the, you know, the most unlikely team that made the Sweet 16 was Iowa, a big 10 team. I was promised what that would lead to is unbelievable.

elite eight final four games close nip tuck amazing drama that is not what we got Michigan Yukon was briefly maybe there was a moment late when it's like oh shit Yukon hit a three Michigan missed a shot you guys right but Michigan had control of that game the entire second half the final four games Yukon had control of that game, the majority of that second half, and Arizona got annihilated by Michigan. The Elite 8, obviously, Yukon Duke was a classic. Tennessee, Michigan was a laffer. Arizona, Purdue, and Illinois, Iowa were not close throughout.

And so from the Elite 8 on, we had won great game. And so I The Cinderella's are gone Following teams along the journey that's kind of gone It at least in this tournament Didn't create You know much more crazy compelling drama

The National Championship game was a damn rock fight Which happens all the time. That's fine That that happened pre-NIL and transfer portal era But I I just don't think the new paradigm in college basketball is not only de monse do i not think it's good for the sports for the consumer end of the sport i'm not certain if how overall great it is for the athletes themselves for some it obviously is and i've learned

long been a proponent that these young men should be able to be paid we've talked about this a lot historically i don't have to get into it here but i do think that the fact that so few so few of these guys are going to be pros and if you're not going to be a pro to not then also have a a college community where your name really means something where you spent years of your life where you relationships where you got to know the community where you can go back and be celebrated where you put down your formative years and some roots not having that and instead being mercenary basketball player i i think for some listen some guys will take will end up making connections at a bunch of places plus the money they make and start their life off

you know they start their like social growth like well i think and some experience yeah and i think some guys it's yeah there's just a lot of taxes on it and so i i am i am when folks want to listen i don't think trump's 70 point executive order is the you know got a lot of great ideas in it i don't think he's the man to solve this problem but i i am open to different solutions where the actual workers, the players, can be rewarded by the system and make money and have financial gains from it, while also maintaining some of the continuity of the team and the journey and the communities.

And right now, we went from, if you transfer, you had to sit out a year. If you, you know, if you signed autographs for money, you got whacked. You couldn't. We went from that outrageous system to a no-holds-barred maximum free agency system. The college basketball has got a little shisty. Well, and I, it's, listen, there was always, you know, $1,000 handshakes and card deals and all those things. But the

it is, it seemed like we went from one extreme immediately to the other. And for me, it was because of that, this this season and this tournament didn't feel as lasting

as others. And so, and so there's that. Now let's get to the losing side of it before we get to the NBA. So yeah, Dan Hurley may not have come away with the dub, but what do you think he proved with his squad? this tournament. Well, listen, he's, I think pretty obviously right now has the strongest case for

the best men's college basketball coach active. And the fact that he walked into this game with a chance to be the first person since John Wooden to win three championships in four years is really, remarkable and it's even more remarkable given everything that I said about the current paradigm of college basketball now Yukon does not isn't as transfer latent obviously as Michigan I don't know if any team in the country really was as Michigan but caravan had been there for all four for his full career and the two previous national titles. Now, Terrace Reed Jr. started his career at Michigan.

That's a tough one. He was at Michigan in 23 and 24 when Yukon won back-to-back titles, then went to Yukon. Wow. Yeah, I mean, so that's kind of a tough one, obviously. Braylon Mullins is a freshman for them. He obviously is a freshman for them. he's been there the whole time.

Demari transferred from Georgia, so he's the, you know, this is his first year with them. Solo ball, though, has been there the whole time. And again, the fact that we're talking about, like, hey, they have two guys in their starting lineup who aren't freshmen who've been there the whole time speaks to kind of the current state of college basketball. But their sixth man, Jaden Ross, has been there the whole time.

And I think, oh, Malachi Smith, I just looked. Malachi Smith is a fifth year transfer from Dayton. So they've got three guys in their prime rotation who aren't freshmen, who've been there the whole time, a freshman in Mullins, their sniper, and then three of their, so I mean, it's, you know, very modern college basketball. Of their top seven rotation guys,

four have only played at Yukon. Three came from other schools. But I don't think Hurley's ever going to be crazy heavy in the transfer portal, because I do believe what he says, which is what he asks and the way he coaches, they recruit a specific type of elite high school player who wants to sign up for that and wants to live in stores and wants to sign up for that program. But what he's built there is remarkable. And now listen, they won three titles under Calhoun.

They won one title under Kevin Ali. And then Hurley took over and has gotten them to Heights even. Calhoun didn't. But I also think when you look at the list of coaches, and I had this yesterday, I'm going to pull it back up, who have three plus championships as great as Danny Hurley is, you feel like it would have probably been a little early. for him to join the list of Wooden with 10, Coach K with 5, Adolf Ruff with 4,

and then Roy Williams, Jim Calhoun, and Bobby Knight, all who have three. And so I think he'll get there. And I think that I would comp what he's done there similar maybe to what he did it quicker, but what Billy Donovan did at Florida. and, you know, in short order making them a contender and then winning back-to-back national champions, Billy Donovan then left to go to the NBA and has been in the NBA for a decade plus.

I don't know if he'll ever go to the NBA. He might have right now as good of a job as there is in college basketball. But he is, I've always been partial to Patino, but the results are the results. He right now has the title for the best college basketball coach. alive and I don't think there's really, I shouldn't say alive active, and I don't think there's really a lot of disputing that. All right, we're going to get to the Lakers in a second, but first, reminder, today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet, Florida's Sportsbook, Spring is in the air, and that can only mean one thing. Baseball's back in full swing.

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Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a...

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

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

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel.

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The 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. All right.

Demandze, let's get to the Lakers. All right, so this happened really fast. The Lakers are falling out of the three seed. Luca is headed to Europe for treatment on his hamstring strain. And Austin Reeves is dealing with an oblique strain. Are the Lakers screwed or is there a little bit of hope? Well, listen, if Luke and Austin are both out, for the entirety of the first round of the playoffs.

And it seems like Austin is almost guaranteed to be out for the entirety of the first round of the playoffs. Luca, this trip to Europe, there seems to be a glimmer of hope now because of it. If they're both out, then they're dead. And we saw LeBron instantly be able to go back to head of the snake, hand on the joystick LeBron,

with 30 points and 15 assists and nine rebounds. But we also saw the Lakers lose that game to a Mavs team that hadn't won at home in two months. And it wasn't enough. I did believe, when I didn't know Austin was going to be out, I did believe that LeBron plus O'Brien, plus if it was just Luca out, that the Lakers could beat the Rockets in round one.

That I thought LeBron could go toe to toe with Kevin Durant and Austin could provide enough scoring. And the Rockets, I know the Rockets are on a nice little run and that was a good win over the Warriors, but that the Rockets were not going to be able to, that I thought the Lakers, even without Luca, could beat the Rockets, is I guess what I would say. But without Luca and without Austin, they got no shot.

Now, it has ruffled my feathers a bit the way some folks, and I probably started the TV show off poorly yesterday, pointing this out, and I probably need to apologize to old KW and Danny, today. but the number of folks who are taking Luca and Austin being out and the Lakers all of a sudden looking awful as evidence that the Lakers were frauds all along, I find outrageous. They were so desperate to be proven right on.

their anti-Luca stances or add the Lakers or fake contender stance that they are using games played without their two leading scores as evidence that that team was never actually what what some of us thought it could be which by the way I don't I didn't see anybody saying that Lakers seems best team in the league what I think some of us were saying is we have literally seen multiple times Luca take an underdog undermanned mismatched team and on the power of his own individual offensive brilliance

seeing him take those teams on multiple deep playoff runs to the conference finals or the NBA finals and none of those teams had a wingman as obviously is experienced, but as savvy as LeBron. And so I did feel there was a path. And if the Lakers fall apart entirely, I think it will be honestly, truly outrageous. If Austin and Luka don't come back

and the Lakers get clocked in round one, which they would if they don't come back, and folks then say, see, this is why march was a was an illusion i would just ask them take any team in the league and if drop them into the playoffs without their best player and either their second or third best player and you let's just go best and third best any team in the league and how do you think they would do so if the thunder lost shay and jadub how are they looking if the nuggets lost joker and erin gordon how they look if the spurs lost wimby and fox how they look at the the the

If the the Rockets lost Durant and Amin Thompson. Just tell me, are there any of these teams? Now, you can say, well, we saw the Celtics survive without Jason Tatum. We're seeing the Pistons survive without Cade Cunningham. Absolutely. We have seen teams survive in the regular season. And I think the Celtics were won a playoff series even without Tatum. And in the Eastern Conference, maybe early in the playoffs, without their best player.

But you lose your best player and your second leading score and you're in the Western Conference. If all of a sudden the Timberwolves go into the playoffs without Ant, which I guess is a possibility now, and Jaden McDaniels, I'd say they're an easy out. and it doesn't, in my estimation, make those teams, I get, you know, it is, this is not an exact fair comparison because that team was obviously a brilliant team. But I would have thought it was outrageous if after the Raptors beat the Warriors in the finals, when Kevin Durant and Clay Thompson went out with injury.

People were like, see, I told you that Warriors team didn't have it. It's like, well, and again, I'm not comparing the 2026 Lakers to the 2019 Warriors. So that to me is, there is a growing, the Lakers are always polarizing because they're too hyped, and because they're too hyped, they get, you know, they get more attention. And so, of course, that exists. But there also really is a growing cottage industry of, yeah, I know Luca one player of the month in January and March, and I know he's, you know, first team, all NBA every healthy year of his career after his rookie year.

And I know he's second all time in playoff points per game. But how good is he really? And that would make sense if he had hardened playoff track record, but instead he has quite the opposite of that. He's never lost his a favorite in a series. He's never lost to a lower-seated team in a series. All he has done is upset teams in the playoffs or have his teams outperform their seed, except for last year, his first year with the Lakers, when they were the favorite and they did lose you know, as the higher-seated team,

that was one series of his whole career. What do you think happens with him in the 65 game rule? I think that he, I think he wins his appeal. I think that if they put in their, you know, extenuating circumstances, the birth of a child, a continent over, has to be one of the extenuating circumstances. I also, with all that,

said to Monzae, I want to go on the record here. I think Luca will play in round one. Okay. I do not think he will play the first game of round one. But Luca got hurt on April 2nd. The playoffs begin on April 18th. Game three of round one will probably. probably be on April 25th. Like the Lakers right now, it looks like, are probably going to play the Rockets in round one. The Rockets played a seven-game series last year in round one.

So if we just look at the Rockets, like that seven-game series schedule, here were the dates. They played on Sunday, April 20th, which would be the 19th this year, the first Sunday of the playoffs. But the 20th, then two days off played on the 23rd then two days off played on saturday the 26th then played every other day

28 30th may 2nd may 4th so and again maybe i'm overtrusting this these spanish doctors and platelet rich plasma therapy or whatever the hell he's doing over there but he's doing it because he believes he come back and I don't think he's doing it because he believes well I could be back for the conference finals because Luca knows if he's not back and full strength in short order they are going the Lakers need not only Luca to come back in round one but to have any shot at anything to be close to himself by the end of round one because round two the Lakers were going to be drawing incredibly slim no matter what. And if Austin's not back and Luke is not 100%,

they're drawing dead there anyway. But I think Luke is going to find his way back. The guy's a warrior. And I think he's going to be, I think he's going to find his way back. All right, let's talk a little LeBron here. Yeah, so LeBron called the injury news, a shot to the head, heart, chest, and mainframe.

What does his reaction tell you about it? his belief in L.A. going forward. Well, listen, LeBron's smart. He understands that what I said before, that the Lakers are like literally every other team in the league, that if a week and a half before the playoffs

you lose your top two leading scorers, you're going to be in real trouble. I also, though, think, so there's a clip going around from the Mavs game. This is terrible. You know what? This is truly,

terrible podcasting. Are you about to show your phone on the screen? I am going to hold my phone up to the camera and the microphone up to the microphone and see if you guys can hear this. Hold on. First, I have to turn my Bluetooth off because I want the again,

I apologize on the front end, but I think this will be worthwhile. This is LeBron to a fan who is recording court side during the Mavs, Laker game and I don't know if you guys will be able to hear it but I'm gonna put the audio up here just trust me that it's LeBron walking around so if you didn't did you hear that de Montse at all no what is she I heard it was back and forth a couple times can you know he says to a fan

I can still do this shit you know what I'm saying I can still do this shit they put me on the shelf though okay and so And he's smiling and lapping when he says it. Yeah. So here is, I have two takeaways from LeBron's 30.9 rebound 15 assist game in his first game as back to being LeBron and not being the third option. My first take is I stand by my take from before that LeBron. will never be bad. That if LeBron could just keep playing,

and at age 45, would still be a good NBA player. I said on Levitard show a couple months ago, and they made fun of me, that if LeBron wanted to take on the Jason kid on the Mavs role, he could be an All-Star at 50. and they thought they said I was and maybe fit maybe 50 was overstating it but 45 is not yeah and the fact that he could he can go from lowest usage oddest role he's ever had in his basketball life

not NBA life basketball life because I promise you seven year old LeBron James was the primary option on his team um the fact that he can go to that role and then first game back to be like, okay, now I'm just back to regular LeBron is something only he could do in the history of the league. But here's the other thing. Seeing how much fun he was having doing that, I think does inform potential options for next year. Because a lot of people, myself included, have kind of circled clubs.

Cleveland. But Cleveland, he would be in the same role he had been in with the Lakers. Because much like Luke and Austin, Donovan and Hardin have to have the ball in their hands. Their entire utility is scoring or playmaking ball in their hands. So I think that is a less attractive place. I think that, you know, Simmons, and others have really pointed at Golden State. I have not believed Golden State. However, in Golden State, he would be the initiator of the offense.

He would be the guy running the show. You know, Steph can be the leading score, but Steph as of now is, you know, it doesn't play like the traditional point guard role. And the fact that Golden State is going to miss the playoffs entirely this year. Though it's going to get popped in the play.

And they're going, they're basically locked into the 10 seed. And they're going there. They have clinched a below 500 record makes to me going to Golden State more tenable. It's, it, it's harder to say, oh, man, you know, he's writing Steph's wave when Golden State is coming off of sub 500, missed the playoffs. It would be the time for optics. Yeah. And so I think Golden State's a real option.

I think the Knicks are a bigger option now. Because, listen, he wouldn't be the primary. That'd be Jalen. But he would still be their secondary initiator, secondary ball handler, secondary score, I think, and take some of the workload off Jalen. And I am not going to ignore

entirely. Dave McMinneman just throwing in to his where will LeBron play next year article out of nowhere seemingly the Nuggets. I thought it was really interesting. Now, everything runs through Joker

there, but again, Joker's not like consistently bringing the ball up the court. Now, that would be obviously joining Joker's team, but I think that's, I think in year 24 at age 42, joining Joker's team is, because Joker's the generation after Braun. Like that, you know, it's like, it's like being on Lucas team. Two of the smartest basketball dudes ever on the same team.

And listen, and I believe, and, you know, Brew and I argue about this, I believe the two best passers of the era, like Brew thinks I overrate LeBron's passing. Um, but the, I mean, so I think somewhere he can have the ball in his hands, this little, these next few weeks, now maybe what these next few weeks remind him is how damn exhausting that is. He's like, I don't want to do that. Um, but I think, I, I think it was very instructive that the moment he was asked to go be that guy again, he was. Now, again, maybe tonight he won't enjoy that, playing the pit bulls on the thunder. As, by the way, what do you think the point spread for this game you're going to tonight? Thunder at Lakers. OKC minus 18. Wow, what a sharp.

What is it? 17 and a half. Let's go. What the hell, let's go. Wow. What a sharp by you. And so, listen, we'll see what it looks like. But all of those things to me are interesting subplots to what's happened to the Lakers.

All right, let's talk about the game of the weekend. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, 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 helped make you funny. This week, my guest, S&L'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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying,

and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The 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. 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. So offensive hub and Yokic versus defensive hub and Wimby went at it and Yokic dominated and got the winning overtime. It wasn't enough. Do you think that Yokic has Wimby's number? So the last two years they played three times. Joker averages a nice tidy, 41. 11-11 with one turnover a game.

Solid. And this to me was a, and Joker's turnaround fade away in overtime to essentially ice the game over an eight-foot wingspan alien was the best shot anyone's made in the NBA all season. Okay. But it also was, to me, very instructive for all the story. for all the scolds out there who, when trying to make what was a very thin Wimby MVP case, were saying, he's right. Defense is half of the game. And as I said, when I was making the case for Luka over Wimby for MVP,

when I was making the case that Joker is still the best player in the NBA, defense is half the game when it comes to team defense and your team defensive ranking and your chances of team success but basically for the entirety of NBA history one thing has remained true a brilliant offensive player is going to to get his no matter how good the brilliant defensive player is.

Wimby is being discussed already as one of, if not the, greatest defensive player since Bill Russell. And Joker put him in the torture chamber for 53 minutes

on Sunday afternoon. Saturday afternoon. What day was it? Saturday afternoon. the final four games there is as great and people be like well but that understates wimby's impact on the rest of the team's defense the nugget scored 136 points and the reason when it comes to individual player ratings individual player awards individual player history we weigh offense more heavily than defense is when an all-time great offensive player comes up against an all-time great defensive player far more often than not the all-time great offensive player gets his

lebron james in all those finals against raymond green and andre aguadalla and the warriors Put them all together. He's giving you a 33, a 33 point triple double across four finals. With the best wing defenders in the world going at him. Hell, his team didn't win. This is probably, again, this is bad podcasting. But I'm going to see if I can pull this up real quick. People talk about how much the Russell, you know,

Russell's teams dominated Wilts teams. And that is true. But has anyone ever checked what Wilts' numbers against each other? Head-to-head stats, there we go. Wilts' numbers against Russell, what they were? Because Russell's team won, and Russell's the better all-time player. And Russell's the greatest defensive player ever, certainly it's him or a team. And again, Russell dominated those matchups.

all Wilt did was average 30 points, 23 rebounds. That's all he did on 54% shooting. Russell's the greatest defensive player ever. He played Wilt a million times. They played 94 times in the regular season and 49 times in the playoffs.

So they played a hundred, they played a season and a half's worth of games against each other. Oh, wait, hold on. That is not. Gosh, darn it. I gave you guys bad information. Russell, Will, did not average 30 points and 23 rebounds against Bill Russell.

That's his career averages. Against Bill Russell, he averaged 30 points and 28 rebounds. For his career, he was a 30-point-a-game guy against the greatest defender ever. He was a 30-point-a-game guy. his field goal percentage dipped from 54 to 49. That is true. And in the playoffs, he did, you know, he dipped to 26 points and 28 rebounds a night in their 140-some-odd

games against each other. It's simply what, like, there is no answer in the, this league for great offense. There is no fix. There is no solve. There is no individual great offense will beat individual great defense every single time. Well, not every time, but in the long haul, every time. And that's what Joker reminded you where jokers, if Joker is,

feeling it you cannot stop him and that is too big for wimby i mean he's literally scooting him down pretty easily it didn't well but he was also hitting jumpers over him he's in threes over him like that's the and this is and wimby by the way he was unbelievable offensively in that game what do you have like 35 and 18 now he got dinged last night which is something to watch for he does have to play one more game to be eligible for the awards. He's playing it. And he got hit in the ribs last night and left the game.

But I just, after that game, don't want to hear that Wimby's the best player in the world. Not yet. Joker's better than him. Was that what people were saying, or was it that he was this year's MVP? A little bit of both. No, it was a little different people saying,

it was a little bit of both. And I, the gap between Wimby and Joker's defense is obviously massive, obviously. But the fact that Joker's offense, the gap between Joker and Wemby's offense, pretty damn big too. Because not only does Joker average points more efficiently, but he also is a demonstrably, exponentially, exponentially, better passer. And then there also is this element, which is there is no shutting down Joker's offense. And I don't want to say they're shutting down Wimby's defense. But every time he plays Joker, Joker puts him in the torture chamber.

Last two years, 4011 and 11 on one turnover again. And so I think we're going to get this in a round two. because the Nuggets, the other thing is with their comeback win last night over Portland, they jumped past the Lakers. The Lakers maybe are fine all of a sudden. If the goal was just to get out of round one, then the Lakers obviously just need to play the Rockets and have Luka come back. If the goal was to go on a deep playoff run,

then the Lakers falling into the thunder side of the bracket is a catastrophe. but now that it looks like Minnesota is going to be the sixth seed, the Lakers probably in the short-term goals don't hate being the four. And it does mean Denver, San Antonio. It also means man, oh man. Daniel, I have an announcement to make. If Denver wins this title, I'm giving Joker one and a half rings for it. If he goes to two and a half rings if they win this title.

If their path is Minnesota, who's beaten them in a series, the Spurs, everyone's darling this year, then the Thunder in the conference finals, and then Boston waiting for him, and they win that championship. And the Spurs be thrown in there if they were a team that were saying they haven't had any playoff success, they really count for being beaten in the postseason? It's still a 60-win team. It's still a 60-win team that you would not have home court advantage against. So it would still resonate with me. And let me say one other thing about the Spurs.

There is a chance that Wimby going from 29 minutes a night to 35 a night in the playoffs just makes them that much better, more dangerous. Like, they are going to get more a bigger percentage boost of extra minutes from the best player than any other team in the league. There is also a chance that because he's only played 29 minutes a night, Wimby wears down at the end of these playoff games. I don't know that that's going to be the case, but the added intensity plus the added minutes,

he sure seemed to wear down in that overtime game. It's just something to, consider. And, but the nuggets, they still need Peyton Watson back, but Aaron Gordon with his no-dip-threes, Jamal Murray, having maybe the best season of his career,

and Joker being Joker, they are, they are scary. Booth Mobile's proving, you don't have to overpay for great wireless. Unlock the savings with the $25 a month forever and limited plan. It's a permanent price with no contracts and no price hikes. keep your phone and your number, but you save up to $600 a year compared to the major carriers.

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Yeah, we're going to LeBron. No, the treacherous waters, the rookie of the year to bait, not so treacherous waters. This one may be a little treacherous. LeBron came under attack after he said that he didn't like playing in Milwaukee and Memphis.

What did you make of his comments and the reactions to them? All right. This is, some folks might feel that my best course of action on this particular topic would be to stay out of it. And some folks might also feel, and I'm not even saying they're necessarily wrong, that this is not necessarily conversation, this is not a conversation about or for white people,

that this was the reaction to LeBron, LeBron, the backlash was Memphis is an overwhelmingly black city and folks attacked LeBron for seemingly saying, you know, implying anti-black comments. And so the white guy with the big nose with the podcast, you know, can stay out of it. I'm not going to on this one for a number of reasons. one is as far as white folks go, I feel pretty connected to not only the black community, but to Memphis itself. I go to Memphis a couple times a year.

I like Memphis a lot. Shout out Curtis Givens. Shout out the party scene in Memphis, which once or twice a year, might be able to, you know, catch me a couple drinks in, having a good time with my wife, her, essentially her sister, and the folks who live there that we go and see. Memphis is not a perfect city. Memphis absolutely has, like a lot of cities, but in particular, you know, a particularly acute violence problem.

No getting around that. and Memphis also for NBA cities does not have the commercial infrastructure of some of the bigger markets in America. Doesn't have five-star hotels, which is what Braun was talking about, and doesn't really, while I kind of like the Memphis nightlife scene, I understand why a billionaire, might be less enthralled by it. So I, there's my, and I'm not going to give you my bona fides on whether or not I'm allowed to talk about whether a black man was saying, you know, anti-black things or not, but I feel comfortable in my standing to wade into these waters for a moment here. And what I will say, very clearly and unequivocally,

anybody seizing on LeBron's, in my opinion, not anti-black comments about Memphis, simply if we want to be critical, boogie comments about Memphis. It was essentially, bro, I stay at the four seasons and now I golf at country clubs. Ain't a lot for me to do in Memphis and Milwaukee. And trying to turn that into LeBron James. Of all people being anti-black is either an idiot or a charlatan. And if you were leaning into that, you can decide on your own. Are you an idiot or are you a charlatan?

And if you're listening to me and you're like, I don't know what charlatan means. You've answered your own question. because what LeBron James has done for more than 20 years in the public eye is embrace his community as well, if not better than any all-time elite legendary athlete of all time. He had his circle of guys, rich, Maverick, and Randy. And the moment he got put on, he, in consultation with those three guys, from his community, from his world, determined what their specific skill sets were, where they could excel, how he could help position them to, get to the tops of their fields as quickly as possible and made those people his teammates

those guys as it happens all happen to be black guys he built schools in Akron for an overwhelmingly black community and he has maybe not at ever turn and at every opportunity, but certainly more than the majority of hot, super A-list athletes and celebrities spoken up not only about political causes that mean something to him, but black political causes when that, when he felt the moment demanded it. And for folks to try to twist the fact that, that he said, like Kevin Durant and a dozen other NBA guys have said, we don't like that Hyatt in Memphis as a LeBron James don't like black people

commentary is fucking embarrassing. And it is like many things that I get oddly passionate about or spend more time on than maybe. I need to. It is because I find these little moments at times to be microcosms for bigger issues at large. And in this instance, the bigger issue at large that I find this to be a microcosm for is for giant swaths of the population. what you have established over a lifetime of actions good or bad is not dispositive when it is not that's not the right word what you have established over a lifetime of actions good or bad can become somewhat meaningless if a short internet

clip can be portrayed in the opposite way or if something you say can be portrayed in a different way. You've got a lot of folks who are outright bad actors on real life things and have a documented track record as such, but consistently say the opposite, and people just believe that's who they are. Or folks who have nothing but a track record of acting one way, but say one thing that can be twisted in a different way, and all of a sudden it's, oh my God, did you hear the shit lebron was talking about black people even though it never happened and so i think it is an embarrassment that that became a real story and if of all our athletes if lebron james his what's the word, not loyalty.

His dedication to black America and black causes can be put into question because of a offhanded comment about a three and a half star hotel in Memphis, then nobody's track record really matters on anything. And it's just what's the latest? meme and what does that tell me how I should think and that's where we get a little get a little too deep as where you start worried about post truth and a bunch of stuff that I don't I'm not gonna get in too much further now I am very excited if anyone posts this in full or at least the majority of I rambled a bit at the end

I'm gonna go soon because there's somebody honking their horn outside my window I am not that excited if somebody just post 45 seconds of this. Because there are a few standalone quotes there. And listen, I never, I never ever want to put DeMonze in a bad spot. And so whenever I talk, you know, deep stuff,

the producers tend to make it a one shot. I maybe could have used a couple, two shots of DeMonze's shaking. his head and after. See you guys on Thursday. Talk Masters then. What's right? Hell yeah. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We 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. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy,

not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 Hypocrite Wednesdays 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 Conky, 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. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.