The Herd with Colin Cowherd - What’s Wright - Nick Wright REACTS to Lakers MASSIVE Rockets win, Cade Cunningham INJURY, Giannis DONE with Bucks?

Episode Date: March 21, 2026

All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet.   Nick Wright does a deep dive on LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference playoff race after their tilt with the Houston Rockets. Nick also reacts to Cade Cunningham's injury news and its impact on the Detroit Pistons. Then, Nick discusses the latest beef between the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo as well as Maxx Crosby and the Baltimore Ravens. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Demonsay, good morning. Good to see you. Good morning. How's it going? Just full disclosure here, this is a weird day to do sports TV because no one will be watching. Like being, doing morning sports TV, which I used to do obviously pre, uh, 2022, our show was on first thing in the morning. This is a great day. But once, you know, noon Eastern hits. Not a lot of sports fans that are like, you know what, forget the tournament.

I got to, I got to, we got to see what a lot of track of the bracket. You're saying about these Stefan Diggs rumors. Like, just I, so I, you know, if there was ever a day to make a grievous error on the show, today is that. Today and tomorrow are the days. And to be totally honest, now that I think about it, I probably should have planned. that Japan trip a little better. I probably should have done it this week instead of last week when I knew Thursday and Friday nobody would be watching.

But people watch this tournament hasn't tipped off and this is on demand. Let's go straight to voicemail brought to you by our friends at Boost Mobile. Alex Caruso uses his shoe to block a shot and then seems stunned that that's not allowed. The Eagles signed Hollywood Brown and then some real news that we're going to spend a minute on. on Cade Cunningham diagnosed with a collapsed lung. Now, obviously this could

knock him out until next season. It would appear the doctors on the internet are saying it also might only knock him out for two or three weeks, like the rest of the regular season. Two major takeaways on that other than the obvious,

which is you hope Cade's okay, Yeah. Collapsed lung. I don't want to get myself in trouble here. But it seems to be, I like when I say that, the producers immediately take DeMonzee off the screen. They're like, we don't know what Nick's about to say. Let's just make sure DeMonsay is protected.

I'm not going to, but I'm not going to say anything egregious here, I hope. But it does from reading what the doctors say, It seems like this type of collapsed lung is an injury that sounds more grave and life-threatening than it actually is. Does that, like, I think blood clot is an injury that goes in the other direction. Blood clot sounds less scary than it actually is. like blood clots are major, major medical events that can have real long-term consequences. Maybe that's how it sounds for most people. That sounds scary.

Okay, so, all right, well, then I think it should. Clapsed lung, I think in this context, pro-athlete who got hit, they, you know, was monitored, they saw it. I don't think there is real long-term, real-life health implications, but there are obviously immediate immediate health implications and I think there is real implications to once he does return to court

how long it takes his fitness and endurance level to get back which makes obviously makes a ton of sense so the two things that come to mind are one the pistons already de Manze were on shakyishish

ground. They had cooled off from, you know, not that long ago. They had the best record, not in the East, in the entire league. They had passed OKC briefly. That has, you know, that is no longer the case. And they already were, I think, going to be a very unpopular one-seed pick to make the finals. As far as, you know, how much belief teams people typically have in the one seat of a conference, I think they were going to be on the lower end already. This now only exacerbates that.

Now, this also this stretch of time is going to remind folks how hard it is for the Pistons offense to operate without Cade. Yeah. And which brings me to my other point, if he is knocked out for the remainder of the regular season or even he's only played 60 games so unless he plays five more which at this point i think is a big underdog he's not going to be all-n-b-a eligible and that's a shame and that's a flaw in the new rules kate has been there Kate has not been load managing.

Cade's been awesome. If the All-M-B-A... Right, led the team. They're still probably, probably, not definitely, but probably going to be the one seed. If the All-MBA team is supposed to be something of a snapshot showing the best players from that season,

Cade Cunningham not being on that team this year. It's a damn shame. And I think it's a good... impetus for Adam Silver to potentially tweak it. Now, I don't think the 65 game rule was ever going to be really necessary when it came to MVP because MVP's always play. Like more, you didn't need a rule for people to say if you only play 60 games, we're probably not voting for you for league MVP.

But this will cost Cade a, spot on the ballot, which makes it, I think, four spots now on the MVP ballot are basically in stone if Kate is not going to be eligible. Shea, Luca, Wimby, and Joker are going to be on there. and then honestly, I think the last two spots will probably come down to two Jalins, Brown and Brunson, as a fight for that last spot. I would lean Brown heavily. And maybe Anthony Edwards could say something about that. But the other thing about the Cade injury is this.

Boston alive for the one seed now. Boston's four losses behind Detroit. Let me see real quick, who has the tiebreaker there. So Boston, one and one, one and two. Okay, so Detroit has the tiebreaker. So that's going to be hard. So there are four losses back and Detroit has the tiebreaker. So Detroit would really have to go into a swoon.

But they are alive for it. So those are my immediate takeaways from the Cade Cunningham News. That obviously is an Eastern Conference story mostly. We're going to get to the Western Conference here in just a second, but first, a reminder, like, rate, subscribe, review. Also a reminder, we're back to three shows a week. We're going to alternate or vacillate between gambling shows and mailbag shows. So, keep, again, I know I tell folks sending questions, comments,

then at the end of the show, we don't always get to them. We are culling those and creating kind of a nice archive of them to do on our mailbag shows. But tomorrow's episode will actually be a very early AFC over unders as Hard Rock has dropped, the over unders looking for next season, post-free agency. And again, you'll get an update when that posts if you are subscribed to the pod. DeManzai, let's get to the game last night. Yeah, so earlier this week, JJ said the best thing for the team is LeBron being the third highest use player. And then he went out, scored 30 on 13 of 14 shooting.

And now the Lakers have that tiebreaker with the Rockets and alone in the three seat. So. So a bunch here. One is LeBron went 13 of 13. Did you see his one missed shot? It was like a blocker, like an early steel kind of. I mean, he jumped, got hit by three guys, lost. the ball out of bounds. Didn't really get shot out.

I thought he got fouled. If it wasn't a foul, it was a turnover. Instead, they called it a missed shot. Yeah. But it was also the second straight game against the Rockets, when LeBron is dunking like it's 2010. I mean, one of these alley-oops that he caught three feet behind his head, just bananas. He's different.

As far, I mean, he's the oldest player in the, His next game, DeMonse, he ties Robert Parrish for the most games, regular season games in NFL, in NBA history. Which is honestly kind of surprising to me that he's... That he doesn't have it already? Yeah, exactly. Well, he has the most combined regular season and playoff games. He's had that for a while. He has the most playoff games ever, the most...

the most combined regular season and playoff games ever. But Robert Parrish, who was obviously way before your time, DeMonsei, he played, he played 21 years. And until his final year, which was 97, when he played 43 games, his first 20 years, DeMonsei, the fewest games he played in a season was 74. So he went 20 years of somewhere from 74 to 82 games. And then his final year, he played 43. I mean, he played on, he's one of the only guys in league history to play older than LeBron. He played until he was 43 years old, which is just unbelievable. Robert seems like he's happy for LeBron.

Yeah. he said he would go to the game. And so I have a bunch to say here. And we'll get to the Lakers piece of it in a second. I want to talk about LeBron for a second. And the biggest story with the Lakers is actually not LeBron. It's Luca. But I was out of town when LeBron passed Kareem for most baskets in NBA history.

They didn't even stop the game for a second. Like they didn't even acknowledge it. you're laughing at me but like it's the most baskets it's we're playing basketball themes kind of like might be like oh okay just for a second here let's just stop give him the basket he doesn't have to do a whole ceremony um but as i remind folks was that was that we had was that in l.a or was that i don't even remember i don't know i just know what happened but we had a nationwide countdown ticker when Steph Curry was about to get the most three point baskets. LeBron breaks the record for just baskets. And they're just like, all right, ball in.

Keep it going. Time to stop in the game for Bronn, man. And he is about to break the record for most games. And I don't know if anybody, I think 10% of the audience knows that. I mean, if Robert Parrish pulls up to the game, then they'll probably, I mean, I imagine they'd stop it. Well, that is a weird one. When do you stop it? Does as soon as the ball's tip stop?

Yeah, that's what sets the record. Like, that is a weird one. Maybe you do something pre-game in the ceremony. Yeah, exactly. But LeBron, we are numb to things like we saw last night. the this was the last night was the hold on when the the lebron dunk on jason terry hold on was either 13 years ago or 15 years ago i just got it oh sorry uh okay 13 so the lebron famous jason terry dunk was the reason i bring that up that was 13 years ago

yesterday to the day. So at that moment, LeBron was in year 11. He was in, or year 10, pardon me. He was 10 years into his career and has that historic, not historic, but memorable dunk on Jason Terry. 13 years later, he is putting on a dunk show

in a critical game late in the season against Kevin Durant the Rockets who they just beat on the road and we're like, okay, yeah. I mean, it was a really good LeBron game, but about sounds right. It's just,

he is, you know, he leads the NBA in fast break points. He is still, he's simultaneously the oldest player in the league, days from becoming you got a cherry pick a little bit when you get older

well sure but it's not it's not a ton of cherry picking it's a lot of full steam ahead he's simultaneously the oldest player in the league and still the biggest open court threatened basketball since Janus is having a tough season

it's just it's impossible to put into words and this is what I was saying the other day To get to your point about, about third highest usage. Him being the third option. Big scoring nights from LeBron being a bonus instead of a prerequisite for the Lakers winning makes them really scary. Is it, like if they win the finals this year, is it still?

like Sionara LeBron to Cleveland like at the end of the year like how do you Oh if they win the title? If they won the title. Oh, if they won the title no I think that change well I don't know. I think that probably changes things. But maybe

not. Maybe it would just be like this is perfect. I was just like considering like the time of his career like if you are going to go back to Cleveland. But so there is E.D. Right. The Lakers have

and we're going to, I'm going to disregard the rundown a bit, I apologize. We're going to stay here and then we'll probably do some Luca MVP stuff. But the Lakers right now are in a real groove that is sustainable. Now, does it mean they're guaranteed to even make it out of round? round one. Not guaranteed. West is hard. Does it mean they'll be favored in round two? No, they're not favored. They're not, they're going to be significant underdogs in round two. But it does mean that it's no longer farcical to discuss them as a conference finals team. And the, if the five-man group of, well, really the four-man group of Luca, Austin, Braun, and Marcus Smart, plus either Rui or Aiton,

those two lineups legitimately work. And did you see DeAndre Aiton's quote the other day? Might have a guy. Kind of had an epiphany. Yeah. Where he's like, I've got to lock in. I was the guy who wasn't locked in. I'm locked in.

Good for him. And hopefully you can stay that way. And so again, people are going to roll their eyes and get annoyed with me. I don't care. I believe it. And I know I'm right. This is where the things like people talk about justifiably the tax of having the greatest player of all time when he's no longer even the best player on his own team. how it can screw with certain parts of the team.

Luca deferring to him late, like what, you know, who has what role, those things. And that is a real thing, okay? That is a real tax of having the goat in year 23 on your team. The flip side of that tax is when you have the goat in year 23 on your team, and he is going all out, full horizontal Dennis Rodman dive for a loose ball. I think it resonates with DeAndre Aiton.

Like, shit, man. Bron's not playing in the exact role he wants to play. He doesn't want to be standing in the corner. You know what I mean? Watching Luke and Austin Cook. And he's, and LeBron James is doing that. I can,

I can try to thrive in my role. I really believe that. They also started Capella like the few days ago when they played the Rockets. I don't think they usually start them. The Rockets, the Lakers played the Rockets and the other game in the first game. And Capella started? And Capella started? Oh, I didn't even notice that.

Oh, that's the, I was watching the beginning of that game. I was still watching the World Baseball Classic. Yeah, Shangoon was also hurt, which played into that. Yeah. But good for a thing. I like that. No, and this is the, I. It's been like the one thing they're missing.

It's like a solid. And I have to, listen, I also, I've got to give JJ Redick credit too. Like the team is locked in more on defense. And it took someone with a relationship with LeBron. that JJ has, I think for LeBron to be cool with this third option Swiss Army knife roll. And it makes them a scary team, man. Now, the real reason they're scary right now, or the reason they're scariest is Luca. And so we will get to that in just a second.

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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 it.

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

originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers 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 note

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 Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter 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 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 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. All right, we're going to let's do this, DeMonze.

Let's talk Luca here, and then we can go back to the LeBron ownership news. But let's talk Luca. So after Luca dropped 40 against the rocket, you updated your MVP letter. How does your top five look now? Well, and I did this before the Cade news. So as of this moment, here's what it would be. But it looks like Kate, unfortunately, is going to fall out of eligibility. Right now, the MVP of the league is Shea.

And it would, if Shea hits the 65 game mark, which I think he's seven games away from, he's going to be league MVP. And I want to be clear. I'm totally fine with that. What are you laughing about? Tell me, no, no. SGA is never, I don't normally like the guy. Like, I don't like dislike him personally, but his basket, like, I'm cool off of that. You're not a, you're not a fan of his style.

I want to let you know. I haven't checked in on you on this in a while. Are you, are you bothered by mean comments on the internet? Am I bothered by them? No. Like, if you get flooded with mentions, like, will it mess with you up your day? Oh, no, no, no, no. I've seen, like, people have come to me.

couple times. I've seen it. Okay. Well, you say that you have underestimated the venom and the vitriol of OKC basketball fans. I think it's because it's the only pro sports team there and they're very, very protective. So I just want everybody to know at DeMontse Bird, Bird with a Y. And so, listen, Shay, they have the best record in basketball. He scores 20 literally every night, but average is 30. And I don't think anyone else on his team this year, any other individual guy, has been exception.

J. Dub has been injured a bunch. Chet is great defensively, but is, you know, and is very, Chet's a very good player, but hasn't like ascended the way people maybe thought he would. Now, let me make it clear. They have an unbelievable roster. They have the best evens in basketball. Shit, they held the nets to 24 points in the first half yesterday. 24 in the half.

That was 60 to 24 and half. So I'm not acting like he doesn't have an awesome team, but best record in the league, 30 plus points, efficient, good defensively. That's a deserving back-to-back MVP, okay? After Shea, at this point, if we are being fair, it is either Luca or Wimby. Joker has fallen. Joker is four, and I would have Cade 5.

But again, Cade's probably not going to be eligible. And the Luca, everyone knows the Wimby MVP. case and it's a great case. He's the best defensive player in the league. He's a very good offensive player. They have the second best record in the West and the second best record in all of basketball. It's a great case.

And if you want to say Wimby is two, so be it. The case for Luca, though, has been understated all year. Luca is averaging one of the 10 months. most points per game this season of anyone this century. Post Jordan, this is a top 10 scoring season. Kobe had a season where he scored more. Harden had a season or two where he scored more. And shit, that might be the list.

Like, hold on. I'm going to, and Luke obviously does more than just score, but I'm going to, you know what I'm going to check this real quick I should have done this before but 33 points per game here are here is the full list of seasons this century or I'll just do post Jordan where someone scored more than Luca this year imbid by a tenth of a point three years ago and then in, oh, Luca himself two years ago.

Harden, as I mentioned, six years ago, Kobe in 06, Hardin in 19, and that's your list. So this post-Jordan, the only people to average more points per game in a season than Luca's averaging right now is Embeded twice and Kobe one time. When you add to that, that he's giving you eight rebounds, eight and a half assists, the Lakers are the three seed, he's shooting 48 from the floor and 37 from three. They're going to win 50 games. And he has these moments, these games like last night, where he just rips people's throats out. Like the behind.

Hind is back through traffic lob to Aiton, followed by splitting another double team Lobbed to Braun, followed by the reverse pivot step back three, followed by the absolute dagger, double step back three to end the game. He's just unbelievable. And all year, most of the conversation was about what's wrong with him. About why he might not win a title ever. Not forget this year, ever. And he is just a legendary offensive player who, as of late, has cleaned up the defense a bit.

And, I mean, on this winning streak, DeMonze, let me go to it. So they've won seven in a row, including. games against really good teams. And here is Lucas' stat lines on the winning streak. 44, 9, and 5. 35, 8, and 4. 31, 11, and 11.

51, 10, and 9. 30, 11, and 13. 36, 6, and 4. And then last night, 40, 9. and 10. They have beaten on this winning streak. The Knicks, the Wolves, the Nuggets, the Rockets, the Rockets, plus Pacers Bulls.

He has a legitimate, and again, two weeks ago, I think people thought he wasn't even first team all NBA. And here is what I will say about Luca's attitude. because last night he was mother effing the fans. Luca is at his greatest when he is turning the vitriol

and I think deep personal and intense hatred he has for the officials to the fans and other players when he pivots it from I'm being persecuted

to I'm going to make you cry and just does like what he did to Devin Booker in that series against the Sons. No, because he's in a bad headspace when he's arguing with the refs. It's like I don't, some players, you know, it's cool when they're angry, but I don't think it works for him. When he's into it with the refs, he's not having a good game. I agree with you. And I'll say something else that I really think has helped him. being one tech away from a suspension. For real.

That'll probably do it. He knows. He doesn't. Like he's at 15. Now, I honestly think, just so it kind of reset the clock a bit, it would have been kind of smart.

If with like 30 seconds left last night, he would have walked up to a ref and just been like, F, you, F and F to get, because he's going to sit to, night no matter what i think he's going to sit either on a back-to-back in miami they got there at five in the morning just be like you know what hey by i'm not going to play so just i'll just take my suspension here um but that's you know five d chess i'm wanting him to play has anybody ever got a tech for screaming at the fans screaming at the fans you know i think i feel like that

happened recently and somebody talked about it hold on tech for screaming at fans NBA. Oh, it was Luca. No, no, no. It was, remember, hold on. Remember last year against OKC at the very end of the regular season in the fourth quarter, Luca screamed at a fan and the ref thought he was screaming at him and threw him out. Oh, okay.

They ejected him. Like that was the But did it get resolved or he just stayed ejected? No, yeah, it just stayed ejected. And it was like a tie game with six minutes left. I feel like that might have been Easter Sunday. For some reason, I was, I feel like I was at, let me see if that was Easter Sunday.

Because I feel like I was at my mom's house when this happened. Easter Sunday last year? When was Easter Sunday? Easter Sunday last year, no way to tell April 20th this looks like it happened April 8th so I'm not even close to right but regardless

Luca MVP I mean he's well listen I don't think he's going to win MVP and I'm being fair right now I wouldn't vote for him for MVP but he's got to be first team all NBA he's got to be top three on your ballot

and Lakers spur round two, here's the awesome thing about a potential Lakers Spurs round two series from Wimby's perspective. Either way, it's an amazing opening-ish chapter in the story of Victor Wendeman Yama's playoff career. Either, and this is more about the LeBron piece than the Luca piece, but either in his first ever playoff run. he runs into 40 plus year old goat and beats him and it's a passing of the torch. Or the first guy ever to beat him in a playoff series is maybe, like there is a non-zero chance that Wimby's first ever series defeat.

and LeBron's final series win are the same moment. Yep. Like that, and there's a non-zero chance that LeBron's final playoff series defeat comes at the hands of Wembe. Either way, it's awesome. Like, either way, it's a really cool potential moment. And it looks like that's the round two, going to get because and this is the point I was trying to make on Twitter, but I'll just make again here

quickly. It now would be stunning, De Manzay, if the Lakers don't get the three seed. So they now have the tiebreaker with Minnesota, Houston, and Denver. They also are at 25 losses while Minnesota and Houston are at 27. Denver is at 28. They also have. five games remaining against tankers in Brooklyn, Utah, Indiana, Dallas, and what's the one other team I'm forgetting? Washington. Washington. So if they win those five games against tankers, that puts them at 49 wins. they then in their remaining eight games, which is Miami, tonight, they're going to lose.

Orlando, Detroit, with no Kade, Cleveland, OKC, OKC again, Golden State Phoenix. In those eight games, DeMonse, if they just go two and six, they're at 51 wins, again, two and six, which they should be able to do better, but say they just go two and six, They're at 51 wins, which would mean Minnesota has to go nine and, what would that be? Nine and three the rest of the way. And Anthony Edwards out a couple weeks. Houston would have to go 11 and three the rest of the way. And Denver would have to go 10 and two the rest of the way.

Like it's just not happening. And so, yeah, I mean, you have to like their position. in that regard. All right, let's talk a little LeBron ownership stuff quickly before we move on to other things. So the athletic reporter that Finway Sports Group is not chasing an NBA expansion team, but why is it in the NBA's best interest in your opinion that LeBron ends up owning one? Well, so here's the thing. It's not just that Finway Sports Group said they're not pursuing an NBA team.

an expansion team. It's that Braun was asked directly last night, are you still interested? And he said the real news came late last night in the locker room. LeBron was asked about this. Are you still interested? And he said, no, not at all. And the reporters seemed shocked. And that was all he said on it.

I'm stunned by this. if I'm being totally honest, this is probably something that I should run down what's happening here. I'm not a reporter, but this is a story that I could probably get more info on. And so I will briefly put on my reporting hat over the next few weeks and try to bring you guys real info on what has changed. because LeBron has been adamant for years that he wants to own a team. And for him to just be like, no, say it again. Is it the price tag maybe?

The price tag can't help. But I think he would be able to come up with the money. Not himself, but like, you know what I mean? That he could get involved with a group that has it. So I think this is stunning. And I think that this is real news. And I think that it's not that the NBA needs LeBron to own a team. Pardon me, when he's done.

It is that it would be very good for the league if LeBron owned a team. And I think that it's in Adam Silver. interest to see if there's a way to get LeBron to change his mind on this. It is, and I couldn't, I saw the news that Benway Sports Group's not pursuing an NBA expansion team, and that was noteworthy. But the real noteworthy piece of this to me is LeBron flatly saying, not at all, when asked if he's still interested. And I will do my best to figure out what changed here.

And again, I saw this when I woke up this morning. I didn't watch the, oh, you did? You'll talk to your guys too. Talk to my guys to me. Okay, good. I appreciate that. Yeah. You made some connections at that clutch party.

Yeah. Yeah. Works of phones, buddy. We can have a race. All right. Before we get to Janus, new sponsor, today's episode is sponsored by Ethos. Tough topic. But you need to be ready for anything in life and making sure you have a plan for your family

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That's WRIGHT. That's ethos.com slash right. WR.I.G.H.T. Application times and rates may vary. 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 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 where people could call in and say, Hey Jonas, and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Dave. 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, pal. Let's talk Janus here. So we know the state of the bucks right now. They are not doing too great.

And they want to shut Yonis down, but Yonis is not want to be shut down. He wants to finish out the season. Do you think this is the move of somebody that wants to stay or somebody that wants to leave? Maybe buff the value a little bit. I actually think this is a sign that he's leaving. And the reason for that is twofold. One is, if he's leaving, he doesn't really care like, oh, if we lose one more game, we have 2% better chance of improving our lottery odds, right?

What does it matter to him? Right. But more importantly is this, if he's leaving, I think Janus wants to have an unofficial goodbye to the fans, a final home game that he plays. You understand what I mean? Not just like, oh, we shut down for the year, and that's that.

You know, was playing in the game against the Pacers, got hurt, and now he's done. And they have home games remaining against the Spurs, Clippers, Mabs. they're then on the road in Houston. They then are home against Boston, home against Memphis, and then one of the saddest games on the NBA calendar, Game 81, the Bucks who won a tank against the Brooklyn Nets,

who just scored 24 points in the first half. So I, Yonis should get at least one more home game against, the, whomever, but in Milwaukee as a salute and as a goodbye. And I think that that would, I think that's why he wants to play. I don't know that. But I also, de Monse, think at this point, it's just as over as anything could be. Like, that's got to, this has to be the end. Go ahead.

Yeah. I mean, I, I don't think he's playing Milwaukee next year. But you think if Milwaukee keeps beefing with Yannis, he'll request a trade or demand a destination. And that possibly hurt his trade value? Well, if he demands a specific destination, that certainly hurts his trade value. They obviously don't have to do that. And I, this is. the Bucks did everything

they they they push chips into the middle of the table to win a title with Yannis and it worked they then pushed more chips in the middle of the table to try to extend that window with the dame trade

they then to continue torturing this metaphor after going bust so let me let me start this analogy over say it again The honest co-signed all those moves, though. Oh, yeah, of course.

This is, like, responsible for where they're at right now. Well, there's obviously orders. He can't make a move himself. No, to know, but he co-signed it for sure. But they also, you know, Dame Torres-Aquillies, like, there's someone, there's some bad luck. They didn't want to admit it was over. And the last, you know, they, I glossed over some of the stuff.

So they trade for Drew Holiday. win a title. They then are the favorites to win the title again, Middleton gets hurt. They then are right there supposed to be in the mix. Yannis gets hurt or falls on his back early in that series. And it's okay. And so now they fire Bud. They bring in Adrian Griffin. They're 30 and 13 with Adrian Griffin. They fire him. They bring in Doc. They trade for Dame. Dame tears his Achilles. they then stretch Dame and sign Miles Turner, which if I was going to continue the going all-in analogy, that's where you see the guy at the poker table who has bought in three times and lost. And all of a sudden, you're like, is he taking his shoe off?

And the guy takes his boot off, reaches into his sock. And there's a sweaty $100 bill in there. That's Miles Turner. And he puts that on the table. Yeah, that's the dame stretch. Which, by the way, we've all seen at a card table done and you're like, that was that guy's gas money. And by the way, when I say we've all seen it done, hand up. I've done that.

I've had my case money in a sock that I reached into at the table and got. I've had my case money locked in my car that was like a 15 minute walk from the poker room. And I'm like, all right, I'm leaving it. There's no way. Get you to. No, man. No, I mean, listen, it's, uh, there is an unbelievable, unbelievable gambling story that Bobby Baldwin told me of a guy who just. lost and lost and lost thousands and thousands like real money and then was had a hundred

dollars left and didn't live in Vegas was like visiting this you know 50 years ago though um and that hundred dollars was how he was going to drive back to wherever he was going and i don't know if it was bobby himself or someone else was like all right i'll walk you to your car and And as they get to the car, he's the guy who walked this poor, this poor lose guy who lost all his money. All he left was 100 bucks to his car said to him like, hey, man, you know, rough night. I'll bet you you're 100 bucks. I can throw this ace, this playing card, across the street. like give you an easy win

and that's an impossibility anybody that's ever seen you know it's just gonna flutter in the wind or whatever and the guy's like okay sure I guess the guy grabs the ace flicks it like a frisbee because it was actually

a fake card that was metal across street takes the guy's last hundred bucks leaves in the parking lot and everybody's like he comes back into the poker room the guy's like what did you he tells story.

I was like, why did you do that? He's like, listen, man, that guy planned to lose all his money, wanted to lose all his money, and I was making sure he lost all his money. Real brutal stuff, man. It's really terrible. It's really, truly terrible.

Like that, he might have ruined that guy's life. And he has, correct. And he told that story, when Bobby told that story, dying laughing. Bobby's probably got $100 million and is dying laughing about taking this guy's last hundred bucks

40 years ago. I'm just so bad. All right, let's talk a little Max Crosby here quickly. Yeah, so some weird stuff with my team and Max Crosby. It seems like when he went in for the physical, the GM and the head coach weren't even in the building.

This situation just keeps seeming fish here and fish here. So here's the deal. I think the Max Crosby trade would have been bad business. I would rather have Trey Hendrickson and two first round picks than Max Crosby. I also, when the news initially broke, I believed the Ravens. They saw something very scary on that physical. and they said, we can't do this.

And I believed that. I'm not going to say I no longer believe it, but I'm starting to have doubts. I cannot believe that Eric DeCosta and Jesse Mentor did not greet Max Crosby at the door when he got to the Ravens facility. that is stunning to me i'm a little surprised de monse they didn't fly him private first of all right so here's here is what i have gathered about the flight of Vegas to Baltimore there are two airlines

that fly non-stop Vegas to Baltimore spirit and southwest No disrespect to either of those airlines. I used to fly Southwest L.A. to Houston every weekend, right? And while I haven't flown much on Spirit, I've certainly bought plenty of plane tickets for my children to fly on Spirit, and it seems like it's a fine operation. However, they don't, neither of those airlines has a first class. Yeah. And so if you want to fly nonstop Vegas to Baltimore, there's no first class option. So again, the assumption would be that the Ravens would spend the 30 grand to charter a private plane.

Again, 30 grand is a ton of money for a person. Yeah. It shouldn't be for a person. professional football team, the chiefs flew a Lowy Gilman private to come from Baltimore to KC to come, or wherever he was, to come sign. The Ravens chose not to do that. So they flew him first class to D.C. And then drove him two hours.

Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. So think about this. You have just traded two first round picks for a player who's about to become the second highest paid player in the history of your team. You know he had knee surgery two months ago. You fly him, you don't fly him private. You fly him when you then know he's going to then after a five-hour flight,

going to have a two-hour car ride, and then you don't meet him at the door? When I went to L.A. NBA All-Star weekend and came on the Fox lot to do Coward Show. My boss Witt met me at the door. It's me. I've worked there 10 years. I'm just not there that often. Like,

it is, so that, that, all of that was to me, noteworthy. Well, it just made me wonder to Monzae, were they,

and the most important part of that that I left out, he had not yet had his physical. so it makes me wonder were they having second thoughts before he even got there and then used the physical as an out

I'm not accusing them of that I don't even know if I'm right now at 51% I think that's what happened more likely than not but it is weird that the head coach who's a new head coach, defensive guy,

this is your big acquisition, and the GM, it's the biggest trade you've ever made, aren't there to greet him and don't see him for hours? He's in the facility for hours. He's like asking the secretary. He's like, hey, what's the code to the bathroom?

Like, what do I do? Like, it's just, that's weird, man. You feel like, you probably want to do your back. best to, you know, make, make that. So, oh, this is a good point by Daniel. Daniel adds that the Ravens did a really good job on that NFLPA report card thing. Yeah.

They are considered a first class organization, which makes this even more odd. All right. not a first-class organization, the Browns. We'll get to them in a second, but first, Boost Mobile is proving you don't have to overpay for great wireless. Unlock the savings with $20 a month forever, unlimited plan. Permanent price with no contracts and no price hikes. You can keep your phone and your number,

but you save up to $600 a year compared to the major carrier. Stop overpaying and switch to a fair price at boostmobile.com based on average annual single-line payment of $8.000. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile customers compared to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan as of January 2026 for full offers. For full offer details, pardon me, visit boostmobile.com. All right, DeMonte, real quick, let's get to this Brown's rule change proposal. Rule change proposal from the Browns, they want to be able to trade draft picks up to five years in the future. Of course, coming from Cleveland.

this this is your buddy who has filed for bankruptcy over payday loans and now pays for doordash chipotle on clarna or whatever those those the little loaned micro loans you can get for installments right install right that guy saying, you know, the government's banking regulations are far too on us consumers. Like, no, bro. They're guardrails because you're right now, you're on Amazon buying a video game and clicking the button to pay for it over the next 18 months. It's your buddy who, who you know, were.

works 18 hours a week and all of a sudden they pull up to your house in a three series BMW and you're like, huh? And they're like, you're not going to believe it. I'm only paying $280 a month. You're like, really? How many months? And at first they don't know. And then they're like, let me check. And they're like, 108 months? Is that a lot? Like, you get a nine-year car loan? The reason the NFL doesn't allow you to trade draft picks more than three years in the future is to save teams from themselves. And teams need to be saved from themselves.

And so I do not support this rule change. In theory, it's very Darwinian, let the fittest survive. But pro sports are a bit of a communistic enterprise anyway or socialistic enterprise anyway. And we don't need teams being able to take second and third mortgages out. Particularly, go ahead. No, I'm sorry, go ahead. I just, it is, now you can say ownership can veto trades, I get that, but GMs, if a GM is on the hot seat, the hell does he care about what five years from now looks like? Like, you should be able to, in less than half a decade, dig yourself out of a whole of a horrible general manager.

so I do not I do not like this rule change idea at all. Also, last note, little sports media note, whoever leaked the WMBA CBA details to Shams instead of to some of the women who were out there everyday reporting on that story, shame on you. Have some professional courtesy for the people that were grinding, ending on that beat and let one of them break the story they deserve to break rather than

curry a small favor with Shams. I don't blame Shams. Listen, he's a reporter. He got the story. You know, maybe in a perfect world, he would have then fed it to one of his colleagues who had been covering it, but that's probably asking too much. I didn't love that. All right, we're going to save questions for the mailbag.

We have some great ones coming in, and we appreciate that. Reminder everybody, like, rate, subscribe, review to the show. Also, a reminder, tomorrow we will have the AFC way too early, not in stone, unofficial, over-under liens coming up. So that'll be, you know, in your feeds tomorrow if you are subscribed. Huge thanks to Hard Rock Bet, Boost, and Ethos. huge thanks to the volume and the blue duck sign up if we got a few minutes more sign up for the volumes bracket contest bracket dot the volume dot com with hard rock bet talk to you guys talk to you guys the jonas brothers i'm joe i'm kevin and i'm nick and guess what we created our own podcast called hey jonas we invented a podcast

well we didn't invent it we just contributed to it we're the first people to do podcasts we get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter 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. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season, and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.

If we didn't talk ever again, I was partying. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to him, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they're hit? are. I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to deep cover the family man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.