August 14, 2026 • 41 mins
Wednesday, Russell Westbrook posted a video. Three and a half minutes. Michael B. Jordan narrating. And a caption that I have not been able to put down since I read it: “Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already watched the end. You had to be there. And now it’s over.
Thoughts on former WNBA coach of the year Stephanie White's comments about defending her players.
Monday at noon Eastern, the Associated Press releases its preseason Top Twenty-Five.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
All right, welcome into hour three of this show. It's
Plexico Burrus. I'm LeVar Arrington. As you heard, Colin is
out for the day. But we have carried you for
two hours. Now we're going to carry you for one more.
We got some basketball topics this hour, and it's well,
(00:47):
it's basketball heavy, it's it's retirement, it's it's drama, it's
it's beef, it's all of those things. But plex let's
start right here. Wednesday, Russell Westbrook he posted a video
three and a half minutes. It had Michael B.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Jordan.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
You know, you know Creed, you know, the guy played
the twins in the movie where you know Cats was
getting chewed up in all centers.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
And well the caption that I have not been able
to put down since I read it is sometimes you
don't even know when you've already watched the end. You
had to be there and now it's over.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
And listen.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Eighteen years, seven teams and MVP, nine All Star teams,
nine All NBA teams, two hundred and nine triple doubles,
two one hundred and nine triple doubles. I mean, you
wrap your head around that if you want to. The
(01:48):
most anybody has ever had, and it isn't even close.
He passed Oscar Robertson's record, and the record had been
standing since nineteen seventy four. Were fifth all time and
assists fourteenth all time in points, thirteen hundred and one
games of a man running through a wall every single
(02:10):
night like AI. He had that AI energy, and he
had offers minimum offers from Sacramento and Washington. Sacramento wanted
him to back up a rookie. He said no, thank
you and walked out on his own terms. Here's honest part,
the exact thing that made Russell Westbrook a record holder,
(02:33):
in the exact thing that made him hard to build around.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Both of those are.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
True at the same time, and if you can only
hold one of them, you never understood them. Nobody ever
played harder and nobody will ever debate him being a
first ballot Hall of Famer, that is Russell Westbrook. He
announced his retirement Plex Memories thoughts was the first that
(03:00):
came to mind when you saw that he was retiring.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
I mean, you know, obviously, man, I'm a big basketball fan,
and you know, I've been watching Russell Westbrook for almost
the last two decades, going to I believe it was
u C l A, and you know, going to OKC
and you know, the first real Big three with him,
Kevin Durant and James Harden and a walking trip with
(03:28):
Double Man every single night. You know, he was he
was giving his all, getting on the floor for loose
loose balls and and exciting and transition, you know, Duncan
running full speed.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Man.
Speaker 6 (03:42):
You just appreciated the effort that he gave on a
ninety ninth basis. And one of the things I love about,
you know, Russell Russell Westbrook man, is that it's like
you said, he had he had opportunities to go play
on other teams, and he said to himself, man, it's
been a seventeen eighteen year career. I won an MVP.
(04:03):
He did not, you know, win a championship. But when
you win an MVP in the league, that says that
you are the best player in the world. And his
resume speaks for himself. He had one of the most
unique skill sets of a point guard that we've seen.
I believe he's a top five point guard of all time,
and he was able to leave the game on his
(04:23):
own terms. You won't see him going from team to
team chasing championships, laboring up, up and down the basketball court.
And we're all going to remember Russell Rustbrook for the
way that he played when he before he retired. And
I think that's the most beautiful thing about it is
that he got to leave out on his own terms,
(04:45):
and he looked hisself in the mirror and said, you
know what, this is the end. I've done everything that
I've wanted to in this game of basketball, and now
it's time for me to turn the page.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
I look at the the draft that he was in
and it's interesting because you see guys like, you know,
Blake Griffin or James Harden, you know, or you know
guys like Steph Curry, Lamar DeRozan, Drew Holliday, Like there's
(05:21):
so many amazing ballplayers that was in Westbrook's draft class,
and it made me start wondering. First of all, it
made me start thinking that I'm getting old because we're uh.
But then I started wondering to myself, It's like, man,
where you know, where's the NBA heading? Because now we
(05:43):
are getting to that that final threshold where guys like
oh Russell Westbrook is going to retire, a guy like
Lebron James is going to retire. You know, Kevin Durant,
he may be getting close to the days where it's
gonna happen. He may retire. I just saw Blake Griffin
not too long ago. You know, some plays on TJ's
(06:06):
team right like retire, Like we're.
Speaker 6 (06:09):
Talking about like Hall of Fame, bona fide NBA superstars
you just.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Name, and they're and they're coming to an end or
already having entered into retirement and have left the game.
I asked the question, and I state those those those
facts because I'm curious, plex where does is the NBA
(06:35):
able Have they reloaded with enough name worthy, name recognizable
talent to continue to move forward and try to build
and create some of the popularity that it had with
those names that I mentioned and even like the bigger names,
even more so than that from an era removed from
(06:56):
that with the Allen Iversons, with the Patrick Ewings and
the King Elijah One's and the Michael Jordan's and all
of those names. You know, it's this league trending in
the right direction with the identities of the players that
are replacing these juggernaut personalities and brands that have come.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Through the league.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
I mean, our era of basketball man man has been
an absolute treat because everybody that you name their NBA
Hall of Famous, like there are normal Kevin Durance, there
are no more Lebron James and Chris Paul's and James
Harden's and of those guys Steph Curvey, those guys are
like once in a lifetime, you know, generational basketball players.
(07:40):
And you look at the NBA game now, it has
you know, you know, changed so much over the past decade.
You can't sit here and say that you know the
Cooper Flag and Dylan Harper and and and wom been
young but like these guys, those three guys are going
to be like you know, the guys that I just
(08:02):
mentioned that you could turn on the TV and watch
these guys like carry the league on Saturday and Sunday.
So who are going to beat those guys? You know
in the next five to ten year period that when
we sit down to watch NBA baseball or basketball, who
are going to be the faces of this league? Like,
we don't know, we can't tell, but you knew when
(08:24):
you saw a Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant and a
Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James when they were rookies, you
knew right away that these young men were going to
be special. Like how many guys that are playing right
now in the last you know, two or three years,
that have been drafted that we are going to be
able to say that about. I don't think as many,
(08:47):
to be honest with you, I think the NBA has
a headed in a good direction. But from a face
of the league, we can all sit here and say
it's probably going to be Winby and Cooper Flag, But
who want to be the other guys to step up
and take over this league?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Well, you got Nicola Jokic out there, you got Luka
Doncic out there, you got the Greek freak out there
and onto the Komba.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
They're get them.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
They are getting older. You got Shake Gilgis He's still
he's still young. You got ant Man. Ant Man is
one of them throwback dudes that I love to watch,
just his energy. He reminds me of the players like
Dominique Wilkins and MJ from back in the day.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
You got Tatum, and you.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Mentioned wim Bin Yama, and you got Jaylen Brown and
you got you got you know, you got some players.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
You know we I didn't throw out.
Speaker 6 (09:34):
But these guys are already I think guys are already
in double digit seasons. You don't even realize that.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
But they're young. They're still kind of.
Speaker 6 (09:41):
You ten years playing as young.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Yet they're still fairly young.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
And and NBA terms because they come out so early.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
You got to take probably like three or four years
off of off of it and say, Okay, if if
you're in in double digit years, like if you're in
year ten, but you came out of college after what
or didn't even go to college, you subtract four years,
so really like six years, like a six year career
(10:10):
might really be like a three year career if you
take off the idea that they didn't go to college
for for what was like how old is Victor winbin
Yama right now?
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Right like I think he's nineteen.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
You see what I'm saying now? And so in ten
ten years, ten years time. He was born in two
thousand and one, so he's what twenty five? Yeah, he's
twenty five. No, that's Anthony Edwards. That's Anthony Edwards. That's
twenty five. My bad, My bad, Victor winbin Yama. I
didn't hit Win bin Yama.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
He's twenty two. He was borenty two.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
There you go, that's not old. There.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
They're not old, not at all. I'm gonna just say
they're not They're not too old to be those guys.
So I'll just find myself curious as to you know,
John Morant again I brought up. I feel like he
was heading in that direction of being in that conversation.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
He reminds me.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Of like a Russell Westbrook with his explosiveness and his
ability to dish the ball and create create scoring space
and all those things. But with that being said, there's
going to come a time when Steph Curry is going
to retire. Is going to be a time when the
Dennis Rodman of our era, do you know the Spartan himself.
(11:26):
Draymond is going to retire. Draymond Green is going to retire.
You're going to see Lebron James, He's going to retire.
I just my biggest question, I just wonder can the NBA, Yeah,
can they move on with I know they always say,
you know that in football, they say the shield is
what's most important. And you realize that that the shield
is important to the health of the league. You can
(11:47):
replace when a guy like Peyton Manning leaves or a
guy like Tom Brady leaves the game.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
I just don't know.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
If I don't know that the game sustained after the
era with Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson's
and James Worthy, I don't know that the NBA ever
recovered from those guys leaving the league.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
I'm sure, I'm dang sure.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
I ain't convinced that that this group of guys can
carry it like well. I mean, you had guys like
Shaq and Kobe and Vince Carter that that actually did
pretty good jobs. But I just don't think that the
NBA was ever quite the same after after that era
of time, and for one reason or another, I don't
know but in just my opinion. But but plex, I
(12:36):
just think the NBA is going to have to and
not just with Wimbin Yama. They're going to have to
find players that create what we saw with.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
It's not fine, They're gonna have to.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
They're gonna have to. You're going to have to find uh,
you're gonna have to find lineups for teams that are
matching what you created. And okay, see, you're gonna have
to find lineups of basketball players, like when you look
at this this New York Knicks team, not just one
where you know the names of the players that are
on the starting five, not just one player. You're going
(13:18):
to need more than just one marquee player. And I
think that that's the key, is the actual trying to
figure out what are the elements that you can create
now in today's you know, the climate of what the
NBA is now with free agency, everything is so much
more quicker and less loyalty and less less having to
stay you know, married to something. How do you find
(13:42):
those elements of buy into your franchises if the players
are leaving so quickly and now you got the old
guard they're now retiring, but not to get off of
the topic plex and we got to go go take
a break. But shouts out to Russell Wilson or Russell
Westbrook excuse for being the type of player man. He
(14:02):
gave it his all, He put his heart into it.
And you know what, that's all you could really say
is at the end of the day, if you put
your whole heart into it and put your back into
it to try to make it happen. I mean, you
could walk away with your head held high.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
The best compliment you can receive.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Indeed, indeed, that's plexa coo burst on LeVar Arrington. That
is the first segment of the Herd. Colin is out today.
But you know what, that's all right, we're gonna carry
you for well, we'll say three more segments. Now we
get you three more segments, we're gonna take a quick breaking.
On the other side of that break, well, we're gonna
continue the conversation in the basketball arena. But it's not
(14:37):
quite as clean. It's a little messy. In fact, it's
a tad bit of drama and it has to do
with the w NBA. Yeah, I know, but we're gonna
touch on it. It's pretty loud right now, it's been
a lowed week for the WNBA, and we're gonna touch
on that. On the other side, you're listening to The Herd.
This is Fox Sports Radio.
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Can check all of those out on the eye, Heart
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Speaker 3 (16:08):
All right, welcome back into the show. This is the
Hurd's Plex. Cooe Burrs, I'm LeVar Arrington. Yeah, we're gonna transition.
We're gonna stay basketball, but we're gonna go WNBA.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
And Well.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
On Tuesday night in Indianapolis, Stephanie White, Coach of the
Year in twenty twenty three, stood out a podium for
two and a half minutes, pound at the table and well,
she had this to.
Speaker 8 (16:37):
Say, I take personally any suggestions that I don't one
hundred percent always have my players back.
Speaker 9 (16:43):
I ride with them ten toes down all the time,
all the time.
Speaker 8 (16:47):
They know that it's a shame that we can't have
an opportunity to talk about.
Speaker 9 (16:52):
What great basketball they're playing because they are playing.
Speaker 8 (16:57):
The reality is with me, I will always lead with love,
I will always lead with grace, I will always lead
with humility, and I will always lead with integrity.
Speaker 9 (17:11):
Doesn't mean I'll always get it right. I'm also human.
Speaker 8 (17:16):
The hate, the fear mongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that's
trying to hijack.
Speaker 9 (17:21):
Our league will not win. It won't win.
Speaker 8 (17:25):
We are united, we are connected, we will not be divided.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
She left up out it at presser Plexico without having
answered not one question.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
She was turned up.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
She was she was feeling a certain type of way
at first blush at first glance of it. Again to
the to the audience, you have a daughter that is
one of the top high school prospects in the country,
and she's I mean, she's an amazing basketball player, and
this is the environment that she's on a collision course
(18:07):
to be in when you look at the current state
of the w NBA and everything that's going on. Let's
just start the conversation off for you as a father.
Let's not go with sports analysts right now. Put your
daddy cap on. Are you concerned? Are you are you are?
(18:28):
Are you excited that she's good enough where she's going
to have the opportunity to potentially make it to the
w NBA. Like, what are the thoughts that come in
your mind when you look at all of these reports
that are are coming out surrounding some of what seemingly
is like almost like a culture war that's taking place
(18:49):
at the w NBA level.
Speaker 6 (18:52):
You know, obviously I've seen the game basically transcend within
the last you know, five years, and all of us
been basically circle behind Caitlin Clark and for myself to
you know, sit sit in, you know, on the stands
weekend and week out. I love with a game of
(19:13):
basketball for these young ladies aheaded. I mean, I really do.
It's competitive that that that they're passionate about, you know,
their play. Uh, they're very prideful and you know, they
go out and they play just as hard as the
men do. And I love where it's at. I love
(19:34):
to be a part of it. I honestly think it's
only going to continue to get better in the years
to come. But there has to be somebody really has
to like take this thing by the horns and really
get get a get a complete understanding of of of
what this game is all about. It's not black or white, Uh,
(19:56):
you know, it's it's about a lot of young women
like pouring their heart out into the sport. And you know,
I saw this Stephanie White thing, and I'm trying. I'm
saying to myself, why would I I coach not support
their players. And you can tell by the way you know,
she she let those purls out to the media that
she's very passionate about, you know, the ways that she
(20:18):
cares for her players, and I believe it. But it's
like she said, it's it's kind of sad, like the
Lieutenant governor of Indiana is like calling for her to
be fired for not supporting a player. And just like
she said, we're not talking about basketball. We're talking about
other things that takes away from the basketball game. And
that's unfortunate. But I think that moving forward, it's good.
(20:38):
At the end of the day, it's going to be
very healthy for the game moving forward.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
You know, I asked myself ten questions plex and if
you want to chime in on it, you're certainly welcome
to our answer, and then I'll stop and let you
have it. But I, as I looked at this scenario,
instead of getting caught up into so many narratives that
could end up falling off of the tracks or could
(21:04):
you know, take you off into the deep end, It's
always like some people try to go so doom and
gloom that you lose you lose the theme, right, So
I just like start writing out questions and answering them
to give myself clearity on such what would be seemingly
a complex way of approaching a professional category, and the
(21:29):
category being women's you know.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Pro basketball.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
So here's the first question I asked myself, right I've
wrote it down. Is the WNBA actually in trouble or
is this simply what a rival looks like for a league?
No one used to really argue about We talked so
glowingly about the Sheryls swoops is in the Teresa Witherspoons
(21:57):
and all of the Lisa Leslie's, But it was like,
this is where they're at. They're in this space, Keep
them in that space. And it was just kind of
like it wasn't mainstream. It just just didn't. It was
not as like in your face as it is right now.
So I asked, answer my question. I answer my question,
(22:19):
and I came to the conclusion, this isn't as bad
as it sounds. What it is is we live in
an opportunistic society. And when you live in an opportunistic society,
what do people in the society do? They try to
take advantage of the opportunity. So it says to me
that the WNBA is not only not in a bad spot,
(22:41):
but they're actually trending in the right direction because you're
getting hate. And I'll be the first one to tell you,
when you have success, the first thing that you breed
is haters and they come outside for some reason. Supporters
will come out and they will support, but they're their
voices don't seem to come across as loudly as a
(23:05):
hater's does. So when you have a hater hating, you
should be happy that they're out here hating on you,
because that means you're doing something that is not only
worth paying attention to, but I created a feeling and
an emotion connected to it, and I'm using it to
(23:25):
propel and push myself into a situation of attention. What
say you to that first question?
Speaker 5 (23:33):
I have to agree with you, I really do.
Speaker 6 (23:37):
But I really honestly believe that the game is going
to be in a better place because like we are
talking about it, so there has to there will be
a solution, like they people will be able to come
together after you know, all this is going on. It's
white privilege, and some of the former black women who
(23:59):
played in this lead earliest feel like they're not getting
their flowers. That's not what it's all about it's about
a game and beautiful young women playing basketball. Now I
sit down and I actually tune into w NBA All
Star Games and watch the whole game. I wasn't doing
(24:22):
that five years ago. So that so that to me
says where this league is headed, and I believe it's
headed in the right direction.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
All right, what is the league's eligibility policy?
Speaker 5 (24:36):
All right?
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Because when we talk about the haters, every hater ain't
going to be a dumb hater. You do have some
intelligent haters out there. That's yes, when it gets a
little complicated sometimes when you get that intelligent hater and
you got those basketball players, the dudes out here acting
like morons, but nonetheless are proving an interesting point. I'm
going to identify with a woman for the purpose is
(25:00):
of being able to compete in the WNBA and believe
that I can dominate it. I think it's an as
andine thing, but nonetheless it has, it has garnered and
gained attention, and it led me to the question. My
second question was if there is a blank in the
eligibility clause, which in the CBA says that only players
(25:22):
who are women are eligible, but never defines what woman
is Why wouldn't why this is one of my biggest
This is a big complaint for me if I had one.
Why would you not that day that this became a
conversation with male basketball players who are trying to make
(25:44):
a mockery of you in your league to come out
and say it, not only do I want to be
able to play because I identify with being a woman
to play in the WNBA, but if I'm not afforded
the opportunity to play, I am suing for discrimination. Why
would the next day would you not release the fact
(26:06):
that we have made it very clear and made the
proper language in the CBA to say when we say
gender specific to a woman, that's what we mean. You
have got to be a woman in order to participate
in the w NBA.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
But that's what it says.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
I feel like it's left wide open because the messing
with it. It's being manipulated. It's a manipulation because a
person that identifies as being a woman, that is a
trans woman can sit there and they can argue the
fact that they are a woman.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
I am a woman. Do not call me a man.
Speaker 6 (26:57):
Okay, So these are this is the policy for the
w NBA. It says that the w NBA does not
have a policy regarding the eligibility of trans athlete. Correct
number one. So it says also in the root book,
it says article thirteen, Section one, the CBA states that
(27:18):
only players who are women are eligible to play in
the w NBA.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
I gotta say it, and I gotta do it.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
It needs it needs to be changed to born a
born female. I am born a girl because what we're
doing now with the opportunist opportunists and the people who
are creating these conversations and so much so that it's
(27:51):
ended up on big time major you know, news outlets
like Fox or CNN and stuff like that, you have
to actually put in language, in my estimation to shut
this down that you indeed have to be born a
woman with the physiological setup and composition of a woman
(28:15):
to be eligible to play not only in in in
in the pros. I would even extend it to college,
high school, in any program ever, unless it is a
unless it is a multi you know, the both non
gender specific. You know there's co ed sports out there,
(28:37):
Go participate in a co ed sport. Do not bring
that mess over here trying to create that type of
narrative because you are placing people in a very very
very compromising situation, and I believe that within being in
that situation, Uh, they should have came out and made
it very clear that you have to be born a woman,
(29:00):
to be born a girl, born a female.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
To be eligible to play in the w NBA, Which.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
It sounds crazy to even have to state it that way,
but that's my feeling.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
Well, I do feel that the WNBA player policy of
moving forward, they're they're going to be in trouble, I
really do think because this new CBA deal was just
signed in March, and there's no mention of transgend athletes
eligibility in this CBA and that's the loop hole that
(29:29):
they that they found moving forward. So I don't know
what they're going to do about it, because it's a
new CBA with that was just signed what four or
five months ago, and it's probably valid for another ten years,
you would assume. So it's gonna be a lot of problems,
I believe, for the NBA WNBA moving forward with this
(29:50):
whole transgender policy.
Speaker 5 (29:52):
All right.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Then I wrote the question officiating, will the w n
B A work to try to find a balance of
how they're officiating, especially with all of the latest issues
that have been presenting themselves surrounding Caitlin Clark.
Speaker 6 (30:14):
You know what, this whole officiating thing was never a
problem in the w NBA until Katelan Clark got there.
Speaker 5 (30:22):
Can you agree with that? Yes?
Speaker 4 (30:24):
I can.
Speaker 6 (30:24):
We were not even having these conversations about referees and
officiating w NBA games until she came in the league.
And it has become a problem because now with now
with white privilege, and we are not getting the cause
that we're supposed to. So and so should be suspended
(30:46):
for the whole season because of the files Cunningham whatever
her name is, Sophie. But yeah, they have to figure
out a lane that there has to be some fairness
within this whole league because right now Alyssa Thompson Thomas
with punching the girl in the throat, that's out of pocket.
(31:07):
I don't care who you are, what color you are,
you should be you should have been suspended anyway. But
I do feel that the officiating has got out a
little out of hand. It's a more physical brand of
basketball that I've ever seen in the w n B
A and it goes all the way back to Clayton Clark.
(31:28):
I really believe that because we have not seen this
kind of officiating before.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
I I this is what I truly dislike in the
truth of what you're saying, because what you're saying there's truth.
What I genuinely dislike is the fact that Caitlyn Clark
is one, in one instance, being villainized. In another instance,
she's being considered a hero. I dislike both narratives from
(31:59):
where the ore of why you're making her a hero
or why you're making her villain where it comes from.
I absolutely dislike it. She goes out there and I
don't care if you're purple.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
The way she plays.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
The way she plays the game is how you're supposed
to play the game. I don't care if you're a
man or a woman, what color you are. Caitlin Clark
goes out there and she plays basketball. If somebody, if
somebody did something to you on the football field plex
and they're talking trash to you and this, that and
the other, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna
(32:34):
back down? Are you gonna be like, oh, golay, somebody, this,
that and the other? And she doesn't. She does not
back down, and she stands her ground and she fights back,
and it's almost like for one one side of it,
it's like that you wanna if you want to label
that white privilege, then you go right ahead, label at
(32:55):
white privilege. I label that as that's a competitor. That's
how I see it. They're competing. You've tried to frame
this as she's exercising white privilege. Then there's the other
side of it where it's like it is white privilege.
You go, girl, you get them black girls hands if
Poppy is.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
You stop them from hacking you like that?
Speaker 5 (33:16):
Right?
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Why are we not talking about the brilliance of We
can recite, we can laugh at, we can recognize Sophie pointing,
the memes we can see take all of the memes
that are out here, and you recognize the memes, the memes.
But you don't know how good and how talented Caitlin
(33:39):
Clark really is as a player. You don't know how
talented Aja is as a player. You don't know how
talented these girls out here, who's the young lady with
the goggles.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
In the Afro right now show is setting the game
on fire right now?
Speaker 3 (33:58):
But you don't know because too we should be talking
about the female version. You want to talk about going
that direction men, and when we should be calling her
the female Clark Kent of the w NBA. But God,
she doesn't look like she should be superwoman, but she
is with them thick framed glasses that make her look
(34:21):
like she's the you know, super ridiculously intelligent person. Anyway,
those were my questions that I had to get to
and and and plex. I just I just felt like,
for what it's worth, for all the pros and all
the cons, I think people need to take a step back.
They need to take a deep breath, a sip of water,
(34:42):
and and remember the humanity that's connected to everything that's
going on. These are people. They have feelings like us
as athletes. One of the things that we get upset
about so many times is that we do not feel
like we're treated as people. We're treated as like a
the cole figure. We have feelings, We hurt, we bleed like,
(35:05):
we get tired, we get hungry, we have to go
to the restroom. All of those things that you have
to do in the course of your day that you
try to get through and get through, well, these people
have to do the same exact things. And I just
feel like with the WNBA too much, as given much
as require, a lot is coming their way.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
A lot of attention has come their way.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
Caitlin Clark has been a lightning rod and a beacon
of people paying more attention. But there are a ton
of talented players in the WNBA. Take a deep breath
and instead of looking for the controversy and the dramas
that are surrounding a lot of the topics coming from it,
take a moment to look at it as a sports
fan and tell me if you didn't enjoy the competition
(35:48):
and what it was that they did when they were
out there on the court.
Speaker 4 (35:51):
That's what I would urge people to do. You get
the last word on it.
Speaker 6 (35:54):
You know what, man, it's a beautiful league. It's a
beautiful game. But it's unfortunate that that we're talking about, uh,
you know, subjects and you know issues that are taken
away from from these from these young women. And I
think that that's the most unfortunate part of it. But
I've seen this game grow and it's going to continue
(36:15):
to get get get get better, and everybody will be
better because of it, because because they're going to have
to find a way to find some fairness and equality
all the way through this league if they want to
continue to see. Uh, did the game get bigger? That's
Plexco Burds. I'm LeVar Arrington.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
The poll that decides your entire college football season drops
Monday and nobody's played a down. Plus the dumbest injury
of the summer, and it involves a Pro Bowl receiver
Snoop Dogg and a very clean window. Uh, we'll talk
about that. To close up the show, you're listening to
(36:58):
the Colin Kyle Herd. Well, it's the Herd, but Colin
isn't here, so we can't call it the Colin cow
Herd Show because well he's not even in.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
Today.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
It's the Herd with Plexico Burrus and LeVar Arrington.
Speaker 5 (37:10):
Today.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
That's what is gonna be called. We're gonna take a
quick break and we'll be right back to wrap this
thing up. It's Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern, not a Empacific.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
All right, welcome back into the show. You're listening to
the Herd. We have come down to the last stretch,
the last segment of the show. Hope you guys enjoyed
the show today. Plex proud of you.
Speaker 5 (37:36):
Man.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
You crushed it. Almost use profanity to tell you what
you did. You know that'd be locker room talk right there.
But before we get up out of here speaking of
crushing it and being excited about things I've talked about
the college football you know, the list is coming out,
the ranking is coming out on Monday, and just really
(37:59):
quickly before we get into this, this this crazy accident
that took place with a football player receiver by the way, uh,
talk to me about you know what you're predicting. I mean,
obviously Ohio State is looked at as the undisputed team,
but you know, it seems like you're the team that
(38:19):
you're probably going to say out of your mouth and
to all of those out there that may not be
aware of the fact that you do have a son
that is playing receiver at Notre Dame. So give me
your take on on the poll coming out, what you
think on Monday.
Speaker 6 (38:34):
I mean, obviously it would be a little biased when
it comes to a Little Dame because my son will
be playing there this year. But I don't believe that
there they are the number one team in the country.
They're going to have to go out and prove it.
I think I think from top to bottom, I think
Ohio State is the best team in the country, just solely,
just based off of the offense and Jeremiah Smith, who
(38:56):
I believe he probably he may win the highest and
this year it'll be the first time in a long
time at the wide receiver can able to win a Heisman.
But then you look at Georgia Oregon. You don't know
where Lane Kiff is going to bring the LSU and
novelist No, No, the Dame. But I'll keep Notre Dame
in the top five, so you know, we'll see how this,
(39:18):
you know, season takes place. But if I was to
rank who would start the season number one, I would
have to go with Ohio State.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
I'm curious as to if there will be an undefeated
team that wins the National Championship. Season kicks off August
twenty seventh.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Week one.
Speaker 3 (39:37):
You got Ohio State at Texas that could be their
first loss already out the gate, and then you got
to Oklahoma at Michigan. That's thirteen days, y'all, thirteen days.
I'm excited for it to take place. Before we get
up out of here, we got to talk about this
Pooka and the Ko story, all right. So he goes
out and he's hanging at the white party the obviously
(39:58):
the UH. He went on the podcast, by the way,
to to tell this this story and admit it to UH.
At Michael Ruben's white party, he spotted Snoop Dog lost himself.
In the moment of seeing Snoop Dog d O double
g Uh turned to go find Davante Adams and ran
(40:21):
face first into a glass window, bleeding out at an
all white party because he was peeking out overseeing the dog.
I gotta ask you, what's the dumbest what's the dumbest injury?
What's the dumbest thing you ever seen.
Speaker 4 (40:36):
A dude do?
Speaker 5 (40:37):
Bruh? Now, somebody.
Speaker 4 (40:41):
They had to the glass didn't.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Break either, By the way, what's the craziest thing you've
seen a dude get hurt doing?
Speaker 5 (40:48):
Man?
Speaker 6 (40:49):
Oh, I witnessed Tom Coughing walking through the locker room
and fall down. Oh my god, And we put the
takedown on the carpet like.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
Shouts south to Coach Kaflin Meg super cool dude, man
and great show. Hope you guys enjoyed is stay locked in.
There's a whole lot more sports to be discussed and
to be talked about. That's gonna do it for us
for today. Yeah, make sure you do something nice for
somebody else, because doing something for yourself is kind of boring. Man,
be different, there to be different. Hope y'all enjoyed it
(41:23):
as I mentioned, and enjoy your weekend as well. A
whole lot of sports going on, a whole lot of
different things. Make sure you get out there all right
for teaching well for Plexico myself, this is the herd
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Foxsports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app
by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
All right, welcome into hour three of this show. It's
Plexico Burrus. I'm LeVar Arrington. As you heard, Colin is
out for the day. But we have carried you for
two hours. Now we're going to carry you for one more.
We got some basketball topics this hour, and it's well,
(00:47):
it's basketball heavy, it's it's retirement, it's it's drama, it's
it's beef, it's all of those things. But plex let's
start right here. Wednesday, Russell Westbrook he posted a video
three and a half minutes. It had Michael B.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Jordan.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
You know, you know Creed, you know, the guy played
the twins in the movie where you know Cats was
getting chewed up in all centers.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
And well the caption that I have not been able
to put down since I read it is sometimes you
don't even know when you've already watched the end. You
had to be there and now it's over.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
And listen.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Eighteen years, seven teams and MVP, nine All Star teams,
nine All NBA teams, two hundred and nine triple doubles,
two one hundred and nine triple doubles. I mean, you
wrap your head around that if you want to. The
(01:48):
most anybody has ever had, and it isn't even close.
He passed Oscar Robertson's record, and the record had been
standing since nineteen seventy four. Were fifth all time and
assists fourteenth all time in points, thirteen hundred and one
games of a man running through a wall every single
(02:10):
night like AI. He had that AI energy, and he
had offers minimum offers from Sacramento and Washington. Sacramento wanted
him to back up a rookie. He said no, thank
you and walked out on his own terms. Here's honest part,
the exact thing that made Russell Westbrook a record holder,
(02:33):
in the exact thing that made him hard to build around.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Both of those are.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
True at the same time, and if you can only
hold one of them, you never understood them. Nobody ever
played harder and nobody will ever debate him being a
first ballot Hall of Famer, that is Russell Westbrook. He
announced his retirement Plex Memories thoughts was the first that
(03:00):
came to mind when you saw that he was retiring.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
I mean, you know, obviously, man, I'm a big basketball fan,
and you know, I've been watching Russell Westbrook for almost
the last two decades, going to I believe it was
u C l A, and you know, going to OKC
and you know, the first real Big three with him,
Kevin Durant and James Harden and a walking trip with
(03:28):
Double Man every single night. You know, he was he
was giving his all, getting on the floor for loose
loose balls and and exciting and transition, you know, Duncan
running full speed.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Man.
Speaker 6 (03:42):
You just appreciated the effort that he gave on a
ninety ninth basis. And one of the things I love about,
you know, Russell Russell Westbrook man, is that it's like
you said, he had he had opportunities to go play
on other teams, and he said to himself, man, it's
been a seventeen eighteen year career. I won an MVP.
(04:03):
He did not, you know, win a championship. But when
you win an MVP in the league, that says that
you are the best player in the world. And his
resume speaks for himself. He had one of the most
unique skill sets of a point guard that we've seen.
I believe he's a top five point guard of all time,
and he was able to leave the game on his
(04:23):
own terms. You won't see him going from team to
team chasing championships, laboring up, up and down the basketball court.
And we're all going to remember Russell Rustbrook for the
way that he played when he before he retired. And
I think that's the most beautiful thing about it is
that he got to leave out on his own terms,
(04:45):
and he looked hisself in the mirror and said, you
know what, this is the end. I've done everything that
I've wanted to in this game of basketball, and now
it's time for me to turn the page.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
I look at the the draft that he was in
and it's interesting because you see guys like, you know,
Blake Griffin or James Harden, you know, or you know
guys like Steph Curry, Lamar DeRozan, Drew Holliday, Like there's
(05:21):
so many amazing ballplayers that was in Westbrook's draft class,
and it made me start wondering. First of all, it
made me start thinking that I'm getting old because we're uh.
But then I started wondering to myself, It's like, man,
where you know, where's the NBA heading? Because now we
(05:43):
are getting to that that final threshold where guys like
oh Russell Westbrook is going to retire, a guy like
Lebron James is going to retire. You know, Kevin Durant,
he may be getting close to the days where it's
gonna happen. He may retire. I just saw Blake Griffin
not too long ago. You know, some plays on TJ's
(06:06):
team right like retire, Like we're.
Speaker 6 (06:09):
Talking about like Hall of Fame, bona fide NBA superstars
you just.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Name, and they're and they're coming to an end or
already having entered into retirement and have left the game.
I asked the question, and I state those those those
facts because I'm curious, plex where does is the NBA
(06:35):
able Have they reloaded with enough name worthy, name recognizable
talent to continue to move forward and try to build
and create some of the popularity that it had with
those names that I mentioned and even like the bigger names,
even more so than that from an era removed from
(06:56):
that with the Allen Iversons, with the Patrick Ewings and
the King Elijah One's and the Michael Jordan's and all
of those names. You know, it's this league trending in
the right direction with the identities of the players that
are replacing these juggernaut personalities and brands that have come.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Through the league.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
I mean, our era of basketball man man has been
an absolute treat because everybody that you name their NBA
Hall of Famous, like there are normal Kevin Durance, there
are no more Lebron James and Chris Paul's and James
Harden's and of those guys Steph Curvey, those guys are
like once in a lifetime, you know, generational basketball players.
(07:40):
And you look at the NBA game now, it has
you know, you know, changed so much over the past decade.
You can't sit here and say that you know the
Cooper Flag and Dylan Harper and and and wom been
young but like these guys, those three guys are going
to be like you know, the guys that I just
(08:02):
mentioned that you could turn on the TV and watch
these guys like carry the league on Saturday and Sunday.
So who are going to beat those guys? You know
in the next five to ten year period that when
we sit down to watch NBA baseball or basketball, who
are going to be the faces of this league? Like,
we don't know, we can't tell, but you knew when
(08:24):
you saw a Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant and a
Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James when they were rookies, you
knew right away that these young men were going to
be special. Like how many guys that are playing right
now in the last you know, two or three years,
that have been drafted that we are going to be
able to say that about. I don't think as many,
(08:47):
to be honest with you, I think the NBA has
a headed in a good direction. But from a face
of the league, we can all sit here and say
it's probably going to be Winby and Cooper Flag, But
who want to be the other guys to step up
and take over this league?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Well, you got Nicola Jokic out there, you got Luka
Doncic out there, you got the Greek freak out there
and onto the Komba.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
They're get them.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
They are getting older. You got Shake Gilgis He's still
he's still young. You got ant Man. Ant Man is
one of them throwback dudes that I love to watch,
just his energy. He reminds me of the players like
Dominique Wilkins and MJ from back in the day.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
You got Tatum, and you.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Mentioned wim Bin Yama, and you got Jaylen Brown and
you got you got you know, you got some players.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
You know we I didn't throw out.
Speaker 6 (09:34):
But these guys are already I think guys are already
in double digit seasons. You don't even realize that.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
But they're young. They're still kind of.
Speaker 6 (09:41):
You ten years playing as young.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Yet they're still fairly young.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
And and NBA terms because they come out so early.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
You got to take probably like three or four years
off of off of it and say, Okay, if if
you're in in double digit years, like if you're in
year ten, but you came out of college after what
or didn't even go to college, you subtract four years,
so really like six years, like a six year career
(10:10):
might really be like a three year career if you
take off the idea that they didn't go to college
for for what was like how old is Victor winbin
Yama right now?
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Right like I think he's nineteen.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
You see what I'm saying now? And so in ten
ten years, ten years time. He was born in two
thousand and one, so he's what twenty five? Yeah, he's
twenty five. No, that's Anthony Edwards. That's Anthony Edwards. That's
twenty five. My bad, My bad, Victor winbin Yama. I
didn't hit Win bin Yama.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
He's twenty two. He was borenty two.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
There you go, that's not old. There.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
They're not old, not at all. I'm gonna just say
they're not They're not too old to be those guys.
So I'll just find myself curious as to you know,
John Morant again I brought up. I feel like he
was heading in that direction of being in that conversation.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
He reminds me.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Of like a Russell Westbrook with his explosiveness and his
ability to dish the ball and create create scoring space
and all those things. But with that being said, there's
going to come a time when Steph Curry is going
to retire. Is going to be a time when the
Dennis Rodman of our era, do you know the Spartan himself.
(11:26):
Draymond is going to retire. Draymond Green is going to retire.
You're going to see Lebron James, He's going to retire.
I just my biggest question, I just wonder can the NBA, Yeah,
can they move on with I know they always say,
you know that in football, they say the shield is
what's most important. And you realize that that the shield
is important to the health of the league. You can
(11:47):
replace when a guy like Peyton Manning leaves or a
guy like Tom Brady leaves the game.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
I just don't know.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
If I don't know that the game sustained after the
era with Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson's
and James Worthy, I don't know that the NBA ever
recovered from those guys leaving the league.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
I'm sure, I'm dang sure.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
I ain't convinced that that this group of guys can
carry it like well. I mean, you had guys like
Shaq and Kobe and Vince Carter that that actually did
pretty good jobs. But I just don't think that the
NBA was ever quite the same after after that era
of time, and for one reason or another, I don't
know but in just my opinion. But but plex, I
(12:36):
just think the NBA is going to have to and
not just with Wimbin Yama. They're going to have to
find players that create what we saw with.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
It's not fine, They're gonna have to.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
They're gonna have to. You're going to have to find uh,
you're gonna have to find lineups for teams that are
matching what you created. And okay, see, you're gonna have
to find lineups of basketball players, like when you look
at this this New York Knicks team, not just one
where you know the names of the players that are
on the starting five, not just one player. You're going
(13:18):
to need more than just one marquee player. And I
think that that's the key, is the actual trying to
figure out what are the elements that you can create
now in today's you know, the climate of what the
NBA is now with free agency, everything is so much
more quicker and less loyalty and less less having to
stay you know, married to something. How do you find
(13:42):
those elements of buy into your franchises if the players
are leaving so quickly and now you got the old
guard they're now retiring, but not to get off of
the topic plex and we got to go go take
a break. But shouts out to Russell Wilson or Russell
Westbrook excuse for being the type of player man. He
(14:02):
gave it his all, He put his heart into it.
And you know what, that's all you could really say
is at the end of the day, if you put
your whole heart into it and put your back into
it to try to make it happen. I mean, you
could walk away with your head held high.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
The best compliment you can receive.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Indeed, indeed, that's plexa coo burst on LeVar Arrington. That
is the first segment of the Herd. Colin is out today.
But you know what, that's all right, we're gonna carry
you for well, we'll say three more segments. Now we
get you three more segments, we're gonna take a quick breaking.
On the other side of that break, well, we're gonna
continue the conversation in the basketball arena. But it's not
(14:37):
quite as clean. It's a little messy. In fact, it's
a tad bit of drama and it has to do
with the w NBA. Yeah, I know, but we're gonna
touch on it. It's pretty loud right now, it's been
a lowed week for the WNBA, and we're gonna touch
on that. On the other side, you're listening to The Herd.
This is Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (15:07):
Stu Gott's here. I have a podcast empire. It continues
to grow, and I have brought it here to iHeart.
I'm also doing a live radio show from three to
five pm Eastern because my.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Wife wanted to kick me out of the house.
Speaker 7 (15:21):
It's called Stu Gotson Company Live, which is available in
podcast form right when the show finishes every single day.
Some of the biggest names in sports, a lot of phone.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
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Speaker 7 (15:34):
A lot of interact shit, guys not taking themselves too seriously.
Those are just some of the things that you can
expect from Stu Gottson Company and Steve Gottson Company Live.
So listen to Stu Gotson Company Live and our original podcast.
Please subscribe, rate and review Stu Gotson Company and.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
God Bless Football.
Speaker 7 (15:55):
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You do it today and you.
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Can check all of those out on the eye, Heart
Radio app, Apple podcast for wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
All right, welcome back into the show. This is the
Hurd's Plex. Cooe Burrs, I'm LeVar Arrington. Yeah, we're gonna transition.
We're gonna stay basketball, but we're gonna go WNBA.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
And Well.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
On Tuesday night in Indianapolis, Stephanie White, Coach of the
Year in twenty twenty three, stood out a podium for
two and a half minutes, pound at the table and well,
she had this to.
Speaker 8 (16:37):
Say, I take personally any suggestions that I don't one
hundred percent always have my players back.
Speaker 9 (16:43):
I ride with them ten toes down all the time,
all the time.
Speaker 8 (16:47):
They know that it's a shame that we can't have
an opportunity to talk about.
Speaker 9 (16:52):
What great basketball they're playing because they are playing.
Speaker 8 (16:57):
The reality is with me, I will always lead with love,
I will always lead with grace, I will always lead
with humility, and I will always lead with integrity.
Speaker 9 (17:11):
Doesn't mean I'll always get it right. I'm also human.
Speaker 8 (17:16):
The hate, the fear mongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that's
trying to hijack.
Speaker 9 (17:21):
Our league will not win. It won't win.
Speaker 8 (17:25):
We are united, we are connected, we will not be divided.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
She left up out it at presser Plexico without having
answered not one question.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
She was turned up.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
She was she was feeling a certain type of way
at first blush at first glance of it. Again to
the to the audience, you have a daughter that is
one of the top high school prospects in the country,
and she's I mean, she's an amazing basketball player, and
this is the environment that she's on a collision course
(18:07):
to be in when you look at the current state
of the w NBA and everything that's going on. Let's
just start the conversation off for you as a father.
Let's not go with sports analysts right now. Put your
daddy cap on. Are you concerned? Are you are you are?
(18:28):
Are you excited that she's good enough where she's going
to have the opportunity to potentially make it to the
w NBA. Like, what are the thoughts that come in
your mind when you look at all of these reports
that are are coming out surrounding some of what seemingly
is like almost like a culture war that's taking place
(18:49):
at the w NBA level.
Speaker 6 (18:52):
You know, obviously I've seen the game basically transcend within
the last you know, five years, and all of us
been basically circle behind Caitlin Clark and for myself to
you know, sit sit in, you know, on the stands
weekend and week out. I love with a game of
(19:13):
basketball for these young ladies aheaded. I mean, I really do.
It's competitive that that that they're passionate about, you know,
their play. Uh, they're very prideful and you know, they
go out and they play just as hard as the
men do. And I love where it's at. I love
(19:34):
to be a part of it. I honestly think it's
only going to continue to get better in the years
to come. But there has to be somebody really has
to like take this thing by the horns and really
get get a get a complete understanding of of of
what this game is all about. It's not black or white, Uh,
(19:56):
you know, it's it's about a lot of young women
like pouring their heart out into the sport. And you know,
I saw this Stephanie White thing, and I'm trying. I'm
saying to myself, why would I I coach not support
their players. And you can tell by the way you know,
she she let those purls out to the media that
she's very passionate about, you know, the ways that she
(20:18):
cares for her players, and I believe it. But it's
like she said, it's it's kind of sad, like the
Lieutenant governor of Indiana is like calling for her to
be fired for not supporting a player. And just like
she said, we're not talking about basketball. We're talking about
other things that takes away from the basketball game. And
that's unfortunate. But I think that moving forward, it's good.
(20:38):
At the end of the day, it's going to be
very healthy for the game moving forward.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
You know, I asked myself ten questions plex and if
you want to chime in on it, you're certainly welcome
to our answer, and then I'll stop and let you
have it. But I, as I looked at this scenario,
instead of getting caught up into so many narratives that
could end up falling off of the tracks or could
(21:04):
you know, take you off into the deep end, It's
always like some people try to go so doom and
gloom that you lose you lose the theme, right, So
I just like start writing out questions and answering them
to give myself clearity on such what would be seemingly
a complex way of approaching a professional category, and the
(21:29):
category being women's you know.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Pro basketball.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
So here's the first question I asked myself, right I've
wrote it down. Is the WNBA actually in trouble or
is this simply what a rival looks like for a league?
No one used to really argue about We talked so
glowingly about the Sheryls swoops is in the Teresa Witherspoons
(21:57):
and all of the Lisa Leslie's, But it was like,
this is where they're at. They're in this space, Keep
them in that space. And it was just kind of
like it wasn't mainstream. It just just didn't. It was
not as like in your face as it is right now.
So I asked, answer my question. I answer my question,
(22:19):
and I came to the conclusion, this isn't as bad
as it sounds. What it is is we live in
an opportunistic society. And when you live in an opportunistic society,
what do people in the society do? They try to
take advantage of the opportunity. So it says to me
that the WNBA is not only not in a bad spot,
(22:41):
but they're actually trending in the right direction because you're
getting hate. And I'll be the first one to tell you,
when you have success, the first thing that you breed
is haters and they come outside for some reason. Supporters
will come out and they will support, but they're their
voices don't seem to come across as loudly as a
(23:05):
hater's does. So when you have a hater hating, you
should be happy that they're out here hating on you,
because that means you're doing something that is not only
worth paying attention to, but I created a feeling and
an emotion connected to it, and I'm using it to
(23:25):
propel and push myself into a situation of attention. What
say you to that first question?
Speaker 5 (23:33):
I have to agree with you, I really do.
Speaker 6 (23:37):
But I really honestly believe that the game is going
to be in a better place because like we are
talking about it, so there has to there will be
a solution, like they people will be able to come
together after you know, all this is going on. It's
white privilege, and some of the former black women who
(23:59):
played in this lead earliest feel like they're not getting
their flowers. That's not what it's all about it's about
a game and beautiful young women playing basketball. Now I
sit down and I actually tune into w NBA All
Star Games and watch the whole game. I wasn't doing
(24:22):
that five years ago. So that so that to me
says where this league is headed, and I believe it's
headed in the right direction.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
All right, what is the league's eligibility policy?
Speaker 5 (24:36):
All right?
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Because when we talk about the haters, every hater ain't
going to be a dumb hater. You do have some
intelligent haters out there. That's yes, when it gets a
little complicated sometimes when you get that intelligent hater and
you got those basketball players, the dudes out here acting
like morons, but nonetheless are proving an interesting point. I'm
going to identify with a woman for the purpose is
(25:00):
of being able to compete in the WNBA and believe
that I can dominate it. I think it's an as
andine thing, but nonetheless it has, it has garnered and
gained attention, and it led me to the question. My
second question was if there is a blank in the
eligibility clause, which in the CBA says that only players
(25:22):
who are women are eligible, but never defines what woman
is Why wouldn't why this is one of my biggest
This is a big complaint for me if I had one.
Why would you not that day that this became a
conversation with male basketball players who are trying to make
(25:44):
a mockery of you in your league to come out
and say it, not only do I want to be
able to play because I identify with being a woman
to play in the WNBA, but if I'm not afforded
the opportunity to play, I am suing for discrimination. Why
would the next day would you not release the fact
(26:06):
that we have made it very clear and made the
proper language in the CBA to say when we say
gender specific to a woman, that's what we mean. You
have got to be a woman in order to participate
in the w NBA.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
But that's what it says.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
I feel like it's left wide open because the messing
with it. It's being manipulated. It's a manipulation because a
person that identifies as being a woman, that is a
trans woman can sit there and they can argue the
fact that they are a woman.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
I am a woman. Do not call me a man.
Speaker 6 (26:57):
Okay, So these are this is the policy for the
w NBA. It says that the w NBA does not
have a policy regarding the eligibility of trans athlete. Correct
number one. So it says also in the root book,
it says article thirteen, Section one, the CBA states that
(27:18):
only players who are women are eligible to play in
the w NBA.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
I gotta say it, and I gotta do it.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
It needs it needs to be changed to born a
born female. I am born a girl because what we're
doing now with the opportunist opportunists and the people who
are creating these conversations and so much so that it's
(27:51):
ended up on big time major you know, news outlets
like Fox or CNN and stuff like that, you have
to actually put in language, in my estimation to shut
this down that you indeed have to be born a
woman with the physiological setup and composition of a woman
(28:15):
to be eligible to play not only in in in
in the pros. I would even extend it to college,
high school, in any program ever, unless it is a
unless it is a multi you know, the both non
gender specific. You know there's co ed sports out there,
(28:37):
Go participate in a co ed sport. Do not bring
that mess over here trying to create that type of
narrative because you are placing people in a very very
very compromising situation, and I believe that within being in
that situation, Uh, they should have came out and made
it very clear that you have to be born a woman,
(29:00):
to be born a girl, born a female.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
To be eligible to play in the w NBA, Which.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
It sounds crazy to even have to state it that way,
but that's my feeling.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
Well, I do feel that the WNBA player policy of
moving forward, they're they're going to be in trouble, I
really do think because this new CBA deal was just
signed in March, and there's no mention of transgend athletes
eligibility in this CBA and that's the loop hole that
(29:29):
they that they found moving forward. So I don't know
what they're going to do about it, because it's a
new CBA with that was just signed what four or
five months ago, and it's probably valid for another ten years,
you would assume. So it's gonna be a lot of problems,
I believe, for the NBA WNBA moving forward with this
(29:50):
whole transgender policy.
Speaker 5 (29:52):
All right.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Then I wrote the question officiating, will the w n
B A work to try to find a balance of
how they're officiating, especially with all of the latest issues
that have been presenting themselves surrounding Caitlin Clark.
Speaker 6 (30:14):
You know what, this whole officiating thing was never a
problem in the w NBA until Katelan Clark got there.
Speaker 5 (30:22):
Can you agree with that? Yes?
Speaker 4 (30:24):
I can.
Speaker 6 (30:24):
We were not even having these conversations about referees and
officiating w NBA games until she came in the league.
And it has become a problem because now with now
with white privilege, and we are not getting the cause
that we're supposed to. So and so should be suspended
(30:46):
for the whole season because of the files Cunningham whatever
her name is, Sophie. But yeah, they have to figure
out a lane that there has to be some fairness
within this whole league because right now Alyssa Thompson Thomas
with punching the girl in the throat, that's out of pocket.
(31:07):
I don't care who you are, what color you are,
you should be you should have been suspended anyway. But
I do feel that the officiating has got out a
little out of hand. It's a more physical brand of
basketball that I've ever seen in the w n B
A and it goes all the way back to Clayton Clark.
(31:28):
I really believe that because we have not seen this
kind of officiating before.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
I I this is what I truly dislike in the
truth of what you're saying, because what you're saying there's truth.
What I genuinely dislike is the fact that Caitlyn Clark
is one, in one instance, being villainized. In another instance,
she's being considered a hero. I dislike both narratives from
(31:59):
where the ore of why you're making her a hero
or why you're making her villain where it comes from.
I absolutely dislike it. She goes out there and I
don't care if you're purple.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
The way she plays.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
The way she plays the game is how you're supposed
to play the game. I don't care if you're a
man or a woman, what color you are. Caitlin Clark
goes out there and she plays basketball. If somebody, if
somebody did something to you on the football field plex
and they're talking trash to you and this, that and
the other, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna
(32:34):
back down? Are you gonna be like, oh, golay, somebody, this,
that and the other? And she doesn't. She does not
back down, and she stands her ground and she fights back,
and it's almost like for one one side of it,
it's like that you wanna if you want to label
that white privilege, then you go right ahead, label at
(32:55):
white privilege. I label that as that's a competitor. That's
how I see it. They're competing. You've tried to frame
this as she's exercising white privilege. Then there's the other
side of it where it's like it is white privilege.
You go, girl, you get them black girls hands if
Poppy is.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
You stop them from hacking you like that?
Speaker 5 (33:16):
Right?
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Why are we not talking about the brilliance of We
can recite, we can laugh at, we can recognize Sophie pointing,
the memes we can see take all of the memes
that are out here, and you recognize the memes, the memes.
But you don't know how good and how talented Caitlin
(33:39):
Clark really is as a player. You don't know how
talented Aja is as a player. You don't know how
talented these girls out here, who's the young lady with
the goggles.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
In the Afro right now show is setting the game
on fire right now?
Speaker 3 (33:58):
But you don't know because too we should be talking
about the female version. You want to talk about going
that direction men, and when we should be calling her
the female Clark Kent of the w NBA. But God,
she doesn't look like she should be superwoman, but she
is with them thick framed glasses that make her look
(34:21):
like she's the you know, super ridiculously intelligent person. Anyway,
those were my questions that I had to get to
and and and plex. I just I just felt like,
for what it's worth, for all the pros and all
the cons, I think people need to take a step back.
They need to take a deep breath, a sip of water,
(34:42):
and and remember the humanity that's connected to everything that's
going on. These are people. They have feelings like us
as athletes. One of the things that we get upset
about so many times is that we do not feel
like we're treated as people. We're treated as like a
the cole figure. We have feelings, We hurt, we bleed like,
(35:05):
we get tired, we get hungry, we have to go
to the restroom. All of those things that you have
to do in the course of your day that you
try to get through and get through, well, these people
have to do the same exact things. And I just
feel like with the WNBA too much, as given much
as require, a lot is coming their way.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
A lot of attention has come their way.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
Caitlin Clark has been a lightning rod and a beacon
of people paying more attention. But there are a ton
of talented players in the WNBA. Take a deep breath
and instead of looking for the controversy and the dramas
that are surrounding a lot of the topics coming from it,
take a moment to look at it as a sports
fan and tell me if you didn't enjoy the competition
(35:48):
and what it was that they did when they were
out there on the court.
Speaker 4 (35:51):
That's what I would urge people to do. You get
the last word on it.
Speaker 6 (35:54):
You know what, man, it's a beautiful league. It's a
beautiful game. But it's unfortunate that that we're talking about, uh,
you know, subjects and you know issues that are taken
away from from these from these young women. And I
think that that's the most unfortunate part of it. But
I've seen this game grow and it's going to continue
(36:15):
to get get get get better, and everybody will be
better because of it, because because they're going to have
to find a way to find some fairness and equality
all the way through this league if they want to
continue to see. Uh, did the game get bigger? That's
Plexco Burds. I'm LeVar Arrington.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
The poll that decides your entire college football season drops
Monday and nobody's played a down. Plus the dumbest injury
of the summer, and it involves a Pro Bowl receiver
Snoop Dogg and a very clean window. Uh, we'll talk
about that. To close up the show, you're listening to
(36:58):
the Colin Kyle Herd. Well, it's the Herd, but Colin
isn't here, so we can't call it the Colin cow
Herd Show because well he's not even in.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
Today.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
It's the Herd with Plexico Burrus and LeVar Arrington.
Speaker 5 (37:10):
Today.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
That's what is gonna be called. We're gonna take a
quick break and we'll be right back to wrap this
thing up. It's Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern, not a Empacific.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
All right, welcome back into the show. You're listening to
the Herd. We have come down to the last stretch,
the last segment of the show. Hope you guys enjoyed
the show today. Plex proud of you.
Speaker 5 (37:36):
Man.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
You crushed it. Almost use profanity to tell you what
you did. You know that'd be locker room talk right there.
But before we get up out of here speaking of
crushing it and being excited about things I've talked about
the college football you know, the list is coming out,
the ranking is coming out on Monday, and just really
(37:59):
quickly before we get into this, this this crazy accident
that took place with a football player receiver by the way, uh,
talk to me about you know what you're predicting. I mean,
obviously Ohio State is looked at as the undisputed team,
but you know, it seems like you're the team that
(38:19):
you're probably going to say out of your mouth and
to all of those out there that may not be
aware of the fact that you do have a son
that is playing receiver at Notre Dame. So give me
your take on on the poll coming out, what you
think on Monday.
Speaker 6 (38:34):
I mean, obviously it would be a little biased when
it comes to a Little Dame because my son will
be playing there this year. But I don't believe that
there they are the number one team in the country.
They're going to have to go out and prove it.
I think I think from top to bottom, I think
Ohio State is the best team in the country, just solely,
just based off of the offense and Jeremiah Smith, who
(38:56):
I believe he probably he may win the highest and
this year it'll be the first time in a long
time at the wide receiver can able to win a Heisman.
But then you look at Georgia Oregon. You don't know
where Lane Kiff is going to bring the LSU and
novelist No, No, the Dame. But I'll keep Notre Dame
in the top five, so you know, we'll see how this,
(39:18):
you know, season takes place. But if I was to
rank who would start the season number one, I would
have to go with Ohio State.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
I'm curious as to if there will be an undefeated
team that wins the National Championship. Season kicks off August
twenty seventh.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Week one.
Speaker 3 (39:37):
You got Ohio State at Texas that could be their
first loss already out the gate, and then you got
to Oklahoma at Michigan. That's thirteen days, y'all, thirteen days.
I'm excited for it to take place. Before we get
up out of here, we got to talk about this
Pooka and the Ko story, all right. So he goes
out and he's hanging at the white party the obviously
(39:58):
the UH. He went on the podcast, by the way,
to to tell this this story and admit it to UH.
At Michael Ruben's white party, he spotted Snoop Dog lost himself.
In the moment of seeing Snoop Dog d O double
g Uh turned to go find Davante Adams and ran
(40:21):
face first into a glass window, bleeding out at an
all white party because he was peeking out overseeing the dog.
I gotta ask you, what's the dumbest what's the dumbest injury?
What's the dumbest thing you ever seen.
Speaker 4 (40:36):
A dude do?
Speaker 5 (40:37):
Bruh? Now, somebody.
Speaker 4 (40:41):
They had to the glass didn't.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Break either, By the way, what's the craziest thing you've
seen a dude get hurt doing?
Speaker 5 (40:48):
Man?
Speaker 6 (40:49):
Oh, I witnessed Tom Coughing walking through the locker room
and fall down. Oh my god, And we put the
takedown on the carpet like.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
Shouts south to Coach Kaflin Meg super cool dude, man
and great show. Hope you guys enjoyed is stay locked in.
There's a whole lot more sports to be discussed and
to be talked about. That's gonna do it for us
for today. Yeah, make sure you do something nice for
somebody else, because doing something for yourself is kind of boring. Man,
be different, there to be different. Hope y'all enjoyed it
(41:23):
as I mentioned, and enjoy your weekend as well. A
whole lot of sports going on, a whole lot of
different things. Make sure you get out there all right
for teaching well for Plexico myself, this is the herd
Hosts And Creators
Brady Quinn
LaVar Arrington
Jonas Knox
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